@QMS
some extent from the tyranny of oil, especially as more and more towns and cities make an effort to be bikeable/walkable again. Not that long ago, when I first retired, I did a lot of our shopping on my bike, lots of trips, and only local, but there was a lot to be said for it.

Have a good one.

perpetual war for the rulers

@Lookout
much given up riding and that might get me going again, but the price is pretty hefty, especially since we now walk a lot anyway.Conversions are another option, but still a chunk of change if one isn't going to keep it up for quite a while and my bod gets crankier every day.

Have a good one.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gDf7misJvk]

When Stranger Malone was in his 90's he played that one at our session
https://elisewitt.com/web/kaspar-stranger-malone/

The whole tin pan alley scene was a big influence on him. We are all products of our time.

I'm still aiming to buy an e-bike to extend my pedal travels.

Have a good one. Lots on my to do list today.

@HenryAWallace
the well wishes. Have a great one yourself.

enjoys this Monday.

@detroitmechworks
scooter riders and insane and obnoxious ones. I do think that from skateboards to scooters to bikes, both electric and other, scooter users seem to include more bad eggs than the other modes, and they certainly have far worse press. It seems that a lot of scooters wind up abandoned too, with cities having to collect them and then try to auction them off. That is truly weird.

Have a good one.

Hate those things because it's not the locals using em, it's drunk tourists downtown. Add to the fact that somebody's getting paid jack shit to go round them up afterwords and charge them, (Thanks gig economy for being evil!) I am always half tempted to start chucking em into trees.

Might turn it into a Portland Tradition! Scooter chucking. And on that day, many centuries ago, the people of Portland did chuck the scooters into the recycling bin in one motion saying with one loud voice to corporate America... "The streets in Portland are fucked up enough as it is!"

/snark

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRKBGBSSaYg]

@smiley7
about right for low to mid range e-bike. Thanks for dropping in & have a great one.

When the green woods laugh with the voice of joy,
And the dimpling stream runs laughing by;
When the air does laugh with our merry wit,
And the green hill laughs with the noise of it;
When the meadows laugh with lively green,

When Mary and Susan and Emily
With their sweet round mouths sing "Ha, ha he!"
When the painted birds laugh in the shade,
Where our table with cherries and nuts is spread:
Come live, and be merry, and join with me,
To sing the sweet chorus of "Ha, ha, he!"

~ William Blake Laughing Song, 1789

Interesting, our beat-cop has a new electric bike; $2,500, he said.

Thanks and have a good one.

@Unabashed Liberal
leads us straight to the walrus.

I am the eggman
They are the eggmen
I am the walrus--goo goo g'joob

Grilled fresh caught salmon eggs benedict, of course.

Have a good one.

per my Wall Calendar.

Here's a list of suggested National Egg Day Activities.

Wanted to repost the blurb below (about how CBO's recent projection/analysis of how Universal MFA would affect Traditional/Original Medicare beneficiaries) at this week's OTs. Considering that 2/3's of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in the program, feel compelled to let those beneficiaries know what's at stake.

From the May 2019 CBO Report, here you go--

Utilization Management

Utilization management refers to methods used by or on behalf of payers to manage health care costs by steering patients toward appropriate care. Utilization management can include care coordination and utilization review.

The administrator of the single-payer plan could enforce utilization patterns that are deemed appropriate by monitoring claims and identifying outliers. Under the current U.S. health care system, with its fragmented payment and delivery systems, coordination of care is difficult, and a comprehensive review of care is challenging because no centralized utilization database exists.

A single-payer system that collected comprehensive data on patients’ use of health care services could potentially manage available resources more efficiently. But the transition to a standardized IT system across all providers would require considerable efforts, such as reaching a consensus for a standard among stakeholders, enforcing that standard, and addressing privacy issues related to data sharing.

(Note: Bolded phrase above--the reason that we recently received new Medicare cards. Taking our Social Security numbers off the cards was the only way that the Feds could track our personal health care data (and pool it) without breaching federal privacy laws. Nice that they were 'transparent' with current Medicare beneficiaries. /snark)

In the United States, public programs have implemented few utilization management programs, but private insurers have increasingly used them to lower costs.

Some private insurers require prior authorization for patients seeking expensive therapies, for example, and Medicare Part D plans offer low or no copayments to patients who use cheaper generic medications. Many of those strategies could be continued under a single-payer system.

The utilization management in such a system might not be much of a change for people who were previously enrolled in a private plan, but it would impose new constraints on the choice of health care services for those who were previously enrolled in the Medicare FFS program..

My 'takeaway' from the analysis is that it would probably be advantageous to advocate for both expanding the medical services covered, and, expanding to Everyone our current (1965) Traditional/Original Medicare program--after, improving it by amending Title XVIII so that TM pays all costs--100 versus 80 percent.

What's not to like?

Have a good one!

Mollie

“Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made. ”
~~Roger Caras

@gjohnsit
her well. And then, later it was HER TURN, and damned if they didn't rig it so she got HER TURN and she lost and really should stop trying to be the center of the universe.

have a good one.

link

In a recent “off the record” conversation with Page Six’s Cindy Adams, Clinton sounded off on the sprawling field of Democrat presidential candidates. According to Adams, Clinton has “no good words for Sanders, writing that the Obama-era secretary of state believes “Anyone overtaking him in a district considered his, he’ll burn the place down.”

Clinton has blamed her own election loss to President Trump on former President Barack Obama, fired FBI Director James Comey, the Democrat National Committee (DNC), and the nation of Russia. She has also blamed Sanders, who begrudgingly endorsed her, declaring at the time that she “will make an outstanding president.”