Paul Krugman: Obamacare on Track (NY Times Blog)
So coverage is almost exactly on track. It's not 100 percent, nor was it expected to be - partly because of undocumented immigrants, partly because of the red-state Medicaid gap, partly because signing up for the exchanges is complicated and people fall through the cracks. But reform is working as intended, at lower-than-expected cost.
Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (1392) contains the first recorded association between 1 April and foolishness.
Source
In the Nun's Priest's Tale Geoffrey Chaucer talks about the vain cock Chauntecleer being tricked by a fox.
The date of this happening is believed to be April 1st, with his date of 'Syn March bigan thritty dayes and two' thought to refer to March 32 - AKA April 1.
Source
Randall was first and correct with:
mj wrote:
Pure guess
Since it was actually rather forward thinking in it's way, I'll go with
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Didn't he also introduce the Canterbury Bunny?
Lying Lois Of Oregon said:
In his "Canterbury Tales", Chaucer told the story of a fox who was tricked into buying a timeshare in Florida, after being abducted by aliens on April first, which used to be the start of the New Year, except where prohibited by law. Some restrictions may apply.
P.S. The good looking guy holding the little yellow boat is my son Bart. I desperately want a daughter-in-law. If anyone can help, please let me know!
Jim from CA, retired to ID, responded:
The Canterbury Tales
Deborah said:
"The Canterbury Tales" is where April 1 and foolishness first appear. I studied them in English lit in high school but I'll be darned if I remember anything about April 1 and foolishness. Hell, I don't remember much of the stories themselves, all that wretched Middle English and whatnot.
Marian wrote:
Canterbury Tails
Dale the Dog of Diamond Springs, Norspringcali replied:
Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (1392). Wench Tits Today:
Patriot Act NSA Spying Unconstitutional Section 215 National Security Letters Must End
My name is Marc Perkel and I have decided to announce that I will not comply with the so called "Patriot Act" laws requiring me to disclose information about my customers. If I receive a national security letter I will immediately photograph it, post it online everywhere I can, and then make a video of me burning it. I will then await my arrest. If you want to put me in jail then come get me mother fucker.
CBS begins the night with a RERUN'Rush Hour', followed by '48 Hours'.
NBC opens the night with 'Dateline', followed by FRESH'Figure Skating'.
'SNL' is FRESH, with Peter Dinklage hosting, music by Gwen Stefani.
ABC starts the night with the movie 'Mirror, Mirror', followed by '20/20'.
The CW offers an old 'Friends', followed by a RERUN'Monopoly Millionaires' Club', then an old '2½ Men', followed by another old '2½ Men'.
Faux has a RERUN'Rosewood', followed by a RERUN'Lucifer'.
MY has an old 'Rizzoli & Isles', followed by another old 'Rizzoli & Isles'.
A&E has 'The First 48', another 'The First 48', followed by a FRESH'The First 48: Murder In The Family', then a FRESH'The First 48: Murder In The Family'.
AMC offers the movie 'Twister', 'The Walking Dead', another 'The Walking Dead', and still another 'The Walking Dead'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] TOP GEAR - SEASON 18 - Episode 3
[7:00AM] TOP GEAR - SEASON 18 - Episode 4
[8:00AM] TOP GEAR - SEASON 18 - EPISODE 5-Episode 5
[9:00AM] TOP GEAR - SEASON 18 - EPISODE 6-Episode 6
[10:00AM] TOP GEAR - SEASON 18 - EPISODE 7-Episode 7
[11:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - SEASON 5 - EPISODE 8-Michon's
[12:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - SEASON 5 - EPISODE 7-The Greek at the Harbor
[1:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - SEASON 6 - EPISODE 9-Nino's Italian Restaurant
[2:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES UK - SEASON 6 - EPISODE 1-Mayfair
[3:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - SEASON 5 - EPISODE 4-Luigi's D'Italia
[4:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 14-Sub Rosa
[5:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 15-Lower Decks
[6:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION -, SEASON 7 - EPISODE 16-Thine Own Self
[7:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 17-Masks
[8:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 18-Eye of the Beholder
[9:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 19-Genesis
[10:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 20-Journey's End
[11:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 14-Sub Rosa
[12:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 15-Lower Decks
[1:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 16-Thine Own Self
[2:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 17-Masks
[3:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 18-Eye of the Beholder
[4:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 19-Genesis
[5:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 20-Journey's End (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of BH', another 'Real Housewives Of BH', followed by the movie 'Sex & The City'.
Comedy Central has the movie 'Coming To America', 'Kevin Hart Presents: Keith Robinson Back Of The Bus Funny', 'Kevin Hart Presents: Lil Rel Howery: RELevent', and 'Kevin Hart Presents: Plastic Cup Boyz'.
FX has the movie 'The Croods', followed by the movie 'Hotel Transylvania'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] SOAP
[6:35AM] SOAP
[7:10AM] SOAP
[7:45AM] SOAP
[8:20AM] SOAP
[8:55AM] SOAP
[9:30AM] THAT '70S SHOW-The Kids Are Alright
[10:00AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Join Together
[10:30AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Magic Bus
[11:00AM] THAT '70S SHOW-The Acid Queen
[11:30AM] PAUL
[1:45PM] AMERICAN WEDDING
[3:45PM] HISTORY OF THE WORLD: PART I
[5:45PM] 48 HRS.
[8:00PM] BEVERLY HILLS COP
[10:30PM] 48 HRS.
[12:45AM] BEVERLY HILLS COP
[3:15AM] PAUL
[5:30AM] THAT '70S SHOW-The Kids Are Alright (ALL TIMES EDT)
Sundance -
[7:30AM] Tigerland
[9:45AM] Warrior
[12:45PM] The Professional
[3:15PM] Red Dawn
[5:45PM] Snake Eyes
[8:00PM] The Day the Earth Stood Still
[10:30PM] The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
[1:00AM] Snake Eyes-Unrated
[3:15AM] Red Dawn
[5:45AM] Love Lust-Love Lust & the Bikini (ALL TIMES EDT)
SyFy has the movie 'Dead 7', followed by the movie 'The Final Destination'.
Anita Hill, center, subject of the HBO film "Confirmation," poses with U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., left, and star Kerry Washington at the premiere of the film at Paramount Studios on Thursday, March 31, 2016, in Los Angeles.
Photo by Chris Pizzello
The Ohio childhood home of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, available for rent in time for the Republican National Convention this summer, could have been had for $8,000 a month until Friday afternoon, when the price went up and references to the infamous criminal came down.
The home where Dahmer grew up and in 1978 committed his first murder is in Bath, Ohio, 26 miles south of Cleveland, where the convention is scheduled to be held in July. The listing on a real-estate company website initially included a reference to Dahmer but on Friday that was removed and the price had been increased to $10,000 a month.
Dahmer was convicted in 1992 in the murder and dismemberment of 17 boys and men, some of whom he ate, over a period of 14 years. He was beaten to death in 1994 by another prison inmate while serving 15 life terms in Minnesota, where most of the murders took place after he moved there.
The listing by Howard Hanna, the official real estate broker for the convention, had been up since February and initially included the fact that the three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 2,170-square-foot home was once occupied by Dahmer.
Singer Deborah Harry performs at The Music of David Bowie tribute concert at Carnegie Hall on Thursday, March, 31, 2016, in New York.
Photo by Evan Agostini
A Sikh U.S. Army captain has been granted a long-term religious accommodation to wear a beard, turban and uncut hair in uniform, a decision supporters hailed on Friday as a landmark that could help other religious Sikhs to serve in the military.
Captain Simratpal Singh received the accommodation in a memorandum from Assistant Army Secretary Debra Wada dated March 30. The memo spelled out certain limitations and said the Army was working to develop uniform standards for soldiers who receive such waivers.
The accommodation for Singh is the first for an active-duty Sikh soldier since the Pentagon took steps two years ago to give individual troops greater latitude to wear turbans, head scarfs, yarmulke and tattoos as part of their religion.
The Pentagon's move sought to make it easier for Muslims, Sikhs, Jews, Wiccans and others to follow the tenets of their faith while serving in the U.S. military. But advocacy groups say the process remains difficult.
The accommodation for Singh, a West Point graduate and Army Ranger, was granted only after he sued to prevent the service from requiring him to undergo extensive testing to ensure that his beard and hair did not interfere with his helmet or gas mask.
Nebraska is halting production of its new, widely mocked license plate after officials learned that the state icon depicted at the center wasn't drawn accurately, officials announced Friday.
The license plate is supposed to show the Nebraska Sower, a statue of a man throwing seeds from atop the state Capitol. However, the governor's office said the image on the plates used elements from a different artwork.
Since the design was unveiled last week, some people have called it boring. Others have joked that the way the man in the image is holding his grain satchel appears sexually suggestive.
Department of Motor Vehicles Director Rhonda Lahm said the state will redesign the plates to correctly depict the statue "so that production can resume in the near future." The new plates will be issued starting in 2017 as part of Nebraska's 150th birthday as a state.
Nebraska's process for selecting license plates has faced problems before. In 2009, the DMV invited the public to vote in an online poll to choose from four design proposals. But the department threw out thousands of votes after discovering that a minimalist approach initially won only because a humor website had urged people to choose the most boring option.
Fans line outside the former Tower Records store on Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood, Calif. on Friday, April 1, 2016. Crowds thronged for tickets after a surprise announcement that Guns N' Roses would play a concert Friday night at West Hollywood's famed Troubadour music venue. The band announced on its website and in a press release that a limited number of tickets at a very old-school price of $10 apiece would be available at noon at the former location of the famous record store.
Photo by Nick Ut
A federal judge cleared the way for the Navajo Nation to seek potentially millions of dollars in its 2012 lawsuit over Urban Outfitters' use of the "Navajo" name in clothing, jewelry and other merchandise.
The tribe did not unreasonably delay a trademark infringement challenge against the clothing retailer, U.S. District Judge Bruce Black in New Mexico ruled Thursday.
Urban Outfitters Inc. had claimed the tribe knew or should have known that the name had been used in items such as necklaces, jackets and underwear for years and delayed filing a lawsuit, prejudicing the company. The retailer started using the "Navajo" descriptor in 2001, according to court documents.
There was no evidence anyone legally associated with the Navajo Nation knew the retailer used the tribe's trademarks until June 2011, Black said. The tribe sent a cease and desist letter to Urban Outfitters and followed up with the lawsuit.
Court documents do not quantify the amount the Navajo Nation could recover if it's successful in its lawsuit, but it could amount to millions of dollars dating to 2008.
A Virginia school bus ferrying students to and from classes this week had explosives under the hood after the CIA accidentally left them following a training exercise, the intelligence agency said.
"Last week, a CIA K-9 unit conducted a routine training exercise with law enforcement officials in Loudoun County, VA," the CIA said in a statement on Thursday. "During the exercise, explosive training material was inadvertently left by the CIA K-9 unit in one of the buses used in the exercise."
The bus was used Monday and Tuesday to transport high school and elementary students, who were in no danger because the explosive materials were "incredibly stable," the Loudoun County sheriff's office said in a statement.
The agency placed the explosive materials inside the engine compartment while training explosives-detecting dogs during spring break, the CIA said.
A technician conducting routine maintenance on the bus found the explosives on Wednesday.
Singer Bettye LaVette performs at The Music of David Bowie tribute concert at Carnegie Hall on Thursday, March, 31, 2016, in New York.
Photo by Evan Agostini
Five more San Francisco police officers were found to be exchanging racist and homophobic text messages with one another, forcing a review of hundreds of criminal cases that may be compromised by their bias, the city's chief prosecutor said on Thursday.
The disclosure by District Attorney George Gascon came a year after 14 other members of the San Francisco Police Department were caught up in a similar texting scandal.
The latest inquiry surfaced amid heightened scrutiny of police encounters with members of minority groups following numerous high-profile killings of unarmed black people by police across the United States since mid-2014.
Gascon said he recommended in a letter on Wednesday to city Police Chief Gregory Suhr that the five newly implicated officers be assigned to desk duty to avoid adding to the potential caseloads tainted by personal bias exposed in their text messages.
But in a written reply to Gascon, the police chief said he had immediately suspended the officers when their conduct first came to his department's attention last August, and that two of the officers had since left the force.
Singer Wayne Coyne and The Flaming Lips perform at The Music of David Bowie tribute concert at Carnegie Hall on Thursday, March, 31, 2016, in New York.
Photo by Evan Agostini
A steadily spreading disease that's already killed millions of bats across the Eastern United States has made its way to the Northwest.
Tests on a little brown bat that died at a Seattle-area facility March 13 confirmed the animal had been infected with white-nose syndrome, spread by the Pseudogymnoascus destructans fungus, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday. The fungus sickens bats by eating away at their skin and disrupting their biological rhythms.
So far, more than 6 million North American bats have died from white-nose syndrome, which earns its name from the powdery film that appears on infected bats' muzzles.
Until now, the fungus' westernmost known location was in Nebraska. The new discovery, more than a thousand miles west, has spooked wildlife officials who were already struggling to keep up as the fungus marched across the Eastern U.S. It also means the disease will almost certainly make it to Oregon, if it hasn't already.
The fungus associated with white-nose syndrome is native to Europe and Asia, and first appeared in the U.S. in 2006. When researchers discovered infected bats in eastern New York state, they initially had no idea what they had found.
Singer-songwriter Rickie Lee Jones performs at The Music of David Bowie tribute concert at Carnegie Hall on Thursday, March, 31, 2016, in New York.
Photo by Evan Agostini
A former Arkansas judge convicted of receiving bribes in exchange for lowering the damages awarded in a civil suit will appeal his 10-year prison sentence, but at taxpayer expense, officials said on Friday.
The same federal judge who last week sentenced former judge Michael Maggio, on Thursday granted the defendant's motion that he be declared a pauper, court officials said. This exempts him from the standard court fees and makes him eligible for a court-appointed attorney.
Maggio, 54, a former state district judge, admitted in a plea deal reached in 2015 to receiving bribes in exchange for reducing a $5.2 million judgment in a civil negligence case against a nursing home company to $1 million, according to court papers.
Maggio's petition for pauper status said he had worked for minimal wages at menial jobs since being stripped of his judgeship in 2014 by the Arkansas Supreme Court in an unrelated matter and essentially had no assets other than his home and a 13-year-old automobile.
Federal sentencing guidelines recommend a prison term of up to 63 months in cases such as Maggio's but U.S. District Judge Brian Miller of Little Rock declared the penalty inadequate and ordered Maggio to serve 120 months.
The United States and Japan have completed the removal of all highly enriched uranium and separated plutonium fuels from Japan's Fast Critical Assembly research project that is due to be sent to South Carolina, the countries said on Friday.
Announced alongside the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, the transfer makes good on a 2014 agreement at a previous non-proliferation summit to move the material from the site in Tokai Mura, Japan, to the United States, the countries said.
In a joint statement, the countries said the removal furthers a mutual goal of reducing the amount of these nuclear materials held worldwide.
The shipment has stirred some controversy over its transfer to the United States, specifically to a Department of Energy site in South Carolina where leaders and environmental activists have balked at receiving the weapons-grade plutonium.
The countries also said they were working to move material from another site, the Kyoto University Critical Assembly, to the United States.
A Lemur catta, also known as ring-tailed lemur, with eleven-day-old cubs clinging to its back, sits on a tree at the Schoenbrunn zoo in Vienna, Austria, April 1, 2016.
Photo by Heinz-Peter Bader
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