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Mr Ceour de Lion II

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Everything posted by Mr Ceour de Lion II

  1. We're in the middle of a noreaster here at present. Lots of rain and wind. Temperatures down to mid 50s. A far cry from the 80 degree humid weather we were getting a couple of days ago. Gone from having the air conditioner on to the heating on. It's crazy.
  2. It's not just this report though. Pretty much every report you see come out puts the Fins at the top, and the UK, US and the like well down the tables. The Fins do have an excellent system, but they have fewer kids and are able to spend more time with the strugglers to help them come up. The result is that pretty much all kids come through with similar abilities and education, almost clone like I would imagine. I don't know about the UK system, but the one over here in New Jersey is not the greatest. It's all about testing, testing, and more testing. Very little in the way of actually learning anything useful. Teachers getting tenure (thereby ensuring job security) doesn't help much either. But, it is the Guardian, the left wing version of the Mail.
  3. Seen little evidence of Obama's fallout here too. In fact, had a very good week sales wise. Getting cooler and cooler which is nice, Love this time of year.
  4. I think it arrived for me, today. Up until yesterday, we've had heat and humidity, and finally today that has broken and we have temperatures in the mid 60s. We've even turned the air conditioner off for the first time since May.
  5. I'm paying about $530 a month for myself and my wife. We have several deductibles based on emergency care, hospitalization and so on. None of those deductibles is above $1500. We're allowed up to $2500 per person in drs visits per year. It's with one of the reputable companies. Prescriptions are not included, but neither of us requires it. Pre existing conditions are not covered until we've been with them for a year, but neither of us have a pre existing condition. It's not fantastic, but it's not bad either. I am trying to get on to compare to my plan, but all I've managed to do is basically create an account before the system falls over.
  6. [quote user="Quillan"]Although it is not that far away the Obamacare program has not finished yet. The allowances for state assistance towards health cover seem quite good i.e. $46k fo a single person and $93.5k for a couple. If you earn that or less the government helps towards healthcare costs. Oamacare should cost individuals between 3% and 9.5% of their income (after assistance). Also the Oamacare insurance has only been available since 1st oct 2013. Richard a list of 'suppliers' can be found here http://verticalize.net/h/healthcare/?results=health&rf=ocf  couldn't get in to the site because I am outside the US. The problem as I see it is there is a lot of ignorance on behalf of the people BUT that I think is because everything has been made to look more complicated than it actually is. I also suspect that many of the 'tea party' loonies have shares in insurance companies. [/quote] Q, that's not affordable then. The insurance doesn't cover everything, the deductibles are still extremely high, and most of the decent insurance companies are not in it, so it is quite likely these won't be efficient payers out. Furthermore, if 35 million extra people come on board, and no extra doctors are employed, it's going to be an expensive form of the NHS. Clarke, seriously, look at Washington right now and tell me you would trust your healthcare with those idiots? All sides are to blame. Obama has instituted this expensive system, but doesn't have the money to see it through. It might not be so bad if people weren't forced to buy it. But that choice has been taken away now. Again, imagine if Europe instituted a Europe wide healthcare system. That would be extremely difficult to implement. This is why it should have been left to the States, and not the federal government.
  7. If you are near your local tresor, could you not just go in and ask them in person?
  8. PaulT I take it all back. You are completely correct. I wouldn't say sicko though, but incompetent is a far more accurate word. The whole thing is a massive cock up. You can't get onto the website. They've had 4 years to prepare for this and you can't even get on the website. lol It's a joke. The real reason there is no social healthcare in America is because people do not trust their own government to run it properly. I truly think that's the bottom line. It's a joke. But despite all that, I still love living here :)
  9. Ah Michael Moore. Say no more. Extremely left wing, does have some good points here and there, but extremely biased and annoying. He's the left wing version of the tea party. I don't think I've ever said Americans don't care. Most I have met want some form of universal healthcare. I don't believe Obamacare is it. As I have said before, the costs need to be attacked and brought down. Once they are better managed, then premiums and deductibles will come down, making healthcare affordable to all. Changing the system is a mammoth task though. And again, it should be on a state level, not federally controlled. Kind of similar to Europe. Thankfully, America will never be a socialist country but it could use some socialist attributes as it already has with medicare and medicaid. Perhaps those two institutions could have been adapted for wider healthcare. I think the bottom line is that Americans don't trust government. I'm beginning to see why. They truly are incompetent and seem the total opposite to the people. This current lot are the biggest bunch of dickheads I don't think I'd want to trust them with my healthcare. On a funny note: http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/03/need-health-care-coverage-just-dial-1-800-fuckyo-to-reach-obamacares-national-hotline/#ixzz2gi9HTFP1 Coincidence? lol
  10. It's not sick. It's just the way healthcare developed over the years. At first it was an excellent system back in the 50s, but as ever, it was taken advantage of and so on. You're comparing apples and pears. It will take mountains to change the system. Obama has tried, but failed miserably, and failed to deliver yet again on his promises. Not saying republicans are any better as they have thwarted many attempts. The federal government has too much power at present. Healthcare should be a state responsibility as the country is too big for a national service. Imagine Europe trying to establish a healthcare system that was consistent in every country. Just wouldn't be possible would it? Imagine the outcry of the English having to pay for the healthcare of the Romanians for example. I agree that something needs to be done over here regarding healthcare, but Obamacare is not it. Taxpayers are being hit twice (once for their own insurance premiums, and once again for those who don't pay tax). It's an unfair system which isn't affordable.
  11. lol it's not affordable at all. Been on to get prices etc. Sure the premiums aren't bad, but the deductibles are $1000s. What a swizz. No wonder the house is trying to block it. Forcing people to buy this is wrong.
  12. [quote user="Quillan"]Sorry but I disagree about the poor although I agree with your comment about middle to lower classes. Firstly the poor only get looked after 'well' if they arrive at a hospital via A&E. Currently visiting a doctor or getting medical aid for long term illness is beyond them financially. It is an urban myth that ambulaces leave accident patients on the street to die if they don't have insurance. There are around 15% of Americans who don't have, because of cost, medical insurance. People who have medical insurance who become ill have their premimiums increased after treatment or have exclusions in their policies for the illness at renewal. The cost of insurance for females is not in parity with those of men. Obama care or "The Patient Protection Afordability Act" to give its correct name deals with these and many other issues. The bullet points it primarily addresses are as follows. • ObamaCare improves the quality of care that Americans receive by providing better preventative and wellness services and raising the standards of the quality of basic health care coverage. • ObamaCare eliminates pre-existing conditions and gender discrimination meaning no one can be charged more or be dropped from their health insurance coverage for health or gender related reasons! • ObamaCare gives tens of millions of low-income and middle-income Americans access to quality health care by providing discounts through the Health Insurance Marketplace (also known as a Health Insurance Exchange). • Although the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) was signed into law in 2010, the health care reforms it enacts roll out year by year until 2022. Many of the biggest reforms don't kick in until 2014. • ObamaCare helps to ensure that health care coverage is available to any legal U.S. resident who cannot otherwise obtain "quality" healthcare through their employer. Your access to health care is no longer in the hands of health insurance companies. • ObamaCare gives American employers with over 50 full-time employees the choice between providing insurance that meets the standards of ObamaCare or paying a penalty. This penalty helps to offset the cost of employees who aren't covered through their employer to purchase insurance through the public health insurance exchanges instead of using emergency services. • Employers with less than the equivalent of 25 full-time employees may qualify for tax credits, tax breaks and other assistance for insuring employees through the Health Insurance Marketplace. • ObamaCare increases consumer protections. These help to protect you from being dropped while sick, denied care due to lifetime limits, denied care for pre-existing conditions, and offers Americans a better legal standing against health insurance companies. • Unless you make over $200k individual / $250k as a family or small business you are exempt from almost every tax ObamaCare levies. • ObamaCare requires that all Americans have health insurance either through a private provider or through a state or federally assisted program. If you don't have insurance you must pay a tax equal to 1% of your income in 2014 and 2.5% in 2016. • ObamaCare expands Medicaid to over 15 million uninsured low-income Americans. • The new health care law aims to reform the health care industry by cutting out waste, reallocating where government funding goes, fixing what doesn't work, and most of all ensuring health care for Americans. The group most effected by all this are the insurance companies and the pharmacutical companies who will see the obsceen profits slashed. Looking from the outside inwards none of these seem unreasonable in this modern age. The cost of all this is around $430bn per year. Seems like a lot of money well lets put this in to perspective (based on 2012 figures). Military - $689bn of which only $127bn is spent in the US, the rest has been spent on Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflict areas where America is involved. Clearly by bringing troups home and leaving those countries America has illegaly invaded more than enough money would be made available for Obamacare. Social Care (pensions) - $773bn Social Care (other) - $441bn Interest on countries debt - $220bn which excludes actual reduction in balance. My sources are to varied to list but I Googled the two phrases "What is Obamacare" and "where does american tax money go". Some figures will vary depending on if you a member of the 'Tea Party' or not so I have tried to use the average of the two. [/quote] Sounds great in theory, but in practice how will it work? Will these cheap insurance plans actually pay out? If so, how much? It's all very well having affordable healthcare if the plans actually do as promised. I don't believe Obamacare comes anywhere near to addressing what needs to be done. I totally agree, what exists now (or before Oct 1st) needed change, I just don't believe this is it. I also don't believe what is happening in Washington is right either. The decision to go ahead with Obamacare has been approved by congress, and ratified by the supreme court. The minority who are blowing up at this are totally ridiculous and threatens the entire economic situation of the world. However, is it the right time for Obamacare? If the US can't pay what bills it already has, how will it pay for Obamacare too? Perhaps it is wise to hold off for another year, I don't know. One thing's for sure, if the US was still under the monarchy the queen would have fired this bunch of pathetic politicians just as she did with the Australian parliament in 1975 (via the governor general). Interesting and worrying times ahead though.
  13. How many times. The poor and rich are very well looked after when it comes to healthcare. It's the middle class that's shafted. And not liking Obamacare doesn't mean that people don't want healthcare for all.
  14. Well, the poorest do get excellent healthcare. As do the rich. It's the middle class that has to pay for it all. Obamacare ensures the middle class keeps paying. Obamacare ensures that premiums and taxes will go up. Health insurance under Obamacare will be worth very little. The best healthcare companies aren't even in the system. Top corporations and politicians have opted out of it. Small businesses will suffer because of it, as higher taxes and premiums will be put on them. There will be job losses as businesses aim to get below the 50 employee threshold where businesses become responsible for their employees healthcare. Those that don't provide it will be fined, but the fines will be less than the cost of coverage. More tax will be applied to people, and premiums will go up because of the extra burden. It should be one way or the other, not both. It sounds like many have read the "good" points about Obamacare. I too thought it might be good, but looking deeper and deeper into it, I realise I will be better to keep with my own insurance. The healthcare system over here does need a big overhaul. Obamacare doesn't do that. Keep the taxes low, (particularly on small business), get more people employed, and let them afford their own care. This system seems to only try to cure the cancer, rather than prevent it. Get more of those 47% of non tax payers working by dropping tax rates down, and many problems should ease. Obama would have been better off trying to attack the high costs, which would in turn lead to a drip down effect of lowering the premiums. Then insurance would become affordable, as it was in the early days. Not saying the republicans are any better, but look at the cock up in Washington right now. How anyone would want to put their health care in those hands. And it's the same the world over. Except more expensive (taxwise). The simple fact is, America can't afford Obamacare right now. Healthcare is something that should have nothing to do with the federal government. I believe it should up to the individual states to sort out themselves. It's too big an issue for federal.
  15. The French would simply go on strike. Now you can see why Americans don't like paying much tax, because of the ineptness of the idiots in charge. And this is exactly why people don't want healthcare in the government's hands.
  16. Yep, I agree, the French do have a better system than the US when it comes to healthcare. Obamacare is likely to make it even worse and more expensive. But it's all the other things that you pay for in tax in France that tends to make it harder to bare. I wouldn't mind paying up to 25% if it included healthcare, but any more than that is a tad too much. Governments have a bad record when it comes to spending other people's money, I would prefer to be in control of my money myself. I spend it more wisely.
  17. Absolutely fine. I have insurance. As per my previous post, my insurance adds an extra 18 days if you want to include that. Not happy with Obamacare though, that looks very bad and will sadly add to the tax days for very little value. I'm not sure you get true value for your money though, especially with socialist governments who spend, spend, spend.
  18. [quote user="sweet 17"]It's a laptop, Pierre, and I am almost on the point of committing. I am sure I can get used to AZERTY in time and I am also fairly optimistic that I can get the operating instructions in English if needs be. However, it will probably take longer to be weaned onto Windows 8, not to mention touch-screen (which I personally think is messy on the screen and is a source of cross-infection!!![:-))]) Paranoid and ridiculous, moi?  Ah, more than probable [:(] [/quote] It took me two weeks to get used to azerty, but it took a lot longer to get used to qwerty again.
  19. [quote user="Russethouse"]My husband keeps saying I should change my ancient PC for a Mac....what, at my time of life, that's a bridge too far.....[/quote] And why pay 3 times as much for the same thing?
  20. I don't bother with it anymore. BBC America gives me Top Gear, and then Netflix has whatever else is worth watching from the UK. Apart from that, I've no need for expatshield anymore.
  21. http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Foreign-Visitors-Driving.shtml Personally, I never bothered when I visited the US. I think I put my licence number on the rental car agreement, but they never saw it. I did use my English licence, but it's still the old paper one. Still has my parents address on it even though they've been dead 15 years and the house long since sold. This was in New Jersey, so I don't know what the laws are in other states.
  22. [quote user="sweet 17"]In our precious tip, run by a very enthusiastic young blade, even books were refused. He said he couldn't possibly allow books! Here, however, I do just shy the odd book into the yellow sack and just let them deal with it. Now I have about 3 large bags of books bequeathed to me by friends going to live elsewhere in the EU.  They are not the sort of books I'd normally read; think Wilbur Smith, etc and I am not quite sure which charity I could persuade to relieve me of them! I know my friends are in the throes of moving countries so I just took them to help out.  Now I'm the one lumbered with them![:'(]  [/quote] Fuel for the winter...
  23. When they build the next supersonic airliner, there must be no flights to Paris then.
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