To catch you up on current events, the House Republicans are currently lying on the floor, holding their breath, and turning blue, in a last ditch effort to get someone to make the Affordable Care Act (A/K/A Obamacare) go away. What terrifies them is not the idea that the program will fail, but that, in fact, it will succeed. And the thought of working people, children, and the poor having health coverage makes them panicky for some reason.
To that end, the Tea Party noise machine has done everything it can to spread misinformation about the law, prevent it from being implemented, and block the government from providing basic information about how the Affordable Care Act works. This is a familiar tactic from other recent political battles: frantically cut the legs out from under the law at the legislative level, then scream that it obviously doesnât work, and try to have it eliminated.
Here are the facts the hissy-fit crew donât want you to know:
If you have insurance, you keep it. Nothing changes.
If you apply for insurance, and you have a preexisting condition, most insurers can no longer deny you coverage.
If you canât afford insurance, the government will help you pay.
Your insurance coverage, whatever it is - whether it is supplied by your employer, or you go and get it yourself in the new health insurance marketplaces - will help pay for everything from preventative care, to doctorâs visits, to prescriptions. Because working people shouldnât be one accident or illness away from bankruptcy. This is a simple matter of decency and social fairness. I am confused why anyone thinks otherwise.
Some people worry if they donât get insurance, they will go to jail. This is a falsehood. However, in 2014, if you do not have health insurance, you have to get some, or pay a fee. And you say: but why do I need health insurance?? Iâm not sick and I donât need medical care! But if you get hit by a drunk driver, you will need care. Or if you slip on the ice. Or if youâre diagnosed with a malignant tumor. Everyone is in the health care market⌠ill health is an inevitable part of the human existence.
Donât worry signing up will be hard! Help finding a plan is available.
The ACA means your insurer cannot drop you just because you get sick. It also means insurers cannot set arbitrary limits on how much they will spend on your care each year. Need more care? Get more money.
The ACA protects your choice of doctors, and makes sure your children can stay on your health plan until theyâre 26. It guarantees your right to appeal if your insurer tries to dick you out of your fair coverage.
Guess what else? The money youâre spending on insurance? The insurance companies now face an 80/20 requirement, meaning that they have to spend 80% of what they make on health care, not on marketing, or administration, or other happy-crappy. Now they have to do less selling, more doing.
Thereâs a lot more to learn, if you want - all the facts are right here - but there is no reason to be afraid of the law. The goal is to protect families from the worst: the debilitating illness that wipes them out financially and closes the door to opportunity.
For creative people, the ACA is probably the best thing to happen in decades. I canât tell you how many comic book creators are one sickness from having everything swept away. The creative class has been one of the great engines of the American economy, and in that way, the Republican attack on the Affordable Care Act is an attack on what America does best: invent and create.
Again: all the information you need, including how to sign up, is right here. Take a few minutes and get some facts for yourself. You wonât need more than a few minutes - this is simple, not hard, and a positive, not a negative.
By all means, reblog this post. Itâs important for people to get good information. You can help by passing along the essential facts.
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Uh, yes please. (As a knitter, I really believe that the idea of fiber animals on demand should be a Real Thing.)
SCP-1296: Dial-A-Llama
SCP-1296 is a Volga M24 model automobile belonging to a service identifying as Dial-a-Llama. The vehicle itself displays minor physical alteration: baggage bars have been installed on the roof, the rear seats have been removed, and the vehicle is incorrectly labeled as manufactured by the Toyota company. The Dial-a-Llama companyâs contact information and slogans are painted on the sides of the vehicle.
Upon calling the provided telephone number, callers will be put in contact with a sales representative from Dial-a-Llama, henceforth referred to as SCP-1296a. Attempts to find the location of SCP-1296a or to acquire information not regarding orders have failed.
SCP-1296 will manifest within two hours of placing the order at the callerâs location, regardless of any changes in location made during the time between the call and the delivery. No maximum range to SCP-1296âs manifestations has been found, but it will require adequate space for the vehicle to manifest. Attempts to track SCP-1296 have failed: GPS devices attached to the vehicle have ceased function after SCP-1296 has left view, and it has consistently evaded pursuit. SCP-1296 will always manifest with one driver of varying appearance, and two to eight llamas. The cost of the order will vary without apparent pattern.
Interview and testing logs can be found in the primary document.
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Oh my darling darling boy.
if youâre sad then remember that there are things even David Tennant canât do
Â
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eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee (infinity)
SteveTonyFest Knitted Appreciation!
(i have no rights to the characters or comic, i just like to make them out of yarn. the basic dolly pattern is mine.)
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DAT SASS.
I officially cannot with this man anymore. XD
And I cannot wait to see all the awesome outfits by people who take this as a challenge. Because they will.
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I'd love to see this documentary!
âThink of the phrase âThe ripping of the fabric of time and spaceâ. I wanted to get that âtearingâ sound. So I went to a piano that had all its front taken off and it was just a frame with the strings. Â I took a key, my front door key and scraped it down one of the strings. Â That gave the ârippyâ sort of sound. We then took that and changed the speed of it so we could get different pitches. We cut those together, literally cutting the tape with a razor blade and sticking it together. We played it through feedback machines and you play the sound back upon itself as itâs recording so you get this ripple effect of the echo. Â And if you do that when the sound is being played backwards, the echo appears to come towards you. If you then turn it around so that the sound is going forwards, it appears to be going away from you. I wanted to get that âcoming and goingâ sound, the rising and falling.â
-Brian Hodgson, describing how he created the materialisation/de-materialisation sound of the TARDIS. A sound that is of course still used today. (Taken from the DW origins Documentary)Â
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I love sassy Loki putting on lipstick and being all "GURL, I GOT THIS" to the lady's maid behind him.
The Wedding Preparations by ~Hellanim
This is an illustration for the Thrymskvitha, in which Thor and Loki disguise themselves as a bride and her maid in order to recover the stolen Mjolnir.
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