The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would remove several protections for people with pre-existing conditions (like my skin cancer), cut Medicaid, allow states to get waivers that allow them to drop essential health benefits, cut taxes on the rich, phase out funding for Medicaid expansion and more. It now moves on to the Senate.
This version will cut taxes by $765 billion with the top 20% of healthy earners getting 64% of that money while healthcare for the poor are slashed.
HOWEVER - Everyone is getting all upset but Trumpcare version 2a and it will never ever see the light of day.
Now the Senate has THEIR health plan that is much different. They now need to reconcile the differences (merge) and then vote on the new combined bill. THEN the House will take the new combined bill, make their changes and again vote. THEN, it goes back to the Senate who will make more changes and then they vote.
A long long process. The Senate has some important and very close races coming up so Trumpcare will be a job killer for many GOP incumbents (as it was for many DNC incumbents with Obamacare - and the reason Trump is our President). This bill will quietly die in the Senate. Obamacare killed a large number of Democrats and Trumpcare will do exactly the same to the GOP if they let it.
remember - 100% of the time in American history - the party that controls the white house starts to lose power almost immediately from Governors all the way up the line.
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Just to make you feel REALLY insignificant
I'm not a "photo gasper". I don't look at a photo and gasp at it's beauty . . . . normally. This one I literally did gasp.
That little spec is Earth as seen from between Saturns Ring's from the Cassini Spacecraft. OR - it could be fake from the fake Nasa missions trying to pretend all that "science" garbage.
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I took a tour of the new Library annex . . . house - what a totally screwed up house that is. One full bathroom in the entire house, upstairs in someones bedroom.
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Still working on trees downtown. There are issues with the size of sidewalks and ADA and all that but things are moving forward - trees are sill (or back) in the plans. What we need are business to step up and provide bike racks and so forth for downtown when the end game is nigh!
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So my brother and his very cool wife narrate for books on "tape". It's a very complicated thing they have to do with their voices to narrate a book for the public. MUCH more complicated they you would think. They have a little studio and so forth.
ANYWAY - he has been accepted to narrate a book about the USS Indianapolis. How awesome is that!!
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OK - gotta run . WEATHER - we have an Omega block so what we have now is what we will have for a while across the US. Whatever your weather is NOW, it ain't changing for 4 or 5 days. We will be cooler then normal BUT . . . . dry (except for a cold front pushing through tonight with showers) and then back to what we have now!
We got a free upgrade with DIRECT TV with a new tiny genie. But there have been issues. Things recording that we have never heard of, remote being REALLY slow with what seems to be a SMALL cone of radar and screen freezing for a few seconds every 10 or 15 minutes.
WELL - the recording of random programs, THEY SAY, is user error. FAIL - I think not. But it's an easy issue to delete. I can't believe we would randomly - BY ACCIDENT - record 3 or 4 random shows.
Screen freezing is a known issue they are working on and the remote was an easy fix.
Press the MUTE and ENTER at the same time and your remote goes into RF mode and can now see through things as opposed to being in a direct line. That works GREAT.
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My virtual golf world with TheGolfClub (TGC) and IRL (In Real Life) golf met last night and I tell ya - TGC helped my game. I visualized greens much better and on one hole last night it was uncanny. I was standing over a 7 yard chip shot saying to myself "this is exactly like a shot I had a few nights ago online". I sank it.
My only problem was the greens were MUCH slower then Augusta and so forth LOL Still - I had my best 1st night round since 2013 with a 49.
I've had GolfShot on my iPhone for 6 years which records every round, so the other night I made a spread sheet of all my Door Creek league rounds. On average I improve 4 strokes up to week 12 and then lose 2 strokes on the final 6 rounds. My average first round score is 52.5, 49 last night. Average 2nd round score is 51.5. Average of 86 rounds 49.6. Yup - that is what a 25 handicap dude scores.
SADLY - I see my best year was 2011 which was also the year I stopped working full time AND golfed a lot more. Weird how practice makes you better. WHO KNEW!!!
Then there are my new golf balls. MaxFli SoftFli which have a 35 compression golf ball. yes - THIRTY FIVE - lots of myths about low compression golf balls.
One is that they are only for low swing speed golfers. Test results show that there is very very minimal difference in velocity and distance between high and low swing speeds with low compression balls.
Low compression balls do do better then at low temps then high compression while high temps they are basically the same (but still better) as high compression.
I REALLY like my balls. I'm not sure they are longer off the tee but so far I'm consistently hitting them farther with irons by 10 yards (when I actually make contact) and the feel great.
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DJs dad.
Some of you know he had some time in the Columbus hospital last weekend. Verdict - Rectal Ulcer. Drink more liquid and eat more protein is the main takeaway. DO IT. He's "fine" now. Or as fine as a 92 year old USS Indy Survivor can be.
BTW - have I mentioned that the movie "USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage" is a HORRIBLE movie?
"Marine! why did you sign up to be a Marine". "To kill Japs Sir!". A cliche' ridden movie based loosely on a book nobody ever read.
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Seems the guy that made racial slurs in Boston now has a lifetime ban.
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This whole fluoride controversy has popped up again and I refuse to believe fluoride, as used, is poison. CASE CLOSED!
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Seems about right to me - who does he think he is - DON'T MESS WITH AMERICA!
"An Australian man was imprisoned by U.S. immigration officials after getting delayed at the Canada-U.S. border and subsequently overstaying his U.S. visa by 90 minutes".
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Of to yet another dentist appointment - WISH I would have had fluoride as a kid.
Weather - this is the transition day - after today - expect 9 days of sun and temps in the low to mid 60s - BORING
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So the next time you decide to propose to your girlfriend . . . perhaps don't do it at Fenway Park. . Seems a guy made a very very public proposal the other day for all to see.
She said no on the Jumbotron
And while you are contemplating what went wrong and what your life will be like you are doing it with 35,000 people all chanting in unison SHE SAID NO SHE SAID NO SHE SAID NO.
LOL
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Yesterday was bitter sweet as I turned in my badge to 1 West Wilson and can no longer enter the building. Well, I only used the badge like once in 10 years because there is not really any security anyway but I guess they feel the need for badges because everyone else has them.
So I had to go in and pick up my coffee cup and bowl. That would be called a bowl movement. I said good-bye to the only person I knew there and the one other Caucasian computer programmer that works for the State . . . . . NOT THAT THAT IS A BAD thing. I did really love all the Indian dish's and holidays that are now celebrated when you work for the State of Wisconsin. BUT - I am now just another elderly driver waiting for an accident so they can say "an elderly driver lost control" like we are just driving randomly around hoping to get to a destination.
WHEN DID I BECOME . . . SIR!!! Whenever some one calls me "sir" there is a F U in my head.
Anyway - it was a good run. I graduated from MATC in 1987 and had only one job in my life AND really only one system. Never had a retirement party when I "retired".they just said good-bye, so long, here is a plaque, Sort of sad. You always dream of that big send off, an exit interview and all that.
If you work for the State government you get low pay, no Christmas parties and never ever a year end bonus PLUS, our Governor makes sure all the citizens hate you.
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The final (and I mean final) push to dump that now popular Obamacare repealed is about to come to a head. Paul Ryan can't afford more then 22 GOPers to not vote for it. At the moment 20 have said "nyet".
Trumps first budget was passed and almost ALL of his campaign promises/lies went into the golden Trump toilet.
Not only will there be no boarder wall but there are REAL strict restrictions and only 1/2 the money asked is going towards boarder protection. OH - there are no cuts in funding to sanctuary cities.
Non-defense domestic spending will go up, despite the Trump team’s insistence he wouldn’t let that happen.
Barack Obama’s cancer moonshot will be generously funded. The administration asked to slash spending at the National Institutes of Health by $1.2 billion for the rest of this fiscal year. Instead, the NIH will get a $2 billion boost.
Trump fought to cut the Environmental Protection Agency by a third. The final deal trims its budget by just 1 percent, with no staff cuts. This is just the money part of things - not what the EPA will actually DO now.
Planned Parenthood is still funded.
The war monger (every time he bombs his ratings go up) got less than half as much for the military as he said was necessary.
To keep negotiations moving, the White House already agreed last week to continue paying Obamacare subsidies. This money, which goes to insurance companies, reduces out-of-pocket expenses for low-income people who get coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
Yea - the guy is an expert negotiator all right.
Don't start me on Andrew Jackson. Being a Civil War enthusiasts . . . . I can't think of when Andrew was EVER mentioned. He just killed American Indians. Did you know he ordered plague blankets be given to the Indian woman when on the Trail of Tears.
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The average Venezuelan lost 19 pounds last year, something Americans would love. But not in that way (food shortages, civic unrest and a catastrophic economic collapse) but it's only day 103 for Trump so there is still time.
If you want to see what it is like in that country check out "States of Undress" where Hailey Gates "explores global fashion and issues the industry often ignores, showing us what the world wears, and why". It's truly an eye opener as she explores the country
Here is a 1 minute video of her in Venezuela. I see many people don't see the videos I post so I try to put a link.
A City With No Tampons: SATE OF UNDRESS
https://youtu.be/C1oofhNubuo
Speaking of TV
There is a show called "The Mick" that is . . . . interesting. It's actually a very funny dark comedy unlike any show on network television. Here is the thing - I guarantee you that at some point in that show you will feel REAL guilty and cringe about laughing at something. No really - VERY politically incorrect. You know like an 8 year old popping birth control pills or swallowing bags of coke.
I said once that this show is written by GOPers just to shove it in liberals faces (but in a funny way). . . I stand by that. BUT - it's funny and you will feel so odd when that part of the comedy happens and you are saying "should this be on TV?"
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OH - WHY HIM - we thought the movie was pretty darn good!!
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Avocados from Mexico are at their highest price in 19 years. America gets 82% of therr avocados from Mexico.
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Thames - That Brewer making all the headlines? (Drug tested 3 times in the last 2 weeks by MLB) is leading the league not NOT swinging at bad pitches.
His 19% swing rate at non-strikes leads major leagues. Before he went to South Korea he had a non-strike swing rate if 35%. After goign to S Korea for 2 years he learned to control himself. So far it worked.
Speaking of The Cubs. Matt Schwarber is literally one of the slowest outfielders in the Majors. Where do that play him in the field???
And Villar the Brewer 2B? WOW - he is NOT doing well at 2B. He is like an error machine statistically.
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