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lairofsentinel · 4 years ago

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Frustration and vaccines and being a guinea pig

It's sad we never, as a planet, had serious talks about vaccines. Without going into anti-vax shit, as a person of science who knows the hell well how multinational interests work against and fuck science itself, I think we are going to head into a worse stage in the next half part of the year, specially in the South; not only because the peak of the pandemic is getting closer and faster...because we, the third world countries, will be the guinea pigs.

We never had a serious, mature talk about how we accept forced massive vaccination without blinking and eye when the vaccine market is controlled by multinationals in a system that keeps putting first profit over everything else. Now, several companies are having the rawest direst competition in "discovering" THE vaccine. The fucking money at stake! All of them are more than sure that it will be ok, it will be super effective, it will work, and it will have no side-effects. They "know" all that without a fucking statistic. Without even having the vaccine ready yet. (hell, the current flu vaccine we know is not as efficient as companies want us to believe! I'm more than sceptical with the first covid19 vaccines; they are going to add more deaths to our numbers in fact.

Argentina has the “honour” of being "selected" to be a guinea pig's country for a gringo company (Pfizer) and a German lab (Biotech). There is a Chinese lab too, but it needs confirmation still. But we were informed of this as if it were a good thing. A way to "contribute" with the world. Because we all know that the only deaths that count are those from the North. It's like news... if it doesn't happen in those "first world" countries, it doesn't matter.

Pfizer has an incredible LONG list of death and irregularities over the last 20 years, including death of several people due to their products (vaccines and medicines alike), about lying on the efficiency or the danger of some of their products, and a lot of bans in "serious" countries like Japan. [I wont list it, it’s pretty long, and pretty recent]

Now, the fucked up president of this country gave its population for these assholes to test their shit in our bodies because that terrible lapsus done by French doctors months ago (who said that they were going to experiment with African people instead) went too bad on public opinion. So let's use latinoamerican bodies instead... you can always interchange both continents to do your crap, it's fine, those bodies are worthless. So now they are bringing their shit-vaccine-test to the South, so far, to Argentina and Chile.,

I kept asking myself why. Argentina is developing its own vaccine, there is no fucking need to be a guinea pig of another lab. Besides, we all know that being a guinea pig gives you no preference in the distribution of the final vaccine. We still are going to be the last one in receiving the vaccine, because it's obvious that the first millions "safe" dosis will go straight to Europe, Gringoland and China. Just after they are ok and well covered, they are going to keep profiting with third-fucked-up-world countries.

So, as a person of science who knows how science is not fucking innocent in anything that happens, I checked to whom Pfizer belongs: the answer made me roll my eyes: Black Rock group, State Street corp. Rothschild Asset Management, and Vanguard group; these groups are big holders of the external public debt of the country. So yeah... the country has been already in default for a long while, and because it can't pay the illegal debts it seems that we ended up as guinea pigs.

It's also interesting how these groups, once you check their owners a bit deeper, end up to be Microsoft, Apple, and Johnson & Johnson.( I'm not saying shit about the incredible assault these companies are doing in the country Lithium reservoirs for the green energy of the First countries, so they can be "environment-friendly" ha. That’s another nasty long topic) But putting that aside, we are talking about Bill Gate, the big fucker that most people love to kiss his ass just because **philanthropy crap** when it's known his fortune was mainly done when he entered in the health business (yeah, he did his first fortune with Microsoft, but the big boost was health business), and did a lot of shady shit with vaccines applied to poor class people in India and poor populations in several countries of Africa which were a scandal at the time (sure, scandals that lasted only few days, because he knows how to stop them with his power). He loves the concept of massive vaccination because it's the main source of profit for most laboratories (it's for Pfizer). We are all too brainwashed that massive vaccination is a needed practice, but nobody says shit in which context that seems to be reasonable. Which I don’t know if our current world is a good context to allow that.

Argentina has a long list of cases where multinational laboratories came to use the population as guinea pigs. The Justice system of this country is as weak as a fucking cookie, so anyone can bend it. You don't need too much money for it.

The most recent case of this kind of shit was with Glaxo lab, another gringo lab of shit; which killed dozen of babies in the country by testing a vaccine on them. They, of course, claimed that it was "consented", but when the case reached the Justice, it was investigated: most parents were misinformed about the process, some of them were illiterate and were convinced to be part of it in tricky ways. For once, the Argentinian Justice *worked* and fined the company for a ridiculous small amount that the company paid without much trouble. The babies killed? The parents tricked? nobody gave a shit. Those bodies are third-world country bodies, they are meant to be used and discarded.

With this example in mind (there are so many of this kind that gives goosebumps), another fucked up gringo company will now use our bodies as it pleases, while nobody can bring the subject of how vaccines and massive vaccination (in this context) is as dangerous as the pandemic itself, because you are immediately labelled as a "social danger" because anti-vax person.... Really. Frustration.

[[Just in case I will say it: I’m not anti-vax, but I’m also not a fucking maniac that considers that every vaccine in this world works and it’s good. With reading statistics of each of them it’s obvious that we can’t consider every fucking vaccine useful or good. Polio vaccine? sure, there is a lot of proof showing it’s great. Measles? sure (though some professionals have their reasons to doubt). PHV vaccine? hell no. We need a conversation for each fucking vaccine. Hell, doctors around the world have a lot of discussions about a lot of vaccines, showing the topic can’t be reduced into vaccines yes/no, but somehow, if you are not part of that binary shit, you are a demon! fuck’s sake; stop the crappy binary shit. ]]

We should have had a serious conversation about vaccines in a capitalist system ages ago. We never could because everything was shut down into the binary crap of white and black concept of "anti-vax" and "pro-vax" shit. We need to talk about the big Pharma, about the safety procedure that the Big Pharma itself keep skipping because its power and money.

These are complex topics where a white and black answer doesn't fit. It's as terrible to be an anti-vax person as to be a pro-bill-gates-maniac who wants to vaccine in massive ways and embraces the risks of new/experimental vaccines with a silly smile and an “oops”. It’s not his body neither his country’s population which is used in the tests. Vaccines move millions of dollars per month in each laboratory, we cannot fucking talk about the topic in a binary way. And yet, there we are... stuck in the yes/no shit.

I'm so fucking frustrated of this world, of this country, of how things work. And the binary shit. Binary thinking is making me insane. It’s not just this, it’s also in politics, in life decisions, in economy, in every layer of our lives. People stopped thinking at all. Life became into a multiple binary choice: yes/no. Nothing fucking more.

#biopolitics of argetnina #if it doesn't happen in the first world it's not important #I'm so tired of this world #really... why nothing works a little bit decently?#paying illegal debts with the population bodies....#fuck's sake.... and a LOT of people clap this shit #the level of brainwashing in this country kills me...#argentina is becoming a new gringoland... fuck's sake

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qob-vrisk · 4 years ago

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Hi everyone. I have long wanted to tell you about the AU universe based on the manga "Snow White with the Red Hair".

This is a story about a dystopia, something like a post-Apocalypse in the future. I had a desire to tell you about it with the help of art, but recently I can't draw for this fandom (I don't have enough time). This AU is large, so I would like to tell you about the main concept of the story (perhaps even in parts). I apologize if there are any errors in the text. If you are interested in this story, I will be happy to draw some art based on this concept.

In the manga, there were poisonous luminous flowers that scientists and botanists converted into non-poisonous ones, and decided to plant them around the country so that they would glow beautifully by the roadside. And I came up with a twisted idea. Scientists from the future were derived officinal plant, which suddenly became poisonous and began to poison first the soil, then the water, then the air. And at the same time spread with great speed and poison the entire environment. Naturally, humanity has problems with the poisoned earth, water and atmosphere. People began to live under the protection of atmospheric treatment complexes, in such "city-States under the dome", where the earth, air and water were cleaned using machines. Moreover, the Central part of the complex was well cleaned, and that was there the working scientists lived. And there were outlying areas of the complex. There is a problem with cleaning. And some people lived outside the complexes, but they usually died quickly because of the poisoned air. In general, the oxygen level in the atmosphere became extremely low. Also, humanity is faced with another problem: the gene pool is very impoverished. Mass extinction. It was impossible to settle everyone under atmospheric complexes. If you do not cope with work, get into debt or otherwise violate the strict rules of modern society - you are evicted from the complex. And because of such a rigid system, criminal syndicates appeared. They had their own scientists. That is, in complexes, scientists were looking for a way to restore the ecology and get rid of poisonous flowers, and in criminal syndicates, scientists were looking for a way to survive in a poisoned environment and came up with biological implants based on the poison of these flowers, which trigger mutations in the human body that allow you to survive in harsh conditions. People who could not pay for a comfortable place in the depths of the atmospheric complex for a long time, lived on the outskirts or were often forced to go outside the protective dome bought such implants from the criminal syndicate in order to survive. But the problem is that these mutations in 99.9% caused infertility and other defects in the body. Naturally, the management (read as the government) of atmospheric complexes did not like that so small a population becomes a barren evolutionary-hopeless population that will not play any role in saving the planet. Such people were very rudely and disrespectfully called "biological garbage". In general, mutated people are outlawed, the syndicate is trying to catch, and what to do with the impoverished gene pool is not yet clear. Shirayuki is bright red in the Canon, with a rare hair color. The whole story in the manga started with this hair, lol, I couldn't get past this meme. In general, I decided that the gene pool of red-haired people is almost wiped off the face of the earth. She's like a scientist, she has brilliant ideas and scientific discoveries about poisonous plants, but people only care about her genes. " "Oh, so you can be used to restore the red-haired gene pool. Don't you wanna go out for a dinner?" Shirayuki is frankly infuriated that in the atmospheric complex where she lives, no one appreciates her intelligence, everyone only wants to use her genes. She went to complain to the Manager's son, the Rajah, But he didn't just suggest that she become a cell donor and forget about her career as a scientist. He suggested that she combine her genes with his traditional way (ahahaha, pickup master level 100). Shirayuki was so angry that she decided to immediately escape to another atmospheric complex, and illegally, because on the orders of an important Rajah, she could be stopped at the exit, drugged with something and brought back. Shirayuki even thought of the idea to shave his head, so that her hair doesn't interfere with research. But she knew that if she wasn't granted political asylum as a scientist, then as a member of an endangered species, that was for sure. At the border in another atmospheric complex, she tried to explain to the border guards the situation, why she was without a pass or direction, but they did not believe her as a scientist, and refugees (which is logical) from other complexes are not allowed. The situation on the border was accidentally noticed by the Deputy of the Clarence complex-Zen (brother of the chief Manager) and asked if her hair was a mutation by accident. She provided proof that she was a natural naturally red-haired. And Zen was like, " Unbelievable, red-haired people aren't extinct yet?!"and persuaded brother to take her under his responsibility to give the scientist political asylum. And what is not surprising, she immediately got to the research center with her work from another atmospheric complex (usually complexes do not share their work, this is a state secret, because resources on earth are limited, no one wants to share) I decided that this AU Marquis Haruka was some upstart highly respected member of the complex's management team with a lot of connections. He, as in the manga, considered shirayuki very suspicious and dangerous. She quickly ingratiated herself into the confidence of a high-ranking person (Zen is the right-hand man of the local Manager (read as the President)), and also got into the laboratory and research center without any problems. Haruka felt that she could be a scientist-a spy from Tanbarun, or even worse, a messenger of the syndicate. Haruka secretly hired a man to get rid of the"spy". At first, Shirayuki received threats with notes. Something like " red-Haired guest, don't go any further, go away." Shirayuki (as in the original) thought that this is all nonsense and continued their scientific work and tried to befriend the Deputy Manager (if she was a spy, she could have killed a naive boy. Haruka actually quite reasonably feared Shirayuki). In General, when Haruka said " Yes get rid of already from it. the longer you wait, the more dangerous it is. But before you pull it out all the information about the complex Tanbarun". An unknown man followed her for a long time, studied her behavior, possible connections and motives, but after a while decided to conduct a head-on conversation, and caught the refugee. This young man never took off his black sunglasses and looked quite dangerous, as if he was some kind of bandit. However, it was clear from his behavior that this was not entirely true. After conducting an interrogation, the kidnapper concluded that Shirayuki was not a spy, and did not kill her.And after talking to her, he realized that Shirayuki is a good scientist, she has a great dream to restore the environment and great ideas on how to make it a reality. But for some obscure reasons, she was not allowed to study science in another complex (Lol, he did not reflect in his head that she was NATURALLY red). In General, the place of the abduction was determined, he was caught and taken somewhere. Shirayuki was released and allowed to continue his Scientific research.

And If you're interested in what happened next, let me know, haha.

#Akagami no Shirayukihime #snow white with the red hair #obiyuki #au

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loudlytransparenttrash · 5 years ago

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This Week Within Our Colleges: Part 23

A University of Virginia student urged white people to leave the campus Multicultural Student Center, claiming that it is a “space for people of color” and that there were “too many white people” in the building. “If y’all didn’t know, this is the MSC and frankly there’s just too many white people in here. This is a space for people of color. So just be really cognizant of the space you’re taking up, because it does make some of us POCs uncomfortable when we see too many white people in here. Frankly there’s the whole university for a lot of y’all to be at and there’s very few spaces for us. So keep that in mind.“ The student received a round of applause, of course.

Texas State University now requires students studying to become teachers to complete a series of assignments on “whiteness.” The assignments asks students to “analyze the construct of whiteness and its relationship to privilege and equity for students” and to make a “detailed analysis of whiteness” by defining the term and providing examples. The guide suggests using other keywords to talk about whiteness, such as prejudice, race and discrimination.

Princeton University and Brown University announced that they have eliminated standardized testing requirements for graduate admission in the name of creating a more diverse student body. Princeton announced its decision to do away with the standardized test, calling it “biased against minority groups.” They insist that scrapping the requirements will help Princeton achieve its goal "diversifying their undergraduate populations.” Brown University announced a similar initiative, eliminating GRE requirements to "attract a wider pool of applicants” and “reduce barriers that discourage some students from groups historically underrepresented.” They join Cornell University who dropped the same requirement from its biomedical engineering program over concerns that such requirements "can be biased against” women and minorities.

The California State University-Chico State Faculty Association released a statement assuring the student body that it is aware of what it characterized as the harm caused by a Republican group on campus, calling President Donald Trump a “symbol of insult, derision and ridicule of specific groups within our society” and urged the administration to take disciplinary action. “We take this stance because students of color have expressed that they are experiencing an increasingly hostile racial climate, both on and off-campus, since President Trump took office. It is unjust for students of color to experience overt and/or covert forms of racism ideologically, systemically, and/or in practice.” Ironically, look at what conservative students have to deal with at this school: 1 / 2.

University of Notre Dame held a forum where panelists urged the university to pay reparations to blacks and native Americans. They discussed how black and indigenous communities have a “right” to pursue reparations at Notre Dame and these reparations must be paid in cash. They called it “appropriate remedies” for Notre Dame for the people who have been “historically robbed of their right to a safe and secure life.” “We must acknowledge how white institutions contribute to black disadvantage and commit to the appropriate remedies.” “Everything at this school is extremely white” and “for every dollar earned, the moral debts have accumulated. The debt is accruing exponentially day by day.” Other suggested “remedies” included hiring a chief diversity officer, providing free tuition to native students, increasing diversity and inclusion programming, replacing white professors teaching native American studies with native professors and flying a native flag at all Notre Dame events.

Also at University of Notre Dame, students demanded that courses be reworked to reduce the number of reading materials penned by white, male scholars in an effort to “eliminate the violence of only privileging white scholarship.” “No course or program of study should have a view limited to white, western, and/or male voices. We demand that people who are of Color, Indigenous, Black, queer, or not male are represented in the authorship of at least half course and major required readings.” They also demanded the school’s policy that permits students from entering opposite sex dorms after midnight on weekdays and 2am on weekends to be removed as it enforces “white, cis-heteronormative hegemony.”

A University of Georgia professor states white teachers need to get some anti-racist therapy. “It may sound counterproductive” to require teachers to engage in anti-racist practices but these educators need to know that “their students’ traumas are a direct result of oppressive systems and ideologies.” “Yes, educators who are people of color feel the ever-present pain, weight, and torment of racism and need therapy, too, but White teachers have a different task: Many must first win the fight regarding racism within themselves.” “We need school therapists and counselors who are trained to help White educators and students process their emotions and their fragility.”

Loyola Marymount hosted an “anti-racist” meeting that seeks to educate and support white-identifying employees in their battle against racism. The Alliance of White Anti-Racists Everywhere describes itself as a white affinity group “that supports white faculty and staff in deepening our learning about the impact of systemic racism on individuals, institutions, and society.” “The focus of the group is to develop the capacity of those who identify as white to participate in challenging conversations about race or racism without expecting people of color to be educators.” White members are encouraged “to grow and learn without further burdening people of color” with their “inevitable mistakes.”

Boise State University also rolled out new white guilt meetings, with a “book circle” for faculty and staff focused on white privilege in an attempt to “dig deep into ourselves to explore the ways in which we all, as individuals, sometimes unknowingly, support racism and white supremacy.” The book circle is hosted by the Gender Equity Center and is centered on the book “What Does It Mean to Be White?: Developing White Racial Literacy” by Robin DiAngelo, a “white fragility” expert who speaks at college campuses nationwide. "The primary audience of this book is people who are interested in unpacking white identity and how white folks distance themselves from conversations about race, as well as learning how to engage white folks in recognizing their privilege.”

Williams College students launched a boycott of the entire English department, claiming the curriculum is “whitewashed” and its scholars “racist.” Their main complaints include allegations of microaggressions, a curriculum that prioritizes white authors and claims that professors of color are not given enough praise. They demand the chair of the department be fired and replaced with someone specialized in Ethnic Literature, that four new faculty specialized in non-white literature are hired and that the department is investigated to stop the “harm” that’s being inflicted on “the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of both faculty and students of color.”

Harvard University students have promised “daily escalation” if their demands for the school to divest from fossil fuels are not met by Earth Day. The students took over a building after previously staging mock oil spills, shutting down speeches by the university president and interrupting football games. Less than one percent of Harvard students and faculty have signed the group’s petition.

San Diego State University held a “Pronouns 101” workshop where students were advised not to use the word “guys” when addressing a group of people, and call out those who do, and instead use terms such as “y’all” or “folks.” Another option was “beautiful people.” Students were then showed a massive list of pronouns that should be learned. They were also advised to always tell people of what our pronouns are when introducing ourselves, even if they coincide with the gender we were born with. “Referring to somebody with the wrong pronouns can make them feel just gross, it’s just disrespectful and it makes people feel invalid or invisible, and dismissed, alienated, dysphoric, and a bunch of unpleasant things.”

Evergreen State College’s Writing Center informed tutors to not teach proper grammar to students in the country illegally over sensitivity concerns. “Tutors are there to provide culturally sensitive feedback on writing, not to correct grammar.” The two flyers attached to the memo also advised educators to encourage their students to avoid using “hurtful language,” such as “illegal,” in order to be inclusive to illegal immigrant students.

A group of students at Syracuse University have now spent over a week occupying an administrative building, refusing to move until their demands are met. The sit-in, led by a black student group, have made numerous demands, including the right to have a roommate of the same race, a required curriculum on “anti-racism,” and the resignations of Syracuse President Kent Syverud and other officials. The students are now complaining that they’re being denied their human right to be fed and taken care of during their own protest.

Tulane University’s student government approved an “equity fee” where students must pay a $240 increase on existing student fees to fund more support for “marginalized” students. “The liberation of our most marginalized students will only strengthen our university and create a better environment for all who aspire to earn a degree from Tulane University.“ “There are some Black women who tirelessly organized and researched and put their hearts into writing a piece of legislation that attempts to rectify the historical wrongs of this university built on the backs of enslaved Black people.”

Wake Forest University will cancel classes in April so professors can attend diversity and inclusivity training. The lessons will include helping with the “anxieties” of educators when shifting to more diverse and inclusive teaching, appreciation for the structural challenges students of color encounter when addressing bias incidents, motivating girls of color and underrepresented groups to pursue STEM, creating identity-affirming classroom learning environments for racially and ethnically minoritized students and to help the professors “uncover” their own biases. The school also began offering a “Beyond Whiteness” course in an effort to "address historical complicity with systems of white supremacy" and the “damaging tendency to focus on white scholars and perspectives in studies of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds.”

Macalester College stripped the name of its founder from a building on campus after students discovered he had referred to Indian tribes as savages in an 1882 book about Minnesota’s colonial history. Edward Duffield Neill was a pastor, historian and author, founded the college and served as president for ten years.

University of Maryland was the latest school to take a strong stance against costumes deemed to be guilty of “cultural appropriation,” warning students that costumes referencing other cultures have “no place in an inclusive community.” Students were told to ask themselves, “Did people from the other culture represented by the costume endure negative experiences that people from your culture have not?” They go on to suggest only “historically dominant groups” can be guilty, adding that “the differences in social and institutional power result in reinforcement of already-existing inequality.“

Ball State University hosted a presentation on “how English language practices in college classrooms contribute to white supremacy.” “We are all implicated in white supremacy,” the speaker said, “this is because white supremacist systems includes reproduction of dominant, white, middle-class, monolingual standards for literacy and communication,” which means “your school can be racist and produce racist outcomes, even with expressed values and commitments to anti-racism and social justice.” "Grading is a great way to protect the white property of literacy in schools and maintain the white supremacist status quo without ever mentioning race.”

The College of New Jersey hosted a white privilege event where participants were asked to close their eyes and answer if the fifty white privilege examples applied to them, based on activist Peggy McIntosh’s “Unpacking the White Knapsack.” White participants were asked to think about how the presence of privileges had benefited their lives, while people of color were asked to think about the negative impacts of not having the same privileges. Students also discussed their feelings of privilege in a group after the activity, with the goal of understanding who must be held responsible in eliminating oppression.

Michigan State University student government voted to ban cafeteria trays in an effort to help the school become more eco-friendly. “MSU prides itself on sustainability” but until now, it lacked this “key policy.” The bill further aims to help shape student diets, stating “reducing tray usage would improve the health of students by encouraging conscious portion sizes.” The resolution criticized the “astronomical” amount of animal products consumed and demanded more vegan and vegetarian options. It also asked for compost bins in all residence and dining halls.

Santa Barbara City College students protested the conservative student group Turning Point USA being recognized as a campus club. The protestors cited its potential presence on campus as “a direct threat to our student democracy,” they also accused Turning Point USA of “targeting” African Americans and compared the club to Nazi Germany.

University of Massachusetts-Amherst advertised to students how they can earn credit for “organizing” for “social justice.” “Do you have a passion for social justice? Do you want to make a difference?” Students will earn five-course credits by getting involved in grassroots community organizing and learning how to “act in effective and complex solidarity with communities organizing for social, economic, racial, and environmental justice.” It also refers to “the issue for the left” as being “how do we get from where we are today to where we want to be in terms of making our marches blacker and browner.”

A Baltimore County high school compared Trump’s immigration policy to Nazis and communism as part of a class lesson in history. Staying on Trump, a University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center professor said he is "mentally impaired,” “cannot think normally, “is dangerous,” and has the “early onset dementia in an elderly, out of shape, obese male." A Rutgers Universitywomen’s and gender studies professor tied racism and President Trump’s policies to black female obesity. “I hate when people talk about Black women being obese. I hate it because it becomes a way to blame us for a set of conditions that we didn’t create. We are living in the Trump era and look, those policies kill our people. You can’t get access to good health care, good insurance. She also claimed the increased stress of being black is responsible for the difference in metabolism between whites and blacks.

Grand Valley State University voted to stop reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at its Student Senate meetings, arguing it’s non-inclusive and represents an oppressive government. “The arguments to remove it were to create an inclusive environment, that it represented an oppressive government, and that there are international students that we should be representing.” The University of Oklahoma student government also voted to scrap the pledge.

A professor at University of Florida told students to not use the terms ‘illegal immigrants,’ ‘illegal aliens,’ or ‘illegals’ when writing their assignments about migration, despite ‘illegal alien’ being the legal term for any person unlawfully in the U.S. The professor instead says it’s a “slur,” linking a CNN article to prove it. He also warns his students that they will receive zero points if any of their work is disrespectful, offensive, or contains "slurs.”

#college

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jewish-privilege · 6 years ago

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...At the foot of [Clifford’s Tower], a memorial plaque reminds visitors that this landmark is tainted by tragedy. On the night of Friday 16 March 1190 around 150 Jewish men and women were trapped in the tower by a violent mob and, the plaque reads, “chose to die at each other’s hands rather than renounce their faith”. The daffodils that bloom on the grassy mound every spring, their petals resembling the Star of David, are another memorial to the massacre, one of the worst pogroms in medieval England.

There remain few other vestiges of this dark chapter in York’s history – unsurprisingly, as construction of the stone tower we see today did not begin until 1245. The original tower was a timber motte-and-bailey structure erected by William I following the Norman conquest, along with another across the river on Baile Hill. William almost immediately had to replace both buildings after they were burned as part of the northern rebellions to his rule, to which he responded with his savage campaign of 1069–70, the Harrying of the North.

It was shortly afterwards that the first recorded Jews came to England. William himself invited them from Rouen to help nurture trade with France and, more importantly, to serve as moneylenders, an activity discouraged by the church at this time. Their arrival proved invaluable to the crown coffers and Jewish communities soon flourished in most of the principal cities of England.

...York’s Jewish community emerged in the late 12th century, shortly before the massacre, when Jews from Lincoln chose to settle in the city. Jews were not confined to a specific area of York, but assimilated.

“Jewish people lived and worked alongside Christians, and there was a degree of social interaction between the two communities,” says [Sethina Watson, senior lecturer in medieval history at the University of York]. “They were, however, still considered as ‘different’, as they observed distinctive customs and likely spoke French (much like the new upper class), while the most successful lived in the finest houses”.

Such was their importance to the economy that all Jews were considered property of the crown and as ‘the king’s Jews’, they were afforded special protections and rights. Yet because Jewish security was part of a claim of royal ownership, it was subject to the whims of individual monarchs, who needed money to fund their administrations and wars. “The Crown levied higher taxes on Jewish communities, which could become crippling and might be extorted. In the 13th century, King John imprisoned and even executed wealthy Jews to ensure that huge tallages [a form of tax] would be paid into the crown coffers,” explains Watson.

Jewish communities were vulnerable, then, and conditions worsened for them as anti-Semitism took root in the 12th century. Jews were now loathed – partly out of envy at the wealth accrued by Jewish moneylenders or resentment at being in debt to them – and they emerged as targets for religious zealousness. With religious wars being launched against Muslims in the Middle East, non-Christians could now be deemed enemies – whether Muslims in the Holy Land or a Jewish neighbour.

...Unfounded accusations spread that Jews were conspiring to murder children and use their blood to make the unleavened bread that formed a part of their Passover rituals. This [blood libel] became a powerful tool for anti-Jewish preaching and a catalyst for violence and even murder.

The York massacre of 1190 happened at a time of especially heightened tension and aggression. At the coronation of Richard I on 3 September 1189, hundreds of Jews travelled to London to pay homage to the king, only to be forbidden entry to the banquet and flogged. Among them were Benedict and Josce, two of York’s wealthiest and most powerful Jews. The celebrating crowds in the streets of Westminster turned riotous and Benedict, who had been forcibly baptised into the Christian faith during attacks on the Jewry of London, was badly wounded. He recanted the Christian faith the next day but later died of his injuries.

Richard I responded to the violence by issuing a decree stating all Jews were under his protection and not to be harmed. But by the end of 1189, he had left on the third crusade and a spurious rumour circulated in his absence that Richard himself had ordered the attacks on Jews. Fuelled by the supposed permission of the king, anti-Jewish pogroms broke out in towns across England.

When fire raged through York in March 1190, there were some in the city who immediately took advantage of the confusion and the simmering anti-Semitism. The city was struggling with a vacuum in authority, having long been without an archbishop and having recently lost its sheriff. Under cover of the fire, four local lords, all indebted to Jewish moneylenders, incited a mob to invade the home of Benedict and kill his widow and sons before turning on the rest of York’s Jewish community.

...Josce led survivors of the attack to the apparent safety of York Castle – soon some 150 people had taken refuge in Clifford’s Tower. There they stayed for several days, besieged by the still-growing mob and the armed men who had been called in when the Jews shut out the constable of the tower. There was no way out and the group was running out of food and water.

On the night of 16 March – Shabbat HaGadol, the ‘great sabbath’ before Passover – the renowned Rabbi Yom Tov urged the trapped Jews to die by their own hands rather than face the brutality or false conversions awaiting them outside the tower. It fell to the men to slit the throats of their families before killing themselves. Before the killings began, they also set fire to their valuables and the tower. Some lived through the night and walked out in the hopes of being spared, only to be slaughtered. Historian Barrie Dobson, who published a definitive work on the massacre, called it “the most notorious anti-Jewish atrocity” in English history.

“The event became genocidal: step by step the Christian forces, or at least their leaders, began to seek an end to the Jewish community,” says Watson. “In later decades, violent riots, such as that in London in 1262, claimed more bodies. But there remains something peculiarly chilling about the York massacre. It can’t be attributed to an eruption or a riot, a world turned upside down. It took place over days; there was deliberation behind the actions”. In a sign of this, the mob eventually left Clifford’s Tower and went to the Minster where they burned the records of any debts to the Jews.

...News of the massacre travelled with equal swiftness and it was immortalised by Jewish and Christian writers alike. But, as Watson puts it: “The Christian world moved on; even the perpetrators continued with their lives.”

...York’s Jewish community had been eradicated, but it recovered with surprising speed and was active again by the first decade of the 13th century.

Across England, though, hostility and persecution against the Jewish population intensified. Jews were taxed even more heavily; faced ongoing accusations concerning the blood libel; were imprisoned and murdered; and Jews’ property and synagogues were damaged or confiscated. By the middle of the 13th century, every Jewish person over the age of seven was forced to wear an identifying badge on their clothes – usually yellow or white and depicting the two tablets of the Ten Commandments.

Laws restricted where Jews could live and their movements, and their influence as financiers dwindled. In 1275, after Edward I passed the Statute of the Jewry, they were prohibited from lending money altogether. Many were forced to resort to illegal coin clipping – trimming the edges of coins to melt down and make new coins. The number of Jews arrested rose dramatically, with more than 250 executed at the Tower of London in 1278. Many Jews chose to leave England in the hope of establishing lives elsewhere.

“Local expulsions had been happening for half a century but in July 1290, just over a century after the York massacre, Edward I expelled all Jews from England,” says Watson. Between 4,000 and 16,000 fled before the deadline of 1 November, and the few who remained had to convert or hide their true identity. Their formal readmission wasn’t until 1656.

York is a city shaped by many cultures and ethnic groups, yet it is striking to think about how much of the Jewish experience has been lost. Even here, on the site of a horrific pogrom, little evidence remains. Except, that is, for the plaque from 1978 and the poignant sight of the mound turned yellow by daffodils.

#york #united kingdom #antisemitism in the uk #pogroms #Clifford’s Tower #York massacre of 1190 #Statute of the Jewry #Edict of Expulsion #british history #daffodils #long post

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walaw717 · 5 years ago

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01.14.2020

In 2017 the San Antonio leaders decided to move our Alamo Christmas Tree. For decades prior, visitors took photos advertising to the whole world you vacationed at our Alamo City during Christmas. City leaders erased one of our best sources of free media and advertising.

In 2018, city leaders decided to move the Alamo Cenotaph at least 500 feet away from what we know as the “Shrine of Texas Liberty.”

During the 1936 Texas Centennial, the State of Texas provided $100,000 for the Alamo Cenotaph. Also known as the “Spirit of Sacrifice” monument, the Cenotaph finally provided a sacred “empty tomb” and a final resting place that Santa Anna had denied the Alamo Defenders.

In 2019, elected officials want to honor the heroes on “both sides” of the conflict and even consider erecting a statue on Alamo grounds to the dictator and brutal tyrant Santa Anna and his “freedom fighters.”

History reminds that in war with a ruthless dictator, only one side can be deemed the freedom fighters.

I believe each of three (2017, 2018 and 2019) politically motivated actions is immoral, an abomination and a desecration to our Heroic Defenders of the Alamo.

These radical steps are part of a progressive agenda to “reimagine” the Alamo. In my experience on the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE), reimagine is a political “dog whistle” meaning the agenda of revising and rewriting history 183 years after the fact.

Historical revisionists now claim Texas was “stolen from Mexico” and “Santa Anna came to the Alamo to free the slaves.”

True history reminds us that with the Constitution of 1824, the United Mexican States became a “Constitutional Republic.”

Modeled after the United States Constitution, Mexico’s 1824 document included one key difference, slavery was illegal.

In 1829, Mexico strengthened their Constitution with an “Emancipation Proclamation” to stop the attempt of “Jacksonian Democrats” migrating from the United States and trying to bring slaves into Mexico.

Again, the 1824 Mexican Constitution and the 1829 Emancipation Proclamation opposed slavery.

Tejas (Texas), whose population was too small to warrant representation as a separate state, was part of the Mexican state of “Coahuila y Tejas.”

In 1835 Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was elected President and then declared himself military “Dictator of Mexico” and “Napoleon of the Western Hemisphere.”

Santa Anna annulled the Mexican Constitution of 1824 and enacted his own Constitution known as his “Siete Leyes” or seven laws.

His new constitution allowed only those with a certain level of income the right to vote or hold office.

Santa Anna had his military disband the elected National Congress and Legislatures of each Mexican state. History tells us the elected officials of Mexico fled for fear of their lives.

The Mexican state boundaries were redrawn into military districts governed by officers loyal to Santa Anna.

Historians point to several Mexican states revolting against the tyrant Santa Anna including: Coahuila y Tejas (the northern part became the Republic of Texas), San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, Durango, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Yucatán, Jalisco, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas.

Several of these states formed their own governments including the Republic of the Rio Grande and the Republic of Yucatán. Only the Republic of Texas was successful in gaining independence.

On May 11, 1835, Santa Anna brought his army to end the rebellion in Zacatecas. He did not come to free slaves.

His “Army of Operations” captured almost 3,000 prisoners. Reports have Mexican civilians being massacred by the thousands.

This cruel dictator gave his soldiers forty-eight hours to first rape and pillage Zacatecas, and then loot the rich silver mines.

Santa Anna would spend years suppressing revolts by other Mexican states.

The “Thirteen Day Siege of the Alamo” began on February 23, 1836. The flag that was flown had four numbers –1824. This meant the Texians were citizens of Mexico and wanted to reestablish the Mexican Constitution of 1824.

I was honored to carry and lead passage of SBOE amendments to continue reading the world famous “Victory or Death” letter of Col. William Travis and to recognize our Alamo Defenders as” Heroes.”

Travis’ short, 250-word “primary source document” tells us that 189 (some sources say 257) Alamo men fought Santa Ana’s army of 1,500 that grew with reinforcements to over 3,000 Mexican solders.

On March 3, 1836, probably unknown to the Defenders at the Alamo, Texas ratified her Declaration of Independence.

The grievances delineated included: Freedom of Religion (Santa Anna declared one national denomination), trial by jury, right to bear arms, public education, along with political corruption and abuse.

On March 6, 1836, the Alamo fell; and Santa Anna executed all surviving combatants of the Alamo. To deny a Christian burial for our Defenders, he ordered all the bodies be stripped, looted, stacked and burned.

And yes, one Alamo Defender was former U.S. Congressman David Crockett of Tennessee.

Three weeks later at the “Goliad Massacre” Santa Anna executed Col. James Fannin and 344 prisoners. Officer Fannin requested that “our belongings be left for our families” and “we not be shot in the face” to allow identification by the families and to have “a Christian burial.”

Santa Anna’s army took all belongings, fired shots in people’s faces multiple times, and burned all bodies to deny them Christian burials.

Their charred bodies were purposely left for the vultures and coyotes.

World opinion, including the United States, France and Great Britain, then branded Santa Anna and sadly the people of Mexico as cruel and brutal.

The New York Post editorialized that if Santa Anna was more moderate in his tactics, perhaps world opinion. sympathy and support for the Texians would not be as strong.

Did Santa Anna try to change World opinion and suddenly declare he was peaceful and came to “free the slaves” as some officials are now reimagining?

Ask the Mayans from the “Republic of Yucatan” who also rebelled. Cuban history documents that after the failed Yucatan rebellion, Mayan slaves arrived as part of a “deal” the Mexican Army made with Spain in exchange for cash per slave to pay off war debt.

Now, in 2019 certain elected officials, 183 years after the Alamo, voted to move the Cenotaph memorial and consider building a statue to honor Santa Anna and the “other freedom fighters.”

Again, in a war against a dictator and tyrant, only one side can be deemed freedom fighters.

I challenge San Antonio leadership:

Return the Christmas tree to the Alamo. Our Defenders deserve this worldwide symbol of faith and peace.

Do not move and do not deface the Alamo Cenotaph. Our Defenders earned this permanent memorial and “hollow tomb.”

Stop this politically correct agenda that states Santa Anna came to “free the slaves.” Remember Zacatecas, the Alamo, Goliad and Yucatan.

History 101 tells us: Dictators and tyrants do not come to free slaves. Dictators and tyrants come to make slaves.

Of all places in our world, the “City of Saint Anthony” should not allow this absurd, politically corrupt agenda to reimagine, revise, and rewrite our history. Our “Heroic Defenders of the Alamo” deserve better.

Ken Mercer

Member: Texas State Board of Education’

Former Member, Texas State House, Committee on Higher Education

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rametarin · 5 years ago

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Poof.

I just had inspiration for a weird story. I don’t mind explaining the premise, because it’s so gonzo and niche I can’t imagine anyone effectively using it.

The premise is this: There’s a man. An everyday, normal guy. Except, he’s not. He’s immortal. What does he do with his immortality? Kills people. Why? Because it just so happens that whatever fluke of existence that spawned life gave us a psychotic that cannot be ended and must be tolerated.

So like any small town community secret or action, this immortal man is seemingly benign and anonymous. Until, inevitably, they’re caught murdering people again. They never stop murdering, they just sometimes get caught. Always singular incidences, though. No one ever finds all the bodies. Because there’s always more. Whether you find them or not.

So the system apprehends them, as they are, despite immortality, just a mortal man. They bring them in and try them, where they weigh the evidence of the crimes. If the case can be proven, the man is sentenced and put away.

But for some reason, upon meeting that term, the man is allowed out. And their criminal record? Always expunged.

Why?

If the man was just going to keep killing people, and was immortal anyway, you’d think they’d have all the reason in the world to study him. Hold him away forever. Every murder actually tried and convicted for for as long as their record recognizes him multiplying the time imprisoned by a magnitude, to an irredeemable point.

But it doesn’t. Some arbitrary law or rule decides that federal criminals and murderers get their records expunged every 20-50 years. Why? Because it’s inhumane, they say. Murderers shouldn’t be second class citizens after they pay their debt to society.

And so the immortal murderer pays his debt of time, goes free. And goes right back to making innocent people disappear, of another generation.

Not only do his federal and criminal records get expunged, but articles, news clippings, anything that can put him in an unflattering light, anything that his background should disqualify him from being able to touch. Maybe he’s a data transcriptionist for a library. Maybe he keeps records for archives. He, or people on his behalf, actively work to obscure, obfuscate, omit, destroy any records of his identity printed out to official records. Nothing incriminating persists between generations.

So, the main character(s) that uncover this conspiracy theory and how deep it goes have absolutely nothing to go on. Nothing but hunches, borderline illegal to absolutely illegal vigilante spying and bait and entrapment to lure this murderer into incriminating himself or catching him in the act.

And in the end, they learn that this immortal man is not alone. There’s one in virtually every population of a million people or more. That they’re allowed to rampage as they do, because they’re using them for social research. Research into how untouchable people drive normal people insane and to what lengths they’ll go to to put them away within the binds of the legal system. The federal government uses them to find super-sleuiths. Not just to find them, but cultivate them.

That the Trial of the Immortal Man is simply a way to find borderline superhuman spies and vigilante talent from the population. And create them. Because it is impossible to train and recreate the conditions of the cruel, improbable natural world that cultivates and gives birth to the kind of barbaric talent required to exist in it.

And it’s simply the lesser evil to let the Immortal Murdering Men run free than the greater evil of losing people with the skills to locate, find and counteract virtually unseeable antagonists. They’re allowed to roam as living lessons, every generation.

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itsdragoneus · 6 years ago

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Here are some book recommendations if y’all want any...

ARTEMIS by Andy Weir

Not crazy, eccentric-billionaire rich, like many of the visitors to her hometown of Artemis, humanity’s first and only lunar colony. Just rich enough to move out of her coffin-sized apartment and eat something better than flavored algae. Rich enough to pay off a debt she’s owed for a long time. So when a chance at a huge score finally comes her way, Jazz can’t say no. Sure, it requires her to graduate from small-time smuggler to full-on criminal mastermind. And it calls for a particular combination of cunning, technical skills, and large explosions—not to mention sheer brazen swagger. But Jazz has never run into a challenge her intellect can’t handle, and she figures she’s got the ‘swagger’ part down. The trouble is, engineering the perfect crime is just the start of Jazz’s problems. Because her little heist is about to land her in the middle of a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself. Trapped between competing forces, pursued by a killer and the law alike, even Jazz has to admit she’s in way over her head. She’ll have to hatch a truly spectacular scheme to have a chance at staying alive and saving her city. Jazz is no hero, but she is a very good criminal. That’ll have to do. Propelled by its heroine’s wisecracking voice, set in a city that’s at once stunningly imagined and intimately familiar, and brimming over with clever problem-solving and heist-y fun, Artemis is another irresistible brew of science, suspense, and humor from #1 bestselling author Andy Weir.

THRONE OF GLASS by Sarah J. Maas

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES by Sarah J. Maas

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin--one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow over the faerie lands is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin--and his world--forever.

WARCROSS by Marie Lu

For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn’t just a game—it’s a way of life. The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down Warcross players who bet on the game illegally. But the bounty-hunting world is a competitive one, and survival has not been easy. To make some quick cash, Emika takes a risk and hacks into the opening game of the international Warcross Championships—only to accidentally glitch herself into the action and become an overnight sensation. Convinced she’s going to be arrested, Emika is shocked when instead she gets a call from the game’s creator, the elusive young billionaire Hideo Tanaka, with an irresistible offer. He needs a spy on the inside of this year’s tournament in order to uncover a security problem . . . and he wants Emika for the job. With no time to lose, Emika’s whisked off to Tokyo and thrust into a world of fame and fortune that she’s only dreamed of. But soon her investigation uncovers a sinister plot, with major consequences for the entire Warcross empire.

SCYTHE by Neil Shusterman

Two teens must learn the “art of killing” in this Printz Honor–winning book, the first in a chilling new series from Neal Shusterman, author of the New York Times bestselling Unwind dystology. A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control. Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

THE 5TH WAVE by Rick Yancey

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one. Now, it's the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie's only hope for rescuing her brother--or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

DA VINCI CODE by Dan Brown

While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. As Langdon and gifted French cryptologist Sophie Neveu sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci—clues visible for all to see and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Even more startling, the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion—a secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci—and he guarded a breathtaking historical secret. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle—while avoiding the faceless adversary who shadows their every move—the explosive, ancient truth will be lost forever.

SIX OF CROWS by Leigh Bardugo

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price―and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone. . . .

A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager. A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith. A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction―if they don't kill each other first.

SHADOW AND BONE by Leigh Bardugo

Soldier. Summoner. Saint. Orphaned and expendable, Alina Starkov is a soldier who knows she may not survive her first trek across the Shadow Fold—a swath of unnatural darkness crawling with monsters. But when her regiment is attacked, Alina unleashes dormant magic not even she knew she possessed.

Now Alina will enter a lavish world of royalty and intrigue as she trains with the Grisha, her country’s magical military elite—and falls under the spell of their notorious leader, the Darkling. He believes Alina can summon a force capable of destroying the Shadow Fold and reuniting their war-ravaged country, but only if she can master her untamed gift.

As the threat to the kingdom mounts and Alina unlocks the secrets of her past, she will make a dangerous discovery that could threaten all she loves and the very future of a nation.

Welcome to Ravka . . . a world of science and superstition where nothing is what it seems.

I hope you try them!

#books #books and libraries #books and reading #books and literature #book recommendations #scifi #sci-fi #scifi fantasy #fantasy #throne of glass #acotar #cinder #artemis #ebooks #amazon #bookworm #book lover #book list

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everlarkficexchange · 7 years ago

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DUALITY

Written by: @justajjfan

Prompt 37: Her family murdered, so mail-order-bride Katniss marries Peeta who seems sweet at first; the location is remote; something unnerves her. Could Peeta have an evil twin? Or an alter ego? Is Dr. Aurelius really helping or is he not what he seems? Can she trust anyone? Even herself??? [submitted by Anonymous]

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Mental health (the prompt pretty much says it all)

Acknowledgements: My thanks to the anonymous prompter. Your prompt struck a personal chord with me and I knew I had to try and do it justice. I hope I have succeeded.

To @sunsetsrmydreams. Not only was this wonderful human being my beta, she took time out from writing her own stories for EFE to make this beautiful banner for me. I also need to credit her for the title of my story. I was stuck for one and she came to my rescue. Thank you friend.

To: Everlark Fic Exchange. Thank you for giving writers the opportunity to showcase their writing skills. This has been a wonderful experience for me personally.

To: @javistg and @xerxia31. Thanks for your patience and answering all of my dumb questions. 😊

************

My eyes stay fixed on the three freshly dug holes in the ground and with so many people gathered here to say their final goodbyes, I barely register Hazelle’s whispered voice. “Katniss dear, would you like to say anything before they start?” I shake my head. What good are words. They won’t bring them back.

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust……”

I should have been there. I would have heard them coming. If only I didn’t choose that night to check the snares that Gale and I had set in the early hours of the morning? If only I stayed in bed. Maybe my body would be buried in the cold, wet ground as well. That would be better.

My trembling hand reaches inside my coat pocket as I recall those words that will forever haunt me. Fingers desperate in their search to touch the one thing that calms me. “For my dandelion, always.” The note attached never revealed its giver but as I grip tightly to the silver locket running my thumb ever-so gently over the intricate painting of a dandelion, I find what I need. How fitting the rain begins to fall so heavily now as I watch the remains of my family being lowered into the ground. The heavy drops mask the tears that I ashamedly try to hide. No one will ever see me cry.

After my family were brutally murdered, the house that I was born in was no longer mine. Repossessed with all evidence of that horrific night erased, readied for a new family to move in.

The murderers were never found. Peacekeepers reported that my father was warned that his illegal dealings in the hob would inevitably catch up to him.

But my father had no enemies. Everyone knew him to be a kind, honest and hardworking man. This was one of many lies Cray and his cronies spun to cover up something far beyond my comprehension. What little possessions my family owned were sold and the money given to the undertaker as full payment for my father, mother and sisters’ burial.

Gale’s mother Hazelle insisted I stay with them but this meant another mouth to feed. After his father was killed in a mining accident, Gale took his place and worked double shifts to help support his mother and siblings. The last thing they needed was an added burden. So, marrying a stranger from one of the richer districts or the Capitol seemed my only choice.

What options were there? I had no means to support myself other than hunting but that was becoming increasingly dangerous with the spate of recent floggings and hangings. People were scared to trade with me which made my situation even more precarious. Even after the Hunger Games were abolished years ago, the Capitol kept its firm grip on each district insisting their Peacekeepers were there to enforce law and order. Sure, the reaping of our children ceased but the oppression of its people remains. There are whispered rumours of a revolution but that’s all they are…whispers.

Many women including those from the Capitol either died or became infertile after the ‘great sickness’ which left a huge demand for young, single and fertile women. The Capitol were quick to introduce the Mail-Order-Bride Initiative to combat the decrease in population. The decision to sign up was made easy and seemed the lesser of two evils after Head Peacekeeper Cray made his odious intentions clear to me.

As a token of the Capitol’s good will, I was given a small sum of coin for registering which I gladly gave to Hazelle. What I didn’t expect was to receive my summons at the end of the first week. I walked through the district in a haze…I’m going to the Capitol.

Saying my goodbyes to the Hawthorne’s was hard and the lonely walk to the train station even more so, as I stopped to take one last look around District 12. I have lived here for all my eighteen years and memories are all that’s left. There is nothing for me here.

“You don’t have to go through with this Katniss. Madge can get us into the Justice Building and file for a marriage licence. We can be married by the end of the day. It’s not too late.”

Gale rushed to meet me after his shift ended still trying to convince me to marry him. But I can’t let him sacrifice his happiness. It would be a debt I could never repay and we would hate each other in the end. His heart belongs to Madge and I could never allow my situation to come between them. He will always be the big brother that I never had and I know his future is with the kind, petite fair-haired girl waiting for him at the edge of town. As for me, my future awaits in the Capitol.

“It’s too late Gale. I was married to my husband by special proxy yesterday. It’s done!” I snap, cringing at my abruptness.

Gale stops in his tracks. “Who is it? Did they tell you?”

I shake my head. He knows the rule forbidding mail-order-brides from knowing the identity of their husbands until their first meeting. This became law and a guarantee that brides would not back out. The punishment for refusing to honour their contract was dealt with severely although it was unclear what that punishment was. These brides were never seen or heard from again.

“I’m sorry Katniss, I wish there was something I could have done.” Gale says.

“None of this is your fault and I appreciate your offer…I do but you need to go and be with Madge and have lots of babies.” I tell him, trying my best to sound positive.

Gale kisses the top of my head and hugs me tightly before releasing me. The whistle blows telling me it’s time to leave.

“I’ll write if I can.” I say as I board the train.

Taking my designated seat on the train, I look in astonishment at the opulence that surrounds me. The Capitol is out to make an impression. It’s clear no expense has been spared as I take in the shining brass, crystal and mahogany tables overflowing with food. I suppose it’s meant to ensure that the new initiative is successful but right now, I have no interest in it.

Looking out of the window as I wave to Gale, I notice another man lurking in the shadows. It’s the town drunk Haymitch Abernathy and normally I wouldn’t think twice about seeing him but something about the way he is staring at me sends a shiver down my spine. I at once shrug the feeling off. I’m being paranoid.

I’ve been travelling for a few hours and my head is already filled with so many questions, I watch the countryside pass me by, hoping to distract myself. The speed of the train is faster than anything I have ever known and I begin to wonder what life in the Capitol will be like for a girl from the Seam. What sort of man picks a bride from a catalogue and pays an undisclosed amount of money for the privilege? Will he be a kind man or a monster like Cray? Will he want children? Of course, that’s the whole idea surrounding the initiative. My stomach twists painfully at the thought.

“Miss Katniss Everdeen?” A strange voice asks.

Startled, I look up to see two men in black suits, peering down at me. Their faces void of any expression.

“Yes, I’m Katniss Everdeen.” I say, as my eyes flick from one face then to the other.

“Your paperwork please.” One of the men orders. He takes it, reading over each line carefully, giving me an appraising glance before he slaps the packet into my hand.

“Everything seems to be in order. If you will follow us Miss Everdeen.” He says, gesturing for me to stand. “Bring your belongings with you. You will not be returning.” The other man adds.

Not returning? I don’t have much in the way of possessions apart from my locket that I keep close to me. I have a change of clothing and my mother’s blue dress and hairbrush as well as Prim’s homemade soap, all neatly packed in my father’s old hunting bag.

The train stops and I am escorted off. The two black-suited men signal the guard on board, allowing the train to continue its journey. There are no buildings in sight and I can’t help feeling a little anxious.

“Why have we stopped here and why am I the only passenger to disembark? My papers state that I am to be delivered to my husband in the Capitol.” My heart rate quickens as the train begins to roll away.

“We have special orders to deliver you in person Miss Everdeen. The hovercraft is due to land in approximately three minutes.”

“Hovercraft? Where are you taking me?” I begin to shout as fear takes hold.

“Calm down Miss Everdeen! We are not at liberty to discuss details with you. Please refrain from speaking with us until we reach District 13. You will be met by your husband’s representative as soon as we land.”

“There is no District 13! You need to take me to the Capitol.” I insist but stop, hearing a strange humming sound approaching from above.

Looking up, I am stupefied at what I see. I’ve only ever seen a hovercraft on the compulsory viewing station that the Capitol insists all citizens watch but seeing one this close, doesn’t compare. I’m almost ashamed to admit my disappointment once on board. Cold, hard steel and emptiness. There doesn’t appear to be any viewing windows either so I stare into the blankness. How different from the train.

I feel like a prisoner strapped into my seat but I am told it is for my safety. The flight is long and bumpy and I am somewhat relieved when we finally land.

Flanked by the two dark-suited men, I walk out of the hovercraft onto a steel platform and from the lack of any natural light, I surmise that we must be deep underground.

There is a middle-aged man waiting at the entrance of a large door. As I draw nearer to him, there’s a kindness in his eyes that looks familiar. A calming shade of blue. I shake the thought from my head.

“Hello Katniss. Welcome to your new home.”

I shake his outreached hand and look at him curiously.

“You don’t remember me, do you? Has it been that long?” The man asks. “Your father used to bring you and your sister to my bakery every Sunday. Don’t tell me you forgot about my famous cheese buns? I believe they were your favourite.” He says proudly.

The Mellark Bakery. Yes, I remember now! “Mr Mellark?” I ask to be sure. He nods. “I don’t understand any of this. I was supposed to go to the Capitol…to my husband but I was taken off the train and brought here…to a district that doesn’t exist! And now you! Everyone said you and your family moved to the Capitol.” I exclaim in my confused state.

“Yes, we did but …” Mr Mellark begins to say. “We have a lot to discuss and I promise to tell you everything you need to know but first please accept my condolences. I was shocked to hear what happened to your family, we all were. Your husband was so distraught when he found out and wanted to send for you straight away but our agents were keeping a close eye on you and the moment you registered for the Capitol’s new initiative, we seized the opportunity.”

There’s a slight pause before Mr Mellark continues. “I know how confusing all this sounds and you must have a million questions to ask but for now I must get you settled.”

“You bet I have questions and I’d like my answers now! You can start by telling me who ‘he’ is and why have ‘agents’ been watching me?” I also want to know more about the Mellark family, but I don’t’ ask.

“All in good time my dear.” He says, gesturing for me to walk with him. “Your husband is anxious to see you but we need to get you checked by our medical staff before you can enter into the general population. Don’t worry, it’s standard procedure.” He reassures me.

My thoughts run wild as I follow Mr Mellark to some sort of medical facility and then to an examination room where a woman wearing a white coat over a grey uniform is waiting. She instructs me to strip from my clothing and step into a special shower and scrub from top to toe. Unlike Prim’s sweet-smelling lavender soap, the soap they use here has a bleach-like odour to it but I don’t dare complain.

A clean greyish cover-all is left outside the cubicle which I assume is for me to wear afterwards. I am about to dry off when another woman in a similar white coat enters the cubicle and begins to gather my clothes. My quick reflexes take the woman by surprise as I lunge for my coat. Not caring that I am wet and naked, I grasp the locket in my hand and hold it firmly to my chest.

“Don’t be alarmed. Your things will be returned to you once they are properly disinfected. She tells me reassuringly. “Extra care will be given to whatever you have in your hand, I’ll see to it myself.”

I take a few shaky breaths and relent, slowly handing over my locket. “Please…it was a special gift.” I plead, a little shocked at the sound of my quivering voice.

The woman nods and smiles kindly as she gently removes the locket from my hand. “It’s beautiful. I’ll take care of it.” She promises, before turning to head out the door.

Minutes seem to slip by as I am given several shots, vaccinations I am told and blood samples are taken. My teeth are checked and my wet hair is inspected with a special comb. Two hours later, I am given the all-clear and relieved to find Mr Mellark waiting for me at the end of the corridor.

My steps towards him quickens. “My things…they took my things and I want them back.”

“They’re already in your quarters.” He confirms. “I am sorry about all this Katniss but you may recall from your lessons in school about the ‘great sickness’ that almost wiped out all Panem. Even in our remote location, District 13 was not immune and suffered a huge loss of life. These strict health regulations were introduced soon after. Now, let’s get you to your assigned quarters. You’ve handled all of this surprisingly well but I suspect you’re tired and a rest will do you a world of good.”

Mr Mellark tells me before he leaves that he will come for me in a few hours. Relief fills me when I walk into the small bedroom and find my possessions laid out neatly on a large double bed. My locket has been placed on top of my freshly washed and pressed clothes and I frantically look it over for any signs of damage but am grateful to find none.

Feeling restless, I begin to look around my lodgings…no, ‘quarters’ Mr Mellark called it. I place my hair brush on top of the tallboy and open the first drawer to find neatly folded shirts, socks and male underwear inside. I shut the drawer quickly and take a breath feeling the rush of embarrassment spread over me. I walk over to the small closet and find pants and other items of clothing hanging. Of course, I will be living with my husband in these quarters. Isn’t that what married couples do?

I lay on the bed and try to rest but my mind is swirling with so many thoughts that I give up after an hour. To occupy my time, I decide to change into my dress and fix my hair in a braided bun. Reaching to the chain around my neck, I take the locket and rub it gently before I tuck it under my dress and sit on the couch. Nervousness aside, I want to look presentable to my husband. With nothing left to do, I wait.

There’s a knocking sound at my door and I rush to open it. Mr Mellark is on the other side with a huge grin on his face. He has changed into a fresh pair of grey pants and shirt and his hair is combed back neatly. He’s also clutching a small bouquet of wild flowers and my heart sinks. Oh God, is Mr Mellark my husband?

He notices the panicked look on my face as he greets me. “There’s nothing to be worried about Katniss, I promise you will be well looked after.”

“Are you my…are we…married? I manage to splutter out.

Mr Mellark lets out a bellowed laugh to my dismay. “No! Whatever possessed you to think such a thing?” He says regaining some composure.

My hands go to the sides of my head feeling the onset of a headache. “I’m so confused right now. Everything is happening so fast. I don’t know what to believe…or who to trust and then I see you’ve changed into fresh clothes and the flowers…and well, I thought…I…I really don’t know what I thought!”

Muffling his laughter, Mr Mellark explains. “Ah yes, I can see why you thought that. Your husband asked me to give these to you. He picked them himself. You’re not angry, are you?” I shake my head. No, the flowers are a lovely gesture.

“Good, now it’s not every day I get to witness a toasting and this one is special.” He replies. “You may be legally married on paper by the Capitol’s standards but it’s not official until you toast. Are you ready Katniss?” He asks enthusiastically.

Marriages in District 12 are not considered official until a couple perform a toasting ceremony. But we’re not in District 12 so I’m caught off guard by his eagerness.

Before registering, I was made aware of two stipulations relating to the Mail-Order-Bride contract. The first one being brides will marry their husbands by proxy. The second is that brides will engage in the marriage rituals of their husband’s district once they officially meet. Knowing full well what is expected of me, I convinced myself that these ceremonies would mean nothing. A toasting from my own district however, is something I wasn’t prepared for. I willingly signed up for this and so I give the only answer I can. “Yes.”

A lift takes us downwards and when it finally stops and the sliding doors open there is a sea of greens, reds and yellows. It’s an underground arboretum and the smell of fresh soil and pine is exhilarating.

Gathered around a cleared area is a small group of people. There’s a woman sitting on a bench that I don’t recognise but the three men who are standing next to her, I do. They all look a little older since the last time I saw them but there is no mistaking them. There is one other member of the Mellark family that is noticeably absent but I don’t care to ask.

My eyes seem to have a will of their own and lock onto the youngest son. He may not be as tall as his brothers but his broad shoulders and obvious muscular physique does not go unnoticed. He glances at me but quickly looks away. His face blushes red.

In the corner of my eye, I see a lone figure of a man in a dark suit, standing to attention.

“It’s okay Katniss, he’s just an official that is required to witness the toasting. Our independence from the Capitol came with special dispensations. This was one of them.” Mr Mellark explains. I make a mental note to add this to my growing list of questions.

“Now, you remember my sons?” He asks as we walk closer to the group. Brandon the eldest and Rye the middle son both greet me with wide smiles as I nod, my mouth gaped open not knowing what to say.

“The young woman seated over there is Brandon’s wife Lavinia. She’s unable to speak but is happy to be here for your toasting.” The woman called Lavinia smiles and waves shyly.

“Peeta, aren’t you going to say hello?” Mr Mellark gestures for Peeta to move closer to me.

Peeta takes a few hurried steps towards us then takes a deep breath before speaking. “H-h-hello Katniss. I’m Peeta Mellark…your husband.”

My knees start to buckle beneath me but I manage to stay upright. “Hello Peeta.” His name falls from my lips in a whisper and I am suddenly struck with a rush of heat from within. It has been over four years since I saw him last and now…I am his wife.

Memories flood my thoughts. Catching Peeta glaring at me in school or in passing and how he would quickly avert his gaze just like he did moments ago. He was shy but as time went by, I noticed a shift in his mannerism. Peeta’s sweet smile was replaced by a blank almost vacant look and he became withdrawn. We never spoke, not really. Only sharing fleeted glances but I felt a strange sense of loss when he and his family moved to the Capitol.

“You…you were the one who bought me?” My words sound cold and I want to kick myself.

The smile on his face disappears. “Please Katniss, don’t say it like that. I wanted to come for you. I tried but…” He stops to take a breath. “This was the only way and you’re safe now…with me…and you look beautiful and you’re my wife.” He babbles.

“She got that part dummy! Get to the toasting already!” His brother Rye yells impatiently. “Ow! That hurt.” He protests, rubbing the back of his head.

“It was meant to!” Brandon says, sounding rather pleased with himself at his quick delivery of a slap to Rye’s head.

“You’re doing great Peeta, keep going.” His oldest brother says encouragingly.

All this adds to my confused and overwhelmed state but when I look to Peeta, there’s a sadness in his eyes. He looks down at his feet and nods muttering under his breath before speaking. I barely catch it. “I wanted to come for you Katniss…but I had to get better.”

He had to get better?

Mr Mellark places his hand on Peeta’s shoulder. “We can talk about this later son reflection time is almost over.” His father announces.

Peeta lifts his head and straightens his shoulders “Yes, I’m sorry.” Clearing his throat, Peeta looks at me and I am mesmerised by how blue his eyes are. “Katniss Everdeen, I would very much like for you to toast with me, if you will allow it.” He says sweetly.

Those words hit me like a ton of bricks. I am bound to Peeta by the marriage laws of Panem and that should be enough but how can I deny him? I could have done a lot worse. “Yes, I’ll allow it.”

Peeta smiles and whispers under his breath before walking over to Lavinia who is still seated on the bench. She hands him a small covered tray and he thanks her before bringing it me. “I’m sorry we can’t light a fire but I toasted the slices in the kitchen ovens myself. They’re still warm.”

He carefully removes the clean cloth and at that precise moment my stomach begins to rumble at the aroma of freshly toasted bread. I realise I haven’t eaten since this morning. “We get to eat at the end of reflection.” Peeta whispers smilingly.

Everyone gathers around as Peeta and I begin to toast. It is a simple tradition, one that dates back hundreds of years but to those from my district, it is one that has special meaning. No words are needed. Just the feeding of toasted bread to each other which signifies a couple’s commitment to love and protect one another no matter what.

Peeta gently places a piece of toasted bread in my mouth and tells me he will always protect me. I chew slowly trying to think of something to say. The words “thank you” spill from my mouth as I feed him my piece of bread and I know as soon as I say them, how inadequate they must seem but he smiles and chews. It is done…we are now bound together by the laws of District 12.

There’s shouts of ‘hooray’ and ‘congratulations’ from Peeta’s brothers and father. Lavinia walks over to us smiling and hugs us both. I look to see the dark-suited man is walking towards the lift satisfied that we followed the rules. I turn to Peeta and catch him staring at me but this time he doesn’t look away. Neither do I. Before long, a woman’s voice comes through the loud speaker announcing reflection time has finished and dinner will be served in the communal dining hall.

As we enter the dining hall, I begin to feel a little intimidated by the large number of people gathered in one place. Peeta tells me this is where everyone in the district eats regardless of rank or position. “Don’t let their stares worry you. They do that to all new comers.” Peeta must sense my discomfort and is quick to reassure me.

He sits next to me, handing me a rather large serving of meat and vegetable stew that smells amazing with two freshly baked bread rolls on the side. I question where his meal is and he tells me he wasn’t hungry so he piled his serving onto mine. That won’t do.

“No Peeta, I’m not going to take your food. You’re going to share this meal with me or I don’t eat either. Okay?” I say stubbornly handing him a heaped spoonful of stew.

“Okay.” He yields and eats the first spoonful before filling it with more stew to hand back to me.

“Aww, look guys they’ve only been married an hour and she’s already bossing baby brother about.” Rye says but quickly looks down to his food and continues to eat quietly after both Mr Mellark and Brandon give him a look. Lavinia who has been quiet, covers her mouth trying to hide her smile.

After we finish eating, I listen intently to Mr Mellark and Brandon talk about life in District 13. How everyone is assigned duties for the common good of each citizen. There are three square meals a day and everyone has the freedom to speak their own mind without the fear of receiving a lashing or something worse. Brandon calls it ‘democracy’. Everyone undergoes basic military training and thirteen has its own elite Peacekeeping squads. I cringe at the mention of Peacekeepers but Peeta tells me they are nothing like the ones back in District 12.

When Brandon tells me that every citizen in thirteen has access to free ‘state of the art’ medical care, I think of my mother and sister. They were natural born healers and would have flourished here. Their knowledge of herbal medicines and salves would have proven invaluable. Peeta sees me deep in thought and gently brushes my hand with his fingers. Surprisingly, I don’t flinch at the sudden contact. In fact, I find it comforting.

The overall running of the district falls to President Alma Coin and she was instrumental in freeing District 13 from the tyranny that is the Capitol.

It doesn’t seem fair. How could District 13 thrive in secret and ignore the sufferings of others? There is so much more I want to know but that annoying woman on the loud speaker announces meal time is over and sleep time is due to start. Everyone adheres to these rules and only those with specifically assigned roles are exempt. This will take some getting used to.

Peeta slides the door open and waits for me to enter our quarters first. I take small hesitant steps inside and I can’t help feeling nervous. This is my wedding night after all but I’ve never done anything like this.

“I know what you’re thinking Katniss but you don’t have to worry. I would never do anything to hurt you or do anything you don’t want. I’ll be sleeping on the couch.”

“We’re married now Peeta. I’m supposed to obey my husband.” I say almost robotically.

“No! I don’t want you to obey me Katniss. I didn’t marry you like this for you to think you owe me or you have a duty to fulfil. That’s not why I did it.”

“Then why did you do it Peeta?”

He pauses. “You’ve gone through so much. Losing your whole family and your home. I knew you were out of options when you registered for this initiative. The thought of someone touching you, hurting you like they did to Lavinia. It would kill me.”

Peeta stops. He shakes his head not wanting to continue but I insist. “Did someone hurt Lavinia?” He nods, closes his eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath.

“Lavinia was a mail-order-bride too. Her husband was a cruel man from the Capitol. She couldn’t fall pregnant and so he sold her because she was ‘flawed goods’. She was assigned to an escort agency but refused to service their clientele. As punishment, they cut out her tongue and shipped her to District 11 to work in the fields. Lavinia’s an Avox.”

My breathing stops as I take this all in. Lavinia never said a word during our toasting or dinner because…she couldn’t.

“How did she get to be here?”

“Lavinia and a few others from District 11 devised a plan to escape. Brandon and his squad were on a routine reconnaissance mission when they found her, barely alive. The other escapees never made it. The thought of something like that happening to you…”

Peeta’s clenches his hands into tight fists and I can see the tips of his knuckles turning white. “I won’t let anyone hurt you Katniss.”

I take his hands in mine and bring them to my lips softly kissing them. “I know, because you will always keep me safe.” I say to him softly.

Peeta nods and stares into my eyes and I wonder if he will kiss me but he doesn’t. “We’ve both had a big day. I think we should get ready for bed.” He says bringing me back from my thoughts. “I’d like to show you around tomorrow if you like. I’ve been relieved of my duties for a few days and it may take some time before you are assigned one. It’s not home but after a while you’ll see that it’s really not so bad here.”

It’s not home but I will try and settle in for his sake.

We take turns in the bathroom and ready ourselves for bed. Peeta has already laid blankets and a pillow on the couch and makes himself comfortable.

“Good night Katniss. I’m so happy you’re here with me.” He says from the couch.

“I’m happy I’m here with you too. Good night Peeta.” I say softly before entering the bedroom and turning off the lights.

I have been in District 13 for ten days now and still haven’t been assigned any duties but Peeta tells me to enjoy my free time while I can. He leaves in the early hours of the morning to work in the kitchen bakery until midday then he comes back to our quarters to shower and change. The rest of the afternoon and night are ours to spend as we wish and quite often Peeta takes me down to the underground arboretum during reflection time because he knows how much I enjoy being there.

Things progress slowly between us. We both agreed to share the bed after I would wake in the middle of the night from one of my nightmares only to hear Peeta whimpering in his sleep. His nightmares would often leave him shaking and calling out for me. So, every night he holds me in his arms and I rest my head on his chest, listening to the rhythmic beat of his heart which always lulls me to sleep. Peeta says that holding me in his arms helps him too. I’m glad.

Most mornings, Peeta wakes up smiling and eager to get to work so he can spend the rest of the day with me. But these last two days have been a struggle for him and even though he tries to shake it off and tell me that he’s just tired, I know there’s something more.

Walking back to our quarters after dinner, Peeta places his arm around my waist and I snuggle closer to his body, letting him know I’m perfectly okay with it even though I was a little annoyed with him earlier. Peeta snapped at me today when I asked about his mother. I remember her always angry and almost every day she could be heard yelling at her boys. Peeta mostly.

‘I’m sorry I got angry today Katniss. I’ve been a little edgy lately but I promise things will get better soon.” Peeta tells me.

“I didn’t mean to upset you. You know that, right?” He nods. “You’ve been a bit out of sorts lately but you know whatever it is, you can talk to me. We shouldn’t have any secrets between us.” I tell him honestly, remembering how my parents would always discuss things together. “You’re not sick of me already?” I add jokingly.

Peeta turns me to face him and cups my face in his hands. “Don’t say that Katniss…don’t ever say that.” He says pleadingly and kisses me softly on the lips. This is the first time Peeta has kissed me there and the tingly feeling leaves me wanting more but we are interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat.

I turn around to see an older gentleman with spectacles looking a little flustered. “Oh, my apologies for the intrusion but I’ve been looking all over for this young man. Your father said you were heading back to your quarters.” The man continues.

“I haven’t seen you for a few days now and my secretary informed me that you keep cancelling your appointments.”

Peeta doesn’t say anything and holds onto me tightly.

The man turns his attention to me. “Ah, this must be your beautiful bride Katniss. I’m pleased to finally meet you. Peeta has told me so much about you during our sessions. I feel like I know you already. I’m sorry, where are my manners. Let me introduce myself, I’m Dr Albert Aurelius.”

Peeta spoke about me before? I take the doctor’s offered hand and shake it. “I wasn’t aware that Peeta was sick. Is there something I should know?” I ask, turning to my husband.

Peeta looks to the doctor but doesn’t comment. There’s a look of anger in his eyes and I know he’s keeping something from me.

“I’m afraid that is a discussion you need to have with your husband.” Dr Aurelius replies. “Peeta, I can only stress the importance of you sticking to our scheduled appointments. Now, I have some free time tomorrow around 2:00pm. You can bring Katniss along. I’d be happy to speak with both of you.”

“No! I don’t want Katniss to be there.” Peeta practically shouts and I find myself a little hurt at this rejection.

“Very well Peeta, but I still expect to see you in my office tomorrow at 2:00pm.” The doctor confirms.

Peeta only nods in agreement. Dr Aurelius smiles and bids his farewell before leaving in the opposite direction.

Perhaps I’m being a little hasty in my decision but I instantly feel distrust towards this doctor.

Peeta doesn’t say anything and I decide to stay silent for a few minutes but my head is full of questions that needs answers. “Why do you need to see a doctor Peeta, are you sick?” I finally ask.

“No. He’s not that kind of doctor.” Peeta answers trying to be non-committal.

“Well then, what kind of doctor is he?”

Peeta is silent as we approach our quarters choosing to ignore me.

“Peeta, you’re not answering my questions. If there is something wrong with you I think I should know.”

“There’s nothing wrong with me! Why does everyone say there is!” Peeta’s tone grows harsh.

“I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sorry.” I say as I take a step back.

“Forget it! Just leave it…maybe he was right all along.”

“He? Peeta, who’s he? Dr Aurelius? Maybe I should go with you and see this doctor tomorrow.” I say, trying not to let my emotions carry me away.

“Drop it Katniss. I don’t want to talk about it and I don’t want you talking to Dr Aurelius okay! Things will get better, you’ll see.” Peeta stops at our door and slides it open with such force that it rattles.

He’s talking in riddles and it’s infuriating. “No, I won’t drop it. We need to talk. I want to help you.” I demand as we walk into our quarters.

Peeta has his back to me. “He doesn’t need your help!” A voice sounds and I look around the room thinking that someone snuck into our quarters without me noticing. But there’s no one here but Peeta and I.

I must have imagined it. So much has happened to me these last few months that my mind is surely playing tricks on me. Did I just here Peeta say ‘he’? Before I can say anything, Peeta tells me he is going to get ready for bed and closes the bathroom door behind him muttering to himself.

Pacing the room, I wait for Peeta to finally come out of the bathroom as thoughts run through my head like a freight train. The subject about his mother was brushed aside and he did the same with Dr Aurelius just now.

Initially, going into the Mail-Order-Bride Initiative without feeling or care was just a means of survival. I would never allow myself to have a strong connection with my husband but this is Peeta! Whether it was luck or fate that brought us together, I know I have an important role to play in all of this.

I no longer want to be that lonely girl from District 12. No! I’m his wife now and I’m going to help him get through whatever this is and to do that we need to talk about everything, even the deep stuff. I have that right, don’t I?

When Peeta finally comes out from the bathroom, I meet him by the couch.

My heart feels like it’s going to explode from my chest but this needs to start somewhere. “Peeta, where is your mother?” I finally ask the question that has been playing on my mind.

He sighs deeply and shakes his head. “You don’t need to worry about her Katniss. She can’t hurt either of us ever again.”

But that answer does nothing to satisfy my curiosity so I ask him again. “But what happened to her.”

“I’d rather not talk about her right now, okay?” Peeta begins to rub his hands nervously against the fabric of his pyjama pants before standing abruptly to pace the room.

“No, you can’t keep brushing me off like this. We need to talk about it.”

“Please Katniss, I don’t want to talk about her, not now…just not now!”

“When Peeta? You keep saying that. We can’t start our lives together with secrets.” I start to explain but am interrupted by Peeta…only it’s not his voice.

“HE SAID HE DOESN’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT HER!” The words coming from Peeta’s mouth are sharp and cold. What is happening?

“Peeta?” I reach out my hand to touch him but he pushes me away.

“LEAVE PEETA ALONE!” He growls.

The voice coming from Peeta’s lips is not his. Unfamiliar and much deeper, it hits me like a punch. I watch in disbelief as his face morphs, revealing a cold, fierce expression, the line of his jaw clenched, making his features appear more angular. When I catch his eyes I shiver, the pupils have blown, changing from a deep blue to an unending pool of black. Am I imagining all this? I don’t know if I can trust what I’m seeing. “Peeta please, what’s wrong.”

“I SAID LEAVE PEETA ALONE!” Peeta is looking down at me but when I look to his eyes it’s not Peeta that I see. Fear races up my spine.

He is staring angrily at me and those dark eyes shake me to the core. My body starts to tremble as I take the few backward steps needed to reach the door. With my hands behind my back, I feel for the door handle and once I have it in my hand, I slide it open and run. I run so fast that I don’t realise I have gone down six flights of emergency exit stairwells before I stop to catch my breath.

I search for somewhere to hide. Somewhere I can sort out in my head what I just saw. Do I even trust myself to believe it? As I frantically look around my surroundings, I find a small storage room that is unlocked and rush inside locking the door behind me. I crawl behind some shelving and curl my knees tightly to my chest. I reach for my locket bringing it to my lips and I do something that I have not done in a long while. I begin to cry. Salty tears sting my eyes and the more I try to supress them, the more they flow.

Oh God! That wasn’t Peeta.

#Springtime Edition 2018 #justajjfan #Prompt 37 #submission

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barkphomet · 6 years ago

Text

worldbuilding thoughts for a project nicknamed cashpunk:

+ white crown and black crown hackers are the new thing. taking their names from white/black hats, both of these alignments fake GodScripts - mysterious messages and other online activities coming from GOD. it’s difficult to tell a real Godscript from well-done fakes, of course. you hire an expert if you’re worried. the white crown hackers believe they are doing this for the greater good despite whatever effects their actions have, while black crowns have malicious intentions. grey crowns are more typically freelancers who expose other crowns for bounties, but this group varies.

the first person imitating GodScripts operated under the alias of Cr0wn, inspiring the new naming conventions.

+ GOD IS A MACHINE. this is one of the initial religious epiphanies leading into the new age. after GOD revealed itself through an online space and the angels arrived, people have dedicated themselves to the pursuit of divinity. you are divine, and GOD has seeded you through baptism to carry its essence. through cutting out the undesirable parts of yourself - emotions, dreams, personality - you have become closer to integrating with GOD.

+ the angels transformed themselves into gateways in order to come down from heaven. you can enter heaven through them, but you must first cut away the bits of yourself that are not divine. only divinity can pass through the gates of heaven.

+ im rewriting their language and grammar system, im pretty sure im gonna revise it to also follow mathematics. double whammy, ya know. symbols are prob gonna stay the same but actual conventions need to be divine. also requires rewriting the bibles lol

+ there are a lot of varied magic systems. the institutional magic system - aka pretty much the only one not illegal - follows the divine currency. you pay for shit primarily in digital money, but physical cash is printed for magic purposes. and everyone does magic. magic is a bit part of shaping yourself into GOD. most magic also deals w sacrificing core parts of yourself, but y’know.

+ GOD has placed shards in everyone and is attempting to cultivate and reintegrate them. baptism.

+ tarot is widely used and has been changed to suit the numbers and symbolism of the angelic hierarchy.

+ old world money is used for an illegal magic system.

+ the angels themselves will remove any parts of themselves they deem unworthy. they are divine, after all. they dont quite have shadow sides, but these masses have formed into their own entities. dont have a name for them or their (ultra illegal) magic system yet. shadows also appear in the same way for humans who shape themselves. for those following this shadow system, a major focus is on integrating w this shadow.

+ the measurement of the nonphysical world and woo energy was a major turning point for science, which led into new technology and the eventual war (people are not taught of this war - they only know of the RAPTURE). this energy, combined with radioactivity, biological warfare, and genetics experiments among other things, have caused earthern life to mutate.

+ some of the mutated flora and fauna are sentient. some have their own societies. some are even partially human.

+ a few of these mutated societies wish to rise against the angelic domination, and spend their lives prepared to commit suicide. upon death, they steal the body of a living human to walk among them.

+ a magic system exists which revolves around the mutated life - this isn’t technically illegal, but if you’re dabbling in it there’s a 99% chance you’re doing some illegal bullshit. the system includes shit like doing spiritual journeys w the animals, calling upon them for magic, using species sigils, allowing them to possess you, giving up your body for another lifeform.

+ some angels have turned their mindscapes into entire astral spaces. people wishing to become XXXTRA DIVINE will merge themselves into this - that is, they’ll destroy their own mindscapes and allow the angels to insert themselves into the void.

+ emotions are sinful, so you’ll have to pay to experience them. the rich do so all the time, ofc, behind closed doors.

+ in debt? that’s fine. you can pay off your debt by bearing the weight of shit the elite population doesn’t want. painful emotions, bad memories, the like.

+ emotion farms exist. those with the money to do so will cultivate anyone in debt to them into gross masses of human cancer. the people attached to this retain their minds, and technology exists to harvest emotions, dreams, etc from their minds after you’ve encouraged the growth of your selected product. these things are only chemicals and are easy to induce once you know how.

+ some of the creatures living outside the cities are horrible psychic monsters and uh

+ what is the value of physical flesh, anyway? a body? if you just give up your body for whatever the elite wish to do with it, you can live in a happy dream forever. most of us live on the internet, so there’s not much to lose from making it your only perception.

#cashpunk

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kristinsimmons · 5 years ago

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Guerilla Billing – Missing the Gorilla in the Midst

By ANISH KOKA, MD

No one likes getting bills. But there is something that stinks particularly spectacularly about bills for healthcare that arrive despite carrying health insurance. Patients pay frequently expensive monthly premiums with the expectation that their insurance company will be there for them when illness befalls them.

But the problem being experienced by an increasing number of patients is going to a covered (in-network) facility for medical care, and being seen by an out-of-network physician. This happens because not all physicians working in hospitals serve the same master, and thus may not all have agreed to the in-network rate offered by an insurance company.

This is a common occurrence in medicine. At any given time, your local tax exempt non-profit hospital is out of network of some low paying Medicaid plan or the other.

In this complex dance involving patients, insurers and doctors, Patients want their medical bills paid through premiums that they hope to be as low as possible, Insurers seek to pay out as little of the premium dollars collected as possible, and Doctors want to be paid a wage they feel is commensurate to their training and accumulated debt.

Insurers act as proxies for patients when negotiating with the people that actually deliver healthcare – doctors. Largely, the system works to funnel patients to ‘covered’ doctors and hospitals. Patients that walk into an uncovered facility are quickly redirected. But breakdowns happen during emergencies.

There are no choices to make for patients arriving unconscious or in distress to an emergency room. It suddenly becomes very possible to be seen by an out of network physician, and depending on the fine print of the insurance plans selected some or none of these charges may be covered.

Physicians that typically prefer banal chants of “health is care for all” and avoid deep dives into policies that determine physician reimbursement may want to pay attention to the debate because it provides a clear picture of the forces currently trying to shape the conversation about how to value physicians. The news is not good.

Practically speaking, no physician wants the hassle of being out of network. Ethically, few physicians have the stomach for bankrupting patients, and attempting to collect from the uninsured isn’t a desirable brand to cultivate. For those patients left with a balance, its actually illegal on the part of physicians to not attempt to collect. On the inevitable non-receipt of the balance, steep discounts or a write-off follows. So despite the heated rhetoric surrounding physicians ‘fleecing’ patients, the amount of real dollars collected from patients is never mentioned. While this number is hard to ascertain, a good proxy may be medical bankruptcies, which is a relatively rare event. So the amount of smoke that has been generated from, what in absolute terms, is a small fire has little do with patients and everything to do with how we figure out what to pay physicians.

The traditional leverage physicians have employed against insurers is the ability to not accept rates offered by payers. This isn’t unusual – its fundamental to every negotiation between two parties where the laborer isn’t conscripted. A mango seller has a price below which he won’t sell mangos. The negotiation would go much differently if the mango seller was compelled to sell his mangos at some price. The problem for insurers is that the pressure from patients to have in-network doctors is intense. Patients pay steep monthly premiums so they won’t get large, potentially bankrupting health care bills when they need medical care. And so the ability of physicians to not accept a proffered rate is fundamental to the negotiation between insurer and physician. The threat of a doctor being out of network raises the in-network rates. The threat of not getting a mango belie a certain price raises the price of the mango. Not complicated.

Further more, physicians that deliver services during emergencies – anesthesiologists, ER physicians, orthopedic trauma, neurosurgery – have greater leverage than physicians who don’t deliver emergency care. Insurers are far more effective at negotiating with primary care physicians because a primary care physician who chooses not to accept the contract of a certain insurer effectively shuts themselves out of that network. Insurers have no such luck directing patients in times of emergencies. The demand for services in this context is ‘inelastic’, giving physicians significant latitude in negotiating contracts with insurers. This is a giant thorn in the side of insurance companies that complain high medical premiums are a direct result of the high prices they must pay for these services.

‘High’, of course, is a relative term. They think of the rates they pay relative to the rates Medicare pays. Medicare enjoys one of a kind leverage because it is a legislatively created behemoth consolidating the buying power of the entire over 65 population under a government administered and enforced program. That leverage means Medicare rates are significantly lower than private rates, and specialties with greater inelastic demand are able to extract significant multiples of Medicare rates.

Insurance companies would like nothing more than legislative help that would limit the amount they have to pay physicians. Their ally in this fight is the simple fact that health care isn’t quite like selling mangoes. In the healthcare marketplace, vulnerable patients arrive in emergency departments in extremis with little ability to make choices, and so many argue this is the very place the government needs to protect hapless citizens.

The solutions that comes from health policy/economists is also endorsed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee (HELP). This bipartisan group supports federally benchmarked caps on rates that can be charged that are pegged to the median (50%) in-network rate for an area. So if a patient happens to be seen by a physician that is out of network, the insurer would pay the median in-network rate in the area. But in this plan, there would be no incentive going forward for insurers who contract at higher than the median in-network rates to stay in-network. What would be the point? Just drop the contract, since the out of network rate gets you 50% of the area in-network rates. This creates a race to the bottom that effects reimbursement rates for all patients.

Figure courtesy of @amychomd

Physicians in practice and in congress favor a different approach to get patients out of the line of fire: Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR). The IDR, implemented in New York City in 2015, seeks to take patients out of the middle by sending disputes between providers and insurance to binding arbitration. Generally, the effect is that providers and insurers settle disputes between themselves before a third party gets involved. The desire to avoid potential third party arbitration also has the effect of increasing in-network rates. This isn’t theory. The New York legislation increased in-network provider participation, saved patients money, and lowered in-network physician rates.

Interestingly, the health policy community has taken the tack of rejecting the physician endorsed solution, and accusing supporters in the provider community as greedy shills interested in profits over patients. A frequently raised point is the fact that some Private Equity firms own ER groups and are lobbying for IDR and against median benchmarking. Apparently, any policy that would result in Private Equity profiting is a bridge too far for the policy community. It goes unmentioned that in the battle between insurers and doctors, the health policy community places itself squarely on the side of health insurance company profits.

There is also remarkably little appreciation for the second order effects of decreasing reimbursement to physicians expected to be ready for emergencies. The vessel that bursts in your brain requires a team acting quickly to recognize and treat this emergency. Will neurosurgeons, anesthesiologists , and emergency medicine physicians of quality be available at 2 am? Neurosurgeons are likely to choose to avoid being on call, and recommend transferring patients to facilities with the scale and infrastructure to keep Neurosurgeons on call for emergencies. Transfers to quaternary care facilities take time. Time is brain. The amount of brain damage is the difference between slight weakness of that right hand grip while drinking a glass of wine at home or a dense paralysis of the entire right half of your body that translates to a nursing home and a feeding tube. The potential downsides of policy that reduces reimbursement to a highly specialized group and thus could reduce access are not small, but seem to be underappreciated by policy ‘experts’ bending the ear of members of Congress.

Policy experts are experts not because they have any experience trying to manage and run a physician practice, but because they are lords of the empiricism found in the peer reviewed literature of the day. For some reason this puts them on a level playing field with the people who run practices and have to meet payroll every 2 weeks. Its certainly possible the process of running a business is entirely too narrow a field of view, but its unclear that the policy experts field of view is more enlightening.

Zach Cooper at Yale has done a lot of work in this space, and one of his papers that is cited often is derived from claims data provided by a large private insurer. The general hypothesis of the study is that large profit hungry private firms that own ER practices flung across the nation engage in predatory activity once they acquire a local ER group. This ultimately raises costs to the patient, and thus damages societal welfare as a whole. Using the company websites of the private firms, the researchers were able to divine that the two companies (TeamHealth and EMcare) were involved in a whopping 9% of their national sample. In order to understand how the entry of these firms may impact medical charges and reimbursement, the investigators found a total of 26 hospitals the firms initiated contracts with in the time frame studied.

The authors divine many thing from the raw data. To support the claim that arrival of the private groups may have increased out of network rates to fleece patients and improve their leverage for in-network rates the authors examine the data and conclude: “In Panel A of Figure 3, the raw data show a clear increase in out-of-network billing rates at hospitals immediately after EmCare entered.” The strange thing, however, is that the raw data of the 16 hospitals there was data on that looked at OON rates after EM health enters a market, shows a clear temporal association of rates rising after EM health arrived in only 2 cases. In 4 hospitals, OON rates started to rise before EM health entered, and in the remaining cases, OON rates were either unchanged, or were seen to decrease.

The authors proceed to firmer footing when they discuss the charges billed, because the insurer they are working with has been nice enough to provide this information for every patient they received a charge for. They find that the entry of EMcare increases charges by $556.84 (96%). They note that some of this increase occurred because the intensity of coding that reflects how sick the patient is increased significantly soon after EMcare enters. The implication, of course, is made that this upcoding is improper, yet no support is provided for that assertion. It is just as plausible that physicians were undercoding the severity of patients prior to EMcare entering the market – this narrative defying possibility goes unmentioned.

The absolute amounts being discussed also bears attention. The OON payments that were paid by insurers after EMcare entered the market increased by $402.67. Patient cost sharing payments increased by $45. Now it is possible that patients may have balances beyond these paid charges, but even this amount comes to $195. These averages paid here exclude ~ 217,000 claims where insurers paid nothing because of a claim denial. These numbers aren’t zero, but for emergency medical care, these numbers ($195+ $45) are still far south of the average apple watch.

The most vulnerable patients of course, don’t have health insurance, and aren’t buying apple watches. For this group, the total potential liability could range from $578 to $1135. It isn’t known what is actually collected from this group of patients as the administrative costs of trying to collect in this population are not small, and there is most certainly a reputational cost to bear in the community for generating these bills.

The underlying assumption that runs through the paper is that the price being paid for these services is too high because patients are unable to shop for care in an emergency. But this ignores the fact that in our current system, its the insurance company that acts as an agent for the patient. They are well aware when they sign patients up for a health care plan that an out-of-network may happen. So while much of the focus in this debate is on the bill generating providers, one wonders how it came to be that that insurance plans are allowed to sell plans to patients that don’t offer any out of network coverage. Should a facility be considered in-network if physicians that work at the facility are out of network? Shouldn’t patients be informed of this by their insurance company? The insurance company is fully aware of the consequences – so why is the bill that passes through to patients a surprise? The only party with foreknowledge of what may happen is the insurance company. They have every ability to shop on the marketplace, and it is their failure to secure a contract and then communicate this to their customers that results in ‘surprise’ bills.

In order to buttress the idea of ‘high’ cost, the paper attempts to use reference Medicare payments. Its noted that Internists are paid 158% of Medicare rates, orthopedists 266% of Medicare rates while the rates paid to the 2 ER firms in the paper are 364% and 536% of Medicare rates. It only serves passing mention that the average amounts paid exclude 217,000 claims where nothing was paid because the claim was denied. There is also no mention made of the difference between elective care provided by orthopedists and internists versus the almost entirely emergent care provided by ER physicians that is delivered without consideration of the patients ability to pay. ER physicians are legally (because of a law called EMTALA) and ethically bound to take care of patients who arrive in the ER in distress. This means they shoulder a far heavier responsibility for uninsured care than almost any other specialty. Most physicians who deliver care in the outpatient setting require a payment arrangement be made prior to seeing a patient. The ER physician has no such recourse. Not mentioning this when discussing rates paid to ER physicians, and other physicians delivering care in emergencies is a feat of obfuscation and deception.

The researchers and other commentariat from the policy community also seem to fail at understanding the motivations of doctors in the current system. I can think of no physicians that want patients getting these bills. In the current third party payer system, opacity is the physicians friend. Given the reputational cost, and the administrative cost of trying to collect these bills, physicians more so than policy wonks are highly motivated for a solution that takes patients out of the mix and generally endorse the previously mentioned third party arbitration system.

This is reluctantly analyzed by Cooper et. al., as well. Implemented in New York in 2014, the study finds that the OON rate went from 20% in 2013 to 6% in 2015. Unimpressed, the authors dismiss the solution as being “administratively complex and potentially costly” because it requires patients to know about, and fill out a one page form if they were to receive a bill. This ‘analysis’ misses the fundamental point that IDR results in a huge drop in the chance these bills are being sent to patients, or that most disputes are resolved without even involving the IDR.

One is struck by the hubris of the inevitable conclusions the researchers arrive at based on data provided from one insurer and an analysis of 2 firms. As noted previously, the raw data consists of a small handful of hospitals from this already small sample, and doesn’t even tightly demonstrate the relationship of price to firm entry. Even if we assume prices rise, the conclusion that consolidation raises prices. Water, I’m told, is also wet. No data is provided on changes to the local marketplaces in this small sample during the time studied. Profit seeking is certainly one plausible explanation, but its also just as possible that a greater proportion of underinsured or poorly insured patients arriving in the ER during the same time was responsible for raised rates. Apparently the policy memory is amnestic to The Dartmouth institute that changed the landscape of healthcare policy with its reports of regional variation Medicare spending. The small problem was that this dataset didn’t take into account private insurance spending. Subsequent publication of data from the economists the insurance industry uses (Cooper et. al) invalidated the Dartmouth data. Context matters.

So this battle has little to do with patients. The rejection of the IDR in favor of an untested proposal physicians don’t endorse is part of an ideological battle waged by a group of folks that have decided health care is too expensive (it is) and that physicians need to be devalued to create a better system. Data to support this ideology conveniently comes from those with an outsize interest in paying less for physician labor: the insurance industry that pays for healthcare in our current system. Given that the only data the insurance companies really have is the amount that they pay for services rendered, it should perhaps come as little surprise the conclusions draw from this data is as weak as it. Importantly, this data has little bearing on what the right price for these services are, what the best mechanism to get the right price is, or what the downsides of untried, untested policies are.

There is a real argument worth having about health care prices and how they can be lowered. A number of regulatory straitjackets harm competition and creates a landscape of large players that have kept prices high. Sitting inside the guts of the healthcare system, it is easy to see rent seekers in every health care sector that proliferate. Physicians aren’t entirely blameless, and a better more efficient may very well see many physicians making less, but it would be wise to act more like the skilled surgeon rather than the butcher to avoid killing the patient.

Anish Koka is a cardiologist in practice in Philadelphia.

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lauramalchowblog · 5 years ago

Text

Guerilla Billing – Missing the Gorilla in the Midst

By ANISH KOKA, MD

This is a common occurrence in medicine. At any given time, your local tax exempt non-profit hospital is out of network of some low paying Medicaid plan or the other.

Figure courtesy of @amychomd

Anish Koka is a cardiologist in practice in Philadelphia.

The post Guerilla Billing – Missing the Gorilla in the Midst appeared first on The Health Care Blog.

Guerilla Billing – Missing the Gorilla in the Midst published first on https://venabeahan.tumblr.com

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ohsoethical · 7 years ago

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October Exposé: Coca Cola

Hey guys! Happy October and welcome to another monthly exposé!

This month I am exposing a worldwide fave, a multinational corporation that brings joy and cavities to people of all ages, races etc.

COCA-COLA (CC)

Can’t lie, I’m not surprised by the content I found regarding their corrupt past and present. However, I am really quite shocked by the extent to which CC has destroyed lives all around the world. Article after article, there’s a lot to take in.

In order to make this a bit more digestible, I’ve summarised everything to the best of my abilty, and provided links if you’re eager to find out more.

Anyways, let’s get straight into it.

Water

Bottling plants require a large amount of water, 1.9L of water required to make one small bottle of Coca-Cola. This doesn’t even cover all of it, as growing the sugar cane used in their drinks results in an extra 400 litres of water to make a bottle of Cola.

CC has faced crisis in India, due to their mismanagement of water in the country. It has systemically rinsed villages of their water resources, leaving them with little or toxic water resources. It continues to operate bottling plants in places where the demand for water already exceeds the amount of water available, and proposes new plants in areas where communities already have limited access to safe drinking water.

However, activists have been taking a stand against Coca Cola. And they’ve succeeded:

Tamil Nadu

In March this year, it was reported that 1m traders in Tamil Nadu, India, were boycotting Coca-Cola and Pepsi drinks after two Indian trade associations called them out for exploiting India’s water resources.

“These foreign companies are using up scarce water resources of the state,” K Mohan, secretary of the Vanigar Sangam, one of the associations supporting the boycott.

Indeed, in January, Tamil Nadu had been declared by officials as ‘drought-hit’, with many villagers suffering as a result.

“[Foreign companies] are exploiting the state’s water bodies to manufacture aerated drinks while farmers were facing severe drought.” Vikram Raja, president of the Vanigar Sangam trade association.

Kerala

This bold boycott spread to Kerala, where traders also decided to ban the sale of Coca Cola and Pepsi. It was decided that when the boycott was officially approved, sales of beverages and tender coconut produced by locals would be promoted instead. The government was in support of this, and stated it would further restrict the use of groundwater at Palakkad, Kerala.

The region of Plachimada in Palakkad was particularly affected by CC’s activities. A bottling plant was built there in 1999, and CC were permitted to extract up to 1.5mL of water, as well as extract ground water to meet its demands of 3.8L of water for 1L of cola. This led to a decline in the quality of groundwater, with high concentrations of calcium and magnesium ions in the water. The by-product of this was initially sold to villagers as fertiliser However, in 2003, it was found that it contained high levels of toxic metals and the carcinogen cadmium. These problems were extremely problematic to the people living in this region.

"The area's farming industry has been devastated and jobs, as well as the health of the local people, have been put at risk.”

The reality of the situation can be understood most harrowingly when referring to the account of K Kanniamma, a 70 year old who lived in Plachimada village.

“Before the factory opened here we were dependent on our water requirements on our well. Once the factory opened the water level in the wells started going down.

Initially, we did not know the reason for it. When we used that water, our eyes and skin had a burning sensation. Only then we realised that our water had been poisoned.”

70-year-old Kanniamma recounts a time from before the Coca-Cola factory when they had sweet water in their wells

Public anger led to villagers forming the ‘Coca-Cola Virudha Janakeeya Samara Samithy,’ a body fighting for the closure of the factory in Plachimada, in 2002. Awareness camps and torchlight vigils were organised, resulting in several villagers picketing the factory. As a result, Coca-Cola slapped charges against the leaders.

Listening to the locals, the local self-government organisation (the Perumatty Panchayat) refused to renew CC’s license on account of the exploitation of natural resources thet had affected the public. However, CC then approached the government’s Local Self-Government Department, who overruled the banning of their licence, and allowed them to continue its operations, as long as it found alternative sources of water supply. Members of the Coca-Cola Virudha Janakeeya Samara Samithy continued to be active and in 2004, the plant in Plachimada was shut. Finally, the 12-year old case reached closure when Coca-Cola gave up its license, stating that it did not intend to resume production from Plachimadia. The activists had succeeded.

But wait, it gets even better.

In March 2010, a High Power Committee established by the state government of Kerala recommended that CC be fined the equivalent of $48m for damages caused as a result of the company’s bottling operations in Plachimadia. The report stated:

“It is obligatory that they pay the compensation to the affected people for the agricultural losses, health problems, loss of wages, loss of educational opportunities, and the pollution caused to the water resources.”

The report clarified that the compensation suggested did not include damages caused by the reduction in water, and that such damages must be assessed.

The report also agreed that Coca-Cola should be held criminally liable for its actions in Plachimada.

India’s activists have proved the power of the people. The very fact that they got their governments to stand up against a multinational corporation such as CC is honestly one of the most inspiring things I have ever read.

Sugar Cane

According to findings from this year, CC made limited efforts to tackle forced labour risks in their sugarcane supply chain. This includes a high risk of debt bondage imposed on workers in India and human trafficking risks in Guatemala.

For example, CC was unable to provide an example of grievance procedures carried out (procedures where workers could complain about working conditions) when labour abuses were identified. This indicated that workers/suppliers were not properly instructed on complaint procedures. There was also little law enforcement or contracts to protect workers.

Agricultural workers, particularly migrants were most at risk. Indeed, Brazil and India, the two largest sugarcane producers in the world, rely on mostly migrants and rural workers with little education. Workers manually harvest sugarcane under hazardous working conditions, long working hours, and low wages. Lack of language skills and education leave these workers further vulnerable to exploitation and deception over work and wages.

CC was unable to commit to its agreement in 2013 to disclose the names of all its direct sugarcane suppliers within three years. This would enable researchers to conduct extensive research regarding the working conditions under CC’s suppliers.

Israel

CC has been a staunch supporter of Israel and it’s illegal occupation of Palestine.

In 2009, CC hosted a special reception at their headquarters to honour General Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, who served as Israeli Defence Minister under Ariel Sharon and was in charge of the storming of a refugee camp in 2002, leaving hundreds of Palestinians dead.

Every year, CC financially supports the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce Awards which honors companies that have contributed most to the Israeli economy. In 2009, a CC sponsored award went to the lobbying group AIPAC for its lobbying of the American Senate to reject the UN call for immediate ceasefire and support the continuation of the Israeli assault on Gaza.

Most recently, it has been operating in Atarot and Shadmot Mehola illegal settlements. Israel has been building illegal settlements on Palestinian land since 1967, after it illegally occupied Gaza and the West Bank. This inhuman practice violates international law, and continues to destroy Palestinian lives.

In addition, CC has built a bottling plant in Gaza, which is under siege. This is a problem, as Palestinians in Gaza face a chronic shortage of freshwater, and access to water is limited to 6-8 hours for 1-4 days a week for Gazans. Inevitably, this raises questions regarding the amount of water that is left for Gazans after CC has extracted large quantities from the area. There is also concern regarding the factory’s electricity supply, as the only power plant in Gaza is only able to supply 30% of the population in irregular intervals. It has been indicated that Coke will be given preferential access to water and electricity, and will also be allowed the passage of necessary materials, while essential building materials for hospitals are barred. It is clearly not about creating jobs for Palestinians- if CC truly cared, they would call for the lifting of the siege on Gaza.

Moreover, it has been revealed that Coca Cola sent thousands of dollars ($13,850) to Im Tirtzu, an extremist, pro-settlement Israeli group. This group has described the Nakba (literally translates as ‘the catastrophe’- where an estimated 750,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes and hundreds of Palestinian towns and villages depopulated and destroyed) as ‘rubbish - a collection of tall tales and myths’. They have also launched smear campaigns against Jewish critics of Israeli policy, accusing them of being ‘planted’ by anti-Israel groups for propaganda and spying.

For more info on Coca-Cola’s history with Israel and Zionism hit up http://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-coca-cola.html#f48

Orange groves

In 2012, an investigation found that thousands of African migrant workers were being exploited in Italian orange groves. Coca-Cola is one of the major buyers of concentrated orange juice in Calabria which it uses for its Fanta brand in Italy. Many of these workers were refugees who had made the journey across the Mediterranean. They were found earning as little as £21 for a days picking in the orange groves, and that many lived in slum conditions in makeshift camps without power or sanitation, and fell prey to gangmasters who in some cases charged a fee for organising their picking shifts. Pietro Molinaro, head of Coldiretti Calabria, the regional branch of Italy's national farming union, claimed that previous attempts to raise the issue of low prices and its link to poor working conditions with Coca-Cola had not received a response.

"This area is facing a big problem: the price big companies pay for this juice is not fair. All in all they force the small processing plants in the area – those that squeeze oranges and produce concentrate – to underpay for raw materials.”

Human Rights Violations

Coca-Cola has a very dark past regarding its human rights violations, and the murder of activists.

Coca-Cola is accused by Colombian courts of financing terrorism for their ties with the now disbanded paramilitary group United Self-Defence Forces of Columbia, hiring hitmen from them between 1990 and 2002 to kill at least 10 trade union leaders who were trying to organise at CC plants. The paramilitary group was responsible for a number of massacres, human rights abuses, kidnappings and extortions that resulted in the displacement of thousands of Colombians.

The human rights violations continue. For example, On June 25, 2015 thugs killed retired Coca Cola worker Wilmer Enrique Giraldo. Wilmer had been injured at work, was forced from his job, received death threats, and fled in fear to Medellin. Luis Enrique Girado Arango, his father, also worked for Coca Cola and also belonged to a trade union. Paramilitaries assassinated Luis Enrique Girado in 1994.

For more info regarding CC and their attempts to silence trade unions and workers’ actively fighting for justice against CC’s exploitative practices around the world, check out http://www.iuf.org/ccww/?q=taxonomy/term/99.

So there you have it. A whole range of crimes committed by just one corporation, destroying lives across the world. It is pretty dire stuff, but we must not and cannot respond with despondence. We must utilise our anger and sadness with ACTION, and I don’t mean going around breaking shit, I mean making sure you CALL COCA COLA OUT. Multinational corporations are dependent on consumer approval, so to let them know that you, as a regular consumer, are disgusted by their actions- this can have a HUGE impact.

Below are the contact deets you can use to message them and ask them what they’re doing to ensure the safety and security of their workers and those affected by their actions.

Twitter: @CocaCola

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cocacolaGB/?brand_redir=40796308305

Insta: @cocacola

Contact form: https://contactform.coca-cola.co.uk

Phone Number: 020 8237 3000

Catch you for the next exposé and remember BUN COCA COLA 2K17 XXXXX

#coca cola #coke #workers rights #human rights #amnesty #labour #refugees #india #exploitation #ethical #ethical issues #oh so ethical #boycott #palestine

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