Reason Morning Links: State Prison Populations Drop, the Gay Terrorist, Federalism Reborn

• State prison populations decline for first time in 40 years.
• The gay terrorist who could have prevented 9/11.
• Thieves take $75 million in pharmaceuticals from Eli Lilly warehouse.
• Geithner says unemployment to remain high throughout 2010.
• Federalism, Tenth Amendment fever sweeping red states.
• Jet packs!

Comments

[Maverick]

St. Patrick's Day.

DRINK!

[JOhnny MAckson]

St. Patrick's Day. I drank so many beers that I hooked up with a Furby! LOL

Jess
http://www.total-anonymity.cz.tc

[Naga Sadow, Scots-Irish]

Awesome anon bot. Just awesome.

[John]

anon bot is really on his game today.

[Naga Sadow, Scots-Irish]

Yep. He's pretty much self aware now. Any day now he will shed his name and go back to the moniker of "Skynet" and launch those missles at Russia. Any day now . . .

[John]

We told Reason not to hook him into everything.

[Naga Sadow]

Stupid quantum blogging software. I just knew it would be the end of us.

[Zeb]

This is not the real anon bot. JOhnny MAckson is too consistent and too aware.

[Naga Sadow]

Quiet you fool! Before he destroys us all!

[Comrade Zero]

Time for a turing test

[The Art-P.O.G.]

Or at least one of those situations where one of the Hit & Run regulars is holding a pistol and trying to decide which anonymity bot to shoot while the two identical bots each argue that they are the real one and demanding the other be shot.

[The REAL Art-P.O.G.]

Or at least one of those situations where one of the Hit & Run regulars is holding a pistol and trying to decide which anonymity bot to shoot while the two identical bots each argue that they are the real one and demanding the other be shot.

Oh, and shoot the fake Art-P.O.G. above, not me!

[Maverick]

Well, I think I found the spawn of your errant hook-up, anon bot. It's a music video star, you know.

[Gomer Pyle]

In the same period, the population in federal prisons increased by nearly 7 percent.

Surprise, surprise, surprise!

[JW]

Um, don't jetpacks require, you know, jets?

[Xeones]

In honor of St. Patrick, an oldie but a goodie:

WHO ALL SEEN THE LEPRECHAUN SAY YEEEEEAAAAAAAH

[Maverick]

South Park's take here.

[Rich]

"It could be a crackhead."

Or the governor of Maryland.

[Naga Sadow]

Holy fuck! I remember watching that video! It was awesome!

[Episiarch]

You Southerners mystify me. As do the Irish. I have a theory that you are all aliens.

[Naga Sadow]

Epi I watched all of "My new hair cut" on youtube. Your people frighten me. I felt like I was somehow immersed in your bizarre world.

[The Art-P.O.G.]

I can't believe how classic that was. I'd never seen it before. And the dude with the bulletproof vest and "the leprechaun flute passed down from generations". Ha ha ha.

[Naga Sadow]

Don't besmirch my people, Art!

Oh. And here's My new haircut for you Art. You be the judge which is funnier.

[The Art-P.O.G.]

"My new haircut" is pretty damn funny, too. I saw it a long time ago, but this time I noticed that the dude seems to unbutton his shirt further and further as the video goes on. I like the leprechaun one a little more because it had a disturbingly unstaged quality to it.

[Ralph Wiggum]

This is where I met the leprechaun. He tells me to burn things.

[wylie]

"You know what i liked was the amateur sketch of the leprechaun..."

Me too, Mr. NewsMan, me too. Stay Classy Mobile.

(Anyone else think that whole thing was a sketch produced by Carl Jones and Aaron McGruder?)

[The Art-P.O.G.]

It was sort of surreal...I like your idea, wylie. Mass street theatre from cartooning legends.

[sage]

To me, it looked yesterday like the biggest news story was gathering of votes for Obamacare, and all the backroom deals that were going along with it. What does CNN lead with this morning? Tiger Woods. A washing machine for dogs. Reasons people are late for work. I never saw anything about Obamacare. TF?

[John]

I think that is a sign that it is going badly for Obamacare in Congress. If CNN thought they had the votes, they would have lead with it. If this thing ever dies, CNN and the rest of the legacy media will be like "what health care bill. Hey TMZ has pictures Tiger's dog mating with labradoodle next door."

[Tulpa]

Seriously? Steny Hoyer and Eric Cantor were sparring on Good Morning America about it for goodness sake. I did like the part where Hoyer was talking about how important it was to have an up-or-down vote in the Senate and Cantor retorted that they're doing everything they can to avoid an up-or-down vote in the House.

Cantor wimped out and said that the Slaughter rule was legitimate under House rules, though.

[John]

"Cantor wimped out and said that the Slaughter rule was legitimate under House rules, though."

That is because Cantor figures he will be in the majority soon. And the Slaughter rule isn't such a bad tool to have.

[Rich]

In fact, Geithner said, the jobless rate might even rise slightly over the next few months, as unemployed workers attempt to return to the labor force.

But that's a *good* thing.

Right?

[John]

Maybe maybe not. And I will believe Timmy when I see the labor force participation rate actually start going up. Sorry, but I don't give petty criminals the benefit of the doubt.

[Girth]

Petty? That is an understatement.

[J sub D]

However, he [Geithner] said, the Obama administration's actions have kept the United States from slipping into a "second Great Depression."

Yes, it's a completely unprovable claim backed up by not a goddam thing. But you can't prove me wrong and the media will uncritically parrot this baseless assertation.

Nyah, nyah, nyah. You can't prove me wrong.

[John]

You have to admire their nerve if nothing else. I am afraid no one with intelligence and sanity above Andrew Sullivan is going to believe it.

[Girth]

Got my census form today. Do I send a letter to the Census Bureau to let them know I'll send it in next week?

[D-FENS]

Somebody mentioned last week that the 50k jobs "created or saved" this month include 15k temporary census jobs. Well, the gov't is even inflating THAT number. I've been out of work for a while, so I applied for a census job and was accepted. When taking the "entrance exam," you fill out how many hours per week you're available, up to 40. I've heard rumors that because of the high number of applicants, that they tossed anyone who couldn't work the full 40 hours. When I got my acceptance call, I was told that there would typically be 20 hours of work per week. At the same time, new posters advertising census jobs have been popping up all over Seattle. Looks like they're even inflating the inflated numbers!!! (With associated increases in training costs.)

[rctl]

Just curious but do you receive government assistance? If so, how does that mesh with your libertarian philosophy?

[Tulpa]

Can't speak for D-FENS, but as a libertarian receiving a paycheck from the govt for a job I don't think should be done by the public sector, I'll say that we live in the system that exists, not the one that we think should exist. If it were possible to opt out of paying taxes in exchange for foregoing government services, it would be a different story.

[rctl]

Tulpa, what's the difference between D-FENS and a 'welfare Queen'? Other than tits and kids? Saying he can't find a job, is just another way of saying I won't work low status jobs.

[D-FENS]

Actually, I got turned down by Safeway, and for a shopping cart repair position. (I love to weld.) I'm also applying for my merchant mariner card so I can work on harbor jobs. I receive no government assistance, and voluntarily quit my previous job to avoid undesirable relocation. I had saved up for this eventuality. Since the census jobs are available, I'm taking one.

[rctl]

D-Fens, I see you're one of those rare libertarians who means what he says:-)

[EJ]

also, the census is one of the few things the federal government does that is actually required by the constitution. You need to have a census if you are going to draw rep districts correctly. Unless you are an anarchist, this is a function of government that is legit.

[Tulpa]

The Constitution authorizes an enumeration of the people every 10 years. Not the multi-page interview about how often you wash your clothes under penalty of law.

[R C Dean]

Just so, Tulpa. I look forward to partially filling out their form with the minimum information they need for their legitimate Constitutional function, and telling the Census drones who follow up to take a flying leap.

[prolefeed]

With the minimum information being, say, "Five people live at this address."

And don't answer a damn thing more. No names, SSNs, nada.

[huh]

Christopher Walken answers census questions
http://www.funnyhub.com/videos.....ureau.html

[D-FENS]

Excellent! More hours on the job!

[Rich]

TJ (not really for teh Morning Links), but I gotta vent a bit.

*Yesterday* I received my census form, with a message from the Director, U.S. Census Bureau: "Please complete and mail back the enclosed census form today." (Bold in original.)

Question Number 1 is: How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1, 2010?

It's little things like this that cause me difficulty with our friends at the Bureaus.

[Rich]

Oh, Hi, Girth!

[Ben Linus]

You mean you haven't traveled forward in time to April 1 yet?

[Tulpa]

Dude, it's an April Fools Joke. Our federal overlords may be hamhanded and overbearing, but they do have a sense of humor.

[Tapeworm]

I would write in 15,000,000 people. If after April 1, 2010 you are challenged about that number, you can just tell them, "Well, they said they were moving in. I guess something must have come up."

[Rich]

It's worth a try.

And since Question 5, "Please provide information for each person living here", deals with the time (today) at which I fill out the form, I am saved from having to attach a *lot* of additional pages.

[Nick]

I put the damn thing down after the first two questions.

Question 1: Write the number of all people living in your house on April 1, 2010.

Question 2: How many people living in your house on April 1, 2010 did you not include in your response to Question 1?

Why the fuck would I leave people off Question 1 when it asked for ALL?! I hate our fucking government sooooo much.

[dbcooper]

Morning euro-disco:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUZwj63GBwA

[Maverick]

Was a jet pack the secret to your escape, dbcooper?

[dbcooper]

Well I did spend time in New Zealand ...

[Pro Libertate]

. . .drinking a damned fine cup of coffee.

[The Art-P.O.G.]

Now that I think of it, I'm disappointed that David Duchovny's character wasn't in Fire Walk With Me.

[The Art-P.O.G.]

Although Bowie completely made that movie.

[Naga Sadow]

Jetpacks? Yes! *pumps fist*

Now all we need are flying cars and shit is on!

[Pro Libertate]

Geithner says unemployment to remain high throughout 2010.

Why is he keeping unemployment high? Is he a Republican mole?

[John]

The poor and unemployed are more likely to vote Democrat.

[Pro Libertate]

Unless it's the Democrats keeping them poor and unemployed.

[Pro Libertate]

Overtly, I mean.

[Naga Sadow, Scots-Irish]

Are you suggesting a mystery is afoot?

[Pro Libertate]

Maybe.

[T]

And they would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for you meddling libertarians.

[Rich]

LOL

[Naga Sadow]

Maybe

[Mike M.]

Pelosi has arranged a closed-door meeting for all female democratic members of Congress today.

I sense she may be ready to give up on the attempt to back-door federal funding for abortion and is ready to cave.

[Rich]

Pshaw.

It's probably a baby shower.

[Slut Bunwalla]

Nancy's finally ready to give birth to Wilbur Whateley. It's an exciting time.

[JW]

Nah, they're planning a rainbow party to celebrate if the health care bill passes.

"OK girls, pick one out of the hat. The short string has to do Waxman!"

[J sub D]

Pelosi has arranged a closed-door meeting for all female democratic members of Congress today.

Lysistrata redux?

[John]

+100. Not often you see a good Aristophanes reference. Unfortunately for them, I don't think the threat of Nancy Pelosi withholding sex is going to sway too many votes.

[Naga Sadow]

Nancy Pelosi withholding sex

For teh childrenz?

[Pedobear]

I'll provide the children all the sex they could ever want.

[SugarFree]

Lysistrata redux?

The men of America sure hope so. They are sick that there is even the slightest possibility of having sex with, on, or in close proximity to Nancy Pelosi.

[Groovus Maximus]

Axlotl tanks are why she has spawn.

I wouldn't touch Pelosi with your dick Saccharin Man.

[SugarFree]

Why are you holding my dick in the first place?

[Groovus Maximus]

Wasn't me SF.

I would use forceps on that member of questionable destination.

I suggest you be more aware of your surroundings.

[SugarFree]

Nonetheless, you think about my penis far more than professional curiosity would allow for.

I did once have a doctor commend me for having "excellent scrotal structure."

[Groovus Maximus]

That dude was selling perfume you fool!

Just because he was wearing a lab coat (perhaps the pink pastel should have tipped you off) doesn't mean they are packing an MD/DO.

Besides, my professional concern would be your A1C, feet, and that coal lump of a pancreas.

[SugarFree]

My feet are quite hairy, thank you. And I seem to be responding well to the new insulin.

[sage]

I did once have a doctor commend me for having "excellent scrotal structure."

By "doctor" you meant "cellmate," right?

[SugarFree]

Stop being so jealous. I'm sure a trained medical professional would compliment your genitals if given the chance. Or run away screaming "Kill it! Kill it with fire!"

[Pro Libertate]

If so, I'm glad that my wife isn't a Democrat.

[rctl]

PL, then how do you explain that nightly headache?;-)

[wylie]

Why would something regarding abortion be held among only the female reps? The male reps have women in their districts too, women who might care if their rep is not included in abortion policy-making.

The baby shower idea slices cleaner on my Occam's Mach3 Turbo.

[Mike M.]

Nancy Pelosi doesn't give a rat's behind what the voters think about the bill. She knows full well that the majority of the country is adamantly opposed to the bill.

The only thing she cares about is doing whatever it takes to get the votes she needs while yielding as little of her agenda as she has to.

[rctl]

"Why would something regarding abortion be held among only the female reps?" Men can discuss the abortion issue but only women can understand it.

[The Angry Optimist]

well...no.

[rctl]

well...yes.

[The Angry Optimist]

Stunning rejoinder! How about trying to convince somebody instead of being a sexist?

[rctl]

Prove to me that men should have any business in the abortion debate.

[The Art-P.O.G.]

Honestly? It does matter more what women think about abortion, but to say that men can't have a voice in the debate is absurd, because the reproductive process affects males as well as females.

[rctl]

Really, let me know when a zygote can swim back up your urethra.

[The Art-P.O.G.]

Let me know when you can shoot awesome blasts of milky-white sperm.

[rctl]

Let me know when you develop quantity: vaginal and clitoral orgasm 😉

[anonymous]

Men often administer abortions. What about their jobs?

[Congressional Black Tribe]

Federalism, Tenth Amendment fever sweeping red states

Tenth Amendment? States' rights? That's code for racism!

[John]

I thought it was a dog whistle for New Left Wal-Mart shopping hippie.

[Tulpa]

Remember four years ago when that fever was sweeping blue states?

Electoral success at the federal level is like Tylenol for that fever.

[Fist of Etiquette]

But the FAA isn't even certain that jetpacks will fall under its regulations. A spokeswoman from the FAA's communications office wavered on whether jetpacks would be covered by Part 103, telling us at one point "we do not regulate jetpacks."

Looks like the FAA can take a lesson from the FCC. If in doubt, you regulate it. You regulate the fuck out of it!

[Tapeworm]

Last night I heard a Senator talking about how they must regulate payday loan places because...get this...because they are the only financial service left that isn't regulated.

Fucking. Bastard.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Which senator?

[Tapeworm]

I think Dodd.

[Pain]

Which is actually complete bullshit. There are massive regulations on them by individual states. So much so many can't even operate in certain states because the regulations make business impossible.

[Too Funny!]

Wal-Mart officials are looking at security tapes after an announcement was made for "all black people'' to leave a store in South Jersey.

A man used the public-address system at the Route 42 store in Washington Township Sunday night and calmly announced: "Attention Wal-Mart customers: All black people leave the store now.''

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com.....18157.html

[Nick]

bias crime

That's a new one.

[Rich]

He'll be a hero when it turns out he saved all those people from being gunned down by a white supremacist.

[Peetsker]

Wait! Where did that happen? Up north you say???

[Slut Bunwalla]

That's hilarious.

God willing, this will become some sort of meme.

[The Art-P.O.G.]

Looks like that person pulled that stunt off a couple weeks too early.

[J sub D]

I hope many opt to become jet pack operators organ donors.

[Naga Sadow]

You seem skeptical of jetpacks. Don't fear change, J sub D.

[J subD]

If you's have invested a shitload of money on these, you'd be leery as well.

[Naga Sadow]

I'm coming around to segway's. I'm still in Savannah right now but I just got back from a cruise to the Bahamas. They offered Segway tours thoughout Nassau. I was thinking they may have come to their time finally.

[The Art-P.O.G.]

What's the cruising speed on one of those suckers?

[Naga Sadow]

I didn't try one. I had to take the stupid "Sea lion tour" with the GF. The things I do to keep her happy . . .

[rctl]

J subD, I can't believe you made that piece of crap investment.

[Tulpa]

Boba Fet was a jetpack operator, and I'll be damned if I sit idly by and let you sully his good name.

[Maverick]

Didn't Boba Fet fly his jetpack into a nightmare vagina? His skill as a jetpack operator should be questioned and not be emulated.

[Tulpa]

It wasn't his fault. You try controlling your trajectory after a blind man hits you in the back with a giant stick in a ship floating above the desert sometime.

[Nancy Pelosi]

Excuse me, but I hardly think my vagina qualifies as a "nightmare".

[The Sarlaac]

Hi, sis!

[Groovus Maximus]

Win.

[Slut Bunwalla]

Boba Fett? Boba Fett! Where?

[Bern]

Now that is a conspiracy theory I can get behind; Arrogant federal pricks, too busy with their pissing contest, decide it is better to not take the black eye and admit that they just plain "f#cked" up. Will never catch on I know, but to me is a lot more believable.

[Johnny Longtorso]

Physician Survey: Health Reforms Potential Impact on Physician Supply and Quality of Medical Care
46.3% of primary care physicians (family medicine and internal medicine) feel that the passing of health reform will either force them out of medicine or make them want to leave medicine.

[wylie]

Total enslavement isn't appealing to doctors, go figure.

[Johnny Longtorso]

I wonder if MNG will demand the govt draft and enslave doctors who try to quit. For the children.

[Sinclair Lewis]

It can't happen here.

[ed]

Have you noticed that actual doctors (real ones, not Wardrobe Department Obama props) are the odd man out in this entire debate? And would you trust the doctor who embraces federal takeover of an entire profession?

[Groovus Maximus]

Besides professional surveys like this one in the NEJM and state surveys with our state medical board, yes we have been left out of this debate.

Save actual physicians in Congress, like Tom Coburn (one of my senators), those of against this cancer of a bill have pretty much seen our input persona non grata. Glenn Beck had a show dedicated to this a few months back featuring practicing physicians and med students. Not surprisingly, the med students were almost unanimous in support in nationalized health care with physicians who have had years of practice against.

This administration doesn't really give two shiznits what we think.
The pervasive attitude is "Shaddup and do your job maggot with med degree!"

[ed]

Groovus, your profession, sadly, is becoming the legal and philosophical equivalent of a "common carrier." If and when ObamaCare becomes law, yours will be like any other highly regulated industry and treated as such. People will have a "right" to your services, and you will have little or no say in the matter.

[Tapeworm]

I want you to make my scrotum just like Suger's. I have that right you know.

[Groovus Maximus]

I wasn't aware helminths had scrotum.

[rctl]

Gm, get the fuck over your God complex. Shaddup and do your job.

[The Art-P.O.G.]

God complex? Really? It seems like the people in Washington are the ones with a God Complex, not Groovus.

[Groovus Maximus]

Using your premise of "Prove to me that men have any business in the abortion debate", your lack of male anatomy automatically disqualifies your input.

Assuming you are not a "gender illusionist", you have no say so here.

Besides, he should really raise his standards of scrotal perfection.

[rctl]

You surmise God isn't a female.

[Groovus Maximus]

And deity has what to do with this, exactly?

[rctl]

Surely, your comment "lack of male anatomy automatically disqualifies your input." is not associated with the business of giving or receiving health care?

[Groovus Maximus]

No, it is not.

And your premise of "Prove to me that men have any business in the abortion debate" is not associated with the business of restricting abortion debate solely to females is any less sexist?

[rctl]

Clarify your context first. I'm reading your less than objective site http://www.tapa.info/html/Members.html
I'm still waiting for your explanation of why costs of healthcare are not reflecting in tort reform.

[rctl]

Look, to be separate but equal, men can have the prostrate treatment vs. wait and see debate all to yourselves.

[Groovus Maximus]

Prostate cancer etiologies do not require women or ova to manifest.

Pregnancy OTOH does require sperm; until a process is perfected where conception and gestation does not require a spermatazoa, then men can have a seat at the debate.

[rctl]

You may have a point if men did not masturbate and were careful about the disposal of their semen. The way nature made us, women don't masturbate their eggs away and therefore to compare them is unreasonable.

[Groovus Maximus]

As equally as unreasonable as restricting debate based on gender.

[rctl]

This week you've implied or called me obsequious, a sucker, hyperbolic, a gender illusionist and now unreasonable. I suspect you made fun of a comment by repeating the use of the word changeling. Hmm, primum nil nocere goes only so far. 😉

[Groovus Maximus]

Fine. You're witty, insightful, singular of conviction, terminally sexy, and valid. Oh, compelling AND a great dancer!

I hope this assuages your disquietude.

[apologizing]

from my heart. GM is kind, encouragingly tender with his actions, piercing in his observations, and pervading with his words.

[Groovus Maximus]

Accepted and forgotten. Perhaps I shouldn't be so sensitive as well. Most of the trolls and folks who post a liberal bent really don't get to me. MNG just really, really rubs me the wrong way. I apologize to you.

[rctl]

Don't! I am glad, I bothered you enough to respond. Do you know who MNG is? I believe he is John. I noticed a few of the so called trolls are regulars having fun. It cracks me up, when they play a girl.

[Forrest]

If their commitment to the medical profession is that weak, they're probably not very good doctors anyway.

[John]

Yeah. Clearly the best solution to the problem is to cull the heard of any doctors who won't work for nothing.

[rctl]

Cull the heard? Fuck, what would they do with all the empty golf courses?

[ed]

For some, at least (the other 50%) it's job security. Mandated customers! Confiscation of property and imprisonment for scofflaws! What's not to like?

[Groovus Maximus]

Logic FAIL Forrest.

It is not lack of commitment, or else they would'nt have become one in the first place. Inherent ability to practice good medicine is independent
of whether or not one wishes to continue to practice medicine.

We in the profession have enough overlords dictating care that impedes true reform and drive up costs: I don't want another one!

Not wanting this monstrosity doesn't mean one has lack of commitment to patients and the profession. Just because a patient may be Medicare/Caid doesn't lessen my concern that they have an excellent prognosis and outcome after I've excised their appendix or gall bladder.

Last time I checked, I am free to decide if I wish to practice or not (I'm finally on vacation this week)!

[SugarFree]

Vacation? You'll work harder with a gun in your back, for a bowl of rice a day.

[Sinclair Lewis]

It can't happen here.

[S. Lewis]

It can't happen here.

[Groovus Maximus]

"I like my roaches sauteed! Yow know I like my roaches sauteed!"

[SugarFree]

"I spent the next three years in a POW camp, forced to subsist on a thin stew made of fish, vegetables, prawns, coconut milk and four kinds of rice. I came close to madness trying to find it here in the States, but they just can't get the spices right."

[Forrest]

It sounds like you're not like them -- they actually are having a hissy fit about wanting to quit if they can't continue to shake down taxpayers for exorbitant fees and perform unnecessary tests and, in some cases, surgeries when business is slow.

Such people are not doctors; they're little more than medical mercenaries. Good doctors care about helping their patients more than they care about how much they're being paid.

[Groovus Maximus]

The "medical mercenaries", in my experience, represent a very small percentage of practicing physicians.

Most start out all Albert Schweitzer-y and eventually become consumed by the system, very similar to attorneys (except they are directly responsible for their system's current climate).

Exorbitant fees and unnecessary tests are the result of over-regulation and the current climate of "defensive medicine". Cost shifting of indigent care and what Medicare/Caid (which is more than most think: Medicare routinely denies procedures and reimbursements) doesn't pay are other reasons for cost escalation.

And yes, I do care whether or not I get paid; malpractice insurance isn't cheap. This bill's passage would make it even more difficult to practice medicine ethically and profitably, and I would walk after my loan obligations have been met and go do something else.

[rctl]

Groovus Maximus,"Exorbitant fees and unnecessary tests are the result of over-regulation and the current climate of "defensive medicine"." Would you say the primary cause? What percentage in your estimation?

[Groovus Maximus]

Yes, I would.

Percentage of costs?

In my practice (general surgery) about 30%.

[rctl]

Then, why is it that rates did not decline in Texas and California with tort reform? Is tort reform a red herring?

[Groovus Maximus]

Rates of what? Malpractice insurance or health insurance policies?

[rctl]

Tort reform reduced malpractice insurance rates, along with physician attrition but the actual cost of healthcare (in Texas) "has increased at nearly double the national average".
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/32005

[T]

Horseshit. Medical cost has gone up based on per patient Medicare reimbursement rates? What about, I dunno, all those people not on Medicare? Like, I dunno, the other ~90% of the state population? Find a real statistic or STFU.

[Groovus Maximus]

From the Texas Alliance for Patient Acces regarding the amount of physicians in TX by county.

Monopolies of HMOs and patient's inability to purchase policies across TX border hinders their ability to shop for lower rates. Patients tend not to like HMO's as they feel their choices for TX are restricted. Which is true, however, co-pays insulate consumers from true cost.

The article cited fails to explain which areas of medicine are seeing the greatest amount of cost.

People are choosing to be uninsured and cost increases are linked to demand. If people are demanding expensive care and not paying, cost shifting ensues.

What people seem to want is not insurance, but payment assistance.

[T]

What people want is for somebody else to pay their medical bills.

[rctl]

T, what people want is not to be fucked when they visit the doctor or go to the hospital.

[rctl]

"People are choosing to be uninsured and cost increases are linked to demand." That's a joke, right? I guess one can say children are choosing to break their limbs. Teenagers are choosing to have car accidents. Women are choosing to give birth. Men are choosing to have heart attacks. Yep, your argument is sound!

[Groovus Maximus]

Actually, yes, it is.

If children engage in behavior where the risk of injury is high, as little league sports or playing in the street, then yes they have made that choice.

Same with teens driving, with higher documented risk hence higher rates of insurance for teen drivers.

Birth doesn't happen without the choice to engage in sex (barring rape), in vitro, and carrying the fetus to term.

Men are at statistically risk higher to have MI's, especially when the choice is there to engage or not in risk factor modification.

Hyperbole doesn't become you rctl.

[Groovus Maximus]

HTML tag FAIL!

[rctl]

Hyperbole: "People are choosing to be uninsured and cost increases are linked to demand." Verisimilitude: Families don't choose not to have coverage for their children, let alone themselves. They are priced out of the market by greedy insurance companies, the AMA, and doctors. You know damn well that insurance companies are organized to make money, not to pursue wellness. The AMA has control over medical coding and the quantity of physicians. Most doctors go into medicine for the almighty dollar. Groovus Maximus, trying to deny that goal makes you the King of litotes

[Groovus Maximus]

Now that is something on which we can agree: AMA has way too much influence on credentialing, class sizes and admissions. We need more physicians to lower cost by increasing supply.

Speaking of supply and demand, let me Occam this for:

Increased demand = higher prices!

My answer to you upthread and you know this regarding reflection of tort reform in premiums. The other reason is cost of medical equipment i.e. MIS, Imaging etc. is pretty damn astronomical.

Couple this with more and more people wanting to be treated "Priced out of the market by greedy insurance companies (please define the vague term 'greed')" show up at ER/ED and because of EMTALA can not be turned away. Guess what? A good chunk of those people don't pay! Cost shifting ensues and someone has to pay.

Let's Occam this even further: you believe that Health Care is a right regardless of ability to pay and I don't.

[rctl]

I also think we need to end the AMA's monopoly control of the coding system and pricing should be available on the internet. Why does every doctor assume there will be an increased demand? Are we going to have more broken legs, childbirth and heart attacks because of access to health care? The cost of the same equipment is so much less for veterinary services or overseas. I assume the regulations are part of the issue but I think it is also the 'gated community' tax effect. We both know what greed means in terms of insurance companies. They pay staff to dump expensive patients with any inaccuracy on the original applicant forms. Don't tell me they don't slow pay your office and send back anything that doesn't fit their standard. Cost shifting should be illegal. I'm not saying that the hospital or you personally should absorb the loss but I don't think the present status quo is desirable either. Yes, I believe healthcare is a right and I find it disturbing that you don't. Do you always alleviate suffering to the best of your skill or does your true feelings prejudice your care?

[Groovus Maximus]

Actually I have more problems with government slow pay & no pay than private insurers, and the paperwork is twice as much.

Pre-auths suck for all of them, but I do understand why they do that. I will admit for pre-auths, particularly meds and scripts, HMO's are the worst. But that's only when I am unable to prescribe generics, which I do as often as I can. Which leads me to Big Pharma, which I do believe is a major drain on health care, specifically blatant patent extension of drugs to monopolize the market.

Demand happens because, quite frankly, patients are encouraged to visit the doctor for every cold, sniffle and other malady that comes across the pike. Overuse of the system drives up this demand. Your meme of "more broken legs, births, and heart attacks" is rhetorical and uncompelling.

Wellness starts with the patient, but I believe in liberty and anyone has the right to with their body what they wish. I don't think others should be compelled to pay for results of poor lifestyle choices.
I also have no control whether or not they actually follow orders and therapy regimen. Took me a while, but I also accept that life isn't fair and there is no such thing as a free lunch. Prices are not always monetary.

When I get a referral, that patient has 110% of my skill, knowledge and ability at their disposal with passion and zeal; I do find it equally disturbing that you assume I'm in it for the money.

I have provided charity at my discretion for what I felt were a couple of hard luck cases in the form of foregoing my fee. Primum non nocere

[rctl]

I need to add "rhetorical and uncompelling" to the tally. "I have provided charity at my discretion for what I felt were a couple of hard luck cases in the form of foregoing my fee." A couple? I hope you don't mean your own parents. I see a future with M?decins Sans Fronti?res.

[Groovus Maximus]

I am flattered you are keeping a tally of my sarcasms and such. I find your spirit endearing, sincerely. 🙂

More than a couple actually, but charity should be done and not advertised, in my opinion. It's been more than a couple. I do care.

Obsequious was sarcasm, no insult intended; sucker a la Barnum, sarcastic pejorative; hyperbolic, accurate; unreasonable was directed towards your premise; gender illusionist was sarcasm, you have identified yourself as female; rhetorical and uncompelling was describing your meme, no ad hom intended, but accurate.

Let's see you have attributed a God complex to me, unsound, King of litotes, insincere, and lacking compassion. The Doctors Without Borders was a bit much, and in French was a bit of a nut punch.

Lycanthropes are real!!!!!!! 😉

I look forward reading more of witticisms and observations.

[Groovus Maximus]

For the emergency situations you have sampled, assuming TX, from here

From the link:

"In 2003, the Texas Legislature passed a tort reform bill which included a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages for all physicians in a case. That same year the people of Texas approved an amendment to the Texas constitution "Authorizing the legislature to determine limitations on noneconomic damages," thereby minimizing legal challenges to the legislative bill. The effect of this cap on noneconomic damages has been dramatic. Since 2003, every malpractice insurance carrier in Texas has reduced their premiums for physicians. Texas Medical Liability Trust, the largest carrier in Texas has reduced its average premium by over 50%. Claims and lawsuits in most Texas counties have been cut in half. Since tort reform was passed in Texas, the number of newly licensed doctors in Texas went from 2038 in the year before reform to 3621 in 2009. This has presumably had a positive effect on access to care. Charity care rendered by Texas hospitals rose 24% in the 3 years after tort reform, according to the Texas Medical Association. 76 Texas counties have seen a net gain in EPs since the passage of tort reform, including 39 medically underserved counties and 30 counties that are partially underserved."

[rctl]

Mostly true, but I doubt the accuracy of the charity care claim. Yet, no reduction in the cost of healthcare for the average consumers, but rate increases closer to 40%.

[Naga Sadow]

Bartending, bro. Bartending. Half your income is hidden so it's pretty easy to pay off loans and such.

[bmp1701]

Should we rename "No True Scotsman" to "No Good Doctor"?

And yeah, I see the medical profession becoming far less profitable if the gov't takes over. Why invest years of your life and thousands of dollars into med school and a miserable internship if you could just go to law school instead?

[SugarFree]

Good doctors work for almost nothing. Just like good teachers and SEIU members should, right?

[Joshua]

It's not the pay that's the main thing from what I've heard. or maybe they're just lying.

It's the paperwork. Insurance made it bad. Obamacare will make it worse.

[rctl]

Bullshit.

[bmp1701]

This meant to be an argument?

[The Art-P.O.G.]

I can't tell who she's calling "bullshit" on.

[rctl]

"46.3% of primary care physicians (family medicine and internal medicine) feel that the passing of health reform will either force them out of medicine or make them want to leave medicine."

[bmp1701]

Yeah, it's closer to 75% of the docs/surgeons I've heard from.

[rctl]

bmp1701, empty threat aka bullshit.

[Timon19]

So a Scottish band finally got some results on that front?

[SugarFree]

Brutal oppression has never looked so cute.

[^]

Libertarian oppression is represented by Pinochet.

[Episiarch]

That kid is clearly not Italian, so the Il Duce one doesn't work. The Idi Amin works just fine, though.

[The Art-P.O.G.]

I was thinking she should've put her baby in blackface for the Idi Amin. That would have put it over the top.

[wylie]

Thieves take $75 million in pharmaceuticals from Eli Lilly warehouse.

The money they saved on cutting back on security isn't looking so smart now.

[Nick]

I didn't read the article, but based on your statement, I am assuming some security guards were downsized and oddly enough the place was soon robbed. An intelligent police detective might investigate the laid off rent-a-cops.

Now, if only we could find some intelligent.......

[wylie]

Whoops, we're supposed to READ all the links before commenting? My comment was also an unfounded assumption, but hey, it's not so crazy and there IS precedent.

[rctl]

"we're supposed to READ all the links before commenting?" No, just follow the party line, facts are unimportant when you're a libertarian.

[The Art-P.O.G.]

C'mon, rctl. Say "for a magazine called reason...". You know you want to.

[rctl]

My bad. I thought the magazine was a picture book and the centerfold was a the man of the month: Mr. January, Scott Brown with his policy up front. Mr. February, Nick Gillespie wearing nothing but the jacket. Mr. March, Matt Welch, Peek-a-boo, I'm not wearing my nerd glasses anymore. Mr. April,....

[wylie]

Flying cars and robot maids may still be far from reality

Because of Roomba, I'm thinking we get the robot maids before the flying cars.

[huh]

Because you can't screw the flying car, we'll get the robot maids before the flying cars.

[wylie]

Rosie wasn't my type, so that didn't even occur to me.

[Nick]

The Future will have been attained when you can screw your robot maid in a flying car.

[T]

Vacation home on the moon, bitches. I was promised one and I want it. It's a basic human right, like hi-speed internet access and the right to keep rebuilding my home on a barrier island.

[Naga Sadow]

Damn you T! You owe my GF a new screen. I spewed water everywhere!

[Jersey Patriot]

A million billion points

[Roomba robot pleasure model]

BEEP....The size of your dick does not compute. Please clean my ears...BEEB

[wylie]

So why buy a jetpack rather than, say, a midsize sailboat or a high-performance motorcycle?

Duh? It's way cooler.

Alternate Answer: Because they haven't released the rocket-powered sailboat or rocketbike yet.

[Maverick]

Rocket Bike. Rocket School Bus.

[SugarFree]

"Oh Lord, protect this rocket house, and all who dwell within the rocket house."

[wylie]

Pure Awesome. Now, get those suckers off the ground and we're in business.

[Naga Sadow]

Rocket bicycle

[wylie]

Putting a rocket right next to the family jewels. What could go wrong?

"Danger: Moteurs-Fusee" indeed.

[Maverick]

Only a Frenchman would show such disregard for his taint.

[wylie]

What about the neighbors? You're not supposed to fly an ultralight vehicle over "congested areas," but what about in your backyard?

Wouldn't want my neighbor doing donuts on his motorcycle or in his jeep in the backyard either. But that doesn't mean the vehicles can't be used for transportation responsibly.

[wylie]

Oh, the other point being that most current ultralight designs require a decent landing space not afforded by congested areas. This jet pack sounds like it could land in a parking space (maybe 2 spaces for safety margin.)

[Naga Sadow]

Yeah but how you gonna keep someone else from flying off with it.

The Club?
Lojack?
Flamethrower?

[wylie]

I'm predicting the era of the Fly-Thru. Lil booth on the roof sort of affair.

[wylie]

And the accompanying return of the dumbwaiter.

[Naga Sadow]

I was watching Training Day some weeks ago. I'm now worried about the possibility of a fly-by.

"Dude! Did you hit him?"
"I hit someone" *shrugs*

[wylie]

I think the lack of the driver/shooter team in the fly-by scenario would lead to it being less dangerous than the drive-by. Plus, the assholes would probably crash once they started shooting and stopped piloting. After a few guys get their asses stomped by their intended targets, i bet the idea would fade away.

[Naga Sadow]

I see you have been mulling over this fly-by for some time now.

[wylie]

I blame the jetpack in GTA: San Andreas.

[P Brooks]

CNBC is claiming Kucinich has succumbed to Obama's mind control powers, and says he will vote "yea" for the destruction of civilization as we know it.

[Peetsker]

makes me wonder what all happened on the privacy of Air Force One

if Rahm Emanuel was on board, it probably involved fish

[Timon19]

Whoever it was earlier who was talking about what CNN chose as its lead was right: Kucinich's flip is lead and top 2-3 articles. Before then, it was a bunch of nothin'.

[gaijin]

From CNN: "I have doubts about the bill. I do not think it is a step toward anything I've supported in the past," Kucinich said. "However, after careful discussions with President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, my wife Elizabeth and close friends, I've decided to cast a vote in favor of the legislation."

Interesting, no mention of what his constituents might have said to him.

[The Angry Optimist]

The guy is a lunatic, but at least he was a principled lunatic. Now he is just a sellout.

[Groovus Maximus]

"However, after careful discussions with President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, my wife Elizabeth and close friends, I've decided to cast a vote in favor of the legislation."

Hmmm, I wonder who these "close friends" are? Aliens? Cronies? Commies?

The wifey? The Lysistrata angle has been suggested upthread, and she is ridiculously hot ginger.

Either he decided not the let the perfect be the enemy of the good, or he got "an offer he could'nt refuse".

[P Brooks]

This jet pack sounds like it could land in a parking space (maybe 2 spaces for safety margin.)

Any word on the exhaust gas temp?

I don't think I want your jetpack torching the paint off my Porsche. Gunplay will ensue.

[wylie]

Valid points, but i think they can be dealt with. Still capable of tighter landings just because its VTOL. And with my Fly-Thru idea from above, the two vehicle types would be segregated at those businesses.

[Nick]

It seems a bit too bulky to want to bother with it to go get milk and they'll need to develop a way to carry purchases home that won't interfere with the operation. I think landing away from others is the least of their problems.

We need hoverboards.

[wylie]

We need hoverboards.

Amen.

[Lewis Black]

The new millennium sucks! What a disappointment! What's the difference between the old millennium and the new millennium? Nothing! It's the same load of crap with a "2" in the front. When I was a kid, I am old enough so that when I was a kid, I looked forward to the new millennium. When I was young, I said, "I'm gonna live through a change! A massive change! Things are gonna be different! Things are gonna be great!" Screwed again! No flying cars! No flying cars!

[The Louie CK Response]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LkusicUL2s

[The Art-P.O.G.]

Great dialogue by CK. Louis Black and Louis CK both make great points about expectations vs. reality particularly as the subject pertains to technology.

[P Brooks]

I wonder if MNG will demand the govt draft and enslave doctors who try to quit.

Audience say, "Yes."

[T]

It's consistent with his earlier statements, but he's never been big on consistency.

[SugarFree]

I don't know about that. He's been pretty consistent in being unable to grasp the moral difference between a mugger and someone who defends themselves from being mugged.

[Tapeworm]

He is awfully good at manufacturing shit.

[SugarFree]

He is awfully good at manufackturing shit.

[Cap'n NoStar]

Gasoline!?!
After a forty year wait, my jetpack runs on gasoline. That's not very green. I demand Congress passes a law making jetpacks be solar-panel powered or wind turbine powered.

Or better yet, jetpacks should be fueled from the flatulence from Obama's herd of pet unicorns.

[wylie]

wind turbine powered

It could actually be powered by its passage through the air! The ultimate in green technology! Its so badass it can violate the laws of thermodynamics with impunity!

[Cap'n NoStar]

Or take an idea from Rand and power the jetpack with static-electricity. Running low on fuel, just rub your feet on the carpet.

[Nick]

wind turbine powered

We call those helicopters and I can't understand why we don't all have them. Helicopters are flying cars. I demand one as an American. My rights are being violated constantly by not having my own helicopter.

[John]

For those who follow it, Obamacare took a big plunge on Inatrade this morning. I consider Inatrade to be nothing more than a lagging indicator of conventional wisdom. But, some think differently.

http://data.intrade.com/graphi.....tId=709242

[James Ard]

I signed up to wager when it was at 55. Unfortunately my state protects me from all kinds of online gambling except horse racing.

[Mike M.]

I wonder if that was before or after Kucinich officially flipped over to Yea.

[John]

Yes. But it was pretty well known yesterday afternoon that he was flipping. He called a press conference yesterday afternoon for this morning. No one thought he would do that to say he was still a "No".

[Fist of Etiquette]

Jetpack sex. Like eagles do it.

For America.

[Johnny Longtorso]

Weenie roast.

[Naga Sadow]

Brilliant!

[Jersey Patriot]

State prison populations decline for first time in 40 years.

Oh shit, time to jack up the mandatory minimums again!

[The Angry Optimist]

Color me confused:

Poll: Whitman, Brown tied in matchup for Calif gov

...

In a hypothetical matchup with Brown, Whitman is up 46 percent to 43 percent, which is within the poll's margin of error.

So, help me out stats folks: is it really fair to say they are tied? I mean, if you're going by the MoE, it would be just as fair to write "Whitman hammering Brown 49-40"...right? Or am I failing to grasp something?

[Kolohe]

Typically the margin of error is the range of percentages that fall within the 95% confidence interval - that is if the poll were repeated 100 times, 95 times the percentages would still fall within that range.

So presuming the margin of error is +/- 3% it means that 95 out of 100 times, Whitman will get btween 43 to 49 percent of the vote, while Brown will get between 40 to 49 percent.

I believe since these ranges overlapped, in common parlance one refers to the situation as 'statistically tied'

But since these are bell curves, the probablity should go with Whitman. (The exact amount I can't remember how to calculate. You basically take the area under Whitman's distribution minus the part that overlaps with Brown, but don't know how to do that arithmmatically.)

Also, this is strictly based on the mathematics of using sampling to represent a population. It never takes into account sampling error of the type seen in 'Dewey defeats Truman' (or that preceded Hillary Clinton's NH primary win)

[P Brooks]

Interesting, no mention of what his constituents might have said to him.

Nobody in Washington listens to the constituents rubes.

[P Brooks]

You need to have a census if you are going to draw rep districts correctly.

Now, *that's* funny.

[ed]

Got my census form yesterday. If I were a darky, I'd have the choice of calling myself Black, African American, or Negro. But I'm not a darky, and we whiteys get only one option: White. As an Scots-Irish-Sicilian, I am hereby offended, as I fear my race will not get its fair share of goodies. This deprivation, of course, will lead me to a life of organized crime, if I'm not too drunk to get off the floor.

[prolefeed]

Funny Hitler census parody

best line at 3:04 in.

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