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Brisketexan

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Everything posted by Brisketexan

  1. Yep. Which is why we, as a society, should actually try to AVOID things that are utter systemic shitshows. Because once you start blowing shit up, the shrapnel goes everywhere, much of it indiscriminately. That's why the SMART tech bros/billionaires are thinking and saying "so....maybe massive wealth inequality, while leaving the masses to suffer shitty outcomes, is a recipe for unrest and destruction of the very thing (a functioning society) that helped us prosper in the first place." People who became wealthy because of our social and legal structure....being okay with the destruction of that social and legal structure....are killing the goose that laid the golden egg. It's so fucking stupid, counter-productive, and shitty. But....all gas, no brakes. We've clearly made our choice -- fuck, the majority of our society (stupidly) cheers it on, they LOVE them some billionaires who OPENLY say "the people gotta suffer, that's just the way it is." I wish we would choose otherwise, but that wish is never coming true.
  2. As one of the owners of a small/medium sized business, which provides health insurance for its employees, maybe we bosses should be shot. But from our perspective, we do the best we can with the system that we have. 1) If our employees are to have healthcare worth a shit, it's going to be with an employer-provided plan. So, we HAVE to be in the health insurance game, whether we want to be or not. 2) We actually want a plan that offers good coverage, minimal hassles, and leads to good outcomes. ALL of us are on the plan (owners and employees), so we all have an interest in it providing good outcomes. That, and (not to put a halo on our head or anything) we actually want our employees and their families to be happy and healthy. 3) Sure, cost is a factor for us. We employ a broker who shops around for us. We've even changed insurance carrier before (we switched over to another, were there for three years, then switched back, preferring our original carrier). So, maybe some of it depends on the moral compass of management at your employer. But even if it's not a moral compass, there's an objective good policy in having your employees and their families be healthy, and be treated promptly and well for any illness. It keeps them from falling off the job, from being unduly distracted, etc. So, even a self-interested employer should want their health plan to be a good one. But, through all of that, we really can only select from a menu of choices that exist. We can't really craft a whole new recipe on how to deliver healthcare. Our choices are "do you want to go with carrier X, Y, or Z?" And our decision is driven by how well that carrier performs, whether there is a good pool of in-network providers in the area, and yeah, to some extent, cost. Opting out or creating something entirely different isn't an option. TLDR: our system has placed the burden of setting up healthcare for people on the backs of employers. I suspect that many, even most of them, do their best to select the best option from a menu of shitty choices. After all, employers are not healthcare experts either. Their core business is selling auto parts, or accounting, or manufacturing widgets, or whatnot.
  3. It really is stunning. No matter the site/venue, there really aren’t “dissenting” opinions. All are variations of Seinfeld “that’s a shame” and such. You rarely see such unanimity about…anything. Especially a dude getting murdered. Chris Rock “I ain’t saying it’s right, but u understand” is about as strong a condemnation as you get.
  4. It'll get you a half dozen blue point oysters, and that's good enough for me.
  5. To be fair, many American GPs care as well....but they don't get to opt out of the system of rent-seeking middlemen. We don't do ANYTHING without ensuring that first, lots of profits are made by people who don't add any value exept extracting profits from the beast they helped create/perpetuate.
  6. Just promise the people free money, low prices, and you'll hurt everyone they don't like and blame for their failures even though they are largely responsible for their failures. Oh, and suck billionaire cock, cup the balls and gargle the gravy. Let them know they can do whatever they want with no government interference. Gotta get the oligarchs on your side, too. That's important.
  7. She's already gotten the first meds, easy peasy (and they've helped a good bit). The reason for the additional bloodwork was to help them get better dialed in on what she needs and dosages. She had actually gone to a private specialty clinic....and they sucked. Just a pill-mill, no real attention to her. The GP is much better.
  8. "I'm going to make inflation go away." "Gasoline will be so cheap you won't even believe it." You have to promise simple, stupid, outrageous things. The kid who ran for 4th grade class president (and I selected that year because that level is the average level of intelligence of Americans) who promised ice cream and pizza for lunch every day and no more tests ALWAYS WON. ALWAYS. Promise the people ice cream and pizza and no taxes and you will ban fans of the football team they hate and you will protect them from the man-eating lions roaming their neighborhoods and you will send every American a tax rebate check for $10,000 and blah blah blah....AND YOU WILL WIN. 100% of the time, you will win. Once you win, THEN you can govern....because most of those people won't be paying any attention. Then, when it's time to run for re-election, just lie about what you did, say it was awesome, and deny any of the bad shit you did, calling your opponent who says such things "fake news." Boom. Re-elected. Stop making this complicated. The voters certainly aren't.
  9. Despite the rock-solid, tangible evidence to the contrary staring you in the face. Look at election results over the past decade. They are what they are. LYING FUCKING WORKS. NOT LYING DOES NOT WORK. Yes. And how do you communicate effectively with and persuade idiots? NOT WITH FACTS AND EVIDENCE. YOU DO IT BY APPEAL TO EXTREME EMOTION, WHICH CAN ONLY BE ACCOMPLISHED BY OUTRAGEOUS LIES.
  10. Read the article you posted about the Canadian vet. READ IT, not just the headline, or what some youtube account SAYS about it. There is ZERO such official policy. There are NO written statements/demands/offers to that effect. The most that can be surmised is that 1) some asshole exasperated bureaucrat (note that insurance companies have these in spades as well) said something to the effect of if your life is so intolerable, you can look into assisted suicide, and 2) all relevant government officials declared unequivocally that is NOT Canadian policy, and nothing like that should have been communicated by ANY means. Of course, here in the US, the insurance companies won't even offer you that. Because it would cost money. They just count on you dying all on your own. Early death is a path to profits. Which is the only, exclusive, 100% goal of our system.
  11. Connecting that emotional despair to fact-based things is not enough. You have to make up outrageous, inflammatory lies. I didn't make these rules. I'm just telling you what they are.
  12. Patients. Insurance companies. Physicians. No matter how we "reform" our system, there is one of those three groups that will never, ever, ever lose, and will always come out ahead. And everyone on earth knows which one we're talking about.
  13. There is. It's called "Flood social media with tasty, easily digestible lies that they want to hear." That's it. That's the entire plan. It works. We should do that next time.
  14. Got a daughter living in the UK. Recently diagnosed with a serious, chronic illness. Had no problem getting in with a GP, who was thorough, ordered detailed bloodwork, and followed up promptly after the bloodwork came in. The stories of the wait times for care in the UK and Canada, while having some basis in truth (she dealt with that when living in Canada....but she was also able to find the care she needed in short order, once she worked at it), are vastly overblown. AND, they ignore the wait times and shortages of specialists for a shitload of care here as well. No system is perfect. But among first world systems, ours delivers the worst overall results per dollar spent. It's not even close.
  15. Yeah, ummm.....lady, I read your letter to your son. That was written when you were being candid and truthful, and you weren't looking to obtain any benefit or advancement. I'm going to believe what you said then. Your son would have to engage on a multi-decade journey of self-improvement just to work his way up to being a piece of shit.
  16. Sorry, those complications weren't preauthorized. You'll have to look to the patient for payment. QFMFT. We are such a stupid place.
  17. And you can get a 200 square foot place for the low low price of $3.9 million.
  18. 1) Pretty sure the "Salt Typhoon" is an appetizer at a Guy Fieri joint. 2) If Chinese hackers are subjected to reading the private communications of Surly posters......that is how America wins. As their eyes melt, and their brains short circuit, and they try to understand why "muledick" is the answer, no matter what the question is....we will have taken down the Chinese cyberwarriors without firing a shot. You're welcome, America.
  19. Some of us are recreational hit men. Some tasks are just more gratifying when they are for pleasure instead of profit.
  20. Yep. It's fucking huge. And of course, instead of the response to lower birth rates and lower romantic success by men being "huh...maybe we should endeavor to make ourselves more enticing candidates for romance, and maybe we should provide better mechanisms of support for women having children," they go with the functional equivalent of "squash them, deny them agency, and order them to fuck us/make sure they have no meaningful alternative BUT to seek out a man so she can have a decent place in this world." Men have a real problem. Most of that problem is.....men. S. Korea is the most glaring and disturbing example, but it's far from an outlier.
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