#Connecticut State Police

[hufflpuffin]

As the police escalate violence, beat and attack students and professors, and conduct mass arrests, student protesters should know their rights.

Here is the link to the National Lawyer's Guild booklet for protesters.

If you plan on going out to support the protests, please take some time to read through this and know your rights.

[reasonsforhope]

"Research on a police diversion program implemented in 2014 shows a striking 91% reduction in in-school arrests over less than 10 years.

Across the United States, arrest rates for young people under age 18 have been declining for decades. However, the proportion of youth arrests associated with school incidents has increased.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, K–12 schools referred nearly 230,000 students to law enforcement during the school year that began in 2017. These referrals and the 54,321 reported school-based arrests that same year were mostly for minor misbehavior like marijuana possession, as opposed to more serious offenses like bringing a gun to school.

School-based arrests are one part of the school-to-prison pipeline, through which students—especially Black and Latine students and those with disabilities—are pushed out of their schools and into the legal system.

Getting caught up in the legal system has been linked to negative health, social, and academic outcomes, as well as increased risk for future arrest.

Given these negative consequences, public agencies in states like Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania have looked for ways to arrest fewer young people in schools. Philadelphia, in particular, has pioneered a successful effort to divert youth from the legal system.

Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program

In Philadelphia, police department leaders recognized that the city’s school district was its largest source of referrals for youth arrests. To address this issue, then–Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel developed and implemented a school-based, pre-arrest diversion initiative in partnership with the school district and the city’s department of human services. The program is called the Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program, and it officially launched in May 2014.

Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker named Bethel as her new police commissioner on Nov. 22, 2023.

Since the diversion program began, when police are called to schools in the city for offenses like marijuana possession or disorderly conduct, they cannot arrest the student involved if that student has no pending court case or history of adjudication. In juvenile court, an adjudication is similar to a conviction in criminal court.

Instead of being arrested, the diverted student remains in school, and school personnel decide how to respond to their behavior. For example, they might speak with the student, schedule a meeting with a parent, or suspend the student.

A social worker from the city also contacts the student’s family to arrange a home visit, where they assess youth and family needs. Then, the social worker makes referrals to no-cost community-based services. The student and their family choose whether to attend.

Our team—the Juvenile Justice Research and Reform Lab at Drexel University—evaluated the effectiveness of the diversion program as independent researchers not affiliated with the police department or school district. We published four research articles describing various ways the diversion program affected students, schools, and costs to the city.

Arrests Dropped

In our evaluation of the diversion program’s first five years, we reported that the annual number of school-based arrests in Philadelphia decreased by 84%: from nearly 1,600 in the school year beginning in 2013 to just 251 arrests in the school year beginning in 2018.

Since then, school district data indicates the annual number of school-based arrests in Philadelphia has continued to decline—dropping to just 147 arrests in the school year that began in 2022. That’s a 91% reduction from the year before the program started.

We also investigated the number of serious behavioral incidents recorded in the school district in the program’s first five years. Those fell as well, suggesting that the diversion program effectively reduced school-based arrests without compromising school safety.

Additionally, data showed that city social workers successfully contacted the families of 74% of students diverted through the program during its first five years. Nearly 90% of these families accepted at least one referral to community-based programming, which includes services like academic support, job skill development, and behavioral health counseling...

Long-Term Outcomes

To evaluate a longer follow-up period, we compared the 427 students diverted in the program’s first year to the group of 531 students arrested before the program began. Results showed arrested students were significantly more likely to be arrested again in the following five years...

Finally, a cost-benefit analysis revealed that the program saves taxpayers millions of dollars.

Based on its success in Philadelphia, several other cities and counties across Pennsylvania have begun replicating the Police School Diversion Program. These efforts could further contribute to a nationwide movement to safely keep kids in their communities and out of the legal system."

-via Yes! Magazine, December 5, 2023

[atlabeth]

northern attitude

geyser (where hurricane is introduced)

pairing: luke castellan x daughter of poseidon!reader

summary: you and luke meet for the first time. (or luke saves you from a monster, you argue with each other the whole time, and he realizes that he doesn't want to survive alone anymore.)

a/n: by popular demand, hurricane is back for a sequel! and potentially more. lol. enjoy some insight into her (justice for weird little girls) and try not to think about the fact that she dies 6 years later! title comes from new england king noah kahan for these new england icons

wc: 4.6k

warning(s): some inner luke angst, monster encounter and short fight (luke gets a bit injured), they argue but in the fun way. they're just lil nine year olds

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Luke muttered. 

He didn’t get an answer back. He was, after all, talking to a fish. 

Maybe it didn’t like that he was a criminal. Luke had snuck his way into the New England Aquarium—he wasn’t going to cough up twenty-five bucks to look at marine life—in desperate need of a reprieve from the city, and he fought the urge to check his back every second. If there was one thing he’d learned from being on his own, it was that kids traveling alone always attracted attention. The last thing he needed was attention. 

Talking to a fish probably wasn’t good for that, but Luke wasn’t exactly in the best headstate. 

Because honestly, he didn’t really know what he was doing in Massachusetts. He tried staying in Connecticut after running away, but it still felt too close to home. He could still hear his mom yelling, could still see her glowing eyes. So he bought the cheapest bus ticket he could find to Boston, hoping a state in between would help. 

That was the second thing he’d learned while traveling on the road: everything was way too expensive. And for a kid with no job living off the allowance he’d saved up and some extra money he took out of his mom’s wallet, that wasn’t great. If Luke couldn’t get something dirt cheap, he stole it. His father may not have answered any of his prayers in the past few years, but at least he had naturally quick fingers. 

Luke sighed as he turned away from the fish, who was clearly not interested in striking up a conversation. He weaved his way through the crowd as he tried to think of where to go next—it wasn’t the smartest decision, but he was tempted to get a little whale plush from the gift stop—when he heard the middle of a conversation. 

“You made a mistake coming here, dearie.” 

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as Luke froze in place. He couldn’t even murmur an apology to the people who bumped into him because the gears in his head were turning rapidly. 

“Let go of me—” a voice protested in response. 

“Quieting down would do you some good. Did your mother not teach you manners?”

He was still trying to see who it was when he finally found it. A middle-aged woman moved through the crowd with a girl around Luke’s age, her hand wrapped tightly around the girl’s arm. Her nails were more like claws, and she had a strange gait that she tried to cover up. That was when he knew. 

See, Luke had gotten used to distinguishing creeps from freaks with all his time on the road. Cutting a monster down would turn them into dust—normal humans would call the police. And if there was anything more dangerous for a runaway juvenile than monsters, it was the police. 

But if a monster had ignored every single person in this building to get to you, it meant he’d somehow stumbled his way into the path of another half-blood. And Luke wasn’t going to let another half-blood die right in front of him. 

So he took a deep breath, hoped the five second plan he made up in his head would work, and moved in.

“May, where have you been?” Luke tried to put on his best brother voice, and made himself as imposing as a nine year old could be. He didn’t focus at all on the monster, instead communicating to trust him as much as he could with his eyes. “Mom’s been worried sick!”

Both you and the woman turned to look at him, and Luke immediately knew he made the right choice from the blatant fear in your expression. 

“Sorry,” you said, letting your shoulders fall and your gaze drop to the ground. Luke tried not to let his relief show over you playing along. “I really wanted to look at the sea turtle—” 

“You should’ve said something instead of just wandering off,” he insisted. “We can all go look at it together—once Mom is done lecturing you, at least.” Luke took your hand and you let him pull you over to his side, positioning himself in front of you ever so slightly as he looked up at the woman. “Thanks for keeping an eye on her. I appreciate it.” 

“You should be more careful,” she said eerily. It felt as if she was staring right into his soul. “You never know the kind of things that are out there.” 

“I know,” he said, shaking his head. “Sisters, am I right?” 

As soon as they were out of hearing distance, he lowered his voice and tightened his grip on your hand. “Come on. Try and look casual.” 

“You know what she is,” you whispered.

“Yes,” he said, then he shook his head. “I— not exactly. But I know she’s a monster.”

“I knew it,” you muttered with vindication. Luke felt your eyes on him. “So you’re like me?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“One of your parents is—” You stopped, as if you still weren’t sure. 

Luke knew the feeling all too well—desperately trying to tell someone what he was only to be met with that look adults loved to give. You’re clearly talking nonsense, but I feel bad for you so I’ll humor you. And all the normal kids he’d tried to tell the truth to thought he was just playing a game. 

“A god,” he finished quietly. “Yeah.”

You started to look back, but Luke stopped you. 

“Don’t.” Their chances of getting attacked in a place so full of people was lower, but Luke had dealt with some particularly bold monsters. One able to disguise themself as a human would have an advantage—Luke learned people hated listening to kids, especially ones they could pass off as delusional. “You don’t want her to catch on.” 

“Who are you?” you asked. 

“My name’s Luke,” he said. “What about you?” 

You said your name, then you glanced at him. “You know a lot about all of this. More than me.” 

“Are you a runaway too?”

You nodded, and a part of his heart broke. You had no right to be out here, not when you were so young. 

And he says so, too. “You shouldn’t be out here on your own. It’s dangerous.” 

You frowned. “You’re out here on your own too.” 

“I’ve been on my own for a few months,” he said. “I know what to expect. How long have you been out?” 

You shrugged. “A week.” 

Luke let out a ragged sigh. “You’ve got bad luck if monsters are already coming after you.” 

“They already have,” you murmured, and you looked back at him. “How old are you if you’ve been doing this for months?” 

Luke frowned. “Nine. How old are you?” 

“I’m also nine,” you shot back. “So you can’t say anything to me.” 

He opened his mouth to retort—Luke hadn’t been a child in years, not since Hermes left him alone with a cursed mother and a burning rage inside of him that he couldn’t let go of, no matter how hard he tried. But if you chose to run away from home too, then you were in the same boat. Kids like you two didn’t get to be kids. 

“Fair,” he conceded. “But it’ll be a lot easier to give her the slip if we work together.”

“…I can deal with that.” You cleared your throat. “Thank you for saving me, though. I… I just froze.” 

“It happens more than you’d think,” Luke muttered. “We have to throw her off our trail, though. She’s not gonna be happy.” 

“She’s probably ecstatic,” you said, shaking your head. “She’s got two kids to eat instead of one.” 

“Aren’t you an optimist?” he remarked. 

You chuckled. “Sorry. It hasn’t been a great day.” 

“It’s fine.” Luke didn’t know the last great—god, even good—day he’d had, even before he ran away. Honestly, this conversation with you had been the highlight of this month. “But we can’t just leave. She has our scent, so she’ll be on us as soon as we’re on our own. It’ll be even easier out in the open. We’ve gotta set security on her trail to get her off ours.” 

You nodded as you turned another corner. “We should get to the gift shop. It’ll be less populated, but still enough to hide us.” 

Luke nodded. “Smart. And security’ll have an easy path there in case of shoplifters.” 

“So tell a sob story, get security, set them on her,” you said, looking at him. 

“Then get the hell out of here,” he agreed. 

“Think we can get a souvenir for the occasion?” you asked. “We’ve probably earned it with all this dodging.” 

Luke thought about that whale plushie again. “Maybe.” 

“The stairs are that way.” You gestured with your head, and Luke turned—he’d been going the completely wrong direction.

“Thanks,” he said. “You know this place?” 

“I’m from Boston,” you nodded. “And I’ve been here a lot with my mom.”

Luke figured he should have guessed by the accent. He didn’t know how long he was going to stay, but it would be useful to have someone with him who knew the city.

“You’re still pretty close to home,” he noted. 

You shrugged. “I’ve been doing all the things I’ve wanted to do now that I’m officially on my own. I know I’m gonna have to leave eventually, but…” you sighed and shook your head. “I guess I’m scared. Brave enough to run away but too scared to make it official.” 

Luke understood that more than you could know. It took him feeling like he was going to burst out of his skin before he got the strength to leave Connecticut. 

“You don’t wanna leave your mom,” he guessed. 

You nodded. “I love her more than anything, but I’ve already put her in too much danger. I’m leaving until I can figure out how to keep her safe.” 

You’re a kid, Luke wanted to say. It should be the other way around. But he’d already been hypocritical enough for today, and you’d probably say the same. 

“That’s sweet,” he said. “Stupid, but sweet.” 

“We’re both nine-year-old runaways,” you said. “You don’t get to tell me what’s stupid.” 

He chuckled and shook his head, letting the matter drop as you finally got to the gift shop. Luke had been stressed about how to strike a balance between cautious enough to keep your backs covered but confident enough to not be questioned, but it turned out talking with you was all he needed. 

On the way to the front, Luke caught sight of a whale plushie. His fingers itched to grab it, but he kept his eyes on the better prize of not dying and came to a stop at the cash register. 

“Hi,” Luke said, getting the attention of the employee at the front, hoping he sounded adequately fearful. “There’s a woman out there that tried to get my friend to go with her. Tall, middle-aged, dressed in grandmother-y clothes with glasses. She grabbed her arm and threatened her.” 

“You kids aren’t joking around, are you?” the cashier asked. 

“No,” you said, and Luke was shocked by how close to tears you sounded. “It was really scary— my parents were in the bathroom and I was waiting for them, and she just looked so nice, but—” somehow, a tear actually fell from your eye as you let out a sob— “but she tried to take me away.” 

The woman shook her head as she went back and grabbed a walkie talkie from below the register. The moment she turned away, you glanced at Luke and nodded, and he just stared in awe. She relayed Luke’s description then said a couple other things, then she crouched down to be on their level to look you straight-on. “Where are your parents?” 

“They’re in the bathroom on the second floor,” you provided. “We came here because we didn’t know where else to go.” 

She sighed, falling for every part of it. You were much better at garnering sympathy than Luke was. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I called our security— they’ll be here in a second to get a statement from you.” 

You nodded, sniffling a bit as your lip quivered. “Thank you. I— I just want my mom.” 

The employee put her hand to her heart, and when you went for a hug, she reciprocated. “Don’t cry. You’re gonna be safe, okay? I’ll wait with you until security gets here. One of our guards is already out there looking for her.”

“Okay,” you agreed. Luke caught your eye from behind her back, and you dropped your act in a second to smile knowingly at him. He just shook his head with a slight smile of his own—you were good at this. 

Eventually, two security guards arrived—Luke doubted they would be good for handling a shoplifter, much less a mythological monster—but they took yours and Luke’s statements, and were about to leave before you spoke up. 

“Our parents are definitely looking for us,” you said, already back on the verge of tears. “Can— can you take us to them? When they went to the bathroom, we were by the coral reef.” 

“‘Course.” One of them nodded and looked at his partner. “I’ll get them back to their parents—you look for the suspect.” 

After a short discussion, the three of you set out, you still holding Luke’s hand as he leaned closer to you. 

“On my signal,” he murmured. “We’re gonna blend into the crowd and get out of here.”

You nodded. You were so close to the exit, but you allowed the guard to take you up the stairs, and thankfully the crowd around the middle of the giant ocean tank was huge. Luke counted off quietly, and when he got to three, you split off, blending into a group of kids on a school field trip to get back to the stairs. 

You started moving at a much quicker pace, the exit within your sights, but just as they were about to make it, Luke spotted their monster. And now, she was definitely a monster—Luke couldn’t remember the name, but she’d shed her disguise, looking like some kind of bird-human hybrid thing. It didn’t really matter in his opinion, because she really looked like she wanted to kill the two of you. 

Luke cursed and grabbed your arm, immediately pulling you flat up against the wall with him. “She’s here.” 

“We told security about her,” you protested. “How hard could it be to find her?” 

“A bit harder when they’re gonna be seeing something different.” Luke glanced at you. “You said you’ve already dealt with monsters before.” 

You nodded. 

“Do you remember feeling like you were the only one who actually saw what was happening? Like you saw the monster for what it was while it was trying to kill you, and everyone was still freaking out, but not as much as they should have been?” 

You nodded again. 

“Well, that’s a thing. Normal people can’t see what monsters really look like—only we can.” Luke peeked his head around the corner again. “And if she’s shed her disguise, it means she wants to go in for the kill. And it means we’re completely on our own.” 

“We’re not on our own,” you said. “We’ve got each other.” 

Luke found himself smiling. It had been a while since that was true. It had been a while since he’d smiled. 

“Yeah,” he agreed. “And it’s harder to kill two half-bloods than one.” 

He poked his head out again and immediately withdrew it, cursing under his breath as he stared up at the ceiling. “I never should have come to this city.”  

“Excuse me?” You stepped away from the wall as your brows furrowed. “Boston is the greatest city in the world.” 

“If you’re gonna be wrong, be wrong quietly,” Luke urged, gesturing with his head for you to get back. “And you are wrong, by the way.” 

“I’m not wrong.” You crossed your arms, refusing to budge. “Did you know that we have the first public park? And the first public school! And we have the T! Where are you even from?” 

“We can talk about this later,” he insisted. “We’re trying to hide. Have you ever hidden before?” 

“We don’t need to hide when you’ve insulted my Commonwealth’s honor,” you said. “Especially when you’re in our aquarium. Where are you from to be talking so badly about the Bay State?” 

“Connecticut,” he finally said, hoping that would get you to finally quiet down, but that only ramped you up further. “Place called Westport.”

“Connecticut?” you marveled, throwing your hands up. “You’re from some podunk town in Connecticut and you’re insulting Boston?” 

“Okay, Westport is not a podunk town—” Luke started, but he didn’t get the chance to finish defending his hometown before he caught sight of their monster—and she’d caught sight of them. 

Luke cursed even harder under his breath with words no nine year old should have known, then he grabbed your hand and pulled you along into a jog, interrupting your immediate protests. 

“She’s got us pinned,” he said, trying to keep his voice low enough to not be detected while making sure you could hear him. “Together, our scent is too strong. We’re not gonna be able to lose her—we’ve gotta kill her.”

“Could the fish help with her knowing where we are?” you asked as you started running with him. “Because they’ll be happy to help us. They don’t like her either.”

Luke did a double take. “What?”

“I can hear what they’re saying,” you said, as if it were completely normal. “It’s a little overwhelming with so many in one place, honestly.”

If they weren’t on the run from a monster, Luke would have worried a bit more about the fact that you were crazy. But he wasn’t awarded those kinds of luxuries these days. 

“We’ll—” Luke let out a sigh, because what did you mean that you could hear what fish were saying (especially because they clearly weren’t conversation prone)— “we’ll get out of here, and get the upper hand, and we’ll kill her. Okay?”

“Okay,” you nodded. “But Boston is still the greatest city in the world.” 

He huffed, taking his eyes off the path forward for a moment just to look at you. “Are you seriously still on this?” 

“Of course. We also have the greatest baseball team in the country.” You gestured with your free hand. “Do you see how many people here have Red Sox hats on?” 

Luke laughed out of pure shock. Was this the kind of stuff he’d been missing out on while traveling alone? 

“Listen,” he said. “If we get out of this alive, you can tell me all the Red Sox facts you want. But we actually have to work together through all this. Deal?” 

“Deal,” you said immediately. “You’re way more focused than I am.” 

Luke let out a loose breath and shook his head. “Well, I’ve had to be. Do you have a weapon?” 

“I took a kitchen knife before I left,” you said, “just to be safe. It’s worked pretty well.” 

“Do you know how to use it?” 

“I’m really good at chopping vegetables,” you said. “And I killed a monster with it the other day.” 

“Glowing reviews,” Luke chuckled. “I’m pretty good with my sword, so we should be okay.” 

“You’ve got a sword? How?” 

“...My dad left it for me before he left,” Luke said. “I guess he wanted to do one good thing for me in his life.” 

“I’m sorry,” you said. Luke offered a tight smile. 

“Doesn’t matter much anymore,” he said. “Soon as we get outside, we get to the street and get to some empty alley. We hide on either side, wait for her to find us, then take her down. Okay?” 

You nodded resolutely. “Let’s do it.”

The beginning of the plan wasn’t too difficult. Your faces would probably be plastered all over the place once the staff realized you were missing, but that was a problem for another day. You knew the area well so you took charge—and you took the time to spout random facts about the city on your way, of course, like a nine-year-old tour guide—and soon enough they were indeed in an empty alleyway. 

You and Luke stood on each side, weapons in your grasp now that you weren’t surrounded by a whole aquarium of people, and he watched as you stared straight ahead, trying to keep your breathing steady. Besides the whole hearing fish thing, you seemed pretty well-adjusted for where you were. 

But then again—you’d only been at this for a week, and the way you talked about your mom, your home life was the complete opposite of his. 

Luke shook his head. It didn’t matter what your life was like—you both ended up in the same place. 

His thoughts were mercifully ended when Luke heard sharp nails scratching against the brick of the alleyway. He grimaced, his grip tightening on his sword, and he looked over at you. Your eyes were slightly wide, but you nodded when he did. You were ready. 

“You two are clever,” the monster sang, her voice just as grating as her nails against the wall, “but I never miss a meal. And those measly workers just wouldn’t sate my appetite.” 

Her steps got closer and closer, and Luke held his breath. Right before she would be able to see you both, he yelled, “Now!” 

You were out first, immediately lashing at her with your knife. She took the cut against her shoulder and slashed at you in turn, but you dodged out of the way, giving Luke a chance to come in with his sword. But his angle was off, and she deflected the blow then sunk her claws into his arm. Luke cried out, landing a kick on her chest as he ripped himself out of her grasp, but her focus was already back on you. 

You stabbed at her with your knife and actually landed it in her chest, but it wasn’t Celestial bronze—all it did was make her angrier. She screeched and tackled you to the ground, knife still sticking out of her, claws poised to rip your throat out. You grit your teeth as you wrestled her arms away from you, but your strength was fading fast. 

Luke’s eyes widened and he grabbed his sword from the ground. He wouldn’t make it in time, but you could. 

He called out your name and threw his sword, and you didn’t even have to look to snatch it out of the air. Storms raged in your eyes as you stabbed the monster through the side.

“You shouldn’t have come here, dearie,” you spat. 

The monster’s scream dissolved with the wind as she exploded into dust, dousing you in yellow powder. The sword fell out of your grip as you coughed, and you just laid on the ground, drained.  

“Gross,” you grumbled. 

Luke wiped his hand across his forehead as he fought to catch his breath, ignoring the blood seeping down his arm. “Are you okay?” 

“Yeah,” you said between coughs. “I’m great.” 

Luke went over and offered his hand, and he pulled you up after you took it. “I’m so sorry. I guess I’m a little rusty.” 

“Neither of us are dead, are we? I’d say it went pretty well.” You grimaced as you wiped the powder off your face, groaning again. “This is gonna take forever to get off.” 

Luke chuckled as he took his backpack off and took out a towel, which you accepted gratefully. A demigod always had to be prepared. “You say you’ve only been on your own for a week?”

You nodded as you started cleaning your face and arms off. “Not my first monster, though.”

“It never is,” he murmured. Luke tipped his head back towards the sun and closed his eyes, letting out one final, long breath as the buzz from battle started to fade. And along with that, his adrenaline—the wound on his arm began to sting, and he sighed. He really didn’t feel like dealing with that. 

“You’re hurt,” you said, and Luke opened his eyes. 

“I’ll be fine,” he said. “They’re surface level.” 

You frowned. “Are you sure?” 

“I’ve stitched myself up a few times, and this doesn’t need them,” he said, his lip curling at the memory. He was not a very good doctor. “I have some first aid stuff in my bag—once we get out of here, I’ll fix it up.” 

“You said we,” you said. 

Luke blinked. “I did?” 

You nodded. “When we get out of here.” 

He blinked again. He didn’t even notice—didn’t even really think about where you would go after the monster was dead. It was kinda sad, but Luke was pretty sure he’d smiled and talked more in this one hour with you than the past few months on his own. He’d already started thinking of you and him as a collective. 

“What d’you think, then?” he asked. “You wanna stick together?” 

You frowned. “You’re willing to kick it with a girl you just met?”

He shrugged. “You fight well, obviously. And you’re way better at making people feel bad for you than I am. That’s useful when you’ve got nothing.”

“We’re kids on our own,” you said. “It’s not that hard to get pity points.”

“I’ve been told I’m… abrasive,” Luke said. “Besides, I like you already. You were arguing for your baseball team while running for your life. It’s annoying, but impressive.”

“People also say that about me,” you said sagely. Luke smiled and held out his hand more. 

“So? You wanna join forces?”

You stared at it for a while. “Even if I spend the next couple of hours telling you all about the Red Sox?”

Luke chuckled. “I did say you could if we got out of this alive. And I feel pretty alive.” 

It took you another second, but you nodded intently and shook his hand. “Then you’ve got yourself a deal, Luke.” 

“Glad to hear it,” he said, his smile widening. 

You handed him the towel and he went to put it back in his bag when he saw the… souvenir he’d taken before you left the gift shop. He grabbed the whale plushie that had been on his mind all day and held it out to you. “Here.”

You frowned. “When did you even have the time to get this? You definitely didn’t pay for it.”

“Idle hands are the devil’s playthings,” he said. “They won’t miss it. It’s a much better use marking the start of our friendship. Besides,” Luke shrugged, “you did say you wanted a souvenir.” 

You smiled as you took it. “Looks like we’re a trio, then.”

“Welcome to the team,” he said with a grin. “It’s a small one, but I think we’ll make it work.”

“Me too,” you nodded. “And it’ll be nice not being alone.”

Luke thought back to all the nights spent sleeping under bridges, commandeering benches, purposefully choosing overnight buses so he would have somewhere to rest. Constantly watching his back because he had no one else, wondering if each night he camped in the woods would be his last. 

He looked at you, a girl who ran away from home because she didn’t want to hurt her mom. Your clothes were covered in yellow monster dust, sweat dripped down your forehead, and Luke had nearly gotten you killed—but you were still smiling. And he found himself smiling too. 

“Yeah,” Luke murmured. “It will be.” 

[catdotjpeg]

UPDATE 4:02pm EST: Mondoweiss has verified in their article that the family is asking "that no one make donations to fundraisers unless specifically organized by our families." Thanks to @justaboutsnapped for flagging this!

Three Palestinian college students were shot and wounded in Burlington, Vermont Saturday evening, local Vermont TV station WCAX reported. The victims, unnamed by police, reportedly include Brown undergraduate Hesham Awartani ’25, as well as Kinnan Abdelhamid and Tahseen Ahmed, students at Haverford College and Trinity College, respectively. Police statements did not identify a shooter or indicate that a suspect is in custody; the Council on American-Islamic Relations is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, The Messenger reported.  The shooting took place at 6:25 p.m. Saturday, and safety personnel brought all three victims to the University of Vermont Medical Center, according to VTDigger. Awartani and Ahmed sustained serious injuries, according to a statement from their high school in the West Bank. The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee has called upon authorities to investigate the incident as a hate crime. The organization wrote in a statement that “the three victims were wearing a kuffiyeh and speaking Arabic. A man shouted and harassed the victims, then proceeded to shoot them."  Brown is aware of the incident but could not confirm the identity of the victims, University Spokesperson Amanda McGregor wrote in an email to The Herald. “We received the difficult news from the family this morning that a Brown undergraduate currently enrolled in his junior year at the University is in the hospital after being shot while out of state for the Thanksgiving break,” McGregor wrote. “We’re not at liberty to release details about his health status or his identity, but we are actively offering care to the family and support to our student, as well as members of our campus community.” All three students attended Ramallah Friends School in the West Bank before attending college in the U.S., according to a Facebook post from the school. “Ramallah Friends School board, administration, staff and community are deeply distressed by the recent incident involving three of our graduates, Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid and Tahseen Ahmed who were shot and injured last evening in Burlington, VT,” the school wrote in the post. “While we are relieved to know that they are alive, we remain uncertain about their condition and hold them in the light. We extend our thoughts and prayers to them and their families for a full recovery, especially considering the severity of injuries,” the statement continued. “We stand united in hope and support for their well-being during this challenging time.” [...] Basil Awartani, who identified himself as Hisham Awartani’s cousin, shared in a post on X that “My cousin Hisham has been shot in the back while walking with his friends in Burlington for simply wearing kuffiyehs and speaking Arabic. Dangerous performative rhetoric from US pundits and politicians as well as constant dehumanization of Palestinians has a real-life cost.”

-- "Brown junior among three Palestinian students shot in Vermont Saturday night" from Brown Daily Herald, 26 Nov 2023 12:36pm EST

Kinnan Abdelhamid is a student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania and Tahseen Ahmed is a student at Trinity College in Connecticut. Their current condition is unknown.

[thesandyhooktragedy]

was adam lanza a pedophile?

this is a topic of hot debate. personally i don’t believe it add or subtracts much from his case, but nevertheless people love to discuss it. so let’s discuss!

why do people think he’s a pedophile in the first place? from a young age, lanza had a fascination with violence against children. in elementary school, lanza wrote several stories featuring violence against children.

later in life, lanza would write a 35-page essay defending pedophilia as part of his college application. in this essay, lanza postulated that pedophile rights were part of the “liberation of children”, and that children should be able to make decisions as adults would. lanza also stated that he believed an “adult-child relationship” could be “beneficial for both parties”.

lanza would expand on this essay on his youtube channel, CulturalPhilistine, in an 8 part series titled “On pedophiles and children”. the transcripts for these videos can be found here

after lanza’s attack on Sandy Hook, police would find notes and basic sketches of scenes for a play called “Lovebound”, written by lanza, on his hard drive. the play would depict a relationship between a 10-year-old boy and a 30-year-old man.

many users of the forum that lanza was on, Shocked Beyond Belief, seemed to have an impression of him that included him having an attraction to children.

(full sources of picture one and three can be found here and here! these specific screenshots were found from a post by lanzagf.)

so, was he a pedophile? we have no definitive way of knowing, and there’s an equal amount of evidence suggesting that he wasn’t one. when police searched lanza’s hard drive, they found no sexual content featuring children.

it’s well known that lanza was an odd man all around, so perhaps his fascination with violence against children simply came from his “antinatalism” and general violent thoughts rather than an actual attraction to children. maybe the impression that other SBB users had of him came from his awkward personality.

the biggest question, i think, is does it matter?

an article published by the Connecticut Post puts it best—

Dr. Charles Herrick, the head of psychiatry at Danbury Hospital, said it is difficult with the information released to date to know if Lanza's interest in pedophilia had any influence on his behavior.

"The material related to his obsession with mass shootings is far more compelling about what is driving his behavior," he said.

although pedophilia could be a possible motivator of lanza’s attack on Sandy Hook, his fascination with mass shootings—something which appears to be a trend in a lot of mass shooters—is far more relevant. however, the Connecticut Post’s article offers an explanation on how lanza being a pedophile could’ve motivated him to attack Sandy Hook.

[Dr. Fred] Berlin said one could speculate that Lanza, if he had pedophilia tendencies, could have targeted the elementary school in an attempt to eliminate temptation.

"The idea is that someone who has a strong desire for something and they're forbidden to act upon it, they can be angry at the source of temptation," he said. "It's not unreasonable, given what happened. There must have been a tremendous amount of rage inside of him."

as i stated, there’s no definitive way of knowing whether or not adam lanza was a pedophile. either way, i don’t believe it adds or subtracts much from his case, as it does little to change much about his moral character. i don’t believe there’s any point in arguing about something that only serves to make a tragedy more disturbing.

what do you think? was adam lanza a pedophile or not?

[tododeku-or-bust]

"Similarly, the National Journal reporter that between January 1997 and October 1999, the agency handled 3.4 million orders of Pentagon equipment from over eleven thousand domestic police agencies in all fifty states. Included in the bounty were "253 aircraft... UH-60 Blackhawk and UH-1 Huey helicopters, 7,856 M-16 rifles, 181 grenade launcher, 8,131 bulletproof helmets, and 1,161 pairs of night-vision goggles." A retired police chief in New Haven, Connecticut told The New York Times, "I was offered ranks, bazookas, anything I wanted."

The New Jim Crow, on how the Pentagon encourages police agencies to participate in the federally pushed War on Drugs with money and weaponry.

[cherrycolored-punk]

note: I am not tagging this with trigger warnings because I want people to have access to resources they may not otherwise know of.

Seeing the vile rhetoric, the support for a president that’s been found liable for rape, and the hatred towards women in the past week has been…exhausting.

After being assaulted in 2017 and in 2019, I was lucky to find my local rape crisis center on a whim. I didn’t even know it existed and it literally saved my life.

These Crisis Centers / Advocacy Programs offer a variety of resources depending on the location including counseling, legal support/advice, support groups, assistance with reporting (if you choose to), and crisis intervention.

I’ve compiled a list of national, state and military resources in hopes of helping anyone who may need it. If you need help finding something for your specific area feel free to message me and I’d be happy to help, no questions asked.

National Resources:

National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673

National Sexual Violence Resource Center: Directory of Organizations

Victim Connect: Resource Center

StrongHearts Native Helpline: 1-844-762-8483 (domestic and sexual assault helpline for Native Americans and Alaskan Natives)

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 (español: 1-800-942-6908) or text “start” to 88788

Domestic Violence List of Local Resources (organized by state)

National LGTBQIA+ Helplines: Anti-Violence Project - 212-714-1141 (24hr bilingual assistance)

State Resources:

Alabama (Central including Blount, Chilton, Jefferson, St. Clair, Shelby, and Walker counties) - Crisis Center / local crisis line: 205-323-7777

Alaska - Violent Crimes Compensation Boards (apply for financial assistance for mental health care) / Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault List of Resources by Community

Arizona - Sexual and Domestic Violence Helpline (602-279-2980 / 1-800-782-6400) / Map of Resources / Legal Resources (pdf Dropbox link)

Arkansas - Crisis Centers by Area / Domestic Violence Shelters

California - PREVAIL (online form to request resources) / PREVAIL helplines (Stockton - San Joaquin St: 209-941-2611, Stockton California Office: 209-929-6700, Lodi Office: 209-368-3406) / PREVAIL 24hr Crisis Helpline: 209-465-4878 / List of Resources by Region

Colorado - Map of Resources / Victim Compensation Application (note: crime must have been reported to police or forensic exam conducted)

Connecticut - Statewide 24/hr Crisis Line: 1-888-999-5545 (English) or 1-888-568-8332 (Español) / Map of Member Centers / Map PDF (Dropbox link)

Delaware - YWCA Delaware Sexual Assault Response Center: 1-800-773-8570 / Contact LifeLine Statewide Crisis Helpline: 1-800-262-9800 / Legal Aid / DAASV Resources Website / 24hr Domestic Violence Hotlines:

New Castle County: 302-762-6110

Kent County: 302-422-8058

Sussex County: 302-745-9874

Counseling: Amanecer Counseling & Resource Center - 302-576-4136 / Survivors Of Abuse In Recovery (SOAR): 302-655-3953

Florida - Statewide Helpline: 1-888-956-7273 / List of Local Centers / List of Legal Resources

Georgia - List of Centers / Map of Centers / Victims Compensation Program (note: must have reported crime within 72hrs of it occurring unless good cause shown)

Hawaii - List of Resources by County/Island / YWCA 24/hr hotline: 808-935-0677, text: 808-935-0677 / Urgent Services Directory PDF (2020, Dropbox link)

Idaho - List of Crisis Centers / Domestic Violence Advice Line: 1-877-500-2980, Civil Protection PDF (Dropbox link)

Illinois - List of Crisis Centers / Chicago Domestic Violence Helpline: 1-877-863-6338 (24hr, multilingual)

Indiana - Crisis Center Map / Crisis Center Directory / Statewide Legal Help

Iowa - Victim Service Hotline: 1-800-770-1650 or text IOWAHELP to 20121 / Find a Crisis Center

Kansas - Crisis Helpline: 1-888-363-2287 / Victim Advocacy Resource Directory (sexual and domestic violence) / List of Legal Services

Kentucky - Crisis Centers by Region / Domestic Violence Programs and Shelters / DV Legal Resources / How to Get Protective Order

Louisiana - Statewide Crisis Helpline: 1-888-895-7273, text: 225-351-7233 / List of Crisis Centers by Region

Maine - Sexual Assault Helpline: 1-800-871-7741 / List of Support Centers / Map with Center Details (PDF, Dropbox link)

Maryland - Find a Center Directory / Legal Resources / Abortion Access (legal in Maryland) / Get Medical Attention

Massachusetts - YWCA 24hr Hotline: 1-877-509-9922 / Rape Crisis Centers by Region / Domestic Violence Programs

Michigan - Hotline: 1-855-864-2374, Text: 1-866-238-1454 / Crisis Centers PDF (Dropbox link)

Minnesota - Find Advocacy or Medical Care

Mississippi - List of Rape Crisis Centers

Missouri - Resource Directory (sexual assault and domestic violence)

Montana - Victim Services Map / YWCA Missoula Crisis Line: 1-800-483-7858

Nebraska - Domestic and Sexual Violence Program Map (PDF, Dropbox link), Program List (PDF, Dropbox Link)

Nevada - Crisis Hotline: 1-800-330-0226, Text SASS to 839863, Resource Directory

New Hampshire - Crisis Hotline: 1-866-644-3574, Crisis Center Map and Locations (PDF, Dropbox Link) / Legal and Other Resources / Medical and Forensic Exams

New Jersey - Statewide Crisis Hotline: 1-800-601-7200 / Program Directory / Sexual Assault Protection Act and Protective Orders (PDF, Dropbox link) / Post-Exposure Prophylaxis

New Mexico - Statewide Crisis Line: 1-844-667-2457, Text: 1-844-667-247 / Program Directory / Sexual Assault Service Providers / Mental Health Centers

New York - Safe Horizons 24hr Helpline: 212-227-3000, State DV & SV Hotline: 1-800-942-6906 or Text: 1-844-997-2121 / Resource Guide (PDF, Dropbox link) / Resource Center Directory

North Carolina - Find a Crisis Center, Address Confidentiality Program, DV Program Directory, Rape Crisis Center Database

North Dakota - Resource Directory, Legal Line: 701-223-7610, Can download AskND app for a list of resources as well

Ohio - Sexual Violence Helpline: 1-844-644-6435 / Rape Crisis Centers by County

Oklahoma - 24hr Safeline: 1-800-522-7233 / Program Directory

Oregon - Find Shelters, Advocacy Programs, and Legal Assistance Directory

Pennsylvania - Hotline: 1-888-772-7227 / Rape Crisis Center Directory

Rhode Island - Statewide Helpline: 1-800-494-8100 / Victim Advocacy Line (DayOne: 1-800-494-8100) / Victim Compensation Program (note: must have reported within 15 days of crime) / DayOne Clinical Services

South Carolina - Program Directory / Program by County

South Dakota - Directory of Resources

Tennessee - Statewide 24hr Crisis & Support Line: 1-866-811-7473 / List of Resources / Program & Resource Directory (PDF, Dropbox link)

Texas - Find a Crisis Center / Victim Resource Directory / Texas Advocacy Project: Apply for Legal Services, Hotline: 1-800-374-4673

Utah - Statewide 24/7 Hotline: 1-801-736-4356 (English) or 1-801-924-0860 (Español) / Community Resources by County / Medical-Forensic Exam Locations

Vermont - SA Hotline: 1-800-489-7273, DV Hotline: 1-800-228-7395 / Community Resources by County

Virginia - 24/7 Hotline: 1-800-838-8238 or text 804-793-9999 / Resources Directory

Washington - Sexual Assault Support and Information Line: 1-855-210-2087 (M-F, 8A-5P) / Resource Directory

West Virginia - Sexual Assault 24/7 Hotline: 1-800-884-7242 / List of Crisis Centers

Wisconsin - Provider Directory / Assistance Connecting with Agencies: 608-257-1516 (Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault)

Wyoming - Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Advocacy Programs Directory

Military Resources:

Safe Helpline (used for all DoD members)

Search for Responders

[thatdisasterauthor]

Hey Katy, would you be able to pass on resources for tracking wildfires? I'm in Connecticut and while it's a few towns away, there's a big one that's been going for a few days now. Wildly unusual for this area but we're definitely in a solid dry spell. Lamentation Mountain in Berlin, CT. There's been a casualty due to a UTV rollover but I know we're definitely much less prepared for this sort of thing over here.

Unfortunately my main wildfire monitoring source (WatchDuty) is not available there. So, next best place is going to be the social media of your local fire, police, and emergency management agencies, and the ones local to where the fire is. I know Twitter is a cesspool at this point, but I promise you it is still worth it for this. Many emergency services still post there, so go follow them and turn on push notifications to be sent to your phone from those accounts. You don't need to use Twitter at all beyond that.

Also, look for the emergency alert systems for your county and the county the fire is in (if they're different) and see if they have alerts you need to sign up for. How emergency alerts work varies wildly by city/county/state, some are automatic, some aren't. Best just to check to make sure you're getting everything.

If it's big enough, you can also sometimes get an idea of what a fire is doing from the NASA FIRMS site. It tracks heat signatures from fires, but it is pretty data heavy and can be hard to navigate if you don't know what you're doing.

Hope this helps!

[leaves-lilies-and-esther]

Why being against trans rights as a feminist is bull

Generally I fall pretty neatly into line with the radfem line of thinking about things (anti surrogacy, anti sex industry, pro choice, anti beauty industry etc). And I don't think that radical feminists who disagree with me on this are evil or anything, but I do believe that it shouldn't be a priority and that this whole effort will be remembered badly.

"But the bathrooms-"

Letting trans women into female bathrooms does not increase sexual assault. According to Media Matters, "...the fear is baseless- completely unsupported by years of evidence from states that already have non-discrimination laws on the books." To give examples:

Rhode Island reported "no increase in sex crimes due to 2001 law"

Karen Richards of the Vermont Human Rights commission said she is "not aware" of any problems from a 2001 law

Jim O'Neill said he was "unaware of any sexual assault as the result of the CT gender identity or expression law" in Connecticut

If you search "Debunking the Big Myth about Transgender Inclusive Bathrooms" from Media Matters you can see the other twelve state level examples

There's also a very well written article from Time called "Transgender Bathroom: Advocates Say 'Predator' is a Myth" . They detail several locations like New York City and California which protect trans rights without seeing a spike in sexual assaults, the fact that school officials and police departments have not seen a spike either, and that several organizations dedicated to stopping violence against women all agree that bathroom rights aren't a threat.

Moreover, according to Vox's article "Anti-transgender bathroom hysteria, explained"- all of the incidences commonly cited of men dressing up as women or posing as a woman in order to commit sexual assault happened before a non-discrimination bathroom law was passed. Meaning that these laws don't cause sh*t.

But to add onto another point, there's a very good reason why we cannot simply say that women's bathrooms must be defined by sex alone. Which is that we end up exposing transgender or nonbinary youth to extremely avoidable violence instead.

According to an article from Harvard entitled "transgender teens with restricted bathroom access at higher risk of sexual assault", quote, "Transgender and non-binary teens face greater sexual assault in schools that prevent them from using bathrooms or locker rooms consistent with their gender identity." 36% of trans or nonbinary youth with restricted access had been sexually assaulted in the past year. In no world is that an acceptable number. Not only does restricting bathroom access not solve anything for cis women, it actively inflicts male violence on transgender women.

And even in the outlandish world where this wasn't enough of a reason, it also leads to cis women being policed on their appearance and how feminine they present in order to avoid looking trans. In Las Vegas a woman named Jay was kicked out because they mistook her for trans according to Advocate article 'cis woman mistaken as transgender records being berated in bathroom'. Aimee Toms in Danbury was similarly harassed, as was Jessica Rush in Dallas. There's several videos in the Vox article "Women are getting harassed in bathrooms because of anti-transgender hysteria". And guess what? This sort of policing what a cis woman can look like is only going to get worse as people continue to advocate against trans women in bathrooms.

And women's sports-

Any physical advantage that transgender people have in sports goes away several years after medical transition. According to the NBC article "trans women retain athletic edge after a year of hormone therapy"

(1) "For the Olympic, the elite level, I'd say probably two years is more realistic than one year" - namely, trans people have standard hormone levels if they wait two years after medical transition. "After two years, Roberts told NBC News, 'they were fairly equivalent to cisgender women'".

There were some limitations to the Roberts study, but there's also a 2015 Harper study backing this up.

(3) Joanna Harper, a medical physicist in Portland, already ran a study on this. "...found that trans women ran at least 10 percent slower after beginning hormones. And, relatively speaking, they did no better against cisgender female runners than they previously done against cisgender men".

Namely, as long as there's been a medical transition for several years, it's still a totally fair competition.

But laws which ban transgender women from sports have had the incidental effect of allowing for state-sanctioned genital inspections on minors. This sounds fake, right? But in Ohio Republicans have passed a bill which "...has a verification requirement, if someone is 'accused' or 'suspected' of being trans... she must go through evaluations of her external and internal genitalia, testosterone levels and genetic makeup." And believe it or not, they only had one transgender girl who was an athlete in high school. One! This is according to the Ohio Capital Journal's article "GOP passes bill aiming to root out 'suspected' transgender female athletes with genital inspection."

Similarly, Florida has just passed a ban on transgender students in sports in April 2021, with provisions similar to the Ohio law. "A dispute regarding a student's sex shall be resolved by the student's school or institution by requesting that the student provide a health examination... provides for 'routine sports physical examination' of students' reproductive organs, genetic makeup, or testosterone levels." This is according to Changing America, titled "Florida's new ban on transgender students in sports would allow schools to subject minors to genital inspections."

I don't know about you, but as someone who has enjoyed track, swim team, and basketball all through educational institutions- I don't want the government in my pants.

Beyond the creepy implications of the state demanding invasive inspections on literal children, this also goes back to the point I made on bathrooms above- that when we take spaces away trans people, we take spaces away from any woman or girl who society deems as presenting too 'masculine'.

As feminists we can absolutely support trans rights without compromising our integrity. And not only can we, we should.

Edited August 24, 2023: I wanted to add a section about the provisions of these bills for literal genital inspections. I regret that it wasn't in the original, but I remembered these articles earlier and thought that it was important to add here.

The other thing I did later the same day was take out the part referencing women like Caster Semenya competing in the Olympics and being removed because of high testosterone levels. Someone has kindly pointed out that these are intersex women, which the original article I had read referred to as cis. I feel that intersex women in athletics deserve their own discussion, and I haven't (a) read enough on the issue or (b) learned enough about the intersex community as a whole to take part.

[covid-safer-hotties]

The air travel issue no one wants to talk about - Posted Aug 20, 2024

I’m sick of getting sick on planes.

I got another case of COVID-19 last month, on a domestic flight, sitting near a woman who was sneezing. I wore an N95 mask, but she was only wearing the loose surgical type. I suspect she knew she was infectious.

There was nothing I could do about it. There were no seats to move into and, besides, to do so seemed a bit hysterical at the time.

Two days later – bingo. I wasn’t very ill, but I was visiting immune-compromised people and I put them at risk.

Nowadays, talking about masks – and indeed the virus itself – is deeply unsexy. They’re a symbol of a past we’d rather not remember, even though that past is still our present and future while the disease keeps mutating.

But I still want to talk about masks because COVID-19 keeps happening to travellers, ruining holidays and causing potential long-term health issues, and yet airlines, government authorities and most passengers don’t want to know about it.

Just look around any flight. Or bus or train. Despite a few people clearly being sick, only a tiny percentage mask up. It’s not just as a precaution against COVID-19. There’s influenza, RSV and other infections of a weakened immune system which, perhaps unsurprisingly, can be caused by repeated COVID-19 infections.

Maybe COVID-19 is “just like a cold” and I shouldn’t fret. I certainly hope so because scientists are still learning about how each infection harms the body, with little idea what the consequences will be in three, 10 or 20 years.

I’m told I should “get over it”. But it’s not over with me.

Constant new variants mean we’re unlikely ever to be immune, even though the healthy among us won’t get terribly sick due to excellent boosters. COVID-19 cases have surged worldwide these past two or three months. Many Olympic athletes had their dreams shattered by catching it before their trials.

There’s massive public denial. Not many people bother to test these days. If you don’t test, you don’t know, so you’re free to assume you don’t have it. That’s certainly the skewed logic I’ve heard a lot lately.

So, if you’re masking on a flight, you’re in rare company.

During the pandemic, masks became a symbol of divisiveness, enraging sectors of our society who thought mask mandates took away personal freedoms. The freedom to get sick and infect others, I suppose.

I’m not quite sure what the humble, practical facemask did to deserve the controversy, despite being quietly worn for decades in Asian countries and by medical staff, but the culture war against it still rages.

It’s very possible, in certain societies, that if you wear a medical mask, you’ll have it ripped off your face or even get arrested.

Recently, Nassau County, New York, became the first county in the tri-state area (Connecticut, New York and New Jersey) to pass a ban on anyone over 16 wearing a face covering on public streets and property. It’s a criminal offence, and police have the authority to arrest people who refuse to take off their masks.

In New York city, mayor Kathy Hochul is considering a mask ban on subways, even as the city’s health department urges people to wear masks to combat an unprecedented rise in summer COVID-19 cases.

The laws are mostly directed at protesters who wear face coverings, and not people protecting themselves against disease. But the immunocompromised are angry that once again the mask has become the issue, not the behaviour.

Aerosol scientists conclude that N95 masks are 95 per cent efficient in blocking airborne particles. But over hours in a confined space, when you might have to lower your mask to drink, eat and sleep, they’re less effective, especially when the infected person isn’t masked properly too.

Currently, we rely on our fellow travellers being considerate. That’s a big ask. I suppose you could bring a few spare N95 respirators to distribute to passengers in your row as a precaution, but that might be misconstrued as rude.

But here’s the thing – I know if I get sick, my precautions haven’t worked. But it’s impossible to know how many other times I might have become ill if I hadn’t worn a mask to protect me.

So, even though the sight of me wearing a mask angers some people, and looks foolish to others, and even mentioning it drives people crazy, I’m sticking with the cover-up.

[morbidology]

In the early hours of July 22nd, 1977, firefighters rushed to extinguish a blaze consuming a home in Prospect, Connecticut, near Route 68 and Cedar Hill Drive.

Amidst the charred remains, responders discovered the tragic fate of eight children and a woman. They were identified as Cheryl Beaudoin, 29, and her seven children—Frederick, 12, Sharon, 10, Debra, 9, Paul, 8, Roderick, 6, Holly, 5, and Mary, 4—the ninth victim was Cheryl's niece, Jennifer, 6.

But they hadn't died in the fire. Over at the medical examiner's office, it was discovered they had all been beaten to death with a tire iron, and then the fire was intentionally set. Cheryl had additionally been stabbed. At the time, her husband, Frederick Beaudoin, was away at his job in the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Group factory in North Haven.

A massive investigative effort ensued, involving around 200 state police officers who meticulously pursued leads, questioning motorists and potential suspects, including family members. Among them, 27-year-old Lorne Acquin, Frederick's foster brother, drew immediate attention. With a criminal record including first-degree larceny, Lorne eventually confessed to the mass murder.

According to Lorne's account, he entered the home around 2AM via the cellar. Encountering Cheryl in the kitchen, he falsely claimed a need for tools, and she led him to her husband's tool box. Seizing a tire iron, Lorne savagely attacked Cheryl before proceeding to the children's bedrooms, binding some with shoelaces and then bludgeoning them all to death.

Lorne Acquin was convicted of multiple counts of murder and received a sentence of 25 years to life for each offense. Despite the confession, he never revealed a motivation.

[gwydionmisha]

"A single state trooper logged 1,350 fraudulent traffic tickets into a Connecticut database meant to detect racial profiling. The finding is key to a damning new audit of the Connecticut State Police, which reveals pervasive trooper malfeasance, including at least 26,000 false tickets logged over seven years, that masked racial bias in the force’s policing. Now, the CSP refuses to discuss the audit — or even reveal if the most-prolific ticket faker still has a badge."

[power-chords]

A rough translation, which I had to tinker with somewhat, but nevertheless:

The last of this clan, my aunt Martha, who went to Assenheim to fetch bread on the day she left, also perished in Minsk with her husband Moritz Adler and their young son. The names of the whole family are engraved on the memorial wall in Frankfurt's Jewish Museum.

But not Martin. Like his father Max, a front-line fighter in the First World War, captain of the Friedberg soccer team (the Jewish team) in the 1920s, he was a short, stocky, brash “tough guy.” He beat me up often enough, just messing around, when he visited us in Griesheim, but I always enjoyed seeing him and visiting the family in Frankfurt just as much. We did this often, even though Aunt Ida was a real obsessive when it came to cleaning and tidying. She would have been a good Japanese housewife; she always liked to take off our shoes before we stepped onto her polished floors.

One day in 1938, when things were getting worse, there was an unpleasant incident outside her apartment. A group of Hitler Youth attacked Martin's brother Alfred at the front door and beat him up.

The shouting drew Martin, who was just 14 years old at the time, to the window. He grabbed a kitchen knife, jumped out of the window, ran towards the mob and struck at them with his fist and knife. After the HJ punks had run off with a few stab wounds, all hell broke loose. His father just managed to get home to take Martin away before the police arrived. A friend took him by motorcycle to Nathan and Frieda in Kaiserslautern, and from there to a hiding place. I always thought it was my father who managed this, but he later denied it to me, so it was someone else after all.

Max had to go to the Gestapo for a tough interrogation, but apparently he was able to stick to his claim that the boy had simply run away; at least he was released after a while. The family, I think with the involvement of my father, managed to introduce Martin to an American Quaker whose group was organizing a ship transport for Jewish orphans to America. They provided him with forged papers — whose statements later became all too true, of course — and brought him by ship to the USA, where he arrived a few weeks before my father and was entrusted to a Jewish family in Brooklyn.

There he went to “high school,” joined the US Army at 18 in 1942, married Doris Kimmel from Brooklyn at 19, took part in the invasion in June 1944 in Patton's Third Army, Fourth Armored Division (as a Jeep messenger between shot-up tanks on the battlefield — not a pleasant job, as he assured me afterwards), took part in the liberation of Ders, passed through Frankfurt in the final battle in April 1945, and ended his army career as mayor of Pilsen, a post he held for a week thanks to his knowledge of German, before the Americans were withdrawn to the other side of the Elbe. Then the hard years began, until he found good work as a skilled carpenter in New Haven, Connecticut, and settled there, where he died in 1983. His two sons Barry and Michael are splendid fellows, one the head of special education in the state of Connecticut, the other a lawyer in New York; they in turn have four children; they are — unlike the three of us — still practicing Jews, and so this branch of the family continues to exist.

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week - December 12, 2022

1. Big cats: US Senate unanimously passes bill to curb private ownership

A bill to restrict the private ownership of big cats like lions and tigers in the US has passed by unanimous consent in the Senate. The Big Cat Public Safety Act would stop people from keeping the animals as pets and from them being exposed to public petting and photo opportunities.

Efforts to curb private ownership have increased in the wake of the Netflix documentary series Tiger King.

The bill now needs to be signed into law by President Joe Biden.

2. New Mexico voted a child care guarantee into its constitution.

New Mexico in May became the first state to offer free child care to most of its residents. Now, after a November referendum, it’s also the first state to enshrine child care funding in its constitution, effectively making the service a universal right – and perhaps offering a model for how other states could serve their youngest residents and working parents.

3. Rare good news from the Amazon: Gigantic fish are thriving again

Thanks to sustainable fishing programs that combine education with strict rules and quotas, the pirarucu, one of the world's largest freshwater fish it's now making a comeback.

"The pirarucu population has recovered," says Ana Claudia Torres, who runs the sustainable fishing program for the Mamirauá Institute, which manages a vast nature reserve covering 4,300 square miles of jungle in northern Brazil.

4. Dog reunited with family 7 days after falling from cliff on Vancouver Island

A beloved pet that went missing in the Highlands area of Vancouver Island was found seven days later by an army of volunteers. Luna, was found desperately clinging to a narrow ledge on a cliff, and was reunited with her owner after a heroic rescue last month.

It's believed that Luna had chased an animal out of her yard and got lost, somehow falling off a cliff and landing on a two-foot wide ledge. She remained there, alone, as her owner and searchers frantically looked for her.

5. Iran Shutting Down Morality Police, Official Says, After Months of Protests

Iran has scrapped its morality police after more than two months of protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini following her arrest for allegedly violating the country's strict female dress code, local media said Sunday, citing a single Iranian official.

"Morality police have nothing to do with the judiciary and have been abolished," Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.

6. Condoms to be free for young people in France, Macron says

Young people in France will be able to get condoms free of charge from next year in an effort to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday.

"In pharmacies, condoms will be free for those aged 18 to 25 from January 1," Macron told reporters during an event about young people's health.

7. One-eared rescue dog Van Gogh paints his way into adoption

A former bait dog in a North Carolina dogfighting ring "paints" artwork for charity and is living his best life in Connecticut.

. . .

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[sergeantsporks]

Uh... Wouldn't Philip's "return" warrant a lot of media attention?

Stranger abductions themselves are really rare --I think the statistic is only one out of every 10,000 kidnappings is perpetrated by a stranger? So, 99% of the time, if a child is missing and believed to have been kidnapped, it's a family member whose taken them.-- but stranger abductions where the child returns home, alive and well?!?

Well, that's even more rare.

Philip would basically be a unicorn in the eyes of the news media, lol. Interviews with him would be beyond coveted. And like, it wouldn't just be the national news either! Bare minimum, we're talking national news here. With world-wide being absolutely not out of the question!

So, even if Caleb did takes pains to shield Philip from the reporters... Plus his status as a ward of the state would almost certainly give him legal protection...

The media is still going to swarming Gravesfield, desperate for even a glimpse of him.

Which stretches the believability of Caleb being able to keep the fact that he's now caring for five more kids under wraps, lmao.

Even just keeping Philip's friends, uh... having an "extended sleepover" at the Wittebane apartment on the down low (So, not outright hiding it. But not talking about it directly? I guess?) with all that scrutiny is a bit silly. Social services would want to know who the hell those kids are and why they aren't with their families. Philip going "I meet them while I was away. Their parents are all totally cool with them staying here." is not going to cut it.

XD I now fully understand why The Owl Crew avoided all of these uncomfortable topics by just having Vee assume Luz's identity over the course of the summer, meaning that she was never technically "missing".

You don't have that same luxury with Witch Switch, though.

Might I suggest that you avoid all of those difficult elements in a different manner?

Just have Caleb never announce Philip's return it. Not to the police, not to Manny, he doesn't so much as breathe a single word about his beloved baby brother being back (With five friends!) in town to anyone.

You could still have Manny find out by accident (Like, say: He visits the apartment unannounced one day, intending to offer Caleb support, and stumbles onto the kids or something), if him being involved is important to the story.

It would just be far more easier to handwave Manny (Someone whom the Wittebane Brothers have known for years, someone who Caleb trusts) not asking too many questions about where the hell Philip has been these last few months, and not digging particularly deeply into why five more children are living with the boys in their apartment then it would be to handwave the entire Gravesfield police force, the collective news media, and Connecticut CPS doing the exact same thing. Lol.

I actually do have a plan for all that, and it's not huge spoilers or anything, so I'll share. The gist of it is: Phillip claims he was never abducted in the first place. According to him, he was so incredibly angry about Caleb planning to propose, he took the bus to the next town over, hopped on a train, and by the time he decided this was a terrible idea and he should go back home, his phone was dead, he had no money, and he was stranded far from home. So, he's just been making his way back over the last few months via hitch-hiking and walking.

This is OBVIOUSLY a story that NO ONE believes due to all the massive holes in it, but no one can turn up any evidence to suggest where he ACTUALLY was (for obvious reasons), and they literally could not drag any other information out of him with horses. He doesn't seem to be SUPER harmed (aside from the broken nose, which he claims was from. Falling down stairs. Like an idiot), and no one can figure any reason he'd be protecting his supposed kidnappers, ESPECIALLY given that their number one suspect is someone who he has been documented to already hate. So while no one believes him, no one can come up with a better explanation, and they basically have to take his word for it.

"Kid runs away and eventually comes back" is somewhat of a less heartwarming, news-worthy story than "kidnapped child finds his way home after months of a terrible ordeal" because, well. Sometimes kids DO run away and for extended periods of time. Sometimes they turn up again. Sometimes they don't. So the media is on it for a little, and then it just sorta. Eh. Whatever. Drops away. Not a juicy enough story for them.

In terms of CPS, obviously the "he ran away" narrative turns up the heat on Caleb and it gets a little hairy on whether or not they'll let the two of them stay together, but based on Phillip's history of Incredible Aversion to Change, and his history of Doing Dumb Stuff (as well as Phillip's incredibly strong convictions towards the idea that he SUPER overreacted and that he messed up BIG TIME and regretted it IMMEDIATELY), it's determined that there was not much Caleb really had control over besides planning a proposal, and they're put on Extreme Probation (and look, yes, I know this is possibly more unrealistic than the existence of the demon realm, but you gotta give me some leeway and work with me here, I gotta bend the rules to make this work), and are basically getting checked on once or twice a week and the two of them have to go to counseling all the time. Caleb and Phillip are interrogated pretty relentlessly on their home status regularly now by social services.

Like in canon, the BI kids spend a lot of time at the abandoned house, and they definitely try to make themselves scarce whenever people show up to the apartment, so no one really notices them too much. And when they ARE there, well, they're just Phillip's friends. Over to hang out. As teenage friends do. Don't worry about it. They just like hanging out here because they think Caleb is awesome, and they know how important it is for Caleb to keep tabs on Phillip at all times. And isn't it SUCH a glowing character reference that so many parents trust Caleb enough to send their kids over, even after everything? (That last one is all Odalia, she has those CPS officers wrapped around her pinky finger every time they come around and they're there. World-class liar. She's VERY good at deflecting further questions about their parents or where they came from).

Evelyn's continued disappearance results in a general assumption that she's not in the states legally, so when Phillip disappeared, she made herself scarce before she could get caught in all the attention. This is backed up by the fact that no one seems to know anything about her, and she doesn't show up on any records (she magic bamboozled her way into a motorcycle, and she's never been pulled over).

[truecrimecrystals]

Marquita Lenae Jones has been missing since 2011. The then-28-year-old woman was reportedly last seen "on or near West Street" in New Haven, Connecticut. A specific timeline surrounding Marquita's disappearance is unknown; however, her NamUs page states that "she was last seen by family in the summer of 2011." Most sources list July 1st, 2011 as the date that Marquita went missing.

According to a 2019 report, Marquita struggled with substance abuse at the time of her disappearance. That report also indicates that Marquita was homeless, but she may have been staying in the Hill neighborhood of New Haven at the time she vanished. Other than that, there are very few details available about her disappearance.

Various postings on social media about Marquita's disappearance indicate that she is loved and missed. In 2017, a Reddit user posted about Marquita's case in a true crime subreddit.��Another user replied, "I knew marquita and her family very well , I heard through a close relative of hers she left CT to get out of trouble she was in with probation, but its been awhile now and family still hasnt heard from her she has a tendency to go with the crowd and I believe it got her missing I hope one day we can find out what really happened."

The information from this comment has not been confirmed, and it's unknown if detectives have even looked into this theory. In fact, it was reported in 2019 that Marquita's disappearance is amongst a few other cases of missing women in Connecticut that are not being actively investigated. Acting Police Chief Otoniel Reyes told reporters via email, "Although we are not actively working these cases, they are very much open, and we welcome an opportunity to remind the public about them in hopes it will spark new information."

If you have any information that could lead to Marquita's whereabouts, please contact the New Haven Police Department at 203-946-6304.