28 tweets for 2009-9-18

[azurelunatic]

In the last 24 hours, I posted the following to Twitter:

• Friday, 0037: I'm at Mission St & 16th St - http://bkite.com/0bWZt
• Friday, 0049: Mothers make everything better. (Well, *my* mother.)
• Friday, 0123: I'm at Pacifica - http://bkite.com/0bX2G
• Friday, 0334: http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-thu-problem-briana-rice-sep17,0,771811.column Oh, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you in the head with wheat stalks.
• Friday, 1001: @Samuraiko I felt that a mere "fuck you" was insufficient. Therefore: wheat!
• Friday, 1004: RT@mamajoan:Study finds people w/o health insurance are more likely to die. I myself am likely to die from the DUH http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WellnessNews/lack-health-insurance-raises-death-risk/story?id=8606408
• Friday, 1005: @star_brow Details?
• Friday, 1020: Based on this (old link) I've tried turning off sound when playing Bejeweled to see if it will improve my score. http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2009/09/free_choice_may_not_be_as_free.php
• Friday, 1021: http://www.angryflower.com/ seems to have no visible RSS feed link.
• Friday, 1054: guys i have an internet related injury. chairdancing to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKHy8drQtNE and hit a knife.
• Friday, 1114: Aunt is on the way to take me to urgent care. Clean pressure is applied and I feel very stupid.
• Friday, 1444: @sofiaviolet oh it is hilarious.
• Friday, 1445: @Scatterbeams only two stitches :D
• Friday, 1447: Back from ER. The bill is going to hurt worse than the stab wound. Got 2 stitches.
• Friday, 1456: @sofiaviolet Aching, wrapped, ointmented, and no longer freely bleeding. I've felt worse after long days of sidewalk-hiking.
• Friday, 1510: @tiferet93 Me personally. They also have me down as M on my hospital bracelet. BRB, LOLing forever.
• Friday, 1540: @jamoche Guess what they didn't give me, amusingly enough?
• Friday, 1705: @oakandsage WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. ALSO, BANTAM HENS.
• Friday, 1910: @Dragoneer Not a member of the fandom, but I consider your reaction pretty sane in the heat of the moment. Keep on keepin' on. <3
• Friday, 1911: @amyty Word!
• Friday, 1951: Internet connection just went mammaries skywards. Rebooted routermodem, connecting fine to it but cannot even tracert.
• Friday, 2002: Pleh pleh Comcast. :(
• Friday, 2024: (And in case someone from Comcast is reading this, I don't get regular traffic on my cell, just DMs.) still no can resolve target system.
• Friday, 2029: And we're back!!
• Friday, 2030: @fairlight777 I did not have to tell them to fix it; I saw that it was fixed when I checked out. So someone recognized the boobs/typo.
• Friday, 2057: Going to read stuff in loaded tabs while I wait.
• Friday, 2202: Pain is back down to a 2.
• Friday, 2212: @seattlechiro1 Oh, honey, I do not think that your services are likely to be good for an accidental steak knife in the arm.

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Comments

[pauamma]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-thu-problem-briana-rice-sep17,0,771811.column Oh, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you in the head with wheat stalks.

But wait. There's better worse bet... damfino whether it's better or worse.

[azurelunatic]

I'm just glad that ordinary people are starting to get royally hacked off over these offenses.

[jekni.livejournal.com]

I have to admit to being totally baffled as to how a country like yours can have evolved without basic healthcare as a right for all people. I know we're just a piss-ant little Pacific island with a laughably small population (22m) but universal healthcare is something we have taken for granted for nearly 35 years

No, it's not by any means perfect, but situations like the one you point to would never be allowed to happen here. Yes, there are certain waiting periods if you choose to take out private health insurance (to supplement Medicare or allow for things like choice of surgeon or private hospital stays) or change funds, but a pre-existing condition is not allowed as an excuse to refuse you insurance. That's illegal in this country.

The girl mentioned in the story would have received immediate free treatment for coeliac disease under Medicare, particularly as her paretns are out of work so they would immediately qualify for a Health Care Card entitling any family member to free medical treatment from doctors and the public hospitals. Prescription medicine for Health Care Card holders also tops out at $4.50 per prescription from a chemist or free from the public hospital.

I'm just gobsmacked by the blatant injustice in the stories you linked to. Not at all what we are led to expect from the US.

[azurelunatic]

It should be illegal here.

There is a budding class war waiting to break out into possible violence between people below the poverty level and the middle class and upward -- there is this incredible contempt for anyone who cannot get or does not have a good enough job to actually afford to live. The people who make the laws are all well-off enough to afford insurance.

[jekni.livejournal.com]

That is dreadfully sad. I'm ashamed to say we have a bit of that here, too. People do tend to look down on those on benefits, although I don't think it's getting near violence.

What's the waiting period before your unemployment benefits kick in? Here you have to wait for 6 weeks after you resign or lose your job before you qualify, which makes it hard for lots of people during that time. Supporting Parent Benefit is quicker, of course.