Maybe spending stupid amounts of money on power cords isn't entirely harmless

[wgscott]

Jud

 

Agree. So many will believe the nonsense of the unproven.

 

One big problem regarding "legitimate" medicine is the pseudo-science that goes into so many studies. Some are outright fraudulent, some manipulate data, some draw a conclusion and use a study to justify their prefabricated conclusion and many are retrospective look backs with little validity to the results of good double blinded studies although I recognize the necessity of the latter as legitimate starting points.

 

I do endorse vigorous interval training exercise and have for over 40 years even before it was in vogue and I was called an idiot by many. Now I am just called an idiot

 

I'm puzzled why you think this is somehow not applicable to things like audio power cables. (I agree it isn't as important, but why are the standards of truth and objectivity any less meritorious or relevant?)

[wgscott]

My own experience is limited to a few years living in the UK, where I was on a fellowship at a Medical Research Council laboratory. (I went the science route, rather than the medical route, for the record). Fortunately, I did not have to put the healthcare system to the test while I was there, but it is worth noting that I immediately received an NHS insurance number, and qualified for care upon arrival, despite having no residency status and no taxable income (having a US fellowship -- I paid US income tax). Also, we were affiliated with the teaching hospital in Cambridge, so I am aware things might not have been representative for the whole of the UK. Briefly, the pre-natal care for my UK citizen wife was absolutely outstanding and first rate. Her father required heart surgery and had to wait a year. When I left and accepted my first faculty position in the US, shortly after arrival we discovered my wife's pregnancy wouldn't be covered by our medical insurance, because it was a prior existing condition. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to figure out which system my wife thinks is better. My conclusion from this is that the US system is better for end of life illnesses, provided you have good insurance coverage. The UK system is much better and more comprehensive for beginning of life medical support. From the point of view of having a healthy functioning society, one could argue that the UK puts its resources where they can do the best for the most people at the most important time of life. My understanding, which is not based upon any first-hand experience, is that most of Western Europe has a better medical system than the UK.

[wgscott]

Bluesman

 

As I told you there are some like the above that will just ignore the facts you state because they just want to be believe their Progressive dogma, even if it kills them.

 

It depends on the metric.

 

For example, according to this left-wing website, the US infant mortality ranking puts it in between Serbia and Croatia, and is worse than Cuba (as well as much of Europe).

 

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2091rank.html

[wgscott]

Medicine in the US is top notch for approved treatments. But that which is not approved by the FDA (and worse yet the insurance companies) for things like immunnotherapy is still a ways off. Those things will become more mainstream in the US in 5-10 years, but until then you may have to examine other options. If not, you be forced to accept the US standard course of treatment approach. For cancer, that is Radiation, Chemo, and surgery (AKA cut, burn, & poison) . Lots we still don't know about the body's own defense system. Doing the best to stay healthy before illness makes the most sense if you can .

 

Immunotherapy is a standard insurance-approved treatment in the US medical system for a number of things, including some forms of bladder cancer and melanoma, off the top of my head. Your argument needs updating.

[wgscott]

Several years back an MRI cost Au$500 in Australia at a private facility,with a small Medicare rebate claimable. Later it became available free via our universal Medicare.

A couple of years back , which some may remember, I had Spinal Surgery in a Private Hospital thanks to Private Health Insurance speeding up the waiting time. I was there just under 2 weeks, then spent 4 weeks in a Private Hospital in Rehab.

Due to existing Prostate problems, shortly after I needed to have Laser Prostate surgery so I wouldn't need to use a catheter indefinitely. My Medical Fund told me that they had paid out total benefits of close to Au.$200,000

 

I wonder how much all of this would have cost in the U.S.A. ?

 

Alex

 

My broken ankle surgery, which didn't require an overnight stay, showed up as a US$62K charge to my insurance company. These are fake numbers, but the actual cost was probably over $25K. I have little doubt that if I had not had adequate insurance, I would either have been prevented from having surgery (my doc said as much), or I would be out of pocket $62K.

[wgscott]

Jud

 

I will tell you we are in a medical revolution. When I stated before that physicians' days are numbered it was not just in the political sense but in many ways the direction healthcare is moving.

 

I would never recommend a young talented person to become a doctor. I would steer them (which I have) towards biotech including immunotherapy. This is the future and it is happening in front of our eyes.

 

It is exciting. I should have listened to my Chemistry professor long ago. I wasn't open enough to the idea despite my years in research.

 

I'm one of those people (I never completed the MD portion of the dual degree). Lately I have been having a lot of regrets and second thoughts about this. Human nature, I guess.

[wgscott]

Managed care is reality, and single payer systems are another form of managed care.

 

If that is true (and I have no reason to doubt you), wouldn't it be better to remove the profit motive from managed care, and have a set, pre-negotiated rate for your services that at least in part reflects the reality of the health care delivered?

 

I was stunned by how little my surgeon got for an emergency call-out and operation on a holiday (Jan 1st).

[wgscott]

I am enthralled with the stuff you guys are doing out there. I was involved with some companies out there as well as in Washington and there was so much "life" and forward thinking people that I NOW find lacking in healthcare. Today's healthcare is algorithms, ordering studies and follow the yellow brick road. My field is still dynamic and I enjoy it but.....

 

Why not take a couple years off and do a postdoc in a lab that interests you? The great thing about an MD is it lets you do stuff like that with impunity. You even get a higher pay grade than a PhD (although it would still look like poverty wages to a doc). Some of the best people in my field started as quacks. There are a lot of NIH fellowships available to facilitate this sort of thing.

[wgscott]

[wgscott]

I believe that "marriage" is between one man and one woman. It is the foundation of my faith. I also believe that if 2 homosexuals want to live together they should be afforded all the legal rights "married" couples have. I will say i have a real problem with homosexual men adapting a child (usually always a male) to raise. Ditto with the homosexual women.

 

So, in short, you are a Libertarian, apart from when your imaginary sky fairy doesn't approve of what other people do. Then they should not have equal rights, and you are free to foist your irrational belief system on everyone else, despite the original intent of the Founding Fathers (separation of State and religion).

 

Carry on with your ranting about 5¢ Burma Shave and hard-working heterosexual white people, and your thinly disguised threats to murder people who do not agree with you.

[wgscott]

I don't get you tolerant types who in reality are more intolerant than what you claim LCCO256 is. Not that I agree with everything the guy says, but where is he punishing anyone? He is expressing his beliefs

 

It's a little bit more than that:

 

I don't want that lifestyle forced upon me and as a side bar i will tell you this. If a man ever entered a restroom where my wife, sister or daughter were - he and i would have a serious confrontation. I would explain why i did not want him in there and how strongly i felt about it. I am sure he would feel just as strong about wanting to be there. One of us most likely would not have a good ending.

[wgscott]

This is such a gem, I'll just quote it in its hypocritical entirety.

Chris i ask that you shut this thread down NOW please sir before i have to respond specifically to this person who believes that "companies want to kill humans" ....Trust me sir when i say none of the lying delusional sanctimonious (i know what is best for you) leftist EVER want to deal with me (or "my kind")...Our views versus theirs are diametrically opposite and mutually exclusive. And Fk no we can't just "get along" or "coexist" (i cannot coexist with someone who wants to KILL me btw) The political paradigm has shifted so far to the left the past 50 years i no longer recognize the country i served. (As did 6 generations of my family) i have had enough of their lies their carefully edified distortions (championed by their talking head mouth pieces/actors/protagonists/writers in all of media), their wealth re-distribution, their theft of my freedoms granted to me by God and not their egomaniacal heroes in DC...(who they don't realize are playing them for the useful idiots they are) I come to this site for relaxation and hopefully to be educated by those even with whom i disagree - BUT ON BASIC POINT under the genre of "Computer Audiophile" and not side tracking into political discussions...I KNOW what i believe (politically and economically) and i KNOW WHY...NOTHING will ever change that. What i don't know is all i want to understand about this hobby. Add to that the interesting (IMO) side stories written by these brilliantly minded posters here..Some of the most intelligent and interesting people i have ever communicated with are on this very site. I am encouraged by the fact most of these CA members ARE SUCCESSFUL ENOUGH to afford a lifestyle that includes such "frivolity" as high end audio while also being well read and versed in so many other fields. I posted a politically oriented reply ONLY BECAUSE a line had been crossed that i simply could not let go unchallenged. I will gladly not inject political musings into any of my posts so lets keep the politics out of the discussion please. There are other venues for that. Here is a place for elevated levels of discussion and discourse regarding our hobby along with great humor and interesting tales - thus creating a wonderful respite for those whom the world is too much with us...

[wgscott]

Bill

 

We are not on a first-name basis.

[wgscott]

mansr,

 

Your post is really despicable. Pretty low even for a Progressive who I know have low standards.

 

(1) More than the one he is responding to?

 

(2) How would you know anything about his political views or whether he is a "progressive"? Stop pigeon-holing everyone, take of the blinders, and have the intelligent discussion you are fully capable of. If I filter all of the garbage and ad hominem attacks out of your posts, what remains is actually quite a bit stronger and more interesting.

[wgscott]

Please excuse the familiar reference. You are correct Mr. Scott.

 

Dr. Scott

 

But, seriously, why do you need to post anonymously if you really have the courage of your convictions? You seem to think knowing my name is ok. If you really believe in what you are posting, surely you can sign your thoughts with your own name.

[wgscott]

isn't it time for everybody on this thread to take a chill pill or spend a portion of their time on political forums instead of this one?

 

I agree. Let's let this one die and allow Chris enjoy his trip to Munich.

[wgscott]

Well, there is self-serving mythology, and then there are the inconvenient facts.

 

 

[wgscott]

This is just comedy gold. I got distracted and didn't even get a chance to make any commentary to go with the two posted charts. Didn't stop everyone from going apoplectic.

 

Says quite a bit, but I guess it shouldn't be much of a surprise, when the whole point of the grand thread hijack was apparently to distract from, and prevent any rational discussion of the possibility that the cable vendor was committing fraud and intimidating someone with the temerity to call their act into question.

 

Facts are propaganda, and propaganda is truth. Orwell would have been amused.

[wgscott]

I still think it possibly is a terrorist funding scheme. Using Nordic names and Nordost is simply to throw everyone off.

 

If they are Saudis, they get a free pass.

 

Saudi Arabia funding Hamas, A-OK.

 

Roger Waters behaving like an idiot: The worst threat since 1945.

[wgscott]

There is nothing even close to the New Testament pronouncement that Jews are guilty of deicide.

 

[wgscott]

Very smooth move on the site admin letting this political argument run totally out of hand to avoid what could be embarrassing discussions about a advertisers product.

 

"Maybe spending stupid amounts of money on power cords isn't entirely harmless"

Sure seems to scare the shit out of some when AQ and Nordost get caught doing their snake-oil falsified skits. Enormous amounts of money are getting spread around to every one in the high end audio business and can't allow that cash cow to be rocked.

 

+ 6.02 x 10²³

[wgscott]

Mine is an Earth First hippy video song, so it is ok to hate on it.

[wgscott]

This is the most extreme example of thread hijacking I have experienced.

 

It is interesting to reflect upon what unifying themes reside within. Chief among these is the apparently overwhelming need to stifle dissenting opinion. The thread starts by simply reporting how a critic of the magical properties of boutique power cables was silenced using legal intimidation. But that is never enough for the true believers. Even discussion of how the criticism was suppressed must itself be suppressed! What better way to do this than to hijack the thread. So off we go into pointless debates about the US medical system. Any criticism of the corporate-insurance-based system we now have, especially when it is suggested a single-payer system similar to what most European countries (and Israel) enjoy, must be shut down. What better way to do that then to suggest anyone advocating such an alternative must be a homeopathic supplement-popping whackjob, who is also a hard-line Stalinist communist. Then the suppression by distraction ranting and raving continues, because someone mentioned Israel. Anyone who says anything even mildly critical of even the most extreme policies is instantaneously labelled a goose-stepping nazi. But let's also not forget we have to have a good measure of racism and homophobia and toilet politics thrown in for good measure. Mission accomplished.

[wgscott]

And thanks for being one of the most outspoken on all the topics you reference. Funny, I don't see anyone asking anyone to suppress anything, except one person who said we shouldn't makes posts regarding Muslims.

 

Another topic we will have to agree to disagree on.

 

Maybe your ideological blinders are on so tight it is restricting blood-flow to your brain:

 

Chris i ask that you shut this thread down NOW please sir before i have to respond specifically to this person who believes that "companies want to kill humans" ....Trust me sir when i say none of the lying delusional sanctimonious (i know what is best for you) leftist EVER want to deal with me

[wgscott]

wg,

 

You and others of the left (obviously in the majority in this club of yours) see my conservative views and criticisms of your views and or inferences as having no place in any dialogue because you and the left are intolerant.

 

First fail. I'm not "of the left." In fact, I can trace my Republican geneology back probably farther than you can, and probably would make you look like a New Dealer by any honest comparison. You are incapable of seeing beyond your pre-conceptions, so this is simply unthinkable within the confines of your idiot-logic political analyses.