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Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

  • To the Editor:

    Re “Obamacare Premiums Are Rising, Not a Little” (The Upshot, June 16):

    So Obamacare premiums are going up. I’d rather pay more than have no insurance. If my insurance goes from $360 a month to $400 a month, that’s still way better than having to risk losing every single dollar I’ve saved over decades just because I get sick and end up spending a couple of weeks in the hospital or need surgery.

    SHAUN BREIDBART

    Pelham, N.Y.

    Note from KBJ: What's your deductible?

    From Today’s New York Times

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    Jul 7
  • IMG_6043

    A view of the Mackinac Bridge from Mackinac Island. Click to enlarge.

    Michigan #57

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    Jul 6
  • What do Tour de France cyclists eat during the stage? Jens Voigt answers.

    Cycling

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    Jul 6
  • How ridiculous is this? William Kristol, who has an incurable case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, offers advice to Trump but pretends that the advice comes from a friend. I knew Kristol would come around to Trump. Otherwise, he would be speechless and powerless for the next four years. What rankles Kristol (and his ilk) is that Trump has no use for him. Kristol suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder. A final thought: Imagine that the energy Kristol has expended in attacking Trump had been expended in attacking Hillary Clinton.

    Politics

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    Jul 6
  • Here.

    Ten Years Ago Today in This Blog

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    Jul 6
  • Here.

    Dilbert

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    Jul 6
  • This is the theme song of the television series La Femme Nikita, which aired between 1997 and 2001. I have all five seasons on DVD. Here is one of the episodes.

    John Beal, “La Femme Nikita (Main Theme) (Club Version)” (2012)

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    Jul 6
  • To the Editor:

    Forget the election. Forget conservatives versus liberals. Forget the theater that is Trump versus Clinton. What saddens and disgusts me about the decision not to take some formal disciplinary action against Hillary Clinton for her blatant disregard for the rules that are meant to protect our country and its citizens is the duplicity of it all.

    What this says is that there is one set of laws for people in power, like the Clintons, and another set for us “rank and file” citizens. Many federal employees have been disciplined and prosecuted for less negligence with classified material than Mrs. Clinton exhibited.

    Our country should mourn this decision, not based on our political stripes, but because it signals a very public decree that we are no longer equal in the eyes of the law.

    MURRAY SALES

    Grosse Pointe, Mich.

    Note from KBJ: The Clintons may be above the law, but they're not above the people. Vote Trump in November and send the Clinton Crime Family back to Arkansas.

    From Today’s New York Times

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    Jul 6
  • After nearly five and a half hours of racing, a photo finish. Here is video of the final kilometer.

    Cycling

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    Jul 5
  • The All-Star rosters have just been released. How do the New York Yankees, who have the 11th-best record in the American League (of 15 teams), get three representatives, while the Texas Rangers, who have the best record in the American League, get two (Ian Desmond and Cole Hamels)? East-coast bias. It's sickening. I may boycott the stupid game.

    Addendum: Let me support my claim of bias. The East Division of the American league has 33.3% of the teams (five of 15) but 52.9%  of the All Stars (18 of 34). Is the East Division so much better than the Central or West? No. As of this moment, the East is 212-201 (.513). The Central is 207-205 (.502). The West is 208-208 (.500). The East should have at most 12 All Stars.

    Addendum 2: The East has 18 All Stars, the Central nine, and the West 7. Based on the winning percentages set out above, the figures should be 12, 11, and 11. The West Division is getting screwed; and why would that be? Because the East-coast fans and sportswriters rarely see the Western teams play. That should have nothing to do with All-Star representation.

    Addendum 3: The National League is more balanced than the American League as far as All-Star representation is concerned, but the West still gets screwed. The East (.490) has 13 All Stars, the Central (.491) 11, and the West (.502) 10. So the worst division has the most All Stars and the best the least. East-coast bias. As I say, it's sickening.

    Addendum 4: Here are the totals for the two leagues (each of which has 34 All Stars):

    • East All Stars: 31 (45.5% of the total)
    • Central All Stars: 20 (29.4% of the total)
    • West All Stars: 17 (25.0% of the total)

    The bias is strongest in the East, less strong in the Central, and weakest in the West. Here are the winning percentages by region, which shows that the disparity cannot be explained in terms of quality of play:

    • East: 50.18 (416-413)
    • Central: 49.69 (411-416)
    • West: 50.11 (419-417)

    Based on these percentages, the number of All Stars should be 23 in the East (instead of 31), 22 in the Central (instead of 20), and 23 in the West (instead of a measly 17), for a total of 68. I rest my case.

    Baseball, Part 2

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    Jul 5
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