K-Mac

I heard an interesting story on talk radio a few years ago in Houston. It was the story of a Beaumont doctor and his son, who practiced together, and they refused to file insurance on behalf of their patients. (If patients wanted to file a claim with their insurer, they certainly could do so on their own.) The result was that their services cost far less than the services of doctors who had to employ a small army of people just to handle insurance claims. For example, the Beaumont doctors would set a broken arm in a cast for $90 while their competitor had to charge $300 or more for the same procedure to cover all the insurance claim/paperwork/staff-related expenses. Granted, the Beaumont doctor's patients had to pay up front, then wait for reimbursement by the insurance company, but with savings like that, wouldn't it be worth it?

Well let me first start off my saying great job, intellectualammo! It sounds like you are a nice, honest, hard-working person and it sure is nice to be recognized for all that you do. I want to also preface my story by saying that I am a college drop out, and although I consider myself intelligent, I could probably use a little more book smarts. I think that's another reason I am so happy to have discovered Ayn Rand and Atlas Shrugged recently. It's quite nice to be educated by someone I can respect. (No offense intended to any college professors out there.) After dropping out of college at the age of 19 and returning to my parent's home, I started working full time as a waitress and bartender. I worked for the same restaurant for nearly three years and felt quite lost in life. I certainly did not want to be a "Flo" (full-time, 50-something year-old waitress from the TV show Alice.) My last year in the restaurant business, I was promoted to key employee. That basically meant I was doing everything the restaurant manager was doing, but wasn't getting paid for it. The manager screwed me over on the schedule one day and that was it...the final straw. I had a "take this job and shove it" moment, told off the manager and stormed out. When I arrived home, I was mortified. What had I done? What would I do now? My crummy one bedroom apartment was so depressing and I just felt like a dumb failure. A few days later, I was sitting on my sofa watching TV and still feeling sorry for myself, when the phone rang. It was one of the bartenders I worked with and one of my regular customers had come by and was wondering what had happened to me. When she found out I was unemployed, she gave her business card to my friend and asked him to call me. Come to find out, she was an officer with a large mutual fund company in Houston, Texas, and she wanted me to come work for her. She was so impressed by my customer service skills and dedication, that she wanted to hire me regardless of my past experience and lack of a college degree. A few days later, I found myself at the nicest office building in the Houston Metro area being interviewed for a job I was clearly not qualified for, but they had faith in me that I was a good, hard worker and could learn. And so I did. Now, 12 years later, I have my securities license and work for an awesome financial planner. He is a great mentor, and friend, and hopes to have me working my own book of business if/when I choose to do so. In the meantime, I love his clients, love helping them plan for their futures and thoroughly enjoy this industry. I can't tell you how happy I am professionally. I sincerely love my job and my employer. And evidently, the feeling is mutual. I received a huge Christmas bonus last year, after only working with him for 6 months. I have never heard of an assistant receiving a bonus that large, but I sure was glad to be on the receiving end. More important to me than the money, was the message he wrote in the Christmas card he gave me. He gushed about how proud he was to have me a part of his firm and how he hopes we have many more productive years together. I plan to stay as long as he'll have me!

Personally, I've never been attracted to those types of guys. I want to be respected and the bottom line of that photo is that the woman is not commanding respect. Drunk guys will try to get away with just about anything women will let them get away with, so in my opinion, the woman is the main problem in the photo. (Or maybe I'm just being hard on her because I'm a woman?) That was my next though...everyone has a drink in their hand. It could also be that these three are close friends who are simply drunk and playing around. If these people haven't known each other very long, then my previous comment about respecting yourself and commanding it from others applies.

I hear ya. I wish I could delve into all that deep, philosophical talk, but it's a bit much for me. Nice to have you aboard!

Maybe I'm being over-simplistic, and it sounds like I'm in agreement with David, but if one sees an unattended fire, I believe it should be put out. We can't have burning embers floating around catching everyone else's property on fire, and embers can travel farther than most people realize. Much less if it starts a brush or forest fire...now many people's homes or businesses may be threatened, fuel tanks could explode, etc., etc. The closest, most readily available fire department needs to put out unattended and/or out-of-control fires immediately. Forget coulda, shoulda, woulda and just do it! When the whole town burns down and people have died and/or lost property and everyone is left pointing the finger, this whole argument won't matter, will it?

It IS scary and serious and all, but I love that graphic. Too funny!

This stuff is crackin' me up! I guess environmentalism is like taxes and big government, they follow you from birth to death!

I have not pondered the idea of a private fire fighting company. I always assumed that the fire departments would be volunteer departments, as they used to be. My father was a volunteer firefighter for over 20 years in Texas. When I was a kid (back in the 70s) I remember going with my parents and other firefighter families up to the local shopping center. We would sit at the store fronts with our little folding tables and ask patrons for donations for the fire department. We would display pictures of the trucks and other equipment the department needed to buy to protect the ever-growing community. The firefighters would talk about what they do, how they do it and the importance of every citizen to donate something, anything to help the cause. They always received the money they needed to buy the latest and greatest equipment. And corporate sponsors helped too, of course. Everyone had something to lose, so everyone gave, even if it was just a dollar or two. My mom was a volunteer dispatcher. The dispatchers would take turns being on call. The fire phone (yes, a lot like the Bat Phone) would ring at any hour when my mother was on call, and she would spring into action. She would be in our utility room on the radio telling the firefighters where to go, etc. When her shift was up, she would drive the radio equipment to the next home so that dispatcher could await her shift. (They had several radios and fire phones so there would be no lapses in coverage.) If it worked then, why wouldn't it work now? In response to your specific post, I think private firefighting companies could work too. I think the departments would have to be split up into specific coverage areas to ensure everyone has protection. I am not sure how they would be paid, though. I guess you would just pay as you use their services. Insurance companies would end up paying the fees I guess? Like you said, a fire can threaten more properties than just the one where the fire started, so I am not sure how different contracts on different homes with different fire companies would work??? Although, the volunteer departments were always helping each other out. It was not uncommon for 2 or 3 different volunteer districts to show up at one large fire. I guess if one company puts out a fire for another, they could bill the other company?

Awesome! I've been using a Heinlein quote on my email signature lately... An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.--Robert A. Heinlein ...but now I may use the quote in your post. Good stuff!

I do not doubt that the Earth may be going through a warming trend, but I doubt that humans are causing it. I also believe that socialists are using global warming as an excuse to levy higher taxes and further restrictions on businesses and individuals alike. That is the problem I have with the whole argument. I think human ingenuity, creativity and capitalism will take care of any problems that arise in due time, if we can keep the government out of it! As far as tree-hugging, hippies, etc., I love the shade and beauty of a nice tree as much as the next guy, but I'm not going to ruin my own way of life to save a planet that doesn't need my saving and is quite capable of taking care of itself.

I guess I just don't feel that way. My employer offers one insurance company to choose from, but it's a PPO so I can choose what Dr's to see, etc. The ambulance even asked me what hospital I wanted to go to. (Being in excruciated pain, I chose the closest, but I was surprised to hear that I had options.) If I don't want the insurance my employer offers, I am free to purchase whatever policy I choose, or I can choose to be uninsured. Now I agree that these insurance companies are probably over-regulated by the government and that causes problems that need not exist, and of course, health insurance is not perfect, I just fail to see how it's as horrible as everyone makes it out to be.

Cardboard?! What's the point? You might as well just throw the stiff into a hole! You know, I've just decided...I'm going to insist on having an eco-unfriendly funeral. Never mind the cremation...I want a casket made from some nearly extinct tree put in a marble vault. I want a caravan of Hummers to take my casket along with all of my family and friends to the burial site. I'll take to rotting in the ground if it will piss off some tree-huggin' hippie!

I want to be cremated anyway. Just ashes inside a mangled, piece-o-crap, enviro-car. How sad. That's worse than Cheryl Crowe!

Yikes! The speed limit on the highway to my office is 75 mph...can you imagine getting into a wreck in that thing with a real car going 75-80 mph?! They would just have to bury me in the car!

Tenure, I think you're being really hard on yourself. You're obviously intelligent and, not to sound condescending because that's not how I mean it, but you're only 18. You have more than enough time left in life to figure out what your talent is, how you plan to use it, etc. Maybe you're just going through a phase? Sometimes I get down on myself too and have to remember that I'm only 34 and I still have plenty of time. If you're freaking out, then I really need to worry. Maybe your hormones or social situation is overriding your intellect right now and making you feel this way? I don't mean that funny, I mean seriously. People like to make fun of women for hormones and such, but men, especially at your age, go through many changes too. I don't have a way with words that some others on this Forum have and I am sure someone will chime in with something much better to say, but quit beating yourself up in the meantime. You sound like a wonderful young man with lots of potential to me...and I've only been hanging around here for about a month. I think you're just in too much of a hurry to see the man in the mirror you want to be instead of having some patience to grow into that person. I don't know...does that make any sense? Someone help me out here...

Here's another one... http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html I think some students were reading The Fountainhead at my high school because that title didn't sound completely unfamiliar to me, but I had never heard of her until I was 33 years old.

Maybe you need to have a party, let loose and relax a little? Perhaps you are worrying too much. I used to worry quite a bit when I was younger. My father told me something that has always helped me when I worry..."only worry about the things you can do something about today...everything else you must let go of until you are able to do something about them." I know that may be over-simplifying things, but sometimes getting back to basics is exactly what one needs. I'm not sure if this will help you out, but I thought I would throw it out there just in case.

I do not know much about this topic, but after reading your link, it sounds utterly ridiculous to me. It's not the third party's fault that the marriage failed. The marriage probably failed prior to the adulterous incident. (Had the marriage been healthy, one spouse wouldn't have been out seeking another companion, right?) It seems to be yet another case of blaming someone else for one's own problems. In general, there seems to be a lack of personal responsibility in today's society.

Is this not depressing? The book (AS) voted second only to the Bible as books that changed people's lives and few have even heard of it or its author? Madness, I tell you...madness!!

Well I can only give you my estimation, but I just turned 34 and I had never heard of Ayn Rand, her books or Objectivism until April of this year. (Pretty sad, huh?) I finished Atlas Shrugged (AS) in late May and started with this forum in June, so I am really new to all of this. I can tell you that besides my employer, the person who referred me to Ayn Rand, one neighbor and an aunt, I cannot find anyone else who has even heard of her. The Fountainhead sounded familiar to a few people, but other than that, I just got a lot of question marks on faces. I am doing my best to spread the word, though. I have already loaned AS to a very liberal friend of mine and she seems very interested to give it a chance. Her liberal husband, however, reamed her for bringing home "that Conservative crap!" Based on that comment, I assume he's never read it either.

I have always been torn on the Confederate Flag issue. As a native Texan, I have seen it everywhere all of my life. Besides the KKK and other obviously racist organizations, the majority of people I know who have displayed the flag, do not display it to show support of slavery. I thought it was common knowledge that the Civil War was fought, at least initially, for reasons other than slavery. Lincoln made slavery an issue later on in the war, for several reasons, but that was not the sole basis for the war on either side. (Perhaps it should have been, but it wasn't.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origins_of_th...rican_Civil_War Basically, the South was fighting for its way of life. Granted, that way of life largely revolved around agriculture and slavery, but many of the men who fought the war owned no slaves and were very poor. They were fighting because they believed the industrial North did not understand their way of life; therefore, should not control it. The Confederate Flag, for many people in the South, simply represents their heritage and culture, which is quite different than Northern states still to this day. I am torn on the issue because so many people do see the flag as a symbol of slavery, be it right or wrong, but I understand the will to preserve the traditions of the South, less slavery of course. I think I'll go home and watch Gone with the Wind tonight. "As God is my witness, as God is my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again. "

For all the flaws in the health care system, in the US and abroad, I must say that my recent experience left me feeling quite good about my particular situation. I slipped on a friend's icy driveway back in mid-January and broke my leg in two places. (Spiral fracture of my tib/fib.) An ambulance picked me up, administered some pain meds (thank you, thank you, thank you) and dropped me off at the local, brand new hospital. Xrays were taken, (pain meds wearing off, ouch) I was doped up again, (thank you, thank you) then my leg was set and I was sent to a private room in the ER. The next morning, I had a 3 hour surgery to insert a titanium rod into my tibia (larger lower leg bone). I was discharged the following afternoon. I pay half of my health insurance premiums and my employer pays the other half, for a total of $340/month. My total out-of-pocket expenses for the broken leg are $2000. So my insurance spent over $45,000 on me during the past 6-7 months for the $2380 in premiums my boss and I paid. Where's the problem? I got top-notch, world class care, good hospital food and everything, for the bargain basement price of $2380 (premiums paid during the time my leg was broke) plus $2000 (my out of pocket expenses for a $45,000 broken leg.) I can only imagine how much this treatment would have cost, and how long I would have had to wait for it, had I been just about anywhere else in the world. (It may have been free to me at the time, but you know someone is paying for it...and probably paying way too much for sub-standard care.) They probably would have just set my leg in a cast and sent me home, which would have meant that my right leg would end up about 3 inches shorter than my left leg. Gee, thanks for the permanent disability. Basically, I feel like I received much better care than what I actually paid for. This was my first time in a hospital and my first major injury or illness, so I really don't have anything to compare it to except for the horror stories other people may tell, but there's my two cents for whatever it's worth!

Hello and welcome!

Well I'm a Jeopardy fan, although I can only answer about half the questions. I enjoy looking up the answers I missed and educating myself. I've discovered I have a lot of useless trivia knowledge. Well, I guess it's not completely useless, it can make for interesting conversation at parties and I'm pretty good at Trivial Pursuit.

You SHOULD be able to leave your keys in your car with the doors unlocked, but I think any reasonable person in today's society, particularly in urban areas, should know better. Even so, I don't think that should make the owner of the stolen vehicle liable for the actions of the thief. I think that's sliding down a slippery slope, don't you?