Donald Trump and MAGA Republican extremists sold Americans health care away to billionaires- irresponsible tax cuts are "blood money"

A big Trump bill, but ‘beautiful’ it is not❗- Echo opinion letter published in The Boston Globe: 

Benefactors of Donald Trump’s largesse are receiving blood money.

As Republicans twist themselves into unnatural positions to support Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful 🤢 Bill,” they must think about how many people, including children, will die* as a result. Rural hospitals will close, children will starve, and millions will lose their health insurance, all to pay for the tax cuts for the president’s billionaire friends. Do those receiving the lion’s share of Trump’s largesse not understand that it is blood money?

From Bruce Zabinsky in Waban, Massachusetts

Reported by BBC *'We are all going to die' - Senator's healthcare comment sparks a bruhaha row.  During a political town hall meeting in Iowa, Senator Joni Ernst addressed an audience member's concerns about reduced spending on Medicaid in Donald Trump's Big Beautiful 🤢 Bill Act by saying: "We are all going to die."💀❗

The Iowa Republican senator went on to post a tongue-in-cheek video from a cemetery saying she made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium "understood that, yes, we are all going to perish from this Earth".

The bill would require able-bodied recipients to work, participate in job training programs or volunteer for 80 hours a month in order to be eligible for Medicaid, a healthcare program for low-income Americans.

The measure will lower the number of people with healthcare by at least 7.6 million from the Medicaid changes, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Measles is a vaccine preventable infectious disease: RFKjr attended dead child's funeral in Texas. What was he thinking?

Second child dies of measles as Texas outbreak worsens

#FireRFKjr  How does attending the young victim's funeral help to prevent measles when a vaccine is the way to end this epidemic.

Texas is poised to make measles a nationwide epidemic, public health experts say

A second child died from measles as an outbreak of the highly contagious virus continues to grow in western Texas.

Echo BBC report by Madeline Halpert:

The school-aged child was not vaccinated, had no underlying health conditions and was in hospital suffering complications from measles, Aaron Davis, the vice-president of UMC Health System, told the BBC. (British Broadcasting Company)

Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, who has faced a backlash over his handling of the outbreak, visited Texas on Sunday in the wake of the death.

A billboard in Seminole, Texas, in February. Nearly 500 cases of measles have been reported since January in West Texas.Credit...Desiree Rios for The New York Times

"This unfortunate event underscores the importance of vaccination," Mr Davis said in a statement. "Measles is a highly contagious disease that can lead to serious complications, particularly for those who are unvaccinated."

The child - an eight-year-old girl - died early on Thursday.

The BBC contacted the state health department and the US Department of Health and Human Services for comment. Both agencies did not list the death in their case counts on Friday.

In a statement, Kennedy confirmed the girl's death.

"My intention was to come down here quietly to console the families and to be with the community in their moment of grief," he said in the statement.

He also said he was engaging with officials there to "support Texas health officials and to learn how our HHS agencies can better partner with them to control the measles outbreak". Kennedy said he was deploying a team - as he did in March - to help distribute vaccines, medications and other supplies, among other support services.

"The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine," Kennedy wrote.

In February, an unvaccinated six-year-old girl in the local Mennonite community was the first child to die of measles in the US in a decade. In March, an unvaccinated man died in New Mexico after contracting the virus, though his cause of death is still under investigation.

The US has recorded more than 600 cases of measles this year, many related to the outbreak that began in western Texas. Cases in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas are likely linked to the original outbreak, public health experts say.

Nearly all the cases are in unvaccinated people.

The virus - which can cause a fever, red rash, cough and other symptoms - is associated with a host of complications, including pneumonia, brain swelling and death.

The US declared measles eliminated from the country in 2000. 

But outbreaks have grown since then with a rise in anti-vaccine sentiment.

Two shots of the immunization - proven safe - are 97% effective at preventing the virus and reduce severe infections. To achieve herd immunity - when enough of a group is immune to a disease, limiting its spread and protecting the unvaccinated - around 95% of the population must have the shots.

The outbreak originated in a religious community that strongly rejects vaccines. Local health officials in western Texas have told the BBC they have seen limited progress in attempts to improve vaccination rates.

Kennedy's early response to the worsening outbreaks was muted, drawing criticism from health experts.

Kennedy, a vaccine sceptic, initially described the situation as "not unusual". 😒He changed his tune after the first child measles death, but stopped short of recommending that parents vaccinate their children. He instead encouraged them to talk to their doctors about the shot.

On Sunday, Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican who represents Louisiana, called for stronger messaging. 

Cassidy is also a doctor and has previously criticised Kennedy for his sceptical attitude towards vaccination.

"Everyone should be vaccinated! There is no treatment for measles. No benefit to getting measles," Cassidy wrote on social media platform X. "Top health officials should say so unequivocally b/4 another child dies."

Kennedy has also at times promoted Vitamin A as a treatment for measles, which doctors say should only be provided in certain cases under the guidance of a physician.

In Lubbock, Covenant Children's Hospital has treated several children for Vitamin A toxicity, in other words, liver damage, after they were sent to the hospital for measles complications.

The state reported more than 480 cases of measles this year as of Friday, a jump from 420 earlier in the week. The outbreak has extended to neighbouring states.

Trump fight like hell speech incited the January 6 insurrectionists

January 6th, Capitol riots: Did Trump's words at rally incite violence?- BBC

On January 6, 2021, thousands of Trump supporters gathered at a "Save America" rally organized to challenge the result of last November's presidential election.

They listened as Mr Trump spoke to them on the National Mall, near the White House in Washington DC.

In a 70-minute address, Trump exhorted them to march on Congress where politicians had met to certify Democrat Joe Biden's win. The attack began moments after he took the applause.

Echo opinion letter to the editor, sent to in The News & Advance, a newspaper published in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Now that the January 6th, committee has wrapped up, I have this to say. I have encountered many people who claim that former guy President Trump is not complicit with the January 6 riot because he said, "I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard," about 10 minutes into the speech. This is correct.

Oh paleeeeze! Peace? So, how can Trump be responsible for the violence?  Because of the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say, in how he ended his speech. Two of the last things Trump said before the Oath Keeper's and violent people descended on the Capitol were:

1. "And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore."

2. "But we're going to try and give our Republicans, the weak ones because the strong ones don't need any of our help. We're going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country."

The first statement is a call to violence, the second to a coup. 

Taken in whole and considering the incendiary speeches that preceded him (Rep. Mo Brooks telling them to kick some backside), one cannot help but understand that the fundamental purpose of the QAnon conservative-dominated crowd was to force Congress to reject the November 2020, election results by any means necessary because, in their (delusional!) minds God, country, truth and justice demanded no less. One can argue that Trump did not 100% foment this riot, but one cannot easily claim that Trump was not significantly complicit in orchestrating it.

From Kenneth Naugle, in Forest Virginia

Maine Stream Media alert: President Zelensky certainly shows Asharf Ghani what leadership is about

Echo opinion letter published in NWI.com (Northwest Indiana) in The Times newspaper.

Ukraine faces a “tough battle” as Russian forces amass in the east of the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on April 9, in a news conference.

There's a significance of comparison between remarkable resistance in the Ukraine against unprovoked Russian aggression, and Afghanistan. Why is it that the stark difference has never been mentioned in the press/media?

HELLO!?! When Afghanistan was taken over by a rag band of Taliban fighters, the country folded like a bag of chips. Its president fled the country like a coward (taking United States money with him) and his people were left to fend for themselves. 

So, most of the Afghan people gave up without a fight.

In Ukraine, the opposite happened. President Zelensky stood, and a good number of its people are fighting at this very moment against the Russian invaders and marauders.

Is there a moral or lesson to be learned here? Yes, and it's a big one: When attacked or invaded, stand and fight, you might win or put a halt to the invader.

Roger Borroel, East Chicago, Indiana

P.S.- Reported in BBC News:  

Asharf Ghani: Ex-Afghan president

Afghanistan's former president has defended his decision to flee the country as the Taliban closed in earlier this year, saying he did it to prevent the destruction of Kabul.

Asharf Ghani

The Taliban seized power in August after taking control of the Afghanistan capital.

Ashraf Ghani revealed that when he woke up on 15 August, he had "no inkling" it would be his last day in Afghanistan.

It was only when his plane left Kabul that he realized he was going, the fugitive Ghani said on BBC Radio 4's Today program.

Justifiably, Ghani has been heavily critizised and accused of abandoning the country at the time. He is now in the United Arab Emirates. (Reports BBC)

Spying - Shocked! Shocked! Yes, We're Spying

Interesting history of spying on BBC.com.  

Given what we know about spying, meaning, everybody does it all the time, it's completely insincere to hear how "shocked!" governments are about the pervasiveness of this clandestine practice.

Obviously, the big difference between spying during the time of Julius Caesar or during the reign of England's Queen Elizabeth I are, of course, wireless and electronic communications. Nothing, absolutely nothing in the realm of modern communications, beginning with the telegraph, the telephone, radio broadcasts and now cellular technologies, are secure.

BBC.com explains how Julius Caesar had spies who told him who is enemies were before he was assassinated. (Tragically, victims of assassinations are reported to ignore the information from spies or confidants. There are stories about John Kennedy being warned not to travel to Dallas, TX and, of course, Abraham Lincoln's assassination continues to perplex historians, because omens leading to his murder were obvious.)

Revelations about the US National Security Agency's spying have provoked global outrage. But government snooping is nothing new.

Chinese general Sun Tzu wrote in his famous treatise The Art of War: "Enlightened rulers and good generals who are able to obtain intelligent agents as spies are certain for great achievements."

Purloined (dishonestly sent) letters, intercepted communications, official eavesdropping - here are some examples of spying over the ages, by enlightened rulers and not-so-enlightened ones.

Caesar's spies

In Ancient Rome, major political players had their own surveillance networks, which provided them with information about the schemes of those in power.

Nevertheless, an extensive spy network didn't save Julius Caesar

Politician and orator Cicero frequently lamented that his letters were being intercepted.

"I cannot find a faithful message-bearer," he wrote to his friend, the scholar Atticus. "How few are they who are able to carry a rather weighty letter without lightening it by reading."

Julius Caesar put together an elaborate spy network to keep himself apprised of the various plots against him. In fact, Caesar may have known about the Senate-led conspiracy that culminated in his assassination.

Even the best spy network sometimes cannot stop a dagger.

In the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church was more powerful than most governments - and it had a powerful surveillance network to match.

French Bishop Bernard Gui was a noted author and one of the leading architects of the Inquisition in the late 13th and early 14th Centuries. For 15 years, he served as head inquisitor of Toulouse, where he convicted more than 900 individuals of heresy.

A noted author and historian, Gui was best known for the Conduct of the Inquisition into Heretical Depravity, written in 1323-24, in which he outlined the means for identifying, interrogating and punishing heretics.

"Gentlemen don't read each other's mail,” Henry Stimson (1867-1950), US Secretary of State.

The court of Elizabeth I was fertile ground for scheming and spies, and Francis Walsingham's job was to keep the monarch one step ahead of her adversaries, like Mary, Queen of Scots.

In May 1582, Walsingham intercepted letters written by Spanish ambassador to England, Bernardino de Mendoza, regarding a conspiracy to invade England and install Mary, Queen of Scots to the throne.

While Mary was confined to Chartley Manor, Walsingham came up with a way to prove she was a threat to the queen. He had most of her mail opened, but led her to believe that she had a secret means of correspondence through letters hidden in a beer keg.

Walsingham gathered evidence of Mary's involvement in rebellious plots. She was put on trial for treason and beheaded. 

Mary learned the hard way that what you think the government is reading is not as essential as what you think the government isn't reading.
US cryptographers intercepted diplomatic communications at a 1922 conference

During the French Revolution, Maximilien Robespierre and his cohort watched the population with a careful eye and ruthlessly cracked down on internal dissent.

In 1793, the revolutionary government established 12-member "committees of surveillance" throughout the country. They were authorised to identify, monitor and arrest any suspicious former nobles, foreigners, nationals who had recently returned from abroad, suspended public officials and many more.

Historians estimate that as many as half a million people were targeted by the surveillance committees, which were particularly ruthless in smaller French towns.

When neighbours have the power to spy, the results can be tragic.

In the 18th and 19th Centuries, governments undertook surveillance with bureaucratic gusto. Across Europe, they established departments called "black chambers" (from the French, cabinet noir) to read the letters of targeted individuals.

The bureaux, usually located in post office buildings, employed a variety of techniques to surreptitiously open, copy and reseal correspondence, then forward the missives on to the unsuspecting recipients.

The practice embroiled the British government in scandal in 1844 when it was revealed that the London black chamber was secretly reading the mail of exiled Italian author and activist Giusseppe Mazzini.

Many in the British public were outraged that their government had passed information to the Neapolitans, who used it to execute Mazzini's fellow revolutionaries.

In Europe, the industrial revolution was also a revolution in spycraft.

Negotiating with espionage

In 1922, the United States hosted a naval disarmament conference in Washington, where it oversaw talks among nine nations, including United Kingdom, France, Italy and Japan.

The intelligence agency Stasi kept files on 10 million East Germans

It also spied on the Japanese and other negotiating teams, intercepting and decrypting communications between delegations and their home countries.

Thanks in part to inside knowledge about negotiation positions provided by the US Cipher Bureau, the government cryptography office founded A world history of government spyingin 1919, the US was able to successfully broker several multinational treaties and agreements that headed off a naval arms race.

In 1929, the Cypher Bureau was shut down by Secretary of State Henry Stimson, who said: "Gentlemen don't read each other's mail."

After World War Two, the Americans decided gentlemen need a permanent surveillance network.

Behind the Cold War's Iron Curtain, surveillance of the population was an everyday part of life. Nowhere was this more prevalent than in East Germany, where for nearly 40 years the Stasi intelligence service monitored and reported on the activities of its citizens, using the information to stifle unrest.

By the time the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the Stasi had grown to more than 91,000 officers, with an active informer network of close to 200,000.

The East German surveillance state used modern technology and massive manpower to expand government spying on a previously unimaginable scale.

The United States entered the surveillance business in earnest following World War Two, when it began collecting and monitoring all telegraph information coming into and out of the country as part of Project Shamrock. It also created a "watch list" of US citizens suspected of "subversive" activities whose communications it kept tabs on as part of Project Minaret.

The operation was taken over by the newly formed National Security Agency (NSA), which co-operated with the FBI and CIA. Both programmes were shut down after an investigation by the US Congress in 1975.

Thirty-eight years later, the NSA has rebuilt Project Shamrock using the technology of the information age.

And the rest, as they say, is history...

So, let's just get over this "shocked! shocked!" act about spying. 

All ambitious people are subject to being spied upon and of spying themselves, whether it be in retail espionage or international intrigue.

People who are delusional enough to believe they can "out spy" the people who are spying, must live in a fantasy world. They're the dangerous ones who certainly shouldn't be in positions where others can spy on them. Julius Caesar being a perfect example. Et tu Brute?