Healthcare must be operated as a public resource, not a private profit center. But the HMO parasite is deeply, deeply embedded in America and it damned well won't go without a fight.

Well, American here....I'll say "No:Yes" in answer to you here.

As others have mentioned, for an example of how well the federal govt in the US runs healthcare, just look at the VA system.

No thank you, I would NOT want to depend on that system for my healthcare...I'm doing MUCH better now with things as they are, even as screwed up and $$ as they are.

But for point #2, with HMOs...I agree....when those parasites came into the system, it blew up.

If there was some way we could go back to those days, when I was a kid...Dr.s largely hung their shingle out and generally worked with people as to what they could pay. And people could afford it.

Insurance back then was knows as "Major Medical"...and THAT is what is was used for...an emergency that you could not afford, like a heart attack or getting hit by a bus.

Why? No middle men...and not as much litigation by $$$ grubbing lawyers. Dr's today have to keep rates up high to fight off the scum lawyers.

Are there bad Drs and malpractice? YEs, but not to the extent of litigation levels we see today.

If we could get the for profit corporations out of hospitals and go back to older ways....it would be much nicer.

But an emphatic NO to having the Feds run nationalized healthcare. We have it and it is NOT pretty.

Not only that, but the US could NOT afford to give that same level of BAD care to everyone in the US, it would bankrupts us even faster than were going into debt now as it is.

Again, very American. We all need money, but for some cultures it is not the top priority.

Well, we are talking about the US and American culture here, so the comments are apropos.....

So, what other cultures think or prioritize doesn't mean jack shit in this conversation....

As part of a deal to raise the country's debt limit last year, Congress required changes to the National Environmental Policy Act, a 54-year-old bedrock law that requires the government to consider environmental effects and to seek public input before approving any project that necessitates federal permits. That bipartisan debt ceiling legislation included reforms to the environmental law designed to streamline the approval process for major construction projects, such as oil pipelines, highways and power lines for wind- and solar-generated electricity. The rules released Tuesday, by the White House Council on Environmental Quality, are intended to guide federal agencies in putting the reforms in place.

But they also lay out additional requirements created to prioritize projects with strong environmental benefits, while adding layers of review for projects that could harm the climate or their surrounding communities. "These reforms will deliver smarter decisions, quicker permitting, and projects that are built better and faster," said Brenda Mallory, chair of the council. "As we accelerate our clean energy future, we are also protecting communities from pollution and environmental harms that can result from poor planning and decision making while making sure we build projects in the right places."

So...the Biden administration took law passed and signed by Biden, and THEN added and manipulated this law to fit their ideas and goals?

This sounds exactly like what the SCOTUS has been doing slapping the hands of executive agencies that were essentially making law up to suit themselves....this time, it appears the Biden admin is going to before even pushing this to the executive agencies?

Ugh...I see lawsuits coming.

Congress GAVE him some clean energy bits in the law, but they couldn't be satisfied with that and are trying to basically make new law that suits them more?

The executive branch isn't supposed to legislate, they don't make law.....yet, here they are apparently trying to again.

(I miss that).

This stuff, will never be 100% safe from external enemies, nor people with casual access being nosey and potentially getting into your business.

That's bad enough for medical....sure it could happen in paper record days, but it was a bit more difficult in many areas that you had to gain physical access to the facility, access to the storage area, looking around with people working around there with you, etc.

None of this was from the safety of a keyboard 1000's of miles away...

And as for mental info...geez, I'd NEVER go somewhere where I told people things it was even written down, much less stored in a database system.

You're just asking for potential life ruining situations by doing that. I guess if you're hearing voices and hallucinating, that's one thing...but someone that is basically sane, giving out their deepest, innermost thoughts to someone recording it...well, you're risking things there.

I wouldn't do it...

And none of this I mentioned, was concerning major efforts today, to gather than info and put you on "a list".

That stuff is happening now....

... and her job is to make sure this country has a diverse, plentiful, and cheap energy supply.

The trouble is, this administration is filled with extreme green folks that are determined to take the US off fossil fuels....whether we are ready or not with alternate sources.

That ready with alternate sources includes comparable cost/pricing so as not to raise prices and increase inflation even more.

This makes you a huge part of the problem. Instead of using your own money and saving, you're perpetuating a continual cycle of debt. You're sitting there telling everyone you _should_ live your life on credit.

Apparently you missed the part where I said I paid off my card balances EVERY month....basically like spending cash, however, I get cash back on those cards (not mentioned in OP), so it actually saves me a little.

In no way was I advocating going into CC debt...I was advocating just the opposite.

Maybe go back and re-read what I said.

Apple still has room to improve the hardware in many ways. Most important is that it's not high resolution enough to use as a second monitor for your laptop. Text is harder to read than on the laptop screen itself. This is a big disappointment.

Oh no...THAT was one of the things I was thinking of as a reason to buy one...along with how you described the large movie experience (especially on an airplane).

Well, darn...maybe the next version.

I need to go down and at least do a demo and see for myself.

You know what isn't social? Having a physical barrier that isolates you from others. So while Apple will tout the device's AR capabilities, show us ads with fathers participating in birthday parties while wearing the headset, and slap some creepy eyes on the outside that fail to make eye contact, so far as everyone around you is concerned you're just wearing a VR headset. The world doesn't care that you say you can see it, it can't really see you because you made a choice to physically separate yourself. You're distant. You're disconnected. You're removed. You're not present in the moment, no matter how much you insist to the contrary. And that's fine when you're at home playing games or watching a movie by yourself, but it's a really tough sell out in the rest of the world where things are social.

My use case for this thing...and I'm still considering it....is EXACTLY for times when I want to not be social and want to isolate from surroundings.

There are good times for this you know.

I'd LOVE it for flying on an airplane...tune out the whole plane and watch movies on a HUGE screen.

I'd like this also while on travel, in my hotel room to be able to open up multiple large screens to do work, browse the web, etc.

Hell, if you were forced to come into the office to work, it might be nice to cut the world off....people use headphones for just that, why not do the visuals too?

Remember, there ARE good times to be alone you know.

I'd be pretty sad if I were stupid enough to finance $3900 on a gadget with no financial return potential. No idea what the terms are for such financing, but at 6% over 36 months (eg. similar to what you'd pay for a car loan) you're paying an extra $500 on that price. That's insane to me.

Well, if you have the Apple Card and finance through Apple Pay, I think you can get from 12-24mos interest free....

I bought my Mac Pro that way and got an additional 3% off which covered part of the sales tax.

I paid it off....no interest.

Dunno if this guy did it....if not, guessing he IS paying interest which would suck.

If you don't have the cash to buy the latest gadget for entertainment, you shouldn't be buying it. I have no sympathy.

Yep....the only way I "finance" is something like if they give me 6-12-24 months interest free, then sure I'll take it.

BUT I only do this when I have cash in hand to buy it....I'll then take that cash and invest it in my market account of high yield savings and earn a bit of interest on it while making my monthly payments....

Going into debt is never a really good idea in general.

Look. We get it, not everyone is rich or has disposable income to blow on hobbies. But there are plenty of people who get actual enjoyment out of early adopting and playing with tech. Don't judge what brings other people joy, and guess what, it's those people like us who allow those people like you to get a bargain on second hand 3 year old gaming PC gear. ... You struck a nerve with me, I today sold an RTX2080 for 1/4 what I bought it for. Do I regret the purchase? Not for one second. Do I think I would be better off having waited 3 years? Not for one second. Using something I bought is not the same as having money disappear from a bank account. You on the other hand may not get pleasure from playing with the cutting edge, or being an early adopter. That's okay. We all like different things.

I'm not wealthy either. Not by a long shot.

I have some disposable income....and I tend to buy 1-2 HIGH dollar items a year.

I save for them....and generally drop cash on them, unless they give 12mo interest free or something, in which case I put that cash in high yield savings or other investment and make interest while paying monthly.

The thing is...living within your means.

Just my philosophy....and if you're not taking out loans and going into debt doing this stuff...no big deal, but dropping cash and into heavy debt is never a smart play.

Sheesh....

We hear about all the kids with college debt....are these the same ones racking up huge extra debt by financing "gaming rigs" or things like AVP?

I think even in junior high school, we had one class that showed us budgeting, writing checks (yes I'm old)...etc.

I understand that it's easy and common to get into CC debt...I did once too, but not so horrible I couldn't get out of it.

I have huge CC limits, but I just charge and pay off fully each month.

When I want something BIG...I enjoy saving for it and researching the living fuck out of it to make sure I can get the best I can afford and be exactly what I want with no buyers remorse.....

Am I the only one that does this anymore or something....?

Of course plenty of American's also can't be assed to just put things in a trash can so we end up with limp paper straws.

Thankfully...nowhere I've ever lived or visited so far in the US have had any of these paper straw mandates.

Isn't that pretty much just a California thing anyway?

...but any plan that relies on human beings changing behavior en-masse is almost always doomed for mediocrity in outcomes.

Yeah...but paper straws SUCK!!!

I'll stick with my plastic ones thank you....