BatmanUSA

after Iraq, afghanistan, and all the other places the US has gotten involved, some would have hoped that the US has learned from those mistakes...

why are we still spending billions of dollars to rebuild Iraq while our own infrastructure is deteriorating significantly...

that old saying, freedom isn't free... but why is the US paying the majority of the costs to expand worldwide freedom...??

we won the cold war because we out spent and bankrupted the Soviet union... now it seems this country is almost bankrupt... The US government better read some history books and wise up before this country starts fragmenting...

I agree with Danno... NATO and the European Union are surrounding Russia.. of course they feel threatened..

The collapse of the Soviet Union, decimated the Russian economy and military but they have been rebuilding their economy and their military for the past 20 years. Concentrating and investing in their own country while the US has been using resources to do what some people could consider an attempt to dominate the entire world.

I'm wondering why a Russian warplane would spend 90 minutes flying around a US warship in the black sea, last week.. now that's very provocative, however if there was a Russian warship in the gulf of Mexico, the US would probably do the same thing... But last year there was a Russian nuclear submarine in the gulf of mexico and supposedly the US military didn't know it was there..

was this study funded by American taxpayers.??

she didn't just sell a few hash brownies, she also recruited 2 juveniles to assist her with her drug dealing enterprise..

Undocumented ILLEGAL immigrants should be more lawful and careful.

the fact remains this 18 year old illegal immigrant committed a felony and admitted to it. Those are the facts. She is an admitted drug dealer who sold drugs to children... She did not get a real job to work for what she wanted. The government should deport her and she has the right to hire an attorney to defend her.

You want to defend her solely because she is an illegal immigrant..? Isn't that also discriminatory.??

What would you want done if an old white guy sold pot brownies to your children so he could get money for a new surf board.?? Would you be happy if he did not receive a harsh sentence.??

Russia today is definitely not the same old Soviet Empire..

Putin is trying to restore Russia to the worldwide superpower status enjoyed by the Soviet Union, as now they are a regional power.

News propaganda is used by all governments, its nothing new and nothing specific to Putin.

Fox is Republican, MSNBC is Democratic...

The question is... Where can we get legitimate and unbiased news from.???

we had no problems with our interview in Moscow last year.. it was very short and very very sweet.

tap 3 times on the public restroom floor if you want me.

It was stuck to the young and healthy and everyone else that carried insurance all along. You make it sound like that's a new feature. It isn't. Only now those young and healthy and others that used to be free riders no longer get a free ride. Everyone's on the hook for health care. And that's exactly how it should be if everyone has a right to be treated in the ER regardless of the ability to pay.

Nope. Absolutely incorrect.

The young and healthy previously had an option not to purchase, and therefore not subsidize, other's healthcare. This group by definition is the healthiest cohort and utilizes very little resources from our health care system. There was no "free ride" if they were not taking anything. Making them pay now is simply a new transfer of their money to the older (and hence less healthy) older citizens.

Additionally, everyone always has had - and continues to have - access to emergency treatment regardless of ability to pay. It is the law of the land, and it was enacted well before Obamacare.

But when the young and healthy had an emergency, they went to the ER and how many just blew off the bill.???

Now they are required to pay something, even if it is just an upfront monthly insurance premium, maybe they will still blow off the ER bill, but they still are required to buy health insurance.

Also, if you look at all the independent contractors from various professions who were not allowed to buy discount health insurance thru a group, now they have that option thru the exchanges...

America is a land that allows people to express their point of view. Those who lack respect for our Armed Forces should consider themselves lucky that 911 calls don't identify them as such.

Wow.! this is an interesting comparison.

Crimea was an independent state of Ukraine. They had their own government and Russian was an official language.. After the terrorists seized power in Kiev, the unelected government, immediately passed laws to limit the rights of free Crimeans and they disallowed Russian as an official language...

What would happen if D.C. passed laws to take away the Puerto Rican commissioner, took away their autonomy, and disallowed the use of Spanish as an official language. While still not giving them equal representation in the government.?

I am glad to see someone else drinks sour milk... my wife saves it and uses it when she bakes... I thought it was disgusting, but I ate it, it was very good and I didn't get sick.....

thanks for posting this

didn't Obama bow to the Saudi King and someone else.??

well maybe he did learn his lesson that the American people do not want their President bowing to anyone..

I saw that. I guess I was too slow to edit. So we are looking at a $55000 bill and $37000 adjustment (based on insurers negotiated rate). Nothing unusual there, most hospital bills will look like that.

Then we have the insurer paying about $6500 and the patient left with $11000. Looks bad on the surface, but without knowing the insurance plans deductable, HSA or anything else, it's hard to say.

Although health care costs are ridiculous, It does look like this hospitals' pricing is on the high side of things as well, which can make a big difference. It does make sense to have an idea of that if you have more than one hospital in your area. You can't really shop around in an emergency, but you can have a plan where you would go ahead of time.

you can have a plan of where to go in an emergency, but if you call for an ambulance, many have a policy of taking you to the closest ER..

The insurance paid just over 6K. The rest were "adjustment" - i.e. the real prices for the service rather than the hospital rack rates. There were $17.5K actually due, of which the insurance paid $6.5K and the insured is due to pay $11K. On a family plan, that might make sense if you have a 5K/10K deductible on an HDHP.

I had an ER and hospitalization experience last year and ended up shelling out close to $7K of what was initially an $85K bill. Again, no biggie since I have a healthy HSA that I have funded and continue to fund with the premium savings and the employer contribution. So even when paying a large bill like that, I still come out better than buying the tradional PPO plan.

This is not so much a story as it is the everyday reality of the American health care system. I'm way past being shocked about it. The system is cruel joke.

The system is a cruel joke.!

you are lucky to have an employer who contributes to your HSA..

maybe after getting -blasted for bowing to the Saudi King, he decided not to bow anymore..

If you are watching c-span, maybe you need a hobby.. :-)

I read that article and could see some truth to it...

Perhaps someday California will want to become independent from the US... Maybe Texas. who knows, but the future possibilities are there...

Despite being 'the' place to be and a beacon of democracy, I have no intention of establishing residence anywhere in the former USSR.

Besides, they are overrun with millions and millions of illegal immigrants, seeking the Russian Way and the Russian dream.

I thought America was "the " place to be and a beacon of democracy which is overrun with millions of illegal immigrants seeking to force America to accept their way of life and still achieve the American dream...

Russia expects their immigrants to conform to Russian society and their way of life. Which is working long hours for very little salary, and housing a family of 4 in a 1 bedroom apartment.

What communist demonstrations have you seen in the US.

The Korean War never ended officially, there was an armistice. In 1954 the Geneva talks failed between China & the U.S which established the 38th parallel forever. I have never ever heard of China and the US agreeing to withdraw troops. Where did you get that from? I'm just curious, I did a quick google search and couldn't find anything along those lines.

Honestly I don't know what history books you been reading or how you get your information. After WW2 I seem to remember the formation of the Eastern Bloc and the Warsaw Pact, where the USSR established it's foothold and thus the beginning of the Cold War.

So yeah

Deployment of U.S. atomic weapons in Korea in 1958

Paragraph 13(d) of the Armistice Agreement mandated that both sides should not introduce new weapons into Korea, other than the piece-for-piece replacement of damaged or worn out equipment. In September 1956 the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Radford indicated within the U.S. government that the U.S. military intention was to introduce atomic weapons into Korea, which was agreed to by the U.S. National Security Council and President Eisenhower.^[23] However paragraph 13(d) prevented the introduction of nuclear weapons and missiles.^[24] The U.S. decided to unilaterally abrogate paragraph 13(d), breaking the Armistice Agreement, despite concerns by United Nations allies.^[25][26][27] At a meeting of the Military Armistice Commission on June 21, 1957, the U.S. informed the North Korean representatives that the UNC no longer considered itself bound by paragraph 13(d) of the armistice.^[28][29] In January 1958 nuclear armed Honest John missiles and 280mm atomic cannons were deployed to South Korea,^[30] a year later adding nuclear armed Matador cruise missiles with the range to reach China and the Soviet Union.^[26

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^{my bad... there was no agreement to pull out all troops, the agreement, as listed above, stated neither side would introduce new weapons.. But my point stands that it was the US who was the aggressor and broke the treaty..}

NOt sure why you keep referring to socialism as a light to guide you?

Perhaps we should disband the Boy scouts since hitler had one of those.

I was going to say that. Hmmph.

Wow. Just wow.

well I didn't use red highlighter when I wrote my post. Obviously you added it to make some point..

I've been to Russia several times over the past 2 years. I met friendly hard working people with complaints about their government which were reflective of similar complaints that Americans have about our government..

The only time I didn't feel safe.... one afternoon we saw a communist rally, I grabbed my camera and went running toward it and my wife yelling to me, "don't get too close, they may kill you." ...

But I was ok, it was a peaceful demonstration and there were lots of police in the area..

Russia is all about individual freedom now... I guess you have never been there. Its a real capitalist society just like here, and just like all our corrupt politicians who lie to get elected and make up their own rules and change laws without consent of the people.

I've seen communist demonstrations in Russia, and I've seen them also in the USA...

Odd. At the end of the Korean war, China pulled all its soldiers and the USA agreed to do the same, but we didn't.

After WW2 and the end of the Soviet Empire, Russia pulled its troops back and again, the US and NATO advanced their troops...

So really, who is the aggressor.??

But some people will always hate..

I think Russia's military is grossly overrated... but I do not want my country to be the one to test it...

The big deal is that it stops NATO and its expansion policies to isolate Russia... It seems it is the US Government that has kept the cold war alive...

Basically, terrorists, overthru the elected government in Ukraine and put in their own, unelected people.. now this is the Ukraine government that the US recognizes.?

Al Sharpton......

wow, I remember 20 years ago when he lied about a girl being raped, just to promote himself and his personal agenda (and his wallet)....

and now he is a respected civil rights leader with a show on MSNBC..

Yes Crimea was part of Russia, then the Soviet Union gave it to Ukraine and it was overlooked when the Soviet Union dissolved.. I guess no one ever imagined that Ukraine would be a possible addition to NATO...

Over the past 10 years, Crimea has asked for a vote to become independent/join Russia but the Ukraine government would never allow that vote..

Then NATO saw an opportunity to get into Ukraine. A faction of people overthrew the legitimate government in Ukraine and put in, without elections, a pro-western regime... That regime immediately issued orders against the Crimea-Russians. Those Crimea's asked Russia for help.. Which they received..

So, it kinda looks like Russia invaded Ukraine, but when you know more of the story and the facts and the history, Russia was invited by the people of Crimea to take the actions they did. However western propaganda explains things in a different way, but they obviously choose to not report certain facts...