Heartland

Really, this speaks for itself (but if you need clarification, just ask ):

Oh - and Mr. Taylor: looks like it's time to get crackin'! You've got a whole forum itching to call your bluff, so...

And on the plus side...smoke 'em if you've got 'em

EvilBastard wrote:And on the plus side...smoke 'em if you've got 'em

Curiouser and curiouser.

Microcosmia wrote:

EvilBastard wrote:And on the plus side...smoke 'em if you've got 'em

Curiouser and curiouser.

Although perhaps this is more apposite...

David Duke: Trump win a great victory for 'our people'

This c(o)untry is an embarrassment. I'm ashamed to be American.

We are truly a nation of deplorables

A quote from someone on another site I'm also on:

Meanwhile my family’s literally having the conversation of “If the ACA goes, do we sell the car or give away our elderly dog to afford my mom’s medicine�

markfiend wrote:A quote from someone on another site I'm also on:

Meanwhile my family’s literally having the conversation of “If the ACA goes, do we sell the car or give away our elderly dog to afford my mom’s medicine�

Oh, aye. Having endured breast cancer, it's now a "pre-existing condition." DH and I will probably have to declare bankruptcy if the ACA goes.

Granted, the ACA is/has been far from "affordable;" our 2017 deductibles are $1500/person and $4500/family for "in-network" providers; our out-of-pocket maximums per year are $4800/person and $9600/family for "in-network" providers; primary care "in-network" office visits are slapped with a $40 co-pay; all my specialist visits come with a $50 co-pay price tag per visit. I've cancelled many necessary appointments because I/we can't afford them at $50 a pop. And this is all on one modest income, because I still can't work full-time due to the debilitating side effects of the chemotherapy. The pain in my hands, wrists, knees, hips, ankles, neck, and spine is excruciating because my joints are now plagued by inflammatory arthritis (from the chemo and the chemo-induced menopause); I can barely feel my fingers or toes because of the chemo-induced neuropathy (which may be permanent).

Nevertheless, I don't qualify for any disability assistance. No one will hire me, either, because I'm 48, have physical limitations, and I've been out of the workforce for over a year. Perfect sh1tstorm. I'm so very afraid...

ETA: I forgot to mention that our health insurance premium is over $350/month. In hindsight, we'd actually have been better off financially if we hadn't gotten married. Only in America...

That's f*cked up. {{hugs}}

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Wot he said. That sucks.

The horror.
And a plain example of how to make it impossible for people to live a life, even if they are fully prepared to work for it ...

That sucks
{{hugs}}

Crikey, Sinnie! And here was I wondering why I never see you online anymore.

What about a Lovesong to Trump?
On days like these, tourettes kind of appeals the only sane reaction on the news.

adarkadaptedi wrote:

markfiend wrote:A quote from someone on another site I'm also on:

Meanwhile my family’s literally having the conversation of “If the ACA goes, do we sell the car or give away our elderly dog to afford my mom’s medicine�

Oh, aye. Having endured breast cancer, it's now a "pre-existing condition." DH and I will probably have to declare bankruptcy if the ACA goes.

Granted, the ACA is/has been far from "affordable;" our 2017 deductibles are $1500/person and $4500/family for "in-network" providers; our out-of-pocket maximums per year are $4800/person and $9600/family for "in-network" providers; primary care "in-network" office visits are slapped with a $40 co-pay; all my specialist visits come with a $50 co-pay price tag per visit. I've cancelled many necessary appointments because I/we can't afford them at $50 a pop. And this is all on one modest income, because I still can't work full-time due to the debilitating side effects of the chemotherapy. The pain in my hands, wrists, knees, hips, ankles, neck, and spine is excruciating because my joints are now plagued by inflammatory arthritis (from the chemo and the chemo-induced menopause); I can barely feel my fingers or toes because of the chemo-induced neuropathy (which may be permanent).

Nevertheless, I don't qualify for any disability assistance. No one will hire me, either, because I'm 48, have physical limitations, and I've been out of the workforce for over a year. Perfect sh1tstorm. I'm so very afraid...

ETA: I forgot to mention that our health insurance premium is over $350/month. In hindsight, we'd actually have been better off financially if we hadn't gotten married. Only in America...

So sorry to read this, as if you hadn't been through enough already. Where I'm from that amount would buy decent private cover if the public health system wasn't to one's liking but I can imagine how fearful you must be of losing the ACA just the same.

{{Hugs}}

adarkadaptedi wrote:

markfiend wrote:A quote from someone on another site I'm also on:

Meanwhile my family’s literally having the conversation of “If the ACA goes, do we sell the car or give away our elderly dog to afford my mom’s medicine�

Oh, aye. Having endured breast cancer, it's now a "pre-existing condition." DH and I will probably have to declare bankruptcy if the ACA goes.

Granted, the ACA is/has been far from "affordable;" our 2017 deductibles are $1500/person and $4500/family for "in-network" providers; our out-of-pocket maximums per year are $4800/person and $9600/family for "in-network" providers; primary care "in-network" office visits are slapped with a $40 co-pay; all my specialist visits come with a $50 co-pay price tag per visit. I've cancelled many necessary appointments because I/we can't afford them at $50 a pop. And this is all on one modest income, because I still can't work full-time due to the debilitating side effects of the chemotherapy. The pain in my hands, wrists, knees, hips, ankles, neck, and spine is excruciating because my joints are now plagued by inflammatory arthritis (from the chemo and the chemo-induced menopause); I can barely feel my fingers or toes because of the chemo-induced neuropathy (which may be permanent).

Nevertheless, I don't qualify for any disability assistance. No one will hire me, either, because I'm 48, have physical limitations, and I've been out of the workforce for over a year. Perfect sh1tstorm. I'm so very afraid...

ETA: I forgot to mention that our health insurance premium is over $350/month. In hindsight, we'd actually have been better off financially if we hadn't gotten married. Only in America...

That's sh1te Sinnie, sending you lots of love

Here's hoping that the shouting orang-utan is found to be criminally insane and therefore unfit to hold office and the result is declared null and void. But only after has released the new album.

Microcosmia wrote:

adarkadaptedi wrote:

markfiend wrote:A quote from someone on another site I'm also on:

Oh, aye. Having endured breast cancer, it's now a "pre-existing condition." DH and I will probably have to declare bankruptcy if the ACA goes.

Granted, the ACA is/has been far from "affordable;" our 2017 deductibles are $1500/person and $4500/family for "in-network" providers; our out-of-pocket maximums per year are $4800/person and $9600/family for "in-network" providers; primary care "in-network" office visits are slapped with a $40 co-pay; all my specialist visits come with a $50 co-pay price tag per visit. I've cancelled many necessary appointments because I/we can't afford them at $50 a pop. And this is all on one modest income, because I still can't work full-time due to the debilitating side effects of the chemotherapy. The pain in my hands, wrists, knees, hips, ankles, neck, and spine is excruciating because my joints are now plagued by inflammatory arthritis (from the chemo and the chemo-induced menopause); I can barely feel my fingers or toes because of the chemo-induced neuropathy (which may be permanent).

Nevertheless, I don't qualify for any disability assistance. No one will hire me, either, because I'm 48, have physical limitations, and I've been out of the workforce for over a year. Perfect sh1tstorm. I'm so very afraid...

ETA: I forgot to mention that our health insurance premium is over $350/month. In hindsight, we'd actually have been better off financially if we hadn't gotten married. Only in America...

So sorry to read this, as if you hadn't been through enough already. Where I'm from that amount would buy decent private cover if the public health system wasn't to one's liking but I can imagine how fearful you must be of losing the ACA just the same.

{{Hugs}}

Those $$$ amounts are *with* ACA-backed coverage! Basically, the ACA makes it illegal for health insurance companies to deny people insurance coverage because of pre-existing conditions (like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mental illness, etc.) or to charge them exorbitant fees for coverage (HA!).

Without the ACA, health insurance companies could decide that certain folks are too expensive a risk, and either drop their coverage entirely, or charge whatever they want per month for premiums (which is how it used to be over here!). In my case, that would mean that my DH and I would essentially be responsible for the full cost of any future surgeries/treatments/etc. We don't have $500K-$1M+ lying around, unfortunately, nor do we know anyone who does...

eotunun wrote: Crikey, Sinnie! And here was I wondering why I never see you online anymore.

I'm trying not to let the fear win, dear Jums!

adarkadaptedi wrote: I'm trying not to let the fear win, dear Jums!

You have done a great job of not losing so far. Get yer arse online in Skype for a chat, it's been well over half a year since our last!

Oh, and the day in one picture:

this is what will happen here if people don't buck up.
oh, sinnie... what a crap piece of s**t.
i miss you so very much.

just read all that Erika, that's f**king horrible. and nothing i can do or say but send my love and hugs with everyone else's and keep my fingers crossed for you.

Sinnie. Stay safe, we can get more money for you I'm sure

Mark - NO. Please keep your hard-earned cash; I won't accept it. That wasn't the point of my rant. The U.S. is a hateful place full of folks who truly believe that affordable health insurance and quality health care are "luxuries," and that folks like me don't deserve either. The comments I've seen from "my fellow Americans" (never...) regarding the plan to repeal the ACA are chilling. "Dog-eat-dog" and "Wild West" have been tossed in as metaphors for what can be expected down the road, as a result. The lack of any compassion, empathy, or willingness to help those less fortunate is staggering.

adarkadaptedi wrote:Mark - NO. Please keep your hard-earned cash; I won't accept it. That wasn't the point of my rant. The U.S. is a hateful place full of folks who truly believe that affordable health insurance and quality health care are "luxuries," and that folks like me don't deserve either. The comments I've seen from "my fellow Americans" (never...) regarding the plan to repeal the ACA are chilling. "Dog-eat-dog" and "Wild West" have been tossed in as metaphors for what can be expected down the road, as a result. The lack of any compassion, empathy, or willingness to help those less fortunate is staggering.

Meh, Dear:
It doesn't quite help your own situation, but give imbecile Herr Drumpf some time to cock up things in the United States, then sit back, and give a mischievous grin when all those good righteous successful citizens (I struggle not to fling the German word "Spießer, a short form of Spießbürger into the ring) stumbled and fell.
Trump will either have to obey to the facts, which will mean breaking his promisses to the white trash and right winger shiits, or he will stick to his announced policy, which will mean ruining the US ecconomy, causing unemployment to those who voted for him.
Either way, he's bound to cock up. I can't see his clueless ramblings work in any way as a political program.

I don't know what one has to do to achieve the status for a political asylum in Germany as US citizen in Germany, but I guess your health care with this status would be better here than it is as tax paying good citizen in the USA…

It's comforting to learn from the news, that actually only a minority of Americans actually voted for Herren Drumpf, only the fairly low rate of participation and idiotic chosen elector system worked in his favour. I don't have to give up hope for the average Yankees to be decent peeps.