Republicans banning birth control and criminalizing abortion actually seems worse than the door-to-door inquiries to me. Both are pretty disgusting.

We all have those words that drive us crazy. Mine is when people pronounce associate as asso-SHE-ate.

It’s petty. Like really, really petty. But for some reason it grates on my nerves.

Also there’s an Reddit, user named random_commas or something like that. They leave legitimately good comments but with a few, extra commas in places that really fuck up the flow while reading. It gets me every single, time! I get all frazzled until I notice, the username and realize i’ve been had. Respect to that, person for having such a harmlessly evil schtick.

Men definitely use fashion to demonstrate opulence. The range of available styles is far more limited than what women get, but there’s still plenty of variation in that range to send social signals of one’s wealth. In fact it creates a more apples-to-apples point of comparison. I can’t personally look at two dresses and know which one costs more, but I can easily spot the expensive suit.

And don’t forget that sometimes casual clothing can be used as a status symbol too. In a conference room full of Armani suits, it’s not unheard of for the 26 year old at the head of the table wearing a hoodie and chucks to be the one calling the shots. <Insert Silicon Valley reference here>

I wish the graph went back another twenty years so we could see whether the timeframe matches your hypothesis.

Are you surprised???

Ransom is underrated IMO.

Currently $1700/mo for a very healthy, young, family of three. That comes with a $5000 deductible per person (or maximum out-of-pocket of $13000 for the family).

Oversimplification, but we basically pay $33,400 per year before insurance kicks in to cover costs.

That’s ridiculous, yes. But my last uninsured trip to the ER was for an unbearable stomach pain. The 4 hour visit consisted of a shot of pain killer, a scan that showed nothing, and observation by a couple of nurses during that time. I got a RX for some chalky pill and was told to cut back on NSAIDS and alcohol. Fair enough.

The bill from the hospital was $16,000 for the bed, nurses, and scan. Then there were separate bills for the radiologist and the ER doctor, and some lab work bringing the total to ~$17,500.

I currently do not have insurance because I cannot afford it. People treat me like I’m crazy for being overly cautious about getting COVID-19, but without insurance , I could easily go bankrupt if I get it.

American healthcare is truly awful.