PSA day--gitcher PSAs here!
Don't forget: TOMORROW, 4 June, is the Reason Rally at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C. It runs from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. The event is FREE, and the awesome atheist hard rock band Monster on Sunday will be playing at the after party! Be there or be an equilateral equiangular quadrilateral! Oh, and tell 'em Dot Calm's shadow sent you. Not that that will mean anything to anyone...but it might elicit a "hunh?"
Also, don't forget to stuff the suggestion box for Dot Calm's blog: pull out your super secret decoder pins and write to the coded address: dotcalmspageNOSPAM at gmailNOSPAM dot com.
Greetings, faithful Dot Calm Readers, Truth Crusaders, and Freedom Fighters!
Yeah, yeah...I'm still livid with Republicans, Christian fundamentalists, and the rest of the usual suspects...but not enough to write an essay about today. I'll let the movies and the other features in today's post tell that story.
Naw...today's bonnet bee is the health "care" for the elderly in this country. The bottom line up front is that too many medical professionals--as well as the insurance industry--treat people over 70 like they're disposable. Especially women. But, hey, they'll sure take your money if they can get their grubby greedy little hands on it.
If you've been following the blawg, you've already seen how the health "care" system in New Bern, NC, failed Dot Calm repeatedly...badly degrading both quality and quantity of life for her. She deserved so much better, precious soul that she was. And I still haven't told you the half of it...like the years and years of doctor screw-ups that prevented Dot from receiving the prescription that slowed the progression of her Multiple Sclerosis...or like the nasty details about the neglect and disrespect with which in-patient physical rehabilitation facilities treat their older or disabled patients...or like the time the evil "Dr. Drill-and-Fill" dentist coerced Dot to have perfectly healthy teeth pulled and an unnecessary bridge put in. "It's those roots..." the bitch lied, unable to convince her shifting eyes to meet Dot's gaze. That unnecessary surgery set off trigeminal neuralgia--a terrible price for Dot Calm to pay for trusting a dentist who was clearly more interested in money than in the welfare of her patients. The really sad part is that the same asshole dentist "sold" Mr. Calm a crown he didn't need. We know because he took his x-rays to the oral surgeon--who apparently gives Drill-and-Fill kick-backs--and the oral surgeon couldn't figure out which tooth needed the crown. So he picked one (!).
If I'd been Mr. Calm, the minute the guy couldn't figure out which tooth to crown, I'd have said, "Thanks--let me schedule a follow-up with my usual dentist and then reschedule with you." And I would have run like hell and never let that bastard touch my mouth. And I would have found me a more trustworthy dentist than Drill-and-Fill and never gone back to her, either. Easy enough for me to say at my age--people upwards of 70 and 80 just aren't as cagy any more...and crooks like Drill-and-Fill and that oral surgeon know it.
This is why, after Mr. Calm's unnecessary crown, Dot still trusted the Drill-and-Fill bitch (whose initials are Rebecca Forrest). Dot looked back on it all later and could have kicked herself...especially since her beautiful teeth were not causing her any problems or pain. After that fiasco, Dot stopped seeing dentists entirely for some years. Her daughters tried to convince her just to go in for cleanings...pretend to agree to whatever additional "work" but never go in for those appointments...and just go back for the next cleaning. But Dot refused...and she ended up having to go to a different dentist to have three teeth pulled because, after years without professional cleanings, Dot's Pepsi habit turned those teeth into swiss cheese. That dentist, who came up "clean" when Dot's daughters investigated him, set up a treatment plan to replace the damaged teeth with implants. At her age, Dot opted to skip that part, since her beautiful smile was still beautiful. She saved herself physical stress, which is never good if you have MS, and a few thousand dollars by skipping the implants.
Trigeminal neuralgia is the most painful thing known to man. Women who've given birth, passed kidney stones, and had trigeminal neuralgia--and thus can compare all three--say that kidney stone pain is worse than childbirth, and trigeminal neuralgia is worse than kidney stones. Any one of them will make you scream like a stuck pig. Multiple Sclerosis is already a painful disease, so screaming jaw pain on top of that was the last thing Dot Calm needed. So, I can't say I blame her for refusing to see a dentist for so long after the bridge fiasco.
I knew another dear, much-beloved elderly lady who was ill served by this country's health "care." One medical screw-up robbed her of half her sight; the other cut short her life.
This sweet lady--a friend of Dot Calm's--had had cataract surgery. When she mentioned during the follow-up appointment that her eye was still hurting, the doctor curtly dismissed her. This lady was too introverted to take her own cause into her own hands; she never went back to that doctor--for which I don't blame her--but she just didn't have it in her to go find a better, more caring doctor. The affected eye clouded back over and developed an unsightly bulge. Within a year or two, she had a fender-bender because of her impaired vision, so her son researched a better eye doctor for her. That doctor was able to perform cataract surgery on her good eye, restoring vision there...but nothing could be done for the bulging white eye--it was too late. She stopped driving after that.
This lovely lady was also diabetic. She dutifully went to her endocrinologist every however many months, but she didn't have a general practitioner per se--the endocrinologist more or less managed her general care. Read "more or less" as "less": that office prescribed iron supplements for the lady, who was over 70, for several years. Ladies that age seldom need iron supplements. In fact, anemia at that age is often an indicator for colon cancer. If the endocrinologist had been on top of his game--or if he had insisted that she start seeing a general practitioner or internist--Dot's friend might still be alive today. Instead of just masking symptoms of anemia with iron pills, they could have gone after the root cause...they could have done regular colonoscopies, removing polyps before they could turn cancerous. But none of that sensible, reasonable goodness happened. Instead, the lady suffered with stomach problems until she realized that she was losing a surprising amount of weight...at which point, her son took her to his regular doctor for tests...but it was too late. The colon cancer was too advanced; within two months, she was gone. Like Dot Calm, this precious, beautiful woman...loved by all her family and friends...died in her mid-70s from preventable causes. Too young in this day and age.
And this brings me to my dad, who's 84.
I moved my dad in with me this winter. Despite the additional work and responsibility--on top of a very busy job with a round trip commute of over two hours
--I am oh-so-glad to have him with me. But here's the weird part. We moved him from one state to another, and all of a sudden it's like he never existed...as far as the insurance companies are concerned, he has to have all new tests...blood work, bone density scans, etc. etc. etc....and none of the insurance companies is paying for the few appointments he's had or the prescriptions he needs filled. CVS-Caremark is the worst--not only are they refusing to pay for the prescriptions under his insurance, but they're even refusing to fill the prescriptions. Excuse me, but that is not their job--their job is to dispense the medication that the doctor prescribes for the patient. The CVS bastards are lucky it's my dad calling them and not me--I'd be reaming them all new assholes.
The doctor's office isn't completely blameless, either, though. They have let communications slip through the cracks, and they referred us to a doctor who should fill the prescription for my dad's osteoporosis injection--we handed her the paper prescription from my dad's last doctor, and she could see with her own eyeballs that he has osteoporosis--but wouldn't...and she charged $300 for a "consult" just the same. That wouldn't have been so bad if her staff had just explained the situation to me when I asked during the call to set up the appointment....Trying to get my dad's prescriptions set up and filled is turning out to be a full-time job. And it's clear that CVS-Caremark is looking for any excuse it can find not to honor my dad's prescription insurance. And it's also clear that the doctors are only too glad to charge $300 per visit without providing much, if any, real care.
Protect yourselves, friends--and if you have elderly friends and family, protect them, too. Check doctors' and dentists' online reviews and don't go to anyone with less than four and a half stars. Get in these doctors' and insurance companies' faces and don't let them off the hook. Leave shitty ratings and reviews. Report them to the Better Business Bureau or their medical boards or whomever else you need to to get results.
These are our friends and families...our precious loved ones...and they deserve so much more than to be treated like they're disposable because they're a little older than we are.
Time to slog on with the blog!
Don't forget to read Dot Calm's shadow's favorite independent sources of news and information:
Daily Kos
AlterNet
Democracy Now!
Conservatives are Destroying our Future
Conservative Clown Car
Americans Against the Republican Party
Americans Against the Tea Party
...And, whatever you do,
VOTE BERNIE!!!!!
Please send him a buck o' five. I do whenever I can
--California's primary is on the 7th, and I'd love to see Bernie win big, despite the odds. At the very least, I'm gonna send $15 to Debbie Wasserman Schultz's Democratic opponent on Bernie's behalf. That woman needs to GO!
Thanks for reading, and thanks for being good to yourself and your loved ones.
Peas!
- Dot Calm's shadow
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TrumPEW
(The stink...it hurts!!!)
-- Dot Calm's shadow
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Mailbag
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| Tell Donald Trump: You must release your tax returns | |
| Tell Donald Trump:
“Release multiple years of your tax returns and level with the American people about your wealth, business dealings, how you truly make your money, the tax loopholes you take advantage of, the tax rate you actually pay and how your tax plan would benefit you personally.”
Add your name:
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When you wake up on June 8,
the morning after California and five other states vote, will you be
able to say that you did everything you could to help Bernie win?
Because right now in California, it's very, very, very close.
California Primary Poll (NBC News)
Hillary Clinton: 49%
Bernie Sanders: 47%
Hillary Clinton: 49%
Bernie Sanders: 47%
This is important: the same poll says that with a higher turnout, we
are actually winning. And if we win California, it will send the
STRONGEST message possible to the Democratic establishment heading into
the convention in July. That's why we have to ask you to help in two ways:
help win California
How else do we know it's going to be a nail biter in California?
Secretary Clinton knows it's close too – she's canceling events in New
Jersey and is racing to California to campaign. (She kept her big-dollar
fundraisers on the schedule though.)
We have elections happening in New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana on Tuesday night,
in addition to California. We think we can do very well across the
board, and we need you to do everything in your power to help us win.
Why? Because every vote, every delegate, and every state that we win
gives us power at the Democratic convention, and victory is the
strongest message we can send to the political establishment.
Are you in to help Bernie win?
Let's win on Tuesday.
In solidarity,
Jeff Weaver
Campaign Manager
Bernie 2016
Campaign Manager
Bernie 2016
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From Greg Palast--do NOT accept a provisional ballot!
Placebo Ballots: Stealing California from Bernie
Using an old GOP vote-snatching trick
By Greg Palast with Dennis J Bernstein for Reader Supported News
[Los
Angeles] Woop! Woop! Alert! Some California poll workers have been
told to give "provisional" ballots to all independent voters in Tuesday’s Democratic Party. That’s wrong. That’s evil. That’s sick and illegal.
Here’s the 411. If you’re registered as an independent voter in California, you have the right to vote in the Democratic Presidential Primary. Just ask for the ballot.
But look out! Reports out of Orange County are that some poll workers have been told to give "No Party Preference" (NPP), that is, an independent voter, a PROVISIONAL ballot, as opposed to a regular ballot.
Do NOT accept a provisional ballot. As one poll worker told me, “They simply don’t get counted.”
Who would benefit from this switcheroo from legal ballot to “provisional” ballot? It’s just a stone cold fact that independent voters favor Senator Bernie Sanders. Among voters who describe themselves as having "no party preference," Sanders leads Sec. Hillary Clinton by a humongous 40 points—though Hillary is hugely ahead among registered Democrats.
So one way to steal the election is to make sure those independent voters’ ballots end up in the garbage, uncounted.
Two million “Placebo Ballots” not counted
And for our readers in the other 49 states: you can bet that the GOP will be shunting voters to these placebo provisional ballots in November. In the last presidential
It’s almost done — The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, The Movie — Help me finish it with a itty-bitty $25 donation and I’ll send you, signed, my comic book, Steal Back Your Vote, with the 7 ways to beat the ballot bandits. Make it a tax-deductible $100 donation and I’ll put your name in the credits. And you’ll save the nation. A bargain!
election, over two MILLION voters, overwhelmingly voters of color, were shifted to these rarely-counted ballots. Two million voters could have just written their votes on bubbles. That’s how they steal elections.
No, I’m not promoting Bernie nor my uncle Ernie, nor anyone. I’m promoting democracy. Let’s make sure your vote counts. Read on…
...or listen in while Dennis J Bernstein and I take you through that ugly sausage factory called the American voting system…. Dennis J Bernstein and I have begun a weekly radio broadcast, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: The Election Crimes Bulletin, on his Pacifica broadcast, “Flashpoints.” Don’t get Flashpoints in your area? then subscribe to the podcast, coming to you weekly. We’ll also have an edited transcript of each show linked from GregPalast.com.
What is a "Provisional" ballot? “Provisional” ballots were created by George Bush and Karl Rove as part of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) after they swiped Florida in 2000.
The original idea of provisional balloting was sound: The Congressional Black Caucus was very upset that African-Americans were not able to vote in 2000 in Florida because they were falsely removed from the voter roles for all kinds of cockamamie reasons. So the Black Caucus proposed that, if your name is not on the voter roles, you should still be able to vote provisionally. The state can then check the records and count your vote later.
The Black Caucus won the right to a provisional ballot, but didn't win the right to have them counted. They rarely are.
Say you are tagged an “inactive” voter, you CANNOT get your provisional ballot counted even if you were wrongly listed as “inactive.” You’ve been removed from the register. So, it’s a Catch-22. You get a provisional ballot because you were wrongly left off the voter roll, but it can’t be counted because, well, you’re not on the voter roll.
And that’s why I call provisional ballots “Placebo” ballots. They let you feel like you voted, but you haven’t. It’s ridiculously easy to challenge a provisional ballot – so in a tight race, it’s just tossed out.
California Reamin’
I am currently reporting from Southern California, and I got a tip from Ashley Beck, a poll worker in conservative Orange County . Listen to her story. She was being trained with other poll workers, and they were given some very strange information.
"I was told that all NPP [independent] voters are to be given provisional ballots. I was bothered by that, because I was always told that NPP voters in California can vote for Democrats and their vote would be counted. I was a little worried that he was telling all 18 of us poll workers to give all NPP voters provisional ballots. We all know what happens most of the time with provisional ballots. They are not being counted."
Provisionally Black
Who gets these placebo ballots?
I was on a book tour in Palm Springs—with an audience of about 200. I asked, "Has anyone here ever gotten a provisional ballot?" The only two Black people in the room both raised their hands, and that was it.
Black people know what provisional ballots are, and they probably know that if they fill one out, the chance of it getting counted is slim.
With the attempt to steal votes by giving independent voters provisional ballots; a lot of white people are being treated as if they turned Black. So to Bernie voters experiencing vote suppression for the first, welcome to the United States of Apartheid voting.
---------------------------------
From Ralph Northam
We’re in the middle of a critical election year and Republicans are moving full speed ahead with their plan to suppress voters in Virginia.
In fact, just last week a judge upheld a voter ID requirement in Virginia, a move that could potentially keep thousands of voters from the polls this year.
We can’t sit idly by and let this happen.
It’s no secret why Republicans are pushing for voting restrictions: Virginia is a critical swing state. And when turnout among African-American, Latino and young voters is lower, Republicans win.
So we need to speak out now.
Sign your name here and tell the Republicans to stop blocking the right to vote →
http://act.ralphnortham.com/
Thanks for your support,
Team Northam
---------------------------------
|
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley just signed legislation to ban abortion in nearly all cases after 20 weeks.1
The
law even applies to women who have been raped and teenage girls who are
victims of incest—and any doctor who helps them will face felony
charges and jail time.
These
abortion bans risk the health and safety of women facing the most
tragic and difficult pregnancy outcomes—and we're fighting back.
South Carolina is the 16th state
to ban abortion after 20 weeks, and anti-choice politicians have
pledged to pass a nationwide ban if they win the White House this year.
That's
why it's so crucial that we hold anti-choice Republicans like Gov.
Haley accountable for these extreme attacks on abortion rights.
We
know that as the general election gets closer, anti-choice candidates
will try to seem more moderate and mainstream, despite their records.
And Gov. Haley herself has been rumored to be a possible choice as
Donald Trump's vice president.2
But we're not going to let her or any other anti-choice candidate lie their way into office. That's why we've launched a massive nationwide campaign to make anti-choice politicians own their anti-choice records.
Thank you for helping to make reproductive freedom real for all women.
Ilyse G. Hogue
President, NARAL Pro-Choice America
Sources:
1. Gov. Nikki Haley signs bill outlawing abortion at 20 weeks, The Post and Courier, May 25, 2016
2. Donald Trump's running mate? Here are 22 possibilities., Miami Herald, May 4, 2016
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| Stop bankrolling Trump’s hate | |
| Tell companies sponsoring or considering sponsorship of the Republican National Convention:
“Ensure that you do not help provide a platform for Donald Trump's harmful and bigoted rhetoric by pledging not to sponsor the Republican National Convention if Donald Trump is the Republican nominee.”
Add your name:
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Democracy Now!
Stories |
An
unlikely voice has emerged challenging the drone warfare program:
former U.S. Army Reserve Chaplain Captain Chris Antal, who spent time
based in Afghanistan. ... Read More →
|
Former
U.S. Army Reserve Chaplain Captain Chris Antal reads his resignation
letter to President Obama. "I resign because I refuse to support U.S.
armed drone policy," Antal ... Read More →
|
Kalief
Browder, who spent three years in jail in New York without ever being
convicted of a crime, took his own life nearly one year ago, on June 6,
2015. In 2010, when Kalief ... Read More →
|
Seven
years ago, Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed became a hero of the
climate justice movement with his impassioned pleas to address global
warming. But recently ... Read More →
|
Stories |
In
Pasadena, California, Black Lives Matter organizer Jasmine Richards is
facing four years in state prison after she was convicted of a rarely
used statute in California law ... Read More →
|
Presumptive
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is facing scrutiny this
week after questions emerged over what happened to millions of dollars
he allegedly ... Read More →
|
Federal prosecutors in Minnesota announced Wednesday that no charges will be filed against the two police officers involved in the shooting death last fall of Jamar Clark, an ... Read More →
|
A leader of the independence movement in Western Sahara died Tuesday. Mohamed Abdelaziz was the leader and co-founder of the Sahrawi people's Polisario Front movement, ... Read More →
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Daily Kos
- Alabama teacher gave middle school students a math test so racist you have to it see to believe it
- Transgender Terminology 101
- Bernie Sanders ATTACKS on Bill Maher
- LOL. Another swing and a miss. Trump's empire continues to crumble.
- Now there is a bank account that puts being progressive, not greed, first sponsored
- Popular Christian rock star comes out of the closet in moving letter: 'I never wanted to be gay'
- Trump attacks! And shoots down his own party
- Mitch McConnell, unfrozen caveman senator, is confused and frighted by your modern world
- Classic Trump: 'Putting a wife to work is a very dangerous thing'
- Sheriff Joe Arpaio guilty of perjury, judge to refer case for criminal prosecution
- Hillary Clinton trumps 'Donald Drumpf' on CNN when asked: 'What have you done for vet erans?'
- Sign if you agree: Without the restoration of the Voting Rights Act, Republicans will continue to pass laws blocking PROGRESSIVE VOTERS. Stand with the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) to fight. sponsored
- Daaaaamn! Hillary brings the pain in epic marathon takedown Of Trump University
- In six days, history will be made
- NY Attorney General says he's not backing down in 'straight-up fraud' case against Donald Trump
- The biggest endorsement ever for expanding Social Security benefits
- Stunner: Bankers admit to being responsible for global inequality
- PGA Tour relocates major golf event from Trump course to... Mexico
- Comedian John Mulaney is able to put a finger on exactly what is so s trange about Donald Trump
- June is LGBT Pride Month. Did you come out to your parents as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender? Here is how one Daily Kos member came out to his parents, and we know there are many other stories. Log in or sign up for a Daily Kos account, and tell us your coming out story.
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AlterNet
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Movies!
I'm still waiting for TYT or Secular Talk to post a video about this, so you'll just have to read it for now:
Trump Has a $100 Million Conflict of Interest | Alternet
www.alternet.org/election-2016/trumps-100-million-conflict-interest
1 day ago - Trump Has a $100 Million Conflict of Interest ... the presumptive GOP nominee also has a tremendous load of debt that includes five loans each over $50 million
AlterNet
I guess you have to bankrupt at least one business before Republicans consider you to be a success...Bush busted the Texas Rangers and Arbusto Energy, as I recall, compared to Trump's four bankruptcies. And they consider themselves to be the party of fiscal responsibility...my ass cheeks, as Kyle Kulinski (Secular Talk) would say.
Is Trump really a billionaire?
Richard Dawkins puts anti-science Republicans in their place (back under the rock they crawled out from under)
Gov. Jerry Brown endorses Hillary for wrong reasons
Trump's new supporter: Kim Jung Un
Should Hillary keep running if indicted? The poll numbers may surprise you--they surprised me! Can you imagine if both Hillary and Drumpf got indicted?!?? We could end up with Bernie vs DEFEATed. That would be one take-down I'd pay to see!
Trump's tantrum at the TrumPEW court ruling and judge...don't get yer panties in a bunch there, Dumbald!
TrumPEW was a classic fraud
In a rare case of justice being served, the Chadian dictator was actually convicted of rape, sex slavery and mass killings
I saw bits of Hillary's foreign policy speech in the break-room at work Thursday. It was epic hearing her hand Teh Dumbald his pasty white ass. Stay tuned to the blawg--I'm sure I'll find an entertaining break-down of it next week. She really nailed what an impetuous spoiled bully he is, and how dangerous for the country he would be as president, and she looked and sounded very presidential doing it. Like her or not, she would be much MUCH safer and better for this country than the orange stubby-fingered vulgarian who needs a time-out in the corner.
The Liberal Redneck on Donald Trump
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posted by Dot Calm @ 5:29 PM
