The organization created by Stan Brock has set up an subsidiary to care for desperate Americans – here is its web site
I was struck by the quote from Mr. Weiss about “deserving people.”
Why do we American’s treat poverty as an issue of fault, as a moral issue, rather than a circumstance that is neutral, and could happen to anyone?
Why is basic human dignity a hostage to politics and the profit motive?
How is it that President Obama’s quest for a new birth of freedom from fear has, itself been demonized?
The desperate thousands who line up before dawn to have rotten absessed teeth pulled by Stan Brock’s volunteers, or for glasses so they have a chance to work or avoid being hit by cars – THOSE are the people abandoned by Sarah Palin and the fear mongers.
We no longer send the “undeserving poor” out into the forest or desert to starve in America – or do we? Certainly we take their children, villify them in the press, and leave them homeless too much of the time while spending billions to bail out banks who turn around and give away those same billions to their cronies among the elite.
What about the tax paying, struggling legal immigrants in Massachusetts who, as of August 31, 2009 will no longer have health insurance and will be forced back into emergency rooms with their black, rotting teeth or pus filled infections if they cannot pay out of pocket?
Why is a digital contract to do fancier labels on cigarettes more important than the health of infants?
Maybe that is why Stan Brock is the Man of the Hour NOT Governor Patrick, NOT Robert DeLeo and NOT Terry Murray.
If you listened to the idiots in this nation talking about Canadian or UK healthcare, you’d think people were dying in the streets and that people were stepping over them on their way to work. The fact that Canadians and Brits live longer on average than Americans must be some sort of Nazi plot.
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p>Thanks for bringing this man’s efforts to our attention.
… from Dana Gould (NSFW):
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If Stop & Shop announced they would be giving free food away tomorrow and thousands showed up would that indicate my town is full of poor people? If Best Buy announced they were giving away flat panel TVs and riots occurred from the crowds waiting does that mean the US Government should provide free TVs to everyone.
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p>I have fantastic medical insurance complete with prescription coverage but if some Doctors from the UK came by and were going to give out free drugs then I’d go down there too to get some FREE STUFF.
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p>Take anything in your life that you pay for and then ask if you could go get some for free, wouldn’t you (especially in this economy)? Proves nothing!
What a great giveaway! All you have to do is let your teeth turn into black, rotting stumps surrounded by pus and you get free dental care!
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p>If there were preventive dental care available on an affordable basis, do you think these 4000 people would have had the motivation to have a strange dentist, with whom they had NO prior relationship remove ROTTING TEETH?
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p>Nice that you have “fantastic medical insurance complete with prescription coverage” – and that you would steal from the poor to go get FREE STUFF. Sounds like you are the one with an absence of morality and no honor, to me.
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p>HINT – you sound like a state or federal employee, frankly, John between the “fantastic medical insurance” and taking it for granted in such a cynical way. I do not have “fantastic medical insurance” – I am a self employed professional with a husband who was laid off.
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p>HINT – the landscape looks far different to me then your grabby, narcissistic perspective.
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p>Guess what Mr. JohnD Fantastic Medical Insurance and member of the elite – if you would steal a place in line from a diabetic at risk of death because he or she cannot afford insulin, or a person with our not-so-fantastic public health insurance without dental care with a mouth full of black teeth and pus – JUST TO GET FREE STUFF YOU DO NOT EVEN NEED just who – or WHAT – do YOU think you are?
and gross teeth.
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p>Proper dental care is as expensive as a 3 dollar toothbrush and a 5 dollar tube every month.
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p>Due to supreme laziness, I went to the dentist last month for the first time in a few years for a cleaning. I have zero cavities because I brush my teeth and drink soda sparingly.
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p>4000 people in virginia with rotting teeth is not indicative of bad healthcare, its indicative of laziness or ignorance…take your pick.
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p>You can have the most gold-plated healthcare in the world. If you’re gross and don’t brush your teeth, not even THAT will stop you from going gummy.
dentistry, tooth decay, and dental disease. I’m hopeful you are not in charge of anybody’s teeth but your own.
They’d be brushing, flossing and using mouth rinse multiple times a day. The humanity of it all!
you’d be enriched by a primer on genetics as they pertain to oral disease. Might help mitigate your sanctimonious ignorance.
and they hardened my position that food and brushing makes the difference,? rather than heredity. what do you have
Here is an initial primer:
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p>http://www.pdsm.org/care_cavit…
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p>http://www.mamashealth.com/den…
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p>http://www.studiodentaire.com/…
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p>http://www.gian-grasso.com/per…
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p>While I understand as always “blame the victim” feels good to some – in fact as to heredity, the differences from one person to another are huge – and for some no amount of brushing and flossing will totally prevent very bad cavities or gum disease.
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p>The most recent entry as to dental differences is that red heads do not get numbed out by novacaine like brunettes.
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p>See: Red heads suffer more pain
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p>It is sheer ignorance & elitism to blame the poor for the fact that they have bad teeth or health problems.
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p>While it is true that good hygeine helps [my father, after all, was a dental technician for 70 years] genetic differences, and not having clean water or the ability to brush regularly for environmental reasons are also a reality – as is the difficulty of stopping cavities once they start if no dentist will see you because all you have is medicaid!
You really expect me to believe that 4000 people who showed up to get their teeth pulled and the majority of them got that way for reasons other than the general neglect of one’s oral hygiene?
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p>If I am incorrect, please go right ahead and say “the majority of those people go that way for reasons other than their neglect of oral hygiene.”
Given my data set, I am totally comfortable saying that and thinking you don’t know what you are talking about. Did you follow my links? Did you? Really???
First one is dead.
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p>Second one says: “Tooth decay is heavily influenced by what we eat, how well we take care of our teeth, and the presence of fluoride in our water and toothpaste. Heredity also plays a role in tooth decay.”
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p>I saw no mention of heredity in the third link.
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p>Fourth link says: “PERIODONTAL DISEASE CAN BE PREVENTED WITH GOOD, HEALTHY, DAILY, ORAL HYGIENE HABITS, WHICH START DURING CHILDHOOD.” It describes periodontal disease as a “disease of neglect”.
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p>I didn’t see anything that supports your statement about the significance of heredity, or that attempts to explain the degree to which heredity influences outcomes in this area.
and I share pbranes question as to how much it is influenced by heredity. The links mention it more in passing and focus on diet and hygiene.
I’ll reply to your invectives later (I’m down the cape all weekend and have been busy chilling…).
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p>But… can you reply to this?
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p>”States are required by Federal law to provide dental care to all Medicaid-eligible children from birth to 21 years of age. The required coverage includes annual dental exams, prophylaxis and fluoride treatments, and other emergency, preventive, and restorative services, such as fillings and oral surgery.”
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p>IS this true?
Massachusetts has a Medicaid dental program, but there are very few dentists participating. Therefore, kids on Medicaid often go without dental care because they cannot access it. And when they can find a dentist who participates, the waits are long.
Half my family is from UK. Their medicine is barely adequate and if you are over 64 YOA and have a major issue—I hope you have a lot of money or you had better get your affairs in order.
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p>Keep your hands off of my medical care—what I get is MY business—not yours.
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p>BTW—the “public option” is dead and the entire package wil be dead in 30 days. And next November there will be many democratic politicians on unemployment. The geezers don’t forget!
in the United Kingdom? Why does the UK have a higher life expectancy than the US, according to both the CIA and the UN?
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p>I see theatrics, all right. You’re not going to win any Oscars, though.
It was so funny watching Rachel “GAG ME” Maddow trying to speak with someone who actually opposes and questions what she is saying. She is so careful to never have anyone on her show to question her lies and mistruths but today she had to sit across from Dick Armey and Sen. Tom Coburn. BTW, Sen. Tom Coburn appears to be spot on with the Republican stance of Healthcare Reform and there finally seems to be a voice on what “our side” would like to see.
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p>Great job to Armey and Tom Coburn… MAddow looked like an ass.
read this article http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new…
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p>looks like the UK system is not that great! i cant wait to wait in lines, miss work, lose pay to have my teeth cleaned – thanks for govt healthcare!
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p>Three times as many Brits missed dental work because of price than because of a lack of availability. Doesn’t this suggest that providing medical care at affordable prices is the most important thing — on either side of the pond — and that the USA is doing a terrible job in that dept given our 40M+ uninsured Americans (plus those with insurance who can’t get care because their insurance policy doesn’t allow for the care they need)?