#Ministry of Public Works and Transport

[kyreniacommentator]

TRNC Ministry Statement Regarding Proposed Restrictions to TRNC Taxis in South

According to the statement made by the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation, there is a proposal to impose a new regulation restricting the activity of TRNC registered Taxis in Southern Cyprus. Continue reading TRNC Ministry Statement Regarding Proposed Restrictions to TRNC Taxis in South

[coochiequeens]

Every March 8, they remember that we women exist, but what we really need is security,” said Mirlande Lebrun, a mother of four who fled Delmas 30 during the latest escalating gang violence. “We live in this camp with no assurance that we won’t have to run again if gangs attack.”

Three women share a small space inside the Ministry of Public Works, Transport, and Communication camp in Delmas 33, where they cook, do laundry and sleep with their children on March 8, 2025. Photo by Dieugo André for The Haitian Times

Overview:

On International Women’s Rights Day, thousands of displaced Haitian women living in makeshift camps denounced their dire living conditions and urged the government to restore security so they could return home. Many have fled repeated gang attacks in neighborhoods such as Delmas 30, Carrefour, Carrefour-Feuilles, Cité-Soleil, Solino, Bélair, Fort-National and Gressier, finding temporary shelter in public buildings like schools and the Ministry of Public Works, Transport, and Communications (MTPTC).

PORT-AU-PRINCE �� Sitting at the entrance of a cramped makeshift shelter, 21-year-old Evaïna Pierre tries to soothe her crying child while her other child sleeps. Once a resident of Solino, then a refugee in Delmas 30’s Acra Factory Outlet camp, she has now taken shelter inside the Ministry of Public Works, Transport, and Communications (MTPTC) building. Her only wish on March 8, International Women’s Rights Day? To return home.

“I just want security,” she said during an interview with The Haitian Times. “If I could go back to my neighborhood, I would be so happy. Here, we don’t live well. Water leaks into our tent when it rains, and we can’t sleep.”

Pierre is one of thousands of internally displaced women in Haiti, where 55% of the country’s 1,041,229 displaced persons are women and girls, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Many have lost their homes, businesses and even family members to gang violence. Now living in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions, they say the government’s failure to restore security has left them in limbo, vulnerable to hunger, disease and gender-based violence.

Evaïna Pierre, a 21-year-old mother, sits at the entrance of her shelter, which measures barely one square meter, at the Ministry of Public Works, Transport, and Communication on March 8, 2025. Photo by Dieugo André for The Haitian Times

A refugee camp with no relief for displaced women

In displacement camps across Port-au-Prince, including at the MTPTC in Delmas 33, women endure dangerous, unsanitary conditions.

No privacy: Women and children shower in the open, often in the same space as men.

Lack of sanitation: Residents must pay 10 gourdes or about 76 cents just to use the toilet.

Health risks: Piles of garbage spread disease, while stagnant water creates a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Threat of violence: Women are at risk of harassment and sexual assault in the camps, where security is minimal.

A displaced woman walks past a foul-smelling pile of garbage that spreads throughout the camp, situated on the grounds of the Ministry of Public Works, Transport, and Communication in Delmas 33, on March 8, 2025. Photo by Dieugo André for The Haitian Times

“Every March 8, they remember that we women exist, but what we really need is security,” said Mirlande Lebrun, a mother of four who fled Delmas 30 during the latest escalating gang violence. “We live in this camp with no assurance that we won’t have to run again if gangs attack.”

For many women like Pierre, this is not the first time they have had to flee.

“Between running away at two times, I lost everything. Even my birth certificate is gone,” Pierre said, cradling her baby boy, who seemed to be disturbing her as he kept crying. “Before, I sold cosmetics, but now I have nothing.”

“We ask for nothing but security,” Haitian women insist

Forty-eight-year-old Bethie Joseph shares a tiny, makeshift space with her son in the parking lot of the MTPTC building. Once financially independent, she now depends on charity to survive.

“We don’t live well here. Even sleeping is difficult, but we have no choice,” Joseph said. “If the government had taken responsibility for our security, we would not be running from place to place like this.”

Like many displaced women, she no longer trusts government promises and feels abandoned.

“We are not asking for anything but security—so we can go back to our homes.”

International Women’s Rights Day overshadowed by crisis

Haiti observed International Women’s Rights Day 2025 under the UN theme “Rights, Empowerment, and Opportunities for Every Displaced Woman and Girl, Everywhere in the World.”

However, for displaced women and girls in Port-au-Prince, March 8 was just another day of survival.

“Women’s Rights Day is a time for reflection, but more importantly, action,” the IOM said in a statement. “Displaced and migrant women need urgent support and protection to rebuild their lives.”

The United Nations and humanitarian groups emphasize that displaced women must be included in discussions on Haiti’s future. Solutions must address:

Economic empowerment programs to help women regain financial independence.   

Access to education for displaced children.

Social protection systems to ensure the dignity and security of women.

The entrance to the new displacement camp for individuals fleeing violence is located on the premises of the Ministry of Public Works, Transport, and Communication in Delmas 33, as of March 8, 2025. Photo by Dieugo André for The Haitian Times

But for women like Saloude Ciméus, 44, those solutions feel out of reach.

“I have fled Canaan, Delmas 3, and the Acra camp, and now I’m here,” Ciméus said, standing in front of her small shelter at the MTPTC site. “I don’t know where else to go.”

She tries to survive by selling bottled water, but sales are slow.

Haitian women demand action

The entrance to the new displacement camp for individuals fleeing violence is located on the premises of the Ministry of Public Works, Transport, and Communication in Delmas 33, as of March 8, 2025. Photo by Dieugo André for The Haitian Times Haitian women demand action As women’s organizations gathered for panel discussions and events, displaced women felt forgotten, waiting for action instead of speeches.

Their message to the Haitian government?

Restore security, open the roads, and let us go home.

“Let the government give us security,” Ciméus said. “We don’t need aid. We just want to go home.”

[galleryyuhself]

Galleryyuhself - Works and transport out of the blue...

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PTSC…On the Move!

As we continue to highlight our accomplishments for 2023/2024, today the MOWT shines the spotlight on the achievements of PTSC and what is to come for 2025 and beyond.

The Corporation has been driving forward in its commitment to provide safe and reliable transportation to the travelling public, with ongoing refurbishment to its fleet and the acquisition of new buses to improve the travelling experience of its customers.

For 2025, the PTSC will be embarking on exciting developments to make your journey more enjoyable and comfortable. Look out for additions and upgrades to bus shelters, including disability access, an expanded bus fleet and much more.

So come on board and enjoy your ride to school, work or across the country!

Stay tuned to our social media platforms to keep informed about these and other exciting developments from the MOWT!

[cashezsvenningsenrkdjx]

A Little Intuition/Is Argentina's "Chainsaw Revolution" applicable to the United States? \Li Lingxiu

At a political rally held in the suburbs of Washington on Thursday, Argentine President Milley presented Musk, the leader of the Department of U.S. Government Efficiency (DOGE), with a "signature" chainsaw, symbolizing the inheritance of the "chainsaw revolution". But can the United States afford the economic price Argentina has paid for it?

Since the establishment of DOGE, several federal government departments have been purged. Musk and his leadership team first gained access to the Treasury Department's computer system, and then DOGE staff entered the International Development Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Ministry of Education and other departments to conduct investigations. At the aforementioned Conservative Political Action Conference, Musk also predicted that the Federal Reserve will be the next target.

The White House has provided a "buyout plan" to 2 million federal government employees, which will provide about 8 months of salary compensation to all employees who voluntarily resign. As of February 18, a total of about 20,000 federal employees (including probationary employees) have been laid off or forced to stop work and take leave.

Such a swift and vigorous layoff storm easily reminds people of the "chainsaw revolution" promoted by Mile in Argentina. As early as the last round of elections in the country, the image of Mile holding a chainsaw high has become a classic image of campaign propaganda. At the beginning of his term, he signed a presidential decree to reduce government departments from 18 to 9 and fired more than 30,000 government employees. The Argentine government also successfully cut public spending by 30% through measures such as cutting energy and transportation subsidies, achieving a fiscal surplus for the first time in 14 years.

But compared with the political environment of the two countries, there are actually great differences. The Argentine president has absolute power over the government's organizational structure and departmental settings, and the abolition of government departments belongs to the category of administrative affairs management and adjustment. But for the US president, if there is no clear authorization from Congress through relevant laws, government departments cannot be adjusted or abolished (except for agencies established by presidential decrees).

Expenditure reduction plan difficult to achieve

Musk's previous slogan was to cut federal spending by $1 trillion. But in the officially released White House documents, Trump did not propose KPIs in this regard. As of February 17, DOGE has saved an estimated $55 billion through contract and lease renegotiations, cancellation of grants, asset sales, layoffs, regulatory savings and fraud detection, completing only 4% of Musk's goal.

Data shows that the total expenditure of the US federal government in fiscal year 2024 is $6.8 trillion, and the largest sources come from three aspects: Social Security ($1.46 trillion), Medicare ($0.87 trillion), and Medicaid ($0.91 trillion), accounting for a total of 49%. However, cutting the above expenditures will shake the interests of voters, and Trump also made it clear during his campaign last year that he would not cut spending on these three projects. In this way, DOGE's spending reduction target seems to be a task that can never be completed.

More importantly, the cost of Argentina's "chainsaw revolution" is painful. In the first six months after Milley took office, the country's poverty rate jumped from about 40% to 53%. Although it fell back by the end of last year, the unemployment rate climbed from 12% in 2023 to 15%.

House prices in Washington, DC plummet

There are also some bad trends in the United States at the moment. Data shows that the number of initial unemployment claims in Washington, DC has risen significantly in the past two weeks. Real estate prices in the region have also begun to fall. The median price of a house in Washington, DC in January 2025 is $553,000, a sharp drop of 9.7% year-on-year.

Argentina is still the largest borrower from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with outstanding loans of $43.4 billion, accounting for nearly 30% of total credit, exceeding the total of all sub-Saharan African countries. (See accompanying picture)

If Musk insists on carrying out the "chainsaw revolution" to the end. Then, poverty will replace inflation and become the hottest topic in American society in the future.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Hi! Idk if i can ask this or not, but do you know how the p0lice investigate a missing person?

Thanks 𖹭𖹭

Writing Notes: Police Investigation of a Missing Person

Once the police department receives a call about a missing person, its response will depend on the circumstances of each case:

People who are elderly, children under the age of 13, people suffering from a mental or physical condition, or possible victims of a crime are considered “special categories.”

Police consider these populations particularly vulnerable and will immediately take action in searching for the missing person.

However, missing people who do not fall under these categories will not receive as much attention. This is because people over the age of 18 legally do not have to return home.

“Unless we can prove that there was an involuntary disappearance, we just file paperwork,” said Giacalone, former NYPD sergeant.

In all cases, the local precinct where the case is reported will handle a case first.

Conducting the Search

Utilizing a trauma-informed approach, interview the last person to see the missing person, where possible and obtain information on any additional key witnesses that may have been identified

Determine if the services of an interpreter are required

Utilize the body-worn camera as appropriate

Obtain a complete and accurate description of the person, including clothing, identification, vulnerabilities (including medical and/or mental health conditions, and current emotional/physical state), and possible destinations

Confirm the place last seen (PLS) and time, or last known place (LKP) and time, if known

Obtain a photograph of the missing person, if available

Transmit the photograph electronically to platoon members, relevant units and agencies, both internal and external

If the reportee and missing person are or have been involved in an intimate relationship

Search the home and the immediate area thoroughly

If permission to search the home or adjoining property is not granted notify a supervisor and add the details to the original eReport

Provide the description and all other pertinent information to the Communications Operator to relay to the field

Phone RMS - Ops as required and provide all pertinent information to ensure that a new missing person eReport is generated

If the missing person is not found within a few weeks, the precinct will hand off the case to the Missing Persons Squad, which will continue working on the case.

On special category cases, police will devote as many resources as possible to the search. They may choose to issue an AMBER Alert or a Missing Vulnerable Adult alert to draw attention to the case.

Police can also turn to media publications or their own social media platforms to ask for help.

Other agencies can also help. The National Autism Association, for example, recently released a toolkit on how to search for children with autism. The report makes specific recommendations for both parents and first responders.

Police will keep searching for a missing person until they can close the case.

Some Procedures

Child Apprehension Warrants

Obtaining a Search Warrant

Death Investigations

Building Checks and Searches

Vulnerable Person Registry

American Sign Language and Language Interpreters

Rewards

Gathering/Preserving Evidence

Marine Response

Use of Police Dog Services

Victim Services

Unidentified Vulnerable Person

Intimate Partner Violence

Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System

Child Abductions

Persons In Crisis

Property – General

Emergency Incident Response

Emergency Management & Public Order Response

Body-Worn Camera

News Media

BOLOs and FYIs

Internet

Service Communication Systems

Social Media

AMBER Alert - a co–operative effort between police, the media and the Ministry of Transportation to provide early notification to the public where a person under 18 years of age is believed to have been abducted and where circumstances lead police to believe that the abducted person is in danger of serious bodily harm or death and there is enough descriptive information about the abducted person, and/or the abductor, and/or the abductor’s vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast alert will help in locating the person. An AMBER Alert will have a duration of 5 hours following activation, unless cancelled or extended.

Last known place - the last substantiated (by clues or evidence) position that the missing person was known to be.

Sources: 1 2 ⚜ More: References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs ⚜ Police Procedural

Hi, this is perfectly fine to ask! The exact police procedures vary depending on the location. Here's a summary from just two sources. You can go through the links for more details. But consider other sources depending on the setting of your story. Hope this helps with your writing!

[drarryspecificrecs]

H/D Career Fair 2023 : (fics only)

@hd-fan-fair || official masterpost || AO3 || stats : 43 works The Mods : @phoenix-acid & @sassy-cissa Banner © :

@creeeee (official banner)

@pato-roldnart's Close observation (x) Harry: Pet Sitter | Draco: Wizarding Wildlife Illustrator

@pinkelephant42's In Life & Death Harry: Master of Death | Draco: Master of Life

—

All the Good Things and the Bad Things that May Be by @meandminniemcg [E, 10k] Harry: Public Speaker | Draco: Sex Educator

Another Side by @flightinflame [T, 2k] Harry: Nursery Teacher | Draco: Single Dad

Blood Tainted Fingertips by @poison-literature [M, 7k] Harry: Private Investigator | Draco: Serial Killer

Californian Calcite by @moonpeachh [M, 30k] Harry: Client/Trophy boyfriend | Draco: Jeweler

Can’t Pretend by @meloflavor [G, 2k] Harry: Stalker | Draco: English Teacher

A Competitive Cooperation by @dysonrules [T, 20k] Harry: Architect | Draco: Interior Designer

Connecting Lines, Connecting Crimes by @sleepstxtic [M, 15k] Harry: Magi-Geographer | Draco: Cartologist

Death is Not Fit to House a Love by @starlitsilvereyes [E, 20k] Harry: Hit Wizard | Draco: Politician

Full Fathom Five by @sitaz [E, 17k] Harry: Quidditch Coach | Draco: Professional Mermaid

if the bees know by @oflights [T, 19k] Harry: Ghostbuster | Draco: Runes Translator

Just Take Me Home by @phoebe-delia [T, 4k] Harry: Curse-Breaker | Draco: Designated Apparator

Launch me to Ultralife by SquibNation10 [T, 38k] Harry: Gardener / Astronaut | Draco: Astrophysicist

Let's Get Physical by @ravenesse [E, 10k] Harry: Gym Owner/Personal Trainer | Draco: Freelancer

My Own Personal Poltergeist by @maraudersaffair [E, 11k] Harry: Hitwizard | Draco: Crime Scene Cleaner

Once More To Arcady by @apricitydays-lazynights [E, 32k] Harry: Shepherd | Draco: Unspeakable

Playing for Keeps by @peachpety [G, 6k] Harry: Man of Leisure | Draco: Owl Postmaster

Playing Quiddick by xErised [E, 11k] Harry: Quidditch Commentator/Analyst on the WWN | Draco: Quidditch Player

The Plot by tigersilver [T, 15k] Harry: Department of Magical Transportation Agent | Draco: MOM Apprentice - Misuse of Muggle Artefacts

port in a storm by @saltwatergarden [M, 8k] Harry: Curse-Breaker | Draco: Hotelier

Scanning the Skies by Enchanted_Jae [T, 3k] Harry: UFO hunter | Draco: UFO hunter

The Scent of Soft Rains by @dodgerkedavra [E, 20k] Harry: Dragonologist | Draco: Magical Prosthetist

The Sinful Serpent by @rei382 [T, 11k] Harry: Private Investigator | Draco: Stripper

Ten Visits to Fire and Flight: The World of Dragons by @sandervansunshine [E, 17k] Harry: Radio Show Co-Host | Draco: Museum Department Head

Terminal Lucidity by @romaine2424 [G, 3k] Harry: End-of-Life Specialist | Draco: (none)

The Thread that Binds Us by @bubble-gumhead [T, 22k] Harry: Rune Inscriptor | Draco: Pattern Maker for Clothes

To have a Home by @myaulophobia [E, 127k] Harry: Homeless | Draco: Muggle Lawyer (Solicitor)

WanderFull Fit by @resilientkitteh [E, 6k] Harry: Sex Toy Maker | Draco: Sex Toy Tester

Wherever You Go, There You Are by harrows [E, 12k] Harry: Founder of a Nonprofit Organisation | Draco: Muggle Yoga Instructor

Within You Without You by @arminaa8 [E, 39k] Harry: Ministry Advisor | Draco: Mind Healer

A Year In The Life by @ladderofyears [M, 19k] Harry: Broomstick Salesman | Draco: Book Salesman

—

✔ other fests in 2023 ✔ fests in other years ✔ H/D Fan Fair : Food Fair 2022 | Career Fair 2021 | Sex Fair 2020 | Fan Fair 2019 | Food Fair 2018 | Career Fair 2017 | Pet Fair 2016 | Pottermore Fair 2015 | Career Fair 2014 | Book Fair 2013 | Career Fair 2012 | Travel Fair 2010 | Career Fair 2009

[cathkaesque]

Statement on Israel’s Use of Starvation as a Weapon of War in Gaza by the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, Palestine

For five days, Israel has attacked Gaza with the aim of total destruction, and the situation is at an unprecedented level of urgency. Israel’s actions have amounted to a humanitarian catastrophe of unfathomable proportions. At the time of publication, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reports 1,055 martyrs and approximately 5,184 injured.

Israel has declared a total warfare stance on Gaza, imposing a ruthless blockade that denies over two million Palestinian residents of Gaza access to electricity, water, food, fuel, medical supplies, and any humanitarian aid. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant explicitly stated this strategy on 9 October 2023, saying: “We are imposing a complete siege on [Gaza]. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel – everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly.”

Israel’s deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war demands the international community immediately respond with unwavering urgency and resolve.

Israel is indiscriminately decimating hospitals, schools, mosques, markets, and entire neighborhoods. Further, Israel threatened Egypt that it would bomb humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza, prompting Egypt to withdraw its aid convoys. The Rafah Crossing into Egypt, the sole international exit from Gaza, has been bombed by Israel three times in a 24-hour period. This calculated assault severs Gazans’ only means of escape from ceaseless bombings or access to essential humanitarian aid. With Israel cutting off Gaza’s source of electricity, the only source of power was the Gaza Power Plant, which has just run out of fuel. In the case that it receives more fuel, Israel has threatened to attack the plant.

Israel’s assault is deliberately destroying any infrastructure that allows Gazans to support themselves. Vital agricultural and fishing infrastructure, crucial for food production, have been mercilessly attacked. Fisher folk cannot access the sea, into which sewage is spilling. The seaport is damaged, and tools are obliterated. Farming areas, often near the fence, have become vulnerable targets in Israeli airstrikes, and farmers whose land has not been destroyed cannot access it for daily agricultural practices. The Ministry of Agriculture reports that the bombing has done immense damage to agricultural areas and poultry farms, but the conditions make it impossible to precisely assess the situation in the field. There is a catastrophic decrease in food stocks, with shops across Gaza reporting severe shortages. The land and sea will face unimaginable environmental damages following these attacks, further preventing efforts to rebuild livelihoods.

Israel’s strategy aims to ensure that those who survive the bombs are condemned to a future without sustenance.

OCHA reports that the assaults have disrupted the UNRWA food operation, impacting at least 112,759 families. The poultry and livestock sectors are on the brink of collapse due to the severe shortage of fodder, endangering the livelihoods of more than 1,000 herders and affecting over 10,000 producers. This jeopardizes the provision of animal protein and the availability of meat and fresh sources of protein for Gaza’s entire population. Transportation of poultry to markets has virtually halted, and dairy cattle milk cannot be refrigerated nor marketed to factories, resulting in an expected daily spoilage of 35,000 liters of milk. More than 4,000 fisheries are at risk due to the closure of the sea. Gaza’s agriculture, poultry, cattle, fish, and other products are suffering from a lack of refrigeration, irrigation, incubation, and other machinery due to electricity cuts, causing spoilage.

Israel’s use of these tactics is not new by any means. Before Saturday, around 65% of the Gazan population was food insecure. More than 46% of the agricultural land in Gaza was inaccessible, and the fishing industry was severely struggling since fishing off the coast of Gaza has been restricted by Israel to 3 to 6 nautical miles.

Food insecurity is a human-made crisis, and Israel is manufacturing a mass starvation of the Gazan people.

It is the moral and legal obligation of the international community to intervene and end this crisis immediately. Food, as a basic necessity, must be allowed to reach the people of Gaza, and the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure must cease without delay.

We call upon the international community to take immediate action to stop Israel’s massacre of the Gazan population, demand the lifting of the siege, and establish humanitarian corridors for entry of aid.

[useless-catalanfacts]

The W hotel in Barcelona, Catalonia. Designed by the Catalan architect Ricard Bofill. Photos by Alfons Morales on Unsplash and W Barcelona, respectively.

You might have seen photos of this building before. Since it was built in 2009, right in Barcelona's old port in the coast of the city centre, it appeared in many postcards and tourists' photos. The luxury hotel has also hosted many celebrities in their visit to the city.

What you might not know that this building is illegal and was very controversial. It was built only 20 meters away from the sea, when the law says nothing can be built until it's 100 meters away from the sea. To build it that close, they needed to build a large pier, so the hotel is actually built on top of land that not long ago used to be sea. According to the law, the only buildings in areas artificially won to the sea should be harbour infrastructure. This was public land that was given to a private company to profit off. And when the building was approved, they directly assigned it to the hotel company, instead of doing a public contest like it should be done in public land.

Neighbours weren't happy either. Besides the gentrification brought by the luxury hotel in this historically working class (fishermen) neighbourhood, the touristification of its surroundings where locals have lost the shops they need to live because now most shops are only for tourists, the height of this skyscraper also stops the wind and doesn't allow the traditional small boats to sail well and stops the waves in what used to be a place loved by surfers.

Then, if it's illegal, how did the owners of this multinational luxury hotels chain get the permission to build it? Here's the trick: the harbour of Barcelona is not owned by the Barcelona City Council. Same with the Barcelona Airport. These infrastructures are ruled by their own authorities which depend directly of the Ministry of Transports and Development of the Spanish Government. That means that Barcelona's citizens don't get any say nor vote on what happens on their coastline nor the effects that the airport and harbour have on their city, a city which is gravely threatened by massive touristification coming from airplanes and cruise ships. The decisions are taken by people who might be far away and not care about the city. This explains many things, the luxury hotel is only one example. The second trick: money.

[cityofmeliora]

transcript: The Summoning + Sister Imperator's speeches

in chronological order:

LINCOPIA, OTROGOTHIA MAY 20, 2015 "THE CLERGY HAS ADJOURNED AND THE NAMELESS GHOULS ARE SUMMONED..." SISTER IMPERATOR: Brothers and Sisters, you know why you are here tonight. This Ministry is now seven years into The Ghost Project. Seven long years of work. Two Papas, two albums, one gold. These are indeed some respectable numbers, but let me give you some others. Churches opened: zero. Governments toppled: zero. World leaders converted to the cause: zero. You call yourselves salesmen? Masterminds? You have done shit! And don't blame the music. The music is the very manifestation of His Dark Majesty. And don't blame this fine merchandise! It's a disgrace! Papa 2 has been let go. He is a miserable, wounded, and bitter old man, and he is washed up! But let's look forward now. This is a new piece of music. And these are your new masks. And this is Papa 2's brother. He is a full 3 months younger. This man will take the band further than any of us could ever have imagined. I present to you now… Papa Emeritus III! The Summoning (part 1)

LINCOPIA, OTROGOTHIA AUGUST 10, 2015 The clergy has convened. The time for invocation has come. SISTER IMPERATOR: Brothers and Sisters, I realize the difficulty to get this message to you. It has become more dangerous than ever before to speak aloud our dark truths. But do not be dismayed. Papa Emeritus III knows of your commitment. But he needs more from you than this squirreling in secret, these whispers underground. It's time to act! In cities around the globe, his flock will be called. You will hear the call, like the voice of a siren, a temptation in your heart that can only be fulfilled by witnessing the ascension. And its music will rattle the hearts of the sleeping. You will gather in the rains of Seattle on August 18th, in the drought-stricken heat of Los Angeles on August 20th, in the lysergic deserts of Phoenix on August 21st, in the humid metropolis of Baltimore on August 22nd, and in the crowded streets of Brooklyn on August 23rd. You will meet in the record shops, where the authorities would never think to look! There is no master, there is only The Path. There is no destination, there are only winding steps. When the guitars are tuned and the Ghouls begin their invocations, there is only one thing left to do: shake off your slack social media chains, your cheap hunger for scandal and rumor! When the first chord is struck, you will turn to your neighbor next to you in the flesh, put your arm around them, and take back your humanity! You have already fallen! Hell is here! The time for ascension is now. The Summoning II: Unholy / Unplugged Tour (August 10, 2015)

Lincopia, Otrogothia August 11, 2015 The battle for Philadelphia SISTER IMPERATOR: Children of Philadelphia, you are a special city. We have been pleased with growing unrest and incivility toward Frankie's visit next month. And we were especially pleased to register a sold-out concert on the same day Frankie would be blathering to the minions. But we also sensed a growing unrest amongst the church, especially the particular amount of attention they began paying the Ghost concert. We were ready to persevere in the name of the unholy, and to allow the dark side of Philadelphia to shine through while Frankie was in town. But this morning, we received this dispatch, a letter informing us that Ghost fans will not be able to use public transportation, park their cars near the venue, or even get the Ghost entourage close enough to load in their instruments of persuasion. So, children of Philadelphia, and in fact, children of the world, we regret to inform you that in the hopes to ensure each and every Ghost fan can attend the show, we've decided to move the Philadelphia concert at Union Transfer to Tuesday, September 29th. Concession is sometimes hard. Our quest to topple the church will be won across many battles. We thank you. The Summoning III: The Battle For Philadelphia

Lincopia, Otrogothia August 21, 2015 The arrival SISTER IMPERATOR: It has arrived! Some of you did not believe the new Papa would be able to cast a shadow as wide and as far as his great predecessor. Your faithlessness is now dust in my mouth. You should be on your knees humbling yourselves before what has been accomplished here! All you need to do is look outside. Look at the graffiti on the walls, look at the lights illuminated at night, where once there was only darkness. Mothers will whisper warnings to their children. The false prophets will wail from their hallowed churches. And in underground hovels like these, across the world, our legion will rise. But listen closely, now. There isn't much time. There is one thing you must know. [Ladies and gentlemen, I have summoned you all here. And now, I bring you Ghost!] [SAME SPEECH GIVEN AT UNHOLY / UNPLUGGED IN LA] The Summoning IV: The Arrival || Unholy / Unplugged - Los Angeles, California, USA (August 21, 2015)

SISTER IMPERATOR: Welcome! Welcome, my faithful brothers and sisters! Your presence here is proof of your commitment. If you are unsure, cast off your doubts now. There is no turning back. The rite you're about to witness is but one small but essential movement in our spiritual revolution. We prayed, and he has arrived! But! But! He will demand more of you! He will need to hear from the abyss of your hearts that you are ready. His is a voice of the pit and the pinnacle! His Nameless Ghouls are the music of the [UNINTELLIGIBLE] but your holy noise is the key! You must cry out his name! Say it with me now: PAPA EMERITUS! AGAIN! AGAIN! AGAIN! Very good. Shh! Shh! Shhhhhh! Listen. Do you hear it? Do you? It's the terrible sound of the ignorant– the mistrust and anger of the masses. The world is unstable and they have lost their balance. But we, here together, are the new foundation. we are the shape of things to come! There's not much time. We won't be able to do the required incantation. We must let the music do the summoning. My brethren, my brethren, bow your heads and raise your horns to pierce the veil of heaven, so the skies will be torn asunder! And Papa may fall into our midst! Now is the moment. Now, there is no other. Papa Emeritus III! Ghost! Ghost is here! Los Angeles, CA, USA (October 26, 2015)

EARLIER TODAY LINCOPIA, OTROGOTHIA THE CLERGY HAS ADJOURNED. AND THE NAMELESS GHOULS ARE SUMMONED. SISTER IMPERATOR: I think you all know why you have been summoned here. It's time to re-assess, to take stock of your failures. It started with a vision: you were all standing before me, hoodwinked and bound with both caddy and shack! I led you each toward a coffin, where you were made to lie down. The lids were closed, and one by one, I placed a level on the top to make sure you were still and cold in the darkness. Iron nails fell from my hands and scattered like leaves around my feet. I know that behind your masks, you are smirking at me, proud of your trivial accomplishments. Let's see what you have really done to topple the spires and the men who hurdle around their false god. No… Oh, yes. [LAUGHING] The industry has noted our good works with their trinket. And as a result, our message is carried further and wider. But do we take such trinkets as sacrament and the measure of true accomplishment? No! We don't need their approval. The truth of our work is not measured by awards and nods from the establishment. Can someone say "two in a row now", from the Swedish academy? It is still only a drop in the dark water of our mission. Sit still! Stop staring! Have you heard enough of the list of your petty dreams laid bare? Are there any among you who can say you can bear witness to the signs of the coming change? I see more of the same slumbering dreamers sleepwalking to their glass-and-brick towers, bowing at the feet of their priests and their false gods. I have here letters from your followers, demanding that we explain why nothing has changed. They have made their own sacrifices. But what have you done? How will you answer them? By holding up your golden gramophone? Is this the change you promised? Is this the sign of a new age? It is nothing! It is another false idol. It is time to answer for your failures. This is going to take some time, so I would prepare yourselves. Pray to your Dark Gods that you can handle what is to come. "NEXT: ARE YOU READY? LET'S DISCUSS THE MISSION, MAN" The Summoning V: The Square And Hammer (September 13, 2016)

"Later that day…" LINCOPIA, OTROGOTHIA The proceedings intensify. SISTER IMPERATOR: I expect no more interruptions. You had your chance to defend yourselves. Without your guitar and drums, you are are mere acolytes, not the grand missionary men you were trained to be. You want to be equal to your Papa? Ha! But all you can do is [UNINTELLIGIBLE] your own egos, waxing nostalgia about your petty sins. Well, let's see what you have really done. You have sat for insipid interviews, answering insipid questions, afraid to reveal your true undertaking. You wear your masks for the press, but your masks were never intended to simply hide your faces– they are the visage of The Gods, and you mock them with your senseless orgies and trysts. Even your depravities are dull! I would like you to turn to exhibit one. Look at all the places you have been, all the cities you have made a mark on. But the rain has washed it all away… like the piss of a dog! Why are believers still living in secret, spinning your records in their parents' basements? Why have you not led them into the murky light of His shadow? You are supposed to lead. It is your task. Your task! To lead! I think you're afraid of real change. Let's take a breath. I think I understand the problem. You think Papa's words should be enough. But then you misunderstand the nature of true power. Papa is not a mouthpiece for the Dark Divinity. He is not a pawn. He is a mediator. He is the path. His way is the truth and the darkness! And you– you are his apostles. And yet, you deny, you deny! And so I charge you with deceit and with letting good people falter! The very people who believed in you. Your doubt sows their own. I charge you with dereliction of duty! For the harrowing initiation you have been through, I would charge you with treason! The Summoning VI: The Proceedings Intensify

"Days later…" Lincopia, Otrogothia Fatigue and apathy have set in. SISTER IMPERATOR: Despite your weakness, and your cowardliness, your failures, I still believe in you. And I believe in you because I have seen the future! I have already been witness to three transfigurations, and each time I can see that we are closer to the final glory, and I have seen you rise to the occasion each time. So can you do it again? Huh? Hmm? Do you see this [UNINTELLIGIBLE], this haunted servitor of our Dark Father asking for nothing while it does its simple tasks? You see it and all think, "Our instruments are far greater than that old broom!" But they are not! They are merely tools to do His great work! Sometimes, yes, you're genius, with the tools you have been given. I have attended your rites, watched you claim souls of thousands, of your strings, your skin, your masterful use of electricity. I, too, have been moved to tears as I stood before you as the music reached a sort of… transessence. This is why I believe. After all we have been through in these past few days, all the shames laid bare, are you ready to start anew? The new coming is about to begin. Will you take up your instruments? Will you be able to commit to the utter annihilation of all this is false? All that is greed? All that is staid and conformist and empty? Hm? Then rise. Rise!!!! Now! I give you another chance at transformation. But you must beg. You must demand to be sacrificed! You must prostrate your hearts while you stand tall in the dark, for the fourth incarnation of Papa will guide us. But we need faith now. Swear to me that my faith in you is not in vain. Swear to me now in His Unholy Name. Say it now after me, say it loud enough to shatter the windows of the world's lies. Say "I am ready! I am ready! I am ready!!!!" The Summoning VII: Believe This

[marigold-hills]

Dunes & Waters, part 9

PART 1 • PREVIOUS PART • NEXT PART

At the very back of Aswan Public Library, three limestone plaques hang side by side. Weathered with time, darkened with the years during which they’d been lost. The carvings are smoothed down, details long gone. Each depicts a scene from the Opening of the Mouth ritual. Sacrifice of a bull. Presentation of the peseshkaf-blade. Touching of the mouth.

Remus taps his wand thrice: on the carved lips, on the animal eye, on the tip of the knife. “يفتح,” he tells it – open.

The wall shimmers, becomes less there, an iridescent sheen over the white plaster. There is a pull in the back of Remus’ neck like something is watching. He’s used to it by now, but Black turns around startled.

It’s a small room the wall opens up to, not much larger than the kitchen at the hotel apartment. It looks ethereal through the gleaming enchantment. Two little desks, a few shelves. Uncountable books and parchments, walls covered in spelled notes.

Black takes a step forward, but Remus stops him, hand on shoulder, because in this, too, there is a method.

“You’re not going to let me in?”

“Don’t be silly. Didn’t bring you here to leave you in a corridor.”

“Right. Of course. You have your Ministry’s rules,” Black says with such attitude Remus is sure had he been a few years younger he would have rolled his eyes. “What then? And before you say anything remember I also work with artefacts so please don’t insult me by going over the protocols.”

“No, we… Merlin you’re a dramatic little shit you know? We have to go through together is all, unless you’d like to get transported to the middle of the nearest desert.”

To his credit, Black looks a bit sheepish. Remus reaches out his unbandaged hand towards Black’s right. He’s been planning this all morning, how to position himself, where to put his hand to make sure Black doesn’t try to touch him with the ring again. It works, fingers stretching out to him unadorned by silver, slow and unsure. It’s strange. Black has been nothing but boisterous, loud and obnoxious both in his happiness and in his anger. Now he reaches for Remus like reaching into a lidded basket housing a snake.

Fingers, first: fingertips and knuckles. Black has calloused hands from wand grip. Short fingernails like they’d been bitten off. Remus wraps his hand around Black’s and pulls him toward the opening. The ward creates a conduit through them, a lightning strike Remus tethers Black against. It’s a sharp thing, how it passes between the skin on their palms.

Walking through the ward is momentary but time warps strangely. Remus sees himself as a child and as an old man, sees the hand that’s holding Black’s and all the bones inside it. The boundary is cold like seawater and charged like a storm.  

Remus let’s go once they’re in the room. Maybe he takes a bit too long. The ward snaps behind them, recreates the wall. There are posters on it, prints of the Rosetta Stone and texts in Demotic script. A window enchantment that lets soft light through at all times of the day. (Remus had been instructed, sternly and not at all politely, never to use any other light sources and for the love of Seth don’t even approach with any kind of flame.)

“Bit cramped, isn’t it?” Black looks around the room, rubbing circles into the palm of his own hand. Bringing back circulation or dissipating the feeling of Remus’ hand on his.

“It’s just us for the next few months. Sorry if it offends your posh sensibilities.”

“Don’t mind getting a bit cozy with you Professor,” Black grins at him like he knows he’s been too docile and wants to rile him up. Maybe like Remus calling him out first had made this alright again.

Remus ignores it, sets his things on one of the desks. “You’ll be over there,” he points to the other, “I left you some notes if you want to get started on those.”

“Here I was hoping for a lecture.”

“Only if you pay tuition.”

Black barks out a laugh, loud and dog like and unrestrained. Has a coughing fit at the end of it.

“Are you not using your potions?”

“You’re a professor not a matron.”

“What I am is in charge of you. Don’t want to have to call Shaklebolt and tell him I’ve killed you off.”

Remus gets waived off.

NEXT PART

NOTES:

Sorry I was gone the last couple days, turns out you have to know about ancient Egypt to write about ancient Egypt and I wasn’t willing to rush the research

on a bright side I now know where this is going :)

@tealeavesandtrash

@moon-girl88

@hoje--aqui

@cocoabutterandbooks

@onion-sliced-apples

@prancingpony42

@digital-kam

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@sweetstarryskies

@a-sunset-outside-my-window

(let me know if you do/don’t want to be tagged!)

[kyreniacommentator]

TRNC Joint Venture for Karaoğlanoğlu Junction.

Ministry of Public Works and Transport has entered an agreement with Çağ Yap İnşaat Şti. Ltd. regarding the arrangement of Karaoğlanoğlu Junction.  Under the agreement the cost of the changes to be made at the junction known as “Karaoğlanoğlu Junction” in Edremit will be covered by Yap İnşaat Şti. Continue reading Untitled

[beardedmrbean]

The Taliban morality police in Afghanistan have detained men and their barbers over hairstyles and others for missing prayers at mosques during the holy month of Ramadan, a U.N. report said Thursday, six months after laws regulating people’s conduct came into effect.

The Vice and Virtue Ministry published laws last August covering many aspects everyday life in Afghanistan, including public transport, music, shaving and celebrations. Most notably, the ministry issued a ban on women’s voices and bare faces in public.

That same month, a top U.N. official warned the laws provided a “distressing vision” for the country’s future by adding to existing employment, education, and dress code restrictions on women and girls. Taliban officials have rejected U.N. concerns about the morality laws.

Thursday’s report, from the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, said in the first 6 months of the laws’ implementation, over half of detentions made under it concerned “either men not having the compliant beard length or hairstyle, or barbers providing non-compliant beard trimming or haircuts.”

The report said that the morality police regularly detained people arbitrarily "without due process and legal protections.”

During the holy fasting month of Ramadan, men’s attendance at mandated congregational prayers was closely monitored, leading at times to arbitrary detention of those who didn't show up, the report added.

The U.N. mission said that both sexes were negatively affected, particularly people with small businesses such as private education centers, barbers and hairdressers, tailors, wedding caterers and restaurants, leading to a reduction or total loss of income and employment opportunities.

The direct and indirect socio-economic effects of the laws’ implementation were likely to compound Afghanistan’s dire economic situation, it said. A World Bank study has assessed that authorities’ ban on women from education and work could cost the country over $1.4 billion per year.

But the Taliban leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has emphasized the primacy of Islamic law and the role of the Ministry of Vice and Virtue in reforming Afghan society and its people.

In a message issued ahead of the religious Eid Al-Fitr festival that marks the end of Ramadan, Akhundzada said it was necessary “to establish a society free from corruption and trials, and to prevent future generations from becoming victims of misguided beliefs, harmful practices and bad morals.”

More than 3,300 mostly male inspectors are tasked with informing people about the law and enforcing it, according to the report.

The ministry has resolved thousands of people's complaints and defended the rights of Afghan women, according to its spokesman Saif ur Rahman Khyber.

This was in addition to “implementing divine decrees in the fields of promoting virtue, preventing vice, establishing affirmations, preventing bad deeds, and eliminating bad customs.”

The ministry was committed to all Islamic and human rights and had proven this in practice, he said Thursday, rejecting attempts to “sabotage or spread rumors” about its activities.

[galleryyuhself]

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[justforbooks]

Carl Bloch’s lost masterpiece Prometheus Unbound finds fame again in Athens

Work that made its creator a superstar then mysteriously disappeared is mesmerising art lovers once more

It was commissioned in 1864, by King George I of Greece, made its creator a superstar and in his native Denmark attracted crowds like no other painting before. Then it mysteriously disappeared.

Now, nearly nine decades after it was last seen gracing the stairwell of the royal palace that would become the Athens parliament, Carl Bloch’s masterpiece, Prometheus Unbound, has found fame again in Greece.

“Its appeal has been astounding,” said Nikolas Papadimitriou, the director of the Paul and Alexandra Canellopoulos Museum beneath the Acropolis. “People stand before it transfixed. They’re completely mesmerised.”

On public display for the first time in the country, the painting has for months been attracting visitors who are spurred as much by the prospect of seeing a long-lost cultural treasure as hunger, perhaps, for a glimpse of freedom’s victory over oppression.

The painting’s popularity has been such that plans are now afoot to exhibit it elsewhere in Greece before the culture ministry, which has declared the work a protected monument, puts it on permanent display at the newly restored palace of Tatoi, north of the capital, later this year.

“At the age of 87 I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it,” said Dimitris Mavrikas, a retired merchant who had travelled from Agrinio in central Greece to see the work. “For me it’s all about the battle of human existence, the battle we wage to survive from the moment we are born.”

In an increasingly insecure world, it was, he said, a battle freighted with significance. “Who can dispute the fact that people have always been fighting for their liberty?” he said. “I’d heard so much about this painting and it hasn’t let me down. It provokes awe.”

At four meters high and three meters wide, the magisterial piece depicts the moment Prometheus breaks free from the chains that have bound him to a rock, the punishment Zeus has bestowed on the titan for daring to gift mankind the power of fire.

Condemned to have his liver pecked by an eagle in perpetuity – with the king god ensuring the organ is constantly renewed for the bird to feast on – Bloch evokes the drama of Prometheus’s liberation after Heracles’ unexpected intervention. He looks on incredulously as his tormentor falls from his body.

Papadimitriou said the painting’s allure could also be attributed to “its sheer size, in a country where we’ve never had big buildings to hang such pieces”.

Schoolchildren have visited the museum to take in the floor-to-ceiling treasure “and the reaction was always the same”, he said. “They stood there in silence, in total amazement.”

Known for his depictions of mythological heroes, Bloch was commissioned in 1864 by the young Danish-born king George I, who had assumed Greece’s throne the year before. Ensconced in his studio in Rome as revolutionary fervour spread, the artist worked furiously to finish the painting. When it was first exhibited in Copenhagen in 1865, Prometheus Unbound was hailed as groundbreaking and an unprecedented success.

“It would be right to say that it would be difficult to find its equal anywhere since the very beginnings of Danish art,” one critic opined.

But, for many, the power of the painting also lies in its extraordinary history. Its chance rediscovery in 2012 not only ended decades of speculation but resolved a thriller that had long haunted the art world.

Culture ministry officials in Greece were stunned when they came across the canvas rolled up in a tube while recording thousands of objects amassed in Tatoi from estates that had once belonged to the nation’s deposed royal family.

Last seen publicly at an exhibition in Copenhagen in 1932, historians surmised it had either been lost as it was transported by ship back to Greece or had fallen victim to fire. That looters had failed to spot the treasure – the royal estates had been frequently targeted by thieves – only added to the astonishment.

“It needed work,” said Melina Fotopoulou, the Greek culture ministry conservationist who oversaw its restoration. “In places there was mould, cracks and colour detachment that required restoration and as it had been rolled up for so long in the cylinder, the canvas was quite loose.”

The painstaking conservation work was made harder because of the painting’s size. “It was impossible to restore mounted on a frame and so was laid out on the ground where we worked on it intensely,” Fotopoulou said, adding there had been “quite a bit of nervousness” before the masterpiece was rehung. “We weren’t at all sure what it would look like framed but of course it is so impressive; it’s wonderful.”

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[ououy]

A Little Intuition/Is Argentina's "Chainsaw Revolution" applicable to the United States? \Li Lingxiu

At a political rally held in the suburbs of Washington on Thursday, Argentine President Milley presented Musk, the leader of the Department of U.S. Government Efficiency (DOGE), with a "signature" chainsaw, symbolizing the inheritance of the "chainsaw revolution". But can the United States afford the economic price Argentina has paid for it?

Since the establishment of DOGE, several federal government departments have been purged. Musk and his leadership team first gained access to the Treasury Department's computer system, and then DOGE staff entered the International Development Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Ministry of Education and other departments to conduct investigations. At the aforementioned Conservative Political Action Conference, Musk also predicted that the Federal Reserve will be the next target.

The White House has provided a "buyout plan" to 2 million federal government employees, which will provide about 8 months of salary compensation to all employees who voluntarily resign. As of February 18, a total of about 20,000 federal employees (including probationary employees) have been laid off or forced to stop work and take leave.

Such a swift and vigorous layoff storm easily reminds people of the "chainsaw revolution" promoted by Mile in Argentina. As early as the last round of elections in the country, the image of Mile holding a chainsaw high has become a classic image of campaign propaganda. At the beginning of his term, he signed a presidential decree to reduce government departments from 18 to 9 and fired more than 30,000 government employees. The Argentine government also successfully cut public spending by 30% through measures such as cutting energy and transportation subsidies, achieving a fiscal surplus for the first time in 14 years.

But compared with the political environment of the two countries, there are actually great differences. The Argentine president has absolute power over the government's organizational structure and departmental settings, and the abolition of government departments belongs to the category of administrative affairs management and adjustment. But for the US president, if there is no clear authorization from Congress through relevant laws, government departments cannot be adjusted or abolished (except for agencies established by presidential decrees).

Expenditure reduction plan difficult to achieve

Musk's previous slogan was to cut federal spending by $1 trillion. But in the officially released White House documents, Trump did not propose KPIs in this regard. As of February 17, DOGE has saved an estimated $55 billion through contract and lease renegotiations, cancellation of grants, asset sales, layoffs, regulatory savings and fraud detection, completing only 4% of Musk's goal.

Data shows that the total expenditure of the US federal government in fiscal year 2024 is $6.8 trillion, and the largest sources come from three aspects: Social Security ($1.46 trillion), Medicare ($0.87 trillion), and Medicaid ($0.91 trillion), accounting for a total of 49%. However, cutting the above expenditures will shake the interests of voters, and Trump also made it clear during his campaign last year that he would not cut spending on these three projects. In this way, DOGE's spending reduction target seems to be a task that can never be completed.

More importantly, the cost of Argentina's "chainsaw revolution" is painful. In the first six months after Milley took office, the country's poverty rate jumped from about 40% to 53%. Although it fell back by the end of last year, the unemployment rate climbed from 12% in 2023 to 15%.

House prices in Washington, DC plummet

There are also some bad trends in the United States at the moment. Data shows that the number of initial unemployment claims in Washington, DC has risen significantly in the past two weeks. Real estate prices in the region have also begun to fall. The median price of a house in Washington, DC in January 2025 is $553,000, a sharp drop of 9.7% year-on-year.

Argentina is still the largest borrower from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with outstanding loans of $43.4 billion, accounting for nearly 30% of total credit, exceeding the total of all sub-Saharan African countries. (See accompanying picture)

If Musk insists on carrying out the "chainsaw revolution" to the end. Then, poverty will replace inflation and become the hottest topic in American society in the future.

[girlactionfigure]

Gaza Scandal

by Seth Mandel

“We cannot just be a relief organization,” Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross until 2022, said in a 2015 speech about the organization’s failures during the Holocaust. The Red Cross, Maurer said, was regretful: “It failed as a humanitarian organization because it had lost its moral compass. It failed … by responding to the outrageous with standard procedures, it looked on helplessly and silently.”

It would be more accurate, actually, to say the Red Cross expressed regret. Because it’s clear its officials weren’t all that sorry.

Not only has the ICRC, which receives many millions of dollars in U.S. contributions, failed to advocate meaningfully for the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, and not only has the organization appeared uninterested in gaining access to them or their release, but it now faces legitimate questions about its complicity in Hamas war crimes.

Over the weekend the IDF released footage from al-Shifa hospital showing Hamas fighters bringing hostages to the medical compound on Oct. 7, the day of its bloody incursion into Israel. One hostage, an Israeli soldier, was likely killed there. Fighters dragging the hostages can be seen interacting freely with medical personnel at the hospital, in case anyone still tries to argue that hospital officials have plausible deniability. And as some have pointed out, there was no way for the hostages to get to Shifa without being taken past several other hospitals on the way, so they were not brought in for medical care.

Ridiculous excuses thus dispensed with, we can move on to what ICRC officials knew and when they knew it. The Red Cross was no stranger to Shifa. On November 6 and 7, for example, it boasted of ICRC caravans transporting supplies to Shifa and patients from Shifa. What did ICRC personnel see as they cleared out patients for transfer? More important, what did they pretend not to see? They had communication with and access to the hospital compound and its staff; to what purpose did they use this access? They were aware of the material needs of the hospital and therefore what was being used daily. ICRC doctors and surgeons around Gaza were in contact with colleagues at Shifa.

And we certainly know they are capable of outrage. ICRC Director Robert Mardini, for example, had this outburst on Nov. 11: “We @ICRC are shocked & appalled by the images & reports coming from Al-Shifa hospital in #Gaza. The unbearably desperate situation for patients & staff trapped inside must stop. Now. Hospitals, patients, staff & health care must be protected. Period.”

Mardini was talking about Israel’s supposed lack of respect for medical facilities in wartime, just to be clear. ICRC regional director Fabrizio Carboni was also quite exercised about it: “The information coming from the Al Shifa hospital is distressing. It cannot continue like this. Thousands of wounded, displaced people and medical staff are at risk. They need to be protected in line with the laws of war.”

Meanwhile, the ICRC had no qualms about portraying Israeli troops as a constant threat to medical personnel or would-be butchers, or going on Al Jazeera to remind the IDF of its obligations to the hospitals that Hamas was already misusing.

Indeed, the ICRC’s partnership with Shifa is a point of pride for the organization. In July, as Hamas was planning its Oct. 7 massacre, officials boasted of improvements to the hospital “implemented by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in partnership with the Ministry of Health in Gaza,” i.e. Hamas. “Hospitals stand at the heart of communities, and Al-Shifa Medical Complex Emergency Department is now beating strong and steady for Gaza,” crowed William Schomburg, a top ICRC Gaza official.

Back in that 2015 speech, Maurer faulted his organization for not balancing its private efforts with public pronunciations. But one difference between the Red Cross’s work in World War II and the current Gaza conflict is that in WWII, the ICRC’s record was mixed. Yes, it failed Jewish prisoners repeatedly. But it also facilitated communication to and from those prisoners, provided medical care to some of them, and was involved in prisoner exchanges—all actions for which it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1944. The Nobel committee acknowledges now that the ICRC knew more about Nazi atrocities than it let on at the time, suggesting that the Red Cross’s full wartime record might not be deserving of such an award.

This time, it has let down the hostages in every way imaginable. At the end of its note on the 1944 Nobel Peace Prize, the committee writes: “The Red Cross has since expressed regret for this suppression of the facts.”

How long will it take them to come clean this time, and what will it require to ensure there is no repeat of the ICRC’s Gaza disaster?

H/T @scartale-an-undertale-au