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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 20th, 2023

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  • Apple has very explicitly stated in very clear terms that the health app does not share data with other apps or devices unless you give permission. And as someone who has given that permission (twice, once to give a meal tracker write permission and once to link to my doctors office’s application for read and write) it’s for every application. It’s not a “hey you need to let everyone have access or no one”. You can get fairly granular.

    There’s always the possibility of lying but usually when a company goes that hard on saying the same thing is so many different ways it’s legit. They don’t commit like that unless they know they won’t get in trouble. Those kinds of statements could open them to false advertising claims if it got out they were taking your health data.

    Here’s a link to their privacy document which reviewed a good bit of info: https://www.apple.com/privacy/docs/Health_Privacy_White_Paper_May_2023.pdf




  • The conversation would be entirely different if they had attacked military targets and not civilians. A
    Military base or political building and then suddenly they’re resistance fighters with a lot more backing.

    But they attacked civilians at a festival and kidnaps multinational civilians who have no impact on the regions politics. That turned just about everyone against them.

    I’ve yet to hear anyone defend hamas. I’ve heard people defending Palestine, which is where I am. But it’s more defending the innocents that aren’t involved than Hamas. I’ve heard people be anti Israel, but many of them don’t support Hamas either. And those who are ok with killing civilians because of their government are already pretty lost. I’ve also seen anti US since we’re involved and while I wish we just weren’t involved at all, or at least trying to negotiate a ceasefire, most of those people are just “USA bad, disagree without thinking” types. Overall though there has really been no defense of Hamas at all


  • Idk where your coming from but as someone who had $12k in an HSA and employer medical that’s bs.

    I went to the eye doctor and needed glasses. Tried using my HSA. Nope. Not an approved medical expense. Tried paying a copay at the er. Nope not an approved medical expense. Wife got a kidney stone removed via surgery. Wanted to pay coinsurance. Nope not an approved medical expense. I needed a cpap for my sleep apnea. Nope not an approved medical expense. Year rolled over and all that money disappeared. I asked where it went and was told I either used it or lost it. So I got rid of it. Fucking garbage.

    As for the employer coverage, we had a zero dollar deductible plan. My wife gave birth last year. Ambulance ride from her work? Nope, not necessary. All the gyno visits? Nope, not necessary. The ER visit when she slipped and fell at 6 months? Nope, not necessary. The 2 week hospital stay when she went preeclamptic? Nope, not necessary. The delivery? Nope, not necessary. The NICU stay for our premature daughter? Nope, not necessary.

    I payed $1700 per PAY for my health insurance and they didn’t cover a cent from our entire family last year. We racked up over $70k in medical debt. Our MOOP was $5k/$10k and they said none of it applied.

    Hospital sent it to collections because we couldn’t fit their minimum payment of $9k/mth (fuck duke lifepoint but this is an insurance rant). We complained to the pa board of health insurance and were advised to get a lawyer but no lawyer would take it. They said it would be years to get anything back, let alone the full amount.

    We ended up proving that my employer doesn’t offer comprehensive insurance. The main component is covering pre and post natal care which they claim to, but they deny every time. So now we have insurance through penni for $60/mth with government help. Oh and we went through bankruptcy to get rid of the collections debt.

    Fuck Cigna, fuck duke lifepoint, fuck insurance, fuck for profit healthcare, fuck the American healthcare system.


  • As an American I can say that the overwhelming majority of people don’t have an interest in this specific event. Yes, there are those that support one side or the other. Yes there are some protests. But most people simply don’t care.

    What most people want is for the US to stay out of the Middle East. It feels like we just left. It was one of the first things to happen during the Biden administration. It’s been less than 4 years. Now we’re sending troops back over. Sure, it’s just medical support, for now. But it just feels like we’re getting back into the war we just left.

    It’s not the same war. It’s an entirely different war on every aspect. But with our coverage and everything it feels like it’s a continuation of the same conflict. Americans don’t want involved. And with ties to Israel the easiest way to keep out of it is to broker peace between both countries.

    Unfortunately Americans rarely get what they want



  • You can file bankruptcy independently. It’s a bit more complicated but possible.

    I just went through it and honestly, I’m so relieved. It’s not something you want to go through, but sometimes people fuck up and can’t unfuck their finances. It helped me and my wife unfuck our finances. We declared bankruptcy in March and were debt free by May. We now own a house and are actually able to live our lives how we want. Our daughter turned a year and we decided to throw her a massive bday. We put 2 grand into her party. Something we couldn’t have done with our debt. We’re going to a couple USL playoff games this season as well.

    On top of that we got new flooring in our house, something we desperately needed. We just had a new furnace installed. I have a quote coming for replacing our stairs that are falling apart. The loans are a pain to get but it’s doable and we’re paying them off before the interest gets too bad. Again, something we wouldn’t be able to do in debt.

    Bankruptcy shouldn’t be something anyone wants to do, but also don’t be afraid of it.




  • Some very important notes for your son:

    Caves are cold so not many insects go down there.
    If he got bit by a tick check for tick diseases. I know the big one around here is Lyme Disease. If he has a bullseye shape around the bite that’s a sign of an infection. I don’t know if other tick diseases are prevalent in your area.

    If he was in close contact with bats and may have been bitten get him checked for rabies. While very rare, there are still occasional cases across the US. It can remain dormant for a very long time but once it crosses the blood brain barrier and infects the brain there is no help. It’s better to get him checked and vaccinated early than wait and see.

    Just some numbers on the rabies, there are about 5k animal cases reported yearly nationwide, mostly wild animals. Only 1-3 yearly reports in humans. So it’s rare and unlikely, but it’s just not something you fuck around with and risk.


  • It’s been about 15 years since I’ve been spelunking. I did it a lot in the scouts. Started with Bear Caves in Blairsville, PA (just a name, not actual bear caves). Those were fairly easy and well explored. Nearby there is Lemon Hole cave which involved rappelling 80ft into the cave. That was a lot of fun.

    But probably my favorite cave would be the loyalhanna creek cave in Ligonier, PA. If you ever travelled from Ligonier to Latrobe via US-30 you’ve passed this cave. I passed this cave weekly growing up but I never knew it was there until I was 16 years old. It’s right off the side of the road but there’s a ditch hiding the entrance and even that doesn’t look like an entrance. You get to squeeze under the hillside into a 1’ gap and the wiggle your way for a few yards on your back to get into the actual cave itself. Then after you get in, it starts to sink in that you have to do it again to get back out. Probably the tightest spot I’ve been in. I’m laying on my back and my stomach is scraping the ceiling. I was a skinny little fuck back the too. Couldn’t wear a hard hat because it wouldn’t fit. Had to slide it beside me.

    Totally unrelated website to that story has some pictures of the cave but it’s a really unknown cave so there’s not too much info on it. Definitely a fun cave though for anyone in the area.

    https://mountaincatgeology.wordpress.com/2009/04/22/loyalhanna-creek-cave/









  • On one side I have seen where he’s continued negotiations with them to help them resolve issues without a strike which is pretty beneficial.

    On the other hand, if that’s not as good as it looks, then this could show that he realized he fucked up not letting the rail workers strike. If he’s going this hard on other strikes and supporting unions it may be to garner support for re-election. Even if it’s only for his own gain, being heavily pro union is a win for the people.