WELCOME TO OPINIONS BASED ON FACTS (OBOF)
&
THINGS YOU MAY
HAVE MISSED (TYMHM)
YEAR ONE
YEAR TWO
YEAR THREE
YEAR FOUR
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OBOF YEAR FOUR INDEX
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-01
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Jan. 02, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-02
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Jan. 09, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-03
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Jan. 15, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-04
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Jan. 24, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-05
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JAN 30, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-06
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Feb. 06, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-06 EXTRA
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Feb. 09, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-07
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Feb. 13, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-08
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Feb. 21, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-09
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Feb. 27, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-10
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Mar. 08, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-11
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Mar. 13, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-11 EXTRA
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Mar. 15, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-12
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Mar. 21, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-13
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Mar. 29, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-14
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Apr. 03, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-15
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Apr. 12, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-16
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Apr. 19, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-17
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Apr. 26, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-18
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May 03,
2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-19
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May 10,
2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-20
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May 20,
2014
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OBOF TYMHM Vol 14 - No 21
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May 28, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM Vol 14 - Ho 22
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June 10, 2014
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Agenda
1.
Notes from Floyd.
2.
Special bond I needed for a dog.
3.
Senate takes VA bill after scandal.
4.
How the Supreme Court made U.S.
NOTES FROM
FLOYD
First, the big reason
for such a delay this week is that this is a big, big week for me. Today, June 10, 2014 I have been around this
great country for 90 years. I am having a prety big party and haave been
getting ready for it. Tell you more
about it next week. I am a little proud
to have made it this far. I have lived
all my life to get to be 90 and I have made it.
Now, I am going to go for 95.
People say to me to just try for 100.
I don't think that is at all realistic, ninety five is possible.
~
Obviously,
this note was written some time ago, but, for whatever it is worth, I am going
to put it in now.
I wonder what your take is this matter?
It is currently, 11:15
pm May 28, 2014. I am going to jot down
some of my thoughts following the one-hour airing on NBC of an interview with
Brien Williams and Edward Snowden.
I have no black and
white reactions to the interview. I also
watched the live, one-hour interview Brien Williams had on the internet with
various people from NBC and others around the country.
I guess I have some
gray areas to consider. I can't say he
is an all out traitor. To me a traitor
is out to do harm to our country. I
don't believe that was his intent. Based
on that point, I guess I am saying that he should not be judged as a traitor.
If I am taking that
position, is he a patriot? I have a hard
time accepting that. However, in
balancing the scales I guess I am leaning somewhat to the patriot side, BUT not
a clear-cut patriot.
Apparently, he
provided some information that needed to be known, because some changes have
been made since his revelations. That
would fall down on the patriot side.
However, it appears as though, at the same time, he may have revealed
some information that has done some harm to the effective manner our
intelligence agencies operate. To what
degree that fact weighs on the traitor side would have to be determined,
probably in a closed court.
His intelligence and
mannerism are quite impressive. He does
not feel that he is a traitor and that he was actually trying to help his
country. That leaves a wide birth to
look at. I wonder what all of you think
about him?
~~~
That
Special Bond:
Why I Needed a Dog!
Azzedine
Downes
International Fund for Animal Welfare /
News Report
Published: Sunday 8 June 2014
We know it immediately when we look into the eyes of another species: There
can be a special bond. Many people feel
it when they experience a moment with their dog or cat.
For a few lucky people, we have experienced a bond with a creature as
magnificent as an elephant, a rhinoceros, a whale, a dolphin, or an ape.
This submission is from my friend Martha Reynolds, who after an
accomplished career with the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office began
writing novels in 2011.
Her works include her award-winning debut novel, Chocolate for Breakfast,
and the best-seller Bits
of Broken Glass. Her fifth book is to be released this summer.
I didn’t grow up having a
dog, or any pet.
In fact, I was
apprehensive of those slobbering, jumping beasts well into adulthood. And life
seemed just fine without a pet. I could
come and go as I pleased, never one to rush home from a night out with an
apologetic “I need to walk the dog.” No dog hair on my clothes, no early
morning or late evening walks, and definitely no picking up poop.
Then, a few years into
marriage and heartbreaking infertility, my husband looked up one morning over
coffee and said, “We need a dog.”
Four words.
And he didn’t have to say
anything else.
I knew.
We both needed a dog.
And from the first time
that seven-week-old puppy was nestled in my arms, I’ve not been able to imagine
my life without a dog in it. We had a
four-month interval after our first dog died, for grieving and regrouping, but
it wasn’t long before we knew it was time to bring another puppy home.
Over the past seventeen
years, my dogs have provided me with companionship and entertainment. They have comforted me through grief and
depression. She never lets me forget that she is present, ready to please, no
matter what kind of day I’ve experienced.
We have a bond, certainly, a timeless bond that’s been shared between
humans and animals forever.
The connection I share
with my dog has shaped and enforced my love for animals everywhere. I cry over stories of homeless and neglected
dogs and cats. I am sickened by the
slaughter of African elephants for their ivory, and by the needless hunt and
decimation of our whale population.
My love and devotion
toward a twenty-pound spaniel whose favorite place to sleep is on my lap has
helped me to see the larger picture of our responsibility to preserve and
protect all wildlife, not just this one domesticated creature who rules my
world. It’s a broad concept for a short
blog post, I realize.
But we are the intelligent beings.
We are the ones who make and enforce laws, and we are the only ones who can
stop the inevitable extinction of certain animals.
So my little Bonnie is, in
some respects, the child I never had. I
am so fulfilled by having her in my life. Yes, more people treat their pets as family
members than ever before. And while
you’ll never see Bonnie dressed in a Halloween costume, she is cared for as
well as any dog could be.
That’s the responsibility
I take as her owner. She may be afraid
of a fly buzzing around the room (yes, really), but I’ll protect her, from the
fly and from anything else that would harm her. Similarly, I’ll consider what I
can do to ensure a better future for all the other creatures that inhabit the planet.
It’s what we all should
do.
~~~
Senate to take up new
VA bill after scandal
WASHINGTON (AP) —
Details of a refashioned bill to address the problems plaguing the federally
run veterans' health care system were released Sunday by its sponsor, the chairman
of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, a
Vermont Independent, posted a summary of his bill Sunday and said it would be
introduced this week.
The bill includes
several new provisions aimed at fixing the long delays for veterans' care. The long-simmering issue erupted into a
scandal in April and led to last week's resignation of VA Secretary Eric
Shinseki after a federal investigation into the troubled Phoenix VA Health Care
System found that about 1,700 veterans in need of care were "at risk of
being lost or forgotten" after being kept off an official waiting list.
The investigation also
found broad and deep-seated problems throughout the sprawling health care
system, which provides medical care to about 6.5 million veterans annually.
Sanders said in a
statement issued Sunday that while the people who have lied or manipulated data
must be punished, "we also need to get to the root causes of the problems
that have been exposed."
The bill would allow
veterans facing long delays to seek care outside the VA, at private doctors'
offices, military bases or community health centers. It also authorizes emergency funding to hire
new doctors and nurses and would provide scholarships or forgive college loans
for doctors and nurses who go to work at the VA. In addition, it would give the
department authority to fire poor-performing executives, but not as broadly as
a bill passed in the House and defeated in the Senate last month.
An earlier version of
Sanders' bill did not have enough support to pass in February.
Sen. John McCain,
R-Ariz., said Sunday that the key to fixing the problem was giving veterans the
flexibility to get the care they need at the closest, most available place.
"And that's the
solution to this problem is flexibility to the veteran to choose their health
care, just like other people under other health care plans have the — are able
to do," McCain, a Vietnam veteran, said on CBS' Face the Nation. "Why doesn't that veteran have a card and
go to the caregiver that he or she needs and wants?"
The VA spent about $4.8 billion last year on medical care
at non-VA hospitals and clinics. That
amounts to about 10 percent of health care costs for the Veterans Health
Administration.
~~~
How
the Supreme Court Made the U.S.
Dennis
Trainor, Jr.
Acronym TV / Video Report
Published: Sunday 8 June 2014
Earlier this year,
the U.S.
In the dissenting
opinion, Justice Stephen Bryer, did not hold back in voicing the disgust felt
by an overwhelming majority of Americans (if not by a majority of Supreme Court
Justices) in writing that the majority’s “legal analysis is faulty: It
misconstrues the nature of the competing constitutional interests at stake. It
understates the importance of protecting the political integrity of our
governmental institutions. It creates a loophole
that will allow a single individual to contribute millions of dollars to a
political party or to a candidate’s campaign.”
Furthermore, the dissenting opinion offered up this gem:
“Taken together with Citizens United v.
Federal Elections Commission today’s decision eviscerates our Nation’s campaign
finance laws leaving a remnant incapable of dealing with the problems of Democratic
legitimacy that those laws were intended to resolve.”
(Emphasis mine)
If we don’t have laws that empower us to deal with the
problems of Democratic legitimacy, is our government legitimate?
That question, among others, in one I put to my guests on
this week’s Acronym TV.
Christina
Tobin is
the founder and chair of Free & Equal. She has a long history of supporting
ballot access, having gathered and defended over 1 million signatures for the
Green Party, Constitution Party, Republican Party, Democratic Party,
Libertarian Party, Socialist Equality Party and independents. Free & Equal
Elections Foundation is a non-partisan grassroots organization, whose mission
is to shift the power back to the individual voter through education. Their motto, “More Voices, More Choices.”
Daniel
Lee is
a lifelong activist. He serves on the
national leadership team for the group Move to Amend, which is a coalition of
hundreds of organizations and hundreds of thousands of individuals committed to
social and economic justice, ending corporate rule, and building a vibrant
democracy; Move To Amend is calling for an amendment to the US Constitution to
unequivocally state that inalienable rights belong to human beings only, and
that money is not a form of protected free speech under the First Amendment and
can be regulated in political campaigns.
~~~
If the
good Lord is willing and the creek don't rise, I'll talk with you next week.
God Bless You All;l
&
God Bless the United States of America
Floyd
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