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6747. thoughtful - 2/5/2007 8:03:15 PM Just for Cap'n Dirty, a pic of thoughtful before she got her new bra
and after
Amazing what a good bra will do, no? 6748. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 2/5/2007 8:24:06 PM or Prozac . . .
 6749. wonkers2 - 2/5/2007 10:39:29 PM The Cap'n sez, very thoughtful of you thoughtful. Thanks. 6750. thoughtful - 2/6/2007 6:19:46 PM Calling all current and future seniors, here's news from Dean Baker's Beat the Press where he beats up on the press for doing such a lousy job. This is incredibly significant and underreported:
In fact, President Bush does propose phasing out Medicare in his new budget, if the NYT got its facts right. According to this article, President Bush proposes to change the rules on the means-testing of Medicare benefits, so that the income current cutoffs of $80,000 for individuals and $160,000 for couples are not indexed.
This means that over time, more and more of the senior population would have to pay premiums that largely cover the cost of their Medicare. In other words, Medicare will no longer be government provided health care for most of the elderly population.
How fast will the benefits phase out? Well in roughly twenty years, the means-testing would be hitting singles who are the same point in the income distribution as someone earning $40,000 a year today, and couples earning $80,000. In forty years, the point at which Social Security is first projected to face a shortfall, the means-testing would be hitting singles who are at the same point in the income distribution as someone earning $20,000 a year today, and couples earning $40,000. In other words, under President Bush's proposal many middle income elderly people would face the loss of their Medicare subsidy before Social Security faces any funding shortfall. A bit further out, and only the poor would still recieve any subsidy through the Medicare program.
After Social Security, Medicare is the country's largest social program. When a president proposes phasing it out, it should be big news. Why aren't the reporters covering it? 6751. wonkers2 - 2/6/2007 11:23:21 PM My former employer recently announced that henceforth, retirees will have to eat any increases in the company health care plan. The effect will be similar to that of Bush's Medicare proposal. 6752. robertjayb - 2/15/2007 5:37:33 AM Why does health care cost so much...(Ezra Klein)
The nonpartisan McKinsey Group has released a study called "Accounting for the Cost of Health Care in the United States." The idea, as the title suggests, is to figure out, in a rigorous and methodical way, why we pay so much more than any other developed country.
.................................................
The very short answer is that we pay more for units of care. McKinsey estimates that it is not higher disease prevalence. Differences in health account for only about $25 billion of the variation -- a drop in the bucket. The difference really is that we pay higher doctor salaries, higher drug costs, higher operation costs, more per day in the hospital, etc, etc. In essence, we're getting a terrible deal.
6753. wonkers2 - 2/15/2007 5:01:03 PM A Health Care Plan So Simple, Even Stephen Colbert Couldn't Simplify It
Cobert on Bush health plan: "It's so simple. Most people who can't afford health insurance also are too poor to owe taxes. But if you give them a deduction from the taxes they don't owe, they can use the money they're not getting back from what they haven't given to buy the health care they can't afford."
Robert H. Frank shoots holes in Bush health proposal 6754. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 2/15/2007 10:59:09 PM And the opposite of The Bush Health Plan . . .
Charlie, a Rottweiler mix, whose own mother rejected him, snuggles Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2007 with his substitute mother, Satin, at the Meriden Humane Society in Meriden, Conn. The cat had just had her own litter of kittens and took on Charlie in addition. (AP Photo/Bob Child) 6755. wonkers2 - 2/16/2007 6:09:44 PM Krugman on "The Health Care Racket."
Krugman on "The Health Care Racket"
6756. arkymalarky - 3/8/2007 3:06:15 AM Hey Thoughtful, didn't you post a site on calisthenics here a long time ago? Do you have the link handy to post again, by any chance? 6757. arkymalarky - 3/8/2007 3:18:32 AM This one looks nice.
I didn't find anything until I googled calisthenics routine as opposed to just calisthenics. 6758. robertjayb - 3/19/2007 3:57:35 PM breath test for lung cancer?
Boston (eCanadaNow) - A new study has shown that a breath test could possible detect lung cancer in patients.
The breath test device would be very small, the size of a coin actually and can detect up to 75% of all people with lung cancer according to researchers.
One negative to the test though is that it found many people with lung cancer who did not actually have the disease. Too many false positive test results.
A very unsatisfactory account of an interesting prospect...
6759. judithathome - 3/19/2007 4:22:08 PM Keoni received a call from a former co-worker last night and learned a 50 year old man he once worked with had committed suicide over the weekend. The guy was on the list to receive a liver transplant and evidently, some computer glitch or missing paperwork caused him to be dropped off the list...it's unclear what caused the change in status...but he became extremely depressed and shot himself in the head. 6760. thoughtful - 3/19/2007 5:20:47 PM how horrible. I wish more people signed up as organ donors...I mean if you're not using them any more, why not let someone else get some milage out of your pieces and parts.
We got a nice letter from the eyebank telling us that 2 people can now see who couldn't before because we donated my SIL's eyes. 6761. thoughtful - 3/19/2007 5:27:34 PM Wow Arky, you've got a good memory.
I think the plan I was referring to was the XBX for women and 5BX for men...it was developed by the royal canadian air force. I looked on line and don't see it posted neatly anywhere though there are links to buy one of the books.
Only thing is I stopped doing them as it was shortly thereafter I needed neck surgery. Have no idea if it was causative or not, but I figured I'd better quit.
Instead I now do weight lifting in the evening and walking in the a.m. to keep fit. I use an old joyce vedral book to guide me on the weight lifting...done at home with free weights. 6762. thoughtful - 3/19/2007 9:42:59 PM I've been very concerned about hubby as doc has him on statins to lower his cholesterol. Well it worked...his total cholesterol is 168!
But I understand it blocks co Q10 and I'm concerned about hubby and dementia as it runs in his family. Turns out that statins seem to help prevent dementia, which is a good thing. Even tho doc says it's not necessary and there's no evidence that it helps, I think I'll start hubby on co q10 supplements anyway. Can't hurt.
and just another excuse for tmesis to hate me. 6763. wonkers2 - 3/19/2007 10:34:13 PM I managed to get my cholesterol and the other measurements under control by reducing my intake of fat and taking a low dosage of Lipitor. As far as dementia is concerned, I worry, too, because Google is slowly destroying my memory. I never tried to remember phone numbers because they were easy to look up. Now Google has compromised my memory of people's names (actors, politicians, et al) as well. 6764. thoughtful - 3/19/2007 11:09:14 PM wonks, reducing intake of fat won't do it...it's the lipitor, and it's reducing sugar shock and insulin rush that will help your heart. Rather, shoot for a balance of fats in the diet.
See for instance Atkins diet best for weight loss - US study
"Compared with women who were assigned to follow diets having higher carbohydrate content, women assigned to the diet with the lowest carbohydrate content had more weight loss and more favourable changes in related metabolic risk factors at two and six months," wrote lead author Christopher Gardner in JAMA.
Despite previous concerns over low carbohydrate diets adversely affecting blood lipid profiles, the current study did not report any such adverse effects.
This is also consistent with the research on 'syndrome x' which suggests that diabetes, with excess carb intake and excess insulin, excess weight around the abdomen and high blood pressure go hand in hand with heart disease.
Frankly it will take time for heart docs to catch up with what the endocrinologists know about the damaging effects of excess insulin and the low fat diet cannard that pushes people into excess carb intake and increased risk for obesity and heart disease.
My MIL always said if you want to lose weight, cut out the bread and pasta and desserts. It's taking another 40 years for the medical profession to catch up with what we knew back then. 6765. wonkers2 - 3/19/2007 11:58:47 PM Well, I try not to eat a lot of carbohydrates, either. One or two pieces of toast and a lot of vegetables and salads. My wife has turned into a semi-vegetarian. I sneak out for a couple of sliders or a Coney Island a couple of times a week. We eat a fair amount of fish and fowl. I do miss steaks, lamb chops, etc. Whatever I'm eating my blood tests are all okay according to my internist, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, etc. That's why he okayed my taking a Lipitor 10mg pill every other day instead of every day. 6766. wonkers2 - 3/21/2007 4:44:07 PM For temesis--Are you getting your "fair" share of this loot? Pharmaceutical companies bribing our doctors
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