USA is sick...

[friedaweed]

Yo, Trig! How's youse and da homies doin'? Youse still hanging out wit Smiggy Balls and dat other cat?

Sappnin NinoOOO me main baller.
Wappan me tel ya me sin rentbwouy slippin skin to OJ yessaday. E bin tinkin long and ard affa seein 'boyz in da hood' on his betamaxo. E is keen tinkin bout how ders no need for da five-0 in da hood coz if some cat teks ya ipod ya can juss clip da brother. Ims thinkin now dat maybe da homies wappin it righhhht aye

Westside
<Does funny thing with hands>

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Health coverage for middle income workers dropping:

The report paints a bleak health care picture for the uninsured.

“It represents an explosion of the insurance crisis into those with moderate incomes,” said Sara Collins, a senior program officer at the Commonwealth Fund.

Collins said the study also illustrates how more employers are dropping coverage or are offering plans that are just too expensive for many people.

About 45.8 million Americans did not have health insurance in 2004, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12480260/

 

[Genghis Cohen]

Very much OT, but I've never understood why Castro lets the US theocrats use his land to house their kidnap and torture victims, are they just bunging him a shitload of money ?

 

[friedaweed]

Very much OT, but I've never understood why Castro lets the US theocrats use his land to house their kidnap and torture victims, are they just bunging him a shitload of money ?

Yup i don't get that bit.
Maybe that's where braska's money's gone.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Might have something to do with the 1898 treaty.... or it might have something to do with the 75,000 landmines.

Can we establish a separate thread for Cuba and get back on topic?

 

[friedaweed]

Might have something to do with the 1898 treaty.... or it might have something to do with the 75,000 landmines.

Can we establish a separate thread for Cuba and get back on topic?

I thought Cuba and the US were the topic of the thread. All be it their respective medical services but i can't see what the problem is in discussing other parallels.
Mears opened it up with his broader comparisons

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

I thought Cuba and the US were the topic of the thread. All be it their respective medical services but i can't see what the problem is in discussing other parallels.
Mears opened it up with his broader comparisons

Sorry, I meant Gitmo. It could be interesting, but it has been done. The ag issue was somewhat related to health issues. And, the only people who have bragging rights on sports are the people who get sweaty.

 

[friedaweed]

gitmo been done here? No way

Sorry, I meant Gitmo. It could be interesting, but it has been done. The ag issue was somewhat related to health issues. And, the only people who have bragging rights on sports are the people who get sweaty.

hey it's been close here today
Reminds me i must get last weeks kit out of my bag and air it

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

hey it's been close here today
Reminds me i must get last weeks kit out of my bag and air it

I was wondering what that smell was.

 

[spring-peeper]

Actually, Cuba send doctors out to other Caribbean nations to help treat patients and set up clinics. They also train many of the doctors in the area and give free eye surgery to many of the poorer countries.

I found this -

After America rejected the offer of Cuba to send doctors to aid the victims of Katrina, a massive earthquake struck Pakistan. Cuba sent these same doctors, called her “Medical Brigade,” to attend to over 100,000 extremely injured victims of that earthquake. Those doctors and technicians did not seek political asylum in Pakistan. They came back to Cuba after doing their humanitarian work. We met some of them on our tour and they shared their experiences of working alongside Turkish and American doctors in the mountains of Pakistan. Why did these doctors come back to Cuba? Why do the Cubans love their country?

During our visit, we saw a country of civilized, well-fed, well-mannered and happy citizens. Citizens receive free education from kindergarten through graduate school and a base quantity of staple food items. Cuba is reaching out to Black farmers in America to purchase food products to supplement what Cuba grows at home. Gasoline costs $0.80 per gallon.

The constitution guarantees the right to medical care and citizens receive free medical care including major surgery, eye surgery and dental surgery. Cuba has one doctor for every 156 of her citizens. According to the 1990 Census, there was only one doctor for every 1,449 Black people in America and only one doctor for every 415 White people in America. So the Cuban people have better access to medical care than do the American people, Black or White.

From an article called Why does the U.S. government hate Cuba?

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

From an article called Why does the U.S. government hate Cuba?

From March 19-28, I was a part of a delegation that visited Cuba with the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.

Do you have another source for that information? I've never considered friends of Louis Farrakhan the best of sources.

 

[mears]

It's a good model of what happens when you have a free market capitalist health system, something which is being advocated by some people in the UK at the moment. Is it that hard to understand why it might be of interest?

Is that why you think it was brought up? I have heard this topic (US and Cuban health care systems) mentioned but never in relation to anything coming out of the UK.

 

[mears]

oh change the record you boring wanker!
why don't you have a gooooood looooong look at the TITLE OF THIS FUCKING FORUM?
It is there to discuss other nations' affairs.
That is its' sole purpose.
just because your countrymen are too parochial and ignorant - by and large, and with exceptions - to immerse themselves in the affairs of other nations, why do you think everywhere else across the globe shares your affliction?

Immerse themselves in the affairs of others nations

Thats rich sport.

Its like New Orleans or when Bush walks out the wrong door or the US mortality rate. Its a change to poke holes at a very rich (richer than the UK, Germany, France or Sweeden as defined by GDP per capita) very powerful nation.

Its the frustration of the powerless and poorer.

Its them good old fashioned sour grapes

 

[mears]

So, business is more important to you than healthcare, right?

Standard of living is more important. Making money that you can use in other countries is important. Voting in multi party elections is important.

People in Cuba have no future. No one wants to move to Cuba and Cubans risk their lives to leave for a more prosperous future. Meanwhile Castro can gorge himself on lobsters and white, lefty Euros love him for standing up to the Yanks.

But none of you would ever live in Cuba.

Oh, sorry, almost forgot. The healthcare is outstanding.

 

[mears]

And basketball.

Sour grapes

I think you are trying to say baseball.

But good boy for trying.

And yes, people around the world do actually play and watch sports other than football.

Sometimes that is a little difficult for Europeans, like the British, to comprehend.

 

[In Bloom]

Is that why you think it was brought up? I have heard this topic (US and Cuban health care systems) mentioned but never in relation to anything coming out of the UK.

Firstly, I don't know if you noticed, but it wasn't just the US and Cuba, it was a fairly large number of nations, including America and Cuba.

Furthermore, the point is that it may be of interest to British people how the American economy works because the political establishment in the UK is increasingly in favour of such an economic model.

 

[In Bloom]

Standard of living is more important. Making money that you can use in other countries is important. Voting in multi party elections is important.

People in Cuba have no future. No one wants to move to Cuba and Cubans risk their lives to leave for a more prosperous future. Meanwhile Castro can gorge himself on lobsters and white, lefty Euros love him for standing up to the Yanks.

But none of you would ever live in Cuba.

Oh, sorry, almost forgot. The healthcare is outstanding.

So you have no socialised healthcare system, no real welfare state and a higher infant mortality rate, yet you have a better standard of living?

 

[mears]

Firstly, I don't know if you noticed, but it wasn't just the US and Cuba, it was a fairly large number of nations, including America and Cuba.

Furthermore, the point is that it may be of interest to British people how the American economy works because the political establishment in the UK is increasingly in favour of such an economic model.

I'm sorry, what economic model is that?

 

[mears]

So you have no socialised healthcare system, no real welfare state and a higher infant mortality rate, yet you have a better standard of living?

"the percentage of Americans living below the poverty line has dropped to 12% from 22% since 1959. In 1999, 25% of American households were considered "low income," meaning they had an annual income of less than $25,000. If Sweden--the very model of a modern welfare state--were judged by the same standard, about 40% of its households would be considered low-income"

and in the U.S. a large 45.9% of the "poor" own their homes, 72.8% have a car and almost 77% have air conditioning, which remains a luxury in most of Western Europe. The average living space for poor American households is 1,200 square feet. In Europe, the average space for all households, not just the poor, is 1,000 square feet.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110005242

 

[In Bloom]

I'm sorry, what economic model is that?

American free market capitalism, which is what we're moving towards, as opposed to the previous "post-war consensus" (a contentious term, historically, but a useful one) of Keynesian economics.

Not that they are the only two economic models, and neither is much cop, afaic, but I know which I prefer.

 

[In Bloom]

"the percentage of Americans living below the poverty line has dropped to 12% from 22% since 1959. In 1999, 25% of American households were considered "low income," meaning they had an annual income of less than $25,000. If Sweden--the very model of a modern welfare state--were judged by the same standard, about 40% of its households would be considered low-income"

and in the U.S. a large 45.9% of the "poor" own their homes, 72.8% have a car and almost 77% have air conditioning, which remains a luxury in most of Western Europe. The average living space for poor American households is 1,200 square feet. In Europe, the average space for all households, not just the poor, is 1,000 square feet.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110005242

We're not going to get into this again are we? Are you aware of how many times you've posted that same article?

1. A greater range of commodities is hardly evidence of a higher standard of living. And in any case, I doubt most Swedes, for example, would consider air conditioning as a high priority, compared with somebody living in the Deep South.
2. Using gross income, without taking into account cost of living, including the additional cost of having to pay for things that are provided for by a welfare state, is meaningless.
3. Why waste the extra money on a car if you have a cheap, efficient system of public transport?
4. I don't know if you've noticed, but America has a much lower population density than most European nations.

 

[In Bloom]

Anyway, up early tomorrow morning, off to bed.

 

[mears]

American free market capitalism, which is what we're moving towards, as opposed to the previous "post-war consensus" (a contentious term, historically, but a useful one) of Keynesian economics.

Not that they are the only two economic models, and neither is much cop, afaic, but I know which I prefer.

GDP per person the US = $41,800
GDP per person the EU = $28,100

Unemployment rate the US = 5.1%
Unemployment rate the EU = 9.4%
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0403/p01s03-usec.html?s=itm

I know which one I prefer.

Sometimes its good to cut out the BS and just focus on the numbers.

 

[Backatcha Bandit]

GDP per person the US = $41,800
GDP per person the EU = $28,100

Unemployment rate the US = 5.1%
Unemployment rate the EU = 9.4%
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0403/p01s03-usec.html?s=itm

I know which one I prefer.

Sometimes its good to cut out the BS and just focus on the numbers.

Ugh... That's like comparing turds.

 

[In Bloom]

GDP per person the US = $41,800
GDP per person the EU = $28,100

And I'm supposed to give a shit because?

GDP is not a good indicator of overall wealth, it indicates the success of "the economy" as an entity unto itself, which usually means the wealth of the rich under a capitalist system, with the wealth and welfare of workers coming much further down the list.

Unemployment rate the US = 5.1%
Unemployment rate the EU = 9.4%
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0403/p01s03-usec.html?s=itm

Being unemployed in the US and being unemployed in the EU are two very different things (though not for long, the way things are going).

 

[nino_savatte]

Mears and his love of GDP. It doesn't matter how many times you tell him, he still won't listen: GDP is not a good indicator of wealth.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Standard of living is more important. Making money that you can use in other countries is important. Voting in multi party elections is important.

People in Cuba have no future. No one wants to move to Cuba and Cubans risk their lives to leave for a more prosperous future. Meanwhile Castro can gorge himself on lobsters and white, lefty Euros love him for standing up to the Yanks.

But none of you would ever live in Cuba.

Oh, sorry, almost forgot. The healthcare is outstanding.

China - you fuck wit.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Mears and his love of GDP. It doesn't matter how many times you tell him, he still won't listen: GDP is not a good indicator of wealth.

Nor does it judge culture, values of society, how people treat each other, their intelligence and their outlook on the rest of the planet. But Mears won't get this because he worships the dollar. He won't listen though because he's ignorant. I feel sorry for him. As Willy Mason sings....

I wanna see through all the lies of society
To the reality, happiness is at stake
I wanna hold up my head with dignity
Proud of a life where to give means more than to take
I wan't to live beyond the modern mentality
Where paper is all that you're really taught to create
Do you remember the forgotten America?
Justice, equality, freedom to every race?
Just need to get past all the lies and hypocrisy
Make up and hair to the truth behind every face
Now look around to all the people you see,
How many of them are happy and free?

 

[nino_savatte]

Nor does it judge culture, values of society, how people treat each other, their intelligence and their outlook on the rest of the planet. But Mears won't get this because he worships the dollar. He won't listen though because he's ignorant. I feel sorry for him. As Willy Mason sings....

True BM and I have never once seen mears be honest about levels of poverty in the US. He was noticeably absent from the Katrina threads too.

 

[Barking_Mad]

True BM and I have never once seen mears be honest about levels of poverty in the US. He was noticeably absent from the Katrina threads too.

Usual Mears case of seeing what he wants to see.

edited to add: