Author: wwducat

About: Writer, Technology guy, Photographer, Possibly EX-Software QA Engineer, Worker Bee. Interests: SCUBA, Working out, Friends, New Views, New Vistas, Photography
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Been Head Down working

Healthcare reform

Tuesday I got a call from my normal doctor. I was expecting it…

The office staff called to tell me that the Doc wants to see me again. I look at the calendar and it’s been over a year. In truth I was expecting this call, the Doc is good about making sure he’s not just renewing prescriptions without seeing his patients.

While I’m on the phone with the staff, I remember that the insurance card I’ve been carrying around has proven to be completely useless and before I set up an appointment I ask them if they can verify that the insurance card will be honored.

Affordable Care

The staff says sure, and I give them my card number. About an hour later, they call back and tell me that they can’t accept this flavor of insurance. Yes, it’s a PPO but it acts more like an EPO and they’re not part of that network. They also told me to contact one of the attorney’s involved in the class action lawsuits against Anthem and to contact the Insurance Commissioner. Can you say this is a problem they’ve gotten tired of dealing with??

MickeyObama

I make the appointment anyway, By December I’ll have either come up with a real insurance carrier or I’ll not have insurance at all. Either way I’m going to see my doctor.

After a decade of him taking care of me I have no desire to have that relationship destroyed. There are damn few people I trust with my life outside my family. My Doctor is one of those people.

After getting off the phone with the Doctors office, I call Anthem and ask them what the hell is going on? Once again I’m assured that I have a PPO plan, once again I ask “If this is a PPO plan then why can’t I simply go to any physician that takes Anthem insurance?”

That’s when I get a lot of dancing around about how PPO plans have changed and that there are no PPO plans available in California because of ACA. I’m told that Cedars Sinai is now taking the PPO plan that I have and that Anthem negotiated with Cedar’s to make sure patients weren’t being excluded.

In other words, let’s put some more lipstick on this pig.

CoveredCA

After much discussion the Anthem representative tells me that I can’t make changes to my plan until open enrollment. I comment that since I’ve been unable to get any medical care under this plan I’ve been wondering if I wouldn’t be better off with a simple catastrophic injury plan.

The representative begins to tell me that if I had a catastrophic plan I might not be covered for hospitalization or emergency room visits. I retort that the definition of a catastrophic plan is a plan to provide those services. The representative does finally concede that perhaps, given my difficulties with their PPO plan I might consider a catastrophic plan during open enrollment which begins November 15th.

I spend the rest of the day researching my options…

Sigh, why can’t we just get the goods and services we pay for?

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And now I know how personal information get’s released

IMG 0351

Thursday I was sitting in a Starbucks next to an insurance guy.

That isn’t a big deal. What is a big deal is this; He kept leaving his machine to walk outside. And  leaving the computer up & unlocked talking to a VPN connection (I think) to the home office.

When I first sat down the machine was unattended for at least 20 minutes and I could see the guys corporate email.

If I happened to be a hacker it wouldn’t have taken me too long with his machine and I’d have been able to download tons of private client data.

He was looking at Client profiles on a web page that has a ton of personal data plainly visible.

I mean DUDE at least lock your screen!

Heck if I’m running my machine on battery, the screen dims and computer locks within 4 minutes of inactivity.

I’m really surprised at the carelessness of this guy and several other people in the room.

And don’t even get me started on the unsecured WiFi signals my computer is seeing.

I swear! All it would have taken is 3 – 5 seconds with a flash drive and this guys computer, and several others in the room would have been sending me all their account information, and all their corporate data too.

I always try to teach my clients about security and how to make it at least more difficult for bad guys to get at their data.

For example, I was using my phone hotspot instead the Starbucks WiFi. I was connected to the ONE authorized connection my phone will allow. Why should I expose my email passwords and logins to a network that I’m not familiar with?

I suppose I’m a little strange. But I can’t see making it EASY for a bad guy to screw me!

Perhaps I should start teaching Operational Security to corporate clients.

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Finally! A dentist I really like

Exam

I’m sitting in a Starbucks having a Cafe Moca.

I just had my teeth cleaned and went through a full exam without the sword of a root canal hanging over my head.

Now that I think about it, a Cafe Moca right after a teeth cleaning might not have been the best idea but what’s done is done.

Oh well!

I can say this, the new dentist is awesome! The office is called Winning Smiles and they’re dang good. Of the two root canals I’ve had in my life, the one Winning Smiles did was fast, (in & out in a day. FINISHED). The staff is kind, and they know their stuff. The root canal specialist is without question one of the best.

Dr Finazzo is personable, gentle and concerned about the patient. And he’s a totally straight shooter. He’ll tell you what he thinks is best for you and he’ll give you options.

If you’re near the Fontana area it is totally worth it to go to Winning Smiles.

These folks deal with the local hockey team. Think about that for a moment…

Winning Smiles

If you’re looking for an awesome dental office… 

Go see Winning Smiles!

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In our never ending quest for instant gratification…

DirectorPiersonYet another head rolls.

Director Julia Pierson resigned yesterday. One DAY after scathing congressional questioning about a security breach during her tenure as Director of the Secret Service.

She’d been on the job for a little over a year. The Media is attempting to paint her as somehow responsible for PRIOR security breaches dating back to 2009. 

The things she could be reasonably held responsible for are; the breach of the White House on Sept 19th, where NO ONE was injured and no threat to the President occurred. This White House breach should never have happened, but that’s another story.

Then there’s the revelation that the president was in an elevator with a CDC security guard who honestly shouldn’t have been working at the CDC!  There’s the tendency to assume that a security guard working at a federal facility that contains PLAGUES would be someone that you don’t have to vet too closely. The assumption may be flawed.  As humans,  we want to trust each other. Trust is more likely among law enforcement especially if one officer is wearing a uniform.

I find myself asking how demanding/forcing the Director to resign is going to help the situation. In the ensuing chaos of her departure doesn’t that further degrade the morale of the agency? In addition to the procedural issues, morale and high turnover rates among the agents have been cited as ongoing problems for years. 

I think we’ve become too quick to demand resignations. I’d personally like to have seen how the secret service would correct it’s mistakes. But now we’ll never know if the problem originated at the head of the agency, or if it was somewhere in middle management. Unfortunately, a new Director will have to spend time figuring it out all over again.

I wonder what breach of Presidential security will happen while the new Director is trying to get a handle on the issues, and if he or she will have to resign too.

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Press conference instructions re: Cell Phone Encryption

I admit I’m feeling a bit cynical this morning. 

I’m feeling cynical because of the continued whining on the part of the FBI & Law Enforcement. The linked story is just flat depressing.

In an effort to lighten my mood, I imagined what the press conference notes might look like, given our current administration.

 

 

Press Conference Checklist concerning cellphone encryption.

Instructions: Remember that we are attempting to terrify the citizens into giving up their Constitutional rights.

In order to do this, the presenter MUST be impassioned, while explaining the Government needs access to cellphone data to protect American citizens from;

• Terrorism (Here it’s best to invoke 9/11, the Boston Marathon, and Oklahoma City. Be sure to have a catch in your voice for the sound bites.)

dahmer

• Pedophiles (Reference Jeffery Dahlmer, and any other famous pedophiles AVOID referencing any accused politicians! For a list of accepted pedophiles ask the designated press secretary resource officer.)

• Drug Dealing (Here references can be made to Mexican Drug Cartels and the violence associated with inner city drug deals gone bad. However under NO circumstances should Chicago come into the discussion. If a member of the press asks about violence in Chicago ignore them, and move on.)

• Kidnapping (Pick any high profile kidnapping or missing person then explain how monitoring of all cellphone data and communications could have prevented the kidnapping or led to the expedient location of the kidnapped persons body. Remind the press that the deceased’s family needs closure.)

• Gun Running (Invoking the terrorist angle here is acceptable. For example; “Terrorists will try to bring their AK-47s into the country to commit mass murder. Terrorists will also seek to supply unarmed members of their cell with high powered Assault weapons.” Under NO circumstances will it be acceptable to mention The Department of Justice or Fast and Furious in this context.)

Workinggirl

• Prostitution (Show a pretty woman, or pictures of a disgraced non-serving congressman, to illustrate that interdiction would have prevented a scandal and national embarrassment. The picture is important because done right, the bible belt will rally against prostitution regardless of the rest of the narrative.)

• Rape (It’s helpful here to refer to the “Continuing war on Women”.  Law Enforcement needs to monitor text messages, twitter, facebook and the like to fight “The War on Women”. Explain that this monitoring allows Law enforcement to intercede prior to the Rape being committed. Forwarding this agenda ensures continuing budget support from Certain House members from California, and others.)

• Murder (Explain that by connecting lists of legal gun owners to their mobile devices it’s possible to correlate the potential for crime. This is of course not true but it will forward the continuing illusion that legal gun owners are the problem. This ensures continued budgetary support from certain Senators from California to our department.)

ferguson

• Police Shootings (Point out that monitoring of the police cellphones will allow detection of racist viewpoints prior to shootings. As we’ve seen in Ferguson, loss to property can be avoided entirely. Simply by handing any suspected racist, a.k.a. “White” officer officer to a permanently established lynch mob led by Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.)

• School Shootings (Hammer home Sandy Hook. If only we’d been monitoring the shooter, this tragedy could have been prevented. Teary eyes are perfect at selling this point. Our theatrical team suggest yanking your pubic hair out beneath the lectern to provide the teary effect.)

The person giving the press conference is not required to hit all of these talking points, but it is required that at least three points be addressed.

Remember, we’re trying to create and sell the first completely wired totalitarian country in history. We can only be successful by terrorizing the populace into believing that, not only does the government understand the problem…

But that giving up the Constitution is the solution.

Good luck Komrad

Don’t let the whining of the DOJ, the FBI, Law Enforcement shills, the NSA, CIA, DIA, or whoever else. undo the progress encryption of data represents in reclaiming our privacy.

Demand and defend your rights under the The Constitution.

If we don’t protect our Constitutional rights, no-one will.