Healthcare Issues

[O Really]

My guess - not all that creative, but I'd say they guy's wife or kid, probably wife, had a condition and died after claim denial/delay. So now he thinks he's got nothing to live for, nothing more to lose, and is full of rage. Politics probably doesn't matter.

[GoCubsGo]

My guess - not all that creative, but I'd say they guy's wife or kid, probably wife, had a condition and died after claim denial/delay. So now he thinks he's got nothing to live for, nothing more to lose, and is full of rage. Politics probably doesn't matter.

I think that's everyone's guess.

He will be recognized.

[Vrede too]

He will be recognized.

Sure, but will he be turned in?

[GoCubsGo]

He will be recognized.

Sure, but will he be turned in?

The only surprise is it hasn't happened before or more often.

Not by any of these people.

The spotlight is on health insurance companies. Patients are telling their stories of denied claims, bankruptcy and delayed care.

[Vrede too]

He will be recognized.

That has a double meaning:
First, as by someone that knows him or has seen him, whether or not they snitch.
But, there's also recognition in the form of plaudits and awards.

Homicide is a whole new level, but I'm reminded of:

UPI Archives
Dec. 10, 1981
SNOWMOBILE KILLER FIRED

A Glacier National Park ranger who won fame for shooting a snowmobile in 1974 has been fired, culminating years of what he called 'non-jobs' that including marking and re-marking 'hazardous trees' in the park. Park officials in Great Falls, Mont. gave no reason for the dismissal of Art Sedlack, but said it had nothing to do with the 1974 incident.

Sedlack received worldwide recognition and praise from outdoors groups for shooting a snowmobile in the course of citing snow machine owners improperly operating within the park....

For a few subsequent years a tree hugger group handed out an annual Art Sedlack Award.

[O Really]

Somebody will probably turn him in, but I don't think they'll take him in. Either do himself in beforehand or take suicide by cop later.

[GoCubsGo]

Somebody will probably turn him in, but I don't think they'll take him in. Either do himself in beforehand or take suicide by cop later.

I'm 50/50 on that one.

He could want to be a martyr. He'd make big waves.

He doesn't look like your normal psychopath (whatever that is).

[Vrede too]

I'm 50/50 on that one.

He could want to be a martyr. He'd make big waves.

He doesn't look like your normal psychopath (whatever that is).
https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/ste ... 280,c_fill

What a national letdown it will be if it turns out to be something mundane like a love triangle or an aggrieved bastard child.

[Vrede too]

Somebody will probably turn him in, but I don't think they'll take him in. Either do himself in beforehand or take suicide by cop later.

He's sure invested in getting away clean and alive. We'll see.

Why top internet sleuths say they won't help find the UnitedHealthcare CEO killer

... “We’re pretty apathetic towards that,” Savannah Sparks, who has 1.3 million followers on her TikTok account — where she tracks down and reveals the identities of people who do racist or seemingly criminal acts in viral videos — said about helping to identify the shooter. She added that, rather than sleuthing, her community has “concepts of thoughts and prayers. It’s, you know, claim denied on my prayers there,” referring to rote and unserious condolences....

Sparks, who also works in health care as a lactation consultant and holds a doctorate of pharmacy, didn’t mince words when asked if her community was working to find the suspect in Thompson’s murder.

“Absolutely the f--- not,” she said.

Another popular TikTok sleuth, thatdaneshguy, who has 2 million followers on the platform, made a video that was critical of the health care industry, saying that he wouldn’t try to identify the killer. “I don’t have to encourage violence. I don’t have to condone violence by any means. But I also don’t have to help,” he said....

At least one person who did try to help find Thompson’s killer was criticized on X, formerly known as Twitter, for doing so.

In a viral post, Riley Walz, a software engineer, said he was “fairly confident” about where the shooter fled to on a bike after scouring data from the Citi Bike’s bikeshare program. He said he shared the information with the police.

But a source close to Lyft, which operates Citi Bike, later said the NYPD told the company directly that the incident did not involve the bikeshare program.

Walz declined to comment Friday. Since his post, some X users have called him a “snitch.” McWhorter, or TikTok’s TizzyEnt, said backlash toward those who did try to help might cause others to not want to step in....

Sukrit Venkatagiri, an assistant professor of computer science at Swarthmore College, said many people feel a lack of connection with a wealthy CEO.

“They don’t really empathize with who the victim is in this scenario,” Venkatagiri said....

UnitedHealthcare and Thompson’s family have plenty of resources to do their own online, etc sleuthing.

"deny," "defend" and "delay"

[Whack9]

I'm 50/50 on that one.

He could want to be a martyr. He'd make big waves.

He doesn't look like your normal psychopath (whatever that is).
https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/ste ... 280,c_fill

What a national letdown it will be if it turns out to be something mundane like a love triangle or an aggrieved bastard child.

The words on the bullet casings might indicate this is not the case. I guess we'll see.

Also, and I've never seen this before, Facebook hid the "reaction" counts on the UnitedHealth Facebook post about this assassination. 60k+ were laughing emojis, followed by maybe 2k sad emojis. For those that don't use the socials, users can "react" to a post. Most users reacted by laughing at the CEO being killed.

This has really struck a nerve.

[Vrede too]

The words on the bullet casings might indicate this is not the case. I guess we'll see.

Also, and I've never seen this before, Facebook hid the "reaction" counts on the UnitedHealth Facebook post about this assassination. 60k+ were laughing emojis, followed by maybe 2k sad emojis. For those that don't use the socials, users can "react" to a post. Most users reacted by laughing at the CEO being killed.

This has really struck a nerve.

El pueblo unido jamás será vencido.

Person of Interest in UnitedHealthcare CEO’s Killing Identified as Prep School Valedictorian

The person of interest in UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killing has been identified as a 26-year-old computer whiz who graduated as valedictorian from his Maryland prep school.

Luigi Mangione, of Towson, Md., was carrying identification with his name on it, as well as a fake I.D., when he was taken in for questioning in Altoona, Pennsylvania, law enforcement sources told the New York Times.

He has not been charged.

The break in the case comes after a McDonald’s employee noticed that he resembled the suspect seen on the New York Police Department’s wanted posters.

Rat . Probably still on their parents' health insurance.

Mangione graduated as valedictorian from the Gilman School in Baltimore, where he played soccer, according to the New York Post. Upon graduating, he said he intended to study artificial intelligence at the University of Pennsylvania.

Social media accounts believed to belong to Mangione paint him as an anti-capitalist who liked online quotes from “Unabomber’’ Ted Kaczynski that blasted the medical community.

Kaczynski, who was finally arrested in Montana after 17 years of bombings. Would Mangione have liked to continue for 17 years?

Law enforcement sources told the New York Post that he subscribed to anti-capitalist and climate-change causes online, as well as raged against the state of healthcare in the U.S. ...

Maryland. soccer. Montana. subscribed to anti-capitalist and climate-change causes online, as well as raged against the state of healthcare in the U.S.

Yep, I admit it, Luigi Mangione is my son. Dubious tactic, shaky security measures, poor escape plan, but I am still oh so proud! I'm setting up a GoFundMe so that no jury will ever convict him.

[Vrede too]

Luigi Mangione is also a Penn grad, same as Dolt .45 and other trailer trash, with a Masters in Engineering.

[Vrede too]

The break in the case comes after a McDonald’s employee noticed that he resembled the suspect seen on the New York Police Department’s wanted posters.

Rat . Probably still on their parents' health insurance.

Jon Stewart: Normally I would say 'snitches get stitches, but obviously with the need for pre-approval . . .

[Vrede too]

Luigi Mangione is also a Penn grad, same as Dolt .45 and other trailer trash, with a Masters in Engineering.

He worked as a software engineer.

... a master’s and bachelor’s degree in computer science and a minor in mathematics, a university spokesperson told CNN.

Comprehensive bio there.

[O Really]

Just wondering - how many other people got shot on a street December 4 that didn't get the attention of hundreds of cops/FBI, didn't get reported on front pages, didn't get a Wiki entry? Oh yeah, those weren't rich white guys, I guess.

[GoCubsGo]

Just wondering - how many other people got shot on a street December 4 that didn't get the attention of hundreds of cops/FBI, didn't get reported on front pages, didn't get a Wiki entry? Oh yeah, those weren't rich white guys, I guess.

Ask Claudia Jean.

[Vrede too]

Excellent clip, GoCubsGo.

Just wondering - how many other people got shot on a street December 4 that didn't get the attention of hundreds of cops/FBI, didn't get reported on front pages, didn't get a Wiki entry? Oh yeah, those weren't rich white guys, I guess.

Very true, but how many shooters have millions rooting for them?

#FreeLuigi Trends as Support Surges for CEO Murder Suspect Luigi Mangione

... After Mangione's name was released by police, thousands flocked to Mangione's alleged accounts — @PepMangione on X and @luigi.from.fiji on Instagram — boosting his follower count into the tens of thousnads. Supporters have flooded his old posts with messages of encouragement.

On X, the hashtag #FreeLuigi has gained momentum, with some portraying him as a vigilante challenging perceived injustices in the healthcare system....



Another user, @pyramuscrypto, wrote, "Now the real news should be who is the class traitor that snitched on Luigi Mangione" ...

In this house, Luigi Mangione is a hero, end of story.

...



... This perceived connection has resonated with many social media users, including healthcare workers. On TikTok, one emergency room nurse said, "I'm an ER nurse, and the things I've seen dying patients get denied for by insurance make me physically sick. I just can't feel sympathy for [Brian Thompson] because of all those patients and their families." The video garnered thousands of likes and comments echoing the nurse's sentiment.

Emergency room nurses rock!

The conversation also extended to Reddit, where users on the r/centrist subreddit debated the public's reaction to the killing. While some expressed unease, many others voiced little sympathy for Thompson. One commenter called the incident a "warning call" for corporate America.

"The health system is a scam, and somebody finally snapped," one Reddit user put it bluntly. Another remarked that the tragedy is already driving industry change, suggesting that at least one major healthcare provider had rolled back a controversial policy.

A favorite O Really metaphor.

... Another user added, "Whether it will result in any meaningful or lasting change to the system... let's see. I'd like to be hopeful, but I know how this world works."

... According to the Network Contagion Research Institute, which tracks extremism and online trends, six of the top 10 most-engaged posts on X about the shooting "either expressed explicit or implicit support for the killing or denigrated the victim."

... Experts say the public's reaction reflects growing societal discontent with the healthcare system. Online comments suggest that the industry's profit-driven model has sparked widespread frustration, with many now viewing Mangione as a symbolic figure challenging the system rather than a vigilante murderer....

Having a manifesto on him will mean it or excerpts can be read into evidence without his taking the stand, even though the judge will preclude a justification defense. Few noncriminals are as despised as health insurance execs, and United"Healthcare" is the worst by far. Might he be difficult to convict? Probably not, but maybe . . .

Why A Pennsylvania McDonald's Is Receiving Hate After UHC Shooter's Arrest

... It's not entirely clear what demographics support the alleged killer, but if social resentment over companies valuing profits over people, it makes sense that McDonald's isn't getting a pass seeing how lucrative the fast food franchise has become.

My US NC11 Rep is a local McDonald's mogul.



article and more solidarity pics

We live in interesting times.

[O Really]

Bonnie and Clyde had their fans. And "Chicago" was based somewhat on real events.

[Whack9]

The shooter was active on Reddit. The response on Reddit was overwhelmingly in support of his action. Love it or hate it, the shooter in all likelihood saw the effect his actions had on certain segments of the public. He likely saw that it's ignited conversations about the state of healthcare in the US, and saw that resentment for the oligarchy has been unleashed. This will be very interesting.

Also if interest - portraits of c-level executives were removed from health insurance websites.

Whether you support the act or not, it's undeniable it's had a huge effect.

[Vrede too]

... Whether you support the act or not, it's undeniable it's had a huge effect.

Premiums will go up to cover the extra security costs?