Sloppy Procedures And Oversight

Via ZeroHedge, who wants to bet that these same programmers were hired to set up the Obamacare Exchanges?

This is probably the most painful bug report I’ve ever read, describing in glorious technicolor the steps leading to Knight Capital’s $460m trading loss due to a software bug that struck late last year, effectively bankrupting the company.

The tale has all the hallmarks of technical debt in a huge, unmaintained, bitrotten codebase (the bug itself due to code that hadn’t been used for almost 9 years), and a really poor, undisciplined dev-ops story.

It sure sounds like the folks at HHS put in the same level of care during the beta phase, too.

But of course the real difference is that the company paid for its sloppiness, whereas we are the ones who will continue to pay for our government’s incompetence.

Oil’s Under $97, Funemployment Still Very High

The percent of people able to work who actually are continues to decline…

I guess there must be some “glitches” in this latest Recovery Summer.

Jake Tapper Hammering Most Transparent Administration EH-VAH

…for most transparent secretive sneakiness EH-VAH.

Oh, I LIKE the Cut of Her Jib!

You know the funeral Congress is flying down to? SOMEONE has been VERY PUBLICALLY DISINVITED.

Beverly Young to Charlie Crist: Stay away from memorial service

A host of dignitaries from Washington to Tallahassee to Tampa Bay will be on hand to honor the late U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young at his memorial service Thursday.

But one particularly prominent politician won’t be welcome at First Baptist Indian Rocks: Charlie Crist.

Young’s widow, Beverly Young, emailed the former Republican governor and likely future Democratic gubernatorial nominee, instructing him to stay away.

Charlie:

This e-mail is to officially advise you that your presence at my husband’s memorial services will be unacceptable. I have watched over the years, as Bill had, your transparent attempts to manipulate the political arena. I don’t want my husband’s memorial service to be another opportunity for that and I will not tolerate anyone turning this into a platform for political gain.
Please honor my families request.

Sincerely,
Beverly Young
Widow of Congressman Bill Young

Oh, that’s GREAT. It’s her goodbye party for him and Charlie’s NOT what she wanted.

So All Those “SUCCESS STORIES” Lined Up Behind Jug Ears at His Press Conference Today?

Kinda like his signature legislation and damn near everything out of his pie-hole ~ a big, fat fraud.

At the White House: Obamacare success stories that aren’t

President Obama invited a number of people to stand behind him as he delivered his speech on the state of Obamacare at the White House Monday morning. One of them, Janice Baker, a small business owner from Delaware, introduced the president, and Obama spoke of Baker and the others gathered there as people who have benefited from Obamacare. But after reading the White House-provided descriptions of each of those behind the president, it’s clear the administration was stretching to present people who, beyond supporting Obamacare, have actually gained from it in any tangible way.

For example, a Pennsylvania man named Malik Hassan was in the group, and this is the White House description of his situation, in full:

“Malik Hassan works at a restaurant in Philadelphia. Hassan, who does not receive coverage through his employer, is looking forward to enrolling for health coverage this fall. He recently used Healthcare.gov. to process his application and is waiting for the options for potential plans in Philadelphia.“

So, Hassan is employed, not covered, and has not yet succeeded in finding coverage through Obamacare. That is, in the White House’s estimation, an Obamacare success story.

Then there is Nathaniel Hojnacki, who recently finished his schooling. Here is the White House description of his situation, again in full:

“Nathaniel Hojnacki recently received his Master’s degree at Johns Hopkins University SAIS and is in an employment situation without benefits. Hojnacki recognizes the importance of coverage and is planning to enroll after he explores his coverage options on the DC exchange.“

So, Hojnacki has a job, does not have coverage, and is planning to explore finding coverage through Obamacare. Another success story.

Then there is LaJuanna Russell, of Virginia. Here is the White House description of her situation, in its entirety:

“LaJuanna Russell is the owner of Business Management Associates, a consulting company in Alexandria, Virginia. Russell says she is proud to offer her employees health insurance but that it can be difficult for a small business. Russell believes that the ACA provides stability for her and her employees and is exploring what new coverage options will be available to her company under the exchanges.“

So, Russell owns a business, has employees, and believes Obamacare might help her in the future. Another success story.

There’s a couple out of the 13 folks profiled who have been “helped”, but “success“?

For SIXHUNNERTANDTHURDYFOURMILLIONSDOLLARS and counting?

Pffft.

Liar.

Weekend Grub

Since the weather was getting cool and wonderfully Autumnally I decided to make short ribs. Since that is a two day project I had my Special Helper assist me for a few hours Saturday during the preparations

Once they were done and cooling down to go into the fridge to yummify over night I made some curried butternut squash soup for Saturday’s dinner

My Bride made some deee-lish grilled cheeses to round things out.

Man, I tell you, I spent at least 6 hours on my feet in the kitchen Saturday…must have cost me at least 4 bottles of wine.

But it was all worth it because the short ribs we polished off on Sunday night were exceedingly yum

on a bed of tarragon-flavored brown rice with some roasted brussel sprouts.

And lots of wine.

Eatin’ Goober Peas

I Don’t Always Climb On The Bed…

But when I do, I make sure my butt is on Bingley’s pillow.

Winter Is Coming

“It’s a Holy Shit Moment.”

No kidding. When you’ve got the HuffPo screaming “WTFO?!?!?!“, you’ve got yourself a quagmire.

Obamacare Website Failure Threatens Health Coverage For Millions Of Americans

More than two weeks into the disastrous rollout of HealthCare.gov, the website created by President Barack Obama’s health care reform law still isn’t working right.

…And anyone who isn’t able to get coverage because of the exchanges’ problems could confront the prospect of tax penalties through no fault of their own.

For Obama and the Democrats who’ve stood behind Obamacare during four years of relentless attacks from Republicans — including a face-off that led to a 16-day government shutdown and a threat of U.S. default —

failure of this magnitude would discredit a core premise of this presidency, that government can do big things to improve Americans’ lives.

…Under these circumstances, the lion’s share of the people who do whatever is necessary to sign up through HealthCare.gov are likely to be the sickest and most expensive to cover because they have the greatest need, Laszewski said. That would make the pool of people covered very costly, causing health insurers to lose money and likely rethink whether they want to participate in the exchanges, he said. “The fundamental threat to Obamacare is we don’t get enough healthy people in the pool to keep the rates reasonable, and they are in grave danger of that problem,” he said.

If these problems persist longer — weeks, months, a whole year — the entire Obamacare project falls apart, Laszewski said:

“It’s a holy shit moment.”

H/T Instapundit

If You Weren’t Sure That the ObamaCare Exchanges Were a Government (Vice GOP Intransigence) Induced Disaster Before…

….you can rest assured NOW.

Tech experts: Health exchange site needs total overhaul

WASHINGTON — The federal health care exchange was built using 10-year-old technology that may require constant fixes and updates for the next six months and the eventual overhaul of the entire system, technology experts told USA TODAY.

The site could be perfect, but if the systems from which it draws data are not up to speed, it doesn’t matter, said John Engates, chief technology officer at Rackspace, a cloud computer service provider.

“It is a core problem in the sense of it’s fundamental to this thing actually working, but it’s not necessarily a problem that the people who wrote HealthCare.gov can get to,” Engates said.

“Even if they had a perfect system, it still won’t work.“

That’s the rubber stamp of a federal project FER SURE: designed and built-in obsolescence.

For a BAZILLION dollars.

NOW I Know Why He’s Not In Jail

He’s SUCH AN IGNORAMOUS, even THEY don’t want him.

Rangel: GOP Governing “The Same Way They Fought As Confederates”

…RANGEL: I’m very, very optimistic about what the leadership has said in the Senate. This isn’t a question of the House and Senate differing. This not even the question of Republicans and Democrats differing. This is all about a handful of people who got elected as Republicans that want to bring down our government. You can see it in the streets. You can see where they’re coming from.

And the same way they fought as confederates, they want to bring down the government and reform it.

And ALLLLLL the lo-info Democratic voter bovines are going “Uh-huh. That’s right. Them Confederates were Republicans and they always HATED blacks. Told you.”

“Just What We Need ~ Another Invisible Man in Washington”

There’s no justice if this phoney baloney poser wins.

But we’re already well aware of that.

Schmaybe She Needs To “Let’s Move” Off Her Butt…

…and actually do some work in “her” garden

Washington, DC – The first government shutdown in seventeen years has had a dramatic impact on First Lady Michelle Obama’s world-famous Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn, currently bursting with more than thirty kinds of vegetables, including Presidential pumpkins awaiting harvest just in time for Halloween.

In the eleven days since the shutdown began on Oct. 1, the pounds and pounds of ripe organic bounty have gone to waste. The vegetables filling the 1,500 square-foot plot are now rotting away on the vines and in the boxed beds, thanks to the mandate for “minimal maintenance” placed on the skeletal crew of National Park Service gardeners who remain on duty at 1600 Penn.

The gardeners are not allowed to harvest the crops, a White House source told Obama Foodorama. Weeds are springing up everywhere, and the vegetables that have already fallen off the vines are now mouldering on the ground.

Or, perhaps, just perhaps, much like her husband the wonderful ideas and visions she wishes to impose upon us do not of course apply to her…

Unlike Cory Booker’s Imaginary Friend T-Bone…

My friend of the same name is quite real

or was rather…

nomnom

Rank Amateurs

“Rank” as in “the lyin’ sack o’ sh*ts REEK TO HIGH HEAVEN“.

‘So much wrong’: Aetna CEO blasts Obamacare tech debacle

Aetna’s CEO gave a harshly critical review Monday of the federal government’s Obamacare marketplace, saying, “There’s so much wrong, you just don’t know what’s broken until you get a lot more of it fixed.”

Asked on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” if he knew that the rollout of Healthcare.gov would be problematic, the insurer’s CEO, Mark Bertolini, said his giant company’s role as an alpha tester for the system gave it a sense of how many problems the health insurance marketplace faced on the eve of its launch.

“We were pretty nervous as we got further along,” Bertolini said. “As they started missing deadlines, we were pretty convinced it was going to be a difficult launch.”

His fears have been realized, he said, and the technological debacle seen at Healthcare.gov is one similar to just the handful he’s witnessed in his career.

“It’s nothing you ever like to repeat,” Bertolini said. “Because it’s very difficult. I’ve been there. It’s career-ending in a lot of cases.”

‘On the fly’

“It’s all been on the fly,” Bertolini said of the construction of the marketplace and the integration of insurers such as Aetna, whose plans are being offered to up 40 million customers.

“We didn’t get code drops until the last month before the system went live,” he said

Of course, EVERY WORD he out of his mouth can be discounted because he is an EE-VILLE INSURANCE personage, who can only be expected to speak ill of the Abominable Care Act.

Anecdotally. Of course.

Happy Christopher Columbus Day!!

I wish they’d quit picking on the guy. These ships come here every three years or so, and ~ lemme TELL you ~ they are TINY!!

All props to Chris on HIS day, ’cause that little jaunt took MASSIVE cajones.

Just Got Back From Seeing Rush

My goodness, what an incredible movie.

It was great.

Go see it.

We Interupt This Drinking For An Important Mater Update

When we last saw our friends they were rather green and earning scorn from certain tropically-endowed bloggers.

But lo! What red through yonder greenness breaks!

La Crema de la Crème

Yummy stuff. I decided I wanted to go a little malolactic-buttery chardonnay tonight so I picked up a few bottle of this La Crema for $15ish. Decent buttery cantaloupe fruit with a softer acidity than I expected. A nice full bodied wine.

The Currants In The Rye

A sure sign that Daughter is home for the weekend and I am making pah.

Ah, Connecticut! Reliable Blue State That Loves Obama And Obamacare

Good luck with that.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH)– In the midst of major changes in health care, United HealthCare has sent thousands of pink slips to Connecticut doctors.

Termination letters went to physicians caring for Medicare patients.

Those letters were sent out to doctors caring for ‘Medicare Advantage’ patients.

$634 Million Dollars

That’s how much this administration has spent on the Healthcare.gov website.

Just the website.

Oh, and it’s a Canadian company too.

Waiting To Enroll

LabBummerCare™

“I’m Covered”