Valsuelm

It's not paranoia. It's calling a spade a spade. And like many who support the kind of system you do, you like the fact that things are magically paid for and that you don't have to deal with it, all the while ignoring the many problems inherent in your system. I'm glad you don't want to live here. We've got too many commies / useful idiots mucking things up here as it is.

Well, I certainly don't have time and never will to fully answer that one as it's an extremely complex situation. Some of what's wrong with it isn't even recognized as being wrong by many, and conversely some of what is perceived to be wrong with it isn't the problem but a symptom. Healthcare aside for a moment, a big problem often is that a large number of people out there want to address the symptom of a problem and not the problem itself. This is true on political as well as personal levels. Many of the problems with the 'healthcare industry' don't even stem from that industry directly itself, but manifest there as the result of other cultural or societal issues. One big issue that is a problem in discussing healthcare, but not healthcare itself, is the question: 'What is healthcare?'. Different people will give you different answers. While nearly everyone will agree that you need to see a doctor if you have a compound fracture or got shot with a gun, many people will disagree that you need to see a doctor if you feel sad, want different sex organs, want an abortion, or even have the common head cold to name a few. Most of the people who think this way generally will have no problem if you want to seek that service out for yourself, and pay for it yourself. Their problem comes in when you ask them to pay for it, either through taxes or by being regulated/mandated into the same insurance pool as those folks. Then there are the myths, of which there are many. One often stated on this forum is how the U.S. healthcare system is 'backwards', 'third world', 'inhumane', 'uncivilized', 'worst in the western world', etc. That's utter BS espoused by the ignorant. While no nation's healthcare system is perfect, the U.S.'s is easily one of the best out there. To dispel two myths with one stone, the other being that Canada's healthcare system is awesome and the U.S.'s isn't near as good... if that was true you wouldn't have oodles of people in Canada going to the U.S. for medical procedure X, nor would you have a necessity for out of pocket medical insurance. The truth is, many Canadian doctors flee Canada for better pay in the U.S., many Canadians cross the border for U.S. healthcare (there is a little of the reverse to, but not near as much), many Canadians absolutely hate the bureaucratic nightmare that is their healthcare system, and many Canadians need and buy medical insurance because the government plan doesn't cover them adequately. Will you hear this in the media? Not much. How do I know this? I live in a border state, I've worked in the insurance industry, I have traveled to Canada many many dozens of times, have worked in Canada, have numerous family members and friends who work in the medical and insurance industries, have numerous friends in Canada (most of whom hate their healthcare system), even once dated a Canadian girl (who was the first to enlighten me on just how @#($ed up the Canadian system is), and personally know numerous people who have suffered under the Canadian healthcare system. Now me saying this of course won't dispel the myth for those who cling to it, but those folks are generally ignorant and reality doesn't matter to them. And from what I've read, though not seen first hand like I have the Canadian system, is that other nations with systems like Canada's have similar nightmarish stories aplenty, namely the U.K. and Sweden for examples. Here's a Brit recently bitching about his healthcare system: For the record, in reference to the above, you generally won't see ambulance issues in most places in the U.S. In some large urban centers of socialism like NYC you might (only might), but in most of the nation the ambulance service is run by a relatively small and private local company that's more often than not, not associated directly with any hospital. Where I live, unless the weather is really bad, or you live in the outskirts you'll have an ambulance at your house within ten minutes tops of calling them. In my experience they are often quicker than the police. We have three ambulance companies in the county here, and they put the fourth city run one out of business a few years back. Why? Because they were far more efficiently run, quicker, and provided better service, so people stopped calling the city ambulance. We also have many local volunteer fire departments that back them up throughout the surrounding counties. Now, the utopian BS aside. How to fix the U.S. Healthcare system: First and foremost: Let the free market actually reign. Right now, and for a very very long time now it hasn't. While much of Europe and Canada have a fully or quasi communist healthcare system the U.S.'s system is actually fairly fascist. The regulating agencies, such as the FDA, as well as many prestigious medical associations with clout, such as the AMA, have long since been fully infiltrated and pretty much fully corrupted by various corporations. Namely 'Big Pharma'. To the end of institutionalizing some cartels (or arguably one big one) in the manner Mr. Magniloquent mentioned. The regulations in the healthcare industry, like many in other industries serve to squash competition, innovation, the free market, and many or all of those who would compete with the government protected cartels. The FDA itself is so corrupt that it really should just be abolished. From top to bottom it works by and large for the very industries it's supposed to be protecting the public from. Consequently It hurts far far more than it helps. (Healthcare aside this is also true of some other federal agencies, namely the EPA and SEC) Anyone familiar with the behind the scenes of the pharmaceutical industry or the food industry will tell you this. A few documentaries that will shed some light on the tip of that corruption iceberg off the top of my head are: Food Inc, We Feed the World, The Future of Food, and Generation X. I coincidentally was discussing some aspects of the corruption last night with a friend at a bar who works in the insurance industry who earlier in the evening was wined and dined by some billionaire insurance big wigs in town for business purposes. Much of the meat of the discussion wouldn't really fit here as lots of background knowledge of the industry would be required, and I don't have time to type all of this, but much of that conversation ended up focusing on how to solve the problems created by 'Obamacare' and the issues that are perceived in the medical/insurance/pharma industries by much of the public. To sum up the conclusion of that conversation as well as so many others: 'People need to become informed, because a lot of public perception is based on myth and BS.' There actually are very serious issues with these industries but many of them stem from corruption in government legislation and regulatory agencies. Now, will people become informed? Sadly, unlikely. It's a super rare thing. That said, Obamacare is a game changer. How that game will ultimately be changed is too early to tell. Some of those behind that legislation are hoping for the commie healthcare utopia they think Europe has, and there is a tide towards that end, especially in popular rhetoric. However, most of those folks have been fooled by the fascist cartel already in place, as Obamacare, if you actually read the bill, serves the very interests the folks who want that mythical commie health utopia seek to overthrow and replace with a state run system. And regardless of which bad direction 'obamacare' takes us in (because what we've got coming is much worse than what we've had) there's going to be some serious backlash to it, there already is. Anon. I just wrote far more than I intended and still only touched on a few aspects of the issues surrounding our healthcare system. But really, like so many other things, people getting informed would be the answer. That so many are uninformed is how the system (and other systems) got #@)$ed up in the first place, as evil people take advantage of Average Joe's ignorance and short attention span. I'll end this with a quote from an email rant a friend wrote me last year, to shed a little light on another aspect I've not yet touched on. Note that he sent this as part of a larger conversation, most of which took place outside of email. He worked in the medical industry at the time, but since got fed up and left: The above mentions an example of obfuscation among other things in the industry. And also briefly touches on who I'd say is at the top of the evil food chain and corruption in the U.S. (as well even as many of the commie health care nations), that being Big Pharma, and the entities who run it as well as a large segment of the global insurance market. Believe it or not, much of that industry is centered in the banking centers of Europe and not the U.S. if you follow the money trail high enough. And all this said, there is no easy painless fix. Some would definitely suffer if we went to a free market system tomorrow (which we of course won't), but in the long run more would and will suffer under the current system or a commie one. Corruption is the core of much of the problem in this issue as well as many others plaguing society, and it's corruption Average Joe is by and large ignorant of.

Fixed that for you. Part of the big lie of communism is that it's more civilized and enlightened. Of course you know better for others what's good for them though. Nevertheless your suggestion would create oodles of other problems, and certainly would not alleviate many of the problems in the U.S. healthcare system. Which in many ways isn't really a system, and for the most part that's one of the good things about it. Spoken like a true commie/useful idiot. So convinced that the 'civilized' and what's 'humane' is on your side, or just disingenuous and using these on high non-arguments to justify your utopiist BS. Tide indeed. Red tide... It's not a conservative vs. healthcare thing, that's one of the myths. Not everyone who is against commie health care is a 'conservative', any more than everyone who is for it is a 'liberal'.

You did: What regulations are you imagining that would not come from the government in regards to prices? Regulating prices across an industry can only come from one of two places: the government or a cartel. The former is generally unconstitutional (though I'm sure that wouldn't stop the Fed from doing it these days) though at the State level it might not be, the latter is illegal (though it still sometimes occurs under the radar of most), and neither are good for Average Joe consumer at the end of the day. The auto industry actually has oodles of regulation, though not so much as medicine, especially post Obamacare. There is also indeed oodles of variation in how much things cost to buy and repair within that industry. It's very much buyer beware from mechanics, as well as somewhat infamously for used cars and a lot of people get ripped off all the time. A great many of them not even aware they were. What the auto industry doesn't have much of (though there has been some) is massive subsidies coming from the government to the tune of hundreds of billions that creates price bubbles and all sorts of corruption. A lot of the 'basic checkups' and such people put themselves and their kids through are completely unnecessary for most people, and in some cases even detrimental. You should bear the full burden of those costs if you want them, not some insurance plan. That said, there are doctors out there with reasonable fees that practice family medicine, and that will tell you that you likely (if your family is all healthy) don't need checkup/procedure X, but if you actually need them, not rip you off. If you lived around here I could point you to some, but I don't know any in your area, though I've no doubt they exist. Like the dentist who will not use or recommend fluoride they aren't common, but they are out there. And I never said 'people with serious medical conditions are just brainwashed'. Don't Bruce it up here and put words in people's mouths they never said.

The government regulations already on the books are one of the very reasons the prices are insane in many segments. Very possibly the primary reason. Though now that 'Obamacare' is going to force people to buy certain insurance that 'possibly' is extremely likely to turn into 'definitely' within a couple of years. There is a good deal of variety in costs, depending on one's plan, if they even have one or not, where they live, how greedy the institution is that they're getting whatever done at, and other factors. And while I don't know your situation, a great many people out there are swimming in nonsensical medical bills because they're engaging in or purchasing nonsensical medicine they don't really need and/or that is actually detrimental to their health and well being. There is no small amount of quackery in western medicine, and no small amount of people out there brainwashed to believe in the BS, or just plain naive. Government regulation over prices, medical or any other is not the answer, and also is often generally pretty much evil. Oh yea.. and communist too.

By the very definition of the concept, the U.S. is first world. Cuba would be second world. And if you want their communist health care system please feel free to move there.

While I'm generally against the retarded stance the U.S. has had with Cuba over the last many decades, the President is very limited in what he can do in regards to U.S. - Cuban relations. There is a great deal of anti-Cuban legislation on the books here. That said, laws and limits on his power haven't concerned Obama too much on other issues... so....

Such a great movie.

Ya know. This is worth starting here: I've played a lot of great games, but the only game I've ever played on any platform that had a really great story that even game close to the quality of a good book of any genre was Planescape Torment. Really, nothing else came close, not even remotely. The idea that video games will replace books, let alone have, is laughable at best.

He's polarized. To most of the people who identify themselves as left/right or democrat/republican if you're not on their team you must be on the other. Also not very observant as you have the fact that you're a libertarian in your sig. But observation skills are one of the things those stuck in that polarized paradigm lack to a large degree. So par for the course here.

As a connoisseur of both games and books, a resounding no to answer the topic title. While some segments of society and culture may not read in favor of playing a game, there will always be people who will write and there will always be people to read their writings. The imagination and brain in general isn't flexed anywhere near as much by watching or participating in videos (be they games, TV, or movies) as by a good book. There are good reasons it's called the idiot box. Now, that fewer people are reading books and more are playing games is something I will not dispute. But that's a problem, a big one, and one that reflects society and transcends Sci-Fi. Anyone who thinks otherwise hasn't read enough good books that flexed their minds to the point they'd see this. Some of those books being of the Sci-Fi genre.

Great tune and great video. I'm reminded bittersweetly how great a decade the 80s was for movies, and how so far from great the last and current one has been for movies relatively speaking.

There's really no point in arguing with someone who uses the terms "Muslims and Islam apologists" and defends people who criticize Islam in the manners commonly done in the western media. The level of ignorance and stupidity such a person is exhibiting is the same as someone who judges people based on the color of their skin. Granted, many millions of people have been brainwashed to think this way, and some of them are on this forum, but just because it's a popular view doesn't make it an intelligent one or one that isn't steeped in bigotry.

De Gaulle's action in '66 was little to nothing more than political posturing, like so many other things he did. France never left NATO.

France has about as much a chance of leaving NATO in the next decade as the U.S. does. whether Le Pen is elected or not. Both nations certainly should leave as they'd both be better off, but both nations aren't run by people who have the best interest of those nations at heart or in mind. The sad truth likely is that France will leave NATO the day that NATO is dissolved and something new, like it, and very probably more evil replaces it.

Yes. Different, but at very least potentially equal, and possibly worse. So you boys are telling me that if there was a hidden camera in your house that was filming surreptitiously everything you did, including intimacy with a partner, you would consider this the same type of invasion of your privacy as someone reading your emails ? Even if you're ignorant of the laws here, the fact that you even thought to ask such a thing should tell you there's something seriously wrong in a nation that is supposed to be free.

Just to be clear, because I'm obviously not American, now that the US government can monitor your communications why is this such a contentious point? It's an issue of privacy. The government shouldn't be able to monitor communications of citizens without court order(ie probable cause) in a free society. It's a bit bigger than that. Under the supreme law of the land they are not able to. It's a blatant and egregious violation of the 4th Amendment. It's not like this is the first one though, sadly far from it. At this point the U.S. Constitution is pretty much ignored by the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches on a regular basis. And the mainstream media not only lets just about all of it slide, it even often attempts to marginalize those who would speak out against these violations. Over the course of the 20th century the violations of the U.S. Constitution got worse and worse, but the violations since 2001 and what we're seeing more and more of all these years after are taking it to that level where some really really ugly sh*t is bound to happen, and a lot sooner than many think. We're really on the fast track to hell.

It was probably just cough syrup. My wager is spiked Kool-Aid.

Cognitive Dissonance wheeee! Also, there's a non Orwellian / non Culturally Marxist word for "advanced interrogation techniques". It's the word: 'Torture'. It's seven syllables less, 24 characters shorter, and honest. You should start using it.

Come on Kroney you are a reasonable and intelligent person, there are different degrees of torture Waterboarding is not as harsh as having hot boiling oil poured over your private parts And being raped by one man isn't as harsh as being raped by two or more. Having your stereo stolen out of your car isn't as harsh as having your car stolen. Being stabbed through the heart once isn't as harsh as being stabbed there and other places more than a dozen times. It's still rape. It's still theft. It's still being killed.

Interesting standards you hold. Also, why does it matter that we remember who we are fighting, exactly ? Funnily enough though, terrorists are probably operating under this kind of logic as well Because the West faces a brutal, intransigent and unforgiving enemy in the form of Islamic Fundamentalism. And because so many terrorist attacks have been foiled some of you guys forget what a threat they can be The west only faces this specter because it allows itself to be ruled be people with an insatiable appetite for resources in other people's backyards. There has been zero evidence ever presented that a any 'terrorist' attacks have been foiled in modern times. Not one time, let alone many.

I'm unsure what you mean by that, but as Hurlshot says, there are no riots, just demonstrations.

Okay so lets talk the possible future and what troubles you The Netherlands was complicit with the CIA so in the last 7 years since this type of interrogation was used what laws have changed in your country that is a direct result of what the Netherlands did with the CIA ? Here's something for you Bruce, if you weren't already aware: There are numerous laws in the U.S. that make what the CIA did illegal on many levels. Violations of multiple parts of the U.S. Constitution itself, violations of various laws specifically outlawing torture, violations of various laws limiting what the CIA is allowed to do, violation of various treaties the U.S. has signed (though I myself don't think we should have signed most if not all of them), violations of statutes requiring the proper informing of Congress/President/etc, and more. Enough to put the folks behind this behind bars for a long long time if they weren't above the law and we actually prosecuted (something that isn't going to happen anytime soon but should). Heck, some of what they've done is very arguably treason, which can carry the death penalty here. Even if one accepts for a moment (I do not, but for the of argument I will) that what the CIA did to the various people it detained was perfectly fine in a war time situation, the implications of allowing them to break all the laws they have and get away with it are huge. On an international scale, perhaps not so much (though I do think Rostere is generally right that things like this are used by some as an argument against republics/democracy/capitalism, because some in fact do), but internally the situation is ultimately dire for it's evidence the U.S. has fallen far from what it once was, has become something that most of the people who founded and ran this nation for the first 100+ years would have fought against, and ultimately all of this completely undermines law, order, justice, and the rights of the individual within the U.S.. Now, people who support what the CIA did of course generally do not see that dire on the horizon, or the evidence of it that's already manifested, or they don't care. These people are for the most part by and large pure evil, ignorant, or just plain stupid as they lack the ability to perceive cause and effect along with an appreciation of the basic sentiments of many of those around them. This is not a popular thing within the U.S. at all, and many of the people who have a problem with what the CIA has done and a number of other egregious assaults on what this nation was and is supposed to be (because this CIA torture thing is not the sole egregious assault, not even close sadly) are buying guns, ammo, and stockpiling resources, and that's no joke though I'm sure many here will brush off the various implications of that. It is not just your imagined tin foil hat wearing people, country bumkins, and doomsday prophets doing this. Many Average Joes, along with many of those in the military itself has been doing this for while now.... It's not going to be China, India, or anyone else that brings the day of reckoning home to the U.S as some this thread are thinking, it's going to be people within the U.S. itself.

The intelligence agency that takes its place would be just as bad - well, unless you think a power like the US has no need of a foreign-targeted intelligence agency It would not be necessarily as bad. Key would be how it was formed, why, who was running it, to what end, and how the CIA was dismantled. And no.. the U.S. really doesn't need something like the CIA at all in the first place. It's entire existence would become largely pointless if the U.S. stopped working for global imperialists. That said, I don't expect the CIA to be dismantled or an end to that imperialism anytime remotely soon.