(Image via TheContributor.com)

We the People think we’re paying the police out of our tax dollars and that they work for us but gosh golly gee wiz, something happened along the way:

As Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has said, the nation’s biggest banks have essentially gained “too big for trial” status, and the federal government has failed to prosecute any executive at a Big Bank for financial fraud.

While Wall Street has escaped prosecutions, thousands of Americans have been arrested in the course of protests against the banks. As of May 2013, that number is 7,736 — according to the website Occupy Arrests, which tracks arrests.

On Monday, dozens of homeowners who have faced abuses by Big Banks rallied outside the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, D.C. They demanded that the agency finally prosecute Wall Street banks who have become, as Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has said, “too big for trial.”

[...]

The demonstrators marched to the Department of Justice, where they rallied outside the main entrance. At that entrance, several police armed with pepper guns and other crowd control weapons at first pushed the demonstrators back, and began arresting several activists. But they soon abandoned the entrance and retreated inside; this prompted protesters to place tents outside the door marked, “Foreclose on Banks.”

Protesters split up and blockaded all three major entrances of the Department of Justice building, and at least 17  – mostly homeowners who had lost their homes thanks to abuses by the Big Banks — were arrested by police, who utilized tasers, batons, and other weapons on the protesters.

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Do policepeople join police departments these days because they want to “serve and protect” the people who pay their salaries or do they join because they want to be thugs who protect corporate money and power?

Are our neighborhood cops working for us, again — to serve and protect — or their corporate masters?

Just asking.

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Gee.  I used to have a lot of respect for the Canadian government — like when it gave refuge to Vietnam war resisters back in the 60s and 70s — but now they’re owned by you-know-who.  Disheartening:

Combating the growing global apprehension over Alberta crude oil has become a major policy initiative of the Harper government.  Federal ministers along with provincial premiers from Alberta and Saskatchewan have been visiting Washington, D.C. and key US states to promote the embattled Keystone XL pipeline which will carry Alberta crude to US oil refineries.

Along with Harper’s visit to New York City, the Canadian government has opened a new front in Europe to fight the FQD. Last week, Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver travelled to Brussels, Paris and London in a round of high-level visits to EU members, disputing the possible designation of Alberta oil sands crude as dirty and claiming the move is “discriminatory and non-science based.”

“While we do not object to real, tangible measures to reduce GHG emissions for transportation fuels, we do object to discriminatory treatment currently contemplated in the FQD, singling out Canada’s oil sands–derived fuels without sound scientific justification,” said Oliver in a statement.

The government argues Alberta crude is no dirtier than oil produced by other nation such as Russia, Venezuela and the state of California, yet it’s Canada that’s being penalized. Ottawa is asking for “fair and equal treatment.”

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The takeover by the corporatocracy is moving like a tsunami across the planet.  Now we wait to see what Obama does regarding Keystone XL.  He put off making a decision, again.

The pressure on him to say yes to it is probably overwhelming.  You know, that corporatocracy thing again.

Per Wikipedia, there have only been seven known tornadoes in Massachusetts since 1787.  Weird.

(Image via Well.Blogs.NYTimes.com)

First, as background, there’s this from a few weeks ago:

Hospitals Fail to Take Simple Measures to Thwart Deadly Infections, Survey Says

Many hospitals fail to take simple measures to prevent infections of a new strain of Clostridium difficile that’s hard to track and at least in part responsible for skyrocketing infection rates in U.S. hospitals.

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Now think about this for a minute:

Johns Hopkins researchers report that hospitals may be reaping enormous income for patients whose hospital stays are complicated by preventable bloodstream infections contracted in their intensive care units.

In a small, new study, reported online in the American Journal of Medical Quality, the researchers found that an ICU patient who develops an avoidable central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) costs nearly three times more to care for than a similar infection-free patient. Moreover, hospitals earn nearly nine times more for treating infected patients, who spend an average of 24 days in the hospital.

So, potentially, hospitals have no incentive whatsoever to reduce the incidents of infections.  Hey, why would they if they’re making big bucks off of them?

It might be time for insurance companies to step in:

The researchers also found that private insurers, rather than Medicare and Medicaid, pay the most for patient stays complicated by CLABSIs — roughly $400,000 per hospital stay — suggesting that private insurers would gain the most financial benefit from working with hospitals to reduce infection rates.

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We’ll see what happens.

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Dear Consumers: A disturbing trend has come to our attention. You, the people, are thinking more about health, and you’re starting to do something about it. This cannot continue.

Sure, there’s always been talk of health in America. We often encourage it. The thing is, we only want you to think about and talk about health in a certain way—equating health with how you look, instead of outcomes like quality of life and reduced disease risk. Your superficial understanding of health has a great influence over your purchasing decisions, and we’re ready for it, whether you choose to go low-calorie, low-fat, gluten-free or inevitably give up and accept the fact that you can’t resist our Little Debbie snacks, potato chips and ice cream novelties.

Whatever the current health trend, we respond by developing and marketing new products. We can also show you how great some of our current products are and always have been. For example, when things were not looking so good for fat, our friends at Welch’s were able to point out that their chewy fruit snacks were a fat free option. Low fat! Healthy! Then the tide turned against carbohydrates. Our friends in meat and dairy were happy to show that their steaks, meats and cheeses were low-carb choices. Low carbs! Healthy!

[...]

Of course, we don’t necessarily want you to be unhealthy. It’s just that it’s so much more profitable to provide foods that happen to be unhealthy. We’ve been able to industrialize the food system so that we can produce massive amounts of the cheapest ingredients available, in the cheapest, most efficient way possible.

I can’t figure out what to cut and paste and what not to cut and paste.  The whole article is really good.  Read the rest of it here.

At first glance, these delightful timepieces look like they could have been crafted by the very best Swiss manufacturers.

But they have instead been made by a humble carpenter with no watchmaking training whatsoever.

Ukrainian Valerii Danevych makes his functional wrist watches almost entirely out of wood, with the sole exception of a metal spring needed to propel the movement.

(Image Valerii Danevych via DailyMail.co.uk)

Imagine the patience (fed by passion I guess).  Beautiful.

More info and images here.

The Pentagon is asking Congress for more than $450 million for maintaining and upgrading the Guantanamo Bay prison that President Barack Obama wants to close.

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Obama talks the talk but he doesn’t walk the walk.

(Image via Wikipedia)

Conspiracy theorist radio host Alex Jones explained to his audience today how the government could have been behind the devastating May 20 tornado in Oklahoma.

On the May 21 edition of The Alex Jones Show, a caller asked Jones whether he was planning to cover how government technology may be behind a recent spate of sinkholes. After laying out how insurance companies use weather modification to avoid having to pay ski resorts for lack of snow, Jones said that “of course there’s weather weapon stuff going on — we had floods in Texas like fifteen years ago, killed thirty-something people in one night. Turned out it was the Air Force.”

Following a long tangent, Jones returned to the caller’s subject. While he explained that “natural tornadoes” do exist and that he’s not sure if a government ”weather weapon” was involved in the Oklahoma disaster, Jones warned nonetheless that the government “can create and steer groups of tornadoes.”

According to Jones, this possibility hinges on whether people spotted helicopters and small aircraft “in and around the clouds, spraying and doing things.” He added, “if you saw that, you better bet your bottom dollar they did this, but who knows if they did. You know, that’s the thing, we don’t know.”

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Wow.  Just wow.

Godspeed Zach.  Go up in the clouds. It’ll be a little nicer.

(Image via Congress.FindTheData.org)

On May 3, 1999, Moore experienced the most violent tornado ever recorded. As a result, over 1,000 dwelling units were destroyed and some 3,000 to 4,000 residents were either temporarily or permanently displaced.

[...]

The city of Moore has been damaged by significant tornadoes on October 4, 1998, May 3, 1999, May 8, 2003, May 10, 2010, and May 20, 2013.

Tom Cole, the Republican who represents Moore in congress, was on Hardball just now.  Cole has (cough) “served the public” since 1988 when he was elected to the Oklahoma state senate.  (He’s obviously been failing up since then.)

Cole told Hardball that basements aren’t required as a part of the building code in Oklahoma.

Really?

WHY NOT?

Why not Tom?

WHY NOT?

You’ve been on the job for almost 30 years. You represent “tornado alley” yet you haven’t made sure basements are required in your district?  Why not Tom?

WHY NOT?

Four words: Owned by corporate lobbyists.

OMG. I’m watching video of the horrible devastation in Moore, Oklahoma as a result of what looks to have been an extraordinarily powerful, huge tornado that slammed into the town about an hour ago.

My heart goes out to you Moore.

Here is a link to the Red Cross if you care to donate.

(Image via BusinessInsider.com)

What if they advertised a shirt to a man in the same way?

(Image via BusinessInsider.com)

(Via.)

Pretty ridiculous, huh guys?

I’d like to see something like this highlighting people of other countries or people of disparate religions.  In the end, we all want the same thing i.e., to live healthy, happy, peaceful lives surrounded by people we love with our basic needs met.

He said he would but that my asking was about “more conspiracy theories.”

Again, life with someone with dementia.

(Image via BetterThan50.com)

OMFG.  I find myself trying to IGNORE my husband.  Who trains themselves to IGNORE their husband?  But that’s were I’m at.  It’s about not being irritated.  Not having my jaw drop when he says stuff like this.

Filed under: Musings ]]> http://sayitaintsoalready.com/2013/05/18/life-with-dementia-brushing-teeth-edition/feed/ 7 melaniekillingervowell Dan No Memory vai BetterThan50.com http://sayitaintsoalready.com/2013/05/18/jobs-jobs-jobs/ http://sayitaintsoalready.com/2013/05/18/jobs-jobs-jobs/#comments Sat, 18 May 2013 13:18:05 +0000 Say It Ain't So Already http://sayitaintsoalready.com/?p=62780 ]]> About the alleged Republican obsession with, ahem, creating jobs:

Like this Sarah?

(Image via DemocraticUnderground.com)

Or this?

(Image via TheBigotBasher.com)

Huh?  Yo Sarah, huh?

OMG:

Former congressman Allen West has found a new home on Fox News, where he has been signed on as a contributor.

“Representative West’s congressional and military experience along with his fearless approach to voicing key issues will provide a valuable point of view to the FOX News lineup,” Fox News Vice President Bill Shine said in a statement. West served in the army before running for Congress in 2010.

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Go here to read some of the crazier things West has said.  This is my fave:

I believe there’s about 78 to 81 members of the Democrat party who are members of the Communist Party.  It’s called the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

(Image via Examiner.com)

House Votes to Repeal Obamacare for 37th Time

The House of Representatives voted again to repeal President Obama’s health-care law Thursday afternoon, marking the 37th time that the GOP-led House has tried to undo all or part of the legislation.

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(Image via Salsa.WiredForChange.com)

For every one of the 866,181 soldiers officially counted injured casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, the government is expected to spend some $2 million in long-term medical cost.

The total of $1.7 trillion is based on a widely cited March 2013 paper by Linda Bilmes at Harvard’s Kennedy School. It includes $800 billion already spent on injured veterans along with   the cost of long-term care for an additional 50,000 current casualties counted by the Pentagon.

Since 2001, the VA has spent $134.3 billion to care for veterans. VA spokesperson Genevieve Billia said the department does not produce cost estimates over decades, but that the VA “plans to spend $6.9 billion in 2013, $7.6 billion in 2014 and  $8.0 billion in 2015.”

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Such a waste no matter how you look at it.  People’s lives are ruined and we are spending billions that could go for other things.  What a tragedy not only for our injured soldiers but for our country.

Putting Baconnaise on them would probably be a bit much, huh?

(Image via Commons.Wikimedia.org)

Colorado has now become the 12th state in the country to designate an official state pet. While other states have chosen specific breeds, North Carolina’s state dog is the Plott Hound, Maryland has the Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Massachusetts the Boston Terrier, and Alaska with the Malamute, Colorado went in a different direction, honoring all shelter dogs (and cats, too!) as their official state pet.

So, no matter what breed a dog is in Colorado, if he was adopted from a shelter, he’s an official state pet.

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Cool.

Oh, and here in hippie, trippy Boulder, people who “own” animals are officially referred to as guardians instead of owners, which I think is pretty cool too.

Filed under: Animals (Other Than Us) ]]> http://sayitaintsoalready.com/2013/05/15/colorado-names-shelter-dogs-the-official-state-pet/feed/ 0 melaniekillingervowell Shelter Dog via commons. wikimedia.org http://sayitaintsoalready.com/2013/05/14/dementia-is-awful-for-people-who-dont-have-it/ http://sayitaintsoalready.com/2013/05/14/dementia-is-awful-for-people-who-dont-have-it/#comments Wed, 15 May 2013 00:48:31 +0000 Say It Ain't So Already http://sayitaintsoalready.com/?p=62728 ]]> Regular readers of this site know my husband was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in late February.

(Image via SayItAintSoAlready.com)

Man-oh-man, the learning curve has been steep since then.

One of the most frustrating things is that the person with dementia thinks everything’s fine.  Case in point:  My husband hasn’t taken a shower since May 5th.  Yep.  May 5th.

I bought a white board a few weekends ago to write reminders on.  Showers were one of them but when a person has dementia, again, they think everything’s fine.  When I write “Take shower” on the white board my hubby blows it off.  He says: What’s the big deal?  You’re trying to control my life!

Oy.

So what do it do?  Literally push him into the shower?

Of course not.  I write “Shower” on the white board the next day and the next.  It’s on the white board again for tomorrow.  Ten days on.

Living with someone who has dementia can mean “fighting” about taking a shower.

That’s dementia.

Who is this guy?

Don’t get me started about brushing teeth or combing hair.

And to think:  This journey has just begun.

(Image via CSMonitor.com)

Amid withering accusations the Internal Revenue Service targeted tea party and other conservative groups with enhanced scrutiny, the agency faces another problem: it’s drowning in paperwork.

The IRS’ Exempt Organizations Division, which finds itself at the scandal’s epicenter, processed significantly more tax exemption applications in fiscal year 2012 by so-called 501(c)(4) “social welfare” organizations  — 2,774 — than it has since at least the late 1990s, according to an analysis of IRS records by the Center for Public Integrity.

Compare that to 1,777 applications in 2011 and 1,741 in 2010, federal records show. Not since 2002, when officials processed 2,402 applications, have so many been received.

Meanwhile, Exempt Organizations Division staffing slid from 910 employees during fiscal year 2009 to 876 during fiscal year 2012, agency personnel documents indicate.

In 2010, IRS officials projected exempt division staffing at 942 employees. But IRS officials cut the number to 900 after the agency began slashing its budget in response to fiscal woes affecting most corners of the federal government.

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Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee asked federal tax authorities Friday to look into AARP’s finances.

The request was widely expected after the committee released a report last week raising questions about the hundreds of millions of dollars the nonprofit seniors’ lobby gets for endorsing insurance products.

“The facts laid out in our report strongly suggest that AARP, Inc., and its affiliates may no longer qualify as a tax-exempt organization,” said the letter to IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman.

AARP says all its revenue supports its mission of helping seniors.

And Democrats say Republicans are simply trying to punish the seniors’ lobby for putting its considerable weight behind healthcare reform.

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(Rev. Ed Bacon via Oprah.com)

The IRS investigation was triggered by an antiwar sermon delivered by its former rector, the Rev. George F. Regas, at the church two days before the 2004 presidential election. The summons even requests utility bills to establish costs associated with hosting Regas’ speech. Bacon was ordered to testify before IRS officials Oct. 11.

The tax code bars nonprofits, including churches, from endorsing or campaigning against candidates in an election.

Facing the possible loss of his church’s tax-exempt status, Bacon said he plans to inform his roughly 3,500 active congregants about the investigation during Sunday’s services. Then he plans to seek their advice on whether to comply.

“There is a lot at stake here,” Bacon said in an interview. “If the IRS prevails, it will have a chilling effect on the practice of religion in America.”

[...]

In July, the IRS warned 15,000 tax-exempt groups across the nation, including churches and nonprofit organizations, to stay neutral on politics.

At the time, IRS officials said the agency also began expediting investigations into charges of improper campaigning under a new enforcement program, the Political Activity Compliance Initiative. Under it, the IRS will no longer wait for an annual tax return to be filed or for the tax year to end before investigating allegations of wrongful campaigning.

Since 2004, the IRS has investigated more than 200 organizations nationwide.

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So, per Republicans, since Benghazi is the biggest scandal of all time, Obama concocted the IRS scandal to detract from it?  Okaaay.

Aye yie yie.