Born and raised in Scotland, currently living in New Hampshire. Author of several books, mostly on meditation and Buddhist practice. Fan of Scots language. Learning #dansk and #svenska. Dabbler in #Pali.
I just got a bill for $3,001.36, which is for one visit to the hospital. That amount is what I have to pay after insurance.
Vote the Tories out and protect your #NHS. The system in the US is the system they want for you. They want a profit-making health service because they'd own it and you'd be making them richer every time you go to the doctor.
And people in Scotland: in the long term Labour are not going to save the NHS. Vote #SNP. Make Scotland independent!
@paulb3017 To be more accurate, 43.6% of voters chose the Tories. The majority rejected them. The UK election system just about worked when the choices were closer to being binary, but in a multi-party system it's seriously dysfunctional.
@dancinyogi I My insurance company broke one hospital visit down into six different cases, each of which is detailed on a different "Explanation of Benefits" (i.e. an explanation of why they're not paying everything). None of them actually explains anything. I will fight this, but it means contesting six different decisions simultaneously. I guess they do this to make things easier for themselves.
My cousin is sheltering in place in Atlanta right now -active shooter. He works in midtown Atlanta and said they locked the building down.
Edit - he is fine. He sheltered in place for the duration.
Not sure what to say at this point. The words that have been said over and over again following a mass shooting have been worn out. There are no new words, at least none that I can think of.
I think there is a difference between a realist and a pessimist., yet realists tend to be lumped in with pessimists when the reality they point out is less than pleasant. Example - If I point out a fire, that doesn't mean I agree with the fire! A pessimist would throw up their hands and let the fire take the house. An optimist would work to put it out.
Realists point out our reality. What one does with that reality determines whether they're an optimist or a pessimist.
@dancinyogi An optimist might smell smoke, assume things are going to be okay and not act promptly. A pessimist might call the fire service the first moment they smell folk because they assume something dreadful's going to happen.
Optimism can be toxic, as I know from my own experience. Pessimists might feel bad more of the time, but they'll often err on the side of caution and end up staying safe.
@dancinyogi Toxic? I was describing myself, but I'll forgive you 😉
Your framing of pessimist was, I think, overly negative. Pessimism can be warranted, and sometimes better fitted to circumstances than optimism. For example, if you were Jewish in 1930's Germany it was better to be pessimistic about how things were going to turn out. Optimists didn't fare well. As an optimist, I try to think a lot about the possible shortcomings of my perspective, in order to find more balance.
@dancinyogi It looks like I didn't express myself clearly.
I wasn't saying that optimism is bad. Your original framing was pessimism is bad (don't try to save the house because what's the point?) and optimism is good (try to save the house). I'm saying that both optimism and pessimism can be helpful or unhelpful, depending on a variety of factors.
@dancinyogi On a different note, you mentioned running with a dog's leash attached to your waist (if I remember correctly). Can you tell me more about that? I've been thinking it would be nice to run with my larger dog. I'd be worried about standing on the small one!
@dancinyogi Usually she starts by pulling and I have to keep her on a short leash, but once she's settled in she'll walk beside me. I've tried training her not to pull, but she's so excited at being out on a walk that she isn't interested in the treats I try to give her to reward good behavior.
At a US hospital, a woman with a cancerous, nonviable pregnancy was told she’d need to wait in a parking lot until she started actually dying before doctors could legally treat her. #abortion
@dell Many things in this are horrifying, but I was chilled by the fact that three of the 34 hospitals questioned said they'd never provide an abortion under any circumstances, which means they're rather allow a woman to die rather than use one of the narrow exemptions in the law that allow for life-saving abortions. How is that not "murder by doctor"?
@bobjmsn is this a “let them eat cake” moment? Feels a bit like that and will Brits stand for this? It’s going to come to this in the U.S. and it’s going to get ugly!
@yaktuary@akgirl@bobjmsn To be more precise, 43.6% of Brits voted for the Tories in the last election. I suspect many of them didn't understand that they were voting for economic catastrophe and won't make the same mistake again.
@yaktuary@akgirl@bobjmsn Would you like to place a modest bet that the Tories will have a smaller share of the vote this time? I’d be willing to put £100 on it. You in?
Hello, @dimillian. I enjoy using @IceCubesApp very much. Thank you for creating it.
Is it okay if I put in a request?
Scots (as opposed to Scottish Gaelic) is available as a language on Mastodon, but not in Ice Cubes. When I want to have a post recognized as being in Scots I have to switch to another app. Can you add Scots to the list of available languages, please?
@dancinyogi I’m Scottish and in favor of an independent Republic of Scotland. The expense of this pageant is obscene given how many people in Britain are living in poverty.
@dancinyogi Excellent! I just started running again after a three-year break. I'm taking it slowly, using a couch to 5k app.
One reason I stopped was because I'd moved to a house on top of a steep hill, so I'm driving down to a flatter place so I don't give myself a freaking heart attack!
@dancinyogi Very impressive! I intended to do a Marathon when I was in my early 20's, but my knee kept getting injured. I doubt I'll ever aim to do that again, but there's a local half-marathon I might aim for.
A HS student to their TX school board, which is banning books:
“I’m not going to sit here and talk about the slippery slope that book banning leads to because I learned from a book, that I checked out from my school’s library, that I don’t need to resort to logical fallacy to make a point. I’m simply going to say that no government – and public school is an extension of government – has ever banned books, and banned information from its public, and been remembered in history as the good guys.”
@reardon15@strong_sue "Such materials"? It sounds like you're assuming there is some merit in these bannings.
The purposes of the current rounds of book bannings are 1) to stop kids being aware of racism. 2) To ban any mention of sexual orientations except straightness. 3) To make the claim that teachers are sexually "grooming" kids, in order to undermine faith in the public education system.
It's a dishonest attempt at authoritarian social control.
