The Problem of 'Free' Health Care for All

That 'Free' gets to be very expensive - for all who pay taxes.

Now, the Leftist and his followers, the "Progressives", think this is a GOOD thing. After all, why shouldn't those with money pay for the 'Health Care' of those who don't have a well-paying job?

Note I wrote "well-paying job". That's because those who are Officially Poor often have more disposable income than those who work for their own support. Don't believe that? Check this out.

Are there actual Poor People? Of course. But they are NOT in the majority of those classified as poor. Most of the "Poor" are people whose income from working is low, that's true. But, rather than encourage those people to improve their situation, the Poverty Pimps (those well-meaning and usually Left-leaning social workers and community workers who live off government support for their work) work quite energetically at supplementing their clients' income with support payments.

Support payments are given for being Official Poor. They rise if the OP STAYS poor. They will be cut off if that person successfully improves their situation (such as getting a better job, which may not have benefits or even that much extra money). The entire purpose of the system is to keep OPs from changing their lives for the better. They are financially penalized if they do.

There are those who say "No one LIKES being poor!". While it's true that, given unlimited alternatives, almost all would prefer having more money.

The thing is, in America, being Officially Poor is 'comfortable enough'. They don't make so much money they lose their entitlement to feel downtrodden and put-upon, just enough that the Pinch of Poverty - that spur that drives people to rise early, work hard, and Get the Hell out of Da' Hood - is a minor annoyance, not an acute ache.

Now, a suggestion for the future:

Take the time - NOW - to shore up your possessions, home, and body. At this time, it is cheaper, and easier, to make those repairs, then it will be in another year or two. Plus, at today's interest rates, you can often negotiate a "same as cash" deal with providers for a limited number of months without paying interest. That, alone, will look like a genius move when the interest rates start climbing - and they WILL start climbing.

Get your teeth fixed, any Lasix or other needed surgery, and don't forget to work on general fitness and trimming down. You'll never regret getting your body in the best shape it can be.

As for a house, look outside - FAR outside of a city. Put as much as you can down, to get a good interest rate. But, leave some cash in reserve to get the best deal on repairs and upgrades. Invest in a security setup - but, NOT the kind that has subscription monitoring. YOU want to be the one in charge of your own defense.

Buy extra shelf-stable food on sale, and store it safely. Lay in supplies of rechargeable batteries, solar panels, and a generator (and the gas to run it). Have alternative ways to weatherize your home/provide power. That includes heating water for showering/sanitation. And, have an alternative way to wash clothing, should power go out.

Create an 'emergency pharmacy' - common drugs, OTCs, and first aid supplies. Talk to your doctor, and see if you can get a prescription for a 90-day supply of needed meds to keep in reserve (rotating them as you get new meds). Check with GoodRX to see if you can pay for the meds yourself, with the discount, without going through your prescription drug plan. Most of them frown on stockpiling, and will NOT pay for it. 

The idea is to be self-sufficient enough, to ride out temporary disruptions to the supply chain. I don't anticipate long-term disruptions (Americans are remarkably ingenious about getting around restrictions, and our truckers have a long tradition of ignoring inconvenient laws). The point is to keep a sudden critical need from forcing you to give up your rights as a citizen.

Some Different Sources for News Feeds

I've been feeling as thought my older sources of aggregated news were getting tired and old (Instapundit and Ace of Spades are the two top ones).

Well, Ace has stepped up their game - the tech feed they've added to their daily news is not only timely, but also contains some reports I've not seen elsewhere. Today's feed (link above) has some news about Bitcoin, and Ring camera privacy, that is worth that time spent, alone.

Leftist, or Liberal - Or, Leftist-Lite?

It's a close call. I began to realize that it would be important to create a post on this, when I read a similar discussion on The New Neocon.

Generally, I would say that the Leftist is more hard-core. Someone who is aware that their support is not just for causes that "Good People" support, but someone who is aware that their support will likely lead to complete overthrow of our current social, economic, and political systems.

 Liberals would generally include what would be called Progressive Democrats, the "good" Republicans (of the NY/Rockefeller/Romney type), and non-affiliated peoples with vaguely socially Left-of-Center ideals. They may be 'squishes', but they are extremely resistant to any attempt to bring them closer to the Center, let alone the Right.

The last category, Leftist-Lite, is one that is common in America today. They haven't anything as firm as actual principles. Some of them are, frankly, too uninformed (or, sadly, dumb) to be able to explain the rationale behind their positions. What they are is Fervent Supporters of What Everyone Else Who is One of the Good Ones Espouses. 

In other words, they take their position because, at heart, they are followers. Whatever the currently fashionable narrative is among their group, they accept it wholeheartedly.

The Leftist-Lite people aren't inherently bad, just Clueless Dupes. They will be HORRIFIED to find out that they were wrong, in the unlikely event that Non-Leftists ever manage to break through the Media Bubble.

But, I'm probably kidding myself. Ordinary people are quite capable of ignoring/forgetting the plain truth, when it contradicts their long-accepted dogma.

How - CONVENIENT!

I'm not buying this unlikely story; the more I think about it, it looks like a Federal Op. It seems to be yet another piece of Fake News from people who don't understand how Bitcoin works.

How do you tell that your government is lying?

Their lips are moving.

Dang Sarah A. Hoyt! Every time I have a thought that is original - or as close to original as it's possible to get in this world, I click on her blog to see what she's up to, and find that she has beaten me to the punch.

Not fair!

Surely, somewhere there is an unethical lawyer (one not already working for the government) who will help me craft a lawsuit that addresses this problem.

FWIW - Kamala Harris

I try not to judge kids on their parents' reputation (or, actual knowledge of the nefarious deeds they committed).

But the strenuous efforts the Media made to conceal this make it likelier than not there is some truth to this report.

Read the whole thing - the intertwined nature of the relationships of the Left will leave you agog. It's positively an incestuous nest of what in the old days were just called "Commies".

"I Follow the SCIENCE!"

If you're like most people using that phrase (even including those that actually ARE scientists), no, you don't.

At least, not when addressing the subjects about which you are so loftily declaring a refusal to consider other ways of looking at the data - what we call EVIDENCE.

Look, there are some hard-core assumptions in science:

• Newtonian Physics works, as an approximation for most of life's easily observable forces and motions. It might be tweaked by newer aspects of physics (Einsteinian, Quantum), but the basic operating rules pretty much are set in stone.
• When you mix two or more inorganic, non-radioactive, natural and 'pure' substances together, the results of that outcome will be predictable (assuming that the quantities are known). Pure meaning that no contaminants are present.
• The Earth's substance, its rocks and magma, its deeper layers, it's topmost biologic layers, and its atmosphere and hydrosphere - all of those components that make up the planet - are constantly interacting and changing. Claiming to be able to predict the future course of those interactions is just voodoo. You might get lucky, and have your WAG (wild-ass guess) be the eventual outcome. More likely, not.

And, then, there is Science in the Grey Area:

Just about everything we 'kind-of' know about people is based on studies conducted on WEIRD people - Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich, and Democratic. Those people are Western European in heritage, and honestly life in a different world from the rest of the planet. The way they live their lives, the norms they unthinkingly follow, the societal interactions that they engage in - ALL are so different from the rest of the planet (including that part occupied by the Western underclasses) as to make them seem like alien beings. Conducting business with those other peoples, using WEIRD norms, is not only doomed to failure, but likely to get your ass kicked. Fair warning.

So, what am I saying?

Well, when it comes to science, surety of the principles on which you base your assumptions when solving problems is a VERY limited thing. The minute you branch out of those narrow areas where we are PRETTY sure that we understand what's going on and why, you take the risk that you are going to fall flat on your face.

You can shore up your likelihood of being right by doing a LOT of experimentation (like Galileo did with motion - a LOT of VERY tedious observation in a VERY controlled environment). That creates a firmer foundation for your conclusions.

But, you could still be wrong. Many of the areas of science currently under investigation - the 'hot' areas - are both complex, interdisciplinary, and hard to reduce to observable  experimental variables that can be used to justify public policy.

They end up being papers that, in VERY qualified ways, say things like "Under these limited conditions, and in a short time frame, we got these experimental results that SEEMED to show a significant result". Not exactly EUREKA!

And, not something that should justify more than some money released for new research. Not up-ending our economy and political and social structures for a MAYBE good result. Or, no result at all. Or, worst case scenario, a BAD result.

That's the situation we have in social 'science', climate science, and many other areas of controversial study. The results aren't exactly undebatable. The actual data is limited in scope. And, too often, the jackasses claiming to "FOLLOW THE SCIENCE" will admit no deviance from acceptance of the proclaimed results.

That's Anti-Science. Actual science involves releasing the data, the methodology, and the reasoning behind the analysis, and allowing any and all to pick it apart.

It can be frustrating, defending your experiments and conclusions against your enemies, clueless politicians, media looking for a sensational story, and honest critics. But, that is what actual scientists have to do.

Not loftily proclaiming "The science is settled!".

Not aggressively attacking opponents as stupid and anti-science.

Not shutting up dissenters from making their case.

Some Fights Against the Power to Keep an Eye On

In schools - Big Brother is actively recruiting its children to work as Leftist Spies.

This goes WAY beyond civility - it is actively using minors to enforce compliance with poorly defined 'standards of speech', both inside and outside of school.

We need to keep an eye on this, and nip it, now. I'm sure that the people involved in this fight could use publicity, support, and, yes, money to pay lawyers.

Fighting the Trans - A Woman is a Woman, a Man is a Man.

Even if they hack their body parts to pretend otherwise. The writer makes some important points. We have gone from "non-girly girls are still women" to "if you ACT like a stereotypical woman, you ARE a woman".

Despite the still attached male parts.

Read it all. Then, print it out, and leave it in public places. People need to see this.

And, don't forget the MMA Female fighters who suffered head injuries - one who was not told of her opponent's Trans-status before the fight, who, after that fight, never fought again.

It's GOOD to be the Left! Life as a Downtrodden Prole is SO Hard!

Dare I HOPE?

The RNC is - timidly - showing signs of a backbone. The Leftist-infiltrated Commissions should not be in charge of the message that candidates will be permitted to spread. Asking them to monitor the debates - as we have seen with Candy Crowley, in the 2012 televised Obama Coronation Interchange - is ludicrous.

If it weren't for lies, they'd be mute. Not that there will ever be a meaningful penalty for it.

And, the post is right:

Set up an online virtual call. Each side can pick 5 questioners (and those people will put up their information, which can be verified/fisked by others), and they get to ask at least 1 question and a follow-up. Viewers may comment in a VERIFIED comment section (must sign up beforehand, with no trolls or unidentified people permitted - all must submit verification of identity, and be a registered voter).

That may be too much of a free-for-all. Might limit official commenters to 100 or fewer. But, NOT professional media people, partisan hacks, or professional activists. No one making their money from a political side.

Perhaps allow each state to nominate a dozen or so, with the votes for the top 2 from each registered major party - and, yes, Libertarians, Socialists, and Green Party all count. It would be interesting to see how the Libertarians and Socialists put both the GOP and the Dems to the fire.

Maybe have similar formats for regions of states - Northeast, Northwest, Plains, South, Southwest, and even TX as a single region.