WHY WE MASK: It's Not "Just A Cold": A Handy Scientific Guide to Surviving COVID-19 Together

Here, have a free science zine with a ridiculously long title! Endless thanks to my partner and fellow disabled artist, Kimball Anderson aka @earnestattempts, who helped through the entire year-long process with art edits and image descriptions (located in the alt text). Additional thanks to my friends Dupe and Caitlin, who gave me thorough copy-edits, and every friend who read drafts or listened to me rant about COVID-19.

Feel free to spread it far and wide! And hit me up if you're interested in printing &/or distributing free copies :D

Read WHY WE MASK with Endnotes - includes working URLS so you can read the scientific papers I cited for yourself. Plus links for all the other resources, and a full transcript.

Download WHY WE MASK - Free PDFs to read, print, and share! Any donations go towards print copies &/or local mask blocs.

Can't get enough free printable COVID zines? Check out @newlevant's excellent What's Up With COVID & How To Protect Yourself: 2024 Ed! It was a huge inspiration in the final stretch.

Extra pages under the cut:

Why do all the beautiful, colorful vintage bathrooms end up in the wrong hands. Come here. I would treasure you

More arches please

Imagine seeing this and wanting to rip it out and replace it with gray luxury vinyl plank

Gaza Does Not Die… But We Are Bleeding ✊

✅ Verified by @gazavetters {520} ✅✅

Shared by @90-ghost

I am Musab Ahmed. I once had a home, I once had a life… but now, everything I knew is nothing but rubble. My house was completely destroyed by the relentless bombing that took away even our memories.

My body did not escape this war—I was injured in my shoulder, underwent surgery, but I still need another operation to regain my full mobility. Yet, the greatest pain is not mine… it’s the pain of my daughter Lama, whose little hand could not withstand the bombing. She was injured and had to have a metal plate implanted in her hand, and we are still struggling to get her the treatment she needs.

All we ask for is a chance to live… A life that was stolen from us under the bombs and destruction. We need your support to continue our treatment and to try and rebuild what’s left of us.

Help us stay strong—Gaza is bleeding.

Get to know Hashem's family

My name is Hashem from Gaza. I am 32 years old and my wife, Samar, is 27 years old. We have a child born in the eighth month of pregnancy. His mother was premature because of my wife's fear of war. My large family consists of 8 members: my father, mother, four male brothers and 2 females. My father died in the war due to a lack of medicine in hospitals as a result of the fierce war on Gaza.

My story began when we were displaced from our home in northern Gaza in mid-October 2023 after a letter threatening eviction, and then the house was targeted and destroyed. Between this Exodus and the current fifth Exodus there are many stories and sufferings.

We now live in plastic tents, which are thermal ovens, which are not suitable for living and do not provide the minimum necessities of life, in addition to the spread of epidemics and diseases, which puts our lives in danger.

Through this campaign, we are trying to collect enough money to meet our needs and get us out of the Gaza Strip safely. We ask you to stand by us and protect us from this severe danger.

Support and share🤍

best wishes:

The campaign was documented through:

Palestine Pride List:

@buttercuparry @appsa @malcriada @palestinegenocide @sar-soor @akajustmerry @annoyingloudmicrowavecultist @feluka @sayruq @tortiefrancis @flower-tea-fairies @tsaricides @riding-with-the-wild-hunt @visenyasdragon @belleandsaintsebastian @ear-motif @kordeliiius @communitythings @brutaliakhoa @raelyn-dreams @troythecatfish @theropoda @4ft10tvlandfangirl @queerstudiesnatural @northgazaupdates2 @skatezophrenic @awetistic-things @baby-girl-aaron-dessner @nabulsi @el-shab-hussein @timetravellingkitty @transmutationisms

Hello, champions! 🌟

A heartfelt thank you for your amazing support in our campaign! We’ve reached 28% of our first goal, and only 5% remains to reach the first third! 💪🔥

I’m confident that your support will continue with us until the end. Every contribution makes a difference and brings us closer to our goal!

Thank you, and the journey continues! 💙🚀

[ID: a Palestinian flag banner, photos of Hashem's family, of the tents they're sheltering in, and a photo of their house before the war. End ID.]

it wild to me that there are people out there who aren't interested in history

like wdym you don't think about the fact that women would tell stories as they made butter in the same way we listen to podcasts today? wdym you don't think about that one Chinese poet who wrote about how much he loved his cats hundreds of years ago? wdym you don't think about the fact that we found a gravesite of a young child surrounded by flowers from THOUSANDS of years ago? wdym you don't think about how people wrote "i was here" into the walls in Pompeii? wdym you don't think about the little egyptian boy who drew little doodles at the top of his school works more then a thousand years ago?

wdym you don't think about the fact that people, no matter the place, time, social status, are fundamentally no different from you. that they loved the same as you, enjoyed the same things you did, dreamed about a better life the same way you did. that despite how seemingly detached you are from these people, in time, place, and culture, the things you do and the thing u are, are so undeniably human that it transcends time and space

Christina Hornisher - Hollywood 90028 (1973)

Hm

@ faradaycockcage

Further evidence

In the second Sonic movie, he refers to him self as ‘hedgehog of the house’ in Tom’s absence instead of ‘man of the house’ further implying his gender is hedgehog

not "he" as in "he/him" but "he" as in "hedgehog"

“Appeal to a wider audience” is corporate lingo for “strip more themes from a piece of media so it’s safer and more sanitized for investors”

I struck a nerve in the billionaire fandom with this one

we need to kill whoever invented onedrive

reblog to teleport your mutuals to a massive party when jkr dies

when jkr dies i will tag every single person who reblogged this in a post btw

This powerful image captures the face of a wounded Palestinian woman whose hijab is soaked in blood—likely her own or that of a loved one. Her eyes tell a story of unimaginable pain and strength in the face of loss. She stands in a chaotic hospital hallway, surrounded by others in distress. As an oppressed and weak woman from Gaza, I see myself in her. I, too, have suffered greatly—my baby, Qais, was injured in the war, and the hospital refused to treat him because we cannot pay. Please, I beg you to help us. Your donation can provide the medicine and care Qais urgently needs.

Life in Gaza is unbearable for women like me.

I carry this pain in silence, but I cannot bear it alone anymore. The woman in this picture used her hijab to try and save her son’s life. I am doing everything I can to save mine. But without help, I fear I will lose him too. Please, Donate anything you can—no matter how small. Even a few dollars could mean a meal, a medicine dose, or a chance for Qais to live. Share this, speak up, and help us survive.

Donate Now Here

Vetted by @gazavetters , my number verified on the list is ( #64 )🍉🇵🇸

This is the kind of messaging you really want to be seeing from the global hegemon

Can y'all do us a favor and raise $65usd a day, we are behind on our campaign for medical immigration to the west, survival, and getting out of poverty. There's 109 days left (3 months) as of March 29, 2025. You can make a difference!

[Previous day goals progress]

April 4 progress: $30 of $65 minimum goal (🚫 failed goal)

April 5 progress: 0 of $65 (🚫 failed goal)

April 6 progress: $208 of $65 (✅️ minimum goal reached)

101 days left.

April 7 progress: $70 of $65 (✅️ reached)

100 days left. Lets not have a fail streak again please (edit: yay)

April 8, 2025: $90 of $65 (✅️ reached)

April 9, 2025: 0 of $65

Please call this recession the Trump Slump.

We need to put Trump's name on this.

if ever anything I wrote were to ever go viral, let it be this. Let everyone talk about the Trump Slump. I want to hear this term in the news.