Things only Americans worry about (compared to the citizenry of other modern democracies)

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Things only Americans worry about
(compared to the citizenry of other modern democracies)
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This page last updated on or about late 8-18-08
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Want references for these amazing facts? Then click the footnote numbers for a topic-- or simply scroll down the page.

How closely their neighbors emulate the notoriously liberal Jesus Christ of the bible (as opposed to the modern conservative spin of a Christ who preached hate against a wide variety of people for almost every conceivable reason, and considered the poor undeserving of help)¹

(examples: Fox News; Jerry Falwell; Pat Robertson)

Health care for themselves and their loved ones²

(examples: America's missing universal healthcare (virtually all its political and technological peers possess it); America's near 44 million who are uninsured; the spotty access to and quality of healthcare received by those who ARE insured)

The sex lives of strangers³

(examples: 21st century US media focus on celebrity sex and relationships to the exclusion of almost all else (including the steady dismantling of American constitutional government); homosexuality; same-sex marriage; abortion; contraception; pornography (even cartoon pornography))

The deaths of fictional people⁴

(examples: abortion; the concern and uproar over the possible fatalities among Harry Potter and friends prior to publication of the last book in the series)

The size and reputation of their President's manhood⁵

(examples: a US national defense budget bigger than those of the next fourteen of the world's largest-- combined; the impeachment of Bill Clinton; the non-impeachment of George W. Bush)

Protecting the comfort, rights, and whims of the fabulously wealthy and influential, no matter the costs or consequences⁶

(examples: the ever-shrinking estate tax; virtually unchecked government and corporate corruption; minimal corporate taxes and huge subsidies; minimal jail time for many rich celebrities and corporate thieves; the US budget deficit)

Making sure the homeless remain homeless (and out of sight)-- while also pushing ways to expand their numbers⁷

(examples: lack of universal healthcare; harsher personal bankruptcy laws; a disappearing safety net; exporting jobs overseas; 'racing to the bottom' internationally in terms of worker rights and compensation)

Preventing the deaths of the brain-dead and the suicides of badly suffering, terminally ill people⁸

(examples: Terri Schiavo; Jack Kevorkian)

Kids being kids⁹

(examples: US children (under eighteens) being prosecuted, permanently labeled as sex offenders, or even imprisoned for pranks as mild as mooning others, or for being curious about sex)

Preventing the legalized industrial, medical or recreational use of particularly cheap, safe, and effective plants/drugs because that would pose a threat to the profits of huge corporations and global organized crime (including terrorism!), as well as the election campaign financing of top US politicians.¹⁰

(examples: hemp; marijuana)

The fantasies of cavemen (sometimes even fictional cavemen)-- and other threats which historically haven't yet amounted to a hill of beans compared to much more common and prevalent risks-- like workplace hazards, industrial pollution, or auto accidents.¹¹

(examples: Osama bin Laden; Abdullah Rashid al-Baghdadi; the casualty toll from highways, jobs, and environmental toxins)

Still more regarding the insanity of America (the nation with by far the most weapons of mass destruction on the planet-- and the only country in history to ever use nuclear weapons on others, as of mid-2008)

Footnotes:

REGARDING JESUS

"Kathy would often point out to me that a careful reading of the New Testament made it clear to her that Jesus would have been a Democrat had he been alive today. After all, he preached about helping the poor and the peaceful resolution of disputes. In her view, Jesus had little in common with the current day religious right with its preoccupation with abortion, gay rights and stem cell research."

-- New Book Says Religious Right is Wrong About Christian Values By Martin Frost; October 02, 2006; foxnews.com

-- Wasn't Jesus A Liberal? by Gary Vance; October 19, 2004; commondreams.org

"It is shameful that Christians would rally around the physical needs of the poor..."

-- Pro-Life Group: "It is shameful that Christians would rally around the physical needs of the poor"; 6.5.2007; feministe.us

-- Who would Jesus torture?; September 27, 2006

-- Jerry Falwell, Explained by Jonathan Schwarz; February 25, 2005; tinyrevolution.com

-- Robertson Says All Other Religions Worship "Demonic Powers"; November 16, 2006; rightwingwatch.org

"The hard right has no interest in religion except to manipulate it."

-- Billy Graham On Religious Bigotry citing a 1981 article in Parade.

REGARDING HEALTHCARE

"As you know the United States is the only industrialized nation that does not have some form of universal health care."

-- How they do Universal Health in other Countries

-- Aged, Frail and Denied Care by Their Insurers

-- Are you really covered? Why 4 in 10 Americans can't depend on their health insurance; September 2007

" Hospital patients in low income communities often receive second-rate care -- even when they are insured."

-- The Missing Class: Portraits of the Near Poor in America By Katherine S. Newman and Victor Tan Chen, Beacon Press. Posted September 6, 2007.

When staying alive means going bankrupt Health insurance didn’t keep cancer-stricken California woman solvent By Mike Stuckey; MSNBC; Aug. 15, 2007

"We are Canada's Mexicans."

"Even the military, which uses healthcare coverage as a recruitment tool, is welching on its duty to treat illnesses--even those it causes."

-- 250,000,000, INSURED BUT STILL IN TROUBLE

"...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"

-- Throngs of uninsured US patients seek dental care in Mexico by Paula Bustamante; Oct 5, 2007; news.yahoo.com

-- 'It Is Just Not Walter Reed' - Soldiers Share Troubling Stories Of Military Health Care Across U.S.

-- For War's Gravely Injured, Challenge to Find Care

-- Most Working Adults Shopping For Individual Insurance Turned Down Or Found It Too Costly, Report Says

-- U.S. spends most but gets mediocre health care

-- QUARTER OF AMERICANS SAY THEY OR FAMILY PUT OFF MEDICAL TREATMENT BECAUSE OF COST

-- Sick but Insured? Think Again Lawsuits accuse insurance companies of retroactively dumping families that rack up large bills. Firms defend their policies, but the state is investigating

-- Insurance fraud The lack of transparency in the US healthcare industry means insurance companies can abuse patients by denying their claims by Dean Baker June 16 2008

-- Lamborghini Healthcare: Why Billionaires Shouldn't Determine Health Policy

-- Map of the U.S. showing percentage of people without health insurance in each state

-- Congressional proposals would cover all uninsured, reduce US health spending by up to $61B More modest proposals would cost the federal government less up front, but would insure fewer, save less money for taxpayers over time

REGARDING THE SEX OF STRANGERS

-- Fighting Porn Vs. Ruining Innocent Lives

-- Gay Couple's Kiss Sparks 911 Call in Alabama ; 04/28/2008

REGARDING FICTIONAL DEATHS

"For Republicans, life begins at conception and ends at birth"

-- Abortion: The hysteria which divides the US

-- The terrorists who aren't in the news Anti-abortion fanatics spread fear by bombings, murders and assaults, but the media take little notice

-- PRESIDENT BUSH VOWS TO PROTECT ONE-CELLED PEOPLE

REGARDING THE PRESIDENT'S MANHOOD

-- Let's Face It, Penises Dominate American Politics By Larry Beinhart, BuzzFlash; October 7, 2006

-- A possibly NSFW (not safe for work) political cartoon relating US military and foreign policy spending to the US President's manhood.

-- The right-wing cult of contrived masculinity by Glenn Greenwald; March 6, 2007; salon.com

REGARDING THE GUARANTEES OF COMFORT AND PRIVILEGES TO THE RICH

"To be a billionaire is to be radically free. You are your own galaxy. You make your own rules..."

-- Billionaires Are Free By Vanessa Grigoriadis; nymag.com

-- What the rich do with their astonishing freedom from taxes

-- Top 20 Largest Cases of Companies Caught For Committing Fraud Against the Government

-- How CEOs Are Robbing America--And Enriching Themselves by Jonathan Tasini; April 3, 2007

-- A landmark in corporate welfare By Mark Lange; Jul 18, 2007; csmonitor.com

-- Celebs able to skirt prescription laws By Greg Risling, Associated Press; 2/18/2007

"Writing "I love Alex" on a school gymnasium wall brought a 12-year-old the same punishment as if she had made terrorist threats..."

"Only murder, gun possession, sexual assault and arson are considered more severe by the suburban Houston district."

-- School graffiti nets 4-month suspension

-- Boy, 10, Charged With Making Terroristic Threats

-- School Bans Hugging

-- High School Girl Gets Detention for Hugging her Friends

-- 4 -year-old Accused of Improperly Touching Teacher

-- Girl, 13, charged as sex offender and victim

-- School accuses 5-year-old of sex harassment

-- For Little Children, Grown-Up Labels As Sexual Harassers By Brigid Schulte; April 3, 2008; A01

-- In child-arrest case, the adults are the ones out of control

REGARDING THE DRUG WAR

"More people died last year from eating spinach than smoking pot"

-- Double standard persists on marijuana

-- DEA Judge Recommends End to Government Obstruction of Medical Marijuana Research

-- No 'smoking' gun -- Research indicates teen marijuana use does not predict drug, alcohol abuse

-- Researchers surprised to find no link between marijuana, lung cancer Study's findings apply even to heavy pot smokers

-- LSD helps alcoholics put down the botttle

-- How Ending the Drug War and Fewer Prisons Will Reduce Crime

-- Drug War Finances Global Terrorism How terrorists are getting rich off of our own backward policies

-- Study Finds No Cancer-Marijuana Connection

-- Costs of Marijuana Prohibition: Economic Analysis

-- Drugs: why we should medicalise, not criminalise

-- Dispatches from the Drug War - Homeland Stupidity

-- Johns Hopkins Study: Psychedelics Work

-- 88-year-old woman is latest collateral damage in senseless drug war

-- Despite Drug War, Cocaine Purer, Cheaper Drug's Prices Have Dropped From $600 Per Gram In 1981 To $135 Despite Nearly $5 Billion Spent By U.S.

-- Aspirin risk compares to driving cars, study finds

-- Pot Prisoners Cost Americans $1 Billion a Year

-- Marijuana is safer than aspirin

"The least toxic drug known to humans is now illegal. The most toxic is available at Safeway"

-- Drugs and Toxicity

-- It's Time to Rethink Drug Prohibition

-- The Drug War's Immorality and Abject Failure

-- Marijuana may stave off Alzheimer's: study

-- Study say marijuana no gateway drug

-- New Study Shows Medical Value of Marijuana

-- Anyone Who Believes America is Winning the Drug War Must Be High

-- Illegal drugs can be harmless, report says

-- A cop is dead, an innocent man may be on death row, and drug warriors keep knocking down doors

"The total number of marijuana arrests in the U.S. for 2005 far exceeded the total number of arrests in the U.S. for all violent crimes combined, including murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault."

-- Marijuana Arrests For Year 2005 -- 786,545 Tops Record High... Pot Smokers Arrested In America At A Rate Of One Every 40 Seconds

-- Alcohol and tobacco are deadlier than ecstasy, report warns

-- Drink 'more harmful than drugs'

"Marijuana is less addictive and less dangerous than Starbuck's espresso."

-- Medical Marijuana: The Replacement for Very Dangerous Drugs

-- Stop treating drug users as criminals

-- Former Narcs Say Drug War is Futile

-- New Studies Destroy the Last Objection to Medical Marijuana

"A sensible marijuana policy would save billions of dollars and leave everyone better off"

-- Drug Enforcement Pipe Dreams

"None of this deception, corruption, and abuse is being employed to catch sleeper Al-Qaeda cells, or to catch murderers or serial killers or pedophiles. It's being used to stop people from getting high."

-- Drug War Crimes Kill, Incarcerate Innocent By Radley Balko; August 14, 2007

"Now the drug war is undermining Western security throughout the world. In one particularly revealing conversation, a senior official at the British Foreign Office told me, "I often think we will look back at the War on Drugs in a hundred years' time and tell the tale of 'The Emperor's New Clothes.' This is so stupid."

How right he is."

-- The Lost War We've Spent 36 Years and Billions of Dollars Fighting It, but the Drug Trade Keeps Growing By Misha Glenny; August 19, 2007; Page B01

-- Two countries took the drugs test. Who passed? In Holland, there is no war on drugs. They believe this is a social problem, not a criminal one. And all the evidence suggests that their policy works by David Rose; The Observer; February 24 2002

REGARDING THE FANTASIES OF CAVEMEN

-- Bush's Imaginary Foes By Dan Froomkin; September 27, 2006; washingtonpost.com

-- Leader of Al Qaeda group in Iraq was fictional, U.S. military says By Michael R. Gordon; July 18, 2007; iht.com

-- Qaeda Leader: Fake By Noah Shachtman; July 18, 2007; blog.wired.com

-- Terrorist Hotbeds 'a Fantasy', Says Researcher; 27 Nov 2006; medicalnewstoday.com

-- Terrorized by 'War on Terror' How a Three-Word Mantra Has Undermined America By Zbigniew Brzezinski; March 25, 2007; Page B01; washingtonpost.com

"Most Europeans, while they dislike attacks, do not obsess about them: they know they are likelier to win the lottery than to be hurt by terrorists."

-- No time for terror While White House stokes hysteria, Brits and Europeans barely flinch at bombings By GWYNNE DYER; JULY 5 - 11, 2007; nowtoronto.com

-- Terrorphobia - Our false sense of insecurity by John Mueller, 5-3-08

"We will not be terrified into changing our way of life because of some guy [Osama bin Laden] hiding in a cave somewhere in Afghanistan."

Colin Powell slams Bush might vote for Obama; Former U.S. secretary of state says presidential voting decision will be based on passion and policies Doug Ward, Vancouver Sun; June 13, 2008

"...245,000 Americans have died because of one specific threat since 9/11, and no one seems to care. While the tragedy of 3,000 lives lost on 9/11 has justified two wars, in which thousands of U.S. soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice, the tragedy of 245,000 lives lost in traffic accidents on the nation's roads during the same period has justified . . . pretty much no response at all."

-- Road kill Why are we so worried about terrorism when so many more people are dying on our highways? By Gregg Easterbrook August 5, 2007; latimes.com

-- Murder in America: 100,000 murdered since 2001 by murrayewv; Aug 13, 2007; dailykos.com

-- Flu, hernia, or police more likely to kill you than Al Qaeda; September 17, 2006; boingboing.net

-- Peanuts Kill More Americans Than Terrorists by Paul Joseph Watson; January 5, 2007; prisonplanet.com

-- Bloomberg On JFK Plot: 'Stop Worrying, Get A Life' by Marcia Kramer; Jun 5, 2007; wcbstv.com

-- Putting 9/11 into perspective The attacks were a horrible act of mass murder, but history says we're overreacting. By David A. Bell January 28, 2007; latimes.com

-- 9/11 was bad, but ... The attacks were appalling, but they don't pose the threat politicians make them out to be. by Rosa Brooks; April 27, 2007; latimes.com

-- Don't Be Terrorized You're more likely to die of a car accident, drowning, fire, or murder Ronald Bailey | August 11, 2006

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