Stroke Victim Refused Treatment By Hospital

       A middle aged mother of teenage girls recently had a stroke. She was taken immediately to a hospital, but was turned away and denied treatment by the hospital because the family was unable to prove at that very moment that they had the funds to pay for her hospital care. Valuable time was lost, and now the woman is permanently disabled. She may not have been had she been treated right away.

       It is well known that treating a stroke or heart attack victim soon after the occurrence is crucial to lessen the risks of permanent disability or death. How is it possible that a hospital turns away someone that just had a stroke, and sends that person out of the hospital and onto the streets? 

       A better question that should be asked is how can this be so common and widespread in so many countries of the world, and yet is almost completely ignored, let alone even heard of? Poor people are being further left behind in a world where power and wealth are increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few. 

       In the Philippines, President Duterte signed into law Republic Act 10392, an amendment of the country's anti-hospital deposit law, which calls for higher penalties to hospitals and clinics that refuse to treat emergency room patients that cannot afford a deposit, advance payment or proof of their financial ability to pay the hospital bill.

       Will a law protect the poor in the Philippines? What about all the other countries where no such law exists but the practice of turning away poor people by hospitals and clinics is common? Even where there are laws prohibiting such a practice, it is meaningless if the laws exist only on paper and are not enforced.

        For this unfortunate middle aged mother of teenage girls, the damage has already been done.

       

The Cold War That Never Ended; Putin And The Nuclear Arms Race

        A generation of Americans, Russians and others grew up under the nuclear threat. Sirens went off weekly. Children practiced drills in school where they went beneath their desks in case of a nuclear weapons attack (which of course would be useless in the event of an actual attack). The Soviet Union and the United States were mortal enemies at each other's throats, but unable to budge one another because each held nuclear weapons that could completely obliterate the other side.
         It was hoped that with the end of the cold war, things would change for the better. In the cold war, the Soviets were protecting a flawed economic/political system, but that did not make them suicidal.
         In the years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was economic hardship throughout Russia and the many countries that were under, or supported by the Soviet Union. This set the stage for what came next. Strong man rule emerged in Russia and elsewhere that benefits a few that have become extremely rich and powerful. They justify their rule by how they led Russia away from the economic collapse, but had Russia followed a different path, the country would be far more prosperous than it is now.
          Cronyism and oligarchy have not made the world safer. Unrestrained greed and corruption are never a good thing. Especially in a world increasingly impoverished and environmentally degraded.
          Russia and the United States are proceeding on a new nuclear arms race. Putin announced recently Russian advances in nuclear weapons that are even more destructive than what already exists, and what already exists can destroy all of human life on earth and most other life many times over. It is as though the cold war never ended, as another wasteful, stupid, insane new nuclear arms race begins.
           Putin has the power to stop it. But does he have the moral courage and strength of character to do so?
          
        
             

68 Killed In Venezuelan Prison Fire. Abby Martin And The Left

     A fire in a prison in Venezuela killed at least 68 people. Many so called leftists and progressives in the west are quick to condemn any injustice by the west, whether real or perceived. They are either silent or condone injustice, brutality, torture, corruption and incompetence if a regime is considered leftist, Anti American or anti west Islamic jihadist in nature.
     Several American so called leftists traveled to Venezuela. They excused the corrupt Venezuelan regime in power (corruption is fine with them as long as the fat cat thieves and murderers are on the left side). One remarked that the escalating violence in Venezuela was due to the actions of the opposition and the political support they receive from the United States.
         Much of the Venezuelan opposition are neither leftists or rightists. Many, in fact, are apolitical people that want nothing more than to live in a free society. They want to live where their leaders are not thieves that steal the national wealth. They are people that do not want to fear violence simply because they speak their minds. They are people that do not want to see the once prosperous Venezuela continue to collapse. They do not want to see the people of Venezuela continue to lack food, medical care and the basic necessities of life. (Read about Venezuelan people killing zoo animals out of desperation, malnutrition, children's stunted growth, etc.).
         Abby Martin, Corbyn (Great Britain) and others have a platform. They have the voices that the powerless people of Venezuela do not have. They have the ears of the corrupt so called leftist leaders in power in Venezuela.
         Do they not see how their support for the regime in power - the ones with the guns, weapons and real power, the ones that have done almost all of the killings while they loot the country- helps escalate the violence?
         68 dead from a prison fire in Venezuela due to miserable conditions in prisons, in jails, from illegal detentions, and more.
          Will Abby Martin and the other supporters of the Venezuelan regime finally stand up for the real downtrodden and oppressed of Venezuela? They can start by demanding accountability for the deaths of 68 prisoners.
     

Overfished, Over Exploited Oceans And The Silent Response

          Tracking the global footprint of industrial/commercial fishing reveals oceans overly exploited and overfished. Also, a number of vessels required to have tracking devices have been known to shut off their tracking devices when illegally fishing, including when fishing in protected marine areas.
          Tracking devices are not required for many smaller fishing vessels. It is impossible to know the full extent of overfishing. The known data for larger ships already reveals heavily overfished and stressed oceans. The problem is much worse when considering the fishing done by millions of unmonitored, unregulated boats and ships.
          It is problematic not knowing the full extent of overfishing. But the greater issue is the lack of enforcement in regulating and controlling overfishing. What happens in international waters is poorly regulated. In many ecologically important marine zones and coastal areas, the nations in control do not have the resources and means to protect and patrol these areas. Overfishing and damaging fishing practices are widespread. At times, payoffs to corrupt officials ensures harmful, illegal fishing continues.
         The extent to which marine resources are over exploited escapes the public eye. The damage to the oceans continues out of sight, out of mind, with little to no interventions to address this harm.
          Fish and other marine populations exploited beyond the point of no return means starvation and hunger for many. The full, irreversible effect of destroying the world's oceans will not be known until it is too late. It will be far worse than can be imagined.

Ocean Poisoning By Plastic

      The garbage patches of the oceans are larger than previously believed. This is unsurprising news. Garbage pours into the oceans by thousands of tons daily. There are many coastal cities and communities in developing and in undeveloped countries that dispose of their garbage by having it go directly into the oceans. Huge amounts of garbage are dumped into rivers and bodies of water that feed into the oceans.
      Billions of people rely on plastics, styrofoam and other non biodegradable materials, without having a way of properly disposing of these materials.
      Hugely profitable food, beverage, fast food and other companies have done nothing to change the materials they use, knowing full well their materials are destroying the oceans.
       Proper waste management is virtually nonexistent in much of the world, so the oceans become the recipient of the waste. The failure to adequately remove non biodegradable materials is a worldwide problem not confined to individual countries. Waste travels and poisons beyond borders.
       Synthetic clothing and other textiles release billions of particles and fibers of plastic and other oil based contaminants, largely through the washing process. These contaminants cannot be filtered out. Ocean poisoning by clothing and other textiles is completely unaddressed.
       There is no concerted, consistent (not an occasional) cleanup to keep rivers and coastal communities clean, especially in the underdeveloped world.
        There is no response by governments to address plastic and other oil based contaminants in coastal or international waters.
        Many people believe technology is the answer, and that technology can cleanup the mess that humans have created. Technology is of no benefit if it is the excuse to continue being lazy and destructive.
         Even if an ocean cleanup of garbage patches can work, what it will remove from the oceans daily will in no way equal the thousands of tons of plastics and other non biodegradable waste that enters the oceans daily. Furthermore, most of the plastic and other non biodegradable waste breaks down into smaller pieces that disperses and never makes it to the garbage patches.
         The ocean cleanup project is one small effort to make a dent in a huge problem, but is far from the answer in and of itself.
          Single use styrofoam, plastic straws and other products must be limited or better yet, banned.
          Proper waste management needs to be treated as a global problem and concern.
          Corporations must be held responsible for the waste that they produce. For example, many food, fast food and beverage corporations are hugely profitable. They are not held accountable for the expensive damage they incur from their contribution to ocean contamination.
          Synthetic clothing and other materials add to the poisoning of the world's waters. A global effort is needed to create synthetic materials that do biodegrade and to rethink how we cloth, dress, and use materials.
          Microplastics used in cosmetics, cleaning and other products must be banned.
           A massive, worldwide initiative should be undertaken to cleanup coastal areas, waterways and many other areas. This project can employ millions of people. There is enough money in the nonprofit world and private sector that can fund this necessary effort. Money is not lacking, only the will might be.
          Ocean poisoning by plastic and other non biodegradable materials is an under addressed catastrophe requiring interventions and actions far beyond what is listed here. Plastic poisoning of the oceans continues to be a disaster in the making.
         
     
     
       

Flight From Earth and Stephen Hawking's Final Warnings

     Stephen Hawking's issued final warnings to mankind before his death. He said humans must leave earth in the next 200 years if they want to survive. Others, including Elon Musk, are seeking to colonize other planets.
      First, there is no place to go. Even if there was a place to go, a species that ruins a planet as biologically rich and diverse as earth does not deserve a place to go.
      There is no future for mankind if people cannot stop poisoning and destroying this planet. There is no future if the nuclear demon is not kept in check.
      Artificial intelligence, unlike nuclear weapons and environmental degradation, is not a real and immediate threat.
       Rather than seek flight from earth, it is better to fight for this planet, its biological diversity and health.

Putin and Trump's Moment to Be Magnanimous

      Regardless if one likes or dislikes Trump or Putin, it will be a major accomplishment if these two men stop a new arms race from occurring.
      Nuclear war and continuing to destroy, degrade and poison the environment does not lead to a bright future.
       Let us hope that Putin and Trump, no matter how flawed they may be, will have the sense to not continue down the nuclear weapons path. If they can deescalate conflicts and reverse environmental degradation, that would be an added godsend. At the least, let us hope they lead Russia and the United States away from a new nuclear arms race.