Unpopular Opinion Thread

[Cuchculan]

What about rock bands flying the flag of the South? I do like to listen to a lot of Southern rock music. Lynyrd Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet and the likes. They have always flown the flag of the South. Never in a bad way. Never in a racist way. They see it as their flag. It defines them from other rock bands. Should they be arrested for flying the flag they have always flown? Banned from playing gigs if they refuse to remove the flag? Not everybody views the flag in the same way. It was once used for rock-a-billy music. Just a flag people latched on to. More to go with the music than anything else.

[InvisibleGuy]

^ I understand wanting to latch onto something that some feel is a part of their heritage. There's nothing wrong with that. Except for when it's a reminder of hate, of the systematic rape, torture and murder of an entire race of people.

Why not pick something else you can embrace as part of your heritage? Why does it have to be something that will cause so much controversy, and cause so many people distress, anxiety, and heartache? Unless the point is to push the limits of your freedom of expression, to the point of being so controversial? It's a reminder of hate....you can't separate the two...anyone with a third grade education will realize, imo, that you can't look at that flag and not be reminded of slavery, of the oppression of generation after generation of an entire race of people.

Would you advocate flying a flag with a swastika? It's a serious question. Why is one OK and the other not? Does the rape, torture and slaughter of generations of black people not carry the same weight as the extermination, the slaughter of millions of Jews? I was born in Galveston Island, which is about as far south as you can get in the United States, and I've never felt it was infringing on my rights or freedom of expression to not be able to fly a confederate flag. Actually, I could. But I'd face some very real consequences. I'd be perceived as racist by a whole, whole lot of people, and I'm sure I'd be called out for it. Why risk sending that kind of a message? Why risk coming across as a racist? Can't people find another way to embrace their "southern heritage" lol.....

[kevinjoseph]

I checked this thread last night for any posts or activity since my last post, and again just a few minutes ago. Nothing last night, and now several posts from several people. I can't really respond to each post since then, but I do want to say I enjoy the discussion so far.

Last night I got home from a three day trip to Rochester, Minnesota, for a bunch of appointments at the Mayo Clinic there for Crohn's Disease stuff. The trip there and back the only radio station I could consistently get without static was NPR. I heard a lot of things happened in the news over this period, especially last night on the trip home. Tom Brokaw, University of Iowa alum and stuff, is accused of sexual assault by at least two women dating back as early as the 90s. Bill Cosby found guilty by jury of all counts levied against him, by a jury in a civil suit. He will likely spend the remaining years of his life in prison. Donald Trump's personal lawyer will plead the fifth if called to testify in court in a case brought against the president of the United States by a porn star, alleging the president sexually harassed her years ago and paid her off to be silent about it. So many unpopular opinions about these events could be written about!

Main point is I just wanted to post and say hi and I'm watching the thread and enjoying reading everyone's unpopular opinions.

[Cuchculan]

Bill Cosby, if sent to prison, will be dead in no time at all. The downside to these cases is the people, when caught, are very old. Not like they have long to live as a rule. Plus he can appeal the outcome. Just like the victim appealed the outcome of the first trial. not sure about over there. Over here there are many different courts of appeal. Which could take years. We had a lot of priests brought to court over here. Thing was they were all in their 90's. Most didn't end up in prison. Age was taken into account. Which I thought was wrong. Let them die in prison. All this sexual stuff from way back when. All only coming out now. Case of how it is viewed in a court of law. We have had a few people accused and found not guilty of all charges over this side of the world. One or two women admitting they made things up. so when the spotlight shines on another famous name, we have to sit back and wait. See what comes of it. Not assume they are guilty. Until a court makes a verdict. In the UK you can be ruined by the media before the case ever gets near a court. Then you are found not guilty. But you have been ruined already. Here in Ireland the media can't name names before the court verdict. Which I think is the right way. No trial by media before your court case. If found not guilty, you still have a career. The media still can't name you. Only if found guilty can they name you.

[kevinjoseph]

Cuchman, that sounds about right. I don't know what that all means for perpetrators and victims of crimes. If you feel you have been the victim of a crime and you need to report it for justice to be served, should you then report it immediately? I've read that many victims of crimes such as rape have the immediate thought that they are somehow to blame for the rape, and then there's the social stigma that exists around everyone involved in such cases, whether you want to acknowledge it or not, it's there and sometimes prevents victims from coming forward until years later. A lot of people I've talked to about the Cosby case have questioned why the time between the crime and the perpetrator serving any sort of sentence can be so long, and mostly I think they are hinting that the victims are somehow opportunists. Meh. Just some thoughts.

[JamieWAgain]

Many of the Cosby victims DID come forward years ago and nobody believed them.

[Cuchculan]

The victims can still come forward. Police can look into their allegations. See if there is proof of a crime. Case goes ahead if there is proof. Just like normal. Only the media are told nothing about who is been tried / investigated until after the case. No trial by media first.

Latest thing is trial be social media. Putting pictures up and saying ' this man beat me up '. They go to the police after they ruin the person via social media. Or putting up images and telling everybody that the person in the picture tried to abduct a child in their area. Picture could be of anybody. Once over here a bloke got kicked around because of such an image. Turns out he had done nothing of the sort at all. Somebody simply put his picture up to get their own back on him. A Judge has come out here in Ireland and said he won't hear cases were people post images or make videos and put them on Facebook first. His message was simple. Go to the police first.

[kevinjoseph]

This thread has been quiet lately. I would like to revive it, and see what people think of the following unpopular opinion:

"No private company should be so involved in a person's health care they are able to deny that person a necessary health care option because of profit."

[Cuchculan]

Is there not two options over there? Private and public. Private always costs a lot more. Public is either free or crap. Curious to hear how it works in the US.

[Otherside]

Is there not two options over there? Private and public. Private always costs a lot more. Public is either free or crap. Curious to hear how it works in the US.

US doesn't have state healthcare. If you need it you pretty much have to pay a crapload.

[CloudMaker]

Is there not two options over there? Private and public. Private always costs a lot more. Public is either free or crap. Curious to hear how it works in the US.

Public healthcare? LOL!!!!!

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[Cuchculan]

They are not missing out on much because of the mistakes made in public healthcare. May save a bit on money for a visit to the doctor and medication. They tend to get test results lost. Waiting lists are huge and can take years. Come the end of the day a lot of people end up going private and paying big if it is something serious. They would be dead by the time their name ended up top of the waiting lists.

[kevinjoseph]

So the problem isn't that private industry causes the crappiness, it's the crappiness itself? So the crappiness could be addressed even without involving private industry. If people end up with crappy medical care unless they pay more, why not just address the medical care costs themselves?

My doctor tested me for c diff based on my Crohn's symptoms. He personally called me the next day to tell me to start taking an antibioitic he had prescribed for c diff, I could pick it up immediately at my pharmacy. Insurance said it was too expensive. I wasn't able to pick it up for over a week and steeadily got sorse to the point there was a lot of blood when I went to the restroom, enough that there wasn't anything besides blood and you couldnt see the bottom of the toilet bowl. Made my way to the ER for the same symptoms. Told them what was happening. They sent me home with an rx for a completely different (cheaper) antibiotic.

My insurance company wanted to make a bigger profit for shareholders, so they denied me something my doc said was necessary. They now are on the hook for an ER visit on top of everything else, that wouldnt have happened if someone hadn't decided to veto my docs decision because they somehow knew more about c diff and antibiotics.

[Otherside]

They are not missing out on much because of the mistakes made in public healthcare. May save a bit on money for a visit to the doctor and medication. They tend to get test results lost. Waiting lists are huge and can take years. Come the end of the day a lot of people end up going private and paying big if it is something serious. They would be dead by the time their name ended up top of the waiting lists.

Ah, must be worse over there then than it is here. No offence. And I used live in an area with one of the worst healthcare trusts. We have the waiting list issue though. There are actually insurance policys that will only pay out for private "if you have been waiting for longer that 10 weeks."

It's still stupidly priced over in the US. Privately here, for example, my pills would cost ?30 or so. It's doable for me if I had to go that route. US cost? About ?200 or so. Not doable.

[kevinjoseph]

Yeah, Otherside. And a lot of people argue they don't wanna pay taxes for other people's healthcare. If that's the case, remove free healthcare for US senators, representatives, executive branch. Totally eliminate any health care the US VA provides to military veterans (the VA is known even in the US as providing awful care, the VA system hires doctors who cant find work anywhere else, and veterans often die from military related injuries and such before they receive any treatment). And after you do all that, realize you're already paying taxes that go to Medicaid and Medicare, and get rid of both of those and tell me you're ready to believe youll never have to depend on any of those services and no one you care about ever will. After you do allllll that, and you still believe you're paying too much taxes for other people's health care, and it's a starting point for a valid argument.

Unless you're a misanthrope and just hate other people, or you're wealthy enough that you pay no taxes anyway because you can hire accountants to find all the stupid loopholes etc that let multibillion dollar US corporations pay not only zero taxes but receive government assistance at every level through tax refunds and other incentives, I doubt you care enough about what your taxes go toward that you're upset about the small percentage that actually goes toward helping your fellow US citizens.