Posts by Bart Janssen
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The quote that struck me was this
Twitter cannot don a policeman’s helmet.
I understand the logic behind this, not many would like to see what is a business, taking on a role as judge, jury and executioner. But equally Twitter operates a service, if, as in this case, it becomes clear that this service is being used to harm then they have some respnsibilty. It does seem as though they are aware of that and are trying to do something. But it's worth noting that twitter doesn't make a profit, employing a bunch of people to clean up the service they provide from the worst is yet another cost on a business that doesn't turn a profit.
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Hard News: It's worse than you think, in reply to merlyngriffith,
There are individual journalists who would deliver stories to us that their editors and producers are not permitted to fund.
Fair point.
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Hard News: It's worse than you think, in reply to Myles Thomas,
journalists ... turning on the govt
I have to disagree. The TV political teams seem to spend an inordinate amount of time finding something embarrasing to say about the opposition(s). At the same time as the government is making genuinely bad law the stories we hear on the news are all about how stupid this or that was from opposition politician x or y.
I get that actually explaining why legislation is bad is boring and well, hard work, but I'm pretty sure some of those journalists are paid a lot more than I am and hard work isn't too much to ask from those who are meant to watch over government.
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Hard News: It's worse than you think, in reply to izogi,
To vote against his ability to set the rules is like denying yourself the opportunity to do whatever he did and get $50 million like he did.
That does seem to be the case.
Although it doesn't take much reading to discover that he made his money by being the man with the least conscience on the trading floor. Pretty much the definition of the psychopath executive. Fortunately there are very few people willing to give up that much humanity to simply gain power, unfortunately, he has gained power.
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Hard News: It's worse than you think, in reply to Lyndon Hood,
fishing expeditions
That's what puzzles me about this. Surely a judge had to issue that warrant, what judge in his right mind would issue a warrant for a fishing expidition into what was clearly a trivial case at best?
Bad enough that the police asked but isn't the point of having the judicial system issue warrants to maintain some oversight over what is essentiallly the police invading privacy?
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Hard News: Food Show 2013: There is a…, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
but then I found out the parent company LHF is, like Sanitarium, part of the Seventh Day Adventist tax avoidance empire…
nooooooo, damn damn damn.
Although Lisa's hummus was on our "do not buy" list for other reasons anyway.
I think my second favourite bargain was the goodie bag from Tio Pablo they had great prices and were only too happy to swap things in and out of the goodie bag. They might be less keen when the crowd is deeper in the weekend :).
Worth noting the rise of companies selling meat from cattle bred specifically for meat quality rather than dairy.
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a really nice reusable cloth bag
Which can hold 20 kg of purchases with ease!
I thought the 3 soups for $10 from naked locals was a great deal especially with bread from Kapati Artisan Bakehouse.
We also loved the Jerk paste and sauces from the Jamaican folks were great and we remembered to get them :).
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Up Front: Professional Counsel, in reply to Jackie Clark,
less of a stigma about talky therapy
and more respect for those who are good at it
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money
It's worse than just penny pinching. It's stupid penny pinching. SSRIs are cheap, but the cost of treating side effects can be cripplingly expensive. However, the department managing the budget for the SSRIs is probably different from the department handling the costs of side effects. The "not my budget" syndrome is one problem here. But worse there is every chance that the costs of side effects won't be borne by the insurer since they may well be acute costs and borne instead by the taxpayer, a win for the insurer. That the patient may suffer appears to be irrelevent to the insurer. I suspect that was not the intent when medical insurance groups were initially established.
If that wasn't enough it isn't even good math. A person on SSRIs a good chance to be on them for life since the weaning off period is long and hard. Talking therapy may not be quick (years is usual) but the aim is to give the patient the skills and ability to no longer need therapy. It can actually cure, rather than merely treat the symptoms. It is not clear that under those conditions that the choice to favour drugs is correct even under the simplest calculation of cost.
But the killer is this - it's meant to be about the patient - what is best for the patient should be what is prescribed - not what is best for the accountant. The aim is to allow the patient to live as productive and worthwhile life as possible, that is the value equation in this. Not whether there is a bonus due to the fund manager who met his KPIs.
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Up Front: Good Counsel, in reply to Deborah,
The more stories, the better.
+1 It really does help to know that you are not the only one feeling like this.