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Jimbo

6 (6.3%)

Jeremey and Seven

7 (7.3%)

Brun

14 (14.6%)

Eliott

9 (9.4%)

Amir

8 (8.3%)

Penny

7 (7.3%)

Clinton

14 (14.6%)

Lt Abbie Porter

11 (11.5%)

Dr Ellicott-Chatham ('Dr John', as I think of him)

7 (7.3%)

Beatrice Chatham

5 (5.2%)

Other (please specify in comments)

8 (8.3%)

Total Members Voted: 36

[Mr_Rose]

Box full of opossums?
Box full of opossums minus one.

Box full of possums minus o

Schroedinger's box of opossums?

Yes, when the radioactive atom decays, it determines whether the box contains an opossum or a possum. Of course if the atom starts screaming incoherently, the box turns out to have been holding a bandicoot instead.

[hedgie]

Are bandicoots related to Discworld's Greebo?

 "Technically, a cat locked in a box may be alive or it may be dead. You never know until you look. In fact, the mere act of opening the box will determine the state of the cat, although in this case there were three determinate states the cat could be in: these being Alive, Dead, and Bloody Furious."

[Case]

Hm.

I'm loathe to trigger another avalanche of Renee-hatred ... but I'll allow myself to say that I feel unenthused about some of her persistent behaviours, and her persistent failure to modify them.

It's time for her to grow.

[Case]

Box full of opossums?
Box full of opossums minus one.

Box full of possums minus o

Schroedinger's box of opossums?

Yes, when the radioactive atom decays, it determines whether the box contains an opossum or a possum. Of course if the atom starts screaming incoherently, the box turns out to have been holding a bandicoot instead.

Nope, quantum superposition only works with kets, not possums ... 

[Pilchard123]

Maybe Renee-growth is what this arc will be about.

[cesium133]

Box full of opossums?
Box full of opossums minus one.

Box full of possums minus o

Schroedinger's box of opossums?

Yes, when the radioactive atom decays, it determines whether the box contains an opossum or a possum. Of course if the atom starts screaming incoherently, the box turns out to have been holding a bandicoot instead.

Nope, quantum superposition only works with kets, not possums ... 

Until Faye’s bra teleports onto Marigold, that is. (Not going to try to find that one on my phone)

[shanejayell]

Maybe Renee-growth is what this arc will be about.

As we've switched away (again) apparently no.

That was very AWWWW. And yeah, it makes sense that Bubbles is very much about keeping ethical boundaries and such....

[NetQC]

Oof, that one hit hard. Had exact same situation with my ex, except he got super mad at me "lying" to him and was rude to me for days as "punishment".

Seeing Faye and Bubbles develop healthy relationship standards is so nice.

[flondrix]

Bubbles is killing it in that yellow dress.  I suspect that it has an origin story that I have forgotten.

[flondrix]

1) The strip is set in Massachusetts.  Brun (and Faye) should have been covered under Romneycare.

2) When I voted "other" in the poll I was thinking of Cossette.

[Is it cold in here?]

Oof, that one hit hard. Had exact same situation with my ex, except he got super mad at me "lying" to him and was rude to me for days as "punishment".

Seeing Faye and Bubbles develop healthy relationship standards is so nice.

Welcome, new person!

It's especially nice to see given how traumatized each one has been. That they are working through their pain to build something healthy is inspiring.

[SeattleCrochetWoman]

1) The strip is set in Massachusetts.  Brun (and Faye) should have been covered under Romneycare.

2) When I voted "other" in the poll I was thinking of Cossette.

Seems like they would have been covered. But didn’t Dora say she wasn’t going to take Faye off the insurance or something right away so that her hospital stay for alcohol poisoning would be covered?

[awkwardness]

1) The strip is set in Massachusetts.  Brun (and Faye) should have been covered under Romneycare.

2) When I voted "other" in the poll I was thinking of Cossette.

Point of order from a resident: it's only a requirement that you HAVE it, not that you GET it. It's not "everyone is covered" as is believed, it's a requirement that you have it or you can't get your state taxes back. That's it. It's intended to get you to be covered, but doesn't provide for everyone in the state. The state is a master of manipulating the truth, she might not be eligible for free care(MassHealth) due to her making too much and she might not be able to afford to buy it. So she actually might not have ANY health insurance and what she might get from the state in taxes is a fraction of what she'd have to shell out for health insurance costs.

[BenRG]

To me, this strip is mostly about Faye and just how insecure she is in emotional terms. There is a part of her that genuinely believes she is worthless and is always on the lookout for early warning signs that she's going to be abandoned. It's what really killed her relationship with Angus (although there were other big factors in there, most of which were not from her) and she's still having to constantly fight them.

Of course, Bubbles has her own self-esteem issues and it's lovely in lots of ways watching the two of them take reassurance from each other. It's really clear that they both want this to work and it's good that they're both making an effort to understand each other.

Bubbles is killing it in that yellow dress.  I suspect that it has an origin story that I have forgotten.

The skirt is quite short (at least on Bubbles), ending about mid-thigh. I find myself wondering if she's also wearing leggings or pants; I think it would work so long as the colour matches.

[Tova]

Point of order from a resident: it's only a requirement that you HAVE it, not that you GET it. It's not "everyone is covered" as is believed, it's a requirement that you have it or you can't get your state taxes back. That's it. It's intended to get you to be covered, but doesn't provide for everyone in the state. The state is a master of manipulating the truth, she might not be eligible for free care(MassHealth) due to her making too much and she might not be able to afford to buy it. So she actually might not have ANY health insurance and what she might get from the state in taxes is a fraction of what she'd have to shell out for health insurance costs.

I won't lie. I did not understand a word of this.

[Nighthawk700]

Errr, now I'm worried... the way the light is shining on Faye and Bubbles in the last panel... isn't that what happened to Roko just before her incident with Crushbot?  https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3900   (note, I'm not on Paetron or any of those "see a strip a day before" services, so just conjecture on my part)

[BenRG]

Errr, now I'm worried... the way the light is shining on Faye and Bubbles in the last panel... isn't that what happened to Roko just before her incident with Crushbot?  https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3900   (note, I'm not on Paetron or any of those "see a strip a day before" services, so just conjecture on my part)

Don't worry; Jeph always puts this 'soft lens' effect on when two characters are being particularly romantic and in love.

[fearless_fool]

Gotta say: I love the extreme perspective of Faye in the next to last panel of #4194.  More camera angles!

[St.Clair]

I like that Faye acknowledges that it's "dumb", i.e., irrational; but the heart knows not reason.

[Wingy]

I hope Brun actually saw a doctor...

Unlikely. For a start she only just got home. Next, she just doesn’t seem likely to have considered it as a possibility based on her past actions. Finally and most importantly, doctors cost money and even with bonus pay and compensation I doubt Brun has the ability to afford one since she probably also doesn’t have medical insurance, just like she had no idea about renter’s insurance.

Plus she doesn't like doctors.  If that bruise was the impact point, she could have a cracked pelvis (note: cracked, not broken).  That will take a long time to heal given Brun's job as a bar back.

[Case]

Box full of opossums?
Box full of opossums minus one.

Box full of possums minus o

Schroedinger's box of opossums?

Yes, when the radioactive atom decays, it determines whether the box contains an opossum or a possum. Of course if the atom starts screaming incoherently, the box turns out to have been holding a bandicoot instead.

Nope, quantum superposition only works with kets, not possums ... 

Until Faye’s bra teleports onto Marigold, that is. (Not going to try to find that one on my phone)

The benefits of a solid scientific education: The ability to make puerile puns about felines and womens' undergarments while claiming to be educating the lay public about the concept of the dual space ... 

[cesium133]

Let's not even get into the name that the book for my classical mechanics class used for the canonically-transformed Hamiltonian...

[TieDyeKat]

Well butts. Jeph gave me the diabeetus.

[flondrix]

Bubbles is killing it in that yellow dress.  I suspect that it has an origin story that I have forgotten.

The skirt is quite short (at least on Bubbles), ending about mid-thigh.
[/quote][/quote]

Is that not a common occurrence for tall women?  Anyone here who can speak from personal experience?

Aaaand I have screwed up the quotes.

[flondrix]

1) The strip is set in Massachusetts.  Brun (and Faye) should have been covered under Romneycare.

2) When I voted "other" in the poll I was thinking of Cossette.

Point of order from a resident: it's only a requirement that you HAVE it, not that you GET it. It's not "everyone is covered" as is believed, it's a requirement that you have it or you can't get your state taxes back. That's it. It's intended to get you to be covered, but doesn't provide for everyone in the state. The state is a master of manipulating the truth, she might not be eligible for free care(MassHealth) due to her making too much and she might not be able to afford to buy it. So she actually might not have ANY health insurance and what she might get from the state in taxes is a fraction of what she'd have to shell out for health insurance costs.

Does Massachusetts run a health insurance program that has to take everybody, even sick people?  Or is it "we require you to have health insurance, even if no one will insure your sick ass"?

[Is it cold in here?]

Point of order from a resident: it's only a requirement that you HAVE it, not that you GET it. It's not "everyone is covered" as is believed, it's a requirement that you have it or you can't get your state taxes back. That's it. It's intended to get you to be covered, but doesn't provide for everyone in the state. The state is a master of manipulating the truth, she might not be eligible for free care(MassHealth) due to her making too much and she might not be able to afford to buy it. So she actually might not have ANY health insurance and what she might get from the state in taxes is a fraction of what she'd have to shell out for health insurance costs.

I won't lie. I did not understand a word of this.

That is a common reaction when people hear about the American health insurance system.

Romneycare is just Obamacare at the state level.

If your employer doesn't provide health insurance as a benefit, the only way to get it is to buy it yourself or to be poor enough to qualify for indigent health care. Buying it yourself is cost-prohibitive and Mass. does not enough to subsidize the purchase.

Buying it is legally required, to make sure there are enough healthy people paying in to meet the costs of the people with pre-existing conditions.

So it's advertised as universal coverage but if you work as a bar back you might get stuck in the middle between being poor enough for state-funded insurance and being rich enough to buy a private plan.

Is that at least comprehensible, even if it doesn't make sense as policy?

QC Massachussetts must be a little different from ours if a small coffee shop can afford to buy health insurance for employees. Maybe QC Romneycare has a generous subsidy for small business to buy insurance.

[Drunken Old Man]

The answer to the poll...the only POSSIBLE answer...is Boo-Boo.
https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=763

[flondrix]

QC Massachussetts must be a little different from ours if a small coffee shop can afford to buy health insurance for employees. Maybe QC Romneycare has a generous subsidy for small business to buy insurance.

In QC Massachussetts, all those employed AIs have to pay taxes (they're gettting paid a salary, after all) and are required to either buy "health insurance" or pay the penalty, but since no "health" plan covers their repairs they opt to pay the penalty.  This helps subsidize the health care of slacker humans.

[Zebediah]

Is that not a common occurrence for tall women?  Anyone here who can speak from personal experience?

Aaaand I have screwed up the quotes.

My wife is quite tall (though not as tall as Bubbles) and yes, this does happen to her.

[Case]

Let's not even get into the name that the book for my classical mechanics class used for the canonically-transformed Hamiltonian...

Wich one did you use - Goldstein? (My class used Kuypers, but methinks that one not so well-known in the Anglosphere)

Asking for a friend Science ... 

[SeaWoodStage]

I'm not tall (about 5'7" - 5'8" depending on the measuring), although I've always felt slightly taller than average for a woman in my country, and it's always bugged me a little bit. I don't like being taller than other people in general, it makes me feel even more awkward than I usually do in social situations.

The last time I went shopping for a dress, I saw one and thought "oh this looks nice!" I picked my size, went to try it on, and thought "I'm sorry, is this a dress or a top?" It barely covered my bum. I suspect it is the curse of any woman to go shopping and find that nothing fits them properly. Clothes for women seem, in the last decade, to have been designed for some imaginary beings who bear no resemblance to any woman alive on this planet today.

[cybersmurf]

Box full of opossums?
Box full of opossums minus one.

Box full of possums minus o

Schroedinger's box of opossums?

Yes, when the radioactive atom decays, it determines whether the box contains an opossum or a possum. Of course if the atom starts screaming incoherently, the box turns out to have been holding a bandicoot instead.

Nope, quantum superposition only works with kets, not possums ... 

Until Faye’s bra teleports onto Marigold, that is. (Not going to try to find that one on my phone)

The benefits of a solid scientific education: The ability to make puerile puns about felines and womens' undergarments while claiming to be educating the lay public about the concept of the dual space ... 

And all of this because I wanted to say "Oh, that's where Pintsize got the 'possum from!".

All of this is "When the fiction from science fiction makes real life science more fun!"

[cesium133]

Let's not even get into the name that the book for my classical mechanics class used for the canonically-transformed Hamiltonian...

Wich one did you use - Goldstein? (My class used Kuypers, but methinks that one not so well-known in the Anglosphere)

Asking for a friend Science ... 

Goldstein. I double checked after posting that, and it’s listed in the index, though on the page the index points to it only calls it that in the footnote.

[Bollthorn]

That last panel is so sweet and wholesome ^_^

[Case]

Nope, quantum superposition only works with kets, not possums ... 

Until Faye’s bra teleports onto Marigold, that is. (Not going to try to find that one on my phone)

The benefits of a solid scientific education: The ability to make puerile puns about felines and womens' undergarments while claiming to be educating the lay public about the concept of the dual space ... 

And all of this because I wanted to say "Oh, that's where Pintsize got the 'possum from!".

All of this is "When the fiction from science fiction makes real life science more fun!"

'Kets' (spoken like 'cat') and 'bras' are actual 'things' in quantum theory (the state-vector and its so-called 'dual'). Got zip to do with felines or underwear - it's a reference to notation for certain concepts from the field of functional analysis (or rather: The notation convention physicists use. Mathematicians use a different one, which makes joint conferences all manners of unfun).

Kets looks like this: |a>, while bras are written as their mirror-image: <a|. In order to calculate (the absolute square of) the probability of the system going from one state called a to another state called b, you 'apply' the 'bra of b' to the 'ket of a'.

Which is written as a bracket, like this: <b|a>. Bra-(c)ket, see?

Goldstein. I double checked after posting that, and it’s listed in the index, though on the page the index points to it only calls it that in the footnote.

Ohnoes - The footnote on p370?  Yeah, that pun must not be made.

My thesis advisor was one those guys to prove the Sheldon Cooper stereotype: Incredibly fast on the uptake, really 'over-clocked', but the sense of humour of a pre-schooler. And he strangest thing was that he didn't realize. He considered himself high-larious. Made group meetings agonizing - you didn't want him to feel awkward, but the jokes that man cracked ... that shit wasn't funny. Not cruel or anything, simply not funny at all.

Anyhow, that one in Goldstein could have been one of his.

[flondrix]

Sorry, for those of us who don't have access to Goldstein, what is the pun in the footnote on page 370?

[cesium133]

Sorry, for those of us who don't have access to Goldstein, what is the pun in the footnote on page 370?

(click to show/hide)

[Case]

Oh dear ...

[Perfectly Reasonable]

I still wanna see Bubbles in a tux.
Mint Chocolate Chip is never a mistake.

[Tyr]

The answer to the poll...the only POSSIBLE answer...is Boo-Boo.
https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=763

Why not Princess Spookyspell?

[flondrix]

Well, I still don't know who Princess Spookyspell is, but now I have discovered https://jephjacques.soup.io/

[St.Clair]

Winslow's chassis is not scorpion-tight, let alone water-tight, so he wouldn't remain buoyant for long.

[awkwardness]

Point of order from a resident: it's only a requirement that you HAVE it, not that you GET it. It's not "everyone is covered" as is believed, it's a requirement that you have it or you can't get your state taxes back. That's it. It's intended to get you to be covered, but doesn't provide for everyone in the state. The state is a master of manipulating the truth, she might not be eligible for free care(MassHealth) due to her making too much and she might not be able to afford to buy it. So she actually might not have ANY health insurance and what she might get from the state in taxes is a fraction of what she'd have to shell out for health insurance costs.

I won't lie. I did not understand a word of this.

OK...basically, it's not universal coverage as is believed and the legislators and media tried to make it out to be. Not by a long shot. What it does is require you to show proof of coverage to get your state income tax returned to you while at the same time it sets heavy standards for access to people at a lower than normal cost than previously was happening. It's just a requirement that you are covered and allows you to get cheaper coverage, but it doesn't provide it unless you qualify for MassHealth(our Medicaid plan).

It's entirely possible that she didn't make enough money to buy health insurance and made too much to qualify from MassHealth...thus, no coverage. The state withholds her state income taxes until she proves that she has coverage, so if she doesn't have it because either she can't afford it or chooses not to buy it then she doesn't get her money.

Again, it was never intended to cover everyone, just get better access at a lower cost than previously. If she doesn't have it, it's either because she lost it when the bar burned down or she's working under the table or she can't afford it. Either way, Jeph is probably trying to make another political statement there.

[awkwardness]

Re: Winslow...

at least he's trying to do something that'll have an impact immediately. Even if only one AI is helped directly, it's still sending shockwaves through the system as people try to cover their asses and do something to look like they are doing something- that reaction is the key and what really helps them in the long run!

[Drunken Old Man]

The answer to the poll...the only POSSIBLE answer...is Boo-Boo.
https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=763

Why not Princess Spookyspell?

She couldn't be reached for comment.

Apparently.

[BenRG]

Well, I suggested that Roko go to a lawyer with political ambitions. However, it looks like Jeph has decided to go one step further. To have a seriously important public figure, genius and, let's be brutal here, defence contractor say that the current situation for May is entirely unacceptable to him. That will make the politicians sit up, take notice and, likely, panic. It will be curious to see how all these barriers to May getting help never really existed at all and how much the bureaucrats will insist that they never blocked, refused or were even aware of Roko's request for a review.

That said, yeah, Hanners is right. Between here and there is going to be a serious mess of rage, fear, political ass-covering and scapegoat-finding and it's going to be a difficult thing to live through for all involved and  their friends.

[flondrix]

Alternative scenario:

"So they wouldn't let you be a fighter plane, eh?  Well I have a job opening coming up.  This new probe is supposed to dive-bomb the sun, and we can't find any AI crazy enough to pilot it, on account of the reactor hasn't been tested."

[brasca]

Well, I suggested that Roko go to a lawyer with political ambitions. However, it looks like Jeph has decided to go one step further. To have a seriously important public figure, genius and, let's be brutal here, defence contractor say that the current situation for May is entirely unacceptable to him. That will make the politicians sit up, take notice and, likely, panic. It will be curious to see how all these barriers to May getting help never really existed at all and how much the bureaucrats will insist that they never blocked, refused or were even aware of Roko's request for a review.

That said, yeah, Hanners is right. Between here and there is going to be a serious mess of rage, fear, political ass-covering and scapegoat-finding and it's going to be a difficult thing to live through for all involved and  their friends.

The problem is it’s still a quick fix from someone who could make it happen. 

[shanejayell]

Hey Hanners!

[Tova]

Thanks IICIH? and awkwardness.

Romneycare is just Obamacare at the state level.
...
If your employer doesn't provide health insurance as a benefit, the only way to get it is to buy it yourself or to be poor enough to qualify for indigent health care. Buying it yourself is cost-prohibitive and Mass. does not enough to subsidize the purchase.
...
So it's advertised as universal coverage but if you work as a bar back you might get stuck in the middle between being poor enough for state-funded insurance and being rich enough to buy a private plan.

Okay. This much makes sense, thanks.

What it does is require you to show proof of coverage to get your state income tax returned to you...

Okay... not totally clear. "your income tax returned to you? I can only assume you don't get your entire income tax returned to if you have coverage. Can you be more precise?

Does it mean that a portion of your tax is some kind of a health care levy which is returnable only if you can show proof of health care coverage?

Buying it is legally required, to make sure there are enough healthy people paying in to meet the costs of the people with pre-existing conditions.

It's just a requirement that you are covered ...

Again, can you be more precise? It doesn't sound to me like health care is exactly required... only that you have to pay a tax penalty of some kind if you are not covered. Is that right? It sounds like Australia's Medicare levy surcharge (except that everyone is covered by Medicare, regardless of whether you have private health insurance or of how much you earn).

So to go back to the original post:

... she might not be eligible for free care(MassHealth) due to her making too much and she might not be able to afford to buy it. So she actually might not have ANY health insurance and what she might get from the state in taxes is a fraction of what she'd have to shell out for health insurance costs.

Okay, I get this now (except for the "what she might get from the state in taxes" bit - the state pays her taxes? do you mean... no, I have no idea what you mean).

Point of order from a resident: it's only a requirement that you HAVE it, not that you GET it.

DEEPLY CONFUSING but maybe I should just give up on this sentence.

I probably understand enough for the purposes of the conversation anyway, so thanks.