Suspecting
your vote will not count is not the same as suspecting your vote will
not be counted.
Being
Prepared: As
US Marines are deployed
to Norway and US troops are sent
to Poland “to stand guard on Russia's border”, NATO is
calling for even more troops to bolster the largest military
confrontation on Russia's borders since the end (temporary
suspension?) of the Cold War. Russia,
rather prudently, is upgrading
the Baltic Fleet to counter NATO's unrelenting build-up in the
region. While NATO presses for greater
confrontation, Radio Free Europe (yes, that old and creaky US
propaganda outlet still exists) reports that those nasty Russians
think nuclear
war might be a Good Thing. And all this because Russia didn't
like
the US backing
the overthrow of their
hand-picked guy.
Say
Goodnight, Gracie:
The Philippines Rodrigo Duterte says he wants “all foreign troops”
out of the country, specifically
US troops.
Ecumenicalism:
The
Vatican’s Treasurer is
under investigation by Australian police in connection with child sex
abuse
allegations. Iran's top Qur'an
reciter is
accused of abusing young children and is 'defending' himself by
threatening “to
leak the names of 100 of Iran’s high profile officials also
implicated in raping and molesting children.” ISIS
financier Abu
Mu’taz Qahtani, who was also in charge of IS female suicide
bombers, has
taken millions of dollars from the group's
treasury and disappeared from Mosul.
Legalities:
Pope
Francis notes
that ‘God
promised the land to the people of Israel’ and
recommends the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians be
referred to binding ISDS arbitration.
Free
Ride:
Obamacare premiums are rising dramatically because too many sick
people signed up for health insurance and then went and got actual
health care. Because 83% of Obamacare enrollees receive government
help in paying their premiums, the US taxpayer will pay the majority
of these increases. Which
is why the insurance companies can confidently jack up the costs.
New
and Improved:
In place of sovereigns and national sovereignty, now we
have”Corporate
Sovereignty.”
Metastasizing:
The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on
Cancer has instructed academic experts on a panel reviewing the
effects of glyphosate (Roundup) not to release documents that show
the chemical to be “probably carcinogenic."
Surgically:
US-led
air
strikes have killed “at least” 300
Syrian
civilians
in the
latest round of carefully targeted pin-point attacks.
A
Parting Shot:
8 comments:
Free Ride:Obamacare premiums are rising dramatically because too many sick people signed up for health insurance and then went and got actual health care. Because 83% of Obamacare enrollees receive government help in paying their premiums, the US taxpayer will pay the majority of these increases. Which is why the insurance companies can confidently jack up the costs.
So many questionable assumptions:
(Free Ride) Is it free with the large deductibles and co-pays?
(Got Health Care) Medical procedures/treatment do not equal health care, and often enough are detrimental to health.
(Why... jack up the costs): Nope, mostly it's because the market has already sieved out the players, and even in the most sucessful market, CA, most areas only have one player. Even a duopoly is usually rigged to stop competition. Finally, as insurance company profits are a "guaranteed but limited % of total charges, there is actually no incentive for them limit charges, rather perversely they want to see increased costs, particularly as many of their holding companies have bought hospitals and medical corporations as investments.
'For profit' healthcare, ushered in with the Reagan administration, has been at the leading edge of societal collapse.
As goes healthcare, so goes the nation.
G-fan - Just to clarify, the 'free ride' was aimed at the insurers, not their captives.
I voted third party today. It felt great.
Try it! Don't overthink it. Just place your vote closest to the person/platform that best reflects your values.
See that wasn't so difficult.
There's no thirteen-dimensional chess involved. There's no fear-stoked abdication. There's no Lucy pranking Charlie with the football. And, best of all, there's no evil (lesser or less so) required.
Congratulations, you just exercised a pro-active, participatory, and unambiguous technique to refuse to endorse and validate our broken and corrupt (some might call "rigged") system, while supporting and strengthening a possible future closer to one of your liking.
How does it feel to stop moving away from things you fear and instead move towards something you value?
It's okay to bask in that strange feeling. It's called pleasure.
Or denial.
Here, here! [or is it hear, hear?] CKM
Seems to me it's the people who vote for Hillary who are in denial.
(Unless they are socially-moderate, neoliberal, fracking war-hawks, who don't mind pathological lying and corruption, in which case they should be thrilled to have such a fine choice.)
One edit: remove pathological and replace with habitual. Pathological is a little strong.
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