#Mercy’s the type that just. doesn’t really charge for medical care if someone’s sick/injured

[bokatan]

SNAPDRAGON!!!! (sorry i love snapdragons i got really excited about it lmao)

[ botanical headcanons ]

snapdragon: is your muse merciful? why or why not?

This is where Mercy's name choice is a bit ironic- she can be very compassionate and merciful at times when she feels it's warranted, but on the other hand she can be downright nasty when she doesn't think it's deserved. This is mainly something that comes into play with faction conflicts & bounty hunting- she'll take matters into her own hands if she feels like there isn't going to be an appropriate punishment for what was done. For example- she’d likely “lose” a bounty placed on someone for killing their spouse if she found out that spouse was abusive(and she’d likely be missing supplies, caps, etc). On the other hand, she’d turn in a bounty very dead if it was for someone with some sort of wealth or authority if she learned that they were responsible for harming or killing children. She doesn’t trust the NCR or any other government/legal organizations to actually hold people accountable when they’ve committed heinous acts, & especially if they have some sort of power or authority or if they’d have the ability to pay their way out.

Reed's somewhere in the middle but leaning more towards merciful. He's fine with emotionally removing himself from situations and following out orders he disagrees with, but he's also not inherently cruel and doesn't actually want to harm others. He’s the type that’ll usually go out of his way to either try and help or kill a severely injured animal or person, and he’s pretty careful with his aim to make sure whatever he’s aiming for has a very quick death rather than just injuring them.

[falconedreams]

SG’ean Les Amis

Ahh!!! I had a horrible dream last night!! Why is it that when the long-form cinematic dreams return, they have to include me either getting injured or dying in awful ways?!

In this dream I started a Les Amis type society, to - I don’t actually know what we were doing would be called, really. It wasn’t so much trying to overthrow the government by force, we were trying to - just sort of get the populace stirred up out of apathy, raise awareness about all of the, uh, areas for improvement, and get the population organised enough to do things like unionise, demand accountability, and vote strategically at the next elections. It’s not like I want to start a war either, you know!

But the government basically treated us like we were (trying to start a war, that is), and soon enough we became outlaws, hiding out in the forests and abandoned warehouses, scavenging bins for food, because anyone found to be sheltering us was liable to be prosecuted as well. Some of the members dropped out and went back to their regular lives; I don’t blame them, it’s a crappy life. Eventually it was just me and the high school squad that was left. And then one night we got ambushed in our hideout, and were arrested and sent to trial.

RK, my law classmate, was our lawyer. She told us our best chance was to act repentant, cite our youth and inexperience, and stress how misguided we were, but how we knew better now, etc etc. She told me that she was somewhat less optimistic about my chances than everyone else’s, because I was the leader, and the government wanted a scapegoat, someone to make an example of; but if I acted well, maybe she could get them to spare my life. So that was the plan. Go in there, act contrite and sorry, hope for mercy.

That worked for the rest of my friends. They went to trial before me, because I was the leader, and my trial was to be the showiest, and therefore the last, so I got to watch everyone else’s. They all got off with a few months/years of jail. But when it was my turn, the way the judges started questioning me, I knew. “Isn’t it true that you’ve been arrested before? Isn’t it true that you’ve been hospitalised for mental illness?” I was an unruly tiger that they wanted tranquilised, if not put down. There’s something messed up about looking into the eyes of people whom you know want you dead, and you have no recourse, because they are the law, so who else would you turn to?! I saw the merciless look in the judges’ eyes and I knew I wasn’t leaving alive, and I’d rather go down fighting, than begging and having all my cries for pity thrown back in my face. 

I threw all of RK’s legal strategy and advice out of the window. xD I pleaded not guilty, saying that it couldn’t be sedition and slander if it was the truth, and repeated all of the charges and evidence I’d laid at the government’s door, that they cared not for the citizens as a whole but only certain “desirable” demographics, and all of the policies that showed that - the retention of 377a, the restrictions against single parents applying for HDBs, the increase in the regressive GST tax instead of corporate and income tax, etc etc. Well, there was a great furore. I could hear my friends screaming against the roar of the audience, something about why was I being an idiot and dooming myself, what happened to the strategy we agreed to. RK was facepalming at her uncooperative client. The audience were just enjoying the show. And the judges just looked....something in between “yeah, I expected nothing better from you”, and “great, thanks for handing us everything we need for a conviction”. Myself - there was no victory in it, no satisfaction. I just felt tired. And sad. And scared. Because sure, going down fighting is better than going down cowering, but that doesn’t mean I’m not scared of dying!! And also, I hadn’t been given my phone - or any phone - throughout the entire process from arrest to trial to impending execution, and I was so afraid that my overseas friends would never find out what happened to me. Like the ones in Singapore, they’d see my arrest and trial and execution in the papers; but the ones overseas, I was afraid they’d never find out. And my poor D&D bard would be left without a player, and they’d just wait, and wait....forever, for a reply that was never going to come.

They didn’t bother scheduling an execution date and giving me the chance to file an appeal. Once they handed down the verdict and sentence, I was immediately dragged into the firing range. Execution by shooting squad isn’t a thing IRL in SG, but I expect my brain just decided to go with that since I’d been reading earlier IRL about the government spending big bucks on upgrading the police force’s guns. There were a few awful, awful seconds of silence, in between me being shackled in place and them loading their guns and taking their positions, when my heart hurt so bad from fear and sick dread and I thought I was going to cry; but fortunately before I could lose control and give them the satisfaction, the order rang out: “Fire!” and the hail of bullets descended. Unlike the last time I dreamt of dying via firing squad, there was some pain; but luckily, not much - just like getting punched hard a few times. I blacked out before it could hurt too much.

...I guess this entire dream is my brain’s way of trying to process the emotions and trauma associated with the overdose and the subsequent....unsympathetic medical professionals over the past couple weeks. The terror of impending death, and the sorrow of not being able to contact friends to tell them goodbye. The wretchedness of everyone being angry with you, hating you, wanting to shelve you away somewhere where you can never cause disruption or inconvenience ever again. Being looked at like a nuisance, a pest to be eradicated, instead of a person. Dying alone without anyone who cares for you nearby. /shudders/ Ahh, it hurts, and I don’t want to revisit it, brain! I thought I already addressed it sufficiently in my regular diary! I don’t need dreams like this too!

I told CJ about this dream, and they said something actually pretty hilarious, which helped take the sting out quite a bit, so that helps. “I'm being arrested and tried for instigating rebellion...I hope my friends don't think I'm ghosting them - because soon enough I will be.” xDD

[dallasareaopinion]

Next up:     Logic?

Greetings everyone,  (see end of post for action requested and trying to stay productive)

 I cannot believe I have not thought of this before, yet then again it is me and thinking about stuff way too late is pretty standard.

 Last week I saw an article where President Trump (excuse me I must throw up while I type these words) met with the CEOs of leading healthcare companies. So, I got to thinking.

 I have never read nor heard anyone in Congress spending time with people who are consumers of health care to talk about the Affordable Care Act or any replacements. There has been much discussion from some corners about repealing the ACA, however, in all the original machinations of the bill and subsequent conversations about replacing or coming up with something better I have not heard any serious engagement with us.

 Maybe there were some focus groups and I am sure some demographic studies were done, yet and I may be wrong, has anyone heard about Congress or the Executive branch of either the current or previous administration sitting down with large swaths of the American people and discuss what the word AFFORDABLE health care really means?  Or even what health care means? We, the people and consumers, are most affected by this legislation and yet; what say we.

 I just think it is a wonderful idea for Congress to spend large amount of time talking to people who must pay insurance premiums, co-pays, deductibles, lab work, prescriptions, over the counter medication, hospital bills, and the whole host of products we pay to take care of ourselves. Does the leadership in our country understand we are at the mercy of the health care providers and them?  A person can get the impression they like it that way. Not me, though.

 And what about insurance companies, you would think they might be hyper vigilant to monitor costs of health care to help us (their customers) reduce our and their expenses. A person might think this would be a primary function of their business model. And yet…..Healthcare costs AND healthcare premiums continue to rise at significant rates above inflation. Why? We pay more and get less coverage year after year.

 Remember back in the 1930’s two significant pieces of legislation were passed to protect mutual fund customers. The Mutual Fund companies were charged with a fiduciary duty to protect their customers. Maybe our Congress can pass a bill similar for insurance companies to be held accountable to their customers,,,,, oh wait,,,, I forgot Wall Street just lobbied away consumer protection for customers of Financial Representatives saying they needed to act in the best interest of their customer. My God that just sounds wrong doesn’t it, yet lo and behold…… we have a new sheriff in town and he loves Wall Street no matter what he says.

 Oh well, back to healthcare, which is back to square one for the American Consumer because Congress, Our President, Insurance companies, AMA, Pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and all the companies who make a profit off health care could give a rat’s back end about the one person that matters the most: US

 So, the next time someone talks about the ACA, Obamacare, repealing it, or replacing it, ask yourself one question. Why am I not beating the door down in Washington D. C. to get better representation?

 Think about it, you know better than anyone how much this is eating up your budget, your future, your family, your life. What controls do you have? Now some will say it is our responsibility to take control since this is our life. I agree which leads me back to why aren’t we more active in lobbying Congress ourselves for something better that puts us first.  Yes, I and maybe you could spend hours of our day researching every decision we make, yet how many times are we faced with deciding in the heat of the moment when you or your family member is sick, in pain, injured, or being told catastrophic health news. Yes these are the exact moments when we have to make these decisions, not on a cloudy Saturday afternoon when we are running errands, cleaning the house, yardwork, chasing the kids around, running from one event to the next kid’s birthday party, trying to cook or run into a fast food restaurant to feed everyone, yeah, I can squeeze in a few hours for a few weeks to maybe figure out which lab companies are in my insurance network because if I don’t my lab bill is hundreds more.  

 Yes, it is my responsibility to take care of myself, but it is not Congress’ responsibility to take care of big business especially when there is a conflict between our interests and theirs. It is Congress responsibility to write legislation that balances the needs of the whole country and represent us the people.

 The Affordable Care Act was mislabeled from the start and never should have been passed in the first place, yet no one in Congress has come up with anything better and all the while listening to the medical industry’s lobby groups on what should be done.  I am glad the current replacement is in a secret room and hopefully it stays there.  

 I hope that somehow some way Congress really decides to talk to us, to sit down with many of us and really go through our medical bills one by one for a whole year or more, looking at what we are being charged for the bill, what is being charged, do they think we need this much care, our deductibles, what our insurance companies are doing for us since we pay them for their services, see what happens to our families when someone is diagnosed with Cancer or dementia, how much is long term care insurance, and sit with us when we make decisions for something there is no control. Yeah, tell a loved one, this is just life and there is nothing we can do. Come on Congress come sit and talk to us, not in a focus group, but when we are struggling to pay bills and buy glasses so we can see or come up with another $1000 to pay for dental work or sit with us while our child is in so much agony you can’t think straight. Yep sit with us then and then go back and write health care laws.

 So here are the links to write your Representative or Senator:

http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

 www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

 Of course, when you click on their link they want you to sign up for their newsletter, yet you have to do a couple of clicks to find how to contact them. So, check out their webpage if so inclined and write them an email or send them a real letter and let them know how you feel. If unsure what to say, please see the paragraph below to give you an idea or tweak it a bit for your benefit. And the link below is some resource information for writing your own letter or email. Cheers all

http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/letterscongress.htm

 “The best letters are courteous, to the point, and include specific supporting examples”

 Example:

 Your name and address (especially if you want a response)

Insert your salutation and Congressperson’s name

 I am writing you to express my concern over healthcare legislation. My understanding is you are working on either replacing or repealing the Affordable Care Act. This action will affect many of your constituents including myself. I hope you consider my concerns.

 Healthcare is continually consuming more of my time, energy, budget, and unfortunately negatively affects my overall health. It is hard as a consumer to navigate the amount of material to make informed healthcare decisions. Too often I find myself having to make healthcare decisions at inopportune times such as in the emergency room or when I am in pain or with a very sick child. Unfortunately, I find myself at the mercy of the situation and then come home to face medical bills I am not prepared to pay or eat up much of my savings instantly. And I have noticed the costs to me are increasing year over year while my insurance premiums continue to increase and provide me less benefits.

 I look to you to represent me and your other constituents in these matters. Too often I hear that the medical profession is heavily involved in the discussions and I hear very little what is being done to include the most important part of healthcare and that is people like myself, the consumers and patients, of healthcare.  At this point I see no bill that best represents my interest so until you see legislation that makes the consumer come first I urge you not to vote for any new proposals. I also urge you when you are in our district that you seek out many consumers and have deep discussions with the people you represent so you have a better understanding of what we need.

 Sincerely,

(and of course, your signature here)

 And in the last sentence, change district to state when writing your senator. Also, please share this with your family, friends, coworkers etc so they either create their own letter or send a version of this one so we can make a difference in this very important part of our lives.

And people say lead by example, I can say to you, I wrote my representative and both state senators

 Cheers all and have a great evening