Some more random thoughts today:
–USA Today is reporting that United Healthcare has warned it will likely exit the ACA by ceasing to offer plans through the public exchange system that runs “Obamacare.” Why? Cause the people who have enrolled via ACA actually USE the insurance which has been eating into company profits. Keep in mind this is coming off 2014’s best year in company history, which saw revenue of over $130 billion. I’m sorry, but we won’t allow people that actually need and USE insurance to have insurance cause it erodes profits? What kind of country are we? Wait, don’t answer that.
–The Pew Research Center has released a report that shows from 2009 to 2014, 870,000 Mexicans came to the U.S.A. And one million LEFT! That is a loss for 130,000. At this rate, we might need to build a wall to keep people in!
–Speaking of walls, The Donald tweeted today that eight Syrians had been caught at our southern border trying to sneak in so they could commit god knows what. There have been a few incidents lately. Five Syrians arrested at Honduras’ main international airport a day or two ago. They DID have fake passports and did state they were headed to the USA, but so far NO ties to terrorism have been found. At the border incident, “on Tuesday, members of two Syrian families, two men, two women and four children, presented themselves at a port of entry in Laredo. They were taken into custody by CBP and turned over to ICE for further processing.” Doesn’t sound like any sneaking going on. In Honduras it is far more likely they had heard that walking up from Central America was far less time consuming then waiting for the refugee program to let them in. Congress would be best to concentrate on border security and an Immigration Policy (which hasn’t seen action since Reagan) than to clamp down an a refugee program which is actually working. I can also assume that Trump had access to the news feeds on this story, which means he was comfortable basically lying in his tweet.
–Read a long but important piece last night that puts into words the way I am trying to live my life, bit by bit. It discusses how we can no longer afford to live in a horizontal world view, only thinking of the here and now and our own little family unit. We have to think vertical, in timespans that affect our decendents if not the entire possible future of humanity. In short, ” We have no right to hand over a planet Earth that has less worth or in a more miserable condition than the planet we ourselves have had the good fortune to live on.”, and “I’m responsible for all life on this planet forever.” That sort of thinking can be a challenge, especially for those of us trained to treat the Earth and animals around as nothing more than monetary resources, when in fact they are part of a delicate process of actions and reactions leading to a balance that have allowed life to survive on this world for so long. We have already upset that balance, and risk putting it so far off center we ourselves may not survive. I don’t speak of we myself, I speak of we as my children and their children. I do not want them to look back and ask us, their ancestors, “why did you do this to us when you could have save it all?” Here is the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
–Lastly, a little more on the debate raging around Syria and refugees. There are some politicians who have actually suggested that we only allow in Christians. There are some who would have us set up camps for and badge refugees currently living here. How does this talk reflect on the USA with the rest of the world? Remember, the rest of world DOES think a little more vertically than we do, especially when it comes to history. Also, think of what the chest pumping that Christians who “claim” to follow Christ are doing–they are giving “the enemy” exactly what they want with their rhetoric. It is one thing to propose concrete ideas to improve the security of our nation. One thing to promote a plan that actually makes us safer while holding to the ideals that formed our country, and that they SHOULD believe in based on their so-called “Christian values. They tread on thin ice, and in the end if they do meet Christ someday, I have a feeling that he will be most unhappy with all of them.