the dream is over. very exciting last match, and despite team usa's stubbornness, they couldn't keep up with the ghanaians physically in extra time and had to resort to senseless long balls. but it's still great to see how much we're improving, and i hope that this will spur us on to even greater things for 2014. and at least this wasn't a 0-0 snoozer decided on penalty kicks - the USMNT kept it really exciting until the very last.
and now i'll join the rest of this country and follow the excitement of team deutschland, who despite some shakiness are still incredibly fun to watch.
did you watch the game today? if so, where, and with whom?
I was at work, but I had the site up through out the entire match for the up to date scoring.
Disappointed to be sure.
Still debating on whom to root now.
Yes, at home, with my dogs. (So tempted to reply: "Colonel Mustard in the conservatory with the candlestick." But, I resisted. See?) I'm not into soccer but I was hoping for a win anyway.
Yup, watched pretty much the entire competition so far - US games and all others. The US certainly impressed and made me proud as a supporter. It was nice to hear people talk about proper football for once throughout the country. People who I would have never expected to even know that the World Cup was going on were talking about the team and even some of the players by name. It's definitely encouraging for the sport in this country and shines some light on 2014.
Unfortunately though, I'm going to have to cheer against your Germans tomorrow as I'm hopping on the England train from here on out... I definitely love the way the Germans have been playing (particularly this up-and-coming Özil fella! I'd like to see him come to my boys in the red half of Manchester!), but tomorrow it'll be all about the Three Lions for me! C'mon England! For the Queen! ^_^
First full match I've been able to watch. We saw the second half of RSA vs. Mex while in Memphis, but we haven't been near a cable outlet or a TV when other games were on. I LOVED watching our guys play and was so hopeful, but they didn't follow through on a lot of good opportunities. So, overall disappointing. OTOH, it was fantastic to see men's football on ABC on a Saturday afternoon!
Hah! I watched it on Spanish-language TV, and turned it off after regulation play, thinking it had ended in a tie - I didn't realize that they played to a definite win in the finals!
i had lunch at the leuchtcafe ideal in leipzig today. the cafe is a little corner restaurant without a menu or prices - you sit down and they ask you what you would like to eat, or if there is anything you can't eat, and then they cook something, and then you pay whatever you feel the meal was worth.
i had sauteed chicken breast on a bed of pearl barley, with a side of feldsalat. it was very tasty, the people were super friendly, and the entire atmosphere was relaxed, like hanging out in a friend's living room. i left 10 euros in the jar, and i'll definitely be going back again.
afterwards, i went with a friend to check out rockzipfel, a coworking space / office for parents + children. it's a really cool concept, and you should check out their webpage.
i really love leipzig - there is really a large community of people looking for alternative ways to live and work, and i find it incredibly inspiring to get to know them.
That's about 13-14 dollars. I liked the video and wondered how long they have been in business. Hopefully people with integrity give them fair payment and a tip. This speaks well of the neighborhood if they are successful and able to operate for a long time. It looked welcoming, eclectic , trendy and refreshing.
I wonder if they could make me some mac and cheese and fried fish?
Thanks for sharing a little part of the community!
I've started learning German with the goal of visiting there without feeling completely lost. It was encouraging to watch the video and get an idea of how I'm doing. When I go to Leipzig I'll definitely have to check that place out.
i got this email from the libertarian party of texas. i don't know if it's 100% true on all of its points, so take it with a grain of salt, but i think its basic point is pretty sound.
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We hear a lot of Republican and Democrat talking points about healthcare. As Libertarians, it's important that people understand that we have our own voice and our own solutions for the rising costs of healthcare. If you like this story, please forward it to your friends and family by clicking the Forward button below.
So, what is the difference between gas stations and hospitals?
1. Prices - The most obvious difference is price. Gas Stations have big signs advertising their prices so that you as a consumer can decide how much you are willing to pay without even slowing down along the highway. There are federal regulations that prohibit hospitals from advertising and competing based on prices.
2. Upfront Estimates - When you need a mechanic to replace your head gasket, he will give you an upfront estimate of the price. He will often give you a list of less expensive alternatives if they are available. When you ask a surgeon to replace your heart, there are federal regulations and AMA rules that prevent the distribution of price estimates.
3. Competition - If someone wants to build a Gas Station across the street from a competing Gas Station, its quite alright. If someone wants to build a hospital, they have to prove to the Federal Trade Commission that the hospital won't lower prices in the community or cause undue competition.
4. Monopoly - In the early 20th century, the federal government broke up a monopoly on oil and gasoline distribution. In the mid-20th century, they created a monopoly on hospitals and doctors because the American Medical Association said there were too many doctors, too much competition, and doctor's couldn't earn enough money.
5. Do It Yourself - When you go to the Gas Station, you can pay someone to fix your car and fill up your tank, or you can buy what you need to do it yourself. At a hospital or pharmacy, you can't make any decisions on what medications you can take, dosage levels, or treatments. You must have the "official" opinion of a state regulated doctor.
6. Choice - When shopping for mechanics, you can decide to hire your handy neighbor, or find someone with all the latest training and certifications. When shopping for doctors, your only choice is regulated by the state.
7. Purchasing Power - When you buy gasoline, you are paying for the gasoline you actually purchase (and a little extra for the small amount of theft). When you buy healthcare, your price includes a large government imposed subsidy for those who can't afford it, thus making healthcare less affordable to more and more people each year.
So if you wanted to make healthcare cheaper what would you do? Impose more rules or less? Allow competition or create a more restrictive monopoly?
Only the Libertarian Party supports more freedom, more choices, and more competition on healthcare. The Democrats have passed their bill to create a government guaranteed monopoly on health insurance and hospitals. And the Republicans will be campaigning this year on "Repeal and Replace". Yes, Republicans want to repeal or reject the Democrats' reform, and replace it with their own rules, restrictions, and regulations. "Repeal and Replace" is not the answer.
The real answer is to make hospitals a little more like gas stations and end the government's monopoly on healthcare. Vote Libertarian; the revolution is golden.
I would be afraid to get too much competition in hospitals. I might be afraid that the doctors are cutting corners in an effort to reduce costs. I don't even understand my health insurance plan (what is covered and what isn't) as it stands, but I think a more effective comparison might be to a cable package: you pick and choose the options that you want. I don't need coverage for x, y or z, so I don't want to pay for it. However, I might want extra coverage for a, b, and c, so I'll pay for those. Making prices more available (or available at all) would help greatly, though, so I agree there.
it's certainly not an exact comparison, but it just bugs me that if they really wanted to lower prices, there are much more effective (as in, actually effective) ways of doing so than imposing more rules from the top, which often end up creating the rent-seeking entities that drive prices upward to begin with.
i'd be the first to say that we need true health care reform, but it is extremely disingenuous the way congress and the president are going about it.
what is almost more frustrating than the democrats, who are to be expected to push such great-sounding yet lobbyist-backed "social legislation", are the republicans, who instead of actually trying to propose a better system that would actually make the entire system better, just whined and complained about 'socialism' and other rubbish. not to mention the fact that they had their chance for 8 years and completely and totally blew it.
of course it's all a moot point since we can't possibly afford this new health care legislation and it's just going to accelerate the coming monetary collapse. i just hope this doesn't end in war, unfortunately history tells us that that is usually exactly the case.
@kennon: Can't possibly afford? Compare expected health care legislation costs with ...um, speaking of war... the United States military budget for example. I am not pro or contra health care legislation - as you know, for obvious reasons I don't really care. But with contemporary politics isn't the question, what a nation chooses to spend money on (which, again, they can't possibly afford - true for Germany too)?
seba: if we actually dramatically scaled back our military presence around the world, we might well be able to afford the coming healthcare legislation. it's also absolutely ridiculous. but we certainly can't afford both, without just going more and more into debt (and at some point it just won't work anymore)
I think people are kidding themselves if they think that removing competition from hospitals will keep doctors from cutting corners to reduce costs. The cost-cutting incentive exists anyway: the way a lot of HMOs are set up now, the hospital gets X dollars from the HMO to treat a patient, based on the patient's diagnosis. If the hospital treats the patient for X - Y dollars, the hospital gets to pocket Y dollars. On the other hand, if the hospital ends up treating the patient for X + Y dollars, the hospital has to shell out Y dollars.
Think that hospital doesn't have an incentive to get that patient out of there as cheaply as possible?
i'm having lots of fun in austin at sxsw. twitter is now the established medium for everything, the future is location-based services, gowalla and foursquare are the two major competitors duking it out, still seem to have about equal marketshare.
If you're at SXSW, go see Muse! They're supposed to be playing at Stubbs on Friday... and they are awesome (Chris and I went to their "arena" show last night, and I have to say that it was extremely cool).
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Disappointed to be sure.
Still debating on whom to root now.
Unfortunately though, I'm going to have to cheer against your Germans tomorrow as I'm hopping on the England train from here on out... I definitely love the way the Germans have been playing (particularly this up-and-coming Özil fella! I'd like to see him come to my boys in the red half of Manchester!), but tomorrow it'll be all about the Three Lions for me! C'mon England! For the Queen! ^_^
Great game from ze Germans! My goodness, they just tore England a new one. Youchie!