Usa Thread

[Flashermac]

And the shit just went on and on.

I would have gotten better healthcare if I went to Mexico!

 

That's what I was thinking as I read it. Either that or fly to Thailand and have it done here. Probably cost you 1/4th the US prices, easily worth the plane fare.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Flashermac]

And the shit just went on and on.

I would have gotten better healthcare if I went to Mexico!

 

That's what I was thinking as I read it. Either that or fly to Thailand and have it done here. Probably cost you 1/4th the US prices, easily worth the plane fare.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bangkoktraveler]

That's what I was thinking as I read it. Either that or fly to Thailand and have it done here. Probably cost you 1/4th the US prices, easily worth the plane fare.

 

Problem is I do have really good insurance

but the shit you got to do in order to get any service is pathetic.

 

 

 

I have one customer who lives in Brazil. She comes to the USA several times a year.

A few weeks ago she told me she had a major operation on both of

her feet but she had the operation done in Mexico.

Why? Cheap and the service was great.

 

I know one Vet who goes to the VA Hospital all of the time.

When he needs dental care, he goes to Mexico. Even for him it is cheaper and he gets great service.

Figure it out.

[Steve]

What simply amazes me are the views of every day Americans, largely consevaitves over any changes to the way to the costs and distribution of medical care. Without exception, everyone I personally know has a major concern about theirs or their famiies having any kind of medical need past the routine.

The medical industry and the pols have done a great job in brain washing. I have to believe the mind boggling seniment at the time of Obamacare was more about having a reason to hate Obama than about the real issue. Scare tactics and the like. It wasn't perfect legislation and made less perfect by being fought tooth and nail at every stop to strip away its benefits and effectiveness.

I have some very conservative friends who were up in arms, friends I know who have had huge bills to deal with and its as if they had competely forgotten their own plight. Just about everyone I know is one medical emergency away from lifetime indebtedness. A great many are paycheck to paycheck. These are all a very diverse group economically, ethnically, etc. Many took jobs based SOLELY on the benefits. I introduced two friends who evenually got married and the guy became an LA deputy sherriff purely for the benefits because he had a kid and wanted another child.

I remember the pics and news coverage of the masses acting as if the health plan was the work of the anti Christ. Patriots Act and other things that took away civil liberties and rights didn't even come close to the almost religious zealotry over health care. I can only conclude it was mostly over losing the election.

I can't fathom how some people, fundamentals specifically, who are struggling paycheck to paycheck are more concerned over gay marriage and abortion than the welfare of themselves and their families. I grew up in the church, the black church specifically and those items were tertiary at best. We were all poor. We prayed and commiserated over kitchen table issues. Employment, the cost of living, crime and drugs in our area, etc. Not that any one supported abortion or gay marriage but it wasn't gonna keep you from getting mugged, getting a job and help you deal with every day life.

Even in getting a job, a great many jobs' health plan sucks. Costs way too much for too little. I simply don't get it. It's a head scratcher. I have and am living outside the U.S. and when you see how much better the cost of health care is outside America you see America differently. I think part of it is that less than 20% of Americans have a passport and simply don't realize how bad things are because all they know is what they're told and never traveled even out of their own state much, much less the country and hasn't seen it from the outside looking as everyone on this forum has.

Its no wonder I'm cynical about America. I don't see any hope unti its too late.

[Steve]

http://news.yahoo.com/drone-strike-kills-four-suspected-militants-pakistan-141418061.html

 

Drone strike kills four suspected militants in Pakistan

 

A U.S. drone strike killed four suspected militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region near the Afghan border on Sunday, intelligence officials and witnesses said, the first strike in almost a month.

 

The controversial drone programme, a key element in U.S. counter-terrorism efforts, is highly unpopular in Pakistan, where it is considered a violation of sovereignty which causes many civilian casualties.

 

A Pakistani parliamentary committee recently demanded an end to drone strikes on Pakistani territory as part of its recommendations for how its relationship with Washington should change. The United States has given no indication it intends to halt the campaign.

 

 

Say what you want about Obama but in terms of fighting terrorism, he kicks ass and takes names. He's been more effective in almost 4 years than the previous administration has been in 8. Foreign policy isn't bad either. His foreign policy with regards to renegade governments is to offer an olive branch first and conciliatory (a huge risk domestically to be labled weak or coddling) and then if its rejected he goes at them hard. It gives China and Russia very little wiggle room on the security council because he can say 'see, I tried and they are still doing it'. Its working with Iran and N. Korea.

 

He also resisted the temptation to go into conflicts like Lybia and Egypt. Preferring instead to do have covert involvement in arms, intel and aid. Which doesn't get us bogged down with troops on the ground but gives us credibility with the rebels who know where the aid comes from and will be friendly to us after they take over.

 

We are in Afghanistan more than I like but I have to believe we'd have been far more entrenched had McCain won.

[Steve]

http://ontd-political.livejournal.com/9597394.html

Can't pay your traffic ticket? There goes your water!

Las Cruces, New Mexico is threatening to cut off water, gas and sewer service over unpaid red light and speed camera tickets.

 

With more and more vehicle owners simply deciding refuse to pay red light camera and speed camera tickets, private, for-profit companies and municipalities are growing increasingly desperate. America's second-largest city shut down its photo ticketing program last year largely because residents who could not afford the $500 citations did not pay them. On Monday, Las Cruces, New Mexico announced it would shut off the utilities of city residents who refused to pay Redflex Traffic Systems, the Australian company that owns and operates the cameras.

 

"The city is notifying offenders by mail that they have until the due date stated in the letter to pay the fines or make satisfactory payment arrangements," a Las Cruces press release warned. "Failure to comply will result in termination of utilities services."

 

Las Cruces claims vehicle owners owe $2 million. To encourage payment of the $100 photo fines, the city says it will employ an ordinance the council adopted in 1988 giving itself the right to shut off utility service to residents declared delinquent for any reason.

[Steve]

http://now.msn.com/living/0428-cheater-sues-school.aspx

Dad sues school district after son is punished for cheating

A father is suing his son's Northern California school district for throwing the boy out of an honors English class after he was caught cheating. The sophomore at Sequoia High School in Redwood City copied someone else's essay, which aside from being just plain wrong, also goes against the "honesty pledge" students sign at the beginning of the class, making it explicitly clear that any cheating will result in expulsion from honors courses. Clear cut, right? Well, the dad is pointing out a conflicting school policy that says students won't be punished for cheating until the second time they're caught. Um, can the second incidence of cheating be this dad trying to cheat the school system and bend the rules for his kid?

[Bangkoktraveler]

http://ontd-political.livejournal.com/9597394.html

Can't pay your traffic ticket? There goes your water!

Las Cruces, New Mexico is threatening to cut off water, gas and sewer service over unpaid red light and speed camera tickets.

 

With more and more vehicle owners simply deciding refuse to pay red light camera and speed camera tickets, private, for-profit companies and municipalities are growing increasingly desperate. America's second-largest city shut down its photo ticketing program last year largely because residents who could not afford the $500 citations did not pay them. On Monday, Las Cruces, New Mexico announced it would shut off the utilities of city residents who refused to pay Redflex Traffic Systems, the Australian company that owns and operates the cameras.

 

"The city is notifying offenders by mail that they have until the due date stated in the letter to pay the fines or make satisfactory payment arrangements," a Las Cruces press release warned. "Failure to comply will result in termination of utilities services."

 

Las Cruces claims vehicle owners owe $2 million. To encourage payment of the $100 photo fines, the city says it will employ an ordinance the council adopted in 1988 giving itself the right to shut off utility service to residents declared delinquent for any reason.

 

 

In some areas the damn red light camera ticket has no authority

unless the person is duly served the citation. Flux RedFlx Traffic Systems!

[Flashermac]

Las Cruces sure isn't the nice little city I lived in as a kid. I've been through it a few times since then - and no way I'd want to live there now. The whole area has been ruined.

 

As to the opposition to Obama health care, I think a lot was the way it was done. It was in-your-face we-are-gonna-do-it-so-shut-the-fuck-up-and live-with-it. Pelosie and Reed acted like the Evil Emperor and Darth Vader. "Vote on it now, you can read it later!" WTF? You don't behave like that unless you are up to something.

 

Be interesting to see what Romney would do if he gets in.

[Flashermac]

Transcript: Al Gore Got ‘D’ in ‘Natural Sciences’ at Harvard

 

 

In his commencement speech at Hamilton College on Sunday, former Vice President Al Gore told the graduates that global warming is “the most serious challenge our civilization has ever faced.â€

 

But as an undergraduate at Harvard University in the late 1960s, Gore--one of the most prominent spokesmen on climate change today--earned a “D†in Natural Sciences.

 

Gore’s transcript documents that during his sophomore year at Harvard he earned a "D" in Natural Sciences 6 (Man’s Place in Nature). Also, as a senior at Harvard, he earned a C-plus in Natural Sciences 118.

 

Gore, along with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for his work on global warming.

 

For his college board achievement tests, Gore earned a 488 (out of 800) in physics, and a 519 (out of 800) in chemistry. Gore’s academic records were first obtained and reported on by reporters David Maraniss and Ellen Nakashima at The Washington Post in March 2000.

 

Gore did relatively well, however, on the SAT, earning 1355 (out of 1600). For comparison, George W. Bush got 1206 on the SAT.

 

President Barack Obama has not released his academic records. He first attended Occidental College and then transferred in 1981 to Columbia University, where he earned his B.A. He later went to Harvard Law School and earned his J.D. in 1991.

 

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