#13 November 2023

[withbriefthanksgiving]

Gaza’s two largest hospitals have stopped taking new patients due to Israeli bombardment and shortages of medicine and fuel amid reports of rising deaths among patients and medical staff.

Al-Shifa and Al-Quds, Gaza’s biggest and second-biggest hospitals, respectively, said on Sunday that they had suspended operations as the World Health Organisation called for an immediate ceasefire to prevent rising deaths.

Dr Nidal Abu Hadrous, a neurosurgeon working at Al-Shifa Hospital, said patients and staff were facing a “disastrous” situation with no electricity or water and no safe passage out.

“This can’t last long. Urgent intervention to save the staff and the patients is required,” Abu Hadrous told Al Jazeera.

12 November 2023

Also on 12 November 2023, Steve Sosebee of the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund hosted a webinar with Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah (Instagram link).

Dr Abu-Sittah is a British-Palestinian plastic surgeon working at Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza. This is the hospital that was first bombed on 17 October 2023.

I managed to note some key takeaways from what Dr Abu-Sittah said during the webinar. Regarding the health situation:

The healthcare system is in total collapse. There is no medication. The doctor has no morphine, or painkillers of any sort. There is no bandages, no supplies, nothing. No ICU, no access to blood bank. 11k+ dead and 23k+ wounded. Impossible to travel in between hospitals due to bombing and sniping, so no aid can be shared.

Injuries and cases in the hospital: Mostly blast injuries: typical blast injuries e.g. burns, blast, gravel in wounds etc., people crushed under rubble. But also, since Gaza is a testing ground for weapons, the new hellfire missiles cause horrific injuries. They have 6 blades with a serrated edge, so they are seeing guillotine-like amputations.

The long-term effects will be devastating. An entire generation has become permanently disabled. Wounds: since healthcare is delayed, he is seeing that injuries are mult-drug resistant. So they will need more complex treatment. Reconstructive surgery: for kids, will be complex, because they will need to have continual surgeries as they grow. Mental health: they have seen people killed in front of them constantly. It’s constant trauma. They will need a lot of help.

The situation in Al-Shifa hospital is catastrophic. Al-Shifa properly collapsed on 09 November. Israeli snipers shoot anything that moves in the windows, so people have been moved to the corridors. Nobody can get outside even to bury their loved ones. [Reports now saying as of 13 November 2023 that stray dogs have started eating people’s loved ones]

The patients in the ICU +the babies in the incubators in Al-Shifa are likely dead. [note, information is emerging on this, but on 12 and 13 November the IMEU, Al Jazeera and the Middle East Eye all reported that 3 of the 39 preterm babies had died due to lack of electricity in incubators. It’s predicted that all the babies will eventually die due to the ongoing shortages and constant Israeli attacks.

As well as explaining the situation, Dr Abu-Sittah called on medical professionals around the world to be ready to help.

Medical professionals will need to help + must start preparing now. Once the bombing and siege is over, medical teams around the world will need to hit the ground running and be ready to as soon as they get the word

The worst part is the aftermath. We can’t be waiting 6-12 months for the first medical professionals to be deployed. 250k+ homes have already been destroyed. This is exactly the aim of the Israeli army: those who are not dead will leave because of total collapse. The aim is to make Gaza uninhabitable. We must do all we can to prevent that aim from becoming reality.

Medical professionals will need to bring everything with them. Gaza has no equipment. See above.

Medical professionals must lobby authorities: Doctors and professionals abroad must liaise with any medical associations they are members of to petition the relevant authorities to allow medical help as soon as possible.

Regarding his last point:

if you are a UK-based medical professional, contact your professional body. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has a list of its 24 member Royal Colleges and faculties. This includes the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Surgeons, and 20 others. Organise with your colleagues and lobby the relevant persons so that we can help Gaza rebuild as soon as any borders open up. You can also contact the British Medical Association.

If you are a healthcare worker based outside the UK: check with whatever healthcare professional organisations exist in your country.

If you know Arabic, are licensed to practice medicine in Egypt, or have links with medical organisations in Egypt, Dr Abu-Sittah mentions this being a priority.

The international community (the people) cannot abandon Gaza, even as the international organisations (the institutions) remain useless.

As Dr. Abu-Sittah says: ¡Hasta la victoria siempre!

[withbriefthanksgiving]

13 November 2023

Rep. Ilhan Omar To Introduce First Bill To Block U.S. Weapons For Israel Since Gaza War Began

The Minnesota Democrat is taking aim at a $320 million package of bomb equipment that the Biden administration wants to provide to Israel's military.

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) will this week introduce legislation to disapprove of a multimillion-dollar package of bomb equipment for Israel proposed by the Biden administration, a source familiar with her plans told HuffPost ― posing the first congressional challenge to the U.S.’s policy of uninterrupted and expanding military support for Israel amid its deadly campaign in Gaza. Omar will by Wednesday file a bill known as a “resolution of disapproval” targeting a $320 million sale of gear for precision guidance kits for bombs, the source said, likely with a group of fellow Democratic lawmakers as co-sponsors. If the House of Representatives and the Senate both pass such a resolution, the administration would not be able to transfer the bomb equipment unless President Joe Biden vetoed the bill.

[astroandrogyny]

Birthday art for my best friend @lavasharkyboi

[dogstomp]

Dogstomp #3234 - November 13th

Patreon / Discord Server / Itaku / Bluesky

[callmebrycelee]

HAPPY 48TH BIRTHDAY, AISHA HINDS!!!

[chalamet-chalamet]

New Wonka teaser ✨

[glimmerofawesome]

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

Full transcript at the link. Roughly 2 minute listen.

Excerpt:

HAMIDI: And the main reason is the lack of pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure.

BEARNE: Her team wanted to know if traffic lanes could be narrowed to allow more room for that infrastructure, but that goes against traditional thinking that says wider roads are safer because they leave drivers more room for error.

HAMIDI: We found that wider is not better. Actually, wider streets have more crashes.

Streets [in the 1920s-'30s] weren't well organized, and didn't have features like crosswalks, turn lanes, and traffic signals. You had streetcars, horses, pedestrians, and the new kids on the block: the automobile, all mixing on increasingly crowded streets. The biggest conflicts were between pedestrians and drivers. And the results were often deadly. Pedestrians, including children, were being struck and killed by cars. In those early days, motorists were held responsible, and the public was horrified by all of the deaths. You have to remember that, in cities, kids played in the street. People couldn't comprehend the idea that you'd have to keep kids off of the streets all day long to keep them safe. Everyone realized that speed was the real problem. cars could go [much] faster than the flow of traffic in 1920s cities. Some cities wanted to do something about it -- something more than just speed limits. They wanted to mandate speed governors on all cars to ensure they couldn't go more than, say, 20 or 30 miles per hour within city limits. It was at this point that the auto industry realized they needed to fight for the right to own the street.

Should jaywalking be legal? YouTube. 20 November, 2020 (human-edited from a transcript of auto-generated captions)

I really think this may be a way to create walkable cities without banning cars altogether, for the people for whom cars are an accessibility need -- without discriminating against those who simply cannot use cars.

I mean, if folks were thinking up this solution 100 years ago, surely we have the tech to make it work today. Right?

[xxavaloraxx]

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[gummy bear starts playing]

[powcreations]

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[themotherf-inpope]

[jukeboxofjellycat]

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[fuckyeah-beringandwellsfics]

Helicobacter

submitted by: anonymous

Helicobacter (71787 words) by @apparitionism Chapters: 17/17 Fandom: Warehouse 13 Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Myka Bering/Helena "H. G." Wells Characters: Myka Bering, Helena "H. G." Wells, Steve Jinks, Abigail Chow Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting Summary: Someone named ��Helena” and someone named “Myka” happen to meet, happen to click in unexpected ways, and happen to encounter obstacles to exploring said clicking. Will these two crazy kids find a way to work things out? Well… this is a (very romantic) comedy, so let’s hope so. It’s about urban planning and medicine and fake engagements and koans and a lot of other things, including various flora and fauna and what the universe has in mind for each of us. As I’ve said before to kick off a story or two: now let’s have some fun.

Please tell us why you like this fic so much!

It's. Just. So. Enthusiastically. Bizarre.

It's got everything I love: breathtakingly awkward situations. Clever screwball comedy dialogue. Fake dating. Pedantry. A rake who's trying to be good. A good girl who's trying to make her stop. Koan. Abigail being Abigail. Marginalia (omg the marginalia!). A story about Myka and raccoons. Codewords. Charles and Helena being snarkily loving siblings.

And best of all it's a 'Helena is desperately trying to convince herself and everyone else that she is on top of the situation and she is absolutely not' fic, and I love those.

---

Remember that you can submit fics to be featured here, too! This is actually the end of my queue, so any further submissions are very welcome! Here's the link to the submission form (Google Form)!

[mermaidinthecity]

taylorswift: Andddd we’re back at it! Starting off the South American leg of The Eras Tour in Argentina = best decision possible. I can’t even express my gratitude to the Buenos Aires crowds. I’d never been to Argentina before and they gave us the most electric, magical memories. Thanks to the amazing fans whose show was postponed Friday for coming back Sunday and blowing us away with your passion and excitement. See you next weekend, Rio!! 💋🩵🔜

📷: @ marceloendelli / @ gettyimages

[ralfmaximus]

So apparently today at Donald Trump's fraud trial in New York, the defense displayed a graphic depicting 40 Wall Street (a Trump property) as 72 floors, when it is in fact 63 stories.

That's uh, literally... FRAUD.

And no, it's not an innocent mistake. The documents in question are Trump marketing literature about how cool & sexy 40 Wall Street is.

To reiterate: Trump's defense attorney did this.

[duadaily]

November 13, 2023