US Politics

[SpeedFlex27]

Another idiot Trump seal.

[bustamente]

18 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Take it from someone who's been there. Our system is pretty good to excellent. Wait times are an issue but once you're in the care is exceptional.

Have to agree had a procedure a few years back , sure I had to wait but once it was done I was more than thrilled with the Surgeon and his team and the after care.

[Mark F]

America is fast losing respect around the world with Trump and the rest of the ignoramuses they have in government.

Trump invites President of the Phillipines to the Whitehouse, (idiotic move, Duerte claims to have personally murdered people)

and gets turned down. Does Trump ever think about anything he says or does? What a humiliation. At least it should be. If they weren't so dim witted.

This has to be a first. Has any head of state ever, in modern history declined a meeting at the Whitehouse with the President of the USA ?

Americans as they always do, pretend this did not happen. 

America on the downside now of it's run as foremost power in the world now with the insane, ill educated, wifllfully, gleefully  ignorant people they have running their country leading them off the cliff.

Utterly amazing to see this happening.  

(side note......had to look up spelling of ignoramuses)

Edited May 7, 2017 by Mark F

[The Unknown Poster]

20 hours ago, bustamente said:

Have to agree had a procedure a few years back , sure I had to wait but once it was done I was more than thrilled with the Surgeon and his team and the after care.

I generally like our medical care also.  Cant say I can complain about any scheduled procedures.  The ER aspect of our health care is an issue and I cant believe there arent solutions to be had.  What the PC's are proposing is certainly worth a try.  Getting people who dont need "ER" treatment out of the ER's would help. 

[Rich]

Had an interesting discussion with a surgeon a few weeks back.  Gave some insights on how the Canadian medical system works.  His speciality is fixing things like broken bones.

The Canadian system is setup vastly different than the American system.  Waiting times are purposefully built into the Canadian system.  When everything is funded by the tax payer, the goal is to maximise the use of operating rooms and diagnostic equipment.   Having down time is in essence a waste of money to have that equipment or room sitting there and waiting to be used.  It is setup to always be busy, always being used.

The American system is really more "service" based, catering to patients more as customers.  They charge much more for what they do, and part of that cost is to have the operating room or equipment have idle time so it is available sooner when they need it.  So if you are willing or able to pay for it, you can get serviced much quicker.

His pay is also based on the procedure, not time spent doing it.  While the nurses and other members of his surgical team are paid hourly.  So it is really the surgeons that "crack the whip" to keep things moving along.   If a procedure is supposed to take 2 hours, it is in his best interest to make sure as best he can to get it done in 2 hours.  Again, his opinion is that this is by design to keep things moving at an accepted pace.

When you think about the money we already spend on healthcare, the way the Canadian system is setup, actually made a lot of sense to me.  You can probably argue that in some cases, wait time are too long, but you really don't want people and rooms sitting idle waiting to be used.

 

[The Unknown Poster]

I just think that ER's move too slowly.  If the Doc comes in and spends five minutes with you what does he do for the other hour before he sees the next patient and how can we reduce that time?

I worked at Grace Hospital years ago and we'd sometimes be enlisted with locating the doctor to wake him up.  But only when there were enough patients in the waiting room to make it worth his time.  1 or 2?  The doc was not even available.

[Fatty Liver]

Got to love this approach, let North and South Korea work out the "Korean problem" if East and West Germany can be unified, so can Korea.

 

Washington is ramping up military, economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea, and insisting that other countries do the same.

It wants to thwart Kim Jong-un, who has vowed to develop a nuclear warhead with which to hit the U.S. mainland. His missile program has made huge strides in the past year, despite frequent accidents and failures.

The U.S. has now even threatened a pre-emptive strike to stop him.

On the other hand, Moon — a liberal lawyer whose parents fled the North during the Korean War — has been proposing something very different.

His policy is to revive a so-called Sunshine Policy from 20 years ago that stressed neighbourly co-operation over confrontation. At that time, South Korea wooed the North with billions in humanitarian and economic aid in a failed effort to prevent its weapons program from gathering momentum.

Moon's version has been dubbed Sunshine 2.0.

It advocates reopening a joint North-South industrial zone, closed last year after North Korea tested missile after missile in defiance of UN demands that it stop. Moon has suggested the rebirth of the Kaesong zone could even be the first step in a long-term plan to reunify the economies of the two countries.

In the short term, it would provide North Korea with much-needed foreign cash, perhaps contrary to tough international economic sanctions mandated by the UN Security Council. And it would certainly go against the efforts of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Before the Security Council last month, he predicted "catastrophic consequences" unless all countries "put new pressure on North Korea to abandon its dangerous path."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/south-korean-election-1.4104126

[Atomic]

Why would that work now if a similar venture failed 20 years ago?  What's different this time around?  Obviously a peaceful resolution would be the ideal outcome but I'm not sure the "kill them with kindness" approach is going to work for NK.

[johnzo]

On 5/4/2017 at 9:20 AM, Mark F said:

unrelated but since you live nearby  Oregon, what do you think of this? I know that driving through cities and towns in the states of Washington and Oregon I was struck by the large number of people on the street, and the amount of shabby housing, and people who were poorly dressed, and looked beaten down. somewhat worse, and more widespread than the worst of wpg.

Stayed at a motel six in Portland, a trash collecting guy was basically living in their parking lot, there was a drug dealer doing business right on the street by the motel, and he came in and did some money transaction with the front desk staff. (also may have gotten bed bugs or fleas at said motel ... but it was cheap!)

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2015/06/new_drug_report_paints_a_less-.html

Meant to get back to this but spaced on it...

I can't really talk about the rural parts of the PNW.  When I get out of Seattle, I usually go to Portland or Vancouver or some other big city.  Which is part of the problem facing the USA -- me and a hypothetical rural Trump voter are kinda like aliens to each other.

That article is from 2015, before Oregon legalized recreational dope, which is going to change things some. I have heard that legal dope reduces rates of illicit drug abuse, diverts people away from the harder stuff, but don't quote me on that.

Seattle itself has massive inequality -- we're more expensive than Vancouver now.  We have lots of highly visible homeless people, on embankments, underpasses, in tent cities, begging at stoplights.  Lots of them you'd consider non-traditionally homeless.  It's easy to get pushed out of your rental, our tenant protection laws are pretty weak.

The interesting thing is that there's a socialist backlash brewing, we have an explicitly socialist city council member (Kshama Sawant, who makes certain people very anxious .. her opponents are always very well funded by donations from across the country).  I was just doorbelled by the president of the Tenant's Union, who is also running for council on an explicitly socialist platform.

Last time I was in Winnipeg was summer 2014, during the Fringe festival. Didn't see as many homeless people as I was used to, but the weather was gorgeous and the Exchange District was full of young theater freaks so maybe they were there and I just didn't see them.

[bearpants]

On 5/4/2017 at 4:01 PM, do or die said:

Better pray that Bannon or any of his acolytes never seize power. 

Spent two days posting on Breitbart.   Like entering a parallel universe, albeit a white supremacist one.   Unbelievably xenophobic, racist and antisemitic.   For simply asking some questions...... within several hours I was called the following:

Libtard (a Breitbart and Fox staple)

ISIS Porn Star (very wrong on both counts)

Snowflake   (some sort of blanket description of all liberals, I think)

Muslim loving Jew  (still trying to figure that one out)

Obamalover (self explanatory, I suppose)

Commie Canadian  (thought only administrators could see where I post from)

Did not include the plethora of the real unprintable comments and insults, that I would not simply be able to post on this site.   Funny thing is, that in the end, only one person had their account shut down - Myself....for "trolling"!!   Never mind all those strident insults and threats falling on my head.  Whatever...

Afterwards, took a hot shower and a cold gin.....and felt much better.

 

 

I can't imagine it would take much to set off people who post at a place like that... but just out of curiosity, what kind of comments were you making to get those insults?

[Brandon]

A snowflake is someone who is overly sensitive to anything and everything. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Snowflake

[do or die]

57 minutes ago, bearpants said:

I can't imagine it would take much to set off people who post at a place like that... but just out of curiosity, what kind of comments were you making to get those insults?

Just asking some questions...

What exactly is this "Jewish Witchcraft"....that some of those posters were obsessed with, particularly in regards to Trump's family?

What possible credentials or previous actions, would qualify Donald Trump as some sort of spokesperson or defender of working class values?

What makes anyone, at this point, think or believe that the ole "trickle down" economic strategies would ever work - except for the rich?

Are the Trump appointments, especially his cabinet, and his self promoting of himself and family, really an example of "draining the swamp"

What qualifications does Steve Bannon actually have, for any sort of higher post in government?   (this one brought heavy, heavy  incoming)

 

Irony is.....that most of these people who call everybody else "snowflakes" are probably the most sensitive and insecure people I have ever encountered online.

 

 

 

[bearpants]

25 minutes ago, Brandon said:

A snowflake is someone who is overly sensitive to anything and everything. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Snowflake

You know what I find ironic about the people who use snowflake so often... what public figure comes to mind when you talk about someone who is overly-sensitive to every little criticism?... often takes to social media (twitter) to lash out like a little baby...

[Atomic]

Try posting libertarian sentiments on a socialist board and see what kind of results you get

[do or die]

Ok, now I really have to ask.......is there a "socialist" board anywhere....that is as strident and nasty as Breitbart?   

Mind you, even though I am not a libertarian or a socialist or even an Marxist fanatic....someone else would have to take up the cudgels, there.     Actually not a masochist really...  

Edited May 9, 2017 by do or die

[Atomic]

15 minutes ago, do or die said:

Ok, now I really have to ask.......is there a "socialist" board anywhere....that is as strident and nasty as Breitbart?   

Mind you, even though I am not a libertarian or a socialist or even an Marxist fanatic....someone else would have to take up the cudgels, there.     Actually not a masochist really...  

Sure, where do you think the antifa kids hang out?

[Mark F]

3 hours ago, do or die said:

Just asking some questions...

What exactly is this "Jewish Witchcraft".

"Jewish witchcraft".

wow.

Protocols of the elders of Zion type hate. Straight out of the German Nazi creed.

That really is plumbing  the ultimate depths of ignorance, stupidity, and hatred.

 

Edited May 9, 2017 by Mark F

[FrostyWinnipeg]

FBI Dir Comey just got axed.

[Atomic]

27 minutes ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

FBI Dir Comey just got axed.

What a year it's been for Comey

[do or die]

Be interesting to see what kind of stooge, Trump puts in place, here.....

[The Unknown Poster]

He fires him because he didn't charge Clinton?  Let's see how his feelings on charges change when it's him in the cross hairs. Plus the guy handed Trump the election. What a thank you. 

[The Unknown Poster]

Also is this like the Saturday Night Massacre when nixon fired people to head of his own downfall?  Is the FBI a bit too close to indictments?  This won't play well.  

[The Unknown Poster]

CNN and I weree on the same page lol

CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, was not buying the idea that Comey was sacked over the Clinton investigation, saying it was "absurd."

Toobin branded the move a "grotesque abuse of power by the President of the United States."

"This is not something that is within the American political tradition," Toobin said, comparing the sacking of Comey to President Richard Nixon's firing of special prospector Archibald Cox during the Watergate scandal.

[The Unknown Poster]

 

[The Unknown Poster]

Twitter exploding. People are shocked.