smashweights

Why do I have this sneaking suspicion the Pentagon has had a "Disabling North Korea in 24 hours or less" plan for a while now? It can't be that hard, 3.6 times smaller than Iraq.

I still think this point is irrelevant. Our lack of health is based on poor primary health habits: diet, exercise, tobacco, booze, drugs, etc. It's a fallacy to try to apply the economic concept of "you get what you pay for" here, ie: pay more get better health. Spending more doesn't equate to better health because better health primarily comes from non-medical interventions. IMO, spending more comes as the result of our poor health, not an indicator that we are somehow wasting our money. In other words, if we swapped the population of these other industrialized nations with representative people from America who maintained the same health habits, their systems would look terrible too. If someone pays $xxx to go to your primary doc and smoke and eat fast food on a regular basis but don't follow the "stop smoking and eating shit" recommendation, that's not the system's fault. With freedom comes responsibility, but we tend to want one without the other. BUT the good news is we can always just elect Bloomberg president and let him regulate what we can eat like he's starting to do in NYC.

There's a few lights near WSU that worry me because the turn lane hashes are worn off and many people dont realize the left-most lane doesn't go to the first lane after the turn, worries me every time, cage or bike.

That may be a baseline, but that's not the correct benchmark for what they're doing: trading stocks. If you want to compare to guaranteed, risk-free return, sure. But if you want to see how they are doing relative to the overall stock market, no. FWIW: Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund, VTSMX, is up to $104,190 from the beginning of June if starting with $100k. So something like that would be a good indicator of how they're doing relative to the US market. Does the simulation factor in short-term capital gains taxes into your earnings?

The baseline should really be an index like the S&P 500.

Bear in mind the most common health problems we experience in America are self-inflicted. So the amount spent per capital is a poor estimate that is founded on the idea that the more you spend, the healthier you should be. Rather, the more unhealthy you are, the more you spend.

Nope

That's actually a question I was wondering: how will the mandate be enforced? Will hospitals be forced to report people without health insurance? Will we annually provide proof of insurance? I've often heard "we all have to buy car insurance" but there really isn't enforcement of that until you get caught driving uninsured.

But Obama said it absolutely is not a tax, I'm confused!

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/20/mass-mayor-suggests-ban-on-large-drinks-free-refills/?hpt=hp_c2 Where dafuq do guys like Bloomberg get the notion that this is something the government should modulate? I've had people wonder how how I could possibly think the government would dictate what I can and can't consume if health care went to public funding and they want to find ways to reduce costs. Here's my answer.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/20/politics/holder-contempt/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 Thoughts? I'm not too knowledgeable on the whole FnF debacle, but 1000 guns lost to Mexican cartels and a us border patrolman killed by them and the investigation is getting stalled by similar bullshit to what Cheney was pulling a few years back? Dafuq is going on here?

This thread makes me happy every morning.

The point I'm trying to make is simple: I bet if we all paid attention to how many people we thank for whatever they do, we'd realize we actually thank people who are a lot less worthy of thanks than our military. And yet, for some reason we have this big argument over why we should not thank a soldier. I could care less what some random handle on the internet thinks of me.

The point is in the subtleties. No one SHOULD thank you or a military member, but they ought to if they have the opportunity. If I knew you had something to do with my AC unit in my car, I'd give you some props for that. Unfortunately the only system that didn't work in the 89 prelude I grew up in was the AC. that's a joke, btw. If you fixed it, I'd thank you. I just dont understand searching so hard for reasons not the be appreciative. And if you don't think the military is providing you a service, why bring up the fact that you're paying for it earlier?

Hell, a few weeks ago I had maintenance guy come fix the screens on my apartment windows. I could have said just said I pay my rent, it's his job, I don't owe him anything. But I thanked him anyway. I used to work in lawn care and none of customers owed me any more than they agreed to pay per treatment, but a few customers still offered me a cold drink and thanked me on a blistering summer day. Those are decent human beings. This country would be a lot fucking better if people were just more polite and appreciative in general.

That depends on what time frame you want to include. This year hasn't been awful for the military. But if you look over the last decade? The last half century to make sure Vietnam is in there? The last century to include both World Wars? You're also not comparing apples to apples. Sure, a fisherman could slip and fall off a boat and drown, but the fair comparison is how many fisherman get shot or have their boat blown up? In the end, the point still isn't "what did happen?" It's not were you a low risk IT guy who never got shot at or an infantry soldier who had a car bomb go off. It's the potential. If the financial crisis in Europe precipitates the next major war, Ford won't see a huge increase in workplace fatalities. Step back and actually, think about the people you do thank. I says thanks to the pilot when I get off a plane, I thank a server when I'm done with a meal, I thank my mechanic when I get my car back, I thanked the guys who are painting my fence, and so on. Why is it hard to thank a military member then? Simple: you're blessed to not see the service they provide you. We thank so many people daily, instinctively, out of common courtesy, why is it such a big deal to thank someone who's willing to risk their life for you?

This has gotten way off topic anyway. You guys are arguing over small pay differences and minor benefits. The bottom line comes down to this: in the last 11 years, nearly 6500 military personnel have died on the job while nearly 48,000 have been injured, some with permanent disability and there is no percentage of pay difference, free meals, or housing allowances that will ever make that risk more worthwhile. I would venture to guess that the number of fatalities at Ford is probably around zero. The mission of Ford is to make money, the mission of the military to to keep the people at Ford safe from external harm. Whether you think they're achieving this is irrelevant. So if you guys wanna argue that some E-3 pulling $30k or so per year is well compensated for the risks he's taking to try and protect this country, you're way off. Hell, I tell my server at a restaurant "thanks" even though I tip them. Why? Cause I'm a nice, appreciative person.

FWIW, a friend of mine was a volunteer firefighter all through undergrad and they paid him. Food for thought.

Just don't forget, the real reason our military is all volunteer is because enough people volunteer. If there became a dire need for your profession they'd just draft you.

I really don't see where getting paid factors in. You can get paid to be an IT guy in the military or as a civilian. Same goes for a plethora of other careers: mechanics, doctors, nurses, lawyers, ministers, etc. Though i cant speak for every career path, some of the professionals, medicine in particular, take a pay cut relative to going the civilian route. Joining for your own benefit doesn't have to be a negative either. We can't all live up to this early 20th century ideal of someone who leaves his cozy job to go fight on the front lines for his country. When I decided to go into medicine in the military, sure I got a lot of benefits from that, but I'll be damned if anyone thinks I don't view it as a great honor to take care of the people in this country who deserve, and many times need, care the most. It gives me a whole new sense of purpose and pride. So don't think less of yourself or others just because there's personal benefits involved. Bettering your own life and serving aren't mutually exclusive.

Idiocracy is by far my favorite horror movie. And yes, to anyone observing our society, it's actually a horror movie.

The problem is this belief is based on one stereotypical belief about a system, rather than real analysis. I'm skeptical and prone to conspiracy beliefs sometimes, hell I'm a Ron Paul supporter (but that's another topic), but the fact that we do cure diseases that we could otherwise milk treatments for, that we don't constantly order unnecessary tests to rack up bills and make more money, that medical decisions to avoid unnecessary medications are made constantly, the fact that drug executives, lobbyists, and politicians get cancer and would benefit, that drug companies are competing with each other, and the fact that cancer is the most complicated disease we've ever encountered makes me believe otherwise. I also think people have a tendency to have an overly simplistic view of medical research. It's much more daunting than people think. If you haven't been a part of the research side of medicine, it makes more sense to believe as you do.

Also in healthcare and in academic research before that and trust me, I disagree completely.

Smh

I liked this comment from your link: " This is the exact reason why I thank every service person I see in public, if I can. A shake of the hand and a "Thank you for your service. I appreciate it." I'm not condoning war or killing people or starting some political bullshit. I'm simply thanking them for enduring a lot of shit to be a part of our nation's armed forces. I don't care if you never once saw action. The fact is that you could have. You put yourself in a position where your actions could have led to you being sent into the line of fire. That's respectable. Do I wish we didn't need people to do this? Yes. But the fact is that we do, and people who do it should be thanked." Personally, I feel a bit awkward getting mentioned for my "service" since all I've done is spend 4 weeks at COT and take scholarship money. But I think the point is you never know when the shit is gonna hit the fan in this world. The first commenter thought he did nothing but lame IT work and wasn't worth thanking. But if Kim Jong-Il had gone batshit crazy or WW3 suddenly broke out, he'd have been there. It's not his fault his service wasn't as glamorous as someone storming the beaches of Normandy. But I liketo think guys like him doing their job well in peace time keeps the world boring, and that's a good thing. It's about what you were willing to do if it was needed of you, not necessarily what you did.