Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Wings and Nectar (We don't ask much, really, eh?)

40 comments:

  1. Howard is first.

    Certainly a lively discussion on the last thread.

    Listener, I'm a 1964 baby, the tail end of the Baby Boom. Of course, I don't have children, have never been able to work, and already draw my benefits. So, in a very real sense I, my experience, doesn't count in these discussions. I'm merely pointing out that you are more towards the middle than towards the end.

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  2. listener, really enjoyed the kiddle's blog ~~ http://www.manomet.org/blog/arctic-blog/

    Bit cooler, so far. AND we're promised a 70% chance of rain!! Good, heavy rain!! And I have a trip to town in the middle of it, lol! Don't care: I *want* rain!!

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  3. Bill Thomasson8/03/2011 02:47:00 PM

    Cat ~~ What you said last night about your bones turning to chalk sounds scary. I hope it's not quite as bad as it sounds.

    It's almost impossible for a patient to judge what is and isn't medically necessary. Although there was once when my doctor ordered a bunch of tests I was pretty sure weren't needed. After I'd seen the specialist he sent me to, it was obvious they were totally meaningless. I was just on the point of changing doctors when a change in insurance plans took care of it for me.

    But the point is that under our current system of medical payments, a doctor gets paid if he does something and doesn't get paid if he decides it's not needed. So there's a financial incentive for a doctor to resolve every uncertainty in favor of doing the procedure. Capitated-payment HMOs were supposed to solve that problem and encourage proper preventive care. But that only works if patients are going to be with the same physician long enough for prevention to have an economic impact. With patients changing employers and employers changing health plans every few years, that doesn't happen. These days, only staff-model HMOs (unfortunately nonexistent in the Chicago area) are still capitated.

    The Affordable Care Act is attacking this problem through what are called Accountable Care Organizations. The act considers these experimental, and several different approaches are being investigated. But the basic idea is that the organization gets paid a fixed amount for managing my blood pressure for a year, with bonus payments if it remains well controlled. When people talk about cutting Medicare costs these days they are typically talking about going ahead and making ACOs mandatory under the assumption that they will actually work.

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  4. Did anyone see the article that Pulitzer-prize winning economist Paul Krugmann wrote on Monday? We are in big trouble.
    http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=c4951e86-7319-4f22-b5e9-3054bff16627

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  5. Wherever I am, I've long paid in more than I'm ever going to receive.

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  6. And my two cents is that you and your experience do matter. Every person matters, not just those who already have plenty.

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  7. Thanks, puddle. I am impressed with how his writing ability has matured.
    It makes my home-school-mom heart proud. :-)

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  8. Just figured out what's ailing our Kitty, who is a Maine Coon cat:

    Spinal muscular atrophy
    This occurs in cats and dogs both, and is caused by the death of nerve cells in the spinal cord. This progressive disease has no treatment and a poor prognosis. Maine Coon cats are one of the affected cat breeds.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyneuropathy_in_dogs_and_cats

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  9. Today Emma stepped into her water bowl and tipped it enough that it poured out over her back leg, and she didn’t even notice. :-( We are catching flak for planning to come home from the wedding doings each night to tend Kitty and sleep here. One family member even asked if it's time for us to let kitty go. We refuse to kill our cat for the sake of convenience, and for what? It's not like we'll miss the wedding or help out less. It's just where we'll be sleeping. And we're still paying for a two night's stay at the Inn anyway. Our responsibility during the overnight hours is here and we don't care who fusses.

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  10. It's surprising how stressful a wedding can be even when you are predisposed to be happy and relaxed and flexible about it!

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  11. Oh, slip of the digit. Make that: Krugman (one "n")

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  12. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, suggested on FOX News on Monday that the GOP won’t pull any punches with their appointees.

    "What I can pretty certainly say to the American people, the chances of any kind of tax increase passing with the appointees that [Speaker] John Boehner and I are going to put on there are pretty low," McConnell said.

    Echoing an oft-repeated maxim of the debt-ceiling talks, McConnell added, “I don’t think this House of Representatives would pass a tax increase. So I'm comfortable we're not going to raise taxes coming out of this joint committee."

    http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/-gang-of-six-pessimistic-about-special-debt-panel-20110802

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  13. listener, you're absolutely right.

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  14. I'm so sorry about Emma Cat♥ All you can do is keep her as comfortable as possible and make sure she's safe and happy.

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  15. Bill Thomasson8/03/2011 05:54:00 PM

    True as far as it goes. BUT ---

    The point to keep in mind is that taxes *automatically* go up at the end of next year. The only way to keep that from happening is to pass some alternative tax increase legislation that Obama will sign. Not sure how the Republicans will handle this. At the moment it sounds like their only goal is to put the burden of the tax restoration (return to the previous situation) on Obama's shoulders.

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  16. Bill Thomasson8/03/2011 05:58:00 PM

    My sympathies on Emma-cat's situation as well.

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  17. Thanks, dear blog friends! =^. .^=

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  18. Bernie Sanders' Senate seat is safe for the 2012 Election
    http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20110803/NEWS03/108030306/Poll-shows-Sanders-safe-2012-election?odyssey=mod|mostcom

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  19. He'd make an interesting President...and I don't believe he could be cowed. But, oh, the field day they'd have during his campaign with his progressive socialist stance.

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  20. LOL! I just flashed on an election poster of Bernie standing tall in a field of Vermont cows
    with the caption: "Vote for Bernie: He can't be cowed"

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  21. And, what's wrong with being a Progressive Socialist? It sure as heck beats the alternatives.

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  22. Apprehensive about tonight's webcast. I should have gotten a reminder this afternoon but didn't. The doors open, so to speak, at a quarter till eight. I hope I can get in and stay connected.

    Really looking forward to the show, not least because I've not feeling wel.

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  23. listener, I'm so sorry about Da Puss. Going through something very similar with Stevie. I doubt he'll make it until spring. He's falling more and more, and wobbly when he's up. Hurts the heart, it does.

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  24. = It does indeed. =

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  25. I sure hope the broadcast goes well and that your health trends that way too! ♥

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  26. Well, I sure don't mind, but if they could fuss as much as they did about Howard Dean (and not find a scrap to flaunt about him)...they sure would sling whatever they can at Bernie. Some people are saying Hillary should run again. I'm not happy with another Clinton era, but what can I say? I thought Obama could stand up to the Republicans. Sigh.

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  27. I have absolutely no difficulty imagining the Republicans doing whatever they want and President Obama allowing it.

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  28. Yikes. Talk about Shanghai Breezes!
    http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/wp201111.html

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  29. The webcast was a washout. Never got any video at all, and the audio became so intermittent that it started making me nervous and uncomfortable. I hated abandoning the webcast, but it wasn't going to get any better. One person in the FB group said he was also having difficulties, and I do think part of it was on their end. But I think a lot of it is Dad's unreliable wireless connection. After the computer crashed and came back - That was my fault. I pressed a button that apparently made the video port full screen, and that crashed the computer. So, after the computer crashed and came back, web pages were taking *forever* to load. From which I conclude that the connection is not at peak performance tonight. Damn!!!

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  30. It does. Our Emma Kitty is having increasing difficulty making it to the potty in time. And, a couple of times recently she has pooped in an inappropriate place and didn't seem to realize it, as if she could feel that she had pooped. . Sis has begun to say we may lose her before the end of Winter. It's terribly upsetting.

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  31. Things are bad everywhere.

    But, there's no global warming or worldwide climate change.:P

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  32. I love that song. Maybe I'll go look for it on YouTube. Pretty bummed about the webcast concert.

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  33. Here we are, John Denver on The Tonight Show in 1982:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn26DDjmDq4

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  34. Ah, poo! Sorry, Cat. I lose youtubes all the time by trying to see 'em full screen after I've downloaded 'em at small screen. Can't keep it in my head. So I lose several hours of downloading. Ack on me. But this wasn't even your fault, so even more disappointing.

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  35. Bill Thomasson8/03/2011 11:03:00 PM

    Actually, another example has just occurred to me. I see the doctor twice a year to have my blood pressure checked. But I don't need to see the doctor for that: A nurse or suitably trained physician's assistant could do the check and then spend more time than the doctor can discussing any associated issues of diet, weight, etc. But our healthcare payment system provides no suitable payment mechanism for that.

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  36. Gosh, that's three blog cats who may not winter over...!
    It's so sad, but good to see we'll be in good company when those times come.

    Our Emma-cat is 14 1/2 years old so far.
    How old are your Emma kitty, Catreona, and your Stevie-cat, puddle?

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  37. Aw, bummer! Any chance it will be available online afterwards?

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  38. Actually, the storms this Summer haven't been as severe as usual, so far anyway.

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  39. Wow. There's a blast from the past! :-) Thanks!

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