Posner: Abolish Medicare

Richard Posner:

As a matter of economic principle (and I think social justice as well), Medicare should be abolished. Then the principal government medical-payment program would be Medicaid, a means-based system of social insurance that is part of the safety net for the indigent. Were Medicare abolished, the nonpoor would finance health care in their old age by buying health insurance when they were young.

T-Mobile Security Hack – Privacy, Please

Bruce Schneier on privacy in the internet era:

This is new. A dozen years ago, if someone wanted to look through your mail, they would have to break into your house.
Now they can just break into your ISP. Ten years ago, your voicemail was on an answering machine in your house; now it’s on a computer owned by a telephone company. Your financial data is on Websites protected only by passwords. The list of books you browse, and the books you buy, is stored in the computers of some online bookseller. Your affinity card allows your supermarket to know what food you like. Data that used to be under your direct control is now controlled by others.

Wisconsin Voter Fraud – DePere Man Charged

Kira Sparks:

Marc P. Lacher, a St. Norbert’s alumnus, was charged Jan. 14 with voting illegally in the state of Wisconsin. Lacher used an old address to vote in Green Bay, although he currently resides in Illinois. Lacher said he believed he could vote using the previous address he resided at when attending college, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.