Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

Not a good trend obviously, doubled in five years.  When I had shoulder surgery, the doc gave me a 40 pill prescription for oxy, I took one of them and hid the rest.  The discomfort wasn't nearly as bad as needing an opiod, I took some ibu for a couple of days instead.  I don't know why he prescribed so many, but I can see a situation where a person is in more pain and takes the full dose and "likes it".

My wife had shoulder surgery, different surgeon, and same thing, but her surgery was more involved, I think she took 2 or 3.

It's amazing, if I get a cold I'm down and out and she keeps on doing the dishes and laundry anyway.

I got my wisdom teeth out about a decade ago, and spent like three days knocking back OXY, aspirin and anti-nausea medication.

The first day I felt mostly good, I brought one pill when I went out to dinner and immediately bit into some garlic bread which hurt like hell. Popped the pill, which killed pain for like 40 minutes and then I felt fantastic and tonight “ohhh, I see why people get hooked.”

I'm glad everything worked out great @Drew4UTk 

My son's few experiences in Wisconsin were so very different from yours.

and... i ain't tough.. i'm dumb and with just enough crazy to make it truly spectacular when i eff up- which is often.  however, when i plan something it usually happens.  it's the one thing im good at. 

one of the points of my post about this wasn't to access blame- it was to say the entire medical industry is a freak show of incompetence, and one that sends up major flares when it effs up due to the severity.  

as an example, a friend who is in a position to know and he does will tell you point blank "if you want to survive covid, stay the hell away from a hospital or doctor"... i won't elaborate here, but his reasoning is compelling and from what i can see, it's valid.  

another of the points i wanted to make begins long before va healthcare begins.  it has to do with the culture in the military that persuades, using very,,, compelling... means, to keep people from seeking medical help.  i've seen it at every level and seen people being punished for seeking medical help- usually for another infraction that otherwise nobody would have thought twice about- but that was the nexus of the event... their seeking medical treatment.  from that comes the 'excuse' the VA hospitals and facilities use which is "not service connected" and which is the go to akin to insurers finding loophole in policies.  

it's all crooked.  

everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth

Putin knows the deal.  No use repeating it.  He might agree to face saving measures like some negotiations, but in reality, the Russian people are told he's reacting to aggressive moves by the west.  I still don't think he pulls the trigger, I am guessing we'll see some kind of rather pointless "talks" while Putin destabilizes Ukraine from within.

I'd say the expansion of a hostile military alliance to your border is an aggressive move. And I don't think he'll invade. He's too smart for that. He's going to get what he wants from the west imo. Ukraine will be barred from ever joining NATO- as they should be. This issue is far more important to Russia than it is to the United States.

Right...he's already been f**king with Ukraine for the last 7-8 years and hasn't invaded. Why would he suddenly invade now? Doesn't make sense.

CincyDawg was making the point that Putin was unlikely to engage directly and felt instead that he would make moves to destabilize Ukraine and take it later.  My response is that he's been attempting this for the past 8 years and still hasn't managed to destabilize them to the point that he could easily take it.  It's certainly possible his patience with that plan has worn out and the next step is direct invasion.

I don't know whether or not he'll invade directly, at this time.  Neither do you.

I certainly hope he doesn't and, if he does, I certainly hope the US will avoid engaging any of our own troops in that war.  But it's clear that he wants to take Ukraine and he's willing for a lot of people to die in order to achieve that.  He's a thug and a bully and a warlord.  Killing lots of people to achieve his ambitions, is what he does.

It's not really an accurate analogy, because NATO already includes the Baltic states of Latvia and Estonia that directly border Russia, and several others that are plenty close enough to stage missiles should NATO ever desire to do so.

It would be somewhat more accurate to say that it would be like Russia or another potential enemy already having military access to Canada, and then also threatening to push for access in Mexico.  Certainly a threatening feeling, but not at all the same picture as what you're painting.

And the fact is that despite NATO members Latvia and Estonia sharing borders directly with Russia, the US and other NATO allies have NOT piled troops and missiles into those states.

I tend to think it's a pretty accurate analogy. Latvia and Estonia are nowhere near as important to the Russians- to their history, their national interests, or their national security than Ukraine. And both those countries were added to NATO in 2002 I believe, which is basically just at the beginning of Putin coming into power- he didn't come into power until 2000 and he didn't get the death grip he has on that country until at least a few years later. He was nowhere near as powerful or wielded as much influence over that nation back then as he does now. And I'd say this is more of a law straw situation. Ukraine joining NATO would be a last straw that he just can't allow and has to ensure will not happen. Basically the Russians are saying enough is e-f**king-nough. You f**king team america world police assholes don't need to add ANOTHER country right on our ass to this bullshit hostile military alliance that you control like a puppet- this one- Ukraine being the most vital buffer state to their security and national interests. 

By the way Latvia and Estonia have both hosted military exercises- which have NATO missiles and troops involved in said exercises. So that's not exactly true. And it's not even that they don't have missiles or troops stationed in those countries- it's that if NATO wished to they COULD have them stationed there at any time- for any reason. That is scary to any nation. It is the AMERICAN WAR MACHINE that has wielded it's d**k and invaded more than any country in the world the last 4-5 decades. Russia has more reason to fear America than America has to fear Russia. That is just a fact.

Bottom line is that Gorbachev was assured by the United States that NATO would not expand one inch eastward if USSR would withdraw and allow for German re-unification. This is a verifiable, proven fact. You cannot change this fact. Nor can I. The United States should've kept to it's word. But it didn't. What did we do as soon as the USSR fell and Clinton won the election in '92? The United States almost immediately started expanding NATO to the east.