Well, Trump's short fingers are reaching into my life. I'm editing one volume of a large, complicated nursing textbook, and all of us on the team just got an email from the project manager saying that because the Affordable Care Act is intimately wound into almost every aspect of the text, we will all have to be ready to implement changes to the text at any stage, including chapters we've finished; and that the publisher does not yet have any idea what will have to be done, because nobody knows what's going to end up happening.
I guess this is happening in most industries right now—Trump's loud threats and promises and constant self-reversals make it impossible to plan or even to know whether and how to carry out existing plans. I'm just crossing my fingers that the publisher won't, say, postpone the edition for a year, as this project makes up most of my work at present.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
Lalaith wrote:Prim, And who knows how that will affect hospitals?
My thought exactly. Of course Obamacare had already directly affected hospitals, and was a bit brutal with laboratory testing; something like a 25% decrease in funding to clinical labs. But the powers that be have tried mightily to adjust to that, and now it's all up in the air again.
It's amazing how even small changes at the top, where it's all fun and press conferences and legacy-building, make such profound changes for everyone else.
"What do you fear, lady?" Aragorn asked.
"A cage," Éowyn said. "To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
I was not working when Obamacare came into effect, so I don't know how it changed the lab. And we were preparing for another change this year (something with bundling???); I'm not sure how that will all shake out now.
So I think the question of "should we take what Trump is saying seriously" has been answered with a resounding Yes. I don't know why this was a question in the first place, but it has been answered.
In the meantime, the mayor of Berlin has something to say on the subject of building walls. (Translated with Google, here's the link to the original German)
The Press and Information Office of the State of Berlin shares with:
The Governing Mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller, explains:
"Berlin, the city of the division of Europe, the city of freedom of Europe, can not look without comment when a country plans to build a new wall. We Berliners know best how much suffering a division of an entire continent, cemented by barbed wire and wall, has caused. Millions of people have been seized by this division of life. In the end, we, the people, have overcome this division, and it is one of the 20th century's star-studded hours when, at the Brandenburger Tor, the most important symbol of the division, people conquered the Wall and then removed them piece by piece. The Brandenburg Gate stands for the spirit of freedom! "
The governing mayor continues: "Today, at the beginning of the 21st century, we can not simply accept it if all our historical experiences are thrown over by those to whom we largely owe our freedom, the Americans. I appeal to the President of the United States not to go this way of foreclosure and exclusion. Wherever such borders still exist today in Korea, in Cyprus, they create unfreedom and suffering. I call to the American President: Think of her predecessor Ronald Reagan. Remember his words: 'Tear down this wall.' And so I say: Dear Mr. President, don't build this wall! "
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
Yes, he's doing what he threatened to do. And somehow it doesn't feel, this week, like we have "checks and balances" in our government at all.
And we are only one week in!
That the Berlin mayor would have occasion to tell us not to be building new Walls! Yikes.
When I sign Cloud and Wallfish (which is about the Berlin Wall), I've been adding this phrase: "May you always find a way around all Walls...."
Didn't realize how timely that was going to be.
Sheesh.
Awful.
“Wilbur never forgot Charlotte. Although he loved her children and grandchildren dearly, none of the new spiders ever quite took her place in his heart. She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.” E. B. White, who must have had vison in mind. There's a reason why we kept putting the extra i in her name in our minds!
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
I'm wondering if my Serb husband is white enough. He's got a US passport but maybe I should get a big gold cross to hang around his neck when we go to Serbia this year.
A federal judge in NY has temporarily stayed the immigrant ban. I'm not optimistic that it will ultimately be prohibited, but even a temporary delay is a victory.
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"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump signed a trio of executive measures on Saturday, including one that shuffles the members of the National Security Council to include his top adviser and strategist Steve Bannon while removing the Director of National Intelligence and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Mr. Trump has picked Mike Flynn, a retired lieutenant general, to lead the NSC. Mr. Flynn feuded with the then-head of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence while leading the Defense Intelligence Agency before being removed from the post in 2014. He has also had disagreements with some of Mr. Trump’s cabinet picks and raised concerns within various agencies that he’d consolidate power and decision-making in the council. In addition, Mr. Flynn has raised eyebrows by staffing the NSC with a number of officials with military backgrounds.
I don't claim to understand what this-all means, but off the top of my head, I imagine a Director of National Intelligence is a pretty important person to have on the National Security Council, no? Also, Bannon?
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
„Berlin, die Stadt der Teilung Europas, die Stadt der Freiheit Europas, kann nicht kommentarlos zusehen, wenn ein Land plant, eine neue Mauer zu errichten. Wir Berlinerinnen und Berliner wissen am besten, wieviel Leid eine durch Stacheldraht und Mauer zementierte Teilung eines ganzen Kontinents verursacht hat. Millionen Menschen sind durch diese Teilung die Lebenschancen genommen worden. Am Ende haben wir – das Volk – diese Teilung überwunden, und es gehört zu den Sternstunden des 20. Jahrhunderts, als am Brandenburger Tor, dem wichtigsten Symbol der Teilung, die Menschen die Mauer eroberten und sie dann Stück für Stück abgetragen haben. Das Brandenburger Tor steht für den Geist der Freiheit!“
Der Regierende Bürgermeister weiter: „Heute, am Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts, dürfen wir es nicht einfach hinnehmen, wenn alle unsere historischen Erfahrungen von denjenigen über den Haufen geworfen werden, denen wir unsere Freiheit zum großen Teil verdanken, den Amerikanern. Ich appelliere an den Präsidenten der Vereinigten Staaten, diesen Irrweg von Abschottung und Ausgrenzung nicht zu gehen. Überall dort, wo heute noch solche Grenzen existieren, in Korea, auf Zypern, schaffen sie Unfreiheit und Leid. Ich rufe dem amerikanischen Präsidenten zu: Denken Sie an ihren Vorgänger Ronald Reagan. Erinnern Sie sich an seine Worte: ‚Tear down this wall.‘ Und deshalb sage ich: Dear Mr. President, don´t build this wall!“
Berlin, the city of the Europe’s division, the city of Europe’s liberty cannot watch without comment if a country is planning to build a new wall. We, men and women from Berlin know best how much suffering the division of an entire continent, cemented in barb wire and a wall, has caused. The chances of life of millions of people have been taken away by this division. In the end, we – the people- have overcome this division and the moment when people conquered the wall and brought it down piece by piece at the Gate of Brandenburg, the most important symbol of the division counts among the finest hours of the 20th century. The Brandenburg Gate stand for the spirit of freedom today.
Today at the start of the 21st century we cannot simply accept that all our historic experiences are cast aside by those to whom we owe in huge part our liberty, the Americans. I appeal to the president of the United States not to walk the false route of isolation and segregation. in every place where today such borders exist, be it Korea or Cyprus, they create non-liberty and suffering. I call out to the American president: Think of your predecessor Ronald Reagan. Think of his words: “Tear down this wall. And this for this reason I say: Dear Mr. President, don’t build this wall!
I have more to say (and more worries), but so little time. Very sorry.
Last edited by Nin on Sun Jan 29, 2017 6:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
(And his accent is pretty crazy!)
