President Donald J. Trump

[21st Century Man]

FYI: 10th annual "Earth Hour" (global Lights Out -- in support of Climate Change Fact) is TONIGHT Sat March 25th at 8.30 pm your local time till 9:30 pm. (as in started half-hour ago on East Coast USA/Canada etc.)
[tweet]845777357315231748[/tweet]

LOL.  I believe climate change is a fact.  It's been happening for millions of years. However, I won't ever be supporting this effort.

[Kidnostad3]

Silly people do silly things. Like thinking that cutting lights off for a day to celebrate WWF Wrestlers will help the world. Strange people. I wonder how much better it would be if they cut the POWER-OFF for the night to celebrate those in the "squared circle" instead? That would be fun. To see how much looting and what-not...

That reminds me, we're going North for few days and I have to get my panda skin stadium coat out of cold storage. 

[Jackstar]

Do you know how long it takes to do the research, to go through Phase I, II, and III?  All the costs involved?  All the rounds of financing? 

Just hire women to do all that. At seventy-seven cents on the dollar, think of all the money you'll save.

[albrecht]

That reminds me, we're going North for few days and I have to get my panda skin stadium coat out of cold storage.

Although many of the "squared circle" did the carnival circuit, unfortunately bear wrestling like in the old days has been banned.  Though, honestly, it was sort of abusive and I would dare, even an WWF guy, to REALLY, fight a bear (Davy Crockett excepted, of course! He killed his at 5, as I recall, so not allowed per rule; child labor, child welfare, etc.)

[mikuthing01]

FYI: 10th annual "Earth Hour" (global Lights Out -- in support of Climate Change Fact) is TONIGHT Sat March 25th at 8.30 pm your local time till 9:30 pm. (as in started half-hour ago on East Coast USA/Canada etc.)
[tweet]845777357315231748[/tweet]

I will be turning out my lights to support this effort. But since i wont be able to see anything i am going to start a tire fire out behind the barn for light and when it gets burnin real good im going to throw my used motor oil jugs in it, it should light up my whole side yard YEE HAWW!

[Kidnostad3]

Although many of the "squared circle" did the carnival circuit, unfortunately bear wrestling like in the old days has been banned.  Though, honestly, it was sort of abusive and I would dare, even an WWF guy, to REALLY, fight a bear (Davy Crockett excepted, of course! He killed his at 5, as I recall, so not allowed per rule; child labor, child welfare, etc.)

Gorgeous George and "Wild" Red Barry were family favorites of ours as we sat around the old 19" black and white Philco on Saturday nights.  Of course on Friday nights we tuned into the Gillette Cavalcade of Sports for a couple of 3 round preliminary bouts and a 10 round Main Event.

[PB the Deplorable]

Item you pointed out? Forgive me If I've stopped paying attention to your demands for me to explain myself. Nothing I say here will survive your predictably bitter, negative, and divisive response...

Sigh: I won't waste pixels outlining why you're wrong on so many levels; Suffice to say you're an insular, selfish, bitter man. And I pity you.

Make a few comments they have no response for, or point out a few things that burst their bubbles and they go bonkers.  This is what comes from venturing outside a political echo chamber

At least some realize the old fallback of calling someone a racist doesn't work anymore.

[PB the Deplorable]

Evidently your narrow mind has room for only two possibilities: either, or. You wrongly assume because I criticize the high costs of pharmaceuticals, I'm anti-pharma. Don't be silly. What makes you an expert in justifying the high costs of drugs?  I work in Western medicine and administer medications to patients on a regular basis. Consulting with my pharmacist co-workers is routine in my job. They too share my concerns about the exorbitant costs of drugs and specifically, our patients ability to comply with treatment plans that include prescriptions.

Ok, the people disbursing pharmaceuticals are at the end of the supply chain.  There is no reason to expect they would have any knowledge or expertise as to what goes into developing new drugs, other than a vague awareness of research costs and FDA trials.

Based on your post, I'm picturing people looking at a bottle of pills and wondering why it costs so much.  After all, it's just gathering the right amounts of powders and blending them together into pills, right?  Why is that so expensive. 

  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cost-to-develop-new-pharmaceutical-drug-now-exceeds-2-5b/

According to this article, the average out-of-pocket cost of developing a new drug is $1.4 BILLION, and another $312 million in post approval development.  No one works for free.  That money needs to be recouped.  We won't even include the company's need to cover the development costs of failed drugs, the profits needed to draw investment, or the opportunity cost of the funds tied up in development for the 10 plus years it takes to develop a new drug. 

Oh, and the patent is good for 20 years from the time its filed, not the date it hits the market.  It may take 8 plus years of FDA testing from the filing date before its available to patients.

That Donald Trump doesn't understand any of this either is not really much of a surprise.

Yeah, I know, I must be a racist and probably hate sick people.

[JesusJuice]

Andrew Napolitano claims that Trump told him that he's "on the list" for a future Supreme Court Justice appointment.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/justice-napolitano-fox-judicial-analyst-insists-trump-said-im-on-the-list/

[Jackstar]

"on the list"

Hillary deleted it.

[Kidnostad3]

Yeah, I know, I must be a racist and probably hate sick people.

And you probably kick little chickens into the creek.

[Yorkshire pud]

Make a few comments they have no response for, or point out a few things that burst their bubbles and they go bonkers.  This is what comes from venturing outside a political echo chamber

At least some realize the old fallback of calling someone a racist doesn't work anymore.

Oh ffs, don't flatter yourself. Bonkers? You're just not worth it. Spending your days typing different versions of the same "Its all about me, fuck everyone else".

[Catsmile]

Only if they ask nicely after dinner

Would "Please pass the pussy." or "May I have some pussy?" be considered as asking nicely? Asking for a friend.

[HedgehogNorman]

FYI: 10th annual "Earth Hour" (global Lights Out -- in support of Climate Change Fact) is TONIGHT Sat March 25th at 8.30 pm your local time till 9:30 pm. (as in started half-hour ago on East Coast USA/Canada etc.)
[tweet]845777357315231748[/tweet]

Crap, I forgot to turn on all the lights last night!  Dang it!

[Catsmile]

I don't like the idea of government controlling healthcare but you make a lot of excellent points regarding why our healthcare is so expensive and I completely agree.  The litigious nature of our society particularly over the last 50 years has been one of the key reasons why the cost of our healthcare has skyrocketed.

I'm simply using your quote as a springboard to add information to the conversation, not as an attack on your post.

Below is data gathered on the cost of medical malpractice in the USA. Even if the stats have quadrupled since the study was done it would only account for 9.6% of total health care spending. I don't think it has quadrupled, see bonus links for details.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3048809/

Abstract
________________________________

Concerns about reducing the rate of growth of health expenditures have reignited interest in medical liability reforms and their potential to save money by reducing the practice of defensive medicine. It is not easy to estimate the costs of the medical liability system, however. This article identifies the various components of liability system costs, generates national estimates for each component, and discusses the level of evidence available to support the estimates. Overall annual medical liability system costs, including defensive medicine, are estimated to be $55.6 billion in 2008 dollars, or 2.4 percent of total health care spending.

Wanna see a doctors malpractice bill for 2015?
Bonus link: http://truecostofhealthcare.net/malpractice/



Moar bonus linkage: https://www.npdb.hrsa.gov/resources/npdbstats/npdbStatistics.jsp

[Catsmile]

Tort Reform
_________________________

So tort reform laws appear to have had some impact on the cost of medical malpractice in the US, but the effect is modest at best and they’re obviously not the only factor in reducing these costs. Also, even very strict laws aimed at reducing medical malpractice costs appear to be ineffective in certain States (e.g. Massachusetts, Louisiana). But most importantly, a 27% drop in medical malpractice costs in the US has coincided with a 64% rise in overall health care costs. Clearly, tort reform laws have done nothing to reduce overall health care costs and are only partly responsible for reducing medical malpractice costs in the US.

http://truecostofhealthcare.net/malpractice/

[Kidnostad3]

Oh ffs, don't flatter yourself. Bonkers? You're just not worth it. Spending your days typing different versions of the same "Its all about me, fuck everyone else".

What PB consistently does very well is is provide a clear statement of his position on a matter and back it up with solid reasoning and argumentation.  He also readily provides amplifying information and expanded rationale in rebuttal to counter arguments. What you regard as merely a rewording of his original argument any objective observer would recognize as his offering a different slant on the matter to foster a better understanding on your part of the point he is making.
 
When engaging in a discussion of issues with you and like minded individuals who frequent this forum, those of us who offer an opposing view too often are met with a refusal on your part to respond to fair questions when your argument begins to sputter.  We either get an unresponsive post that is loaded with sarcasm and attempts to change the subject or you go dark for a period of time and the question is left dangling.  It is more than just a little ironic that the very next time the issue arises you trot out the same argument that you abandoned by leaving a key question unanswered.  As has happened in this instance, you then accuse us of being rigid, unimaginative and boaringly repetitive. 

I fully understand PB'sfrustration?  How many times must we walk the same people through the same issue only to have them bail out with the ball remaining in their court.  It would be refreshing if the point of departure for old subjects that have already been hashed out numerous times on this thread could be somewhere other than ground zero for the the benefit of a few.  This tactic is taxing our collective patience. 

[Kidnostad3]

Tort Reform
_________________________

So tort reform laws appear to have had some impact on the cost of medical malpractice in the US, but the effect is modest at best and they’re obviously not the only factor in reducing these costs. Also, even very strict laws aimed at reducing medical malpractice costs appear to be ineffective in certain States (e.g. Massachusetts, Louisiana). But most importantly, a 27% drop in medical malpractice costs in the US has coincided with a 64% rise in overall health care costs. Clearly, tort reform laws have done nothing to reduce overall health care costs and are only partly responsible for reducing medical malpractice costs in the US.

http://truecostofhealthcare.net/malpractice/

California was among the first states to implement effective tort reform (below link refers.). It's not surprising that the doctor is happy with what he is paying for malpractice insurance, but, as he concedes, there is considerable variance in the cost of malpractice insurance between states and the cost in certain states is exhorbatant.  Apart from the cost of insurance, doctors don't relish being sued for malpractice with all the inconvenience and damage to their professional reputation that a successful suit can bring.  My point in yesterday's post was not that higher insurance rates increase the cost of medical care but that the difference in laws between the states is bound to create an imbalance between the quality and availability of medical care among the states.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_Injury_Compensation_Reform_Act

I think the Doctor is being just a bit cavalier in dismissing the cost of defensive diagnostics.  He tells us that the actual cost is difficult to determine but even if the estimated cost of $650-$850 billion a year is accepted it only represents a small percentage of the total cost for healthcare.  Really?  If that cost was eliminated and the savings passed on to consumers of medical care or used to insure more Medicare patients would that not be a good thing? 

As you probably have already found, there is a lot of opinion available on the internet in favor of tort reform.  Why would you not be in favor of it if only to foreclose on ridiculously high punitive awards and to discourage frivolous suits.  Doesn't fairness enter into the equation in your thinking or is the sky the limit?

[JesusJuice]

I missed 60 Minutes tonight. Did this faggot finally deliver something?

https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/846007636801835008

[PB the Deplorable]

A follow-up to the H1-B visa comments, this appeared today in the East Bay Times, a newspaper that includes San Jose and Silicon Valley.  It's a column, so an opinion piece.  I'm not familiar with the author's organization, but what he has to say certainly rings true.

We never even got around to some of the big fascist companies like Disney importing foreign workers on an H1-B,  firing the original staff, and forcing them to train their replacements.  This shit is in the news all the time, anyone who thinks otherwise doesn't know what they are talking about.


Trump needs to get off his dead ass and start implementing policies he campaigned on.

http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/03/24/commentary-cbs-misses-big-picture-in-its-60-minutes-h-1b-segment/   

[PB the Deplorable]

Following are a few articles regarding the organizations mentioned in the column.  Any goggle search will show similar abuses from other companies.

Disney:
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/us/judge-says-disney-didnt-violate-visa-laws-in-layoffs.html

University of California:
http://www.sacbee.com/news/article123599304.html 

Toy R Us:
https://www.numbersusa.com/news/toys-r-us-used-h1b-to-replace-american-workers 

[pate]

The chairman of a US congressional committee on intelligence said Sunday that he has seen "no evidence" that President Donald Trump's campaign colluded with Russia during the runup to the 2016 election.

Based on "everything I have up to this morning -- no evidence of collusion," said US Representative Devin Nunes, head of the House Intelligence Committee, speaking to the Fox News Sunday television program.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TSz30Nj2n4

[pate]

There he goes. He can't stay off Twitter, especially today. Self-destruct mode. He'd rather be golfing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvl0MDXH96M

[Lt.Uhura]

I gotta give kudos to the Rs who stood up to this ugly bully. Not that it would help, but Trump needs to get rid of this asshole.

“Guys, look,” Bannon reportedly said. "This is not a discussion. This is not a debate. You have no choice but to vote for this bill.”
Bannon apparently did not count on the fact that House Republicans knew they actually did have a choice in the matter. 
“You know, the last time someone ordered me to something, I was 18 years old,” one of the members reportedly told Bannon. “And it was my daddy. And I didn’t listen to him, either.”

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_58d6d12ce4b03692bea683e1?

[Lt.Uhura]

[attachment id=1 msg=1029045]

[Lt.Uhura]

I'm simply using your quote as a springboard to add information to the conversation, not as an attack on your post.

Below is data gathered on the cost of medical malpractice in the USA. Even if the stats have quadrupled since the study was done it would only account for 9.6% of total health care spending. I don't think it has quadrupled, see bonus links for details.

Wanna see a doctors malpractice bill for 2015?
Bonus link: http://truecostofhealthcare.net/malpractice/



Moar bonus linkage: https://www.npdb.hrsa.gov/resources/npdbstats/npdbStatistics.jsp

I see your point, but I'd question whether including malpractice claims into actual healthcare costs is valid. While of course it's a related issue, I think it's more of a peripheral cost.

The point I made the other day that 21st responded to was that doctors, fearing lawsuits, are practicing defensive medicine and ordering tests that might not be necessary. This would in fact directly relate to higher healthcare costs.

[pate]

I gotta give kudos to the Rs who stood up to this ugly bully. Not that it would help, but Trump needs to get rid of this asshole..

Re: Pelosi &t al apropos of nothing.  The key trigger word "SHADDUP" comes to mynd:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoE1R-xH5To

Not that your mother was an elderberry, (mmm) more that she stank of llama...

eduiot: space-ify, the fina fried pastry... *(man'splainin) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuT-YRBEMRM

[PB the Deplorable]

I gotta give kudos to the Rs who stood up to this ugly bully. Not that it would help, but Trump needs to get rid of this asshole.

“Guys, look,” Bannon reportedly said. "This is not a discussion. This is not a debate. You have no choice but to vote for this bill.”
Bannon apparently did not count on the fact that House Republicans knew they actually did have a choice in the matter...

So you don't think Trump is playing 7 dimensional chess either?

I agree on both points, although we probably differ on why. 

Trump needs to pretty much fire the entire White House staff, and get someone in there who knows what they're doing.  And one asshole is more than enough for any administration, and Trump doesn't look like he's going anywhere.

Nancy Pelosi is nothing, if not stupid.  Trump is ripe to be plucked and co-opted, and she isn't interested.  Good.  I guess Bernie's comments about working towards getting their Middle America base back fell on dumb deaf ears, and they are going to continue clinging to their putrid ''Progressive'' base no matter what.

[GravitySucks]

More Clinton camp Russian ties?

http://dailycaller.com/2017/03/26/exclusive-john-podesta-may-have-violated-federal-law-by-not-disclosing-75000-stock-shares/

[Lt.Uhura]

Re the high cost of US healthcare...

I think one example of what could be seen as an unnecessary test would be too frequent CT scans. Years ago, when CT scans were first used in hospitals they weren't seen as a routine test. The older scanners took forever and there's the issue of radiation exposure. Over the years as the scanners have become faster, they are often a quick way to get a definitive diagnosis. They aren't cheap, however, and require a reading by a radiologist, and there's still the issue of radiation exposure. I think most providers still rely on their clinical skills, and don't over-order CTs, but consider this...

ERs across the US are becoming increasingly populated with patients who are there because they're drunk. Typically when a drinker is found down at home or on the street, 911 is called and medics attempt to walk the patient. If they can't walk they are brought to the ER to sober up. Yes, ERs are modern day "drunk tanks". Alcoholism causes liver damage leading to clotting disorders, meaning they are prone to bleeding. So if they fall and hit their head, which they often do, the ER staff has to question if their reduced level of consciousness is due to being drunk, or having a head injury.

Conservative treatment would be to observe them in the ER on a gurney as they sleep it off for several hours, then "road test" them to see if they're safe for discharge. Sometimes our ERs are full of these "MTF" (metabolizing to freedom) patients, who can be belligerent and high-maintenance. Many sober up enough to slip out of the busy, over-crowded ER unnoticed. As you might imagine, these patients are considered high-liability cases. I've seen some providers order head CTs on all of their altered drunk patients because they are so high-risk. Some of our regular "frequent flyers" (weekly, even several times a week) have had dozens of head CTs.

When I see someone like Paul Ryan pontificating on America's healthcare problems it makes me crazy, as he's just another clueless politician who has no fucking idea what's happening on the front line of healthcare today. I'm sharing one real life example here to highlight the challenges we face. The example I used not only illustrates the high cost of chronic diseases such as alcoholism, but shows that something is seriously wrong with a govenment that is so out of touch with the physical, mental, and social health of the populace that the administration would attempt to cut the very services we so desperately need.