writinggivesheadaches

SPRINGFIGHT! (a Simpsons fan comic)

[CONT] affiliated to the government

The first Palestinian athlete to participate in the Olympic games died on Wednesday at the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza as a result of kidney failure due to power outages and medical shortages as a result of the ongoing Israeli war and siege of the enclave.

Majed Abu Maraheel, who passed away at the age of 61, became the first athlete to be the flag bearer and represent Palestinians at the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996. Being a distance runner, he competed in the 10km race.

Since his breakthrough on the world stage, more than 20 Palestinian men and women have been able to compete at Olympic competitions.

"He was a Palestinian icon, and he will remain as such," his brother told Paltoday TV after the funeral.

"We tried to evacuate him to Egypt but then the Rafah crossing was closed (by Israel), and his condition kept deteriorating."

In his preparation for the Olympics, Abu Maraheel would often be seen on his daily runs from his home in Gaza to the Erez Crossing with Israel, which Israel closed in October after imposing a full blockade on the Strip.

Last month, it was reopened for the first time since then.

He would often have to pass through that crossing for his job as a day labourer in Israel. After participating in the Olympics, Abu Maraheel went on to become a coach for other Palestinian runners hoping to replicate his presence at the international competition.

Abu Maraheel's death highlights the grim fate of many Palestinians who are facing kidney failure in Gaza.

A report from the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor in March found that there were between 1,000 to 1,500 patients in Gaza with kidney failure, and that they are facing a "slow death" because of "a lack of medical and therapeutic services, medications and other necessities".

Gaza war🇵🇸

For those who ask about our conditions in Gaza? The little girl answered briefly: There is no water, no food, and no medicine. Starvation is intensifying, displacement is continuing, and massacres are continuing. Every day children die from Israeli army bombing.

My family is living in the middle of this fierce war, and is exposed to danger and all kinds of pain and suffering.

Do not forget to support their campaign.

20$ can change my family's life for the better

I have made you a chart. A very simple chart.

People say "You have to draw the line somewhere, and Biden has crossed it-" and my response is "Trump has crossed way more lines than Biden".

These categories are based off of actual policy enacted by both of these men while they were in office.

we will ALWAYS be a two party system until voting reform happens, and voting reform won’t happen if project 2025 happens.

"Well, tell me about them!"

"Oh! Okay! This one is the inclusion flag- its for everyone, including allies."

"What's this one?"

"That's the bisexual flag: it represents people who are attracted to two or more genders."

"Hmm... what about this one?"

"That's the nonbinary flag: it represents people whose gender isn't strictly 'male or female.'"

"Hmm... what's this purple one?"

"That's the asexual flag: it represents people who may not feel sexual attraction the way that others do."

She put her hand to her chest and got this really curious look on her face. "Tell me more about that!"

"Oh, happy to! So like if you're out with your bestie and someone real fine walks by and she's like 'omg look at him' and you're like 'girl get a grip?' Or like you just don't get what the 'big deal' is about sex or why everyone is so weird about it? But there's also room for like- you don't fall in love with the way someone looks, you're attracted to the person- their sense of humor and their kindness, or there's something about their personality that just makes it click for you? That's asexuality, too!"

And she got real quiet and seemed to think about it for a minute. So I grabbed our little informational sheet about different queer identities and handed her a copy. "If you want to do some research, this is probably a great place to start."

She thanked me and took an ace flag, stuck it in her hair.

Sometimes when you're online all the time, its easy to think that 'everyone knows about (topic), there's no reason to keep talking about it so much.' But while the people on the internet are real people, the internet ISN'T real life. And there are lots of people who do need to know that they do have community!

My teeth are stained yellow. I doubt they will ever be white, and to be honest? I don't care.

I don't have cavities. I brush. I pick between them at least once or twice a day to keep them clean. And yet they remain yellow.

I cannot tell you the sheer amount of damage this can cause a person, especially if they keep constantly getting told to brush their teeth every time they visit family. Like... I do. There's nothing I can do about this. And I don't really want to.

The only reason I feel any compulsion to whiten them is out of embarrassment when other people look at me weird for smiling at them. And how fucked up is that. I have taught myself subconsciously to suppress any joy or happiness I get when I'm around other people for fear that they'll see my teeth.

If you see how I draw myself, it's always with white teeth, even though that's not true. The only time I've ever seen yellow teeth in cartoons, it's always for the slobby character that doesn't take care of themself.

I didn't even realize how much it was damaging me until today, when I caught myself forcing back a smile at work.

Obviously, remember to brush your teeth and keep them healthy. This is not a post about letting yourself fall into disrepair. But if someone has less-than-white teeth, then... okay? And?

Make peace with crooked teeth.

Make peace with sideways teeth.

Make peace with missing teeth.

Make peace with deformed teeth.

Make peace with teeth that DO have cavities in them.

Make peace with rotting teeth.

Make peace with damaged teeth.

I think a big part of why this has gone un-talked about for so long is just because having yellow teeth is associated with damaged teeth in some way, and thus indicative of a person's day-to-day life. But, just like with everything else, this is NOT TRUE.

Missing teeth does not automatically mean that person gets into a lot of fights or was bullied. It could just mean that that tooth got removed.

Not everyone can afford braces, and for some people, they can be more harmful than helpful.

Some people's teeth are hard to maintain, and they get cavities VERY easily. This doesn't mean they don't try their best to take care of themselves.

I appreciate the question, and you not asking it in a combative way. I guess I don't think there is a cognitive dissonance. I condemn the bombing (and have publicly called for a ceasefire since October). I have helped raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for aid to Gaza through the Project for Awesome, and I have personally donated tens of thousands more to support Doctors without Borders' work in Gaza. Equally importantly from my perspective, I'm regularly reaching out to my congressional and senate representatives to let them know how I feel about the horror of my country sending bombs and other weapons to Netanyahu's government.

If you're asking why I don't talk about Gaza every day, there are a few reasons, but the biggest one is that when I do, it doesn't seem to push people toward more organized or effective activism; instead, it seems to lead to people yelling at each other and dehumanizing each other and also parsing my words in ways that seem unfair to me. There's a lot of, "Why did he say this or not say that," rather than my motivating more attention or resources to the cause of a free, safe, and secure Palestine. I'm sure that's a problem with how I'm talking about this, but I've tried talking about it in a variety of ways and in a variety of places and always with the same outcome.