Know whereof you speak, before you speak

[unixronin]

Or, "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak up and remove all doubt."

"The New Yorker's Malcolm Gladwell explains how good teeth go bad: 'People without health insurance have bad teeth because, if you're paying for everything out of your own pocket, going to the dentist for a checkup seems like a luxury.'  The British, of course, have socialized medicine, which we guess explains why they have such great teeth." --- James Taranto

I think he's trying (not very effectively) to be sarcastic there.  (The give-away being, of course, that he said something nice about socialized medicine.  In my experience, when Americans, particularly "conservative" ones, say nice things about socialized medicine, it's always meant to be sarcasm.)  Ironically, I should note for the record that I'm a British citizen, I'm currently 45 years old, and I have never in my life had a cavity.  Not one.  Stuff that up your attitude, James Taranto.

Comments

[elegantelbow.livejournal.com]

meth mouth (http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/EAF9AF25E3D71A938625704A00144DD9?OpenDocument).

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Bleeuch. What a mess. I am constantly amazed at the things people will do to fuck themselves up.