Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Changing job skills, GM offers buyouts

The job skills are changing and schools are not reaching that goal!
As the kids today are going out in a world that changed on them!
https://twitter.com/harari_yuval 

And so it is starting! GM is starting to change for workers that 
have the know how to make cars with more technology.
So GM is buying out their workers as the changes go on.

Nothing stays the same. Stagnation is death! But for the educational systems
they need to get on the ball here because we are heading for a wall!

~~~~~ACT scores show many Oklahoma high school graduates not prepared 
for college-level courses.
Many of Oklahoma's 2018 high school graduates will struggle to pass first-year college courses based on their ACT scores.

Only 16 percent of Oklahoma students met all four college readiness benchmarks in English, mathematics, reading and science, while 43 percent met zero benchmarks.

The information was released Wednesday in ACT's annual report, "The Condition of College and Career Readiness 2018."

ACT research shows students who meet the college readiness benchmarks have a 75 percent chance of earning a C or higher and a 50 percent chance of earning a B or higher in a college-level course in that subject area.
https://newsok.com/article/5611930/act-scores-show-many-oklahoma-high-school-graduates-not-prepared-for-college-level-courses

~~~~~GM offers buyouts to 18,000 employees
Although the company did not announce the buyouts as part of its earnings report, CEO Mary Barra told investors that GM (GM) would be taking "steps to transform the workforce to ensure we have the right skill sets for today and the future while also driving significant efficiency."

GM has not disclosed the details of the offer, but typically it is a formula that offers a certain amount of weekly pay for every year of service.

GM and other automakers are making a major push to develop self-driving vehicle technology along with electric vehicles and ride sharing services. GM has created a separate company called Cruise for those efforts. The company expects to spend $1 billion on Cruise this year.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/31/business/gm-buyouts/index.html

~~~~~America's persistent problem: Unskilled workers
America has millions of jobs openings -- more than any point since 2000.
On the surface, that's a good thing. It means employers are hiring and the economy is growing.

Deeper down though, a high number of job openings raises red flags because it means companies aren't finding the right people to fill the jobs. It signals a persistent problem in America's economy: the skills gap.

Vacant jobs can cost companies hundreds of dollars a day in lost profits, research shows, and ultimately the job skills gap hurts America's economic growth.
https://money.cnn.com/2015/08/07/news/economy/us-economy-job-skills-gap

Saturday, October 27, 2018

Jim Carrey Delivers Fiery Political Speech



Isn't it about time to be open about what is going on
and to note why you need to vote November to not tolerate
the xenophobia driving the ignorance we see today and vote
to get the balance back! 

"He took on the American right wing of its day and its worst evils: hatred of immigrants, contempt of the truth, greed, and the abuse of power. We are fighting those same evils today."

~~~~~Jim Carrey Delivers Fiery Political Speech During Los Angeles BAFTA Awards
Actor and comedian Jim Carrey usually saves his political musings for Twitter or his latest painting. This weekend, though, he voiced his views while accepting the Charlie Chaplin Award for Excellence in Comedy from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in Los Angeles on Friday night.

“I’m glad it didn’t come in the mail,” Carrey joked about his award statue, referencing the recent slew of bombs sent in the mail to high-profile targets of President Donald Trump. “Maybe a little soon? It is my job to try. Yes, I no longer have packages delivered to my home in the great America that has been fashioned in the last couple of years.”

Much to the audience’s delight, Carrey then went full bore into a poignant, impassioned speech about the current political system.

“Almost half of America at this moment believes there is a sinister deep state diabolically plotting ... to what?” Carrey asked. “Give them health care?”

He praised his comedy hero, actor Charlie Chaplin, for the ingenious, subversive political commentary in his films.

With “Modern Times,” he criticized capitalism without a conscience, and that’s what we have now: capitalism without a conscience. He showed the common man being fed through years of brutal dehumanizing industrial age. He took on the American right wing of its day and its worst evils: hatred of immigrants, contempt of the truth, greed, and the abuse of power. We are fighting those same evils today.

Carrey went on to dedicate his award to people he believed to be true heroes ― a term the comedian says has been warped by reality TV ― Chaplin, former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, professor Christine Blasey Ford and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

“He’ll stand for the anthem when the anthem stands for him,” Carrey said of Kaepernick.

Carrey released a new painting Wednesday, depicting President Trump biting down on one of the pipe bombs discovered this week.

“Make no mistake, these terrorists were encouraged and emboldened by the hate speech of Donald Trump,” Carrey tweeted. “If you can’t see the clear menace of this man’s influence by now then you are a part of it.”

Today they tried to murder two Presidents as well as public servants and journalists. Make no mistake, these terrorists were encouraged and emboldened by the hate speech of Donald Trump. If you can’t see the clear menace of this man’s influence by now then you are a part of it. pic.twitter.com/L7kYcpcPKO

— Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) October 24, 2018
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jim-carrey-delivers-fiery-political-speech-during-la-bafta-awards_us_5bd4a79ce4b0d38b58841293

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Climate models fail to predict air pressure shift above Greenland, Changes

There are changes in weather and so is the need to adapt to it.
Water levers are raising and so hurricanes are flooding worse.
Heat will rise also along with crops not doing well in 119 deg
weather in the south full of stupid hot! Global warming is a issue
to crops that makes a issue to us with no food to eat!

But as a warning we all should be noting the changes going on
and act accordingly!

~~~~~Climate models fail to predict air pressure shift above Greenland
"We think that the recent rapid warming over Greenland since the early 1990s is not being fully simulated by the models," said researcher Edward Hanna.

Climate models failed to predict air pressure changes measured in the atmosphere above Greenland over the last few decades. According to a new study, the failure undermines the reliability of climate models for regional predictions in the North Atlantic.

Over the last few decades, Greenland has experienced an increase in summertime air pressure, a phenomenon called "Greenland blocking." Climate models, however, predicted a slight decrease in air pressure during the same time period.

If air pressure continues to increase across Greenland, climate scientists think the British Isles are likely to experience an increase in summertime precipitation -- a likelihood missed by current climate models.

Scientists think North Atlantic climate predictions are underestimating the region's accelerate warming, as well as the impacts of Greenland's melting ice sheet on global sea level rise.

"While there is natural variability in the climate system, we think that the recent rapid warming over Greenland since the early 1990s is not being fully simulated by the models, and that this misrepresentation could mean that future changes in atmospheric circulation and the jet stream over the wider North Atlantic region may not be properly simulated," Hanna said.
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2018/10/16/Climate-models-fail-to-predict-air-pressure-shift-above-Greenland/4031539695353/?ls=4

Trump a New High-Water Mark: The Biggest Federal Deficit In 6 Years

As a point to get ready for more deficit from low taxes like it does
in the past over and over it is starting to go up again like expected.
It's like running America like a small town. 
It will have nothing like they have nothing!

Low taxes is a bad life! The poor does not pay much taxes and so
can't afford to buy a BMW to benefit from the low taxes.
And lacks help from the low taxes. It's about the lack of investment 
on the people, the labor force making unstable as they are on shaky 
ground and adapt accordingly cutting back their spending and
showing up to work in a homeless tired state.
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/04/the-myth-of-low-tax-america-why-americans-arent-getting-their-moneys-worth/274945

So as it's going the tax cuts are starting to kick in and so is more debt and cutting 
back to make it. Tax cuts goes to the stock investors as they make more money than 
a worker. With a worker paying hardly any taxes suffers because the tax dollars to 
pay for food stamps help with rent and bills etc gets cut back to help the rich guy put 
gas in his SUV!

Oh well you can't make them not! Republicans can't learn if they don't fail.
The poor will just cut back their spending to make it. Low taxes is a lower life
and is ok for the poor they will just cut back as they might realize they never
need it anyway!
http://conceptualmath.org/philo/status1.htm

~~~~~Trump Hits A New High-Water Mark: The Biggest Federal Deficit In 6 Years
President Donald Trump likes to boast that he’s breaking records with the latest low unemployment figures. Here’s another record for his administration: The 2018 federal deficit hit the highest level of the last six years.

The deficit jumped 17 percent (or by $113 billion) to $779 billion at the end of Trump’s first fiscal year, according to final figures released Monday by the Treasury Department. That’s mostly due to the massive corporate tax cut that slashed rates from 35 percent to 21 percent, choking revenue for spending, which climbed 3 percent. Much of that was a hike in defense spending and money to pay interest on the climbing federal debt, CNN reported.

The U.S. government’s $523 billion in interest payments to service its debt in 2018 — the highest ever — was more than the entire economic output of Belgium this year, Bloomberg reported.

Corporate tax collections in the U.S. fell 22 percent, or $76 billion, in the fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30.

The total federal debt — which combines annual deficits — was 78 percent of the nation’s entire gross domestic product in June. It hasn’t been that large a percentage since World War II.

Trump promised the tax cuts would pay for themselves by boosting business, which would produce more taxes. But that hasn’t yet happened. The Trump administration estimates that the deficit will increase to $1.09 trillion in the next fiscal year.

The federal government usually increases spending — and deficits — to boost a faltering economy — such as during the 2008 recession triggered by the subprime mortgage and banking crisis. But the economy was already in a strong recovery when Trump moved into the White House, and he still boosted the deficit.

“By cutting taxes in 2017 when the economy was already quite strong, Congress and the administration not only missed a golden opportunity to begin to address the fiscal problem, they actually made the problem worse,” William Gale, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told CBS News.

The GOP had traditionally been the party that battled for a balanced federal budget.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-deficit-highest-six-years_us_5bc545ece4b0a8f17ee4c5d6

Sunday, October 14, 2018

Crazy but that's ok!



Many things happened in my life and many loves.
Explosions, a helium tank tipping over hitting a pallet knocking of the head putting
a hole in the wall at the hotel I worked at. I also did a big roach imitation by walking
around in the banquet room with a big table on my back. (Relating to the video!)
I got hit by a car doing 45 mph with me 0 mph on my moped
making a left turn. I love a married Gypsy that accidentally ran me over.
I met before I met her along with my ex wife and ex girlfriend at Walmart that also
drove a truck in her past. (Like end of the video being ran over in love.)
Relating to the Gypsy love, I love! Strange and on a different plane!
We all where from the same point in another town at different times.
In the town I live in now we all where. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plane_(esotericism)
http://walmartramen.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-red-string-of-fate.html

Also in the 90's I dated a lady hair dresser that smoked weed and barfed 
on the first date taking me to a gay bar because it was her security being she 
testified against a biker gang in court and the guy threatened to kill her
in court!

I seen a guy set himself on fire in a car on a bridge. And a kid in class get kicked in 
the neck by a donkey. Rubber neck? Yes but we all where too young to know what 
happened. The teacher grabbed my arm and threw me so I couldn't see it. 
But I flew upside down scraping my head on the ground as I was wondering why 
his neck was bent. We all thought it was a magic trick! Too young to know!

I was given LSD or something when I was a kid 5+? by a homeless guy,
I saw the machine elves!

So as the video relating to love, crazy is not a bad thing as love heals all!

http://walmartramen.blogspot.com/2018/07/walmartramen-bio-who-is.html

http://walmartramen.blogspot.com/2018/07/walmartramen-links-info.html

The Housewife Who Hid Her Lover In The Attic For Over A Decade

The note of this story is the need to be open with each other!
And so was the xenophobia / paranoia of the 1920's vs today!
https://group2histproj.weebly.com/xenophobia.html

Now in the 21st century there is a point to be brought up
and be open and fair to each other. besides Trump types pushing the
1930 again... Not going to happen! Polyamory, Polyandry, open marriage
is a form of therapy. In the case of Walburga “Dolly” Oesterreich being
bored with her husband (and their sex life) is just the result of something
higher a need she had, there is always more to just sex for anyone!
To heal to stabilize her from what it was in her life?

"A violent fight broke out between the Oesterreiches." Points to why she needed.
And so is ok to fix her need, not fixing her need makes her the prisoner.
And for the 1920's it was normal but now? NO! If this kind of thing happened
today without the xenophobia / paranoia they would of all sat down for that talk!
Or if her husband was xenophobia / paranoia she would divorce him than to
die in the relationship of unstable! It's better to accept the wife's needs!

With openness and acceptance of needs these things would of never ended bad!
All would of lived their short lives together in a open free time!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~~~~~The Housewife Who Hid Her Lover In The Attic For Over A Decade
What lengths would you go to keep your affair a secret? For one woman, the sex was so good, she decided to hide her lover in her own house.

In 1930, the LA Times published articles following the wild affairs of Walburga “Dolly” Oesterreich. Dolly married Fred Oesterreich, a wealthy apron manufacturer. From the outside, Dolly’s life was picture perfect. Unfortunately, things were pretty bad behind closed doors. Fred was a violent drinker and Dolly was miserable.

Everything changed for her in 1913.

In a move straight out of “The Graduate,” Dolly seduced her soon-to-be lover upon their first meeting. Bored with her husband (and their sex life), Dolly asked Fred to send a factory worker to their home to repair her sewing machine. When Otto Sanhuber, 19, showed up at the house, Dolly answered the door wearing nothing but a silk robe and tights. Call me crazy, but I think the sewing machine went untouched (if you know what I mean).

Dolly and Otto’s sexual affair would last over a decade. The pair met daily at hotels at the beginning of their relationship. After a while, they moved to the Oesterreich home. Neighbors began to notice and warned Fred of the affair. When confronted, Dolly claimed Otto was her “vagabond half brother.” To quell her husband and neighbors’ suspicions, Dolly came up with a plan: Move her lover into her attic.

Living there, with only a cot and a desk for furniture, wasn’t a far-fetched idea. Otto had no living family members and was a self-proclaimed “sex slave” to Dolly. According to the LA Times, Otto compared his relationship to Dolly to the bond between a mother and son.

Otto spent his time in the attic writing. He published tales of sex and murder under a pen name. Dolly assisted by submitting his stories to pulp magazines.

I know what you’re thinking: “How could Dolly’s husband not have heard this guy up in the attic for so long?” The truth is, Fred did hear noises. After five years, he thought a ghost haunted their home. Fred demanded they move to a new home in Los Angeles. Dolly agreed—as long as the new house had an attic, of course. Otto, upon Dolly’s request, went to Los Angeles early and settled in the new home’s attic before the married couple arrived. In this home, things took a dramatic turn.

In 1922—about 10 years after Otto moved in—a violent fight broke out between the Oesterreiches. Concerned for Dolly’s safety, Otto rushed downstairs with two of Fred’s rifles in hand. When Fred saw Dolly’s “half brother” in their new home, things clicked in his mind. Outraged, he rushed towards Otto, who in turn fired three rounds into Fred’s chest.

With Fred’s blood on their hands, Dolly and Otto thought of a plan: They would fake a robbery. Dolly hid in the closet and Otto locked her inside. He then took Fred’s watch and retreated to the attic. With Otto safely hidden, Dolly screamed for help.

The police believed her. The “stolen” watch validated her robbery claim, leaving them no reason to believe Dolly killed Fred. She decided to make a fresh start and moved to a new home nearby. Otto followed, continuing to live in the attic in order to keep their submissive-dominant relationship a secret.

Dolly then found love with her estate attorney, Herman Shapiro. As a token of her love, she gave Herman the “stolen” diamond watch that once belonged to Fred. Red flags rose for the new lover. Remembering Dolly’s robbery story, Herman asked how she got the watch. She claimed to have found it in a window seat cushion after Fred’s death, saying she didn’t feel the need to alert the police. That evening, she invited her third lover, Roy Klumb, over to dispose of the murder weapons in a tar pit.

In 1923, Dolly and Roy had a nasty breakup, which prompted him to tell the police about the watch and how he hid the guns. The police arrested Dolly, though they remained confused. How was she able to lock herself in the closet?

Because she wouldn’t be home during court hearings, Dolly had asked Herman to bring food to her “half brother,” who was staying in her attic. Excited to see another person for the first time in over 10 years, Otto told Herman all about his sexual affair. Things began to click in Herman’s mind: Otto was the one who helped Dolly kill her husband. Herman kicked Otto out of the house and he fled to Canada.

The court didn’t convict Dolly, and Herman kept Otto’s confession secret. But once Herman and Dolly broke up in 1930, he let the cat out of the bag. Coincidentally, Otto had moved back to Los Angeles. He and Dolly were arrested immediately.

Paparazzi followed the couple as if they were celebrities. The LA Times covered the case in full detail, nicknaming it the “Bat Man” case, a nod to Otto’s cave-like dwelling. Mind you, this was about ten years before the Batman comics were published.

The couple’s zany story blew people’s minds. How could a Midwestern housewife cause a whirlwind of drama and make the front-page news for eight years running?

Unfortunately, the results of the case were not as compelling as the public hoped. The jury found Otto guilty of manslaughter, but the statue of limitations for the offense was only seven years. Because eight years had passed since the crime, Otto and Dolly were free to go.

Dolly ended up marrying a man she had dated for 30 years. Otto ran away from Los Angeles and never came back. The stranger-than-fiction affair inspired two films, including one starring Neil Patrick Harris.
https://omgfacts.com/the-housewife-who-hid-her-lover-in-the-attic-for-over-a-decade

Thursday, October 11, 2018

Obamacare premiums will get cheaper for the first time, Sustainable!

The cost of ObamaCare is going down. It is a sustainable long term system
worth the investment on it. Things are looking to be more blue in a few
years. And to note there are too many people on ObamaCare to take it away.
And many do not want to unhealth the labor force with sickly workers with 
no insurance. Workers not having insurance is a issue! It's best to not have
homemade healthcare in the workplace or anywhere!

~~~~~"Premiums are going down because insurers overshot with premium increases this year that were too high," Larry Levitt, senior vice president for health reform at the Kaiser Family Foundation, said on Twitter. “Premiums would be even lower if not for repeal of the individual mandate penalty and expansion of short-term plans.”

Other administration moves most likely contributed to the premium decrease, however, including approving state plans to stabilize their markets.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/obamacare-premiums-will-be-down-average-1-5-percent-next-n919051

Knew Premiums Would Go Up When They Sabotaged Your Health Care, Did It Anyway

It's just a matter of cause and effect? To say Obamacare hurt so many people? 
Is the same as the uninsured making others hurt paying more to pay the bill for 
the uninsured.

Like how it's said "It's not right to be forced to have health insurance" 
as the same for having to have car insurance. 
It's my right to not have car insurance making the others pay for it!

Well anything is better than nothing. ObamaCare was there for a reason not
because they wanted to be all fancy like!

People are needing their insurance but are having people trying to constrict it.
Well you can't go forward if you are against your own people! 
It's like a bunch of people suffering Cancer, diabetes wondering it their healthcare 
will be taken away from them so they will die with the Republicans drinking buttermilk
looking at ObamaCare trying to figure out how to get rid of it because it cost too much.

Will I live or die?????? vs Looking at it drinking buttermilk, uh, uh, uh????
Don't get RepublicanCare get ObamaCare! It's sustainable!
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/11/politics/obamacare-premiums-2019/index.html

~~~~~NewsRepublicans Knew Premiums Would Go Up When They Sabotaged Your Health Care, But They Did It Anyway

For the past year and a half, Republicans have waged a non-stop war against the Affordable Care Act. Throughout 2017, Republicans tried time after time to repeal the Affordable Care Act, slashed funding for outreach, ended cost-sharing reduction payments that helped low income Americans afford health care, and passed a tax bill that the Congressional Budget Office predicts will strip health care from 13 million Americans and raise premiums by double digits.  

Throughout their many layers of sabotage, Republicans have played ignorant, trying to cover up the fact that their votes will send Americans’ premiums skyrocketing. Just this morning, former HHS Secretary Tom Price called out Republicans’ lies, saying that the tax bill’s repeal of the individual mandate “will harm the pool in the exchange market, because you’ll likely have individuals who are younger and healthier not participating in that market, and consequently, that drives up the cost for other folks within that market.”

Just one month after voting for a tax bill that the CBO projected would raise insurance premiums by double digits, Sen. Ted Cruz acted as though he had wanted to lower premiums the whole time: “I think lowering premiums is a win-win for everybody…The number one reason people despise Obamacare is that premiums have skyrocketed.” As much as Republicans try to distance themselves from it, the fact of the matter is clear: they knew they were voting to raise premiums, and they chose to do it anyway.

EACH STEP OF THE WAY, EXPERTS WARNED THAT SABOTAGE WOULD DRIVE PREMIUMS UP

The Trump Administration Deliberately Tried To Reduce Enrollment Of Healthy Individuals By Halting Outreach, Despite Commonly Understood Consequence That This Would Increase Premiums.

January 2017: In “Transparent Effort To Damage Stability Of Health Insurance Marketplace,” President Trump Abruptly Halts Open Enrollment Ads. In the final week of open enrollment, President Trump ended ads that let people know they could sign up for the Affordable Care Act. As Politico notes, “The last five days of the open enrollment season are seen as critical because many individuals procrastinate and then join a last-minute sign-up surge. That’s particularly true for younger and healthier customers who are crucial to making insurance markets work.”

February 2017: Analysis Shows Trump’s Cuts To Outreach Prevent Nearly 500,000 People From Getting Coverage. Following Trump’s initial cuts to outreach, it was estimated that Trump’s cuts blocked nearly 500,000 people from getting coverage. When fewer healthy people are able to purchase care, experts agree that premiums increase.

August 2017: Trump Administration Cuts Aca Advertising Budget By 90 Percent, Despite Evidence That It Will Cause Premiums To Increase. [Vox, 8/31/17]

Because The Administration Still Refuses To Adequately Fund Outreach, Insurance Commissioners Warn That Premiums Will Continue To Increase. Peter Lee, the head of California’s ACA Marketplace wrote in a letter to HHS that premiums would go up because of the Administration’s failure to properly fund outreach: “The reality is clear: If the federal government maintains the current cuts in marketing and outreach, premiums will be higher than necessary, consumers will be hurt as a result and taxpayers will pay the price by supporting higher [than] necessary subsidies. This does not need to happen and can easily be avoided…Drops in new enrollment are a formula for a worse risk mix and higher premiums.” [Letter to HHS, 4/25/18]

Months Before The Trump Administration Ended Payments That Helped Lower Income Americans Afford Insurance, The CBO Warned That Doing So Would Raise Premiums By 20 Percent. President Trump Ended Them Anyway:

August 2017: CBO Warns That Premiums Will Increase By 20 Percent If Cost-Sharing Reduction Payments Are Terminated. “If President Trump follows through on his threat to stop paying billions of dollars of subsidies critical to insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act, insurance premiums for certain plans would rise by 20 percent next year, according to a new analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.” [Washington Post, 8/15/17]

October 2017: Trump Administration Decides To Halt Cost-Sharing Reduction Payments. Despite the CBO’s warning that ending cost-sharing reduction payments (CSRs) would cause premiums to rise by 20%, the Trump Administration decided to do so anyways. [Washington Post, 10/13/17]

After The Fact, Insurance Commissioners Did Exactly What The Cbo Said Would Happen — They Raised Premiums. Jessica Altman, Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner: “This is not the situation I hoped we would be in, but due to President Trump’s refusal to make cost-sharing reduction payments for 2018 and Congress’s inaction to appropriate funds, it is the reality that state regulators must face and the reason rate increases will be higher than they should be across the country.” [CNN Money, 10/17/17]

Now, Research Confirms That Ending CSRs Caused Premiums To Jump, And Is Expected To Do So Again In 2019. RWJ’s interviews with ten insurance companies found that the loss of cost-sharing reduction plan reimbursements drove premium increases in 2018 ranging from 10 to 20 percent. [Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Urban Institute, 3/19/18]

Republicans Knew That Repealing The Requirement That Most People Have Insurance Would Drive Up Premiums, And Rushed To Do So Without Public Comment:

November 2017: Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Estimates That Repealing The Individual Mandate Will Push Premiums Up By 10 Percent Annually. Last fall, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released numbers that repealing the requirement that most people have insurance would increase premiums by roughly 10 percent each year for the next decade. [Congressional Budget Office, November 2017]

November 2017: Sen. Susan Collins Acknowledges That Repealing Individual Mandate Would Raise Premiums. “‘One of the major concerns I had was the impact on premiums of repealing the individual mandate,’ [Collins] said Tuesday, referring to government estimates that repealing the mandate would raise insurance premiums by at least 10 percent as healthier consumers leave the market.” [Talking Points Memo, 11/29/17]

December 2017: Republican Senate Hurries To Pass Final Gop Tax Bill, Which Repeals Individual Mandate Despite Cbo Analysis That It Will Drive Premiums Up, In The Dark Of The Night And Without Public Hearings. Senate Republicans were determined to stop discussion on their tax bill from ever seeing the light of day. In December, they passed their tax bill in a matter of weeks, without hearing any public hearings. The process was so rushed that entire pagers were crossed out of the final version of the bill, and amendments were handwritten and barely legible.

After Sen. Collins Exchanged Her Vote On The Tax Bill For A Promise To Pass ACA Stabilization, Republicans Sabotage Bipartisan Efforts To Pass Bill That Would Help Control Premium Hikes:

December 2017: To Counteract The Increase In Premiums That Would Follow Repealing The Individual Mandate, Sen. Susan Collins Exchanges Tax Bill Vote For Aca Stabilization Bill. Sen. In exchange for her vote on the GOP tax bill, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, President Trump, and Vice President Trump committed to passing a health care stabilization measure. [Washington Post, 12/15/17]

March 2018: After Pushing The Stabilization Vote Into The Next Year, Republicans Refused To Vote On Stabilization Unless Democrats Agreed To A List Of Deal Breaking Demands. In the middle of bipartisan negotiations on stabilization, the White House released its list of demands, including: Expanding the Hyde abortion language, codifying the Administration’s Short-Term proposal into law that undermine protections for people with pre-existing conditions, expanding Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) that is essentially another tax cut for the wealthy, mposing an age tax on older Americans by letting insurers charge people over 50 five times more than younger people. [White House Document, obtained by Politico, 3/8/18]

March 2018: There Is No Vote On Stabilization. [New York Magazine, 3/26/18]
Ignoring Warnings From Health Insurers, Trump Administration Proposes Changes To Short-Term Health Plans That Would Drive Up Premiums For Americans In Individual Marketplace:

July 2017: In Letter To HHS, America’s Health Insurance Plans Warns That Allowing Short-Term Plans To Offer Coverage For More Than Three Months At A Time Will Drive Up Premiums. “A blanket extension of the permitted length of short term policies will draw lower risk people out of the individual market single risk pool and drive up premium costs for consumers.” [America’s Health Insurance Plans Letter To HHHS, 7/12/17]

October 2017: President Trump Signs Executive Order That Expands Access To Short-Term Health Plans. President Trump’s executive order allows short-term plans to last for 12 months and be renewable, a notable change from the previous rule, which limited these plans to three months and prevented them from being renewed. [The Atlantic, 10/12/17]

February 2018: Administration Releases Fact Sheet On Short-Term Rule That Would Allow Insurers To Sell Year-Long Plans. [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2/20/18]

March 2018: Nonpartisan Urban Institute Says Premiums Will Increase By Nearly 20 Percent. Confirming what experts had warned of, the Urban Institute calculated that increasing the availability of short-term health plans, when combined with the repeal of the individual mandate, would lead premiums to increase by an average of 18.3 percent in 2019. [Urban Institute, March 2019]

March 2018: AARP Analysis Projects Short-Term Plans Will Cause Older Americans’ Premiums To Increase By 16.6 Percent. As a result of President Trump and his Republican allies’ pushing junk insurance plans, AARP expects premiums for older Americans buying marketplace health coverage to increase by an average of 16.6 percent in 2019.  [AARP, 3/21/18]

Each Of The Administration’s Decisions Is Designed Drive People Off Of Health Care And Increase Premiums:

Katherine Hempstead, health insurance expert at Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Anything That Undermines The ACA-Compliant Risk Pool Is Bad For Premiums.  “Anything that undermines the ACA-compliant risk pool is bad for premiums in the ACA market…Every exit ramp makes that market more expensive and less competitive than it otherwise would be.” [Modern Healthcare, 4/26/18]
NOW, THE CONSENSUS IS IN: REPUBLICANS KNOWINGLY DROVE UP PREMIUMS

Vox: Republican Sabotage To Blame For Premium Hikes. “The Trump administration’s multifaceted crusade against the health care law — slashing outreach budgets and pulling the law’s cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers — were already to blame for a 20 percent premium hike this year. Then Congress repealed the individual mandate in their tax bill, a huge political victory given the GOP’s vehement opposition to the mandate but one that insurers have said would drive up premiums even more next year.” [Vox, 4/25/18]

Washington Post: “The Pottery Barn Rule Comes To Mind: You Break It, You Own It.” “This is not ‘letting’ Obamacare fail. Many nonpartisan experts believe that these active measures are likely to undermine the pillars of the 2010 law and hasten the collapse of the marketplaces. The Pottery Barn rule comes to mind: You break it, you own it. Yes, the plate you just shattered had some cracks in it. But if you dropped it on the ground, the store is going to blame you.” [Washington Post, 10/13/17]

The American People Agree: President Trump And Congressional Republicans Are Playing Politics With People’s Health Care. A poll conducted last September found that 61 percent of voters believed President Trump was “trying to make the Affordable Care Act fail,” and 64 percent of voters said Trump is “playing politics with people’s health care.” The poll also found that the American people seriously disapprove of how Republicans in Congress are treating health care: 80 percent of voters disapprove while only 20 percent approve. [Garin Poll, 9/5/17]

RECENT HEADLINES PAINT A TELLING PICTURE

Los Angeles Times: The first projections for Trumpcare 2019 are in: Expect rate increases of up to 30% [1/26/18]
Bloomberg: Trump’s Obamacare Changes to Push Up Premiums, Report Projects [2/26/18]
Vox: Trump will drive up Obamacare premiums nearly 20% [2/26/18]
CNBC: Trump proposal could push health premiums up by $2K for older Americans [3/22/18]
CNN Money: Actually, Trump is raising health insurance premiums [10/17/17]
Los Angeles Times: Trump Healthcare move threatens sharply higher premiums and market chaos [10/13/17]
EVEN REPUBLICANS ADMIT THEY’RE TO BLAME

Sen. Lamar Alexander: “Rates Will Go Up…They’re Going To Blame Every One Of Us, And They Should.” On the topic of failing to pass a stabilization bill, Sen. Alexander said: “Rates will go up. The individual market will probably collapse…There will be 11 million people who are between jobs, who are self-employed, who are working, who literally cannot afford insurance, and they’re not going to be very happy. And they’re going to blame every one of us, and they should.” [Vox, 4/25/18]

Lindsey Graham: Republicans “Own The Outcome” On Health Care. “Sen. Graham told Breitbart News, ‘In October, premiums are going up. Obamacare cannot be fixed. It’s going to continue to collapse, and then, we own the outcome. By repealing the individual mandate, which is a step forward in the eyes of the public, we own the issue. We have a responsibility to do something about the collapsing Obamacare system. I believe that we’re going to get blamed more than Democrats because we stopped trying to repeal Obamacare, and to suggest that we don’t own it is just simply politically naive.’ Graham continued, ‘It can hurt us in 2018. It can hurt by our base feeling like we betrayed them. It can hurt us from people suffering from Obamacare, like we don’t have a solution. It will energize Democrats. It can undercut everything we did on the tax cut side.'” [Breitbart, 2/6/18]

Rep. Charlie Dent: Republicans “Own” Health Care Now. “Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) argued Friday that President Trump was ‘ill-advised’ to end key ObamaCare payments, warning that the GOP now ‘owns’ whatever happens to ObamaCare. ‘I think the president is ill-advised to take this course of action because … we, the Republican Party, will own this,’ Dent, a key House moderate who is retiring from Congress at the end of his term, said on CNN. Asked about Trump’s previous comments blaming problems with ObamaCare on former President Barack Obama, Dent pointed out that Republicans currently control the White House and have majorities in both chambers of Congress. ‘Barack Obama is a former president. President Trump is the president and he’s a Republican, and we control the Congress,’ Dent said. ‘So we own the system now. We’re going to have to figure out a way to stabilize this situation … This is on us.'” [The Hill, 10/13/17]
https://www.protectourcare.org/republicans-knew-premiums-would-go-up-when-they-sabotaged-your-health-care-but-they-did-it-anyway

Saturday, October 6, 2018

Electric Blue!



What is your favorite color? Mine is electric blue! It's quite a significant color.
The color is common in the troposphere. And I painted my bedroom that color when 
I was a kid. I have a past life memory from the Cambrian Period needing
to note "Clear Blue Water" is a Cambrian Period religion or something of the sorts.
Still blue. My Zodiac is Cancer and my element is water along with the signs, 
Scorpio and Pisces. Where all in the same blue water!
http://walmartramen.blogspot.com/2013/11/my-past-life-memory-really.html

But relating to the now in a crazy time it's still significant. As in being ran over by 
a love in ones life, upset you got the blues on your knees begging her to comeback! 
Relating to the video and yes I admit in the 90's I was going to base my hair style on,
David Bowie, Bill Irwin from the Popeye movie or Simon Lloyd the saxophone player 
of Icehouse. But ended up with a mix and a type of style of a Carolina Duck that 
I seen on a plate. Relating to the song "Electric Blue" it's clear the video is about 
the hairstyles. And being I dated a lady hairdresser that barfed and took me
to a gay bar in the 90's because we where not gay it was her security to go there. 
I accepted her and as in life all relates, one thing leads to another. 
The point is to note in life we all are connected living under a blue sky. 
And so Electric Blue then is Electric Blue today! Love and Life doesn't end!
Life is a point to know deeper learning.

~~~~~Electric blue is a color whose definition varies but is often considered close to cyan, and which is a representation of the color of lightning, an electric spark, and the color of ionized argon gas; it was originally named after the ionized air glow produced during electrical discharges, though its meaning has broadened to include shades of blue that are metaphorically "electric" by virtue of being "intense" or particularly "vibrant". Electric arcs can cause a variety of color emissions depending on the gases involved, but blue and purple are typical colors produced in the troposphere where oxygen and nitrogen dominate.

The first recorded use of electric blue as a color name in English was in 1845. The color electric blue (the version shown below as medium electric blue) was in vogue in the 1890s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_blue_(color)

Protesters gather in Washington and other cities to oppose Kavanaugh vote, power to the people



If people are that paranoid to ask why people want to protest like to ask why do
you want to think for yourself? Not seeming to know if you can't think for yourself
then someone will think for you!

Women do think for themselves and will do so regardless pushing the confused
people wondering why she did that for?

Well you know November is coming soon and so many out there should
ask why let these stupid people in power taking things away from many
or treat everyone badly? And for many if you put yourself in a stupid place
stupid things happen to you! Why vote for stupid people in office?
Many would be looking forward to suffer going back to a life of the past.
But that ends in many living a bad life that is bad as many unsupported workers
impoverished consumers, unhealthy people. A bad time to conserve with many
going forward!

~~~~~ Protesters gather in Washington and other cities to oppose Kavanaugh vote.
Protesters opposed to the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court flocked to Washington on Saturday, and protests were scheduled as well in other cities across the country.

Protesters have confronted lawmakers on the street and in elevators throughout the week. It was not known if they would employ that tactic Saturday or try to get inside the Capitol.

A demonstration was scheduled for Saturday outside Collins' office in Portland, Maine, to show opposition to her support of Kavanaugh.

A group gathered there Friday and fell silent when she announced her decision, CNN affiliate WGME reported.

"It's just this feeling of being utterly ignored," Jenny O'Connell of Portland told WGME on Friday. "Susan Collins just made a huge choice to ignore her constituents and survivors (of sexual assault)."
The senator was elected in 1996 and would be on the ballot in 2020 if she decides to seek re-election.
According to postings on Facebook, protests also were scheduled Saturday in at least 10 other cities, including New York, Cleveland, New Orleans and Tucson, Arizona.
CNN's Polo Sandoval, Kristin Wilson and Tom Foreman contributed to this report.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/06/politics/kavanaugh-protests/index.html

~~~~~As shrieks of "shame, shame, shame" echoed from the public galleries, divided and angry senators voted 50-48 to endorse a lifetime seat on the court for Kavanaugh. The protests underscored the vital importance of an appointment that will have sweeping consequences for some of the nation's most contested disputes over abortion, LGBT rights, the scope of presidential power and the role of religion in society.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/06/politics/kavanaugh-final-confirmation-vote/index.html

Relationship Success: Balancing Togetherness and Individuality, Love of a life time



As I say life is short and love is a love of a lifetime in our short lives!
It's about that point of value in your life. If it's broke you need to take the effort 
to fix it you know! And so that Powerful, Universal, Governing Force is Love!
Love is real as it stays in your mind as a view as a venting lady jumping up and down
letting her real self out always in your heart and mind thinking about it a lot!
Those points in life noting it's value!
http://walmartramen.blogspot.com/2017/01/albert-einstein-that-powerful-universal.html

And so with love comes great responsibility of that balance in your life.
A true lover has best interest in mind expects the love to grab the rope as
it's for helping in balancing togetherness and individuality making stable ground.
And so takes effort a great responsibility for a great love of a lifetime and a better
life. So it takes effort to make a better life than not!

~~~~~Maintaining individuality is critical to establishing a long-lasting, healthy partnership. Therefore, equal efforts between attending to oneself and making the relationship work are necessary.

A client of mine -- during our initial consultation -- said the following: "Here's my issue. When I'm in a relationship, I invest so much of myself into maintaining romance and intimacy that I forget who I am as an individual. How can I balance my personal identity with my identity as a couple?

Does this sound familiar? Sure it does. The psychoanalyst Erich Fromm, in one of his writings, points to the paradox of love, something we all struggle with: "Two beings become one and yet remain two". 

Why Is It So Easy To Lose One's Sense of Self In a Partnership?

In order to understand how we retain our individual identity while building our partnership, taking a trip down memory lane to recall our early childhood bonds is the first place to start, as it was then that our sense of identity and our ability to form healthy connections with others were formed.

Through our mother's unconditional support of our growing independence, we develop the ability to see her as both our caretaker upon whom we depend as well as a separate person with whom we can empathize. This foundation of independence / interdependency manifests itself in every human bond we make.

However, independent development in childhood may be hindered or less than ideal, causing dependency issues later in romantic relationships. Instead of having a strong sense of Self, one might turn to their partner to strengthen their identity. Consider the following examples of how people compromise themselves in their partnership.

1. Instead of looking to oneself, one looks to their partner to figure out what they need or want.
2. Lacking the confidence to take care of one self.
3. Feeling powerless to make changes, therefore over dependence on their partner sets in.
4. Over pleasing their partner even when if feels wrong. 

Maintaining Individuality In A Relationship

Maintaining individuality is critical to establishing a long-lasting, healthy partnership. Therefore, equal efforts between attending to oneself and making the relationship work are necessary.

Personal boundaries are the limits we set for ourselves as individuals in relationships. They protect our sense of personal identity and help guard against being overwhelmed by the demands of others.

Before we can set boundaries, we have to know who we are. Ask yourself the following questions.

1. What is important to me? 
2. What thoughts and feelings are worth protecting? 
3. What are my values? 
4. Which are the friendships I want to maintain?
5. What are my needs?
6. What are the traditions / hobbies I want to keep?
7. Am I always striving for personal satisfaction and happiness?

The "Grown-up" Relationship (I, You, We)

Simply put, a "grown-up" relationship is one in which both partners will feel closely connected while maintaining a strong sense of individuality and independence within the relationship.

Being in a successful partnership does not mean that you "complete" each other, as Jerry McGuire professed to Dorothy. You do not need to love to do the same activities or agree on everything. You need to respect the differences that exist between you and your partner.

Issues around power and control seldom assume much importance in a "grown-up" relationship. A peaceful relationship is not one that is free of conflict; it is when partners deal with conflict in fair ways.

Your partnership should consist of the following components:

1. A high level of trust, mutual respect and friendship.
2. Plenty of room for each person to maintain their individuality. Each person allows the other as much space as they need.
3. Ways to help make it safe for each partner to increase their sense of intimacy and vulnerability.
4. Ways of developing closer intimacy at some times, while maintaining strong individuality as other times.
5. Boundaries which are comfortable for both partners around critical issues such as sex, finances and other family members.
6. Mutual sharing, give and take, trade-offs and occasional sacrifices for the other.

Be yourself. Expect your partner to love you for who you are and love them back.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/relationship-success-bala_b_4776478

Thursday, October 4, 2018

New rulings on medical marijuana use go against employers, looking ahead



Times are changing as more and more people are getting brought up in a
time of no checks and balances of the Republican party and the people that 
wonder why you don't want to suffer along with them.

Following natural selection as you can't go forward being against your own people.
Or like bottle necking the gene pool as the wife is only to be with the husband thus
limiting the chromosomes keeping the family inbred sickly dying out every time
there is a ice age leaving only strong humans to continue the human species!
Well it's the law of nature why fall into that trap? Why not have a evolution!

But the point is to do better not worse and just ignoring people that want you
to live badly liking it! Go on without them! Weed in the workplace is getting
brought up as you have the right to your own health care!

And so to note you don't need a full dose of marijuana getting high as other
pharmaceutical medicines you don't want side effects so you lower the dose
relating to the workplace working with drug side effects some might have.
It's the same with marijuana in the workplace as other medicines! 
It's time to get brought up!

~~~~~New rulings on medical marijuana use go against employers
Health care worker Katelin Noffsinger told a potential employer that she took medical marijuana to deal with the effects of a car accident, but when a drug test came back positive, the nursing home rescinded her job offer anyway.

A federal judge last month ruled that the nursing home, which had cited federal laws against pot use, violated an anti-discrimination provision of the Connecticut's medical marijuana law.

It was the latest in a series of clashes between U.S. and state laws around the country that came out in favor of medical marijuana users trying to keep or obtain jobs with drug-testing employers.

The Connecticut decision was the first ruling of its kind in a federal case and followed similar recent rulings against employers by state courts in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Earlier rulings had gone against medical pot users in employment cases by state supreme courts including those in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington over the past few years.

Advocates hope new the new decisions are a signal of growing acceptance of cannabis' medicinal value.

"This decision reflects the rapidly changing cultural and legal status of cannabis, and affirms that employers should not be able to discriminate against those who use marijuana responsibly while off the job, in compliance with the laws of their state," said Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, a pro-marijuana group.

Noffsinger, of Manchester, sued Bride Brook Health & Rehabilitation Center in Niantic in 2016. She had been offered, and accepted, a job as recreation therapy director at the nursing home, contingent on her passing a drug test.

She told the nursing home that she took synthetic marijuana pills — legally under state law and only at night — to treat the post-traumatic stress disorder she developed after the 2012 car accident. But the company rescinded the job offer after the drug test came back positive for THC, the chemical in marijuana that gets people high.

As a federal contractor, the nursing home worried that it could be cut off from that revenue if it employed somebody who tested positive.

On Sept. 5, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Meyer in New Haven ruled Bride Brook discriminated against Noffsinger based solely on her medical marijuana use in violation of state law. He denied her request for punitive damages. The case is now heading to a trial on whether Noffsinger should receive compensatory damages for lost wages from not getting the job.

A lawyer for the nursing home, Thomas Blatchley, declined to comment.

Noffsinger's attorney, Henry Murray, said Noffsinger would not comment on the lawsuit. He said Noffsinger has taken another job in the health care industry that doesn't pay as much as the Bride Brook job.

In his ruling, Meyer said the federal Drug Free Workplace Act, which many employers including federal contractors rely on for policies on drug testing, does not actually require drug testing and does not prohibit federal contractors from employing people who use medical marijuana outside the workplace in accordance with state law.

The decision will likely be used in arguments in similar cases elsewhere, said Fiona Ong, an employment attorney with the Baltimore firm of Shawe Rosenthal.

"This is a very significant case that throws the issue in doubt for many of these federal contractors," Ong said. "It's certainly interesting and may be indicative of where the courts are going with this."

Thirty-one states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam now allow medical marijuana, while 15 others have approved low-THC-level products for medical reasons in certain cases, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Nine states and Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational pot.

Only nine states including Connecticut, however, specifically ban employment discrimination against medical marijuana users, who could continue to face difficulties in obtaining or keeping jobs in the 41 other states, employment lawyers say.

In Massachusetts, the state's highest court ruled last year that a sales and marketing company wrongly fired a worker after her first day on the job after she tested positive for marijuana, which she used under the state's medical marijuana law to treat her Crohn's disease. Also last year, in Rhode Island, the state Supreme Court said a college student was wrongly denied an internship at a fabric company where officials refused to hire her after she acknowledged she could not pass a drug test because she used medical marijuana.

In both cases, the two women told the companies during the hiring process that they used medical marijuana, but would not consume it while on the job.

The American Bar Association called the Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island cases "an emerging trend in employment litigation" and cautioned employers to consider state medical marijuana laws when analyzing their drug use and testing policies.

Several bills are pending before Congress that would undo marijuana's classification as a controlled substance with no medicinal value. But Armentano, of NORML, said it is unlikely they will go anywhere while Republicans control Congress.

Some employers, though, have dropped marijuana from the drug tests they require of employees, saying the testing excludes too many potential workers in a challenging hiring environment.

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

The Healing Power of Lovers

As I say many times life is short. If you are in your 50's your view of life
around you does need to change. As I say about Polyandry, Polyamory or
just a open marriage is different when you are 50 than in your 30's!
Life is a lot shorter. If you are 55 you spent 55 years of your life and you
may not have another 55 years to go. So in reality there is no time for jealousy.
A wife having lovers are lovers for life as they would only have 15 years 
together before the heart and health issues hit. There is that time in life
to sit all together and talk to resolve personal insecurity's as in all
relationships all should have security together. A better in life as a trinity! 

Life is short live it! That bird is getting old and so it's best to let it out 
of the cage! Getting out of the fence to grow is gold! 
And so noted jealousy doesn't matter we all are too old for it!

And so is the healing powers of lovers. Being for her best interest by many
is gold. To make a foundation a safety net or to just hold the ladder lets
her go higher up the ladder. Security in ones life walking down that path
together is worth it to see the change as it's healing to have best interest
of life long lovers! 

~~~~~10 Surprises About Open Relationships
When you shift into openness, you see your relationship life differently. New experiences become possible. This sense of possibility can be very empowering. Even when you aren’t actively practicing the openness aspect, just knowing that you have more options available can change the way you feel about your relationship life. Removing the fence around your primary relationship gives you a whole new outlook, even when you choose to spend time in the same pasture that was previously fenced.
https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2018/05/10-surprises-about-open-relationships