Notices by TayFoNay🍿 (tayfonay@beige.party)

‘Sup?

This kinda feels like a cry for help

Fun origin story for the phrase “that came out of left field”

Before relocating to Wrigley Field the Chicago Cubs played on the near west side of the city, on what is now part of the University of Illinois at Chicago campus. The field was adjacent to a psychiatric hospital. Specifically the left field side backed up to the place. On warm days, the patients would occasionally yell stuff out the opened windows during games so the sounds came from left field. And an idiom was born.

I decided to withdraw a “revise and resubmit” (in publication speak that typically means a scientific paper will be accepted after some edits) on a paper that is heavily laden with “DEI” terms per the regime. 1 author is a green card holder, but has lived in the U.S. for 30 years. And my ass has to pass through CBP in June with my kids. The editor granted a 3-6 month extension so we can see how shit plays out in scientific publications, so the fact the DOJ is sending letters to journals about bias isn’t a good omen.

It’s fine :coolstorybob:

Die Hard is an Easter movie. Fight me.

Hey lawyers / law people:

I've been asked to provide an expert witness statement for a person who, well, did some pretty heinous shit and has already pleaded guilty. I've been asked to provide said statement to the judge as part of the sentencing process, and to supplement a more comprehensive report that is lacking these details that I could provide. The case is in federal court and the records are sealed.

If I write this, which would be an entirely neutral opinion but just stating things as I know them from the scientific literature, would it ever be part of the public record?

Because we live in such a level-headed society, I'm concerned about being targeted for "helping" this person, which I'm neither trying to help nor trying to harm this person. Psychologists are asked to give opinions on all sorts of people and we're supposed to remain neutral despite what might be going on. Which is easier said than done.

Appreciate any insight!

Edited: Trial is in the US, Indiana specifically.

I also am 6’3, 220 lbs

Do I need this flag?

46 of my scientific publications have been indexed by Meta’s stupid AI.

Most of them are just conference abstracts. But apparently I’ve died and my obituary was published in The Lancet.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/03/search-libgen-data-set/682094/

Drove past a Tesla dealership and there were a bunch of cybertrucks sitting in the lot, lined up along a curb because there wasn't any space to put them. This may mean nothing or I will run with my interpretation that Tesla is struggling to sell all models of their swasticars.

[drags chair across the floor]

Hi, US friends. Have you heard of the “RVU system” in medicine? If not, stay a minute for story time. It’s a major reason US healthcare sucks so badly.

Once upon a time there were some “researchers” at Vanderbilt University who wanted to test a new model of paying physicians using performance metrics based on the RVU system in Medicare, which had been around for a while but never used in this way. The new scheme assigned units to the duties a physician does as part of their job, and gave more weight to a duty that collected more money for the hospital or clinic.

So, for example, a return visit for an established patient doesn’t generate much money so they gave it a lower number like 0.2. But a procedure, like a colonoscopy, is billed much higher so that might get a 2.0.

Each physician is assigned a quota of RVUs. If they don’t meet their quota, they get a warning first and then their pay will be docked. Yes, this is true. So low RVU tasks become psychologically negative. They get labeled as “low performers” even if they’re excellent doctors.

The researchers found using an RVU system motivated physicians to work harder. They published their study and then a few of them went out into the country and got jobs that allowed them to implement this system. One of them came to the academic hospital where I worked in the mid 00s. Over a decade or so, I watched the entire system transform into a corporate grind focused on metrics and electronic medical record documentation. Also with shorter visit times, long waits for follow up appointments, and increasing physician burnout. Then COVID hit.

Not all clinics use the RVU system but if you’re at a place affiliated with a university I can almost guarantee they do. I always ask when I see a new doctor and their reaction is usually telling.

RVUs + private equity led us here.

[drags chair back across the floor]

Study on RVUs: https://journals.lww.com/academicmedicine/abstract/2003/07000/effects_of_performance_based_compensation_and.8.aspx

So I have to buy something on Amazon, which I've boycotted and canceled PRime since the WaPo refusal to endorse Harris.

Make it make sense:

My kids had a Constitution test in school yesterday. For non-US folks, believe it or not, students here are required to pass at least 1 test on the constitution.

My daughter made a joke that she should write somewhere on the test “this is how it used to be” and I said I’d give her $50 if she did. My son heard this offer and well now I’m out $100.

Spent some time at the airport watching the ground crews getting a plane unloaded and loaded for its next flight. It’s really a masterpiece in human cooperation and engineering to operate an airport. This may be controversial, but hear me out: I’d like these folks to be happy and well paid with reasonable work hours and OSHA protections and not have to email 5 things they did today.

It’d be super unprecedented if we could stop calling what’s going on “unprecedented” all the time

We were out at a thing yesterday and ESPN 8 was on one of the TVs. Events included:

Corgi racing
Competitive rock skipping
Some sort of 4 player chess

More “the Ocho” in 2025

I'm seeing articles calling the CEOs of various tech companies "cowards." And I agree wholeheartedly. However, this isn't limited to these broligarchs. I learned the hard way most people with any semblance of power or influence are cowards if speaking out or going against the grain threaten their status. This happened when Chris McNaughton sued UHC - maybe you've seen his @ProPublica story passed around recently with the Luigi incident. If not, linked below.

The reality is several "big name" physicians were approached to join the fight, whether it was on social media or as expert witnesses and very very few stepped up. The ones who did were like oh fuck yeah, let me at 'em. But the ones Chris thought would be there, who even talked a big game about the insurance industry being corrupt at the time, were silent. Because speaking out was risky. The universities who employ them have policies about such things, and the policies are basically shut the fuck up. It was incredibly disheartening.

So I guess I learned then, don't look toward those in power to be the ones with courage in this country.

https://www.propublica.org/article/unitedhealth-healthcare-insurance-denial-ulcerative-colitis

@aral @archaeohistories Thanks, I missed that the little box was missing

Spent more time learning about cesspools yesterday than I care to admit. I did discover the Gates’ Foundation has a “toilet challenge” funding toilet innovation projects.

Make 2025 the year you start replying to emails with "Am I supposed to give a shit about this?"