Brits here on Slashdot keep telling us how wonderful their single payer system is and how backwards the US is for not having it adopted long ago.
Are the stories of long wait times and poor service in the UK true after all? Do the Brits perhaps just manage to live a long life because they know their health care system is sh*t and they therefore avoid getting sick in the first place?
The NHS isn't perfect, and I'm sure if you're a paying customer at a private hospital you get quicker service, but the bottom line is that if you get ill here, you don't have to worry about bankrupting yourself to pay for a new body part.
Yeah, I wanted to hear a bit more about his "racism" claim. I can only assume a rational brown skinned person laughed at him in the street or something.
The Guardian is a left-wing newspaper which supports Labour to a ridiculous degree.
There are stupid politicians of both colours, take the Labour MP who claims to be the son of a 9ft alien.
If the Guardian had simply made up this story about a Tory MP in order to discredit the Conservative Party, you might have a point, although it would still only be partially counterbalancing the anti-Labour bias in most of the UK media..
But as it appears to be a true representation of what he said, it's irrelevant whether the newspaper is a mouthpiece for the Communist Party or the Catholic Church.
If you tried shipping a bunch of agricultural fertiliser and electronic timing products and wrote "bomb-making equipment" on the fucking shipping label, do you really suppose it would be allowed to pass without scrutiny?
In other words, the ACLU does not believe in the right to keep and bear arms. What was your point?
His point was that the ACLU held the same view on the right to bear arms as the US judiciary had for the last 70 years, namely that it was a collective right, referring to organised State militias.
Just because you interpret the 2nd Amendment as meaning that individuals have an absolute right to carry firearms at all times does not mean that it is the actual truth.
Were nut allergies always so high and just not reported or is this a more recent development?
I ask because 30-40 years ago this didn't seem as widespread?
30-40 years ago most people in the West still had a relatively healthy and varied diet, and ate a certain amount of freshly cooked food.
When I was young we only went out to eat once in a blue moon. There are kids now who have grown up eating McDonalds and other processed gunk every day.
Your post boils down to one of the standard "AI" arguments that intelligence is an essentially simple phenomenon that magically emerges when sufficient computer processing power is thrown at it.
It is an unfalsifiable hypothesis, and therefore outwith the realm of science.
You think believing in a magical omnipotent being living in the sky denotes a sign of intelligence?
I'm an atheist, but I think you're over-reacting. I think OP was just pointing out that human intelligence is indistinguishable from things like free will, morality and purpose. Maybe he should have said philosopher instead.
So you wondered, as a long time smoker, why you were denied a Life Insurance policy or maybe a job?
Insurance companies don't care whether you're a smoker. Their actuarial tables enable them to calculate the additional premium to ensure they still make a profit in the long run.
Here in the UK, if I have a medical problem or question I ring up my local doctor's surgery and make an appointment if there seems to be anything potentially wrong. All for free (and, yes, I know I pay taxes).
Using the internet for checking health problems is just guaranteeing a self-diagnosis of cancer, in my experience.
Slashdot Mirror
Continuously compound interest equation accumulates error in predicted growth rate logarithmically.
That's easy for you to say.
But it's so much easier when /. links to an article with no substance
The article isn't entirely without substance. For instance, it helpfully points out, twice, that the sun is the brightest object in the sky.
To be fair, that's probably specifically tailored for the slashdot audience:
"You know, that hot yellowy-white thing that warms your skin when you're walking outside?"
"Huh?"
Brits here on Slashdot keep telling us how wonderful their single payer system is and how backwards the US is for not having it adopted long ago.
Are the stories of long wait times and poor service in the UK true after all? Do the Brits perhaps just manage to live a long life because they know their health care system is sh*t and they therefore avoid getting sick in the first place?
The NHS isn't perfect, and I'm sure if you're a paying customer at a private hospital you get quicker service, but the bottom line is that if you get ill here, you don't have to worry about bankrupting yourself to pay for a new body part.
Some of us quite like that comfort blanket.
Yeah, I wanted to hear a bit more about his "racism" claim. I can only assume a rational brown skinned person laughed at him in the street or something.
Surely this is grounds for him being dismissed as an MP. What a truly stupid man.
I can't believe anyone would vote him back in anyway.
I assume he's in a safe Tory seat?
The Guardian is a left-wing newspaper which supports Labour to a ridiculous degree.
There are stupid politicians of both colours, take the Labour MP who claims to be the son of a 9ft alien.
If the Guardian had simply made up this story about a Tory MP in order to discredit the Conservative Party, you might have a point, although it would still only be partially counterbalancing the anti-Labour bias in most of the UK media..
But as it appears to be a true representation of what he said, it's irrelevant whether the newspaper is a mouthpiece for the Communist Party or the Catholic Church.
Can't they refuse to ship anything on whatever grounds they want, or are they mandated to carry anything that they aren't banned from shipping?
Put it this way, you can't force them to do business with you.
If you ask them for a quote to deliver X and they decline, there is no contract, and nothing much you can do about it.
It's why mainstream media aren't compelled to accept advertisments from (say) extreme racist or pro-paedophile groups.
If you tried shipping a bunch of agricultural fertiliser and electronic timing products and wrote "bomb-making equipment" on the fucking shipping label, do you really suppose it would be allowed to pass without scrutiny?
Hand tools can make firearms,
household cleaners can make explosives,
a sponge can be used to choke someone to death...
You can not regulate possible future events,
you can not outlaw human free will.
Just because you can make a bomb out of fertiliser doesn't mean that you therefore might as well legalise the sale and possession of semtex.
In other words, the ACLU does not believe in the right to keep and bear arms. What was your point?
His point was that the ACLU held the same view on the right to bear arms as the US judiciary had for the last 70 years, namely that it was a collective right, referring to organised State militias.
Just because you interpret the 2nd Amendment as meaning that individuals have an absolute right to carry firearms at all times does not mean that it is the actual truth.
Isn't it a form of child abuse to allow your child to live with a curable allergy that could kill them in a moment's notice?
Well, what are you supposed to do, kill them?
Mr Literal here, but I think OP's idea was that you cured them. The clue is in the use of the word "curable".
"When they see us coming
the birdies all try and hide -
but they still go for peanuts
when coated in cyanide."
Were nut allergies always so high and just not reported or is this a more recent development?
I ask because 30-40 years ago this didn't seem as widespread?
30-40 years ago most people in the West still had a relatively healthy and varied diet, and ate a certain amount of freshly cooked food.
When I was young we only went out to eat once in a blue moon. There are kids now who have grown up eating McDonalds and other processed gunk every day.
Except it doesn't. Try reading medical research sometime. Repeated exposure to an allergen can cause allergies.
Yeah, especially if you live in a wealthy Western country and aren't getting enough attention from your teachers..
It is an unfalsifiable hypothesis, and therefore outwith the realm of science.
An AI program with the effective intelligence of a worm/mouse/rat/monkey or whatever isn't interesting outside of academia.
Of course it would be fucking interesting.
This is just another excuse by "strong AI" supporters for not producing anything that a sane human being would consider proof of machine intelligence.
and honestly human intelligence is really rather unremarkable no matter what some people like to believe
If it's all so completely trivial and uninteresting, just show us all an artificial intelligence and stop wasting our time.
You think believing in a magical omnipotent being living in the sky denotes a sign of intelligence?
I'm an atheist, but I think you're over-reacting. I think OP was just pointing out that human intelligence is indistinguishable from things like free will, morality and purpose. Maybe he should have said philosopher instead.
Who knew that Google Blogger even existed?
DUMBER NAME THAN BENNETT HASELTON. Filter error: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING.
Has anyone ever seen Moxie Marlinspike and Bennett Haselton in the same room?
Thought not.
"pure" heroine
An amusing typo in a thread about alcohol and drug abuse.
Do you also change up your computer's monitor resolution and color depth on a regular basis?
Er no, does anyone?
Fix: use library computers for sensitive searches.
As these are presumably run by The Government somehow, you're really not being paranoid enough.
My solution is only to browse in secondhand book shops for sensitive information. Then burn the shop down after you leave.
So you wondered, as a long time smoker, why you were denied a Life Insurance policy or maybe a job?
Insurance companies don't care whether you're a smoker. Their actuarial tables enable them to calculate the additional premium to ensure they still make a profit in the long run.
It's all based on statistics, not individuals.
Using the internet for checking health problems is just guaranteeing a self-diagnosis of cancer, in my experience.
I'll have to (shudder) give Microsoft due credit!
You must be new here.
First rule of slashdot club is: you never give credit to Microsoft.
I don't think there are any more rules.