#supply teacher agency

[unitededucators]

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[the-ace-with-spades]

(sorry this got longer than I thought)

You know what fic I'd love to read?

One where Carole dies but doesn't get anything in order before her death (as is many times the case) and Mav is installed as Bradley's temporary guardian after her death but everything goes wrong very fast

Due to Mav's less than heterosexuals tendencies, Bradley ends up in the foster system. One day a social worker with a police officer just shows up and takes him away from school and he doesn't know what's going on. He ends up in his first not so good foster family the same evening. Mav can't even visit as he is deemed a bad influence and has an ongoing investigation if he is 'fit' to be Bradley's guardian.

He doesn't stop asking about Mav for months. Keeps trying to run away to him (he's about 50 miles away because foster homes are sparse so no dice) and finally his foster 'mom' is fed up with the constant asks to at least try and call Mav so she tells him Mav didn't want him and doesn't want Bradley to contact him.

And because Bradley is twelve, he believes it.

(It's not that Mav didn't try. There was a whole appeal process but Mav had a deployment right after and he couldn't explain to the social workers that no, Bradley would stay with someone trusted while he was gone, because that someone was Ice, the source of his suspected homosexual tendencies. They literally told him he's not allowed to contact Bradley and once he came back from deployment, Bradley was already in a different foster home, a few counties over and lost in the system.)

Bradley spends the rest of his childhood in the system. His first family is dubious and the following ones are a mix of constant hope and disappointment. He has at least two different families foster him every year, until he is sixteen and ends up in a group home. There are only two families that he actually comes close to calling family - a young married couple that stops fostering when the wife is diagnosed with chronic autoimmune disorder, and a couple of teachers that have to drop one of the two kids they foster when the financial requirements to foster raise and decide that Bradley is going to be that kid.

No one ever even thinks about adopting him. He's got good grades and stays on top of school, but that's about what is going well in his life. Some families he's with are average - they let him be and maybe don't care as much for anything that involves him as long it doesn't stir trouble at the fostering agency and Bradley is healthy and safe. Some families are worse - sometimes he is one of the five kids and is expected to stay and be a live-in nanny, sometimes they're only doing it for the money and he has barely anything, barely any food, barely any attention, barely any clothes, barely any school supplies, just so he doesn't cost too much. Sometimes, things get physical - it happens less, the taller he gets and by the time he starts fighting back, he has enough reputation that no one believes it and no one wants to foster him anymore. And group home it is.

By the time he's seventeen, he's enlisted. Just so he leaves the system as fast as he can. It all works out because the Navy fits the bill for his university and NROTC when the time comes - even if he's told he's not a good candidate for the USNA, even if he was told his grades and his achievements should be more than enough, even if despite the circumstances, he managed to meet the same requirements.

Finding out that it was Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell who protested his application and pulled the plug on it is Bradley's second heartbreak.

Bradley bites down any complaints he has about life and enters UVA at 21, with a military scholarship and NROTC bursary. At that point, he doesn't even know if he still wants to go into aviation, it brings so much bitterness in him. But then his grades and his overall achievement are so good, everyone says it'd be a waste if he didn't go to one of the most competitive pipelines. The Navy pays for his private pilot licence when he hesitates, and sure enough, it does feel good.

The pipeline is where he meets Jake Seresin. Jake Seresin, who has two brothers and two sisters and who has jars of homemade jam and chocolate-covered plums sent in a little package from his mom at least once a month. Jake Seresin, who uses all his leave to attend weddings, holiday parties, birthday parties, even a dog's funeral. Jake Seresin, who comes from every Thanksgiving with spare pumpkin pie, who has a new handmade Christmas sweater every year.

Jake Seresin, who, for some reason not known to Bradley, is impressed with how effortless learning to fly is for Bradley, with how much Bradley knows, with how much he leads in the lectures and the flight lessons - most guys find Bradley annoying and cold and Bradley would've agreed with them if any said it to his face. The Navy is the only good thing Bradley's had since his mom died, he has much more time to focus on being good at whatever Navy throws at him and maybe that makes him strange and aloof. But not Jake.

Jake Seresin, who is a competitive asshole that can't shut his mouth for his own good. Who has no idea of personal space, who fills the silence better than a jukebox, who will drill and drill the topic until he gets an answer he can comprehend, who doesn't care what people think of him as long as he knows his worth.

Bradley might have a bit of a crush on him, but it's an annoying crush kind of crush - one he doesn't really want to have, one he doesn't really know what to do with. Jake Seresin, who probably would never look at Bradley twice, especially in that way.

They get separate F-18 training bases and Bradley forgets for a moment Jake Seresin ever existed.

Then, summer of 2011, Jake Seresin gets restationed, right into Bradley's squadron. And he's still his annoying self, inserting himself into Bradley's private space, private time, and doesn't let Bradley have a say in it, at all.

Maybe Bradley doesn't want to have any say in it, deep down.

A few months later, DADT gets repealed. It doesn't change much for Bradley, he's not going to talk to anyone about his personal life. But it seems it changes something for Jake.

Because he asks Bradley out on a date.

Bradley's never really dated. Didn't really have the time to when he was a teenager, moved so many times, and then he enlisted, and then he was in college and NROTC. He slept with people, but he's never dated anyone.

So he gets to know Jake Seresin. Jake Seresin, who despite bringing all that food back with him any time he visits his parents, can't cook at all and who would hang onto Bradley's arm or shoulders whenever Bradley cooked. Who can sew so well that he saves all of Bradley's old shirts. Who can't keep his mouth shut, no matter the circumstances - not in the theatre, not when they eat, not when they just watch a movie at home, not even in bed. Who seems to know every single tune under the sun but can't play a single instrument. Who has elaborate, detailed plans for his life - an admiral by forty, two kids by thirty-five, a nice little house in driving distance to some body of water, a German shepherd or a border collie for a family dog once the house is there, a personal two or maybe four-person plane by the time he's forty-five, maybe co-owning aeroclub by fifty.

Bradley's never before thought about the future.

He never tells Jake even half of the things he's seen and lived through when he was in foster care, never tells him about his pulled application from USNA, never tells him about Mav. He doesn't think Jake would be able to understand, the way his family seems perfect and loving and caring. He doesn't want him to know how many things is wrong with him.

But Jake knows he's got no family, that his dad died in the Navy, his mom when he started middle school, that he's been in foster care for all his teenage years. Knows that Bradley has no one to come back home.

"Don't be a fool, sweetheart," is what Jake tells him. "You've got me."

For the first time in his life at the age of 29, Bradley requests Christmas leave.

Bradley's never had a big family, but there was a time he once had a family - or so he thought, when he was twelve and the illusion shattered - so he thought he'd be okay.

And at first, he is fine. Jake rotates him around like a prize piece, introducing him to his siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, nephews, cousins, grandparents, but it's just two or three people at once. Whenever it seems like too much, Bradley drifts away to the kitchen where he can just stay silent and listen to Jake's mom talk to the various people that come by while he slices homemade ham or he steps out onto the backyard and talks to the kids of all the ages gathered around the makeshift playground.

But then they're right before dinner starts - there are over thirty people in the open space of the house, now that everyone arrived, and Bradley feels hot, suffocating in the crowded space, in the clutter of gifts and food and colorful Christmas sweaters.

And then, before he can take any of it in, he hears Jake, saying in his typical loud and teasing tone, that Bradley can play the piano, and look at that, he could play something Christmas-y before the turkey is done, and next thing he knows, there's over thirty pairs of eyes on him and plenty of people asking questions and making teasing remarks and it all seems so tricky--

He can't imagine himself, in that room, with all those people, feeling comfortable. So he walks out.

Bradley doesn't know how to be a part of a family. There's no reason to try and lie to himself and everyone else.

They don't see each other for years after. The next time they do, it's only the eight weeks at Top Gun. The Jake that Bradley knew isn't there - this Jake is bitter and sarcastic and sharp with his tongue. This Jake wins Top Gun and never looks back at Bradley when he returns to his station base.

The next time they see each other is at the Top Gun recall when Bradley is going through a life roller coaster.

Not only is Jake being the biggest ass not just to him but to everyone, for the first time in twenty years, Bradley sees Mav. Sure, maybe he's not moved on from Jake - he still remains the only person Bradley ever dated - but he's managed to dodge Maverick, and Iceman by association, in all those years he's been in the Navy and now he's forced to pretend all is fine.

And Maverick doesn't make it easier.

He tries to approach Bradley like they're long-lost friends, saying all those things about how he missed him and how Bradley looks so much like his dad. Like he didn't leave him in the foster system when he was a kid and didn't fuck up his application for USNA.

So he pretends he doesn't remember Maverick because that's the easiest given that Maverick is supposed to train him.

On top of that, Jake mixes himself up into Bradley's shit life situation when he overhears Mav trying to get Bradley to 'remember' and 'renew their relationship' and keeps pestering Bradley. Maybe he can tell you more about your childhood, why the hell are you so rude to him, he wouldn't make up knowing you, you know, maybe he's got some of your parents' stuff and can share---

And hearing the love of his life that he let get away because Bradley didn't know how to be part of his family side with the first person that told Bradley he's not enough to be someone's family - well, it's not exactly helping the state of Bradley'e mental being.

So maybe he explodes at Jake, a little bit, in the end. You want to talk to the man who left me behind when I was twelve and the only time he looked back was to tell me he didn't think I was good enough? Then so be fucking it.

Instead of butting into Bradley's life, Jake shuts up and starts avoiding him. Bradley supposes he has what he wanted.

Bradley doesn't care what Maverick thinks or if he changed or if he wants something from Bradley.

He still turns around when he's shot down. It's not like he's got someone to come back to anyway. Not because he cares about Maverick.

"I'm not you," Bradley tells Mav. "I don't leave people behind."

The admittance - that he knows and remembers Mav and wants nothing to do with him, wants to be nothing like him - works. They survive and Bradley doesn't see Maverick again, not when they're in the med bay, not when they're in the hospital in San Diego, not when he gets discharged.

He sees Jake instead, waiting on him at the reception of the unit he had been on, patiently waiting for Bradley to sign his discharge papers without using his broken wrist.

"What, do you have someone else to take your broken ass home?"

In truth, Bradley was just going to take a taxi. Instead, Jake takes the plastic bag with Bradley's clothes and silently leads them to his truck before he asks for Bradley's address.

And in all this mess, the first thing Jake asks him is, "Are you going to stay in San Diego?" because they have the offer to stay there and make their place in Top Gun-adjacent brand new squadron.

"No, I'm going to go back to my base," Bradley tells him. There's nothing for him San Diego, but there's plenty for Jake and he doesn't want to be a barrier.

"I think you should stay in San Diego. With me."

He wishes it was that simple but the truth is, Bradley is still the same.

"I can't be the person you want to have in your life."

"But you already are the person I want in my life."

"I think this is going to end up badly."

"Only if you let it."

Bradley's never really could say no to Jake.

It all seems so easy, when he falls asleep on Jake's shoulder watching Top Gear, but at some point, Bradley knows, they will get to the point when it'll all crush again.

There is also the whole thing with Maverick, their now CO, who appears to be some kind of ashamed now that he finally knows that Bradley remembers what he did - or rather what he didn't do. He avoids Bradley like the plague and it seems to be affecting the squad - because they all love Maverick and Bradley is the weirdo who can't have fun or be friendly. He's just waiting on someone to call him out as the party pooper contrasting to their fun CO and deem the problem, as always, just because he can't pretend to be happy to be around him.

Jake hasn't said anything about the Maverick thing explicitly but he gives Bradley those looks whenever Maverick is nearby and sometimes he makes those quips

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Don Moynihan at Can We Still Govern?

An exhausted Bradley Boone, the assistant Fire Chief at Pensacola, took to Facebook on Saturday. As his community was recovering from Hurricane Helene he asked viewers for help. Not with aid or supplies. They had plenty of that for now. But to dispel the rumors that were making it harder for him to do his job. These rumors include that 150 people were missing, that the community was overrun with violence, that there were not sufficient food and water, that roads which were in reality in need of repair were being shut to limit the flow of help, and that FEMA was unwelcome. He said he had spent a large chunk of his day talking to citizens face-to-face to dispel the rumors. Boone is an example of how emergency responders have become one more category of public service worker who have discovered that they now have a second job they did not sign up for. Alongside librarians, teachers, public health officials, election officials, and law enforcement, emergency responders must now also be misinformation experts. They have to spend their days separating facts from reality for constituents who are being lied to via right-wing conspiracy theorists. FEMA set up a website to battle misinformation. Some of it comes from the usual suspects, like foreign adversaries such as Russia, seeking to sow mistrust, or professional conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones. But many of the lies (that FEMA is only offering $750 to disaster victims, running out of money, that FEMA money has gone overseas) comes directly from the people who could be in charge of the national disaster response next year.

JD Vance, Trump, and Fox News are key conveyers of the $750 lie. ($750 is intended to cover up-front costs, but citizens can apply for tens of thousands of dollars more in relief for property damage).

Trump said that Biden refused to talk to the Governor of Georgia, part of a pattern of discriminating against red states. But earlier in the day, Governor Kemp described the conversation he had with Biden the day before, and praised Biden’s support: “He offered that if there’s other things we need, just to call him directly, which — I appreciate that. But we’ve had FEMA embedded with us since a day or two before the storm hit in our state operations center in Atlanta; we’ve got a great relationship with them.” Other Republican leaders have issued similar praise of the responsiveness of the administration.

Trump: “They stole the FEMA money, just like they stole it from a bank, so they could give it to their illegal immigrants that they want to have vote for them this season.” Yeah, this is also untrue. But fun fact: Trump raided the FEMA budget to redirect money towards his immigration policies, including building a wall.

The misinformation, and much worse, is coursing through social media because much of social media has given up on policing lies, and some social media (e.g., Truth Social, Elon Musk’s X) see a strategic advantage in lying about the disaster. This false post from Elon Musk was viewed 28 million times. No community notes.

[...] We could be angry here about the hypocrisy. Trump says Biden does not want to deliver disaster aid to Republicans. Biden not wanting to visibly help swing states like Georgia and North Carolina, right before an election, doesn’t make much sense. But it fits with Trump’s own attitudes about disaster response. Multiple Trump aides say he was reluctant to allow FEMA support go to blue states. “One of his first questions would be: Are they my people?” according to a former aide, Stephanie Grisham.

But setting aside the hypocrisy, we should care because conspiracy theories affect the competence and quality of service delivery. I used to do research on disaster response. One thing that was clear is how important it is to have a functional national crisis response agency, and how dependent the response is on human factors. FEMA itself is not a large organization: it organizes and relies on a broader network of responders, and on the trust of the public. Take that trust away, and their ability to help people collapses. Competence really matters for disaster response like few other government functions. You can't bluff your way through it. You can’t learn the job as you go along. Mistakes are costly. Musk’s Cybertruck is on its fifth recall in the space of a year, while the boss spends his day on social media. His status as a natural disaster schmuck emerged when he promised to rescue a group of kids in Thailand stranded in a cave with a tiny submarine. When a cave diver who advised the successful rescue mocked the impracticality of Musk’s plan, Musk labeled him a pedophile, and hired a private investigator to dig up dirt on him.

[...] There is a basic asymmetry here. Democrats would certainly attack missteps by a GOP President failing in disaster response. The failure of Hurricane Katrina marked a key point in the decline of President Bush’s popularity. Trump was criticized for his sluggish response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and for pushing his appointees to violate scientific and ethical guidelines when releasing public information about the path of hurricanes to align with his Sharpie additions to a map. But that criticism was grounded in reality. Instead, the GOP simply turns to conspiracy theories rather than engaging in troublesome facts. More climate-driven disasters are coming. This is the future. Trump won’t acknowledge or prepare for this reality. Indeed, Project 2025 has proposed that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration should be “broken up and downsized” because it is “one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry.”

Another top notch post from Don Moynihan, this time addressing the hydra of lies and conspiracy theories about FEMA and the response to Hurricane Helene (and Milton).

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

No mention of covid or long covid, but lots of mention of "cost to taxpayers" and "learning losses." I wonder what *specific* actions should be taken besides forcing sick people to stay in the classroom? Hmmst...

By Poppy Wood

Concerns that absence crisis provoked by the pandemic continues to disrupt learning

About 14,000 teachers in England called in sick every day last year, analysis has found.

Department for Education (DfE) data show that about 2.5 million school days were lost in 2022-23 as more than 326,000 teachers missed class owing to sickness.

Each teacher who took sick leave reported an average of eight days off work last year. It equates to almost 13,700 teachers calling in sick on any given day during the 190-day school year.

About 66.2 per cent of England’s teaching workforce were off school because of illness last year, according to the DfE’s school workforce statistics.

It marks a slight decrease on the 67.5 per cent of teachers who called in sick in 2021-22, but is still far above the pre-pandemic rate of 54.1 per cent.

The figures will raise concerns that an absence crisis provoked by the pandemic continues to disrupt learning, with the number of pupils missing school also significantly higher post-Covid.

In total, 7.8 million school days have been lost to sickness since in-person teaching resumed following the pandemic, according to analysis of DfE data by the TaxPayers’ Alliance.

Compared with the 2018-19 academic year – the year before the pandemic – an extra 461,500 teaching days were lost last year because of staff illness.

Joanna Marchong, investigations campaign manager of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers will be shocked by the sheer number of sick days taken by teaching staff.

“Alongside their generous holiday entitlements, hundreds of thousands of teachers are frequently absent, leaving classrooms in disarray and forcing taxpayers to bear the significant costs of finding covers.

“Schools must tackle this issue if they want to deliver a consistent quality of education that is value for money for taxpayers.”

‘Deteriorating mental health’ While the Government does not collect statistics centrally on the reasons for teacher absence, experts have pointed to increased stress and deteriorating mental health.

In some secondary schools, as many as 166 teachers took sick leave at some point during the 2022-23 academic year, compounding financial pressures on already stretched school budgets.

Most teachers in England receive full sick pay for 25 working days off work in their first year in the profession, rising to 100 working days in their fourth and successive years of teaching.

The Telegraph revealed last week that teacher absences are forcing schools to spend billions on supply staff each year as headteachers scramble to plug gaps in the workforce.

In 2022-23, schools gave £1.2 billion of taxpayers’ cash towards expensive teacher supply agencies to fill vacancies and cover long-term sickness. It is almost double the £738 million spent on supply teachers in the year before the pandemic.

Labour has promised to allow teachers to complete more tasks from home in an attempt to make the profession more attractive. The Government is also exploring how to use artificial intelligence to reduce staff workloads, after almost one in 10 teachers quit the profession last year.

It is hoped the measures will help tackle the recruitment and retention crisis and stem the tide of staff calling in sick each day.

Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), called on the Government to improve teacher pay to prevent a growing exodus from the sector.

“We need to see a concerted effort by the Government to retain teachers in the profession. This will need changes to accountability so we have a collaborative and supportive system,” he said.

“This will also require action on closing the pay gap between teachers and other graduate professions, reducing workload and more flexible working in education”.

Mr Kebede blamed the rise in the teacher absence rate since the pandemic on “excessive teacher workload driven by a high-stakes assessment and accountability system”.

He warned this would continue to “leave many teachers burnt out, leading to stress, sickness and people leaving the profession” without urgent government action.

Labour has come under fire for bowing to pressure from education unions on above-inflation public sector pay deals and demands.

Last month, the NEU voted to accept the Government’s pay offer of a 5.5 per cent uplift for most teachers this year, but warned that it will push for a bigger hike next year.

It suggests the UK’s largest teaching union will continue to wield the threat of further strike action as it seeks long-term funding to address the retention crisis.

‘Severely absent’ pupils Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, has warned of a “dire” inheritance from the previous government as she faces calls for further funding from across the sector.

Schools are also struggling with dwindling pupil attendance levels since the pandemic, with Ms Phillipson warning recently that it was quickly becoming an “absence epidemic”.

More than one in 50 pupils in England are now missing at least half the school year, official figures show.

The proportion of children classed as “severely absent” – meaning they failed to show up for 50 per cent or more of classes – rose to 2.1 per cent in the autumn and spring terms of 2023-24.

It means that about 158,000 pupils were severely absent from school during those teaching periods, according to DfE data.

The DfE was approached for comment.

[phant0mth1ef]

i saw how you do these lyric kind fics(?) idk how to explain it but like you put a lyric and story kinda matches the vibe (does that make sense😭) but could you do that with the line “I know I’m young but my mind is well beyond my years” from teachers pet by Melanie Martinez

Reader x bakugou (idrc what gender) you don’t have to if ur not comfortable w it, I rly don’t mind and I don’t want it to go any specific way, you can mess around w it

you also don’t have to do this anytime soon I js think it would look cool with ur writing style

-anon

i know i’m young, but my mind is well beyond my years.

-

intelligence, one of the least flashy quirks that a person could have in their inventory. it’d aged your mind up a couple of years each time you’d completed a birthday. by the time you were 20, you were as smart as albert einstein.

you’d known of dynamight since his debut as a pro-hero, you were entering your first year of highschool. about four years younger than the pro.

to say you were obsessed with the man was an understatement. you’d gone as far as to calculate every possible scenario in your head to see which one would have you ending up with the pro-hero. every decision you made, every moment was a calculated move, and a step that you’d take in order to get closer to dynamight. some could say it was borderline stalker behavior.

that was how you’d ended up here, working the front desk at his agency as you’d greeted everyone that you’d see come in.

he’d trudged in after a rather gruesome fight with a villain. and you’d been the one who saw him first.

you’d lead him to his first aid room, despite all his complaints about how you weren’t a certified professional.

“i can do it, just let me read this first and i’ll basically be a trained surgeon.” you’d grinned at him as he sat on the exam table, the paper crinkling underneath him.

“yer’ really smart. ya’ know that?” he’d grown calmer since highschool. since shigaraki.

“yeah well, s’my quirk.” you’d smiled at him, shining your pearly whites.

you’d gathered your needed supplies as you surrounded him, standing in between his spread legs as you disinfected his wounds.

he’d watched you intently, his eyes scanning your features as he took the whole of you in. your tongue slightly stuck out as you stitched up a cut on his eyebrow.

maybe it was the fight that clouded his judgement. or maybe it was you.

you’d set your tools down as you stared at him, tension in the air as he’d looked down from your eyes to your lips.

before you knew it, your lips were crashing against his.

-

#WANTEDTHAT #STALKEDTHAT #PLOTTEDONTHAT #GOTTHAT

i did my best to interpret this in a way where you could receive your request and i wouldn’t be uncomfortable writing it!! <3

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Melanie Phillips

Most of the assistance coming in isn’t even being distributed by UNRWA. Israeli officials have said that aid agencies such as the World Food Program, World Central Kitchen and UNICEF have a bigger role in distributing Gaza’s aid supplies.

None of this is acknowledged by those claiming that the Palestinian Arabs in Gaza are starving and UNRWA is irreplaceable. Other aid agencies, they say, don’t provide health and education services.

But UNRWA’s schools have taught generations of Gaza’s children to hate and murder Jews. According to the IDF, every single UNRWA hospital and clinic has been used as a terrorist hub, with clinical staff doubling as Hamas members.

In any civilised universe, how can such a provision be deemed “irreplaceable”? Shouldn’t the appropriate response to the organisation that has facilitated such terrorist assistance be to shut it down?

Moreover, why should Israel be held responsible for providing Gaza with humanitarian assistance? Israel has been under bombardment from the coastal enclave for two decades. Gaza’s population elected Hamas to rule them. Opinion polling consistently reveals that even among those who now hate Hamas, the vast majority support the killing of Israelis.

Thousands of those civilians took part in the October 7 atrocities in Israel and grossly abused the Israeli captives when they were dragged into Gaza. The IDF subsequently found evidence of ties to Hamas in virtually every house.

In what conceivable moral universe is a country targeted for such a remorseless and genocidal attack expected to look after the welfare of its murderous attackers?

The United Nations says Jerusalem has an obligation under international law to provide humanitarian assistance in Gaza because Israel is the occupying power. But this is totally untrue. Israel is not occupying Gaza. It withdrew from it altogether in 2005.

It’s the United Nations that has failed to live up to its own international obligation not to fund and support violence. For years, the world body has turned a blind eye to UNRWA’s ties to terrorists. So have America, Britain and other countries. They still refuse to acknowledge this problem.

In a statement this week expressing “grave concern” over the Israeli ban, the foreign ministers of Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom claimed that UNRWA was tackling its employees’ support for terrorism by pursuing the recommendations made in last April’s independent review by the former French foreign minister, Catherine Colonna.

That review was a travesty. Before the report was even written, Colonna said that her goal was to “enable donors … to regain confidence, when they have lost it or when they have doubts, in the way UNRWA operates”. Her report was drafted to achieve precisely that rather than stop the rot.

Far from tackling the agency’s terrorist ties, its commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini, has batted them away. He claimed implausibly that UNRWA didn’t know about the Hamas data centre underneath its Gaza headquarters.

He denied that it employed terrorists and said this claim was part of a “large-scale campaign aimed at undermining the agency”. Having suspended the teachers’ union head Abu el Amin under pressure over the revelation of his Hamas role, Lazzarini reinstated him three months later under pressure of a strike by UNRWA teachers supporting their union’s head.

[gaybananabread]

Hii! Would you mind writing a tickle fic (platonic) with lee bakugou, and lers top 3 heroes (endeavor, hawks, best jeanist). Thank you so much in advance!! P.S. please no foot tickles

Oooo interesting group! And you're welcome! Fair warning, it's a touch angsty before the fluffy stuff. I had an idea and kinda went with it (it's a long one), hope you Enjoy!

Lee: Bakugou

Lers: Endeavor, Hawks, Best Jeanist

Summary: When given a special chance to train and work with the Top 3 Heros, Bakugou can't seem to get anything right. His temporary teachers notice, and decide to give him a morale boost.

Warnings: none! This is a tickle fic, so if you don't like that, scroll away!

Bakugou, to put it simply, was blowing it. He had been invited to train with the Top 3 Heros for a month, and he really wanted to impress them. He would never admit it, but their approval meant everything to him.

He would get training from one of them a day. After a training session with each, they gave him pieces of advice.

Hawks said to relax, to let his instincts take over and his anger fade. Fight them, but don't give it your all at first. Figure them out, their moves and styles. He wanted him to see the whole picture before really attacking.

Endeavor said to use his anger, to fuel each attack with his never ending supply of rage. He wants him to use his outrage against his opponents.

Best Jeanist wanted him to focus, to come up with a careful plan before attacking. Like making clothes, each stitch in your plan is important. He wants him to carefully plan out his actions before attacking.

Now, dear reader, try and apply all of those at once. You'll find it quite difficult. You can't really relax and be angry at once, or at least Bakugou couldn't. And how was he supposed to plan out his actions and let his instincts take over? So, when his first battle after their sessions came up, it was a disaster.

The Top 3 had been called to take down a villain trio that was terrorizing civilians. They decided this was Bakugo's chance to prove what he learned, and would observe from afar until he needed their help.

That turned out to be faster than they thought.

The blonde went into the fight already stressed. Letting the Top 3 down wasn't an option, so their advice was playing through his head on loop. When he saw the villains, he tried his best to follow each piece.

He went after the flying one first. He tried to use his anger first, while also going with the flow. He sent a huge blast up at the flying villain, ignoring the others for the moment. That was a bad idea.

When he was fighting the flying guy, the super strong one chucked a car at him. He dodged it, but the bird villain flew up and away from him. So much for going with the flow...

Try to plan it out. He looked around, trying to form a battle plan. Against strong guys, bigger attacks from behind work better. Probably. He really shouldn't have missed that lecture. Though he was on house arrest. Well, dorm arrest.

Stuck in his own head, Bakugou didn't notice the third villain coming up behind him. This guy had a water quirk, and sent a huge wave crashing down on him. Before he could set off a single blast, he was caught up in the wave.

This is when the pro heros joined the fight. Hawks swooped in and grabbed Bakugou from the chaos, dropping him onto a tall building before joining the fight.

Best Jeanist took care of the water guy, while Endeavor fought with the strong villain. Hawks tangled with the flying one, sending a barrage of feathers his way. Soon, they had the trio beat and on their way to prison.

On the building, Bakugou felt awful. He had fucked up his shot to impress them. Instead, he practically blew the mission. All he had to do was follow some advice and fight a few villains. He was supposed to be number one, but he couldnt do something easy for ACTUAL top heros.

They went back to the agency, Bakugou's mind racing the entire way.

...

The pros had noticed the explosive teen's mood shift almost immediately. For one, he was quiet the entire way back to the agency. His scowl was replaced by furrowed brows and a slight frown.

Hawks had tried to talk to him, but got a half-assed "whatever" before the blonde walked off. He went to Best Jeanist, knowing that Bakugou had interned there.

The denim hero sighed when Hawks asked him. "He feels guilty for not stopping the villains. I'm no professional, but I'd wager that his self-worth is impacted by his performance, especially in front of people he idolizes. And he didn't do very well today."

That... actually made a lot of sense. He had seemed stressed before the fight, and it hadn't gone the way anyone expected it to. That trio was low-level, an easy takedown. Why did Bakugou seem so off his game?

Hawks needed to find out. He had already tried talking to him, and you know how that went. A plan was slowly forming, but he would need the other pros.

"Hey, Jeanist, mind helping me with him?" The pro, of course, agreed to help. Now, to get Endeavor on board. Eugh boy...

The firey hero was doing paperwork, and seemed annoyed at their entrance. "Yes, Hawks? And hello, Jeanist."

Okay, rude! But he was used to it. Hawks walked over to the desk, resting his hand on the form Endeavor was filling out. "Mind helping us cheer the kid up?"

He glared at the winged hero, setting his pen down. Sighing, he rubbed his temples, as if already sick of Hawks. "And why can't you do this yourselves?"

"Because, he feels like he disappointed all of us. If you're not there, he'll think he especially let you down. And you're #1, so it'll make him feel even worse."

With a groan, Endeavor stood and followed his peers to Bakugou's room. He may be a jerk, but he's not going to intentionally make a kid feel bad.

In his room, Bakugou was sitting on the bed, going over the fight. He was picking out every little thing he did wrong, mentally beating himself up. His knee was tapping like crazy, his body's way of trying to get some of the stress out. It helped, but not enough to do anything.

Best Jeanist was the one to knock, asking to be let in. He didn't mention the other two, thinking it might deter Baku from letting them in.

The knocking snapped him out of his daze, and he walked over and opened the door, trying for a scowl. It quickly faded to a shocked frown when he saw all three pro heros at his door.

He blinked before waving them inside with a huff. The blonde moved away from the door, standing awkwardly by the bed. Hawks and Jeanist approached him, Endeavor hanging back near the door.

Hawks was the first to speak. "You seem a bit down, kid. Mind sharing?" It was a bit blunt, sure, but it got to the point. He had a feeling that would work best with the explosive teen.

"I'm fine, KFC. Quit mother henning me." No cursing, but there were some good bird jabs. Endeavor chuckled from behind. That's a decent sign, I guess.

Jeanist was next. "Bakugou, we know you're feeling bad beacuse of the fight. We just want to know why, and what's been on your mind." His tone was just soft enough. Not pitying, but just concerned enough to make a person feel cared for.

This seemed to loosen him up a bit. He crossed his arms, but he was squeezing himself a bit more than necessary, scowling into his lap. When he spoke, it seemed to pour out of him, as if he'd been saying it silently for hours.

"I... I fucked up. I tried to follow all of your advice, but I'm too much of a dumbass to know how. I screwed up my shot in the fight, and needed to be fucking saved and taken away so you could wrap it up. I disappointed all of you in seconds. I tried so hard to do what you said, but I fucked up every piece of advice you gave me."

Bakugou seemed less than okay, now visibly upset. That was more than he normally expressed, and let the three of them know that this was really bothering him. Best Jeanist was the first to comfort him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Bakugou, you did not disappoint us. Everyone has off days, and nobody wants to mess up in front of people they admire. We may not have given the best advice, and it wasn't fair to tell you three different things and expect you to perform them all flawlessly. If anything, were the ones who messed up. We made you feel like this, and didn't work together to make sure you got the best training possible."

Everyone in the room was a bit shocked. He said it so calmly, and sounded genuinely concerned. Bakugou bit his cheek, trying to keep his emotions in check. He did look less upset, though he still had that sad air to him.

"Kid, nobody blames you for messing up. We don't expect you to follow every piece of advice we give you. It's all good. So relax, would ya?" Hawks came over now, poking him in the ribs. He did not, however, expect the jolt and surprised grunt the action received. The hero quickly put two and two together, a smirk forming on his face.

"You know, you really should smile more. You're gonna have a buncha wrinkles before you're thirty with all the scowling you do." He nodded at Jeanist, trying to get him into the mischief about to ensue. He chuckles and nods, silently agreeing to help.

"Hey Endeavor, mind coming over here?" The firey pro huffed before approaching the three, knowing he'll get roped into it either way. He came up behind the blonde, already knowing what they'll ask of him.

Bakugou realizes what's happening a second too late. Endeavor hooked his arms under the teen's, successfuly restraining him. Well, kinda. He was still kicking out, trying to keep them away from him. "No! Fuck off!"

Hawks chuckled at the small giggle. "What? We haven't done anything. Yet." The tease in his voice was almost suffocating as he wiggled his fingers. "Jeanist, mind helping us with his legs?"

The teen glared at him, almost betrayed. The pro gives him a knowing yet apologetic look before using his quirk to restrain him. He wrapped some threads around Bakugou's legs, keeping them from getting kicked to death.

Hawks smirked before running his fingers up and down his ribs, moving slowly. Baku's face scrunched up, holding in any reaction. A small blush formed on the blonde's face as he struggled.

"Playing hardass, huh? That's okay, I can do this for hours." Hawks smirked as he added his other hand, running his fingers up and down both sides of the teen's ribcage. "Wanna get in on this, Jean?"

Jeanist chuckles before joining in, poking at Bakugou's belly. Little titters escape him, his efforts to stay stoic failing.

The fingers on his ribs traveled higher, getting dangerously close to this death spot. "S-stohop! Screw you ahassholes!"

Hawks stopped, giving Bakugou a dangerous look. The teen squirmed, thankful for the break, but weary of the pro. "Assholes, huh? I guess we've gotta live up to that title. Jeanist, where do I go?"

The denim hero chuckled, shaking his head. "Sorry Bakugou. Upper ribs, right below his armpit." The teen let out a squawk of betrayal, glaring daggers at his former mentor. He didn't have a chance to yell, as Hawks used both hands to attack the spot on both sides of his ribcage.

"GAH! NOHOHO, YOU TRAHAHAITOHOR!" He thrashed as much as they would allow, Endeavor struggling to keep a good hold on him. The teen's laugher filled the room, loud and boisterous.

The winged hero seemed thrilled at his reaction. "There we go! Was that so hard?" Bakugou narrowed his eyes, trying to look menacing. It didn't work, what with all the laughing and squirming. "YEHEHES! GET OHOHOFF OF MEHE YOU- JEHERKS!"

Not wanting to get in any more trouble than he already was, he filtered the name. They got the point. Doesn't mean they're gonna listen to it.

"No, I don't think we will. You can brood later, but for now, you're gonna laugh." While his hands tormented Bakugou's ribs, he sent out a few feathers to mess with his neck. Best Jeanist was on his belly, poking and prodding the sensitive skin.

Bakugou was reeling. This is so fucking embarrassing! The three best heros, all tickling him! It was bad enough when just Jeanist found out, but all three? His pride was dead.

"STOHOHOP! GEHET OHOFFA MEHEHE!" He arched his back, thrashing as they tickled him. His death spot alone was maddening, but his belly and neck as well? He was done for.

Jeanist poked around, kneading his thighs experimentally. This caused the blonde to snort, surprising all three heros. Determined to kill the teen, Jeanist stayed on his thighs, forcing snort after snort out of him.

"OHOHO MY FUHUCK! *snort* QUIHIHIHIT IHIT!" He thrashed against Endeavor, trying to break the hero's hold on him. The pro held strong, clearly not about to let a teenager best him. "LEHET- *snort* LEHET ME GOHOHO, OHOHOLD MAN!"

Endeavor scowled at this comment. "I'll show you old man, you brat." He gathered up both of the student's arms in one hand, using the other to roughly tickle his side. This seemed to work, Bakugou's laughter reaching new heights.

Tears of mirth pricked the corner of his eyes, the tickling overwhelming. He was nearing his limit, his cheeks bright red from both laughter and embarrassment. He shook his head, trying to shake the feeling out. It didn't work.

"STOHOHOP! *snort* DAHAMN IT, GEHEHET OHOHOFF MEHE!"

Hearing the slight rasp in his laughter, Hawks stopped, motioning the others to follow him. They also quit, Endeavor releasing his arms. Bakugou all but collapsed, falling back on the firey hero. He held the boy up with a chuckle, amused at his reaction.

Bakugou was still softly giggling, sucking in air as he tried to calm down. "Youhuhu... you guhuys suhuhuck!" He weakly pointed to the three of them, too tired to do much else. The fight, plus the tickling, had thoroughly worn him out.

Hawks ruffled his hair, earning a growl in response. "Well, at least you aren't sad anymore. Next time, if we're not making sense, tell us. We'll fix it, okay?" The blonde nodded, groaning.

Endeavor laid him on the bed, getting an appreciative groan from the teen. They left the room, Jeanist giving him a quick pat on the head before closing the door behind him. All three heros had smiles of some sort on their faces.

Bakugou, exhausted and embarrassed, closed his eyes. He knew they cared, but nobody could have expected what they did to cheer him up. He sprawled out on the bed, deciding to sleep it off.

Ugh, how am I gonna train with them after this?

[beardedmrbean]

Argentina Scrapped Its Rent Controls. Now the Market Is Thriving.

BUENOS AIRES—For years, Argentina imposed one of the world’s strictest rent-control laws. It was meant to keep homes such as the stately belle epoque apartments of Buenos Aires affordable, but instead, officials here say, rents soared.

Now, the country’s new president, Javier Milei, has scrapped the rental law, along with most government price controls, in a fiscal experiment that he is conducting to revive South America’s second-biggest economy.

The result: The Argentine capital is undergoing a rental-market boom. Landlords are rushing to put their properties back on the market, with Buenos Aires rental supplies increasing by over 170%. While rents are still up in nominal terms, many renters are getting better deals than ever, with a 40% decline in the real price of rental properties when adjusted for inflation since last October, said Federico González Rouco, an economist at Buenos Aires-based Empiria Consultores.

Milei’s move to undo rent-control regulations has resulted in one of the clearest-cut victories for what he calls “economic shock therapy.” He is methodically taking apart a system of price controls, closing government agencies and lifting trade restrictions built up over eight decades of socialist and military rule in an effort that has upended the lives of many Argentines.

In Buenos Aires—a city dubbed the Paris of the South for its broad avenues and cafe culture—many apartments long sat empty, with landlords preferring to keep them vacant, or lease them as vacation rentals, rather than comply with the government’s rent law.

In 2022, there were some 200,000 empty properties in Buenos Aires, up 45% from 2018, according to a report by Cedesu, a Buenos Aires-based policy group that focuses on urban development. Finding an affordable apartment under the rent-control law was difficult.

Aldana Oliver spent about 18 months looking for a place to rent when she left home for the city of La Plata to study dentistry.

“There were few places to rent and those available were very expensive,” said Oliver. After rent control was scrapped, she quickly found a studio apartment for about $200 a month. “I found something really nice. And I got a good price,” she said.

Many new contracts—now permitted in dollars as well as pesos—stipulate rent increases every three months, real-estate agents and tenants say. That has made housing costs unaffordable for some people already struggling to pay higher food and utility prices, said Gervasio Muñoz, who represents an association of tenants in Buenos Aires.

Romina Misenta, a 40-year-old teacher, said rent on her small apartment increased almost threefold when her previous contract ended.

“My situation has worsened a lot,” she said. “I would be paying a lot less in rent if the previous law was still in effect.”

Still, rental prices appear to be stabilizing. Monthly price increases are now at their lowest rate since 2021 as more apartments become available, according to Zonaprop, Argentina’s largest real-estate website.

The Milei administration has also scrapped price controls on staples such as milk and sugar. The president lifted controls on cooking gas, removed export controls on beef and cut government requirements to import steel, hoping to ease construction costs.

And he ditched the restrictions he said made renting an apartment an odyssey that hurt those it was trying to help.

Critics of Milei say he is deepening the economic pain of the working class. And while he remains popular, some polls show his support eroding. In August, he had a 45% approval rating, down from nearly 60% earlier this year, according to pollster Giacobbe Consultores.

“By freeing up prices, it’s very difficult for all these people, including us, to get to the end of the month,” said Amalia Roggero, whose soup kitchen in La Plata has experienced a surge in people seeking food.

Milei, a libertarian economist, long warned Argentines that his free-market changes would initially make conditions worse before they got better as he slashed public spending to tame inflation. He said it was necessary to unravel tight economic controls he inherited from the previous, left-wing Peronist government, which implemented price controls on some 50,000 products from food to clothing as part of its Fair Prices program.

Milei says his measures are delivering results. He is projecting annual inflation of 18% next year, down from the current 237%, one of the world’s highest rates, as he works to tame the never-ending fiscal deficits at the root of Argentina’s decadeslong economic turmoil.

But the government still faces substantial challenges. Bringing inflation down even further after being stuck at roughly 4% a month in recent months will be difficult, with little room for more spending cuts amid demands to restart public works and increase pensions and wages, economists say.

“They inherited a disastrous economic situation, and getting out of this mess will take time,” said Alberto Cavallo, a professor at Harvard Business School who has studied Argentina’s price controls.

At least for now, the housing market is thriving. Opponents of price controls say Argentina is a cautionary lesson for officials from the U.S. to Europe who have looked to curb surging housing costs with rent controls.

President Biden recently called for some rent increases to be capped at 5% annually. And Vice President Kamala Harris said that if elected president she “will take on corporate landlords and cap unfair rent increases.”

González Rouco, the economist, warned against such plans. “With good intentions or a law,” he said, “you can’t modify how markets work. They have their own dynamic.”

In Argentina, the national rental law approved in 2020 during the left-wing government of President Alberto Fernández required a minimum three-year contract. The rents had to be paid in pesos, the country’s volatile currency, which lost about 90% of its value against the dollar on the black market during Fernández’s 2019-to-2023 term. Rental prices could be increased annually but at a rate set by the central bank, which took into account inflation and worker salaries.

With Argentina’s history of high and volatile inflation, property owners took steps to protect themselves from inflation that would quickly eat into the rents if they were forced to wait 12 months before raising prices.

They instead jacked up the starting price for new leases, making it far too expensive for many people to sign a new contract. That resulted in the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Buenos Aires costing 27 times the price of 2019, according to Zonaprop.

Some landlords tried to sell. Others listed them on short-term rental sites such as Airbnb, where tourists paid in dollars. Landlords also focused on renting to people within their social circle, resulting in a big black market with informal rental deals that skirted government rules, economists say. Many apartment owners simply mothballed their properties.

“You’d never see rental signs in windows,” said Mariano García Malbrán, the president of the chamber of real-estate companies, describing how rent controls led to shortages. “And properties that were listed with real-estate companies would be gone in a day or two.”

[jewishbarbies]

random things I would do if elected president, in no particular order:

ban LED headlights nationwide, no exceptions

make it illegal to donate to a political campaign if yearly income is above 100k

forgive all student debt (college, medical school, law school, etc.)

ban PACs and super PACs

require a special license for pickup trucks of a certain size with a specific drivers test

mandatory yearly drivers tests for people over the age of 55

make it illegal for politicians to use all social media in an official capacity

install a free public railway that connects all major cities in all 50 states

give Hawaii back to indigenous Hawaiians along with a promise of monetary reparations and/or supplies for an agreed upon period of time

give Puerto Rico back to the Puerto Ricans with monetary incentives for american citizens who move back to the states

ban the purchase of single family homes by any corporate entity in all 50 states

create a care program for migrants and refugees with housing, food, and supplies along with free English classes and courses on their preferred job field (with credits applied if enrolling in college plus a more streamlined path to citizenship starting with a work/school visa) paid for by taxes they’re already going to be paying working here anyway

complete overhaul of the american prison system with an implementation of rehab and mental health facilities, community projects, education and job training with no sentence longer than the completion of these courses/treatments unless for high crimes and special cases

bring home economics, culinary, and finance courses to middle and high schools with specialized AP courses for fields like human/veterinary medicine, law, engineering, environmental science, etc.

create a federally funded program for college students who want to become teachers, including specialized classes, free tuition, and sign on bonuses when employed at your first school as a one time tax credit with proof of employment

run federally funded educational tours and classes with volunteer opportunities at all national parks, with $10 general admission at all parks

require cities with a population over 1k to allocate funds/resources for warming stations, homeless and women’s shelters within city limits and maintain them year round

ban all fireworks no exceptions nationwide

mandatory voting in state and federal elections

executive order to make it illegal for politicians to earn more than the average yearly salary in their state/county/district/etc. at all levels of government

mandatory college education requirements for running for political office

anti inflation laws preventing the selling of goods and services for more than double the cost nationwide

make food waste in the agriculture industries illegal with tax credits for donating unsellable but edible food to shelters, churches, charities, and food banks

increase indigenous sovereignty in all 50 states, with regulations to prevent price gauging and predatory sale prices of goods and services to reservations, and increased legal protections for recognized tribes

work with local tribes to create programs delivering food, water, medicine, and supplies to households on reservations that sign up, 1-2 times a month like a food bank

create a federal agency of environmental scientists, biologists, etc. that work with indigenous peoples and maintain/protect land and local ecosystems in all 50 states through any means necessary with cooperation of the indigenous people

create additional tax credits for families, people with disabilities, students of any kind, home buyers, and farmers/agricultural workers

free school lunches in all schools in all 50 states

this is a non exhaustive fantasy list, don’t take it seriously. I’ll probably add more things I think of later.

[mivolasvivi]

I know I shouldn’t dwell on the election too much, but it quite literally affects like everything in my immediately life negatively

Me: federal employee as a climate scientist. All those agencies are screwed.

My parents: a teacher in an underprivileged district and a supply chain buyer for a company relying heavily on imports

My brother: still paying off student loans, also looking for jobs in supply chain

Its so exhausting that my (former) Trump family and friends are pretending like this is some trivial difference of opinions….

[loving-n0t-heyting]

In light of the known terrorist activities of employees of the US dept of education, it is worth asking if it is time to stop federal aid to an agency in turn supplying and paying antidemocratic militants

No more terrorism on taxpayers dime!

[eretzyisrael]

by Ari Heistein / Nathaniel Rabkin

Notably, despite its tight control of many aspects of life in the Gaza Strip, Hamas has resisted imposing any formal licensing or inspection regime on building contractors. This arrangement facilitates a multiplicity of unregulated contractors, who are well placed to help divert building supplies for the construction of tunnels or other military projects, without leaving much in the way of a paper trail.

Hamas also tries to directly involve itself in the work of UN agencies in Gaza. According to press reports by The Times of Israel, senior members of Hamas have sat in on and even led associations of UNRWA staff. A police state of informants, imprisonment of critics without trial, and pervasive torture in detention facilities mean that anyone critical of Hamas’s interference in these groups is likely to be intimidated into silence. A mid-October incident in which UNRWA publicly alleged that men from Gaza’s Hamas-run “Ministry of Health” had seized fuel from its depots—then deleted the announcement—indicates the extent of aid groups’ vulnerability, and the immense challenges of trying to protect their independence when operating in areas controlled by ruthless militants.

Most shockingly, the recent testimony of an Israeli hostage released from Gaza states that, in at least one case, a kidnapped Israeli child was held captive by an UNRWA teacher, and kept locked in a room in the teacher’s house in cooperation with Hamas.

The case of Hamas in the Gaza Strip is especially illustrative, but it is certainly not unique.

The Houthis in Yemen have been even more brazen. In 2020, they attempted to impose a 2 percent tax on all foreign assistance entering areas under their control. They eventually walked that position back when they realized that many aid organizations would cease operations if forced to directly deposit money into Houthi accounts. Nevertheless, they have devised a variety of other methods to ensure that they receive their cut, and humanitarian organizations have been continuing the flow of money and supplies, without taking any effective measures to stop Houthi exploitation.

Around the same time as the Houthis were demanding a percentage of the humanitarian assistance to Yemen, UNICEF took steps to make its Yemen programming budget less transparent. As of the last two years, they no longer publish line items in their budget. (Compare this itemized list of their spending in Yemen in 2020 with these public accounts from 2021, which contain a detailed breakdown of spending in many countries—but Yemen is a notable exception.) According to the Counter Extremism Project, in some instances, this may serve to cover up their continued patronage of known Houthi-controlled companies, such as the private security provider Yemen Armored.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/at-least-12-u-n-agency-employees-involved-in-oct-7-attacks-intelligence-reports-say-a7de8f36

By: Carrie Keller-Lynn and David Luhnow

Published: Jan. 29, 2024

TEL AVIV—At least 12 employees of the U.N.’s Palestinian refugee agency had connections to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel and around 10% of all of its Gaza staff have ties to Islamist militant groups, according to intelligence reports reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Six United Nations Relief and Works Agency workers were part of the wave of Palestinian militants who killed 1,200 people in the deadliest assault on Jews since the Holocaust, according to the intelligence dossier. Two helped kidnap Israelis. Two others were tracked to sites where scores of Israeli civilians were shot and killed. Others coordinated logistics for the assault, including procuring weapons.

Of the 12 Unrwa employees with links to the attacks, seven were primary or secondary school teachers, including two math teachers, two Arabic language teachers and one primary school teacher.

The information in the intelligence reports—based on what an official described as very sensitive signals intelligence as well as cellphone tracking data, interrogations of captured Hamas fighters and documents recovered from dead militants, among other things—were part of a briefing given by Israel to U.S. officials that led Washington and others to suspend aid to Unrwa.

Intelligence estimates shared with the U.S. conclude that around 1,200 of Unrwa’s roughly 12,000 employees in Gaza have links to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and about half have close relatives who belong to the Islamist militant groups. Both groups have been designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S. and others. Hamas has run Gaza since a 2007 coup.

“Unrwa’s problem is not just ‘a few bad apples’ involved in the October 7 massacre,” said a senior Israeli government official. “The institution as a whole is a haven for Hamas’ radical ideology.”

An Unrwa spokesperson on Monday declined to comment, saying an internal U.N. investigation into the agency was under way.

Two officials familiar with the intelligence said the Unrwa employees considered to have ties with militant groups were deemed to be “operatives,” indicating they took active part in the organization’s military or political framework. The report said 23% of Unrwa’s male employees had ties to Hamas, a higher percentage than the average of 15% for adult males in Gaza, indicating a higher politicization of the agency than the population at large.

Nearly half of all Unrwa employees—an estimated 49%—also had close relatives who also had official ties to the militant groups, especially Hamas, the intelligence reports said.

In the aftermath of Oct. 7, as Israel has waged war against Hamas in Gaza, Unrwa has emerged as one of the loudest voices decrying the impact of the fierce fighting on Palestinians in the enclave, where authorities say more than 26,000 people have been killed. Unrwa says at least 152 of its own staff have been killed in the conflict.

The agency is also the main pillar of operations to move food aid, medicine and other humanitarian supplies into Gaza.

The vast majority of Unrwa’s 30,000 staff across the Middle East are Palestinian, and Israel and some in the U.S. have long accused it of nurturing anti-Israeli sentiment in crowded refugee camps that have been important recruiting grounds for militant groups, including Hamas.

The Trump administration suspended funding for Unrwa in 2018, saying the agency’s mission was fundamentally misguided. The Biden administration renewed funding in 2021.

The Oct. 7 intelligence reports seen by the Journal identified an Unrwa Arabic teacher who the reports said was also a Hamas militant commander and took part in a terrorist attack on Kibbutz Be’eri, where 97 people were killed and about 26 people were kidnapped and taken as hostages to Gaza.

Another Unrwa employee, described in the dossier as an Unrwa social worker, played a role in absconding with the body of a dead Israeli soldier, which was taken to Gaza, the reports said. He also coordinated trucks and munitions distributions for Hamas before being killed.

A person familiar with the dossier said that after U.S. officials were briefed on the intelligence material, they alerted Unrwa, which put out a statement announcing the allegation that some of its employees were linked to the attacks and saying it had fired the employees involved. It provided no details, and didn’t say how many employees were involved.

On Sunday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said he was personally horrified by the allegations.

Unrwa commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini criticized Western nations for pausing aid at a time when Gaza is facing a humanitarian crisis as the war between Hamas and Israel rages. Guterres also implored nations to not suspend humanitarian aid.

It is “immensely irresponsible to sanction an agency and an entire community it serves because of allegations of criminal acts against some individuals,” Lazzarini said.

Unrwa looks after more than 5 million Palestinians in densely-packed refugee neighborhoods across the Middle East, including the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. But its biggest operations are in Gaza, where it looks after an estimated 80% of the local population and runs hundreds of schools and scores of clinics.

Israel says it has documented deepening ties between Unrwa and Hamas since the militant group cemented its hold on Gaza in 2007. Unrwa has admitted to finding Hamas weapons stored in schools and Israel has repeatedly said Hamas tunnels run under and through Unrwa buildings as well as other civilian facilities. The former head of Unrwa’s union in Gaza was fired in 2017 after Israel found out he had been elected to Hamas’ top political leadership.

The dossier is the most detailed look yet at the widespread links between the Unrwa employees and militants. It offers telling details regarding the events of Oct. 7.

A math teacher belonging to Hamas was close enough to a female hostage in Gaza that he took a picture of her. Another teacher was carrying an antitank missile the night before the invasion.

One Unrwa employee set up an operations room for Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Oct. 8, the day after the attack. Three other employees, including another Arabic teacher at an Unrwa school, received a text from Hamas to arm themselves at a staging area close to the border the night before the attack. It was unclear whether they went.

A different elementary school teacher did cross into Israel and went to Reim, a district where a kibbutz, an army base and a music festival were attacked.

One of the intelligence reports seen by the Journal said a 13th Unrwa employee, who didn’t have a discernible affiliation with a terror group, also entered Israel. Hundreds of Gazan civilians flooded across the border as part of the Hamas-led attack, Israel says.

Teachers make up nearly three-quarters of Unrwa’s Gaza-based local staff. Unrwa schools, which use textbooks approved by the Palestinian Authority, have come under fire for using materials that allegedly glorify terrorists and promote hatred of Israel. Unrwa says it has taken steps to address problematic content, but a 2019 U.S. Government Accountability Office report said that measures haven’t always been implemented.

Since Oct. 7, Hamas has stolen more than $1 million worth of Unrwa supplies, including fuel and trucks, according to the intelligence report. The intelligence assessment alleges that Hamas operatives are so deeply enmeshed within the Unrwa aid-delivery enterprise as to coordinate transfers for the organization.

[ Via: https://archive.md/nscsC ]

[mariacallous]

Concerns in Central Europe are mounting over the increased availability of opioids and an associated rise in deaths. Better monitoring is key to preventing a US-style epidemic, say experts.

“Fentanyl, Duch, Zuromin – these are word symbols… of this poison of the 21st century that is fentanyl and other narcotics, which are taking a deadly toll around the world and are starting to do so in Poland also,” Donald Tusk said in a video posted on the X platform on June 25.

“Nobody who is involved in this accursed business of narcotics will be safe. We will get them. I guarantee you that,” the Polish prime minister vowed.

Tusk’s video followed the arrest of five people, including a notorious drug dealer nicknamed Duch (“The Spirit”), in the small town of Zuromin in Mazowsze county, central Poland.

Interviewed by Polish media like Gazeta Wyborcza, locals in Zuromin would only speak on condition of anonymity about Duch, the drug dealer who had been active in the community for the past 15-20 years, allegedly with the knowledge or even complicity of the local police.

The town of 8,500 had, in the previous months, become a symbol of Polish society’s problems with illegal drugs, after a 36-year-old man died in February of an overdose, with his family claiming the synthetic opioid fentanyl was the culprit. After the death of the 36-year-old man, police from other cities in Mazowsze were brought in to help deal with the situation in Zuromin, leading to two arrests in May and these further five on June 25.

For years, Adam Ejnik, a local teacher and journalist, has been documenting deaths associated with narcotics in the small town, with his count, quoted widely by Polish media, reaching 100 to date.

The spread of fentanyl on Poland’s illegal drug market has been observed for months, with the first death attributed to its abuse, that of a 19-year old woman, occurring in November in the western city Poznan. The Main Sanitary Inspectorate has counted 48 cases of overdosing with the substance this year alone.

That’s tiny compared to America’s epidemic of powerful synthetic opioids that is killing 75,000 people a year and devastating communities. Yet experts and government officials in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia warn that the number in this part of Europe is likely to keep rising as heroin supplies dwindle and fentanyl’s relative cheapness, strength and increasing availability takes its toll.

“While the estimated death rate from drug overdose is around 15 times less in Europe compared to the US, we should not leave any signals unseen or unreacted to,” warns Isabelle Giraudon, principal scientist at the EU Drugs Agency (formerly the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction).

Smack, bang, wallop

The arrests in Poland followed a report by the EU Drugs Agency, published on June 11, which warned that while synthetic opioids like fentanyl currently play a relatively small role in the drug market in Europe overall, “they are a significant problem in some countries and there are signals that they could have the potential to play a larger role in Europe’s drug problems in the future.”

The agency noted that in 2023 seven new synthetic opioids were detected by the EU Early Warning System on new psychoactive substances in at least 16 EU member states, Norway and Turkey, with six of them belonging to the highly potent group of nitazene opioids. Fentanyl is up to 50 times stronger than heroin, but nitazenes can be 40 times more potent than fentanyl. In 2023, outbreaks of poisonings and overdoses involving nitazenes were reported in five European countries.

Much of the mounting concern centres on the reduced availability of heroin in Europe as a result of the Taliban’s ban on opium production in Afghanistan, which could create the conditions for greater availability and use of synthetic opioids as either a substitute for heroin or for cutting it with heroin. Latest figures from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for 2023 show an estimated 95 per cent decline both in cultivation and in illicit opium production in Afghanistan compared to 2022.

“Fentanyl can be added to heroin due to reduced opium poppy production in Afghanistan,” explains Dominika Jasekova from the Slovak civic association Odyseus, noting that she has already encountered one such death due to a fentanyl overdose.

For now at least, there still seems to be a steady supply of heroin into Europe despite the Taliban’s poppy ban. Max Daly, a journalist and author specialising in writing about drugs and crime tells BIRN that is due to the existence of large amounts of stockpiled opium and heroin, mainly in Afghanistan.

Daly says another reason why drug trafficking gangs who supply Europe’s heroin markets have so far refused to follow the Mexican cartels in swapping out heroin for cheaper synthetic opioids is the nature of the drugs market in Europe, which is dominated by ethnic groups and clans based in the Balkans who have been smuggling drugs for generations. By contrast, heroin supplies to North America have typically been more sporadic, coming via the Mexican cartels or Southeast Asia’s Golden Triangle 6,000 miles away.

“For the Mexicans, fentanyl or its precursors are easy to ship from China. For Europe’s traffickers, all the heroin they need comes into Turkey, which sits on the edge of Europe,” Daly says.

Furthermore, there are few signs that synthetic opioid production laboratories are being set up in a major way in Europe. Fentanyl for the US market is made in Mexico using precursor chemicals imported from China via a network of brokers. And while the Economist reported recently that “Mexican cooks versed in fentanyl production have set up in Europe”, there is little sign of that happening in Central Europe.

A new movie called Fentasy, based on a book by the former Slovak police investigator and writer Michal Cierny, depicts the story of a fentanyl manufacturer in Bratislava, but the last bust of a fentanyl laboratory in Slovakia was back in 2011, when police seized 4.3 kilos of fentanyl valued at 240,000 euros. There have so far been no reports of labs operating in Czechia or Poland.

However, Daly says it seems that some localised suppliers in Europe rather than organised crime groups are trying out synthetic opioids in their product, “so you get occasional local rises of synthetic opioids found in heroin and sometimes in black market opioids or benzo pills, and this is noticed via a rise in ODs, sometimes deaths.”

“Synthetic opioids – plus ‘benzo dope’, which is a mix of benzodiazepines such as xylazine plus opioids – have been popping up more often in Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, France, Ireland and the UK,” he adds.

The EU Drugs Agency said that at least 163 deaths were associated with fentanyl and its derivatives in Europe in 2022, but most of them were associated with fentanyl diverted from medical use as opposed to fentanyl produced for the illicit drug market.

Patched up

When the Polish police arrested Duch and his accomplices on June 25, they seized 300 medical fentanyl patches.

Those patches, like other forms of medical fentanyl, are only available on prescription, and are normally meant for oncological patients in palliative care. In their case, the high addictiveness of fentanyl is considered worth the benefit of the pain relief. But in most other cases, doctors do not think the addiction risk warrants prescribing the drug.

Fentanyl users typically boil the patches and inject the extract. In early March, the youth-oriented Slovak website refresher.sk featured an interview with a man named Marek who had tried fentanyl with a friend. They mixed the extract from a fentanyl patch with marijuana and smoked it using a bong.

“I’d say that the heavy body was separated from the consciousness, which was like on a cloud,” Marek recounted, adding that his friend then got into his car and crashed it. “The effects lasted several hours.”

In 2019, the Slovak authorities dismantled an organised group that had two doctors prescribing fentanyl patches in excessive amounts. In Czechia, too, fentanyl patches have long been found on the black market. “These [fentanyl] patches come from pharmaceutical distribution,” explained Jakub Frydrych, head of the national anti-drug centre. “It is either a resale from authorised patients, or a leak from the sales chain.”

It is also apparent that one of the main avenues for procuring opioids in Poland is by abusing the system of issuing online prescriptions that developed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For example, in June the police arrested an oncologist working at one of the main hospitals in Poznan, whom authorities found had issued 800 prescription for synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, to one of her patients who had never used them. Along with the doctor, the police arrested a man that allegedly bought the prescriptions from her and later used them to obtain the drugs at the pharmacy.

The media and other observers in Poland have for years been warning about how online receptomaty (“prescription vending machines”) are issuing prescriptions for opioids or benzodiazepines (depressants) without any doctor properly checking the medical history of the patients or doing any physical exam. Typically, a user in Poland can easily find such an online clinic that requires only filling in a questionnaire and, in some cases a short phone call, to issue such prescriptions.

Polish doctors also too readily prescribe large quantities of such drugs at the request of patients, who end up using them for much longer than advisable or even sharing them with others.

“When the regular Pole thinks about fentanyl, they think about the black market, dealers and organised crime,” Eryk Matuszkiewicz, a toxicologist from a Poznan hospital, told oko.press. “But I see another problem: in Poland, fentanyl is available practically to anyone.”

“Among us doctors, there are also black sheep who would do anything for money,” he added. “If the patient insists, they’ll write up a prescription, going beyond what is recommended.”

The media have also reported cases where users can purchase opioids, including fentanyl, on websites or social media channels, with pickups possible at specific locations and without physical contact with the dealer.

According to the EU Drugs Agency, in March 2023 Polish police and several US law enforcement agencies shut down an operation based in Poland that supplied wholesale quantities of psychoactive medicines, including fentanyl and oxycodone, to the US and the UK. “These medicines were traded on the surface web. The vendor obtained legitimate products and then repackaged them for sale online,” the agency said. “Over 25,000 tablets were estimated to have been traded, and authorities seized over 12,500 tablets ready to be shipped.

In mid-June, Polish Health Minister Izabela Leszczyna announced that the authorities would intensify controls over all prescriptions for opioids, including fentanyl, issued in Poland.

Lack of data

While it’s clear the illicit trade in fentanyl patches and other synthetic opioid pills in Central Europe is a growing problem, there seems to be little understanding, even among experts, as to whether their use as an illicit drug is just marginal in these countries or, whether, on the contrary, the publicised cases represent just the tip of the iceberg.

A lack of official data is hampering efforts to combat it. David Pesek, head of the Czech drug addiction prevention non-profit Sananim, said there is no official data available, but fentanyl is estimated to claim a few dozen lives every year. In 2022, Czech police launched 15 criminal proceedings for distribution or possession of the synthetic opioid.

“For Poland, there is only one source of data used, the general mortality register, and no other data is reported from other sources such as forensic or police laboratories,” Giraudon, the principal scientist at the EU Drugs Agency, tells BIRN, meaning it is difficult to assess whether the information is complete or whether the number of drug-related deaths is being underestimated.

The Polish police did not respond to a BIRN request about the number of fentanyl-related deaths and arrests countrywide.

“It is crucial to build a better system of monitoring and early warning, using multiple sources of information, so as to be able to anticipate and react fast when there are signals of a serious health threat related to drugs,” Giraudon says. “A crisis related to fentanyl or another potent opioid can develop very quickly.”

Although an opioid epidemic like in the US is less likely because the context in Europe is different in so many ways, the journalist and writer Max Daly says there is still a chance it could happen if a major supplier decides to swap out heroin for synthetic opioids, maybe with the help of Mexican chemists, regardless of what happens in Afghanistan.

“The key thing is to have very good monitoring in Europe, testing drugs seized and in the body post mortem, so we know what’s going on,” he says.

[yatescountyhistorycenter]

Major Kirk and the Women's Army Corps

By Jonathan Monfiletto

When Uncle Sam called, a young woman from Penn Yan – much like many of the young men all around her – answered. And she not only rose to the call but went above and beyond it during her nearly three and a half years of service in World War II.

Less than six months after the United States of America entered the global conflict following the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces, the U.S. government – through a bill approved by Congress and signed by President Franklin Roosevelt – established the Women’s Auxiliary Air Corps on May 15, 1942 “for the purpose,” officially, “of making available to the national defense the knowledge, skill, and special training of women of the nation.” In actuality, it took a Congresswomen – U.S. Rep. Edith Nourse Rogers, of Massachusetts, who introduced the bill a year before it became law – to ensure women would receive all the rights and benefits afforded to male service members when they supported the Army, after she had witnessed the status of women in World War I.

Less than three months after the WAAC was formed, in September 1942, Carlotta “Kirk” Crosier became Yates County’s first woman to enlist in this new military organization. Having been employed as a physical education teacher in Owego public schools at the time, she joined through the Binghamton recruiting office. In fact, though she taught at Owego Free Academy for two years by that point, a newspaper article from the time indicates she did not return for the 1942-1943 school year because she anticipated a call to service.

From Binghamton, Crosier reported to Des Moines, Iowa for basic training at the rank of private. With her experience in physical education, she helped the platoon leader teach the other recruits how to march. Perhaps as a result, she was one of two privates selected for the first officers training course for women.

Upon completion of this officer candidate school, 2nd Lt. Crosier served as executive officer for an all-female company stationed in Daytona Beach, Florida but preparing for duty in England. When the unit was transferred to Fort Devon, Massachusetts and then Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, Crosier was promoted to company commander. When Crosier and her fellow women reached England in July 1943 – the first WAAC battalion to do so, with three to five companies – they were assigned to the 3rd Division of the 8th Air Force. Here, Crosier worked as a company commander under Gen. Curtis LeMay.

Initially, WAACs worked only as clerks, cooks, drivers, and medical personnel. Indeed, a newspaper report quoting an article by Doris Fleeson in the Woman’s Home Companion speaks of female troops under Crosier’s command performing clerical communications and mess duties.

In September 1943, though, Congress and the President – again, through the work of Rep. Rogers – authorized the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), shortening the acronym by a letter and allowing women to serve overseas with the regular Army. Now, women began to take on roles as cryptologists, radio operators, photographers, mechanics, and more.

At this point, it seems, 1st Lt. Crosier was transferred to the 8th Air Force Headquarters Operations Section commanded by Gen. Jimmy Doolittle. Later promoted to captain, she served as the first female operations watch officer in the history of the U.S. military. In this role, working in the operations room in a bombproof, underground structure, Crosier helped coordinate the missions that sent U.S. warplanes on the attack.

Listening to pre-mission discussions among Doolittle and his staff, Crosier helped supply such information as the weather and direct such decisions as the target, the time, the bombload, and the number of planes. When the group made its final decisions for the mission, it was Crosier’s job to write the field order containing all of the pertinent information, send it out by teletype to the bomber divisions, and alert allied agencies of the upcoming attack.

A newspaper article, with the date of March 9, 1944 handwritten on it, calls to attention Crosier’s role in the bombing raids over Berlin, Germany. According to the article, the London Daily Sketch of February 23, 1944 carried a 12-square-inch photograph of Crosier and had this to say about her: “The girl who knows ‘The Gen.’ She is Lt. Carlotta Crosier, U.S. Women’s Army corps, operations watch officer at Eighth Air Force H.Q. On her accuracy depends much of the co-ordination that sends U.S. planes out on attacks. When her chief, Major-General Jimmy Doolittle, asks: ‘How many bombers will we be able to put up tomorrow?’ she supplies the answer.”

Another newspaper article, handwritten with the year of 1945, noted in its headline then-Capt. Crosier “Continues as Watch Officer” and indicated she was among the WACs “contributing considerably toward the successful completion of air attacks against Nazi Europe.” These women kept a constant check on each air mission as it was flown and kept records and plans for future information. Crosier specifically informed generals and other officers who planned air operations on the progress and reports of the current missions and prepared them for any emergencies in which information must be relayed to the proper channels.

Yet another newspaper article dates presumably from about the spring or summer of 1945, as it states Crosier had returned home to Penn Yan after two and a half years of service. Then, she didn’t expect to be out of uniform until almost another year. Indeed, she was discharged as Maj. Crosier in January 1946. Upon her return, she noted how her with bombing missions over enemy territory turned into such missions as dropping supplies over the Netherlands. Then, with little work for the WACs to do but wait to go home, Crosier volunteered to assist with the filming of a documentary about what she and her fellow women did in the European theater. In fact, she was in Paris the day the French held a parade to celebrate V-E, or Victory in Europe, Day.

In a V-mail letter home that was printed in a 1943 report in The Chronicle-Express, Crosier commented on receiving the hometown newspaper overseas and finding fellow soldiers with ties to Penn Yan and the Finger Lakes region. She also seemed to sum up the mission of her fellow women during the war.

“I believe I’m very fortunate in being over here and all of the Wacs are hard at work now and doing a fine job,” she wrote. “I’m very proud of the girls in my command. We are attached to the air force and are very proud of that. … I was very fortunate in being given an opportunity of going up in a Flying Fortress and it sure was a wonderful ship. As you know we are all part of the army of the United States and are regularly G.I.’s now.”

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Ben-Dror Yemini

Here and there, attempts at rehabilitation did occur. In their insightful book "The War of Return," Dr. Einat Wilf and Dr. Adi Schwartz recount the initiative by Musa Alami, a leading figure among Palestinian Arabs, who in the early 1950s established a prosperous farm near Jericho. This farm supported hundreds of families, housed a school and a center for orphaned children, and even secured international export agreements. However, the creation of a flourishing farm was viewed as a betrayal of the victimhood narrative. Following incitement, an Arab mob descended upon it, leaving destruction and ruin in their wake. The farm, in a much diminished form, still exists today.

Gazans take supplies from UNRWA stores

(Photo: braheem Abu Mustafa / Reuters)

UNRWA succumbed to Arab pressure. There was no rehabilitation, resettlement or economic initiatives, and no exit from the refugee camps. Quite the opposite, in fact. Journalist David Bedein has conducted numerous investigations revealing how UNRWA’s educational institutions have become breeding grounds for indoctrinating hatred against Israel, by nurturing illusions about the "right of return." Tens of millions became refugees in the last century. They did not receive a "right of return." Jews, too, endured a harsh Nakba in Europe, and another in Arab countries. They were expelled, their properties confiscated. But they lacked an agency of their own to foster hatred and support destruction and terrorism. The Palestinians, however, have had just that.

No one needed to wait until October 7 to realize that under UNRWA’s auspices a monster of terror support had been established. A series of testimonies have been gathered regarding UNRWA employees' involvement both in the massacre on October 7 and in Hamas terrorist activities, as well as Hamas' use of UNRWA facilities. In September, Israel neutralized Fathi Al-Sharif, a man who served as the coordinator between Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon, yet his salary was paid by UNRWA, where he was magnanimously called principal of an UNRWA school and president of the UNRWA Teachers Union in Lebanon. An exemplary educator indeed.

This backdrop sets the stage for two legislative proposals by Knesset members Boaz Bismuth and Yulia Malinovsky, aimed at severing Israel’s ties with UNRWA and revoking the agency’s international immunity. Even opposition members have signed onto the second proposal. However, there is doubt whether these laws will pass, as both the U.S. and the European Union are exerting unbearable pressure to prevent their passage. Even in a letter threatening an embargo from U.S. Secretaries of State and Defense Blinken and Austin, there is a clear demand to freeze the legislative processes against UNRWA.