American Politics

[Lagie]

2 minutes ago, olympe said:

Uhm, is this really a thing? Trump wants to increase the amount of water flowing through a shower so his own hair looks perfect?

Seriously, how messed up is that?

Apparently it is. Someone at FB wanted to know if The Onion (a satirical site) had hacked the BBC (the site with the news). It's ALL about him, even the showers.

[trystan]

16 minutes ago, olympe said:

Uhm, is this really a thing? Trump wants to increase the amount of water flowing through a shower so his own hair looks perfect?

Seriously, how messed up is that?

yep it is.  he also wants to rollback water usage and how water is regulated in shower heads - which was something that was instituted in the 1990s!

(https://www1.swatchseries.to/episode/the_twilight_zone_2002_s4_e3.html)

 

it's very messed up because there are other, more important things trump ought to be worrying about (like, maybe, Coronavirus cases??).

 

he has issues with Germany because (i think) Merkel scares him because she knows what she's talking about.  and everyone has to go along with him cause he has the best plans, don'tcha know?  

 

12 minutes ago, Lagie said:

Someone at FB wanted to know if The Onion (a satirical site) had hacked the BBC (the site with the news). It's ALL about him, even the showers.

even the Onion can't make this stuff up!  

 

*sigh*

[olympe]

It sure looks like satire... Is this the real world?

[Lagie]

9 minutes ago, olympe said:

It sure looks like satire... Is this the real world?

That totally made me think of the start of Bohemian Rhapsody.

 

@trystan, and everyone else stateside - VOTE! And yes, you can drop your mail-in ballot at the polling station. (Or so I keep seeing on FB! )

 

[TacticianLyra]

13 hours ago, Astreya said:

@TacticianLyra

What objections do they have against Kamala Harris? That she's a woman? That she's a person of colour? That she's a succesful woman? That she is able to hold herself very well in an argument?

 

People are claiming she's a cop, and I've seen some terf accusations too. Granted, most of this is from Tumblr, so it could just be a few particularly dumb people being the most vocal, but...I just don't know what to believe anymore

[Lagie]

18 minutes ago, TacticianLyra said:

 

People are claiming she's a cop, and I've seen some terf accusations too. Granted, most of this is from Tumblr, so it could just be a few particularly dumb people being the most vocal, but...I just don't know what to believe anymore

Terf?

[Astreya]

@TacticianLyra

"terf" as in trans-exclusionary radical feminist? (I had to look that up, I have to admit.)

[Lagie]

1 minute ago, Astreya said:

@TacticianLyra

"terf" as in trans-exclusionary radical feminist? (I had to look that up, I have to admit.)

Actually it was I who asked! Thanks for the translation.

[Astreya]

@Lagie

I didn't know the term either and it seems you just ninja'd me after I managed to find it and asked to verify it

[trystan]

3 hours ago, Lagie said:

@trystan, and everyone else stateside - VOTE! And yes, you can drop your mail-in ballot at the polling station. (Or so I keep seeing on FB! )

yes!! VOTE.  if you're in a state that has early voting - VOTE.

 

you can drop your ballots off at the county seat, and maybe at your polling places.  i know in my state they've said it can actually be post-marked on election day (Nov 3) but the Board of Elections has to receive it like within the next three days, so maybe mail it before that.  i've seen that date as October 20th as the "New Election Day" - that way it gives it plenty of time to get to your county Board of Elections.

 

i've heard there was a drop off box at a government building near my library that's like 7ish minutes down the road from me for the primary election back in June - maybe it'll be back there again in october!  

 

but the biggest disappointment of the 2016 election was that huge percentage of people who didn't vote.  Voting is VERY important - Dems can also keep the House and take back the Senate too! please and thank you - if you're American - VOTE.  

[blockEdragon]

Hey, um. I have a question for people living in places with government-based health care, or single player, socialized medicine, whatever the hot term for it is.

 

One of the big things I hear is that "obese people, smokers, and hard drinkers will not be saved by the health care system and they're on the back of the list for everything" which sounds wrong or at least like an exaggeration but every time I try to google it and find out what's actually happening from multiple sources all I get is stuff about PREVENTING obesity, addiction, etc and how expensive it all is, and that's fine but not remotely what I was looking for. All except for two articles from Forbes and the dreaded Fox News which is most likely where the people saying this stuff about single payer got their info. I couldn't find any other articles even addressing theirs, let-alone covering the subject on their own and everyone who has said this to me watches Fox so the info is most likely coming from one place with a proven willingness to outright falsify information which...Is not ideal to say the least.

 

I can't find anything so this thread is my last resort. If you live in a country that covers you and you know about this stuff, what actually happens? Is this accurate, a half truth, an outright lie, or an exaggeration? What country do you live in? What happens when an obese/smoker/alcoholic/Addict enters the hospital and needs say an organ transplant? Are they just ignored forever and left to die? There's never enough organs to go around so if they're perpetually at the bottom of the list they will surely die. Is this what happens?

 

I just want to hear what is currently happening.

 

[olympe]

@blockEdragon Well, I'm from one such country - in Germany, health insurance is pretty much mandatory, and there are only a few people falling through the cracks. (I recently read that it's less than 0.1% of the population, closer to 0.05%. Nationwide.)

 

Last time I checked, the group of "obese people, smokers and hard drinkers" are *not* on the back list for everything regarding doctors. My grandma was a very heavy drinker, diabetic and somewhere between overweight and obese, and when she had her heart attacks around 51, and she got her surgery very quickly due to her young age. This was in the nineties, though. But I work with old people, obese people and smokers - and they do get medical care. However, and this is just as true, most organ donations go to people who have better chances to make good use of them - but that's not on the insurance companies. For example, livers don't usually get given to heavy drinkers because they'd drink it to smithereens in no time, and the supply of organs is way too low to help everyone. (Once again, that's not the doing of the health insurance companies.)

 

That being said, obese people can't be saved from obesity and its consequences by health insurance. If they're obese, they're quite likely to get trouble with their hip or knee joints. Health insurance can't stop this from happening. But health insurance will make sure even these people can get treated, including with surgery (endoprotheses - yes, plural.) You can't stop a smoker from developing COPD, but once again, it will be treated. Permanently and until death. And, yes, in case of them (or any other person) developing lung carcinoma, they will get the full treatment - chemotherapy, surgery, aftercare and, yes, palliative care too. Even if they refuse any treatment for the first several years and only agree to treatment once there's no way to save them any more. (I would know, my other grandmother is exactly that person. Non-smoker, though, but used to be obese and definitely a drinker - though I can't say how much of one.)

 

What we do have as a kind of contingency plan for emergencies (like too many covid cases for hospitals to treat them all) are very strict rules about triage that - basically - state that the people with the best chances for survival and high quality of life afterwards (or some such) will get treated before those with lower chances or low quality of life. As far as I know, there has been no need for the implementation of said triage rules yet.

Edited August 17, 2020 by olympe

[Astreya]

@blockEdragon

I'm in Germany, and here's a bit of info how our health system works: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK298834/

 

@olympe ninja'd me, thus I'll keep it to the link.

[blockEdragon]

@olympe @Astreya Thanks for the firsthand info and the link!

[Confused Cat]

Apparently, Michelle Obama said T. was "clearly in over his head"?

I think that's a very kind and polite way of putting it.

 

I also just saw a video of Sharon Stone talking about Covid (and who to vote for in order to improve the situation). I wonder if this will have any impact.

... Does anything even change anybody's mind?

(Isn't there some phenomenon that when you present people with facts that oppose their views, it will make them cling to their views even more?)

[trystan]

i've just finished listening to Michelle Obama. yes, it's very kind and polite - because stooping to trump's level is not what she does.

 

7 hours ago, Confused Cat said:

... Does anything even change anybody's mind?

(Isn't there some phenomenon that when you present people with facts that oppose their views, it will make them cling to their views even more?)

no... and i believe there is.  i recently read an article about why people believe conspiracy theories, and what i remember is that it's also based on the person's personality type, but i don't remember much.

[Lagie]

1 hour ago, trystan said:

i've just finished listening to Michelle Obama. yes, it's very kind and polite - because stooping to trump's level is not what she does.

That was an awesome speech!

[trystan]

27 minutes ago, Lagie said:

That was an awesome speech!

it most certainly was.  i didn't see the convention last night, and Michelle's is the only speech i've listened to, but i'm amused that Christine Todd Whitman and John Kasich - both Republicans - spoke last night as well.

[olympe]

I just listened to her speech, too. And it was great, especially her wish for people to vote like their lives depended on it, and her plea to go to vote early. I must admit there's one thing I really liked about her choice of apparel, too: Her necklace. V   O   T   E. Well placed.

 

[trystan]

3 hours ago, olympe said:

I must admit there's one thing I really liked about her choice of apparel, too: Her necklace. V   O   T   E. Well placed.

oh yes.  i didn't notice that until i saw a post about that.  i rewatched the vid and took my own screenshot.  sure enough.....

 

Spoiler

 

[purplehaze]

Can he get any stupider????

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/us/politics/trump-qanon-conspiracy-theories.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20200820&instance_id=21444&nl=the-morning&regi_id=126303623&section_index=2&section_name=five_more_big_stories&segment_id=36602&te=1&user_id=9946e4355e83136a95f0d0f6fc020917

Quote

President Trump on Wednesday offered encouragement to proponents of

QAnon, a viral conspiracy theory that has gained a widespread following among people who believe the president is secretly battling a criminal band of sex traffickers, and suggested that its proponents were patriots upset with unrest in Democratic cities.

“I’ve heard these are people that love our country,” Mr. Trump said during a White House news conference ostensibly about the coronavirus. “So I don’t know really anything about it other than they do supposedly like me.”

When told by a reporter about the central premise of the QAnon theory — a belief that Mr. Trump is saving the world from a satanic cult made up of pedophiles and cannibals connected to Democratic Party figures, so-called deep-state actors and Hollywood celebrities — Mr. Trump did not question the validity of the movement or the truth of those claims.

Instead, he offered his help.

“Is that supposed to be a bad thing or a good thing?” the president said lightly, responding to a reporter who asked if he could support that theory. “If I can help save the world from problems, I am willing to do it. I’m willing to put myself out there.”

Mr. Trump’s cavalier response was a remarkable public expression of support for conspiracy theorists who have operated in the darkest corners of the internet and have at times been charged with domestic terrorism and planned kidnapping.

 

But hey, they're okay because they "like me"!

Edited August 20, 2020 by purplehaze

[olympe]

1 hour ago, purplehaze said:

Can he get any stupider????

Well, he's already laying claim to a third mandate because, apparently, the first one doesn't count in his special case. He also claimed he wanted to rule the US for at least twenty years. (Did he ever bother to calculate how old he'd be?)

 

Anyway, let me answer your very valid question with a variation of a well-known slogan: Yes he can!

[Lagie]

On 8/18/2020 at 4:34 PM, olympe said:

Her necklace. V   O   T   E. Well placed.

Very nice touch!

 

Barack Obama's speech was equally awesome.

[trystan]

8 hours ago, purplehaze said:

Can he get any stupider????

yes... yes he can.  *sigh*

 

2 hours ago, Lagie said:

Barack Obama's speech was equally awesome.

yes it was!!  

[JaneMcAsh]

Sign seen in a Ft Bend County, Tx: "I am a Republican. I am not a fool. Biden 2020."