caesarf's Comments (72)

“Federal income tax is not the only type of tax that people pay. Social security is a regressive tax that takes a larger percentage of the working poor's wages than those of the rich. Every paycheck sees a deduction for medicare. We all pay sales tax, tax on insurance and vehicle registration, property tax. The poor pay a much greater percentage of their overall pay in taxes than the rich do.”

“You must be right since you have such a fine educational pedigree. Do you have any solutions?”

“"How can providers stay afloat in the face of such expenditures? By charging people who have insurance more..."

I call bs on this.Healthcare providers have simply negotiated a reimbursement that insurers are not pleased with so they claim the rates are so high to account for uninsured. This statement constantly appears in the statements of those that are anti- public healthcare to further demonize the people who do not have insurance.

I'll tell you who gets charged even more for healthcare than people with insurance-people like me who don't have insurance-because the insurance providers have deemed us uninsurable. Because I am not part of an insurance pool I cannot negotiate a reimbursement rate for myself that the medical providers will accept. I am charged full price.

The system is corrupt from top to bottom-no one is without blame in this game.”

“If your employer stops insuring you, it will be your employer's fault that you cannot keep your same doctor. Or it will be your fault for working for a jerk who cuts off your insurance coverage. Put the blame where it belongs.”

“A lying, corrupt, warmongering disgraced former politician dancing badly. That's entertainment.”

“I'll second that.”

“oooga booga mumbo jumbo”

“I'm sure it was the first thing they considered when they realized they had to divorce in order to survive.”

“School closings for religious purposes is unfortunate, but necessary. If a significant part of the school population will be missing then it makes sense to have a holiday. Closings should be decided based on the number of replacement teachers it would be necessary to hire, rather than a sense of hurt feelings that one's particular observance is not shared by everyone. If the amount of teachers taking a religious holiday is not greater than a certain percentage point, then no holiday. People are already excused if absent for religious reasons. If there is no set holiday for your religious belief , take the day off enjoy your holiday and stop worrying about what everyone else is doing at school.”

“I don't buy this. It sounds like a good PR ploy to whip up controversy. If the film is good, a money maker, a distributor will take it on.”

“Keep your private insurance and you won't have any problems with gov't looking into your health records-problem solved!”

“I don't hate Palin, but I despise her hypocrisy. She did not behave like a responsible mother to be during that pregnancy, and now she is using that child as a political tool. That's sick.”

“Whimsy-bah humbug-I wish I could have been there myself.”

“Palin using her son's disability to attack health care reform is appalling. She exhibited reckless behavior during her pregnancy. The fact that she was not even showing for the first 7 months tells me that she was not behaving like a normal pregnant woman would, ensuring that her developing child received the nutrition he needed to grow properly. She decided to fly all the way back to Alaska while in labor for her fifth-an underdeveloped one at that. I believe that she did all she could to encourage "god's will" to rescue her from the burden of having to raise a child with a disability, and apparently god had other plans.”

“If by "pursuit of lifetime goals" you mean taking time off of work to care for a person such as an elderly or sick relative, then I agree that all people deserve this opportunity.”

“There is no justifiable suspicion that end of life consultation will pressure seniors to end their lives-that is sheer ignorance. Euthanasia is never a part of this counseling. The energy it takes to propagate disinformation is greater than the effort it would take for you to understand the meaning and purpose of this healthcare service.”

“Religious nut-thinks he's possessed and his wife's a demon. Delusional thinking is carefully taught in church.”

“In our country companies that have bad policies and losing strategies get bailed out and they're back in business.”

“My daughter's struggle is the same as that described by the parents of boys. I know what you are talking about. The difference is that I don't blame everybody else for my daughter's challenges. I do not believe the school system is failing my child-I believe she must find a way to harness her energy to perform the tasks she is given. In general, girls are expected to be more responsive to regulation, to be compassionate and to focus attention on cooperation. This is not always fostered in boys-hence some of the socialization problems they encounter in school. I think it is a disservice to boys to deny them the valuable skills learned through collaboration. It seems that some parents of boys expect the world to change around their offspring-to accommodate their quirks, to validate their boredom, their lack of engagement. How does that help the boys in their later lives, in their future professional pursuits when they are asked to join a society that values collaboration?”

“How should conditions change to help boys? Should schools institute a different code of conduct for boys and girls? Have you considered the posibility that these boys simply could not compete with their more talented female peers?”

“I don't see enough real investigation to support your hypothesis that schools are failing boys. You don't really address NCLB adequately-and there is an area where I think we could be in agreement -though I don't believe NCLB is especially crafted to appeal to girls more than boys. I am sorry to see that quite a bit of bashing of females in these responses is a result of this provocatively titled post.

I have three daughters who are in the public school system in New York City. They all three have their own styles of relating and learning. Two of them do quite well and one of them struggles in the same way that many have described their sons struggling. I could take the pressure off of my child (and off of me) and say-"poor kid, she has a teacher that won't tolerate her hyperactivity; that teacher just doesn't get my kid". Or I can take greater responsibility for my child's educational experience and craft a plan to help her get become more engaged with the curriculum. It would never occur to me that the schools were failing girls because my daughter's personality rubs her teachers the wrong way. I don't expect school to teach my daughter to have the self discipline to sit still and learn, to wait her turn. Nor do I expect them to cherish her hyperactivity, to enjoy her scattered attention, and to praise her for her wild imagination.”

“You bring up an interesting point. The studios lucked into success with these female protagonist focused films because they developed material that appealed to women from other mediums. Women are avid consumers of culture and most media cater to them ably-the young adult literature genre continues to grow chiefly because teenage girls buy books. So why can't the film industry harness some of that female dollar energy more reliably?

The problem is not that women don't go to movies-it is the fact the studios know that men won't as readily go to see so chick flicks and women lead films.

To add insult to injury we don't see many honest, interesting portrayals of women in Hollywood films and it's mainly because the studios don't want to produce it. Writers don't want to write it or they don't know how. Sophomoric teen-centric guy humor is celebrated and developed over quieter relationship based works to satisfy the LCD.”

“Yeah and a sweet little baby all her own.”

“No one is saying sex ed shouldn't also include abstinence component.”

“Limbaugh jeopardized his own kidneys with his drug abuse. There's nothing wrong with pointing this out.”