@44 Melissa Singer
dd?
Dunkin Donuts? Dungeons and Dragons? Who is their best friend?
My google-fu is failing me. Please help.
When I first read Rep Grayson's statements I was a little upset that "our side" was stooping to similar depths to "the other".
Then my wife asked my mother-in-law what she thought of Sarah Palin. Mother-in-law's response: "She's a little flaky sometimes."
I thought I'd see blood, my wife was biting her lip so hard.
Biting one's lip to avoid offense has gone on too long. We need people (if they're politicians, even better) to stand up and point out the horse-shit for what it is in monosyllabic, soundbites. No beating around the bush. No polite changing of the subject. Just: "That's horse-shit!!"
As for the imploding of The Right: I'll believe that when I see it. I think they'll make some gains today, but before this time next year I'm hoping the curtain will be pulled back and someone will be pointing, and shouting: "Horse-shit!"
Clerks at Home Depot, Lowes, or any large Megastore, are a craps shoot. I'm a white male in my 30s, that can look and talk "handy" if needed, and I'm still invisible more often than not.
What I have found is that if a clerk approaches you, rather than the other way round, they are extremely helpful. However, after a month or so, you will never see them again. My theory is that it takes these gems longer to perform menial tasks, due to customer service, so they are "let go".
Now I have no choice as our local hardware store just closed it's doors.
Lois Fundis @39 I actually used it both ways. So, by either account, I got it wrong.
Did I seriously just type an "it's"?
On Making Light?
"The Horror!"
Rymenhild @35: That's a good point. In one of the photos it shows everything from the first day and the cross is bent such that it's size is similar to the sword hilts etc...
Something else i found fascinating was just how close to the surface some of these items appear in the documenting photos. It's quite astounding that they have not been unearthed and possibly damaged by ploughs, or other farming equipment.
I'm guessing it was bent on purpose to fit in a chest/bag/basket as loot, and then buried for safe keeping. Just a guess mind.
I am very upset to hear some peoples local taxes in the US cover garbage collection, and mine don't! I live in a single family home and have to pay a garbage company/bin. Outrageous. I also have to provide a post light, so no street lighting!
As for co-pays they can really add up for a family of 4.
US, 40 hours/week
Tax 24%
Tax and health 30% (including dental and vision)
PA sales tax 6%
I was trying to write a post in which I would lay out my pay packet breakdown to show healthcare costs, but realized that doesn't include my employers contributions and my co-pays etc...
I am almost certain that the taxes I paid as National Insurance contributions etc... in the UK were way less (as a percentage) than I'm already paying now in the USA (not including my employers contributions).
I'd also have to say the healthcare provided is by no means superior. In fact BECAUSE healthcare is paid for by everyone for everyone in the UK, preventative care is preferred to keep costs down.
I've posted in the other healthcare thread RE: my son's healthcare experiences. I can't attest that UK healthcare would have done as good a job, but we would not have had to rely on a charity to pay our healthcare bills.
//ends rant
Thanks Xopher. We were lucky our pediatrician referred us to an oncologist that was recognized by the charity, as it's something of a zip-code lottery.
My wife is very active with on-line support for families dealing with pediatric cancer and she's seen the full gambit. It's really scary when parents and their children's doctors are trying to decide treatment based on what the insurance will cover, instead of what will work most effectively with minimal side-effects.
Sometimes it's not fancy drugs, but something as simple as protein shakes. When your kid drinks 3-4 a day, just to avoid a feeding tube, it adds up and it's not a medical procedure, so no insurance. But hey they'll cover the feeding tube!
Just so we're clear. I have really good health insurance, but costs not covered would still have taken the house, car, everything, if we had not had the charity there as our security blanket.
On rereading the above post @148, my last statement came off as a little "left-field".
I was referring to abi's reference to the Dutch system @62.
As the parent of a pediatric cancer fighter/survivor (we're 3 years post-chemo) I can attest to the cost of healthcare in the US of A. Fortunately my son was signed up with a charitable organization that covered 100% of hospital, drug, travel, etc..., that was not covered by my insurance company. However, I get to see all the bills before the charity pays them. Our family would have to have paid $30K a year simply in CT and MRI costs, or made the exceedingly hard choice of whether to forgo said scans. I thank the 4 Diamonds Fund every day for my boy's smile.
I've seen the failure of both US and UK systems firsthand, but at least the UK families didn't have to deal with bankruptcy after the drawn-out death of a loved one.
I like the sound of a national rate of insurance that can be subsidized by the government for those that need it.
Lee @ 282: Thank you. I think your last sentence is quite possibly the best explanation I've ever heard as to why any religion (or absence of religion) should be a personal choice and not open to other peoples judgments.
Reading now in preview, my response does not do you justice, but I hope you understand my meaning.
heresiarch @ 18: It does taste good, although I've always thought of it as more of a lighter wine cooler drink.
I also substitute tequila on occasion. It provides a sharpness that really brings out the zing of the citrus.
Patrick, may I recommend the roman port of Ostia Antica as a day-trip. I visited in my late teens, and was blown away. The fact that it was no longer anywhere near the coast was fascinating. Enjoy. Rome is an awe inspiring experience for both history and the preparation and enjoyment of food and drink.
abi, I had an American friend (from the US. USian?)who spent a year or two in The Netherlands. He had a beard similar to Patrick's which he shaved when he learned the Dutch name for said beard.
Can you confirm, as I've always assumed he was pulling my leg, the the Dutch phrase for a goatee is a reference to "Parting the C@%T"?
My initial shock was replaced by skepticism. However, slang words are often derived from innocent sources, so who knows?
From today's Daily Telegraph:
>"He is an interloper, a usurper, a fake, a scam artist, a Chicago crook, a recipient of bribes and gratuitous income for which he paid no tax, a socialist (perhaps only a communist or Marxist), and a grave danger to the future of the America that I love and have protected since I was 17 years old," Maj Gen Childers wrote in a statement on the website for Ms Taitz's Defend Our Freedoms Foundation.
Apart from the "Chicago crook" and the socialist claims, I thought he was referring to George W. Bush.
Where do they find these wingnuts?
Linkmeister @ 571: Oooo. I foresee a thread not unlike "Trilchy wings" where you guess the famous person from their "25 things about me".
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