I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Friday, March 11, 2016

Linkee-poo saw Lon Chaney walking with the Queen

Lot's of NPR links today. They've been rocking it.

The price of professional editing is totally worth it. (Grokked from Chia Evers)

The evolution of Twitter in comic form. Ah, yep. Although I think it can still be a great place. And once we're past the elections it'll revert a little. But as th told story goes, sure it's a rigged game, but it's the only game in town. (Grokked from John Scalzi)

Anyone who has worked in a large corporation understands this result of how power dynamics destroys collaboration. The middling to lower power levels are the place actual work get done, at the upper levels people are to busy measuring their dicks against each other to get anything of substance accomplished.

If there is a potential food source, nature will find a way. But that doesn't mean that nature provides the ultimate solution. At least at first. So while there are now bacteria the can process some plastics, they aren't very efficient at it.

I don't know why when I saw the lead picture my mind immediately said, "Capricorn, report to Carousel." Body hacking, Jesus William Gibson was prescient. And man, the medical ethical issues here are astounding. Although, really, is this anything more than cosmetic surgery (for ethical issues, excepting for disfigured people who may have a valid medical need)? Plus, who gets to practice these alterations. The chance for sepsis is incredibly high, as well as who is tracking the long term medical issues. The social/political issues are also pretty vast. I was once asked in a panel what I thought was the greatest threat to our privacy. My answer was RFID. And these people are willingly putting an RFID chip in their bodies. It's astounding.

"Surprise! NSA data will soon routinely be used for domestic policing that has nothing to do with terrorism." Worst. Surprise. Party. Evar. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)

Well, the real issue is that people shouldn't use the ER (we call it the ED) for routine care. Although it is easy to dismiss patients who are not facing a severe problem. We often joke about how we go over to the ED to "save a life." So when you come in with a cough and are sent out within a half hour, we do make comments. That said, hospitals who provide ERs could probably see a huge increase in traffic and revenue if they offered an Urgent Care alongside the ER. Right now ERs and Urgent Care facilities are kept apart. Someone will figure out that instead of duplicating support facilities (diagnostic radiography, labs, respiratory therapy, billing, insurance processing, etc) and instead can offer both ER and Urgent care in the same venue where people with a problem can stop in and get the help they're seeking at the appropriate level. Kaiser sort of did this. Cleveland Clinic has their "same day" service (which isn't same day anymore because of the demand). Many hospital run general practice offices out of their facilities (to various degrees and various success). Now that more people have health insurance, it makes a little more sense to have both (since an ER is required by law to see you if you have a acute problem, but urgent cares are not).

So, there's a lot of sterm un drang about Obamacare and bringing down prices. Okay, here's an idea with Medicare to stop incentivizing doctors to prescribe more expensive medications when older, cheaper drugs do as well (or better). Not many people like it, even if private insurance is working with pharma to do the same thing.

"Reem Aly, a researcher with the nonpartisan Health Policy Institute of Ohio, says people tend to blame the Affordable Care Act for the trend toward high-deductible plans." Let me amend that, Obamacare gets blamed for everything in healthcare insurance and is used as a convenient excuse for changes that would happen anyway. The shift toward high-deductible plans with a healthcare savings account? That began almost 2 decades ago. Double digit premium increases. It's easier for me to count the number of years it wasn't (5 of the past 25 years, but each time it wasn't a double digit increase it meant my deductibles and copays went up). As for costs cutting deep into family budgets especially when there is a serious illness, hell I don't remember a time that didn't happen. This is also why when everyone was losing their shit over Obamacare, I kept fighting for the "public option". It's what we need.

My guess is Cliven Bundy will continue to deny the Federal Government has jurisdiction over him until he dies in federal jail (by that I mean if he is convicted, any sentence other than "suspended" will effectively be a life sentence).

The Trumpster pivots to the center and promises to be much nicer. Either he was lying then, or he's lying now. I know which one I think it is.

On the Trump supporter who sucker-punched the protestor. "'Well first off, that’s guy’s 78 and throwing a punch like that?” Dean said, as Slate noted. 'At his age, I must say that this is very, very interesting.' He added: 'Why is it that at Trump rallies liberals come and create chaos? … At that age, that looks like good exercise. … At 78, it’s somewhat impressive.'" And then what the guy who actually threw the punch said, it's much worse. Abusers never believe they have a problem. And then the Trumpster has the gall to say he doesn't condone this action, after encouraging it, saying he'd like to punch them in the face, and promising to cover the legal bills of anyone who did. Do people really thing there isn't a thing called "video playback"? (Grokked form Robert J Bennett)

But, of course, it's all Pres. Obama's fault. This is the equivalent of saying, "Well, if all these black people weren't trying to live in my neighborhood, I wouldn't have had to burn crosses in their yards and spit on their children."

Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war. Mike Godwin, he of Godwin's Law, says if your careful and know what you're talking about, sure, compare politicians to the Nazis. In particular, the Trumpster. (Grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)

See, with the change in temperament on display in the last GOP debate, it won't turn off the voters they've already riled up. Those voters can internalize that their candidate is now "just lying so the rubes vote him into power, and then we'll have our day." "'Donald Trump told a newspaper that he thinks poor people, the people now voting for him in droves, are morons,' (Trevor) Noah said. 'It's something a cartoonishly evil comic book villain would say.'" Well, they're lying at some point, just who they're lying to is up for grabs.

"WATCH: Ted Cruz's pastor calls for execution of gays minutes before introducing him." This is the lunacy these people embrace. (Grokked form Ferrett Steinmetz)

2 comments:

Random Michelle K said...

1. I thought I remembered something about plastic digesting bacteria years and years ago? Perhaps that was when they were first looking into it?

2. Re ER vs ED. When you're in the ER at night, you get issued a name tag. I remember when I broke my ankle, I discovered that they just wrote "ED" on the tags for emergency patient visitors, and thought it was HILARIOUS that Michael was wearing a name-tag that belonged to Ed.

They did give me morphine. So perhaps that had something to do with how funny I found it.

Steve Buchheit said...

I think it's that they figured out exactly what the bacteria were doing and how they did it.

And morphine is fabulous. If the nurse asks you if you want one more dose before you leave, always say "Yes". Learned the hard way.