Spyke

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Donald Trump Photo Without Ear Bandage Raises Eyebrows

Speaking for myself, my eyebrows are not raised. I remember reading that day that it was a shattered teleprompter or other shrapnel that nicked or sliced his ear, not that a bullet had passed through it. In any case, I personally don't quite understand the importance of the distinction. He was shot at either way, no? If it were a nick by glass I imagine it would've healed by now.

Edit: I forgot to mention... Fuck Trump and his ilk, they deserve being two-time losers come November.

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U.S. government spent more on health care in 2022 than six countries with universal health care combined

How timely! American here who just received a bill for scoping my sinuses by an ENT specialist: insurance covered $28 out of the $415 procedure. This is on top of the $70 copay I owe for the $195 office visit. So all accounting factored in, I owe $450 for what I thought was going to be $70.

Because it was billed through insurance, the provider's hands are tied in terms of further negotiation. I would bet if I had gone in as a cash patient, I'd be much better off.

The icing on the cake is that the scoping procedure was non-conclusive.

The US healthcare insurance system is the ultimate way to make money fast, for little effort. As long as you're on the right side of it, that is.

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Toxic Gaslighting: How 3M Executives Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe

Recently, 3M settled the lawsuit filed by cities and towns with polluted water. It will pay up to $12.5 billion to cover the costs of filtering out PFAS, depending on how many water systems need the chemicals removed. The settlement, however, doesn’t approach the scale of the problem. At least 45% of U.S. tap water is estimated to contain one or more forever chemicals, and one drinking water expert told me that the cost of removing them all would likely reach $100 billion.

$100 billion? Seems low. That's only five renovations to JFK.