truedelphi
truedelphi's JournalCatch-a 422, regarding cannabis, even in Legalized States.
Great posting of an article by John Dvorak, in LadyBug Magazine:
http://www.ladybud.com/2013/11/25/catch-422/
The graphic alone is worth a trip to the above link.
Expose at DailyKos about how Change.org is morphing into RW Organization.
Very important to understand what is happening over at Change.org
Like "terminal2" is explaining, this website has build up its equity on the web on account of us activists.
But now that we progressives have made the website a popular one, there is "change" a-coming down the pike, and it is not good for those in the progressive activist community.
Yes, now they want to, and plan to, sell out, in order to attract the Big Money from t he RW folks whose deep pockets will be bursting open, in order to finance the election of Republicans and more conservative Dems come 2014, and 29016.
Read this excellent piece by folowing this link:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/23/1149092/-Change-org-sells-out-progressive-movement
But follow the money - the rogue agency is expanding moment by moment. Its spending will
Overshadow every aspect of our lives.
And if it takes our Social Security surplus to pay for it, so be it.
And remember, a lot of what happens in defense and surveillance programs falls into the black op category.
If Diane Feinstein, who heads the Senate Committee on Surveillance, can see to it that the paperwork concerning the bidding process by which her husband's real estate company, CBRE, became the sole Real Estate authority over each and every single transaction relating to US Post Office properties and buildings remains classified as part of a National Security measure, anyone can see the writing on the wall.
Mark my words, the "Surveillance Society" means that the American people will never again have to witness, read about, hear about or even smell the stink of corruption tainting our governmental "leaders," and bankrupting our country.
Sen Di Feinstein's Crooked Post Office Deals -
This one San Francisco Bay Area reporter, Peter Byrne, has done so much ground- breaking works on the behind the scenes back room deals of Senator Diane Feinstein.
Post Office officials have allowed a scandalous situation to go down, in which Diane Feinstein has helped secure for her husband, Richard Blum, and his firm CBRE, the sole authority and power to handle any and all Real Estate Deals, involving the Post Office buildings. So of the 85 billions worth of buildings (estimated worth,) only Richard Blum and his associates will handle any deals.
Details of the contracts expose that not only does CBRE handle the deals on the part of the seller, that is, The USPS, but the Blum-pire can also serve as the business handler of the buyers end of things as well. This traditionally has been frowned on by the RE industry, and is considered to be "conflict of interest."
Already Byrne has uncovered the sale of some 235 millions of dollars of USPS Buildings at a loss of close to or over 50 millions of dollars.
Byrne was not able to examine the bidding situation, which resulted in Richard Blum securing the overall authority over the sales and management of all USPS Buildings, as those documents were deemed to be "necessary to be kept secret due to National Security."
Entire interview is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_958408169&feature=iv&src_vid=4HXfxaqH2Us&v=OiecZLeSZ5U
Hey Hey NSA! Activists & communities build their own internets
Highly rec this article from Mother Jones. Only comment I will add of my own is that in some states here in the USA, it is illegal to create an additional internet or even ISP! I think one of the Carolinas has that law in place and there are fines and other punishments for people that set out to do so.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/08/mesh-internet-privacy-nsa-isp
On the "Mesh" - Activists & communities build their own internets
JOSEPH BONICIOLI mostly uses the same internet you and I do. He pays a service provider a monthly fee to get him online. But to talk to his friends and neighbors in Athens, Greece, he's also got something much weirder and more interesting: a private, parallel internet.
He and his fellow Athenians built it. They did so by linking up a set of rooftop wifi antennas to create a "mesh," a sort of bucket brigade that can pass along data and signals. It's actually faster than the Net we pay for: Data travels through the mesh at no less than 14 megabits a second, and up to 150 Mbs a second, about 30 times faster than the commercial pipeline I get at home. Bonicioli and the others can send messages, video chat, and trade huge files without ever appearing on the regular internet. And it's a pretty big group of people: Their Athens Wireless Metropolitan Network has more than 1,000 members, from Athens proper to nearby islands. Anyone can join for free by installing some equipment. "It's like a whole other web," Bonicioli told me recently. "It's our network, but it's also a playground."
Indeed, the mesh has become a major social hub. There are blogs, discussion forums, a Craigslist knockoff; they've held movie nights where one member streams a flick and hundreds tune in to watch. There's so much local culture that they even programmed their own mini-Google to help meshers find stuff. "It changes attitudes," Bonicioli says. "People start sharing a lot. They start getting to know someone next door—they find the same interests; they find someone to go out and talk with." People have fallen in love after meeting on the mesh.
The Athenians aren't alone. Scores of communities worldwide have been building these roll-your-own networks—often because a mesh can also be used as a cheap way to access the regular internet. But along the way people are discovering an intriguing upside: Their new digital spaces are autonomous and relatively safe from outside meddling.
Most Honest Three Minutes in TV History
At least that is how the title of this video segment from the TV show "The Newsroom" reads. There might be comparable footage out there, in terms of honesty, but this is still worth watching::
Does anyone here know what this piece of legislation did in 2012?
Bill Text
112th Congress (2011-2012)
H.R.3606.ENR
It is called something like "Capital for JumpStarting Company Startups"
Can an average small business owner benefit from it?
As of today, my ACA discussion at DKos had 164 comments. It deserves that much here:
Are the ACA's "Subsidies" really subsidies? Or are they loans?It is my understanding that many people who are not currently insured will be visiting the California exchange, and if their income is low enough, and they are not offered insurance through work, they will get insurance through MediCal.
I spent today cleaning out the closet. Among other items I came across was a brochure sent to this household some years ago (circa 2008-2009) when we qualified for MediCal.
Here is what it says in the brochure, sent by Health and Human Services:
"When a Medi-Cal beneficiary is 55 years of age or older at the time of death, the State will collect from his/her estate the cost of Medi-Cal services received including insurance premiums paid an d payments made to managed care on or after the 55th "birthday."
The brochure goes on to detail exclusions, such as if your spouse has survived your death, they won't go after the estate until the spouse has also died. And they exclude a household where a child survives a parent AND IS UNDER THE AGE of 21.
So is this still in place? And REMEMBER, in your state, (assuming you live outside California, MediCaid is the program that the poorer among us will be using . MediCaid is not only a program that serves those older persons seeking long term nursing care - it is the program that addresses the health insurance needs of poorer people.
For instance, in1995, 14 million people in the USA were dealing with health care matters through the auspices of MediCaid. And many of these people were single parents with children. MediCaid pays for doctor visits, and hospital ER visits, and hospital stays if needed. And of course, long care help inside a nursing care home.
Remember: the ACA is mandated - and once you sign up, if poor enough, you are shuffled onto MediCAid or MediCal. YOu probably get some type of notice in the mail after the sign up. (That's how our notice came.)
Again, this is not something I found out about by watching Fox news, or the RW Denouncers. It is right there inside the brochure issued by California Dept of Health and Human services.
With clinical trials now mainly overseas, will more Americans die?
Full article:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2011/01/deadly-medicine-201101
Deadly Medicine -- TAKE TWO ASPIRIN
More and more clinical trials for new drugs are being outsourced overseas
and conducted by companies for hire. Is oversight even possible?
Prescription drugs kill some 200,000 Americans every year. Will that number go up, now that most clinical trials are conducted overseas —
on sick Russians, homeless Poles, and slum-dwelling Chinese—in places where
regulation is virtually nonexistent, the F.D.A. doesn’t and cannot reach, and “mistakes” can end up in pauper’s graves?
The authors investigate the globalization of the pharmaceutical industry,
and the U.S. Government’s failure to rein in a lethal profit machine.
By Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele
In 2009, according to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, 19,551 people
died in the United States as a direct result of the prescription drugs they took.
That’s just the reported number. It’s decidedly low, because it is estimated that
only about 10 percent of such deaths are reported. Conservatively, then, the
annual American death toll from prescription drugs considered “safe” can be put
at around 200,000.
That is three times the number of people who die every year
from diabetes, four times the number who die from kidney disease. Overall, deaths from F.D.A.-approved prescription drugs dwarf the number of people who die from street drugs such as cocaine and heroin. They dwarf the number who die every year in automobile accidents. So far, these deaths have triggered no medical crusades, no tough new regulations. After a dozen or so deaths linked to runaway Toyotas, Japanese executives were summoned to appear before lawmakers in Washington and were subjected to an onslaught of humiliating publicity. When the pharmaceutical industry meets with lawmakers, it is mainly to provide campaign contributions.
And with more and more of its activities moving overseas, the industry’s behavior
will become more impenetrable, and more dangerous, than ever.
For full article, see link at top of text.
####
With some big thanks to "Brookline" from another onsite venue
Does anyone here know a lot about MediCal health insurance for
People in California?
It is my understanding that many people who are not currently insured will visit the California exchange, and if their income is low enough, and they are not offered insurance through work, they will get insurance through MediCal.
I spent today cleaning out the closet. Among other items I came across was a brochure sent to this household some years ago (circa 2008-2009) when we qualified for MediCal.
Here is what it says in the brochure, sent by Health and Human Services:
"When a Medi-Cal beneficiary is 55 years of age or older at the time of death, the State will collect from his/her estate the cost of Medi-Cal services received including insurance premiums paid an d payments made to managed care on or after the 55th "birthday."
The brochure goes on to detail exclusions, such as if your spouse has survived your death, they won't go after the estate until the spouse has also died. And they exclude a household where a child survives a parent AND IS UNDER THE AGE of 21.
So is this still in place?
Again, this is not something I found out about by watching Fox news, or the RW Denouncers. It is right there inside the brochure issued by California Dept of Health and Human services.
On edit: here is a diary over at DailyKos that mentions some similar concerns: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/17/1248425/-Medicaid-Estate-Recovery-ACA-Unintended-Consequences
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