I have no clue what these recent Brexit votes mean. They’re leaving? Not leaving? Delaying the leave? Not delaying? Leaving without an agreement? Not leaving without an agreement? Up is down? On with the motley? Bob’s your uncle? Keep Britain tidy?
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Single Payer Healthcare vs. Corporate Greed
It’s so frustrating when you try to discuss alternatives to the current healthcare mess, and people push back with comments like, “Oh, no! That’s ‘socialized medicine’. We don’t want that!” No. What we don’t want is the debt-inducing nightmare that we have to deal with now. Would a single payer system really be that horrible? I don’t see how it can be any worse than the current system where families go broke, insurance companies get rich, doctors are caught in a budget squeeze, and emergency rooms are backed up with patients who can’t afford healthcare premiums. The single payer system works very well in France, Germany, Japan, the UK, and lots of other advanced, productive countries, none of which are $22 trillion in debt like we are. We could have something like that here, too, but the insurance companies, the drug companies, and the hospital conglomerates hate the idea for one simple reason: they won’t be able to make unlimited profits anymore. So, they brainwash people into thinking that single payer healthcare is a threat to democracy. It’s not. It’s a threat to corporate oligarchy.
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
The For Profit Healthcare Debacle
Doctors won’t accept health insurance, because insurance companies refuse to pay doctors.
So, you have to pay to see your doctor despite the fact that you have already paid the insurance company.
You have two choices. Go broke or die. Meanwhile, insurance company CEOs bring home $100 million bonuses every year. They’re not going broke.
God bless America!
This has to stop! It’s insane! The system has to change.
Start by requiring all health insurance providers to operate as not-for-profit businesses. Blue Cross was non-profit for decades, and it worked fine until recently, when for-profit businesses like Anthem licensed the Blue Cross brand.
Ban ownership by hedge funds and private equity firms. No one should profit from refusing to provide medical treatment or medication to someone who needs it.
The system has to change.
Friday, March 8, 2019
New York Minute 134 - Keep Your Guard Up
It was a bitterly cold December day, but I felt the need to get out and walk and shoot some photos. I put on my layers, gathered my gear, and took the subway to 34th Street before walking west toward the new Hudson Yards development.
It’s an expansive project, a group of skyscrapers being built concurrently in an area that was once occupied by rail yards. It takes a bit of walking to get there. It’s blocks from the nearest subway, and once you reach the site, you’ll need to walk quite a bit more to make your way around the massive new towers.
When I arrive, I saw an opportunity to take a photo at the first building that I came to. Trouble was there to greet me. I wasn’t surprised; aside from the construction and a handful of small restaurants and bars, the area is still fairly deserted. I figured that I might run into some shady characters.
I set up my camera and started to compose the shot, when a guy walked over to me. “Hey, that’s a nice lens!”
He was a big guy, about six-foot three. He was in his forties, but he was athletic. He looked like he could have played tight end or defensive end in college. From his appearance, I gathered that he spent a lot of time on street corners looking for mischief. He definitely didn’t look employable.
I didn’t respond to his greeting. It was bitterly cold, and I as trying to focus on what I was doing while working the camera’s controls with my bare hands. I didn’t have time to chat. But the guy didn’t go away; I sensed him lurking behind me.
“Oh, yeah! That’s a good shot!” he remarked cheerfully, trying to get me to engage in a conversation.
“I hope so,” I said. I snapped a few exposures and picked up my gear. I didn’t like the fact that the guy kept hanging around. I wanted to cross the street to look for more photo opportunities. It would give me a reason to walk away from him.
“Hey! I’ve got some photo gear, if you’re interested,” the guy offered as I started to walk away.
A little voice in my head wondered, “What’s this guy doing with camera gear?” Beware of that voice. It’s the voice of stupidy. It will distract you when you need to be on your guard. It can fool you into questioning your instincts and thinking that a threat is benign.
“Thanks! I’ve got all the gear I need,” I said as I bolted across the street.
The guy followed me to the other side, not immediately, but when the light changed again. But thankfully, he left me alone. I had demonstrated that I wasn’t going to be an easy mark. I wasn’t going to follow him into an alley to check out his “photo gear.” If I had, he really would have had some photo gear - mine!
I had a similar experience recently when I was walking through Hell’s Kitchen one evening with my camera. To be fair, Hell’s Kitchen today is gentrified and fairly safe. It’s not the Hell’s Kitchen of the mid-20th Century, the neighborhood where the street fights of ‘West Side Story’ were set. I would not have walked through that neighborhood at night. Times have changed. The city is safer now.
Anyway, after spending some time on a particularly challenging photograph, I noticed a guy watching me as I packed up my gear up. He was another tall, athletic fellow. He didn’t look overly menacing, but he would have been a handful in a physical confrontation.
I didn’t pay much attention to the guy at first. Once I noticed that he was staring at me, I avoided eye contact. I didn’t want things to escalate. I made my way down a quiet street looking for another photo opportunity. About halfway down the block, I decided that there wasn’t anything that I wanted to shoot there. So, I turned around, and there was the guy standing there watching me from less than ten paces away. He had followed me down the block. I’m not sure when or where he thought that he might have an opportunity to take something from me, but I didn’t give it to him. I walked back to the avenue where there were more people and ventured off in a different direction.
It’s a crazy world out there. Be aware of your surroundings. If someone seems menacing, don’t ignore your suspicions. Don’t let yourself get into a situation where you’ll be left alone with them. If someone offers you something that sounds out of character or too good to be true, walk away. A criminal can make a thousand mistakes. You only have to make one. Never let your guard down.
Copyright © 2019 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
Shake Things Up
If you’ve been doing the same thing for four years or longer, you need to shake things up and try something new.
Thursday, March 7, 2019
Impermanence
A wise friend taught me that everything in life is ephemeral. Your home, your job, your good health, your best friend, the love of your life, any of these things can be taken from you without notice. If significant loss is destined to happen, you are powerless to stop it. We can never count on anyone or any thing. The best that we can do is to enjoy what we have today, in this moment, realizing that life will be different tomorrow, and to let people know that they are loved and appreciated, with the understanding that it may not make a difference.
Monday, March 4, 2019
Time That We Don’t Have
The Republican Party has one overriding objective. They want to pack the courts with conservative judges who will block the enactment progressive legislation, and who will actively dismantle all existing safeguards for workers, the elderly, the poor, the environment, and civil rights. To that end, they have made a deal with the devil. As long as that devil keeps nominating conservative judges and justices, they will support him regardless of the lasting damage that their partisan coup of the legal system will do to the country, its citizens, our standing in the world, or the Constitution that every elected official took an oath to defend. Only overwhelming support for progressive candidates and the rule of law can reverse the damage, a process that will take generations. Given that our planet is facing a showdown with imminent disaster in about a decade, this is time that we don’t have to spare.
A Poem For Mondays
Lovers leave
Friendships fade
Careers end
Health degrades
Dreams delayed
Will drift away
But there’s always coffee
There’s always coffee
:-)
Copyright © 2019 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
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