William G. Schiffbauer, a lawyer whose clients include employers and insurance companies, said: "The fine print differs from the larger political message. If a company sells insurance, it will have to cover pre-existing conditions for children covered by the policy. But it does not have to sell to somebody with a pre-existing condition. And the insurer could increase premiums to cover the additional cost."
...
But, insurers say, until 2014, the law does not require them to write insurance at all for the child or the family. In the language of insurance, the law does not include a "guaranteed issue" requirement before then.

Consumer advocates worry that instead of refusing to cover treatment for a specific pre-existing condition, an insurer might simply deny coverage for the child or the family. NYT

Sen. Rockefeller is shocked. I say, shocked that the insurance industry would use the loopholes that the Senate gave them.

"The ink has not yet dried on the health care reform bill, and already some deplorable health insurance companies are trying to duck away from covering children with pre-existing conditions. This is outrageous."

Read it and you'll understand why maybe you can't quite get into 'Breaking Bad' or other shows. I use 'Breaking Bad' as an example because some of you mentioned it the open thread last night. I watched it for the first time last week and it seems like just a series of scenes designed to let Brian Cranston emote (or not) in close-up.

Russia: US aiding Afghan drug trade

Russia has accused the United States of "conniving" with Afghan drug producers by not destroying opium crops as U.S. troops advance in Helmand Province, one of the major opium growing regions.

The allegation, which came in a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry, was the second time this week that Moscow has criticized the West over the opium issue. NATO rejected the charge and said Russia could help by providing more troops to combat the insurgency.

Well considering that the US spent $37mil building a bridge from Afghanistan to Tajikistan which functions soley to deliver Opium to Tajikistan where it is refined into heroin and sent to Russia, the Russians may have a point here

Much of the ballooning supply of drugs shipped across Afghanistan's northern border, up to one-fifth of the country's output, has traveled to and through Tajikistan. The opium and heroin funded rampant corruption in Tajikistan and turned the country, still hobbled by five years of civil war in the 1990s, into what at times seems like one big drug-trafficking organization.

Every day last year -- extrapolating from United Nations estimates -- an average of more than 4 metric tons of opium, which can be made into some 1,320 pounds of heroin, moved on the northern route. Put another way, the equivalent of nearly 6 million doses of pure heroin -- at 100 milligrams each -- is carried across the northern Afghan border each day.

After it's cut with other substances and sold on the street corners and in the apartment stairwells of Russia and Western Europe, the main retail markets for Central Asian heroin, that could produce at least 12 million doses.

and mandating privately employed sailors to purchase healthcare insurance

This law did not take away freedoms, except the freedome to be in a niche called "privately employed sailor". The escape here is to find another profession. It may be impractical, but it's possible.  

Special relationship between UK and US is over, MPs say

There has been much speculation about the "special" bond
The UK government needs to be "less deferential" towards the US and more willing to say no to Washington, a group of MPs have said.

The Commons Foreign Affairs committee also said it was wrong to speak of "the special relationship" with the US, as it was fostering other alliances.

Mamet plays can be tough for actors because he insists that his dialogue be read really, really, really fast. It's amusing that he made this the director's job in this memo.

The central concept he talks about (striving for a goal and being thwarted) is also at the core of method acting. The method has several elements but one of the key ones is identifying the character's goal/motivation for the entire play, for each scene, and for each line. (Recall Marlon Brando asking "What is my motivation here?" and being told "Your paycheck!")

The Dodgers' former first couple pocketed income totaling $108 million from 2004 through 2009 without paying any federal or state taxes, according to documents Jamie McCourt filed in the couple's divorce case. link