Where is the righteous indignation?

[scoutingagain]

BP, I didn't say the government didn't have more information. They clearly do. I just don't accept the fact that I don't have right to criticize the government or judge their performance based on the information available to me as a private citizen. As a citizen in a free democratic society, I not only have right but a responsibility to do so. With a free press, hopefully somewhere out there with all the information available we can collect enough data to make an informed assessment. At times we collectively may make mistakes based on that information, but it's all we have to go on.

 

The alternative is to blindly follow the government, which is something I don't accept. Democratic or Republican.

 

SA

 

 

 

[Merlyn_LeRoy]

OK, McFly, I guess I will have to use kindergarten words, so you can understand.

 

Well, it doesn't look like you can understand, even after repeated attempts to teach you.

 

I answered - nope. That also means "no." No. Nein. Nada. NO. Comprende?

 

Which I took as part of your denial of your having said that.

 

You didn't answer "nope." You answered "Nope, don't put words in my mouth, never said that."

 

In that context, for people who can read normal English, the "Nope," with the comma is part of your denial that you said that.

 

However, you've finally managed to answer the question.

 

I asked you a question - "I'd be interested to hear what you think about the New York Times and CBS, after all the fiction they REPORTED as news." You even acknowledged this was a question, when you said "Well, since you won't bother to answer my questions, why should I bother answering yours?"

 

You hadn't actually asked me any questions at that point. "I'd be interested to hear what you think about the New York Times and CBS, after all the fiction they REPORTED as news." is a statement, not a question.

 

Instead of answering my question, you asked yours - "So you're saying it's OK for IBD to print crap if other people do it too?"

Hence, you answered my question with a question.

 

You still don't seem to know what an actual question looks like.

 

I think I hear your mom calling you. Time to go home and take your bath.

 

My mother's been dead for a few years.

[vol_scouter]

On the health care debate, or more correctly as pointed out so well by Thomas Sowell - the medical care debate, there are plenty of misleading if not absolutely false things being said by all sides. There is an article in a recent New England Journal of Medicine about physicians being in favor of Obamacare. The story was immediately picked up by NPR. The study concluded that a majority of US physicians favor a single payor system. The authors discuss the limitations of the study - it was done in the summer so physicians could have changed their mind and there were only 43% respondents to the mail-in study. What the authors, the NEJM, NPR, and everyone else quoting the article fail to point out is that the survey was only of a subset of AMA members. The AMA represents only~18% of US physicians and has been losing membership mainly because of stances such as supporting socialized medicine. So the pool was very biased in favor of the plan. It cannot be used to infer the views of most US physicians. Certainly among the hundreds of physicians that I know, the IBD is closer to being accurate than the NEJM article. It is important to note that the IBD says that ~50 of physicians would consider (not would) leaving medicine. I suspect that the percentage is less than 50% but will still be significant. Faced with severe physician shortages, driving these practioners out of medicine seems dumb to me unless the plan is to replace MDs with NPs and/or foreign medical graduates. If that is what the left is driving for, then I can only say that you get waht you deserve though unfortunately you will subject everyone else to a lesser standard of care.

[packsaddle]

Slightly off-topic but Vol, you reminded me about a question that has been in my mind. What do you think about the medical schools based on the Caribbean islands? I have no idea what their quality is like but I do remember that American students on Grenada were of concern during the invasion. And I know also of Ross University. Just curious.

[vol_scouter]

Packsaddle,

 

You ask a good question. As one might imagine, the majority if not all students going to Carribean medical schools were not able to get into a US school. The first 2 years are in the Carribean and the 3rd & 4th years are done in the US at established programs. My opinion based only upon my personal encounters (I am unaware of any studies)is that most of the individuals are highly motivated to be a physician and work very hard. I believe that the education is probably not quite as good as US schools but the desire of the students makes up for the difference. I have practiced with several physicians who graduated from Carribean schools who are very good physicians ( and a few from very good schools how are not so good). My opinion is that if the individual is primarilyt motivated to care for patients then they are good physicians. Those that have other motivations may or may not be good physicians.

 

Currently, those from foreign medical schools have to repeat their residency training here in order to assure quality of care. If the shortage becomes too acute, that restriction will likely be dropped (partly due to the time required to get the physcian trained and the other portion is the cost).

[packsaddle]

Thanks, that answered both parts of my question, including whether you considered those students to be doctors from another country. I've noticed the same thing in my field...the highly motivated 'maverick' student is likely to do as well or better than the average 'thoroughbred'. I have a special fondness for the mavericks because they seem to be freer of thought as well as freer from convention.

When my wife and I were in graduate school (and she was pregnant with our first child) we shared an office with a Chinese student who, in China, had been an OB-GYN doctor. We used to joke that I could still give my wife a good scare and probably get away with it as long as He Ping was around. I didn't try it though...wouldn't have been a very good idea...probably would not have been around for #2.