America's Healthcare

As stated in an article on CNN.com, Republican Senator Richard Shelby was quoted saying:

"We have the best health care system in the world, We need to expand it. We do not need to destroy it."

Really? We do? I was completely unaware of this.

Myth: The U.S. has the best health care system in the world.

Fact: The U.S. has among the worst health statistics of all rich nations.

The U.S. does not have the best health care system in the world - it has the best emergency care system in the world. Advanced U.S. medical technology has not translated into better health statistics for its citizens; indeed, the U.S. ranks near the bottom in list after list of international comparisons. Part of the problem is that there is more profit in a pound of cure than an ounce of prevention. Another part of the problem is that America has the highest level of poverty and income inequality among all rich nations, and poverty affects one's health much more than the limited ministrations of a formal health care system.

This is the problem: "profit." Everyone in America is so dead set on making a buck that they will do anything at any cost. Now I'm all for making money, we need it survive. Though we do not need to be doing it in such ways that harm others. Denying someone's treatment so that they may live a better more happier life is no way to go about making money. This same person who is seeking treatment has already paid for this is so-called "insurance," by an amount being taken out of there paychecks and another amount being paid by enforcing deductibles.

This and the following are absolutely ridiculous:

Percent of population covered by public health care:  

ALL NATIONS (except below)    100%

France, Austria                99

Switzerland, Spain, Belgium    98

Germany                        92

Netherlands                    77

United States                  40

Life Expectancy (years):

  Men    Women

Japan           76.2   82.5

France          72.9   81.3

Switzerland     74.1   81.3

Netherlands     73.7   80.5

Sweden          74.2   80.4

Canada          73.4   80.3

Norway          73.1   79.7

Germany         72.6   79.2

Finland         70.7   78.8

United States   71.6   78.6

United Kingdom  72.7   78.2

Denmark         72.2   77.9

If you have not already seen it, please rent the movie "Sicko" by Michael Moore. It puts a lot of insight into this and more.

Citations:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/16/us.healthcare/index.html

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-healthcare.htm

My Neighborhood

There is some weird ass lady that lives across the street from me in a "mother-in-law suite." This lady is pretty troublesome. I have called the police or 911 on here 3 or 4 times total. Twice because her car alarm would not stop, at one point it was going off for an hour and midnight one evening. 

A bit more background, this lady is on drugs, a lot of drugs. She has people coming to her place many times during the day and night. It's quite obvious that she sells the drugs she is prescribed. 

So, tonight she was outside and all of the sudden the police pull up. I'm thinking finally someone called the cops on her and she's getting taken out of here. BUT NO!!! She called the cops because someone broke in to her house. 

Come to find out the only thing that was stolen was her safe full of prescription drugs. When the police officer came over to my house to ask if I had seen anything, I told him I didn't see anything out of the ordinary because she has people over all the time. I told him that she is kind of shady and that people will come over for a few minutes at a time and it's a lot of different people. Anyway he seems to believe me, so he gives me his personal number to leave messages on his voice mail of possible drugs deals and license plate numbers. Which is cool because I know he believes me. And I would be glad to get rid of this lady.

On another note, she is moving out of her house, there is a "for rent" sign out front. It got me all excited to and made my day really, until this situation happened tonight. Then it just got better, the police officer told me to share his number with the other neighbor to get any further information. 

This being the same lady that I called 911 on a few weeks ago, because she was passed out cold in the front of her car in the hot sun. My neighbor and I agree that this is just about ridiculous, shouldn't she be in some kind of home the way she's passing out like this. She is driving for god's sake... How she is still alive is beyond me. 

To continue my neighborhood posts though she will be moving soon, it seems that the house next to her may be in the "business" as well. I'm sure there will be plenty more to come.