Posts made by Ganymede

@Shebakoby said:

I have to wonder where drug companies are making up the difference in order to stay in business. Price controls would certainly put a damper on new drug research in Canada, unless a manufacturer could produce it relatively cheaply to fit under the price control.

They are price-gouging the fuck out of the Americans, that's where. What the drug companies won't tell you is that several of them are heavily-invested in a variety of generic manufacturers. So, the generics aren't really competing against them: they are actually demonstrating how badly American consumers are getting price-gouged.

I do recall one time over a decade ago the governor of Oregon was in town for something, and some reporter asked him about how long health care waiting list times were in Oregon. The man was competely confused. He was like "Waiting list times, what are those even?" He didn't even know such a concept existed.

I didn't know they existed when I lived in Canada for 23 years. I only came upon them when I came to the United States.

The reason is simple: whereas Canadian hospitals have bed shortages, American hospitals usually do not. American hospitals are owned by private companies that are attempting to eat each other's market share. It is in their interests to make sure that their hospitals are not at capacity, and this results in higher costs per patient. In Canada, there's more of an interest in keeping the hospitals at over-capacity for efficiency reasons.

@Misadventure said:

No, actually I was giving the posters a chance to you know, describe there game instead of spending how many posts failing to do so then being insulting.

As I often tell lawyers in depositions, try asking your questions better.

I believe that this is a description-trait-based game with no system. I could be wrong. This is not uncommon for superhero games. It's the primary reason I don't play them.

@Coin said:

Especially if when someone like @Ganymede offers to run stuff on channel and you sit there staring and don't say "yes please I would [ALL THIS STUFF]!" Proactivity will get you so much more than passivity.

I probably am not being clear on channel. What I mean to say is:

"I'd like to RP with you, in one way, shape, or form. I'm willing to run scenes to do this, and am willing to run anything that I feel I'm capable of doing. All you really need to do is respond to this message."

What's frustrating is the silence. I may not be the best storyteller out there, but I really cannot do it if no one tells me what stories they would like to be a part of. And what kills me is that many players cannot even tell me that.

Playing on a MUSH is more than just putting a character together.

@HelloRaptor

Briefly, I concur that there's more private funding available in the United States. I also concur that the funding to research has advanced and defined medicine and health care on a global level. However, there is no causal link between private investment into health care and the existence of a joint public-private insurance system, which is what the United States has.

I would argue that there is greater private investment into research and development across the board in the United States as a result of the massive amount of public funding into research and development, and the existence of corporate-friendly intellectual property and patent laws.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/11/entertainment/roger-rees-actor-dies/

I'll always remember him as the Sheriff of Rottingham.

@Shebakoby said:

There's maybe only one thing that the US system, as flawed as it is, has over the Canadian system. Money available for R&D. * * *

Canada still doesn't have this technology.

It's entirely possible that the technology you've suggested isn't commercially viable. While the process may be superior to balloon angioplasty, there may still be a cost-benefit issue. It's more than probable that the reason no province has approved of the procedure is because the benefit is substantially outweighed by the cost. An efficient system does not always use the best available technology.

Some fear that any 'taint' of "private money" (rather than from tax dollars), including charitable donations (which is CRAZY to oppose), in the health system will ruin it forever, but we could have had a CT scanner way sooner than we did if they weren't so ideologically rigid and stubborn.

In the United States, some fear that the "taint" of "government" in the health system will ruin it forever. What those people probably don't understand is that an unaccountable oligopoly is probably as bad, if not worse, than what "government" could ever do. This is demonstrably the case based on available information.

Again, as far as access and efficiency is concerned, Canada wins.

@silentsophia said:

I'm gonna start a diet!

Family: LET US GO TO THE BUFFET.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

I like salad bars. Buffets tend to have nice ones.

@Silver said:

@Arkandel said:

Huh. http://www.vulture.com/2015/07/yes-ben-affleck-will-direct-a-new-batman-movie.html?mid=imdb

If Batman v Superman tanks at the box office I bet this changes.

Yes, because Affleck's directorial efforts (Gone Baby Gone, The Town, Argo) have been widely-panned and not-at-all critical, commercial successes.

Frankly, they should have let him direct this film. Because Zack Snyder is awful.

@Silver said:

@BigDaddyAmin said:

I have noticed that a few of us around here are foodies, gourmets, gourmands, and lovers of fine wines, spirits, cigars, and other goodies. I love to cook and like the next, fat, white American male, I enjoy a good whisky.

You trying to say I'm fat because I like whiskey too??

He's not trying anything; he's saying it outright.

I'm a huge fan of bourbon now. Knob Creek is my brand of choice, although Woodford Reserve is handy in a pinch. I'm not sure why everyone is gaga about Bullitt, though; that shit is rough.

@Shebakoby said:

I'm not saying American health care is perfect, or anything close. Far from it. I have relatives in the states, so I have heard a few horror stories on the other side of the border. But neither am I saying that Canada's sucks (or sucks worse). The US system has pros and cons, and same with the Canadian system. But we shouldn't pretend that there are no flaws, or that the flaws are insignificant, in the Canadian system.

So, then, we concur on this point.

Canada's problem with access in remote (or rural) areas is a huge problem. That's not what is raised down here in the United States as an issue, though. Americans are paranoid for all the wrong reasons, which is why I feel it is important to point out that those fears are insubstantial.

It's a little different down here because there are large populations where access isn't the issue; cost is. And yet, there are still access issues in places like Nevada, Wyoming, and Montana.

So, if I were to trade the American private system with Canada's public system, I'd take the latter because the American private system still suffers from the same problems as Canada's.

(Edit: My brother is a Canadian physician who has worked in Vancouver and now Ottawa. He gives me updates from his end, along with my schoolmates that are also in the medical profession.)

@BigDaddyAmin said:

In spite of the fact that I am a fairly right-of-center Libertarian, one thing I do believe we need in this country is a national health system. I say this as the husband of a type I juvenile diabetic.

There are times when it is justifiable for the public to deliver a good or service. Health care is one of them, and has always been one of them.

@Shebakoby said:

As a result, millions of canadians can no longer find a family doctor, and thus have precisely 0 access to specialists.

Are you one of those millions of Canadians? Because, as a Canadian, I was, and am, not.

Nor was my mother, who was diagnosed (again) with thyroid cancer. She was diagnosed within 2 weeks, and had surgery scheduled 3 weeks later. She could have gotten in earlier, but she was busy traveling.

The funny thing about these stories is that I've never actually met a Canadian that ever had a problem getting a required surgery done. I've also never actually met a Canadian that ever had to wait for a cancer scan longer than 2 weeks. And I've known plenty of them.

I have, however, met and read the records for dozens of Americans who have been the victims of medical malpractice. I've read medical malpractices cases for scores more. And this is only in the State of Ohio.

People like to attribute the Canadian horror stories to OMG Canada's health care system sucks. You should check out the actual number of Americans who have been the victims of their own health care system. I think you'll conclude, as I have, that whether the system is a single-payer public system or a oligopolistic private system is immaterial. You will likely conclude that doctors, nurses, health care professionals, and their patients make mistakes.

I think you will also conclude, as I have, that medical professionals that don't have to worry about coverage issues or costs will be able to spend more time training and researching than balancing monthly budgets.

@Shebakoby said:

Some Canadians actually have to go have important tests (MRI, for instance) in the USA because the waiting list for the same test in Canada is over 2 years now.

Why were the tests needed?

People who need knee replacements have had to endure even longer waits (up to 5 years).

Why were the knee replacements needed?

People have died of cancer before they could get some kinds of tests.

For how long did they suffer undiagnosed before seeking tests?

@Corruption said:

We were scheduled for a noon pickup. We finally got home around 2PM. I was beyond pissed and filed a complaint. Of course, that had no effect. FUCK this cheapass, moronic service.

This is what happens when you privatize what has traditionally been a public good.

@Luna said:

I don't think hating something people can absolutely change is remotely the same as racism. And someone saying something mean on the internet isn't close to lynching and violence.

I'm not suggesting or saying that. What I'm saying is that people, if given the opportunity to remain anonymous whilst speaking to a large audience, will feel comfortable in espousing extreme views. That racist groups do the same thing supports that opinion.

Saying something mean is not the same as burning down the church, but, if the motivations are similar, then there's nothing wrong in decrying that which might facilitate that action.

@Luna said:

I've found people would put way more energy into trying to silence people than they will in showing love and acceptance to the targets.

I've found that the people, if given the opportunity to present their thoughts anonymously to a large group, will espouse extreme, hateful perspectives, and foment hatred against targets of their ire. It's like no one learned why the KKK wore hoods.

@WTFE said:

Why do the son and the daughter-in-law think they have a claim on the wedding ring over the husband who actually fucking bought the thing and was wed with the woman? These people need 9mm parabellum of pain relief straight into the brainpan.

Normally, I'd concur, but this sort of bullshit requires a slow slide into death accompanied by the sort of pain and shame that comes with public immolation.

@Coin said:

Opinions are by definition judgments not necessarily based on fact. They can't be "accurate" or "inaccurate". They can be informed and misinformed and --you get the point.

Informed opinions can be inaccurate, and misinformed opinions can be accurate. The term "accuracy" in context refers to whether the opinion is a fact.

@Coin said:

No. I just have a higher opinion of him than you, probably.

I don't consider my opinions high or low. It only matters if they are accurate or not.

@Coin said:

It's like you're purposely being obtuse just to be an ass, which is beneath you * * *.

Dude, what? Are you new here?