Real-Life Frogger Ends In Hospital Visit

BigSes writes "A 23-year old man has been hospitalized after police in South Carolina say he was hit by an SUV while playing a real-life version of the video game Frogger. Authorities said the 23-year-old man was taken to a hospital in Anderson after he was struck Monday evening. Before he was hit, police say the man had been discussing the game with his friends. Chief Jimmy Dixon says the man yelled 'go' and darted into oncoming traffic in the four-lane highway. Has it come time to ban some of the classics before someone else goes out and breaks a few bricks with their heads after eating a large mushroom?"

Comments

Stupid is as stupid does.

[mmcxii]

The hospital was sad to announce that the patient is expected to live, letting yet another idiotic gimp to roam the streets.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[dwarfsoft]

First thing I thought of was the oblig. xkcd.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[abednegoyulo]

Of course he will live. He still has two lives left!

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[bwayne314]

Now everyone will know where at least $0.000001 of their taxes will go for the next 60ish years.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[oldhack]

Yeah, sometimes, natural selection comes up short. But sooner or later...

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[RabbitWho]

arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh

really? You have no sympathy for another human being whatsoever? I'd rather be missing intelligence than missing empathy and basic human kindness

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[bwayne314]

And also ... 23?!?! that's way outside his generation gap, did his parents home-school him in the basement with some old arcade machines? If any normal 23 year old were to die from videogame influence today, then it should be from something like WoW or Farmville!

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Penguinshit]

Sorry, douchebag. The new rules would ensure he has insurance so we don't pay for him in unpaid emergency room expenses which raise costs for the rest of us.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[TheDarAve]

The money for insurance for those that haven't paid for their own has to come from SOMEWHERE... Guess who gets THAT bill? I'll give you a hint, its not the recipient of the substandard insurance that the government mandates.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Penguinshit]

When some "friend", enraged by incessant requests to "water his crops", gets his address from his profile and burns his house down while he sleeps.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

Really? You think this assclown deserves sympathy? He's lucky only he got hit, I can see several drivers freaking out and swerving, slamming in to other cars and causing a much larger accident. He better be jailed for this crap, and pay his own damned hospital bills. Insurance premiums for all of us shouldn't have actuarial tables that account for intentional acts of stupid.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

And if he'd not been insured or covered in any way, do you think the hospital would just go "crap" and not pay the doctors, suppliers of medicines, etc, involved in treating this incident?

No. No they would not. They would just do what they've always done, and jacked up the prices for everyone else, until the hospital was no longer taking a loss.

Emergency room medical costs of those who can't afford it will always be payed by the rest of society, either explicitly and easily predictably and fairly by government mandate, or implicitly and moderately predictably and less fairly by the costs of everyone else who uses that hospital/ER.

In one of those scenarios, the overhead of the system is like 2% of the costs of the overall healthcare system (e.g.: Canada). In the other, it's like 25% (e.g.: U.S.).

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, keep calling it "Obamacare". And I bet you think liberals are smug, don't you?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Penguinshit]

I am a recipient of that government insurance and the difference between the negotiated rate (similar to private insurance) and the "raw" rate is often up to 50%. And with insurance people can get preventive care which is very much cheaper than ER visits when conditions get severe. Try again?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

The hospital was sad to announce that the patient is expected to live, letting yet another idiotic gimp to roam the streets.

Fortunately the hospital was able to perform an emergency vasectomy while the patient was unconscious so the gene pool is safe.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[BeanThere]

Um, I don't think you know how health insurance works. If this guy has paid, say, $2000 for health insurance, and his little foray racks up $20,000 in hospital expenditures, then we have paid the other $18,000 as the other insurance pool members. Where do you think the money comes from, the big money tree in the back of each hospital? I am working on the assumption that someone this idiotic probably would not have been covered if he wasn't forced to pay.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[harlows_monkeys]

And thanks to the new Obamacare we all get forced to pay for the healthcare of idiots like this.

You should probably learn how health care works in the US before further embarrassing yourself on this subject.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

It will be Obama's signature act for his entire first term. Reid and Pelosi were certainly stumping for it, but he had the bully pulpit. And now, all he's got is Obamacare, and you're going to try to pretend he had nothing to do with it?

Unbelievable. Being a liberal means you never take responsibility for anything you do.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Arivia]

You were already paying for "them." That's how insurance works: balancing the people who won't need payouts against those who will.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[BeanThere]

Personally I think if someone totally uncovered comes into an emergency room, the hospital should put them back out on the street. Call me heartless, but if you want cover, work hard for it like I do.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

I wouldn't call you heartless, I would call you legitimately the most worthless human being on the planet.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

So, you were in a car accident through no fault of your own, in the ensuing wreckage your wallet/ID has been destroyed. You want the hospital to identify you by fingerprinting or dental records before they start with the painkillers and blood transfusions? Seriously?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Penguinshit]

That's the same regardless of "Obamacare". Having a fatal condition gets one a deeper lesson in insurance than should ever be necessary.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[icebraining]

I am working on the assumption that someone this idiotic probably would not have been covered if he wasn't forced to pay.

That's a pretty big assumption. We have no idea if he had done anything like this before. And even if he did, if there wasn't police involvement how would the insurance company know?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[BeanThere]

I would call you legitimately the most worthless human being on the planet.

So let me get this straight, because I work hard and pay my OWN way in life, and because I don't expect anyone else to pay my way unfairly, and I ask only the same from others, I am "the most worthless human being on the planet"? That makes no sense whatsoever. I guess that sums up your moral philosophy loud and clear.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

1) Work hard and pay insurance for dozens of years
2) Get sick
3) Stop being able to work because of sickness
4) Stop paying insurance due to being fired
5) Get insurance canceled
6) Stop getting treatment
7) ???
8) Die.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

You're absolutely right. We wouldn't be paying for his emergency room expenses through increased hospital costs. Instead, we'd be paying for his emergency room expenses through increased insurance premiums. (Here's a clue: when people have insurance, they're more likely to go to the hospital for trivial problems, so more people with insurance means more expenses for insurance to pay.)

Or did you think that if he had insurance then all of a sudden the expenses would just disappear?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[SydShamino]

You're attracting flames because you are acting so smug, thinking you're totally in control of your own life. You aren't. Some people figure this out on their own, and then at least respect those that have fallen. Others, perhaps like you, need to be T-boned by a guy with no insurance, then screwed over by your own insurance company, while trying to manage the onset of cystic fibrosis, before they realize that sometimes bad things happen to good people.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

Having a fatal condition gets one a deeper lesson in insurance than should ever be necessary.

Life itself is a fatal condition, and it is sexually transmitted...

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Penguinshit]

That's already true and was true in 2008 before the election. Insurance negotiates rates with hospitals, etc. (based on Medicare rates), so what was your point again?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[SydShamino]

... and yet you neglect the likelihood that, because of Obamacare, the guy retains his health insurance for the next 30 years, paying in $60,000 over that time.

Most people have to visit the ER a few times during their lives, and yet most people don't use as much as they've paid for insurance until the last six months of their lives. The odds are good that, assuming he recovers and has gained some common sense, he will now contribute back his own costs and more over his life, until near the end.

Of course those expenses at the last six months are mostly unnecessary and unwanted by the dying anyway, but planning for that%H%H%H%H%H%OMG NAZI DEATH PANELS!!!!

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh really? You have no sympathy for another human being whatsoever? I'd rather be missing intelligence than missing empathy and basic human kindness

i have compassion for a human being who is an innocent victim of someone else's wrong-doing and suffers through no fault of his or her own.

when it comes to people like this guy, i have compassion for the poor SUV driver and the trauma that person had to endure. i have compassion for the human race when i see there are too many people like him who drive, vote, believe propaganda, call tech support lines and otherwise inflict their idiocy on others.

mother nature only ever came up with one cure for stupidity. i don't believe mankind is going to one-up mother nature, not this time.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[magarity]

Sorry, douchebag. The new rules would ensure he has insurance so we don't pay for him in unpaid emergency room expenses which raise costs for the rest of us.

So does that mean hospital expenses will suddenly plummet as all the people who previously didn't have insurance no longer go to the emergency room for their kids' sniffles on the taxpayers' tab?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[magarity]

Here's a clue: when people have insurance, they're more likely to go to the hospital for trivial problems, so more people with insurance means more expenses for insurance to pay

More like people who have insurance are more likely to go to their family practitioner. People who don't have insurance are more likely to go to the hospital emergency room because the hospitals are prohibited from turning anyone away for anything.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[harmonise]

If this guy has paid, say, $2000 for health insurance, and his little foray racks up $20,000 in hospital expenditures, then we have paid the other $18,000 as the other insurance pool members.

Yes, that's how all types of insurance work. The point the parent was making was that if this guy does not have insurance, then the hospital has to treat him and, since he's uninsured, the taxpapers foot the bill for 100% of his hospital costs. Under Obamacare he'd be required to purchase his own insurance thereby sparing the taxpayers the burden of paying for his hospital stay.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[copponex]

The reason aspirin pills are $10 in hospitals is because of massive inflation of prices to cover the high ratio of emergency room visits that cannot be paid for by the person in the emergency.

Single payer healthcare of course costs money. It's your choice to decide if some person in an accident needs to 1) have health insurance and 2) prove that before they are allowed to be treated. It's your choice to deny someone health care for some treatable illness that is not life threatening until it is life threatening enough to warrant an emergency room visit. Basically, you'd like people without insurance to be put down like dogs, that's fine. Just remember being patriotic used to mean giving a shit about your fellow citizens, not throwing their lives away to reduce your taxes slightly.

Hopefully you will lose your job, run out of savings, and get into a car accident and die in a hospital parking lot. It's too bad that sort of awesome justice doesn't happen very often.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[CycleMan]

The reason aspirin pills are $10 in hospitals is because of massive inflation of prices to cover the high ratio of emergency room visits that cannot be paid for by the person in the emergency.

There are at least two reasons you're overlooking for the cost of those pills. First, each one of those is hand-carried by a loving and thoughtful nurse who has triple-checked this against your other medications. It's like room service in a hotel except they also verify that what you ordered is actually good for you. That's a big labor cost. Second, the hospital and everyone on staff there has insurance as well, malpractice insurance. This is so that if they make a mistake and bring you aspirin instead of tylenol, or if they bring you aspirin and unknown to them you have a blood-thinning condition that is exacerbated by aspirin, and then your next of kin sues them for killing you (rightly or wrongly), they don't have to close the entire hospital or sell their home to defend themselves in court.

And by the way, that lawsuit-happy culture is responsible for a lot of the cost of other products as well. Insurance is half the cost of helmets for kids playing American football, because of the risk of injury and the likelihood that the parents will sue the helmet maker "because that's where the money is." So kill all the lawyers and take responsibility for your own medication dosing, and then the aspirin will cost under $10 each.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[TapeCutter]

"I work hard and pay my OWN way in life, and because I don't expect anyone else to pay my way unfairly"

Unfair? Your blind greed and selfishness is being used aginst you. You're paying insurance companies 10X what an Aussie pays their government for a better service.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[joocemann]

You are under what is called the "illusion of meritocracy".

It's a delusion that many people encounter where they feel they achieved everything of their own merit and pay no recognition to the vast community and social efforts that actually made it all possible.

Now please explain to me how you would get to work without the roads that WE paid for. You said you pay your own way but I"m pretty sure you didn't pay for all the roads you use. Go ahead and humor me, the truth of the world will give me thousands of examples to embarrass you with.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Cazekiel]

There's gonna be a rumble tonight...

A whole lotta trash-talkin' tonight...

But no punches will be thrown tonight--

--Cos' it's a slashdot comment fight!!

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwbeddZ9aKI ... shut up, it applies.)

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[dangitman]

Call me heartless, but if you want cover, work hard for it like I do.

What evidence do we have that you actually "work hard"? You might have just been lucky and/or privileged. I'd wager that there are people who work much harder than you do, but don't get paid enough to afford decent insurance. By your logic, shouldn't they be more entitled to insurance, because they work harder than you?

Or what about children who belong to parents who can't afford insurance (or are orphans). Should we just let them die and suffer because a 12-year-old didn't save enough money from their paper route to pay for insurance?

I guess the moral of your story is that we should all just worship the insurance companies, and let them control people's lives. Screw compassion or human dignity, it's all about making a buck.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[sjames]

I'd like to be more accurate than that. You're a psychopath. Please get out of the gene pool just in case that's genetic!

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Sulphur]

They can put him on the fifth floor, orthopaedic and psychiatric, or nuts and screws.

If he gets better and starts walking around, then they can ask him which he is.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

Because he remembers what America is really about. Maybe they will teach that to you someday in your indoctrination center.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

protip: if you can't afford kids, don't have them. This applies to other things, too, such as houses, big TVs in every room, cars, etc.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[icebike]

arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh

 

Won't somebody please think of the idiots!!!???

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[fishbowl]

What is the evidence that he was literally "playing frogger" as opposed to just seriously foolish extreme jaywalking? The police chief says he yelled "Go."

On that, we get "frogger?" And how does this police chief know that anyway?

I see people doing this same crazy thing, that is crossing 4 or 6 lanes of traffic when the ambient speed is in the 50 mph range, and I call it "Frogger" whenever I see it. But I also can recognize that these people are crossing the road because the alternatives can add a half mile or more to their walk, not because they are playing a game.

I'd like to hear the guy's own thoughts about he was doing. Playing frogger or just trying to get across a dangerous road (which is "playing frogger" either way).

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[fishbowl]

And when they die on the sidewalk outside the hospital, I suppose neither the hospital nor the city should be responsible for cleaning up and disposing of the carcass, right?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[fishbowl]

I wonder how certain he is that he is paying all of his insurance premium, and that it is in no way subsidized by public money.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

Good job you can come up with a specific hypothetical situation that can invalidate an argument, guess what I can do that also and even if you were able to come up with a real example I can come up with the damages your solution would cause so while it may suck for that person what about the other 300 million people in the US effected (sense the article is in the US I use it as the domain of the problem). Call me heartless but there is no perfect solution and any solution your provide will also provide damages.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[fishbowl]

It's all variations on the same theme:

1. Be born
2. Live for a finite period
3. Die

In the big picture it really doesn't matter what you do. Unless you're part of figuring out how to make the species independent of the Sun sometime in the next 5 billion years, nothing you do is important.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[an unsound mind]

You should really just stop posting or talking or interacting with people unless they're psychiatric medical professionals.

You are a sociopath. You should be locked up. For life.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[fishbowl]

I love how anything to the left of utterly sociopathic whackjob is "socialist ideology".

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[an unsound mind]

Having a condition that would be fatal without expensive surgery - and having the govt pick up the bill - is one of those things that makes one really, really glad about living in a socialist (mixed-economy) country.

And really makes the situation in the US look utterly, thoroughly disgusting.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[fishbowl]

>taxpapers foot the bill for 100% of his hospital costs.

You're assuming that all defaulted costs actually get paid, let alone paid by taxes.
Long before the "taxpayers" get the bill, the cost will be settled relative to operating cost, not the profit-driven markup that was originally billed. That still sucks for the practitioner/institution, but it's not the the same as having it paid straight from the Treasury.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[fishbowl]

You're all making it far more complicated. Pricing of hospital services is not complicated. It's based on a demand curve, and it's consumer pricing at the level that the market will bear. There are some complications, including some regulations on pricing, institutional rules, etc., but the fact that so many people are on group insurance plans that will actually pay these inflated prices contributes a lot to the demand curve.

The people who attribute it all to "malpractice insurance" are rarely actually running the books of a practice themselves.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[fishbowl]

>It will be Obama's signature act for his entire first term.

First term as President of the United States.
What all did you get done from 2009-2010?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[protektor]

Yea got to love government rationed health care. It is rationed because there is only so much to spend on it each year, it has a budget. It isn't infinite money to spend on health care every year. I would hope at some point they say that you can't get any more health care so others can get some, rather than do without because a few people are hogging it. That gets you long waiting lists for the really expensive treatments and surgeries. Does the government handle all medical research in socialized medicine? I can't imagine too many companies wanting to do research when the government tells them how much they are going to get paid for a new drug or new medical device or whatever. Since the government is the only one buying the services they can then set the prices for what they pay suppliers.

Doesn't sound like the best possible system out there to me.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[dangitman]

So, the children of people who make this mistake, should be just thrown in the trash, because of the mistakes of their parents?

Notice also that I mentioned orphans. Rich people can die and leave behind children too. Aside from death, people who currently can afford kids may run into financial misfortune.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[protektor]

He does pay his way because the people who make the roads have set an amount that he should contribute each year in the form of taxes and he pays that in order to use the roads. So he is paying exactly what the road makers tell him he should pay. It is even more directly true when you talk about toll roads. If he paid for the entire road he could tell people piss off and make your own road like I did. That isn't practical so one company, the state/city, owns all the roads and charges everyone a percentage/price to use them. The same exact thing is true for fire, police, water, electric, and just about everything else. So he is paying his way. We all pay for it in some form or fashion. All that stuff isn't free/no cost. How do you figure that he isn't paying his way? Anything else you need explained to you?

I swear that is one of the most illogical arguments I have heard in awhile.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Gunnut1124]

Idiot.
Reject those socialist police and firefighters next time you are robbed or your house is burning. Health care should be synonymous with safety from grievous personal and property harm. Society has an investment to protect.

Most other nations recognize this, but, for some reason, people like you have decided to hold up here in the states.
Plz either change your mind, move away, or at least shut up while the responsible and compassionate hard working professionals among us try to help. kthxbye

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[drsquare]

Fortunately, other countries with universal healthcare have lower insurance costs. It also means that when you get run over by an uninsured driver you're not totally fuckied.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

But it's the same money. Either the so called tax-payers pay the bill or his co-insured pays the bill. What's the difference? It's the same amount of money and it's the same people paying the bill.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[protektor]

No they shouldn't. It isn't his fault that they chose a different job that pays or is worth less than what he gets paid to do. Not everything is even or the same. People are not the same. I don't know where this idea came from that somehow everyone has to be made the same. That has never been what America has stood for since the beginning. You are promised life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Nowhere in there does it say you were promised a job, a house,health insurance, a family or any of these other things people somehow think are a right. You can pursue your happiness but the government isn't *REQUIRED* to give you whatever it takes to make you happy. You have to go out and work your ass off to get the things that make you happy. You can start your own company, take all the big risks, and then become rich. That is how it works in America.

You are not entitled to pull the rich down and steal from them because you think they make too much. They took huge risks that you wouldn't take. So they deserve the reward of those huge risks and hard work. This idea that most rich were given their money is complete crap. There are more millionaires who made their money in their own lifetime than those who were given their money. You want to be rich then figure out a service or widget to sell to the public and start your own company. Yes it's scary because you could completely fail and loose a lot of money, and you may not have insurance at first, and you don't just work 40 hours a week. Yep there is a lot of risk and whole lot of hard work, but there can be a lot of rewards as well if you do it right. Without risk there is no reward.

We should hold the parents of the kid responsible who decided to have a kid and couldn't afford all the costs of actually having a kid. Just because you decided to have a kid doesn't mean I should have to pay for your kid. It doesn't take a village to raise a kid, it takes parents who are willing to sacrifice for their kids, and who are involved in every aspect of their child's life. I know sacrifice is an evil word these days, and no one wants to do it because it's hard. If you can't be bothered to keep up with everything your kid is doing, then don't have kids. Don't make the rest of us pay because you can't be bothered or because you think it is too hard. If you can't or don't want to deal with kids then don't have kids. It's real simple. Take some personal responsibility people.

Orphans have insurance or get medical care from private charities and doctors who donate their services to charity run orphanages. This idea that orphans don't get help is a myth. They get more help than you could ever imagine. I have seen it first hand, not something I read somewhere. I know of several charity run orphanages that get huge amounts of money donated to them to keep the running properly, and no they don't get any government money either. These orphanages run just fine and are actually great places for the kids. Many have grown up there and come back and donated because of how they changed their lives for the better. An example of how private sector does just as well if not better than the government does.

It is not compassion when you steal from me by threat of violence, forcing me to pay for you or your kids when I may or may not want to do that. That is theft by threat of violence by the government. Pay your taxes to deal with these people who don't pay or we will throw you in jail. This government charity has got to stop. People already give more to private charities that do far more for the poor than the government ever does or could. The depth and breath of private charity services is amazing once you start looking at all the different options out there. Not to mention the fact that private charities manage their money far better than the government ever has. The government has never been able to do anything better than what the private sector does. This is even true in charities.

The moral of the story is that we don't need the government to take care of us. That

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Miseph]

Protip: if your parents can't afford you, don't get born.

I can see that one working out pretty well.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Miseph]

"how health care works in the US"

The first thing to remember is that it doesn't. From there, it's pretty much a study of how badly we're getting fucked from all angles.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

And thanks to the new Obamacare we all get forced to pay for the healthcare of idiots like this.

Out of curiosity, have you never done something stupid in your life that should have earned you a maiming, but got lucky?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[protektor]

Yep and those end-of-life costs which are the highest is exactly where the government is now asking doctors to help them drop the costs. They want doctors to talk with patients every year about end-of-life management in health care. The government is pushing doctors to help them lower costs by watching the level and amount of services offered at this most expensive health care moment. This is a very bad thing. They are putting doctors in a bad spot where they have to do what is best for their patient and at the same time not piss off the government. I don't see any of this ending well at all. I see this as the government saying, wink wink nudge nudge, tell them not go for the heroic life saving methods or any of the expensive stuff, just paint it like they are going with dignity. This is a terrible position for the government to put doctors in, and the government should be ashamed of themselves. So in a way this could be a form of death panels.

In socialize medicine you absolutely have death panels. You have to ration health care because you only have so much money each year. So you can't always give everyone everything they want or need. So you have to decide who gets what treatments and how many of them. So by not offering certain services to some people because the money just isn't there, they are in fact letting some of them die because it is too expensive otherwise. This is a fact of limited money. Private insurance companies can go get loans if needed to tied them over. The government already spends more than they get and will hit the debit ceiling in a few months if it isn't raised, so the government borrowing money isn't exactly a realistic thing just for health care. Government run health care will be told to deal within their budget just like all other socialized medicine countries. If an insurance company won't pay for a procedure you can try and sue them to get it. You can't sue the government if they won't give you a procedure. So yes socialized medicine is also very much death panels.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[protektor]

Actually that is not true at all. It is clear you haven't dealt much with medical billing and medical insurance on the other side of the window. The reason costs for paying by cash/no insurance are so high is not because of dead beats coming in through the ER. It is because the "original" costs are used to justify to insurance companies why hospitals and doctors should be paid more, because they are "discounting" the service to the insurance company, so they can get that insurance companies business and be one of their official doctors or hospitals. Dead beats are actually a small percentage of the amount of billables that a hospital or doctor has.

This absolutely stupid because there is actually less overhead and less paperwork dealing with someone who pays cash. Yet the guy who is willing to pay cash upfront or cash the second he leaves the hospital, he pays double sometimes triple what the insurance companies pay. That is complete crap, but that is how it works.

So when you say the uninsured cost an average of $3,000 (or whatever the amount is) per ER visit. Realize that that number is wildly inflated by the hospital compared to what they would have received from an insurance company for the exact same services.

Don't believe me? Call up your local hospital and ask them for a price on a procedure without insurance paying by cash. Call them back a few days later and ask them the cost of the same procedure with your insurance company, tell them you need to know the amount charged because you have a ceiling on your policy. If you don't tell them that they will tell you not to worry about it and tell you what your co-pay is. You will see there is a huge difference in the amount the hospital actually gets between the two.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[protektor]

Negotiated rates with insurance companies is why cash patients get screwed and the hospitals know this and don't care. This is why when people quote the costs of uninsured ER visits the numbers are hugely inflated compared to what hospitals are paid by insurance companies. So this idea that hospital are losing massive amount of money to the uninsured is complete crap. It's a myth and if you look at public hospital balance sheet you will see this. If you know someone on the board of a private hospital who can get you this information for the private hospital, you will see the exact same thing.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[protektor]

Actually that isn't true. You need to reread the law on this. Hospitals can't turn you away if it *LIFE THREATENING*. If you come in with a cold they can turn you away if they want if you don't have insurance. Most private hospitals won't do that because of the possible negative PR, but legally they can. Private hospitals can also stabilize you and transfer you to public hospitals as well if you don't have insurance.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[protektor]

Actually the public doesn't pay for people with no insurance when they go to the ER typically. The reason is most hospitals are private hospitals, so the tax payer never gets involved when the private hospital can't collect a debt. You might want to read up on how private medicine works in this country, since most of it is private medicine, rather than public government hospitals and doctors.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[unkiereamus]

More like people who have insurance are more likely to go to their family practitioner. People who don't have insurance are more likely to go to the hospital emergency room because the hospitals are prohibited from turning anyone away for anything.

That's not actually quite true. The EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act) mandates that any patient presenting to an ER that receives Medicare reimbursement must be evaluated, and receive any treatment necessary to stabilize them sufficiently that they are no longer in danger of losing life or limb (roughly, the actual language is denser, but that give you an idea.)

There are a few other laws which chime in about making ERs see patients, but EMTALA is the big one. What this means, then is that if you come in with a sniffle, or any other "trivial" problem, the ER is obligated to evaluate you, but then they can punt you back to the street once they're done with that, if you're not going to croak.

Now, here's where it get's a bit tricky, people who work in emergency medicine, by and large, believe whole heartedly that every patient deserves the best care...they're sick, we're here to make them better. Everything else is administration's problem. Combine that with the fact that triage and the MD's eval are usually the largest part of the expenses for a "trivial emergency", and we wind up treating pretty much anything that walks through the door.

Sorry, that was perhaps a trifle pedantic.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[myster0n]

So that's why he didn't croak !

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Cwix]

If all the healthy people have insurance, they the insurance pool gets larger. This spreads the risk, and can make insurance cheaper. Well until the insurance execs jack up their own bonuses to even things back out. This is why a lot of people wanted government insurance. The idea was that there were no shareholders or CEOs that have to be paid if the gov was running the show. Therefore more money would go towards care, and less to lining pockets.

If it would have worked that way or not I dont know. But thats the premise as I understand it.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[dangitman]

No they shouldn't. It isn't his fault that they chose a different job that pays or is worth less than what he gets paid to do.

They chose? People at the bottom of the socio-economic scale don't have a lot of choice in jobs. And in fact, it might be partly his fault for people's lack of job opportunities depending on how he votes, etc.

Not everything is even or the same. People are not the same. I don't know where this idea came from that somehow everyone has to be made the same.

I never suggested everybody needs to be made the same. Just that we shouldn't be so cruel as to let people die in the street if they can't afford insurance. I'm not sure where you are getting this idea that I think people should be "made the same" from.

You are not entitled to pull the rich down and steal from them because you think they make too much. They took huge risks that you wouldn't take.

Bullshit. Many rich people have never taken a risk in their lives. Did Paris Hilton work really hard and take risks to get all of her money? Also, it's generally the poorer workers who help make the rich people's fortune.

We should hold the parents of the kid responsible who decided to have a kid and couldn't afford all the costs of actually having a kid.

So what do we do when the parent is dead or otherwise can't take responsibility? Pointing fingers and blaming people isn't going to save the problem.

Orphans have insurance or get medical care from private charities and doctors who donate their services to charity run orphanages.

So, that's going to solve all the problem, private charities? It doesn't appear to be working very well.

It is not compassion when you steal from me by threat of violence, forcing me to pay for you or your kids when I may or may not want to do that.

Oh, threat of violence. That's funny. You live quite comfortably isolated from the actual threat of violence, while the poor deal with it as a daily threat. By "threat of violence" you actually mean "a few dollars of my taxes."

The government has never been able to do anything better than what the private sector does.

Except for the roads, the fire departments, health services, etc? Do you know what happened when fire departments were privately-run? They went around starting fires to get business. Public health services seem to do quite well outside the US, lowering costs for everybody.

We can take care of ourselves and each other, if the government would just get out of the way.

So, how is government stopping people from doing that now? It's pretty clear that people don't always take care of themselves or others. How is eliminating government services going to magically change that?

Instead the government wants to inject itself in to every aspect of our lives. We have allowed a giant nanny state to develop.

I never said anything about supporting a giant nanny state, or government in all aspects of our lives. I just suggested that we shouldn't let people die in the street, or deny them care when in desperate need. Hardly a radical Statist proposition.

We absolutely can take care of ourselves and do it far better than the government ever possibly could. We don't need the government to do charity or tell us to do charity

There's your problem - the government is supposed to be of the people and for the people. It is supposed to be a part of the "we" you are referring to. But people have become so distanced from the ideas of governance that they have allowed it to become an alien entity.

Ultimately, you're just being selfish and whining about money. But even that is counter-productive, because it would cost a lot more if we did let society fall apart and people die in the streets. Wouldn't you rather pay a lower amount in preventative action to avoid the collapse of society? It's going to be hard to run that business when there's death, disease and looting in the streets.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[dangitman]

He does pay his way because the people who make the roads have set an amount that he should contribute each year in the form of taxes and he pays that in order to use the roads. So he is paying exactly what the road makers tell him he should pay.

So, why is that OK for roads, but not for hospitals and health care?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Alex Belits]

Why? Because you say so?

Me and billions of other people do not believe that the rich are entitled to what they believe to be their "property". Nothing they, or you can do to convince us, and there are more of us.

And guess what? I get paid more than you, and produce more useful things than you can ever hope for. I just realize that things do not work like your Social Conservative fantasy world.

Fuck you, fuck your masters, and most of all fuck their ideologues who stuff pre-made thoughts into the brains of the worthless scum such as yourself.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Alex Belits]

The whole point is that people won't go to the ER for non-emergencies, they will go to a normal doctor for a normal non-emergency visit. THAT COSTS LESS.

Now please tell me, why did you jump into discussion about things, you know abolutely nothing about? What did you do significant in your life other than opening your mouth and vomiting a piece of Social Conservative bullshit? How many years of your work would compensate the damage to society that you have caused by participating in their propaganda campaign?

Do you even produce anything positive that can compensate for this crap? Would it be easier if you just killed yourself so society won't have to spend resources and effort on you, a person whose greatest accomplishment so far was regurgitating lies as a part of the most foul Conservative scheme in the history of US? That, of course, counting their resistance and sabotage of each and every government healthcare program starting from Medicare and Medicaid as one unbroken chain of campaigns against public health, what should be a proper context for understanding their efforts.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Gordonjcp]

Yes, long waiting lists like in the UK. When I went to my doctor with some persistent sinus problems, I had to wait nearly 24 hours to get an appointment for a CT scan. As it turns out, I ended up waiting two weeks. Why? Because he wanted to use one of the nice new CT scanners but they had only just been installed and not calibrated yet, and I'm a sucker for new toys too. Apparently they take time to settle, during which time they need to be recalibrated constantly.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[dkf]

6) Stop getting treatment
7) ???
8) Die.

The "???" is "Decline slowly in chronic pain and poverty while mean assholes say it's your fault for not being a millionaire."

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[BeanThere]

2) Get disability insurance too
3) Save money so that I can pay for someone to look after me
4) Get sick
5) Pay for own care

That is exactly what I'm doing. If I get sick, I will be able to pay for my own care. If for some reason my savings get blown or I haven't managed to save enough before I get sick, I STILL don't see how the logic leads you to "I should be able to steal from other people so they must look after me". I would frankly rather just put a bullet through my brain at that point. What is the point of living if you're just a leech on everyone around you? I will never leech off others, and no matter how many conniptions you do, leeching off others is theft.

What you are basically saying is that your "right" to see a doctor is so important that it's OK to steal from other people to pay for it. Funny how that's always easier to argue when you're the beneficiary of the theft.

The funny thing is, for all YOUR lecturing, I in fact am the one who DOES have a debilitating sickness that runs in our family, so there is a very good chance I WILL land up in this very situation by 50 or 60. And guess what, I'm NOT going around crying 'boo hoo I should be able to steal from others' while simultaneously living in a nice house with nice car etc. On the contrary, I know "that's life", that life can be harsh, and so I do what's called "planning" for it --- I live within my means, I live in a small house, I drive a small older car, I put away money into risk-spread investments so that I'll have savings to pay for my OWN care if and when I get sick.

That way I STILL get to pay my own way in life, AND I don't have to steal from anyone.

And if I don't use those savings, then my family can use that money as rainy-day money.

It's not rocket science.

The fact that I'm getting modded "Troll" for this left right and center is beyond bizarre, while the guy who calls me a "douchebag" for living my life so that I don't steal from other people gets "insightful", I've never seen so much incredibly biased moderating in one go.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[crow_t_robot]

An appropriate Idiocracy quote:

Doctor in Waiting Room: Clevon is lucky to be alive. He attempted to jump a jet ski from a lake into a swimming pool and impaled his crotch on an iron gate. But thanks to advances in stem cell research and the fine work of Doctors Krinsky and Altschuler, he should regain full reproductive function again.
Trashy Guy: [in the background] Get your hands off my junk!

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[BeanThere]

What evidence do we have that you actually "work hard"? You might have just been lucky and/or privileged.

WTF? I started with nothing in a 3rd world country, don't tell me about "privileged". I have earned every cent I've ever made by working for it. I get paid for the fruits of my labor. I work 10-12-hour days every day, and work every weekend. I keep my skills refreshed by spending my own spare time learning more.

You people can call me a sociopath, but stealing is wrong no matter how you spin it. A real man pays his own way and stands on his own two feet.

And what are you talking about me "letting orphans die", there isn't a big crisis where orphans are actually dying left right and center, because there are enough people in this world who care enough to help pay for their care, and I have nothing against that. I'm not "letting" anyone die. If you want to pretend there is some great crisis whereby orphans are dying in huge numbers, by all means base your conclusions on fake premises. You're making the mistake of presuming that if government doesn't provide, everyone will just die.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[mean pun]

Very similar arguments have been leveled against corporate-rationed health care. Making health care a free-market jungle doesn't sound like the best possible system to me either.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Taliesan999]

Just what do you think the insurance company does? There are a bunch of medical professionals on a panel there that decide what procedures should be covered and why. The difference in this case is who pays those people and what their motives and incentives (shareholders and profit) are when making a decision. They're just as much a "death panel" as the people doing the same job in socialised medicine elsewhere.

Oh and yes, you have the right to sue... I just can't see that having any real use if you're looking at a 6 month time scale. Another thing that no doubt comes into play when the insurance company is looking at the

If on the other hand if the insurance company gives carte blanche for whatever treatment is necessary and also has to factor in the cost over the life of the policy of paying for these expensive procedure... end result... premiums go up, just like taxes have to go up, to cover the cost of the government based health care if the system was to provide a similar carte blanche for doctors to treat as they will.

Towards the end of life, whether that be in old age, or as a result of disease or misfortune, everything reasonable should be done to treat the patient, trade offs will have to be made though as resources are limited and medical care is expensive, requiring trained professionals of which there are limited number and physical resources that have to be paid for.

No matter what, difficult decisions will have to be made somewhere along the line... and it astounds me that when it comes to the provision of health and wellbeing, people think these decisions are better made by corporations whose chief motivation is profit.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you actually know anything about insurance? Private insurance companies do not have unlimited funds, any more than the government does, and if you think your health insurer will spend "whatever it takes" to keep you alive then clearly you have been paying more attention to the advertising materials than to the small-print of your cover.

If a private insurance company runs out of funds, it can't "go get loans to tied [sic] them over". That would mean they were operating with negative net assets - ie insolvently. In fact, insurance regulators shut down insurance companies well before they run out of funds as they are required to maintain positive regulatory capital. The existence of loans does not mean that insurance companies can't run out of money, and for what it's worth, no private health insurer - not one - in the US has a credit rating equal to that of the US government, so clearly the US has much greater access to funding.

I also don't see how you can sue an insurance company to get a procedure they won't pay for. If the contract you signed says that they will only pay the first $20,000 of any cancer treatment, how can you sue them to get them to pay more?

I swear that reading comments from the US about healthcare (or many other things) is infuriating. I understand patriotism and "USA #1" and all that jazz, but do people really believe that outside the US is a post-apocalyptic "Logan's Run"-style wasteland where government bureaucrats condemn the unproductive to death? Do people really think that no other country could possible have a better healthcare system than "USA #1"?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[BeanThere]

You couldn't be more wrong. You are the smug one --- I know already that 'shit happens' in life more than most - there is a horrible debilitating illness that runs in my family, I've watched family members slowly die from it, and I have a good chance of getting it.

So you know what I do? I am living well within my means, and saving money so that if it hits me, I will be able to pay for my own healthcare.

I know that 'shit happens' in life, and instead of arguing that that somehow makes me entitled to other peoples money, I do something called "planning for it", unlike most people. I long ago figured out that "shit happens' and I live a lower quality of life to save money, now you're arguing that my savings should be taken to pay for people who *didn't* plan, and were having a nicer life, spending money on more luxuries, and then got "surprised" by shit happening.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

the fact that so many people are on group insurance plans that will actually pay these inflated prices

Umm, no. Have you ever looked at your EOB's (explanation of benefits)? Insurance pays about 1/4 (commonly) to 1/2 (at most) of the inflated prices the health care providers otherwise charge. Part of that is because the insurance company has a lot more bargaining power than the individual patient, and most of it is because they can get away with it. What are you gonna do when you need treatment at any cost?

Case in point: A few years ago my wife was having severe migraines and scheduled an MRI ahead of time, with insurance company pre-approval. The total cost was known up-front, and was to be around $900, of which we were to pay about $250. For reasons that still haven't been explained to us, the health care provider did not perform the MRI at their facility, but instead took her across the street to another health care facility for the MRI. Our insurance company did not have a contract with the second facility, so they denied the claim. We were billed over $4400 by the second facility. They're still sending the bills and still waiting for their money, which they won't get a dime of until they reduce their charge to something closer to "reasonable and customary".

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[dustmite]

(BeanThere here) Actually, you couldn't be more wrong. We have a horrible debilitating illness that runs in our family, and I've watched family members die slowly from it very literally since my earliest memories. Thus I realise probably more than most that in life, 'shit happens'. But my approach is not to assume that that entitles me to other people's money, instead, I plan for it. So while my friends and industry peers live it up and spend their money on nice houses and nice cars without putting much savings away, I've been living much more modestly from the start, and saving money so that if it hits me, I can pay for my own care. Shit happens in life. You plan for it. If I am ever in a situation where it's between my life, and living by leeching off of others, I will rather put a bullet in my head than leech off others. I am not a leech. And I think that's a good principle, and makes me a better person, than people who argue that being a leech is OK, even if that leaves people claiming bizarrely that I'm a "sociopath".

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[jareth-0205]

Personally I think if someone totally uncovered comes into an emergency room, the hospital should put them back out on the street. Call me heartless, but if you want cover, work hard for it like I do.

Heartless, selfish, shortsighted idiot, all apply really. If you knew anything about the capitalism you'd know that unemployment is *built in to the system*. It is impossible to have full employment, because then there is no room for the economy to manoeuvre, no growth. So in your mind these people should just die.

Merry Fucking Christmas.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[peragrin]

That's health care in America, if your not earning 50,000 dollars or more a year your not worth saving in fact it is not worth it to even give you any coverage, which is why 50 million America's have less health care options that cable tv options.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

Insurance isn't supposed to be about distributing costs. It's about distributing risk.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[realityimpaired]

In this economy, with the unemployment rate in the states hovering around 10%, you may want to substitute the word "may" in your statement for something more strong....

That's 10%, not counting the people who've just given up looking because there's nothing for them, and also not counting the people who had to take a lesser-paying job because they didn't have a choice to make ends meet. Perhaps a little socialism in the form of a safety web isn't such a bad idea after all?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Stele]

The hospital was sad to announce that the patient is expected to live, letting yet another idiotic gimp to roam the streets.

He's no Photoshop, that's for sure!

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[arth1]

when it comes to people like this guy, i have compassion for the poor SUV driver and the trauma that person had to endure.

I don't. You should never drive faster than your ability to stop or evade if something happens, like the car in front of you blowing a tire, an elk walking onto the road, or a foolhardy person trying to cross. The speed limit doesn't mean that it's safe to drive that fast, only that it's illegal to drive faster.
If you hit something because you drove faster than your ability to stop, you should be charged with reckless or unsafe driving if you survive.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[GameboyRMH]

And that reminds me of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9dMRJZn01A

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[GameboyRMH]

Fair enough, but the US has socialized health care now, so you might want to look into moving to a jurisdiction more in line with your views, like maybe Somalia. You might even have to literally push corpses of the less fortunate aside to get to the emergency medical shack! Isn't that splendid!

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[GameboyRMH]

Thank you. These guys need a Ghost of If Shit Hits the Fan to come to them in a dream and show them what their lives would be like if things just went a little bit wrong.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Vegemeister]

The moral of this story is that you, sir, are a dick.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Vegemeister]

So, let me get this straight... You think private insurance companies will take out loans to keep their customers alive for an extra two months at $20000/day?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[LanMan04]

If I am ever in a situation where it's between my life, and living by leeching off of others, I will rather put a bullet in my head than leech off others.

You are 100% full of shit. Please cite an example of ONE person who's done something like that (and who wasn't 80+ years old). You'll "leech" like the rest when push comes to shove.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Flea of Pain]

You do realize that if someone jumps right in front of your vehicle while attempting to play "frogger", you have no time to hit the breaks (after reaction time) regardless of your speed. That rule is reserved for things like an Elk which you can see ahead of time and which can reasonably be thought of as crossing the road at a bad time. People generally have better judgement, and as such you don't slow down to a crawl every time you pass one on the sidewalk.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

From your views it is absolutely crystal clear that you are far far worse than a leach - in fact you are probably closer to a cancer on society.

There's probably very little point in explaining why or how; if you were capable of taking it on board then you wouldn't be in your state in the first place.

You might consider some kind of therapy to uncover what happened in your past to leave you without the kind of moral backbone or compass that other people take for granted, but how likely is that? Other than that I have no advice and anyhow would you take it if it was offered to you... almost certainly not.

You're missing out on a very large and special part of what it is to be human. You might never even notice it, but it's a shame nonetheless. Especially for the people around you.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[rbochan]

Hey, in the end, we're all dead.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[TheCycoONE]

I was first reminded of Seinfeld: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-FbktgqCqY

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[danbert8]

They chose? People at the bottom of the socio-economic scale don't have a lot of choice in jobs. And in fact, it might be partly his fault for people's lack of job opportunities depending on how he votes, etc.

Yes, they choose. There are plenty of well paying, in demand, low skill jobs out there. Believe me, I managed a whole bunch of people (many Mexicans) because so many Americans won’t even look at a good job because it’s “beneath them”. Tough shit, my grandpa did some pretty dangerous, dirty, and disgusting jobs and your ancestors probably did too. But now everything thinks they have to work in an office.

I never suggested everybody needs to be made the same. Just that we shouldn't be so cruel as to let people die in the street if they can't afford insurance. I'm not sure where you are getting this idea that I think people should be "made the same" from.

He never suggested we let people die in the street. He just said that he believes charities do a much better job than the government. Most people dying in the street do so willingly because they refuse to give up drinking and drugs (which private charities refuse to support).

Bullshit. Many rich people have never taken a risk in their lives. Did Paris Hilton work really hard and take risks to get all of her money? Also, it's generally the poorer workers who help make the rich people's fortune.

Take a look at the list of the richest people in the United States:
1) Bill Gates, not born rich
2) Warren Buffett, not born rich
3) Larry Ellison, not born rich
4) Christy Walton, born rich, but Sam Walton was not
5) Charles Koch, not born rich
Paris Hilton is the descendent of Conrad Hilton who was not born rich. He left most of his estate to a charitable foundation.

In addition, it is complete bullshit that company founders get rich by making their workers poor. Henry Ford did not make his workers poor by paying them enough to buy a car. People who create businesses create wealth. Are more people poor because Facebook exists? Well Mark Zuckerberg is rich now, where did that money come from?

So, that's going to solve all the problem, private charities? It doesn't appear to be working very well.

Habitat for Humanity does a very good job at providing low cost housing and getting families out of poverty. Welfare? Not so much.

Oh, threat of violence. That's funny. You live quite comfortably isolated from the actual threat of violence, while the poor deal with it as a daily threat. By "threat of violence" you actually mean "a few dollars of my taxes."

No, he means threat of violence. A few dollars of taxes maybe (or more likely a few thousand) or the government shows up at your door with guns and steals your property. Or maybe even if you are honest and paying, you didn’t fully understand the hundreds of thousands of pages of tax code, and they arrest you for tax evasion. And I don’t fear terrorists nearly as much as I fear unnecessary wars, TSA searches, and inflation destroying my future.

Except for the roads, the fire departments, health services, etc? Do you know what happened when fire departments were privately-run? They went around starting fires to get business. Public health services seem to do quite well outside the US, lowering costs for everybody.

Citation Needed? The problem with government programs is, they can easily make it look cheaper than private because they can hide their costs. How much money gets spent on healthcare in Canada? You can only see what they report. Which if they report anything like my doctor does to my insurance, it’s a big ol’ round number pulled out of their ass.

So, how is government stopping people from doing that now? It's pretty clear that people don't always take care of themselves

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[danbert8]

BeanThere,

Stop wasting your time. These are all rich American assholes... They have enough time to waste posting on Slashdot (as do I) and are privileged enough to have access.

They have just been taken in by the media, who constantly tells them about the horrible poverty in America, where the poor just barely survive with cable TV, a cell phone, 22" rims, and just can't afford to save for an emergency.

It's not their fault that they don't understand probability and planning and have an emergency fund set up to act as a contingency in case of job loss or an injury. The government keeps telling them that spending more than you take in is an excellent idea, and you don't need to plan for the future.

They believe that if they lose their job, we should help them get back on their feet, because we planned ahead, and they did not. The little pigs all will run to the brick house when the wolf comes.

P.S. When you find John Galt, put in a good word for me.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[ThosLives]

So, why is that OK for roads, but not for hospitals and health care?

Roads don't generally suffer from the type of resource allocation constraints as health care. That is, "roads" do not exhibit the same type of scarcity as "health care." Because health care is more scarce than roads, some more intrusive form of resource allocation is warranted. This can either be an economic means of allocation (e.g., you pay more, you get better service) or some kind of procedural means - waiting lists, quotas, etc.

The major failing of health care systems is that they do not adequately address the issues of resource supply and allocation to those people needing medical services. This results in high prices and/or apparent unavailability of services under an economic scheme - that is, if you can't pay you can't get the service (or get a lower level of service; e.g., the "mandatory" emergency room service which is basically "ensure they aren't going to die") - or lack of services (in the form of waiting lists) if there is a bureaucratic allocation mechanism. What good is a system that is "available to everyone" if there is simply insufficient resource to provide all the desired services?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[VoidCrow]

So, how much shit do you plan for? Accident? Disease? Change of Government? War? Asteroid strikes?

How old is the oldest set of actuarial tables? Are they still relevant in modern times?

Just wondering.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

Now please explain to me how you would get to work without the roads that WE paid for. You said you pay your own way but I"m pretty sure you didn't pay for all the roads you use. Go ahead and humor me, the truth of the world will give me thousands of examples to embarrass you with.

I paid for all the roads I use, because I pay my state and federal income taxes. I even pay to drive on toll roads, and I also pay a premium to drive in the express lane by myself.

If I am banned from using the roads, I guess I would have to buy a horse and do a lot of trespassing to get to work... or, you know, try to make a career out of something I can do from home... (FFS I'm in IT, I could telecommute!)

I think you're under the illusion of society. It's a delusion that many people encounter where they feel that they are superior to everyone else that isn't a part of their tribe, and causes them to think their tribe made everything in their life possible.

Good luck with the groupthink!

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

if anyone should be playing 'real-life frogger' it's you.

do us all a favor and give it a try!

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[GameboyRMH]

Yeah I was just saying the other day that maybe I should start calling myself a socialist.

"I support socialized medicine, progressive taxation, net neutrality and maintaining competitive markets through minimal but effective regulation."

"You sound like a SOCIALIST!" >:-(

"Why yes, I am a socialist." ^_^

"...SOCIALIST!" >8-|

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[kilfarsnar]

Actually, even without Obamacare we'd all be paying for idiots like this.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[GameboyRMH]

If there weren't so many dumb regulations on organ selling and the handling of dead bodies, the hospital could offer cash to their next of kin for any useful organs they may have left. Then the hospital could easily afford to incinerate or safely compost what's left of the corpse as part of the service if the family wishes. See, deregulation solves everything! :P

(Without the ":P" the GP might agree with me)

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

Bullshit. Many rich people have never taken a risk in their lives. Did Paris Hilton work really hard and take risks to get all of her money? Also, it's generally the poorer workers who help make the rich people's fortune.

Bullshit. Many rich people have provided jobs to poor workers by taking the risk to start a new business. Who gives a shit about Paris Hilton, she's a reality star. If you think she doesn't get paid to play her role, you're naive.

Oh, threat of violence. That's funny. You live quite comfortably isolated from the actual threat of violence, while the poor deal with it as a daily threat. By "threat of violence" you actually mean "a few dollars of my taxes."

I'm more frightened of my state and federal governments than I am any poor person. If I am unlucky enough, I might get mugged by a poor person once in my lifetime. I will never be lucky enough to not get mugged by my state and federal governments every single day I go to work and earn income. By "threat of violence" I actually mean "federal pound me in the ass prison."

Except for the roads, the fire departments, health services, etc? Do you know what happened when fire departments were privately-run? They went around starting fires to get business. Public health services seem to do quite well outside the US, lowering costs for everybody.

Hah I should have known, you're a SHILL! Only a shill would use a 2nd World country's social capitalism as a positive point to their argument! Smart people always notice the paradox of lowering cost while raising taxes. You apparently aren't smart.

So, how is government stopping people from doing that now? It's pretty clear that people don't always take care of themselves or others. How is eliminating government services going to magically change that?

I donate less to my church and other charities specifically because I am forced at gunpoint to pay taxes to pay for bullshit social reform policies like welfare, medicare, and worst of all foreign aid. It's very clear to me that I wasn't forced to help pay for some welfare babies, or some 3rd world Africans, that I would have more income available to donate to the charities of *my* choice. I wouldn't call that magic.

I never said anything about supporting a giant nanny state, or government in all aspects of our lives. I just suggested that we shouldn't let people die in the street, or deny them care when in desperate need. Hardly a radical Statist proposition.

Ahh I've played this game before! The old, I never said exactly this, but I said a bunch of shit that implies this, so therefore I never said that! I suggest that we let people die in the street, specifically the people that make a living being on welfare, specifically the people that honestly believe they are entitled to a piece of my success. We will be healthier without those parasites.

There's your problem - the government is supposed to be of the people and for the people. It is supposed to be a part of the "we" you are referring to. But people have become so distanced from the ideas of governance that they have allowed it to become an alien entity.

There's your problem. You think you know what the government is supposed to be.

Ultimately, you're just being selfish and whining about money. But even that is counter-productive, because it would cost a lot more if we did let society fall apart and people die in the streets. Wouldn't you rather pay a lower amount in preventative action to avoid the collapse of society? It's going to be hard to run that business when there's death, disease and looting in the streets.

Ultimately, our government leaders are selfish. They are the first to whine about money, particularly the lack of it flowing directly into their pockets. That is counter-productive to the

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[GameboyRMH]

It comes from taxes. Every time a fighter jet lets loose even a cheapo heat-seeking missile, it costs over $20k in tax dollars (on top of the $$$$$ in fuel to get the fighter off the ground in the first place). Is $18k to save a life such a huge problem? Even if he's a total dumbass that deserved to die for the retarded act that got him in the hospital in the first place? Today it's a dumbass playing IRL frogger, tomorrow it could be, say, a hardworking midwestern factory worker making shit pay hit by a runaway semi.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

1) Work hard and pay insurance for dozens of years 2) Get sick 3) Stop being able to work because of sickness 4) Stop paying insurance due to being fired 5) Get insurance canceled 6) Stop getting treatment 7) ??? 8) Die.

We call that the American way.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[JustABlitheringIdiot]

I was thinking more like this one here . I never had to be told don't try that yourself.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[khallow]

Unless you're part of figuring out how to make the species independent of the Sun sometime in the next 5 billion years, nothing you do is important.

But if that's your viewpoint, then who isn't part of that? Every productive thing we do eventually helps the people who figure out how to make the species independent of the Sun sometime in the next, um..., it's more than 5 billion years. Outer planets don't become uninhabitable just because the Sun turned red giant or even starts to nova.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hopefully you will be able to save several Million, because it only takes one year of being I'll to burn more then $1 Mill in medical expenses.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

They chose? People at the bottom of the socio-economic scale don't have a lot of choice in jobs.

There are a multitude of scholarships, admissions incentives, and programs to assist the "bottom of the socio-economic scale" for college.

I never suggested everybody needs to be made the same. Just that we shouldn't be so cruel as to let people die in the street if they can't afford insurance. I'm not sure where you are getting this idea that I think people should be "made the same" from.

Progressives calling for "social justice" often champion wealth redistribution via highly progressive taxes and justify it by screaming "the rich can pay more, so why shouldn't they!" To most conservatives, it feels like envy-driven class warfare. Conservatives usually call for equality of opportunity, knowing that outcomes will naturally be disparate, caused by a multitude of variables: interpersonal skills, work ethics, natural aptitude, inherited wealth, social connections, luck, etc.

Bullshit. Many rich people have never taken a risk in their lives. Did Paris Hilton work really hard and take risks to get all of her money? Also, it's generally the poorer workers who help make the rich people's fortune.

High profile individuals with obscene wealth (inherited or earned through entertainment/sports) certainly exist and get high exposure. But the unsung story are the tens of thousands of small business owners who have socked away admirable nest eggs that pale in comparison to the billions made by sports figures, pop singers, and TV anchors. Most of these small business owners began with little, often mortgaged their savings and houses in their idea. Many invest a lot of 60 or 80 hour work weeks with the dream of owning their own business, being their own boss, and nurturing their ideas. There are many people with honestly-earned money.

So what do we do when the parent is dead or otherwise can't take responsibility? Pointing fingers and blaming people isn't going to save the problem.

Social security pays children benefits for a dead parent. Charities should do more and most would like to, but they have been crowded out by the multitude (though often ripe with fraud and waste) of competing public entitlement programs and a progressive assault on the non-profit status of any organization with religious ties.

So, that's going to solve all the problem, private charities? It doesn't appear to be working very well.

The last century of progressive policies have competed with and successfully crowded out the role of private charities.

Oh, threat of violence. That's funny. You live quite comfortably isolated from the actual threat of violence, while the poor deal with it as a daily threat. By "threat of violence" you actually mean "a few dollars of my taxes."

Most violence is drug-related in urban areas by people of low socio-economic status, often with no ownership in their own communities and with little to lose. Often the crime is a symptom of unemployment created by the ever-increasing public welfare state, which destroys personal accountability and work ethic. Rich people rarely shoot strangers.

Except for the roads, the fire departments, health services, etc? Do you know what happened when fire departments were privately-run? They went around starting fires to get business. Public health services seem to do quite well outside the US, lowering costs for everybody.

Roads and fire departments are run by state government. I have no problem with that, as it's constitutional. The Federal Government issuing an individual mandate is not enumerated as a power to Congress and is unconstitutional.

So, how is government stopping people from doing that now? It's pretty clear that people don't always take care of themselves or others.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hello #13, this is Doctor House.

Shut up, no one cares about your debilitating sickness.

Signed,

House M.D. & Team

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[JustSomeProgrammer]

Are you one of those old men who demands the speed limit be 5 miles an hour? Seriously stop screwing up my grandfather's gated community. I had a kid pass me on a big wheel and someone shouted I was driving too fast.

Sometimes stuff happens you have a lot of difficulty accounting for. You don't expect someone to trip and fall into the street. You don't expect that car coming down the street to skip the stop sign. If you can reasonably expect something to happen, then slow down. (Like the kid on the big wheel before could be expected to accidentally swerve in front of me. I actually had my foot over the brake not on the gas.) But otherwise I'm not going to drive 25 in a 75 so I can watch for random deer that might dart out of the woods since that actually makes ME a traffic hazard.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[zero0ne]

Don't you bear some of the blame here? I mean it's not like your wife was unconscious when they took her to the second facility, she could have easily said no to taking her to a different building and saying I want it done in this building and only this building or I am going to sue.

I don't think you are to blame here BTW, just that it could have been stopped if you took a second to remember that insurance companies are evil and would have never approved the claim from the second facility.

Of course your doctor is to blame heavily here too, for allowing the MRI to be taken to another facility without consulting you and your insurance provider.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[JustSomeProgrammer]

Mod parent up. This is 100% truth.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[dasunt]

You are not entitled to pull the rich down and steal from them because you think they make too much. They took huge risks that you wouldn't take. So they deserve the reward of those huge risks and hard work.

You are operating under the assumption that the market, especially at the extremes of the income spectrum, accurately values individuals.

I have suspicions that it isn't the case.

There are other assumptions you are making, but I focused on that one since it's a pretty easy one, and I didn't want post to devolve into a tl;dr situation.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[SydShamino]

I am living well within my means, and saving money so that if it hits me, I will be able to pay for my own healthcare.

Really? And have you ever purchased insurance *not* mandated by law? Yes? Were you educated at any time in a public school? Yes? So you are willing to be supported by others when you were younger, but now that it's your time to support people you want them to screw off?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[SydShamino]

From where did you copy and paste this drivel? Do you somehow think private insurers don't do this already? You actually have the gall to claim (via cut and paste) that insurance companies have more money because they can take out loans, while governments can't?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

Can you do us all a favor and put a bullet in your head right now?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

And what if you're a sick orphan (and just in case you're a true Darwinist, let's also say he is an undiscovered genius comparable to Einstein)? Who's supposed to provide then. The common argument is that we're all better off if health care is socialized (both in terms of health of the community and costs), and this tends to be true in most cases. Since this is the case, arguing against this is arguing against the benefit of society as a whole from what appears to be a selfishly motivated mindset. You're entitled to your opinions, but don't look at it as stealing, but as something to increase the betterment of all (like roads / schools / police). I can agree with the sentiment that people should work hard to be able to take care of themselves, but even a fairly well off individual can't often afford hundreds of thousands of dollars life for saving procedures - especially when it's unexpected (which is something that is not true in your case).

If everyone is expected to have insurance (which it looks like you agree with), then why not socialize it to spread the cost? Buying insurance is doing the exact same thing, but you don't look at it as stealing - why? Is it just because a private company manages it?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[arth1]

Are you one of those old men who demands the speed limit be 5 miles an hour?

No, I'm one of those who think that high speed motorways should be segregated from the environment, so pedestrians and elks cannot enter.

And when that is not applicable, the speed limit should vary between lanes, with the outermost lanes having a much lower limit than the fast lane. Instead of 65 mph in three lanes, make them 40, 65 and 90. You're just as dead when you crash doing 65 as doing 90, but when you do 40, you have a real chance of stopping, and if not, at least reduce injuries considerably.

But most of all, get bad drivers off the road, both by cracking down on unsafe driving, and by making people re-take their driver's license instead of renewing it, complete with vision checks, night driving, and hazard and slick track testing.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[DarkOx]

The new rules ensure that you have already paid by providing him highly subsidized insurance.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[geoskd]

They chose? People at the bottom of the socio-economic scale don't have a lot of choice in jobs. And in fact, it might be partly his fault for people's lack of job opportunities depending on how he votes, etc.

That is pure crap. I work for a fortune 500 company, whose primary employee base are those at the bottom of the food chain when they start. I can telly you that hard working people have plenty of opportunity and become successful where I work, and those that are lazy simply fail and go elsewhere. Hard workers never stay on the bottom for long, and lazy people don't make it off the bottom. If we really wanted to help those on the bottom, teach them the value of a hard days work from a young age instead of giving their parents handouts and teaching the kids the wrong lessons. That was why the "New Deal" worked, and welfare/disability are complete failures.

Instead of welfare, guarantee every citizen a job. Make those jobs hard goddamn work, but anyone who needs work will have it. Then people who are down and out have a safety net, but one that no-one will be too comfortable living with unless they have to.

-=Geoskd

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[publiclurker]

I think you'll find that any simpleton who used words such as Obamacare is beyond embarrassment, and incapable of actually learning anything.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[chgros]

I guess you don't mind if someone kills you now then.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Opportunist]

Let's hope he treats it like a bonus life.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

The idea was that there were no shareholders or CEOs that have to be paid if the gov was running the show.

There are. They're called "campaign donors".

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[BStroms]

Hopefully you will be able to save several Million, because it only takes one year of being I'll to burn more then $1 Mill in medical expenses.

This does bring up an interesting ethics question I've long pondered. I believe that we should support those who need health care even if they can't afford it. However, is there a limit to the amount of support we should provide before we cut them off? As heartless as it sounds, I've decided the answer is yes.

I'll use an extreme example to make my point. Imagine someone had an illness the caused them excruciating pain, truly made life virtually unlivable for them. Now someone discovered a treatment but it involves them taking daily pills of some ridiculously expensive substance to make. Such that you would have to utilize 5% of the US's economic output simply to make enough for the person to live off of.

Should we provide that for the person? What if there were 10,000 people with the condition and economy of scale didn't make it any more efficient as you made it for more people? Should we consider them lost causes and refuse treatment? It would be heartbreaking to make that decision, but I think the answer has to be yes. What's more, I think one would reach the point you would have to refuse treatment long before 5% of the US's economy.

Although that does bring up the further question of how much is too much? $100 million a year? $10 million a year? I'd hate to be the person who had to come up with that number, but I do believe a line in the sand has to be drawn somewhere.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Bigjeff5]

Nope, no sympathy for dumbasses.

Sympathy is reserved for people who try to do well yet forces beyond their control thwart their efforts. A guy who builds a house with his own two hands only to have it destroyed in an earthquake receives my sympathy. A guy who worked hard his whole life to build a healthy retirement, only to have it wiped out in a matter of months by irresponsible bankers and homeowners receives my sympathy.

A guy who blows half his face off playing Russian Roulette receives my disappointment that the shot wasn't fatal, not my sympathy. His wife and children might receive my sympathy, but not him.

Please don't encourage abject stupidity.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Bigjeff5]

On that, we get "frogger?" And how does this police chief know that anyway?

Perhaps it was the fact that he and his friends were talking about playing a real-life version of frogger before hand?

In my mind, when someone talks about playing a real life version of Frogger, and then tries to run across a busy highway, I get the impression that he was playing a real life version of Frogger.

Either way, he's dumb as fuck.

Also:

Playing frogger or just trying to get across a dangerous road (which is "playing frogger" either way).

Seriously? You finish with "he was either playing Frogger or he was playing Frogger, I'd like to know which it was?"

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[sorak]

You have literally glossed over everything that happens between birth and death and concluded it to be irrelevant. I'm trying not to godwin, but couldn't your argument also be used to argue that slavery or genocide is also irrelevant. After all, everybody falls into the same three step cycle.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[catmistake]

George did it first

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Bigjeff5]

I don't know if you know this, but people are pretty capable of jumping fences. Most highways near where pedestrians can be expected to be found with a speed limit above 50 are also well segregated from said pedestrians.

Where I live it's illegal for pedestrians to be anywhere near the high-speed sections of the highway, and I believe this is true in most places.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[russotto]

Sorry, dude, I agree with your thesis in general but in fact Bill Gates was born rich and Warren Buffett was the son of a Congressman (and hence born into a family with power if not extreme wealth)

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[russotto]

Reject those socialist police and firefighters next time you are robbed or your house is burning.

Last time I was robbed, it was a cop who did it.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[russotto]

If all the healthy people have insurance, they the insurance pool gets larger. This spreads the risk, and can make insurance cheaper.

That's one theory. Another theory is that making insurance mandatory increases demand for it, thus causing prices to rise rather than fall. I know which theory I believe.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Penguinshit]

I have a sporadic debilitating disease. I had a small house, car, etc. I had no debt outside of mortgage. I had a healthy savings account. I continued to work until physically incapable.

And two years later all of that is gone and I am reduced to begging on the internet while my family drains their resources too.

It is easy to talk tough when you have no experience or understanding.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't worry, if he failed that early, even if he makes it past the trucks he'll never make it past the floating logs on the rapids while dodging crocs

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[petermgreen]

You should never drive faster than your ability to stop
Your ability to stop in WHAT distance?

It is always going to take some nonzero time for you to realise something is amiss and operate the brake. Then more time for the car itself to come to a stop. Given a nonzero speed this means you will have moved a nonzero distance.

What that means is that no matter what your speed there is a window of space in front of you which someone can jump into and there is nothing you can do about it, reducing your speed will make this window smaller but even at say 10mph it's still pretty big. I guess you could slow to a crawl every time you go past a predestrian on the sidewalk but that seems unreasonable to me.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[easyTree]

I'd like to hear the guy's own thoughts about he was doing. Playing frogger or just trying to get across a dangerous road (which is "playing frogger" either way).

The young man, questioned in his hospital bed by police anxious to understand his actions, is reported to have replied 'ridibbit.'

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[dangitman]

What good is a system that is "available to everyone" if there is simply insufficient resource to provide all the desired services?

You mean like roads? Never seen the traffic jams in major cities like New York or Los Angeles?

Roads exhibit scarcity every day, and it's a problem that'e even harder to solve. Because of the limitations of physical space vs. human labor, it's much easier to provide all the health care everybody wants than it is all the roads that everybody wants.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[dangitman]

He never suggested we let people die in the street. He just said that he believes charities do a much better job than the government.

Well, what other conclusion could one draw from saying that all uninsured people should be turned away from hospitals?

Who else is going to deal with them? Some fantasy charity with the medical resources of a hospital is going to be waiting outside every hospital to take them in? I don't think so.

Most people dying in the street do so willingly because they refuse to give up drinking and drugs (which private charities refuse to support).

I don't think you understand what the word "willingly" means. In any case, why should we just discard people who have substance abuse problems?

Now, even accepting the argument that the homeless and drug addicts are worthless people who don;t deserve emergency care - the argument was that ALL non-insured should be turned away. What about a hard-working non-addict who doesn't happen to have insurance, but gets shot or stabbed during a mugging? Tough shit for them?

The argument being made is that people without health insurance don't deserve emergency care. How is that not malicious and lacking in compassion? How does it not imply letting people die in the streets?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

You are not entitled to pull the rich down and steal from them because you think they make too much. They took huge risks that you wouldn't take. So they deserve the reward of those huge risks and hard work.

What risk? The risk of NOT being rich? The risk of having to work a crappy 9-to-5 job like the rest of us? Please.

You think because the entrepreneurs are enabled under our system to take the majority of the value from a company's productive work, that somehow they deserve it. Sorry, but no CEO deserves 1000 times the pay of the lowest-paid worker. I'm sure you can find someone just as capable who will do the job for 10x the pay.

The fact is, there's nothing these "risk-takers" do on their own that couldn't be done collectively. Employee-owned companies and cooperatives have proven that. In essence, workers in the US love to pay lip service to democracy when it comes to politics, but when it comes to business, they prefer a feudal model. They LIKE the idea of being at the top and taking all the value of the productivity from the lower echelons. You may call that "fair compensation" but since the workers have little choice in the matter, it's better described as "swindling."

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[TapeCutter]

"Yea got to love government rationed health care. It is rationed because there is only so much to spend on it each year, it has a budget."

Any sane system has a budget and priorities including insurance payouts, your rationing argument is a strawman and so far from relaity it's unworthy of a response. Doctors, surgeons and other medical proffesionals here in Oz a free to set their own prices but many of them just bulk bill the government. Waiting times for surgery are much shorter in Oz than they are in the US, it is illegal to give waiting list preference to privately insured patients. Most doctors do not require an appointment, just walk in and wait for half an hour or so.

The US health system is a classic case of someone spending $5 to save $0.05. Face it, your paying 10X as much for an inferior service and a lot of that extra expense is watsed on a vast army of bean counters who's sole purpose is to decide who gets what and who pays for it. But hey, it's your money and it's your right to give a handout to insurance companies rather than someone who actually needs it.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[uninformedLuddite]

REgardless of whether you can pay your way if/when this debilitating illness hits you you will still be a burden to someone. You will have money though so you will have people care about you(whoops sorry care for you).
I do have a debilitating illness. It will be a couple more decades before I become a drooling, incontinent, waste of space, piece of crap and I have planned for it too. I am enjoying my life, not saving money, and I am going to neck myself when I feel it is a pointless exercise trying to continue living a life that becomes a burden to all those around me regardles of if I can afford it or not.
It's quite possible to amass money and save for a drooly day. You could have millions and still be a worthless sack of shit. It's funny how some people don't get that.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[uninformedLuddite]

Why do you bother? A lot of the US is so ideologically brainwashed they will diss any sort of system like Australia's as socialist/communist/terrorist (whatever buzzword keeps the two brain cells rubbing together) and will never ever agree that a system like that in AU works quite well.
The entire world looks at US health care and is horrified at their broken system. They used to laugh at it but realised it was more appropriate to be horrified as those that can support and argue in favour of it are capable of believing anything at all. BTW I have a second hand dialysis machine for sale but it needs to be picked up in Tora Bora. Any takers?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[uninformedLuddite]

You have to hope that the if the cops respond first and you are naked, severely burnt all over, covered head to toe in blood, and in a near catatonic state next to your crashed, burnt out car that you aren't tasered and then shot multiple times because you don't comply with police instructions to lie your burns face down in the dirt.
The best cite for this (including lying police statements and witness statements) is a movie called 'The biggest street gang in America'.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[uninformedLuddite]

Are you forgetting about Jebus?

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[uninformedLuddite]

When civilisation collapses I really want to see some of those who believe that they actually deserve that 10,000,000 dollar bonus at xmas because they work in industries that essentially steal from the have-nots getting by with all of the assistance their friends and family will give them. It will be fun in the sun baby.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[dangitman]

WTF? I started with nothing in a 3rd world country, don't tell me about "privileged". I have earned every cent I've ever made by working for it.

You say that, but how do we know that's true?

You people can call me a sociopath, but stealing is wrong no matter how you spin it.

How is receiving emergency care in a hospital equivalent to "stealing"? Is a 12-year-old child a thief because she skips along a footpath paid for by taxes, even though she has never paid a cent in taxes in her entire life?

A real man pays his own way and stands on his own two feet.

So, what do women and children do?

I'm not "letting" anyone die.

But you said in your post that anybody who is uninsured should be turned away from hospitals. This necessarily results in people dying. Or did you not mean what you wrote?

You're making the mistake of presuming that if government doesn't provide, everyone will just die.

I never said that, nor did anybody else in this thread.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[ThosLives]

If there is no physical constraint on providing health care supply, then why, with such high prices, are there not massive numbers of people flocking to provide new health care services?

It is true that health care supply is not limited by geography as roads are. There are, however, other constraints that prevent health care supply from increasing. This is why the health care "problem" in the US is not really economic - it's bureaucratic (certification requirements, lack of medical schools, professional societies, litigation, etc.).

Simply changing the laws so that the existing supply must service more people without providing a means to increase the available supply will not increase quality of service or reduce prices; it will instead decrease the quality and/or increase prices.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[dangitman]

If there is no physical constraint on providing health care supply, then why, with such high prices, are there not massive numbers of people flocking to provide new health care services?

I never said there weren't physical constraints on health care. You were the one who claimed that roads did not exhibit scarcity, despite all evidence to the contrary.

There are, however, other constraints that prevent health care supply from increasing.

As there are with roads, but for some reason, you think that roads are not constrained by supply.

Simply changing the laws so that the existing supply must service more people without providing a means to increase the available supply will not increase quality of service or reduce prices; it will instead decrease the quality and/or increase prices.

Well, then take measures to increase supply. This is much easier to do with health care than it is with roads. The whole idea of health care reform is to increase supply, so I'm not sure what your problem is.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

I was on board with everything but this...
Except for the roads, the fire departments, health services, etc? Do you know what happened when fire departments were privately-run? They went around starting fires to get business. Public health services seem to do quite well outside the US, lowering costs for everybody.

If you think that the government is seperate from private business, you are just as ignorant as the person you are arguing with. The government doesn't need to be worried about burning down houses anymore, there is way more money to be made by destroying and rebuilding countries. Just be glad you live in America, hey... this way you can have the comfort of arguing about the merits of a "by the people, for the people" style government... as long as they live in the same country. Get your head out of your ass.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Transaction7]

If you really believe that you and yours will always succeed by being smarter, getting better grades, working harder, and be able to pay for all your own and your family's medical needs, you indeed are suffering delusions of meritocracy or whatever. I used to believe that stuff too. Then I completed my formal education and realized that the correlation between intelligence, education, hard work, etc., and wealth or income was largely a myth, especially when you started dealing with health care issues. The Founders of this nation noted in their writings that their descendants would be scattered economically, long before modern genetic research, not to mention unemployment statistics, confirmed this fact. If you're so rich, why aren't you smart? The subject of the original blog post here did something I consider incredibly foolish, etc., but the answer is to save his life, fix him up, and then charge him for the cost of his emergency and later care, as well as any damages to drivers trying to avoid him, etc. That makes both better economic and general sense. Don't ask me why people do things like this, or other life-endangering stunts.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

I think this one is more appropriate

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[joocemann]

I doubt his taxes paid for all the roads. Most were in place and paid for by others before he was born. Telco infrastructure. Security as produced by our military, whic was all put in place before he was born.... did he also invent the language he communicates with? When should I stop... I can go all day with examples of where he didn't do it on his own.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[randyleepublic]

>> Orphans have insurance or get medical care from private charities and doctors who donate their services to charity run orphanages.

So we should victimize those of us who have the priceless quality of empathy, and reward the psychopaths.  Good plan!

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a good thing insurance doesn't also work under the principle that "everybody pays the costs of idiots".

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[TheABomb]

It is rationed because there is only so much to spend on it each year, it has a budget. It isn't infinite money to spend on health care every year.

Riiiiiight, because governments never spend more money than they have.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

You didn't mine all the copper used to lay the phone lines in the country that run the Internet to let you post that, either. Your post is under the "illusion of being well-thought-out".

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[BeanThere]

p>How is receiving emergency care in a hospital equivalent to "stealing"?

How is forcing someone else to PAY for that visit, NOT stealing?

I'm not "letting" anyone die.

But you said in your post that anybody who is uninsured should be turned away from hospitals. This necessarily results in people dying. Or did you not mean what you wrote?

No, I'm saying that they should look after themselves. The uninsured could get a job, work hard, save some money, and get insurance. The poor could live more resourcefully by pooling their resources in more community-based living, and stop tolerating the wasting of their own money on things they don't need, like smoking / drinking / drugs.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[BeanThere]

You are right, on every level, I am probably just wasting my time. I thought maybe I could get through to at least a few people by talking a bit of straight sense, but if slashdot consists of many of America's most intelligent, and they are impervious to reason, it's a bit worrying, I don't know how this will all play itself out. No wonder the people at the very top in the US have no clue how to manage money.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[BeanThere]

I'd rather be heartless than brainless.

Re:Stupid is as stupid does.

[Anonymous Coward]

> I'd rather be heartless than brainless.

Fortunately for you, you don't have to choose!

Anything can be the inspiration for stupidity

[autocracy]

Violent video games claim another victim. Maybe now they'll put that NC-17 rating on that I've been saying for years Frogger needs. Jack Thompson will be vindicated, and Rockstar games will pay for their GTA series.

Maybe when this is all over, we can achieve our ultimate goal of putting a warning label on Tetris.

Re:Anything can be the inspiration for stupidity

[fabioalcor]

Maybe when this is all over, we can achieve our ultimate goal of putting a warning label on Tetris.

I agree. Those falling bricks are too way dangerous.

Re:Anything can be the inspiration for stupidity

[tepples]

Maybe when this is all over, we can achieve our ultimate goal of putting a warning label on Tetris.

Would it be Warning: May cause craving for controlled drugs?

Re:Anything can be the inspiration for stupidity

[Barny]

I know I know.

But, the guy was twenty three, so unless you put a requirement on the game that the person buying it requires common sense, I think it wouldn't help.

Of course if we put those warnings on the games most of the lawyers wouldn't be allowed to buy them either.

Re:Anything can be the inspiration for stupidity

[noidentity]

Clearly the guy was a nut, so it wasn't Frogger that was the cause. But if it were a game I didn't like, then I think it would have been the game's fault, and it would need to be removed from the shelves.

Maybe when this is all over, we can achieve our ultimate goal of putting a warning label on Tetris.

Sort of like this?

George Costanza?

[antdude]

Was it him? He was the best player and tried to move the arcade cabinet across the street a while ago. Here is the video clip on YouTube. :)

Re:George Costanza?

[dkleinsc]

You have the wrong clip, there, mate. What you're actually looking for is this.

Survival of the fittest...

[Nialin]

He'll get his Darwin award soon enough, and the world will be stronger for it.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[Fluffeh]

He'll get his Darwin award soon enough, and the world will be stronger for it.

Yup. Evolution at work right there. Almost took him out of the running so to speak. Maybe next time. I am sure there will be a next time :)

*sips coffee*

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[digitig]

You don't know what evolution is, do you?

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[TapeCutter]

You don't have to become a new species to evolve. Different races of humans have evolved different features (skin colour, hair, eyes, etc) but they are all human.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[Anonymous Coward]

That's the point, moron. To win a Darwin Award, one must take themselves out of the gene pool BEFORE they procreate. And it is through procreation that species evolve.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[aristotle-dude]

You don't know what evolution is, do you?

Neither do you apparently. Given the size of the human population, an early death has little effect on the overall gene pool and who is to say that they have not already contributed to the gene pool?

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[aristotle-dude]

That's the point, moron. To win a Darwin Award, one must take themselves out of the gene pool BEFORE they procreate. And it is through procreation that species evolve.

You are assuming that they have not already procreated. The majority of procreation seems to occur in the midst of stupid people.

If anything, so called "smart" people who either choose to not procreate or are unable attract the opposite are still alive and yet not contributing anything to the future gene pool.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[joocemann]

You don't know what evolution is, do you?

I do. I believe he meant 'natural selection', where natural selection is a driving force for evolution, but in itself is not evolution at all.

On another note, apparently the game Natural Selection 2 is due out very soon. The first was an AMAZINGLY fun mod for half life... i'm not sure the details of NS2 because I just heard about it yesterday but... well... its likely gonna be sick.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[Jayemji]

Successful and fertile people should be encouraged to procreate. Or at least produce some gametes so that similarly gifted people can. Yeah, I know, eugenics and all that, but still.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[gslavik]

beta has been out for some time. :)

NS2 was announced a long time ago.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[Anonymous Coward]

But at least the women are spared their moaning about if only getting laid was a meritocracy of my merits!

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[tibit]

I'd be careful with skin colour. It takes about 100 generations to go from white to pitch black (or reverse). That's hardly enough to develop what would be a new race, from a genetic standpoint.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[metrix007]

How does the trait appear in the first place, within 100 generations?

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[digitig]

None of that has anything to do with what Sam36 wrote. Perhaps you should read what you're commenting to.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[digitig]

That doesn't rescue what Sam36 wrote. The fact that the process doesn't produce a new species in a single generation doesn't mean it's not evolution.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[Anonymous Coward]

please don't upset the people here by pointing out that their (pseudo-scientific) ideas and outlook are not in any way a justification for the smug sense of superiority that they have over everyone else. it only makes them look stupid and will probably end up making them a lot worse.

and this is slashdot after all - decent ipad-licking folk don't come here for intelligent scientific discussion!!!!!

go back to sleep y'all, ignore him.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[Anonymous Coward]

please don't upset the people here by pointing out that their (pseudo-scientific) ideas and outlook are not in any way a justification for the smug sense of superiority that they have over everyone else. it only makes them look stupid and will probably make them a lot worse.

and this is slashdot after all - ipad licking folk don't come here for intelligent scientific discussion!!!!!

go back to sleep y'all.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[Anonymous Coward]

so what about people like you who have no understanding of science whatsoever and try to use their mistaken notions to justify their unpleasant nature and outlook - should they be encouraged to procreate? or encouraged to read books? or shot dead? it's an interesting question you've raised.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[realityimpaired]

They're not different species anyway. The definition of a species includes that it's able to breed with other members of the species, but not with things outside of the species.

While it may still be illegal in some states (not too sure on that but it wouldn't surprise me), a black person can have kids with a white person. Ergo, same species. :)

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[BluBrick]

How does the trait appear in the first place, within 100 generations?

That's not hard, mutations happen all the time. Most often they are benign, sometimes they are detrimental, occasionally they are advantageous. I suspect that "white" people are simply "black" people with faulty genes responsible for melanin production and/or distribution. In northern climes where sunlight is weaker, such a mutation would have proved to be an advantage in allowing more sunlight to penetrate the skin to produce vitamin D.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[tibit]

Our understanding of genetics has moved well past Darwin's and Mendel's work :) IOW: It's more complex than that. Sunlight affects gene expression, and the probability that a trait will be passed on. This is, apparently, the regulation mechanism here. Mutations are not involved at all.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[VoidCrow]

That was funny, and I understand your point. People in general hugely have a hugely oversimplified understanding of evolution. I say we should take such people, put them on small, isolated islands, allow them to breed solely within those populations for the next few hundred generations. Finally, we should merge the resultant offspring populations, producing a leaner and fitter genome for epic win.

Fixed that for you.

(You're welcome)

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't know what evolution is, do you?

do you know what evolution is?

*sips coffee*

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[Anonymous Coward]

I for one welcome our car-impact resistant overloads.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[digitig]

It's a game published by Interplay Entertainment. Your move.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[Opportunist]

Could be, but for sure this ain't intelligent design.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[russotto]

Our understanding of genetics has moved well past Darwin's and Mendel's work :) IOW: It's more complex than that. Sunlight affects gene expression, and the probability that a trait will be passed on.

Past Darwin and Mendel... and straight back to Lamarck?

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[tibit]

In a long-winded way -- yes. You have DNA, and then you have regulation of gene expression that is modulated by environmental factors. Even in the womb. Again -- IIRC, I'm not anywhere in this field, this is all based on reading random stuff in Nature and similar high-level papers.

Just because someone was mostly wrong, doesn't mean he was completely wrong. IOW -- many crazy ideas are only 99% crazy ;)

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[joocemann]

You're not a biologist, obviously.

Evolution is actually a very specific event. Death from stupidity is NOT evolution. It may be an example of natural selection, which drives evolution, but the death in and of itself is not evolution at all.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[digitig]

You're not a biologist, obviously.

Evolution is actually a very specific event.

Clearly I'm not, because I thought evolution was a process, not an event. Silly me.

Death from stupidity is NOT evolution. It may be an example of natural selection, which drives evolution, but the death in and of itself is not evolution at all.

None of which has any bearing on what Sam36 wrote because speciation isn't all there is to evolution either.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[joocemann]

Sure it has bearing on what Sam36 said; he was wrong to call it evolution where he (as I said before) was probably thinking about natural selection.

And please don't be the kind of tard to play semantics with me. If you go to see the 'main event', is that a single identifiable point in time or will it last 12 rounds?

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[digitig]

Sam36 didn't call it evolution. He said it wasn't evolution, and the reason he gave for it not being evolution is that speciation didn't occur -- not because it's natural selection, not evolution. That's plainly wrong, and shows a pretty fundamental misunderstanding of evolution. Try reading the thread again.

Re:Survival of the fittest...

[Anonymous Coward]

What about ligers? or mules? or Bat-Boy?

Sorry...

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

You may be more than 18 years of age, and in possession of a y chromosome; but there is No. Fucking. Way. that you have yet graduated to the status of "man" if you are actually playing in traffic because of the influence of Frogger.

Honestly, I can't think of a stupidity-related term that is strong enough and doesn't end up insulting the garden-variety mentally handicapped by putting them in the same basket as this pathetic man-child-thing...

We can only hope that he is sold for parts before he comes up with any other brilliant plans.

Re:Sorry...

[peacefinder]

I expect the most relevant age category for him is "old enough to buy alcohol".

Re:Sorry...

[Fluffeh]

We can only hope that he is sold for parts before he comes up with any other brilliant plans.

I would say that there is much more chance that his next brilliant plan will be the reason he is sold for his parts.

See what I did there?

Re:Sorry...

[identity0]

Actually, I'd say that it IS proof of his manhood; after all, do you ever hear of women doing these stupid stunts?

Re:Sorry...

[magarity]

Actually, I'd say that it IS proof of his manhood; after all, do you ever hear of women doing these stupid stunts?

I bet this first time is the last time he ever does it. Yet there are shelters all over the country full of battered women who voluntarily and repeatedly go back for more to abusive boyfriends/husbands.

Re:Sorry...

[Anonymous Coward]

Having known (and felt terribly sorry for) women in this position, I want to agree with what you're saying. Unfortunately, it's hard to lay it on anything besides severe mental defect. Certainly, an abusive husband should be repeatedly beaten within an inch of his life, and in no way do I mean to say it's a woman's fault.

However, after a while you do realize that these women are just seriously mentally defective. Maybe the word "stupid" is too strong and carries the wrong connotations, but it really isn't too far off.

Re:Sorry...

[Kashgarinn]

What we have here is a young man intent on proving his manhood by doing something brave infront of other men.

This has been done by young men throughout the ages, and if done successfully, will get you laid or a status increase with your peers. It's a gamble though, as is shown with bullfighting in Spain, to give a slight example of ingrained manhood theatrics.

I think it's delightful that the guy remembered Frogger when attempting this, as this behaviour is normal bravado, the busy streets are close by and available as a challenge for a young (stupid) man, the connection to frogger was probably while he was looking at this as an option to show his manliness.

But you go ahead and blame frogger, and not this man's inherent need to show off.

Re:Sorry...

[BigSes]

You may be more than 18 years of age, and in possession of a y chromosome; but there is No. Fucking. Way. that you have yet graduated to the status of "human" if you are actually playing in traffic because of the influence of Frogger.

There, fixed that for you.

Re:Sorry...

[Anonymous Coward]

But even if you're right, "seriously mentally defective" == "ok to beat to death"? Once you've realized the victim is not in control, you can't dismiss them as "voluntarily" returning to the abuser "for more." Only naiviety justifies blaming AND abandoning the victim. I'll wager you and many others are well-intentioned, yet thus rationalize turning away. It's natural, and a mistake.

Yes, I've seen the pattern, too, and it's ugly. That particular victim -- college educated and not defective -- did escape, but only with aggressive help and many chats with the police. And yes -- it's bloody aggravating to watch. But that's the major reason domestic violence is such a problem, it repeats itself, often with rather surprising victims who don't fit the stereotypes. Many get killed trying to leave for good. It is truly horrifying stuff.

Re:Sorry...

[Anonymous Coward]

There's also a bazillion videos on YouTube of men attempting to win the Darwin Award. Possibly as many as there are women who return to their abusers.

My point being, both the "proof of his manhood" and "there are battered woman who return to their abusers" comments really have no relevance here. Humanity as a whole is very, very stupid, and pointing out examples of each genders' trends in stupidity only really serves to divide us, and undermine trust between the genders.

Re:Sorry...

[Anonymous Coward]

At least one of the victims I knew was an intelligent, college educated woman. I guess this is why I considered her issue one of gross mental defect. She knew that the answer was to leave, but she wouldn't do it. Not for any sensible reasons, just wouldn't. It's almost like addict behavior. You know the booze is killing you, but you keep drinking. Only with this, there's no physical addiction.

More importantly (and I thought I was clear about this part), I'm not saying "seriously mentally defective" == "ok to beat to death". Her husband should've been shot, afaic. All I'm saying is that they have some kind of serious mental defect that prevents them from doing what any normal person would do.

Datura stramonium will make you do these things.

[HouseOfMisterE]

Datura stramonium ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_stramonium ) will make you do weird things like this. I knew a guy that took way too much and the cops found him roadside in the grass, swimming.

Classic

[Starteck81]

A classic game for a classic case of stupidity.

What a ridiculous summary.

[Anonymous Coward]

Has it come time to ban some of the classics before someone else goes out and breaks a few bricks with their heads after eating a large mushroom?

Yep. Ban 'em all. Ban anything that some drunk asshat could ever use as a source of ideas to hurt himself. And then be prepared to be amazed at all the new stuff people do to put themselves in the hospital.

Re:What a ridiculous summary.

[Anonymous Coward]

Has it come time to ban some of the classics before someone else goes out and breaks a few bricks with their heads after eating a large mushroom?

Yep. Ban 'em all. Ban anything that some drunk asshat could ever use as a source of ideas to hurt himself. And then be prepared to be amazed at all the new stuff people do to put themselves in the hospital.

Can we pass a law that will make it MANDATORY to either execute or sterilize anyone who reacts to this by suggesting that we ban something?

I'll never understand the mentality that wants to protect adult idiots from their own idiocy.

Re:What a ridiculous summary.

[digitig]

Can we pass a law that will make it MANDATORY to either execute or sterilize anyone who reacts to this by suggesting that we ban something?

You've just been caught under your own law. Well done.

Re:What a ridiculous summary.

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, to be fair, he only proposed we execute people who do a specific thing; not ban it. That would be breaking his own law...

Re:What a ridiculous summary.

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't see what the problem is. If they are stupid enough they'll find a way to remove themselves from the gene pool, they'll keep trying until they succeed, he'll probably get addicted to pain meds or start heavy drinking.
I'm curious if there are any statistics about this that relates the family tree with the number and kind of deaths. In my small town, some families suffer only deaths by natural causes others by more accidents than normal. Should be an interesting study.

Re:What a ridiculous summary.

[Anonymous Coward]

Can we pass a law that will make it MANDATORY to either execute or sterilize anyone who reacts to this by suggesting that we ban something?

You've just been caught under your own law. Well done.

"Reacts to this" means "reacts to this incident with an idiot who nearly killed himself with an SUV". That first thing is key to understanding your error. The suggestion for this new law is not a reaction to to the aforementioned event involving an SUV. It is a reaction to the mentality that wants to ban media and inanimate objects as if that was a wise solution to the perceived problem. That mentality, that emotional, well-intentioned but utterly foolish abomination, it ... has been around, doing damage to society, rationalizing nanny states everywhere, and basically eroding the quality of life of responsible adults for a long time now.

That's the concept you're failing to appreciate because you don't like the way I said it, or you really are that shallow, or you don't have two brain cells to rub together to formulate a moralistic argument about why you disagree with it, or maybe you're just a smug insecure little bitch with nothing meaningful to contribute. Wherever the actual blockage or dysfunction may reside, that sums up the abstract thought you failed to grasp.

Now it's time for the plain old English you failed to grasp. As "this incident with an idiot who nearly killed himself with an SUV" is not the same thing as "the knee-jerk urge to ban media and inanimate objects as if that was a wise solution to the perceived problem" this is not, in fact, a law that would sanction the person suggesting it. It is already a simple concept so I apologize that I am unable to break it down any further or make it any more basic for you.

In conclusion, nice try going for what you thought was a slam-dunk "win" so you can finally feel like you have self-worth for about ten minutes, but you have failed. I hope it felt real while it lasted.

Re:What a ridiculous summary.

[sorak]

I'm pretty sure "action x is punishable by execution" is a ban on action x.

Re:What a ridiculous summary.

[sorak]

Wow. You just turned that around on the guy and inspired him to spend four paragraphs to say "fuck you"...I would be more proud of that than the +5 insightful.

Re:What a ridiculous summary.

[Anonymous Coward]

Lol nice try hypocrite.

Re:What a ridiculous summary.

[Anonymous Coward]

i say we go with the execution idea, then with the creator of said rule gone, we can easily remove said law immediately

Fist

[Anonymous Coward]

Mario breaks bricks with his fist.

Re:Fist

[roger6106]

Mario breaks bricks with his fist.

Exactly. Mario has put his fist up when jumping ever since Super Mario Bros, and he continues to do so.

Re:Fist

[MyLongNickName]

Clearly photoshopped. I can tell by the pixels.

Darwin Award nominee

[Iphtashu Fitz]

This nutjob is apparently already in the running for a Darwin Award...

http://www.darwinawards.com/slush/new/pending20101229-052307.html

Re:Darwin Award nominee

[mysidia]

This nutjob is apparently already in the running for a Darwin Award...

But as he is still alive, it did not kill him, thus, he won't be eligible for a darwin award unless he was injured so badly he cannot reproduce, or he winds up dying.

At best he might get an honorable mention.

Yipe

[sjames]

Don't leave him alone in a pharmacy!

He deserves an award

[gmuslera]

Like this one

Re:He deserves an award

[Iphtashu Fitz]

You might want to check their slush pile:

http://www.darwinawards.com/slush/new/pending20101229-052307.html

If you're going to be stupid, at least be original

[Cbs228]

Even the most hardcore gamers should not, under any circumstances, treat Mr. Welch's list as a to-do list.

1181. When asked what game we want to LARP, Frogger is not an option.

from 1900 Things Mr. Welch can no longer do during an RPG.

David Crane came up with freeway during the SCES

[Joe The Dragon]

David Crane came up with the game (freeway) during the SCES in Chicago, when he observed someone attempting to cross Lake Shore Drive on foot

It was funny when George did this on seinfeld

[Joe The Dragon]

It was funny when George did this on seinfeld

Re:It was funny when George did this on seinfeld

[Mr. Maestro]

Holes! I need holes!

sounds like

[Anonymous Coward]

population control to me

You know the saying

[Punto]

If you die in real life, you die in the game.

Re:You know the saying

[sayfawa]

FPS doug on the topic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olm7xC-gBMY&t=2m5s

It should be okay

[mysidia]

He has another life, right?

Do not pass go.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hopefully he'll be transferred from the hospital directly to the prison?

My girlfriend agrees

[autocracy]

I strung a hammock between two chimneys and one of the chimneys collapsed on top of her.

Real-Life Doom Ends In Cemetery Visit

[theodp]

Good thing he stuck with Frogger!

Re:Real-Life Doom Ends In Cemetery Visit

[Terrasque]

You mean like this? The natural progression of games

Wrong ban

[Anonymous Coward]

Couldn't we just ban retards instead?

[Actually, I would like to apologize for that insensitive remark. Real retards will always be 10 times the human this twit is. ;-/ ]

Afraid of the religious right

[antifoidulus]

I just hope that the Religious Right doesn't connect this with the Bad Religion song "Frogger" whose lyrics include "playing frogger with my life". I can just see it now, some Republican asshat screaming "Atheists are telling kids to run out in front of cars, and they are listening! We must ban atheism!"

Re:Afraid of the religious right

[Anonymous Coward]

Were you born before 1992 (Google "Tipper Gore" for when she was the VPOTUS wife)? How educated are you?

Re:Afraid of the religious right

[Anonymous Coward]

I AM "some Republican asshat", but I do believe in natural selection. If kids will kill themselves over stupid song lyrics, what's the problem?

Seems to me....

[Anonymous Coward]

...this 'problem' is fixing itself:

Hey I know! Let's mimic a game of playing in traffic!

eof

God no

[mikeken]

"Has it come time to ban some of the classics before someone else goes out and breaks a few bricks with their heads after eating a large mushroom?" I know this is probably just a joke, but it's not funny. Why is it the first thing so many people think of in response to events like this is that the government should get involved? Quit suggesting over-regulation for a government that is already over-regulating my life and my businesses.

Re:God no

[Rogerborg]

If you take this even remotely seriously, then The Terrorists have already won.

Pac-Man

[Tablizer]

I pulled a Pac-Man and went around the party eating everyone's pizza while trying to avoid the bouncer. I had a tummy-ache for 3 days. Ban the Pac!

Re:Pac-Man

[VortexCortex]

Reminds me of this Live action Pac-Man stunt.

Re:Pac-Man

[Cazekiel]

I saw this a while back and haven't stopped laughing since. :D

Re:Pac-Man

[uninformedLuddite]

Thank you for that.

How is this Frogger?

[Anonymous Coward]

Unless after making it across there was a river with logs and crocs floating in it, this was just simply crossing the street.

What would've happened if he made the river?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sure he picked the place because there were crocodiles to jump on nearby.

Survivor: Frogger (NY Manhattan Edition)

[houbou]

Tagline: Hop your way to the big screen! :)

good thing the car got him...

[Anonymous Coward]

... before the alligator did.. otherwise there would have been no evidence and we never would've known...

on a side note.. now i got that damn frogger theme music playing in my head.

Not surprised.

[Anonymous Coward]

I live less than a quarter mile from where this happened, and honestly, I'm not surprised. This country (and the state of SC especially) is still filled with a bunch of idiots.

I'm more worried about the drivers

[Anonymous Coward]

I feel for the guy that feels guilty for hitting the stupid fuck. The driver is the victim in this incident.

Is there a replay or savegame file available?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd like to see where he went wrong. Maybe he was thinking too far ahead and wanting to eat the fly. Without watching the replay I can't really rule on it.

Re:Is there a replay or savegame file available?

[Anonymous Coward]

Head Explody Award Bloody Wall Is Wet #3. Brandy on the house.

No use

[Anonymous Coward]

You can't ban Stupid!

Arcade Firearm

[Cazekiel]

I was the Queen of Centipede as a lil' mite. I think I'll relive my glory days by getting myself a gun and shooting at any insect that crosses my path.

The only reason Frogger works

[Culture20]

Is because the cars don't swerve to miss a frog. A human, on the other hand, will cause accidents and likely his own death when both the car and he dodge in the same direction. Also, in Frogger, you're guaranteed a safe path. Not so in real life.

Evolution in action!

[kawabago]

This is how the gene pool cleans itself.

Re:Evolution in action!

[Bigjeff5]

Need a better disinfectant - the guy lived.

What a moron...

[ArchMageZeratuL]

The road in Frogger has five lanes, not four.

Frogger?

[Psychotria]

It seems to me that the journalist said he was playing "frogger", not the man/youth himself; i.e. he wasn't playing "real life frogger" he was just being an idiot.

Re:Frogger?

[fishbowl]

I'm withholding judgment until I get confirmation that the guy was doing it for the fun of RL Frogger, and not just extreme jaywalking.

I see people fairly often crossing roads that you'd have to be absolutely insane to cross, or at least completely desperate. In some cases I see why they do it: going to a safe place to cross can mean miles of extra walking.

Re:Frogger?

[Bigjeff5]

Except for the fact that he was discussing it with his friends before hand, sure, you're absolutely right.

huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Real-life frogger? in my days we called that jaywalking, now get off my lawn.

throwing blocks of concrete from a skyscraper

[dutchwhizzman]

to fill potholes next. Yes, you can play live tetris.

And the Darwin award goes to...

[Anonymous Coward]

The suggestion to ban video game because of something like this has happened is very flawed. What you are saying is that "if it were not for the video game this person would not have gotten such an idea.". Banning video game is attempt to ban an idea that came through this game. The game is just delivery method for the idea. So by same rationale if someone writes a song talking about some idea that when tried in real life gets someone hurt/killed that song should be banished? What if it is a book that caries that idea, should that be banned also? What about people discussing it, should we arrest people because they mention something which can get somebody hurt? The problem with such thinking is that it takes away responsibility for their own life from people. It's a 23 year old person, not a 3 year old! The problem is not that he got dangerous idea, but that he lacked basic self-preservation cognitive processes to decide not to do it.

As a side point, if the man played the game, I'm sure he had plenty of examples what happens to the frog when it doesn't make it across the highway.

What if he'd been playing Tempest?

[rastoboy29]

Just sayin'.

poor doug

[Anonymous Coward]

did anyone hear what happened to his brother doug? horrible digging accident. ever since his cousin bert fell off a block in outer space he hadn't been the same.

ban classics?

[smash]

how about we let evolution run its course, rather than encouraging gene pool pollution?

Finally, after all these years...

[Ritontor]

A story for which my signature is appropriate!

Dad and Bro almost Hit this guy

[Anonymous Coward]

My Dad and Brother almost Hit this guy as he ran across Highway 123, they watched him get creamed by a Lexus then got out to stop Traffic.

Re:Dad and Bro almost Hit this guy

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow dude, how can your Dad also be your Brother?

Shrooms and Acid

[Anonymous Coward]

Fuck you! No one in their right mind would do something so obviously life-threatening on acid or shrooms.

Was he in a frog suit?

[flahwho]

He should have just jumped on top of the pink frog and stayed home!

Let's put this into a different perspective

[roguegramma]

If he had played MORE frogger, he either would have been better at crossing the road, or he would have known better not to cross the road.

Next Stage

[Anonymous Coward]

Had he made it across the highway, was he prepared to cross the fast flowing river by jumping from log to log and submerging lily pads?

Obligatory Webcomic

[Brucelet]

It's not XKCD, but... http://www.robandelliot.cycomics.com/archive.php?id=318

Mario doesn't break bricks with his head...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm just sayin... http://blogs.ocweekly.com/heardmentality/fis.jpg [ocweekly.com]

Why'd you run away here, metrix007? LMAO!

[Anonymous Coward]

Did your stupidity do you in again? See the URL below:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1925236&cid=34675566

That's what you get for trolling your betters, chump.

He made this sound when hit

[GeneralSecretary]

http://www.digitpress.com/dpsoundz/dp_frogger_squash.wav

Ah,

[publiclurker]

Ah, arrogance and stupidity all in the same package. How efficient of you, Bean.

Probably a Lie

[Anonymous Coward]

I've suspected most things like this are actually preposterous lies. We will probably never know what happened here.

At least he wasn't playing Donkey Kong...

Re:Datura stramonium will make you do these things

[uninformedLuddite]

he was bonding with the dolphins. You make it sound so wrong.

Real-Life Mario won't result in such injuries

[Heian-794]

Has it come time to ban some of the classics before someone else goes out and breaks a few bricks with their heads after eating a large mushroom?"

Minor point, but Mario isn't actually using his head. Look carefully; it's his fist that's breaknig the bricks!

So if someone shows up at the hospital with a head injury in this situation, it means he wasn't paying enough attention not just in life, but in the game as well.

I must ask...

[DiEx-15]

...how many points did he get?