Tuesday, May 09, 2017
I lived in a time most people have forgotten about
I was born in the late 40's. Truman was still president.
I remember segregation. I remember buses labeled "negro" or buses that didn't allow black people to sit in the front of the bus (or streetcar). The only black people I ever saw were the "rubbish men" who collected the trash because white men wouldn't do those jobs.
I remember discrimination. I remember being told that I would not be hired at a bank, after my college graduation, because as the Personnel director put it "why should we train you for a position when you'll only be here a year or two before you get married and quit."
Actually it wasn't just being married that made you leave. If you were pregnant you were asked to leave. (i.e. fired)
If you were a married school teacher and became pregnant you were "replaced" as soon as your baby bump showed. Why? Because the children would be asking questions about how you got that way and in those days NO SEX EDUCATION was taught so to avoid such questions they just fired the teacher.
I remember stuff they don't tell you about in history books.
I remember "bankers hours". That was a time when banks opened at 9:00 a.m.and closed at 3:00 p.m.. No evening hours. No weekend hours. If you had banking business you went to the bank and did it between those hours, even if it meant losing time from your job to do so.
I remember CASH transactions because Master Card had not been invented. Some department store had "charge plates" specific for that store. You basically bought on credit but it was not "revolving credit". If you charged $300 on your account you were expected to pay off the balance when the bill arrived. BTW, women did not have charge plates. Only husbands had them. Women were not extended credit. Why? Because women obviously didn't need it. Their husband provided for them and HE held the job and the purse strings.
I remember "BLUE LAWS" which meant no retail stores could be opened on Sunday. There was one exception. Drug stores (which really meant pharmacies because they didn't sell much else but medications, prescription or otherwise) were permitted to be opened for "emergency purchases" from 1 to 5 p.m. onSunday afternoon because those hours did not interfere with attendance of church services.
I remember Mail Delivery at Christmas time, two and even three mail deliveries were added to keep up with the bulk of Christmas mail. (and postage was 3 cents for first class and 1 cent for "second class mail".
I remember doctors who cared. They made house calls. They didn't charge $160 for an office visit. I remember the term "hospitalization" which was most commonly Blue Cross and Blue Shield. You paid out of pocket for almost all of your medical expenses but if you were admitted to the hospital the insurance would cover a large part of the bill, and generally speaking, any doctor's visit while you were in the hospital, but not after care. (which is waht the idiots in congress are turning "health care" back into.)
So many people long for the good old days.
I don't.
I remember segregation. I remember buses labeled "negro" or buses that didn't allow black people to sit in the front of the bus (or streetcar). The only black people I ever saw were the "rubbish men" who collected the trash because white men wouldn't do those jobs.
I remember discrimination. I remember being told that I would not be hired at a bank, after my college graduation, because as the Personnel director put it "why should we train you for a position when you'll only be here a year or two before you get married and quit."
Actually it wasn't just being married that made you leave. If you were pregnant you were asked to leave. (i.e. fired)
If you were a married school teacher and became pregnant you were "replaced" as soon as your baby bump showed. Why? Because the children would be asking questions about how you got that way and in those days NO SEX EDUCATION was taught so to avoid such questions they just fired the teacher.
I remember stuff they don't tell you about in history books.
I remember "bankers hours". That was a time when banks opened at 9:00 a.m.and closed at 3:00 p.m.. No evening hours. No weekend hours. If you had banking business you went to the bank and did it between those hours, even if it meant losing time from your job to do so.
I remember CASH transactions because Master Card had not been invented. Some department store had "charge plates" specific for that store. You basically bought on credit but it was not "revolving credit". If you charged $300 on your account you were expected to pay off the balance when the bill arrived. BTW, women did not have charge plates. Only husbands had them. Women were not extended credit. Why? Because women obviously didn't need it. Their husband provided for them and HE held the job and the purse strings.
I remember "BLUE LAWS" which meant no retail stores could be opened on Sunday. There was one exception. Drug stores (which really meant pharmacies because they didn't sell much else but medications, prescription or otherwise) were permitted to be opened for "emergency purchases" from 1 to 5 p.m. onSunday afternoon because those hours did not interfere with attendance of church services.
I remember Mail Delivery at Christmas time, two and even three mail deliveries were added to keep up with the bulk of Christmas mail. (and postage was 3 cents for first class and 1 cent for "second class mail".
I remember doctors who cared. They made house calls. They didn't charge $160 for an office visit. I remember the term "hospitalization" which was most commonly Blue Cross and Blue Shield. You paid out of pocket for almost all of your medical expenses but if you were admitted to the hospital the insurance would cover a large part of the bill, and generally speaking, any doctor's visit while you were in the hospital, but not after care. (which is waht the idiots in congress are turning "health care" back into.)
So many people long for the good old days.
I don't.
Monday, May 08, 2017
job training
So Mr. Trump is bringing back jobs? So is he going to send the 300 people from the bearing factory in IN to train for new employment?
Are they being sent to school to learn how to be professionals at lawn care? Are they being sent to school to learn how to pick tomatoes and onions since the ILLEGALS he's deporting will no longer be doing those jobs. Are they being sent to school to do the jobs they will no longer be paid a living wage for, but can now do in Mexico for $3 an hour?
Mr. Trump is a liar and a fraud. He is no friend of the working man, he is no friend of labor and he is no friend of anyone who had the unfortunate notion that they could put their trust in him.
Are they being sent to school to learn how to be professionals at lawn care? Are they being sent to school to learn how to pick tomatoes and onions since the ILLEGALS he's deporting will no longer be doing those jobs. Are they being sent to school to do the jobs they will no longer be paid a living wage for, but can now do in Mexico for $3 an hour?
Mr. Trump is a liar and a fraud. He is no friend of the working man, he is no friend of labor and he is no friend of anyone who had the unfortunate notion that they could put their trust in him.
Saturday, May 06, 2017
American Health Care Act aka Trumpcare
Friday, May 05, 2017
what is a death panel?
By my count it's 217 votes in the House of Represenatives.
Why? Because people can die from having no treatment for pre-existing conditions.
To my way of thinking a womb is a pre-existing condition, but a penis is not.
It also looks like The House doesn't consider this bill good enough for themselves or their families, because they have exempted themselves from it.
So , how happy are you with the idiot in the White House and his Republican cronies who will be condemning million to a slow death?
Why? Because people can die from having no treatment for pre-existing conditions.
To my way of thinking a womb is a pre-existing condition, but a penis is not.
It also looks like The House doesn't consider this bill good enough for themselves or their families, because they have exempted themselves from it.
But
what counts as a pre-existing condition? While it depends on the
insurer—they have the right to choose what counts as
"pre-existing"—these ailments and conditions were universally used to
deny people coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit focusing on health care research.
- AIDS/HIV
- Alcohol or drug abuse with recent treatment
- Alzheimer’s/dementia
- Anorexia
- Arthritis
- Bulimia
- Cancer
- Cerebral palsy
- Congestive heart failure
- Coronary artery/heart disease, bypass surgery
- Crohn’s disease
- Diabetes
- Epilepsy
- Hemophilia
- Hepatitis
- Kidney disease, renal failure
- Lupus
- Mental disorders (including Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Schizophrenia)
- Multiple sclerosis
- Muscular dystrophy
- Obesity
- Organ transplant
- Paraplegia
- Paralysis
- Parkinson’s disease
- Pending surgery or hospitalization
- Pneumocystic pneumonia
- Pregnancy or expectant parent (includes men)
- Sleep apnea
- Stroke
- Transsexualism
But
Cynthia Cox, Kaiser's associate director, notes that the above list is a
conservative sampling of all of the issues and maladies that insurers
could count as pre-existing conditions. " There are plenty of other
conditions, even acne or high blood pressure, that could have gotten
people denied from some insurers but accepted and charged a higher
premium by other insurers" says Cox.
Here are some examples of those other conditions that experts have noted could hike premiums:
- Acid Reflux
- Acne
- Asthma
- C-Section
- Celiac Disease
- Heart burn
- High cholesterol
- Hysterectomy
- Kidney Stones
- Knee surgery
- Lyme Disease
- Migraines
- Narcolepsy
- Pacemaker
- Postpartum depression
- Seasonal Affective Disorder
- Seizures
- "Sexual deviation or disorder"
- Ulcers
The left-leaning Center for American Progress notes
that high blood pressure, behavioral health disorders, high
cholesterol, asthma and chronic lung disease, and osteoarthritis and
other joint disorders are the most common types of pre-existing
conditions.
Just how expensive are pre-existing conditions? A recent report
from the Center for American Progress found that insurers could charge
people with metastatic cancer as much as $142,650 more for their
coverage, a 3,500% increase.So , how happy are you with the idiot in the White House and his Republican cronies who will be condemning million to a slow death?
