Headaches for healthcare plan
 
Obamacare, President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul plan, is likely to cause medical claims costs to jump an average of 32 percent, according to a recent study by the nation’s leading group of risk analysis.
The study released by the Society of Actuaries concluded that while some states see medical claims costs per person decline, a large majority of states would see double digit increases in their individual health insurance markets.
By 2017, the estimated differences in increased claims costs would be 62 percent for California, 80 percent for Ohio, 67 percent for Maryland and more than 20 percent for Florida.  
According to the report, the explanation for the higher claims cost is that sicker people are expected to join the pool.

Jindal Tax could hurt movies

As Gov. Bobby Jindal unveiled details about his tax plan to eliminate the state’s income and corporate tax in exchange for an increase in sales taxes, Louisiana film industry leaders are concerned the new plan would also devastate the state’s TV and movie industry.  
The proposed part of the plan that affects the film industry deals with the state’s Motion Picture Investor Tax Credit, which provides money as an incentive to persuade film and television production companies to shoot in Louisiana.  
Jindal’s proposed plan would initiate a $1 million cap on the amount production companies could claim as qualifying expenses on applications for tax credits.   
“If such as cap is instituted in Louisiana, it will likely result in the bankruptcy of all the major studio facilities in the state and the loss of more than 10,000 jobs,” Will French, president of the Louisiana Film and Entertainment Association, said.  
The plan has already caused problems for the production industry since some projects that were considering shooting in the state are supposedly looking for other locations to film until the specific details of Jindal’s plan are voted on by the state’s legislature.

Social Media goes Red

Many Facebook friends changed their profile pictures to red in support of the Human Rights Campaign as the Supreme Court decides the fate of marriage equality and Proposition 8, which outlawed same-sex marriages in California.  
For those confused by their Facebook friends who have turned red, the HRC, an advocacy group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered individuals, encouraged over 1 million Facebook followers to change their profile pictures in support of equality.  
“Make sure you wear read to show your support for marriage equality.  And make your Facebook profile red too,” The HRC told its followers.  
The post gained popularity as it was shared over 45,000 times and received over 13,000 likes.  
As of Wednesday morning, the majority of Supreme Court justices were skeptical of the constitutionally of the Defense of Marriage Act, which federally defines marriage between a man and a woman.  Wednesday’s court hearing focused on United States v. Windsor and whether it is constitutional for the U.S. government to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages already recognized by individual states that approve of the legal sanction.

Amanda Knox to be retried

Amanda Knox will be retried in Italy for the 2007 murder of her 21-year-old roomate Meridith Kercher.
Knox and her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were initially found guilty of killing Kercher and spent four years in prision, but the verdict was thrown out on appeal of scientific evidence in 2011.
Prosecutors claim Kercher was stabbed during a sexual assault influenced by drugs. Knox’s roomate was found in their Italian apartment with over 40 wounds and a throat wound.
The retrial will reportedly begin sometime in 2014.

Pope forgoes luxury apartment

Newly elected Pope Francis decided to live in a modest two-bedroom apartment, instead of moving into the grand apartment on the top floor of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace.
Pope Francis has broken a century-old tradition in opting out of the apartment with over a dozen rooms, staff quarters, a terrace, and extensive views of Rome.
The pope’s residence is a simple two-room suite in the Domus Santa Marta, a hotel-type residence built by Pope John Paul II next to St. Peter’s Basilica.
A spokesman for the pope said he is “trying out this type of simple living” in a commual setting with other priests and plans to be there for the foreseeable future.

Scientists create invisibility cloak

Scientists at the University of Texas have creaved a cloak that may be one step closer to creating the cloak made famous in the Harry Potter movies and book series.
A miniature version of the cloak was created and works only in microwave light. The invention is made of metascreen, created from strips of copper tape attached to a flexibly polycarbonated film. The cloak used a technique known as mantle cloaking to cancel out light waves that bounce off of the shielded object so that no light survives to reach an observer’s eyes.
The scientists were able to use the cloak to conceal an 18 centimenter tall cylinder rod from microwaves.