How long should caliper brake springs last?

On Sun, 06 Aug 2017 16:54:31 -0500, AMuzi wrote:
On 8/6/2017 3:16 PM, Tim McNamara wrote:
On Sat, 05 Aug 2017 15:23:24 -0500, AMuzi
wrote:

3. National health? YGBSM! The regulation is bad enough but actual
health care really? Check out the wonderful results of BIA hospital
system. Over a hundred years of rank incompetence, fraud, theft,
waste and error. Good luck expanding that.

You're conflating health care finance (insurance) and health care
(doctors and other providers). While connected to each other, they
are not the same issues.

There is only one equitable way to provide health care financing to
all citizens, and there is no political stomach for that. Plus, the
heads of a significant portion of Americans would just explode if it
came to a serious debate.

But forcing Americans to pay hundreds of millions of tax dollars for
sports stadiums to benefit billionaire team owners- who could afford
to build and operate the stadiums themselves- is fine and dandy.


It is not 'fine and dandy' with all of us; lights our hair on fire and
makes us rant! Those of us who do not get kickbacks anyway, and for
that reason our votes do not count.

I was being facetious in the latter paragraph; I should have used a
smiley.

On Tue, 8 Aug 2017 11:48:58 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:
On 8/8/2017 9:35 AM, wrote:
I NEVER worked at a company that didn't offer medical insurance.

Ah yes, those were the days!

Tom is of a slightly older demographic than me, apparently, when
benefits were normal.

At 57, I have spent 20% of my adult life without health insurance
coverage. 6 out of the 9 companies I have worked for did not offer
health insurance benefits. I've worked 27 years with my current
employer and we've only had health insurance offered for about 18 of
those years. The rest of the time I bought my own, and that market was
a swamp back then too. For the last five years my wife's job supplies
our insurance.

The odd thing is that universal health care would be one of the most
pro-business choices that could be made.

On 8/8/2017 10:43 PM, Tim McNamara wrote:
On Tue, 8 Aug 2017 11:48:58 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:
On 8/8/2017 9:35 AM, wrote:
I NEVER worked at a company that didn't offer medical insurance.

Ah yes, those were the days!

Tom is of a slightly older demographic than me, apparently, when
benefits were normal.

At 57, I have spent 20% of my adult life without health insurance
coverage.

Back when our daughter was born, we had not much money and our crappy
health insurance didn't cover childbirth expenses. The birth was quite
normal, but still the bills imposed a significant hit on our meager bank
account.

Fortunately, those medical expenses were deductible with the IRS, so
come tax time we got quite a large refund.

Then came the question: What to do with the money? The prudent choice
would have been to put it back in the bank in case it was needed. The
other choice was to use the money to buy a tandem.

So I guess I can say our lousy health insurance got us a tandem.


--
- Frank Krygowski

Penicillin, anesthesia, n advil ooze ...indoor plumbing n solar energy ...

Was Stalin's experiment a success ?

On 2017-08-06 19:28, Radey Shouman wrote:
jbeattie writes:

On Sunday, August 6, 2017 at 1:24:21 PM UTC-7, wrote:
On Sunday, August 6, 2017 at 9:53:01 AM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:

[...]

I think legalization would have to be done very carefully, though, as
part of a total package. And I think an essential part of the package
should be to stop glamorizing use of pot (let alone other drugs) as
fashionable and funny. It bothers me when comedians, films, songs, etc.
glorify chemical-induced stupidity.

As Joerg pointed out - legalize one drug and you might as well
legalize them all because people will ALWAYS try the newer stronger
street drugs.

Alcohol is a drug -- more dangerous than cannabis. Alcohol destroys
more lives than all the illegal drugs put
together. http://www.drugwarfacts.org/chapter/causes_of_death Might as
well legalize heroin now.

If heroin had been legalized it is unlikely that fentanyl would be the
problem that it is. It certainly would not be sold, randomly, as heroin.


The drug dealing criminals would invent the next "upgrade". Guaranteed.
Those guys don't just give up their revenue stream, roll over and play
dead. It'll be a constant ratcheting up in drug potency or, for the
addicts, a death spiral.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Joerg writes:

On 2017-08-06 19:28, Radey Shouman wrote:
jbeattie writes:

On Sunday, August 6, 2017 at 1:24:21 PM UTC-7, wrote:
On Sunday, August 6, 2017 at 9:53:01 AM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:

[...]

I think legalization would have to be done very carefully, though, as
part of a total package. And I think an essential part of the package
should be to stop glamorizing use of pot (let alone other drugs) as
fashionable and funny. It bothers me when comedians, films, songs, etc.
glorify chemical-induced stupidity.

As Joerg pointed out - legalize one drug and you might as well
legalize them all because people will ALWAYS try the newer stronger
street drugs.

Alcohol is a drug -- more dangerous than cannabis. Alcohol destroys
more lives than all the illegal drugs put
together. http://www.drugwarfacts.org/chapter/causes_of_death Might as
well legalize heroin now.

If heroin had been legalized it is unlikely that fentanyl would be the
problem that it is. It certainly would not be sold, randomly, as heroin.


The drug dealing criminals would invent the next
"upgrade". Guaranteed. Those guys don't just give up their revenue
stream, roll over and play dead. It'll be a constant ratcheting up in
drug potency or, for the addicts, a death spiral.

But who would buy? There is a small market for dodgy, adulterated
alchohol in the US at this time, but for some reason it's not nearly
as big as it was back during Prohibition.

It's true that organized criminals don't just give up, which is why we
still have criminal organizations that date from that era. However,
except for state to state tax arbitrage (smuggling) they don't
much deal in alcohol.

--

On 2017-08-09 11:03, Radey Shouman wrote:
Joerg writes:

On 2017-08-06 19:28, Radey Shouman wrote:
jbeattie writes:

On Sunday, August 6, 2017 at 1:24:21 PM UTC-7, wrote:
On Sunday, August 6, 2017 at 9:53:01 AM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:

[...]

I think legalization would have to be done very carefully, though, as
part of a total package. And I think an essential part of the package
should be to stop glamorizing use of pot (let alone other drugs) as
fashionable and funny. It bothers me when comedians, films, songs, etc.
glorify chemical-induced stupidity.

As Joerg pointed out - legalize one drug and you might as well
legalize them all because people will ALWAYS try the newer stronger
street drugs.

Alcohol is a drug -- more dangerous than cannabis. Alcohol destroys
more lives than all the illegal drugs put
together. http://www.drugwarfacts.org/chapter/causes_of_death Might as
well legalize heroin now.

If heroin had been legalized it is unlikely that fentanyl would be the
problem that it is. It certainly would not be sold, randomly, as heroin.


The drug dealing criminals would invent the next
"upgrade". Guaranteed. Those guys don't just give up their revenue
stream, roll over and play dead. It'll be a constant ratcheting up in
drug potency or, for the addicts, a death spiral.

But who would buy? ...


People who fall for the peer pressure thing. "You've got to try this
other stuff that the guy over there at the bar sells. It's cool, man!".
This is how people came to grief in the village where I lived in the
Netherlands.


... There is a small market for dodgy, adulterated
alchohol in the US at this time, but for some reason it's not nearly
as big as it was back during Prohibition.

It's true that organized criminals don't just give up, which is why we
still have criminal organizations that date from that era. However,
except for state to state tax arbitrage (smuggling) they don't
much deal in alcohol.


Alcohol is tapped out, you can buy anything from non-alcoholic beer to
hardcore high-ABV liquor. Moonshiners can't offer much in "benefits"
even for alcoholics. That is very different in the world of drugs. They
have stuff that can turn people into complete addicts in just a few
sessions.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On Wed, 09 Aug 2017 11:15:43 -0700, Joerg
wrote:

Alcohol is tapped out, you can buy anything from non-alcoholic beer to
hardcore high-ABV liquor. Moonshiners can't offer much in "benefits"
even for alcoholics.

Moonshiners offer ready availability in dry counties, which are more
prevalent in the southern US and not coincidentally moonshiners are mre
prevalent in the south. So there is that. Since it isn't taxed, I
wonder if moonshine is cheaper than buying cheap booze at the liquor
store. Given how cheap the lowest tier liquors are, that's hard to
picture.

Perhaps the real allure of moonshine is that it's illegal and has an
outlaw image of freedom that appeals to some. In some parts of the
country it is part of the culture. That said, improperly distilled
alcohol is far from safe.

You can buy "moonshine" branded products in liquor stores, packaged in
canning jars and all. I've never tasted it.

On 8/9/2017 7:46 PM, Tim McNamara wrote:
On Wed, 09 Aug 2017 11:15:43 -0700, Joerg
wrote:

Alcohol is tapped out, you can buy anything from non-alcoholic beer to
hardcore high-ABV liquor. Moonshiners can't offer much in "benefits"
even for alcoholics.

Moonshiners offer ready availability in dry counties, which are more
prevalent in the southern US and not coincidentally moonshiners are mre
prevalent in the south. So there is that. Since it isn't taxed, I
wonder if moonshine is cheaper than buying cheap booze at the liquor
store. Given how cheap the lowest tier liquors are, that's hard to
picture.

Perhaps the real allure of moonshine is that it's illegal and has an
outlaw image of freedom that appeals to some.

I think that's true. I've had Irish friends proudly offer me "poitÃ*n"
(or poteen, basically moonshine with an Oirish accent). It was obvious
they enjoyed the naughtiness of it.

A few weeks ago some friends and I played music for a private party. It
took place in a private pavilion built on a private lake behind a big
mansion. We were told to help ourselves to the food and drink, and I saw
a couple wine bottles with taped-on labels that said "Not water." I
thought it was wine and poured a glass, then found it was almost
certainly flammable.

The hosts could afford any liquor they wanted, but I think they enjoyed
the naughtiness of the moonshine.

--
- Frank Krygowski

On Wed, 09 Aug 2017 14:03:42 -0400, Radey Shouman
wrote:

Joerg writes:

On 2017-08-06 19:28, Radey Shouman wrote:
jbeattie writes:

On Sunday, August 6, 2017 at 1:24:21 PM UTC-7, wrote:
On Sunday, August 6, 2017 at 9:53:01 AM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:

[...]

I think legalization would have to be done very carefully, though, as
part of a total package. And I think an essential part of the package
should be to stop glamorizing use of pot (let alone other drugs) as
fashionable and funny. It bothers me when comedians, films, songs, etc.
glorify chemical-induced stupidity.

As Joerg pointed out - legalize one drug and you might as well
legalize them all because people will ALWAYS try the newer stronger
street drugs.

Alcohol is a drug -- more dangerous than cannabis. Alcohol destroys
more lives than all the illegal drugs put
together. http://www.drugwarfacts.org/chapter/causes_of_death Might as
well legalize heroin now.

If heroin had been legalized it is unlikely that fentanyl would be the
problem that it is. It certainly would not be sold, randomly, as heroin.


The drug dealing criminals would invent the next
"upgrade". Guaranteed. Those guys don't just give up their revenue
stream, roll over and play dead. It'll be a constant ratcheting up in
drug potency or, for the addicts, a death spiral.

But who would buy? There is a small market for dodgy, adulterated
alchohol in the US at this time, but for some reason it's not nearly
as big as it was back during Prohibition.


Long after prohibition was abolished there was still a booming market
for illegal, i.e., non tax paid, alcohol. In fact I was introduced to
a "high school friend" of a fellow I worked with who was a bootlegger.
He still made a little "corn liquor" as some people still drank it but
he said that the bulk of his output was straight alcohol which was
sold to "people from up north" who, he assumed, used to make fake
whiskey.

Similar, but different country: http://tinyurl.com/ycyx7sc3

It's true that organized criminals don't just give up, which is why we
still have criminal organizations that date from that era. However,
except for state to state tax arbitrage (smuggling) they don't
much deal in alcohol.

Actually cigarette smuggling appears to be alive and well
http://tinyurl.com/y7dl2t6h

--
Cheers,

John B.