Friday, September 15, 2017

Heroes and other news

I’ve really got to clean out some browser tabs. Some of these items will get only a brief mention. I encourage you to follow the links to the original articles for the full discussion.

Edie Windsor is the hero of the case against the Defense of Marriage act that went before the Supremes in 2013 and won. That paved the way for gaining same-sex marriage in 2015. Edie died on Tuesday. She was 88. She will remain an LGBT legend.



Sister Margaret Ann of Miami has become the chainsaw-wielding nun. This isn’t a horror movie. This is something good. In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma Sister Margaret Ann was spotted using a chainsaw to clear downed trees while wearing her habit.



Four bakers were trapped in the El Bolillo Bakery while Hurricane Harvey hit Houston. The trapped employees got restless, so turned to baking. They used perhaps 4,400 pounds of flour to make about 4,000 loaves of bread. It was all given to area shelters. The flood waters reached the door of the store, but did not enter.



A healthcare post on Daily Kos from Brainwrap is interesting for two reasons. The first is a chart showing what pays for healthcare across America. The broad categories are employer provided, Medicare, Medicaid/CHIP, Affordable Care Act’s Individual Market, and uninsured. There are lots of subcategories. The chart was created to demonstrate the current complexity and compare it with the simplicity of the single-payer system Bernie Sanders is now pushing.

The second bit of interest is the list of questions that need to be answered as this single-payer system is taken from broad principles to specifics. These questions include: Would the Hyde Amendment (banning the federal government from paying for abortions) be repealed? What provisions would be made for the 2-3 million people currently working in the healthcare insurance industry? What about those who invested in healthcare insurance stocks as part of their retirement portfolio? What about alternative medical services (such as the nutritionist I see)?

Brainwrap amended the post to list answers according to this bill after reading the 3-page summary.



The 35th Congressional District of Texas stretches along I-35 from San Antonio to Austin, more than 80 miles long and at times not much wider than the highway. That shape is a clear sign of gerrymandering. Four lower courts agree, saying the district was intentionally crafted to discriminate against black and Latino voters. New maps were about to be drawn when the case was taken to the Supremes. Alas, the high court now has 5 conservative members hostile to voting rights (for those not white males). Those 5 justices stayed the lower court rulings, meaning the discriminatory maps are still to be used until at least June. Even if the final ruling agrees with the lower courts there may not be time to redraw the maps before the 2018 election.



Susan Grigsby, in a post for Daily Kos, wrote that to eliminate racism we must tackle five false ideologies, one of which I had thought was accepted as debunked decades ago.

1. Racism occurred in the past, but has been resolved.

2. Reverse racism and political correctness are bigger problems today.

3. Races are inherently (even biologically) different.

4. White people are the norm, anyone else is other, exotic, ethnic, and/or inferior.

5. The U.S. is a meritocracy where anyone who works hard can achieve the American Dream.



Melissa McEwan of Shakesville linked to one of her posts from 2012 in which she presents and comments upon the results of a poll of the question:
How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Irish, Italian, Jewish, and many other minorities overcame prejudice and worked their way up. Blacks should do the same without any special favors.
Two thirds – 66% – of whites agreed. Only 15% of blacks did.

Some of McEwan’s comments:
If there is one person born to poverty, one person with disabilities, one person who has survived profound abuse, who can be held up as an example of achievement, then everyone else is failing to thrive.

When you're a non-privileged person, you're as bad as the worst conceivable member of a shared demographic, and only as good as your own personal achievement.

That is the gross underbelly of American Individualism. Its story only really works for privileged people, among whose privileges include being seen as an individual, whether they fail or succeed.

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