WHAT ARE YOU WORTH?

Covid-19 is a deadly virus that has made the World sick.
It is our worst pandemic since 1919 and led to many actions and reactions.
Many countries are working hard to keep their remaining citizens safe and alive.

America is sadly not one of them, at least not as far as dt and the GOP are concerned.
The Repub leaders of America are concerned only with wealth and keeping it intact for themselves and their already well to do friends.
As far as they are concerned, humans are not worth the expense of keeping them alive!

So what is the value of a human?

In the 1950s someone came up with the absurd price of around $1.60.
Luckily since then our value has increased.
But it's still debatable.

According to "Data Genetics" we are worth just over $45 Million with our body's level of potassium being our most valuable element at $160.
That's just bananas, right?
Well, they claim we should eat more bananas since they are rich in potassium (see their chart.)

They seem to agree with a study done by the Indiana University School of Medicine.
They too claim the total value of a human body is, or was in 2005, OVER $45 MILLION!

In 2020 dollars it is closer to $60 Million!
Surprisingly, one group that may have funded the study, and links to it their website, is an insurance concern - Insure.com.

On the lower end of the value spectrum is this 2012 study by Medical Transcription.net which puts our value at just over half a million dollars.

That's quite a range of values.

Personally I feel life is priceless, at least mine is!
And that puts me at direct odds with the Repub Party which seems to be stuck in the 1950s.

But then they always did want to take America back, as in to the time before we emancipated African Americans and gave women the right to vote and figured out a way to help senior citizens in their later years with Social Security and Medicare.

But if you take the Indiana study for our worth then as of the end of May 2020 America has buried around $6 TRILLION in valuation and counting!

And that is nothing to sneeze at!

LIBERALS GET YOUR GUNS

Anything you can say
I can spin my way
I can spin anything
And wreck your day

No you can’t
Yes I can
Please do not
Kiss my butt
Well it’s wrong, it is wrong, it is wrong!

You promote fear and hate
In every Red State
How long can we wait?
Till your guy is ‘great?’

He is now
Really HOW?
Can’t you tell?
From his smell?
He is great, he is great, he is great!

The fact we’re in a lurch is
Proof we must close churches
Get off your high perches
And don't touch our churches

Come on folks
There’s danger here
A Liberal hoax
That much is clear!

Where is that test
And the vaccine you promised
Don’t be a pest
Or you’ll our guy pissed

He’s a child
Now I’m riled
He’s a fool
You’re a tool
He must go
WE SAY NO!
Dump him quick
You are sick!
Yes of him, sick of him, sick of him!

DOES dt DESERVE TEMPORARY IMMUNITY?

Sorry Jay but the answer is no.

I realize you are an attorney and must defend your client no matter who or what it is but:


The people who died as a result of the delay in responding to the Covid pandemic got no temporary immunity.


The thousands who are dying due to its administration's incredibly inept handling of the response to the virus outbreak are getting no temporary immunity.


The children who died in cages at our nation’s border due to its xenophobia got no temporary immunity.


The seniors dying of fright over the thought of losing their retirement funds when dt and mcconnell steal them for the 1%ers get no temporary immunity.


The families who have lost loved ones due to the inability to get testing or lifesaving ventilators as a result of its hoarding for itself and Red States only get no temporary immunity.


The farmers going bankrupt and losing the family farms they’ve owned for decades due to its ego driven tariff war with Jina get no temporary immunity.


The small business owners and their employees who are hurting and going hungry while it sends all the relief money to the wealthiest undeserving businesses in America get no temporary immunity.


The women and children it raped and even now get insulted and shamed due to its ongoing misogyny get no temporary immunity.


The African Americans and minority men and women who are being murdered by its white supremacist and Nazi mobs due to its stoking the fires of hate and fear get no temporary immunity.


The reporters who must cover its every disgusting move while being insulted racially and otherwise get no temporary immunity.


The scientists, doctors and non-partisan officials who have worked selflessly their entire lives in government regardless of what political party was in control and now get fired due to its “only I can do it” attitude get no temporary immunity.


So, for the above reasons and so many more, Jay, no this filthy criminal gets no temporary immunity or immunity of any kind and must face the music for the crimes he has committed, continues to commit and undoubtedly will commit in the future!

But then you knew all the above when you took on its cause so stop complaining.

THE ETERNAL TUG OF WAR

In trying times like this money causes the age old tug of war between those that have and those that have less, WAY less!

When we rail at the wealthy for not paying their fair share of taxes are WE being fair?

When they use every possible loophole their high-priced accountants and lawyers can find to get out of paying taxes should it bother us?

What we must realize is that inmost cases the wealthy did not get their wealth by giving it away, at least not willingly.

Their hoard mentality is a form of sickness and fear that they too could end up like the rest of humanity, begging for a raise or healthcare or eventually even some food! “Please sir, I want some more.”

Not every needy child will end up as lucky as Oliver Twist so without twisting reality what should we expect?

When Republican President Eisenhower ruled with a top tax rate of 91% the country thrived!  The wealthy may have grumbled but they sure did not go hungry!

And what of the wealthiest who not only do not pay taxes but hide what they do pay and lie when asked for the facts? I think we all know of whom I speak, uh, write!

This rant is being fed by an article I noticed in my local newspaper, Newsday.

The current Covid-19 pandemic, which has been made even worse by the incredibly inept resident of the White House and his Republican choir boys, has caused tremendous pain on Long Island and elsewhere around the country.

Layoffs, firings, business closings or bankruptcy have made it necessary for limited and immediate special aid for those who no longer have paychecks. Many of these former workers live paycheck to paycheck with very little in their rainy-day savings accounts.

As it turns out the aid can amount to a bit more than the workers were earning when they worked which is angering their former employers. They fear the recipients will not want to come back to work at their reduced salaries since they are getting the “handout.”

What these greedy unfeeling, uncaring dolts refuse to mention is that the aid is temporary and meant as a life-line to get them through this unprecedented period.

And if they really cared about the workers they laid off perhaps they would prove it by extending them a fair wage once things returned to normal.

And when I say normal I mean the new normal, since there is no way we will return to the way they were before Covid-19.

There is a push to make the minimum wage on Long Island $15 per hour but many have been paid less with waiters and others who rely on tips to get them through the week getting even less. Naturally it is always a fight between worker and employer as to what is a fair and reasonable price to pay for services rendered. And just as naturally the employer holds most of the cards if not all the money.

As an aside how many know that many employers feel it to be a crime for employees to discuss their salaries? That person could be fired for ‘cause.’ Most employers are not too fond of unions for similar reasons.  “Wait, you want safe and comfortable working conditions as well as a raise?”

Government worries that mandates forcing employers to pay higher wages would hurt our overall economy.

This could be true in the short term but if more citizens were paid enough to be able to save for a rainy day when clouds appeared, they wouldn’t drown in debt. And with more cash in the bank, banks would prosper and be able to loan money to help others and themselves.

Taxes are an obligation and the Nation’s life blood.

A healthy economy needs all citizens to be fair and play by the rules.

Because we are all in this together, and it takes money to run a country.

When the wealthy hoard the rest can’t afford.

TELESCOPE VS MICROSCOPE

Covid-19 has telescoped the predicted loss of many businesses and jobs due to the likes of Amazon and the internet in general from 3 to 5 years down to 3 to 5 weeks.

Lifesaving social distancing rules have made business as usual nearly impossible if not at least worrisome.

Some smart entrepreneurs have filled the gap offering delivery services from grocers as well as other questionably necessary services such as liquor stores.

But there is no reason we should give up every vice as long as we can practice the behavior responsibly.

But Covid-19 has once again placed our country’s response to disaster under a microscope and as with many things it loses much of it’s beauty when viewed too closely.

For example, how many of us noticed when the current administration quietly shut down our Nation’s pandemic response department and fired or reassigned the doctors and scientists therein?

Placing that irresponsible decision under the microscope now is at the very least absurd.

What was the purpose of ending our insurance policy against a possible and sadly likely pandemic?

Did it save the Federal government a few dollars?

Are we talking about the same Federal government that routinely funds the building of unnecessary and outdated fighter jets and wildly increases the military’s budget against the Pentagon’s and Joint Chiefs of Staff’s wishes?

In the case of the Pandemic response team it was ended because the current President hates the former President, who opened the office, so much he is willing to allow the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans just to remove one of his accomplishments.

This vindictive, childish, and dangerous behavior has hastened or telescoped the death of more Americans than the number that died during the entire Viet Nam War!

And while many of us are sitting home with too much time on our hands we owe it to America and ourselves to put our entire government under the microscope.

What is it doing right and what is it doing wrong?

Is the response to the current pandemic being handled well or is the ball being dropped?

Is there something we should be doing to get ready for the next disaster?

I do not have all the answers but then I was not elected by the people to have them!

Clearly, we should elect leaders who care enough about public service to seek out the answers and implement them for the good of all Americans, not just the wealthiest.

We need to strengthen the working and middle classes of the country and see to it they survive and thrive.

Without a good foundation even the most opulent of homes will eventually crumble!

There is nothing we can do to get back those we have lost due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but don’t we owe it to them to stem the tide going forward and prepare ourselves for future tragedies?

We had better get our telescopes trained on that future or we will not have one!