Thursday, March 30, 2017

Added GM advice page

Added a page on GURPS GM Advice.
Goes over some of the more common issues new GURPS GMs may run into.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Atom 1.0: http://www.refplace.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default/-/GURPSRSS 2.0: http://www.refplace.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default/-/GURPS?alt=rss

Test for the GURPS Day feed.
So I just updated a bunch of pages.
Go here for the links, all GURPS pages have been updated since my last GURPS post.

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Senator Sanders needs to stop using the same talking point on Single Payer.

He keeps saying it should be a basic right because he believes this to be true.
the problem is his opponents do not believe that and worse they dont believe in Human Rights so tha argument will never work on them.
Conservatives do not believe in Human Rights, they believe in Corporate Rights.  Think about it Conservatives were for slavery, against Civil Rights for black people, women, and unions and if you look at current voting records you see they are on the forefront of voter suppression, dictating to women that they must have babies (Of course they wont help either the woman or the child with medical or financial care) even if that woman is a victim or rape, the bay will be born unhealthy or the mother could die from it.  They still claim women should not earn equal pay for the same work.
Conservatives often clothe themselves in the cloak of Christianity but fail to walk the walk and just talk about it.  Real Christians don't go around bragging about what good Christians they are, you can see it in their actions.  Don't listen to them talk, look at what they do and how they vote and their real nature is clear.

The Human Right argument will not sway people like the Freedom Caucus who refused to support the latest Health Care bill partly because it covered maternity care.
However Medicare has lower administrative overhead and if Congress would take out the corporate welfare rules on it such as the inability to negotiate prices for drugs it would lower  costs.

Trying to regulate how insurance companies operate will never solve the issue.  

Arguments for Single Payer

  • Take the money we as Americans pay for our premiums and put it into Medicare for all and we could see the same take home pay but have better coverage. Pro Worker
  • Corporations will no longer have to deal with insurance companies and can lower their cost of doing business. Pro Business
  • Small Business don't have to limit their growth for fear of having to deal with providing health care. Pro Business
  • Employees will no longer have to worry about only getting part time work because the company wants to avoid full time employee benefits such as Heath Care.Pro Worker
  • Lower medical costs for doctors and hospitals.  Ask your doctor how much money and time they waste dealing with insurance companies..  A comprehensive system if done right could save them a lot of money. Pro Everybody 

Saturday, March 25, 2017

The Definition of Treason
U.S. Code Title 18 Part I Chapter 115 Section 2381
Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

Friday, March 24, 2017

Another example of the Republicans serving themselves over Ameria.
David Nunes who is in charge of investigating the Russia issue runs to President Trump to give him the details.

Republicans declare they have given up on Health Care for this Congress.

Think about that.
They have been saying they had a better plan for health care and vowed to repeal and replace for almost 8 years, even risking shutting down the government because the Freedom Caucus wanted to repeal ObamaCare.
Healthcare is a tough issue and the only one who did not think so was President Elect Trump.
Democrats managed to do it, though with all the compromises they had to make to pass it resulted in a less than perfect bill. Everyone says Obama Care needs to be fixed or replaced.
But at least Democarats proved they could organize enough to get some substantial progress.
More people have  health care now than before and though premiums have gone up for many of us they were going p every year anyhow.  I mean really does anyone believe insurance companies were going to lower premiums?  Of course not.

The difference is Democrats worked to get something done and Republicans have just declared that they give up after the first real effort. I am listening to Paul Ryan right now spinning it and saying that Obama Care is failing and horrible.  It is easier to blame someone else than to fix or come up with your own solutions.  Republicans just proved themselves unable to do the latter and prefer the former.

Why were they not able to get enough votes?

Conservative Republicans were saying it did not go far enough and needed to remove all the rules on insurance companies, remove the taxes on the wealthy to pay for it, cut back on Medicare, defund Planned Parenthood, and remove some features like emergency room coverage.
Moderate Republicans were concerned it would hurt the elderly the most (key Republican demographic) and removing Insurance for more than 24 million people were bad ideas.
The blame game has already started but the real failure here is the party had 8 years to plan for this, declared they had one and instead waited till the last minute and tried to rush something through in a few weeks.
President Obama worked on his plan for a year and a half and negotiated with as many people as he could, including doctors, and insurance companies.  He knew it would not be as good as he wanted but that some improvement was better than no improvement. Republicans have declared today on 3/24/2017 after a short effort that they are just giving up and taking their marbles home.
This party ran on this issue as a signature item for the last 7 years, claimed they had a plan but could not get it past President Obama and now having taken control of the House, Senate and the White House showed they are unable to get the job done.

We need real leadership

America deserves a government that will work for America and put it before their party.  America deserves politicians who will think ahead and plan for the long term.
Think about this the next time you go to the polls.  And remember to go to the polls, as part of the problem we have is low voter turnout because most of America is disgusted with politicians.
Ask questions and listen not to tv ads but actual policy choices. America can do better than the current mess of Republicans and Democrats.

Thursday, March 23, 2017

So Republicans have decided to hold off the vote on Trump Care.
They are still hoping the promise of future phases will bring some around on it in hopes they will get what they want later.  Trouble is republicans have been trying to get rid of the ACA (Obama Care) for 7 years and still have not come up with a plan they can agree on.
If you cant do it in 7 years its a pretty big leap of faith to sell people on the idea that you should be trusted to do it and people to blindly trust what you may or may not come up with.

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Added some ideas on education here
Education is really important and we need to not get rid of it as some are trying to do but strive to improve and make it better.
Education is a long term investment in America.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Partisan Politics vs Ideology or pragmatism.

America is founded on the idea that majority should decide.  It is ok and expected for people to disagree about things.  However when we do not debate facts but try to win using personal attacks we betray that process and the very ideals America was founded on.
Another issue is the overuse of labels,  It is easy to side against a common enemy and politicians know this and manipulate people by using labels.
Listen to your politician.. do they persuade you with policy or things they want to do?  Does their track record support that or do they do the opposite of what they said they would after being elected?
Do they try to win by attacking their opponents rather than trying to demonstrate how they are good for you?
America is suffering and both Republicans and Democrats are responsible, but so is the average American.  Did you vote? Too many people stay away from the polls because they feel their vote does not matter.  You may be overwhelmed by others in your area but if you keep silent you are giving approval for it.

Saturday, March 18, 2017

So California may be headed for Single Payer.


Bold move for a single state because they wont have federal funding for it (meaning income tax) but if any state can pull it off it would be the richest and most diverse one in America.
Some business have left the state due to rising utility, land and wages but this move which could lower corporate costs if they dont have to pay for employee healthcare. Will that encourage business growth and hence jobs?
My Thoughts on Health Care