Thursday, December 28, 2023

Bernie Sanders Medicare for all bumper sticker has been on the back of our Prius since 2015. An accident ruined the back door of the Prius. The people at the body shop carefully removed the Medicare for all sticker and put it on the new back door:


No single reason explains why America’s life expectancy has declined, with chronic disease, poor nutrition, insufficient access to care and political decisions all linked to premature deaths. There also is no single strategy to turn it around — and no agreement on how to do it. Some public health leaders and policymakers have called for sweeping reforms to how the health-care system operates, while others home in on discrete factors such as lethal drug overdoses, which have spiked in recent years and received considerable attention but are not solely responsible for the decline in life expectancy.

The paralysis over how to address the nation’s declining life expectancy extends to Congress, where a handful of lawmakers — mostly Democrats — have repeatedly portrayed the slide as a crisis, but most other lawmakers have said little or nothing.

“We don’t talk about life expectancy, because it just makes it clear what kind of failed system we currently have,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has repeatedly warned about the rise in premature deaths, including organizing a July 2021 Senate hearing on the issue. Just 11 of the panel’s 18 senators attended, several only briefly; just five asked questions.

“I talk to other senators about life expectancy data and watch their eyes glaze over,” Warren said.

FROM:

The Washington Post

America has a life expectancy crisis. But it’s not a political priority.

Dan Diamond

December 28, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EST

Actually there is a single is a single reason why "America has a life expectancy crisis. We don't have Medicare For All. 

 If the Democratic Party had let primaries chose a president instead of inserting Hillary Clinton we would have had President Bernie Sanders. 
The Peter Thiel/Harlin Crow Nazis would have remained scurrying in the dark recesses of the billionaire class. 

Instead the United States is a Republican Nazi horror show.

Kevin DeAnna – who met with Thiel on the evening of July 29, 2016, in the midst of the 2016 election cycle – was not merely a participant in a white supremacist subculture when he met Thiel but also was immersed in its most extreme elements, including literature admired by terrorists. Deanna wrote under the pseudonyms “Gregory Hood” and “James Kirkpatrick” over a decade for white nationalist publications such as VDAREand American Renaissance, as Hatewatch reported in a four-part series published in March 2020. He cited texts like “SIEGE” and used terminology drawn from such other books as “The Turner Diaries” in his work and in private conversation. “The Turner Diaries,” originally published in 1978, has influenced some of the most infamous acts of U.S. domestic terrorism, including the murder of Alan Berg in 1984 and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. “SIEGE,” once an obscure neo-Nazi newsletter, has resurfaced in recent years as the preferred text of neo-Nazi terroristic organizations such as the now-defunct Atomwaffen Division.

DeAnna was also connected to people in the U.S. government. About six weeks prior to his meeting with Thiel, DeAnna discussed recruiting for a white nationalist group withState Department official Matthew Q. Gebert. Gebert, who used the pseudonym “Coach Finstock” online, recruited members for “D.C. Helicopter Pilots” – a Virginia and Washington, D.C.-based organizing chapter of white nationalist organization The Right Stuff. Gebert was suspended from his job in the Bureau of Energy Resources, but the State Department has never clarified whether or not he is still being paid.

Hatewatch confirmed reporting first published in Buzzfeed suggesting Thiel met with DeAnna, using a cache of images provided by former Breitbart editor Katie McHugh, who has since renounced white nationalism. McHugh captured a picture of DeAnna’s exchange with Thiel, as well as of several other emails, in August 2016. Hatewatch was able to compare a screenshot of one of these photos, given to us by McHugh in November 2018, with a series of cached images uploaded to her iCloud. Hatewatch has also been able to verify another email thread between DeAnna and his editors at VDARE, a white nationalist website where he wrote under the pseudonym “James Kirkpatrick,” discussing the meeting in the same manner.

MORE AT:

SPLC

White Nationalist Who Met With Peter Thiel Admired Terroristic Literature

March 18, 2021 

By Hannah Gais



"The magazine reported that Crow's collection includes two of Hitler's paintings, a signed copy of Mein Kampf, the fascist dictator's 1925 manifesto, other Nazi trinkets, and a garden filled with statues of some of the most reviled leaders from the 20th Century.

Crow has reportedly said he maintains the controversial collection because he despises communism and fascism...

I still can't get over the collection of Nazi memorabilia," an individual who has remained anonymous and who attended an event at Crow's home told the magazine. "It would have been helpful to have someone explain the significance of all the items. Without that context, you sort of just gasp when you walk into the room."


"The news of Crow's collection comes after a bombshell ProPublica report, which detailed how Thomas has taken luxury vacations funded by the megadonor for more than 20 years without disclosing the excursions. Two ethics law experts told the publication that Thomas appears to have violated a law passed after the 1970s-era Watergate scandal that requires members of the judiciary and members of Congress to report most gifts."

FROM:

Business Insider

Clarence Thomas' benefactor, the billionaire megadonor Harlan Crow, has a collection of Hitler artifacts and Nazi memorabilia: report

John L. Dorman Apr 8, 2023, 3:48 PM EDT

Thursday, December 21, 2023

Trump speaks as a deranged maniac spinning deeper into insanity. The Supreme Court has a unique opportunity to stop him.

The Republican Party has given up on democracy and given itself to fascism as a way to stay in control. The problem is a fascist leader does what he wants, including the murder of those he believes are against him. 


Most politicians who go against Trump are the targets of his amateur brown shirt Nazis with an assault rifle. The Supreme Court justices have a unique means to stop Trump without risk to their personal safety. 


If Trump becomes president and “dictator on day one” the very lives of judges, prosecutors & legislators are in Trump’s deranged hands. 


And the “Doomsday Clock” moves quickly to midnight, the darkness following nuclear war. 


There is an international swing away from democracy to fascism. Trump in prison won’t stop it. Trump in prison could serve as a model to revive democracy and rule of law and away from rule of dictators.




Editors of the Times, masters of understatement:


"But while the court’s current majority has certainly favored any number of staunchly conservative policies, it has shown less of an appetite for supporting Mr. Trump’s attempts to bend the powers of the presidency to his benefit or to interfere with the mechanics of the democratic process."


The New York Times

Trump Cases Crashing Into Supreme Court Could Reshape 2024 Election

The ruling that Donald Trump is not eligible for the ballot in Colorado is the latest election-related issue likely to land before the justices. The implications for 2024 could be profound.


By Alan Feuer

Dec. 20, 2023

Sunday, December 17, 2023

Basically assisted living facilities are a final scam. Dozens of assisted-living residents died after wandering away unnoticed

 “Methodology

The Post examined facility inspection data and incident reports from two-thirds of states and collected news reports from across the country, the first time a news organization has attempted to determine the national scope of wandering incidents and deaths among people living with dementia and other cognitive impairments in assisted-living facilities.

Because 19 states do not allow reports to be downloaded by the public, and Nebraska and D.C. have not released new reports in recent years, the data presented by The Post is certainly an undercount.

To collect its data, The Post wrote computer programs to pull facility rosters and the number of beds available in every state, and to gather more than 160,000 available individual inspection reports since 2018 from the states that posted those reports online.

Using key phrases such as “elope,” “wander” and “missing,” reporters searched for cases where residents had left the facility without staff’s knowledge or had been left outside unattended. They expanded their review into states without online inspection portals by scouring media reports and lawsuits and by filing public information requests with state agencies and local police departments. A second and third round of media searches were done by researchers and reporters to try to provide the public with the most complete accounting of walkaways and walkaway deaths.

The Post’s review included both general assisted-living facilities and the more secure dementia-care units. Many states have different names in their regulations for these facilities. The Post used a review from the National Center for Assisted Living to determine the different titles for assisted-living complexes.

The Post counted deaths involving residents with Alzheimer’s disease or other cognitive impairments who got outside or were left unsupervised outside, including in vehicles. In one case, a resident was found in a stairwell. In another, the facility placed the resident in independent living although his contract required assisted-living oversight. The Post’s review was not limited to deaths that led state authorities to cite facilities, but in 9 out of 10 cases where a resident died, inspectors did issue citations.

To examine states’ oversight of assisted-living facilities, reporters gathered regulations regarding staffing levels, training and reporting requirements from each state. The Post then categorized each state into a tier of regulatory oversight based on benchmarks suggested by experts.

Finally, reporters used data from the American Seniors Housing Association ranking the 50 largest senior-housing owners. Reporters classified the companies on ASHA’s list into general categories of ownership, to understand the business models underlying the assisted-living sector.

About this investigation

Memory Inc. Patients with memory problems walk away from assisted-living facilities just about every day in America; many die. The Post examines a pattern of neglect in America’s booming assisted-living industry.

Reporting by Christopher Rowland, Todd C. Frankel, Yeganeh Torbati, Julie Zauzmer Weil, Peter Whoriskey, Steven Rich and Douglas MacMillan. Federica Cocco and Alice Crites also contributed to this report. Videos by Joy Sharon Yi.

Design and development by Allison Mann. Additional design by Laura Padilla Castellanos. Data analysis by Steven Rich. Photo editing and research by Haley Hamblin. Video graphics by Sarah Hashemi.

Lead editing by Evelyn Larrubia. Editing by Betty Chavarria, Karly Domb Sadof, Susan Doyle, Meghan Hoyer, Courtney Kan, Anne Kenderdine, Thomas LeGro and Lori Montgomery.

Additional support from Maddie Driggers, Tom Justice, Jordan Melendrez, Gwen Milder, Amy Nakamura, Jayne Orenstein, Alexandra Pannoni, Kate Rabinowitz and Erica Snow.”


Dozens of assisted-living residents died after wandering away unnoticed

By Christopher RowlandTodd C. FrankelYeganeh TorbatiJulie Zauzmer WeilPeter Whoriskey and 

Steven Rich

Dec. 17 at 6:30 a.m

Saturday, December 16, 2023

Will Trump successfully kick the can of his trials to after the election polls say he will win, then fire federal prosecutors & begin his president for life reign of terror “on day one?” Or will he be in prison before Tuesday, November 5, 2024?

 Trump TERRIFIED of SPEEDY TRIAL that will END HIM

AND:

"It is as if the Special Counsel ‘growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming, “I must find some way to keep Christmas from coming. … But how?”'"



“In the filing, Trump’s attorneys said that signing off on Smith’s proposed schedule “would make President Trump’s opening brief due the day after Christmas. This proposed schedule would require attorneys and support staff to work round-the-clock through the holidays, inevitably disrupting family and travel plans. It is as if the Special Counsel ‘growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming, “I must find some way to keep Christmas from coming. … But how?”'"

That’s a reference to Dr. Seuss’ classic “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” about a character with a heart two sizes too small who hates the whole Christmas season and plots to sabotage the holiday.

Peter Carr, a spokesperson for Smith’s office, declined comment.”:


NBCNEWS

You’re a mean one, Mr. Smith: Trump attorneys call special counsel the Grinch in court filing

Trump’s lawyers used the holiday jeer in arguing that a federal appeals court should deny Jack Smith’s bid to expedite an appeal on the former president’s immunity claims.


Dec. 13, 2023, 3:18 PM EST / Updated Dec. 13, 2023, 5:37 PM EST

By Daniel Barnes and Dareh Gregorian

Thursday, December 7, 2023

“Trump Says He Will Stop Participating in the DC Federal Criminal Case Based on His Understanding”-Looks like Trump plans to skip the election part & go straight to Supreme Fascist Dictator of the United States of America.

 Trump REFUSES to Participate in CRIMINAL CASE in OUTRAGEOUS Appeal

“In other words, Donald Trump is saying he will be acting as if the stay request has been granted and not participating in the criminal case and related deadlines and obligations, regardless of the fact that the court is yet to make a ruling. 

This is a direct and unprecedented challenge to a court’s authority as no litigant or criminal defendant can proceed on their own accord absent court order.

More brazenly, one of the main cases Donald Trump cites to support his “understanding” that the criminal case against him should be stayed is the recent DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruling from last week in the case Blassingame v. Trump, where the Court of Appeals ruled that Donald Trump was not entitled to absolute presidential immunity in various civil lawsuits related to the insurrection. Thus, Trump is citing a case that proves his immunity appeal is frivolous as the very same grounds for a stay of the criminal case against him and then using his clearly fabricated understanding of that to not participate in the criminal case unilaterally.”

FROM:

Trump Says He Will Stop Participating in the DC Federal Criminal Case Based on His Understanding

Trump Makes Direct Challenge to DC Federal Judge’s Authority in New Motion

Ben Meiselas December 7, 2023






The Washington Post is confused:

New Trump appeal launches Jan. 6 trial race that could land at Supreme Court

Donald Trump’s lawyers filed a notice in court Thursday saying they’ll appeal Judge Tanya Chutkan’s rejection of his immunity claims

By Washington Post Staff

December 7, 2023 at 1:08 p.m. EST


Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Evangelical Republicans praise “Christian” Putin & his extreme persecution of transgender people. In Putin’s strong man fascist “democracy” abortion as birth control is overlooked. Republicans will aid Putin’s march across Europe. Trump is Putin's puppet.

Ukraine aid is a tough vote for many Republicans who say they could risk primary challenges and backlash because their base is increasingly opposed to sending an additional $60 billion — on top of more than $110 billion the United States has already allocated — to Ukraine.”

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.’When Vladimir Putin marches into Kyiv and into Europe, Republicans will have to live with the fact that our sons and daughters will be over fighting when Vladimir Putin marches into a NATO country. They will rue the day that they decided to play politics.”


FROM:

The Washington Post

Senate lawmakers careen toward failed vote on Ukraine

Billions in additional aid stuck as Republicans push border security, walk out of classified briefing

By Liz GoodwinLeigh Ann Caldwell and Marianna Sotomayor

December 5, 2023 at 6:38 p.m. EST




Tuesday, December 5, 2023

If he were alive today Mark Twain might write The Carnival of Crime in the Republican Party

The Republican Party, a cabal of men with no conscience whose leader Donald Trump was born with no conscience.


"And think how you have neglected my poor protege at the almshouse, you dear, hard-hearted promise-breaker!" I blushed scarlet, and my tongue was tied. As the sense of my guilty negligence waxed sharper and stronger, my Conscience began to sway heavily back and forth; and when my aunt, after a little pause, said in a grieved tone, "Since you never once went to see her, maybe it will not distress you now to know that that poor child died, months ago, utterly friendless and forsaken!" My Conscience could no longer bear up under the weight of my sufferings, but tumbled headlong from his high perch and struck the floor with a dull, leaden thump. He lay there writhing with pain and quaking with apprehension, but straining every muscle in frantic efforts to get up. In a fever of expectancy I sprang to the door, locked it, placed my back against it, and bent a watchful gaze upon my struggling master. Already my fingers were itching to begin their murderous work.

"Oh, what can be the matter!" exclaimed by aunt, shrinking from me, and following with her frightened eyes the direction of mine. My breath was coming in short, quick gasps now, and my excitement was almost uncontrollable. My aunt cried out:

"Oh, do not look so! You appal me! Oh, what can the matter be? What is it you see? Why do you stare so? Why do you work your fingers like that?"

"Peace, woman!" I said, in a hoarse whisper. "Look elsewhere; pay no attention to me; it is nothing--nothing. I am often this way. It will pass in a moment. It comes from smoking too much."

My injured lord was up, wild-eyed with terror, and trying to hobble toward the door. I could hardly breathe, I was so wrought up. My aunt wrung her hands, and said:

"Oh, I knew how it would be; I knew it would come to this at last! Oh, I implore you to crush out that fatal habit while it may yet be time! You must not, you shall not be deaf to my supplications longer!" My struggling Conscience showed sudden signs of weariness! "Oh, promise me you will throw off this hateful slavery of tobacco!" My Conscience began to reel drowsily, and grope with his hands--enchanting spectacle! "I beg you, I beseech you, I implore you! Your reason is deserting you! There is madness in your eye! It flames with frenzy! Oh, hear me, hear me, and be saved! See, I plead with you on my very knees!" As she sank before me my Conscience reeled again, and then drooped languidly to the floor, blinking toward me a last supplication for mercy, with heavy eyes. "Oh, promise, or you are lost! Promise, and be redeemed! Promise! Promise and live!" With a long-drawn sigh my conquered Conscience closed his eyes and fell fast asleep!

With an exultant shout I sprang past my aunt, and in an instant I had my lifelong foe by the throat. After so many years of waiting and longing, he was mine at last. I tore him to shreds and fragments. I rent the fragments to bits. I cast the bleeding rubbish into the fire, and drew into my nostrils the grateful incense of my burnt-offering. At last, and forever, my Conscience was dead!"

I was a free man! I turned upon my poor aunt, who was almost petrified with terror, and shouted:

"Out of this with your paupers, your charities, your reforms, your pestilent morals! You behold before you a man whose life-conflict is done, whose soul is at peace; a man whose heart is dead to sorrow, dead to suffering, dead to remorse; a man WITHOUT A CONSCIENCE! In my joy I spare you, though I could throttle you and never feel a pang! Fly!"

She fled. Since that day my life is all bliss. Bliss, unalloyed bliss. Nothing in all the world could persuade me to have a conscience again. I settled all my old outstanding scores, and began the world anew. I killed thirty-eight persons during the first two weeks--all of them on account of ancient grudges. I burned a dwelling that interrupted my view. I swindled a widow and some orphans out of their last cow, which is a very good one, though not thoroughbred, I believe. I have also committed scores of crimes, of various kinds, and have enjoyed my work exceedingly, whereas it would formerly have broken my heart and turned my hair gray, I have no doubt.

In conclusion, I wish to state, by way of advertisement, that medical colleges desiring assorted tramps for scientific purposes, either by the gross, by cord measurement, or per ton, will do well to examine the lot in my cellar before purchasing elsewhere, as these were all selected and prepared by myself, and can be had at a low rate, because I wish to clear, out my stock and get ready for the spring trade.


FROM THE CONCLUDING WORDS OF:


 

The Carnival of Crime in Connecticut

by Mark Twain

THE FACTS CONCERNING THE RECENT CARNIVAL OF CRIME IN CONNECTICUT

© 2022 AmericanLiterature.com