Latest Lies Talk Posts at VideoSift.com

Health Insurance Companies' Profit Margins: Not so Fat

Doc_M (http://lies.videosift.com/member/Doc_M) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:07:45 -0700

(7 comments - 199 views)
The AP has fact-checked recent Dems who have claimed that health insurance profits have been "obscene" and "immoral" while "bodies pile up" and has found them to be full of hot air if not intentionally deceptive:

http://rss.msnbc.msn.com/id/33470129/ns/politics-health_care_reform/

Last year, the average health insurance company's profit margin was a measly 2.2%, but after you hear Dem representatives talk about it, you'd think it was near 40%. But last year was slow right? What about the average year? That must be the obscene number they're talking about right? 6% ...

You can argue that we would benefit from a federal insurance system or not, but let's not make stuff up out of thin air and call it scary truth. You can't form and informed opinion when your information is misinformation. I'm tired of all the major arguments being based in "feelings," sob stories, and skewed numbers. Half of the arguments are deceptions and the other half are fallacies.

I don't have the answers, but I certainly have learned who not to look to for them, and they all work in the same building.

- Doc_M

Making Bush Look Like a Piker

blankfist (http://blankfist.videosift.com) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:40:13 -0700

(6 comments - 254 views)
excerpt from the following article by Veronique de Rugy:

http://www.american.com/archive/2009/september/making-bush-look-like-a-piker

Based on Congressional Budget Office (CBO) data, the following chart shows a projection of deficit numbers for each year until fiscal 2018. Each color represents the difference between the projected deficits at different points in time. The purple bars represent the deficit numbers as they were projected back in September 2008; the black and red bars represent the difference between the projected deficits at other points in time. The black bars represent the growth in the projected deficit numbers between September 2008 and January 2009. The red bars represent the difference between the January 2009 projections and the new deficit numbers as projected in August 2009. Finally, the orange bars represent the actual deficit numbers during President Clinton’s last year in office (fiscal 2001) and President Bush’s two terms.

Here are a few interesting things about this data:

First, while President Obama is fond of promoting what he calls a "new ethic of responsibility"—in fact he named his first budget, for fiscal 2010, "A New Era of Responsibility"—that is a misrepresentation of his actual budget plan. For each of Obama’s years in office, the deficit is projected to be larger than any year during Bush’s terms.

Read entire article

- blankfist

The Seattle Craigslist sex scandal

yourhydra (http://lies.videosift.com/member/yourhydra) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:30:33 -0700

(6 comments - 551 views)
Sunday, September 10, 2006
The Seattle Craigslist sex scandal

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Violet Blue has posted a comprehensive roundup of the Craigslist sex scandal making the blog-rounds since last week. Over the weekend, I solicited comment from others known for insight on privacy and life online, and will post their thoughts here as they come in.

For what it’s worth, I think what Jason Fortuny did is shameful and wrong in the extreme. But one obvious moral to this tale: your private information is as intimate as your private parts. There are serious risks to sharing either with strangers you bump into online.

Violet writes:

Last Monday Seattle resident Jason Fortuny [Ed. Note: pictured at left] (and a friend) carried out a thought experiment into reality -- one I think anyone who has surfed Craigslist sex ads has entertained. He took a hardcore Women Seeking Men ad from another city and reposted it to see how many replies he could get in 24 hours (the ad's photo at right). Then he published every single response -- photos, emails, IM info, phone numbers, names, everything, to a public wiki (Encyclopedia Dramatica -- site is up and down, check back if down). Then they went public on Jason's LiveJournal page calling it The Craigslist Experiment, inviting readers to identify the CL ad's responders and add more info ("Your Goal: identify people you know IRL and point them out. We've already had great successes here.") It has turned into quite a meme, getting posted all over the place.

(...) They got 178 responses, with 145 photos of men -- cocks, faces, more; full email addresses (both personal and business addresses), names, and a few IM names and phone numbers. One respondent used a Microsoft employee email address, another used a usar.army.mil (military) email address. They got audio, too. Since then, there has been one copycat in Portland. Respondents have emailed him asking him to take the info down, and he has simply published their requests.

Since then Jason has had *his* private info published to CL and been threatened physically, threatened with lawsuits, and has been hated on by everyone from online BDSM communities to Wired (and I saw he was interviewed by the NY Times on friday Sept. 8, so I wonder what position they'll take on all of this). Wired called him "sociopathic" while commenters are saying things like "Disclosing an email to the public is indeed a violation of privacy, and if anyone has a spine, they will take you down with a massive lawsuit that will make you regret ever doing this. You are a liar, a xenophobe, an asshole, and deserve to have your ass beaten to within an inch of your life."

Link to more on the story.

Reader comment: Anonymous BoingBoing reader says,

I'm writing to you from my real email account in order to demonstrate that I'm for real, but hoping that anything I may say will only be published anonymously.

I am a woman in my early 30s who has used Craigslist in my city to find casual sex, so I took a particular interest in the story of Jason Fortuny.

I tend to agree with Wired News: I think this is a deeply hateful act.

I've posted a few "Casual Encounters" ads at different times looking for various things. The first ad alone received over 300 replies. Some of them were beyond repugnant -- the bestiality proposition springs to mind. The majority were unappealing but mundane -- people who just didn't dance the same way I do, mentally speaking, didn't know how to compose a well-thought-out email or articulate themselves attractively. Those were ones like the one-liner "yo, hit me on MSN", that kind of thing. I received a lot of dickpix. Then, there were a tiny fraction that drew me in and showed me that as much consideration had gone into their reply as I put into my original post. Those were people I connected with, corresponded with (from a gmail account), and eventually met.

As a writer I have put a lot of thought into how I could use these experiences in my work. But even though I have a goldmine of material in my gmail account, I would *never* reveal these people's identities or post their personal information. It simply breaks a very basic implied trust. Now, the situation with Fortuny is different because he's just taking the piss for his own amusement. But I think that makes it even worse.

It's a big ol' world and there are intelligent, worthwhile people in the Craigslist personals... *real* people. They're (mostly!) not much different from you in that we all have the same needs and desires and cravings. This is just one manner of fulfilling them. My experiences have brought me much joy and a small measure of sorrow, but ultimately they have made my life unquestionably richer. The fact that this jagoff thinks that he is above these feelings, that he is pissing all over CL personals posters -- by extension pissing all over me -- is to me simply repugnant.

taken from- http://www.boingboing.net/2006/09/10/the_seattle_craigsli.html

Thoughts?

- yourhydra

Just a few gems from Health Care Bill

blankfist (http://blankfist.videosift.com) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:28:41 -0700

(21 comments - 586 views)
I copied these from the interwebs. I refuse to read a 1000+ page bill. But, even if a third of these are correct, then I don't want any part of it. Thoughts?

• Page 16: States that if you have insurance at the time of the bill becoming law and change, you will be required to take a similar plan. If that is not available, you will be required to take the gov option!
• Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure!
• Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed!
• Page 30: A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process)
• Page 42: The "Health Choices Commissioner" will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. None.
• Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free healthcare services.
• Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Healthcard.
• Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer.
• Page 63: Cancer patients will become hilarious.
• Page 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community organizer health plans (example: SEIU, UAW and ACORN)
• Page 72: All private healthcare plans must conform to government rules to participate in a Healthcare Exchange.
• Page 84: All private healthcare plans must participate in the Healthcare Exchange (i.e., total government control of private plans)
• Page 91: Government mandates linguistic infrastructure for services; translation: illegal aliens
• Page 94: Government forces children into social work programs to pay for health care programs.
• Page 95: The Government will pay ACORN and Americorps to sign up individuals for Government-run Health Care plan.
• Page 102: Those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically enrolled: you have no choice in the matter.
• Page 124: No company can sue the government for price-fixing. No "judicial review" is permitted against the government monopoly. Put simply, private insurers will be crushed.
• Page 127: The AMA sold doctors out: the government will set wages.
• Page 132: All citizens will be required to implant an RFID chip
• Page 145: An employer MUST auto-enroll employees into the government-run public plan. No alternatives.
• Page 126: Employers MUST pay healthcare bills for part-time employees AND their families.
• Page 91: Hair implants are mandatory for any patient with an IQ of under 73 but wearing pants.
• Page 149: Any employer with a payroll of $400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays an 8% tax on payroll
• Page 150: Any employer with a payroll of $250K-400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays a 2 to 6% tax on payroll
• Page 167: Any individual who doesnt' have acceptable healthcare (according to the government) will be taxed 2.5% of income.
• Page 170: Any NON-RESIDENT alien is exempt from individual taxes (Americans will pay for them).
• Page 195: Officers and employees of Government Healthcare Bureaucracy will have access to ALL American financial and personal records.
• Page 203: "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax." Yes, it really says that.
• Page 239: Bill will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors and the poor most affected."
• Page 241: Doctors: no matter what speciality you have, you'll all be paid the same (thanks, AMA!)
• Page 253: Government sets value of doctors' time, their professional judgment, etc.
• Page 254: Prayer is banned from all hospitals.
• Page 265: Government mandates and controls productivity for private healthcare industries.
• Page 268: Government regulates rental and purchase of power-driven wheelchairs.
• Page 272: Cancer patients: welcome to the wonderful world of rationing!
• Page 280: Hospitals will be penalized for what the government deems preventable re-admissions.
• Page 298: Doctors: if you treat a patient during an initial admission that results in a readmission, you will be penalized by the government.
• Page 317: Doctors: you are now prohibited for owning and investing in healthcare companies!
• Page 318: Prohibition on hospital expansion. Hospitals cannot expand without government approval.
• Page 319: Patients will be forced to clean the hospital facilities before receiving care.
• Page 321: Hospital expansion hinges on "community" input: in other words, yet another payoff for ACORN.
• Page 331: Government mandates fun, fancy parties; won't invite non-Democrats.
• Page 335: Government mandates establishment of outcome-based measures: i.e., rationing.
• Page 341: Government has authority to disqualify Medicare Advantage Plans, HMOs, etc.
• Page 354: Government will restrict enrollment of SPECIAL NEEDS individuals.
• Page 368: Government promises to love you.
• Page 379: More bureaucracy: Telehealth Advisory Committee (healthcare by phone).
• Page 425: More bureaucracy: Advance Care Planning Consult: Senior Citizens, assisted suicide, euthanasia?
• Page 425: Government will instruct and consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney, etc. Mandatory. Appears to lock in estate taxes ahead of time.
• Page 425: Goverment provides approved list of end-of-life resources, guiding you in death.
• Page 427: Government mandates program that orders end-of-life treatment; government dictates how your life ends.
• Page 428: Government mandates AIDS testing on toes and testicles.
• Page 429: Advance Care Planning Consult will be used to dictate treatment as patient's health deteriorates. This can include an ORDER for end-of-life plans. An ORDER from the GOVERNMENT.
• Page 430: Government will decide what level of treatments you may have at end-of-life.
• Page 469: Community-based Home Medical Services: more payoffs for ACORN.
• Page 472: Payments to Community-based organizations: more payoffs for ACORN.
• Page 489: Government will cover marriage and family therapy. Government intervenes in your marriage.
• Page 494: Government will cover mental health services: defining, creating and rationing those services.

And this doesn't even cover half of the bill, right? Sheesh.

- blankfist

If Westy Gets Hobbled for a however long for making a Joke

JiggaJonson (http://lies.videosift.com/member/JiggaJonson) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:21:13 -0700

(77 comments - 1163 views)
What kind of response does this deserve then?
http://www.videosift.com/video/Ann-Coulter-More-Lies-About-Obama-s-Health-Plan#comment-832086

"I heard from a reliable source that QM sucks dick left and right."
-budzos
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm not trying to be a prick about it and I have my disagreements with QM as much as anyone else; but if personal attacks like this are being tossed around and QM is made to be on the receiving end of them, open and honest discourse degenerates into a food fight in a middle school lunchroom.

I'm all for a heated debate, but we need to keep it civil, and it should be frowned upon especially in cases where the community is in strong opposition of the opinions of those being attacked.

- JiggaJonson

Why is America not Hiring? (+ more economic analysis)

deedub81 (http://lies.videosift.com/member/deedub81) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:41:48 -0700

(22 comments - 499 views)
It's because our Federal Government doesn't know SQUAT about small business. I do. I run one. Did anyone ask me?
Bailing out GM is just treating a symptom. That's just idiotic. Why don't we solve the problem?

"...The stimuli plans were supposed to be job plans. The auto/bank bailouts cum nationalizations were supposed to be about saving jobs, not 'Wall Street'. So given two record breaking stimuli within two years, why isn't America hiring?

America isn't hiring precisely because of government policy. Small business owners, who are usually the first into and the first out of the job pool, are standing by the fence and watching. They are paralyzed by regulatory uncertainty. If they hire someone who ends up doing poorly, will they be able to fire that person? Will they have to pay their health care bills after they've been terminated? If so, for how long? Who will pay for all these stimulus checks? If it will turn out to be small business, why would they hire instead of keeping costs low to prepare for the big tax bill? Where will the market move? Are you in the right business or are your clients in a politically disfavored industry? Are your clients in health care (being nationalized), autos (already nationalized), banking (somewhat nationalized) or any energy production process which uses carbon (pulverized)? Until you know, you don't grow, and until you grow your market, you don't grow your payroll.

Jobs aren't languishing despite the government's best efforts. They're languishing because of them.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/31692578

"...Owning a small business has always been a challenge — half wind up failing within the first few years. But the financial crisis has dealt them a one-two punch, as big banks cut the credit card lines that many entrepreneurs were forced to lean on when a once-abundant supply of loans dried up.

As of April, 59 percent of America’s small firms relied on credit cards to help finance their day-to-day operations, up from 44 percent at the end of last year, according to the National Small Business Association."

"...“The way that the economy is going to come out of a recession is not by big business hiring but by small business hiring,” said Senator Mary L. Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana, who is championing the measure. Denying small businesses access to credit is having “spiraling” effect on the economy, she added."

http://www.cnbc.com/id/31445083

Why aren't the stimuli working?

"...White House adviser David Axelrod urged patience for President Barack Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package in the face of sliding poll numbers. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a past and potentially future presidential candidate, said the spending was ill-designed and served only to expand the size of government.

Republicans have seized on the public's growing unease over government debt and spending to challenge the popular president. Sensing their own vulnerabilities, Obama's top advisers have ramped up their defense of spending that is incomplete and going slower than many had hoped.

"You know, we take the long view on this. Look, when the president signed the stimulus package - the economic recovery package - he said it's going to take a while for this to work," Axelrod said. "And we're going to go through some rough times, and unemployment is going to go up, and ... we have to work our way through this."

Some economists and business leaders have called for a second spending bill designed to help guide the economy through a downturn that has left millions without jobs. Axelrod said it's too early to know if more spending would be needed or if the administration would seek more money from Congress.

"Most of the stimulus money - the economic recovery money - is yet to be spent. Let's see what impact that has," Axelrod said. "I'm not going to make any judgment as to whether we need more. We have confidence that the things we're doing are going to help, but we've said repeatedly, it's going to take time, and it will take time. It took years to get into the mess we're in. It's not going to take months to get out of it."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/29/politics/main5120588.shtml

- deedub81

SiftAction on youtube gay haters NOM.

dystopianfuturetoday (http://lies.videosift.com/member/dystopianfuturetoday) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 01:09:17 -0700

(51 comments - 1904 views)
Indulge me on an experiment if you will. I'm curious to see if multiple flaggings of a genuinely hateful video on youtube has any effect, or if Mormon hatred gets preferential treatment.

There is an extremely ignorant and bigoted video on youtube that needs to be flagged:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp76ly2_NoI&feature=related

Leave a comment below after you've flagged the video so we can get a tally.

- dystopianfuturetoday

Videosift and terorism!

kceaton1 (http://yogurtforthesoul.videosift.com) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 08:00:30 -0700

(10 comments - 636 views)
Slashdot has an article up that is fairly funny. Videosift by proxy maybe an accessory to terrorism.

This stuff comes from "intelligence" gathered. So, so, sad. I get the feeling that these guys still send chain emails and receive them. Unlike most people of that type, they only believe half of them rather then all.

- kceaton1

The Book of Inside Information? - John Cleese Infomercial?!

Darkhand (http://lies.videosift.com/member/Darkhand) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 02:58:08 -0700

(2 comments - 1917 views)
Has anyone seen this informercial? It's one of those "This book can tell you how to do everything for free! Get people to do what you want against their will! How to be a better lover!"

http://www.insideinfobook.com

I mean, his picture is right there.

I just woke up so I can't tell if this is actually a joke or not.

- Darkhand

Starcraft 2 - Terra Tron

poolcleaner (http://lies.videosift.com/member/poolcleaner) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:45:10 -0700

(11 comments - 988 views)
It's the whole fucking base:

http://www.starcraft2.com/features/terran/terratron.xml

- poolcleaner