Discussing politics and religion

[Floorist]

I Iearned something about our President last night that I'm sure most people don't know. Rudi Giuliana, the Mayor of New York when 9/11 was hit, said last nigh...t on the news that our President Trump, which wasn't our President at the time, was at Ground Zero every day, and brought all his construction crews with him to help and find all those people that were victims of this horrible crime and to help with all the cleanup. That tells me that he is not all about himself, but he cares about us, the American people. He doesn't have to be our President, he could be living a life of luxury, instead of fighting the MSM. I know that if I had billions, I wouldn't do it. He is 74 years old and could live out his life in splendor, but instead, he fights the fake news and fake books written about him just because he loves us, America. President Trump, if anyone ever gets this post to you, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your sacrifice for our country, and to tell you that I love having you be our president. Thank you

 

[highup]

truth is anyone without proof of identity can go into an ER and get free health care. Been that way since Reagan passed the COBRA act I think. And even with Obamacare, they still crowd the ER. They take their little kids there with sniffles and minor scrapes and fill the room.

That's the hard decision making part of "free" health care. If it's free, they bring their kid in for sniffles.
If there's a $25 co pay, the might actually engage their brain and learn parenting skills.
Difficult decisions when we are a compassionate society.

 

[highup]

I Iearned something about our President last night that I'm sure most people don't know. Rudi Giuliana, the Mayor of New York when 9/11 was hit, said last nigh...t on the news that our President Trump, which wasn't our President at the time, was at Ground Zero every day, and brought all his construction crews with him to help and find all those people that were victims of this horrible crime and to help with all the cleanup. That tells me that he is not all about himself, but he cares about us, the American people. He doesn't have to be our President, he could be living a life of luxury, instead of fighting the MSM. I know that if I had billions, I wouldn't do it. He is 74 years old and could live out his life in splendor, but instead, he fights the fake news and fake books written about him just because he loves us, America. President Trump, if anyone ever gets this post to you, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your sacrifice for our country, and to tell you that I love having you be our president. Thank you

My brother amongst millions of others believes Trump is using his presidency to make more money. . I think his wealth is a lot less now...... yet he continues like there's no tomorrow.

 

[highup]

Unless the laws have changed, illegal aliens are supposed to get free healthcare if they are in custody of immigration. I really wish we'd go back to the non-profit healthcare that existed prior to Nixon. Universal healthcare won't do jack if we don't first stop the price gouging from the pharmaceutical & medical companies. It should not cost $8k for an MRI that should only cost $80.
People wouldn't be as tempted to stay on Unemployment if their jobs paid more. If minimum wage wasn't so damn low & if corporate execs weren't paid bonuses to perform below expectations (by setting the bar very low). There is so much wrong with our country & system that needs to be fixed. Greed has taken over.
Our tax system punishes the middle class but lets big corporations and top 1% get away with not paying taxes. Bezos paid 0 taxes but my best friend who makes less than $25k/yr paid over $3k in taxes to Louisiana state alone. That doesn't count his federal taxes and New Jersey taxes. He gets taxed 3 ways bc his company is from NJ & they charge him NJ taxes but Louisiana takes a huge bite too.

If MRI's were $80, then there would be no MRI machines.
The outrageous cost of health care.... new technology, new drugs, new machines take many thousands of attempts to get just one to be a success. If it cost 5 billion to invent and produce the MRI machine........ A scan ain't gonna be $80.
In reality, I can afford a used 1980 Chevy..... barely.
I cannot afford a $1,500,000 Bugatti.
Simply because the Bugatti exists, should I be allowed to drive it?
Think bandaid, then think lasers killing cancerous brain cells via a surgeon doing the procedure from 2000 miles away. Miracles are expensive.
Cut the pay for miracle machines and there won't be any of them.
https://www.thestreet.com/lifestyle/health/how-much-does-an-mri-cost-14972340Add to that, MRI machines have longevity of 11 years. Some much longer.
https://www.amberusa.com/how-much-does-an-mri-cost/

 

[Floorist]

And then there are stupid hospitals. Our local one had an MRI that would handle big people. The new machine is limited to 200 lbs. It does not get much use.

 

[highup]

Rusty, that sounds like an MRI machine for veterinary hospital.

 

[highup]

I stole this one.
Make America great again....
....or, America Venezuela.
It's your choice.

 

[highup]

How do you send news to Chris Wallace? He needs to get informed.
https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/oct/1/enrique-tarrio-says-proud-boys-not-white-supremaci/

 

[highup]

When I hear defund the police...... I Immediately think people are idiots. Why?
People, including myself have no clue what police do.
....well not untill recently.
They risk their lives daily. I'm sure most days are just routine. But when called to duty, they risk their lives.

A routine situation can change in a few seconds.
Look up videos by:
Video Leak Police and Donut Operator on you tube.
Learn to understand police responses to situations they encounter. Watching the videos on these channels will make you understand how fast things can go from good to bad...... Incredibly bad in second or two.
In the past 6 months, the mainstream media has launched and promoted an all-out attack on police. The liberal extremists want to defund and even abolish police departments.
They get more stupider when they suggest that mental health people ride along and participate in potentionally violent situations.. ......sure, the police arrive, with a mental health "professional'. A guy jumps out from behind a car pointing s gun at the police............ and the mental health guy gets out of the car and begins an intervention....... but is immediately shot by the nut basket that hasn't been taking his meds. Mental health professionals injected into potentionally violent situations will cause death. Either their own or the police officers.

 

[Floorist]

 

[highup]

Sounds fair to me. If you live in the US, there are some rules you need obey.

 

[zannej]

I tried to respond earlier but internet went out.
@highup $80 is the actual fair cost for MRIs. It's what it costs for them in other places where they aren't overcharging people. A lot of the technology & pharmaceuticals are developed with funding from taxpayer dollars. The government issues grants for development & then the companies use the tax dollars & get to keep the patents. They found that if the government kept the patents that they would just sit untouched & no one would use the technology/medicines so the incentive was they got patents. But they got super greedy & started hyper-inflating prices so CEOs could get bonuses. There was one medicine that started out at over $200/pill. Over the years it doubled & then tripled. It's now over $700. The cost of production did not increase & there was no improvement to the formula. The only difference was, the CEO got a $500k bonus for increasing the price.
There have been numerous articles on price-gouging & people in the medical industry admit that it's unfair, arbitrary, & pretty much highway robbery.
With the number of people who actually need MRIs, if they charged $80 or even $100 it would pay for the cost of hospitals purchasing machines- plus, hospitals can deduct that as a business expense & get reimbursed by the government. If the price were higher before the machine was totally paid off, that might make more sense (again, if they weren't double dipping & getting reimbursed) but they continue to charge hyper inflated prices once the machine is totally paid off.
I have a friend in France who got cancer & her out of pocket for all of her treatment totaled something like $35 in USD.

In political world, I've heard Chris Christie is in the hospital with Covid. I'm not a fan of some of the things he's done, but I hope he will be OK. It's rumored that Bill Barr may have it as well. Despite my feelings on him, I also hope he will be OK. The meds they gave Trump are not helping his tweets. I think they need to take away his phone & get him to rest. The steroid they gave him has very nasty side effects-- 1st few days is euphoria & feeling great, then comes some mania/paranoia & anxiety followed by depression. People who took it said it made them think the hospital staff were plotting to kill them & caused them to hallucinate & have really unreasonable thoughts-- like thinking there were tiny cameras hidden in the folds of their clothes. Hopefully he won't get hit that hard with it though.

Internet went out again but it's back.

 

[Jon]

The whole of NZ is once again back to level one with the only cases are in quarantine from people returning from overseas bringing the virus with them. There is no covid in the community
We are still getting this type of thing were people are saying up you we are above the rules
The trouble is there are a lot of yachts at the Pacific Islands who come to NZ for our summer. If you let one in the rest want to come
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid...g-for-flight-home/32K4YUVTON73LG6YOHDCJECAIE/

 

[Floorist]

Jon, when this first started and it was awful in China, Trump tried to stop them from coming here and the Democrats called him racist.

 

[highup]

Zan, I won't even do a 1 hour carpet repair for less than $125. No way is $80 going to ever pay for a million dollar machine. That number seems rediculousy low for something medical related.
I just googled average cost for an MRI scan and you're looking at a minimum of $400 a maximum of $3,500. $80 wouldn't pay for the paperwork. $80 probably wouldn't pay for an x-ray.
I think $80 is simply what some people want to pay.
I appreciate what you said about the people associated with Trump and the covid issue. No matter how much I dislike someone their politics or for any other reason I could never bring myself to a point where I would wish death or pain on anybody not Nancy pelosi not Chuck Schumer or anybody else I can dislike politics but in no way would I ever wish harm on anybody.
......ok, with the exception of Osama Bin Laden, Bagdadi and other Jihadists. I feel no guilt when wising harm to those types

 

[Jon]

Zan, I won't even do a 1 hour carpet repair for less than $125. No way is $80 going to ever pay for a million dollar machine. That number seems rediculousy low for something medical related.
I just googled average cost for an MRI scan and you're looking at a minimum of $400 a maximum of $3,500. $80 wouldn't pay for the paperwork. $80 probably wouldn't pay for an x-ray.
I think $80 is simply what some people want to pay.

And dont ask for a plumber to come to your house

 

[Floorist]

But when you know someone, service call to fix my AC, $35. plus parts. $100 total. Needed two capacitors.

 

[havasu]

Let's say I had $3M laying around my house, and decided to purchase a nice MRI machine. Of course, when any business is started, the profits are your biggest concern, since I'm not just gunna throw money away. How many people would have to run through my MRI, just to break even? Don't forget each MRI lasts an hour, and a worker works 8 hours a day. I'm afraid that $80 per person would not even cover the interest on the machine, let alone needing to construct sound proof/lead lined walls to protect others from the magnetic field. That in itself would run probably $500k. then, those things are power eaters, and I'm sure would need either 220v or 440v to run. Well, an electric upgrade would cost a cool $100k. I don't know, but $800 per MRI seems more appropriate to me?

(Used low-field MRI machines can be as cheap as $150,000 or as expensive as $1.2 million. For a state-of-the-art 3 Tesla MRI machine, the price tag to buy one new can reach $3 million. The room that houses the machine, called an MRI suite, can cost hundreds of thousands more)

 

[Floorist]

https://justthenews.com/accountabil...aine-judge-orders-joe-biden-be-listed-alleged

 

[highup]

Even if the prosecutor was corrupt, and pardon my pun, but what does that have to do with all the tea in China?
Isn't that up to the Ukraine to remove the corrupt prosecutor?
Why would we have any say in that?