I can't hear the canard quacking. As you don't say, you are as abrasively
rude as ever. What I know and what I am going to spend time putting in a
mail to this list are two separate things. But what the hell.
Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the
comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God's service when it is
violating all His laws.
John Adams to Thomas Jefferson.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Weiss" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2009 7:43 PM
Subject: Re: pullman on liberty
>
> My luck has been surprisingly consistent over ten years.
>
> As you say, you don't know much. Most of this is a very old canard
> fortified by a few anecdotes. There are always horror stories--I could
> tell a few myself about the US, tho just the much higher rate of
> iatrogenic illnesses and the lower life expectancy here may speak for
> themselves. And folks began complaining when Attlee was PM.
>
> Your Austrian friend was probably triaged (apparently accurately, as
> witness her speedy recovery). There are strokes and strokes. In this
> country we do scans for cuts and bruises, at enormous cost, to amortize
> the expense of the machines. That three days in the hospital would have
> cost upwards of $6K in the US, by the way, and that would include no care
> whatsoever, just the bed and the linens.
>
> As to British resistance, there seems to be near unanimity about
> preserving the NHS. Maggie Thatcher tampered with it, but it's why she got
> tossed. What I did notice was a nursing shortage, fueled by lowered
> investment, which seems to have been reversed in the past year. In
> Scotland, at least, the nursing shortage is being addressed--beyond the
> standard free tuition for nursing students, they're now getting slaries
> while they're in school, and the shortage should be a thing of the past in
> about 5 years.
>
> There's an enormous nursing shortage in the US as well. In most places
> nothing's being done about it, and nursing degrees are so expensive that
> new hires are largely from other countries, where people can still afford
> to go to school.
>
> Mark
>
>>Tim can probably make more interesting comments on how daily life is
>>affected by all the laws, the virtual suspension of Habeas Corpus &
>>hollowing out of individual rights, the monstrous personal data balls-up
>>etc etc, general incompetence etc etc. - Italy has gone down the drain,
>>too, of course - I have a very good friend living there, her reports of
>>corruption & inefficiency are horrific, and the levels of racism &
>>intolerance have become truly shocking under Berlusconi, as you must know
>>from the papers. Things will get much worse in the years to come. I
>>wouldn't mind dying soon, but that's just me - other people I know say
>>well, it's interesting to see what will happen, isn't it? I'm going to
>>start smoking again...
>>mj
>>
>>Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the
>>comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God's service when it is
>>violating all His laws.
>>John Adams to Thomas Jefferson.
>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Weiss" <[log in to unmask]>
>>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>Sent: Friday, February 27, 2009 10:47 PM
>>Subject: Re: pullman on liberty
>>
>>
>>>It's a shame I can't read the article. The snippet of comment below is
>>>certainly provocative, and at odds with my experience of the UK, where I
>>>spend a lot of time, and France, where I used to live. Of course I'm
>>>comparing with the US, which hopefully Obama will make more nanny-like.
>>>The alternative seems to be the clutches of the evil stepmother of
>>>markets regulated only insofar as they guarantee profits and predation.
>>>
>>>My last trip to the UK I wound up in hospital in Glasgow for four days.
>>>Every system can improve, but compared to what one has on this side it
>>>was heaven. My experience with the French system has been even better.
>>>(When I got back to the States I made a trip to the emergency ward. Ten
>>>hours waiting.)
>>>
>>>In fact, Britain and France always strike me as youthful. Folks don't
>>>carry nearly the burden of anxiety that we do here and tend to be far
>>>more adventurous as a result. Which is to say that the restrictions on
>>>the downside amount to a grant of freedom on the upside.
|