Tuesday, October 20, 2009

The Official C2 Sober Up Post-Pub Open Thread

Posted by Corre∫pondence Committee at 8:00 PM
Labels: ,

133 comments:

  6. I will have my coffee Irish style please.

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  8. NY Nana said...

    My avatar is showing!

    The first five do, sometimes. After that only blogsphere only knowa. Hi NYN. :)))

    ReplyDelete

  9. The Democrats' fickle-and-dime health strategy

    "Iwill not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits, either now or in the future -- period," President Obama told Congress in a health-care address last month.

    Well, that depends on what the meaning of "plan" is.

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  11. Finally Free, I have to tell you that is one cute dog in your avatar.

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  13. Hi, Erik,

    I had a feeling...and it was weird. When I tried to post? There was no box to post in, yet the first 2 comments were already up. I closed AOHell, came back on line, and behold, I could post.

    This avatar mystery is a plot, I tell you, a plot, as it shows up when you go to comment, but is not there when you post.

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  15. Nana, how's everything going with you?

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  16. /Obama care is really great....and it is not even law....yet.

    On the local news, there were a group of women who had or were thought to have cancer of the breast. They were not allowed MRI's by their insurers, who had the flimsiest excuses imaginable. And they were also told that the MRI is not as reliable as the a mammogram, which is a blatant lie...one woman, who was in her 30's, actually paid for it and the MRI showed that she did, indeed, have Ca of the breast, while the mammogram did not show it, not even a trace.

    All I ask is that we all should get the exact medical insurance that we pay for Congress to get, nothing more...just the same.

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  17. @PBJ: it really is huh? Actually found it in a Google image search for "rat terrier" --- tried several until I found one that scaled down to avatar size gracefully.

    I like many kinds of dogs (including and perhaps especially mutts) but JRTs and "ratties" are special.

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  19. PBJ

    DIL is much better, thanks, but still a bit under the weather, and daughter and the 3-year old are fine, thanks! I think we can now exhale.

    So how's by you?

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  20. JCM

    I hate those damned Yankees...I am a Red Sox fan....genetic.

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  21. Finally Free:
    We had a parson JRT for 11 years. Never in my life have I had so much fun with a dog. Now we have a jrt/beagle and a jrt/chihuahua/corgi/? mix. I adore terriers.

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  22. We're pretty good, Nana, thanks. So glad your dil is better and nobody else caught it!

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  24. Good Night all. See you tomorrow morning.

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  26. PBJ

    Glad all is well.

    We are so relieved re DIL, as I never remember her being this sick in all the years we know her, and she was sooooo worried about the 2 little guys and my daughter catching it...but everyone who was with her almost 2 weeks ago is fine.

    I think that she will stay home for the rest of this week to get her strength back.

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  30. Seems that Obama's indecision has caused defense contractors to put a freeze on hiring in Afghanistan.

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  31. @PBJ: actually, JRTs and "ratties" (like "working dogs" in general) are historically not terribly "pure" breeds genetically speaking, as they were bred for type more than conformity. At least chihuahua stock, I think, was used to bring down rat terriers to "toy" size.

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  32. Finally Free: You are correct. BTW, I found a picture of our JRT, Shamus. He died in 2006.
    He was mostly white with a little brown on the ears and the brown "bullseye" around his tail.
    Shamus

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  33. Well good evening y'all - HOW 'BOUT THEM YANKEES!! WHOO- HOO! 10-1, CC pitches a complete game and we now lead the Angels 3-1 and it would appear that the Yanks are going back to the World Series!
    Woot!!

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  35. @NY Nana: such government-mandated coverage usually boils down to two levels of medicine:

    (a) A substandard one for the sheeple

    (b) A gold-plated one for the well-connected.

    Having lived under multiple health care systems, there is none that is truly egalitarian. None. Access is differentiated either by ability to pay (insurance premiums) or by connections. New Class "elites" obviously prefer the latter.

    A professor friend of mine had a medical family emergency in an unnamed country with socialized medicine. They were given the waiting room runaround like everyone else. He managed to waylay one of the staff and show them his work ID, upon which they were immediately whisked into the admin office and given the red-carpet treatment. Yes, he didn't have to pay a red cent either way, but...

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  36. we now lead the Angels 3-1 and it would appear that the Yanks are going back to the World Series!

    I remember the last time the Yankees were leading a playoff series... If I remember correctly, and I'm sure I do, they had a 3-0 game lead in a best of seven against some team. Can't remember who. Oh, that's right. The Red Sox. 2004, I think.



    ;)

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  37. Hi Finally Free! Here's an example of how Federally run health services really works:
    In Great Britain, 3,000 NHS workers got paid extra to obtain PRIVATE HEALTH CARE link is:
    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article6879553.ece

    Note I didn't find this item, some C2er found it last night early this morning and I just retrieved it - don't remember who it was; heck it could have been you! LOL!
    But that's what you get with NHS folks - yeah, Obama, take your national health care and...........where the sun don't shine!!

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  38. Hey Running Bare - thibit!! (that's internetese for a BRONX CHEER!). But, of course you were right back in 2004 - where did the Bosox finish up this year, hmmmm?

    (mumbles, trying to rain on my parade is he, humph!).

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  39. @Realwest: yes, I did post that link, but I may not have been the only one.

    Stand by for post on hybrid systems.

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  40. where did the Bosox finish up this year, hmmmm?


    Same place they finished for 80 years. I'm used to it. Are you? ;)

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  41. Evening guys, normally I am not up this late, but I napped for several hours this afternoon so I probably want be able to sleep for a couple of hours. Met quiet a few of my old friends on the pub thread. I don't recall one harsh remark except from Helen T. Who is it?

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  42. Finally Free

    I have seen examples of this in our travels. Before OHIP (Ontario's system) went to the dogs, it worked very well...one of my sons went to the University of Toronto, and as a foreign student, he was covered. This is back in the 1980's. I had an accident while we were visiting, and my husband took me to a major hospital, and the ER's waiting room was nearly empty. I was taken immediately, and they gave me superb care. As an RN (now retired) I was very impressed. I had a walking cast, crutches, etc., and the cost to our insurance was so low, my husband did a double take.

    Now? Canadians come here for care. Their ER's are overflowing, and as you must know far better than most of us, the systems are all broken.

    And the fact that we are both diabetics, in our 70's? I see an ice floe in our future, as The One's idea of 'health care' is frightening.

    All we can hope is that since there is a bi-election while he is in office, Congress, at least, will realize that passing any of his health bills would be disastrous to their hopes of re-election.

    I can dream, can't I?

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  43. Running Bare, I'm not gonna get into this with you; I like you too much; and besides, Johnny Damon played a great game, had a good series so far and for that we owe you guys!
    :)!

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  44. Good evening LoFlyer! I have no idea who Helen T. is, but I'm gonna bbaim, want to go see what she said!

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  45. Running Bare, I'm not gonna get into this with you; I like you too much; and besides, Johnny Damon played a great game, had a good series so far and for that we owe you guys!


    I've always enjoyed the Spankmees/Red Sox rivalry :)

    Heh

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  46. I don't recall one harsh remark except from Helen T. Who is it?

    Helen Thomas. She's kind of a bitch, but then, we all knew that right?

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  47. @Realwest: aside from the UK/Canadian style NHS or the mostly-private US system there are hybrid systems.

    For example, in Israel and several Euro countries, you have a system where everybody has mandatory coverage through one of a few authorized HMOs (four in Israel, five in Belgium,...). The government collects health insurance tax, and divvies the proceeds up between the HMOs according to their membership numbers. (There is some competition between the HMOs to get people to switch.) Each of these systems has its own solvency/care quality problems.

    (continued)

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  48. NY Nana, Do the Canadian doctors receive a fair salary from the government? My experience in the states is that government doctors are low paid and the quality is variable at best. I am covered by Kaiser Permenente and they are quick to tell you they are a health maintenance org. not a medical insurer. This health care "crises" is BS from the word go. The democrats are making huge mistakes that they can't even recognize because they are even more insulated from the public than our media journalists.
    There is a deep resentment over the Democrats rush to cram anything and everything they can to socialize America ASAP. They insult good Americans and expect us to give in to their superior intellect without debate. The Obama admins attack on FOX is juvenile and ignores that the five other major news networks are as liberally biased as FOX is conservative. Washington libs are living in glass house and throwing bricks at anything that moves.

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  49. Real, Helen T didn't say anything directed at the posters, but he/she is a card!

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  50. (continued)

    OK, a couple of examples:

    (A) Israel has four authorized HMOs. You can only go to doctors in your HMO's network, or pay out of pocket ("private rate"). In practice, seeing a GP at your HMO's polyclinic is easy (with token copay, and even that was abolished) but advanced diagnostic procedures (not to mention surgery) have long waiting times. Unless, of course, you have connections. Or you agree to pay the private rate out of pocket. HMO-rate compensation of providers is, well, what no US doctor would agree to work for. (Surprised that Israel is looking at a shortage of, e.g., surgeons?)
    After working well enough for a long time, the public system is now teetering on the brink of insolvency. More well-off people increasingly opt for private supplemental health insurance that covers private rate access (the insurance pays the difference between the gov't and private rates).

    (continued)

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  51. Hey Running Bare, kindly check your e-mail.

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  52. LoFlyer - no she didn't say anything nasty at the posters (other than line up for inspection men, I want one of you to take me home) but she did say "She put Obama's Ass in the White House" and that she hated "rethuglikins" and "had to defend Fox (blech!)". I'm sorry, but y'all know me: I'm the kind, gentle type of fella, but we don't need "cards" like Helen T around C2, IMO.

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  53. Hey FinallyFree - is there more (I hope)?

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  54. Lo Flyer

    That I do not know re their payment, as it was years ago. I do know that what we paid was minimal compared to here, and when we were staying in a London suburb with friends, I was so talented that I managed to contract bronchitis. My friend's husband was a bank officer, and had private insurance, and sent us to their Internist. He spent quite a bit of time with us, as his last name is that of a street near us. It turns out that it indeed was named for his ancestor, who came here in the 1700's. Their estate in the UK still stands, and is open to the public.

    And I also needed medication, which we bought at the Boots nearby...when we got back..Blue Cross would not reimburse for both the MD and the Cipro...below the co-payment!

    Now? In the UK, National Health is also falling apart.

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  55. (continued)

    (B) Belgium has six authorized HMOs (all of them legally nonprofits, I think --- four of them were/are linked to political parties). There are government-set rates and copays, but one can go to any doctor, GP or specialist, privately, and historically very limited incentive to control abuse of the system by care providers. (There are HMO polyclinics but not that commonly used.) As Belgium only fairly recently introduced even admission tests to medical school, it had (still has) a glut of GPs, only a small minority of whom would be allowed to practice in a country with better quality control.

    Over time, solvency issues obviously arose despite attempts to control at least outright fraud (besides quality issues already mentioned) and several people in the know have confirmed my suspicions that the enthusiasm of Belgium (and Holland) for euthanasia is in large part motivated by cost considerations.

    (C) Germany is another story again: historically it was the first country to implement gov't health insurance (starting under Wilhelm I and his chancellor Bismarck), but over time demand for a "private option" developed, and about 15% of people are now covered privately.

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  56. Hmmm. NY Grampa is trying to shut my computer down! I think it is time to say g'nite and sweet dreams to all!

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  58. (continued)

    I could give more examples that I have less familiarity with. But summing up:

    (1) Yes, there are middle roads between all-governmental NHS-style healthcare and the mostly-private US system.
    (2) No, these are not magic bullets for the US system's problems.

    Another remark: NONE of the systems I mentioned allow for US-style malpractice suits: in most cases, the only recourse one has in the event of suspected malpractice is to file a complaint to the local board of medicine, which has a built in incentive to side with its peers except in the most blatant cases. Damages paid in even fatalities are a joke by US standards --- revocation of medical license happens but is very rare.

    Now this cuts both ways. Especially the US phenomena of "ambulance chasing" and "30% contingency representation", combined with (outside Texas) no caps on damages awarded have led to spiraling costs due to ever-higher malpractice insurance and widely practiced "defensive medicine" (a.k.a. CYA medicine). On the other hand, precisely the latter institutes a level of quality control missing in all the other systems.

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  59. Night Nana! Real, I give people a fair amount of slack on what they say on blogs, as it keeps things exciting. Personally I think Helen T is a university troll trying to stir up the pudden' as Boortz would say.

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  61. realwest...come out, come out, wherever you are! : )

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  62. realwest here - sorry have had some tech issues with google but they seem to have been resolved.
    Anyway, I just stopped in to say good night to you all, I hope you all have a great evening and that I get the chance to see you all down the road.

    Good Night, All.

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  64. Wow. Where are you guys? A chick goes away to work on a website for a few hours, and everybody's gone when she gets back.

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  66. CC and Pink Freud, I just finally got an e-mail off to both of you and I seriously hope you can help an old guy out here! LOL!
    And I'm now 2 hours past my med required sleep time so I'm going to bed. Thanks to each of you for anything you can do re: the e-mail I just sent you, and I hope to see you down the road. Good night.

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  67. Goodnight realwest! Sleep well and we'll see you tomorrow :-)

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  70. "The Entertainer", as sung by Milton Berle (and...umm...his backup)

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  72. Finally Free,
    Thanks for the posts on health care. I now now a hell of a lot more than I did about private vs. governmental health care systems.

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  75. Good morning Pi Guy and Bat Guano! How ya'll doing?

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  76. Good morning, Pink. I'm doing fine (although the bastards make me work this evening). :)

    How you?

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  77. Pink Freud said...
    Good morning Pi Guy and Bat Guano! How ya'll doing?

    I'm doin' good. It was a slow day at work, but then Tuesdays usually are.

    ReplyDelete

  78. Doing really good, guys. Slow night myself. Took a nap in a pile of textbooks earlier ....I think I woke up smarter! ;-)

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  79. Pink Freud said...
    Doing really good, guys. Slow night myself. Took a nap in a pile of textbooks earlier ....I think I woke up smarter! ;-)

    Careful! You know what they say: When you lie down with books, you'll wake up with fliers!

    /Did you hear about the Corduroy Pillows?
    //They're making headlines!

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  80. Careful! You know what they say: When you lie down with books, you'll wake up with fliers!

    /Did you hear about the Corduroy Pillows?
    //They're making headlines!

    Did you forget something about fish on Tuesdays? ;-)

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  81. Pink Freud said...

    Did you forget something about fish on Tuesdays? ;-)

    No, I don't know that one.

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  82. Ah yes, Pi Guy! It's part of ya'lls thing -- I've seen it several times here (CC has used it also) ....a joke is delivered and then the follwoing lines go soemthing like:

    "I'll be here on Tuesdays and Thursdays, don't forget to try the fish!"

    /no? Don't trust my memory these days :-)

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  83. Oh!

    You mean:

    I'm here all week! Try the veal!

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  84. "I'm here all week! Try the veal!"

    So, it's like an entertainer hawking the establishment's menu items?

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  86. HEY!!! Good morning you guys!

    Bat, just put this around the stuff you want to put in italics:

    <*i>Here's what I want to say in italics<*/i>

    Just take out the asterisks, don't replace them with anything.

    Same thing works for bold - just replace the i with a b.

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  87. BatGuano said...
    How does one do italics?

    Just place whatever text you want italicized between the <i> and </i> tags.

    For example, this in the comment box:

    <i>Hello!</i>

    ...looks like this in a post:

    Hello!

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  88. P.S. I'll be here all week, try the fish! : )

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  89. CC has a good point about bold.

    <b>Hello!</b>

    ...gives you:

    Hello!

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  90. Bat, just put this around the stuff you want to put in italics:

    Thank you CC!

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  92. By Jove, I think he's got it!
    ;)

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  93. By Jove, I think he's got it!
    ;)

    I'm good at this shit!

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  94. The rain in Spain stains mainly on the pane!

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  95. Corre∫pondence Committee said...

    P.S. I'll be here all week, try the fish! : )


    Yes yes! And the veal! Yep, that's it. Thankee kindly.

    ReplyDelete

  96. BatGuano said...

    I'm good at this shit!

    You think so?

    Try this!

    The secret? Using one set of tags inside the other, like this: <i><b>Try this!</b></i>

    ReplyDelete

  97. BatGuano said...
    The rain in Spain stains mainly on the pane!

    Iranian's pain comes mainly from Khomeini!
    ;)

    ReplyDelete

  98. Testing preformatted: hmm... "pre" doesn't work, neither does "blockquote", so just plain italics:

    To see a World in a grain of sand
    And Heaven in a wild flower
    Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
    And Eternity in an hour

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  100. Yes yes! And the veal! Yep, that's it. Thankee kindly.

    I used to work with a guitar player who was fond of saying (over the P.A.), "Try the restaurant...food fit for a king! Here King! Here King!"

    Clubowners loved that, let me tell you. : )

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  101. Testing preformatted: hmm... "pre" doesn't work, neither does "blockquote", so just plain italics:

    F2, I wish they recognized more tags in these little windows...would have been handy.

    They won't even allow you a target="_blank" inside an "a href". Phooey! : )

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  102. bite me

    Oh, Bat. Bad boy. Bad, bad Bat. LMAO

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  103. Finally Free said...
    Testing preformatted: hmm... "pre" doesn't work, neither does "blockquote", so just plain italics:

    To see a World in a grain of sand
    And Heaven in a wild flower
    Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
    And Eternity in an hour

    Einstein was once asked by a reporter to sum up the concept of relativity.

    Einstein replied, "When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it's longer than any hour. That's relativity."

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  104. Pi, you're such a good teacher! I'm excited to see your 1:00PM tomorrow!

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  105. Corre∫pondence Committee said...

    I used to work with a guitar player who was fond of saying (over the P.A.), "Try the restaurant...food fit for a king! Here King! Here King!"

    Clubowners loved that, let me tell you. : )

    I started out with nothing...I still have most of it.

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  106. @CC: is there is a linky anywhere to a list of allowed HTML tags? I tried googling...

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  107. Oh, Bat. Bad boy. Bad, bad Bat. LMAO

    /I sorry ;

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  108. Heh! You must have a ton of those, being in Vegas. : )

    P.S. Who gets to wake up littleoldlady today?

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  109. Corre∫pondence Committee said...
    Pi, you're such a good teacher! I'm excited to see your 1:00PM tomorrow!

    I think you'll like it, as will the rest of the C2 crowd.

    ReplyDelete

  110. @CC: is there is a linky anywhere to a list of allowed HTML tags? I tried googling...

    Not that I'm aware of - the only ones I've found that it accepts are italics, bold, and links. Maybe someone else knows if there are more, but that's all I'm aware of.

    Pi - do you know?

    ReplyDelete

  111. Corre∫pondence Committee said...
    Heh! You must have a ton of those, being in Vegas. : )

    Oh, yes.

    One I use at work all the time:

    "Put your hand out like you're reaching for money..."

    "You do that FAST!"

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  112. /I sorry ;

    LOL (See, I can't type what I wanted to type in response, which I GUARANTEE would have made you laugh! : )

    ReplyDelete

  113. Do you ever take advantage of being surrounded by all that entertainment, Pi, or is it just way past the pull date for you?

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  114. Trying underline (apparently verboten) <* font size="+2">Large font<* /font> (verboten)

    subscripts also verboten (feh!) H<* sub>2<* /sub>O

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  115. OMG! I leave for a few minutes and look what happens!

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  117. Will it allow a <* a href="http://www.snopes.com" target="_blank">link that opens in a new window<* /a>?

    Not even that. Oh well, "bloggered"

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  118. I always use that (target="_blank") when I'm composing posts, but it won't let you do it in comments.

    Hrmph. ; )

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  119. Corre∫pondence Committee said...
    @CC: is there is a linky anywhere to a list of allowed HTML tags? I tried googling...

    Not that I'm aware of - the only ones I've found that it accepts are italics, bold, and links. Maybe someone else knows if there are more, but that's all I'm aware of.

    Pi - do you know?

    Nope. Usually, just the basic ones without any added features.

    Try one you want, and if it's not allowed, you will be notified when you try to post your comment.

    ReplyDelete

  120. I was so prod of myself 25 years ago when I spoke DOS. Then came windows. Now I have to learn a new language.

    Same as it ever was :=)

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  121. @Pi Guy: yes, know that Einstein story. Love it :-)

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  122. Pi guy, been meaning to ask you are you familiar with John Derbyshire?

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  124. I think I've found most of them:

    B Bold
    I Italic
    A Link
    EM Emphasized text
    STRONG Strong text

    ReplyDelete

  125. BatGuano said...
    Pi guy, been meaning to ask you are you familiar with John Derbyshire?

    Not by that name. Why?

    ReplyDelete

  127. CC. luckily our President recognizes the threat from from nuclear third world powers.

    No?

    ReplyDelete

  128. Corre∫pondence Committee said...
    U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday North Korea's threats have become "even more lethal and destabilizing."

    0bama to offer to stop protecting South Korea in 5...4...3...2...

    ReplyDelete

  129. 0bama to offer to stop protecting South Korea in 5...4...3...2...

    Gah...can you imagine?

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  130. Not by that name. Why?

    He is a writer for National Review online. You and he have math in common.You both post math puzzles. In fact, he is the Pi Guy of NRO.

    ReplyDelete

  131. Looks like the Dems are really going to put the screws to the insurance companies.

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