Our Insane US Healthcare System

No other nation in the world does health care the way we do in the US.

--We have, far and away, the most expensive health care system in the world. --We are the only nation that ties health care to profit. --We are the only nation where citizens go bankrupt from health care costs. --We are the only nation where our number one cause for bankruptcy for citizens is health care costs, approximately 40% of all bankruptcies in the US are from this, year after year, consistently. Insane. Obscene. Immoral. Fixable.

Wealthiest Nation in the World? Really?

Right. The United States. "Wealthiest nation in the world."  Sure we are.  Let's look closer.

First of all, there's that pesky issue of this biggest, most killing international pandemic in the last more than 100 years.

Coronavirus: Why America Has More Deaths Than Any Other

And sure, this COVID pandemic is an event, a "one off", if you will, that will go away. Here's statistics that are more complete, more over time and the entire nation and world.

US ranks last in worker benefits among developed countries: data

In comparisons to other developed nations, the U.S. lags in providing fundamental employee benefits.

For starters, we're the only Western, industrialized nation that a) doesn't have universal health care and that b) ties health care to profit and profits.

Real rocket scientists, we are.

Some of the facts from the article:

• Famed for their successful public health care systems, northern and Scandinavian countries like Canada, Denmark, Sweden and Norway ranked the highest in the top 10 countries with the best health care benefits.
• In the U.S., health care is privatized and does not offer universal health care, and Zenefits notes that private hospitals also propagate treatment inequalities between individuals who can afford higher quality treatment and those who cannot.
• Retirement benefits are another weak spot for the U.S.; older reports indicate that the U.S. comes in 16th place among the countries with the best retirement plans.
• This inequality in U.S. retirement planning extends to racial injustice as well. Some 24 percent of white family households are covered with an employee-sponsored retirement plan, compared to 16 percent of households of color.
• Throughout the globe, the U.S. also came in 32nd place for highest life expectancy, averaging 78.5 years.
• The U.S. is also notoriously stingy with its paid time off. Be it for sick leave, parental leave, or general work-life balance, the U.S. shows zero mandated paid holidays whereas similar countries within the European Union average between 20-30 paid holidays for discretionary use. Maternity leave is protected under U.S. labor laws, though, with 12 weeks of unpaid leave being the baseline for companies.
• Other countries, such as Finland, Germany, Japan, and Canada give their employees more time, ranging from 161 weeks to 52 weeks.

Note, too, above, what nations have higher standards of living, folks.

Yes.  Socialist. Democratic Socialist governments and countries. Go figure.

So congratulations, America, Americans. At least, with all this, above, we also have this, below, eh?

U.S. Has Worst Wealth Inequality of Any Rich Nation

Say... Do you suppose, just suppose the two could be related?

Ya' think?

Additional link:

COVID-19 pandemic death rates by country

Who the Hell Are We America?

 Who the Hell are we, America? Who and what have we become?

We put immigrant children in cages at our Southern border and now we're forcing hysterectomies on immigrant women?? 

US nurse alleges 'hysterectomies on migrant women'

Women in ICE Custody Allegedly Coerced Into Hysterectomies

US watchdog to investigate ICE unwanted hysterectomies

Really?? This is who we want to be??

And now we have a President that has been accused by more than 2 dozen women of sexually assaulting them?

The 25 women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct

So what?  They're ALL lying?  Really?

And that's not bad enough, now another woman just came forward and accused him of same.

'Tired of Being Quiet,' Another Woman, Amy Dorris, Comes Forward to Accuse Donald Trump of Sexual Assault

Donald Trump accused of sexual assault in new interview

And then there's this.

Trump Luxury Properties Have Charged US Government $1.1M Since Inauguration: Report

Can you even imagine the outrageous uproar that would have uttered forth from the Right Wingers and Republicans and conservatives across the nation if the previous President, Obama, did anything remotely similar to this? Does the Emoluments Clause of our Constitution mean nothing now, with this Trump, this President?

Really?

Is this what and who we want to be?

America?? Americans??

More. Believably/unbelievably, still more:

'One of the Most Callous Sentiments Ever Uttered' by US President: Trump Falsely Says Covid Death Toll Not So Bad 'If You Take Blue States Out'

This Is How Very Racist Our United States of America Are

Check this out.

Video Shows Fatal Shooting of Ahmaud Arbery, Unarmed Black Man In Georgia

A United States citizen. Black.

Out for a jog.

Unarmed.

Shot by 2 strangers, father and son, white, in a pickup truck. With a shotgun.

Jogger killed.

To date, the assailant hasn't even been arrested, let alone jailed or charged.

'merika.

Damn.

And it's all on video.

And he was shot and killed in February.

We're only now talking about it. We're only now considering charges against these two ugly, racist, murderous hillbillies.

Just damn.

America: Do You Even Know Yourself?

So we just finished celebrating Memorial Day and being patriotic, all that, sure. But America, Americans, do you even really know your own nation? Check out these facts, these statistics:

In December 2017, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty issued a report on the United States that included these lines:[xix]

• US infant mortality rates in 2013 were the highest in the developed world.
• Americans can expect to live shorter and sicker lives, compared to people living in any other rich democracy, and the “health gap” between the US and its peer countries continues to grow.
• US inequality levels are far higher than those in most European countries.
• Neglected tropical diseases, including Zika, are increasingly common in the USA. It has been estimated that 12 million Americans live with a neglected parasitic infection. A 2017 report documents the prevalence of hookworm in Lowndes County, Alabama.
• The US has the highest prevalence of obesity in the developed world.
• In terms of access to water and sanitation the US ranks 36th in the world.
• America has the highest incarceration rate in the world, ahead of Turkmenistan, El Salvador, Cuba, Thailand and the Russian Federation. Its rate is nearly five times the OECD average. [OECD means the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, an organization that has 35 member countries.]
• The youth poverty rate in the United States is the highest across the OECD with one quarter of youth living in poverty compared to less than 14 percent across the OECD.
• The Stanford Center on Inequality and Poverty ranks the most well-off countries in terms of labor markets, poverty, safety net, wealth inequality, and economic mobility. The US comes in last of the top 10 most well-off countries, and 18th amongst the top 21.
• In the OECD the US ranks 35th out of 37 in terms of poverty and inequality.
• According to the World Income Inequality Database, the US has the highest Gini rate (measuring inequality) of all Western Countries.
• The Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality characterizes the US as “a clear and constant outlier in the child poverty league.” US child poverty rates are the highest amongst the six richest countries – Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden and Norway.

Doesn't it seem as though we should all come together and work on our issues, our problems?

How the Rest of the World Sees Our Nation and Our Guns

"Sunday with Lubach, which is sort of like the Dutch version of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, looked at guns — specifically, the US’s love of firearms."

From the article:

This European comedy sketch explains how the world sees America's

 gun problem

The NRA and the Republican Party vs the People of the United States

Do You Really Know All the Weather Events Taking Place This Week Across the Planet?

Let's evaluate what has happened and what''s going on of late, shall we?

The United States' fourth largest city and a good section of Southeast Texas is under water and will be for some time.

Flooding stretches for miles in east Texas 

- Videos - CBS News

There have been and are floods and flooding over a large swath of Bangladesh and Sierra Leone.  More than 1000 were killed in those mudslides in Sierra Leone, according to Al Jazeera, while at least 1200 have been killed in the Bangladeshi floods.

Floods in India, Bangladesh and Nepal kill 1,200 and leave millions homeless

At least 41 million people affected in floods in India, Bangladesh and Nepal, UN says

Back in another part of the US, a blistering heat wave gripped California this week with firefighters, statewide, tackling massive wildfires that forced thousands of people to flee their homes.

LADWP sees highest demand ever as Angelenos roast in record-breaking heat wave

And people want to ignore or deny what the scientists have said, are saying about man made climate change and how much carbon dioxide we're pumping into the atmosphere, warming the planet?

Really?

Links:

How Climate Change Likely Heightened 

Hurricane Harvey's Fury

Global Warming May Play Role in Hurricane Intensity

Warmer oceans could produce more powerful superstorms

Some Takeaways On the World's Happiest Nations Report

The world's happiest nations were announced today by the by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the United Nations.

World's happiest countries named

Takeaways?

--The US isn't the happiest

--The US isn't in the top 3

--The US isn't in the top 5

--The US isn't even in the top 10

--The US is in the 13th position

Here's what I love.

The top ten "happiest nations"?

Socialist.

All Socialist.

Every one.

Here's another kicker. Another takeaway. Frankly, it's one more slam on us, the US.

Israel ranks higher in happiness than the US.

Israel.

Surrounded by their enemies. Set upon and attacked, not infrequently, by Palestinians yet they have a higher happiness rating than we do here in the United States.


So, America.  Could we learn some things here?

Please?

Soon as possible?

Here's one:  The lady was right.

We are #Strongertogether.

Links:

World Happiness Report Update 2016

World Happiness Report - Wikipedia

America Has the Worst Vacation Policies 

Of Any Developed Country

Once again, U.S. has most expensive, least effective health care

Americans are much, much more likely to be killed by guns than  people in other countries

Americans are paying more for slower Internet 

The One Nation Without Universal Health Care

This is what Capitalism has gotten us in both health care pricing and mortality rates as well internet pricing and speed. Ours are both the most expensive and worst quality.



We're just not that bright.

Links:

Once again, U.S. has most expensive, least effective health care

U.S. Healthcare: Most Expensive and Worst Performing

This Saturday Evening, Folks!

Yes sir, it's that time of year again! It's this Saturday evening!

Don't forget! Spring forward!

Born This Day, 1827

Indeed, born this day, September 27, 1827 was one Hiram Rhodes Revels and for a few reasons, should absolutely be taught and known by Americans who he was and what he did.

Hiram Rhodes Revels was a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church(AME), a Republican politician, and college administrator. Born free in North Carolina, he later lived and worked in Ohio, where he voted before the Civil War. He was elected as the first African American to serve in the United States Senate, and was the first African American to serve in the U.S. Congress. He represented Mississippi in the Senate in 1870 and 1871 during the Reconstruction era.

During the American Civil War, Revels had helped organize two regiments of the United States Colored Troops and served as a chaplain. After serving in the Senate, Revels was appointed as the first president of Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Alcorn State University), 1871-1873 and 1876 to 1882. Later he served again as a minister.

One of the biggest things Hiram Revels did was to  be The Black Man Who Replaced Jefferson Davis in the Senate

Too few Americans know this man and know what he did and how important he and it all was.

Happy Birthday, Uncle Sam

From the NYT:

The man who, legend has it, gave rise to the iconic symbol of the United States was born on Sept. 13, 1766, in Arlington, Mass.

Samuel Wilson was a meatpacker in upstate New York who helped feed American soldiers in the War of 1812, the fight between the United States and Britain that also inspired “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

According to the legend, a worker wisecracked that the letters “U.S.” on Mr. Wilson’s shipping crates stood for “Uncle Sam” Wilson. The joke that the shipments came from Uncle Sam turned him into a stand-in for the federal government.

The somewhat random comment was picked up by others, and he started to appear in drawings in newspapers in the 1830s.

Thomas Nast, the cartoonist who gave us the donkey as a symbol for Democrats and the elephant for Republicans, made Uncle Sam’s goatee famous.

No matter that Mr. Wilson, who died in 1854, was clean-shaven. His name, but not his likeness, was turned into a patriotic symbol replicated forevermore in political cartoons, ads, posters and fine art.

Most Beautiful Spot in Missouri?

There is an article out today online at Thrillst pointing out the best of each state in America:

The Most Beautiful Place in Each State

So we just had to know. What's reputedly the most beautiful spot in Missouri?

Table Rock Lake

Though Missouri has no shortage of scenic lakes that are perfect for a summer weekend getaway, there are more than a few that also double as filming locales for Girls Gone Wild. The calm waters formed by the White River--and created by the Table Rock Dam--however, make this not only a naturally beautiful destination, but also one you could legitimately describe as “relaxing.”

It may well be, who can say? Besides, it's certainly subjective. It seems to me, if you see pictures of Table Rock Lake, it looks very like, for instance, Lake of the Ozarks but, oh well.

As for Kansas, you might ask?

Elk Falls, Kansas - World's Largest Living Ghost Town

Not Close the Guantanamo Prison?

We really want to be in this company?

Cause. Effects

American health care fact

 

Also the number one cause of bankruptcy in the US:

 

10 Leading Causes of Bankruptcy

 

Study Links Medical Costs and Personal Bankruptcy

 

But no, no, we don't need any fix to our health care system.

 

Heck, no.

Worldwide ironies and tragedies

While most of America--and plenty of the rest of the world, too--bakes in record dry weather, comes this breaking news today:

Heavy monsoon rains trigger flooding in northern Pakistan; 26 people die

Would that we could take some of their burden, with their monsoon rains, eh?

To make things worse, from the article:

"Pakistan suffered the worst flooding in its 65-year history in 2010. Floodwaters inundated one-fifth of the country, an area larger than England, and killed over 1,700 people. Over 20 million people were affected."

Wouldn't it be great if the world made sense?

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/heavy-monsoon-rains-trigger-flooding-in-northern-pakistan-22-people-die/2012/08/23/e6dd45aa-ecee-11e1-866f-60a00f604425_story.html

Happy Flag Day

What they didn't tell us in school about the "Founding Fathers"

Two quotes from two of the Founders:

"All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and well born, the other the mass of the people. The voice of the people has been said to be the voice of God; and however generally this maxim has been quoted and believed, it is not true in fact. The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge or determine right. Give therefore to the first class a distinct, permanent share in the government. They will check the unsteadiness of the second, and as they cannot receive any advantage by a change, they therefore will ever maintain good government. Can a democratic assembly, who annually revolve in the mass of the people, be supposed steadily to pursue the public good? Nothing but a permanent body can check the imprudence of democracy. Their turbulent and uncontroling disposition requires checks.” --Alexander Hamilton

“The man who is possessed of wealth, who lolls on his sofa or rolls in his carriage, cannot judge the wants or feelings of the day-laborer. … In England, at this day, if elections were open to all classes of people, the property of landed proprietors would be insecure. An agrarian law would soon take place. If these observations be just, our government ought to secure the permanent interests of the country against innovation. Landholders ought to have a share in the government, to support these invaluable interests, and to balance and check the other. They ought to be so constituted as to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority. The senate, therefore, ought to be this body; and to answer these purposes, they ought to have permanency and stability.” --James Madison

What does this have to do with anything?

It seems the Republican Party's efforts to get less and less of us voting in elections fits in with what the Founding Fathers had in mind.

It's wrong--deeply--but with this little bit of information alone, you get a strong sense of their intentions. Of course, far fewer of us had as much education then as we do now, too, so that's in our favor.

The fact is, where we are right now is that we have to get the big, ugly, corrupting influence of "campaign contributions" out of our election system and so, our government. As it stands, our legislators are bought by the corporations and wealthy, along with their legislation and so, our laws and finally, our government.