Tell us a secret you know because of your work that others might not know V3

[Konquest]

A sad but true secret about public education:

Special Ed students in states that do not use an evidence-based program such as "Response to Intervention" are referred by medical professionals and psychs for services. Special Ed students are not allowed to miss school for more than ten days for disciplinary reasons unless the school is willing to hire a full-time, one-on-one teacher for that student alone. As such, special ed students can pack weapons, sell drugs, sexually assault other students, etc. and the school districts will usually sweep it under the rug, since they are way too strapped for cash to afford one-on-one instruction for these monsters.

Also, before the "Response to Intervention" model of SPED referral, many kids who were caught doing crimes at school and faced expulsion, would have their families (if they were legally savvy) find some quack doctor who would claim that junior's criminal behavior was a result of a "disability", and BAM! the school could no longer expel their precious little snowflake.

 

[Shael]

Female health care professionals are easy to sleep with.

Go on...

 

[Desdinova]

The cocaine vaccine is in phase II clinical trials, and is already being tested in humans. Vaccination triggers the production of antibodies which bind cocaine and sequester it in the blood, thereby preventing it from reaching the brain. This, of course, nullifies the euphoric, intoxication and psychotropic effects of the drug. They've also been able to show that, in conjunction with gene cocaine hydrolase gene transfer, it is possible to block liver damage that results from cocaine abuse.

Vaccines are also in development for nicotine, methamphetamine, morphine, and phencyclidine; and all are at various stages of preclinical or clinical investigation.


Say goodbye to the drug war in about 5-10 yrs, kids. The cartels finally ran up against an enemy richer, stronger and much smarter than them: Big Pharma.

Interesting. Is there any research being done to block liver damage done by other drugs... like acetaminophen.

 

[Jacket time]

Believe it or not Costco's House brand "Kirkland Signature" is superior to almost any other nationally recognized brand.

Paper towels-yep
Toilet paper- yep
Vodka-better than Grey Goose
Coffee-it's really Starbucks
Chicken breasts- they are Tyson
Baby Formula- better than Similac
Champagne- made from Grand Cru grapes


Costco takes quality very seriously


The "no-hassle' return policy is exactly that....no hassle

You want to return that live Christmas tree on January 3rd or last summers patio set-
no problem

 

[Jmarc]

Paying to have your taxes done is truely worth the money you spend. Any mistake we make, we are liable for. Plus, since each of us do hundreds of returns each season, clearly we know what we are doing.

Also, just because someone is a CPA doesn't mean they know their asshole from their elbow. My boss, who did the most tax returns for a single person last year (his claim, I have no way to verifying), doesn't have his CPA. Hell, he doesn't even have an accounting degree. He has simply done it since he was 14. And now, in his 50's, he charges ~$250/hr.

Also, if you are annoying your tax preparers, they will find bs to add onto your bill. "Oh, that spreadsheet took me 15 minutes...too bad in the middle of it I had to take a 50 minute dump, you get charged for the full hour now."

This post is absolute bull crap. I have done taxes professionally for years and I hate when people say it is truly worth it to pay to have your taxes done by a professional. You are much better off taking the H&R Block Tax Professional training course, and learning how to do your taxes yourself. Using most off the shelf tax software, a typical uneducated person is going to be getting the exact same result for half the price because the softwares walk them through everything step by step.

The fact is, when "professionals" are doing hundreds/thousands of returns each year, they are going to make a mistake. Whether the mistake is a wrong number entered, or not asking the right questions, a mistake is going to be made. If you do your own, you are just focusing so much on that 1 return, a mistake is going to be rare.

A lot of tax preparers work on assumptions. If a kid rolls in on his skateboard and gives me a paper saying he made $6,350 last year, I am likely to assume he is single, without kids, and working a part time job and thats the end of it. Is that right? No, but when you have dozens of people in a waiting room who may walk out to the competitor any second, you need to get through them as quick as possible.

As far as liability goes, the person whose return gets screwed up is not going to be compensated for 99% of situations, because the tax preparers will say it was the clients fault for not providing fully accurate information. Beyond that, most tax preparers will only compensate them for penalties and interest, which doesn't do the person a lot of good when you originally told them they are getting back $5,000 and now owe the government $8,000 and they already made plans for that money.

And if your tax preparer is looking for ways to screw you over because you annoyed them, then that is just making it even more obvious it isn't worth the money.

And sorry but, your boss is a liar. First, he would have no way of knowing who prepared the most returns, but I can tell you it will be over 5,000 for a single person who has been in the game a long time with a good location. I was doing 14 hour shifts 7 days a week and doing 80 in a day wasn't that hard when most of the people were repeat customers from previous years.

With a good secretary, a good portfolio, and the right location, it takes minutes to actually do the tax return and get the person out the door. You actually have to pretend it takes longer than it does and make small talk, so they don't feel ripped off.

 

[Jmarc]

Women in the military often sleep there way too the top. Or get promoted solely on their gender.

Sad because it makes it very frustrating for the Women who are truly qualified.

Why is that sad? If you aren't willing to sleep with someone for the position, you probably didn't want it bad enough. I prefer a "anything to get the job done" type attitude, and someone who will have sex for a job position will do anything to get the job done when it comes down to it.

 

[Livenlearn]

Seems like a mean spirited thing to do. "Nevermind cancer, folks. Euphoria and god-like confidence??? Better put the kybosh on that."

Pharma still tries for cancer, at least in my experience. And man, does the government spend on it. I'm still early in my career, but I suspect we spend more on it than we should.

I was going to troll a bit and say there is no cure for cancer (I used to do research at an internationally recognized cancer institution), but I think people would take me too seriously. Some cancers are pretty curable. Others make the 'war on cancer' a sick joke. Its hard to hear of/see people with only a 5% chance of living even 3mo extra with treatment being pressured into chemo and radiation.

Separately:
I once visited a friend in the hospital, and there was an old woman in the bed beside her. She was pretty with it, and was clearly a bit of a fire cracker. Fun to talk to. Her family was hiding from her that she had breast cancer derived brain metastases, apparently because the knowledge would make her act like a pain in the ass and hard to handle .

She woke up when they were gone, and we got to talking. She knew she had cancer, and when she found out I did research, she asked me if she was going to die. I (responsibly) ducked the question with 'I'm not clinically trained, and I don't have a doctorate yet anyways, I'm really not qualified to answer that'...but the whole time I was thinking, "Miss, you don't have more than 3mo. to live" and was dead certain about it.

I don't regret not telling her anything: I really wasn't qualified and just because she seemed mentally sound to a stranger without psychology/related training doesn't mean that is truly the case...but I felt pretty bad about it at the time. The family was simply horrendous to listen to, and it was hard to give them the benefit of the doubt that they were acting in her best interest.

Another story:
A time I did cross the research/clinical line was on the subway once. It was rush hour, and everyone was filing themselves in sardine-style, when a woman started yelling hysterically to the effect of 'I'm late for my chemo!' and shoved her way onto the train. People started grumbling and berating her, telling each other she was crazy. I could tell she was on her way to my medical complex, so I made my way over to try and help her calm down. You could tell that when she saw those doors closing in front of her, she thought she was going to die. Pure panic attack. When she told me she was 15min late for her first appt- I thought back to the daily treatments I was giving my mice and the time latitudes given for those- I dared to tell her (especially because she hadn't started the regimen yet) that it was going to be ok, etc playing up the (novice) researcher card instead of playing it down. It worked, she got a grip on herself, and got off the subway just fine.

I double checked with an MD in my lab later, and found my reassurances were correct. I was relieved. It was pretty rattling for a random morning commute.

Women in the military often sleep there way too the top. Or get promoted solely on their gender.

Sad because it makes it very frustrating for the Women who are truly qualified.

Do you think most men in the military, enlisted and/or officers, don't want women there or do think they have a place there? I've periodically thought of signing up for years, but one of the things that holds me back is the feeling I'm just not wanted there. I don't want to be where I'm not wanted at the end of the day.

 

[wlu29]

Believe it or not Costco's House brand "Kirkland Signature" is superior to almost any other nationally recognized brand.

Paper towels-yep
Toilet paper- yep
Vodka-better than Grey Goose
Coffee-it's really Starbucks
Chicken breasts- they are Tyson
Baby Formula- better than Similac
Champagne- made from Grand Cru grapes


Costco takes quality very seriously


The "no-hassle' return policy is exactly that....no hassle

You want to return that live Christmas tree on January 3rd or last summers patio set-
no problem

one season where i bought a lot of electronics as gifts, i returned 80% of it and they told me i could not buy electronics any more but i was welcome to buy anything else

i quit on the spot

 

[Jacket time]

one season where i bought a lot of electronics as gifts, i returned 80% of it and they told me i could not buy electronics any more but i was welcome to buy anything else

i quit on the spot

did you have a history of returning alot of shit? They do flag some peeps (the ones who bring in last summers shrubs).

Usually if you don't take advantage of it, they don't care
Sounds odd


quit what?...being a member?

 

[wlu29]

did you have a history of returning alot of shit? They do flag some peeps (the ones who bring in last summers shrubs).

Usually if you don't take advantage of it, they don't care
Sounds odd


quit what?...being a member?

no i did not take advantage of their policy, it was just a lot of returns in a concentrated period of time

yes i quit being member, although when i married my wife she was a member so i still go with her now

 

[therealdope]

I find this Cocaine vaccine stuff very interesting. I have had the opportunity to interact with large pharma and biotech drug discovery groups and although immunology is discussed I have never heard these addiction vaccines come up once. Not once.

I would be interested in learning more if there any suggested links. What phase of trials are these Cocaine and opioid vaccines at? Any been submitted for FDA review? What are the tox studies like? What will be the cost of treatment?

 

[Jacket time]

no i did not take advantage of their policy, it was just a lot of returns in a concentrated period of time

yes i quit being member, although when i married my wife she was a member so i still go with her now

right on...Ya gotta try that vodka or whiskey, it's good stuff.

 

[Chuck Bass**]

A sad but true secret about public education:

Special Ed students in states that do not use an evidence-based program such as "Response to Intervention" are referred by medical professionals and psychs for services. Special Ed students are not allowed to miss school for more than ten days for disciplinary reasons unless the school is willing to hire a full-time, one-on-one teacher for that student alone. As such, special ed students can pack weapons, sell drugs, sexually assault other students, etc. and the school districts will usually sweep it under the rug, since they are way too strapped for cash to afford one-on-one instruction for these monsters.

Arent these 1-on-1 paraprofessional sped graduate students and they only pay minimum wage?

 

[Chuck Bass**]

The only grades I really take the time to calculate are those who are between pass/fail, or those students who bitch about grades.

For the students who bitch about grades, I do everything in my power to calculate their grade exactly down to the last point. Everybody else I usually just round up and bump, so its kind of ironic that the students who complain about grades are really doing themselves a disservice.

Grade grubbers are a professor's pet peeve. If you are one, believe me you are shooting yourself in the foot. One of my favorite tactics is actually lowering a grade if somebody comes into my office to complain. I'll say that I actually missed some errors the first time. You should see the look on their face.

I thought that only worked for tenured professors. I would think most adjuncts would just give them the good grade so they will leave them alone, and it can truly be a hassle, unless you truly piss them off

 

[irc]

The cocaine vaccine is in phase II clinical trials, and is already being tested in humans. Vaccination triggers the production of antibodies which bind cocaine and sequester it in the blood, thereby preventing it from reaching the brain. This, of course, nullifies the euphoric, intoxication and psychotropic effects of the drug. They've also been able to show that, in conjunction with gene cocaine hydrolase gene transfer, it is possible to block liver damage that results from cocaine abuse.

Vaccines are also in development for nicotine, methamphetamine, morphine, and phencyclidine; and all are at various stages of preclinical or clinical investigation.


Say goodbye to the drug war in about 5-10 yrs, kids. The cartels finally ran up against an enemy richer, stronger and much smarter than them: Big Pharma.

With respect to it hurting the illegal drug trade, when would something like that be used?

 

[Mark Ruffalo]

I work at a NAPA. The parts are well made for the most part. This is pretty obvious, but not enough people do this. If you are buying tools, just pay for the higher quality lines. You really do get what you pay for with hand tools.

 

[Lonesome Crow]

Interesting. Is there any research being done to block liver damage done by other drugs... like acetaminophen.

Sure. There's a lot of work being done with Cytochrome P450 family of enzymes which are heavily involved in drug metabolism. There's also been some key developments that will soon be published with regards to the constitutive androstane receptor which is also key in drug metabolism/excretion and has been directly linked to liver damage and liver cancer.

 

[pine snake]

we tell jokes and gossip during open heart surgery

 

[Tycho- Taylor's Version]

You know when you're putting that swingset together and you're missing one of the 16 bolts and/or rods that holds the whole thing up? And you're like, what the fuck is wrong with the person who could not properly count out 16 of these fucking things so that I could get my shit together?

That's my bad. In my defense a few of my co-workers can't see particularly well, so it's actually more likely to be their bad. But most days I just don't care.

 

[Lonesome Crow]

With respect to it hurting the illegal drug trade, when would something like that be used?

It can be used in addiction treatment centers. Parents would be able to get it for their kids. Vaccination could be made mandatory for the prison system and the military.

The real scoop is that as our understanding of the mechanism of drug action progresses and our ability to study and correlate population genetics to in vitro studies increases logarithmically, the reality is that it's only a matter of time before we essentially map out the biochemical pathways responsible for the euphoric sensation of being high, effectively giving us the map to render any recreational drug useless. This would also be a boon for anti-depressants and other psychiatric medications.