I'm confused, how are they competing again? They're making people get private insurance... There's no government health care plan (a la Canada, UK, AU, Sweden, France, &c, &c...).
My sarcastic point was that many politicians bitch that the private sector is better, more efficient and cost-effective than government alternatives, yet this guy implies that the private sector cannot compete with those alternatives.
As for health care, the US has universal health care plans for two of the three segments of the population: Medicare for those 65+ and TriCare for the military. One of the ideas for last third was to extend Medicare to everyone, but some people complained that private insurance provided better care, was more efficient and cost-effective (which it isn't - Medicare's overhead is just 2%).
A poll in 02/2009 here and here shows that +60% favor giving anyone the option of signing up with Medicare. In addition, another poll in 05/2009 shows those with Medicare overwhelmingly like it better and get better service than those with private insurance:
Medicare beneficiaries are more satisfied with their insurance coverage. Only 8 percent of elderly Medicare beneficiaries rated their insurance "fair or poor," in contrast with 18 percent of individuals with employer-based insurance. Thirty-two percent of Medicare beneficiaries had at least one negative insurance experience, compared with 44 percent of those covered by an employer plan.
Medicare beneficiaries report easier access to physicians. Ten percent of Medicare beneficiaries' physicians did not accept their insurance, compared with 17 percent of respondents with employer-sponsored plans.
Medicare beneficiaries are less likely to report not getting needed services. Twelve percent of elderly Medicare beneficiaries reported going without care, such as prescribed medications or recommended tests, because of cost restraints. Of individuals with employer-based plans, 26 percent reported experiencing these cost/access issues.
Medicare beneficiaries are sicker and poorer but report fewer medical bill problems. Elderly Medicare beneficiaries were more likely to rate their health as fair or poor than the employer-coverage group (28% vs. 11%); more likely to have multiple chronic conditions (38% vs. 11%); and more likely to have incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level (51% vs. 27%). Yet, Medicare beneficiaries were less likely to report a medical bill problem than those covered by employer plans.
I'm not saying that Medicare (or a state-run ISP) is absolutely and/or always better than the private sector, but the reverse isn't a given either. As for Medicare, there may be fraud and waste - by the users - but there's also probably not the greed and lack of compassion of the private sector. You might get denied something my Medicare, but it's probably because of the rules, not concern for the quarterly profits.
Personally, I think the lack of universal health care is a crime against our general population perpetrated by the rich and greedy - who can afford private health care. For the rest of us, it's a carrot and stick used by our employers to keep us in line.
...major scientific revolutions generally don't come with a scientist shouting "Eureka!" They generally start with a scientist looking at the data and saying "That's funny..."
Actually, many seem to be preceded by the often paradoxical exclamation, "Good news everyone!"
Plait concludes that the blast pattern resulting from the explosion of the Klingon mining operation has no credible reason to resolve into a ring form,...
Conversely, the surface integrity of the Death Star hull is interrupted by a perfect ring in the form of the gargantuan maintenance trench which encircles it,...
This makes the highly criticized 'ring effect' far more plausible in New Hope...
Unless, of course, Praxis had a trench round its circumference too (visible or not). Strip-mining is a viable extraction method.
who could have predicted that the natives, following the lead of a trained soldier, would mount a cavalry charge, head on,... rather than utilize their superior knowledge of the terrain and abilities to blend in to attack from stealth
Me. The movie was already 2.7 hours long. A stealth response would have easily added another hour to the film. Furthermore, BIG battles and explosions are easier for youngsters and popcorn eaters to follow:-)
A fresh start from the stupid things you did as a kid seems like a good thing.
...people can grow the fuck up and realize no one is perfect and not everything we have done is a permanent reflection of who we are. Personally, I think complex people with a bit of adventure and experimentation under their belts are more interesting than the contrary.
Plenty of dirty laundry was aired out in court as well, yet through it all, the city has had a full-court press on Childs, and being both the plaintiff and the prosecution it spared no expense to drill Childs into the ground.
I'm saddened to hear of your wife's fate, but it seems that you and your daughters love her very much. Ensuring that she knows that will be the best memory you all will cherish.
My wife Sue was diagnosed with a Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) in November of 2005. She died in my arms just seven weeks later in January 2006. Even though we did almost everything together for the twenty years we were together, those last weeks we were literally inseparable. While we held hands where ever we went and shared hugs, kisses and "I love you"s everyday, since almost the day we met, we were most lucky to have those last few weeks together.
The last thing we shared before she fell asleep to never wake was a kiss and "I love you". In the end we were alone together. I held her in my arms, heard her last breath and felt her last heartbeat. I will never forget those moments.
I keep our photo albums and stuffed animals - we had no children or pets - and try to keep the house neat and tidy as she liked it. I still have her perfume and sometimes dab a little on my neck, close my eyes and remember those hugs and kisses. Every night, I tell her that I love her and wish her sweet dreams, as I always did.
Sue was a teacher, and in that spirit, donated her body to science. I sent letters to her relatives, friends and students and created a small website, mainly for them, with the story of her last few weeks and a few photos -- as an adjunct, I created a scrapbook each for her students and family. I reviewed her many boxes of teaching materials and books and donated most to her fellow teachers. Her school planted a tree in her name and I put a lock of her hair (from a baby book, when she was 3) down with the roots.
Probably the most lasting thing I did was have an ink stamp made that says "Remember Sue..." Every book I donated, to her school or charity, and every book I own has been stamped and I stamp the back of all my envelopes. If you ever that mark...
Who's got time for a victim in Afghanistan or end-of-life issues with all these Tweets coming in?
What a shame. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Tweets are twaddle.
Perhaps we're all easily distracted - or need to be distracted. Perhaps wars half a world away or end-of-life issues are too sad, distant or abstract, to be a priority for thought, but they are there and they are real.
As I've mentioned before: I know the world simply disappeared for me when my wife was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in November 2005. All I could see and hear was her for the next seven weeks until she died in my arms. Twenty years together and a simple headache changed the course of two lives forever. Now I have trouble seeing or hearing anything. The future is gone and my star shines no more.
Once again, its old peoples fault for not taking some responsibility on their shoulders and voting people into office that would actually handle the education system appropriately. I'm tired of old folks complaining about the younger generation. It is literally their own damn fault for not handling them right, considering it was you people who raised all of us, created the advertising campaigns for kids, created products for kids, created TV shows for kids, ect. You may not be personally responsible for any one of those things, but not enough of you tried to stop what you keep complaining about.
Unless you're being satirical, I would reply that you youngsters need to take some personal responsibility for your own education and professionalism and earn your success and respect rather than expect a handout for simply showing up.
Case in point: There was a new hire, fresh from college (BSCS), who after only six weeks wanted to know when he would be promoted to senior engineer. I replied, that among other criteria, it would be when he can do his work even remotely as efficiently a SE and without the help of another SE. To illustrate this point, he finished a programming assignment in two weeks -- with my help -- that I finished in three hours (and mine was a more complete, fault-tolerant implementation as well).
Perhaps the problem is that you don't explain to the parents why their children hitting your house with their baseballs might cost the parents money? The parents may be unaware that their children are hitting your house...
No, I've talked with their father, who agrees that he would dislike having to replace my Pella door. I've even asked the kid directly if he has any respect for other people's property - to which he replied "yes sir". Twenty minutes later... "thunk" - sigh.
Just imagine if we shared global climate data with everyone... oh wait...
Well... There are major competing financial and political forces to global climate change. I'm sure if Obama somehow backed this shared Alzheimer's research, Fox News would report it all as a Socialist/Communist plot and several state Attorneys General would sue to keep their citizens from being able to use it.:-)
This is one reason why we home school...public school systems fail in so many ways.
Home-schooling is not always the answer. There are plenty of stupid parents...
In addition, while it's the teacher's job to teach, and teach well, it's the student's responsibility to learn. I fear a lack of dedication to the latter the major problem.
A related story: My neighbors next-door home school their kids and, while the kids are polite, they don't seem to understand that continuing to sometimes, accidentally, hit my house, and potentially my windows and stained-glass front door, with their baseballs, especially after I've asked them to stop and explained the potential problems with such incidents, is stupid, rude, and potentially expensive for their parents. (Don't know if that reflects on home-schooling or just their family, but them's the facts.)
Disclaimer: My wife was a published and nationally awarded English and Gifted Education teacher -- grades 5 through college (teaching student teachers) -- for 40 years before her death in 2006.
So I'm not being a curmudgeonly old jackass when I think this generation is stupid.
Now, now. Just because these youngsters need pictures of the food on their cash-register buttons in order to do their job doesn't mean they're stupid.:-)
Your satire is well taken. Here's an example, Rare Sharing of Data Leads to Progress on Alzheimer's, that shows how much can be accomplished when everyone agrees to share and work together. Perhaps this collaboration is not perfect and the outcome not certain, but perhaps it's a start. We accomplish more when we work together.
The key to the Alzheimer's project was an agreement as ambitious as its goal: not just to raise money, not just to do research on a vast scale, but also to share all the data, making every single finding public immediately, available to anyone with a computer anywhere in the world.
No one would own the data. No one could submit patent applications, though private companies would ultimately profit from any drugs or imaging tests developed as a result of the effort.
...And the collaboration is already serving as a model for similar efforts against Parkinson's disease.
Without setting up all that elaborate context, there is no way that anybody would possibly interpret the (incorrectly punctuated, granted) phrase "eats, shoots and leaves" in the way that the joke requires.
To the contrary, the punctuation helps impart and/or define the interpretation/meaning - that's its purpose. Perhaps there actually are gun-toting pandas - sharks have lasers, after all.
Precision is important to more than just humor. Context *is* important and resolves many potential conflicts, but should not be relied upon as sole arbiter. Casually, people should let (some) punctuation problems slide, but there's a place for it otherwise, and there it should be used properly - as should the context.
As to the two grammar monkeys of the main story, it's not their place to tamper with other people's property.
Slashdot Mirror
The main obstacles being shark deployment and survivability.
No. It was me trying to be short and sweet, but too much short, not enough sweet. :-)
Tomorrow is another day.
My sarcastic point was that many politicians bitch that the private sector is better, more efficient and cost-effective than government alternatives, yet this guy implies that the private sector cannot compete with those alternatives.
As for health care, the US has universal health care plans for two of the three segments of the population: Medicare for those 65+ and TriCare for the military. One of the ideas for last third was to extend Medicare to everyone, but some people complained that private insurance provided better care, was more efficient and cost-effective (which it isn't - Medicare's overhead is just 2%).
A poll in 02/2009 here and here shows that +60% favor giving anyone the option of signing up with Medicare. In addition, another poll in 05/2009 shows those with Medicare overwhelmingly like it better and get better service than those with private insurance:
I'm not saying that Medicare (or a state-run ISP) is absolutely and/or always better than the private sector, but the reverse isn't a given either. As for Medicare, there may be fraud and waste - by the users - but there's also probably not the greed and lack of compassion of the private sector. You might get denied something my Medicare, but it's probably because of the rules, not concern for the quarterly profits.
Personally, I think the lack of universal health care is a crime against our general population perpetrated by the rich and greedy - who can afford private health care. For the rest of us, it's a carrot and stick used by our employers to keep us in line.
Ya, like with health insurance. Wait. Why isn't it "fair" again?
I'm sure someone will get right on that...
Actually, many seem to be preceded by the often paradoxical exclamation, "Good news everyone!"
I hear that The Audubon Society is using F-16's to protect Falcons in the mid-west - yikes!
Unless, of course, Praxis had a trench round its circumference too (visible or not). Strip-mining is a viable extraction method.
Me. The movie was already 2.7 hours long. A stealth response would have easily added another hour to the film. Furthermore, BIG battles and explosions are easier for youngsters and popcorn eaters to follow :-)
Here you go: http://www.teapartypatriots.org/
It's good to be the king.
My wife Sue was diagnosed with a Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) in November of 2005. She died in my arms just seven weeks later in January 2006. Even though we did almost everything together for the twenty years we were together, those last weeks we were literally inseparable. While we held hands where ever we went and shared hugs, kisses and "I love you"s everyday, since almost the day we met, we were most lucky to have those last few weeks together.
The last thing we shared before she fell asleep to never wake was a kiss and "I love you". In the end we were alone together. I held her in my arms, heard her last breath and felt her last heartbeat. I will never forget those moments.
I keep our photo albums and stuffed animals - we had no children or pets - and try to keep the house neat and tidy as she liked it. I still have her perfume and sometimes dab a little on my neck, close my eyes and remember those hugs and kisses. Every night, I tell her that I love her and wish her sweet dreams, as I always did.
Sue was a teacher, and in that spirit, donated her body to science. I sent letters to her relatives, friends and students and created a small website, mainly for them, with the story of her last few weeks and a few photos -- as an adjunct, I created a scrapbook each for her students and family. I reviewed her many boxes of teaching materials and books and donated most to her fellow teachers. Her school planted a tree in her name and I put a lock of her hair (from a baby book, when she was 3) down with the roots.
Probably the most lasting thing I did was have an ink stamp made that says "Remember Sue..." Every book I donated, to her school or charity, and every book I own has been stamped and I stamp the back of all my envelopes. If you ever that mark...
Remember Sue...
http://members.cox.net/slpuckett3/index.html
Nice use of the letters 'r' and 'b'.
What a shame. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Tweets are twaddle.
Perhaps we're all easily distracted - or need to be distracted. Perhaps wars half a world away or end-of-life issues are too sad, distant or abstract, to be a priority for thought, but they are there and they are real.
As I've mentioned before: I know the world simply disappeared for me when my wife was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in November 2005. All I could see and hear was her for the next seven weeks until she died in my arms. Twenty years together and a simple headache changed the course of two lives forever. Now I have trouble seeing or hearing anything. The future is gone and my star shines no more.
Unless you're being satirical, I would reply that you youngsters need to take some personal responsibility for your own education and professionalism and earn your success and respect rather than expect a handout for simply showing up.
Case in point: There was a new hire, fresh from college (BSCS), who after only six weeks wanted to know when he would be promoted to senior engineer. I replied, that among other criteria, it would be when he can do his work even remotely as efficiently a SE and without the help of another SE. To illustrate this point, he finished a programming assignment in two weeks -- with my help -- that I finished in three hours (and mine was a more complete, fault-tolerant implementation as well).
No, I've talked with their father, who agrees that he would dislike having to replace my Pella door. I've even asked the kid directly if he has any respect for other people's property - to which he replied "yes sir". Twenty minutes later... "thunk" - sigh.
Well... There are major competing financial and political forces to global climate change. I'm sure if Obama somehow backed this shared Alzheimer's research, Fox News would report it all as a Socialist/Communist plot and several state Attorneys General would sue to keep their citizens from being able to use it. :-)
Home-schooling is not always the answer. There are plenty of stupid parents... In addition, while it's the teacher's job to teach, and teach well, it's the student's responsibility to learn. I fear a lack of dedication to the latter the major problem.
A related story: My neighbors next-door home school their kids and, while the kids are polite, they don't seem to understand that continuing to sometimes, accidentally, hit my house, and potentially my windows and stained-glass front door, with their baseballs, especially after I've asked them to stop and explained the potential problems with such incidents, is stupid, rude, and potentially expensive for their parents. (Don't know if that reflects on home-schooling or just their family, but them's the facts.)
Disclaimer: My wife was a published and nationally awarded English and Gifted Education teacher -- grades 5 through college (teaching student teachers) -- for 40 years before her death in 2006.
Now, now. Just because these youngsters need pictures of the food on their cash-register buttons in order to do their job doesn't mean they're stupid. :-)
Your satire is well taken. Here's an example, Rare Sharing of Data Leads to Progress on Alzheimer's, that shows how much can be accomplished when everyone agrees to share and work together. Perhaps this collaboration is not perfect and the outcome not certain, but perhaps it's a start. We accomplish more when we work together.
So, resistance is futile, conductance useful.
I'm looking forward to version 2.0, otherwise know as Harvey (for all you Farscape fans).
Actually, the purpose of the joke is to show that punctuation matters. :-)
And, yes, I could be insane.
To the contrary, the punctuation helps impart and/or define the interpretation/meaning - that's its purpose. Perhaps there actually are gun-toting pandas - sharks have lasers, after all.
Precision is important to more than just humor. Context *is* important and resolves many potential conflicts, but should not be relied upon as sole arbiter. Casually, people should let (some) punctuation problems slide, but there's a place for it otherwise, and there it should be used properly - as should the context.
As to the two grammar monkeys of the main story, it's not their place to tamper with other people's property.
That's what she said - sigh.