#united states of america healthcare system

[cynocardia]

hey, I’m fascinated by Sasha and the way you draw them, do you have any stories or info you want to share about them?

;_; i'm really glad you like them

god um. some of this may still be incomprehensible because it's missing context, they have literally so much lore

they're a contract negotiator for a pharmaceutical company, which they've been an employee of since the 1950s, because the company technically (though it now does its best to not be associated with that) started as an organized crime ring, which sasha worked as a cleaner for because they couldn't... get any other job, other employers just kept turning them away, so when a guy asked them if they wanted to do some janitorial work, they went sure! and then found out "janitorial work" really meant "cleaning up bodies"

the thing is that even after this, they didn't leave, because 1 they were scared 2 they were getting paid, which after being cut off by their legal guardians (something something no help for people with congenital disabilities in adulthood) they needed money for medical supplies, because i don't care that the mitrofanoff procedure didn't exist until the 1980s, i'm trying to make a point

eventually they graduate to enforcer due to "no one else left because their boss keeps killing their coworkers" but they're extremely adverse to it, and after their like kind of father figure i guess gets killed their final straw snaps, this aligns with morgan sniffing around, and when they're sent to quiet him they instead ask him for help because like at their heart sasha doesn't want to hurt people themself and doesn't want people to be hurt by others either, they are fucking literally terrified of themself due to both being a violent child and being treated like they're evil their entire life

anyway they never manage to "take walter down", he gets killed which is what puts an end to the group, and his son forms an actual pharmaceutical company out of its skeleton as an "apology to the public", due to the fact that walter was using a pharmacy he bought from small time business owners as a front. so the company becomes the fucking monster it is now, and sasha still needs the money, so they stay

and after a few years this like... leads to sasha and morgan to start clashing over issues of morality, until sasha gets morgan fired, at which point they split completely, because morgan realizes sasha is just... a corporate lap dog now

...... also that's all just pre story but it's the foundation of their character i guess. one foundation. help

whereas the actual story is just, um, "things get worse and worse relentlessly". idk how to do plot summaries. dr colt has been working on what would be a revolutionary heart medication for years with her team, and marie (... current ceo) freezes it for bullshit reasons, but then the company starts to go bankrupt until she picks dr colt's project back up, which secures a bunch of investors, she promises them they'll get their cut of the deal in another like 10 years, but they're not satisfied with that so she gets dr colt to find a way to speed up the process. dr colt discovers this way is dangerous. really bad things happen

like

i'm just using them as a device to rant about medical capitalism, though they're just one facet of it

and i was originally actually writing this but i am just... not well enough so i'm choosing alternate means of telling this story

and i do have so many like written scenes because "writing ahead" was one of the ways that helped me figure out like, sequencing, and i have had a comic sketched since october, i just need my like, hand to work

because writing is still one of the ways i want to do this i think, it's not the easiest but it's easier for me than like, comics

if i /had/ the ability to do so and i definitely don't i really do wish i could do an actual webcomic because i /know/ exactly what happens in this story and there isn't any real ending because it's just... i don't like, like stories where they take down the evil corporation especially when i'm trying to make a point, i like, like, just idk people surviving? because that's how it is irl, but

anyway um. yeah

[troythecatfish]

[shannendoherty-fans]

Shannen Doherty’s Untimely Death Sparks Important Conversations About Healthcare Access And Equity

By Janice Gassam Asare

Shannen Doherty, the actress best known for her roles in Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed has died after a long battle with cancer, at the age of 53. In a 2015 statement to People magazine, the actress revealed her breast cancer diagnosis, stating that she was “undergoing treatment” and that she was suing a firm and its former business manager for causing her to lose her health insurance due to a failure to pay the insurance premiums. According to reports, in a lawsuit Doherty shared that she hired a firm for tax, accounting, and investment services, among other things, and that part of their role was to make her health insurance premium payments to the Screen Actors Guild; Doherty claimed that their failure to make the premium payments in 2014 caused her health insurance to lapse until the re-enrollment period in 2015. When Doherty went in for a checkup in March of 2015, the cancer was discovered, at which time it had spread. In the lawsuit, Doherty indicated that if she had insurance, she would have been able to get the checkup sooner—the cancer would have been discovered, and she could have avoided chemotherapy and a mastectomy.

Under the IRS, actors are often classified as independent contractors, which comes with its own set of challenges. Although it is unclear what Doherty’s situation was, for many independent contractors, obtaining health insurance can be difficult. Trying to get health insurance as an independent contractor can be a costly and convoluted process. A 2020 Actors’ Equity Association survey indicated that “more than 80% of nonunion actors and stage managers in California have been misclassified as independent contractors.” A 2021 research study revealed that self-employment (which is what independent contractors are considered to be) was associated with a higher likelihood of being uninsured.

Doherty’s tragic situation invites a larger conversation about healthcare access and equity in the United States. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as “Obamacare,” was signed into law in 2010 and revolutionized healthcare access in two distinct ways: “creating health insurance marketplaces with federal financial assistance that reduces premiums and deductibles and by allowing states to expand Medicaid to adults with household incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.” The ACA helped reduce the number of uninsured Americans and expanded healthcare access to those most in need. It also helped close gaps in coverage for different populations, including those with pre-existing health conditions, lower-income individuals, part-time workers, and those from historically excluded and marginalized populations.

Despite strides made through the ACA, healthcare access and equity are still persistent issues, especially within marginalized communities. Research from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) examining 2010-2022 data indicated that in 2022, non-elderly American Indian and Alaska Natives (AIAN) and Hispanic people had the greatest uninsured rates (19.1% and 18% respectively). When compared with their white counterparts, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders (NHOPI) and Black people also had higher uninsured rates at 12.7% and 10%, respectively. The Commonwealth Fund reported that between 2013 and 2021, “states that expanded Medicaid eligibility had higher rates of insurance coverage and health care access, with smaller disparities between racial/ethnic groups and larger improvements, than states that didn’t expand Medicaid.” It’s important to note that if a Republican president is elected, Project 2025, the far-right policy proposal document, seeks to upend Medicaid as we know it by introducing limits on the amount of time that a person can receive Medicaid.

When peeling back the layers to examine these racial and ethnic differences in more detail, the Brookings Institute noted in 2020 that the refusal of several states to expand Medicaid could be one contributing factor. One 2017 research study found that some underrepresented racial groups were more likely to experience insurance loss than their white counterparts. The study indicated that for Black and Hispanic populations, specific trigger events were more likely, as well as “socioeconomic characteristics” that were linked to more insurance loss and slower insurance gain. The study also noted that in the U.S., health insurance access was associated with employment and and marriage and that Black and Hispanic populations were “disadvantaged in both areas.”

Equity in and access to healthcare is fundamental, but bias is omnipresent. Age bias, for example, is a pervasive issue in breast cancer treatment. Research also indicates that racial bias is a prevalent issue—because the current guidelines in breast cancer screenings are based on white populations, this can lead to a delayed diagnosis for women from non-white communities. Our health is one of our greatest assets and healthcare should be a basic human right, no matter what state or country you live in. As a society, we must ensure that healthcare is available, affordable and accessible to all citizens. After all, how can a country call itself great if so many of its citizens, especially those most marginalized and vulnerable, don’t have access to healthcare?

[nando161mando]

U.S. HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

[disagigglebilities]

So apparently to qualify for Medicaid I have to make less then $750 a month and I can't live with my mom

Like um ma'am I don't even make enough to qualify for housing assistance on my own and I can't make more because I'm disabled

And on top of that if I do get SSDI if it's over their low low random amount of money then I still don't qualify for Medicaid and I also won't qualify for Medicare for 2 years

Like yikes guess I'll just die then 🇺🇸🖕

[apollo-zero-one]

I have to call the healthcare dot gov helpline again.

And this time if they do not have a clear answer for me I am going to get hysterical.

I am twenty two years old I have NO idea what I am doing I am Suicidally Depressed and Cannot Afford My Medication I am the one handling this because no one else in my God Damn House apparently knows how to use a computer and it is Not my Fault that I live in a hellhole of a country that decided to make millions of people jump through stupid little hoops and beg like a dog for the PRIVILEGE of Not Dying Of Preventable Things, so SOMEONE is going to tell me what I need to do to get this stupid government health insurance or mark my words I am going to kill myself on the steps of the capitol building . FUCK

[a-person-on-earth]

Dr. Omar Suleiman on X: "What if your elected politicians are not truly “America First”? What if Israel’s national security interests trump your own domestic necessities, such as affordable healthcare and housing? My latest for @MiddleEastEye. https://t.co/Bl0VWflPDa" / X

[outofthedeck]

God I fucking hate the US health system.

I was trying to get an appointment. Just moved a month ago, so I haven't been able to switch over my primary and the appointment I have to do that is two weeks out, and i'd rather not wait that long.

I made an appointment for today. Realized I won't have transportation, but I do have Medicaid, and they have taxis. Tried calling yesterday, but their phone menu was buggy and impossible to figure out. So I tried using the website today. They could only do transportation from June 30th onward, so I called to reschedule.

The receptionist at my primary care said they could do next Tuesday. Next Tuesday is the second of July. Cool, I can do that.

Try to get transportation again. The website is difficult and more impossible, somehow, than just calling. I try calling instead, and ten minutes of menu management later I got to an operator. Operator said that my doctor needs to fill out two separate forms in order to justify why I have a doctor's appointment an hour out. Apparently telling them "I just moved and haven't switched my primary" isn't an answer they can take.

I called my primary a second time. Asked to speak to an operator there. They said I have an appointment on the 9th of July.

"She said the appointment was for next Tuesday, though. That's the second."

"Well the appointment I have here is for the ninth."

I gave up at that point, cancelled the appointment, and now I have to wait two weeks to switch over my primary to be able to see the doctor instead.

Fuck the US health system, in the ass, with a flaming lead cactus. And the cactus is also infected with every STD on the planet.

[necronomeconomicism]

Voting in the United States is unintuitive, often undemocratic, and painful. The natural emotional reaction with being asked to support vile people at the ballot box is disgust and avoidance. For leftists it doesn't help either when dominant narratives about voting put it on a pedestal as something patriotic system-serving citizens do.

But voting doesn't have to mean declaring personal support or belief in anyone, and there is a lot more to vote on than the presidency. Still, there's no bubble to fill in that says "Gay luxury space communism immediately!" so what do we do with the ballot?

There are two kinds of things you might get to vote on. Representatives and Propositions(or Measures). Representatives are those politicians the news is always abuzz about. Propositions are US America's cute attempt at direct democracy and can be a breath of fresh air to vote on when they're not trying to con you. Most are "citizen-initiated" so this is where you'll find most non centrist political actions. As I understand it 24 states do not have citizen-initiated propositions and of them some don't seem to have propositions at all. If you live in one of those I'm sorry.

Your mental energy should be prioritized in this order.

Propositions -> Local Representatives -> State Representatives -> Federal Representatives -> Presidency

UNLESS you live in a swing state, the list of which can vary depending on the election. In that case you'll have to think about the presidency first. I'm sorry. The electoral college is stupid.

I live in California, so we'll be going through part of the 2024 California ballot. Before we get into this know there is nothing wrong with using a voting guide that just tells you what to vote for. That is, only if the guide is good, which is uncommon. Most guides are either horrible or don't cover everything on the ballot. Before using a voting guide check who is funding it. If it has any holes consider researching those propositions or elected positions yourself.

California has 11 propositions on the ballot. I'm only going to go over one in detail, but I do want to bring up some more straightforward ones to illustrate a point

Prop 3 enshrines gay marriage in the California constitution Prop 6 bans forced prison labor in the state Prop 32 raises the minimum wage to $18 Prop 33 allows local governments to enact stronger rent control

Propositions like these, if they are available, leave decent leftists no excuse not to vote. No matter how much you detest the presidential candidates, no matter how revolutionary you aspire to be, no matter how much you hate American "democracy" propositions like these can have immense positive impacts on people's lives when they pass. You cannot allow yourself to be thoroughly terrified of the ballot box when these exist. And on the other hand

Prop 36 makes drug possession a felony and makes theft under $950 a felony after multiple violations

You cannot just do nothing and let something that monstrous pass. And it fucking might! And all that good stuff might not! There are more than twice as many millions of dollars in advertisements pushing prop 36 than against it right now. Forget the presidency for a moment, if you live in California, you get to decide if literal slavery is allowed in prisons or not.

As for representatives I'm not going to say exactly what city I live in, but I can say there are multiple elected positions that aren't even divided along party lines. There are also multiple state, district, and county representatives that aren't just horrible people. Many of them backed by unions rather than corporate money.

There's also sneaky shit on the ballot. I mentioned earlier propositions made to con you. This season's example is Prop 34 which, "requires certain healthcare providers to spend 98% of the revenues from the federal discount prescription drug program on direct patient care." Sounds maybe like a neat healthcare bill, but it says "certain" and that's a tricky word on the ballot. In this case Prop 34 specifies it only applies to healthcare providers that own housing. Only one healthcare provider in California does that, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. A non profit that has put its weight behind affordable housing including support for Prop 33.

Without people doing the research on things like Prop 34, bills like this can easily pass and enable all sorts of chicanery.

So go vote! Do some research and make some changes to the world! Don't let it be the only thing you do either. Voting only happens every two years. Contact your local political groups and volunteer your time or even just listen. Talk to your friends about what you're doing. Exercise your political muscles! Exercise your organizational muscles! Solidarity can be hard, but we have to be up for it. Your leftism has to affect the world around you or it will rot in the prison that is your skull.

[feedists4progress]

WHY US? WHY NOW?

Politicians are not perfect people. Voting, especially in the US, is not a perfect system. It's not the be-all end-all of political action and it certainly does not fix everything wrong with our nation and political system. It certainly does not fix the United States' complicity in the Palestinian genocide or its other atrocities overseas.

BUT.

The Harris campaign, by virtue of choosing Tim Walz over any of the other options, more has already demonstrated its willingness to listen to its would-be constituents over voices and donors from within the Democratic party urging them to choose a running mate who caters to the moderate center. In this choice, Harris has already demonstrated that she is flexible: she is not immune to pressure from the people she hopes to govern. This alone gives us as voters and constituents so much more leverage to apply pressure on her administration to achieve political victories we actually want: a ceasefire in Gaza, universal healthcare, nationwide abortion access, protected trans rights and trans healthcare, and more.

There is SO MUCH on the line in this election — and so many of the issues at risk this year are or are adjacent to fat liberation and queer issues:

Healthcare and prescription reform

Racial equity and justice

Abortion access (reminder that Plan B is less effective for those over 155 lbs!)

Trans rights, safety, and healthcare access

LGBTQIA+ rights

Disability rights and healthcare (including Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security)

Environmental reform and climate change mitigation

Public health and vaccine funding

Public education funding and related infrastructure

Labor rights

We have a lot to lose this year. But if we can elect an administration that is at least invested in moving forward, we'll also have a lot to gain.

SO, WHAT CAN I DO?

Check your voter registration!

Text voters and help them register!

Phonebank or textbank for blue candidates!

Write postcards to voters in swing states!

Knock doors if you're able!

Join a voter protection & registration hotline!

Donate to your local candidates (find them here)!

If you're not sure where to start, these organizations host tons of events you can get involved with:

Democrats.org

Democratic Volunteer Center

Field Team 6

Mobilize

Sister District

Swing Blue

Swing Left

Vote Save America

WHY TIM WALZ?

The guy gets it. Need I say more?

[lindstromm]

PARIS — Ariana Ramsey won an Olympic bronze medal with the U.S. women’s rugby team here last week. A few days later, something almost as exciting happened: She got a pap smear. For free. 

“Like, what?” she said in a post on TikTok describing her new discovery: The Olympic Village offers free healthcare. 

The United States, of course, does not. So in the days following her victory, Ramsey made appointments with the Village gynecologist, dentist and ophthalmologist. According to the Paris 2024 organizing committee, the Village also offers cardiology, orthopedics, physiotherapy, psychology, podiatry and, of course, sports medicine—all at no cost to the athletes. (Paralympic athletes will also have access to dermatology.)

Ramsey came to Paris as a rugby player. She is leaving as a healthcare influencer. More than 135,000 people have watched her initial TikTok, and another of the half-dozen follow-up videos she has made has pulled in more than 570 views. That is fine with her. The more she thinks about it, the more frustrated she is that she’s so astonished by the concept. 

“That’s just America and their privatized healthcare system,” she laments in an interview, adding, “I’ll fight for universal healthcare.”

The idea has gone viral in France: American discovers healthcare. “A lot of people are kind of making a joke about it,” she says. “Like, welcome to France.”

[hero-israel]

homelessness and the housing crisis is growing, healthcare is shit, education system is shit, ppl can barely find jobs, white supremacy movements is growing, etc etc etc but ppl are willing to let trump win bc biden and kamala aren’t anti israel. as if trump isn’t even more outwardly pro israel than they are?? and why are we letting issues in israel and palestine, that yes are important, decide what president we elect in the united states of america???

foreign policy has never played such a big role in an election since what, vietnam?? afghanistan? but americans were getting affected by those two on a large scale. there are only a few US spec ops forces in israel rn, and that’s mainly to help identify hostages especially american ones. and ppl are blaming all of these issues above on US aid money to israel when that’s not the cause of it and would most likely just increase under trump. ffs i hate these leftists so much.

In Putin's Russia, robots program people!

This is the most obvious case I've ever seen of trollbot accounts swaying public opinion and motivating previously normal-ish people towards political extremism and even violence. It's like all the propaganda we see whipping up angry mobs in "The Boys," but on the other side; their college diplomas did not save them from becoming Sandy Hook Truthers.

I remember when Occupy Wall Street fizzled out ineffectively - and that was about day-to-day economic conditions for American voters! People couldn't motivate themselves over that, but some influencer talking about a "Gaza famine" could help Trump carry MIchigan? A repulsive, sick joke.

The epistemic closure of leftists needs a lot more examination. I will not forget the person who posted this: "Do you dare to claim that the Left promote anywhere in the world real anti-semitism, namely theories that the Jews are by their nature evil or inferior or that they are the root of all the problems in the world  ? Or do you claim perhaps that the Left promote policies of discrimination or exclusion towards Jews, let alone of persecution of the Jews ?...

...Anti-semitism is not a problem for the Left as a movement for the reason that I have explained above, namely the total incompatibility between the worldview of the Left and anti-semitism. The same obtains for anti-Black racism. Perhaps there are some leftist individuals with residual anti-Black tendencies, but obviously anti-Black racism is not today a problem for the Left as a whole, as the Left is in its very essence for the equality and equal dignity of all people”

Homelander can't be a badguy, he's the goodguy

[workersolidarity]

[ 📹 Scenes from the violent firebelts rocking the Shaboura Refugee Camp, in the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, following bombing by the Israeli occupation forces on Friday morning. ]

🇮🇱⚔️🇵🇸 🚀🏘️💥🚑 🚨

DAY 231 OF ISRAELI OCCUPATION GENOCIDE IN GAZA: U.S. TO BE INVOLVED IN GAZA SECURITY PLANS AFTER WAR, BORDER CROSSINGS REMAIN CLOSED, HUMANITARIAN AID DELIVERIES SLOW TO A DRIP, TORTURE WIDESPREAD IN ISRAELI PRISONS

On 231st day of the Israeli occupation's ongoing special genocide operation in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) committed a total of 9 new massacres of Palestinian families, resulting in the deaths of no less than 91 Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children, while another 112 others were wounded over the previous 24-hours.

It should be noted that as a result of the constant Israeli bombardment of Gaza's healthcare system, infrastructure, residential and commercial buildings, local paramedic and civil defense crews are unable to recover countless hundreds, even thousands of victims who remain trapped under the rubble, or who's bodies remain strewn across the streets of Gaza.

This leaves the official death toll vastly undercounted, as Gaza's healthcare officials are unable to accurately tally those killed and maimed in this genocide, which must be kept in mind when considering the scale of the mass murder.

The Biden administration intends to appoint a "civilian advisor" to oversee a "mostly Palestinian" peacekeeping force after the Israeli occupation's genocidal war in Gaza comes to an end, suggesting the administration intends to be deeply involved in Gaza's affairs long after the end of the war. That's according to four American officials speaking with Politico, an American online newspaper, under the condition of anonymity.

According to Politico, an American civilian advisor based in the Egyptian Sinai or Jordan would "advise" the commanding officer of an interim peacekeeping force composed of Palestinians, but also forces from local Arab countries such as Egypt, Morrocco and the United Arab Emirates, which would work to "maintain security and avoid an insurgency that could plunge the enclave into more turmoil."

The coded language of the Politico piece seems to suggest the United States would use the proxy of a potential peacekeeping force to suppress the Palestinian resistance in order to bolster the defenses of the Israeli occupation.

The US would help protect the Israeli entity's internal security within the borders of occupied Palestine, while the Israeli occupation could refocus on potential external threats such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Kataeb Hezbollah in Iraq, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran.

At the same time, the United States would work with regional players to create a "Palestinian Council", made up of "Palestinians from Gaza," to "serve as an interim governing structure."

Politico says fierce debates are raging within the Biden administration, and with America's regional partners, about the makeup of such a peacekeeping force and what authorities it might be given, as well as intense debates over the governing structure of Gaza and what level of US involvement there would be following a potential end to the war.

“We have talked about a number of different formulas for some kind of interim security forces in Gaza,” a senior administration official told Politico, “and we have talked to a lot of partners about how the United States could support that with all of our capabilities from outside Gaza.”

Any potential force comprised of Palestinians would also face intense push-back from the Israeli occupation authorities, particularly Netanyahu's far-right regime, which opposes any kind of scenario that gives recognition to a Palestinian State.

In other news, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture, Alice Jill Edwards, said she has received information about the torture and ill-treatment of Palestinians detained in prisons overseen by the Israeli Prisons Authority and also in Israeli occupation army camps, according to reporting published in the Palestinian media.

According to local reporting, Edwards, who has been conducting a ""thorough review over the past two months," discusses information she received describing cases of Palestinian prisoners who "were beaten and detained while blindfolded and handcuffed for long periods in cells, in addition to being deprived of sleep and threatened with physical and sexual violence."

Edwards said the information she received also included details suggesting that Palestinian detainees were subjected to "degrading treatment," including photos taken of them in "offensive positions."

Edwards, an independent human rights expert previously appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, said she raised her concerns for the mistreatment of Palestinian detainees with the Israeli authorities, asking them to investigate and to give herself, along with "international human rights monitors and humanitarian observers" access to Palestinian prisoners.

Edwards said It was "very important that there be independent inspections," and urged the occupation authorities to "investigate all complaints and reports of torture or ill-treatment promptly, fairly, effectively and transparently."

She also added that officials from all levels of the Israeli occupation's prison system "must be held accountable."

Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation continued its mass murder campaign across the entirety of the Gaza Strip, slaughtering dozens of Palestinians, including large numbers of women and children.

At the same time, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) continued its closure of the Rafah and Karm Abu Salem border crossings for the 18th consecutive day, further preventing thousands of humanitarian and medical aid trucks, along with fuel deliveries, from entering the Gaza Strip, while also preventing hundreds, if not thousands, of severely sick and wounded Palestinians from leaving Gaza for medical treatment abroad.

At the same time, the Israeli occupation continues to deliberately put Gaza's hospitals out of service, launching violent raids of hospitals and medical centers, while also cutting off their supply of fuel for electricity generators.

According to local medical sources, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, one of the largest hospitals in the Strip, has lost power due to running out of fuel, portending a healthcare catastrophe for the Palestinian population of central Gaza.

Similarly, the Kuwait Specialized Hospital in Rafah City is also facing a potential shutdown due to continued attacks by the Israeli occupation army, along with a shortage of fuel for generators.

Occupation forces are also advancing towards Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza, while all the remaining hospitals still functioning in Gaza are operating well beyond their capacities.

Gaza's healthcare system is also being overwhelmed by the dead and wounded in the Israeli occupation's ongoing bombardment.

In just a few examples, occupation warplanes bombed a residential apartment last night belonging to the Al-Ayoubi family, in the Shabiyah neighborhood of Gaza City, resulting in the deaths of at least 10 civilians, including women and children, while a number of others were wounded in the strike.

In another war crime, Zionist fighter jets bombed a warehouse for the distribution of humanitarian aid in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, leading to the deaths of no less than 12 civilians, mostly women and children, while dozens of others were wounded.

Another series of occupation airstrikes targeted house in the Al-Fakhoura neighborhood, west of the Jabalia Camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, murdering another 5 Palestinians and wounding several others.

The slaughter continued when Zionist air forces bombarded a residential home belonging to the Al-Masry family, in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, killing two citizens.

IOF artillery detatchments also shelled several neighborhoods of Gaza City, including the Al-Zaytoun, Tal al-Hawa, Al-Rimal, Al-Janoubi, Al-Sabra, Sheikh Ajlin, and Juhr al-Dik neighborhoods, while occupation soldiers and armored vehicles continue advancing towards Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya where they surrounded some medical staff and patients.

In another criminal assault, IOF warplanes bombed another residential apartment belonging to the Abu Al-Laban family on Al-Nafaq Street, north of Gaza City, resulting in a number of casualties.

Zionist soldiers and armored vehicles also fired machine guns in the vicinity of the Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque and Street 8 in Gaza City, while occupation gunboats fired missiles towards the coast of the city.

Two more civilians were killed in yet more occupation airstrikes along the coast of the town of Al-Zawaida, in the central Gaza Strip.

South of Gaza, Israeli occupation quadcopters fly near the European Gaza Hospital, while at the same time, Israeli Merkava tanks advanced from neighborhoods east of Rafah towards the central areas of the city, and along the outskirts of the Shaboura Camp, coinciding with the firing of IOF missiles, shells and hails of gunfire.

In Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, at least four Palestinians were killed after an Israeli quadcopter drone dropped a bomb on a group of civilians, while occupation aircraft bombarded Al-Rashid Street, adjacent to Al-Nuseirat, with no casualties were reported in the strike.

Occupation bombing and shelling also targeted the Juhr al-Dik area north of the Bureij Camp.

Israeli warplanes also participated in the assassination of Major General Diyaa Al-Sharafa, the Assistant Commander of the National Security Forces in the Gaza Strip, with four other officers wounded in the strike as Al-Sharafa conducted an inspection tour near the Saraya junction in central Gaza.

Meanwhile, for the 13th consecutive day, the Israeli occupation army continued its incursion into Jabalia, in the north of Gaza, coinciding with intense volleys of missile and bomb strikes.

Communications with staff at Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia continued to be cut off as medical personnel and patients were forced to evacuate after IOF soldiers stormed the hospital.

In Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah, large explosions continue to be heard in neighborhoods east of the city, along with downtown Rafah and south of the city.

At least one civilian was killed, and others wounded, following an Israeli bombing in the vicinity of the Kiir Junction in central Rafah, while occupation artillery shelling and gunfire from drones and helicopters continue intermittently in central Rafah and east of the city.

As a result of the Israeli occupation's ongoing special genocide operation in the Gaza Strip, the death toll has risen once again, now exceeding 35'800 Palestinians killed, including over 15'000 children and upwards of 10'000 women, while another 80'200 others have been wounded since the start of the current round of Zionist aggression, beginning with the events of October 7th, 2023.

May 24th, 2024.

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@WorkerSolidarityNews

[odinsblog]

Affimative action is racist towards black people and other PoC. It basically implies that PoC are stupid and can't accomplish anything without a leg-up.

STFU, you ignorant fucking orc.

Affirmative action implies no such thing.

Racists and their bootlicking familiars never have a problem with affirmative action unless and until it helps Black people.

“Meritocracy is a myth.

The United States was NOT built on a system of meritocracy. It was built on a system of DENIED ACCESS.

Let us not forget that a whole race of people was legally barred from learning to read in this country until 1865.” —Dr. Brittney Cooper

The wealth gap between Black people and white people in America was not an accidental creation. Generational wealth isn't something white people “earned” because of their hard work and meritorious behavior (are you fucking kidding me?).

And generational high unemployment & poverty in Black communities isn’t because of some inherent character flaw unique to Black people, or due to laziness. It's the result of an opportunity gap that was intentionally baked into the system, with pro-white, anti-Black government policies.

And Martin Luther King’s speech on how structural racism was/is governmental policy is always a relevant discussion.

Books like, “When Affirmative Action was White” help explain why bootstrap theory is an argument that only racists, the aggressively uninformed, or the willfully ignorant would believe—because it completely ignores how, for decades, the U.S. government intentionally and systematically denied Black people things like education, and land, and housing, and healthcare, and civil rights, and bootstraps and boots—all while ensuring that those same things were as easily accessible and as affordable as possible to white people.

Structural white privilege enforced by the police, the justice + education + healthcare systems, and by the U.S. government, is as real as bullets and bombs.

Affirmative action is an attempt to level one of thee most unequal playing fields in history.

Related:

👉🏿 https://ideas.time.com/2013/06/17/affirmative-action-has-helped-white-women-more-than-anyone/

👉🏿 https://www.tumblr.com/odinsblog/134939222538/you-do-not-take-a-person-who-for-years-has-been

👉🏿 https://www.tumblr.com/odinsblog/183430095049/affirmative-action-isnt-stealing-college-spots

👉🏿 https://www.tumblr.com/odinsblog/165248195030/the-merit-card-is-the-white-equivalent-of-a-race

👉🏿 https://www.tumblr.com/odinsblog/62853120572/just-work-hard-and-you-will-succeed-dispelling

👉🏿 https://www.tumblr.com/odinsblog/721515231886622720/the-worst-thing-about-affirmative-action-

[purpleweredragon]

""The Twilight Zone" is often lauded for its social commentary; it condemned things like racism and nationalism and beauty standards, even as the world around it failed to follow suit. It was a bold and innovative show, but it was also churning out up to 37 episodes a season, so a few clunkers were all but guaranteed. Such was the case with season 3's "The Mirror," an episode that is very much not ahead of its time. Instead, it's perfectly in line with mainstream political opinion in 1961, and it makes for a somewhat dull, grating viewing experience as a result. 

The episode depicts this Castro-insert as a paranoid, sadistic and cartoonishly evil man. The previous leader he's overthrown, who in real life would be the brutal far-right dictator Fulgencio Batista, is portrayed in a comparatively sympathetic light.

The United States, which has a long history of interfering with Latin American governments, did indeed try to kill [Castro] on plenty of occasions. Yet "Mirror" depicts these assassination attempts as the feverish paranoid fantasies of Clemente; either that, or the direct results of an unhappy country being tortured by his tyrannical rule. 

The other issue is that, as time goes on, it seems more and more like Castro was not quite the crazy evil dictator that American media presented him as. He still did plenty of terrible things worthy of condemnation, like his now-reversed criminalization of homosexuality in the '60s and his general inclination towards authoritarianism. On the other hand, he did raise the average quality of life in the country, initiated a successful literacy program, and implemented a healthcare system that's more efficient and humane than our own. Since Fidel took over, the country's infant mortality rate also fell from 37.3 to 4.3 per 1000 live births, lower than it is in America.

Considering Cuba accomplished all this while putting up with an economically suffocating 60+ year trade embargo from the United States, we're forced to admit that Fidel's revolution wasn't a total disaster. Despite the "Twilight Zone" episode's smug certainty that Fidel would crash and burn, his government has already outlived the majority of the episode's cast and crew."