rom Anton_Pannekoek via /r/chomsky sent
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Recently a whistleblower called Babita Deokaran got murdered.
https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/babita-deokarans-murder-will-deter-whistleblowers-from-speaking-out-says-goodson-20210826
The poor people's movement I refer to is the Shack Dwellers movement, known as Abahlali baseMjondolo. Their members have been targeted by the police for assassination, as well as arrested arbitrarily and detained on spurious charges (where they're obviously intimidated). Our police are very brutal with almost no repercussions for their brutality or oversight.
https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-05-23-abahlali-basemjondolo-leader-assassinated/
https://www.groundup.org.za/article/bail-granted-two-abahlali-basemjondolo-leaders-accused-conspiracy-commit-murder-and-intimidation/
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2018-09-12-no-justice-for-assassinated-abahlali-activists/
"On Monday, minutes after dropping her child at school, Deokaran lay seriously injured in her bullet-ridden car outside her complex in a quiet suburban street in Johannesburg.She was rushed to hospital, where she later succumbed to her injuries
After her death, it emerged she was a witness in a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigation into corrupt personal protective equipment (PPE) deals worth R332 million in the department."
Yeah, this is our world. And our media will never cover it. Here's someone who dares to ask for more than a penny to go to those who live in shacks:
"S’fiso Ngcobo‚ chair of the body in eKukhayeni‚ was shot and killed outside his home around 7.30pm.
Abahlali baseMjondolo spokesman Sbu Zikode said on Wednesday morning that a group of unknown men descended on his house and opened fire.
“He was shot about seven times. We will be able to provide more details on this assassination in the coming hours. We are going back to the family home to get more information‚” he said. The shooting followed the wounding of Ndumiso Mnguni‚ alleged to have been shot by the security detail for the city’s anti-land invasion unit also on Tuesday."
And don't worry. Just like we have our own theocratic SCOTUS here in the US, SA has their courts trying to prosecute the ones being targeted for murder. I'm serious, after reading Gulag Archipelago, I think our system takes over theirs, though perhaps we have more talent and experience in gaslighting and imagination in making it seem legit, while they didn't.
And don't worry, the courts won't work for the poor. The police either.
"Just metres from 28-year-old Phumzile Mkhize’s shack, perched on a steep hillside in the Durban informal settlement of eKukhanyeni, two bullet holes mark the wall of a local spaza shop where her late husband S’fiso Ngcobo was shot dead while buying cool drinks on 23 May."
Just in case you think this is poor countries only, note that Bibi got this done when someone tried to look into his corruption. So this is Greece. And remember that the journalist who ratted McCrystal out died mysteriously in a car accident. The one who leaked the Panama papers also died mysteriously. So do not forget that the corrupt octopus that people in Iraq etc are fighting is one and the same as what we're dealing with here at home, to include grifters selling anti-vaxx snake oil.
So again, our rich are making a grab for everything (it's the only thing they know how to do) and trying to stop all who dare to even whisper about it). Be safe. [2]
[1] For example, threatening a hospital after an anti vaxxer dies from Covid, and man are those in the med field tired of this:
"No, I don’t mean I’m exhausted from a COVID infection. I’m exhausted from this God forsaken pandemic.
Emotionally, physically, mentally.
The usual, friendly chit-chat that takes place between myself and my favorite palliative docs and intensivists is replaced by monotone conversation about the futility of care for our patients.
I’m tired of seeing the look on the physicians face when I tell him it’s probably time to intubate.
I’m tired of quack family members calling the unit insisting insane treatment options and calling me 5000 times a day only for me to tell them the same thing over and over and over endlessly every single day .. “they’re doing worse.. they’re on maximum support.”
I’m tired (and no this is not controversial.. this is the reality) of 400+ pound patients. All of them. Proning... taking them to CT... cleaning them up. None of them survive.
I am so tired.
I never traveled. I was trusting that my organization would take care of me... so I got a $3 raise..
When everyone started to complain, admin said “I mean what amount $ do you expect??”
I don’t know? We come to work and die inside a little each day, so what’s the price for my soul?
How long can we do this?
Again, and again:
"We had a very bad day on my unit today, worse than the normal bad days we've had. Lots of young people crashing, multiple people from the same family sick or dying. So many of our staff were taking a moment to cry in a quiet place.
I went around and checked in on everyone, just to try to talk with them for a little bit and help them vent. The Chaplains are now checking on staff each shift.
A breaking point is coming, for all healthcare workers.
Usually you have that devastating case that's tough to deal with every few months. We now have one everyday or sometimes multiple times per day. It's exhausting like you said.
I don't know how to make it better, but you are not alone. Hang in there"
Part of the 1/2 fights the other, is the consumer mentality that we've been fed:
"I feel you. I'm not on the ICU side of things, I'm on the ER side. Triage is horrible. Lines of ambulances dropping off patients. Family members trying to start fights because we won't let them inside. Death stares from patients waiting in line, many for B.S. things that they "just want to get checked out". This week, I probably triaged 150 patients during one of my shifts. There was a line from the second I sat down (outside in 90 degree heat) to the second my shift ended. While triaging, had people yelling at me to go out and help someone get out of a car for shoulder pain from a fall. Went to do that, and people started yelling at me for not checking them in. The second people check in, they turn helpless. Can't walk to the bathroom (or they just shit on the floor), need a turkey sandwich, etc. One patient yelled at me for not getting him water, after just getting out of a critical Covid room. Short-staffed, no breaks. The ER sucked before Covid. It really sucks now. Come home utterly exhausted and feeling defeated, like nothing we do matters. People protesting in front of our ER about the mask/vaccine mandate. Literally yelling at us for taking care of patients. How quickly we went from Heroes to Hated."
We are apes and it's really easy to get us to fight each other:
"I was an ER tech in North Idaho. I started hating my job when my hospital started chasing time based metrics and top box scores. After almost a year and a half of dealing with covid I quit. I couldn't deal with the stress of being yelled at all the time, being expected to cover the whole 36 bed er because of being short staffed, dealing with needy nurses and overly entitled patients. I was threatened daily because of the hospital policies and for enforcing them. I rarely felt backed by the charge nurse or management when trying to uphold the rules and wear appropriate ppe. I was chewed out by multiple nurses for handing them a gown because the patient was "just a cold" and "not covid." I was emotionally exhausted. It wasn't anything close to what I wanted to do anymore so I quit. I was good at my job. I couldn't deal with the overwhelming suckage of a lot of the people around me. I stuck around for my friends at work, and I decided it wasn't worth it.
I now work in a warehouse and lost 20lbs and am back in a good bmi. I'm 3 months out and I still wake up almost in an anxiety attack because I had a dream that I had to go back to working in the ER. I work with a few anti covid vaccine people, but they understand why I left and they explained their reason for not getting the vaccine. Mostly was based off of they felt they were healthy and there wasn't much long term data about health effects later in life. Their reasoning seems okay to me and they don't judge me about anything. I do wish they would get vaccinated, but they are okay with the risk of not getting the shots and I have explained the data behind the mrna vaccines. I'm sorry for ranting, but I feel like I needed to vent. I empathize with people still surviving in healthcare and I feel bad for leaving but I can't put my life and family in that much stress. I work more hours, more days and I don't feel nearly as exhausted all week as I did in the ER."
Do you get what I'm saying?
The number of COVID patients I hear 911 calls for, or that I've transported, that don't seem to grasp or care that part of having COVID is (typically) being sick. You will feel unwell, you will feel miserable, it is not fun. And, no, there is no magic pill to make it all go away that the ER will give you. Transport after transport of stable, medically unnecessary COVID patients because they feel tired and have body aches, or they feel weak, or they have a headache and don't care that the last ER they went to 2 days ago checked them out and sent them home.
The specific patient I'm thinking of here I transported her last week. She was +, complaining of fatigue, body aches, feeling weak, vitals, sats, and lungs were stellar. I honestly told her and her daughter the ER would, likely, be sending her home after a few hours. She said, "I'm sorry I'm infecting you." I didn't answer, because I didn't have anything polite or diplomatic to say. And two days later I saw her at a different ER when a different crew transported her because she had a headache and didn't feel well because the last ER didn't magically make it all better. And no, she wasn't vaccinated. Her daughter also didn't understand why she couldn't wait next to her COVID+ mother's stretcher in the 'ambulance only' entrance, with all the other waiting EMS stretchers which, theoretically, contained legitimately sick and injured people.
The ERs locally are getting crushed. They've maxed out on hallway beds and it's not enough. The waiting rooms are packed with dozens of people waiting for hours on end. I was at one of them today and snuck a glance at the status board, and approximately 25% were COVID or COVID R/O. A local ER I keep having issues with was, per a provider there, boarding 35 patients in the ER when they only have approximately 50-55 beds. A week before that they were boarding 20.
And the relationship between EMS and the local ERs has deteriorated, badly. The state Department of Health is now involved because of the EMS offload times in my county are, without exaggeration, the worst in the state. The local emergency services system is being badly stretched by two factors: A) There is a shortage of Paramedics. B) The ERs are holding crews in hallways for hours on end which directly contributes to a realtime shortage of ambulances, in addition to accentuating burnout. Two local fire departments recently sent a public letter to the hospitals informing them that, per cited DoH protocol X, after 30 minutes their crews will proactively be finding any available place or surface for their patient without further delay. I got a complaint from an ER recently because while waiting 100 minutes in a hallway with a patient across the hall from an empty room I went around and counted the other empty beds in the ER. They didn't like that, and I was told I am not to leave my stretcher. That happened to be the day the nurse manager in that ER learned that not only is the state keeping them under a close microscope and having EMS record offload times in detail (which we in turn report to the state DoH), but no, per the DoH you can't forbid EMS from walking around counting beds (the DoH literally told us to do this). Nothing happened to me, and I just happened to be working with my supervisor that day. This is the same ER that has repeatedly told EMS not to bring their COVID patients into the ER, but instead leave them in the ambulance for the time being. This is a straight up EMTALA violation, and the hospitals are aware of it and have been told not to do it. The result is a toxic mix of exhaustion, frustration, and burnout that is affecting both EMS and ER staff alike, and which each readily channels towards the other. In the same ER I keep having problems at recently I overheard one of the PAs say they were boarding 35 patients in the ER, out of approximately 50 beds. I am not a naturally confrontational person and consider myself fairly genial, but I am straight up running out of fucks to give when it comes to dealing with local ERs (not all hospitals/ERs are created equal, or incompetent).
I am afraid that my area is potentially in for a very, very, long winter.
This kind of stress on the system, and the infighting will lead to something and it doesn't always lead to the right people who caused it, the ones above the fray, getting blamed for it.
[2] Note how things like social media, (IG), does actual harm to teens. Especially teen girls. This is some sick shit, and the likes of Zuckerberg know it but don't give a fuck.
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