OK, I wish I hadn't said anything about costs for the uninsured since it's tangental to my point, but from what I've read (admittedly on Slashdot) if you call up a hospital before you have a procedure done you can negotiate the price down. That's just what I've read, and I don't really want to argue the point since it's kind of irrelevant and I'm probably wrong anyway.
No, you're wrong. The full amount is not the actual cost of the treatment. In the USA hospitals are run as businesses so the cost of treatment is what the market will bear. In other words, how much the insurance company (or individual) is willing or able to pay. In general, I think (and IANAA (I am not an American)) uninsured people pay less for treatments than an insurance company would.
In the West people many people undergoing cancer treatment will at some point decide to stop chemo or radiation therapy because they want to spend their last few months feeling somewhat healthy. That's the kind of situation I'm discussing.
Unfortunately no matter what health care system is used there is a dollar value on life. Would you say that it is value for money to spend the entire revenue of Microsoft for one year to extend someone's life for six months? One month? One week? Because at some point pretty much everyone will draw the line, and then you are putting a value on human life.
It's pretty easy to say that when you're not facing a terminal illness. No one can truthfully say how they will react to a very difficult decision like that until it actually happens. We can say how we would hope to react, but to suppose we would make a better choice than someone else is dishonest and arrogant.
Like I say, Slashdot posts. Yes we have some dodgy terrorism legislation, but I don't think any laws we have are any worse than those found in other European countries and the 'land of the free'.
Every fucking thread about the UK someone posts something like the parent. Of course, they never cite any examples but they are still modded to +5 Insightful. Please, tell me how my freedoms are restricted! Unless of course your only evidence for this is other Slashdot posts.
I think they could manage without a publisher. If they can retain the name then its cachet alone is worth more than the marketing forces of a multi billion dollar company. As far as funding goes, VCs invest in the most brainless stuff all the time, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 isn't exactly a risky investment.
True, but there are plenty of companies where unions work. All I was addressing was the GP's belief that he could do a better job negotiating his salary than a union.
The fact that Arpaio is allowed to do what he does indicates a flaw in the US system. And you didn't address my other point. The hallmark of a police state is that it criminalises and imprisons a large proportion of its populace.
So you do a better job negotiating your salary on your own? If you talk to your boss the best you can do is threaten to quit. A union can threaten to have all workers strike (and as a union those workers are protected from being fired). Don't like the union's negotiating? Luckily the workers elect the officials.
Because we don't. If all you know about the British law system comes from Slashdot I can see why you'd think that, but our legal system has less issues than many others. You only have to read about 'America's Toughest Sheriff' Joe Arpaio to see that the US system is even more fucked up than anything in Europe. That and the fact that the US has more prison inmates than any other Western nation.
The rocket attacks by Hamas do not improve security for Gazans, it is to their detriment. Hamas militants took over civilian buildings during the Gaza War (indeed, so did Israel), endangering their occupants.
According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for the occupied Palestinian territory (a UN body) 1754 Palestinians have been killed since 2005 (excluding the recent Gaza war, vs. 117 Israelis. In the Gaza war 773 Palestinian civilians were killed. Israelis are free to leave their country, Gazans are imprisoned in theirs. The sources of employment are drying up in Gaza as Israel prevents many supplies entering the territory, including the building supplies needed to reconstruct the many factories that Israel bombed. So I would say that Palestinians go through a lot more pain than Israelis. Would you rather be a Palestinian civilian or an Israeli? Not much of a contest is it?
Desperate people do desperate things, and the things Hamas does are no worse (perhaps less worse) than what the Israelis are doing. Admittedly, not an excuse for doing bad things, but certainly explains why they're doing them. Like I say, imagine yourself a Palestinian living in the Gaza Strip.
I think that Hamas's best bet is not violence. If they can only be seen as a passive Gandhi style resistance it might go a long way to improving their image in the US. Frankly, their armed struggle doesn't have much effect anyway. Also, they do a lot of things that are pretty bad for PR. For instance, arresting Western journalists does not endear you to the people who might be able to help your cause.
Then why does the Hammas have Israel's entire land on its flag?
Maybe because they're pissed off? Try living under siege, seeing your land encroached by illegal settlers and your people's homes bulldozed and see if you're still reasonable towards your oppressors. I don't agree with Hamas's methods, but I can see why they do what they do.
By iPhone 2G I assume he means second generation iPhone. There is no such thing as a 2G iPhone in terms of second generation phone network. The first iPhone used EDGE, and that counts as 3G.
Slashdot Mirror
OK, I wish I hadn't said anything about costs for the uninsured since it's tangental to my point, but from what I've read (admittedly on Slashdot) if you call up a hospital before you have a procedure done you can negotiate the price down. That's just what I've read, and I don't really want to argue the point since it's kind of irrelevant and I'm probably wrong anyway.
No, you're wrong. The full amount is not the actual cost of the treatment. In the USA hospitals are run as businesses so the cost of treatment is what the market will bear. In other words, how much the insurance company (or individual) is willing or able to pay. In general, I think (and IANAA (I am not an American)) uninsured people pay less for treatments than an insurance company would.
In the West people many people undergoing cancer treatment will at some point decide to stop chemo or radiation therapy because they want to spend their last few months feeling somewhat healthy. That's the kind of situation I'm discussing.
Unfortunately no matter what health care system is used there is a dollar value on life. Would you say that it is value for money to spend the entire revenue of Microsoft for one year to extend someone's life for six months? One month? One week? Because at some point pretty much everyone will draw the line, and then you are putting a value on human life.
It's pretty easy to say that when you're not facing a terminal illness. No one can truthfully say how they will react to a very difficult decision like that until it actually happens. We can say how we would hope to react, but to suppose we would make a better choice than someone else is dishonest and arrogant.
Like I say, Slashdot posts. Yes we have some dodgy terrorism legislation, but I don't think any laws we have are any worse than those found in other European countries and the 'land of the free'.
I'm glad Sony have patented this. I don't buy Sony products, and no one else will be allowed to implement this.
Every fucking thread about the UK someone posts something like the parent. Of course, they never cite any examples but they are still modded to +5 Insightful. Please, tell me how my freedoms are restricted! Unless of course your only evidence for this is other Slashdot posts.
Do elaborate.
I think they could manage without a publisher. If they can retain the name then its cachet alone is worth more than the marketing forces of a multi billion dollar company. As far as funding goes, VCs invest in the most brainless stuff all the time, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 isn't exactly a risky investment.
Usually companies have investors. Activision just needed to buy from enough investors that they own more than 50% of IW.
True, but there are plenty of companies where unions work. All I was addressing was the GP's belief that he could do a better job negotiating his salary than a union.
The fact that Arpaio is allowed to do what he does indicates a flaw in the US system. And you didn't address my other point. The hallmark of a police state is that it criminalises and imprisons a large proportion of its populace.
So you do a better job negotiating your salary on your own? If you talk to your boss the best you can do is threaten to quit. A union can threaten to have all workers strike (and as a union those workers are protected from being fired). Don't like the union's negotiating? Luckily the workers elect the officials.
Luckily for unionised workers that is usually illegal.
Because we don't. If all you know about the British law system comes from Slashdot I can see why you'd think that, but our legal system has less issues than many others. You only have to read about 'America's Toughest Sheriff' Joe Arpaio to see that the US system is even more fucked up than anything in Europe. That and the fact that the US has more prison inmates than any other Western nation.
Have you got a citation for the UK having the most CCTV cameras?
The rocket attacks by Hamas do not improve security for Gazans, it is to their detriment. Hamas militants took over civilian buildings during the Gaza War (indeed, so did Israel), endangering their occupants.
According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for the occupied Palestinian territory (a UN body) 1754 Palestinians have been killed since 2005 (excluding the recent Gaza war, vs. 117 Israelis. In the Gaza war 773 Palestinian civilians were killed. Israelis are free to leave their country, Gazans are imprisoned in theirs. The sources of employment are drying up in Gaza as Israel prevents many supplies entering the territory, including the building supplies needed to reconstruct the many factories that Israel bombed. So I would say that Palestinians go through a lot more pain than Israelis. Would you rather be a Palestinian civilian or an Israeli? Not much of a contest is it?
Desperate people do desperate things, and the things Hamas does are no worse (perhaps less worse) than what the Israelis are doing. Admittedly, not an excuse for doing bad things, but certainly explains why they're doing them. Like I say, imagine yourself a Palestinian living in the Gaza Strip.
I think that Hamas's best bet is not violence. If they can only be seen as a passive Gandhi style resistance it might go a long way to improving their image in the US. Frankly, their armed struggle doesn't have much effect anyway. Also, they do a lot of things that are pretty bad for PR. For instance, arresting Western journalists does not endear you to the people who might be able to help your cause.
Maybe because they're pissed off? Try living under siege, seeing your land encroached by illegal settlers and your people's homes bulldozed and see if you're still reasonable towards your oppressors. I don't agree with Hamas's methods, but I can see why they do what they do.
The normal claim is that there are 4,200,000 in the UK, which was from a study which extrapolated from the number on Putney High Street.
By iPhone 2G I assume he means second generation iPhone. There is no such thing as a 2G iPhone in terms of second generation phone network. The first iPhone used EDGE, and that counts as 3G.
I'm curious, where is it that you get the impression the UK has vastly more CCTV than anywhere else, aside from reading it on Slashdot?