NDSU Wins Championship Game; Unprecedented 6 Championships In Last 7 Years -- January 6, 2018

Link here.


NDSU wins, 17 - 13. A real nail-biter. Great game. NDSU sets record -- wins 6 championships in 7 years; never done before. Two disappointments with the coverage: the half-time report was nothing more than an ESPN commercial -- all about the Georgia-Alabama championship game Monday; and ESPN cut quickly to a college basketball game after the end of the NDSU-JMU game; home town folks won't have televised coverage of NDSU getting the trophy.

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Flashback: ObamaCare

"Open Season" -- a concept introduced by President Obama.

This is from a post several years ago, April 5, 2014. I happened across it this morning while looking for something else. It's hard to believe how fast "open season" became the norm in a free market society for buying something so important as health care insurance. Under ObamaCare Americans were told they could only buy health insurance during a three-month window every year. Can you imagine if that applied to everything we did in society?

Anyway, here's the earlier post:

ObamaCare: The End of Year-Round Enrollment

I did not know this. I thought "open season" was the rule, not the exception. It appears that prior to ObamaCare one could buy health insurance year-round. If one already had health insurance, one would renew during "open season," generally the last three months of the calendar year.

But now it appears that ObamaCare has eliminated the possibility of buying health care year-round. ObamaCare mandates purchasing health care during "open season." The AP is reporting:

Here's more fallout from the health care law: Until now, customers could walk into an insurance office or go online to buy standard health care coverage any time of year. Not anymore.

Many people who didn't sign up during the government's open enrollment period that ended Monday will soon find it difficult or impossible to get insured this year, even if they go directly to a private company and money is no object. For some it's already too late.

With limited exceptions, insurers are refusing to sell to individuals after the enrollment period for HealthCare.gov and the state marketplaces. They will lock out the young and healthy as well as the sick or injured. Those who want to switch plans also are affected. The next wide-open chance to enroll comes in November for coverage in 2015.

A couple of comments: first, who cares?

Second, we are finally starting to see some "truth-in-advertising" stories about ObamaCare in the mainstream media. This is not good news for incumbents running for re-election who voted for ObamaCare.

Third, this whole article if full of malarkey.

The "open season" is another red herring. The deadline has been extended so many times, we had a six-month open season, and even this article admits that folks who have started the process can continue, thus extending the "open season" to about seven or eight months. Reminder for low-information crowd: a typical calendar year has twelve months. 

But this is the real story: I can guarantee you that anyone who wants to buy insurance at any time will find some insurer who will be accommodating. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some insurers will simply start the process now (April, 2014) with hopes that one's enrollment process will be complete by October, in time to receive the pre-filled voter registration form along with the insurance card.

I recently had a minor leak around the bottom of the toilet bowl which necessitated repair and replacement of the bathroom flooring. What a hoot if I had logged on to the Obama Plumbing and Voter Registration Website only to find out that one could only get one's plumbing needs resolved during "open season," i.e. three months at the end of the year.

What a great country. Obama certainly had all the right ideas for this country.