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Author Topic:   The Biden Presidency
Percy
Member
Posts: 22954
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 7.1


(1)
Message 256 of 480 (889296)
11-15-2021 9:11 AM
Reply to: Message 255 by xongsmith
11-14-2021 11:43 PM


Re: Hey Zongsmith! Can you tell me how much "Big Pharma" costs us?
xongsmith writes:
Overall healthcare costs here in the USA are flat-out CRIMINAL!
The premium for Medicare Part B is going up from $148.50 to $170.10 next year, an increase of 14.5%. Social Security is only going up 5.9%, and for most people their Medicare Part B premium is deducted from their Social Security. Supplemental and advantage plan premiums are going up also, I would guess in the neighborhood of five to ten percent.
--Percy

This message is a reply to:
 Message 255 by xongsmith, posted 11-14-2021 11:43 PM xongsmith has not replied

  
jar
Member (Idle past 99 days)
Posts: 34140
From: Texas!!
Joined: 04-20-2004


(1)
Message 257 of 480 (889298)
11-15-2021 12:37 PM


and the US still has the worst health care in almost all the developed world.
The US health care truly is despicable; about the worst in the so called developed nations.
No one goes into bankruptcy over health care costs in any other first or second world nation.
Edited by jar, : No reason given.

My Website: My Website

Replies to this message:
 Message 258 by xongsmith, posted 11-20-2021 5:46 AM jar has not replied

  
xongsmith
Member
Posts: 2620
From: massachusetts US
Joined: 01-01-2009


(1)
Message 258 of 480 (889359)
11-20-2021 5:46 AM
Reply to: Message 257 by jar
11-15-2021 12:37 PM


Re: and the US still has the worst health care in almost all the developed world.
Indeed, the USA is no longer a developed country.
Minimal requirement of being developed: Health Care for ALL

"I'm the Grim Reaper now, Mitch. Step aside."

- xongsmith, 5.7d


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 Message 257 by jar, posted 11-15-2021 12:37 PM jar has not replied

  
AZPaul3
Member
Posts: 8655
From: Phoenix
Joined: 11-06-2006
Member Rating: 6.7


Message 259 of 480 (891674)
02-07-2022 9:51 PM


Putin Warns the West and Ukraine, but Keeps His Intentions a Mystery - The New York Times
Putin demands the Sudetenland, eh, the Ukraine (and Belarus, everyone forgets Belarus) as a security zone under his direct military control. He promises this ends his military ambitions and promises peace in our time. Pay no attention to the sabres being rattled in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, in the background.

Eschew obfuscation. Habituate elucidation.

  
AZPaul3
Member
Posts: 8655
From: Phoenix
Joined: 11-06-2006
Member Rating: 6.7


Message 260 of 480 (891816)
02-12-2022 12:16 PM


Live War Watch On Your TV
FYI,
Seems the major media & internet are broadcasting the intrigues of a war watch, live, real time.
If you're into such things, you can go watch a war about to happen on live TV.
Latest rumor is that Putin's inverse Operation Barbarossa is tentatively scheduled to start on Wednesday.

Eschew obfuscation. Habituate elucidation.

Replies to this message:
 Message 261 by dwise1, posted 02-13-2022 1:41 AM AZPaul3 has not replied

  
dwise1
Member
Posts: 6077
Joined: 05-02-2006
Member Rating: 7.3


Message 261 of 480 (891838)
02-13-2022 1:41 AM
Reply to: Message 260 by AZPaul3
02-12-2022 12:16 PM


Re: Live War Watch On Your TV
If you're into such things, you can go watch a war about to happen on live TV.
When we rented a house in 1977, I found in the attic a copy of the Sunday Chicago Sun-Times from late August 1939. The leading story at the time was the increasing tensions between Germany and Poland which led to the invasion of Poland on 01 Sep 1939 followed by Poland's allies, the UK and France, declaring war on Germany thus starting WWII. But things hadn't gotten that far at the time of this newspaper.
On the front page, they printed a color map of Europe with the caption (from memory): "Follow the war over the next few months." Which told me that they expected this war to last only a few months whereas it ended up lasting nearly six years in Europe.
As we watch this current situation unfold, we hope it will be brief, but it could last longer.
 
On page 2 or 3, they posted photos from Europe. In Paris, we saw civilians on the street carrying gas mask bags (including for children), since a big fear left over from the Great War was of chemical warfare. Of course, the Parisian gas mask bags were very fashionably done. In WWII Home Front depictions (eg, in PBS' World on Fire) we see civilians in the UK carrying a little cardboard box with them all the time, usually with it slung over one shoulder with string. That contains their gas mask -- that fact wasn't revealed in that show, but it was in the new Netflix movie Munich – The Edge of War. The only scene I remember from having seen Mrs. Miniver (1942) decades ago was that Mr. Miniver had built an air raid shelter in their back yard which featured an air intake duct with a filter for the poison gas and he was showing her how to use it.
Speaking of gas masks, that metal cylinder that you see hanging from a German infantryman's belt in back contains his gas mask. And they also had special gas masks for their dogs and horses.
One of my tech school instructors tested us by asking for the only drill command that would be completed instantly -- the situation he proposed was that a formation was about to march off a cliff such that the next step would be the last for the first rank; what command would you give to stop them and save everybody? Remember that those commands are given in two parts: the preparatory command and the command of execution: eg, "Company, atten -- ("wait for it, wait for it") HUT!", or Monty Python's "Confuse the -- CAT!". Even then, a "company -- halt!" or "to the rear -- march!" would involve one or two more steps before the command took effect. The only command you could give to stop the entire formation instantly is "GAS!", whereupon every troop stops and dons his gas mask.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 260 by AZPaul3, posted 02-12-2022 12:16 PM AZPaul3 has not replied

  
AZPaul3
Member
Posts: 8655
From: Phoenix
Joined: 11-06-2006
Member Rating: 6.7


Message 262 of 480 (891880)
02-16-2022 2:45 PM


The Ghost of Catherine the Great
Today is the prophesized start of Czar Putin’s drive to the west.
If it happens, this may become just a local purchase bought with a few dead soldiers and a chunk of his economy. The west will withhold economic credits, levee sanctions and send strongly worded official ambassadorial recriminations. The economic hit will be real but it’s just the people being hurt so who gives a fuck. Czars have always expected the people to sacrifice for their glory. This one would expect no less.
Or, could the military industrial complex get its fervent wish and the Ukraine crumble into a western-supplied guerilla force going toe-to-toe with a foreign aggressor? Afghanistan 2 - Ukraine Version
Of course NATO could just say no, not allowed, and tell Vlad if he invades then NATO moves into the Ukraine in force. Bullies usually back down after a bloody nose. But no one expects such resolve here.
If Czar Putin follows centuries-old Russian strategy he will push here and there taking what he can get until he meets a sword he doesn’t want to fight. No one seems to remember what he’s already done in the Crimea.
In the meantime the rest of the Ukraine, once a free democracy on the Czar’s doorstep, is crumbling and may once again belong to the Czars. Thank you, Catherine.
We get to watch, live. This is interesting. I admit. I want to see how this plays out.
Edited by AZPaul3, : No reason given.

Edited by AZPaul3, : No reason given.

Edited by AZPaul3, : No reason given.

Edited by AZPaul3, : No reason given.


Eschew obfuscation. Habituate elucidation.

  
AZPaul3
Member
Posts: 8655
From: Phoenix
Joined: 11-06-2006
Member Rating: 6.7


Message 263 of 480 (892023)
02-21-2022 5:28 PM


It Has Started
Putin Orders Troops to Separatist Regions and Recognizes Their Independence - The New York Times
That's one small step for a Czar, one giant finger at western-kind.
I think some europeans are seeing the utility of NATO.
Edited by AZPaul3, : No reason given.

Eschew obfuscation. Habituate elucidation.

Replies to this message:
 Message 265 by Tanypteryx, posted 02-24-2022 11:24 AM AZPaul3 has not replied

  
AZPaul3
Member
Posts: 8655
From: Phoenix
Joined: 11-06-2006
Member Rating: 6.7


Message 264 of 480 (892046)
02-23-2022 10:38 PM


Bang.
One interesting wrinkle to this war is the role of the media, social media, with dis-information alerts and contrary facts pointed out real-time. We are watching the world expose each move of this deception, calling out each pretense, exposed, and spun in the world media. The cyber-attacks were identified and exposed, in process, as were some social-media disinformation campaigns.
Usually, western democracies often feel hindered in their diplomatic efforts by media exposure. And social media is hardly a bastion of pleasant ideologies. But this is the first time I have seen such a deft use of the world media to help with the diplomacy. Internet and social media are playing a very unique role in these proceedings. They are serving as a most excellent instant fact-checking machine. Someone’s playing this well from the west.
Unfortunately, Czar Putin, The Imperially Pissed Off, is not so affected. He said this move was existential for him. He has no choice but to restore the grandeur of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, The Great Russian Empire at it’s zenith. Announcing the new Great Russian Empire v 2.0
So with the great all-seeing eye in focus, we get to watch a war unfold.
CNN - Kyiv, 8:10 pm MST 2/23 – Bang!
Edited by AZPaul3, : No reason given.

Eschew obfuscation. Habituate elucidation.

  
Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4597
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 9.1


Message 265 of 480 (892055)
02-24-2022 11:24 AM
Reply to: Message 263 by AZPaul3
02-21-2022 5:28 PM


Re: It Has Started
I guess it's invasion and full out war now. At least it's not a surprise.
Should we start a poll guessing when Putin will take out U.S. surveillance satellites?
How about unsecured critical infrastructure?
Can you picture 320 million Americans without power and communications?
Putin and the Russian oligarchs have been preparing for this confrontation for 3 decades, and it turns out they were right, "Americans really are fat, lazy, and corrupt!"

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python

One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie

If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy

The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq


This message is a reply to:
 Message 263 by AZPaul3, posted 02-21-2022 5:28 PM AZPaul3 has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 266 by Theodoric, posted 02-24-2022 11:40 AM Tanypteryx has not replied

  
Theodoric
Member
Posts: 9489
From: Northwest, WI, USA
Joined: 08-15-2005
Member Rating: 6.3


Message 266 of 480 (892056)
02-24-2022 11:40 AM
Reply to: Message 265 by Tanypteryx
02-24-2022 11:24 AM


Re: It Has Started
I fear you may be correct. This only makes sense as part of a much larger power play. Putin sees that Russia is still a marginalized country. He may be fearing losing his grip on power. He is going to lash out in order to assert Russia as a world power and the fuck the rest of the world.
We are close to the end of the world as we know it.

What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence. -Christopher Hitchens

Facts don't lie or have an agenda. Facts are just facts

"God did it" is not an argument. It is an excuse for intellectual laziness.

If your viewpoint has merits and facts to back it up why would you have to lie?


This message is a reply to:
 Message 265 by Tanypteryx, posted 02-24-2022 11:24 AM Tanypteryx has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 267 by Tangle, posted 02-24-2022 12:12 PM Theodoric has replied

  
Tangle
Member
Posts: 9583
From: UK
Joined: 10-07-2011
Member Rating: 6.7


Message 267 of 480 (892058)
02-24-2022 12:12 PM
Reply to: Message 266 by Theodoric
02-24-2022 11:40 AM


Re: It Has Started
If he attacks any NATO country he's dead, we just have to hope that he's still basically sane and cares.

Je suis Charlie. Je suis Ahmed. Je suis Juif. Je suis Parisien. I am Mancunian. I am Brum. I am London.I am Finland. Soy Barcelona

"Life, don't talk to me about life" - Marvin the Paranoid Android

"Science adjusts it's views based on what's observed.
Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved."
- Tim Minchin, in his beat poem, Storm.


This message is a reply to:
 Message 266 by Theodoric, posted 02-24-2022 11:40 AM Theodoric has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 268 by Theodoric, posted 02-24-2022 12:21 PM Tangle has not replied

  
Theodoric
Member
Posts: 9489
From: Northwest, WI, USA
Joined: 08-15-2005
Member Rating: 6.3


Message 268 of 480 (892059)
02-24-2022 12:21 PM
Reply to: Message 267 by Tangle
02-24-2022 12:12 PM


Re: It Has Started
If he attacks a NATO country we may all be dead. At the very least the world will change drastically and for once climate change may no longer be much of a worry. Day-to-day existence may be.

What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence. -Christopher Hitchens

Facts don't lie or have an agenda. Facts are just facts

"God did it" is not an argument. It is an excuse for intellectual laziness.

If your viewpoint has merits and facts to back it up why would you have to lie?


This message is a reply to:
 Message 267 by Tangle, posted 02-24-2022 12:12 PM Tangle has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 269 by Tanypteryx, posted 02-24-2022 12:57 PM Theodoric has not replied

  
Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4597
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 9.1


(2)
Message 269 of 480 (892060)
02-24-2022 12:57 PM
Reply to: Message 268 by Theodoric
02-24-2022 12:21 PM


Re: It Has Started
Nuclear winter isn't my preferred fix for global warming, a bit drastic.

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python

One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie

If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy

The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq


This message is a reply to:
 Message 268 by Theodoric, posted 02-24-2022 12:21 PM Theodoric has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 273 by xongsmith, posted 04-15-2022 9:32 AM Tanypteryx has not replied

  
Tangle
Member
Posts: 9583
From: UK
Joined: 10-07-2011
Member Rating: 6.7


Message 270 of 480 (892061)
02-24-2022 1:10 PM


Apparently France has surrendered

Je suis Charlie. Je suis Ahmed. Je suis Juif. Je suis Parisien. I am Mancunian. I am Brum. I am London.I am Finland. Soy Barcelona

"Life, don't talk to me about life" - Marvin the Paranoid Android

"Science adjusts it's views based on what's observed.
Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved."
- Tim Minchin, in his beat poem, Storm.


  
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