Disqus - Latest Comments for djplong

Re: Writer impressed with health care in Spain - NashuaTelegraph.com

djplong — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:22:13 -0000

I had a very similar experience in Canada when a sudden flare-up of a condition required me to visit an ER in Montreal. I just ran across the bill for EVERYTHING that was provided - doctors, medicines, x-rays, tests, etc.. About $500 after the exchange rate. Here, those services cost several times that much.

Re: Nashuatelegraph.com: Breaking up with a credit card, fees

djplong — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:14:07 -0000

They make money by charging the merchants a fee on every transaction.

Re: Gun license should  require safety course

djplong — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:01:08 -0000

No. It's not. It quite clearly states "A well-regulated militia...." In the meaning of the time, "militia" was basically everyone who could respond to a call from the Town Square. The term "well regulated" meant "well trained" - meaning you knew how to shoot, clean, load and care for your firearm. In other words, someone who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn or keep his firearm in working order was NOT "necessary to the security of a free State"

Re: Abuses are inevitable with assisted suicide

djplong — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:23:27 -0000

It is inevitable that, with laws allowing prescription drugs to be dispensed by doctors, there will be abuses. Does that mean we should outright ban prescription drugs?

Re: Use technology to fight  driving while texting

djplong — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:10:50 -0000

I can poke a hole in that in seconds.

Sitting here in my office, my cell phone switches between two towers rather quickly and frequently. I wouldn't have known this except for the fact that I downloaded and installed Google Maps for my cell phone. It triangulated my position based on cell towers because it couldn't get a good lock on GPS satellites for a while. In the meantime it kept bouncing me back and forth about 2500 feet as it guessed which cell I was closest to. I can just see some program calculating that I was going 90mph back and forth between those two locations.

In addition, several times I've had a passenger read a text message to me and occasionally respond (usually it's my daughter). Why should she go through the trouble of haivng to give up her cell number?

Here's a thought. Since we're paying them already, why don't we have our police officers keep an eye out for the signs of distracted driving (lane drift, etc) and pull over those who are suspect?

Re: Gribble's Facebook profile says he loved "anything sharp" including swords

djplong — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:55:42 -0000

You know nothing of the parents. If they're so bad, please explain how it's possible that Chris' brother has never been in trouble? Are you aware of what has been going on from a few years ago? Do you know that Chris used to be a model kid - *until* - and I don't know what the 'until' was but his behavior changed over a year ago.. I have no idea what process led Chris down that path. My younger daughter saw a lot more than I did - I only saw the kid for a few hours every week. But I *do* know he had a falling out with his father - rather severe. Chris now deserves everything he has coming to him. But even the best of parents sometimes can't stop this kind of thing from happening. *Clearly* not the same kid I knew.

Re: Nashua-Lowell link is best hope for rail

djplong — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:22:15 -0000

The state can take the one line from PanAm (Nashua to Concord) just the way Vermont took a line from them many years ago. They refused to maintain their right-of-way after a mudslide forcing cancellation of Amtrak trains so it was purchased from them via eminent domain.

Re: Health care is a moral imperative

djplong — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:31:25 -0000

No, I have that right regardless. LESS than half the budget (remember, the budget is now at $2T) is spent ostensibly enforcing and protecting that right. Oh there are costs in defending most rights - I certainly wouldn't argue that. And I'll also agree that it's a little more complicated when it comes to our legal system. However, if I get sick, who's obligation does it then become to treat or cure me? And does it matter how or why I got sick? This is why reducing these arguments to 'slogans' almost never works. It's far too complicated an issue for that.

Re: Health care is a moral imperative

djplong — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:04:58 -0000

Well, at least I see where you're coming from. Minor nit - it's "Section 8", there is no "Article 8" as there are only 7 Articles. But when I read that section, the "provide" is followed by the list of things that the government will provide - the coining of money, post roads, declaring war, providing an Army and Navy, etc. It doesn't say *anything* about health care. it's certainly not a "right", by any stretch of the imagination. "Rights", in the true sense of the word, don't cost anyone ANYthing. My right to live peacably doesn't involve any transactions. Health care, however, DOES. At least frame the argument better. Saying that health care should be a funded privilege of every American citizen would at least be more honest.

Re: Health care is a moral imperative

djplong — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:40:15 -0000

You said it yourself. It says PROMOTE the general welfare, not PROVIDE the general welfare.

Re: British health care unfairly maligned

djplong — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:15:47 -0000

Perhaps GK is on to something. Perhaps, once and for all, we should put it to a major vote. Perhaps, if we're going to end up paying for health care, we could put it in an Ammendment and make it a *privilege* of being a United States Citizen. After all, when I got sick in Canada, I had to pay for care (albeit at drastically reduced prices compared to here). It wasn't a "right" in the classic sense. I wasn't Canadian so I didn't qualify for 'free' care.

Or take another point of view. With all the other countries providing health care, are we at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to attracting an educated workforce compared to other countries? Do we need health care coverage in order to compete?

Re: Defenders locked out of Holman

djplong — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 07:51:53 -0000

More than likely, they'll go to Quebec.

Re: Nashuatelegraph.com: It was only a matter of time for Defenders

djplong — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 07:44:36 -0000

Is it just my imagination, or did the decline in attendance in Nashua coincide with the departure of MonkeyBoy?

Re: Defenders locked out of Holman

djplong — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 07:30:37 -0000

Combine mismanagement with it raining almost the entire month of June and you just can't make ends meet.

Re: Defenders defenseless to ballpark shutdown

djplong — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:59:24 -0000

Right. Duquette ruined the Red Sox by acquiring Johnny Damon, Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez, Tim Wakefield, Derek Lowe, Trot Nixon, David Ortiz and (in perhaps the greatest trade theft since Lou Brock) Jason Varitek. You might remember them as the core of the team that won the 2004 World Series.

Re: Defenders defenseless to ballpark shutdown

djplong — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:54:18 -0000

I'll bet the field is in great shape now that a tractor was parked at home plate. Holman was transformed from a concrete slab with amud-prone field to a beautiful park for minor-league ball. The Pride barely managed to scrape by for several years - competing only with the Lowell Spinners. The Fisher Cats really spelled the end for Nashua. Remember - Nashua *TURNED DOWN* offers for the New Britain Red Sox to come to Nashua. Those crowds you see in Manchester for the Fisher Cats? They could have been here.

Re: Nashuatelegraph.com: Defenders’ troubles mean end of an era

djplong — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:31:52 -0000

Yes, because we all know what great shape the city kept Holman in when there were no professional teams playing.

Re: Bank customer upset by check-cashing fee

djplong — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 22:41:27 -0000

This is one (of countless reasons) that I simply don't deal with banks. Were I in the same situation I'd deposit the check in my credit union account. I don't have to pay for shareholder profits, excessive Board of Director salaries, mystery financial instrument losses etc.

Re: Woman trying to quit club is hurt by reply

djplong — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 07:46:11 -0000

Why is this news? Is it news every time someone gets a rude remark?

Re: Who says government is incompetent?

djplong — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 10:36:51 -0000

About the author's examples..

The USPS is a perfect example of union waste. When a local sorting facility was run by Emery Worldwide sorting USPS Priority Mail, they were proud to have processed as many as a MILLION pieces in a single night (obviously with some overtime). When the USPS took the contract back and put their own unions in, those unions complained that it was too much to expect them to process 300,000 in one night - and they had more people at the facility doing the work.

The Interstates? They're great. But the cost? How many of us see "work crews" consisting of one guy working and four guys watching? Yesterday coming up I-95 from Washington DC to Connecticut I saw several work crews doing absolutely nothing except blocking traffic with cones. Why does it take 10 years for a widening project on 10 miles of road when building 200 miles of interstate took 4 years?

So it's natural to question how the government is supposed to give us a public health alternative that costs less than private insurance when they come right out and say they're not trying to compete with private insurance. That means it will cost more (since they don't want to compete) and provide less. And instead of funding this program with savings from businesses no longer paying their premiums to private insurers, they'll continue to pay those premiums AND a new tax for the public option.

What's wrong with this picture? It means we'll get the worst of both worlds! We won't even have a system on par with Canada!

Re: No wonder Defenders are struggling at gate

djplong — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:59:33 -0000

It wasn't always this way. I just ran across a scorecard frmo a game I went to 10 years ago and I noted the announced attendance was 2,048.

Re: FairPoint to redirect attention to region

djplong — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:19:01 -0000

So the solution to not having enough soldiers to service requests is to hire more generals.

Re: Video game culture is not without risks

djplong — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:21:22 -0000

Interestingly enough, Penn and Teller had a show on video game hysteria just last week.

In a word, the hysteria is just that - hysteria.

Re: Aldermen OK $12m in bonds for work

djplong — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:14:06 -0000

It wouldn't surprise me if they were using systems based on an old operating system called "VMS" - which was developed by the now-defunct (as in, bought by Compaq who was then bought by HP) Digital Equipment Corporation right here in New England. I know Hudson had some VMS based systems and I seem to recall that Nashua did when I lived there. These were efficient, bullet-proof systems that were way ahead of their time.

Re: Scare tactics blamed for anti-casino votes

djplong — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:29:27 -0000

The casinos not helping Atlantic City is more a result of government corruption and mismanagement. After all, look at how gambling has kept taxes down in Nevada. Look at what the casinos have done for the Pequot tribe if you want a local example.

Expecting a casino to immediately solve all problems is ludicrous - you need sound management and oversight to handle the income or it'll just get lost in a fog of beauracracy.

Disqus - Latest Comments for djplong

Re: Writer impressed with health care in Spain - NashuaTelegraph.com

Re: Nashuatelegraph.com: Breaking up with a credit card, fees

Re: Gun license should require safety course

Re: Abuses are inevitable with assisted suicide

Re: Use technology to fight driving while texting

Re: Gribble's Facebook profile says he loved "anything sharp" including swords

Re: Nashua-Lowell link is best hope for rail

Re: Health care is a moral imperative

Re: Health care is a moral imperative

Re: Health care is a moral imperative

Re: British health care unfairly maligned

Re: Defenders locked out of Holman

Re: Nashuatelegraph.com: It was only a matter of time for Defenders

Re: Defenders locked out of Holman

Re: Defenders defenseless to ballpark shutdown

Re: Defenders defenseless to ballpark shutdown

Re: Nashuatelegraph.com: Defenders’ troubles mean end of an era

Re: Bank customer upset by check-cashing fee

Re: Woman trying to quit club is hurt by reply

Re: Who says government is incompetent?

Re: No wonder Defenders are struggling at gate

Re: FairPoint to redirect attention to region

Re: Video game culture is not without risks

Re: Aldermen OK $12m in bonds for work

Re: Scare tactics blamed for anti-casino votes

Re: Gun license should  require safety course

Re: Abuses are inevitable with assisted suicide

Re: Use technology to fight  driving while texting