Do Black Lives Matter?

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Do black lives matter?  Today, they do.  Tomorrow, hopefully, that will be a nonsensical question.   “Black Lives Matter”, is an attempt to convince the ignorant “white” that a person with brown skin is a human being and entitled to the same respect by their nation and their fellow citizens.  But in the world I hope for tomorrow, “somewhere over the rainbow” it is a racist statement.  To me, there is no such thing as a “black life.”  Black is an inaccurate description of skin pigmentation, just like red is an inaccurate description of hair color.  Red hair and black skin are not meaningful indicators of who an individual actually is. 

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Was I a “white” four year old?  Was I a white 3^rd grader?  A white junior high school student?  A white high school student?  White in college?  Was I white in the work world?  In the world, as it should be, the answer is a simple no!  I have always been an individual human being, seeing the world from inside, but how did the world see me?  As I matured the world offered me more and more options and offered the person of color less and less.  Through a growing wisdom of society we will minimize this reality, down to non-existent.  “Black Lives” will become an irrational pairing of words.  No one will any longer experience a “black life.”

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But, what of today?  Are we moving toward a just world?  What does the world of Donald Trump and his loyal followers represent?  Can a man who “listens to his gut, not the experts”,  “grabs any pussy he wants to” and “deals with shit hole nations in Africa”, lead us to a just, non-racist world?  I suspect not.  His “white lives matter” and “blue lives matter” responses indicate that The Golden Ass has no understanding of the dialog being presented.

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So, do black lives matter?  Today they do.  Tomorrow, hopefully, the answer will be, “What do you mean by a black life?”

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Cheers, Old Buz 7/22/2020

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Lemming or Patriot?

I think I am perhaps posing a false choice.  To me, the words seem all too often to act like synonyms.  To get our biased truth from right or left wing media is to join the lemming reality.  A patriot is the result of an accident of one’s location of birth on the globe and neither position is based in wisdom.

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Dan Rather recently wrote a book on his vision of American Patriotism.  He has a pretty unbiased view of the events he has seen and reported on in his career, as well as an excellent grasp of the nation’s history.  He doesn’t delude himself into thinking it is a pretty story, but keeps bringing his overall judgements back to the fact that America is his place of birth.  A person born in Australia, or China, or Canada, or any other nation will pretty much do the same.  Patriots all.  “America First” is a very patriotic sentiment, as is “My country, right or wrong, my country.”  Neither has much to do with wisdom or justice.

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On dollars and cents, we live in a nation guided by dollars, but very little sense.  The dollars that guide our democracy care little for the general welfare, but care greatly for the wellbeing of the wealthy few.  A simple and obvious example of this is our healthcare system.  It is primarily designed to benefit healthcare insurance and pharmaceutical corporations, not patients.  The nations that lead in healthcare, in our world, protect the health of all of their citizens.  They see excellent healthcare as a right of citizenship.  And ….  Why not?  The recent Corona Pandemic is taking a disastrous path in our country partly because of the basic design of our healthcare system.   It is inordinately punishing the poor.  We should be better than that.

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Is President Bonespur a patriot?  Does waving a Bible over his head make him a Christian?  Are the brave young men and women who fly half way around the world to murder someone that they have never met … patriots?  As a pacifist, I would say the act is better described as one of a psychopath.  To me, the citizens marching across our country to protest racial injustice and try to make our nation a better place are our true patriots.  These caring people would do that born in any nation.  “Our country can be right or wrong.  Let’s make it right.”

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A choke hold or any act to stop breath should be prosecuted as an assault with a deadly weapon, be it done by a policeman or a civilian.  An unarmed peace officer, as works so well in England, would be a welcome change in America.  The public would see the officer as being there to help, not to exert deadly force.  The new officer would be handed a badge, but no gun.  Many a “bad apple” would consider other employment.  A readily available swat team with one sniper armed with a bolt action rifle and scope is adequate for back up.  Scores of officers armed with automatic assault weapons, with large capacity magazines, are counterproductive, resulting in excessive rounds being fired as well as possible collateral damage.

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There are only two kinds of people who carry a gun, cops and cowards, but since the uniformed officers in England don’t pack, perhaps there is only one.  I don’t fear walking through my life without one.  I have never needed a gun.  Most people don’t.   Most who employ one, wish in a calmer moment that they hadn’t.

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The lemmings move forward without much thought as do many patriots.  I don’t see much difference.  Is there a better way?

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Cheers, Old Buz                                                           6/4/2020   iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com

Corona V, Let The Good Times Roll

This may sound irresponsible, but I am suggesting that we treat the Corona Virus just like any other virus or cold and “Let the good times roll.” The methods suggested here should lessen the number of fatalities in the long run. I will attempt to support this action with data and sound logic. Open the schools and let business prosper.
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I am basing this proposed action on following data and unknowns:

1. The US population is about 300M folks.
   
2. About a third of them are breadwinners, 100M.
   
3. Assume a minimum living wage of $3K/ month.
   
4. Assume that 2/3 of the work force will be laid off for the duration of the pandemic. (2/3 x 100M x $3K/month = $2B/month unemployment benefit.
   
5. Add to this all of the government payments to Corporate and Small Business and Scams for the duration of the Corona shutdown. This is an unknown time period and an unknown cost.
   
6. The first hit that the Feds are authorizing is $850B. How long will this last? Will this non-productive expenditure destroy our debt laden economy?
   
7. If the economy is destroyed, how many deaths will this result in compared to an unfettered Corona V? Will the Corona ultimately have the approximately same kill count with or without our national quarantine?
   

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Business as usual:

1. Let the good times roll. Treat the Corona V like any other cold or flu, but put maximum effort toward the development of a cure and vaccination for the virus.
   
2. The history so far is that 80% of the population exposed will have slight symptoms. Assuming the entire population is exposed, that is 240M people.
   
3. 15 to 20% of the population (52.5M) will require medical care. Most of these patients will be covered by health insurance.
   
4. 2 to 3.5% of the population will die. That is six to ten and a half million people. These casualties will primarily be elderly or infirm. Naturally a portion of this group would have passed away without the virus. Ask yourself how these eight million deaths would compare to those resulting from the possible collapse of our economy and its social welfare net, which may in the worst of circumstances precipitate a nuclear war. I would contend that business as usual along with an emergency effort to develop the vaccine and the cure would be a better solution than quarantine and economic shut down. I am a senior with leukemia but I would rather take the small risk of death than see a tomorrow where my children live in a country that can no longer afford Medicare, Social Security or have a healthy economy.
   

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Hi ho, Old Buz, “Always look on the bright side of life.”
Iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com
3/19/2020

"Get Over It"

“Get Over It”

G O I, or “Get Over It” needs to be the mantra of the Trump Republican Party.  It needs to be a slogan on their ball cap, T-shirt and bumper sticker.  What better message could there be to the Trump voter?  Mick Mulvaney said it in reference to the quid pro quo that President Trump offered to the president of Ukraine, in a request for aid in his 2020 election, in exchange for military aid to Ukraine.  In a moment of truth, Mick Mulvaney said it to instruct the press and the American people.  It is a request by Mick, not to dwell on the character of the President or his misdeeds.  Move Along!  Mulvaney, before entering The White House staff, had said that Trump was not fit to be president of The United States and that he would hate to see Trump as a role model for his children.  I guess he now sees Trump as a good role model for all of America’s children.   Strange how fame and fortune can alter vision and change the direction of a moral rudder.  “Get Over It America” (dumb yourself down).

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But, character does matter, in our president.  His character reflects on the decisions he makes every day for the nation he leads.   When he abandons our allies, the Kurds, to die in Syria, where they had, with our assistance, defeated ISIS on the field of battle, it matters.  It reflects on the moral character of our nation, when before being elected, he stated that he could grab any woman’s “pussy” because he is a star, and yet was elected.  Character does matter and it is reflected on our nation by his every act.  He is our leader and a man of low moral character.  Hopefully of the lowest moral character that will ever occupy our White House.  “Ever” is a long time, but for now he has set the bar level as the “Greatest” low life to hold the office of President of The United States.  Perhaps our Oath of Allegiance needs to be modified to … “One nation under Greed, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

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If we choose to be willfully blind and GOI, we give up the soul of our nation.  Remember well and build on the memory.  Without learning from our past, we have no hope for our future.

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Please don’t G.O.I., hold on, Old Buz   10/19/2019

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"Excused From Jury Duty"

I was recently excused from federal jury duty based on my age being over 70.  I have never enjoyed jury duty and was pleased to have this special treatment given to me due to my age.  As a person who reached this age several years ago, I realize what a well thought out exemption this is.  With age, memory declines, judgement declines, awareness declines and reason declines.  These skills are all vital to a good jury decision.

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This does raise the question of whether or not, if I commit a crime, if I am being judged by my peers since the jurors are less than 70 years of age.  The term I would use for folks in assisted living is, “They have the wisdom of the aged.”  That is who I want to judge me, if they are capable of staying awake through the trial.

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The question that is raised by this issue is, if one doesn’t have the capacity to judge, past the age of 70, do they have the capacity to be a judge, or a maker of laws, or the leader of our nation?  The answer seems obvious.  No lifetime appointments for judges, at any level.  No legislators may run for office, if they will reach the age of 70 during their term of office.  Same rule for the White House and Governor’s office.

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I would like to see Donald Trump and Joe Biden walking off, hand in hand, to assisted living.  Neither had much of a brain in their prime, let alone in their doddering years.  I would not like to see the same fate falling on Elizabeth Warren.  She is the most powerful mind in Washington DC.  Oh well, laws can’t be perfect, but this one would do more good than harm.  The average IQ will take a serious hit when Elizabeth leaves the Senate.

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Sorry Elizabeth, Old Buz

iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com

8/24/2019

Golden Goose Economics

Golden Goose Economics, in this rant referred to as GGE, is fast becoming the prominent economic theory in The United States of America.  It would best be described as an unsustainable business theory, which only considers short term profits, not long term results.  I am presently a casualty/participant in GGE.  That is, I have sold my soul in order to live. 

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I will give you a short back story.  In 2009 I was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).  It stayed in the “wait and watch” stage, with little or no symptoms, until late 2018, when the White Nationalist Lymphocytes decided to kill off the other blood cells, both red and the other whites.  This was a good short term decision for the lymphocytes, for they did greatly multiply their number, but at the long term cost of killing their host (me).  Leukemia will do that to you.

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Along comes the cavalry, sort of.  Abbvie (a GGE company) sells a drug known as Ibrutinib for twelve to fourteen thousand dollars a month.  The insurance co-pay on a drug of this price is about three thousand dollars a month.  I am using it.  Why so high?  Stay with me.  We need some history here.  Celera researched and developed the drug.  They sold it a couple of years later to Pharmacyclics for three million dollars*.  A nice profit and well deserved for the R&D given.  In 2011 Johnson & Johnson, after Phase II FDA trials, bought into the GGE program for $975 million dollars*.  Most recently Abbvie saw that J&J and Pharmacyclics had a good GGE program going and in March of 2015 paid them 21 Billion Dollars* for the scam.  Why do I call it a GGE scam?  Because, the developer, Celera, could have sold the drug for $50 a month and made money.

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Now you are asking yourself, “How can this retired guy, a blog writer, living on Social Security pay a three thousand dollar, a month, co-pay?”  I can’t.  A foundation pays the co-pay.  After I turn down the program, the drug supplier calls me and asks, “What is your monthly income?”  I answer the question, with no verification required, and I am told that you qualify for the foundation’s program.  I have no co-pay.  This seemed both easy and fishy to me, so I asked the obvious question, “Who finances this foundation?”  Answer given, “The Pharmaceutical Companies.”  How would the CEO or CFO or a drug company analyze this transaction?  Price a lifesaving drug so that less than 10% of the market can afford it.  Fund a foundation to pay the co-pay.  Get the co-pay back when you sell the drug, plus get the benefit of a “charitable” contribution.  Now your market is 100% of CLL patients.  Who pays for this GGE scam?  Medicare.  Who pays for Medicare?  You, the tax payer, pays for Medicare.  How long can Medicare pay for this program?  Great question.  Put it to a Republican Congress.

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So, I sold my soul to the Devil for the possibility for a slightly longer life.  This is the mother chimp philosophy.  I, long ago, read about an experiment involving a mother chimp and her baby being placed in a large water tank.  As the water in the tank slowly rose, the mother held her baby high.  When the level rose over her nose, she stood on the baby.  Before this incident, she had hoped to be reincarnated as a Trump Train Rider or a Big Pharma CEO (the lowest form of human), but when it was her life, she stood on her baby.  She will be lucky to be reborn as a chimp.  Before I joined the Golden Goose Economics scam, I had hoped to be reincarnated as an ACLU Lawyer.  By joining the Big Pharma program, I think it will be chimp in the next life for me.  I will be demoted from a blog writing, retired motorcycle dealer.  Not much of a step down, but a step down just the same.

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Cheers, Old Buz

Born an agnostic and with God’s help will remain one.

*Source: Wikipedia > ibrutinib > history
  

"MAGA"

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Make America Good Again.  When I was a small child, growing up in Columbus, Ohio, I believed that I was a citizen of a good country.  It was 1945, I was five years old and I’ll admit, quite gullible.  We had just nuked two cities in Japan.  Two civilian populations.  We had previously fire bombed Japan’s largest city, Tokyo, to ashes.  Without going into Japanese / Chinese history, our history with Japan was that we sided with the Chinese and placed a naval blockade around the island nation of Japan.  Japan responded with the air attack of a military base (Pearl Harbor).  Twenty-three years later, I went to Japan and met some of the nicest, kindest, most industrious people I had yet to encounter.  All of the propaganda against the Japanese people that I experienced in my youth was just that …. Propaganda.

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We recently elected a president who is the living symbol of greed, lies and abuse.  As a nation, we knew this about him before his election.  He obviously didn’t receive a majority vote, but it was close enough to fairly represent a stain on the goodness of our nation.  We chose him.  His opponent was not much better.  She only lied 23% of the time, to his 86%.  You would hope that leaving the truth would be the result of misinformation, held as truth, but that was probably not the case for either of the candidates.  Truth and the unbiased spreading of it is a major force in producing a good nation.  Ideally it’s called The Media.

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Our nation spends 56% of its discretional tax income on the tools of warfare.  Could this possibly make us a good nation?  Killing folks for financial gain is hard to justify.  In this area we lead the world and there isn’t a close second.  The old pacifist cliché on this issue is, “Why not spend it on healthcare and education?”  Well …. Why not?

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I don’t believe that any well-educated, intelligent clergyman believes that the bible he or she teaches as truth is not in fact, mythology.  So we are taught in our places of worship, as well as in the public square, by hypocrites.  It is called faith.  There are of course exceptions to this, but they are rare.  As for the business world, they are proud of the lies that make them wealthy, but not proud enough to own up to them.

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So what am I rooting for?  Make America Good Again.  Make it as good as I, a child, once thought it was.  It will never realistically be that, but let that be our goal.  Our direction.  Making our nation become a better place and helping the other nations of the world become a better place is good for all human beings.  It’s time to change direction. 

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Make America Good Again, Old Buz

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