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The Decline of Western [Twitter]ization

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Posts

  • knitdanknitdan In ur base Killin ur guysRegistered User regular
    Fair enough. I just saw it and figured it might be useful for folks here if they need to explain it to people who aren’t as terminally online as many of us here (myself included)

    “I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
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    proxy_hue
  • I needed anime to post.I needed anime to post. boom Registered User regular
    fuckin mastodon is more well-known than substack is

    milski wrote: »
    knitdan wrote: »
    Article that explains in layman’s terms into how Taibbi’s mistakes are not minor, they’re in fact the foundation on which he built the entire premise. (Taibbi and some of his fellow travelers have been trying to downplay it as “just a few minor errors”)

    https://www.techdirt.com/2023/04/07/mehdi-hasan-dismantles-the-entire-foundation-of-the-twitter-files-as-matt-taibbi-stumbles-to-defend-it/

    (Mike Masnick writes about various legal issues in the tech industry)

    Not that it isn't a good takedown of a lot of brazen lying/stupidity to try to make the Twitter Files into a thing, but I kind of feel like dwelling on it is getting sucked into the Pundit Brain vortex. The Twitter Files completely failed to make waves even among the most credulous of chuds it was aimed at except for the ones already hyper-focused on Twitter; digging deeply into why they're stupid isn't like digging into QAnon or something, it's like writing a really self-serving /r/HobbyDrama post about how the forum admin acted like an idiot on Discord.

    you swore you wouldn't tell anyone about my tube tell-all

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  • Munkus BeaverMunkus Beaver You don't have to attend every argument you are invited to. Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPA regular
    fuckin mastodon is more well-known than substack is

    Well, yeah

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-Su1YXQYek

    Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but dies in the process.
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  • ProlegomenaProlegomena Frictionless Spinning The VoidRegistered User regular
    I believe a substack is a wrestling term

    PreacherKane Red Robe
  • The Lovely BastardThe Lovely Bastard Registered User regular
    I believe a substack is a wrestling term

    checks out

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  • GustavGustav Friend of Goats Somewhere in the OzarksRegistered User regular
    Substack is when you hog wild at the Quiznos

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  • MrMonroeMrMonroe passed out on the floor nowRegistered User regular
    Wait are they all that one guy's subs?

    That's just greedy, bro

    Kane Red Robe
  • CambiataCambiata Commander Shepard The likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered User regular
    knitdan wrote: »
    Fair enough. I just saw it and figured it might be useful for folks here if they need to explain it to people who aren’t as terminally online as many of us here (myself included)

    Yeah honestly I appreciate it, I'd never heard of "Twitter Files" before, and am glad to have read what it was about, even if it's incredibly stupid.

    proxy_hue
  • BahamutZEROBahamutZERO Registered User regular
    MrMonroe wrote: »
    Wait are they all that one guy's subs?

    That's just greedy, bro

    It's an open relationship

    BahamutZERO.gif
  • SolarSolar Registered User regular
    MrMonroe wrote: »
    Wait are they all that one guy's subs?

    That's just greedy, bro

    Eat fresh, indeed

  • Captain InertiaCaptain Inertia Registered User regular
    Eat freef

    BurtletoyLucedes
  • SolarSolar Registered User regular
    Eat ass

    HacksawThe Lovely Bastard
  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
    Solar wrote: »
    Eat ass

    suck a dick

    sell drugs

    jmcdonaldThe Lovely Bastard
  • DarmakDarmak RAGE vympyvvhyc vyctyvyRegistered User regular
    Solar wrote: »
    Eat ass

    Die fast

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    The Lovely Bastard
  • VeldrinVeldrin Sham bam bamina Registered User regular
    a substack is how shaggy eats his sandwiches

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  • LanzLanz ...Za?Registered User regular

    Union Pacific routinely hires private investigators to check out employees’ medical leave claims and then fires anyone who happens to leave their house while out on leave, according to a lawsuit filed against the railroad.

    Jesus fucking Christ

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  • MaddocMaddoc I'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother? Registered User regular
    There's no way that works out, like, money-wise

    It's gotta be purely about spite

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  • BahamutZEROBahamutZERO Registered User regular
    the strategy is if you keep the employees beat down and living in fear, you can keep wages and benefits down across the board

    BahamutZERO.gif
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  • knitdanknitdan In ur base Killin ur guysRegistered User regular
    It’s also a backdoor way to fire people for getting injured on the job

    “I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
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  • Captain InertiaCaptain Inertia Registered User regular
    Maddoc wrote: »
    There's no way that works out, like, money-wise

    It's gotta be purely about spite

    I think it’s bad management, which is caused by shitty ownership

    Cantido
  • CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    edited April 8

    "HEARTWARMING: This tiny town jam factory is exploiting child labor for profit"

    Good ol' Australia

    Couscous on
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  • NiryaNirya Registered User regular
    When Vox fired all of the California SB Nation people a few years ago, we went and created a Substack after being recommended by one of the other sites. Substack was just starting out at the time, so not only did I end up working directly with their CEO, but he set us up on the backend so we could use a custom URL instead of a Substack one. They’ve been pretty good for us, even if it’s taken a long time to get even close to our prior readership.

    Also, because we had the custom URL in place, we are unaffected by this new Substack Twitter ban thing.

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  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    Maddoc wrote: »
    There's no way that works out, like, money-wise

    It's gotta be purely about spite
    “Hiring more people is expensive. Mistreating the employees you have costs nothing,” said Thompson, whose Wisconsin-based firm handles many complaints from railroad employees nationwide.

    As the article notes, a big reason the railroads are so stingy about time off is because they cut the number of employees down to damn skeleton crews already.

    Oh, and more than half of railroad workers still don't have those (four whole) paid sick days available to them.

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  • StraightziStraightzi Here we may reign secure, and in my choice, To reign is worth ambition though in HellRegistered User regular
    Lanz wrote: »

    Union Pacific routinely hires private investigators to check out employees’ medical leave claims and then fires anyone who happens to leave their house while out on leave, according to a lawsuit filed against the railroad.

    Jesus fucking Christ

    Insurance companies do this shit all the time, I'm extremely unsurprised

    Cellocrzyango
  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    edited April 8
    The programs used to let doctors employed by insurance companies to mass-reject insurance claims without even reading them is a different sort of evil, IMO
    [...]The company has built a system that allows its doctors to instantly reject a claim on medical grounds without opening the patient file, leaving people with unexpected bills, according to corporate documents and interviews with former Cigna officials. Over a period of two months last year, Cigna doctors denied over 300,000 requests for payments using this method, spending an average of 1.2 seconds on each case, the documents show. [...]
    Before health insurers reject claims for medical reasons, company doctors must review them, according to insurance laws and regulations in many states. Medical directors are expected to examine patient records, review coverage policies and use their expertise to decide whether to approve or deny claims, regulators said. This process helps avoid unfair denials.

    But the Cigna review system that blocked van Terheyden’s claim bypasses those steps. Medical directors do not see any patient records or put their medical judgment to use, said former company employees familiar with the system. Instead, a computer does the work. A Cigna algorithm flags mismatches between diagnoses and what the company considers acceptable tests and procedures for those ailments. Company doctors then sign off on the denials in batches, according to interviews with former employees who spoke on condition of anonymity.

    “We literally click and submit,” one former Cigna doctor said. “It takes all of 10 seconds to do 50 at a time.”

    DarkPrimus on
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  • MaddocMaddoc I'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother? Registered User regular
    Health insurance is pretty evil top to bottom

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  • LadaiLadai Registered User regular
    That Cigna story came out literally two weeks after my job switched our health insurance to Cigna.

    That was a fun morning read.

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  • minor incidentminor incident expert in a dying field njRegistered User regular
    Ladai wrote: »
    That Cigna story came out literally two weeks after my job switched our health insurance to Cigna.

    That was a fun morning read.

    My job switched to Cigna this year and it’s been terrible. They didn’t work with any of my wife’s doctors. She had to stop seeing her longtime therapist and find a new primary care doctor. They denied coverage on 3 of her prescriptions, including one she had been taking for a couple of years already. And they end rejected every one of the half dozen appeals that we’ve filed.

    All insurance companies are bad, but Cigna is a special kind of terrible.

    Everything looks beautiful when you're young and pretty
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  • MaddocMaddoc I'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother? Registered User regular
    Health insurance companies are financially incentivized to not provide the service they are being paid for, that's their whole business model, in fact.

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  • JarsJars Registered User regular
    I have medicaid. it just works. surprise!

  • korodullinkorodullin What. SCRegistered User regular
    I had Cigna at my last job and it was shockingly really good. I am heartbroken to hear how bad it's gotten in recent years.

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    - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
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  • ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    Jars wrote: »
    I have medicaid. it just works. surprise!

    Unless you need specialized medication. The wife wouldn't be covered for her medication through Medicaid because it costs $110k per year. Private insurance covers it though, for reasons.

    The industry is bullshit.

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  • minor incidentminor incident expert in a dying field njRegistered User regular
    Shadowfire wrote: »
    Jars wrote: »
    I have medicaid. it just works. surprise!

    Unless you need specialized medication. The wife wouldn't be covered for her medication through Medicaid because it costs $110k per year. Private insurance covers it though, for reasons.

    The industry is bullshit.

    And private insurance probably actually pays like $1k per year for it at most, because fuck people who need medication.

    Everything looks beautiful when you're young and pretty
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  • facetiousfacetious a wit so dry it shits sandRegistered User regular
    "I am not young enough to know everything." - Oscar Wilde
    Real strong, facetious.

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  • LucedesLucedes might be real Registered User regular
    my mother's been recovering from a chronic illness with some shockingly expensive treatments

    then my parents switched insurance to Cigna and everything was immediately denied and suddenly she needs extra tests for medication that was working super well, now she can't walk

    fuck Cigna fwiw

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  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
  • MaddocMaddoc I'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother? Registered User regular
    Leopards, faces, etc

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  • PoorochondriacPoorochondriac Ah, man Ah, jeezRegistered User regular
    Cigma balls

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  • minor incidentminor incident expert in a dying field njRegistered User regular
    Cigma balls

    Sorry, balls aren’t medically necessary so they’re not covered.

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  • Undead ScottsmanUndead Scottsman Registered User regular
    Cigma balls

    I can see why you write professionally.

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This discussion has been closed.