The trouble is...I would, in your example, be paying TWICE for the healthcare level I want...Once for the govt. single payer one, PLUS, the second private insurance I want to go above and beyond what the federal single payer system does.
I'd rather just opt out and pay my own insurance I deem that I need and want for the coverage I need.
I'm a big boy, I can figure things like this out for myself.
I don't like the federal govt. having as much say in my healthcare as it is, I don't want them in 100% complete control of it.
I think they should do a few things.
First, the extreme poor, infirmed and the elderly, we keeps medicare and medicare for them...the safety net.
For the rest of able bodied American that can work...
We allow insurance to be sold across state lines.
We allow for very high limit HSA (Health Savings Accounts) to be set up by our citizens for their routine medical needs (office visits, meds, etc)...this comes out pre-tax and rolls over annually, not use it or lose it like FSA's are.
We allow people to buy the insurance they want...and let's get back to insurance being what used to be referred to as "major medical"....basically is insurance if you get hit by a bus or heart attack, etc......but for routine medical needs, you use your own HSA money. With your $$ in hand, you can shop around for Dr. and tx.
Get the middle men and bean counters out of medicine and prices will drop....the extreme rise in medical care came about due to HMO's and the middle men.
An alternative is something being experimented with by groups of doctors...groups of them get together kind of like a CSA, but with health instead of food...you pay a regular monthly fee and when you have medical needs, they treat you as needed.
These are only a couple of examples that can work and will lower price...and give people choices on what they want to spend their money on and how they want to treat their health.
I certainly think I can make better decisions than some bureaucrat 1000's of miles away in a completely different environment than I live.
At the minimum, I can realize that as a single male I really have no use being forced to pay for maternity insurance I do not need.
I'm still trying to figure that out with obamacare....I should only pay for the insurance I deem necessary for my needs at my stage in life.
FTFY. I understand that healthcare is complicated but please try to pay attention and keep up? It really helps if we're all on the same page or at least all speaking the same language.
Funny....I don't recall a single Republican vote for the Obamacare system we currently are burdened with....
Somehow I suspect that the KKK, the Skinheads, NeoNazis, David Duke, and etc., etc., aren't especially left leaning.
Yeah...and when's the last time you ever heard of any of those groups on the news engaging in any actions that were remotely newsworthy???
Those are largely entities of the past....and what's left is pretty quiet and unremarkable at least if you are looking for any public actions.
I'm glad they are pretty much something of the past, but if you're gonna use examples of something on the "right", use examples that are more relevant than the 50's-60's.....
""People are desperate," says one masked counterprotester, a student at Evergreen State who gave his name as Felix. "They see the government turning back to regressive Reaganomics and racist undertones and rhetoric, so once they start kicking 25 million people off health care, then you're going to start seeing riots."
The idea that some on the far left are openly condoning violence is a red flag for extremist group monitors.
"This is a dangerous game; people are going to die. No one's died yet, but it's just a matter of time," says J.J. McNabb, an expert on political extremism at George Washington University."
It seems that all you see on the news pretty much these days, are the LEFTist types rioting and using or threatening violence, especially if the target is promoting something even mildly conservative.
If nothing, else...look at the explosion of riots for days after the last election all over the US by the left.
You didn't see any of that when Obama was elected....either time.
The right wasn't happy, but they didn't lose their fucking minds and march the streets with vandalism and having celebrities actually mention bombing the white house (Madonna) or otherwise making some pretty serious and outlandish threats.
You haven't seen this type of behavior on the conservative side in well.....forever.
Even the Tea Party events at their largest, were largely peaceful....yet, the media painted them as foaming at the mouth nazi's of the next coming.
Like the USA, the biggest terrorist organization in the UK is the ultra-conservative right.
FTFY
Actually, in the US, it is the far left wing that is causing all the violence, riots and shouting down any opposing views and trying not to let any other viewpoint but theirs be expressed publicly.....especially on our universities, even the state funded ones.
Actually, current research says that the educational benefit of computers i the classroom seems to be significantly negative. For books, which is one point I agree on, an e-book reader would be the ting to use.
Well, if you set them to not allow internet connectivity during the school day...they might prove useful for note taking, learning coding, etc...?
Well, I guess at the base of it all, no one needs access to my bio information like fingerprints, unless I am a criminal.
No need for a company, which would turn them over to govt if requested...hence, no need of the government to have this information if you've done nothing wrong.
I would posit, that the better question is...what would they need it for?
But anyway, I don't use that feature, and I"d not use facial recognition either....passcodes work just fine still.
Just curious what do you think someone will do with your fingerprint? If we assume worst case, somehow someone can get your fingerprint from your phone. Who is this person and what would they do with it that concerns you?
Well, I don't know...I could go all conspiracy theory and come up with some ideas about what government (state and federal) entities and private corps could do with them, but I think the best thing is to NOT give them the chance, and then....I don't have to worry about it, now do I?
Moreover, I don't sleep with a gun by my pillow in fear of midnight attackers. That is simply not something I live in fear of happening, and it is simply NOT a use case that defines my requirements at all.
But, you're use case, lowest common denominator, should not be used as the use case for everyone.
Yeah, you'd probably want to be able to disable the locking feature.
Yep..and really at that point, what's the point of having the 'smart' feature? I'd think a LOT of people would want to leave it 'unlocked' all the time....or, would it be mandated, etc?
This smart feature causes more problems that it solves IMHO.
Even, if as you say "I mean, having a firearm that my life may depend on in a home invasion, that may not fire if I'm not wearing a watch" -- that's actually a good thing, because the thing that you should most be worried about in a home invasion is getting killed by your own gun.
Most of the home invasions I'm seeing reported, the criminals are bringing their own weapons to the party.
And at the very least, shouldn't it be MY decision to make?
And..what about those of us with no toddlers or all children grown and out of the house...or if your kids are older and responsible enough they too can have access to said guns?
One size does not fit all buddy.,
My parents took me and showed me our gun (we only had one early on)....I shot it with them, learned how to chamber a round, how to shoot, how to SAFELY handle a fire arm.
They showed me where it was kept, and I also had the fear of God put into me that I never, ever, ever had a reason to get it or touch it shy of someone breaking into our house or threatening me.
Most of my friends were raised this way too....none of us would even think about getting that gun out to play with or even look at without just cause.
It so happened, that one day while I was home and both parents were at work...I think I was in 9th grade or so....it was raining and some bum came to the front door knocking on it...asking for drink of water, etc.
I was scared, but didn't panic. I went back, got the gun, chambered a round, and waited near the front door...till this asshole went away about half an hour later.
After that, I took the gun back to my parent's room, removed the magazine, took the round out of the chamber and put the gun together and back where it was supposed to be.....and promptly called my Mom at work to tell what happened, she and my Dad were very happy with my behavior.
So, are all kids today just too stupid for such training....or is the problem we have too many stupid parents today who don't care to train their kids or discipline them on proper behavior (not just guns, but most anything in life)?
Toddlers and babies are one thing, but young kids can be trained and you only have to secure things as age appropriate....etc.
Right now, I"m not worried about any of that...and I do not need a 'smart' weapon adding a new potential level of failure when I may need to kill someone in my home.
Yeah, I don't get people like the original poster.
I mean, I get it...if someone doesn't like guns and doesn't want to own and keep them in their house, more power to them.
But there is no reason at all for an intruder to be in MY house, and given that an increasing number of break ins these days are home invasions with armed nasty folks coming in armed to do harm, well, the first thing they will hear to know I'm home is the first shots.
I keep my weapons all loaded and chambered and I do not have to unlock them or get them out of a safe...I pick it up whatever room I'm in...take the safety off (if it has one) and boom.
The nice thing about New Orleans cops is...if you shoot the intruder and he somehow happens to make it out your front door before dying, they'll usually help carry the body back inside your house before the pictures, so that things reporting and all goes a bit easier and cleaner to get you past all the paperwork.
Hmm..just thinking about this...how easy would it be to let someone else shoot the gun? Can it be set for multiple people to be authorized?
I mean, I'd want my significant other and kids (when old enough and trustworthy) to be able to use them....or what about at the gun range when you and friends or other folks there, want to swap guns to try out which I do all the time...?
there is a very cynical reason that you can't find statistics on incidents where citizens save lives or property using their lawfully owned firearm, you can only find "gun deaths").
And the fact that they lump in suicides with the larger gun death numbers.
Those should be weeded out, as that this person wants to off themselves, and would do it by most any means. It isn't an unintended death, the gun is working properly, but the method doesn't matter, it is what the person wanted to do.
I believe if someone wants to end their own life, well, sad as it is..that should be their choice.
If nothing else, it should be separated out as it's own number and not a wrongful death number.
I actually foresee an exception to this for most ALL LEO's.....
And frankly, what is good for LEO's weapons wise...is good enough for me. I tend to buy the same arms they have with the exception of full-auto which I don't have the ATF licensing for.....(yet).
But if they don't want it on their guns, I don't want it on mine.
Slashdot Mirror
God no....please.
I don't like the federal govt. having as much say in my healthcare as it is, I don't want them in 100% complete control of it.
I think they should do a few things.
First, the extreme poor, infirmed and the elderly, we keeps medicare and medicare for them...the safety net.
For the rest of able bodied American that can work...
We allow insurance to be sold across state lines.
We allow for very high limit HSA (Health Savings Accounts) to be set up by our citizens for their routine medical needs (office visits, meds, etc)...this comes out pre-tax and rolls over annually, not use it or lose it like FSA's are.
We allow people to buy the insurance they want...and let's get back to insurance being what used to be referred to as "major medical"....basically is insurance if you get hit by a bus or heart attack, etc......but for routine medical needs, you use your own HSA money. With your $$ in hand, you can shop around for Dr. and tx.
Get the middle men and bean counters out of medicine and prices will drop....the extreme rise in medical care came about due to HMO's and the middle men.
An alternative is something being experimented with by groups of doctors...groups of them get together kind of like a CSA, but with health instead of food...you pay a regular monthly fee and when you have medical needs, they treat you as needed.
These are only a couple of examples that can work and will lower price...and give people choices on what they want to spend their money on and how they want to treat their health.
I certainly think I can make better decisions than some bureaucrat 1000's of miles away in a completely different environment than I live.
At the minimum, I can realize that as a single male I really have no use being forced to pay for maternity insurance I do not need.
I'm still trying to figure that out with obamacare....I should only pay for the insurance I deem necessary for my needs at my stage in life.
Funny....I don't recall a single Republican vote for the Obamacare system we currently are burdened with....
And, the train wreck the Democrats left behind, wasn't an improvement either....
Yeah...and when's the last time you ever heard of any of those groups on the news engaging in any actions that were remotely newsworthy???
Those are largely entities of the past....and what's left is pretty quiet and unremarkable at least if you are looking for any public actions.
I'm glad they are pretty much something of the past, but if you're gonna use examples of something on the "right", use examples that are more relevant than the 50's-60's.....
It seems that all you see on the news pretty much these days, are the LEFTist types rioting and using or threatening violence, especially if the target is promoting something even mildly conservative.
If nothing, else...look at the explosion of riots for days after the last election all over the US by the left.
You didn't see any of that when Obama was elected....either time.
The right wasn't happy, but they didn't lose their fucking minds and march the streets with vandalism and having celebrities actually mention bombing the white house (Madonna) or otherwise making some pretty serious and outlandish threats.
You haven't seen this type of behavior on the conservative side in well.....forever.
Even the Tea Party events at their largest, were largely peaceful....yet, the media painted them as foaming at the mouth nazi's of the next coming.
Actually, in the US, it is the far left wing that is causing all the violence, riots and shouting down any opposing views and trying not to let any other viewpoint but theirs be expressed publicly.....especially on our universities, even the state funded ones.
Well, if you set them to not allow internet connectivity during the school day...they might prove useful for note taking, learning coding, etc...?
Thunderbolts and lightning, very VERY frightening ME!!
But not the same thing....states are not comparable to sovereign countries.
Between the states in the US, there aren't major differences in culture, language, history, etc.
States are not small countries in the sense of how I think of different countries.
Not a direct comparison....states are not sovereign countries.
Hence the name "United States"....
There is not a difference in the states of customs, languages, etc....so, not quite the same thing.
I thought that was pretty much the norm for most of the world....?
No need for a company, which would turn them over to govt if requested...hence, no need of the government to have this information if you've done nothing wrong.
I would posit, that the better question is...what would they need it for?
But anyway, I don't use that feature, and I"d not use facial recognition either....passcodes work just fine still.
Well, I don't know...I could go all conspiracy theory and come up with some ideas about what government (state and federal) entities and private corps could do with them, but I think the best thing is to NOT give them the chance, and then....I don't have to worry about it, now do I?
Yeah...why didn't they list the 10 most dangerous extensions...??
Err...I don't give it my fingerprint either.
Passcode still work just fine.
But, you're use case, lowest common denominator, should not be used as the use case for everyone.
That's why we have such things at holsters, scabbards and slings....easier to carry more artillery.
Yep..and really at that point, what's the point of having the 'smart' feature? I'd think a LOT of people would want to leave it 'unlocked' all the time....or, would it be mandated, etc?
This smart feature causes more problems that it solves IMHO.
Most of the home invasions I'm seeing reported, the criminals are bringing their own weapons to the party.
And at the very least, shouldn't it be MY decision to make?
And..what about those of us with no toddlers or all children grown and out of the house...or if your kids are older and responsible enough they too can have access to said guns?
One size does not fit all buddy.,
My parents took me and showed me our gun (we only had one early on)....I shot it with them, learned how to chamber a round, how to shoot, how to SAFELY handle a fire arm.
They showed me where it was kept, and I also had the fear of God put into me that I never, ever, ever had a reason to get it or touch it shy of someone breaking into our house or threatening me.
Most of my friends were raised this way too....none of us would even think about getting that gun out to play with or even look at without just cause.
It so happened, that one day while I was home and both parents were at work...I think I was in 9th grade or so....it was raining and some bum came to the front door knocking on it...asking for drink of water, etc.
I was scared, but didn't panic. I went back, got the gun, chambered a round, and waited near the front door...till this asshole went away about half an hour later.
After that, I took the gun back to my parent's room, removed the magazine, took the round out of the chamber and put the gun together and back where it was supposed to be.....and promptly called my Mom at work to tell what happened, she and my Dad were very happy with my behavior.
So, are all kids today just too stupid for such training....or is the problem we have too many stupid parents today who don't care to train their kids or discipline them on proper behavior (not just guns, but most anything in life)?
Toddlers and babies are one thing, but young kids can be trained and you only have to secure things as age appropriate....etc.
Right now, I"m not worried about any of that...and I do not need a 'smart' weapon adding a new potential level of failure when I may need to kill someone in my home.
Hey buddy...just what you see on the wall, ok?
I mean, I get it...if someone doesn't like guns and doesn't want to own and keep them in their house, more power to them.
But there is no reason at all for an intruder to be in MY house, and given that an increasing number of break ins these days are home invasions with armed nasty folks coming in armed to do harm, well, the first thing they will hear to know I'm home is the first shots.
I keep my weapons all loaded and chambered and I do not have to unlock them or get them out of a safe...I pick it up whatever room I'm in...take the safety off (if it has one) and boom.
The nice thing about New Orleans cops is...if you shoot the intruder and he somehow happens to make it out your front door before dying, they'll usually help carry the body back inside your house before the pictures, so that things reporting and all goes a bit easier and cleaner to get you past all the paperwork.
I mean, I'd want my significant other and kids (when old enough and trustworthy) to be able to use them....or what about at the gun range when you and friends or other folks there, want to swap guns to try out which I do all the time...?
And the fact that they lump in suicides with the larger gun death numbers.
Those should be weeded out, as that this person wants to off themselves, and would do it by most any means. It isn't an unintended death, the gun is working properly, but the method doesn't matter, it is what the person wanted to do.
I believe if someone wants to end their own life, well, sad as it is..that should be their choice.
If nothing else, it should be separated out as it's own number and not a wrongful death number.
I actually foresee an exception to this for most ALL LEO's.....
And frankly, what is good for LEO's weapons wise...is good enough for me. I tend to buy the same arms they have with the exception of full-auto which I don't have the ATF licensing for.....(yet).
But if they don't want it on their guns, I don't want it on mine.