#American discovers healthcare

[lindstromm]

PARIS — Ariana Ramsey won an Olympic bronze medal with the U.S. women’s rugby team here last week. A few days later, something almost as exciting happened: She got a pap smear. For free. 

“Like, what?” she said in a post on TikTok describing her new discovery: The Olympic Village offers free healthcare. 

The United States, of course, does not. So in the days following her victory, Ramsey made appointments with the Village gynecologist, dentist and ophthalmologist. According to the Paris 2024 organizing committee, the Village also offers cardiology, orthopedics, physiotherapy, psychology, podiatry and, of course, sports medicine—all at no cost to the athletes. (Paralympic athletes will also have access to dermatology.)

Ramsey came to Paris as a rugby player. She is leaving as a healthcare influencer. More than 135,000 people have watched her initial TikTok, and another of the half-dozen follow-up videos she has made has pulled in more than 570 views. That is fine with her. The more she thinks about it, the more frustrated she is that she’s so astonished by the concept. 

“That’s just America and their privatized healthcare system,” she laments in an interview, adding, “I’ll fight for universal healthcare.”

The idea has gone viral in France: American discovers healthcare. “A lot of people are kind of making a joke about it,” she says. “Like, welcome to France.”

[workersolidarity]

[ 📹 Scenes of massive destruction and rescue efforts following an Israeli airstrike that targeted a residential home in the Al-Hasayna neighborhood, west of the Nuseirat Camp, in the central Gaza Strip, resulting in more than a dozen casualties, including women and children. ]

🇮🇱⚔️🇵🇸 🚀🏘️💥🚑 🚨

DAY 258: ISRAELI OCCUPATION UNPREPARED FOR WAR WITH HEZBOLLAH, ESTIMATED ONLY 50 HOSTAGES STILL ALIVE IN GAZA, OCCUPATION DESTRUCTION LEAVES 67% OF INFRASTRUCTURE DESTROYED, AMERICAN FLOATING PIER TO RESUME OPERATIONS ON THURSDAY, GENOCIDE GOES ON FOR YET ANOTHER DAY

On 258th day of the Israeli occupation's ongoing special genocide operation in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) committed a total of 4 new massacres of Palestinian families, resulting in the deaths of no less than 35 Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children, while another 130 others were wounded over the previous 24-hours.

It should be noted that as a result of the constant Israeli bombardment of Gaza's healthcare system, infrastructure, residential and commercial buildings, local paramedic and civil defense crews are unable to recover countless hundreds, even thousands, of victims who remain trapped under the rubble, or who's bodies remain strewn across the streets of Gaza.

This leaves the official death toll vastly undercounted as Gaza's healthcare officials are unable to accurately tally those killed and maimed in this genocide, which must be kept in mind when considering the scale of the mass murder.

"We are in a bad situation and are not ready for a real war," the CEO for Israel's government-owned Noga electric company, Shaul Goldstein said at the National Security Research Institute conference, held in Sderot in the occupied territories.

According to reporting in the Hebrew media, Goldstein was asked whether he could guarantee that their would be electricity in the Israeli entity in a future war with Hezbollah, responding that "the answer is no, but we will rely on Israeli resourcefulness. Israel is an energy island and we have to provide for ourselves - this is also our advantage, we are trained to work on the island."

"When I took office and began to investigate what the real threat is to the electricity sector, I asked - let's say a missile hits the electricity sector and there is a power outage for an hour, three hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours and so on. What happens in such a situation to Israel?" Goldstein said, throwing back his own question, answering that "The bottom line is that after 72 hours - It is impossible to live in Israel."

"People don't understand how much our lives here depend on electricity," Goldstein continued, "I have 15 inspectors across the country, if there's a power outage then after 5 hours I don't have a phone to call him. Let's say he receives a carrier pigeon after 12 hours - the same inspector arrives at a gas station but there's no gas, Not a single gas station is working, at each station there is a queue of at least 30 km, if not more."

"All our infrastructure - the optical fibers, the ports - we are in a bad state. We are not ready for a real war. We live in a fantasy world in my eyes. The good thing is that we have invested a lot in protection, a joint team with the electric company as well."

Goldstein went on to say that "If Nasrallah [of Hezbollah] wants to take down Israel's electricity grid, he only has to pick up the phone to the person in charge of Beirut's electricity system, which looks exactly like Israel's. He doesn't even need a UAV filming, he calls a second-year electrical engineer and asks him where the most critical points are in Israel. Everything is on the internet, I'm not saying it here but anyone who goes on the internet discovers it."

"The recognition of our situation has not penetrated. If the war is postponed for a year, five years, a decade - our situation will be better," Goldstein added.

In response to Goldstein's statements, the CEO of the electric company Meir Spiegler stated that "Shaul Goldstein's statement regarding the lack of resilience of the electric network is irresponsible, disconnected from reality and creates panic among the public."

Similarly, the Occupation's Energy Ministry also responded, issuing a statement stating that "the Ministry wishes to clarify that the energy economy in Israel is robust and ready to deal with all possible scenarios."

The Ministry continued by saying that "since the beginning of the war, the Ministry has worked tirelessly to ensure the supply of energy to all citizens of the country, while carefully preparing for extreme scenarios and possible disruptions in supply. These efforts are carried out in close cooperation with the security authorities, with the aim of managing electricity demand, energy surplus and fuel stocks."

"The energy sector is organized according to the national reference scenario established by the National Emergency Authority (Rachel). There are several scenarios and the Alta scenario, where over 60% of households may be left without electricity for up to 72 hours, is an extreme scenario and the probability of this is low. However, the ministry is constantly working to reduce the likelihood of the scenario materializing and to prepare for an exit as quickly as possible from the Alta situation, should it indeed materialize," the Energy Ministry said.

"All the relevant bodies, including the Noga company and the electric company, are acting in accordance with the emergency scenario of Rahel and the professional guidelines of the ministry. The Ministry of Energy calls on the citizens of Israel to prepare in accordance with the directives of the Home Front Command, including equipping themselves with batteries, water and portable chargers, in order to ensure maximum preparedness in emergency situations," the Energy Ministry concluded.

In other news today, Thursday, June 20th, an American official, speaking with the Wall Street Journal, told the newspaper that the number of Israeli hostages still alive in the Gaza Strip is considerably less than the official estimates given in "Israel".

According to the official, whose conclusion is based upon Israeli intelligence, suggests the number of hostages still held alive in Gaza now numbers about 50, out of an original approximation of 120 hostages, suggesting that as many as 70 of the hostages have already died.

This number contradicts the data officially published by the Zionist entity, which suggests that just 43 abductees have been killed while in captivity.

So far, the bodies of 19 hostages have been returned to "Israel" in special operations, including 8 over the last three months.

In the meantime, in other news, two US officials spoke with Reuters today, telling the news organization that the floating dock built by the Americans is expected to resume operations to unload Humanitarian aid for starving and desperate Palestinians on Thursday.

The two officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the pier had been reconstructed on Wednesday after being temporarily dismantled last Friday due to poor sea conditions.

Humanitarian aid began arriving through the US-built pier on May 17th, while the United Nations said it had transported 137 truckloads of aid to its warehouses in Gaza, equivalent to about 900 tons of aid.

The Americans have also previously received criticism for supposedly allowing the Israeli occupation army to use the pier during its recent rescue operation to recover four Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, an operation in which the occupation army hid its soldiers using humanitarian aid trucks and which led to the deaths of 274 Palestinians and wounded another 698.

In further news, on Wednesday, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) said that the Zionist entity has now destroyed 67% of the civilian infrastructure of the Gaza Strip since the start of the Occupation's war of genocide, including roads, bridges, public facilities, parks, sewage systems and water wells.

The organization also noted that the Israeli occupation has completely destroyed all water wells and sewage pumps, and that the process of pumping sewage has been halted entirely for 8 months as a result of the Occupation's destruction of Gaza's infrastructure and the depletion of fuel, causing large areas of the Palestinian enclave to become flooded with sewage.

Further, the Palestinian refugee organization also mentioned that all areas of Gaza are without water following the Israeli occupation's destruction of 90% of the enclave's water wells by bombing, shelling and a lack of fuel.

Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation continues its random bombing and shelling of Gaza, leaving dozens of casualties across multiple sectors of the Strip.

According to local reporting, medical sources in Gaza told Palestinian media outlets that two female civilians were killed, and 12 others wounded, after Zionist warplanes bombed a house belonging to the Jadallah family, in the Al-Hasayna neighborhood of the Nuseirat Camp, in the central Gaza Strip.

Occupation artillery shelling also targeted neighborhoods east of the Bureij Camp, along with the Al-Maghazi Camp, in the central Gaza Strip, while also targeting central and western neighborhoods of the city of Rafah and east of Khan Yunis, in the south of Gaza.

Speaking with the local media, Mayor of Rafah, Ahmed Al-Sufi, said the Israeli occupation's destruction of the Rafah border crossing aimed to make the Gaza Strip unfit for life, further pointing out that the occupation forces continue to destroy entire residential squares in the Saudi neighborhood, and that the occupation has also destroyed more than 70% of Rafah's infrastructure.

The Zionist army also bombed a gathering of merchants and aid protection committees on Salah al-Din Street, east of the city of Rafah, killing at least 11 Palestinians and wounding up to 30 others, some of whom remain in critical condition.

Further Occupation artillery shelling targeted the vicinity of the Al-Alam roundabout, west of Rafah, killing two Palestinians and bringing the total number of Palestinians killed in the city today to 23.

The Israeli occupation forces are also continuing to advance with reinforcements towards the west of Rafah, while destroying entire residential blocks nearly constantly.

North of Gaza, the occupation army bombed a gathering of civilians in the Shujaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, killing one Palestinian and wounding at least five others.

Zionist fighter jets also bombed residential buildings on Kashko Street in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City, resulting in the deaths of three civilians from the Aslim family.

Occupation warplanes also bombed in the vicinity of Jabal al-Rayes, east of the Al-Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City, while two civilians were killed when an Israeli drone fired a missile at them.

According to medical sources with Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital said they'd received the bodies of two martyrs after being targeted by a missile from an Israeli drone on Al-Sikka Street, in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City.

Meanwhile, in another attack, a Zionist reconnaissance drone fired a missile towards a gathering of civilians in the city of Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, killing one Palestinian and wounding a number of others.

As a result of the Israeli occupation's ongoing war of extermination in the Gaza Strip, the infinitely rising death toll now exceeds 37'431 Palestinians killed, including over 15'000 children and upwards of 10'000 women, while another 85'653 others have been wounded since the start of the current round of Zionist aggression, beginning with the events of October 7th, 2023.

June 20th, 2024

#source1

#source2

#source3

#source4

#source5

#source6

#source7

#source8

#source9

#source10

#videosource

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[jeneelestrange]

The best weird info dump hobby to get into when you have a chronic illness is historical medicine and quackery. It’s like misinformation mithraditism in that in helps keep you falling for absolutely insane bullshit out of sheer desperation that is just there to take your money, because after a while you will start to notice certain cycles and patterns to how this works(we just discovered a new thing in the body and don’t entirely understand how it works? It must CURE EVERYTHING)

Also it serves a very important constant psychological purpose in that you can think, “Ok yes, we are all trapped in the Byzantine American healthcare system which is set up to help absolutely no one not even the people inside it—healthcare execs only. HOWEVER, at least I wasn’t born a hundred years ago, because I would be dead. I would be dead-dead.”

I can’t tell you HOW MANY PEOPLE I ENCOUNTER are like “But we never used to have conditions like high cholesterol and all these pills for it, what did they do back then huh?????” THEY DIED, JANET. They died of tuberculosis, or fucking pellagra because their diet is made up entirely of hard tack and corn pone, or poisoned milk, or they bled out in child birth from having ten children half of which ALSO died before their first birthday from communicable diseases we now solve with vaccines and antibiotics. Your great Uncle Longevity Georg who survives entirely on whiskey and cigarettes and is somehow a hundred and two years old is somewhat of a fucking outlier, go walk in a really old cemetery sometime and see all the baby graves and get back to me. I may not be healthy but holy shit at least I’m not antivax

[luxustextbox]

doctor vexen discovers the american healthcare system

source

[shannendoherty-fans]

Shannen Doherty’s Untimely Death Sparks Important Conversations About Healthcare Access And Equity

By Janice Gassam Asare

Shannen Doherty, the actress best known for her roles in Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed has died after a long battle with cancer, at the age of 53. In a 2015 statement to People magazine, the actress revealed her breast cancer diagnosis, stating that she was “undergoing treatment” and that she was suing a firm and its former business manager for causing her to lose her health insurance due to a failure to pay the insurance premiums. According to reports, in a lawsuit Doherty shared that she hired a firm for tax, accounting, and investment services, among other things, and that part of their role was to make her health insurance premium payments to the Screen Actors Guild; Doherty claimed that their failure to make the premium payments in 2014 caused her health insurance to lapse until the re-enrollment period in 2015. When Doherty went in for a checkup in March of 2015, the cancer was discovered, at which time it had spread. In the lawsuit, Doherty indicated that if she had insurance, she would have been able to get the checkup sooner—the cancer would have been discovered, and she could have avoided chemotherapy and a mastectomy.

Under the IRS, actors are often classified as independent contractors, which comes with its own set of challenges. Although it is unclear what Doherty’s situation was, for many independent contractors, obtaining health insurance can be difficult. Trying to get health insurance as an independent contractor can be a costly and convoluted process. A 2020 Actors’ Equity Association survey indicated that “more than 80% of nonunion actors and stage managers in California have been misclassified as independent contractors.” A 2021 research study revealed that self-employment (which is what independent contractors are considered to be) was associated with a higher likelihood of being uninsured.

Doherty’s tragic situation invites a larger conversation about healthcare access and equity in the United States. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as “Obamacare,” was signed into law in 2010 and revolutionized healthcare access in two distinct ways: “creating health insurance marketplaces with federal financial assistance that reduces premiums and deductibles and by allowing states to expand Medicaid to adults with household incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.” The ACA helped reduce the number of uninsured Americans and expanded healthcare access to those most in need. It also helped close gaps in coverage for different populations, including those with pre-existing health conditions, lower-income individuals, part-time workers, and those from historically excluded and marginalized populations.

Despite strides made through the ACA, healthcare access and equity are still persistent issues, especially within marginalized communities. Research from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) examining 2010-2022 data indicated that in 2022, non-elderly American Indian and Alaska Natives (AIAN) and Hispanic people had the greatest uninsured rates (19.1% and 18% respectively). When compared with their white counterparts, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders (NHOPI) and Black people also had higher uninsured rates at 12.7% and 10%, respectively. The Commonwealth Fund reported that between 2013 and 2021, “states that expanded Medicaid eligibility had higher rates of insurance coverage and health care access, with smaller disparities between racial/ethnic groups and larger improvements, than states that didn’t expand Medicaid.” It’s important to note that if a Republican president is elected, Project 2025, the far-right policy proposal document, seeks to upend Medicaid as we know it by introducing limits on the amount of time that a person can receive Medicaid.

When peeling back the layers to examine these racial and ethnic differences in more detail, the Brookings Institute noted in 2020 that the refusal of several states to expand Medicaid could be one contributing factor. One 2017 research study found that some underrepresented racial groups were more likely to experience insurance loss than their white counterparts. The study indicated that for Black and Hispanic populations, specific trigger events were more likely, as well as “socioeconomic characteristics” that were linked to more insurance loss and slower insurance gain. The study also noted that in the U.S., health insurance access was associated with employment and and marriage and that Black and Hispanic populations were “disadvantaged in both areas.”

Equity in and access to healthcare is fundamental, but bias is omnipresent. Age bias, for example, is a pervasive issue in breast cancer treatment. Research also indicates that racial bias is a prevalent issue—because the current guidelines in breast cancer screenings are based on white populations, this can lead to a delayed diagnosis for women from non-white communities. Our health is one of our greatest assets and healthcare should be a basic human right, no matter what state or country you live in. As a society, we must ensure that healthcare is available, affordable and accessible to all citizens. After all, how can a country call itself great if so many of its citizens, especially those most marginalized and vulnerable, don’t have access to healthcare?

[anniegetyourbubblegum]

I keep seeing posts from people in the US debating whether to vote for Biden in their upcoming elections to stop Trump from winning again or to punish the democrats for aiding Israel in the genocide of Palestine.

I'm argentinian and as far as I'm concerned, you should vote for whichever candidate you think will benefit you more, because you're from the US and that's all it's good for. The rest of the world will continue to suffer at your hands no matter what. Let me explain.

Democrats and republicans are not a representation of left and right wing politics: both parties are on the right side of the spectrum, only the GOP is more honest about it.

Republicans, as right wing parties do, run on promises of austerity, reducing taxes and being tough on crime. Democrats run promising to use tax money to ease your life: affordable healthcare, education and housing, all guaranteed so you can live the life of a first world citizen.

And then, they don't deliver.

You still have school shootings, massive incarceration, corruption in all levels of government, and the poorest pay a higher proportion of taxes than the richest. Healthcare, education and housing are extremely expensive and often require people to get into heavy debt to afford to have their most basic needs met, and that's only possible if you have good credit.

It's a reductive analysis for the sake of brevity, but you get the gist. The point is that having you be poor and afraid is the goal: it's a feature, not a bug.

You want to go to college? You need to buy a house? You want to start a family? Well, the military complex needs bodies! The US has far too many enemies to their way of life, so they'll need people to defend it! In exchange, they'll "guarantee" just enough money that you won't be destitute.

The US spends the most amount of money on their military in the world, by a long shot. To justify spending that kind of money, you HAVE to have wars. To have wars, you need enemies.

So, you get propaganda. "Muslims are extremists and hate our way of life." "Latin americans want to come to our country and steal our jobs." "China and Russia are communist countries that are waiting to destroy us." And you gobble it up.

You love it so much. It's in your news, in your videogames, in your movies and TV series and comic books. So, when they ask you to fight, you go running! You'll get some money out of it and you'll get to live your life the way you were promised. Sure, PTSD from the horrors is a given, but there's pills for that! And award winning movies about how difficult it is to go to war! It's all covered.

So the small, poor countries that you invade lose their money, natural resources, and their sovereignty but HEY, you brought democracy there! And the US is protected from this many enemies! Mission accomplished, right?

Well, as a citizen of a third world country whose current president is an insane pawn of the GOP, I'd like to say fuck you. He was placed so that the US could take our recently discovered lithium, and you'll get it. Enjoy your shitty iPhone 5000 I guess. It'll come at the small price of the hunger of my countrymen, but since Twitter user dan91883719 says argentinians all descend from escaped nazis, I guess it's alright.

Israel has killed Palestinians and illegally expanded its borders for over 70 years. Both democrats and republicans have sent aid and weapons to make this possible. It's in the US best interests to have conflict in the Middle East and have an ally control the area. Israel is a feature, not a bug.

And those of you who vote blue? You're trapped. Even if you know it's shit, you're unable to organize. Instead of rallying to form a new party, or a at least get a better candidate, you keep voting bad instead of worse and pat yourselves on the back for a job well done. Democrats are well aware of this and that's why they run on platforms that promise to make your life better and then sit back and say "our hands are tied" when you lose rights.

So, if you're still doubting it, vote for whoever the fuck you want. The war machine that you call 'country' won't stop no matter who's president, because those who hold the real power are already getting exactly what they want from it. Your suffering as US citizens is just as planned as the suffering of those who live outside of it.

TL,DR: Vote for whichever candidate you feel will defend your interests best. Lord knows it won't make a lick of difference for the rest of the world, because both political parties have the same plans when it comes to foreign policy.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

On July 14, I'm giving the closing keynote for the fifteenth HACKERS ON PLANET EARTH, in QUEENS, NY. Happy Bastille Day! On July 20, I'm appearing in CHICAGO at Exile in Bookville.

#15yrsago Myths about Canadian healthcare https://www.denverpost.com/2009/06/04/debunking-canadian-health-care-myths/

#15yrsago Abstinence doesn’t work for IT or for teens https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/jun/16/computer-security-abstinence

#15yrsago Scam artists con Apple into killing app that tells you when the bus is due in San Francisco https://web.archive.org/web/20090627161346/http://sfappeal.com/news/2009/06/who-owns-sfmta-arrival-data.php

#10yrsago US inches towards decriminalizing phone unlocking https://www.techdirt.com/2014/06/25/year-half-later-unlocking-your-phone-one-step-closer-to-being-legal/

#10yrsago North Korea threatens “merciless” war against the US over Seth Rogen movie https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-28014069

#10yrsago Copyfraud, uncertainty and doubt: the vanishing online public domain https://medium.com/@xor/houston-we-have-a-public-domain-problem-bd971c57dfdc

#10yrsago Charlie Stross on the stop/go nature of technological change https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2014/06/yapcna-2014-keynote-programmin.html

#10yrsago Lurking inside Obama’s secret drone law: another secret drone law https://www.techdirt.com/2014/06/25/enough-secret-law-newly-released-doj-drone-killing-justification-memo-points-to-another-secret-drone-memo/

#10yrsago Kleargear must pay $306,750 for trashing a complaining customer’s credit https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/06/kleargear-must-pay-306750-to-couple-that-left-negative-review/

#5yrsago Podcast number 300: “Adversarial Interoperability: Reviving an Elegant Weapon From a More Civilized Age to Slay Today’s Monopolies” https://ia903004.us.archive.org/11/items/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_300/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_300_-_Adversarial_Interoperability.mp3

#5yrsago How China ingests and adapts western culture https://aeon.co/essays/how-china-remakes-its-cultural-imports-from-the-west

#5yrsago Prosecutors and federal judges collaborate with corporations to seal evidence of public safety risks, sentencing hundreds of thousands of Americans to death https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-courts-secrecy-judges/

#5yrsago EU expert panel calls for a ban on AI-based risk-scoring and limits on mass surveillance https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/26/18759447/eu-ai-ethical-policy-recommendations-ban-mass-scoring-surveillance

#5yrsago You treasure what you measure: how KPIs make software dystopias https://web.archive.org/web/20190622092434/https://datascience.columbia.edu/ethical-principles-okrs-and-kpis-what-youtube-and-facebook-could-learn-tukey#.XRMxf5DB5eg.twitter

#5yrsato Dieselgate 2.0: 42,000 Mercedes diesels recalled for “illegal software” https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/06/german-regulator-says-it-discovered-new-illegal-software-on-daimler-diesels/

#5yrsago Insulin: why the price of a 100-year-old drug has tripled in a decade https://prospect.org/health/insulin-racket/

Support me this summer on the Clarion Write-A-Thon and help raise money for the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop!

[fandomshatepeopleofcolor]

I met a doctor who explained to me that many "rare" diseases are now more common because before they were extremely underdiagnosed and are still underdiagnosed due to the lack of access to exams, etc. Many people of color receive a late diagnosis or live without ever receiving it. My cousin was lucky enough to receive great medical care while he was working in another country and discovered a brain condition, in USA no doctor was interested in finding out what was happening to him.

yeah that's so shitty. I hope he got good medical care!!! but the american healthcare system is so broken. like obamacare was a great step forward but there's still so much racism and doctors not taking patients seriously.

mod ali

[tyote]

WASHINGTON — Upon returning from his brief diplomatic trip to the Middle East, President Joe Biden urged the nation Thursday not to let dangerous online rhetoric humanize Palestinians.

“As the war between Israel and Hamas rages on, I urge my fellow Americans to remain vigilant, and not fall for any false propaganda that claims people living in Gaza and the West Bank are worthy of human life,” said the 46th president, adding that since the war had begun, U.S. intelligence had discovered countless bad actors flooding the internet with reports that many Palestinians were mothers, fathers, and children who were not terrorists and did not deserve to be trapped without food, water, or fuel while being carpet-bombed into submission.

“If you hear a Palestinian being described with terminology like ‘son,’ ‘daughter,’ or ‘in desperate need of medical attention,’ then you should be aware that what you are reading has been specifically designed to stoke empathy.”

At press time, Biden added that Americans should also avoid dangerous propaganda that wrongly asserts the billions of dollars in military aid the United States has sent to Israel could be spent on things like healthcare, education, or alleviating poverty at home.

[spitblaze]

thoughts continue to percolate on Jobswap AU

So, as aforementioned, Therion is a surgeon apothecary who lost faith in himself and his profession after losing a patient who had some significance to him after a preventable accident and then being accosted by the family in his grief. He gave up the whole thing for several years, living in relative isolation close to Bolderfall. Until one day, when a desperate woman shows up at the door and begs for his help. She had heard he was an apothecary with knife skills, and sought him out immediately. Her younger sister, she says, has a giant growth on her neck, and if it doesn't come off soon, it's going to kill her. Other apothecaries have tried, but they all said it was impossible, that it was too difficult to remove it without damaging her wind pipe or major arteries. Or something. Idk. The point is that this situation is really dire and this kid reminds him of the patient he lost so he pulls the scalpel out 'one last time' to save her. She lives, and he remembers why he took up the mantle to start- the purpose of the apothecary. Doing this, he takes his journey.

Chapters two and three are mostly unrelated, basically chapters of Black Jack. Therion goes from town to town, sometimes charging ridiculous amounts of money for surgery, sometimes performing completely free of charge. He saves whoever he can, and those who abuse his abilities for their own gain find themselves with karmic retribution. Throughout the whole thing, though, there's the undercurrent of something worse happening. Another surgeon like him, traveling and charging ridiculous fees. He's a miracle worker, they say- he provides entire new organs when old ones fail, pulls people back from the very brink of death. But when his patients can't pay up, they mysteriously disappear...

Chapter four. Therion meets Darius. Fellow apothecary, wealthy fellow, personal doctor to the Ciannos. He has a proposal for Therion- they go into business, establish their own practice, charge out the nose and turn away all who don't pay. They both have reputations- Therion is the Beast Apothecary, a medic who works so fast and so precise it's almost inhuman, not afraid to use unorthodox methods to achieve his results. Darius is the Miracle Apothecary, a man who can seemingly bring people back from the brink of death with tools and materials nobody else has. The two of them together could do whatever they want, and who would stop them? Therion declines- he prefers the freedom of traveling where he pleases and doing as he wishes. A partnership would complicate things, and put him on more of a leash than he'd like. Besides, he's heard...rumors about what happens to his patients that don't pay up. Darius threatens him and leaves, and Therion investigates later on. Maybe follows some goons from the home of someone who hasn't paid, maybe scopes out Darius's 'hideout' by putting together information given to him by locals. Either way, he gets in, and discovers that Darius has been kidnapping the patients who don't pay up and harvesting their blood and tissue and organs. Horrifying! He fucking kills Darius. Darius tries to give him that 'you're no better than me' schtick but it doesnt work because he's regained his faith! In himself! In his profession! And I'm American so in my head it's a whole criticism of the for-profit healthcare industry!!! FUCK you Darius

Because I like it when stories cross over and it isn't actually a game trying to make sure you can complete all the stories in whatever order you want, Darius is also a major player in Alfyn's story! Alfyn lost his parents to the plague that swept through Clearbrook as a child. He survived thanks to a traveling apothecary, but he had nowhere to go after that ('but what about zeph' idk shh dont worry about it), and ended up turning to a life of petty theft after hitching a ride to Saintsbridge. He joins up with a group of thieves called the Red Hoods, as their newest and youngest member. They're all pretty cool people, somewhere between Robin Hood and Ye Olde Mutual Aid Organization. They look out for themselves and the little guy, steal from the rich, give to the poor, skim a bit off the top.

These guys are his best friends for years, he hones his skills as a thief, learned how the world works and how to help, basically everything he knows he learned from the Red Hoods. All is well until six years before present day, when Alfyn is fifteen. The Red Hoods plan a heist on the Ciannos, a crime family that's been terrorizing locals and hoarding money. Alfyn is briefly held up by helping a kid do something, look for their cat or whatever but makes it to the meeting point in time to see that they were lured into a trap. He peeks from behind a doorway, seeing a red-haired figure laugh about how gullible they were, how trusting and naive they all were for trusting each other. All of his friends are beaten and bloodied, some already dead. One sees him from the doorway and tells him to run, to get out while he still can. To keep the Red Hoods alive. Unable to act, Alfyn flees, only barely evading becoming a victim himself.

Years later he's still saddled with grief and survivor's guilt, thinking that if he had just said no to the kid who asked for help, if he had just taken a different route, if he had just been there to scout ahead, if, if, if. He's carried on the name of the Red Hoods as a one-man gang, unable to bring himself to allow anyone else into his heart that he could just lose in an instant again. He leaves calling cards after robbing the wealthy and unjust blind and redistributing it among the lower class. He does this until he happens to redistribute the wealth from the one family he shouldn't have- the Ravuses. From here it's basically Therion's story, except with Alfyn. You know how it goes. Get the Dragonstones and we'll remove the Blackmail Bracelet.

The end of his story coincides with Therion's story (also thematically appropriate bc im incapable of not giving them a slow burn romance) when they finally confront Darius. Darius comments on how the 'little coward thief' or whatever finally grew a spine, and how he can meet his end like the rest of his little friends. No longer afraid, Alfyn loudly declares that as long as he's alive, the Red Hoods will never die, and in a moment of solidarity, the rest of the party declares that they too are Red Hoods. Its very touching and inspirational and worthy of some Toby Fox music and then they beat the everloving shit out of Darius.

I am aware there are several holes in this story. And to that I say: Don't Worry About It.

[gallifreyanhotfive]

*more warning for me talking about my watching the show fic*

Anyway, context:

I did not expect that much interaction on my silly sleep deprived post! ❤️

As some of you probably know, my original plan was to go into Storm Warning after The Giggle, but I didn't know what to choose after that, which is what I was trying to figure out while writing that other post.

Anyway, I've been doing some thinking...

PROPAGANDA (probably gibberish but my brain is evil rn)

TV Movie: 7 regenerates into 8 because of the American Healthcare System. The Master is a goo snake. He slithers into a new body and proceeds to want the Doctor’s body the whole damn movie. Post regeneration sillies. The Master literally roars like a wild beast. 8 kisses Grace. He fuckin FORGOR. 8 talks about his father for a little bit. Half human????

Night of the Doctor: 8 regenerates into War. Lots of interesting ties to the EU. Short but devastating. This guy pretty much does himself in. Depiction of common perception of Time Lords at the time

Storm Warning: CHARLOTTE POLLARDDDDDDDDD. 8 gets a new companion! He is whimsy and so much more, but there is a foreboding sense to it. RAMSEY THE VORTISAUR. 8 talks a little bit about the Academy Era. Both this and the TV Movie would eventually lead to Zagreus.

The Conscript: 8 gets forced to be apart of a Time War recruitment camp under the threat of Ollistra doing something to his companions. Very good depiction of Time Lords being used as cannon fodder. YOU ARE NOT SONTARANS. Disturbing Gallifreyan nationalistic song. 8 makes everyone's lives difficult. Daleks daleks daleks

Day of the Vashta Nerada: Gallifrey is trying to weaponize the Vashta Nerada for use in the Time War. This doesn't end well. Pretty much everyone dies! Enter GIANT Vashta Nerada and enter the Nerada Vashta.

A Heart on Both Sides: NYSSAAAAAAAA. Nyssa is on The Traken providing hospital relief to those affected by the Time War. She has a helper named Dr. Foster (wink). They go to the planet Reeve, which is incredibly anti-Gallifreyans because the High Council has been blowing up their factories. Time Lord spy. Anti Gallifreyan graffiti and the use of Praxis gas, which almost kills 8.

The Lords of Terror: companion Bliss wants to go visit her parents, only to discover it has been covered in a big dome. 8 gets tortured yet again. Are the Daleks or the Time Lords responsible for this atrocity? Gallifrey is a fucked up society.

In the Garden of Death: 8, Bliss, and the Twelve are in a Dalek POW camp. Oh no they forgor everything! The Daleks torture the heck out of these guys. These amnesiacs briefly wonder if 8 is a bad guy. Interrogation on Interrogation on Interrogation

Mary's Story: Two 8s collide with Mary Shelley and Co at Villa Diodati. First an older 8 who has been affected by vitreous time, leaving him in horrific shape (burns, muscle, bone....I'll spare you the details) to the point where he literally dies for a little bit. Gets electrocuted and turns into basically Frankenstein's Monster. Young 8 turns up, finds these really quite embarrassing, saves the day, and takes Mary on as a companion

[derryderrydown]

A brief rundown of my life recently.

November: Fractured my spine. Spent a month in hospital, flat on my back, not allowed to move. Had started my new job a couple of months earlier, so hadn't been there long enough to receive sick pay. Therefore I was receiving Statutory Sick Pay of around £100 a week.

December: Was released from hospital. Couldn't care for myself so moved in with my mum. Could only be upright if strapped into a hideously painful metal brace.

Christmas: Was supposed to be going away with mum, sister, bil and niblings. Couldn't. Neither could my mum. Christmas sucked. Still in metal brace.

January: Was supposed to be going to Australia for my friend's wedding. Couldn't. Travel insurance didn't cover the full cost. Still in metal brace.

February: Able to work a couple of hours a day. Huzzah! Able to move back to my own home. Huzzah! Finally released from metal brace. Huzzah! Muscles did not like being made to work again after four months of doing nothing. Thankfully, had private healthcare through work, so was able to get really good physio.

March: Discovered my car had developed a leak while I was unable to drive, so it was full of mould. It's had three possible leaks repaired since then, and is still leaking.

April: Got made redundant. (Laid off, for Americans.) Lost access to my really good physio. Haven't been in new job long enough to qualify for redundancy pay. Am still in probation period (due to amount of time off sick) so am only entitled to one week's notice.

I just really want something nice to happen. Just one thing.

[tieflingkisser]

Activist recounts experience of mass graves found at Gaza’s Nasser hospital in Khan Younis

“Honestly, I think most people are just waiting for death. They’re hanging on because of their children.” Susan Abulhawa, a Palestinian-American author and activist recounted her experience at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in which mass graves were discovered. Abulhawa pointed out that the bodies found were healthcare workers “still in their scrubs” and patients “with IV catheters still in their arms,” as zip ties could also be seen on the ground, believed to be from the Palestinian bodies.

[whoneedssexed]

Idk if this is the right place for this ask but,

I read somewhere that you have to have been on T for a certain amount of time before getting top surgery

I definitely want a flat chest but I finally got to a point where I actually like my voice and I don't want to risk it changing and me hating it (I'm enby btw)

So, is this true? Or can I get top surgery without going on T? And if so how/where

If you had to be a on T for a certain amount of time before getting top surgery, I would think a lot of people would be dying from breast cancer.

As for how and where, that's unfortunately something you'd have to discover yourself. A combination of outdated ideologies and insurance policies often limit the amount of providers you have access to for trans-related care, let alone the amount of surgeons willing to do anything for you.

And that's if you're in the USA. I know in the UK trans-related care is *extremely abysmal* and that is pretty damn terrifying coming from someone living in the US; if your healthcare is more easily gained in the US then something is real fucked up where you live (for the most part).

Top Surgery.net is a good resource for Americans

And I don't have a similar resource for the UK, but searching for "uk top surgery" brings up a number of clinics, such as the London Transgender Clinic.

mod BP

[tanoroe]

just discovered that advil is just ibuprofen?? i’m so sad I thought it was like an extra strong painkiller only americans had bc of their mad healthcare system

[coochiequeens]

You mean a country that makes it harder for women to access birth control, access maternal healthcare, has maternal care deserts, has no mandated maternal leave as an increase in infant mortality?

The infant mortality rate in the U.S. rose last year for the first time in 20 years, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with significant increases observed in two of the top causes of death.

Between 2021 and 2022, infant deaths in the U.S. rose by 3 percent. or 5.6 fatalities per 1,000 live births. The mortality rate for newborns also increased by 3 percent, while the mortality rate for non-newborn infants rose by 4 percent. The CDC noted this goes against a nearly 20-year trend.

“The infant mortality rate for the United States rose 3% from 2021 to 2022, the first year-to-year increase in the rate since 2001 to 2002,” the agency’s report stated. “From 2002 to 2021, the infant mortality rate declined 22%.”

The mortality rate among infants born to American Indian and Alaska Native non-Hispanic and White non-Hispanic mothers rose significantly more than the overall change, the CDC noted in its report. The changes in mortality rates observed among infants born to Black; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; Hispanic; and Asian mothers were not statistically significant.

Four states were observed as having seen significantly increased infant mortality rates — Georgia, Iowa, Missouri and Texas — while Nevada was the single state to see significant drops in mortality in 2022.

Across different age groups of mothers, the infant mortality rate was only observed to rise among women between the ages of 25 and 29 between 2021 and 2022. Mortality rates also rose for all preterm infants, those born before 37 weeks of gestation, as well as male infants.

Among the top 10 leading causes of infant death, two rose significantly last year: maternal complications of pregnancy and bacterial sepsis of newborns. The top cause of infant mortality in 2022 was congenital malformations.

The agency noted the dataset is provisional and has yet to undergo a more comprehensive review so the final numbers may be slightly different.

The U.S. has a higher infant mortality rate compared to other developed countries. According to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, America’s infant mortality rate is one the top 10 highest among its 38 member states, ranking higher than Canada, the U.K., Australia, South Korea and Japan.

Many countries have infant mortality rates that are drastically higher, with India and South Africa reporting more than 25 infant deaths for every 1,000 live births.

I couldn't get a the whole map to download but i think this still makes the point