I am fortunate, I am blessed. I have single payer, national health care. It is an "unintended consequence" of my wanting to be able to express my antiwar opinions at the dinner table by enlisting in Navy in in Feb '72 two years after my exposure to the lottery.

When I got out of the navy, I got a job at the Brecksville VA hospital. The first day home from work I asked my wife that no matter what that I would never end up in a VA hospital.

Insurance was no problem: at that time every employer offered some sort of health insurance.

Years later, not so much.

I was at fifty-five suddenly without insurance and my wife started the paperwork for me to go to VA. I went because I do know the power dynamics in our home unit. And I knew she'd see how bad it was and that would be the end of it.

In 2012 I had a minor, ignorable sort of symptom of something. No pain, but an occasional dribble of blood in my urine. As soon as I had noticed it several times, I went to VA. It turned out to be bladder cancer.

Five surgeries to remove tumors, one partial excision of my colon, two rounds of BCG (which has a very high rate of success but not for me) and a biopsy later: I still have that cancer.

The biopsy determined that the cancer is not going to be responsive to either chemo or radiation but hadn't broached the wall of the badder.

The theory is that if the cancer is only in the bladder then .....

And so here I am going for at least one more very serious surgery tomorrow.

What my mixed feeling are about are: there's been a lot of money spent to keep me going (has to be close to a million) and I do worry about how many small children could be in a program for wellness with what VA has spent on on this one old man. About how many people much more productive than me are dying over inability to come up with insurance premiums and I am living because I wanted to eat Turkey at Thanksgiving and tell my dad how wrong he was about the war. About a President who is operating contrary to the interests of the majority and even against the interests of his average joe MAGA hat supporter.

No matter what happens there's a terrible killing problem with healthcare in this country but not for me.

Survivor's guilt.

See you all in a week or so.

MFalls.

Bill Cosby’s Father’s Day Post Insisting He’s ‘America’s Dad’ Has Social Media Reeling
Cosby, serving a prison sentence for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, reportedly asked his representatives to post the message.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bill-cosby-twitter-fathers-day_n_5d07952ee4b0dc17ef0d5f08

By Jenna Amatulli

<snip>

Hey, Hey, Hey...It’s America’s Dad...I know it’s late, but to all of the Dads... It’s an honor to be called a Father, so let’s make today a renewed oath to fulfilling our purpose — strengthening our families and… https://t.co/TPEFC9iTZe
— Bill Cosby (@BillCosby) June 17, 2019

<snip>

Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt told USA Today that Cosby wanted to post the message in support a group called Man Up.

“Mr. Cosby’s (message) consisted of telling these men who have been incarcerated for many years, but are up for parole soon ... to ... take the word ‘disadvantage’ and remove the ‘dis,’ and start focusing on the advantage. That advantage is to be better fathers and productive citizens,” Wyatt said.

<snip>

Here’s what some had to say on Twitter:

Bill cosby: “i’M aMeRiCa’s dAd”
Everyone: pic.twitter.com/c7TFVTsfbI
— aesthetic (@skskskskskSIS) June 17, 2019

Waking up to see Bill Cosby tweeting from jail and trying to reclaim ‘America’s Dad’ mantle pic.twitter.com/6Eaw6ZBA0h
— The High Evolutionary (@TeflonGeek) June 17, 2019

woke up and found Bill Cosby trending on my tl....it’s only 6 AM and I’m already just like pic.twitter.com/Us3H6algzc
— MISI MANIA (@itsmemisi) June 17, 2019

Bill Cosby on Twitter like ... pic.twitter.com/ejNvgntnyW
— Steven R. Walker (@Steve_R_Walker) June 17, 2019

Before clicking to see why Bill Cosby is trending pic.twitter.com/DXiB3JCIVn
— AC (@LaCroixIsTrash) June 17, 2019

only a matter of time before the devil lets kevin spacey find the keys to his youtube account too https://t.co/UrL4gIRm3F
— hunter harris (@hunteryharris) June 17, 2019

<snip>

More at link

Source: Fox4News/Dallas

Posted Jun 17 2019 02:31PM CDT

<snip>



Brian Isaack Clyde had recently attended a college in Corpus Christi and had attended high school in Dallas and Leander. There are also photos and references to service in the military, which hasn’t been confirmed by officials. There were no previous run-ins with authorities, according to a records check by FOX4.

Clyde was listed as a Spring 2019 graduate of Del Mar College in Corpus Christi on the school’s website. He earned an associate’s degree in applied science, according to the school.

Much of what is known about Clyde comes from his Facebook page, which did not have privacy restrictions turned on and featured numerous posts viewable to the general public.

<snip>

Last weekend he posted a video, in which he says at one point, "I don't know how much longer I have, but the [expletive] storm is coming.”
Related Headlines


<snip>

Read more:

A Georgia Venue Is Refusing To Hold Same-Sex Weddings, So This Man Is Offering His Yard

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gay-weddings-georgia_n_5d027da9e4b0304a120bb569

By Jamie Feldman

Corey Forrester is used to sharing his opinions on social media. The Georgia-based comedian and author frequently speaks his mind to over 14,000 followers on just about any topic, from masculinity to his favorite movies.

So he didn’t think too much before sending out the following tweet on Tuesday, after his sister told him that a local venue is refusing to host weddings for same-sex couples.


“Just found out a wedding venue near my hometown has announced they are not going to allow gay marriages,” he wrote. “Just throwing it out there but if you live near me and are affected by this you can get Gay married in my yard free of charge and also I’m ordained so there.”

?ops=crop_0_43_616_528,scalefit_720_noupscale

It’s a pretty sweet offer, especially considering his baller-looking backyard:
Corey Forrester

No DUI For Woman Arrested For Driving Toy Truck While Drunk

The South Carolina woman avoided a DUI charge, but was cited for public intoxication..
ASSOCIATED PRESS

?cache=egjjwrq1ek&ops=scalefit_720_noupscale



WALHALLA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina woman who police say was driving drunk will not be cited with a DUI because her vehicle of choice was a toy truck.

News outlets quote police as saying that instead they charged 25-year-old Megan Holman with public intoxication.

They say they spotted her cruising down the road in a Power Wheels electric toy truck after a caller reported a suspicious person on the street.

Officers say she was driving about a mile (1.5 kilometers) from her home in Walhalla when they stopped her.

Missouri Restaurant Cancels Wedding Dinner After Learning It Was For 2 Brides

A cafe in O’Fallon refused to host Kendall Brown and Mindy Rackley’s rehearsal dinner because the owners disapprove of their relationship, the couple said.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lesbian-couple-madisons-cafe-ofallon-missouri_n_5d03e259e4b0dc17ef0990a7

By Carol Kuruvilla

<snip>

Kendall Brown and Mindy Rackley, a couple from the St. Louis area, hoped to have their wedding rehearsal dinner at Madison’s Cafe in O’Fallon. But those plans were derailed when the owner found out the dinner was for a same-sex wedding, Rackley wrote in a June 4 Facebook post.

“We have never been treated this way and have never been declined a service because [of] who we are,” Rackley wrote. “Our hearts hurt.”

Rackley said that her future mother-in-law called Madison’s Cafe on June 3 to make a reservation for a rehearsal dinner on June 13. The owner reportedly called Brown the next day with questions about the event, including the groom’s name.

“She said, ‘Your spouse is another woman?’ and I said, ‘Yes,’” Brown told NBC affiliate KSDK-TV in St. Louis. “And she said, ’I’m sorry, we’re going to have to refer you to someone else because we don’t condone that kind of relationship.”



<snip>

There has never been any rights affirmed to gays that have infringed on any single of my rights. I have no reason to be against gays having the opportunities that I do. This stuff is not religious freedom, its looking for permission to discriminate.

Sara Gideon, Maine’s Democratic House Speaker, To Run Against Senator Susan Collins
T
he GOP senator faces intense backlash from state Democrats and abortion rights activists over her vote for Brett Kavanaugh.

By Hayley Miller and Kevin Robillard

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/susan-collins-democratic-challenger-sara-gideon_n_5d029422e4b0304a120bf5de?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaHVmZnBvc3QuY29tLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMRW3tSC3ptdPEnwtmrgLvzDFyRlA48SL5_fQ2tejw9bJMI_gs91kpeil-5-2FcSGBzQU2O4gNbz7gFkybBThxB92peYSueaBu0kF6f_flYi_E5A4dLxDhyIKsfObtB_odHa8IDud1sgDOv08xaMATYH5azCwatOmh2QTtKRCcLa

<snip>

“Maine deserves a champion in the US Senate,” Gideon wrote in a Facebook post at the time. “After November I will be seriously considering how I can elevate the voices of people who deserve and demand to be heard and represented in Washington, DC.”

<snip>

Earlier this week, Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed a bill sponsored by Gideon that expands access to abortion in the state by allowing health care professionals who are not doctors ― such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants ― to perform the procedure.

Gideon is a graduate of George Washington University and the daughter of an Indian immigrant father and a second-generation Armenian American mother.

Two other Democrats have formally announced 2020 bids against Collins. Betsy Sweet, who ran and lost in the Democratic primary for Maine governor last year, said that she’s running on Thursday. Bre Kidman, a lawyer and the first openly non-binary U.S. Senate candidate in the country, filed to run in April.

<snip>

Could Trees Be the New Gravestones?

A California start-up wants to “redesign the entire end-of-life experience.” The answer to “eternity

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/12/style/forest-burial-death.html

By Nellie Bowles

June 12, 2019

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. —

<snip>

And so Mr. Gibson’s company is buying forests, arranging conservation easements intended to prevent the land from ever being developed, and then selling people the right to have their cremated remains mixed with fertilizer and fed to a particular tree.

<snip>

There is a certain risk to being buried in a start-up forest. When the tree dies, Better Place says it will plant a new one at that same spot. But a redwood can live 700 years, and almost all start-ups in Silicon Valley fail, so it requires a certain amount of faith that someone will be there to install a new sapling.

<snip>

Customers come to claim a tree for perpetuity. This now costs between $3,000 (for those who want to be mixed into the earth at the base of a small young tree or a less desirable species of tree) and upward of $30,000 (for those who wish to reside forever by an old redwood). For those who don’t mind spending eternity with strangers, there is also an entry-level price of $970 to enter the soil of a community tree. (Cremation is not included.)



<snip>

Nellie Bowles covers tech and internet culture. Follow her on Twitter: @nelliebowle

Trump Falsely Claims He Has Wiped Out 150% Of China’s Economy

He gloated China’s economy has lost up to $20 trillion in value since his election. If true, that would have wiped China off the economic map.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-false-claim-china-economy_n_5cff4567e4b0b02180860b26

By Mary Papenfuss



<snip>

The Chinese economy is worth an estimated $13 trillion (it was $12.2 trillion in 2017, according to the World Bank). To wipe out 150% of China’s GDP would erase the country from the world economy and would be pretty ― incredible.

Contrary to Trump’s whopper, the Chinese economy has continued to expand over 6% a year since he was elected.

The Trump trade war is hurting the Chinese economy, because tariffs make Chinese products more costly and less competitive in the American market. But because U.S. companies and consumers pay the cost of tariffs on imported goods, the trade war also hurts America’s GDP (which, incidentally, is $20 trillion). Numbers vary, but estimates for GDP costs in both nations are generally less than 1%.

Before citing a specific figure for China’s losses, Trump said earlier in the CNBC interview that China has “lost many, many trillions of dollars.”



You can check out the entire interview in the video above. (Trump refers to the amount of money he has cost China at 26:05.)