May Day! May Day! Our Country Is Falling Apart (LC Thread) - Page 53 - Politics and Economics

Two Plus Two Forums Other Topics Politics

May Day! May Day! Our Country Is Falling Apart (LC Thread)

...

Page 53 of 55

First

3 33 43 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55

Last

Page 53 of 55

First

3 33 43 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55

Last

05-31-2017 , 08:10 AM

#1301

Riverman

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 73,135

Real answer: get another job. I spent two years banging my head against the wall in a dysfunctional organization with a POS boss. Life is too short.

05-31-2017 , 10:40 AM

#1302

Trolly McTrollson

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 36,796

05-31-2017 , 10:58 AM

#1303

DudeImBetter

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 10,664

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shame Trolly !!!1!

Like anything, you should sit down and figure your priorities.

If you are concerned about cashing your earned PTO you should (a) first investigate your administrative options through primarily your state employment agency, and possibly through the federal dept of labor. In general, you can pursue a claim administratively first, then take legal action if you aren't satisfied. If you do things in the other order, you typically preclude your administrative options. Also, administratively is going to be in general much easier to navigate for non lawyers, and much more likely to be made whole, quicker, and at less expense.

In either case above, you are going to need to demonstrate that you tried in good faith the resolve this dispute directly and mutually with your employers. That means getting the employee handbook out, looking up the specified internal complaint protocols (in a large organization, there will typically be two or three chains of resolution: through your chain of command, via HR, and often a ombudsman/etc). Then (a) going through the motions scrupulously, and (b) document, document, document, document.

I'd suggest going through the motions with a big ole **** eating grin. Regardless, at some point they are going to decide you are a PITA, and fire your sorry ass. Be aware that (a) they aren't supposed to be able to fire you in retaliation for pursuing a wage claim, (b) they'll do it anyways, (c) in theory you can get back wages/etc, but in practice those kinda claims routinely take 10-20 years, and rarely actually pay off.

The most important thing you can do is determine if you are uniquely being screwed, or if others are similarly situated. If others are being screwed the same, you & them can go together to the state labor board together. The cases are usually a he-said-she-said where the bosses get the benefit of the doubt. That benefit of the doubt can vanish if a pattern can be documented.

You should also remember that, even if you are in a financial situation where you can just walk, if others are being screwed the same way, they are not necessarily so blessed. Consider pursuing this anyways, even if you can just walk, in solidarity with those who can't just walk.

This is all great advice. Despite my loving the idea of being a change agent within the organization I'm relatively new (5 months) and work regionally with only a handful of people. I don't have the sway or influence to have conversations about compensation with employees.

I'm no more clear about how to go about this now than I was last night and am scheduled to have supervision with the director over Skype in 5 minutes. No f***ing idea how this is going to play out TBH.

05-31-2017 , 11:11 AM

#1304

lycosid

veteran

Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 2,806

Quote:

Originally Posted by zikzak

How much longer before state-sponsored internet trolling starts an actual shooting war?

https://twitter.com/Ukraine/status/869532150760165377

05-31-2017 , 11:45 AM

#1305

Trolly McTrollson

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 36,796

Ohio going HAM:

Quote:

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine on Wednesday announced that the state is filing suit against five pharmaceutical companies that marketed powerfully addictive prescription pain medication — which many believe triggered the deadly opiate addiction crisis that has killed 21,000 Ohioans since 2007.

05-31-2017 , 01:49 PM

#1306

Loki

binary duo

Join Date: Nov 2015 Posts: 12,772

I'm sure that'll go as well as trying to sue gun manufacturers.

05-31-2017 , 02:06 PM

#1307

th14

old hand

Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 1,460

DeWine's press release. His primary allegation seems to be that the defendant pharmaceutical companies fraudulently marketed their opiate products as less addictive than they truly were, and thus those companies should pay up for their part in Ohio's opiate problems.

I'm skeptical that fraudulent marketing has had much to do with it. More than 600 million opiate pills are prescribed annually in Ohio. Doctors knew or should have known such a high quantity will lead to many addictions. And most opiate deaths are not from prescription drugs, they're from heroin and fentanyl, which implicates government policy much more than it does these companies.

The companies should be paying special taxes every year as an offset to the societal damage caused by their products rather than questionable lawsuits as an indirect compensation. DeWine is running for governor in 2018 btw so that's probably why he's doing this.

05-31-2017 , 02:21 PM

#1308

Trolly McTrollson

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 36,796

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noodle Wazlib

I'm sure that'll go as well as trying to sue cigarette manufacturers.

Fixed

05-31-2017 , 02:28 PM

#1309

suzzer99

Save the Cheerleader, Save the World

Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 99,984

You should read the LA Times series on oxycontin: http://www.latimes.com/projects/oxycontin-part1/

Purdue pharma put a ton of pressure on doctors to sell oxy and to continue to assert that the drug lasted for 12 hours (but just keep prescribing higher doses when patients complained it wore off).

Quote:

The Times investigation, based on thousands of pages of confidential Purdue documents and other records, found that:

Purdue has known about the problem for decades. Even before OxyContin went on the market, clinical trials showed many patients weren’t getting 12 hours of relief. Since the drug’s debut in 1996, the company has been confronted with additional evidence, including complaints from doctors, reports from its own sales reps and independent research.

The company has held fast to the claim of 12-hour relief, in part to protect its revenue. OxyContin’s market dominance and its high price — up to hundreds of dollars per bottle — hinge on its 12-hour duration. Without that, it offers little advantage over less expensive painkillers.

When many doctors began prescribing OxyContin at shorter intervals in the late 1990s, Purdue executives mobilized hundreds of sales reps to “refocus” physicians on 12-hour dosing. Anything shorter “needs to be nipped in the bud. NOW!!” one manager wrote to her staff.

Purdue tells doctors to prescribe stronger doses, not more frequent ones, when patients complain that OxyContin doesn’t last 12 hours. That approach creates risks of its own. Research shows that the more potent the dose of an opioid such as OxyContin, the greater the possibility of overdose and death.

More than half of long-term OxyContin users are on doses that public health officials consider dangerously high, according to an analysis of nationwide prescription data conducted for The Times.

Purdue basically looked the other way when they knew corrupt doctors were prescribing way too many pills: http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-oxycontin-part2/

More reading: http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-m...ontin-everett/

http://www.latimes.com/projects/oxycontin-dans-story/

05-31-2017 , 02:42 PM

#1310

Riverman

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 73,135

Not really thrilled with the model of drug companies lobbying the **** out of every government agency imaginable, winning the right to be legal drug dealers, make billions, then pay a small (tax deductible) fraction back to government to do who knows the **** what with the money.

05-31-2017 , 02:53 PM

#1311

SuperUberBob

Not interesting enough

Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 48,217

Quote:

Originally Posted by th14

Last Week Tonight did a great story on how pharmaceutical companies misled the public and even the medical community into thinking that opiates were not addictive and could be pushed onto people with pain other than end-stage cancer pain. These companies paid out a ton in court already. They'll hopefully pay more.

05-31-2017 , 03:06 PM

#1312

campfirewest

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 9,940

DIB, its obvious this company sucks and you need to leave even if they suddenly gave the pto they originally agreed to. But while it's great you have the ability to quit without notice you should still be a professional on the way out. Give proper notice and don't do anything silly.

05-31-2017 , 03:13 PM

#1313

Namath12

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 55,849

The most misspelled words by residents of each state

Spoiler:

05-31-2017 , 03:15 PM

#1314

Trolly McTrollson

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 36,796

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riverman

Ideally we'd be hunting these ****ers down and shooting them like Pablo Escobar, but I'll settle for a few hundred billion or so in damages.

05-31-2017 , 03:31 PM

#1315

DVaut1

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 30,005

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperUberBob

Last Week Tonight did a great story on how pharmaceutical companies misled the public and even the medical community into thinking that opiates were not addictive and could be pushed onto people with pain other than end-stage cancer pain. These companies paid out a ton in court already. They'll hopefully pay more.

Remember this is often a symbiotic bull**** feedback loop where pharmaceutical companies "mislead" doctors, hospitals, academics, etc. with paid promotional talk gigs, research and consulting payments, gifts and royalties, meals, etc.

Bad pharmaceutical companies, sure, but I think there are plenty of health care providers and others in the industry who have been pliable and deserve agency and blame.

05-31-2017 , 04:03 PM

#1316

SuperUberBob

Not interesting enough

Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 48,217

Quote:

Originally Posted by DVaut1

Sure. They bribe doctors to tell other doctors what's what. I get that. Still deception by proxy.

Quote:

Bad pharmaceutical companies, sure, but I think there are plenty of health care providers and others in the industry who have been pliable and deserve agency and blame.

Yeah. Forgot about them.

05-31-2017 , 04:20 PM

#1317

All-In Flynn

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 10,923

How do you mis-spell 'twelve'? Like, where do you go from "exactly like it sounds"?

05-31-2017 , 04:25 PM

#1318

Trolly McTrollson

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 36,796

It's an impossible legal case to figure out which doctors were legitimately fooled by the pharma company's barrage of fake research and which were sort of in on the game. At some level, the docs are supposed to listen to the guys doing the drug safety evaluation.

05-31-2017 , 04:50 PM

#1319

SuperUberBob

Not interesting enough

Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 48,217

Based on the text messages I receive, I figure the entire country would either misspell 'are' or 'you' more than those other words.

05-31-2017 , 05:23 PM

#1320

Riverman

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 73,135

I blame the army of smoking hot 24 year olds Pfizer hired out of the local strip club to wreck doctor marriages and turn physicians into drug dealers

05-31-2017 , 05:27 PM

#1321

lycosid

veteran

Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 2,806

Quote:

Originally Posted by Namath12

The most misspelled words by residents of each state

Spoiler:

The original version of this map misspelled "ninety"

05-31-2017 , 07:07 PM

#1322

Victor

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 72,371

so does anyone else think that if the whole cigarette causing cancer thing came up in this day and age that it would be turned into a political thing and fox news and the right would do everything they could to obfuscate the reality?

I think it would be a lot like the way climate change is treated right now.

05-31-2017 , 07:27 PM

#1323

Huehuecoyotl

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 29,257

Quote:

Originally Posted by Victor

One of those no sure if serious, but the ExxonMobil playbook on climate change is straight out of the tobacco industry's playbook for cancer, even using the same groups

Quote:

There are clear similarities between the language used and the approaches adopted by Philip Morris and by the organisations funded by Exxon. The two lobbies use the same terms, which appear to have been invented by Philip Morris's consultants. "Junk science" meant peer-reviewed studies showing that smoking was linked to cancer and other diseases. "Sound science" meant studies sponsored by the tobacco industry suggesting that the link was inconclusive. Both lobbies recognised that their best chance of avoiding regulation was to challenge the scientific consensus. As a memo from the tobacco company Brown and Williamson noted, "Doubt is our product since it is the best means of competing with the 'body of fact' that exists in the mind of the general public. It is also the means of establishing a controversy." Both industries also sought to distance themselves from their own campaigns, creating the impression that they were spontaneous movements of professionals or ordinary citizens: the "grassroots".

But the connection goes further than that. TASSC, the "coalition" created by Philip Morris, was the first and most important of the corporate-funded organisations denying that climate change is taking place. It has done more damage to the campaign to halt it than any other body.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.the...hicalliving.g2