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Post by mhbruin on Oct 7, 2023 8:27:09 GMT -8
What do you call a deaf gynecologist? A lip reader.
You Kill 78 of Ours. We Kill 198 of Yours. Plenty of Blame to Go Around in This Mess.
Medical sources in Gaza say at least 198 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air attacks launched after a Hamas offensive against Israel that killed at least 70.
The group running the besieged enclave said its surprise, large-scale operation was in response to the desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque and increased settler violence.
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 7, 2023 8:28:50 GMT -8
This Prison Is Horrible! You Can't Put White People in There.
Georgia Republicans are highlighting conditions in a notoriously bad jail as a way to punish District Attorney Fani Willis for her prosecution of Donald Trump, a columnist speculated Saturday.
Members of the state’s party toured the Fulton County Jail Wednesday, shining light on a facility that's so bad that, in 2022, a prisoner was apparently eaten by bedbugs. Last year, 15 prisoners were killed inside the jail.
But the timing – just weeks after Trump and his co-defendants in the racketeering case involving attempts to overturn the state’s 2020 election result had to appear at the jail for booking – seemed suspicious to MSNBC writer Ja’han Jones.
“For decades, social justice activists and people incarcerated there have sounded the alarm about the jail’s conditions, which have contributed to deaths, staff corruption, overcrowding and crumbling facilities,” he wrote.
“...But it wasn’t until Thursday that Republicans announced a plan to investigate the situation.”
He continued, “Georgia GOPers have hardly lifted a finger over conditions at the jail as activists advocated on behalf of those held there, a group that is predominantly Black. And despite what Republicans are saying about this probe, its political motives seem clear: Some Georgia Republicans have pushed to impeach Willis (and disrupt her case against Trump and his co-defendants, all of whom have pleaded not guilty). And it looks as though the conditions at the jail — which predate Willis’ time as district attorney — could eventually be used as pretext for that.”
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 7, 2023 8:31:29 GMT -8
You Get a Free Gym Membership. You Just Don't Get Health Care.President George W. Bush and Republicans (and a handful of on-the-take Democrats) in Congress created the Medicare Advantage scam in 2003 as a way of routing hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars into the pockets of for-profit insurance companies. Those companies, and their executives, then recycle some of that profit back into politicians’ pockets via the Citizens United legalized bribery loophole created by five corrupt Republicans on the Supreme Court. Just the overcharges happening right now in that scam are costing Americans over $140 billion a year: more than the entire budget for the Medicare Part B or Part D programs. These ripoffs — that our federal government seems to have no interest in stopping — are draining the Medicare trust fund while ensnaring gullible seniors in private insurance programs where they’re often denied life-saving care. Real Medicare pays bills when they’re presented. Medicare Advantage insurance companies, on the other hand, get a fixed dollar amount every year for each of the people enrolled in their programs, regardless of how much they spent on each customer. As a result, Medicare Advantage programs make the greatest profits for their CEOs and shareholders when they actively refuse to pay for care, something that happens frequently. It’s a safe bet that nearly 100 percent of the people who sign up for Advantage programs don’t know this and don’t have any idea how badly screwed they could be if they get seriously ill. Not only that, when people do figure out they’ve been duped and try to get back on real Medicare, the same insurance companies often punish them by refusing to write Medigap plans (that fill in the 20% hole in real Medicare). They can’t do that when you first sign up when you turn 65, but if you “leave” real Medicare for privatized Medicare Advantage, it can be damn hard to get back on it. The doctors’ group Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) just published a shocking report on the extent of the Medicare Advantage ripoffs — both to individual customers and to Medicare itself — that every American should know about. The report, titled Our Payments, Their Profits, opens with this shocking exposé: “By our estimate, and based on 2022 spending, Medicare Advantage overcharges taxpayers by a minimum of 22% or $88 billion per year, and potentially by up to 35% or $140 billion. By comparison, Part B premiums in 2022 totaled approximately $131 billion, and overall federal spending on Part D drug benefits cost approximately $126 billion. Either of these — or other crucial aspects of Medicare and Medicaid — could be funded entirely by eliminating overcharges in the Medicare Advantage program. The Medicare Advantage ripoff every American should know about
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 7, 2023 8:32:32 GMT -8
They Haven't Hurt My Sexual Functioning Either
Women tend to report improved sexual functioning after undergoing breast augmentation surgery, according to new research published in Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira. The findings suggest that this popular cosmetic procedure not only enhances physical appearance but also positively impacts women’s self-confidence. Breasts hold a central role in how society perceives femininity, sexuality, and maternity. Changes in breast size, shape, or distortions can have a profound effect on a woman’s self-image and quality of life.
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 7, 2023 8:33:41 GMT -8
Cannon Misfires
Legal experts tore into right-wing District Judge Aileen Cannon for pausing several pre-trial deadlines in former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago classified documents case — a move widely expected to be a prelude for pushing back the May 4 trial date.
Cannon, noted Salon's Tatyana Tadanpole, "authorized a paperless order delaying the deadlines she'd previously set for October 2023 through May 2024, when the trial for Trump and his three co-defendants in the case is scheduled to start in Fort Pierce, Florida. Though Cannon's order doesn't address the May 20 start date for the trial itself, it does state that all of the scheduled deadlines connected to classified information are on hold 'pending consideration and resolution' of a Trump motion proposing a new timeline that was filed last month."
A number of former prosecutors and attorneys shredded Cannon's decision, warning that she is making a move to protect the president who appointed her to the bench from the law — something she has already been caught doing once before.
"Not a good sign for those who want a trial in May. We haven’t even reached the point in CIPA where the court has truly difficult decisions to make," tweeted former DOJ official Brandon Van Grack, who worked on the Russia probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance concurred, saying, "This is a judge who is happy to see the case move slowly."
Meanwhile, former Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe was scathing: "I was among those who once called her a 'loose Cannon.' That was wrong. She’s firmly anchored — to one thing and one thing only: Donald Trump’s interest in escaping accountability until after the election. It’s a complete disgrace."
A further delay of the case would decrease the likelihood that any sort of verdict could be reached before the 2024 presidential election is held; some experts have warned he could try to pardon himself if re-elected, although Trump has claimed that is "very unlikely."
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 7, 2023 8:35:47 GMT -8
They Keep Letting this Woman Out
A couple was celebrating their wedding day in Mississippi on Saturday when an alleged serial wedding crasher snuck in.
Sandra Lynn Henson, 57, has been accused of crashing weddings in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee and stealing money and cards from purses, according to the Pontotoc Sheriff’s Department.
She was already wanted in Alabama, the department said, when she was caught with sticky fingers at Lexi Loden and Brady Butler's wedding in Pontotoc County.
"When Sandra turned around in the bridal room, she was eating a piece of my cake," said newlywed Lexi Loden Butler, who recalled how her sister caught Henson at her wedding at Lilly Creek Farm.
Henson was arrested Sept. 30 and charged with petit larceny, trespassing, and disturbing the peace, the sheriff's department said Monday.
Henson has since bonded out of jail, Sheriff Leo Mask said.
Last week's wedding was the latest in a string of wedding crashing incidents allegedly linked to Henson.
“From what we understand, she’s been charged with [wedding crashing] several times," Mask said. He said he was unsure about Henson's convictions because some cases were in other states.
Henson was on parole in Mississippi, where she'd been behind bars on burglary and grand larceny charges, according to state corrections department records.
In 2019, Henson was accused of taking gifts from two weddings in Alabama, the Florence Alabama Police Department said at the time. She was charged with two counts of property theft. The outcome of the cases was not immediately clear Friday night.
In 2021, Henson stole wedding gifts, cash and gift cards amounting to over $1,000 in her home state of Mississippi and was indicted on a charge of grand larceny. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced in Marshall County to five years' probation, court records show.
She Clearly Will Just Keep Doing It.
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 7, 2023 8:37:51 GMT -8
Democrats Get Seats. The QOP Gets Crazies.
Illinois Democrat used their supermajority in the legislature to redraw district lines in a way that would strengthen their already titanium-solid lock on power.
The strategy worked, adding one Democratic seat to the Illinois delegation and trimming two Republican ones as GOP voters were packed into a smaller number of districts.
The new map also accomplished what experts say gerrymandering does with ruthless efficiency, regardless of whether Democrats or Republicans are responsible: hollowing out the moderate political center and driving both parties further toward the ideological fringes.
“Gerrymandering undermines a key element of democracy, which is competition,” said Harvard University government professor Steven Levitsky.
Politicians representing more-evenly split districts fear general election competition and therefore tend to govern more moderately, Levitsky said. But those in lopsided districts worry more about primary challenges and become responsive to the extremes in their party.
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