JayB

My personal favorite is a case where the authorities notified the public that they'd begin fluoridating the water on day X. Day X arrives, and there's a rash of complaints about headaches, chills, dizzyness, tremors, menstrual irregularities, etc, etc, etc. The complaints rise to a fevered crescendo, and then the utility announces that they hadn't actually begun fluoridating the water, but intended to do so in one month's time. Fluoridation commenced without incident. Classic.

Hey Matt: iven the fact that no one is seriously proposing to implement a universal single-payer system at the moment, but there is some political momentum behind insurance/liability reform - do you have any ideas for reforms that would help alleviate some of the problems that you cited in your post? I am kind of surprised that people across the country haven't taken more notice of the hybrid plan that they've just implemented in Massachussetts. Now, just like auto-insurance, health care insurance is compulsory. Children and the elderly are covered by the state if they aren't covered, low-income people are entitled to graduated subsidies, indigents are fully covered by medicaid - but able bodied adults that exceed a given income level must be insured. I think that this kind of plan makes a lot of sense, and I think that the fact that the risk-pool will now include more people who are less likely to require costly medical care will be especially helpful.

2KA9oakKDoA Possibly even funnier. " haaw d comments r mean lol im a paki lol n still u cant b hatin off em dat bad man..der onli people!!chil man" "omg YEAH M8 DAT IS WELL COOL I WANNA SHIT ON YOU NOW INET DO YOUNS WANNA WATCH MY VIDS CURSE YOU DO CUZ IM SOOO FIT N PROPER CHAVIN IT UP YO?? DFWOAAH M8 LOOL!" "haha dis so fkin funi!! wt dik eds da luk wudnt ya jst luv t wlk up t em n smak im in da face! omg wt a bunch ov pricks! ginger joe gt da best deal stayin outta it hahaha!!" Word to Ginger Joe.

I must have been the last person in the world to see this clip, but just in case I'm not, I thought I'd share... 1dmVU08zVpA&eurl=

I think that you owe it to your child to make sure you understand those indisputable medical facts, and that you can weigh the risks and benefits yourself before making the decision to go forward with any particular treatment. I'm not saying that you shouldn't put a cast on a broken arm, or treat cancer with the amazing drugs that are coming out. I'm just saying that you have a responsibility as a parent to know the medical facts about those drugs. Especially when, like in most cases, those fact are disputable. I agree with most of what you've said, but in those cases when it's not clear what the best medical decision is - and this is most assuredly not the case with regards to vaccination - the responsible thing to do is seek a second or third opinion from someone who has the qualifications necessary to make an informed decision. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. No one is entitled to their own facts. I would venture that Strumpet can get 456 opinions from pediatricians, and not one of them will support her decision. I also think that her children should be barred from public schools - this includes universities - until the time that they are vaccinated.

Don't listen to JayB....his cronies secretly planted explosives in the WTC in the biggest cover up know to modern man Wolfowitz just elbowed me, pointed to the screen and said "Shh."

Thank you for the kind words. As far as doing what we are told. Every time we see the pedestrian, she spends the first 25 minute of the 30 minute visit spewing propaganda about why we need to vaccinate. It’s a little disturbing. It makes me wonder who writes her paychecks. The vaccine company’s? We will not be seeing her anymore. Once again, thanks all for the input. It’s a very serious and personal choice to be made and not one to be taken lightly. You'd better be ready to do a hell of a lot of searching if you're out to find a board certified pediatrician who is going to concur with your analysis of the risks and benefits associated with vaccination. Maybe they have an office next door to the physicist has some doubts about the existence of gravity.

How do you all feel about parents who do refuse to treat their children's life threatening medical conditions, like diabetes, because they've elevated their personal convictions over medical facts that have been established beyond all doubt? Ritalin is one thing, vaccination is another. Critical thinking about debatable benefits when the data is preliminary and ambiguous is one thing, irrational delusions that fly in the face of both common sense and indisputable medical fact are another.

You're welcome.

Sorry, Strumpett. I am going to give you some unsolicited feedback on your choice. Failing to vaccinate your children is both irresponsible and irrational. The only reason that people have the luxury of engaging in such idiocy without putting their own children at risk is because of the actions of others who have been vaccinated or have had their children vaccinated. This has all but eliminated the diseases that would otherwise ravage children unfortunate enough to be born to parents who are misguided enough to withhold vaccines from them. When and if there's a significant percentage of children cruising around without immunity to these diseases, this will no longer be true. Unfortunately if this situation ever comes about, it will be the children, rather than their parents, that will bear the brunt of the suffering when the inevitable outbreak takes its toll.

I think I'd choose Kim Jong Il because he seems to be inspired by simple megalomania, rather than barbaric, messianic, fanaticism, and I'd rather not give Osama and co the satisfaction. That FNMA info is legit by the way. Some other players in the MBS market are starting to get a bit gun-shy as well, which may well have implications for anyone trying to get non-traditional stuff funded in the months ahead.

Civilizational Stockholm-Syndrome. Are you sure that this isn't the result of some internalized self loathing on account of the vast incongruity between your commutopian ideals and the grim, day-to-day realities that must confront someone attempting to earn his daily bread via low-end residential real-estate manipulation? BTW - FNMA announced that as-of January 30th, they'll only purchase I/O loans and arms issued to borrowers who demonstrate that they can afford to pay off the loan under a fully amortizing schedule.

Does this include speedballs and meth?

It's really hard for me to concentrate on the TV with you trying to talk to me like that.

I figured you wouldn't mind if I spent a couple of grand on a new stereo system and a video game console, so I went ahead and took the money out of our savings.

Actually - I think you are gaining weight. It'd be nice if you worked out more and took better care of your body.

Okay, okay. I promise I'll drink more beer and spend more time on the internet. Man!

I'm not here to listen, I'm here to offer solutions.

What? Sorry - I didn't catch that.

That would definitely be a problem if all women* assiduously cultivated a sense of resentment and victimhood as a central component of their identity. *Sorry. Meant "womyn." Apologies for the repressive partiarchal assumptions that are encoded in my language and thereby projected onto all female-humans in as a subconscious act of pre-victimization that's essential to the marginalization and dehumanization that make up the core of their experience and reality in our society.

"However, sticking to this "reality" as official policy basically says that we will always sell out other people, even our "allies", whenever we perceive that our "interests" are at stake. Every relationship is a matter of convenience and opportunity and usefulness, and when these cease to be upheld, the other person becomes expendable. I don't treat my wife, friends, or neighbors with this sort of regard, so on the large scale, why would I want my country to relate to other countries in this manner? What comes around goes around." I don't think that moral or practical aspects of the the "interests over alliances" model are entirely negative, since it also permits two countries or peoples who may have once been implacable enemies to reconcile their differences and work together in a way that wouldn't be possible if they viewed either alliances or hostilities as permanent fixtures that they were bound to honor indefinitely, regardless of behavior or circumstance. Think of this country's relationship with England over the centuries, or with China, or with all of the Eastern Block countries and how they've evolved over the past 30 years.

More scary stuff from the world of genetic engineering and cloning... "Cloned cows free of madness Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — Scientists have genetically engineered a dozen cows to be free from the proteins that cause mad-cow disease, a breakthrough that may make the animals immune to the brain-wasting disease. An international team of researchers from the U.S. and Japan reported Sunday that they had "knocked out" the gene responsible for making the proteins, called prions. The disease didn't take hold when brain tissue from two of the genetically engineered cows was exposed to bad prions in the laboratory, they said." Repeat after me. Frankenfood.....Fraaaaaaaaaannnnnkennnnnnfoooooood...

xuMae4_u49o

All that prep-school tuition for...? One would hope that the ability to formulate a counterargument would have resulted from forking over all of that coin. Look upon your work, ye wealthy, and despair.