Comments on: Health Care and Men

By: Lukobe

Lukobe — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:48:32 +0000

Actually, I don’t know that, Justin, and it’s not irrational. But then again, perhaps no one you know has ever been in real danger?

As for riding your motorcycle without a helmet, I think that’s pretty dangerous behavior, but I’m not horrified. It doesn’t personally affect me if you get killed or suffer brain damage. Just so long as you’re either insured or don’t have the state pay for your stay in the neuro ICU.

By: Welmer

Welmer — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:55:29 +0000

Heh. Here in Seattle you can get a ticket for riding a bicycle without a helmet, but I often ignore that one.

By: Justin

Justin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:50:55 +0000

Sorry, guys, but irrational worry about potential disasters is indeed a feminine trait. And you know it is, so don’t pretend otherwise.

Just like all the women who act horrified that I usually ride a motocycle without a helmet. Never once had a man do that.

By: Lukobe

Lukobe — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:29:06 +0000

Well, they’re not supposed to bring their families with them, but that doesn’t always stop them, obviously.

Labor costs are a fraction, but healthcare costs are a substantial part of labor costs, so I could see labor costs going up to, say, 25-30 cents per pound for cherries. Who knows.

Good for WSU — let’s hope their budget doesn’t get cut even further.

By: Welmer

Welmer — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:58:31 +0000

Do the migrant workers really get free medical care? That seems unfair. I’m sure you’d agree that their kids, at least, though, deserve at least some level of care, regardless of their parents’ ability to pay. The thing is, as migrant workers they aren't supposed to bring their families with them. They stay here for the season, and then go back, or at least that was the original deal. Many of them actually did hold to that deal. As for making farmers pay, yes, we should do that. Of course, that results in higher produce prices for us. A lot of this can be traced back to Americans’ desire for cheap, cheap, cheap goods. Are we really prepared for the price of our apples to go up? The labor costs are only a fraction -- maybe 10 cents a pound, and up to 20 cents for the most labor intensive crops like cherries. Anyway, check out this program at WSU: WSU Scientists Perfecting Mechanical Harvest of Sweet Cherries They estimate that they could cut harvest costs to 1-2 cents per pound with mechanized harvesters.

By: Welmer

Welmer — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:49:42 +0000

Nah, you’re misreading Lukobe. He was raised by a couple of refugees from awful Communist regimes (both of whom were of the targeted property-owning classes), one from the USSR (Ukraine) and the other from North Korea, so caution against disaster has been instilled in him from a very young age.

Emarel, as for acts against the state, they are pretty much futile and only lead to more restrictive policy and laws. There was a guy here in Seattle who, at the end of his rope, walked into the federal courthouse carrying a fake grenade to protest how he’d been treated as a non custodial parent. Naturally, he was shot dead immediately, the floor was mopped, and the guard praised. Business went on as usual.

Another guy walked into the King County courthouse and killed his Filipina wife and two of her friends in revenge for a fraudulent VAWA DV claim (to get citizenship and divorce the guy immediately — she really screwed him), then surrendered. Now, the only difference is that we have to go through metal detectors at the courthouse, and IMBRA.

So the best thing, IMO, is to highlight abusive acts and shame corrupt and immoral politicians and businesses through exposure. This is how blogging can work.

By: Lukobe

Lukobe — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:09:03 +0000

Good movie, Gran Torino. But suicide is one thing — suicide bombing is quite another.

By: emarel

emarel — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:46:09 +0000

“The problem as I see it is that once the government, with its political prerogatives, gets involved in this to any substantial degree, that will inevitably be bad for men. As you point out, Welmer, we can already see that writing on the wall in terms of how the *existing* federal funding is skewed towards women’s health issues. There is no reason at all to expect that this skewing would not continue under a government controlled health plan. Frankly, when it comes to valuing the lives of men and women, our government values the lives of women much, much more than it does the lives of men. A national health plan will be a stalking horse for passing more government largesse to women, and basically ignoring men.”……….

Remember the end of the movie “Gran Torino” where the terminal Eastwood character commits suicide in giving his life to help rescue his neighbors from the local gang-bangers? Well, maybe we can expect lots of terminal 55-65 and up men, denied health care, taking out federal buildings, federal officials and state installations with them in the future.

By: Lukobe

Lukobe — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:18:37 +0000

Justin, I generally don't respond to ad hominem attacks, and I try not to make them in turn, but in your case, I'll just say: Ask Welmer. He can vouch for the fact that I do not think like a girl. And, good luck with your health. I suppose you won't come crying to the state when you end up in the ICU.

By: Lukobe

Lukobe — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:17:14 +0000

Welmer wrote:

Here in Washington, Mike Lowry passed a bill giving free medical care to migrant workers, which was probably extended to some (not all, of course) illegals. Why don’t the farmers pay, instead of all of us?

Do the migrant workers really get free medical care? That seems unfair. I’m sure you’d agree that their kids, at least, though, deserve at least some level of care, regardless of their parents’ ability to pay.

As for making farmers pay, yes, we should do that. Of course, that results in higher produce prices for us. A lot of this can be traced back to Americans’ desire for cheap, cheap, cheap goods. Are we really prepared for the price of our apples to go up?