rosehen96 - Random things
Random things

Hello, this blog is for posting things I find interesting like critical opinions about media and fanarts. PS: NO spicy fanart on this blog

109 posts

New Zine That's Free For Anyone To Print And Distribute! Read The Whole Thing At Newlevant.com/COVIDzine

Photograph of a zine called “What’s Up With COVID and How to Protect Yourself: 2024 Edition.”
Subtitle:
“Feat. ADVANCED COVID safety tips!”
word balloon: “Have you heard the bad news?”
By Hazel Newlevant

Back cover text:
“Every chain of transmission that is broken is VALUABLE. Every person that doesn’t GET SICK, that doesn’t lose that WEEK OF WORK, that doesn’t become DISABLED or DIE, from the minorest of inconveniences, to the GREATEST of losses: every single one of those things is VALUABLE.” -Becca on DEATH PANEL podcast 2/16/23.

Print and distribute this zine yourself!
Download a PDF here.
Citations:
Newlevant.com/COVIDzine

ALWAYS FREE

New zine that's free for anyone to print and distribute! Read the whole thing at newlevant.com/COVIDzine or in the rest of this post.

COVID zine page 1

Unless you make it a hobby to follow COVID news and studies, you're probably going off old info.
[stack of word balloons coming from different directions]
"COVID is mild now"
"The pandemic is over"
"'Pandemic of the unvaccinated'"
"COVID is like the flu"
"Only 'high risk' people need to worry about it."
"There's nothing you can do."

Businesses have a clear interest in YOU not worrying about COVID, and governments want to claim "victory" by hiding the problem. 

They want you at work, shopping, traveling, and going to events just like you did in 2019--NOT demanding sick pay, clean air infrastructure upgrades, etc.

The CDC didn't want to admit COVID is airborne because it would open employers up to workplace safety lawsuits.

Masks are a visual reminder of the ongoing danger.

In a 2020 study, people who complied with mask mandates spent *25% less time shopping.*

In 2021, the CDC shortened their COVID isolation guidelines...at the request of Delta Airlines' CEO.
COVID zine p2

Here's the real tea:
[handwritten, bold text] COVID is airborne & movies like smoke.
Because the virus is transmitted by respiratory aerosols--the fog that you can see exhaled on a cold day.

Could you smell if someone was smoking? Then you could inhale their COVID virus.
[Cartoon of a person standing near 2 cigarette smokers, surrounded by smoke.]
This is why airflow, filtration, and limiting contacts are key to stopping infections.
[handwritten, bold text] Six feet apart /= safe
That's old news, from when scientists *hoped* COVID was mainly spread by large droplets.

Turns out, it can hang out in the air for hours.
COVID zine page 3

[Bold, handwritten text] COVID is still everywhere.

At least half of COVID spread is from people who don't (yet) have symptoms.

With no paid sick leave and too-short isolation guidelines, people are regularly forced to work while infectious.

[Cartoon of a waitress, unmasked, looking abashed, surrounded by an infectious cloud, saying "may I take your order?" Many jobs now disallow masks!]

The CDC stopped tracking COVID tests, so now the best way we have to estimate how many people have COVID: wastewater testing. Virus levels in sewage closely follow actual cases.

[Cartoon of a toilet with viruses getting flushed]

[Graph of Biobot COVID wastewater levels from jan 2020 to Feb 2024, showing 929 copies per mL on Feb 17]

[Cartoon of me, looking at the graph, saying "More cases than ANY TIME in 2020. Not great."]
COVID zine p4

[Conversion chart of Biobot wastewater levels measured in copies/mL to what percentage of the population is infectious. They are from https://pmc19.com/data/ and @michael_hoerger on twitter.]

Using the national measurements from Feb 2024, approx. 1 in 36 people were infectious with COVID.

[How Does Risk Increase with More Social Contacts? conversion chart]

[Cartoon of me, looking tired, wearing a respirator, pointing up at the chart. I'm in a crowd of people, drawn in silhouette, and clouds of COVID.]

You can see how the risk skyrockets with crowds.

U.S. residents can estimate how many people are infectious with COVID in YOUR area NOW with data from your nearest wastewater testing facility: biobot.io/data/covid-19 [QR code]
COVID zine p5

[Bold, handwritten text] COVID is really dangerous.

[Cartoon of a person's circulatory system]

COVID isn't just a respiratory illness. It injurs the blood vessels and can damage nearly any organ, all over your body.

Even mild infections cause brain shrinkage equivalent to aging 1 to 10 years.

Each infection has a ~1 in 10 chance of causing new, lasting symptoms, aka Long COVID. This is true for kids AND adults.

Long COVID can present in all kinds of ways. Even cases that start mild can become debilitating.

[Cartoon of a person lying down and wearing an eyemask, surrounded by handwritten descriptions of potential Long COVID outcomes]
Can't read, watch TV, look at phone, listen to music.
Brain fog, hard to even think.
In pain, feel like you have the flu for months on end.
Have to lay in the dark and quiet.

See pandemicpatients.org for an extensive list of Long COVID and Post-COVID Conditions: [QR code]
COVID zine page 6

[Graph labeled "Excess Deaths and COVID Deaths in Young Adults (age 18-49)". The "excess deaths [all cause]" number is at about double "COVID-19 deaths".] 

So far in 2024, at least 1,000 people are OFFICIALLY dying of COVID in the U.S. every week. Chances of having a heart attack or stroke go WAY UP after a COVID infection, so it contributes to many more deaths than the official count.

[Bold, handwritten text] Repeat infections are hurting us.
The chances of bad shit happening get higher each time you get infected.

Viral fragments have been found in tissue samples even 12 months post-diagnosis. Viral persistence is a likely mechanism of Long COVID.

COVID disregulates the immune system, even in recovered patients. We're seeing outbreaks of RSV, monkeypox, polio, TB and more--possible signs of widespread immune dysfunction.

[Chart labeled: "Fig. 5: Cumulative risk and burden of sequelae in people with one, two, and three or more SARS-CoV-2 infections compared to noninfected controls."
It lists the following bad health outcomes, showing that each is more likely after 1 infection, more likely after 2 infections, and even MORE likely after 3 infections: 
Hospitalization
at least one sequela
cardiovascular
coagulation and hematological
Diabetes
Fatigue
Gastrointestinal
Kidney
Mental health
Musculoskeletal
Neurological
Pulmonary]
COVID zine page 7

[Bold, handwritten text] Vaccines and "hybrid immunity" are not enough.

COVID vaccines create antibodies that fight infection. They've greatly reduced hospitalization and death from acute infection. But antibody levels quickly decline over the following months. Vaccines aren't stopping people from getting infected, spreading COVID, and long-term damage

[diagram of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The virus is covered in spike proteins, and there are circulating antibodies, some of which bind to the spike proteins. There's a human cell covered in ACE2 receptors. When a spike protein binds to an ACE2 receptor, that's cell infection. When an antibody binds to the spike protein, it can't infect!]

COVID keeps mutating, with new shapes in the spike protein that evade old antibodies. You can get reinfected with a different variant, even in weeks.

[Bold, handwritten text] COVID vaccines are like an airbag. Avoiding exposure is like keeping your hands on the steering wheel.
COVID zine page 8

[Bold, handwritten text] Rapid tests give a lot of false negatives.

Taking a single rapid test only successfully detects ~60% of early symptomatic infections and ~12% of asymptomatic infections. The FDA now recommends repeat testing after a negative result.

Positive: You have COVID.
Negative: You MIGHT have COVID. Try again in 48 hours, or get a PCR test, especially if you have symptoms or known COVID exposure.

Improve test accuracy by collecting a combined nose and throat sample!

Instructions (from Ontario Health):
Do NOT eat, drink, chew gum, smoke, or vape for at least 30 minutes before collecting the sample.

Blow your nose first. Wash your hands and only hold the swab opposite the soft swab tip.

1. Swab between the inner cheek and lower gum, on both sides. Then, swab your tongue, as far back as you can go. OR, look in a mirror and swab your tonsils.

2. Swab the nasal wall. Tilt your head back and insert the swab straight back (not up) until you hit resistance. Rotate several times. Then do the other nostril.

Order free COVID tests (if covered by insurance): fastlabtech.com [QR code]

Find free testing locations: testinglocator.cdc.gov [QR code]

[Diagram drawing of a combined nose and throat swab, with the swab placed on the tonsils labeled "1" and the swab in the nose labeled "2", to indicate the correct order to swab in.]
COVID zine page 9

[bold handwritten text] What we can do:
[Cartoon of me, looking peaceful, wearing a Flo Mask, surrounded by a light cloud of virus.]

Don't breath COVID in. It's all about MASKS and AIRFLOW.

Wear a mask with N95 or better filtration (aka a respirator) and make sure there are no gaps. A mask is only as good as its seal!

N95+ filters trap particles with an electrostatic charge, which is why they're much better than cloth or surgical masks.

Head-straps give a better seal than ear-loops, and are more comfortable!

Elastomeric masks (reusable face piece, replaceable filters) give the BEST seal, assuming the model fits your face!

[Graphic of a CDC MMWR report, bit.ly/MMWR7106 :
People who reported always wearing a mask in indoor public settings were less likely to test positive for COVID-19 than people who didn't
Among 534 participants reporting mask type
Cloth mask: 56% lower odds
Surgical mask: 66% lower odds
Respirator (N95/KN95): 83% lower odds ]
COVID zine page 10

Seal check: Cover the surface with your hands. Can you feel the mask going IN when you inhale and OUT when you exhale? That's good. 

[Cartoon of me with my hands over my mask]

If you feel any air leaking around the edges, the mask doesn't fit properly.

To better know if a particular mask fits you, try a DIY fit test. [arrow pointing to a QR code that goes to the DIY fit test instructional video linked in the tweet]

Source control is BETTER at stopping transmission than just the uninfected person wearing a mask! But both people masking is safest.

[Cartoon of me getting checked out by a cashier. I'm wearing a mask that has virus in it, demo-ing source control]

3M Aura is a good disposable respirator. (buy from a hardware store or stauffersafety.com, Amazon is full of fakes!)

EnvoMask Pro and FloMask Pro are good elastomerics.

[Drawings of the masks]

Laianzhi HYX1002 is currently the best mask that comes in black.

Fit test results: testtheplanet.org [QR code]
COVID zine page 11

Go outside for more airflow to disperse the virus!

Outdoor COVID transmission is still possible, but it's much safer than an enclosed space.

[Cartoon of me and a friend, both wearing masks. A leaf is blowing between us; evidently we're outside]

Failing that, open windows, run fans to pull in fresh air, and use HEPA air purifiers. Get a cross-breeze going!

[Cartoon diagram of two open windows with a box fan in between, pulling clean air in from one window and blowing indoor air out the other window.]

You can make a DIY air purifier by taping a furnace filter to a box fan.

Instructions: cleanaircrew.org [QR code]

Mini DIY purifier with a PC fan and a round HEPA filter!

[Cartoons of furnace filter taped to a box fan, and a round filter with a PC fan on top.]

Purifiers also help with pet allergies and wildfire smoke!
COVID zine page 12

[bold, handwritten text] Extra precautions:
SARS-CoV-2 primarily infects in the upper respiratory tract, so it makes sense to target treatment there. Some nasal sprays have been shown to reduce the risk of getting COVID!

COLLOIDAL SILVER mouthwash + nasal rinse reduced healthcare workers' risk of infection by 84.8% in one RCT.

IOTA-CARRAGEENAN nasal spray reduced HCW's risk of infection by 80% when dosed 4x daily in one RCT.

NITRIC OXIDE nasal spray reduced infection risk by 75% when taken 4x daily after COVID exposure for 10 days, in a preliminary study.

Povidone-iodine mouthwash reduces viral load in the mouth, though how well this prevents infection is unknown.

S. salivarius k12 probiotic losenges reduced upper respiratory tract infections by 65% among HCWs in one RTC.

[bold, handwritten text] NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR MASKS AND CLEAN AIR!!

The evidence base is much smaller and they won't stop you from spreading COVID if you DO get infected. But it's good to have many layers of protection!
COVID zine page 13

[bold] I have COVID, now what??

What I'm planning to do if/when I get COVID again. Not medical advice. I am not a doctor.

People's CDC has a detailed "What to Do if You Have COVID" guide. Gather supplies BEFORE you get sick!

[bold] There's still a chance to stop the spread!

Reduce the chances of infecting others in your household by isolating ASAP, ventilation, and everybody wearing masks. People stay infectious for at least 10 days! After that, test to find out if you're negative.

[drawing of bottle] "CPC or iodine mouthwash to kill virus in mouth" 

Don't go out if you can help it. If it's an emergency that can't be delegated or postponed, WEAR A RESPIRATOR!!!

(In a catch-22, you may need results from an in-person PCR test to get disability benefits or Long COVID care down the road)

[bold] REST.

[drawing of mug] Dehydration is ALSO linked to Long COVID, so drink up!

Inadequate rest can WORSEN or potentially even CAUSE Long COVID. Don't work out!! Avoid exertion as much as possible, during infection and in the weeks after. Rest and pacing are also crucial for dealing with chronic fatigue syndrome, a common Long COVID condition.
COVID zine page 14

[bold] Early Treatment

Paxlovid is an anti-viral medication and lowers Long COVID risk by ~25%. It's prescribed for those at increased risk of severe illness...which is 75% of U.S. adults. It must be started within 5 days of symptoms.

Ideally, you can get a Paxlovid prescription from home with a telehealth doctor visit. More options:

Find a Test to Treat site (free prescriber visit) and/or a Paxlovid Patient Assistance Program site (free Pax for eligible people).
treatments.hhs.gov [QR code]

In New York State, you can get assessed through Virtual ExpressCare or by calling 212-COVID-19 .
ondemand.expresscare.video/landing [QR code]

[smaller] (outrageously insufficient, i'm sorry!!)

Here are the non-prescription meds and supplements that RTHM, a Long COVID clinic, recommends to reduce symptoms and risk of developing Long COVID:

H1 blockers 
H2 blockers 
Low-dose aspirin
colloidal silver nasal spray and gargle
Nattokinase
N-Acetyl-L-Cystein (NAC)
Curcumin (turmeric)
Multivitamin with Vitamin D3
Melatonin
Alpha Lipoic Acid (if noticing increased heart rate)

Read why: rthm.com [QR code]
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More Posts from Rosehen96

10 months ago

not to be pretentious, but a lot of stuff you guys complain is being ruined by capitalism/the algorithm/whatever can be solved by consuming something else than the most basic mainstream stuff that's thrown in your lap. "songs nowadays are getting shorter to fit entire tiktoks and it's ruining music" have you tried listening to something else than Spotify's Top 100 my dude? "fanfiction-to-publishing pipeline is churning out mediocre books and it's ruining literature" have you tried reading something outside the NYT bestseller list my dude? This is not a post about how algorithm based industries give visibility to the lowest common denominator art at the expense of actually creative and meaningful art that struggles to make itself known, which is a valid discussion for another time, this is about people actively not giving this kind of art their visibility because they won't get out of their way to discover stuff outside the mainstream radar and prefer to be passively fed what to consume while bitching that is not up to their tastes.


Tags :
10 months ago

be pro-aging but wear sun screen. sun protection is not beauty industry propaganda it will save you. wear it. or else.


Tags :
10 months ago

Someone on Reddit made the mistake of saying, "Teach me how this conflict came about" where I could see it.

Let me teach you too.

The common perception is that Jews came out of nowhere, stole Palestinian homes and kicked Palestinians out of them, and then bombed them for 75 years, until they finally rebelled in the form of Hamas invading Israel and massacring 22 towns in one day.

The historical reality is that Jews have lived there continuously for at least 3500 years.

There are areas, like Meggido iirc, with archeological evidence of continuous habitation for 7,000 years, but Jewish culture as we recognize it today didn't develop until probably halfway through that.

Ethnic Jews are the indigenous people of this area.

Indigeneity means a group was originally there, before any colonization happened, and that it has retained a cultural connection to the land. History plus culture.

That's what Jews have: even when the diaspora became larger than the number of Jews in Israel, the yearning to return to that homeland was a daily part of Jewish prayer and ritual.

The Jewish community in Israel was crushed pretty violently by the Roman Empire in 135 CE, but it was still substantial, sometimes even the majority population there, for almost a thousand years.

The 600s CE brought the advent of Islam and the Arab Empire, expanding out from Saudi Arabia into Israel and beyond. It was largely a region where Jews were second-class citizens. But it was still WAY better than the way Christian Europe treated Jews.

From the 700s-900s, the area saw repeated civil wars, plagues, and earthquakes.

Then the Crusades came, with waves of Christians making "pilgrimages to the Holy Land" and trying to conquer it from Muslims and Jews, who they slaughtered and enslaved.

Israel became pretty well depopulated after all that. It was a very rough time to live there. (And for the curious, I'm calling it Israel because that's what it had been for centuries, until the Romans erased the name and the country.)

By the 1800s, the TOTAL population of what's now Israel and Palestine had varied from 150,000 - 275,000 for centuries. It was very rural, very sparsely populated, on top of being mostly desert.

In the 1880s, Jews started buying land and moving back to their indigenous homeland. As tends to happen, immigration brought new projects and opportunities, which led to more immigration - not only from Jews, but from the Arab world as well.

Unfortunately, there was an antisemitic minority spearheaded by Amin al-Husseini. Who was very well-connected, rich, and from a politically powerful family.

Al-Husseini had enthusiastically participated in the Armenian Genocide under the Ottoman Empire. Then the Empire fell in World War One, and the League of Nations had to figure out what to do with its land.

Mostly, if an area was essentially operating as a country (e.g. Turkey), the League of Nations let it be one. In areas that weren't ready for self-rule, it appointed France or Britain to help them get there.

In recognition of the increased Jewish population in their traditional, indigenous homeland, it declared that that homeland would again become Israel.

As in, the region was casually called Palestine because that was the lay term for "the Holy Land." It had not been a country since Israel was stamped out; only a region of a series of different empires. And the Mandate For Palestine said it was establishing "a national home of the Jewish people" there, in recognition of "the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country."

Britain was appointed to help the Arab and Jewish communities there develop systems of self-government, and then to work together to govern the region overall.

At least, that was the plan.

Al-Husseini, who was deeply antisemitic, did not like this plan.

And, extra-unfortunately, the British response to al-Husseini inciting violent anti-Jewish riots was to put him in a leadership role over Arab Palestine.

They thought it would calm him down and perhaps satisfy him.

They were very wrong.

From Torch to Tunis to El Alamein: Events 80 Years Ago Made the Modern Middle East
The Washington Institute
The second week of November 1942 has much to tell us about the region’s geopolitical centrality, its enduring political currents, and its ro

He went on to become a huge Hitler fanboy, and then a Nazi war criminal. He co-created the Muslim Brotherhood - which Hamas is part of - with fellow fascist fanboy Hassan al-Banna.

ANALYSIS: The Nazi roots of Muslim Brotherhood
Al Arabiya English
After years of causing disruption on the streets of Egypt, on 30 June 2012, the Muslim Brotherhood’s leader Mohammed Morsi was sworn i

He got Nazi Party funding for armed Muslim Brotherhood militias to attack Jews and the Brits in the late 30s, convincing Britain to agree to limit Jewish immigration at the time when it was most desperately needed.

He started using the militias again in 1947, when the United Nations voted to divide the mandated land into a Jewish homeland and a Palestinian one.

Al-Husseini wouldn't stand for a two-state solution. He was determined to tolerate no more than the subdued, small Jewish minority of second-class citizens that he remembered from his childhood.

As armed militias increasingly ran riot, the Arab middle and upper classes increasingly left. About 100,000 left the country before May 1948, when Britain was to pull out, leaving Israel and Palestine to declare their independence.

The surrounding nations didn't want war. They largely accepted the two-state solution.

But al-Husseini lobbied HARD. And by mobilizing the Muslim Brotherhood to provide "destabilizing mass demonstrations and a murderous campaign of intimidation," he got the Arab League nations to agree to invade, en masse, as soon as Britain left.

The Aftershock of the Nazi War against the Jews, 1947–48: Could War in the Middle East Have Been Prevented?
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
This article deals with the after-effects of Nazi anti-Zionist propaganda in the Arab world and the antisemitic campaign of the Mufti of Jer
UN Palestine Commission - Acts of aggression by Arab States - Memorandum from the Jewish Agency - Question of Palestine
Question of Palestine
ACTS OF AGGRESSION PROVOKED, COMMITTED AND PREPARED BY ARAB STATES  IN CONCERT WITH THE PALESTINE ARAB HIGHER COMMITTEE AGAINST T

About 600,000 Arabs fled to those countries during the ensuing war.

Jews couldn't seek refuge there; in fact, most of those countries either exiled their Jews directly, confiscating their property first, or else made Jewish life unlivable and exploited them for underpaid or slave labor for years first.

There Was a Jewish Nakba, and It Was Even Bigger than the Palestinian One
The Tower
The expulsion of Jews from Arab countries, one of the biggest humanitarian crises of the 20th century, is all the more tragic for how little

By the time the smoke cleared and a peace treaty was signed, most of the Arab Palestinian community had fled; there was no Arab Palestinian leadership; many of the refugees' homes and businesses had left had been destroyed in the war; and Israel had been flooded with nearly a million refugees from the Arab League countries and the Holocaust - even more people than had fled the war.

That was the Nakba. The one that gets portrayed as "750,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled!" in the hope that you'll assume they were expelled en masse, their beautiful intact homes all stolen.

Egypt had taken what's now the Gaza Strip in that war, and Jordan took what's now the West Bank - expelling or killing all the Jews in it first.

(Ironically, Jordan was originally supposed to be part of Israel. Britain, inexplicably, cut off what would have been 75% of its land to create Jordan.

Map of the land for the British Mandate For Palestine: the whole area that's now Israel plus Palestine plus Jordan.

Even more inexplicably, nobody ever talks about it. I've never seen anyone complain that Jordan was stolen from Palestinians. Possibly because Jordan is also the only country that gave Palestinian refugees full citizenship, and it's about half Palestinian now.

Israel is nearly 25% Arab Palestinians with full citizenship and equal rights, so it's not all that different -- but the fundamental difference of living in a country where the majority is Jewish, not Muslim, probably runs pretty deep.)

Anyway: that's why Palestine is Gaza and the West Bank, rather than being some contiguous chunk of land. Or being the land set aside by the U.N. in 1947.

Because Arab countries took that land in 1948, and treated them as essentially separate for 20 years.

Israel got them back, along with the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula, in the next war: 1967, when Egypt committed an act of war by taking control of the waterways and barring Israel from them. It gave the Sinai back to Egypt as part of the 1979 peace accords between Egypt and Israel.

Israel tried to give back the Gaza Strip at the same time. Egypt refused.

Palestine finally declared independence in 1988.

But Hamas formed at about the same time. Probably in response, in fact. Hamas is fundamentally opposed to peace negotiations with Israel.

Again: Hamas is part of a group founded by Nazis.

Hamas has its own charter. It explains that Jews are "the enemy," because they control the drug trade, have been behind every major war, control the media, control the United Nations, etc. Basic Nazi rhetoric.

It has gotten adept at masking that rhetoric for the West. But to friendlier audiences, its leaders have consistently said things like, "People of Jerusalem, we want you to cut off the heads of the Jews with knives. With your hand, cut their artery from here. A knife costs five shekels.  Buy a knife, sharpen it, put it there, and just cut off [their heads]. It costs just five shekels."

Senior Hamas Official Fathi Hammad To Palestinians In Jerusalem: Buy 5-Shekel Knives And Cut Off The Heads Of The Jews
MEMRI
Hamas Political Bureau Member and former Minister of the Interior Fathi Hammad urged the people of Jerusalem to "cut off...

(Palestinians were outraged by this speech. Palestinians, by and large, absolutely loathe Hamas.

Hamas Tortured Me for Dissent. Here's What They Truly Think of Palestinians
Newsweek
I thought I'd left Gaza behind, yet all this time, Hamas was planning to expand its extremism and intimidation.

It's just that it's not the same to say that to locals, as it is to say it where major global powers who oppose this crap can hear you.)

Hamas has stated from the beginning that its mission is to violently destroy Israel and take over the land.

It has received $100M in military funding annually, from Iran, for several years. Because Iran has been building a network of fascist, antisemitic groups across the Middle East, in a blatant attempt to control more and more of it: Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Houthis in Yemen.

Iran has been run by a very far-right, deeply antisemitic dictatorship for decades now, which pretty openly wants to take down both Israel and the U.S.

Last year, Iran increased Hamas's funding to $350M.

The "proof of concept" invasion of Israel that Hamas pulled off on October 7th more than justifies a much bigger investment.

Hamas has publicly stated its intention to attack "again and again and again," until Israel has been violently destroyed.

That is how this conflict came about.

A Nazi group seized power in Gaza in 2007 by violently kicking the Palestinian government out, and began running it as a dictatorship, using it to build money and power in preparations for exactly this.

And people find it shockingly easy to believe its own hype about being "the Palestinian resistance."

As well as its propaganda that Israel is not actually targeting Hamas: it's just using a literal Nazi invasion and massacre as an excuse to randomly commit genocide of the fraction of Palestine it physically left 20 years ago.

Despite the fact that Palestinians in Gaza have been protesting HAMAS throughout the war.

Many videos sharing the "Free Gazans Group" videos of protests in Gaza against Hamas
This however ❤️‍🔥
كس اختك يا سنوار
I honestly dont know how to translate it, i never did :d 
something like : sinwar your sister's a wh/re pic.twitter.com/NqXh6tlt4I

— Mo Ghaoui (@moghaoui) February 22, 2024

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10 months ago

I think that the worst and most dangerous misconception people have about fascism is that it's this sort of turbocharged "Beast Mode" that countries can go into to increase their production, win wars, and make the trains run on time, and that the primary objections to it centre on whether the "obvious" increase in efficiency that fascism offers is worth the loss of freedom and lives. But in reality fascist regimes like to put up a *façade* of strength and efficiency, even as they practice corruption on a scale unimaginable in democracies and even as the public interest is hollowed out by parasitical opportunists. There is no trade-off; fascism is a grift all the way down.


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10 months ago
Distant Utopia - From (Terrarium In A Drawer) By Ryoko Kui
Distant Utopia - From (Terrarium In A Drawer) By Ryoko Kui
Distant Utopia - From (Terrarium In A Drawer) By Ryoko Kui
Distant Utopia - From (Terrarium In A Drawer) By Ryoko Kui
Distant Utopia - From (Terrarium In A Drawer) By Ryoko Kui
Distant Utopia - From (Terrarium In A Drawer) By Ryoko Kui
Distant Utopia - From (Terrarium In A Drawer) By Ryoko Kui

Distant Utopia - from ひきだしにテラリウム (Terrarium in a Drawer) by Ryoko Kui

now that Dungeon Meshi has an official English translation, i hope someday Kui’s other work will get translated too. this anthology was really good, and this story was one of my favorites


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