By Jace, a Trail Mix Contributor
Here it is in a nut shell: I’ve been diagnosed with a serious health problem.
I won’t bore you with the details — in fact they are really not all that important. Many here on “the trail” have had major health concerns at one time or another in their lives, so I am in no way unique.
I have lived almost sixty three years without ever having set foot in a hospital for any type of treatment. Now I find myself being rushed headlong into the heart of the medical industrial complex with almost no reference point or experience upon which to put the journey into some sort of context.
In most respects I am fortunate when it comes to healthcare. I have reasonably good employer-provided health insurance, and we do have some resources over and above insurance that we can draw on if needed, and I reside in an area with many excellent medical facilities and personnel. I would add further that I reside in a state that takes seriously the health care of it’s citizenry. Make no mistake about it — it is better to get sick in some states than others. Both in terms of availability of services and outcomes.
It has become fashionable during the healthcare wars for both sides to rely on anecdotal evidence and cases to make their claims as to the benefits or drawbacks of Obamacare. Using individual cases and patients like cheap props in a sideshow to advance their particular point of view, or to offer a sop to a particular special interest. All the while ignoring the fact that all people will require healthcare during their lives. It is necessary, costly, time-consuming, and very likely frightening. It should not be the fodder for political grandstanding, posturing or photo opportunities
Even with Congress in recess, and the debacle that was repealing Obamacare in the rear view mirror, we still hear rumblings about the possibility of reviving the process yet again in another attempt to put access to quality affordable health care out of reach for millions.
It is past time to draw the health care line in the sand. Repeal Obamacare? Absolutly not. Fix Obamacare? Perhaps, but is it really worth the effort?
The only acceptable option is universal single payer health care.
For those politicians and special interests who wish to ignore that reality out of political expediency, greed or simply profound stupidity, it is time to show them the door. For those who are faint-hearted or wish to address the problem with half measures, we must ask — or more accurately demand — that they turn the task over to those who are willing to do the heavy lifting.
As the title of my post suggests I am not some case or number needing to be trotted out to prove a point. Neither are the folks who sit with me in the waiting rooms and infusion centers.
I (We) are not anecdotal, but rather UNIVERSA — our healthcare choices and options should be nothing LESS!
More Posts by Jace
“….so I am in no way unique”
jace, au contraire, you are unique. a special snow flake, fingerprint, etc here on the trail. you are our sunday sunrise. so glad you made the move to a more healthcare friendly home.
to paraphrase willy the shake: It is the east, and china is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief….
wapo:
BEIJING — China announced a ban on imports of iron ore, iron, lead and coal from North Korea on Monday, cutting an important economic lifeline for the Pyongyang regime, as it moved to implement a package of sanctions put together by the United Nations Security Council.
The ban will take effect from Tuesday, the Ministry of Commerce announced.
But at the same time, Beijing warned the Trump administration not to split the international coalition over North Korea by provoking a trade war between China and the United States.
[…article continues…]
jace,
Excellent post. Sorry you had to write it – but thankful you did. Clear, memorable, humane writing, which reflects who you are.
Hope you don’t mind the company 😉 but you’re there with xrepublican in my thoughts. Nothing mushy. Just a little positiveness.
Jace…healing energy to you and you should take a day off!
There are so many aspects to healthcare — prevention and intervention are the ones most of us are familiar with in the US of AA. Today, we have a potus and his party that are creating an unhealthy environment.
Was never a Terry McAuliffe fan but he showed leadership after Charlottesville. Raises a good point about where people should be allowed to gather. Public safety has to be considered along with free speech. You can have both without compromising either.
****
Saw a show about the Baltic States. Latvia, Estonia had clever solutions to all those awful statues of Communist leaders, comrades, workers: put them in a park. Reeaallyy close together. They look ridiculous. Which is the point.
As odd as it seems, the alt right is festering the health care debacle under trump. Women and humans of color are chattel…not deserving of medical treatment. Will the generals be able to burn the alt right out of trump? bannon and the proud boys, kkk, white nationalists pretty much represent the 77,000 humans that got trump over the electoral college finish line. trump is loyal to his supporters and putin. I await his canned speech today…he looks awful. It is as if trump no longer wants to be potus…the noose is tightening around his family’s neck. His plastic surgery is melting and I would imagine he is having tantrums…even mel has to sit next to him at a meeting to keep him calm and staged in front of the cameras.
Jace, thanks for that insight. Yes, at some point “we” all eventually are faced with the prospect of exploring the interplay of medical needs and financial security. I agree that the only solution that makes any sense is universal health care. For a great minority of the country that is a third rail. Sad. The irony to me is that it would be cheaper for all so long as employers continue to contribute to the system as they do now.
It is not free speech to use your car as a weapon. If the young woman mowed down was killed by an immigrant or illegal? trump would have paraded the family out in front of the cameras and called for action. She might have been an anti-fa and for that reason, trump is silent on her murder. trump has always encouraged the thugs of the alt right…pretending not to know who david duke is, etc…working the base the whole time. repugs let this racist idiot into the WH and now they are trying to control the monster.
Jace – would a Democratic Congress pass a universal health care and payment act? I tend to think that they would not. I expect that after the current bubble of r’s in power passes and a reasonable group of politicians are in the Congress and WH that a step towards health care would step to open Medicare for all. I think the move to total coverage will happen, but it will take a long time to reach what UK has.
A long time ago, 2004, I was diagnosed with Hepatitis C, and was not given much chance to live. I went online and found a list server with about twenty or so others with HCV. We were the beginning of the HepC groups. At the end of 2004 we had about one hundred others with us. We were very close, crying as people died, cheering if they had a drop in virons* detected. We also started greeting people with, “welcome to our group, sorry you have to be here”. I hope you can find a support group where you can cheer good news and cry together over bad.
Virons are the measurement of virus parts. You like to have “non-detectable” after any detectable number and treatment.
Weather update on the monsoon in Las Cruces…photo of the arroyo behind my house yesterday afternoon after rain.
Jace… excellent post! Keep fighting the good fight and get healthy. And YES!… we need universal healthcare. I like the Medicare for all solution… as I think it’s the most likely to get passed hopefully sometime in the near future.
ps… I also hope that most Americans were disgusted by what happened in VA this weekend. It’s time for Asshole in Chief to go.
I am not completely sure, but the recent, weekend, pics of SFB seems to show him trying to become a mini-pence or mini-sessions with white/silver hair.
bbronc, I noticed that too. it’s been a slow progress from cheap goldie locks to platinum blonde to now a hint of white pure as the driven supremists.
bw, saw this morning a telling clip of an interview with mother of the car terrorist. she said she thought her son was going to an event about trump…”I thought it had something to do with Trump.” she was spot on there, it had a lot to do with trump. the blood on his hands can’t be washed off no matter how many statements they put out.
Just listening to Tom Perez, DNC, and decided that he has the same failure to speak as many Dem leaders have for many years. Unable to say anything specific. I fought that over ten years ago, I talked of bringing jobs to my city and was told to not talk that way. I talked of using resources which were going to waste, and was told not to talk that way. I was told to talk certain ways, and I ignored a lot of the “advice” as I was an old time Dem who wanted jobs for people who wanted to work. It is not part of me to mealy mouth. It is sounding like more than a handful of Dems are leaving the DNC behind and returning to our Progressive roots.
https://youtu.be/07tMQs-5SD8
It’s a start …
HuffPost: In a sign that the Democratic Party is embracing more progressive health care ideas, eight Democratic senators announced Thursday that they were co-sponsoring legislation that would allow people 55 and older to buy in to Medicare. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) introduced the Medicare at 55 Act with the immediate support of Democratic Sens. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Patrick Leahy (Vt.), Jack Reed (R.I.) and Al Franken (Minn.).
from npr:
White Supremacist Site Is Banned By GoDaddy After Virginia Rally
The Daily Stormer, a Neo-Nazi website that promoted the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., will no longer be hosted by GoDaddy, after the service received calls to ban the site over its hate-filled stories.
The Daily Stormer is now seen as trying to spin the threat of being taken down, with the site posting a story that claims to be written by hackers affiliated with the activist group Anonymous. That story includes a threat to delete the site within 24 hours. But a main source of news about Anonymous says the group doesn’t seem to be involved.
The dispute over the website comes after a violent weekend in Charlottesville culminated in the killing of Heather Heyer, 32, an anti-white nationalist protester. Police say James Alex Fields Jr., 20, killed Heyer when he drove his car into a crowd of people.
The Daily Stormer then published a story mocking Heyer and making light of the events in Virginia, prompting calls for GoDaddy, which hosts the site, to be taken down.
Posting a link to the offending story, women’s rights advocate Amy Siskind wrote via Twitter, “@GoDaddy you host The Daily Stormer – they posted this on their site. Please retweet if you think this hate should be taken down & banned.”
More than 6,500 people retweeted that message, and the web service replied late Sunday night, “We informed The Daily Stormer that they have 24 hours to move the domain to another provider, as they have violated our terms of service.”
In the story on the Daily Stormer, the purported hackers say they’ll delete the site by the same deadline set by GoDaddy. But in a break with notable hacking takeovers, the story doesn’t appear as a message plastered on the front of the site; instead, it’s published alongside other pieces, including the one about Heyer.
The Daily Stormer is published by Andrew Anglin, who also writes much of its most high-profile content; the site is supported by reader donations rather than by advertising.
The alleged hackers’ message included the hashtag #TANGODOWN — a term that was quickly used by opponents of the site’s views to celebrate its seeming demise. News organizations around the world ran stories about the apparent takeover, which had included the explanation, “this evil cannot be allowed to stand.”
But a Twitter account that often relays news about Anonymous states, “We have no confirmation that ‘Anonymous’ is involved yet. Looks more like a DS stunt. Wonder if they are having issues finding a new host.”
[….story continues….]
to answer John’s last question – Who? SFB, that’s who.
Jace
Sorry to hear of your problems and wish you well in dealing with it. As you say, in one way or another, we will all face being in the frequently not so loving arms of medical care.
It is time that healthcare be declared a right for all. It is too important to be entrusted to greed. Now “Universal” doesn’t have to be single payer. All of the nations that have universal care handle the method of coverage in many ways with most of them opting for combinations of employer, single payer, and insurance firms. The one thing they all have in common is a MANDATE. Unless everyone is in the pool, costs cannot be contained.
The ACA, Obamacare is a beginning. It’s no time to throw the baby (even an ugly one) out with the bathwater. Start with the ACA and correct, amend, or even change as necessary. Allowing a buy in to Medicare for everyone over 50 is a good start but still doesn’t have the benefit of offsetting high cost elderly folks with young, seldom ill people.
Jace
Wishing the best for you– if it could be fixed with a pork chop and some champagne I would be there in a NY minute.
I truly believe that people wishing you well has an impact. I know everyone here does.
I’m sorry Mr. President. But, we forgot the football today. . . but look, a laser pointer for you to chase around the room. Good boy.
Jace – Wishing you all the best on your journey back to good health.
Jace: So sorry to hear about your health issue but happy you’re have a state and employer on the side of the angels. I’m sending positive messages out into the universe for your speedy recovery.
Your post is right on re health care and I wish we, the majority, would find a way to put down the greedy men in power and provide what should be a right for all…universal health care. Just another arena where the US in far behind the rest of the industrialized world. If we’re not careful we’ll end up looking like a third world country with bright shiny conclaves where the rich and powerful gather to look down on the rest of us.
Good luck and God speed on your journey to wellness.
Here’s to Heather Heyer, and all the other brave counter-protesters who stood up to racist thugs- it takes a lot of courage to go up against those bullies.
I haven’t been able to find any research on this, but I wonder: if everyone could buy into Medicare wouldn’t the pool of healthier, younger people costing less than what they pay in be a net financial gain?
Hey all,
Thanks for the comments. Medicine can do many things , but I know of no prescription, potion or tonic, that can put wind at one’s back. That is the province of a gracious and compassionate humanity of the type so often evidenced on the ‘trail’.
This journey may be long,but It will go forward with a full sail.⛵️?
Heather Heyer was a hero before Sunday. She was a person who every day stood up for human rights. Bink is right, she deserves a standing ovation from everyone of us.
Smooth sailing, Jace. Keep us posted on your adventure.
Well Jace, damn….. May the gods all lend a hand…….
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/13/us/charlottesville-heather-heyer-profile/index.html
Jace, I’m glad that you chose today to tell us that you are seriously ill. Putting things in today’s perspective, 72-years ago on August 14, WW-2 ended with Victory in the Pacific. Take courage that you are on the shores of that vast Ocean that personified courage and determination for a generation of Americans and their families. And here’s some special music for us who are, um, looking at the calendar.
wapo:
The chief executive of Merck said Monday in a tweet that he was resigning from President Trump’s American Manufacturing Council, saying he was doing so “as CEO of Merck and as a matter of personal conscience” and that “America’s leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy, which run counter to the American ideal that all people are created equal.”
In the statement, Kenneth C. Frazier, one of the few African American CEOs in the Fortune 500, said, “I feel a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism” and touted the power of diversity. “Our country’s strength stems from its diversity and the contributions made by men and women of different faiths, races, sexual orientations and political beliefs.”
Within an hour after the statement was first issued, Trump tweeted his response. “Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President’s Manufacturing Council, he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!”
Frazier’s resignation followed an outcry by critics about how President Trump had responded to protests over the weekend in Charlottesville that were led by white supremacist groups and turned violent. Many questioned why Trump had not explicitly named neo-Nazi, Ku …. […article continues….]
I just watched ’46’ (as the mooch calls him) in Colombia as pinch hitter prez…when asked about if he had seen any collusion with the campaign and russia? pence said he did not ‘witness’ any collusion….then he got a smile on his face and was a bit red in the cheeks…he thinks he is going to be 46. Meanwhile, unkempt trump sauntered down one side of the stairs on AF1…slapping the sides of the handrail like an unruly child. He has to put away his nazi paraphernalia and drop alt right buddies like scum bannon. The generals babysitting the king baby are making sure he stays away from the fire and doesn’t burn himself with matches.
in wapo op ed, conservative Jennifer rubin has some good suggestions:
In the wake of the violence in Charlottesville, what could Republicans do?
In the near-term, Republicans could hold hearings on the rise of neo-fascist and white-supremacist groups and demand that the administration get serious about combating domestic terrorism instigated by these groups.
They could demand the firing of White House advisers (Stephen K. Bannon, Sebastian Gorka) who provide ideological ballast for the white-nationalist movement.
Republicans could pass a resolution calling for removal of Confederate statues that celebrate those who took up arms against the United States and defended slavery. (Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie must do so immediately, especially in light of his narrowly defeated primary opponent’s campaign extolling Confederate monuments. The same goes for Senate candidates in Alabama.)
Republicans could defund and denounce the ludicrous election fraud commission, which rests on the lie that there was massive voting fraud and is a thinly disguised ruse to put into effect new obstacles to voting. (Every state should be encouraged to have automatic voting registration, as Oregon and five other states and the District of Columbia have.)
They could pass legislation granting permanent legal status to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) beneficiaries.
Republicans could propose a shield law to protect reporters from having to reveal their sources, a rebuke to the president’s war on the press.
In other words, Republicans must, in as many different contexts as possible, demonstrate that they not only repudiate in words what the white nationalists stand for but that they are prepared to act in ways that specifically undermine the neo-Nazi, anti-democratic white-nationalist and alt-right groups’ vision of America.
dems would do well to lend a bipartisan hand to help the gopers in these endeavors and to emphasive the message such actions would send.
Jace, brother and friend, fight, fight like hell to beat back your medical malady. Sending positive thoughts to you and your family.
Your post title reminded me of the “everyman” sentiments of the 1960’s when everything seemed possible. Today, we have lost our way as a society feeding the gods of greed and avarice with little or no regard to our common humanity. And, regrettably, the reactionary society is being directed by the president of the United States.
Your post has given us a reason to pause and contemplate our own situations and give rise to universal solutions. Hang in there!
SFB is back down to 36% at Gallup – through Saturday. I suspect we haven’t seen the hard deck yet.
In 2017, who would have thought we would have a nazi-sympathizer as prez?
To be fair, he is devoid of actual sympathy for anything save for himself…..the rest are just things for him to play with.
But you know, lately I’ve been seeing videos of him bragging about his German blood and the success gene and stuff like the nazis say……so what the hell, he might be a genuine nazi sympathizer……
It is pretty stunning that he would equate Nazi hate groups with people standing for tolerance and non-violence. Can’t afford to offend his base.
He lied and read the teleprompter with a few snorts — not impressed. Another white nationalist rally on 9/11 at texas am…empowered by their prez, the alt right will continue the trump agenda.
PG has yet to address the hate crime against the Muslim community in Minnesota.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Lilyachttty/status/896464203900264448/video/1
this about says it all
Trump reciting script today like Bart on his chalkboard: “No more winks to KKK, Nazis, white supremacists or Steve Bannon.”
go aggies! good to see positive student response to peacefully counter negative nazi messagengers
“Students are planning a number of various [counter-] protests,” Josh McCormack, editor in chief of the Battalion, told CNN. “The most popular protests seems to be a recreation of the ‘maroon wall.'”
Blocking the view
The maroon wall is essentially a human chain, McCormack said. In July 2012, members of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church came to the area to protest a soldier’s funeral at a local church. When they showed up, they were greeted by hundreds of students who linked together to block their view.
Now, a similar maroon wall protest is being organized on Facebook. By Monday morning, more than 1,000 students had already signed up for it.
“We will be making a silent, outward facing wall around the plaza to protect our students and show that the Aggie Family’s commitment to its own is far greater than any force trying to divide us,” the Facebook posts says.
above from link posted by bw re 9/11 at texas
Thanks for the link to the Heather Heyer profile, KGC, and thanks to Sturge for his link that provides Trump espousing a eugenic philosophy, which is commonly used as a pseudo-intellectual justification for racial-supremacy perspectives.
I appreciate NPR’s in-depth coverage of Charlottesville (I’ve criticized NPR before, I take it back, now). I’m not surprised to hear that the White Supremacists were armed with high-powered weapons designed to kill humans. This is our society now, and no community is safe. If you think being “white” will keep you from harm, notice that it didn’t in Virginia, and won’t anywhere, else.
the hill via msn:
President Trump’s approval rating has dropped to its lowest level ever in a Gallup tracking poll.
The president’s approval rating is only 34 percent in the latest Gallup average released Monday, while 61 percent of adults disapprove of the president’s performance, also a new high.
[….]
The Gallup poll was done over a three day period ending Sunday, meaning that some of the respondents participated in the poll before the violence in Charlottesville and Trump’s controversial response to it.
The poll surveyed roughly 1,500 adults and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
also from that gallup report this tidbit:
….The president has talked in recent days about doing well with his “base,” but Republicans’ latest weekly approval rating of 79% was the lowest from his own partisans so far, dropping from the previous week’s 82%. Democrats gave Trump a 7% job approval rating last week, while the reading for independents was at 29%. This is the first time independents’ weekly approval rating for Trump has dropped below 30%.
For the three-day period ending Sunday, Republicans’ approval of Trump was at 77%.
I don’t get why “neo” is applied to Nazi. We don’t say neo-racists.
Sorry to say, but looks like Charlottesville police failed miserably. Heather could have been spared if they had done their job. For starters, allowing automobiles in that vicinity was malpractice.
Nazis love alliteration.
Haha…….Neo-Know-Nothings
Jace, I don’t want you in ‘my club.’ Get well and feel great, immediately. Next, lead a long, healthy, happy, fruitful, musical, socially and politically triumphant life. No back talk, now. Just do it.
Patd, I didn’t think we’d seen the floor of SFB’s approval ratings. My question is aside from his racist base who the hell is in the 34%?
recidivist racists. klockwork klansmen.
After the untimely* death of russian demagogue n. lenin, a russkie ‘intellectual’ named bogdanovich thought it would be a good idea to keep the murderer’s body around until soviet (russkie) science could graft bits of him into future komrads to build a super race.
*’Twould have been better if he’d died immediately after having been shot by poor half-blind Fanny Kaplan.
lenin, or the bits that survived the bombing, are still preserved. I figure that the father of the new russian master race will be an Oligarch, just not a fut*.
*fut = friend uv trump.
excerpt from new yorker article in next issue:
Trump’s Business of Corruption
What secrets will Mueller find when he investigates the President’s foreign deals?
…..
One foreign deal, a stalled 2011 plan to build a Trump Tower in Batumi, a city on the Black Sea in the Republic of Georgia, has not received much journalistic attention. But the deal, for which Trump was reportedly paid a million dollars, involved unorthodox financial practices that several experts described to me as “red flags” for bank fraud and money laundering; moreover, it intertwined his company with a Kazakh oligarch who has direct links to Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin. As a result, Putin and his security services have access to information that could put them in a position to blackmail Trump. (Sekulow said that “the Georgia real-estate deal is something we would consider out of scope,” adding, “Georgia is not Russia.”)
The waterfront lot where the Trump Tower Batumi was supposed to be built remains empty. A groundbreaking ceremony was held five years ago, but no foundation has been dug. Trump removed his name from the project shortly before assuming the Presidency; the Trump Organization called this “normal housekeeping.” When the tower was announced, in March, 2011, it was the centerpiece of a bold plan to transform Batumi from a seedy port into a glamorous city. But the planned high-rise—forty-seven stories containing lavish residences, a casino, and expensive shops—was oddly ambitious for a town that had almost no luxury housing.
Trump did very little to develop the Batumi property. The project was a licensing deal from which he made a quick profit. In exchange for the million-dollar payment, he granted the right to use his name, and he agreed to visit Georgia for an elaborate publicity campaign, which was designed to promote Georgia’s President at the time, Mikheil Saakashvili, as a business-oriented reformer who could attract Western financiers. The campaign was misleading: the Trump Tower Batumi was going to be funded not by Trump but by businesses with ties to Kazakh oligarchs, including Timur Kulibayev, the son-in-law of Kazakhstan’s autocratic ruler, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and a close ally of Putin. Kazakhstan has the largest economy in Central Asia, based on its vast reserves of oil and metals, among other natural resources. Kazakhstan is notoriously corrupt, and much of its wealth is in the hands of Nazarbayev’s extended family and his favored associates.
[…goes into more about Saakashvili and trump visit in 2012….]
Upon returning home, Trump appeared on “Fox and Friends.” Gretchen Carlson, the host at the time, asked him, “What are you going to be investing in?” He responded, “I’m doing a big development there—and it’s been amazing.” He said of Saakashvili, “He’s one of the great leaders of the world.”
[….article continues…]
oops, forgot to post new Yorker link for above article
Breaking on twitter is that SFB is going to pardon Arpacio, faux snuz (never a link). The whole exercise of mouthing the bad guys today was a joke and nothing more to him than a big dump in the golden chamber pot. He is despicable and deserves to fry in Hell. There is nothing he will not do to be a dictator.
I know Imus is an “iffy” kind of character, but today he said flat-out: “voting for Trump was a mistake…….I’m over it……”
He may change back tomorrow but today was nice to hear him eating (vegetarian) crow. He went on about it at some length…..
“I don’t get why “neo” is applied to Nazi. We don’t say neo-racists.”
Really? You honestly don’t understand the difference between a “Nazi” and a “Neo-Nazi”? Really?!
(If there any Nazis left in the world, they’re nonagenarians, if that helps.)
…also heard Trump eulogize Heather Heyer much in the same way I did, above, as if her blood wasn’t on his hands. Rather disgusting, imo.
I simply can’t listen to Nicole Wallace on MSNBC. Despite a heat index of 109 at my house, she drove me outside to cut the grass here and at the entrance to Kumcho’s Jungle Park. Now it’s down to 104.
bink, my point is Nazi is Nazi. Why dilute it with “neo” — why are you you cutting them slack?
Okay, here is a WashPo article, about the slime of Arizona. Many years ago I asked my Mother what she knew about the guy, she lived in Phoenix then. Her response was that she voted for him because she heard he did good things about keeping crime down. I explained to her what he really did and his jail. She was shocked. So much for the local news.
Someone at MERCK PHARMA has a moral compass? That’s rich.
jace – All the best to you & universal coverage for all.
Here at TM headquarters 1.2 miles from White House we are hearing a barrage of really noisy military helicopters. Never a good sign.
Perhaps they are just picking up some of Mel’s things she forgot and needs in NJ
or maybe there is a big party since PG is out of town
maybe it’s a coup
Craig
That question comes under the “Uh Duh” column. Yes. That mandate to something similar to Medicare for all is the basis for most universal health care. Here in the US we would probably need a combination of Medicare buy in, employer insurance, and large group purchasing (i.e. unions) for one reason. We are the “united” states. That means we are basically 50 countries in various states of health and access.
The ACA tried to do something for everyone but the fact that some states didn’t do the medicare expansion or that they lacked medical delivery systems has caused problems from the beginning.
I’m currently reading “Hillbilly Elegy” with its description of how Appalachia is caught up in drug addiction just as so many of the inner cities are caught up in gang violence. Different places have different problems and one size fits all is probably a pipe dream.
this is really unusual. Army helicopters filling the sky.
FBI agents in vests with nasty looking rifles in our alley.
In re Nicole Wallace
I don’t forget those Bush enablers just because the circus has come to town…….
Just because the monkey’s off your back doesn’t mean the circus has left town.
—George Carlin
Or something like that.
My response to the Go Daddy take down:
Congratulations. The Nazi’s have free speech. You don’t need to give them a soap box to stand on.
CC……step out into the alley and DEMAND to know who they are and WHAT the hell are they doing in YOUR ALLEY………..
I did that Sturg and they weren’t appreciative or responsive. Men in FBI vests with assault rifles are not to be messed with. Anyway they have now left. Scary stuff.
Be sure to take pictures while doing that
bink, my point is Nazi is Nazi. Why dilute it with “neo” — why are you you cutting them slack?
…because they are two different concepts. I’m not “cutting slack”, there is a distinction. If you don’t know the difference, look it up. Takes 60 seconds.
Concerning Antifa agitation, I’ll quote Asimov: “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.”
Imo, Confederate monuments ought to be left in place as testimony to this nation’s racist heritage. Revisionism leads to forgotten lessons.
ok Bink, you defend today’s Nazis as just “neo”
I have tried not to comment on the Charoletsville situation, because anything Nazi tends to push my rage button. As an American I have no choice but to abide their right to assemble and speak. As a human being I have to abide nothing about them or their ilk. Were they to disappear in the night never to be heard from again it would cause me not the slightest misgiving. My uncle fought them in North Africa, Anzio, and later on in Belgium and Germany. He knew what they were. Their presence in any form on American soil is a stain on that soil.
God damn Trump, Pence, and the lot of them for failing to call them out and inciting them in the first place. They have sold out the greatest generation, and the country. There is no fitting penalty for their action.
“ok Bink, you defend today’s Nazis as just ‘neo'”
Craig, I’ve been speaking out against racism since I recognized the threat during Trump’s xenophobia-fuelled ascent to power, last summer, 2016, (and even before that when the BLM movement was being mocked by white society) while you were busy championing, specifically by race, “white” middle-class concerns, while undermining the only legitimate alternative to the chosen candidate of “white” supremacists. Nice try, though.
“nazi” refers to members of a historic political party in Germany durning the 1930s and 1940s. The meaning has been diluted with overuse, and many people use it as invective when the term “fascist” is likely more accurate.
“neo-nazi” refers to adherents , affiliated or not, of racist ideology with inspiration derived from that historical regime. Basically, they selectively choose the dumbest and most racist concepts from the Nazi regime, specifically its iconography, but will embrace anything else that supports their ideology. Those labelled don’t need to be German, and old enough to have fought in WWII. A “neo-nazi” could be just one lonely teenager on a computer.
Why the difference? Because words have meaning, and their meanings matter. I realize you think you’re helping by creating generalizations, but you’re just contributing to a dumbing-down, when education is imperative.
bink, now maybe you get how it feels to have your comments exaggerated out of context. Just thought I’d turn the table.
OK let’s back up. Craig. never to my recollection advocated for the interests of white middle-class voters. What Craig did was said that the Democratic Party will never again become strong in elections if it cedes the White middle class voter to the Republican Party by ignoring their concerns and speaking only to “minorities”. Frankly as much as it pains me to acknowledge it, the results of the recent elections tends to support that.
Ok, I’m an ineffective communicator, and I suppose my contributions are deliterious to the general discourse, although that is the opposite of my intent, so I apologize, and will refrain from participating in the discussion, so that others may more comfortably. Best wishes. Use your voice wisely- I’ve tried and failed. 🙁
(…not trying to play martyr. I’ve dominated many discussions, lately, and it’s not fair to the “community” if that discourages other voices from being heard.)
Nuf said. David Gergen abt Trump (CNN): “He cannot address the hatred in the country until he addressees the hatred in his own heart.”
stop that Bink. I enjoy sparring with you, being challenged, makes me think. Keep it coming friend.
The only thing missing in Charlottesville was a good old fashioned book bon fire.
Look soon for one to come to a neighborhood near you.
Teen Arrested For Vandalizing Holocaust Memorial
https://t.co/TrH6MBLnO1
Bink,
I would agree if the statues had been erected in the distant past and in some geography related to their lives. Unfortunately, the majority of these statues were put up since the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and are of Confederate officers (i.e. Robert E. Lee) or Nathan Bedford Forrest (KKK) who had no biographical relation.
So teach the history. If you must have statues put them on privately owned land. None of these traitors to the US should be honored on public lands.