fucking australia’s trying to get everyone to link their government id to their social media accounts else you cant use them anymore, the actual fuck is wrong with this country

please, actually, get fucking mad over this, the entirety of australia basically just banned all social media for anyone who doesnt want to give up their privacy to the government, there was no vote on this, no nothing, they just went ahead and fucking passed this ridiculously privy law and barely anybody’s talking about it the actual fuck

okay so to actually explain what exactly is happening, it’s an age thing. theyve used ‘protect the children’ and ‘let kids be kids’ as a weapon again. anyone under 16 is banned from social media, but to enforce this they have openly admitted everyone will need to link their government id to their social media. this whole ‘protect the kids’ thing was a very obvious trojan horse for getting ppl to give up their privacy.

and yknow, that alone is a very shitty law even without the whole surrendering your private information to the government thing.

theyve made outside uninhabitable, there’s nowhere left to go. public areas have degenerated, theyve turned hanging out into a crime with loitering, streets feel unwalkable sometimes, parents are more wary of letting their kids walk around on their own than they used to be, and now theyre trying to ban one of the main ways kids manage to distract themselves inside the house.

when i was 15 i was depressed and lonely, unable to leave the house very far, no friends, nobody. the one place that helped me feel less alone was online communities. i wouldve killed myself if it werent for the support i recieved on there. and now theyre trying to ban that for future generations, in a world that hates them being both outside and inside.

and even still, this is still a fucking trojan horse to get you to give up your privacy.

some proper info on this bullshit

I just saw a girl on tiktok saying the sentence "is a people pleaser but the people aren't pleased" was a part of her autism diagnostic report and like,,,

I have never seen smth so fucking REAL omg

just overheard my wife spelling something on the phone and i shit you not saying the words “E as in Eeyore” i am on my hands and knees wailing screaming crying pleading and begging people to learn the NATO phonetic alphabet

like the reason this exists is because none of the words sound like each other, which means that even with a terrible signal both parties should be able to clearly understand the words being spelled

i am dead serious that i believe this should be taught in school

A, B hard, 90, D, E, F, G, (is that H or O?), Dzj, K, L, M, N, O, P, K again, R, S, T, J, (is that W or B soft?), Ƕ, (is that E, X as in Ks, or X as in Kh?), J again, and Z.

As you may know, some Democrats are trying to blame the election loss on trans people. Here's my thorough response: "Should Democrats Throw Trans People Under the Bus? Here’s Why It Would Be Bad Politics." No paywall, 8 minute read. It's also on Medium, here's the friend link. And if you appreciate that I make essays like this freely available online, please consider supporting me on Patreon (for as little as $1/month)!

Don't Fall for this scam.

Transgender community, please please please do NOT use this product! It will kill you if used, please do not use it whatsoever.

Please reblog and spread the word

thats the thing thats missing from america-centric discussion of fascism: this shit is global. every country in “the west” is seeing the same rise of fascism in real time, all of it focused on murdering migrants. like giorgia meloni is campaigning to deport people to “migrant camps” in albania. last year the greek coast guard outright drowned a boat of 500 asylum seekers. and as that last post said im not dismissing the suffering of people within the US, i’m just saying its so supremely frustrating that every conversation is about the minutiae of american domestic policy and not the horrifying ultranationalist global trend scapegoating arabs and africans.

my point is you need to be horrified that “border control” is an accepted talking point. you need to be aware of the fact that climate change is currently driving what will become the largest forced movement of people ever as the “third world” becomes uninhabitable. people—specifically people from africa and west asia—are dying in the name of white supremacist “borders” around the world. and whether your european or american when you see this rhetoric manifest in your country you need to push back.

Hey, the ACLU is getting people to send letters to your Reps to have Congress pass the No Kings Act.

This act would make constitutional amendments to ensure that even sitting presidents are held liable for their actions. That NOBODY is above the law.

Their goal is 150k messages sent and at the time of writing this they're about 2.1k off from that goal!

ACLU gives you a prefilled message that you can edit to send to make the process easier, and will send it out for you.

This only takes a few minutes!

Takes less then a minute to fill out, you just enter your name and address

I know I sound like your mom but you kids need to stop fucking vaping

1) Vaping is confirmed to cause cancer. Vaping coats the lungs with toxic substances, such as heavy metals and benzene, which are known to cause cancer

2) Many vapes contain diacetyl, which, when inhaled causes popcorn lung, or scarring of the lung

3) Ultrafine particles, when being inhaled, can be lodged in the trachea (not good!)

4) Ultrafine particles can also constrict the arteries in the lungs potentially causing A HEART ATTACK

5) Vaping is relatively new. Not much studies have been done in comparison to tobacco. Plus, the vaping companies are powerful people. There is a large chance that they are purposely downplaying and even burying any evidence that vaping is harmful - just like the tobacco companies before them. They do not care about you, or your health, or the truth. They only care for money

Also STOP VAPING INDOORS AROUND OTHER PEOPLE. Holy shit, if you're gonna wreck your lungs at least give me the option not to wreck mine.

It’s such an issue that the MTA had to run a campaign about it

yeah okay ill reblog that

Please I’m begging yall as an asthmatic, your fruit-flavored vapor will still give people around you who are smoke-sensitive attacks. So will weed. Don’t do it inside; if you’re at a bus stop or something try to not stand right next to people or move downwind of them if you can.

I'm convinced Mythbusters needs a reboot. Misinformation or mythinformation if you will, is at an all time high. We NEED the show that promotes critical thinking to come back. It doesn't need the same cast, in fact I think it would be better with some fresh faces. Imagine all the good it would do if you could just show your crazy uncle the Mythbusters reboot episode that debunks his anti-vaxx conspiracy in an easily digestible and entertaining format.

I initially read "Mythbusters needs a robot" and thought "seems reasonable let's see where theyre going with this"

hey let's start spreading the reminder now that you cannot safely self-manage an abortion with herbal medicine or essential oils. natural abortifacients function by poisoning you; you wait for your body to realize you're dying and reject the pregnancy in order to conserve resources, and hope that happens before the rest of your organs shut down.

i think there will be an upsurge soon of unscrupulous and/or malicious actors preying on desperate pregnant people; do not help them kill people. don't spread recipes for herbal medicines or ingestible essential oil mixtures that purport to cause a pregnancy termination.

After Roe was overturned a bunch of herbalists were on social media begging people to stop posting “helpful reminders” about pennyroyal and cottonroot and other abortifacient plants, because there is no safe dose. Mifepristone is safe, a D&E is safe, but a plant that gives you kidney failure at every single dose that you could possibly brew up in your kitchen? Absolutely not. Donate to safe abortion nonprofits and shut up about herbal abortifacients. It’s not 1902 anymore, act like it.

IF YOU LIVE IN THE US AND WOULD RATHER NOT DIE FROM BEING HIT BY A CAR

please submit a comment on the NHTSA proposal to implement pedestrian safety test requirements for cars and trucks!!

It would finally make manufacturers design vehicles that are safer for pedestrians and cyclists, instead of the massive wall-of-steel front ends that are excessively deadly for no reason. Europe already has rules like this, but unless we comment in approval, they're not going to do anything to halt the increasing pedestrian deaths in our country.

And please share, even if you don't live in the US!

The deadline to comment on this is November 18, 2024, by the way!

Call now to recieve help with the inability to make phone calls!

Fill out this forum to receive assistance with your difficulty filling out forms

Come on down to our center thats two hours away so we can give assistance with your inability to walk or drive

There's help out there! You're just not trying hard enough!

U.S. conservatives always talk about creating jobs but get SO MAD whenever anyone mentions banning prison labor like imagine the insane ammout of jobs that would be created literally overnight if companies in your country had to actually employ people instead of using slave labor from people that got caught with weed 10 years ago.

Daily reminder that the US, who love to scaremonger about "communist labour camps," have legal slave labour if you're in prison

okay so as much as this post punches above weight on its own i need people to know exactly how many industries in the us are using prison labor, because it is many more than you think:

about 2/3s of prisoners in the united states work and most of those people make nothing for their work. if they make any money it's averaging 52 cents (that's $0.52) per hour and most of the money gets withheld for "room and board, taxes, and court cost" by the prison. some states, including alabama, arkansas, florida, georgia, mississippi, south carolina, and texas, pay nothing. here is a 150 page ACLU report on this that was published in 2022. if you refuse to work you might be sent to solitary or have your parole chances destroyed. there are no labor protections. people get killed. incarcerated people produce billions of dollars a year and almost never get paid.

there are basically three forms of prison labor. the first is labor inside of prisons to keep the prisons running. which means that if they let people out? their admin goes down. which is a reason to not let people out. the second is work release, providing inmate labor to private companies at offsite locations, like poultry plants, cattle and dairy farms, and other agricultural services. (this includes firefighting. incarcerated people are saving your fucking lives for less than five bucks a day.) the third is production of goods for external sale, including farm work, manufacturing, call center, distribution services, and others. and yes, before you ask, this includes immigration detention, which may i remind everyone is made up of civil detainees; immigration violations are not crimes but civil violations and people are trapped and exploited in private prisons and then utilized for profit.

this is legal because of the thirteenth amendment to to the US constitution, which states (and this is a direct quote), that "neither "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the united states[.]"

colorado banned prison labor five years ago but prisoners say it's still going on as of november 2023. there are other state initiatives trying to get prison labor banned, but when the government literally relies on incarcerated people to keep running, it's an uphill fuckin road.

companies which use prison labor or sell products made by prison labor include:

walmart

kroeger

target

aldi

whole foods

mcdonald's

wendy's

starbucks

sprint

verizon

victoria's secret

the dairy farmers of america

dickinson frozen foods

badlands quilting

pizza hut

hickman's egg ranch

fidelity investments

jc penny

american airlines

avis rental cars

the oregon department of motor vehicles

3M

allstate insurance

american apparel

american express

costco

enterprize

fedex

frito lay

hertz

HP

little caesars

kfc

office max

sara lee

xerox

and so many others.

The problem and practice is so pervasive it is honestly really difficult to boycott and divest from products produced by prison labor. Sometimes we can search and find out if a company uses prison labor, sometimes it just feels unknowable. Sometimes those companies are your only option for internet service.

Companies also love to market a product as "made in America" without clarifying it was made by prison labor. If something says it was made in America but gives zero further details, be very wary of it. Shit that is marketed towards a conservative audience absolutely loves to do this especially.

That picture of Biden looking at a quantum computer and being unable to grasp the true form of what he's seeing

To be fair that's how I would I react too

I do sincerely love that Quantum Computers look exactly like what a 1950's sci-fi movie prop artist would build if they were told to build something called a "quantum computer"

From Travelers (2016):

Even 2010s prop artists still end up building things like that xD

hello again (bill clinton limewire voice) my fellow americans

There are a few states that actually have Shield/Refuge laws designed to help trans people fleeing from trans-unsafe states, which also guarantee trans folks access to healthcare. These states are:

Additionally, some states have "trans sanctuary" executive orders signifying safety for trans folks seeking healthcare. These states are:

Living as a resident in these states means you are protected by state's rights and state government to continue or begin receiving trans healthcare. These laws have been codified in their states so everything has been a-ok'd by their state governments.

Stay alive. You got this. I love you.

Black folx don't get caught slippin. Crosscheck this list with these maps made by and thoroughly researched by tougaloo college.

They're a map of sundown towns across the u.s. one is interactive. also, side note, if you know a sundown town that isn't on there, please contact them and they will follow up on it.

at this point i really can't even figure out what i'm most scared about. the military being deployed against protesters? sliding back into a high emissions climate change scenario that will accelerate species extinctions and human suffering? inevitably an attempt to gut the endangered species act again? RFK Jr being in charge of vaccines? a stacked supreme court? all of the shadiest, most violent and corrupt politician dudebros replacing qualified government officials at every level in order to demolish any rule of law or accountability for crimes committed by the president? more mass shootings? xenophobic violence reaching a peak? border wall 2 electric boogaloo?

here are some others: trump restarts nuclear testing, setting off a global arms race, destroying all arms control progress, and poisoning the environment for thousands of years? mass deportation of immigrants and the violence and misery that ensues? weaponization of the justice system against political opponents? abortion further restricted across the country and you can't even travel to get one? all criminal justice reform blocked? trans healthcare made illegal? no fault divorce ended? state department funding gutted? all aid to Ukraine cut off? dictators emboldened across the world? religion forced into US classrooms, along with republicans' revisionist history? muslim ban 2.0? no more elections? literal eugenicists in office?

NOAA being shut down while natural disasters worsen. More food safety issues as he cuts even MORE "red tape." Accelerated loss of life in Gaza and Ukraine as he throws his support to the invaders. Attempts to outlaw birth control and nullify gay marriages. Dismantling of the public school system. More gerrymandering and rigging elections to try to ensure they can never be voted out of power. Privatization of public services. Criminalization of protests & homelessness, plus mass detentions, feeding for-profit prisons. More attacks on healthcare. Opening up federal land to exploitation. Slashed regulations for corporations & housing construction which will inevitably lead to accidents & deaths.

advice from dad

So, my Dad is a 73-year-old Mexican man who has lived here since he was 16. He was in Watts during the riots in 1965; in 1992, when I was in LA, as soon as the Rodney King verdict was announced, he called me, told me what was coming, told me how to stay safe. He has survived horrible living conditions, being kidnapped, physical abuse, prejudice, discrimination. He learned English, got his green card, pays his taxes, works hard, and has three daughters. 

I thought he would be devastated today.

But he wasn’t.

He saw that I was sad and angry, and he asked me why, pretending he had no idea. I almost started crying. And then he said, “no se me chicopale.” 

It means, don’t lose heart. Don’t give in to despair.

I asked him why he wasn’t upset.

He said, basically, “The world has always been this way. There are always people who are afraid, who are racist, who are awful. This is not new. And it will never go away. He won. We can’t do anything about that. All we can do is what we can do. Fight for what matters to us. Take care of each other. And don’t lose heart. And here, I got these unsalted cashews for you and a bag of jamaica drink mix and can you show me how to use the new washing machine because it’s not working.”

And, for reasons I can’t articulate, I feel a little better. 

As a Jew who just spent two hours talking to a rabbi for the first time in thirty years, please give your dad a hug from me.

Tikun olam, the rabbi reminded me. Literally, it means world repair. It means we live in an imperfect world, and instead of looking to the Heaven of the next world, it’s our duty to be a light in THIS world – to protect those people who need our protection, to work for social justice, and to improve the world as a whole.

The world needs our light.