Politics Thread - Ka-tet of 19

[Malcador]

The former through your mobility/wireless service.

Pft, not in Canada.

Edited August 3, 2018 by Malcador

[Hurlshort]

Back to immigration, Trump is really making a difference:

 

https://apnews.com/32bb7d14fa6e4802b65c82905fb0d959

[aluminiumtrioxid]

(and remote with a capital R)

 

This sounds like a really great way to get yourself killed in a medical emergency just because the help you were calling for couldn't arrive in time.

[Guard Dog]

 

(and remote with a capital R)

 

This sounds like a really great way to get yourself killed in a medical emergency just because the help you were calling for couldn't arrive in time.

 

It's like that where I live now. It's at least 15-20 minutes for police & EMS to get here and probably 10 for fire. No biggie. The place I was looking at would stretch those times out a bit though.

[HoonDing]

Just make sure your neighbour is Dr Quinn, medicine woman.

[Gromnir]

Just make sure your neighbour is Dr Quinn, medicine woman.

US remote is requiring a different frame o' reference than many folks will immediate understand.  many years past, when we were a wee-tyke on a small ranch in the middle o' god forsaken nowheres, our nearest neighbor were ~1 mile distant.  not uncommon.  at least we had roads to connect... roads which were impassable 'bout 1/4 o' the year due to mud or flood or snow.  one mile distant to dr. quinn when you got heavy forest and uneven terrain seperating you is much further away than it might first seem to be. also cannot count on a life threatening crisis to happen only during pleasant afternoons rather than dead o' night blizzards or thunderstorms.   growing up remote and subsistence as did Gromnir kinda takes any o' the jeremiah johnson style romanticism outta the equation for us.  cold, with nothing to eat save ketchup soup, and hoping grandmother's fever would break soon 'cause were no way to get her to the doctor or the hospital 'til the weather broke. 

 

am needing a break from humanity frequent, but is no way we wanna go back to off-the grid. worked too hard and long to get on the grid. 

 

HA! Good Fun!

[injurai]

Not sure if anyone's caught the whole Sarah Jeong debacle, but it's extremely damning of the new tribalism within the liberal media. NYT doubling down, BBC editing their original reporting to kowtow to the NYT's spin. Vox making it into a stand against the alt-right. Now of course the conservative media gets a field day and can dubiously use it to deconstruct liberalism or leftism to their hearts contents, which really just means decency is being suspended on the left to fight a proxy battle in the culture war now that they've been caught in a bad place.

 

http://archive.is/IRFD1

 

NYT knows they aren't entirely getting away with this, and it seems they really just don't care. It's either an exertion of power or that they are beholden to deliver a narrative to their consumer base. Maybe both, either way, what a **** show.

 

To boot, right on the tails of James Gunn being fired for his humor, then to have his whole cast take a stand against weaponizing the mob to sway the court of public opinion. Looks like a new double standard has arrived.

[Volourn]

Even better, just before they hired Jeong, they fired another employee because said employee had 'ties' to a 'dssaproved' personality. LMAO

 

And, it's not anti racism. It is racism. On top of that, she's Asian - the most 'privledged' race in the West.

 

Plus, this myth that blacks have 'no power' is ludicrous when there was a black president for 8 years. then you figure in all the black judges, governors, mayors, and police chiefs in power. then you throw in the domination by black entertainers in the entertainment industry like Lebron James, the Rock, Beyoncé, and others.

 

It is latinos who get screwed over.  The most populous 'minority' get spit on. They get Jennifer Lopez. That's it.

 

Bottom line is when you bash someone based on their race you are a racist. PERIOD.

[injurai]

Saudi Arabia Planned to Invade Qatar Last Summer. Rex Tillerson’s Efforts to Stop It May Have Cost Him His Job.

 

https://theintercept.com/2018/08/01/rex-tillerson-qatar-saudi-uae/

 

Worthy read.

[smjjames]

Well, it was definitely no secret that they were metaphorically inches from coming to blows, with Trump egging the Saudis on even. No idea if he would have approved if Saudi Arabia actually did invade and annex Qatar. It’d have destabilized the whole Middle East for sure.

[Guard Dog]

The "media" expends a great deal of angst on how people perceive them as biased, hostile, insert-bad-description-here. The funny thing is "they" sometimes go out of their way to antagonize the very people they say are criticizing them. Of course that may well be deliberate. The best way to cover a story is to create it in the first place.

 

One thing that annoys me is for the longest time people drew no distinctions between news reporting and news commentary. Somewhere along the line the news networks themselves seem to have lost that distinction as well. But bias exists in the news and always has. If not in how a story is reported then it's in what stories are reported. Broadcast minutes, website megabytes, and newspaper inches are all finite. Not everything that is news can be reported by every medium. So they can hype or ignore stories that drive or harm whatever narrative the medium prefers. It's not new Raging against it won't change anything about it. Caveat emptor. You know what you're buying.

Edited August 5, 2018 by Guard Dog

[Guard Dog]

 

Just make sure your neighbour is Dr Quinn, medicine woman.

US remote is requiring a different frame o' reference than many folks will immediate understand.  many years past, when we were a wee-tyke on a small ranch in the middle o' god forsaken nowheres, our nearest neighbor were ~1 mile distant.  not uncommon.  at least we had roads to connect... roads which were impassable 'bout 1/4 o' the year due to mud or flood or snow.  one mile distant to dr. quinn when you got heavy forest and uneven terrain seperating you is much further away than it might first seem to be. also cannot count on a life threatening crisis to happen only during pleasant afternoons rather than dead o' night blizzards or thunderstorms.   growing up remote and subsistence as did Gromnir kinda takes any o' the jeremiah johnson style romanticism outta the equation for us.  cold, with nothing to eat save ketchup soup, and hoping grandmother's fever would break soon 'cause were no way to get her to the doctor or the hospital 'til the weather broke. 

 

am needing a break from humanity frequent, but is no way we wanna go back to off-the grid. worked too hard and long to get on the grid. 

 

HA! Good Fun!

 

There is definitely a world of difference between living off grid by necessity (poverty) and doing it in a way that is planned and maximizes comfort and convenience. I can tell you for a fact, the latter ain't cheap.

[Zoraptor]

Well, it was definitely no secret that they were metaphorically inches from coming to blows, with Trump egging the Saudis on even. No idea if he would have approved if Saudi Arabia actually did invade and annex Qatar. It’d have destabilized the whole Middle East for sure.

 

Supposedly Trump didn't even know that Qatar had the biggest US base in the Middle East, and that is what changed his mind. Don't think Trump was egging them on though, more along the lines of he was fine with them 'fighting terrorists' or 'Iranian proxies' however they saw fit, and that Qatar having a large US base probably meant they weren't actually Iranian proxies or terrorists; or at least were friendly Iranian proxies and terrorists.

 

I have no doubt that any talk with Saudi or UAE about it was not even slightly nuanced/ accurate on their part and Trump simply doesn't have the base of knowledge in international affairs to know when he's being gulled.

Edited August 5, 2018 by Zoraptor

[Hurlshort]

Well, looks like there are new healthcare options. You can now pay less for less coverage, which sounds real nice, until you realize you are basically offering poor people less health coverage than wealthy people. 

 

I read somewhere that insurance companies are excited about this new option. Does everyone understand that, as a consumer, insurance companies do not serve your interests? It is their job to maximize profits first. Serving customers is a secondary function.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/04/politics/short-term-health-plans/index.html

[Guard Dog]

Just like every other company every where ever. I assume health care customers can read. It should not be a mystery what they are buying. 

 

People really should look into medi-share plans. It costs a bit more than insurance (depending on the size of the pool) but most of them cover everything over a certain amount. The one I know of is any bill over $1k. They way it works is everyone contributes based on income level and all costs are shared by the pool members. Sort of a "each according to their ability to each according to their need" kind of thing. Only without men with guns threatening violence to compel cooperation. 

Edited August 5, 2018 by Guard Dog

[Malcador]

Saudi Arabia is most annoyed with Canada

 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-saudi-arabia-freezes-new-trade-with-canada-for-urging-activists/

[injurai]

Saudi Arabia is most annoyed with Canada

 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-saudi-arabia-freezes-new-trade-with-canada-for-urging-activists/

 

That's dense. Canada gave them an out by using the operative word "all peaceful" and they could have just said they are undergoing such differentiations. Instead they double down on anti-civil rights.

 

Isn't the country trying to tout around woman now being able to drive? How much of a facade is all that?

[Hurlshort]

Just like every other company every where ever. I assume health care customers can read. It should not be a mystery what they are buying. 

 

People really should look into medi-share plans. It costs a bit more than insurance (depending on the size of the pool) but most of them cover everything over a certain amount. The one I know of is any bill over $1k. They way it works is everyone contributes based on income level and all costs are shared by the pool members. Sort of a "each according to their ability to each according to their need" kind of thing. Only without men with guns threatening violence to compel cooperation. 

 

Well here is a link to my benefits. I'm not sure it is as easy to read as you are implying.

 

https://www11.anthem.com/provider/noapplication/f0/s0/t0/pw_g319029.pdf

 

This is an expensive group plan that costs me $882 a month to cover my family, and my employer contributes another $2000. 

 

With that I still have the possibility of these out of pocket expenses:

 

What is the out-of pocket limit for this plan? For participating Providers: $3,500/individual or $7,000/family

For non-participating Providers: $7,000/individual or $14,000/family

The out-of-pocket limit is the most you could pay in a year for covered services. If you have other family members in this plan, they have to meet their own out-of-pocket limits until the overall family out-of-pocket limit has been met.

What is not included in the out-of-pocket limit? Premiums, deductibles, copays, Balance-Billing charges, and Health Care this plan doesn't cover (including pharmacy, dental and vision benefits). Even though you pay these expenses, they don’t count toward the out-of-pocket limit.

Edited August 6, 2018 by Hurlshot

[Guard Dog]

You are getting ripped off. Seriously. You and I are both state employees and compared to the family rate here you are paying a lot. 

 

I'm telling you Hurlshot you need to pack up the family and get out of California. Sanity begins east of 120 Longitude. One question. Because of the OOP max that likely qualifies as a high deductible plan. Do they offer you a HSA? 

Edited August 6, 2018 by Guard Dog

[ShadySands]

I pay almost the exact same for just me and my wife

[Volourn]

 "more than 15,000 Saudi students attend Canadian schools and universities."

 

That seems like a lot for one country.

[Zoraptor]

 

 

Isn't the country trying to tout around woman now being able to drive? How much of a facade is all that?

 

 

Pretty much entirely facade.

 

They aren't letting women drive because not doing so is regressive, archaic and stupid; they're letting women drive because they cannot maintain their economy- or at least their massive spending on arms, influence and enormous luxury yachts- with 50% of their workforce inactive and they're burning through their reserves at a ridiculous rate*. Most of the Saudis who called for the driving ban change have been jailed for doing so.

 

*Hence them wanting to annex Qatar, which has huge monetary reserves and huge natural gas reserves (largest confirmed in the world, iirc) with natural gas being a lot more sustainable for the future as well since it's cleaner burning than oil.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Just like every other company every where ever. I assume health care customers can read. It should not be a mystery what they are buying.

The problems begin when they aren't delivered what they thought they were buying, and in such a case are too sick to muster the energy to fight the insurance company over every denied claim or extra charges. This happens with all plans, including pretty good PPO plans, and good luck finding the money and time to sue your insurance provider when you got the cancer.

[HoonDing]

[Guard Dog]

We've come a long way from Republicans who swore "Better dead than red"

 

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, I didn't leave the Republican Party. It left me.