There were multiple security failures that led to the disaster on 9/11/01. Inadequate passenger screening at Boston’s Logan Airport was one of the last of them, so now we all remove our belts and shoes for the TSA.
Before that fateful day, there was a daily intelligence briefing with a late warning about Osama bin Laden. A warning that George W. Bush chose to minimize, if not ignore.
Much earlier than that, there was an appalling lack of coordination between the FBI and the CIA. So now we have Fusion Centers, as explained last night on the PBS NewsHour.
This must be documentary week. After “The Lie Detector” on American Experience, I binge-watched the four-part Netflix series, MADOFF: The Monster of Wall Street.
The substance is excellent, but the style is annoying. I agree with everything in this review from The Daily Beast.
Berlinger… falls back on his worst habit: staging dramatic recreations that unnecessarily tip the action toward melodrama.
The narrative provided by Diana Henriques in the series has great clarity. So it’s no surprise that her book, The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust, was adapted into a movie.
This pre-existing dramatization of the Madoff story further proves the point made in The Daily Beast review of the Netflix series.
There’s little reason to have actors playing Madoff and his associates in dialogue-free sequences designed to accompany interview snippets.
The DeNiro movie is on HBO Max. I’ll get to it after watching the first part of another new documentary, Frontline’s “Global Spyware Scandal: Exposing Pegasus.”
Ken is one of the sources appearing in “The Lie Detector,” an excellent new American Experience documentary on PBS. The popularization of lie detectors — which are valid only as an intimidation tactic — has a comic book connection.
What I’ve been listening to during Nordic Track exercising, and when out walking rather than running. Each podcast automatically plays the next part, or you can go the series pages.
A Freakonomics 3-part series about the father of self-interest Capitalism, Adam Smith. Series page.
WBUR’s 5-part series on the democracy-harming monopolies resulting from Capitalism. Series page.
The rise of socialism is why “nobody works, nobody gives a damn,” Bernie Marcus said in an interview with the Financial Times Thursday. “‘Just give it to me. Send me money. I don’t want to work — I’m too lazy, I’m too fat, I’m too stupid.'”
What are Marcus’ definitions of “nobody” and “socialism?” His disdain of working people is straight out of Ayn Rand’s fantasy-romance novels. But he also distrusts the college-educated. What an attitude.
Marcus is actually asking, “Why won’t people work for whatever wages employers are willing to offer?” It’s the same, old tired party line that’s been used by conservatives for generations.
You would think Marcus admires the desperate immigrants coming from Latin America, who are willing to work hard at any job for below minimum wage. But of course he hates them too, and he supported Trump’s efforts at closing the southern border.
As successful and experienced as Marcus is, in his final years he has learned nothing. He cannot see how thoughtless, simplistic, and limiting his thinking is. Here are more parting shots from the 93-year-old crank who co-founded Home Depot.
What is a wellness visit under Medicare Part B? Isn’t it an annual physical? No, it isn’t. That much is certain, but beyond that who knows? This video is supposed to explain the distinction.
Well, that clears nothing up. Notice how a wellness visit is annual, but a physical is routine? Uh, aren’t physicals supposed to be annual? There’s a weak explanation of what a routine physical isn’t, but not what it is.
Last year, coverage for my “welcome to Medicare” visit was denied, because the doctor’s office used the billing code for a routine physical. Knowing for certain that the initial preventive physical exam is covered by Medicare, I went through some hassles but eventually got it straightened out and the billing statement was cancelled.
This year I was once again billed by the medical practice. There were a number of things that Medicare paid for, but there was a line item that matched the amount the medical practice stated I owed. BCBS Medex paid only $8, which seemed like an odd amount. I called BCBS and all I got from the rep was, “yes, we paid $8.” Hmm. Okay, so I paid the bill for the amount I owed, because I assumed my visit was a physical. Doing that had the unfortunate effect of hiding the itemized bill from view on the Epic Systems Patient Gateway. What’s the point in doing that? Next time I’ll print it out before paying anything.
Then I watched the video shown above and called BCBS back, hoping to get more information. After the (different) rep reviewed the bill she said, “That was an annual wellness visit. I see this mistake all the time. You shouldn’t owe anything.” She put me on hold and called my doctor’s office directly. When she got back on the line I was told the bill would be re-submitted to Medicare, and assuming it goes through I should receive a refund.
There’s more information at this link and, frankly, it’s no more helpful than the video. Unless I’m missing something that’s less than obvious, it still doesn’t provide a definition for a “routine physical” under Medicare Part B.
The video is right about one thing — there’s confusion surrounding these definitions and their associated billing codes. So what, exactly, is a routine physical?
