Comments on: Another option for affordable healthcare: Marry a Norwegian

By: dnebdal

dnebdal — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 12:39:00 +0000

Go that extra mile to really annoy the conservatives, and marry a man instead. ;)

By: digi_owl

digi_owl — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 05:41:00 +0000

Because it is all starting to look like i am being hounded for making Norway sound like less than a utopia.

Edit: anyways, i am trying to track down a article. But it seems the newspaper searches do not go far enough back. This because even searching on the guys name and looking at articles in general come up blank or limited to mentions in recent articles.

if any other Norwegians feel like helping, this is the guy i am thinking of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jens_Petter_Ekornes

By: Navin_Johnson

Navin_Johnson — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 16:59:00 +0000

I’m guessing that this is a fabricated riff on the infamous Liebeck v. McDonald’s suit. Another case that was subjected to endless political propaganda helping to make a completely reasonable person (and lawsuit) look unreasonable and frivolous. ”Tort reform”…

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 10:39:00 +0000

Why would asking you for a citation mean that I need to ‘chill’?

By: digi_owl

digi_owl — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 06:21:00 +0000

Woa, chill. I do not have anything in English on hand. But i’ll try.

By: Cowicide

Cowicide — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 01:58:00 +0000

Agreed, I always cringe when I see places like Boing Boing and Digg link to reason.com. It helps give Reason a legitimacy they certainly don’t deserve.

By: Cowicide

Cowicide — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 01:55:00 +0000

I think a lot of misinformation and outright lies have become just basic “facts” and have nothing to do with the news.

You’re right on the mark.

It’s from a very concerted effort that these lies have been propagated. It was blown out of the water by a whistleblower from the very top of CIGNA some time ago in this amazing interview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QwX_soZ1GI

In the interview you’ll see how they juxtapose corporatist, bullshit, manufactured talking points (that they KNOW are absolute lies) with TV clips of politicians (Republicans & Bluedog Democrats) parroting them after being TOLD to say them and being lubed up with bribes (political “donations”).

I don’t know how many times I’ve read those talking points from conservatives (republicans/libertarians) in forums all across the Internet who think they found out this bullshit with clever “research”.

It’s one of many reasons I blow off the majority of libertarians who use bullshit “think tanks” as their guide for their massively flawed “research”.

Here it is straight from the horse’s mouth. The guy who actually MADE the talking points and now admits it’s all one giant crock of shit.

Why hasn’t this guy been on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart? I don’t know.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 00:55:00 +0000

it’s not a joke, or even fictional. nor is it a reflection of my feelings of americans.

Yes, it is. It never happened, or if it did, it was a joke that you failed to understand. And you’re repeating it as a factual story. It’s just as bad as any slur presented as fact to defame a group of people.

There are many things wrong with the US, and certainly there have been many high-profile lawsuits here. But there are 314,000,000 of us and the overwhelming majority of us will never sue anyone.

By: Navin_Johnson

Navin_Johnson — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 22:47:00 +0000

There are loads well funded of neoliberal/right wing think tanks, special interest groups “experts” etc. devoted to spreading such falsehoods and half truths. The U.S. is awash in very well funded propaganda mills. See “Reason” which sadly even gets sourced from here sometimes:

http://reason.com/search?cx=000107342346889757597%3Ascm_knrboh8&cof=FORID%3A11&ie=UTF-8&q=canada+health+care&sa=Search

By: Øyvind

Øyvind — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 21:16:00 +0000

it’s not a joke, or even fictional. nor is it a reflection of my feelings of americans. i know americans from most political/social/ethnic groups, and i find them usually both intelligent and sociable.
but from experience i also know that assholes are everywhere. and one happened to come here. this particular asshole managed to live up to a stereotype, which made it funny. at least to us who were not her.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 20:55:00 +0000

It’s not reality. It’s your feelings about Americans turned into a bad joke. It isn’t any funnier than asking how many Polacks it takes to screw in a light bulb.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 20:15:00 +0000

Perhaps you could provide a link to a credible source for your claim.

By: Øyvind

Øyvind — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 20:14:00 +0000

why make up stories when the reality often is better? but i try to not discriminate, and make fun of everyone in equal portions. racism is kinda passé, though.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 20:07:00 +0000

Do you tell racist jokes about Africans and Asians, too, or do you just make up bullshit stories about Americans?

By: visitken

visitken — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 18:10:00 +0000

IMHO, I don’t find that “paradoxical” at all, there is ALWAYS something better somewhere else for those who can afford it. But that doesn’t mean that what the rest of us have is sub-standard. Me, I’d be happy simply to get decent care at a price that doesn’t force me to take out a second mortgage…

By: Xof

Xof — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 15:44:00 +0000

As the philosopher said, “The rich are different from us. They have more money.”

By: digi_owl

digi_owl — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 14:34:00 +0000

You’re reading too much into what i stated. I just find it paradoxical that while “common people” elsewhere look to Norway for working healthcare, the monied “elite” of Norway head abroad to deal with their health issues.

By: freshacconci

freshacconci — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Great response. I will steal it.

By: freshacconci

freshacconci — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 13:59:00 +0000

Doesn’t that have more to do with your complexion?

By: freshacconci

freshacconci — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 13:56:00 +0000

Yeah, it’s not just Fox. I’ve met otherwise liberal Americans who believe that Canada’s healthcare system is terrible and you have to wait years for treatment and that the government dictates what procedures you get. I think a lot of misinformation and outright lies have become just basic “facts” and have nothing to do with the news.

If someone honestly does not believe in universal health care because they feel it infringes on “freedom”, I accept that. I don’t agree, but that’s fine. I just can’t stand the out-and-out lies that are told to vilify Canada’s system. My family is a textbook case study of how well the Canadian system works.

By: Øyvind

Øyvind — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 13:35:00 +0000

Actually, the norwegian professor did think it was a joke. But apparently it wasn’t. Instead of deportation, she was educated on our strange ways. ;-)

By: Xof

Xof — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 13:30:00 +0000

I would hope that said professor was making a (perhaps poor) joke. If not, please feel free to deport her.

By: Xof

Xof — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 13:29:00 +0000

I am fascinated by this argument. Since the elite are able to afford better stuff than the rest of the population, this means that the rest of the population should be denied things. I mean, the elite get to fly in private jets, so we should therefore eliminate airlines! Makes perfect sense to me.

By: Øyvind

Øyvind — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 12:21:00 +0000

So THAT’S why we have all these americans running around in our streets! Actually, here is a fun little anecdote of an american’s first encounter with norwegian culture. I work at a university. An american professor was just arrived to do a year’s guest residency. She was on her tour of introductions with one of ythe other professors, when she poured herself a cup of coffee in the break room. It was a plactic cup, and it slipped, spilling coffee on her hand. Her immediate reaction was to turn to the norwegian professor and say “who do i sue over that cup?” She was told to hld her hand under cold water and (in more diplomatic terms) “stop whining”.
Yes, we have a decent health system. But we also have a slightly higher treshold for actually going to see a doctor (or sue).

By: Wreckrob8

Wreckrob8 — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 11:51:00 +0000

Those are the ones that use electrocution or lethal injection (especially if you are poor and black) are they?

By: Wreckrob8

Wreckrob8 — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 11:19:00 +0000

If we didn’t get tough you’d all be queuing at immigration in Heathrow for your free council house, too.

By: Paul Renault

Paul Renault — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 10:17:00 +0000

You should know by now, that elites of any nationality don’t consider themselves part of the population. Reread your copy of The Origins of Totalitarianism – just the first third or so.

By: digi_owl

digi_owl — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 09:07:00 +0000

I suspect the hardest bit to sell is the “preventative care” part. This include taxation or outright bans on sources of lifestyle illnesses that hoovers up money in the medical system.

By: digi_owl

digi_owl — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 09:03:00 +0000

http://www.inc.com/magazine/20110201/in-norway-start-ups-say-ja-to-socialism.html

By: digi_owl

digi_owl — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 08:56:00 +0000

And at the same time, the Norwegian elite travels abroad to get various procedures done for their lifestyle issues.