Rubes

Jerry is a good friend of ours. He used to live in the carriage house behind my mother and stepfather's place in Allentown, when he was first getting started. They got to know him well during those years, and have kept in touch with him after they moved out here to SLC and he moved up in the ranks and to Washington. He came out to visit us a few months ago during a brief break in his work. I can only imagine how hard this struck him. He's a good guy and another who represents Buffalo well.

Looks like you picked the wrong week to stop sniffing jocks.

Damn, that is much better.

Great story, man. Thanks for sharing. Sad day, indeed.

A couple of stories on that... Steve Jobs’s Appearance Grabs Notice, Not Just the IPhone Give the Jobs Cancer Story a Rest

I'm glad I missed that.

Where did anyone suggest we sign Benson?

I didn't see much of him, but I kind of liked what I saw. Might make sense to bring him in this year for the #3 spot, then have him take over the #2 spot next year when Losman goes.

Just about the only person who writes worse than Connor is the dude taking over for him. Yeesh.

Maybe he's just trying to dredge up interest in other parts of the country to help up the bidding war when the Bills go on sale?

What, no running backs to take over when Lynch gets suspended?

Dude, Hamdan was on fire in that video. I'm looking for him to make a play for the starting spot in training camp.

According to NFL Network Was this posted already? Couldn't find it anywhere. A pretty good video, although I had to turn off the part where they show the...well, you'll know.

Sounds about right for a Bills fan.

Blaming Lynch for his poor receiving numbers out of the backfield? Yeah, right.

Thanks for the recap!

Somebody got cut and I've heard of him. Git 'er done!

Football season can't get here fast enough.

Everybody needs a Turtle.

If you watch the Frontline special at the link, one of the countries highlighted is Switzerland. Like America, Switzerland was dominated by powerful pharmaceutical and insurance companies, and yet they have managed to change. At the time of the change, only half the country supported it; now, about a decade later, the vast majority of people agree with it. Somehow the pharmaceutical and insurance companies went along with it, and somehow they are okay with it now. You'll have to watch it to see how. Although the situation in Switzerland is a bit different than the U.S., it still gives me hope that a country can change and emerge from under the powerful control of Big Pharma and Big Insurance. Yeah, sorry. Should really move this to another forum. No union plumbers in Utah, as far as I know.

With all due respect, did you even look at the program? Let's take one of the examples highlighted in the program, Japan. The Japanese have better health than us and spend half as much as us, only 8% GDP. Certainly, their better health is due in part to lifestyle issues, but they do have the highest life expectancy and lowest infant mortality rates in the world. Their healthcare system has a lot to do with that. In Japan, they utillize a "social insurance" program. All citizens are required to have health insurance. Usually, it is provided (at least in part) by their employer. If they don't have insurance through their employer, they must purchase it from a non-profit, community-based plan. If they can't afford to buy it, the government helps pay the premiums. Not really all that different from the U.S., except for the fact that the insurers there are all non-profit. Insurance companies cannot make a profit, and they cannot turn anyone down for any reason. But before you go railing against Japan's "socialized medicine", note that Japan's healthcare is NOT socialist. 80% of the hospitals in Japan are private, which is more than in this country. And virtually all doctors offices are private businesses. As for your pride in getting an MRI the same day a doctor prescribes it (which, of course, is not necessarily true for everybody in this country), in Japan there are no gatekeepers, which means you can see any doctor or any specialist you want at any time. And you don't need an appointment -- ever. There is no wait. None. You can see a doctor of any kind and get whatever testing you want whenever you want. The Japanese get twice as many MRIs per capita as Americans. They love them. They get them all the time. And they're incredibly cheap: in the United States, an MRI can run you somewhere around $1200. In Japan, it's $98. Ninety-eight freaking dollars. What about a night in the hospital? If you want a private room, a night in the hospital will cost you a mere $90. If you don't mind a multi-occupancy room (4 per room), you pay just $10 per night. Anybody have any idea how much a night in the hospital here is? And the Japanese are extremely satisfied with their healthcare. Are there problems with this system? Of course. Doctors and hospitals are extremely underpaid, due to price controls instituted by the government. Some hospitals find it hard to stay in business with these prices. Some people believe Japan doesn't spend enough on healthcare. Imagine that. Does the government "run" their healthcare? Of course not. They control prices and they provide assistance for the poor. This is just Japan. Four other countries are highlighted in that documentary. All four provide universal coverage. Most utilize private, not socialist or government-run healthcare. All have excellent healthcare -- at least comparable to America. None require you to wait 9 months for an MRI. All spend considerably less on healthcare than we do. The conversation runs far deeper than "My healthcare is better than yours and I don't have to wait 9 months for an MRI."

Good response, I appreciate it. I think there's a lot more to the story, of course -- plenty of stories like my wife's patient who probably has cancer but refuses to get testing done because he has no insurance anymore, because he had it through his wife but lost it when she developed brain cancer and lost her job. It would make a good discussion over on OTW or PPP, I agree, and perhaps I'll get around to doing that. I do urge you (and everyone) to watch that Frontline special online. You don't have to wait 9 months for an MRI everywhere else.

My next door neighbor is a self-employed plumber with a wife and two young daughters. He has a nice boat, a number of ATVs, two trucks and an SUV, a satellite dish, and certainly a number of other goodies. Didn't have any healthcare insurance of any kind until just recently, when the wife took a job at the county jail for the benefits.