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.)

 

[HookMeUpII]

I don't know if anyone mentioned this yet as I haven't had a chance to catch up:

White House security official dismisses NJ drone sightings — here’s what he claims they really are

The Biden administration suggested that there may be no drones over New Jersey at all — as it sought to tamp down growing frustration over a lack of answers from the feds over sightings. “We have n…

nypost.com

This administration is an absolute joke. “We have not been able to, and neither have state and local law enforcement authorities, been able to corroborate any of the reported visual sightings,” White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters during a briefing Thursday.

I've personally, with my own eyes, seen them. Friends of mine have also seen them. I know of POLICE OFFICERS, who have seen them and reported them. I just was at a repass lunch for a buddy who is a LEO who SAW THEM WITH HIS OWN EYES and reported them.

God, please, let January 20th be here soon.

My guess, as to what they are: Military drones from Picatinny Arsenal nearby. If they are foreign, this is not good.

 

[Wheels]

A few days ago the well known military expert Elon Musk opined that the F-35 was "obsolete" due to drones. Yesterday and today several papers are running with a story that Trump will cancel the program. Lockheed stock is down nearly 2% this morning and the rest of defense will also take a hit. The F-35 is in full rate production and is being purchased by several partner nations including Israel and most of NATO. There is not another fighter that can survive in the air against it unless perhaps a F-22. To date there are no operational fighter or fighter bomber drones. To cancel the program at this stage would be folly of an unimaginable scale on the belief that we can someday field a drone that can act as a fighter aircraft or fighter bomber. Meanwhile both China and Russia are fielding their first Gen 5 fighters which will outclass both the F-15 and F-16. Madness if true.

One of my worries about DOGE is its inability to actually affect structural change in any meaningful way or to touch the 3/4's of the budget dedicated to entitlement. Everyone inevitably is forced to turn to defense. Killing programs is always the one easy budget cut that can be made.

The B2 bomber is a good example. Billions go into research and development to create the aircraft over a decade, and just as it is going into production, the program is truncated to just 21 aircraft instead of the planned 132. Guess what that did to the cost per aircraft. Yet, those 21 have played a key role in every major airstrike carried in contested airspace for twenty years. None has ever been intercepted - likely never even acquired. But because we have so few, F-16's and F-17's have been used on deep penetration strikes for which they were not designed.

Another example is the Crusader artillery system. The first low rate production assemblies were being fabricated and the actual production plant was breaking ground in Oklahoma, when a brand new SECDEF, Donald Rumsfeld, decided to make a point that the country did not need to waste money on artillery when air power could provide all needed fire support. Within two years, that ignorant decision was costing lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. The US army is still operating a system that was first fielded in the fifties.

Elon Musk takes aim at Lockheed Martin’s F-35 as part of Trump’s efficiency efforts

Tesla and Space X’s Elon Musk is tasked with slashing federal spending as a co-leader of the new Department of Government Efficiency in Trump’s incoming...

www.dallasnews.com

https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/worl...with-lockheed-martin-what-we-know/ar-AA1vHBV5

Elon Musk wants to ‘stop’ federal spending for Lockheed Martin’s F-35. Could that happen?

‘“I think that the biggest threat we’ve ever had to the plant exists now,’ said one North Texas federal lawmaker.

news.yahoo.com

Lockheed has responded that it is fake news.

Lockheed Martin: NYP correspondent report on Trump's canceling F-35 contract ‘fake news’

New York Post correspondent Lydia Moynihan reported on X (formerly Twitter) that former President Donald Trump allegedly informed Lockheed Martin CEO Jim

insiderpaper.com

You may be completely correct on all of this. In which case it is concerning.

I am reminded of when the USAF retired the SR-71. My question was what new version of the U-2 was replacing it. I knew we had satellite abilities but not to what extinct.

For a few years I have considered that some UFO sightings were actually US military technology which was secret. Why else were we supposedly so far behind other countries on hypersonic abilities if we hadn't skipped a generation. Do we have military abilities that exceed academia's understanding of physics. I have no clue, but I doubt Trump will allow DOGE or others to remove our foremost technology without having newer and better technology to replace it. If we don't have newer technology the state of our military being behind on hypersonic is really sad.

 

[fourfive8]

As to @capra-capra.... I read some of his postings and they seemed to be genuine enough. It also seemed very obvious, to me anyway, he was not from a primarily English speaking country and was using some form of translator or a mixture of a background of English Second Language (ESL) plus a translation dictionary.

Easy to spot, really. But, not to be confused with some of our own, home grown, sadly common English slanguage speakers. Examples comparing correct vs the incorrect, lazy habit (or product of the old "auto fill, auto correct" excuse) of scrambling of then and than could include:

"This morning, I went to the coffee shop first then I went to the grocery store".
or a common slanguage usage example would be: "Seven is a larger number then three". ugh

My household is of mixed primary languages. For example: English is not a first language with any except me. I grew up in a community and school system with a primary English language base but it included a heavily trilingual culture- English, Spanish and Pueblo Native American.

My oldest rugrat, now a junior in college here, learned some basic English watching cartoons in English, with very little other English language exposure through 10th grade. She is currently working on mastering conversational Spanish in college- not that she will necessarily ever need it for her career but because it is a "politically motivated" requirement. She speaks 6 languages now and English is not even number two. English would be ranked 5th with Spanish as 6th. Her language rankings in order would be: Bisaya, Tagalog, Ilongo, a local Mindanao mtn. tribal dialect, English and Spanish.

I don't understand the eagerness to demean or attempt to force posters off of here like @capra-capra by using petty language grammar biases. But using the grammar flaws of an obvious ESL poster does reveal a lazy, projection method of debate unrelated to the subject matter being debated. But, the bully clique rules I guess.

I could care less, but how much less? I don't know.

 

[Red Leg]

You may be completely correct on all of this. In which case it is concerning.

I am reminded of when the USAF retired the SR-71. My question was what new version of the U-2 was replacing it. I knew we had satellite abilities but not to what extinct.

For a few years I have considered that some UFO sightings were actually US military technology which was secret. Why else were we supposedly so far behind other countries on hypersonic abilities if we hadn't skipped a generation. Do we have military abilities that exceed academia's understanding of physics. I have no clue, but I doubt Trump will allow DOGE or others to remove our foremost technology without having newer and better technology to replace it. If we don't have newer technology the state of our military being behind on hypersonic is really sad.

Rest assured, we aren't behind on either true hypersonics or unmanned air breathing reconnaissance.

 

[Dirtdart]

I don't understand the eagerness to demean or attempt to force posters off of here like @capra-capra by using petty language grammar biases. But using the grammar flaws of an obvious ESL poster does reveal a lazy, projection method of debate unrelated to the subject matter being debated. But, the bully clique rules I guess.

Please try not to derail this thread and keep your focus on what is important.

 

[Brent in Az]

Biden's pardon counter......

1500 clemencies

39 pardons

and growing......he may surpass Obama's big number

 

[Tundra Tiger]

As to @capra-capra.... I read some of his postings and they seemed to be genuine enough. It also seemed very obvious, to me anyway, he was not from a primarily English speaking country and was using some form of translator or a mixture of a background of English Second Language (ESL) plus a translation dictionary.

Easy to spot, really. But, not to be confused with some of our own, home grown, sadly common English slanguage speakers. Examples comparing correct vs the incorrect, lazy habit (or product of the old "auto fill, auto correct" excuse) of scrambling of then and than could include:

"This morning, I went to the coffee shop first then I went to the grocery store".
or a common slanguage usage example would be: "Seven is a larger number then three". ugh

My household is of mixed primary languages. For example: English is not a first language with any except me. I grew up in a community and school system with a primary English language base but it included a heavily trilingual culture- English, Spanish and Pueblo Native American.

My oldest rugrat, now a junior in college here, learned some basic English watching cartoons in English, with very little other English language exposure through 10th grade. She is currently working on mastering conversational Spanish in college- not that she will necessarily ever need it for her career but because it is a "politically motivated" requirement. She speaks 6 languages now and English is not even number two. English would be ranked 5th with Spanish as 6th. Her language rankings in order would be: Bisaya, Tagalog, Ilongo, a local Mindanao mtn. tribal dialect, English and Spanish.

I don't understand the eagerness to demean or attempt to force posters off of here like @capra-capra by using petty language grammar biases. But using the grammar flaws of an obvious ESL poster does reveal a lazy, projection method of debate unrelated to the subject matter being debated. But, the bully clique rules I guess.

I could care less, but how much less? I don't know.

I agree: I do not believe English is his first or primary language.

Speaking for myself, any disdain I felt had nothing to do with written language deficiencies and everything to do with his support of Putin.

 

[Brent in Az]

And.....ohhhhhh.....how the liberal media will squeal if Trump pardons any of the J6'ers

 

[cwpayton]

Should be a comma after Mr Angel. Period after Guatemala. Capital T in "they" to start a new sentence. No comma in NGOs. Period after second Guatemala. Capital O in "one" to start a new sentence. Period after"sources". Capital N in "not" to start a new sentence.
Basic high school grammar and punctuation.

Comma, a mark of punctuation (,) used to indicate a slight separation in sentence elements.
Period an occurrence of menstruation, (in women).
Capital, wealth in any form, accumulated stock or money.
Capital involving or punishable by death.

Dude you are funny, but I admit I'm a dud when using basic high school punctuation and sentence execution to the fullest language expression to promote full and unadulterated understanding of the expression in written communication, where both sender and receiver understand said communication in the simplest form.
I just never cared, in high school it was sports, sports ,sports, maintained a "c" average because I loved history and liked music.
Funny thing is when I finally went to college, after my military service, I graduated with honors . Seems like it was a 3.75 GPA.
However, I plead guilty to butchering my post and sentences. I think we could call it encrypted comm.
Your help is not appreciated, just leave me be, better use your time helping the local middle school English second language students, I could care more if I tried, but I don't. Thanks.