Because of the limits placed on the exchanges, most of the participants will have some form of premium credit or affordable subsidy. That means most will be ineligible for abortion coverage. The idea that people are going to go out and purchase separate “abortion plans” is both cruel and laughable. If this amendment passes, it will mean that virtually all women with insurance through the exchange who find themselves in the unwanted and unexpected position of needing to terminate a pregnancy will not have coverage for the procedure. Abortion coverage will not be outlawed in this country. It will simply be tiered, reserved for those rich enough to afford insurance themselves or lucky enough to receive from their employers. (via Ezra Klein - A very bad deal to pass a very good bill)

the comments are unbelievable.

the world’s first historical thesaurus: It takes the enormity of the OED and arranges it thematically and chronologically. A glance at any page is a look at language evolution from Old English to the present, and it’s no less startling and amazing than watching sea slime slowly morph into monkeys and Neanderthals. (via Thesaurus Rex | GOOD)

How To Use An Apostrophe - The Oatmeal -

fine little day: n e w s

Los Angeles Without Traffic « Tom Baker

(via MobileEsther)

Although businesses such as Colle’s World Tricot, which supply handmade haute couture to some of fashion’s leading names, often suggest ideas for designs, they rarely – if ever – ask for copyright, preferring to be given a large order from the client. If Colle, who claims Chanel used her pattern without placing an order, wins her fight, she believes it could have widespread repercussions.

Because of the lawsuit, banks have refused to help her, former clients have disappeared and she has had to lay off all but a dozen employees, she added. “You cannot imagine what it is like,” she said, claiming she had been subjected to a strategy of “pressures and manipulation”. “You are faced with an enormous machine. You become the guilty party.”

(via Seamstress takes on might of Chanel over crochet pattern | Life and style | The Guardian)

Nowhere in Fiji Water’s glossy marketing materials will you find reference to the typhoid outbreaks that plague Fijians because of the island’s faulty water supplies; the corporate entities that Fiji Water has—despite the owners’ talk of financial transparency—set up in tax havens like the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg; or the fact that its signature bottle is made from Chinese plastic in a diesel-fueled plant and hauled thousands of miles to its ecoconscious consumers. And, of course, you won’t find mention of the military junta for which Fiji Water is a major source of global recognition and legitimacy. (Gilmour has described the square bottles as “little ambassadors” for the poverty-stricken nation.)

“We are Fiji,” declare Fiji Water posters across the island, and the slogan is almost eerily accurate: The reality of Fiji, the country, has been eclipsed by the glistening brand of Fiji, the water. (via Fiji Water: Spin the Bottle | Mother Jones)

baggage (via alistairh)

the whole set is good.