FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[OzJohnnie]

What goes with a bullhead?  Bulltish (here seen after someone has made the effort to create a clock.... ok....)

[snoop dawg]

Get your fish at walleyedirect.com.

They have bullheads, too.

plus shipping

 

They probably only ship the bullheads to Iowa.

+

What would go good with bullhead? Blatz?

BDB,  That is one ugly fish and one I just cant bring myself to try.  We used to catch catfish out of the Ohio river and the s%$t that we used for bait was disgusting, and those trash eaters couldnt get enough.

[DutchFan2004]

And the Lutefisk? A bargain @ $8.81/lb.
plus shipping

Isn't it a federal crime to send stuff like that through the mail? 8)

You might be able to make the case that lutefisk is a type of fraud

[DutchFan2004]

Get your fish at walleyedirect.com.

They have bullheads, too.

plus shipping

They probably only ship the bullheads to Iowa.

+

What would go good with bullhead? Blatz?

Hey now we enjoy good fish here as well.

[Gray Fox]

Get your fish at walleyedirect.com.
No kidding. Walleye @ $12/lb. Most expensive fish: lake perch @ $15/lb. Crappies @ $14.55/lb and Sunnies @ $12.27/lb.
They have bullheads, too. And the Lutefisk? A bargain @ $8.81/lb.

plus shipping

I got a fish in the mail once.
I'm still paying the Mafia protection money.

[BDB]

Get your fish at walleyedirect.com.

They have bullheads, too.

plus shipping

They probably only ship the bullheads to Iowa.

+

What would go good with bullhead? Blatz?

Hey now we enjoy good fish here as well.

Dutch, no offense given and I see none taken. 

Having grown up a stone's throw from the Minny/Iowa border, my cousins from Iowa and I hammered the fish that were available to us in the rivers of the area.

A lot of the time that meant bullheads.

My cousins however, knew how to cook them. They had a couple old refrigerators that they converted into smokers. They would smoke the heck out of the fish for a few days and then fry 'em up.

I must say, I have eaten a few bullheads in my day. They tasted ok and smokey. Each bite quickly washed down with Blatz, Pabst, Schlitz or Fox DeLuxe so you would forget what you just ate. 

[janesvilleflash]

I eat bullheads raw, head first.

[Ralph Turner]

Q: What is the difference between God and a doctor?
A: God doesn't think he's a doctor.
OxyBob

The days when doctors were revered as deities are about 2 decades in the past.

Besides the preferred term is "health care provider".

[Ralph Turner]

One last health care axiom...

High Quality, Low Cost, Ready Access...

Which 2 of the 3 do you want?

I'll take 2/3's of each.

Which 2/3rd's of High Quality do you want?   

[OzJohnnie]

Which 2/3rd's of High Quality do you want?   

Ha!  Just the upper two-thirds, thanks.  You can leave off the bottom third of low quality.  No worries.

[Mr. Ypsi]

(Dr) KR,

Sorry I forgot about residency - I'll amend to 'eventually rich guys'!

But could you clarify how Navy medicine is not more "Socialist ... er socialized medicine" than any single-payer proposal currently in the pipeline?  I fault Obama's and Clinton's proposals for being far too timid. 

The current system has American healthcare by far the most expensive in the world, despite below average longevity and infant mortality rates, and insurance company execs raking in obscene 'earnings' - am I missing something about how great things are now?

was gonna make a comment before i remembered you cannot argue with a liberal, now i will sit back and take in my karma (all time high) bashing

Cuz, Lord knows, we conservatives are a reasonable lot!   

Been absent most of today, plus I try to avoid politics on these boards.  But I'm not entirely convinced that health care is even a political conversation.

Have you ever wondered why no serious political party in Canada or Great Britain (the other countries I feel competent to comment on) has ever proposed moving to a U.S. form of healthcare?  (Answer: because they would no longer be considered 'serious' political parties.)  I spend a lot of time in Canada and, despite grumblings about this and that, I have never met a single person who would prefer the American system over the Canadian.  The U.S. pharmaceutical industry wants to make it a federal crime for Americans to get their medications in Canada - does that tell you something?

Insurance companies reap tens (hundreds?) of billions off the top on health care.  I realize you have deep concerns about 'the government' running anything (so do I!), but the ultimate bosses stand election every 2, 4, or 6 years.  Are you SO cynical about democracy that you would prefer the decisions of insurance company executives over the decisions of elected officials?

The VA gets a very bad rap (SOME of it deserved), but their drug costs (as the only federal agency allowed to bargain) are VASTLY lower than anyone elses.  Would it be such a bad thing if ALL of us could get lower prices?  (We're paying well over $100 a month WITH good coverage; I shudder to even think what it would be without insurance.)

[OzJohnnie]

The days when doctors were revered as deities are about 2 decades in the past.

Besides the preferred term is "health care provider".

Reminds of a saying from my father-in-law, a magistrate.  In Oz, lawyers address the bench in magistrate's court as 'Your Worship'.  Lionel has three daughters and they, along with mum, keep on him pretty hard.  He's mostly whipped, as they say Down Under.

Anyway, whenever they are giving him grief about it being time to retire, he always quips that he can't quit since work is the only place where people treat him with any respect.

[OzJohnnie]

Have you ever wondered why no serious political party in Canada or Great Britain (the other countries I feel competent to comment on) has ever proposed moving to a U.S. form of healthcare?  (Answer: because they would no longer be considered 'serious' political parties.)

So anyone that suggests a market based approach to health care is by definition not serious?  Interesting platform upon which to encourage debate.  Although I must admit that it's much easier to dismiss arguments and declare victory by defining those who oppose your opinion as a priori not serious.

I spend a lot of time in Canada and, despite grumblings about this and that, I have never met a single person who would prefer the American system over the Canadian.

Well, since you have never met them, they must not exist.

I realize you have deep concerns about 'the government' running anything (so do I!), but the ultimate bosses stand election every 2, 4, or 6 years.  Are you SO cynical about democracy that you would prefer the decisions of insurance company executives over the decisions of elected officials?

I don't know which definition of democracy you have found that says a democracy can be recognized by a health industry run by elected officials.  If that's the definition, then elected officials must certainly be better placed to run the IT industry as well.  Probably the motor industry.  Might be a good idea to include the personal beauty products industry too.  Hell, they should just run all industries.  After all, they are elected and certainly in a better position to make decisions than you or me.

I gotta say, your understanding of democracy is quite different from mine.

Would it be such a bad thing if ALL of us could get lower prices?  (We're paying well over $100 a month WITH good coverage; I shudder to even think what it would be without insurance.)

I particularly like your view that there are no hard choices between good options.  Apparently, there is no trade-off between price and variety and availability of drugs.  The only factor in the price of pharmaceuticals is executive greed.  And obviously that's a bad thing that should be done away with.  And elected officials exhibit nothing but sound morals and great fiscal responsibility, not to mention a complete lack of self-interest and greed.

I'm afraid you fail to convince me.

[retagent]

Also, can someone tell me what life saving/prolonging drugs have been researched and produced in Canada. Those evil people in our pharmaceutical industry should be flogged. I wish peopel would THINK. Think about unintended consequences PLEASE.

[Ralph Turner]

Have you ever wondered why no serious political party in Canada or Great Britain (the other countries I feel competent to comment on) has ever proposed moving to a U.S. form of healthcare?  (Answer: because they would no longer be considered 'serious' political parties.)  I spend a lot of time in Canada and, despite grumblings about this and that, I have never met a single person who would prefer the American system over the Canadian.  The U.S. pharmaceutical industry wants to make it a federal crime for Americans to get their medications in Canada - does that tell you something?

A friend of mine is a neuro-radiologist at a university hospital in Chicago.

About 10 years ago, her father, a general practice physician in Alberta, began to experience headaches.  She requested her father come to Chicago and let her colleagues do an MRI to find the cause.

Her father refused, re-affirming his confidence in the Alberta provincial health system.  He was put on a waiting list for his evaluation.  His health deteriorated while on the list.  My friend brought her father to Chicago where he was found to have a brain tumor that could have been cured with timely intervention.  She was bitter that he died a needless death.

With a nationalized health care system, the equations in the system change.  There will now be different considerations in health care.  A surgeon may have ample patients to treat.  Therefore, the surgeon can pick and choose which patients may be the easiest to cure, may have the lowest risk factors or may be the least demanding.  That may not be grandma, whom a generation ago, the family would have previously paid dearly to have the best surgeon to fix her.

Patients will assume an entitlement mentality that they deserve someone to fix something that they have neglected, (which already pervades Medicaid in my area.) We don't have nationalized plumbing.  When your drain backs up, you have incentives to get it fixed promptly.  Patients will now have fewer incentives to maintain good health than if they owned their risk-based health insurance policies.  (Healthier lifestyle, e.g., normal weight, non-smoker, exerciser, who has had appropriate immunizations and preventive screenings, will get lower premiums.)

It is quite clear that the highest GPA and the highest GRE/LSAT/MCAT scores have quantifiable returns.  Six years after high school you can have your MBA.  Seven years after high school, you can have your JD.  Eleven to fifteen years after high school, you will finally be able to begin your first job as a board certified physician, unless you choose to do another 4 years in a fellowship.

All things being equal, I tell the altruistic high school and college students that they can help the world in many ways.  However, unless you are called to medicine as that high school classmate was called to the military and enlisted in the Marines, or that friend was called to be a math teacher in an inner city high school or that friend who answered the calling to be a missionary in sub-Sahara Africa, then medicine may not give you the best return for your investment in time and effort,  (and there can only be so many Radiologist, Ophthalmologist, Anesthesiologists and Dermatologists.)

There is no politician who is discussing how to deliver health care more efficiently.  When did you hear of government employees being demanded to deliver more cost-effective services or their unit would go out of business and they would lose their jobs.  There is no check or balance to the demand that will be placed on health care.  There will be very little incentive for innovation, which is the driving force in the American economy.

Wal-Mart's new "$4 drugs" has done more to save my patients their own money than anything else that I have seen in my 30 years of being a physician.  That is one tangible marketplace force for good in health care.  Wal-Mart did it, not your government.

As for private health care in Britain, I have several friends who put in 40 hours/week doing the BHS and then another 20-30 hours per week in their private clinics.