[High Max]

I was posting to the others who were talking more about violent crimes. Plus, some of the best HLP topics are the ones that go off topic.

Also, you have a habit of duplicitous editting, like the one you did in this very thread trying to call me out. (And failing.)

So I don't post too many posts.

Alright, I said my peace here for now.

[Kosh]

Because, you know, that's pretty much how East Asia works except for Japan.

Japan also has serious structured corruption problems. So corrupt

Compared to friendly cultures like some countries in the orient, they do.

Friendly my ass

[Mika]

Compared to friendly cultures like some countries in the orient, they do. Money here seems to take presidence over human life. Companies seem to do that a lot here. That is one example. Caring more about money than their customer's health, in many cases. Look at the food here. I watch the travel channel and wish I could spend a lot of time in some other places and eat their nice fresh food.

Huh? Try going there and seeing it for yourself. For some reason I used to have that kind of image of China, but boy was I surprised when the reality was just about the opposite. I think China is far more capitalistic or competitive than US is, and about the only thing you can rely on is your family and relatives. However, I do partially understand the reason why the it is like that, given that there have been lots of people around for thousands of years.

One giveaway is that guns are not available for general public at all in China. My understanding is that this is the case in Japan also. Chinese people say it is a good thing they are not since it most likely would result in lots of violence. But firearms are available in US. I don't think one could describe Oriental cultures as "enlightened".

[karajorma]

But I don't care. How does it hurt me?

Cause it gets you monkeyed for a month for being unable to restrain yourself.

[Kosh]

I think China is far more capitalistic or competitive than US is, and about the only thing you can rely on is your family and relatives. However, I do partially understand the reason why the it is like that, given that there have been lots of people around for thousands of years.

It's more because there are lots of people NOW who want good jobs and there aren't enough (yet) for everyone. Personally I believe that over time with greater economic development the pressure will lessen, but it will be a long time before it reaches that point.

I don't think one could describe Oriental cultures as "enlightened".

They aren't, most of them are stuck in our equivelent of the early 20th century, and frankly the only one seems to at least be trying to truely modernize (and actually make some progress) is China.

EDIT:

Cause it gets you monkeyed for a month for being unable to restrain yourself.

I was hoping you could have waited until after he made some rediculous responce to my post.

[McCall]

*McCall wanders back in, wondering what kind of mess he inadvertently caused by mentioning the NHS*

Oh crikey. Poddle off into the Kent countryside for a quiet weekend to commune with nature, and what do I find when I get back? Another bloody argument. How on earth you lot started having at each other here I don't know.

Looking at this bloody mess I can't even be arsed to go back to where I left off and see what happened. Am I right in assuming there's several pages of impolite, ill-informed comments about people they don't know, all mixed up with some irrelevant, canned political dogma? Personal, political and pedantic all at once?

I really was rather unwise to pipe up here in the first place. I blame it on a leaving do at work and one glass of red too many when I got home.

*slaps hand*

I'm sure most of you are lovely people in real life, as the most pleasurable HLP London evenings I've attended have demonstrated. But you lot don't 'arf get arsey when thee gets on t'internet. Ah'll stick ta talking bollocks wi't' Colonel Dekker from now on.

Hick!

On the positive side, it was a really smashing weekend. It's such a shame we can't get some of you together in a nice, restful place like I've just been and see how all that politics nonsense just floats away on the gentle, fragrant breeze. We might just find it's urban living that stresses many of you out.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

[General Battuta]

Very little of the discussion has anything to do with what you said, McCall, since a polite consensus was immediately reached: 'we all know NHS has problems, but it's a big step up from our current system.'

[Scotty]

Most of it has been unsuccessfully trying to repel Troll-ish boarders.

[iamzack]

*McCall wanders back in, wondering what kind of mess he inadvertently caused by mentioning the NHS*

Oh crikey. Poddle off into the Kent countryside for a quiet weekend to commune with nature, and what do I find when I get back? Another bloody argument. How on earth you lot started having at each other here I don't know.

Looking at this bloody mess I can't even be arsed to go back to where I left off and see what happened. Am I right in assuming there's several pages of impolite, ill-informed comments about people they don't know, all mixed up with some irrelevant, canned political dogma? Personal, political and pedantic all at once?

I really was rather unwise to pipe up here in the first place. I blame it on a leaving do at work and one glass of red too many when I got home.

*slaps hand*

I'm sure most of you are lovely people in real life, as the most pleasurable HLP London evenings I've attended have demonstrated. But you lot don't 'arf get arsey when thee gets on t'internet. Ah'll stick ta talking bollocks wi't' Colonel Dekker from now on.

Hick!

On the positive side, it was a really smashing weekend. It's such a shame we can't get some of you together in a nice, restful place like I've just been and see how all that politics nonsense just floats away on the gentle, fragrant breeze. We might just find it's urban living that stresses many of you out.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

You sound very cartoonish. Like a Brit right out of cheesey American fiction.

[McCall]

And you sound very young. Enjoy it, and don't let this nonsense of politics trouble you too much - ultimately, it is all a load of dogmatic bollocks!

As for my manner of writing, it's what English people with old-fashioned manners sound like - especially when we wax lyrical. We're not all oafs, you know. That said, I was feeling particularly whimsical last night; I'd being staying at the country home of my cousin and his boyfriend, and there just seems to be a really relaxing, cultured ambience about the area. If you ignore the books about willies. Add a dose of red wine (as tonight) and away I float.

I sincerely hope you do find an American NHS to be a better service, assuming your country does choose that route. I have understandably strong doubts, having sampled both forms of healthcare. Likewise, my location and lifestyle have brought me into contact with many people from overseas (mostly from much poorer countries than yours and mine) from whom the overwhelming consensus is directly opposed to yours, far preferring the privatised healthcare of their homeland to the socialised of mine.

As someone who has great affection for our American cousins, I do hope you've taken my concerns and good wishes in the manner they are intended.

[WeatherOp]

Very little of the discussion has anything to do with what you said, McCall, since a polite consensus was immediately reached: 'we all know NHS has problems, but it's a big step up from our current system.'

Not if it bankrupts us and no body gets healthcare. What a pickle that would be, eh? 

[General Battuta]

Very little of the discussion has anything to do with what you said, McCall, since a polite consensus was immediately reached: 'we all know NHS has problems, but it's a big step up from our current system.'

Not if it bankrupts us and no body gets healthcare. What a pickle that would be, eh? 

Maybe we could spend a bit less on defense (keeping our people safe from nebulous threats that can be countered cheaply) and a bit more on health care (keeping people safe from things that actually kill them.)

And some driver safety courses, too!

[WeatherOp]

Very little of the discussion has anything to do with what you said, McCall, since a polite consensus was immediately reached: 'we all know NHS has problems, but it's a big step up from our current system.'

Not if it bankrupts us and no body gets healthcare. What a pickle that would be, eh?  

Maybe we could spend a bit less on defense (keeping our people safe from nebulous threats that can be countered cheaply) and a bit more on health care (keeping people safe from things that actually kill them.)

And some driver safety courses, too!

Why do that when we can take that money and train every child to be a doctor! Thus totally eliminating the healthcare industry!

In all seriousness, that could work only if the government was smart enough to do exactly that, instead of finding some other place to waste the money. Sure enough though, they would find a way to waste it.

[McCall]

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks the government are a bunch of numbnuts when it comes to money.

I wonder... has anyone here looked at the correlation between health spending and life expectancy? I seem to remember reading an small article comparing the spending between the UK and US (US spending being something like twice British) and several areas of medical performance, such as cancer treatment and infant mortality.

In among the comments was very interesting observation: that despite American spending being much higher than British, the life expectancy was roughly the same - thus indicating that health spending did not appear to have a significant affect across a population! What followed from that was that most good health was a result of sanitation, diet, and working conditions.

Not very scientific and far too general, as it compared but two nations at a high level, but an interesting way of looking at things. I wonder if the same comparisons can be made with other countries?

[General Battuta]

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks the government are a bunch of numbnuts when it comes to money.

I wonder... has anyone here looked at the correlation between health spending and life expectancy? I seem to remember reading an small article comparing the spending between the UK and US (US spending being something like twice British) and several areas of medical performance, such as cancer treatment and infant mortality.

In among the comments was very interesting observation: that despite American spending being much higher than British, the life expectancy was roughly the same - thus indicating that health spending did not appear to have a significant affect across a population! What followed from that was that most good health was a result of sanitation, diet, and working conditions.

Not very scientific and far too general, as it compared but two nations at a high level, but an interesting way of looking at things. I wonder if the same comparisons can be made with other countries?

Or it could be because the British health care system is better, so the money is used more effectively.

[Rian]

I wonder... has anyone here looked at the correlation between health spending and life expectancy? I seem to remember reading an small article comparing the spending between the UK and US (US spending being something like twice British) and several areas of medical performance, such as cancer treatment and infant mortality.

...

I wonder if the same comparisons can be made with other countries?

The US spends twice or more on healthcare than most or all other Western states, though it is the only one without universal healthcare coverage of one shape or another. Moreover, the evidence indicates that it hasn't done us a damn bit of good. US outcomes are about the same to substantially poorer than those of other western states.

But I already said quite a bit about this (and provided supporting links) in another one of these threads.

[bizzybody]

The Number One Problem? LAWYERS.

Had America's founding fathers been just a titch smarter, they'd have banned lawyers from being elected to public office. Lawyers work in the Judicial branch of government, they ought to have no place in the Legislative or Presidential branches of government.

What our government has forgotten is they are SERVANTS *not* MASTERS. Elected office is supposed to be a position of servitude. The government is supposed to be subservient to the citizens.

But what they really think is exemplified by a rant by Frank Laughtenberg during the Democrats effort to illegally replace their dud candidate Torricelli on the New Jersey ballot. (It was well past the cutoff date for replacing a candidate for any other reason other than physical incapacity or death.)

I used to know the date his rant was on live TV, broadcast only once and never repeated because he slipped up and told the truth.

"IT'S ABOUT CONTROL!" was his first line. He got the most dumbfounded, smacked with a frying pan look on his face... I could tell he was thinking something like "Oh crap! I told the truth! Gotta ad-lib fast!", which he did, poorly.

I've been searching for a video of that for quite a while but the Democrat friendly news media has done a good job of ensuring it went down the memory hole, same as they've done with most every other time a Democrat has let the truth slip on live TV or radio. I haven't even been able to find a transcript of his rant.

Another one, which hasn't been swept under the rug, is a speech Hillary Clinton gave a while back which contained this line "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." Such a perfectly self-inflicted shot to her own foot, yet the GOP of New York wouldn't slam her with it when she first ran for Senator.

Here's another, google for "democrats caught plotting". Find the complete transcript. Around when California was having the recall election to boot out Governor Grey Davis, a bunch of Democrats had a meeting in Sacramento. The room had a microphone which transmitted to newsrooms all over the State. Someone had left it turned on. What were they plotting? Doing whatever they could to trash the California economy if the people got rid of Davis. The reaction when they discovered the microphone was on tells much about their guilt. Judging from the state of the State's economy, looks like they've had a "great success". (Just making a note, here.) There were some initial, very brief news articles about this, buried in the back pages of newspapers. After that, total media blackout on the story.

[iamzack]

According to ofaust, you sound like Frank Baum.

[General Battuta]

The Number One Problem? LAWYERS.

Had America's founding fathers been just a titch smarter, they'd have banned lawyers from being elected to public office. Lawyers work in the Judicial branch of government, they ought to have no place in the Legislative or Presidential branches of government.

What our government has forgotten is they are SERVANTS *not* MASTERS. Elected office is supposed to be a position of servitude. The government is supposed to be subservient to the citizens.

But what they really think is exemplified by a rant by Frank Laughtenberg during the Democrats effort to illegally replace their dud candidate Torricelli on the New Jersey ballot. (It was well past the cutoff date for replacing a candidate for any other reason other than physical incapacity or death.)

I used to know the date his rant was on live TV, broadcast only once and never repeated because he slipped up and told the truth.

"IT'S ABOUT CONTROL!" was his first line. He got the most dumbfounded, smacked with a frying pan look on his face... I could tell he was thinking something like "Oh crap! I told the truth! Gotta ad-lib fast!", which he did, poorly.

I've been searching for a video of that for quite a while but the Democrat friendly news media has done a good job of ensuring it went down the memory hole, same as they've done with most every other time a Democrat has let the truth slip on live TV or radio. I haven't even been able to find a transcript of his rant.

Another one, which hasn't been swept under the rug, is a speech Hillary Clinton gave a while back which contained this line "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." Such a perfectly self-inflicted shot to her own foot, yet the GOP of New York wouldn't slam her with it when she first ran for Senator.

Here's another, google for "democrats caught plotting". Find the complete transcript. Around when California was having the recall election to boot out Governor Grey Davis, a bunch of Democrats had a meeting in Sacramento. The room had a microphone which transmitted to newsrooms all over the State. Someone had left it turned on. What were they plotting? Doing whatever they could to trash the California economy if the people got rid of Davis. The reaction when they discovered the microphone was on tells much about their guilt. Judging from the state of the State's economy, looks like they've had a "great success". (Just making a note, here.) There were some initial, very brief news articles about this, buried in the back pages of newspapers. After that, total media blackout on the story.

You are like an affective death spiral personified.

The funny thing about people on either extreme of the political spectrum is that they apparently do not realize that 95% of America is a bunch of quiet moderates (that stat may be a bit high, but I'm happy to cite sources.)

[karajorma]

You know what the difference is between people who vote Democrat and people who vote Republican? All the people who vote Democrat know that their candidate is a wanker.

With the Republicans, yeah, some of them do know it too but then you get people who post stuff like bizzybody who seem to honestly believe that you wouldn't see or hear exactly the same **** from Republicans too.