Absolutely Anything Else

fidobsa wrote:

Yes, pretty much every other first world country and some third world ones have  better working hours, paid leave, maternity benefits etc than USA. This was OK before the internet and the sharing of information but people are starting to become aware of just what you get when your countries politics only offer differing flavours of right wing. I've been told that calling someone a socialist is regarded as an insult in USA but they are probably only looking at bad examples of socialism rather than the actual ideology.

I was arguing with US guy about medical insurance and I told him there was an expectation amongst Europeans that we would participate in socialised medical care.   He was aghast.   Thought I was suggesting communism. 

I also had a discussion with a Caribbean guy who said his wider family had to raise $50K to get his mother treated for some kidney failure or disease thing.   I asked him why she didn't have some social insurance and he said the Caribbean had never had such systems.  He thought I was a communist.

It's a bit weird.  People buy into the idea their taxes are paying for  a shared service in their army, navy or air force, space programme and their disaster management (for example)  but don't seem to get paying into a system to cover their and backstop everyone else's healthcare.  Needs a major rethink.

Both of your points regarding socialism / communism are true. Remember if communism is red, socialism is pink -- which is why in old films/articles/arguments you might have heard the term "pinko communist"...
Americans are absolutely delusional regarding healthcare. And those trying to fix it are "Socialists" or "Communists". Look at the last presidential run and Bernie Sanders. He wanted a social contract much like Scandanavian countries, and while the youth supported him, it was still an economic decision and the beneficiaries of most of the generosity is seen to be the young who paid nothing into the system and just want everything for free (this is the perception of the older generations, not my personal opinion).
If you want a laugh, watch some YouTube videos on what Americans think of socialized medicine.

Vicces1 wrote:

Both of your points regarding socialism / communism are true. Remember if communism is red, socialism is pink -- which is why in old films/articles/arguments you might have heard the term "pinko communist"...
Americans are absolutely delusional regarding healthcare. And those trying to fix it are "Socialists" or "Communists". Look at the last presidential run and Bernie Sanders. He wanted a social contract much like Scandanavian countries, and while the youth supported him, it was still an economic decision and the beneficiaries of most of the generosity is seen to be the young who paid nothing into the system and just want everything for free (this is the perception of the older generations, not my personal opinion).
If you want a laugh, watch some YouTube videos on what Americans think of socialized medicine.

Yes, Bernie was definitely more like a European politician than a US one.   

But perhaps it's the name that they need to get right to sell it. 

In my own country they call it "National Insurance".   "Insurance" here is the key word.   Of course, it's  not really insurance, it's a tax but one that people are mostly glad to pay.  They do not worry about medical costs bringing them down financially.

Maybe times are a-changing, now that some of the latest Obamacare challenges have been rejected or more specifically ignore by SCOTUS. People might get used to the idea and it might expand to the rest of the population over there.

I don't think I could take listening to a bunch of loons complaining about socialised medical care.

fluffy2560 wrote:

In my own country they call it "National Insurance".   "Insurance" here is the key word.   Of course, it's  not really insurance, it's a tax but one that people are mostly glad to pay.  They do not worry about medical costs bringing them down financially.

People might get used to the idea and it might expand to the rest of the population over there.

You are not wrong here. The "Affordable Care Act", i.e. the ACA, aka "Obamacare" are all the same thing. When asked, citizens have stated they absolutely are against Obamacare. But then are asked about their coverage under the ACA and they say they love it.

I would not put much into the SCOTUS rulings. The issue there was funding and mandatory coverages, not the "spirit" of the law, if you will, but technicalities. Amazingly, I think this is the 50  lawsuit brought against the ACA and most have failed. Mind you, the Republicans have zero replacement plan.

It was about 10 years ago that people would be denied healthcare coverage if they needed it -- too high a "risk" for the insurance companies. The usual main complaint against universal insurance is that the US can't afford it. That's only true because the US has no price controls -- even the elderly healthcare system, Medicare, is forbidden to negotiate prices with certain healthcare providers like pharmaceuticals and DMEs. Thank the lobbyists for these basic handouts...
Then there are the insurance companies and hospital systems literally making billions off of these inefficiencies and lack of checks and balances. They regularly send out propaganda... It's an uphill battle, but one that could be tackled. With a 50/50 split in the Senate, it's currently impossible however.

Vicces1 wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

In my own country they call it "National Insurance".   "Insurance" here is the key word.   Of course, it's  not really insurance, it's a tax but one that people are mostly glad to pay.  They do not worry about medical costs bringing them down financially.

People might get used to the idea and it might expand to the rest of the population over there.

You are not wrong here. The "Affordable Care Act", i.e. the ACA, aka "Obamacare" are all the same thing. When asked, citizens have stated they absolutely are against Obamacare. But then are asked about their coverage under the ACA and they say they love it.

I would not put much into the SCOTUS rulings. The issue there was funding and mandatory coverages, not the "spirit" of the law, if you will, but technicalities. Amazingly, I think this is the 50  lawsuit brought against the ACA and most have failed. Mind you, the Republicans have zero replacement plan.

It was about 10 years ago that people would be denied healthcare coverage if they needed it -- too high a "risk" for the insurance companies. The usual main complaint against universal insurance is that the US can't afford it. That's only true because the US has no price controls -- even the elderly healthcare system, Medicare, is forbidden to negotiate prices with certain healthcare providers like pharmaceuticals and DMEs. Thank the lobbyists for these basic handouts...
Then there are the insurance companies and hospital systems literally making billions off of these inefficiencies and lack of checks and balances. They regularly send out propaganda... It's an uphill battle, but one that could be tackled. With a 50/50 split in the Senate, it's currently impossible however.

Yes I did read that SCOTUS skirted the issue.   I am not surprised people like the coverage of ACA. For many it's a real advantage.   I've never understood that argument of the US not being able to afford it. It's clearly BS.  Many other countries can afford it with similar income levels and life standards.

Anyways, I agree, Biden and Co have a real problem overcoming the split in the Senate.  But perhaps things will change more positively.   

Trump is now indistinguishable from the Republican Party and his entire business is likely to be subject to criminal charges.  Maybe he himself might not be touched.  But then again collateral damage might occur as and when flinging mud sticks.  Perhaps people will start to question what their beliefs are based on or aligned to.   Perhaps some advantage can be built on that for reform and new leadership will emerge to push the ACA further out.

The Republicans are rushing out as many voting acts as they can to make it difficult for certain demographics to vote, as well as jerrymandering populations/districts to favor them.
Did you know that the last 2 Republican Presidents, Bush and tRump, both lost the popular vote but won the electoral college votes and became president? That means that since Clinton's 1st term, the Dems have won every single popular vote, but still lost the Presidency.
Every US State has 2 Senators. This gives unequal power to those states with low populations. California has a population of 40 million while Wyoming has just 578,000 citizens. Both have 2 Senators giving outsized power to that small state over the will of the much larger state.
In terms of democracy, the US is failing.
In terms of fulfilling basic governmental duties, the US is failing.

I know it sounds pessimistic, but I mirror this with Orban and Putin and others who have abused power, and the structures of power, with the thin veil to saw they are working within laws, but further their own greed and corruption against the will of the majority. For the time being, it seems to be a workable strategy, much to the detriment of the general populaces.

Vicces1 wrote:

The Republicans are rushing out as many voting acts as they can to make it difficult for certain demographics to vote, as well as jerrymandering populations/districts to favor them.
Did you know that the last 2 Republican Presidents, Bush and tRump, both lost the popular vote but won the electoral college votes and became president? That means that since Clinton's 1st term, the Dems have won every single popular vote, but still lost the Presidency.
Every US State has 2 Senators. This gives unequal power to those states with low populations. California has a population of 40 million while Wyoming has just 578,000 citizens. Both have 2 Senators giving outsized power to that small state over the will of the much larger state.
In terms of democracy, the US is failing.
In terms of fulfilling basic governmental duties, the US is failing.

That's going on all over.  In my own country, they have a "boundary commission" which adjusts the sizes of constituencies according to changing demographics. I have wondered about the way the system works in the USA.  Seems rather strange.  Might have worked in the 1800s but in the 2000s? 

This electoral college business seems particularly badly conceived for the modern age.  If it had been first past the post (popular vote) then indeed Democrats would have been in power.  Democracy is being lost not only in the USA but other places too.

I just hope that the Teflon Don becomes more irrelevant as time passes.  If he hopefully dies then it'll be turmoil for a bit as someone emerges (and not one of his family one hopes).  I think he could be easily forgotten and sidelined in a few years.  No-one is paying attention to him now he's out of Twitter and so on.   

But I cannot see Joe being elected twice.  He's just too old and it's obvious Kamala will be lobbied to stand next time.  I don't rate her too much on her performances on TV but she ticks a lot of boxes for a lot of minorities.  But not going down to the border to sort out the kids being held there in abysmal conditions and not taking a strong leadership position twill be marks against her. 

Vicces1 wrote:

I know it sounds pessimistic, but I mirror this with Orban and Putin and others who have abused power, and the structures of power, with the thin veil to saw they are working within laws, but further their own greed and corruption against the will of the majority. For the time being, it seems to be a workable strategy, much to the detriment of the general populaces.

There's pessimistic and there's realistic.

There is that odd thing that Orban and Putin can use democracy to destroy itself.  Once in power, they can vote for anything with little worry (here and Russia) that what they do will be deemed unconstitutional.   Like stuffing SCOTUS with right wingers. Here of course, O1G has a super majority so he can change the constitution at will.   When he's out, I sincerely hope the changes are reversed. It's absolutely absurd to do what he's doing in this age.  It's swimming against the tide and neither him or Putin will live forever.   At least here the EU is squeaking a bit more loudly about it.

I only hear small squeaks and little repercussions. But at least there is some sound...
Again, let's hope...

It is said even Jared and Ivanka are distancing themselves from Trump now. But I absolutely agree that they are increasingly irrelevant. No one wanted their opinions when they were in the White House, no one wants them now. Ivanka doesn't even live with Trump anymore, they are never together.
Very Dicksonian, we have a real life Scrooge character where most people think the world would be better off without him. Evidently, the ghosts never visited this family.

Sorry, I can't tolerate hearing about those puppets in meat suits that call themselves ,"politians". They all creep me out.
Anyone who actually planned on doing something positive was removed, AKA Kennedy.
After he was removed for questioning the banking system and was talking about a hidden hand or words to that effect,he was gone .
LBJ was just bitting at the bit to follow the orders of the crimmies behind the gov.
I rather like Candace Owens. she can run circles around Harris.
Not that Kennedy was a saint by any means but he was going to change things and shake things up.
Last time and only time i ever voted was when Ross Perot was up for grabs.
As I remember Lincoln also had some questions about the banking system... look what happened to him ,big hole in the head for his troubles.
I clearly remember the day Nixon died. I was walking my Doberman in Hilo on Banyan Dr.
They have trees with placards with the names of famous people for every tree.
My dog relived himself on Nixons tree the day he died. Felt like that was the best memorial to him ever .All he really deserved in ,"honor".he got more then many in Vietnam could ever hope for.

Vicces1 wrote:

I only hear small squeaks and little repercussions. But at least there is some sound...
Again, let's hope...

It is said even Jared and Ivanka are distancing themselves from Trump now. But I absolutely agree that they are increasingly irrelevant. No one wanted their opinions when they were in the White House, no one wants them now. Ivanka doesn't even live with Trump anymore, they are never together.
Very Dicksonian, we have a real life Scrooge character where most people think the world would be better off without him. Evidently, the ghosts never visited this family.

The whole Trump thing with Ivanka was just weird.  I couldn't work out why he kept taking her with him to summits with world leaders.  Like taking your kid to work day.  And if you hear her talking, she's not got an opinion on anything and I'd even call her behaviour evasive. Laughable it's even a thing that she might be voted into office as Donny's successor.     

On the other hand, I was dismayed to read that Trump managed to get large numbers at a rally where he was on about the Wuhan COVID19 laboratory theory.  Sure, it could be a Chinese plot but Biden is on the job now, yet some people continue to buy into Trump's cult. 

In that link here, there's a big sign in the video in the background -  something "roasted nuts".  Yup, that bigly sums up Trump supporters.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....
I rather like Candace Owens. she can run circles around Harris.
Not that Kennedy was a saint by any means but he was going to change things and shake things up.
Last time and only time i ever voted was when Ross Perot was up for grabs.
As I remember Lincoln also had some questions about the banking system... look what happened to him ,big hole in the head for his troubles.
I clearly remember the day Nixon died. I was walking my Doberman in Hilo on Banyan Dr.
They have trees with placards with the names of famous people for every tree.
My dog relived himself on Nixons tree the day he died. Felt like that was the best memorial to him ever .All he really deserved in ,"honor".he got more then many in Vietnam could ever hope for.

Never heard of Candace Owens.  Maybe I should look her up.

Now Ross Perot!   Now there's a lunatic.  He was well known for extremist views.  US guy I worked with suggested I applied for a job in his company EDS when Mrs F and I were considering going to the USA for a few years.

When I read about his company's policies it put me right off.  You can read about them here - EDS.   Ross Perot then became a laughing stock for his insane levels of interference in trying to control people's personal lives. 

As for Nixon, that's Tricky Dicky of course.   Another strange character in the White House.  To err is to be human.  Maybe the US electorate has too high expectations for their politicians.   On the other hand I'd happily take a whizz on Donny T's tree given the opportunity. Only problem is that I don't like crowds or queueing.

In my own country, the health minister had to resign because he broke the COVID rules by having an affair with his advisor.  No-one is really complaining about the morality of his affair but they are complaining about his COVID compliance - one rule for him and one rule for the rest of us.   

So he'll go off into the wilderness and return in a few years.  Being pressured into resigning wasn't even a slap on the wrist.  More of a tickle as he still keeps his seat in parliament.

It's true that tRump's supporters are quite avid. As in the way a cult operates.
I will pay each of them a dollar if they can name any policy. Anything he took an active hand in was a disgrace. Reworking of NAFTA worked in the favour of both Canada and Mexico, the tit for tat sanctions and tariffs only hurt Americans, Mexico never paid for the wall, and of course, the COVID pandemic killed almost as many Americans as the Civil War.  However, ask the supporters and he can do no wrong -- although again, they cannot name a policy.
I highly recommend the videos of Jordan Klepper, he is excellent at pointing out the hypocrisy right in their faces, while the tRump supporters just don't care.

Vicces1 wrote:

It's true that tRump's supporters are quite avid. As in the way a cult operates.
I will pay each of them a dollar if they can name any policy. Anything he took an active hand in was a disgrace. Reworking of NAFTA worked in the favour of both Canada and Mexico, the tit for tat sanctions and tariffs only hurt Americans, Mexico never paid for the wall, and of course, the COVID pandemic killed almost as many Americans as the Civil War.  However, ask the supporters and he can do no wrong -- although again, they cannot name a policy.
I highly recommend the videos of Jordan Klepper, he is excellent at pointing out the hypocrisy right in their faces, while the tRump supporters just don't care.

I was watching the latest incarnation of the Stephen King story,The Stand.   

In that story, a charismatic supernatural or alien being manipulates and mind controls people into an anarchic world centred on Las Vegas.  A citizens group who are mostly immune to his manipulations fight back despite the propaganda onslaught of the cult. 

Spoiler alert: In the end the cult leader/alien is brought down.  OK, not really a spoiler as that's how it always happens in good vs evil, Cain vs Abel, The Omen and so on ad infinitum etc.

It's not really clear what the alien being wants but that's almost irrelevant.  The point is the Trump parallels are rather obvious!

I still enjoy the movie with, "Rowdy Rod Piper"," They Live".
So 1980's but so 2021 too.
I forgot who Ross Perot was running against but at the time we thought he was the better of 2 evils.
Never voted again after that.
Candance Owens is a US congresswmen , a smart black conversative  with class and style.
Another one on my radar was Trey Gowdy, he too is far too smart to ever run for a higher office.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I still enjoy the movie with, "Rowdy Rod Piper"," They Live".
So 1980's but so 2021 too.
I forgot who Ross Perot was running against but at the time we thought he was the better of 2 evils.
Never voted again after that.
Candance Owens is a US congresswmen , a smart black conversative  with class and style.
Another one on my radar was Trey Gowdy, he too is far too smart to ever run for a higher office.

I really liked Roddy Piper - bagpipe playing pro-wrestler cum actor taken from  us too early.  "They Live" is one of my fave movies too.  If anything deserves a remake or a follow on TV show, it's that movie.   I am sure someone - maybe - will be thinking about it. 

I must say that these new studios - like   Amazon or Netflix - are making some really great shows.  I just finished the final season - Season 7  - of Bosch (a police drama). Top show, well acted, great directing and well written.  Those studios are really shaking up the industry.   I'm wondering when Elon Musk is going to get into it - they've all got their rockets, satellite networks and movie/TV studios.

Ross Perot was just a militaristic nutcase.  He attempted to enforce a dress code on his UK workers - mainly the no beards policy.  If I remember rightly, he had no chance of enforcing it and soon gave  up.   No-one wanted to look like an IBM clone and that kind of interference in people's lives wouldn't wash there. 

Candace Owens and Trey Gowdy I will look out for.   Being too smart for office?  I reckon to be a politician, one has to be either an idealist, completely deluded, up to no good or incapable of doing anything else.   Years ago the career choice for the well to do but incapable would be the priesthood, military or politics. Says it all really!

Hey, just a heads up to everyone...
We must now be ,"safe" from any virus because the B's are back to quote Elton John!
The flat one floor above us and across from us had a line waiting for men to be serviced today!!
One ."lady,(cough,cough) came out to greet them.
They did seem a tiny bit upset the way they were smoking a cig while waiting their turn ...
Welcome to the jungle!

Been almost 2 years since that flat was busy.
The ,"things" I observe while cooking my man a meal?!

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Hey, just a heads up to everyone...
We must now be ,"safe" from any virus because the B's are back to quote Elton John!
The flat one floor above us and across from us had a line waiting for men to be serviced today!!
One ."lady,(cough,cough) came out to greet them.
They did seem a tiny bit upset the way they were smoking a cig while waiting their turn ...
Welcome to the jungle!

Been almost 2 years since that flat was busy.
The ,"things" I observe while cooking my man a meal?!

Oh dear!  I suppose sometimes we all need a bit of a tune up one way or another.

I was staying in a hotel once in Amsterdam and out of my window I could see a local (and legal) cathouse. I always thought it strangely civilised to see some old guy roll up on his bike, chain it to the lamp post, go in and come out 20-30 minutes later, get back on the bike and cycle off into the sunset. I suppose he could have been there to read the electricity meter or fix the plumbing.   

I hope they were getting their vaccine cards checked and were wearing masks!

Hi all,

Please note that i have removed a few posts from this thread.

Just want to inform you that you can talk about whatever you want here, but please bear in mind that political & religious comments are not allowed, as per the forum code of conduct.

Thank you,

Priscilla
Expat.com Team 

Priscilla wrote:

Hi all,

Please note that i have removed a few posts from this thread.

Just want to inform you that you can talk about whatever you want here, but please bear in mind that political & religious comments are not allowed, as per the forum code of conduct.

Thank you,

Priscilla
Expat.com Team 

Priscilla,

Please explain why there's this thread, posted by your colleague:

Expat interest in Politics

It wasn't necessary to remove any posts.  No-one was attacking anyone, it was an adult discussion.

Fluffy

Perhaps it should be changed to " Absolutely Anything Else (Well, Most Things)".

fidobsa wrote:

Perhaps it should be changed to " Absolutely Anything Else (Well, Most Things)".

Tend to agree but the enforcement is a bit random since we were invited to comment on Politics elsewhere in the forum.

One has to think at these times about Facebook and it's governance.  It introduced some "independent council" to determine what an orange buffoon could post.   Zuckerberg pushed the decision making out to them to avoid it looking like he was controlling it.  I suppose it goes back to the old newspaper magnates of yesterday (including Murdoch) holding too much power to influence.   

I believe the EU and US anti-trust authorities are looking at breaking up Facebook, Google, Amazon, Twitter etc.  Out of that, I bet the following happens:

Google is forced to spin off Android

Amazon splits off the  web site from the intelligence, oops, marketing side   

Facebook, perhaps the same - marketing to be split off from FB web site itself

Perhaps trying to level the playing field.   BTW, they've nearly agreed the minimum corporate tax now so going to be tough for them to manipulate their incomes.   

Only two countries opposed were Ireland (with a qualified objection) and Hungary (don't know the reasons for objecting).

You are right about the name! If it wasn't called socialised medical care, nor obama care, but something else, it might be much easier to sell. Americans know that this system is awful, but for some reason it isn't getting fixed. Probably starts from the extremely expensive medicine and hospital prices.

3 EU holdouts: Ireland, Estonia, and Hungary.

The minimum rate signed on by 130 countries is 15%. Ireland has a 12.5% and Hungary a 9% rate.

However, for the law to pass, unanimity is required in the EU Parliament. Hungary will of course use this to leverage gains from Western Europe. Whether turning a blind eye to its political atrocities or leveraging for more direct or indirect funding.

On the one hand, countries like Ireland (12.5%) and Hungary (9%) offer attractive corporate tax rates in order to entice international companies to set up their European headquarters in their cities. On the other hand, companies based in France, Germany, Portugal and Belgium have to submit their profits to rates that exceed 29% – almost triple that of their peers.
...
His Hungarian counterpart, Mihály Varga, argued a minimum tax rate would hamper growth and constitute a burden for the country's economic activity.

Kirkegaard believes that Ireland is now engaging in "grand politics" and will eventually make up its mind because "it really wants full support of the rest of the EU and the United States in the ongoing Brexit negotiations".

"A country like Hungary, I'm less certain about, because it's not clear really why a lot of foreign companies would locate in Hungary, where obviously the rule of law and [other] issues are under questioned, if they cannot pay a very, very low tax," Kirkegaard adds.

But Hungary might lose out regardless of the position it chooses to defend.

According to the draft deal, even if a corporation decides to set up shop in Hungary to benefit from its 9% tax rate, the company's country of origin would be entitled to tax up to 6% of the profits in order to reach the minimum 15% threshold.

https://www.euronews.com/2021/07/02/ire … nified-pos

Vicces1 wrote:

....

"A country like Hungary, I'm less certain about, because it's not clear really why a lot of foreign companies would locate in Hungary, where obviously the rule of law and [other] issues are under questioned, if they cannot pay a very, very low tax," Kirkegaard adds.

But Hungary might lose out regardless of the position it chooses to defend.

According to the draft deal, even if a corporation decides to set up shop in Hungary to benefit from its 9% tax rate, the company's country of origin would be entitled to tax up to 6% of the profits in order to reach the minimum 15% threshold.

https://www.euronews.com/2021/07/02/ire … nified-pos

Good article.

I don't see any chance that Hungary will be able to avoid this.   Kind of interesting that O1G was saying earlier this week that the EU is interfering in Hungarian affairs on other matters but I wonder what his take is on this tax project.  Everyone would be interfering in Hungarian affairs.   Who is to blame for that?

EU has always run a cartel on tax rates and the OECD has had an agenda on tax competition for many years.  OECD used to call it "unfair tax competition" but I always thought of it as just another lever for legitimate economic competitiveness.     I can see it causing disadvantages for many small countries but perhaps their leverage is to offer something else.

Livia Kretsch wrote:

You are right about the name! If it wasn't called socialised medical care, nor obama care, but something else, it might be much easier to sell. Americans know that this system is awful, but for some reason it isn't getting fixed. Probably starts from the extremely expensive medicine and hospital prices.

Indeed.  Socialised vs socialism.  To many, that might seem the same. 

Hospitals must be making a pile of money out of it all.   I don't know how they can live with themselves playing with people's lives like that.  I guess they rationalise it's capitalism.

I have been using the Taj here over the years.
Except for the,"tipping" I think overall it's a fair system.
My eye surgeon refused an envelope post surgery.
Things are changing here.
I had to go into the eye clinic on Friday.
My eye was hurting. Had surgery about 5 weeks ago.
2 mornings in a row I woke up with my eye hurting.
I usually don't go in to doctors unless smething is wrong.
Couldn't phone my doc, it was her day ff.
We just walked into the eye clinic so anyone could check out my eye.
They were so busy that the told me it was better to go to another eye doctrs office on the other end of the hospital. Been to her in the past, a nice serious older lady.
She checked my eye, said the surgery part was god but I have an eye infection! Dang!
Using drops again.
At least here in HU you don't have to fear a huge bill for checking oout issues.
In the US withut insurance in the late 90's my husband and I walked out of a walk in medical clinic because of having the flu.
Bill with meds and one shot given to me was nearly $400. and the doc didn't even speak English very well.
I had palnned on just waiting with me sre eye until this upcoming week because I do have an appointment with my surgeon.
At least here with Taj there is no reason to suffer it out, I just got so used to suffering it out in the US that being able to visit a doctor when needed seems like a luxury.That's how bad it is in the US without insurnace.
Even when my co. paid for most of my cverage with insurance in the US. They just handed out meds instead of addressing the real issues.
My bad knee would hurt with 8 hours of standing at my casino job.
I was offered a sit down game but that's so boring.
Well the doctors that took the co. insurnace gave out heavy duty pain pills.I bet half the casino workers were on scripts.
Handling 10's of thousnads of dollars at a time or more and being high as a kite...
Crazy.
I heard tales of the ,Old days" in Las Vegas frm a hard core old crpas dealer who was teaching the game and also teaching the poker class I took.
He said how in the 60's in Vegas delaers were allowed to booze it up on their brakes, every 40 mins or s they had 20 mins off to drink.
One dealer got so drunk he walked into a different casino and tapped out the next dealer for their break.
That's insane. At least he felt no pain.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I have been using the Taj here over the years.
Except for the,"tipping" I think overall it's a fair system.
....
She checked my eye, said the surgery part was god but I have an eye infection! Dang!
Using drops again.
At least here in HU you don't have to fear a huge bill for checking out issues.
In the US without insurance in the late 90's my husband and I walked out of a walk in medical clinic because of having the flu.
Bill with meds and one shot given to me was nearly $400. and the doc didn't even speak English very well.
I had planned on just waiting with me sore eye until this upcoming week because I do have an appointment with my surgeon.
At least here with Taj there is no reason to suffer it out, I just got so used to suffering it out in the US that being able to visit a doctor when needed seems like a luxury.That's how bad it is in the US without insurance.
Even when my co. paid for most of my caverage with insurance in the US. They just handed out meds instead of addressing the real issues.
My bad knee would hurt with 8 hours of standing at my casino job.
....
One dealer got so drunk he walked into a different casino and tapped out the next dealer for their break.
That's insane. At least he felt no pain.

At least you got your eyes sorted out quickly enough.

I know that diabetic people in the US are rationing insulin.  That'll kill you slowly but will eventually.   I was reading people are buying insulin from Canada or Mexico.  It costs much less in those countries to the USA.  It's like price gouging in the USA.

In the UK, it's all free so there's no reason to do any of that.  There are co-pays but they are small amounts and there are so many ways to actually get it for free.  Some essential medicines are free regardless of your copay status. 

I was working with a British guy and his wife who had lived in DC for about 30  years.  Eventually they got divorced and he had remained British due to his work situation but his ex-wife became naturalised eventually.  Anyway, their kids were born there so his kids were American AND British citizens. One of his sons got into a very serious car accident and didn't have insurance so was facing a medical bill north of 1M USD.   He spent quite a lot of time telling me how his son's fund raising was going to pay his hospital bills.  I was shocked really because if he'd been in the UK he'd be automatically in the system and he wouldn't have had to pay.

Not a good idea to drink on the job.  I've seen alcoholics working in Eastern European government offices and it's truly awful to see people making decisions over other people when they can hardly stand up.   That said I went to one place in Africa and they were all completely stoned by mid-afternoon on khat.  Not a coherent word between them!

My surgeon is going to be upset with me for getting my eye infected.
I am suppose to be fitted for reading glasses this week.
Not sure if she will wait now until my eye is better or not.
I don't always follow doctors orders a long as I should, I waited over a month and thought that should of been long enough considering I won't put my head in the water  at this time. Wrong again it seems.
Afraid to tell her I went to the lake, she told me to skip swimming this summer, no way can I do that.
I'll just blame it on the wind!
Probably was from the wind anyways,never but my head in the water and was weaing sunshades to keep any splashes out of my eye.
Found my super good goggles yesterday, a bit after the fact...
Patience is not one of my virtues... Working on it though.
Well it seems old time Vegas was wild.
How funny could it of been to see a dealer wearing the uniform of another casino just step in and start dealing in the wrong casino?
When I was a dealer the had stricter rules.
Only allowed to take a break in certain areas and we had several rooms set up for breaks.
One thing fr sure, you NEVER were allowed in the hotel area or those rooms. They were afriad we may get paid off to throw a game if we got to friendly with the players.
My son's ex Chinese grilfriend and her friend played one time on my table the day after they broke up. I really liked her, she was so nice with us. She was older about 12-14 years then our son and she already had a child. He thought he was too silly and young and she should find an older person since she wasn't getting any younger. She looked young and was pretty.
Well, she was so depressed that she palyed like a wild women, losing and losing big bucks one hand after the other. I was getting upset seeing this and was also afriad to tell the boss I was a personal friend of hers. Think she lost something like$40,000 in a couple of hours.
It was sad for me, I kept telling her friend to take her out of the place but it feel on deaf ears.
One casino where for 3 days I worked before I quit, was set up for passing out. Worked the graveyard shift thoose 3 days from 8 pm to 4 am. Their break rom had huge comfy lazy-boy style chairs for breaks. I can't tell you how hard it was to get up around 1 am and go back to dealing after falling alseep in that chair.
We used to wake each other up, not sure what would of happened if we all fell asleep at the same time and missed going back t work on time.
I quit one really fantastic paying dealing job because they wouldn't move me to days hift.
I had found someone to trade hours with but the boss was a hard nose and wouldn't let us be happy. I quit.
The tips in 2000 for just dealing a blackjack game only were nearly $300. per day plus pay, food and being able to work in a psh area of Vegas in a brand new just opened casino where everything was clean and shiny.
My sleep meant more to me then money. I was a good worker but if I wasn't having fun at work, I'd quit like no buddies business. Didn't matter what srt f job it was. I figured we spend so much time wrking that we are wasting our lives being miserable if the job is wrong for you.( Maybe I had it too easy?)
Found a day job paying about half as much...Oh well, the tax man got less too.
That's insane that your friends son was charged a million plus bucks for treatments. He should of filled for bankruptcy. After 7 years he could start his credit again in the clear.

Man, how long can a human keep screaming and wailing?
The women in the "drunk/alcohol" tank across from our flat is still going strong.
I thought they'd of given her a put down meds by now.
Almost like a mean parent allowing a baby to cry itself out in the crib.
I thought I'd comment about pets here instead of the weather report site.
Hard to think now with all that insnae screaming going on, maybe I'll turn on some music...

We had some HU/US friends in Cal. my husband has known this couple for well over 50 years since they were all teenagers.
Well in Ca. they got themselves a female Doberman.
We got a male one a few months later.
They never wanted puppies.
Well they mved back after a spell to stay in Hungary and brought their dog with them.
They had no place really to keep her when they first arrived so they had someone with a farm watch her while they found a place to live.
They were s over protective of their dog, I understand that, I was they same way with our boy.
Sadly their little,"princess" got , well hard to say it nicely, raped by a gang of wild dogs.
They had her undergo an abortion.
Not too many pets are fixed here.
We took in my MIL cat right after she had a liter of kittens.
Well, she was already preganant again when we took her in to get fixed.
She also underwent an abortion and got fixed at the same time.
I felt so bad for the cat and I'm not really a cat person.
I brought her in my room for a few nights to make sure she was alright and see that she was drinking water ect.
My MIL was too old to know what to do.
This was about 16 years ago and at the time at least in Erd, I was so shocked by how little was done here for pets that I decided right then and there to never have a pet here.
I'm sure things have improved now with the vet school here and so many people having pets but what I saw put me off for good.
One vet worked out of his garage in Erd, another time we ran a ktten to a vet hospital because it's leg got twisted in an accidnet my MIL caused by folding a bed on it's leg. They x-rayed it under our instructions , I thought the'd put a cast on it's leg but now, they let it be. The kitten walked funny after that.
Good news, peace has now returned, they must of jabbed the screaming women with something to calm her down.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....
Not too many pets are fixed here.
We took in my MIL cat right after she had a liter of kittens.
Well, she was already pregnant again when we took her in to get fixed.
She also underwent an abortion and got fixed at the same time.
I felt so bad for the cat and I'm not really a cat person.
I brought her in my room for a few nights to make sure she was alright and see that she was drinking water ect.
My MIL was too old to know what to do.
This was about 16 years ago and at the time at least in Erd, I was so shocked by how little was done here for pets that I decided right then and there to never have a pet here.
I'm sure things have improved now with the vet school here and so many people having pets but what I saw put me off for good.
One vet worked out of his garage in Erd, another time we ran a ktten to a vet hospital because it's leg got twisted in an accidnet my MIL caused by folding a bed on it's leg. They x-rayed it under our instructions , I thought the'd put a cast on it's leg but now, they let it be. The kitten walked funny after that.
Good news, peace has now returned, they must of jabbed the screaming women with something to calm her down.

Cats are particularly free and easy with their partners.  Obviously that's what animals are built to do - reproduce.  We had a cat which had about 6 kittens and by the time we took it for fixing it after the kittens arrived, it already had more buns in the oven.   When I read about cats and kittens I was surprised to learn that there might be 6 kittens with 2-3 different partners.  So they aren't all the same genetics.  Kind of odd to hear that but it's not unknown with humans as well.

I'm a little distrustful about vets here - best to get second opinions. One of our hamsters had a problem losing its fur.  Vet said it was just old and this is what happens. 

Then we read online was due to a vitamin deficiency in its food. Tried that and it got better and lived a normal lifespan (which isn't that long).

We are sure the vet just couldn't be bothered -  makes you wonder why that person entered the profession.

Same with many "human" docs .
They just don't care.they see you as a $$ sign only.
I have had more positive experiences in the US with Vets then with human doctors.
In NM we took our lovley Max for a long 2-3 hour drive to a lake for him to have some fun. He rode comfotably in the back of our van and was just fine when we left home.
Arrived at the lake and he jumped out and went down.
His 2 back legs didn't work.
We freaked out and just drove straight back home.
I was so upset and didn't want to put him down, he was 8 at the time and had just come to the mainland from Hawaii.
Found a vet who was honest and told us he never did back surgery of this sort before but he saw it.
He charged us a very small fee and took our Max into his home post surgery to watch him closely.
100% success . He lived and was able to walk for another 4 years.
I never allowed him to run again post surgery.
This vet was my hero.
Even in Las Vegas I found a vet clinic that really cared.
In fact when I had to have our dog put down( not getting into it but for sure he wouldn't last the day) the staff was so kind and understanding.
I called in sick the next day from my casino job, I was so upset and couldn't stop crying.
Even they understod when I fessed up and said it was my dog who passed as I had called in saying a family member had died.
One of my fellow game dealers had a wife who by chance was in attendance at the clinic as an assistant and saw us put our dog down.
He told me his wife mentioned how sad it was and that we had done the right thing. If we had tired to extend his life it would of only been for perhaps another week and he would of suffered all the time and never gone home.
I don't even hear about human doctors who care that much about their clients.

I hope everyone is enjoying their week.
We went to Balaton a few times, love the water there.
Kicking myself for not investing years ago near the lake.
Oh, well that ship has sailed.
So terribly sad about those 2 brothers who drowned at Balaton this week.
Just after I wrote about knowng CPR.
Just terrible, at 17 you'd hope they could swim stronger and not go under.
Who knows what happened for sure, their rafts probably blew out far and maybe they got off by mistake and they drifted away from them.The boys paniced and went under.
Poor family though...
We took the train to Balaton yesterday, so much eaiser then driving across the city and hassling with traffic.
It's free too...Just saying thanks, Hungary.
It's pays to be old sometimes.
On the train a guy in overalls was sitting alone with 3 extra seats next to him.
No one seemed to wish to sit near him, me neither.
I wouldn't know where to keep my eyes if I sat close by.
I swear,he had more tats on his face then a circus attration. Not to mention his arms and God knows where else he was covered with tats.
Ok could could get past the tear drop cross by his eye, the bird near his forhead but sorry, The huge crown of thorns going across his entire forehead sort of threw me off!
Let me take a guess, prison tats?
It was not shocking but then again it woould be too odd to sit across from him so close and not look.
I've never had any interest in getting a tat.
My sister and brother have a few of them.
Growing up we were not even allowed to pierce our ears, I thought I was a rebel at 17 when I had a freind piece one ear for me up in Santa Cruz.
I'm sure I'm dating myself now.
My step-father ( no.2) had a tat of a naked women on his forearm which he had gotten on his ship while in the Navy in WW11.
Pretty standard stuff back then.
One of his CO's was female and she made him cover the tat up by having a swimsuit put on the figure.
It was horrid, when he was in his 60's even his lady was dragging down and looked old and faded...

Just a more general reply and comment on health, Corona is horrible and part of my overseas company and family are infected (and one or two likely to die), cancer and alike are equally horrible, what causes cancer? (many causes).
Our recipe is straightforward, enjoy life where you can, drink wine and eat garlic. Having said that all of us die (more often than not earlier then planned).
I am 60 (male) and I am making plans (perhaps naïve) , and realistic, how long can I live if my father died at 39 and my 2 grandpapas died before 50. Grandmamas just before 65, my own mama is still alive (80 !!!)

Life is strange, but we should not pretend life is forever. Enjoy a bit whilst you can is my advice.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I hope everyone is enjoying their week.
We went to Balaton a few times, love the water there.
Kicking myself for not investing years ago near the lake.
Oh, well that ship has sailed.
So terribly sad about those 2 brothers who drowned at Balaton this week.
Just after I wrote about knowng CPR.
Just terrible, at 17 you'd hope they could swim stronger and not go under.
Who knows what happened for sure, their rafts probably blew out far and maybe they got off by mistake and they drifted away from them.The boys paniced and went under.
Poor family though...
....
I swear,he had more tats on his face then a circus attration. Not to mention his arms and God knows where else he was covered with tats.
Ok could could get past the tear drop cross by his eye, the bird near his forhead but sorry, The huge crown of thorns going across his entire forehead sort of threw me off!
Let me take a guess, prison tats?
It was not shocking but then again it woould be too odd to sit across from him so close and not look.
I've never had any interest in getting a tat.
....

Mrs F told me about the two kids dying in Balaton.  It's not clear from reports if they could swim or not.    Maybe they were caught up in one of those whirlpools that occurs sometimes in Balaton.

I think the teardrop is a gang tat - means they committed a murder.   Not sure in HU that would apply but I am sure there are gangs here too but I'm pretty sure they'd be going by car rather than public transport.

When I was a kid, tats were something that criminals or  sailors had.  No-one else had them.  There's certainly a normalisation around it now.  I was watching cop videos on YouTube and plenty of them have tats.  In NZ and the Pacific, it's common enough to have them.    I find it a little hard to get over that mental conditioning that it's related to crime or the Navy. 

There has been talk of No. 1 HU Fluffyette getting a tat and I'm not against her asserting her rights of course but I have been advising not to have it anywhere easily visible.  Certainly not on the face, neck,  arms, hands or feet.   Need to be able to cover it up if one works in some places like banks. Probably acceptable to a degree now.

Getting rid of them is a serious problem - has to be  vaporised using a laser and there will be scarring.   Apparently this is a service that dentists are starting to offer in their surgeries so they can make use of the building, chairs and rooms.  Not a bad sideline.

cdw057 wrote:

Just a more general reply and comment on health, Corona is horrible and part of my overseas company and family are infected (and one or two likely to die), cancer and alike are equally horrible, what causes cancer? (many causes).
Our recipe is straightforward, enjoy life where you can, drink wine and eat garlic. Having said that all of us die (more often than not earlier then planned).
I am 60 (male) and I am making plans (perhaps naïve) , and realistic, how long can I live if my father died at 39 and my 2 grandpapas died before 50. Grandmamas just before 65, my own mama is still alive (80 !!!)

Life is strange, but we should not pretend life is forever. Enjoy a bit whilst you can is my advice.

It's good advice.

I'm also 60 but shortly to be 61 and in pretty good health generally.  I've never had to stay overnight in a hospital.  Been to hospitals for consultations a few times but never had to sleep there.  Don't know if that's unusual at 60.

A few years ago it suddenly came into my mind that the time was finite.   Lifespan average is about 80'ish so I've only got maybe 20 years left.  Bit of carpe diem required.  No-one ever complains on their death bed they'd wish they'd spent more time in the office.

A while back, I tried to explain that time will pass faster to No. 1 HU Fluffyette who stays in bed to 14h most days (but also stays up until 04h).   I was trying to say get up and do stuff but it didn't work.  At that age, I think I'd do the same anyway.   And school is very high pressure here these days so downtime is valuable as well.

cdw057 wrote:

Just a more general reply and comment on health, Corona is horrible and part of my overseas company and family are infected (and one or two likely to die), cancer and alike are equally horrible, what causes cancer? (many causes).
Our recipe is straightforward, enjoy life where you can, drink wine and eat garlic. Having said that all of us die (more often than not earlier then planned).
I am 60 (male) and I am making plans (perhaps naïve) , and realistic, how long can I live if my father died at 39 and my 2 grandpapas died before 50. Grandmamas just before 65, my own mama is still alive (80 !!!)

Life is strange, but we should not pretend life is forever. Enjoy a bit whilst you can is my advice.

I agree with you.
We must try to enjoy each day like it's our last.
Looks at the resent sad news about the 2 brothers at Balaton who both drown on the same day.
13 and 17 years old. far to young.
My friend in Las Vegas said a few days back that her friend surcombed to C-19 and died. His daughter is still in the ICUwith C-19.
I'm not sure exactly who they are but she mentioned his wife did yoga for many years with me.
I had an auntie die at age 24 from colonn cancer. Her mother, my granny died of colon cancer too at age 44 or there about's.
ATM I got news a couple weeks ago from my brother age 61 that he has colon cancer and it has spread to his liver. He had a frist treatment of chemo already.
I can't even wrap my brain around this.
I was always under the impression that it was an odd rare sort of cancer that usually only killed off the men in my family, from my father's side. One uncle was always in hospital getting his colon cut shorter and shorter every few years, skinny man who couldn't eat much. Have a cousin now who can't eat because of his colon. He is always buying cooking pans, machines ect. and giving them away. He is fasinated with food but can't eat.
Well, guess it's not just the guys, it hits both sexes.Several of my unlces and cousins had  it some caught it in time and others passed.
In fact my aunties at 24 passed just 10 days after the birth f her second child. She was dying while pregnant. Just heard her girl also died from coln cancer, the little baby she had.
I'm not worried about it, just hope it isn't passed on to my boy.
My husband's family never had cancer from what we know so there's that.
Hope our boy got the good DNA from his father.
Odd thing is my step-father not blod related to me passed at age 43 from colon cancer. We always thought my half sibs were in trouble but no, guess we all are and should keep up on tests.
Try not to be upset, about dying, it happens to everyone at some point.
That's why we should try to have no regrets and to make peace with people while we can.
About 9 years back I walked to the market on Blaha Luzsa.In the road I saw the police blocking off ne lane of traffic and a body laying in the road. It was cvered in literal trash bags with duct tape wrapped over the bags.
A young man from Turkey moved too Hu and got depressed about life s he just ran into traffic.
Most peple I observed kept on walking, many didn't even look twice at what was going on.
I mean they had marked the road in white chalk around his body.
I had to stop and pray, that's all one can really do for another. A women was also praying we looked at each other nodded our heads and left the area in different directions.
Small connections between people are important but we are all born alone and we all die alone in the end.

Praying is a very very good thing to do. I am not very religious but my wife is (and I respect her for that). Anybody who prays. more then respect from my side (I am protestant (a bit conservative) and I believe god will just judge us at what we did). (apologies not very much a Maria person)

A bit of discrimination in this world, women live longer, people who do not smoke also save some years, not drinking also seems to help. I am the opposite of all unfortunately.

What I do see are a lot a lot of widows on our street (and in general), women tend to get 80  (one active neighbour 95), no men of 80  though.
Some of the women of 80  have a remarkable active lifestyle (and on top of that seem to have a very active and good mind (which is very important I think). I am amazed on the difference between men and women.

cdw057 wrote:

Praying is a very very good thing to do. I am not very religious but my wife is (and I respect her for that). Anybody who prays. more then respect from my side (I am protestant (a bit conservative) and I believe god will just judge us at what we did). (apologies not very much a Maria person)

Interesting.

Don't pray myself as I'm mostly an atheist but I am human.  I say human, but I'm also willing to accept the possibility of alien DNA.   Might explain a few things. 

Coming from a different angle* but I certainly agree moments of reflection for humans is a jolly good thing to do at any time. 


---------------
* I have read a few books on  Buddhism over the years and I found them quite good reading as they often discuss the human condition.