Free Republic

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Highlighting the fiscal problems posed by growing health costs and an aging population, the trustees of Medicare estimated Monday that the program will only be able to pay a portion of promised benefits starting in 2024. That's the same year the trustees had estimated a year ago. Every year the Medicare trustees, who also oversee Social Security, release an annual report on both programs' long-term financial outlook. Unless Congress makes changes to Medicare, or overall health costs come down, Medicare will only be able to pay 87% of expected costs by 2024 and 67% by 2050....

With their vote this week to impose strict limits on future federal spending, House Republicans continued an argument not so much with Democrats as with demography. The real current they are seeking to reverse is not some ideological drive from President Obama to convert America into Sweden; it’s the inexorably rising cost of providing retirement security, especially health care, to an aging society. The cut, cap, and balance bill that Republicans muscled through the House would authorize an increase in the federal debt ceiling only after Congress approved a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget. The bill doesn’t specify...

I have been following the details of Steorn's ongoing public launch here for a while now - and apparently there is still lots to be revealed between now and the rest of January. Many people are watching and waiting to see if more conclusive proof of Steorn's claims will be forthcoming. The reason I have given Steorn and its technology so much time and attention is the revolutionary nature of what the company is claiming and the manner in which they are presenting it to the public. It appears they will be going to great lengths later this months to...

Someone recently forwarded me a “technical report” that claims that it is possible to run automobiles on water — with this miraculous build-it-yourself gadget that converts water into hydrogen and oxygen, then converts it to fuel that you use in addition to gasoline. (It was being distributed by email to break the conspiracy that keeps us all from using water to run our cars!) As much as I would love to believe that such a thing is possible, I know better. Of course, that’s because I’ve seen this sort of idiocy before. Back in the 1970s, when I was young,...

(IsraelNN.com) Two new Israeli methods for the production of electricity are on the table: Car-travel on highways, and a micro-turbine home system. A group of investors succeeded on Monday in producing electricity from the travel of cars along a highway. The experiment was carried out on Route 4, between Haifa and Tel Aviv, and has already elicited great interest in the Israeli and international scientific communities. The investors have begun talks to install their technology on various highways throughout Israel. Prof. Chaim Abramovitch, chairman of the new company, told Army Radio that his system could provide the electricity needs of...