Joe Nation
Joe Nation's JournalBreaking News: Rush Limbaugh still dead
"Now, you know, Vladimir Putin is saying that Obama and Kerry are lying. And I don't know about you, but I find myself to be in a really curious situation. Who do I believe, Vladimir Putin or Barack Obama and John Kerry?"~Rush Limbaugh
Limbaugh appeared to be impressed by the fact Russia had compiled a 100-page report blaming Syrian rebels for the chemical weapons attack, not Russia's longtime ally, President Bashar al-Assad. Limbaugh told his listeners: “Now, I don't know about you, but what does it feel like to have to agree with a former KGB agent?”
A turn in the Russian War in Ukraine nobody is talking about yet
Everyone knows that Russia has a much larger military than Ukraine and that the Ukrainians have a lot more motivation to defend their homeland. Those factors have seen this war drag on much longer than Putin had initially expected. However, if things keep going as they are, Russia will eventually overrun the Ukrainian Capital and most of the country and this will become a gorilla war situation just as the Ukrainian fighters have promised. They will never give up the fight.
My question is at what point do these Ukrainian fights take the fight to the Russian Homeland? Right now, I see the reasons not to take such an action as it would be an escalation that Russia could use to justify their aggression. But, at some point, blowing up Russian cities will help to pull back troops from Ukraine to protect Russian cities. It would also help bring Putin to his knees if the Russian military and the citizens of Russia turned on Putin for his aggression in Ukraine.
Nobody is talking about this scenario, and I wonder at what point Ukraine decides to take the fight to Russia?
What's wrong with airline passengers these days?
I haven't been flying a lot since the pandemic began. I've probably only taken 2 or 3 airplane rides since early 2020. I have however, heard quite a few stories about unruly passengers disrupting flights with stupid aggressive behaviors and have certainly seen the videos.
I was flying out west last week and about two hours into the flight, the flight attendants were pushing the drink/snack cart from front to back for the second time. I was about 7 seats from then back of the plane when this woman, probably in her fifties, but looked older due to a weathered face started bitching and complaining about not being able to use the restrooms in the front of the plane because the cart was blocking the aisle. They asked her to please use the restrooms in the back. She stood next to me complaining and swearing about how the line was so long and that she had to wait, and every other word was F-this, F-that directed at the flight attendants.
Eventually, the flight attendants made their way next to my seat. And just about then, this woman came up behind them and demanded that they move because they had told her to use the restrooms in the back. The flight attendant was nice to her right up to the moment this woman let go a "Fucking Bitch!" comment at her.
The more than capable flight attendant took this woman all the way to the back of the plane and read her the riot act. This passenger was either already drunk or was the crassest piece of white trash I have ever come across or both. The flight attendants moved their cart all the way back and told her to go to her seat and stay put or else.
I was stunned and so was my adult son who was sitting across the aisle from me. We couldn't believe what we just witnessed. What is wrong with these people? There needs to be a no-fly, one-strike policy for people like this individual.
The pattern that I have seen in society since Trump unleashed these morons on the rest of us is that these people think that their uneducated opinions and crass behaviors are their right. They act exactly like spoiled children. The more freedom they think they have, the more abusive they feel they can be. Any parent worth their salt would correct that behavior immediately and not let them ramp it up. Very disturbing trend in this country.
A cautionary tale about your next hospital visit
I have an upcoming surgery and got a call from the hospital from their financial estimates department to let me know how much I was going to have to pay out-of-pocket before the surgery and they wanted to know if I would like to pay the amount in full now or when I arrived the day of the surgery.
I was shocked to hear that my upfront costs were going to be over $2,100 since my co-pay for any hospital procedure at a Tier I in-network facility was only suppose to be $275. I declined to make any payment at the time of the call and hung up and called my health insurer. Now I have pretty good insurance and after speaking to the customer service people I was told that indeed my co-pay was $275 and they couldn't figure out what the extra $1,800+ charges were for. They did let me know that any over payments would be returned to me eventually. I just had to shell out the 1800 bucks and wait for them to return it at some point.
So, I called the hospital financial estimates office back and asked why my upfront out-of-pockets cost were so high. To my surprise, they said that they were charging a 10% advanced payment for a 23 hour observation period after surgery cost which of course the insurance company would pay for. They quickly removed the additional charge and dropped my out-of-pocket cost to the co-pay amount of $275 that it should have been in the first place.
I have to wonder how many elderly or extremely sick people there are that don't have the ability to figure out what they are being told by these smooth talking liars. I would have had to wait months for the insurance to pay the hospital and then wait even longer for the hospital to refund my $1,800 if they ever did. You are only responsible for your co-pay. You do not have to supplement the insurance payment because the hospital would like you to. They never tell you that. Universal Health Care NOW!
Acupuncture needling
My wife was considering acupuncture for an allergy issue and was searching for a good local practitioner. My son and I were listening to her explain how the acupuncture process works since we knew nothing about it and she had limited knowledge but had done some research. She explained that there are meridians or acupuncture points that connect to various parts of the body through the insertion of small needles. For example, if you want to promote balance in your kidneys, or your heart, or your lymphatic system, you insert needles in the meridians that correspond to those areas. My concern was finding a competent practitioner in our small rural community, so I asked my wife how she knew that the local acupuncturist was any good. My wife assured me that the practitioner she was considering had a lot of positive online reviews. My son quickly followed up with, “How do you know that the acupuncturist didn’t just insert needles in the meridian of those patients leaving reviews that corresponds to the area of the body that stimulates good online reviews?” At that point we all lost it and laughed until our sides hurt.
Screw a primary challenge to Kyrsten Sinema in 2024, recall her now!!
It is ridiculously easy to do in Arizona. We shouldn't have to wait until 2024 to get rid of her. The recall will give her time to think about which party she actually was elected through but not enough time to ride out the term.
Laws governing recall in Arizona
Laws governing recall in Arizona are defined in Article 8 of the Arizona Constitution.
The authority to conduct a recall election in Arizona applies to "Every public officer in the state of Arizona, holding an elective office, either by election or appointment."
Filing the recall petition
A recall can be filed against any public officer on any grounds. The recall may not be filed until after the elected official has been in office in his or her first term for at least six months. This six-month limit does not apply to state legislators. In the case of state legislators, a recall petition may commence five days after the start of their first legislative session after their election. In the case of other elected officials, there is no six-month limit for subsequent terms in office.
A recall petition must be filed at the office in which the officer being recalled files for nomination. The petition must contain a general statement explain the recall and not exceed 200 words. This petition must be signed by the sponsors who swear an oath that all signatures collected will be valid signatures.
The Pro-Life Crowd Explained
DAVE BARNHART JUNE 25 2018
THE UNBORN ARE A CONVENIENT GROUP OF PEOPLE TO ADVOCATE FOR. THEY NEVER MAKE DEMANDS OF YOU. THEY ARE MORALLY UNCOMPLICATED UNLIKE THE INCARCERATED ADDICTED OR THE CHRONICALLY POOR. THEY DON'T RESENT YOUR CONDESCENSION OR COMPLAIN THAT YOU ARE NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT. UNLIKE WIDOWS THEY DON'T ASK YOU TO QUESTION PATRIARCHY. UNLIKE ORPHANS THEY DON'T NEED MONEY EDUCATION OR CHILDCARE. UNLIKE ALIENS THEY DON'T BRING ALL THAT RACIAL CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS BAGGAGE THAT YOU DISLIKE. THEY ALLOW YOU TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF WITHOUT ANY WORK AT CREATING OR MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIPS AND WHEN THEY ARE BORN YOU CAN FORGET ABOUT THEM BECAUSE THEY CEASE TO BE UNBORN. IT'S ALMOST AS IF BY BEING BORN THEY HAVE DIED TO YOU. YOU CAN LOVE THE UNBORN AND ADVOCATE FOR THEM WITHOUT SUBSTANTIALLY CHALLENGING YOUR OWN WEALTH POWER OR PRIVILEGE. WITHOUT RE-IMAGINING SOCIAL STRUCTURES APOLOGIZING OR MAKING REPARATIONS TO ANYONE. THEY ARE IN SHORT THE PERFECT PEOPLE TO LOVE IF YOU WANT TO CLAIM YOU LOVE JESUS BUT ACTUALLY DISLIKE PEOPLE WHO BREATHE. PRISONERS? IMMIGRANTS? THE SICK? THE POOR? WIDOWS? ORPHANS? ALL THE GROUPS THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE? THEY ALL GET THROWN UNDER THE BUS FOR THE UNBORN.
The MAGA Telephone Game of Facts
I had a funeral to attend this past week out of state. That meant that I would be deep in the heart of rural MAGA-land once again. I stayed with my favorite sister and her husband as I have done for years. I have known them as a couple since I was about 15. My wife and I have spent more time with them than any other people in my family. I went off to college and they stayed pretty much in the same area their entire lives. One a high graduate and one a high school dropout (pregnant at 17).
The funeral was for my oldest siblings wife who died of COPD - God bless her soul. She was a good person and we wanted to be there to support my brother who I rarely get to see. I like him very much but he is a very private person. He distanced himself from the family many years ago. Good person though.
After spending about 48 hours with my sister and her husband, my wife and I asked to be dropped off at the airport several hours early ostensibly so that they would have the rest of their day free as they had been our main source of transportation. However, the real reason for the early drop off was because we realized at one point that we no longer knew who they were. It wasn't just their usual fighting and bickering and yelling at each other over absolutely nothing, it was something entirely manufactured by Fox News and their network of fellow MAGA adherents. I slowly realized that there was something different going on this time.
Knowing that we were no Trump supporters in any way, my brother-in-law would inevitably bring something up like Mike Lindell and how he had all the proof that the election was rigged and that Trump was going to be reinstated. When I would try to explain that Lindell's own IT "expert" said that his data was gibberish, he would get so angry and turn red and scream to the point that I thought his heart would give out. Knowing his heart problems, I would just say to him that he was 100% right and I was 100% wrong just to calm him down. Not worth killing him over this nonsense.
While talking to him and my sister I realized something. They are literally playing the telephone game with facts. One MAGA supporters hears a story on Fox or from a friend and passes it along to the next friend and so on until what you get in the end is nothing like the original lie but has grown into a Frankenstein lie that can't be debunked because it is so far from reality.
When he told me that Mike Lindell was offering a million dollars for proof of election fraud, I thought wait a minute, wasn't it 5 million dollars and wasn't it for anyone that could disprove his allegations of voter fraud and didn't Lindell already withdraw that offer? You can see how the telephone game works with these people. You have to correct their talking points before you can even dispute them with actual facts. That's way too many layers for these people. I doubt that I will ever visit these relative a gain. I will drift away and maybe attend their funeral in the near future. I really can't say at this point.
Happy Trump Reinstatement Day Everyone!! Friday the 13th is his lucky day.
How will you be celebrating the return of the worst president in U.S. history? Gifts associated with the holiday include: One MyPillow, an insurrection t-shirts with a special Auschwitz commemoration on the back, a scholarship to Trump University, and of course a one night stay at Mar-a-Lago with a complimentary one-way flight on Trump Airlines (find your own way home).
Come on folks. Raise a glass to authoritarianism.
My spouse and I both retired and now life truly begins
No congratulations necessary. We've both heard that plenty this past week. We also have been asked over and over what we plan to do with all that free time. It's a tougher question than it sounds. Certainly travel, write, read, and all those other leisure activities are on the menu but what will keep us interested long-term. We're both relatively young. We're both healthy. We are fortunate enough to have some means to retire on.
The only answer that makes any sense is to give back to our community. Volunteering, teaching, helping others less fortunate, and making the world a little kinder with both our hands and our hearts. It's kind of selfish of us because there is nothing that makes you feel better about yourself than helping others. Giving is it's own reward as they say. And I have always found this to be true.
So I guess the short answer regarding our retirement plans is that we're going to be selfish. With any luck, very, very selfish.
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Gender: Do not displayMember since: Mon May 27, 2013, 01:46 PM
Number of posts: 962
