Liana Brooks

Sunrise at a favored place on this earth. It's quiet and peaceful there. The weight of the world can be lifted away for a short time. I can look for the occasional horseshoe crab that needs rescued. I can feel sand on my bare feet. Everything is different there from day to day, but the same.

Man in waders holds a fish. Both have their mouths open.

That time the catfish and I had the same look on our face.

#GreatLakes

The shop I was managing in 1987 got staked out for an armed robbery by the flying squad twice in one month.

(Stake-out #2 was my curtain call: time not just for a new job, but back to uni and a whole new career path.)

iNaturalist-facilitated rediscovery of Monarda mexicana (Lamiaceae) in high-elevation habitats of Durango, Mexico | Phytotaxa

the "lost" species Monarda mexicana is still out there! Known from just 2 historical collections (most recent from the 1950s). Imagine my joy in stumbling on a picture of it on @inaturalist.bsky.social !!! We've now documented the first known modern populations and revived the species name:

The cover for The Day Before - Yellow police tape across the foggy background hinting at a crime scene. The title is in black on the police tape. There are handcuffs in the foreground. The tagline reads "It's not a murder if there's no body."

Marrins should be the one dealing with this, but if she ran into him, he’d use it as an excuse to end her career.

Sam forced herself to smile politely… and not punch MacKenzie right in the face. Wouldn’t mother be proud?

- THE DAY BEFORE

#SciFi #Mystery #Books 📚
books2read.com/b/day...

across great distances, a cosmic reminder that we share the same sky.

Navajo Nation, provides a powerful volcanic foreground central to this photo and to stories of Navajo origin, adventure, and heroism. As the first full moon of the lunar new year, this eclipse held significance across cultures. Visible from East Asia to North America, this eclipse united observers

A desert landscape with a large volcanic land feature jutting out in the center. Above is a series of eclipse phases of the moon traveling from the top left downward toward the peak of the central volcanic landmark. The phases show the moon transitioning from a white full moon to a dark moon and into a red moon once it connects with the landmark in the image. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.

🔭 Total Lunar Eclipse over Tsé Bit'a'í

Image Credit & Copyright: Satoru Murata; Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap26030...

If you haven't got a chance to pick up Outlaws of the Milky Way, the follow-up to the #1 Amazon Afrofuturistic Science Fiction Novel, Onto a Sea of Stars, here's your chance. It's available on Amazon today. Next week the paperback will be available. Stay tuned. #booksky

Alley cat in Baku, Azerbaijan

Alley cat perfectly posing for his profile in the Baku back streets.

#Cats #streetcat #streetphotography_color #StreetPhotographyAsia #AlleyCat

Behold Scorpius with its ‘stinger’ tail in the Milky Way. Alpha and Beta Centauri are the bright stars at lower right, near the trees. Image from Costa Rica with an iPhone 12ProMax running NightCapApp. #astronomy

Calling edits done for tonight.

#LianaEdits

But medical care is also one of Korea's major exports. Medical Tourism has been a thing in recent decades (I'm not sure when it started). So there's a lot of money and support for it.

The hospitals are malls. Complete with multiple restaurants and gift shops.

Mental health is actually one of the biggest issues right now, especially among the younger generations (teens and 20-somethings). The stress levels are high in Korea. Competition to get into good schools and get good jobs is insanely high. So pushing mental healthcare has been a big issue recently.

A quick look at my therapist's website says that the Koreans have single-payer healthcare and it covers mental health services 100% with a doctor's referral. But the costs range from 30,000won to 380,000won. Roughly $30USD to $350, if you pay out of pocket.

Knowing Korean social structures and businesses I suspect the therapists are affordable because they are either supported by government grants or are branches of some of the larger medical groups. They aren't trying to make all their income off of their clients, so they can charge less.

... misplaced comma there. Forgive my grammar mistakes. It's been a long day.

Finding a therapist is super easy. We have clinics all over the neighborhood and almost all of them have affordable prices, or are covered by either local programs, or bill employers. You just keep going to different doctors until you find one that works for you. Or you can go to an online one.

Some of my friends who came here for grad school have had to pay out of pocket for meds and appointments, but a full physical is usually under $50USD when they did the math. And that included shots and vaccines.

I've lived here for almost 4 years and barely understand the HOW. I know my employer told me which doctor to go to, they have an international clinic with people who speak multiple languages and can translate for me, and everything is covered. It's delightful.

I get that. I'm just leery of recommending AI for anything. Partly because of my science background and the damage AI does to the planet, but mostly because of the risk of AI encouraging people to hurt themselves.

It's not trained to help people in crisis.

I'm in Korea. Mental health support is readily available and my company covers it 100% so I'm not sure of the out-of-pocket price, but healthcare in general is fairly affordable for everyone. So I suspect the US could do it if they tried. And my therapist is great.

"The USA can't afford that..."

Yeah, because the richest people and richest companies go untaxed and we're trying to run the budget off the poorest people in the nation. Tax the rich and it fixes the budget.

They'll still be insanely rich, and everyone in the country will have their needs met.

Tax the 25 richest people in the USA the same amount you tax an indie author or small business owner and you could probably end world hunger.

It would not dent their budgets in any way, and it would provide healthcare for absolutely everyone.

The cost of what? Getting people medical care?

Most first world countries provide that with minimal fuss. All the USA would need to do in order to provide healthcare for everyone, including dental and mental, would be to tax the wealthy and corporations fairly. Easy fix.

Your reader's emotions are going to reflect your character's emotions. If your character is scared, the reader will likely be scared. If the characters is happy, the reader will probably be happy (unless they noticed the foreshadowing).

Make sure you're using emotions correctly.

#LianaEdits

I'm lucky enough to have an employer that covers mental healthcare and a therapist 100%. I think it should be covered like dental and everyone should get a check up at least every six months. It would make for a healthier world overall.

Probably not in the USA, no. I think some countries might have it. I know some groups have free counseling, but those are usually associated with religious organizations or schools, and not always what people need.

I really wish we would make it available though.

There's been too many instances of AI encouraging self-harm for it to be a viable option for therapy at this point. And it's still too damaging to the world around us.

If we could refine it? Maybe.

But we're not there yet and we're not moving in that direction.

Considering how ChatGPT encourages people to hurt themselves and damages the environment while doing it? No, we shouldn't encourage anyone to use it. We'd be better off as a society providing free mental healthcare to everyone.