brsis:

achievementhugger:

thebabbagepatch:

ilacktact:

mycosmicreality:

adeyami:

US students will be able to shield themselves during school shootings with the latest in body armour, the Bodyguard Blanket

http://goo.gl/WwvECT

Are fucking kidding me? I have been sitting at home and constantly watching the news after the events of yesterday. For those of you who are wondering, I am a junior at REYNOLDS HIGH SCHOOL! I was there when the shooter kept running in the halls trying to open the doors and get in. I was there in the dark praying and crying while my librarian kept saying ” they’ll have to kill me before they touch my kids” I have known her for three years, her determination to keep us safe broke her heart. Seeing this, that little children need protection in school. Are we sending kids to a battlefield? I have three little brothers ranging from 5-10, and still people have the nerve to speak about the second amendment? Really? I can’t even type anymore. I’m so disgusted and frustrated. When will you realize that it’s important to have gun control? When a shooter is pointing a gun at your child? Is that when you’ll realize that guns aren’t something to be kept around. People say it’s a free country but honesty, this country is more oppressed and diseased than any other country.

Show me ONE instance where gun control and gun free zones prevented school shootings.

Let me tell you guys a story.
In 1996, in a little town in Australia called Port Arthur, a gunman killed 35 and injured 23. This place was a tourist attraction, with plenty of visitors and locals going about their business. 
35 people died.That’s 35 marriages, anniversaries, birthdays or uni degrees. 35 people left Port Arthur in body bags.
At the time, we had a pretty conservative government, and the Prime Minister at the time (in hindsight) was kind of a dick. But within two weeks of the shooting, Howard instituted a massive reform and buyback of all firearms. 

But it must be a statistical flaw, you say, there weren’t that many massacres before 1996, right? No, WRONG. 
In the eighteen years leading up to Port Arthur, there had been 13 mass shootings. 

But April, you ask, this couldn’t possibly have worked could it? Wouldn’t it only have reduced the mass shootings? WRONG.
Since 1996, there have been ZERO mass shootings. That’s right, ZERO. FUCKING ZILCH. There have been scattered homicides, however:

How many schools have been raided and children murdered? NONE.
How many film buffs have been murdered in their seats? NONE.
How many innocent lives have been lost to the barrel of a gun? NONE.

On top of this, homicides involving the use of guns, and youth suicide involving the use of guns has declined dramatically, by up to 60%

Australia, however much the environment tries to kill you, is a safe haven, and you can walk the streets with 99% assurance that you won’t fall victim to a drive by shooting.

Your move, America.

in 1987 a lone gunman killed 16 people, wounded 15 and then committed suicide. within six months the uk government passed an amendment to the firearms act effectively outlawing all high calibre, high frequency, high capacity rifles and shotguns.

in 1996 another lone gunman killed 16 children and their teacher, and then committed suicide. again within six months the uk government outlawed all handguns. special dispensation had to be issued in order to hold shooting competition as part of the 2012 olympic games, and british hopefuls had to train overseas.

you can legally own certain types of shotgun, .22 calibre rifles over a certain barrel length, and antiques. that’s it.

in the nigh-on twenty years since the uk has had one mass shooting. one. and we’re down to about 30 gun-related deaths annually.

there is not one example of gun control laws reducing mass shootings and gun-related homicide. there are dozens. it literally works every time. the usa is the anomaly not because it didn’t work but because it hasn’t tried.

bright-coat-and-bravado:

chanceydoesstuff:

bright-coat-and-bravado:

motherfuckingcuntjesus:

bright-coat-and-bravado:

iandsharman:

tytnetwork:

If you can afford it, you should get your damn kids vaccinated. 

Wait, wait, wait, wait, waaaaiiiitttt….

If you can afford it?

Do Americans have to pay to get their kids vaccinated?

Americans have to pay for everything. We’ve got no system of universal health care, so if you don’t have insurance, your kids go unmedicated.

I grew up absolutely piss poor, and STILL got vaccinated. The Health Department only asked for $1, IF we had it and my dad usually could do $2 but that meant no bread at dinner. 

the united states is not a functioning society for about 50% of its population

As a person who nearly died from whooping cough I believe vaccinations should be absolutely free.

no fuckin arguments there, the USA is a shithole

It might depend on the state, but here in Michigan, even before the ACA, low income children could be covered under Medicaid and/or a program called MIChild. It’s only been since the ACA that most of the parents of those children have access to affordable health care, however, including important booster shots and flu and whooping cough vaccines.

deweydecimated:

edwardspoonhands:

keab42:

cold-neverbotheredmeanyway:

ohitsjustkim:

stammsternenstaub:

kirkwa:

And This Is Why You Shouldn’t Get Sick In America

Many believe that the US healthcare system is the best in the world. Not so according to the World Health Organization’s ranking of the world’s health systems. The US doesn’t even rank in the top 25. It ranks 37th and is the most expensive in the world. I would argue that even if we had the best healthcare system in the world, what good is it, if no one can afford to access it.

Most companies are buying 60/40-policys for their employees these days, but even if you are lucky enough to have good insurance with 80/20-policy coverage, that 20 percent your responsible for can drive you right into bankruptcy as easily as the 60-40 policy given the cost of healthcare.

Insurance cost have been going up dramatically in the last two decades, long before the new Affordable Healthcare Act has taken affect, in some cases as much as 35% per year.

But have you noticed the latest trick the insurance companies have roll out?

Yes, Higher Deductible… most averaging $5,000 per year, per person, but I have seen some as high as $10,000 per year. For those of you that are wondering, this tactic is specifically designed too stop you from using your insurance. It reduces the insurance companies out of pocket liability by shift costs onto consumers, especially those dealing with chronic illness such as diabetes and arthritis. Consequently, because consumers can’t afford the deductible they will avoid necessary care to save money.

Although insurance companies are a problem, the real crook is the healthcare system it self. A corrupt and bloated system desperately in need of reform!

OKAY SO I KNEW THAT TECHNICALLY IN AMERICA THAT YOU PAY FOR HEALTHCARE BUT LIKE THE IDEA IS SO BIZARRE TO ME THAT I’D NEVER CONSIDERED THAT YOU’D GET… A BILL?????? FOR BEING…. ILL?????????? I LITERALLY DON’T

how can anaesthetic cost that much??

how is this legal??

WHAT? And I thought having to pay £7 ($11.55) for stronger prescription allergy meds instead of £4 ($6.60) for the less effective store-brand ones was ridiculous.

You have to pay for the ambulance!?

OK, I’m shocked by the prices, but all of the people from other countries who are just shocked that there ARE prices just make me so so sad.

This is so screwed up.

I do NOT get this. How does anyone live when you have literally no safety net and even the hospital is like ‘fuck you very much, here’s the bill’?! Why is that allowed to happen?

This is allowed to happen because the United States is run by a collection of millionaires who have no idea what it’s like to live as an ‘average American’ and lobbyists and corporations who depend on the money made from the healthcare system and who don’t give a shit about actual people.

The Affordable Care Act is doing a good job of helping many citizens who’ve never had access before, but it still isn’t enough. Many people fall through the cracks due to making just enough money not to qualify for free healthcare, but not enough to afford even the cheapest insurance. Plus many states refused to expand Medicaid, which is a government program that provides low and no-cost healthcare to the poorest Americans, so that in those states the gap is even wider.

Personally, Billy and I seem to have fallen into that gap, and I honestly am not sure how I’m going to pay for my birth control next month. It’s fucking fun being poor in America, I can tell you.

think-progress:

A woman giving birth in America is more than twice as likely to die as a woman in Saudi Arabia or China.

How many of these women die as a result of being forced to carry life-threatening pregnancies? Without access to reliable birth control, quality pre-natal care, and safe, professional abortions, maternal deaths are only going to continue to rise.

taco-bell-rey:

People list what shocked them about coming to America. Just some of the most interesting one (source)