Monday, July 31, 2017

I Need Your Ideas re: Medicare for All | Bernie Sanders

Friends of Bernie Sanders


Alan –

Thanks so much for your ongoing support.

Let me take this opportunity to give you an update as to what's been happening in recent weeks.

As you all know, the disastrous Republican "health care" proposals have, for the moment at least, been defeated. They were defeated because millions of Americans stood up and fought back. They made phone calls and sent emails, letting members of Congress know how they felt. They got their friends involved in the struggle by utilizing social media. They attended town hall meetings. They went to rallies, including some that I attended in Michigan, Maine, Nevada, Arizona, West Virginia, Ohio, Utah, Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

And in poll after poll, an overwhelming majority of the American people were absolutely clear about their opposition to these destructive plans:

No. We will not be throwing 32 million, 23 million, 22 million or 16 million Americans off of health insurance in order to give tax breaks to the rich and large corporations, and to further the right wing extremist ideology of the Koch brothers.

No. We will not be cutting Medicaid by $800 billion, raising premiums for older workers, defunding Planned Parenthood and making it almost impossible for people with pre-existing conditions to get affordable insurance.

Needless to say, while we have won at least a temporary victory by defeating horrific Republican proposals, that is not good enough. We need to go on the offensive, not simply remain in a defensive posture.

The status quo is not satisfactory. Too many Americans continue to have no health insurance. Too many are paying premiums, deductibles and co-payments that are much too high. Too many cannot afford the outrageously high cost of prescription drugs they need. Too many cannot gain access to high quality primary health care or dental care, even when they have insurance. Our goal is not complicated, and it is not radical. It is to have the United States join every other industrialized country on earth in guaranteeing health care for all. Health care must not be considered as a privilege or a commodity. It is a human right to which every man, woman and child is entitled.

Our goal is to create a rational, cost-effective health care system. Today in the United States, we are spending almost $10,000 a year per person on health care. This is absurd and unsustainable. We must not continue a system which is, by far, the most expensive, wasteful and bureaucratic in the world.

Our goal is to put health care dollars into disease prevention and the provision of health care, not insurance company profits, not outrageous salaries for health industry CEOs, not advertising, not billing, not lobbying or campaign contributions.
Our goal is to move this country to a Medicare-for-all, single-payer system.

Let me be clear. This will be an enormously difficult and prolonged struggle, and one which will require the efforts of tens of millions of Americans in every state in this country. It will, in fact, require a political revolution in which the American people participate in the political process in a way that we have not seen in the recent history of our democracy.

In order to pass a Medicare-for-all, single payer system we will be taking on the most powerful special interests in the country: Wall Street, the insurance companies, the drug companies, the corporate media, the Republican Party and the establishment wing of the Democratic Party. In opposition to our efforts there will be a never-ending barrage of TV ads, editorials, political attacks and lies.

If we are going to be successful in this struggle, we have got to be smart – very smart. Not only do we need strong legislation (which I will be offering shortly and an outline of which I will be sending to you), but we need an unprecedented organizing and educational campaign.

How do we counter the lies and distortions against Medicare-for-all that is sure to come? How do we make certain that all of us – men and women, gay and straight, black, white, Latino, Asian-American, Native American -– are in this struggle together? How do we bring young and healthy people to stand alongside the elderly, the sick and the poor?

The battle that we are undertaking is enormous and unprecedented in the modern history of our country. Please send us your ideas as to how we can best go forward. Please give us your vision of what a humane and rational health care system looks like. Please share your experiences with the current system. Please help us map out an effective political strategy.

We are in this together. We need everyone's ideas.

Thanks again for your support and all that you are doing.

In solidarity,
Bernie

#Photography for the Beautiful 8/1


Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

A boy rests on watermelons at a market stall

Photograph: Faisal Al Nasser/Reuters

Who knew watermelons could be so accommodating.





Aydin,Turkey

An aerial view of a bell pepper field

Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

So many future stuffed bell peppers yearning for that glory.





Prague, Czech Republic

Cheetah cubs born 11 weeks ago play in their acclimatisation enclosure at the city zoo

Photograph: Martin Divisek/EPA

Fastest land creatures in the world




Franklin, US

Jim Zuckerman’s photo of his dog is one of the finalists of the inaugural Comedy Pet Photography Awards. See more of the final selection in our gallery

Photograph: Jim Zuckerman / Barcroft Images

There's no need to fear, Wonder Spaniel is here.




New Jersey, US

Hot air balloons take flight at the 35th annual QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning

Photograph: UPI/Barcroft Images

Maybe your dream is to make a hot air balloon which looks like a barn and it can come true.  Why you would want it to come true remains a mystery.

What's Hot on the Blog 7/31

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Behind Justin - is a glorious cesspool of tar sand filth

Take the Money - anything for a buck and thanks for a surprising reception

Won't Get Fooled - fooling Americans is effortless

The Shot - Zen Yogi how to advise on personal shots and mastering the art of throwing peanuts

What About - if I sweeten these poems sometimes but sure but everything comes in waves

The CIA - start the countdown until we start hearing about the vital need for regime change there

Racism

#Photography

What's Hot

A Ton - any time there's a large heroin interdiction, one thing you will know for sure is the US military didn't do it

"Shooting Sparks and Sowing Rainbows" #Poetry

There's no comedy in the status
I knew I wouldn't wait too much
since they will always call back quickly
when their results really suck
The situation grew rather larger
and it seems it has also spread
there's no good way to say it
since it looks like this one's dead

And soon I will relinquish
my claim to life extinguished
but it will be distinguished
as I roll back off the field
Nothing will ever stop me
unless it stands to beat me down
but I look all about me 
and I'm the only clown

I'm the wretch behind the tent
who no-one can behold
but that's alright, I want it not
although I'll let them see my soul
There's peace in great abundance
and I hope some can see the vibe
but that may be somewhat doubtful
when they're swaddled in their jive

Nothing's fast, it's not that way
Ithaka should still reach a million
and if you want to ride along
then climb up on the pillion
since we'll be sowing rainbows
making light amid the dark
there is no time to waste a day
until shooting that last spark

- Colonel Arbuthnot Jones

The Phenomenon of Brain Synchronization with Each Other #Science #Neurology #Psychology


Scientists measured the movement of their brainwaves simultaneously and confirmed that their oscillations took place at the same time. (Stock image)

Credit: © Sergey Nivens / Fotolia


The rhythms of brainwaves between two people taking part in a conversation begin to match each other. This is the conclusion of a study published in the magazine Scientific Reports, led by the Basque research centre BCBL. According to scientists, this interbrain synchrony may be a key factor in understanding language and interpersonal communication.

Science Daily:  Our brains synchronize during a conversation

The interested student is invited to the original article for the test protocol and results, etc since we grok the Kumbaya part of it but our intrigue is regarding the nightmare side of it.


What happens if you talk to Donald Trump and your brain synchronizes with his?

Watson:  your vocabulary drops by thousands of words and you rely constantly on very to amplify meaning.

I would sound like a grade school kid writing his first paper.

Watson:  precisely

"He Made a Few Mistakes" #Poetry

They said a prayer for Alan Kurdi
but their prayers don't mean a thing
They didn't change their behavior
and more killing is all they bring
They said it's not my problem
sometimes the system fails
and that kid is drowned but what the fuck
we'll send prayers then turn our tails

It's their lifelong absolution
in their self-righteous world of death
They have an excuse for everything
and they just make more shibboleths
which define them as lords and masters
and rulers of all the Earth
where nothing here shall ever live
without their permission for its birth

When war is raging all around
the parents must find shelter
They couldn't hide so they must run
in a world mad with helter skelter
His parents are in agony
and must do whatever it takes
but Alan ended face down on the beach
News said he made a few mistakes

Then they continued to the weather
from a chipper little blondie girl
who was pretty in her standard way
but was still just an android churl
who wants to make your life happier
to bring some brightness to your day
but as to Alan's passing
she has nothing much to say

- Colonel Arbuthnot Jones

Alex Jones: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)




It looks like Alex Jones is basing his career on the income from selling his products to people who buy them for gag gifts on Sadie Hawkins Day.  He's the Home Shopping Channel for the Hysterical Haranguer.

Is it just me or does Alex Jones also remind you of Alec Baldwin without the wig?

The CIA Takes the Win in Venezuela and American Military Has New Plaything

There's nothing which revitalizes the CIA quite so much as finding another country to destroy and, as predicted, they're going into Venezuela.  (Fox News:  State Department slams Venezuela 'sham' elections)

As to what future America will have after that with its integrity even further destroyed, there's no telling, but what difference does it make when it has no future now.  America doesn't do anything with its infrastructure except create more oil pits and evolution isn't kind to those who don't keep up.





The effect of a second Dust Bowl could be offset but the CIA is too busy killing things.  Have a ball with that.


There's some thinking the elite will abandon America after they have trashed it since if they want another country then they can just fuckin' buy one or many as it may please them.  There's only three million of them so their new country wouldn't even have to be that big.  Of course they will push all the residents into the ocean because they really fuckin' hate black people.

They can easily finance their Neo America by doing what they do best (i.e. making banks) and then use them for international tax shelters.  They know they don't need a military since they were the problem the entire time.



The Shot About My Music Was a Sweet One

To emphasize a point, it was advised my music is horrible and, of course, I was duly thankful since otherwise how would I ever know.  It amuses me, tho, since we've got to know the inner motivation, the inner sense of it.

Zen Yogi:  no, we don't.  Got any fried chicken?


Ed:  you could have written like Bill O'Reilly and been a jukebox hero

O'Reilly only throws peanuts to elephants.  Dreaming big is important but it shouldn't involve elephants unless you're another elephant.

Ed:  Rachel Maddow does easy material too

Sure, it's been my dream to be the first female member of Insane Clown Posse.

Besides, it's not my purpose to write the easy material.  It would be effortless to run up billions of reads and the big bucks by rolling straight to MSM's pre-programmed palaver but it's rubbish and I won't do it.  Writing anything else engenders tremendous hostility since it's disruptive to their illusions and I'm necessarily at fault since otherwise there's no choice but to recognize the phantasms for what they really are.  Rather than lose the phantasms, take me out instead (larfs).

It's the Snowden Phenomenon since America focuses the kill on him which conveniently dodges every word of truth he revealed and none of it was ever contested.  Therefore, kill the messenger.

The leaders know well it only takes a spinning mirror and a bouncing ball to fleece every dime from the unidimensional wizards in this country.

Speaking of which ...

There was a debate tonight between @TomiLahren and @chelseahandler and that must have been a duel of the fucking titans.  Show us your tits.

There are more starfuckers per square inch on Twitter than The Rolling Stones met in the band's entire touring career.

Just look at the mirror and try to blank your mind ... assuming it's not blank already.


Personal malice is almost invariably driven by one's own pain and that can be distorted into a need to find an equilibrium in which everyone has the same level of pain.

Zen Yogi:  I guess that means you have no fried chicken?

Sorry, Zen Yogi, but the motivation is of some interest since what point is there without it.

Zen Yogi:  things with a point are not always sharp

Sure and sometimes the fucking chicken isn't even fried yet.  WTF are you saying, Zen Yogi?

Zen Yogi:  (kicks back and looks inscrutable)

Oriental Zen Yogi is going to be too much, buddy.

A Ton and a Half of Heroin Seized But America Didn't Do It


CNN:  The ship was on its way from Iran when it was intercepted by the Indian Coast Guard with more than 3000 pounds of heroin on board.


The American military didn't do one goddamn thing to stop this from coming out of Afghanistan but there's been no record of them ever interdicting heroin, not in Afghanistan and not in Southeast Asia either.

From the CIA to your children, praise the Lord.


Obama didn't lift any more of a finger than Trump since Obama was licking the CIA boots like he was giving them a spit shine.

Sunday, July 30, 2017

What About the Lovey Lovey Once in a While #Poetry

There's a girl in a white dress with a white bonnet and she has garlands of tiny flowers about her as she walks through a meadow in the early Spring while birds are building nests all around her and making their songs all the while they do it.

I can see it and I love the image in ways which go beyond a picture on a wall.  Note:  it is a real picture on a real wall.


Maybe she will encounter The Thing Which Must Not Be Seen and that's a cheesy device from "The Outer Limits" since it's always easier to make a monster when no-one can see it.

In fact, The Thing Which Must Not Be Seen is the only thing which is ever seen from here and in a hundred channels of MSM ... but ... that can't be true in the poem or it's just an extension of the same thing in bringing their toxicity to it.

We know the horror of a country which makes medicine so expensive we can't afford it and they don't care who knows but that mustn't be permitted since the girl's world because must be pure and she within it.  The travesty of medicine expense is definitely a Thing Which Must Not Be Seen.


She's not a religious figure but she knows them.


The encounter isn't a confrontation since that just goes for the mindless melodrama of a cage fight.  They say only one comes out alive but we say go one better and don't let either out alive.  That depraved brutality is something straight out of the Roman Coliseum.


How about the epiphany that The Thing Which Must Not Be Seen tries to beguile her just like it did all the others.

Of course that won't work because she is truly pure and The Thing will likely get pissy and vindictive over that since, well, what else does it know.


Would you block the Sun
Would you stop the birds from singing
and if you can't do any of those
there's not much threat you're bringing
You can shout and you can rave
and the Sun shines just the same
while the birds don't understand you
and don't care for your silly game


Maybe this will gel since the image held up from before I fell asleep the last time.


Zen Yogi:  it has already happened but we didn't get to that time yet

Bear, you're definitely getting the best reefer, bro

Zen Yogi:  mine comes from pic-a-nic baskets because people like to hide their reefer in them

Thanks, Zen Yogi.  I am enlightened once again.

Behind Justin Trudeau's Precious and Oh So Cute Selfies


This is a tar sand oil extraction and it's possible nothing will ever live here again since the surest way to kill all life in a garden is to pour oil on it.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee ... except, you know, for the places we turn into filthy and lifeless cesspools of commercial corruption.  Those places can fuck themselves.



But he's just so darn photogenic, isn't he.  Ooh ooh.

"Take the Money and Run" #Poetry

They did so much investigating
and then had so much to say
but for the only real outcome
no-one cares who killed JFK
We don't care who killed Diana
and just wish it were Charles instead
and that might have even happened
but he was in someone else's bed

Now they investigate the Russians
but there's no need for fretting
none of it means one damn thing
it's just funny watching Pompeo sweating
There's nothing about it now
Rachel Maddow had her fun
as she closed every show
to take the money and run

It was really kind of ghastly
all the vicious things she said
but today it is their nature
always wishing others dead
I grew up with Americans
and thought I knew them well
but the people they have become today
just commit our souls to hell

Take the money and run
it doesn't matter what's left behind
so long as there's cash in one's pocket
the right perspective is clear to mind
The casualties don't ever matter
don't mind the blood in the streets
Take the money and run
the world exists for the elites

- Colonel Arbuthnot Jones

#News on a Nailhead 7/31

There's still nothin' happening.  The Pentagon is lusting after bombing North Korea like they're a bunch of high school boys and there are some sages on Facebook saying, "Yes, let's end this thing."

Probably not much of a future in programming for those insightful Gomers.


There's also the simmering lust for bombing Iran because, really, who cares if it makes the refugee problem worse in Europe ... which it definitely would.

A bit of contented purring is coming from the CIA since they think they have killed Veneuzela and maybe they did.


Maybe you get a tingle out of Google spending big bucks on lobbying Washington.


There's also a Vagina Quiz on The Guardian.


There may be something in the news eventually other than stupid posturing hogwash but it doesn't seem likely since they want to argue about medical cover for as long as they've done it about abortion which has dragged out over fifty years now.  Medical cover has already dodged around for nine years and is showing no sign of any substantive resolution.  That's about the time to consider misdirection and look at what else they're doing.


The Russian hackers have magically disappeared and that was a great sleight of hand since apparently none of that matters anymore.  The trip is flat-out fucking ridiculous and yet people are paid millions to spew it.  We would do just as well to go to the psychic at the county fair to have her tell our future.

#Photography for the Beautiful 7/31


Hong Kong

An elaborately dressed cosplayer attending the 19th Ani-Com and Games Fair

Photograph: studioEAST/Getty Images




Kigali, Rwanda

A supporter of the governing Rwandan Patriotic Front party flies a flag from motorbike during the last days of presidential election campaigning

Photograph: Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images

We really don't know anything about his trip but he looks too cool doing it.




Minamisoma, Japan

Traditionally dressed samurai compete in the Kacchu Keiba horse race during the Soma Nomaoi festival in Fukushima. With 12 horsemen racing over a distance of 1,000 metres, it is the main event of the 1,000-year-old festival

Photograph: Jun Hirata/AP




Bangalore, India

Visitors admire a cat at the 8th International Cat Show organised by the World Cat Federation

Photograph: Manjunath Kiran/AFP/Getty Images

There's a cat just like this outside.  Who knew it could be a star.




Jerusalem

Palestinian women sit near the al-Aqsa mosque as Israeli security escort a group past the Muslim holy site at Temple Mount, or Haram el-Sharif, (the Noble Sanctuary) in the Old City. The area was closed to visitors during two weeks of tension and clashes following an attack on Israeli security guards, and has now reopened after Israel removed controversial metal detectors and cameras

Photograph: Jim Hollander/EPA

Peace

What's Hot on the Blog 7/30

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#Photography

NASA - outstanding shot of most recent Soyuz launch

The Enlightenment - the green tea is the clarity and with science to prove it

#News - not tidbits of titillation but rather an observation the news is a bullshit waste of time

If You Have - coolest wedding in ages

Racism

World's First - relatively cool tram with forward-looking engineering

What Can Explain - the casual savagery of the modern world

Talking to Cadillac - reviewing the War on Trump

Why Did - there's one reason the modern hippie girl wears green sneakers