News and Current Events - 2012

[fofol]

The reason that some female veterans in some parts of the country have to go elsewhere for their care is purely down to the amount of money congress awards the VA for patient care - some Republicans call veterans' benefits 'entitlements,' evidently not counting the time we were in the service of the country at slave wages. (In Viet Nam, in a combat zone, my pay- with combat pay - amount to $108 every two weeks: people making minimum wage in the Sates made more money/week.  Women's clinics are not yet in every VA hospital due to need: as you eluded, it is economically not feasible to have a woman's health clinic/health clinic staff to serve fewer than a certain number of patients.  (I wouldn't pretend to know what that number is, but that's the same reason there are some VAs which don't have all the clinics for men that an urban hospital might have.)  That said, the you should still register (at your pleasure) as a primary care patient and send you out for specialty clinics, at your option.  You only have to report for one visit/year to maintain the connection, and things are continually improving.

 (I am also a Viet Nam vet, Tayh Ninh, '68, military police, dog handler.)  I've worked here for 24 years, and answered phones here for fifteen years, handling the vets' problems and there are very few problems that can't be resolved.  Good luck to you, Dood.

[brokebacktom]

And he only pays a 15% tax rate because most of his income is from capital gains, whereas the rest of us pay a much higher rate.

The American Way

[Marge_Innavera]

When the gravediggers weigh in we'll probably be told that this won't make any difference, but we can be fairly confident that a smidgen of positive news won't turn anyone's head into limburger cheese.  Imagine this happening even a few years ago.



Big-City Mayors Press for Same-Sex Marriage Rights

The mayors of several big cities, including Chicago, New York, Boston and Los Angeles, are joining together to support same-sex marriage rights, a move that could put additional pressure on President Barack Obama to do the same.

The effort is being organized by Freedom to Marry, an advocacy group that plans a news conference Friday in Washington, D.C.,, featuring mostly Democratic mayors and one Republican, Jerry Sanders of San Diego. Like others, Mr. Sanders has stated his views before, but organizers hope that their effort to join some 70 mayors together will give the issue a political boost.

“By joining the group, mayors hope to expand public and political support for ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage,” the mayors’ group said in a statement.

The mayors planning to attend Friday’s news conference include Annise Parker of Houston, Thomas Menino of Boston, Antonio R. Villaraigosa of Los Angeles and Marilyn Strickland of Tacoma, Wash. Michael Bloomberg of New York and Rahm Emanuel of Chicago, Mr. Obama’s first White House chief of staff, have also joined the effort.


reset of the story at http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/01/18/big-city-mayors-press-for-same-sex-marriage-rights/?KEYWORDS=laura+meckler


(Cross-posted at Gay Marriage)

[Ellen (tellyouwhat)]

And Rick Perry has dropped out of the campaign for President, two days before the South Carolina primary.

Ever since his big prayer rally a few months back, when it seemed he was diving into ultra-extreme tea party nonsense, it seemed like he was thinking he could do it even better than Michelle Bachman and Sarah Palin.  "Well, if that's all it takes, then let me try..."

... never once doubting his photogenic appearance and country accent would keep on working for him outside of TX.

But even inside of TX, a big prayer rally is kind of weird behavior for a governor.  Going to church is usually enough.

Honestly I thought when he got to the national stage he might do something smarter and show everybody he's got some substance, but instead he continued that same act, and it didn't work.

Part of me is greatly relieved to know that the people of the U.S. just didn't buy it.

[brokebacktom]

Mitt loses Iowa by 34 votes. So, that means Sanatorium wins.

The GOP is busy suppressing votes in the name of supposed voter fraud, but can't count votes in their own elections.

[fofol]

I listened to some of the post-prom razzle-dazzle this AM, and can't believe that all the elephant-boys stood up, in front of other adults, claiming that human life begins at the instant the sperm and egg join, and that "citizen' must have full-fledged human rights.  Even though it hurts my brain too much to try to figure out where, in either science or real life, these geniuses get their facts... ooops, wait a minute, this isn't about facts, it's about beliefs, and that changes everything:  I mean. after all, that is why we're in the middle of a worldwide financial crisis - the boys on Wall Street also run the world not on facts, but on belief.

[janjo]

Unfortunately for many, one in four pregnancies are lost naturally after the uniting of sperm and egg. Perhaps the right wing evangelical pro lifers know something either God or nature doesn't?

[Tony_]

I listened to some of the post-prom razzle-dazzle this AM, and can't believe that all the elephant-boys stood up, in front of other adults, claiming that human life begins at the instant the sperm and egg join, and that "citizen' must have full-fledged human rights.  Even though it hurts my brain too much to try to figure out where, in either science or real life, these geniuses get their facts... ooops, wait a minute, this isn't about facts, it's about beliefs, and that changes everything:  I mean. after all, that is why we're in the middle of a worldwide financial crisis - the boys on Wall Street also run the world not on facts, but on belief.

 Mike, I don't know what's unscientific about saying human life begins when human sperm and eggs join into a new DNA.  Is it, somehow, the beginning of a hippopotamus? As for claiming a citizen's rights for zygotes, fetuses, embryos, etc., that's something else, as a debate everybody and their uncle gets into. IMO, the two issues are separate.

 Jess, your noting of the high rate of miscarriage of zygotes is a relatively recent discovery and, yes, yet to be explained.  It's also true a female egg can reject all sperm from a particular source, and that hasn't been explained either. Apparently nature has provided for some picky-choosey not yet understood.

Finally, the scientists are telling us that huge amount of our genome is "junk" codes.  I kind of think they'll regret that some day.  Just because it doesn't determine hair color or size of a nose, doesn't mean it's junk.  It means it is unexplained.  For all we know, it could contain personality trait tendencies, species memories, or an explanation for how someone becomes a Republican  .

[doodler]

I just "asked" about the percentage of Americans who are Democrats. The answers ranged from 30 to 52%.
Republican ranged from 23 to 40%.
Independent ranged from 30 to 40%.

The number identifying as Dem has dropped considerably (as much as 10%) in the last few years and Independents have grown by more than that. Rep have stayed about the same.

So why are the Republicans in charge all the time?

[brokebacktom]

I just "asked" about the percentage of Americans who are Democrats. The answers ranged from 30 to 52%.
Republican ranged from 23 to 40%.
Independent ranged from 30 to 40%.

The number identifying as Dem has dropped considerably (as much as 10%) in the last few years and Independents have grown by more than that. Rep have stayed about the same.

So why are the Republicans in charge all the time?

Because the Dems don't vote. In 2008 there was a 61% voter turn out and in 2010 there was only about a 43% turn out. Almost everytimt there is a huge turn out the Dems usually win. With a low turn out the GOP wins.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

Because the Dems don't vote.

And, I might add, several states run by Republican legislatures have tried to reduce
voter turnout of Democrats by initiating laws requiring ID cards, banning students in
college towns from claiming residency and voting there, not allowing early voting (which
affects crowded cities more where there's more people and more Democrats) and a host
of other things to purposely eliminate Democrat votes -- under the guise of eliminating
voter fraud you understand. And yet these people can't even count a few thousand votes
in Iowa correctly.

[doodler]

Batten down the hatches, here we go again.
An id is necessary for just about everything in life.  I see nothing wrong with requiring a photo id for voting.

[oilgun]

So if the U.S. already have the power to shut down file sharing sites, what are the real reasons behind SOPA & PIPA?  For some of us, that's a rhetorical question.

U.S. shuts down file-sharing website Megaupload.com

One of the world’s largest file-sharing sites was shut down Thursday, and its founder and several company executives were charged with violating piracy laws, federal prosecutors said.

An indictment accuses Megaupload.com of costing copyright holders more than $500-million (U.S.) in lost revenue from pirated films and other content. The indictment was unsealed one day after websites including Wikipedia and Craigslist shut down in protest of two congressional proposals intended to thwart online piracy.
[...]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/tech-news/us-shuts-down-file-sharing-website-megauploadcom/article2308295/

[Ellen (tellyouwhat)]

Batten down the hatches!

I liked your question above, why are Republicans in charge all the time?

Batten down the hatches, here we go again.
An id is necessary for just about everything in life.  I see nothing wrong with requiring a photo id for voting.

I guess it's okay, if you don't mind fewer democrats voting.

[Ellen (tellyouwhat)]

So if the U.S. already have the power to shut down file sharing sites, what are the real reasons behind SOPA & PIPA?  For some of us, that's a rhetorical question.

U.S. shuts down file-sharing website Megaupload.com

One of the world’s largest file-sharing sites was shut down Thursday, and its founder and several company executives were charged with violating piracy laws, federal prosecutors said.

An indictment accuses Megaupload.com of costing copyright holders more than $500-million (U.S.) in lost revenue from pirated films and other content. The indictment was unsealed one day after websites including Wikipedia and Craigslist shut down in protest of two congressional proposals intended to thwart online piracy.
[...]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/tech-news/us-shuts-down-file-sharing-website-megauploadcom/article2308295/

Interesting.

Our newspaper says it's about the old economy (movie biz, and music, etc) pitting against the new economy of companies that reside on the internet.  That explanation makes some sense.

But I'm surprised they can shut down links.  Legally, even.