No, AN cannot understand why people in a country where the uninsured rate is ~20% might consider an uninsured rate for the poor of only .06% "Universal". Nor can AN understand why in spite of the fact that most Germans you speak with refer to their plan as a public insurance plan some Americans persist in using this same term in informal email conversations. AN calls such people idiots, remember? Of course next to AN we all look a little idiotic now don't we?
I have no idea to whom AN is referring when he claims he does not want to "interact with people for whom homelessness and mental illness are objects of ridicule and laughter." as he writes in a post to me but I haven't written anything that could be construed as such so AN can go fuck him/herself for all I care. If it isn't directed at me AN should make it clear to whom this invective is directed if he/she feels the need to include it in a reply to something I wrote. Interacting with pompous idiots who accuse someone of racism with no provocation (see link below) is generally a waste of time so I probably shouldn't have bothered interacting with AN in the first place. http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/pipermail/lbo-talk/Week-of-Mon-20080331/006170.html Perhaps AN apologized for this above ignorant remark and I simply missed it?
John Thornton