What is Digg?354 Comments
- miriclaire, on 10/10/2007, -4/+171Hey! A "feel good" story. Tragedy averted by competency. I digg!
- Itazura, on 10/10/2007, -13/+143I was going to make a sarcastic joke about the army corps of engineers in comparison until i realized how retarded sad it is that the richest country in the world completely failed in comparison to an island with drastically less resources. Next Katrina someone should call in the brits.
- Yamoth, on 10/10/2007, -21/+129I feel sad... Somehow, the US just doesn't seem like the country to immigrate to anymore...
- siszam, on 10/10/2007, -7/+96They have a history of responding well. After WW2 when London had been bombed to pieces they gave citizens universal healthcare. They didn't say they couldn't help their citizens and make excuses. They stepped up and did the right thing. I wish the American government would stop funding murder and start helping it's citizens.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -7/+87Cue: Yanks getting pissy & defensive.
- triggr, on 10/10/2007, -2/+70I have to admit, I am liking the Brown Government more and more every day.
They just seem to be GETTING ON with it.
There's no SPIN! Instead what you mostly see is Gordon Brown (or his ministers when they're on TV) saying "Ok, we're doing this, then this, and this - to try to fix this problem!"
Have to say, I'm impressed with what I see so far. - omgzzrob, on 10/10/2007, -4/+69er. the floods didn't just start in london you know, they started in hull and the north of england. someone did die. sorry to piss on everyones bonfire.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/humber/6272532.stm - thirdman, on 10/10/2007, -3/+55A good article but its not true about no-one dying as a direct result of the floods, one man drowned when his foot was caught in a drain in rising water, one woman was swept away, a pregnant woman lost her twins as a result of having to be rescued from the roof of her inundated house & two people died trying to protect a rugby club from flooding. This is in no way a tragedy on the scale of Katrina but each of these deaths is significant to those who knew them.
- maffiou, on 10/10/2007, -0/+40Well...
I live in the UK, and I can tell you I'm very pleased about the public health care here...
I lived in France for 5 years before and their system is really good as well. Had 2 kids, a few surgeries, a chemo therapy there (I haven't been gifted with the best health, unfortunately)
You can get US style service in France and the UK, but you'd have to pay for it... Well, kinda like in the US really... Universal health care is just offering minimum standard to everyone regardless of their wealth... And that minimum standard is not bad at all... I'm sure plenty of people in the world would be delighted to have that ! - AlmostEvil, on 10/10/2007, -1/+39The Queen has about as much power in the UK as a wet sandwich.
It's purely a figure-head position and has been for the last few hundred years. You could say we keep them around for the tourists. - spudnic, on 10/10/2007, -1/+30"Anyone living in the UK will tell you just how badly it's turned out."
I live in the UK and I think the NHS is fantastic. - jmpeagle, on 10/10/2007, -0/+28we actually got aid FROM MEXICO's NAVY, which I thought was hilarious and we TURNED down free aid because we wanted our tax payers to PAY as much as possible for reconstruction.
- mcrosby, on 10/10/2007, -0/+28Its actually not as bad as people make out - the waiting lists have gone down over the last few years, and I have always been treated good by the NHS. Hey, ya can't grumble at the price really either!
There is competition in the UK healthcare system - the biggest being Bupa. There are lots of smaller companies too.
I just can't hear people slagging off a system that the government put in place to help millions of people who couldn't afford health care. I can't stand this "everyone for themselves" attitude that people have in America - if you don't have medical insurance, you are screwed.
Its not the 17.5% on VAT that pays for the NHS - Its National Insurance, at around 4-6 pounds per week ($15) that also goes into pensions and unemployment benefit.
One last point regarding 'siszams' comments - We have more resources if you think about it - we live in a smaller country, so our resources are just not spread so thinly. - KOAS, on 10/10/2007, -1/+29Ssshhh! Don't let the neo-cons hear you!! Only joking. First, though, I would point out that much used statistic that puts British healthcare at 18th in the world, and US at 37th. Of course the NHS is suffering ... but it's suffering a lot less than this privatised rubbish. Surveys have found that whilst people think that nationally the NHS is in a lot of trouble, locally they always say their experiences are very good.
- jmpeagle, on 10/10/2007, -0/+25most of the death's from Katrina were after the flooding occurred. We didn't send in any National Guard for 3 days. The Brits were on it in a few hours.
- chochazel, on 10/10/2007, -0/+24I live in the UK, though it's hard to believe that you do. Do you really think if people were asked if they wanted to abolish the NHS and replace it with the US style system, or any private system, the majority in the UK would agree with you?
Where have you been?
Do you have any idea about how popular the NHS is? If anything it's too popular for its own good.
http://www.ipsos-mori.com/polls/2007/nhsconfed.shtml
"The general public overwhelmingly agree that 'the NHS is a key part of British society and should be protected' (96%), with three-quarters (77%) agreeing strongly with this. Strength of feeling is stronger amongst older respondents — those aged 35+ are more likely to agree strongly with this statement and nearly all (98%) of those aged 65+ agree that the NHS is a key part of British society and should be protected."
That's 96%! Did you catch that? Talk about not having your finger on the pulse! You thought that "anyone living in the UK" would agree with you and you were out to the tune of 96%!
People complain about the NHS and it's under enourmous public scrutiny, but that's because they value it so much. Don't confuse that with wanting to abolish it. The NHS is also something people complain about, but are actually impressed with when they come to use it, which is far better than a system that you think is great but completely fails you when you need it.
The NHS is not perfect, but its unequalled buying power means it can purchase items far more cheaply and run far more efficiently than private insurance in the US. The economies of scale outweigh the diseconomies and the same operation costs far less over here. Free at the point of use is better than form filling and quibbling with insurance companies at the point of use. There are financial incentives in that pay is linked to performance, but the incentives are to cure, not to avoid paying out on claims. The problem with the UK system is we don't spend enough on health care - but we get very good value for what we do spend - better that than spend far more money on a system that ranks much lower in the world rankings (the 18th/37th figure came from the highly publicised WHO world health rankings).
http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html
I suggest in future you research a topic, *then* form an opinion, *then* comment. - crapuccino, on 10/10/2007, -2/+26We did offer ...
- jwolcott, on 10/10/2007, -0/+22You're right, it's not. Unlike these floods, the New Orleans flood (and death toll) could have been prevented.
- warriorscot, on 10/10/2007, -0/+22We did you told us and the rest of the world to ***** off, and what people did send you let rot in port.
- roachcoach2, on 10/10/2007, -3/+25"This natural disaster is no comparison to Katrina, which was far worse and we were not immediately prepared for."
Yes...damn those STEALTH HURRICANES™ - thailand1972, on 10/10/2007, -0/+20Gordon Brown is a very refreshing change after all the Tony Blair / Alistair Campbell spin doctoring. I don't want a smiling prime minister who sounds good, I'd rather have a boring one who gets on with the job and knows what he's doing. It'll be interesting to see how things develop over the next 12 months.
- DocDEB, on 10/10/2007, -0/+20You're right of course. With Katrina we got Presidential fly-overs and "You're doin' a heck of a job, Browny" sound bites. With the flood in England they got competent response. No similarities at all.
- ferrofluid, on 10/10/2007, -0/+20It aint perfect, but illness and disability will not bankrupt and ruin the family's life in the UK, as it tends to do in the US.
I am a brit living and working in the USA now, US health care is scary bad, in the monetary sense.
Monthly insurance premiums are vicious, and the deductables and the coop payments and the caps are nasty.
NI and free at point of service, plus no follow up bills have a lot going for them.
we got screwed by our health insurance company a few years ago for dental treatment for our kid, they said yes before the treatment, then refused to pay afterwards. - happyperson, on 10/10/2007, -0/+19whilst your right about there being no comparison on the scale of the two events and while i hate to be a pedant, i do feel i should point out that its not a single river thats burst its banks, its a lot of rivers across the country, creating some of the uk's worst floods since record began in 1743.
- manicallday, on 10/10/2007, -1/+20I think that Katrina is more comparable to Holland than England. The reason is that Katrina was preventable. The flooding wasn't from the storm, but due to a break in a neglected infrastructure. New Orleans would have been alright if the levee would have held.
- grumpyyoungkid, on 10/10/2007, -3/+22Maybe if the US became a complete desert then the US military would be more compentent in the logistics of moving people out of their homes, familiar surroundings and all.
- wellyuk, on 10/10/2007, -3/+22Not content with having bigger houses, cars, football stadiums and wage packets, you Yanks have to have bigger natural distasters too!
- thickdrummer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+18I heard that too, I also heard that the US turned down the offer of tens of free doctors from Cuba.
- BarneyF, on 10/10/2007, -0/+18Uk's area is 95K square miles. Pop 60 million
Texas 266K square miles Pop 20 m - moisie, on 10/10/2007, -0/+18Global warming does not mean that everywhere will be hotter. It means that the average temperature of the planet will go up and as such will alter weather patterns. In turn this will shift the flow of warm and cold waters and air currents. Some places will get more rain for longer whilst others will get even worse droughts. Global warming is not just a blanket effect on everyone in the same way.
You can argue that global warming isn't happening but not because some places are getting more rain. Heat causes evapouration, where do you think this water goes? Space? - AlmostEvil, on 10/10/2007, -0/+17Ditto, whenever i've been to a hospital i've been treated quickly, politely and competently. (sprained my ankles a couple of times, thought I might have broken it once, got my leg partly cut open when I was a child and it got seen to immediately)
neitc13, you're full of *****.
I'd also remind you that it isn't mandatory, you can go private if you so desire via Bupa for example. - Azimuth1, on 10/10/2007, -2/+18Yes, water filling the bottom half of your house, having no clean water supply, and entire fields of crops worth hundreds of thousands of pounds being completely written off are nothing to worry about.
- pigfister, on 10/10/2007, -2/+18The uk forces are stretched out and were virtually unable to help because of Iraq and Afghanistan, the forces that you see on the news are, TA(territorial army), army reserves and coastguard/firemen crews.
The British army are running out of new recruits because of the internet and that parents actively tell their children, when they are approached at 14/15 by army recruiters in schools that a career in the army is not all skying/snowboarding, rock-climbing, go-karting and the other ***** that our government tries to convince our youth that it is!
They know that you get killed, have to battle to get disability pensions, are used as tools to attack nations without provocation & never again go go-karting in the army! - Ogopogo, on 10/10/2007, -7/+23.. helps a LOT when the average IQ of the affected population is closer to 100 than 80.
- happyperson, on 10/10/2007, -0/+16I concur. Despite the massive amount of damage to homes across the country, due to the swift and efficient response of the various services the human cost has been very, very small*
*one man has died after getting stuck in a drain, and two fire fighters (a father and his son) were overcome by the fumes of a petrol powered water pump and perished. - GnomeChumpsky, on 10/10/2007, -3/+17FEMA COULDN'T ORGANISE A PISS UP IN A BREWERY... (As they would say in Britain.) (organise==British/correct English spelling) Don't even mention or even talk about Chertoff and his bowel sounds....
- pidmin, on 10/10/2007, -0/+14Actually no, just last week an army chief was warning that the UK has dangerously few troops stationed within the country in the case of a national disaster, as everyone is over in Iraq/Afghanistahn.
- thirdman, on 10/10/2007, -1/+15Erm, no, no it isn't. Its the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- CanIGetAWitness, on 10/10/2007, -6/+19Just off the top of my head, maybe it's because the brits have their equivalent of the National Guard at home protecting the nation instead of in Iraq (fill in your own part here).
- cyrillsneer, on 10/10/2007, -1/+14The NHS is a non profit organisation, it can't/doesn't make money from anyone. Yes everyone pays every week, but that is the whole point, National Health Insurance, it is a co-operative health insurance plan, not everybody in life is motivated by money, and by creating an environment of social support systems you allow society to be more likely to develop in areas that are not directly related to capital pursuits. I am pleased and proud to pay my national health contribution even though i am in top 0.01% of the UKs earning bracket and so have private health care.
If you look through history many of the major developments in science and art came from people that were in financially safe positions, they were family members of dignitary's, or supported by a rich benefactor. Social services provide support networks for people that do not spend their whole life pursuing financial rewards and some of the most brilliant people in our history have been like this, sure there are problems, as there is with any system, but i for one am proud not subscribe to blind capital narcissism. No one remembers the names of the merchant princes, but people sure do remember the legacy of Newton, Crick, Einstein, Kant, Darwin and non of these guys were motivated by money.
And if that 17.5% VAT doesn't pay for the NHS, then what does it pay for? ---- Jesus go and read up yourself, the NHS has to pay VAT itself.
Just imagine how many fewer young people would be injecting drugs or doing stupid things if they knew that they'd REALLY have to pay for it. --- Oh yeah brilliant, America doesn't have a drug problem at all. - warriorscot, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13Its what happens when someone intelligent runs a country rather than someone that just sounds intelligent.
- thirdman, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13And why aren't you commending the Scottish & Welsh emergency services who have traveled miles to assist their English colleagues with this disaster? Britain is one country, no matter what petty xenophobes like you would like to believe.
- thirdman, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13Despite what the Sun or Daily Mail might have told you there has never been a law banning the flying of the Union Flag just a set of customs & practices governing its use, that had evolved over the years.
- jthibod, on 10/10/2007, -4/+16To those actually trying to compare the flooding in the UK to Katrina...pure rubbish. While my heart goes out to those in the motherland for their suffering, they did not experience 120+ mph winds prior to the flooding which weakened flood defenses. They did not have levy after levy break causing waters to rise at a rate of feet per minute. Also, as one poster mentioned, the shear area that was covered was so much greater for Katrina. All in all, the 2 disasters are literally and metaphorically worlds apart.
And for those of you screaming about fore-warning with Katrina, the National Hurricane Center predicts landfall within a fairly sizable "cone of uncertainty" even as late as 12 hours out. An evacuation like the one New Orleans needed to do would have taken days, not hours. No politician in his right mind would order an evacuation days before a hurricane is to make landfall because of the unpredictability of the storms. Hurricane Charlie in 2004 is a prime example of how fickle a hurricane can be with its path. - thickdrummer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+12I know what you mean, I'm actually looking forward to what Brown has planned for England...Its a strange feeling!
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -2/+14Water.
- aimetti, on 10/10/2007, -1/+13very commendable by the brits, however I believe the destruction and devastation done by Katrina caused a bit more of a problem getting the relief in. Regardless though, our government really did f it up bad.
As one ingenious fellow once said, "Bush hates black people". - ByteGuerilla, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11Understandable, Junkyarddawg. However, I refuse to fly the Union Flag or the St. George's Cross because I don't believe in the nation state, I routinely advise a friend of mine who is swayed towards nationalism by the War on Terror away from such feelings, and, well, if you saw my bookshelf you'd realise otherwise :)
I'm pissed by the selfishness at the expense of other members of society. I'm not say here asking ''why are we giving foreigners water?'' They have as much right to the water as us, and I'm proud that the society I'm a part of takes in refugees and asylum seekers from the most troubled areas of the world. But there's no excuse for loading up your car and stealing excess water in a time of shortage. - mcrosby, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12Absolutely! Its an exciting time for Britain - I actually TRUST the prime minister! I certainly didn't trust Blair, Major or Thatcher! Freaks of nature, every one of them! :-)
- maffiou, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12Yeah, another couple of guys have died because of a defective petrol pump as well in the west... Although this is tragic, there could have been a lot more casualties... I think this needs to be emphasized...
People are quick to blame, slow to praise... When praise is due, give it... -
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