Every time I take the 407 automated toll highway, I wonder why they're not mailing out tickets.
'Hmm. You got on at Exit A, you got off at Exit B, that's 25 KM, at 100 kph that would take you 15 minutes, you did it in 12, you're speeding. Ticket."
2500 out of pocket? Nuts. I was something like 13 dollars out of pocket for codeine.
It went like this. Go to hospital ER one night in horrid pain. Get ultrasound. Get told I have stones. Get told I should have them out. Scheduled for two weeks hence. Get gall bladder out. Go home.
As a Canadian, the US system fill me with dread. It's just plain WIERD to think that, were I American, I'd have had to actually think about whether or not to get my gall bladder out. It would have been an economic decision. That's not right.
Yeah, but the abdomen is known for having really bad pain localization.
The worst pain a man can experience, in my personal experience, is a 'good' gall bladder stone. Which tends to manifest as pain in the lower back.
The second is a 'good' kidney stone.
Well, yes, actually, they would die out, but not from inherent genetic flaw, so much as the first disease that came along and took advantage of the monoculture.
And besides, do you really think that a species would die out even if the 'original two' were identical except for a single chromosome? I mean - I guess it could happen if they both had tremendously detrimental genes, but let's give the almighty the benefit of the doubt and suppose that he started with a strong breeding pair.
Die out? No. But, whence comes the current genetic diversity of humans, if not Adam and Eve?
Adam and Eve = insignificant genetic diversity. Unless, of course, 'God did it.'
The other question is, 'The Bible lays out a fairly clear timeline of where humanity was. Explain Chinese people. And Australians. And Africans. And, well, everybody else outside of the Middle East.'
Wouldn't this more likely fall under contract law? Assuming that the seller had the buyer agree to some sort of terms and conditions, likely including a 'if we send you the wrong shit, give it back' sort of condition, and by giving them money, you agree to said terms and conditions?
'The Cardinal of the Kremlin' spends quite a bit of time on sensory deprivation as both interrogation and the prelude to, well, call it 'brainwashing.'
The way I see it, there's a big difference between prolonging life and prolonging death. In a lot of cases, it's the second one.
And, to be perfectly blunt, doctors need to stop hiding behind the 'do no harm' bit. Most modern medicine involves doing quite a bit of harm, to good effect. Do no harm? So much for surgery. So much for chemotherapy.
I get that it's scary to think that suddenly you are the chooser of the slain. I don't have a good answer for that. But something needs to be done; the system as it is is untenable.
Out of curiosity, what happens when a loved one contests those documents? What happens when your doctor decides that there's a five percent chance you could recover? One percent?.5 percent?
Why make the patient suffer for three days? Why not end it right then and there?
The difference between humans and animals is that doctors have industrial-strength pain-killers they will administer to humans. No matter how excruciating the pain, doctors can keep you drugged into a dream world, and can similarly keep you entirely unconscious for an indefinite period. If you could choose your method of departure, being drugged out of your mind on coke would be the near the top of most people's lists, so morphine or similar isn't a bad alternative.
Not so. My grandfather had an interesting thing happen, where his intestine started dying by inches. They tried excising the dying bits, but the rest kept dying too. So, palliative care.
They were quite frank about the fact that he was in enough pain that no painkiller they had would work on him. He was drugged into utter unconsciousness, yet still his face was spasming with pain. Yet when I suggested maybe they just up the dose, they said 'Any more would kill him.' 'Well, doctor,' I said, 'what are his chances?' 'None,' they said. 'He will die within a week. There's nothing we can do.' 'Exactly,' I said. And they looked at me like I was a monster, while they did everything they could to prolong his death. Not his life, his death.
Yet if I treated my dog that way, I'd be up on animal cruelty charges.
You're talking about RIDE checks? Don't like it? Don't drive on public roads. You'll never ever encounter one.
I, personally, have never had a problem at a RIDE check, cuz I've never driven drunk. And I'm a long-hair who turns down the Slayer as I pull up. They go like this:
"Evening, sir. Any alcohol tonight?"
"Evening, constable. Nope."
"Have a pleasant evening."
During this ten second exchange, the constable is vaguely waving a flashlight around through the window, looking for open containers.
Nah, it's just that American politicos are wimps. Plenty of parliaments around the world have brawls, and even in the good old days, senators were known to beat down opponents.
Ok, here's the problem with that analogy. I'm not a major nation-state. I don't have access to an intelligence apparatus. I don't have access to trained interrogators. I don't have access to Sodium pentothal, let alone other lovely drugs with no lasting side effects.
Similarly, to fit in your analogy, but extend it along it's logical course, if this guy really wants to hurt me, honestly believes that his god requires him to hurt me, he'll last 'several hours' without saying a damn thing.
Or, even better, he'll 'hold out' for two or three hours, then 'confess' where the loved one is. Only he'll purposefully give an incorrect address.
Or, upon him missing checking in with his kidnapperly cohorts, they'll FUCKING GO SOMEWHERE HE DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT. Even IF, for some UNGODLY reason, he happens to know where to go, instead of being told to go to a rendezvous point, give an 'all clear' signal, such as smoothing his hair with his right hand, rather than the 'I'm being followed, kill the hostage' signal, which is to shoot some dandruff off of the left shoulder with the right hand.
I see what you're saying, and I understand, and I agree that, objectively speaking, being waterboarded is probably 'better' than being, say, branded with hot irons.
The problem is, being tortured doesn't get people to speak truth. It gets people to speak whatever will make the hurting stop. It's not a means of information extraction. There are FAR more effective and safe ways of extracting information.
No, torture is proving a point. And it's not a point that any decent person/group should be making.
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Every time I take the 407 automated toll highway, I wonder why they're not mailing out tickets.
'Hmm. You got on at Exit A, you got off at Exit B, that's 25 KM, at 100 kph that would take you 15 minutes, you did it in 12, you're speeding. Ticket."
2500 out of pocket? Nuts. I was something like 13 dollars out of pocket for codeine.
It went like this. Go to hospital ER one night in horrid pain. Get ultrasound. Get told I have stones. Get told I should have them out. Scheduled for two weeks hence. Get gall bladder out. Go home.
As a Canadian, the US system fill me with dread. It's just plain WIERD to think that, were I American, I'd have had to actually think about whether or not to get my gall bladder out. It would have been an economic decision. That's not right.
Yeah, but the abdomen is known for having really bad pain localization. The worst pain a man can experience, in my personal experience, is a 'good' gall bladder stone. Which tends to manifest as pain in the lower back. The second is a 'good' kidney stone.
Yes, Klingons have 'subject races.' Also, castes other than warrior.
Well, yes, actually, they would die out, but not from inherent genetic flaw, so much as the first disease that came along and took advantage of the monoculture.
Die out? No. But, whence comes the current genetic diversity of humans, if not Adam and Eve?
Klingons do not lease. Nor do they buy. Klingons take what they want, over the bodies of financiers and salespeople!
And make damn sure never to mock bald people. God hates that.
Adam and Eve = insignificant genetic diversity. Unless, of course, 'God did it.'
The other question is, 'The Bible lays out a fairly clear timeline of where humanity was. Explain Chinese people. And Australians. And Africans. And, well, everybody else outside of the Middle East.'
Wouldn't this more likely fall under contract law? Assuming that the seller had the buyer agree to some sort of terms and conditions, likely including a 'if we send you the wrong shit, give it back' sort of condition, and by giving them money, you agree to said terms and conditions?
The Year of Living Biblically although the author does acknowledge that he takes it to absurd levels, and generally out of context.
'The Cardinal of the Kremlin' spends quite a bit of time on sensory deprivation as both interrogation and the prelude to, well, call it 'brainwashing.'
The way I see it, there's a big difference between prolonging life and prolonging death. In a lot of cases, it's the second one.
And, to be perfectly blunt, doctors need to stop hiding behind the 'do no harm' bit. Most modern medicine involves doing quite a bit of harm, to good effect. Do no harm? So much for surgery. So much for chemotherapy.
I get that it's scary to think that suddenly you are the chooser of the slain. I don't have a good answer for that. But something needs to be done; the system as it is is untenable.
Out of curiosity, what happens when a loved one contests those documents? What happens when your doctor decides that there's a five percent chance you could recover? One percent? .5 percent?
Why make the patient suffer for three days? Why not end it right then and there?
That's a damn fine way of putting it.
Not so. My grandfather had an interesting thing happen, where his intestine started dying by inches. They tried excising the dying bits, but the rest kept dying too. So, palliative care.
They were quite frank about the fact that he was in enough pain that no painkiller they had would work on him. He was drugged into utter unconsciousness, yet still his face was spasming with pain. Yet when I suggested maybe they just up the dose, they said 'Any more would kill him.' 'Well, doctor,' I said, 'what are his chances?' 'None,' they said. 'He will die within a week. There's nothing we can do.' 'Exactly,' I said. And they looked at me like I was a monster, while they did everything they could to prolong his death. Not his life, his death.
Yet if I treated my dog that way, I'd be up on animal cruelty charges.
You're talking about RIDE checks? Don't like it? Don't drive on public roads. You'll never ever encounter one. I, personally, have never had a problem at a RIDE check, cuz I've never driven drunk. And I'm a long-hair who turns down the Slayer as I pull up. They go like this: "Evening, sir. Any alcohol tonight?" "Evening, constable. Nope." "Have a pleasant evening." During this ten second exchange, the constable is vaguely waving a flashlight around through the window, looking for open containers.
Or, to restate: "Work for free, or you're fired. Either way, you're not getting paid."
It's a real bad road to start to go down.
No, but being forced to work with no pay is incorrect as well.
Being fired for failing an assignment? Fine. Contracted work with milestones and what not, with per-completion payment? No problem.
Government telling people that they will work, for free? Bad juju.
Nah, it's just that American politicos are wimps. Plenty of parliaments around the world have brawls, and even in the good old days, senators were known to beat down opponents.
It would also be unconstitutional. I leave it as an exercise to the reader to figure out why. Here's a hint: check amendments.
Ok, here's the problem with that analogy. I'm not a major nation-state. I don't have access to an intelligence apparatus. I don't have access to trained interrogators. I don't have access to Sodium pentothal, let alone other lovely drugs with no lasting side effects.
Similarly, to fit in your analogy, but extend it along it's logical course, if this guy really wants to hurt me, honestly believes that his god requires him to hurt me, he'll last 'several hours' without saying a damn thing.
Or, even better, he'll 'hold out' for two or three hours, then 'confess' where the loved one is. Only he'll purposefully give an incorrect address.
Or, upon him missing checking in with his kidnapperly cohorts, they'll FUCKING GO SOMEWHERE HE DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT. Even IF, for some UNGODLY reason, he happens to know where to go, instead of being told to go to a rendezvous point, give an 'all clear' signal, such as smoothing his hair with his right hand, rather than the 'I'm being followed, kill the hostage' signal, which is to shoot some dandruff off of the left shoulder with the right hand.
I see what you're saying, and I understand, and I agree that, objectively speaking, being waterboarded is probably 'better' than being, say, branded with hot irons.
The problem is, being tortured doesn't get people to speak truth. It gets people to speak whatever will make the hurting stop. It's not a means of information extraction. There are FAR more effective and safe ways of extracting information.
No, torture is proving a point. And it's not a point that any decent person/group should be making.
Can I correctly assume that you calibrated the TVs? The sharpness/contrast/brightness/color settings out of the box are, shall we say, sub-optimal.