#Death Jabs as Healthcare?

[msclaritea]

"What if Bill Gates tabled the idea to the CIA of Population Control? Not just the future management of Population Growth, but also the Control of the remaining Populations who would eventually realise what was going on. It involved the idea of Ethnically cleansing the Populations that hold most of the Land Assets the greedy 1% desire. The Populations of the USA, the UK, Australia, Canada & New Zealand predominantly. What if Bill Gates devised an Ethnicity Specific Weapon of Mass Destruction, mRNA Covid-19 injections, which he planned to use alongside the Poisoning of Water Supplies & the removal of Nutrient Rich Food by Genetically Modifying it? The Food looks great, but holds no Nutritional Value. What if Gates also Pollutes the Air we breathe with Chemtrails all leading to a shortening of Life? What if Gates was then given the role of Global Population Control on a limited contract, 2020-2030 along with a Licence to Kill? That he then publicly divorced in an attempt to shield his equally complicit wife & their Children from the dangers his new role would bring? His Licence to Kill allows him to target aircraft carrying individuals that could adversely effect his plans, like the Cancer specialists whose flight went down recently? What if he was gifted the contract to operate the new global digital currencies through Microsoft, meaning he earns with every single global transaction? What if the reason there are no "Property Of" signs on 5G towers are because they are Gates owned? And what if this ultimate salesmen managed to convince or blackmail the Leaders of our Nations that this was in fact a good & profitable idea?

Sell Eco-Terrorism as Geo-engineering?

Sell Death Jabs as Healthcare?

Sell Bio-Terrorism as a Pandemic?

Sell Financial Terrorism as Inflation?

Sell Digital Control Management Slave Systems as Convenient?

If the answer is Yes to any of the above.

Bill Gates is a Terrorist."

White Rabbit Podcast, Twitter

Who Is Bill Gates? (Full Documentary, 2020)

[frances-baby-houseman]

I would have bled out in the parking lot

Amber Nicole Thurman's death is on Trump's hands

Bess Kalb

Sep 17

In 2019, about six weeks after my first child was born, I found myself on the bathroom floor in a small, but nonetheless unsettling puddle of blood.

“Oh no,” I remember thinking. “I just did the laundry.”

I called out my husband’s name, but the sound caught in my throat. The pain I felt inhaling to get enough air out of my lungs to yell the two syllables in “Char-lie” jabbed my guts like a bicycle spoke to the abdomen.

So I was quiet, trying to keep breathing in a way that didn’t move anything inside me, and the pain pulsed a bit, then steadied, then dulled, then evaporated into whatever hell ether it came from.

Because there is no G-d (unless there is, in which case I abbreviated His name so as not to desecrate it, and also thank you, King of the Universe, for subscribing to this newsletter) this was the one time in my life I hadn’t brought my phone with me to the bathroom.

I decided to sort of slither-lumber to the door like a lame harbor seal, because I didn’t want to stand and loosen the spoke that had just stabbed me. I reached for the knob and let the door creak open.

The cat was there, looking at me right at eye level, keenly aware what was happening, and completely unmoved by it.

“You are dying,” he blinked, “Pity. Have a nice time.” He sashayed away.

Fortunately, our house in Los Angeles was small enough that from the bathroom door one could see everything. My husband was sitting on the couch with our infant, and I knocked on the open door to summon him. Within one one thousandth of a second, he set the baby on the (since-recalled) donut pillow and was holding my head.

I sat up. I breathed. No pain. I took a picture of the bloody mess on my husband’s phone, texted it to myself, he found my phone, then I texted the picture to my OBGYN.

Apologies for being graphic, but within the puddle there was something roughly the size and shape and color of a fig.

“Is this ok?” I said to my doctor, the bicycle spoke scraping lightly at my insides again from all the lumbering.

“Come in,” she replied.

Within two hours, I was in the waiting room of her office, accompanied by my terrified but SMILING mother, who was still, as is the Jewish custom, in town for “a few days or so” after the birth.

An ultrasound which felt like the finger of Satan himself revealed there was retained placenta in my uterus. If I hadn’t come in, there would have been more hemorrhaging, then sepsis, then whatever the cat foretold.

The next day, I was in surgery getting a Dilation and Curettage.

I went home, pumped the anesthesia milk, then fell asleep perfectly fine, my sweet newborn cooing merrily in the bassinet next to his alive mother.

Amber Nicole Thurman’s story was the same as mine, but it happened to her in Georgia in 2024, not California in 2019. She was a Black woman in a healthcare system that disproportionately kills Black women, especially postpartum. In 2021, the Black maternal mortality rate was nearly three times the rate it is for white women. Post-Roe, the toll is and will continue to be staggering.

Because post-Roe, the procedure that saved my life, the D&C, is something doctors cannot perform in states where matters of life and death have been left up to non-medical Christian-supremacist superstitions.

I know the pain Amber Thurman felt when that placenta dislodged and carved its tiny, treacherous hole in her uterine wall. I know the terror she felt when she saw the blood, and the rush of dread when she thought of what her child would do without her.

And when I vote in November for Kamala Harris and every progressive down-ballot candidate, I will do it because she can’t. And I will do it so that women in Georgia and Idaho and Texas and North Dakota and South Dakota and Utah, Arizona, Nebraska Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, South Carolina, and West Virginia won’t have to meet the same completely preventable doom.

This election isn’t just about Amber Thurman. Every day of my lucky, breathing life is about Amber Thurman. Because the only thing that separates us, is one of us bled out under the right Supreme Court.

Let’s raise absolute federal hell about it.

-- From Bess Kalb's newsletter The Grudge Report. I pay for this substack -- though it's free-- and think this is a message worth sharing far beyond her newsletter.

[darkmaga-retard]

No wonder trust in the mainstream medical community has sunk from 71.5% to 40.1%.

Steve Kirsch

Executive summary

80% of my followers on X are unvaxxed. 20% took the shots.

I asked them a question: if you had a choice between being infected with the COVID virus or taking the jab, which one would you pick?

Here’s how they voted:

That’s the correct answer.

The virus is much safer than the vaccine.

This is one of the reasons why trust in the healthcare system has plummeted from 71.5% to 40.1% between April 2020 and January 2024.

And the safety monitoring is so abysmally poor that nobody even knows the relative safety of each of the vaccines! Is Pfizer safer than Moderna? Or is it vice-versa? And where’s the data showing the number? It doesn’t exist! They don’t measure it!!!

“How can we have vaccinated the world and yet nobody knows the relative safety of any of the vaccines??”

That is the question an honest health authority should be asking. If you don’t have the numbers, then you are flying blind which is exactly what we’ve been doing for the past 4 years.

A quick summary of what we know so far

The COVID vaccines were all downside risk for no benefit. The vaccine provided no protection against hospitalization or death, and actually increased your risk of getting COVID. So there was no benefit whatsoever.They all (except maybe Novavax) increased your all-cause mortality, something a vaccine is never supposed to do.

Virus safer than the shots. The adverse event profile is, in general, much higher for those taking the jabs than for those infected with COVID.

The medical community is willfully blind to the harms. It is appalling that the medical literature refuses to accept 1 and 2.

COVID shots are not equally safe, but nobody will publish the relative brand safety data. There are significant mortality differences between the vaccine brands. It is beyond shameful that none of the health authorities anywhere in the world will expose the numbers or even want to see them. Hiding that safety information is not in the public interest.

They need to stop hiding the data. As long as they keep the record level data secret on vaccines and mortality, nobody should take them.

They need to acknowledge that fully unvaccinated kids are healthier. Every study in the peer-reviewed literature shows fully unvaccinated kids are healthier than their fully vaccinated counterparts.

Vaccines are the primary cause of autism and a large number of chronic disorders. The data also points very strongly that vaccines are the major cause of sexual orientation and gender dysphoria conditions. A lot of people can’t accept that but the data is stunning and cannot be explained away.

It’s hard to get the truth published nowadays. It is ridiculously hard to get a paper published in a peer-reviewed journal that goes against mainstream beliefs.

The Czech Republic data where we found that Moderna increases all-cause mortality by 30%. If that’s wrong, what’s the right number and how come nobody knows what it is?

You can’t keep hiding the truth. Sooner or later, however, we will see papers emerge that validate everything I’ve said above. I just can’t predict when that will happen.

Nobody knows the safety numbers!

There were no answers to my query. That’s a huge problem. This means nobody is monitoring the safety of any of these shots.

[penumbramewtwos]

So- I'm new to the blog, so please forgive me if this has already been answered...

What happened to Racheal?

She looked like she was still quite young in the pictures you've shown...

You're all good m8, and welcome to the blog ^^ It's humbling to have people come across it and want to know more!

Rachael in her 60's still looks like she would be in her adult years mostly due to better skin care and healthcare in the future. some of the shitposts I've made with her, she's been younger but sometimes older. The photo of them together in the comic, she's probably 40ish. (I do have to make it a habit of marking her age more often lol) The more unsatisfying answer to her age is: When I designed her, my art skills weren't (and still probably aren't) capable of aging her up in a fashion I was happy with, she was stuck in an uncanny valley. I'll retry it one day soon :> but I'll stick with the skincare lore XD

In regards to what happened to Rachael? (assuming you mean what was her cause of death?) I can give the vague answer (below) or the nitty gritty truth under the 'keep reading'. Spoilers for that one (as it's meant to happen in the fanfic).

Rachael was severely poisoned when battling Okita's creator (Professor Drake) and her Deoxys. Rachael and Okita were trespassing in the early hours, before they were caught and a fight broke out.

Thanks for the ask! [spoiler content under here]

Both Rachael and Okita were sneaking into Professor Drake's mansion to retrieve documents to prove that Aunuran mewtwos were created by her, to incriminate both her and Team Helix Rocket. Rachael was both severely poisoned by an enhanced poison jab from Deoxys. In an attempt to save her from Deoxys' attack, Okita used her black hole attack for the first time in battle, hitting both of them; breaking their bones in the process. The difference being, Deoxys are immortal, just like mewtwos.

That leads into the events that are 'dreamt' up by Okita in the first chapter. :>

[ricisidro]

#DOH reports 120 new cases today November 3, bringing the total nationwide caseload to 4,120,411 cases. ⬇️

#COVID19 #Philippines #PH

NCR accounted for 35% (42) of the country's cases while 78 (65%) of the day's cases are in the provinces.

In the NCR, twelve LGUs had low digits cases while five LGUs had Zero COVID: Mandaluyong, Marikina, Malabon, Navotas and Pateros.

Outside the NCR, all provinces had low single digit cases or ZERO COVID.

Zero COVID deaths today. The total death toll remains at 66,736.

The active cases decreased to 2,792 from 2,816 active cases earlier this week. ⬇️

The national positivity rate slightly increased to 5.5% up from 5.3% earlier in the week.⬆️

The healthcare utilization rate remains at low risk.

Mask up correctly and stay in well-ventilated areas specially for the elderly and vulnerable groups. For additional protection against the threat of COVID-19, get the updated vaccine and booster jab. If you have symptoms - test and isolate.

Happy Friday ! Stay safe !

DOH site: https://doh.gov.ph/covid19tracker

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jun Isidro (@rcisidro)

[winderlylandchime]

THE MAN MADE HIMSELF A SHIRT. I REPEAT THE MAN MADE HIMSELF A SHIRT! That was why he took my markers earlier today! And i had the audacity to think he’d be normal and that the mind map paper was the worst of it all. He took a white shirt and wrote with a sharpie ’Team Brian’ on it. He said he even watched youtube videos to learn how to like stitch it in but gave up after he hurt himself with a needle. He made 3 extra shirts, 2 for our parents that he express sent to them and one for me. He wrote a note with the package to our parents that said ‘if you love me, you’ll wear it’ So I cannot wait to see how that goes (fr imagine getting that sent to you, just a shirt and a note.) And the best(?) part of it all is he wore the shirt to the damn doctor check up! I almost forced him out of it but then at the last second thought to myself ‘for the content..gotta let him be dumb for the people on tumblr, they would want me to do it.’ (At this point I’m just going with the drugged up idiot flow) The doctor took one look at him when he walked into the office and sighed. I forgot that they had to deal with him for two days during his new found love, so i have no clue what all he put them through. And he tried to ignore it at first but my brother kept pulling at his shirt and smiling at him so the doctor went ‘(brothers name) i see youre in the arts and crafts part of your obsession..’ and all my brother said was ‘bro…i mean Doctor Bro, you have no clue. I am stressed! I am tired! I stayed up all night thinking. Nobody cares about my feelings. Nobody cares about what I have to say and think, i have no one in my corner. And now the worst of all, he ran off with a kazoo player! Do you know how dumb that is?!’ The second my brother looked away, the doctor looked at me and mouthed ‘kazoo?’ And I mimicked a violin and the guy had to cover up a laugh. I feel like the doctor is cursing at HIPAA cause if i was him, id want everyone to know about this dumbass at my work. I will report back when my parents get the package (should be like two days or so). He asked at the post office if they will receive it in less than a week ‘because it is important, very, very important! Like life or death situation’ and then he panicked that they’d think he is sending something illegal so he went ‘it’s shirts! Like this one’ *shows his shirt* and then idk what went through his head because he went ‘it’s from a show I’m watching. I swear im not just being weird about Brians’

Dear sweet anon, I was settling in with an afternoon coffee on the couch to do some work on my tablet and your message popped up before I turned on my work DND (otherwise every notification I get is like 👀 surely someone reblogging this this is more important that the thing I am literally paid to do, you know how it is). And I’m so glad that I saw this before I “hunkered down” for some paperwork. Blech.

Nobody cares about my feelings. Nobody cares about what I have to say and think, i have no one in my corner. OH BROTHER ANON you have tens of people in your corner. We DO care about your feelings and one day you will know.

The arts and crafts part of his obsession! I die. He’s going to get an etsy or redbubble store before this is over and start selling fanart phone cases (not a jab, I have a fanart phone case!).

So about HIPAA. HIPAA only applies to healthcare information and identifying information. So for therapists, that’s basically everything (although I will frequently say a client recommended a TV show to me because that is not healthcare information [uh your brother’s qaf obsession would be though] and it’s not identifying). And HIPAA doesn’t apply to consulting with other medical professionals without identifying information (so I could say to a fellow therapist “I have a client who ripped his stitches after surgery due to excitement about a TV show, my own bar for how normal this is is a bit fucked, should I be concerned?”) So I can absolutely guarantee that your brother’s doctor is at the very least telling his fellow doctors about your brother. I promises you they are in the break room laughing about this.

IAN PLAYS A KAZOO. Sorry if this shows up in a fic of mine in the future… this is very Brian coded. No offense to kazoo players. I’m sure they are a lovely bunch who do not deserve to be grouped in with Ethan.

[patients-and-patience-dca-au]

In the afterevents of the pizzeria fire that resulted in the destruction of so many animatronics, the death of the night guard, and the suicide of Henry Emily, Fazbear Entertainment Incorporated decided that they needed a fresh start. As the public's wariness wound down once more, Fazbear decided to cash in on the growing mental healthcare market. And what better to clear their name than a building and programming meant to keep children safe and alive?

It started with the VR game of course, a lighthearted jab at the past, to show they've changed, they're safe now. Soon after, the "brand new" Fazbear Inpatient Facility opened and began accepting patients aged 0 to 18!

Now, 7 years down the line, Fazbear has had moderate success with the hospital. There have been hiccups, sure, but any new building has those, right? They're even ready to expand into research and development! Everything is going great, considering it's a mental hospital.

So why can't you shake the nagging suspicion that the troubles are just beginning?

I'm sure it's fine.

[bouncyballcitadel]

(Almost) a year’s worth of Citadel!

I posted 1,613 times in 2021

1515 posts created (94%)

98 posts reblogged (6%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.1 posts.

I added 5,853 tags in 2021

#citadelwip - 1399 posts

#elliot sanford - 695 posts

#ellen sanford - 686 posts

#peter grey - 672 posts

#davy jackson - 657 posts

#ivy sloan - 635 posts

#jean liu - 608 posts

#victor uytterhoeven - 224 posts

#victoria uytterhoeven - 206 posts

#citadelafterdark - 71 posts

Longest Tag: 78 characters

#free shipping if you send it to that friend you’ve been in love with for years

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

going off the "super chill fight" ask, how would the ROs react if the MC got hurt by a patient? like the patient lashed out or something and punched MC really, really hard

ouch

I'm going to answer this ask assuming the patient is still riled up and ready to fight.

Eli: Immediately ready to throw hands, professionalism be damned.

Davy: Would automatically step between the patient and the MC, so the MC didn't get hurt any further. “Touch them again, and you’ll regret it.”

Jean: "No!" -jabs finger at patient- "You do not behave this way. Sit the fuck down. If you so much as move, so help me--"

Vic: Would make themselves as tall and threatening as possible. "I would choose your next move very carefully."

Dr. Grey: Would say very coolly, "I highly suggest you don't try anything like that again." His tone? Absolutely terrifying.

Dr. Sloan: "We are in a hospital. You will behave like you are in a hospital. Calm down, sit down, or I will have you on your ass outside of this hospital so fast, you'll still have an IV in you."

104 notes • Posted 2021-06-04 04:03:51 GMT

#4

If this is your MC, like this post 🤡

115 notes • Posted 2021-09-19 22:38:06 GMT

#3

RO reactions to MC getting physically hurt trying to protect them? Like pushing them out of the way of smt

ouch

Let's go full drama and say the MC pushed them out of the way of a car.

Eli: "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. No, no, no." Would be half trying to perform first aid, half crying/sobbing hysterically. Would not leave the MC's side--the paramedics would literally have to pry them away (and, even then, probably wouldn't succeed).

Davy: Outwardly, calm and collected, trying to do damage control and keep the MC awake. But, their fingers are shaking. And there's a tremble in their voice. "Why would you do that? Why would you--"

Jean: Would be having a full-blown panic attack. All medical knowledge has left their brain. Crying, gasping for breath, calling out the MC's name. Cradling the MC's head in their hands. "MC. MC. Please. Don't--don't--"

Vic: Would go into crisis mode and immediately start first aid. While waiting for the ambulance, would be holding the MC's hand in a death-grip. "If you fucking die on me, I'll never forgive you."

Dr. Grey: Would be the calmest out of the ROs. Scarily efficient, immensely protective. Don't even think about fucking up around him right now--paramedics, he's looking at you (and, yes, he will be riding in the ambulance). "Hey, love, stay with me. You'll be all right. You'll be fine."

Dr. Sloan: Like Vic and Dr. Grey, would immediately stamp down her feelings about the matter to administer first aid. Still, her heart's racing in her ears--and, fuck, where's the ambulance? She normally has a short fuse, but watch out now--one misstep with the MC's care, and she'll be tearing into you. "You'll be okay. Just keep your eyes on me."

116 notes • Posted 2021-06-04 03:32:54 GMT

#2

Case Two: Chapter One is here!

Enjoy y’all!

As always, comments/feedback/messages about coding errors appreciated! If you send in a coding error, please attach a screenshot with the error that pops up!

Updated demo here!

Banner courtesy of @deflatedball​!

230 notes • Posted 2021-09-25 00:03:06 GMT

#1

Thanks for Clicking!

As a healthcare professional-in-training, I’ve been working on a medical drama game with a healthy dash of romance added.

Please note, Citadel and this Tumblr may contain adult themes unsuitable for underage readers such as graphic depictions of medicine (including death), strong language, and sexual content. 

Please enjoy and leave comments/suggestions/etc.! Also, feel free to leave something in the ask box! 

It’s the not-so-distant future, and the landscape of medicine has been irrevocably changed. Once incurable diseases are now completely manageable. Metastatic cancer. Alzheimer’s. These patients have a new lease on life, and it’s all thanks to Citadel Health’s NINO technique. But, like all innovations in medicine, there’s more to it than meets the eye…

Play as a first-year surgery intern at Citadel Health. Will you become the star intern and curry the favor of the chief? Or will you uncover Citadel Health’s secrets and break a story or two? This will be the best and worst year of your life. Don’t forget to save lives and break some hearts along the way.

Elliot/Ellen Sanford (he/him, she/her): 

Your roommate, and Citadel Health medicine intern. You and Eli have known each other since the beginning of medical school. Can come off as a bit of a slacker, but cares deeply about providing the best possible care to patients. Aspires to become a geriatrician.

Davy Jackson (they/them):

Fellow Citadel Health surgery intern. Very self-assured, very sassy. Has huge ambitions to become a leading surgeon of the NINO technique and isn’t afraid to hide them. Whether they’re your friend, frenemy, or enemy is up to you.

Jean Liu (she/her, he/him):

Resident (hah!) coffee-drinker, and Citadel Health medicine intern. Born and bred in the Bay Area, this is really their first time out of California (and they’re already regretting it…). Would love to do a fellowship in Pulmonology/Critical Care to become an ICU attending.

Victor/Victoria Uytterhoeven (he/him, she/her):

One of the chief surgery residents at Citadel Health. Strict, jacked, and full of angst.

Dr. Peter Grey (he/him):

Chief of NINO Surgery at Citadel Health, and one of the early pioneers of the NINO technique. Perfect for your McDreamy fantasies.

Dr. Ivy Sloan (she/her):

Medicine attending at Citadel Health. Smiles rarely. Compliments residents even more rarely. Perfect for your House fantasies.

DEMO || DISCORD || KO-FI || AO3 || COG FORUM PAGE

Citadel After Dark (Spicy Asks) || Citadel Ouch (Angsty Asks)

Citadel Short Snippets

DJ Citadel (Spotify Playlist)

Citadel Surgery Intern Class

Artists I’ve Commissioned

11/28/2021

Happy Sun-yay everyone!

I’m in the middle of residency interview season, so I apologize for this very delayed progress note + the sporadic posting.

1) Case 2: Chapter 2 is at 17,000+ words...and I’d say we’re about at the halfway point. Most of you indicated that you’d like the next chapter released all at once when it’s finished rather than my releasing it in two parts, so please bear with me haha!

2) Thank you for your patience regarding asks! I’m going to shoot for posting one ask per day, but no guarantees...

3) There are now 21 (!) fics on the AO3 Citadel page. Check out some amazing content written by very talented people. Link here!

4) Another shameless plug for the Discord! You can find short snippets from me, as well as amazing content in both art/writing from others. You might also occasionally find me hosting Chats with Bouncy, where I hop into voice-chat and engage in shenanigans.

5) Commissions are closed (thank you to those who bought them up!). But, if you’d like to donate to support my writing, feel free to visit my Ko-Fi link! Donations go to commissioning wonderful art, so if you’d like to see more art, click that donate button!

Cheers!

Banners made by the lovely and very, very talented @deflatedball​

500 notes • Posted 2021-01-22 15:39:31 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil turns the tide with Covid-19 vaccines

Brazil is one of the fastest vaccinating countries on the planet, after a late and chaotic start that continues to take its toll on President Jair Bolsonaro.

[Image description: woman receives a jab of the CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine from a healthcare worker at a drive-thru vaccination post in Brasilia on September 13, 2021.]

Despite a slow start plagued by much controversy that still haunts President Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's coronavirus vaccination campaign is now one of the fastest-paced and farthest-reaching in the world.

While boasting a globally renowned vaccination system, the country of 213 million people only started coronavirus inoculations in January, several weeks after the United States, many European countries and others in South America.

The rollout was delayed by political bickering under a president who belittled the pandemic and spread vaccine falsehoods, then hamstrung by logistical difficulties in the vast country.

But the country with the world's second-highest Covid-19 death toll – more than 588,000 fatalities reported to date – has seen its coronavirus vaccination rate pick up and its death rate tumble as imported jabs started arriving and local production began.

Continue reading.

[underthewingsofthblackeagle]

Omicron (V) - various reports

             The International Monetary Fund is warning that the new Omicron coronavirus variant is likely to delay the global economic recovery from the pandemic. The fund is expecting to downgrade its forecasts for world growth this year and next. That's even though the World Health Organization says it has no evidence yet of any deaths connected to Omicron. The new variant is spreading rapidly in many countries. South Africa in particular is seeing an alarming wave of infections. More young children are being hospitalized, and authorities are concerned that people who've already had COVID-19 are being reinfected. Healthcare workers in South Africa have their hands full since scientists there first detected the Omicron variant last week. And it's been found across South Africa. Just a quarter of the population has been fully vaccinated. But it is not clear yet how far the current vaccines protect against an infection with Omicron. South Africa's public health authorities warn that more children and young adults are being hospitalized with the coronavirus. Many countries have placed new restrictions on travelers from South Africa, and even shut borders. And the Scientists who alerted the world to the Omicron variant are facing a backlash at home. Face masks are mandatory, and there are limits on the number of people who can attend indoor and outdoor gatherings. But Omicron continues its invisible race across South Africa.

             The new Covid variant Omicron was present in the Netherlands earlier than previously thought, officials have said. It was identified in two test samples taken in the country between 19 and 23 November, which is before the variant was first reported by South Africa. It is not clear whether those who took the tests had visited southern Africa. Oxford University has said there is no evidence vaccines would not prevent severe disease, but earlier Moderna jolted markets when it said Covid jabs were unlikely to be as effective against Omicron.

             A top South African scientist says there has been a sharp rise in new cases in COVID-19 as the new variant omicron spreads across the country. But Dr Michelle Groome says more data is needed before any conclusions can be drawn about how infection and dangerous the variant is. So far omicron has been detected in over two dozen countries. It was first identified in Botswana and South Africa:  which has now been cut off from air travel by many nations. Here in Europe, the variant has been detected in at least thirteen countries, from Norway and Germany in the north, to Italy and Portugal in the south. Researchers say they will need 2 or 3 weeks to work out whether Omicron is more transmissible than the now-dominant Delta strain, resistant to vaccines, or causes more severe symptoms than previous coronavirus variants.

             THE World Health Organisation has said it expects to have more information on Omicron transmission 'within days', as the organisation calls for a 'balanced and proportionate approach' to tackling the variant. The WHO Director General, Doctor Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said blanket travel bans "will not prevent the international spread of Omicron", and also "place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods", as he called on calm. Whether the variant is more transmissible or evades vaccines are some of the major questions that still need answering. Vaccine developers have said it will take about two weeks to assess whether their shots are effective against it. Van Kerkhove said one possible scenario was that the new variant, which was first reported in southern Africa, may be more transmissible than the dominant Delta variant. She said it was not yet known if Omicron makes people more ill. WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said the agency believes the existing COVID-19 vaccines will work against the variant.

             The new COVID-19 variant Omicron was first identified by researchers in South Africa. But they point out that doesn't necessarily mean it originated there. It is more an indication of the country's prowess when it comes to gene sequencing.

[ricisidro]

#DOH reports 194 new cases today November 17 bringing the total nationwide caseload to 4,122,658 cases. ⬆️

#COVID19 #Philippines #PH

NCR accounted for 33.5% (65) of the country's cases while 129 (66.5%) of the day's cases are in the provinces.

In the NCR, only Quezon City had double digits cases with 20. Thirteen LGUs had low digits cases. Three LGUs had Zero COVID: Valenzuela, San Juan and Pateros.

Outside the NCR, the only province with double digits cases is Davao del Sur 10 (Davao City 9). All other provinces had low single digit cases or ZERO COVID.

Zero COVID deaths today. The total death toll remains at 66,746.

The active cases slightly decreased to 3,093 from 3,102 active cases yesterday.⬇️

The national positivity rate slightly decreased at 6.6% from yesterday's 6.8%.⬇️

The healthcare utilization rate remains at low risk.

Mask up correctly and stay in well-ventilated areas specially for the elderly and vulnerable groups. For additional protection against the threat of COVID-19, get the updated vaccine and booster jab. If you have symptoms - test and isolate.

Happy Friday ! Stay safe !

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[sigritandtheelves]

(II) Three Iterations of a Birth (and Death)

Part Two: Epiphany

PG-13 | 3.5k wds | s8 AU (Essence/Existence); angst with implied resolution

Summary: After William’s traumatic birth, a terrified Scully withdraws from Mulder.

A/N: Sorry it took 800 years. Part One, Tragedy, is here but you don’t need to read it (it’s another version of the story and very sad/dark).

—

Somewhere in this chain of events, Mulder had made some miscalculation. Rising threat put her in danger, and so he sent her away. If he could get her far from these monsters, from him, she might be okay. But then there had been the sea of headlights, too far from the highway, too near his destination to be anything but Them. From the air it had seemed a star or beacon. A light, he could say: he’d followed a light.

But to what?

The stink of blood was still in his nose. He’d held them. He’d held them both. Such tiny fingers reaching up and out of the blanket on her chest and he’d leaned forward to let them brush his nose. A clenching in his heart.

Soft words tried to come from her lips. “Mul... didn’t...”

He held her tighter and pressed his face to her hair. “They didn’t take him. He’s here. You’re here.”

She frowned and shook her head no. “You didn’t...” but it was too much for her and she drifted under again. He willed the pilot to fly faster. The sheet he’d wrapped around her was becoming damp and tacky with blood along its underside.

On the hospital’s helipad there was a frenzy of scrubbed healthcare workers, a gurney appeared, and he tried to answer questions as best he could.

Are you the husband?

He winced and ached. Mother and child were separated for treatment and he was kept from them both, shuffled to a blue plastic chair in some chilled waiting room in northern Georgia. Scully’s blood was on his jeans, dried and cracking on his fingertips. He recalled the small arm that reached from the blanket and he let his face fall into his hands.

—

In many years of his and Scully’s scuffles with rough-around-the-edges government mercenaries and violent semi-human teratological anomalies, Mulder had become well acquainted with pestering medical staff for information. He wasted no time getting to it now, but he realized something was wrong when their responses turned from annoyed to cold. No, they could not tell him about miss Scully’s condition, nor that of the child. No, he could not see her.

He had no FBI credentials to brandish at them and wore no wedding ring with which to legally pry. So he waited and paced and drank machine-processed coffee until he didn’t know what day it was.

Some eight or twelve cups later, he caught Monica Reyes at the vending machine and watched her stiffen when she saw him. He launched a barrage of questions at her. Where is she? Is she okay? What happened to the baby? I need to see her! Frown lines deepened on her forehead.

“She won’t see you,” she said.

Mild panic, a wave of dread at her words. He wanted to believe it was sympathy he saw in her face, but it could have been only tiredness. Finally, he managed, “Why not?”

Monica’s eyes were like daggers before she turned away. “She’s traumatized.”

“But she’s okay?”

She shoved a quarter into the vending machine with too much force. “What part of traumatized do you think is okay? She won’t sleep and won’t let go of the baby, not even to let her mother hold him.”

Mulder felt a jab in his heart. “Maggie’s here?”

The machine rumbled and a soda crashed to the bottom where Monica grabbed it. “She is. She doesn’t want to see you either.” With that, she gave him a look and walked back toward the room from which he’d been forbidden. He followed, but she halted quickly, one hand on the butt of her gun and the other held up to stop him. “No. She’s under FBI protection.”

“But I’m—“

Monica tilted her head, eyebrow raised, and his jaw hung open. He was what?

He was at a loss. Scully wouldn’t see him, wouldn’t let him see her, wouldn’t let him see the baby. Was there something wrong with it? Was the child sick? Was the child not a child?

His voice came out more ragged than he expected: “Is he okay? The baby?”

Her eyes softened, just a fraction. “Yeah. He’s fine.”

“I need to see them.”

But she shook her head, hand still on her gun, and left him behind.

—

“Mulder, I can’t help you. She told the staff not to let you in, and that’s her choice.”

“But why? Did she tell you why?”

There was a pause on the line and he could hear Skinner’s discomfort, his clenched jaw. “She’s afraid.”

“Of me?”

The sound was something like a sigh, half-choked. “Yes.”

Another long pause.

“She says you sent her to die.”

Mulder didn’t have any words after that, so he hung up.

—

He tried to imagine where he went wrong, where’d he fucked up first and hardest and most irredeemably. Going back to Oregon without her, maybe. He could have sensed then that something was wrong and changed everything. Little clues fell together in hindsight that, at the time, had felt only like encouragement: the sense of something huge—that he was onto something. He thought he’d been on the brink of real discovery, but it had turned out to be disaster.

It was re-entry, though, that he’d really fumbled. Driven by rage and confusion and this overwhelming sense of loss, he’d lashed out at the only person he felt he could really hurt. He’d been ripped away, and he came back to a different world. A different Scully. All he knew how to do was chase and fight, and he’d punished her for his lack of power.  

Alone, he sat in his darkened apartment, ruminating on what might have been. Three days he’d been sitting here, raging fruitlessly against his own solitude, replaying that last afternoon in Georgia. He pressed his fingers against his eyes like he could wipe the image away.

He’d stayed, despite the nurses’ warning, despite Skinner’s and Monica’s admonitions to go home. He couldn’t go until he’d seen her. Didn’t they understand that he couldn’t without seeing her face? Their faces: hers and the child’s. And he had—though only for a moment. He’d paced the hallways, stubble growing into a rough beard, circles growing under his eyes hour after hour until he’d finally caught sight of the trio of women in the far hallway—Scully in a wheelchair pushed by an orderly, Maggie and Monica behind.

“Sc—“ the sound croaked from his throat. He cleared it and tried again. “Scully!”

The woman in the wheel chair started, turned—and he caught the horrified look on her face. She held a bundle in her arms, he saw, and at the sight of him she gripped it tighter. There was none of the gentle recognition he expected. There’d been no misunderstanding: she was afraid of him. Terror was written all across her face and body.

No, he saw her mouth move. Her eyes were enormous, and almost in slow-motion he watched her try to lever herself out of the wheelchair, baby in arms. He watched her try to run, only to be held by the orderly, touched gently and comforted by her mother. (“Dana, it’s okay. You’re okay, he won’t take you anywhere.”)

Monica had turned in his direction, fury descending on her face as she stomped toward him. “Go!” She whisper-screamed, flinging her finger at him, shoving it at the exit behind him. “Get out of here! You’re scaring her!”

His chest filled with guilt and hot-lava shame. He’d wanted to call out to her again, wanted to say It’s ME, but he could see her panic and could not stand to think that he would make it worse. He stumbled back, catching the wall for balance, and then turned and hurried out of the hospital.

—

Most nights he couldn’t help it: he called Maggie’s house in fits of helpless desperation, needing anything to tie him to her, even the sound of her mother’s voice on the answering machine. Always the result was the same: a click before the machine could even connect.

After a week, Maggie finally picked up, voice sharp. “Fox, you can’t call here. It upsets her so much. She shakes every time the phone rings.”

“Thank you for answering,” he croaked. “I need to—I’m so sorry. I thought maybe she’d let me talk to her.”

There was quiet for a moment, and some rustling fabric on the other line. Then Maggie sighed. “She’s not well. She’s not herself.”

Mulder nodded, fingers gripping his hair and pulling at the short strands. “Why is she so afraid? What does she think I’ll do?” He spoke softly, like he might spook her, too, like he really was dangerous.

“She thinks you sent her to that place so those people would take the baby.” Maggie sighed. “She thinks you’ll send her away again… and that you don’t want her to keep him.”

He swallowed down fire and rubbed his unshaven face. He was looking rough, barely showered in the time since he’d driven home in a daze with his eyes burning the whole way. He let Maggie’s words sink in: that Scully thought he wanted the baby taken away. That she no longer trusted him with her life.

“You know that’s not true, right? She matters more to me than anything. She’s my… I need her.”

“She needed you! You should have stayed with her!” Maggie hissed.

He almost sobbed, desperate now and sensing that Maggie was pulling away. “I know. I know. I just—please talk to her and explain that I love her. I need her,” he said again.

A cold silence seeped through the line for a long moment. “Your son needs her too,” Maggie said, and then she hung up on him.

—

Two days later a cardboard envelope came in the mail, addressed in Scully’s handwriting. His pulse tripled at the sight of her arced cursive—his heart, the whole thing, squeezed so hard he couldn’t breathe. He was ripping at the envelope, pulling out the printed pages. Inside were the results of a DNA paternity test: perfectly straightforward, perfectly clear. With almost exact accuracy, it revealed that he, Fox Mulder, was the father of this entirely human child. He stared at the page until the numbers blurred. Probability of Paternity: 99.99%. Maternal alleles were counted as well. Nothing abnormal. Two human parents and one human child.

Shaking, reading the numbers over and over, he almost didn’t see the note she’d made in the left-hand margin: I ran these myself as soon as they’d let me into the lab. He’s yours. His name is William.

William. His son. Mulder didn’t make it back to his couch. He flopped down cross-legged in his foyer and let the paper slip from his hands. For two days he’d been haunted by Maggie’s words: your son needs her too. He knew everyone believed it already, had suspected and smirked and whispered about it for months, both before and after he returned. But he hadn’t allowed himself to believe such a thing could be true. His was a life of sacrifice and loss, near misses and furtive, stolen wins. No gift was ever without a price. This child could not have come into the world without some catch.

Yet here was the proof of this thing so simple. Here was his truth. Amongst of all their suffering—torture, abduction, disease, even death—they’d made something true and good. They’d loved each other, and from that had come an answered prayer. Yet he’d mistaken that answer for a curse, a trap. There was a tiny human in the world not because of cruelty, but because he’d finally let himself love. And from the moment he learned of this small life’s existence, he’d treated Scully like a bomb waiting to go off and reveal new deceptions.

He thought of her in that dark cabin in Georgia, screaming into the night, surrounded by strangers, bleeding into a filthy mattress. No wonder she was afraid of him.

It was long hours before he managed to get up.

—

Negotiations followed through Monica, whom he’d called in desperation: losing it, running on empty, a cracked shell. Please tell her I need to make things right.

Finally a concession: “She says you can come by, but not inside.”

“But she’ll see me?”

“Only at a distance. She’s still… she’s really scared, Mulder.”

So he drove to Maggie’s house and stood on the lawn in the June dusk. He’d showered and shaved, but cut his face with his shaking hands. He’d held toilet paper to his cheek on the drive, feeling unhinged, feeling mad with the need to see them. Monica was there too: fully armed for protection, nodding to Dana that it was safe. Scully came to the first-floor window with William in her arms. She held the boy where Mulder could see, her lips pressed to the back of his down-fuzzy head. Mulder’s breath caught. His baby. He was so much bigger already than he’d been in that helicopter. He wore a white onesie, and chubby legs poked out from his cotton-covered diaper. On his feet were the smallest socks Mulder had ever seen.

Mulder took a step closer and Scully startled, but didn’t quite back away. He lifted his hand to show her his empty palm. A gesture: It’s safe, you’re okay. In his other hand he held a stuffed elephant. He lifted that too, and danced its soft and smiling body. The infant squirmed, and Scully kissed his head again, bounced him a little. Mulder’s eyes burned, red-rimmed and teary. He sniffed.

When Scully gave him a nervous half-smile and backed away, he placed the toy elephant on the porch for her—for his baby William.

And then he drove home.

—

Later, on the phone, she let him speak, let him hear her voice.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he said. He paced circles in his dark apartment.

“You didn’t believe he was yours. You didn’t want him.”

“I do want him. Scully, I was so stupid. I didn’t know. I couldn’t believe.” He thought of those chubby legs and those little blue socks. He thought of kissing the fuzzy head like she had, of holding the small weight against his chest.

“Mulder, after everything… you couldn’t believe?”

“I never thought—“ he sighed. “No miracle has ever come without a price for us, Scully.”

“He’s a baby, not a pawn. We made him and now he’s here.”

“And that’s not a miracle?”

“Not a calculated one.”

Mulder paused, remembering the small eyes and expressive face that had bobbed in front of the window, Scully’s haunted eyes that had watched him so carefully. “Not calculated, not planned, but still wanted.”

Now it was her turn to pause, to breathe deeply and work up the courage before uttering shaky words: “Why did you send me to that place? Why did you send me away?”

He stopped pacing in his bedroom doorway, dropped his head against the solid frame. His words sounded empty, even to himself, but they were the only justification he had. “I thought I was protecting you.”

“You always think that.”

“I know.”

“You weren’t.”

“I know.”

He heard another deep breath through the line. “I was so scared, Mulder. They could have killed me. They could have killed him. What would you have done? How could you let me go?”

His face crumpled and his heart thudded against his ribs when he thought of her dead in that place, of their soft infant harmed by alien hands. “I don’t know. I--” He squeezed his eyes shut and smacked his head against the doorframe again. “I’m so sorry. I’d never do it again. I’d never send you away.”

She was crying quietly on the other end of the line, but trying to hide it. “I have to go,” she said.

His impulse was to stop her, to keep her on the line because he was so desperate for her voice, for her. He opened his mouth to say wait!, but thought better of it. He let her hang up.

“Bye, Scully,” he said when the line was dead.

--

It happened this way, that she’d let him call in the evenings. He would press the phone to his ear and close his eyes and pretend she was in the room with him. He listened to the baby fuss and asked questions: how big? How much hair now? (The answer was always almost none, and he would laugh.) Does it hurt when you feed him? Can I get him anything? He’s going to be so smart.

“I miss you, Scully,” he told her, as he did every night. “What can I do? What else can I do?” He was feeling the phantom texture of her skin beneath his fingers, the line of her jaw in his palm. He wanted to smell her hair again and kiss the curve of her shoulder. He would settle for holding her hands, for pressing his lips to her knuckles, for a palm to the dip of her clothed back. He’d not been so long without her in years.

“Talking is good,” she said. “I like talking. I like hearing your voice.”

He swallowed. He needed more. “How can I see you again?”

She hesitated a moment. “I don’t know. I--” she breathed deep. “I need you not to pull away again. Not to run away.”

He thought nothing could drag him from her now, if she’d only let him in. “I won’t,” he said. “I promise.” He recalled his careless antics of the spring on the oil rig, in that Federal Statistics Center, and wondered what he’d really been chasing. Running from. He winced to remember. “I want to stay with you both.”

On the other end of the line he heard a small cry, heard rustling and the infant’s fussing grow louder as she picked him up, and then the baby quieted again.

“He looks like me,” Mulder said.

Rustling fabric again then a soft suckling sound as William ate. A sniffle--Scully’s. “Yeah.”

“Let me come in next time. Let me hold him. Show me what to do.”

A deep, wet sigh and then… “Okay.”

—

There were three strong women in the house but it might as well have been an army for the way their protective energy formed a fortress. He would never dare breach their trust. He was humbled in the inner sanctum.

Dana held William on the sofa. He was wrapped in a striped blanket and sleeping against her arm, jaw slack and lips wet. She didn’t move as Mulder approached, though her eyes were wide and worried, like he might grab the baby and bolt at any moment.

“You used to trust me,” he reminded her. He fidgeted with nerves, aching to touch them both. He took in the blue of her eyes and the roundness of her face, the way her hair lay on her shoulders now--still so perfect. Still his Scully. “Hi,” he said.

The smallest smile flickered on her face. “Hi,” she said. She loosened her grip on the infant and lifted him slightly so Mulder might take him. He bent and took the blanketed child into his own arms.

When he finally held his son, Mulder couldn’t help the tears that pressed at his eyes, that burned his nose and wetted his lashes. Here was this tiny person. Here was this whole life wrapped in gauzy cotton. This had never been a game with players and pawns, he realized, but he’d let Them make him believe it was. It had always been about this: small lives that were also huge, that were everything.

He sank down on the couch beside Scully, holding William to his chest. The small sleeping face wrinkled, grimaced, then blinked awake and yawned--such tiny, perfect lips. Then somehow his own eyes were looking up at him, searching his face. A miniscule hand reached out of the blanket to touch his nose, and Mulder kissed the unbearably soft palm. “Hey, buddy,” he whispered.

After a moment, Scully shifted closer. He felt her hand come up to touch his back like an absolution.

“I’ve missed you,” she said.

A fat tear rolled down his cheek and he could only nod at first. “Yeah.” He sniffed and wiped his face on his shoulder. “God, you’ve no idea, Scully.”

Her cheek came to rest on his bicep as she reached across to touch William’s head. The warmth of it, the weight of his child in his arms, were bringing him back to life.

“Stay with us,” she said, barely a whisper.

Mulder turned from looking at the baby to search her face. Her wide eyes yearned. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, then rested his head on hers. “Forever,” he said. “This is it.”

[meloncubedradpops]

Repo! The Corona Opera: Final Countdown

This is the third and final installment of Repo: The Corona Opera. In the first piece, I made the argument that the surreal events we are experiencing in 2020 remind me of the world in the movie Repo! the Genetic Opera. My second essay compared the characteristics of fascism with the same movie. Here we will tie together ideas in both works to highlight a dark path that America is on, based on what we know about Repo!, in the hopes that we can reject the evils of those who are sacrificing our health and safety for their own selfish reasons. 

When I began thinking about this movie through the lenses of COVID-19, I saw uncanny patterns that just years ago seemed like an exaggerated storytelling. Millions of people dying from organ failure. Yeah, but how? 

Then 2020 happened. Oh, that's how. Sure the disease doesn't affect everyone in the same way, but its wrath and potential to harm are tremendous. The death toll in the United States alone is, as of today, is 231,000. At least, that is the death toll we are know so far. It will take time when the dust settles and we can analyze the excess death data to truly know how many of our fellow Americans have died. 

And while our world does not currently emulate those opening comic scenes in Repo, the impact from the sudden loss of life will be felt for a long time. There are a lot of really great themes in Repo: the concept of the family, drug addiction, the impact of corporate monopolies, and let's not forget it's a gothic coming-of-age story too. I am going to highlight three concepts that weave together our current reality with the world of Repo: the parallels of the Trump and Largo family, the Graverobber as the symbolic "other", and organ repossessions is genocide.

As mentioned in my previous entry, I highlighted the ways that Rotti Largo is a fascist. I went into detail supporting the argument that his company GeneCo holds tremendous and unyielding power in the city we see in the movie. And despite his efforts to save humanity from extinction, his assumed heirs and blood-related children are nothing short of entitled mediocrity. I will draw many parallels between President Donald Trump and Rotti Largo throughout the duration of this essay, but let's take a few minutes to talk about their children. Believe it or not, this meme was made by myself and my friend FOUR years ago, almost to the day! 

But unlike 2016, I had no idea that I'd find multiple comparisons to draw upon. And frankly, if we all knew how bad this presidency would be, for both America and the rest of the world, we might have made less jokes from our complacency. I ask the the real question though, which Trump and Rotti offspring are most alike?

Now, I've wanted to do this thought exercise since the inception of my essays. The surface level combinations would look something like, Amber and Ivanka (since they're both women, obvs), Donald Trump JR as Luigi (oldest child), and Eric Trump as Pavi ("you're just his useless brother!"). 

However my boyfriend raised a great point that had me rethink this: Donald Trump Jr is ACTUALLY Amber Sweet. When I took out the gender aspect out of the equation, it made so much more sense. In my next point, I will go into drug addiction in a much more dignified manner. But let's just take a moment here to consider the following. 

We know that Amber Sweet is addicted to two things in life: surgery and pain killing drugs to make surgery bearable. Amber Sweet's character provides an incredible insight to the daily life of the people in Repo. If you subtract the Zydrate Anatomy scene, you would hardly even know that zydrate is devastating lives of the people addicted to it. We hear about zydrate in the graveyard as a commercial and the media spends its first opportunity asking Rotti about zydrate's "use and abuses". After Sweet becomes a no-show in the presser, we quickly learn that she runs a support group for fellow addicts, or at least she is supposed to. 

How does this relate to Trump Jr? Quite simply, many are speculating that Trump Jr abuses cocaine. The most compelling evidence is his speech during the Republican National Convention. Now, obviously we don't have solid evidence that he is indeed consuming and abusing cocaine, and quite frankly if he is, that would not be incredibly surprising or even a huge deal. 

But the conversation doesn't end here. President Donald Trump did not hesitate to bring up former vice president Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden and his battle with addiction during the first Presidential Debate. It was a low jab, especially considering that the United States is going through a crippling opioid crisis, which he even admits is exacerbated by covid-19 and related lockdowns. Both Donald Trump and Rotti Largo exploit their own children in this manner. I mean, Donald Trump helped fucked up the Trump Foundation where his children were held prominent positions, which was caught stealing from a charity intended to help children with cancer! Every time we see Donald Trump Jr on our doom-screens, we get another glimpse into Jr's downward spiral. And with every additional crime that all of president Trump's children become implicated in, the more and more we can see that this family is rotten to the core. 

If Trump Jr is Amber Sweet, then Ivanka is Luigi. In Repo, Luigi can be described as nothing short of a homicidal maniac. I am not saying that Ivanka commits murder, at least not directly, but she does hold a lot of power in the White House. Spend any time learning about the machinations of the White House, particularly in the early days, and you will learn Ivanka competed with Melania for a voice in the administration, and still works for the White House today. Even if you exclude all of the shady business ties, such as the dozens of Chinese patents (including for voting machines!!!) Ivanka has filed, clearly the boundaries of nepotism do not exist for this family. Luigi somehow kills multiple people in the movie and faces no consequences for it. How can this be? Obviously corruption, but that is too simple. If there were multiple checks and balances at one point that would have forced Luigi to face justice for his crimes, they have obviously failed to come to roost in the movie. The obvious common denominator between today and the world of Repo is that those who want power will do anything to obtain and maintain it. Does the public know about every murder committed by Luigi? Does the public know about every crime committed by Ivanka (and also by proxy her husband Jared Kushner, who by the way, failed to pass mandatory security clearances but still has access to the intelligence of our government)? Jared intentionally made it difficult for many of the states hit hardest by covid-19 in the early weeks to acquire the necessary medical supplies because the electorate did not vote for Trump in 2016. That. IS. MURDER. Just as Luigi calls the common citizens in Repo "filthy mice", “Jrvanka” (and the Right at greater) frames the nation as two groups: us and THEM. Luigi is much less calculated, but the comparisons are there. If given the chance, the Trump and Largo family will kill because of their sociopathy, greed, and egos. 

Admittedly I don't have as compelling of a comparison for Eric Trump and Pavi. However I will say that both Pavi and Eric do the bidding for their father's empire, and I would also argue that both feel like they have to compete to get a modicum of attention and love from a paternal figure devoid of basic empathy. And at the end of the day, they do not reject their father's tyranny. And honestly that is enough of a comparison for me. 

Last but not least, I can't ignore the fact that the official Republican Party platform for the 2020 election is loyalty to Trump in the absence of any other political or philosophical idea. A majority of the speakers at the Republican National Convention were members of his family. Their pitch to Americans is “Just Trust Us”. However, a quarter million Americans aren't here to agree or disagree with that statement. With each passing day, more and more Americans are getting sick, to the tune of tens of thousands of cases a day on average currently. The Largo family and GeneCo are not much different. Remember that scene in 21st Century Cure where Shilo and Graverobber are in a mass grave where we can see truck loads of humans being added to the pile of corpses? 

The only real thing separating the corpses from the rest of the city is a poorly constructed brick wall and the years of propaganda that normalizes what I imagine would be a terrible pungent smell of death. 

The entire Trump family came into the first presidential debate without masks. The president was literally sick with a virus that statistically speaking, could kill his opponent; and he was on stage shedding this incredibly contagious virus screaming and shouting, spreading his droplets everywhere. The Trump family failed to show up early enough to be tested for covid before the debate. 

This was not an accident. Jared Kushner bragged to journalist Bob Woodward back in April that Trump was going to take the country "back from scientists". As of this past weekend, we learned that Trump is floating around the idea of firing our nation's leading disease expert Anthony Fauci in a time where our cases, deaths, and hospitalizations from covid-19 are surging. It is almost grotesquely poetic how similar this is to GeneCo. GeneCo is a company in the healthcare industry, but they exploit the worst parts of society, which I will go into very soon. And in its effort to achieve maximum quarterly profits, the ends always justify the means, even if that results in fascism and excess death/suffering. Rotti's body guards kill the doctor who gives him his grim diagnosis. Trump didn't kill the doctors treating him during his recovery with covid, but information we got from the White House doctors were straight up WEIRD. We witnessed a Gentern being killed by Luigi in the Mark It Up Scene for no other reason besides existing in the proximity of him. Trump has spread misinformation about how there's more money to be made when a doctor declares a death as a covid death. I am finding it hard to see the difference. I think I've made my point regarding the parallels of the Trump and Largo family quite clearly, but you may see additional points I bring up as the rest of my essay unfolds. 

Society is complex with more nuance than we give it credit to. The different ways that various groups of people interact with are endlessly interesting, and one of the reasons I love Repo so much is because there's an incredible amount of unpacking that you can do, even in the absence of written dialogue about it. 

If you don't know, Repo started out as a story originally penned as "The Necromerchant's Debt", which gave the Graverobber character a more active role in the world crafted by Darren Smith and Terrace Zdunich. When watching the movie Repo! The Genetic Opera, the Graverobber is certainly a character seen in multiple scenes, but in a lot of ways, his importance is left out. An entire scene was cut from the film, see Needle Through a Bug below if you're interested. 

Regardless the parts that we do see are still greatly impactful. Graverobber is essentially the symbolized "other" living in a world that is greatly stratified by social class, and he's doing what he can to survive. 

Now if you have been living on this planet we call Earth and have ever paid attention ever, you probably have noticed that there are a lot of power structures that influence the resources and opportunities that aid in our development and maintenance of our needs. The access to being able to elevate ourselves above basic survival are typically contingent upon a few things, one namely our ability to draw a paycheck. As I mentioned in my last essay, so many things went wrong to have what would equivalently be either a drug trafficking felony in today's terms or maybe theft, result in permissible extra-judicial murder. And I am not saying that Trump's bragging of the extra-judicial murder of an ANTIFA activist is at all related, but look at the way Trump compares his dissidents with the way GeneCo treats Graverobbers.

 We are experiencing the early stages of economic collapse, millions of people are hungry, soon-to-be evicted, jobless. And yet, the Republicans in power just HAD to rush through a Supreme Court justice. When arguing against lockdowns that would have saved lives, the Right spent countless hours arguing about increase suicide, drug use, poverty, domestic abuse, blah blah blah, you know all the things that were there and as equally as important pre-pandemic? And they did NOTHING to help mitigate this disaster beyond the bill that was passed this spring. The house passed the HEROES Act back in May, and senate majority leader Mitch McConnel declined to take a vote on it. 

Never mind the fact that landlords are still expected to pay the banks their mortgages on their investment properties. Never mind the fact that rent wasn't cancelled. Never mind that the Trump administration sought to prevent any oversight into the first bill passed previously to prosecute fraud. So you know, we can make sure the money went to small business owners, and not instead to the many, many crony ties to the administration who were approved for huge amounts of money. Honestly to think about this is kind of sickening, particularly when you relate it back to Repo and my essay I wrote on fascism.

I could probably talk all day about our failure with the "War on Drugs", but I feel like you can probably see based on the efficacy of its policies that drugs still exist and people are still abusing them. I bring this up because the Graverobber's occupation is essentially a drug dealer. However he sells a counterfeit of zydrate derived from the body of a bug who naturally borrow in a corpse's body, which is and also isn't stealing from the corpse / their estate, but is somehow still "bad" enough that you can legally be killed "on site" if a Gene Cop thinks you're harvesting the blue brain goo. I mean this entire concept makes my brain hurt. 

The Graverobber, as a concept, is a perfect example of the enemy who is simultaneously the biggest and the least threat, and the only way to stop them is to kill them before they can appeal before the jury of their peers or go to prison to pay for their crimes. And I am sure the propaganda that justifies this is beautifully orchestrated. It literally mimics Russian propaganda, AKA the biggest foreign intelligence threat since, I don’t know, the Cold War? I can picture authoritarian stump speeches now: 

"Here the Graverobber who comes in the night, tempting your children. They sell the promise of a good time, but did you know they are raping your daughters for this drug?? They can get your husband hooked on zydrate, and you won't know it's coming until he comes home unrecognizable. These thugs are stealing your grandmother's ring off her corpse, and you will find her half-rotted corpse thrown askew across her tombstone when you go to pay your respects."

And yet Graverobber defends himself:

"Industrialization has crippled the globe (Enjoy GeneCo's day and nighttime formula of Zydrate) Nature failed as technology spread (Ask a gentern if Zydrate is right for you) And from this wake a market erected (Buying Zydrate from an unlicensed source is illegal) An entire city built on top of the dead! And you can finance your bones And your kidneys For every market a submarket grows But best you be punctual With making your payments Lest it be you on the concrete below It's quick! It's clean! It's pure! It could change your life! Rest assured! It's the 21st century cure! And it's my job To steal and rob GRAVES!" 

He then goes into detail about how this is just the cost of doing business with his modern world. How many of our current and future stories by those who will not make a single sentence in our history books will be casted as enemies of the state who were ultimately just trying to make end's meet? You can deport the illegal immigrant but neglect to prosecute the American company who hired them to work here? How is that much different? If the people in Repo need this drug to cope with the deaths of their loved ones and their livelihoods, then what does that say about the soul of their nation? 

If you are still with me at this point, I want to thank you so much. I am going to conclude on a fairly heavy topic, but it is one worth having. Organ repossessions in Repo are genocide and in America, we are currently also committing genocide. 

The whole premise of the film is the justification that those who fail to make payments on their surgeries deserve to have their organs repossessed, because what other reality is there with unrelenting end-stage capitalism? People are losing their whole lives as I type this, through no fault of their own. Most Americans cannot afford a $400 emergency expense pre-covid-19. Millions are unable to pay for basic life expenses, such as rent, healthcare or food. Our president specifically shoved a Supreme Court justice because he wants the American Healthcare Act to be deemed too unconstitutional for public policy. Never mind the 100+ million Americans with pre-existing conditions. Never mind the millions who acquire their healthcare through the ACA marketplace. Never mind the fact that we are in a once-in-a-century PANDEMIC. Never mind that we spend more per capital on healthcare than anywhere else in the world. Never mind that the Right does not have ANY sort of plan to replace something in its place. How could MILLIONS die in an organ failure crises in Repo anyways? We already know that the Trump administration already stopped caring about covid deaths when we learned it was hurting people of color disproportionality than the general population. 1 out of 1000 black Americans have died from covid. Reread that sentence. If you don't believe me, go out and seek those facts for yourself. When we think of genocide we think of Hitler killing thousands of people via gas chambers. But there are SO many other steps that lead to the normalization of that. 

Undesirables, aka the "others", are easy to discard. Is it a surprise to anyone that ICE gynecologists are removing the uteruses of detainees? I almost made my whole essay about that one controversy alone. Genocide is insidious like that. 

"Oh but if she didn't want that hysterectomy, she shouldn't have tried to come to America for a better life, even if that's what my ancestors did." 

Of course not, she's the "other", and you're the law-abiding citizen. You were able to afford the extra $30 a month for the upgraded booby package that gave an otherwise unremarkable kidney transplant a fun twist by including breast implants. The orphan who works the streets because his parents died during the plague who needed a new pancreas because insulin became too expensive is threatening your suburbs. Bonus points if the orphan has a hint of melanin in his skin or if your daughter shows favor towards his antics, completely ignoring the fact that his mommy and daddy were killed by preventable disease. I have no idea if this was intentional or not, but look at the makeup of people who get their organs repossessed in Repo and try not to tell me there's a trend. Yes it could have been the coincidence of casting, but nevertheless it is worth mentioning. We don't see many people of color in this movie, but of the few we see, they get murdered by GeneCo/Wallace. And I don't care how stupid coincidences are because that is exactly what is happening with covid-19. The so-called essential, working class citizens (who are disproportionally POC) are putting their whole life on the line to serve everyone else who works at home. 

The ends justifies the means, kill enough elderly and the federal government won't have to pay out on social security. Force everyone to get back to work and fuck you if you think you deserve money for the hours you weren't allowed to work (oh and by the way we want to make it so you can't sue for covid-19 related liabilities). Oh you lost your job, "try something new", as told by Ivanka Trump earlier this summer. 

My main point is if you let fascism get control, they will normalize genocide and put you in jail for even making the connections of corruption. "Millions of people dead from organ failure, what's adding a few more to the pile in the name of law and order?" "The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat". Once again, I am failing to see the difference. 

Okay I threw a lot at you just now, and the fact you made it to the end is a miracle. If you skip around because you have a squirrel brain like me, I thank you as well. The fact we get out of bed everyday and do anything right now is a miracle and I know attention can be finite. 

I am writing this on the eve of the United States General election after having wanting to write this since June of this year. I am tired. We are ALL Shiloh right now. Our lives have been on pause. "I must be brave", "I'll capture it", "Run back inside". Yeah girl, same! I haven't talked about her much throughout any of my essays, but I have to give credit where credit is due. 

Humans are a resilient creature. We have millions of years of experience on this Earth, and much of our survival has been based on pure dumb luck. But we have blown so many other species out of the water in one way alone, and that is our ability to communicate. 

We don't have to let people who exploit our weaknesses control us. The sociopaths who try and run our society did not historically aid in our survival. They didn't care if we ate the mushroom that killed us or would have protected us when threatened by wildlife, it was our tribe. The Right has successfully hijacked that bond between the self and the tribe so that it can fit the needs of sociopathy and greed. It is not normal for a president to tell a nation that "it is what it is" when over 100k citizens die from a preventable disease. Do not let the sociopaths throw us in that tiny pine box in a mighty small drop in a mighty dark plot, hastening the trip to our epilogue. Because every inch you give, they will take a mile and charge you by the hour. Never forget that.

[jordanianroyals]

14 January 2021: King Abdullah II, Prince El Hassan bin Talal and Crown Prince Hussein received the COVID-19 vaccine, at the Royal Medical Services clinic, at the Royal Hashemite Court. 

Jordan’s nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign began on 13 January with elderly people and healthcare workers given priority for the jabs.  

A total of 29 vaccination centres across the Kingdom began receiving people with health officials saying that around 5,000 people will be vaccinated daily as per the campaign's first phase.

The first to receive the vaccine in the country was retired Lt. Gen.  Dawood Hanania, former director of the Royal Medical Services. In remarks to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Hanania urged Jordanians to take the jab, saying it is safe and accredited by international research centres. (Source)

Health Minister Nathir Obeidat was quoted in the Jordan News Agency,Petra, as saying that the vaccination programme was progressing smoothly, adding that the elderly and healthcare workers to be given priority for the vaccine.  

The government has launched an online registration platform for people to register for vaccination. Brig. Gen. Mazen Faraiah, head of the coronavirus cell at the National Centre for Security and Crisis Management, said Wednesday that 68,000 people will be vaccinated as part of the campaign's first phase, adding that a total of 201.144 people have already registered to take the jab.

Jordan received earlier this week the first shipments of the China-UAE Sinopharm vaccine and the US-German Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

During a press conference on Sunday, Obeidat said that the amounts of contracted COVID-19 vaccines are enough for 20 per cent of the Kingdom’s population, urging everyone to register and get vaccinated.

An 88-year-old woman received the first shot of the coronavirus vaccine in Aqaba, following the arrival of the China-UAE Sinopharm and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines earlier this week.

Director of Aqaba Health Directorate Saeb Hiyasat said that the medical personnel in the port city began administarting the shots to citizens at 9:00am, adding that vaccination campaign will be of “immeasurable” contributions towards restoring normal life.

The first one to get vaccinated in Madaba was Abdulmahdi Maayah, 91, who expressed relief after taking the jab, urging citizens to register for the vaccine, Petra reported.

Fifteen COVID-19 deaths and 1,122 virus cases were recorded in the Kingdom on Wednesday, increasing the caseload to 310,968, the government announced.

The new fatalities took the Kingdom’s coronavirus death toll to 4,091, according to a joint statement issued by the Prime Ministry and the Ministry of Health.

[thethirdlifecrisis]

On the 21st June I had my second shot of #AstraZeneca. I'm proud to say my 5G chip has been fully upgraded with speeds faster than the NBN! Jokes aside, I'm thrilled I'm fully vaccinated! As a 30 something who works in healthcare I was fortunate to get the vaccine as part of phase 1B. I got my first shot of AstraZeneca before ATAGI changed their vaccine recommendation to #Pfizer for people below the age of 60. I could've waited a few weeks to get Pfizer instead, but balancing the tiny blood clot risks vs the massive benefits, it was an easy choice to still get the AZ jab. After my first shot, I experienced chills, fatigue, sore arm and headache. After my second, all the same except chills. It's been a few weeks now and I'm still kicking and super glad I'm protected from severe disease, the risk of hospitalisation and death! If you're able and eligible, go get the jab. If you're below 40 and locked down in Sydney, speak with your GP about AstraZeneca. Protection from any vaccine is better than 0 protection at all. Just 2 days ago, a 38 year old lady died from COVID in Sydney. She had no underlying health conditions. This isn't a disease that just affects the old. If you're vaccinated, YAY! Feel free to repost these graphics on your socials and tell others of your vaccine experience! We need all able Australians to get the jab, so that we can crush COVID! Also why not get my cute vaccine pin and wear it proudly! May it spark conversations and encourage others to get the jab! #sydneylockdown #sydneylockdown2021 #melbournelockdown #melbournelockdown2021 #melbournelockdown5 #vaccinatedaf #vaccinationdone✔️ #ᴠᴀᴄᴄɪɴᴇssᴀᴠᴇʟɪᴠᴇs #covidvaccine #jabdone #getthejab #vaxxed #rollupsa #rollup4WA #seconddose #stickittocovid #vaccinationdone #shotgirlsummer #shotgirlwinter #vaccinationday2021 #notthrowingawaymyshot #thisisourshot #firstjab #secondjab #vaxxed #provaxxer #pfizergang https://instagr.am/p/CRzkcVssBcF/