I expect this sort of action from The Yes Men, as they are 'culture jamming' activists and this is their modus operandi. Considering the levels of influence multinational corporations such as Shell have on our world and on leading world governments I don't have an issue with a little impersonation to draw attention to issues such as these.
I do have an issue with a charity doing this. Funds donated by Greenpeace supporters will have gone towards creating this assassination. IMO that's not justified.
That picture is definitely o lot busier than average but in my experience the majority of urban buses were unpleasantly hot and crowded in India, particularly during the rush hour. I avoided using them if at all possible, and I generally really enjoyed most of the other forms of transport on offer there, especially the more dirty and dangerous ones.
I mean, the central point of the original comment was the stark contrast between rich and dirt-poor, who often sit side-by-side, and how we better hide these differences in Western nations.
I had just wanted to nitpick that the bus example is actually a very good one to highlight why "riding the bus" is not a bad indication of poverty, which I think we agree on!
None of this detracts from the fact that riding the subway during the summer is miserable for everyone, but isn't (in my mind, or in the parent's) quite the same as an Indian bus!
Quite. My reaction to reading the Ars Tech article was 'I need a second opinion' followed by checking Zero Punctuation to see if a video was up yet.
If you are looking for a ZP review a genuine one isn't up as of this exact minute - there is a review of DNF on the site but it's a 'tribute' of sorts from September 2010. I look forward to Yahtzee's take on the real thing.
As a UK resident, I find that distressing. The idea that needing medical treatment might impoverish me or poverty leaves me unable to obtain the treatment I need seems exceedingly cruel.
We had insurance, although nearly a year later we received a call from the hospital saying that our insurer had refused to pay, and that we'd be responsible for the bill if the insurer didn't come through. The insurance company claimed that the hospital hadn't provided the complete paperwork, and the hospital claimed it had provided the information multiple times.
We received two more calls about it, each about six months apart. It's been a couple of years now, but it still feels like it's hanging out there - that we may get a call at any time claiming that we owe this huge sum of money.
I'll add to that that creditors tend to ignore medical debts (according to a credit analyst I know), and that hospitals tend to cut deals for the under-insured.
Bill collectors can't harass you for medical debts
A Google search lead me to the Illinois State AG's website, which claims bill collectors certainly can attempt to collect medical debts. So your claim might only be true in some states (or none at all...)
Some in the UK hold the opinion that the Liberal Democrats capitulated too easily to the Conservatives during the negotiation process that led to the formation of our current government. Whilst they only have a relatively small number of MPs they still hold the balance of power and could perhaps have held out for PR. Their apparent willingness to compromise this and other principles of their party in exchange for a share of power has led to a plummet in their popularity. Their leader has been spat at in the street and had dog poo through his letterbox.
Bear in mind that Labour offered AV with no referendum necessary, but did not have the seats to form a majority with the Lib Dems alone. Had they upped their offer to (a referendum on) PR it would have had the support of the minor parties and likely would've passed; however, all other issues would face severe compromise and difficulty, so being in opposition benefits Labour (a party that doesn't need PR, even if it desires it) in the long-term.
Minority governments do not last very long and with Labour on the wane there was a significant possibility of a subsequent election giving the Conservatives a majority; at best, there would be an opportunity for a Lib-Lab majority. The Liberals' power is often overstated by principled idealists, but for pragmatists it was a good choice: 75% of their manifesto is becoming Government policy, compared to 60% of the Conservative manifesto (http://guildfordlibdems.org.uk/en/article/2011/486213/75-of-...). Of course, the remaining 25% matters a lot more to many people than the 75% they implemented...
Given Labour had 12 years of solid majority government, in which time they had a mandate from the electorate for electoral reform (manifesto promise).
And given the No camp has more Labour MPs than the Yes.
I feel you cannot state that Labour in any way desires electoral reform.
