Politics

[Killingtime]

If you trust them. Also, $1,500 trumps $25K. I don't think Anthem covers Thailand. Post surgery care would have to be done here, so that would also cost a lot. How was your surgery at Thailand?

Some things I would trust overseas hospitals. I will be doing a complete check up and tests later on this year overseas. Total cost will be $4K - $5K, here it would be a lot more.

Executive physicals at mayo are 4500-8500 and insurance will cover a lot of the tests ( you pay upfront then they bill insurance).
Turkey will do more tests and runs about 500-3k but you will be there for a week and have to add the flight and hotel expenses to that sum.

Brent from AZ is right though about Thailand I have serveral friends who do or have lived there that were fighters or bodybuilders ( different rules on peds make it a hotspot for that profession). A lot of the services are free or incredibly affordable if out of the pocket without insurance. My buddy had private insurance and used private hospitals which would be what many wealthier expats or foreigners would use and it is very good and much cheaper for many then in the states.

I am fortunate to have very good insurance and they pay for almost everything so I have never gone out of country to get medical personally though I consider stem cells from Panama or Mexico due to quality and price differences vs the us.

The thing that is shocking here is the cost that medical charges insurance companies my mother had two knee replacements about three years apart one they charged 25k and one was 200k.. made zero sense when I looked at the billing.(thank god for insurance)

Ps it does sound like you were/are a very good boss that took care of his employees.

 

[wesheltonj]

. . . The thing that is shocking here is the cost that medical charges insurance companies my mother had two knee replacements about three years apart one they charged 25k and one was 200k.. made zero sense when I looked at the billing.(thank god for insurance)

Ps it does sound like you were/are a very good boss that took care of his employees.

I can assure you that no Physician or Hospital is paid Invoice price.

 

[Hunt anything]

Was I dreaming but I think I saw a Democrat testifying to Congress take the 5th amendment when the guy ask how she wanted to be addressed? She had a hyphenated name.

 

[Tanks]

Turkey will do more tests and runs about 500-3k but you will be there for a week and have to add the flight and hotel expenses to that sum.

That's where I will be doing the tests. Staying at a friend's pied-à-terre on the Bosphorus so hotel is not an issue. Travel will be incorporated into a trip to Europe and Istanbul is THY hub, so no extra cost for a stopover. Plus Istanbul is magical, especially the food.

 

[Hunt anything]

That's where I will be doing the tests. Staying at a friend's pied-à-terre on the Bosphorus so hotel is not an issue. Travel will be incorporated into a trip to Europe and Istanbul is THY hub, so no extra cost for a stopover. Plus Istanbul is magical, especially the food.

I’ve heard that about Istanbul from my daughter, she always has a planned lengthy layover there on her way to Pakistan for work.

 

[Killingtime]

I can assure you that no Physician or Hospital is paid Invoice price.

I understand that sir.
That’s the part that I have a problem with. They set a outrageous price that has no market standard knowing that they will not get it then the insurance company pays them a percentage of it then they (I’m assuming this part) write off the part not covered. If you pay out of pocket without insurance the same procedure is vastly different in price then if you have insurance… always nominally cheaper(why is that) I’m aware out of pocket cost will be more then what many with insurance will personally pay.

But if you look at pharmaceuticals I know for a fact that if a pharmacy has a gag order(the owner of ways2well in Austin TX has talked about this) then you walk in to get your prescription and their cost is as a example $2 they would charge you $4 but as soon as you present or mention insurance they can’t tell you that so they run your copay for $10 or $20 then kick pay the pharmacist $3. This is a real example that the customer pays more and the pharmacist makes less but the insurance makes a more. It happens 100,000’s a times a day here in America.

My wife had surgery years ago and I went to the pharmacy in hospital to get her stuff before I checked her out. I had my insurance info at the house and decided to pay upfront and file later. Three meds cost me a total of 8 dollars. My copay would have been higher. Ironically the 24pack of ibuprofen was $10 at the register and the 800mg ibuprofen which was one of her prescriptions was under $2.

 

[Killingtime]

That's where I will be doing the tests. Staying at a friend's pied-à-terre on the Bosphorus so hotel is not an issue. Travel will be incorporated into a trip to Europe and Istanbul is THY hub, so no extra cost for a stopover. Plus Istanbul is magical, especially the food.

I’m doing one at mayo in the fall but my wife has been pushing to do one in turkey and make it a trip. I’ve never been so it is good to hear that Istanbul is a good vacation destination

 

[Altitude sickness]

The U.S. healthcare system is a mess. With dozens of causes. Lawsuits, uninsured, fraud, millions of illegals collecting benefits.

One rarely discussed is the catastrophic level of physical health of the U.S. population. Obesity, diabetes, heart disease. Is VERY expensive.

Many countries are cheaper because they aren’t subsidizing 80% of the populations poor health.

 

[rookhawk]

Just to brag a bit. I was actually a trillionaire before Musk.

View attachment 770610

One of my PHs told me her Mom packed her one of those metal school lunchboxes every day that she had to carry separately from her food. Its contents? Full to the top with One Hundred Trillion Dollar Bills. The use? It took the entire filled lunchbox to pay for her bus fare each day.

 

[Tanks]

I’m doing one at mayo in the fall but my wife has been pushing to do one in turkey and make it a trip. I’ve never been so it is good to hear that Istanbul is a good vacation destination

Our favorite place to stay when we have to stay at a hotel is Pera Palace Hotel, a centrally located iconic hotel, used to be a favorite of Agatha Christie. Across the street at top level of Marmara Hotel is Mikla, one of many Michelin star restaurants in Istanbul and the concierge can easily get you a dinner reservation. Well worth it and the cost is just about the same as a steak dinner for two at a decent restaurant here.

Pera Palace Hotel - Iconic and Historical Hotel

You are right in the heart of Istanbul. Pera Palace Hotel has been welcoming you for lasting moments and fascinating experiences since 1892.

perapalace.com

Many things to do. One other thing I'd recommend is to hire a private boat for a Bosphorus tour (2 hours), not that expensive and well worth it. In this instance for 12 people including snacks, fruit and drinks were less than $200.

If you guys decide to go, let me know and I will make further suggestions.

 

[Tanks]

You don't know the half of it. I'll do you two better. I was an early investor in Tesla, back when it was $27-$36/share. Buying every share I could afford. When all the right-wingers in my office were laughing at me, telling me it would go bankrupt and that i'd loose all my money. And that electric cars would never work, and that it was a fad, and a flash in the pan...blah blah blah.

And then after it boomed I buy my own (lightly used) tesla with a fraction of my winnings. I now bought SpaceX stock with some of my Tesla winnings too...I just happen to think that billionaires (oops...trillionaires) should stay out of politics and pay their taxes.

So, you like the value you got from Musk's efforts but hate the fact that he also profited from it.

Also, I am sure they pay all the taxes owed. As far as getting involved in politics is concerned, it is self-defense. If one side, once they get into power, wants to confiscate your life's work, it makes logical sense to get involved so they are not able to do that.

 

[rookhawk]

So, you like the value you got from Musk's efforts but hate the fact that he also profited from it.

Also, I am sure they pay all the taxes owed. As far as getting involved in politics is concerned, it is self-defense. If one side, once they get into power, wants to confiscate your life's work, it makes logical sense to get involved so they are not able to do that.

You know how you can tell a leftist from a classical liberal?

A classical liberal cherishes the first amendment. As such, they recognize that Musk's purchase of Twitter restored free speech in America and in so doing, forced his competitors to compete in a free-speech arena rather than go bankrupt.

A leftist hates Musk because free speech destroys their arguments that only function in a curated echo chamber unopposed.

As to SpaceX, I'd remind everyone that Musk got rich in that endeavor by doing what NASA said was impossible. So impossible they said, no private individual should be allowed to "try" to create and launch reusable space craft. The result was incompetent government was dead-wrong. NASA had a 75 year head-start on space logistics and yet their cost to launch a KG into space is between $40,000-$700,000 USD. Musk can send a KG into space for $1400-$3000 USD. Musk will do more to change the world than NASA because he has bent the cost curve to make all logistics cost-effective for the first time.

Give it ten years of further exponential efficiency through reuse and you're going to see Musk's rockets launching to opposite corners of the globe in minutes with emergency military logistics at around half the speed of light.

The applications of affordable logistics are truly endless. This was the same short-sightedness people had with Jeff Bezos' Amazon. The morons thought he was trying to compete with Barnes & Noble for the cheapest paperbacks, he was actually building the most efficient logistics company on planet earth.

History rhymes and leftists whine. Nonetheless these billionaires are changing the world for the material benefit of everyone.

 

[PARA45]

I played soccer in high school, and played for the base team at Castle AFB. I like soccer, specially the World Cup. I do however, hate the drama and acting on the field. Play like real men, not like a bunch of sissies.

 

[Killingtime]

Our favorite place to stay when we have to stay at a hotel is Pera Palace Hotel, a centrally located iconic hotel, used to be a favorite of Agatha Christie. Across the street at top level of Marmara Hotel is Mikla, one of many Michelin star restaurants in Istanbul and the concierge can easily get you a dinner reservation. Well worth it and the cost is just about the same as a steak dinner for two at a decent restaurant here.

Pera Palace Hotel - Iconic and Historical Hotel

You are right in the heart of Istanbul. Pera Palace Hotel has been welcoming you for lasting moments and fascinating experiences since 1892.

perapalace.com

Many things to do. One other thing I'd recommend is to hire a private boat for a Bosphorus tour (2 hours), not that expensive and well worth it. In this instance for 12 people including snacks, fruit and drinks were less than $200.

View attachment 770770

If you guys decide to go, let me know and I will make further suggestions.

Thank you so much tanks. Memorial sisli, and acibadem maslak are the two my wife had looked at and there are right by that hotel.
My wife is a a big Agatha christie novel fan from her younger years so that would be a nice bonus to that hotel.

I do a physical every year and a executive one every other so Istanbul is gonna done after this one. The hotel, restaurant and boat tour sound wonderful. And I love historic buildings.

One one separate note is Istanbul a city you would feel comfortable taking little kids with you for a vacation or is it better suited for just me and the wife

 

[Tanks]

Acibadem is what I would recommend. Kids are fine.
Below is group picture of my kids and 4 grands kids from the Bosphorus boat trip.

 

[Tanks]

Iranians must be fans of the project management doctrine where deliverables are always “Real Soon Now”. And Trump buys into it.

Iran Signals No Deal Will Be Signed by Trump’s Sunday Timeline — Bloomberg

Iran pushed back on US President Donald Trump’s assertion an interim peace deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was imminent, as an Israeli strike on Lebanon posed a potential new risk to any agreement.

apple.news

 

[Big_Easy]

So, you like the value you got from Musk's efforts but hate the fact that he also profited from it.

Also, I am sure they pay all the taxes owed. As far as getting involved in politics is concerned, it is self-defense. If one side, once they get into power, wants to confiscate your life's work, it makes logical sense to get involved so they are not able to do that.

Ahh yes, more conspiracy theories and straw man arguments. I never hated the fact that Elon profited from it, and the democratic party is not trying to "confiscate" his life's work. But I do enjoy me some right-wing fan-fiction, so keep it up.

 

[Killingtime]

Ahh yes, more conspiracy theories and straw man arguments. I never hated the fact that Elon profited from it, and the democratic party is not trying to "confiscate" his life's work. But I do enjoy me some right-wing fan-fiction, so keep it up.

Who would you say is the future face of the Democratic Party

 

[Tanks]

Ahh yes, more conspiracy theories and straw man arguments. I never hated the fact that Elon profited from it, and the democratic party is not trying to "confiscate" his life's work. But I do enjoy me some right-wing fan-fiction, so keep it up.

Sanders, Warren and others have been pushing for a wealth tax. CA Democrats are about to pass a ballot measure for the same. Heck, Sanders wanted 50% of SpaceX and future AI IPOs to go to the government to make it "fairer".

Wealth tax is confiscation. They are going for it even though it has never been successful anywhere in the World and rescinded in most locales that attempted it.

Furthermore the proposals are for 5% or so. Except very little of that wealth is liquid. So, in order to pay that 5% they have to sell their stocks. So, assuming they are held long enough that is 20% minimum capital gains, then the wealth tax of 5% on top of that. In CA of course you are adding another 13% tax as well. So, the proposal for the CA 5% will end up to be 33% on sale of assets and then you pay the 5%.

 

[Big_Easy]

You know how you can tell a leftist from a classical liberal?

A classical liberal cherishes the first amendment. As such, they recognize that Musk's purchase of Twitter restored free speech in America and in so doing, forced his competitors to compete in a free-speech arena rather than go bankrupt.

A leftist hates Musk because free speech destroys their arguments that only function in a curated echo chamber unopposed.

As to SpaceX, I'd remind everyone that Musk got rich in that endeavor by doing what NASA said was impossible. So impossible they said, no private individual should be allowed to "try" to create and launch reusable space craft. The result was incompetent government was dead-wrong. NASA had a 75 year head-start on space logistics and yet their cost to launch a KG into space is between $40,000-$700,000 USD. Musk can send a KG into space for $1400-$3000 USD. Musk will do more to change the world than NASA because he has bent the cost curve to make all logistics cost-effective for the first time.

Give it ten years of further exponential efficiency through reuse and you're going to see Musk's rockets launching to opposite corners of the globe in minutes with emergency military logistics at around half the speed of light.

The applications of affordable logistics are truly endless. This was the same short-sightedness people had with Jeff Bezos' Amazon. The morons thought he was trying to compete with Barnes & Noble for the cheapest paperbacks, he was actually building the most efficient logistics company on planet earth.

History rhymes and leftists whine. Nonetheless these billionaires are changing the world for the material benefit of everyone.

You appear to be blaming NASA when you should be blaming the politicians, specifically...congress. The reason why we had an inefficient and expensive space shuttle program? Congressional Mandates. The reason why the SLS is so expensive now? Congressional Mandates. The reason why NASA employees and contractors are scattered all over the country? Congressional Mandates. The main reason for the Challenger disaster? Congressional Mandates.

You also conveniently left out that the space shuttle program ended during Obama's first term because it was a waste of money, and he redirected funds into new programs like the Commercial Crew Program. The same one that helped to financially prop-up SpaceX in the early years. Despite politicians on both sides demanding he keep the old space shuttles flying, and a personal plea from John Glenn. Some private companies in the sector are doing a good job (SpaceX), and some are doing a shitty job (Boeing).