The soldiers that didnāt breach the National Assembly last night are the best of the best in special operations. If they truly wanted to control that building they would have. The videos clearly show a group of soldiers whose hearts were not into the coup attempt.
I suspect this would be replicated here in the US if anyone ever had the gall to try the same thing here:
Someone just assassinated the CEO of United Healthcare. Like, targeted hit assassinated.
I do not condone it in any way shape or form but, given the misery that the for-profit healthcare system in the U.S. heaps on people, Iām surprised it hasnāt happened before.
I work for UHC. Had an emergency meeting first thing when I logged in to my computer this morning.
Very sad.
This seems to be a targeted assassination. Iām curious about the motive.
The obvious assumption would be a disgruntled policyholder that was denied coverage for some procedure.
Perhaps, but this seems more personal.
Not only personal but coordinated and āprofessionalā. This doesnāt appear to be a disgruntled person who just went nuts, this was to send a message. What that message is I donāt know, it could be any number of things. CEOs and high level management are often targets for everything from the disgruntled wingnut to the highly organized terrorist organization to foreign governments.
If you like the state of the healthcare industry, youāll love the government services that will get privatized by the new administration. All of this has the stink of ā90s Russia about it.
I realize government isnāt super efficient, but the knee jerk reaction to address inefficiency by privatization needs pushback. All politicians need to discuss with their voters whether funneling public money to private companies really is a good idea.
The immediate example here in Texas is school vouchers. While a number of rural Republicans understand and oppose the idea (and got successfully targeted by Abbott) the general public still hasnāt thought it through well. They just conclude: government is bad, corporations are better.
Yet they will complain to no end that the corporation is out to make money. People are just really, really dense.
Every other first world country has figured out that you cannot deliver something like healthcare and have a profit motive be the dominant force in the process.
While Brits love to bitch and moan about the state of the NHS - and long waits for things like hip replacements - no one ever went bankrupt because they got sick. Same in France, Germany, Spain etc. etc. etc. And that British hip eventually will be replaced, as opposed to poor Americans who are forced to limp around until the other hip gives out and they become wheelchair bound.
Privatizing public services is never cheaper than having the government run them. The average health insurance company has an overhead of around 20%; MediCare has an overhead of 3%.
āA person is smart, people are dumbā
Humanity distilled in a line from Men in Black.
This is a core tenet of the Dilbert Principle. Everyone is an idiot. The only thing that keeps humanity in existence is that weāre all idiots about different things at different times. No matter how smart a person is, they spend the vast majority of their time being a complete idiot.
Oh, great.
https://www.chron.com/business/article/texas-mexico-canada-trump-tariffs-19952328.php
How will 25 percent tariff on goods from Mexico, Canada impact Texas?
āBecause of its proximity to and integration of supply chains with Mexico, Texas would see a disproportionate impact [from the tariffs], which we estimate to be about $46.9 billion in yearly gross state product (about 1.7 percent of the total) and approximately 370,000 jobs,ā The Perryman Group CEO Ray Perryman told Newsweek. Perryman, a financial analyst, said the U.S. economy would lose about $250.6 billion in annual gross domestic product (GDP) and 1.97 million jobs.
Amongst the things that will be impacted hardest: beer and trucks.
Trade between Texas and Canada totaled $71.3 billion in 2023, making the Great White North Texasā second-largest trade partner behind Mexico. Major imports include mineral fuel and oil, vehicles and vehicle parts, and nuclear reactors and related parts.
Great job, 'necks.
Iām not worried as long as the beer trucks can get thā¦ OH MY SWEET LORD WE HAVE TO STOP THIS!!
āPeople Aināt No Goodā
-Lux Interior of The Cramps
There is zero chance a national TV news anchor would aggressively stand up to armed goons in the wake of a Trump led de facto coup, declaration of martial law or whatever other malfeasance awaits this shithole country, and there is zero chance that the armed goons would not immediately shoot anyone who did stand up to them and would do so with great delight. People that think otherwise are deluding themselves.