And the insurance companies need to pay out 85 cents on the dollar, so they have a cap of 15% on profits.
This is not true, at least as I understand the bill.
The cap of 15% is expenses+profits.
Insurance companies in the US today make low- to mid- single digit profits.
The 85/15 test may force me to either pay a fine (my income is above the cutoff), or change the plan I have which I am quite happy with to one that I don't want at all.
How the hell did we end up with an entire generation of precious snowflakes that can't take a joke?
Since when are assault, stalking, harassment, and vandalism jokes?
We ended up with an entire generation of "precious snowflakes" who can't "take a joke" in large part due to many generations of psychopathic assholes who think such things are funny and appropriate. Forgive me if I don't shed a tear for the fucktards who find out that this isn't the case.
Yes, online data-mining is clearly very sophisticated.
The site you referenced thinks that I'm a clerical/service worker with a high-school education, that my residence is a PO Box built in 1991 worth from $200-400K, that I love to shop, etc. All of the above is wrong.
All of the demographic data is based on it's false idea of me living in a zip code that resides entirely within the lobby of a post office.
Incidentally, the embedded Google street view of my residence shows that I live on a freeway on-ramp.
In reality, very little of the personal data they have on me is correct. They managed to get my age, gender, ethnicity, zodiac sign, and that I have children correct.
[...] Granted I've never been hit with pepper spray or similar [...]
I have been exposed to high concentrations of the stuff when I was in the military - CS is nasty stuff. But a war crime? Seriously? I'd much rather be hit with this stuff than be shot, stabbed, or beaten. I've also been exposed to pepper spray, which is similar.
Seriously, in protective clothing, it's slightly annoying. With a gas mask, it's uncomfortable. Without any kind of protective gear, it's very unpleasant, but not completely incapacitating. You can remove yourself from exposure and the symptoms pass quickly.
I'd rather get hit with CS a hundred times than shot once.
Wikipedia seems to disagree with what you're saying here.
Some were using the term "Democrat" as early as the 1810's. The name did not become official until 1844. According to Wikipedia (and supported by citations), the D-R party split into two factions post-1824, one led by Jackson that would become the Democratic party, and the other led by Adams and Clay that evolved into the Whig party.
Jefferson himself used the terms Republican / Republican Party until at least 1823.
Suggesting that Jefferson founded the Democratic is misleading. The Democratic party was founded by members of Jefferson's party who adhered to Jefferson's principles, but not by Jefferson himself.
In fact the founder of the Democratic Party, Thomas Jefferson [...]
Small nit - Jefferson did not found the Democratic Party, at least not one with that name. In fact, in the 1790's, they referred to themselves as Republicans, and sometimes Federalists or Federalist Republicans. The party did undergo several transformations and faction splits, and one of those factions did eventually become the modern Democratic party, but not until much later. The modern Republican party (the party of Lincoln) has as much claim to Jeffersonian roots as the Democrats - though both have not kept up to the ideals, IMHO.
If you rent an apartment and have a roommate, you might pay $500 a month for rent and electricity/water. That leaves you like $600 a month for gas, transportation, phone, and food. When your budget is this small, paying even $200 a month for health insurance is a deal breaker
I would suggest that you might want to re-examine your priorities. If you're making so little, owning a car is a luxury you can't afford. Cable TV, cell phones, internet, fashion clothing, eating out, etc etc etc all fall into the same category. A lot of younger folks may have a hard time understanding this, but many of us 40- and 50-somethings got by just fine without any of those things. Sell your car, buy a public transit pass, and stop eating out so often. Problem solved. $600 covers food and public transit for a month and leaves plenty left over for health insurance (if it is indeed $200/month).
The point that the GP was making is that many young folks have chosen to spend their money on luxury items rather than on necessities. That's all well and good, up until the point where they want someone else to cover the necessities so that they can continue to spend on non-essentials.
About 50% of the employees are hourly wage earners who make in the neighborhood of $10-12 per hour. My employer offers a very low-cost plan to cover major medical expenses. It's about $50 per month for the individual plan. Yes, it's a high-deductible plan, but my employer covers half of the deductible, has a generous HSA matching policy that is tailored to the hourly employees (though available to all), and offers zero-interest bridge loans to help with major expenses before the deductible is met.
Less than 15% of the hourly employees bothered to enroll, despite the plan's affordability. Yet, I see a huge percentage of the same people with iPhones.
This to me says a lot about the priorities of many younger people.
I personally have no problem with subsidizing health care for people who truly need it, but I do have a problem subsidizing those who could pay for it if they prioritized health care over non-essentials. I realize that by covering the former, that you'll pick up quite a few of the latter, and to a degree I'm OK with that. I just have a problem with those who claim they can't afford it as they're answering a call on their iPhone, while sipping a latte in the driver's seat of their late-model car on their way to meet friends for some dinner and a few pints at the pub.
living off 1st world medical care certainly explains why there's no cure for Malaria.
Right. Because noone in the first world is doinganything about malaria. Is it your contention that the first world doesn't give a fuck about what happens in the third world? I'd say that all of the economic and humanitarian aid that's flowing from one to the other contradicts that belief.
There's no cure for the common cold, either - and when I last checked, the cold was quite common (lol) in the first world.
In the United States, the common cold leads to 75 to 100 million physician visits annually at a conservative cost estimate of $7.7 billion per year. Americans spend $2.9 billion on over-the-counter drugs and another $400 million on prescription medicines for symptomatic relief. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_cold
I blame the Republicans for not doing more to force competition amongst insurance companies across the country and transparency between doctors, insurance companies, and hospitals back when they had control of Washington.
Now we're stuck with this half-assed socialistic non-solution power and money grab.
That's all well and good, provided that you also apply the same logic to the Democrats who had power prior to that.
In short, this is everybody's problem, and there's plenty of blame to go around.
In my state Uninsured Accidents are covered by the government, and the funds come from fines levied against drivers during traffic stops. If they don't have proof-of-insurance, they get a $1000 fine. I think that's an excellent solution to the problem.
Do you really think that someone who doesn't have insurance - presumably because their income doesn't support it - is going to be able to pay a $1000 fine?
Judging by the people I've known who drive uninsured, I'd say that the answer is no.
I don't recall the brand of lock or where it came from (it wasn't mine), but I did try this years ago. No, I didn't try it with live ammunition. The point is, that it's possible to install a lock in such a way that when the firearm is cocked with it installed, the hammer/striker will fall - and there is little way to be sure that it's correctly installed and this won't happen. This is an accident waiting to happen.
Trigger locks are also completely pointless when other safer and more effective means are used (e.g. a safe, physically separating the bolt or slide from the frame and storing separately).
A solution would be to mandate certain amounts of healthy food purchase with food stamps/EBT.
Another solution would be to stop trying to socially engineer people into making choices that you like, but they don't.
When last I checked, the vast majority of slashdot readerships still lived in free societies. At least for now. Let's try to keep it that way, shall we?
Not citing any legitimate law codes, but a quick search of google relates that in the state of TN there is no law against leaving a gun out and accessible to a child. So before the "why didn't they lock him up" questions fly (too late by now, I'm sure), that would be because it doesn't appear to be against the law.
I'm pretty sure that reckless endangerment and negligent homicide are against the law in TN. Both adequately cover this situation. In other words, leaving a loaded weapon accessible by a non-competent child is a crime whether or not it's specifically described in statute.
On most semi-autos, it's actually pretty easy to rack the slide one-handed by catching the rear sight on the back of your shoe or even your belt if the need arises.
And this is safer than carrying with one in the chamber? Safer than carrying a single-action 1911 cocked and not-locked, sure. Safer than carrying a DA revolver or semiauto, or a SA properly cocked and locked? I think not.
I'd view the techniques you describe as a measure of last resort, not standard carrying procedure.
And yes, I've attended a tactical handgun course. Several of them, in fact.
As a reference, Able charges about $1,300 just to pump and inspect the tank, and I have a bill to prove it. I doubt they will install a new system for anything less than $50K.
Installing a new tank doesn't involve disposing of a thousand or so gallons of hazardous waste (which, unsurprisingly, is not cheap).
My septic installation cost about $9K 15 years ago. My father-in-law had one installed about 4 years ago for less than $12K.
I don't know how this works under Spanish law, but in the US...
Building a botnet that is used to commit crimes makes the builder an accessory to said crimes. This isn't (and ought not be) any different than in meatspace.
Slashdot Mirror
And the insurance companies need to pay out 85 cents on the dollar, so they have a cap of 15% on profits.
This is not true, at least as I understand the bill.
The cap of 15% is expenses+profits.
Insurance companies in the US today make low- to mid- single digit profits.
The 85/15 test may force me to either pay a fine (my income is above the cutoff), or change the plan I have which I am quite happy with to one that I don't want at all.
instead of burning it [in effigy] which is traditional, tar and feather and hang it
Right. Because symbolically burning someone is so much more civilized than symbolic hanging.
I have no opinion on the tea partiers at this time. I'm also not directly addressing you. However...
Teabaggers
WTF is up with all the hate directed at people that we don't agree with politically?
I think what they are really trying to do is stop a black man from governing as President.
...and all of the race-baiting?
Have we really sunk this low?
How the hell did we end up with an entire generation of precious snowflakes that can't take a joke?
Since when are assault, stalking, harassment, and vandalism jokes?
We ended up with an entire generation of "precious snowflakes" who can't "take a joke" in large part due to many generations of psychopathic assholes who think such things are funny and appropriate. Forgive me if I don't shed a tear for the fucktards who find out that this isn't the case.
Yes, online data-mining is clearly very sophisticated.
The site you referenced thinks that I'm a clerical/service worker with a high-school education, that my residence is a PO Box built in 1991 worth from $200-400K, that I love to shop, etc. All of the above is wrong.
All of the demographic data is based on it's false idea of me living in a zip code that resides entirely within the lobby of a post office.
Incidentally, the embedded Google street view of my residence shows that I live on a freeway on-ramp.
In reality, very little of the personal data they have on me is correct. They managed to get my age, gender, ethnicity, zodiac sign, and that I have children correct.
Practically everything else is wrong.
Mighty fine data mining tool you've got there.
Ah, thanks for the reference.
Which schedule of the Chemical Weapons Convention would pepper spray / capsaicin be on? Hint: It's not.
If used in war, it is actually a war crime, since it's a chemical weapon banned under the chemical weapon convention.
Is it? I'm reading the Chemical Weapons Convention right now, and I don't see any capsaicin-based compounds listed in Schedule I, II, or III.
There are Chemical Weapons, and then there are chemicals used as weapons, and these two things are not synonymous with each other.
[...] Granted I've never been hit with pepper spray or similar [...]
I have been exposed to high concentrations of the stuff when I was in the military - CS is nasty stuff. But a war crime? Seriously? I'd much rather be hit with this stuff than be shot, stabbed, or beaten. I've also been exposed to pepper spray, which is similar.
Seriously, in protective clothing, it's slightly annoying. With a gas mask, it's uncomfortable. Without any kind of protective gear, it's very unpleasant, but not completely incapacitating. You can remove yourself from exposure and the symptoms pass quickly.
I'd rather get hit with CS a hundred times than shot once.
Wikipedia seems to disagree with what you're saying here.
Some were using the term "Democrat" as early as the 1810's. The name did not become official until 1844. According to Wikipedia (and supported by citations), the D-R party split into two factions post-1824, one led by Jackson that would become the Democratic party, and the other led by Adams and Clay that evolved into the Whig party.
Jefferson himself used the terms Republican / Republican Party until at least 1823.
Suggesting that Jefferson founded the Democratic is misleading. The Democratic party was founded by members of Jefferson's party who adhered to Jefferson's principles, but not by Jefferson himself.
In fact the founder of the Democratic Party, Thomas Jefferson [...]
Small nit - Jefferson did not found the Democratic Party, at least not one with that name. In fact, in the 1790's, they referred to themselves as Republicans, and sometimes Federalists or Federalist Republicans. The party did undergo several transformations and faction splits, and one of those factions did eventually become the modern Democratic party, but not until much later. The modern Republican party (the party of Lincoln) has as much claim to Jeffersonian roots as the Democrats - though both have not kept up to the ideals, IMHO.
If you rent an apartment and have a roommate, you might pay $500 a month for rent and electricity/water. That leaves you like $600 a month for gas, transportation, phone, and food. When your budget is this small, paying even $200 a month for health insurance is a deal breaker
I would suggest that you might want to re-examine your priorities. If you're making so little, owning a car is a luxury you can't afford. Cable TV, cell phones, internet, fashion clothing, eating out, etc etc etc all fall into the same category. A lot of younger folks may have a hard time understanding this, but many of us 40- and 50-somethings got by just fine without any of those things. Sell your car, buy a public transit pass, and stop eating out so often. Problem solved. $600 covers food and public transit for a month and leaves plenty left over for health insurance (if it is indeed $200/month).
The point that the GP was making is that many young folks have chosen to spend their money on luxury items rather than on necessities. That's all well and good, up until the point where they want someone else to cover the necessities so that they can continue to spend on non-essentials.
About 50% of the employees are hourly wage earners who make in the neighborhood of $10-12 per hour. My employer offers a very low-cost plan to cover major medical expenses. It's about $50 per month for the individual plan. Yes, it's a high-deductible plan, but my employer covers half of the deductible, has a generous HSA matching policy that is tailored to the hourly employees (though available to all), and offers zero-interest bridge loans to help with major expenses before the deductible is met.
Less than 15% of the hourly employees bothered to enroll, despite the plan's affordability. Yet, I see a huge percentage of the same people with iPhones.
This to me says a lot about the priorities of many younger people.
I personally have no problem with subsidizing health care for people who truly need it, but I do have a problem subsidizing those who could pay for it if they prioritized health care over non-essentials. I realize that by covering the former, that you'll pick up quite a few of the latter, and to a degree I'm OK with that. I just have a problem with those who claim they can't afford it as they're answering a call on their iPhone, while sipping a latte in the driver's seat of their late-model car on their way to meet friends for some dinner and a few pints at the pub.
living off 1st world medical care certainly explains why there's no cure for Malaria.
Right. Because no one in the first world is doing anything about malaria. Is it your contention that the first world doesn't give a fuck about what happens in the third world? I'd say that all of the economic and humanitarian aid that's flowing from one to the other contradicts that belief.
There's no cure for the common cold, either - and when I last checked, the cold was quite common (lol) in the first world.
In the United States, the common cold leads to 75 to 100 million physician visits annually at a conservative cost estimate of $7.7 billion per year. Americans spend $2.9 billion on over-the-counter drugs and another $400 million on prescription medicines for symptomatic relief. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_cold
Fortunately, Obamacare is outlawing HSAs.
[citation needed]
I blame the Republicans for not doing more to force competition amongst insurance companies across the country and transparency between doctors, insurance companies, and hospitals back when they had control of Washington.
Now we're stuck with this half-assed socialistic non-solution power and money grab.
That's all well and good, provided that you also apply the same logic to the Democrats who had power prior to that.
In short, this is everybody's problem, and there's plenty of blame to go around.
so why are you paying for libraries and fire departments? there's no constitutional right for that
Those are services provided by local governments, not the Federal government. See the 9th and 10th amendments.
In my state Uninsured Accidents are covered by the government, and the funds come from fines levied against drivers during traffic stops. If they don't have proof-of-insurance, they get a $1000 fine. I think that's an excellent solution to the problem.
Do you really think that someone who doesn't have insurance - presumably because their income doesn't support it - is going to be able to pay a $1000 fine?
Judging by the people I've known who drive uninsured, I'd say that the answer is no.
I don't recall the brand of lock or where it came from (it wasn't mine), but I did try this years ago. No, I didn't try it with live ammunition. The point is, that it's possible to install a lock in such a way that when the firearm is cocked with it installed, the hammer/striker will fall - and there is little way to be sure that it's correctly installed and this won't happen. This is an accident waiting to happen.
Trigger locks are also completely pointless when other safer and more effective means are used (e.g. a safe, physically separating the bolt or slide from the frame and storing separately).
A solution would be to mandate certain amounts of healthy food purchase with food stamps/EBT.
Another solution would be to stop trying to socially engineer people into making choices that you like, but they don't.
When last I checked, the vast majority of slashdot readerships still lived in free societies. At least for now. Let's try to keep it that way, shall we?
Not citing any legitimate law codes, but a quick search of google relates that in the state of TN there is no law against leaving a gun out and accessible to a child. So before the "why didn't they lock him up" questions fly (too late by now, I'm sure), that would be because it doesn't appear to be against the law.
I'm pretty sure that reckless endangerment and negligent homicide are against the law in TN. Both adequately cover this situation. In other words, leaving a loaded weapon accessible by a non-competent child is a crime whether or not it's specifically described in statute.
There's this little thing called a trigger lock ...
Trigger locks are dangerous. Put one on a gun. Load the gun. Chamber a round. Guess what's likely to happen?
Boom.
On most semi-autos, it's actually pretty easy to rack the slide one-handed by catching the rear sight on the back of your shoe or even your belt if the need arises.
And this is safer than carrying with one in the chamber? Safer than carrying a single-action 1911 cocked and not-locked, sure. Safer than carrying a DA revolver or semiauto, or a SA properly cocked and locked? I think not.
I'd view the techniques you describe as a measure of last resort, not standard carrying procedure.
And yes, I've attended a tactical handgun course. Several of them, in fact.
As a reference, Able charges about $1,300 just to pump and inspect the tank, and I have a bill to prove it. I doubt they will install a new system for anything less than $50K.
Installing a new tank doesn't involve disposing of a thousand or so gallons of hazardous waste (which, unsurprisingly, is not cheap).
My septic installation cost about $9K 15 years ago. My father-in-law had one installed about 4 years ago for less than $12K.
How come addons are a defense for Firefox eating a lot of memory?
Because it's quite possibly the addon, and not Firefox that's eating the memory?
Personally, I think it would be interesting to see some benchmarks done on Firefox with and without some popular addons.
Building a botnet isn't theft.
I don't know how this works under Spanish law, but in the US...
Building a botnet that is used to commit crimes makes the builder an accessory to said crimes. This isn't (and ought not be) any different than in meatspace.