The No Surprises Act (NSA) (click here) establishes new federal protections against surprise medical bills that take effect in 2022. Surprise medical bills arise when insured consumers inadvertently receive care from out-of-network hospitals, doctors, or other providers they did not choose. Peterson-KFF and other studies find this happens in about 1 in 5 emergency room visits. In addition between 9% and 16% of in-network hospitalizations for non-emergency care include surprise bills from out-of-network providers (such as anesthesiologists) whom the patient did not choose. Surprise medical bills pose financial burdens on consumers when health plans deny out-of-network claims or apply higher out-of-network cost sharing; consumers also face “balance billing” from out-of-network providers that have not contracted to accept discounted payment rates from the health plan.¹  The federal government estimates the NSA will apply to about 10 million out-of-network surprise medical bills a year....

There is a dialogue missing from the loss of the Thwaites Glacier.

Quite some time ago, like years, I mentioned the fact that Antarcitica is a structure of ice with varing degrees of dependence. The tall Blue Ice that we see in floating glaciers after calving is stable because of the deep cold of this region of Earth, but, also because of the structures of terraces, shelves and finally sea ice. Each structure is dependent on the others. 

I stated that once the terraces fail there will be tsunamis and I think that needs to be evaluated with Thwaites.

Ice by scientific definition is a rock. Glaciologists fall into a category of geologists. But, in the case of Antarctica there is the issue of the windward currents of the ocean. That brings oceanographers into the picture. I am sure there is a paper somewhere in the literature or "in the works" to determine the potential of tsunamis with loss of Antarctica ice abuptly rushing into the sea. Up to now most of the measurements are to ice loss, hence, the thermostat of Earth. There is another element that can begin to be understood and that is the ice cores of which global scientists have in their possession. I believe the Russians at Station Vostok have a full depth ice core from their drilling right down to Vostok Lake.

The ice cores are usually used by palentologists to examine the past. There is a lot of history in those ice cores where it is not found anywhere else, namely greenhouse gas content of the atmostphere. But, there could be more in relation to density at depth and and boundaries/borders between that density. I would think the heavier the ice in density the more stable it would be, however, there is the "topple" issue.

Basically, what I am thinking is that ice cores can be examined for the ice density, weight of that density and the height of that density. If the higher densities are lower they will topple or slid from the structure, but, as the density is greater and the weight of ice greater at depth in the ice cores that might remain on land and not topple so easily. This is something that has never been assessed to my knowledge. 

With Thwaites being a WHEN it disintegrates and not IF; the idea of the volume of ice loss on the land of Antarctica and method it is lost is vital to warn people of the danger considering if there is any significant solid ice that either topples and/or slides into the ocean surrounding Antarctica what size tsunami will be generated.

All this is a huge question and requires scientists across disciplines and countries to work together for answers. We are talking about the lives of people on Earth and if any one country refuses to admit to the danger and refuses scientists to knowledge there is always The Hague. The World Court would be delighted to stem the loss of human life and not just punish after the fact.

 

I hope everyone had a "Happy New Year." I watched the New Year role in around the world. Enough party for me.

Without questioning any of his facts, Vladimir Putin sounds desperate in this news conference. It is obviously staged.

When a world leader resorts to cultural difference between countries to sound high handed and moral, there can't be much he can talk about.

Putin in this staged news conference is serving up fear in democracy and oppression of the Russian people to vote for anyone but him. I think this is a prelude to any future elections and if it is a war chant then the fear is about Western democracy and how gender differences will disaappear within that paradigm.

Europe and the USA have been around a long time and the last I heard, Osama bin Laden had ranted on about the sexuality of Western democracy and "the Playboy culture." I think we are safe from a gender neutral society on the cultural level. We all know the fate of Osama bin Laden.

That said, Russia is definitely a anti-gay culture and the people within that country that belong to the "acceptance" movement are always in danger without question. Perhaps under communism not all people have to make a living as with Western democracies, so perhaps the LGBTQI community in Russia is at least provided for in housing and food. LGBTQI threats are human rights issues.

I don't see Russia's soldiers marching to war declaring "Gender Liberation" either. I think they will need something more than that, like a Faux Hitler taking over the USA and the world. I wonder who that might be?

But, Putin's obvious fear mongering about gender is leaning into the recognized and official religion of the people, the Russian Orthodox Church (click here). But, whether it is the fear of god Putin is ranting on about or the simple fear that Western democracy, the language is to begin a dialog to win elections EASILY dividing men from women in an arguement that will go on and on within the culture. So, it is an anti-LGBTQI issue that also assigns "gender roles" to the Russian people. He makes it easy to be on his side, get your gender straight and Putin will uphold that aspect of cultural importance.

I think the 50 percent of Russians that want their vote to count and their leaders in public speaking rather than on a hunger strike in a prison cell are finally an issue. Putin is on the run in this answer to the woman's question reframed by the journalist.