The Biggest Enemy of Private Health Insurance? Insurance CEOs

I an very concerned about President Obama's clear desire to end private health insurance in favor of a comprehensive government-run health care system. This removes the profit motive entirely from medicine, and may lead to a brain-drain and a loss of the American lead in medicine and pharmacology. But it is hard to defend the current system amidst reports like this one.

A Texas nurse said she lost her coverage, after she was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer, for failing to disclose a visit to a dermatologist for acne.

The sister of an Illinois man who died of lymphoma said his policy was rescinded for the failure to report a possible aneurysm and gallstones that his physician noted in his chart but did not discuss with him.

....Late in the hearing, [Bart] Stupak, the committee chairman, put the executives on the spot. Stupak asked each of them whether he would at least commit his company to immediately stop rescissions except where they could show "intentional fraud."

The answer from all three executives: "No."

My father died of brain cancer, and I know that his insurance tried to drop him a few times. But luckily, they were unable to do so, so he got the best care possible.

Continental Express Misdirects Unaccompanied Children

I have always thought parents who sent children by plane without a responsible adult were putting their children at risk. I know there are rare circumstances where it is the only choice, but these are RARE cases. Recently, Continental Express proved just how dangerous it is by misrouting two children in two days.

Taylor Williams of College Station, traveling alone on a Continental Express commuter flight departing from Bush Intercontinental Airport, went to Fayetteville, Ark., instead of her destination of Charlotte, N.C., where her father was to meet her.
The next day, 10-year-old Miriam Kamens boarded a Continental Express plane at Boston’s Logan airport and landed in Newark, N.J., instead of her intended destination of Cleveland to visit her grandparents.
The two Continental Express flights were operated by ExpressJet under contract with Continental.
In a statement Tuesday, Continental spokeswoman Kelly Cripe said both incidents occurred when flights with different destinations were loaded simultaneously from the same doorway and that “miscommunication among staff members resulted in the child being boarded on the wrong aircraft.”

To be fair, the airline took care of the children the whole time, and eventually got them where they were supposed to go. But let's honest here - unless you have absolutely no other choice, sending a child alone on an airplane is a bad idea. Be responsible parent and either go with them, or find someone who can.

"Your Warranty Is Expiring" Scammers Exposed

Odds are if you have a phone, you have gotten one or more of the "your warranty may be expiring" robocalls. These scam calls have spread across America like a Biblical plague and for a time it seemed like there was no way to stop them. But the scammers have been found and now details are leaking out about the con-men who bilked many out of hard-earned cash.

— Christopher D. Cowart, 47, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., owns Transcontinental Warranty, a Delaware company based in Fort Lauderdale. A graduate of Southeastern Louisiana University, Cowart likes to read, travel and play golf in his spare time. He also maintains a Facebook page and uses a LinkedIn profile to advertise his latest business ventures.

— James A. Dunne, 36, of Daytona Beach, Fla., owns Florida-based Voice Touch with his wife, Maureen. Dunne has a checkered legal past, including charges of filing a false report of a bomb that landed him six months in jail in 1991. He was most recently arrested in 2001 for indecent exposure, but those charges were later dismissed.

— Maureen E. Dunne, nee Maureen Geisen, is James Dunne's wife. Little information can be found pertaining to her.

— Damian P. Kohlfeld, 35, of Valparaiso, Ind., is the owner of Network Foundations, which is based in Chicago. Kohlfeld allegedly supplied the technical know-how for the alleged telemarketing scheme employed by all three companies. The Arizona State University graduate has more than a decade of experience writing software and building computer networks. His latest hit, according to the FTC, was a "spoofing" device that tricked caller ID systems.

It appears these scammers underestimated the outrage of the average American, and are now looking at a long, unpleasant court trial before several years in prison.

Dealing with Sports Riots

I have been saying for years that the "championship riots" that we see in many cities after a win is unacceptable. And that the only way to stop these things is to find some way for the team to punish out-of-control fans. I had floated the idea of denying a trophy to any team whose home-town riotted, but was told it was impactical and punishing the wrong people.

So what about punishing the fans directly? Specifically, what about using modern technology to hit rioting fans where it hurts - in their team spirit. Data mining across public databases and using face-recognition software, it would be a relatively simple task to identify people arrested for rioting. Sports franchises could then add these people to a "no fly list" like the airlines, which would ban these fans from buying tickets or (as much as possible) from attending games. This would make attending games more difficult, and thus distance these people from the teams they profess to love. Of course, perfect enforcement would be difficult, but the idea is not to be perfect but to make attending a game very difficult.

What do Mod-Bloggers think? Do I have an idea worth pursuing here, or would a policy like this just lead to more drunken fans in sports bars who would otherwise have been in the stadium?

KFC's Grilled Chicken is Marinaded in Beef

This is more funny than anything else, but a rival restaurant chain has pointed out that the new KFC Grilled Chicken contains beef products. It is only in the marinade.

The marinade on the chain's new grilled chicken contains beef powder and rendered beef fat. And competitor El Pollo Loco wants you to know every finger-licking detail.

The plucky Costa Mesa restaurant company is making those beef byproducts the centerpiece of a new advertising campaign tweaking KFC....In one television commercial, Carley stands in a cow pasture and talks about a "fun fact" concerning KFC's grilled chicken, then discloses the beef ingredients.

"Small amounts of beef flavors are commonly used in seasonings for many food products, for both restaurant and retail use," Maynard said.

"For Kentucky Grilled Chicken's topical seasoning, beef flavors account for only 0.2% of the total seasoning," he added.

This certainly wouldn't stop me from buying the grilled chicken. All of the other horrible things about KFC do that quite effectively.

Happy Flag Day!

Have *I* Got a Deal for You!

From Townhall.Com.