European Tribune - Community, Politics & Progress.

Epochal!

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 10:15:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I'll be spending my evening at an event to celebrate the 60th birthday of the NHS.

Does the Tour De France pass through in a few hours or is it longer?

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 10:32:37 AM EST
[ Parent ]

It's all finished for today. Cadel Evans still yellow jersey.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 11:11:28 AM EST
[ Parent ]

If I'd known I'd have been watching out for you.

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.

by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 10:38:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Count of Foix, ...nice castle!

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. --Charu Saxena.

by metavision on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 11:29:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]

How to fight jetlag (4.00 / 5)

I've hit upon an unexpected solution...

My clients had the great idea of setting up a conference call on a deal I'm working on at 8:30am CET this morning (ie 1:30am local time), which was smack in the middle of the night as I tried to adjust to local time.

Well, I ended splitting the night in two parts, going to bed at 9:30pm local time (ie holding out to 4:30 am CET), waking up for the confcall, and then going back to bed at what was 3am (10am CET) - whereby I unexpectedly managed another 4 hours' sleep - just in time for another confcall - but at least I'm feeling fine and rested...

(Note to self: do not travel to anywhere in a different timezone in the middle of intense negotiations on deals)

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (jeromeguillet@yahoo.fr) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 10:21:35 AM EST

As an aside (none / 0)

Don't expect too much input from me on ET in the coming days...

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (jeromeguillet@yahoo.fr) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 10:30:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Just a quick vignette (4.00 / 11)

I had a great view of the US on the way in: the plane just flew along the Eastern seabord for a long while, so I got great views of Cape Cod, New York, Atlantic City, Norfolk, and then later Raleigh, the Atlanta suburbs, and the Mississippi. I have a few pictures but I can't upload them right now.

I had a friendly cab taking me to the hotel, but he was definitely not a progressive. He started asking me about Sarkozy, and the conversation was friendly enough, but then he started going about how he was so much better than his predecessor, who should have been jailed for his part in the oil for food scandal, and was responsible for the death of millions of Iraqi kids...

I kept sagely silent, and the discussion moved to oil and gas prices - at least the guy was favorable to stringent CAFE standards and any other way to get better mileage for cars. We discussed European taxes and as I noted that it was those taxes (which he initially labelled as insane) that got us better MPG cars, he thought about it. He was favorable to drilling ("I'm all in favor of the environment, but we can't give up on resources just for a couple squirrels") but was also open to my arguments that it would not do much of anything as there wasn't that much oil in there.

So there's a lot of work to be done, but the moment seems ripe for smarter energy policies, if they are explained just a bit, I think.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (jeromeguillet@yahoo.fr) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 10:43:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Just a quick vignette (4.00 / 4)

Cabbie:

"I'm all in favor of the environment, but we can't give up on resources just for a couple squirrels"

[Sigh...]

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 11:04:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Just a quick vignette (4.00 / 9)

We could champion the use of the squirrel as an Environmental Priority Unit.

Couple squirrels? Not enough to worry.
Three, four squirrels? Hmm.
Six squirrels? Watch out!
Ten squirrels? Bloop! Under water already!

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 11:23:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Just wait till the flying pickets from the Amalgamated Mineshaft Canaries' Union turn up on your doorstep.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 08:36:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

You sigh, but, as conservatives go, the guy sounds pretty open-minded on the environment.

Which is scary, but, you know, baby steps....

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 01:33:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Just a quick vignette (3.60 / 5)

Though evaluating the current environmental situation might just lead to the conclusion that we have no time for baby steps. The cabbie betrays his inability to have an opinion on such issues by his squirrel comment. which begs the question, what do you do with people who shouldn't be entitled to an opinion about something?

I'm in the middle of watching the Godfather (Coppola Restoration, upon which i'll comment later) so i know what i'd do. But that would then be in favor of environmentalism and against morality. So, what to do?

For me, the best solution would be US wide grid failure, so people couldn't watch Fox for a few weeks. I think it's time to fuck with people's assumptions. But then, i'm a hard ass mofo, only thinking about the future, and not about the elderly's food decaying in the fridge. (Though my vision does include both coral reefs and grandchildren.)

Skennah Kowa

by Crazy Horse on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 04:05:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Just a quick vignette (4.00 / 3)

what do you do with people who shouldn't be entitled to an opinion about something?
I'm in the middle of watching the Godfather (Coppola Restoration, upon which i'll comment later) so i know what i'd do.

For me, the best solution would be US wide grid failure... for a few weeks.

At some point, it's not just those in power who need to be reminded that we're talking about real live human beings with the capacity for pain and suffering and not just these walking talking bits of mass who represent for you an idea or position or problem, based on a few sentences out of the millions he's probably uttered his whole life.

We don't teach people who do not agree with us a lesson by encouraging their suffering.

We teach them by educating and empowering them. Fortunately, while we have more problems than we can possibly comprehend, this is America and not Nazi Germany. The wrongest humans are entitled to the right to have an opinion. We do not limit speech or say people shouldn't be entitled to an opinion about something. The problem isn't that the cabbie has an opinion he's not entitled to hold, but that it is an uninformed opinion. So INFORM him.

Throughout history man has tried to solve the problems he sees before him by killing people or shutting them up or otherwise oppressing them, because they are perceived to be in the path of evolution. We all know how this turns out. Having a noble cause does not justify the inhumane treatment of anyone. Despite what George W. Bush would have you believe.

I wouldn't expect to see such sentiments, like wanting to off mafia-style those people who you deem are not entitled to an opinion, here. It's the same insensitivity you'd readily condemn if you read it on RedState. Who are we saving the environment for? Just the people who agree with us? Just the smart people? Just the well-educated? Just those who don't rely on the power grid to run their breathing machines? What kind of brave new world do we have in mind here?

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

by poemless on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 04:31:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Whoa poemless (3.71 / 7)

Is it not obvious i wasn't proposing to rub the uninitiated out just because i was watching A FILM about the mafia in the US?

i've spent my entire life INFORMING (and even empowering) people about energy issues. i could even be considered a sort-of new age humanist, or at least an inveterate hippie. i abhor violence, and turn the other cheek, even when there's been a machine gun pointed at my head. i have seldom killed cabbies who's views differed from mine, mostly because i didn't want their blood on my dearly purchased suits. i have rarely cemented deals by signifying that "either your signature or your brain will be on that contract."

btw, my comments about grid failure are not really what i'd like to see, only what i know is already coming (because i have such detailed insider info on the current situation), so sometimes, in the Netz world, on an Open Thread where riffing is allowed, i riff.

Me born in Chicago, poemless. Watch out for my connected friends (not counting that i convinced my parents to leave the city when i was just over a year old.) If you keep writing good shit about Russia and exile, we might let you live.

(Where exactly does the smiley go here?)

Skennah Kowa

by Crazy Horse on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 04:55:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Whoa poemless (none / 0)

Forget "obvious." I was just quoting you. You wrote those words. If you didn't mean them, why did you write them? Humour? Dead ignorant people are funny to you?

And you can make all the mafia jokes you want, but I am in the Teamsters and my dad is Sicilian and I know people who've been killed by mafia, so you're probably talking to the wrong person if you are trying to impress.

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

by poemless on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 05:19:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Just a quick vignette (4.00 / 2)

Well, I agree with you, though I don't think Nazi Germany or even mafia-style stuff is really what CH was heading for. Note:

that would then be in favor of environmentalism and against morality. So, what to do?

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 05:02:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

So knocking out the powergrid for several weeks would be the humane thing to do with people who have opinions they are not entitled to by right?

So people would not watch FOX.

The power was out for several days in a row in Chicago as a result of/during a heatwave. Something like 600 people died, mostly the elderly and poor. Like mostly the elderly and poor died during Katrina. There was a storm that knocked out power for a week in a small town in southern IL where my brother was an emt. They were working 24/7 trying to take care of people with breathing machines, people with various illnesses. They could not save everyone. Many people would not be able to work with the power down, and people who stand a paycheck away from homelessness. Emergency communications would be effected. Hospital equipment would be effected. There would be deaths, many, and not humane, if we were to embrace this "solution." His word, not mine. These are not lives anyone has the right to determine to be collateral to the higher purpose of solving the environmental problems. Which may very well happen even despite our best efforts. But that's a lot different than imposing this as a "solution."

And again - people are entitled to their opinions. By birth. Not because someone on a blog deems their opinions worthy.

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

by poemless on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 05:16:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

You say above you quoted CH, but you ignored the bit I quoted. You're ascribing a whole bunch of opinions and proposed actions to him that he's not pushing.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 05:25:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

For me, the best solution would be US wide grid failure, so people couldn't watch Fox for a few weeks.

He wrote that, so yes, I am ascribing it to him. Normally, that's how it's done.

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

by poemless on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 05:32:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Smart folks know: we have to destroy this planet in order to save it.

I'd like to chat up crazy horse, actually. I will be in Deutschland for a bit next summer...assuming my banks stay solvent, the power grid is online, the farms can still deliver food to the city, the airlines can afford jet fuel, the US allows me to leave the country after they find out I read this web site, Bush hasn't declared himself emperor in late October, highway 101 up to SFO isn't barricaded by Mad Max fashion conscious survivalists, my neighbors haven't killed me for my caloric content, I haven't shot myself out of fear, my dessicated body isn't found in the deserts of Nevada after a heroic escape from post apocalyptic San Francisco filled with mutated zombies, and Planck's constant stays, well, constant.

That's what I like to call a fuckload of issues to contend with. The deck is stacked against me - I've got lottery odds at best that I'm on that plane to New Zealand on November 3.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Thu Jul 17th, 2008 at 03:40:07 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Just a quick vignette (4.00 / 2)

People are recommendng this?!!!

Whoa.

I don't know you at all.

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

by poemless on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 04:32:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Flying north out of Newark at night is my favorite for views. Perfect view of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty.

Doesn't the Mississippi run through the ATL suburbs, though?

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 01:31:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Not recently.

It may have in the Cretaceous but you'd have to ask Nomad for a considered opinion.

:-)

Och nu den svenska kocken bakar en Alaskan älg jägare. Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!

by ATinNM on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 01:57:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Nah (4.00 / 2)

Nothing considered about it, I'm just googling. My interest in geology of the USA lies in the southwest, Yellowstone, the Basin and Range, the Cascades and all features of neotectonics. The east coast has never tickled me much.

There was a nice Cretaceous ocean covering the heartland of the States, but I don't recall the extent of it.

by Nomad on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 05:09:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Just the other side of Jackson.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 04:57:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Why? (none / 0)

Are you going to do your ten days wrist rest now? (;

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. --Charu Saxena.

by metavision on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 11:36:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: How to fight jetlag (4.00 / 2)

managed another 4 hours' sleep - just in time for another confcall - but at least I'm feeling fine and rested...

Take it from one who's been there: try not to make that a habit. Your health will suffer in strange and inexplicable ways.

Somewhere in cyberspace, the ghost of de Chardin is smiling.

by budr on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 12:10:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: How to fight jetlag (4.00 / 3)

Have a great time at NrN this year Jerome. Sadly, I won't be there this year.

by Maryb2004 on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 02:26:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: How to fight jetlag (none / 0)

I thought you were planning to go? What happened? I think Izzy's also not going. Wasn't there going to be some Austin ET meetup?

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

by poemless on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 03:37:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: How to fight jetlag (none / 1)

Some talk of such, never materialized.

Och nu den svenska kocken bakar en Alaskan älg jägare. Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!

by ATinNM on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 03:49:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: How to fight jetlag (none / 1)

I was supposed to go but it just didn't end up working out for a variety of reasons. I didn't give up on the idea until a couple of weeks ago.

by Maryb2004 on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 05:37:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

For Poemless (4.00 / 3)

A Private Dick in Russia

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 11:17:24 AM EST

Re: For Poemless (4.00 / 2)

Is this safe for work? ;)

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

by poemless on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 11:18:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: For Poemless (none / 1)

Absolutely!

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 11:19:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: For Poemless (4.00 / 2)

"Extensive business relations with ... the FSB" Well that's reassuring.

This just has to be the definition of capitalism: Spying on your friends like in the old days, only now we'll send you the bill.

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

by poemless on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 11:32:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: For Poemless (4.00 / 2)

looking at tat website, it looks like they've already decided that the suspect is oriental, seeing the evidence being examined with the magnifiying glass.

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.

by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 11:21:50 AM EST
[ Parent ]

And onwards... (4.00 / 15)

Today I completed my 27th rotation around the sun.

by nanne (zwaerdenmaecker@gmail.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 11:29:36 AM EST

Bon anniversaire! (4.00 / 7)

But, but, but... 13 billion kilometers!? What's your MPG? Are you carpooling at least?

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (jeromeguillet@yahoo.fr) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 11:39:46 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Earthpooling (4.00 / 7)

Somewhere between 4.5 and 6.6 billion people...

by nanne (zwaerdenmaecker@gmail.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 02:12:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: And onwards... (4.00 / 3)

Happy Birthday, nanne! Hope you didn´t get too crispy. (;

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. --Charu Saxena.

by metavision on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 11:45:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: And onwards... (4.00 / 3)

Good work, Nanne! Keep orbiting!

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 11:57:38 AM EST
[ Parent ]

We gets too soon old, (4.00 / 7)

and too late smart. How'd you beat the system?

paul spencer

by paul spencer (spencerinthegorge AT yahoo DOT com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 12:09:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: We gets too soon old, (4.00 / 4)

I blame the internets

by nanne (zwaerdenmaecker@gmail.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 02:14:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Happy Birthday!

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 01:31:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Happy Birthday Nanne!

I told Bush; don't play chess with the freakin' Russians.

by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 01:43:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Happy Birthday!

by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 02:44:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Herzlichen Glückwunsch (4.00 / 3)

zum Geburtstag, Nanne!

by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 03:11:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Herzlichen Glückwunsch (4.00 / 6)

Nanne, i've stolen Fran's post to wish you the same, but now i don't have to switch keyboards to get the umlaut. I hope your birthday is full of sushi and Caol Ila, just like the olden days. While most wishes are likely to be many more revolutions around the sun, mine is more simple.

Make each one count, and build on all you've accomplished in the previous revolutions.

Make a great party tonight, bis nächstes Mal in Berlin, und genau wie wir Deutschen sagen, Herzlichen Fuckin' Glückwunsch, mein Freund.

Skennah Kowa

by Crazy Horse on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 03:50:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Happy Birthday! I hope all that orbiting hasn't made you dizzy.

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 06:35:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Does anybody have experience with, know something about, or can direct me to a review of a hearing aid Xplore manufactured by Resound? What would be interesting is how it compares to "Miracle Ear" or a digital equivalent to such.

Och nu den svenska kocken bakar en Alaskan älg jägare. Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!

by ATinNM on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 11:30:45 AM EST

Sorry. What did you say? I live in a Very noisy neighborhood, although it looks like a ghost burb.

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. --Charu Saxena.

by metavision on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 11:49:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]

What is miracle ear?

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 01:05:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

It's a brand of hearing aid.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 01:32:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Yup.

A friend of mine is being pressured by his doctor to replace his old hearing aid with a snazzy, new ... hideously expensive ... replacement. I'm trying to find out if he should blow them off or buy the thing.

Och nu den svenska kocken bakar en Alaskan älg jägare. Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!

by ATinNM on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 01:54:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Wednesday Open Thread (4.00 / 5)

Do they get to try one out before they decide to buy?

Miracle ear? What a fucking patronising name for a hearing aid. They are not cures. Hearing aid adverts piss me the hell off too. Really plays on making people normal again, you'll be so happy and full of joy with your grandchildren if you have X brand.

Anyway, I don't actually know about particular brands because with the NHS they fit me with the best hearing aid for my type of deafness. I have Phonak, which I've always had although different models of it.

Is it an in the ear or visible hearing aid your friend needs? And how does your friend find the current one, what are the pros and cons of wearing it?

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 06:33:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

He can try it out for 30 days but they will charge a 10% ($500) restocking fee should he decide to return it.

Miracle ear? What a fucking patronising name for a hearing aid.

Please don't shoot; I'm only the messenger. :-)

The ads here in the states for these things are disgusting. They come as close to saying, "Be able to hear! Just like a REAL person!" as they can without actually saying it.

I don't actually know about particular brands because with the NHS they fit me with the best hearing aid for my type of deafness.

That's what you get for being pinko commies. Here we get to choose (and pay for) our own doctor who makes the diagnosis who then ships you off to a another company who will sell you an approximately appropriate model that almost matches your needs from the stock they have in the store for as much money as they can. That the NHS provided the correct model for your needs only goes to prove how inept Socialized (teh Horror! teh Horror!) Medicine is.

questions ... I get questions ....

Beats the hell outta me. I don't know anything about hearing aids, the various brands, the various products, their good and bad points, which one is best for what, when, and why.

He's not happy with "Miracle Ear" as they fit entirely in the ear or, rather, they almost fit entirely in the ear until they fall out. The batteries are expensive, don't last very long, and when they start wearing out the hearing aid issues an annoying beep-beep-beep every minute or two, which drains the batteries even faster. In that mode it's a hearing aid that prevents the user from hearing. This is called "Modern American Engineering & Design to the Highest Standards."

The one he told to get fits behind the ear with a tube, of some kind, running into the ear somewhere, somehow. (As I said, I don't know anything about these things.) To try them out, find-out how they actually work, will cost $500. A sum he would like to avoid paying, if he can.

Anyway -- Thank you for the attempt to help. It seems he is going to have to get over his internet phobia and ask around himself.

Och nu den svenska kocken bakar en Alaskan älg jägare. Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!

by ATinNM on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 08:47:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Wednesday Open Thread (4.00 / 5)

Wow, so I am lucky. When I got my hearing aids I went to the store, they measured my hearing and concluded that I need the aids - obviously. :-) Then they recommended a specialist (doctor) to repeat the measuring and write a report to the IV (sort of a handicapped insurance, (who pays pensions to people who can not work because of health reasons), which then concluded that my capacity to work and earn a living is would be strongly limited without the HA. So they would pay a fixed amount for the hearing aids and also payed the fee for the doctor, the rest I would have to pay myself. Luckily the basic health insurance also payed a small amount, so that what I endend up paying was doable. I tried three different aids from different brands until we found the one I felt most comfortable with, with no fee. Even today the service from the hearing aid store, for cleaning and checking the hearing aids is free. I also could demand the money back for the batteries from the IV, which currently I am not doing, as I feel they have been generous with me, and currently I can afford to pay for them myself.

The problem might come if I need new hearing aids. They seem to have become fancier, at least according to the adds and thus also much more expensive, but the fee from the IV has not increased, to the contrary they want to reduce it. But overall, I really appreciated the support I got when I bought them 6 years ago and the support I still receive.

Getting hearing aids is really not like getting eyeglasses - which sort of fix the problem instantenously, the hearing doesn's get as good again as the sight with the glasses.

by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Jul 17th, 2008 at 01:23:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Are there any hearing aid user internet forums in the US? There are some in the UK where hard of hearing people can share experiences. Don't go for any cultural Deaf forum but one for deafened/hard of hearing/ hearing impaired and you'll be met with a friendly audience who hopefully can advise.

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Thu Jul 17th, 2008 at 05:42:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Friday's Photo Blog. (4.00 / 2)

We'll do "Anything Goes" again. I've discovered a great new "Anything Goes" intro for the photo blog!

I told Bush; don't play chess with the freakin' Russians.

by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 01:46:49 PM EST

So, trying to stay awake during the All-Star game last night, during commercials I was watching Charlie Rose, who was interviewing economists about our little situation. Jesus, it was like, this must have been what people listening to "War of the Worlds" felt. I mean, they were basically like, "Oh, we're all gonna die." One guy just kept saying, "It's so creepy. Creepy! That's the only word for it. That should be the economic terminology for it. It's just <<shudder>> creepy!" He looked like he hadn't slept in a few weeks. He seemed like a smart academic sort, an old guy, who was probably sharp and eloquent, but who'd just experienced some trauma and was now reduced to uttering "creepy creepy creepy" as a bit of drool escaped his mouth. His eyes looked genuinely scared. Then a young woman was talking, and she was in agreement, but had a different attitude. Like people who go on scary rides at the fair. She knew it was going to make her scream and puke, but she was a bit giggly with the adrenaline rush. Charlie asked if it would be worse than the Great Depression, and her eyes lit up. She said it could, probably would, but ... we don't know where it will end. We have no idea. She said that like Willie Wonka, with that mad gleam in her eye. Oh, yeah, we're all gonna die. Isn't it just ... wild? This all went on from the 10th to 15th inning. At which time I went to bed, before the American league won (I blame myself.) But not before the same program (Charlie Rose, not the game) featured some energy expert saying something about nuclear being able to only generate a fraction of what renewables could, for much more cost. I liked him. But he looked a bit frazzled too.

Here:
http://www.charlierose.com/home

It's the Tuesday July 17 show, when they have the video up.

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

by poemless on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 02:05:24 PM EST

Well, you know poemless; us old guys scare real easy :-)

I told Bush; don't play chess with the freakin' Russians.

by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 02:23:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Well, it's tragic, but, yeah, I guess I can see how it might give some economists the same feeling that normal people get when they watch porn. I think the woman is looking at it a little too much like an academic in a cushy job, and not enough like a human. The old guy sounds a bit too worried. I don't think it's going to be another Great Depression. People always throw around references to the Depression when the economy goes downhill (This is it!), and I think it underscores a failure of many people to appreciate how bad things truly were back in the 1930s.

Not to say it couldn't happen with this downturn, but I think there's some Chicken Little-ism going on among some economists. And certainly you have quite a few of the survivalist-type libertarians out there in the blogosphere who are cheering for another depression.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 03:22:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Wednesday Open Thread (4.00 / 4)

My 97 year old Father-in-Law is saying our current situation reminds him of 1929, after the stock market crash, but before the disasters of 1930. If things hold to the pattern we've got about a year before a full blown Depression hits.

A good thing is the strong chance the GOP will be powerless. With a Democrat in the White House and both houses controlled by Democrats some of the pre-conditions for solving and alleviating the conditions exist. At least due to the last tattered shreds from the New Deal they won't rule out "Socialist" (eek!) Solutions from the get-go. But in the current political climate I doubt they will enact the emergency measures needed to slip by an economic crises.

Och nu den svenska kocken bakar en Alaskan älg jägare. Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!

by ATinNM on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 03:47:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Like I said, I'm not suggesting it's impossible that this is something like the Depression. I'm just saying it's unlikely things get that out of hand. Remember the Depression became the Depression largely as a result of Hoover and the Fed doing the exact opposite of what they were supposed to do. The current situation, to me, feels more like 1980 than anything else, except to say that Bush actually deserves a lot of blame, unlike Carter.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 05:16:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

How old were you in 1980?

You're younger than I, iirc, and all I can remember from 1980 is what kindergarten felt like. The Letter People and learning my phone number and playing with my friend Andie, whose house smelled weired, and milk break and the kid who stole the flowers we brought for the teacher... Oh, and early morning pony rides. Ponies and milk and cookies is what 1980 felt like to me.

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

by poemless on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 05:30:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Erm, I was -4.

So, technically, it didn't happen, I suppose. ;)

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 05:38:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

the Fed doing the exact opposite of what they were supposed to do.

Can you trust the Fed to do what it´s supposed to do now....?

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. --Charu Saxena.

by metavision on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 05:43:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

We're not even close to being in the same environment as we were in 1980. As I wrote on another thread, what with the various Peaks running around and Global Climate Change to boot as well as the economic problems we've got a serious crisis on our hands. Applying the solutions of the eighties or the thirties isn't going to cut it.

Och nu den svenska kocken bakar en Alaskan älg jägare. Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!

by ATinNM on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 09:11:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

If it weren't for the FDIC, wouldn't this already be like another 1929?

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

by poemless on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 05:25:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Not even close. It doesn't even measure up to the S&L crisis for now (nor is it likely to in terms of the number of banks that fail [knocks on wood]).

The Dow dropped pretty close to 50% of its value in a matter of a month in '29 and didn't recover until the mid-'50s. The current market's off about 20% from the high last fall, so it's a bear market (which is still rubbish), but nothing like the ferocity of '29.

And, as I said to AT, if we were facing a '29-like crash, then I think it would be the case that Bernanke's probably reacting in roughly the correct way, compared with the Fed of the Great Depression.

But I think Bernanke's overreacting and casting the net too wide on what constitute critical financial institutions.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 05:55:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Not the market itself, but the people running to the banks to get their money out...

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

by poemless on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 06:02:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Sure, but that's happened before, not just in 1929. Banks fail, and people rush to get their money out, even though they know it's insured today.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 06:09:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

For the last couple of weeks I've been looking at Youtube videos trying to get a handle on the New Media. One of the things I've been looking at are videos from and inspired by Portal© a computer game. At the end of the game, after GlaDOS - the enemy AI the player has been seeking - is killed she sings a little song Still Alive while the credits roll.

voila

It struck me how this reflects the mythos of what is happening in the Meat World.

Och nu den svenska kocken bakar en Alaskan älg jägare. Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!

by ATinNM on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 02:46:08 PM EST

Should have posted this

first. Gives an idea of the role of GlaDOS in the game.

Och nu den svenska kocken bakar en Alaskan älg jägare. Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!

by ATinNM on Wed Jul 16th, 2008 at 02:55:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]