Posted on 08/30/2014 4:40:54 PM PDT by jazusamo
There are things that really puzzle me. Some life insurance companies charge lower premiums if you haven't made a life-shortening lifestyle choice. Being a nonsmoker is one of them. Actuarially, that makes sense because the life expectancy for smokers is at least 10 years shorter than for nonsmokers.
Insurance company policies charge higher premiums to those who are obese. The National Institutes of Health reports that those with a body mass index greater than 40 have a six- to 14-year lower life expectancy. Again, actuarially, that makes sense. Indeed, there's a strong advocacy for higher life insurance, as well as health insurance, premiums for those whose lifestyle choices impose a greater financial burden on society, which obesity does. But there's one important exception.
According to the International Journal of Epidemiology, life expectancy at age 20 for homosexual and bisexual men is eight to 20 years less than for all men. That's a lifestyle shortening of life expectancy greater than obesity and tobacco use. Yet one never hears of insurance companies advertising lower premiums for heterosexual men. You say, "That would be discrimination." You're right, but why is it acceptable for insurance companies to discriminate against smokers and the obese but not homosexuals? After all, they are all Americans and protected by the Constitution. It's really a matter of politics, as seen by the journal's publication of an article titled "Gay life expectancy revisited" (http://tinyurl.com/25ejq2d). The publication had to soft-pedal its study results because of complaints that pointing out life expectancy differences between heterosexuals and homosexuals had become fuel for homophobia. The bottom line is that homosexuals have far greater political power and sympathy than smokers and the obese.
(Excerpt) Read more at creators.com ...
Like Dr. Sowell, Dr. Williams is getting up in years and if it were me I doubt I’d want a daily grind.
I am officially adopting both of you ladies!
Kindered spirits indeed, and if you ever need a place to hide out in, you are welcome here. I even allow smoking in my house ;-)
I just know he used to guest host here and there (or at least be a studio guest).
Many of Rush’s better substitutes (glad to see Mark Steyn still there) got cut because they were under competing syndicates.
My understanding is that Mr. Williams left after the passing of his wife, but I’d much rather hear him than the other “Marks” or Joe Pags, etc...
Sadly, you’re exactly right.
I like the statement Williams made, “A person dumb enough to drink Minwax, bleach or paint thinner or drive with a sun screen in place is probably also too dumb to read.”
I miss him filling in for Rush.
LOL...I used to be a member of the National Speleological Society. One of our internal sticking points was whether caving should be considered an indoor or outdoor sport :-)
“This probably means obama will die young!”
Ah, HOPE! Give us Hope! (We learned in the ‘90’s that there is no Hope in Arkansas, and I had a customer in Arkansas who had a plaque on the wall in his office that said so!) So which ‘vice/lifestyle’ might be the one that does it for him? He smokes. He likes men. He likes female heads of state better than he likes his fellow usurper. I rather like the prospect of angst between BO and MooseShell that leads to her finding a way to bring it to pass! (And gets caught, of course, so we are rid of ‘em both!)
Walter is a great radio guy for sure
It is. My question is who would read it? (The warning label he mentions there).
“Kindered spirits indeed, and if you ever need a place to hide out in, you are welcome here. I even allow smoking in my house ;-)”
Thanks for the nice offer.
Who knows,we all may need to hide out some day.
God,how I loved the fifties. :-)
.
Some of these people are insane. I was reading a book written by a theater director I know and he was bragging that his father started an anti-smoking campaign in Texas in 1948. I thought - this is something to be proud of? Sheesh. Try something more important in life.
My father smoked for about 50 years. He died at 88. His lungs were clear. He did give it up in the last 25 years but when he was smoking it was unfiltered Lucky Strikes.
I used to love Dr. Williams’ jokes about his wife - how he ordered her around, etc. Politically incorrect and very funny. And he always brought on the real great one: Thomas Sowell.
One would think that Walter Williams of all people would at least mention that analogy to the fact that it is not considered acceptable to discriminate on the basis of race, even though black life expectancy is less than that of whites.
The common factor is that like race, whether a person is gay or not does not appear to be under conscious control, whereas smoking and obesity are to a great extent. If we were going to discriminate on the basis of innate factors, then perhaps higher insurance premiums should be charged on the basis of familial health risk factors or DNA analysis.
Reminds me of my old drinkin’ buddy who used to say, “There’s only two times I’ll take a drink, AM or PM.
I was a smoker long ago but I don’t know how one can afford to smoke now, I used to smoke three packs a day, at today’s prices that would cost over a hundred dollars a week just to buy the cigarettes here in South Carolina which has generally been a low cost state for smokers and then there are insurance costs to consider. I started smoking as an 18 year old sailor and a carton of a premium brand now costs almost what my monthly gross income was then. After all these years as a non-smoker I cannot stand the smell of cigarettes now.
If one assumes that homosexual attraction is innate (which twin studies demonstrate pretty clearly it is not, at least at birth), that still does not mean that engaging in homosexual acts is not a specifically chosen behavior.
The other thing about too many labels is that the stupid don't die young as God intended. They grow up and breed and now we have a nation of idiots that vote!
I hate litterbugs, and I've pretty much lived in areas where a still-lit cigarette butt can start forest/range fires. I have great disdain for those who toss cigarette butts or their trash out of their cars.
I've never smoked cigarettes, but don't care if anyone else does. My grandmother smoked like a chimney for most of her adult life. Quit cold turkey and lived another 20 years. Cancer got her, but no lung cancer.
I smoked my first cigar just the other day. I've been walking by the shop nearly every day for more than 2 years, and I've always enjoyed the smell coming from therein. Reminded me of a good day smoking ribs, so a rather pleasant experience.
No wonder people hate smokers so much.
Aside from the smell-I hate when smokers just throw butts on the ground.
So tacky.
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