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    America, Android, and Doctor: StanceGrounded
 SJPeace
 The horrors of Socialized Medicine: A
 first hand experience by Kevin Bozeat
 We need Universal Healthcare!
 RETWEET THIS
 The Horrors of Socialized Medicine: A first hand
 experience
 A few days ago my stomach began to hurt. Thinking it
 would pass, I went home to try and rest for the night. A
 bit later I vomited. I thought that was the end of it.
 But for the rest of the night, I kept vomiting almost every
 30-40 minutes. Even after my stomach was completely
 empty, I kept vomiting. Soon it was nothing but stomach
 fluid and bile. I tried to drink water to stay hydrated, but I
 kept throwing it up, no matter how hard I tried to keep it
 This could have easily cost me hundreds or even
 thousands in the US without insurance. But here in
 Taiwan I was able to receive speedy, quality care
 comparable to what I would have gotten in a US hospital
 for relatively small amount of money
 Given this experience, I no longer have a reason to fear
 or hesitate getting care in Taiwan should I ever need it.
 America, it's time to stop making excuses.
 3:16 PM Feb 25, 2019 Twitter for Android
 1.9K Retweets
 3.6K Likes

 The Horrors of Socialized Medicine: A first hand
 experience
 A few days ago my stomach began to hurt. Thinking it
 would pass, I went home to try and rest for the night. A
 bit later I vomited. I thought that was the end of it
 But for the rest of the night, l kept vomiting almost every
 30-40 minutes. Even after my stomach was completely
 empty, I kept vomiting. Soon it was nothing but stomach
 fluid and bile. I tried to drink water to stay hydrated, but I
 kept throwing it up, no matter how hard I tried to keep it
 down
 By 3am I had severe stomach cramps, my body kept
 trying to vomit even though there was nothing left. I was
 dizzy and light-headed. My symptoms showed no signs
 of abating
 At this point I had to seek medical treatment, I knew
 had to go to the hospital
 I wanted to avoid it. I had no idea how different
 Taiwanese hospitals would be, whether I would be able
 to find an English speaking doctor, or what it would cost
 me (my US health insurance has lapsed and I don't
 qualify for Taiwanese NHI)

 My Taiwanese roommate called a taxi and took me to
 the ER at NTU Hospital. I was immediately checked-in by
 an English speaking nurse. Within 20 minutes I was given
 IV fluids and anti-emetics. They took blood tests and did
 an ultrasound to ensure it wasn't gall stones or
 appendicitis. From there I was given a diagnosis: a
 particularly severe case of Acute Viral Gastroenteritis
 (aka the stomach flu). After about 3 hours on an IV I
 began to feel slightly better, my nausea disappeared and
 my stomach began to calm down. I was discharged with
 a prescription for anti-emetics and pain medication.
 Each day since lve gotten progressively better and am
 now pretty much back to normal
 The bill for the ER visit?
 US$80.00
 Eighty. American. Dollars
 Out of pocket. Full cost. No discounts. No insurance.
 At one of the best hospitals in Taiwan.
 And if I had NHI, it would have been a fraction of that.
 This could have easily cost me hundreds or even
 thousands in the US without insurance. But here in
 Taiwan I was able to receive speedy, quality care
 comparable to what I would have gotten in a US hospital
 for relatively small amount of money.
 Given this experience, I no longer have a reason to fear
 or hesitate getting care in Taiwan should I ever need it
 America, it's time to stop making excuses.
corvussy:
thatpettyblackgirl:


the US has no excuse


some great examples of us hospitals setting pretty exorbitant prices for health care:

The infamous $629 bandaid
Woman charged $40 for holding her baby after a c-section
Two South Korean tourists took their baby to the ER where he was only given some formula and took a nap before being discharged but were given a $18,836 bill
Canadian man gets heart surgery in Florida and is billed over 600k USD
Some more pictures of people’s hospital bills

A public hospital’s ER is out-of-network with all private insurances, resulting in many patients being stuck with unreasonable bills and eventually resulting in a class action lawsuit over their billing practices


Annual healthcare spending in the US is estimated at 3.5 trillion, and billing prices are pretty much unfair and inconsistent, even for insured patients with legal loopholes and hospital discretion in setting prices
Billing announcements, and million dollar hospital bills on the rise
Top 35 Most Expensive Health Conditions in the US
Just… facility fees


Hospitals are more likely to tell you how much parking costs than how much a basic ECG test costs (meaning they probably inflate prices arbitrarily for patients… possibly on an individual basis)
Hospitals are magically able to “discount” hospital bills to less than a thousand dollars for patients that receive national attention in media (x, x)

People in the US are less likely to seek medical care because of high prices, even though 42% of doctors believe their patients are receiving too much health care (falsely)

    

        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    

    

        

            
            

                
                America, Android, and Doctor: StanceGrounded
 SJPeace
 The horrors of Socialized Medicine: A
 first hand experience by Kevin Bozeat
 We need Universal Healthcare!
 RETWEET THIS
 The Horrors of Socialized Medicine: A first hand
 experience
 A few days ago my stomach began to hurt. Thinking it
 would pass, I went home to try and rest for the night. A
 bit later I vomited. I thought that was the end of it.
 But for the rest of the night, I kept vomiting almost every
 30-40 minutes. Even after my stomach was completely
 empty, I kept vomiting. Soon it was nothing but stomach
 fluid and bile. I tried to drink water to stay hydrated, but I
 kept throwing it up, no matter how hard I tried to keep it
 This could have easily cost me hundreds or even
 thousands in the US without insurance. But here in
 Taiwan I was able to receive speedy, quality care
 comparable to what I would have gotten in a US hospital
 for relatively small amount of money
 Given this experience, I no longer have a reason to fear
 or hesitate getting care in Taiwan should I ever need it.
 America, it's time to stop making excuses.
 3:16 PM Feb 25, 2019 Twitter for Android
 1.9K Retweets
 3.6K Likes

 The Horrors of Socialized Medicine: A first hand
 experience
 A few days ago my stomach began to hurt. Thinking it
 would pass, I went home to try and rest for the night. A
 bit later I vomited. I thought that was the end of it
 But for the rest of the night, l kept vomiting almost every
 30-40 minutes. Even after my stomach was completely
 empty, I kept vomiting. Soon it was nothing but stomach
 fluid and bile. I tried to drink water to stay hydrated, but I
 kept throwing it up, no matter how hard I tried to keep it
 down
 By 3am I had severe stomach cramps, my body kept
 trying to vomit even though there was nothing left. I was
 dizzy and light-headed. My symptoms showed no signs
 of abating
 At this point I had to seek medical treatment, I knew
 had to go to the hospital
 I wanted to avoid it. I had no idea how different
 Taiwanese hospitals would be, whether I would be able
 to find an English speaking doctor, or what it would cost
 me (my US health insurance has lapsed and I don't
 qualify for Taiwanese NHI)

 My Taiwanese roommate called a taxi and took me to
 the ER at NTU Hospital. I was immediately checked-in by
 an English speaking nurse. Within 20 minutes I was given
 IV fluids and anti-emetics. They took blood tests and did
 an ultrasound to ensure it wasn't gall stones or
 appendicitis. From there I was given a diagnosis: a
 particularly severe case of Acute Viral Gastroenteritis
 (aka the stomach flu). After about 3 hours on an IV I
 began to feel slightly better, my nausea disappeared and
 my stomach began to calm down. I was discharged with
 a prescription for anti-emetics and pain medication.
 Each day since lve gotten progressively better and am
 now pretty much back to normal
 The bill for the ER visit?
 US$80.00
 Eighty. American. Dollars
 Out of pocket. Full cost. No discounts. No insurance.
 At one of the best hospitals in Taiwan.
 And if I had NHI, it would have been a fraction of that.
 This could have easily cost me hundreds or even
 thousands in the US without insurance. But here in
 Taiwan I was able to receive speedy, quality care
 comparable to what I would have gotten in a US hospital
 for relatively small amount of money.
 Given this experience, I no longer have a reason to fear
 or hesitate getting care in Taiwan should I ever need it
 America, it's time to stop making excuses.
corvussy:
thatpettyblackgirl:


the US has no excuse


some great examples of us hospitals setting pretty exorbitant prices for health care:

The infamous $629 bandaid
Woman charged $40 for holding her baby after a c-section
Two South Korean tourists took their baby to the ER where he was only given some formula and took a nap before being discharged but were given a $18,836 bill
Canadian man gets heart surgery in Florida and is billed over 600k USD
Some more pictures of people’s hospital bills

A public hospital’s ER is out-of-network with all private insurances, resulting in many patients being stuck with unreasonable bills and eventually resulting in a class action lawsuit over their billing practices


Annual healthcare spending in the US is estimated at 3.5 trillion, and billing prices are pretty much unfair and inconsistent, even for insured patients with legal loopholes and hospital discretion in setting prices
Billing announcements, and million dollar hospital bills on the rise
Top 35 Most Expensive Health Conditions in the US
Just… facility fees


Hospitals are more likely to tell you how much parking costs than how much a basic ECG test costs (meaning they probably inflate prices arbitrarily for patients… possibly on an individual basis)
Hospitals are magically able to “discount” hospital bills to less than a thousand dollars for patients that receive national attention in media (x, x)

People in the US are less likely to seek medical care because of high prices, even though 42% of doctors believe their patients are receiving too much health care (falsely)

                
            

            
            
corvussy:
thatpettyblackgirl:


the US has no excuse


some great examples of us hospitals setting pretty exorbitant prices for health care:...

            
            
        

    



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            




    Brains, Energy, and Food: "You will continue to suffer if you have an
 emotional reaction to everything that is
 said to you. True power is sitting back and
 observing everything with logic. If words
 control you that means everyone else
 can control you. Breathe and allow
 things to pass."
 - Bruce Lee
Every thought we have activates a cluster of neurons, they send an action potential down the axons to cross synapse that releases neurotransmitters. If we keep reactivating this network, it becomes stronger because surrounding glial cell feed the cluster and it becomes thicker and stronger. We are literally talking ourselves out of success. If something goes wrong in your life and you make the mistake of making it personal telling yourself a shit story about "how it is", you’re dirtying up your mind with dangerous shit. All of our fears are self-created. They form in the brain's default mode network and are greatly amplified when the brain's alarm and avoidance network is on. This drives our decisions because emotion supersedes thought. We fear rejection, embarrassment, loss, and abandonment, powerful emotions that override positive thought. For most people they are focused on what could go wrong and feel embarrassed; this is EXACTLY what creates these emotions that are holding us back. There's a 90-second rule which states that, if one can redirect their focus off the bullshit story, the network will stop firing neurotransmitters down the action potential; that kills the emotion. Negative Emotion is just like too much alcohol, we need to sober up! Most people cannot do this; 15 months ago I couldn't either when it counted the most because there is an underlying cause of stress, cellular stress, which puts the brain in the SAME CHAOS, alarm and avoidance. I call this red stress, and it's in the food supply in the form of AGE's, ALE's, aldehydes, estrogen mimics, microplastics, mitotoxins etc. Your body is at war, and it needs cofactors to fight each battle, and most people lack there too. This war must be financed, it diverts energy to fight battle after battle. You will experience this as being tired, lose focus, become moody and stressed. Wouldn't this energy be better-spent financing focus, passion, and success? Take out red stress💫 I'm building a free course on doing just that, it's opening us soon. TAG SOMEONE YOU BELIEVE IN WHO NEEDS THIS . lawofattraction nevergiveup brucelee emotionalintelligence onelife nutrigenomics
    

        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    

    

        

            
            

                
                Brains, Energy, and Food: "You will continue to suffer if you have an
 emotional reaction to everything that is
 said to you. True power is sitting back and
 observing everything with logic. If words
 control you that means everyone else
 can control you. Breathe and allow
 things to pass."
 - Bruce Lee
Every thought we have activates a cluster of neurons, they send an action potential down the axons to cross synapse that releases neurotransmitters. If we keep reactivating this network, it becomes stronger because surrounding glial cell feed the cluster and it becomes thicker and stronger. We are literally talking ourselves out of success. If something goes wrong in your life and you make the mistake of making it personal telling yourself a shit story about "how it is", you’re dirtying up your mind with dangerous shit. All of our fears are self-created. They form in the brain's default mode network and are greatly amplified when the brain's alarm and avoidance network is on. This drives our decisions because emotion supersedes thought. We fear rejection, embarrassment, loss, and abandonment, powerful emotions that override positive thought. For most people they are focused on what could go wrong and feel embarrassed; this is EXACTLY what creates these emotions that are holding us back. There's a 90-second rule which states that, if one can redirect their focus off the bullshit story, the network will stop firing neurotransmitters down the action potential; that kills the emotion. Negative Emotion is just like too much alcohol, we need to sober up! Most people cannot do this; 15 months ago I couldn't either when it counted the most because there is an underlying cause of stress, cellular stress, which puts the brain in the SAME CHAOS, alarm and avoidance. I call this red stress, and it's in the food supply in the form of AGE's, ALE's, aldehydes, estrogen mimics, microplastics, mitotoxins etc. Your body is at war, and it needs cofactors to fight each battle, and most people lack there too. This war must be financed, it diverts energy to fight battle after battle. You will experience this as being tired, lose focus, become moody and stressed. Wouldn't this energy be better-spent financing focus, passion, and success? Take out red stress💫 I'm building a free course on doing just that, it's opening us soon. TAG SOMEONE YOU BELIEVE IN WHO NEEDS THIS . lawofattraction nevergiveup brucelee emotionalintelligence onelife nutrigenomics
                
            

            
            
Every thought we have activates a cluster of neurons, they send an action potential down the axons to cross synapse that releases neurotrans...

            
            
        

    



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            




    Alive, Anaconda, and Animals: i-should-be-writing-rn:

inlovewithaleheather:

thecuckoohaslanded:


gerbthenerd:

alexander-lamington:


thelizardprincess:


biglawbear:


blacksirencry:

swaglexander-the-great:


#That’s a#That’s a blue ringed octopus#You’re going to die do you realise that#It is literally one of the most deadly animals in the world#Not just in Australia or just in the ocean in THE WORLD#Put it DOWN#And go to a hospital jfc via platonic-rabbit 
me tryna find out if this fool died


“The blue-ringed octopus, despite its small size, carries enough venom to kill twenty-six adult humans within minutes. Their bites are tiny and often painless, with many victims not realizing they have been envenomated until respiratory depression and paralysis start to set in.[8] No blue-ringed octopus antivenom is available yet, making it one of the deadliest reef inhabitants in the ocean.”
Holy shit


And this is why I don’t go in the ocean anymore


Also the blue rings literally only show up when it is distressed so this person has angered it!!! You are in danger friend!!!


Actually this guy keeps them as pets they’re on his instagram (william_exotique) and he frequently holds then and I just? Don’t know why? And also every picture or video he posts of them shows the blue rings so they’re always in distress I just do not understand why he’s doing this



#AMY EXPLAIN HOW DUMB THIS GUY IS 
I mean OP pretty much covered it.  A blue ringed octopus is almost on the level of CONE SNAIL on the list of things you ABSOLUTELY DO NOT PICK UP UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
But ask and you shall receive,  On this episode of “Fun Facts With Cuckoo,” DEAD.  YOU’RE DEAD.  EVERYTHING IS DEAD AND YOU SHOULD NEVER TOUCH ANYTHING IN THE OCEAN EVER AGAIN.
There are many things that will kill you.

[citation needed]
There are fewer, but still many things that will kill you FAST.
There are yet fewer things that kill you fast and by such an overwhelming margin of overkill that nervous laughter is our only solace in the dark of this terrible, surprisingly Lovecraftian world of unearthly horrors that we live in.
Of the things that I know about which will kill you fast via just plain insultingly potent venom, which is a not insignificant number of things because I know a not insignificant number of things, there are about 3 things in the ocean – IN THE WHOLE OCEAN – which are so insanely, mind-bogglingly deadly that there is pretty much no possible hope for survival (I mean you CAN, but god help you if you’re ever in that situation, because god’s just about damn near the only thing that CAN help you).  THE. WHOLE. OCEAN.
Those three things are the Irukandji (a tiny (1cm) species of box jellyfish, which has stingers not only on its tentacles but on its BELL, for reasons no one has definitively figured out, and is so toxic despite its size its sting can cause a severe brain hemorrhage), the cone snail (a group of carnivorous sea snails that is accepted to be the most venomous animals on earth, with a STUPIDLY fast acting and extremely powerful neurotoxin that has in at least one case killed a human ALMOST INSTANTANEOUSLY, because the swimmer who found two beautiful shells (unfortunately cone snails tend to have very pretty shells which makes people want to pick them up) was holding them up for a picture and ended up being stabbed in the neck by not one but TWO cone snails at the same time, and it is believed that she was literally dead before she hit the ground, I mean LITERALLY in a 100% non-fictional and non-exaggerated way, in between the time the two cone snails stabbed her and the time her limp body hit the sand, she was not alive anymore), and the blue ringed octopus.
It is POSSIBLE to survive any of these.  But not without immediate medical attention.  Of these three, the Irukandji is by far the most treatable, because Australia and other coastal regions (including Florida and other parts of the US) are kind of experienced in dealing with box jellyfish.
The blue ringed octopus will fucking kill you.  There’s no antidote for their venom, ONE COMPONENT OF WHICH (tetrodotoxin) is 1200 times deadlier than cyanide.  It’s a powerful neurotoxin (most of the worst venoms are because the species that produce them need to kill or at least paralyze their prey quickly, like jellyfish whose fragile tentacles could be damaged if their food doesn’t stop struggling) that attacks the sodium channels and causes muscle paralysis.  It doesn’t necessarily kill you quickly.  It PARALYZES you quickly, so that you can’t really call for help or describe the problem, and you will probably end up slowly suffocating from a paralyzed diaphragm.  Tetrodotoxin can be metabolized by the body in a matter of hours, but it can also kill you in a matter of minutes if you get a lethal dose (which isn’t much, the 

LD50

 or median lethal dose, the dose at which you have a 50% chance of survival, is only 8 MICROGRAMS per kilogram of body weight (as tested in mice)).  This is, by venom standards, not a large amount, which means the animal that is capable of putting this venom inside your body is very very good at killing the absolute shit out of you.
DON’T TOUCH THE BLUE RINGED OCTOPUS.
Now, because overkill is my motto, let me briefly explain why Conus geographus is the undisputed champion of YOU WILL NOT SURVIVE, AND FURTHERMORE FUCK YOU FOR THINKING OTHERWISE.
A cone snail walks into a bar.  You’d expect the bartender to ask, “what’s your poison,” but they were paralyzed before they could ask and OH LOOK they’re already FUCKING DEAD ON THE GROUND.
Conus geographus is about 4-6 inches long and nature’s equivalent of Avada Kedavra.  Cone snails literally have their own KIND of toxins named after them: conotoxin.  Not only is there no antidote, but their venom AGGRESSIVELY RESISTS our ability to find a cure, because we barely understand how it works AND conotoxins are so internally varied, even within a single species, that any one antidote isn’t going to help because they’re constantly mutating and evolving their venom to prevent their prey from evolving a resistance to it.  Plus their venom is like, a bunch of different venoms all at once JUST IN CASE any one of them wasn’t good enough.
I want you to read these two sentences from the wiki page on conotoxin:
“Conotoxins have a variety of mechanisms of actions, most of which have not been determined.”


“The LD50 of conotoxin is 50 ng/kg.”
Remember how the 

LD50 of tetrodotoxin is 8μg/kg?  Conotoxin is 160 times more potent.  FIFTY NANOGRAMS PER KILOGRAM HAS A 50% CHANCE OF KILLING YOU. A 220-POUND HUMAN HAS A 50% CHANCE OF SURVIVAL AGAINST JUST 5 MICROGRAMS OF CONOTOXIN.  
I DID SOME MATH.  
IT WOULD TAKE 7-9 MILLIGRAMS OF CONOTOXIN TO KILL A BLUE WHALE, THE HEAVIEST ANIMAL TO EVER LIVE. (based on weight estimates from 300-400,000 lbs.)
Conus geographus is so fucking deadly that “In two cases of envenomation, only 0.0002-0.0005 mg resulted in severe paralysis.”
THIS THING KILLS STUFF SO HARD THAT BEFORE YOU HEAR THE FIRST “MORTAL KOMBAT” IN THE MORTAL KOMBAT THEME, THERE’S PROBABLY ALREADY BEEN A FATALITY.
And guess what?  Cone snails don’t do that NOOB SHIT with the superficial biting or stinging.  Your wetsuit or gloves won’t protect you.  Because homeboy didn’t bring teeth to evolution’s knife fight.  Oh no.  It brought a motherfucking radula POISON HARPOON.  It’s lightning fast and has way more piercing power than some silly little cnidocytes or salivary bacteria.
Another component of their venom is being researched for its potential as a pain reliever.  “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT????” you might reasonably ask.  And you would be right to do so, because science has gone too far and has surely sinned against the very image of Mollusca Kedavra.  Well, it turns out the answer is “Research shows that certain component proteins of the venom target specific human pain receptors and can be up to 10,000 times more potent than morphine without morphine’s addictive properties and side-effects.”  That’s right, the part of their venom that SPECIFICALLY DOESN’T HURT YOU is up to 10,000 times more potent than morphine.
Also, Conus geographus (along with one other cone snail species, C. tulipa) is the only known non-human animal to weaponize insulin.  In addition to the normal insulin that the snails produce for their own use, their bodies manufacture an ADDITIONAL insulin molecule that is similar to the kind produced in fish (which they eat) for the sole purpose of stunning their prey through hypoglycemic shock.  BECAUSE APPARENTLY THEY DON’T FEEL LIKE THEY’D KILL YOU HARD ENOUGH OTHERWISE.
IF you are going to survive the ALMIGHTY CONE SNAIL, WHO KNOWS NO FEAR, TRIUMPHANT HEDGEMON OF THE MOLECULAR ARMS RACE, TRUE BORN HEIR TO THE SCYTHE OF DEATH ITSELF, FISHSLAYER, GOD AMONG MOLLUSKS, WHOSE WRATH IS MERCIFUL ONLY IN ITS BREVITY, ADMIRABLE IN ITS BEAUTY AND UNSULLIED BY THE UNWORTHY TOUCH OF MORTAL HANDS OR SCALES OR REALLY ANYTHING IN RANGE OF ITS RADULA HARPOON, then literally the only thing that’s going to save you is for you to be kept alive artificially (externalizing your respiratory functions to force your body to continue breathing, basically) until the effects of the venom wear off.  And because of how quickly this venom acts, you need to get that medical attention VERY, VERY FAST.
And if you don’t get it, you will still be conscious while the paralysis slowly suffocates you to death.
Don’t touch the pretty shells.


I’ve never been so intrigued to learn how easily I could be fucking exterminated from existence by the overpowered sea creatures of the world. You’ve done a better job at keeping my attention then any of my teachers ever have.


You know what I’m putting this on the writing blog cause I personally can see potential in some fantasy villain attempting to weaponise cone snailsIn which case, all hail snail king 🐌 
    

        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    

    

        

            
            

                
                Alive, Anaconda, and Animals: i-should-be-writing-rn:

inlovewithaleheather:

thecuckoohaslanded:


gerbthenerd:

alexander-lamington:


thelizardprincess:


biglawbear:


blacksirencry:

swaglexander-the-great:


#That’s a#That’s a blue ringed octopus#You’re going to die do you realise that#It is literally one of the most deadly animals in the world#Not just in Australia or just in the ocean in THE WORLD#Put it DOWN#And go to a hospital jfc via platonic-rabbit 
me tryna find out if this fool died


“The blue-ringed octopus, despite its small size, carries enough venom to kill twenty-six adult humans within minutes. Their bites are tiny and often painless, with many victims not realizing they have been envenomated until respiratory depression and paralysis start to set in.[8] No blue-ringed octopus antivenom is available yet, making it one of the deadliest reef inhabitants in the ocean.”
Holy shit


And this is why I don’t go in the ocean anymore


Also the blue rings literally only show up when it is distressed so this person has angered it!!! You are in danger friend!!!


Actually this guy keeps them as pets they’re on his instagram (william_exotique) and he frequently holds then and I just? Don’t know why? And also every picture or video he posts of them shows the blue rings so they’re always in distress I just do not understand why he’s doing this



#AMY EXPLAIN HOW DUMB THIS GUY IS 
I mean OP pretty much covered it.  A blue ringed octopus is almost on the level of CONE SNAIL on the list of things you ABSOLUTELY DO NOT PICK UP UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
But ask and you shall receive,  On this episode of “Fun Facts With Cuckoo,” DEAD.  YOU’RE DEAD.  EVERYTHING IS DEAD AND YOU SHOULD NEVER TOUCH ANYTHING IN THE OCEAN EVER AGAIN.
There are many things that will kill you.

[citation needed]
There are fewer, but still many things that will kill you FAST.
There are yet fewer things that kill you fast and by such an overwhelming margin of overkill that nervous laughter is our only solace in the dark of this terrible, surprisingly Lovecraftian world of unearthly horrors that we live in.
Of the things that I know about which will kill you fast via just plain insultingly potent venom, which is a not insignificant number of things because I know a not insignificant number of things, there are about 3 things in the ocean – IN THE WHOLE OCEAN – which are so insanely, mind-bogglingly deadly that there is pretty much no possible hope for survival (I mean you CAN, but god help you if you’re ever in that situation, because god’s just about damn near the only thing that CAN help you).  THE. WHOLE. OCEAN.
Those three things are the Irukandji (a tiny (1cm) species of box jellyfish, which has stingers not only on its tentacles but on its BELL, for reasons no one has definitively figured out, and is so toxic despite its size its sting can cause a severe brain hemorrhage), the cone snail (a group of carnivorous sea snails that is accepted to be the most venomous animals on earth, with a STUPIDLY fast acting and extremely powerful neurotoxin that has in at least one case killed a human ALMOST INSTANTANEOUSLY, because the swimmer who found two beautiful shells (unfortunately cone snails tend to have very pretty shells which makes people want to pick them up) was holding them up for a picture and ended up being stabbed in the neck by not one but TWO cone snails at the same time, and it is believed that she was literally dead before she hit the ground, I mean LITERALLY in a 100% non-fictional and non-exaggerated way, in between the time the two cone snails stabbed her and the time her limp body hit the sand, she was not alive anymore), and the blue ringed octopus.
It is POSSIBLE to survive any of these.  But not without immediate medical attention.  Of these three, the Irukandji is by far the most treatable, because Australia and other coastal regions (including Florida and other parts of the US) are kind of experienced in dealing with box jellyfish.
The blue ringed octopus will fucking kill you.  There’s no antidote for their venom, ONE COMPONENT OF WHICH (tetrodotoxin) is 1200 times deadlier than cyanide.  It’s a powerful neurotoxin (most of the worst venoms are because the species that produce them need to kill or at least paralyze their prey quickly, like jellyfish whose fragile tentacles could be damaged if their food doesn’t stop struggling) that attacks the sodium channels and causes muscle paralysis.  It doesn’t necessarily kill you quickly.  It PARALYZES you quickly, so that you can’t really call for help or describe the problem, and you will probably end up slowly suffocating from a paralyzed diaphragm.  Tetrodotoxin can be metabolized by the body in a matter of hours, but it can also kill you in a matter of minutes if you get a lethal dose (which isn’t much, the 

LD50

 or median lethal dose, the dose at which you have a 50% chance of survival, is only 8 MICROGRAMS per kilogram of body weight (as tested in mice)).  This is, by venom standards, not a large amount, which means the animal that is capable of putting this venom inside your body is very very good at killing the absolute shit out of you.
DON’T TOUCH THE BLUE RINGED OCTOPUS.
Now, because overkill is my motto, let me briefly explain why Conus geographus is the undisputed champion of YOU WILL NOT SURVIVE, AND FURTHERMORE FUCK YOU FOR THINKING OTHERWISE.
A cone snail walks into a bar.  You’d expect the bartender to ask, “what’s your poison,” but they were paralyzed before they could ask and OH LOOK they’re already FUCKING DEAD ON THE GROUND.
Conus geographus is about 4-6 inches long and nature’s equivalent of Avada Kedavra.  Cone snails literally have their own KIND of toxins named after them: conotoxin.  Not only is there no antidote, but their venom AGGRESSIVELY RESISTS our ability to find a cure, because we barely understand how it works AND conotoxins are so internally varied, even within a single species, that any one antidote isn’t going to help because they’re constantly mutating and evolving their venom to prevent their prey from evolving a resistance to it.  Plus their venom is like, a bunch of different venoms all at once JUST IN CASE any one of them wasn’t good enough.
I want you to read these two sentences from the wiki page on conotoxin:
“Conotoxins have a variety of mechanisms of actions, most of which have not been determined.”


“The LD50 of conotoxin is 50 ng/kg.”
Remember how the 

LD50 of tetrodotoxin is 8μg/kg?  Conotoxin is 160 times more potent.  FIFTY NANOGRAMS PER KILOGRAM HAS A 50% CHANCE OF KILLING YOU. A 220-POUND HUMAN HAS A 50% CHANCE OF SURVIVAL AGAINST JUST 5 MICROGRAMS OF CONOTOXIN.  
I DID SOME MATH.  
IT WOULD TAKE 7-9 MILLIGRAMS OF CONOTOXIN TO KILL A BLUE WHALE, THE HEAVIEST ANIMAL TO EVER LIVE. (based on weight estimates from 300-400,000 lbs.)
Conus geographus is so fucking deadly that “In two cases of envenomation, only 0.0002-0.0005 mg resulted in severe paralysis.”
THIS THING KILLS STUFF SO HARD THAT BEFORE YOU HEAR THE FIRST “MORTAL KOMBAT” IN THE MORTAL KOMBAT THEME, THERE’S PROBABLY ALREADY BEEN A FATALITY.
And guess what?  Cone snails don’t do that NOOB SHIT with the superficial biting or stinging.  Your wetsuit or gloves won’t protect you.  Because homeboy didn’t bring teeth to evolution’s knife fight.  Oh no.  It brought a motherfucking radula POISON HARPOON.  It’s lightning fast and has way more piercing power than some silly little cnidocytes or salivary bacteria.
Another component of their venom is being researched for its potential as a pain reliever.  “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT????” you might reasonably ask.  And you would be right to do so, because science has gone too far and has surely sinned against the very image of Mollusca Kedavra.  Well, it turns out the answer is “Research shows that certain component proteins of the venom target specific human pain receptors and can be up to 10,000 times more potent than morphine without morphine’s addictive properties and side-effects.”  That’s right, the part of their venom that SPECIFICALLY DOESN’T HURT YOU is up to 10,000 times more potent than morphine.
Also, Conus geographus (along with one other cone snail species, C. tulipa) is the only known non-human animal to weaponize insulin.  In addition to the normal insulin that the snails produce for their own use, their bodies manufacture an ADDITIONAL insulin molecule that is similar to the kind produced in fish (which they eat) for the sole purpose of stunning their prey through hypoglycemic shock.  BECAUSE APPARENTLY THEY DON’T FEEL LIKE THEY’D KILL YOU HARD ENOUGH OTHERWISE.
IF you are going to survive the ALMIGHTY CONE SNAIL, WHO KNOWS NO FEAR, TRIUMPHANT HEDGEMON OF THE MOLECULAR ARMS RACE, TRUE BORN HEIR TO THE SCYTHE OF DEATH ITSELF, FISHSLAYER, GOD AMONG MOLLUSKS, WHOSE WRATH IS MERCIFUL ONLY IN ITS BREVITY, ADMIRABLE IN ITS BEAUTY AND UNSULLIED BY THE UNWORTHY TOUCH OF MORTAL HANDS OR SCALES OR REALLY ANYTHING IN RANGE OF ITS RADULA HARPOON, then literally the only thing that’s going to save you is for you to be kept alive artificially (externalizing your respiratory functions to force your body to continue breathing, basically) until the effects of the venom wear off.  And because of how quickly this venom acts, you need to get that medical attention VERY, VERY FAST.
And if you don’t get it, you will still be conscious while the paralysis slowly suffocates you to death.
Don’t touch the pretty shells.


I’ve never been so intrigued to learn how easily I could be fucking exterminated from existence by the overpowered sea creatures of the world. You’ve done a better job at keeping my attention then any of my teachers ever have.


You know what I’m putting this on the writing blog cause I personally can see potential in some fantasy villain attempting to weaponise cone snailsIn which case, all hail snail king 🐌 
                
            

            
            
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