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petergibbons

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  1. I'm going to respond to the assertion that we are broke and then proceed to debunk that rumor using reason and logic. I'll apologize ahead of time since those two things are relatively foreign to me. If you look at the headlines today, at least a third of the claim that we are going broke, spending our childrens' future, bankrupt. While moral bankruptcy was arguably a reason our country was founded in the first place, financial bankruptcy is not in the picture. Consider if a staid firm like GE were to go bankrupt. First of all, its fixed income securities would experience a major sell-off, resulting in the yields being pushed into the double, and even triple digits, depending on the severity. At the same time, GE would not be able to raise capital by selling bonds and would have to sell equity instead or consider giving up on capital raising and contract until its yields dropped into a sensible range. Like it or not, the US has been able to sell debt as easily as when we had 6, 7, and even 12% yields, yet our yields are much lower than that. Why is this good? For starters, most of the debt we have sold at very low coupon rates, in the 2-3% range, and like it or not, that money is floating around in the economy. The large investment banks, private investors, Chinese and Saudi overlords, and elderly retirees have been buying our fixed income securities at the not-so-offensive coupon rates of 4% and have not demanded very high yields. We are not experiencing significant inflation as a result of offering debt. Some say that hyperinflation is coming but if people like you and I could see that coming, the market would have already priced it in and we'd be seeing the federal gov't selling securities at the 12-15% coupon rate. Believe me, we're not taking on more debt than we can handle.
  2. Doc, If I'm in DC for work again, I'll look you up. I used to go there quite a lot (Dulles, Tysons Corner, Ft. Meade) but that project ended. Seems like my wife who is 5 months pregnant is doing all the corporate travel now! jonathan
  3. I'm still waiting for the effort to repeal death panels and jail sentences for doctors. Oh wait, that's right. None of that exists.
  4. If you look at the history of the US, for the last 90 years it has been a history of both increasing regulation and increasing prosperity. I don't believe that health care spending has a privileged frame of reference in that it will result in the collapse of our system. The reason we have prosperity in this country is not for fiscal mechanical issues, but rather because we are built on principles of self-determination, detachment from tyranny, and a clear dose of rationality. If you believe ideologues from the far left, you are convinced that George W. Bush is the anti-christ, Obama is the savior, corporations are evil, and we should get rid of capitalism. If you believe ideologues from the far right, you are convinced that Barack Obama is a foreign-born marauder bent on the destruction of the US, and that he will systematically dismantle all of our profitable enterprises. I won't comment on the religious implications since I believe that the religious right hijacked the conservative movement. The fact is neither of these are true. The pendulum does not swing very far in either direction in this country. We do not have the problems of instability that the rest of the world has, unless you believe the ideologues. I can tell you that there is no way to regulate away prosperity and freedom. Having said that, I agree that doctors are getting the short end of the stick by insurance companies. That's a symptom of the problem. Also, a moderate degree of tort reform (believe it or not I am a liberal saying this) would really help doctors lower their costs. I ran out of time writing this post. Time for me to go have four cups of wine.
  5. Hi Jordan, Your quandary is endearing because we have all been there. I was about 25 when I started thinning. If you think you might be thinning and you get started on finasteride at a young age, you will have the most success -- especially in the crown area. Thinning in the front may be helped by Propecia (generic is called Finasteride) but there were not enough scientific studies to tell conclusively). Overall, it is a very benign drug to take. Don't listen to the nonsense about side-effects either. If you are worried about loss of libido you can always stop taking it or take Viagra. I've heard every nonsense about propecia side effects and in 8 years of taking it I have experienced none of them. Currently, my insurance covers generic finasteride, so if you are able to get on your parents' insurance, you can probably get a script for generic finasteride, whose brand name is proscar. Then, cut each table into quarters or fifths (quarter is fine) and take one a day. Without insurance your pharmacy will charge about $90 but that will last four months. If you're in the US, I'd recommend against buying from an international pharmacy without a prescription for two reasons. Reason #1 is that you want to be certain you are getting safe, effective product. Reason #2 is that it is illegal and you don't want to be on the wrong side of a sting operation. I think you're in the perfect age group to benefit from the new insurance reform, and soon you'll be able to buy insurance with prescription drug coverage and then you'll be able to afford proscar. Now, having said all of that, once you get stabilized on a daily tablet, you should start setting aside a little bit of every paycheck into a "me" fund. Do it with direct deposit or get a money market mutual fund or something. Save up for that hair transplant. In 5 years, if you find your hair has regrown naturally, go get yourself a BMW or something If you have lost more hair, you can always use that for an HT, or just get a BMW or something Hope this helps, and hang in there, kiddo.
  6. It will do nothing. Unless you're combining tanning with the procedure. By the way, health care has not and will not be federalized. It's still run by public companies and largely regulated by states.
  7. I know this sounds crazy, but financing a hair transplant is not a bad idea at all. When you consider that you will have greater confidence, that might pay back many times over in the professional world. You can't put a price on your happiness. If you take a look at GE's Care Credit, they offer an interest free financing period of like 12-18 months. And hey, if you default, they aren't going to shave your head What I did for HT #2 was set up a 7 month time frame, send 'em $178/paycheck and then pay $1200 at the very end for a $6000 surgery. Your hair won't change that much in 7 months if you are taking finasteride, and if it does, they can adjust accordingly. I called it the 'layaway' hair plan. P.S., Bill: I misread "Standby credit card" as stolen credit card. LOL!
  8. My wife is thrilled that I am on here unlike her friends' husbands who are all on chatroulette.
  9. I don't know what your criteria is for admission to HTN. I am certainly pleased. I did check Lexis/Nexis and didn't see any litigation or complaints.
  10. I paid $6000 for 3500 grafts from Dr. Ron Chao. They got 3703 grafts out of my permanent zone. I think he's charging $5000 now. If you view the other posts you can see my results. I really believe in his work.
  11. Hi All, As some of you know, I had a 3703 graft procedure done by Dr. Ronald Chao in September 2009. I'm attaching my progress. The top pic is one week after surgery and the bottom pic is from today. Since I am 5 months post-op should I estimate that this is 40-50% growth or does it look like more? I tried to duplicate the lighting and the wetness of my hair. I got the yaw and roll correct, but not sure about the pitch. Let me know what you think? PG P.S. I am receiving no compensation from Dr. Chao.
  12. Yep. This is from a few moments ago. I am 5.25 months post op.
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