Let's talk boxing. A regulated sport. Two well trained opponents who, presumably, like what they're doing step into a ring and brutalize each other. It's not the old bare knuckle bouts, but people liked watching those, and liked fighting in them.
Dogs that dogfight like it. Dogs that don't like it suck at it. I keep hearing the term "animal abuse" thrown around with this case. I have a hard time really calling it abuse, though. A violent sport, yes. Does the occasional participant die, yes. Same in boxing, the gloved, well regulated kind. I think, and this is an offhand estimate, that about 80% of people throwing down the abuse card are referring to the actual dogfight. So, my estimate, about 80% of people are either kind of dumb or speaking in ignorance or, my personal favorite, both.
There has been a lot of animal abuse associated with dogfighting historically. This was directed at the "training" animals. A good episode or so of "Lou Grant" comes to mind. Good regulation of the sport would eliminate that. Dogfighting would be right there with boxing then. Of course, as long as it's a federal crime it will be hard to put together an authoritative commission to decide on acceptable practices.
So, I suppose, continue crying out about animal abuse. Also continue calling the mess in Darfur a genocide, even I've done that.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Religion (4) God did a good job today!
I've been thinking about what tests our faith, why we abandon the church, and why we abandon God. Some of it has to do with what other Christians do. For a lot of people, that critical moment of testing comes with something that God "does" or, more correctly in many cases, allows. Note on allowing things. If there was a bank robbery today, I allowed it. If there was a murder today, I allowed it. If there was a rape today, I allowed it. If there was a lie today, I allowed it. I allowed all of those things because I didn't stop them. Granted, I didn't know about most of them, and I was probably powerless to stop them had I known. So I'm off the hook. Nobody will write a bad article in the newspaper because I didn't act to stop a theft in London. Nobody is cursing my name because they were raped in Perth. God doesn't get the same break. He knew it all was happening, he even knew it would happen so long ago. He also had the power to stop it, drawback of the whole omnipotence thing, I suppose. So the same way you would blame me if I was babysitting your toddler and just watched him stick his hand in a mousetrap we blame God. (I don't particularly like toddlers, btw, so don't ask me to babysit. Just don't do it.) So we go about our lives thinking that God has it all under control and is doing things "in his timing" until our best friend is killed by a drunk driver, or our spouse gets cancer, or, or, or, ... Then we shake a well deserved fist at heaven and cry out, "Why did you do this?" Again, more correctly, "Why did you let this happen?" I have thoughts on this. They may appear to be random ones, but that's okay here.
I can't speak for rain or floods or drought or hurricanes or tornados, but those drunk drivers, drug addicts, crazed gang members, Enron executives, etc., they all have free will. If God stop the free will actions of those who would, purposefully or not, hurt those whose free will was to worship him could he justly, and remember that justness is one of his character attributes, leave his worshipers with free will. "As long as you choose to do what I want you to do you're free to do whatever you want, because it's what I want. If you choose to do something I don't want you to do then free will is gone for you and I'll take you over and make you do the right thing, it's the good thing about being omnipotent." He could still sort us out, he'd know if it were him or us. I don't think he can play us that way, though. I think he prevents him from doing it. (Character of God.) And what's more ...
I don't think he really cares. Our character and eternity is where his concern rest. The great, Godly plan for most people is that they die. I just don't see where the type of death is in consideration next to the type of life. I also can't see why the Army would really care if you got the dinner you really wanted on the battlefield. The do care that you get fed. Sorry, sir, we're all out of lobster. Hell is for demons, people will go there. It's not why hell was made, but Godly justice demands that some people will end up there. A natural consequence of free will is that some will rebel. A natural consequence of rebellion is suffering. For us to be able to worship meaningfully, and I mean that marionette worship means nothing, it must be done in our free will so ultimately we must face suffering. I have to work to get a paycheck. I wouldn't do it if they didn't pay me. I "suffer" the work for the blessings of my check. I suffer in life for the blessings of an eternal relationship with God. God gives a better return than my boss. I cannot exptect monetary blessings without putting up with the work, and I can even find my way to a thankful heart when payday comes and the bills are due. "Thank you for the work I hated, I hope you have more for me next week." If we recognize the suffering for what it is, an offshoot of our free will relationship with God, we can get to the place Paul was at, and be thankful in persecution.
Hitler rose to power and started what would become a world war and a terrible genocide.
God did a good job that day.
A plague swept over Europe and killed over a quarter of the population.
God did a good job that day.
A tsunami swept through the Indian Ocean and killed thousands.
God did a good job that day.
A hurricane hit the gulf coast and destroyed the entire region.
God did a good job that day.
Terrorist flew planes into buildings on 9/11.
God did a good job that day.
President Bush pushed through unconstitutional provisions that took away our protected rights following 9/11.
God did a good job that day.
My dad's cancer has gotten way worse, he stopped chemo because it's not effective, he can no longer take care of himself, he placed himself on a list for hospice care, he's just waiting to die. I hate today.
God did a good job today.
I can't speak for rain or floods or drought or hurricanes or tornados, but those drunk drivers, drug addicts, crazed gang members, Enron executives, etc., they all have free will. If God stop the free will actions of those who would, purposefully or not, hurt those whose free will was to worship him could he justly, and remember that justness is one of his character attributes, leave his worshipers with free will. "As long as you choose to do what I want you to do you're free to do whatever you want, because it's what I want. If you choose to do something I don't want you to do then free will is gone for you and I'll take you over and make you do the right thing, it's the good thing about being omnipotent." He could still sort us out, he'd know if it were him or us. I don't think he can play us that way, though. I think he prevents him from doing it. (Character of God.) And what's more ...
I don't think he really cares. Our character and eternity is where his concern rest. The great, Godly plan for most people is that they die. I just don't see where the type of death is in consideration next to the type of life. I also can't see why the Army would really care if you got the dinner you really wanted on the battlefield. The do care that you get fed. Sorry, sir, we're all out of lobster. Hell is for demons, people will go there. It's not why hell was made, but Godly justice demands that some people will end up there. A natural consequence of free will is that some will rebel. A natural consequence of rebellion is suffering. For us to be able to worship meaningfully, and I mean that marionette worship means nothing, it must be done in our free will so ultimately we must face suffering. I have to work to get a paycheck. I wouldn't do it if they didn't pay me. I "suffer" the work for the blessings of my check. I suffer in life for the blessings of an eternal relationship with God. God gives a better return than my boss. I cannot exptect monetary blessings without putting up with the work, and I can even find my way to a thankful heart when payday comes and the bills are due. "Thank you for the work I hated, I hope you have more for me next week." If we recognize the suffering for what it is, an offshoot of our free will relationship with God, we can get to the place Paul was at, and be thankful in persecution.
Hitler rose to power and started what would become a world war and a terrible genocide.
God did a good job that day.
A plague swept over Europe and killed over a quarter of the population.
God did a good job that day.
A tsunami swept through the Indian Ocean and killed thousands.
God did a good job that day.
A hurricane hit the gulf coast and destroyed the entire region.
God did a good job that day.
Terrorist flew planes into buildings on 9/11.
God did a good job that day.
President Bush pushed through unconstitutional provisions that took away our protected rights following 9/11.
God did a good job that day.
My dad's cancer has gotten way worse, he stopped chemo because it's not effective, he can no longer take care of himself, he placed himself on a list for hospice care, he's just waiting to die. I hate today.
God did a good job today.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Insurance again
I have a friend currently in the hospital for an extended stay. Sitting by his bed overnight I talked with his wife about insurance in America. They've been through this before without insurance, this time with. Her insight -- without insurance he'd have been home days ago. The hospital, in her experience, will do the minimum treatment they can get away with because they expect most people to file bancruptcy and they won't get paid, but treatment still costs them. If you file bancruptcy with insurance they still get most of the money due them from the insurance company.
I guess the quality of treatment is the difference insurance makes in a major illness / accident. Sad, but substantial.
I guess the quality of treatment is the difference insurance makes in a major illness / accident. Sad, but substantial.
Barry Bonds*
Let's have a bicycle race. Rules are all bikes have to be pedal powered, no cutting corners on the track, no malicious contact. Easy enough. I'll show up in a moped, remember those, pedal powered and, uh, engine assist.
Bonds gots skills. He just knew he wasn't man enough without a little "assist." I say give him the record. When it's all done let's see:
Bonds, 1032*
and at the bottom of the page:
*not man enough without the juice.
Bonds gots skills. He just knew he wasn't man enough without a little "assist." I say give him the record. When it's all done let's see:
Bonds, 1032*
and at the bottom of the page:
*not man enough without the juice.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Health Care / Insurance
So I don't get it. Obviously, the industry has to make money. Premiums, deductibles, etc. have to cover, not just the cost of care, but also the costs of administration and salaries for those pesky insurance salesman. I recently reviewed some old data about health care costs and, assuming that only the rates have changed and not the percentages, have developed some questions that I'd like to find answers to. I may have to print them out the next time I have to sit through an insurance meeting at work.
There is an average dollar figure for actual cost of health care. This is what it would cost if it were just out of pocket. Ignoring the effect of insurance companies contracting lower rates, I'm just looking at what actually gets paid. In other words, I realize that if you walk into a doctor's office you'll pay more than the insurance gets charged, but let's just pretend insurance didn't exist and providers would take the same money.
Approximately 95% of households spend more on insurance every year than the actual health care costs. I personally average hundreds of dollars per year on routine health care, not counting exceptional injury. Insurance premiums alone for an individual are upwards of $4000. That differential is why all the insurance people get paid. Only about 3% of households have health care costs each year that exceed base insurance costs by 10X. Remember that your employer is paying the bulk of the premium, your $60 per month is a pitance.
If you're one of the households exceeding payments by an extreme amount the insurance may be a windfall. An alternative would be getting the premiums your employer pays to someone else. This would leave you at risk, of course, in the event of any major injury or illness. That last statement implies that having insurance alleviates this risk. Does it, though?
What percentage of bankruptcies involve major medical expenses?
Of those, how many had insurance? (Which didn't protect them financially.)
More to the point:
Of households in any given income bracket, say yours, who suffer a major medical problem and have some standard insurance through their employer, what percentage still file for bankruptcy?
Same question for those without insurance.
I found quite a bit of data that looked like any major medical problem was as likely to send you to bankruptcy court whether you were insured or not. New bankruptcy laws now and I have no idea how this will effect things in the future, but financial devistation is devistating whether you can file or not.
Insurance costs thousands of dollars per year. What gets covered and what doesn't on your next potential policy? Even if it gets covered, how? 80/20 split? 20% of $30,000 will still break most households.
I'd rather see a plan where instead of paying my premiums that money would just go into a flex fund. Use it or lose it. Any unused monies to go to a general healthcare fund. It would encourage routine medical because that amount of money is way more than most people would ever spend anyway.
There is an average dollar figure for actual cost of health care. This is what it would cost if it were just out of pocket. Ignoring the effect of insurance companies contracting lower rates, I'm just looking at what actually gets paid. In other words, I realize that if you walk into a doctor's office you'll pay more than the insurance gets charged, but let's just pretend insurance didn't exist and providers would take the same money.
Approximately 95% of households spend more on insurance every year than the actual health care costs. I personally average hundreds of dollars per year on routine health care, not counting exceptional injury. Insurance premiums alone for an individual are upwards of $4000. That differential is why all the insurance people get paid. Only about 3% of households have health care costs each year that exceed base insurance costs by 10X. Remember that your employer is paying the bulk of the premium, your $60 per month is a pitance.
If you're one of the households exceeding payments by an extreme amount the insurance may be a windfall. An alternative would be getting the premiums your employer pays to someone else. This would leave you at risk, of course, in the event of any major injury or illness. That last statement implies that having insurance alleviates this risk. Does it, though?
What percentage of bankruptcies involve major medical expenses?
Of those, how many had insurance? (Which didn't protect them financially.)
More to the point:
Of households in any given income bracket, say yours, who suffer a major medical problem and have some standard insurance through their employer, what percentage still file for bankruptcy?
Same question for those without insurance.
I found quite a bit of data that looked like any major medical problem was as likely to send you to bankruptcy court whether you were insured or not. New bankruptcy laws now and I have no idea how this will effect things in the future, but financial devistation is devistating whether you can file or not.
Insurance costs thousands of dollars per year. What gets covered and what doesn't on your next potential policy? Even if it gets covered, how? 80/20 split? 20% of $30,000 will still break most households.
I'd rather see a plan where instead of paying my premiums that money would just go into a flex fund. Use it or lose it. Any unused monies to go to a general healthcare fund. It would encourage routine medical because that amount of money is way more than most people would ever spend anyway.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)