"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American... There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people." --Theodore Roosevelt, 1919

Here ya go BEDSPREAD.... from here. http://www.aztlan.net/

Pissin' In The Street
I live next to an elementary club. Soccer is played almost daily. I look out of the window just now and see little JosB pissing in the middle of the street. Call out to the father (who knows) and ask if he could take the damn little beaner into the woods if it is that bad. Turns around and walks away. USA- The newest Third World Country brought to you by a new global economy. :evil:

"USA- The newest Third World Country brought to you by a new global economy." Yep....not that some of us haven't noticed. Maybe you should quit trying to patch a sinking ship...... Throngs of uninsured US patients seek dental care in Mexico by Paula Bustamante Fri Oct 5, 2:23 PM ET With aching teeth and a need to cut expenses, throngs of Americans are marching into neighboring Mexico for dental care, and saving hundreds to thousands of dollars in the bargain. "Save up to 75 percent on complete oral rehabilitation," says one of the publicity fliers distributed in this border city located across the Rio Grande from Mexico's Ciudad Juarez. Mexican dentists working on the other side of the border provide help to hundreds of Americans, who cross the border every day with the purpose of getting rid of their toothaches. About 20,000 people legally cross the border on foot in this city in southwestern Texas, according to the Border Patrol. They say that drug trafficking is "the cancer of the region," and many doubt the effectiveness of a border fence designed to stem the flow of illegal immigrants. But none of the local statistics show the number of white US retirees, as well as of the young people, who every day stand in line near San Jacinto Plaza in downtown El Paso in order to go to Ciudad Juarez to see a dentist. "We come for them every day," said Gilberto, one of the van drivers for the Washington Dental Clinic. "We offer free roundtrips from here to the clinic and back." His license plate showed registration in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, where Ciudad Juarez is located. "I don't know yet but it might be another (root) canal," said Ursula Taylor, a 70-year-old German national, whose husband works at Fort Bliss, a nearby US Army base and who does not have dental insurance. "I went two days ago with a lot of pain ... For this treatment, they charge me 300 dollars (210 euros), and here the same treatment is around 1,000 dollars." Taylor is boarding the van at the last stop before the border, after Gilberto had already picked up the patients at airports, hotels and private homes. The Mexican driver makes this trip six times a day, each time bringing with him between four and 10 patients. Most retirees come from either Texas or New Mexico, both southern border states, said Jose, a attendant at a parking lot, where dental patients leave their cars before heading to Mexico. "But others come from far away," he pointed out. Taylor shows a promotional flier from her dental office that underscores the difference in prices existing in the two countries. "Complete Oral Rehabilitation (28 porcelain caps). USA Price -- 12,500 dollars to 15,000 dollars. Our Price -- 4,500 dollars," said an ad in The El Paso Times, the main local newspaper. "The attention is good, they do a good job, they always have someone who speaks English," said Jim Cleveland, a 60-year-old retiree, who worked for a military base in New Mexico. Last week, he traveled for the sixth time 145 kilometers (90 miles) from his home to El Paso to go over to Mexico to get crowns for himself and fillings for his wife's cavities. Some people make appointments with Mexican doctors while others just show up, said Elisa Prado, a Mexican-American of 71 years, who headed south of the border to see a dentist, flanked by her daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren. Some people also use the trip to buy medicine. "To replace these teeth, I'll need an antibiotic, and I'll buy it there, and they give you a prescription," said Cleveland. "But for some medicines and antibiotics you don't need to have an American prescription." The trip across the border is legal, and people who use vans to go on a medical trip to Ciudad Juarez include even an employee of El Paso's economic development corporation. "It is possible that people even go to Ciudad Juarez for surgery or to have a laser eye operation," he said. "Now there are some things that could sound ironic: while Mexican patients try to come here, cross the border looking for advanced medical treatment for tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, malaria, obesity and diabetes and liver disease, a lot of American citizens cross the border every single day, in groups, to get in Mexico basic medical care like dentists or even, in recent years, laser eye surgery," said Manuel de la Rosa, vice dean at the School of Medicine at the Texas Tech University in El Paso. According to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, health insurance costs on average in the United States 12,106 dollars a year for a family of four. Part of that amount is being paid by the beneficiary, said the study, pointing out that about 47 million people in the country of more than 300 million have no health insurance whatsoever. "I'm covered for medical but not for dental," said Cleveland. "To get a dental insurance service, I have to pay more."

A like proceedure for your dog or yourself, including medications will be thousands of dollars less? Wonder why? HEALTH INSURANCE! The fact that plastic surgery. lasik surgery and vetinary visits, (all elective), costs are going down, at a time all other medical costs are increasing is the fact you PAY for those services, and it has to be competive to earn your business. If we all paid for normal Dr visits, and perhaps things that would be considered routine, like dental visits for cleaning, etc. the costs would go down. Maintaining catastrophic insurance to cover the biggies would see an immediate reduction of all medical costs. Including the cost of the insurance. But Hillary will assure us that never happens, matter of fact, with no competition, the prices can do nothing but rise. But it will be free! (Yea, right) :?

Monty writes: If we all paid for normal Dr visits, and perhaps things that would be considered routine, like dental visits for cleaning, etc. the costs would go down My wife has been doing insurance for a doctor for over 20 years and she continues to preach the same message. She contends that the one big reason for people flocking to the doctors for every ache and pain is that Medicare will cover it. The simple solution to help solve the Medicare deficit is just let Medicare take care of the major expenses but the patients will be responsible to pay for their "little aches and pains". I have a good friend and him and his old lady are constantly running to the doctors. I mean they go 2 to 3 times every week. You cannot believe these people and my wife says there are thousands like them. They read medical books and see something on t.v. and then they figure out that they have some disease and it is like this every week. People like this just drive the cost of health care up and up and up! And guess what? This friend of mine is a conservative Republican and he is against "socialized medicine"(figure that out).

Major medical insurance is all that should be sold, do away with all this co pay crap for minor shit. Insurance companies shouldn't even be involved in bills under say $1,000 and yearly out of pocket should be $5,000 before anyone contacts their insurance company for relief. Sure once somebody exceeds $5,000 for the same problem that is going to be an ongoing problem their insurance should kick in so it isn't $5,000 year after year for the same issue. what we have now is like having car insurance cover oil changes, sir your copay is $3.00 and you need tires soon, the copay on that is $20. People would say go ahead and put them on now and be at the shop everytime they thought their car sounded funny.

Humana Insurance Company has tried to administer Medicare on a "private plan" and I even tried it for 8 months and I was very displeased with Humana and switched back to Medicare. I would love to see Medicare undertake a plan that Humana has but administer it under a much better public relationship than Humana.

NoCount says: "I have a good friend and him and his old lady are constantly running to the doctors. I mean they go 2 to 3 times every week. You cannot believe these people and my wife says there are thousands like them. They read medical books and see something on t.v. and then they figure out that they have some disease and it is like this every week." This is how the free-market health industry works. You 'troll' for customers. The pharmacorp companies know all about this and have been so effective that even the legislators are on board and, under Bush, have turned over the entire industry to PharmaCorp. You are now at a place that if pills won't cure you, you might as well just die because you won't be able to afford 'surgery'.... Or.....you can turn it all over to the insurance companies and let them decide who is sick. Anyway, because you're all friends of mine, I'll let you in on a secret that has been exposed as a result of completely free medical care. Your own mental attitude is responsible for your health. There, don't say I've never given you anything. .

There is a serious question whether healing, curing and profits are compatible. After all, what comes first at the expense of the other? I have no problem with profits at the provider level, as long as the provider does not make choices regarding who to cure and that there is a truly level economic playing field. That would require government standards and that is what is largely absent in the current US system. In many ways, this is what the next election will be about. Since Ronald Reagan arrived in Washington, the societal risks have transferred to the consumers and increasingly, they are resenting that. I expect the new Age of Reformation is soon upon us.

But business may be booming again now that illegal immigrants will soon be able to get driver's licenses in New York under a plan by Gov. Eliot Spitzer. New York City alone is home to an estimated 500,000 to 1 million illegal immigrants, and many are likely to turn to the city's dozens of driving schools for help with their newfound driving privileges. Victor Castro, 33, just got his Commercial Driver's License from Ferrari - something he needs to drive a tractor-trailer for work. To learn, he wound the massive rig up and down busy New York streets, making hairpin turns and avoiding parked cars. Not exactly like driving on the quiet, open freeway or back home in the Dominican Republic http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-apdrivingschool1009.artoct09,0,7981946.story?track=rss

You know, no one has yet mentioned mal practice insurance, something that is also a major factor on doctors, and their prices. As has been well documented, time and again, America is a litigious society, and not afraid to sue for a million, when someones collagen injection goes bad. Not only is it in the beginning to pay off the student loans, but afterward, to have the 6 bedroom house, the summer home in FLA, the 7 series Bimmer in the garage, the fake boobs for the wife, the best collage for the kid, and diamonds for the mistress, its their version of a "lifestyle"... Have you ever seen a cadiologist drive a Pinto???

A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked a government crackdown on businesses that hire illegal immigrants, saying it could ensnare workers who are legally free to work in the USA. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-10-10-immigration-ruling_N.htm do what ?