40 Comments

The 0.75% rate hike begs the question; Why didn't the Fed take less drastic steps earlier rather than wait until it was necessary to increase the rate by 75 basis points? Wasn't this foreseeable? It gives the impression that the Fed members suddenly looked up at their TV screens one evening and said "holy crap, we have to do something!" Now the markets sense the urgency and are reacting accordingly which means we all suffer on multiple levels.

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Jun 16, 2022·edited Jun 16, 2022

It’s an unfortunate assumption that it’s “better than the alternative…” and explains much of the rise in healthcare costs in America over the last 20-30 years… not sure if stat is still true, but it used to be that 90% of healthcare costs incurred over the last 90 days of a patients life… because essentially, we can keep someone alive almost indefinitely… “better than the alternative” implies we SHOULD… but for anyone who’s sat on a death bed watch, or watched a loved one spend weeks or months, kept alive by machines with virtually zero quality of life, they know the fallacy of this assumption… as healthcare continues to “improve” and we are able to keep individuals alive with multimorbidities for longer and longer with increasingly deteriorating quality of life, at some point we must address this frantic desire to live “one more day” at any cost…

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When did the California man attempt to murder judge Kavanaugh? First time I’m hearing about this.

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THANKY THANKY THANKY for all your kindnesses ❤❣💕💞 Perhaps now I can start my adult life. Nah, Iyam having too much fun. Why ruin a great childhood now!

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just celebrated the 80th birthday

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First off, I’m freaky claustrophobic and in the last few days I’ve read headlines about double decker airline seats. Just Reading about this kicked in my phobia big time I’ve experienced first hand anxiety attacks in Business class seats to Europe So I can’t be the only one and airlines may want to research a little more

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Nine chronic conditions? Here's your tenth: Pain. Chronic pain affects most of that list of nine to a degree that unless you're actively dealing with pain daily, you're just not going to understand anything about it at all.

Pain wears you down like nothing I've ever seen. It makes you incredibly uncomfortable, sad, and miserable. Every morning is sheer agony for me to just make it out of bed and get to my meds to start the day. Pain level? Nine. No lie. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. That bad.

Why are so many of us suffering from items on this list? Easy. It's cheaper to wear us out, and then pay us a crappy "wage" to sit at home, than to accommodate us on the job to prevent the injuries in the first place. Sad but true. We're just an expendable line item cost to a company.

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Your article about multimorbidity calls another expression into question: That which doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.

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"Chinese interpreter?" Say what? Uhh, that is a huge No-no. When you have a Commercial Drivers License you're not supposed to need an interpreter at all. Ever.

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“ Better than the alternative “, is it really!!!

I’m in my early 50s diagnosed with Cancer , went through hell with the chemo treatment, and got remission. No they tell me either do a bone marrow transplant with its risks specially with no good match and probably another 6-12 month of hell for a chance to be clear and life to expected age, or do nothing, and cancer will come back more aggressively, in 2 month or in 5 years, but no control after.

I’m in the dilemma 0f choosing pain now and risk, or pain later and risk.

I choose the alternative !

Apologies for the dark reply, but getting old too fast too soon is not fun, living for just living is also not fun. I ask my self why we look for a longer life, when we achieved what we persuaded in life. I fear the next chapter will be pain for me and for the people around me.

The alternative is better, “in some cases”!

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Fascinating research included today, and it particularly resonated with me. My great-grandfather celebrated his 99th birthday in January. He is a prostate cancer survivor and his most pressing ailments at the moment are asthma and a cane he's started using in the past 3 years so. He only turned in his driver's license some 5 years ago.

His six children range in ages from their late 70s to early 60s, and none of them have any chronic illnesses. All still drive and are very independent, with only one of them not having retired yet. It does not escape me that all this would have been a pipe dream 30 years ago, and that none of them would have enjoyed the same fate had they not moved from Ecuador to the US from the 1970s and onward. I'd like to think it's no coincidence that my grandmother is still healthy and active living in the US in her early 70s while my grandfather (her first husband) lived in Ecuador his whole life and died of a very aggressive cancer 16 years ago.

As for my great-grandfather, I'm convinced he'll stubbornly hold off until he becomes a great-great-grandfather. Just for sh*ts and giggles.

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Now that I'm 80 and have people ask me how I am, my response is, "Great! I woke up." The warranty has run out and life is still good.

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Just a couple of things change as we get older. You no longer have a left or right side. It’s changed to good side and bad side.

When you trip when you are younger your friends laugh at you. As you age they run over and ask if you are alright.

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Today's article is why I'm a (free) subscriber. Well, the "free" part is an issue of finances, & yes, the dumb jokes are something I can live with; but anyhow . . . At age 70, taking 7 pills a day, going to specialists every 6 months or so, just now divorced after 33 years of marriage (& a buncha kids all launched out there), losing my balance, arthritic, not driving much because I fall asleep at the wheel . . . You know what? This is a lot better than the alternative. And I, too, laughed the first time I used the phrase, a lot of years ago.

Now, both sides of my family are long-lived -- things can happen, but on average even without modern meds I could expect to live well into my 80s. But at 70 I am in better shape than either of my grandfathers were at the same age. What I see for my future is a semi-retirement, working at things I love while doing other things I love, none of them overwhelming, until the big guy tells me I can't do it anymore. It really doesn't get better than that. My ex-wife, similar family circumstances, has a similar outlook, even though our different views finally led us to break up in order to pursue those separate visions. Even if I live no longer than my grandparents my mobility, my ability to continue doing things I love, is much better than the alternative. And I am very well aware, and very grateful, that I am among the most fortunate.

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Bill, this is incredibly timely as I am dealing with my Mom’s issues of falls with a 93-year-old. We are living longer, and for me, that does not sum up necessarily to a good thing. Long and short, if I can be active, travel, be with kids and family and friends, then place me in the forest with a center Starbucks hot chocolate and turn the wolves loose! Longer is not always better!

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founding

Still getting a paywall on every article of NYT origin.

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