oxide

is tylenol, not aspirin. unless the formulation has changed.

I'm not sure of any generic formulations of hydrocodone that are made with aspirin and widely prescribed.

there are some like Percodan but those are 5/325 AFAIK and oxycodone, not hydrocodone.

I'm not a doctor though, just a nerd.

>But not daily. I probably take it once per week on average.

My grandmother shits and pukes blood if she takes NSAIDs of any kind, from long-term, daily misuse. I'm not exaggerating even a little bit, I wish I was.

A direct result of being denied access to proper pain relief, mind you, mainly because she lived her entire life without health insurance. Until she turned 65 and qualified for Medicare last year. I had to take every NSAID out of the house, and throw them away, because every time she ran out of opiates for pain relief she'd over-compensate with a handful of NSAIDs which resulted in some scary events, including coffee ground bowel movements which were in fact blood from her stomach. As well as constant vomiting, etc.

My grandfather is similarly damaged from being recklessly over-prescribed NSAIDs, namely 800mg ibuprofen up to 8 times per day, resulting in shitting and puking up blood. He can't have more than an 81mg aspirin now.

/anecdotal evidence

it's a veritable fuck-ton. the usual modern dose is 325mg.

Parties I attend tend to have both plenty of marijuana and beer handy. People want to drink for a variety of reasons.

Sure, some people (myself included) prefer a bit of weed or a brownie over a few beers, but that's a personal preference thing.

hell, my grandmother smokes marijuana and still has a beer or two before bed.

/anecdotal evidence

seriously, my scrawny ass was never good at sports, I had one or two friends growing up at any given time until I was in highschool and starting smoking, which apparently made me cool enough to get to know.

before that, school was misery.

I spent many teenage hours in front of my computer, making friends, some 15 or so years long friendships were born during that time, people I still regularly talk to and spend time playing games with.

I discovered that I did have a skill, when I thought myself directionless and skill-free: I knew how to fix a computer, because I spent so much time troubleshooting my own issues.

Not only that, but when I moved to competitive gaming on my computer, I suddenly realized I was good at competition in some field.

Sure, it wasn't your traditional competitive outlet, but it was one I wasn't picked last in.

Games like Counter-Strike I could come out on top in and feel as if I just won the regional championships, the feeling the kids who were good at physical sports must have felt regularly.

I saw the appeal of regular sports, suddenly. The value of competition and watching someone so much more skilled than you could ever be play a sport at the absolute top-level.

I'm not disabled, transgendered, or anything else. Just a socially awkward red-head who spent most of my elementary and middle school years either embarrassing myself or wishing I wasn't so goddamned awkward.

In and after high-school, that all changed. I had a circle of friends during this time, something I had never had before. Something I still cherish.

Imagine the Turkish coup was organized and executed properly and they succeeded.

Who takes power? Does it create a vacuum? A civil war? I often ponder these "alternate history timelines" and try to imagine what the world might be like.

Ah, but try to take away the monopolies and they throw money at it until you lose.

First they'll lobby. If that fails, they'll sue. They'll have all kinds of bullshit reasons why this is necessary for growth, investment and infrastructure.

They have better access to legislators and regulators, as well as more sympathetic ears in the government due to having, for lack of a better term, monopoly money to throw around.

It's frustrating to say the least.

The stuff we see in Wisconsin for example, IMO, is directly connected to the 1980's rhetoric and sentiment around unions that never went away.

While both sides have perfectly valid arguments for and against unionization, there is no compromise or middle ground to be found, only partisanship from the politicans who are charged with finding compromises, who have the power to make and break unions.

I do agree with your point about efficency declining, but I also smell a fish when it comes to partisan politics surrounding unionization of workers. Both sides seem too concerned with ultimatiums and heel-digging.

Surely there is a way to compromise, but if neither side will sacrifice you can't get anywhere at all.

That truly is admirable.

These examples of ignorance remind me of my own similar anecdote:

I attended a dinner, out of politeness, with my grandparents and their friends. A man staying with them saw me puffing on my personal vaporizer, cornered me, and proceeded to tell me that he was diagnosed with lung cancer after trying to switch to a PV himself.

"I smoked cigarettes for 30 years, never had a problem. Those electric things cause cancer!"

Now, I know there is no long term research into electronic cigarettes or their health effects. However, he was clear that he had only quit cigarettes for maybe 2 months before being diagnosed.

To suggest, with a straight face, that 30 years of cigarette smoke couldn't possibly be responsible for his lung cancer...I'm not sure how he came to such a conclusion other than misinformation.

Which is discriminatory, what's your point? That racists are going to discriminate regardless?

Well, as in other areas, there will always be abusers. Drug testing welfare reicpients, for example, is a slap in the face to small government ideals and does absolutely nothing to deter abuse.

The truth is the abusers are the exception, not the norm.

Regulations and legalisation are not unlike a doorlock. It might keep out those who would steal given a free pass to do so, but anyone more determined will make short work of it.

You can't legislate against that kind of abuse, the abuse of a black and white law prohibiting this type of discrimination for example.

It's clear to me that you can't regulate someone out of being a racist prick, an addict, etc. They just keep coming up with a new way to do whatever the fuck they please.

Calling this concept anything but "internet freedom" once it crossed from "concept" to "mainstream political debate" is a little bit like shooting your horse in the hoof before it leaves the gate.

Sticking to "net neutrality" seemingly resulted in ISP's treating the phrase like courts treat jury nullification and the FCC making this an across-the-isle issue about corporate investment and infrastructure costs rather than regional monopolies, tiered access, slow lanes, etc.

I'm not naive enough to blame this on the name alone, but I'm also curious to see how net neutrality might fair when pushed onto ISP's and mobile carriers alike as "internet freedom."

My grandparents tend to watch a lot of reality TV. On the History Channel, Discovery Channel, all the channels that used to have interesting, educational content like documentaries.

I've noticed it's the same kind of show (mostly): someone lives in a harsh environment or otherwise away from civilization.

I think they're...living vicariously through it? They love the outdoors, hunting and fishing, etc. They are a bit too old and tired day-to-day to go and do the things they always have loved, but they get something out of watching others brave the elements.

That's completely irrelevant.

The Cold War didn't end after the fall of the wall, IMHO.

We've been fighting a repeat of the 80's proxy war in Afghanistan for nearly 15 years. Roles reversed, though. Russia arms the Taliban, just like we did in the 80's with the Mujahadeen.

Syria, another blatant proxy war, is probably a better example. We're arming rebels and providing support to fight Russian (and therefore communist) interests. Sounds just like the Cold War to me.

With the recent Russian propoganda campaign (see: "fake news") going over so well that they took to celebrations in the streets, expect a lot more funny business in elections in the West.

France's election seems to be the next plaything for Russia to influence, it's setting a precedent that will restore Russia to superpower status if allowed to continue unchecked.

The power of the internet works both ways. Information, and therefore misinformation, is spread more quickly than ever. Propoganda has never been easier to dress up and present as fact. Nor have people been so willing to eat it by the spoonful, as long as it validates their own opinions and/or biases.

I agree.

Why is anyone holding a site meant for whistleblowing and leaking of confidential information and the website of a newspaper to the same standard?

Apples and oranges, IMO: It's not really fair to get mad at an orange for not giving you apple juice.

>Therefore, for WikiLeaks to become highly partisan is a radical departure from their original mission; moreover, it has happened without WikiLeaks acknowledging that this is the case. I think you can't same the same for the NYT.

Well said. I don't get the partisanship from Wikileaks. What do they gain by picking sides? What is encouraging (or discouraging) Wikileaks to play cherry picker?

I'd love to sell my own personal information. For one, it'd be nice to see a cut of the cash changing hands.

This requires federal regulations, IMO. Iron-clad ones that can't be rolled back so easily.

I don't know how this'll turn out, but I imagine it results in the US being laughed at if China meets their promised goal and we don't.

Thank you so much for this. I never would have heard of it otherwise.

All my old friends are here already as well, this was honestly awesome to find when I got up this morning.

Wow, this is a long time dream come true. The last private server was lost long ago to the sands of time.

I find this incredibly interesting.

Your second link made me laugh, both because the blogger guessed that I was admiring a specific photo and the gradual reveal of the true level of the incompetence on display.

A good friend of mine played the game, I'd often be over at his house playing it with him or simply watching him play.

The novelty was phenomenal to me at the tender age of 12.

Here was a chat room, and a game, all rolled into one. I'd never seen anything like it. I wanted my own account.

It would be a few years until that happened. When I was 15 I started with an annual subscription for 49.99, playing on my mother's computer at first after assuring her it wasn't a virus.

This was before the launch of DAoC, so maybe early 03? The game still had a relatively active population (500-750 players near peak hours, something I would scoff at today and declare dead. relative!)

After the launch of WoW in '04 the regulars became less regular and eventually the population was under 200, then 100, etc. It had 25 players online last time I got nostalgic and installed it to hear the startup tune.

Anyway, I had a great time with The Realm Online. I loved it. I made friends and liked talking to them. So I stuck around and watched it slowly wither away, at least until 2007-8 or so.

It was clear that the "developers" who purchased the rights to the game had no interest in developing the game any further.

I still think The Realm Online would do fine in the F2P space, stuffed full of microtransactions. The turn based combat would be perfect for a touchscreen. Apparently it's coded in a dead language invented by Sierra, so I'm not holding my breath. It'd be nice to see a private server, at least.

Over the years I made many friends, some of whom I still regularly play games with.

I imagine many folks had a similar experience with their first MMORPG, whenever I see people talk about Runescape or WoW, I always think of The Realm and my time with it.

I used to play an MMO called The Realm Online from ~2003-2007. It had a player-run economy, so I offered millions of the in-game currency for someone's Starcraft CD key, as all I had was a burnt CD. I was itching to play online with a friend of mine.

Eventually I got that key and enjoyed many, many hours of online play with a good friend. I never did get to play the expansion, although I'm well aware it's considered the definitive experience.

Counter-Strike is similarly something else I had to miss out on, I just didn't have a way to purchase games digitally. Steam was around as well as services like Direct2Drive but my Mom didn't have a bank account, so I just accepted that I'd be missing out on these multiplayer experiences as a teenager.

I did manage to keep up my subscription to The Realm for a long time, but that was thanks to the wonderful concept of money in birthday cards. Once WoW launched it basically killed The Realm anyway, I could have spent that money more wisely in retrospect.

Starcraft was a rare multiplayer exception for me, along with Jedi Academy, and UT. It'll always have a place in my heart because of that.

Later in life, I ended up putting over 800 hours into CS:GO and now own over 300 games on Steam, so I lived my multiplayer dreams eventually.

I've shelled out enough for Hearthstone packs by now that I don't feel guilty about trading that now worthless huge chunk of The Realm Online gold for that valuable Starcraft CD key.

Well said, I haven't seen the show yet myself but I absolutely relate to the desire to see characters and their development prioritized over special effects usage, etc.

It stings to see characters go underdeveloped for any reason, whether it's poor writing or simply mismanaged priorities like you mentioned.

You don't become successful in a city like NYC by being a good guy, you do it by being cutthroat. I'm not saying successful people are always bad people, of course. I mean, he hasn't exactly lived out of the public eye up until this point.

As an aside, from what I can tell he seems to not realize the power of his words as President, or the consequences of certain actions in the realm of politics.

After taking credit for good things happening he had nothing to do with, I nautrally wonder how much credit he will take if things don't pan out as he plans.

The buck stops with him, I don't think that has fully sunk in during this past 90 days or so of his adminstration.

Only time will tell.

>If Mr. de Valence believed that he was a victim of blackmail, sexual assault, battery, or any other crime, then why didn't he go to the police?

Because filing a false police report is a crime, I suppose.

I certainly wouldn't file one falsely.

>Even if he actually _had_ some legitimate reason for refusing to follow the recommended complaint procedures, the simple fact is that he _didn't_ follow those procedures. This fact is quite contrary to his picture of complaints being ignored.

Once you've dug the hole this deep you have no choice but to minimize, deny, and keep lying.

I had a similar, yet opposite experience moving from AZ to CA.(Northern)

Going from a lifetime of desert living with miserable weather and the greenest sight being olianders, to a sea of green trees with more normal weather. Night and day difference.

Where's the mandatory minimums for possession of child porngraphy? The zero tolerance? Our prisons fill with drug offenders, yet we give sex offenders a scarlet letter + probation?

I doubt there is a credible threat prompting this ban. It's appeasement IMO.

How about someone with no accredited skills or accomplishments?

I'll transcribe your voicemail, I'll answer emails, whatever.

I won't let you down.

It is directly affecting end-of-life treatment. My grandfather is jumping through more and more hoops to fill his prescriptions each month.

The insurance company has the gall to tell his doctor they know better, and often want the doctor to justify the prescriptions. My grandfather is on deaths door, he stays alive through sheer will. The doctors gave him 2 years to live...6 years ago. Fair to say that's end-of-life, right?

I moved out here to take care of them, so I'm in the thick of this day in, and day out. Insurance companies, Picking up prescriptions in triplicate in writing and hand delivering them, etc. I'm scared to pick up the controlled substances alone because of the way the clerks look at me, so I have to drag one of my poor grandparents to the pharmacy with me, again and again. every month.

Why do you think they're looking at me funny? It's narcophobia. They think I'm an addict pulling a fast one.

Keep that in mind next time you say it isn't affecting end-of-life care.

Someone's grandfather out there was and is affected, directly, by the recent upswing in what can certainly be described as "narcophobia."

A doctor shouldn't have to explain himself to a fucking insurance company, ever.

If I paid my premium, pay my fucking bill. Keep that corporate nose out of my personal medical affairs and pay the bill like I pay you to do.

I'm sorry, but you painted with such a wide brush that I couldn't help but retort.

Unless you meant hospice care. In which case you're probably more wrong. These guys are trained sticklers. The second your love one stops breathing, hospice will be there not to comfort you, or have a kind word. They're there to bag up all the painkillers and fill the bag with kitty litter.

If that's not narcophobia, I don't know what is.

You can't undertreat pain and expect the problem to go away, btw. All that does is encourage blackmarket diversion of legit meds.

The harder you make it to get them, the more money they'll be worth, the more risk people will take to steal them wholesale. Expect more delivery truck robberies, more pharmacy hold-ups and break-ins. There will always be abusers, no laws will change or reduce that.