What are his ankles made of rubber?!

Holy cow!

I was blessed to hear from one of my truly favorite people here after another wonderful missive earlier and it brought to my mind another here for whom I hold much regard and love but who may not by my neglect know fully enough so.

So to you as well, my favorite toast:

May those that love us, love us.
For those that don’t love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if he doesn’t turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we’ll know them by their limping.

And if I may as well offer:

May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
The rains fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

Happy St. Patty's Day, enoch my brother,...much love.

O U T S T A N D I N G...S I R I U S L Y...the Aether has been kind to this unworthy one! ! ! ! ! ! !

It is always incredible to hear from you with a distantly close second that is your imagery. I love it...mesmerizing and seductive like a velvet blade. Some play in my mind recurrently.

Happy Drunken Irish Bastard Day to you too my friend. Please, to you my brother I offer my favorite toast:

May those that love us, love us.
For those that don’t love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if he doesn’t turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we’ll know them by their limping.

I miss you too rougy. You long ago won a place in my heart and mind. I wax Irish upon you,

May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
The rains fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

Peace and blessings upon you my friend. Thank you very much.

Oh yeah, I did.
Having severe claustrophobia, it gave me the heebie jeebies right away, and I instantly thought how glad I was my older brother didn't know this trick when we were kids...although I would have a really strong upper body now if he had...and/or repeatedly broken ankles/legs.

Nobody else finds this terrifying? Okay...

I'll dream of dragging myself home on broken ankles tonight.

The thumbnail image for this video has been updated - thumbnail added by eric3579.

A bit off topic but listen for the left ankle break(?) @1:23 of the guy in the fuschia colored shirt. You can also kinda see where it goes bad for him. It's why he ends up in that wheel chair it seems. Although @2:34 i hear someone (assume it's him) say "i don't think it's broken". I'm surprised he showed no sign of pain, as far as can be seen. Maybe adrenaline. Sure did sound nasty.

That last guy, I mean the VERY LAST guy, looked like he was going to take it like a boss until he was tripped up over someone's ankle.

This will last until he sprains an ankle or busts an elbow.

Here is a longer 18 minute video of more of Senator Burr's questions to the witnesses. I wish I could find the full hearing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1m0Gxtsz1A

It includes this little gem from Senator Burr, "The American system HAS access to healthcare for everybody, it's called the Emergency Room. Now we don't admit that because clearly we are lobbying for a particular angle, but every American can access healthcare."

Nice slight of hand there Senator, only difference is whenever I go to the emergency room (I live in Canada), I don't get a bill in the mail a few weeks later that I have to pay.

The average American ER visit costs $600 dollars in 2009, today it's probably well more than that, and that's just for simple problems. Anything more serious than a urinary tract infection and you are going to be paying thousands of dollars.

I'm a bit late to the party, but I'll give my 2 cents on my experiences with the Healthcare system in Quebec.

I use the public system and private system and constantly dabble between the two. Wait times can be long for sure. I've had a long running ankle problem since my teens, and to get my first appointment with an ankle specialist here took 1 year and 3 months!

My MRI was covered by private insurance, so it only took a couple days to have the scan done. I was put on a surgery waiting list for just over 2 years. The Dr let me know that he operated at a private clinic in Montreal. I could have had the surgery in only 2 weeks, at a cost of around $5000, but because my pain was minimal and I could still walk, I opted to wait.

Post surgery access to follow up appointments was swift. I could easily see the Dr in a week or two, with very little advanced notice. Follow up MRI's weren't covered by my new private insurance, so I had to wait for an MRI scan, which took around 2 months. I was supposed to have an MRI arthrogram, but the waiting list for that procedure is about twice as long, so the Dr just opted for a regular MRI. Cost for an MRI arthrogram is $875 in private. Again I just waited it out.

I've only needed to go to the emergency room twice, since I've been here, both times I was in and out in under an hour and a half.

I've been to many walk-in clinic's. These are a crapshoot, sometimes they're incredibly fast, sometimes incredibly slow.

I don't have a family Dr, so I opt to go to a Dr at a private clinic for my annual checkups. Even private clinics are a grey zone sometimes, as some services are covered by the provincial plans, so visits to the GP cost out of pocket, but visits to specialists within the same clinic are free.

Finding a family Dr is definitely plausible, it just involves phoning around every clinic and/or Dr in Montreal asking if they have space, but I just haven't invested the time yet. Some people get lucky this way, but even then, getting an appointment with your family Dr can take many weeks, appointment times can be inconvenient (mid afternoon, etc), so I'd rather make the investment of seeing someone at a private clinic, where I can have an appointment at 8:30am within a couple days.

I contrast all this with the fact that I was born and lived in South Africa well into my mid 20's. South Africa has abysmal public healthcare, and being born into a white middle class family, thanks to my parents I had access to private healthcare.

Private insurance in South Africa is less exploitative than in the U.S. Much less fighting with insurers to pay for coverage etc. Access to most Dr's is swift, and most procedure's are well covered. Obviously the overall experience compared to Canadian healthcare was much better, but the S.A private system only barely covers 20% of the population's needs and even with the disparity in wait times for service, the Canadian healthcare system at 100% coverage feels like an undeniable success, and a model that needs to be improved and iterated upon.

The debate around healthcare is tough here. Health issues and frustration with waiting can easily escalate the egocentric side of our human nature, but even with my negative experiences I would never denounce this system, because the broader social contract that has been written is valiant, and the price paid for this is worth it.

Nobody should be financially ruined because of health issues.

Incorrect. Brain-dead morons (or people who love being marketed to and sold a bill of bads) robotically-assisted through programming and several millions of dollars of mind-control technology offered-up on the alter of Baal their single vote to the current version of a marionette.

Evil cunts placed him a position of ass-fucking power, and a fawning chorus of dutiful and exhausted hairless apes grabbed their ankles and gasped, "Thank you sir, may I have another...and ANOTHER?!!"

Galifanakis has got to be one of the most un-funny entertainers in the history of cinema (have to admit though, chuckled a few times with this one). He and Will Farrel should be placed on an ice flow and set adrift.....with provisions, of course.