tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post5460975731405614290..comments2024-03-28T21:41:52.558-04:00Comments on The Elephant Bar: Both parties in Washington, D.C. are abandoning taxpayers in order to curry favor with the legacy media and special interest establishment – both of which are dead set against any reduction in the size and scope of government.Deuce ☂http://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-24423903795047840562013-02-23T18:05:55.310-05:002013-02-23T18:05:55.310-05:00The environment is best protected by eliminating s...The environment is best protected by eliminating sovereign immunity. The worst pollution disasters were under the control of the military or national governments. Chernobyl comes to mind.Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-53892236483266152022013-02-23T15:12:27.483-05:002013-02-23T15:12:27.483-05:00Or, this?
Hanford Nuclear Reservation - still lea...Or, this?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/22/hanford-nuclear-reservation_n_2744974.html" rel="nofollow">Hanford Nuclear Reservation - still leaking up a storm</a>Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-21811677887670475182013-02-23T15:05:43.658-05:002013-02-23T15:05:43.658-05:00Nearly two years after a powerful earthquake trigg...Nearly two years after a powerful earthquake triggered a leak at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, the effects of that disaster are still being felt on the other side of the planet. <br /><br />A report released earlier this month by researchers at Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station found that bluefin tuna caught just off the California coast tested positive for radiation stemming from the incident.<br /><br />The study looked at the levels of radiocesium, one of the most common results of nuclear fission reactions, in Pacific Bluefun Tuna--largely as way to track the species' migratory patterns as the fish make their cross-oceanic journey in search of prey. <br /><br /><br />Now, what does a Libertarian do about "that?" :)Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-60001400350286397832013-02-23T14:48:31.581-05:002013-02-23T14:48:31.581-05:00The Video<a href="http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,2178453595001_2136781,00.html" rel="nofollow">The Video</a>Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-62310403459442756982013-02-23T14:43:03.606-05:002013-02-23T14:43:03.606-05:00Libertarian Healthcare
:)<a href="http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/bitter-pill-why-medical-bills-are-killing-us/" rel="nofollow">Libertarian Healthcare</a> <br /><br />:)Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-8837007593974275982013-02-23T14:41:45.861-05:002013-02-23T14:41:45.861-05:00(In-Depth Video: The Exorbitant Prices of Health C...(In-Depth Video: The Exorbitant Prices of Health Care)<br /> <br />Dozens of midpriced items were embedded with similarly aggressive markups, like $283.00 for a “CHEST, PA AND LAT 71020.” That’s a simple chest X-ray, for which MD Anderson is routinely paid $20.44 when it treats a patient on Medicare, the government health care program for the elderly.<br /> <br />Every time a nurse drew blood, a “ROUTINE VENIPUNCTURE” charge of $36.00 appeared, accompanied by charges of $23 to $78 for each of a dozen or more lab analyses performed on the blood sample. In all, the charges for blood and other lab tests done on Recchi amounted to more than $15,000. Had Recchi been old enough for Medicare, MD Anderson would have been paid a few hundred dollars for all those tests. By law, Medicare’s payments approximate a hospital’s cost of providing a service, including overhead, equipment and salaries.<br /> <br />On the second page of the bill, the markups got bolder. Recchi was charged $13,702 for “1 RITUXIMAB INJ 660 MG.” That’s an injection of 660 mg of a cancer wonder drug called Rituxan. The average price paid by all hospitals for this dose is about $4,000, but MD Anderson probably gets a volume discount that would make its cost $3,000 to $3,500. That means the nonprofit cancer center’s paid-in-advance markup on Recchi’s lifesaving shot would be about 400%.<br /><br /><br />Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/bitter-pill-why-medical-bills-are-killing-us/#ixzz2LkkYkD9nRufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-59376785627542000672013-02-23T14:38:09.765-05:002013-02-23T14:38:09.765-05:001. Routine Care, Unforgettable Bills
When Sean Rec...1. Routine Care, Unforgettable Bills<br />When Sean Recchi, a 42-year-old from Lancaster, Ohio, was told last March that he had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, his wife Stephanie knew she had to get him to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Stephanie’s father had been treated there 10 years earlier, and she and her family credited the doctors and nurses at MD Anderson with extending his life by at least eight years.<br /> <br />Because Stephanie and her husband had recently started their own small technology business, they were unable to buy comprehensive health insurance. For $469 a month, or about 20% of their income, they had been able to get only a policy that covered just $2,000 per day of any hospital costs. “We don’t take that kind of discount insurance,” said the woman at MD Anderson when Stephanie called to make an appointment for Sean.<br /> <br />Stephanie was then told by a billing clerk that the estimated cost of Sean’s visit — just to be examined for six days so a treatment plan could be devised — would be $48,900, due in advance. Stephanie got her mother to write her a check. “You do anything you can in a situation like that,” she says. The Recchis flew to Houston, leaving Stephanie’s mother to care for their two teenage children.<br /> <br />About a week later, Stephanie had to ask her mother for $35,000 more so Sean could begin the treatment the doctors had decided was urgent. His condition had worsened rapidly since he had arrived in Houston. He was “sweating and shaking with chills and pains,” Stephanie recalls. “He had a large mass in his chest that was … growing. He was panicked.”<br /> <br />Nonetheless, Sean was held for about 90 minutes in a reception area, she says, because the hospital could not confirm that the check had cleared. Sean was allowed to see the doctor only after he advanced MD Anderson $7,500 from his credit card. The hospital says there was nothing unusual about how Sean was kept waiting. According to MD Anderson communications manager Julie Penne, “Asking for advance payment for services is a common, if unfortunate, situation that confronts hospitals all over the United States.”<br /> <br /><br /><br />Claudia Susana for TIME <br /><br />Sean Recchi<br />Diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 42. Total cost, in advance, for Sean’s treatment plan and initial doses of chemotherapy: $83,900. Charges for blood and lab tests amounted to more than $15,000; with Medicare, they would have cost a few hundred dollars<br /> <br />The total cost, in advance, for Sean to get his treatment plan and initial doses of chemotherapy was $83,900.<br /> <br />Why?<br /> <br />The first of the 344 lines printed out across eight pages of his hospital bill — filled with indecipherable numerical codes and acronyms — seemed innocuous. But it set the tone for all that followed. It read, “1 ACETAMINOPHE TABS 325 MG.” The charge was only $1.50, but it was for a generic version of a Tylenol pill. You can buy 100 of them on Amazon for $1.49 even without a hospital’s purchasing power.<br /> <br />Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-56261254621349835142013-02-23T14:06:14.703-05:002013-02-23T14:06:14.703-05:00.
The king is dead. Long live the queen.
Congra....<br /><br />The king is dead. Long live the queen.<br /><br />Congrats, Deuce. Nice looking format.<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-90948491722306712112013-02-23T13:39:03.413-05:002013-02-23T13:39:03.413-05:00Pointing guns at dogs?
They are a trashy bunch, a...Pointing guns at dogs?<br /><br />They are a trashy bunch, aren't they?<br /><br />Yes, in my world we'd fire half of the FBI, and the other half would have to work for a living (no more chasing around after pot suppliers, and gamblers.)Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-50894506132269217362013-02-23T13:36:32.351-05:002013-02-23T13:36:32.351-05:00Young voters that lean libertarian want to see tha...Young voters that lean libertarian want to see that there is a party they can vote for rather than A or B. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-48611264534006278312013-02-23T13:20:29.050-05:002013-02-23T13:20:29.050-05:00You should enjoy this:
FBI agents caught sexting ...You should enjoy this:<br /><br /><i>FBI agents caught sexting and dating drug dealers<br />Dating drug dealers, harassing ex-boyfriends with naked pictures, and pointing guns at pet dogs: these were just a few of the offences committed recently by serving FBI agents, according to internal documents.</i>Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-76649659007572620142013-02-23T13:16:06.291-05:002013-02-23T13:16:06.291-05:00I welcome the debate.I welcome the debate.Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-60756344358733773222013-02-23T13:06:23.992-05:002013-02-23T13:06:23.992-05:00A "Carol" to celebrate your new beginnin...A "Carol" to celebrate your new beginning:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgzMZSmCDfs" rel="nofollow">Oil to the World</a><br /><br />:)Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-23253983463204252472013-02-23T12:58:58.362-05:002013-02-23T12:58:58.362-05:00I am a "Social Libertine," however. :) ...I am a "Social Libertine," however. :) I suppose I could work with that.Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-40646137173372175232013-02-23T12:50:54.818-05:002013-02-23T12:50:54.818-05:00My problem is - I'm not much of a "Libert...My problem is - I'm not much of a "Libertarian." :) (the end result appears to me to be a slightly prettied-up feudalism.)Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-2416914448580983492013-02-23T12:28:39.393-05:002013-02-23T12:28:39.393-05:00OOOOOOK
The previous format was constructed seven...OOOOOOK<br /><br />The previous format was constructed seven years ago. It went through several evolutionary phases as politics changed. The big threat at the time was thought to be external. Today, IMO it is worse as the threats are internal. Most of this was discussed here. The problem for me was that I do have a full time business life and could not monitor the goings on and there were some very interesting people that were run off by a very few idiotic episodes from a couple of people that should no better.<br /><br />It's a new day with a new focus. More to be said later. Don't be a stranger : )Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-5640143505247608832013-02-23T11:40:55.523-05:002013-02-23T11:40:55.523-05:00Okay, I give; 'splain yourself. :)Okay, I give; 'splain yourself. :)Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-54692212104657350652013-02-23T11:24:55.381-05:002013-02-23T11:24:55.381-05:00WASHINGTON — About 100 U.S. troops have deployed t...<i>WASHINGTON — About 100 U.S. troops have deployed to the West African country of Niger to help establish a drone base for surveillance missions, in the latest step by the United States to aid French forces battling Islamic militants in neighboring Mali.<br /><br />In a letter to Congress on Friday, President Obama said the deployment would "provide support for intelligence collection and will also facilitate intelligence sharing with French forces conducting operations in Mali, and with other partners in the region."<br /><br />The last 40 American troops in the deployment arrived in Niger on Feb. 20 with the consent of the government, Obama said.</i><br />Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-36170330771487902782013-02-23T09:22:47.809-05:002013-02-23T09:22:47.809-05:00The sequester cuts were the Democrats' idea! T...The sequester cuts were the Democrats' idea! The stupid Republicans who went along with it placed themselves in an untenable position because by voting for it they became part owners. This dilemma is of their own making and shows how inept and stupid John Boehner, Eric Cantor and Mitch McConnell are. They are the Keystone Cops of Washington DC! They are hopeless and useless.<br />Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-77205336387049227162013-02-23T09:16:10.380-05:002013-02-23T09:16:10.380-05:00If the Republicans in Congress had any guts, they ...If the Republicans in Congress had any guts, they would drag the heads of each of these government departments down for a hearing and audit them publicly. Get them to defend their selection of budget cuts.Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.com