#headline bias

[chunmeista-thoughts]

Another way all of these struggles are connected, is the way media decides to automatically exonerate the perpetrators.

It is clear as day, how corporate US media decides to be complicit in the normalization of violence by deciding how it wants to cover things. The bias is in the headlines, and these are just two specific examples.

There is no way that these companies should be getting away with this. There needs to be groups of people to hold a fire to them. If nothing is done, fascists will continue to openly define how events are perceived by the general public in media.

[fuck-hamas-go-israel]

Ethnic cleansing? Genocide? Apartheid?

Throwing around these buzzwords to describe the Israel-Hamas war because you’ve seen them on social media doesn’t make you right, and it doesn’t make you an activist.

It makes you ignorant, intellectually dishonest, and lazy for parroting biased talking points with no concept about what these terms actually mean.

What is apartheid?

Well, it was first used to describe the political system in South Africa and today’s Namibia whereby racism was institutionalised. This manner of governance meant that clear racial segregation would occur, in a manner that benefited the white race and would actively oppress those who had darker skin.

This meant that there were white-only spaces, white people would get prioritised when it came to education and jobs, and relationships/marriages between white peoples and coloured people were illegal.

Is Israel objectively an apartheid state? There are no laws that actively favour one group over the other. There is a sizeable population of Israeli Arabs that can thrive in the same way as the Israeli Jews can. There are laws against discrimination on the basis of gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation.

Palestinians from Gaza are allowed to work in Israel through a work permit system. There are about 150,000 Palestinians working in Israel, most of which live in Israel and some come from Gaza/the West Bank. They aren’t denied rights institutionally.

Is it harder to get a job or education in Israel if you’re a Palestinian from Gaza? Sure, because of different governments. It’s like how it’s a lot easier for you to find a job in your own country (in terms of paperwork and bureaucracy) than overseas. But you’re not denied the right to apply.

Of course, if you have a history of violence, a criminal record, or your family has ties to terrorists, then it’ll be a lot harder to get an approved work permit. But that’s not apartheid. That’s common sense, and a regulation practiced by all countries that minimally desire to protect their own population from danger.

Ethnic cleansing and genocide

These two concepts can go hand-in-hand. Ethnic cleansing refers to the mass expulsion or killing of a group of people based on their ethnicity. Similarly, genocide is the purposeful killing of a group of people solely with the intention of annihilating them.

Famous examples? The Holocaust, of course, where the Nazi regime believed in the superiority of the Aryan race and decided to declare genocide on the Jews, Romanis, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, people with “Asian features”, and many many other groups. Anyone who they didn’t think was “pure”.

Their aim was to ensure that the Aryan race propagated without having “impure” blood affecting the bloodlines. They even started a eugenics programme called Lebensborn to ensure that more pure Aryan babies were born.

More recent examples? The Rwandan genocide where the Hutus attempted to wipe out the Tutsis on the basis of ethnicity. They mandated that Tutsis mention their ethnicity on state-issued ID cards in order for the Hutus in power to be able to identify them and then kill them.

Or the Yazidi genocide which happened so recently, in which ISIL killed, raped, and sent thousands of Yazidis into conversion camps on the basis of their ethnicity. They also took Yazidi women as sex slaves and raped and tortured them.

Or the Rohingya Muslims in the Rakhine State in Myanmar, and how there was a mass killing and expulsion of them from the country, forcing them to flee to Bangladesh to take refuge, crating the world’s largest refugee camp.

Or how ISIS killed thousands of people from Christian groups in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Libya because of their faith, leading the US, EU, and UK to label this as religious genocide and condemned their actions.

Has Israel been practicing ethnic cleansing and genocide on Palestinians all these years?

Well, the birth rate of the Palestinian population in Gaza, the West Bank, and in Israel has been steadily increasing all these years.

So, no. No ethnic cleansing, no genocide. They are free to have as many children as they desire.

The UN Genocide Convention

The United Nations has 5 actions that constitute genocide.

1. Killing members of a target group

Israel is targeting Hamas officials with the aim of wiping out the terrorist group and ensuring that such a deadly attack on Israeli soil doesn’t happen again. I suppose you could call it genocide against Hamas, but they’re killing Hamas because they’re terrorists, not because they’re Palestinian. Shouldn’t everyone believe in genocide against terrorists?

But look at Black Saturday. Look at Hamas’ rhetoric. They repeatedly call for the annihilation of Israel and genocide of Jews. When will the media start believing what they say, word for word, instead of trying to spin it into “hmm maybe they want to kill all the Jews because they’re freedom fighters!”

War has collateral damage. Of course the innocent civilians don’t deserve to suffer just because of the actions of their government, but there have been warnings given to the Palestinian civilians prior to Israel striking the areas. There are consequences of attacking a country first, and then having that country attack you back.

2. Causing people of the group serious bodily or mental harm

The UN refers to sexual violence as the prime example of non-fatal harm.

Sexual violence has occurred. Hamas have kidnapped and raped women and even paraded the bodies of half-naked women around. But I f Israel had done the same, it’ll be the first thing appearing on everyone’s BBC push notifications (without even being confirmed as true).

3. Imposing living conditions intended to destroy the group

Many people refer to the blockade that Israel imposed around the Gaza Strip as an example of this.

This blockade was imposed by both Israel and Egypt in 2005. Its aim was to prevent smuggling of weapons into Gaza, and isolate the reign of Hamas to the region. This was to ensure the safety of Israel and Egypt.

Did this blockade pose serious challenges to the Gazan civilians? Of course. But that’s a consequence of having a terrorist government. If you have a terrorist group running your country, don’t be surprised if neighbouring countries are extra careful about who or what they allow in or out of the borders.

Many authorities from other Arab nations have also expressed approval of Egypt’s border restrictions, and even encouraged Egypt to flood the terror tunnels that Hamas has dug under the city. As a side note, other Arab nations have not historically been very kind or welcoming to Palestinians. Syria has killed over 4000 Palestinians, and many Arab countries are now refusing any refuge for Palestinians. But no one cares about that because it doesn’t make Israel look bad. All they do now is use the images of dead Palestinians under the hands of Syria and reuse them to propagate fake news.

The blockade has been labelled as a human rights violation because of collective punishment. Many humanitarian organisations believe that the blockade has caused the Palestinian civilians disproportionate harm.

Contrary to popular belief, Israel isn’t disallowing humanitarian aid from coming through the borders. Fuel, food, hygiene products, clothes, and shoes have been coming through the borders regularly for years. The Gaza Strip also has electricity and internet access and water.

Do all these items reach the Palestinian civilians? Well, there has been evidence that Hamas has been intercepting a lot of the supplies sent by humanitarian groups. This is not surprising since the UNRWA tweeted that Hamas has stole fuel from hospitals in Gaza in order to launch more rockets at Israel (but quickly deleted it after realising that it goes against their agenda to paint Hamas in a bad light.) In addition, the returned hostages have mentioned that there are many aid supplies hidden in the terror tunnels by Hamas. Instead of giving them to the civilians, they are hoarding it for themselves.

There has also been video evidence that some people are reselling these aid items in stores at exorbitant prices in order to turn profits. This has been well-documented for the last 10 years.

Is blockading the region to mitigate terrorism a disproportionate response? Well, it’s like asking if heightened security and stricter border control at airports is a disproportionate response after 9/11. Is being cautious and worrying about the security of your country an irrational reaction to the constant threat of terrorism?

4. Preventing births

Gaza’s population growth rate per annum is about 1.99%, which is the 39th highest in the world! Their population is allowed to propagate freely.

Israel isn’t preventing births of Palestinian babies.

5. Forcibly transferring children out of the group

No, Israel hasn’t been taking Palestinian children and forcing them to convert/keeping young Palestinian girls as sex slaves. Like I said, if this was truly happening, all the news outlets would be so quick to publish the story before verifying it.

Can we trust the UN Genocide standards?

The UN is known for corruption and have been exploiting the Palestinian people by selling them the humanitarian supplies instead of distributing them for free, which they should because these supplies literally are donations.

The UN also has differing standards of what they would label as genocide. For example, they refuse to call what China is doing to the Uyghurs in Xinjiang as genocide, even though the situation does fit many of their own criteria.

Hence, to all of you out there overusing these terms without knowing what they mean, make up your own mind about things. No one can force you to believe anything and no one can force you to change your mind.

But at the very least, do your due diligence and educate yourself before spouting tired buzzwords. Repeating misinformation doesn’t help anyone and can be very harmful.

[therealgchu]

a lesson in media literacy

checking out google news today, and screenshotted this:

so, how does one read this? not by reading the headline, but by looking at who the news agency is, and what sort of language they're using.

the first thing an historian is taught is to look for bias in text. there is no such thing as objective reporting; everyone uses biased language and terms, and has an agenda. it's the historian's job to root out that agenda. that said, let's analyze each:

-NBC is a network in the US (we have 3 major ones: CBS, NBC, and ABC). their news wire service, NBC News, is generally thought of as pretty objective for reporting. they generally just report the news, as it happens. the wire service generally stands apart from the news programming (like NBC nightly news, MSNBC, etc.), so no commentary, just report the news as it happens.

the language the headline uses connotes some special connection between biden and israel (which is true). it also explicitly avoids using netenyahu's name, which is also purposeful, and instead uses israel, thereby making it less personal, but also playing to the sympathies of pro-israeli sentiment. also, they explicitly use the term "war" instead of something like "conflict" or "military incursion". war has a very specific connotation, and is fairly unusually sharp language.

-The New York Times, the once lauded bastion of progressive reporting, has now has become something of a sludgy mess, and beholden to corporate greed. once again, the headline de-personalizes the issue by not using netenyahu's name; nor does it mention anything about war or military action or conflict. this might as well be a shopping cart scuffle in a whole foods parking lot, for all that the NYT seems to care.

-The National Review is a right-wing, conservative, libertarian magazine that was started by william f. buckley jr. you may remember him from such hits as thinking kissinger was amazing, and we should bomb brown people. their headline is purposefully inflammatory, stating that it's biden's proposal (which it's not), to save hamas (which it isn't). their headline is explicitly meant to rile the conservative base in an election year, not to report the news.

-The Times of Israel was founded by david horowitz, a renowed journalist. he was especially well known for his support of yitzak rabin and the peace process during the 90s. notice, he's the only one that names netanyahu explicitly, as he's a known critic of bibi.

so, what does this all mean? that's for the reader to decide. i'm only providing context on how whacky and bizarre journalism is, and always has been, frankly. to quote a much better writer than i, "truth is a three-edge sword: your side, their side, and the truth in between."

so, keep this in mind as we barrel head-long into the summer media blitz of an election year while there's war in the middle east (though, to be fair, when is there not war in the middle east), war in ukraine, houthis rebels are trying to shell NATO ships, and we just had a president convicted of felonies.

[bisexualalienss]

the political climate is so weird that parents probably would be mad they made us watch cnn’s 5 things in history class

[cherryblossomshadow]

North Carolina—and Iowa?

by Mary L. Trump

Excerpts:

On Saturday night, Ann Selzer, a pollster with a stellar reputation who specializes in the state [of Iowa], released a poll that has Kamala Harris up by 3 points.

Here is the history of Selzer’s polls since 2012. The actual election results are in parentheses:

2022 Senate: R+12 (R+12)

2020 President: R+7 (R+8)

2020 Senate: R+4 (R+7)

2018 Governor: D+2 (R+3)

2016 President: R+7 (R+9)

2014 Senate: R+7 (R+8)

2012 President: D+5 (D+6)

The result shocked the political world. It also reminded us that the Supreme Court’s Dobb’s decision continues to have serious electoral consequences for the party that is determined to turn women into second-class citizens.

Iowa has one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country. Beyond that, the state has been losing OB-GYNs since before Roe v Wade was overturned. And, in the wake of the decision, it’s been losing medical providers of all specialties.

.

In response to Selzer’s poll, Nate Silver, another pollster, that it was “incredibly gutsy to release this poll.”

Cohn recently admitted that “it is much safer, whether in terms of literal self-interest or purely psychologically, to find a close race than to gamble on a clear Harris victory.”

“When their results come in very blue, they don’t believe it,” Cohn wrote. “And frankly, I share that feeling: If our final Pennsylvania poll comes in at Harris +7, why would I believe it? As a result, pollsters are more willing to take steps to produce more Republican-leaning results.”

These comments are staggering:

Cohn and Silver see a close race because they want to see a close race.

This morning, The New York Times ceded the most valuable real estate on its front page to Nate Cohn, and ran his piece with this headline:

“Some Surprises in Last Battleground Polls, but Still a Deadlock”

And so it goes.

[samaspic31]

You can’t make this shit up you click on an article about how hamas hostages were treated (for the sake of checking yourself on bias and with the intention to verify it with multiple sources) and the headline will be « return from the horrors of hamas » and then the text is actually « they treated me rather well just didn’t have much food and i was in danger due to Israeli airstrikes” You know the shit the government claims necessary to rescue them. This world is bullshit

[bob3160]

(via https://youtube.com/watch?v=WXeS2oF8pK4&si=cDZ4EA5FctDgQpWg)

[insecuregodcomplex]

don’t take a headline as law

[heritageposts]

twitter link to the video (in it, you can hear these fascists loudly screaming "are they white?" and "they're white, they're white! they're english!" before letting the cars pass).

remember how the american and british press stirred up an absolute panic about the non-violent, pro-palestine campus protests? how they endlessly slandered the students as antisemitic extremists, creating justification for the violent police crackdown that would soon follow?

compare that now to how they're covering (or not covering) the fascist pogroms in the UK, where, for the past few days, violent white supremacists mobs have been terrorizing muslims, migrants and other non-white communities, forming mobs to intimidate and violently attack anyone they perceive as non-white and non-British.

the hotel shown in the video above is now the second hotel housing asylum seekers that these fascist mobs have attempted to set fire to, and yet, the harshest words the majority of the UK press is willing to use to describe them, are "far-right rioters, "anti-immigration protesters" or, if you're the BBC, just "protesters."

here's from skynews (UK), with the almost comical framing of "anti-fascists (left)" vs. "people protesting"

again, if you compare that to the headlines they were running during the campus protests...

this goes beyond some racist "bias" in their reporting: you can draw a direct link here between the UK media's coverage of palestine, and the fascist mobs willing to burn asylum seekers alive.

obviously there are other factors at play, but the genocide denial, the portrayal of arabs and muslims as terrorists and antisemites (which again, gets projected onto britain's migrant population and asylum seekers as a whole), the overall dehumanization and othering of the palestinian people — all of this has been feeding into, and stoking up, the racism and islamophobia that's now boiling over, and erupting into nakedly fascist violence.

[headlinehorizon]

Yakima Mayor Sparks Controversy with 911 Call on 'Far Right' Signature Gatherers at Walmart

https://headlinehorizon.com/U.S./Digital%20Originals/721

A mayor in Washington faces backlash after reporting petitioners as 'far right' to emergency services. The incident stirs debate on free speech and political bias.

[reasonsforhope]

Given the misinformation that's been going around and will be going around, thought this might be helpful to some people

For a lot of reasons, I'm very good at this/at searching, to the point where I have worked as a professional fact-checker for two different publishers. So, here goes:

My Article Fact-Checking Protocol

Thorough Version

Read the full article. Keep an eye out for emotionally loaded words, and all-or-nothing language

Keep an eye out or anything that sounds too good to be true, and in contrast, anything that sounds so awful it must be true

Run the website/source through the amazing Media Bias/Fact Check. They'll tell you about a publication's bias and history of accuracy

Go to the website's home page and read through the headlines. Look at what topics they cover/prioritize, sensationalist headlines, and whether they're framing anything in a way that feels odd/off to you

Do a search related to the topic. This can be keywords, a question, or even just copy-paste the article title (Recommended: use DuckDuckGo so the results don't change based on what Google thinks they can sell you)

If multiple highly credible sources that say the same thing pop up, and there's no major societal biases that might affect the coverage of the topic in those sources (e.g. anything related to the Israel-Palestine conflict/Palestinian genocide, no matter which side), then I'm done!

If there are major societal biases, or I can't get a consensus of sufficiently credible sources, then I do some combination of:

(1) search the topic again + the words "controversy" and/or "fake"

(2) search the opposite of the topic, or do some sort of other filtered search

(3) look up a sufficiently credible news outlet with the opposite point of view of my source, and see what they have to say

(4) if it's a big enough topic, start by looking up 2 of the top national papers and 1 major paper for your region (I usually do the ones in the US, because that's where I am In the US: the LA Times, the Washington Post, and the NY Times)

Adjust "news" to "relevant type of source, e.g. tech, environmental" as relevant for all of the above options

If no red flags come up, and it's a topic I understand enough to smell huge bullshit,

Then I'm usually done!

If there are red flags, or I actually need a certain amount of detail/understanding, then it gets more complicated, but that would be a whole other thing to break down and such

or

tl;dr

Quick Version

Read the full article. Keep an eye out for emotionally loaded words, and all-or-nothing language

Keep an eye out or anything that sounds too good to be true, and in contrast, anything that sounds so awful it must be true.

If I don't know the website:

Run the website/source through the amazing Media Bias/Fact Check. They'll tell you about a publication's bias and history of accuracy

If I trust the source, but something else pinged my radar:

Do a quick web search to verify anything that sounds suspicious or too good/bad to be true (Recommended: use DuckDuckGo)

[bob3160]

We Have More News Than Ever—But Know Less Than Before

[mangionebabymama]

A statement made by Luigi Mangione himself last year in 2024, on his personal Twitter account:

And here, a news article released by Daily Mail yesterday, a tabloid news source that is widely considered and known for its reputation for sensationalism and bias, along with its criticism for inaccuracy, misleading headlines, and prioritization of entertainment over journalistic integrity:

Do not always believe everything you see on the Internet. Have media literacy.

[gotta-winwin]

Can I request a full oneshot on that dino when accepting an award like shouting out his wife and watching the internet explode and the members reaction to him I NEED THIS it got me kicking my feet and giggling just by thinking this 🛐🛐🛐 HAHHAHAHA

btw I LOVE YOUR WRITINGS!! 😘

hehehe omg ofc! i was kicking my feet and giggling while writing this dino has no business looking THAT fine and bias wreaking me( ˘͈ ᵕ ˘͈♡) thank you so much for both requesting and enjoying my work!

where's the trophy... he just comes running over to me <3

masterlist fic that prompted this oneshot

word count: 1.4k tw/cw: idol!dino x wife!reader, childhood friends to lovers, public shoutout, a whole lot of sap, seungkwan clowning dino a/n: writing this just makes me want to see svt with their s/o in real life (we know these boys aint single bro)

It's a quiet and unassuming day until you're reminded that today is the MAMA awards. It didn't help that the award show wasn't hosted in Korea this year, leading to you being stuck on your couch, hands quivering as the show began.

It had been a tough yet rewarding year for Chan and his group mates, and you had been lucky enough to see it all. You felt proud that even with the distance, you had always been the first person Chan would call for anything.

Headlining Glastonbury? He had shined brightly onstage and even brighter during your video call, where he took you through his day, making it feel like you had been with him every step of the way.

Tour? He was texting you in between songs, updating you on the tiniest things despite you scolding him that he needed to concentrate on the show. He just couldn't help it, his mind immediately drifting to you whenever something remotely interesting took place. Baby, DK's pants ripped onstage just now. He'd text you, shoulders still shaking from laughter. Coups hyung got barked at again. Whatever tidbit it was, Chan's name lighting up on your screen was a warm embrace compared to the lonely nights without him.

It'd all be worth it now, you thought, as you let out a gasp of joy when Seventeen's name was announced as Artist of the Year. Your hands were still shaking as you picked up your phone to record the moment.

Chan's face glowed on your tv screen as he walked up with his members to accept the award. You couldn't help but remember how he used to look - kidish, tiny, cute and juvenile. You recalled how drastic the change had been, as you both matured and grew together, leading you to realize how hot he looked - so built and handsome. Yet it was the bubbly glow that stayed with him despite aging that you loved the most.

"Thank you Carats!" Your husband raised the trophy proudly into the air. "You know...I was the only one who didn't get to speak when we won a daesang last year..."

You couldn't help but scoff endearingly at how sassy he could be while receiving an award you knew would make him sob to you later.

"Ever since our debut," He continued, staring at you through the tv screen. "My dream was to be an artist that would remain in history."

You could remember that, even now, years later.

"I'm going to make you a promise." 15 year old Chan had told you, on the rare chance he had gotten a break from training. He had taken the two of you to the park in between Pledis and your house.

"Promise me what?" You had replied, lips feinting a small smile as you watched his eager expression.

"That one day, I'm going to be an artist that will stay throughout history." His face was full of raw determination. "And that you'll be right there with me. On top of the world. One day, I'll be an artist you can be proud of."

Seems like he kept that promise.

"And those feelings..." He continued speaking into the mic. "Those feelings will continue as we go into the future with Carats." The crowed cheered at his words.

You could tell from his face that something was up. He had that mischievous look that would only come out whenever he was about to do something to tease you.

"And..." He took a pause, smiling at the dramatic effect it had caused. "Well..."

You half wanted to reach through the tv and smack him, as your heart raced in anticipation. You had ran through his speech with him on video call days ago. This wasn't part of it.

"I once made a promise to someone," He finally said aloud, and you knew immediately what he was doing, mouth dropping in both surprise and realization. "A long time ago, when we were both very young, I made a promise that I would become an artist she could be proud of." He smiled bashfully at the memory of both the moment and the person. "I also promised her that she would be there with me, on top of the world."

You had to sit down, your legs failing you.

"I kept my promise, didn't I?" He said into the mic, and you could tell he was speaking just to you. "I hope you're proud of everything I've done, my lovely, patient wife. Only you could've stuck by me for fourteen years." He added the last part teasingly. "I love you." He raised the trophy in his hands. "This- this is for you." Pausing, he corrected himself. "Well- for you and the members." He smiled sheepishly at the boys behind him. "It is our award."

Dino had gotten Seungcheol's approval minutes before the award show began, begging the leader to let him shout out his wife. "Please, please, please, hyung." He had pleaded, trying to convey that this was literally his lifelong dream. "I've always wanted to do that. Just drop a bomb into the world and walk off." Seungcheol could only sigh, staring at him with a mix of exasperation and amusement. He nodded, although he knew it would inevitably create a media frenzy for the company to clean up. "Go for it." He patted their maknae on the back. "Not my problem, not my mess."

Jeonghan had been kept blissfully in the dark until he was watching their acceptance speech live. The further Dino's speech went, the further his jaw dropped. He couldn't wrap his head around the fact that Dino was shouting out his wife on the stage at MAMA awards, accepting an AOTY award. Immediately after, he calls Dino up, scolding him for not telling him sooner and admitting it was a baller move.

Joshua had been busy trying to comfort a near-tears Seungcheol, Dino's speech barely registering in his ears. He's blissfully confused when the crowd goes bonkers, yelling into DK's ear to tell him what on earth happened. He's proud of Dino, acknowledging that their maknae has grown up to the point that the world now knows he has a whole wife.

All the way in China, Jun's watching the show live on his phone from his trailer on set. The connection is spotty, leaving his members in pixels and full of lag. Thankfully, the only clear part is Dino's speech, leaving Jun in deep shock and a little wounded. He wished he had been there for that.

Hoshi's loud ass gasp is the only thing fans can hear from the crowd other than their own screaming. It's clear on his face that he's flabbergasted - leading fans to speculate if he even knew Dino had a wife.

Wonwoo can't help but let out a hearty laugh once the weight of Dino's speech sinks into his bones. He knows the media and fans are going to have sooo much fun with this. He feels bad that you're now in the spotlight and hopes Dino got your permission beforehand...did he?

Very busy trying to will his tears away, Woozi's shocked out of his feels, tears evaporating at the sound of Dino's voice and the word wife. He's shocked, but happiness takes over when he realizes this will overshadow the fact that he's about to ball on global tv.

Minghao's just got that goofy shocked expression on his face as he registers the moment. He's smiling from ear to ear, basking in the joy that's radiating off of Dino. Who is he to stand in the way of Dino finally showing off his love?

Mingyu is over the moon. Having been your biggest supporter, he's elated you and Dino are finally going public. The fact that he's currently onstage accepting a daesang is completely thrown out of his mind, replaced with the joy of seeing Dino thrive.

Poor Woozi has DK's arms wrapped around him as if DK's trying to suffocate the man. He can't contain his excitement and joy at the reveal, accidentally using Woozi as a stress ball. He tackles Dino as they walk offstage, yelling about how CUTE that was and how lucky you are to have each other.

Seungkwan's stunned into complete silence. He's lowkey judging (just a little bit) at how insane Dino is acting right now - knowing this is bound to stir the pot online. He's the first one to tease Dino, going as far as clowning him during his own speech. "I once made a promise..." Seungkwan fails to keep a straight face as he clowned Dino's speech to his wife. "And I-" He's kicked off the mic by Dino before he can finish.

Vernon simply nods in approval as he watches Dino finish his speech. He respects the confidence and craziness to do such a thing, especially with how dating was basically a taboo for them as idols- and bros hard launching a whole ass wife!

[flooffybits]

What I Needed

Idol: Yu Jimin (Aespa)

Jimin just needed someone who could see that she was more than just Karina from Aespa.

Word count: 1.6k

Warning: mentions Karina's dating scandal

☕buy me a coffee☕

“Unnie, you good to go?”

Jimin looked up from her phone screen to see Yizhuo smiling at her, already done with her makeup while Aeri and Minjeong were busy talking behind the maknae, something about what their manager had told them before they would be going out to see their fans again.

The leader offered a small smile before finally rising to her feet, the headlines and articles  with her name pushed to the back of her mind as she shoved her phone inside her pocket. Yizhuo had that same concerned look in her eyes, but opted not to push, not when the wound of Jimin’s dating scandal was still so fresh.

Minjeong spotted her and her smile softened just a little, more encouraging, while Aeri finally looked over, grinning at her friend before reaching for her hand. “You good?” She asked, and Jimin only smiled while nodding her head. “Let’s go.”

With a practiced smile and the same confident mask slipping into place, Jimin led her members out of the room and to the area where everyone was waiting for them. She held her head high, yet her shoulders were tense. Yizhuo held her hand up until they sat down, giving her a small squeeze to remind her that she wasn’t alone.

When they finally began the meet and greet, the sound of people screaming along with camera shutters going off welcomed their ears. Jimin did her best with keeping up appearances, flashing a charismatic smile as she spotted a few of her fansites. Though she had to suck in a deep breath when she saw the few disappointed stares sent her way.

The heavy feeling never goes away, Jimin had learned. Even when she laughed and joked around with her members and fans, the few who would ignore her simply for the life she lived made it almost feel like a rope wrapped around her neck, tightening with each displeased look.

To her left, Minjeong had sensed her subtle distress and placed a comforting hand on the older girl’s leg from under the table and Jimin returned the gesture with a reassuring smile.

“Don’t let them get to you.” She heard those words a million times at this point, if not from her members then by some of her friends who knew the truth behind the pictures and fame.

Finally, Jimin was met with another fan who had managed to make Yizhuo laugh a little too loud, snapping Jimin out of her thoughts when the girl finally sat in front of her and Jimin saw a look in the girl’s eyes that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

As she flashed a smile, you returned it a little reluctantly. “Hi there, I think I remember you.” She tried her hand at a friendly conversation, mistaking your reluctance for her recent scandal. “You like Winter, right?” She tried again and you pressed your lips into a thin line. “Yes, she’s my bias.”

Frankly, you weren’t even sure that she would remember something like that given how many fans she would meet on a daily basis. You were just another person in the sea of faces that Jimin passed through.

Though you were one of the more popular My's on Twitter, known for your quirky personality online and building a pretty good reputation for yourself. When people began to know who you were after a few meets and events, it didn't take long for your popularity to grow even more when people saw your face. You were a loyal fan of Aespa, and a very vocal one at that with how you defended the girls from haters.

Jimin shifted a little uncomfortably at your silence, her distress clearly showing, but she saw the way your eyes softened before you opened your mouth to speak, her fidgeting stopped and her eyes locked on your face.

“I wish you wouldn’t feel so guilty, unnie.” She blinked in surprise, her pen pausing briefly over the album you had. “There’s nothing wrong with having feelings, okay? You’re only human after all.” Finally, you managed to give her a smile, although a little shy as you concluded. “Please never apologize for the way you feel because they’re valid, too.”

The words struck a chord inside of her and she wasn’t sure what exactly it was she could say to respond to your kind words. She knows you were talking about her public apology, everyone did at this point. But she hasn’t heard anyone ever telling her that her feelings weren’t something she just needed to discard.

She was told to suck it up, that the issue would pass if she just ignored it. People only told her that it would get better with time.

But you somehow said the words that she needed to really hear that no one was willing to tell her.

That what she felt mattered.

That she mattered, too.

And as you bid your goodbye before moving to speak with your bias, Jimin watched as Minjeong happily welcomed you back, having remembered you from the handful of times you’ve come to support Aespa and even managed to start teasing each other like you were long time friends, especially when Minjeong found out that she was your bias.

“How much free time do you have, unnie? It’s like you’re always here.” Minjeong said teasingly while signing your album. “I took a day off to see you, silly.” Jimin couldn’t help noticing the difference in how you spoke to her and Minjeong.

You spoke to her with such intensity and care while Minjeong was faced with a more carefree and equally warm response. She wonders, if she didn’t have that scandal, would you talk to her the same?

Even when Jimin had to refocus on the fans that would come and go before her, she ended up realizing that her eyes looked for you in the room full of people. She had subtly followed your movements until you reached your seat so it was easy for her to find you before she would refocus on what she was doing.

And when they began to perform their latest comeback, Jimin found herself stealing glances in your general direction, putting on a show just so no one would find her actions suspicious.

People had recognized you, waving in your direction as you passed them by and if Jimin didn't know, she would have assumed that you were an idol with how people reacted to your presence. But unlike her, you had the freedom of choice.

She was bound and shackled by a contract - a price she needed to pay for her dreams of being an idol.

But as the event concluded and the girls said their goodbyes, Jimin’s eyes locked on your figure again, happily waving at them before your eyes met hers.

It was a brief yet charged moment, but you managed to flash her a smile, one that promised that she wouldn't be alone. Not as long as she had people like you to be there for her.

“You seem distracted.” Aeri murmured when her fingers gently brushed against the leader's arm as soon as they were out of prying eyes. “Is everything alright?” Jimin glanced back at the door, hearing the faint sound of people leaving the venue.

She didn't know when she would be seeing you again.

But your words would stay with her for a long while.

“Y/n unnie is really something, isn't she?” Minjeong said softly, smiling at the older girl who looked a little confused, earning herself a giggle. “The girl you were looking at, I heard what she told you.”

Ah, that was your name?

Jimin made sure to remember that for next time.

“Yeah, she was… something.”

Glancing at each other, Jimin’s members shared looks that she was too preoccupied to notice before Minjeong gave her a pat on the arm. “She's a really nice girl. I think you should try talking more next time.” She teased, keeping the atmosphere light, and Yizhuo nodded in agreement. “She's funny, too!”

“Yeah, that laugh made it very obvious.” Aeri quipped, earning a shove from the maknae. “You're just jealous that she made me laugh like that.” The girl snapped back playfully and Minjeong snorted a little. “I'm her bias so…” With a casual shrug, she then proceeded to gather her things while Aeri and Yizhuo exchanged snappy and playful comebacks.

Jimin appreciated her members for cheering her up. They knew when not to push, and their chaos was exactly what she needed to quell the storm inside her head.

And then there was you.

Despite not knowing you on a personal level, you had reached out to her without pushing past her boundaries. Jimin was grateful for your compassion and understanding, but even as the night went on, your words kept going on repeat.

There's nothing wrong with having feelings.

Jimin stared up at her ceiling, her phone long forgotten on her pillow before she decided to pick it up. She opened up Twitter and did a bit of searching before her fingers hovered over the screen.

Biting her lip, Jimin wasn't exactly sure what she wanted to do, but the longer she stared at your profile, pictures of today's events scattered across your page, she clicked on the little envelope icon before typing out a message.

Thank you.

Since she was using a fake account to just scroll, she didn't feel too worried. Though given the time, she doubts you would be responding. And given your follower count, she also doubts you would be replying to a random message without context.

But to Jimin’s surprise, a message popped up a few minutes after she put her phone down.

Umm, not sure who this is or if you've got the right person but you're welcome either way! Hope you have a good night :)

For the first time since that stupid scandal came and dragged her name, Jimin was able to fall asleep with a smile on her face, chest feeling lighter than it had when the day began.ae

[girlactionfigure]

INTRODUCTION

Recently, two Australian nurses made headlines for claiming, on video, that they would kill -- and have killed -- Israeli patients. They’ve since been suspended and placed under investigation. Unfortunately, a coalition of Muslim groups from Sydney -- the nurses are Muslim -- have come out in support of the nurses. 

While medical professionals are meant to uphold ethical standards, the truth is that antisemitism in medicine is nothing new. For decades, both Jewish doctors and patients have been subjected to antisemitism from medical professionals. In the United States, for example, prospective Jewish medical professionals were subject to restrictive antisemitic med school quotas until the 1960s. 

A December 2024 study found that about 40% of Jewish American medical professionals have been subjected to antisemitism in their work or study environments; 26.4% of them have even felt threats to their safety. Only 1.9% of anti-bias trainings included any content whatsoever on antisemitism. 

Jewish patients and medical professionals in other countries, such as Australia and the United Kingdom, have reported similar discrimination.

NAZI EUGENICS AND RACIAL ANTISEMITISM

“Scientific racism” (also known as “biological racism”) is a pseudoscientific form of racism that claims there is scientific evidence to justify racial discrimination or the belief that some races are inferior or superior to others. Scientific racism reached its peak and “legitimacy” between 1870 and the end of World War II. The Nazis applied the theories of scientific racism to antisemitism, which in turn was one of the main factors that fueled the Holocaust.

The Nazis believed that it was your “Jewish blood” that determined your Jewishness. In the Nazi hierarchy of race, Jews were placed at the very bottom. The Nazis justified the Jewish genocide with the belief that they had to eradicate the defective “Jewish racial traits.”

It was doctors in Nazi Germany that legitimized the theories of scientific racism and the Nazi persecution of Jews. Doctors in Nazi Germany played a major role in creating and implementing Nazi policies, thus becoming complicit in Nazi crimes against humanity.

NAZI MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS

The Nazis as many as 30 sadistic different non-consensual medical experiments on Jewish concentration camp prisoners. Some of these experiments included cutting off the limbs of prisoners in an attempt to transplant them onto other prisoners, submerging people in subzero temperatures and then attempting to resuscitate them by raping them, serving prisoners seawater instead of drinkable water, defleshing living Jewish prisoners, exposing fresh wounds to mustard gas, and more. The Nazis particularly enjoyed experimenting on twins.

THE RED CROSS AND THE NAZIS

Following Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, the Red Cross chose to “conform” to the new regime, rather than oppose it. In fact, an SS general, Ernst-Robert Grawitz, became the head of the German Red Cross in 1933. Grawitz was closely involved in the plans to murder disabled people and in Nazi medical experimentation. The German Red Cross thus essentially became a Nazi medical unit, rather than a humanitarian organization. When pressed about it, the German Red Cross claimed that, by allying themselves with the Nazi regime, they’d have access to concentration camps, which would ensure that the inmates would be “treated better.” 

In the 1990s, the Red Cross finally officially admitted that they’d long had previous knowledge of the Nazis’ plans for the total extermination of Jews.

As early as 1933, the Red Cross received desperate pleas from prisoners in Dachau concentration camp, begging for intervention. By 1942, the Red Cross had full knowledge of the Germans’ atrocities. In early 1945, the president of the Red Cross wrote, “Concerning the Jewish problem in Germany, we are in close and continual contact with the German authorities.” The use of the phrase “Jewish problem,” of course, is indicative of the attitude of the Red Cross, considering the very same phrase was used in the Nazis’ “final solution to the Jewish problem” (in other words, the Nazi plan for the total genocide of the Jewish People).

A representative of the Red Cross who’d visited several of the camps falsely claimed that other than segregation, “no other discrimination was made against [Jewish POWs].”

By 1943, word of German atrocities toward the Jewish people had spread throughout the world. Following the deportation of ~500 Danish Jews to Theresienstadt, the Danish authorities pressured the International Red Cross to visit the camp/ghetto to check on its conditions.

The Nazis saw this visit as an opportunity to spread their propaganda. Nearly 8000 Jews were immediately sent to Auschwitz to counteract reports of overcrowding in Theresienstadt. In Auschwitz, these Jews were placed in a “special unit” in the event that the Red Cross chose to visit them.

The camp/ghetto was “cleaned up.” For example, buildings were painted and a football field was staged. “Cultural activities” were promoted to create the illusion that the Jewish prisoners were thriving. The Red Cross officials were taken on a tour of a pre-planned route and interviewed prisoners who’d been trained on what to say. Unsurprisingly, the Red Cross left Theresienstadt with a glowing report.

The Red Cross helped thousands of high-level Nazi officials escape justice after the Holocaust. They alone issued around 120,000 travel documents, many to Nazis. They also issued 25,000 new identity documents. It was due to the actions of the Red Cross that high-level war criminals such as Adolf Eichmann and Josef Mengele were able to escape.

DR. MARCEL PETIOT

After the Nazis occupied Paris in June of 1940, Parisian Jews grew desperate to escape. A series of smuggling routes out of France and into Switzerland and Spain began popping up. Dr. Petiot then chose to pose as a member of the French Resistance and claimed to operate a network to help Jews flee France.

Dr. Petiot's so-called "network" was pricy. Those wishing to escape had to pay him the equivalent of $10,000 today.

Petiot would then bring the Jewish refugees to a "safe house" at 21 Rue Le Sueur in Paris, where he would give them the necessary vaccinations for the journey. In reality, he was injecting them with cyanide. They'd die quickly, after which he'd dismember their bodies and dissolve them in quicklime or burn the remains in a furnace.

He would often approach Jews with no family and offer to help them, knowing that no one would come looking for them if they went missing.

It's estimated that he murdered 60-200 people, mostly Jews.

In 1944, his neighbors discovered an odd smell and alerted the police. By then, he had already fled his apartment. When the police showed up, they found body parts everywhere. Several months later, he was arrested at the Paris Metro Station.

After the war, Petiot claimed that the bodies belonged to Nazi collaborators, but the personal belongings of the victims were found in his home, debunking his story. Nevertheless, at his trial, he continued to portray himself as a hero fighting the Nazi occupation. The jury did not buy it, and he was sentenced to death by guillotine. He was executed in 1946.

THE DOCTORS PLOT

The Doctors’ Plot was an antisemitic campaign that took place under the Stalin regime in the Soviet Union. Between 1951-1953, Stalin alleged that Jewish doctors in the Soviet Union had conspired to assassinate Soviet leaders. Jewish doctors were dismissed from their jobs, arrested, and tortured. A massive propaganda campaign warning of the dangers of “Zionism” was enacted throughout the Soviet state. People with Jewish last names were condemned. 

The first allegation in the Doctors’ Plot was made against a Jewish doctor named Yakov Etinger in 1951. According to the MGB, the precursor to the KGB, Etinger had committed malpractice in treating two Communist party leaders. Etinger was imprisoned and died from torture and harsh conditions. 

In 1952, a letter written by a Russian cardiologist in 1948 was recovered. The letter attested that a Communist party leader had suffered a heart attack, but Kremlin doctors had misdiagnosed it and covered up their mistake. Though none of the Kremlin doctors involved in the cover up were Jewish, the Soviet regime added Jewish doctors to the list to portray the cover up as a “Zionist conspiracy.” 

Initially, there were 37 arrests. Under extreme pressure and torture, the Jewish doctors admitted to the alleged plot. But after Stalin’s unexpected death, the Soviet regime admitted no evidence for such a plot existed. The allegations against the Jewish doctors had been entirely fabricated.

THE HOSTAGES

Since the October 7 massacre, a long list of now-released Israeli hostages have testified that they were held captive in hospitals. Israel has also since found dead hostages on Gaza hospital grounds. Former hostage Sharon Aloni Cunio, for example, has said that the nurses and doctors were aware that they were being held captive there; in fact, she said, the nurses “went along with it.” Fawzia Amin Saydo, a Yazidi woman who was captured by ISIS in Iraq at age 11 and sold as a sex slave to a Hamas member in Gaza, has since also testified that Hamas uses hospitals as military bases. As early as 2006, PBS even aired a documentary showing Hamas operating out of Al-Shifa Hospital.

Mia Shem, a former Israeli hostage, was operated on by a veterinarian while in the Gaza Strip. She has since needed extensive surgeries to regain function of her arm.

CCTV footage from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza shows Hamas dragging hostages through the halls, in plain view of doctors, nurses, and patients.

For a full bibliography of my sources, please head over to my Instagram and  Patreon. 

rootsmetals

tbh at this point I could make a post about antisemitism in just about every industry…