Open Thread December 7 2024

 Posted by at 5:58 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 072024
 

Yesterday, my toilet clogged, and the plumber cannot come until Monday. But that’s not why I made this post entirely about healthcare today. I started putting it together when the news of the murder came out. By the way, the picture at left  is from Pearl Harbor. Besides the videos, allow me to add this extra to lighten up a little.
Andy Borowitz on pardons

I have never worked in health insurance, but I have worked in auto and home insurance, and one thing I learned is that if a coverage dispute goes to court, the verdict often goes to the insured, even if the expense is pretty nearly not covered by the contract. And that is because an insurance policy is a “Contract of adhesion.” That means that the insured has little or no say in what the contract says. It’s not a rule (neither is “tie goes to the runner” a rule in baseball). The jury or judge, like the umpire in baseball, must make the decision. But insurance companies know that the insured often gets the benefit of the doubt. I would think this would also apply to health insurance, which leads me to the conclusion that insureds who need help the most are those financially unable to take a case to court – a conclusion which should surprise no one at all. I couldn’t help but think of Wendell Potter – the Cigna CEO who quit because he couldn’t take the corruption. He is still fighting Big Health, and has a column on Substack (the newest entry is from the da before Thanksgiving, so it’s upbeat, but still very telling.)

Since I have already brought up health insurance, this may be an appropriate time to share this story on Medicare Advantage, which is not to anyone’s advantage but those who want to privatize Medicare. And, it not only doesn’t save money for its insured, but it doesn’t save any for taxpayers either. It’s something only a Republican could love. My advice is, don’t get it, and if you have it, don’t renew it. If it’s too late to drop it this year, don’t renew it next year. You’d be far better off setting up a separate savings account for medical emergencies and putting what the pemiums cost into it.

Incidentally, if you live in any of these nine states: Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah, and Virginia – you need to know about this. Even if it wouldn’t affect you personally, it might stall affect a friend, a relative, or a neighbor.

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Open Thread October 15, 2023

 Posted by at 6:06 am  Politics
Oct 152023
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was one of the ones which have me so excited – “Assassinio nella cattedrale” by Ildebrando Pizzetti. That means “Murder in the Cathedral,” and it is based on the T. S. Eliot play. So, though I didn’t even know it existed, I knew it could not have been written before 1935. In fact, it debuted in March 1958., at La Scala in Milan. The premier was recorded, as was a live radio broadcast in December of the same yesr. (I was 12 in March and 13 in December of that year. I had seen my first live opera – whe I was 8 – but I was definitely not tuned in to the international opera landscape then. I think I would have liked it. I certainly did yesterday.) The bass who sang Becket said {I’m paraphrasing) that if there was one word for what he wanted his character to conve y it would be “sincere.” I think he did that. Basses have it rough in opera when it comes to juicy parts, but this definitely is one. With luck, perhaps a bass with star clout will come along and make a case for doing it at the Met. Hey, I can dream. Certainly I’m not the only person who was excited about this production. The materials made available included 174 pictures. So I can tell you from photographic evidence that it was fully staged in a church (The Chicago Temple, to be precise) with gorgeous stained glass windows. Also, my new keyboard came. It has the Logitech layout, wich is what I am used to (with a few tiny differences) and is so fancy I had to go to support online to figure out how to set it up. It’s working now, I typed this sentence on it, but I am running late now.

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New York Magazine/Intelligencer – A Left That Refuses to Condemn Mass Murder Is Doomed
Quote – And no small number of supposed leftists found in all this cause for celebration. Others, meanwhile, loudly refused to condemn Hamas’s atrocities, insisting it was not their place to decry the “military strategy” or “violent resistance” of oppressed Palestinians. In my view, these responses constitute a betrayal of the left’s most fundamental values. Either one upholds the equal worth of all human lives, opposes war crimes, and despises far-right ethno-nationalist political projects or one doesn’t. What’s more, cheering (or publicly announcing your refusal to condemn) the murder of children isn’t just morally grotesque but also politically self-defeating.
Click through for argument (I doubt anyome here will disagree.) Other publications tend to be more generous with their archives than the latest news – New York mag does it the opposite way – this article is free “for a limited time.” So I “printed” it (by which I mean I converted it to a pdf file which I can easily email if anyone gets here too late for the free time. I almost never print on paper any more.) Possibly sounding like a broken record, I do think it’s a mistake to talk of this in terms of left and right. Left and right represent economic theories. This is a matter of authoritarian as opposed to egalitarian (yes, after a couple of hours with multiple thesauruses I finally came up with what I believe is the best word to use unstead of “Libertarian,” which has been poisoned by the so-called Libertarian party.) It’s natural to assume that leftism goes with egalitarianism because both require at least some compassion, and because with an economic theory with the principle that everyone should have enough money, it’s reasonable to pair that with the idea that everyone should have enough power. And vice versa. But human beings are not always consistent, and the author here is addressing leftist authoritarians.

Wonkette (on Substack) – What If Crowdfunding Is *Not* A Great Healthcare System?
Quote – Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton is very sick and in the hospital with what is being referred to as “a rare form of pneumonia.” That’s very sad, as is the fact that she does not have health insurance and thus cannot afford her stay in the ICU. They started a crowdfund for her, which has since blown past its $50,000 goal all the way to over $375,000. This included one $50,000 donation from Linda McIngvale, wife of Gallery Furniture magnate Jim McIngvale…. Now, when I first heard that Retton didn’t have health insurance and her family was raising money on GoFundMe to pay for her medical treatment, I immediately assumed it was some kind of very tragic Erin Moran/Brett Butler situation and that despite her former fame, she couldn’t even afford health insurance…. “How very American!” thought I, until I looked into it and saw that she is, in fact, likely still very rich, lives in a very fancy 9,000 square foot mansion, and very likely just kind of chose not to have health insurance.
Click through for article. I think we all know that crowdfunding does not a great healthcare system make – particularly when the crowdfunding is abused, which I am not saying this is, but it would be hard not to notice that it looks like it. I think we also all know that a Democratic supermajority in both the House and the Senate would be needed to effectively put in a health care ayatem which would be great.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread September 18, 2023

 Posted by at 6:01 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 182023
 

Yesterday, I caught up on some sleep, but upon arising, my body seemed determined to annoy me. I took care of the hip and the shoulder with the TENS unit, but my pretibial myxedema wasn’t so simple. Myxedema is a skin codition where fluid – I’m pretty sure lymphatic fluid – builds up under, not all the layers of skin, but under about the top two, which over time begin to look and feel like rice papre (but don’t hide what looks like bruising underneath.) It’s not painful and it doesn’t even itch -but if those two top skin layers breach, it starts leaking like crazy, If you don’t cover it with something, it can soak that whole part of a bed one’s legs are in. And a 3″x4″ “bandaid” doesn’t do the job, the fluid just leaks out under it (Although it can reduce the amount that gets all the way out.) Instead it requires something like a cotton leg warmer or a knee-high sock, cotton being best, but polyester works if it’s brushed and fluffy enough. So I had to deal with that – for about the fourth straight day – and I have no idea when the leaking will stop. It could be another week or two. At least no pain – just annoyance. Also, I have been knitting, and also trying to get more stuff ready for pickup. As a result I have not had time (and don’t see time coming) to read this article closely, and therefore I have no opinion on it. I do have an opinion that the deaths of JFK, MLK, and RFK were way to convienient for – I guess at that time it was mostly millionaires, but all too soon it will be trillionaires if we don’t do something. But I have no firm opinion on the details of how that worked out. I’ll just provide the link and let y’all look at it.

Also, in a comment on Nameless’s RoshHashanah post, I mentioned the radio special with Itzhak Perlman. KCME dot org will repeat it at 8 pm Thursday the 21st and 8 am Sunday the 24th. KCME is all over the world, but they also use their own player and it’s a little different. I’m thinking WFMT, WQXR, and WGBH are also likely to air it and quite possibly KVOD (CPR,org) on their own time schedules. The full name of the program is “Music for the High Holidays with Itzhak Perlman”. (There will be inforaition about food. Perlman likes to say that the definition of a Jewish holiday is “They tried to kill us. They did not succeed. Let’s eat.”)

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HuffPost – Here’s The Political Conversation We Overlooked This Week
Quote – We’ve spent a lot of time this week talking about Hunter Biden and impeachment, which is fair enough. I just wish we’d found more time to discuss another story[.]… I’m talking about the annual U.S. Census Bureau report on income and health insurance, which came out Tuesday and which my colleague Jonathan Nicholson summarized for HuffPost. The report found that the country’s poverty rate jumped from 7.8% in 2021 to 12.4% last year ― and that the poverty rate among children, specifically, rose even more dramatically, from 5.2% to 12.4%. To put it another way, last year more than 1 in 8 American kids were living in a household struggling to pay for food, shelter, transportation and other essentials. Just a year before, fewer than half as many kids were in that position.
Click through for reasons, background, who’s on which side, and what can be done.

Orlando (FL) Sentinel – Florida leaders silent after senator confronts staffer at women’s shelter
Quote – Senate leaders have been silent about an angry confrontation between Republican Sen. Tom Wright and a female staffer at a Daytona Beach shelter for battered and abused women and their children over the Labor Day weekend. According to police reports, Wright yelled, lunged at, and placed his hand on the shoulder of a staff member who stopped Wright from getting on a bus full of the shelter’s residents out of concern for protecting their identities. Video footage provided by the Daytona Beach Police Department shows Wright’s tense encounter with a much shorter female staffer, who ran up to him to get him off the bus. Another employee stepped between them, and Wright, 71, turned to walk away, only to confront the worker a couple of more times before leaving. “For a political leader to come there and aggress on an employee in front of a busload of women and children who are making the courageous decision to protect themselves from violence is one of the most disgusting behaviors I have ever seen,” said Angie Pye, the former CEO of the Beacon Center, where the incident occurred.
Click through for details – which are very different and even more sinister than the details of Lauren Boebert’s little spree – but the trashiness is much the same.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread September 2, 2023

 Posted by at 6:03 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 022023
 

Yesterday, Mary Trump (Mary L. Trump, to distinguish her from her grandmother) wrote about the Supreme Court, in an essay on Substack she calls “The Lowest Court, Part 2.” She remarks, not just on the ethics issues, but on the contempt shown by the court for the people, which really is reminiscent of France before the Revolution. If you were to tell me that Alito, or Kavanaugh, or even Roberts had said “Let them eat cake,” I’d probably believe it. If you want to look deeper, here’s the link – just remember to look for the “continue reading” and click it.

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HuffPost – Biden Administration Reveals First 10 Drugs For Medicare Price Negotiation
Quote – All told, the 10 drugs on the list accounted for $50.5 billion in total spending in Medicare’s outpatient prescription drug program for the period between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. That’s about one-fifth of what the program, known as Part D, spent on all prescription drugs during that period. The announcement represents the first step in a process set to unfold over the coming year, with the government collecting data and public input, and then exchanging price offers with manufacturers over how much Medicare will pay for the named drugs.
Click through for details. Not surprisingly, the article bears the subtitle “It’s the first step in a process that will mean lower prices in 2026 ― unless the drug industry and its allies find a way to block it.”

The Daiy Beast – How One Citizen Fought Back Against a Cop’s Road Rage
Quote – While driving home in his Ford Mustang, [New Mexico motorist Mario Rosales] legally passed a pickup truck, and the other driver started tailgating him. Road rage can be deadly, so Rosales grew concerned. No matter which way he went, the truck stayed in his rearview mirror. Rosales eventually reached his home in Roswell, New Mexico, hoping the truck would keep going. Instead, the vehicle blocked Rosales in his driveway, and the stranger behind the wheel started yelling and cursing at him. At this point Rosales was not just concerned. He was scared for himself and his family members in the house.
Click through for the story, which has a happy ending – this time – finally. Too many do not.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread July 29, 2023

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jul 292023
 

Yesterday, President Joe signed an executive order establishing military Offices of Special Trial Counsel, which will be responsible for all prosecutions of sexual assault, domestic violence, and other violent crime – taking those prosecutions out of the chain of command (under which so many cases have died.) About damn time. And good forJoe! Of course MAGA s furious. Also, a superseding indictment came out in the Trump** documetns case, over which people who are interedted in law and crime are salivating. And my area had a little power failure. Annoying – but didn’t last long, and it came with lightning which came with rain and cooled things down a bit. I had had to break out a couple of the knitted bands I keep (wet) in thr refrigerator and put one around my neck and one around my forehead while all the fans were stopped.

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Associated Press News – Biden chooses former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley to lead the Social Security Administration
Quote – President Joe Biden on Wednesday nominated former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley to lead the Social Security Administration…. “Governor O’Malley is a lifelong public servant who has spent his career making government more accessible and transparent, while keeping the American people at the heart of his work,” Biden said in a statement. “As Governor, he made government work more effectively across his administration and enhanced the way millions of people accessed critical services.”
Click through for details. I haven’t heard his name for a long time, but Iseem to recall my impression was positive.

The 19th – Newly disabled people aren’t given a ‘how-to’ guide. Disability doulas are closing those gaps.
Quote – Stefanie Lyn Kaufman-Mthimkhulu began doing disability doula work long before they ever heard the term. From the time they were in middle school, they remember “being responsible for big, intense crisis situations” with their friends. Throughout high school, a close friend self-injured. Kaufman-Mthimkhulu would drive to her house and listen. They would also take care of their friend’s wounds, spend time watching bad TV shows and eat ice cream. What they didn’t do is blame or shame their friend. Now, years later, disability doula work is a core part of both Kaufman-Mthimkhulu’s personal practice and their job as director of peer support organization Project LETS, which works to organize community-based mental health support for people with disabilities.
Click through for story. I applaud their work. I hope they are allowed to continue and to grow.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread June 18, 2023

 Posted by at 6:11 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 182023
 

Last week’s opera was the last one from the Metropolitan Opera until December. But WFMT will carry on through the summer with recordings of live performances from all over the world. Yesterday, the opera was “Fidelio,” the only opera ever composed by Beethoven, from the Vienna State Opera. The announcer today said it was based on a true story from the French Revolution; that was the first I’d heard of it, so I won’t swear to it. But it’s about the wife of a man who was politically fighting a fascistic governor, who has kidnapped him and thrown him into the (unfinished) basement of his private prison. It’s been two years, and everyone thinks him dead except his wife, who dresses as a man to get a job at the prison. She doesn’t find him until the evil governor’s boss send him a message that he’s coming to inspect the prison. The governor panics and orders the jailer to dig a grave in the basement, the wife offers to help, and there he is. The line that’s often quoted occurs when the governor is about to kill him and the wife comes between them and says “First kill his wife.” (She is armed and the governor falls apart and leaves, as does the jailer, from kinder motives.) But the line that gets me every time is when they are left alone and he, still in shock, says “Leonora! What have you done for me!” to which she replies, “Nothing, my Florestan. It was nothing.” Then they go up and out, and the governor’s boss and the chorus sing in praise of marriage. And with all that in my head, I’m off to see Virgil. As always, I’ll post a comment when I get back

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Robert Reich – The Five Elements of Fascism
Quote – How do we describe what Trump wants for America? “Authoritarianism” isn’t adequate. It is “fascism.” Fascism stands for a coherent set of ideas different from — and more dangerous than — authoritarianism. To fight those ideas, it’s necessary to be aware of what they are and how they fit together. Borrowing from cultural theorist Umberto Eco, historians Emilio Gentile and Ian Kershaw, political scientist Roger Griffin, and former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, I offer five elements that distinguish fascism from authoritarianism.
Click through for all five. Many lists have more than five – but all of the lists nail Trump** and his MAGAts as pure fascists.

HuffPost – Biden Is Having A Very Productive Presidency, And This Win On Drug Prices Shows Why
Quote – If you want to understand why the Biden administration gets so little credit for its accomplishments ― and why, perhaps, it deserves to get a little more ― pay attention to a little-noticed policy announcement from last Friday. The announcement was a list of 43 prescription drugs that are covered by Medicare and whose prices have risen faster than the rate of inflation. The list included relatively well-known drugs like Humira, which treats a variety of inflammatory conditions, plus some more obscure medications like Leukine, which helps cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy stave off infection.
Click through for details. And pass it on

Food For Thought

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Open Thread June 10, 2023

 Posted by at 5:58 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 102023
 

Yesterday, the first Federal Trump** indictment was unsealed. I posted a “breaking news” update on the Open Thread as soon as i saw it, but in case you missied it, the news was 37 counts. (I presume 7 charges is still correct. It’s 49 pages and I didn’t go through it in full. But “conspiracy” was one, “obstruction of justice” was one, and “willful retention under the Espionage Act” was one. The Espionage Act, combined with the Federal rules for venue, explains why Florida. We now know that for certain.

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NPR “Shots” – For many, a ‘natural death’ may be preferable to enduring CPR
Quote – So why the controversy? It comes down to a widespread misconception of what CPR can, and can’t, do. CPR can sometimes save lives, but it also has a dark side…. The allure of CPR is that “death, instead of a final and irrevocable passage, becomes a process manipulable by humans,” writes Stefan Timmermans, a sociologist who has studied CPR…. “It seems too good to be true,” he said, and it is.
Click through for details. I won’t try to address every possible complication here – but this highlights the importance of Living Wills/DNR orders – and maybe even more the importance of respecting them.

Robert Reich – Should we be worried about RFK Jr.?
Quote – Were it not for his illustrious name, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would be just another crackpot in the growing number of bottom-feeding right-wing fringe politicians seeking high office. But the Robert F. Kennedy brand is political gold. RFK Jr. is now polling in the double digits against Biden. The latest CNN poll, taken less than three weeks ago, has him at 20 percent.
Click through for article. As always, click “keep reading” or whatever on the popup. His father would be APPALLED.

The New Yorker – The Legal Dynamics of Trump’s Second Indictment
Quote – Q – What are the considerations when the government approaches cases involving classified documents? A – There are a slew of them. From the government’s perspective, the crux of the matter is how much classified information they are willing to reveal, because the defendant has a constitutional right to confront the evidence against him. This means that the government cannot split the difference; it can’t convict someone based on evidence they are not allowed to see. So oftentimes how the government charges a case like this and how they try a case like this reflect decisions about what they are and aren’t willing to disclose.
Click through for full interview. The writer is not a lawyer, but the interviewee is, and is an expert on national-security law. I’ve already used the New Yorker once this month, so if you are paywalled out, email me and I’ll send it by return.

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Open Thread May 13, 2023

 Posted by at 6:08 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 132023
 

Yesterday, I got an email advising me that eight fake electors in Georgia have accepted immunity. You probably saw or heard that, but it’s such good news I wanted to make sure you did. Also, anyone here who plays yesterday’s New Yorker Name Drop is going to get it. Maybe not on the first two clues, but at least one of the last four will give it away. Finally, there’s a petition which is sponsored by several groups, one of which is Faithful America, which is how I heard of it. It asks Congress tp pass the Supreme Court Ethics Act.

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HuffPost – Kansas City Council Votes To Become Sanctuary For Trans Health Care
Quote – Kansas City council members agreed by an 11-1 vote to bar city personnel from punishing individuals who seek out gender-affirming care or the organizations that provide gender-affirming care. They also instructed city personnel to make it their “lowest priority” to cooperate with enforcing state law targeting trans health care. “Kansas City government is committed to ensuring Kansas City is a welcoming, inclusive, and safe place for everyone, including our transgender and LGBTQ+ community,” Mayor Quinton Lucas (D) said in a statement.
Click through for details. Nameless has every right to be bursting with pride for his city (if not for the state which made this necessary.)

Crooks & Liars – Does Congress Have Power To Override The President’s Duty?
Quote – Lawrence O’Donnell invited constitutional law professor Laurence Tribe onto his show last night to explain how he changed his thinking on Biden using the 14th Amendment as authority to pay the nation’s debt. “What I changed my mind about is, what is the right question to ask,” Tribe said…. [“T]he real question isn’t what powers the president have. It is, what duties the president has. Does the president have a duty to execute all of the laws of the United States, the ones that Congress passed, telling him to spend money? He does have that duty.”
Click through for article. Put like that, it is a no-brainer.

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