#and then he asks bunny who he voted for and bunny would either vote trump or like kanye west as a joke and henry would think that’s why

[sscrambledmeggss]

rip henry winter you would have loved the insurrection

[cleopatrarps]

Voters in opioid-plagued districts demand solutions from candidates

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (Reuters) – Voters in this struggling Rust Belt region in upstate New York, backed Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, hoping he could help turn back a relentless tide of factory and business closures.

But the starkest symptom of decline there – an opioid epidemic that has claimed the lives of hundreds in and around the city of Binghamton – rages on, and voters are demanding that candidates for public office address the loss of life.

This year’s hard-fought contest for New York’s 22nd Congressional District, which includes Binghamton, has drawn national attention as a possible race in which Democrats could flip a Republican seat in their battle to retake the House of Representatives. The two leading candidates, Democrat Anthony Brindisi and Republican incumbent Claudia Tenney, have both focused on the opioid crisis during the campaign, revealing sharp differences in how the two political parties view the issue.

Those differences are reflected in swing races across the country in places hit hard by opioid abuse, including in Florida, Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. While candidates in both parties support a range of solutions, Democrats generally tend to emphasize health care and treatment, while Republicans advocate stricter enforcement and reducing the availability of illicit drugs.

In the New York race, Democrat Brindisi says he would promote better access to treatment for addicts. He has accused his Republican opponent, Tenney, of making things worse by voting to weaken the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, which provides government funding for the health coverage many addicts rely on.

“This should be a nonpartisan issue, but I have to question the reasoning behind voting for health care bills that will make it easier for insurance carriers to discriminate against drug treatment programs,” he told Reuters.

Tenney has co-sponsored bills – which she points out are bipartisan – that would strengthen punishments for sellers of Fentanyl and study whether the government-funded Medicare program encourages over-prescribing of opioids.

“We’ve expanded Medicaid under the ACA for years and yet the problem is getting more acute,” she said. “There are a lot of ways that we are tackling this that are real solutions instead of throwing a lot of money at it.”

POLITICS OF ADDICTION

Voters, too, often look at the issue through a partisan lens.

John Adams, a 50-year-old speech and language therapist in Binghamton, says opioids are “absolutely” a top issue for him, which has him leaning toward Tenney. He says he does not buy Brindisi’s argument for more spending.

“Do you give the money to cancer patients or to addicts?” he asked rhetorically. “It’s like, when do you tell your kids the Easter Bunny isn’t real?”

Alexis Pleus thinks neither party has done enough to solve the crisis, but says Democrats are right to push for more funding and for health insurance reform.

The U.S. flag waves outside the Broome County Courthouse in Binghamton, New York, U.S., April 5, 2018. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

For her, the issue is personal. Her son, a restaurant chef, cycled in and out of jail and rehab before dying of an overdose in 2014. The last time he tried to get clean, Pleus said, he called her in tears to say his health insurance wouldn’t pay for a full course of treatment, and he would be turned out after 14 days.

“The system without a doubt failed him. He wasn’t refusing help, he was begging for help,” Pleus said.

Democratic strategists believe the opioid issue can help them win votes. They point out that Republican candidate Rick Saccone, who lost a special election for a Pennsylvania House seat in March, drew flack during the campaign for dismissing the role of the federal government in solving the crisis. The victor in that race, Democrat Conor Lamb, made opioid abuse a central theme of his campaign, calling for investment in prevention and expanded access to treatment.

Some Republican campaign strategists say they see the issue as not strongly benefiting either party.

“It’s very unlikely that either side will really accrue any significant advantage over the other,” from the opioid crisis, said Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster working on several mid-term races. “For Democrats, the problem is that this issue exploded on their watch, with Obama as president. That would serve to undercut any advantage they might try to leverage on the issue.”

   TELL-TALE SIGNS

The opioid crisis in Binghamton has been propelled by continuing economic decline. The area used to have an array of large employers, including IBM and General Electric, but both companies, along with others, have relocated many of the jobs that used to be in the area.

On the streets of Binghamton, only steps from a sign marking the location where the flight simulator was invented, signs of the epidemic abound. Discarded syringes litter the ground and users nod off after injecting heroin.  

Emergency medical personnel in the area say they answer as many as a dozen opiate-related calls a day. In the county where Binghamton is located 66 people died from overdoses in 2017, according to the district attorney.

One resident, 71-year-old retiree Marie Hein, said the opioid issue may swing her vote this fall. She voted for Tenney and Trump in 2016 and believes the president is doing a good job overall, but she says the government needs to do more to combat the opioid epidemic. Now, she is considering voting for Brindisi, in part because he supports more funding to combat the epidemic.

Slideshow (34 Images)

She said she sees how addiction has affected many of her neighbors, including former members of the military. “Especially for the veterans when they come home, those are the ones who need to be supported,” she said.

Reporting by Ginger Gibson; Editing by Kieran Murray and Sue Horton

The post Voters in opioid-plagued districts demand solutions from candidates appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2LmZKHm via News of World

[newestbalance]

Voters in opioid-plagued districts demand solutions from candidates

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (Reuters) – Voters in this struggling Rust Belt region in upstate New York, backed Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, hoping he could help turn back a relentless tide of factory and business closures.

But the starkest symptom of decline there – an opioid epidemic that has claimed the lives of hundreds in and around the city of Binghamton – rages on, and voters are demanding that candidates for public office address the loss of life.

This year’s hard-fought contest for New York’s 22nd Congressional District, which includes Binghamton, has drawn national attention as a possible race in which Democrats could flip a Republican seat in their battle to retake the House of Representatives. The two leading candidates, Democrat Anthony Brindisi and Republican incumbent Claudia Tenney, have both focused on the opioid crisis during the campaign, revealing sharp differences in how the two political parties view the issue.

Those differences are reflected in swing races across the country in places hit hard by opioid abuse, including in Florida, Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. While candidates in both parties support a range of solutions, Democrats generally tend to emphasize health care and treatment, while Republicans advocate stricter enforcement and reducing the availability of illicit drugs.

In the New York race, Democrat Brindisi says he would promote better access to treatment for addicts. He has accused his Republican opponent, Tenney, of making things worse by voting to weaken the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, which provides government funding for the health coverage many addicts rely on.

“This should be a nonpartisan issue, but I have to question the reasoning behind voting for health care bills that will make it easier for insurance carriers to discriminate against drug treatment programs,” he told Reuters.

Tenney has co-sponsored bills – which she points out are bipartisan – that would strengthen punishments for sellers of Fentanyl and study whether the government-funded Medicare program encourages over-prescribing of opioids.

“We’ve expanded Medicaid under the ACA for years and yet the problem is getting more acute,” she said. “There are a lot of ways that we are tackling this that are real solutions instead of throwing a lot of money at it.”

POLITICS OF ADDICTION

Voters, too, often look at the issue through a partisan lens.

John Adams, a 50-year-old speech and language therapist in Binghamton, says opioids are “absolutely” a top issue for him, which has him leaning toward Tenney. He says he does not buy Brindisi’s argument for more spending.

“Do you give the money to cancer patients or to addicts?” he asked rhetorically. “It’s like, when do you tell your kids the Easter Bunny isn’t real?”

Alexis Pleus thinks neither party has done enough to solve the crisis, but says Democrats are right to push for more funding and for health insurance reform.

The U.S. flag waves outside the Broome County Courthouse in Binghamton, New York, U.S., April 5, 2018. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

For her, the issue is personal. Her son, a restaurant chef, cycled in and out of jail and rehab before dying of an overdose in 2014. The last time he tried to get clean, Pleus said, he called her in tears to say his health insurance wouldn’t pay for a full course of treatment, and he would be turned out after 14 days.

“The system without a doubt failed him. He wasn’t refusing help, he was begging for help,” Pleus said.

Democratic strategists believe the opioid issue can help them win votes. They point out that Republican candidate Rick Saccone, who lost a special election for a Pennsylvania House seat in March, drew flack during the campaign for dismissing the role of the federal government in solving the crisis. The victor in that race, Democrat Conor Lamb, made opioid abuse a central theme of his campaign, calling for investment in prevention and expanded access to treatment.

Some Republican campaign strategists say they see the issue as not strongly benefiting either party.

“It’s very unlikely that either side will really accrue any significant advantage over the other,” from the opioid crisis, said Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster working on several mid-term races. “For Democrats, the problem is that this issue exploded on their watch, with Obama as president. That would serve to undercut any advantage they might try to leverage on the issue.”

   TELL-TALE SIGNS

The opioid crisis in Binghamton has been propelled by continuing economic decline. The area used to have an array of large employers, including IBM and General Electric, but both companies, along with others, have relocated many of the jobs that used to be in the area.

On the streets of Binghamton, only steps from a sign marking the location where the flight simulator was invented, signs of the epidemic abound. Discarded syringes litter the ground and users nod off after injecting heroin.  

Emergency medical personnel in the area say they answer as many as a dozen opiate-related calls a day. In the county where Binghamton is located 66 people died from overdoses in 2017, according to the district attorney.

One resident, 71-year-old retiree Marie Hein, said the opioid issue may swing her vote this fall. She voted for Tenney and Trump in 2016 and believes the president is doing a good job overall, but she says the government needs to do more to combat the opioid epidemic. Now, she is considering voting for Brindisi, in part because he supports more funding to combat the epidemic.

Slideshow (34 Images)

She said she sees how addiction has affected many of her neighbors, including former members of the military. “Especially for the veterans when they come home, those are the ones who need to be supported,” she said.

Reporting by Ginger Gibson; Editing by Kieran Murray and Sue Horton

The post Voters in opioid-plagued districts demand solutions from candidates appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2LmZKHm via Everyday News

[dragnews]

Voters in opioid-plagued districts demand solutions from candidates

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (Reuters) – Voters in this struggling Rust Belt region in upstate New York, backed Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, hoping he could help turn back a relentless tide of factory and business closures.

But the starkest symptom of decline there – an opioid epidemic that has claimed the lives of hundreds in and around the city of Binghamton – rages on, and voters are demanding that candidates for public office address the loss of life.

This year’s hard-fought contest for New York’s 22nd Congressional District, which includes Binghamton, has drawn national attention as a possible race in which Democrats could flip a Republican seat in their battle to retake the House of Representatives. The two leading candidates, Democrat Anthony Brindisi and Republican incumbent Claudia Tenney, have both focused on the opioid crisis during the campaign, revealing sharp differences in how the two political parties view the issue.

Those differences are reflected in swing races across the country in places hit hard by opioid abuse, including in Florida, Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. While candidates in both parties support a range of solutions, Democrats generally tend to emphasize health care and treatment, while Republicans advocate stricter enforcement and reducing the availability of illicit drugs.

In the New York race, Democrat Brindisi says he would promote better access to treatment for addicts. He has accused his Republican opponent, Tenney, of making things worse by voting to weaken the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, which provides government funding for the health coverage many addicts rely on.

“This should be a nonpartisan issue, but I have to question the reasoning behind voting for health care bills that will make it easier for insurance carriers to discriminate against drug treatment programs,” he told Reuters.

Tenney has co-sponsored bills – which she points out are bipartisan – that would strengthen punishments for sellers of Fentanyl and study whether the government-funded Medicare program encourages over-prescribing of opioids.

“We’ve expanded Medicaid under the ACA for years and yet the problem is getting more acute,” she said. “There are a lot of ways that we are tackling this that are real solutions instead of throwing a lot of money at it.”

POLITICS OF ADDICTION

Voters, too, often look at the issue through a partisan lens.

John Adams, a 50-year-old speech and language therapist in Binghamton, says opioids are “absolutely” a top issue for him, which has him leaning toward Tenney. He says he does not buy Brindisi’s argument for more spending.

“Do you give the money to cancer patients or to addicts?” he asked rhetorically. “It’s like, when do you tell your kids the Easter Bunny isn’t real?”

Alexis Pleus thinks neither party has done enough to solve the crisis, but says Democrats are right to push for more funding and for health insurance reform.

The U.S. flag waves outside the Broome County Courthouse in Binghamton, New York, U.S., April 5, 2018. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

For her, the issue is personal. Her son, a restaurant chef, cycled in and out of jail and rehab before dying of an overdose in 2014. The last time he tried to get clean, Pleus said, he called her in tears to say his health insurance wouldn’t pay for a full course of treatment, and he would be turned out after 14 days.

“The system without a doubt failed him. He wasn’t refusing help, he was begging for help,” Pleus said.

Democratic strategists believe the opioid issue can help them win votes. They point out that Republican candidate Rick Saccone, who lost a special election for a Pennsylvania House seat in March, drew flack during the campaign for dismissing the role of the federal government in solving the crisis. The victor in that race, Democrat Conor Lamb, made opioid abuse a central theme of his campaign, calling for investment in prevention and expanded access to treatment.

Some Republican campaign strategists say they see the issue as not strongly benefiting either party.

“It’s very unlikely that either side will really accrue any significant advantage over the other,” from the opioid crisis, said Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster working on several mid-term races. “For Democrats, the problem is that this issue exploded on their watch, with Obama as president. That would serve to undercut any advantage they might try to leverage on the issue.”

   TELL-TALE SIGNS

The opioid crisis in Binghamton has been propelled by continuing economic decline. The area used to have an array of large employers, including IBM and General Electric, but both companies, along with others, have relocated many of the jobs that used to be in the area.

On the streets of Binghamton, only steps from a sign marking the location where the flight simulator was invented, signs of the epidemic abound. Discarded syringes litter the ground and users nod off after injecting heroin.  

Emergency medical personnel in the area say they answer as many as a dozen opiate-related calls a day. In the county where Binghamton is located 66 people died from overdoses in 2017, according to the district attorney.

One resident, 71-year-old retiree Marie Hein, said the opioid issue may swing her vote this fall. She voted for Tenney and Trump in 2016 and believes the president is doing a good job overall, but she says the government needs to do more to combat the opioid epidemic. Now, she is considering voting for Brindisi, in part because he supports more funding to combat the epidemic.

Slideshow (34 Images)

She said she sees how addiction has affected many of her neighbors, including former members of the military. “Especially for the veterans when they come home, those are the ones who need to be supported,” she said.

Reporting by Ginger Gibson; Editing by Kieran Murray and Sue Horton

The post Voters in opioid-plagued districts demand solutions from candidates appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2LmZKHm via Today News

[graesays]

Why I: Cant Stand The Canary

So then, once more I’ve done a bit of new years inspired spring cleaning around here and committed to doing some more writing on this blog. I do apologise for the lack of content, but even putting aside everything that affected us all, 2016 was an atrocious year for me due to personal circumstances, and even though the new year has started with a massive punch in the gut, I still remain hopeful that it will manage to be an improvement and I’ll be in a happier frame of mind and capable of writing more stuff (the redesign of this site was based with ease of use at my end being the top priority). So seeing as I aim to be quite the happy bunny this year, lets kick off 2017 with an almighty rant!

I could very easily just write “The Canary is the drizzling shits, here’s 7 reasons why” and call that job done, but seeing as I actually try to put effort into what I publish, I thought it would be better to give you some substance.

For those of you unaware, The Canary (or as the membership of my local Labour Party branch so lovingly call it, and as shall I from now on in this article, “The C Word”) is one of those news sites that has sprung up  and decided to take the major news of the day and distill everything down in to clickbait titles and a quality of writing which, lets face it, even I could manage to outdo. The difference between me and your typical C Word hack though is that I don’t pretend to be a journalist. Hell, at this point I’m a pipe and an armchair away from being Old Man Yells At Cloud!

Their reason for existing is that they feel that the “mainstream media” is drifting further and further right with it’s narrative and they seek to try and give a more equal view by exclusively giving a left wing presentation with their reporting. Hmm, a group dissatisfied with the established news outlets decides to exclusively focus on the opposite viewpoint to what they think their competitors present under the guise of being fair and balanced. Where have I seen that load of old Murdoch before?

Living exclusively on the internet of course, The C Word lives and dies on it’s ad revenue, hence the over-sensationalist headlines and spamming of Facebook and Twitter for hits. That combined with their blinkered “couldn’t be further left if their left leg was blown off” presentation pretty much makes The C Word the bastard child of Buzzfeed and The Socialist Worker (obligatory “fuck the SWP” here). “Here’s a list of 15 ways Karl Marx used to maintain his trademark beard. You wont believe number 6!”

You may have guessed already that my main gripe with their brand of journalism is that they pretty much exist as the epicenter of the dear leader mentality that surrounds Jeremy Corbyn . To the point that anyone who even dares question Corbyn on anything will get branded as the second coming of Maggie. BTW, seeing as I’ll get asked, I voted for Jeremy last year and I do believe in his politics. I don’t think he’s above criticism though and I will be sharing some of my criticism of his leadership skills in a later post.

This reached it’s nadir over the Christmas break when The C Word criticised Charlie Brooker for his jokes about Corbyn on 2016 Wipe. I would describe how exactly this went down myself but A) that would involve linking to The C Word and they can piss off if they think they’re getting any AdSense boosts from graesays.com and B) NewStatesman already did a far better job than I ever could so I’ll just link to their article about Charlie and The Clickbait Factory here (fully aware of the irony btw, ta).

The horrible thing is that there are campaign groups that are linking to C Word articles because the site tends to use grassroots activism (particularly equality & diversity/liberation activism) related headlines as an entry point to copy & paste a rant about the press or any politician that doesn’t have Mao’s red book committed to memory, and that fucks me off too because it turns people away from well meaning campaigns that desperately need numbers to survive. Hmm, a far left pressure group hijacking well meaning grassroots campaigns to boost their own profile. Where have I seen that load of (obligatory “fuck the SWP” here) before?

Here’s the kicker though, they actually have a valid argument in regards to how awful most newspapers and TV news is operating these days. Which makes it all the more frustrating that they decide to respond to that by using tactics that harm their credibility (clickbait and refusing to accept an ounce of criticism aimed at their parliamentarians of choice).

When fake news sites are finally starting to get some proper scrutiny in the wake of the Brexit vote over here and the election of Donald Trump (still feel sick that I’m having to say either of those things tbh), it’s important to remember that all corners of the political spectrum have their disreputable news outlets, and it’s more obvious than ever that we need to combat the wave of simple ideas whipping people into  a frenzy by making sure that we are ready to counter with enough knowledge and nuance to be an effective force of reason. We on the side of liberation, fairness and helping those in need can do so much better than The C Word.