Mike Thinks

Ralph Nader: "Tyrant Trump Declares End of Laws Saving American Lives"

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 18:51:00 +0000

President Trump has campaigned both times on leaning hard to deregulate the United States of America. One major goal was to roll back unnecessary regulations that are (in his mind) crippling the growth of American capitalism.

What does the iconic activist Ralph Nader think of such efforts? Below is his newsletter quoted on the subject:

“Deregulation” is an antiseptic word loved by the giant corporations that rule the people. In reality, health and safety “deregulation” spells death, injury, and disease for the American people of all ages and backgrounds. This is especially so with the deranged dictates from the Tyrant Trump, who is happily beholden to his corporate paymasters, who are making him richer by the day.

Trump’s mindless deregulation mania got underway in January 2025 with his illegal shutting down of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which has saved lives in poor countries – by providing food, water, medicine, etc. – for a pittance. USAID spends less in a year than the Pentagon spends in a week. International aid groups predict that the ongoing cuts could lead to 9.4 million preventable deaths occurring in poor countries by 2030 unless the vicious and cruel, unlawful Trumpian shutdown is reversed.

It turns out Trump was just warming up for his illegal violence against innocent American families in both blue and red states. He has abolished requirements for the auto industry to limit its emissions and maintain fuel efficiencies. The result: more disease-bearing gases and particulates into the lungs of Americans, including the most vulnerable – children and people suffering from respiratory diseases.

Trump wants to roll back the regulations that would require auto company fleets to average 50 miles per gallon by 2031. In 2024, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said its proposed vehicle fuel economy standards would save Americans more than $23 billion in fuel costs while reducing pollution.

Month after month, Trump is illegally reducing or shutting down life-saving programs without the required Congressional approval. One of his major targets is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This month, his puppet EPA head, Lee Zeldin, celebrated the elimination of lethal greenhouse gases from the EPA’s regulatory controls. Zeldin and Trump are in effect telling Americans, “Let them breathe toxic air.” Plus, more climate catastrophes.

Smothering wind and solar projects while boosting the omnicidal polluting oil, gas, and coal production is another way Trump is exposing people to sickening gases and particulates. A corporate cynic once joked, “No problem, you can always refuse to inhale.”

Trump’s treachery toward coal miners, whom he praises, is shocking. He cut the funds for free testing of coal miners’ lungs, often afflicted with the deadly black lung diseases that have taken hundreds of thousands of coal miners’ lives over the past century and a half. We worked to pass the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, to control the levels of coal dust causing this disease, but Trump is unraveling it by cutting law enforcement. The Trump administration says it is “reconsidering” the long-awaited proposed silica control regulations. More unnecessary delay. In 2024, Politico reported that “Mine Safety and Health Administration projects that the final rule will avert up to 1,067 deaths and 3,746 silica-related illnesses.”

In his mass firings of federal civil servants, Trump has included the ranks of federal safety inspectors for meat and poultry plants (USDA), for occupational health and safety (OSHA), and specialized areas like you would never imagine – such as nuclear security. Tyrant Trump worsened the potential danger for workers and communities by firing most of the Inspector Generals – again illegally – who are the powerful watchdogs over federal departments and agencies. Many Inspector General positions are still vacant.

In terms of short and long-run perils, Trump’s attacks on scientific research and discovery to reduce or prevent diseases would be enough to give him the grisly record for knowingly letting Americans die. The assault on vaccines, including for contagious diseases, is staggering, led by RFK, Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

RFK, Jr. becomes more extreme by the day. His actions go way beyond any legitimate skepticism of the drug companies. He is going along with officials in states like Florida who are about to ban children’s vaccine mandates, even for polio, measles, and whooping cough. He has severely slashed, without Congressional authority, budgets for basic and applied science programs underway at universities and other public institutions. His salvos are resulting in the reduction of families getting their children vaccinated, who, if contagious, could infect their classmates. The so-called powerful medical societies have not risen to their optimal level of resistance to what is fast coming, a green light for epidemics – starting with the resurgence of measles now underway in places like South Carolina.

The crazed Menace-in-Chief wanted to abolish FEMA and its Rescue responses to hyper-hurricanes, floods, and giant wildfires. He recklessly says the states can handle the carnage from such disasters. The real reason is that he doesn’t want to be held responsible for failing to properly respond to such disasters. Remember the criticism of George W. Bush’s response to Katrina?

Again, with Trump, it is all about him, feeding his insatiable MONSTROUS EGO, rather than saving American lives. Recently, tragic events have forced him to reconsider. He is bringing back some of the experts and rescuers he fired from FEMA earlier last year.

Rather than faithfully execute federal laws, and ensure the well-being of the people, Dictator Donald, is using his position and time in the White House to enrich himself and to get his name on anything he can get away with – the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the U.S. Institute of Peace, the U.S. Treasury Department’s relief checks during Covid-19, the federal investment accounts, special visas, and a discount drug program. (See the February 16, 2026, article in the New York Times by Peter Baker titled, A Superman, Jedi and Pope).

Chronically lying, threatening violence against his opponents and people abroad, slandering anyone he feels like via the complaint mass media, including journalists and editors, and generally wrecking America as a serial law violator, Trump deserves to be told, “YOU’RE FIRED.” (This was his favorite TV show catchphrase). Trump deserves Impeachment and Removal from Office. Congress should act now, before more Americans die, get sick, or are injured from the destruction of long-established, critical protections under both Republican and Democratic Administrations.

Are we as a nation going to allow these politicians and corporations to continue to pollute and harm our society for their corporate profits?

Is Using AI to Write a College Essay the Same as Working With an Editor?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 19:39:00 +0000

Photo: FacultyFocus.com

Professors across universities are grappling with a pressing question:

If students use Artificial Intelligence to write essays, reports, and long-form assignments, are they still the true authors of their work?

Students are expected to produce original writing. Universities emphasize intellectual ownership — the idea that your ideas, analysis, and words should reflect your own thinking. Yet outside academia, writing is rarely a solitary act.

Consider journalism. A reporter writes a story. An editor revises it before publication.

Consider book publishing. An author submits a manuscript. Editors suggest revisions — sometimes major ones — before the book reaches readers.

So what’s the difference?

Is a student using AI really so different from a reporter working with an editor?

Let’s unpack it.

The Reporter and the Editor

In journalism, collaboration is built into the system.

A reporter will typically :

Conduct interviews
Verify facts
Organize the narrative
Write the draft

Whereas an editor will typically:

Refine clarity
Adjust the tone
Cut the piece for length
Ensure the legal and ethical standards are followed
Align the piece with the publication’s mission

How much of the reporter’s work remains in the final article?

Typically, most of it.

The facts, structure, and intellectual framing originate from the reporter. Editors may rewrite sentences or restructure sections, but they do not generate the reporting itself. The reporter is still credited as the author because the intellectual labor belongs to them.

The editor improves expression. They do not replace authorship.

The Book Author and the Publishing Editor

The publishing world operates similarly.

An author:

Creates the ideas
Develops characters or arguments
Structures the narrative
Writes the manuscript

Editors may:

Suggest structural revisions
Request rewrites
Improve pacing
Strengthen clarity

Sometimes these revisions are substantial. Entire chapters might be reworked. But crucially, the author does the rewriting. The core ideas remain the author’s. The voice remains the author’s. Intellectual ownership remains with the author.

Again, editing enhances authorship — it does not substitute for it.

Now Enter Artificial Intelligence

The situation changes when we introduce AI into academic writing.

There are two very different ways students might use AI.

Scenario 1: AI as a Ghostwriter

A student enters a prompt.
AI generates the argument, structure, examples, and transitions.
The student lightly edits the output and submits it.

In this case, who performed the intellectual work?

If the ideas, organization, and much of the wording come from AI, then AI has functioned less like an editor and more like a ghostwriter.

This is fundamentally different from the reporter–editor relationship.

An editor revises your work.
AI can generate the work itself.

That distinction matters.

Scenario 2: AI as an Editor or Tutor

Now imagine a different case.

The student writes a complete draft independently. They will typically use AI to do the following:

Check grammar
Suggest clearer phrasing
Improve transitions
Offer structural feedback

The student decides which suggestions to accept.

In this case, AI functions much more like an editor. The student remains the intellectual author. The core ideas, reasoning, and structure originate from the student.

This use resembles journalism and publishing much more closely.

The Real Difference: Intellectual Labor

The heart of the issue is not whether AI is involved.

The real question is:

Who performed the intellectual labor?

In journalism and publishing, the reporter (and author) generates the ideas. Whereas in education, students are supposed to generate ideas.

Universities assign essays not simply to produce polished writing, but to assess:

Critical thinking
Argument development
Analysis
Organization
Writing ability
Mastery of material

If AI performs those tasks, the assignment no longer measures the student’s learning. And that’s where the tension lies.

Purpose Matters

There is another key difference: purpose.

Journalism and publishing are collaborative industries by design. Editing is expected. It is institutionalized. Academic assignments, however, are assessments. They exist to evaluate an individual’s ability. The goal of a university essay is not to produce the best possible paper at any cost. The goal is to demonstrate the student’s thinking.

If AI replaces that thinking, the educational purpose changes entirely.

A Philosophical Shift

For centuries, tools have helped humans express their ideas more effectively.

A) Dictionaries.
B) Spellcheck.
C) Grammar guides.
D) Editors.

These tools refined human thought. AI represents something new. It does not merely refine expression — it can generate structure, arguments, and analysis. The line between assistance and substitution becomes blurred. And the ethical question becomes simpler — and harder — at the same time:

Is AI helping the student think better?
Or is it doing the thinking for them?

So, Is It the Same?

If AI is used like an editor — to refine a student’s original work — the analogy to journalism and publishing holds. If AI is used as a ghostwriter — to generate the intellectual substance — the analogy breaks down. Editors polish authors. They do not replace them. That is the difference.

And that distinction is where universities are now drawing their lines.

The Chemistry Behind Deodorants and Antiperspirants: What’s Really Happening Under Your Arms?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 16:07:00 +0000

Most of us swipe on deodorant or antiperspirant every morning without thinking twice about it. But what’s actually happening on your skin after that quick roll-on or spray?

The answer lies in chemistry — and the science is more fascinating than you might expect.

Although often used interchangeably, deodorants and antiperspirants work in completely different ways. One targets odor. The other targets sweat. Let’s break down the chemical mechanisms behind both.

First: Sweat Doesn’t Actually Smell

Here’s a surprising fact: fresh sweat is mostly odorless.

Sweat is primarily water, along with small amounts of salts, proteins, and lipids. The smell associated with body odor comes from bacteria living on your skin, not from sweat itself.

In areas like the armpits, apocrine glands release sweat that contains proteins and fatty compounds. Skin bacteria — particularly species like Corynebacterium and Staphylococcus — metabolize these compounds and convert them into:

Short-chain fatty acids
Sulfur-containing molecules
Volatile organic compounds

These byproducts are what produce body odor.

So how do deodorants and antiperspirants intervene?

How Deodorants Work: Targeting Odor at the Source

Deodorants are designed to combat odor — not sweat. They rely on several chemical strategies.

1. Antibacterial Agents

Since bacteria are responsible for odor, many deodorants include ingredients that suppress or kill them.

Common antibacterial compounds include:

Alcohol (ethanol or isopropanol)
Ethylhexylglycerin
Benzalkonium chloride
Essential oils (like tea tree oil)
Triclosan (used less today due to regulatory concerns)

These chemicals work by:

Disrupting bacterial cell membranes
Denaturing bacterial proteins
Interfering with enzyme systems

Fewer bacteria = less metabolic breakdown of sweat = less odor.

2. pH Alteration

Skin bacteria thrive in near-neutral environments. Many deodorants are formulated to be mildly acidic (around pH 4–5).

This lower pH:

Disrupts bacterial enzyme activity
Inhibits microbial growth
Shifts the skin’s microbiome balance

By making the environment less hospitable to odor-producing bacteria, deodorants reduce smell without affecting sweat production.

3. Masking Fragrances

Let’s be honest — fragrance plays a big role.

Perfumes and essential oils don’t eliminate odor chemically. Instead, they:

Overpower odor molecules
Blend with them to create a more pleasant scent
Provide the perception of freshness

This is why some deodorants work better initially than others — the effect can be largely sensory.

4. Enzyme Inhibition (Advanced Formulations)

Some newer formulations aim to block the enzymes bacteria use to break down sweat components.

By inhibiting lipases and proteases, these deodorants reduce the formation of odor-causing compounds like:

Isovaleric acid
3-methyl-2-hexenoic acid

This approach tackles odor production at a biochemical level.

How Antiperspirants Work: Reducing Sweat Itself

Antiperspirants take a different route. Instead of focusing on bacteria, they reduce the moisture that bacteria need to thrive.

The active ingredients? Aluminum-based salts.

Common examples include:

Aluminum chlorohydrate
Aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly

1. The Gel Plug Mechanism

When applied to the skin, aluminum salts dissolve in sweat. They then react with electrolytes and proteins in the sweat duct.

This reaction forms a gel-like aluminum hydroxide complex that:

Precipitates inside the sweat duct
Forms a temporary plug
Blocks sweat from reaching the skin surface

Less sweat reaching the surface means:

Less moisture for bacteria
Less bacterial metabolism
Less odor formation

Importantly, this blockage is temporary. The plug is naturally shed as skin cells renew.

2. Pore Contraction (Astringent Effect)

Aluminum salts also have mild astringent properties. They can cause slight constriction of the sweat gland ducts, further reducing sweat flow.

The Key Differences

Feature	Deodorant	Antiperspirant
Reduces sweat	No	Yes
Targets bacteria	Yes	Indirectly
Uses aluminum salts	No	Yes
Alters skin pH	Often	Not primarily
Mechanism type	Antimicrobial & sensory	Physical blockage

Many modern products combine both functions — meaning your “deodorant” may actually be doing double duty.

Why Stress Sweat Smells Worse

You may have noticed that stress sweat smells stronger. That’s because stress activates apocrine glands more intensely, producing sweat richer in proteins and lipids — prime material for bacterial metabolism.

More substrate for bacteria = stronger odor.

The Aluminum Safety Debate

Concerns have periodically surfaced about aluminum in antiperspirants. Current scientific evidence indicates that the amount of aluminum absorbed through the skin is extremely low and well below established safety thresholds. Major health organizations have not found conclusive evidence linking antiperspirant use to serious disease.

That said, consumer preference has driven growth in aluminum-free products — which function strictly as deodorants.

The Takeaway

Sweat itself doesn’t smell.
Bacteria convert sweat components into odor-causing molecules.
Deodorants fight bacteria and mask smell.
Antiperspirants physically reduce sweat using aluminum salts.

What seems like a simple hygiene product is actually a small daily chemistry experiment happening on your skin.

Next time you apply your morning swipe, you’ll know: it’s not just freshness — it’s biochemistry at work.

Raising a Child to Be Better Than Me

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 22:26:00 +0000

Photo: Jessup University

My goal as a father is simple to say, but hard to define: I want my child to grow up to be better than me.

I think about that goal every day.

What does better even mean? Smarter? Kinder? More successful? More confident? Less broken by the world than I sometimes feel?

Like most parents, I ask myself constant questions:

- What do I want to teach my child?

- What skills actually matter?

- Can I help him avoid the mistakes I made?

Maybe. But maybe not in the way I once thought.

The Myth of the Mistake-Free Life

For a long time, I believed good parenting meant protecting my child from the errors I made—wrong choices, wasted time, poor judgment, avoidable pain. But the older I get, the clearer something becomes:

Mistakes are unavoidable.

If my child doesn’t make the same mistakes I did, he will make different ones. And one day, he’ll look at his own child and think, “I hope you don’t repeat my mistakes.”

That isn’t failure. That’s life.

The real question isn’t whether our children will fail. It’s whether they’ll know what to do after they fail.

What Children Really Learn From Us

Children don’t learn most from what we say. They learn from how we live.

They watch how we handle frustration.

They notice how we treat people who disagree with us.

They hear how we talk about ourselves when things go wrong.

They are always watching, even when we think they aren’t.

One of the most powerful lessons we can teach is not perfection, but recovery:

How to admit we were wrong
How to apologize without excuses
How to learn instead of becoming bitter
How to try again without shame

If my child grows up believing that mistakes don’t define him—but how he responds to them does—then he’s already ahead of where I started.

Parenting in the Age of Noise

Raising a child today feels harder than ever.

Social media pulls at their attention, reshapes their values, and constantly tells them who they should be, what they should want, and how they should measure their worth. It often works directly against the patience, humility, and depth we want our children to develop.

We can’t out-lecture the internet.

But we can give our children something stronger than noise: identity.

A home where they are safe to ask questions.

A place where disagreement doesn’t equal rejection.

An environment where curiosity is encouraged and critical thinking is valued.

When children feel secure in who they are, the outside world loses some of its power to define them.

The Skills That Actually Matter

When I strip life down to its essentials, success doesn’t come from knowing everything. It comes from handling what you don’t know.

The skills I want my child to learn aren’t flashy, but they are foundational:
Emotional awareness instead of emotional avoidance
Resilience instead of entitlement
Delayed gratification instead of instant reward
Problem-solving instead of blame
Empathy without losing oneself
Boundaries without cruelty

These skills don’t come from lectures. They come from lived experience—and from watching the adults in their lives model them imperfectly.

Letting My Child See Me Grow

One of the hardest lessons I’m still learning as a parent is this:

My child doesn’t need a flawless father.

He needs a growing one.

When I admit I handled something poorly…
When I change my mind after learning more…
When I say, “I’m still figuring this out”…

I’m not showing weakness. I’m showing him that growth doesn’t end with adulthood.

That lesson alone might be worth more than anything else I teach him.

A Simple Guiding Question

Whenever I feel lost as a parent, I return to one question:

What do I wish someone had helped me understand earlier in life?

Then I try to teach that—gently, honestly, and without pretending I have it all figured out.

Raising a child to be “better than me” doesn’t mean raising someone flawless. It means raising someone who can think, adapt, care, and recover.

And maybe, years from now, he’ll ask himself the same questions I do—hoping to give his child just a little more wisdom than he had at the start.

If that happens, I’ll know I did something right.

Character in Crisis: How We React When Someone Faints in Front of Us

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 23:13:00 +0000

How we react on a human level to someone in need of medical attention reveals a great deal about our character. Moments like these strip away politics, power, and status — and reveal something much simpler: empathy.

Imagine someone fainting in front of you. Do you rush forward to help? Or do you freeze, letting others take the lead? Our instinctive reaction in those seconds often speaks louder than any speech ever could.

But what if the person standing there isn’t just anyone — what if it’s the President of the United States?

Here are two examples:

Should the President Step In?

It might seem obvious that the right thing to do is to help. After all, we’re taught from childhood to offer assistance when someone is in distress. Yet for the President, things aren’t always so simple. Surrounded by security agents and cameras, every move is measured. Protocols exist. There are trained medical professionals nearby whose job is to respond to emergencies.

Still, leadership isn’t only about policy — it’s also about presence. How a leader reacts in a crisis, even a small one, tells us something about who they are beneath the politics.

A Tale of Two Presidents

Recently, during a press conference, President Donald Trump paused as a man fainted nearby. Trump acknowledged the situation, noted that help was being given, and waited as medical personnel stepped in. He didn’t move toward the person or visibly intervene.

In contrast, during a 2013 rally, President Barack Obama noticed a pregnant woman about to faint behind him. Without hesitation, he turned, caught her arm, and called for medical attention — even pausing his speech to check on her. The moment went viral, not because of its political implications, but because it seemed so profoundly human.

Two different presidents. Two different instincts. Two different optics.

The Human Moment in Leadership

In fairness, the President is not a first responder — and sometimes stepping in could actually create more chaos or risk. But there’s a symbolic power in acknowledgment. Even a simple act — such as kneeling beside someone, calling for help, or showing concern — can convey compassion and humanity.

When a leader chooses to act (or not act), the public sees it as a reflection of empathy. Empathy, perhaps more than any policy, is what connects a leader to the people they serve.

Why It Matters

We live in an age where every gesture is recorded, dissected, and debated. Yet, genuine humanity still breaks through. Whether you’re a President or a passerby, helping someone who’s in need — or even showing visible concern — reminds us that leadership begins with compassion.

At the end of the day, character isn’t measured by what you say from a podium.
It’s revealed in what you do when someone faints in front of you.

The Hidden Cost of Tariffs: How Shrinkflation Is Quietly Draining Your Wallet

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Fri, 08 Aug 2025 14:59:00 +0000

Photo: EquitableGrowth.org

President Trump has made one thing clear: he loves tariffs. This stance has become a central part of our current economic reality. While tariffs are often presented as tools to “level the playing field” and protect American industries, they come with real costs—many of which aren’t felt immediately, but rather sneak up on consumers over time.

Republicans, and some business leaders, are quick to defend tariffs with two main arguments:

“We’re balancing out trade.”

“Wall Street has priced in the tariffs—look at the markets, they’re at all-time highs.”

And for now, that may be enough to keep most Americans from asking too many questions. The stock market’s performance acts like a reassuring lullaby, while the real effects of tariffs quietly unfold in the background.

Enter: Shrinkflation

Have you noticed fewer chips in your Doritos bag lately? You’re not imagining it. While the price tag may look the same, the product inside has shrunk.

This isn’t a coincidence—it’s a calculated move by corporations reacting to rising production and import costs, including those driven by tariffs. Rather than increase prices outright (which consumers would instantly notice and resent), companies are taking a more subtle route: giving you less for the same price.

1) This tactic, known as shrinkflation, is everywhere:

2) Fewer M&Ms in each package.

3) Smaller cereal boxes, same price.

4) 12-pack soda cases reduced to 10, still labeled “value size.”

This approach avoids the psychological sticker shock of higher prices, but it still chips away at your purchasing power.

The Slow Boil

Unlike a sharp price hike that forces consumers to make immediate changes, shrinkflation operates like a slow boil. You might not notice the difference from one month to the next, but over time, you're spending more and getting less.

The economic rationale is clear: tariffs raise costs for manufacturers and importers. Those costs get passed down. But instead of hitting all at once, the pain is doled out incrementally.

And while Wall Street celebrates record highs, ordinary consumers are paying more for less—and often don’t even realize it.

Why It Matters

Tariffs may be politically popular in the short term. They’re easy to sell as a tool for protecting American jobs and punishing foreign “cheaters.” But their ripple effects—like rising costs and shrinkflation—are less visible, and far more insidious.

Corporations will continue to adapt in ways that protect their profit margins. And as long as consumers are distracted by stable prices and booming stock indices, this erosion of value may continue unchecked.

But eventually, the weight of these incremental changes adds up. And when it does, we may all begin to feel the true cost of policies designed to win headlines instead of helping households.

Next Time You're at the Store…

Check the net weight. Count the cookies. Compare the ounces. What looks like a good deal today might be yesterday’s product in a smaller box.

Because the cost of goods is going up. It’s just being hidden—one chip, one candy, one cereal box at a time.

Ralph Nader: The Actions of Speaker Mike Johnson

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 20:56:00 +0000

Photo: Washingtonian

The charge to minimize government overreach continues to be made by the Republican Party. Which is no surprise, given their campaign speeches over the last few years. I am still appalled by the actions of the Republican Party. Even though I keep track of current events, recent events have still raised my eyebrows at times. More times than I would like.

Congress has become corporate soldiers. Soldiers who follow the orders of the Generals from big corporations. Orders are handed down through various avenues: campaign donations, lobbying on Capitol Hill, and grassroots campaigns in local districts. Money flows to influence laws to favor big corporations.

The iconic Ralph Nader has a recent post on Congress. Specifically, the actions of Speaker Mike Johnson. Here is the post in full below:

By Ralph Nader

July 25, 2025

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson—probably the worst Speaker in American history—shut down the House early this week before its five-week vacation. He wants to avoid holding votes on releasing the Epstein files that reportedly include, among other notables, Donald J. Trump.

This is the latest valet service provided by a spineless Johnson, a Trump toady, whose groveling has no known boundaries. Imagine Johnson, a lawyer, took an oath to uphold the Constitution yet has no interest in safeguarding the independence of the Congressional branch of our government.

Like Trump, he falsely characterizes what is in the Trump corporate giveaway tax/budget bill that shattered the country’s social safety net for American families. No one has ever even dared to promote such a draconian tax bill. Our country’s safety net has had the support of both Parties until the wrecking crew of Trump, Johnson and Senate leader Thune showed up.

Johnson declined to protect his own Party members who were raising serious questions about Trump’s big, destructive bill. He allowed the Trumpsters to physically threaten these dissenters to get them back in line.

Most seriously, he has further crumpled the Founders’ system of checks and balances by turning the House of Representatives into an automatic rubber stamp for Trump. Johnson even refuses to allow his Committee Chairs to hold hearings on legislation Trump wants to ram through Congress. Johnson and his cronies do no oversight of the Executive Branch despite Trump’s vast violations and vicious cruelties, such as firing tens of thousands of key federal civil servants and further debilitating the resources of the IRS to collect taxes from the evasive super-rich and big companies. And the list goes on.

As the New York Times elaborated further with this description: “Mr. Johnson’s decision to shut down the House early was the latest example of how the speaker has in many ways ceded the chamber’s independence in order to please or avoid angering Mr. Trump. He has deferred to the president on matters large and small, including when it comes to Congress’s spending power. He quietly maneuvered this year to yield the House’s ability to weigh in on Mr. Trump’s tariffs, in order to spare Republicans from having to cast politically tricky votes on whether to end them.”

The larger decline of Congress providing countervailing checks and balances reflecting the interests of the people, whose sovereign power under the Constitution has been delegated to it as a public trust, and has been eroded for decades. (See, “Congressional Surrender and Presidential Overreach” by Bruce Fein).

No matter who is in control, the GOP or the Democrats, the crass obeisance to the Executive Branch remains the surrendering norm.

The consensus by the two Parties extends to the minimal days that Congress is actually in session. The members take numerous vacations (they call them “recesses”). They see the weeks they work as starting on Tuesday and ending on Thursday. In between even those days, they are busy in fundraising offices dialing for campaign dollars.

With such limited workdays for a full-time, well-paying job, members of Congress have less time for hearings to investigate wrongdoing, waste and neglect of actions in the Executive Branch or the dubious ethical practices in the federal judiciary and federal prosecutors’ offices.

Increasingly, it is nearly impossible for informed citizens to secure Congressional hearings and be invited as witnesses, as was the case in the Sixties and Seventies. Congress is, however, “open for business” if you represent big corporations. Congress has built a cocoon around itself with a sign reading: Business Lobbyists Only. People are bitterly complaining about their inability to get through to their Senators or Representatives if they are not big campaign contributors or from big business. (See, The Incommunicados by Ralph Nader and Bruce Fein).

The solution is obvious. The people back home must organize Congress Watch Groups— call it a crucial civic hobby (See: The Day the Rats Vetoed Congress)—and establish a tradition of formally summoning their wayward lawmakers to the people’s Town Meetings with the people’s agendas on the table (See, Breaking Through Power: It’s Easier Than We Think, City Lights Books).

There are many overdue changes and reforms backed by large majorities of liberal and conservative voters to make Watchdog Groups a formidable force. One percent of the voters can change Congress, especially because the necessities of the People are widely and strongly supported by millions of voters.

Ralph Nader's latest book is Civic Self-Respect

Wow! Americans need to decide how much they are willing to let this corporate power continue to take hold over our society. Will we continue as a society to let big corporations make laws that put Americans in harm's way? Continue to put profit over safety?

These are just two questions that need to be thought hard about. We the people do have power. Educate yourself. Take local action. Call your local senator or representative. Express your opinion. Whatever that opinion may be. Help shape society.

How To Regulate Emotions?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 16:54:00 +0000

Photo: Photo by Callum Skelton on Unsplash

What does a structured plan to regulate emotions look like?

Regulating emotions is a key part of emotional intelligence and mental well-being. It involves understanding, managing, and appropriately expressing one's emotions. After reading a few books on regulating emotions, I summarized the results below.

Here’s a structured guide to help you improve emotional regulation:

1. Understand Your Emotions

First, identify the emotion. Are you feeling angry, sad, anxious, frustrated, or overwhelmed? Labeling emotions helps make sense of them.

Next, identify any triggers. Reflect on what caused the emotion. Was it a comment, a memory, a stressor?

Finally, look for body signals. Emotions often manifest physically, such as a tight chest or clenched jaw.

2. Regulations Strategies

— Mindfulness

To begin with, start with mindfulness. Change the way you think about a situation. Instead of “I failed,” try “I’m learning and growing.”

Which includes changing your perspective. Imagine how someone else might view the situation to reduce emotional intensity.

— Breathing

Next, try these breathing adjustments. Breathing exercises: Try breathing 4–7–8 (inhale 4 seconds, hold 7, exhale 8). Release tension. Try to relax and release each muscle group. Get up and go for a short walk.

— Express Yourself

Start by journaling. Write down what you feel and why. Another outlet is to talk to someone or a group. Share feelings with a friend, mentor, or therapist.

3. Build Emotional Resilience

First, returning to mindfulness — practice being present without judgment: meditation, yoga, and mindfulness walks.

Second, get a healthy amount of sleep. Sleep deprivation compromises health, which leads to emotional volatility.

One of the most challenging skills to build is to protect yourself. That entails building healthy boundaries. What boundaries? Boundaries that protect your mental health. Learn to say ‘no’ more frequently.

4. Practice and Reflect

How do you measure progress while building emotional regulation skills?

To start with, have daily check-ins with yourself. Do so at regular intervals.

Ask yourself, “How am I feeling right now?”.

Track your progress. Start with an emotion journal. A mood tracker might help you identify mood trends.

Conclusion…

The above steps are a rough guide to build your structured guide to help regulate emotions. Each of us is different. Therefore, additional steps might be needed. Such steps would include: (1) Talking to a therapist or other mental health professional, (2) Joining a support group (look online), and (3) Leverage technology to your benefit — use apps like Headspace, Calm, and Moodfit.

I wish you the best in your journey towards regulating your emotions! This process is based on progress, not perfection. Don’t be afraid to experiment and optimize the above steps to fit your needs and situation.

Do You Focus On Flowers or Dog Poop?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Mon, 19 May 2025 21:27:00 +0000

Photo: Amazon

Over the past few years, I have noticed that more dog owners are not cleaning up after their pets. This observation has been a result of many dog walks. What is really at the heart of the matter at hand? What do I mean by the last question? Why am I even writing about this matter?

Let's me state the obvious at the outset, I have no control over whether anyone else cleans up after their pets (i.e., poop). But I have control over what I focus on while walking around the city. Which is directly related to my stress and anxiety. What? Related to stress and anxiety?

A Few People Leave Dog Poop For Us All

I walk to work most days of the week, so I see the same landscape daily. With that benefit, I also see people leaving their pets' waste lying around. Why does this matter to me? What confounds me is that there are signs like the one shown below scattered around the landscape to warn residents.

Photo: DogPoopSigns.com

One would think that the sign would make a difference. Nope. But again, what is really going on here? Why am I worried about people not picking up after their pets? I am really not concerned with pet waste. No, I do not want to step in it. But that is a slight worry while walking each day.

Stress and Anxiety...is at Work!

I decided to walk to work and focus on the beautiful flowers planted along the way. Whenever I focus on pet waste, I would immediately direct my attention to flowers. Flowers are beautiful. How did that work out? Amazingly enough, the process has started to work out quite well. I do not have control over the flowers that are planted, either, but I can appreciate their beauty.

Further, I have noticed that the underlying problem is not the pet waste, but my anxiety. When I am more anxious, I tend to focus on the negative aspects of life. Which is common. This was a revelation for me. And when I started to gradually work on the process of refocusing my thoughts, I started to feel better overall.

Conclusion...

This post was short but essential for me. I have really started directing my attention toward each landscape's beautiful aspects and not focusing on negative observations. As a result, my overall stress has begun to diminish. I no longer focus on dog poop. I look for flowers!

Why are Tariff Pauses Not Giving Investors Confidence?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 22:29:00 +0000

After a 10 percent launch of the S&P 500 upon processing news of a 'pause' in tariffs for the world, the stock market is still in disarray. Why? What to make of a 'pause'? For starters, if confidence was the motive after the announcement, then the Trump Administration failed. Why? Read on for thoughts and considerations.

Consumer confidence has weakened with the tariff announcements added to the mountain of layoffs that the current administration has carried out quickly. Isolating the United States from the world alliances has not been a positive catalyst for the market either. Where do we go from here?

Consider: Why did Apple charter airplanes to fly to China and collect as many iPhones as possible in the last 48 hours?

Consumers and citizens should be wary when a huge company such as Apple carries out a stunt like that. Watching the economy is not just for economists. We must open our eyes and watch to vote confidently in our government. Apple is chartering jets to collect smartphones before 140% tariffs are implemented in China, so it should raise a large red warning sign.

How Does Money Impact The Bond Market?

Money flows into China to be invested back into America. How does that happen? Take an umbrella purchased on Amazon for $9.99 with free shipping. That $9.99 goes to China. Then China invests that $9.99 into purchasing U.S. 10-Year Treasury Notes. What?

Yes. That's why yesterday, President Trump watched the Bond market get destroyed and caved in about implementing tariffs on the world (except China).

So, when you hear someone say that the President does not respond to the stock market, that is bull crap. Further, the fact that today, the market sold off further should raise signs of investor uncertainty exists. The United States (and world) need market stabilization to trade and predict properly on their short and longterm investments. Stay tuned.

The Fringe Conservatives Have Been 'Winning' Lately...But Not For Long!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 21:14:00 +0000

Photo: Politico

The opinion page of the New York Times newspaper is filled with different minds speaking their respective views of the current day. One such view is that of author/newspaper columnist David Brooks. David Brooks was part of a conservative movement that was split into two camps long ago. One camp is of traditionalists, while the other is more 'fringe' conservatives.

As explained in the video below by MSNBC, columnist David Brooks offers a view of history that is playing out in the White House and relevant to the moment:

It is definitely a video worth watching and thinking about the relevancy toward today's current events. Enjoy!

DOGE Cuts Are Going To Diminish Any "Savings" or Efficiency Due To Lawsuits Filed In Courts

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 16:25:00 +0000

Photo: Engineer Man

DOGE—The Department of Government Efficiency has been on a tirade lately, firing employees across many Federal Agencies. Many of these so-called firings have resulted in lawsuits against the United States. Further, many of these lawsuits have resulted in 'injunctions'—freezes on actions carried out by the government (or DOGE) to slow down wrongdoings. The result will be more costly to the United States because of the need to pay legal fees and settlements from these frivolous lawsuits.

The Trump administration approaches firings in the wrong way. Like the approach taken to reduce immigration levels in the United States, the Trump Administration does not know how to effectively carry out strategies. This lack of strategy and efficiency has resulted in numerous lawsuits. In the end, the cost will outweigh the gain in efficiency.

On an ending note, the reduction in government will return as a hindrance to the U.S. overall. Just wait until the vital services - Medicaid and Social Security - have been far reduced in staffing to the point where these agencies do not run at all. To all of the Republicans out there who rely on these services for their well-being, I wonder how they will feel when their welfare is threatened? Stay tuned.

Disease is Coming - listen to Dr. Craig Spencer

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 21:03:00 +0000

Photo: Brown University

Robert Kennedy Jr is a threat to the health of our nation, specifically by propagating misinformation about vaccines. Vaccines save lives. No debate there. But people like Robert Kennedy decide to go against conventional medicine that is based on evidence to propagate misinformation. The result is a nation at risk. Yes, you heard correctly. Don't believe me?

Listen to Dr. Craig Spencer. Dr. Spencer is a survivor of Ebola and a researcher at Brown University School of Public Health. In the interview below, Dr. Spencer discusses the possible outbreaks and spread of diseases worldwide and the part Robert Kennedy plays in spreading misinformation. The two are linked intrinsically:

Watch out. Be ready for the lack of qualified leadership. The Trump administration continues to install/hire unqualified professionals for vital positions, which will have adverse health impacts on the nation in the coming days/years.

Ralph Nader: To Cover Trumps Tyranny, Media Groups Must Do The Following...

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 21:30:00 +0000

Photo: Washington Post

The iconic activist Ralph Nader has some comforting suggestions to combat the inherent craziness of our former and former President Donald J. Trump. Trump has done damage that will last decades to reverse. Mainly due to his ignorance of the political process. And that is why some people love him. Destroy democracy - right? For those of us who believe in democracy and fight for it, here is a post worth reading:

To Thwart Trump’s Tyranny, the Media Must Cover Resistance by Civic Groups and Unions
[This version contains a small correction in the 4th paragraph—the January 18, 2025 article in the New York Times was a column, not an editorial]

By Ralph Nader

January 24, 2025

A lawless madman, with cunning political skills, is at large in our White House. After less than five days in office, he has set a record for flamboyantly issued executive orders, many violative of federal statutes and the Constitution.

A partial list: he has withdrawn the U.S. from the World Health Organization (e.g., damaging international coordination regarding pandemics), quit the Paris Climate Accords (e.g., nations working together against climate violence), selected corporate ideologues to run regulatory agencies (the purpose of which is to save lives, prevent injuries and stop consumer rip-offs), unleashed ICE to crash schools looking for undocumented kids to take away, threatened the media, readied more tax cuts for the super-rich and big companies, and halted the hiring of I.R.S. staff needed to stop massive tax evasions by the plutocracy. He has moved to make massive cuts in spending for programs protecting children and the sick (e.g., slashing Medicaid), lifting controls over oil & gas drilling, reducing support for solar and wind energy, and gutting the civil service. Meanwhile he, a convicted felon, is pardoning hundreds of convicted jailed felons who assaulted Capitol Hill police on Jan. 6, 2021, who will now be vengefully on the streets. The terrifying list goes on. (See the Brookings Institution tracking of regulatory changes in the second Trump administration: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/tracking-regulatory-changes-in-the-second-trump-administration/).

These actions harm all Americans – that is, they produce indiscriminate injustice against both liberal and conservative low-wage workers, consumers, parents, and children. This strengthens the resistance from the people with a more unified opportunity to stop Trump. Already the first torrent of federal and state lawsuits are being filed to block Trump’s power grab. Certainly, many state attorneys general are readying lawsuits. However, comfortable with his dominance over Congress and the Supreme Court, Trump’s response is one he has previously used – figuratively mocking so sue me, ha, ha, ha.

In anticipation of the Trump rampage, the New York Times published a lead column on January 18, 2025, titled: “Are We Sleepwalking Into Autocracy?” The columnists’ answer is “Yes,” unless: “Defenders of democracy have to stay united, focusing on ensuring that checks and balances remain intact and that crucial democratic watchdog institutions (my emphasis) elude capture.”

Nice words. But the Times and other large newspapers and magazines have largely avoided a critical responsibility since the 60s and 70s. That is, without their covering the actions, litigation, initiatives, and reports of civic institutions and labor unions, little or nothing will flow from their efforts.

The Times editors know full well that without reaching millions of people, influential groups and lawmakers, the power of the civic/labor community is very significantly reduced. This lack of media coverage has been happening for the past forty years.

Mass media coverage based on newsworthiness and editorializing empower these groups, gets the attention of more supporters and makes it more difficult for the forces of often secret autocratic government to roll over the citizenry.

The regular reporting about what activists were doing in the 1960s and 1970s made possible the consumer, environmental, labor, and freedom of information laws. Similar efforts now cannot gather momentum with media visibility. Legislative hearings, prosecutions, and regulatory actions cannot get jumpstarted just by the people insistent on a just and democratic society.

Over the years I’ve highlighted this exclusion coupled with suggesting newsworthy stories to hundreds of reporters, editors, and a few publishers. To little avail.

Look at the scene at the Times and the Washington Post. How often do you see op-eds from civic/labor advocates? How often do you read reviews of their books? How often do you see profiles of them? How often have the groundbreaking studies by Public Citizen, Common Cause, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Veterans for Peace, Union of Concerned Scientists Et. al received coverage? Look at the profitable Washington Post Live podcasts and see how civic and union leaders have been back-handed. How often do the celebrated Times and Post podcasts interview them? The exclusions are overwhelming, even when compared with the access extreme right-wingers receive, such as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Grover Norquist.

Some may say, well, they can always use social media. It is too cluttered, too fractured, and too impulsive. Whether we like it or not, the major newspapers’ original content feeds the radio and television stations and still has an unchallenged impact on getting attention for agendas underway that may have been floating around on the Internet for years and going nowhere.

The same situation exists for local journalism which could feed local TV and radio were it to stop ignoring incipient efforts from community activism, whistleblowers, or simply good stories called into them by alert citizens.

Official source journalism presently reigns. Our democracy can’t afford redundant and tepid reporting in the coming days. For example, there are about 500 full-time reporters covering Congress. The mostly ditto-head reporting misses all kinds of stories. We started the quarterly forty-page newspaper, Capitol Hill Citizen (capitolhillcitizen.com) to expose some of the goings on in Congress that fall under the rubric of ignored unofficial journalismto illustrate this point.

In an era of closing weekly and daily newspapers, one might expect some coverage of this unique effort reporting on Congress, the most important and potentially most powerful institution that can turn around our deteriorating democracy. For nearly three years, none of the major newspapers and news magazines have told their readers about this rising journalistic beacon.

To sum up: the reporters and editors at the Times, Post and the rest of the national, local newspaper, radio, and TV media must rise to higher levels of their own significance and give voice to the aroused resistance against the onrushing Trumpian dictatorial regime imposing fascistic government and more concentrated corporate power.

If they cave, if they cower, as Thomas Jefferson warned, the main bulwark for our Republic crumbles. More citizens then withdraw and give up. That calamity would freeze Congress and the people who are the last ultimate rescuers of our besieged constitutional Republic.

Former Health Insurance Executive Explains How Healthcare Corporations Are Not Meeting Patients Needs

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 17:23:00 +0000

Photo: Center for Medicare Advocacy

Healthcare in America is out of control and expensive. Aside from cost, coverage could be better, and understanding benefits and coverage can seem like a dark, circuitous tunnel with no end in sight.

A CNN interview with Wendell Potter of the Center for Health and Democracy is shown below. Wendell Potter is a former Healthcare industry executive with insider knowledge of the complicated system:

What Happened To The CEO of United Healthcare?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 16:31:00 +0000

Photo: Fortune

Why is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of United Healthcare dead? He was shot out in public on the streets of New York in the daylight. Part of the answer lies in the public's image of the corporate executives. A fair number of the public hold the position that these corporate titans believe that each person is reduced to a number. Are numbers run by bean counters (risk management) to get the numbers to increase shareholder profits? Sound familiar? Even though the CEO is human, he does not deserve to die because he holds that high corporate position.

Again, the common perspective is that these corporate titans will try to increase shareholder value at the expense of the customer, in this case, the insurance policyholder. What I wanted to share with the reader of this site is the letter that the iconic activist Ralph Nader wrote recently about the United Healthcare shooting and corporations - shown below:

The “Silent Violence” of Corporate Greed and Power
By Ralph Nader
December 6, 2024

For decades consumer groups have been sounding clarion calls for action against the “silent violence” causing massive casualties that arise from the unbridled power of corporate greed, criminal negligence or indifference. They cite statistical and case studies that the media and lawmakers mostly ignored or relegated to low levels of enforcement.

Corporate bosses just have their corporate lawyers and public relations hacks brush away such warnings and pleas. One day stories they knew would not have legs if they just kept quiet or mumbled some general words of regret, promising some vague improvements to their products and services.

But year after year, the deadly toll goes up, not down, and the horrors continue. For example, at least 5000 people A WEEK die in hospitals in the U.S. due to “preventable problems,” concluded a peer-reviewed study by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine physicians in 2016. This is just one of numerous such studies of hospital-induced infections, overuse of antibiotics, medical malpractice or what is called “medical error,” prescribing bundles of drugs that backfire, “accidents,” deskilling and understaffing.

There has been no mass mobilization by either government officials or industry executives to address this staggering toll of at least 250,000 fatalities a year!

Behind these figures are real people with families, friends and coworkers shocked, incensed or despondent over avoidable losses of life and preventable harms. Some of them undoubtedly knew the specific causes and demanded correction and compensation, to no avail.

Avoidable casualties also arise from the sweeping denial of insurance coverage for ill or injured patients by greedy unregulated or underregulated health insurance companies maximizing profits and bonuses for CEOs. Many insurance companies are now using AI to help wear down consumers.

About two thousand Americans a week lose their lives because they cannot afford health insurance to cover prompt diagnosis and treatment costs. System-driven patterns of denial of benefits by health insurers also cause deaths and injuries. The companies have algorithms that automatically delay or deny needed procedures without even seeing a patient’s medical records or speaking with the patient’s physician.

Insurance policies are full of fine print deductibles, co-pays, waivers and exclusions that drive consumers and their doctors up the wall. Insurance premiums are paid by patients or employers ahead of time with advertised assurances.

In the past two months, consumers have been overwhelmed by a blizzard of television ads by giant insurers e.g., Aetna, Cigna, and Humana for their Medicare (dis)Advantage plans aimed at elderly beneficiaries. The ads are loaded with “freebies” that paint the companies as charities instead of cunning commercial marketers. In reality, denial of benefits is higher for these plans than for traditional Medicare. Moreover, these plans push patients into narrow networks of physicians and hospitals and subject them to dreadful over-use of “prior authorization.” The latter means some remote company doctor or medical professional decides whether a physician with a patient can be reimbursed for a specific treatment. This results in overwhelming paperwork for the doctors, immense profits for the companies and degraded treatment for patients.

An October 31, 2023 NBC investigation titled “‘Deny, deny, deny’: By rejecting claims, Medicare Advantage plans threaten rural hospitals and patients,” by star reporter Gretchen Morgenson exposed another deadly impact of Medicare (dis)Advantage programs on rural hospitals in America.

These companies are so entrenched that they have become largely immune to exposés. They have gamed the system to straitjacket both patients and healthcare workers. The healthcare industry gets away with about $360 billion in computerized billing fraud and abuses every year. (https://scholar.harvard.edu/msparrow/license-to-steal). Prosecutions are minimal, and lawmakers are mostly indifferent as they count their campaign cash donations. Did you see any of the major party politicians in this year’s election campaigns even mention the devastating impact of the medical industry’s greed on innocent people or the taxpayers?

Just under the surface is a seething whirlpool of resentment, anger, frustration and bitterness about corporate abuses. Such reactions are often most pronounced in poor areas or workplaces, where people are subjected to choking pollution or exposure to carcinogenic toxins leading to cancer, heart disease and other organ ailments.

The corporate perpetrators, however, are remote from the impacts of their operations and policies. Their hugely overpaid bosses rule from elaborate suites and enjoy unimaginable luxuries. Very few people know the names, even of the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies like ExxonMobil, Aetna, Humana, Duke Energy, Bank of America, and so on. The lethality, the theft, the domination, and the escape from the rule of law are rendered impersonally by the corporatists who are now investing huge sums to go even more abstract and remote with tyrannical generative AI algorithms.

This week, a man, still on the run, made his anger very personal. Around 7:00 AM he singled out, in front of a busy midtown Manhattan hotel, the chief executive of the giant UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, and shot him. The assassin fled on an electric bike. Police collected the bullet casings from his pistol. On these casings were the words, “deny,” “delay” and “depose.”

As news of this fatal shooting spread over social media, a torrent of angry or morbid comments flooded the Internet. The New York Times reported a few, to wit:

“I’m an ER nurse and the things I’ve seen dying patients get denied for by insurance makes me physically sick. I just can’t feel sympathy for him because of all of those patients and their families.”

“Thoughts and deductibles to the family,” read one observer underneath a video of a CNN picture. “Unfortunately, my condolences are out of network.”

Tragically, Mr. Thompson, according to a company employee, was one of the few executives who spoke of changing the culture of the company.

But corporate culture, marinated to the core with endless cravings for ever-growing easy profits, is very hard to change – especially when it is so easy to extract more and more premium dollars from powerless consumers who lack adequate regulatory protections.

And so, the social media explosion included this typical comment on TikTok: “I pay $1,300 a month for health insurance with an $8,000 deductible. ($23,000 yearly) When I finally reached that deductible, they denied my claims. He was making a million dollars a month.”

The New York Times described a “wrenching outpouring from patients and family members who posted horror stories of insurance claim reimbursement stagnation and denials.” The ugly reality will continue to exponentially pour out with volcanic fury as the media receives more public reactions.

One wonders about the reaction if this were to have happened four months before the November election. Could the uproar have transformed the slimy rhythms of the Harris campaign, orchestrated by the Democrats’ corporate-conflicted political consultants who manage the candidate messages and who definitely don’t listen to the warnings and popular proposals by Senator Bernie Sanders?

How To Fix Taxes In America?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 09:30:00 +0000

Photo: Visual Capitalist

I don't know how to fix the tax problem in America. But I do know how to listen to ideas on any solution that would fix the tax system in America. Recently, on a podcast produced by Anthony Scaramucci (President Trump's Communication guy for a few days during his first administration), the previous Governor of New York - Andrew Cuomo, was on to speak on this topic. Below is an excerpt worth listening to:

Republicans want to support Russia, Democrats want to support the world and bring jobs home!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 08:00:00 +0000

Photo: Wikipedia

In this torn nation of a myriad of ideologies among both political parties, some clarity would be nice. Who might have some? Who knows? Misinformation is everywhere. Although, retired Generals have a pretty good assessment of the current battlefield situation. Ukraine is a perfect example.

While the Republicans have been whining about bringing jobs back to America, Democrats have been showing that American jobs are responsible for helping solve the world's problems. In the following video by CNN, General Hodges, retired, explains how helpin Ukraine is possible while stimulating job growth in America:

And he is correct!

Trump is lying to you, FEMA will not take your house!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 18:56:00 +0000

Photo: Citizen Times

Amidst the devastation that Hurricane Helene has brought to the East Coast of the United States, former President Trump is spreading lies which is harming Americans. Yes, harming Americans by spreading disinformation. Don't believe me?

The video below makes the case simply. The video by MSNBC, shows the transcript of a caller to a radio station complaining that a family member is listening to Trump which is going to cost him his life. Why? Because the resident refuses funding from FEMA because President Trump has indoctrinated the belief that FEMA will take your house if money is accepted. What horse shit. President Trump will have to answer for these and thousands of other lies - hopefully. Watch the video - which is simply shocking:

Crazy!

Veterans' Don't Question Other Veteran's Service - Period - Says Former Navy Seal Jesse Ventura

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 20:59:00 +0000

Photo: CNN

One of the best interviews I have seen lately regarding politics and our current political landscape is with former Navy Seal and former Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura.

In the video below by CNN, the former Governor of Minesota (and former Navy Seal) expresses criticism over the current Vice Presidential Candidate (Republican) JD Vance for his remarks of his opponent Vice Presidential Candidate Tim Walz:

Wow! I love Jesse's remarks about JD Vance. The former Governor (and Navy Seal) makes his case with simple arguments that are traditional values held tightly among veterans who have served. The evidence offered is indisputable and needs to be presented to the public. Who better than a former Navy Seal? Jesse Ventura has had an astounding career in military, politics, and television entertainment over the decades. We should pay attention to his advice.

Former President Trump Rambling On Breaks The Straw For Fox - Breakaway - cut him!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 20:21:00 +0000

Photo: Reuters

We have two candidates running for President in 2024. One is the current presiding office holder, President Biden, while the other is a grieving former President, President Trump. Every speech by Trump is a grievance of the past or a continuation of the threat of implementing sustainable practices throughout society.

The former President loves to scare U.S. citizens about sustainable energy and forward-thinking practices. With his large head of hair, President Trump is threatened by a reduced amount of water found in new homes and hotels. Why? I don't know. Each hotel that I have visited lately has had new Rainfall shower heads that deliver large volumes of water to the top of my head. But what do I know?

The Meidas Touch network put together a brief about Fox News cutting the former President's speech off last week. Watch for yourself:

Something is not right with this man.

Dr. Fauci Testifies On Capitol Hill About Covid-19

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 21:27:00 +0000

Photo: ABC News

The Republican-led House of Congress has decided to call Dr. Anthony Fauci regarding the U.S. response to Covid-19. For hours, the Republican party tried their most strenuous effort to discredit Dr. Fauci. Below are some highlights of the falsehoods and misinformation that the Republicans are peddling to discredit a mercurial scientific figure:

What is wrong with this party? Have the Republicans ever held a productive hearing for the American people in the last 4 years? I find it difficult to find any.

Climate Change Has Possible Benefits For Malaria In Africa?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Mon, 20 May 2024 17:01:00 +0000

Photo: Our World

Is there any good that can result from the spread of Climate Change across the globe? I am sure that people are walking the Earth that could find a few suggestions. But seriously, are there?

In a recent post on Politico, turns out that the effects of Climate Change have been beneficial in the fight against the spread of malaria:

Climate change could reduce the number of Africans at risk of malaria, according to a new study that examined how water supplies could affect the breeding grounds of the mosquitoes that carry the disease.

That might sound like good news since Africa accounts for the vast majority of the world’s malaria cases and deaths — but it might foreshadow other threats, one of the study authors told Carmen.

How’s that? In the study published in Science, researchers in the U.K. and Namibia created models to predict how climate change will affect where malaria is transmitted in Africa. The models considered surface water and rainfall coupled with low or high levels of the greenhouse gas emissions that warm the Earth.

Unlike previous studies that considered mostly rainfall, the new research predicts that some areas of Africa — starting in the west and moving east to South Sudan — will become too hot and dry for malaria-carrying mosquitoes to breed. Malaria causes flu-like symptoms and kills more than half a million people a year worldwide.

But Mark Smith, associate professor in water research at the University of Leeds in the U.K. and part of the team leading the study, told Carmen that a dwindling water supply would have worse effects than a good supply would.

While a dwindling water supply would be helpful to reduce malaria, it won’t decrease dengue, another mosquito-borne disease. In fact, it would increase it, since dengue is caused by a virus that can withstand higher temperatures.

The models also predicted potential changes in the malaria season across different parts of the continent: a decrease in Botswana, for instance, while some parts of South Africa would see an increase.

This is not the 'great news' regarding climate change that we would like to read about. There have to be workable and sustainable solutions that do not wipe out people or precious resources.

Investing in the stock market made easy - trust me - I do it and love it.

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 21:44:00 +0000

Photo: Yahoo Finance

Have you watched from the sidelines as investors (neighbors, friends, family, etc.) invest money into the stock market and brag about their returns? How does a person invest? Which stocks do you choose? How do you avoid paying all your returns to the broker as fees? I will tell you a simple method to start with.

Acorn investing services are a great way to start investing in the stock market. I was super skeptical of the process at first. However, then a fellow staff member at my work convinced me to just start with the basic process of the service. Which is?

Investing made easy!

To start with, follow the link to Acorns here:

Acorns Investing Service

Note: I do get credit for referring you.

But more importantly, connecting your checking account to the Acorns account will allow the service to withdraw small amounts of money. I mean small donations - rounding up your purchases to a $1. That means, say, you spend $0.75 on a purchase. Then Acorns will invest $0.25 into the stock market in your Acorns account.

Small Amounts Add Up Quickly - well relatively so

Don't expect to get rich overnight. But I have been with the service for 4 years and looked at my account the other day. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had a balance of $4,000. Wow! An average return of 20-30% on my deposits.

You don't have to believe me. But I will continue to use the service to build money without having to look at the account. I have not looked at the account for 4 years.

Note: If you withdraw money from the account, you will pay taxes on capital gains as profits.

I suggest that you take advantage of this service. It is cheap as far as fees are concerned. Plus, compare the returns (profits) to your brokerage accounts (retirement, 401K, etc.). Acorns will outperform some of these with computerized (AI) investing.

Note: I set my risk level on Acorns to 'Aggressive' = I want the largest return. I am willing to risk some change.

Former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer Talks About The Current State Of The Court...

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Thinks) — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 17:26:00 +0000

Photo: NY Times

Listen to the news at any hour of the day, and discussion of the Supreme Court will undoubtedly arise. For many reasons (i.e., cases), the Court has found itself at the center of the debate stage. From questioning Justice Clarence Thomas's ethics to the secret release of Dobb's decision, which was written by Justice Alito last summer, controversy has sunken the nation's Highest Court to new lows.

In the following interview, Joe Scarborough of MSNBC Morning Joe interviews Justice Breyer about the current state of the U.S. Supreme Court:

I like the analogy describing the complexity of cases Justice Breyer used. In describing the complexity of cases, he tells a story he read in a French newspaper about a railroad passenger traveling with a basket of snails. The conductor asked the passenger to pay for the '1/2 fare' for each snail as the train system requires 'all animals' in baskets to be paid for. An argument ensues whether the snails are pets, animals, or the exception. That describes the complexity of cases entertained by the Supreme Court.