[QUOTE=chalsall;362965]Exactly what?

What did you mean to say Richard?

Please forgive me for this Richard, but I find myself with little time for those who say things without saying things.[/QUOTE]Are you really, truly, sincerely, honestly unable to understand that my comment simply signaled my agreement with Ernst's words that I quoted just above it?

[QUOTE=ewmayer;362966]Another data point on those (allegedly) unnecessary medical procedures:

[URL="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304244904579278442014913458?mod=WSJ_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond"]Fake Knee Surgery as Good as Real Procedure, Study Finds[/URL]

To be fair, additional advantages of surgery include GDP-stimulative revenue for the medical industry and complications requiring -- you guessed it...[/QUOTE]

My mother had surgery on one knee, with debatable results. When she had the first replacement, she said that she should have done it years sooner. She subsequently had the other replaced, as well. The biggest drawback I was aware of was that she needed to take a jolt of antibiotics about a day before dental procedures, even cleaning. The concern was that dental work can release "showers" of bacteria into the bloodstream, where they might find their way to the junction between live bone and the device, and cause ugly problems.

I have had many surgical experiences, and most of them came out OK in the end. Of course, not all medical encounters involve surgery whether it is needed or not, as I recounted. On the other hand, I had operations to correct crossed eyes at 3 and 6 years of age. That worked quite well, though I have some residual drift if I'm not paying attention to anything.

I have certainly have bad medical experiences, but generally, I've gotten within a tolerable distance of what I expected in eventual results. Nevertheless, I know a lot more than many people in the medical area, so my choices have tended to be fairly well informed.

This last point brings back the importance of knowledgeable Patient Advocates to buffer and assist people in understanding their situations and choices.

Movie "Review": When I first saw the ads for [i]The Wolf of Wall Street[/i] my first thought was an incredulous "Has what happened in 2008 been so completely forgotten by the elites already that we're right back to glorifying Wall Street crookery in film?" Seems I wasn't the only one:

[url=www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-12-28/youre-simply-continuing-feed-wolves-wall-street-one-victims-open-letter-kings-hollyw]"You're Simply Continuing To Feed The Wolves Of Wall Street" - One Victim's Open Letter To The Kings Of Hollywood[/url]
[quote]You people are dangerous. Your film is a reckless attempt at continuing to pretend that these sorts of schemes are entertaining, even as the country is reeling from yet another round of Wall Street scandals. We want to get lost in what? These phony financiers' fun sexcapades and coke binges? Come on, we know the truth. This kind of behavior brought America to its knees.

And yet you're glorifying it -- you who call yourselves [i]liberals[/i]. You were honored for career excellence and for your [i]cultural influence[/i] by The Kennedy Center, Marty {Scorsese]. You drive a Honda [i]hybrid[/i], Leo [DiCaprio]. Did you think about the cultural message you'd be sending when you decided to make this film? You have successfully aligned yourself with an accomplished criminal, a guy who still hasn't made full restitution to his victims, exacerbating our national obsession with wealth and status and glorifying greed and psychopathic behavior. And don't even get me started on the incomprehensible way in which your film degrades women, the misogynistic, ass-backwards message you endorse to younger generations of men.[/quote]

[URL="http://gizmodo.com/a-tv-anchor-tries-to-gift-bitcoin-on-air-is-immediatel-1488636715"]A TV Anchor Tries to Gift Bitcoin On Air, Is Immediately Robbed[/URL][QUOTE]Each of the anchors were to receive $20 worth of the digital currency, but all that went down the drain the second anchor Adam Johnson absentmindedly exposed his QR code of the private key to the camera, which is basically like giving someone your debit card and writing down the pin number for them. So naturally, a Reddit user by the name of milkywaymasta immediately snatched the Bitcoin and bragged about it online:[/QUOTE]

o Nice discussion of the exploding [in terms of numbers, not function - we hope] electrical/computer-hardware resources being dedicated to Bitcoin mining [url=http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/12/links-122913.html]on Naked Capitalism yesterday[/url] (search for 'bitcoin' in the reader comments);

o And speaking of insanely carbon-intensive economics, [url=http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131219142321.htm]tough winter in Greece[/url] this year. But I thought EU officials had said "Greece is recovering"?

o [url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/28/business/academics-who-defend-wall-st-reap-reward.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1388247638-tGQ02o/gvzt5FKNS48BvcQ&#commentsContainer]Professors for hire: Academics Who Defend Wall St. Reap Reward | NY Times[/url]
[quote]...interviews with dozens of academics and traders, and a review of hundreds of emails and other documents involving two highly visible professors in the commodities field — Mr. Pirrong and Professor Scott H. Irwin at the University of Illinois — show how major players on Wall Street and elsewhere have been aggressive in underwriting and promoting academic work.

The efforts by the financial players, the interviews show, are part of a sweeping campaign to beat back regulation and shape policies that affect the prices that people around the world pay for essentials like food, fuel and cotton.

Professors Pirrong and Irwin say that industry backing did not color their opinions. [/quote]
"We came to our conclusion that smoking has no ill health effects independently of the generous research funding provided by the Tobacco Institute..."

It's a pity the new economy thread for 2014 with your interesting initial posts has vanished, Ernst. If you still have what you wrote saved anywhere and feel like reposting it, I'm certain I am not the only person who would appreciate that.

[QUOTE=Brian-E;363929]It's a pity the new economy thread for 2014 with your interesting initial posts has vanished, Ernst. If you still have what you wrote saved anywhere and feel like reposting it, I'm certain I am not the only person who would appreciate that.[/QUOTE]

I am hereby offering proof that Brian-E is not the only person that would appreciate it...

Norm

[QUOTE=Spherical Cow;363968]I am hereby offering proof that Brian-E is not the only person that would appreciate it...[/QUOTE]

But only assuming, of course, that all cows are spherical.... :wink:

MathBabe.org:
[URL="http://mathbabe.org/2014/01/07/judge-rakoff-explains-why-no-banker-is-in-jail-ows/"]Judge Rakoff explains why no banker is in jail #OWS[/URL][QUOTE]I am also grateful to hear him make the point that widespread fraud, unprosecuted, is not simply a theoretical issue. It exposes the dysfunctionality of our justice system and it exposes basic unfairness in society, where depending on how rich you are and how complicated your crime is, you can avoid going to jail. Personally, in the past few months I’ve gone from being angry at the bankers to being angry at the prosecutors.[/QUOTE]Too weary to comment on this bleak situation especially when others do it better. Massive financial abuse abulia engulfs entire society. Film at 11.

Interesting thoughts from Jaron Lanier, [URL="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/07/opinion/nocera-will-digital-networks-ruin-us.html?ref=opinion"]summarized in this NYTimes article[/URL].

[QUOTE=only_human;364000]MathBabe.org:
[URL="http://mathbabe.org/2014/01/07/judge-rakoff-explains-why-no-banker-is-in-jail-ows/"]Judge Rakoff explains why no banker is in jail #OWS[/URL]Too weary to comment on this bleak situation especially when others do it better. Massive financial abuse abulia engulfs entire society. Film at 11.[/QUOTE]

Link does not work.

[QUOTE=gd_barnes;364033]Link does not work.[/QUOTE]
[URL="http://mathbabe.org/2014/01/07/judge-rakoff-explains-why-no-banker-is-in-jail-ows/"]Judge Rakoff explains why no banker is in jail #OWS[/URL]
January 7, 2014 by Cathy O'Neil, mathbabe
[QUOTE]United States District Judge Jed S. Rakoff is already kind of a hero to me, given that he’s the guy who rejected a “[URL="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-28/citigroup-mortgage-securities-settlement-with-sec-rejected-by-u-s-judge.html"]do not admit wrongdoing” settlement between Citigroup and the SEC[/URL] over mortgage-backed securities fraud because, according to Rakoff, the proposed settlement was “neither fair, nor reasonable, nor adequate, nor in the public interest.”

More recently Rakoff has written a fine essay in the New York Review of Books entitled [I][URL="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/jan/09/financial-crisis-why-no-executive-prosecutions/"]The Financial Crisis: Why Have No High-Level Executives Been Prosecuted?[/URL][/I] which I will summarize below but is well worth your time to read.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the links to both the original article and the commentary. It really irks me to read that the statute of limitations is drawing near for some of these crimes, as it seems that the lack of prosecutions invites similar misconduct in the future. But I don't always agree with Judge Rakoff's rationale for the lack of prosecution, as it seems to overlook the extent to which the government is a bought-and-paid-for subsidiary of the big corporations, especially the financial institutions. Still very valuable and thought provoking.

Also, a brief plea that some of the deleted posts from Jan. 1-5 be returned, whoever is responsible!

[QUOTE=philmoore;364055]Also, a brief plea that some of the deleted posts from Jan. 1-5 be returned, whoever is responsible![/QUOTE]

If you're referring to the stillborn MET2014 thread, there were only my 2 opening posts to that, and Chalsall's [url=http://www.mersenneforum.org/showpost.php?p=363887&postcount=936]inano-reply[/url] to #2.

I kept no copies of my posts - as I've noted elseweher, I'm done feeding the trolls. It's bad enough when the idiots are the regular users, but one expects better of supermods. I have other useful things I can do with my time, so the only reward of all the effort I put into these threads was discussion of the issues with thoughtful folks. When the trolls take over, that is finished. Recall what I said in the "how can we improve things?" thread about the inmates running the asylum?

[QUOTE=ewmayer;364060]If you're referring to the stillborn MET2014 thread, there were only my 2 opening posts to that, and Chalsall's [url=http://www.mersenneforum.org/showpost.php?p=363887&postcount=936]inano-reply[/url] to #2.[/QUOTE]

Develop a sense of humor, Watson.... :smile:

I would like to see a modern version of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, representing the events which led to the current economic crisis. This could be either a new version of Goethe's poem or of Disney's animation from Fantasia. The apprentice would not try to stop the runaway activity, but urge it on, leaving the mess for someone else to clear up.

[QUOTE=Nick;364099]The apprentice would not try to stop the runaway activity, but urge it on, leaving the mess for someone else to clear up.[/QUOTE]

You have, of course, read Niccolò Machiavelli's [URL="http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince00.htm"]The Prince[/URL]?

[QUOTE=Spherical Cow;363968]I am hereby offering proof that Brian-E is not the only person that would appreciate it...[/QUOTE]

I do encourage others like yourselves interested in the topic to continue the discourse - feel free to start a "new, improved! Now 20% more!! No payments for 60 months!!!" MET2014 thread, if you like. I simply have had the [i]Schnauze voll[/i] of the folks who have nothing of substance to add, but who nonetheless feel compelled to reply to virtually every post made by others. Give me a couple years and the allergic reaction may wane ... or not ...

I may have to try to help start an MET2014, just to satisfy my addiction to trying to understand the bizarre netherworld of economics. However, since Arizona is legalizing medicinal marijuana, perhaps a prescription from a friendly doctor will also take care of the problem.

In the interim, thanks for all the links to some fascinating reading- learned a lot from all the METs over the years. And if your "allergic reaction" doesn't wane over time, consult [url]www.HealthCare.GOV[/url] for insurance plans that cover pre-existing conditions like that.

Norm