We made it to 70 degrees today, late in the afternoon. The weather is perfectly pleasant, the spring we somehow missed this year. Soon it’ll be inexplicably hot and no one will be prepared. Acclimation is an important and understated feature, I’m sure of it. This summer we’re going to prove the point.
More baseball this evening. Another unfortunate defeat, 11-3, for the good guys. “A pair of five-run LSU innings were too much for Auburn’s baseball team to overcome” reads the story. That stings, especially since Auburn was only able to put together nine hits on the night. And yet, somehow, Auburn’s very slim post-season hopes remain alive until tomorrow. LSU, meanwhile, has now scored 48 runs in their last 23 innings of ball. They’re just good everywhere.
Things to read … because reading makes you good everywhere, too.
I talked about this in a panel last month. Consumers losing doctors with new insurance plans:
Some consumers who bought insurance under President Barack Obama’s health care law are experiencing buyer’s remorse after realizing that their longtime doctors aren’t accepting the new plans.
Before the law took effect, experts warned that narrow networks could impact patients’ access to care, especially in cheaper plans. But with insurance cards now in hand, consumers are finding their access limited across all price ranges — sometimes even after they were told their plan would include their current doctor.
There will be a significant amount of second-tier disappointment and backlash as it relates to the ACA. People just don’t think about these sorts of things until they have too. And you only discover what your doctor is carrying when you need to see your doctor. That’s how more people are discovering what this legislation is doing. There’s a difference between “coverage” and care. People are just starting to figure that out. Next the premiums will surge. After that there’ll be some period of government “blaming” insurance companies and companies “blaming” the government. And then the bailouts begin. And people will still be looking for a new doctor. (Period.)
FIFA is easily one of the worst organizations in the world operating in daylight. And I like soccer. But what’s going on in Qatar should change that for a lot of people. ‘Untouchable’ FIFA, president Sepp Blatter need to answer for atrocities in Qatar:
Workers’ rights groups and Amnesty International have been shouting about this for a couple years, but Qatar often dismissed the claims, saying things weren’t that bad and advocacy groups were overplaying things. Still under international media pressure, led by the relentless Guardian newspaper in London, the government hired a law firm to conduct its own investigation.
It concluded this week that there have been 964 deaths of migrant workers from Nepal, India and Bangladesh in 2012 and 2013 alone.
How we can look upon a sport that callous escapes me.
Here’s a unique analysis on the far east. Ties with Russia moving in China’s favor:
The highlight of the two-day state visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to China on Tuesday is probably going to be the signing of the long-awaited 30-year mega gas deal. The Russian media have been speculating such a strong possibility.
[…]
Essentially, an unbalanced relationship is moving progressively in China’s favor by the day. For Russia, it is going to be an entirely new experience, historically speaking, to settle for the role of a junior partner in relations with China. Putin’s visit will be closely watched for signs of new thinking in Moscow.
Do you buy things? You’ve noticed this. Wholesale prices rise by most in more than a year:
Wholesale prices in the U.S. rose in April by the most in more than a year, reflecting broad-based gains that signal the threat of deflation is ebbing as the economy improves.
The 0.6% increase in the producer price index was the biggest since September 2012 and exceeded all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of 69 economists, figures from the Labor Department showed today. Over the past 12 months, costs climbed 2.1%. Food costs jumped by the most in three years.
When was the last time higher food costs was pitched to you as a good thing? Western droughts figure into that, they aren’t good. Putting more and more corn into ethanol figures into that. Your mileage varies on whether that’s good. It takes fuel to get those foodstuffs from the farm to your house. Have you noticed those prices lately? Up next is cost-push inflation.
Meanwhile, here’s a term you’ll want to learn: velocity of money – the speed at which a dollar moves from one transaction to another, the greater its velocity, and the quicker the economy grows. It has been on the decline for five years. Where will it go next? That’ll be a big indicator in the near and medium future.
Our immediate future holds an early morning and a sprint triathlon. So, until next time, happy racing.
