andyman wrote: Sat Dec 07, 2024 4:40 pm I'm sure during the French Revolution there were people lamenting the use of violence.

Happy Pearl Harbor Day!

I didn't even think about the psychology of or the emotional impact this might have on the killer, quite frankly. Oof. Heavy shit. Misery breeding misery.

I would probably want to be him even less than I'd want to be the dead insurance exec right now. Brian UnitedHealthcare got off easy and probably didn't even know what hit him.

This reminds me—albeit very tangentially—of a conversation I had w/a recent immigrant from mainland China. He was mad b/c junkies and dealers fuck w/ and steal from his restaurant, get out of jail that afternoon, then just do it again the next day. Seemed to think the US was idiotic for not having a death sentence for repeat drug offenses, which they supposedly do in China. Says it's a very effective deterrent.

I just shook my head and told him that Americans' relationship w/"laws" is very different, and that there are worse things to worry about than drug dealers. Never mind how completely barbaric this would be. He looked at me like he thought I was crazy.

His comeback was that the guys who execute drug offenders (and others in China) use this wonderful system in which multiple people fire into a room, unable to see the executed or one another. So nobody knows who killed the offender, therefore, the executioners feel no remorse and sleep well at night. Yay!

I shook my head once more and continued to eat my Chongqing laziji...

OrthodoxEaster wrote: Sat Dec 07, 2024 5:27 pm His comeback was that the guys who execute drug offenders (and others in China) use this wonderful system in which multiple people fire into a room, unable to see the executed or one another. So nobody knows who killed the offender, therefore, the executioners feel no remorse and sleep well at night. Yay!

That has always been the standard reasoning for a firing squad. Some of the soldiers would be loaded with blanks, so they wouldn’t bear the full responsibility. They did this as of 2010 in Utah.

andyman wrote: Sat Dec 07, 2024 4:40 pm I'm sure during the French Revolution there were people lamenting the use of violence.

And those who celebrated it still got stuck with Napoleon. That's after 16,000 dead at the hands of the Revolutionary Tribunal.

We'll have Bob and Jennifer who do data entry at the Newark offices for Kaiser Permanente blindfolded in front of a brick wall. This is the people’s healthcare system now!

Setting aside how I feel about the morality of the whole scene?

This was the first thing that crossed my mind...

One other thing...

A lot of this is gonna look pretty goofy if the reason this guy was gunned down had nothing to do with folks' gut reaction as far as what was behind it.

Is it the most likely motive?

Yeah, probably/

That said, there are always other possibilities.

Motive: if it's true that there were words inscribed on the shells left at the scene as being reported, that seems to indicate that this is exactly what everyone thought.

Deny, Delay, Depose - which people are seeing as a reference to the 2010 book Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.




I think Godwin's Law is justifiable in the context of health insurance companies.

Earlier this year I read Rudolf Vrba's book I Escaped From Auschwitz. One of the more striking aspects was just how routine and everyday the things being done in the camps became. The nazis tasked with operating the camps and the transportation to get there ran like a machine, constantly striving for quicker, more efficient ways to carry out their final solution, their primary regard being completing the task at hand. (There were exceptions obviously) This ran right down to the administering of personal possessions of those murdered in the camps and penny pinching where possible.

^That sounds an awful lot like a health insurance company - striving to make bigger profits at the expense of people's lives to keep the board and shareholders happy.




Some things I have seen in regard to this - note, I have not checked the accuracy of these claims but some of them come from multiple places:

The CEO that was shot earned over $10 million per year.

United healthcare are the biggest health insurance company but also have the highest rate of claim denial. The average rate of denial is 16%. In 2019 united healthcare had a rate of 8% claim denial, pretty good considering, but in the intervening years this rose to 32%. Some say this is down to the use of AI in deciding claims.

The police have offered a reward of $10k for information leading to arrest of the perpetrator. United healthcare allegedly refused to chip in another $10k to double the reward. United healthcare make $10k profit every 3 seconds.

Hex wrote: Sat Dec 07, 2024 3:48 pm“I hope you find healing/love”

GEE, THANKS FOR TELLING ME WHAT EVERY FUCKING RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALIST SAYS WHEN THEY SEE I’M TRANS.

GO FUCK YOURSELF, YOU PIECE OF SHIT

3 differences here
1. i meant it.
2. i said it because you appear to be losing your mind.
3. i didn't add "get help."

Trump got the popular vote while half of you were on here bitching about the left. You might as well take the chance to blow off some steam while you can.

Don’t even know who I’m replying to at this point in the conversation, but: I would absolutely take a whole bunch of motherfuckers out if terminal medical circumstances lead me to financial ruin and threatened the well being of my surviving spouse. No fucking question. What would it accomplish?….it would make a bunch of terrible people dead.
Good enuff.