Maybe I’m weird, but the whole idea of this just gives me the creeps. Why can’t they just let the guy rest in peace & quite trying to make money off him.

A hologram of Ronnie James Dio will tour the world beginning later this year.

Source: Ronnie James Dio Hologram Plots World Tour – Rolling Stone

The only nightmare I have is one of going backwards where I manage to rack up thousands of dollars in medical debt and am Once again forced to file bankruptcy.

I don’t want Health Insurance I want Health Care and I want all my fellow Americans to have equal access to that health care. We need single payer so that people aren’t forced to choose between their health and their bills.

Insurance on health is a losing bet. It’s us paying into a company hoping we don’t need it and then expecting it be there when we do. The problem is unlike car insurance, Homeowners, or renter’s insurance which you may never need, we will all need health care at some point.

Insurance companies want to make profits, that’s what companies do, that’s why prior to the ACA they would do things like deny people with pre-existing conditions, and set life time limits so that you and your sickness wouldn’t bite into their bottom line.

We should be fighting for Medicaid for all, not trying to bandage what was made into a crippled system because of partisan infighting.

Celebrating a slim but symbolic health-care win in Washington, President Donald Trump told supporters in Ohio that the nation was one step closer to liberation from the “Obamacare nightmare.”

Source: President Trump says liberation from ‘Obamacare nightmare’ is close | PBS NewsHour

This is so sad, He was so young and seemed like such a nice guy. His character in True blood has always been one of my favorites. You will definitely be missed Nelsan, Rest in peace.

“He was a great talent, and his words and presence will be forever missed.”

Source: ‘True Blood’ Star Nelsan Ellis Dies at 39 | Hollywood Reporter

NPR tweets Declaration of Independence, inciting an outcry from some on Twitter who called the tweets “trash” and said they incited revolution. July 5, 2017

Source: NPR tweets Declaration of Independence, and Trump supporters are angered | The Kansas City Star

So I was reading through an article on PBS about School lunch’s. It’s a good objective article, nothing wrong with it. Then I began to read through some of the comments on it. I honestly can’t believe how many people would be okay if we stopped providing free/reduced lunches for children in school. It’s the same scenario I see played out all over the place. People angry at the poor. As if they somehow wish to be in that situation. I just don’t understand it.

U.S. schools rethink ‘lunch shaming’ policies that humiliate children with meal debts

New Mexico this year became the first to outlaw school meal shaming. Several other states are weighing similar laws.

I want healthcare not health insurance. Insurance is me betting on whether I’ll get sick/injured or not and need to use it. At its core, Insurance is a hedge against uncertain loss. The problem is with health there will always be loss. We are all guaranteed to require medical assistance at some point in our lives. Unlike car or home insurance where there is always the possibility that we will not need to get a payout because we may never have a car wreck or have damage done to our homes. Your personal health is not something anyone should be betting against.

People shouldn’t be forced to purchase health insurance from private entities, but we should provide health care for those who need it. Having people go broke, and lose everything because they didn’t see cancer coming is not only sad but cruel as well. I absolutely see a need for single payer health care. I would gladly pay slightly more in taxes to make sure others are never forced to choose between the rent and the doctors. I’ve been there and it’s a horrible place to be.

When I was first diagnosed with Graves` Disease I did not have health insurance. Mark was working but his employer did not provide dependent insurance for their employees. I was too sick to work and we couldn’t afford to buy insurance. Because it was prior to the affordable care act, I also couldn’t qualify for medical assistance. We racked up quite a debt in medical bills and eventually had to file for bankruptcy because we just could not handle the debt. That was just over seven years ago and we are just now starting to get our credit back on track. In our early & mid-forties.

Single payer healthcare would prevent this exact same type of scenario from occurring for many others. I definitely don’t believe we should get rid of private insurance all together but I do believe we need to make sure that it’s not the only way one can get health care.

I read through this list and the parallels between it, and the current state of our country lead me to be very fearful indeed.

Political scientist Dr. Lawrence Britt recently wrote an article about fascism (“Fascism Anyone?,” Free Inquiry, Spring 2003, page 20). Studying the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile), Dr. Britt found they all had 14 elements in common. He calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism. The excerpt is in accordance with the magazine’s policy.

Source: The 14 Characteristics of Fascism, by Lawrence Britt, Spring 2003

This disgusts me so much.

The parents of a 15-year-old boy who died due to untreated diabetes and starvation have been found guilty of first-degree murder. Emil and Rodica Radita isolated and neglected their son Alexandru for years before his eventual death — at which point he was said to be so emaciated that he appeared mummified, a court in Canada heard on Friday. Alexandru, one of the Raditas’ eight children, reportedly weighed less than 37 pounds when he died in 2013 at their home in Calgary, Canada, following months of suffering due to untreated diabetes.

Source: Parents who let diabetic son starve to death found guilty of first-degree murder | The Independent

Today I read an article on Aljazeera which attempted to say that the treatment of Milo Yiannopoulos was an example of “Hypocrisy of Free Speech”¹. The author Rachel Shabi attempts to say that by the reactions of certain parties to the recent revelation that Milo had endorsed paedophilia Goes on to show that even free speech has it’s limitations.

Free speech in our constitution however guarantees that you may say what you like without risking being jailed for it. The constitution does not guarantee that your peers, employers, or others will not react to it in a manner that you dislike. Your employer’s are free to fire/hire you based on what you speak freely. Your peers are free to endorse or chastise you for it, and all are free to disassociate with you because of the words you have spoken. Free speech does come with those caveats.

So yes Rachel, Milo had consequences for his behavior, but no his free speech was not violated. He was and still is free to continue to say the things he has been saying. But we also have a right to chastise him for it, and his employers have a right to terminate his employment for them. While I will agree with you that being tolerant of hate speech in regards to minorities is repulsive, again those people are free to say what they wish. It’s just that for some reason more people tolerate hate speech then are willing to tolerate paedophilia. In my personal opinion both are sick and disgusting and promoting or tolerating either is truly horrible. I do empathize with your plight, it is sad that there are folks willing to pay people to write such hate filled articles and/or books. But that doesn’t mean that we can take away their right to say it.

This country was built on free speech it’s in our constitution for a reason, Free speech is needed in a democracy in order to debate what our laws should and should not be. Free Speech promotes free and open discussion within our congress. It allows the people the right to address their government with their grievances. Without free speech we could not protest when we disagree with the laws or with the way our elected official are behaving. Without free speech a private citizen running for office would have no way to criticize his incumbent opponent without fear of punishment. Of course there are a couple of limitations, for example one may not falsely yell “FIRE” in a crowded theatre, but those limits are there for a good reason.

There is a saying “I may not agree with what you are saying, but I will absolutely fight for your right to say it.”