Category: Society Status Flags

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American Savings?!?!

From Freakanomics…

50% of Americans say they cannot lay their hands on $2000 in 30 days.   Why $2000, because that is a good guess at what an average, sudden crisis would cost.  20% of households making $150,000 per year say they cannot come up with the $2000.

On the flip side an American household spends on average $520 per year on lotteries.  20% of households say their only chance of accumulating wealth is the lottery.  40% of households making less than $25,000 a year make that claim.

Just something to chew on. Sorry link was taken down…

 

 

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How Much Do You REALLY Love That New iPhone?

Another sad account of Foxconn and Apple and the high human cost of your iPhone: iEmpire: Apple’s Sordid Business Practices Are Even Worse Than You Think

Someone please tell what is right about unfettered capitalism be practiced globally with US in the lead.

Here is a link to a Forbes article listing the top 400 richest people in America. Number 400 has a net worth of $1 billion. Number 1 on the list, Bill Gates, has a worth of 59 billion. Six of the folks on this list made their wealth from Wal*Mart. Steve Jobs is number 39 with a paltry $7 billion. Michael Dell is number 18 with a worth of $15 billion.

Go to the top of the list and find the “source” heading. Click on Continue reading “How Much Do You REALLY Love That New iPhone?”

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Welfare Mama, My A$$

One of the reoccurring themes when I talk to my fellow citizens on the right of the political spectrum is freeloaders.  They seem utterly outraged and maybe terrified that someone might be getting something with their tax money.  I keep hearing stories about the welfare mama driving a Cadillac.  Another favorite story is the teenage bimbo driving a hot car, living with her boyfriend, and paying for cigarettes with food stamps.  Then we have malingers collecting workers comp for a fake injury.  The stories go on and on.

I have no doubt that there are cases like the above.  I spent an afternoon a while back Googling for statistics on this type of fraud or abuse of the system.  I did not have a lot of luck finding any numbers.   My gut feeling is that the dollars pale in comparison to the real welfare cheats, doctors, lawyers, hospitals, and corporations.

A while back I worked for a large corporation involved in the care of the elderly.  Their standard business practice was to bill Medicare for every possible thing.  Apparently they were a little too zealous about it.  The government pushed back at them and they had to pay back a rather large sum of money (in the millions).  If memory serves there was also a fine involved, but I am not entirely sure on that part.

A news story just broke, 91 charged in Medicare fraud crackdown.  They have just arrested 91 individuals, including doctors and other medical professionals.  They are claiming $295 million in false billings.  Continue reading “Welfare Mama, My A$$”

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Disillusioned Republican laying it out

I am disillusioned… still

Our government/legislative process has been hijacked by nut cases and our Maginot Line of defense against these fruit cakes is a batch of spineless Democrats.  Mr. Obama apparently has taken Neville Chamberlain as a role model on how to lead a nation. 

Mean time, back at the ranch USA, Snidely Whiplash has kidnapped Nell and Dudley Do-Right has fallen into an inter-galactic black hole.  No serious money is betting on him coming out the other end, and creditors are foreclosing on the ranch.

Below is a quote from the article Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult  by Mike Lofgren at truth-out.org.

“But both parties are not rotten in quite the same way. The Democrats have their share of machine politicians, careerists, corporate bagmen, egomaniacs and kooks. Nothing, however, quite matches the modern GOP. Continue reading “Disillusioned Republican laying it out”

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How To Fix America In 126 Super Cute Seconds

From MoveOn.org:

Sign their petition and send Congress and Obama the Betrayer a message.  Here is the link  to A CONTRACT FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM petition.

IMHO… the corporations are effecting a coup d’etat on our government, our way of life, and the future of our children and grandchildren.  We need to take our country back from these greedy SOBs.   The Tea Party is just a tool the Koch Brothers and others of similar ilk.  Why should they be setting the agenda for the majority of us?

A CONTRACT FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM
Americans who are willing to work hard and play by the rules should be able to find a decent job, get a good home in a strong community, retire with dignity and give their kids a better life. Every one of us…has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That is our covenant, our compact and our contract with one another…
1. Invest in America’s Infrastructure
2. Create 21st-Century Energy Jobs
3. Invest in Public Education
4. Offer Medicare for All
5. Make Work Pay 6. Secure Social Security
7. Return to Fairer Tax Rates
8. End the Wars and Invest at Home
9. Tax Wall Street Speculation
10. Strengthen Democracy

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Bush On Steroids Plus Gun Powder and Horse Semen

The Daily Show
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The Ayatollah Rick Perry

Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, February 10, 1814

21 Reasons Rick Perry’s Texas Is a Complete Disaster

Meet the Christian Dominionist ‘Prayer Warriors’ Who Have Chosen Rick Perry as Their Vehicle to Power

The Biggest Little Hypocrite in Texas

Texas to America: Our Miracle Is Bogus and We’re So Sorry For Everything

The article below was one of the scariest things I have read in a while.

What Did You Learn in School Today? (The Texas Version)

Meet the Shady Dallas Mega-Billionaire Industrialist Pouring Money into Rick Perry’s Coffers

Beware of Rick Perry, the French cuff cowboy

Do we really need another  C student in the White House?

‘The 61-year-old Perry, a fifth-generation Texan, was born near the city of Abilene and graduated from Texas A&M University in 1972 with a 2.2 GPA and a BA in animal science. He went on to fly C-130s in the Air Force and attained the rank of Captain before returning to Texas in 1977. “

Rick Perry:  Too big to fail?  from Aljazeera

Rick Perry as Nero, Texas burns as he fiddles around with being President.  The following article details how Perry slashed the budgets for rural fire departments.  He may be counting on pray, but the rest of us are counting on the tangible help of firefighters.

Is Rick Perry’s Budget Feeding Texas Wildfires? Local Fire Departments Suffer $23 Million in Cuts

 

 

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New York Times Editioral: What Happened to Obama?

This editioral appeared in the Sunday New York Times.   What Happened to Obama?  I personally think it is a must read if you are wondering what the hell happened to our country and Obama.

The last paragraph of the editorial pretty much sums up the situation for me.

“But the arc of history does not bend toward justice through capitulation cast as compromise. It does not bend when 400 people control more of the wealth than 150 million of their fellow Americans. It does not bend when the average middle-class family has seen its income stagnate over the last 30 years while the richest 1 percent has seen its income rise astronomically. It does not bend when we cut the fixed incomes of our parents and grandparents so hedge fund managers can keep their 15 percent tax rates. It does not bend when only one side in negotiations between workers and their bosses is allowed representation. And it does not bend when, as political scientists have shown, it is not public opinion but the opinions of the wealthy that predict the votes of the Senate. The arc of history can bend only so far before it breaks. ”  

I was rooting for Hillary from the git-go of Bush’s first term.  The woman has her issues (Bill?), but she knows the ropes, has the respect of her peers or least as much as you can in Washington.  And she is tough as nails.  I truly believe she has the good of little people in mind.

In part I blame the election of Obama on Oprah.  She spent years with every woman in America hanging onto her utterances.   However, when it came down to it, she chose race over gender.  Which is particularly sad considering how inexperienced Obama was and how experienced Hillary is.   But I also think that the corporate powers that really rule this country do not want competent leadership in Washington.  If that happens they might not be able run roughshod over the rest of us.

Deep sigh.

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A Must Read

“If corporations and households taking in $1 million or more in income each year were now paying taxes at the same annual rates as they did back in 1961, the IPS researchers found, the federal treasury would be collecting an additional $716 billion a year… the federal debt to investors would almost totally vanish over the next decade.”

From an article by Sam Pizzigati — Plutocracy: If Corporations and the Rich Paid 1960s-Level Taxes, the Debt Would Vanish

When everyone has a piece of the pie, you may have seconds. To whom more is given, more is expected. American corporations need to remember that they need to dance with the one that brought them, the US of A.

Our current political/economic crisis is not that hard a problem to solve.  We as a collective group should not let greed rule the day.  We are all in this together, lets act like it.  The American dream should not, must not include la noblesse.  Keep your Marquis and Vicomte where they belong, to history.

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Faces on Meth, A Disturbing Reality

Note: At the bottom of this post you will find a link to view the Faces of Meth.

If you are walking at night and come to the edge of the cliff, the smart thing to do is turn around.  If you take another step the result is not likely to be good.  Many drugs fall into the same category.  To start taking some drugs is like walking up to that cliff edge, only the results are not so veiled.  There have been many folks that have gone before you that have crashed and burned on the rocks below.

In the early 70s I lived in Rhode Island.  I was single, and occasionally would party with a group of folks.  Usually it was beer drinking and some pot.  I had an ambivalent relationship with pot.  Sometimes it made feel nice and mellow.  Sometimes, though, it made me feel depressed and paranoid.   I can achieve depression all by my lonesome, and feeling paranoid is no fun.  At some point I decided that I did not like rolling the dice with unsure results.  So I quit smoking pot.  One evening before I quit,  I went to visit my party friends.  I walked in the house and they were all sitting around the coffee table.  Upon the table were needles, a tourniquet, and other heavy duty drug paraphernalia. Continue reading “Faces on Meth, A Disturbing Reality”