If we had to prove technologies were safe before we started using them fire would have never been accepted and we'd still be living in cold dark caves eating raw meat.
Seriously the US pays quite a bit more as percentage of GDP than any other country for health care, and that is still with a lot of uninsured. And the US is one of the highest per capita GDP countries too.
Put everyone on Medicare and it will still be the most expensive system per patient.
Whiny doctors can move to Canada if they don't like it. They will find they had it really cushy here.
I've seen stats stating that the US Government health care payments RIGHT NOW are enough to pay care for EVERY US citizen if we were paying Canadian rates.
So then we get 50 separate parallel redundant organizations doing the same thing because of some archaic organizational concepts from a era where transport was by horseback and sending a letter across country took a month or more?
This isn't the 18th century any more. You can administer a national scale organization efficiently. The US Federal programs like Medicare and Social Security have EXTREMELY low overheads.
It just doesn't make sense to partition this sort of thing at the state level any more.
People need to realize progress has been for the past 5000 years about increasing the size of political administrative units. From a band of hunter - gatherers to nations of more than a billion population.
Most Americans have some sort of private insurance through their employers.
The level of care you can get through these plans is quite good.
The problem is what happens if you don't have an employer or some other life event causes you to lose insurance or you work for an employer that doesn't provide insurance.
New genes get added to plants all the time, through all sorts of mechanisms - mutation, natural hybridization, and natural gene transfer.
Man does not have a unique capability with this process.
One thing that people don't appreciate enough is that the methods developed to perform gene transfers in the lab were originally modeled on natural processes.
Plants develop their own pesticides via evolution. Some of them are poisonous to people.
The idea that we understand the full biological implications of what we eat is nonsense. The fact is that it isn't possible. Often what works well in one person causes horrific issues with another.
Fundamentally there is nothing that leads one to believe that a GMO made with a known genetic structure is any more dangerous than anything else. The knowns and unknowns are exactly the same.
You really don't need much testing if you have sequenced the genome.
Not a big surprise considering development of pesticide resistance has been going on for a very long time. In fact since the evolution of insects in the first place. About 400 million years ago.
Plants themselves evolved natural pesticides such as various phenolics to protect themselves from the insects; in fact some of the most widely used insecticides are plant derivatives like pyrethins.
Of course insects evolved in response to these, and the war was on.
Resistance to man made insecticides was first noted in science literature about 100 years ago.
> they go onto farmer's fields to test plants adjacent to Monsanto-owned "IP" and then sue the fucking shit out of farmers because their plants infringe their patents.
Complete myth. Never happened. It's also a matter of law that patents don't apply in cases of accidental contamination.
Cases where Monsanto has sued farmers have to do with farmers reselling seed, saving seed, or intentionally selecting accidentally pollinated seed (as in the famous Percy Schmieiser).
Slashdot Mirror
> the human race isn't mature enough to react to it in time
This is exactly why I stopped worrying about it.
You had better go take a closer look at the materials that were leaked. Many were life and death matters.
Long duration gamma ray burst then.
Assange is not entitled to ECHR protection because he is an Australian citizen.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2012/may/30/assange-extradition-halted
I just don't understand this idea that Sweden is acting as a proxy in this case.
Why wouldn't the US just extradite Assange from the UK?
They have much stronger relations with the UK than they do with Sweden.
Uh if you don't like it do your own.
Crikey.
> The Affordable Care Plan makes investing in Insurance companies, Pharma and MalPractice Litigation Firms very attractive
So does the preceding system.
If we had to prove technologies were safe before we started using them fire would have never been accepted and we'd still be living in cold dark caves eating raw meat.
Not really big on the idea of software patents. Even less so on UI widgets, icons etc.
I can't see how these are 'innovation'.
If I was judge in the California Apple v Samsung I'd like to fine them both $5 billion and give the money to NASA.
I think that would promote the progress of science and useful arts.
This system sucks - there is no preventative care - so if you are looking to have a mammogram forget it. The consequences of that are obvious.
And it fills the emergency room with people who don't have emergencies, leaving people who do to suffer.
Seriously the US pays quite a bit more as percentage of GDP than any other country for health care, and that is still with a lot of uninsured. And the US is one of the highest per capita GDP countries too.
Put everyone on Medicare and it will still be the most expensive system per patient.
Whiny doctors can move to Canada if they don't like it. They will find they had it really cushy here.
I've seen stats stating that the US Government health care payments RIGHT NOW are enough to pay care for EVERY US citizen if we were paying Canadian rates.
If the Republicans don't get in.
The problem with lifespan as a metric is that it is dependent on a lot of factors outside the quality of medical care.
It's easy to measure, but highly confounded.
So then we get 50 separate parallel redundant organizations doing the same thing because of some archaic organizational concepts from a era where transport was by horseback and sending a letter across country took a month or more?
This isn't the 18th century any more. You can administer a national scale organization efficiently. The US Federal programs like Medicare and Social Security have EXTREMELY low overheads.
It just doesn't make sense to partition this sort of thing at the state level any more.
People need to realize progress has been for the past 5000 years about increasing the size of political administrative units. From a band of hunter - gatherers to nations of more than a billion population.
I understand the historical basis for feeling that states should take care of most services.
However that means 50 yes 50 redundant organizations with different sets of laws doing the same thing.
How can that be efficient at all. The idea that this is the best way just doesn't pass the sniff test.
Health care doesn't fix bad lifestyles nor population income heterogeneity.
Pick another metric, like cancer survival and you will find US care is very good.
Not really true.
Most Americans have some sort of private insurance through their employers.
The level of care you can get through these plans is quite good.
The problem is what happens if you don't have an employer or some other life event causes you to lose insurance or you work for an employer that doesn't provide insurance.
Then it's quit dicey.
New genes get added to plants all the time, through all sorts of mechanisms - mutation, natural hybridization, and natural gene transfer.
Man does not have a unique capability with this process.
One thing that people don't appreciate enough is that the methods developed to perform gene transfers in the lab were originally modeled on natural processes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformation_(genetics)#Plants
Plants develop their own pesticides via evolution. Some of them are poisonous to people.
The idea that we understand the full biological implications of what we eat is nonsense. The fact is that it isn't possible. Often what works well in one person causes horrific issues with another.
Fundamentally there is nothing that leads one to believe that a GMO made with a known genetic structure is any more dangerous than anything else. The knowns and unknowns are exactly the same.
You really don't need much testing if you have sequenced the genome.
> I hope the Bill passes.
Not in the way it is currently constructed. It's ridiculous. There is no lower threshold, which basically means everything has to be labelled.
There are also a variety of special exemptions that make the bill an obvious shill law for certain organizations.
Read the wording of the proposition. There is nothing about the seed company in it.
Not a big surprise considering development of pesticide resistance has been going on for a very long time. In fact since the evolution of insects in the first place. About 400 million years ago.
Plants themselves evolved natural pesticides such as various phenolics to protect themselves from the insects; in fact some of the most widely used insecticides are plant derivatives like pyrethins.
Of course insects evolved in response to these, and the war was on.
Resistance to man made insecticides was first noted in science literature about 100 years ago.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0048357584900877
Rodale's article is blissfully missing any sort of context; not too surprising since they are pushing an agenda.
The lawsuits you linked to are predominantly breach of contract cases.
> Is that normal.
It's basic biology. Maybe you should learn some. Here, read this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_(biology)#Examples_of_plant_hybrids
> they go onto farmer's fields to test plants adjacent to Monsanto-owned "IP" and then sue the fucking shit out of farmers because their plants infringe their patents.
Complete myth. Never happened. It's also a matter of law that patents don't apply in cases of accidental contamination.
Cases where Monsanto has sued farmers have to do with farmers reselling seed, saving seed, or intentionally selecting accidentally pollinated seed (as in the famous Percy Schmieiser).