Openthreadery:
I need the Latin translation of Douglas Adams' "Go stick your head in a pig". My own Latin is quite rusty, but I have come up with "Inserta caput in porco", assuming that caput has to be accusative and porcus dative.
Would "caput tuum" be better? Is the "in" necessary? Am I overlooking something basic?
Bad that it happened.
Good that it was not as bad.
Please recover soon.
John Stanning #99
Don't get me wrong, I do not believe that you proposed such a system.
I just argued against the idea. And, having now read the wikipedia article on the book - well. The book is obviously quite pro-monarchist and conservative, so this fits well with my thoughts about multiple votes.
Quote: "Everyone gets a basic vote. Other votes can be earned for education (including a commission in the armed forces), earning one's living overseas for two years, raising two children to the age of 14 without divorcing, being an official of a Christian church, or having a high earned income. The seventh vote [...] is only given at the Queen's discretion by Royal Charter."
And that is "seen as a necessary reform of democracy"? Sheesh.
eric #84: FWIW, in Germany, prisoners who are sentenced to a year or longer lose their passive voting rightfor five years, i.e. they cannot be voted into public offices.
The right to vote can be suspended for two to five years as part of the sentence for certain "political" felonies, especially treason, the forgery and falsification of ballots, the coercion, intimidation and bribery of voters.
Since that not only shows a lack of respect for the rules of society, but a clear contempt for the voting process, I think this is quite appropriate.
John Stanning #99
Such a system of multiple votes would be, of course, unequal. The only explicite voting system of this kind actually established (I know details of) was the 1909 one of the Kingdom of Saxony: Every male taxpayer of 25 years or older had one vote, men of over 50 years had another vote, men with a high school diploma got another vote, high income and/or big assets would give him up to three more votes.
This system (meant to combat the labour movement) did obviously try to cement the status quo, but it is hard to think of a mutiple vote system that would not explicitely do that. It must benefit the currently influential groups, of it would never be established, and so it will continue to further those who are most like the original ruling groups.
The hurdles for any democratic change would be high: Once there is a list of accomplishments that make someone a more worthy citizen than her neighbor, those worthy citizens have an disproportional influence on the processes that amend this list and will not like to reduce/dilute this influence. Representing new values born from societal development would be hard.
If for example the US had developed such a system in the 50s, it would probably have included that kind of bonus votes for good citizens that would give the world US presidents of the McCain mold, presumably.
And, apart from political leanings, how strong would the temptation be to give more votes to people who give the most to society, somehow leading to multiple votes for politicians, party members etc. i.e. "those who obviously care"?
No, I do not like this idea at all.
A few things I have forgotten, which may also be interesting: Among the things insurance has to pay for are contraception and brtns; but also artificial insemination. And also cosmetic surgery if indicated by a pssychological expertise. So it is definitely not just emergency-style care.
Concerning the costs: The employer has to pay the same amount as the employed. Since that is not optional, some employers try to weasel out of this obligation by outsourcing, employing pseudo-freelancers etc. So it is definitely not all good here.
Oh, and perhaps interesting for quite a few here: There is the Künstlersozialkasse ("Artists' Social Security Fund"). Membership is open to all self-employed people who live mainly from their earnings as musicians, composers, writers, journalists, critics, translators or copywriters. It is financed by a general contribution all publishers of the written word and music have to pay. This fund acts as the "employer" of its registered members inasmuch as it pays the employers' half of the insurance premium - the artist may still choose the insurance company he wants. It is seen as a very important institution in granting social security to freelance artists.
Some experiences with the German health care system:
Choosing your doctor is not influenced by your insurer at all, so you can decide where to go. Small catch: In each quarter of the calendar year, you have to pay 10 Euros the first time you see a doctor, so you will usually choose one regular general practitioner as Hausarzt. She or he will provide you with referrals to specialists, free of charge. If you see a specialist directly, it's those 10 Euros again at the first visit.
Für medicine, there is a co-pay of 10%, but not less than 5 or more than 10 Euros, mostly. Many insurers have a system that gives you a bonus when you pick one "personal" pharmacy. Plus, there is much political arguing over branded and generic drugs; the insurers would prefer if the doctors precribed mostly the latter. It can be a bit of a hassle if you are allergic against lactose and the only cheap genericum is lactose-based, but I had never problems a talk with the doctor could not solve (doctors may note on the prescriptions that no generic replacements are allowed, but that cuts into their money a bit).
By law, you do not have to spend more than 2% of you annual gross income for co-pay; 1% if you are treated for a chronic illness. When you reach the treshold, your insurer issues a small card you show to your doctor and pharmacist to prove you're exempted.
Note: that is not all you pay for your healthcare. Depending on the insurance company you have chosen (you must have one unless you are self-employed or earn ~50000 Euros a year), you pay nearly 15% of your income. Age or current health makes no difference. (So I really did not understand the US stuff concerning "undisclosed medical conditions" at all the first time.)
So basically, the maximum payment you may have to spend is 17% of your income.
Waiting times: In my experience, they depend on the individual doctor. Some are good physicians, some are (or hire) good organizers, some are both, some are neither. The good ones are more sought after, of course, but it is rare that a doctor does not accept new patients.
Usually, you get an appointment for the next day or a day later, often coupled with the offer to come right in and "bring along some time", since you may have to wait two or three hours without an appointment - unless it is an emergency, of course.
Waiting times for specialists are longer, of course, up to weeks or even two months. Usually it helps very much when your doctor phones the specialist. But generally, there are no waiting lists per se, you just ask for an appointment and get one, perhaps quite late. For all I have experienced, being put on a waiting list is for people needing replacement herats, livers odr kidneys. There always to little organ donors, so I have heard.
Hospital stay costs 10 Euros per day, for up to 28 days (unless you have reache co-pay exemption, of course). Some hospitals are communal, some are privately owned, some belong to the state, via an university they are part of. All serve bad food.
Oh, and some belong to a church, but in Germany, that does not mean much. In one Cologne-based hospital owned and run by a female monastic order, lots of flyers informed us proudly that they could now offer regular islamic spiritual guidance (by an imam) for the muslim patients.
I once had an additional insurance (basically inherited, premium ~ 15 Euros per month) that guaranteed "Chefarztbehandlung" (the head person of the whole internal or surgical medicine dep. would look at me, not the deputy chief), a single room and Krankentagegeld (I would receive about 25 Euros per day I had to stay in hospital). So when I had to go to the hospital; I decided that seeing the head guy was not worth it, I could forgo that part of the police for additionaly 15 Euros per day; so the two-months-stay paid quite handsomely, especially as I was able to continue my work on a laptop in that single room with a good locker. But did I mention that the food was really awful?
Mobility devices like wheelchairs, additional motors, walkers and those things must also paid by the insurer. There are some differences between insurers and their willingness to pay the more expensive devices; and it took us almost half a year of arguing to convince our insurer that my wife would fare better with a customized wheelchair and a handbike than an ordinary wheelchair; and you simply must not give up after the first negative reaction.
There a kind of rationing: A public list defines which treatments and procedures the insurers have to cover. E.g. homeopathic and most alternative medicine is not covered. Neither are some routine preventive measures like a scan for melanoma, which is quite bad. That does not mean you cannot get them, but you have to pay your doctor directly (prices are regulated). Consumer advocates are annoyed that in many practices the lists of these "special offers" are quite difficult to understand for a layperson, since useful prophylactics and pure cosmetics are not differentiated enough.
But all these reports about people dropping into bankcrupty due to getting sick, or having no job and therefore no decent healthcare; and very many of their countrypeople just accepting that, sound very ... I cannot find a word to describe it. A bit SFnal, as if it were intended to showcase a truly different, almost alien mindset.
Just a sudden thought: The whole concept of lawsuits is different here, too: Lawyers are not paid by hour, but proportional to the disputed amount, and legal expenses insurance is quite affordable. So while not many would *like* to sue an insurer over a rejected procedure or device, the thought is not as frightening as it seems to be in the US.
Oh, and regarding the buying of steaks:
A few miles away is a farm spezializing in raising cattle. Outside the old manorhouse they have a freezer; filled with all cuts of steak, beefburgers and other meat products. You can go there any time, since all you have to do is take the meat you want, add in your head the money you have to pay and put it on the small plate that stands beside the freezer. There is meat for approximately 200 to 300 Euros in the freezer and often there is about 50 Euros on the plate. And still it obviously works without any security measures.
But then, the same principle works for the strawberry-and-asparagus-cart near the road or the cheese and ice cream at the dairy farm.
I liked living in a city, but I love this "backwards" rural area more.
The best steak I can remember was a regular pepper steak i had warmed in the hot sunshine, cooked an an ordinary suitcase gas stove, accompanied by fresh maize bread and Aldi's caesar salad. Very far from fancy, but served with a wonderful view of the Veluwemeer, on a warm summer day, with the scent of recently mowed grass in the air and birds singing in the trees above. And in the company of a curious peewit eagerly kibbitzing.
In any case, in my experience even a cheap 10-Euro-gas stove will produce better steaks than any electrical stove.
Well, I am an continental European and still find it amazing that I am able to go to another country by local bus transit: I go on the bus (same kind as those that go to other suburbs) in Germany, fifteen minutes later I'm in the Netherlands. Astonishing. (Driving the car is of course an option, too.)
It is my birthday today as well, but that ist not purely coincidental: The caesarean had been planned for the 23rd, but then my parents learned that the most experienced doctor would go on vacation on the 21st. Since my mother explicitely wished to avoid saddling me with the date of Hitler's birthday, I was rescheduled for the 19th.
Which accidentally made be a born sceptic wrt astrology: Now I am an Aries, but without the doctor's vacation I would be an Taurus, apparently.
That is wonderful, Marilee. Very good news.
Martin Wisse @35:
So you're from Doetinchem?
Serge @92: While I am just as disappointed that no one has metioned the Jack Vance novel Servants of the Wankh ...
If I read it as a teen, it would have had the title "Unternehmen Milchstrasse" and I really cannot say if I did.
I *do* remember that at the age of twelve I understood a jocular statement that "after his famous expedition, Charles Darwin was able to prove that man had evolved from the beagle", without the ship's name being mentioned in the text.
Sten @ 21
While I have the advantage of having not to delve that deeply into US electoral politics, your post still moves me to write a reaction.
But since I have now browsed your other posts, I will keep it short.
You do not like the two-party-system, forcing you to choose between just two candidates, and think of staying at home since no candidate is exactly on your side. Those who support on candidate, hoping for the lesser evil keeping the catastrophical evil at bay, are un-nuanced tribalists.
This is a very high-minded and morally pure conviction, staying above the fray and all that. I sincerely hope that there will be very, very few people in the US who share it.
BTW: abi, do you happen to read "Elsevier" or know someone you does? I know their are suppossed to be an right-of-rthe-middle political magazine, but the last times I scanned it, they were just parrotting the GOP talking points (in their covering of the US election cycle, that is). Including an editorial mostly explaining why Palin's governordom and mayorship was indeed much better than everything Obama has done before.
That left me wondering a bit. One would think they would like their readers to respect their political judgement at least a bit.
j h woodyatt at #4
Palinvilles ?
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