****
Tara Culp-Ressler: Obamacare Has Reversed A Negative Trend. Researchers Call It ‘Remarkable’
For the first time in a decade, the number of people struggling to pay their medical bills has started to decline, according to a new survey released on Thursday by the Commonwealth Fund. The researchers attributed the historic drop to the number of people gaining insurance under the health care reform law. Between 2012 and 2014 — as Obamacare’s main coverage expansion took effect — the Commonwealth researchers found that the number of people who had issues paying for health treatment dropped from 41 percent to 35 percent. Over the same time period, the people who skipped out on health services because they couldn’t afford them declined from 43 percent to 36 percent
In a press release, the researchers described the declines as “remarkable.” This marks the first time since 2005, when Commonwealth started surveying people on these questions, that the number of Americans struggling to afford medical care hasn’t increased. Commonwealth’s findings, which also documented a drop in the number of Americans going without insurance, track closely with other surveys that have reported declines in the uninsured rate under Obamacare. The number of Americans without health care was reduced by about 25 percent last year, which means that between eight million and eleven million people have gained coverage.
More here
****
Thanks to #Obamacare, fewer people are facing financial distress because of medical bills. More from @nytimes: ofa.bo/f2QG
—
Barack Obama (@BarackObama) January 16, 2015****
Margot Sanger-Katz: Signs of A Decline In Financial Distress Connected To Medical Bills
After rising for a decade, the number of Americans experiencing financial distress from their medical bills has started to decline, a new survey has found. The result provides new evidence that the Affordable Care Act, by providing uninsured people with health insurance, is also improving their financial security, a major goal of the law. The large telephone survey, from the New York-based health research group the Commonwealth Fund, has been asking people about their medical bills every few years for a decade. In each survey through 2012, a higher percentage of Americans said they struggled to pay their medical bills, were paying off medical debt or had been contacted by a collection agency.
The most recent installment of the survey, the first since the health law’s major provisions kicked in, shows a reversal in that trend. The survey also found that fewer people were avoiding doctors’ visits because of concerns about cost. But Commonwealth also found that, over all, even people who had insurance before 2014 were having fewer problems with medical bills than they were before. That change may reflect rules in the health law that require individual insurance plans to cover a minimum set of benefits for every customer.
More here
****
Obamacare has reversed a negative trend. Researchers call it 'remarkable' thkpr.gs/3611905 http://t.co/YgFonAulJU
—
ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) January 15, 2015Early Signs of Another Win for Obamacare immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2015/01/early-…
—
Nancy LeTourneau (@Smartypants60) January 15, 2015****
The New Health Care: Financial Distress Connected to Medical Bills Shows a Decline, the First in Years nyti.ms/156xnI0
—
The New York Times (@nytimes) January 15, 2015Of all the clicks you make today, this one is most important: ofa.bo/i2P0 #GetCovered http://t.co/8VKcCuLyxb
—
Obamacare (@obamacare) January 15, 2015
The Obama Diary 
Afternoon alll
Great ongoing coverage of this amazing success story despite the incomprehensible obstruction. It means so much to so many. Thanks Nerdy!
You’re welcome, Vetivera24.
Congratulations on first.
Congrats vetivera 🙂
NW, these #OBAMACARE posts are very important and I can’t thank you enough for making the effort to create each of them!!!
Thanks, Bob.
Thank yoooooooooooooooooooooooou Mrs Oscar Costa!
Tut-tut! You didn’t wait for me, Chips Chica!
O, and congrats, Alma-Bee! 😀
TY, NerdyW.
You’re welcome, VC.
You’re welcome, Chips.
I have a cocktail, leftover pizza, watching a Mozart doc on BBC4, and am in my jammies. All in all, a productive Sunday.
I have a wine, leftover non-creamy creamy sauce, watching Jamie Oliver on YouTube, and am in my jammies.
You could be my brother, LL.
You could be the daughter my mom was hoping I’d be! (No, no unattended issues from THAT.)
😆
Didn’t VT’s single payer experiment go bust? Not that easy to do single-payer. PUBLIK OPSHUN!!!1
Things that make my head hurt.
It must be a State holiday….except that Lee was born in Virginia…..not Arkansas
IT’S. GOING. TO. BE. AWESOME.
YES IT WILL!!!!!!!
I can hardly wait to share it with the TOD Village….
I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS….I CAN’T WAIT…………..WARMS MY HEART!!!!…GO GET EM’…ENERGIZER…EQUALIZER PRESIDENT….AND THEY HAD BETTER SPELL THE NAME RIGHT!!!
I’ll be here in the Village when SOTU comes on!! 😀
I WILL BE HERE AND ALSO IN FRONT OF THE FLATSCREEN….WITH MY KLEENEX….I GET EMOTIONAL!
What I’ve noticed about PBO’s speechwriters, is that they are all young! No old fogeys, stick inthemuds…..young, forward looking people. That is good.
WATCH THE OLD FOGEY COMMENTS…I’LL BITE YOU ON THE LEG AND THEN YOU’LL HAVE TO GET SHOTS!…WITH AGE IS WISDOM MY DEAR…UNLESS YOU ARE IN CONGRESS…THEN YOU JUST GET MORE SNAPPING SOUNDS IN YOUR ELBOW LIFT AT THE BAR!
Sue, I’m sure I’ older than you!!!! My snapping sounds come from my left knee when I try to get up……LOL.
What’s the difference?
Only difference is one woman’s not wearing the head covering. Yet. Give the tea party and their sympathizers time.
Aren’t they the “cutest” couple? Some troubled kids sewing their oats…….Nothing to see here!
13? whoa
See how happy she is. I bet she’s a virgin too!
😳
Isn’t that 18 year old a child molester?
Yup! But they marry young where she comes from.
O/T but have any of you heard of “Trash Dance,” an episode on America ReFramed on PBS’s World TV? (I pretty much love all their episodes, which are very well done.) My son called me late last night, insisting that I record a full episode to watch …
A choreographer “observes Austin, Texas, sanitation workers on their routes; and tries to convince them to take part in an interpretive dance about their daily routines.” Anyway, I’ve started watching my recording … son popped in and saw me and the big warm-hearted 6’1 45-year-old told me, “I cried at the end.”
Love that “kid”! Passing along to TODers, if interested.
http://worldchannel.org/programs/episode/arf-s3-e302-trash-dance/
I pretty much cried through half of it. Please, if you want a treat for the soul, watch this. I wish President Obama would see it, and go pay these American workers a visit … these are the people he’s fighting for (along with fighting for all of us and every American and beyond). If we put all of our “jobs” to music, saw each other’s jobs as holding up America, there would only be ONE political party – ONE United States of America, as the President knew from the start.
WOW!!! Thank you so much, jaquelineoboomer . I am so touched just from the trailer. I just ordered two copies. It strikes me that we are in the middle of celebrating Dr. King’s birthday, and this is about lifting up sanitation workers and respect and honor for work and dignity; and Dr. King was murdered while in Memphis supporting sanitation workers, who marched with signs saying “I Am A Man” because despite its truth, they were being visciously denied the right to be seen as men and as equal human beings. ; #blacklivesmatter
So glad you watched the trailer – I’m still choked up from it. I think it first aired in 2012, and agree it was a perfect choice to re-air on Dr. King’s birthday weekend. The men and women in the documentary were superb, proud of their work and proud of their “dance”!
My son decided early in his life to skip college and take a different path, leading him to being a truck driver … which can kill the body, by the way. Before doing OTR and other solo trucking jobs, he started working for one of the trash pickup/recycling firms near Tampa … they had to go through each level before getting to the higher-paying jobs such as “roll-offs” from construction sights. Anyway, he worked at trash collection for a while (even picked up from Kris Kristofferson’s house – Ha!)
Hit “reply” before I finished …
*construction sites*
… and then advanced through the training. Ten years after that, whenever he’d clean out his garage at home or something and would set out big stacks of trash to be picked up, he’d head outside in the early morning and help the guys throw it onto the truck! Still has that same regard for the haulers. He arranges his trash like he’s putting gifts under the Christmas tree, and sometimes rearranges my own stacks here since he lives down the street! It’s all about: RESPECT.
I….what….I….OMG!!!!
Oh, Oh, WOW!!
Hello Everybody.
// ………………………….
Social change happens most effectively when cross-generational coalitions tap into both the wisdom of the elders and the passion of the young. That requires being willing to listen on the part of the young and a willingness to pass the baton on to the next generation by the elders.
Each generation must take on the battles of their time. And it doing so – are likely to bear the scars that can become a prison if not released to the passion of the next generation. When we won’t let go, they become the seeds of anger and cynicism. Rev. Stewart was able to release himself from that prison by recognizing the grief – and almost simultaneously opening himself up to the joy and hope of the next generation. That’s what it means to pass the baton.
…………………………….. //
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2015_01/passing_the_baton053781.php
Thanks, VC. This is a powerful article.
Passing the baton…are we in a relay race?…
this bickering about who shall lead and who is a legit leader…is not a new thing…it happens in many movements…
however, i do not see this as a relay race….it is a marathon…but unlike the marathon runner…we do not run this race alone…we need each other…we need a coalition of people…multi-tasking to achieve similar goals…but there is no leader who seems to be able to bring the forces together …to move from rebellion/demonstration to strategy/agenda….
in order to move forward…it has to happen..
It’s hard to believe that @BarackObama will be assume the role of the “elder statesman” when he leaves office.
I had heard of @BarackObama before his 2004 Keynote Address at the DNC.
After Sep. 11, I became an avid reader of The Economist, and stopped at a newsstand every Thursday night to pick up that week’s issue.
Around the time of Paul Wellstone’s untimely shocking death, The Economist ran an article about how the “older” generation of Black Leaders (e.g., Julian Bonds, Jesse Jackson, etc.) were at odds with the younger generation of Leaders, and the article mentioned Barack Obama, whom I had never heard of.
In 2017, the torch of “elder statesman” will be carried by the finest man of his generation, whether white, black, khaki or mauve.
the President has always had a focus on developing young leadership..one of the greatest responsibilities of leadership is to groom leaders to take your place…
MY DEAR LL…………………YOU DON’T NEED TO ‘DRESS UP’……………..TRUTH….. KEEP IN MIND…TWO WORDS…’DRESSED TURKEY’….PRETTY MUCH SAYS IT ALL…I LOVE MY PRESIDENT!
Love that photo! I don’t think his speechwriter even had a beard when he started working on the SOTU! But I do know all of the President’s speechwriters must have hearts and nerves of steel. How can you sit next to this President and think or write constructively, and try to talk him into changing or adding words, as any speechwriter would? Well, I guess Cody can, but I’d faint.
The Freakazoids will be freaking out….. 😆 🙄 😆 again……
If they invited Huckabee’s buddy Ted Nugent last year, the racists tea party Republicans just might invite David Duke.
Did they invite the child molester Ted Nugent?
Well lookee here.
To paraphrase Jaws, “we’re gonna need a bigger clown car,” LOL:
OH MY GOSH…I NEEDED A GOOD LAUGH TODAY…THIS WILL DO IT!
Lindy needs a wardrobe check!
Brilliant, Yardarm.
ha! perfect he’ll look mahvelous 😉
🙂
Little Lying Lindsey is thinking about running for President of what?
The South Carolina chapter of the KKK.
OFF TO DOMESTIC DINNER CALL…AKA…ALPO COVERED WITH KETCHUP AND CARROTS…WILL CHECK BACK LATER…BLESSINGS EVERYONE….ACTUALLY…IT’S LEFTOVER POTROAST…!!
Sue, hope your son got back to California safely. Must be a strong temptation to join him there.
THANK YOU FOR ASKING JACKIE…IT WAS A ROUGH 3 DAYS PHONE TAGGING S HE DROVE THROUGH THE DESERT AND THE MOUNTAINS…HE WAS PETRIFIED….HOWEVER…GOD IS SOOOOO GOOD…THE CAR MADE IT AND THE WHEEL STRUTT BROKE DOWN AFTER…I SAY… AFTER HE REACHED HIS DESTINATION. JESUS HAD THE WHEEL. CALIFORNIA HOWEVER IS NOT FOR ME..HE LIKES IT…AND THAT’S WHAT IS IMPORTANT, MY CHOICE WOULD BE TO LIVE IN THE HOLY LAND…TO WALK IN THE STEPS OF JESUS…OTHER THAN THAT…DO I LIKE WINTER…ABSOLUTELY NOT…!!!! YOU MAKE YOUR HOME WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED…AND PARADISE MY DEAR IS IN THE HEART!
THANK YOU TOO JACKIE FOR YOUR PRAYERS!
More of that mistaken identity bs. 😦
Amazing. Wow. I hope he sues them to the hilt. This has got to stop.
It ain’t. It will take several generations.
And that comment was made at least 3 generations ago. Hi Sailor – did you sort your health care issue – I never did catch up on TOD?
Not yet. I was able to put a stop on it with Medicare.gov but now I’ve got to pick another plan. I won’t be able to do that til Tuesday.
Hope all goes well
I do too. 😆
Thanks for this good news about Obamacare, NW. My daughter lives in AL, a state in which lawmakers are fighting tooth and nail to deny their citizens healthcare. She was laid off a few months ago and got a new job fairly quickly. The only problems are the employer offers only catastrophic health insurance, and an employee has to wait a year before s/he can enroll. I started bugging her about finding health insurance on the exchange. I guess she listened to me because she told me last night she has Obamacare, and her premiums are only $71/mo. She is happy, and I’m very happy. It disturbed me that she was employed full time in another state and couldn’t get decent health coverage from her employer. Sometimes it pays to listen to your mama!
Wonderful news, Majiir!
Nerdy, you have no idea how much every one of your ObamaCare progress posts is needed. Was talking to a group of Democrats last week and many lamented how little they knew about ACA and its provisions. I restrained from mentioning how easily they could find out if they tried. The point is there are millions out there–even sympathetic ones–who don’t take the time to learn how much the ACA is helping lives. Your posts are a postdoctoral course in the ACA and would love to just roll them up in one sweet package and provide them to the ignorant and incurious. We, as Democrats, make poor spokespeople when we don’t know what we’re talking about.
^5
Yes indeed. Truth from jackiegrumbacher and prettyfoot58 on the steadfast diligent comprehensive excellent reporting from NerdyWonka on the gift and treasure that is ACA.
Thanks, Nancie.
Thanks, Jackie and thanks for all you do in trying to educate them.
Seattle just came back with under two minutes left to go ahead 22 – 19.
Holy Moly …..seconds left and Green Bay has tied the game.
MEDIA ALERT:
OWN Network tonight
Oprah Winfrey Presents: Legends that Paved the way
Honoring Civil Rights Pioneers
9pm EST
Rikyrah, beautifully done and tears all over the place for me. Oprah Winfrey had another appropriate recognition to the Legends of the Legends of this great and remarkable time in our history. So much history on both locations for this elegant and remarkable event honoring all of these great Legends. Montecito is such a gorgeous place to visit even if you cannot live there. I spent a four day weekend there, and on my goodness. One of the greatest weekends of my life.
Ms. Winfrey did another Lovely Honoring of the great Legends. I am so grateful that she did it while these wonderful legends are still with us. I hope the younger men and women will learn and take away with loving honor what these great legends did as they paved the way for all of us.
President Obama put his lovely touch on the celebration with his special arranged appearance into this historical celebration. So wonderful to watch it all. Oprah can do her thing with her Legend Honors. I enjoyed every moment of the evening. Ms. Oprah set another Montecito setting together with great elegance as only she can. Totally enjoyed it all. Very appropriate to see all of these great ones enjoying and deservingly so. HZ
The “snow job” of America has begun.
Maybe if they spoke often, they’d both be better communicators – practising on each other, so to speak? If you ask me their family is somewhat dysfunctional, and think nothing of lying. Also, too they are disrespectful of their parents; Didn’t Barbara say that the Bushes should sit down now and be quiet, because they’ve already gotten more than their share from the public trough? 😉
All of that, but I don’t want to know if they take your suggestions! Yes, Jeb even said – in response to Barbara – something like “Well, we can’t always listen to everything our mothers tell us.” Ugh. The one thing Barbara Bush said that I agreed with, and ol’ Jeb disregarded it.
Just like Bob McDonnell and his so called estranged wife during their trials J’OB. 🙂
It’s all fakery – smoke and mirrors – and Reagan The Actor was the king of it, when he was around.
Seattle ain’t waitin’ ’till dark for the fireworks!! I guess we’re going to Phoenix. (well, not MP personally… )
Seattle wins.
I gave up, looked away from the game. I thought Seattle was doomed. Those last two minutes plus overtime were unbelievable. Never seen a comeback like that.
Me either. Congrats to Seattle for never giving up.
I just can’t believe that we (Seahawks) won! I swear that Greenbay was going to win!
Congrats to Seattle for the win…. we’re GB fans here, but I have to say, when Seattle ISN’T playing GB, we’ll root for them!! 🙂 Hope they win the Super Bowl….
Congratulation to Seattle. I am a Dallas Cowboys fan, but I really am starting to like Wilson, and Sherman.
Good Evening TOD.
A Thunderous Applause to Ms. Nerdy Wonka on her Newsy ACA Post. 🍸 🍸 🍸
Gold for Vetiveria24, congrats.
Wow….just found out 15 mins ago that The Sea Hawks won! Lord Have Mercy!…How did they do it? I gave up on them at G’Bay 16 and Sea Hawks 0. I suppose…..O ye of little faith applies perfectly to Moi, Nena for MN. Congratulations Hawks!
My oldest son’s company is setting up staging and possibly other things for the Seahawks this year. He was psyched to get the contract. His sister, my youngest of four was asked to help his crew at the game. They had an unbelievable view and posted pics during the game. It was quite exciting.
Wow, that is so cool.
WASHINGTON — MTV is taking the color out of its programming on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to encourage people to talk about what race means in their lives.
The youth-oriented TV network is airing its programming in black and white on Monday, a first in the channel’s 34-year history.
The programming move is meant to promote #TheTalk initiative, encouraging viewers to discuss race with their friends and family.
Oh my, that is so powerful. Is that only go to be at the Academy?
My church (Episcopal) is organizing a field trip for youth and adult parishioners to see Selma, then meet afterward for a discussion. I think that’s pretty cool.
Yes it is cool, Bill. IMO that’s the kind of dialogue to have now, while many of those who lived through the era can add credence to what the young people see. I know I’d be likely to think the violence against non-violent protesters (in the movie) was excessive if I didn’t know that it actually happened. Of course, I’ve also seen video of a similar reaction to protesters in Ferguson, but I think you know what I mean.
It is important that Selma and that era remain in the collective memory of America so we can remember where we came from and the price that was paid by heroic people to make things better, not just for blacks but for all of us.
x 100%, Bill
great idea…how old should children be in order to see the move…some of the scenes are pretty intense
I think it’s rated PG13, but given all that today’s children are allowed to see, and given that this is *their* history, I’d say the age should depend on the parents’ knowledge of their child/ren.
thanks
BILL R…..THAT’S A WONDERFUL IDEA…THIS NEEDS TO BE DONE WITH ALL OF OUR YOUTH ACROSS THE NATION…EXPOSURE FOLKS…EXPOSURE…AND…GETTING THEM AWAY FROM THE BRAINWASHING OF THEIR RACIST PARENTS…THAT IS SO MUCH OF THE PROBLEM…THEN I WOULD BUSLOAD THE ELDERS IN THERE WITH THEIR FOUL RACIST MOUTHS AND STRAP THEM IN THEIR SEATS SO THAT THEY HAVE TO FACE THE HISTORY THEY HELPED TO MAKE!…………….GLORY!!!!!
Fifty-four years later.
Good Lord…
From the article:
One of the Friendship Nine: “Just 17, he knew that some people who went to jail during that turbulent era were not seen again.”
and…
“Solicitor Kevin Brackett, who since 2006 has overseen prosecutions in the judicial circuit that includes Rock Hill, said past suggestions to expunge the men’s records or pursue pardons seemed inappropriate because those strategies would erase an important part of history or imply the men were seeking forgiveness.”
This is stunning to read, from someone who lived through that era, although on the other coast from NC and SC.
I hope that those in TODville who are public school teachers will share their curriculum for next month’s “Black History Month.”
It is essential that all American students are aware of the personal stories from the Jim Crow era. Unbelievable.
I know nothing about that “solicitor,” but the reason given for the delay in “exonerating” the protesters before this seems like a big cop-out. Glad this is happening, while eight are still with us.
Hell No More Bushes at the White House.
Please!
BIBS…CHOOCHIES AND HIGHCHAIRS PLEASE…YOU CAN ALSO TOP THAT OFF WITH AN AIRLINE BAG AND SOME MAALOX!
Love it!
Up early, are we? Hmmmm.
I see neither the freight train nor the idiots. Does that mean I’m an opti-pessimist, or a pessi-optimist?
DIAL 1-800-AUDOBON…AND ORDER A CASELOT OF BAYER ASPIRIN!
a demented owl????
(insert silent treatment). old trick not working any more. #Iblameyou
!
Don’t ! me.
I’ll ‘!’ you anytime I feel like it! So there!
!
BTW, can you screen grab in your Windows 7?
Unowho1 gave me a ‘lesson’ earlier, but my laptop wouldn’t respond even though I have a never-before-used ‘Prt Sc’ button.
you can prtsc and paste in a word file. why do you want to do it anyways?
#100bucks
My problem was that the prt sc did not seem to be taking a pic, or whatever, of the stuff I was trying to grab. So I learned the steps but wasn’t getting anything to practise them on.
Why…… – just a little matter of fine tuning my skills … for my résumé; what else?
prtsc means prtsc. it’s not a camera.
#1000bucks?
Well, the instructions I had suggested that the screen would dim, and I could then paste whatever I grabbed in one of two places. My screen forgot to ‘dim’ and when I tried pasting nothing showed up.
Are you practising your multiplication skills? Asking for a friend.
#myinstructionssimple2000$
#imaginewhatcostwouldbeiftheywerent
#priceless (#googleit)
You do realize you have dictator-like skills?
😎
Not professor-like, dictator-like!
😎 😎 😎
Nah. Still doesn’t get it.
WordPress ….tampering with things again /smh/
/shrug/ #whatevermakesyoufeelbetter
PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Did you scroll through the article (yeah, I’m too lazy to wanna scroll, but all the scrolling sometimes causes my PC to freeze)?
I hate seeing people invest in bubbles with the real possibility of them becoming destitute.
From the article:
“They are even building a replica of Manhattan, with a Rockefeller Center, Times Square, and Twin Towers that are taller than the original. Construction has recently been halted on this project. The rumor is that financial backers have gone into debt, and can no longer pay for construction to continue.
The Manhattan replica is being built on a saltwater marsh in the port city of Tianjin.”
And…
“In Hangzhou Province, you’ll find an eerie replica of Paris, complete with a scale model of the Eiffel Tower, intended to house 10,000 people. Of the few people that do live here, most of them are construction workers who are building another theme-village next to this one. China has also built a miniature London, Thames and Hallstadt. “
Yes – we absolutely can see where that all is going! Sad for the investors …
More…
“The New South China Mall opened in 2005, but it remains almost completely empty to this day. It features a Venitian canal, amusement parks, and virtually no shopping. There are several malls like this scattered across China, built with the hope that someday, people will work and shop there. Several have remained vacant for years.
The New South China Mall has room for 2,350 stores. 99% of the leasable property in the shopping center has been vacant since day one. The mall, in the suburbs of Dongguan, is only accessible by car or bus. Many people in the area simply can’t get to it.”
Big news from NYC and NY State: Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced plans to raise the minimum wage in NYC to $11.50 and to NY State to $10.50.
No matter how you spin this—-and it is easy to spin it in a range of ways—-a raise is a raise and the workers seeing more in their paychecks will be glad.
One spin is that Cuomo was talking about a bigger raise last year. To which I say, talking is talking and doing is better.
Another is that Cuomo is making sure he and not de Blasio gets the credit in the City. Again, credit is good, more in pay envelopes is really good.
Now that the NY State Senate is frirmly in GOP hands Gov. Cuomo is acting more like a democrat.
First, he banned fracking. A BFD!!!!
Now he is proposing the wage raise.
I am officially off his case.
As you said, the outcome is what’s worth cheering – but how can the governor raise the minimum wage in one city?
They are calling it 2-tier wage rules or something, jacqueline. Mayor de Blasio has been asking for a separate rate in NYC because living costs are so high. I think de blasio would still like it if The City could control this itself.
Got it – thanks. Our federal government has a similar system around the country/world – in the high-cost areas, they increase the annual rates, too, as “locality pay.”
Spoiler alert – he proposes to meet with the President AND speak before Congress. And I laugh at the latter point.
catholic is a hashtag now?
WHEN HE PROVES TO BE AN EXAMPLE BY CLEANING UP AND CLEANING OUT THE PEDOPHILES IN THE CHURCH…I MIGHT LISTEN…TILL THEN I PRAY FOR JUSTICE WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE.
If you’re the Catholic News Agency, yes. Ha.
Be still my heart.
Wonderful that the Pope has added that cesspool known as DC to his itinerary.
PBO and the Pope have given Obots much joy and much to look forward to! 🙂
This visit will be Epic.
Agree!
TOO MUCH MEAT AND TOO MANY BAD HAIR DAYS FOR ME!!!!!…YUK!
HAVE A GOOD NIGHT EVERYONE…:)
Alabama School Superintendent bans high school history club from seeing “Selma”. WTF?
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/01/alabama-school-superintendent-bans-high-school-history-club-from-seeing-selma/
I take it since U.S. is a ‘free’ society the ban only applies to the fact they can’t go together as a school trip? Of course there is nothing to stop them going together outside of school hours, right? I have to say some of the leaders in education in the red states are really dumb – in knowledge, and in human (youth) behaviour.
It’s a school trip, and the Superintendent has the right to make this decision.
From the article:
“he [Superintendent ] didn’t think teachers should have to be put in the position of playing parent.
Having said that, I personally learned the most on school field trips, which are probably no longer allowed in the US’s nanny state driven by helicopter parents.
These are the field trips that I still vividly remember to this day:
3rd or 4th grade: Local newspaper office, where they printed the daily paper [today — too much ink, noise and machinery]
5th grade: Tidepools at low tide at Bird Rock in La Jolla (favorite part was feeling aneomes sting my finger [today — way too dangerous and slippery]
10th grade: Franco Zefferilli’s “Romeo and Juliet” which starred 15-yr-old Juliette and 17-yr-old Romeo; picture had a rating of no one under 13 admitted b/c a millisecond glimpse of (gasp) Juliette’s nipple. [today — child porn!!!]
12th grade: La Jolla Modern Museum of Art with performance, aka transient art [today — it’s not the Masters, schools shouldn’t be endorsing such nonsense as art!!!]
End of rant.
Ha! When I was in 11th grade in our Catholic high school in the ’60s, somebody probably gave the entire school tickets for us to see the movie West Side Story (which also had a message of a sort in it, during those times). We were marched in our uniforms to the local theater. My homeroom had the most bizarre nun in charge I ever ran into – great for jokes behind the scenes, but not in her presence. When we returned from the movie, she said, to the class, “Close the door. And you, you dared to sit there in that theater in front of members of the public, in your high school uniforms, and you laughed when they were kissing and making googly-eyes at one another on the screen … blah blah blah … you will never leave this school to see another movie again.” Keep in mind, if the nerves in our faces as much as twitched, it would call her attention to us, so we had to sit there – motionless – during the whole rant. I still laugh about it! It was The Sixties and she said “googly-eyes,” whatever that meant … I’ve always said I had to develop a sense of humor growing up, just to survive the attempts at repressing our teenage spirits!
I totally agree VC. This is ridiculous. They are so afraid of their children finding out the truth of Selma. It will only make the students more determined to see it.
‘It will only make the students more determined to see it.’
Most of them anyways, and I’m going to pretend that was the superintendent’s way to spur the kids to go and circumvent the parents likely to complain.
what is this shots fired near biden’s home? yet another ss fuck up?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30872510
So totally jumping in real quick & off topic. This has so lifted my spirit. It’s from a young group of people in the SF Bay Area who are so talented and innovative, my son being one of them, the concept, production, etc. guy, & feat. But that’s a by-the-way. You will be singing that tune whether or not you want to! 🙂 Much love to you all. Enjoy:
New post.
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/01/18/w-e-e-k-e-n-d-means-laughter/