tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post4121341157717002991..comments2024-03-28T16:08:29.578-04:00Comments on Sardonicky: The Joy Boy of JoblessnessKaren Garciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15612731479365562803noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-48153164313539213582013-06-03T00:55:31.792-04:002013-06-03T00:55:31.792-04:00Pearl--
I would be grateful if you—or anyone else...Pearl--<br /><br />I would be grateful if you—or anyone else in this forum—could provide a link to the NYT stories on healthcare “experiences” to which you refer.<br /><br />I'm not looking to be critical or suspicious, merely curious.<br /><br />Insofar as I can understand it, America's outrageous health care costs relate to our utterly opaque “costing” system, and our peculiar hospital billing system:<br /><br />http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/08/hospital-prices-cost-differences_n_3232678.html<br /><br />For elective procedures such as “lasik,” your friendly neighborhood opthamologist can quote you the cost—per eye—to the penny, on the radio, no less. As I understand it, that's because your insurance—and mine—won't pay for “lasik” unless it's medically necessary. So your doc can quote you a flat rate. You will get exactly what you pay for. <br /><br />But for “medically necessary” procedures such as cataract surgery, good luck trying to find out what your bill will be until you have signed on the dotted line with your particular surgeon, and he has “coded” it for insurance billing purposes. <br /><br />Then, the actual bill—as I understand it—will be between your doc and your particular insurance company, and you get to pick up the rest, after the fact. You're only told what your “share” will <i> likely </i> be after you are committed and they're all but sticking the IV drip in.<br /><br />Not exactly “comparison shopping,” is it? <br /><br />Some transparency in what we are actually paying for—from doctor-to-doctor, and hospital-to-hospital—<i> might </i> go a way toward cutting our health care costs. <br /><br />As would knowing something about success rates from doc-to-doc and hospital-to-hospital, beyond your GP's recommendation.<br /><br />But I suspect that we're not supposed to be privy to such statistics, are we? That just might damage the good doctors' egos, mightn't it? <br /><br />How dare we ask just how good <i> they </i> are?Zeenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-57636914856113749352013-06-02T18:29:55.647-04:002013-06-02T18:29:55.647-04:00There have been a number of critical articles in t...There have been a number of critical articles in the N.Y.Times about the <br />health care system in the U.S. Today's is about comparative pricing among different countries for procedures, medications and the contrast to other countries is shocking. They asked people to write in about their experiences. At least a thousand answers have been printed, practically all telling of monthly costs equaling their mortgages, continual rising prices, <br />arguing with insurance coverage restrictions, never knowing what it will cost them should there be a medical problem, anxiety about their future, having to work longer than they would like before retirement in order to keep their medical coverage,ad infinitum.<br />I hope Krugman reads these comments and they should be sent to Obama but I doubt he would take the time to read them.<br />The only satisfied people lived in Canada or moved to other countries to <br />have their health needs taken care of without going bankrupt.<br />I would like to see a breakdown of where and to whom the bloated U.S. costs end up and how much profit is involved and why there are no regulations involved.<br />And as several of you have mentioned, where are the protests, where is the <br />marching, where are the organized opposition actions? This issue alone will destroy any hopes for a decent future in the wealthiest country in the world.<br /><br /><br /><br />Pearlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-62167850009273113452013-06-02T10:43:16.589-04:002013-06-02T10:43:16.589-04:00Sad, isn't it? Zee's 'idea' is pre...Sad, isn't it? Zee's 'idea' is pretty much on. As is Karen's point about the Democrats' compromising - by us, not them. And Anonymous is right about speaking out. It's dangerous, always was, and even more so now.You have to be prepared to pay the price.James F Traynornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-26883324991225022522013-06-02T03:43:30.484-04:002013-06-02T03:43:30.484-04:00Brava, Karen!
I look at the smug self-satisfied f...Brava, Karen!<br /><br />I look at the smug self-satisfied faces of these proudly <i>clever</i> Obamabots and see a world gone mad.<br /><br />Imagine if you'd grown up with these as the successful national figures you were supposed to emulate.<br /><br />When Henry Kissinger and Westmoreland and other military brasses came to campuses when I was a student, they were booed (although, of course, they were allowed to speak).<br /><br />Hell, Christopher Hitchens wrote a book about Kissinger detailing his criminal activities and calling for his trial. Granted this was before he was "adopted" by the neolibs (Wolfowitz, Feith, et al.) and then died suddenly of cancer.<br /><br />Now everyone in government looks upon Kissinger as a great success and a role model.<br /><br />And our local police personnel have been inducted into the Homeland Insecurity brigade with fancy flak suits and weaponry making the rise of a fascist youth organization like Hitler's a moot point.<br /><br />We've got to build a new US from the ground up.<br /><br />Populated by true democrats.<br /><br />If we can find enough people who remember what that means.<br /><br />Courage!<br /><br />Love ya,<br /><br />SCirzehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07070125217972397204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-77988073621539680882013-05-31T22:18:46.229-04:002013-05-31T22:18:46.229-04:00Joe Nocera calls Obama a torturer. My comment:
Ba...Joe Nocera calls Obama a torturer. My comment:<br /><br />Based upon its own recent history of torture and drone assassinations and suppression of free speech, the United States no longer has the moral standing to issue condemnations of human rights violations<br />in other countries.<br /><br />"Kerry Castigates Russia Over Missiles" is one current Times headline sure to inspire a yawn among friends and enemies alike. Ditto for "Hagel Issues Stern Warning to China."<br /><br />It has now been a week since President Obama gave his flag-draped, jingoistic speech, in which insisted that the abuses of Gitmo are "not who we are." <br /><br />Imprisonment without trial -- not who we are. "Immoral but legal" drone strikes -- not who we are. Spying on reporters and criminalizing journalism and prosecuting whistleblowers -- not who we are.<br /><br />Methinks the gentleman doth protest too much. It may not be who we are, but it is most certainly what defines his administration. Rumor has it that he's concerned about his legacy. Therefore, even if he harbors no empathy for the suffering Gitmo detainees, he should at least make a show of humanism, if only to ensure that the history books will be lukewarm rather than scathing.<br /><br />Otherwise, he should start booking his speaking engagement duets with George Bush sooner rather than later. And definitely avoid any post-presidency trips to countries where they take the Geneva Conventions seriously.<br />Karen Garciahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15612731479365562803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-89827385904880910532013-05-31T14:16:44.128-04:002013-05-31T14:16:44.128-04:00The defense contractors are now in on the food sta...The defense contractors are now in on the food stamp deal too. Northrup-Grumman just got the contract to run Montana's program and I think they are in Illinois also. <br /><br />If a defense contractor is getting in on the action, you can bet insiders know that this program will continue in perpetuity. Any 'cuts' are only part of the charade of jeopardizing it in order to 'save' it. The Big Boys will get the contracts from Big Brother. They're all just one big happy family. <br /> <br />You can bet they will then WELCOME more poor people (now that's a scary thought!). There will never a shortage of taxpayer money when it goes to defense contractors and their bankster buddies. <br /><br /> Outsidanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-8728184204525914092013-05-31T13:55:04.389-04:002013-05-31T13:55:04.389-04:00One of the Obamabots wrote in support of that Krug...One of the Obamabots wrote in support of that Krugman column on food stamps: "Mr. Boehner, where is your jobs bills?"<br /><br />These people, including Krugman most especially, who blindly support Obama, are the ones we need to wake up.<br /><br />My tart reply to her: "Mr. Boehner, where is your jobs bills?" Mr. Obama, where is YOUR jobs bill?<br />spreadoptionnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-31189923282610781292013-05-31T07:26:58.743-04:002013-05-31T07:26:58.743-04:00Thanks, Denis. Once again, Krugman saw fit to omit...Thanks, Denis. Once again, Krugman saw fit to omit the Democratic complicity in the cuts, thereby unleashing a torrent of outrage against the more strident Reptilians. My comment was basically a rehash of something I posted here just recently, but here's the second helping anyway:<br /><br />Of course, the Republicans are willing to cut programs that benefit regular people. It's their whole raison d'etre.<br /><br />So where is the Democratic outrage? Instead of shouting them down, some of them are willing to compromise. That's what it'll take to ram through the $940 billion farm bill, giving the food industry its corporate welfare due. The ranking Dem on the House Agriculture Committee, Collin Peterson of Minnesota, is now trying to rustle up support among his fellows to cut SNAP benefits. He says it's "ridiculous" not to, record unemployment be damned. Guess who his main campaign contributors are? The factory farm lobby, the ag equipment lobby, and the dairy and sugar industries.<br /><br />Meanwhile, nobody is suggesting cancelling the $80 million taxpayer bailout to sugar manufacturers. Nor is it likely that the corporate SNAP debit card vendors will be taking a hit on their own sweet deals. <br /><br />The average food stamp recipient gets a stipend of only about $120 a month, and most people report running out by the middle of the third week. So even a "balanced bipartisan approach" to cuts in this program would be the height of cruelty.<br /><br />And how about this for a scandal: JP MorganChase CEO Jamie Dimon actually charges a quarter every time a New York SNAP client checks her debit card balance. One little electronic click is one less glass of milk for a child in a struggling family.<br /><br />Shame? What shame? It's not in the DNA of the ruling class takers. Too much is never enough for them.<br /><br /><br />Karen Garciahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15612731479365562803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-4724897739023234972013-05-31T06:22:50.995-04:002013-05-31T06:22:50.995-04:00Karen, great reply to Krugman today on food stamps...Karen, great reply to Krugman today on food stamps.<br /><br />Kansas Republican Senator’s raison d'etre: Food stamps must be cut to save them!<br /><br />“You’ve got a lot of situations where folks are really gaming the system, and that’s not right. We have exploded the program to the degree that it becomes a target, and I just want to avoid that. Taxpayers are fed up with wasteful spending.” - Republican Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas.<br /><br />Kansas makers, not the takers - Kansas farm subsidies: <br />• $16.4 billion in subsidies 1995-2012<br />• Ten percent of Kansas farms collected 70 percent of all subsidies; $28,163 average per year <br />• Amounting to $9.00 billion over 18 years<br />• Kansas ranking: 6 of 50 States<br /><br />Kansas takers, not makers:<br />• 428,490 food insecure people<br />• 46% are below the SNAP threshold of 130% poverty level.<br /><br />So where is the Democratic outrage? In Kansas, Democrats are on the endangered species list.Denis Nevillenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-47788115611074099212013-05-31T00:40:57.139-04:002013-05-31T00:40:57.139-04:00“What is needed is a mass movement with a clearly ...<i> “What is needed is a mass movement with a clearly defined program for <b> all </b> Americans. This will not be easy.” </i> --Denis Neville (My bold emphasis added.)<br /><br />Denis--<br /><br />One of the things that's interesting about having some geological training is to see how paradigms can shift.<br /><br /><i> '“Uniformitarianism” is the [working] assumption that the same natural laws and processes the operate in the universe now have always operated in the past...”' </i> <br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniformitarianism<br /><br />Yet, “Uniformitarianism” is rapidly giving 'way to “Catastrophism” in some particular places in geologic time, to in order to explain certain phenomena that are otherwise difficult to understand within the geologic record:<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catastrophism<br /><br />I could not agree with you <i> more— </i> yet understand <i> less— </i> exactly how such a “mass movement” might ever come about under circumstances that are anything less than nationally—and maybe, globally—“catastrophic.”<br /><br />Given that I'm part of “all” Americans—I hope—I can see how I might <i> ultimately </i> be marching in the streets and storming such barricades as might be extant:<br /><br /><i> “my government-backed pension worthless, Social Security gone, Medicare non-existent, and inflation rampant, gutting my savings and investments. (Yet, my guns and ammunition working quite well, thank you very much...)” </i> <br /><br />But is this <i> really </i> likely to happen all at once?<br /><br />What I see coming is a “Death by a thousand cuts.” Government will nibble away at my—and your—life piecemeal, but not enough to matter from day to day. We'll hardly even notice it.<br /><br />I'm 62 years old already. “They” will likely allow me to keep just enough of what is “mine” for the remainder of my life. I will therefore feel no impetus to “take to the streets” as long as I have some hope of dying in some modicum of comfort, for which, at the moment, all signs read positive. <br /><br />Nor will Pootie, Dot, Eddie, Dink, or the clerk at the Food Lion, take to the streets if they can just make it to <i> their </i> respective graves in what they imagine to be “comfort,” too. <br /><br />Which brings me to “Catastrophism:” <br /><br />We have a New World archaeologist here at University of New Mexico who takes a “catastrophist” point of view when it comes to the changing of cultures/civilizations:<br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/Anasazi-America-Seventeen-Centuries-Center/dp/0826321798<br /><br />In my humble estimation, it will take a true “catastrophe”--<i> à la </i> David Stuart--to bring about the “mass movement” that you envision. Nothing “peaceful,” nothing “civil.” The “lid” will have to blow off.<br /><br />Yet it is unlikely that the Powers That Be will allow this to happen. We will always be allowed to be <i> “just well enough off” </i> to get through it all. <br /><br />So there will be no “catastrophe” that will “blow the lid off,” there will always be just enough “leakage” from the pressure cooker to avoid total disaster. <br /><br />Welcome to the Brave New World!<br /><br />Just a theory.Zeenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-5327663857765563142013-05-30T20:40:49.451-04:002013-05-30T20:40:49.451-04:00Foolishness is Orzag’s own prison cell.
Morally v...Foolishness is Orzag’s own prison cell.<br /><br />Morally vacuous, our elites mean to do us in. <br /><br />“It has often been said that power corrupts. But it is perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts. Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many. Hatred, malice, rudeness, intolerance, and suspicion are the faults of weakness. The resentment of the weak does not spring from any injustice done to them but from their sense of inadequacy and impotence.” ― Eric Hoffer<br /><br />What is needed is a mass movement with a clearly defined program for all Americans. This will not be easy. <br /><br />“For men to plunge headlong into an undertaking of vast change, they must be intensely discontented yet not destitute, and they must have the feeling that by the possession of some potent doctrine, infallible leader or some new technique they have access to a source of irresistible power. They must also have an extravagant conception of the prospects and the potentialities of the future. Finally, they must be wholly ignorant of the difficulties involved in their vast undertaking. Experience is a handicap.” ― Eric Hoffer, The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass MovementsDenis Nevillenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-22231685013409556362013-05-30T15:08:42.766-04:002013-05-30T15:08:42.766-04:00Good point, Pearl. There's also something know...Good point, Pearl. There's also something known as a breather for those who took pretty significant risks in speaking out. Particularly for those of us not protected by social security and Medicare, as, I think, you might be? <br />But do share what, specifically, you are doing to change the world.<br /><br />Here's something being done:<br /><br />the ACLU is bringing a federal lawsuit on behalf of prisoners against the East Mississippi Correctional Facility.<br /><br />This link provides a photograph of the handwritten letter from one of the prisoners describing his fate:<br /><br />http://gawker.com/the-story-of-one-prison-rape-in-an-inmates-own-words-510475353<br /><br />You don't have to go to Gitmo or Russia of China to find some of the worst human rights abuses in the world... they're in every state. And the victims are even more invisible than those threatened by cuts in Social Security.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-44841372568936442012013-05-30T14:42:54.845-04:002013-05-30T14:42:54.845-04:00Anonymous: To those of you lucky ones afraid to of...Anonymous: To those of you lucky ones afraid to offend your shade tree, remember that you have no assurance that your luck will not end, especially in these voluble times. Then, you might discover that there is no net for you to hold on to since you did not make an attempt to improve matters for others, which you have become.<br /><br />That same shade tree may also respond to negative conditions around it which may affect its growth and survival and your luck may be short lived. <br />Pearlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-82615806161523431402013-05-30T13:19:06.259-04:002013-05-30T13:19:06.259-04:00Karen,
I actually prefer being dead-broke to being...Karen,<br />I actually prefer being dead-broke to being a spoke in the great horror that is corporate life. But I negotiated that preference - and livability - only through great good luck. And there's the rub. Those of us who found shade and water after wandering in this great desert economy are less likely to be politically involved - we offend the shade-giving tree at our peril.<br />Add to that the larger "chilling effect" induced by watching the government's treatment of dissenters, and the silence of those liberals who would normally protest said treatment... there's no wonder people aren't out in the streets. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com