#tom fletcher

[unsolicited-opinions]

You probably heard about the "14,000 babies in 48 hours" thing, but the media is doing a shit job of explaining it clearly.

Here's a recap:

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The Claim

On May 14, 2025, Tom Fletcher, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, claimed during an interview on BBC Radio 4 that "14,000 babies could die in the next 48 hours in Gaza" due to severe humanitarian conditions.

This is Tom Fletcher:

The figure Fletcher gave was based on a "misinterpretation" of a report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

What the IPC had actually projected was that 14,100 children aged 6 months to 5 years in Gaza were projected to suffer severe acute malnutrition over the 12-month period between April 2025 and March 2026 - not that they were all babies, nor that they would die, let alone within 48 hours.

The malnutrition claim was spurious enough, but claiming 14,000 babies would die in 48 hours was batshit insane.

HOW BATSHIT WAS IT?

Totally, blatantly batshit.

Let's do some math.

14,000 deaths in 48 hours = 291 babies per hour, or nearly 5 babies every minute, around the clock, 24 hours/day.

This level of mass death in such a short timeframe is unheard of outside of a nuclear catastrophe or an active extermination campaign...and no such event was occurring.

You'd think an expert from the UN would know the basic demographics, right?

Gaza has a population of roughly 2.3 million.

About 15% of the population is under 5 years old, or roughly 345,000 children.

Of those, the number of infants (under 12 months) is far smaller - closer to 50,000-60,000.

If 14,000 infants were to die in 48 hours, that would be over 25% of all babies in Gaza. In two days.

No known famine, epidemic, or conflict has ever produced that kind of child mortality in such a short span.

Not even historical attrocities accomplished that death rate.

Anyone with a basic understanding of child mortality statistics, humanitarian logistics, historical precedent, or basic mental math should have been immediately skeptical. The number was a red flag on its face and the claim should have prompted instant demands for sources, verification, and context.

Nobody in the Western legacy media seems to have made such demands.

Beleiving this claim required ignoring basic demographics, suspending disbelief about death rates, and trusting emotionally explosive language over factual scrutiny.

That didn't stop Tom from saying it.

That didn't stop news outlets from reporting it.

That didn't stop people from believing it.

What were the consequences?

Since no correction came from the UN for more than a week and nobody in the media thought to do their jobs and question it, this false claim lived in the world for those 8 days.

The claim was cited in the UK House of Commons during debates on Gaza and humanitarian aid. Politicians referred to the figure as fact, influencing rhetoric and public policy discussions.

The emotional weight of the claim increased pressure on Western governments to take urgent action or adopt stronger positions regarding Israel's actions in Gaza.

The figure was emotionally powerful and l inflamed already-deranged pro-Palestinian camps.

I'd argue it helped fan the flames of anti-Israel sentiment and antisemitism.

The claim circulated widely on the 20th and 21st.

Direct causation between the climate created by this misinformation and the shooting in DC on the 21st is speculative, but I'm seeing a lot of speculation on that. Here's Hen Mazzig:

Just days ago, the UN published a scandalous headline claiming that Israel would kill 14,000 babies in 48 hours. In reality, the report stated: "14,100 severe cases of malnutrition could occur over the next year among children under five, if aid doesn't reach them." See how one year becomes 48 hours? How potential illness becomes certain death? How children become babies? Which headline do you think the antisemitic shooter in Washington DC read, and remembered? Words matter. Blood libels have consequences. They led to the murder of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim.

May their memories forever be a blessing

Because the false UN claim remained uncorrected for over a week, many individuals and advocacy groups based their calls to action, posts, and even protests on a false premise - creating a widespread misunderstanding about the scale and urgency of the crisis.

Finally, today, May 22nd of 2025, more than a week later, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is reported to have issued a clarification, stating the claim was a misreading of the IPC data. I can't find any evidence of it, but that's what's being reported.

Tom Fletcher has not issued an apology or public retraction for his statement. It seems there will be no consequences for his incompetence.

[eretzyisrael]

Source

[shirtlesscelebsofdaworld]

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

UN aid chief Tom Fletcher expressed regret for his recent claim that 14,000 babies could die within 48 hours in Gaza without aid - a claim the UN retracted - in an interview with the BBC on Friday.

Fletcher acknowledged a need to be "precise" with language, admitting that when he made the comments, “we were desperately trying to get that aid in.”

"We were being told we couldn't get it in, and we knew that we'd probably have a couple of days, a window to get as much aid in as possible, and that was being denied, and we were desperate to get that in. And so yes, we've got to be utterly precise with our language, and we've clarified that," he saidUnmute

After retracting Fletcher’s statement, the UN later cited a report that said there could be 14,100 cases of malnutrition in children in Gaza between April 2025 and March 2026, a timeframe of one year, not two days.

Despite his retraction, Fletcher still maintained that Israel has caused forced starvation in Gaza, amounting to a war crime.

“It is classified as a war crime. Obviously, these are issues for the courts to take the judgement on, and ultimately for history to take a judgement on,” he told the BBC.

Over one million meals have been distributed in Gaza by the GHF

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which the UN refuses to cooperate with, opened its third distribution center in Gaza on Thursday.

Approximately 997,920 meals were distributed on Thursday, according to GHF, bringing the total number of meals distributed to date to approximately 1,838,182 via roughly 17,280 boxes.

"We're seeing food set on the borders and not being allowed in when there is a population on the other side of the border that is starving, and we're hearing Israeli ministers say that is to put pressure on the population of Gaza," Fletcher said, adding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should "absolutely" disavow those statements.

"We would expect governments all over the world to stand for international humanitarian law, the international community is very, very clear on that," Fletcher said, calling on Netanyahu to ensure that "this language, and ultimately, this policy... of forced displacement, isn't enacted."

Fletcher is still a lying, unrepentant a**hole. GBJ

[greendayauthority]

Billie Joe and Tré with two members of McFly at the 2024 Brit Awards

[my-hybrid-moments]

hii!! please can you write some danny jones (from mcfly) smut please!! (if you’re comfortable ofc x) tysmm!!

cherry cola - danny jones

a/n: i'm sorry this took so long 😩😩 i had such a great time writing thissss !!! i know it wasn't specified in the request but i thought that a lyric related fic would fit great so i hope that's alright !!! i've never done a lyric fic before and thought who better to be my first than danny jones himself!! there's another one of these coming soon so stay tunedd! hope this is okay !! <3

summary

danny jones x afab!reader smut - based on the song 'cherry cola' by mcfly - you two meet at a bar and he's fascinated by you... and your taste.

warnings/things to consider

strangers to lovers, oral (fem receiving), piv, insane overuse of the word 'taste' so i apologise 😭

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

"It's hot as hell, I can't take the heat"

it was just after 10 at night. danny and the boys had left rehearsals and headed off to the bar after a long ass day. it was crowded, which did nothing to help the heat of the place. they ordered a round and took part in idle chatter. danny was interested for a while, until he saw you walking in.

"I need a kiss below five degrees"

he was enthralled immediately. now ignoring whatever bullshit the guys were saying, danny's focus was completely on you. everything about you drew him in - your hair, your eyes, your lips... he had to make some kind of move.

so, without really sparing a word for his bandmates, he made his way over to you.

"And I've got the syrup and she's got the soda"

his friends watched as he got up and left, confused at first but soon realising just what he was up to as they too set eyes on you.

phase one was already complete for danny. he'd secured a seat next to you and had already began talking to you in a flirtatious manner. in his mind, he was absolutely winning right now. but phase 2 was really just getting you home with him, and now he had to put it into action.

"I'm burning up but she's getting colder"

with every sentence building up to getting you home his face grew warmer. maybe he shouldn't be quite this nervous, but there's just something about you...

"christ, it's boiling in here."

"is it?" you replied in a low voice, "i can hardly feel it."

he offers a small hum at your response, attempting to regulate himself before talking again - but you beat him to it in a way he thought you never would.

"wanna get outta here?"

"She tastes like cherry cola"

the second you stepped foot in his house, you were all over each other. your flavoured lipgloss was driving him truly insane as he tasted it. he kissed you over and over with a fire he'd never expressed, a desire he couldn't get enough of.

"My lips are dry but who needs a drink?"

to feel you respond with just as much passion was utter heaven to danny. you couldn't get enough of him, pulling him into you in any way you could for fear of extinguishing the flaming spark between you, drinking in his desire.

curses were muttered between kisses as you stumbled to his room, knocking over anything in your path without a care.

"Yeah, I like to lick her lips when they're pink"

the kiss was barely broken from the moment you entered the house, his tongue slipping through your pink lips and exploring your mouth any chance he got.

"Yeah, I get my kicks from your sugar kisses"

god, he just couldn't get enough of your sweet, sweet kisses. he adored this new feeling of your lips colliding with his own, he was obsessed.

"I'm an addict and you're one of my fixes"

"fuck, i dunno what you're doin' to me... i'm fucking addicted to you" he spoke, breaking the kiss to start undressing you.

you took the chance to follow in his footsteps, helping him to shed his own clothes as well as your own.

"She said would you like to introduce your lips to these?"

the second you were down to just your underwear it was so over for him.

he simply couldn't let you go after this. as you unclipped your bra, he was going insane over you. he was down bad.

"Yes P-L-E-A-S-E please"

he kissed from your neck down your chest, covering every inch of your skin with his lips in an almost desperate manner. he needed to feel all of you, and he needed it now.

his mouth made its way to your breast, sucking gently as his hand came up to the other and your own went to his hair. he gave you the attention you needed and he gave it good.

l

"She can blow it and I'll pop her bubble"

he moved down after giving the same attention to the right, kissing over your stomach and then up your thighs ever so slowly.

a small 'fuck' was uttered as his mouth moved closer to where you needed him most. you used the leverage of your hand in his hair to pull him in closer, letting it be known that you needed what he could give to you.

"She looks like she's asking for all kinds of trouble"

he smirked up at you, admiring your eagerness.

"i'm getting there, love. it's alright." he said lowly, placing a soft kiss over your clothed core before slowly pulling down your underwear. he stayed for a moment, admiring the view he'd uncovered like it was pure gold in front of his eyes.

"She tastes like cherry cola"

he was officially hooked - as if that wasn't clear already. he decided there was no more wasting time even if he wanted to make you wait for it. he needed to taste you, to see how sweet you were elsewhere. so, he dove straight in, giving your pussy everything it could need. he drank in your taste and every little sound you made in response to the pleasure he gave to you.

"Gotta be, gotta be, gotta be, gotta be, gotta be cherry"

when your taste met his tongue, he knew nothing would taste as good as you did. he needed to taste you forever, like it was his source of oxygen. nothing would compare or even come close.

he knew as he was eating you out like a starved man that you were the best he'd ever tasted and would ever taste again. he couldn't taste another thing again, knowing nothing could compete with you.

"Cause it don't taste the same if the cherry is berry"

it pained him to pull away before you let go on his tongue, but he couldn't hold back any longer. he needed all of you. he crawled up over you, caging you in as you softly whined at the loss of his tongue.

"don't worry, sweetheart. i'll give you something better," he chuckled, before slowly circling the tip around your waiting hole and gently pushing forward, filling you up.

"Oh, I got, I got, I got an obsession"

to cut a long story short - danny was obsessed with you - the way you looked, the way you presented yourself, the way you tasted and right now he was obsessed with the way you felt around him. he could die like this. he'd stay like this forever with you if you'd let him. but while he's fucking you just how you need, he just can't stop himself from tasting you again.

"Yeah sipping your lips is my new profession"

he kissed you like a man starved as he fucked you like this was the only thing you'd ever do for the rest of your lives. you moaned, tasting yourself on his tongue as it danced with your own.

that's how the night was spent - you made each other see stars and cloud 9 the whole night through, and you couldn't have wished for anything else. that was the night he gained a new all time favourite flavour:

"She tastes like cherry cola"

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

[rubbish78]

McFly doing their 'Star Girl' kicks at Halifax Piece Hall 10/08/24 (x)

[mcflythrills78]

bustedvsmcfly: So, are you guys busy next year? 😎

[obv10usly]

Choose your fighter.

BUSTED vs McFLY

[whatstruthgottodowithit]

I’ve just wrote a marauders band au fic and tell me this isn’t them with baby Harry 😭😭

[eretzyisrael]

Food facts in Gaza and Western pro-Hamas bias.

The World Food Programme says 94,000 tons of food can feed one million people for four months.

During the January-March ceasefire, some 380,000 tons of food aid entered Gaza — enough to feed its 2.1 million people for eight months.

Yet the media misreports this this by citing the UN, which counts only its own aid trucks and ignores the aid supplies provided by private donations, individual countries and international organisations.

The WFP facts did not prevent the UN Emergency Coordinator Tom Fletcher lying to the BBC a few days ago that “14,000 babies will die in 48 hours” from malnutrition.

This wild and ludicrous lie went round the world even though, as the BBC later clarified it had misrepresented a claim on May 12 by the UN’s IPC food classification system.

My question is this, why do supposedly reputable sources, including the leaders of Britain, France, Spain, and Canada lie like hell against Israel and cover for the multiple war crimes of Palestinian Hamas.

Could it be to appease the wrath and appeal to the votes of the massive migrant populations they have encouraged into their countries?

Better to excite the wrath of Israel than the growing imported voting bloc that will turn against them anyway in their next elections.

Barry Shaw,

The View from Israel.

[shirtlesscelebsofdaworld]

[mcflysohigh]

Cute Flones moment from Harry's instastory a few weeks ago - can go on this sideblog now that I'm trying to make it function 😅

[secretagentsagainstwhatever]

Transylvania by McFly is unironically one of the greatest songs of all time

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

Fletcher even went so far in his BBC interview as to call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “disavow” the words of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who suggested that people in Gaza might be inclined to relocate to other countries. That comment, crude and unhelpful as it may be, is now used by the humanitarian aid under-secretary as “evidence” of a policy of forced displacement, another supposed war crime. But where is the same righteous fury for Hamas’s actual, documented war crimes? Where is Fletcher’s voice when it comes to the 1,200 Israelis and others butchered on October 7, or the hostages still being tortured in Gaza?

Tom Fletcher's loose relationship with the truth

Perhaps most farcical of all was Fletcher’s recent claim to CNN that “10,000 aid trucks” are “cleared and ready to go” at the Gaza border. When even veteran journalist Christiane Amanpour blinked in disbelief, Fletcher doubled down. Israeli defense officials swiftly responded.

“There are no 10,000 trucks waiting to go into Gaza,” they said. “What there are, are hundreds of trucks’ worth of aid the UN hasn’t picked up from the Gazan side... after we gave you plenty of routes to safely distribute the aid.”

Fletcher is not just wrong – he is dangerously wrong. This is a man with a global platform, overseeing one of the most sensitive humanitarian crises in the world. He cannot afford to be loose with his words or misleading with his facts. And yet, this is now a pattern. A pattern of blame without balance. A pattern of distortion. A pattern of omission where Hamas is concerned and vilification where Israel is involved.

The UN activity cannot be led by someone who treats truth as negotiable and facts as optional. The stakes are simply too high. Fletcher’s continued presence damages the credibility of the world body, undermines its impartiality, and emboldens those who exploit humanitarian crises for political gain.

Tom Fletcher should step down. His conduct has crossed the line from negligence to active misinformation. The UN cannot afford to be represented by someone who sows confusion, inflames tensions, and selectively sees injustice.

Tom Fletcher must resign.

[rubbish78]

"5 Colours in Her Hair" is the debut single by English pop rock band McFly released on 29 March 2004 (x)