Kate Middleton conspiracies are taking over the internet
+ Aaron Bushnell self-immolated in front of the Israeli Embassy, and Bel Chimes in on 'cocooning'
Good morning my angels!!! Coming at you live from Sydney where I’ve been sweating and swimming my way through these last few days (and trying to come down from hearing Long Live IRL🥺)
Today is meant to be like 40 degrees celsius so I don’t imagine I’ll be moving very much further than from the pool to our room - but I’m excited to get a head start on our book club pick this month which is GREEN DOT by Madeleine Gray!!! If you aren’t already a part of our cute book club, this feels like a good time to join - this one’s gonna be a goodie!!!
🟢Introducing March's Book Club Pick: Green Dot by Madeleine Gray 🟢
EEEK bookies! YOU got to choose this month’s pick (over on the close friend’s story) and despite it being INCREDIBLY CLOSE, I fear you have picked very well:
Love love love you all, see you tomorrow for a spesh AMA where I’m giving some big life updates to all our paid supporters xxxx
⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ IN THE NEWS⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖
Aaron Bushnell Self-Immolated in Front of the Israeli Embassy
On Sunday afternoon a 25-year-old Air Force service member named Aaron Bushnell stood outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C, set his phone up to record a live stream, and lit himself on fire while shouting ‘Free Palestine.’ This act - known as ‘self-immolation’ - is one of history’s most powerful and controversial means of protest.
How it happened:
Before making his way to the Embassy, Bushnell posted a link to his live stream to Facebook with the caption:
“Many of us like to ask ourselves, “What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?”
The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now.”
Shortly before 1 p.m. on Sunday, the livestream began, as he ‘walked toward the Israeli Embassy with an insulated water bottle full of flammable fluid.’
“I will no longer be complicit in genocide,” he said in his video. “I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest. But compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.”
After lighting himself on fire Bushnell was transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead at 10:06 p.m. on Sunday.
This is not the first self-immolation that has occurred since the October 7th.
“In December, a woman lit herself on fire in front of the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta in what police described as an act of “extreme political protest.”
The woman, who has not been identified any further than being a 61-year-old army veteran, survived but sustained third-degree burns over her entire body, and was hospitalised in critical condition.
In order for us to make sure that these acts aren’t done in vain, I wanted to share with you this list compiled by
in where we can do whatever we’re capable of to support those in Gaza struggling right now.Support Palestine Action: https://www.palestineaction.org/
Dissent against the War Machine: https://wearedissenters.org/
Apply pressure for a ceasefire now: https://ceasefiretoday.com/
Take action with Jewish Voice for Peace: https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/
Take action with the Palestinian Youth Movement: palestinianyouthmovement.com/
Take action with IfNotNow: https://www.ifnotnowmovement.org/
Support Boycots, Divestmest, and Sanctions: https://bdsmovement.net/
Find a protest to attend: https://www.gazaispalestine.com/take-action
Further reading:
☆⋆｡𖦹°‧★ ON THE WEB ☆⋆｡𖦹°‧★
Kate Middleton conspiracies are taking over the internet
Ok so yesterday I went onto Twitter (X ugh, I know) and ALL I saw were tweets about where the HELL Kate Middleton has been:
The theories started being fuelled after it was (vaguely) announced that Kate was undergoing a “planned abdominal surgery” that would involve a “long recovery time” and people started to realise that they hadn’t actually seen her since December.
Here’s what the original statement about it said:
“The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate. She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private,” the statement continued. “Kensington Palace will, therefore, only provide updates on Her Royal Highness’ progress when there is significant new information to share. The Princess of Wales wishes to apologize to all those concerned for the fact that she has to postpone her upcoming engagements. She looks forward to reinstating as many as possible, as soon as possible,” it concluded.”
None of this was helped by the news yesterday that Prince William (who had been scheduled to deliver a reading at the memorial service for his godfather King Constantine II) would no longer be attending the service for “personal reasons.”
Personally, I don’t really care about the royals (sorry) and I also don’t think any of these conspiracies have any merit (although I’d love to see the people’s princess stepping out to her Easter festivities with a brand new BBL) but what I do care about is that this feels like one of those good old internet moments where instead of fighting, we’re all just having a big chuckle with one another. It’s lighthearted (well for everyone except the royal family, but somehow I’m sure they’ll be fine) and reminds me why I do love to be in this place sometimes.
✿⊰𖡼𖥧𖤣❀ BEL CHIMES IN ❀𖤣𖥧𖡼⊱✿
This section is written by my all-time crush - and co-author of our debut book Make It Make Sense - Bel Hawkins. Each week Bel comes here to chime in about the things she’s been loling at, yearning for, or totally mystified by. Luckily for us, she also writes our Sunday advice column ‘Wait, But What?’ for all our paying supporters who want to make sense of the world!! Upgrade your plan to get her newsy here!
On cocooning
Hello, my crushes from, once again, my sick bed, after a never-ending bought of bronchitis and getting so well-acquainted with the stripes of my duvet I'm worried they may become imprinted on my skin.
What I've done here is a gorge segway to the topic of this week's Chime, a response to a request that came through the newsy, which is to talk about the concept of ~ Cocooning ~
I don't know if I can claim this as a word of my own quill, as I've seen the concept of going into a 'cocoon state' floating around on internet therapy quite a bit of late. I do like the idea, though, that whether you're forced to or not, you can enter this space of convalescence/replenishing stock and stop feeling guilty about missing out on the world. It'll still be there when you get back!!
Cocooning works best when a) you're sick (obviously) but also b) when you need to take a break from the world and kind of... rebalance. It's messaging your friends that you're going a bit under the radar, pulling back from social obligations, putting your phone on DND for the weekend and not being so constantly available in the way we so often feel like we need to in order to survive. It's to acknowledge messages will be missed, invitations will be turned down, life will keep turning but right now it's about getting the cupeth fulleth (can you tell I haven't properly socialised in 10 days? Don't judge me).
Love u! PS. This week I'm writing about how to talk about money with friends/mon-xiety and the tricky balance of feeling like you have a fun life around people who have more of it than you might. Love u! See you there! xo
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Thanks for writing about Aaron Bushnell and providing some links to help.
Thanks so much for listing all the Gaza resources, remembering the woman who self-immolated, and giving us what information you have about her. I had no idea she was 61 or a veteran. Also, what is wrong with people vis-a-vis Kate of Wales? Jesus, the woman could have cancer for all we know.