riddler

I am proud to say that Kramer did not say any of these things: http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/proudwhite.asp Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Translation for people that don't speak hypocRIGHT-ese. 1. I want to have a rational discussion. 2. I will resort to childish name-calling. 3. You people are making fun of me with your name calling. All I wanted was a rational discussion! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

More like McDonalds, anyone? It's not ludicrous - they started serving Buffalo in restaurants in Colorado years ago. If they reproduce enough Mammoths, there will be industries for Mammoth game hunting (maybe with a spear and a cliff?), and there will eventually be a market for Mammoth Burgers. Whatever living thing that humans produce, they will eventually try to eat. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

More importantly, WTF should happen when they find out he's really a Muslim?? WTF should happen when they find out he's a terrorist? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

These statistics come from the World Health Organization (WHO Statistical Information System (WHOSIS): http://www.who.int/whosis/en/ The nature of the data can be questioned by anyone that doesn't want to believe it, but it's the best data we have available. Back to the schoolkid that failed the exam - "but the other kids cheated!" Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Well, my wife worked for a chiropractor group (of 2 chiropractors) which had one person full-time submitting claims to insurance companies. I also had a neighbor that worked for a health-clinic (about 5 doctors) where it was her full time job. Maybe they're liars, but as I actually know them, and you do not, I doubt it. Here's a survey from 2006 that says 75% of claims are submitted electronically, which is pretty good, but a far cry from "almost all": http://www.ahip.org/content/pressrelease.aspx?docid=16454 With regard to by "total lack of knowledge", I am definitely not an expert on health claim submissions. That is why I cite references - those references say something completely different than what you're saying, but you haven't really proven anything except that you're passionate about the subject. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

There's no room for interpretation here. Cost Per Capita is a definitive term. Cost = US Dollars. Per Capita = per person (from the Latin "per head"). How it's paid for is outside the scope of that number. Whether the way it's paid for is right or wrong, whether or not you think it's better, Sweden has a healthcare cost per capita that is less than the US. You're right. I'm sure Sweden's healthcare system will collapse tomorrow Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Kinda. I used COBRA once. I quit a job on Friday, and started a new job on Monday. The health insurance for the new job didn't take effect for 30 days. On the 20th day, I had an appendectomy. $12,000. Now if I had not had appendicitis, and no other health claims, I would have paid nothing - just waited until the new insurance took effect. But since I had a claim, I was able to pay retro-actively for one month of my old insurance premium ($150), and get the appendectomy paid for. So COBRA is free for the majority of people that don't use it. In my experience, it is a good program that works. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I'm really not trying to make this personal, and I'm not "talking smack" about you, I just doubt your sources of information. You made the statement that Sweden only judges infant mortality if the infant has been alive for three months. I doubted that information. In the first quote, I don't see anything about how Sweden judges a baby to be only alive after it's been alive for three months, and in the second quote, I don't see any thing that says that either. As for how the different nations deciding what to call infant mortality - that's akin to a schoolkid getting a failing grade on exam, then complaining that every other kid in the class cheated. The US scores consistanly one of the worst first-world countries in the world for infant mortality. It's not because every other country cheats on their numbers, and it's not because the wrong people are having babies. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Sounds like a made-up fact to me - have a reference? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I don't get this point at all. Are you saying the wrong people are having babies in the US? Is that the reason twice as many babies die in this country than Sweden? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I'm not getting your point - cost per capita doesn't mean they got the money from somewhere else (like taxes, vs. personal income). It is the cost of a year's worth of healthcare cost for each person. How does taxation fit into that statistic? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

You have me there, I've never lived in Sweden - or was it just your mother that lived there? OTOH, one person's experience in one thing, but deciding what the entire population should have might be better suited to statistics. BTW - cost per capita doesn't factor in how the money was generated - just what it costs, so regardless of where they got the money, it's still cheaper. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

What if someone took an LSD trip and said they talked to Jesus? Would that be proof? Personally, I've had surgery on general anethesia, and there was no "white light". It was blacker than a steer's tuckus on a moonless prairie night. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

People die waiting for healthcare in this country, too. Many of them because they can't afford it. You're pointing out a small portion of the population, most of those elderly, who have what would be incurable diseases even 50 years ago, as a justification for not paying for any healthcare for anyone. Even people in countries with socialized medicine frequently have the option of paying for better healthcare, if they have a terminal illness, and if they can afford it. People in this country have to pay for all healthcare for colds, broken bones, and terminal illnesses. Most of us have been to the doctor several times in our lives, have paid tens of thousands (or hundreds of thouands if you're older and have a family) in health insurance premiums, and have had to spend a fortune on medication because of our "capitalistic medicine". It makes more sense to treat the majority of the population for curable illnesses (for free), than to force everyone to pay inordinate amounts of money (many of them will opt for not getting healthcare) to justify a small percentage of people that might survive a difficult surgery. BTW - in Sweden, the "sucky" healthcare lends itself to their citizens living three years longer (on average) than in the US, half the infant mortality of the US, 50% more doctors per person than the US and 10% more nurses, all at a cost of 60% per capita of what the US pays. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Nevermind - think I answered my own question. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Kinda off subject, but I took a tour of the FedEx facilities in Memphis. While I was there, we were watching packages going down one conveyor, and robotic arms were pushing packages down chutes - different chutes for different hub destinations. We were watching for only a few seconds, when one of the packages got deflected off another package, then flipped up and behind the robotic arm, which then proceeded to crush it, after which, it dropped into the gears of the conveyor belt, and got pretty much shredded into oblivion. I pointed out the package, thinking they might shut down and retrieve it, or at least clear the machinery, but the tour operator calmly replied, "yep, that happens sometimes." Then, we continued with the tour. Moral of the story - for important stuff, pay extra for the insurance. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Would you believe this site? http://www.ohioinsurance.gov/Newsroom/scripts/Release.asp?ReleaseID=770 How about this one: http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/875824/health_care_administration_consumes_nearly_onethird_of_health_care_costs/index.html Or, maybe this one: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=6726 Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Well, the insurance companies have computers that deny deny deny claims all day long. So the insurance people don't have to work as hard denying claims. Typically, a small office practice with two or three doctors have at least one person on staff full time to code the insurance claims. They are extensive, and if one little code on page 3 is not right, then insurance company will send it back to you, then you have to repeat the entire process, and between all the mailings, you've lost a week in the process. Source: http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/health-insurance/health_ins_reimbursement_tips.htm So yes, insurance companies spend a great deal of time and money rejecting claims. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I agree with you - I'm just saying that the corporations (VZW) had BB build them that way to try to sell you other crap services that don't work as well. Here is the web page for the Curve, which specifically says it has WiFi and GPS: http://www.blackberry.com/blackberrycurve.shtml There may not be room for WiFi on the Storm's motherboard, but there is definitely room on this one - in fact, the companies intentionally disabled these services that normally come standard on the phones for marketing reasons, not because of technology restrictions, or any other reason. That's the only point I'm making. Well, that, and I'm not going to support Verizon wireless anymore for making these type of decisions that hurt consumers. Edit: I'm not saying they do - but my BB 8330 from Verizon has GPS for 911 calls only. In other words, they disabled the GPS for consumer services because it competes with VZNavigator. But they left it in 911 calls as an easy way to comply with emergency location regulations. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I do have and sometimes use the tethered modem service of the BB on VZ. It works fine - as well as the USB EVDO-RevA card that I have. However, VZ charges me an extra $15/month for that service, which I think should be free with data on the BB (but the marketing people have gotten out of control, as usual). Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I think you're making the assumption that WiFi takes extra time to build into the BB. In fact, the BB Curve comes with WiFi built-in (as shown on BB's website), but VZ didn't release it for a year after it came out. They were busy disabling services that they didn't want to compete with their own (which they would miss out on charging their customers for). Disabling the GPS must have been tough, because they needed to leave it enabled just for the 911 calls, but disable it for everything else. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Apparently, she did some tunnel time to prepare for that scene. Anyone know which tunnel? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Kinda off topic, I don't think immortality will ever be achieved, but I think it's possible to get close: 1. Have children. Your DNA lives on - it gets kinda watered down after a few generations, but part of you will always live in future generations. 2. Do something great. The greater, the longer you will live in people's memories. Their perception of you gets twisted after a few generations, but at least you'll be remembered. George Washington, Da Vinci, people like that - we may not really know who they were, but we remember their names and notable achievements. 3. Other ideas? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

And you have proof that we have a soul? How about proof in God? I'll gladly change my opinions if you show me something concrete. Really, I would be happy to be immortal, it's a nice fantasy. Just show me proof. I don't think atheism is depressing - when you form a belief that there is no afterlife, it makes you take your life (and others lives) less for granted. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD