(Via Michael Moore)

Joe Biden is showing that he is not going out quietly. His administration has announced a new proposal that would have private insurance companies provide free birth control pills and condoms to all the people they insure.

Millions of people with private health insurance would be able to pick up over-the-counter methods like condoms, the morning-after pill and birth control pills for free under a new rule the White House proposed on Monday.

Right now, health insurers must cover the cost of prescribed contraception, including prescription birth control or even condoms that doctors have issued a prescription for. But the new rule would expand that coverage, allowing millions of people on private health insurance to pick up free condoms, birth control pills or morning-after pills from local storefronts without a prescription.
…

“The proposed rule we announce today would expand access to birth control at no additional cost for millions of consumers,” the health and human services secretary, Xavier Becerra, said in a statement. “Bottom line: women should have control over their personal health care decisions. And issuers and providers have an obligation to comply with the law.”

The emergency contraceptives that people on private insurance would be able to access without costs include levonorgestrel, a pill that needs to be taken immediately after sex to prevent pregnancy and is more commonly known by the brand name “Plan B”.

Without a doctor’s prescription, women may pay as much as $50 for a pack of the pills. And women who delay buying the medication in order to get a doctor’s prescription could jeopardize the pill’s effectiveness since it is most likely to prevent a pregnancy within 72 hours after sex.

If implemented, the new rule would also require insurers to fully bear the cost of the once-a-day Opill, a new over-the-counter birth control pill that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved last year. A one-month supply of the pills costs $20.

Expect Republicans, evangelicals, and the Catholic church to go ballistic about this. Their long-term goal is to prevent anyone having sex other than within the framework of heterosexual marriage, and even then only for the purpose of procreation. This move goes completely counter to that.

I do not know if this move requires congressional approval, which would be tough to get.

Commenter birgerjohansson was kind enough to send me this interesting article about how the Netherlands is reducing its prison population and closing down some of its prisons and converting them to cultural centers.

The Dutch have seen their prison population decrease by more than 40% over the past 20 years. At the other end of the spectrum, Britain has the highest rate of incarceration in western Europe, and is struggling with an unprecedented prisons crisis. Britain’s minister of prisons, James Timpson, calls the Netherlands a source of inspiration.

Part of this is due to the general reduction in violent crime that has been occurring worldwide. While non-violent crime has not decreased, those crimes provide less of an impetus for incarceration, the negative consequences of which are becoming increasingly apparent.
[Read more…]

The source of creepy Donald Trump’s random obsessions.

What is truly weird.

I did not listen to the Elon Musk-creepy Donald Trump love fest. I did not want to waste two hours of my life listening to two egomaniacs fawning over each other. Apart from the disastrous start in which technical glitches delayed the start by 50 minutes, the reviews of the subsequent content have not been not good, justifying my decision.

Some of the most scathing comments have been about their discussion on climate change, where creepy Trump said we should drill for more oil, that rising sea levels will provide the benefit of more ocean front property (what??), and wondered why we are not talking about ‘nuclear warming’ (whatever the hell that is), while Musk seemed to think the only reason to going electric is because fossil fuels will eventually run out.
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Sports Illustrated ranked the uniforms that athletes wore at the opening ceremonies in Paris and Sri Lanka placed third, after Mongolia and Mexico

“The Sri Lanka Opening Ceremony fits are inspired by the look of the 19th-century royal court, and the details are hand embroidered,” SI explained. 
…

Each garment features elements such as the Olympic rings, the national Lion emblem and personalised athlete details, showcasing Sri Lanka’s craftsmanship and artistic legacy.

It is quite elegant.

You can see the top 11 outfits here. The top-ranked Mongolians look terrific.

Like so many of my election analyses, I have been contradicted by events, but this time it occurred faster than usual.

I had suggested that Roy Cooper, the governor of North Carolina, would be a good choice to be Kamala Harris’s running mate. Five days later, he has announced that he was pulling out of the running.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who grew close to Kamala Harris when they both served as their states’ attorney general, has withdrawn from contention to become her vice presidential nominee.

Cooper’s exit from the veepstakes was confirmed by three people briefed on the development and granted anonymity to discuss it. Two Democrats close to Cooper cited three factors: His desire to potentially run for Senate, his age and fears that North Carolina’s divisive Republican lieutenant governor would take over each time Cooper traveled out of state.

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There is nothing much that I want to add about the shooting at the Trump rally. As is often the case in the immediate aftermath of such an event, there is a lot of confusion and we just have to wait until there is more information and greater clarity.

But it is just another sign of how out of control guns are in the US.

I have written before at my mystification at the appeal of the various food-eating contests where people compete to see who can eat the most of some item in a given time, or variations thereof. There is something off-putting about seeing people cram food into their mouths. But it seems like you can make a competitive sport out of pretty much anything and once you do, it can draw spectators and media attention

The most famous of these contests is the contest sponsored by a company called Nathan’s where, every July 4th, people compete to see who can eat the most of the company’s hot dogs (and buns) in 10 minutes. The record holder on the men’s side is Joey Chestnut. He has won the title (called the Mustard Belt) 16 times with the record being 76 hot dogs and last year won with a mere 62. On the women’s side, the record holder is Miki Sudo (whose husband competes on the men’s side) who has the record of 48.5 and won last year with 39.5.
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