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Separation of young children, in fact any children, from their carer is child abuse, and I would love to see those who initiated and implemented this policy charged with this offence.

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what is the best way to explain to someone why all cops are bastards and not just "bad cops" or "American cops"

Okay, this is going to be a longer explanation.

If I’m going to be honest here, I think that anarchists often oversell this notion, mostly due to a totally legitimate emotional response to oppression that people endure at the hands of the state. This is why you’ll often find really frustrating arguments between anarchists and other people that look something like this:

Person: “Well my uncle is a cop, and he’s a nice guy, and he puts his life on the line every day so stop generalizing a whole group of people due to the few bad ones”

Anarchist: “Fuck your uncle, it’s not my fault he decided to be a pig”

Person: “Well, I never! *huffs away*”

And nobody ever gets anywhere. The problem here is that when anarchists say “All cops are bastards,” what anarchists actually mean is “the role of a cop is systemically and inherently immoral, since they violently enforce the power of the ruling class at the severe disadvantage to the poor and marginalized, sometimes including murdering the poor and marginalized with zero repercussions.” And I suppose anarchists could just say that every single time, but it is easier to just say “all cops are bastards.”

But let’s examine that second sentence for a bit. Due to a lot of popular media presentations (like Law & Order), cops are often presented as these heroic figures that do mostly good things like protect people from murderers and stop child predators. But the reality is, the vast majority of things a cop does is not like that at all. You could probably even ask a cop and they would agree with the notion that most of their job is not like that. In fact, the vast majority of things a cop does is enforcing pointless bureaucracy that only serves the ruling classes and oppresses the poor for no reason. You could even say that all a cop really is is a bureaucrat with access to military grade weaponry, and you would be pretty on the nose.

For an example, lets talk about the disparate response to two actually common occurrences that cops often are called in to help with. In one case, we have domestic violence, and in another case, we have someone who is driving a car without a license plate. Okay.

So, if somebody calls the police to help with a domestic abuse situation, often times the cops don’t show up until the domestic abuse has already gotten way out of hand. The person being abused has already been harmed to some serious degree. So the police didn’t do anything to actually prevent the abuse. Once the police do show up, sometimes the person who is being abused is disbelieved, or the police decide that both sides are to blame. Sometimes the abused person isn’t even taken out of harms way of the abuser. If the abused person is believed, then they have to file a bunch of paper work, find a shelter, occasionally pay for a hotel or some other place to go, and generally go through tons of hoops of bureaucracy in order to actually leave harms way. And the police officer is there the entire time ensuring that the proper bureaucratic steps are followed. That’s really their job. That’s their actual role in the case of a domestic abuse. They have to make sure that all of the proper paperwork is correctly filed and the steps are taken just so. This is why I said in a previous post that 24-hr women’s shelters and other forms of help against domestic abuse do far more to actually combat domestic abuse than any cop has ever done. Because they are just helping for the sake of helping rather than being the bureaucrat.

Compare this to driving without a license plate. If you drove around town in a car without a license plate, there would be a cop on your tail probably within 15-30 minutes maximum. And if you refused to do what he said, you would probably be handcuffed and whisked off to jail and you would probably be charged with multiple crimes, including possibly resisting arrest, which is a felony. All of that for just not having a license plate on your vehicle and then not doing what the cop asked. None of those things have anything to do with helping anybody. They are just bureaucratic rules put in place by the ruling class. But cops are way more likely to be found enforcing rules like that then actually helping anybody. Because that is their actual job. They are the violent arm of the bureaucratic state.

And all of this without even bringing up the fact that they also have access to military grade weaponry that they can basically use at their own discretion, for any reason, with no real risk of repercussion. And the laws and regulations of the state change all of the time - and cops are basically just told to enforce those rules, no matter what they are. So in a neoliberal capitalist state, they are bureaucrats with access to military grade weapons. But in a fascist state, they easily become concentration camp operators or SS officers. And their role never really changes. They are just the violent enforcers of the state bureaucracy.

So when you have somebody who has an uncle who is a cop, or a cousin, or a parent, or whatever - that is really neither here nor there. Your uncle might be a nice guy who wanted to be a cop to help people. I’m not saying that isn’t true. I have no way of knowing if that is true. All I’m saying is he isn’t actually helping people. That isn’t his job. His job is to enforce a bureaucracy that disproportionately benefits the ruling class and oppresses the poor and marginalized.

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It’s fucking prison camps holding 1,400 children. that’s fascism. 

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a LOT of slasher flicks from the 70s and 80s strike me as sexually violent revenge fantasies against women’s growing independence at the time tbh

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Building in the courts and halls of Canadian government for years, conflict over the mammoth Trans Mountain tar- sands oil-pipeline expansion is expected to spill into the streets of British Columbia Saturday with massive civil disobedience demonstrations.

Indigenous leaders from along the pipeline route and the U.S. are expected to join a march and rally beginning Saturday in metro Vancouver. Nearly 7,000 Coast Salish Water Protectors — as the pipeline opponents call themselves — have signed up to participate, said Will George of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, spokesman for the Protect the Inlet movement.

“We cannot stand by anymore,” George said. “It is going to be like Standing Rock,” where thousands of so-called water protectors stood against the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota in 2016.

“The similarity is we are standing up to protect our water. And we are going to do this in a peaceful way,” George said. “ It is going to mark a day in history; it will be a massive mobilization.”

Continue Reading.

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This is important.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: Gregory Crewdson 

Legendary photography Gregory Crewdson works within a photographic tradition that combines the documentary style of William Eggleston and Walker Evans with the dream-like vision of filmmakers such as Stephen Spielberg and David Lynch.

Read More

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Yes! Let them know ✊🏾

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Imagine paying $40 extra a month for Tumblr

That’s what is going to happen if we let Ajit Pai, the FCC chairman, go through with repealing Title II (AKA Net Neutrality).

Simply put, without Net Neutrality, Internet Service Providers like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T will be able to “bundle” websites much like cable ON TOP OF paying for internet connection. “Want access to Netflix AND Tumblr? Get the Entertainment Package! $40 a month. What about Amazon and Ebay? Add an extra $20 a month to get the Shopping Package.”

Not only will they be able to bundle websites and charge more, they will also be able to censor and block websites that they don’t agree with entirely.

THIS WILL BE THE END OF INTERNET AS WE KNOW IT.

For business owners, it will be even worse. Ex: Comcast will ask Amazon to pay high fees to be available in a low-cost package, fees that websites like Poshmark or Etsy will not be able to pay. Therefore, only Fortune 500’s will be available to web users at a low cost. Say goodbye to Etsy (unless you’re willing to shell out $70 a month for the “All-Inclusive” package).

To learn about Net Neutrality, why it’s important, and/or want tools to help you fight for Net Neutrality, visit BattleForTheNet (https://www.battleforthenet.com)

There are five people deciding the future of the internet, three men (Rep) and two women (Dem). The two women have come out as No votes. We need only to convince ONE of the other members to flip to a NO vote to save Net Neutrality.

There are many ways you can help:

WHAT TO DO IF YOU’RE A LAZY TUMBLR USER WITH ANXIETY WHO TRIES TO HELP WITH JUST REBLOGS / LIKES:

Here are 2 petitions to sign, one international and one exclusively US.

International: https://www.savetheinternet.com/sti-home

US: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/do-not-repeal-net-neutrality

(After you sign make sure to verify via email, it may take up to 30 mins to receive the email).

Text “resist” to 504-09. It’s a bot that will send a formal email, fax, and letter to your representatives. It also finds your representatives for you. All you have to do is text it and it holds your hand the whole way.

HERE ARE MORE STRAIGHTFORWARD ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE:

These are the emails of the 5 people on the FCC roster.

Blow up their inboxes!

Ajit Pai - Ajit.Pai@fcc.gov

Mignon Clyburn - Mignon.Clyburn@fcc.gov

Michael O'Rielly - Mike.O'Rielly@fcc.gov

Brendan Carr - Brendan.Carr@fcc.gov

Jessica Rosenworcel - Jessica.Rosenworcel@fcc.gov

You can support groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU and Free Press who are fighting to keep Net Neutrality:

• https://www.eff.org/

• https://www.aclu.org/

• https://www.freepress.net/

• https://www.fightforthefuture.org/

• https://www.publicknowledge.org/

• https://www.demandprogress.org/

Set them as your charity on Amazon Smile here (https://smile.amazon.com/)

Write to your House Representative here

(http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/)

And Senators here: https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?OrderBy=state)

Write to the FCC here (https://www.fcc.gov/about/contact)

Add a comment to the repeal here (https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/filings?proceedings_name=17-108&sort=date_disseminated,DESC)

Here’s an easier URL you can use thanks to John Oliver (http://www.gofccyourself.com)

Also check this out, which was made by the EFF and is a low transaction cost tool for writing all your reps in one fell swoop.

(https://democracy.io/#!/)

Most importantly, VOTE. This should not be something that is so clearly split between the political parties as it affects all Americans, but unfortunately it is.

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Happened today

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I work at a daycare with infants.

One of our baby girls is fat, in the 99th percentile for her age. She is super cute and sweet. Lately, she has been sick with various breathing issues, so she has been reluctant to take her bottles. Normally, she’ll take 4 ounces of formula at lunch and 8 ounces in the afternoon. Today, I was lucky to get to her take 5 all day.

There was a substitute covering a lunch break in my classroom today. We emphasized to her that we need to keep trying to get the baby to drink her bottle until she finished it. She said, “Why are you guys so worried about taking her bottle?”

My coworker replied, “That’s where all her nutrients are. She needs the nutrients and the water.”

To which the substitute replied, “But she’s so fat. She doesn’t need it.”

Thin privilege is a small, pretty baby getting better childcare because the caretaker doesn’t think she’s too fat to be allowed to eat.

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We always get lost like this...

Spirited Away (2001) dir. Hayao Miyazaki

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COMMUNITY-BASED DONATIONS FOR PUERTO RICO HURRICANE RELIEF

Most people in the USA and around the world are donating to either one or two puerto rican donation funds: Unidos por Puerto Rico, Hispanic Federation, and ConPRmetidos. 

Now I can’t speak for the last two and the work they’ve been doing, but most people here are really extremely skeptical of Unidos por Puerto Rico. Why? Its run by the FIrst Lady. The government here is extremely corrupt and there are many reports of parts of the administration skimming off hurricane relief and donations (mostly mayors, but c’mon everyone knows this goes higher up). Plus their donations are not getting to where they are needed the most. Its mostly civilians getting donations to hard-hit and hard to reach towns!

And anyways, what all three of those orgs are doing is distributing those donations to smaller orgs that work on the ground and are community based. 

SO WHY NOT SKIP THE BUREAUCRACY! DONATE DIRECTLY TO TRUSTED COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS DOING ALL THE GOOD WORK THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE! PICK THE THING YOU CARE MOST ABOUT AND DONATE!!!!

HERE’S A HUGE MASTERLIST THAT WILL BE UPDATED SINCE I NOW HAVE THE POWER OF WIFI AND ELECTRICITY AT MY HANDS! 

PLEASE FUCKING DONATE IF YOU HATE COLONIALISM, RACISM, TRUMP AND RICKY ROSSELLÓ!!! 

DONATE TO SAVE PUERTO RICAN LIVES AND STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH US!

DONATE!

1. Casa Pueblo de Adjuntas is a radical, award-winning, environmental organization that has been operating for years in opposition to the economic exploitation of Puerto Rican land. They are currently engaged in a campaign to buy solar lightbulbs to distribute to the town of Adjuntas, hit by Category 5 winds. Its citizens will probably not have electricity until February since it is in the interior of the island, with some of the highest peaks around. Its one of the worst affected towns. Living in the dark is miserable, and you can buy a lightbulb for these good people for 10$! 

2. El Departamento de la Comida (The Department of Food) is a radical kitchen in Puerto Rico focused on reviving sustainable agriculture in Puerto Rico. Its run by awesome queer people who have a radical vision for agricultural development in the islands, especially after we lost over 80% of our crops that make up an integral part of our diet and economy for mountainous towns. They have a bunch of cool and desperately necessary projects you can donate to here  and here 

3. The Center for a New Economy is a center left (? think of a little to the left Clinton i guess), nonpartisan think tank focused on developing a stable economy for Puerto Rico. They are against the austerity measures for the Island are trying to lobby Congress for disaster relief. You can donate to them here.

4. The Boys and Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico are an important community organization serving marginalized communities like Loíza (historically Afro-Puerto Rican) where poverty tends to become entrenched due to shitty economic policies, racism, and classism. They are directly involved in the communities you are donating to help. Donate here.

5. The Vieques Animal Rescue is the only no-kill shelter on the island of Vieques, part of the Puerto Rican archipelago. It suffered severe damage as the eye of Hurricane María passed over it directly. Please donate.

6. The Sato Project is another rescue organization that is doing amazing work trying to rescue animals in Puerto Rico. The Island has a severe street dog and cat problem, and its only getting worse as people leave the Island en masse and can’t take their pets. Please donate here.

7. The Caño Martín Peña or G-8 Fund is an EXTREMELY IMPORTANT COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION! They won the United Nations World Habitat Award for their Community Land Trust. Look, this place lies in prime real estate in San Juan, and for years they have tried to displace this poor, marginalized community to gentrify the area and build apartments for rich people. The people in this community have stood up to rich asshole puerto ricans and gringos and are almost completely auto-sufficient. Their community lies in a canal, so they experienced extreme flooding and destruction. I can’t stress enough how radical and awesome they are so please, please fucking donate to them!

8. Hurricane María Community Recovery Fund is a fund created by three trusted organizations: Taller Salud in Loíza, the G-8 I mentioned above, and the Centro para Desarrollo Político, Educativo, y Cultural in Caguas. Its community based and the donations will be spent according to a committee of Puerto Ricans from the Island and Diaspora, to ensure the greatest transparency. Please donate. These organizations work in the most marginalized communities on the Island, bringing basic and important services!

9. Fundación El Plato Caliente (Foundation Hot Plate) is a bunch of local restaurants and chefs working together to provide free hot meals to Puerto Ricans across the Island. They were just founded after Hurricane Maria and are already distributing upwards of 2000 plates per day! In THREE WEEKS! Puerto Ricans are still without electricity, so a hot plate of food is hard to come by, especially when most people have no income bc they are out of work. PLEASE DONATE HERE (paypal) or HERE (Their FB page has a picture with a Venmo, ATH Movil and other ways to donate).  

10. Iniciativa Comunitaria (Community Initiative) is an organization helping  people without access to medical care or who have been traditionally marginalized by the healthcare system such as: LGBT people who are HIV+, addicts many of whom are homeless, sex workers and other marginalized people. Right now they are helping the communities of San Juan, Toa Baja (site of deadly floods) and Loíza (that Afro-Boricua marginalized community I was talking about earlier). You can purchase a shirt intended for the Puerto Rican diaspora here (says strong roots, united hearts –its intended for puerto ricans but i bet its great for sleeping in!) or you can donate via paypal here.

11. Campamento Contra La Junta (Camp Against the Board) are a group of radical leftwing activists who are against the Fiscal Control Board, imposed by Congress last year. They occupied a space in front of the Federal Court Building last year. Think something along the lines of Occupy Wall Street, but perhaps more anarchist-y. They’re currently buying provisions, loading them up on their cars, and going to communities in dire need of help. You can donate to their paypal here or go to their facebook page for other ways to donate.

12. Comité Boricua en la Diáspora (Boricua Committee in the Diaspora) is a group of leftwing radical activists from the Bronx who coordinate help and activities against the colonial nature of Puerto Rico between the Islands and those on the mainland. They are currently engaged in helping the Island from the mainland, mainly NYC. You can donate to them here and they have a better explanation of where the fund will go.

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Hey all!! I am part of an affinity group/community response network and we’ve been responding to the recent wildfires that are surrounding Sonoma County and Napa County in California. We’ve been mostly passing out donations (i.e. water, tarps, clothes, masks, food, etc.) and coordinating donations to pass out in shelters , in the streets, and to folx who do not feel safe to go to a redcross shelter.

plz share any help would be great!!

https://www.generosity.com/fundraisers/northbay-iww-fire-relief-fund/

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