I just had an experience – about half an hour ago – that confirms my opinions about the “health care” system in this country. Right now, I am sitting at my desk typing this – instead of getting stitches on a fairly respectable gash I have on my left leg – courtesy of a “caress” from my chainsaw – because the effing quack is unavailable (busy with appointments with people who aren’t bleeding) today and that leaves the mercenary Urgent Care joint that would likely charge me $1,500 for a couple of butterfly stitches and I will not pay those bastards except in fish heads.
So I jumped in the shower, cleaned the gash out with soap and water, then washed it out with sterile saline solution, spread Neosporin on it, packed it with gauze and wrapped the bugger tight with elastic tape.
It’s a lot cheaper than the got-damned Medical Mercs at the Urgent Care place – and since my doctor is unavailable, I guess it’s up to Dr. Eric, DDS, LLd, et cetera.
So here I am, thinking about it.
Getting mad about it.
I’ve got a fairly important situation but my regular doctor – the guy who is supposed to be my “primary care” guy – is useless to me because the only way I can see the guy (if it’s even him, probably it’ll be his physician’s assistant, who isn’t even a doctor) is if I make an appointment several days out.
But guess what? I need the bastard now.
Not two days from now.
It turns out my “primary care” doctor is really only available for secondary care.
The doctor isn’t in.
I have to bully my way through at least five Fraus – the sour paperwork women who man the front office – before I could even get a date to see him. He wouldn’t even know I was out there in his waiting room, bleeding, because of the Frau Screen. So he deals with sniffling kids and prostate checks and forget about it if you really need to see the man right now.
The presence of these Fraus is a modern development. Like “health care” (as opposed to medicine).
Do you remember the Bad Old Days – you know, before we had “health care” but had doctors – when you could just go to the doctor’s office and he’d see you. Especially if you were… bleeding? And it was kind of…. urgent?
Today, we have “health care” instead. The doctor will see you… next week.
Maybe.
Probably it will be his not-quite-smart-enough for medical school physicians’ assistant. You’ll be billed at the same rate as if you had seen the doctor (eventually) of course.
Or, you can go see the Medical Mercenary at the Urgent Care place. He will see you. Actually, he sees you coming.
Ka-ching.
I have dealt with these bastards before. Last year, my wife got second degree burns on her hand. Not a big deal, but it hurt and it was night and of course the “primary” doctor was home and couldn’t be bothered, so we went to see the Medical Mercenary instead. For applying some burn cream and writing a scrip for pain killers… we got slapped with an $800 bill.
You can imagine what they’d charge to give me a local and a few stitches.
So can I. Which is why I am here at my desk with my leg wound cleaned and disinfected and wrapped by… me.
I think I did an ok job. We’ll see.
And at least I could see me today. And my prices are reasonable, too.
This is what it’s come down to. You have insurance (or maybe you don’t) but getting medical care is either Soviet in terms of the bureaucracy and the wait – or you get raped if it can’t wait. The screw job for a trip to the emergency room – no prior approval! – is worse than a Cuban Donkey Show.
The Urgent Care place will fleece you just as deftly but at least – as in my case – you have the choice to not go and self-treat.
That’s the fulsome scurvy truth, folks. More people are “covered” than ever. But good look getting treatment when you need it.
Or being able to afford it.
We are on our own.
EPautos.com depends on you to keep the wheels turning! The control freaks (Clovers) hate us. Goo-guhl blackballed us.
Will you help us?
EPautos stickers – new design, larger and magnetic! – are free to those who send in $10 or more to support the site.
Our donate button is here.
If you prefer not to use PayPal, our mailing address is:
EPautos
721 Hummingbird Lane SE
Copper Hill, VA 24079
Been there, done that, but to the top of my foot. Little white things like worms, etc., protruding. On a Saturday. Figured poke it all back in or sit for 3 hours in an emergency room 30 minutes away from home. Took option one and it all worked out. I always considered our chain saws to be the most dangerous things we owned. Right after our tractor, and way above our guns on the list.
Maybe deeper south, and maybe times gone by, but our family doc scolded us once when my wife speared herself in the forehead with a piece of plywood and went to the emergency room to be sewn up. He said to always call him, and come right in for stuff like that. (And it was funny how fast the police showed up at the emergency room with her head wound like that! We had quite a few minutes of monitoring. We played it for laughs and they finally went away.)
Oh so right! I took my wife to the ER when she tripped and fell in the kitchen and hurt her foot. All the attending FEMALE doctor wanted to do was get me arrested for domestic violence. I could not believe that see you next Tuesday, utterly and completely useless.
Yeah, the absurdity of it all is getting more and more apparent. Around my area I’m seeing lots of development of shiny new stylish buildings going up all the time that are all dedicated to medical in one form or another. This has definitely accelerated in the last 4 years or so. Money is just pouring into the system, but who is really getting served? Yesterday I pulled into a shopping center parking lot, and drove by a number of reserved parking spots with a sign that said “Valet parking for Mayfield Brain and Spine Center”. Really? A medical specialist center with valet parking?
My son recently fractured his arm and we took him to an urgent care, who then referred us to an ortho within the same medical group. Weeks later I had to pay 5 separate bills to 3 different entities. I didn’t have so much an issue with the price as I did trying to keep track of them. I would rather just have paid for everything at each appointment. The whole digesting process it has to go through with insurance is ridiculous. I had to log in to my insurance provider to make sure I didn’t miss a payment on something.
Interestingly I noticed a recent checkup my doctor billed them (which was all covered as prevention), and saw that she charged them $350. Just for a 30-min checkup and physical. Something is terribly wrong when basic doctor services are $700/hour. It’s disturbing, and not sustainable.
eric, some news about Elio. Fedgov has new rules that actually HELP believe it or not.
Elio Motors Momentum v63
ELIO_05506_Momentum_Blog_Masthead_1_B-1.jpg
Paul Elio Shares Reg A+ Experience with SEC; Learnings Will Help Shape Modifications to Policy, Help Investors, Entrepreneurs
Paul_Elio_Standing_Behind_Elio_Vehicle1.jpg
Most people that get called before the Securities and Exchange Commission probably appear with a fair amount of trepidation. They might even get a little perspiration on their brow.
For Paul Elio’s first appearance, however, he was as cool and composed as ever.
Elio Motors’ experience raising funds through Regulation A+ has given Paul and the company a unique perspective and expertise — so much so, in fact, that the Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies invited him to the meeting to provide the Committee with valuable feedback from the issuer’s perspective.
The meeting was held to review the first year of amendments to Regulation A, made possible under Title IV of the 2012 Jumpstart our Business Startup (JOBS) Act. The amended regulation, often shortened to Reg A+, provides better access to capital through fundraising for small and emerging companies and provides investors – both large and small – with more investment choices.
Based on Elio Motors’ experience, Paul said that Reg A+ became a critical element in the company’s fundraising efforts. He said, “As soon as we found out about it, we thought Reg A+ was a natural fit. Since then, I’ve read The Innovator’s Dilemma, [a book about investing and innovation] and I think that the premise of the book really fits Elio’s experience.”
Paul explained one of the book’s examples from the disk drive industry. Established companies were afraid to invest in innovation, so they were continually beaten out by new and emerging companies. Today, a similar fear of risk is keeping big investors from funding big ideas from emerging companies. Reg A+ can help emerging companies – such as Elio Motors – find investment at critical junctures in their development.
Paul presented a very comprehensive review of how Elio Motors got to the validation and calibration stage where the company is now testing E-Series vehicles. He took the SEC group and the virtual audience through the Elio Motors’ value proposition, the growth of its reservation program and other fundraising aspects, as well as its retail strategy and regulatory victories.
While some companies might be skeptical about working with a government agency, Elio Motors found the process easy to navigate and the SEC easy to work with.
“The Reg A+ process was a great experience for us. The SEC was incredibly cooperative,” Elio said.
As an example of SEC cooperation, because no one has gone through the Reg A+ process before, there were several questions that arose in the “testing the waters” phase. For example, when Elio Motors’ fundraising went live, the company wanted to show the dollar amount pledged in non-binding commitments. This was something not clearly defined in regard to compliance. Contrary to the expectation that it might take weeks to hear back, the SEC responded within a few days, approving the dollar amount display. Paul said that as various questions arose, this quick-and-easy feedback loop with the Commission helped to ensure a smooth process was achieved with limited challenges.
Speaking of the importance of the Reg A+ process to the company, Paul said, “The single-biggest hurdle in creating Elio Motors was attracting capital. This is absolutely key to our continued success. Reg A+ put us over the hump,” referring to the fact that the company is now attracting the attention of institutional investors.
Elio Motors is still pursuing a variety of fundraising strategies, but the Reg A+ experience was positive, valuable, and showed what can be accomplished when government and business work together. Paul’s experience and discussion with the SEC will likely shape some future modifications to the program; all with the intent of helping other emerging companies and investors take advantage of this important policy.
NEW_BUTTON_RED_25_BONUS1-1.jpg
dark-full_UPDATED_V4_Media_Bar.jpg
* Starting MSRP excludes destination/delivery charge, taxes, title, registration, and options/installation.
Certain statements in this email are “forward-looking statements.” These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking information. Risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from planned operations include, without limitation, delays in receipt of adequate financing, delays in commencement of production, decreased consumer interest in the Company¹s products, downturn in general economic conditions, increased production costs and availability of raw materials, competition, and unfavorable market and regulatory conditions, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of which are beyond the Company¹s control. Readers are referred to the Company¹s periodic reports filed with the SEC, specifically the most recent reports which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. The information contained in this email is a statement of the Company¹s present intentions, beliefs or expectations and is based upon, among other things, the existing business environment, industry conditions, market conditions and prices, the economy in general and the Company¹s assumptions. The Company may change its intentions, beliefs or expectations at any time and without notice, based upon any changes in such factors, in its assumptions or otherwise, and it undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason. The cautionary statements contained or referred to in this email should be considered in connection with any subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements that the Company or persons acting on its behalf may issue.
Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share on Twitter Share on Google+
Elio Motors 2942 North 24th Street Suite 114-700 Phoenix, AZ 85016 US
Hi Eight,
For whatever reason, all of a sudden Elio has gone dark… for me. Haven’t heard a thing from them in weeks – after receiving several e-mails assuring me of a test drive.
eric, I get an e from them daily and have since they started. That’s how I stay informed. Just sign up for it.
Well, at least you didn’t have to go to the VA. They might’ve amputated…
Wear this the next time:
https://www.amazon.com/Husqvarna-587160704-Technical-Apron-38-Inch/dp/B00STHFARY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1469012716&sr=8-2&keywords=kevlar+chainsaw+chaps
Hi Tim,
I know… I know… 🙂
Eric, Sorry to hear about the accident. Too bad there isn’t anybody you can sue. 😉
American medicine is, in some ways, “third world” already.
Fortunately, not all Urgent Care needs are truly “emergencies.” So if bleeding is not too bad, you can clean, sterilize, slap on a bandage, and schedule a “first available” appointment with your PC Doc.
In a real medical emergency, I’d skip the Doc in the Box, and head straight for the ER, to make sure I stay alive to worry about the exorbitant bills later.
And if there are several hospital ERs in your vicinity, do a little advance research now.
The differences between then can literally be “life or death.”
In this time when rapid medical care is so hard to get, the old cliche should be modified……..”an ounce of prevention is worth A TON of cure.”
Thanks, Mike!
I just added a pic of the “situation” (as of this morning) to the article.
It’s just tiring even trying to deal with the Soviet-esque medical system. I say this as someone who grew up around doctors and medicine. It didn’t use to be like this.
The fraus, the paperwork.
There was a time when you could just walk in to your doctor’s office with a “situation” and he’d see you. Literally. Because there weren’t fraus running the show. He’d notice there was someone whose injury took precedence over someone’s scheduled physical and take care of you.
That’s what they used to do. Take care of people.
Today, it’s a got-damned cattle chute run for the benefit of the insurance mafia.
Heck, I remember a time when your doctor would come to you!
Dear Eric,
I know how you feel.
Orthodox Western medicine has mastered some things. If one is in an auto accident, or has been shot, emergency room surgeons are definitely the ticket.
But if one has come down with some chronic illness, such as cancer, then orthodox Western medical practitioners are little more than quacks.
They will probably be good at the diagnostic stage, but that’s it. Beyond that stage, when it comes time to do something about it, the things they will urge you to do will violate the first rule of medicine, “First, do no harm”.
They will prescribe the standard trio of “treatments”: chemo, radiation, or surgery, all of which are likely to do more harm than good.
Anyone who gets cancer but realizes this about orthodox Western medicine, will then find himself on his own. He cannot rely on the vast orthodox Western medical establishment for a cure. He is left to his own devices.
That is what happened to me two years ago, when my voice suddenly crapped out during voice class, and I discovered I had thyroid cancer.
Long story short? I had to become my own doctor. It was “Patient, heal thyself”. Because the “medical experts” defaulted on their duty to heal people, I had to scramble to learn how to heal myself. My life became very eventful, shall we say?
More details, if anyone is interested, here:
https://soundofthunder.wordpress.com/?s=cancer&x=16&y=15
They will probably be good at the diagnostic stage, but that’s it.
Nope. The worthless bastards fail epically there too. In fact, I’ve become convinced that med schools don’t even teach diagnostic medicine anymore.
Case in point: Six years ago my ex-wife came down with Valley Fever, a very common fungal dust-borne disease here in the desert Southwest. She had started showing symptoms over a period of several weeks, symptoms that my stepdaughter, a medical assistant, immediately recognized as VF. So my wife goes to the clinic where my stepdaughter worked at the time and gets checked out by the resident MD quackette, who tells my ex “you’re depressed – take some ZOLOFT(!!!!!! WHAT THE FUCK???!!!).”
Long story short: Ex’s condition worsens over the next two weeks. One morning she’s burning with fever and can barely breathe. Off to the ER. Five –count’em, FIVE– attending ER doctors can’t figure out what the problem is and want to discharge her, saying “there’s nothing we can do.”
Thank God a competent pulmonologist just happened to be on duty at the hospital that morning and, after being called in for a consult, was able to figure out in sixty seconds what was wrong – something my lowly MA stepdaughter figured out weeks before, but that a gaggle of “educated” MDs couldn’t! MY EX NEARLY DIED BECAUSE CLUELESS QUACKTARDS COULDN’T RECOGNIZE A COMMON –AND OFTEN LETHAL– LOCAL AILMENT!!
I’m convinced that most quacks today carry around an Excel spreadsheet containing a list of about 25 sets of symptoms and if yours don’t match any of the ones in their template, they pull a diagnosis out of their asses, throw some drugs at you (from a Big Pharma sponsor of choice, of course), and then shove you out the door. Those lazy, incompetent dumbshits wouldn’t be able to do an actual detailed diagnosis if Luca Brasi was holding a loaded shotgun to their heads!
BTW, Bevin, sorry to hear about the thyroid cancer, but am glad you made a recovery (apparently no thanks to any “doctors”). If I were in your shoes I’d’ve sued my insurance provider to get back every cent in premiums I had paid for their worthless medical coverage. If I have be my own doctor when the rubber hits the road, I have better things to spend my money on than useless insurance!!
Morning, Bevin!
Very sorry to learn about your cancer – but I’m intrigued abut how you handled it and share your suspicions about U.S. (AMA-approved) medicine in such cases.
One thing in particular I have personally observed on several occasions: The certitude of diagnosis and the condescending response when this is questioned at all. As it turned out, there was valid reason to question. The Quacks (two cases, one involving myself, another my wife) were wrong. In both cases, they urged surgery and insisted it was “the only way.” Turned out there was another – better – way that did not involve surgery.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the surgery would have been very expensive… and very profitable.
“The certitude of diagnosis and the condescending response when this is questioned at all.”
Both my father and grandfather died from this crap.
My grandfather was kicked out of the hospital while ill, and never recovered. Out of medicare days – GTFO, go home and die.
My father was given blood thinners by a doctor who OBVIOUSLY had not read what he was taking already…. Because it was contra-indicated by the meds the hospital had put him on.
He ended up almost drowning in his own blood, from too much blood thinner. Collapsed lung, shivering, needed emergency surgery – because Niggercare was going into effect and there weren’t enough rooms or doctors. And he was in the ER, around the corner, down the hallway… Out of sight.
We have applied incentives to the wrong end. We incentivize quick diagnosis; enable wrong diagnosis; ensure exorbitant malpractice insurance, and enable people to sue for the dumbest possibilities (E.G., a disease that only 1 in 10,000 CAN get, IF they go to a far-off land AND get bad luck to be exposed for a long period… Even if it’ll go away on its own, the body heals – the doctor can be sued for not knowing this obscure disease. Because there’s money to be made there…. “Love of money is the root of all evil.” Let’s note the complete phrase.)
Meantime, we incentivize a cattle-ramp as others noted, where it’s more important to get people in and out, using a strategy of numbers to maximize profit AND SOCIALIZE RISK. Then we mandate the insurance purchase… Doubling down on what DOESN’T work, extracting money from those who can ill afford it, making the byzantine morass impossible to hold accountable. Result is a “Dallas” event, you know – insanity is the only sane solution to an insane situation. *
We’ll be seeing the same thing WRT retirement planning soon, BTW. The CEO of State Street wrote a letter to Congress, I referenced it elsewhere, we will all be REQUIRED to contribute to new accounts for our retirement – which will be MANAGED accounts. And you here might recall, those who have managed accounts for the SS – another FORCED retirement contribution, BTW – are being adjudicated mentally incompetent: no guns (& no right to vote, I’d bet.) Now, the people who cannot afford their medical or retirement insurance, will magically be able to…. What, I wonder? Starve to death faster?
Take a look here:
http://honestlylaura.com/trending/the-victim-true-story
Guess who is subsidizing whom. If you haven’t read or watched the films of Atlas Shrugged – maybe it’s past time to do so. Stop envying the wealth of others, get busy improving your own station. the problem of “inequality” will quickly disappear if we stop making people comfortable in their poverty. The cost of making others comfortable in poverty is an increased number of impoverished people… Eventually, it’s de facto “communism.” (Which I’m certain is the plan of Hitlery. Also Bernie, and the Dems. And probably 99% or so of Reps, too.)
We should probably ADD to that unrest. Snipe, disappear. Never fire another shot. Imagine if 100 people did that, even at only a 50% success rate. (BTW, similar is played out in “Enemies, Foreign and Domestic.” Except it’s Das Boot FedGov, inciting riots and social unrest to achieve their illegal and immoral ends…)
*: finally got the other half to realize she’s batshit insane. She’s in counseling, but since she’s never respected any privacy or boundaries, she knows exactly what I think and feel about her. Yet won’t leave. If you read something that labels you a parasite, and still won’t get a job, work your existing job, or GTFO – what other term can apply, but parasite?
Just noting, there’s a reason to embrace alternate consciousness. You can be “sane” by THEIR definition, and comply; or you can truly be sane, which – when the world is crazy – marks YOU as “insane.” Because you are different from the herd…
Wolves are different from sheep, but sheep don’t understand that.
The American Medical Association (AMA) as well as the Bar Association (ABA) are gunvermin instituted monopoly unions. If you do not belong they will arrest you for ‘practicing.’
Used to be, if you wanted to be a doctor (or lawyer) you would find a mentor who would take you on for the equivalent of an apprenticeship. If unable to find such a person, one would self-educate by reading the appropriate literature. Then hang out a shingle and wait for someone desparate enough to take a chance on you. If you did well, word of mouth would bring you more opportunities. If not, you either kept trying or gave up and chose another occcupation.
The AMA (and ABA) were established by the gunvermin at the instigation of the doctors (and lawyers) in order to keep their incomes high by reducing competition. But now, through massive other gunvermin interventions in the field of medicine, it has come around to bite them in the butt. Considering the amount of time and money a doctor has invested in being ‘certified,’ the payback ain’t that great.
And of course from there, gunvermin certification/licensing has expanded into many other fields – for the protection of the consumer, of course. Barbers, morticians, tradesmen, etc. All not only unneeded, but counter-productive.
Here in Maryland, even a basic handyman is required to get a Maryland Home Improvement Contractor license. A friend who took the test says there was nothing on it about quality or safety. It was only about how and when to charge sales tax. But many people who could probably get away w/o the license get it anyway, because it offers immunity to being sued for faulty workmanship.
Our tax dollars at work.
Not long into this century Texas made everything you could think of licensed and insured. I had done electrical work for a couple decades and mainly did a/c and water repair along with irrigation.
Once they passed that law, the only way you can touch a screwdriver to a disconnect on a water well is to have that license which requires you to have been a driller for at least 5 years. That cut out another source of income since my BIL had a drilling rig and we sometimes drilled wells for people but I had no way to prove(and hadn’t been a driller for 5 years in the drilling business)I was qualified. So there goes two ways I had of making money. It won’t be long till mechanicing will have to be done on the sly if you don’t have an SAE accreditation or something similar. I dread the day when I have to pay an accredited asswiper. I may have to just hold it in and then drag my butt on the lawn. Of course they’ll take our house since it sits on the lawn that performed an illegal act.
Hi, Philip,
I think you left out a detail towards the end:
“But many people who could probably get away w/o the license get it anyway, because it offers immunity to being sued for faulty workmanship.”
The problem is, it has enabled the very system it was supposed to stop – that is, it allows those who DO do shoddy work, knowingly, to hide behind their certification….
Exactly the same as the “Doctor” certification now does. The last person to graduate in medical class is still called…? “Doctor.” But you wouldn’t send a dying dog to that quack…
Parallel to the whole Trans Bathroom thing: The laws will enable pervs to do exactly what is feared: A male, who decides he today identifies as a woman, will go into a women’s restroom and take pictures, or worse – and there’s nothing to do legally, because “he FELT like a woman…”
Whereas, a transsexual now has to worry who might question him or her, and how they’ll “prove” they’re allowed to be in that bathroom….
think of it as a reverse Sweeny Todd; like the police who now exist as “revenue collectors” for the state.
Sweeny Todd killed people who used him as a barber. They could go to any barber, surely, but he was the best – for those who lived. For the rest, he was the final stop.
The fear: EVERY barber will be Sweeny Todd. (Every doctor is Dr. Frank N. Furter, reference intentional).
Reality: As the licensing prohibits those who seek to simply find a new life from apprenticing, you push the classes apart / limit class mobility. Second part, you also encourage those who go into a field for the wrong reasons: Police see power – they join. Doctors see a chance to kill under cover of medicine, and rely on their insurance to cover them for the worst “errors.” And then there’s the effect of the money itself, they see more and more costs, they must therefore see more and more patients to bill to meet their bottom line.
In IT, we’ve got one person doing 5 people’s jobs, and the method is not a planned system, but rather firefighting in an inferno. Stomp out a hot spot, go to the next one, repeat, while the building burns down around you… Then Management decides to fire that one person… Because “costs.”
Sweeny Todd realized he could make money AND kill people at once, so he created LLC business, ya know?
And these people are insulated from their actions by immunity, social standing, their “god-like” station, etc, etc, etc….
The laws (written and implied) are creating the very situation they were supposed to prevent. WTF?
And we just roll over and take it. Again, I reference Dallas. I consider my father’s fate, and the proximate causes… And how it all happened.
Leaves a cold, wet feeling in the pit of the stomach.
“Not revenge. Punishment.”
Some days I just don’t know what to do. Hard to just put it out of your mind.
To leave them to their own devices, when they’ll hurt people repeatedly. “But if there be war, let it come in my time, so my children may know peace…”
You left out the main component, insurance. In Tx. you can’t get the license without the insurance and so like anything mandatory, insurance for all those trades increased and so did the costs of doing business that’s passed on to the client.
Bevin, I hear hemp oil also cures cancer. Ingesting it, and some say topical application also. I’m not sure how I could get any. Don’t really want a midnight raid hours after I order online.
I got your site and solution saved. I hope I’ll never need it.
Supposedly multiple dark nets.
TOR is only one. And YouTube actually has videos telling you how to get on there. (I can’t vouch for any, but I know the search results are there. I’ll just say, “Buyer Beware.”)
I hear you get put on (another) list when you download TOR. Haven’t done any research on alternatives. I have been told of the horrifying things one can see on the other side of the web. Not sure I want to give out my shipping address over there. But I know nothing’s really secret or private. I like trying to find a source within a drive of me, so I can do business in person and in cash. I know… got to learn more about the crypto currencies too.
Hi Brandon,
Help an old dude out – what’s Tor?
Tor browser. It’s a modified version of firefox that bounces what you do through anonymous proxies to hide your IP. I’ve used it to get around IP bans, country restrictions, those sort of annoyances. It can be clunky to use because some things won’t work. I understand that there web sites that can only be accessed via Tor browser but I haven’t a clue about how to even connect to them let alone what’s there.
BrentP, I started using Tor back in ’08 and it was great. I could access anything and not sweat it since back then it was completely unbreakable. Although the feds have broken it since, it still takes a lot of effort and money to do so and now there is the 256 bit encryption that really is unbreakable or almost, what the fedgov uses.
Once I lost my highspeed connection I could no longer use it but it was grand for a couple years. And you could beat the servers that would normally limit you. Back around 2000 was the good old days when you could find anything out there but then they began to restrict it “for your own protection”. That excuse do get tired bro.
Here’s a couple of places to start for listings of sites on the “dark web” accessible via Tor:
http://thehiddenwiki.org/
http://www.thehackerstore.net/2015/07/huge-list-of-darknet-deep-web-hidden.html
Caveat emptor!
Hey Eric, like Brent and 8 said. It’s one of the most private ways to browse online and it’s tough to be tracked. You can buy guns, drugs, explosives, medicine, etc. You can go to forums, chat rooms, sites, that the search engines won’t let you go to. So if you download Tor, they assume you’re doing something illegal. I wanted to download it just to explore, learn, see what’s out there. But after doing some research on the dark/deep web… the things you can stumble upon… you can go look and read the horror stories. I asked a computer wiz I trust if the horror stories were true. He said they were. So I’ve never been there but I’ll take their words for it.
This is basic economics, Eric. I know you’re hurting, so you’re not thinking real clearly right now, so I’ll try and sooth the anger a bit.
If your car broke down and you took it to the service department at the dealership because, say, it was still under warranty, would you expect that everyone else at that service department to be bumped just because you need your car worse than they do theirs when they got there first? Would you be willing to call around town to other service departments of the same brand to see if they had any openings (assuming you can drag your car there)? Would you take it to a non-manufacturer mechanic that doesn’t accept warranty service just to get it fixed now rather than wait? Or would do your best to diagnose the problem, call the auto parts stores around town to find one that had the replacement part in stock, and replace it yourself at lower cost and, possibly, lower quality (depending on your own personal mechanic skills)?
If there was a shop that intentionally had a lot of mechanics sitting around on standby, and they had rapid access to loads of spare parts for all makes and models, and you could just roll in and get your car fixed right then, wouldn’t you expect to pay a premium for such service? Don’t you expect that they’d be eagerly looking to get you into their “mercenary” shop because that’s cash flow? Don’t you recognize that every minute a mechanic is sitting around twiddling his fingers not repairing cars is a minute he’s gotta be paid for doing nothing?
Setting aside the “cost of medicine is too high” argument (which is a valid argument but a different discussion), and speaking in relative terms, look at this from a purely economic argument. The doctor has to pay his “paperwork women” by the hour whether there are patients there or not. He has to pay the overhead of running the office. He has to pay his insurance. He has to do all the things that every other businessman has to do to keep as many customers running through his business as he can per hour to make as much cash flow as he can. Every empty minute costs him money. In order to make ends meet, he has to have patients scheduled back-to-back all day long, often overbooking people with urgent needs and trying to squeeze them in between the other patients and/or hoping one of them doesn’t show for their appointment (a surprisingly common event, since there are no negative consequences to doing so to the person) so he will not be running behind. He hopes he can keep his head above water long enough to get through the day, answer all the questions from patients well enough to make sure they don’t kill themselves, and tell Mrs. Jones in a soft, compassionate voice that she is going to die of cancer in a few months, according to the test results.
He has to fight insurance companies about them not wanting to pay for this non-covered medication or that non-covered test because his patient’s life may very well depend on it. He has to fight his medical record, electronic or paper, to document enough information on each visit to convince the malevolent insurance company to pay for the cost of the visit. He has to field calls from the hospital about emergencies his patients are having on the medical floor that he gets to look forward to once he’s done at the office. And he gets to supervise and answer complex medical questions from the Physician Assistants he supervises at the office when they have something more difficult than their training equipped them to handle, while working through lunch because extra people showed up without an appointment demanding to be seen. He gets to work until 7pm seeing patients, even though his office closed 2 hours earlier, and even though he got to the hospital that morning at 5am to round on patients on the wards. Then he gets to grab a quick dinner, if any, on his way back to the hospital to finish up whatever work he didn’t get done that morning. He gets to put on a smile and be kind to everyone he sees, all day long, while making literal life-or-death decisions in many cases. He gets to do this for 80-100+ hours a week, including most weekends, and never see his wife or kids.
And he gets to do all of this for vastly less money than previous generations of physicians got paid, when inflation adjusted (and often even when not inflation adjusted). He has to pay the salaries, the rent on the office, the utilities, his licensing fees, etc. every month even though he will not see a single penny from any of the insurance companies, who balk at paying every single claim on every patient he saw that day, until 3-12 months later (or more). And he gets to get into his 5+ year old Toyota Camry, go home, go to bed, and do it all again tomorrow. (If a doctor is driving a nice car, it’s either because he is in a specialty that makes a LOT more money or he is taking a huge gamble on auto loan debt so that he has a few minutes of relaxation or fun between crises in the clinic and hospital on the road, hopefully not being pulled over by a “hero” along the way for doing 3mph over.)
There’s a reason physicians, as a group, have among the highest suicide rates (higher than veterans) and drug abuse rates of any group. That makes you wonder why anyone in their right mind would go into medicine. It’s because they want to help people. True, there are a few who went into it under the delusion that they could “get rich” when in reality, most physicians today are earning middle-class level incomes in terms of take home pay, though they work 2-3x as many hours per week to get that pay. (If you wanna make money, you’re far better off in any of a number of other fields.) Also, as with any profession, there are good doctors and bad ones. Docs with good bedside manners and docs without. Those who are skilled at diagnosis and treatment, and those who are not.
The third-party payor system (Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance) is what has made the difference. Medicine is the most regulated industry in America, even more so than banking, based on what I’ve seen. There are literally reams of paperwork involved in filing claims with insurance companies, who are in bed with the government, to get paid on even the simplest of office visits. It can require many, many “sour paperwork women” to support one doctor’s clinic, to file and re-file the claims in the hopes that eventually 80% of them will get paid (they get to eat the unpaid ones), to answer the phones and schedule patients, etc. A few generations ago, the times to which you are reminiscing, didn’t require a quarter of the office staff to manage the paperwork load (and you wonder why they’re “sour”).
So if one wishes to participate in this style of medicine, which is the way the vast majority of doctors today feel they must to survive, you have to get as many patients through in a day as you can possibly manage just to break even. They may be your Primary care doc, but they are also the Primary care doc for thousands of others as well. Their clinic can no longer be set up to manage walk-in urgent care like the old days because they don’t have the luxury of time and open appointment slots any more. They waste so much time “charting” and documenting for the sake of the insurance companies that for every minute spent actually doing productive work, they spend two on non-productive stuff.
And it’s only getting worse with Obamacare. And that hasn’t even been fully implemented yet.
For all intents and purposes, medicine has been softly socialized for a couple of decades now. Though you get to pay your insurance premiums, the insurance companies themselves essentially control the government regulations in this area (they WROTE Obamacare, after all). As with all socialism, you DON’T get what you paid for, and it’s only getting worse.
So, to answer your specific concerns:
1. The doctor’s clinic is so booked that in order to see you, and spend an extra 15 minutes patching your leg up, he has to piss off 3 other patients who were there first for scheduled appointments. They might not be bleeding, but their lives are no less important than yours. And the doctor has to keep his clinic booked solid because he would lose money otherwise and would have to close up shop.
2. The doctor hires Physician Assistants to help increase patient flow. They handle the day-to-day “oil changes” and do as good a, and in many cases better, job as many/most doctors on the things they are qualified to handle. You’re paying for a service. There’s a fee for that service whether the “oil change boy” does it or “the engineer who designed the damn thing” does it. Same service. Same price. Same overhead to cover it. Same paperwork required. Same price. And if there’s a genuine complication that warrants a higher level of training and expertise, the PA (or APN) can grab the doctor. Two sets of eyes, same price.
3. Physician Assistants are certainly “smart enough for medical school” in most cases I’ve seen. They just chose a path that side-steps a lot of the headaches mentioned above. In many ways, that makes them the smarter businessman. They get to do 90% or more of the medicine a doctor gets to do, and help people, while skipping 90% of the headache. They do make less money, but far more of it is actually take-home pay at the end of the day. And they don’t have to run a nightmarishly-heavily regulated business on the side while practicing, either.
4. There is a style of medical practice called “concierge medicine” or “direct care” which is much more like the old-style practice of medicine you refer to. It totally bypasses the third-party payor system and provides dramatically improved healthcare quality and service, at much cheaper prices, with better patient and physician satisfaction. Our friend Tom Woods has done several podcasts on the topic (three, that I can think of) including at least one with Dr. Josh Umbehr:
http://tomwoods.com/podcast/ep-481-how-capitalism-can-fix-health-care/
As a physician myself, I agree that healthcare is very, very screwed up in almost every aspect. Every single one of those can be directly traced to government interference and regulation in the system of care delivery. Don’t take your angst out on the doctor or the physician assistant or the nurse practitioner or the office staff. They are just trying to navigate a market that has not been truly free in around 70+ years and is getting progressively worse.
You might as well be begging for government to legislate and mandate that anyone using a chainsaw MUST wear chainsaw chaps.
In the meantime, keep an eye on that leg and if there’s any sign of infection or pus overnight/tomorrow, you probably need to call around to see if you can get in to see a doctor (or PA or APN) to get it cleaned out, dressed, and get some antibiotics. Otherwise it might be difficult to ride a motorcycle with only one leg.
Hi SJ,
Yeah, I get all that.
The system seems to be consciously engineered to extract as much money as possible while delivering as little actual care as possible. One way this is achieved is by making it such a hassle to even get to a doctor that many people just say the hell with it. The other is exorbitant – totally unreasonable – cost. For the benefit of the insurance mafia, chiefly.
No one – very few, at any rate – ever asks why we use insurance for literally everything, including routine office visits. It is preposterous.
Isn’t insurance supposed to be for unexpected and very serious (and so, inherently, very rare) problems? Major illnesses, injuries… things of that nature? If it were used only in such cases, insurance would be (wait for it) affordable.
Instead, we’re forced to use it to “cover” everything, including ordinary office visits. It’s like using car insurance to “cover” an oil change or tire rotation.
People think: But my co-pay is only $30! But how much are the yearly/monthly premiums?
Imbeciles.
Even my thing – the chainsaw cut – should (in this “doctor’s”) opinion be 15 minutes’ work, tops. A few stitches, bandage it – done. But for this relatively minor thing, I bet a Medical Mercenary at the Urgent Care or ER would present me with a bill approaching if not exceeding four figures.
Better to self treat or find a friendly and on the down-low vet who’ll help you out for $50.
Which is what something like this ought to cost.
Just for point of comment:
Ear infection in January. I have decent insurance, High Deductible of course….
Went to the Urgent Care because I didn’t have a primary, and I want to keep my hearing.
Bill for going? $250.
Medication extra.
Yay Niggercare.
Yup.
Finally got to see “primary” today (just a few hours ago). Too late for stitches but got a tetanus shot. My home bandage did pretty well, it turns out. The slash was no longer open; it had glued itself together. The PA used adhesive strips to secure it some more and sent me on my way.
I never go to the doctor, so I was got-damned determined that this one time I would actually use the insurance I’m forced to pay for. Meaning, they pay – except for the deductible. I was not going to go to the ER or the Urgent Care shysters ad then fight with the insurance mafiosi over the “not pre-approved” $1,500 bill.
Looks like I’ll be ok, except for a new scar – which is actually ok with me!
Really glad to hear….
Now you need a good story to explain it. I’d suggest borrowing from a friend of a friend of mine…
Martial artist, he did stance training every day…
For YEARS…
Then one day got in a bad spot with some hicks somewhere, dark country road, following his car, that sort of thing. There were four in his car, and at least four in theirs, when they pulled up looking for trouble.
One got out with a baseball bat and smashed him in the thigh…
And broke the bat on muscles that were essentially stone. 🙂
Fight: Over. 🙂
You just say it was a chainsaw instead, and you’ll have a great brag. 😉
THEN you add in that you did the medical yourself, AND healed like Wolverine.
So it’s BS. She knows you’re blowing smoke anyway… She wants to be entertained.
And cars are “boring…” 😛
Thanks, Jean!
See here: http://ericpetersautos.com/2016/07/21/quack-addendum/
The system seems to be consciously engineered to extract as much money as possible while delivering as little actual care as possible. One way this is achieved is by making it such a hassle to even get to a doctor that many people just say the hell with it. The other is exorbitant – totally unreasonable – cost. For the benefit of the insurance mafia, chiefly.
Yup. Exactly.
A year ago last November during Open Enrollment week, when ObamunistCare first kicked in, my (now former) employer re-vamped its range of health plan options. The Aetna Health Plan I had been in for years had completely transmogrified into something truly grotesque. For a bank account-busting $500.00 per month you could retain ACCESS to the plan – but that’s ALL you got. If you wanted actual CARE under the plan? Well, be prepared to shell out at least that much MORE in actual co-pays and additional fees, which didn’t even include pharmacy co-pays, dental, vision, or anything else.
Thank God that I was eligible for the military’s TriCare supplemental coverage, which, while by no means a great plan, was at least affordable and could guarantee minimum coverage in the event emergency medicals services are needed. I can’t even IMAGINE someone with a spouse and young children being able to afford family coverage – and God help that person if any of their loved ones get sick or injured.
Truly perverse, the whole got-damned system.
Another thing you can use is liquid bandage (superglue)
Stitch it yourself, it’s easy. I ice it first to numb it.
There once was a day when the doctor came to see you at home, your own home. Imagine that.
I have a cousin who went into practice as a GP in a small town in the early 1960s. He charged $3 for an office visit and $4 for a house call. No insurance payments: insurance in those days was called “hospitalization” or “major medical”. It kicked in to prevent catastrophic expenses; routine care was paid for by the patient. His office staff consisted of one clerk to track appointments, take phone calls, etc.
By the late 1960s, Medicare and Medicaid were in effect, and insurance — largely because of the unions and the tax code — was paying a large portion of medical expenses. According to my cousin, medical practice was totally transformed. It was no longer the doctor and the patient; there was always a third party involved and meddling with the relationship.
He is retired now, and he told me a couple of years ago that if he had realized what was coming, he would never have gone into medicine.
Typo, Eric…
But good look getting treatment when you need it.
Absolutely sickening how something so basic and easy to deal with has been turned into a joke. The whole country is a joke. I actually heard that 3rd world countries (we might be one too now) like Mexico handle basic medicine like this the old fashioned way…you go to a doctor and they use common sense and logic and take care of you.
I live just 50 miles north of the Mexican border and several of my neighbors travel down there regularly for medical and dental care. Without exception they tell me that the care is quite affordable, of superior quality, and completely hassle-free. I’m seriously considering becoming a “medical tourist” myself.
Excuse me? “Not smart enough for medical school physician’s assistant”? First of all, the title is “Physician Assistant”. No ‘s, we are not the posessions of physicians. Secondly, PA’s are NOT doctor wannabees. I have been a PA for 20 years, all of it in neurosurgery. I am trained and credentialed to perform ANY procedure within the scope of my supervising physician’s practice. You sir, have committed a grave disservice and insult to myself and my thousands of similarly highly trained and qualified colleagues across the nation. You owe all of us, and our profession a major apology.
Hi David,
If I could have seen the PA, maybe I’d be less hacked. And – if the PA charged less than a doctor charges… since he’s not a doctor… I’d object less. I mean (no offense) if I’m paying $70 an hour to get my car looked at by a mechanic, I want a mechanic looking at my car… not the oil change kid.
The oil change kid. Once again, you have consciously chosen to malign an entire profession. Next time you’re there, ask your doc who would probably do the better job suturing. I’ll wager he’ll tell you that his PA would. Perhaps you should do a bit of research into the profession before you comment further.
@Engelman,
Your defense of a government medical cartel / monopoly is screaming CLOVER to all the anarchist here. Tell you what, when the AMA disbands, I’ll think about respecting the NP/PA as other than a mechanic’s helper.
Note, a mechanic’s helper isn’t knocking down what a master mechanic does. After all they are merely flunkies that haven’t gone through the magic hoops the AMA requires to become a DOK TOR! or what a master mechanic obtains as knowledge. I hold a master’s electrician rating. I can have non licensed journeymen aka EA/EP working under me but I will be the one making the big bucks not them.
So to get to the point, QUIT YA WHINING!
Hi David,
My beef is this: I am charged full freight for the services of a doctor. A PA – and my PA is a good dude – isn’t a doctor. It’s a shyster move.
Would you be happy if you paid full price for an architect to design your home but discovered the plans were actually drawn up by a not-architect? The plans might be great… but that’s not the point.
The competence of the PA to do “x” procedure isn’t the problem. The problem is being billed for one thing (a doctor) and getting something else.
This is no small thing given the exorbitant cost of both insurance and “care.”
Why are PAs now handling so much of the “care”? Because the insurance mafia makes more money off us this way. A PA costs less – but we pay more.
Troof – or not?
@Eric,
Might I try to help clarify your statement, “If i could have seen the PA, maybe I’d be less hacked. And – if the PA charged less than a doctor charges, since he isn’t a doctor, I’d object less. I mean (no offense) if I’m paying $70 an hour to get me car looked at by a mechanic, I want the Mechanic looking at my car and not the Mechanic’s Assistant (which is that the PA/NP actually is vs an orderly aka oil change kid)!
As an aside, an expert Mechanic’s Assistant is every much on par as a expert Surgical Scrub Nurse. I know, I use to be an MA and a Master Mechanic too. I was good enough as a Master Mechanic to work for Ford, before they became bat shit crazy, as a new products instructor out of the NO zone office. 🙂 Of course, the wife got tired of me coming home looking like Al Jolson hence the NO zone office job. And the NO zone office job? Well, I had two young children that I never got to see for two years. That just sucked, so I resigned and went into computers! The rest is history!
Just thought I’d help out some here….
Sorry David but Eric is right. No apologies from me. Having gone through an easy cancer (thyroid), lets just say that my own experiences destroyed the heart lipid hypothesis. I still have to listen to their baloney though, even if they wink and nod. We’re all lying to each other. Good bye high trust society.
The medical industry needs wake up instead of living in denial. None of them have any balls to challenge the system because they’ll lose their licenses. Lots of money in monopolies. Even the cancer doc running for governor in my state actually thinks we can reform the system through government controls and he’s a Republican.
The feds and states have granted the whole industry carte blanche to create monopolies and oligarchies. The medical industry can do things that would be instant felonies in other industries. It is a felony to re import drugs sold overseas at drastically cheaper prices. A FELONY to buy $100 scorpion anti-venom in Mexico and bring it back to the USA. A woman was charged $30k for one dose a few years back. Hell of a profit margin. How can an imaging center charge $499 cash for an MRI that the hospital 20 miles north charges $2000 for? I personally experienced that one via an emergency room trip. STD drugs that cost $5k in India cost $90k in the USA. Its cheaper to go spend 6 months getting treatment in India for pete’s sake. Counter that with the textbook industry suing and losing in the supreme court over reimporting cheap text books sold in China/India. The USA subsidizes cheap meds all over the world in the end.
How is it that a mechanic has to give me prices up front but the hospitals don’t?
This is bankrupting our country and the easy fix is get rid of government interference in the market. People bitch about walmart’s practices but then lionize the feds involved with medicare/medicaid. Hello Fed control of 40% of the market pre obozocare. Now they own it all in the end and we’re slaves.
End rant.
why do I get charged the same price for seeing an PA or a NP as I do for seeing a MD?
9 times out of 10 when you go to a docs office you never see the actual doc, only PAs and NPs
docs are good for annual checkups, or something that you can make an appointment for three week out, but if you need care right now, today, you go see the nurse in a box or the ER or just grab some veterinarian meds and do it yourself.
I go to a couple different nurse in the box places about every 6 months with watery
diarrhea to get a scrip for Cipro,
that way when I get a nasty infection I dont have to wait three weeks to see a normal doc
and omg, I dont need insurance, I just need the DISCOUNT the insurance company gets.
My last MRI, has a street price of $1666 but my insurance company only paid $450 and the docs office accepted that as payment in full.
if thats the price, why send me an invoice for $1666?
is that so when they have all the illegal mexicans show up with no ins that the hospital can claim a writeoff loss thats 4X the actual amount they actually didnt collect?? ?
why do I get charged the same price for seeing an PA or a NP as I do for seeing a MD?
9 times out of 10 when you go to a docs office you never see the actual doc, only PAs and NPs
Why, indeed? I must say, though, that I’ve generally had much better quality out-patient care from PAs and NPs than I have ever had from MD GPs.
It’s not just medicine either. Dental practice is the same way, with most dentists delegating everything to their hygienists while they … I dunno, play golf? Sit in the back of the office masturbating to porn? Who knows … In the ten years I’ve been going to my current dentist, I don’t think I’ve ever laid eyes on the bum more than six times. His hygienist is the one who takes care of me on a regular basis. I even told this guy that, were the laws not stacked against him, he should just open up his own practice, as I doubt there is anything that his boss is capable of doing that he can’t do too. What really frosts my ass is that whenever I get a bill from this dentist for non-routine work that my (worthless) dental insurance doesn’t pay for, I know that my hygienist, the guy who does all the actual work on my mouth, is getting fucking CRUMBS while his boss, who does jack shit, is making out like a fat bandit!
Again, the whole got-damn system is beyond broken.
Been there, have the scar. Dropped a welding jig on my foot and cut the shit out of it. Sunday, so my doc is closed. Phone says go to emergency. Being a small biz guy who funds his own ‘health care’ (aka subsidizing unhealthy people with my stupidly expensive premiums), I know it’s gonna cost me a ton, so I went the DIY route, too.
By the way, sutures are really easy. Get yourself a couple kits and you’ll be good to go. If you are at all like me, you will be an expert quickly!
The answer is retail health care. Compare your experience with a cash-only medical services like LASIK. Cheaper and better every year, super nice offices and employees that treat you like a valuable customer, not a nuisance.
So fuck it. I’m looking for a doctor that takes cash only. No fucking insurance, no crabby office fraus, just service.
Hi Yeti,
It feels ok; the bleeding has stopped. The cut didn’t go clear through to muscle or tendon. But it’s definitely through the upper layers of skin (about an eighth of an inch deep, I’d estimate) … ugly looking thing… gonna leave a scar….
Make sure and lie about where the scar came from. I suggest you got it from rescuing a beautiful (and grateful) woman from the burning wreck of her overturned Porsche.
Eric, try colloidial silver in there…got cut to the bone on my finger after a bolt let loose my hand (on the rachet) onto a gear. Never got infected, and everyone said I needed stiches. Healed it myself. Honey is also good for smaller cuts- it is anti bacterial
Thanks, Anchar… gonna post a pic of it (the gash) tomorrow…
Seriously, raw honey can’t be beaten for infection.
Last year I’d been off work 3 months and was pretty much broke from not only not working but going to the doc for pneumonia and bronchitis. I get a script for an old, cheap antibiotic and it was $150 at Walmart with my discount card, a very good discount card. The last time I’d needed it it was less than $10 a script. The pharmacists couldn’t believe it either. He said he knew it was well below a ten spot before I showed him the price. The best antibiotic I ever used was taken off the market for no other reason than it was cheap cheap cheap. The doc I had at the time, a guy from India, said his brother in India still prescribed it like water and it didn’t cost much more than water….in India.
The health industry is in bed with the banks and insurance and govt. I was run over from behind by a big rig, did a number on both trailers and knocked me nearly blind so I opted to take an ambulance ride to the hospital and got a CT scan which doesn’t show shit and then they kicked my butt to the curb. Stopped at Wally, got some cold beer. I had some hydrocodone so I took some and let the crewcab 5500 beat me all the way to the house. The hospital bill for ambulance ride and a CT scan? $21,000. No markup there. Tell me healthcare isn’t the biggest ripoff going. Of course that CT scan didn’t show all the things the MRI showed I paid for later. Oh well, I wanted to hurt the rest of my life and will get to do so. What a country we live in eh?
BTW, the CT scan and ambulance ride was only $21,000, nice profit eh?
Dear 8,
“The health industry is in bed with the banks and insurance and govt. ”
You said it. Have you seen this? If not, watch it. Covers the history of this collusion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjf9NGJfe8E
bevin, thanks. I’d watch it if I had a fast enough connection. To reiterate a point though, insurance is nothing more than another arm of banking. It was bankers who thought of another way to make money and it took govt. to make it so. Most people can live with the threat of almost anything and save thousands of dollars a year…..but they don’t get the chance to pass on most things. My house and barn are free and clear except for the IRS who will never leave me alone. But one day and probably sooner than later even though you own something as close to outright ownership as you can get, mandatory insurance is around the corner waiting for congress to pounce on us. That’s when I move and live on land that shows nothing but brush or whatever is native to it. It’s cheaper to be underground anyway…….68 degrees year round.
“Seriously, raw honey can’t be beaten for infection.”
Garlic and coconut oil are also good natural anti-microbials.
Thanks for the warning!
(There’s a reason I’m into engineering and not medicine)
So fuck it….eh? That sums up my view on nearly everything. Since I’m a “bonafide” trucker and operator and subject to H2S and other crap like that the state piggies who would turn me inside out if I had a wreck with THC in my system, I have a hard-on for that entire bullshitty. I was watching a movie t’other night and saw these people smoking some pot, Kush cross so they said and it did appear to be just that(oh, how would I know?). But they were oohing and ahhing and it made me want a couple tokes so bad I had to get up and go get a shot of WT(Wild Turkey) to go along with my Shiner Black. That really didn’t help that much. I’ve been suffering from some maladies I won’t name but pot would help a great deal. It’s a very nice analgesic and can alleviate some symptoms completely that most people or at least a great many must deal with daily. I sat and pouted the rest of the movie cause they kept getting high.
Now congress is going to pass a bill to give a bye to pharmaceutical companies who push narcotics while statistics are showing a huge drop in narcotics use in states where marijuana is legal. Now eric, don’t think about this too much tonight….and get some rest.
Don’t you love how the laws never apply to the people in charge?
Only us little people. WE are replaceable.
Ages ago, I recall a cartoon, a man asks the guru, “what is the ultimate recyclable resource?” The guru holds up a mirror, says, “You’re looking at it.”
We need to start recycling the “too important to obey the laws.” They broke the social contract. Take advantage of the myth of the Hydra: Cut off one head, two more grow back. But the heads aren’t unified – they’ll attack each other. So just keep cutting until the beast cannot control itself…
No shit jean. Take a cow to the vet that needs care right now and he’ll drop everything else since the cow is valuable. OTOH, you can sit in the ER waiting room and bleed to death since you have no value.
“Take a cow to the vet” – or, if serious enough, the vet will come to you. Like the ‘people doc’ used to.
I have a friend who differentiates between MDs and PhDs – he calls PhDs ‘real doctors.’ MDs are still ‘practicing.’ They haven’t got it right yet.
PtB, oh yes, the vet has come to me many times. it’s expensive but he will drop everything for it. Our vet has even come to the farm and vaccinated all our cats and dogs instead of bringing them in one at a time.
I had a big, crazy heifer gorge herself on fresh peas and didn’t have a trocha and cannula to relieve her and didn’t really want to try by myself since she was going crazy and had it in her mind to kill me if she could. Out in the pasture you need a couple people with ropes and I was only one person. I called the vet, he came out and as we tromp our way to her she really goes wild and finally gets on her crazy feet and cuts a huge fart and then starts away from us as fast as bloat would allow, farting and getting faster with every step. We watched her disappear, obviously curing herself as she ran. I told him he was a miracle worker and we both laughed. I wasn’t laughing when I got the bill but that’s the way love goes.
If that had been me, I would have died before the EMT’s even found the place, like my neighbor nearly did when he had a cow run over a steel gate and broke his legs. He lay there 45 minutes, only 7 miles away from the hospital while they drove around unable to take directions. He was asking for whiskey which he got long before they were there. He was always quite gimpy after that. Reckon a cop could have stopped that cow with his handgun before she got to the gate? Shoot a cow with a .40 while she’s charging you and all those bullets will do is cut a rut in the hide and fly off that thick skull. Now that cow would be charged with a hate crime.
I guess everybody’s aware of the Blue Lives Matter legislation before congress right now.
And enacted in some shithole state (Sorry, I think it was Texas…)
La…….a much worse shithole state.