#free government cell phone

[morlock-holmes]

To quote myself, imagine if you bought a pocket calculator at the store in 1980, and then in 1981 Texas Instruments sent you a letter saying, "The terms of use for our calculator have changed, in order to use the calculator you agree to waive any right to a jury trial or class action suit against Texas Instruments or any of its parents or subsidiaries. Continued use of the calculator constituted a binding agreement to these terms. If you do not agree you must immediately stop all use of your pocket calculator. No refund will be provided."

Seriously, writing that out really made it strike me even more how utterly abusive the modern age is to consumers.

The EULA, or End User License Agreement is a binding contract which one party may unilaterally change at any time for any reason and in any way they choose; the counterparty may not negotiate or change the terms of the contract and their only remedy in the case of changes that they don't like is to withdraw entirely from the contract.

Such contracts govern all use of software, which, since software governs the majority of our lives, mean that they now govern the majority of our lives.

Want to order a pizza? Better send the legal contract with the pizza company to the lawyer you keep on retainer and after looking over the documents he'll advise you on the legal ramifications of the pizza transaction.

Oh, you don't keep a lawyer on hand to advise you about ordering pizza or playing video games?

Well, then you can't complain if you don't like something buried in page 20 of the contract you signed with the pizza delivery company.

One of the massively dehumanizing things bureacracy does is demand something that is in practice impossible, like, "Keep a lawyer on retainer to scrutinize the terms of every pizza delivery contract, video rental, major appliance, and video game you interact with." and then condescendingly tell you,

"Well, if you don't do something as simple as that, whatever happens next is *your fault* and blaming someone else shows a weakness in your character."

One of the confounding problems if you want to argue with people who have some kind of luddite leanings is that, well, new technology feels nowadays like an imposition from hostile forces who know that they have you over the barrel because, uh, it is that thing. It is deliberately designed to be that thing.

I like having a cell phone. I hate waiving my right to a jury or to participate in a class action lawsuit. I would pay more, as a consumer, for a phone contract that did not have a binding arbitration clause. I couldn't find one.

So I decided that owning a phone was the lesser of two evils, and that will now be treated as a free choice which I have no right to complain about.

After all, if I wanted the right to join a class action suit I could simply forgo phone service and conduct all communications by the post.

And since I am allowed to choose whether I wish to have legal rights or a telephone, I am not allowed to complain about missing one or the other. After all, *I agreed* to give one of those things up :) :) :) :)

I think this move towards mass abuse of consumers really is one of the more underrated factors in, say, modern American politics.

[scottiexmariee]

Hiii 💜 can I request LAD short for the boys with a reader who gets arrested (for something stupid) and calls the boy to bail her out? Please and thank you!!

How the boys would react to you getting arrested <3

Characters: Xavier x Reader | Zayne x Reader | Rafayel x Reader | Sylus x Reader |

Word Count: 1.4k

Masterlist

Warnings: Slight violence mention

“This is a free call from Linkon City Corrections Facility from inmate: (Y/N). To accept this call, please press 1.” 

☆Xav would definitely come get you ASAP

☆This man trusts your judgement and knows you wouldn't end up in jail without a good reason, so he wouldn't even question you until you're safely in his arms

☆ He'd get there in record time so you didn't have to sit too long

When Xavier answered his phone at 2am, he hadn’t even looked at the screen to see who was calling. He knew you were out with your friends tonight, so he was already by the phone waiting for you to let him know you’d made it home safe. However, he expected your voice on the other end of the line, not a robot telling him that you were currently calling from Linkon City jail. 

Xavier blinked rapidly, trying to make sure he’d heard the automated message correctly. The message repeated itself when no button was pushed, confirming that he had definitely not been mistaken.

Xavier immediately pressed 1, listening to another spiel from the robot before the call finally connected. His shoes were on before he even heard your voice.

“(Y/N)?” 

“Xavier,” You began, “I promise I’ll explain everything but I need you to come pick me up. Please.” 

He’d already been planning on it, but the pleading tone in your voice would have had him folding regardless. 

“I’m coming,” He assured you, already halfway out the door.

On the other end of the call, you breathed out a sigh of relief. “I owe you my life,”

The second you get released from custody, he's giving you a hug and telling you to discuss it when you're ready.

When he found out that the reason you were arrested was for clocking a man square in the jaw for being unable to keep his hands to himself, he almost took a turn in a jail cell for the night.

"Xavier, it's okay," You insisted, cupping his face with your hands. "I already took care of it. Can we please just go home?"

"I can assure you it will be handled twice if I see him anywhere,"

❅Zayne definitely comes to get you, but he’s not even gonna pretend that he isn’t a little irritated 

❅Imagine working a grueling 16 hour shift as a surgeon, and when you finally sink down into your couch, ready to relax, your phone rings and it’s a a call from jail

❅because that is zayne’s reality and he is STRESSED 

❅#ringring #helpiminjail 

❅He’d cool off on the drive there, but you’re definitely still getting scolded (absolutely a ‘make better choices’ talk)

❅definitely shows up with heavy ‘disappointed but not surprised’ vibes

You'd gotten arrested for the dumbest thing on the planet.

While out on a walk, your Hunter's Watch notified you of a nearby metaflux fluctation, so you sprang into action without second thought.

You located the Wanderer pretty quickly and gave a good chase, even hopping a fence to put and end to it before it caused any severe damage. Unfortunately for you, the fence you'd hopped just so happened to belong to a private government building. You were very swiftly apprehended and loaded into the police car. The officers refused to hear any of your excuses, charging you with Criminal Trespassing.

You were not going to spend the night in jail over this, so you called the only person you thought might still be awake.

Zayne.

Zayne who, unfortunately, had just gotten home from a horrendously long shift not even an hour before your call came. When the Caller ID popped up for Linkon City Jail, his stomach twisted uncomfortably, already having a pretty good idea of who could potentially be calling him of all people. Initially, he was a whirlwind of frustration and annoyance. Not to mention stressed. His lovely partner, currently sitting in jail like a criminal. He'd leave right away, and most of his frustration would dissipate on the drive to come collect you.

Zayne greeted you with crossed arms and a deadpan expression, waiting until the pair of you got in the car before demanding an explanation. After you explained, his frustration was no longer directed at you, but more so at the absurdity of the situation.

Once you two were parked at his house, Zayne cupped the side of your face in one hand, gently resting his forehead against yours in a much needed gesture of affection.

"Please just try to be a little more careful," He said, his tone surprisingly soft. "I'm going to get grey hairs by the time I'm 30 if I have to keep collecting you from jail,"

❀ let’s be honest Rafayel is probably the reason you’re in jail anyway 

❀ probably trespassing to get a material for rare paint or something 

❀ he’d be mad at you because how are you supposed to protect him (miss bodyguard) if you’re getting arrested?

You felt your jaw tick as your name was finally called for your one free phone call. Of course, you were going to call Rafayel and make bailing you out his problem, since it was his fault you were here anyway. "If you aren't doing anything, I have a quest for you, Miss Bodyguard,"

"I'm out of a custom color for this painting. It's in a suuuper easy spot. You can do it, right?"

Unfortunately for you, Rafayel had failed to mention that his stupid 'custom paint color' was located in an area that was restricted to the public. Maybe he didn't even know. It was hard to tell with him. Either way, you'd gotten busted trespassing and whisked away in a police car.

When Rafayel's voice connected on the other end of the line, he was already running his mouth before you could say anything.

"'Getting materials for my paint' doesn't exactly sound similar to 'end up in jail.' How did you get them confused?"

"You're not a very good bodyguard. How are you supposed to protect me if you can't even dodge the police?"

"Wait. Why are you even in jail? Don't tell me you like...punched a baby or something,"

When he finally shut up for long enough for you to explain yourself, he laughed the second you finished talking.

"Really? That's it?"

"It's not funny, Rafayel. Come get me out of here!"

"Oh, relaaax. I'll be there in 20," Turns out, that plot of land actually belonged to Rafayel. He'd bought it when he realized he could get specific (rare) paint colors from the resources. The police, however, weren't aware that he'd send anyone other than himself to get anything from there, so when they just so happened to see you as they passed by, you really didn't stand a chance.

Rafayel was absolutely not going to let you live it down, either.

Now, in addition to your 'Miss Bodyguard' nickname, you had a less appealing one.

'Miss Criminal.'

⟡ Sylus is genuinely amused when he gets the call

⟡ "You don't typically hear of kittens allowing themselves to be caught,"

⟡ He knows you had a damn good reason for whatever you did

⟡ He'd come get you and lowkey bully you about it on the way home

⟡ any trace of you being in jail mysteriously disappears from the system less than 24 hours later 

Sylus almost didn't answer the phone call.

When the unsaved number popped up on his screen, he instinctively reached to dismiss it. He didn't give his personal cell number out often, so he was well aware of who had this number. There wasn't a single person worth his time that would realistically be calling from an unsaved number.

However, a split second later he realized that he hadn't heard from you for a bit longer than usual.

He cracked a grin the second the robot started speaking, informing him that he was receiving a call from his incarcerated lover.

When the line connected, he spoke first.

"Having a good time, sweetie?"

You could hear the smirk in his voice through the phone, which only added to your annoyance. "Sylus. Please come pick me up,"

"Of course,"

When he arrived to retrieve you, he learned that it was an assault charge. You'd beat up a man nearly twice your size, apparently, and a witness had described you as a menace.

As the two of you exited the building, he looped an arm around your shoulders, asking the only question he cared to ask: "Did he deserve it?"

"Absolutely," You responded. "I'd do it again, actually,"

He chuckled, shaking his head with a fondness reserved for only you. He knew that you were the type to stand on business, and he loved that about you. He was honestly a little proud, even.

"Let's not make this a habit, though." He said, gently tugging your motorcycle helmet over your head. "Stick with me more. You wouldn't have gotten caught,"

[lecramchan]

In commemoration of Lara Tolosa Chaneton's birthday, here's her story:

Lara Tolosa was a teenager (15 years old) who was finishing her highschool studies at a school in La Plata.

Lara suffered constant bullying and harassment from her classmates, so she decided to create a post on an anonymous forum (voxed) announcing her suicide, as soon as she created the post, the anons did not pay attention to it. First because it was rare to see a woman on a forum of this style and second because it was a time when it was common to announce false suicides. A combination that made you easily doubt if it was real or not, so anons were making all kinds of jokes and saying this was false. What nobody expected was that the next day, Voxed was going to be the main focus not only of the government but of all Argentine television and media.

Lara, at fifteen years old, stole a .38 caliber weapon from her father (a police officer) and took it to school along with a letter, which was addressed to her classmates: "Bye you pieces of shit, I left a game in my backpack, whoever finds it keeps it :)”. Exactly at 7:50 AM, in her geography class her cell phone rang, it was the alarm she had set to remind her to commit suicide, in front of her geography teacher and all her classmates, Lara took the .38 caliber out of her backpack, put it in her mouth and fired the first and only shot of the event.

Immediately all the media pointed at the anon forum, blaming it for Lara's suicide, however, ALL her classmates (those responsible for her death) are free, living like normal human beings without any guilt, even the day after the event audios were leaked in which they were heard laughing at her, making fun of her, here's one of them:

Unfortunately, the suicide was not immediate but Lara was hospitalized in very sensitive conditions for four days.

The social media of her bullies are currently active, justice did not take any action on them.

7 years ago, the life of an innocent teenager was taken away by bullying. You will always stay in our heart Lara.

February 25, 2002 - August 3, 2017

[rabid-dog-steve-horn]

Listen up you ignorant sheep.

He lies about everything is the point of me posting this.

He didn't have the power himself to ban fracking cause the state and federal government have control of the land involved and the laws and the regulations they passed due to democrat climate change agenda which Joe Biden is a democrat and said he agrees with climate change many numerous times himself. Look that up. Strange how only democrat areas banned fracking, eh?

He didn't stop them, he didn't try to find any way to reach any compromises, he left them go ahead and push their agenda forward. Why? That's what democrats do.

Look online, I posted a few things to prove you jerks wrong and nobody said a word cause there's the proof. There's tons of stuff online about it across the country, but I'm from Pennsylvania so I found a few examples close to home. Believe me there's a shitload online. I only picked a few cause I shouldn't have to waste time looking shit up cause nobody else is willing to cause they're too busy posting TikTok videos of silly animals and crying on Facebook they had a bad hair day.

We were energy independent, we weren't relying on other countries for oil or fossil fuels of any kind until Joe Biden came in passing executive orders that reversed every single fucking thing Trump put into effect to better our country. And that's why Trump jokingly said he'd be a dictator on day one cause sleepy Joe did that exact same fucking thing to him & our entire fucking country.

You assholes must like paying more for gas and helping terrorist countries earn money to buy weapons to murder people. Where are we getting our oil from you idiots? Joe depleted our oil reserves and prevented the pipelines on American soil from being completed while letting Russia finish theirs. Then rejoined that Paris Agreement that Trump took us out of to be more energy independent and free from environmental climate regulation nonsense.

You like funding China so they gain power? They can frack & mine for minerals to build your fucking electric car batteries and cell phone batteries which we could be doing ourselves if not for the democrats.

You might wanna look online to learn gas and fossil fuels are used in a lot of everyday products not just to make your cars drivable and heat your homes.

Perhaps if you'd look things up and do some fucking research instead of playing candy crush and gambling online you'd realize how wrong the democrats really are.

[todaysbat]

HEADS UP TEXAS (AUSTIN IN PARTICULAR)

posted april 9, 2025

Bat World Sanctuary has been lobbying Texas government to pass a bill to protect bats (BILL HERE) and they found out today that the Texas State Legisature's Water Agriculture and Rural Affairs committee will be hearing their bill this Monday, April 14, 2025 at 8:00am.

They would like folks who live in/around Austin and are able to come to the hearing to show support for the bill. They would also appreciate Texans "dropping a card" for the Bill.

From their email:

“Dropping a card” is the action of officially registering your stance on our Bill. Keep in mind, dropping a card can only happen when a committee is actively hearing a bill. Our Bill is being heard on Monday, April 14, 2025 at 8:00 am. An inconvenient time for most, we know, but if you are able to make it, please do! We would be incredibly grateful to you!

Your "card" progresses with the bill as it moves through the Legislature for representatives to review and take into consideration when they place a vote on a bill. When a representative sees that the majority of the people they represent feel a certain way about a piece of legislation, a Bill has a much better chance of passing.

To drop a card, go to the Capital Extension Building. The address is 1400 N. Congress Ave. You can use a laptop or tablet while being connected to the free Public Capitol Wifi. The wifi extends outside so you do not have to actually enter the Capital. Note that you are not able to drop a card using your cell phone. Alternately, you can drop a card via kiosks/iPads in the hallway between the main concourse and legislator offices on the E floors (on the first floor). If you would like to testify, you can also register at the kiosk. To testify, or show support as an audience member, go to room number 1E.12 (see diagram).

DROPPING YOUR CARD

Go to the Senate Witness Registration Page at http://swrs.senate.state.tx.us/

Search for the Bill SB. 1285

You’ll see a page full of hearings for the day - be sure to click “Select” on the item you’re looking for

Once you find the committee or bill, click the “Register” button next to that item.Select “For” in support of SB. 1285

Select “Testify” if you plan to speak about the bill or select “Not Testify” if you just want to submit your position and don’t want to speak (aka “Drop a Card”).

Confirm your selections

Add your contact Info

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Prison-tech is a scam - and a harbinger of your future

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/14/minnesota-nice/#shitty-technology-adoption-curve

Here's how the shitty technology adoption curve works: when you want to roll out a new, abusive technology, look for a group of vulnerable people whose complaints are roundly ignored and subject them to your bad idea. Sand the rough edges off on their bodies and lives. Normalize the technological abuse you seek to inflict.

Next: work your way up the privilege gradient. Maybe you start with prisoners, then work your way up to asylum seekers, parolees and mental patients. Then try it on kids and gig workers. Now, college students and blue collar workers. Climb that curve, bit by bit, until you've reached its apex and everyone is living with your shitty technology:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/24/gwb-rumsfeld-monsters/#bossware

Prisoners, asylum seekers, drug addicts and other marginalized people are the involuntary early adopters of every form of disciplinary technology. They are the leading indicators of the ways that technology will be ruining your life in the future. They are the harbingers of all our technological doom.

Which brings me to Minnesota.

Minnesota is one of the first states make prison phone-calls free. This is a big deal, because prison phone-calls are a big business. Prisoners are literally a captive audience, and the telecommunications sector is populated by sociopaths, bred and trained to spot and exploit abusive monopoly opportunities. As states across America locked up more and more people for longer and longer terms, the cost of operating prisons skyrocketed, even as states slashed taxes on the rich and turned a blind eye to tax evasion.

This presented telco predators with an unbeatable opportunity: they approached state prison operators and offered them a bargain: "Let us take over the telephone service to your carceral facility and we will levy eye-watering per-minute charges on the most desperate people in the world. Their families – struggling with one breadwinner behind bars – will find the money to pay this ransom, and we'll split the profits with you, the cash-strapped, incarceration-happy state government."

This was the opening salvo, and it turned into a fantastic little money-spinner. Prison telco companies and state prison operators were the public-private partnership from hell. Prison-tech companies openly funneled money to state coffers in the form of kickbacks, even as they secretly bribed prison officials to let them gouge their inmates and inmates' families:

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/02/mississippi-corrections-corruption-bribery-private-prison-hustle/

As digital technology got cheaper and prison-tech companies got greedier, the low end of the shitty tech adoption curve got a lot more crowded. Prison-tech companies started handing out "free" cheap Android tablets to prisoners, laying the groundwork for the next phase of the scam. Once prisoners had tablets, prisons could get rid of phones altogether and charge prisoners – and their families – even higher rates to place calls right to the prisoner's cell.

Then, prisons could end in-person visits and replace them with sub-skype, postage-stamp-sized videoconferencing, at rates even higher than the voice-call rates. Combine that with a ban on mailing letters to and from prisoners – replaced with a service that charged even higher rates to scan mail sent to prisoners, and then charged prisoners to download the scans – and prison-tech companies could claim to be at the vanguard of prison safety, ending the smuggling of dope-impregnated letters and other contraband into the prison system.

Prison-tech invented some wild shit, like the "digital stamp," a mainstay of industry giant Jpay, which requires prisoners to pay for "stamps" to send or receive a "page" of email. If you're keeping score, you've realized that this is a system where prisoners and their families have to pay for calls, "in-person" visits, handwritten letters, and email.

It goes on: prisons shuttered their libraries and replaced them with ebook stores that charged 2-4 times the prices you'd pay for books on the outside. Prisoners were sold digital music at 200-300% markups relative to, say, iTunes.

Remember, these are prisoners: locked up for years or decades, decades during which their families scraped by with a breadwinner behind bars. Prisoners can earn money, sure – as much as $0.89/hour, doing forced labor for companies that contract with prisons for their workforce:

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2017/04/10/wages/

Of course, there's the odd chance for prisoners to make really big bucks – $2-5/day. All they have to do is "volunteer" to fight raging wildfires:

https://www.hcn.org/articles/climate-desk-wildfire-california-incarcerated-firefighters-face-dangerous-work-low-pay-and-covid19/

So those $3 digital music tracks are being bought by people earning as little as $0.10/hour. Which makes it especially galling when prisons change prison-tech suppliers, whereupon all that digital music is deleted, wiping prisoners' media collection out – forever (literally, for prisoners serving life terms):

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/08/captive-audience-how-floridas-prisons-and-drm-made-113m-worth-prisoners-music

Let's recap: America goes on a prison rampage, locking up ever-larger numbers of people for ever-longer sentences. Once inside, prisoners had their access to friends and family rationed, along with access to books, music, education and communities outside. This is very bad for prisoners – strong ties to people outside is closely tied to successful reentry – but it's great for state budgets, and for wardens, thanks to kickbacks:

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2021/12/21/family_contact/

Back to Minnesota: when Minnesota became the fourth state in the USA where the state, not prisoners, would pay for prison calls, it seemed like they were finally breaking the vicious cycle in which every dollar ripped off of prisoners' family paid 40 cents to the state treasury:

https://www.kaaltv.com/news/no-cost-phone-calls-for-those-incarcerated-in-minnesota/

But – as Katya Schwenk writes for The Lever – what happened next is "a case study in how prison communication companies and their private equity owners have managed to preserve their symbiotic relationship with state corrections agencies despite reforms — at the major expense of incarcerated people and their families":

https://www.levernews.com/wall-streets-new-prison-scam/

Immediately after the state ended the ransoming of prisoners' phone calls, the private-equity backed prison-tech companies that had dug their mouth-parts into the state's prison jacked up the price of all their other digital services. For example, the price of a digital song in a Minnesota prison just jumped from $1.99 to $2.36 (for prisoners earning as little as $0.25/hour).

As Paul Wright from the Human Rights Defense Center told Schwenk, "The ideal world for the private equity owners of these companies is every prisoner has one of their tablets, and every one of those tablets is hooked up to the bank account of someone outside of prison that they can just drain."

The state's new prison-tech supplier promises to double the amount of kickbacks it pays the state each year, thanks to an aggressive expansion into games, money transfers, and other "services." The perverse incentive isn't hard to spot: the more these prison-tech companies charge, the more kickbacks they pay to the prisons.

The primary prison-tech company for Minnesota's prisons is Viapath (nee Global Tel Link), which pioneered price-gouging on in-prison phone calls. Viapath has spent the past two decades being bought and sold by different private equity firms: Goldman Sachs, Veritas Capital, and now the $46b/year American Securities.

Viapath competes with another private equity-backed prison-tech giant: Aventiv (Securus, Jpay), owned by Platinum Equity. Together, Viapath and Aventiv control 90% of the prison-tech market. These companies have a rap-sheet as long as your arm: bribing wardens, stealing from prisoners and their families, and recording prisoner-attorney calls. But these are the kinds of crimes the state punishes with fines and settlements – not by terminating its contracts with these predators.

These companies continue to flout the law. Minnesota's new free-calls system bans prison-tech companies from paying kickbacks to prisons and prison-officials for telcoms services, so the prison-tech companies have rebranded ebooks, music, and money-transfers as non-communications products, and the kickbacks are bigger than ever.

This is the bottom end of the shitty technology adoption curve. Long before Ubisoft started deleting games that you'd bought a "perpetual license" for, prisoners were having their media ganked by an uncaring corporation that knew it was untouchable:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIqyvquTEVU

Revoking your media, charging by the byte for messaging, confiscating things in the name of security and then selling them back to you – these are all tactics that were developed in the prison system, refined, normalized, and then worked up the privilege gradient. Prisoners are living in your technology future. It's just not evenly distributed – yet.

As it happens, prison-tech is at the heart of my next novel, The Bezzle, which comes out on Feb 20. This is a followup to last year's bestselling Red Team Blues, which introduced the world to Marty Hench, a two-fisted, hard-bitten, high-tech forensic accountant who's spent 40 years busting Silicon Valley finance scams:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865878/thebezzle

In The Bezzle, we travel with Marty back to the mid 2000s (Hench is a kind of tech-scam Zelig and every book is a standalone tale of high-tech ripoffs from a different time and place). Marty's trying to help his old pal Scott Warms, a once-high-flying founder who's fallen prey to California's three-strikes law and is now facing decades in a state pen. As bad as things are, they get worse when the prison starts handing out "free" tablet and closing down the visitation room, the library, and the payphones.

This is an entry to the thing I love most about the Hench novels: the opportunity to turn all this dry, financial skullduggery into high-intensity, high-stakes technothriller plot. For me, Marty Hench is a tool for flensing the scam economy of all its layers of respectability bullshit and exposing the rot at the core.

It's not a coincidence that I've got a book coming out in a week that's about something that's in the news right now. I didn't "predict" this current turn – I observed it. The world comes at you fast and technology news flutters past before you can register it. Luckily, I have a method for capturing this stuff as it happens:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/09/the-memex-method/

Writing about tech issues that are long-simmering but still in the periphery is a technique I call "predicting the present." It's the technique I used when I wrote Little Brother, about out-of-control state surveillance of the internet. When Snowden revealed the extent of NSA spying in 2013, people acted as though I'd "predicted" the Snowden revelations:

https://www.wired.com/story/his-writing-radicalized-young-hackers-now-he-wants-to-redeem-them/

But Little Brother and Snowden's own heroic decision have a common origin: the brave whistleblower Mark Klein, who walked into EFF's offices in 2006 and revealed that he'd been ordered by his boss at AT&T to install a beam-splitter into the main fiber trunk so that the NSA could illegally wiretap the entire internet:

https://www.eff.org/document/public-unredacted-klein-declaration

Mark Klein inspired me to write Little Brother – but despite national press attention, the Klein revelations didn't put a stop to NSA spying. The NSA was still conducting its lawless surveillance campaign in 2013, when Snowden, disgusted with NSA leadership for lying to Congress under oath, decided to blow the whistle again:

https://apnews.com/article/business-33a88feb083ea35515de3c73e3d854ad

The assumption that let the NSA get away with mass surveillance was that it would only be weaponized against the people at the bottom of the shitty technology adoption curve: brown people, mostly in other countries. The Snowden revelations made it clear that these were just the beginning, and sure enough, more than a decade later, we have data-brokers sucking up billions in cop kickbacks to enable warrantless surveillance, while virtually following people to abortion clinics, churches, and protests. Mass surveillance is chugging its way up the shitty tech adoption curve with no sign of stopping.

Like Little Brother, The Bezzle is intended as a kind of virtual flythrough of what life is like further down on that curve – a way for readers who have too much agency to be in the crosshairs of a company like Viapath or Avently right now to wake up before that kind of technology comes for them, and to inspire them to take up the cause of the people further down the curve who are mired in it.

The Bezzle is an intense book, but it's also a very fun story – just like Little Brother. It's a book that lays bare the internal technical workings of so many scams, from multi-level marketing to real-estate investment trusts, from music royalty theft to prison-tech, in the course of an ice-cold revenge plot that keeps twisting to the very last page.

It'll drop in six days. I hope you'll check it out:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865878/thebezzle

[seththemusehub]

hello, happy pride month! I'm Seth. I am multiple flavors of queer, physically and mentally disabled, and I have been waiting on disability to pull through for years by now. I receive food stamps. and I have no other income to speak of. internet and my phone are pretty much my only real windows to the outside world, since I'm kinda homebound.

recently the affordable connectivity program, which used to pay for my internet, shut down. I got enough for last month's payment and part of this month's (this month's will be due at the start of next month). it's $30, and I got $10 for this month's bill. phone is $10 a month. I had to switch carriers from the free government-provided cell phone service because none of them got any amount of connection inside my apartment.

unfortunately I also have dietary restrictions and don't get a whole lot in the way of food money as well. basically am down to pasta in the cupboard for food. I used the last of my mashed potatoes today, and I'd really like to get milk, cheese, lunch meat, another box of instant mashed potatoes, an actual bag of whole ass potatoes. maybe some chicken. cereal. things like that.

can I get a bit of help so I can get stuff to eat and pay off some of this stuff? I'd appreciate it. also boosts, those mean a lot to me.

paypal: paypal.me/seththemuse

[samueldays]

To quote @morlock-holmes who blocked me so I can't reblog his post, imagine if you bought a pocket calculator at the store in 1980, and then in 1981 Texas Instruments sent you a letter saying, "The terms of use for our calculator have changed, in order to use the calculator you agree to waive any right to a jury trial or class action suit against Texas Instruments or any of its parents or subsidiaries. Continued use of the calculator constituted a binding agreement to these terms. If you do not agree you must immediately stop all use of your pocket calculator. No refund will be provided."

Seriously, writing that out really made it strike me even more how utterly abusive the modern age is to consumers.

The EULA, or End User License Agreement is a binding contract which one party may unilaterally change at any time for any reason and in any way they choose; the counterparty may not negotiate or change the terms of the contract and their only remedy in the case of changes that they don't like is to withdraw entirely from the contract.

Such contracts govern all use of software, which, since software governs the majority of our lives, mean that they now govern the majority of our lives.

Want to order a pizza? Better send the legal contract with the pizza company to the lawyer you keep on retainer and after looking over the documents he'll advise you on the legal ramifications of the pizza transaction.

Oh, you don't keep a lawyer on hand to advise you about ordering pizza or playing video games?

Well, then you can't complain if you don't like something buried in page 20 of the contract you signed with the pizza delivery company.

One of the massively dehumanizing things bureacracy does is demand something that is in practice impossible, like, "Keep a lawyer on retainer to scrutinize the terms of every pizza delivery contract, video rental, major appliance, and video game you interact with." and then condescendingly tell you,

"Well, if you don't do something as simple as that, whatever happens next is *your fault* and blaming someone else shows a weakness in your character."

One of the confounding problems if you want to argue with people who have some kind of luddite leanings is that, well, new technology feels nowadays like an imposition from hostile forces who know that they have you over the barrel because, uh, it is that thing. It is deliberately designed to be that thing.

I like having a cell phone. I hate waiving my right to a jury or to participate in a class action lawsuit. I would pay more, as a consumer, for a phone contract that did not have a binding arbitration clause. I couldn't find one.

So I decided that owning a phone was the lesser of two evils, and that will now be treated as a free choice which I have no right to complain about.

After all, if I wanted the right to join a class action suit I could simply forgo phone service and conduct all communications by the post.

And since I am allowed to choose whether I wish to have legal rights or a telephone, I am not allowed to complain about missing one or the other. After all, *I agreed* to give one of those things up :) :) :) :)

I think this move towards mass abuse of consumers really is one of the more underrated factors in, say, modern American politics.

[timothysnyder]

The scene: an office in the West Wing of the White House, with a "DOGE Helpline" sign on the door. Four consumer relations specialists take phone calls.

Rep. 1 "Yes. Here's the theory. We call it libertarianism. For now, anyway. The point is to create the conditions for the survival of the fittest. That's American, right?"

Rep. 3. "We take a different view. Infectious disease is in good. It weeds out the weak and the unfit. We want measles back. And polio. Right. You're catching on. Toxicity in the environment is also good. For the same reasons. EPA will have to be scaled way back."

Rep. 3. "That's also why we have to cut Medicaid. The government shouldn't be interfering in the natural competition between human cells and viruses, bacteria, and toxins. And Social Security just supports the unfit. That's what we mean by fraud, by the way." Rep. 4 "We don't need the science data assembled by NOAA and other government agencies. The weather is what it is. Hurricanes happen. Carbon pollution is a natural result of the free market. And the constant droughts, fires, and floods will bring out the best in competitive Americans." "Rep. 1. “And so yes, the point is to make the government entirely dysfunctional for the rest of you. But, right, we will keep the government functional for us. You will keep paying taxes and we will treat you as drones."

This is meant as a theatrical sketch for four performers. It is not long, but then again we don't have a lot of time.

This is less of a satire than one might wish.

[ohtoseni]

like real people do

chapter three

Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers x OFC

read it on ao3

the government forces soulmates to be together, no matter what it takes.

it just so happens that eve's soulmates are two bisexual super soldiers.

or,

steve and bucky struggle with their eighteen-year-old soulmate who refuses to settle into her new life after being kidnapped by the government.

tags/warnings: soulmate mark au, forced throuple/poly relationship (f/m/m), extreme age gap, kidnapping, slow burn, dub con, mental health issues (ptsd, audhd, ocd, bipolar, ed), found family, emotional hurt/comfort, sensory overload and meltdowns, eventual smut, tooth-rotting fluff, power imbalance, domestic discipline (spanking as punishment), general teenage angst, daddy dom energy, oral fixation, praise kink, implied/referenced child abuse/csa, kink exploration, p in v sex, oral sex, non sexual age regression, lots of cuddles and snuggles and crying

<- previous | ch 1

Another empty bottle of beer hit the hardwood floor with a rattling thud. It rolled its way toward where Eve sat in the corner, coming to a stop at her naked foot. She gently kicked it, sending it rolling back at the pile of fellow empty bottles. A loud crash and an aggravated yell made the young girl jump, now sitting up straight against the corner of the wall.

“I told you, not a sound!” A freshly opened bottle was hurled at her, hitting and breaking against the wall next to her head. It soaked her body in its content, leaving her a wet puddle of piss and cheap beer. “I got a fucking headache because of you, and you just make everything worse.”

“Sorry…” Eve whispered an apology, averting her eyes back down to the dirty floor. The figure stood up from the armchair, stomping unsteadily toward the young girl.

“Didn’t I tell you to shut the fuck up?” A foot collided with Eve’s chest. All the air left her lungs while she tried to hug her body as if to protect it from another blow. Calloused hands gripped her matted brown hair, pulling her head forward before slamming it back violently into the corner of the wall.

“First you piss the bed, then you don’t fucking listen. What good are you? Can’t you tell I’m having a bad day because of you?” A harsh laugh broke through to Eve, drawing her back to the coarse voice. “You’re twelve years old and still wetting the bed. Really, what good are you?”

Tears prickled around her eyes as Eve rocked back and forth, still hugging her body in a tight grip. She tried to mentally leave the scene, regress into her head and thoughts, away from the abuse. But, as long as the figure loomed over her, she wasn’t safe to check out mentally. “I-I’m fifteen-“

“That’s what I fucking said.” Another beer bottle broke, this time above her head. The glass and alcohol showered her head, letting the tears finally flow free. “Did I give you permission to talk? Did I give you permission to cry?”

A soft noise drew Eve out of her thoughts.

“… Eve, baby?” Bucky gently shook the girl’s shoulder. Her eyes were trained on her cell phone, but nothing but a black screen was on the device. She stared at her reflection in the black void, lost deep in her head. The phone was taken out of her grasp, flinging her back into reality. She looked in the direction her phone went off in; Bucky’s hand to the very left of her. When did he get so close?

“Oh- Um- Sorry…” Embarrassed, Eve tried to sink further into the couch. She wasn’t sure just how long she was out of it for; she hoped it wasn’t too long.

“Are you feeling okay?” Steve asked as Bucky handed Eve her phone back. Her absence episode worried both of them, her thousand-yard stare into her phone wasn’t a normal state of being. As expected, Eve only nodded in confirmation, burrowing further in on herself. Steve looked toward Bucky, coming to a mutual agreement not to push it too far.

Bucky stood up slowly so as not to spook the ball of anxiety on the couch. Her eyes briefly flashed over to him, curious about his sudden movements, before falling back down to her lap. “We were talking about going shopping soon. You need clothes and stuff.”

Nodding, Eve remained silent, picking at a spot on the knee of her sweatpants. She wanted out. If Steve and Bucky took her shopping, she had an easy way to escape into the city. Sneaking off while they weren’t looking sounded like the best way to go about it. They were much faster than her, so outright running away from them seemed like a dumb idea. The point of running away was to not get caught.

The two men excused themselves to get dressed for the day, making sure to let Eve know if she needed anything, they would be in their bedroom. Eve remained seated until she heard a faint click of the door closing. She cautiously stood up, her eyes locked in on the hallway. Walking backward toward the door, she made sure to keep her steps light and slow, not wanting to alert Steve or Bucky about her movement.

The door was heavily locked- there had to be at least three methods of keeping the damn thing locked. Eve fiddled with all of them, unsure which ones were and weren’t locked. She kept twisting the doorknob, hoping that one combination was the correct one. When the door finally gave way, Eve gave one last look down the hall before slipping on her shoes hastily, making her great escape out the door.

Eve’s heart pounded in her chest as she bolted through the door, not bothering to close it behind her. She ran down the building’s steps, from the third floor to the ground floor, briefly tripping on the final step. Using the door to catch her balance, she pushed hard on the metal until she could slip out of the stairway.

The apartment building disappeared as she ran, taking random corners and alleys she was unfamiliar with. She had no destination in mind, no plan, just the instinct to put as much space between her and the suffocating walls of that apartment.

The streets of Brooklyn blurred past her; all she could focus on was running and her ragged gasps of air. Eventually, she could no longer ignore the sharpness in her muscles, the weight of the cold breeze on her face, and the pulsing of her ears to each of her rapid heartbeats. She slowed down as she turned one final corner into an empty alley, taking a moment to lean against the cool brick wall of some building.

The city seemed endless, and Eve honestly didn’t know why so chose now to run. She didn’t know anything about New York, or better yet the city layout. But now, she couldn’t find a way back to the apartment even if she wanted to. She sank to the ground, realizing she was lost and powerless.

Tears finally fell with loud, wrenching sobs. Eve continued to gasp for air from running too hard, with sobs and hiccups intertwined. She felt like she would puke from the combination of adrenaline, exercise, and crying. Now she was truly alone, with nothing but the world to face. No plan, no safety, just the endless, confusing unknown. And somehow, that felt worse than Steve and Bucky.

She wasn’t sure exactly how long she sat there, sobbing into her hands, but it felt like an eternity on her cold, aching body.

“Shit,” Steve mumbled as he did a double take down a nearby alley. Lo and behold, there sat Eve, curled up into a ball, sobbing and shuddering from the cold wind. He didn’t hesitate in running to her, kneeling and holding her in his arms. The tightness of the hug was more to lessen his own anxieties about losing his girl.

“Shh, honey. You’re safe, I’ve got you,” Steve kept repeating the words over and over to try and calm the young woman down as she choked on her sobs. Steve feared she would get sick as she dry heaved against his shoulder. Leaning back for a brief moment, he slid his black jacket off before placing it around Eve’s shoulder. She swam in the damned thing, looking even smaller than normal. Once her sobs died down to a more manageable level, Steve pulled his phone out of the jacket pocket to send Bucky a quick text.

‘Got her. Heading back now.’

Steve carried her the entire half mile back to the apartment, his hands locked together under her thighs. She would sniffle, rubbing her head back and forth on his shoulder to wipe away the tears and snot that built up on her face. He didn’t mind one bit. Occasional apologies fled from her lips, quiet enough that only Steve could hear. Of course, he immediately tried to put an end to the string of ‘sorry’s, reminding her it’s okay, she’s safe now, he’s here for her. Eve grew quieter, her breath evening out, falling into an exhausted sleep.

Turning the final corner, Steve saw his partner standing outside the building, pacing back and forth in worry. Once Bucky’s frantic eyes met his own, the brunette came running over to the duo.

“She’s out right now,” Steve said in warning, not wanting Bucky to accidentally disturb her slumber. “Poor thing is exhausted and freezing.”

Bucky reached a shaking hand out, brushing gently through Eve’s short matted hair, trying to calm his heart beating rapidly from pure adrenaline. Together, the two men sandwiched in the girl, causing her to squirm slightly in her sleep at the sudden new body heat. Steve and he shared a quick kiss, giving each other a silent look that said ‘Get Eve inside and safe’.

Walking up the stairs made Eve stir on Steve’s chest until the irregular movement woke her up. The first thing she noticed was that her head hurt, badly. It pulsated with her heartbeat, creating a ferocious tension in her temples. She pushed her face further into Steve’s shoulder until she saw colors, liking the light feeling it brought her. For now, she can forget where she is.

A hand brushing her hair back from her face broke her out of her trance. Eve turned her head slightly, looking face to face with Bucky with heavy, painful eyes. He looked sad but had a soft smile on his face. He asked if she wanted something, but Eve wasn’t listening to anything besides the pulsing of her head. Wanting to make him go away, she nodded her head just to appease him.

Eve was torn from her warmth as Steve set her down on the couch, wrapping her tightly in a quilt that normally rested on the back of the sectional. The blanket was warm and silky smooth, allowing her to melt into it. Resting her head against the back of the couch, she wiggled her cold toes that rested on the plush couch opposite her. They started to hurt from running in the cold and Eve tried her best to get blood recirculating to them.

Bucky returned with a steaming mug of hot chocolate. He sat down next to Eve, carefully lifting her legs up to not disturb her too much before placing them on his lap. Eve’s eyes were still heavy, blinking slowly as if every second she remained awake was a battle. Her focus shifted from Bucky to the white mug being offered to her, weakly lifting her arms to accept the warm offering. Bucky said nothing, too scared to startle her out of the gentle comfort she found.

Holding the cup in her hands, she didn’t even try to take a sip. The mug served as a hand warmer of sorts, Eve savoring the warmth radiating to her palms. She cradled it to her chest like a lifeline, smiling softly like a child.

Seeing how accepting Eve was to Bucky’s touch, Steve shuffled closer to her on the couch, allowing her to lean back onto his shoulder in silent comfort. Without thinking, Eve leaned her head back into him, exposing her neck. She felt safe for once. Reaching a hand up, Steve gently stroked her cheek, watching her heavy eyes flutter close as he touched her cool pale skin. Eve looked so vulnerable, yet so peaceful, cuddled in between her soulmates. Her head wasn’t entirely there, but she liked it that way.

Bucky gave the two of them a soft reassuring smile. As Eve's breathing evened out, he reached over to grab the full mug. The hot chocolate was now lukewarm, having served its purpose. Her breathing became more rhythmic and slow, falling asleep in her cozy soulmate cocoon.

———

They decided to take Eve shopping later in the day when there would be fewer people in the store. Very few people did their shopping at this hour, Steve and Bucky included, which is why they chose it. They didn’t mind staying up later to make Eve more comfortable.

Eve wouldn’t take their hands to hold, opting to hold onto the side of the cart. She looked adorable holding on while Steve pushed it, her free hand playing with her bottom lip. After her two-hour-long nap, she had spent the rest of the day wound tight with her shoulders hunched, biting the skin around her nails raw. Bucky, walking behind Eve, reached over her shoulder to gently pull her hand away from her mouth. That lasted all of about ten seconds with her deciding to chew on her sweatshirt sleeve instead.

“Go crazy, doll,” Bucky said as they approached the women’s clothing section. Eve, however, didn’t make any indication of wanting to look at the clothes. She looked rather intimidated by them. Her eyes darted in between the various racks, never quite looking directly at the clothes. She tightened her grip on the cart as if its sole purpose was to keep her grounded. Eve wasn’t quite sure what she was supposed to do, the uncertainty gnawing at her with each passing second.

The overhead lights buzzed softly, dousing the store in an uncomfortable white light. It was too bright against the endless rows of fabric, too open, too exposed. The racks watched Eve, waiting for her to make the wrong move.

Steve and Bucky shared a glance, silently deciding to take the reins on this shopping trip. Bucky placed a gentle hand on the small of Eve’s back, guiding her toward a nearby rack. He felt her breath hitch, almost as if the very act of choosing something would kill her.

“Oh, this shirt is nice,” Steve said, pulling out a white top from a rack. “It has cute bows and stuff.”

“Very insightful fashion advice, babe,” Bucky deadpanned as he browsed around with Eve. It was more like they walked the aisles together, Bucky looking at the various clothes while Eve stared at her feet. Bucky felt her breathing grow more and more uneven, not missing her frantic eye movements between the floor, the cart, Steve, and the exit. She was on the verge of a panic attack.

Bucky quickly guided her back to Steve. The blonde looked up to see her teary eyes and shaking frame, immediately leaving the clothes behind to comfort her. Steve ran a hand through Eve’s hair, she seemed the like that kind of touch the most. The girl closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. She was trying so hard to be good, to keep calm, but everything was too much. The options, the bright lights, the static mixed in with the music.

Plus, the thought of her body and her size made her want to puke or pass out, she couldn’t quite place the feeling.

“I’m going to pick out some stuff here. You two can take a walk around for a bit until she calms down.” Bucky organized a game plan for the shopping trip. While Eve was distracted by Steve’s calming touches, Bucky subtly lifted the back collar of her shirt, checking the size on the tag. Small, not unexpected, but the shirt seemed too big on her tiny frame. He would have to eyeball the size apparently.

Steve nodded, slipping his hand from Eve’s hair to take her hand in his. She didn’t push back this time- they were making progress. “C’mon, sweetheart,” he murmured, giving her fingers a gentle squeeze. “Let’s go check out the books or something.”

Eve let herself be led away, giving one look back at Bucky. He already had some clothes piled in the cart- more than Eve herself had put in. Steve gently pulled her along, walking along the main path of the store, stopping to look at whatever caught Eve’s attention. Steve was a patient man, letting her look around curiously and lead him down random aisles.

They passed the home goods section and Eve made a beeline for the display of fluffy throw blankets. Steve couldn’t help but chuckle at her enthusiasm, watching her touch and stroke every blanket folded neatly on the shelf.

“You like those?” He asked gently. Eve hesitated slightly before responding with a tiny ‘yeah’. Without a second thought, Steve grabbed the one Eve was currently stroking- a baby pink blanket with strawberries- and draped it over his arm. “Alright, we’re getting it,” he said, matter-of-factly, as if there was no room for arguments.

Eve blinked up at him, unsure how to respond. It wasn’t something she asked for, but Steve just smiled down at her like it was the most normal thing in the world. She looked away, chewing on the inside of her cheek. It felt… nice.

They wandered further, eventually making their way back to the book section. Steve let go of her hand, trusting her enough to let her move at her own pace now. She hovered by a display of new releases, trailing her finger over the spines without actually showing interest in any of them.

“You can get a book, too, y’know,” Steve encouraged, “Or a couple.”

Eve bit her lip, shifting her weight from foot to foot. “I don’t…. I don’t have any money.”

Steve’s brows furrowed and he shook his head. “That’s not something you need to worry about, honey. We’ve got it covered.”

She glanced up at him with uncertainty in her eyes. She wasn’t used to people just buying her things. It made her chest feel tight- she wondered what Steve would want in return for it.

Seeing her hesitation, Steve decided to take a different approach. “Tell you what,” he said, running his hand through Eve’s hair again, pulling slightly to make her eyes meet his. “You pick a book, and I’ll pick one too. Then we can read together.”

That caught her attention. Reading had always been her quiet escape from reality, a comforting safety net. And the thought of reading with Steve, of having that shared moment, made the thought of picking something out a little less daunting. Eve looked at him, a smile spreading across her face, probably the first real, genuine smile Steve had seen from her.

She turned on her heels, going into the next aisle of books. Steve grinned, looking after her.

“That’s my girl.”

[reality-detective]

🚨🤯 This NEW LAW gives the government access to all the data on our devices, including cell phones, smart watches, smart cars/tvs, anything "Smart" even alarm clocks, Ring and home security apps.

It would be a crime to use a privacy device, and if you use a VPN, you could get 20 years in prison and a million-dollar fine on the say-so of the Secretary of Commerce. The bill would remove the right to privacy for all internet users, and the government could freely review, prosecute, and take possession of personal information without permission.

The Restrict Act (S. 686) is a government bill that would allow the federal government to review and prohibit certain transactions between persons in the United States and foreign adversaries, including any acquisition, importation, transfer, installation, dealing in, or use of any information and communications technology product or service. The bill is vague and gives the Secretary of Commerce the power to decide if a transaction involves a foreign adversary, without any input from Congress. This could lead to the government silencing free speech with little effort.

A corrupt government could use this bill to control the population and remove freedom by accessing personal information, silencing free speech, and punishing those who use privacy devices or VPNs. The bill would give the government authority over all forms of communication domestic or abroad and grants powers to "enforce any mitigation measure to address any risk" to national security now and in any "potential future transaction."

Politian's Responsible (remember the names, they are enemies of the people): Mr. Warner (for himself, Mr. Thune, Ms. Baldwin, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. Manchin, Mr. Moran, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Sullivan, Mrs. Gillibrand, Ms. Collins, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Romney, and Mrs. Capito. 🤔

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Anna Betts at The Guardian:

In his first public remarks since being detained by federal immigration authorities, Palestinian activist and recent Columbia graduate, Mahmoud Khalil, spoke out against the conditions facing immigrants in US detention and said he was being targeted by the Trump administration for his political beliefs. “I am a political prisoner,” he said in a statement provided exclusively to the Guardian. “I am writing to you from a detention facility in Louisiana where I wake to cold mornings and spend long days bearing witness to the quiet injustices underway against a great many people precluded from the protections of the law.” Khalil, a permanent US resident who helped lead Columbia University’s pro-Palestinian protests last spring, was arrested and detained in New York on 8 March by federal immigration authorities who reportedly said that they were acting on a state department order to revoke his green card. The Trump administration, he said, “is targeting me as part of a broader strategy to suppress dissent”, warning that “visa-holders, green-card carriers and citizens alike will all be targeted for their political beliefs.” The statement, which Khalil dictated to his friends and family over the phone from an Ice detention facility in Jena, Louisiana, railed against the US’s treatment of immigrants in its custody, Israel’s renewed bombardment of the Gaza Strip, US foreign policy, and what he described as Columbia University’s surrender to federal pressure to punish students. “My arrest was a direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza, which resumed in full force Monday night,” the statement said. “With January’s ceasefire now broken, parents in Gaza are once again cradling too-small shrouds, and families are forced to weigh starvation and displacement against bombs. It is our moral imperative to persist in the struggle for their complete freedom.” Khalil described his arrest at his university-owned apartment building in New York in front of his wife, Noor Abdalla, who is eight months pregnant with their first child. The agents who arrested him “refused to provide a warrant” before forcing him into an unmarked car, he said. “At that moment, my only concern was for Noor’s safety,” he said. “I had no idea if she would be taken too, since the agents had threatened to arrest her for not leaving my side.” He was then transferred to an Ice facility in New Jersey before being flown 1,400 miles away to the Louisiana detention facility, where he is currently being held. He spent his first night in detention, he said, sleeping on the floor without a blanket. In his remarks, Khalil said that in Louisiana, he wakes to “cold mornings” and spends “long days bearing witness to the quiet injustices underway against a great many people precluded from the protections of the law”. “Who has the right to have rights?” Khalil asked. “It is certainly not the humans crowded into the cells here. It isn’t the Senegalese man I met who has been deprived of his liberty for a year, his legal situation in limbo and his family an ocean away. It isn’t the 21-year-old detainee I met, who stepped foot in this country at age nine, only to be deported without so much as a hearing.” “Justice escapes the contours of this nation’s immigration facilities,” he added. Khalil drew comparison between his current treatment in the US and the ways in which he said the Israeli government uses detention without trial to lock up Palestinians.

“I was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria to a family which has been displaced from their land since the 1948 Nakba,” he added, referring to the expulsion of 700,000 Palestinians in 1948 after the creation of Israel. “I spent my youth in proximity to yet distant from my homeland. But being Palestinian is an experience that transcends borders. I see in my circumstances similarities to Israel’s use of administrative detention – imprisonment without trial or charge – to strip Palestinians of their rights,” he said.

[...]

Khalil also criticized Columbia University, arguing that university leaders “laid the groundwork for the US government to target me by arbitrarily disciplining pro-Palestinian students and allowing viral doxing campaigns – based on racism and disinformation – to go unchecked.”

The Guardian reported on illegally detained political prisoner Mahmoud Khalil’s letter from prison detailing that he is a political prisoner and urging Americans to fight for our freedoms that are under danger.

See Also:

Khalil's statement, via Document Cloud.

HuffPost: Mahmoud Khalil Shares Letter From ICE Detention: 'I Am A Political Prisoner'

[grapesrsogood]

Dontis x reader!platonic

Reader is a teenager (15) and likes to explore abandoned buildings. Turns out the building they found was not so abandoned…

Reader is human and knows nothing about Dontis’s world

1st person

The facility is a trading business, like where pet was bought, so there are cages with mythics in.

Find masterlist here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Yeah! We can come here together next time you come over but there is no way im leaving right now, this place is freaky!” I whisper into my phone. Me and Jamie always explore together but his parents grounded him so i decided to check out a new area by myself, despite his complaints.

“Look dude, ive gotta go, i’ll text you the pics later,” i hang up and keep moving, security cameras have been dotted around but they’re easily avoidable. It looks recently forgotten but the peeling wallpaper and dripping ceilings make me think it was never well talke care of.

I couldn’t find anything connected to the location even with past corporations that have been shut down, no websites or even Wikipedia articles on the place. So here i am, wandering through a damp hallway, the scent of damp lingering in the air.

I come to the end of the hallway to find a solid metal door and hooks on the wall covered with keys. I find it weird for there to be keys in a place like this but i shrug it off and take one labelled ‘master key’. I try the door and find it locked but when i try master key opens it and i push my way into the room.

The first thing i notice is a high ceiling, the room was probably used for storage, but the more i look around, the more i notice. Rows of cages stretch throughout the area and i step into the cold room. Im not sure what to think as i slowly walk down the rows, peering into the cell-like structures and seeing humanoid figures curled up in the corners. My breath catches in my throat and i notice the noise makes a phew heads turn my way as i start to walk quicker, my footsteps echoing through the room.

“Jesus- what the fuck,” i say under my breath, my heart beating out of my chest. I reach for my phone, considering calling the police but i pause and retract my hand, “if this is some government bullshit im fucked,” i mumble.

I fidget with the key in my hand and continue walking around, until i come to a cell with a man in. He’s stood up with his arms leaning on the bars as he watches me, his silver hair covering his shoulders with two pointed horns protruding from his skull. We make eye contact and i pause my steps, unsure if i should approach him.

“How old are you?” He speaks first and i take a minute to weigh my options. Run and never look back to this place? Call the police? Help them?

“Im fifteen…” i say reluctantly, and he hums.

“Come here, child,” he doesn’t break eye contact as he speaks in a calm tone. I don’t move for a moment, my nerves eating away at me, but i decide to take slow steps toward him.

I look down at the yellow line on the floor, roughly two feet from the cages, and make sure not to cross it before looking back up at him skeptically.

“Why have you come here?” He asks, intrigue evident on his features as he moves his head closer to the bars to see me better.

“I didnt mean to… i didnt realise this place wasn’t abandoned…” I practically mumble, shifting my weight from foot to foot, awkwardly.

His gaze stays fixed on me, “would you care to free me?” He questions, getting straight to the point.

“Well, why are you here? You could be a crazy serial killer for i know. You could kill me as soon as i hand over the key.” I say, still suspicious of the circumstances and tapping said key against my thigh, thoughtlessly.

“Well, step closer. Let us talk.” His voice doesn’t waver, not a flicker of anger nor annoyance toward my obvious distrust. He could be fooling with me, but i refuse to leave these people here to rot regardless.

I shuffle forward slightly and i see an amused look cross his face, “scared? You probably should be, in a place like this, but i wont hurt you. If you let me out, that is,” his words flow out smoothly and they feel oddly warm despite what he says. I find myself talking small steps forward and tilting my head, intrigued by him.

“Who are you?” I ask, and this seems to amuse him even more.

“You should be asking what i am, not who i am,” he responds, and im even more confused by this, trying to get a better look at his features in the dim lighting.

“What are you?” I mumble, and he leans impossibly closer to me.

“I am what you would call an Incubus. Or a monster. Whichever you prefer, really,” the casualty re-entering his tone now.

“So would you care to finally unlock my cell?” He asks once more, but i continue to stare at him.

“A demon? But that isnt possible. They dont exist,” i shake my head and he sighs.

“Yes yes, vampires, werewolves, incubi and all the others too, we are real, now would you please-“ he quickly tries to explain but i cut him off.

“But that isn’t possible i-“ this time he is the one to interrupt.

“We have no time. I can explain after you let me out, the hunters could find you here any minute and will kill you on sight.” He hurriedly tells me, trying to stay quiet.

I think for a moment before asking, “why should i trust you?”

He looks down between us and motions with his hand to the floor, “because i could have killed you and unlocked this cage by now.”

My eyes widen at the realisation and i can feel short gasp escape my lips. I don’t remember getting this close, the yellow line being behind my feet now, I blink myself out of my thoughts before shakily outstretching a hand to unlock the door.

He watches my hand intently before looking up at me as the lock turns, he pushes it gently and steps out as i shuffle myself back out of arms length.

“May i?” He outstretches his arm, opening his palm, assumably for the key. I shakily outstretch my own arm in return and set the key down in his hand.

He turns and starts to unlock the other cages and slowly but surely the people inside begin to quietly leave through a hallway, one by one.

His whispers of directions and instructions to them were almost incomprehensible because of how quietly he was talking but i kept following him silently, a phew feet behind as he kept freeing the people.

As the last door creeks open and they all disappeared into the darkness and he turns to me.

“Thank you, child,” he says and I stand in front of him awkwardly, give a short nod in response.

“So what are you gonna do now?” I ask.

“Go home,” is all he says.

“You said you’d explain. You’re a demon? Or are you just insane?”

He chuckles and starts to walk slowly, “yes yes, im an incubus. Our world isnt one that you know of, it would be in your best interest that you forget this ever happened and go home too,” he gently ushers me towards the door and i oblige.

“You know i cant do that,” i insist and he sighs.

“It was worth a shot i suppose. Come, i’ll make sure you get back to a city safely,” i follow him through the hallways and into the cool night air.

We walk out onto a dirt road and he speaks again, “well, do you know where we are? I wasn’t really informed of where they were taking us and i was drugged for most of the journey.”

I look over at him, “were about a 30 minute walk from my town, its not the biggest but you can stay in my home for the night if you’d like? They city is roughly a 2 hour drive from here so i would recommend my town, for tonight at least,” I offer and he looks surprised.

“You would allow a stranger you found in a cage in an abandoned building in the middle of nowhere into your home? You’re either kind or stupid, im not sure which is worse,” he smiles at me humorously and i smile back, our footsteps fill the silence of the peaceful tranquility with the occasional tree branch rustling in the wind.

“The bus stop isn’t too far from here so we should be home in under 40 minutes from now.” His eyebrows raise once again and he shakes his head in disbelief, “alright then, but dont you live with any parents or guardians?” He asks and i look down at my feet as we walk.

“My family was killed in a fire when i was 9, i was in foster care up until five months ago but the lady who took me in also died. Ive been living on my own and working in a coffee shop shop ever since,” i shrug and his demeanour shifts.

“Ah, my apologies, that must’ve been difficult to go through,” his words are comforting but i dont say anything, opting to overlook our surroundings instead.

“Im getting by, thats all that matters,” i say, sighing zipping up my jacket, the cold air beginning to seep into my clothes and chill my body.

We continue walking in silence until we reach the bus stop, i pay the bus driver the requested amount before plopping myself down on a seat, Dontis taking a seat next to me.

I take in his full form now in the light and he looks even more banged up, a purple bruise formed along his jawline, though i decide against asking him about it.

The bus finally stops at my street and i thank the driver before stepping out onto the concrete path, Dontis following close behind.

“My apartment is just here, its not much but its home,” he nods in response and i take out my keys, walking up to one of the doors and unlocking it. We step inside and i sigh, finally back home.

“You have a nice place,” he says and i turn to face him, going to lock the door, “thank you, would you like something to eat? I dont have much but theres pasta or a sandwich, maybe some fruit?” I ask and he shakes his head.

“I dont get my nutrients from human food,” he replies and i must look puzzled because he chuckles at my expression.

“What do you eat then?” I ask and he moves to sit on the sofa, taking in my choice of decor.

“Incubi feed off of pleasure, you know, the whole sex demon kind of thing,” his words are nonchalant but i feel het begin to rise to my cheeks and i clear my throat.

“Oh… i cant really offer anything like that…” i say and he turns his head to me.

“I dont expect you to,” he shrugs and i walk over to some cubers, opening them to take out a phew blankets and two pillows, wandering back over to Dontis.

“Would you like some tea or a hot chocolate? I have a lot of tea,” i set down the blankets next to him and meet his eyes.

“What kinds of tea do you have?” He asks and i scoff humorously, going to open a cubard and peering in.

“We have blueberry, raspberry, ginseng, sleepy time, green tea, green tea with lemon, green tea with lemon and honey, liver disaster, ginger with honey, ginger without honey, vanilla almond, white truffle, blueberry chamomile, vanilla walnut, constant comment and earl grey,” i turn around to look at him with a smile and he takes a moment to think, slightly taken aback by the amount of choice.

“Could i have the blueberry chamomile?” He asks and i nod.

“Good choice, its one of my favourites,” i smile and turn to boil the kettle, taking two mugs and placing them on the counter.

Once the tea is ready, i wander back into the living room and place his mug on the coffee table. “You can stay for as long as you’d like but i wouldn’t recommend staying so close to that place for long, they’ll be looking for you.”

“Yes, im aware, i can be out of your hair in the next phew days, i just need to book a flight back home and i’ll be on my way. Thank you for your hospitality, its not everyday one comes across a human that is as generous as you,” he thanks me and i respond with a warm smile, ”my room is just down the hall and to the left if you need anything, i have work tomorrow at 7am since i have the opening shift, so you’ll have the apartment to yourself for a bit if there are any calls you need to make.”

“I am in your debt,” he bows his head in respect and i blink at him in confusion, “huh? Its fine, really, i didnt do much anyway,” i stutter out and he shakes his head.

“No, if there is anything you need, just ask, any fees you need paying or sponsorship money, anything,” i considered objecting but decided otherwise, opting to thank him and retreat to my bedroom.

I sigh and change into my pyjamas, sipping my tea and lying down on my bed, hopefully i don’t find anything missing in the morning. I lay back and allow myself to fall asleep, and surprisingly, i dont regret going to that not so abandoned building in the middle of nowhere.

———————————

THIS IS SO FUCKING LONG

Im so glad that im finally posting this, its been sat in my drafts for like a month and I’ve been slowly adding to it every week. Im trying to post regularly and frequently but its difficult to balance with exams and college, not to mention having to proof read it during the day because i can only write when im half asleep at 2am.

Yes thats a Scott Pilgrim vs the world reference if you noticed it >v<

I think i like this? Its longer than my usual posts which im happy about so i hope y’all like it :3

Now im gonna proofread it again and post it because i can’t take another day with it in my drafts.

BAIIIII :D

[gnotobiotic-mouse]

STAND UP FOR SCIENCE

NATIONAL RALLIES IN THE USA

Science is for everyone–and benefits everyone. When the federal government supports scientific research through taxpayer funding, it fuels innovation, creates jobs, and sustains the world we live in. From purified water to the polio vaccine to the cell phone you might be reading this on, science has significantly impacted our lives in countless ways.

We’re mobilizing to keep science free from interference and censorship by government officials. We’re also mobilizing because attacks on diversity, equity, inclusion, and access are attacks on science, and vice versa. Science is at its best when it includes everyone and when it stands to improve people’s lives.

It’s time–as ever–to stand up for science, for everyone who does it, and for everyone who benefits from it. 

[xf-cases-solved]

S2E6: Ascension

Case: Part two of our three part (+ one fever dream) arc begins with a very Will Graham-esque "this is my design" bit with Mulder visiting Scully's apartment, which has now become a crime scene. (Ik X-Files predates Hannibal, it's just what it reminded me of, leave me alone. Plus, Red Dragon predates X-Files by over a decade, soooo) 

Anyway, Scully has been kidnapped by Duane Barry, oopsie daisy! He needs someone to take his place for the next abduction, and he has selected Scully for the job. Good thing Mulder and Krycek are on the case and manage to get her home safe and sound before the end credits roll!

Or... maybe actually they do the opposite of that.

Mulder gets progressively scruffier throughout the episode and nearly kills himself and Krycek on the road bc he hasn't been sleeping since Scully got kidnapped; Scully loses her necklace for the first, but CERTAINLY not last time; Mulder and Krycek take a couple's vacation to a ski resort and Mulder holds a tram operator at gunpoint for suggesting that the tram is "not safe"; Krycek messes up his carefully slicked back hair while pistol whipping the tram operator and then fails to murder Mulder in what may or may not end up being just one of many assassination failures in his pathetic assassin career; Scully is taken by "THEM!" (whoever they are); Duane Barry is dead and the military performs the autopsy bc "there wasn't an FBI pathologist available this morning" (☹️); and Assistant Director Skinner apparently has had the power to reopen the X-Files this whole time??

Does someone die in the cold open: No, but Mulder does do the worst consoling job ever by approaching Scully's mom with Scully's blood on his outstretched hand and then staring blankly at her when she asks where her daughter is.

Does Mulder present a slideshow: This man should not be operating any sort of heavy machinery be it a car, a tram, or an early 1990s projector. (Of the three, though, the only one he doesn't operate during this episode is the projector.)

Does the evidence survive the investigation: Loooool. Nah. Scully's gone, Duane Barry is dead, Krycek has disappeared, and Mulder is left with nothing but some overgrown stubble, scruffy hair, and a worsening of his already substantial insomnia problem.

Whodunit: THEM!!! (Aliens? The shadow government? Both? Neither? Who's to say?)

Convictions: Oh hon. You had to have known Duane Barry was never getting out of this alive, right?

Did they solve it: I am going to go with "no, but." No, but Mulder (and Skinner) are at least aware that they have been massively screwed over, and so Skinner reopens the X-Files in retaliation, and I'll consider that a leveling up. You may have lost all your evidence, almost got framed for murder (tho tbf you did strangle the shit out of him), and got your only real friend in the world abducted by aliens/the shadow government/THEM, but at least you got your special files back, Mulder! I'm sure the first X-Files case you take on after their reopening will be very important, and not one that is just a fourteen year old emo kid's wet/fever dream fantasy...

But, ah, you know what? I'm getting ahead of myself. Ad break! 

[how do i determine if a case is solved? check the scale here: x]

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY: Quitting your job and disconnecting your home phone number. Are you currently leading a double life, pretending to be someone you're not in order to gain the trust of someone you intend to royally fuck over for your bosses in the shadow government? Have you completed your mission and are ready to move onto bigger and better* things? Well, then that means it's time for you to try quitting your job and disconnecting your home phone number! Don't worry, it's the 90s, you don't have a cell phone with a tracker on it, nobody will be able to find you. Go live your life, free as a bird. I mean, at least for now... *We do not guarantee that the things you move onto will be bigger, and we CERTAINLY don't guarantee that the things you move onto will be better. In fact, they might be worse. There's actually a high likelihood that they will indeed be worse. But don't worry about that right now. Everything is going to be probably possibly maybe just fine.

***

General Total Stats:

(green means stat has changed since last ep; red means new stat added to list)

Total Cases *Definitively* Solved So Far: 15 (streak not broken bc i didn't bother to restart it in the first place 👉🏽😎👉🏽)

Total Number of "Mulder/Scully, It's Me": 9 (teeeechnically she does say "mulder, it's me" in this episode, but it's the same one from the end of the previous episode, so counting it felt like cheating)

Total Number of Times Scully Has Conveniently Not Seen Something Crucial: 6

Total Number of Times Mulder Has Been in Mortal Danger: 10 ½ (if only krycek were competent 😔) 

Total Number of Times Scully Has Been in Mortal Danger: 10 (i think as long as we don't know her whereabouts it's valid to consider her as being in mortal danger)

Total Number of Sexually Charged, Uncomfortably Intimate, and/or Flirty Moments Between Friendly Coworkers: 15 (mulder climbing a hill and staring longingly at the sky is so insanely melodramatic that i'm counting it)

Total Number of Autopsies Scully Has Performed On Screen: 5 (ngl the line "there wasn't an fbi pathologist available this morning" hits the feels a bit)

Total Number of Times Scully Plays Doctor: 2

Total Number of Times Mulder Talks to an Informant: 19!! (and he was extremely unhelpful 😃)

Total Number of Times People Making Out in a Car Are Hurt or Killed: 2

Total Number of Times Someone Correctly Guesses a Password: 3 

Total Number of (Plot Relevant) Nosebleeds: 5

Total Number of Times Mulder Has Tasted/Sniffed/Touched Something Questionable Without Following Proper Safety Procedures: 3 (no, but he did completely ignore all warnings in regards to using the unstable tram thing, which is similar in spirit, if not in practice)

Total Number of Times Someone Says "Trust No One": 3 

Total Number of Times Someone Says "I Want to Believe": 4 

Total Number of Times Someone Says "The Truth is Out There": 2 

Total Number of Cigarettes Cigarette Smoking Man Has Smoked: 13 (but he NEVER. FUCKING. FINISHES THEM. look at that fucking ashtray at the end of the episode. he takes like one drag and then puts them out. why? why not smoke the whole thing?? drives me insane)

Total Number of Maggie Scully Sightings: 2! (she's not having a good time!)

Total Number of Lone Gunmen Sightings: 2

Total Number of Alex Krycek Sightings: 3!!!!!! (get outta town, rat boy! no, seriously, get outta town. we'll call you when we need you to fuck something up later)

Total Number of Times I Had to Look Up What State the Episode Takes Place in Even Though I Literally Just Watched It: 11½ (ascend to the stars, mother fucker)

Total Number of Times I Had to Look at an Episode's Wikipedia Page to Fill This Out Because It Was Fucking Confusing and/or Too Boring for Me to Pay Attention: 5

[kingkenzieofmold]

The Jewelled Maverick AU: ‘Pink Starlight’ Ashley Jang

Hi, I have a habit of yoinking other peoples characters and making them into Alternate Versions of themselves. I have created many and have gotten the green light to show off and talk about! This is my Role Swap AU that I made with @mai-mai-lim characters! Ashley Jang and Henry Stickmin [Min Seung-Jae] have Swapped Roles.

Mentioned Characters belong to Respective Creators: Brutus - @smoresthehalloweenqueen Cameron Copperbottom - @rarestdoge

Ashley went on to be a Dazzling Thief Named ‘Pink Starlight’ or ‘Starlight’. She failed at breaking into the bank and was arrested. It took her too long to pick pocket a guard of a phone but she eventually lawyer up!

She heard about the diamond and was not about to fail again. looking into it she discovered the Toppats Plans to steal it and executed the plans before they could. Successfully stealing the diamond and picking up a Mary Popins bag from the museum old movies section.

The government impressed kidnapped her to inflate the airship. Offering her to pardon of her crimes, which is rude cause she worked hard on her criminal record and instead asked them to add more crimes after she done. She gets onto the airship pure blood thief and private Investigator style, heading to the records room she meets Brutus and they have awkward moment. Ashley disguised as a Toppat gets Brutus to help her find a file on the newest heist. He does and she has her file for Galeforce.

Eventually she makes her way to the cells which lead to the vault room. As she wants to rob the Toppat of their Ruby on top of their files. She kidnaps Dave by lock picking his cell and making him get into her Mary Popin’s bag of holding. Fiddling with the door, she can’t get it open and ops for the vents.

She in counters Cameron on the way and after some convincing they head to the vault. Cameron who is really suspicious of her is ready for if she try’s anything. Ashley tricks him and lipstick tasers him, yoinking the ruby making a get away. You see, Ashely did grab the headset for PI. She just never put it on but now in the dark photo room she does. Charles is asking and Galeforce is demanding what’s happening she explains that she needs a distraction and ask if Charles can hack into speaker.

He can and so she makes her move. Heading to the Cargo bay she encounters Cameron again pissed the fuck off and ready to kill her. Speaker hacked they end up in a Friday Night Funkin’ inspired battle. Ashley ends up winning and dipping out of the cargo bay doors. The files she grab were not the correct ones but she did kidnap Dave and handed him over to the government as a witness.

Of course the add crimes made her a prime Wall target and she gets captured by them. Without her bag she has no way of getting out just yet.

In the background between Infiltrating the Airship and Fleeing the Complex both Ashley and Cameron developed a rivalry to have as many articles written about them in comparison to the other. They are determine to be the better thief and have been creating elaborate heists. Sabotage each other’s heists and Cameron has been trying to learn ‘Pink Starlights’ Identity as he doesn’t know it yet.

When Ashley is captured by the Wall it is posted all over the News ruining Camerons mood, so he spends a week planing a heist to break into the wall and Rescue all the Toppats there. Brutus has to convince him not to bust in and they sneak into the facility. They get to the control panel of all the cells and Cameron being impatient key smashes the panel, freeing everyone including Ashely.

Running out of her cell she find the room where her bag is being stored and cartoon style climbs in and charges into her normal thief outfit. Running to the exit she is in a western face off against Cameron and the Toppats. About to have a face off, to which Brutus interrupts and yells at them that they have to do that later cause the Wall is about to be on their asses. Ashley and Cameron give each other the ‘I get you next time’ look before awkwardly exited out the same doors.

The Toppats make their escape towards there stole truck before Brutus gets grabbed by Dimitri, Cameron flipping off Dimitri distracts him and they get away. Cameron about to enter the trucks get pulled out by Dimitri, who is pissed the fuck off by Cameron. Ashely seeing this is not letting it slide and drives up on the motorbike slamming Dimitri with a roundabout sign. Silence before Ashely and Camron start arguing again before Brutus grabs him again and forces him into the truck. Ashley drives out to the small bar and ask Charles for a pick up leading us into Completing the Mission.

The space station launch site is a battle felid when Charles and Ashely arrive. Fighting their way through the chaos they mange to make it to the Space Station just as Cameron Launches it into the air. Managing to grab hook her way onto the cargo bay she climbs in. Charles yelling into her ear that she is going to high altitude and to abort mission looking into the cargo bay determined. She see him.

Seung-Jae, her cousin, who she has not talked to for nine years.

“Ashley?” He whispered unsure whether it’s her or not.

“actually, its Starlight now.” Smiling she jumps from the cargo bay doors pulling out an umbrella and floating down grabbing onto Charles Helicopter rails. Upon Climbing in Charles asks her what happened and she smiles a wide sly grin.

“meet an old acquaintance again.”

On the cargo bay Seung-Jae is stunned not expecting to see his cousin after everything. Brutus in the background looks startled at the realization that Henry Stickmin Knows who ‘Starlight’ actually is. This changes everything.

I hoped you enjoyed my little role swap AU I made from my friend’s characters. I have some more but want to wait to ensure I get the green light on them! I had to leave out a lot of details, as this was meant to be a synopsis. Still ended up way too long so if you made it this far… Hi! I wish you a wonderful day and hope you enjoyed!<3

Any further questions ask maimai please!

Bonus Art

✨Sly Starlight Emote✨