The last couple of days have seen an outrageous example of cherry picking in the individual health insurance market: 60 Minutes did an "exposé" of underwriting for individual health plans, where likely just under 20 million Americans buy health insurance. 

Technorati Tags: America, Politics, Technology

In a recently published supposed exposé entitled ExxonMobil’s ExxonMobil’s Continued Funding of Global Warming Denial Industry, Greenpeace USA had this to say about some of the activities from PRI this year:

“PRI Public Policy Fellow Dr. Amy Kaleita released a 2006 report urging governments to move slowly on carbon sequestration, claiming there’s "no conclusive proof of the effects of CO2 on climate change," and any efforts to capture carbon would hurt consumers.”

Has Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton talked to Rob Reiner lately?  Clinton has just proposed a $10 billion federal version of actor/director Reiner’s ill-fated universal preschool initiative that was trounced 61% to 39% by blue-state California voters last year.   Worse, Clinton defends her proposal by using the same discredited arguments that were made by Reiner and his allies.

America's favorite pastime meets America's more recent obsession.

In the newest example of a culture gone lawsuit crazy, a mother has decided to sue her son's baseball coach, the local little league, and it's parent organization, Little League Baseball and Softball Inc., for injuries sustained after the little leaguer slid into second base.

Martin's coach, Leigh Bernstein, the New Springville Little League, and its international umbrella organization, Little League Baseball and Softball Inc., are all named as defendants in the suit, which charges them with never teaching him "skills needed to avoid and/or minimize the risks of injury," specifically how to run bases and slide.

News of the suit shocked the league, with some parents calling it frivolous and saying injuries are part of the game.

Full story here. Found via Drudge Report.

Have you noticed that just about everything you buy has a warning label these days? Ever wonder why that is?

A couple of months ago, a report I co-authored, titled Jackpot Justice, stated that the annual cost of the American civil lawsuit system totals $865 billion. In that report, we noted that a significant amount of that cost comes as a result of people and businesses changing their behavior in order to avoid being sued. One of those lawsuit-avoiding costs just happens to be printing what would seem to be obvious warnings on everyday products.

Consider this warning label, found on an iron-on t-shirt decal:
"Caution: Do not iron while wearing shirt."

Just-released civics results on the Nation's Report Card show that the American public education system fails the common good by failing to teach core principles of a free society.

When it comes to educational effectiveness, California earns an “F” from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Technorati Tags: America

Mayor Gavin Newsom calls the small business community the "backbone of San Francisco," but that community now struggles under three city-imposed burdens: the minimum hourly wage of $9.14, the San Francisco Health Access Program, and most recently, an extended sick-leave law.

Just weeks ago, Stanford University released the most comprehensive review to date of California’s public education system, written at the bi-partisan request of legislative majority leadership, Superintendent  of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell, and the Governor’s Committee on Education Excellence. Think critics have the decency to let the ink dry before stonewalling reform recommendations? Think again.