It didn’t help me. I got stung for US$1435 for pai relief during a bout or renal colic in California in Ausgust, and I am now pretty sure that my travel insurance isn’t going to reimburse me.
Yeah our insurance industry is pretty shit (exhibit a, it’s an industry), and nobody who actually makes policy wants to fix it because we’ve convinced ourselves that everyone else is the weird ones.
Lingo
That’s pretty much our attitude about every other policy issue as well.
David
Everyone else isn’t “weird ones”, just like apes in the zoo aren’t “weird ones”. They just aren’t Americans. Canadians are on a good road to be Americans but what’s up with their Queen and Cricket or Hockey? South Americans aren’t really Americans: they let the indigenous people run all over their country instead of putting them in zoos, I mean reservates.
ditrysia
Except Argentina, mostly. Which is why we’re mostly white and like to consider ourselves Europeans.
It’s been coming back to bite us in the ass lately.
Myriah
Actually, a lot of latin american countries put their indigenous peoples in reservations. There are in Costa Rica, Panama, colombia and Argentina for sure, and I could check the other countries with a google search but it makes me too sad, so you do it.
What are those, facts? Real Americans don’t use facts to determine their worldview. Facts are white genocide.
coru
Have you tried using alternative facts? They might be more helpful in your argument.
Drakkin the Alien
speaking for Perú here: we never went into reservations as we were a fully functional civilization and the spanish were happy to let us govern ourselves with an upper layer of conquistadores as parasitic government. That lasted almost 300 years, so we are the mayority of the population still, and whites (and euro descent) are a minority with more political power and money as general rule. We have had only a handful of native blooded rulers (presidents) since XIX century. Two of them in the last 20 years. And then you have Bolivia, where native blood is a strong mayority of the population, and the ruling president is a native leader. not sure about other countries history.
Tawdry Quirks
No kidding. My insurance company sent me a letter last week telling me that they’re getting rid of my current plan because the state legislature changed how my type of plan is being taxed, and they claim that whatever other plan they’re changing me to is going to be cheaper than that other plan. But since the plan they want to switch me to is ~$460 a month, I do have to wonder.
That’s nearly the premium Texas’s high-risk pool wanted to charge me pre-ACA. (I was classified as ‘high-risk’ because I had received some therapy and medication for depression.) I’m mad because I’m in that gap that doesn’t make enough to qualify for subsidies, and I don’t qualify for Medicaid.
I need to keep poking at my rep and senators. Not that they’re going to do anything about it, since my rep is a crazy teabagger (and she’s not seeking re-election, so she’s doing whatever she wants), and the senior sen from my state is the jerk who made that valium quip.
Andrew_C
Gotta keep poking them. My MP, a classic Tory scumbag, probably hates me almost as much as I hate him with the emails & letters I’ve been sending, but at least he knows that some of his constituents won’t stand for his shit.
That’s one of the things pisses me off the most about Brexit. I live in a safe Tory seat that has been Tory since 1950. But my vote actually had meaning in the European Parliament elections, due to proportional representation.
I didn’t remember myself, but someone commented yesterday that he was an osteopath.
Less creepy than him being a gynecologist, but still leaving him a Bone doctor.
bluejohnnyd
Osteopath or orthopedist? Osteopathic doctors can be any kind – that just refers to them having gone to a school of osteopathic medicine and holding a DO degree instead of an MD.
BBCC
Osteologist – a doctor of bones. Not an Osteopath, that’s a different thing. Richard has an MD and specializes in bones.
YES, given what WE know, suing is a shitty thing to do.
But if all Ryan’s parents know is that someone put their boy in a hospital with a knife without provocation and then told a lot of lies about him to the police (and perhaps that’s what they “know” because that’s what Ryan told them), leaving them with lots of medical bills…
…. or perhaps they ARE just domineering shites using the law as a means of abuse.
TachyonCode
This is a pretty litigious country regardless of your persuasions or perspective, so if money is at stake, it could actually be both.
HiEv
Actually, despite the population increasing, the number of lawsuits has been going down. Partially due to misinformation like this, where people who have legitimate grievances are afraid to sue because they don’t want to be labeled “bad people” for trying to make other people follow the law.
Being willing to use the law when it’s reasonable is just fine, and shouldn’t be stigmatized.
It is a one-way thing, also: Corporations have no qualms about hiring all the lawyers they wish, and nobody says “that’s too many lawsuits from corporate America”. They sue, and threaten to sue, each other, not for sport, but certainly Company X’s lawyers and Company Y’s lawyers know what they’re there for and aren’t afraid to do their jobs.
Only when it’s the little folk do “tort reform” and “lawsuit abuse” get invoked by the news programs.
I’m genuinely thankful that my random skimming things across the internet, and a few books, has given me a usefully accurate idea of things on at least this one subject.
Zee
Isn’t there evidence of t being self defense though? I thought Dorothy mentioned something about camera footage. I mean,a kid who everyone believes is a rapist (whether his parents think it true or not) pulls a knife on a girl in front of the dorm where his initial victim lives….no way it can look good for him
Obviously the camera is a man, women aren’t smart enough for CCTV surveillance
Gwen
Didn’t she stab him with his own knife? But sadly, no matter what, Amber’s family is going to have to hire a lawyer, whether or not the lawsuit is baseless.
Sadly lawsuits can destroy a person financially even if they’re in the right/win the suit because of legal fees.
MrSpkr
Wait – presumably Amber is 18, right? That means that, absent a special relationship like a legally appointed guardian for an adult unable to care for herself), Amber’s parents are not liable for her behavior, particularly behavior occuring when she is away from home.
dralou
It doesn’t mean that Stacey wouldn’t try her best to protect her daughter. Possibly by hiring a lawyer if the need arose. With Dick’s money, because she herself is broke.
As a one-time AV mic-wrangler, I thank you for bringing the mic-dropping issue up. Good microphones are more expensive than you would think, and also more delicate than you would think.
Shaith
So, do you think Chris Rock replaces all those mics he throws to the ground at the end of his specials?
TachyonCode
As an audio kind of guy: if it’s part of a performance, you want to only drop mics that are already dead (in other words, props).
However, it’s not impossible that a well-funded act will include a for-reals mic drop. But you better believe it cost them a lot and they want to get the act right the first time.
TachyonCode
To elaborate, because apparently some people around here are pretty smart: good “stage magic” will set the mic-dropper up with a live mic, and then a duplicate that’s dead that they can keep in their back pocket and easily swap out behind their backs while taking a bow or reacting to applause.
Schol-R-LEA
I would have expected that the real one would be a well-hidden collar or lapel mic, instead, but I’ll take your word on it since I really don’t know how effective those are for stage performances (as opposed to broadcasts on a closed set).
Needfuldoer
If somebody wants to dramatically drop a mic, give them something cheap like a Behringer XM8500. They’re cardioid and they look the part, but they’re only 20 bucks brand new.
Though to be honest, I’ve seen some $200 handheld mics go through hell and only get retired because the XLRs wear out and won’t hold a cable or transmitter anymore.
David
An expensive handheld mic intended to be a handheld mic will very likely tolerate a few drops. An expensive large diaphragm condenser, in contrast, is not something you hold in the hand and that makes sense jumping around on the stage with. Those aren’t necessarily built to tolerate lots of abuse. And their size and weight does make them well suited for hand operation anyway.
Torra
I think it was a Steven Universe quote
Either that or I’ve just watched way too many Steven Universe
Khyrin
It’s close enough to one. Greg says something like that in “We Need to Talk”.
“Way too (much) Steven Universe” are words in English, but they don’t make a phrase I recognize.
davidbreslin101
The place where my band used to practice also hires out PA gear. One time we turned up and the sound engineer was fuming because the lead singer of some high-school band had finished their set by kicking over his mic stand. Sound engineer laid into him so fiercely, the kid’s daddy offered to replace the mic whether it was broken or not. Rock and roll!
That’s always seemed pointless to me, just like damaging a guitar. You don’t see craftsmen or artists outside of music destroying their tools or treating them disrespectfully. Van Gogh didn’t finish ‘Sunflowers’ and then systematically snap all his brushes. Mel Brooks is grateful the ‘Frankenstein’ prop crew didn’t trash all the lab equipment.
Problem… We have no idea the extent of what happened yet. That Amber isn’t in jail is one thing, but we are still talking about vigilante violence that put a kid in the hospital.
In fact, given that Amber is free and still attending college may be part and parcel why a lawsuit is being threatened. The parents of the jerk are seeing no criminal actions being taken against Amber, and want some sort of punishment.
Also, the civil suit may be a part of a criminal defense strategy. We don’t know if he was charged with anything yet. If so, the civil suit may be a bargaining chip to be used in any plea agreements.
Further… I’m putting WAY to much thought into the legal background of a comic strip.
Does it really count as “vigilante violence” when it’s self-defense? In this particular incident, Amber didn’t hunt him down and stab him for his crimes, he followed Dorothy to the dorms and then threatened them both with a knife, with intention to get inside and harm Joyce.
I realize Ryan’s parents probably don’t see it that way, but it’s certainly the way the security footage sees it.
Jon Rich
As far as we know, Amber hasn’t been outed as Amazi-girl, so there’s no “vigilante violence” that they can stick her with unless you’re referring to the specific instance of the stabbing, which was indeed self-defense.
Self-defense that put a legally adult (alleged) serial rapist and attempted murderer in the hospital. She could have legally shot him in the head (other than it probably not being legal to have a gun on campus) and walked away.
It is very likely some combination of parental denial and legal maneuvering.
Yeah you’d be surprised how blind parents can be to the kind of people their kids are. I had a room mate in college who was just awful. Always threw parties without asking the rest of us, got in trouble with the school and the police on multiple occasions, lied about deaths in the family to get out of homework assignments, eventually got kicked out of school (but calls herself an “alumni”)
yet when my parents had to call her parents about her lack of paying rent (I was the one who collected all the rent checks) they were convinced I or one of our other room mates must’ve been a “bad influence” because their precious daughter would NEVER behave such a way (I, for the record, was a mild-mannered nerd who was terrified of parties & hated getting in trouble…pretty sure I wasn’t the bad influence).
I see it a lot too as a parent now…there are always those parents who think their child is flawless, and it results in them growing up into an adult with no solid moral code & the parents still being clueless.
336 thoughts on “Boundaries”
Ana Chronistic
“I don’t think ‘Love Doctor’ is a real doctor”
Ana Chronistic
totes sign up for healthcare if you in the US tho
Agemegos
It didn’t help me. I got stung for US$1435 for pai relief during a bout or renal colic in California in Ausgust, and I am now pretty sure that my travel insurance isn’t going to reimburse me.
Pablo360
Yeah our insurance industry is pretty shit (exhibit a, it’s an industry), and nobody who actually makes policy wants to fix it because we’ve convinced ourselves that everyone else is the weird ones.
Lingo
That’s pretty much our attitude about every other policy issue as well.
David
Everyone else isn’t “weird ones”, just like apes in the zoo aren’t “weird ones”. They just aren’t Americans. Canadians are on a good road to be Americans but what’s up with their Queen and Cricket or Hockey? South Americans aren’t really Americans: they let the indigenous people run all over their country instead of putting them in zoos, I mean reservates.
ditrysia
Except Argentina, mostly. Which is why we’re mostly white and like to consider ourselves Europeans.
It’s been coming back to bite us in the ass lately.
Myriah
Actually, a lot of latin american countries put their indigenous peoples in reservations. There are in Costa Rica, Panama, colombia and Argentina for sure, and I could check the other countries with a google search but it makes me too sad, so you do it.
Pablo360
What are those, facts? Real Americans don’t use facts to determine their worldview. Facts are white genocide.
coru
Have you tried using alternative facts? They might be more helpful in your argument.
Drakkin the Alien
speaking for Perú here: we never went into reservations as we were a fully functional civilization and the spanish were happy to let us govern ourselves with an upper layer of conquistadores as parasitic government. That lasted almost 300 years, so we are the mayority of the population still, and whites (and euro descent) are a minority with more political power and money as general rule. We have had only a handful of native blooded rulers (presidents) since XIX century. Two of them in the last 20 years. And then you have Bolivia, where native blood is a strong mayority of the population, and the ruling president is a native leader. not sure about other countries history.
Tawdry Quirks
No kidding. My insurance company sent me a letter last week telling me that they’re getting rid of my current plan because the state legislature changed how my type of plan is being taxed, and they claim that whatever other plan they’re changing me to is going to be cheaper than that other plan. But since the plan they want to switch me to is ~$460 a month, I do have to wonder.
That’s nearly the premium Texas’s high-risk pool wanted to charge me pre-ACA. (I was classified as ‘high-risk’ because I had received some therapy and medication for depression.) I’m mad because I’m in that gap that doesn’t make enough to qualify for subsidies, and I don’t qualify for Medicaid.
I need to keep poking at my rep and senators. Not that they’re going to do anything about it, since my rep is a crazy teabagger (and she’s not seeking re-election, so she’s doing whatever she wants), and the senior sen from my state is the jerk who made that valium quip.
Andrew_C
Gotta keep poking them. My MP, a classic Tory scumbag, probably hates me almost as much as I hate him with the emails & letters I’ve been sending, but at least he knows that some of his constituents won’t stand for his shit.
That’s one of the things pisses me off the most about Brexit. I live in a safe Tory seat that has been Tory since 1950. But my vote actually had meaning in the European Parliament elections, due to proportional representation.
Tenchan
Joe’s Dad: “They call me Dr. McLovin'”
jeffepp
I don’t actually remember, so I’m going with gynecologist.
Suspicious Chappy
The last gynecologist I saw in a comic was Ash’s dad in Misfile, and he’s… also a creep.
Jack Spade
Yay, but he’s also a bit of a badass, so I’m ok with this jokes.
thejeff
I didn’t remember myself, but someone commented yesterday that he was an osteopath.
Less creepy than him being a gynecologist, but still leaving him a Bone doctor.
bluejohnnyd
Osteopath or orthopedist? Osteopathic doctors can be any kind – that just refers to them having gone to a school of osteopathic medicine and holding a DO degree instead of an MD.
BBCC
Osteologist – a doctor of bones. Not an Osteopath, that’s a different thing. Richard has an MD and specializes in bones.
Sunny
We already established he’s a bone doctor, an osteologist.
AnvilPro
I think Stacy and Richard can make it work. I believe in those crazy kids.
Also fuck “Ryan’s” parents.
Gwen
Yeah, my first reaction was “What? They’re suing? How could any decent person do that?”
And my section reaction was “oh right, that makes total sense for them.”
Shiro
The operative phrase there is “decent person” :c
Reltzik
I’m not sure about this.
YES, given what WE know, suing is a shitty thing to do.
But if all Ryan’s parents know is that someone put their boy in a hospital with a knife without provocation and then told a lot of lies about him to the police (and perhaps that’s what they “know” because that’s what Ryan told them), leaving them with lots of medical bills…
…. or perhaps they ARE just domineering shites using the law as a means of abuse.
TachyonCode
This is a pretty litigious country regardless of your persuasions or perspective, so if money is at stake, it could actually be both.
HiEv
Actually, despite the population increasing, the number of lawsuits has been going down. Partially due to misinformation like this, where people who have legitimate grievances are afraid to sue because they don’t want to be labeled “bad people” for trying to make other people follow the law.
Being willing to use the law when it’s reasonable is just fine, and shouldn’t be stigmatized.
ValdVin
Yep.
It is a one-way thing, also: Corporations have no qualms about hiring all the lawyers they wish, and nobody says “that’s too many lawsuits from corporate America”. They sue, and threaten to sue, each other, not for sport, but certainly Company X’s lawyers and Company Y’s lawyers know what they’re there for and aren’t afraid to do their jobs.
Only when it’s the little folk do “tort reform” and “lawsuit abuse” get invoked by the news programs.
(And don’t get me started on arbitration.)
amanda
I’m an attorney and I approve these comments.
ValdVin
I’m genuinely thankful that my random skimming things across the internet, and a few books, has given me a usefully accurate idea of things on at least this one subject.
Zee
Isn’t there evidence of t being self defense though? I thought Dorothy mentioned something about camera footage. I mean,a kid who everyone believes is a rapist (whether his parents think it true or not) pulls a knife on a girl in front of the dorm where his initial victim lives….no way it can look good for him
Pablo360
That camera is a white-knighting male femicuck and you know it
Pablo360
Obviously the camera is a man, women aren’t smart enough for CCTV surveillance
Gwen
Didn’t she stab him with his own knife? But sadly, no matter what, Amber’s family is going to have to hire a lawyer, whether or not the lawsuit is baseless.
autogatos
Sadly lawsuits can destroy a person financially even if they’re in the right/win the suit because of legal fees.
MrSpkr
Wait – presumably Amber is 18, right? That means that, absent a special relationship like a legally appointed guardian for an adult unable to care for herself), Amber’s parents are not liable for her behavior, particularly behavior occuring when she is away from home.
dralou
It doesn’t mean that Stacey wouldn’t try her best to protect her daughter. Possibly by hiring a lawyer if the need arose. With Dick’s money, because she herself is broke.
Dark
Haha!
Unintentional innuendo.
Deanatay
She’s not fucking broke!
She’s fucking Rich. BECAUSE she’s broke.
foamy
I guess Ryan comes by his complete assholishness honestly.
Needfuldoer
More like genetically.
foamy
Assholishness isn’t genetic, but it is something you can pick up from the people around you.
DonDueed
“By osmosis”, then.
Geneseepaws
It’s gone Viral?
das-g
Well, what did you figure how Butt’s disease spreads?
Nono
Well good to know Ryan’s parents are terrible people tooz
Pablo360
I mean, we already knew Ryan was a preacher’s son, so yeah
*drops mic*
*picks mic back up, checks to make sure it’s not broken* these things are expensive why would anyone do that
Marsh Maryrose
As a one-time AV mic-wrangler, I thank you for bringing the mic-dropping issue up. Good microphones are more expensive than you would think, and also more delicate than you would think.
Shaith
So, do you think Chris Rock replaces all those mics he throws to the ground at the end of his specials?
TachyonCode
As an audio kind of guy: if it’s part of a performance, you want to only drop mics that are already dead (in other words, props).
However, it’s not impossible that a well-funded act will include a for-reals mic drop. But you better believe it cost them a lot and they want to get the act right the first time.
TachyonCode
To elaborate, because apparently some people around here are pretty smart: good “stage magic” will set the mic-dropper up with a live mic, and then a duplicate that’s dead that they can keep in their back pocket and easily swap out behind their backs while taking a bow or reacting to applause.
Schol-R-LEA
I would have expected that the real one would be a well-hidden collar or lapel mic, instead, but I’ll take your word on it since I really don’t know how effective those are for stage performances (as opposed to broadcasts on a closed set).
Needfuldoer
If somebody wants to dramatically drop a mic, give them something cheap like a Behringer XM8500. They’re cardioid and they look the part, but they’re only 20 bucks brand new.
Though to be honest, I’ve seen some $200 handheld mics go through hell and only get retired because the XLRs wear out and won’t hold a cable or transmitter anymore.
David
An expensive handheld mic intended to be a handheld mic will very likely tolerate a few drops. An expensive large diaphragm condenser, in contrast, is not something you hold in the hand and that makes sense jumping around on the stage with. Those aren’t necessarily built to tolerate lots of abuse. And their size and weight does make them well suited for hand operation anyway.
Torra
I think it was a Steven Universe quote
Either that or I’ve just watched way too many Steven Universe
Khyrin
It’s close enough to one. Greg says something like that in “We Need to Talk”.
ValdVin
“Way too (much) Steven Universe” are words in English, but they don’t make a phrase I recognize.
davidbreslin101
The place where my band used to practice also hires out PA gear. One time we turned up and the sound engineer was fuming because the lead singer of some high-school band had finished their set by kicking over his mic stand. Sound engineer laid into him so fiercely, the kid’s daddy offered to replace the mic whether it was broken or not. Rock and roll!
Marsh Maryrose
I just found out about the Catchbox throwable microphone today.
God, I could have used this three years ago.
Charie Spencer
That’s always seemed pointless to me, just like damaging a guitar. You don’t see craftsmen or artists outside of music destroying their tools or treating them disrespectfully. Van Gogh didn’t finish ‘Sunflowers’ and then systematically snap all his brushes. Mel Brooks is grateful the ‘Frankenstein’ prop crew didn’t trash all the lab equipment.
Shawn Levasseur
Problem… We have no idea the extent of what happened yet. That Amber isn’t in jail is one thing, but we are still talking about vigilante violence that put a kid in the hospital.
In fact, given that Amber is free and still attending college may be part and parcel why a lawsuit is being threatened. The parents of the jerk are seeing no criminal actions being taken against Amber, and want some sort of punishment.
Also, the civil suit may be a part of a criminal defense strategy. We don’t know if he was charged with anything yet. If so, the civil suit may be a bargaining chip to be used in any plea agreements.
Further… I’m putting WAY to much thought into the legal background of a comic strip.
Benwhoski
Does it really count as “vigilante violence” when it’s self-defense? In this particular incident, Amber didn’t hunt him down and stab him for his crimes, he followed Dorothy to the dorms and then threatened them both with a knife, with intention to get inside and harm Joyce.
I realize Ryan’s parents probably don’t see it that way, but it’s certainly the way the security footage sees it.
Jon Rich
As far as we know, Amber hasn’t been outed as Amazi-girl, so there’s no “vigilante violence” that they can stick her with unless you’re referring to the specific instance of the stabbing, which was indeed self-defense.
thejeff
Self-defense that put a legally adult (alleged) serial rapist and attempted murderer in the hospital. She could have legally shot him in the head (other than it probably not being legal to have a gun on campus) and walked away.
It is very likely some combination of parental denial and legal maneuvering.
autogatos
Yeah you’d be surprised how blind parents can be to the kind of people their kids are. I had a room mate in college who was just awful. Always threw parties without asking the rest of us, got in trouble with the school and the police on multiple occasions, lied about deaths in the family to get out of homework assignments, eventually got kicked out of school (but calls herself an “alumni”)
yet when my parents had to call her parents about her lack of paying rent (I was the one who collected all the rent checks) they were convinced I or one of our other room mates must’ve been a “bad influence” because their precious daughter would NEVER behave such a way (I, for the record, was a mild-mannered nerd who was terrified of parties & hated getting in trouble…pretty sure I wasn’t the bad influence).
I see it a lot too as a parent now…there are always those parents who think their child is flawless, and it results in them growing up into an adult with no solid moral code & the parents still being clueless.
sultryglebe
Okay, Amber isn’t completely letting go of “monster”, but she could have fought her mother a lot harder on that. Hope?
ValdVin
“…and neither are you.”
Good Momming, Stacy.
Pablo360
I mean, she’s still being grouped into the same category as Dickard, so it’s okay Momming at best
Fart Captor
It is excellent momming. Amber even accepted it herself, even if a bit tentatively, which we’ve seen is no small feat.
Trrebi981
Wait, which boy’s parents is she referring to?
Pablo360
The guy with the phone, whatshisscar
Suspicious Chappy
Everyone has a phone in this comic. That doesn’t narrow it down much.
King Daniel
Not just a phone. The phone.