>> ^Zifnab:

According to Freddiew:
Here's how we did this one:
Left and Right sections:
Run through the action and throw the ball to a Precision Ball Catching Specialist, or have a Precision Ball Throwing Specialist throw the ball to me from a previous position. The goal here is to match the ball movement as closely as possible. In some cases (rolling on the ground), the match is pretty much exact so we just cut. In others (kicking at my face) I had to delete the ball and animate a new one in there to blend the two takes together.
The Center section:
I would "freeze" in certain points because we were determining the timing later. I also had a designated start/stop position, which we would morph in between slowly in order to loop the takes together.
Stitching:
We shot the whole thing in 3 vertical camera slices to minimize lens distortion, and once each section was looping smoothly we simply stitched it all together (you'll notice that nothing crosses the "seams")


Just watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdFe6p-8Kls ...

According to Freddiew:
Here's how we did this one:

Left and Right sections:

Run through the action and throw the ball to a Precision Ball Catching Specialist, or have a Precision Ball Throwing Specialist throw the ball to me from a previous position. The goal here is to match the ball movement as closely as possible. In some cases (rolling on the ground), the match is pretty much exact so we just cut. In others (kicking at my face) I had to delete the ball and animate a new one in there to blend the two takes together.

The Center section:

I would "freeze" in certain points because we were determining the timing later. I also had a designated start/stop position, which we would morph in between slowly in order to loop the takes together.

Stitching:

We shot the whole thing in 3 vertical camera slices to minimize lens distortion, and once each section was looping smoothly we simply stitched it all together (you'll notice that nothing crosses the "seams")

I can't be certain what you mean by "up here" but in the Canada I live in, physical therapy is not lumped under chiropractics and is covered by healthcare.

Physiotherapy is covered by our healthcare system because it is an accepted and proven medical treatment. Chiropractic 'medicine' is not, and therefore should not be covered, just as fairy dust and tiger penis potions are not covered.
>> ^bcglorf:

>> ^jwray:
>> ^bcglorf:
>> ^blankfist:
Very sad. I've seen good people in my home state (NC is my home state) worry about receiving coverage. My brother sells insurance in that state. He even knows the system is fucked.
At some point we gave over our power to choose medical treatment to the insurance companies. Today our insurance plans are meal plans (meaning visits to preventive care is covered, such as pediatricians, OBGYNs, etc.) instead of catastrophic care (meaning emergency visits, unexpected health emergencies and hospitalization).
Nowadays doctors and dentists have raised their prices to offset the constant denials of coverage from insurance companies. Out of necessity they've raised their prices knowing the ins. companies will usually deny coverage.
For a year now I've tried to have a "gum graft" cleared through my insurance. After going back and forth, finally it was cleared. But a year ago when I made the request it would've cost me just my copay of $10. A year later they've raised my premium, modified my treatment meal plan and raised the copay, and now I owe a copay of $20 plus $238 of the treatment. I don't mind paying that much because I really need this done, but it's obvious they waited for the changed so they could save a couple hundred bucks.
And the treatment would'nt cost so much if the dentists (and doctors!) didn't require insurance. And they've raised prices mainly to subsidize the staff needed to handle the insurance companies (and the time spent going back and forth with the insurance companies). When's the last time you've ever heard a doctor or nurse give you dollar amount for your visit? Not often, because all we care about is the copay, right?

"At some point we gave over our power to choose medical treatment to the insurance companies."
I am terrified to ask this Blankfist, but what is the alternative? Presumably like this guy you can just not bother with insurance and choose medical treatment yourself based on what you can afford, right? Isn't any other alternative the evil machinations of Statists like me?
I am after all Canadian, and we truly have given over our power to choose medical treatment to the government. Though, it's a mixed bag up here where private hospitals and medicine is illegal and vehemently decried as inherently evil, while at the same time dental, chiropractic and optical medical treatments are all 100% private for profit enterprises and good luck getting the government to spend a dime on you if you need treatment in those fields.

Chiropractic is not a real medical field in the same way that homeopathy and voodoo aren't. If you have back problems, go to a real GP doctor and they can refer you to whatever kind of specialist you need (which is NOT a chiropractor).

Up here any physical therapy generally gets referred to or lumped in under chiropractors, and you've got a big fight on your hands to get the government to count it as a covered universal health care treatment. If you need any physical therapy from a major join injury, good luck to you. Despite the government refusal to allow the existence of any for profit hospitals, those for profit hospitals frequently don't provide the recovery therapy for many things that people end up doing without, or paying out of pocket for.
I guess my overall point is what is the alternative to the insurance companies? It basically amounts to some form of government intervention to either regulate, replace or ban them. None of which I can imagine being alternatives that Blankfist is willing to tolerate, let alone advocate for.

>> ^jwray:

>> ^bcglorf:
>> ^blankfist:
Very sad. I've seen good people in my home state (NC is my home state) worry about receiving coverage. My brother sells insurance in that state. He even knows the system is fucked.
At some point we gave over our power to choose medical treatment to the insurance companies. Today our insurance plans are meal plans (meaning visits to preventive care is covered, such as pediatricians, OBGYNs, etc.) instead of catastrophic care (meaning emergency visits, unexpected health emergencies and hospitalization).
Nowadays doctors and dentists have raised their prices to offset the constant denials of coverage from insurance companies. Out of necessity they've raised their prices knowing the ins. companies will usually deny coverage.
For a year now I've tried to have a "gum graft" cleared through my insurance. After going back and forth, finally it was cleared. But a year ago when I made the request it would've cost me just my copay of $10. A year later they've raised my premium, modified my treatment meal plan and raised the copay, and now I owe a copay of $20 plus $238 of the treatment. I don't mind paying that much because I really need this done, but it's obvious they waited for the changed so they could save a couple hundred bucks.
And the treatment would'nt cost so much if the dentists (and doctors!) didn't require insurance. And they've raised prices mainly to subsidize the staff needed to handle the insurance companies (and the time spent going back and forth with the insurance companies). When's the last time you've ever heard a doctor or nurse give you dollar amount for your visit? Not often, because all we care about is the copay, right?

"At some point we gave over our power to choose medical treatment to the insurance companies."
I am terrified to ask this Blankfist, but what is the alternative? Presumably like this guy you can just not bother with insurance and choose medical treatment yourself based on what you can afford, right? Isn't any other alternative the evil machinations of Statists like me?
I am after all Canadian, and we truly have given over our power to choose medical treatment to the government. Though, it's a mixed bag up here where private hospitals and medicine is illegal and vehemently decried as inherently evil, while at the same time dental, chiropractic and optical medical treatments are all 100% private for profit enterprises and good luck getting the government to spend a dime on you if you need treatment in those fields.

Chiropractic is not a real medical field in the same way that homeopathy and voodoo aren't. If you have back problems, go to a real GP doctor and they can refer you to whatever kind of specialist you need (which is NOT a chiropractor).


Up here any physical therapy generally gets referred to or lumped in under chiropractors, and you've got a big fight on your hands to get the government to count it as a covered universal health care treatment. If you need any physical therapy from a major join injury, good luck to you. Despite the government refusal to allow the existence of any for profit hospitals, those for profit hospitals frequently don't provide the recovery therapy for many things that people end up doing without, or paying out of pocket for.

I guess my overall point is what is the alternative to the insurance companies? It basically amounts to some form of government intervention to either regulate, replace or ban them. None of which I can imagine being alternatives that Blankfist is willing to tolerate, let alone advocate for.

>> ^jwray:


Chiropractic is not a real medical field in the same way that homeopathy and voodoo aren't. If you have back problems, go to a real GP doctor and they can refer you to whatever kind of specialist you need (which is NOT a chiropractor).


In Australia they allowed the chiropractic profession to join the consortium of medical health professionals governed by our health body (AHPRA)

>> ^bcglorf:

>> ^blankfist:
Very sad. I've seen good people in my home state (NC is my home state) worry about receiving coverage. My brother sells insurance in that state. He even knows the system is fucked.
At some point we gave over our power to choose medical treatment to the insurance companies. Today our insurance plans are meal plans (meaning visits to preventive care is covered, such as pediatricians, OBGYNs, etc.) instead of catastrophic care (meaning emergency visits, unexpected health emergencies and hospitalization).
Nowadays doctors and dentists have raised their prices to offset the constant denials of coverage from insurance companies. Out of necessity they've raised their prices knowing the ins. companies will usually deny coverage.
For a year now I've tried to have a "gum graft" cleared through my insurance. After going back and forth, finally it was cleared. But a year ago when I made the request it would've cost me just my copay of $10. A year later they've raised my premium, modified my treatment meal plan and raised the copay, and now I owe a copay of $20 plus $238 of the treatment. I don't mind paying that much because I really need this done, but it's obvious they waited for the changed so they could save a couple hundred bucks.
And the treatment would'nt cost so much if the dentists (and doctors!) didn't require insurance. And they've raised prices mainly to subsidize the staff needed to handle the insurance companies (and the time spent going back and forth with the insurance companies). When's the last time you've ever heard a doctor or nurse give you dollar amount for your visit? Not often, because all we care about is the copay, right?

"At some point we gave over our power to choose medical treatment to the insurance companies."
I am terrified to ask this Blankfist, but what is the alternative? Presumably like this guy you can just not bother with insurance and choose medical treatment yourself based on what you can afford, right? Isn't any other alternative the evil machinations of Statists like me?
I am after all Canadian, and we truly have given over our power to choose medical treatment to the government. Though, it's a mixed bag up here where private hospitals and medicine is illegal and vehemently decried as inherently evil, while at the same time dental, chiropractic and optical medical treatments are all 100% private for profit enterprises and good luck getting the government to spend a dime on you if you need treatment in those fields.


Chiropractic is not a real medical field in the same way that homeopathy and voodoo aren't. If you have back problems, go to a real GP doctor and they can refer you to whatever kind of specialist you need (which is NOT a chiropractor).

EXTREMELY ROUGH TRANSLATION PART 4 (FINAL)

6:68~7:33

[NARRATOR] An instant before the car sinks, Mr. Muroga fled from the vehicle, barely escaping with his life. We took this opportunity to have him watch the images and give us his thoughts.

[MR. MUROGA] Ah, right at this point. I saw the cars being swept along and thought “It’s a tsunami!”

[NARRATOR] From the left-side of the screen, cars flow past and Mr. Muroga realizes the danger.

[MR. MUROGA] The camera doesn’t capture it, but I could see in the rearview mirror that an even faster tsunami had already arrived behind me.

7:33~8:16

[NARRATOR] These are pictures Mr. Muroga took with his own camera. This picture looking out the back of the car allows us to understand the ferocity with which the tsunami behind him arrived.

[MR. MUROGA] At this time, the cars were crashing into each other with great force and my car began to be battered out of shape.

[NARRATOR] Surrounded by waves, Mr. Muroga decided it was too dangerous to try to leave his vehicle.

[MR. MUROGA] I thought about things like, “Maybe I’ll be able to escape when the water recedes.”

[NARRATOR] However, instead of receding, the water began to churn with even greater intensity.

8:16~8:55

{MR. MUROGA} At this point, the car began to be swept away. I was carried away by the current.

[NARRATOR] The tsunami flowed from the ocean between the buildings, capturing Mr. Muroga’s car like a pincer. Within only 30 seconds his car was completely afloat and slowly drifted along. But after that his car entered the faster part of the current and was dragged along by the tsunami.

8:55~9:20

[NARRATOR] This is the point at which Mr. Muroga, being swept along by the tsunami, escaped from his vehicle.

[MR. MUROGA’S VOICE ON VIDEO] Okay, now!

[MR. MUROGA] I think I jumped from the vehicle at this point. Because water suddenly began pouring inside.

[NARRATOR] Just moments before the car sinks, Mr. Muroga makes his escape through the window he had opened earlier.

9:20~9:55

[NARRATOR] Mr. Muroga’s car was swept approximately 150 meters into the wall of a warehouse before sinking. Mr. Muroga, while being swept along by the current, managed to swim to a nearby building and pull himself from the water. He visits the scene of the accident for the first time since the incident. As he approaches the area where the current was strongest, he notices something.

[MR. MUROGA] Ah, look over there, by the divider. Right there, the curb has been practically erased. Clearly the tsunami did that, no?

9:55~11:16

[NARRATOR] Even now, three months later, the evidence of the tsunami remains. What can we learn from these images? We requested Dr. Imura, a tsunami specialist to analyze them. The first thing he noticed was how quickly the water level rose.

[DR. IMURA] At this point it’s already over 50 centimeters deep and the cars are starting to float. Once that happens, the car is beyond control. The tanker truck has larger [in diameter] tires and isn’t floating yet. And then after the height reaches 1 meter, even trucks begin to float away.

[NARRATOR] Dr. Imura points out that once the water level rises above the height of the tires, the vehicle will begin to float and in a very short time be beyond driver control.

[DR. IMURA] Almost as soon as the tsunami appears before your eyes, your vehicle will begin to float. At that point you should monitor the situation and if the current doesn’t seem too strong and if there isn’t a lot of dangerous debris nearby, you should break your window and leave the vehicle as quickly as possible. Once outside, you should head for the highest area you can find, such as a fence or telephone pole—whatever is available. Grab onto whatever it is and climb as high as you can.

11:16~12:15

[NARRATOR] Also, Dr. Imura points out the difficulty vehicles pose on your ability to hear.

[DR. IMURA] It’s important to remember that the sound of the car will drown out outside sounds and make them harder to hear. The various sounds of a car may make it difficult to hear the approaching tsunami.

[NARRATOR] It is certainly true on the video that you cannot hear the roar of the tsunami approaching over the sounds the car. Mr. Muroga also had this to say about the sound.

[MR. MUROGA] In the video, I think you can see that there are many people lined up on the roof of that building. I’m pretty sure these people were screaming at us to run and get out of there. But none of us in our vehicles noticed them. We couldn’t hear them.

12:15~13:44

[NARRATOR] About trying to escape a tsunami in your vehicle, tsunami specialist Dr. Imura had this to say.

[DR. IMURA] Basically, people who can’t walk well should use a car to try to escape. Those who can walk or run should, in principle, not use their vehicles.

[NARRATOR] Cars being swept along… the might of the tsunami. Mr. Muroga told us that through these images he hopes to educate others about the awful power of the tsunami.

[NEWSCASTER, GRAY SUIT] It seems like Mr. Muroga maintained his calm in a difficult situation. In that part of the city, there are lots of buildings and you can’t see very far, making it difficult to notice the approaching tsunami. Furthermore, as we saw in the video, with the windows rolled up you can’t hear the tsunami approaching either.

[NEWSCASTER, FEMALE] It was very quiet on the video, wasn’t it?

[NEWSCASTER, GRAY SUIT] It had been an hour since the earthquake struck and Mr. Muroga was more than 1km inland, so he didn’t think there was any danger from a tsunami.

[NEWSCASTER, FEMALE] According to our tsunami specialist, it was the first time he had ever seen footage like this taken from within the tsunami.

[NEWSCASTER, GRAY SUIT] It’s very valuable footage. It would be great if many people—everyday people and tsunami specialists—could watch this footage and from it find the means of how to protect themselves and others.

EXTREMELY ROUGH TRANSLATION PART 1

0:00~0:30
[FEMALE ANNOUNCER] This is footage from when the giant tsunami rushed through Sendai City. A camera mounted on the dashboard of a car recorded many vehicles being lifted up and swept away by the rushing waves. This video contains disturbing images. However, News Zero has decided to broadcast it in order to educate people about the dangers of tsunamis.

0:30~0:45
[MALE REPORTER] Good afternoon!

[YU MUROGA] Nice to meet you.

[NARRATOR] This is self-employed Yu Muroga, who lives in Sendai City. Three months ago, on that infamous day, he was engulfed by the tsunami.

0:45~1:30

[NARRATOR] This is the car he was driving on that day. Inside this car, which was swept away by the tsunami, was a digital dashboard camera.

[MALE REPORTR] If you look closely, you can still see the mud.

[NARRATOR] The camera contained images of the tsunami sweeping through the city. The camera had been immersed in sea water and was broken. However, we requested a specialist take a look at it. He succeeded in retrieving the data from it—all 7 hours. What images would this data contain?

Tags for this video have been changed from 'blind man, beggar, money, advertising' to 'blind man, beggar, money, advertising, purplefeather online content specialists' - edited by dystopianfuturetoday

>> ^Djevel:

When entering into the USAF back in the mid-90's, I was advised not to put down my denomination as Atheist. The SSgt wouldn't go into details as to why, other than if I happened to be in a life threatening situation with others, it may be impressed upon those of religious persuasion to save their brethren before making the attempt for me. It would be easier for "everyone" if I just put "non-denominational" instead. Throughout basic training and tech school, I also had the luxury of additional detail (labor) because I wasn't comfortable attending church services. Later, as I gained rank, it was also impressed upon me that to further my career, organizations, such as Toastmasters, would be enthusiastically encouraged from my leadership chain.
If things have changed since then, fantastic, but I was never given the impression that the armed forces were the enlightenment of civilization in regards to secularism, "all walks of life" withstanding.


And for @Gamble... I know your movies like "Full Metal Jacket" does exactly what's being described, but have you guys (or anyone in the armed services) ever seen/had/heard a Atheist Sergeant ? It seems to me that besides on the death bed and when you are in a "peaceful" defensive setup that only then would religion (and only then) be allowed to function full strength.

It seems incredibly counter-intuitive to have instilled or given religious Christians (the ability to countermand--without a court-marshal & on-site kick to the groin and punch in the face--[ I know they don't have the ability--they just have people that are willing to be unscrupulous for them to cover anything up--how very Christian of... yadda, yadda, yadda...]), to ever (I know the point was that he was a crappy Sergeant, but they're are many like him ; but this one example is mine ) have a Sergeant teach at basic and later on for specialists (marines/rangers/etc...) that creates a not only a physical division within the ranks, but a mental one.

If actually acted upon or even used in the normal functions of combat you put: the mission, the soldiers, civilians, allies, and more like completely missing/noticing any opportunities to get the enemy. Tactics and doing your job should always be priority number one. If religion is in any of these top priorities, except for morality (as it is altruistically linked to religion and life, even Atheists; morality is being linked more and more as a intrinsic property of our evolution and all mammals in general; even bee colonies work together "through Christ" though?...), but morality is a near fully physical psychological manifestation due to instincts and evolution (and religion; especially when you fear dying and going to a lake of fire; this could be considered a "psychotic" attribute, especially when it concerns *this, present, reality*).

As state and religion are compelled to stay apart due to the constitution and how it relates the two and law in the First Amendment; so should religion and military as they have the same correlated negative qualities as what comes from not following the First Amendment. (Yes I know it never says it, but: Thomas Jefferson did, the Supreme Court has used it many time (making it essentially a law, regardless), and the First Amendment if understood correctly (look at the Supreme Court cases involved and how they interpreted it) creates a literal gap between the State (the State can't make a law concerning Religion, whatsoever) and Religion ( Religion like the State must never become entwined in any fashion with the State; if it does it isn't considered a Religion by the State and loses all it's protections, like the notion of organization tax exemption, which unlike a typical organization can make money [this is why so many people hate Scientology as it's literally at the line that shouldn't be crossed and is considered a tax haven by many]).

Only more lives will be at risk. Giving yourself a moral boost using religion can be done silently; I know I used to be heavily religious.
_{Keep your mind at task; this is life and death. It's also not just your life on the line.}
/sorry ran a bit longer than intended

I totally agree that it's not simple. That's why all of this bothers me so much. Congress members like to see it black and white, what they want (and their contributors want) should be kept or voted in. What they don't want (and their contributors don't want) is communist/socialist/anti-american/against God/whatever. There absolutely no sway with these people, and that's because they are paid to think the way they do. It's not the best interest of the country, it's the best interest of who paid them off.

It's pretty blatant when the people who are making out like bandits during a very bad economic recession if doesn't become a depression and still want more tax cuts and profits, while the food banks don't have enough food and people are literally losing their houses because they won't extend unemployment benefits.

And trust me, unemployment in the US does not pay enough to cover what you would have made with a job. Especially when healthcare is primarily provided by companies and not by a universal health plan, people simply can't afford coverage on unemployment and they are not provided coverage unless they meet stringent criteria.

And it has been shown that unemployment benefits stimulate the economy, for every dollar put into unemployment compensation a 1.60 or some such is generated. Rich tax cuts don't even come close to generating that, not even in the same ballpark. And they are supposedly the people who make the world go round if you listen to the bought and paid for Congress members.


In reply to this comment by Smugglarn:
While I agree with som of waht you say there is a caveat to all those wonderful programs. In my country (Sweden) the model of governance was that the ruling party (Social Democrats) essentially paid their voters with unemployment programs and social security benefits. You could actually earn less working than going on benefits. Immigrants who by nature of their endeavours are quite industrius and hard working quickly became pacified and dependant on the system. The only thing asked of the poorer classes is to vote "correctly" every four years. Remember though - they are only loyal voters for as long as they are not suffering as much . As soon as they get successful they get the full force of the tax system and change alliances. It stifles entrepreneurship and innovation.

Thankfully the Social Democrats were voted out. Regrettably, there is a high unemployment rate, a nationalist party gained a lot of seats in the parliament and violence plagues the projects and large cities around the country.


The left seeing the voters abandon them cry out for expanded immigration and more refugees. At first glance this could be thought of as a compassionate move - but in reality they want more party members to feed the machine. On the other hand the right want to expand immigration as well - for specialists nad other high quality workers - but also for cheap labour obviously.

What I'm rambling about is that it is not that simple.

In reply to this comment by Porksandwich:
Really no one knows what will fix the economy, often times opinion of the economy means just as much as actual changes. If people think the economy is in the toilet, they play safe with their money....if they think it's great they invest in more risky things (to me the tech bubbles demonstrate this, they don't know WTF they were investing in half the time but it sounded good).

But it strikes me as odd when you see a sudden decline in the economy and opinion of it tank....that they don't undo what they changed a few years prior to the economic downturn. Yes there are outside influences and other hard to account for things. But if tax cuts on the rich stimulated the economy in a beneficial way, we would not be in the situation we are in. Yes bank deregulation and other stupid moves, plus a blind payout to people who abused the system really hurt us. But the people who made those decisions also tend to be rich people with rich friends, after all it takes millions upon millions to campaign for any federal level job and you're going to notice the guy giving you a couple hundred thousand versus the guy who gives you 10 bucks.

As for making up the taxes in other methods...sales, consumption, sin tax, whatever you want to refer to. 1% of the population can go day to day without buying as much or can go to lengths to offset or remove the tax burdens they would otherwise face if they have many resources at their disposal. They could simply live somewhere else where those taxes do not effect them. And the rest of the people making, I think it's 250k or less a year to be the non-rich, they simply do not have the resources to avoid living near their jobs and are going to have the basic necessity expenditures as any rich guy.

I mean we all have things we need in common.
Food

Shelter (electricity, gas)

Toiletries (unless we're gonna wipe our asses with tree bark and not wear deodorant or brush our teeth),

Methods of transport (which is usually going to be a car, most places have pathetic public transport and riding a bike in sweltering heat or freezing cold is not going to cut it)

Medical - which at this point in time you have to be pretty destitute or disabled to receive government help with. And everyone at some point in their life is going to need medical assistance whether it's through a fault of their own or not. It's a stupid system where if you can't afford your treatment "RIGHT NOW" you may end up crippled and a burden on everyone else for the rest of your life over a few thousand dollars.

Rich people don't need to eat any more than poor people, they might have richer tastes but they can survive on poor people food. Rich people don't need any more than the minimum shelter. Same with toiletries, fancy colognes and perfumes are frills. BMWs versus 20 year old clunkers, rich can drive beaters too. Medical, rich people are going to have the basic care they need when they need it at every stage of their life....because they are rich and of course luck in genetic lotteries count for a lot.

So unless every rich person lives extravagantly INSIDE the US at all times, taxing them on anything but income is only going to get what they spend money on inside the country...even though they make their money and protect their money and assets utilizing what everyone else helps subsidize - roads, utilities, police, firefighters, etc.

It's the "I got mine, so fuck you." attitude that seems to be popular now. You can see it in a lot of things, unemployment extensions (I got a job, so fuck you.), universal health care (I'm not sick, so fuck you.), public transportation (I own a car, so fuck you.), Visa workers/offshoring (I can get cheaper labor, so fuck you.), etc.

So we end up with absolutely no positive future growth besides what you can afford to do for yourself. And we have more and more people falling onto government welfare programs where they are going to find themselves stuck until the problems become so blatantly apparent that no one can deny that paying your share benefits you just as much as it benefits others.

So, the problem with medical costs rising is because it is a private industry? So, unlike nearly ever single other industry on the planet dealing with services, costs will rise with medicine because it is in private hands. That makes no since, and begs the actual answer to the question, why is does it behave that why...if in fact it is behaving that way at all.

Building a house is a very complex thing. Wiring, insulation, foundation, structure, are just a few of the numerous components that specialists install. But, house building in the USA is a completely streamlined, relatively inexpensive thing. Houses, like medical care, are at the very base of the Maslow's Hierarchy. So this isn't a case of a dear good being horded to the loss of all. IMO, the problem remains with the intractable slowness of government and an inability to act in a disinterested way. Meaning, they are ALWAYS going to write laws in a way that there is a winner and a loser, and always be so cumbersome in adapting to the rapid changing medical situation at hand. The same can't be said for normal economic activities. When I buy a house that I like for the price I wanted I feel as much a winner as all those who got paid to make it.

Not to say that the situation of insurance and hospitals even work right now. But legislating this form of care only provides incentive to this system, which may not be the best system to use. Legislation in this critical area of life will only slowdown, derail, hijack, make more costly, overlook, overshadow, real solutions. It is the same reason you don't want the government regulating (and by regulation in this since I mean overseeing the business process) how cars are made, or steal is poured, or food is eaten, or marriage is conducted.

As an aside, I really do wonder why there are no non-profit health insurance companies, like credit unions of health care. Seems like a good idea, has it been done, or does it already exist?

Edit: In reading this back to myself, it sounds overly negative. I like a lot of what this lady had to say, but I just disagree with her diagnosis of the MAIN problem. She seems smart, and non-dogmatic, and I like that; just think she is a bit off the mark.

What gets me about the whole situation is that right now, the economy is in the toilet and no matter what they seem to believe and say about indicators showing economic turn around never seem to actually cause a turnaround.

So we continue to limp along with all these broken systems, because "some day soon" it will be better. Yet when we have the chance to get a system in place that would improve our livelihood and the ability to work when work is available, the people representing us can't even get enough of their people to stop jerking off their corporate overlords to make it happen.

And while all this goes down, more and more people are forced onto the welfare system and receive BETTER medical care than they did when they paid out of pocket, because they don't have to worry about if they can afford thousands of dollars of out of pocket expenses to get things fixed that if dealt with earlier would have been simpler, cheaper, and safer procedures..with less recovery time and better long term results...and a whole hell of a lot less suffering.

Yet, we still can't see that this current system is just a losing battle, you either spend money on insurance you don't need 99% of the time and waste money on peace of mind and little else. Or you spend money on insurance which you need, but you can't actually afford to address the medical problems in a more permanent fashion. I've needed surgery on my hands for carpal tunnel for 5 years, can't afford it. Got a shoulder that is now screwed up, which may be partially due to pain radiating from my carpal tunnel or something else...it's just guess work until I can afford to eliminate causes or pay for high dollar specialists. Allergies that are under control most times, but can't afford allergy shots anymore to even out the reactions. Asthma where they won't cover the medications that work, and they discontinued the CFC versions that worked better. Bruxism issues, can't afford to get any kind of dental made appliance to deal with it, so using cheap over the counter guards......which cause my jaws to shift so now my jaws and teeth don't line up for a proper bite (they hit in the front). And now I probably need braces to fix that issue, which could have been addressed years with less expensive means more than likely. Have a cracked tooth from the bruxism that I can't afford to fix, cracked one prior to it think it ended up being about 800 dollars in the end.

It shouldn't be an issue of money when you have a medical need to have something fixed. It's in everyone's best interest to keep people able bodied, otherwise more and more people end up on disability and never come off of it.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Homeschooling certainly isn't perfect - but then the quality of the teachers in most public schools isn't always shining either.

When we were homeschooling, we found that parents would use other homeschooling parents as "specialist" teachers. One dad, had a love of math and would take the kids for math. One mom was an art major etc etc.

The socialisation thing is always thrown out there - but I think it's crap. Why is throwing 30 kids of the same age into a room supervised by a single adult part of natural socialisation? It's more like Lord of the Flys, with a good chance of bullying and brutality. Traumatic incidents in an environment like this can shut kids' "socialness" down for years into their adulthood.

As humans we've adapted to accept that the status quo is "normal" and the right thing to do - but as the Porgy and Bess devil says ... it ain't necessarily sooo.

>> ^xxovercastxx:

Even with good intentions, homeschooling limits the child. Generally, a home-schooled child will have 1 or 2 "teachers" who will not be trained in teaching methods, nor have expertise in as many areas as a school-full of actual teachers would, if they have any expertise at all.
The child's social interactions will be even more limited than their studies.

So..
My old neighbor next door was a 40 year old Canadian IT specialist.

He would frequently walk past his large master bedroom window completely naked.. natty ice in hand.

Unfortunately that window faced both of our parkways. So every few days whenever I would walk outside.. BAM!

Anyhow, he got evicted.

He was a cool guy and since he couldn't return to get any of his stuff he left me his computers and books.

That's when I found all the literature on Hedonism & Hedomism II.

Now that I think about it.. he was pretty creepy.