About Me

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Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada
I am a lawyer in Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada who enjoys reading, especially mysteries. Since 2000 I have been writing personal book reviews. This blog includes my reviews, information on and interviews with authors and descriptions of mystery bookstores I have visited. I strive to review all Saskatchewan mysteries. Other Canadian mysteries are listed under the Rest of Canada. As a lawyer I am always interested in legal mysteries. I have a separate page for legal mysteries. Occasionally my reviews of legal mysteries comment on the legal reality of the mystery. You can follow the progression of my favourite authors with up to 15 reviews. Each year I select my favourites in "Bill's Best of ----". As well as current reviews I am posting reviews from 2000 to 2011. Below my most recent couple of posts are the posts of Saskatchewan mysteries I have reviewed alphabetically by author. If you only want a sentence or two description of the book and my recommendation when deciding whether to read the book look at the bold portion of the review. If you would like to email me the link to my email is on the profile page.

Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Uncle Hugo's and Uncle Edgar's - A Bookstore Burned by Rioters

A photo I believe of the burning Uncle Hugo's
and Uncle Edgar's
A few weeks ago I watched on television and the internet the protests arising from the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. It was a shocking wrongful death that was far away from me. Downtown Minneapolis is exactly 1,600 kilometers from Melfort. When riots erupted and buildings were burned and stores looted I was upset over the destruction and lawlessness yet it was still distant for me. Events became personal when I read that the building housing Uncle Edgar’s and Uncle Hugo’s bookstore had been burned. I had visited Uncle Edgar’s on every trip I made to Minneapolis in recent years. There are posts on the blog about Uncle Edgar’s in the page on mystery bookstores.

Rational or not I think it is human nature to feel more deeply events to which you feel a connection. The burning of Uncle Edgar’s made me angry. I doubt it was targeted. It is hard to see how a business selling science fiction and crime fiction could cause offence. I expect it was a mindless act of arson.

Burning a bookstore is an attack upon knowledge. The stores contained thousands and thousands of books. I know they were fiction but they contained stories that enlighten, inform, entertain, even challenge readers.

I consider our society diminished whenever a bookstore closes. When the loss is due to arson the destroyed books make the loss greater.

I condemn the violence that included the burning of Uncle Edgar’s and Uncle Hugo’s. Society does not move ahead because of such violence. The advances in human rights during my lifetime have come from the actions of legislators and court judgments.

I believe violent acts such as the arson in Minneapolis provoke reactions that make change harder. 

Owner Don Blyly says he was told there was video on the internet of a white guy in a mask setting the fire.

There are several clips on YouTube of arrests for arsonists in Minneapolis. I have yet to read that any of them are charged with burning the bookstore.

The American ATF of the federal government said it is investigating over 150 fires in the Twin Cities.

Don describes what happened in a message he sent out after the fire:

There was a call from the security company around 3:30 this morning that the motion detector was somebody in the building. I threw on clothes and headed over there. When I was 2 blocks away I received a call that the smoke detectors were showing smoke in the store. Every single building on both sides of Chicago was blazing and dozens of people dancing around. As I pulled into the dentist’s lot I could see that flames were leaping out of the front windows on the Uncles. It looked to me like they had broken every window on the front of the Uncles and then squirted accelerant through each broken window. It looked hopeless to me, but I went around to the back door to see if could get to a fire extinguisher. As soon as I opened the back door a wave of very thick black smoke poured out, so I quickly closed the door again.

More particulars are available on the website for the stores.

I have spent my life working to uphold the Rule of Law. As a defence counsel representing those charged with offences I seek to have the laws of our province and country justly applied. Rioters and arsonists challenge the Rule of Law. I hope the arsonist or arsonists are soon caught and tried and punished.

For Don the financial loss was huge. He has advised that he is eligible for insurance. He is not sure if he will rebuild. I hope he will find the will and resources to have a new Uncle Hugo’s and Uncle Edgar’s.

Rather than just be angry I have decided I want to help Don. His son, Sam, has started a GoFundMe page. A link is at the end of this post. To date almost $150,000 has been raised.

The conflicting emotions Don is experiencing are set out in links on the GoFundMe page.

I hope my modest donation and the contributions of 2,500 other readers will convince Don to open a new store. It would be a powerful example of determination and faith in the future. I believe books are important to the future of all peoples and nations.
****

26 comments:

  1. I'm sorry for Mr Blyly. Losing your life's work and livelihood is a tragedy, but I'll adda a grimly funny side-note:
    Some years ago there were less serious riots in London. There was looting, not arson.
    Bookshops were left untouched.

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    1. Roger: Thanks for the comment. I would be interested in the reason for not looting bookshops. I guess I am glad.

      Delete
  2. George FLoyd's death was wrong, tragic, and, as you say, shocking, Bill. It was a stark and ugly reminder that we as a society have a long way to go. In many ways, I'm still letting it sink in, if you want to know the truth. And the looting and destruction, whoever has caused it, has made the whole situation worse. This kind of loss really is terrible. Whoever is responsible for that arson has destroyed knowledge, to say nothing of a person's life work and livelihood. Especially since you know the owner and have been to the store, I can see how you'd feel a deeper connection to what happened here. You're right that, irrational as it may seem, we feel much more strongly about people/places/things we know.

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    1. Margot: Thanks for the comment. Periodically democracy is challenged. Those who would riot and loot need to face major consequences for the sake of society.

      Delete
  3. I am very glad the protests have been huge and taken place all over the country in overe 2,500 cities and towns over the senseless, brutal, yet nonchalant murder of George Floyd. And the worldwide support has been terrific. The New York Times estimates that 15 million to 26 million joined in the U.S. alone.

    And I am sad about the bookstores and loss of a life's work and of books, as I treasure them.

    But as long as police murder Black people and Latino and INdigenous callously and with immunity, there will be mass protests, and some will result in destruction of property. The Supreme Court recently upheld immunity for police officers.

    And, even with protests, it took four days for the cops to be charged.

    And looking at the recent history of police killings, how many of the perpetrators have been charged and convicted? Even with Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old child playing in a park, the cop who killed him was not charged. He had been moved from a prior police force for cause, and he was rehired elsewhere. To look at Tamir Rice's beautiful face and think of his mother is just heartbreaking.

    And now the truth comes out about the police killing of Elijah McClain in Colorado and nothing was done. Protests have caused the district attorney to relook at the case.

    The anger and grief at these constant occurrences which we now see due to videos are deeply felt by millions of people here. Black Lives Matter is now supported by a majority of people.

    And there are still protests going on about Breonna Taylor's killing during a no-knock warrant scenario. A 26-year-old EMT.

    Until this killing stops and there is justice for those killed, there will be protests and some will result in the destruction that happened in Minneapolis. People have to have justice and cops have to be held accountable every single time they kill someone.

    The lack of concern on that cop's face, the nonchalance, on the cop's face as he killed George Floyd is unfathomable by anyone who cares about human life and despises bigotry. Like Black lives don't matter at all was his message.

    The systemic racism has to be uprooted and change.

    When I mentioned Elijah McClaim's killing to a friend, an AFrican-American woman in her sixties, she replied, "That could happen to any one of us." That is true, and that is chilling.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kathy D.: Thanks for the comment. Protest is the right of a citizen in a democracy. I do think the energy and effort would be better spent electing representatives the protesters believe would change laws.

    I will never agree that rioting and looting should ever accompany a protest and believe few protesters were in favour of violence.

    No nation is perfect but I believe effective change can only come through legislative and legal processes.

    Those who adopt violence subvert the rule of law and should be prosecuted and punished for their criminal actions.

    If city and state governments will not protect people and property against rioters I fear a violent reaction by private citizens.

    Police officers who break the law should be convicted and punished.

    Criminal law applies to all. Its enforcement should not be selective.

    I will never support vigilante violence.










    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm not defending vigilante violence. I'm trying to understand it. The anger and frustration come from the unfairness and oppression and systemic racism.

    I was brought up going to demonstrations and I have known many activists. I have never seen anyone do anything destructive.

    But everyone has to understand what is happening and why Black Lives Matter exists and millions join in. The New York Times estimates that 15 million to 26 million people demonstrated in over 2,500 marches in the U.S. alone. And people from Argentina to New Zealand marched as well.

    Black Lives Matter is now supposed by a majority of the population here. Their focus is on police violence and unfair criminal justice.

    When young Black people, including children, are fatally shot by police, and there is no justice, people get very angry. And this time, the world watched police kill George Floyd on TV! He didn't care. He didn't think Black Lives Matter at all. Neither do the other police who do the same thing.

    Finally, the world saw this violence because of a video. Nothing was done. No charges were filed until four days of protests happened. Nothing was done about the police killing of 23-year-old sweet, shy Elijah McClain in Colorado last August until protests took place there in the last few weeks.

    And it took five years of protests to get the police officer fired who killed Eric Garner in a chokehold (illegal in NYC), which we saw on TV repeatedly, Five years! And no charges were filed.

    This goes on all the time here. Fine if legislators and city administrations did something, but they do not unless it's public knowledge and protests happen.

    People have to undertand what the grievances are. It's important.

    And to understand the fear and intimidation felt by so many people of color here. U.S. Senator Cory Booker said last week that he was doing errands and he was wearing a T-shirt and shorts. And he thought about it and changed into a suit and tie. Why? Because of fear of the police. And he's a well-known politician.

    Remember what happened to Dr. King, and he led a peaceful movement and spurned violence. And Civil Rights activists were brutalized.

    And we have a president who is for the Confederate flag, keeping Confederate monuments and spews the worst racism.

    The history of slavery in the U.S., Jim Crow racism and legal segregation until 1964 has a huge hold still throughout the country and in the criminal justice system.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Kathy D.: As I am not an American I try to minimize my thoughts on what should be done in America.

      Canada has its own issues.

      I do believe Martin Luther King accomplished more through non-violence than was accomplished by riots.

      I hope future protests in America are not accompanied by riots. Such rioting obscures the message of protests.

      As a defence counsel I encourage authorities to fully investigate before laying charges. Many wrongful convictions have resulted from a haste to charge someone.

      On the central theme I continue to believe all those engaged in rioting and looting should be charged.

      Delete
  6. Read about the stories and see the video footage of police killings in the U.S., of the years of protests to get those guilty charged and convicted. Cards are so stacked in their favor. And the Supreme Court just voted to maintain police immunity.

    Listen to family members' grief at the murders of children, grandchildren, brothers, fathers. Listen to Stephon Clarke's grandmother. He lived with her and was shot in her yard by cops.
    Oscar Grant was killed on an above-ground train station while he was on the ground, hands held behind his back. Shot from above by a cop. He did nothing. He said good-bye to his child in the morning.
    See the film "Fruitvale Station" at this killing.

    It took a movement to get the cop responsible charged. He went to jail for months, then was release.

    Eric Garner was killed by a chokehold in New York City. We all saw that death 100 times on TV news. It took five years to get the cop responsible fired. That was it.

    And the stories go on and go.

    Eric Garner's daughter, Erica, was in the forefront trying to get justice for her father. She had a heart attack and died; she was under 30.

    Atatiana Jefferson was playing video games in her living room with her 8-year-old nephew. A cop shot her through the window.

    If you saw this all of the time like we do now due to videos on TV,
    and saw constant injustice, you would feel more compassion and have more understanding.

    We see this all the time and hear the families' anguish and the lack of justice.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Kathy D.: I cannot say thanks for a comment that states I lack compassion and understanding. I deal with individuals facing trouble, criminal or civil, in much of my practice. I see and deal with many difficult situations.

    There are bad people in every profession. Are there a greater percentage in police. I do not know. I do know that during my lifetime in both Canada and the U.S. there are far more police officers who are not white. As well, there are many more women officers. The current head of our national police force, the RCMP, is a woman.

    When a police officer commits criminal offences they should be prosecuted and punished.

    At the same time there are videos and stories of police officers being killed. In Canada there have been several targeted killings.

    I neither believe in vigilante justice by police nor private citizens.

    I will continue to assert that those of whatever colour, noting that in this story the alleged arsonist was white, who loot and riot should face criminal charges.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I don't believe in vigilante justice either. But as a TV commentator said when asked about the "uprising" that was going on in Minneapolis, "people grieve in all different ways."

    The years of seeing and experience racism wear on people and affect them. And seeing it happen on TV to friends, relatives and community members over and over again is absolutely horrible.

    A young Black man, PHilando Castile, was sitting in his car with his partner and her child. A cop came over and asked this young Black man for his license. Castile said to the cop that he had a gun and a license to carry it. Then he reached to his pocket to get his driver's license and the cop shot him fatally.

    This happened a few years ago in a suburb of St. Paul, close to Minneapolis. His partner videoed this killing and it was all over TV. There were demonstrations, so many. The cop resigned, but he was not charged for this senseless death of a young m man.

    I could go on and on with the incidents here where innocent young people of color are killed. Many are in the press. Many are not.

    And to hear a woman friend, who is AFrican-American and in her late 60s say that "this could happen to any one of us" is a shocking thought. I don't have to worry about this like that.

    And now today, unidentified federal agents pulling protesters in Portland, Ore., into unmarked cars, not telling them where they are going. The governor and attorney general of Oregon have told them to leave. They aren't going.

    And they just tear gassed a group of mothers who were peacefully lined up to protect the protesters. This has been on TV.

    This country is in bad shape. What gives me hope is the young people who have joined together, those of all nationalities, protesting for social justice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kathy D.: I admire your idealism. It is in short supply. I still believe the thousands of protesters would accomplish more if they signed up to vote and contacted friends and relatives to vote. More could be done if they pooled money to hire lawyers to take court actions. I hope America can achieve civility in debate. I wish more Americans would learn about the process of government in other nations. I find it rare in talking to Americans that they know of government process outside the U.S. let alone consider whether your nation can learn from other countries.

      Delete
  9. The ACLU and National Lawyers Guild are involved.

    There are court cases where families win a settlement with a city after a police-caused fatal shooting of a loved one. Sometimes families do end up with a settlement, but they don't feel like they've gotten justice if no one is held accountable.

    There are so many instances where there is no accountability. This goes on and on. There was a case years ago where police were held culpable when several cops beat a Haitain man horribly, Abner Louima, in NYC. He survived and he testified as to his injuries, and there were medical records. He won a settlement and a few cops went to jail. But he had to leave NYC as he was constantly threatened by police.

    But he survived and told the tale. But what happened with Eric Garner, his death from a chokehold also seen on TV many times. Took five years of protests to get the police officer fired, and he didn't get charged for anything.

    I wish legislators could solve this. And courts. But it is very rare. And even getting criminal justice reform is so difficult.

    Our Congress -- it's taken until this year until a bill banning lynching was nearly passed. Actually one senator held it up and I donn't know where it's at. But over 4,000 Black people were lynched from post-Reconstruction until 1950.

    I think a lot of people vote. But they want change. Many were for Bernie Sanders and are a bit demoralized that he wasn't chosen.

    It's very hard to get change here. It took demonstrations to get the cops who killed George Floyd indicted.

    I have to see the young people protesting and have hope in what they do and who they are. They see injustice and protest.

    It was the Civil Rigts Movement that won the end of legalized segregation Jim Crow after 10 years. And then a year later the Voting Rights Act was won, also after that strong movement.

    What did the great Frederick Douglass say? There is no progress without struggle.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Kathy D.: I will provide some comment with the disclaimer that I am not an American.

      I would argue that the greatest advances in American civil rights concerning Black Americans came through the courts (the Brown case and subsequent decisions) and legislation (the Voting Rights Act and other legislation).

      Certainly courts and legislatures can be used against peoples. The Dred Scott decision and the enactments of various state legislatures especially in the American South.

      Change I would say came more through changes in judges and elected representatives.

      I further note that advancements came through broadly based Black organizations such as the NAACP with elected leadership.

      I am not sure of the leadership of the current protests.

      I would say the riots after the murder of MLK did as much or more political damage as physical damage.

      It appears rioters are taking advantage of the current protests to wreak havoc.

      If there is an issue that could get President Trump re-elected it is fear arising from the riots.

      I expect the riots have already meant that there will be no further gun control legislation in the foreseeable future in America.







      Delete
  10. Well, a guy who broke windows and destroyed some stores in Minneapolis was just uncovered by the police there to be a white supremacist. And they are doing violent things. Don't forget it was people with Confederate flags and swastikas who stormed into the Lansing, Mich., Legislature with guns, demanding the shutdown be ended and threatening Gov. Whitmer with assassination if she didn't.

    I do think the Brown v. Board of Education decision was ground-breaking.But the Dred Scott decision and Plessy v. Ferguson in the 1890s, which approved Jim Crow segregation, were the worst ever.
    And on another issue I pay attention was Buck v. Well in 1927, where the Supreme Court decided that a young (white) poor woman in Virginia could be forcefully sterilized by Virginia against her will, despite her objections.

    Lots of bad court decisions of recent vintage.

    The Voting Rights Act came in 1965, after years of a strong voting rights movement in Mississippi and other states. There are many books written about it. People were beaten, homes burned down and some were killed in that struggle.

    Black people were disenfranched in the South ever since Reconstruction was overturned. That is until 1965, with poll taxes, literacy tests, anything that could stop them from voting.
    And so much was done in towns and cities where Black people couldn't even go outside after dark because their lives were in denger.

    Look at what happened to Emmett Till in 1955 in Mississippi. That and the Montgomery Bus Boycott that set off the historic Civil Rights Movement which was phenomental. But many people's lives were lost in that movement, including the four little girl sin Birmingham and James Cheney, Mickey Schwerner and Andre Goodman, who went to Mississippi to help in voter registration.

    Lots of books about that movement. Would not have been any legislation without it.

    In 1962 or 1963, I had the honor of meeting a delegation that came from Mississippi of elderly African Americans to New York to address the United Nations about the denial of voting rights in their state. A friend's mother was hosting them at her house.

    I was honored ot meet them. They were talking about the situation.

    If there hadn't been a strong Civil Rights Movement, nothing would have changed. There was legalized Jim Crow segregation until 1964.
    A friend saw her mother dragged out of a restroom in Birgmingham when she was a young child. The scene never left her.

    Even now look at the U.S. Senate. There have been three African-American Democrator senators and two are there now. And everywhere there is discrimination. Law firms are among the worst offenders.

    I'm reading Michelle Obama's memoir and she discusses the law firm she worked for which had barely any attorneys of color, and she worked at trying to bring a diverse workforce to it.

    And about the protests, there are now mothers protesting around the country and veterans, too, joining the young people.

    The majority of people in the U.S. now support Black Lives Matter, according to polls.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Kathy D.: I note that it is not proven it is a white supremacist. An allegation may or may not be accurate.

      In my post I set out that Don had information that it was a white person that set fire to his store.

      With white people both supporting protests and rioting amid the protests it can be challenging.

      I watched part of the funeral of John Lewis today. He was both a protester and a legislator.

      I know many believe change came because of protests. I will continue to believe more was done through court cases and voting.

      I saw President Obama emphasize during his eulogy making the effort to vote.

      I will never understand the U.S. system of requiring people to register to vote.

      In Canada the government has enumerators who come to every home and apartment to determine the residents who are eligible to vote. Anyone missed can come on election day and, after providing proper ID, be registered. It has always seemed to me the American system of requiring people to register was intended to limit who is able to vote.

      I agree with the sentiments at the funeral that each generation has an obligation to do their best to make the world a better place for the next generation.

      I will repeat that the rioting and looting that has taken place risks the goals of the protesters.

      The civil rights movement of the 1960's before MLK's murder found ways to ensure protests were not used for riots and looting.

      I do not see a current protest leadership able to arrange security to prevent protests being used for rioting and looting.

      Delete
  11. But most protests around the country -- and the Times estimates up to 26 million people participated, were peaceful. They were in over 2,600 cities and towns. The media goes to the few places where they see some violence.

    A lot of it came form the federal agents. Reporters said they were hit by rubber bullets (and camera people) which were deliberately aimed at them. A photographer lost her eye in Minneapolis when a law enforcement person aimed a rubber bullet at her eye.

    A friend, a photographer, saw a police official aim a rubber bullet at his hand, injured it, sent him to an ER and broke a 42400 camera. And some journalists were beaten horribly in Minneapolis and other cities. Lots of lawsuits have been filed in Portland and other cities by injured people. One man got a fractured skull and probably brain damage from a rubber bullet.

    And I saw on TV news peaceful protesters attacked by cops in my city. The NY Times has also had a lot of coverage on this.

    I'm glad you saw the highly esteemed Congressman John Lewis' funeral today. I heard several speeches. The best statement was the one he wrote in the Times which Morgan Freeman read.

    I remember that he was beaten nearly to death not only in Selma in 1965, but also in a Birmingham, Ala., bus station, by a Klansman.
    Years later, the man apologized and John Lewis accepted his apology. I saw them on TV.

    I thought what an amazing person he is that he could transcend that horrible beating. And the one in Selma, where a young Boston minister was beaten to death and many other people, including women, were very badly hurt.

    I saw the Civil Rights Movement here. My parents joined it. We all went to hear Dr. King in Washington in 1963.

    I met Ben Cheney, brother of James Cheney, who was murdered by the Klan in the early 1960s. His brother never got over it. He worshipped his older brother.

    I've also read, seen and heard a great deal about the historic Cicil Rights Movement. Nothing happened in Congress or in the courts until that movement went on for a decade -- and actually, much longer.

    I think that the raging pandemic here, with an anti-science administration, the severely tanking economy and the guy in the White House's trying to stoke racism abd division will hurt him. And the more he says, the more people are turned off.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Kathy D.: I will respond to this comment but do not intend to respond to a further post.

      There were a steady succession of cases in the American Court system from just after WW II that kept breaking down desegregation laws.

      Many to the left of centre decry the President sending federal agents to Portland.

      Sometimes Americans seem to forget that President Eisenhower dispatched the military into the southern states in support of students entering universities.

      I am glad many protests were peaceful. I do not know how many violent episodes there were amidst the protests.

      I am glad to hear your family cared enough to participate in the Civil Rights movement.

      I accept that we have different thoughts on the effectiveness of protests v. the effectiveness of court cases and electing legislators who support racial justice.

      I will repeat that I do not understand why there is not a massive effort to change American voting laws to have comprehensive, government paid, enumeration of voters. Such enumeration will enfranchise all Americans.

      I hope there will be a greater effort to provide more opportunities for advance voting. In Canada 25% of the votes in our last election were cast in advance polls.

      I try not to listen to President Trump. In reading the NY Times and looking at Fox News online I am convinced the NY Times gives him more coverage.

      I live in hope that Americans will make some effort to watch Canadian news sources for some understanding on their northern neighbours and how we do things differently in lots of ways.

      Delete
  12. I agree with you on many points, especially on the need to further enfranchise people, stop voter suppression, a big problem.

    I don't disagree about the value of lawyers and court cases. I worked for the New York Civil Liberties Union for 10 years and I agreed with many of their lawsuits.

    But I know many of those lawyers and former officials. Many participated in the Civil Rights Movement and Voting Rights Movement and supported them wholeheartedly. But in addition that, they pursued their cases and won some good ones. And so has the ACLU nationally.

    And I do love legal mysteries and the inner workings of the courts, the courtroom repartee, etc., especially through the mind of a good defense attorney.

    I do wish people here watched Canadian and other news. I read the British Guardian as well as the NY Times every day.

    What is a good source of Canadian objective news?

    I also heard that Canadians who are unemployed due to the coronavirus are receiving $2,000 per month. I'd be interested in hearing about it.

    I know that Canada's universal health care system is far superior to the one here in so many ways, with millions uninsured, many due toe recent layoffs.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Kathy D.: The two major networks, CBC and CTV, have good websites and are less political than American news.

    Here is a link on our CERB - https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/cerb-application.html

    I have never been able to understand why the United States has never been able to come up with a universal health care plan. Our health care is not perfect but all are covered and people do not go bankrupt over health needs. It stuns me how much money is spent on health care and insurance in America.





    ReplyDelete
  14. Well, health care in the U.S. is for-profit. The insurance industry and pharmaceutical industry are multibillion-dollar businesses, at the top of other industries in earnings. Their lobbyists are very powerful in Washington.

    They were involved in the design of the Affordable Care Act and the Medicare Drug Plan. I have a Medigap and the drug plan, and they are very expensive. And even though I have Medicare, not all doctors will accept it. When I broke my ankle in 2003 and was hospitalized, one surgeon wanted $2500 cash up front to do the surgery. I said no, and finally a doctor was found who would accept Medicare. I have another doctor whom I adore, and she won't accept Medicare.

    There are many good aspects of the Affordable Care Act, but much of it is based on the market, with high deductibles and premiums. And each state has its own plans. A New York Times article written when the law was under discussion told of a woman in Kentucky who earned $17,000 a year, and was given options on various health insurance plans. The "best" one for her had a $3,000 deductible. So she'd
    end up paying for her medical care.

    Also, there was a mandate in the law requiring all states to expand Medicaid. This would have covered millions of people without coverage. However, a lawsuit was brought which went to the Supreme Court to eliminate the Medicaid expansion mandate and allow states ot opt out.

    The Supreme Court majority eliminated the mandate. Many state legislatures, especially in the South, refused to expand Medicaid, so millions of low-income people had no coverage, as they couldn't afford to purchase insurance through the marketplace.

    This was a tragedy. So many people who wanted to get Medicaid coverage, low-income people, were left out.

    And the president and his friends want to completely overturn the Affordable Care Act. This would also endanger disabled people who need attendants and equipment provided under that law.

    I so wish the U.S. would adopt the Canadian model. Or that of many European countries or South Korea.

    I have neighbors with children who have no health coverage because they can't afford it. It is frightening to think about this.

    I will look at the links.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Kathy D.: I can add no more. America has become so fragmented on so many issues I do not know how it will move forward anymore.

      Most countries in the world rallied to provide a country approach to Covid. The U.S.'s approach is stunning in its lack of cohesion.

      It is indeed frightening to think of children without health coverage.


      Delete
  15. I agree that there is no cohesive, national plan to deal with Covid. And esteemed public health scientists/doctors, like Dr. Anthony Fauci, are sidelined and networks are told not to have him on TV.

    Meanwhile, I'm stuck at home, but just ran up a big bill ordering books and searching for library books I can read at their site, as my library branch is still closed.

    I am going to find Blackwater Bluffs.

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    1. Kathy D.: It is one of the ironies of the pandemic in that Canada which had more restrictions for a longer period of time has had less restrictions than much of America this summer.

      A small example is that our local library has been open for picking up books since June and open to the public since early July.

      Delete
  16. I believe the U.S. had over 1,000 Covid deaths yesterday and Canada had two. There is something wrong here.
    But Bob Woodward's new book about the president's inaction and errors is coming out this week and will anger many people.

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  17. Kathy D.: Unless there is an unexpected change the U.S. will have more than 6 times as many cases as Canada and 2 1/2 times as many deaths per capita. The U.S. could have had the same numbers with a different approach.

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