I have had skin cancer surgeries in 2 countries: the U.S., with "hope you can afford the deductible" insurance, and Portugal with single-payer/universal/socialized medicine.

In the U.S. (in 2001): Notice growth on ear. Call to see primary care. Get into appointment 2 days later. Get a referral to a dermatologist. Wait 2 weeks for the insurance company to approve referral. Get into dermatologist 1 week later and have a biopsy. The biopsy showed it was squamous cell carcinoma, a type of cancer usually found in folks over 60 (I was 23 or 24). Dermatologist puts in for an approval for surgery which is denied twice over 3 weeks because “the biopsy was wrong.” Get in 2 days later for another biopsy, which, surprise!, shows it really is squamous cell carcinoma. After another week of wrangling with the insurance company, we finally get approval for surgery. Surgery is scheduled for 1 week later. So, from noticing the growth to surgery about 8 weeks.

In Portugal (5 years later): Notice growth on ear. I call primary care and am transferred to the dermatologist. Get same day appointment. Dermatologist looks at it, picks up the phone and calls the plastic surgeon. We walk down the hall to the plastic surgeon. Both doctors consult their schedules, and I’m scheduled for surgery 2 days later. So, from noticing the growth on the ear to surgery about 2 days.

Again, to show you the difference: In the U.S. without universal healthcare, about $1000 out-of-pocket and 8 weeks until surgery. In Portugal with universal healthcare, about $60 out-of-pocket and 2 days until surgery.

When Congress says we can’t afford universal healthcare, they are saying, “We can’t afford to not make the insurance companies money because they fund our campaigns.” It isn’t about the best interest of Americans, it’s about their own best interest.

I hear many claims these days that we "almost" passed the 1.5C threshold in 2023, or that we did pass it on a given day or month.

These claims reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the difference between weather -- what happens on any day, week, month, or year -- versus climate.

The Paris targets are climate targets. That means they refer to what happens to global temperature long-term: not on any given day, month, or year.

According to observations and projections, it's more likely than not that we will pass the 1.5C climate target within the next decade.

However, it's clear that our choices and decisions still matter, more than ever. How quickly we pass it, by how much (because what the science actually says is that **every bit of warming matters**), and whether we can 'overshoot' (pass it and then return) is up to us.

For more, read: https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-when-might-the-world-exceed-1-5c-and-2c-of-global-warming/

January 26, 1700: A major megathrust #earthquake near to above M9 struck the Cascadia region, drowning villages, causing landslides, and sending a #tsunami across the Pacific which was recorded in Japan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1700_Cascadia_earthquake?wprov=sfti1

Frozen grass on the shore of Green Lake today.

#winter #seattle #ice #icicle #pnw

Today was the first day I ran this script and didn't hit some little bug or wrinkle that required me immediately debugging my code. When I'm a bit more confident in it I'll run it w/ an auto-scheduler.

Someone please clap lol. This is lonely work.
https://spore.social/@icesheetmike/111613481317993147