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IT STINKS...DON'T IT KEN!?!?
This country will never see "true" Universal Healthcare; At least not as long as we continue to have, Corporate Elected Representatives and Insurance Lobbiest in Washington.
The voice of the common people has spoken; unfortunatly no one in "power" has been listening.
I could name a few good men and woman just from this blog that would be capable of doing a better job than any current or past REPUBLICRAT.
President Obamney SUCKS!!!
Now that, KEN, is Funny! ;)
You can't beat kill'en 'em with sarcastic kindness.
Thanks for the humour. :)
No Fraud: Yes, I know...Disney was one of those people that believed that there was a commie crawling out from underneath every rock. He testified at the HUAC witch (commie) hunt trials and some of the reasons why he believed that one guy was a commie, that had worked for him in the art department, was that he didn't appear to be religious and that he had visited the Moscow Art Museum. *
Disney was thought of by many of the workers to be very demanding and strict and when the Unions came along he was not very happy with them. Calling someone a commie in those days was enough to get a person fired and blacklisted..didn't have to have any proof..just an accusation. Looks like we are well down the road to, perhaps, another HUAC (House UnAmerican Committee)/Joe McCarthy like atmosphere. And in their fight to stamp out free speech on the internet we may all soon be threatened about anything we say on the internet. Problem is that now with NDAA they can pretty much bully us, with the threat of torture and death...just like in the old Soviet Union.
* quote from HUAC transcript:
"SMITH: Can you name any other individuals that were active at the time of the strike that you believe in your opinion are communists?
DISNEY: Well, I feel that there is one artist in my plant that came in there, he came in about 1938, and he sort of stayed in the background, he wasn't too active, but he was the real brains of this, and I believe he is a communist. His name is David Hilberman.
SMITH: How is it spelled?
DISNEY: H-i-l-b-e-r-m-a-n, I believe. I looked into his record and I found that, No. 1, that he had no religion and, No. 2, that he had considerable time at the Moscow Art Theater studying art direction or something. "
http://cla.calpoly.edu/legacies/rsimon/rsimonsite/Hum410/DisneyHUAC.htm
Duck and Cover!
Ken Ware: I am not at all upset in any way..I was trying to be funny...hence the little winky/smileys I put after the comments. Man, I'm agreeing with most everything you are saying about Obama and the economy...in your comments..right on...keep up the good work! And no, I didn't think you were coming across in any threatening or hostile or aggressive manner nor was I trying to imply that you, in particular, was a computer hacker or knew someone who would do such a thing. Just trying to point out that many(?) other people read these blogs, besides us, and I was referring to the unknown. It's hard to show, via print, what one's true meanings are...and much can easily be misinterpreted. That's why I use winky/smileys sometimes. Wishing you good luck and all the best. :-} that was a non-winky/smiley.
In a society this twisted, with this much suffering, "democracy" and "freedom" are but an abstraction. If we humans can't get it together and learn to be more compassionate, more inclusive (aside from global warming & environmental collapse, other manifestations of spiritual death), we are a doomed species for sure. - Aliceinwonderland
The probability that I've been conned or suckered here or there does not bother me much. Anyone compelled to fake being destitute to make money is spiritually and morally bankrupt, enough to warrant my pity. I refuse to accept the premise that all beggars are fake, especially in these times of socioeconomic upheaval. Anyway DAnneMarc makes excellent suggestions on how to distinguish the real from the fake.
Where I live in southwestern Oregon, we've got our share of beggars. Last spring near one of the supermarkets where I shop, I saw a woman begging for weeks, holding up a cardboard sign. I gave her cash and food when I could. She'd left an abusive relationship in another state and moved back here with only the clothes on her back. She was hoping to be re-hired at a fish market where she'd worked previously. I pray that it all worked out.
I am shaken by DAnneMarc's encounter with the ninety-year-old homeless man. I have never, up 'til now, been homeless. Being childless myself makes me very ambivalent about old age; in particular, the end-of-life extremes of old age.
I can hardly find words that begin to convery the horror I feel about living in a society where a ninety-year-old can wind up begging in the middle of a busy intersection. This system is unbelievably cruel. "Spiritual death" is what Martin Luther King aptly called it.
Beyond myself and any concerns over my own ultimate fate, I am very traumatized by the suffering in our midst. It rips at my heart and soul. I've given what I could, when I could.
Did any of you that voted for Obama and supported his Health Insurance Bill, I believe it is called the Affordable Health Care Act, happen to see the L.A. Times article today. If you’re not from Southern Cal you probably missed the front page. Well, it now appears that this Act to make healthcare more affordable has some serious LOOP HOLES. It appears there is a loop hole that will affect small businesses and those who are buying their first healthcare insurance here in California. Here in Cal. the major insurance companies are going to be able to rise or I should say they are petitioning for an increase of between 20% and 32% in the cost of providing health care insurance to these groups. I have to assume Cal. will be a testing ground to increase rates all over the U.S. Right, who would have guessed? Obama admitted there needed to be changes in the initial bill and he would take care of it in his second term. Talk about ego, his must be as high as Mt. Wilson, that is high ground here in So. Cal., it is where many towers are located for TV. and various communications towers. Any way it appears he did not bother to address these problems when he had the House and the Senate. So now those who will get either higher costs for healthcare insurance or pay a yearly tax or penalty are screwed once again by this President. Once again this President and I hate addressing him with that title has either purposely allowed these loop holes to increase the ability of the insurance corporations or it is another of his screw ups. This President I believe has conspired with the Insurance Industry to allow them to increase their revenue, just like the loop holes for the big pharma corporations that handle Medicare Part D. This guy is a frigging Repub in a blue suit. So I guess the Repub's might have seen this coming or they just opposed any bill that would help the poor or the middle class with their healthcare costs. I believe they were not aware of these loop holes or they would have nailed Obama a great deal sooner on this Health Care Act. They just wanted to make sure the Americans that needed healthcare would not get it because it might cost them through their taxes. Now we have a Republican like President and a Republican House and partial Senate that is anti-middleclass.
I remember Duck Duck Goose!!! Ho ho!
Talk about promoters of propaganda, PALIDROMEDARY...Disney is the worst. They are to Brain washing as STD's are to unprotected casual sex...Easy to spread!!!
When I was in elementary school we had Tornado drills...same as Duck & Cover. Even as a youngster I thought how stupid such drills are..."Yeah, like my desk is gonna save me when the roof flys off the building!" I got in alot of trouble back then for questioning/challenging authority. ;)
Kend - Gosh, I guess they should go out and get a second job, the way you did to make sure their income is enough to have an income that is equivalent to a living wage to live on. Gee, I really feel sorry for those who were able to invest in stocks, have income from capital gains from investments and dividends from their investments on the stock market. I really feel sorry for those poor souls who were able to purchase investment properties that they are now collecting money from leases. I will have to remind that retiree I see standing in line at the church getting a "free lunch", because their Social Security that the CONservatives want to cut back on is not enough to live on, how lucky she or he really is. After all it is their fault the income of the middle class has been falling for the last 30 years. They should have worked two or three jobs so they could have a higher income from Capital Gains or Investments in stocks and Property they could have purchased with the extra jobs, like you did. I guess they are just part of the, “lazy Americans", down here that Romney would not consider representing if he were President. I am pissed Obama caved into the Republinuts in the House and settled for a lousy 5% increase when it was supposed to go back up to 38.5%! So forgive me for not feeling sorry for those who have to pay a whole 5% more on the millions and billions of dollars the wealthier class down here in the United States make each year. In America there is not a tax on selling your first home that you lived in, only commercial property like houses you lease out for profit or commercial properties. That should make you feel better, right...How many middle class Canadians make more than $400,000 a year? The people who should be upset are the people who make $50,000 a year because they just got a 2% payroll tax increase on their wages. The Republinuts were so concerned about raising taxes, why didn't they make sure the middle class kept their big 2% on their wages. They are hypocrites like that jerk Obama.
johngutta - Golly gee whiz, I am so honored to be in the presence of such a great mind and thinker. I cannot even begin to put into words how blessed we are, the simple Americans that comment here, to receive such enlightenment from such an esteemed and self-important scholastic as yourself. Man, and to think we had the answer to all our fiscal problems right here in the good ole' U.S. of A. and did not realize it. I guess the lazy and penny scrimping sloths that we are just did not have the capacity to understand your wisdom you have been sharing here on this Blog! I cannot believe all the economists and politicians haven't gotten together and adopt everything you have said! I guess that just shows how a whole nation could be so stupid as not to have realized your genius and the simpletons that we are had the answer to our problems all this time. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and opinions on this insolvable fiscal dilemma that has pitted the ignorant Dems and Repubs against each other. With great haste I will copy and e-mail your wisdom and answers to the President, Senate and House and hopefully they will have the insight to recognize your infallible economic plan to solve all or our debts. Thank you from a sincerely humbled heart and next time I will make sure I am addressing your comments with the proper respect. How foolish of me to use the word analogy, when addressing your comments on how to solve America's fiscal crisis and possibly the answer to World's present economic woes. I should have stated your, Economic Theory or your Hypothesis on resolving the fiscal problems facing America. I guess that will teach me to be more accurate when addressing, a person so well versed in economics! Sincerely and Humbly Yours, Ken.
No what I was asking is if I was retired and sold my house that I bought for $100,000 in 2000 and sold it for $200,000 2012 is that concidered "capital gains" it isn't in Canada is it in the US?
My concern is a lot of seniors live on what they make on capital gains, stocks, dividens etc. and they are barely getting by now.
As fair as a "living wage" when I couldn't feed my family on what I made I got a second job.
DAnneMarc- I must first apologize to you- I accidently hit the "Flag as offensive" button! In case you are ever confronted by the gatekeepers, be assured, you have not offended me.
However I continue to run into technical difficulties signing that petition. I give them my online address and fill in the contact info they request, then hit the "Create an account" button, and get no response, until the screen goes blank and says "Safari can't open the page".
I just don't have the temperament to invest all this time trying to trouble shoot my way through these kinds of obstacles. To those of you who do- CONGRATULATIONS. End of rant... - Aliceinwonderland
Thank you, DAnneMarc. I appreciate the clarification. But I hope you don't mind being reminded that many of us lack the technical savvy that folks like you and Palindromedary happen to possess. What is of no consequence to you is an obstruction to me, until or unless someone can point the way when my efforts don't pan out... which happens all the time.
Palindromedary, your point is well taken.
However, I have grown up in the ghetto of Oakland all my life and I think I'm uniquely qualified to spot a con artist and tell the difference between some one who really needs help and someone who doesn't. If fact I've learned to tell the difference very quickly.
First thing you do is look at their hair and face. If it looks like it hasn't been washed in a week, it probably hasn't. Con artists don't allow their hygiene to suffer.
Look at their shoes. If they are new or a designer brand, or have a shoe shine? Look for dirty shoes with worn out soles.
Look at their cloths. Are they clean and pressed recently or do they look like they've been slept in for several nights? Con artists don't like dirty cloths.
Are their teeth clean and white, or yellow and smelly? Con artists brush their teeth.
Come on Palindromedary, I know your an intelligent individual. Surely you can use a little common sense to be sure that your charity finds its way into the proper hands.
The lunatics you've referred to are a completely different problem. If someone is obviously crazy they are in need of the psychiatric treatment that ended during the Reagan Administration and other than a kindly free meal really can't be helped in the way they need by you or I.
And, yes, on many occasions I have offered to purchase a meal for someone claiming to be hungry, far more frequently than not, I've had my invitation accepted and even dinned with that person. I could tell by the way they ate they were genuinely hungry. Hunger is real and a travesty.
Wheelchairs? Never underestimate the power of the handicapped! Not everyone who uses a wheelchair can't walk; in fact, the vast majority of wheelchair users can walk. They suffer from conditions that either make walking difficult, dangerous, or painful. Some can walk and stand safely and comfortably but only for limited time. Their are muscular, nervous and skeletal conditions that warrant the use of a wheel chair. Do you know that if for some reason you went into a coma, or were bed ridden for an extended time the muscles in your legs would atrophied and you wouldn't be able to support your own weight? It will take weeks of difficult physical therapy to regain the use of your legs. I suggest using your own judgement and sense of grief when helping out such individuals. Unfortunately, there is no correct approach or wrong approach. A wheelchair is a cheap prop and there are a plethora of unscrupulous crooks out on the street. There are also many resources available for the legitimately disabled. One of the places I work at is the Center for Disabled People. It's one of many organizations that help the disabled cope with their situations. Personally, I have a friend who has cerebral palsy and can walk; but only with great difficulty. He quite proud and independent and uses his wheelchair very reluctantly. He's also quite intelligent and attends school where he works tutoring other students. He's also an editor and translator. I've never know him to panhandle. He's capable of supporting himself, but to see and hear how much determination he has is not only an inspiration but is an indication that there probably aren't a lot of wheelchair bound disabled people like him out there. If he wanted to he could earn a fortune panhandling. His condition is both obvious and compelling. It's just not the way he wants to make money.
I too have traveled Mexico and have experienced the frantic, unsolicited, window washers. I had the advantage of being in a cab with a native driver and native citizens. Fortunately I'm fluent in Espanol. They agreed that the washers were drug addicts. Despite the facts they were happy to donate 10 pesos apiece (about a dollar) for their cause. This was in Morelia, Michoacan. From what I understand though, its a common trend in all big cities in Mexico. Another hand-me-down from the US.
However, this behavior is unheard of in small agricultural communities like San Gabriel, Jalisco, where I was staying. For an explanation I might suggest you consult with a Google search the sociological definitions of the concept of Gemeinschaft versus Gesellschaft societies. A thorough knowledge of the implications of these two ideal concept types really help to explain how all the aspects of this phenomenon fall into place like falling domino's.
As far as the old man that I saw--I feel I can assure you he was the real deal. He was probably the result of not having children he could relay on, not having children he wanted to burden, not having sufficient social security for his personal needs or medicare to pay his medical bills. I assure you this is possible. I recently lost my father. He was financially solvent, had medicare and AARP supplemental insurance. His condition only landed him in the hospital for less than a month before he died; yet his bills that I'm still receiving total over $10k; and, as the hospital recently informed me, I can expect more bills to come. I have no doubt that it is quite possible despite the resources you've mentioned for this man to be financially strapped and destitute.
I assure you if you were riding in the car with me at the time, you'd have agreed he was sincere and found yourself reaching in your own pockets. Personally, I'm glad you were spared the experience and the memory. I hope and pray you nor I ever experience such a travesty again in our life times.
"Estate tax. Taxing dead people- come on, how low can you get."
Wrong again, Kend. An estate tax is for those who inherit the spoils. One has to inherit several million dollars' worth of assets to even be affected by it. Just breaks mah heart, all these poor trust fund babies, forced into doing things that grown-ups do... like paying taxes!
-Aliceinwonderland
Maybe I missed it, but how come no one is blasting Michigan for passing a gun law, at 4:30am on the same day as the Newtown, Conn. shootings, allowing guns in schools and day cares? And did the Governor sign it?
This story kind of disappeared from the media
Ken Ware, - Public funding of campaigns and retirements is not an analogy, it is the only solution to the problem of law buying in America, - but the solution is nonsensically opposed by a majority of Americans because it would cost them a few dollars a year.
Which leads to what might be the most important of all self-evident truths: A government of the people and by the people can be no wiser than the majority of the people.
Palindromedary - I was trying to be friendly in a non-aggressive manner. I am not a computer hacker nor am I trying to do something illegal. I mentioned where I live and you made a comment about the oil refineries located around parts of the South Bay. My comment was made in a joking manner, not trying to put you on the offensive. Sorry if I ruffled your feathers. From your comments I assumed the following, and I am not trying to publish where you reside. 1. Your comments sound like a male. Your references sound like you may be retired from a tech career and between 62 and 67 years old. 2. You mentioned the California elections so it sounded like you may be from California. 3. You sounded like you worked in the tech sector of a defense contractor type of company. If that is so it would mean you probably live near the defense industry, probably in N. or S. Calif. 3. Los Angeles and the Bay area up north are where most defense industries are located. If I thought you would get a little upset over my assumptions I would not have mentioned it. It was just a friendly reply to one on your comments you made on the last of Hartmann's blog. Lighten up a little; I am not trying to release any personal data on you! I am not usually up this late, but I left my computer on and it was on Hartmann’s blog. Sorry if I touched a nerve concerning this matter. It sounds like everyone is taking these comments from everyone a little to serious. I thought I was aggressive in past comments, but after reading other comments posted in replies to my comments it sounds like it was contagious!
Johngutta - I agree with your analogy on the idea of public funding. My point was that the politicians in Washington have already dealt with the tax problems we have and it would be difficult for it to be changed. And it does not take a rocket scientist to know who calls the shots in Washington and that is the wealthy and super wealthy Americans. I would get into this a little deeper, but I just got up to get a glass of water and noticed my computer was still on. So I commented back, and I am too tired to type anymore! Have a good Sunday! I need some sleep now!
Put a little love in your hearts!
Stop! The Love you save may be your own!
Love, ageless and evergreen!
Love conquers all!
Love is the answer!
All you need is love!
Love will find a way!
Love, Love, Love!
"All I want to know is... Are you Kind?
Global, Global... What is it about our idle class of freeloadin' welfare queens that has you so under their spell? If you're not one of them, they're not doing you any favors either. Besides, they don't need small fry like us to defend them; the Supreme Court and the House of Representatives are always ready & eager to go to bat for their pampered little fannies. Get over it. - Aliceinwonderland
Anyone who would accuse Thom Hartmann of "ignorance" is out of touch themselves. Pull your head out of the sand, lady.
Every time I try and sign one of these things, they want a friggin' password. If I went along with this and created a new password for every petition, I'd have passwords by the thousands by the end of 2013. Isn't there a better way?
Ken Ware: "P.S. Palindromedary; I think I have a pretty good idea on your gender, age and the approximate place of residence. The reason I mention this. is that you stated no one could guess your personal info!"
I believe what I had stated was that many of us say too much that can give away our identities and that we probably all should be more reticent in what we say on-line...and that definitely included me. And that there are a lot of nuts out there that could prove to be dangerous...some have no problem identifying people and their location especially if they, or someone they know, has a degree in computer science, perhaps. But it really doesn't take a degree in anything for some of these people to hack into someone's computer or the server that holds identifying information at some blog like this one. I don't know how secure this web site is...I've never tested it nor do I ever intend to risk my butt in trying to do so. But, I have a general idea of how it's done.
I sure don't think I have ever said that I was invulnerable; and, I indicated that I felt vulnerable knowing how easy it is with the right tools and a willingness, on the part of some people, to risk doing something illegal.