soupy says

In the past two days have received two messages from two individuals that randomly decided to look me up via facebook. Now these two individuals are not complete strangers but friends from when I lived in Austin, Texas. I moved from Austin, Texas in 1995. I'm headed down to San Antonio in October and made plans to meet up with one of these long lost contacts.

currently Simon & Garfunkel, "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover"

I've been uploading photos from last year to my flickr account. I realized that I haven't been doing as much "personel upkeep" since I've been back home. Actually, this change took place sometime over the summer. I'm not sure what happened, but I know I feel better when I don't just roll out of bed, look in the mirror and say "whatever."

currently Sleater-Kinney, "Far Away"

The Moral-Hazard Myth may affect the military's health care.
Details:

Service members would be offered cash if they are willing to accept reduced health care benefits for their families. “The less comprehensive plan would encourage individuals to be more cost-conscious when purchasing health care products by including deductibles, co-payments and a maximum annual out-of-pocket expenditure limit"

The moral-hazard argument makes sense, however, only if we consume health care in the same way that we consume other consumer goods, and to economists like Nyman this assumption is plainly absurd. We go to the doctor grudgingly, only because we’re sick. “Moral hazard is overblown,” the Princeton economist Uwe Reinhardt says. “You always hear that the demand for health care is unlimited. This is just not true. People who are very well insured, who are very rich, do you see them check into the hospital because it’s free? Do people really like to go to the doctor? Do they check into the hospital instead of playing golf?”...the more that people were asked to chip in for their health care the less care they used. The problem was that they cut back equally on both frivolous care and useful care.

currently Dispatch, "The General"

And yet again, I wonder how I turned out the way I did: My mother stopped working when I was born, and right now (if I even do have children), it is not what I want.

On the other hand, maybe it is not all that curious, my mother spoke of resentment at her few feasible career options, and in some ways she almost felt forced into teaching. In an English class at the University of Houston, a professor told her friend that A Streetcar Named Desire was not an appropriate play for a lady to do a report on for an assignment. Perhaps she would have felt more motivated to return to teaching if she didn't feel that it was increasingly more frustrating.

Ladies, choosing to stay home with the kids is fine, but "this is a decision that males don't have to make?" That's Bullshit.

currently Ben Folds, "One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces"

I'm doing a pretty great job avoiding fully incoprorating myself in the post-grad "real world."

More details at a later date.

currently Guster, "Nothing but Flowers"

I got my passport today. $67 went to the Department of State. $45 went the Postmaster. $112 total. Do other countries charge this much to be able to leave their shores? After Jan 1, 2008, I don't see how the price of this document won't affect travel to the U.S. and Mexico. I mean, there already is some requirment of wealth to travel overseas (you have to be able to afford a plane ticket, for one thing). But, for those that living along the in the Rio Grande Valley (for example), $112 is mega bucks (hell, for me it is pay for a day and half of work).

currently The Beastie Boys, "Railroad Blues"