Thursday, October 31, 2013

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Some thoughts on "Obamacare" (The Affordable Care Act)

Some thoughts on "Obamacare":
It has been said that a definition of insanity is doing the same thing over & over again & expecting a different result: sisters & brothers let me introduce u to the Republican Tea Party. 
Despite all their claims that it's a "train wreck" about to happen, if the Grand Old Tea Party really believed that, they would almost surely cheer it on & watch it self-destruct. But they are really afraid it will work (as much as it can) & since all they are committed to is defeating Obama (something they couldn't do @ the polls - twice), they are trying to do it in Congress - where they don't have to deal w/the people. So they have to stop The Affordable care Act before it can work.
Don't misunderstand me. I don't believe "Obamacare" is the panacea its supporters claim it to be. Only a single-payer national healthcare system would really provide the care that Americans deserve. In fact, "Obamacare" is to a great extent a giveaway to the insurance companies. Why else would they be "...poised to spend $1 billion or more to attract ... Young people, many of whom are uninsured but healthy - and great for the insurance companies' bottom line". (NYT, 8/22/13, A18) But it's better than the absurd system we have now, which forces our most vulnerable neighbors to use the emergency room as their primary care  physician. 
One more thought: the very same Republican Tea Party Congressmembers  - who want so desperately to destroy "Obamacare" - get free government -provided healthcare. 
We can always hope that the GOTP will destroy itself instead of "Obamacare"

Tuesday, August 06, 2013

Hiroshima & Nagasaki: Remembering the Vicrims

"The Chairman [sic] of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral William D. Healy agreed [with the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey] 'the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender." (David Swanson's blog/War is a Crime.org, "Harry Truman and Memory if Mass Murder") It was rather the first blow in the "cold war" against the Soviet Union. On August 6, 1945 (& again on August 9th) we became the first & still the only nation savage enough to drop a nuclear bomb on two cities full of people. 
One other thought on this 68th anniversary of one of the world's most horrific acts, the victims were people of color. Would we have dropped these bombs on German or Italian cities? I do not believe we would have,
War is horrendous under any circumstance. We must find another way to interact with each other, if the human race is to survive.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

T.S. Eliot

T.S. Eliot: "only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."