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With regard to Social Security, the frightening thing to me is the sheer number of people who have become convinced that the program is a "government benefit". My older son, who just graduated from law school and who is quite capable of parsing the most complex issues, revealed recently that he takes this at face value. Why? The media, even the venerable New York Times with it's presumed liberal slant, hammers away at the same lie being peddled by the rest of the media: "Social Security is an 'entitlement' like Medicaid, food stamps, unemployment insurance, that is funded by tax revenues. It is most emphatically not! FICA may be regarded as a "tax" if you like, as it comes out of your paycheck and is matched by contributions by your employer (6%) which I have always regarded as deferred compensation. The program, in operation for 80 or so years, is a social contract America made with itself to provide some level of subsistence with dignity to the elderly when they lived beyond their productive years. Despite the bald faced lie that Social Security is unsustainable, fabricated primarily by corporate interests and circulated unflinchingly by the media, it would take comparatively little to make the program solvent indefinitely. I'll be happy to provide links to support this claim upon request. Think about it: Who would benefit hugely and immediately if Social Security were to be taken under the wing of the federal government and administered just like the so called entitlements? The 6% corporations kick into the program would sure look good on the bottom line, now wouldn't it? Do other huge and recent federal bailouts to private interests ring even a distant bell? But we hear nothing but how our welfare state, including Social Security, is taking food out of the mouths of our grandchildren. The real issue is this: Are we to stick with our original inter-generational commitment to keep grandma and grampa in their own homes with funds they themselves contributed (as opposed to living in Junior's garage or under a bridge somewhere) or are we going to roll over for the most audacious rip-off in the history of this country? And finally, no, the Social Security benefit I now receive is not coming out of YOUR paycheck. Had I had the option of putting this money in a low yield annuity starting in 1961 I'd be receiving three times the monthly payment I'm currently receiving over the next twenty five years. I won't live longer than that. I'm talking about YOUR future. Mine is relatively secure, thanks to Social Security and a frugal lifestyle, at least until our esteemed President sees fit to tap into what's left of my life savings in order to perpetuate the $ Trillion Dollar Plus annual "defense" spending that seems to be "off the table". I never thought I'd see the day arrive when so many Americans had turned so cynnical, calous and/or stupid as to allow this kind of a heist to be perpetrated upon us.
FLASH OVER-RIDE: Has anyone had the opportunity to read the front page of the N.Y.Times today? Well if not here is a tid-bit of news concerning the Corporations and Wealthy Americans we hold in great esteem. They, the above mentioned entities, are asking our President (MS. Obama, I refer to him as Ms. after his lack of any aggressiveness when dealing with the Repubkinuts. HE MUST have run out of any testosterone he may have had) to declare a Repatriation Holiday so they can bring the funds they have stashed in off-shore accounts back to America without having to pay any taxes on the Trillions they have made!!! I am not kidding; this is what the Times has reported. These guys were waiting until Romney was elected to bring their stash back to the U.S. without any taxation. So, when Ms. Obama caved into the demands to the Republinuts in the House and only raised the Capital Gaines tax a mere 5%, they began drooling at the mouth, like some mad dog, to get their money back into their BANKS as soon as possible! If Ms. Obama, House and Senate go for this insane idea, we will have absolute proof who runs Washington! As if we don't already know! They also reported that Washington is running flush with ex-politicians and lobbyist that are asking for big long term cuts in social programs like Social Security, Medicare and a host of other programs during the Sequestration talks. Like any vultures these people are hovering over the carcass of the old Obama, ready to pick his bones clean of any social responsibility he may have left. And they are waiting for the new Ms. Obama to be sworn into office this month, to see if he buckles under their demands to bring their trillions home tax free! Talking about wanting to vomit, after I read this article I felt like leaving my lunch on the floor. At this point I would not take any bets on whether this President will cave-in again to his wealthy masters and Corporations that keep feeding the political slush fund for upcoming elections. This is just my take on what the times has reported on their front page, this 10th of January, 2013.
Yeah, Sinister, the U.S. military doesn't use AK-47's either, but that doesn't disqualify them from being the sort of thing only a military should have. By the way, the "AR" in AR-15 stands for "Assault Rifle", so don't try that angle either.
And I take issue with your use of the phrase "gun[-]grabbing crowd". No one, even Dianne Feinstein, has proposed taking away guns that were bought legally in the first place. When you ignore that fact, you lower everyone's opinion of your intelligence.
Ed Schulz interviewed a teacher in Utah who carries a gun at her school. If my child (if I had one) were in her class, my argument against her having the gun is that the most likely gun to harm my child is the one she's bringing to the classroom daily.
Having sick and unhealthy and uninsured people is a Health Hazard to us all but a lot of people don't think about this. Maybe the person handing food or setting the table in a restaurant has a contagious disease? Or the sick person handling lettuce or apples. Or the sick child sitting next to their own child at school, or the sick child touching equipment at the park. They don't think about having sick people in the street passing disease. Or sick people touching the same doorknobs in a building or giving them a receipt in a store, or bagging their burger. So many in this society think that the poor are unworthy. Or they think like O'Reilly ---that he drove cabs and painted houses and "got his" so go get your own. If there is a hurricane, go fix your house and if you don't have the money, well it's your fault that you did not get better educated and make more money or invest better, etc.
That is what I hear on radio and TV. There is no empathy or compassion in these people. And they call themselves "Christian." I don't want to listen to the drama with Congress anymore.
...watergate aside? i wonder what nixon would be doing today if he was in congress...
Maybe the chemtrails will do us in, at least the frail with poor immune system. Or the insecticides in our food. They want to be rid of the "Useless Eaters" as the elite of the world call us.
I have often wondered why all the big hospitals in Chicago are full of rich Canadians.
This is the result of Milton Friedman's Chicago School of Business, commonly known as neoliberalism. If you haven't read the Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein, make it your business to read it and understand for all these years we have turned this country from a first world nation to a third.
We will all be feeling the pain.
Included on George Carlin's list of people he can do without is "a waitress with a visible infection on her serving hand".
Temps also don't get sick time or vacation time. THey don't even have a process to get a raise. Now, it can be easy; at my last temp job, I pointed out that I hadn't had a raise after working two years on the same assignment, and the next message I got from the agency was that my rate had been raised by $1/hr. On the other hand, it can be very hard, at my current temp assignment, which I've had for almost 3 years and which I was originally told was a temp-to-hire position, I've tried through both the agency and the client company to get made permanent or at least get a raise and nothing has happened. The agency can't risk rocking the boat, and the client has no reason to renegotiate.
If I lived in a district represented by a Democrat, I'd write to my representatives to suggest that, at the very least, temp assignments of indefinite duration should be made illegal. Limiting the maximum duration to, say, one year, would force the client to renegotiate the wages of the temp.
I'll end up writing to Sens. Udall and Bennet, but I would have liked to start at a lower level.
"The terribly sad part of this is that the gun advocates who continue to talk about mental health show their own issues with the extreme paranoia with which they speak about the topic"
Almost as bad as the gun grabbing crowd calling an AR-15 a military assault rifle when the military doesnt use AR-15s. Has never used AR-15s and the only thing an AR-15 has in common with an actual military assault rifle is cosmetics and a detachable mag.
Thom - You have just stated why Unions provide a valuable service for their members. They actually have the power to bargain for the service provided to the employing party. I know I will read a barrage of negative comments from commenters that are on the right and anti-union. I am very sure if you had to work for a non-union employer or shop and then experienced the benefits of unionized workers, you would gladly pick the latter. And Unions actually do give into employer demands when negotiating new contracts for the employees or Union Members. They realize that things have changed in the last 30 years and take this into account during negotiations with employers. It is no mistake that the wages and standard of living has fallen on all graphs, while at the same time the Unions have lost members due to Union Busting from the CONservatives and keep-all the wealth employers. And for all of you who hate teachers and their unions you need to know not all unions are the same and pay differs from one district to another. The higher paid teachers with the same credentials as teachers that make a little less in their contracts is because the slightly higher salaries are paid to teachers who work in poorer neighborhoods where parents and students may or may not speak English and it is harder to communicate with both the parents and the students. And, generally it is harder to keep teachers in these areas due to a host of problems from communications to crime problems. I just had to mention this because teachers, firemen(women) and policemen (women) are usually the first people attacked when right wingers rant on about the Unions. We all know why they hate unions; it is because the unions usually support candidates on the left. And that is a no brainer to figure out!
Kend - I did not mean to imply you were heartless, I do not think that at all. It is that I am so use to our right wingers saying healthcare for the poor is beyond our ability to pay, while they invest in new weapons of destruction without flinching. Like most Americans that hear about the Canadian healthcare system we just take it for granted that all your medical needs are covered. Sorry for misunderstanding the reality of your system. It sounds a lot like our Medicare program. I think Medicare is a good provider of healthcare for the retired and those who are too ill to work. It needs some improvement on how it is handled and the billing system needs to be revamped so there is less fraud. It is hard to believe but those creating the most fraud in our Medicare program are doctors! We have plenty of Specialists in California, but there seems to be a shortage of family doctors. The Specialist earns more than family doctors and that is why there is a shortage. My Ortho Specialist actually bragged about being in the top 2 % on one visit I had with him. He is a great surgeon and a good guy, so I am sure he earned his wealth unlike so many in the Banking Industry and Wall St. have not actually worked for their bank accounts, but that is another subject! Have a good day, it is sunny here after an overnight shower and it is about 66 F. degrees outside with winds, so it is time for a long walk! P.S. I knew you had a good heart right away when you mentioned you were a Grandpa! All grandparents have good hearts, it is something that just naturally happens!
HOW TO SECURE THE CODE?
Diebold machines security is so secure and complicated only the employees of diebold have access to it. By localizing the security personnel you create another small group that can be manipulated in order to effect the code controlling the voting. It is this security approach that makes their machines so unreliable. JFK once said, "The very work secrecy is repugnant in a free and open society." He was spot on. Therefore, I dedicate this idea to him.
In my proposal, secrecy will be banned. The very code sequence that controls the Governments Main Server will be written on ROM mounted in the Server's main mother boards. All home computers will be mounted with ROM containing the same code as the Government Server. All citizens who are legally registered to vote will be assigned a voter registration card when they register. On the card will be written in RFID the same code of the Main Government Server, their own computer, as well as their own voter register information.
A simplified version of the connection of a voter to the Main Government Server will involve a digital Handshake that compares and validates the integrity of the code that controls the entire system. It will begin by placing your voter registration card on top of your home computer. This as well as you password enables you to log into the Government software. The information then reaches out to the Government Main Server and does an identicle Handshake that identifies you as you and gives you access to the DOV Democracy Online Voting service.
It is my intent to preserve the integrity of my voting code by distributing master copies of it--Keys if you will--to all American Citizens, permanently burned into their voting cards. It's integrity will be verified automatically whenever anyone logs on to the service. The final step I would envision would be the publishing of the results of all voting. Voting will take place in districts to simplify review by citizens. All will be able to verify their vote as well as see the other votes in their district as well as other districts across the country. We will truly have an free and open society. There will be no encryption, no volatile memory, no secret codes used at all. The security of this system will sit in the hands of all voters and not a select few. Their will be no representatives to bribe and no elected officials to assassinate to gain advantage or favor. Corruption as we know it will cease to exist.
Thank you for considering my proposal
Sincerely,
DAnneMarc
HOW DOES IT WORKThe main problem as many of know with the diebold voting machines is the integrity of the code that controles the machine. The same problem exists in my plan. However, my plan takes on open approach to maintaining the integrity of the code. To explain this I need to educate many of our readers.
A BRIEF COURSE IN DIGITAL ELECTRONICSCODE a program or LIST OF COMMANDS that tell an electrical device how to work.Example: A Mechanical Arm - used to pick up a ball. The "List of Commands" might look like this:1. Start2. Open fingers.3. Lower Hand over ball.4. Close fingers around ball.5. Apply X amount of pressure to circumferance of ball (where X = lbs/square inch--here X = 2).6. Raise hand.7. End
This is an elementary example of a very simple code used to execute a task. It's an excellent example in simplicity because the code used in a voting service is equally simple. As you can imagine, even the slightest alteration of the code sequence would drastically affect the result of the task. For instance if I were to simply erase line #4, the hand would pat the ball but fail to grab it. In addition, if I were to change the value of X in line #5 to say infinity, the ball would explode. If I were to change the value of X to 0, the ball would be dropped. How then do we insure the integrity of this idea so that we don't "drop the ball" Pardon my pun!
ADDITIONAL TERMS TO BE FAMILIAR WITH:RAM vs ROM memory (Random Access Memory) (Read Only Memory) These are the media that code can be written to.
RAM memory includes Hard Drives, Magnetic Tape, USB Jigs and any media that can be erased, rewritten or in any way altered without being destroyed.
ROM memory includes CD's, DVD's, and even vinyl LP's from yesteryear. Once written on this type of media the information cannot be changed, erased or altered in anyway without destroying the media. You might remember how a scratch in your old records altered the recording and ruined the integrity of the music.
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) This is a code written to a media that has a magnetic field that can be received an read wirelessly. It has been touted to be the future mark of the beast if and when implanted into people. I assure you that any mark of the beast has already been distributed to us all in the way of Social Security numbers. Any chip implants aren't going to do any more harm. We already carry with us positive identification markers in our retina, finger prints, teeth and DNA An implant is not part of my plan and I am firmly against any such efforts. It would be an affront to human dignity and dehumanizing. However, the technology is ideal for marking pets, live stock, and for researching animal behavior in the wild. The first legislation I might propose is a permanent ban on ever using this technology on free, law abiding human beings.
HANDSHAKE Like when people meet social protocol calls for a handshake, "How do you do," "My name is Bob," "I'm pleased to meet you.;" to take place before any communication can occur. The same term applies to when two digital devices attempt to connect and establish communication.
WAIT A MINUTE!
Marches on Washington? Violent Riots? Sounds like the US all right. Before we do anything rash I suggest you take a few deep breaths and listen to my plan. Just because Civil Unrest has proven to be historically effective doesn't mean its the only solution. There are more than one way to scare the 'cooperation' out of a Senator
DOV! Democracy Onine Voting is my idea! After hearing it I'm sure you will Love DOV. DOV involves the creation of a Federal website that enables citizens to purpose, formulate, petition and enact law on their own; in effect, completely circumnavigating both houses of congress and the Executive branches of government. It can also be used to immediately halt any military aggression, remove any civil servant from office, Amend the Constitution, or seek redress for any official action including those of the Judiciary by a simple majority vote of the online constituency.
It is said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Therefore, by dividing the power of the Federal Government into the hands of its citizens we take a situation where the FEW easily coerced or bribed members of our government are easily manipulated and spread that number out to several hundred million citizens making coercion and bribery still possible but quite impractical. This augmentation of our political structure in my view would completely eliminate corruption in our Government.
The terribly sad part of this is that the gun advocates who continue to talk about mental health show their own issues with the extreme paranoia with which they speak about the topic. You would think that the federal government is that the doorstep of every gun owner demanding their guns. Just remember David Koresh and how that whole situation came to be resolved. I am afraid that a good number of these gun owners are just short of creating their own tragedy with this paranoia.
Wow Ken W, I wasn't complaining, I was just stating a fact. Over all our system is very good. Basically if you have a minor problem or a life threating problem everthing is very good. If you have a knee, shoulder hip etc and need a specialist you could wait up to a year as it is rationed for surgery. I was just saying there is a shortage of doctors, but I think that is a global problem. Canada was one of the few counties in the world that didn't have a mix of private and Government health care but because of the long waits they are now alowing private clinics here. Please don't get me wrong I don't like your system down there I think we need to get something in the middle of both of us. It is important to know the Government here only supplies basic health care here all meds, teeth, eye, ambulance, etc. are not covered. We can buy additional private insurance for them though. Just so you know as I told NoFraud I had a MRI a couple of years ago and saw my heart so I have proof I am not heartless I can email you a copy if you don't beleive me.
More evidence that Republicans are simple minded: Just as they coudldn't understand that Michelle Obama's effort to stop childhood obesity was about voluntary action, the NRA has opposed the voluntary exchange of guns for Safeway credit.
First posted on yesterdays blog; Kend - I must have not made myself clear when referring to the 8 hour wait. When you go to a Private Hospital Emergency Room you are seen reasonable soon. But when you end up in the Public Hospital System you have an 8 hour wait to see someone and that is not counting the wait to check into the system. I really think it is hard to grasp the problems facing children when they are sick and uninsured. Why do you think so little of your health care system, I am sure poor children would give their life to get the medical care you are afforded, and sometimes they do give up their lives waiting in the Public Hospital system down here! You seem to think anything the government does to help its people it does poorly. I know or I should say, I think the medical care for the average Canadian is much, much better than what the poor uninsured have here. Are you aware of the fact the life expectancy of the poor and uninsured here in the 50 states in, what you call down there, is less than many African citizens or lower than what the Russian Citizen experienced when their system began to crumble? They closed down one major Public Hospital in the Southwest L.A. ( the poorer section of L.A. ) because the State could not afford to keep it running, causing a massive back log for poor uninsured patients at other hospitals. And there are only a few Public Hospitals that are actually up and running here in California. Your right wingers will bitch about anything the Government does, as if the Private Hospitals and doctors aren’t causing the cost of healthcare to soar out of control! I really wish people who complain about healthcare for the poor being to expensive would have to experience it first hand when they become very ill or one of their loved ones falls prey to disease! I have really tried to address the CONservatives with respect and an open mind to your point of view, but you guys are really making it difficult especially when it comes to healthcare for the poor and middleclass that cannot afford insurance! Have a good day. P.S. I really wish you would have had to experience what poor and uninsured Americans must go through to get heart care in our Public System.( I actually would not want you or any person to experience what goes on in the Public System for the uninsured and poor). Many die waiting for their turn down here. I think you would have a different point of view on healthcare...And I believe your waiting time for illnesses that are at the critical point are taken care of relatively soon compared to non-critical elective procedures. And just for the record, here the children are not seen any sooner than the adults when seeking care in the Public Hospital System, unless they are bleeding out from a gunshot wound, and children being shot or stabbed happens more often than we would like to speak of. The United States has an extremely big problem with children and young adults being shot from being in the crossfire of some lunatic or gang member that acquired a gun or assault weapon illegally! I am pro-gun ownership of handguns and shot guns not assault weapons. And if all weapons were banned here in the U.S. that would be even a better solution for our country. But it is too late to get the “tooth paste back into the tube”, since there are already 300,000,000 weapons in the U.S. today.
computer error - this system really stinks at times!
Kend - I must have not made myself clear when referring to the 8 hour wait. When you go to a Private Hospital Emergency Room you are seen reasonable soon. But when you end up in the Public Hospital System you have an 8 hour wait to see someone and that is not counting the wait to check into the system. I really think it is hard to grasp the problems facing children when they are sick and uninsured. Why do you think so little of your health care system, I am sure poor children would give their life to get the medical care you are afforded, and sometimes they do give up their lives waiting in the Public Hospital system down here! You seem to think anything the government does to help its people it does poorly. I know or I should I think the medical care for the average Canadian is much, much better than what the poor uninsured have here. Are you aware of the fact the life expectancy of the poor and uninsured here in the 50 states in, what you call down there, is less than many African citizens or lower than what the Russian Citizen experienced when their system began to crumble? They closed down one major Public Hospital in the Southwest L.A. ( the poorer section of L.A. ) because the State could not afford to keep it running, causing a massive back log for poor uninsured patients at other hospitals. And there are only a few Public Hospitals that are actually up and running here in California. Your right wingers will bitch about anything the Government does, as if the Private Hospitals and doctors aren’t causing the cost of healthcare to soar out of control! I really wish people who complain about healthcare for the poor being to expensive would have to experience it first hand when they become very ill or one of their loved ones falls prey to disease! I have really tried to address the CONservatives with respect and an open mind to your point of view, but you guys are really making it difficult especially when it comes to healthcare for the poor and middleclass that cannot afford insurance! Have a good day. P.S. I really wish you would have had to experience what poor and uninsured Americans must go through to get heart care in our Public System.( I actually would not want you or any person to experience what goes on in the Public System for the uninsured and poor). Many die waiting for their turn down here. I think you would have a different point of view on healthcare...And I believe your waiting time for illnesses that are at the critical point are taken care of relatively soon compared to non-critical elective procedures. And just for the record, here the children are not seen any sooner than the adults when seeking care in the Public Hospital System, unless they are bleeding out from a gunshot wound, and children being shot or stabbed happens more often than we would like to speak of. The United States has an extremely big problem with children and young adults being shot from being in the crossfire of some lunatic or gang member that acquired a gun or assault weapon illegally! I am pro-gun ownership of handguns and shot guns not assault weapons. And if all weapons were banned here in the U.S. that would be even a better solution for our country. But it is too late to get the “tooth paste back into the tube”, since there are already 300,000,000 weapons in the U.S. today.
Thom: You loaded your poll with your own editorial comment ("NO! They'll continue to push their "solution" of more guns!). The NRA is an organization driven by a profit motive exactly like the US Chamber of Commerce. Don't look to them to solve our "gun problem". If we want to curb the increase of violence in this country we need to look deeper. We are increasingly a culture of violence. We embrace violent entertainment (e.g. UFC everywhere on TV, the glorification of war by Hollywood, violent video games supplied our children, 'tomorrow's drone pilots', at a very early age) and we tolerate actual violence inflicted upon others through our military activity around the globe. We are a violent people and have been encouraged to tolerate "justifiable violence". Against this backdrop, do you actually believe that "guns" are the problem? In the wrong hands, an automobile is one of the deadliest weapons immaginable. It's the driver, not the car. If we fixate on "guns" as the problem we are completely missing the point. Until we own up to our own fascination with violence as entertainment, with war as reality TV, we won't begin to address the issue.
no you are right I have a heart had a MRI a couple years ago and I saw it. I could email a you a copy if you need proof.