Trumpcare? More like FAILCARE! LOL!

Courtesty of Slate.com

The biggest news of the week is that the long-awaited moment of House Republicans trying to finally get rid of Obamacare has failed.

Healthcare was one of the big subjects that President Trump spoke on during his campaign, claiming that he would get rid of Obamacare in the first few days of his presidency. It is obviously clear that he has failed to keep his word following Speaker Paul Ryan pulling the bill from the floor this past Friday afternoon.

In a story by CNN, they presented Trump saying, “We were very close,” in the oval office after the bill was pulled. Trump looking for someone to blame pointed his finger at Democrats instead of his own party, the Republicans, who hold the majority in the House.

Trump stated in a tweet Saturday morning, "Obamacare will explode and we will all get together and piece together a great health care plan for THE PEOPLE. Do not worry!"

Speaker Ryan did not come out of this without some metaphorical scars, he has made himself look weak, especially since he can’t seem to wrangle in his own party.  

Ryan said, “we came up short, and will be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future.”

Democrats on the other hand were filled with glee at the sight of Republicans failing to come together and achieve something like a healthcare bill. 

Trumpcare

The Republican replacement for Obamacare has been met with opposition lately. Not just from the people, but from Republicans and Steve Bannon news site, Breitbart.

The new healthcare plan is being pushed by House Speaker, PAul Ryan, who has been continuing a campaign to get his party to vote on the bill. While interviewing on CBS's Face the Nation, Ryan spoke on the opposition of the bill, by downplaying it, saying that it is simple "compromises and negotiations."

The Democrats main criticism of the replacement healthcare plan is the possibility of 15 million people losing coverage. Ryan's response to this is that he, "can't answer" on how many may or may not lose coverage.

A major problem for Republicans for this plan is that they could possibly give up their majority hold over the House next year.

One argument presented by Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, while supporting the bill stated in an interview with ABC's This Week, that the bill is more about care than coverage. Stating that those under Obamacare cannot afford the care side of things, and this new bill will provide affordable, quality care to those that decide to insure themselves.

This bill is a way for the Trump administration to test the kind of sway it has in Congress. To see if that actually works still remains to be seen, as Republicans like Senator Rand Paul have said they will not vote for the bill.
https://news.vice.com/story/paul-ryan-stumps-to-save-trumpcare-from-dissident-republicans

Destruction of History

ISIL forces were forced from the city of Palmyra after fighting with the Syrian Army who was aided by allied forces and Russian air forces.

Palmyra was taken by ISIL back in December during a surprise attack, and according to a story by Al Jazeera thanks to the efforts of the Syrian army and Iranian backed militia, ISIL were pushed out of the city Thursday. ISIL forces retreated to the east, and the Syrian military combed the area to clear out landmines.

During the time that Palmyra was captured by ISIL in March of last year they destroyed most of the archeological sites and destroyed other historical ruins throughout the city when they retook Palmyra in December.

This destruction of archeology and historical sites is something that has been a major staple of ISIL forces. While they destroy them because they think that they are monuments of idolatry, they also sell these priceless artifacts on the black market to fund their war machine.

The historical destruction comes from the way in which ISIL views the faith of Islam, they think that worshipping  at monuments is wrong and has been going on since 2014.

This destruction of cultural history is reminiscent of what the Nazis did during WWII, but we can only hope that ISIL can be stopped before it is too late. 

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/03/palmyra-russia-backed-syria-army-retakes-ancient-city-170303050427702.html
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/03/isis-destroys-ancient-art.html

Orwellian Future?

The Kremlin has been undermining Western news media by labeling certain stories it doesn’t like as “fake news”. Stories that have been labeled from The New York Times, NBC and Bloomberg because they supposedly a part of an “information campaign against Russia.”

It’s a pretty sad state of affairs for news media in America. The president himself has denounced an important part of the American system. The news media is something that has been a part of America since its founding and to have it be undermined and ostracized by both a domestic and foreign power is quite interesting.

According to a Vice News story the Russian government has put on its foreign ministry website a new page that is “exposing” media for spreading false information about the country.

Having a phrase like “fake news” being used as an a excuse to label a story that you don’t like is rather ridiculous. It’s the stuff of novels, something that you would expect to happen in an Orwellian story.

The news is of course fallible especially with it being run by human beings, mistakes will happen. The problem is having the entire organization insulted by government forces simply because they dislike them.    

https://news.vice.com/story/the-kremlin-is-literally-stamping-reports-it-doesnt-like-as-fake-news 

http://www.mid.ru/en/nedostovernie-publikacii/-/asset_publisher/nTzOQTrrCFd0/content/id/2655982

Make America Scared Again!

I wanted to take a break from the normal regurgitation of weekly news that I normally do. I instead wanted to talk about something that has been bothering me lately.

It seems in recent years the increased tension between political parties has warped the view of what America should be. I’m not just talking about what the economy should be like, or where the government should divert military power. I am talking more about the character of America.

With the election of President Trump, the concept of American exceptionalism is on the rise. No longer will we be pushed around and bullied by the likes of others.

To me America is a country that has become a contradiction lately. My reasoning might seem a little out there, but I want you to hear me out.

America is the most terrified country in the world.

It has been for the past several decades, ever since the American people learned about Communism. When we learned about this, we invited the fear in. It gave the government cause to make the people question their own neighbors and strangers alike. It not only affected the common folk, but the ones in power. They became afraid of losing their power and would do anything to keep it.

From this point on the idea of America being the biggest and toughest country in the world, became a contradiction. During the years of the Reagan presidency, fear filled the country in the form of communism, and during the presidency of George W. Bush it was in the form of Terrorism.

This fear has become a virus that infects the country everyday, and with the recent election of President Trump, I think that we will become even worse. Its this fear that drives to want to hate someone simply because they come from a different country and worship God in a different way. This fear that makes us want to close ourselves up from the world instead of joining it. It won’t just be some radical terrorist group that gives us reason to be afraid but our own government. When someone is operating on fear they will do just about anything to keep going.

Maybe I am talking crazy. Maybe this entire tirade of words is the product of me having to much alone time. I’m not really sure, but it makes me wish that instead of being so afraid of the world we would take part in it. America has the capacity to do great things, and it has done in the past. I simply think that this idea of American exceptionalism has got to stop, because nobody likes a loud mouth, especially if that loud mouth has access to nuclear weapons.  

Doctor's Appointment

China has said that it has stopped the practice of harvesting organs from prisoners, but the UN is not convinced.

In the past, China has been responsible for harvesting and transplanting an estimated 60,000 organs each year.

During the UN conference at the Vatican, one former top Chinese official said that China has stopped this program, but nobody believes it.

The main reason for this disbelief could be attributed to the massive amounts of hospitals that are in China. According to the Associated Press, China has more than 1 million hospitals, and 169 of those hospitals authorized to perform organ transplants.

The World Health Organization petitioned the Chinese government to come and investigate to make sure that China has kept its word. The WHO is not allowed to enter countries without the countries permission. Dr. Haibo Wang, a Chinese official, spoke out against the UN for focusing on China for this while other countries weren’t.

The history of this practice is not a happy one. These prisoners that are having their organs harvested, were being put in jail for various inhumane reasons. The imprisoned are those of ethnic minorities and various religious groups, for example Tibetans and underground Christians.

There could be a possibility of China telling the truth, the main problem is there is no accurate information to prove it. 

http://www.newsweek.com/despite-zero-tolerance-organ-harvesting-prisoners-continues-553986 

The only thing to fear...

This has been crazy week to say the least. Over the week, President Trump instituted a national ban of citizens from certain Muslim countries. Keep in mind that while there is a ban, the ban has a certain number of days on it.

With this ban, there have been multiple cases of immigrant families having massive amounts of trouble reuniting with their families. One example of this was the case of a 5-year old boy that was detained at the Washington Dulles International Airport.

To know that Trump’s ban is affecting children so young, should make people wonder if the price of “safe borders” is truly worth it.

America has always tried to place itself on a pedestal that shows that we are morally great, but to have a president that tries to close its borders to a group of people that truly need some sort of help from dangers that affect them much more than American citizens, is truly disappointing to say the least.

Fear is a virus, it eats away at every part of a person and fear is being used not just by the enemies of the United States, but by the very government that claims to want to protect us.