In the news

[das_nut]

Football vikings, or Alexander Skarsgård vikings?

Vikings like Michele Bachmann's husband.

 

[ledboots]

(US) The IRS is playing politics.

"At various points over the past two years, Internal Revenue Service officials targeted nonprofit groups that criticized the government and sought to educate Americans about the U.S. Constitution, according to documents in an audit conducted by the agency’s inspector general.The documents, obtained by The Washington Post from a congressional aide with knowledge of the findings, show that on June 29, 2011, IRS staffers held a briefing with senior agency official Lois G. Lerner in which they described giving special attention to instances where "statements in the case file criticize how the country is being run." Lerner, who oversees tax-exempt groups for the agency, raised objections and the agency revised its criteria a week later.

But six months later, the IRS applied a new political test to groups that applied for tax-exempt status as "social welfare" groups, the document says. On Jan. 15, 2012 the agency decided to target “political action type organizations involved in limiting/expanding Government, educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, social economic reform movement.,” according to the appendix in the IG report, which was requested by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and has yet to be released.

The new revelations are likely to intensify criticism of the IRS, which has been under fire since agency officials acknowledged they had deliberately targeted groups with “tea party” or “patriot” in their name for heightened scrutiny." Lots more here http://m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/p...hat-criticized-the-government-ig-report-says/

And here
http://m.washingtonpost.com/busines...6a0ada-b987-11e2-92f3-f291801936b8_story.html

 

[KLS52]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/14/showbiz/angelina-jolie-double-mastectomy/index.html

Such an awful decision to have to be faced with, regardless of who you are.

 

[ledboots]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/14/showbiz/angelina-jolie-double-mastectomy/index.html

Such an awful decision to have to be faced with, regardless of who you are.

So hard. A friend of mine did the same thing; her mom died in her 30's from breast cancer, and my friend has the gene.

 

[RabbitLuvr]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/14/showbiz/angelina-jolie-double-mastectomy/index.html

Such an awful decision to have to be faced with, regardless of who you are.

So hard. A friend of mine did the same thing; her mom died in her 30's from breast cancer, and my friend has the gene.

On the plus side, it's amazing that a simple test can tell people if they have an elevated risk so they can be proactive about their options.

 

[Spang]

I won’t mention names, but I did have conversations about immigration where increasingly I had to defend the fact that the people most affected were human beings.

Former-GOP Latino outreach director Pablo Pantoja

 

[ledboots]

On the plus side, it's amazing that a simple test can tell people if they have an elevated risk so they can be proactive about their options.

Damn straight!

 

[Spang]

I applaud what 'Sway' has done, but I'm concerned that it's something only a privileged person can do.

 

[ledboots]

I applaud what 'Sway' has done, but I'm concerned that it's something only a privileged person can do.

My friend's insurance covered it, both the test and the surgery. Hopefully they all do.

 

[Spang]

My friend's insurance covered it, both the test and the surgery. Hopefully they all do.

Having insurance is a privilege, unfortunately.

 

[das_nut]

Having insurance is a privilege, unfortunately.

Why are you against the freedom to die of a preventable disease?

 

[RabbitLuvr]

My insurance completely paid for my BRCA mutation test. Mine wasn't a blood test, though. I had to swish Scope around in my mouth for, I think, three minutes, then spit into a collection jar. That was it.

 

[mlp]

My best friend just vented to me because apparently there's a lot of intense criticism of Angelina's decision online. In her situation, and if I had the resources, I am sure I would have done the same.

Most insurance coverage doesn't cover the test unless you can track breast cancer through several generations of your family.

Not all insurance covers preventive mastectomies. Not all insurance covers reconstructive surgery.

 

[ledboots]

Having insurance is a privilege, unfortunately.

Well, part of the reason she put herself through accelerated nursing school at 18 was so that she could have a job with health insurance, especially since she was also taking care of her three younger sisters after her mother's death, as their father was not in the picture. So she worked for that privilege, and continues to work to keep her benefits.

 

[RabbitLuvr]

My best friend just vented to me because apparently there's a lot of intense criticism of Angelina's decision online. In her situation, and if I had the resources, I am sure I would have done the same.

Most insurance coverage doesn't cover the test unless you can track breast cancer through several generations of your family.

Not all insurance covers preventive mastectomies. Not all insurance covers reconstructive surgery.

There is a lot of criticism of her over this.

My insurance covered the test on the grounds that if the person tested positive, preventative surgery now is cheaper for the company than treatment later. It's unfortunate that one lab has a patent on the test and genes they test for. I believe the full cost of the test is around $3,000.

Any insurance plan that covers mastectomies must, by federal law, also cover all stages of reconstruction.

 

[das_nut]

Well, part of the reason she put herself through accelerated nursing school at 18 was so that she could have a job with health insurance, especially since she was also taking care of her three younger sisters after her mother's death, as their father was not in the picture. So she worked for that privilege, and continues to work to keep her benefits.

She obviously worked hard (and was lucky) to get where she was.

But that doesn't mean that everyone who works hard will have the same outcome.

 

[Amy SF]

http://santamonica.patch.com/groups...marriage-remarks-lead-to-mccabes-cancellation

Holy crap I had no idea.

Apparently when you become a born-again Christian they excise the part of your brain that makes you tolerant.

 

[thefadedone]

There is a lot of criticism of her over this.

I'm really getting annoyed by the criticism within some of the vegan community. Many people saying it was extreme and it could've been prevented by going vegan in the first place. I am so goddamn sick of the health claims that veganism is a cure all to many diseases by many well known and respected public vegan figures. Yes veganism may helpful, but it is not the cure for everything!

 

[Wolfie]

I don't get the criticism. They're her breasts and therefore it's no one else's business what she does with them.

 

[RabbitLuvr]

I'm really getting annoyed by the criticism within some of the vegan community. Many people saying it was extreme and it could've been prevented by going vegan in the first place. I am so goddamn sick of the health claims that veganism is a cure all to many diseases by many well known and respected public vegan figures. Yes veganism may helpful, but it is not the cure for everything!

Sadly, she's being criticized for her decision even on a breast cancer forum. It seems that some women there feel that since Angelina didn't actually have cancer, she had no right to speak about her experience; no right to even have been able to be tested and make the choices she did. Apparently prophylactic measures are bad because everyone should have to go through the hell of cancer treatment.

Boggles the mind.