Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[CGVT]

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[Dr. Strangelove]

The NASDAQ is ugly today

Chinese app DeepSeek hammers US tech stocks with cheaper open-source AI model | Fox Business

[Mike]

Trump (and his supporters) declaring a massive victory where very little actually changed was typical in Term 1 and we're off to a good start in Term 2. It's all about PR. Colombia accepted deportee flights all though Biden's term. They were objecting to the use of military planes and using an over-the-top amount of restraints on illegals like they were the late great Hannibal Lector.

There was more to it than that. Columbia initially approved the flights, then changed their mind when they were mid-flight at 4 in the morning. President FAFO thought he'd get into a big dick contest with the United States and referring to Trump said "I don't shake hands with white slaveholders", whatever the hell that was supposed to mean. Then he threatened to slap tariffs on our products going into Columbia. Problem with that is that 28% of their imports come from the U.S. Smart plan, FAFO! He went from that stance to "I'll send my personal plane to pick them up, sir" in a matter of hours. It's a good lessen for any other 3rd world shithole narco states who want to swim in the deep end of the pool.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Yeah, China, fuck them.

I just ordered a salad at a place called "Just Salad." In the App there's an AI program that builds your salad based on several inputs you click on, e.g. avoid dairy, gluten free, needs to be low cal, and have some protein; the whole process from selection to output takes about a minute and out comes three salads to choose from.

I also recently used AI to summarize my medical history (I'm switching from commercial care to VA care). It took inputs from 13y of VA and commercial medical care that I prepared a history of in 5 pages and summarized it into a single page with bullets. It was very complete and stunningly brief. I need that!!

I think I'm going to like AI as it becomes more accessible to people who want to use it (incorporating it into situations like I used it). FIU is offering a course on AI, what it does and how to use it and benefit. I might audit it.

[CGVT]

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[crashcourse]

I thought you always used the VA JB--dont you have tricare for life also?

[Da Geezer]

I know Fox News links are an anathema around here, but I thought this was interesting.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-reinstate-service-members-discharged-not-getting-covid-19-vaccine

Trump is reinstating all military service members who were kicked out of the military for refusing to take the Covid jab. They'll not only be reinstated, they'll get back pay and benefits. I doubt that all will return, but a significant number may do so. Lots were career people with a lot of knowledge, and loved serving their country.

Another foolish Biden decision gets tossed in the trash can where it belongs.

Do you know many Progressives who refused to take the shot? This was always about identifying conservatives in the military. It started under Obama. Trump also made an order that transgenders are out of the military. Long overdue. Now fire any general that was in any way affiliated with Biden's surrender in Afghanistan. I'm not sure I believe the nonsense that Biden overrode his military commanders. He was in no physical condition to override anyone or anything.

[Da Geezer]

Seems like tariffs or the threat of them from Trump work. At least that seems to be the case in South America. Europe? If Trump has a trade beef with a member of the EU, probably not. Russia? No. China. No. The amount of exported products from a target country that are sold to the US likely has a lot to do with a tariff's effectiveness in leveraging behaviors.

Trump understands the power of being the CONSUMER of goods. These producer economies, particularly China, are co-dependent on the US to buy their product.

This also gets to the talking point about tariffs being a tax on consumers. If there is one widget maker in the world, and he is charging $ 20 for a widget, then if he is tariffed at 25%, the widget is priced at $ 25. This is the way the Dems view the world-unlimited demand and limited resources. But in the real world, China may be selling widgets for 20, and Vietnam can make them for 21. Is it possible that the $ 1 is passed onto the consumer; maybe. But in a command economy like China's, China has shown that they consider market share more important than profit. A 25% tariff against China certainly doesn't raise the price to consumers in the US to $ 25 as the Dems would have it. In actual fact, China may (and so far does) "eat" the tariff in order to keep their factories running.

This was shown today in China releasing an OPEN-SOURCED AI product that supposedly takes 2,000 Nvidia chips rather than 100,000. The point is that China is concerned about market share and wants to grossly underprice the US AI universe. Those of us who remember the rise of Japan remember when "made in Japan" was considered junk: but that changed. I hope Trump takes China off the "developing country" status in trade negotiations.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I thought you always used the VA JB--dont you have tricare for life also?

Crash, during my time in Atlanta ('98 - 2017) I used the VA clinics exclusively. They were fine. As we transitioned to South FL I decided to get my medical care commercially through Holy Cross. That decision was based on friends of mine who were vets and had all kinds of trouble contacting them, getting appointments, meds refilled - the list of complaints I heard was long.

Yes, I have Tricare for Life and was satisfied with care that was getting from Holy Cross. For those that don't know, Tricare for life is a supplement to Medicare that provides payment of Medicare Co-Pays and Pharmacy benefits. Retired vets pay nothing for it. Tricare for life may be a target for budget cuts and reduced services under the Trump administration. I would not pay for TFL if vets were levied with payments for it. There are better supplemental plans out there and I'd switch to one of those.

About a month ago, I received a letter that my PCP was moving on. I was given the names of 4 PCPs to choose from. Their names suggested they were all Indians. Indians, generally, are very good doctors. They aren't into collaborative care, something important to me. As a PA myself I want providers that listen to my input. Unless Indian Docs they've been in the US for a long time or born in the US, most of them are impossible to understand. No thanks.

Decided to try out the VA. So far, I've been impressed. It's easy to schedule appointments, providers have been on time and I think there is more continuity of care and cross talk between providers than I received at Holy Cross. Transferring my care from established Holy Cross specialty clinics to VA specialty clinics has been more difficult than going from my Holly Cross PCP to a VA PCP. Getting specialty clinic care inside the VA system takes a while as appointments are hard to come by typically a month or more out from the time an order is placed. The VA added a program about 10 years ago that you could get an appointment for a local commercial specialty clinic when appointments weren't available in a reasonable time frame inside the VA. I specifically don't try to do that, never did in Atlanta and won't do it here. I'll just wait. I'm dealing with nothing urgent.

One of the primary reasons for going with the VA, outside of getting a new PCP, was I wanted a 2nd opinion on my pacemaker settings. These things are life savers and also incredibly complex in how they work. I've had some disagreements with my Holy Cross my non-collaborative EP Cardiologist that placed the thing in June of 23. He's been unclear in his explanations of what is triggering the pacemaker and I think it is pacing too much and when it does pace it takes too long to stop pacing when an intrinsic rhythm is sensed. His comments to me are like, "Jeff, you read too much. Trust me on this. Your pacemaker is fine." In today's medical system you need to question everything and advocate for yourself. Just how it is.

[CGVT]

Yep. Medicare and Tricare for life.

The same coverage that everyone in the country should have.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Haha oops

[Mike]

So?

[Dr. Strangelove]

So?

I seem to recall Trump repeatedly denying he knew anything about Project 2025 and those people had nothing to do with him, that’s all. It makes me chuckle. I always enjoy a good laugh.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Who wants one? All I need is your address and SS# and I’ll buy one for you. Step right up and own the libs!

Wiz, since you don’t carry anything larger than a $5 and a subway loyalty card this might not be the product for you.

[THE_WIZARD_]

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