TPM Reader TC: Personal Experience
MRIP was better than nothing, but it was paltry: it had an annual cap of $75,000 per year. That first year, we blew through this cap by February. Same thing the second and third years, 2009 and 2010. All the rest of our medical bills -- for multiple surgeries, hospital stays, chemotherapy, radiation, CT-scans, etc. -- we had to pay entirely out of pocket. In 2011, to our huge relief, the ACA came into effect. Amid all the pain and the heartache and soothing our children and long days and nights and fears for the future, we at least knew that we had help with the expenses. We felt our country had our backs.
"Me and Bobby McGee" is a song written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster, originally performed by Roger Miller. Others performed the song later, including the Grateful Dead, Kristofferson himself, Kenny Rogers and The First Edition and most famously by Janis Joplin, whose posthumously released version topped the U.S. singles chart in 1971, making the song the second posthumously released No. 1 single in U.S. chart history after "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding. Billboard ranked Joplin's version as the No. 11 song for 1971.
Joplin recorded the song for inclusion on her Pearl album only a few days before her death in October 1970. Kristofferson had sung the song for her, and singer Bob Neuwirth taught it to her. Kristofferson did not know she had recorded it until after her death. The first time he heard her recording of it was the day after she died. Joplin's version topped the charts to become her only number one single and in 2004, her version of this song was ranked No. 148 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Source
Mark. was first and correct with:
One of my favorite Janis songs was Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby
McGee." I don't know if it made it to number one, but it should have.
Randall wrote:
It's gotta be "Me and Bobby McGee"
Alan J said:
Me and Bobby McGee.
mj replied:
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose
Me and Bobby McGee.
Kevin in Washington, DC responded:
Gotta be : "Me And Bobby McGee".
Jim from CA, retired to ID, said:
Me and Bobby McGee
Deborah wrote:
Was it "Bobby McGee"? Because that was pretty popular back in the day. Reminds me of when John Prine was popular, and his music was so much more than what the Top 100 stations played. Janis's music was like that.
gene replied:
It was the unforgettable Me and Bobby McGee
Daniel in The City answered:
I'd guess Me and Bobby McGee.
Billy in Cypress responded:
Off the top of the bald spot on my head, I will say "Me and Bobby McGee".
Dave in Tucson said:
Just a guess - Janis Joplin's only number one single was Me and Bobby Mcgee?
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 FRESH'NCIS', followed by a FRESH'Bull', then a FRESH'NCIS: The 3rd One'.
Scheduled on a FRESHStephen Colbert are Mark Wahlberg, Lee Daniels, and Miranda Lambert.
Scheduled on a FRESHJames Corden, OBE, are Jennifer Lawrence and T.J. Miller.
NBC fills the night with FRESH'The Voice'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Fallon are Michael Fassbender, Jon Glaser, and Niall Horan.
Scheduled on a FRESHSeth Meyers are Sen. Bernie Sanders, Zoey Deutch, Dan Levy, and Dave Lombardo.
Scheduled on a FRESHCarson 'The Scab' Daly are Simone Biles, !!!, Kari Byron, Tory Belleci, and Grant Imahara.
ABC opens the night with a FRESH'The Middle', followed by a FRESH'American Housewife', then a FRESH'Fresh Off The Boat', followed by a FRESH'The Real O'Neals', then a FRESH'Jimmy Kimmel Live - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Kimmel are Rami Malek, Samantha Ponder, Gucci Mane featuring Travis Scott, and Aubrey Logan.
The CW offers a RERUN'The Flash', followed by a RERUN'DC's Legends Of Tomorrow'.
Faux has a FRESH'Brooklyn Nine-Nine', followed by a FRESH'New Girl', then a FRESH'Scream Queens'.
MY has an old 'Bones', followed by another old 'Bones'.
A&E has 'Intervention', followed by a FRESH'Intervention', then another FRESH'Intervention', followed by a FRESH'Leah Rimini: Scientology & The Aftermath'.
AMC offers the movie 'Sweet Home Alabama', followed by the movie 'The Goonies'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 11-Parallels
[7:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 12-The Pegasus
[8:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 13-Homeward
[9:00AM] DOCTOR WHO: THE WATERS OF MARS
[10:00AM] DOCTOR WHO: THE WATERS OF MARS
[11:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 5 - EPISODE 1-The Eleventh Hour
[12:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 15-Lower Decks
[1:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 16-Thine Own Self
[2:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 17-Masks
[3:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 18-Eye of the Beholder
[4:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 19-Genesis
[5:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 20-Journey's End
[6:00PM] CSI: MIAMI - SEASON 9 - EPISODE 20-Paint It Black
[7:00PM] CSI: MIAMI - SEASON 9 - EPISODE 21-G.O.
[8:00PM] CSI: MIAMI - SEASON 9 - EPISODE 22-Mayday
[9:00PM] CSI: MIAMI - SEASON 10 - EPISODE 1-Countermeasures
[10:00PM] CSI: MIAMI - SEASON 10 - EPISODE 2-Stiff
[11:00PM] CSI: MIAMI - SEASON 10 - EPISODE 3-Blown Away
[12:00AM] CSI: MIAMI - SEASON 9 - EPISODE 20-Paint It Black
[1:00AM] CSI: MIAMI - SEASON 9 - EPISODE 21-G.O.
[2:00AM] CSI: MIAMI - SEASON 9 - EPISODE 22-Mayday
[3:00AM] CSI: MIAMI - SEASON 10 - EPISODE 1-Countermeasures
[4:00AM] CSI: MIAMI - SEASON 10 - EPISODE 2-Stiff
[5:00AM] CSI: MIAMI - SEASON 10 - EPISODE 3-Blown Away (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of BH', followed by a FRESH'BH Social', then a FRESH'Real Housewives Of BH', followed by a FRESH'Ladies Of London', then a FRESH'Watch What Happens Live'.
Comedy Central has 'Futurama', another 'Futurama', 'Tosh.0', another 'Tosh.0', and 'Rock The Troops'.
Scheduled on a FRESHThe Daily Show is Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Scheduled on a FRESH@Midnight are Kurt Braunohler, Moshe Kasher, and Fortune Feimster.
FX has the movie 'Real Steel', followed by the movie 'Transformers: Age Of Extinction'.
History has 'The Curse Of Oak Island', followed by a FRESH'The Curse Of Oak Island: Digging Deeper', then a FRESH'The Curse Of Oak Island', followed by a FRESH'Hunting Hitler'.
IFC -
[6:30AM] BEVERLY HILLS COP III
[8:45AM] GET SMART
[11:15AM] WEIRD SCIENCE
[1:15PM] BEVERLY HILLS COP III
[3:30PM] GET SMART
[6:00PM] THAT '70S SHOW-Who Are You?
[6:30PM] THAT '70S SHOW-A Man With Money
[7:00PM] THAT '70S SHOW-Happy Jack
[7:30PM] THAT '70S SHOW-Do You Think It's Alright?
[8:00PM] THAT '70S SHOW-Substitute
[8:30PM] THAT '70S SHOW-Squeeze Box
[9:00PM] THAT '70S SHOW-15:15
[9:30PM] THAT '70S SHOW-Sparks
[10:00PM] THAT '70S SHOW-My Wife
[10:30PM] THAT '70S SHOW-Going Mobile
[11:00PM] THAT '70S SHOW-Who Are You?
[11:30PM] THAT '70S SHOW-A Man With Money
[12:00AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Happy Jack
[12:30AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Do You Think It's Alright?
[1:00AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Substitute
[1:30AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Squeeze Box
[2:00AM] THAT '70S SHOW-15:15
[2:30AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Sparks
[3:00AM] THAT '70S SHOW-My Wife
[3:30AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Going Mobile
[4:00AM] WEIRD SCIENCE (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:07AM] All in the Family-We're Still Having a Heat Wave
[6:43AM] All in the Family-Edith Finds an Old Man
[7:19AM] All in the Family-Archie and the Kiss
[7:55AM] All in the Family-Archie the Gambler
[8:30AM] All in the Family-Henry's Farewell
[9:05AM] All in the Family-Archie and the Computer
[9:40AM] All in the Family-The Games Bunkers Play
[10:15AM] All in the Family-Edith's Conversion
[10:50AM] All in the Family-Archie in the Cellar
[11:25AM] All in the Family-Black Is the Color of My True Love's Wig
[12:00PM] All in the Family-Second Honeymoon
[12:35PM] All in the Family-The Taxi Caper
[1:10PM] Thelma & Louise
[4:13PM] Two Weeks Notice
[6:30PM] Monster-in-Law
[9:00PM] Meet Joe Black
[1:00AM] Jerry Maguire
[4:00AM] Best in Show (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has the movie 'Skyfall', followed by a FRESH'Aftermath'.
TBS:
Scheduled on a FRESHConan are Chris Pratt, Tom Papa, and the Naked and Famous.
A Bonhams assistant is reflected in glass as she displays a Cloud Guitar custom made for Prince in central London, Britain on Dec. 12, 2016.
Photo by Stefan Wermuth
Wins Critics' Choice Award for Donald Trump Impression
Alec Baldwin
On Sunday, Alec Baldwin won a Critics' Choice Award for his edgy impersonation of Donald Trump (R-Pendejo) on Saturday Night Live.
After Baldwin returned to the SNL stage to portray Trump, the show was branded "unwatchable" by the president-elect, who also blasted the 30 Rock actor for a portrayal that "stinks."
Baldwin took home the Best Guest Performer award.
Kate McKinnon, who often went toe-to-toe with Baldwin as Hillary Clinton, was also honored as Best Actress in a Comedy Series for her portrayal.
Artists create a snow sculpture "Love Song" for the 29th Harbin Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Expo in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on Dec. 12, 2016.
Photo by Wang Jianwei
Music icon Bob Dylan will perform in Sweden in April, a concert organiser said on Monday, giving this year's Nobel literature laureate a chance to to collect his prize in person after snubbing a weekend awards ceremony.
The American singer declined to attend Saturday's glitzy Nobel event in Stockholm due to "pre-existing commitments", but said in a speech read on his behalf that he was "honoured" to receive the award.
The Nobel Foundation has previously said his prize should be presented to him in person sometime in 2017, either in Sweden or abroad.
But the Swedish Academy, which awards the literature prize, said it had no information yet whether Dylan would use the occasion to collect his award or hold his Nobel prize lecture, which is the only requirement for prizewinners and can be anything from a short speech, a performance or a song.
The first songwriter to win the prestigious award, Dylan is set to perform in Stockholm on April 1-2 and in the southern city of Lund on April 9, concert organiser Live Nation said in a statement.
Viacom mogul Sumner Redstone gave many millions of dollars to numerous mistresses - including a reality show producer, a model, and the sister of a flight attendant on his corporate jet - according to a new lawsuit filed on Monday.
The suit, filed by Redstone's ex-girlfriend Sydney Holland, comes in response to Redstone's effort to recoup $150 million bestowed to Holland and another ex-companion, Manuela Herzer. The counterclaim alleges that Redstone, 93, routinely gave millions to several female companions, and was mentally competent to do so.
"The lurid nature of these relationships and the significant amounts of money that Redstone paid to these women are directly at issue," the suit contends.
The suit alleges that Redstone gave $21 million to a mistress who was an aspiring reality show producer; $18 million to a flight attendant on the CBS corporate jet; $6 million to the flight attendant's sister, whom he slept with; $10-11 million to a woman he met through Patti Stanger, who ran a dating show called "The Millionaire Matchmaker"; $7 million to another mistress "who claimed to be a model"; $6 million to a friend of his grandson's girlfriend, in addition to finding a job for the friend at Showtime; and $1.5 million to another mistress. He also gave undisclosed amounts to a USC student and a Paramount employee to whom he was once engaged, and paid the USC student's tuition, according to the suit.
The allegations cover the period when Holland and Redstone were living together, from June 2011 through September 2015, when Holland confessed that she had been unfaithful to Redstone and he threw her out of his house. Holland is now seeking financial support for herself and her daughter, plus legal fees and a half-interest in his Beverly Park home and half of his stock and other investment holdings.
A tourist boat sails as Christmas lights illuminate the Darsena dei Navigli, the neighborhood named for the canals that run through this area of Milan, Italy, Monday, Dec. 12, 2016.
Photo by Luca Bruno
London may be known for its drizzly weather, but in 1952 the city's quintessential fog cover turned deadly, and no one knew why - until now.
For five days in December 1952, a fog that contained pollutants enveloped all of London. By the time the dense fog cover lifted, more than 150,000 people had been hospitalized and at least 4,000 people had died. Researchers now estimate that the total death count was likely more than 12,000 people, as well as thousands of animals. Despite its lethal nature, the exact cause and nature of the killer fog has largely remained a mystery. Recently, a team of researchers has determined the likely reasons for its formation.
Researchers have for a long time connected emissions from burning coal with the killer fog, but the specific chemical processes that led to the deadly mix of pollution and fog were not fully understood. To determine what turned the fog into a killer, an international team of scientists from China, the U.S. and the U.K. recreated the fog in a lab using results from laboratory experiments and atmospheric measurements from Beijing and Xi'an, two heavily polluted cities in China.
Study lead author Renyi Zhang, an atmospheric scientist at Texas A&M University, said that sulfate was a big contributor to the deadly London fog. Sulfuric acid particles, which formed from the sulfur dioxide that was released from the burning of coal, were also a component of the fog. The question was, How did sulfur dioxide get turned into sulfuric acid?
"Our results showed that this process was facilitated by nitrogen dioxide, another co-product of coal burning, and occurred initially on natural fog," Zhang said in a statement. "Another key aspect in the conversion of sulfur dioxide to sulfate is that it produces acidic particles, which subsequently inhibits this process."
Prosecutors in Montana will not appeal a controversial 60-day jail sentence for a man who admitted to raping his 12-year-old daughter, in the latest case that has generated outrage for a sexual assault sentence that many consider to be too lenient.
The father's guilty plea would normally have triggered Montana's mandatory 25-year sentence for child rape, but the judge in the case ruled that the 40-year-old should only be incarcerated for 60 days, followed by probation.
"We believe the judge used poor discretion in his ruling, and find the ruling reprehensible, but his ruling was legal under state law," Eric Sell, a spokesman for Montana Attorney General Tim Fox, said in an email.
In Montana, Fox planned to join with lawmakers to close what they said was a loophole in state law allowing McKeon to offer the father in the case probation instead of the 25 years mandated for rape of a child aged 12 or under.
Under the loophole, child rapists can be sentenced to probation if experts find that they would be better rehabilitated outside of prison, as happened in this case, Sell said.
People tour a Christmas attraction featuring a display of more than 800,000 light bulbs in Universal Studios Singapore on Dec.12, 2016.
Photo by Edgar Su
The Cherokee Nation's attorney general legalized gay marriage for the country's second-largest Native American tribe, saying its same-sex marriage ban violates a tribal requirement for all of its citizens to be treated equally.
Attorney General Todd Hembree's opinion, which was issued Friday, says parts of a 2004 tribal law that defined marriage as "a civil contract between one man and one woman" and prohibited marriage between two persons of the same sex violate the Cherokee Constitution, which requires the equal treatment of tribal citizens.
"The right to marry without the freedom to marry the person of one's choice is no right at all," Hembree wrote in his opinion.
Tribal Assistant Attorney General Chrissi Nimmo said Monday that the opinion carries the force of law and legalizes same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples who are members of the Oklahoma-based tribe, which has about 300,000 members.
The Cherokee Nation was among 11 of the nation's 567 federally recognized tribes that had explicit bans on gay marriage.
Oklahoma plans to force hospitals, nursing homes, restaurants and public schools to post signs inside public restrooms directing pregnant women where to receive services as part of an effort to reduce abortions in the state.
The State Board of Health will consider regulations for the signs on Tuesday. Businesses and other organizations will have to pay an estimated $2.3 million to put up the signs because the Legislature didn't approve any money for them.
The provision for the signs was tucked into a l aw that the Legislature passed this year that requires the state to develop informational material "for the purpose of achieving an abortion-free society." The signs must be posted by January 2018.
Groups representing hospitals and restaurants are among those complaining that the new requirements are an expensive, unfunded mandate from the Legislature.
"We don't have any concern about the information they're trying to get out to women about their babies and their pregnancy. This is just the wrong way to do it," said Jim Hooper, president of the Oklahoma Restaurant Association. "It's just another mandate on small businesses. It's not just restaurants. It includes hospitals, nursing homes. It just doesn't make sense."
Members of Japanese idol group Kamen Joshi (Masked Girls) in attires featuring images or names of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (R-Grifter), pose for a photo after a rehearsal for a concert at their theatre in Tokyo's Akihabara district, Japan on Dec.12, 2016.
Photo by Toru Hanai
If Santa is recruiting helpers to haul Christmas presents around the world this year he had better take a few extra, said researchers Monday who warned that reindeer are shrinking.
Over the past 16 years, the weight of adult reindeer in Svalbard in the Norwegian Arctic has dropped by 12 percent, likely due to global warming, said study findings presented to a meeting at the British Ecological Society (BES) in Liverpool.
By the time they reached adulthood, reindeer born in 2010 weighed just over 48 kilogrammes (106 pounds), compared to 55 kg for those born in 1994.
"Twelve percent may not sound very much, but given how important body weight is to reproduction and survival, it's potentially huge," study leader Steve Albon of the James Hutton Institute in Scotland, told AFP.
Scientists say land surface temperatures in the Arctic were about 2.8 degrees Celsius (five degrees Fahrenheit) higher last year than when records began a century earlier.
Global methane emissions from agriculture and other sources have surged in recent years, threatening efforts to slow climate change, an international study has found.
Researchers led by French Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE) reported that methane concentrations in the air began to surge around 2007 and grew precipitously in 2014 and 2015.
In that two-year period methane concentrations shot up by 10 or more parts per billion (ppb) annually, compared with an average annual increase of only 0.5 ppb during the early 2000s, according to the study released by the Global Carbon Project, which groups climate researchers.
Methane is much less prevalent in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide (CO2) -- the main man-made greenhouse gas -- but is more potent because it traps 28 times more heat. The report did not say to what extent methane contributes to global warming.
Sparrows fly along the edge of the forest as they feed in the field in outskirts Minsk, Belarus, Monday, Dec. 12, 2016. The temperatures in Belarus reached around -6 Celsius (21 degrees Fahrenheit).
Photo by Sergei Grits
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