Take a deep breath, and try again.

I mouthed off to my mom when I was a teenager once. She decked me.

Dr.Cwac.Cwac on October 9, 2008 at 1:49 PM

Mine used shame.

misterpeasea on October 9, 2008 at 2:14 PM

I got both, and deserved most of it; without it I’d be in jail or worse. With it I got a PhD. Sparing the rod does indeed spoil the child, and man do we have a bunch of spoiled brats, and adults as well.

I think its great! Your little teenage punk bad mouthes off to you about this or that, you give him a good spanking, like my folks did to me, throw this little article in their faces and say, “Read this while we take a little drive to Omaha! Don’t worry, I hear the State of Nebraska lets you have meat on Christmas!”.

This law MUST have been written by Obama voters; no one else is this stupid!!!

Solyent Green.

Glynn on October 9, 2008 at 4:59 PM

Soylent Green. Sorry.

Objection!
Morality does not require religion.

Your misconception here comes from the fact that, for the most part, religion requires morality. As such, the immoral will often reject religion.

However, there are a number of us that were raised with a strong morality in the absence of religion.

So, please, let us focus on the immoral ones. It is their irresponsibility that causes these problems.

Count to 10 on October 9, 2008 at 2:22 PM

Morality does not require religion, it’s true. But a truly naturalistic universe is amoral, and thus holds no universal moral truth. Hence in a naturalistic world, no single individual’s moral code is more “valid” than another’s. At that point, things get most decidedly Darwinian.

Tim Burton on October 9, 2008 at 3:35 PM

Yes, it’s all the kid’s fault. Parents take no blame and no responsibility.

Esthier on October 9, 2008 at 3:15 PM

The family lives in MD and DE… we’re going up this weekend for the Navy Day Ball/5th anniversary, but it’s a minimum 5-hour trip. He comes on the weekends when he cans, so I get a few hours to myself. Yeah, it’s lonely, and very difficult at times… I’ll admit I cry a lot. Which makes me pissed to read stories like this – I mean, times get hard for a number of reasons, but none of it is an excuse to dump children into the hands of the state. Buck up, people. When it gets super bad, just think: each day that passes is another day closer to the day they move out. My husband calls this thinking about the positive. : )

Interesting…. you the teenager you have gots to have some serious problems to abandon a teenager.

upinak on October 9, 2008 at 1:43 PM

JadeNYU on October 9, 2008 at 3:03 PM

That’s how I understand it as well.

Rates are based on the COSTS in particular areas. COSTS are higher in California and New York. If you get a health plan in Nebraska that has to pay the outrageous rates in Ca and NY, everyone in Nebraska will have their rates go way, way up.

ThackerAgency on October 9, 2008 at 3:14 PM

If that’s true, then why can’t the insurance companies just charge extra for people in other states unless those people receive medical care in the state where they get their insurance? They already charge extra for those with preexisting conditions. I don’t really see the difference here.

Besides, unless I’m mistaken, people can get insurance in the state in which they live and get treated in another.

When my mom was being treated for cancer she was at M.D. Anderson in Houston which has a good reputation, and I always saw people who only came to Texas to go to that hospital for their treatments, some British people too actually.

I should be able to negotiate what coverage I want and what I will pay with my insurance coverage without the government’s involvement.

I should have previewed before I sent.

I meant that I should be able to negotiate what is covered and what I pay for it with my insurance company without the government’s involvement.

Grue in the Attic on October 9, 2008 at 3:18 PM

Phil is right about McCain allowing across state lines insurance. However, I disagree with Thacker on one point. This would allow competition, and tend to standardize costs, if (BIG IF) handled apropriately.

ThackerAgency on October 9, 2008 at 3:14 PM

I definitely understand and agree.

Though, rather than asking the state to have fewer mandates, I’d like for them to get out of the mandates altogether.

I should be able to negotiate what coverage I want and what I will pay with my insurance coverage without the government’s involvement.

People would be furious if the state mandated that their home owner’s insurance includes insurance for swimming pools regardless of whether or not they had a pool. And yet, people seem fine with the fact that their health insurance is required to cover addiction treatment whether they are at risk for it or not.

Of course, the average American probably isn’t even aware of the fact that the state mandates what things their insurance must cover in the first place. They’re most likely under the impression that it’s all still a free-market system.

But this is more like the kind of discussion to be had over a few beers and some serious time on hand.

Marine_Bio on October 9, 2008 at 3:12 PM

Well, I’m not a drinker, but I can definitely see my self burning a good chunk of time in said discussion.

ThackerAgency on October 9, 2008 at 3:14 PM

That explains it better, which makes sense why it would/will be a problem. Is Phil correct on McCain’s stance? (Not that I don’t have enough to be irked at him for, despite the fact I’m still voting for him I’m not 100% on board with his policies….)

*eats*

There really has never been a society in which those who believe in no greater power whatsoever are a majority. The ultimate question, at least to me, is what such a society might be like. On what would their laws be based, if they had any laws at all? How and why would they be enforced? There are a million questions down this vein, it’s a subject I’ve been quite curious about for a very long time.

*eats*

Grue in the Attic on October 9, 2008 at 3:09 PM

Depending on where you draw some of those lines (those affiliated with a church may not in fact be believers, or may have compartmentalized their mind enough that they most of the time they don’t believe, even if they sometimes do) such a society may already exist.
Europe.
(Which, unfortunately, does not give a resounding endorsement of the health of such a society)

It worked for thousands of years, right up until “Pop-Tarts” and “Tang” were invented. I don’t see any reason to doubt it’s effectiveness just because toaster pastries and simulated juice have been invented.

Maybe. It would have to involve a massive, MASSIVE societal change. Depending on how the next couple of decades go we might just get it, but who knows.

*shines a light around*

TMK on October 9, 2008 at 3:12 PM

*HISSSSSSSSSSSS!!!*

Ok my comment about the sign on this blog. 9:00AM till 8:30 PM… does the ER close for a 30 minutes break or something?

upinak on October 9, 2008 at 1:48 PM

It just occurred to me that since when do Emergency Rooms close?

“Gotta remember not to have a heart attack or appendix flare up at 3:00 am, Fred, we can’t get in to the hospital.”

and I can handle it better than these wimps dumping their kids and responsibility on the state. Chort.

Anna on October 9, 2008 at 2:54 PM

Then again, as someone who served our nation I imagine you had those wimps beat long before you started having children anyway.

Still, I feel for you. With your husband away it must get insanely tough at times. I think I’ve asked you this before, but don’t you have any family who can take the kids from you for a break? That’s one of the things I’m waiting on before we have kids. We’re four hours away from family right now, and I can’t imagine trying to raise kids without free babysitting from grandparents (that and my mom’s threatened me if I keep grandkids away from her the way my sister did when she moved across the nation with her kids).

Back on topic though, I’m horrified that people would even do this, especially the man who left all nine of his kids after their mother/his wife died. That’s the time when they needed him most, and instead now they don’t even have each other.