Slugger O'Toole

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Latest comments from Dread Cthulhu (see all)

Dread Cthulhu has commented 137 times (0 in the last month).

1. Comment on Obamacare – a supreme mess
   on 28 March 2012 at 5:19 pm

   Ruari: “The desperately named “mandate” – are there any communication staff at the White House? – wrongly implies that people are being forced to buy something they could otherwise opt out of.”

   First of all, Obama, et al, called it a mandate and was, in fact against such a mandate when he was a candidate. Additionally, it is estimated that of the uninsured are younger folks who have voluntarily uninsured and wealthier folks who have elected to self-insure. So they *HAVE* opted out. Even the folks who Barry-O has brought up as examples of people who have been helped by Obamacare thus far were voluntarily unenrolled (i.e. employed and opted to take the money rather than insure themselves).

   Now, the problem with healthcare is the price, which, arguably, is the government’s fault for entering the market with Medicare and, through their regulations, had the unintended consequence of sky-rocketing charges. Medicare regulation require a singular charge-master for all comers, does not allow for discounts to individuals but allows for “contractual allowances” for insurance companies, including the US gov’t.

   As a consequence of changing payment systems (charges, percentage of charges and, now, a prospective payment system), the individual private payor got priced out of the market, because when the government is willing to pay 100% of charges, you raise your charges. When the government pays you a percentage of your charges, you raise you charges more to recoup the same amount of money as before. When an insurance company offers the hospital the lesser of their room charge or a fixed amount of money, the room-charge will be raised to exceed said fixed amount, all increasing charges to the point that it is almost impossible to be a non-independently wealthy private payor.

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2. Comment on Trayvon Martin, the hoodie and new media
   on 28 March 2012 at 1:44 am

   Hey, Mac — you were asking about the lead investigator??

   http://gma.yahoo.com/trayvon-martin-investigator-wanted-manslaughter-charge-151838720–abc-news-topstories.html

   “The lead homicide investigator in the shooting of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin recommended that neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman be charged with manslaughter the night of the shooting, multiple sources told ABC News.

   But Sanford, Fla., Investigator Chris Serino was instructed to not press charges against Zimmerman because the state attorney’s office headed by Norman Wolfinger determined there wasn’t enough evidence to lead to a conviction, the sources told ABC News. “

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3. Comment on Trayvon Martin, the hoodie and new media
   on 27 March 2012 at 8:31 pm

   Florida law requires an autopsy in the case of this nature.

   The shooter, not being dead, hasn’t surrendered his Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights.

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4. Comment on Trayvon Martin, the hoodie and new media
   on 27 March 2012 at 8:03 pm

   Mac: “Firearm incidents are supposed to carry automatic drug/alcohol tests on the shooter, as well as retention of the shooters clothes for forensic tests.”

   Sounds like someone has watched too many CSI programs.

   For starters, you’re confusing police procedure with state law. What may be the norm. Drug testing I know isn’t de rigeur as you would state, requiring either the suspect to volunteer or a court order compelling the suspect to provide a blood, urine or hair sample. There is no law permitting the police to willy-nilly violate a suspects rights in this fashion.

   I know the drug test part is bunk — the only reason Trayvon got tested is that a tox screen is an automatic part of an autopsy.

   Now, you can argue that the police dropped the ball, but that may be what appeared to be the open and shut case — as the evidence leaked suggests, Trayvon had Zimmerman down and was beating him when he was shot. That should be easily ascertained from the autopsy via the track of the round.

   Now all *that* said, if the prosecutor doesn’t have the evidence for a grand jury, which is a pitifully low legal threshold to clear, this may simply be what it appears — a man defending himself whilst being beaten.

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5. Comment on Trayvon Martin, the hoodie and new media
   on 27 March 2012 at 7:00 pm

   Mark: “There is no doubt that the caption at the top of the screeen of the hooded gang is a very powerful image and while Zimmerman seems to have a touch of the Harry Callaghans about him , until all the facts have come out , it’s hard to make a proper judgement .”

   Given how low the threshold is for an indictment at the grand jury level, that they haven’t indicted Zimmerman is suggestive that the evidence is in Zimmerman’s favor thus far.

   As for art / culture, the fella who decided that “genuine African American identity / culture = thug life did his people a terrible disservice.

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6. Comment on Trayvon Martin, the hoodie and new media
   on 27 March 2012 at 4:16 pm

   Mac: “Just out of curiosity DC, i’ll ask again, would you let the man in that video walk? If the man who ruled he had no case to answer was making the decisions on a case that effected you would you be happy?”

   No, it wouldn’t. Says nothing concrete about this case, now does it?

   Mac: “I do not feel my interest in this case is any way hypocritical, my interest is based on the actions of the police officer with previous form of allowing violent offenders to walk free, whether his motivation to do so was due to it being a white on black crime or because the offender had familial links to Florida’s justice system is something everyone will have a different opinion on.”

   Or, possibly, the facts and circumstances indicated that he wasn’t guilty. You take his guilt as a given — are you privy to some bit of information that the general public isn’t?

   Mac: “What I would hope is that people would be in agreement that it was wrong for him to do so and his actions put the public at risk, they can argue to their hearts content after the fact why he did it. ”

   Again, assumes that Zimmerman did something illegal — would you be happier if Trayvon simply beat him to death, as the leaked information would seem to indicate, given the injuries to the back of Zimmerman’s head / skull?

   Mac: “No, the problem once again, is that there would be no chance of Zimmerman sitting in front of a jury without ‘the mob’. The police officer saw to that until the story broke.”

   And if Zimmerman hasn’t committed a crime under Florida law, what has been achieved with this cynical circus? As for the story “breaking,” this is a month old story with no response until the usual collection of race-baiters decided to get involved. The only one missing is Sharpton’s buddies from the Tawana Brawley incident.

   Were I a betting man, the outcome here is going to be like the Duke rape case — a great deal of furor, signifying nothing, based on the information released to date.

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7. Comment on Trayvon Martin, the hoodie and new media
   on 27 March 2012 at 3:44 pm

   Mainly, I fed up with the hypocrisy that makes Trayvon cause celebre, while the everyday murders of black youths in New York, New Haven, Los Angeles, et al and ad nauseum. Why is that, do you suppose?

   I don’t know what happened and neither does anyone else. To gin up outrage to boost some politician’s careers is irresponsible.

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8. Comment on Trayvon Martin, the hoodie and new media
   on 27 March 2012 at 3:41 pm

   Mac: “No the problem is a police officer with previous form of ignoring a crime even when he had video footage of the crime taking place and eye-witnesses is the same officer who decided Zimmerman had no case to answer.”

   Each incident is a one-off. Going on what limited information we allegedly have — grass stains on the back of Zimmerman’s outfit, Zimmerman’s bloodied / broken nose and the injuries to the back of his head — it would *seem* that Trayvon had the upper hand prior be to being shot.

   Mac: “Both cases share the same sad background, it’s only because of the so called ‘mob’ and ‘narrative’ that people say the media are pushing, that this is coming to light.”

   The problem, Mac, is that mob has pretty much fouled the jury pool, meaning there is a chance that Zimmerman walks *EVEN* if he’s guilty — no way to get a fair trial. Likewise, I’d be more sanguine if they weren’t using a picture of Trayvon when he was thirteen and a mug-shot of Zimmerman — too much effort to whip up the mob. There is already a “bounty” on Zimmerman’s head, for instance. Now that the tragedy has been whipped up into a frenzy, what happens, realistically, if Zimmerman is found not guilty?

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9. Comment on Trayvon Martin, the hoodie and new media
   on 27 March 2012 at 3:07 pm

   Mac: “The issue here isn’t if racist attacks are a white only thing, or a black only thing. Only a fool would deny that black people cannot be racist and that they act on this hate.”

   Sadly, there is no shortage of fools.

   Mac: “The issue is the judicial system’s response. It did a diservice to everyone when it dismissed offhand Zimmerman’s actions. I would no more want Zimmerman walking my streets armed than I would an armed black man harbouring racist thoughts and being likely to act on them.”

   The problem, as I see it, is that when the shooter is white, is it automagically assumed that there is a racial component, while, when the shooter is black, the possibility of race being a component is downplayed / disregarded, even when there is evidence to support the charge.

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10. Comment on Trayvon Martin, the hoodie and new media
    on 27 March 2012 at 2:51 pm

    “If only Zimmerman had tweeted his thoughts, like Liam Stacey, maybe he would have ended up in jail.”

    Perhaps if they weren’t showing an image of Trayvon that looks to be about four or five years out of date, folks wouldn’t be thinking him a little angel.

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