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Interview With Chernobyl Engineer
An anonymous reader writes "New Scientist has posted an interview with a former Chernobyl engineer, Alexander Yuvchenko, who was not only there the night of the explosion, but is still alive today to tell about it. A fascinating recollection of some pretty heroic acts."
The guy describes beginning to vomit about one-and-a-half hours after being exposed, but he didn't think it was the radiation as he had eaten at The Red Lobster earlier that day.
Ghost Ride
Good thing you respond to comments from "certain Americans" with insults on all Americans. I know you have read ./ for a while, because you have mastered the anti-American sentiment.
Welcome to my friends list! Not often somebody has the guts to call the anti-Americanism for what it is as a non-AC.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
> I don't know where you got your figures from
... They may not get the best and most expensive treatment available ... anyone who needs treatment.
??? As if life expectancy figures are hard to come by. Heck, you can even get them from the CIA World Factbook, which has just the most basic information about countries. Seriously - what's next, "I don't know where you claim to have gotten today's DJIA" or "How did you get ahold of the US's population"?
> Do those figures take into account the different demographics of the two countries
No, but the fact that almost every last industrialized country in the world that has a socialized healthcare system has a longer lifespan, and that the *next highest cost* to the US is half of what we pay, does. 1 point of data isn't much, but it's the situation everywhere.
> it is a myth that people in this country are denied healthcare because of inability to pay
True, but misleading. True, if you can't pay, they are required to treat you anyway. However, it is also a fact that they'll hound you until they get payment if they think that there's any way they can get it out of you - they write off very few cases. This is why many people who don't have insurance don't go in for medical care.
In Britain, you *all* have some coverage, even if you're poor. The wealthy can pay extra for more than that basic service level. It is halfway between true socialized healthcare and the US system.
The numbers don't lie. People in industrialized nations with socialized healthcare live longer (often a lot longer), and pay far less.
No matter how kind you are, German children are kinder.