Science, Bitches

Up until about 1840, half of all humans died by the time they turned 30. Over the next 60 years, we managed to add about 5 years to that, thanks to people like Pasteur and Lister.

So, in 40,000 years of human "civilization", average lifespans increased by about 17%.

In the last 125 years, that average has doubled. And it's mostly because infant mortality has fallen off a cliff (it's the vaccines, stupid), and better diagnostics, and miracle drugs, and a higher overall health consciousness, and and and.

But while we don't enjoy the longevity of many countries around the world, we're only a few years behind.

We're still behind though, and that doesn't make sense.

We used to be told it was because we're such high-achievers we put a lot of extra stress on ourselves, and that gives us ulcers and hypertensive problems, etc. But other places haven't exactly slouched in the go-getter department. So maybe it's because (eg) the French have a glass of red wine with dinner, even though French cuisine is generally loaded with butter and sugar and heavy cream and fat. And the Japanese were outliving us because they ate lots of fish and plain rice and seaweed. And everybody walked more than we did.

Nope. It's healthcare.

Pretty simply, when people have somebody looking after them - regular checkups, and proper meds, and preventive visits to the dentist, and all the stuff they're not stupid enough to put into the hands of the bean-counters and gatekeepers, THEY LIVE LONGER.

Gee - whooda thunk it, huh?

So, of course, let's turn it all over to Bobby Brainworm. What's the worst that could happen?

Truth

From A Dutch Friend

Overheard

A white conservative man

was murdered

by a white conservative man

at a white conservative college

in a white conservative city

in a white conservative state.

So let's blame liberals and HBCUs.

It doesn't make sense

because it's not suppose to make sense.

Saturday Night

Savoy Brown - Can't Get Next To You

Dueling Headlines

One puts the emphasis on the human aspects of the issue, while the other concerns itself with practically nothing but the dollars.

Permanent health tax credit extension would insure 3.8 million: CBO

Democrats want an extension of premium subsidies added to stopgap funding bill

Permanent extension of federal health care subsidies estimated to cost $350 billion

Both pieces get to the point about continuing insurance coverage for 3,800,000 Americans, 

but the Montanan version comes straight from Forbes, and I think we all know the point of the exercise for the wingnuts is to threaten people with the standard bullshit about "tax-n-spend" Democrats.

So fuckin' sick of this shit.

BOTH SIDES DON'T

But Not For Lack Of Trying

DOJ Can’t Tie Suspected Kirk Killer to Left Like MAGA Wants

Investigators have yet to turn up evidence that suspect Tyler Robinson was connected to any left-wing organizations.

There is nothing to suggest that the suspected killer of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was connected to any “left-wing groups,” according to investigators looking into the killing.

Three Justice Department officials working on the case spoke with NBC News, and one said, “Thus far, there is no evidence connecting the suspect with any left-wing groups.” They added there is “every indication... that this was one guy who did one really bad thing because he found Kirk’s ideology personally offensive.”

The officials also voiced that it would be difficult to bring federal charges against Robinson, as Robinson allegedly committed the crime in Utah and is a resident of the Beehive State. Furthermore, Kirk was an influencer activist, and not an elected official.

The Justice Department spokesperson officially declined to comment on the case as an ongoing investigation.

Robinson’s alleged motives remain unknown, though the indictment against him says his Republican mother described him as “moving to the left.” Text messages in the indictment between Robinson and his transitioning partner find Robinson saying he had had enough of Kirk’s “hatred.”

Kirk’s murder is being used by the Trump administration to threaten crackdowns on left-wing groups. White House Deputy Chief of Staff vowed vengeance on the Left on the first episode of The Charlie Kirk Show since the assassination, saying left-wing organizations amounted to a “vast domestic terror movement.”

“With God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks and make America safe again for the American people,” Stephen Miller told Vice President JD Vance, who was guest-hosting Kirk’s show. “It will happen, and we will do it in Charlie’s name.”

Trump also voiced his desire to label “antifa” a “domestic terror organization.”

It is unknown how the Trump administration intends to crack down on left-wing groups. “Antifa” is not a formal organization but rather an ideology that is associated with some small activist groups. “Antifa” does not have a leadership structure or base of operations.

Right-wing groups have been responsible for over ten times more terror attacks than left-wing groups since 2002, according to a study conducted by the ADL. The Justice Department recently found similar numbers in its own study. It recently scrubbed that study from its website.

How It Happens

Propaganda 200

A new one: Jeremy Andrew Davis

Get up And Go

Resistance in a "this is democracy" kinda way is usually not a big and flashy thing. The same as one guy voting out of 150 million people voting isn't big and flashy in itself.

Huge anti-authoritarian demonstrations that fill the streets in Belgrade or Tblisi look amazing, but this not Serbia or Georgia.

The US has a third of a billion people occupying the third largest geography in the world. Not even Moses could get all that many of us together for a protest at a given place, at a given time.

But big and flashy things can come - are starting to come - from millions of barely-visible circles of friends who're doing what they can do, with what they've got, where they are.