Heh — while cleaning up my “c:\pub” directory, my repository of personal stuff…. I stumbled upon a TXT file of an email I sent telling everyone about my Intel-sponsored trip to Phoenix that I had in 1997 for some job interviews. Too bad I didn’t get the job, but then again D.C. has been very flexible for me and our house is still worth 2.5X what we paid for it so it’s not a total loss here, only having to work 6 out of 10 yrs to survive comfortably. But I digress. I was quite poor as a student — though I had my parents to bail me out if there was a real emergency. It was funny how much I appreciated things like.. being able to reimburse paying for water. Anyway, the recount of my trip is past the jump… (more…)
Corporations
March 19, 2009
JOURNAL: ANECOTES: Intel-paid “vacation” to Phoenix I took around 1997
Posted by Claire CJS under Anecdotes, Carolyn, Chris W, Clio, Corporations, Journal, People[4] Comments
March 3, 2009
date_created_gmt = 20090304T01:22:00
Posted by Claire CJS under Articles, Books, Censorship, Corporations, Hardware, Media, Medical, News, Politics, Technology, Technology WarLeave a Comment
Read on for today’s interesting stories. (more…)
August 15, 2008
links for 2008-08-15
Posted by Claire CJS under Corporations, Election 2008, Elections, Overly-Harsh Punishments, Politicians, Politics, The War On DrugsLeave a Comment
July 7, 2008
JOURNAL: MEDICAL: Biopsy results: not cancer. Radicular cyst (again).
Posted by Claire CJS under Clio, Complaints, Corporations, Journal, Medical, People, Politics[13] Comments
Well, it’s not cancer. It was simply a regrown radicular cyst, possibly thanks to the suckitude of my last oral surgeon, possibly thanks to the suckitude of the 3 root canals in those 2 teeth, or possibly due to none of the above and simple bad luck and/or genetics.
Doctor’s recommendation is for me to get the area cleaned out again, losing tooth #19 & #20, and paying $1150 out of pocket because Carolyn’s Aetna insurance only covers 50%. They told me there that most people’s Aetna covers 80%, so a special thanks to Carolyn’s employer for giving out shitty dental benefits. But then again, dental benefits are getting shittier and shittier by the year, with most companies scaling back maximum yearly payout from $1500 to $1250 in the last 10 years. My dentist was just commenting on how this has gone down, despite dental costs going up. People: Pay attention to your dental benefits when seeking employment. If a few people turn down employment based on inferior benefits, companies will be forced to negotiate better scams. It is unfortunate that our capitalist system will gradually move towards exploitation unless each individual is individually vigilant. This is one of the reasons why socialized health care can be much better for the average person.
So, it’s either $1150 out of pocket to go back in in an equally invasive procedure — or I can wait for when and if it grows back, and have an equally invasive surgery for a mere $135 out of pocket. So I am being encouraged to not deal with the problem, or pay over eight times as much.
[sarcasm on] Gee, our capitalist health care system is the best on the planet. It’s so good that the republicans have prevented us from running things like the rest of the civilized world does. It’s great that money encourages people to seek out less healthy solutions. [/sarcasm off]
It would be cheaper (in terms of total money spent; NOT for me) to fix it for good with the apoco ($1150), yet I am encouraged to keep coming back and pay for cheaper surgeries ($130), thus giving the insurance companies more profit by having more business. Keeping me sick for their profit; fining me 8X as much if I want to get better. Welcome to America. (How do I get out?) (more…)
April 18, 2008
LINKS: Federal marijuana decriminalization bill, Dubai bans Twitter, rape, RIAA, photographers’ rights, Darwin, wiretapping, and being firstborn sucks
Posted by Claire CJS under Articles, Biology, Books, Copyright, Corporations, Geek Politics, Internet, Media, News, Politicians, Politics, Science, Technology, Technology War, The War On Drugs, Twitter[6] Comments
March 31, 2008
LINKS: This Is Your Brain On God, and Comcast sucks.
Posted by Claire CJS under Articles, Biology, Corporations, Hardware, Internet, Media, News, Politics, Psychology, Religion, Science, Technology, Video[6] Comments
This Is Your Brain on God. Very interesting article about research into stimulating your brain to make you perceive God. Other research has already shown that our brain has been hardwired to have religious experiences from the start, so this is the next logical step. By the way, Comcast HDTV sucks. Just look at these screenshots. Comcast is a shitty company. Drop them now. Find alternative ISPs using http://www.broadbandreports.com.
March 18, 2008
LESSONS IN FREEDOM: The last armed revolution in America was in 1946, against local government.
Posted by Claire CJS under Articles, Censorship, Corporations, Geek Politics, Gun Control, News, Politics1 Comment
The Battle of Athens, Tennessee – 1946 – last armed revolt against the government. Very interesting stuff. This is a big, big, big part of why gun control is anti-freedom. Yet somehow, I still don’t see this as being possible today. (more…)