Can America Become More Obtuse? — Affordable Care Act & The Public’s Profound Ignorance

American Citizens Remain In The Dark On Crucial Aspects Of Health Care Reforms

How many times do we need to take a step back and try to explain health care reform… again? For huge swaths of the American public — for a ridiculously absurd number — it’s just not sinking in.

Forget whether you and I disagree on the merits of the Affordable Care Act. We would engage the debate because we are “aware” and educated about the issue’s facts. I’m not speaking about knowledge-based disagreement; I’m talking about willful ignorance proliferating across the nation.

This is the depressing, discouraging take-away from the monthly Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, published by the Kaiser Family Foundation. And once again in April, the numbers underscore our collective ignorance about the domestic policy issue that has dominated political and business news coverage for nearly four years — not to mention an entire and most expensive presidential election!

• Only 3 out of 5 Americans understand that the 2010 Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare,” remains the law of the land and is being implemented at full speed, according to the April survey of adults from April 15-20.
• Among the 42 percent who got it wrong, 7 percent think the Supreme Court overturned the law (it didn’t),
• 12 percent think Congress has repealed the law (it hasn’t), and…
• 23 percent simply don’t know (where have you been?)
• Nearly half — 48 percent — of Americans told Kaiser pollsters a month earlier that they have heard “nothing at all” about their State’s debate over whether to set up an online health insurance marketplace, called an “exchange,” and…
• a stunning 78 percent said they didn’t know whether their state had decided to expand Medicaid, the law’s single largest avenue to coverage for uninsured Americans!
• 58 percent of respondents in March told Kaiser they believe health care costs are rising more quickly than usual over the past few years… the exact opposite of what has actually occurred!

It’s all very nice and easy to explain away or excuse these figures of ignorance about the single biggest influence in business and inflation and personal bankruptcies in America. Sure, “regular people’s” lives are shaped more by youth soccer schedules than by health care policy, so we should cut the public some slack. Right?

A resoundingly negative, No! If you are voting in elections, you need to know truth and facts. If you don’t, then please keep away from election day voting stations. You endanger democracy and societal progress. And we should be calling it and you out for exactly the danger ignorance presents.

Better yet, please don’t offer up opinions on anything more important than Justin Bieber’s incessantly changing hair styles.

More and more, Americans are embracing the logical conclusion that if they don’t know the facts, it’s difficult to form an opinion. D-oh!

In April, a historic high — 24 percent — said they have no opinion when asked if they generally approve or disapprove of the new health care law. That’s progress of sorts, in a dystopian way.

America’s blind and willful ignorance… That’s why…

• That’s why we went to war preemptively against a nation that not once threatened the US and had not one weapon of mass destruction (that would be Iraq, my fellow Americans)
• That’s why the knee-jerk reaction to rescuing the financial markets from complete destruction was considered “communistic” and led to the rise of the hateful Tea Party
• That’s why the “Birther” movement questioning the President’s American birth got traction
• That’s why it matters that a dullard such as Sarah Palin even existed on the political scene and almost become the second-most powerful person in the world
• That’s why our schools are failing and the US falls behind every other major industrialized nation on test scores (how can schools succeed with kids molded [or left bereft] by ignorant parents?)
• That’s why we need strong federal regulations to protect the safety of Americans from their own ignorance
• That’s why we need Obamacare to mandate and provide necessary insurance to protect Americans’ health from their own ignorance

Villa L, Utrecht Netherlands — Paradox Of United Diversity

A Stunningly Fresh Take On Modernism By Powerhouse Company & RAU

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Villa L is a spatially diverse residence where every floor has its own strong identity, creating a broad spatial scope within a unified whole –  three floors, three unique environments (of which one is below ground and yet exposed with significant window glazing).

Powerhouse Company, in collaboration with RAU, recently completed Villa L. Designed to the desires and needs of a young — and very fortunate — family, Villa L is set in the woods of central Netherlands, fully oriented towards the sun and garden views, and features green building strategies including hot and cold-water storage and hidden photovoltaic cells.

The ground floor, occupied by living and dining rooms, is partially covered by a green roof which also acts as a garden for the bedrooms upstairs. In contrast to the brightness and transparency of the ground floor, with its glossy travertine and mirrored glass, the top floor exterior walls are covered with dark-stained wood to suggest a more private atmosphere.

Main level is for living, with an open ground floor. A strip of service rooms containing storage, toilets and stairs, provides easy access to the elegantly open living spaces. The kitchen and the living room are oriented to best utilize natural light and provide views of the garden. Two studies are located near the living area, on the north side next to the entrance. The “cabins” on the second floor are surrounded by the roof garden that appears as an extension of the surrounding forest.

The upper level of Villa L was conceived as a “village of cabins” – a cluster of intimate and private dark-stained-wood detached volumes that follow a different outline compared to the ground floor. Each ‘cabin” room provides its own private views over the wooded landscape. In order to achieve this affect, architects developed a complex steel frame that surrounds the volumes. An 11-meter steel cantilever supports the structure – although it’s completely hidden from view.

The curvaceous subterranean level is for guests, fitness, pool, storage, and cars. The unique excavations along three parts of the below-ground level allow the pool and the guest rooms to have fully glazed facades and direct access to the garden, while the remaining offers access for cars. All the high-end energy-saving systems are situated in the subterranean level, as well.

What’s The Big Deal About Chained CPI? — Obama vs Social Security

Robert Reich on Chained CPI (Obama’s proposal to cut Social Security benefits)

In an effort to assuage Republicans and entice them to sign on to long-term deficit reduction with increased revenues, President Obama proposes to throw under the bus the generation he lauded in his inaugural address.

Apparently, President Obama quickly forgot his own inaugural words:

“We reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future. For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty, and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn.”

Reich established this petition to the President:

Mr. President, the chained CPI is a cut to Social Security benefits that would hurt seniors—it’s an idea not befitting a Democratic president. If you want to reform Social Security, make the wealthy pay their fair share by lifting the cap on income subject to Social Security taxes.

If you agree, please sign this petition, then share with your friends.

http://signon.org/sign/mr-president-please-do-1

Modern Living Showhouse (Prefab) by pieceHOUSE

pieceHomes teamed up with Ecofabulous and sustainable prefab builder, OneBuild, to create a modern dweller’s 520 sq. ft. eco-friendly dream home that was on display at the 2011 Dwell on Design Convention in Los Angeles

“The Modern Living Showhouse is a fantastic, innovative example of a highly-functional, beautiful, and affordable execution of residential design using reclaimed and sustainable materials. This is what happens when creativity and good design work together for the greater good of the environment.”Michela O’Connor Abrams President & Publisher, Dwell Magazine

Austrian Mountain Modernism

 

Shingled geometric gem in Hohenthurn, Austria

Designed by Gri Zucchi Architects and Associates — Stefano Gri and Piero Zucchi

Heavy Metal House: Channeling Richard Neutra & Cliff May

Architect: Hufft Projects
Location: Joplin, MO, USA
Principals in Charge: Matthew Hufft, Kimball Hales
Design Team: Dan Brown, Adam Crowley, Jonathan Tramba
Area: 6,800 sqm
Completion: July 2010

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This steel and concrete home relates so well to the low-slung, horizontal idiom of Richard Neutra coupled with the rough-hewn, natural texture of Cliff May…

Heavy Metal draws its name, and it’s straight forward industrial aesthetic, from the custom perforated steel panels which form the envelope of the residence. More than 200 in total, each panel has a unique set of perforations based on a simple set of programmatic responses to interior and exterior conditions, which are scrutinized to determine where privacy (opacity) is most critical and where openness (transparency) is desired… generating the residence’s signature façades.

Heavy Metal’s plan is a variation on a traditional courtyard, with a large outdoor space bound on two sides by the steel and glass façade, via Neutra. The central living/dining area acts as the heart of the residence, with its increased ceiling height and warm walnut ceilings.

This central space is flanked by two wings containing guest bedrooms and the master suite, respectively, which act to define the edges of the private courtyard retreat, while a large photo studio anchors the transition between the three main spaces, completing the L-shaped plan. The lightness of Heavy Metal’s perforated exterior steel skin in conjunction with the monolithic concrete walls, exposed structural steel, warm rich walnut, and large expanses of glass give the home a distinctively classic modernist character.

Great Barrier House, New Zealand / Crosson Clarke Carnachan Architects

Located on Great Barrier Island, this wooden house aimed to fit in with “sustainability.” Portions of an e-mail received from the Clients refer to this point:

“The outdoor room is a place we spend much of our time, eating, reading, doing homework and siesta-ing; but the feeling of being indoors on those hot summer days with all doors open is also fantastic. Not cold enough (owing to that great low E glass and good design) for fires yet – we have had 2 only for ambience, not heat. “It is an astonishingly decadent feeling lying in a bath of free water, heated by the sun, pumped by solar power. Free as anything! Hot water gets up to 68 degrees in the tank from the sun, and has to be cooled to come out the tap. “With 9 staying and all the laptops, music, washing etc we’ve only run the generator 3 times ever. All the irrigation systems do clever things. So it’s more than a PC nod to sustainability, as you know from all our fussing about timbers and paints.”

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