Saturday, April 16, 2011

now - from Some Assembly Required

I've stayed away from Some Assembly Required for a couple of weeks. Yes, he was on vacation, but just posting his hard work began to seem too lazy - even for me!

This weekends entries are so delicious that I just can't resist -- so -- the following from Some Assembly Required - please follow link to original.
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The Neighbors: Politicians who confidently point to “entitlement reform” are making the same mistake that has been made, disastrously, in the UK, Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Spain. Plus they still think we don't know that “reform” means cut beyond all recognition.

Hope, Prayer: Double-digit increases in corporate earning are not enough to lead corporations to hire more people. Driving current workers harder works just fine.

Because they Can: It would be a rather trivial undertaking for the US government to put an end to banks standing outside every store demanding protection money from both the merchant and the customer and the robbery-by-fee on every debit card transaction. There is no reason that credit and debit verification on a national basis could not be accomplished in seconds for fractions of a cent per transaction through a single, not-for-profit agency. Electronic money is where we are headed, so why not save the economy billions of dollars a year that the banks now skim off? Oh, right. Banks.

An Enemy of the People: Rand Paul, another of those crammed into the Republican presidential clown car, says e has the right to piss in the middle of the street cause as much global warming as he wants, that it would be “consistent with a free society...”

Details, Details: I sit here watching tornadoes track across the great American mid-west, wondering how all the Republicans out there in Oklahoma and Arkansas and the rest feel about the GOP's promise to stop wasting taxpayer money on weather satellites.

Wording: “Food price hikes could push millions to poverty.” Could? Global food prices are up 36% over a year ago.

Full Faith & Credit: At a basic level, the requirement for food and energy becomes inelastic - if you don't eat or drink, you die and if you cannot get to work, you eventually die. But the free market, in all its supposed benevolent wisdom, doesn't care whether masses of people die, and there is not much a central government can do beyond a minimum threshold.

Cows In The Meadow:Republican voters are more likely than Democrats to oppose any cuts in Medicare. They’re also in favor of small government and low taxes. And magic
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After that, there doesn't seem to be much more to say -- except: Damn, I'm really happy I have lived through the best times of America. It's too bad folks today do not know what they've lost, what is missing. Given the current political climate, I doubt I'll be able to live another 10 or 12 years.

My father died at 93, my mother at 94 -- both needed medical help to maintain their quality of life as they aged -- it does not look like the same level of help will be available in the future -- and, it also seems young folks don't give a damn. Still, happy I'm 72, not 32.

Good luck to all you young folks -- unless you're VERY RICH, I don't think you will be able to access any of the new "medical miracles" coming down the pike. Remember the choices you make today have consequences - and they are NOT just for other folks.

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