Quick Takes (v75): Treat Everyone the Same

According to an article from one of my local news stations, Onondaga County, where I live, has received a renewal of a New York State Department of Health grant to help educate residents on the benefits of a healthy diet and regular exercise.

I'm fine with that; as the article notes, CDC data from 2023 indicates "around 37% of the county's population is obese and around 9-10% have diabetes."   Further, 

The northeastern and southwestern parts of Syracuse both have the highest rates of obesity and diabetes in the county. They also have the highest rates of physical inactivity.

And, 2022 data shows that around 4% of county residents don't have health insurance, so they're likely not getting the health care and education they'd typically get from a primary care physician. 

Taken together, my area is ripe for this kind of program, and hopefully the money will be spent efficiently and effectively, helping move the dial a bit. 

So what's the post about? Not the grant, but the comments from people inside and outside our community that belittle and denigrate others. Here's a taste:

Talk about throwing good money after bad, ridiculous waste. No amount of money is going to change the food choices of the obese population.

We could do a lot better if we did not allow people to use EBT on fast food, junk foods, soda, etc. A physical should have to be done. People who smoke should not be allowed EBT services.

Put the people that are on EBT etc.. Put them on MREs and watch what happens.

Now, in the overall scheme of things, these aren't half as bad as many comments that typically accompany stories about SNAP recipients or others, some of whom are living at 400% of the federal poverty level and are still eligible for government benefits. 

Bur whenever I see a comment on an article like this, or on MAHA statemenrs from RFK Jr., or Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, or Dr. WhoEver suggesting that folks who get food assistance should have a physical before they can enroll, or not get benefits if they're obese or a smoker, and not be allowed to get soda or snacks, or a steak, or lobster, or even a stupid birthday cake for their child, I think,

OK, let's do this! If we want strict rules for people who receive benefits paid for by us taxpayers, let's be fair and apply them to everyone.

I hope you're aware it'll be a LONG list:

• all federal, state, and local government employees, and their families
• all elected officials, from dogcatchers to governors to senators to the president, and their families
• everyone who receives a government pension, and their families.
• everyone on Social Security, disability, unemployment, and workers' comp
• everyone on Medicare and Medicaid
• everyone in the military, and our veterans, and their families
• everyone who works at any company, college, university, K-12 school, hospital, nursing home, rehab center, charitable organization, foundation, institution, many day care providers, or any other entity that receives government money through a contract, grant, reimbursement program, or bailout, and their families, and
• dairy farmers, crop farmers, and livestock farmers, and their families

This means everyone in law enforcement and their families; your kids' favorite teachers, lunch ladies, coaches, and bus drivers, and their families... It also means anyone who receives a tax benefit, on things like OT, tips, Social Security, mortgage interest, car loan interest, home office expense, 'stuff teachers buy' expenses, mileage reimbursement, property tax write-off, and so on - and their families.

Have you found yourself on the list yet?

Before you know it, almost everyone would be unable to have junk food, soda, lobster, energy drinks, or anything like that without a medical exam, and, (if we channel our conspiracy theorist gremlins), without a household visit; an audit of grocery purchases; a review of corner store, dollar store, bodega and gas station surveillance footage; a complete rmedical history and health insurance claim review; and so on.

And, if you're approved, you'll have a food intake monitor, an exercise monitor, and 24-hour monitoring via cameras in your cupboards, fridge, freezer, and on your stove.

All this, just to make sure you're not abusing your benefits by eating the wrong food and not working out, or treating your child to a birthday cake on the taxpayer's dime.

Is that really what we want? Is this really who we are?

Wondering on Wednesday 2/21/24

Ready... set... wonder!

I read an article about a move to teach financial literacy in high schools, which I think is a good idea. I mean. my dad set up something like that when I was a high school senior way back in the dark ages, so I'm all for it. In this case, though, banks are behind the curriculum, and I'm wondering how they'll possibly avoid trying to train customers, not just financially aware students.

***** *****

This one's such a no-brainer that I can't imagine it not moving forward, especially in an election year: there's at least one bill to eliminate federal income taxes on Social Security beginning in 2025.  In addition to getting rid of taxes, it'll change the way Social Security is funded, which could add years to the program's life expectancy. You might be wondering what I'm wondering on this one, and it's simple: Will Donald Trump tell the MAGA Campers to block this one and save it for him? Or, if it does pass, will he take credit for not stopping them from voting? 

***** *****

This one's a head-spinner: a trucker has called for boycotting deliveries to New York City, in protest of the fines imposed on Trump in his financial shenanigans case. "Chicago Ray," the trucker, tweeted

I'm just one of the many millions of Truckers who believe in God and love this Country. I stand with Trump bc Trump stands with me. Truckers for Trump ain't just a slogan, it's real.

Trump was delighted, as you might imagine, to "have so many Great Patriots" on his side, and so on.  But then, Chicago Ray deleted his original tweet, put up another one in which he stressed he was not encouraging anyone to do anything - and then deleted that one, too. And I can't help wondering, is he still a Great Patriot, or not?

***** *****

I wonder if anyone actually bought a mattress for President's Day, and if yes, which president were they honoring? 

***** *****

Do you remember where you were when you heard the news that the Klondike Choco Taco was being discontinued? I don't - I would have thought it was last year, not back in 2022 - but I do remember seeing 'make them yourself' recipes popping up on social media at the time. I suspect fans of the ice cream favorite are pretty excited this week, as we learned that they're coming back, thanks to Taco Bell and the Salt & Straw ice cream company. They won't be exactly the same though.

The new treat will feature a waffle cone filled with cinnamon ancho chile ice cream dipped in chocolate and topped with toasted brown rice. 

And, because it's Taco Bell, there'll be dipping sauces - and I'm really wondering how I lived to the ripe old age of way older than a Choco Taco, and never felt the urge to dip my ice cream in a spicy sauce. 

***** *****

Things have been a little rocky in the House lately, with Speaker Mike Johnson trying to balance the so-called Freedom Caucus, Donald Trump's campaign wishes, the imploding impeachment investigation into President Biden, foreign aid to our allies, a border crisis, a looming government shutdown, losing the Santos seat, redistricting efforts which might erase his razor-thin majorities, and most recently, three GOP committee chairs announced they won't be seeking re-election.

But Johnson might get a lifeline from the Dems: a resolution being circulated by  NJ Rep. Josh Gottheimer that would change the 'McCarthy Ouster Rules' and require party leadership to approve any resolutions to vacate the Speaker's chair, rather than allowing any member to do it.  I like this idea, but I wonder if there are enough Rs upset with the nonsense to approve such a measure, and I also wonder if Johnson's got the courage to accept such an offer. 

***** *****

Finally, I've got some information on something a lot of people have been wondering about - that GoFundMe to raise money for Trump's fines.  Many people have questioned how it didn't violate the website's policies, and the GFM folks have answered the question. 

According to the rules, you cannot raise money to pay legal fees for someone charged with a violent crime, or financial crimes - but this one, which is to pay fines after crimes have been adjudicated, is not outside the rules. Yet, anyway. 

And in case anyone's wondering, over $905,000 has been donated by over 16,000 people. 

What's on your wondering minds tonight?

Wondering on Wednesday 1/25/23

 

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Tonight, I'm wondering how many lawyers out there are experienced with classified documents, and how many of them have been retained by current or former government officials? I mean, even former President Jimmy Carter had classified documents found in his house once - and if it can happen to him, is anyone really in the clear?

According to the Associated Press, 

It turns out former officials from all levels of government discover they are in possession of classified material(s) and turn them over to the authorities at least several times a year, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of classified documents.

And sometimes, the folks in charge of handling them correctly are guilty of allowing the documents to be mishandled, which leads me to wonder which group should be under investigation: the handlers or the mishandlers? 

One thing I don't have to wonder about? Whether the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability will be asking for Mike Pence's visitor logs. I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen - but I wouldn't be surprised at all if they asked for Jimmy Carter's. 

I will never stop wondering about mass shootings - they've become a familiar fixture here (and only here.) We've had school shootings, Walmart shootings, and house of worship shootings. We've had medical office shootings, entertainment venue shootings, and grocery store shootings. And this month alone, California has seen three mass shootings, with nearly 30 dead. 

You probably didn't hear much about the third one; it was likely gang- or drug-related, which means, you know, "it was their own damn fault" that young mom and her baby were executed along with several other family members. I wonder why the media doesn't talk about that kind of mass shooting so much? Is it because they wouldn't have time to tell us about storms headed for the I-95 corridor?

I also wonder why Democrats rarely mention that kind of shooting? They're very quick to mention 'hate' and 'racism' whenever a shooting involves people of color, even before details are available. Some did that with the Monterey Park shooting; there were no retractions after we learned the shooter was a septuagenarian Asian man. I'm sure they were tempted to do the same with the Half Moon Bay shooting, where another Asian man was behind the killing of Hispanic and Asian farm workers.

Republicans will always mention Chicago when they're in front of microphones, as Rep. Mike McCaul did on CNN's State of the Union, suggesting that red flag laws and strict gun laws aren't the solution. Why don't Dems mention Chicago more, I wonder?

One last thing on guns and another part of my wonderment on all of this. The Virginia teacher who was shot by her six-year-old student is planning on suing the school district for its failure to act on multiple concerns raised, by teachers and staff, that the child who did have a gun might have had a gun.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — Concerned staff warned administrators at a Virginia elementary school three times that a 6-year-old boy had a gun and was threatening other students in the hours before he shot and wounded a teacher, but the administration “was paralyzed by apathy” and didn't call the police, remove the boy from class, or lock down the school, the wounded teacher's lawyer said Wednesday.

“On that day, over the course of a few hours, three different times — three times — school administration was warned by concerned teachers and employees that the boy had a gun on him at the school and was threatening people. But the administration could not be bothered,” Toscano said.

Among the reasons the warnings were ignored? He had little pockets, presumably too small to hold a gun, and it was almost the end of the school day, so there was no need to look harder for the weapon - even though he had threatened another child on the playground. I wonder why, and how, after Uvalde, any school district employee could have such a dismissive attitude about this.

Finally, we learned Pope Francis said that "being homosexual is not a crime" even though "Catholic teaching holds that homosexual acts are a sin." He said the Church "should work to put an end to" laws criminalizing homosexuality. Importantly, he also

stressed the need to distinguish between the two, and said, for example, that lack of charity with one another is also a sin. 

I can't help wondering if anyone will take that part to heart. 

What are you wondering about?

Sunday School 10/30/22

I visited the CNN State of the Union classroom for Sunday School. Joining Dana Bash this week were Florida Man Sen. Rick Scott and (separately) Cheri Beasley, who's running to represent North Carolina in the US Senate. I'll take them in that order. 

Scott was asked for his thoughts on the attack on Paul Pelosi.

It's disgusting. This violence is horrible...We had a door knocker in Florida that was attacked. I mean, this stuff has to stop...  So, a lot of it, we got to say, let's have a -- we can have a heated conversation about the issues, but this violence has got to stop. This is horrible. And my heart goes out to Paul Pelosi, and I hope he has a full recovery.

Bash asked if President Biden "is right" to suggest condemning violence isn't enough, you also have to condemn "all the malarkey that's being put out there to undermine democracy," and if the Rs should "do more to reject conspiracy theories and dangerous rhetoric."  Scott seemed to try and justify the violence by tying it to election security. He said "we have to condemn the violence," and added

...We have got to do everything we can to get people comfortable that this election in nine days is going to be free and fair, that people's votes are all going to be counted fairly, they're not going to be diluted... I tell people, go to the polls, vote. Go to the polls and be poll watchers, so you can see that these elections are going to be fair. And we have got to work on it every cycle and get it better every cycle.

Bash circled back to the importance of party leaders, including FPOTUS, toning down the rhetoric that might instigate somebody. Again, Scott brushed that off. 

Dana, I think what's important is everybody do everything we can to make these elections fair. We have got Hillary Clinton saying the '24 elections could be stolen. We have got Stacey Abrams saying she didn't lose...so my job is do everything I can to get people to feel comfortable that these elections are fair and then tell people, get out to vote, go be a poll watcher. And when we have the opportunity, let's make our election laws safer...

He said that means voter ID, no ballot harvesting, monitored ballot boxes, and, perhaps (my comment, not Scott's) armed folks keeping an eye on things - because that's a whole other level of comfort right there...

What about the anti-Semitic messages displayed at the Florida/Georgia football game? Scott said he dealt with this when he was governor, and that "it's disgusting."

... And, I mean, we have got to understand, we are blessed. We live in a country where we need to accept people. We need to do -- we can cherish our differences, but let's accept people and let's all live in a country that we -- we have got the best opportunity in the world. So, let's quit dividing ourselves and quit attacking other people, and just talk about how we make this a better place...

Bash asked about his plan to sunset all federal legislation after five years. Dems say this'll jeopardize Social Security and Medicare. Could he give a simple yes or no on whether Republicans want to cut Medicare and/or Social Security? 

Absolutely not. And the Democrats just cut $280 billion, all Democrats in the Senate and House voted to cut $280 billion out of Medicare just two months ago. And then they want to say Republicans want to cut something? Democrats have done this. Joe Biden, when he was senator, said he wanted to cut Medicare and Social Security. I believe we got to preserve them and make sure we keep them. What I want to do is make sure we live within our means and make sure we preserve those programs. People paid into them. They believe in them. I believe in them. And I'm going to fight like hell to make sure we preserve Medicare and Social Security.

Bash tried "to correct the record," by noting the Dem's plan "didn't cut Medicare benefits. It allowed for negotiation for prescription drug prices, which would ultimately bring down the price and the costs for Medicare consumers." (I added the emphasis, in case Scott reads this.)

He continued to argue, either because he doesn't understand the difference between reducing benefits and reducing costs, or he simply doesn't value telling the truth - but he made sure we all understood the importance of what Joe Biden said in 1984.

Sunday School 3/27/22

Every classroom I visited yesterday was all abuzz about the off-script statement from President Joe Biden about Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was a classic Biden gaffe, a classic Biden ad-lib, a classic Biden throw-away line. It was classic Biden. 

Like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-Shrieking in the Hearing Room), saying someone needed to 'take Putin out', Biden said out loud what many people say quietly to themselves, or to a higher power in their prayers at night. 

In case you missed it, here's the video.

Since we know how that played out, with all the administration folks quickly moonwalking back the comment, I'm going to move on to other things, like these Fox News Sunday interviews, starting with Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida Man). 

The chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), Scott didn't even wait for a question to dive right in.

It's nice seeing you, John. I think we're going to have a great year. We've got great candidates running around the country. We've got some primaries. The Democrats have primaries. In their primaries, I think Bernie Sanders type candidates are going to come out. The Biden agenda is very, very unpopular. So, as long as we raise our money, as long as we, you know, focus on big, bold ideas, I think we're going to have a great November.

The 'John' mentioned was host John Roberts, who asked about Russia and Ukraine. Scott said we should be doing more.

 ... don't play to tie, you play to win. You give them every resource you can and you do it every second. You're thinking, every second, what else can we do to put Putin back on his heels and have him take his troops back into Russia? That's what we should be doing every second. We have got to win this.

Scott also said that Biden has "been pretty weak" and that he had done more, "Putin wouldn't have invaded."

Roberts had some questions on two items in Scott's "11-point plan to rescue America." First, that all Americans should pay income taxes so they "have skin in the game," and second, that  all federal legislation will sunset in five years - which could potentially lead to the end of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. 

He wondered why Scott would propose that kind of thing in an election year. Scott said those were "Democrat talking points," but Roberts insisted they were in the plan - and he's right. In his defense, Scott said

Also in the plan, it says we ought to, every year, talk about exactly how we're going to fix Medicare and Social Security... No one that I know of wants to sunset Medicare or Social Security, but what we're doing is we don't even talk about it. Medicare goes bankrupt in four years. Social Security goes bankrupt in 12 years. I think we ought to figure out how we preserve those programs. Every program that we care about, we ought to stop and take the time to preserve those programs.

That italicized part? I searched the plan for 'Social Security' and there's only one reference:

Force Congress to issue a report every year telling the public what they plan to do when Social Security and Medicare go bankrupt. 

That's not the quite the same thing as talking every year about fixing these programs. And, on the other point, the tax thing? 

...here's what's unfair. We have people that don't -- that could go to work and have figured out how to have government pay their way. That's not right. They ought to have some skin in the game. I don't care if it's a dollar. We ought to all be in this together. I'm going to focus, continue to focus on reducing taxes. 

Just once, I'd love a politician to name one of these freeloaders, or one of the lobster-and-steak-eating welfare queens 0r whatever they call them. If they can't name one, do they even exist? 

Scott said he's only been in DC for a short while - three years - but he went there "to change this country.

Look at where we are now. The woke left controls, you know, the executive branch. They control a lot of our government. They control academia. They control Hollywood.

My goodness - they control Hollywood!  

To his credit, Roberts suggested most of his Republican colleagues "want to focus on Joe Biden," not on coming up with some plan they have to try and sell to the American public. And I'm pretty sure he's right about that.

And, speaking of the woke left, the next guest was Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Silicon Valley is Nowhere Near Hollywood); he's one of the Deputy Whips of the Congressional Woke Left Caucus. 

They talked a bit about Ukraine, and the Iran nuclear deal, and where India gets military equipment. And then Roberts shifted to politics and stuff that's more wokey-lefty: how Biden "keeps talking about, 'we've got to move toward the green agenda,' That's fine,  

if you do it over the course of decades. Even if you gave everybody in the country an electric vehicle for free and you convert every home to electric heat, the grid wouldn't stand it. So, you've got to update the grid as well. I mean, is it a time to put a pause on the push toward the green agenda and say, look, for the meantime, we've got to pump more oil, we've got to help out our European allies, we've got to get prices down?

Damn - that's an unwoke righty comment right there. Khanna suggested it's possible to walk and chew green gum at the same time, or something. He called it 'common sense.'

Short term, increase production. Here's one way to do it: the federal government can buy back what we're using in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and provide a floor price. That's a bipartisan proposal. Let's pass it.

Long-term, let's have a moonshot on clean technology. If John F. Kennedy said that we need to go to the moon to defeat the Soviets, you want to defeat the petrol states of Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, let's have a moonshot on renewable energy.

Remarkably, Roberts' head did not explode after Khanna's answer. He moved to Queen Work Lefty AOC and her recent NY1 interview, and her thinking that "the Democratic Party is in trouble because of the president." He played this clip, and asked Khanna if she's right.

This is really about the collapse in support among young people, among the Democratic base, feeling like they are not -- that they worked overtime to get this president elected and they aren't necessarily being seen. 

Khanna outlined Biden's accomplishments (American Rescue Plan, the infrastructure bill, and more) and said "of course there are other things we ought to do. But this president has met the moment in very difficult circumstances." That led Roberts to suggest "Americans might disagree with you," pointing to the president's 40% approval rating.

Finally, Roberts had a question about Khanna's book, which talks about technology and how we can make it work better for us. 

... the political discourse in this country has sunk to new lows. Everybody's yelling at each other. And much of the reason why they're yelling at each other is because of social media. Is social media ruining this country?

He said no, but "social media needs to do better." 

They ought not to have incitement of violence. They ought not to discriminate against viewpoints, allow for free speech, and they ought to make sure that teenagers aren't getting manipulated in ways that are causing depression and suicide. So, absolutely, there need to be more smarter regulations on social media.

Speaking of social media, remember Truth Social, former president Trump's new platform? No surprise if you don't - it's been a dud, it seems. This article in The Guardian says  

...nearly a month after its launch, Truth Social has become a laughingstock, marked by a botched rollout, a share price collapse and, in Trump, a figurehead who doesn’t actually post much to his own social media platform...

And almost a month after the launch, Trump has so far shared only one thought to the platform; a boilerplate message in mid-February urging people to “Get ready!”

 See you around campus.

Wondering on Wednesday (v164)

The weeks, they go by so fast, don't they?

Just last Wednesday, we were reviewing the president's SOTU (something I never really finished doing, I realize - so I'll get to that soon, I promise), and worrying about the potential for another shutdown, and a bunch of women in white and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's random standing around.

And here we are a week later worrying about the potential for another shutdown, we've got more Dem women running for president, and well, the Speaker is  - well, the Speaker is the current Queen of the Meme for her clapback of the president.

On the possibility we'll have another #Trumpshutdown, which his team has said remains on the table, we know that a bipartisan agreement was reached the other day, and we hear that the president is "not happy" with the compromise that was reached, but is expected to sign it if it gets to his desk. He's suggesting that there'll be some $23B for border security when all is said and done, some part of it to be found by juggling money from department budgets that may keep him from having to declare a national emergency to get at funds.

He's also proclaimed that no president has ever worked harder and I have to wonder, where's the data for that? Bueller? Anyone?