Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Trump has a long way to go to prove he cares about race and religious minorities.

August 15, 2017
By Rosie Gray

President Trump (click here) defended the white nationalists who protested in Charlottesville on Tuesday, saying they included “some very fine people,” while expressing sympathy for their demonstration against the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. It was a strikingly different message from the prepared statement he had delivered on Monday, and a reversion to his initial response over the weekend....           

There seems to be no end to the Chinese expansion into the Pacific Ocean.









China is moving into the West Philippine Sea. Both Vietnam and the Philippines are going to extraordinary measures to declare the area occupied and off-limits to China. China doesn't seem to care where poorer countries draw their boundaries. It nearly appears as though China wants to expand into Vietnam and the Philippines. It is a problem. The Philippines should never have sent the USA away.

I can't help but wonder if what is going on in Hong Kong is the same expansionism witnessed in the Pacific. China has five year plans. I haven't read the latest one. The fear witnessed in Hong Kong by the people is something more than just simple protests about democracy and freedom; there must be an underlying premise.

China must have an agenda not widely discussed. The complete picture is worrisome.

August 20, 2019

Media reports say Simon Cheng, (click here) who is thought to be from Hong Kong, is believed to have gone missing on 8 August while on a business trip.

The Foreign Office said it was "seeking further information from authorities in Guangdong Province and Hong Kong".

The British embassy in Beijing is providing support to his family.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are concerned by reports that a member of our team has been detained while returning to Hong Kong from Shenzhen."

Shenzhen, in south-east China, links Hong Kong to the Chinese mainland....

That is precious. The Working Poor are spending 5% of their low income to health care premiums.

I am not convinced Americans like their employee health care plans, they simply don't know anything different.

In 2017 the Huffington Post (click here) produced research in graphs regarding health care spending where the USA is compared to other major western countries.

Considering the focus of the leading Democratic candidates and their insight regarding subsidized care and/or free care the chart below was interesting to me. The subsidized care of the USA reach the levels of countries that provide free care to all their citizens. Considering all the out of pocket expenses of Americans between 5 to 10 percent or more, a sincere study to the actual cost of "Medicare for All" where there are no out of pocket costs needs to be conducted. Ten percent of a USA's household income is an astounding number. Americans have a decision to make for the future of American health care.



August 18, 2019
By Adrian Belmonte


As Americans continue grappling with rising health care costs, (click here) research indicates that a sizable group of people with employer health care are still spending a ton on their medical bills.
According to the Commonwealth Fund (TCF), “employer plan premium contributions and out-of-pocket costs, like those for prescription drugs, are eating up an increasing portion of household budgets.”
An estimated 23.6 million Americans with employer coverage had high premium contributions, high out-of-pocket costs, or both, according to the report....
...High premium contributions were defined as such by TCF “if the total annual amount they pay for their employer plan premiums equals 10% of more of annual household income.” Americans were considered to be paying high out-of-pocket costs if “the total annual amount they pay out of pocket for medical expenditures not covered by their employer plan … is 10% or more of annual household income, or 5% or more for families earning less than 200% of the federal poverty level.”...

19,000 Data Points

The public colleges and universities are the majority of quality educators in the top ten of MONEY's Best Colleges 2019. The University of California carries four of those ten slots. Three private universities are in the top ten; Princeton, Stanford and MIT. These top ten universities graduate students that achieve greater than $60,000 per year in their early career. The University of California - Irvine's has the highest graduation rate of 85% with graduates averaging an annual salary of $57,700 in their early career with an average student investment of $14,900 per year of education.

August 16, 2019

...MONEY’s 2019 Best Colleges rankings. (click here) Pursuing a college degree is one of the most expensive decisions you can make—and with ever-rising prices, families from every background worry they’ll get it wrong. That’s where MONEY’s rankings can help. For our annual analysis, we considered more than 19,000 data points including graduation rates, tuition fees, family borrowing, and alumni salaries to identify the colleges that best combine quality and affordability.

The result is a mix of 744 colleges that highlights campuses like No. 13 California State University-Long Beach, where incoming students report average SAT scores of about 1100 out of 1600, alongside more selective schools like No. 14 Harvard University, where nearly a quarter of students submitted perfect SAT scores. Recent graduates of both colleges report higher-than-expected salaries, according to MONEY’s calculations. (See a breakdown of the all data we use here.)...
August 15, 2019

This satellite image, made available by Maxar Technologies, shows military and security vehicles parked in the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center in Shenzhen, China on August 12, 2019 (issued August 14, 2019). According to media reports, military and security vehicles from the People's Armed Police have gathered in Shenzhen, a city just outside of Hong Kong.

China's military buildup (click here) in response to over 10 weeks of escalating protests in Hong Kong can now been seen from space. 

This WorldView-1 satellite image, taken Monday (Aug. 12) and released yesterday by Maxar Technologies, shows dozens of reported Chinese paramilitary vehicles inside the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center, which is located just outside of Hong Kong.