PencilSketchy
@brainspore.bsky.social
Visual designer, slayer of tacos.
Probably just finally had enough of the Ent-dudes spreading their seed all over the place.
December 15, 2025 at 5:14 AM
Probably just finally had enough of the Ent-dudes spreading their seed all over the place.
Are you arguing that people who had pre-existing conditions aren't better off in the post-ACA era than they were when insurance companies were allowed to deny coverage or charge astronomical rates for people with pre-existing conditions?
Maybe if you talk to those people you'll see why it matters.
Maybe if you talk to those people you'll see why it matters.
December 15, 2025 at 4:30 AM
Are you arguing that people who had pre-existing conditions aren't better off in the post-ACA era than they were when insurance companies were allowed to deny coverage or charge astronomical rates for people with pre-existing conditions?
Maybe if you talk to those people you'll see why it matters.
Maybe if you talk to those people you'll see why it matters.
Ugh, I always hate it when current events conspire to remind me that Bill O'Reilley is still technically alive.
December 15, 2025 at 4:22 AM
Ugh, I always hate it when current events conspire to remind me that Bill O'Reilley is still technically alive.
America already had the worst healthcare in the developed world. The ACA didn't make it great, it made it less bad.
The Republicans are fighting to bring us back to "even worse."
The Republicans are fighting to bring us back to "even worse."
December 15, 2025 at 4:18 AM
America already had the worst healthcare in the developed world. The ACA didn't make it great, it made it less bad.
The Republicans are fighting to bring us back to "even worse."
The Republicans are fighting to bring us back to "even worse."
The number of uninsured Americans after the ACA is significantly lower than the number of uninsured Americans before the ACA.
By just about any metric it's been a major improvement over what we had before, even if it continues to fall far short of where we should be.
www.cbpp.org/blog/federal...
By just about any metric it's been a major improvement over what we had before, even if it continues to fall far short of where we should be.
www.cbpp.org/blog/federal...
Federal Report: ACA Dramatically Increased Health Coverage
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) dramatically improved health insurance coverage rates, and recent decisions by Congress and the Administration related to its implementation have boosted both coverage...
www.cbpp.org
December 15, 2025 at 4:16 AM
The number of uninsured Americans after the ACA is significantly lower than the number of uninsured Americans before the ACA.
By just about any metric it's been a major improvement over what we had before, even if it continues to fall far short of where we should be.
www.cbpp.org/blog/federal...
By just about any metric it's been a major improvement over what we had before, even if it continues to fall far short of where we should be.
www.cbpp.org/blog/federal...
Better late than never, I guess.
December 15, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Better late than never, I guess.
I assume that Johnny Storm was invited to participate in the Menorah-lighting ceremony.
December 15, 2025 at 3:18 AM
I assume that Johnny Storm was invited to participate in the Menorah-lighting ceremony.
In short:
"The ACA didn't fix American healthcare" = reasonable position
"The ACA didn't make anything better" = simply untrue
"The ACA didn't fix American healthcare" = reasonable position
"The ACA didn't make anything better" = simply untrue
December 15, 2025 at 3:15 AM
In short:
"The ACA didn't fix American healthcare" = reasonable position
"The ACA didn't make anything better" = simply untrue
"The ACA didn't fix American healthcare" = reasonable position
"The ACA didn't make anything better" = simply untrue
The ACA was a step forward, not a panacea. It succeeded in expanding coverage/slowing the rise in costs but it's nowhere near where we should be (i.e. a single-payer system like every other wealthy nation in the world).
Republicans want to erase even that progress.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Republicans want to erase even that progress.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Out-of-Pocket Health Care Expenses Before and After the Affordable Care Act
This cross-sectional study analyzes trends in out-of-pocket (OOP) health expenses in the United States during the last 2 decades and compares the distribution of services that contribute most to OOP s...
jamanetwork.com
December 15, 2025 at 3:14 AM
The ACA was a step forward, not a panacea. It succeeded in expanding coverage/slowing the rise in costs but it's nowhere near where we should be (i.e. a single-payer system like every other wealthy nation in the world).
Republicans want to erase even that progress.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Republicans want to erase even that progress.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
I had childhood asthma too (luckily grew out of it) and I'm well aware that many, MANY people were way worse off than me… the idea that everyone should be responsible for their own health expenses just seems so incredibly cruel. Especially in a world where universal healthcare is entirely possible.
December 15, 2025 at 12:46 AM
I had childhood asthma too (luckily grew out of it) and I'm well aware that many, MANY people were way worse off than me… the idea that everyone should be responsible for their own health expenses just seems so incredibly cruel. Especially in a world where universal healthcare is entirely possible.
Oh great now they're going to just put all the mom-and-pop-predatory-for-profit-health-insurance-conglomerates out of business.
December 15, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Oh great now they're going to just put all the mom-and-pop-predatory-for-profit-health-insurance-conglomerates out of business.
It may be a sign that I'm getting old but it seems incredible to me how fast people forgot about (or never learned about) the whole "pre-existing conditions" thing.
If you lost a job the only way to ensure you didn't lose coverage entirely was a expensive program named after a deadly snake (COBRA).
If you lost a job the only way to ensure you didn't lose coverage entirely was a expensive program named after a deadly snake (COBRA).
December 15, 2025 at 12:09 AM
It may be a sign that I'm getting old but it seems incredible to me how fast people forgot about (or never learned about) the whole "pre-existing conditions" thing.
If you lost a job the only way to ensure you didn't lose coverage entirely was a expensive program named after a deadly snake (COBRA).
If you lost a job the only way to ensure you didn't lose coverage entirely was a expensive program named after a deadly snake (COBRA).
In a sense telling implausible lies is kind of a flex for them, because the more obvious the lie the more fealty his minions show by pretending to believe it.
December 14, 2025 at 11:40 PM
In a sense telling implausible lies is kind of a flex for them, because the more obvious the lie the more fealty his minions show by pretending to believe it.
The closest I've ever heard to a precedent is that we know Lincoln's right hand was swollen from hand-shaking at the time an artist took a cast of it in 1860. But that was still just minor *swelling,* not bruising or an injury requiring a bandage.
www.si.edu/object/casts...
www.si.edu/object/casts...
Casts of Abraham Lincoln's Face and Hands | Smithsonian Institution
www.si.edu
December 14, 2025 at 11:39 PM
The closest I've ever heard to a precedent is that we know Lincoln's right hand was swollen from hand-shaking at the time an artist took a cast of it in 1860. But that was still just minor *swelling,* not bruising or an injury requiring a bandage.
www.si.edu/object/casts...
www.si.edu/object/casts...
I will make an exception for Columbo talking about his wife all the time but mostly because it's so wholesome and annoys the crap out of suspects.
December 14, 2025 at 11:35 PM
I will make an exception for Columbo talking about his wife all the time but mostly because it's so wholesome and annoys the crap out of suspects.
Most amazing thing about the show was how Scully was able to maintain her skeptical worldview week after week.
COP: Here's the stabbing victim.
SCULLY: Wounds look consistent with a nine-inch wea—
MULDER: Unicorn.
SCULLY: Mulder, unicorns are mythical surely there's a rational…
[40 minutes later]
COP: Here's the stabbing victim.
SCULLY: Wounds look consistent with a nine-inch wea—
MULDER: Unicorn.
SCULLY: Mulder, unicorns are mythical surely there's a rational…
[40 minutes later]
December 14, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Most amazing thing about the show was how Scully was able to maintain her skeptical worldview week after week.
COP: Here's the stabbing victim.
SCULLY: Wounds look consistent with a nine-inch wea—
MULDER: Unicorn.
SCULLY: Mulder, unicorns are mythical surely there's a rational…
[40 minutes later]
COP: Here's the stabbing victim.
SCULLY: Wounds look consistent with a nine-inch wea—
MULDER: Unicorn.
SCULLY: Mulder, unicorns are mythical surely there's a rational…
[40 minutes later]
If anything, Indiana Jones' involvement only allowed the Nazis to find the Ark faster than they ever could have found it on their own.
December 14, 2025 at 3:15 AM
If anything, Indiana Jones' involvement only allowed the Nazis to find the Ark faster than they ever could have found it on their own.
My take: Indiana Jones is an A+ action movie hero and absolute dogshit archaeologist / human being.
I mean, the dude was a straight-up thief who destroyed 2-3 UNESCO World Heritage Sites per movie. Plus he canonically seduced Marion Ravenwood when he was in his late 20s and she was 15 or 16. Yuck.
I mean, the dude was a straight-up thief who destroyed 2-3 UNESCO World Heritage Sites per movie. Plus he canonically seduced Marion Ravenwood when he was in his late 20s and she was 15 or 16. Yuck.
December 14, 2025 at 3:05 AM
My take: Indiana Jones is an A+ action movie hero and absolute dogshit archaeologist / human being.
I mean, the dude was a straight-up thief who destroyed 2-3 UNESCO World Heritage Sites per movie. Plus he canonically seduced Marion Ravenwood when he was in his late 20s and she was 15 or 16. Yuck.
I mean, the dude was a straight-up thief who destroyed 2-3 UNESCO World Heritage Sites per movie. Plus he canonically seduced Marion Ravenwood when he was in his late 20s and she was 15 or 16. Yuck.
When the movie “Captain America: Civil War” was announced it occurred to me that both Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes are both old enough in the MCU timeline to have known American Civil War veterans. I kind of wish the movies had brought that up somehow.
December 14, 2025 at 2:24 AM
When the movie “Captain America: Civil War” was announced it occurred to me that both Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes are both old enough in the MCU timeline to have known American Civil War veterans. I kind of wish the movies had brought that up somehow.
It doesn’t take a lot of money to pretend you’re smart.
It takes a lot of money to get OTHER PEOPLE to pretend you’re smart.
It takes a lot of money to get OTHER PEOPLE to pretend you’re smart.
December 13, 2025 at 9:59 PM
It doesn’t take a lot of money to pretend you’re smart.
It takes a lot of money to get OTHER PEOPLE to pretend you’re smart.
It takes a lot of money to get OTHER PEOPLE to pretend you’re smart.
This needs to be repeated more often because even some progressives have parroted the lie that “Mussolini made the trains run on time” even as they acknowledge it was at too high a cost.
It’s ALL cost, NO benefit!
It’s ALL cost, NO benefit!
December 13, 2025 at 9:47 PM
This needs to be repeated more often because even some progressives have parroted the lie that “Mussolini made the trains run on time” even as they acknowledge it was at too high a cost.
It’s ALL cost, NO benefit!
It’s ALL cost, NO benefit!
Absolutely; for example all that ornate fake gold crap only distracts from the photos of past Presidents instead of drawing attention to them. It’s just a total design fail even if one sets aside the tackiness of the whole thing.
December 13, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Absolutely; for example all that ornate fake gold crap only distracts from the photos of past Presidents instead of drawing attention to them. It’s just a total design fail even if one sets aside the tackiness of the whole thing.
So if a person with millions or billions in bank accounts/stocks/bonds etc. died then those institutions would just instantly lose the ability to loan/invest/spend that money?
Doesn’t exactly sound like a recipe for financial stability to say the least.
Doesn’t exactly sound like a recipe for financial stability to say the least.
December 13, 2025 at 1:34 AM
So if a person with millions or billions in bank accounts/stocks/bonds etc. died then those institutions would just instantly lose the ability to loan/invest/spend that money?
Doesn’t exactly sound like a recipe for financial stability to say the least.
Doesn’t exactly sound like a recipe for financial stability to say the least.
Reminds me of a story I read from the Bush II war in Iraq when a Humvee in a convoy got a flat, then the soldiers found out that none of the vehicles in the convoy carried spare tires because the contractors servicing their vehicles had cheaped out. They ended up having to abandon & destroy it.
December 13, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Reminds me of a story I read from the Bush II war in Iraq when a Humvee in a convoy got a flat, then the soldiers found out that none of the vehicles in the convoy carried spare tires because the contractors servicing their vehicles had cheaped out. They ended up having to abandon & destroy it.