[Doomsday Economics] your economic system is a piece of shit

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > [Doomsday Economics] your economic system is a piece of shit

(Thread IKs: skooma512)

FistEnergy: Nov 3, 2000; DAY CREW: WORKING HARD; Fun Shoe

LinkedIn sucks but I opened an account at the beginning of the year and built a network of thousands to hopefully give me some additional resources and job prospects if I get laid off and my family is put in jeopardy.

I know it won't help but posting is free when you're doing it at work.

# ? Jun 12, 2023 23:29

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# ? Jun 7, 2024 22:15

Nuclearmonkee: Jun 10, 2009

FistEnergy posted:

LinkedIn sucks but I opened an account at the beginning of the year and built a network of thousands to hopefully give me some additional resources and job prospects if I get laid off and my family is put in jeopardy.

I know it won't help but posting is free when you're doing it at work.

this is the only purpose of linkedin. doesn't make it suck any less.

# ? Jun 12, 2023 23:30

rex rabidorum vires: Mar 26, 2007; KASPERI KAPANEN KASPERI KAPANEN KASPERI KAPANEN KASPERI KAPANEN KASPERI KAPANEN KASPERI KAPANEN KASPERI KAPANEN KASPERI KAPANEN KASPERI KAPANEN KASPERI KAPANEN KASPERI KAPANEN KASPERI KAPANEN KASPERI KAPANEN KASPERI KAPANEN KASPERI KAPANEN KASPERI KAPANEN KASPERI KAPANEN

silicone thrills posted:

americas test kitchen has me wanting to buy a carbon steel pan. I like cast iron but am intrigued at something being slightly lighter weight.

Worth it? Yes/No ?

edit: ah gently caress i thought this was the cooking thread. oh well.

They own. Huge fan.

# ? Jun 12, 2023 23:31

skooma512: Feb 8, 2012; You couldn't grok my race car, but you dug the roadside blur.

silicone thrills posted:

americas test kitchen has me wanting to buy a carbon steel pan. I like cast iron but am intrigued at something being slightly lighter weight.

Worth it? Yes/No ?

edit: ah gently caress i thought this was the cooking thread. oh well.

I have a carbon steel wok but it's heavy as gently caress, I think like 14 pounds.

Other than that, it's great.

silicone thrills posted:

grew up poor with hand me down cast iron and going to swap meets with my dad and picking up more beat up cookware. You can get cast iron non stick but it needs to be smooth bottomed and you cant achieved that easily with a brand new lodge unless you want to take a grinder to it right after buying.

non stick (teflon and all its permutations) cookware is a waste and a mistake - both because it doesnt tend to last long and because its actively giving erryone cancer. Thanks dupont and 3m.

Ya I've banned all nonstick cookware in my kitchen. Metal or nothing. I've also been using an induction hob as much as possible since I have a galley kitchen in a 1bedroom apartment and don't want to choke on nitrogen dioxide.

skooma512 has issued a correction as of 23:35 on Jun 12, 2023

# ? Jun 12, 2023 23:32

mad.radhu: Jan 8, 2006; Fun Shoe

Glumwheels posted:

Were coolers always so expensive? I don�t remember them being so expensive and now even at Costco they sell coolers for well over $100. I always blamed it on loving Yeti driving up the prices because once other brands saw idiots paying so much they decided they could do it too.

unfortunately Yeti and a couple other manufacturers had a bit of a coup when they convinced the parks department their containers were 'bear proof', so instead of having to bear box all your food you can just keep your ice chest in your camp ground. There's a list on a government website of which specific models are allowed.

# ? Jun 12, 2023 23:34

School Nickname: Apr 23, 2010; *fffffff-fffaaaaaaarrrtt*

ikanreed posted:

Both loving and hating cast iron is classism.

But I have never regretted my expensive stainless steel set.

Bougie stainless steel owner, much like myself. Takes getting used to, but at least I can chuck the cheaper sets in the dishwasher without giving a gently caress if I'm lazy. I still handwash my demeyere, which I may have hosed cooking steaks on high for too long. Flat irons double in thickness as they cook, what else can I say.
I still use tefal for scrambled eggs as I couldn't be arsed mastering them on stainless.
Carbon steel (especially woks) is useless on my electric hob due to shape change.

# ? Jun 12, 2023 23:34

Canned Sunshine: Nov 20, 2005; CAUTION: POST QUALITY UNDER CONSTRUCTION

BULBASAUR posted:

REI can be cool, but they have insane prices, like $20 for dried soup mix before inflation even was a thing

also hassling you for a membership at every single moment

Reminder that REI is very anti-union, so don�t shop there unless you have to

# ? Jun 12, 2023 23:47

Glumwheels: Jan 25, 2003; https://twitter.com/BidenHQ

mad.radhu posted:

unfortunately Yeti and a couple other manufacturers had a bit of a coup when they convinced the parks department their containers were 'bear proof', so instead of having to bear box all your food you can just keep your ice chest in your camp ground. There's a list on a government website of which specific models are allowed.

Is that how they justify the high price? Idk, I�m not a cooler person at all. I don�t camp, I don�t go places that require a cooler, I don�t do things like that. I don�t like them.

I hike and I have a child carrier and water bladders for backpacks, that�s it.

# ? Jun 12, 2023 23:47

Antonymous: Apr 4, 2009

err posted:

Several months? Lol

China would do it overnight.

but at what cost

# ? Jun 12, 2023 23:48

ikanreed: Sep 25, 2009; I honestly I have no idea who cannibal[SIC] is and I do not know why I should know.

syq dude, just syq!

SourKraut posted:

Reminder that REI is very anti-union, so don’t shop there unless you have to

And they have the balls to call themselves a co-op, while loving their employees hard

# ? Jun 12, 2023 23:51

mawarannahr: May 21, 2019

SourKraut posted:

Reminder that REI is very anti-union, so don�t shop there unless you have to

what outdoor consumer products store isn't?

# ? Jun 12, 2023 23:52

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

euphronius posted:

you may be able to get cheaper camping stuff at estate sales or just stealing it from other people

also a lot of libraries lend out stuff like tents these days (along with tools).

# ? Jun 12, 2023 23:53

ArmedZombie: Jun 6, 2004

SourKraut posted:

Reminder that REI is very anti-union, so don’t shop there unless you have to

it's a "co-op" how could it be anti-union?!

# ? Jun 12, 2023 23:56

mawarannahr: May 21, 2019

Willa Rogers posted:

also a lot of libraries lend out stuff like tents these days (along with tools).

for inquirers: not in King County or Seattle but KCLS does list a few organizations (membership or payment might be required idk): https://kingcounty.gov/depts/dnrp/solid-waste/programs/ecoconsumer/outdoor-gear-libraries.aspx

# ? Jun 12, 2023 23:59

Xaris: Jul 25, 2006; Lucky there's a family guy
Lucky there's a man who positively can do
All the things that make us
Laugh and cry

ikanreed posted:

And they have the balls to call themselves a co-op, while loving their employees hard

it IS a co-op�. just a customer co-op. which is basically just a Walmart and completely opposite a workers co-op

it would make sense the richass boogie fat pigs �customers� aka shareholders would be rapidly anti union and anti-employee

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:02

gradenko_2000: Oct 5, 2010; HELL SERPENT; Lipstick Apathy

3M gave everyone turbo cancer but they also make N95s, so its impossible to say whether they're bad or not

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:02

Canned Sunshine: Nov 20, 2005; CAUTION: POST QUALITY UNDER CONSTRUCTION

ArmZ posted:

it's a "co-op" how could it be anti-union?!

Because it�s the most capitalist co-op of all: a consumer co-op!

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:04

ArmedZombie: Jun 6, 2004

SourKraut posted:

Because it’s the most capitalist co-op of all: a consumer co-op!

doh!

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:04

Canned Sunshine: Nov 20, 2005; CAUTION: POST QUALITY UNDER CONSTRUCTION

gradenko_2000 posted:

3M gave everyone turbo cancer but they also make N95s, so its impossible to say whether they're bad or not

Hey, it�s not the Teflon that causes the cancer, it�s the oven. Just like guns, you�re simply using it wrong! :smugdog:

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:05

Paradoxish: Dec 19, 2003; Will you stop going crazy in there?

Pepe Silvia Browne posted:

"they just give you a new car!"

I kept upgrading my cars this way for about 15 years, no insurance fraud required, because I'm apparently so unlucky and people are so lovely that my cars kept getting totaled while I was sitting at red lights/stop signs. Buying manual transmission cars also meant that it was basically impossible to find anything equivalent for a normal market price, so the payouts just got bigger and bigger while my insurance premiums kept going down for my completely clean driving record.

The only cost was that I now have some insane tics at red lights because I'm expecting some drunk person to come barreling out of nowhere and push me to the other side of the intersection at any moment. Driving is cool.

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:06

Vox Nihili: May 28, 2008

Xaris posted:

it IS a co-op…. just a customer co-op. which is basically just a Walmart and completely opposite a workers co-op

it would make sense the richass boogie fat pigs “customers” aka shareholders would be rapidly anti union and anti-employee

It's also a fake customer co-op in a lot of important ways. The co-op designation suggests that the customer-members select its management, but actually a management committee gets to hand pick who is nominated for those positions. Then the members can "vote" to confirm the pre-selected nominees (almost no one actually votes, in part because it is a sham anyway). So there is no real governance by the members, and a huge chunk of the profits are given to executives. So the members aren't really the ones who direct the anti-union policy, since they have no real say, although they benefit from it.

It is true however that they do not have corporate shareholders.

Vox Nihili has issued a correction as of 00:17 on Jun 13, 2023

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:15

euphronius: Feb 18, 2009

seeing the enshittification effect everywhere and it�s bumming me out

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:20

skooma512: Feb 8, 2012; You couldn't grok my race car, but you dug the roadside blur.

Vox Nihili posted:

It's also a fake customer co-op in a lot of important ways. The co-op designation suggests that the customer-members select its management, but actually a management committee gets to hand pick who is nominated for those positions. Then the members can "vote" to confirm the pre-selected nominees (almost no one actually votes, in part because it is a sham anyway). So there is no real governance by the members, and a huge chunk of the profits are given to executives. So the members aren't really the ones who direct the anti-union policy, since they have no real say, although they benefit from it.

It is true however that they do not have corporate shareholders.

Woah, I'm glad it doesn't work that way with actual governance :thunk:

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:26

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Another piece about the cancer-drug shortage:

quote:

Chemotherapy shortages push cancer centers toward crisis

Cancer centers are contending with shortages of key chemotherapy drugs, with potentially dire consequences once the scarcity starts hitting patients.

A new survey released this week by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) found that 93 percent of cancer centers are reporting shortages of carboplatin and 70 percent are reporting shortages of cisplatin. These two drugs are commonly used together to treat a wide variety of cancers � including breast, lung, prostate and many types of leukemias � often with the aim of curing them.

The survey conducted in May found that cancer centers were still able to treat patients with cisplatin without delays or claim denials, but only 64 percent of centers were able to keep patients on a regime of carboplatin. A fifth of cancer centers said they were able to continue prescribing carboplatin for some but not all of their patients.

According to Mike Ganio, director of pharmacy practice and quality for the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), the U.S. is seeing �a near-10 year high in active ongoing shortages."

Much of the current shortages stem from a major interruption in manufacturing that occurred when a facility in India, run by Intas Pharmaceuticals, halted production in March after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) discovered a �cascade of failures� in the plant�s quality control.

The FDA issued an import alert to the facility last week, stating all future shipments originating from the facility would be denied admission into the U.S. except for 24 drugs that are in short supply, including carboplatin and cisplatin.

�These are critical oncology medicines,� Alyssa Schatz, senior director of policy and advocacy for NCCN, said.

�I think the good news is that there are safe alternatives in many cases, but NCCN is concerned that a lack of guidance and clarification from payers on how those drugs will be covered with or without prior authorization can cause harmful delays in care,� she said.

Schatz noted that when cancer care was disrupted during the pandemic, insurance companies responded by providing flexibilities with telehealth and releasing guidance on coverage when it came to oral equivalents of chemotherapy that could be sent through the mail.

To help with the current chemotherapy shortages, she said insurance providers must provide this same type of response, providing clear guidance on waiving prior authorization for chemotherapy alternatives.

The shortages of these critical medications has caught the attention of Congress with Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin (Ill.), Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), Gary Peters (Mich.) and Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) recently calling on the FDA to take immediate action, such as importing chemotherapy drugs and alternative treatments from other countries.

FDA Commissioner Robert Califf appeared to heed these calls when he announced last week that his agency would to allow the �temporary importation of certain foreign-approved versions of cisplatin products from FDA-registered facilities.�

The FDA is working with Qilu Pharmaceuticals in China to increase the availability of cisplatin and Canadian pharmaceutical company Apotex to distribute it.

These short term fixes may improve the situation for the time being, but stakeholders warn that drug shortages are an ever-increasing problem that needs to be addressed at the systemic level.

Schatz cited lower-priced generics as one factor behind drug shortages, albeit in a roundabout way.

�Paradoxically, low drug prices are a key driver of this shortage. We often hear about how the US overpays for drugs, but that conversation is primarily related to brand-name drugs,� said Schatz. �Generics manufacturers operate on a razor thin margin and that can lead to quality and supply issues.�

These margins pressure manufacturers to operate at near-capacity and reduce the number of makers in the market, leaving it vulnerable to shortage when crises occur.

�We�re talking about things that have low profit margins. Therefore there�s little incentive to invest in facilities, there�s little incentive for manufacturers to get into manufacturing those products,� Ganio from ASHP said.

Healthcare organizations continue to urge Congress to advance policies that incentivize manufacturers to invest in critical drug production, for cancer and other diseases, and improve how the Strategic National Stockpile functions and encourage stronger manufacturing quality.

To that end, Reps. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) reintroduced the Essential Medicines Strategic Stockpile Act earlier this year. The bill would direct federal agencies to develop a stockpile of 50 generic drugs at risk of shortage that could supply U.S. patients with their medicines for six months.

While this bill would not address the root cause of shortages, it would provide the market with a supply of drugs while a disruption to the supply chain was addressed, experts told The Hill.

In a letter to Califf and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on Thursday, a bipartisan group of 70 House lawmakers asked the officials how the federal government can improve its oversight and enforcement of pharmaceutical supply chains in light of the chemotherapy shortage.

�Patients, physicians, and pharmacists are often the last to know when an essential drug will no longer be available, yet, are affected by these shortages the most,� they wrote.

�We strive to ensure patients, physicians, and pharmacists never have to experience shortages of essential medications, but when shortages do occur it is vital that these individuals are made aware as quickly as possible so that they can better prepare.�

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4043094-chemotherapy-shortages-push-cancer-centers-toward-crisis/

In other pharma news, both Merck & the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have sued the feds bc of the weaksauce drug controls that may or may not kick in for a handful of cancer drugs paid for by Medicare that were included in the weaksauce legislation that weaksauce Biden got passed by congress last year.

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:26

ikanreed: Sep 25, 2009; I honestly I have no idea who cannibal[SIC] is and I do not know why I should know.

syq dude, just syq!

euphronius posted:

seeing the enshittification effect everywhere and it’s bumming me out

It vaguely resembles the tendency of profit to... Do something?

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:33

ikanreed: Sep 25, 2009; I honestly I have no idea who cannibal[SIC] is and I do not know why I should know.

syq dude, just syq!

Decide?

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:34

ikanreed: Sep 25, 2009; I honestly I have no idea who cannibal[SIC] is and I do not know why I should know.

syq dude, just syq!

Deceive?

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:34

Shear Modulus: Jun 9, 2010

euphronius posted:

seeing the enshittification effect everywhere and it�s bumming me out

it's called creating shareholder value

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:35

Shear Modulus: Jun 9, 2010

ikanreed posted:

Decide?

ikanreed posted:

Deceive?

double (number go up)

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:36

shrike82: Jun 11, 2005

https://twitter.com/markets/status/1668367735724621828?s=20

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:38

BULBASAUR: Apr 6, 2009; Soiled Meat

look we can't repair the bridge quickly because we need months to assess how much value can be extracted from everyone involved

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:39

skooma512: Feb 8, 2012; You couldn't grok my race car, but you dug the roadside blur.

BULBASAUR posted:

look we can't repair the bridge quickly because we need months to assess how much value can be extracted from everyone involved

Hang on someone 10 miles away doesn't think the replacement looks nice, so they're preparing to sue and all work must halt.

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:42

Asproigerosis: Mar 13, 2013; insufferable

Willa Rogers posted:

Another piece about the cancer-drug shortage:

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4043094-chemotherapy-shortages-push-cancer-centers-toward-crisis/

In other pharma news, both Merck & the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have sued the feds bc of the weaksauce drug controls that may or may not kick in for a handful of cancer drugs paid for by Medicare that were included in the weaksauce legislation that weaksauce Biden got passed by congress last year.

Nuclear medicine has forever had constant drug/isotope shortages because of the whole razor thin profit margin so only one company in the world bothers to make the stuff anymore thing. It loving rules we have no government subsidies for critical drugs.

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:44

skooma512: Feb 8, 2012; You couldn't grok my race car, but you dug the roadside blur.

The market will uh, provide.

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:45

Paradoxish: Dec 19, 2003; Will you stop going crazy in there?

Asproigerosis posted:

Nuclear medicine has forever had constant drug/isotope shortages because of the whole razor thin profit margin so only one company in the world bothers to make the stuff anymore thing. It loving rules we have no government subsidies for critical drugs.

Are you trying to suggest that public health is a societal concern? Because we've recently had a referendum on this very issue and I think you'll find that public health does not matter at all.

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:46

Kesper North: Nov 3, 2011; EMERGENCY POWER TO PARTY

skooma512 posted:

The market will uh, provide.

The market hasn't given me a dinosaur apocalypse yet damnit

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:49

triple sulk: Sep 17, 2014

Nuclearmonkee posted:

this is the only purpose of linkedin. doesn't make it suck any less.

linkedin is useless now. not even good for connections. it's full of lunatics and grifters

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:53

Asproigerosis: Mar 13, 2013; insufferable

skooma512 posted:

The market will uh, provide.

The market is very poor at providing radioactive material fwiw

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:56

Engorged Pedipalps: Apr 21, 2023

triple sulk posted:

linkedin is useless now. not even good for connections. it's full of lunatics and grifters

login to linkedin, care emoji at my former co-worker's latest multi-page hotep screed, block the person trying to get me to sell insurance

it checks out

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:59

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# ? Jun 7, 2024 22:15

holefoods: Jan 10, 2022

Antonymous posted:

but at what cost

about a 10th of the cost since they don�t have to involve 50 contractors who know they can fleece the government

# ? Jun 13, 2023 01:05

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > [Doomsday Economics] your economic system is a piece of shit

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