Have you ever been poor in the US? I grew up in a pretty poor area. I was not poor, but not much more than that either (for my primary school years - we had a classic American fairytale change of fortunes in my HS years). Back then the health care system was not in such shambles, but Reagan was doing his dead-level…

I’m sorry I didn’t reply to this. I thought I did. You make a really good point here. I wonder if there is some sort of residual fear and suspicion of central government in the US. If you think about it, it’s not just the founding story of the US, but also the reason for immigration for a whole lot of Americans who…

I agree that the US government and populace is really in no condition to put in place a system like that of other "first world" countries. For lots of reasons, not least the residual resistance of Americans to trust in or cooperate with central government (as pointed out by a commenter on this thread). The government…

JohnCrust, I have lived in three different countries with so called "socialized medicine" systems implemented by a central government, and the care I received in all of them was equal to, or exceeded, the care I received on the crappy HMO I could afford in the US. It was partly due to a pre-existing condition, and…

My family is in the Midwest, so when I come home for my twice yearly visits, I go to the East Coast and Midwest. The Midwest is where you really feel it. I know they've been hit harder by the recession and haven't recovered at the same rate, so that's driving some of it. And 9/11 was used (unconscionably) as a wedge…

I hate to admit it (I feel vaguely traitorous to family and home), but after 10 years living abroad, I feel much the same way about America. You nailed it when you mentioned the sense of victimhood and paranoia. I used to be very proud of American "can-do" spirit, but it seems to be vanishing, replaced by a sense of…

No, the money being withdrawn isn’t welfare. At least not “welfare” as thought of in the US. In Australia, everyone who isn’t basically wealthy ($140,000 salary) gets a government subsidy for child care. A child care tax rebate. It’s substantial, and is of great help to working parents. Also, there is a “baby bonus,”…

I did NOT know the Burroughs reference. That's just so right on for them, it's hilarious!

But one thing I will continue to hammer to the jez audience is that the past 30 years have not been a straight linear progression of enlightened thoughts. Shit happened and we learned from it, and then the U.S. rubberbanded in such a huge way that we’re currently behind the point that we were then. That is something…

Your comment has a delightfully Pratchett-y feel to it. I've been re-reading since he passed away, so my head is all in Disc World.

I read this on my phone and had to run to my laptop, where I'm logged in, so I could star immediately. This is the weirdness that makes me love Jez so.

I wrote about this on another thread, but my dog was shot when I was a little kid, for jumping, with muddy paws, on a bad man. Still really bothers me. I also had another beloved dog shot, but he had somehow gone down the road far from our house and was apparently barking at sheep. I think the shooter in that case…

When I was just a wee kid, my family came home from a weekend at the grandparents' to find my sweet little rat terrier gut shot. She waited till we got home to pass away, and even made the last push to run to our car. Our alcoholic dickhead neighbor admitted that he shot her because she jumped on him with muddy paws.…

If we hadn't married, I would have mourned those letters. As it is, I am treated daily to his whackadoo charm and verve. I still have secret hopes of finding a way to unlock the damned discs and print them out for an anniversary present some year or another.

I saved all my husband's love emails to me (from our early dating days) on hard disc. So, now I have three obsolete discs that I can't bear to throw away. Hooray modern (ish) love.

I'm right there with you.

That seems weirdly plausible.

It's a close call, but ER is my hero.

I was the same when I was pregnant. I wonder is there a high non-responder rate for rubella? I was tutoring Sudanese refugee kids at the time and had to stop because most of them had just arrived in country and hadn't completed their vaccination schedules. Very sad.

Wow.