A blistering singularity of stupid

Investor's Business Daily seems to be some kind of internet paper for (wait for it) the investment world. But they have editorials. I've no information about how intelligent their editorials normally are, but on 31 July, they manage to post one so blisteringly, mind-bogglingly, stupid that it's made its way round the blogosphere rather more slowly than a speeding bullet, but still quite fast.

My apologies to anyone who's already encountered it, but I thought it deserved to be brought to 'Why god why' as that was my response on reading it. It's here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] My second response was 'how, god, how,' did that get past the subed.

The edorial is about how crappy government run healthcare is, and how it can't possibly work. Ho, hum, nothing new there, from the right wing - though it's already blisteringly ignorant of how things operate in most civilised countries.

The offending section is about halfway down, where it reads, "People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless."

Unless there's another scientist called Stephen Hawking that we haven't been told about, that's Stephen Hawking the British theoretical physicist. The one living in Cambridge, England. The one whose care is paid for by the British NHS.

The ignorance, it burns us.

ETA: Oho, they found themselves looking stupid and took it down. However, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I just noticed your avatar said someone. All this time, I thought it was something.

Never has it been so appropriate.

Lexin wrote:

The offending section is about halfway down, where it reads, "People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless."

"Unlike here in the US, where . . . wait, he can't afford health insurance? THROW HIM OUT ON THE STREET AND GIVE THAT HOSPITAL BED TO SOMEONE WITH SOME FUCKING MONEY!"

Quote :

The U.K.'s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) basically figures out who deserves treatment by using a cost-utility analysis based on the "quality adjusted life year."
One year in perfect health gets you one point. Deductions are taken for blindness, for being in a wheelchair and so on.
The more points you have, the more your life is considered worth saving, and the likelier you are to get care.

Um, no. I know people who work for NICE. NICE does not work that way.

Quote :

People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless.

Quote :

The British are praised for spending half as much per capita on medical care. How they do it is another matter. The NICE people say that Britain cannot afford to spend $20,000 to extend a life by six months. So if care will cost $1 more, you get to curl up in a corner and die.

Wrong! Our evil, disabled-killing organisation works in pounds, not dollars.

Quote :

The British have succeeded in putting a price tag on human life, as we are about to.

I had a little click round the site and I found this one:

Quote :

President Barack Obama won an unprecedented 96% of the black vote. That's not much of a news story since blacks typically give their votes to the Democratic candidate.

It gets more offensive from there.

And there's another one on health care!

Quote :

There might not be a "death panel," as Sarah Palin described it, but federal bureaucrats will be making end-of-life decisions. That's why state-run medicine is a leading cause of death in Britain and Canada.

Well then, might as well keep up with the smoking. It's clearly not nearly as much of a killer as the NHS!

Quote :

Death panels are already here it seems, just as they have been for some time in Britain and Canada.

Shit! There's a black van outside, and the death panels have deemed me not worthy of life!

ZoZo wrote:

That's why state-run medicine is a leading cause of death in Britain and Canada.

It is? Oh, wait, no it isn't. Sarah Palin (a) tells lies and (b) is stupid.

ZoZo wrote:

Quote :

The British have succeeded in putting a price tag on human life, as we are about to.

Someone should tell them that up to 70% of bankruptcy in America is caused by medical bills. An uninsured person will be up to 500,000 dollars in debt from cancer treatment.

One of my friend's broke their arm in England after falling down some stairs and only had to pay a small fee. Then fell down some stairs when they got back home and was 30,000 dollars in debt just for getting a minor concussion treated and this includes the 6,000 dollar ambulance ride. Needless to say, they stop hanging around stairs while drunk.

Lysander wrote:

"Unlike here in the US, where . . . wait, he can't afford health insurance? THROW HIM OUT ON THE STREET AND GIVE THAT HOSPITAL BED TO SOMEONE WITH SOME FUCKING MONEY!"

My nephew got a very shitty skin graph at a shitty hospital because he didn't have any insurence.

This is one of those countries where you have to be rich to be treated like a fucking human being, so I'm not surprised.

KGarrett wrote:

This is one of those countries where you have to be rich to be treated like a fucking human being, so I'm not surprised.

"I got mine, so fuck you." :psy-4:

I know people who think having to pay 75,000 dollars from a 200,000 dollar medical bill is a epic win for them. "I would have waited a year to get treated." But you still had to wait 7 months while getting sicker and sicker each week and now you are in debt.