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Obama Care is a cynical disgrace!
It is a crass Corporate subsidy that is so far below the minimum level of decent cost effectiveness for any legitimate national healthcare program that it is below the scum you find at the very bottom of any well!.
Wake Up! It doesn't cover everybody! Not everybody can afford it! Prices have skyrocketed! Our government is SHOVELLING LOADS OF BILLIONS OUT THE DOOR EACH MONTH! There is no documented way to audit or enforce the 85% pay out rule. IT IS A REPUBLICAN CONTRIVED CORPORATE WET DREAM. When Universal Healthcare - an elimination of the Health Insurance Companies that were and remain at the root of the problem in the first place - would be vastly more effective for the NATION AND ITS CITIZENS EVEN THOUGH IT DOESN'T SERVE THE POLITICIANS POLITICAL OBJECTIVE.
The additional people covered by Obamacare would be covered by any national healthcare improvement. They are fixed when comparing across all possible alternatives.
It is therefore obscene to characterize the move to ObamaCare as nirvana when any possible plan that would insure just one more AMERICAN CITIZEN than Obamacare would be preferred. And you mean to tell me that being willing to proceed with the philosphy that "price is no object when government subsidies are available" - as has Obama - that we couldn't insure just one more person than Obamacare using a different plan?!?!
The economy should serve ALL people equally - not the 1% at the top.
I cannot believe in this season of voting that more Democrats have not made sure damn sure that they are registered and doubly sure to vote. Yes, I agree that the choices are not the best our country has to offer but those people do not want to run so we have to opt for the person(s) who will best serve our own interests.
I hear many people talking about voting for a real long shot - and that is their right to do - but just remember, those people are not going to win and, no matter what party you are for, you are taking a vote away from your personal choice of the main stream candidates. Unfair? Of course, but that is the system with which we must serve at present.
Come on, people, get off work, out of your Lazy Boy, off the golf course - wherever you are and vote. Early if you have the chance. If not stand in whatever line you have to for how ever long you have to. This is OUR government we are talking about and too many people not voting is how we got into the mess we are in now. I know in Florida I damn sure do not want that fool, Scott, to be re-elected!
I found, probably through John Fugelsang, a great Bible passage to put on a bumper sticker. Matthew 15:8-9 relates exactly to those that call themselves Christians, yet follow none of his teachings, instead focusing on homosexuality and abortion, for example.
"This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
What Thom listed as evidence that Millennials have seen of how bad Republican policies are:
401k's tanking, attempts to privatize Soc. Sec.
Enron and commodity deregulation
Bank deregulation
GMO deregulation
Explosion of autism, early-onset puberty, other endocrine disruptors
Low minimum wage
Can't start small businesses due to monopoly domination
Anthony Watts @climatewatch has released an article quoting a paper "that de-bunks the ocean acidification scare". I exposed Watts in several tweets, to whit: He is affiliated with The Heartland Institute which is connected to the Koch brothers and ALEC. I documented that he's a paid speaker for the Heartland Insttute. Please see my tweets about this @dutchjim1
The anti-gasland , pro fracking looneys, have far more money and power to propagandize people than the gasland people have. Their new movie Fracknation is as not believable as Fox news. For instance, tis true that for hundreds, perhaps millions of years natural gas has seeped out of the ground or through streams and it was possible to "light the water". And that is supposed to sway people into believing that fracking is not now responsible for farmers being able to "light their tap water"? Yes, there are rare instances where some people may have this problem naturally. But, fracking has caused lots of people to have this problem where they had not previously had this problem before. And yes you can find a few farmers who have allowed fracking and they don't have this problem...it all depends upon lots of geological factors...and how willing the farmer is to lie for the big bucks he gets from the fracking companies.
And fracking also is responsible for causing earthquakes. Yes, earthquakes happen naturally, but are not normally known to happen in certain areas that are now having quite a few happening frequently after fracking comes into the area. And it's one thing to demonstrate being able to light your water and then have the fracking people try to refute that by saying gas can seep out of the ground or water natrually. And another thing when such a dramatic show cannot be put on when it comes to other non-flammable substances in the water...very carcinogenic substances that the fracking people use in their fracking cocktails that they pump into the ground at very high pressures.
Why do they have to use all of these carcinogenic substances... poisons... some of which can do long term damage to our cells...causing cancers, mutations and birth defects. These things can't be ignited in the water but will cause long-term damage to those who drink the water, or to their animals and crops. Milk and meat and crops the farmers sell to the rest of us to eat may be contaminated by the fracking cocktails they use.
I noticed what they did in the video was to abruptly cut off the responses of the producer of gasland immediately after he gave a response. He could have followed up with some very pertinent and relevant information that would have put an entirely different light on what was said. But, you'll never know exactly what was said if you don't watch the whole thing. This is what propaganda people do when they misuse or misstate facts. And, there may or may not have been others who have not been honest and may have been deceitful in rigging up that hose, ostensibly from the pump, to a gas supply. I wouldn't put it past the fracking industry to plant such a senario, to make it look like anit-fracking people were being dishonest, when it was actually the pro-fracking people to staged the whole thing.
One thing we won't have in our future, if the fracking people keep spreading across the globe, is fresh drinkable water. Water will be more precious and expensive as oil and gas is now.
The primary purpose of the military is to insure that the country's Oligarchy's interests are promoted and protected. In an expanding global economy, formidable military strength is paramount. Any benefits provided by the government for the masses are purely appeasement in nature. So, the masses should not expect substantial appeasement unless the oligarchy deems them as beneficial for the needs of the Oligarchy. The days of LBJ's Great Society have long passed. The days of Gandhi and MLK Jr. have long passed. George Orwell dated his book 30 years prematurely.
We depend on fossil fuels to heat our homes, run our vehicles, power industry and manufacturing, and provide us with electricity. Eventually, the degree to which we depend on fossil fuels will have to lessen as the planet’s known supplies diminish, the difficulty and cost of tapping remaining reserves increases, and the effect of their continued use on our planet grows more alarming. But shifting to new energy sources will take time.
We truly do love patting ourselves on our own backs for being such a great country with one hand while waving our flag with the other. We may have an ego problem. We've truly got a lot to be proud of. We also have much to not be proud of. Health care? It still sucks but it's better than before Obamacare. Our military? We're number one but it's draining us financially. We've got much room for improvement.
Joe the Plumber has been fired from Chysler for absenteeism. Joe worked at Toledo Jeep for about ten months as a UAW Temporary Part Time employee. Joe worked the assembly line filling in for the full time employees. Joe has been recently stumping for Republicans in Idaho.
The greatest country in the world? It sure used to be.
Take nine minutes of your life and reflect with the opening HBO show: Newsroom.
http://youtu.be/1zqOYBabXmA
I brings both a tear to my eyes and a reminder of the values we still want to hold on to in the dramatic pace of world wide change and global economics as we walk down a road of destitute, bankrupt policies.
Reply to #5: Kend, you are living in a fantasy bubble. If any of that was ever true, it was decades ago. Number One for opportunity... are you KIDDING?! Not in a country where education and healthcare are debt traps. - AIW
Kudos Thom, for bringing up this topic of “American exceptionalism” along with the question of what it actually means. We are Numero Uno in military size and guns, while our #1 most expensive healthcare system ranks last in the developed world. What a deal! And don’t we also rank Numero Uno for diabetes and obesity? God bless America. - AIW
One of the reasons America has more guns than European countries is because most of the guns where confiscated during and after the war. There where a lot of guns in Europe pre ww2.
America is number one in many good things. One of the greatest is opperatunity. It is one of the few countries in the world where you can start with nothing and accomplish anything. There is also all the incredible medical advances that where made there leading the world. What about the amazing accomplishments in space. I could go on and on.
Why isn't the country more concerned than it is with these figures? Thanks for keeping them in the forefront.
Hell, I wish we could be "number one" on just ONE good thing.
BTW, sure there was militancy on the "left"--not near enough of it, or we could have had a real Revolution, IMHO
You're right, of course, about your daily topic, Thom. As is often the case, so right there's almost nothing else to say.
Couldn't resist calling you on your earlier comment though.
Thom was wrong about the '60s today (he seems to revise history sometimes for a more feel-good effect). There was quite a lot of militancy on the Left and the Weather Underground was the mildest of it. If memory serves, there were 4000 bombings in the United States in 1970. The Weather Underground took great effort to see that no one was killed or injured by their actions and was successful in that way.
There was great controversy on the left between factions or groups that were in favor of more militant use of rougher , perhaps violent methods and those who insisted on strict adherance to Gandhian type, non violent methods - just as there was in the Black Liberation Movement controversy and acrimonious debate about whether to support King's methods or those of Malcom X and the Panthers.
It was felt that the methods of the Right were quite violent with violent repression by authorities and, of course, the war in Viet Nam and that racism and oppression were constant, continuous - if low key - violence. and that violent methods were acceptable to counter them. Many were, in fact, calling for armed revolution.
At Occupy a similar split and debate occured and a distinction was made between violence, i.e., harming persons, and vandalism, i.e., destruction of property - as the Weather Underground engaged in, if on a grander scale.
Self-Censorship
I tried to get through today but was too late. I have been watching this tranpire for quite some time.
Think software and Search Optimizations. I am sure that someone is already developing programs for sale to local gov agencies, candidates and operatives that can determine your predilections such as Google searches, prefered TV networks, shopping/dining habits, etc. and ID your leanings.
From there it is a simple step to marking you or put you on a local or national watch list. Political profiling could make a life miserable.
Let me tell you of an instance from last week. A young couple in rural TN called the police to report a crime - break-in I guess it was. They made the report and left there names. Instead of doing legwork the officer assigned decided to look up the reporting couple on Facebook. When he found someone with a matching name but a far different address he assumed they weren't who they said they were and treatened to arrest the couple for fraud.
It wasn't until the judge explained to the officer that the couple had no obligation by TN law to announce their identity when reporting a crime that they, the reporting folks, were out of the woods.
If a lazy local deputy can sit at his computer and do sloppy internet research, they will. Truth be damned. Privacy be damned.
We've all heard about the nefarious mobile cell sites being used by local authorities to track cell phones and encouraged by the FBI, There's money to be made.
The symtoms may look like East Germany but the underlying malady is fascism.
I wish we had a journalistic show that had the reputation of being like the opposition questioning in Parliament. Then refusal of a politician to show up for an interview would be announced on the show as something like admitting defeat.
Astrologers have never scientifically tried their models of planets' effects on humans. They instead spend their time fending off logical arguments that destroy their bread and butter, and moving the goal posts of scientific inquiry.
If it took this much time and effort to discover even a slight effect of seasonal temperature (note, not positions of planets or even the sun relative to stars, because of tropics vs. poles, northern hemisphere vs. southern etc.), there can't have been much truth in the founding of astrology thousands of years ago.
Since the example of internment has come up, let's compare that to Guantanamo more fully.
Eventually, we let everyone out of the internment camps, and didn't suffer from a rebellion or crime wave perpetrated by the issei and nisei that had been in them. Of course, they had started out liking the United States, and being imprisoned without charge for years might have ruined that.
We know proper interrogation techniques can turn someone against his original side in a war. Can we not use that to prepare Gitmo prisoners to be released, and feel fairly safe once they are? There are far fewer of them than the hundreds of thousands of Japanese-Americans that we mistreated and released with less than an apology.
I'm sure that gunman was just being friendly and providing a speed hole for your car, Thom!
Let me explain. On The Simpsons, Homer had gone to clown school to do local appearances for Krusty the Clown. While dressed up as Krusty, Homer found that people offered him free stuff, but Krusty was also in trouble with the mob. While Homer is trying to wangle a free car, a mob sniper misses him several times and hits the car. Homer notices the holes and indignantly asks what the deal is. Without missing a beat, the car dealer says, "They're speed holes. They make the car go faster." Homer is later seen using a pickax to put 'speed holes' in the car he already owns.
It is a fact that whenever the government organizations turn into the private, their efficiency and effectiveness increase not only from the management perspective but also financial soundness.
Rford in fairness have you seen the movie Fracknation. If you havnt please do it might chance your mind about how truthful movies like Gasland are.