Day: October 16, 2015

Seniors: Bend Over And Grab Your Ankles

A friend of IST over at “Lines by Liming” brought this to my attention….I had missed the info thanx to my day in the barrel at the doctor’s office……

It looks like the seniors of this country will once again get bent over a table…..AGAIN! (Will humiliation ever cease?)

The government says there will be no benefit increase next year for millions of Social Security recipients, disabled veterans, and federal retirees. It’s just the third time in 40 years that payments will remain flat, with all three times occurring since 2010. And there’s more bad news: The lack of a benefit increase means that many older people could face higher Medicare costs, an issue that has advocates lobbying Congress. By law, the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is based on a government measure of inflation. This inflation gauge—which measures price changes for food, housing, clothing, transportation, energy, medical care, recreation, and education—came out Thursday, and the main reason for no benefits increase next year is low gas prices. As of Wednesday, AAA said the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline was $2.30, about 90 cents less than a year ago.

The announcement will affect benefits for more than 70 million people—more than one-fifth of the nation’s population. Almost 60 million retirees, disabled workers, spouses, and children get Social Security benefits, with an average monthly Social Security payment of $1,224. The COLA also affects those who get Supplemental Security Income, the disability program for the poor. Congress enacted automatic increases for Social Security beneficiaries in 1975, when inflation was high, and since then, increases have averaged 4% a year. But in the past decade, the COLA has been that big only once. “This is going to be another blow to [people’s] retirement income,” says a rep for the Senior Citizens League. “It’s a huge amount over a lifetime.”

Since I am an old fart….this means the day when I am reduced to eating rice and cat food are just a little closer……

I refuse to blame Obama for it all…..I mean this prez that was going to like the this country economically has done a better job than the news reports would have us believe…..(in case you missed that bit of info)…….

The US government’s budget deficit fell to an eight-year low in fiscal 2015, dropping to $439 billion, the Treasury Department announced Thursday.

The cut in the finance gap — which was $1.4 trillion in 2009 — brought the deficit down to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product, the lowest level since 2007

That aside……seniors like veterans always have to pay for the stupidity of the system that “cherishes” them…….

I pray that my granddaughter will have a better government when she has to retire…..sadly if this current political climate continues…..she will be screwed…….and I have no one to thank but the stupidity of the American voter.

Take some time and say a few words for our seniors……

Middle East: The Clock Is Ticking

Note:  I wrote this draft before the latest “intifada” erupted…….

I write a lot about the situation between the Israelis and the Palestinians…..it is a subject that I have watched and analyzed for decades…..and after all those years the sides are NO closer to finding a way to deal with each other as equals……but the clock is ticking!

The sands are running through the hour glass and no one can find a way to stop it…..a dream for years has been a peaceful Middle East…..many have tried and ALL have failed.

I have written in the past of the possibility for peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis and even offered up a couple of suggestions on how to achieve a lasting peace……but sadly few listen and even fewer care…..

When the Palestinians go on the offensive it is major news…..the media tells all but what caused the action…….they will give the reasons that Israel retaliates against any action and it is always the same…..self-defense which as we have seen in recent years is the call of the people that have to justify the bloodshed they spill.

But think about the causes of the anger of Palestinians……crops destroyed, house destroyed and fruit trees uprooted, loss of livelihood….. and for what?  Would you sit by passively while your livelihood was destroyed?  Would you allow someone to throw you out of your house to make room for an apartment complex?

The one situation that has caused more destruction and bloodshed is Israel’s constant desire to build settlements on Palestinian land.

United Nations special committee has blasted Israel’s policy of settlement expansion, saying it is the root cause of violence towards Palestinians.

In a press release issued on Aug. 10, the committee revealed that testimony from a range of civil society groups and Palestinian officials all pointed to one conclusion: that until the government of Israel reigns in illegal settlement activity in the West Bank, the violence will likely continue.

Besides annexing Palestinian land and further fragmenting West Bank territory, settlement expansion has also contributed to a climate of impunity in which crimes against Palestinians – often at the hands of settlers themselves – continue unchecked.

Settlers also routinely attempt to destroy Palestinian farmland by cutting down trees, setting fields ablaze, damaging machinery or stealing and poisoning livestock.

Israel and the construction of these settlements are the cause of much of the violence in the West Bank then it is time for the US to man up and find a way to force Israel to top this practice and start looking for ways to end this conflict.

Unless of course………Israelis have NO intention of finding a peace and that it was all about the destruction of Palestinians all along and the self-defense BS was just the cover screen……in other words the complete destruction of a people.  That is called genocide….something Israelis should be well aware of from their past.  But wait the world allows it in the name of “self-defense”….did that excuse work in the 1930’s?  Why should it work in the 21st century?

You would think that they would be sensitive to such an act….but they seem to have short memories….you see religion is on their side……funny how religion is not a good excuse elsewhere….but it is when applied to the Israelis……the whole world is one huge communities of hypocrites!

Time is quickly running out.  Both sides, even though it does not appear to be so, have been working to end this hostility…..but as long as the settlements continue and the vicious attacks continue this relative peaceful period will end……and when it ends it will be all out conflict with all the death and destruction that anyone can imagine.

The only hope this situation has is the international community……sadly these entities will do whatever Israel wants……does Israel want a return to all out conflict?  It would give them the excuse they need to totally destroy the Palestinian people and fulfill some mythical promise from an unproven history.  And that is all the excuse they need!

The Debate and the Myth of the Antiwar Democrat

Do you remember the election of 2008?  How about that young upstart Obama?  If you can recall he was billed as the anti-war candidate…..he used that to his advantage and it worked well for him…..he was elected and after that there is nothing in his policies that would point to him being anti-war…….

Now we are looking at another election and a possible anti-war Democrat……..sorry people that creature is a myth.  If you are part of one of the two parties you are pro-war….no matter how many times you deny it….

But there is more on this myth…….

Source: The Debate and the Myth of the Antiwar Democrat by — Antiwar.com

Make America Good Again

Joy! Joy!  Yesterday was my doctor day and I am happy to report that I am here for at least another 2 months….some may dread my return and others rejoice….whichever is yours I want to thank you guys for all the time you spend with me here on IST…….

Let’s get busy!

How many times have you heard this from the conservs on the web?

They talk a mean game but not one of them has any idea how to do that …..without using military force.

It is a great slogan….and Trump-ster is using it as his campaign motto…..but so far the person using it has not giving one idea of how he will accomplish his promise.

I mean the net is crawling with people that write about what went wrong….usually it is all Obama’s fault….like so many other problems in this country…..but again they cannot point to the issues of Obama’s that has dragged the country down……other than “he is weak”…..and that is about as helpful as saying “the sky is blue”…..

Source: Make America Good Again by — Antiwar.com

Sad that you judge the greatness of a country by its ability to kill……its ability to wage war……if anyone had ever tasted war first hand then they would tell you that there is NOTHING great about it.