onoway

in the wrong place, so moved it to correct thread sorry

[, Polio shots were a miracle for my generation, they did not result in lower lifetime medical costs. Stopping people from smoking 3 packs a day is good preventive medicine, it does not result in lower lifetime medical costs.] Well, if you consider that those who died from polio had rather limited lifetimes, then I suppose not. I think , though, that you can't really use that as a basis, or there is nothing to be said for any sort of treatment, as obviously it is more cost effective to let people die than to do anything. We can go back to the evolution argument..:) You need to consider the lifetime cost of those who survived with polio vs those who never got it in the first place because of vaccination. Has anyone investigated that? Can you cite the study? I would like to see something more than just a statement about the cigarette thing ...you are claiming that it costs more to run ads/educate people than to treat them for lung cancer and heart disease, for example? The problem with putting a value of preventative medicine is twofold; first, that to my knowlege it hasn't actually been embraced as a real commitment anywhere, and second, it takes a long time to see the results. How long to see if fewer people get lung cancer once cigarette smoking is not so prevelant in the general population? What you are trying to see is the absence of illness, and the absence of something tends to be more difficult to evaluate than the presence of something else. This is particularly true when what you are trying to evaluate is not the only factor...lung cancer can have other beginnings other than smoking, and we all deal with various pollutants in the air we breathe, smokers or not. One thing about health care costs though, it might well be worth setting up tiers of health care in that a lot of the time, a doctor is not really necessary to deal with many of the reasons people wander into clinics and hospitals. However, doctors tend to be so jealous of their territory that they are totally unwillinging to allow anyone to put a toenail into what they consider their exclusive area. It's possible to train people to do the first line of health care, and then refer people up to doctors as they needed a doctor's care, but this isn't possible while doctors insist that only they can deal with anything health related. It's like insisting you have to have a chef to make a grilled cheese sandwich. That would likely take care of about 50% of the increased use of comprehensive health care, maybe more as it would also cut back on some of the use of doctors' time now. To do anything significant about health care costs you are somehow going to have to get the doctors to ease up on their territoriality. Good luck with that.

She said she wasn't seeking reelection as governor but she certainly didnt discount having her eye on higher things...and who knew so many people would line up behind her in the first place? She's just so darn PERKY... News story says she has started a Sarah Political Action Force organisation so it seems unlikely she is intending to fade into the sunset anytime soon. So everyone can look forward to another visit to the zoo in 3 or so years perhaps....

The waiting in Canada to see specialists and get dates for surgery is often far too long, very true. However, the wait is much longer for people living in countries without health coverage if they cannot afford to pay for treatment.

[ bottom line preventive care increases health care costs. ] I would like to see some background for such a statement. I wasn't aware of anywhere that the emphasis was on preventative health care rather than trying to 'fix' things once they went wrong, so am most interested to know the basis. Is there really somewhere that there is a proactive approach to preventative medicine (beyond such things as prenatal classes, vaccinations, anti smoking ads and so forth?)And why bother doing even those things if they are not cost effective? Job creation? It's interesting to consider that this would be the one area where prevention is more expensive than cure. It is difficult to believe that it is cheaper to do heart surgery for clogged arteries than to have people taught diet and perhaps the use of a few simple herbals so that the surgery is not required in the first place. In fact, some numbers I have seen suggest that the huge increase in the number of major surgeries is largely responsible for the massive increase in health care costs. So, where is it that proactive preventative medicine is being practiced and exactly what are they doing?

the beginning of this video is VERY quiet so it's easy to miss unless you have the volume turned up..but it grows into perhaps the most original intro to a song I have seen, thought it worth sharing, as the cover is worth listening to too, if you like that sort of music http://videos.komando.com/2009/06/18/african-thunderstorm/

Buy a girl you are interested in a relationship with, a bottle of clairol? Certainly the most unique advice I have seen in a while, maybe ever. Maybe if you get past that, an appointment for her with a good plastic surgeon could be the next step.. B)

No doubt the top players don't, when they are playing serious bridge. However, that strikes me as being in the same league as asking if the top jockeys at Churchill Downs and Belmont saddle their own horses when getting ready to ride a big race; the answer has little to do with the vast majority of people who ride. However, thanks to the miracle of BBO I have on one or two occassions seen top players who were playing with lesser mortals offer a comment when it was a result clearly requiring the player to play at the very top of his/her ability. It seemed to me to be a gracious acknowlegement of an excellent effort rather than an attempt to "twist the knife". In fact, I don't recall ever seeing an incident where a wdp or wdo was said intending to be sarcastic or hurtful to anyone.

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_dis...9900a30200f6586 controversy beyond the grave, yet

In BIL people are encouraged to be supportive of the play with such comments as wdp or wdo. In other threads, it seems that some people find this objectionable. It gets to be meaningless after a while, though. Sometimes it's difficult to know what to say if p says gtp when I know exactly what dumb mistake I made that lost the contract or wdp when it was only the opp's mistake that allowed it to make. OTOH, it feels sort of grim to sit there in silence hand after hand. it's sorta like saying hi how are you when you don't really mean to ask, it's just a formula to demonstrate friendliness and general good will, it seems. Aside from a stolid silence are there other options?

People who are determined to be rude are like people who are determined to cheat; equally self involved and sure the universe OUGHT to revolve around their interests, and therefore equally impossible to stop, as they see no reason why they should. Most people on BBO imo aren't like that, most I think are likely rude by accident; a misunderstanding of some sort, perhaps a comment missent, perhaps sometimes a comment made in the heat of the moment after a series of stressful hands, who knows? However, The TD's have a responsibility to deal with rudeness in tourneys, whatever the reason for it happening. Being a TD involves more than finding subs and announcing winners, and sometimes it can be uncomfortable but that's no excuse for allowing any players to be sworn at, for example. I played in one tourney where someone was summarilly evicted from the tourney for a highly inappropriate remark made in tourney chat, almost as soon as it came up in chat. No fuss, no muss, no waste of time. It seemed a fine resolution, and hopefully will lead to some understanding on the part of the offender that such behaviour carries a cost. If someone is consistently rude I suppose they will eventually find themselves banned from most if not all tourneys. It's also possible to report them to BBO Abuse but it's likely just as effective to mark them enemy/waste of time and go about your business. It's not worth the miniscule amount of energy it takes to do anything else, beyond perhaps feel a small degree of pity for how unhappy their lives must be, that they feel it necessary to try to make other people unhappy as well.

So anyone wanting to have a war better get on with it before 2012? It would be a bitch if missiles started doing loopdeloops and heading back to where they came from, for example, or simply firing without anyone asking them to, because a CME affected some crucial control. We could have our very own sunspot on earth! (well, maybe not, I obviously dont know anything about this stuff..could we?)

The vugraph crews do an amazing job. It can't be easy, and I for one too often forget to say thank you . Easiest thing in the world to point fingers and find fault, takes no talent and very little time, just a sour outlook. To get in there down and dirty and make things even better takes a bit more effort. If someone makes a mistake, so what? I'm sure it isn't intentional any more than the errors which the players make..and some of the players must make an error or two at some point or they'd all be tied for first. I am most grateful to the vugraph volunteers and often choose to kib a room depending on who the commentators are. Sometimes the conversational asides are a great way to perk up a somewhat listless or slow batch of hands. The vugraph operators and commentators deserve appreciation and applause. THANK YOU!! Also thank you to Roland for organising it...that has to be a nightmare at times. Well done, all of you.

wow that was the best you could come up with after thinking for nearly two days?LOL

One of the main reasons I watch vugraph is the commentary. If that was lost I likely wouldn't watch it, as the bidding is sometimes bewildering and the reasons behind it incomprehensible until clarified. Also, the entertainment value of some of the commentary is wonderful in and of itself. It's difficult to imagine that if the commentators were to do it after the event, they would have the same interest and involvement when the thing had already been decided and they knew the outcome. Even if they didn't know results, I think it would inhibit the commentary. As far as the idea that eventually everything will be computerized anyway so we may as well get on with it...we are all gonna die someday too, but that's not a reason to hurry to get on with it :) The human touch is what makes it worthwhile imo.

We are trying to establish a regular group to practice and sort things out. We would like someone who considers themselves upper intermediate - better would be fantastic if you don't mind our glitches!!- to join us. We play 2/1, meet in the IAC club and are trying to set up several sessions a week. We need someone who is serious but not rabidly so. If anyone is interested please leave BBO message for onoway.

well I have watched the video a couple of times and it would take some very fancy talking to convince me that the five shots were anything but deliberate and intended to kill. How long ahead of time does premeditation need to occur? He goes past the downed guy twice with only a glance. Clearly he didn't have any worries about being shot in the back while he walks maybe 20 feet and gets a fresh weapon, comes back and shoots the guy in the belly (not the fastest way to kill someone either), then goes puts the gun away and then picks up the phone. Looks very much to me like "taking care of business": and that he maybe forgot about the security camera. No problem with charging the guy who started it all waving a gun around in a robbery attempt; but in THIS case the pharmacist needs to get at least as harsh a sentence. Anything less would be a travesty.

sooo Some guys try to rob a store, but run away without hurting anyone. They could be convicted of murder. Someone else shot a wouldbe robber, left the scene, then returned and searched out a new weapon so he could shoot the unconscious injured man five times in the belly, and he may well walk off scott free. Bizarre

First, query, I am not your "dear", and trying to patronize me is slightly..VERY slightly..amusing. Do you understand the concepts of the words "could " and "might"? There are several dictionary sites on the web which can help in this regard, since you seem to have some sort of misconceptions regarding their meaning.

Dunno if it will help but read a book called Potatoes, not Prozac. Although it's mostly advertised as a book for other difficulties, the author supposedly has had an unusual level of success helping people who have a problem with alcohol.

He's a pharmacist, was thinking about the health care costs to fix the guy . B) This story would not surprise me if it had come out of Texas. It's really quite sad how so many people justify/indulge in acting out of their own angst when they find a convenient scapegoat (if that is what it is).

agree with everyone, this is murder....particularly since the additional shots were in the belly of an unconscious man. He could've finished the job with one shot to somewhere less vague and claimed he was afraid the guy was going to wake up. Seems more like a "I'm mad and I'm not gonna take it anymore" scenario and people who feel victimized by whatever may be likely to respond to that, rather than the somewhat messy details? A side note; it would be interesting to know the ethnicity of all the people involved. That also might have a bearing on how the jury reacts. even if it isn't supposed to.

The news that greets you when you come into BBO isn't good enough for you? Or you think that the BBO staff don't have enough to do so you are trying to be helpful?

[One idea is to have an option to disable chat in some tournaments] I rarely go in the regular ACBL tourneys because it means sitting staring at the table for ages between each hand, with nobody saying anything. It's like being in an elevator with a bunch of people and everyone is trying to pretend they are alone. Competition is fun but bridge is, when all is said and done, supposed to be a social activity. That's why there are 4 people at the table. Antisocial people could take up chess or solitaire or carving duck decoys or something. Offhand I can't think of any other team activity where everyone is expected to be mute. I don't understand the concept of everyone being constrained because someone somewhere might sometime behave like a maggot.