Health Care Reform Passes

This and much more. My wife is a RN and she MUST have 1M dollar malpractice insurance on top of the 5M that the hospital pays. That is the minimal requirement for her to work with the hospital she is at. She was handed a memo today that pretty much stated that all raises were on hold untill further notice. I don't know if it is because of the bill passage or not, she isn't happy to say the least. She works at a county hospital that may be effected by the bill more than a private one. That is just speculation by the wife and I though. Love it or hate it, it's here so lets see what happens.

This

http://www.covermd.com/Resources/Washington-Medical-Malpractice-Insurance.aspx

This is just Washington, which is below average. Florida put a cap on Malpractice lawsuits four years ago to curb how high theirs were getting, but:
http://www.covermd.com/Resources/Florida_Medical_Malpractice_Insurance.aspx

It is still absolutely obscene.

You cite 'less than %2' without giving a link, Mr. Kettle.

Surprising accuracy? I doubt it, but I'm game Jaerik. ;)

No man.. laws do not make the grass green and the sun shine. Despite what they tell you fire and brimstone will not rain from the sky if we don't have them.

Think about what most laws are vs. real actual crimes.

An actual crime is where someone is hurt, there needs to be a victim for there to be a crime. You partly see this truth because your a advocate of ending the drug war. There is absolutely nothing wrong with someone who does drugs. The person is not bad person, and in my book hes NOT a criminal. Even a drug dealer. Many are not good guys.. but if he is a good guy, then he is nothing more than a business man who sells his property to perspective clients. He provides an actual valuable service to his community at great risk to himself. I would never call the cops on someone like that.. in fact.. I would be hesitant to call them ever with how they seem to end up shooting the dog and putting the wrong person in jail. My friends boyfriend was beating him up so he called the police and they took HIM to jail because he was taller. Not kidding.

Most laws have nothing to do with real crimes. You only need one law. "Do no harm" is all you need.

You don't need laws telling you to wear your seat belt and you can't talk on a cell phone and you also can't build a campfire on the passenger seat while driving..

as long as the guys on the hill view healthcare as a buisness, it will never reach its true potential to give everyone a chance to have it.

Do me man.. you know the answers to some.. some others may surprise you however. :)

I do agree with you however.. people really need to start thinking and stop getting information fed to them.

Uhh no.. I am rail thin but I can't declare that I must therefore force other people to exercise.. *** that dude. Also drug users are not a danger to society, I'd say a majority of America uses some form of drug for recreation.

Why are you so bent on saving "society", I think you need to worry about yourself, and stop being so hell bent on trying to *** other peoples lives over.

I mean would you REALLY put a gun to your friends head and walk his *** to jail and ruin his *** life if he pulled out a joint and smoked it? Whats the difference if you do it or if you have someone else do it for you? Is violence more comfortable for you at a distance.. when you don't have to look in their eyes?

The more you talk the more your making it clear you have serious problems and you are the kind of person who should NEVER be given power over others.

The one thing that you are missing is that the reason we have certain laws is because they some how have caused someone pain. I have been rear-ended because of a cell phone talker dropped her phone which caused me pain.She also didn't have care insurance, so I had to foot the bill. Both my parents were/are addicted to drugs. I have seen the things they do in order to get their next fix. It's not pretty.Drug usage has directly caused me pain due to what my parents did to my sibblings and I.

I do agree with you on the fact of seatbelts though. I don't believe that the goverment should be able to tell me to protect myself, no matter what their survey has told them. It should be my choice to protect myself more or not.

@ Raelia, did you not see the hyperlink on "Less than %2" that Jaerik posted? Just asking

I'm not going to "do" everyone. =p But my point is:

- Your views on gun control should have nothing to do with your views on global warming.

- Your views on abortion should have nothing to do with your views on tax policy.

- Your views on health care reform should have nothing to do with your views on the death penalty.

- Your views on US foreign policy should have nothing to do with your views on gay marriage.

Yet for some reason, they do. With overwhelming accuracy.

I'm not arguing for one side or the other here. Nor am I interested in engaging in a debate about the ideology behind it.

But from a sheer mathematical probability and statistics model, the chances of 300M people independently sorting themselves into two camps over these (ideally) independent variables ("I am pro-Life and against gun control" versus "I am for gay marriage and want greater environmental regulation") is vanishingly unlikely. More unlikely than winning the lottery, back to back, many times over.

This doesn't worry anyone else?

People yell and scream about "thinking for themselves," but when someone says "the 2nd Amendment is important, thus, abortion is wrong" or "global warming is a problem, thus, legalize pot" people just accept it rather than going "Wait, what?"

That's not *so* scary, as we all work like this. I believe we need to define ourselves with a common denominator, to make ourselves belong to groups, it's normal in a society. BUT, i think internet tends to make things worse than ever, because we barely make ourselves informed anymore, we just read headlines instead of a full article, repeat what we saw on youtube, what we heard about, from the friend of a friend who asserted this or that...
Wikipedia gives the feeling that knowledge accessible to anyone, which explains why we got so many experts on such complicated subjects, lol. And, as the information travel so fast, we receive it instantaneously, and we instantaneously need to have an opinion about it, without ever getting enough distance to treat it. The fact that we think in boxes isn't the problem, in my opinion, but the fact that the boxes are getting bigger and fewer does scare me, making some people so poor minded, making them thinking extreme.
That kind of discussion is typical and i'm so sick of it... like, if i believe that "capitalism" allow some people to do things i do not agree with, i'm instantaneously called "communist" ! Boooh ! Baaad ! Everything tend to be black or white, no more shades of grey. You got no job ? You're useless to the society... Hell, i'm glad the guillotine doesn't work anymore in my country, or i would have been sent to it for being a leecher maybe, haha...

The pro abortion and anti death penalty & vice versa people get me

Umm hell I just answer post after post at this point.. gonna burn out eventually..

Ok.. you have a legitimate claim to damages, someones negligence has caused you property damage and you don't need a special law, you can just sue and that will probably lead to a better outcome for you anyhow. (and you could just do it too if it weren't for the laws making it so complicated to do you need a lawyer to do it)

Secondly the law doesn't even actually stop the criminal behavior because almost everyone who breaks a law doesn't think they are ever going to get caught so they do the crime anyhow. I mean.. drug laws pretty much have totally failed to do anything at all.. but they always say they are "really going to get tough this year" Right? If they work so well.. why don't they actually stop the behavior they are trying to prevent?

1. Drug users aren't a danger to society? Really? REALLY!?

Source: http://www.ncvc.org/ncvc/main.aspx?dbName=DocumentViewer&DocumentID=32348
o

More than half of all the people arrested in the United States test positive for illegal drugs. Drug addiction can lead to increased property crime and robberies. Drug and alcohol abuse contribute to higher rates of domestic violence, child abuse and sexual violence. (National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice, 2007).
o

Drug use is more closely linked to robberty and property crime than to violent crime. Many addicts commit crimes to get money to buy drugs. In state prisons, those convicted of violent crimes are less likely to have used drugs than those convicted of property crimes. Yet at least a quarter of men who commit acts of domestic violence also have drug abuse problems. Woman who are drug addicts are more likely to be victims of abuse. (Ibid.)
o

In the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correction Facilities, 32% of State prisoners and 26% of Federal prisoners said they had committed their current offense while under the influence of drugs. Among State prisoners, drug offenders (44%) and property offenders (39%) reported the highest incidence of drug use at the time of the offense. Among Federal prisoners, drug offenders (32%) and violent offenders (24%) were the most likely to report drug use at the time of their crimes. (Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, 2006).
o

In 2004, 17% of State prisoners and 18% of Federal inmates said they committed their current offense to obtain money for drugs. (Ibid.)
o

In 1998, Americans spent $66 billion on illegal drugs, with $39 billion being spent by consumers on cocaine (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2000).
o

In 1999, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported an estimated 1,577,100 arrests for drug abuse violations in the United Sates (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2000).
o

Attempts to deter drug use through punishment fail because they do not address the complex causes of drug abuse, which begins within the context of family problems and peer deviant behavior. One characteristic necessary for successful programs is continuing, comprehensive aftercare in the community. This reduces the chances that someone will be arrested and convicted again (National Institute of Justice, 2008).

2. Got a source that says or even hints that most Americans abuse drugs?

3. I'm not even trying to save society. I'm trying to point out that the obesity problem in America has nothing to do with our health care. Instead it's vice versa. Our health care has to now spend stupidly amounts of time trying to tell these people to *gasp* STOP EATING AND GO TAKE A WALK!

4. Would I turn my friend in for smoking pot? No. Pot shouldn't even be illegal but that's another story. Would I turn my friend in if he's stealing to support his pot habit? You're damn right. I'll look them in the eye and wave bye-bye to their *** as the police escort them away.

QFTMFT

MAKIN A PIZZA FUUUUUUCK YEAAAAH!!!

Do this... What I did. I was using a knife to loosen up some hardened Ice Tea Crystals and the metal tin lid, sliced me hard and gave me like a cpl centimetres deep gash...

here for yourself as proof..







Sorry for all the Gross macabre of photos, but most majority of ppl would have gone and gotten stitches, I say, disinfect, clean, CLEAN, & CLEAN and maybe add glue, slap a band-aid on it, and when you shower, wash, rinse, repeat, like we do on the game, with the way we play on FFXI.

Even though I'm Canadian, I have coverage, I didn't want to wait or sit in emerge for the long line up. I said Eff it, wife said don't be stupid, go get it looked at. Cut to 6 mos later... I'm fine, a battle wound, a cool looking scar on my right index finger, covered by hair which you can't see anyways....

Sometimes, its better to do a home-job then to use health care... LOL

Wow really?

No I absolutely believe it.. I've seen conservatives and liberals ready to tear each others heads off over some argument.. like gay marriage.. and I can say 2 or 3 sentences such as "Why do we need laws at all for a personal/religious contract?" and they will stop arguing, hold hands and start attacking me. :P

I'm anti-war, pro-immigration, anti-tax, pro-life, and most of all pro-gay's with guns! :P

I was hopping you would try me. hehe.

but no.. your totally right.. these things should have nothing to do with each other.


and.. I have a theory..


I think that logic is a skill that we don't teach people. People say that knowledge is power but knowledge without logic is meaningless. You can place the most knowledgeable book in the world in front of a horse and it will never become smarter because it does not have the capability to reason like you and I do.

When you develop your understanding about the world in a natural way you pull in information from your senses, you sight and touch etc. >> then you process this in the logic and reason center of your brain >> and then you pass that data to what becomes your understanding of the world, your knowledge.

So: Senses >> Logic >> Understanding & Knowledge

I think what has happened with religion, politics and public schools is people shot circuit the logic part. They take already pre-packaged conclusions that come from a trusted authority in and pass them directly to their understanding of the world.

I think the last thing people want to do is to have to think.. and since the skill of using logic is never developed very well the ability to use reason becomes dwarfed.

What do you think? It's kinda a working theory..

Do you see a lot of that? I don't pay attention to the news much anymore, but I rarely see such polar discussions blending.

Whatever Oddin, go blow a DEA agents *** ok.

I think you're misinterpreting what I'm saying. I'm actually in more agreement with you than you think.

What I'm saying is, people should express more of a spectrum of beliefs across these (wildly disparate) topics than they do. The middle should be more numerous than the extremists. Otherwise, it's a false dichotomy, as you said.

Unfortunately, the nature of our two-party system tends to make people adopt the same beliefs on issues that should have nothing to do with one another. While there are independents, they are not as numerous as a natural bell curve distribution would predict.

Example: there is no logical argument that one's views on global warming should correlate to their views on abortion. The two arguments share no common logical ground.

However, if you did a random sampling of the US electorate, you would find they do: if you believe global warming is a hoax, you are many times more likely to also be pro-Life. (And vice versa.)

Your totally on to something here, but I think it's got more to do than just the trouble with a two party system. The two parties are really more alike then either would like to admit. Sure they have their token issues.. like the ones you list but.. otherwise they do pretty much the same things.

Ron Paul is a good example of that. He says things like the issues being discussed are always like how much to bailout, not if we should have bailout at all.

That is quite the contribution you made there.