October 22, 2017

Snakes Have Legs (Stop Being Dumb On The Internet!)

The original "Snakes have Legs" animation by Danny Casale.

October 14, 2017

Bernie and Larry David on the PBS show, Finding Your Roots

Not only does Larry do a great Bernie but it was interesting to see how similar the lives and ancestry of these two men is.

The thing I found the most interesting was watching how they each reacted as they learned more about the history of their family members. It was very moving and as they learned more I too gladly learned a bit more history that I hadn't known that much about.

http://www.pbs.org/video/episode-1-the-impression-t9e1xe/

September 11, 2017

Can't Afford the Dentist? You're Not Alone - USA News

I've long felt very strongly that dental care is just as important to have covered by any single payer/Universal healthcare, as regular physical checkups and needed surgical care is. It was also one of the things I felt should have been addressed by the ACA but unfortunately wasn't.

Nobody loves a trip to the dentist, but for many middle-aged Americans even basic dental care is now financially out of reach, a new poll finds.

In fact, 28 percent don't have dental insurance, while 56 percent don't get dental care except for serious dental problems, researchers said.

Even more troubling is that 51 percent of people surveyed said they didn't know how they will get dental insurance after they turn 65, said lead researcher Erica Solway. She's a senior project manager at the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation.

According to the poll, 40 percent said they don't get regular cleanings or other preventive care, Solway said.

"For the majority of folks, cost was the main barrier to dental care," she said.

This sounds good but...

Solway noted that dental clinics or dental schools often provide care at lower costs or with a sliding scale based on income.

"There are options for people who can't afford getting care from a traditional dentist's office," she said.

Although options may be available for many, for many others who live in more rural areas the only option is traveling an hour or more and for low income, seniors and disabled that's more easily said than done especially for work that needs more than one or two appointments.

The rest of the article isn't very long at all to read and worth the time to do so IMO.

September 8, 2017

Vincente Fox Is Running For President (NSW)....

Of the USA.

Yes, we all know he can't but watch the video anyway, it's worth it. (Oh and don't tell my husband but I've got a bit of a crush on this awesome man. )

September 3, 2017

Funny Parody: Real Fake News - Operetta vs. Trump (They nail KAC too)

Gilbert & Sullivan Edition - using H.M.S. Pinafore's Modern Major General

August 21, 2017

So 45 not only treats SS poorly, he & grifter family have depleted the funds to pay them

If it weren't bad enough that Dolt45 treats Secret Service agents like they're servants, his regularly traveling to his resorts and golf clubs plus his jet setting family running all over the world for business and pleasure has depleted the funds to pay agents already and has agents bailing for greener pastures.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/08/21/secret-service-cant-pay-agents-because-trumps-frequent-travel-large-family/529075001/

The agency has faced a crushing workload since the height of the contentious election season, and it has not relented in the first seven months of the administration. Agents must protect Trump – who has traveled almost every weekend to his properties in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia – and his adult children whose business trips and vacations have taken them across the country and overseas.
"The president has a large family, and our responsibility is required in law,'' Alles said. "I can't change that. I have no flexibility.''

Alles said the service is grappling with an unprecedented number of White House protectees. Under Trump, 42 people have protection, a number that includes 18 members of his family. That's up from 31 during the Obama administration.
Overwork and constant travel have also been driving a recent exodus from the Secret Service ranks, yet without congressional intervention to provide additional funding, Alles will not even be able to pay agents for the work they have already done.

Con't HERE

August 17, 2017

Neo-Nazis, white supremacists and Donald Trump all have deep ties to Russia

Is anyone here truly surprised?

http://www.salon.com/2017/08/17/trump-the-alt-right-and-the-kremlin-white-supremacists-russia-links-are-no-secret/

-SNIP-

But whether the president knows it or not, even the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally has deep connections to the global white nationalist movement, and the epicenter of that movement is in Moscow under the leadership of Vladimir Putin. Take, for instance, Matthew Heimbach, who was crowned by Think Progress as the “most important white supremacist of 2016? and was one of the organizers of the Charlottesville event. Heimbach is the man who was arrested at a Trump campaign rally for pushing and screaming at a protester, and who later claimed in court that he believed Trump had “deputized” the crowd to defend him against the protesters.

Heimbach says, “Putin is the leader, really, of the anti-globalist forces around the world” and calls “Russia our most powerful ally” — and by “our,” he means the forces of white nationalism. The Southern Poverty Law Center dubbed him “The Little Führer.” Heimbach is also a member of the World National Conservative Movement, a product of the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM):

The manifesto of the movement claims that the world is governed by the ideology of “liberalism, multiculturalism and tolerance.” This, in the view of the activists, results in “the erosion of nations, massive migration from countries with foreign civilizational bases, falling away from religion, replacement of spirituality by materialism, impoverishment of cultures, destruction of the family and healthy moral values” through “abortion, propaganda of debauchery and acceptance of sexual perversions”. Furthermore, the manifesto refers to the “super-national institutions” such as the EU and NATO, and argues that these forces represent “the global cabal” which, in the Russian cultural discourse, is essentially a euphemistic reference to the global Jewish conspiracy. The WNCM aims to counter liberalism and globalisation by staging a “conservative revolution” and bringing far right parties to power in Western societies.

That sounds strangely familiar doesn’t it?

Heimbach isn’t the only white supremacist Trump follower with a strong connection to Russia. Two years ago, The New York Times reported on a conference in St. Petersburg featuring a big name in right-wing hate: -SNIP- (Con't reading HERE or above for the rest)

August 13, 2017

Don't Be A Sucker - 1947 - An anti-fascist film produced by the US Military

I ran across a short version on Twitter but wanted to see the rest so hunted it down. I wish we could get something like this played on our current airwaves, perhaps updated.

"In this anti-fascist film produced by US Military in the wake of WWII, the producers deconstruct the politically motivated social engineering of Germany by the Nazi regime."

July 27, 2017

Such an interesting story: Who Was She? A DNA Test Only Opened New Mysteries.

This is a bit long but I found the twists and turns in it fascinating perhaps more so since I just recently sent in my sample to 23andMe to find out more about my genetic background/health predispositions since I'm adopted and know only a little.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/lifestyle/she-thought-she-was-irish-until-a-dna-test-opened-a-100-year-old-mystery/?utm_term=.ab0893321bac&wpisrc=al_alert-national&wpmk=1

Five years ago, Alice Collins Plebuch made a decision that would alter her future — or really, her past.

She sent away for a “just-for-fun DNA test.” When the tube arrived, she spit and spit until she filled it up to the line, and then sent it off in the mail. She wanted to know what she was made of.

Plebuch, now 69, already had a rough idea of what she would find. Her parents, both deceased, were Irish American Catholics who raised her and her six siblings with church Sundays and ethnic pride. But Plebuch, who had a long-standing interest in science and DNA, wanted to know more about her dad’s side of the family. The son of Irish immigrants, Jim Collins had been raised in an orphanage from a young age, and his extended family tree was murky.

After a few weeks during which her saliva was analyzed, she got an email in the summer of 2012 with a link to her results. The report was confounding.

June 28, 2017

Immigrants (We Get The Job Done) - Hamilton Mixtape