Posts by DogGone

45

You Can't Ignore Fiscal Responsibilities!!!

by minimus in

there's just so much $$$ that people have.. the obama government continues to ignore simple mathematics, and you can't just keep adding taxes and increase fees and simply believe that everyone with a brain will think it's lovely..

DogGone

I don't have to wait, Data-Dog. I was raised by a single mom and we had absolutely no disposable income. It was life in a mobile home, eating frozen french fries, and drinking powdered milk. This was the late 80's... not a long time ago. Although I was envious of my friends who went on an actual vacation I was never without healthcare and education. I was able to get a bit of an education and work my way up. Was actually able to take a trip on an airplane when I was in my 20's!

Now that I'm successful, I'm happy to have my taxes help others who are where I was. In fact, I volunteer to help raise money for charities to further help disadvantaged children.

You seem to confuse "progressive taxation" with taxing the poor to starvation. It is the opposite.

369

So are Republicans now openly terrorists?

by Simon in

they seem determined to undermine the us democracy and shut the government down hurting employees and veterans.. what a despicable bunch, hope they get their asses kicked for what they are doing..

DogGone

I'd like to know which cluster of ideas is not true (and I'm being sincere, I don't know):

This is a giant government subsidy that we can't afford. Once people get used to this government subsidy in January it will be impossible to roll back as entitlements are hard to undo regardless of the damage to the state.
This is creating a massive additional expense for individuals that can't afford it
This is creating a massive additional expense for businesses that can't afford it

I'm truly lost. Don't one of these have to be false?

Or will the system be more expense for the private sectore (#2 and #3) and more expensive for the public sector (#1) than it is currently trending? How is this possible economically speaking? Or is category #2 meant to exclude all those who don't have coverage, hence they don't count as individuals that can't afford the extra expense of coverage?

I'm speaking on the macro level here....

45

You Can't Ignore Fiscal Responsibilities!!!

by minimus in

there's just so much $$$ that people have.. the obama government continues to ignore simple mathematics, and you can't just keep adding taxes and increase fees and simply believe that everyone with a brain will think it's lovely..

DogGone

A study out of the U of Viginia disagrees with you, Minimus.

Consistent with Rawls’s theory of justice, our results showed that progressive taxation was positively associated with the subjective well-being of nations. However, the overall tax rate and government spending were not associated with the subjective well-being of nations. Furthermore, controlling for the wealth of nations and income inequality, we found that respondents living in a nation with more-progressive taxation evaluated their lives as closer to the best possible life and reported having more positive and less negative daily experiences than did respondents living in a nation with less-progressive taxation. Finally, we found that the association between more-progressive taxation and higher levels of subjective well-being was mediated by citizens’ satisfaction with public goods, such as education and public transportation.

re:http://pss.sagepub.com/content/23/1/86.abstract

I'm very heavily taxed in Canada, I'm happy as can be with what I get. I'm voting for a municiple government that will keep raising taxes this fall because I'm looking forward to more services and infrastructure.

369

So are Republicans now openly terrorists?

by Simon in

they seem determined to undermine the us democracy and shut the government down hurting employees and veterans.. what a despicable bunch, hope they get their asses kicked for what they are doing..

DogGone

My turn to have fun with cherry picking stats: (only this time, with the source: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/~/media/Files/Surveys/2008/The%202008%20Commonwealth%20Fund%20International%20Health%20Policy%20Survey%20of%20Sicker%20Adults/IHP2008_CMWF__DSQ_for_web%20pdf.pdf )

On the whole, the system works pretty well and only minor change are needed: CAN 34% UK 36% USA 23%

Did not fill a prescription for medicine or skipped doses: CAN 16%, UK 8%, USA 39%

Had a specific medical problem but did not visit a doctor: CAN 9%, UK 4%, USA 34%

Skipped or did not get a medical test, treatment, or follow-up: CAN 10%, UK 6%, 36%

In the past 2 years, how often did you feel your time was wasted because your medical care was poorly organized? Often/Sometimes: CAN 29%, UK 20%, USA 35%

Have you believed a medical mistake was made in your treatment or care in the past 2 years? CAN 14%, UK 10%, USA 16%

USA Respondents who are currently insured but did NOT have health insurance over the last year: 14%

Now, there are also some stats which favour the US in that document. My point, of course, is that we can cherry pick these things to make a point, combine it with bogus data, and circulate it like it matters. Those who already agree with our stand will unquestioningly adopt our data and propogate the info. There is no incentive to "test things out".

People of the forum.... Does this sound familiar?

369

So are Republicans now openly terrorists?

by Simon in

they seem determined to undermine the us democracy and shut the government down hurting employees and veterans.. what a despicable bunch, hope they get their asses kicked for what they are doing..

DogGone

Glander,

Does that article reference the source of those statistics? Perhaps, like so much of this debate, they are counting on confirmation bias to avoid scrutiny.... (http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=54884)

OR

You can help me find the source of the information from the UN "International Health Organization" er.... maybe WHO? If so, this is very critical data and should definitely inform the discussion. I’d like to know if the stats are inclusive or only include those with health insurance.

I can tell you that in some places wait times in Canada for specialists are often unacceptable. We have had a national focus on this for a decade and the results are showing. You may find the summary page from this document published by the Canadian Institute for Health Information to be informative: https://secure.cihi.ca/free_products/HCIC2012-FullReport-ENweb.pdf

This article has a comprehensive discussion about wait times broken down by province, by procedure, and by comparison against target: http://www.waittimealliance.ca/media/2012reportcard/WTA2012-reportcard_e.pdf

To your point, more improvement is needed in Canada. Anecdotally, though, I can tell you that two weeks ago one of my staff needed to see an MRI after a scary episode and was in within a few days. Two days later he was back for another round. However, that is relevant only in my particular corner of our big country.

Indeed, "Excessive wait times for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies are a major problem in the Canadian healthcare system." ref: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2653696/

That being said, our wait times are equitable regardless of wealth and our visibility into them is growing. Look at this website from Alberta where you can dive down into wait time stats for various procedures by urgency and region: http://waittimes.alberta.ca

127

So......Obama IS a US citizen after all?!

by Black Man in

jw
friends

april 27th, 201110:06 am etobama releases long-form birth certificateposted by:cnn white house producer shawna shepherd.

by cnn's alan silverleib.

washington (cnn) the white house released copies of president barack obama's original long-form birth certificate wednesday, seeking to put an end to persistent rumors that he was not born in theunited states.. "we do not have time for this kind of silliness," obama told reporters at the white house.. obama's long-form birth certificate [pdf].

DogGone

So funny, Kenya didn't exist until 1963? So, from 1920 to 1963 when it was the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya you could not call it just Kenya? If someone had a Canadian birth certificate from 1950 when we were officially styled the Dominion of Canada and all it said was Canada you could say Canada did not exist? And the arguers above produce a document which states the Republic of Kenya.... which actually didn't exist. If the forger wasn't such a half-wit the birthers couldn't be so easily proven wrong, in this instance. The argument itself proves the error, it's simply beautiful. How can you be born in America and not know what the heck a Republic is? I'm sure the counter is that this document was just part of some vast conspiracy to discredit the birthers.

It's so terrible to see racism clothed in the mock legitimacy of spurious legality. It's a singular form of evil.

Somehow, I expect better of those whose mental capacities have allowed them to escape the snare of the Watchtower fable.

22

Red light camera ticket

by sspo in

my last speeding ticket was in tennessee in 1993, was going 15 miles over the speed limit and got a $60 ticket.

that was my last one.. three weeks ago did not make a complete stop making a right turn here in california and got nailed with a "camera ticket".. damage to my wallet ...$540 and have to take an 8hour class.. i guess california is in need of a lot of cash.. do you have traffic cameras where you live or are they illegal?.

.

DogGone

That is a heafty fine. Ironically, in my neck of the woods we call that a "California stop".

We have a lot of these cameras in my city, Calgary. Once I was nabbed with a $375 fine at 2:30AM for pushing through a red light. I was coming down a hill, it was late, not a soul on the road, and I hit the intersection as it was turning from yellow to red. But, they sent me a nice picture of myself in my car - crossing the line with a red light in view.

Doesn't matter the circumstance, I broke the law and paid up. The fine was sufficiently large that I sure have not made that mistake again.

I've never heard of the cameras catching people here who are making a right turn...

18

If YOUR Child Turned Out To Be A Child Abuser Would You Hate Him?

by minimus in

let me say, from the beginning, that i believe child abuse is disgusting and terrible and abusers should be punished.. we often react to the subject by getting very riled up, sometimes threatening to beat up or even kill an abuser.. i wonder, would you feel the same way if you realized that your child was an abuser?.

DogGone

I'm sure this is not suprising, given my earlier posts on this topic, but I'd love him or her. I'd ensure help was provided to prevent future abuse and that ownership was taken for the mistakes made. That would extend outside of just children (I don't have any children yet, but we are excitedly expecting) to family and friends. For me, this is not just hypothetical.

43

Richard Dawkins Fail...

by tenyearsafter in

wow...hard to believe anyone would openly make this kind of comment.... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/09/richard-dawkins-pedophilia_n_3895514.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003#slide=989667.

DogGone

Fantastic discussion. I thank Adamah and Hamsterbait for providing context on moral relativism. I find the arguments fascinating.

Cofty, you are correct, it certainly was in The God Delusion that he made a similar comment about sexual abuse. If memory serves me, he was in Ireland and made a quip about how some of the sexual stuff was harmful, but likely not as harmful as being raised Catholic. He commented that he was pleasantly surprised the audience applauded. (Please note: this is from memory - my copy is in storage). That was just one example of how I found his approach in that book counter productive.

18

Why do the JW's Cover up child abuse?

by slam in

DogGone

Slam, A heart breaking story. It must have taken courage to post this. I had a step father who was abusive, but your story goes beyond anything I experienced. Thank-you for sharing your story.