Month: December 2024

Christmas Eve–2024

For the next few days I want to step away from the silliness in this country and the chaos in the rest of the world.

‘Tis the day before Christmas and all through the blog

As we sit in a credit induced fog

We sip on the magical grog

The holiday’s favorite drink….Egg Nog.

Yep that time again….a little history of a coveted drink of the season….

Eggnog can trace its roots back as far as the 14th century, when medieval Englishmen enjoyed a hot cocktail known as posset. Posset didn’t contain eggs—the Oxford English Dictionary describes it as “a drink made of hot milk curdled with ale, wine, or the like, often sweetened and spiced”—but over the years eggs joined in on the festive fun.

While the egg-laden version of posset was popular with English drinkers, it became less common as time went by. Milk and eggs were both scarce and expensive, and the sherry and Madeira used to spike the mixture was pricey, too. Over time, the concoction became a drink that only aristocrats could really afford.

All of that changed in the American colonies, though. What the settlers lacked in parliamentary representation they made up for in easy access to dairy products and liquor.

Since many Americans had their own chickens and dairy cattle, tossing together a glass of eggnog was no problem, and the drink’s popularity soared among the colonists even as it sagged back home.

This disparity in the drink’s popularity on either side of the pond endures to this day; eggnog’s popularity in the UK still lags far behind its holiday ubiquity in the States. Here’s how the Guardian’s Andrew Shanahan memorably described the drink in 2006: “People rarely get it right, but even if you do it still tastes horrible. The smell is like an omelette and the consistency defies belief. It lurches around the glass like partially-sentient sludge.” Yum?

The word eggnog itself has fairly murky origins, but many etymologists think the name stems from the word noggin, which referred to small wooden mugs that were often used to serve this type of drink. Others propose a similar story but explain that nog comes from Norfolk slang and refers to the strong ales that were often served in these cups. Still others think the name is a contraction of colonial Americans’ request to bartenders for an “egg-and-grog” when they wanted a glass.

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/26537/way-more-you-ever-wanted-know-about-eggnog

Just a little something I thought I would pass along as you enjoy that second glass of ‘nog’.

Drink with caution….Be well and Be Safe….

Chestnuts roasting over an open fire…..that tradition seems to be drying up….

It’s been a very long time since vendors sold the American chestnut on city sidewalks. It’s no longer the variety whose smell some people associate with Christmastime as it wafts from street carts. That’s because it’s virtually extinct. But researchers want to bring the American chestnut back, per the AP. “You can feel that connection to a place, and that connection to utility, and the connection to the importance that this tree played in virtually every aspect of the lives of people,” says Sara Fern Fitzsimmons, chief conservation officer with the American Chestnut Foundation, which is working to restore the tree to flourish as it once did.

Fitzsimmons said that will likely take a lot longer than many chestnut enthusiasts had hoped. Researchers have hit roadblocks with attempts to breed or genetically modify a version that can withstand the blight that has hammered the species since the early 1900s. If and when they do find the right variety, they’ll need to figure out how to help it thrive in forests that are under pressure from climate change, globalization, and development. Once a hallmark of forests from Georgia to New England, American chestnuts now exist mostly as a vast network of root systems underground, sending up shoots. They grow for a time, but the fungal blight takes hold when the trees start maturing. East Asian varieties, like those that introduced the blight in the first place, are immune to the blight and produce most of the edible chestnuts for fall and winter snacking.

I was raised in the Deep South so chestnuts were not big but pecans were and they are thriving.

I have to finalize my Christmas stuff so today will be a short day.

I hope everyone has a joyous and safe Christmas Eve.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

An “Ethical Crisis”

For years now many of us here in the blogosphere have been telling the world that there was a moral and ethical crisis within our Supreme Court….now a report has been issued but it will be attacked as misinformation and just naysayers popping off.

Some of the judges have been taking favors from special interests and some have been openly partisan and others….well you get the jest….

The report of which I spoke….

A report released Saturday by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee after a 20-month investigation declares the Supreme Court “has mired itself in an ethical crisis of its own making.” The report lists a series of ethical lapses and failures and estimates the value of gifts accepted by Justice Clarence Thomas in the millions of dollars. “The number, value, and extravagance of the gifts accepted by Justice Thomas have no comparison in modern American history,” the report says, per the Washington Post. Those gifts sometimes came from people with issues before the court, it adds.

Congress needs to enact an enforceable ethics code that would provide for an independent panel to review complaints, the report says. The committee approved such a bill this year along party lines, per NBC News, but Republicans prevented a Senate vote. “It’s clear that the justices are losing the trust of the American people at the hands of a gaggle of fawning billionaires,” Chairman Dick Durbin said in a statement. Republicans on the committee did not take part in the investigation.

The report lists previously documented gifts as well as free travel by Thomas that hadn’t been disclosed, including a yacht trip to New York City sponsored by Harlan Crow, a Texas billionaire and Thomas benefactor. Thomas did not answer investigators’ inquiries but previously maintained he wasn’t obligated to report many gifts because they were covered by a “personal hospitality” exemption in force at the time. As polls have shown its public popularity falling, the court approved an ethics code a year ago, per the Post, that has no enforcement mechanism.

More than few people have been calling for some sort of true reform of SCOTUS….from term limits to retirement age to recusal mandatory when appropriate….things need to change the court is NO longer the ‘referee’ of our government but the spokesman for one party.

This is just a wish list as we head into yet another dismal 4 years and all I can do is just fight back as I see fit.

When I read the report I thought ‘seriously?  How long did it take to come up with this conclusion?  A conclusion that many already have.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Biden’s Shot In The Dark

Biden’s days are numbered and he will soon retire to someplace in Delaware and write a book. But before he goes he took a stab at looking like a president that cared.

His big announcement was about the environment….

President Biden is pledging to cut US greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60% by 2035 as he fights to ensure his legacy on slowing global warming, even as President-elect Trump vows to undo much of Biden’s climate work when he takes office next month. Biden said the new goal—which supersedes a previous plan to cut carbon emissions at least in half by 2030—keeps the United States on track to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy-wide by 2050, per the AP. The US is making a formal submission of the new target, known as a Nationally Determined Contribution, to the United Nations under terms of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, Biden said Thursday.

The new goal calls for reducing net emissions by 61% to 66% below 2005 levels in 2035. “I’m proud that my administration is carrying out the boldest climate agenda in American history,” Biden said in a videotaped statement. “We’re doing it by setting ambitious goals,” such as deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind and conserving at least 30% of US lands and waters by 2030, Biden said. His administration also has set strict new standards to cut air pollution from cars, trucks, and power plants and signed into law the most significant investments in climate and clean energy in US history, he said.

The proposal would require sustained changes across the economy, from power generation to transportation, buildings, agriculture, and industry, including significant increases in renewable energy and steep cuts in emissions from fossil fuels. The US pledge includes methane reductions of at least 35% from 2005 levels by 2035, Biden said. Cutting methane emissions is among the fastest ways to reduce near-term warming and is crucial to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The action by the Democratic president comes just over a month before he’s set to leave office. Trump has already promised to unleash a series of executive actions that will seek to undo most or all of Biden’s climate agenda as the Republican president-elect pushes for “energy dominance” around the globe. More here.

This is a bold proposal but where was it 4 years ago?

How will this be carried out when in just days the most climate hostile president will take office?

This was lame and a shot in the dark….kinda like most Biden policies.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Conan The Bacterium

Another Sunday….Christmas draws near….

Since I am not feeling very analytic today I thought I would post on something other than the approaching storm for this country.

I suppose that most everyone, that’s interested, has heard that those poor astronauts that were abandoned at the ISS will have to remain in space until at least March of 2025.

I have been irradiated so I got to thinking about all the cosmic radiation that space travelers will be subjected to as they travel the galaxy.

Then I came upon this story of Conan The Bacterium, as the researchers call it….( I was a huge Conan fan in my youth (the Barbarian not the Talk show host) the name just snap my attention.

Life is often viewed as fragile, especially when compared the vast and seemingly unfeeling infinite that is the ever-expanding universe—but then, you meet Deinococcus radiodurans. Nicknamed “Conan the Bacterium” after the famous beefy boy of comic legend, this extremophile earns its heroic nickname from being able to withstand not just immense cold and heat, but also acid, the vacuum of space, and (as the name radiodurans suggests) some 28,000 times more radiation than it would kill an average human.

D. radiodurans is the definition of peak performance.

Now, a new study led by scientists at Northwestern University investigates exactly how this wonder bacterium can survive so many extreme environments that’d spell the end of any other species. This examination led to a collection of simple metabolites—the end product of biological metabolism—and how they interact with manganese to form a powerful antioxidant.

Inspired by this process, the researchers constructed a synthetic antioxidant called MDP made from manganese ions, phosphate and a small peptide, and found that these components provided incredible radiation protection—far beyond the protection of the manganese paired with only one other component. The results of the study were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

“We’ve long known that manganese ions and phosphate together make a strong antioxidant, but discovering and understanding the ‘magic’ potency provided by the addition of the third component is a breakthrough,” Brian Hoffman, senior author of the study from Northwestern, said in a press statement. “This study has provided the key to understanding why this combination is such a powerful—and promising—radioprotectant.”

When analyzing the scenario of D. radiodurans surviving on the surface of Mars, Hoffman and his team measured the amount of manganese antioxidants using an advanced spectroscopy technique, and discovered that the amount of manganese antioxidants and the amount of radiation protection formed a positive correlation—more of one means more of the other.

This could obviously have immense applications for humans as we continue exploring the Solar System and beyond—after all, space tends to be pretty irradiated. So, a “radioprotectant” (as Hoffman calls it) that’s tailor-made for humans—whether used in spacecraft shielding or space suits—could be immensely beneficial.

“This new understanding of MDP could lead to the development of even more potent manganese-based antioxidants for applications in health care, industry, defense and space exploration,” Michael Daly, a co-author of the study from Uniformed Services University, said in a press statement.

Maybe this mighty bacterium’s name is a compliment to Conan the Barbarian, rather than the other way around.

(popularmechanics.com)

Now we have our own version of ‘Starship Troopers’ that eventually venture into space to face the evils that threaten the earth….this process could save lives lost to radiation.

Maybe not earth shattering but interesting…..

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

IST Saturday News Dump–21Dec24

Today is the official beginning of the Winter season….and do I have a bunch of stuff to pass on to you guys.

Breaking News–as if on cue the Congress passed the spending bill and avoided the looming government shutdown (as if there was any doubt)…be thankful Congress got its pay raise and all is well.

Locally–weather has been a bit warm even for this time of the year….mid-70s daytime and mid-60s night and no rain to speak of just lots of fog.

Personally–the radiation is done (for now) and the doctor is promoting immunotherapy (to me that means $$$$ for the treatments) that should begin after the holidays.  So far my energy levels have not bounced back but I guess it will take time.

I apologize to my readers for not being as prompt as I once was….these cancer treatments o not like me…..hopefully things will get better, for now, for I have about 3 weeks off.

Since my cancer diagnosis I have been watching for research into the disease and any positive signs it may produce.

Tiny robots thinner than a human hair could revolutionise cancer treatment by delivering drugs directly to tumours, scientists have discovered.

The breakthrough involves special 3D-printed microbots that measure just 30 microns in diameter – a fraction of a millimetre.

These microscopic machines can transform between solid and liquid states and are designed to survive stomach acid.

The innovative robots have already shown promise in reducing bladder tumour size during mouse trials.

https://www.gbnews.com/health/cancer-treatment-tiny-robots-smaller-human-hair-revolutionary

It is that time of the year….all the predictions for the new year are starting to make news….

Psychic World’s mystics, fortune tellers and astrologers have predicted the “start of the most significant global paradigm shift in three decades” for next year.

Their daring 2025 forecasts include the onset of a potential pandemic, dramatic leadership changes across Europe, and advancements in space travel.

And if that wasn’t enough, they’re also predicting an evolution in artificial intelligence much like the one world leaders and “tech bros” such as Elon Musk warned us about.

Psychic World predicts these could result in a “move away from centrist, traditional socio-democratic parties”. Saturn’s journey through Aries may back “brave, reformist leaders who challenge the status quo”, while Uranus in Taurus advocates for economic innovation and change.

Germany is expected to undergo its most substantial reforms since 1991 to regain its position as a leading manufacturing powerhouse.

https://www.irishstar.com/news/us-news/new-pandemic-covid-prediction-warning-34338129

More troubling news from the world of science….

Science run amok is a prominent fixture in post-apocalyptic fiction. Disease, interdimensional monsters, and AI are all examples of widespread death courtesy of some misguided scientific venture. But every once in a while, debates and worries about potentially world-ending research spill out into the real world. And now, 38 prominent biologists are raising the alarm of a new threat: mirror life.

No, this is not some “Spock with a beard” scenario. Instead, it’s the purposeful creation of proteins and DNA that take on the exact mirror chirality—or handedness—of typical biology found in all living things on Earth.

For example, DNA is made mostly of sugar, which can have left- or right-handed molecules. But, for whatever reason (scientists don’t know exactly), life selected right-handed molecules to form DNA—which is why the double-helix curves toward the right. Proteins, on the other hand (no pun intended), use left-handed amino acids. This is not only true of humans, but all life on Earth.

Of course, the seemingly arbitrary decision to arrange life in this way led to an irresistible question—what if life’s handedness formed in the mirror direction? Now, a 299-page report—along with a commentary published in the journal Science—suggests that maybe pursuing this particular path of knowledge isn’t the best idea.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a63208690/mirror-cells-could-end-life-on-earth/

From the tech world….since I am not the biggest techno nerd I find somethings fascinating….like this story….

Sensor-equipped wearables like smartwatches, fitness bands, rings, and even some internet connected clothing have lurched their way into mainstream acceptance in recent years. Though many of the devices have become more compact over successive iterations, almost all still need some sort of battery to hold power. Batteries can add weight and need to be charged which can present issues with certain healthcare wearables where constant, uninterrupted monitoring of a user’s vitals are crucial. 

Researchers from the Queensland University of Technology in Australia believe they may have come up with a solution: a thin, flexible, and cost-effective film that converts body heat into power. That energy source, the researchers argue in a study published today in Science, could then be used in lieu of batteries to power next generation wearable tech. The study builds off other recent research showing how small thermoelectric devices can essentially turn the human body into a mini geo-thermal reactor to power wearbels. It’s still early, but researchers are hopeful the film, if scaled properly, could help bring about more useful smart clothing and longer lasting wearable medical devices that could potentially function without batteries.

“Flexible thermoelectric devices can be worn comfortably on the skin where they effectively turn the temperature difference between the human body and surrounding air into electricity,” Queensland University Zhi-Gang Chen and paper lead author said in a statement.

https://www.popsci.com/technology/body-heat-power-source/

More bad news for us coffee drinkers….

The overheating of our planet is putting coffee bean crops at risk, and it’s not just the people who rely on a morning caffeine boost who will be affected.

According to Inside Climate News, coffee prices reached an all-time high in late November as the impact of drought began to take hold of the industry. 

Brazil and Vietnam — two of the largest coffee-producing countries on the planet — have dealt with drought during 2024, dramatically reducing yields and increasing the prices of supplies that remain. 

As ICN observed, scientists have pointed to human-caused global heating and the impact of El Niño — a climate pattern that occurs once every few years — as reasons for the increasingly dry conditions.

The drought has also been made worse by deforestation activity in Brazil, which the Washington Post noted changes rainfall patterns and reduces soil’s ability to hold water. 

Meanwhile, VOA reported that Vietnam saw its worst drought in nearly a decade, while ICN said the impact of Typhoon Yagi in September has also affected crop production.

Coffee companies issue serious warnings after beans become nearly impossible to grow — here’s what’s going on

Dammit!  Eggs, butter and now coffee….where does this stop?

Scientists have found yet another solution to our growing microplastics problem.

Microplastics are everywhere, which is why scientists have been dedicating a lot of time to trying to figure out a way to safely extract them. Now, it seems a super sponge-like foam that borrows the soaking skills of cotton and squid may be a promising candidate, as it was found to remove 98 to 99.9 percent of microplastics from water samples studied.

What’s more, the foam is sustainable and environmentally adaptable, without carrying the neuston-zone-destroying risks of some ocean-hoovering approaches. As well as targeting microplastics already in the environment, it could be used to treat water at factories before it gets released, working to both reduce the microplastics already in nature and those being leaked into it.

“Microplastics entering terrestrial and aquatic habitats are anticipated to continuously increase for thousands of years, due to the alarming volumes of plastic waste in the environment (~4.6 billion metric tons) and the difficulty of degradation under natural conditions,” wrote the study authors.

https://www.iflscience.com/new-sponge-like-biomass-foam-found-to-soak-up-999-percent-of-microplastics-77223

Is there anything useful about a roach?

How do you create an army of cockroach cyborgs? Why, you enrol the robots, of course. That’s the direction a new preprint study has taken in equipping cockroaches with little backpacks in under 68 seconds using an automatic assembly method, something they’ve termed the “Cyborg Insect Factory”.

It sounds like nightmare fuel, but it’s actually a smart approach to search and rescue that’s being explored in a few ways. We’ve already looked into robotic snakes and living rats, so why not try a cyborg cockroach?

There have been a few models of cyborg roaches already, including ones with their antennae attached to their backpacks, while others had jazzy solar-powered packs. This latest project stands out in focusing on a means of scalable creation, since given their size, you’re probably not going to be able to achieve a lot with one wee cockroach in a big search and rescue operation.

What if, say, you could create an automatic system capable of equipping the cockroach with its little electric backpack in a little over a minute? Would it then be possible to create a scalable operation of mini cyborg-roach soldiers?

https://www.iflscience.com/new-automated-machine-equips-roaches-with-backpacks-creating-an-army-of-cyborgs-77275

Growing up I was part of a hunting family…..we went out for food for the freezer and I was taught that a respect for the animal was a must.

Ever year the ‘American Sportsman’ kills other hunters or a cow or some other non-game animal in there blood lust and finally there was a reckoning.

A hunter is dead after a freak hunting accident in Virginia last week. Around 9:50am on December 9, authorities say a group of hunters chased a bear into a tree in Lunenburg County, and one hunter shot the bear as the group was retreating from under the tree, USA Today reports. The bear fell, striking a 58-year-old man who was about 10 feet from the tree. Another hunter administered first aid until emergency responders arrived, and the man was taken to a nearby hospital but did not survive. He died Friday. No charges are being pursued, police say.

Personally it was a cowardly act to shot a treed animal…at least the bear took one of the cowards with him.

This does it for me on this Wintery day….if you are up to last minute shopping  then Be well and Be Safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Clock Is Still Ticking

The silly excuse for government is still at it with the spending bill. I think it is interesting because Congress has passed a $900 NDAA but cannot work on a way to keep the government functioning.

This whole thing is a game played by idiots.

A quick recap….

The bipartisan spending bill Congress put forward to prevent a government shutdown is dead, according to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who responded “yes” when asked Wednesday night if the deal had been officially scrapped following President-elect Trump’s rejection of it. House Speaker Mike Johnson has not yet said how he plans to proceed, the BBC reports. Rather than passing a budget for the fiscal year that started October 1, Congress passed a temporary spending bill, which expires Friday. Without a short-term funding bill passing, a federal government shutdown looms.

Then there was movement to solve the impasse….

House Republicans have announced that they’ve reached agreement on a Plan B to avert a government shutdown. They plan a vote later Thursday, the Hill reports, ahead of Friday’s deadline. The new version includes a three-month continuing resolution and a two-year suspension of the debt ceiling but leaves out a congressional pay raise. It also would extend the farm bill for a year and fund disaster aid, per the New York Times. President-elect Trump endorsed the latest proposal on social media.

  • “There’s still a lot of negotiations and conversations going on,” and no clear path forward yet, Scalise told reporters, per the New York Post, which refers to the rejected bipartisan stopgap bill as “bloated” at 1,547 pages. Trump has called for it to be streamlined.
  • Elon Musk, who had also spoken out aggressively against the bill, posted victoriously after news broke that it had been killed. “Your elected representatives have heard you and now the terrible bill is dead. The voice of the people has triumphed.”
  • Trump and VP-elect Vance are also calling for the national debt ceiling to be raised; asked whether that’s on the table for the revised stopgap measure, Scalise would only say, “We’re obviously looking at a lot of options.”
  • The Hill reports lawmakers on both sides seemed to be “caught off guard” by the debt limit increase demand. Politico reports it’s a “complicated issue lawmakers hadn’t planned to deal with for months,” and there’s quite a bit of concern that it can’t be dealt with in a matter of days.
  • Before the deal’s collapse, Johnson went on Fox and Friends to talk about it Wednesday morning, and revealed that he’s on a group text with Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy and that he’d been texting with them about the background of the deal the night prior, NBC News reports.
  • He said he reminded them that with the thin margin Republicans have in the House, Democrat votes are needed, but apparently they (and Trump, and Vance) were unconvinced; as the Washington Post explains, critics of the bill claim it contains too many “giveaways to Democrats.”
  • Sources tell Politico and the Hill Johnson is now considering a “clean” continuing resolution as a Plan B, meaning additional provisions such as disaster aid and financial assistance for farmers would be dropped from the spending bill and considered again in the new year. It’s unclear Democrats, or even all of the House’s conservative lawmakers, would support such a move.

The Trump endorsed [plan goes down in flames as well…..

House Democrats didn’t just say they don’t support the new federal spending plan to avoid a government shutdown that the Republicans came up with Thursday. They chanted it. “Hell no, hell no” could be heard coming from the room where the caucus was meeting, the Washington Post reports, as well as rounds of cheering and booing. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had called the proposal “laughable” on his way in. As they left the meeting, members told reporters they were united in their intention to vote against the plan, per the New York Times. A two-thirds majority is required to enact the measure.

Not all Republicans are on board, either. After President-elect Trump said on Sean Hannity’s radio show that GOP Rep. Chip Roy was blocking the bill, the Texan called in himself. “It’s a bad deal, which is what happens in Washington,” Roy told Hannity, per the Post. “The bad deal is this: It’s a watered-down version of the same crappy bill that people were mad about yesterday.” He’s against raising the debt ceiling without accompanying spending cuts. The bill is “horrible,” another Republican said. “I have a feeling it’s going to fail spectacularly,” said Rep. Rich McCormick. GOP leaders were planning a House vote Thursday evening; the shutdown deadline is Friday.

Now the scramble begins to find a deal before the deadline tonight….the big problem is there is no “Plan C’…..

After the House rejected Republicans’ stopgap government spending proposal backed by President-elect Trump—the party’s so-called Plan B after the initial bipartisan bill was dropped—on Thursday evening, the nation might wonder what’s next. GOP Rep. Ralph Norman had an answer, the Hill reports. “There is no plan,” Rep. Ralph Norman said, adding: “Trump wants the thing to shut down.” That’s what will happen if a bill doesn’t pass the House and Senate and receive President Biden’s signature by 12:01am Saturday. The vote was 174-235, with 38 Republicans voting no; the measure needed a two-thirds majority to pass. Republicans then headed back to Speaker Mike Johnson’s office to regroup. Politicians were saying:

  • GOP Rep. Thomas Massie: “They’re stuck on stupid. They want to shut down,” the lawmaker told reporters, per the Washington Post, referring to fellow Republicans. The House Rules Committee member blamed Johnson for keeping all provisions in a single bill. Splitting them up would allow voters to “see who voted for a shutdown, who voted for a debt limit, who voted for disaster relief,” Massie said, adding, “Quit playing around.”
  • Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries: “One or two puppet masters weigh in, and the extreme MAGA Republicans decide to do the bidding of the wealthy, the well-off, the well-connected millionaires and billionaires, not working-class people all across America,” the Democratic leader said. He had ripped Trump and Elon Musk earlier in the day, as well, for pressuring Republicans to abandon the bipartisan deal. He also said the bill defeated Thursday “is just part of an effort to shut down the government.”
  • Trump: “Increasing the debt ceiling is not great,” the president-elect said in a statement, per the New York Times, “but we’d rather do it on Biden’s watch.”
  • Sen. Chuck Schumer: “It’s a good thing the bill failed in the House,” the Democratic leader said, per Politico, “and now it’s time to go back to the bipartisan agreement we came to.”
  • White House: “President Biden supports the bipartisan agreement to keep the government open, help communities recovering from disasters, and lower costs—not this giveaway for billionaires,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, per ABC News.

Stuck on stupid?  That has been the GOP for 40 years.

As their typical way of handling this thing….Will they find a late night solution?

Will these idiots allow a shutdown?

Will this theater of stupidity ever end?

I have more doctor stuff today….treatments that must be performed before the holidays….hopefully this will be it for awhile give me some time top bounce back.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

It’s That Time Again!

Time for one of the silliest games in DC….the spending bill and the looming government shutdown.

Theater of the Absurd at it’s best.

That time again when there is no spending bill and the government is only hours away from a shutdown….like I said a silly game that is truly sad.

There was a bill but Trump and his band of misfits peed on it.

The bipartisan spending bill Congress put forward to prevent a government shutdown is dead, according to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who responded “yes” when asked Wednesday night if the deal had been officially scrapped following President-elect Trump’s rejection of it. House Speaker Mike Johnson has not yet said how he plans to proceed, the BBC reports. Rather than passing a budget for the fiscal year that started October 1, Congress passed a temporary spending bill, which expires Friday. Without a short-term funding bill passing, a federal government shutdown looms.

  • “There’s still a lot of negotiations and conversations going on,” and no clear path forward yet, Scalise told reporters, per the New York Post, which refers to the rejected bipartisan stopgap bill as “bloated” at 1,547 pages. Trump has called for it to be streamlined.
  • Elon Musk, who had also spoken out aggressively against the bill, posted victoriously after news broke that it had been killed. “Your elected representatives have heard you and now the terrible bill is dead. The voice of the people has triumphed.”
  • Trump and VP-elect Vance are also calling for the national debt ceiling to be raised; asked whether that’s on the table for the revised stopgap measure, Scalise would only say, “We’re obviously looking at a lot of options.”
  • The Hill reports lawmakers on both sides seemed to be “caught off guard” by the debt limit increase demand. Politico reports it’s a “complicated issue lawmakers hadn’t planned to deal with for months,” and there’s quite a bit of concern that it can’t be dealt with in a matter of days.
  • Before the deal’s collapse, Johnson went on Fox and Friends to talk about it Wednesday morning, and revealed that he’s on a group text with Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy and that he’d been texting with them about the background of the deal the night prior, NBC News reports.
  • He said he reminded them that with the thin margin Republicans have in the House, Democrat votes are needed, but apparently they (and Trump, and Vance) were unconvinced; as the Washington Post explains, critics of the bill claim it contains too many “giveaways to Democrats.”
  • Sources tell Politico and the Hill Johnson is now considering a “clean” continuing resolution as a Plan B, meaning additional provisions such as disaster aid and financial assistance for farmers would be dropped from the spending bill and considered again in the new year. It’s unclear Democrats, or even all of the House’s conservative lawmakers, would support such a move.

It is the same song and dance every time….and then the idiots come to a last minute deal to save the shutdown….but with Trump and the Boyz in the wings will they come top a deal?

Let’s look at the dark cloud….

President-elect Trump abruptly rejected a bipartisan plan Wednesday to prevent a Christmastime government shutdown, instead telling House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republicans to essentially renegotiate—days before a deadline when federal funding runs out.

  • Trump’s sudden decision to make new demands sent Congress spiraling as lawmakers are trying to wrap up work and head home for the holidays, the AP reports. It leaves House Speaker Mike Johnson scrambling to salvage a new plan, days before Friday’s deadline to keep the government open. “Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH,” Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance said in a statement.
  • The president-elect offered a proposal for a continuation of government funding along with a much more controversial provision to raise the nation’s debt limit—something his own party routinely rejects.
  • Democrats decried the GOP revolt over the stopgap measure to keep federal offices running. “House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. “And hurt the working-class Americans they claim to support. You break the bipartisan agreement, you own the consequences that follow.”
  • Already, the bill was on the verge of collapse, as hard-right conservatives and Trump’s billionaire ally Elon Musk rejected the plan. Rank-and-file lawmakers decried the massive 1,500-page bill over its increased spending—which includes their first pay raises in more than a decade. A number of Republicans were waiting for Trump to signal whether they should vote yes or no.
  • “This should not pass,” Musk posted on X in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. He warned that “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!”
  • Sources tell the Hill that Johnson is looking at a “Plan B” involving a “clean” resolution that would continue funding the government while dropping provisions including $10 billion in aid for farmers and $100 billion in disaster relief.
  • The stopgap measure is needed because Congress has failed to pass its annual appropriations bills to fund all the various agencies in the federal government, from the Pentagon and national security apparatus, to the health, welfare, transportation, and other routine domestic services. When the fiscal year ended on Sept. 30, Congress simply punted the problem by passing a temporary funding bill that expires Friday

This sad saga gets more ridiculous by the session.

I cannot wait for the rest of the story.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

All Those Medical Bills

I am told that today’s session with the ‘Cyber Knife’, focused radiation therapy, will be my last then there will be re-evaluation of my condition and then decide what to move on to for my next treatment….maybe now I can get a bit of my energy back.

I know that health care is very expensive here but since I started my ordeal it seems that bills arrive daily…..makes one ask just what the Hell is going on with, according to some, the best health care in the world.

There are few….make that many….theories at why the costs are so prohibitive….here are a couple of observations….

One of the most talked-about policies in the national conversation around insurance is Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield’s decision in Connecticut, New York, and Missouri to deny claims for anesthesia for surgeries that went longer than a set time limit. It was greeted with huge uproar before the insurer backtracked, citing “misinformation” about the issue. For some, that’s exactly what this was, wrongly painting the insurer as the bad guy. For others, it’s a further sign that the private insurance system needs to go. Two opinions:

Eric Levitz, Vox:

  • “People imagined patients waking up from surgery to find they owed thousands of dollars because their procedure went 15 minutes long,” writes the journalist. But this was a “cost control” that would’ve reduced payments for anesthesiologists who tend to exaggerate and overbill, says Levitz, stressing the burden would’ve fallen on those providers, not patients. Ultimately, if health care costs are to fall in the US, hospitals, physicians, and drug companies—which “charge much higher rates than their peers in other wealthy nations”—need to “accept lower payments,” Levitz writes. “Ideally, we would do this through a comprehensive system of public cost controls and insurance provision. Failing that, we need private insurers to drive a harder bargain with the most expensive doctors and hospitals.”

Dr. Adam Gaffney, MSNBC:

  • Gaffney of the Harvard Medical School redirects the blame onto insurers. “Obviously, most health care spending goes to health care provision,” he writes. “The relevant question is how to realize savings while upgrading care for everyone, and the best answer is by eliminating the gargantuan waste that is our private insurance system.” “The traditional, public Medicare program spends about 2% of its total revenue on administration. Private insurers, by contrast, take 10% (or more) of your premium for administration and profit,” he writes. “This fivefold difference accounts for the more than $400 billion in savings that the Congressional Budget Office projects could be saved annually from eliminating private insurance and moving to ‘Medicare for All.’ Instead, we’re basically setting that money on fire.”

As prices keep rising more and more Americans are searching for answers….

Public sentiment regarding the nation’s for-profit healthcare system—an outlier among wealthy nations—has dominated the national news in recent days following last week’s killing of an insurance executive in New York.

On Monday, just hours before a suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was arrested by police, a new Gallup poll found a 62% majority in the U.S. believe the government should ensure all Americans have healthcare coverage—the highest percentage in more than a decade.

Just 42% of people in 2013 believed it was the government’s responsibility to make sure everyone in the country had health coverage—a low since the beginning of this century.

The poll found that a majority of Republicans still believe ensuring health coverage is not the government’s job, but the majority has shrunk since 2020.

That year, only 22% of Republican voters believed the government should ensure everyone in the country has healthcare, but that number has now grown to 32%.

The percentage of Independents who think the issue is in the government’s purview has also gone up by six points since 2020, and Democratic support remains high, currently at 90%.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/universal-healthcare-poll

Those findings alone should sway the government into action…..HAHAHA!

With the incoming people profit is far more important than the health of your mom or dad….enter those scary death panels that the GOP was warning us about back in 2012….but who knew they would be warning us against their policies?

I will be out of pocket most of the day so this will be my only offering for your consideration.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

For Profit Healthcare Sucks!

Because of my recent diagnosis I am spending more time taking looks at this country’s healthcare system. We are told by some pundits that the US has the best healthcare in the world….I dispute that claim….as someone that is getting up there in age I have need of the system to see that I get older and I am not impressed.

I have been bitching about the healthcare in this country for decades and recently some in the Congress have tried to push through a package they call Medicare For All…..of course I had to write about it in 2019….

https://lobotero.com/2019/03/04/medicare-for-all/ Now back to the lie that we have the best healthcare in the world…..

A report out Thursday shows that the United States’ for-profit healthcare system still ranks dead last among peer nations on key metrics, including access to care and health outcomes such as life expectancy at birth. The new analysis from the Commonwealth Fund is the latest indictment of a corporate-dominated system that leaves tens of millions of people uninsured or underinsured and unable to afford life-saving medications without rationing doses or going into debt. “Despite spending a lot on healthcare, the United States is not meeting one of the principal obligations of a nation: to protect the health and welfare of its residents,” the report states. “Most of the countries we compared are providing this protection, even though each can learn a good deal from its peers. The U.S., in failing this ultimate test of a successful nation, remains an outlier.” People in the U.S., which spends roughly twice as much per capita on healthcare as other rich nations, “live the shortest lives and have the most avoidable deaths,” Commonwealth noted, pointing to frequent “denials of services by insurance companies” and other systematic defects of the American system, including massive administrative costs. Meanwhile, insurance giants and pharmaceutical companies are raking in huge profits, benefiting in particular from the growing privatization of Medicare. More than half of the Medicare-eligible population in the U.S. is currently on a privately run Medicare Advantage plan. “Our private, profit-driven system means that we are paying more for less,” progressive activist Jonathan Cohn wrote in response to the Commonwealth report.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/us-healthcare-system This failure on the system can be blamed on the bribes paid to Congress to see that nothing changes and the profits just keep rolling in and the officials have their hands out for the big pay offs. This system sucks.  That is the best description I can give. I Read, I Write, You Know “cognito ergo me agitare”

Are We Entering The New Dark Ages?

2025 will be the beginning of a repeat of the Guiled Age (19th-early 20th century)…..

Too many once critical opponents of Trump are starting to change their tunes and basically asking….what could go wrong?

Heads up here…I AM NOT ONE OF THEM!

I have read all 900+ pages of Project 2025 and anyone that has been awake for the last couple of decades should see the problem that is rising on a dim horizon.

Personally, and I am not alone, I think the US could be entering into a new Dark Ages….

Donald Trump has moved at warp speed to nominate people to serve in his Cabinet and other important government posts who have chosen loyalty to him as their most important virtue, making a mockery of merit even as the nominees claim to uphold meritocracy.  

Moreover, like Trump himself, his nominees denigrate science and scientific expertise, subscribe to conspiracy theories, are eager to impose litmus tests in the arts and education, and seem hostile to the world beyond America’s borders.

Elections have consequences, so the saying goes.

And if that wasn’t enough to remind us that elections have consequences, the president-elect announced that on the first day of his administration, he will order a mass deportation of millions of immigrants and impose stiff tariffs on this nation’s most important trading partners.

While much of the post-election commentary has focused on its implications for American democracy,  there is another side to what will unfold starting on Jan. 20. When he takes office, Trump, who promised to Make America Great Again, seems determined to lead America into a period of scientific, cultural, educational, and global retrenchment, which collectively might be called the new “Dark Ages.”

Some see Trump as reviving the so-called Gilded Age of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, an era of great prosperity as well as technological and industrial growth. It was an era dominated by corrupt “captains of industry” or “robber barons” whose corrupting influence also extended to government and politics. 

However, leaders in the Gilded Age did not reject science and rationality. Quite the contrary, they embraced both because they saw them as essential to the growth of capitalism. And they invested in culture and the arts, rather than trying to make them hue to a particular orthodoxy.

https://www.salon.com/2024/12/07/welcome-to-the-new-dark-ages/

I am a person of meager means and I am not thrilled about the policies Trump has threatened the country with…..these policies will do nothing to make my life better if they are put into action.

Some of these ‘nominees’ are truly ‘successful’ business men…..but very very few have done anything to help this nation and its people….they have raped (metaphorically) and back-stabbed to get their millions and billions but that does nothing for me.

I want the people to lead my nation that look at the people and how to improve their lives not as a pack of peons to be exploited.

Do not fret far from finished with my criticisms.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”