#and god for fucking bid i ever lose my insurance

[chucklechampion]

evening dedicated to The Horrors

[dominic-cruz]

paging dr. pearce-cruz.

TAGGING: @dominic-cruz & @ajpearce

LOCATION: The Hospital.

TIME FRAME: Late July 16th into July 17th. 

NOTES: After Dominic gets mugged, he finds out that he and AJ are still married. 

TRIGGERS: Mentions of: stabbing, blood loss, surgery, etc. Nothing’s descriptive, but there are slight mentions. 

AJ PEARCE 

It was a boring day at the hospital for AJ. She was just lamenting about how she hated doing charts when her Emergency attending comes walking by. Since it was such a slow day in cardio, Emerg asked for her services and so suddenly a boring day turned into yet another hellish day on Earth. She was so glad to be done with Emerge, but now here she is. Trying to fix people up without throttling them. Things were relatively normal until a new call came in, a stab victim, multiple wounds, apparently lost a lot of blood. Well, if she had any plans of going over to Ben's she's going to have to delay them by god knows how long.

DOMINIC CRUZ 

It had been a long day at work and Dominic was ready to go home and sleep until noon, preferably, but he'd stayed at the restaurant longer than he needed to just to help clean up. It was just who he was; he hated leaving extra work for others when he could easily help out. When they were done, he bid them a good night and made his way to his car. Perhaps he would've seen the two men had he not been so tired, but one thing led to the next and suddenly he was on the ground, losing blood along with his wallet. When they were gone, even though he was bleeding, he unlocked his car and pressed the emergency button on his dashboard. Someone would get there eventually, right? Things like this didn't happen in Sander's, and as he sat there against his car, making sure to nurse his wound in a way he'd learned from AJ, he couldn't help but think of her. He was always gonna think of her.

AJ PEARCE 

As the ambulance rolled in, AJ stood out by the bay waiting with her interns and her fellow residents. This was about as exciting as it gets in this town. Rarely anybody gets stabbed, compared to the gruesome things she got to see back in Columbia, this was easy peasy. When the ambulance finally stopped and the paramedics (she noted one of the brunette that kept flirting with her was on duty, Andrea, she thinks that's her name) rolled the gurney out and she rushed forward. As Andrea started on the info spill, she finally took a good look at the person lying on the gurney. 

Well shit. This cannot be happening. Of all the people in this shit hole that gets stabbed, it had to be Dominic. Pushing away the immediate wave of panic and worry and annoyance, she helped pushed the gurney into the ER bay and quickly secured first aid and asked a nurse to book an OR. When the attending came around and asked her to scrub in, for the first time in history, she had to say no. Of fucking course, Dominic had to ruin her chance of scrubbing into a surgery. "I can't. I can't operate on him." When her attending frowned and gave her a slight annoyed look, she sighed and bit out. "He's my husband." Nodding in understanding, her attending named another resident and off they went. AJ looked down at her bloodied hands and just stared. How did this day get so fucked up?

DOMINIC CRUZ 

Dominic didn't remember much as he slowly woke up, groaning as he tried to sit up and immediately realizing he wasn't in his own bed and that he was, in fact, in a hospital bed. He closed his eyes, trying to think back on what happened the night before. He'd been at work, yes, and then he'd helped out after closing... right? Or had that been another day? Whatever had happened to him couldn't have happened at work, though. He was in pain, his abdomen was killing him, and even though he'd had some small accidents at work, he'd never ended up at the hospital. The last time he was at the hospital, he'd... Fuck. In a fresh rush of panic, he looked down at his leg, which seemed... perfectly fine. Or as fine as it would ever be. 

And then he saw a figure next to him. There was no way he wouldn't know who that was. Or perhaps he was just seeing things he wanted to see, especially since he knew she worked there. It was just the pain meds or whatever they'd injected him with that was playing mind tricks. It wasn't her. Hell, AJ probably didn't even know or care if he was in the hospital. It wasn't her. It couldn't be her. It was just a trick. She didn't care about him. 

"What happened?" Dominic asked, his voice foreign to his own ears as he spoke to the nurse who'd just walked in. "How'd I get here?"

AJ PEARCE 

After Dominic was sent into surgery, AJ left to go fill out paperworks for him. She didn't know if he had insurance, but given how he's legally still her husband, hers should cover him. If not, she'll just get him to pay her back when he's awake. She kept herself busy while Dominic is in the OR, she ran between gurneys and finished so much paper work that if she wasn't so stupidly worried, she would've been impressed with herself. When Dominic finally got out of surgery and was moved to a room, she stayed even though her shift was over and she was supposed to be meeting Ben like four hours ago. Fuck, remembering that she was supposed to meet Ben, she quickly fired off a few texts to him and Marissa, claiming that there's an emergency at the hospital and she won't be home. 

Watching Dominic sleep was weird. It's been so long since she's done it, but the more she looks at him, the more he looks like the same man she fell in love with all those years ago. Maybe he didn't really change all that much. Knowing he won't be waking up anytime soon, she brought some charts into the room and settled in the uncomfortable chair next to Dominic's bed. 

Unbeknownst to her, AJ had fallen asleep on the side of the bed sometime last night. When Dominic woke up, he woke up to the sight of AJ slumped over the edge of the bed, resting her head on her folded arms and an older nurse coming in to change his dressing. "Well, good morning to you, mister Cruz." The nurse said with a warm smile. "How are you feeling?"

DOMINIC CRUZ 

"Like shit." Dominic answered the nurse and though he tried to smile, all he managed was a grimace and a weak groan. He placed his right hand on his abdomen, still unsure as to what had happened and how he'd ended up in the hospital. Dominic looked over at the sleeping figure next to him. She looked uncomfortable, slumped over and... he shook his head, glancing over at the nurse. He wanted to ask if he was just imagining things, but he figured he'd sound like a dumbass if he did. "Last time I felt like this I'd been tackled by 300 pound men. Feels different, though. Feels worse. And I'm high as fuck or else I wouldn't be seeing who I think I'm seeing sleeping over there." 

The nurse smiled at him, it seemed genuine to Dominic, so he figured he wasn't seeing things and she was actually there. "Your wife hasn't left your side since you came in." 

"Ex wife." He corrected her, though the nurse shook her head, still smiling at him. Not only was he seeing things, he was hearing things now too. The drugs they'd given him here were apparently stronger than the ones they gave him in DC. "Excuse me? She's my what now?"

AJ PEARCE 

"Dr. Pearce is your wife, no? She's been sitting there since you got out of surgery." The nurse tilted her head in confusion. Out of all the residents, the one with the least amount gossip was AJ Pearce, nobody knew much about her other than that she was from New York. "If you two were divorced, she didn't mention it at all. If anything, she was very insistent on not assisting on your surgery due to the fact that you two were married." The older nurse said as she went about freshening up Dominic. "And I'm very sure you're not high since you're feeling the pain." She chuckled. 

The sound of the nurse's chuckle was what woke AJ up. Snapping up from her slumped position, she looked around in alert. Her eyes snapped right to Dominic to make sure he wasn't dying, and when she saw him staring at her, she narrowed her eyes at him. "What? How much pain are you in right now? 1 to 10, 10 being completely incapable of moving."

DOMINIC CRUZ 

"I mean, she..." Dominic stopped before he even started saying anything, the nurse's words becoming too much as he furrowed his brows. She signed the papers, right? This was just some ploy so she wouldn't assist on the surgery because... she... but it didn't make any sense. She didn't care, so there wouldn't be conflict of interest if she helped out during his surgery. He'd be just another patient. "We..." he started talking again, but his mind was playing tricks on him or something. "I... don't know if she ever signed the papers." Dominic slowly realized, since he'd told his lawyer he didn't want to know anything about the divorce anymore; he'd told his lawyer to take care of everything. He figured since his lawyer hadn't said anything, everything had gone smoothly. Maybe his lawyer hadn't said anything because the divorce had never become official. "We're still married?"

When AJ spoke, all he could do was look at her. He ignored her question, although his pain was probably an 8 at the moment, coughing a few times as the words got caught in his throat. "Are we still married?"

AJ PEARCE 

AJ had no idea what Dominic and the nurse was talking about before she woke up, but judging from Dominic's question and the swift departure of that nosy nurse, it had to do with her marital status. She's kept this secret for so long, well, she's forgotten about being married for a good few years. She was perfectly fine with Dominic thinking they were already divorced, it made life simpler. She was free to do whatever she wanted without worrying about Dominic's feelings -- not that she worries, because she clearly doesn't. 

Staring wordlessly at Dominic, AJ took a deep breath after a few minutes before looking away. "....Yes, we are. Legally anyways."

DOMINIC CRUZ 

This was too much. Not only was he in excruciating pain and still confused as to how he ended up in the hospital, but he was being told that he and AJ were still married. They were still husband and wife. "We're still... we're still married?" It wasn't a bad thing, not at all, it was just surprising. She'd been adamant about the fact that they were nothing to each other, so he figured it was because they were nothing. That wasn't the case, though. In the eyes of God and the law, they were still married. "Holy shit..." Dominic let out a deep breath, sitting back down against the pillow and closing his eyes as he tried to calm down. He was in pain, sure, but this was too much to handle right now. "We're still married." Dominic repeated, jaw clenching, angry that he didn't know until now but simultaneously relieved that they were. "Hold on. Can we talk about it when I'm not... here. Why am I here?" He paused, eyes closed though a smile pulled at his lips. "You were worried about me."

AJ PEARCE 

AJ cleared her throat and ignored the giant elephant in the room. "You were attacked last night, the police will here to get your statement later. Do you remember anything at all?" She stood up from her seated position next to the bed and walked over the end of the bed. "You were stabbed, idiot. I think anyone would worry about their ex-husband if they were stabbed." Frowning at his idiocy, of course he would be cracking jokes when the timing is wrong. He's one of the dumbest people she happens to know after all.

DOMINIC CRUZ 

Dominic furrowed his brows, trying to think of what had happened last night, but everything seemed like a blur. "Not really. Guess I was attacked after work or something. I don't remember anything after I got outta work." And it was true. Though he wanted to know how he'd ended up in the hospital - stabbed, apparently - he couldn't, for the life of him, remember a damn thing. "Husband." Dominic corrected her, similarly to how he'd corrected the nurse earlier. "You were worried about me." he repeated, the smile growing. Dominic turned to look at her, "thank you. Means a lot that you stayed. So... thank you."

AJ PEARCE 

AJ felt like a blush creeping onto her cheeks but she bit down hard on her teeth. So maybe she did worry about Dominic and stayed up all night making sure he was still breathing but that doesn't mean anything. It doesn't. "You should let your friends know that you're in the hospital. I should get back to work anyways." She said in a rush.

DOMINIC CRUZ

"Why don't you stay a little bit?" Dominic said quietly, a soft suggestion that showed where his head was at and how he hoped she would stay. They didn't need to talk, they didn't need to do anything, but having her there would help him feel better after everything. "If the cops are gonna come, you should stay." He was so transparent, anything but subtle. "If they question me a little too much, you could tell them to fuck off or somethin'. No one's gonna fuck with you. We both know that." He paused for a second, thinking back on the conversation they'd had a couple of days ago while he was drunk. That seemed like so long ago, given the circumstances. "Stay."

AJ PEARCE 

AJ really really shouldn't stay. She's got no reason to stay. He's awake now and there are other medical staff who can take care of him just as well. He doesn't need her there -- not really anyways. But to hear him say 'stay' tugged at her heart string. It would be poetic justice if she walked out right now considering how he didn't stay for her. But she couldn't bring herself to really leave him, not when he's looking all pale and broken on the bed. "...Fine." She said reluctantly, slowly walking over back to the chair where she spent the night on. "You'll be fine, you know that right? It's just a flesh wound, you might get a cool scar later to show off but that's about it. You're fine."

DOMINIC CRUZ 

Although he could tell she was fighting some internal battle over this, AJ reluctantly agreed to stay. Dominic immediately smiled at her as she walked back to the chair where she'd stayed the night, making himself comfortable even though the pain in his abdomen made the simple task increasingly difficult. "It's all about the battle scars, right?" Slowly, he reached for her hand, expecting for her to pull away but when she didn't, he smiled to himself. He'd take it. It was a small victory, and he was sure she was staying mostly out of pity and not because she actually cared all that much, but he'd take it.

AJ PEARCE 

She had forgotten how often she would feel the need to roll her eyes around Dominic. Maybe he really didn't change all that much. AJ closed her eyes and tried very hard not to smile, because god, this ridiculous man is still so cute. "Some chicks dig it, some just thinks it's a shoddy job on the doctor's side, so guess you can take your chances." She said, letting her lips curl up into a smile. Looking down at their joint hands, her first instinct was to hold tight instead of pulling away, if Marissa learned about this, she would kill her. "Rest, you'll be doing it for the next week or so, so you might as well learn how to do it now." She said softly while looking into Dominic's eyes. "I'll be here."

DOMINIC CRUZ

Dominic allowed himself to look at her and smile to himself as he noticed every time she tried not to smile. He'd memorized her features long ago, all the tell tale signs of happiness or sadness, but especially the signs of when she thought he was somewhat amusing but didn't want to let him know. This was one of those times. He didn't say anything though, but he refused to look anywhere else but at her. Nothing mattered to him except for this. Though he had other things to worry about, like the fact that he'd been attacked last night, everything took a backseat to the fact that he and AJ were still married. "Thank you" he repeated again, though he wasn't sure what he was thanking her for anymore - for staying? For not signing the divorce papers? Whatever it was, all he could say was thank you.

[pelikinesis]

just rewatched Trigun for the first time in probably 10 years or so?

Trigun is often extremely compelling, except when its writing becomes very bad, and by bad I mean dissatisfying in terms of internal logic.

production-wise, i get the sense that they blew the majority of the animation budget on the first two or so episodes, because they’re absolutely gorgeous, but in many of the later episodes they take a lot of shortcuts to the point where some scenes are basically slideshows.

writing-wise, there’s a number of really key moments that are intended to be emotional, but they’re so intent on discussing THEMES and making ON-BRAND CALLBACKS that characters start spouting dialogue in moments that are absolutely unfitting for the situations that were set-up, and a lot of the social issues in the later episodes is due to the fact that absolutely none of the main characters ever explain to anyone else, “Okay so there’s this guy named Knives, and he’s totally the reason why bad things happen around Vash”

and i’m not saying everything would be resolved because they’d be automatically believed, but everything Meryl and Vash say in lieu of that rightfully serve only to infuriate all the scared, misguided people precisely because they’re desperately asking for an explanation and instead they’re told some sanctimonious bullshit about how killing is bad, or so it sounds because it has not been explained to them that Vash is not who they think he is.

in hindsight, i mostly stuck around with this rewatch because of how good the first two episodes were, and the richness of the premise they promised. the idea of a pacifistic but extremely skilled gunman with a legendary reputation who is actually a dork IS interesting, especially when combined with the supporting cast. 

If someone pitched to me an RPG campaign idea set in some sci-fi wild west world where we’d be playing as insurance claims agents sent to make contact with an outlaw so fearsome he’s on the verge of being classified as a natural disaster or act of God, i’d tell them to sign me the fuck up. out of all the backgrounds for a supporting cast in this type of setting, that’s a very fresh one.

the way that all the drama in Vash’s backstory which took place aboard giant spaceships intended to colonize other planets effectively turns his past into that planet’s own Creation story in a way, and how this somewhat subtly casts himself and Knives as angels or demigods is actually way cooler to me now than i ever registered the first time I watched Trigun.

but i just don’t find that the whole Vash-Jesus-Job analogue exactly resonates. There’s no tension because Knives and the Gung-ho Guns are effectively all-powerful, and if they’d been even slightly more competent they’d have succeeded in their goals. But it’s also left completely unexplained why the most loyal of the Gung-ho Guns are loyal to the point of death to Knives, and at this point I’m actually just talking about Legato because the rest of them barely exist. but Legato, wow, what a hot mess of a plot device masquerading as a character. 

early on a question is raised: does Vash manage to get out of life-or-death scrapes with zero fatalities (though lots of property damage) due to dumb luck, or because he’s just that good? But the thing is, it’s never truly answered. Legato, in particular, is central to the least satisfying parts of the story. His powers are the most overtly supernatural and staggering in scope. It’s never explained why he has so little regard not only for the lives of other humans, but for his own life, allowing himself to be a total pawn to Knives despite probably being the most powerful character in the setting. Legato’s arc could have been used to help definitively answer the prior question, but it’s resolved in a different way that i’d call a swerve, but ultimately not a good swerve.

there are certain things i don’t mind not being explained, so long as the lack of information doesn’t turn into plot holes. So for example, i don’t really need to know what the Plants are. They’re humanoid and seemingly-sentient, and somehow provide all the resources humans need to survive on a desert planet. That’s fine. Not knowing how they work is fine. That mystery does not distract from the narrative’s comprehensibility.

But the show is very blatantly one wherein the fate of all humanity always falls on Vash’s shoulders, which is a bit too egoistic a story for my tastes--yet this wouldn’t be a problem if it were done well. i don’t think it is, though, not in its totality anyways.

Legato isn’t the only problem, he just happens to be the biggest problem. Legato isn’t so much a character as he is a plot device, a deus ex machina--not one that *resolves* the problems caused by the plot, but rather *creates* the problem that the plot requires so that the story arrives at the resolution the author wants.

Legato was the *facade* of an interesting character--an immensely powerful psychic with no regard for human life who also enjoyed eating sweets in his spare time. He can mind control hundreds if not thousands of people at once. Cool. Why can he do that, and what does he want? The answers to those two questions respectively are, (1) because shut up, that’s why, and (2) because he wants everything Knives wants because of reasons.

and that second part is infuriating, because in failing to address this, the writers miss an opportunity for exposition that would enrich not only Legato but also Knives as characters, at the same time. *how* did Knives convince Legato and also the saxophone guy to do his bidding loyally until death? Why is it that Legato is absolutely devoted to Knives, whereas Saxophone Guy shows some bitterness as they meet their ends to fulfill Knives’ plan? How has Knives secured their loyalty despite hating humans so much? See, those would have made for interesting moments, if they weren’t absolutely shunted off to the side in favor of varied scenes of Vash coughing up blood as he spouts his beliefs in a way that’s usually out-of-context for his audience.

Now, in other fighting superpower anime, i would normally expect a character such as Legato to be defeated once the protagonist figures out a weakness or limitation in his psychic powers and adopts a strategy to target that vulnerability. In a good fighting superpower anime, i might expect that a powerful psychic might have some vulnerability based on a psychological issue or two. that’s intuitive, and would not only be satisfying for the protagonist’s development to figure all that out, it would simultaneously provide an opportunity for deeper characterization of said psychic villain.

the swerve that instead Vash wins by losing, that is, by finally being forced into a situation where he has to (temporarily) violate his own moral code and shooting Legato dead was somewhat dramatic but only because of the buildup. Actually, one thing I unreservedly applaud Trigun about is the restraint they demonstrated in having Vash not even fire a gun for like the first five or six episodes which, in a 26~ episode show is quite an investment. It also spent even more time building  up like 24-25 episodes of Vash not killing anyone, and then suddenly he did. But that’s the only reason it was remotely dramatic. Legato was an enigma and and obstacle but ended up being an empty contrivance, which was disappointing.

in many early episodes, it was very clearly laid out what the villain and guest protagonists’ motives were and why they had them. the writer(s) clearly knew how to do that even within the span of a single mostly self-contained episode. and that makes the bundles of unanswered questions that Legato’s role in the story and also his existence altogether raise that much more grating on my suspension of disbelief.

As soon as Legato’s whole dilemma was resolved, i couldn’t really engage with the story anymore, save to watch the last few episodes for the sake of doing so, and also out of curiosity for where the writers were going with everything. but i was no longer invested in the characters, because at some point they started saying and doing things in a manner meant to tie a bow on the themes the writers had been harping on the whole series, but not in a way that demonstrated any internal consistency or believability as far as the characters themselves.

Vash and Meryl never tell anyone who Knives is because the writers need Vash to forever be a falsely-accused and persecuted Christ analogue. it’s so freaking transparent, and that’s one of a number of similarly unsatisfying elements to Trigun, and it’s a darned shame. because so much of the show is interesting and promising, but it doesn’t really have the follow-through. idk maybe the manga explains everything.

Finally, there’s no good reason why Knives didn’t just kill Meryl and Milly after Legato died. I’m not saying this because I wanted their characters dead or anything. I’m saying it because if Knives’ whole motivation is to hurt Vash, and if Knives thinks of humans like cockroaches, then why wouldn’t he kill Meryl and Milly not long after Vash breaks his own code against killing just to save them? Why not drive that final nail in the coffin just to spite Vash? 

All we know about Knives is that he’s Vash, but evil, he wants to wipe out humanity because he thinks they are inferior to them, and he wants to break Vash emotionally. Everything he does is motivated by spite towards Vash, and misanthropy, so killing Meryl and Milly while Vash is sulking over the abstract notion of taking a human life due to killing Legato would be the final insult to injury and would be 100% consistent with everything we know about Knives.

And this is why I couldn’t stay engaged with Trigun. Vash only adheres to his beliefs because the villains don’t do everything that’s within their power to break him. I’m not saying I wanted a grimdark downer ending. I’m saying that the only reason Trigun doesn’t have one is because the writers wanted a good ending, which clashed with everything they set up. Vash’s reaffirmation of his beliefs simply isn’t earned, not in my book, because the only reason they remain intact is because of either laziness or neglect on the part of Knives or the writers. 

[autismgavemychildvaccines]

A quick peek inside Satan’s quivering anus.

Also known as the company running ICE detention centers. So, all of us already know that these places are concentration camps. Most of us also know that these are incredibly inhumane places that show the true character of what we have allowed ourselves to become. And some of us have even heard that it’s costing $775 per day, per inmate to house these detained individuals. $775. That’s a lot. In fact, that means if 2 families of 2 parents and 3 kids are detained for a year (360 days actually), we as taxpayers are paying more for these people to be locked up in bullshit conditions than we are allotting funds to prevent public health emergencies in the average ENTIRE FUCKING STATE (California and New York excluded in this, because they are special cupcakes with super high populations and extra threat sprinkles on top).  Now, the humanitarian side of me has had my grits boiling since this shit started going down, but if there are any libertarians or fiscal conservatives reading, that bottom line, if nothing else, should piss you the fuck off too. Not just for the theoretical bit of it, but for the fact that the average detention stay per immigrant in 2019 has been 91 days, and nearly half of immigrants detained stay in detainment from 2 to 4 years. Sources sort of vary at how many are detained at CHS facilities (I’ll get to them in a moment, but for now know they are the reason for the $775 figure), but the ballpark spans from 20,000 to roughly 52,000 people. So let’s do some quick math here and do a best/worst/average. Say that figures have been inflated (that happens) and there’s only 9,000 people incarcerated at CHS facilities. Average length of stay has been 91 days this year, so we have a nice, simple... Carry the one... Holy fucking shitballs. 819,000 person-days. That’s $634,725,000.  That is $14 Million dollars more than the CDC spends during a full FUCKING YEAR in ensuring that EVERY health department can protect the WHOLE GODDAMN POPULATION with medical countermeasures to a terror event or pandemic outbreak. FOR 9,000 FUCKING PEOPLE. FUCK THE OTHER EXAMPLES, THAT’S THE BEST CASE, FUCK.  I’m just going to step away for a moment..   Okay.. Deep breaths. Back on track. Right. Ahem. So. Everyone else finish changing their pants after shitting bricks over the fact we’re spending national level budgets on a population smaller than  Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, Montana (I swear on any God you believe in, that’s a real name) ? Good.

I mentioned CHS earlier. Amazingly, it doesn’t stand for Child Herder Services, or Cold Heartless Sinners, or Cheeto Humping Slimeballs, though they’d all be more fitting. They are a private company, called, and get your asscheeks ready for this one: Comprehensive Health Services. 

COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH SERVICES  ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?

So this  company. Thiiiiis fucking company, owned by Caliburn International has the FUCKING BALLS to put health in their name despite keeping populations in cages with no water outside of the toilet, with no hygiene supplies, and the absolute minimum in terms of keeping people alive (with the most common issue being, you fucking guessed it, HEALTH complications) is charging us to detain people that most of us don’t even want detained, $775 a day. We’ve seen good chunks of these facilities, and they look fucking awful. Understaffed, overcrowded, minimal resources, and the treatment of (some) workers and (all) detainees as livestock. Does that sound, I don’t know, AT.  ALL. FUCKING. FAMILIAR?  So where is our money going? Our over half a billion dollars, of which even the tiniest scrap could give these people at least decent fucking detention areas (not that I believe they should be there as Asylum seekers anyways, mind you)? Let’s actually make this a game. Is it:  A) Corporate Interests with a heavy Lobbying Presence B) Some group of mostly anonymous investors that would likely feast on a newly starved child’s cheeks as they are “delectable and tender” if cooked properly   C) Some Trump Lackeys that got the contract  D) A company that also sells health insurance services Okay, 10 seconds on the clock.  And time! Okay, so how many picked A? Nice, nice. B? Okay.. Keep in mind I don’t know if they actually eat babies but they may just as well. It’d at least make them less human and thus easier to identify as an enemy. C? Aaah, that’s the high number I was expecting and that means D comes in with a small but decent following. WELL CONGRATS, YOU’RE ALL WINNERS! Here’s how:  A) CHS is part of Caliburn, which also owns DC Capital Partners, one of the bigger and well established lobbying firms in the country. And as any lobbying group does, they ensure that politicians bend to their will, increase their dividends, and weed out competition where they can to avoid a power struggle. Ever wonder why the NRA can never be competed with by a gun owners organization that doesn’t simultaneously deep throat their glocks while twisting their heads into their own asses?  B) Frankly, a lot of these funds are going straight to the private market and boy oh boy, does cruelty mean big business gains and a sturdy portfolio. That being said, you cannot separate the act of investing from the actions of the company you are investing in. If they do something fucked, you are essentially an enabler and an accessory to that action. Well, this isn’t ENTIRELY true. As it happens, some months ago they closed off an IPO of CHS specifically (an odd thing to do for a growing company) and cited “market forces” as the reason. How very suspicious.  C) Does this surprise anyone? So, while the actual list of investors is made private, there are an executive board of orange cocksuckers d’jour that have made this their golden parachute, or in the case of one asshole, was a lobbyist for DCCP, then in the Trump Cabinet, then went over to CHS. Here’s a quick list:  Former Chief of Staff John Kelly (aforementioned lobbyist)  Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage Former Ambassador Michael Corbin Former Commander-in-Chief of CENTCOM, Anthony Zinni Former Director of Science and Tech for CIA, Donald Kerr Former Head of CIA Michael Hayden (WHO PUBLICLY DENOUNCED THESE SORT OF PLACES AND ACTIONS AS BEING SIMILAR TO NAZI EFFORTS LAST YEAR) 

Former director of the office of the Budget for the U.S. Navy, Stephen Lotus.  Wow, that’s a lot of love between Trump’s appointees and a contractor, who yes D) also sold insurance services.  So that’s pretty fucked. And sliiight detour now. So, when I started out, like really started out, my first task was dealing with budgets. I still help from time to time, and have to work with contractors fairly often. Now, it’s usual that even if we know suspect that these contractors will give us the best deal every time, we have to do something called “competitive bidding”. That’s where we essentially throw the offer to the air, and whoever gives us the best deal, wins. Now this can be kinda manipulated a bit but in general, these records are open to the public so it’s better for us to just waste the time and actually go through a competitive bidding process than have the explain how we aren’t corrupt while looking pretty corrupt.  You know what didn’t happen here? Competitive bidding. It was a closed off contract. Completely in the dark. How very peculiar, isn’t it?  So, all in all, we have a bunch of fuckwits booted from the White House, sent to a company that has perhaps the most profitable contract of all time, acting like literal nazis, stealing from taxpayers and profiting off racism, suffering and inhumane treatment, all because they could with some bullshit nationalism narrative that’s been pushed by an asshole who can’t even spell check his fucking twitter rants.  Do what you can. But certainly don’t complain to companies who are giving resources to these groups to continue their round ups, for instance, all those vans which are owned by Enterprise. Certainly don’t contact them at 855-298-0346, whatever you do. They are busy people trying to make lots and lots of money. Don’t call your representative and tell them if they support this, they will lose by going to this website: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative . And above all, DO NOT use your available resources to try and disrupt this “carrying out of justice” in any way you can safely. Heavens no, because this is America, and children, America doesn’t care if you’re an immigrant or a nationalized citizen. Nooo no no no. It cares about whether you can turn a profit.