#I have a lot of high hopes for this campaign

[wearepaladin]

After Action Report #1 for Baldur’s Gate: City of Blood, a fusion campaign of Descent into Avernus and Curse of Strahd. It went very well and I have high hopes for next week’s game.

Welcome to Baldur's Gate. Our destined crew, drawn by their own goals, or other focused hands, find themselves coming together on the outskirts of the City of Blood. 4 came together by the way of the Chionthar, the mighty river that provides the lifeblood for many cities in the Heartlands of Faerun. An acrobatic but perhaps overly ambitious elf named Aquila, a daring druid disciple of the stars named Tyche, a wily gunslinger with a debonair façade called Nero and their desperate for approval assistant, Huxley the Owlin, and one half drowned noble named Catherine from Waterdeep, rising to breath fresh air after being in yet deeper water.

Elsewhere, the gnome Sergeant Andreth Mykonia kept watch on the outskirts of the city, A joyful dancer named Penelope endeavors to keep their heart light in a grim metropolis, and Hulst, a young crimson knight of the god of mercy finds themselves being drawn forces beyond their control, be it kind strangers, desperate warriors or the desperate in need.

(In other words, the Dungeon Master had several vignettes for everyone to flex their newly made characters into being, and illustrate how they all arrived in Baldur’s Gate. It was very fun, and thanks to Nero’s player, I made a new character on the spot who might become my favorite example of “yes, and ?” Storytelling I’ve done in a long time. I imagine we will all grow to love Huxley the Owlin)

They arrive from various points to the great bridge of Wyrm's Crossing, the main thoroughfare to Baldur’s Gate from the land, and find themselves to be!the right people in the wrong place when a prisoner kept bound in an encapsulated metal box, a person known only to a few among you as Viekang, a dangerous murderer empowered by Bhaal himself, Lord of Murder, on his way to the city. Their skills pooled together when fellow disciples of the murderous god attempted to orchestrate Viekang's liberation. With only a few injuries among the assembled individuals, they managed to foil the attempted liberation of Viekang.

In the aftermath, the newly assembled group is brought back to Wyrm's Rock Fortress, which found itself under assault in what appears to have been a coordinated effort, the Bhaalites defeated but at cost of a 1/3 of the garrison from the surprise attack. Set to be questioned, the crew waits only to hear a tumble of metal and the cracking of a shell as a red wyrmling broke free of a long stasis from a mysterious box that had been found earlier in the adventure, its young bright eyes meeting the party for the first time. We'll have to wait until next time to see what happens next.

NPC's introduced this session: Ireena and Ismark, a pair of apparent siblings who find themselves the sole surviving wardens of the murderer Viekang, and despite doing well for themselves in the fight, likely would have been killed if not the presence of this group of 7 strangers...

Huxley the Owlin: A former accountant turned devoted manservant of Nero, Huxley is devoted to their master and wants to impress them and learn to thrive in this new life they find themselves in. It's a work in progress.

Greer the Iron Merchant: A trader coming into Baldur's Gate with his family for the yearly caravan.

Chieftain Tugush: An old orc chief who remembers the value of mercy, who hopes the best for the young paladin he encountered.

Corporal Smiley: A friend of Sergeant Mykonia, his fate unknown.

Private Green: A now shellshocked private for the Flaming Fist, his first day on assignment having devolved into a nightmare.

Galvan: The leader of a group of deep gnome refugees hoping to start a new life in Baldur's Gate

Viekang: A mysterious prisoner wanted by one of the Grand Duke's of Baldur's Gate, Dead or Alive. Denied rescue by cultists of Bhaal.

An infant red dragon wyrmling: Newborn and nameless, a child of the most feared breed of dragon in the realms. Who knows who they'll grow to be?

(And with that, our first session came to an end, everyone excited for yet more to come)

[janamensch]

Sight of the Grave (what Shadow sees when she looks at Xiiki)

[prisonhannibal]

Families in Gaza are starving because of Israel blocking resources from entering. The consequences of childhood starvation are severe and deadly, both immediately and long term. Malnutrition weakens your immune system and leaves you more vulnerable to infectious diseases, and makes it harder for your body to fight the illness, so the chance of severe illness from common illnesses is higher. Even completely treatable illnesses can kill you when you’re starving and don’t have access to medical care. This combined with lack of clean and safe drinking water is extremely dangerous, especially for the children. Malnutrition stunts your growth, affects your development and heightens risk of serious health problems for the rest of your life. Being underweight and suffering from malnutrition makes you cold more easily, and more vulnerable to hypothermia.

Can you imagine as a parent having to witness your child suffering like this? Fearing for your children’s lives from what would usually be a relatively minor illness? Hearing them cry from hunger because the occupation is starving them? This is every parents worst nightmare, but for Ahed this is reality.

Ahed has three beautiful young daughters under 10 years old. 9 year old Fatima “the closest to (Ahed’s) heart and my little one”, 6 year old Iman “the friendly, kind, and loving child who is loved by everyone” and little Nour, who is only one year old and has barely got to experience peace in her short life.

He campaigns every day to get attention for his campaign to feed them and keep them warm and hopefully evacuate when the border opens. We have the power to help Ahed and his little children survive this. Food prices in Gaza are extremely high and it’s difficult to even get water. Ahed and his family do not have adequate shelter from the cold. Donations can help him buy food and clothing and blankets for his children to keep them warm in the winter They’re already suffering so much from the sounds of bombs and repeated displacements, starvation and infectious diseases is another cruel consequence of the occupations genocide in Gaza.

I know he is scared and exhausted from asking for help for this, but he keeps going because his children are his whole world, and like any parent he would do anything to save them. This is his hope. I believe it’s our job, as the people who support and care about palestinians lives, to make sure the people who reach out for help know that the world hasn’t forgotten them. Please show Ahed that the compassionate people of the world will help him

they only have €7,153 raised out of the 40,000 goal. Anything you send will help a lot ❤️

DONATE HERE + VETTING (#229 on the spreadsheet)

@vampiricvenus @appsa @heritageposts @nabulsi @dirhwangdaseul @tamamita @butchniqabi @autisticmudkip @finalgirlabigailhobbs @sawasawako @khanger @neechees @loumandivorce @cuntylouis @jdon @dlxxv-vetted-donations @beserkerjewel @handweavers @socalgal @anneemay @pikslasrce @deepspaceboytoy

[arolesbianism]

Alright boys pack it up no more rain world posting new oni dlc is coming out in less than a week

[tamamita]

Please help Nader!

I don't often ask for this, but this out of urgency.

This post is on behalf of Nader @abdalsalam1990, as I have a large following which could help it get traction.

This campaign has been vetted! (#4 on the list) and the photos above confirm the legitimacy of this gofund.

Nader is 17 years old and his family is in Gaza facing dire circumstances. Food is scarce, prices are high, and there are shortages in water. They, like countless others suffering during this war, have already had to relocate many times, and their home is destroyed. They do not have enough money to safely relocate right now, or a stable source of income, as places of work have been destroyed.

Nader had just lost their uncle to the vile Israeli occupiers, and they're desperately asking for donations. Any amount of money can help Nader and his family escape this destruction.

They're not asking for much, just €10 should suffice!

This campaign currently has (as of the time I write this post) €13,575 out of €50,000 raised, with 783 donations

I have donated myself and I know a lot of my followers can afford to donate at least something. It's not a hard donation process, so I hope you take a moment of your day to show some support.

@90-ghost @heritageposts @gazavetters @neechees @butchniqabi @fluoresensitive @khanger @autisticmudkip @beserkerjewel @furiousfinnstan @xinakwans @batekush @appsa @nerdyqueerr @butchsunsetshimmer @biconicfinn @stopmotionguy @willgrahamscock @strangeauthor @bryoria @shesnake @legallybrunettedotcom @lautakwah @sovietunion @evillesbianvillain @antibioware @akajustmerry @dizzymoods @ree-duh @neptunerings @explosionshark @dlxxv-vetted-donations @vague-humanoid @buttercuparry @sayruq @malcriada @sar-soor @northgazaupdates2 @feluka @dirhwangdaseul @jdon @ibtisams @sawasawako @memingursa @schoolhater @toesuckingoctober @waskuyecaozu @lapithae @ryo-yamada @opencommunion

Please help sharing this Gofund around, they are very desperate and need as much help as possible!

[aboalwaleed]

Save My Family from Death and Destruction in Gaza

My name is Rami Walid, I am 38 years old, and I am married to Amani Ahmed. We have six children: Maha, Hiba, Walid, Mohamed, Ahmed, and Ibrahim 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦. I also take care of my disabled father, Walid Mohamed, and my elderly mother, Maha Asaad 👵👴.

When the war in Gaza started, we began moving from one place to another in the north, fleeing the destruction and death 💔💥. One day, in a heart-wrenching moment 💔, I was arrested in front of my children, who watched me being taken away without knowing my fate. I was sent to Sde prison, where I was detained for 45 days. During this difficult time, my family didn’t know if I was alive or if I had been killed 🕊️.

After those agonizing days, I was released with a group of other prisoners through the Kerem Shalom crossing and taken to Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital in southern Gaza for treatment after the torture we endured 🏥. I spent five days in the hospital, suffering physically and emotionally 😔.

When I regained consciousness and strength, I found myself in southern Gaza, while my family was still trapped in the north 🛑. I couldn’t reach them or help them as they suffered from extreme poverty, lack of food, and insecurity 🥺🍞. My disabled father and young children were unable to move or escape the continuous bombing 🔥. Meanwhile, I was stuck in the south, completely powerless to help them.

Our home was completely destroyed 🏚️, and we were left homeless. My family is living under unbearable conditions, constantly fleeing from one area to another in northern Gaza to escape the bombings. There is no medicine, no food, and no safe shelter 😢🌍. As for me, I lost my source of income and can no longer provide any financial support for them. As a father, I feel utterly helpless 😞.

My only hope now is to bring my family from the north to the south so we can reunite 💔🙏. However, this is incredibly difficult. My disabled father requires special care and transport, which costs a lot of money 💸. I have tried reaching out to international and humanitarian organizations, but the cost of moving them, especially considering my father’s condition, is extremely high.

After reuniting with my family, my next goal is to register them for travel to a safe place outside Gaza through the Rafah crossing. But the high coordination fees, which range between €5000-€7000 per person, make this nearly impossible for me 🛫. I need your support to help save my family from this nightmare.

All I ask for is a chance to save their lives, to bring them to safety far from this daily nightmare we are living. We are losing hope 😔, but I still believe there are people out there who can help us 🤲.

Please, help us restore our hope, so I can save my family from death and destruction 💔🙏.

My campaign vetted :

✅️Vetted by @gazavetters , my number verified on the list is ( #210 )✅️

[rehabsh98]

⚠️A Children's innocence is killed every day in Gaza !⚠️

No diapers or milk for Gaza's children !!

The voices of the people in Gaza are rising to express their suffering from the problem of the shortage of diapers and milk for their children, as many families are no longer able to provide these basic requirements for infants due to the high prices, which poses a great danger to their lives and health due to the Israeli aggression and the lack of aid entering Gaza through the crossings due to their closure.

The prices of basic necessities for children are beyond the reach of any citizen. They have exceeded the imagination of the human mind.

Gaza has no work... Gaza has no monthly income...

I ask you to help my little boy Riyad, who is 4 months old, to provide for his needs. We are in dire need of you and your support...

We are only strong with you and your standing by our side...

I hope you see my account and see what we are suffering from, a new displacement and new tents. We are now sleeping in the street, me and my little child. He is suffering a lot. I don't know what awaits us. Our situation is very bad and difficult. It is truly tragic.

I hope you help us with your donations, even if they are small. Don't forget us.

We are in a difficult situation and my little child cannot (ayham)bear it. I wish I had given him a better life than this, but he is not well now. He cannot enjoy his life or play like other children. He has become very afraid and cries a lot. I hope you help us and give us hope again. We need you and your constant support. I hope you look at us again and feel what we feel and what we live.

Perhaps your donations will be the reason for saving my life and the life of my little child. I hope you always remember us and do not forget us.

My heroic friends who support the Palestinian cause... Today, after we have lost hope in this world, I ask you to help us and stand by🇵🇸❤️

@khanger @buttercuparry @a-shade-of-blue @ana-bananya @sayruq @sar-soor @appsa @neptunerings @stuckinapril @jezior0 @unfortunatelyuncreative @malcriada@heritageposts @determinate-negation

Vetted by :

@bilal-salah0 here

@gazavetters Our team at #GazaVetters has rigorously vetted and approved this campaign, earning it a spot on our official list at #46 .here

@a-shade-of-blue here

@ibtisams here

Thank you 🙏

[ghada-ayyad]

I created this campaign hoping that people will help us, support us, and shower us with their love.❤️‍🩹🥹

We have reached 2271€ thanks to your help,😍 but this does not cover the costs of travel to one person or food and drink for my family for more than a month.😥😞🚨

It has been a month and more and the campaign has stopped. 😭😭😭

I appeal to your humanity to share the link as widely as possible. My family is in danger.

Please help. Your small donation, even €1, means a lot to us and saves a life and keeps it alive.💔🥲

Unfortunately, after all the ways to try to save ourselves were closed in our faces, I resorted to this campaign and I ask for your help and support through this link because of the high costs of living required and the lack of sources of income.😓😓😓

I beg you to help us rebuild our lives and our future and to take us by the hand to safety.🙏🏻😞

I created my campaign about a month and a half ago, but unfortunately I did not expect it to be this bad. I expected to get a lot of love and support. 🍉🥹

It is unfortunate that someone asks for money in this way, but we have no other way to escape the war and stay alive 💔💔💔😢

Note that the campaign is legitimate and has been verified:

Vetted by @gazavetters , my number verified on the list is ( #139 )

Vetted by butterfly Effect Project🦋 This Link. Line 909

Vetted by @gaza-evacuation-funds This Link

@nabulsi @el-shab-hussein

Reblogged by:

@c-u-c-koo-4-40k @a-shade-of-blue

With many thanks💗

@fandomsforpalestine @brokenbackmountain @anyonghalimaw @zigcarnivorous @aleciosun

@fluoresensitivearchived @khizuo @schoolhater98 @timogsilangan @appsa @buttercuparry

@malcriada @palestinegenocide @sar-soor @akajustmerry

@annoyingloudmicrowavecultist @feluka-blog-blog @tortiefrancis @feluka @flower-tea-fairies @tsaricides

@riding-with-the-wild-hunt @visenyasdragon @belleandsaintsebastian @ear-motif

@kordeliiius @brutaliakent @raelyn-dreams @troythecatfish @theropoda

@4ft10tvlandfangirl @queerstudiesnatural @northgazaupdates2 @skatezophrenic

@awetistic-things @camgirlsurvivalguide @baby-girl-aaron-dessner @sygutka @junglejim4322 @heritageposts

@chososhairbuns @palistani123-blog @dlxxv-vetted-donations @imjustheretotrytohelp @mnty-bubblegmyum

[doaasalh]

Please do not watch the post silently. 🙏🙏🩸

My children are in danger ���🚨😢

They need security. 🙏🕊

Because we live a life that is not fit for human life.🙏😢😢

This is part of our suffering.😟👇

You wake up in peace and safety to the pleasant sound of birds.

Unfortunately, we wake up to the sound of planes and explosions, which is really scary for me and my children.😢😢🩸

As you pass the bathroom, you wash your faces and brush your teeth. We stand in line to Entering the bathroom . 😢💔

When we come to wash our faces we don't find soap, and even the price of toothpaste has reached a point that makes us say no no 😞😞💔

Our children are suffering from malnutrition. We can't find any food to eat in the markets. But at a very high price.🙏🚨🚨🌾

And when you prepare a meal for yourself and your children, all that is left for us is yesterday's bread, which is cold and dry and contains nothing, and we prepare it from dirty, spoiled flour that is not worthy of being food for animals. Is this human dignity?😞😢💔

We suffer a lot in the tents. - The spread of insects and infectious skin diseases. I suffered from chronic high blood pressure due to the heat of the tents at first, but I also suffer from Chronic stomach diseases(Duodenal infections, bacteria and the Mediterranean ).😢💊🩸

Often we wish we could go back to how we were before the war, to go back to our simple lives.🙏

Unfortunately, our children have lost all their rights, the most important of which is education.😢📚✏️

We suffer from the lack of clean water, otherwise it is very difficult.😢💧

I hope everyone who sees this post will help me to stay alive and to meet the needs of my children. 🙏🙏❤️

The campaign is verified by✅️ @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #228 )✅️

@90-ghost

@el-shab-hussein

[hamdi-shiltawi]

Please, you will not pass by. 🍉

Donate and reblog until the campaign is achieved to help build my house and get out of the impasses, siege, war, and travel outside Gaza 🙏💔

Iam Hamdi Al-Shaltawi from northern Gaza. I was displaced to Deir Al-Balah. My family and I created my campaign to help my family and save them from the suffering they are experiencing. Our lives, our hopes and ambitions have been destroyed, our livelihoods have been destroyed, we have lost dear friends and many relatives, our house has been completely destroyed, we live in a plastic tent in the middle of an UNRWA school and we suffer from the heat of the sun, which causes headaches, migraines, body allergies and many diseases. There is no food, water, medicine or basic life necessities and the prices are very high, we cannot buy anything

hope you will help and donate to me through the link to my campaign on the GoFundMe website, and I invite you to share it with your friends.

I am and my family is in desperate need of money My campaign still raised only €220/€20,000 (~1%)! Please consider donating even €5 if you can, any amount means a lot, or at least share/reblog to help reach more people 🙏

Verified by : @90-ghost @imjustheretotrytohelp @irhabiya @gaza-evacuation-funds @sar-soor @nabulsi

@90-ghost @nabulsi @sar-soor @imjustheretotrytohelp @icyandthefrostbites @labutansa @el-shango-drew-and-shot @jimstumblings @yt00ka00 @tamamita @wellwaterhysteria @woomeme-funds @quiteemocowboylover2 @irhabiya @neptunerings @ms-demeanor @venusmage @casualtheoristdeer @zesty-lesty

[kasaphescence]

I feel like once fundraising posts get a certain amount of notes, people stop reblogging them because they assume it translates to the amount of money donated, but it doesn't. The last post I made for Laila got about 1,800 notes in a month-and-a-half, but didn't make that many euros in that time. It hasn't even made a thousand. When I started trying to spread her campaign, it wasn't abnormal to make a thousand a day. It's depressing to see how much engagement has fallen off for Palestine. Laila's mother is/was pregnant (Laila hasn't contacted me in a while, she might have given birth already- can you imagine trying to take care of a baby in the middle of Gaza?), and her whole family is suffering from malnutrition and the hellish conditions of living in an open-air concentration camp. It seems hopeless sometimes, but donations do matter. I'm not including a counter for the fundraiser anymore- I feel like people see the 30k euros raised and feel like it represents how much money the Shaqouras have in their account, but it doesn't. With how high the costs of living are in Gaza, I wouldn't be surprised if they had less than a thousand. Evacuating is still an eventual goal for a lot of families, but right now what they need the most is immediate donations to buy food and medicine and other essentials that are prohibitively expensive even when they're available. Don't think of it like "well my five bucks aren't gonna fulfill the remaining 15k of this evacuation goal," think of it as "my five bucks are gonna help this family buy food and water and medicine today." They still need your help, and literally anything you do goes a long way towards their survival. Please, keep sharing and donating and doing everything you can to help the Palestinian people survive the inhuman cruelty the world is doing unto them.

[mohammedzatr]

Hello everyone, pay attention to my story of absolute necessity

I am Mohammad Za’ter from Gaza. I have suffered severe injuries that left lasting effects on my body, making me unable to work or meet even my basic needs. I went through a lot of hardship trying to find someone who could help set up a fundraising campaign for me. In a place where so many are struggling, it was not easy to find someone willing to support my story.

Today, I face unbearable conditions, where securing food and water has become a real challenge. With the high prices and tight restrictions, imagining a future seems almost impossible. My only hope now is to leave Gaza to receive proper treatment and build a dignified life for myself and my family.

I turn to you through this campaign, which has taken so much effort to finally launch, asking for your support to cover the coordination costs needed to leave. Every contribution, no matter how small, offers me a new chance and a brighter future. Thank you for your kindness and for standing by me in this difficult time.

I didn't get a single dollar and I suffered a lot until I found someone who organizes the campaign for me, please donate 🥹💔

€0 ????🙏💔💔💔

Tagging for reach 🙏

@brutaliakhoa @appsa @malcriaada @aces-and-anime @three-croissants

[emperorundying]

TLT Dash Simulator pt 3

🪦 crossedrhodes Follow

just found out my gf died 7 months ago and ive been being catfished by some necromancer using her beguiling corpse i hope the devils get me

💊 heptanary-secretary Follow

omg imagine the meetcute tho... op talk to the necro

🐮 hucowjimin Follow

OP has powerful necro baddies in his area and is abt to fumble due to the grief

( 577 notes )

🦴 femur-i-hardly-know-er Follow

( 18,012 notes )

🗝️ darkjackgaius Follow

my horny ass could never be a flesh magician

🗝️ darkjackgaius Follow

easy website.

( 41,902 notes )

💣 fuckable-fascists-bracket Follow

📜 sarpedonefang1rl Follow

and whos fucking surprised. of course the recency bias strikes again

⚜️ awes-ashtray

Some1 is angry their old man bias is unfuckable 💀💀💀 Argue with the wall.

#a vote for awe is a vote against coquetteposters #the fact that therez an entire fandom for the weirdo oldhead fascies is soooo craz to me ngl. #we r voting on most fuckable here. that is da blogs point. #your blorbo is geriatric his dick dont work :(

( 6,192 notes )

🐱 cohortcatgirl Follow

I’ve seen a lot of bad information circulating about what happens when the cohort converts a thalergenic planet to a thanergy planet so I wanted to clear up some misconceptions ^u^

Converting a planet does NOT make it unable to sustain life. If thanergenic planets couldn't sustain life, no1 would be able to live on the nine houses!!!

The wildlife does NOT get mutated. How would that even work? I stj people they don't hurt the wildlife, they only affect the planets! The 'varmints have best friends' campaign is honestly just in bad faith :((

Devils are NOT real and if they were you should really stop posting about their tongues [weird!] U guys really cannot tell what is and isn't fearmongering these days and itz kind of concerning ngl

Keep reading

💀 towerofficial ☑️

worth a read :)

🐱 cohortcatgirl Follow

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

#HAIII MR UNDYING :3

(9,114 notes )

⛓️ siphonslut

being held down by my bone magician's constructs is something spiritual fr. skeledoms there is a special place for you in the emperor's eyes 😩😩😩

#nsft #c4n #cav4necro #osseoromantic

( 241 notes )

👤 is-the-emperor-undying-dead-yet-deactivated-2917483

nope.

💀 towerofficial ☑️

It's in the name how are you guys not getting this by now

👤 is-the-emperor-undying-dead-yet-deactivated-2917483

💀 towerofficial ☑️

mods can we ban this guy

( 12,187 notes )

[tamamita]

We have successfully managed to raise €20.000 for Nader! You've all been a huge help to him and his family! He is eternaly grateful for everything you've done thus far!

Nader is 17 years old and his family is in Gaza facing dire circumstances. Food is scarce, prices are high, and there are shortages in water. They, like countless others suffering during this war, have already had to relocate many times, and their home is destroyed. They do not have enough money to safely relocate right now, or a stable source of income, as places of work have been destroyed.

They're not asking for much, just €10 should suffice!

This campaign currently has (as of the time I write this post) €20.000 out of €50,000 raised

I have donated myself and I know a lot of my followers can afford to donate at least something. It's not a hard donation process, so I hope you take a moment of your day to show some support.

This campaign has been vetted! (#4 on the list) and the video above confirms the legitimacy of this gofund.

@90-ghost @heritageposts @gazavetters @neechees @butchniqabi @fluoresensitive @khanger @autisticmudkip @beserkerjewel @furiousfinnstan @xinakwans @batekush @appsa @nerdyqueerr @butchsunsetshimmer @biconicfinn @stopmotionguy @willgrahamscock @strangeauthor @bryoria @shesnake @legallybrunettedotcom @lautakwah @sovietunion @evillesbianvillain @antibioware @akajustmerry @dizzymoods @ree-duh @neptunerings @explosionshark @dlxxv-vetted-donations @vague-humanoid @buttercuparry @sayruq @malcriada @sar-soor @northgazaupdates2 @feluka @dirhwangdaseul @jdon @ibtisams @sawasawako @memingursa @schoolhater @toesuckingoctober @waskuyecaozu @lapithae @ryo-yamada @opencommunion

Please help sharing this Gofund around, they are very desperate and need as much help as possible!

[sizzlingsandwichperfection-blog]

A Big TB Announcement

Greetings from Washington D.C., where I spent the morning meeting with senators before joining a panel that included TB survivor Shaka Brown, Dr. Phil LoBue of the CDC, and Dr. Atul Gawande of USAID. Dr. Gawande announced a major new project to bring truly comprehensive tuberculosis care to regions in Ethiopia and the Philippines. Over the next four years, this project can bring over $80,000,000 in new money to fight TB in these two high-burden countries.

Our family is committing an additional $1,000,000 a year to help fund the project in the Philippines, which has the fourth highest burden of tuberculosis globally.

Here’s how it breaks down: The Department of Health in the Philippines has made TB reduction a major priority and has provided $11,000,0000 per year in matching funds to go alongside $10,000,000 contributed by USAID and an additional $1,000,000 donated by us. This $22,000,000 per year will fund everything from X-Ray machines, medications, and GeneXpert tests to training and employing a huge surge of community health workers, nurses, and doctors who are calling themselves TB Warriors. In an area that includes nearly 3,000,000 people, these TB Warriors will screen for TB, identify cases, provide curative treatment, and offer preventative therapy to close contacts of the ill. We know this Search-Treat-Prevent model is the key to ending tuberculosis, but we hope this project will be both a beacon and a blueprint to show that It’s possible to radically reduce the burden of TB in communities quickly and permanently. It will also, we believe, save many, many lives.

—

I believe we can’t end TB without these kinds of public/private partnerships. After all, that’s how we ended smallpox and radically reduced the global burden of polio. It’s also how we’ve driven down death from malaria and HIV. For too long, TB hasn’t had the kind of government or private support needed to accelerate the fight against the disease, but I really hope that’s starting to change. I’m grateful to USAID for spearheading this project, and also to the Philippine Ministry of Health for showing such commitment and prioritizing TB.

—

One reason this project is even possible: Both the cost of diagnosis (through GeneXpert tests) and the cost of treatment with bedaquiline are far lower than they were a year ago, and that is due to public pressure campaigns, many of which were organized by nerdfighteria. I’m not asking you for money (yet); Hank and I will be funding this in partnership with a few people in nerdfighteria who are making major gifts. But I am asking you to continue pressuring the corporations that profit from the world’s poorest people to lower their prices. I’ve seen some of the budgets, and it’s absolutely jaw-dropping how many more tests and pills are available because of what you’ve done as a community.

—

I don’t yet have the details on which region of the Philippines we’ll be working in, but it will be an area that includes millions of people–perhaps as many as 3 million. And it will include urban, suburban, and rural areas to see the different responses needed to provide comprehensive care in different communities. This will not (to start!) be a nationwide campaign, because even though $80,000,000 is a lot of money, it’s not enough to fund comprehensive care in a nation as large as the Philippines. But we hope that it will serve as a model–to the nation, to the region, and to the world–of what’s possible. 

—

I’m really excited (and grateful) that our community gets to have a front-row seat to see the challenges and hopefully the successes of implementing comprehensive care. Just in the planning, this project has involved so many contributors–NGOs in the Philippines, global organizations like the Partners in Health community, USAID, the national Ministry of Health in the Philippines, and regional health authorities as well. There are a lot of partners here, but they’ve been working together extremely well over the last few months to plan for this project, which will start more or less immediately thanks to their incredibly hard work.

[fictionadventurer]

I have to talk about Chester Arthur. His story makes me go crazy. A mediocre president from the 1880s who's completely forgotten today has one of the best redemption stories I've ever heard and I need to make people understand just how cool his story is.

So, like, he starts out as this idealist, okay? He's the son of an abolitionist minister and becomes famous as a New York lawyer who defends the North's version of Rosa Parks whose story desegregates New York City's trolley system.

Then he starts getting pulled into politics and becomes one of the grimiest pieces of the political machine. He wants money, power, prestige, and he gets it. He becomes the right-hand man of Roscoe Conkling, the most feared political boss in the nation, a guy who will throw his weight around and do the most ruthless things imaginable to keep his friends in power and destroy his enemies.

Because Arthur's this guy's top lackey, he gets to be Controller of the Port of New York--the best-paying political appointment in the country, because that port brings in, like, 70% of the federal government's funds in tariffs. He gets a huge salary plus a percentage of all the fines they levy on lawbreakers, and because he's not afraid to make up infractions to fine people over, he is absolutely raking in the dough. Making the rough equivalent of $1.3 million a year--absolutely insane amounts of money for a government position. He's spending ridiculous sums on clothes, buying huge amounts of alcohol and cigars to share with people as part of his job recruiting supporters to the party, going out nearly every night to wine and dine people as part of his work in the political machine. He's living the high life. Even when President Hayes pulls him from his position on suspicions of fraud, he's still living a great life of wealth, power, and prestige.

Then in 1880, his beloved wife dies. While he's out of town working for a political campaign. And he can't get back in time to say goodbye before she dies. Because he's a guy who has big emotions, it absolutely tears him up inside, especially because Nell resented how much his political work kept him away from home. He has huge regrets, but he just moves in with Roscoe Conkling and keeps working for the political machine.

And then he gets a chance to be vice president. The Republican Party has nominated James Garfield, a dark horse candidate who wants to reform the spoils system that has given Conking his power and gave Arthur his position as Port Controller. Conkling is pissed, and he controls New York, and since the party's not going to win the election without New York, they think that appointing Conkling's top lackey as vice-president will pacify him.

They're wrong--Conkling orders Arthur to refuse--but Arthur thinks this sounds like a great opportunity. The only political position he's ever held is Port Controller--a job he wasn't elected to and that he was pulled from in disgrace. Vice President is way more than he could ever have hoped for. It's a position with a lot of political pull and zero actual responsibilities. He'll get to spend four years living in up in Washington high society. It's the perfect job! Of course he accepts, and Conkling comes around when he figures out that he can use this to his advantage.

When Garfield becomes president, Arthur does everything he can to undermine him. He uses every dirty political trick he can think of to block everything that Garfield wants to do. He refuses to let the Senate elect a president pro tempore so he can stay there and influence every bill that comes through. He all but openly boasts of buying votes in the election. He's so much Conkling's lackey that he may as well be the henchman of a cartoon supervillain. On Conkling's orders, he drags one of Garfield's Cabinet members out of bed in the middle of the night--while the guy is ill--to drag him to Conkling's house so he can be forced to resign. He's just absolutely a thorn in the president's side, a henchman doing everything he can to maintain the corrupt spoils system.

Then in July 1881, when Arthur's in New York helping Conkling's campaign, the president gets shot. By a guy who shouts, "Now Arthur will be president!" just after he fires the gun. Arthur has just spent the past four months fighting the president tooth and nail. Everyone thinks he's behind the assassination. There are lynch mobs looking to take out him and Conkling. The papers are tearing him apart.

Arthur is absolutely distraught. He rushes to Washington to speak with the president and assure him of his innocence, but the doctors won't let him in the room. He gets choked up when talking to the First Lady. Reporters find him weeping in his house in Washington. Once again, death has torn his world apart and he's not getting a chance to make amends.

Arthur goes to New York while the president is getting medical treatment, and he refuses to come to Washington and take charge because he doesn't dare to give the impression that he's looking to take over. No one wants Arthur to be president and he doesn't want to be president, and the possibility that this corrupt political lackey is about to ascend to the highest office in the land is absolutely terrifying to everyone.

Then in August, when it's becoming clear that the president is unlikely to recover, he gets a letter. From a 31-year-old invalid from New York named Julia Sand. A woman from a very politically-minded family who has been following Arthur's career for years. And she writes him this astounding letter that takes him to task for his corrupt, conniving ways, and the obsession with worldly power and prestige that has brought him wealth and fame at the cost of his own soul--and she tells him that he can do better. In the midst of a nationwide press that's tearing him apart, this one woman writes to tell him that she believes he has the capacity to be a good president and a good man if he changes his ways.

And then he does. After Garfield dies, people come to Arthur's house and find servants who tell them that Arthur is in his room weeping like a child (I told you he had big emotions), but he takes the oath of office and ascends to the presidency. And he becomes a completely different man. His first speech as president mentions that one of his top priorities is reforming the spoils system so that people will be appointed based on merit rather than getting appointed as political favors with each change in the administration. Even though this system made him president. When Conkling comes to Arthur's office telling him to appoint his people to important government positions, Arthur calls his demands outrageous, throws him out, and keeps Garfield's appointees in the positions. "He's not Chet Arthur anymore," one of his former political friends laments. "He's the president."

He loses all his former political friends. He's never trusted by the other side. Yet he sticks to his guns and continues to support spoils system reform. He prosecutes a postal service corruption case that everyone thought he would drop. He's the one who signs into law the first civil service reform bill, even though presidents have been trying to do this for more than ten years, and he's the person who's gained all his power through the spoils system. He immediately takes action to enforce this bill when he could have just dropped it. He becomes a champion of this issue even though it's the last thing anyone would have expected of him.

He oversees naval reform. He oversees a renovation of the White House. He still prefers the social duties of the presidency, but he's respectable in a way that no one expected. Possibly because Julia Sand keeps sending him letters of encouragement and advice over the next two years. But also because he's dying.

Not long after ascending to the presidency, he learns he's suffering from a terminal kidney disease. And he tells no one. He keeps going about his daily life, fulfilling his duties as president, and keeps his health problems hidden. Once again, death is upending his life, and this time it's his own death. He's lived a life he's ashamed of, and he doesn't have much time left to change. He enters the presidency as an example of the absolute worst of the political system, and leaves it as a respectable man.

He makes a token effort to seek re-election, but because of his health problems, he doesn't mind at all when someone else gets the nomination. He dies a couple of years after leaving office. The day before his death, he orders most of his papers burned, because he's ashamed of his old life--but among the things that are saved are the letters from Julia Sand, the woman who encouraged him to change his ways.

This is an astounding story full of so many twists and turns and dramatic moments. A man who falls from idealism into the worst kind of corruption and then claws his way back up to decency because of a series of devastating personal losses and unexpected opportunities to do more than he could have ever hoped to do. I just go crazy thinking about it and I need you all to understand just how amazing this story is.