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Thoughts......
Aug. 21st, 2013 07:59 pm“True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.” - Martin Luther King Jr.
I have been watching with much dismay the events unfolding around the world. Egypt is particular concern and I am mistrustful of much of the available news coming from the media, concerned that the 'facts' as they are being dispensed are colored by the politics of the dispenser.
I'm troubled by the treatment of Bradley Manning. I'm troubled by what is happening to and with Edward Snowden. I'm troubled by the military trial of the army psychiatrist, Dr. Hassan.
I'm really troubled that Detroit has gone bankrupt and and is quite likely try discharging the pensions of many of its retired public sector workers. From what I saw on Rachel Maddow last night, the average annual pension for those people is $19K per annum, which is not a lot of money, and because they were public employees they are quite likely NOT payed into Social Security. Once upon a time, as a resident, I was an employee of the City and County of San Francisco and as such, I was not paying into Social Security. If those pensions go away, those folks are screwed. As a society we had the money to bail out General Motors, but not Detroit itself?
I'm troubled by our health care system and how we fund it, or more importantly don't. That it remains a for profit system with huge insurance companies whose major incentive is not to fund care but deny it troubles me. Health care remains a privilege and not a human right.
I have been watching with much dismay the events unfolding around the world. Egypt is particular concern and I am mistrustful of much of the available news coming from the media, concerned that the 'facts' as they are being dispensed are colored by the politics of the dispenser.
I'm troubled by the treatment of Bradley Manning. I'm troubled by what is happening to and with Edward Snowden. I'm troubled by the military trial of the army psychiatrist, Dr. Hassan.
I'm really troubled that Detroit has gone bankrupt and and is quite likely try discharging the pensions of many of its retired public sector workers. From what I saw on Rachel Maddow last night, the average annual pension for those people is $19K per annum, which is not a lot of money, and because they were public employees they are quite likely NOT payed into Social Security. Once upon a time, as a resident, I was an employee of the City and County of San Francisco and as such, I was not paying into Social Security. If those pensions go away, those folks are screwed. As a society we had the money to bail out General Motors, but not Detroit itself?
I'm troubled by our health care system and how we fund it, or more importantly don't. That it remains a for profit system with huge insurance companies whose major incentive is not to fund care but deny it troubles me. Health care remains a privilege and not a human right.
