Copyright ©2014 - Robert C. Kuhmann - All Rights Reserved.
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
NO POLLINATORS = NO POLLINATION = NO FOOD
Copyright ©2014 - Robert C. Kuhmann - All Rights Reserved.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
"Moi" {explained}.
"If one does not begin by showing one's self to be something of an independent, forward thinker - one quickly becomes something of a foregone conclusion." N'est-ce pas?
And you may quote me...
And you may quote me...
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
At gunpoint!
A short-list of things that the government can (and will) force you to do ...at gunpoint.
Count on it.
- taxpaying
- zoning
- speed limits
- vehicle inspection
- vehicle registration
- protest in "free speech" zones
- building codes
- surrender your house under eminient domain
Count on it.
Saturday, February 05, 2011
Politicians lie!
A Democrat, a Republican, and a giraffe go into a bar. After many drinks, the giraffe passes-out on the floor. The bartender (having seen everything before) looks-up from his newspaper and asks, "What's that lyin' on the floor?" The Republican replies, "He's with the Democrat." The Democrat replies, "He's with the Republican." The giraffe (still conscious) mumbles, "I'm not a lion, I'm a giraffe." Moral of the story? Don't ask a politician about lying, ask a Giraffe.
;-)
Copyright (c)2011 - RCK - All Rights Reserved.
;-)
Copyright (c)2011 - RCK - All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
The US-of-A ... I, E, and G...
Ah yes, the US-of-A ...the "Love it or Leave-It" country that can "afford" a MILITARY machine that is LARGER (in budget) than the top 43 "other" richest nations on Earth. We have no qualms about burning-up young lives (and loves) to "protect" our failing oil-based economy - as we toss naïve kids into war-zones (that we created). Unprepared and ignorant, they are mowed-down and returned cerimoniously to the... "Go ARMY", "America's NAVY", "My son is a MARINE" households, for a prompt burial. (Wives and Mothers get to keep the flag for comfort, or display. "Semper Fi" in a graveyard, is "forever" indeed!)
We Americans are (almost as blindly) pushing ourselves down the slippery-slopes of an enduring economic oblivion. We're the US-of-I too! We're a US of, "I don't care" - because our Great Society has a pronounced "me first" orientation. Through all of that, we've stupidly underwritten a "healthcare" system that is (also) ..."all about greed", but not about "Health", and certainly (not about) "Care". To be cared for (genuinely), one must count-on good luck or rely on family, friends, or neighbors...
Yes, We-the-People can "afford" a planetary killing-machine (under the guises of "peace-keeping"). Tell me, how does one "keep" PEACE by "making" WAR? We have the most effective and brutal means to KILL other human-beings ever invented, and yet... We also think of ourselves as Religious, Political, and "Right" - while too many are "right-eous" about both.
How WRONG we are as a people! Is it any wonder that the fundamentalists of other ideologies, political regimes, and religions - want us (the entire "US"), dead?
Meanwhile we "care" for our down-trodden by allowing our legal-social-fiscal-financial system to TAKE everything a person has worked-for - often, simply because they've had the misfortune of falling-ill, or lost a bill-paying job (when some greedy employer "went bust"). Thereafter the credit system "treats" those individuals like losers - the guilty second-rate citizens - that they are not! How many jobs will their be for returning (unemployed) G.I.'s?
We aren't solely the US-of-A, we're also the US-of-E (of Entertainment) - even the ad-media-tized "News" is presented so as to, "make US think about something else" (as we entertain ourselves via mindless TV-programming - while munching butter-soaked microwave-popcorn). We are being trained to avoid doing something worthwhile to help and protect our fellow-man. Munch. Watch. Sit. Don't worry, be happy? (And was your TV "Made in the USA"?)
We endure a 24 X 7 onslaught of advertising: designed to prompt the sales (and purchases of) tons of "Made in China; Taiwan; Japan; Singapore; Maylasia; Philipinnes; Indonesia " schtuff... which most of us do not need (as MC / VISA / DISCOVER / AMEX lovingly oblige while rubbing their hands-together wryly).
No, the US-of-A is moreover, the US-of-G. An (us) US, of Greed.
So, don't fall ill. Don't lose your job! Else, Greed awaits ...you, your freedom, and your free will!
Me Thinks
We Americans are (almost as blindly) pushing ourselves down the slippery-slopes of an enduring economic oblivion. We're the US-of-I too! We're a US of, "I don't care" - because our Great Society has a pronounced "me first" orientation. Through all of that, we've stupidly underwritten a "healthcare" system that is (also) ..."all about greed", but not about "Health", and certainly (not about) "Care". To be cared for (genuinely), one must count-on good luck or rely on family, friends, or neighbors...
Yes, We-the-People can "afford" a planetary killing-machine (under the guises of "peace-keeping"). Tell me, how does one "keep" PEACE by "making" WAR? We have the most effective and brutal means to KILL other human-beings ever invented, and yet... We also think of ourselves as Religious, Political, and "Right" - while too many are "right-eous" about both.
How WRONG we are as a people! Is it any wonder that the fundamentalists of other ideologies, political regimes, and religions - want us (the entire "US"), dead?
Meanwhile we "care" for our down-trodden by allowing our legal-social-fiscal-financial system to TAKE everything a person has worked-for - often, simply because they've had the misfortune of falling-ill, or lost a bill-paying job (when some greedy employer "went bust"). Thereafter the credit system "treats" those individuals like losers - the guilty second-rate citizens - that they are not! How many jobs will their be for returning (unemployed) G.I.'s?
We aren't solely the US-of-A, we're also the US-of-E (of Entertainment) - even the ad-media-tized "News" is presented so as to, "make US think about something else" (as we entertain ourselves via mindless TV-programming - while munching butter-soaked microwave-popcorn). We are being trained to avoid doing something worthwhile to help and protect our fellow-man. Munch. Watch. Sit. Don't worry, be happy? (And was your TV "Made in the USA"?)
We endure a 24 X 7 onslaught of advertising: designed to prompt the sales (and purchases of) tons of "Made in China; Taiwan; Japan; Singapore; Maylasia; Philipinnes; Indonesia " schtuff... which most of us do not need (as MC / VISA / DISCOVER / AMEX lovingly oblige while rubbing their hands-together wryly).
No, the US-of-A is moreover, the US-of-G. An (us) US, of Greed.
So, don't fall ill. Don't lose your job! Else, Greed awaits ...you, your freedom, and your free will!
Me Thinks
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Once in a Generation...
When the 2008 elections came along, political participation became "trendy", some might say, "cool"....
During a few extrordinary months, the Democratic primary became the must-watch reality-TV show of the year... The general election tossed-up the very real possibility of an Obama Presidency - literally a new face for the body-politic (a young, liberal, charismatic, African-American man who'd started his career as a community organizer). Incredible!
Suddenly, everyone was talking, living, and breathing electoral politics.
Voter participation sky-rocketed: first the numbers of those "emotionally invested" in the election, mushroomed - then the number of campaign volunteers soared into the stratosphere. And finally (on election day), the numbers of young people and poor people (who stood in line to vote – the very individuals who had "sat it out" in the past), hit levels not seen for generations!
Opinion poll numbers showed large spikes in confidence - indicating that government could "do the right thing by" ordinary Americans.
And yet (now, 15 months after Obama's election), 62% of the US population is convinced that the country is on the wrong track, and most Americans seem to believe that the government isn't looking out for their best interests afterall...
The growing suspicion is perhaps, this: that 2008 wasn't quite the clean break many thought it to be... Would such a notion explain just why so many Obama voters sat-out the recent "special election" (in Massachusetts)? And also - why so many others voted for Scott Brown – and yet bizarrely also, why so many told pollsters that they wanted Brown (a Republican) to "work with" Democrats (to implement some version of healthcare reform)?
The polls of early 2009 indicated that a majority of voters were willing to give Barack Obama "years" (to turn the "broken economy" around). Now, those polls have been updated, and most reveal that increasing numbers of Americans are deeply impatient with, and resentful of, the still-sluggish pace of economic recovery.
Obama's great dilemma is that he used the language of "hope and change" to set the "bar" almost impossibly "high" for his Presidency.
His rhetoric was skillfully used to energize his audience (one that exhibited more enthusiasm than stamina, one that WANTS change to be both: instantaneous and easy). It has proven to be anything but. After all, a President can set the tone, but when it comes to domestic policy reforms - only Congress can pass Bills - not the sitting President!
The compromises made with various Senators (to secure their support on healthcare), has smacked of a political, "business as usual" climate. And the Public reacted accordingly – growing increasingly angry at the "Washington, DC mentality". Some have responded by jumping from Obama's vision of "change" to that indignities of their "Tea Parties". Others reacted by reverting to historical "apathy" and (once more), by removing themselves from the political process altogether.
Now, robbed of a "filibuster-proof" majority in the Senate, healthcare reformers can only watch - as their "moment for change" slips through their fingers....
The combined effect has made the overall political climate all the more unpleasant. Example: the recent Supreme Court ruling eviscerated spending-limits that Corporations can hand-out (to influence elections). That alone means there's going to be a strong likelihood that politics will become even uglier, messier, and more "beholding" to special interests - than it has been in the past.
All of which prompts an observation: commentators told the once-apathetic that they had "no right" to complain (if they weren't going to participate). And so (in 2008), they finally participated. They helped elect a progressive President, and gave the Democratic party the biggest Congressional majority seen, in decades. They put in place a foundation for the sort of across-the-board change - not seen since the "Great Society" years, or perhaps even, since "The New Deal".
And the result?
We're a year into a new administration's rule. We've got political stalemate. Instead, of leadership, we've disoriented Congressional would-be leaders. Moreover, there is no clear leader (especially when it comes to fighting for healthcare reform, some version of which a clear majority of Americans, want). There is a growing sense that the plutocrats -- the bankers, the great corporations, the holders of vast fortunes – will always win, that the political system is fundamentally "fixed", to be stacked-against the "little guy".
That's a dangerous caldron of hot soup...
Too many of the ingredients of the moment in in the mix: anger, rage, frustration, fear of economic calamity (loss of home, loss of job), and in particular ...a sense of hopes betrayed and promises broken, of having been sold a bill of goods! People are bitter, and embittered politics tend to generate two things: apathy and/or authoritarianism.
One can only hope that the Democrats will find their sea-legs soon, and that Congress can follow-through with "genuine promise" (for the transformations that were embodied by Obama's candidacy in 2008). If they don't; if they duck and weave; and hope that small-bore changes will suffice to meet the towering needs of the moment - then politics will likely take some particularly "ugly turns" in the years ahead.
In the election campaign, Obama repeatedly talked of "the urgency of now."
That urgency is still there, as are the transformative ambitions and instincts of President Obama. In 2010, Congressional Democrats need to find a way to harness the "urgency", and to implement "big-picture" reforms akin to those that the Obama election promised to usher-in.
If they can't, or don't - they will have lost a "once-in-a-generation" opportunity.
Me Thinks
During a few extrordinary months, the Democratic primary became the must-watch reality-TV show of the year... The general election tossed-up the very real possibility of an Obama Presidency - literally a new face for the body-politic (a young, liberal, charismatic, African-American man who'd started his career as a community organizer). Incredible!
Suddenly, everyone was talking, living, and breathing electoral politics.
Voter participation sky-rocketed: first the numbers of those "emotionally invested" in the election, mushroomed - then the number of campaign volunteers soared into the stratosphere. And finally (on election day), the numbers of young people and poor people (who stood in line to vote – the very individuals who had "sat it out" in the past), hit levels not seen for generations!
Opinion poll numbers showed large spikes in confidence - indicating that government could "do the right thing by" ordinary Americans.
And yet (now, 15 months after Obama's election), 62% of the US population is convinced that the country is on the wrong track, and most Americans seem to believe that the government isn't looking out for their best interests afterall...
The growing suspicion is perhaps, this: that 2008 wasn't quite the clean break many thought it to be... Would such a notion explain just why so many Obama voters sat-out the recent "special election" (in Massachusetts)? And also - why so many others voted for Scott Brown – and yet bizarrely also, why so many told pollsters that they wanted Brown (a Republican) to "work with" Democrats (to implement some version of healthcare reform)?
The polls of early 2009 indicated that a majority of voters were willing to give Barack Obama "years" (to turn the "broken economy" around). Now, those polls have been updated, and most reveal that increasing numbers of Americans are deeply impatient with, and resentful of, the still-sluggish pace of economic recovery.
Obama's great dilemma is that he used the language of "hope and change" to set the "bar" almost impossibly "high" for his Presidency.
His rhetoric was skillfully used to energize his audience (one that exhibited more enthusiasm than stamina, one that WANTS change to be both: instantaneous and easy). It has proven to be anything but. After all, a President can set the tone, but when it comes to domestic policy reforms - only Congress can pass Bills - not the sitting President!
The compromises made with various Senators (to secure their support on healthcare), has smacked of a political, "business as usual" climate. And the Public reacted accordingly – growing increasingly angry at the "Washington, DC mentality". Some have responded by jumping from Obama's vision of "change" to that indignities of their "Tea Parties". Others reacted by reverting to historical "apathy" and (once more), by removing themselves from the political process altogether.
Now, robbed of a "filibuster-proof" majority in the Senate, healthcare reformers can only watch - as their "moment for change" slips through their fingers....
The combined effect has made the overall political climate all the more unpleasant. Example: the recent Supreme Court ruling eviscerated spending-limits that Corporations can hand-out (to influence elections). That alone means there's going to be a strong likelihood that politics will become even uglier, messier, and more "beholding" to special interests - than it has been in the past.
All of which prompts an observation: commentators told the once-apathetic that they had "no right" to complain (if they weren't going to participate). And so (in 2008), they finally participated. They helped elect a progressive President, and gave the Democratic party the biggest Congressional majority seen, in decades. They put in place a foundation for the sort of across-the-board change - not seen since the "Great Society" years, or perhaps even, since "The New Deal".
And the result?
We're a year into a new administration's rule. We've got political stalemate. Instead, of leadership, we've disoriented Congressional would-be leaders. Moreover, there is no clear leader (especially when it comes to fighting for healthcare reform, some version of which a clear majority of Americans, want). There is a growing sense that the plutocrats -- the bankers, the great corporations, the holders of vast fortunes – will always win, that the political system is fundamentally "fixed", to be stacked-against the "little guy".
That's a dangerous caldron of hot soup...
Too many of the ingredients of the moment in in the mix: anger, rage, frustration, fear of economic calamity (loss of home, loss of job), and in particular ...a sense of hopes betrayed and promises broken, of having been sold a bill of goods! People are bitter, and embittered politics tend to generate two things: apathy and/or authoritarianism.
One can only hope that the Democrats will find their sea-legs soon, and that Congress can follow-through with "genuine promise" (for the transformations that were embodied by Obama's candidacy in 2008). If they don't; if they duck and weave; and hope that small-bore changes will suffice to meet the towering needs of the moment - then politics will likely take some particularly "ugly turns" in the years ahead.
In the election campaign, Obama repeatedly talked of "the urgency of now."
That urgency is still there, as are the transformative ambitions and instincts of President Obama. In 2010, Congressional Democrats need to find a way to harness the "urgency", and to implement "big-picture" reforms akin to those that the Obama election promised to usher-in.
If they can't, or don't - they will have lost a "once-in-a-generation" opportunity.
Me Thinks
Sunday, February 07, 2010
That hopey, changey thing...
NPR's "Weekend Edition" (interview aired, Sunday 07-Feb-2010): a year after the Innauguration of President Obama, Sarah Palin said, "I gotta ask the supporters of all that...", "How's that hopey, changey thing working out for ya?"
Our (colloquial language) reply, "for ya": FACTUALLY (subsequent to 1-year in office - 25% of his 4-year term thingie):
N.B. It is suitable to mention that the (above) Florida-based website, has [historically speaking] some (very) clear-cut right-wing, Conservative leanings...
And so it is, Ms. Sarah (whacha thinkin'...)?
Me Thinks
Our (colloquial language) reply, "for ya": FACTUALLY (subsequent to 1-year in office - 25% of his 4-year term thingie):
- President O has kept, compromised, or has "in the works": 399 (of his 503 announced "promises") - i.e. 79.3% are underway or completed!
- President O broke (might not be the suitable label) his "word", 15 times (2.9%).
- President O has 87 items "stalled" (due primarily to bi-partisan, politically-motivated squables within the House and Senate - "bought" by the lobbyists who represent Big Money).
- President O is a man for The People, by The People?
N.B. It is suitable to mention that the (above) Florida-based website, has [historically speaking] some (very) clear-cut right-wing, Conservative leanings...
And so it is, Ms. Sarah (whacha thinkin'...)?
Me Thinks
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Unscrupulous Souls
American business was once riding a euphoric high, but with good times come the bad. Many unscrupulous souls are out there. They prey upon unwitting consumers and are looking for easy "openings" to bilk, swindle, and entrap ...YOU! Save more, spend less and avoid rip-offs!
Need a source of good advice and great ideas? [link]
Need a source of good advice and great ideas? [link]
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
INCOMPETENCE: State Government?
Contact the WI DWD (Wisconsin Workforce Development Department) to present a legitimate complaint related to: Discrimination, Wages, or ANY form of ABUSE by an employer. The DWD staff will invest more energy - to do NOTHING - than to take the claim presented seriously.
Try calling the WI OCI (Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance) to present a case related to abuse of Federal Privacy Law. Once your proof has been provided, the administrator will effectivel take NO ACTION and let the perp run free (to commit the same crimes). Their excuse will be carfully explained, no Wisconsin laws were violated.
Care to hear about more such State level examples of INCOMPETENCE?
Just ask.
Try calling the WI OCI (Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance) to present a case related to abuse of Federal Privacy Law. Once your proof has been provided, the administrator will effectivel take NO ACTION and let the perp run free (to commit the same crimes). Their excuse will be carfully explained, no Wisconsin laws were violated.
Care to hear about more such State level examples of INCOMPETENCE?
Just ask.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Healthcare for Everyone (equal risk = equal cost)
No self-focused entity should (ever again) be allowed to "wish away" this GREAT EMERGENCY!
Not by pretending that it does not exist, nor by placing profits over an equal shot at wellness - for every man, woman, and child.
Everyone (also) needs to take care of themselves by living and eating healthy.
Me Thinks
Not by pretending that it does not exist, nor by placing profits over an equal shot at wellness - for every man, woman, and child.
Everyone (also) needs to take care of themselves by living and eating healthy.
Me Thinks
ONE PAGE - Credit Card Contracts
To all CREDIT CARD companies, a WARNING:
Produce fair, common sense, ONE PAGE Credit Card Contracts ... else, we your life-blood, the consumers and citizens of this great land (and the world) ...
We PROMISE to double-up every rule and law (imposed to keep you honest) through expanded REGULATION, by adding peeks, pokes, and (over-your-shoulder) monitoring of your EVERY MOVE (and profit). That will be done so that all financial businesses will be REQUIRED to be "up front" - forced to eliminate ALL deceptive, in-fine-print, gobblty-gook (even the scams that you concoct, in your dreams).
Companies who don't comply will pay HUGE fines ...or be "nationalized" !
We PROMISE.
Produce fair, common sense, ONE PAGE Credit Card Contracts ... else, we your life-blood, the consumers and citizens of this great land (and the world) ...
We PROMISE to double-up every rule and law (imposed to keep you honest) through expanded REGULATION, by adding peeks, pokes, and (over-your-shoulder) monitoring of your EVERY MOVE (and profit). That will be done so that all financial businesses will be REQUIRED to be "up front" - forced to eliminate ALL deceptive, in-fine-print, gobblty-gook (even the scams that you concoct, in your dreams).
Companies who don't comply will pay HUGE fines ...or be "nationalized" !
We PROMISE.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Sinning Obliges...
Wall Street and the Big Banks will NEVER "self-regulate".
They're in it for the "G-R-E-E-D". Are we being taken for fools? Let's impose rigid rules (LAWS); mandatory (public) AUDITS; huge FINES to "compensate" misbehavior; JAIL-TIME for CEO's whose "wages" violate the rudiments of "common sense". How about adding the DEATH PENALTY for those who've "made off" with BILLION$ that had been "entrusted" to them?
While we're at it, let's cut the CRAP (much of which is muddling-up the topic of Healthcare) and let's FORCE the "pharma" companies to speak the TRUTH. Come now, does anyone really need to, "Ask/talk to your doctor..." every time a blue pill gets popped? Let's get real - it's about "legaleeze" and "money". Your family physician would be the one sued (while those Pharma companies avoid stepping-up to the plate - whenever their "better living through Chemistry" goes haywire)!
Cute, but seriously, this is serious B.S.
Next, just ask yourself ...how many "subscriptions" have been shoved "up yours" (e.g. Internet, Cable, Satellite, Cellphone, Telephone, Home Security, etc.)? How many of those companies are now "plugged-in" to your bank account (usually, for a period of YEARS without a fair-play "opt-out")?
Has your Credit Card provider RAISED their interest rate to something EXHORBITANT of late? Or were they asleep at the wheel (while exploiting tax-payer dollars and "sense" to benefit themselves)?
Have YOU been CHASE'd yet?
Care to "switch" to a different auto insurance company? EVERY offer "claims" to save money for anyone dumb enough to have "switched" (on average) ...meaningless statistics.
What about "in-store rebates"? Three foot-long receipts and fine print that will cause your eyes to ache ... i.e. your money into their pockets 'now', your money back in your pocket 'later' (if ever). Like it, or lump it?
Scams, scams, and more scams!
When a "service" isn't; when a so-called "savings" isn't; when a great "offer" isn't; when a "product" isn't - then what is it?
Demand TRUTH in ADVERTISING!
The people who impose all of this nonsense are cheaters and liars. Worse, the legal profession helped to make it so. Can anyone (honestly) disagree? Take note of just how many of the law-makers, are lawyers? Honest, straight-talkers - trustworthy folks?
This feeding-frenzy began a long time ago - "pork" anyone?
Has EVERY facet of "money-making" been transformed into a scam? Is it not "high-time" to roll-out the guillotines (see next entry)?
Me Thinks
They're in it for the "G-R-E-E-D". Are we being taken for fools? Let's impose rigid rules (LAWS); mandatory (public) AUDITS; huge FINES to "compensate" misbehavior; JAIL-TIME for CEO's whose "wages" violate the rudiments of "common sense". How about adding the DEATH PENALTY for those who've "made off" with BILLION$ that had been "entrusted" to them?
While we're at it, let's cut the CRAP (much of which is muddling-up the topic of Healthcare) and let's FORCE the "pharma" companies to speak the TRUTH. Come now, does anyone really need to, "Ask/talk to your doctor..." every time a blue pill gets popped? Let's get real - it's about "legaleeze" and "money". Your family physician would be the one sued (while those Pharma companies avoid stepping-up to the plate - whenever their "better living through Chemistry" goes haywire)!
Cute, but seriously, this is serious B.S.
Next, just ask yourself ...how many "subscriptions" have been shoved "up yours" (e.g. Internet, Cable, Satellite, Cellphone, Telephone, Home Security, etc.)? How many of those companies are now "plugged-in" to your bank account (usually, for a period of YEARS without a fair-play "opt-out")?
Has your Credit Card provider RAISED their interest rate to something EXHORBITANT of late? Or were they asleep at the wheel (while exploiting tax-payer dollars and "sense" to benefit themselves)?
Have YOU been CHASE'd yet?
Care to "switch" to a different auto insurance company? EVERY offer "claims" to save money for anyone dumb enough to have "switched" (on average) ...meaningless statistics.
What about "in-store rebates"? Three foot-long receipts and fine print that will cause your eyes to ache ... i.e. your money into their pockets 'now', your money back in your pocket 'later' (if ever). Like it, or lump it?
Scams, scams, and more scams!
When a "service" isn't; when a so-called "savings" isn't; when a great "offer" isn't; when a "product" isn't - then what is it?
Demand TRUTH in ADVERTISING!
The people who impose all of this nonsense are cheaters and liars. Worse, the legal profession helped to make it so. Can anyone (honestly) disagree? Take note of just how many of the law-makers, are lawyers? Honest, straight-talkers - trustworthy folks?
This feeding-frenzy began a long time ago - "pork" anyone?
Has EVERY facet of "money-making" been transformed into a scam? Is it not "high-time" to roll-out the guillotines (see next entry)?
Me Thinks
Don't lose your head (take the 5th)!
Ever notice? How certain people (you know the ones)... "go silent" because they're well-aware of their GUILT! Moreover, those same individuals (usually) don't give a rat's ass about anything (nor anyone), but themselves. Me thinks that France had it RIGHT all those years ago. Let's roll-out a "guillotine" for use at public executions...
" Vive le pays de Napoléon Bonaparte !!! "
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Into a BLACK HOLE (the value of the US Dollar)?
Friday, the 30-stock Dow Jones industrial average finished higher by 78.07 points, or 0.80%, at 9,864.94 - the highest closing level in a year... The broad Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was up 6.01 points, or 0.56%, at 1,071.49. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 15.35 points, or 0.72%, to 2,139.28. On the New York Stock Exchange, 18 stocks were higher in price for every 11 that declined. Breadth on the Nasdaq was 18-8 positive. Market players were looking to next week's earnings reports and retail sales and industrial production data - to see if a recovery will be picking up steam - to justify strong gains since March. The stock market will be open on the Columbus Day holiday while the bond market will be closed. Treasuries plunged Friday as Bernanke acknowledged that the Fed will eventually have to hike rates. The battered dollar index was higher on Bernanke's comments. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the biggest story in the world economy is the continuing fall of the U.S. dollar (or at least it is - everywhere outside of Washington, D.C.)...
Me Thinks
Sunday, September 13, 2009
U.S. Census Bureau Report: "The Bush Years"
Read the US Census Bureau Report. The "Bush Years" did not leave behind a legacy of "greatness" (far from it). In fact, on every major measurement, the Census Bureau report shows that the country lost ground during Bush's two terms. While G.W. was in office, some poignant examples:
- Median household income, declined.
- Poverty, increased.
- Childhood poverty increased, (even more).
- Number of Americans without health insurance, spiked.
By contrast, the country's condition improved on each of those Census Bureau measures during the two terms while (Democrat) Bill Clinton was in the White House (often substantially). What an irony, that many of those who voted Republican during the last election (or for Bush during the preceeding two) are absolutely enraged by the possibility of any change...
Your thoughts?
- Median household income, declined.
- Poverty, increased.
- Childhood poverty increased, (even more).
- Number of Americans without health insurance, spiked.
By contrast, the country's condition improved on each of those Census Bureau measures during the two terms while (Democrat) Bill Clinton was in the White House (often substantially). What an irony, that many of those who voted Republican during the last election (or for Bush during the preceeding two) are absolutely enraged by the possibility of any change...
Your thoughts?
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Mass Extinction (underway)...
An undercover agent from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service displays endangered "Ornithoptera Alexandrae" butterflies - seized during a 'sting' (the male butterfly is at the top). Also known as "Queen Alexandra's Birdwing", the specie is among the largest and rarest in the world.
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This insect has a wingspan up to one foot and can be found flying high above the rainforest in Papua New Guinea. A pair sells for more than $10,000 on the black market. Exotic living things are still being killed, to be sold to the highest bidder...
Where is this old world headed?
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This insect has a wingspan up to one foot and can be found flying high above the rainforest in Papua New Guinea. A pair sells for more than $10,000 on the black market. Exotic living things are still being killed, to be sold to the highest bidder...
Where is this old world headed?
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Getting NOTHING, for something...
Ah yes, the United States of America. For the People, by the People? Country First? Good luck. Let FREEDOM ring, but Me Thinks that the time has come, to RENAME this ailing land.
Something along the lines of:
The US of E. - "The United States of Entertainment" (Vive Blueray!)
The US of G. - "The United States of Greed" (Not God?)
The US of O. - "The United States of Obama" (Wannabe god.)
That's right, E+G+O - "The U.S. of Ego" ...that of Corporate "Healthcare" America!
What with all the 'tweet' about Healthcare, seems that everyone has forgotten that those businesses are all about making MONEY (aka, "profits"). Logically, are those "operations" [pun] about "PREVENTIVE" medicine, or about "CURATIVE" medicine"? Seems to me, that having lots of unhealthy (sick) "customers" would be one heck of a lot more PROFITABLE (more so, than helping folks to "prevent" themselves from becoming ill). Or (perish the thought), by having "customers" who succeed at living within "wellness", by maintaining and enjoying, consistent Good Health!
Our grandparents had no bona fide Healthcare companies to "care" for them. (Obviously, one doesn't "miss" what one never knew.) Grandma and Grandpa had no "concerned" money makers to "share" their paycheck (during those days gone by)... You'd think that our ancestors (recent past, to ancient past) were always sickly (dropping like flies). Goodness sakes! Call a Law firm. You (might) have Mesothelioma! (Get some money for nothing, and your kicks for free?)
Geeze, "Living" itself must have been HELL for Grandma 'N Grandpa (unhealthy all the time)?
Nah. Bullscheist! Pure propoganda! Corporate America (The U.S. of Ego) has CREATED that perception of need (while the balance of Corporate America supplied "healthy" JUNK-FOOD to get the "sick people" ball, rolling). Just, drop-by for FAST-FOOD, anywhere. Then, "Ask your doctor" (for a pill to cure whatever ails you)! We've been brainwashed onto mindless pathways that lead towards POOR HEALTH. We wanted it. We suckered for it. We pay for it.
Now we're REALLY going to pay...
Hell no! I would prefer my own (independent) private Physician, one who still does housecalls (and who knows me by name). Someone who KNOWS my medical history and gives a damn.
But no, THAT would be COMMON SENSE. Alas, things are getting crazier and less sensible (less sensitive) by the day.
What is the PRICETAG on life (to remain alive)?
What is the PRICETAG on the quality (of that life)?
What is the PRICETAG of curative (vs. preventive)?
Consider this: The United States spends US$ 7,290 on health care per person, per year - while the average spent by the 30 most developed countries is US$ 2,960. It is unacceptable that we have so much more of our money tied up in health care, yet we are not delivering demonstrably better health care than many of these countries. Studies show that the U.S. ranks below average on major health indicators, including infant mortality and life expectancy, when compared with the rest of the world. We currently rank 44th in infant mortality and 30th in life expectancy, with the average American living to 78 years of age. By comparison, Japan spends $2,550 on health care per person each year - just over a third of what the U.S. spends - and boasts a life expectancy of 83 years.
Sarcasm: how in the world did our ancestors "get by" without ANY of the "Ask your Doctor" medications - before BIG pharma companies (for PROFIT), and BIG healthcare (for PROFIT) came along? The whole SCAM of health and medicine in America (The US of Ego) is a sham (there shall be no "premature exhaltation" coming [pun] from this horny old man). What does "USFDA" stand for (really)... ? Is it similar to, "FUBAR"?
For-profit healthcare will NEVER place WELLNESS or WELL-BEING of a patient first.
The current delivery system has built-in incentives to create and maintain a General Public in a POOR state of health - not prevention, not cures! Such organizations should be rewarded (paid), and allowed to innovate (profit) - but ONLY when a patient is "cured" (or kept healthy). Why should any organization be "rewarded" for failure?
Or am I crazy?
The "politics" of Healthcare, has everything to do with the "money-making" motives of Healthcare". Let's make sure that the ONLY priority is "health success". Let us ensure that profitability is NEVER allowed to be the engine that empowers a Health (Wellness) system.
As a footnote, one cannot set goals that aren't attainable. As they say in French, "La Fontaine ne peut grimper qu'à l'hauteur de sa source." (A fountain cannot surge higher than its spring.) If a Government-run Healthcare plan is to be based upon corporate profits (without the guarantees of sustainability, motivated by health-success - by placing the personal HEALTH of every INDIVIDUAL first), I'll be the first to say, "Lick my buttons!" and "Kiss my axe!"
You know, this whole process resembles a bankruptcy - that of a "Psychic-Readings" studio. Whenever one of those fails, shouldn't the resident "prognosticator" have been able to predict their own collapse, so as to have prevented the event?
Such rationale doesn't exactly instill confidence, does it?
Something along the lines of:
The US of E. - "The United States of Entertainment" (Vive Blueray!)
The US of G. - "The United States of Greed" (Not God?)
The US of O. - "The United States of Obama" (Wannabe god.)
That's right, E+G+O - "The U.S. of Ego" ...that of Corporate "Healthcare" America!
What with all the 'tweet' about Healthcare, seems that everyone has forgotten that those businesses are all about making MONEY (aka, "profits"). Logically, are those "operations" [pun] about "PREVENTIVE" medicine, or about "CURATIVE" medicine"? Seems to me, that having lots of unhealthy (sick) "customers" would be one heck of a lot more PROFITABLE (more so, than helping folks to "prevent" themselves from becoming ill). Or (perish the thought), by having "customers" who succeed at living within "wellness", by maintaining and enjoying, consistent Good Health!
Our grandparents had no bona fide Healthcare companies to "care" for them. (Obviously, one doesn't "miss" what one never knew.) Grandma and Grandpa had no "concerned" money makers to "share" their paycheck (during those days gone by)... You'd think that our ancestors (recent past, to ancient past) were always sickly (dropping like flies). Goodness sakes! Call a Law firm. You (might) have Mesothelioma! (Get some money for nothing, and your kicks for free?)
Geeze, "Living" itself must have been HELL for Grandma 'N Grandpa (unhealthy all the time)?
Nah. Bullscheist! Pure propoganda! Corporate America (The U.S. of Ego) has CREATED that perception of need (while the balance of Corporate America supplied "healthy" JUNK-FOOD to get the "sick people" ball, rolling). Just, drop-by for FAST-FOOD, anywhere. Then, "Ask your doctor" (for a pill to cure whatever ails you)! We've been brainwashed onto mindless pathways that lead towards POOR HEALTH. We wanted it. We suckered for it. We pay for it.
Now we're REALLY going to pay...
Hell no! I would prefer my own (independent) private Physician, one who still does housecalls (and who knows me by name). Someone who KNOWS my medical history and gives a damn.
But no, THAT would be COMMON SENSE. Alas, things are getting crazier and less sensible (less sensitive) by the day.
What is the PRICETAG on life (to remain alive)?
What is the PRICETAG on the quality (of that life)?
What is the PRICETAG of curative (vs. preventive)?
Consider this: The United States spends US$ 7,290 on health care per person, per year - while the average spent by the 30 most developed countries is US$ 2,960. It is unacceptable that we have so much more of our money tied up in health care, yet we are not delivering demonstrably better health care than many of these countries. Studies show that the U.S. ranks below average on major health indicators, including infant mortality and life expectancy, when compared with the rest of the world. We currently rank 44th in infant mortality and 30th in life expectancy, with the average American living to 78 years of age. By comparison, Japan spends $2,550 on health care per person each year - just over a third of what the U.S. spends - and boasts a life expectancy of 83 years.
Sarcasm: how in the world did our ancestors "get by" without ANY of the "Ask your Doctor" medications - before BIG pharma companies (for PROFIT), and BIG healthcare (for PROFIT) came along? The whole SCAM of health and medicine in America (The US of Ego) is a sham (there shall be no "premature exhaltation" coming [pun] from this horny old man). What does "USFDA" stand for (really)... ? Is it similar to, "FUBAR"?
For-profit healthcare will NEVER place WELLNESS or WELL-BEING of a patient first.
The current delivery system has built-in incentives to create and maintain a General Public in a POOR state of health - not prevention, not cures! Such organizations should be rewarded (paid), and allowed to innovate (profit) - but ONLY when a patient is "cured" (or kept healthy). Why should any organization be "rewarded" for failure?
Or am I crazy?
The "politics" of Healthcare, has everything to do with the "money-making" motives of Healthcare". Let's make sure that the ONLY priority is "health success". Let us ensure that profitability is NEVER allowed to be the engine that empowers a Health (Wellness) system.
As a footnote, one cannot set goals that aren't attainable. As they say in French, "La Fontaine ne peut grimper qu'à l'hauteur de sa source." (A fountain cannot surge higher than its spring.) If a Government-run Healthcare plan is to be based upon corporate profits (without the guarantees of sustainability, motivated by health-success - by placing the personal HEALTH of every INDIVIDUAL first), I'll be the first to say, "Lick my buttons!" and "Kiss my axe!"
You know, this whole process resembles a bankruptcy - that of a "Psychic-Readings" studio. Whenever one of those fails, shouldn't the resident "prognosticator" have been able to predict their own collapse, so as to have prevented the event?
Such rationale doesn't exactly instill confidence, does it?
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