Now That Trump's President... (not any more!)

[sheatheman]

Lol “they”

[batch]

Edited April 14, 2019 by batch

[Braintree]

Hey look, it's sheathe on the internet. Starting some shit because of some deep seated insecurities.

[baph]

Think it’s bad now? Just wait 40 years when all Sheathe ever talks about is how this is the water and this is the well drink full and descend the horse is the white of the eyes dark within

Edited April 13, 2019 by baph

[ignatius]

Think it’s bad now? Just wait 40 years when all Sheathe ever talks about is how this is the water and this is the well drink full and descend the horse is the white of the eyes dark within

 

 

gotta light?

[ambermonk]

I just hope we have oxygen-powered flying eco cars in 40 years and the bodies of today's old politicians are decomposed enough in the ground that they become a viable source of fossil fuel reserves in case the green energy flying cars thing doesn't work out. Of course I'll be an old sinking scrotum by then too.

[chenGOD]

 

Think it’s bad now? Just wait 40 years when all Sheathe ever talks about is how this is the water and this is the well drink full and descend the horse is the white of the eyes dark within

 

gotta light?

Nah a bud light

Early in the morning, face crud from like a mud fight

Looky here, it's just the way the cookie tear

Prepare to get hurt and mangled like Kurt Angle rookie year

 

If I lived in a space station I’d be posting more actively, especially with trumps “spaaaace foorrrce”

[sheatheman]

Hey look, it's sheathe on the internet. Starting some shit because of some deep seated insecurities.

Very trumpian.

[sheatheman]

My only problem with this thread is it’s like a bunch of people bragging because they can hit a beach ball with a tennis racket.

[goDel]

 

 

 

[ambermonk]

I want to believe there are still Republicans who are decent human beings. But their primary directive today is anilingus to the Don.

I'm just glad Lisa Murkowski, one of my state's GOP senators, still has some common sense.

[Brisbot]

Quote

 

My only problem with this thread is it’s like a bunch of people bragging because they can hit a beach ball with a tennis racket.

If you're saying it's low hanging fruit to criticize the hijinks trump and republicans get up to on a mostly liberal leaning forum and thread, you'd be right. Thing is the low hanging fruit controls most of the govt. and the beach is overrun by beach balls.

 

Don't even care if dem nominee is some platitude spewing, war mongering centrist, at least they won't cut social security (well Obama suggested it once so idk), throw millions of people off Obamacare, waste money on walls for imagined threats, throw out the paris agreement, kill the EPA etc. etc. etc. There just isn't room for doubt after the primary. People need to come together to cut out the spray tanned tumor.

ambermonk, on 13 Apr 2019 - 11:59 AM, said:

 

I want to believe there are still Republicans who are decent human beings. But their primary directive today is anilingus to the Don.

 

I'm just glad Lisa Murkowski, one of my state's GOP senators, still has some common sense.

You'd be surprised how many republicans dislike Trump because of his 'unprofessional use of language'... however thinking back to 2016 almost every Republican candidate was just a more 'abstract' version of Trump when it comes to use of language. Seems it came down to, do you like the straightforward candidate or the others who say the same thing as Trump just through dog whistles.

 

And even if they disliked Trump they still went out and voted for him because as has been said before republicans are very party-minded. If you have to give Reps credit for anything it's that. They are a strong party even though they're a minority compared to democrats who could solidly win every election cycle at this point if they voted as religiously as republicans.

Edited April 14, 2019 by Brisbot

[sheatheman]

medical system is a catastrophe. obamacare just made it a little bit worse for most people. (my household pays more for health insurance than rent...)

 

you have pharmaceuticals, hospitals/physicians, insurers, and the govt all jockeying for a piece of the golden goose, the chronically ill american.

 

and how did they get that way? ridden with diabetes on a scooter chair with an ipad in their left hand and a polar pop in their right?

 

agriculture (focus on monoculture, i.e., corn) teaming up with coke (hfcs) to get people addicted to soda, so that they will become diabetic and obese, needing lots and lots of medication (pharma), which is VERY VERY expensive (insurance), eventually requiring extensive surgeries (hospitals, insurance, pharma), but don't worry, your scooter chair is subsidized! (govt).

[Candiru]

I don’t drink soda usually but I recently had this pineapple cream soda that blew my fuckin mind

[ignatius]

medical system is a catastrophe. obamacare just made it a little bit worse for most people. (my household pays more for health insurance than rent...)

 

you have pharmaceuticals, hospitals/physicians, insurers, and the govt all jockeying for a piece of the golden goose, the chronically ill american.

 

and how did they get that way? ridden with diabetes on a scooter chair with an ipad in their left hand and a polar pop in their right?

 

agriculture (focus on monoculture, i.e., corn) teaming up with coke (hfcs) to get people addicted to soda, so that they will become diabetic and obese, needing lots and lots of medication (pharma), which is VERY VERY expensive (insurance), eventually requiring extensive surgeries (hospitals, insurance, pharma), but don't worry, your scooter chair is subsidized! (govt).

 

 

affordable care act (obama care) is why i'm still in my house and not totally bankrupt or dead.  before the ACA i have pre-existing conditions and couldn't get coverage anywhere except this one place that was shit. they were kicked out of the state of NY for shitty practices.. if you've seen the movie The Rainmaker.. the company is pretty much like the insurance company in that movie. 

 

so, having pre-existing conditions would basically leave most people who are self employed to have no coverage at all. 

 

once the ACA came into existence pre-existing conditions were not allowed to be considered when providing coverage so i instantly had lot's more options for coverage. previously i'd been denied in writing because i have pre-existing conditions.. from every insurer in my state. 

 

the ACA more or less saved my life.  last year i had emergency surgery to remove a tumor the size of an eggplant.  the surgery cost around $70k.  

 

of course the tumor was malignant.. thankfully it hadn't spread anywhere so the surgery removed all of it. but it means i have to take a chemo drug to keep it from coming back. of course, this drug costs $14,000 for a month supply. i'll have to take it for life.  there is a generic version but it's $12,000 for a month supply.  my insurance covers the medication thankfully. 

 

the system is pretty insane.  the hospital i had my surgery at was out of network but since it was an emergency my insurance covered what they would have covered if it was an in network hospital. this left about $16k not covered that i was responsible for. i argued w/my insurance company and the hospital and thankfully the hospital is a charitable organization and i qualified for assistance. they basically marked down/wrote off 75% of the left over bill so i had to cover around $3800 or something. which is much more manageable. 

 

another twist is the pharmacy that supplies the drug is owned by my insurance company. last year when i started taking the drug i had to get what's called a copay card from the manufacturer which exists for people who don't have good insurance  which at the time mine was so so.. i have a better plan now.. but last year my plan was a lower tier plan. so, the copay card basically meant i had to pay $10 a month for the drug until my out of pocket/deductible etc was met.. which happened in 2 months. the copay card thing is common and just goes to show that if they wanted to they could offer the drug a lot cheaper but why should they when insurance will pay? it's fucked

 

the whole system is topsy turvy. but thankfully for now i'm covered and my insurance company is great and i got a better plan this year when i re-enrolled in the ACA. 

 

so, while the ACA isn't perfect it's a step in the right direction. part of the reason it's fucked up is because congress hasn't funded it properly the last few years or since its inception.  the plan that the obama administration started out with was closer to something like medicare for all or single payer system and after the dealing started in congress we ended up w/the ACA which i'll take any day over what i had prior. 

 

so, if the ACA goes away and pre-existing conditions become reason to deny coverage i'll probably be dead in around 5 years. 

 

a lot of people are like you and do pay more for health insurance than their mortgage. it's dumb and a lot more work has to be done. costs are out of control. 

 

what i think is ridiculous is the idea that they can repeal the ACA w/o having some other plan already there to replace it.  i guarantee you 100% they don't have the 1st line of a bill to deal w/health care if they get rid of the ACA.  

 

after spending a decent amount of time in the healthcare system in recent years i'm less cynical about the actual places and people who provide care.  my current boss is a board certified neurosurgeon as is his wife. he hated the culture so much he quit and opened a synth shop and he was a premier top tier kind of name in this city. i've heard a lot of stories from him about some of the bad actors in healthcare and how they operate and as a patient i can see how all of it could be really difficult to navigate if you have chronic issues and don't meet the right doctors. 

 

i have a friend who says healthcare is never going to be both profitable and available to everyone. he's probably right.  so, perhaps the answer is to take the profit out. 

 

but there's a lot of things upstream to take care of to do that. med school is fucking expensive for one. mal practice insurance another.. drug prices... tests, medical groups owning scanning machines so conflicts of interests exist. 

 

it's crazy.  but it seems like the root of a lot of the problems is profit motive and unscrupulous operators and lack of ethics and lack of concern for the common good and bulk of concern for the profits. 

 

sorry.. lot's of text.. i'm off my soap box now. 

 

as you were. 

Edited April 15, 2019 by ignatius

[zlemflolia]

 

but it seems like the root of a lot of the problems is profit motive

 

this is basically everything

[ignatius]

 

 

but it seems like the root of a lot of the problems is profit motive

 

this is basically everything

 

 

 

at some point the profit motive took over. i think there's a timeline for it in capitalism. the idea of making an honest buck turned into how can i maximally exploit this situation (the opioid crisis is a perfect example - 47,000 deaths in 2017). it's like the wall street greedheads took over every industry and there's no more good actors anywhere. i know that's not true but in major systems like healthcare it feels like it. you don't have to look to closely at it all to see the harsh reality of it and the dirt and pain and suffering it causes. 

Edited April 15, 2019 by ignatius

[sheatheman]

Well I’m glad you’re alive. Forgot about the preexisting conditions part, definitely huge.

 

Speaking on profit model: new med professionals around 30 can be some of the absolute most dead eyed lost people you’ll ever see. They are the kinds of people who have no clue what they want in life besides riches, and basically picked doctor because they were too introverted to be a lawyer.

 

In the extreme they are into satanic stuff, fascinated by gore and cutting people up, and ironically value human life about as much as the USDA values animal life.

 

But if you take profit out, or go in that direction, you get a situation like Canada, where primary care providers are booked months in advance, clinics are open for a few hours in the afternoon with lines forming in the morning, or people waiting in the emergency room for 11 hours and dying of kidney failure because half the people in the waiting room are in there for a cold.

 

Basically the human condition trends toward suffering and it takes a lot of selflessness to alter the course, namely, enduring one’s own suffering for the sake of easing someone else’s

Edited April 15, 2019 by sheathe

[dingformung]

But you do know that the US has one of the most inefficient health care systems of all industrial countries. Canada has a system with a much better coverage that i at the same time cheaper because it's more efficient. Have a look at the Scandinavian and central European countries. Why can't the US have something like this? I'm not an expert of Obamacare. I know it was flawed but from my standpoint it was at least a step into the right direction.

 

[dingformung]

Oh, you edited your post

It's slightly less shitty now

[goDel]

Well I’m glad you’re alive. Forgot about the preexisting conditions part, definitely huge.

 

Speaking on profit model: new med professionals around 30 can be some of the absolute most dead eyed lost people you’ll ever see. They are the kinds of people who have no clue what they want in life besides riches, and basically picked doctor because they were too introverted to be a lawyer.

 

In the extreme they are into satanic stuff, fascinated by gore and cutting people up, and ironically value human life about as much as the USDA values animal life.

 

But if you take profit out, or go in that direction, you get a situation like Canada, where primary care providers are booked months in advance, clinics are open for a few hours in the afternoon with lines forming in the morning, or people waiting in the emergency room for 11 hours and dying of kidney failure because half the people in the waiting room are in there for a cold.

 

Basically the human condition trends toward suffering and it takes a lot of selflessness to alter the course, namely, enduring one’s own suffering for the sake of easing someone else’s

 

you're spewing a lot of stereotypes and generalisations for someone who complains about others doing so. what's your deal? not happy with obamacare and think trump is going to solve it? (instead of making it worse)

[chenGOD]

Well I’m glad you’re alive. Forgot about the preexisting conditions part, definitely huge.

 

Speaking on profit model: new med professionals around 30 can be some of the absolute most dead eyed lost people you’ll ever see. They are the kinds of people who have no clue what they want in life besides riches, and basically picked doctor because they were too introverted to be a lawyer.

 

In the extreme they are into satanic stuff, fascinated by gore and cutting people up, and ironically value human life about as much as the USDA values animal life.

 

But if you take profit out, or go in that direction, you get a situation like Canada, where primary care providers are booked months in advance, clinics are open for a few hours in the afternoon with lines forming in the morning, or people waiting in the emergency room for 11 hours and dying of kidney failure because half the people in the waiting room are in there for a cold.

 

Basically the human condition trends toward suffering and it takes a lot of selflessness to alter the course, namely, enduring one’s own suffering for the sake of easing someone else’s

This is one of the funniest posts you’ve done.

 

Why are you repeating Fox News talking points about the Canadian health care system?

 

https://askepticalhuman.com/politics/2018/9/10/debunking-right-wing-healthcare-myths-wait-times-rationing

 

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/podcast/2018/oct/truth-about-waiting-see-doctor-canada

 

And yes, Canada has longer wait times than the US, but as those two articles demonstrate, wait times are on a priority basis - just like in the US.

Canada has comparable or better health outcomes than the US

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2801918/

As an added bonus, no one goes bankrupt/into crushing debt because they are sick.

 

In my experience, doctors are some of the hardest working people you will meet, and the work they do is often times the literal difference between life and death, so they deserve to be paid well. They are also often very compassionate, but they show it in a professional manner. They have to be somewhat detached, otherwise the work would overwhelm them, much like police who investigate child exploitation/human trafficking. To accuse them broadly as a group of people who place no value on human life is ridiculous and insulting.

[tec]

What the fuck, at first obviously didn’t bother reading sheathe’s post but had to go back after chen’s comment. The bloke is a nutter, we’ve found us a new lumpenprol.

[BobDobalina]

Have a look at the Scandinavian and central European countries. Why can't the US have something like this? I'm not an expert of Obamacare. I know it was flawed but from my standpoint it was at least a step into the right direction.

 

We for starters we have these behemoth health insurance and pharmaceutical companies* that are filthy lucrative in our mutant capitalist system, and be sure their boards and shareholders want nothing more than to maintain the status quo, keep that yacht rock cheddar rolling in.  So they lobby (bribe) a bunch politicians on both sides of the aisle, money well spent when you compare what relatively little they have to shell out compared to the margins they make and the fuckall taxes they pay.  Establishment Dems and Reps then go play their good cop/bad cop game for show, like a good WWE match from time to time one will appear to have the upper hand.  The ACA/Obamacare was Dems shot at trying to have it both ways (placating the industry whilst claiming/framing it a win for their base and the public in general), and in some ways it was a step in the right direction but it was neutered to begin with, plus shit like this doesn't fly when the other party wants nothing more than to destroy it.

 

*BTW per Citizens United these entities are considered people with rights, including free speech, and apparently throwing money around in to stuff like superpacs constitutes free speech.

 

Sounds legit right?

 

As an added bonus, no one goes bankrupt/into crushing debt because they are sick.

In my experience, doctors are some of the hardest working people you will meet, and the work they do is often times the literal difference between life and death, so they deserve to be paid well. They are also often very compassionate, but they show it in a professional manner. They have to be somewhat detached, otherwise the work would overwhelm them, much like police who investigate child exploitation/human trafficking. To accuse them broadly as a group of people who place no value on human life is ridiculous and insulting.

The whole medical bankruptcy thing is disgusting, also the fact that that Purdue pharma family of cunts can't/won't be held accountable for the blood on their hands.

 

From my experience most doctors here are good people, it's the profit-driven system that's insane.  If you check the AMA and other professional groups positions on healthcare policy and legislation, they tend to fall on the side of compassion and reason.  Medical professionals are actually getting squeezed pretty hard these days, especially the younger ones coming up with massive student loan debt and malpractice insurance that'll make rents in SF look cheap.

Edited April 15, 2019 by Bob Dobalina

[splbt]

 

 

but it seems like the root of a lot of the problems is profit motive

this is basically everything

we're living in a time of widespread disillusionment re: capitalism.

 

edit: hopefully

Edited April 15, 2019 by flexbert