Icon by @ThatSpookyAgent. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. BlueSky: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. The X-Files. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
Stephen Colbert took the microphone dressed as Caesar and claimed that he was starting the hungry for power games and then was escorted off stage but not before he said “I know i’m not supposed to be up here but let’s be honest neither is trump”
RNC security tries to cover up a No Racism No Hate sign with an American flag (symbolic again)
Things White Folks( Who Keep Asking What To Do) Can Do
1. Open your mouth. When you’re with your family, your friends, your coworkers, do not let racist statements slide without *at the very least* saying you disagree. Yes, I know it’s uncomfortable. Yes, I know you don’t want to stir up trouble. Yes, I know your cousin/uncle/friend is a police officer. Yes, I know your grandma is from a different era. Do it anyway. Consistently.
2. Attend a rally or vigil. Especially if you’re middle aged. White, middle aged folks get more respect from police, and can make rallies safer just by being in attendance. It also shows city officials that it’s not just black folks and college kids that care about this. When you’re there, don’t center yourself. Listen respectfully.
Oh, and bring your kids.
Yes, I know it’s hot/boring/time consuming/scary/overwhelming. Make them go anyway. Guess what? My kids don’t like going either, but showing up is important.
3. And while we’re talking about your kids, let them know what’s up. Teach your white kids how to behave if they ever encounter the police with my kids. Frankly, tell them to keep their authority issues and the liberal indignation in check, and just, “Yes Sir” and “No Ma'am” the situation until it’s over and my kids are safe.
4.If you see a black person pulled over by the police, keep an eye on the situation if you can. We live near a street where police have started pulling folks over more often. When I see it happen I put a leash on one of the dogs, walk down there, and let the dog sniff around while I watch the interaction. It’s a pain in the ass. I’ve already had a police officer ask me about it. It’s awkward. Do it anyway.
5. Email your police department, your city council, or your mayor. Call them. Ask them about police oversight in your city. Let them know you care and you vote.
You can google their email addresses or telephone numbers *right now* and dash off a quick email or leave a voice mail.
6. Think twice before you call the police. I’m not saying don’t call if you or someone else is in imminent danger, but be aware that the police coming does not make everyone safer.
7. Don’t expect black folks to jump at the chance to educate you on how to help or congratulate you for caring.
This is everything. Especially the last part. Thank you sista.
It’s a breezy summer day and the rustling from the leaves outside sound like whispers from my small apartment. I’m sitting in front of my laptop, silently studying the 1.6 billion faces speaking simultaneously in front of me. It’s Monday, the day of the weekly conference call between all Muslims. We have been required to attend this Skype meeting from the the tender age of fetus, but I had never spoken in one of them before.
That changes today.
“Hey guys, what if…” I start to say.
Nobody hears me, but I refuse to be silent. How could I show my face again on Tumblr if I couldn’t even save my mayonnaise friends from death? How could I expect to earn their respect? Anon was right; why hadn’t I done this before? Thousands of lives had paid the price for my ignorance, but not anymore.
“What if you guys….. stopped killing people.“
Suddenly, silence.
1,643,398,023 pairs of eyes are on me. My heart is in my throat as the ISIS leader gives me a blank expression.
A single tear rolls down my cheek. "Please.” I say with a broken voice.
He is moved.
“Aight”.
My fingers are almost shaking as I carefully type in the ten digit phone number I have had memorized my entire life. The buttons on my home phone seem to glow a bit more dull, and even the ringing of the phone from the other end seems to be agonized, almost as if the world is telling me to hang up. But I refuse to give up; I can’t let my white lily friends down. Not again.
The phone rings once. Twice. Three times. Still no answer. Just as I am about to hang up, there is a click.
All I can hear is heavy breathing.
“Hello….” I say quietly, my voice shaking. “Is….. Is this Muslim?”
There was a long silence before I heard a voice answer “ya lol”.
“I was thinking………..” I begin cautiously. “Maybe murder is…………bad.”
“Habibi, I…..I don’t understand. What are you trying to say….?” The voice seems shaken.
“What if…….world peace is good and killing people is…………not good”
He lets out an audible gasp. “Are you saying ISIS is…….bad?”
“Maybe death is…….not good.” I continue. My heart is racing. I remind myself that I am saving thousands of lives, and inhale.
The silence from the other end of the line is almost deafening. He seemed to be thinking, as if he had never considered this idea before in his life. Truly I had opened his heart and his mind. This…. This could end terrorism.
“Muslim….Please.” I whisper.
I hear a tear roll down his cheek, with my Muslim Communication Hearing™ and hold my breath as he finally breathes out his next words.
Yahoo only publicized that the value of the site has dropped since they acquired it (mostly due to their lousy handling, as we all know). Nothing was said of shutting down the site. And even if they did decide to liquidate assets, they’d probably SELL the site to try and make up their losses.
Tumblr’s not going anywhere just because Yahoo’s not doing well. It’s a social media site on the same user-numbers level as Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. You don’t just shut that down. Any rumors to the contrary are just that - rumors. Rumors and fearmongering.
Besides, even a decline in popularity doesn’t automatically mean a shutdown. Myspace and Livejournal haven’t been popular in YEARS, and guess what? Both still up and operating.
The guy who invented the theory that vaccines cause autism had his medical license revoked for it
thats ridiculous
they took it away because he came up with a seemingly plausible theory?
They took it away because other scientists have been unable to reproduce his results, his results were made up, he didn’t even get approved by an ethics committee, and now he’s risking the health and lives of a whole bunch of people
It’s crazy how this one person, in a study of only twelve children, gained so much traction in the world. He put this lie out there—and it was a lie, not just interpreting data incorrectly—and now it doesn’t even matter that he’s been proven totally false. Years of effort to reestablish the truth can’t undo the lie once it’s out there in the world. Hundreds of thousands of people believe that lie, and actual children are getting sick and dying because of it.
This is a really troubling aspect of how human minds work, and it’s something conservative politicians take advantage of on a regular basis. If you just say that “well over 90% of what Planned Parenthood does“ is provide abortions, it doesn’t matter how often people recite the objective truth that abortions are a tiny fraction of Planned Parenthood services. You can say the truth 1000 times for every one time the lie is repeated, and thousands of people will still trust the lie.
I’d never heard this before, and it’s actually really helpful information to have, so thanks. Here is a scientific article by the American Academy of Pediatrics explaining the flaws in Wakefield’s research and briefly summarizing four studies that refuted the fraudulent claims. Here is an article by the editor-in-chief of the British Medical Journal calling him a fraud in no uncertain terms. Here is the first part of a nine-part investigative journalistic series, published in the BMJ, uncovering his fraud. And the General Medical Council conclusions that stripped Wakefield of his clinical credentials can be found here.
I’m honestly so mad right now reading about this guy. People are dying of measles right now because vaccinations fell off so sharply, and those deaths can be laid at the door of this man.
I have seen a lot of people say that if Trump wins then we deserve it.
I disagree.
This is the first presidential election since the Voting Rights Act was weakened by the Supreme Court. In that time fourteen states have either proposed or passed voter suppression laws. This primarily affects people of color, students, and the elderly. Groups that tend to vote for democrats. Let’s not forget that in many states people in prison cannot vote and sometimes lose the right to vote completely even once their sentence is over.
Think of the people who want to vote, but are unable to because of the voter suppression laws championed by their republican senators and representatives. A strategic move to ensure that republicans continue to hold office. So tell me again how “we” deserve a Trump presidency.
