"Could an American please explain to me why the majority of USA seems to oppose public healthcare?
"
Well, pretty easy...a fairly sizable majority of people in the US care currently covered, about 80-85% last figure I saw on tv. Out of those, about 75%+ are perfectly happy with their coverage.
I am quite happy with my coverage I get from work.
I think most of us in this category don't want to see it taken away from us...we don't want the govt. in charge of something so important as our health, likely lowering the level of coverage and choice available to us, just to try to cover a few more people that aren't currently covered. As the currently bills under consideration stand, they won't cover everyone either, and the cost is something at this time we cannot afford.
We currently have TOO much debt in the US for this at this time.
Many of us like our health care levels of service, I'd wish we could take what largely works for a majority of us in the US, and make some changes that do need to be made, such as allowing consumers to purchase their insurance across state lines (like we can with car and motorcycle insurance), and also to fix it where you cannot be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions.
BOttom line, the us general public is suspicious of having even more govt. involvement in an important part of our life...they never seem to do things like this very well, or terribly efficient. It will be a huge waste of taxpayer money, for more paperwork and red tape...and frankly I don't want a govt committee play doctor in setting up what are approved levels of care and cost effectiveness.
I'm in New Orleans and the service is terrible. About 20% of my calls either fail as I pick them up or as I dial. All over the state, the coverage is spotty at best and in some places data usage is totally out of the question, unless you've got some serious time to waste waiting for a page to load. It is also apparent that AT&T has not counted on the sheer number of phones that can jam into a city. In the French Quarter on a Saturday night, my phone is almost worthless. I can place calls with about a 20-30% failure rate, but frequently incoming calls don't ring and I don't get the voice mail until after I've left the crowded areas. This would appear to me to be a network capacity issue."
Wow, I've had the exact opposite of what you are experiencing.
Granted...I've only had my phone since roughly the 4th of July, so I've not had to deal with it during the big 'fests'. But so far, as I'd mentioned awhile back, I've had nothing but good reception for data and voice. I have one of the newer 3GS phones...if you have the older 3G phones...I wonder if that makes a difference?
Just for the record...my old Sprint phones would have serious connection problems during Mardi Gras and the like...that is kind of to be expected down here from all providers I'm guessing. I mean, when you are partying with a million of your friends in the city, you gotta expect traffic everywhere.
:)
I've had no problems with my iPhone in the east Baton Rouge area either when I travel up there.
Strange, 2 such different experiences in the same city.
""Hate speech" is typically threatening. If you call someone a nigger, that's one thing. And at least in the US, it's no crime. But if you put up a noose, you're threatening to lynch someone. Moreover, it is obviously racially motivated. That behavior cannot be tolerated, and laws were put into place specifically BECAUSE IT WAS HAPPENING UNTIL THE LAWS WERE PUT INTO PLACE AND ENFORCED. People still get lynched, though it is becoming rarer."
I was shocked the other day (I wish I had the links) when someone pretty much proved me wrong when I said that it was nice that in the US we had no hate speech laws.
Apparently we do...
I don't think we need them. And lynchings were illegal LONG before we had any semblance of laws inhibiting speech that was hateful.
Putting up a noose, or a nazi swastika....is just speech through a symbol. In and of itself, it is NOT threatening. Actions and actual threats against anyone, are threats and have been a crime for a long time. Using a noose on someone, is a crime, but, merely displaying it, while extremely, and understandably distasteful to many, is not and should not be a crime.
True freedom of speech (I'm not talking about things like Fire/Crowded Movie house) pretty much necessitates there there be no freedom from being offended.
You have to be VERY careful about this type thing. I can see good people having good reasons for it, but, once you let the cat out of the bag, you can get very screwy with this type of thing. One prime example of this.
There was reported in the past year or two, incidents of home owners, who were charged with crimes for putting up a hangman's noose in their front yards, as part of a macabre HALLOWEEN decoration set up. It had nothing to do with anything racial (PLENTY of WHITE people have been hung in the US, I'd dare say more whites that black have been hung in our nation's history), and yet, this guy was charged with a crime, I think he got off with a fine, but, really...is that right?
While I agree that anyone threatening anyone's well being, for ANY reason (I don't think threatening due to sex/race or whatever is a special case) should be a crime and be protected against, merely saying unsavory things, or even displaying unsavory symbols or whatever should not at all be a crime. If it is not a direct threat to you (ie:I'm gonna kill your honkey ass with this knife right now asshole), then there should be no rules or laws officially against it. If the general public wants to shun you due to it, well that is their right, but, the govt. should have NO say in setting the boundary for what you can say or publish or preach.
I'm curious, what in what parts of the country are ATT customers experiencing dropped calls, slow internet times, etc?
I've just recently switched to ATT to get the iPhone 3gs.
I'd been with Sprint since I ever had my first phone ever back in about 1999-2000 or so). Post Katrina, my Sprint phone just was having all kinds of signal problems, etc. I live in New Orleans, and attributed that maybe to still having some tower problems. I had a friend with an iPhone let me see it, and test to make sure I had signal at my house (which was iffy at best with Sprint), and it was great.
I don't have a land line, and depend on my cell phone. I gotta say, I was a bit hesitant due to all the badmouthing of ATT here and on other forums, but, I must say, in my short time as a customer of theirs, I've satisfied. I've yet to run into a situation where I had low signal when I wanted to make a call. I've not had a dropped call that I can recall, and so far, the internet connectivity is been very satisfactory.
So, how about a poll...if you have ATT problems like the article mentioned, tell what part of the country you are in, and what you problem is. Is this more of a regional thing? Is it bad in the NE of the US? The west?
"Simple eh? Ask a room of people where mail merge is in Word and I bet 99% people that have used mail merge before have no idea. Is it in the Edit menu, the Formatting menu, or the Data menu (was there even a data menu?) This applies to most features.
Ask any UI expert and they'll tell you the Office Ribbon is the most important UI thing to happens since the GUI. If for any other reason is because the ribbon focused on task based UI instead of technical organization that didn't apply to your average user."
Not a feature I've used very often I'll grant you, but I have needed it, and while that placement is strange, I can find it in a second or two by clicking each menu open.
The ribbon?? Honestly, I can't find SHIT in that thing, and most people I know that have been using computers for > 5 years have a bitch of a time finding what should be simple things to find. I'm trying to get used to it, but, when I need something other than a simple thing, it takes me FOREVER to find it. In word, just to find where to turn off auto-caps....which used to be a click on the menu, right to some preferences window.
I had to get help for this one.
You have to click the big button on new ribbon flavored word. From there, a little button at the botton of that screen (more of a link than a button) for "word options". -> Proofing menu option on that screen, then from there click the button for AutoCorrect options.
If that is at all intuitive for you to find...more so than with a simple menu bar to preferences....I have to tip my hat to you.
Honestly, the first time I opened MS word, it took forever for me to find the fucking "Save As" option...I mean, there was nothing intuitive there telling me the big button on the top rt was anything more than a windows logo...until someone told me, I'd have never thought to click it for such options.
I gotta disagree with you. I like tree views, I like to see the file structures in windows explorer, I like simple menu bars. I like things to look like a computer or at least have that option.
I'm still with XP when I have to used windows....at least with it, I can still set my views to be classic mode on most things still...wish I still could with office, I'd be SO much more productive.
"But I use it and related services to stay in touch with several friends who do not live close by and who do not know every detail of my life anyway. This enables me to stay close to these people even if we only see each other a couple of times a year. I find it very useful. But then again, I don't (usually) post silly stuff like when I'm eating or watching TV or stuff. But if I'm going out with some other people, go to watch a movie, acquire a new gadget that is just too cool and stuff like that, I may post a short notice about it."
You're kidding, right?
I mean, I've got 15+ people I'm extremely close with....knowing them from time ranging from 20-34 years. We keep in touch what I think pretty often, and most of them are scattered around the US, we phone, we email. But I swear, it would drive me bat shit if they were emailing, texting or twittering when they did something as banal as go to a fucking movie or out to a bar?
Unless it was something special, or they got pictures of a stripper at a bar, that's not the kind of detail I need about anyone's life.
Ok, if I get a new toy like a motorcycle or car, someting fairly major, yeah, I'll email some pictures of it...but it sounds like some people out there send people notices when they get a toaster that's new.
Like I said, I'm VERY close with all these long time, long term friends...half of which have keys to my place so what when they come to town, they can just let themselves in...and none of us feel the need to give day to day details of our lives...just the interesting and unusual stuff, you know?
Why don't they just cut out the middle steps, and have a couple fuck and get pregnant on the space station?
Just figure out the safety window to come back to earth for the birth if they wish...
Am I the only one left in the US that doesn't want everyone to know my every move of every day life??
Frankly, I prefer being anonymous for most of the time, until "I" choose to make myself known to my friends. I call it 'getting together with them for drinks....'
Not denying anything bad happened....just that there aren't any of the perpetrators around to apologize for it. I didn't do it...not apologizing for it if I didn't do it.
"When I was growing up, I ran out of the house to play in the morning and did not return until the street lights came on.
Yeah, that's fantastic parenting."
Actually, it is great parenting...and it was the norm when I was growing up too. Heck, I was out all day during the days with my friends when I was a kid. We ALL were out and about playing every day. We built forts, built our first skateboards before buying them...built our own ramps at the end of the street. Later, we had a neighborhood pool we all went to. And yes, we were pretty much all unsupervised. When I was really young, like in 5th grade or so, I was to call in to home from a neighbors house every couple hours or so. No big deal, whoever's house was the closest...we went in and called a quick call.
My parents both worked...most of the kids in my neighborhood's parents both worked. But we were good kids, and had fun. sure, we got into some mischief...but nothing terribly harmful and no one got hurt.
And...amazingly enough, we all turned out ok...successful businessmen, lawyers, bankers...etc. And we didn't have a cell phone on any of us probably till we were ALL in our upper 20's or low 30's.
Yeah, I knew he'd been important to computer, but, I never knew he was a gay.
My, they certainly did things a bit different back then...I actually thought the British were more open to homosexuality than say, the US.
That being said, I don't see all this crap about 'apologizing' to someone or to a group because of how things were done many, many years ago. The things that might be atrocities now, or taboo...were the norm then, and all people back then lived with that mindset and societal 'norm'.
Take slavery in the US. Back then, it was normal, it was legal. Thankfully, we don't do that any more, but, I don't see any need to apologize or give reparations ($) to make up for it. I don't know anyone around these days that was a slave owner. And lets face it, whether you like it or not, today we are where we are at due to the acts and actions of the past. There would likely not be as great of a black population in the US if there had never been slavery. It adds to our society today in some great ways....culture, cooking, life..etc. It sucks that it got here because of slavery, but, there are positive things that came out of it all in the end.
I refuse to think anyone present today needs to apologize for the past. Today is today, and lets spend our time working to better ourselves today and for the future that comes after us.
I'm on the complete opposite end of the spectrum..I will NOT have a dental procedure without gas. If the Dentist doesn't give gas..I find a new dentist. Hell, I always used to argue they should give it during cleanings....and GOOD checkups!!
I had my wisdom teeth out years back....was one of the best afternoons of my life, I got full blown gas going....he threw on the headphones and I jammed out to Dark Side Of the Moon, some Zeppelin and Klaatu....good 'spacey' music. It was great....at least, until I got dry sockets and the pain set in.
Nope screw it...I pray they don't ban gas for dental work. I can't imagine it is 'that' much of a danger, as that there isn't likely that much being used on any given day.
While I respect anyone's decisions with respect to drinking or other drugs....I still have to go along with (I think it was WC Fields) the saying something to the effect of:
I feel sorry for people that don't drink....when they wake up in the morning, that's the BEST they are gonna feel all day..
"Are you saying that the poster was a troll for suggesting that you can get 18 year old women to sleep with you? He didn't say 17, 16, or 12 years old. He said 18. A perfectly legal and moral age for an adult to have as a girlfriend. I guess, this just fall into different strokes for different folks, but suggesting you date 18 year olds seems like a strange thing to get upset about."
Hell yeah!!
If I was boinking a good looking 18yr old, I'd be telling everyone about it, hell, I'd be showing videos!!
"Are there any good tutorials for BackTrack items? Lifehacker has done a few liveCD showings of it but never explain more than that. Would love to use it more but the lack of documentation and user friendliness leaves me wanting./not a crypto expert"
There's tons of info out there.
Heck, start with youtube. Look for an earlier post I did where I threw in a sample link to a video showing SSL MITM and DNS spoofing...
"Because the cable company charges usurious rates and extra fees for a DVR with a crap interface that's littered with bugs? The only thing stopping me from switching to Tivo currently is on demand. You have to keep a box from the cable company for that to work, since cable card does not support it, and they charge you for it."
This is interesting....I was wondering if anyone out there actually used On Demand....
I've only met one person I know that ever used it.
Slashdot Mirror
No big deal...just go 'commando'.
I've been doing it for years...
Well, pretty easy...a fairly sizable majority of people in the US care currently covered, about 80-85% last figure I saw on tv. Out of those, about 75%+ are perfectly happy with their coverage.
I am quite happy with my coverage I get from work.
I think most of us in this category don't want to see it taken away from us...we don't want the govt. in charge of something so important as our health, likely lowering the level of coverage and choice available to us, just to try to cover a few more people that aren't currently covered. As the currently bills under consideration stand, they won't cover everyone either, and the cost is something at this time we cannot afford.
We currently have TOO much debt in the US for this at this time.
Many of us like our health care levels of service, I'd wish we could take what largely works for a majority of us in the US, and make some changes that do need to be made, such as allowing consumers to purchase their insurance across state lines (like we can with car and motorcycle insurance), and also to fix it where you cannot be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions.
BOttom line, the us general public is suspicious of having even more govt. involvement in an important part of our life...they never seem to do things like this very well, or terribly efficient. It will be a huge waste of taxpayer money, for more paperwork and red tape...and frankly I don't want a govt committee play doctor in setting up what are approved levels of care and cost effectiveness.
Wow, I've had the exact opposite of what you are experiencing.
Granted...I've only had my phone since roughly the 4th of July, so I've not had to deal with it during the big 'fests'. But so far, as I'd mentioned awhile back, I've had nothing but good reception for data and voice. I have one of the newer 3GS phones...if you have the older 3G phones...I wonder if that makes a difference?
Just for the record...my old Sprint phones would have serious connection problems during Mardi Gras and the like...that is kind of to be expected down here from all providers I'm guessing. I mean, when you are partying with a million of your friends in the city, you gotta expect traffic everywhere.
I've had no problems with my iPhone in the east Baton Rouge area either when I travel up there.
Strange, 2 such different experiences in the same city.
gunter glieben glachen globen!!
I was shocked the other day (I wish I had the links) when someone pretty much proved me wrong when I said that it was nice that in the US we had no hate speech laws.
Apparently we do...
I don't think we need them. And lynchings were illegal LONG before we had any semblance of laws inhibiting speech that was hateful.
Putting up a noose, or a nazi swastika....is just speech through a symbol. In and of itself, it is NOT threatening. Actions and actual threats against anyone, are threats and have been a crime for a long time. Using a noose on someone, is a crime, but, merely displaying it, while extremely, and understandably distasteful to many, is not and should not be a crime.
True freedom of speech (I'm not talking about things like Fire/Crowded Movie house) pretty much necessitates there there be no freedom from being offended.
You have to be VERY careful about this type thing. I can see good people having good reasons for it, but, once you let the cat out of the bag, you can get very screwy with this type of thing. One prime example of this.
There was reported in the past year or two, incidents of home owners, who were charged with crimes for putting up a hangman's noose in their front yards, as part of a macabre HALLOWEEN decoration set up. It had nothing to do with anything racial (PLENTY of WHITE people have been hung in the US, I'd dare say more whites that black have been hung in our nation's history), and yet, this guy was charged with a crime, I think he got off with a fine, but, really...is that right?
While I agree that anyone threatening anyone's well being, for ANY reason (I don't think threatening due to sex/race or whatever is a special case) should be a crime and be protected against, merely saying unsavory things, or even displaying unsavory symbols or whatever should not at all be a crime. If it is not a direct threat to you (ie:I'm gonna kill your honkey ass with this knife right now asshole), then there should be no rules or laws officially against it. If the general public wants to shun you due to it, well that is their right, but, the govt. should have NO say in setting the boundary for what you can say or publish or preach.
...this sets an example for people that insist anything NOT PC speech in the US should be suppressed.
Yes, but can you hammer a six-inch spike through a board with your penis?
I've just recently switched to ATT to get the iPhone 3gs.
I'd been with Sprint since I ever had my first phone ever back in about 1999-2000 or so). Post Katrina, my Sprint phone just was having all kinds of signal problems, etc. I live in New Orleans, and attributed that maybe to still having some tower problems. I had a friend with an iPhone let me see it, and test to make sure I had signal at my house (which was iffy at best with Sprint), and it was great.
I don't have a land line, and depend on my cell phone. I gotta say, I was a bit hesitant due to all the badmouthing of ATT here and on other forums, but, I must say, in my short time as a customer of theirs, I've satisfied. I've yet to run into a situation where I had low signal when I wanted to make a call. I've not had a dropped call that I can recall, and so far, the internet connectivity is been very satisfactory.
So, how about a poll...if you have ATT problems like the article mentioned, tell what part of the country you are in, and what you problem is. Is this more of a regional thing? Is it bad in the NE of the US? The west?
Can you hear me now?
Ask any UI expert and they'll tell you the Office Ribbon is the most important UI thing to happens since the GUI. If for any other reason is because the ribbon focused on task based UI instead of technical organization that didn't apply to your average user."
Not a feature I've used very often I'll grant you, but I have needed it, and while that placement is strange, I can find it in a second or two by clicking each menu open.
The ribbon?? Honestly, I can't find SHIT in that thing, and most people I know that have been using computers for > 5 years have a bitch of a time finding what should be simple things to find. I'm trying to get used to it, but, when I need something other than a simple thing, it takes me FOREVER to find it. In word, just to find where to turn off auto-caps....which used to be a click on the menu, right to some preferences window.
I had to get help for this one.
You have to click the big button on new ribbon flavored word. From there, a little button at the botton of that screen (more of a link than a button) for "word options". -> Proofing menu option on that screen, then from there click the button for AutoCorrect options.
If that is at all intuitive for you to find...more so than with a simple menu bar to preferences....I have to tip my hat to you.
Honestly, the first time I opened MS word, it took forever for me to find the fucking "Save As" option...I mean, there was nothing intuitive there telling me the big button on the top rt was anything more than a windows logo...until someone told me, I'd have never thought to click it for such options.
I gotta disagree with you. I like tree views, I like to see the file structures in windows explorer, I like simple menu bars. I like things to look like a computer or at least have that option.
I'm still with XP when I have to used windows....at least with it, I can still set my views to be classic mode on most things still...wish I still could with office, I'd be SO much more productive.
What is the deal today with trying to get rid of the simple menu bar??
It is so easy and straightforward for finding things you use all the time....
Ok...I can see your point on this.
You're kidding, right?
I mean, I've got 15+ people I'm extremely close with....knowing them from time ranging from 20-34 years. We keep in touch what I think pretty often, and most of them are scattered around the US, we phone, we email. But I swear, it would drive me bat shit if they were emailing, texting or twittering when they did something as banal as go to a fucking movie or out to a bar?
Unless it was something special, or they got pictures of a stripper at a bar, that's not the kind of detail I need about anyone's life.
Ok, if I get a new toy like a motorcycle or car, someting fairly major, yeah, I'll email some pictures of it...but it sounds like some people out there send people notices when they get a toaster that's new.
Like I said, I'm VERY close with all these long time, long term friends...half of which have keys to my place so what when they come to town, they can just let themselves in...and none of us feel the need to give day to day details of our lives...just the interesting and unusual stuff, you know?
I know the craving for attention, but, I like to be an extrovert around real meatspace people.
Cyber attention, while it has some gratification, isn't nearly as satisfying or addictive.
Why don't they just cut out the middle steps, and have a couple fuck and get pregnant on the space station? Just figure out the safety window to come back to earth for the birth if they wish...
Frankly, I prefer being anonymous for most of the time, until "I" choose to make myself known to my friends. I call it 'getting together with them for drinks....'
Not denying anything bad happened....just that there aren't any of the perpetrators around to apologize for it. I didn't do it...not apologizing for it if I didn't do it.
Yeah, that's fantastic parenting."
Actually, it is great parenting...and it was the norm when I was growing up too. Heck, I was out all day during the days with my friends when I was a kid. We ALL were out and about playing every day. We built forts, built our first skateboards before buying them...built our own ramps at the end of the street. Later, we had a neighborhood pool we all went to. And yes, we were pretty much all unsupervised. When I was really young, like in 5th grade or so, I was to call in to home from a neighbors house every couple hours or so. No big deal, whoever's house was the closest...we went in and called a quick call.
My parents both worked...most of the kids in my neighborhood's parents both worked. But we were good kids, and had fun. sure, we got into some mischief...but nothing terribly harmful and no one got hurt.
And...amazingly enough, we all turned out ok...successful businessmen, lawyers, bankers...etc. And we didn't have a cell phone on any of us probably till we were ALL in our upper 20's or low 30's.
My, they certainly did things a bit different back then...I actually thought the British were more open to homosexuality than say, the US.
That being said, I don't see all this crap about 'apologizing' to someone or to a group because of how things were done many, many years ago. The things that might be atrocities now, or taboo...were the norm then, and all people back then lived with that mindset and societal 'norm'.
Take slavery in the US. Back then, it was normal, it was legal. Thankfully, we don't do that any more, but, I don't see any need to apologize or give reparations ($) to make up for it. I don't know anyone around these days that was a slave owner. And lets face it, whether you like it or not, today we are where we are at due to the acts and actions of the past. There would likely not be as great of a black population in the US if there had never been slavery. It adds to our society today in some great ways....culture, cooking, life..etc. It sucks that it got here because of slavery, but, there are positive things that came out of it all in the end.
I refuse to think anyone present today needs to apologize for the past. Today is today, and lets spend our time working to better ourselves today and for the future that comes after us.
Learn from the past, but, don't dwell on it.
Life support unit for a cunt.
I had my wisdom teeth out years back....was one of the best afternoons of my life, I got full blown gas going....he threw on the headphones and I jammed out to Dark Side Of the Moon, some Zeppelin and Klaatu....good 'spacey' music. It was great....at least, until I got dry sockets and the pain set in.
Nope screw it...I pray they don't ban gas for dental work. I can't imagine it is 'that' much of a danger, as that there isn't likely that much being used on any given day.
While I respect anyone's decisions with respect to drinking or other drugs....I still have to go along with (I think it was WC Fields) the saying something to the effect of:
I feel sorry for people that don't drink....when they wake up in the morning, that's the BEST they are gonna feel all day..
Radar Detector
Hell yeah!!
If I was boinking a good looking 18yr old, I'd be telling everyone about it, hell, I'd be showing videos!!
There's tons of info out there.
Heck, start with youtube. Look for an earlier post I did where I threw in a sample link to a video showing SSL MITM and DNS spoofing...
Or...you can have some fun and USE WiFi to cause your own MITM attacks...
This is interesting....I was wondering if anyone out there actually used On Demand....
I've only met one person I know that ever used it.