Eric Trump says the son of the Iranian Ayatollah is incompetent. Who the hell are we, the USA, to determine the leader of another nation? Imagine the late 1600s, Oliver Cromwell of England, the Lord Protectorate, dies and his son is in line to take over, and other nations stated that the son is “incompetent?” Did any other nation have the right to say that? Did the American colonies? Yes, they did. But not other nations around the world. We don’t have the right to tell other nations how to select their leaders. If so, I would tell Israel that Netenyahu, the Zionist, is incompetent as a leader.
USA Has No Right to Determine Leaders of Other Nations
March 9, 2026
Healthcare in America: Where is the Single-payer Plan?
March 7, 2026
Single-payer healthcare would make healthcare available to all Americans, WE THE PEOPLE. PEOPLE – human beings – are not organizational units like corporations, not robots or AI images.
Autocratic oligarchic billionaires convince common folk with big mouths to spread lies about single-payer healthcare. They have easily purchased elections to push their agenda. Hawkish ideals and scandals are given priority to ignore any possible implementation of single-payer healthcare.
The current Republican leadership is a puppet of the billionaire oligarchy. Elections have been purchased by this oligarchy.
The SCOTUS Citizens United decision opened the door for “purchasing elections.” The decision eliminated campaign fund limitations. The stupidity of that decision was to define corporations as “individual human beings” and therefore protected by the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The SCOTUS decision defined money as being more important than humans. Such ideals signal return to the old concept of “divine rights” for those who have the most money. The American Revolution rid us of this concept. Will SCOTUS define robots and “people” created by AI images as having 1st Amendment rights?
Single-payer healthcare provides equal healthcare for all human beings. This healthcare can be implemented at either state or Federal levels. New York State’s population is larger than several European nations providing free healthcare to all.
It is ironic that SCOTUS considers equality of humans when it comes to campaign finance money. Why is there a lack of equality for individual healthcare? Is this a deliberate attempt to deny robots healthcare benefits?
In 1977, I was offered three music teaching jobs. One was on Long Island. One was in Upstate New York. The third was in the Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada) public schools. I ended up teaching in Upstate New York, completing my graduate work in Upstate New York working at Griffiss Air Force Base, and then taking a job in Florida where I remained for 38 years.
One reason I chose to remain in the USA was due to the land where I was born, raised, and appreciated for giving me a jumpstart on life. In spite of all the imperfections about America and its democracy, I still appreciated what was given to me as a result of my dad and mom and others who lived through World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam Conflict, and others.
I may have found it disgusting to live through the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and others. I may have found it disgusting to watch Upstate New York riots due to taunting of black folk by white folk. I may have found it disgusting to witness “the whole world watching” as college students rioted in Chicago (1968). I may have found it disgusting to witness the Ohio governor and President “Tricky Dicky” send National Guard troops to Kent State and shoot down students throwing rocks, in cold blood. So on and so on. In 1977, I STILL decided this nation was worth remaining here so we can work together to make it better. “United we stand, divided we fall,” were words we understood.
And then I watched as Reagan, the “Reverse Robin Hood” movement with billionaire wealth, late 20th-Century “Gilded Age fat cats,” worked for deregulation so as to cause supply-side economics which destroys capitalist competition and monopolize business in the hands of a few people (oligarchy), and “trickle-down strategies.” Reagan and company worked to overturn the accomplishments of my Dutch relatives, the “Trust Buster,” Teddy Roosevelt, his niece, Eleanor Roosvelt, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. These folks worked to bring down fat cats from the Gilded Age who had put monopolization into practice. With the lack of capitalist competition and centralized monopolistic control, the economy looked more like that of a communist state than true supply AND demand capitalism.
Today, there are many times I think about the possible mistake I made in turning down a job offer in Canada. But I continue to think about the country I grew to love and to make better, even if people are now losing the sense of “united we stand, divided we fall” and are leaving this nation in large numbers, due to the election of the Man-baby with his disgusting cold ICE arms which are needlessly reaching too many American citizens, as well as the immigrants, and putting America on an offensive path with a department called the “Defense Department.”
I still maintain hope. My Scottish family motto is “as I breathe, I hope.” I encourage everyone who is eligible to register to vote and get to the polling places this year and vote to put non-Republicans in power as leaders of our nation. To overturn what the late Lee Iacocca titled his 2007 book, “where have all the leaders gone?”
U.S. Hawks (with the Man-baby in charge) and Israel’s Netanyahu (like Zealot Judas Iscariot) launched attacks against Iran. Was that necessary? No, especially since there has been progress from diplomatic methods.
The Iranian non-religious leader has claimed, “there are no gay folk in Iran.” Really? Iranian LGBT+ were purportedly brought to the top of high-rise buildings and thrown off the buildings to their death. At the time such events were being uncovered, it was also discovered that many Iranian gay folks were seeking a safe haven in the USA.
What was done to all immigrants? Walls were built blocking immigrants from all over the world from entering the “land of the free.”
Attacks like recent events should be halted. We should seek other solutions for settling our problems with Iran. We don’t need to end elections but elect better leaders. Get a larger percentage of good thinking people out to vote; make election day a holiday; continue early voting options; continue voting by mail; continue voting absentee. Despite the claims, we don’t need cloud fantasies repeated until they become the truth. Let us set the path in the correct direction by means of democracy and voting.
Mr. Steves and Humanism
March 2, 2024
Rick Steves’s Best of Europe. Very educational program about Europe. Have learned many things about Europe, such as the Burgundy area of France. Love the wine from this area. I learned how the soil makes the flavor of the wind. Makes sense, but had never thought about it before.
Learned about the 100-year war along the Dordogne River in France. Learned about force-feeding of geese to produce the precious livers for a pate which is delightful among many people.
My disappointment? When Mr. Steves described the Cathars who were wiped out entirely by genocide of the Roman Catholics, he described the Cathars as “heretical” Christians. He took on the “norm” of the Roman Catholic faith which is wrong. By speaking with this tone of face, he encourages Trump and MAGA folk plus the billionaire Christians of mega churches and Roman Catholic bishops and others in encouraging them to move forward with murder of the LGBTQ folk. I find this disgusting and repulsive.
First of all, the Cathars, like the LGBTQ today, are only 10% of the population. They are not a large enough portion to impact all. The LGBTQ know how to love fellow human beings and have fellow feeling for one another than most of the population. So, if 10% of the population can influence others about love one another, what the hell is wrong with that? They don’t FORCE people to believe what they do, but teach what true humanity is by means of example. Same as with Cathars.
Taking this one step forward, it is also important to recognize that the Cathars saw human beings in this manner. Materialism (love of money) as being evil and in opposition to the true Christianity taught by Jesus Christ: “love God… love your neighbor as yourself.” Love your self for who you are, not to be condemned by wicked ones who dwell on sin. Those who judge on the basis of sin are the lovers of money and materialism who wish to control the population so as to maintain their own materialistic values.
I would argue there are more passages in the scriptures which talk about love of money as being the root of all evil than about homosexuality. Jesus Christ became VIOLENTLY angered at the money changers in the temple for making “His father’s house a den of thieves.” Paul explains to Timothy that “love of money is the root of all evil.” Paul may have quoted a passage from Leviticus about “men sleeping with men,” but only to convince the Gentile pagan-worshiping crowds that having sex in the pagan temple is wrong. And a local Baptist church had a pastor caught having sex with a church woman on the pews of the church, but will condemn homosexuals who are recognized by another denomination.
In all these examples, the heretics are not people like the Cathars who chose humanism over materialism, but like the wealthy fat pigs and an oligarchy which resemble the “dukes, lords, popes, and bishops” of Medieval days (and beyond) who worked to control the masses by falsely proclaiming who are the heretics. Because after all, to have a “divine right,” as they claimed, they could not possibly be heretics. Which is the reason the Founding Fathers created the United States of America. Now. Stop the brainwashing that violence and guns are better than views about anti-vanity love and sex which are more civilized.
Mr. Steves. I think you need to re-think how you present some of the religious information because you have a tone of a homophobe who thinks gay folk are “heretics.” Get a life, Mr. Steves. We enjoy your documentary educational presentations otherwise.
Translation of Iroquois word, “Tioga”
February 21, 2024
“Tioga…
…place in New York state, from Mohawk (Iroquoian) teyo:ke ‘junction, fork.'”
See
“Tioga.” (n.d.). Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/Tioga
“Tioga…
…place in New York state, from Mohawk (Iroquoian) teyo:ke ‘junction, fork.'”
See
“Tioga.” (n.d.). Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/Tioga
The impact on what is now the two counties named Tioga, of Pennsylvania and New York, and the Native Iroquois tribes is astounding. Many of the Iroquois tribes sided with the British Loyalists, so these were some important battles for the founding of this nation.
Much of the accomplishments by Gen. Sullivan was purportedly in retaliation for British / Iroquois massacres of American colonists.
The Expedition followed a trail up the Susquehanna River, the Wyoming Valley (Wilkes Barre, PA) and the Native village of Tioga Point near present-day Athens, NY, just south of present-day NY’s Tioga County areas of Barton / Waverly and Owego.
In the end, a statement was offered in the Iroquoian language:
Skoi Yase Heoweh gnogek
Translated: Once a Home, Now a Memory
In 2023, the Revolutionary War Journal published an article about the details of the Sullivan Expedition.
Citation:
Schenawolf, H. (2023, Apr. 18). General Sullivan’s expedition against the Iroquois and the Battle of Newtown [present-day Elmira]. Revolutionary War Journal.
The link is provided here: https://revolutionarywarjournal.com/general-sullivans-expedition-against-the-iroquois-and-the-battle-of-newtown/
I am Who I am and Proud to be Who I am
February 14, 2024
I am gay and knew it from a young age, but was bullied by many to reject who I am because I did not play sports as a “man” could. Yet, I was part of a championship football team (JV) in high school.
My JV football coach was also my 7th grade New York State History teacher. I learned from him regarding history. I learned from him regarding football.
I am a Christian, raised in a Protestant denomination. With today being Ash Wednesday, I am reminded of the football coach who boarded in our home. When I was a kid, he came home after attending the local Roman Catholic Church. He had ashes on his forehead in the sign of the cross. I had never seen that before. I went over and asked him what that was about. My mother was embarrassed that I would ask or, as she said, “bother” him about that. But he was not the least bit bothered and explained to me what the ashes were about. Our Protestant church in Newark Valley never had an Ash Wednesday service like that. But the UCC I attended in Florida DID have an Ash Wednesday service and I received my ashes, while participating in the choir in that church. The service followed a dinner of homemade soups made by members of the congregation.
I am who I am.
The basketball coach who boarded at the the same time as the football coach introduced me to the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Did you know that paper burns at 451 degrees Fahrenheit? The story was about a time in the future when firemen were not used to protect us from burning homes, but to burn books which were not pleasing to some people. The basketball coach gave me a copy of that book.
The basketball coach also gave me a copy about a white man who lived among a black community so as to discover how black folk were treated in the South. The book was titled, Black Like Me.
These coaches were borders at our house in Apr. 1968 when Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , was shot down in cold blood. Sad that I was exposed to so many people in our school and community who rejoiced at the murder of MLK. I did not know how to accept it all. So, I asked the basketball coach whether it was right for people to rejoice at the death of a black man. He answered my question with a question. His question for me, to get me thinking, was this: ”What do you think?” I thought and thought and replied with, “I don’t think it is very good for anyone to kill another nor to even rejoice over it.” To which the basketball coach said, “I think you answered your own question correctly.”
From that point forward, to the day I heard the song “Who Am I?” in Les Miz, to today, I am always willing to take responsibility for mistakes I might make.
This is a long-winded approach to say this. Several days back, I wrote a review of a local production of Cabaret, which I had really enjoyed and appreciated. I take responsibility for the errors in that review. Not errors in what I said or the references provided. Errors in my writing. Run-on sentences, for instance. I had written the review so quickly and had to deal with so many problems with the app with which I was using, that I just submitted it without a thorough review of it. Sad.
I take responsibility, despite the fact that I COULD blame the technology. I LOVE to blame the technology. And today’s technology leaves a lot to be desired, from inept and non-intuitive phone apps and so forth, to stupid AI which makes changes I don’t want, to many other ineptitudes of technology.
And some would think, to be a “man,” I need to hide my mistakes and lie. That is very unacceptable to me.
So, I am who I am. Trying to be an honest man who seeks quality in life, even though the fat pigs of big corporate supply-side companies deny us quality control and don’t know what it means to analyze quality control. So that so many common folk have no idea what quality control is and then finds some way to blame me and others when we seek it.
Perhaps I will have a chance to re-do that review of Cabaret and correct errors such as run-on sentences. At least I did NOT use foul language in it. And words of my analysis will be the same. I just need to tweak it a bit. And perhaps this time around, I will learn something and do something different. I might use Microsoft Word to write it and then copy and paste it into the app! Humility begets learning and learning begets knowledge which begets wisdom. Seek wisdom, not certainty and life resulting humility would be better for all in America.
My tastes are simple being satisfied with the best. (Attributed to Oscar Wilde).
Tioga Herald 
Supply-side Reaganomics Bites; It Should Bite the Dust (247 words)
Ny-Quil. Sickness determines OTC purchase and use. Illness ends and bottle saved for next time.
What about higher cost supplies? Supply-side Reaganomics kicks in.
Those of us in the Republican Party were ignored when we put up warning flags. Republican leaders were/are too enamored with top-down autocracy with love of money, refusing to utilize democratic building consensus methods to address needs of all the people. Oligarchy is limited to needs of money-loving supply-siders.
Supply-side Reaganomics was built by deregulation. Result was monopolization by the oligarchic billionaire fat cats. Capitalist competition was destroyed. Fat cats call this “capitalism” when it is NOT the balanced supply AND demand defined by 18thCentury writer, Adam Smith. Capitalism was defined to challenge fat cats of Smith’s days. “Divine rights” monarchs.
Oxygen and BYPAP purchases? Regulations are defined by supply-siders, not government. Equipment sales are controlled and only supplied after it is determined the patient has sleep apnea. If patient recovers from sleep apnea, it is no longer needed daily. However, patients are forced to use equipment daily. Like taking Ny-Quil daily, whether necessary or not.
There is difficulty for a patient to purchase the equipment at capitalist competitive market prices. Healthcare supply-siders coordinate this method with big insurance. Supply-siders blame the government, as Reagan did.
What billionaires have done is buy the government to do what supply-siders want. The government looks the other way but is blamed. The whole thing bites.
One can only hope that supply-side Reaganomics will bite the dust.
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Commentary, Healthcare, wellness, medicine
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