beloved.

the governmental website for covid information is now propaganda. not a joke, not hyperbole, not an exaggeration: it's genuinely the definition of propaganda. this is biased misinformation determined to push a political stance. it is being hosted on a government server. it looks like something you'd find in a "top 10 weird internet conspiracy stories (and their origins)" youtube video.

my brother called me when he saw it. he had me type it into google. for a second i legitimately thought that i had typed something wrong. we have both taught college: we have both said "a .gov site is usually a reliable resource." i just stared at my phone for a long, long time.

i thought about how when i was a kid, conspiracy theories were mostly fun and a little spooky. unserious. i remember reading some long, complicated website about how avril lavigne is dead. how bigfoot is real. it used to be funny-and-a-joke.

over seven million people (globally) have died from covid. america has the highest death rate with over 1.2 million people.

the thing is - every time a person dies from something like a mass shooting or poverty or treatable illness - we are told don't make it political. we are told it's just something that can happen. we are told it's sad but what can you do!

the president of the united states is using a government website to try to erase the very-real deaths that he personally caused due to a complete mismanagement of the pandemic. the president of the united states is using a government server to host propaganda, undermine science and medicine, and encourage distrust amongst his followers.

nothing is going to happen. nobody's gonna, like, do anything about it. it's a thursday today, and we are just going to move on from this like we have been moving on from everything else.

yesterday my brother was outside walking his dog, mask included. a guy in a truck pulls up and shouts something about covid and whatever the fuck else. my brother has a good sense of humor, described it to me as enthusiastic! i hadn't ever been catcalled before, this was new and therefore thrilling! i do see why you hate it, though. like. i have actual covid, does he want me to cough on him?

my brother doesn't get extra time off work anymore, because the cdc practically doesn't exist. my brother said i'm not exposing 200 students to covid. his boss shrugged and said: who cares? they're going to get it eventually anyway. like it isn't a pandemic.

trump created this problem when he introduced the tiktok ban in his first term and he’s going to take credit for “solving” it now. the tiktok ceo made a video thanking trump for “understanding the app” then the error message says we are grateful to trump for working with us on this ?? AND he’s invited to sit front row at the inauguration??? oh also new facebook/tiktok integrations popping up today ???

YOU CAN’T VOTE ONLINE.

YOU CAN’T VOTE FROM YOUR PHONE.

IN MANY STATES THERE ARE LEGAL CONSEQUENCES FOR PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR BALLOT.

DO NOT WEAR CAMPAIGN GEAR TO THE POLLS.

DO NOT TRY TO PERSUADE PEOPLE TO VOTE FOR A CANDIDATE AT THE POLLS.

DO NOT ENGAGE IN ANY KIND OF POLITICAL DISCOURSE AT THE POLLS.

NO ELECTION IS EVER A SURE THING, EVEN IF YOU’RE IN THE BLUEST OR REDDEST OF STATES.  IF SOMEONE TRIES TO TELL YOU THAT YOU CAN SIT THIS ONE OUT, THEY ARE EITHER IGNORANT OR MALICIOUS.

• an in-ground swimming pool

• a jacuzzi

Before the ongoing horrific genocide in Gaza, I happened to be a PhD student at an Irish university collecting data for my research from universities in Gaza. Little did I know that being a student at an Irish university would be my only way to be saved from the horrible war. I was lucky and privileged, unlike my helpless family trapped in Gaza. Four months and a half into the war, my Irish supervisors and my family insisted that I should seize the opportunity to evacuate to Ireland while I still could.

Setting foot outside Gaza felt like leaving hell and entering a whole new world. People walk carefree in the streets not fearing being killed by an airstrike! They go for a run in the morning and walk their dogs! They go to school and work and live a normal life I had been deprived of for so long! I see people talking and laughing and cannot help but have the daunting thoughts that the next airstrike could kill all of my family members in Gaza.

A horrible mixture of fear, depression, survival guilt, and agony engulfs me and paralyzes my entire life as I watch the news while being far away. Just a couple of days ago, 100 innocent people were killed in a school in Gaza where people sought shelter. I saw pictures and videos of people carrying the burned meat of their family members instead of whole corpses. Could our world be more evil, insensitive, desensitized, and cruel?

My heart skips a beat every time I hear that the neighborhood where my family has been displaced was bombed! What if they are running out of luck as I write these words and the next indiscriminate bombing will end their lives?! Therefore, evacuation is a dire need and a matter of life and death at this point as the genocide and massacres continue unabated.

I am desperately trying to protect my family from this genocide just as you would do if you were in my place. I plan to evacuate them to Egypt as a first step in the hope of reuniting with them in Ireland where we can have a dignified safe life together away from the missiles, bombs, corpses, diseases, polluted water, and pain of loss. We love Gaza more than anything in the world, but I can not accept carrying them as burned meat in plastic bags like I see all the time in the news and social media.

Please find it in your heart to help me save my family by donating, reblogging, and sharing.

Note: Vetted by:

1. @el-shab-hussein and @nabulsi # 151 on the spreadsheet of Vetted Gaza Fundraisers List]

2. @riding-with-the-wild-hunt Here .

I experienced the traumatic experience of displacement four times with my family in Gaza before I was evacuated alone to Ireland with the help of my Irish college.

No words can describe the fear that engulfs us when we see thousands of leaflets in our sky dropped from Israeli warplanes ordering us to leave for other places that are just as dangerous. It is a tedious and terrible process of packing everything we need, begging bus drivers over the phone (mostly with a feeble phone signal) to come and pick us up at any cost. Unfortunately, displacement and running from death became the daily routine of adults and children alike in Gaza.

When displaced, sniper bullets and indiscriminate heavy bombardment are not the only risks that face my family and other people. Another life-threatening problem facing people in Gaza is the sewage flooding the streets of Gaza after Israel deliberately destroyed most of the infrastructure. This led to the spread of fatal viruses and diseases like Poliomyelitis as announced by the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

It pains my heart that my beloved city Gaza has turned into an apocalyptic ghost city where innocent people, children and adults, are indiscriminately killed daily. It is shocking to see this becoming normalized and the extent to which the world has become desensitized. What happened to humanity and human rights?! When will we see a ceasefire and be able to hug and reunite with our families?! When will we wake up from this never-ending nightmare?

The Lifeless corpses of innocent Palestinians decompose in the streets of Gaza and under the rubble. These bodies become food for stray dogs. I wonder what hopes and dreams the person had before he was killed. Did it hurt? Was he scared? Was it fast or painfully slow?! Does he/ she have children? Does his/her family know?! Was he/she unlucky to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?! Most importantly, how does one decide what is a wrong place and a wrong time to be when every place and every time in Gaza is wrong?! Survival is nothing but a matter of luck in Gaza.

Imagining that this could be the fate of my family makes me go insane with heart-stopping fear!

With the increasing escalation in the region, hope for a ceasefire in Gaza fades away and I have to live every second of every day with the haunting thoughts that my family could be the next to leave this cruel world brutally. Therefore, I am exerting all efforts to get them out of Gaza and hopefully reunite with them in Ireland where I am continuing my studies.

I cannot do that without your help. Decide today to play a significant role in saving my family in Gaza including many children with a prosperous future ahead of them.

Note: Vetted by:

1. @el-shab-hussein and @nabulsi # 151 on the spreadsheet of Vetted Gaza Fundraisers List]

2. @riding-with-the-wild-hunt Here .

Please Donate, Reblog, and Share everywhere.

It’s been more than 300 days of war. Siraj has been telling us tents are not hygienic, they trap insects that may carry infectious diseases in, they increase possibility of skin infections and other communicable diseases. they are near sewage water containing polio. he’s been saying this. he’s been trying to tell us this and beg for enough funds to start rebuilding a home for his children to maintain their health and hygiene.

takes about 2 minutes of your time.

please pick two to donate to & to share to your own followers or on other social medias, in group chats & anywhere you can tell people about the pressing matter of helping people rebuild, evacuate or continuing their educations.

Help Munna Tashmali's Family Rebuild Their Home & Future // @monashamali // vetted by @/nabulsi // £6,484/£30,000

Help Mahmoud Khalaf save his family // @mahmoudkhalafff // #151 on vetted spreadsheet // €16,883/€30,000

Help Adham Ayyad's family with relief, crossing fees & education // @stupendouswolfearthquake // vetted by @/90-ghost // kr4,230/kr300,000 SEK

Help Noor Alanqar's Family Rebuild Their Lives // @noor-alanqar // vetted by @/90-ghost // €14,680/€40,000

Help Amna Marwan Evacuate Her Family to Safety // @amnahab // vetted fundraiser (#247) // €12,889/€40,000

Save Ahmed Altaban & His Family // @ahmed4palestine // vetted by @/90-ghost // $13,388/$20,000 USD

Help Ola & Her Family in this Crisis // @olagaza1 // vetted fundraiser (#205) // $19,641/$50,000 USD

Help Oday & His Family Evacuate And Rebuild // @oday-alanqar // vetted by @/el-shab-hussein // €115/€50,000

Help Mohammed & His Five Children Recover and Rebuild // @mohammadyaser1980 // vetted by @/wlwaerith // €12,828/€35,000

Help Ahmad & His Family Evacuate From Gaza // @children-gaza vetted by @/90-ghost // €3,141/€15,000

Help Musab & His Family Rebuild // @musababd // vetted by @/90-ghost // £296/£8,000

Help Muhammad Al-Habil & His Family Evacuate // @alhabil // vetted fundraiser #166 // €18,329/€50,000

Help Ahmed Halas & His Family Evacuate // @ahmeadhilles // vetted @/90-ghost // €872/€80,000

Help Dr. Ahmed M.A. Hamad & His Family Escape // @drahmedhamad2 // vetted @/apollos-olives // kr4,045/ kr400,000 SEK

Help Hadeel Mikki & Her Family Escape // @hadeelmekki // vetted @/90-ghost // €9,483/€35,000

[image description: a tweet by user @indigenousAI saying

but!

if you’ve been a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, you can enroll into the address confidentiality program (free of cost!) and be registered to vote as an absentee voter and your name and address will not be made available for the public

it is super easy to get enrolled - the application takes like 5 minutes, but it has to be with someone who is certified to do it (most likely an advocate! try going to a family justice center in your area or calling the Attorney Generals office in your area!!!!)

ALSO : 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Address_confidentiality_program