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Going along with that would only be workable if these banks could be trusted to be fair. Not that I was naive enough as to ever have anticipated that they would be fair, but they have repeatedly proven that they cannot be trusted to be fair. Hey, I have an idea! This has never worked before so let's try it some more.
Break up Wall St Banks They are toxic www.whitehouse www.congress.gov We did it with AT & T Why not banks ?
9 % voted Its OK with them ? Are they dumb or million / billionaires > US is in real trouble. GOP wants to gut SS Medicare- and education so fat cats get more tax breaks yet Repubs still vote GOP ! Someone explain this ! GOP does NOT ' reform ' They GUT & PRIVATIZE Period Frank Luntz teaches the GOP what words to use so folks are manipulated into thinking the GOP cares about us peasants - aka middle class servants . Wall St - powerful corps / Goldman B O A Chase are the new Kings They rule over their subjects ( us ) They profess to know whats best since we are not able to think for ourselves. Fox & Rush rule the GOP Mitt and Rick both wimped out -refused to condemn what Rush did for 3 long days on his show. He smeared & slandered this young women like she was dirt . .Many have agreed with Rush !! How can that be ? Are there that many women haters ? I was riding my bike and 2 young men yelled out the window of a car ' Move over you Fu....in Bitch !! Guess this is the new ' normal' Whats wrong with our young men that they say that to a woman of 65 or any woman ?
They broke up AT&T, why can't they break up the big banks???
As long as human greed is allowed to run amok, we are all SCREWED!
It is not scientific to say that energy is conscious--there's no science behind it.
Any person who thinks that any form of monopoly is good, either is part of one or is just not clear on what that truly means for the rest of us... Enforce the Sherman Antitrust Act!
Sally Pipes tells some great anecdotes, but has anyone investigated there voracity? For example, she says that her mother went to the doctor with blood in her stool and he responded by ordering an X-ray, then refusing to order a colonoscopy because there were younger patients with higher priority. Six months later, her mother went to the emergency room, cancer was confirmed and she died two weeks later.
I am sure this was very traumatic for Sally, but the anecdote does not have enough information in it to conclude that the Canadian system was to blame. How old was her mother? What was her overall health? When did this happen? What was the state of the art at the time? What is the probability that early detection would have changed the outcome? Did she try to see another doctor? Were there any other circumstances that might cause the doctor to not consider further investigation?
We all know stories of medical screw-ups, honest mistakes and just bad luck. That just proves our doctors are human, not super-human.
The Multi-Verse is Conscious
There need no be dispute between Mysticism and Science --
except that Science often lacks real respect for Life (as in ani-pal "testing").
If you travel in Quantum realms;
It is perfectly Scientific to Say that Matter is Energy and Energy is Conscious
Regarding the caller that mentioned that mathematicians were the first to dispute Darwins' theory of evolution. I took a lot of biology, cell bio, molecular bio, grad level, etc. I have seen this before. Problem is that the mathematicians considered random events, random distribution. They did not take into account molecular mechanisms of genetic variation, because nobody knew of them….That’s the danger in embracing the scientific ideals of a minority in the early 1860’s…
Wow, a really good list of common climate change deniers' arguments, and their rebuttals: http://www.skepticalscience.com/argument.php. And each rebuttal is a hyperlink.
Also on the subject of climate change, may I suggest "hypercapnically ugly"? Hypercapnia is the condition of having too much carbon dioxide (in your blood).
Nothing will be done. What has happened with the financial industry is symptomatic of capitalism. It seeks only wealth for the capitalists and all else be damned. From time to time "liberal" capitalists have suggested that the system would or could take care of everyone but that is not the way the system works --- it is a dynamic system for the creation of an abundance of wealth at the top and it is not a social welfare system or a system of charity.
That's not what Thom said though Mathboy, he said 400 years of slavery in America, and as I mentioned Thom is not the first I've heard that from. And yes I'm aware that slavery predates historical records and exists to the present day world (as does racism).
So there are two things about the Zimmerman/Martin case that I haven't heard discussed. The first is why was Trayon walking through a gated community, and how exactly is this neighborhood gated? Are there walls surrounding the perimeter with security gates, or is it merely considered gated because the neighborhood conforms to a set of common rules established by an association? I ask this just to understand the nature of regularity of someone walking through the neighborhood and what about it could be construed as irregular if at all. The second thing that I'm curious about is Zimmerman's early statements of the person looking as if he's on drugs? How does someone look like they're on drugs from even a short distance unless they are staggering, falling down or I don't know hopping into and out of bushes or something. I would like to how someone who has a can of Iced Tea and Skittles walking down the street can be claimed to look as if they're on drugs and no one asks the person making the claim what action his victim made to lead him to that conclusion?
Obviously the police have a lot to answer for, I'm amazed that they didn't cover their own butt by at least bringing Zimmerman in for an in depth interview as well as taking and perserving evidence at the scene.
N
It believe that was half a millennium of racism, not slavery, Maxrot.
Of course, slavery actually goes back much further. I have a world history atlas that shows overland slave routes in the year 900, going from sub-Saharan Africa to Muslim-occupied North Africa.
Thanks Thom, I'd been saying it was 70%. Geez I'm surprised it's only 52%
The fine-tuning of the universe goes with the Strong Anthropic Principle--that the universe was created in such a way that we can live in it. The Weak Anthropic Principle is that the universe is livable because if it weren't we wouldn't be here to see it. So far as I know, the fine-tuning is about life as we know it. With different values for the constants, other, unimaginable forms of life might be possible, although some values for those constants would lead to things like the universe not lasting long enough for life to arise, etc.
In cosmology, the fine-tuning is considered too much of a coincidence, so it has been hypothesized that there are many universes, all with different values to the constants.
Thom just mentioned that there were over 400 years of slavery in America.. but I don't understand how that can be possible. Jamestown was founded in 1607, the first colony of this country. Slavery was abolished in the 1860's. The difference isn't 400 years. It isn't the first time I've heard this number thrown out, is there a different point of reference? Is the number supposed to be going back to 1492 when Columbus arrived and started enslaving the indigenous peoples?
Just curious.
N
Re: Trayvon Martin, race, politics....
Racial identity is sometimes relative...George Zimmerman is the product of a white parent and a Latino immigrant parent.
My wife is an immigrant from Peru, and my grandparents were from Ireland & Germany. When in Peru, my daughter is definitely considered white (maybe with a little latin sabor). When in America, she is considered Hispanic. Cameron Diaz doesnt seem to talk about it much, but she is considered hispanic.
We should have to ask ourselves how different it would be if it was a white person shooting a white person, latino killing white; and why?
For those hoping to hear something from the White House, remember Elián González and the possible effect on the 2000 election. Tread carefully, Obama. The gun nuts could go crazy....
I don't mean to be off topic, but my story about Canada's health care is just totally in oposition to the woman speaking so ill of it.
I was on vacation to The Canadian Rockies, Banf and Calgary. As a US citizen, I became ill while on the trip. It apparently was a gall bladder attack. A friend in Calgary took me to the nearest clinic or facility. The Doctor saw me right away. He spen 30 minutes with me discussing my medical hystory. Gave me some usual cursury tests, was quite confident in his diagnosis. Gave me a medication to take and advice on seeing my own doctor as soon as I got home and what I should tell him about the incident.
As I was leaving the clinic I offered my Insurance card. . .they all smiled at me and said there was no charge.
It was a wonderful experience. I mean, I actually had a doctor sit and listen to me talk in great detail about my medical hystory and my current complaint for 30 minutes. And then there was NO CHARGE. Holy Cow!! I want this type of health care here in the US.
Everyone deserves it.
In Gunsmoke, the law of the wild west was that whoever draws first is guilty. In Florida, whoever shoots first is innocent.
So is the right of an employer wants to outsource jobs to save money more basic than my livelyhood? (Early trade policy seems to say no.)
Is the right of a factory to belch smoke next door more basic than my health?
Is your right to defend yourself against a perceived threat more basic than my right to get skittles?
I'm screwed because I don't have insurance because I can't get work. I apply for at least two jobs every week, but I'm over 50.
This atrocity will die in the Senate.
Unfortunately gender discrimination has been going on for decades in the pricing of health insurance premiums. In the early 1960s I considered buying health insurance from Mutual of Omaha. As I reviewed their literature, I learned that as a single woman I would be paying higher premiums than a man or married woman for coverage that did NOT include maternity benefits. I was outraged at the disparity, so I questioned the agent. The Mutual of Omaha representative surely thought [erroneously] that I was in desperate need of maternity coverage because his reply to me was a statement saying that if they gave maternity benefits to single women, the company "would be paying for every little bastard in the state of New York". He didn't care that my argument was about higher cost for fewer benefits. I bought no insurance from him or any other company. Another decade passed before I had coverage through a larger employer. Thank you for keeping this and other issues in front of us!!
It usually takes two paychecks now to support a family. If these Republican men who are trying to control women would like to earn twice as much, then maybe the women who are married would not have to work. Like it was in the 1950's and 1960's. They complain about free health care. Who will take care of the women who have all these babies they seem to want women to have? These men are threatened by womens' strength. It's natural for them to feel like that.
Mary,
There will always be anecdotes about the extremes. Remember, the 44 day figure as an average takes in some who can reasonably wait as well as the ones, (like your father and my mother, who were treated immediately as required. I'm happy to hear that your parents were well taken care of. That is how any system should work. I am guessing he had a good pension / retirement that continued his good insurance coverage, maybe a veteran? (both countries need to treat their veterans better, no excuse there) These days that appears to be rare.
Again, no system is perfect. I am just much happier with the Canadian system, as were my parents. I don't think Steven Harper will be a savior of anything.. isn't the conservative idea in favour of 'privatization' or that 'two-tier' system?
That walmart deal sounds great. I may have to cross the border to shop ;-)
I'm wondering if that is their fee for filling medicare prescriptions. As i understand it Canadian pharmaceuticals are cheaper than the US for the same drugs. I know there are bus trips into Canada for drugs.
Anyways, we may have some different examples but I do believe 'Sally' is wildly non-representative of Canadians' experience, as per polls and data.
Cheers,
Rick