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Will You Please Stuff A Sock In It?

A few thoughts on this nasty virus. Thoughts about scavengers. Grandmothers. And stocks. First, a gentle message to our politicians. Unless you have something helpful to say, please shut up! You are vultures that swoop over and peck away at carcasses. You make political points off death and disease. You attack every step large and small this administration makes to deal with this contagion. When you do, the President – as is his habit and instinct – attacks you in return. All of you need to shut up. This is a time when our people need unity from our leaders. Instead, you are ...

How To Know When Your Benefits, Medicare Begin?

Question: As I have been approved for Social Security Disability benefits, when does my Medicare begin and what do I need to start it? Answer: When a person qualifies for Social Security Disability (SSD) they usually receive Medicare on the 25th month of eligibility for SSD benefits. Your Medicare card will automatically be mailed to you about three months before it is scheduled to begin. You should watch your mail as the Medicare card is a paper card and comes in a very plain envelope for your protection. There are situations or diagnosis that make those receiving SSD eligible for ...

There Is No American Worker Shortage

“We’re full, our system’s full, our country’s full!” That was President Donald Trump last year at our southern border. “Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families.” That was Trump in January 2017 at his inaugural address. “The influx of foreign workers holds down salaries, keeps unemployment high, and makes it difficult... to earn a middle class wage.” That was presidential candidate Trump in 2016. Contrast those clarion “America First” statements with the apparent ...

Anybody But Bernie Syndrome: Why A Brokered Democratic Convention Is The Party’s Only Hope

As I type this, the South Carolina debate is barely 12 hours old, and even more anxiety has stirred among the Democratic Party establishment. They are worried. The resilience of the Bernie Sanders movement and his supporters is clear. And everyone outside the Sanders circle is growing more in its chorus crying for relief and commonsense to reign. The “Anybody But Bernie!” movement is in full swing. The challenge now rests on what to do about it within the confines of party rules. Let’s step back for a moment and see how we got here. Long before Hillary Clinton sealed her ...

Truth Does Not Change With Time

There is a difference between the truth and our understanding of it. Each individual sees the world based on his or her mental framework, developed over a lifetime and influenced by every experience, relationship, and internal conversation. Our understanding of that world and its people can and must change over time as our experience deepens, but the underlying reality hasn’t, doesn’t, and can’t change. Babylon was a large city with many thousands of people. After 3,700 years, that fact has not changed. Its people fought wars, raised families, ate meals, and otherwise lived their ...

The Tale Of A Two-Fingered Typist

From September 1968 through June 1971, I was a student at Jamestown High School. Back then, JHS was a grade 10-12 school, as Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln, were junior high schools of grades 7, 8 and 9, and our elementary schools were grades K-6. (I went to St. James Parochial School for grades K through 9 and then moved to JHS, along with about 30 plus others with whom I spent my first 10 years of education growing up.) Anyway, when I got to high school, I was able to take some elective classes to balance out my Regents diploma curriculum, and one of those was typing. Mind you, ...