The choreography of this dance is stellar!
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B
Bernard
@Bernard
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Olympic figure skating team -
Olympic figure skating teamI like this Italian couple's music choice.
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Olympic figure skating team -
Little known provision in spending bill signed this weekTestosterone-lower drugs and radiation are standard treatments for prostate cancer.
From Robert Reich:
Unfortunately, testosterone-lowering drugs have some unpleasant side effects — fatigue, weight gain, declining bone and muscle mass, reduced sex drive, impotence and erectile dysfunction, hot flashes, mood changes, liver damage, and greater risk of heart attack.
Think menopause for men.
Long story short, I was about to take a testosterone-reducing drug when a doctor offered a second opinion, urging me to use estrogen (estradiol) patches instead. She told me about recent research in the U.K. showing the patches to be just as effective as testosterone-reducing drugs in lowering testosterone and fighting prostate cancer — but without most of the awful side effects.
Oh, and the patches are far cheaper than the drugs.
So, you may ask: Why are testosterone-reducing drugs still being prescribed when they have all sorts of lousy side effects, and when estrogen patches are just as effective without most of those side effects, and they’re cheaper?
Answer: because pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) prefer the more expensive drug treatment.
Okay, now I need to give you a bit of background on PBMs.
PBMs rake in big profits by controlling the pharmaceutical market and siphoning off some of the profits to the biggest insurance companies, from which they extract rebates.
Ergo, they have every incentive to push for pricier drugs because that’s where the money is. (This also explains why research into cheaper remedies is so often done in the U.K. and elsewhere rather than in the United States, where the PBMs have a lot of influence over what’s researched.)
Under former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan (whom I spoke with recently), the FTC released a series of damning reports on PBMs — and filed a critical antitrust case against them for inflating the prices of insulin.
The FTC found that the big three PBMs — Caremark Rx, LLC (affiliated with CVS), Express Scripts, Inc. (with ESI), and OptumRx, Inc. (with OptumRx) — marked up generic drugs dispensed at their affiliated pharmacies by thousands of percent.
Lina Khan says these include many lifesaving drugs, such as those to treat cancer.
Which is why Pharmacy Benefit Managers have been pushing more expensive drugs to treat prostate cancer — drugs that also have worse side effects than estrogen patches.
But here’s the good news. Congress has just reined in PBMs.
Based on the work of Senators Ron Wyden and Mike Crapo, Congress issued rules that prohibit PBMs from discriminating against smaller pharmacies or keeping any part of the rebates they extract, limiting them to flat dollar amounts rather than percentages of a drug’s price, and requiring them to give their customers full pricing information.
The new rules were included in the DHS spending bill that Trump signed into law Tuesday. Most of these changes will go into effect in 2028.
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Icebreakers (A New Yorker documentary)Lovely.
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CA gets to keep it's new congressional mapPer SCOTUS! Any little bit of good news is welcome in these dark days.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed California to use a new voter-approved congressional map that is favorable to Democrats in this year’s elections, rejecting a last-ditch plea from state Republicans and the Trump administration.
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Let's talk miso@Daniel I wish I had enough money to afford both!
If I could truly afford a place in the country and a place in the city--I would most likely spend most of my time in the country. So I think that's the answer.
It may simply be due to the fact that I was born and grew up in the country. I know people who were born and grew up in the city and I suspect it might be hard for them to imagine living full-time in the country. But everybody is different, so who knows.
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Let's talk misoThere was a restaurant on St. Marks Place in the East Village that I used to frequent that made a terrific miso salad dressing. Just fabulous.
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NIPSCOCapitalism at it's finest. :rolleyes:
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RIP Chuck Negron -
Beware of anti-woke liberalshttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/03/anti-woke-liberals-helped-trump-win
The point is not that what progressives do must never be criticized; the point is that the relentless drive to find fault with both sides equally results in a sense of (false) equivalence among those taking cues from supposedly trustworthy centrists.
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Remember how NH was going to get rid of car inspections?Why? Supporters of the repeal argue inspections are outdated and expensive. “It’s a scam,” said Rep. Sam Farrington. “The data shows inspections don’t actually lead to safer roads. They just lead to $1,000 repair bills people weren’t expecting.”
The bill's supporters say the program is simply a cash cow for mechanics (inspections are $50). A scam.
The republicans in the NH Senate are currently working on an amendment to the bill which they hope will satisfy the judge.
Although I don't know what's in the amendment, I suspect it's along the lines of re-instating emissions inspections without all the rest. So a very pared down inspection.
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Claiming disability@wtg said in Claiming disability:
You’d be stupid not to game the system
That's a pretty bad mindset.
It's called dishonesty. Lying. The people who do this are cheats.
The same with using AI to do their homework.
No respect. I abhor cheats.
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Happy Groundhog DayWe always get six more weeks of winter. GD is a scam, I tell ya!
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Remember how NH was going to get rid of car inspections?Maybe, maybe not. There's now a temporary injunction preventing the law from going into effect tomorrow. Lawsuit was brought against the state by the company that was contracted to run inspections.
https://www.wmur.com/article/injunction-new-hampshire-vehicle-emissions-tests/70173940
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WTF CookbookIt's very cold here. I'm making white borscht to warm me up.
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Melania, the movie isn't doing too well@Mik I think the " I really don't care" jacket went a long way towards turning people off. She was the first 'lady', and I think it showed extremely bad taste.
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WTF CookbookI just made this. It's super good. The ingredient amounts don't seem to be enough while preparing it, but it comes out perfect. I don't have Korean chili flakes so I used Chili Crisp, and it's wonderful.
Korean Carrot Salad
1 lb carrot 1 tsp kosher salt 1.5 tbsp sugar 2 tbsp white vinegar (I used rice vinegar) .5 tbsp Korean chili flakes (gochugaru), or .25 tsp cayenne pepper + 1 tsp paprika 3 tbsp oil 1 tbsp minced garlic Peel the carrots and cut them into thin strips. I used my food processor. Put the carrots in a bowl, sprinkle with salt, and let them sit for 10 minutes to wilt. Mix in the sugar, vinegar, and chili flakes. ( or cayenne pepper and paprika). Toss well. Heat the oil over medium-low heat and sauté the garlic until it becomes aromatic (don't burn it!). Pour the warm garlic oil over the carrots and mix.Serve warm or cold.
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Keep it up Democrats in Congress ...@wtg I'll admit it makes me nervous. Give them an inch, they'll take a mile. But it does seem to accomplish what we wanted: to separate DHS from the rest of the funding. Two weeks isn't very long.
I wish to heck though, that Congress would do it's proper job and just stop it with the constant CRs. It's no way to run a government.
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Bygone car featuresInteresting watch. Explains the reason behind several car features that have disappeared since the 'old days'. I always wondered about some of these and why we don't see them any more.
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