Shanta Michelle

a man wearing glasses holds a glass of water ALT: a man wearing glasses holds a glass of water

Apple heard all of our complaints and gave us water. #ios26

Listen carefully to what Jimmy Kimmel said...

Violence doesn’t always look like blood on the ground. Sometimes it looks like families wondering how they’ll pay rent because dissent made them a target. Punishing people for their opinions, for speaking freely — that isn’t #American.

In an #economy where prices are sky-high and unemployment is climbing while the jobs that exist often don’t match what people actually need to survive, stripping someone of their livelihood over an opinion is economic violence.

I want to make something abundantly clear:

Reporting people to their jobs for comments about #CharlieKirk — and getting them fired — is violence by other means.

The book Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L Trump PhD- “how my family created the world’s most dangerous man”- and a Yeti coffee cup filled with apple cider.

a little light reading with some midnight cider

There's not much difference between telling people they can shower so you can poison them in gas chambers and telling people they can get food so you can shoot them at aid sites.

a man says you will be missed in a netflix advertisement Alt: Morpheus, Dream of the Endless, from the Netflix show The Sandman says “You will be missed” in a GIF of a Netflix advertisement.

I swear, every time I get super hooked on a show, it’s either canceled or was only ever intended to be short-lived. #thesandman #mindhunter #designatedsurvivor

a close up of a person 's hand holding a metal object ALT: a close up of a person 's hand holding a metal object

I wonder if RFK Jr is projecting because he knows deep down that had he been born a generation earlier, he’d have had the same fate at his poor Aunt Rosemary…

A novel by Wally Lamb called The River Is Waiting

It’s here!! 😭 His first book in 9 years and the timing couldn’t be better!

Also to consider:
Debt collections will kick in, people’s credit scores will tank, and the economy will be negatively impacted- difficult to rent an apartment, buy a car or house, or even get approved for certain jobs.

To consider:
Some hospitals will close. Others will compensate by cutting staff. Think about wait times. The average wait time for a scheduled appointment in the US is already 30 days, up 19% since 2022 and 48% since 2004 (fun fact: in 2004, UnitedHealth profit was $2.6B and in 2024, it was $25.7B)

a woman is drinking a cup of coffee from a white cup . ALT: a woman is drinking a cup of coffee from a white cup .

Just something to think about…

Bonus Bullshit Numbers:

Annual income for insurance CEOs in 2024:
• United Health- $26.3M
• Cigna- $23.25M
• Molina- $21.94M
• Centene- $20.60M
• Elevance- $20.47M
• CVS/Aetna- $17.81M

The life expectancy in the US is 76 years old, lower than its peak of 79 in 2014. (Comparatively, the UKs life expectancy is 82 years old.)

30 million Americans are uninsured and 40 million are under insured- 1 in 3 adults.

Over 100 million Americans have healthcare debts and 66% of bankruptcies are correlated to health issues.

In 2024, the healthcare industry spent $751M lobbying the US government.

An annual $1T goes to just administratives costs- billing, pre-authorizations, bureacratic bullshit, etc.

Here are some Bullshit Numbers:

The US healthcare system makes ~$4T annually, mostly going to private insurances companies, Big Pharma, and large hospital systems. That’s $1.4T more than the tax money allotted for healthcare services. That’s ~$4200 per person in the US, $350 a month.

Every dime spent on copays and prescriptions goes directly back into the NHS to reduce the amount of taxes that go into it.

The UK put $12B of the $325B toward mental health to ensure that mental health services are FREE FOR EVERYONE!

Eye exams cost ~$30 in England (or $88 for a home visit 🤯) but are $0 in Scotland for all citizens.

In the UK, routine dental exams cost $37. Dental is free for children and seniors (varying by nation), full time students, pregnant women, and low-income adults.

Prescriptions in England are $13.65, a flat rate for nearly all prescriptions. Scotland, Ireland, and Wales abolished prescription costs so all prescriptions are $0.

Bonus Fun Numbers:

If you move to the UK, prior to becoming a citizen, you would pay $1400 to cover you for a year. The average deductible in the US is $1700.

If the US had universal healthcare like the UK, many of these categories would be completely eliminated or greatly reduced, AND would cost Americans $1.6T instead of the $2.6T that’s not helping anyone.

The US spent $2.6 TRILLION total on healthcare in 2024 covering these areas:
• Medicare at $1T
• Medicaid at $890B
• VA and Tricare at $391B
• Public Health at $135B
• ACA subsidies at $83B
• Medical research at $54B
• Local/State Public Health at $100+B

In 2024, the US put $890B of tax money towards Medicaid which is only received by roughly 28% of the country.

The US spent $565B more for only 8% more people…

Let that sink in while you look over more Fun Numbers!

Since we’re talking about #Medicaid, let’s look at some Fun Numbers!

In 2024, the UK put $325B of tax money towards the NHS (National Health Services). Their entire population is roughly 20% of the US population.