well, the new york deadline is sunday so i am finally applying for health insurance today. (i wouldn't be able to use the insurance until february 1st anyway, so i put it off.) i played through demon's souls FOUR TIMES in the past month and i still don't understand this system

the psychopaths in charge talk about how valuable "choice" is, though literally all of the plans offered to me have a three out of five star rating. except the "new" plans, which i guess will be three stars next year. also notice a column for an attribute which is ALWAYS "no" lol
this baroque, bizarre, unreadable-on-a-mobile-phone website logs me out automatically seemingly every three minutes, always without warning, usually while i'm entering data. click "next," get an error. it took me two months of such trials to get all my info plugged in for today.
i don't understand the differences between any of these plans. i have been on the phone regularly with my doctors these past couple months, trying desperately to find a plan they all agree on. i narrowed it down to four plans. three are $1200 per month. one is $957
i have a higher IQ than any sitting US senator. more importantly, i have beaten BERWICK SAGA for playstation 2 more than twice. i still don't exactly understand what a deductible is lmao
i cannot for the life of me tell what the difference between this $957 plan and these $1200 plans. they have all the same everything. dental, etc. it's just, i have experienced my healthcare provider turning me down for a spinal tap (etc) on the day of the procedure, etc
i have probably already received a reply or two telling me to shut up because i can afford it, though i just wanna remind everyone that my Very Publicly Visible Income goes to multiple people--not just me!! however according to the health insurance people, it is All Mine
so i'm over here looking at spending a Rent-Sized Portion of my income on healthcare that probably isn't going to work half the time for pursuing treatments of my chronic condition which probably won't be more than 12% effective, medical science being what it is
yet of course i can't just . . . Not Get Insurance!! what if there's an emergency?? i've seen the looney-tunes-like pre-insurance price on an emergency room visit! you could buy multiple hyundais for that money, jerry!!
meanwhile i desperately need a surgery to remove a cyst from a nerve in my wrist. every mouse click feels like being struck by lightning. i haven't done a single push-up in almost two years. without insurance, it's Mercedes-Benz money. however, the insurance rejected it last time
so am i about to let myself get roped into spending the equivalent of three decent used toyota priuses this year for health insurance that, according to my doctor, will probably fight the nerve surgery three times over six months before finally caving? you bet i am!! well bye
actually, not "well bye": there is no reason we can't have real, good, free healthcare. i have been to countries where they have it. they also have high-speed trains connecting their major cities. some of them have airports that are more comfortable than most american hotel rooms
seriously this health insurance website is legit just a dark souls inventory menu
i told myself i can't have the ice-cold sugar-free @redbull that is currently just Taking Up Space in the fridge until i pick my health insurance! why is it taking this long? i have twelve browser tabs open. i am agonizing over this like it's a crucial turn in BERWICK SAGA (2005)

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Two things can be true at once:
1. There is an issue with hostility some academics have faced on some issues
2. Another academic who himself uses threats of legal action to bully colleagues into silence is not a good faith champion of the free speech cause


I have kept quiet about Matthew's recent outpourings on here but as my estwhile co-author has now seen fit to portray me as an enabler of oppression I think I have a right to reply. So I will.

I consider Matthew to be a colleague and a friend, and we had a longstanding agreement not to engage in disputes on twitter. I disagree with much in the article @UOzkirimli wrote on his research in @openDemocracy but I strongly support his right to express such critical views

I therefore find it outrageous that Matthew saw fit to bully @openDemocracy with legal threats, seeking it seems to stifle criticism of his own work. Such behaviour is simply wrong, and completely inconsistent with an academic commitment to free speech.

I am not embroiling myself in the various other cases Matt lists because, unlike him, I think attention to the detail matters and I don't have time to research each of these cases in detail.

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