OT - when politics gets personal

jh wrote:

Profit
allows the hospital to build the new cardiac wing, or add the new MRI
center, or ----.

not always john...the hospital/med school here just built a huge cardiac
center...in the hope for profit i'm sure, in the hope of keeping a
particular world famous doc happy i know, and in the hope of doing some
good for those who can afford or otherwise access the offered treatment.
it's a loss-leader so far, from what i hear. it's grand architecture
and offers hope. they charge a lot for their work...but i think the tax
dollars really made it happen, and will probably support it for a long
time. the cardiac surgeon is very pleased though...he's making a "profit".


imo, health care ought to be a civil right in a civilized society...we
have to get away from the idea that profit should drive or even be a
part of a reasonable and available health care system. ...and, yeah, i
know the slippery slope to socialism crap. but, wtf is a capitalist
government for if not to assure and provide for the health and welfare
of its citizens?

jeff (somewhere over the rainbow)

ps...john, any chance you'll get over to the madison in july? been way
too long since we've chased the trout.)

ps...john, any chance you'll get over to the madison in july? *been way
too long since we've chased the trout.)

unknown. As with many areas the economy in our little corner of the
world has taken a big whack. The paper mill shut down which was one of
the largest single private employers in the county, The outfall from
that (support contractors, suppliers, trucking, etc) has not really
been realized yet. The Plum Creek lumber mill in Bonner closed up last
year, Macy's is closing up shop next month, one hospital went through
a round of lay offs, the old Brady's Sportsmans Surplus closed its
doors. Meanwhile the recovery $ here are being spent on such high
minded projects as installing new windows in an old fish hatchery, re-
shingling some old ranger cabins, and a few misc. road resurfacing
projects.

Private money funded projects are almost non-existent and the banks
are locked up tighter than a drum. Talking to other contractors,
bankers, etc., the consensus is that we will be flat for at least 2
more years. Consequently, contractors are bidding things at absurd
rates and bidding over much larger geographical areas than they would
normally. A couple weeks back we lost a state funded project to a
Utah based contractor no one here has even heard of before. One friend
of mine told me they have been seeing bid prices at about 1995 levels,
but neither material nor labor costs are going down, so there will be
a lot of failures and/or wild backcharges.

Talking to the fly shop the other day, our snowpack in western mt is
about 55% of normal. George said that the snow has been at what he
considers drought levels for 8 of the last 11 years.

OTOH I may have lots of spare time this summer.

john

jh wrote:
ps...john, any chance you'll get over to the madison in july? been way
too long since we've chased the trout.)

unknown. As with many areas the economy in our little corner of the
world has taken a big whack. The paper mill shut down which was one of
the largest single private employers in the county, The outfall from
that (support contractors, suppliers, trucking, etc) has not really
been realized yet. The Plum Creek lumber mill in Bonner closed up last
year, Macy's is closing up shop next month, one hospital went through
a round of lay offs, the old Brady's Sportsmans Surplus closed its
doors. Meanwhile the recovery $ here are being spent on such high
minded projects as installing new windows in an old fish hatchery, re-
shingling some old ranger cabins, and a few misc. road resurfacing
projects.

Private money funded projects are almost non-existent and the banks
are locked up tighter than a drum. Talking to other contractors,
bankers, etc., the consensus is that we will be flat for at least 2
more years. Consequently, contractors are bidding things at absurd
rates and bidding over much larger geographical areas than they would
normally. A couple weeks back we lost a state funded project to a
Utah based contractor no one here has even heard of before. One friend
of mine told me they have been seeing bid prices at about 1995 levels,
but neither material nor labor costs are going down, so there will be
a lot of failures and/or wild backcharges.

Talking to the fly shop the other day, our snowpack in western mt is
about 55% of normal. George said that the snow has been at what he
considers drought levels for 8 of the last 11 years.

OTOH I may have lots of spare time this summer.

john


ouch...hope it works out so you need a well-desrved vacation from too
much work. if so, july 9-19.

jeff

On Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:30:59 -0500, jeff wrote:

jh wrote:

Profit
allows the hospital to build the new cardiac wing, or add the new MRI
center, or ----.

not always john...the hospital/med school here just built a huge cardiac
center...in the hope for profit i'm sure, in the hope of keeping a
particular world famous doc happy i know, and in the hope of doing some
good for those who can afford or otherwise access the offered treatment.
it's a loss-leader so far, from what i hear. it's grand architecture
and offers hope. they charge a lot for their work...but i think the tax
dollars really made it happen, and will probably support it for a long
time. the cardiac surgeon is very pleased though...he's making a "profit".


imo, health care ought to be a civil right in a civilized society...

And maybe - now I know this sounds pretty far out there, but bear with me -
equal access to the courts and reasonable representation once there ought to be
a civil right. Therefore, I'd propose that no one with a bar card be allowed to
charge more than the Federal minimum wage on any matter before any court until
April 16th of the current year PROVIDED that they have demonstrated their legal
qualifications by having prevailed for their client 60.1% of the time. And
until that rate of success is reached, they are bound by that wage. At the end
of the calendar year, the meter resets and any bar member not reaching 60.1% two
years in a row shall be deemed to be unsuited to the practice of law and
assigned to the gul...er, worker re-education...er, vocational reassignment
cen...oh, **** it, the doggeddamned prison camp located in the cosmopolitan
locale of Mosquito Haven, Florida until their "liquefied precipitation removal
system installation technician" training can be completed. If they cannot
successfully complete that, they should be turned over to Larry for, um,
close-order knot familiarization...or is what we have here a failure to
communicate...comrade...?

we
have to get away from the idea that profit should drive or even be a
part of a reasonable and available health care system. ...

And howsabout the legal system...? From what I hear tell, there's already rules
and codes and **** covering THAT...

and, yeah, i
know the slippery slope to socialism crap. but, wtf is a capitalist
government for if not to assure and provide for the health and welfare
of its citizens?

jeff (somewhere over the rainbow)

Judy Garland waits for you...?

TC,
R

On Feb 23, 9:51*pm, wrote:
On Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:30:59 -0500, jeff wrote:
jh wrote:

Profit
allows the hospital to build the new cardiac wing, or add the new MRI
center, or ----.

not always john...the hospital/med school here just built a huge cardiac
center...in the hope for profit i'm sure, in the hope of keeping a
particular world famous doc happy i know, and in the hope of doing some
good for those who can afford or otherwise access the offered treatment.
*it's a loss-leader so far, from what i hear. it's grand architecture
and offers hope. they charge a lot for their work...but i think the tax
dollars really made it happen, and will probably support it for a long
time. the cardiac surgeon is very pleased though...he's making a "profit".

imo, health care ought to be a civil right in a civilized society...

And maybe - now I know this sounds pretty far out there, but bear with me -
equal access to the courts and reasonable representation once there ought to be
a civil right. *Therefore, I'd propose that no one with a bar card be allowed to
charge more than the Federal minimum wage on any matter before any court until
April 16th of the current year PROVIDED that they have demonstrated their legal
qualifications by having prevailed for their client 60.1% of the time. *And
until that rate of success is reached, they are bound by that wage. *At the end
of the calendar year, the meter resets and any bar member not reaching 60..1% two
years in a row shall be deemed to be unsuited to the practice of law and
assigned to the gul...er, worker re-education...er, vocational reassignment
cen...oh, **** it, the doggeddamned prison camp located in the cosmopolitan
locale of Mosquito Haven, Florida until their "liquefied precipitation removal
system installation technician" training can be completed. *If they cannot
successfully complete that, they should be turned over to Larry for, um,
close-order knot familiarization...or is what we have here a failure to
communicate...comrade...?

we
have to get away from the idea that profit should drive or even be a
part of a reasonable and available health care system. ...

And howsabout the legal system...? *From what I hear tell, there's already rules
and codes and **** covering THAT...

and, yeah, i
know the slippery slope to socialism crap. but, wtf is a capitalist
government for if not to assure and provide for the health and welfare
of its citizens?

jeff (somewhere over the rainbow)

Judy Garland waits for you...?

TC,
R

Moron.

g.

well, at least he is dependable

I'd suggest that maybe you stick to trying to determine the std dev of
incompatable components and let it go at that.


jh

On Feb 23, 10:36*pm, jh wrote:
well, at least he is dependable

I'd suggest that maybe you stick to trying to determine the std dev of
incompatable components and let it go at that.

jh

Sniff.....sniff.....hm.....

maybe.

g.
who sometimes suspects that he is being toyed with.

wrote:
On Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:30:59 -0500, jeff wrote:

jh wrote:
Profit
allows the hospital to build the new cardiac wing, or add the new MRI
center, or ----.
not always john...the hospital/med school here just built a huge cardiac
center...in the hope for profit i'm sure, in the hope of keeping a
particular world famous doc happy i know, and in the hope of doing some
good for those who can afford or otherwise access the offered treatment.
it's a loss-leader so far, from what i hear. it's grand architecture
and offers hope. they charge a lot for their work...but i think the tax
dollars really made it happen, and will probably support it for a long
time. the cardiac surgeon is very pleased though...he's making a "profit".


imo, health care ought to be a civil right in a civilized society...

And maybe - now I know this sounds pretty far out there, but bear with me -
equal access to the courts and reasonable representation once there ought to be
a civil right. Therefore, I'd propose that no one with a bar card be allowed to
charge more than the Federal minimum wage on any matter before any court until
April 16th of the current year PROVIDED that they have demonstrated their legal
qualifications by having prevailed for their client 60.1% of the time. And
until that rate of success is reached, they are bound by that wage. At the end
of the calendar year, the meter resets and any bar member not reaching 60.1% two
years in a row shall be deemed to be unsuited to the practice of law and
assigned to the gul...er, worker re-education...er, vocational reassignment
cen...oh, **** it, the doggeddamned prison camp located in the cosmopolitan
locale of Mosquito Haven, Florida until their "liquefied precipitation removal
system installation technician" training can be completed. If they cannot
successfully complete that, they should be turned over to Larry for, um,
close-order knot familiarization...or is what we have here a failure to
communicate...comrade...?

we
have to get away from the idea that profit should drive or even be a
part of a reasonable and available health care system. ...

And howsabout the legal system...? From what I hear tell, there's already rules
and codes and **** covering THAT...

and, yeah, i
know the slippery slope to socialism crap. but, wtf is a capitalist
government for if not to assure and provide for the health and welfare
of its citizens?

jeff (somewhere over the rainbow)

Judy Garland waits for you...?

TC,
R

you know, there is merit in some of what you say. however, it won't
affect me much assuming overhead costs are a separate item and not
dependent on my fixed wages. ...tough to meet the proficiency
requirement though. in my area of practice, there are no winners.

jeff

On Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:55:06 -0500, jeff wrote:

wrote:
On Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:30:59 -0500, jeff wrote:

jh wrote:
Profit
allows the hospital to build the new cardiac wing, or add the new MRI
center, or ----.
not always john...the hospital/med school here just built a huge cardiac
center...in the hope for profit i'm sure, in the hope of keeping a
particular world famous doc happy i know, and in the hope of doing some
good for those who can afford or otherwise access the offered treatment.
it's a loss-leader so far, from what i hear. it's grand architecture
and offers hope. they charge a lot for their work...but i think the tax
dollars really made it happen, and will probably support it for a long
time. the cardiac surgeon is very pleased though...he's making a "profit".


imo, health care ought to be a civil right in a civilized society...

And maybe - now I know this sounds pretty far out there, but bear with me -
equal access to the courts and reasonable representation once there ought to be
a civil right. Therefore, I'd propose that no one with a bar card be allowed to
charge more than the Federal minimum wage on any matter before any court until
April 16th of the current year PROVIDED that they have demonstrated their legal
qualifications by having prevailed for their client 60.1% of the time. And
until that rate of success is reached, they are bound by that wage. At the end
of the calendar year, the meter resets and any bar member not reaching 60.1% two
years in a row shall be deemed to be unsuited to the practice of law and
assigned to the gul...er, worker re-education...er, vocational reassignment
cen...oh, **** it, the doggeddamned prison camp located in the cosmopolitan
locale of Mosquito Haven, Florida until their "liquefied precipitation removal
system installation technician" training can be completed. If they cannot
successfully complete that, they should be turned over to Larry for, um,
close-order knot familiarization...or is what we have here a failure to
communicate...comrade...?

we
have to get away from the idea that profit should drive or even be a
part of a reasonable and available health care system. ...

And howsabout the legal system...? From what I hear tell, there's already rules
and codes and **** covering THAT...

and, yeah, i
know the slippery slope to socialism crap. but, wtf is a capitalist
government for if not to assure and provide for the health and welfare
of its citizens?

jeff (somewhere over the rainbow)

Judy Garland waits for you...?

TC,
R

you know, there is merit in some of what you say. however, it won't
affect me much assuming overhead costs are a separate item

Overhead costs...? Oh, wait...you won't have a heated and cooled office, a
paralegal, secretary, etc. You'll be issued a box of #2s, a package of legal
pads, a box of file folders and an orange crate that can serve as both a desk
and a file cabinet. Oh, by-the-by, save the pad backs and pencil stubs - in the
summer, you'll have a ready supply of fans and in winter, you'll have something
to burn for heat...keep in mind, however, if you get uppity and burn the
orang...er, ,multi-purpose office unit, legal, non-metallic, recycled, the total
cost of replacement, including shipping, handling, delivery and set-up from the
Cheney-Halliburton Office Supply Company WILL be deducted from your pay packet
and you WILL lose 1 cat food ration stamp each week for 6 weeks...and before you
go there - no, $134,324.17 for an orang...er, multi-purpose office unit, legal,
non-metallic, recycled, isn't excessive....it was 12.3% less than the bid from
Reid-Pelosi Furnishings...

and not dependent on my fixed wages. ...tough to meet the proficiency
requirement though. in my area of practice, there are no winners.

Uh-oh, sorry - more changes...you'll not have a divorce practice anymore as
there will be no more marriages, per se. "Marriage" has religious overtones,
and as such, it will not be officially permitted or recognized (plus, that
solves the whole "gay marriage" question). You'll be reassigned to traffic
court...snow chain infraction division...but the good news is that you'll be
allowed to draw straws for prosecution or defense...

TC,
R

jeff

wrote:
On Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:55:06 -0500, jeff wrote:

wrote:
On Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:30:59 -0500, jeff wrote:

jh wrote:
Profit
allows the hospital to build the new cardiac wing, or add the new MRI
center, or ----.
not always john...the hospital/med school here just built a huge cardiac
center...in the hope for profit i'm sure, in the hope of keeping a
particular world famous doc happy i know, and in the hope of doing some
good for those who can afford or otherwise access the offered treatment.
it's a loss-leader so far, from what i hear. it's grand architecture
and offers hope. they charge a lot for their work...but i think the tax
dollars really made it happen, and will probably support it for a long
time. the cardiac surgeon is very pleased though...he's making a "profit".


imo, health care ought to be a civil right in a civilized society...
And maybe - now I know this sounds pretty far out there, but bear with me -
equal access to the courts and reasonable representation once there ought to be
a civil right. Therefore, I'd propose that no one with a bar card be allowed to
charge more than the Federal minimum wage on any matter before any court until
April 16th of the current year PROVIDED that they have demonstrated their legal
qualifications by having prevailed for their client 60.1% of the time. And
until that rate of success is reached, they are bound by that wage. At the end
of the calendar year, the meter resets and any bar member not reaching 60.1% two
years in a row shall be deemed to be unsuited to the practice of law and
assigned to the gul...er, worker re-education...er, vocational reassignment
cen...oh, **** it, the doggeddamned prison camp located in the cosmopolitan
locale of Mosquito Haven, Florida until their "liquefied precipitation removal
system installation technician" training can be completed. If they cannot
successfully complete that, they should be turned over to Larry for, um,
close-order knot familiarization...or is what we have here a failure to
communicate...comrade...?

we
have to get away from the idea that profit should drive or even be a
part of a reasonable and available health care system. ...
And howsabout the legal system...? From what I hear tell, there's already rules
and codes and **** covering THAT...

and, yeah, i
know the slippery slope to socialism crap. but, wtf is a capitalist
government for if not to assure and provide for the health and welfare
of its citizens?

jeff (somewhere over the rainbow)
Judy Garland waits for you...?

TC,
R
you know, there is merit in some of what you say. however, it won't
affect me much assuming overhead costs are a separate item

Overhead costs...? Oh, wait...you won't have a heated and cooled office, a
paralegal, secretary, etc. You'll be issued a box of #2s, a package of legal
pads, a box of file folders and an orange crate that can serve as both a desk
and a file cabinet. Oh, by-the-by, save the pad backs and pencil stubs - in the
summer, you'll have a ready supply of fans and in winter, you'll have something
to burn for heat...keep in mind, however, if you get uppity and burn the
orang...er, ,multi-purpose office unit, legal, non-metallic, recycled, the total
cost of replacement, including shipping, handling, delivery and set-up from the
Cheney-Halliburton Office Supply Company WILL be deducted from your pay packet
and you WILL lose 1 cat food ration stamp each week for 6 weeks...and before you
go there - no, $134,324.17 for an orang...er, multi-purpose office unit, legal,
non-metallic, recycled, isn't excessive....it was 12.3% less than the bid from
Reid-Pelosi Furnishings...



i'm on board when the doctors agree to similar terms. i'll relent on
their diagnostic equipment needs though. just back from dr. visit...i
love my guy...in ayden, nc. he has put me on a low carb diet because
cholesteral is, well, extremely unhealthy apparently. i won't take Rx
for it...but when i told him i wasn't going to quit drinking beer and
other spiritous beverages while on fishing trips, he said: "hell jeff,
i'm not here to ruin your life." i liked that. i also like that he has
a king mackeral citation on the wall of his examining room...



and not dependent on my fixed wages. ...tough to meet the proficiency
requirement though. in my area of practice, there are no winners.

Uh-oh, sorry - more changes...you'll not have a divorce practice anymore as
there will be no more marriages, per se. "Marriage" has religious overtones,
and as such, it will not be officially permitted or recognized (plus, that
solves the whole "gay marriage" question). You'll be reassigned to traffic
court...snow chain infraction division...but the good news is that you'll be
allowed to draw straws for prosecution or defense...

hey...i actually like this one. i love traffic court!! do a bit of it
just to remind myself of a normal world. marriage and divorce...silly
stuff. but improper equipment, crossing yellow lines, speeding 100 in
55, no operator's license, and...uh... shudderrrr ...driving while
impaired with snow chains? oh jeezus, sign me up...but sounds eerily
similar to divorce stuff.

jeff