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The MEDCottage, or so called “Granny Pod,” is being marketed as “family managed health care as an alternative to long-term care facilities.” The 12' by 24' portable, modular “medical home,” can be purchased or leased and placed on the caregiving family’s property. The homes are equipped with health monitoring equipment and lifts to assist people who have problems with mobility. Also included are security cameras that sweep up to 12 inches off the floor (foot sweep) in order to observe falls. The cameras can be monitored by computer or mobile device so that caregivers may “interact with them so you are participating in their life.”

The AARP calls it an “innovative idea,” but critics describe the portable homes as “storage containers” and worry about the impact of the mini-dwellings in crowded urban areas, as well as the dignity of senior citizens. While many surveys suggest that older people would prefer to live independently or with family members rather than in a nursing home, it doesn’t necessarily follow that this 288 square foot space in the backyard is what they had in mind.

Question: What do you think about "The Granny Pod" concept?

A year and a half after President Obama loosened restrictions on government funding of human-embryonic-stem-cell research, a federal judge has declared all such studies temporarily off-limits for taxpayer dollars, on the grounds that they violate a 1996 law. The decision could be a devastating step backward for a promising new science that has the potential to generate new treatments and possibly even cures for diseases such as diabetes and Parkinson's — and the reaction from scientists was swift and blistering.

"The court decision threatens to impede progress in regenerative medicine in our country," says Dr. Elaine Fuchs, a professor at Rockefeller University and president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. "It must be challenged as quickly as possible."

Levi Johnston (a.k.a. Bristol Palin's baby-daddy) filed paperwork that confirms his intent to run for office in Wasilla, Alaska – presumably for the same office Sarah Palin held until 2002. Filing a letter of intent is typically the first step local politicians take when seeking elected office. Johnston's filing permits him to accept campaign contributions.

In the Alaska Public Offices Commission form letter, Johnston filled out a blank stating he intends to run for office in the "City of Wasilla 2011" election but did not declare an office. But, Stone & Company Entertainment confirmed to CNN on August 10 that it is actively shopping a show that will feature Johnston running for mayor.

Question: What do you think of Levi's plan to run for office?

We read an interesting blog over the weekend that we thought would make a great question for our Daily Cents readers. If elected governor of New York, Tea Party Republican Carl Paladino wouldn't criminalize being poor, per se. That would be unconstitutional. He'd just rather see them "voluntarily" move into state prisons where they could work on improving, among other things, their "personal hygiene". Paladino is competing for the Republican nomination with former U.S. Rep. Rick Lazio. He's routinely argued that New York's social services encourage illegal immigrants and the poor to come to live in New York.

Paladino is proposing to consolidate prison facilities and using the vacant ones into dormitory style housing where they could work for the state in some military or public works capacity in exchange for a receipt of benefits. If Paladino's plan sounds familiar, it should.  Prior to the enactment of Social Security, government run poorhouses were the norm, often located outside of cities on "poor farms" where the able-bodied residents were required to work.  

Question: What is your opinion of Paladino's idea to move the poor into state prisons?