#unit blue

[tatersgonnatate]

We respect all types of work boots in this house. Like to charge, reblog to cast

[grrlscientist]

Every Rethuglican President has put this country in recession that a Democrat had to bail the country out of. Why vote for anyone other than Biden?

[directactionforhope]

By the way, even if you fully plan to vote for Biden in November (because Trump would be worse and has declared that if elected he would ban Palestinians from entering the US x, x, x, x)...

You can and I would argue should call or email Biden or whatever other Democrats represent you and just straight up lie about it. Tell them "I'm a constituent, and I've voted for you in x number of elections, and thanks to your support for the genocide of the Palestinian people, I will never, ever vote for you again."

Politicians, Democrats, and especially Biden need a fire lit under their asses, because the vast majority of them clearly aren't going to do shit without one. Or, worse, be like Biden and actively be the reason that Israel can continue its genocide on a political, monetary, and military level.

Tell Biden and other politicians that you will never vote for them again. It doesn't matter if it's true. It will help pressure US politicians to stop this genocide, and therefore it's the right thing to do.

Obviously this also applies to other countries where politicians are supporting Israel's genocide, especially countries that have cut funding to UNRWA (list here).

[destielmemenews]

PolitiFact

[reasonsforhope]

Federal regulators on Tuesday [April 23, 2024] enacted a nationwide ban on new noncompete agreements, which keep millions of Americans — from minimum-wage earners to CEOs — from switching jobs within their industries.

The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday afternoon voted 3-to-2 to approve the new rule, which will ban noncompetes for all workers when the regulations take effect in 120 days [So, the ban starts in early September, 2024!]. For senior executives, existing noncompetes can remain in force. For all other employees, existing noncompetes are not enforceable.

[That's right: if you're currently under a noncompete agreement, it's completely invalid as of September 2024! You're free!!]

The antitrust and consumer protection agency heard from thousands of people who said they had been harmed by noncompetes, illustrating how the agreements are "robbing people of their economic liberty," FTC Chair Lina Khan said. 

The FTC commissioners voted along party lines, with its two Republicans arguing the agency lacked the jurisdiction to enact the rule and that such moves should be made in Congress...

Why it matters

The new rule could impact tens of millions of workers, said Heidi Shierholz, a labor economist and president of the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. 

"For nonunion workers, the only leverage they have is their ability to quit their job," Shierholz told CBS MoneyWatch. "Noncompetes don't just stop you from taking a job — they stop you from starting your own business."

Since proposing the new rule, the FTC has received more than 26,000 public comments on the regulations. The final rule adopted "would generally prevent most employers from using noncompete clauses," the FTC said in a statement.

The agency's action comes more than two years after President Biden directed the agency to "curtail the unfair use" of noncompetes, under which employees effectively sign away future work opportunities in their industry as a condition of keeping their current job. The president's executive order urged the FTC to target such labor restrictions and others that improperly constrain employees from seeking work.

"The freedom to change jobs is core to economic liberty and to a competitive, thriving economy," Khan said in a statement making the case for axing noncompetes. "Noncompetes block workers from freely switching jobs, depriving them of higher wages and better working conditions, and depriving businesses of a talent pool that they need to build and expand."

Real-life consequences

In laying out its rationale for banishing noncompetes from the labor landscape, the FTC offered real-life examples of how the agreements can hurt workers.

In one case, a single father earned about $11 an hour as a security guard for a Florida firm, but resigned a few weeks after taking the job when his child care fell through. Months later, he took a job as a security guard at a bank, making nearly $15 an hour. But the bank terminated his employment after receiving a letter from the man's prior employer stating he had signed a two-year noncompete.

In another example, a factory manager at a textile company saw his paycheck dry up after the 2008 financial crisis. A rival textile company offered him a better job and a big raise, but his noncompete blocked him from taking it, according to the FTC. A subsequent legal battle took three years, wiping out his savings. 

-via CBS Moneywatch, April 24, 2024

--

Note:

A lot of people think that noncompete agreements are only a white-collar issue, but they absolutely affect blue-collar workers too, as you can see from the security guard anecdote.

In fact, one in six food and service workers are bound by noncompete agreements. That's right - one in six food workers can't leave Burger King to work for Wendy's [hypothetical example], in the name of "trade secrets." (x, x, x)

Noncompete agreements also restrict workers in industries from tech and video games to neighborhood yoga studios. "The White House estimates that tens of millions of workers are subject to noncompete agreements, even in states like California where they're banned." (x, x, x)

The FTC estimates that the ban will lead to "the creation of 8,500 new businesses annually, an average annual pay increase of $524 for workers, lower health care costs, and as many as 29,000 more patents each year for the next decade." (x)

Clearer explanation of noncompete agreements below the cut.

Noncompete agreements can restrict workers from leaving for a better job or starting their own business.

Noncompetes often effectively coerce workers into staying in jobs they want to leave, and even force them to leave a profession or relocate.

Noncompetes can prevent workers from accepting higher-paying jobs, and even curtail the pay of workers not subject to them directly.

Of the more than 26,000 comments received by the FTC, more than 25,000 supported banning noncompetes. 

[thosemotivationalquotes]

I would love to vote third party. I absolutely would. But not in an election where the stakes are so high. Because the truth is it will probably take multiple election cycles for a third party candidate to have the numbers to actually have a chance at winning. It means having elections where your least favorite of the candidates wins. And in past elections I think I could live with that to help get a third party in motion. But not this election. Not when Project 2025 exists and there are people trying to get into power who want to push it. Not when Trump wants to take Palestine off the map. Not when Trump has alluded to wanting to be a dictator.

[my-midlife-crisis]

[fashionsfromhistory]

Ensemble designed for Pattie Boyd

The Fool

1967

The Fool were a Dutch design collective led by Marijke Koger and Simon Posthuma, best known for their work with the Beatles, which included designing the tunics the band wore for their 1967 television broadcast of All You Need Is Love, decorating John Lennon's piano and George Harrison's Mini, painting a circular mural at the Harrisons' Surrey home Kinfauns, designing the inner sleeve of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band LP and, most famously, painting a three-story psychedelic mural on the facade of the Beatles' short lived Apple Boutique in London's Baker Street, which was subsequently painted over by order of the local council. Pattie Boyd and her sister Jenny were fans of the collective and would model their clothing designs for the Apple Boutique. According to Boyd, this brocade ensemble was custom made for her by The Fool and she recalls wearing it during a trip to Greece with all four Beatles in July 1967 to explore the possibility of buying a set of Greek islands.

Christie's: The Pattie Boyd Collection (Lot 13)

[tinyabbey]

this one goes out to everyone who replied "gorgug has two hands" on my gorgug/unit art <3

waiter bring me your finest gornitann (ungorgann?)

[vultures-yay-or-nay]

If everyone hadn't acted like it was the wildest thing they'd ever heard I probably would've thought "Even cowgirls get the blues" was a regular Zac thing to say

[slithymomerath]

“I am typing these words as June 2003 surges with Pride. What year is it now, as you read them? What has been won; what has been lost? I can’t see from here; I can’t predict. But I know this: You are experiencing the impact of what we in the movement take a stand on and fight for today. The present and past are the trajectory of the future. But the arc of history does not bend towards justice automatically—as the great Abolitionist Frederick Douglass observed, without struggle there is no progress . . .”

- Leslie Feinberg

[spidermartini]

Much love to our Haitian brothers and sisters, who have to continue to endure this gross display of racism, ignorance, intolerance and hatred.

Sending random love and a show of support, so that you can see that not everyone is a stupid asshole.

[nando161mando]

We are in a bad way

[pangeen]

“ Heavy shorebreak “ // Derek Gomez

[destielmemenews]

"The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, said the band was also objecting to Trump’s use of the song because members Jack White and Meg White “vehemently oppose the policies adopted and actions taken by Defendant Trump when he was President and those he has proposed for the second term he seeks.”

Several prominent musicians have previously criticized Trump for using their songs at rallies. Last week, a federal judge in Atlanta ruled that Trump and his campaign must stop using the song “Hold On, I’m Coming” after a lawsuit from the estate of Isaac Hayes Jr."

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[thattheater-kid]

Can we go one fucking weekend without a huge, possibly historic and life altering event occurring