Octopus Overlords

It's like a business plan that depends on under paying workers might not be a good business plan.

Victoria Raverna wrote: Tue Oct 10, 2023 7:17 pm If the smaller businesses depend on paying workers far under the living wages to survive, maybe they don't deserve to survive.

This is a blanket statement that ignores a lot of how many small businesses work.

One example is cash flow. Tipped workers can get a living wage despite a lower hourly rate. They get....tips! This means thst the business has lower weekly or biweekly outlays on payday. It means that the workers get steady daily (or whenever they work) cash and can als9 still depend on a regular paycheck (albeit smaller). Lots of businesses, like a lot of individuals, live week to week.

Oh, and all these workers will be paying substantially more tax. Fine, you say, they've been under-declaring? OK. But the fact remains, they will now have higher income tax liability.

The city will have a tax windfall as well, as the burden shifts from un-sales-taxed tips to sales-taxed goods/services as business incrase charges to pay higher wages.

He's so good at this

https://twitter.com/SenFettermanPA/stat ... 0694340793

Yes, please.

Also, I thought federalists and MAGA hated democracy as a collectivist code word for socialism/communism.

iT's A rEpUBlIc!1!

Stephen caught Covid-19 (again) so he is hosting the show from home.

GreenGoo wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 9:59 am

hepcat wrote: Mon Jul 24, 2023 6:57 pm That’s surprising to me. I always thought the chemical composition of a generic version of a drug was the exact same as the name brand.

Me too. It has always been described to me as a copy of the chemical formula from the branded product.

edit: I am shocked and dismayed to learn otherwise.

I just received a work email outlining some of the changes made to the federal government employee health plan, and it contains this quote:

Generic drugs are approved by Health Canada and are pharmaceutically equivalent to the brand name drug, as they contain identical medicinal ingredients

So I don't know what is going on. We are able to pay the difference between generic and brand name, or our physician can fill out a form to apply for brand name coverage. What that means and what criteria are evaluated I have no idea.

P.S. I posted this here because this is the thread that contained the discussion.

Don't know if true but if it is...I don't know how I feel about that. Also, LMAO??



Edit: apparently, not a joke or an Onion article. Forbes reported on it too.

I envision Trump doing a Curley drop and spin after reading that....

Stores have generic brands and politics has geriatric employees.

On point

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Victoria Raverna wrote: Tue Oct 17, 2023 9:57 pm Stephen caught Covid-19 (again) so he is hosting the show from home.

This was too funny. Colbert is a national treasure.

Seriously, though, the parts about Biden . . . I cannot believe he is running for another term. What a sorry state of affairs we have that Biden is the best the Democrats can offer the nation right now. I love Joe, but he is way, way, way past the point where he should be seeking another term.

naednek wrote:On point

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It may be *Adult" sized, but it won't turn a childish candidate into an adult...

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Seriously, though, the parts about Biden . . . I cannot believe he is running for another term. What a sorry state of affairs we have that Biden is the best the Democrats can offer the nation right now. I love Joe, but he is way, way, way past the point where he should be seeking another term.

Unfortunately people that SHOULD be in there are never popular.

GreenGoo wrote: Thu Oct 19, 2023 2:05 pm

GreenGoo wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 9:59 am

hepcat wrote: Mon Jul 24, 2023 6:57 pm That’s surprising to me. I always thought the chemical composition of a generic version of a drug was the exact same as the name brand.

Me too. It has always been described to me as a copy of the chemical formula from the branded product.

edit: I am shocked and dismayed to learn otherwise.

I just received a work email outlining some of the changes made to the federal government employee health plan, and it contains this quote:

Generic drugs are approved by Health Canada and are pharmaceutically equivalent to the brand name drug, as they contain identical medicinal ingredients

So I don't know what is going on. We are able to pay the difference between generic and brand name, or our physician can fill out a form to apply for brand name coverage. What that means and what criteria are evaluated I have no idea.

P.S. I posted this here because this is the thread that contained the discussion.

The "medicinal", or active, ingredients are chemically identical. The inactive ingredients may not be.

LawBeefaroni wrote: Sat Oct 21, 2023 11:03 am The "medicinal", or active, ingredients are chemically identical. The inactive ingredients may not be.

Sure, but we have several comments along these lines:

Carpet_pissr wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 8:44 am What did the Dr. say to that reaction? So curious. Also, I'm here to tell you that the OG Wellbutrin (if they still even make it), was the shiznit. Knock-off, Kmart versions can kiss my ballsack.

This suggests to me that generic wellbutrin (or whatever the actual chemical name is) was not working for Carpet_pissr. While he doesn't say it explicitly here, there was at least 1 comment that stated outright that the chemically active ingredients were different between generic and brand name drugs. Someone said that the generics were only supposed to produce the same *results* as the brand name, and that they *weren't* medicinally/chemically the same.

That's a hugely misleading statement (or outright wrong, possibly), and counter to pretty much all previous information I have had regarding generics.

At this point I don't know what is true and will need to do my own research

Max does talk about biosimilar drugs, which seem to be different from generics based on his comments. But he also says that some generics did not accomplish what the brand name drug did, while still providing all the same negative side effects. How this is possible I have no idea.

GreenGoo wrote: Sat Oct 21, 2023 11:54 am

LawBeefaroni wrote: Sat Oct 21, 2023 11:03 am The "medicinal", or active, ingredients are chemically identical. The inactive ingredients may not be.

Sure, but we have several comments along these lines:

Carpet_pissr wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 8:44 am What did the Dr. say to that reaction? So curious. Also, I'm here to tell you that the OG Wellbutrin (if they still even make it), was the shiznit. Knock-off, Kmart versions can kiss my ballsack.

This suggests to me that generic wellbutrin (or whatever the actual chemical name is) was not working for Carpet_pissr. While he doesn't say it explicitly here, there was at least 1 comment that stated outright that the chemically active ingredients were different between generic and brand name drugs. Someone said that the generics were only supposed to produce the same *results* as the brand name, and that they *weren't* medicinally/chemically the same.

Wellbutrin is a special case. There was literally a problem testing the generic version for bioequivalence (especially the higher dose which has now presumably been pulled).

Under normal circumstances, generic drugs are required to have the same active ingredients (or at least FDA is supposed to test that they are). But the different in inactive ingredients can make a difference in how the drug is absorbed in the body (bioavailability) which is why a generic may not have the same therapeutic effect as a brand-name drug. A study showed that the average difference in absorption rates between generics and brand-name drugs over a 12-year period was about 3.5%. Which might not matter for an antibiotic or a statin but absolutely matters for things like antidepressants and seizure medicines, where even the smallest variation can result in an adverse outcome.

I believe, from my own experience, that there can also be an issue with quality control. When a generic is being sourced from the compounder who submits the lowest bid, there can be QC issues if they're cutting corners to keep their costs down.

A couple of years ago my pharmacy switched me from Sandoz Valsartan/HCT to Sanis Valsartan/HCT. Sandoz is the generic subsidiary of Novartis, and their version of Valsartan/HCT is effectively the same as Diovan/HCT but without the fancy packaging. Sanis is the in-house generic brand for Shopper's Drug Mart, but so far as I have been able to find out they don't actually compound their drugs and buy them from whichever company offers them at the lowest price. After they switched my prescription from Sandoz to Sanis my blood pressure soared back to the levels it was at when I was not on any medication at all within a day and a half, and didn't go back down until I was switched back to Sandoz. It's difficult to believe that sort of difference in efficacy could be due to differences in non-medicinal ingredients only.

GreenGoo wrote: Sat Oct 21, 2023 11:54 am Someone said that the generics were only supposed to produce the same *results* as the brand name, and that they *weren't* medicinally/chemically the same.

That's a hugely misleading statement (or outright wrong, possibly), and counter to pretty much all previous information I have had regarding generics.

They might have been referring to biosimilar drugs rather than generic drugs. From a consumer perspective they're similar in that they both are a cheaper copy of a name brand drug, but they are significantly different in terms of how they are made.

Thanks for taking the time to respond everyone. I very much appreciate it.

back to pics.

Interesting. Not sure if this belong in R&P or not.

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1719493422996693232

Tuberville: We are in a tough time right now because our military is struggling to actually put a group together.

And he's got that smarmy smirk on his face the entire time.

Tuberville went on to finish his sentence..."of military leaders that would support a coup to install Trump as Emperor of New Gilead"

She is a national treasure.

The greatest deliberative body in the world

https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1 ... 3102167311

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) challenges Teamsters leader Sean O’Brien to a physical fight, standing up midway through a Senate HELP Committee hearing.

Chair Bernie Sanders (I-VT) repeatedly attempts to break them up: “You’re a United States senator.”

Fighting with a Teamster boss? That's going to end with a new home for Markwayne Mullin under a stadium...

Every time I think the United States can't go any lower it does. People must marvel at how the world's richest nation is turning into Idiocracy 400 years ahead of schedule.

Markwayne? Were his parents unable to decide between Mark or Wayne? Did they leave out a space when filling out the birth certificate?

Edit: Huh. Both, apparently...

His first name is a tribute to two of his paternal uncles, Mark and Wayne; his mother put both names on his birth certificate, intending to later shorten his name to one of the two, but ultimately never did.

That's actually kinda hilarious. I guess his mom had some executive function shortfalls or was just a serious procrastinator.

malchior wrote: Tue Nov 14, 2023 2:31 pm Every time I think the United States can't go any lower it does. People must marvel at how the world's richest nation is turning into Idiocracy 400 years ahead of schedule.

Every time I'm shocked at modern day antics, I look at history and realize that partisan newspapers and physical assaults are not new. It's basically par for the course.

That shocked me.

Yeah, if you've read any American history, even with GOP shenanigans we're still living in an era of astonishing civility.

Max Peck wrote: Tue Nov 14, 2023 2:53 pm Markwayne? Were his parents unable to decide between Mark or Wayne? Did they leave out a space when filling out the birth certificate?

Edit: Huh. Both, apparently...

His first name is a tribute to two of his paternal uncles, Mark and Wayne; his mother put both names on his birth certificate, intending to later shorten his name to one of the two, but ultimately never did.

Too bad she didn't go with his two maternal uncles, Ass and Wipe.

GreenGoo wrote: Tue Nov 14, 2023 3:08 pm

malchior wrote: Tue Nov 14, 2023 2:31 pm Every time I think the United States can't go any lower it does. People must marvel at how the world's richest nation is turning into Idiocracy 400 years ahead of schedule.

Every time I'm shocked at modern day antics, I look at history and realize that partisan newspapers and physical assaults are not new. It's basically par for the course.

That shocked me.

For sure, we had fist fights regularly at some period of time especially pre-Civil War and duels. Still we had until now moved on from that in a very real way. Until these jackasses turned back the clock to the 1840s or high school level bravado. It's pretty sad.

I agree. And I spent not a small amount of energy reacting to people behaving badly in politics. History doesn't excuse bad behaviour either.

But as Isgrim points out, maybe it's people that are the problem.

Maybe if one of these guys gets himself thumped they'll all shut up for a bit. Because if there's one thing that middle-aged to ancient fat white men are good at, it's hand to hand combat.

malchior wrote: Tue Nov 14, 2023 4:41 pm

GreenGoo wrote: Tue Nov 14, 2023 3:08 pm

malchior wrote: Tue Nov 14, 2023 2:31 pm Every time I think the United States can't go any lower it does. People must marvel at how the world's richest nation is turning into Idiocracy 400 years ahead of schedule.

Every time I'm shocked at modern day antics, I look at history and realize that partisan newspapers and physical assaults are not new. It's basically par for the course.

That shocked me.

For sure, we had fist fights regularly at some period of time especially pre-Civil War and duels. Still we had until now moved on from that in a very real way. Until these jackasses turned back the clock to the 1840s or high school level bravado. It's pretty sad.

Yeah, there was a time when fisticuffs was common in society at large so it wasn't crazy for elected officials to go at it. It was standard conflict resolution. To do so now days is stepping kind of far out of the norm. Or possibly reflects a major regression in our social evolution, I guess, in which case it's even more frightening.

I will say that "ripped" middle age white dudes always seem to want to go to fists really quickly. Markwayne is the perfect example.

https://mullinforamerica.com/

I mean his fund-raising page above doesn't shut up about fighting

awww let'm loose lets get some blood going. Who puts people like him in Office?.Oh right this is the United States. Never mind.

LawBeefaroni wrote: Tue Nov 14, 2023 4:56 pmI mean his fund-raising page above doesn't shut up about fighting

It doesn't help that he did MMA and it's sort of branding.

malchior wrote: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:17 pm It doesn't help that he did MMA and it's sort of branding.

As long as people don't know about his gender affirming care