Exactly. A $12 bottle of multivitamins every two months is a heck of a lot cheaper than fresh produce. And when you're on a disability budget, there is no where near enough money for a "healthy" diet.
Wow....where do you live where junk food is cheaper than healthy, home cooked veggies, etc?
I cook most everything at home, and I've done it for awhile, even on very restricted budgets. But you have to buy raw ingredients (not preprocessed) and cut and cook them yourself.
Start by seeing what is on sale at the various grocery stores each week, and build your menu around those. I often hit 2-4 stores each week buying the sale items and going from there.
Buy what veggies and fruits are in season, those are usually the cheapest and best for you.
Doing things like that, can really help you eat healthier and cheaper than dining on preprocessed crap which will kill you in the long run. Also, find the days on which they mark down meats for quick sale, that's a good one. Hell, one time in college, studying for finals, I took a break to cook a late night snack...while a friend was coming over.
He came over with a pizza, and I was eating veal chops in a champagne cream sauce, and my meal cost far less than his....
Like me. I live alone, and so I don't cook very often. Mostly I get home from work, heat something up quickly and that is dinner.
Try this...
Try dedicating some Sundays, to cooking...do it for the week. I often cook 2-3 main dishes, maybe 2-3 sides...or one thing I like, is to grill a bunch of stuff, meats, veggies and just bag them. Then during the week, you can put them together in quick and interesting ways for lunches and dinners all week long.
Say you make up some hummus, and grill some veggies (eggplant, zucchini, onions, etc) and some chicken. A quick week night meal, is get some pita bread, spread on some hummus, and the veggies and chicken and there ya go. Next night, make a quick salad, throw in grilled, marinated veggies and whatever..etc. Doing stuff like that works well and make for easy throw together meals all week long (and lunches). I'd much rather do this than eat fast food, eat better, and with the money you save, treat yourself out every once in awhile to a finer dining experience, and get out and meet some girls. Do this...and then cook for them at your home, etc. All pluses!!
But I digress....cooking and eating this way cheaper and more nutritional, and hey..is kinda fun to spend a sunday with a couple of cocktails, throw on some tunes or some TV in the background and cook a bit.
One thing you might try too, is check the grocery store ads in your town, and see what's on sale and plan to cook around that. This way, you save money AND, most importantly, it keeps you from getting in a rut of cooking and eating the same thing day after day after day....
I hate to say it, but if they're gonna turn it over to someone or some company that can fix it...hell, give it to Google.
They already have info on most everyone in the US. Let them get the website going, they can hook in with Acxiom to pre-fill in what data Google has missing or wrong...and voila, the site could be up and running within about 2 months.
Not that I'm in favor of obamacare, mind you, but if they're gonna try to get expertise in getting large web based things to run and information gathering, why not go to some experts that get it right?
...it's just that the government didn't know what it actually needed when it wrote the requirements and now wants to blame them for the fact that the resultant product can't fulfill its purpose.
And we're now entrusting said government to be in charge of all our healthcare needs/decisions why now exactly???
No. More then likely, lowered premiums for better coverage. Those who complained about their canceled plans actually got better plans - less cost and more coverage.
Wow...when did MSNBC get an account on Slashdot? Rachel, is that you?
The sneaky thing they did here, was install the stop light cameras, but didn't put up any signs or tell anyone they were also speed cameras.
People were stopping, but they cleaned up on revenues from people going slightly over the speed limit.
So now, you see people speeding along knowing what the traffic cam is really for, and as they approach these intersections, even if green..you see nothing but brake lights slowing down to the limit...creeping through the intersection, then after passing, speeding up to "normal" speeds again.
As far as the speeding cameras, I would start by not making speeding a moving violation and change ticket to a speeding surcharge. You can go as fast as you want as long as you pay; that's the only way I would approve of speeding cameras..
Actually, that's the way they got around the laws to put stop light/speeding cameras up in New Orleans.
It is nothing more than a revenue collection device, as that you don't go to traffic court over these and no points or marks go against your driving record.
It shows that is nothing more than for revenue generation. When people were protesting them (they almost got taken down awhile back) the first thing our govt and police said, was "we'll be losing $X if we do this...oh, and it will also make things less safe". That is a true story.
In the evenings, especially Friday and Saturday nights there are sloppy drivers that have many times nearly hit me because they ran red lights.
Well, if it is Friday and Sat nights, it is likely you're on the road with more people that have been drinking, that's pretty common and normal.
A traffic camera isn't gonna do much good on that, you just need to be a bit more aware of things as you dirve those times of those evenings when risk on the road is naturally higher than other times.
I don't know what things are like in Germany; I was under the impression that their economy was fairly healthy in spite of having to bail other nations out now and again. But here in the USA, there are literally three job-seekers to every job. Any decent tech job will get hundreds or thousands of resume submissions. I remember reading an article more than five years ago showing that 50% of all IT workers in the USA were out of work.
That's not entirely true.
There are jobs out there, but you have to be willing to move to where the jobs are....
These people rightfully want to sleep, eat, buy stuff, and get healthcare just like everyone else. And yet, they either lack the circumstance, the ability, the willpower, or the mental acuity to grow beyond a job that requires no skills.
Well, if people slacked off and didn't do the education thing the first time around, then, they have a difficult, but, not impossible road ahead of them.
They will need to likely sacrifice trying to buy nice, luxury things like TVs, nice cars, etc. If you can't afford to have a kid, then...don't have them. Work harder to get that education or skill you need at night school or whatever. You blew it the first time it was offered to you, so you have to sacrifice and work even harder this time around but it can be done.
As for people "lacking the willpower"...well, that's their problem and well, fuck'em.
If you carry people with no will to help themselves, then that encourages them and others to be lazy and drags on society. I'm sorry, but no free rides. Everyone has to try and everyone has to have skin in the game.
If you are truly infirmed, elderly or disabled in some what you cannot work, then sure, there should be a safety net, I don't think anyone would have a problem with that.
If you are able bodied, you should be working, and if you've screwed around and not educated yourself, and fought for that education when you were young, well, you have a tougher road ahead of you, and you can either make the required sacrifices now and work harder than most to better yourself and catch up to the rest of us, or you can fail and live at the bottom. You don't deserve a free ride just because "it is hard".
Tough luck...life is hard. Some win...some lose. It's up to you into which category you're going to end up.
No, my solution would be to have them pay a wage that values what the people do, and not just hope that there are people desperate enough to work for slave wages.
It sounds to me, that for a non-skilled job, that they're paying what it is worth.
These are not or should not...be jobs grown adults are trying to work to support a family. These are starter type jobs for kids or young adults trying to do their first step in the workforce, something to learn your work ethics, etc (see other post in this thread) and move on to a "real job" so to speak. This job is on the level of fast food workers and the like.
It isn't meant to be a job you make your living at....it has no skills required, and pays for that level of worker.
I've actually seen people (including honest-to-God well-paid politicians) really upset at how "unfair" collective bargaining is, arguing that it should be outlawed.
They should NOT be outlawed for sure...however, I would posit that they should not be made mandatory either will the force of state / country law behind them either.
You should be free to join one if you want, but you should also be free to NOT join one either.
Either way you choose, you should still be eligible for any job you wish, union member or not.
American workers have been forced to compete with the third world. Why should Germans be surprised that companies want to do this to them. It is not about nations, it is now about how corporations can destroy wage bases and workers benefits. US Amazon does NOT have a Union.....luckily the German state has a place for worker's organization. I hope German workers stand firm.
But sorting stuff to ship is menial labor, and deserves menial wages. This is not a job for a grown adult to have to try to support a family. If you are working a job that involves a name tag, you have made some SERIOUS vocational errors, and need to do something about it.
Jobs like this, with no skills are a dime a dozen, and are the types of jobs (like fast food) that are FIRST jobs, ones for young kids to start with and learn the work ethic and then move up and on to better jobs.
Someone sorting mail or flipping burgers does not rate getting $20/hr or more. That's just nonsense.
Hey, I'd pay GOOD money if we could get a civilian version of this thing...that would target the fscking stoplight/speed cameras in the city. And of course, the soon to be coming to your town, speed limit drones as yet another method to collect revenues.
If I could get Big Ten Sports and ESPN streamed I would cut the cord today. That is currently the only thing holding me back. My family never watches "live" TV everything is either streamed or DVR'ed for later viewing.
I"m about the same way.
It appears next year, there is some sort of ESPN SEC conference channel coming out. I'd be happy to subscribe to that, the news channels, and maybe the cooking channel, if they were to halt their slide of it turning into contests and reality cooking shows like Food Network (I can't watch that anymore).
Other than that...I rent blurays and stream the rest that I will watch in lower resolution.
I'm so glad you think refusing people for preexisting conditions, imposing maximum lifetime payouts, and dropping people when they have had major claims for things like *paying the premium too soon* (yes, that happened) were excellent features of the old plans. As I said, these aren't strict requirements!
I think most of us would go along with these FEW good things about obamacare......but most of us would rather ditch the rest of it.
Offtopic awesomeness: I once had the kid in the seat in front of me puke in their seat. Their vomit actually flowed between the seat cushion and the seat back, directly onto my shoes, pant legs, and small carry-on bag. Not a word from the parent. Not a "heads up, vomit incoming". Even after my overly loud "what the fuck, I think there's vomit all over me", not so much as a "oh that's my child's vomit, I apologize". Nothing. What recourse does a passenger have after being accosted in such a manner?
You could get nauseated by the puke on you...and return the favor by standing up, and while "trying" to get to the bathroom, puke back on the kid and the parent?
Right, because one can just 'control' kids. It's not like they're thinking, breathing, humans with wills separate from their parents. I mean, I know I always carry a roll of duct tape with me just in case a kid has a meltdown. That way I can just shut them up for the comfort of everyone around me. I also think that because any kid can occasionally cry or melt down, all parents with kids should be banned from going out in public until the kids are at least 10. I think that sounds fair.
So...the rest of us are supposed to suffer in silence, because someone decided to fuck without protection, and won't control the results of said copulation?
People would be more understanding of the situation if the parents would even ATTEMPT to try to control, console or keep the kids noise emission to at least a low 120dB.
But they don't...they let the little dears scream bloody murder and/or kick or bump the seat in front of them continuously, or sometimes, even better...just let the run around free in the aisles of the restaurants, planes or whatever.
No...if you fuck and decide to keep the result of that night in bed, then you need to be responsible for the actions of your progeny, and keep them under control or at least TRY so that the rest of us can see you are at least attempting to discipline them.
Geez, when I was that young, and I did that...at least one of my parents would jerk my ass up and take me outside (not on a plane here, mind you) and wear my ass out, and once I calmed down and could behave, and only then...did I get to come back in.
My parents actually left some restaurants when I did not calm down, etc. rather than piss everyone else off.
I know you can really get off a plane..but at least let the rest of us see you attempt to quieten the kid, eh? It is still as annoying as all get out, but you'll at least be more tolerated and get some sympathy if you just try to quell little Tommy's vocal blasts.
And if at all possible...try to teach public behavior at home before you bring little Sissy out in public so that this won't be the first time she's ever been called upon to act civilly, to not throw food everywhere, not to walk about bothering other patrons, etc.
Also, "perfectly good coverage" is kind of a joke.
Well, I one thing I consider perfectly good, was that as an un-married male, I didn't need maternity care or any other type of obstetrics coverage, nor do I need coverage for kids, etc. under my old policy.
Apparently under the new previsions, I'm required to have such coverage and pay for it...WFT?
Another perfectly good insurance plan, when I do 1099 work through my own company, in the past, I had a high deductible policy, about $1200...low monthly payments, and yes, it was bare bones.
When I was growing up, it was called "major medical", it was something I needed only for emergencies (hit by a bus, heart attack, etc). I saved for and paid for my routine care and meds by socking away about $3K annually in my HSA pre-tax. This worked out quite well for me, and being mostly healthy, each year, I'd have a good bit of funds in the HSA to roll over to the next year...and the next year...and...
But nope...that kind of freedom to manage my own health care is now taken away from me. Less choice and less freedom.
Some of us don't need a 'nanny' in the federal govt. to make our decisions for us and take care of us. But now even so, it is being rammed down our throats.
Your lines sound like they were parroted straight off MSNBC...
...but the vast majority of those people will end up with with cheaper policies with more coverage.
Unfortunately, so far...we're seeing pretty much the oppositeof this.
People that had perfectly good coverage, are seeing those policies being replace by the new ones, that often offer less choice, fewer doctors, but coming also with higher deductibles and more expensive monthly payments.
Sure, we might get a few million new people on with insurance (if ACA actually starts to work as planned)...but at the cost of possibly the majority of already covered Americans experiencing a huge increase in premiums and deductibles combined with a lowering of many of their previous levels of coverage.
Slashdot Mirror
If you buy things that are on sale and in season, you can easily make meals that are in the $4 per meal and much better for you than McD's.
Hell, buy a bag of dried beans, onion, meat, etc....make a pot of chili that you can eat on for 5+ meals and it is in that range.
Make a big salad, and grill some chicken that was on sale...you can get several meals out of that for that price range, and is much healthier for you.
And no, it doesn't go bad in a day or two. Buy what's on sale each week and work from there.
Wow....where do you live where junk food is cheaper than healthy, home cooked veggies, etc?
I cook most everything at home, and I've done it for awhile, even on very restricted budgets. But you have to buy raw ingredients (not preprocessed) and cut and cook them yourself.
Start by seeing what is on sale at the various grocery stores each week, and build your menu around those. I often hit 2-4 stores each week buying the sale items and going from there.
Buy what veggies and fruits are in season, those are usually the cheapest and best for you.
Doing things like that, can really help you eat healthier and cheaper than dining on preprocessed crap which will kill you in the long run. Also, find the days on which they mark down meats for quick sale, that's a good one. Hell, one time in college, studying for finals, I took a break to cook a late night snack...while a friend was coming over.
He came over with a pizza, and I was eating veal chops in a champagne cream sauce, and my meal cost far less than his....
Try this...
Try dedicating some Sundays, to cooking...do it for the week. I often cook 2-3 main dishes, maybe 2-3 sides...or one thing I like, is to grill a bunch of stuff, meats, veggies and just bag them. Then during the week, you can put them together in quick and interesting ways for lunches and dinners all week long.
Say you make up some hummus, and grill some veggies (eggplant, zucchini, onions, etc) and some chicken. A quick week night meal, is get some pita bread, spread on some hummus, and the veggies and chicken and there ya go. Next night, make a quick salad, throw in grilled, marinated veggies and whatever..etc. Doing stuff like that works well and make for easy throw together meals all week long (and lunches). I'd much rather do this than eat fast food, eat better, and with the money you save, treat yourself out every once in awhile to a finer dining experience, and get out and meet some girls. Do this...and then cook for them at your home, etc. All pluses!!
But I digress....cooking and eating this way cheaper and more nutritional, and hey..is kinda fun to spend a sunday with a couple of cocktails, throw on some tunes or some TV in the background and cook a bit.
One thing you might try too, is check the grocery store ads in your town, and see what's on sale and plan to cook around that. This way, you save money AND, most importantly, it keeps you from getting in a rut of cooking and eating the same thing day after day after day....
They already have info on most everyone in the US. Let them get the website going, they can hook in with Acxiom to pre-fill in what data Google has missing or wrong...and voila, the site could be up and running within about 2 months.
Not that I'm in favor of obamacare, mind you, but if they're gonna try to get expertise in getting large web based things to run and information gathering, why not go to some experts that get it right?
And we're now entrusting said government to be in charge of all our healthcare needs/decisions why now exactly???
Wow...when did MSNBC get an account on Slashdot? Rachel, is that you?
People were stopping, but they cleaned up on revenues from people going slightly over the speed limit.
So now, you see people speeding along knowing what the traffic cam is really for, and as they approach these intersections, even if green..you see nothing but brake lights slowing down to the limit...creeping through the intersection, then after passing, speeding up to "normal" speeds again.
Actually, that's the way they got around the laws to put stop light/speeding cameras up in New Orleans.
It is nothing more than a revenue collection device, as that you don't go to traffic court over these and no points or marks go against your driving record.
It shows that is nothing more than for revenue generation. When people were protesting them (they almost got taken down awhile back) the first thing our govt and police said, was "we'll be losing $X if we do this...oh, and it will also make things less safe". That is a true story.
Well, if it is Friday and Sat nights, it is likely you're on the road with more people that have been drinking, that's pretty common and normal.
A traffic camera isn't gonna do much good on that, you just need to be a bit more aware of things as you dirve those times of those evenings when risk on the road is naturally higher than other times.
That's not entirely true.
There are jobs out there, but you have to be willing to move to where the jobs are....
As others have proven, this isn't a 'death sentence' to one's life.
Some people start the race of life off further behind others, but that only means they have to work harder, but they can achieve what they want.
You see people that start off born to money, lose it all and end up on the bottom.
So, birth is just a starting position in life, it is up to you how hard you want to work to finish.
Well, if people slacked off and didn't do the education thing the first time around, then, they have a difficult, but, not impossible road ahead of them.
They will need to likely sacrifice trying to buy nice, luxury things like TVs, nice cars, etc. If you can't afford to have a kid, then...don't have them. Work harder to get that education or skill you need at night school or whatever. You blew it the first time it was offered to you, so you have to sacrifice and work even harder this time around but it can be done.
As for people "lacking the willpower"...well, that's their problem and well, fuck'em.
If you carry people with no will to help themselves, then that encourages them and others to be lazy and drags on society. I'm sorry, but no free rides. Everyone has to try and everyone has to have skin in the game.
If you are truly infirmed, elderly or disabled in some what you cannot work, then sure, there should be a safety net, I don't think anyone would have a problem with that.
If you are able bodied, you should be working, and if you've screwed around and not educated yourself, and fought for that education when you were young, well, you have a tougher road ahead of you, and you can either make the required sacrifices now and work harder than most to better yourself and catch up to the rest of us, or you can fail and live at the bottom. You don't deserve a free ride just because "it is hard".
Tough luck...life is hard. Some win...some lose. It's up to you into which category you're going to end up.
It sounds to me, that for a non-skilled job, that they're paying what it is worth.
These are not or should not...be jobs grown adults are trying to work to support a family. These are starter type jobs for kids or young adults trying to do their first step in the workforce, something to learn your work ethics, etc (see other post in this thread) and move on to a "real job" so to speak. This job is on the level of fast food workers and the like.
It isn't meant to be a job you make your living at....it has no skills required, and pays for that level of worker.
And your solution is to have Amazon leave and have NO jobs at all for people to not be happy with, rather than a job that they won't be happy with?
I kinda miss how having no job is better than a lousy job? At least with the latter, you're earning some money.
Well, that's life in a nutshell....what's your point?
They should NOT be outlawed for sure...however, I would posit that they should not be made mandatory either will the force of state / country law behind them either.
You should be free to join one if you want, but you should also be free to NOT join one either.
Either way you choose, you should still be eligible for any job you wish, union member or not.
Fair is fair after all, right?
But sorting stuff to ship is menial labor, and deserves menial wages. This is not a job for a grown adult to have to try to support a family. If you are working a job that involves a name tag, you have made some SERIOUS vocational errors, and need to do something about it.
Jobs like this, with no skills are a dime a dozen, and are the types of jobs (like fast food) that are FIRST jobs, ones for young kids to start with and learn the work ethic and then move up and on to better jobs.
Someone sorting mail or flipping burgers does not rate getting $20/hr or more. That's just nonsense.
Hey, I'd pay GOOD money if we could get a civilian version of this thing...that would target the fscking stoplight/speed cameras in the city. And of course, the soon to be coming to your town, speed limit drones as yet another method to collect revenues.
I"m about the same way.
It appears next year, there is some sort of ESPN SEC conference channel coming out. I'd be happy to subscribe to that, the news channels, and maybe the cooking channel, if they were to halt their slide of it turning into contests and reality cooking shows like Food Network (I can't watch that anymore).
Other than that...I rent blurays and stream the rest that I will watch in lower resolution.
I think most of us would go along with these FEW good things about obamacare......but most of us would rather ditch the rest of it.
You could get nauseated by the puke on you...and return the favor by standing up, and while "trying" to get to the bathroom, puke back on the kid and the parent?
So...the rest of us are supposed to suffer in silence, because someone decided to fuck without protection, and won't control the results of said copulation?
People would be more understanding of the situation if the parents would even ATTEMPT to try to control, console or keep the kids noise emission to at least a low 120dB.
But they don't...they let the little dears scream bloody murder and/or kick or bump the seat in front of them continuously, or sometimes, even better...just let the run around free in the aisles of the restaurants, planes or whatever.
No...if you fuck and decide to keep the result of that night in bed, then you need to be responsible for the actions of your progeny, and keep them under control or at least TRY so that the rest of us can see you are at least attempting to discipline them.
Geez, when I was that young, and I did that...at least one of my parents would jerk my ass up and take me outside (not on a plane here, mind you) and wear my ass out, and once I calmed down and could behave, and only then...did I get to come back in.
My parents actually left some restaurants when I did not calm down, etc. rather than piss everyone else off.
I know you can really get off a plane..but at least let the rest of us see you attempt to quieten the kid, eh? It is still as annoying as all get out, but you'll at least be more tolerated and get some sympathy if you just try to quell little Tommy's vocal blasts.
And if at all possible...try to teach public behavior at home before you bring little Sissy out in public so that this won't be the first time she's ever been called upon to act civilly, to not throw food everywhere, not to walk about bothering other patrons, etc.
Is it merely someone who owns and like to shoot guns and supports the current Supreme Court definition of the 2nd amendment?
Well, I one thing I consider perfectly good, was that as an un-married male, I didn't need maternity care or any other type of obstetrics coverage, nor do I need coverage for kids, etc. under my old policy.
Apparently under the new previsions, I'm required to have such coverage and pay for it...WFT?
Another perfectly good insurance plan, when I do 1099 work through my own company, in the past, I had a high deductible policy, about $1200...low monthly payments, and yes, it was bare bones.
When I was growing up, it was called "major medical", it was something I needed only for emergencies (hit by a bus, heart attack, etc). I saved for and paid for my routine care and meds by socking away about $3K annually in my HSA pre-tax. This worked out quite well for me, and being mostly healthy, each year, I'd have a good bit of funds in the HSA to roll over to the next year...and the next year...and...
But nope...that kind of freedom to manage my own health care is now taken away from me. Less choice and less freedom.
Some of us don't need a 'nanny' in the federal govt. to make our decisions for us and take care of us. But now even so, it is being rammed down our throats.
Your lines sound like they were parroted straight off MSNBC...
Unfortunately, so far...we're seeing pretty much the oppositeof this.
People that had perfectly good coverage, are seeing those policies being replace by the new ones, that often offer less choice, fewer doctors, but coming also with higher deductibles and more expensive monthly payments.
Sure, we might get a few million new people on with insurance (if ACA actually starts to work as planned)...but at the cost of possibly the majority of already covered Americans experiencing a huge increase in premiums and deductibles combined with a lowering of many of their previous levels of coverage.
Is it worth it?