Joann - # 875 -- It's not just XP
I have seen serious graphics slowdowns in non-browser activity as well, since a newly auto-installed set of patches for Vista from MS
nerdycellist -- try Sabra --it's an Israeli liqueir that is distilled from oranges, and has swiss chocolate added.
# 528 - Bruce Cohen
"..(President Obama is already being blamed in comments I read on one of the Texas newspaper sites)...
Of course -- it's simply by the virtue that Barack Obama is not G.W. Bush
To be a bit State/Commonwealth proud, I can look back, and realize that a shootload of really important progressive legislation was shepherded through the U.S. congress by three men of enormous talent and compassion, All representing Massachusetts in House and Senate: Ted Kennedy (Senator for 47 years (9 terms)), Tip O’Neill (Representative for 34 years (and two different districts)), and Joe Moakley (Representative for 28 years (14 terms)).
(one of the things that Moakley did, which is not widely recognized, was his attempt to block the legislative structure for uni-cameral legislative vetoes over action of the executive branch)
Terri # 135 --
Part of the denial may simply be, denial.
My father died from "complications" from esophageal cancer.
After he was admitted to the hospital for what would be the final time, it was obvious to all that he was going to pass fairly quickly. He was unconscious, all his vital systems were shutting down and not going to recover
The attending doctor offered that he could up the dosage of the opiate pain meds drastically for more effective palliative relief.
My mother was willing to give consent when my sister piped up and started ranting about how "he will become an addict!"
Now, admittedly, sometimes my sister skates close to the twilight zone, but I think this sense of denial of reality is some kind of defense mechanism that may be more common than many people want to admit.
John --
My 1960-s-bred paranoia says that this, indeed, may be "Obama's fault."
If the insurance company thinks it can create so much unease that it will get more people than the teabaggers afraid.
And, no, I do not feel that such a stratagem is outside the realm of current callousness.
John Stanning:
I did reply (see comment # 105 in this a thread)
The specific "other" ML troll I was referring to originally was Wyman Cooke in the "Shooting back" thread (http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/011504.html#358561) and his deliberate linking to a site that takes "exerpts" from Alinsky's book, and essentially tries to taint all who the site-owner dislikes as undesirables via guilt by association ( http://www.crossroad.to/Quotes/communism/alinsky.htm )
The website in question ( http://www.crossroad.to ) (where the page link is from) is the site for something that calls itself "Kjos Ministries" and also contains Three! count-em! Three! lists of the "Horrors in this healthcare bill" (http://crossroad.to/articles2/009/health-bill.html)
The site also contains numerous warnings about how Barack Obama is apparently in league with the UN in creating a New World Order.
You will excuse me if I view with some skepticism those who want to reference such sites as"authorative", or copy the smear tactics.
As ajay points out,it's the Alinsky nonsense being bruited about.
It's a standard tactic on the part of those who don't want a close look at corporate thuggery -- in order to distract the public, choose something outrageous, like "they're going to put grandma on an ice floe after 5 years" or "making health care more affordable and with better coverage will take money away from private insurers and leave it in consumer's bank accounts!" (oh,wait,that was supposed to end with "money away from private insurers) or "Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama have read a book my Alinsky so they are *radicals!*"
Thus distract from the fact that the financial institutions that just finished trashing our economy are again hiring people and offering huge guaranteed bonuses (doesn't that contradict the use of bonuses as "incentive?"), and that the conservatives are outright lying about the health care legislation being proposed, and that any plan that will get passed will be abysmal.
(# 200) Vlad The Sleepy Dog
-- Can't you come up with anything *original* when you go playing the troll?
-- And even stealing from other troll's comments in Making Light? (unless Vlad's user name is just playing sock puppet for pre-existing trolls)
Abi (# 150)
I could see that interpretation for some people, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case here.
The fact of the matter is, if we have universal access to health care there will be *no need* for treating people "off the books."
Same for the free samples of drugs.
I will happily admit that the practice of doctors getting free samples was the way that I got my meds for a while because I couldn't afford insurance (or the full price of the Rx) when I was unemployed.
Now, however, if I were become unemployed,under Massachusetts law, I simply have to provide some minimum of financial data and certify that the cost of COBRA is too onerous and I can get very subsidized insurance until I would be working again.
Again, under a universal coverage plan there would be no need for that strategy of using up the free samples.
The real worry about the coziness of the drug companies and the physicians is the other gifts -- trips, recreational tickets, etc.
Another one of the talking points the shills are pushing is that expenses at physicians offices relating to covered services will be subject to audit.
For some reason some people have an issue with the requirement that your service provider not be committing billing fraud.
The comeback someone at work gave me was that it was all a plot to keep doctors salaries down.
I looked at him and said, really? and it's supposed to be a *bad* thing that costs are kept down?
He then claimed that it was against the "free market way."
I then asked him if he and his family shopped at WalMart, and why? He said, yes, because he saves money. I then pointed out that that is exactly what Walmart does to its supplier -- if you want to be a vendor to that monster chain you have to open up your books to them, so you can prove that your operation is lean enough for their taste.
If you want the "market" to rule, you have to prove that both cases are not equivalent. Either you believe in the "market" or you don't.
And if you are going to claim that it's "different" for health care, you have to be willing to prove to me why health care is different, or admit that your argument is not really based on market" at all, but on manufactured-out-of-whole-cloth talking points and fear of "socialists."
Another argument I would have used, but I have to co-exist in the same workplace, would have been to get him to admit that he would stand there, and do nothing, if someone were to be having a heart attack in front of him, if they happened to be an "illegal alien."
For all the talk about the "poor make bad decisions" and "why should I pay for some illegal?" it comes down to their willingness to let people die, because, in the last analysis, "I got mine, f**k you."
You know, I was really expecting that I could have retire this poster by now.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5198/1737/1600/fascism_not_us_1.jpg
Silly me.
"..Conservatives like to say that if consumers had more say in paying health care costs directly, then market forces would come into play and slow the increase.."
What they will deny until the cows come home, but what they believe in their hearts is that the cost will come down because the ill people who need procedures will *die* and the need to pay for those procedures will be bypassed
One of the absurdities of the "system" is that at one point, when I was working for a temp contracting agency (IT services) I had elected to be carried on the agency's books as an employee, working on salary, and working (usually) 60 hrs/wk. That meant I was making about 30% less in salary than if I had elected to be considerd as a true "contractor," but I got benefits such as health insurance.
At one point, the company I was doing the programming and support services for offered me a chance to become one of their employees. there was, however, a catch.
I would have to wait for 6 months before I would be eligible to use any but the emergency services part of the insurance coverage, while still paying for the full monthly premiums.
Second catch -- my wife was then pregnant with our first child, after some reproductive health-related scares. The offered job's insurance coverage would not cover the pregnancy *at all,* even emergency services directly related to the pregnancy, becuase it was a "pre-existing condition." And even refused my offer to pay for the waiver to get the "condition" covered. I had to pass on getting that job.
So, yes, I am indeed in the position of knowing *just* what it is like to not be able to move up in one's profession because of fear of what may happen in the medical arena.
And I am at wit's end with these morons who are *approving* of the Brooks Brothers' Brigade doing astroturfing (amd it just happened here in Worcester (MA) when our local congresscritter tried to have a meaningful discussion with people).
One of those a******s had the gall to compare this disruption as something akin to what the "Sons of Liberty" did prior to the start of the American Revolution.
There are times I am very glad that I don't own a gun.
Emergency room waits --
When my 7-year old recently put his hand through a window he cut his thumb, not really badly (G/d looks after children, fools and drunks).
I, of course, panicked.
I took him directly to the ER, where they triaged his cut, put a temp bandage on it and told us to wait.
Waited about 4 hours, and then, within about 15 minutes, we was formally seen by a doctor, and they put in two stitches.
Would I have preferred that the wait was shorter? of course.
However, when we were waiting, I was looking over the pretty full waiting room, and wondering just how many of these people were there because they could not afford a "regular" doctor's care, and had to rely on the ER for routine care, or had to wait until something that could have been treated early turned acute.
I see rationed health care *now*, based on what procedures an insurer will approve, and on how long it takes for the insurer to make that determination.
I see a lack of choice of doctors now, based on what the insurance company will pay and who they select for acceptance as primary care and specialist providers.
They claim that the government will subsidize health care on their backs? it's already happening, when you have group plans, and those who are not ill pay premiums that pay for care of those who are ill.
Everything the conservatives claim that the government plans would happen happens *now,* under the private insurance system.
Well, we have a "business decision" that we can point to that is just as boneheaded as intentionally blocking 4Chan (even if AT&T had meant to do such)
The Chicago Sun Times a story up about a rental management company that is suing a former tenant for libel (claiming damages in exces to $50k) because the tenant made a comment on Twitter about mold in the apartment she was renting.
(see the following - http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/1687436,CST-NWS-twitter28web.article - Sorry, but I'm having trouble embedding the hyperlink).
So far, it looks bad publicity for the management company, especially since they attached the twitter transcript to their court filing and it shows (at the time of the transcript capture) the user has 20 followers.
But the real MBA-quality business decision was by the spokecritter for the familiy-run mangement company, when he stated, in an interview with the Sun Times:
"...the company never had a conversation about the post and never asked her to take it down.
"We're a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization," he said,..."
My head hurts just thinking about how dumb you have to be, and how hard you have to work, to disprove the "all publicity is good publicity" maxim.
D**n
I'm pining for my salad days when I had (a) more free time and (b) more expendable monies
these years I only make one con a year (ARISIA) and that one I am usually being Officious In Some Capacity.
But I really did like going to them. Besides the programming ("wait, there were panels to see?") there are the people (Wordcon: party where you renew annual acquaintance with 5,000+ of your most intimate friends -- at least 10% of you haven't met yet )
Like a lot of people in Fandom (Service Mark registered), though, I seldom get to see much of the programming, because I'd be working as a functionary of some sort, unless forcibly dragged off to be off-duty (Which I the only way that I actually managed to meet Andre Norton, Ann McCaffrey and pat McKillup) -- but being re-assigned at the last minute from something else was how I managed to finally meet Judith Merrill and Ursula LeGuin -- else the conventions they were at would all have gone by with my working other areas)_
I see from the 2nd clip (the view of the slidewalk and it's denizens from a stationary position) that even in that early stage of moving pictures, people were prone to mugging for the camera - witness the two messenger boys who are told (at least twice) by some officious person in a uniform to buzz-off, and the fellow who hops aboard and doffs his hat for the camera.
I also see that the slidewalk had both low-speed and less-low-speed belts.
I'm straight.
I don't understand the urge to same-sex congress. Nor the various poly arrangements (if nothing else because I have enough trouble keeping an even keel with just one partner) But my attitude is "so what? Leave 'em alone and stop trying to f**k these people over"
Now, I cannot reliably say that that sympathetic attitude is based on "liberal tolerance," "Christian charity" or the fact that I have LGBT friends and associates, but my attitude is there, nonetheless.
I also think that the rights should be guaranteed at the *federal* level, rather than the state, because it just devolves down to a bigoted separate and unequal treatment.
I really want to see the current business-centric US Supreme Court majority have their little heads start to unscrew when they try to reconcile the settled law that treats marriage as a contract between two parties, and the need to view those contracts under the Full Faith and Credit clause. Which is already part of settled law, because "straight" marriages are already considered as valid contracts in all states.
(88 - Nix) & (#80 praisegod barebones)
The Anglican church right now is very all-inclusive (not as much as the UU church, but pretty loose for most part) ('though I was raised a Papist I attend American Episcopal Church these days)
{soapbox}
Even though the US does not have a state religion, the default bias is toward christian of some stripe, and the militant evangelicals are trying to cram *their* interpretation of The Way Things Should Be on everybody else. Including reinstating criminal penalties for *being* LGBT. Some are pushing to get commerce shut down on Sundays (again) while moving to penalize adherents to those religions that have a different Sabbath Day by refusing to recognize the legitimacy of a non-Sunday day of worship. They also want to allow discrimination in hiring based on religion,including barring (currently) Muslims from civil government jobs, and from the military. Many of these same people would relegate women in society to their "proper place" in society as well.
Thank you, but I don't want *any* religious authority embedded into the secular power web. The examples of what can (and has) gone wrong is embedded plainly in the historical record.
The use of a state religion to be a check on bigotry and radicalism is just a "band-aid," which ignores the underlying issues of ignorance and intolerance. Somewhat like the repressive communist regime in Yugoslavia was able to keep sectarian and neo-nationalist activity down, and as soon as Tito died the federation started to slide into chaos, because the underlying issues were never addressed.
{/soapbox}
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2009 | 45 |
| 2008 | 72 |
| 2007 | 22 |
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