that’s called bird flu. Just a few mutations away.
> On Jul 11, 2025, at 5:31, Prof David West <profw...@fastmail.fm> wrote: > > As a morbid, cynical, and (at least semi) psychopathic, old guy: where is > Covid when we need it? > > davew > > > On Thu, Jul 10, 2025, at 3:14 PM, Marcus Daniels wrote: >> It gets worse for Gen X: >> <image001.png> >> >> From: Friam <friam-boun...@redfish.com> On Behalf Of steve smith >> Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2025 12:45 PM >> To: friam@redfish.com >> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Musk’s America Party – Some Thoughts from Afar >> >> >> Marcuswrote: >> The spending mostly comes from the elderly. >> With a guaranteed minimum income, AI displacement, and the universal >> agreement that "one should not spend more than they make", I think this >> graph suggests we revisit the world of Logan's Run forthwith: >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RNDovT38J0 >> >> >> >> >> and if you need to get THAT dystopian image out of your mouth, >> I recommend Sean Connery's role as Zardoz, though not so keen on his >> costumery ! >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzsw07QFe4s >> >> >> >> What is that blip-step in the chart at age 85? A data anomaly? A signature >> of something in the Medicare code that allows/requires folks 85 and over a >> little extra payola? Or something that happened in 1940, effecting the >> health of all adults born before that year? >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> <image002.png> >> >> I can't believe I"m on the (far) left side of that curve. That sure looks >> like a sysiphean hill to slog up? Until last year I had never spent more on >> "health care" for myself than a bottle of Ibuprofen or pack of bandaids. >> Wait, I did spend $900+ a year in penalties for not spending 2-4 times that >> on insurance I was choosing not to use... does that count. (I don't blame >> Obama, but the "mandate" wasn't one of my favorite of his actions)... >> >> I finally let Social Security start paying me my "pension" and they >> pressured me into letting them send a chunk of that to Medicare, so I let >> them do so and now I need all kinds of medical care I didn't need before. >> After all I need to get "my money's worth"? >> >> Actually at the same time (to spite my face/wallet?) I hired a doc who has >> an office next to the old Pojoaque PO and Carwash (for the locals) for >> $90ish/month to "keep me healthy".. she doesn't take Medicare (or any form >> of insurance) and makes housecalls (if it is important and appropriate).... >> she talked me into all kinds of lab tests and then medications to balance >> my various numbers (which is working, though I can't see a change in my >> umwelt over it)... She also convinced me that the debilitating pain in my >> hips was never going to get better on it's own and that while *I* might >> enjoy hobbling around, it was damned hard for everyone else to watch (kindof >> like the argument for mandating seatbelts and motorcycle helmets) so I let >> her send me to the radiologist who confirmed "yep, those hips are toast!" >> and showed me how the round balls in the round sockets were square-stubs in >> roundish sockets... >> >> So Uncle Sam (or Donald or Biden or Kamala) has been paying the test labs >> and the radiologist a pretty reasonably small fraction of what they bill for >> those services and I get dinged for various bits of it (deductibles and >> copays) which is annoying but given the fancy buildings and machines they >> are maintaining, "only reasonable"? So to keep her from pressuring me for >> colonoscopies and full-body calcification scans I agreed to see an >> orthopedic surgeon who looked at my Xrays and agreed with the Radiologist >> "Yep, those hips are toast!" and then proceeded to talk me into letting him >> cut each leg off, remove the hinge, and put it back on with tungsten-ceramic >> hinges guaranteed to last a lifetime (if I don't have the bad form of living >> too long as Marcus chart suggests I *might*). So as you all know if you >> read past the subject lines of my massive missives, last year about this >> time they put me under, cut the first leg off (left a few shreds attached >> for blood/nerve/lymph) and stuck in the hardware, revived me, insulted me >> with an overnight stay in the hospital I didn't want, etc... then sent me to >> someone (physical terrorist) who was supposed to teach me how to "walk >> right" again. After that all got better, we did it again. >> >> Meanwhile if I believed the billing departments a the doc, the hospital, the >> radiologist, the anesthetists, the physical terrorists, the hinge-makers, >> the silver-bandage suppliers, the blood thinner folks, the blood thickener >> folks, etc. it was going to cost Aunt Kamala upwards of $70K for me to have >> fresh hinges (and hopefully a lot less misery). But nope! not only did >> Aunt Kamala get sent packing (thank you Elno and Bozo and the Zuckster and >> Rogan and Lex and ??) but it seems those numbers are all for show. I'm >> pretty sure (if I sorted the numbers out), the total payments from Uncle >> Donald for both hinge replacements was order $18k with me forking over, >> myself the price of a cheap used car ($6k) for all that abuse and residual >> damage. Who pays full price? >> >> So I guess I owe the rest of the country a few years of my allotted >> ~$6k/year. I pay cash for meds I want to (believe I do not) not need, and >> I pay my Doc by auto-transfer monthly, and if I do go for the colonoscopy, >> I might instead buy the Dominatrix-of-choice DaveW recommends, a decent >> endoscope and tip her extra to "take pictures" while she's working out her >> own daddy issues on me. I think GPT or Claude or Gemini would be eager to >> look those pictures over and tell me if it is time to go back under >> anasthaesia and "the knife" or continue on in blissful less-ignorance >> (willful for sure). I don't know if Doc Stephanie will want to consult, but >> if George and Dan say "those are benign polyps", that's good enough for me?! >> >> I'm not sure what poverty level is these days but minimum wage suggests that >> the average poverty-earner doesn't make a lot more than the rest of you are >> expected to pay for me or access to the big fancy buildings with expensive >> automobiles parked in the Staff Lot to entertain my multiple hypochondrias? >> I already pay about $2500/year to uncle Donald (from what he grudgingly pays >> ME out of my lifetime savings account called Social Security) and about half >> more that to Doc Stephanie and the Pharmacy... it is all so very >> complicated? >> >> And what does all this mean to folks in the Donbas, or Raffah or the south >> side of LA or an immigrant work camp in Iowa that is about to be raided? >> It means I'm a spoiled, old white guy with nothing better to do than rant to >> others not that unlike me (except for all the details)... >> >> .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / >> ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. >> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >> Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom >> https://bit.ly/virtualfriam >> <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fbit.ly%2fvirtualfriam&c=E,1,X2HZNki0uXUDGmwkdzZObIjrBXJZEKFua0hWQ74a7RFK9yu0sOlWBraCAQDo3YT93oGwcSI7lk5jsCZc87LbUDDKq-quxcnSZB4eIIepu2wcuH0W3AUCYdw1ocyX&typo=1> >> to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com >> <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http%3a%2f%2fredfish.com%2fmailman%2flistinfo%2ffriam_redfish.com&c=E,1,5OWWzBdAac1VqFdwYCunU9TU09_02BoUK5O-OjO3cTBWOAZXHo6zXdI7dVicTmQNZ3LPOQ2JmZviQd_GXoQRKPmCD5J__QAIbV35SZ8v&typo=1> >> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ >> <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http%3a%2f%2ffriam-comic.blogspot.com%2f&c=E,1,BFLHedTs-K1_c3-BmP7lTG4uN90tM3php2tULAjuKvCzwWy7UgNAcFib8GMO_ejGRLtB5ddTVK47LSiS15jE29bnAT79q5OSEy0Fa3x02RCAh-Rm-0QcctM,&typo=1> >> archives: 5/2017 thru present >> https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ >> <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fredfish.com%2fpipermail%2ffriam_redfish.com%2f&c=E,1,Zd_vFDklbn8Nqn0zn9J1KJ9OVamSGQ7nky2ePOiIIgohBUx7Xpey6tXXj-ecjT9hRdEpgbDXjydBiGzVj7WCJtibB5VEgGe-eIoWwPp3MNXfWwuP-dk,&typo=1> >> 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ >> >> >> Attachments: >> smime.p7s > > .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / ... > --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fbit.ly%2fvirtualfriam&c=E,1,vxBs7k4Gv1oCTU0GJ8n46XEF05veSJgSZgsvy6hoGHIYdFH1hnMbih6Ot-z7zjM_LpDmOl-St09xrf2u31Ya6dGX06NOdW0pmetr7TNfKNoplS3HjesMVlc28WTr&typo=1 > to (un)subscribe > https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http%3a%2f%2fredfish.com%2fmailman%2flistinfo%2ffriam_redfish.com&c=E,1,vE4r_nj6xvpFg4T9wA5ESU60pEyhAQppeFXMqRsMGFE1EFcZsqk9iOYrsCBAaP_aU4a9seTDAFiEgJbORHgAuPy1YZ5R8rvHtGfayRtIqNUIObeCP7ew16Bi&typo=1 > FRIAM-COMIC > https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http%3a%2f%2ffriam-comic.blogspot.com%2f&c=E,1,Rb9MRoJmTc4e0zrW5agPgpeTZiN2QGna-ELEHK40DecXgHUCR-3ulqIG6X-fe4c8a7xKc7CSl9KbBe5c7btvyVyVglGV_QEwijR28SNVEnz3g05LdFnZG_aCcpM,&typo=1 > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fredfish.com%2fpipermail%2ffriam_redfish.com%2f&c=E,1,JJoYeOVof-vSr0U_ItxipPjZgf0akhn197fjQfZlRupQ1WZsdn3fdA0F1PyYqRo49h3UGaXF7VfKvnnzSgpcFLGcQVuGAkMXEhl6pLbj&typo=1 > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/
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