Politics

[Wheels]

Hopefully, Patel will return the favor of being spied upon......in spades.

If it happens I bet it will be with a signed warrant.

 

[Newboomer]

You're not wrong there, but it's also not accurate to say it's THE driver for increased health care costs.

Price signals which work so well in the rest of the marketplace are skewed by healthcare regulation and regulatory compliance carries a huge cost. Take the role of "billing specialist" for one example. The one and only reason for the proliferation of that craft is to deal with Medicare and Medicaid requirements, which the health insurance companies all too happily require as well. With the blessings of the US congress as well as the state legislatures, they exist in a market closed to competition. Then there's regulatory capture and the revolving door between places like NIH/FDA and Phizer, GSK, Bayer, and all the rest.

Ever heard of a concierge medical practice? Average cost of annual membership is somewhere between $2000 and $5000. Not cheap. But you also generally get unlimited visits with your doc, and they actually take the time to sit down and discuss your concerns with you. In standard internal medicine practices, many of those docs need to see 40 or 50 patients per day to make their nut.

I've come to believe that most of the chronic issues people have are diet-related - food being another heavily regulated industry suffering from massive regulatory capture. Eat meat and greens to your heart's content; complex carbs sparingly; simple sugar and processed food not at all - to include ultra-processed seed and vegetable oils like canola, corn, saffron, and the like. Poly-unsaturated fats are just poison. Stick with animal fats like hog lard, beef tallow, butter, duck fat, bear lard, and mono-unsaturated fats like olive oil, coconut oil, and avocado oil. IOW, shop the outer edge of the grocery and skip the rest.

Since I went near total carnivore about 3 years ago, my HDL has gone up from about 45 to 74, my triglycerides are down from over 200 to 75, and LDL down from over 200 to 120, and I no longer need to take blood pressure meds; and I'm down from 265 to 225. My doc did a full body ultrasound on me last year, my pipes are as clean as a healthy 30 year old, and I was 55 at the time. My heart's ejection fraction is 72% - normal for men is 52 -72%. Since I gave up all the processed shit, my knees, hips, and shoulders rarely hurt anymore. I used to take a lot of daily ibuprofen for all of that. I don't remember the last time I had to take any for joint pain. I've had a torn labrum in one of my hips since HS. Even all the walking and crawling and what-not on my safari back in August didn't cause me any discomfort. The acacia thorns tearing at my flesh are another matter.

Ever heard of the Warburg Effect (discovered nearly a century ago)? Most cancers require a steady stream of sugar for the purpose of fermentation, even when O2 is already abundant . When they grow cancer cells in vitro, many of them have to be bathed in insulin so they can absorb enough sugar, otherwise the cancer cells die.

People don't get Type II diabetes from a lifetime of abusing animal fat and protein, they get it from a lifetime of punishing their pancreas with a steady diet of sugar, causing all cells to become insulin resistant over time. Type II diabetes comes along with a number of other comorbidities - obesity, cardiovascular disease, generalized inflammation, metabolic syndrome, etc. Obesity is a non-trivial risk factor for quite a lot of cancers as well.

And of course, the answer for all of this from Big Medicine and Big Pharma is pills. And of course, they and Big Ag have a vested interest in NOT looking at the dietary angle on any of this.

Apologies, I didn't intend to turn this into a rant. Malpractice insurance is certainly a contributing factor to increased health care delivery costs, but it isn't a big one.

Very interesting. Thank you. Good to get a little truth into things now and then.

 

[Tanks]

...

“ The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place. “

Remember Senator Harry Reid that went on Senate floor and made false claims about Romney's taxes?
After the election they asked him about it being false. His response, and I am paraphrasing was "Well, he didn't win, did he?". No repercussions.

 

[Tanks]

Trump invites Xi Jinping to his inauguration. WTF Donald????

Maybe his son-in-law, Kushner, needs some Chinese money for his investment fund in addition to the Saudi billions he already got.

 

[Manwe]

View attachment 652110

So accurate, Only ,issing BLM.

 

[Manwe]

Maybe his son-in-law, Kushner, needs some Chinese money for his investment fund in addition to the Saudi billions he already got.

I think it's a great idea. If he show up its a show of power that he can demand Xi to show up.
If Xi doesn't show up, he takes offense.

 

[mdwest]

cant really take offense unless he wants to be seen as petty and childish (Trump doesnt seem to mind being seen that way on occasion though I suppose)..

at the end of the day, Xi is the head of state of one of the largest economies in the world, largest population in the world, etc..etc.. whether we like him or hate him, there is no denying he is an incredibly busy man.. with a lot of conflicting priorities to deal with every day..

frankly if attending Trumps inauguration and the following party is his greatest priority that day, that would make me think there is a whole lot more going on between the two of them that has previously been revealed..

the power play was in the invitation itself.. basically showing the China Hawks, the Chinese, and others that he is in charge.. not them... and not "the establishment" or anyone else.. he does what he wants to do... and screw them if they think otherwise..

and gives him the opportunity to point to Xi not attending the next time Xi makes a less than favorable move for the US and claim he has extended olive branches and tried to be nice to the Chinese, but they arent reciprocating.. therefore he should take action.. and he should have the peoples support (as well as congress, etc)..

its not really about whether or not Xi attends that specific day... its about messaging and future opportunity...

Love or hate Trump, the people that think he is a simpleton havent been paying attention.. he is indeed very smart (and has outsmarted his naysayers on numerous occasions)... and he is always playing 3D chess, never checkers.. nothing is ever exactly as it seems with The Donald..

 

[Wheels]

Wonder if Netanyahu has plans in motion or knows of plans related to Iran. This is getting more interesting.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1867270511547265325

 

[Altitude sickness]

Remember Senator Harry Reid that went on Senate floor and made false claims about Romney's taxes?
After the election they asked him about it being false. His response, and I am paraphrasing was "Well, he didn't win, did he?". No repercussions.

The only repercussion for a member lying in a hearing or on the floor comes from the body itself. senate or House. They can slap the hand of the offender. criminal charges cannot be brought against them.

Even in a hearing when grilling a member of the public which is under oath and the citizen can be prosecuted for lying to Congress. They are free to lie. They are not under oath.

 

[Hunt anything]

The only repercussion for a member lying in a hearing or on the floor comes from the body itself. senate or House. They can slap the hand of the offender. criminal charges cannot be brought against them.

Even in a hearing when grilling a member of the public which is under oath and the citizen can be prosecuted for lying to Congress. They are free to lie. They are not under oath.

That’s a crying shame, maybe if a clause was added to their oath of office stating that they could not lie some of that crap would end.

So they ARE above the law.

 

[Datchew]

HUM I would have to disagree with you on that, health care in America is run by THE big pharma companies, cooperate or loose your license to practice. for Example how great is our cancer cure rate. dismal to say the least but the profits, great. How about arthritis same. How did covid go, Badly , a nightmare, And dont you dare mention Ivermectin a drug used world wide, Nobel prize to I think ,or you are done. You may have a heart attack so get on statins , and don't ever stop, forget the side effects. PTSD here take this bag of pills. Flu season GET YOUR SHOT, what type of flu, there are a 100. doesnt matter just get a shot . You get my drift. healing is an art, dispensing pills is a business. Just my 5 worth.

There is no revenue stream for pharma in the dead.
There is no revenue stream for pharma in the healthy.
Hmmm... what does that leave us?
Rackets are everywhere.

Shift to commercial airline security for a moment.
There is no revenue stream for government if private carriers ensure safety.
There is no revenue stream for government if people refuse to fly.
Where does that leave us?
(Then they force you to go through the business with signs all around you services to avoid all the hassle. It couldn't be more blatant.)