I am very skeptical of polls–and in particular those involving Trump. His hardcore supporters remain firm. And that’s enough to win elections. As someone said on CNN the other day, these polls don’t really measure enthusiasm Clinton had no enthusiasm. She had some hardcore support and people who held their nose and voted for her. Trumps supporters love him. And in an electoral college system that’s huge. Plus the rightwing media is still on his side and the Republicans are a little scared of his base. Even if they hate him.

And how much would someone lie in these polls?

I think it’s entirely possible he would win the election today.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 5 months ago by PA Ram.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 5 months ago by PA Ram.

Since you’ve already lived in Pennsylvania–there isn’t much I can tell you. The roads suck. There is always roadwork being done. I’m just not sure what they’re actually doing because it isn’t fixing roads. We have a pretty big budget deficit right now so financially it’s not in great shape. The winters here in southeast PA are a little weird. I believe we had some 60 degree days this past year and then frigid temps. The last few years it feels like we get one or two giant snowstorms and that’s pretty much it. People complain very loudly about our property taxes and that seems to be something someone is always promising to fix. I live in the city and they aren’t really bad–but I know some suburban people with some high taxes. One guy pays almost 7,000 a year. Mine don’t come close to that. But the cities have their own problems.

I know next to nothing about western Pa.

As for the VA—the closest one to Berks County is in Lebanon which is about 35 miles or so away. There is a local clinic but if you needed surgery or tests you’d have to travel. Unless you moved to Lebanon of course. Then you’d be right there.

This area is close to NYC, the beaches at New Jersey and not far from the Delaware and Maryland beaches. It’s near Washington, DC, the Baltimore harbor—and of course Philly has lots of stuff.

As for me–my kids are here in the area so I’m not going anywhere soon. If I did move in the future–I’d probably go no further than Delaware(no sales taxes there by the way) because I love the beaches and it’s still fairly close to my kids.

I’m an east coast kinda guy.

Our summers can be very humid.

If you have any other questions I’ll try to answer them.

Good luck with whatever you decide and wherever you go.

Reminds me of Dr. Phibes:

He’s out for the year–torn ACL–per Rappaport

There is a lot that needs reforming about the health care system. Single payer would be a great first step. For one thing–Medicare is more than just insurance. It does the job of controlling some of the costs with health care. It is Medicare fighting some of the ridiculous fees hospitals charge. They do studies or compare prices and look to adjust payments accordingly. Private insurance just doesn’t do that the same way. While they negotiate fees–they are also more ready to pay outrageous ones knowing that they can always pass on the costs to patients.

The ACA made sure that 80 percent of for-profit insurance must go to patient care while the other 20 percent can go for so-called “administration” fees(read high CEO pay and such.} Not for profit Medicare applies about 98 percent to patient care and 2 percent to administration fees. It’s a better deal all the way around.

Hospitals–and yes even the “not-for-profit” ones–not really “not-for-profit” at all have changed over the years. They are just giant corporations now that buy up doctors, other hospitals other providers and become these “health systems”. They use tricks like building zen gardens to justify outrageous “facility fees” and the industry as a whole has become very fat by gaming the system. There are college degrees for medical coding alone. These experts know how to “upcode” a procedure to get more money than a procedure should cost. A doctor may stop in the ER–say not much more than “Hi” and it counts as a consultation.

There are many problems but a single payer system is something way over due. Just letting Medicare negotiate drug prices would be a huge deal. And having healthier younger people in such a system would only strengthen the system.

I am for single payer all the way. This is the answer we will always come back to until one day we do it.

I think I posted this before but I want to toss it out again. This is the best thing I’ve ever read about health care in this country. I’ve learned so much I had no clue about. It has only sold me more on things like single payer. It will require other reform like any big industry but single payer is a huge piece of the puzzle.

https://www.amazon.com/American-Sickness-Healthcare-Became-Business/dp/1594206759

They need to be good. That’s the key to this defense. If you have a crappy secondary it won’t work.

nittany ram wrote:

Well, yeah. There’s only 10 episodes left in the series. 4 remaining this season and 6 next season. That’s it.

I know that. But the show’s creators wanted that–not HBO. So my sense is they kind of want to be done with it. I just think it could have been done a little less rushed toward the finish line. It could have been done that way. The show never felt like it was in a hurry until now.

Absolutely LOVED “The Wire”. But I loved “The Shield” even more. Except the miserable way it ended.

I’m confused on this one. People are arguing about this. Some argue that it’s dead because of the word “consider”. Others say they can only “pass” one of these bills a year and since it did not pass it now needs the 60 votes. With this Congress, who knows? They may have other tricks.

In any case, Trump will do everything he can to kill ACA. That’s not good.

I’ll vote for him again.

Yeah–that rating means nothing to me.

Mannion has not had a real chance–plain and simple. I don’t think we can know anything until we see that happen. And it may never happen because of the circumstances. But to say he’s the 31st back-up? I won’t bet the bank on that just yet.

In any case this team is stuck with Goff right now and this season is certainly about trying to get him going. If it’s about anything it’s about that. If that doesn’t work then next year could be very interesting. Do they go after a Cousins? Do they just keep on the Goff train? This is a big year for the team and Goff. He doesn’t have to take them to the playoffs. He just has to look like a quality NFL quarterback. That’s his bar.

Not directly related to the topic but anyone interested in checking drug prices in their local area to compare may want to try this website(also comes in an app):

https://www.goodrx.com/

They show discounts, offer some coupons and cash price. There are instances when a cash price may be lower than an insurance price(depending on the insurance negotiated price or formulary}so it’s worth checking. They may try to insist you use your insurance but that’s not the law. Not saying it will always work out that way(insurance SHOULD be cheaper)but it can happen.

I do agree that they should have given Mannion a chance. In fact–I would have kept Keenan and Mannion and NOT drafted Goff at all. And if Mannion was a bust I would have gotten the QB at that point. I just don’t think he has ever really gotten the chance. I wonder if Goff struggles–how quick Mcvey will be to throw in Mannion. That will be an interesting question this year. Goff isn’t his guy particularly. But he is more or less stuck with the investment the team made in him. And in fact–part of his hire was to make sure Goff does work out. So he may be in a difficult situation IF Goff fails.

I hope Goff is lights out, obviously.

But I still wish they hadn’t given up the picks they did BEFORE giving Mannion that chance.