Remind Me Later.

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:

California

Colorado

Illinois

Oregon

Vermont

Washington

Minnesota

New Mexico

Maine

Massachusetts

Rhode Island

Connecticut

Washington D.C.

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

Maryland

New Jersey

New York

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.

Emergency cleaning: Unfuck your whole house in the shortest time possible

So, your landlord/parents/home inspector/favorite movie star is dropping by, and your place is a disaster. You don’t have much time to clean it up. You’re in emergency mode. Let’s get started.

Don’t panic. Panic leads to fear, fear leads to procrastination, procrastination leads to the dark side. You can do this, but you have to stay calm.

Unlike maintenance cleaning, we’re not looking to completely unfuck one space at a time. Instead, we want to decrease the overall mess in stages, spread evenly across the whole area that we’re concerned about. If you think your home is at Level 10 filth, we want to bring the whole thing down to a Level 9, and then down from there. One really clean spot in an otherwise messy home is not going to be helpful here.

Get prepared. You’ll want to shut the computer down (or turn the modem off if you need your computer to play music). Trust me. Get your music going. Gather up trash bags, your vacuum and mop, some rags or paper towel, sponges, and other cleaning supplies. Use what you have on hand. Don’t get distracted running to the store and spending an hour browsing cleaning supplies. A multi-purpose cleaning concentrate or a jug of vinegar will be just fine.

Breaks are very important. Depending on your time constraints, work in 20/10s (20 minutes working, 10-minute break) or 45/15s. But take breaks because otherwise you’re marathoning, and marathon cleaning is no one’s friend. Keep hydrated, don’t forget to eat, and check in with yourself frequently to make sure you’re physically doing OK.

Make your bed. This will be your home base if you get overwhelmed or need somewhere clear to take a break.

Start with the garbage. Going from room to room, throw out anything that is obvious trash. Once you fill a bag, take it out. Repeat as many times as necessary.

Move on to dishes. Gather the dishes from all over your house and bring them to the kitchen. If you can, start them soaking in a sink of hot, soapy water or start loading the dishwasher. After the dishes are all in one place, spend one 20/10 getting started getting them under control.

Now it’s time for your flat surfaces. Countertops, tables, dresser tops, etc. Clear them off and wipe them down. Don’t get distracted in too much sorting and organizing. We’re in crisis mode here. There will be time to get in-depth once this is all done. The same applies to cabinets and closets. Unless you have reason to believe people will be opening closed doors, leave these alone for now.

Attack the floordrobe and shoe pile. Get your clothes either put away or in the hamper. Start a load of laundry if you need to, but keep in mind that laundry and dishes have three steps: wash, dry, and put it away, goddammit!

Get random stuff up off the floors. If something is trash-worthy, throw it away now rather than just move it around a bunch of times. Otherwise, put stuff where it belongs.

Take another 20/10 or 45/15 to catch up on more dishes, if needed.

Head into the bathroom. Pour some cleaner in the toilet bowl, fill the sink with hot water and cleaner, and either spray the tub and shower with cleaner, or fill the tub up with some hot water and add cleaner and let it soak. Put everything away that’s out and shouldn’t be, clean the mirror, counters, and toilet seat. Sweep or dry mop the floor. Wipe down the sink and tub/shower, and give the toilet bowl a scrub. Mop the floor.

Sweep and mop the kitchen floor.

Vacuum everything you can, and sweep everything you can’t.

Walk outside of your house (don’t lock yourself out, please). Walk back in and see what catches your eye first. Go and deal with that.

If you’re being inspected or your landlord is coming in for repairs, spend time on whatever area they’ll be focusing on.

Give the whole place one more once-over and pay attention to anything you’ve missed so far.

It’s an old trick, but if your place is a little funky-smelling, put a pan of water on the stove on low heat and add some citrus or cinnamon or vanilla. Don’t leave it unattended or forget about it.

Take a shower, put on something clean, and eat something.

You can do this. It’s overwhelming, yes, but it is not impossible. You just need to do it. You have a list. You have directions. You have a whole bunch of Internet strangers who have been there before and who are cheering you on. You can do this, but you need to get started.

Why are you still here? GO. START. NOW.

Yeah sure i was seen as ruining my body and myself when I started to present more and more masculinely yeah sure I was told all my masculine haircuts were ugly and I had horrible clothes and no man would date me with unshaved legs and short hair and my grandparents didn't want a granddaughter with a buzzcut and facial piercing and that women were losing such a valuable young lady but yeah you're right masculinity is never seen as degrading or bad

notice how linkedin isn’t on maslow’s hierarchy of needs

you guys made luigi mangione trend for days and I need to see the same energy for brianna boston. she is a 43 year old mother of three who ended a phone call with blue cross blue shield (after being denied a claim) “delay deny depose, you people are next” and is now being held under a 100,000$ bond and could face FIFTEEN years of prison if charged. she has no weapons, her record is clean, and yet she is being held behind bars. they are afraid of the public and are trying to subdue. do not let them!!!! be outraged that our freedom of speech is being threatened!!!!! deny defend depose! free brianna boston!

i want you to know that most abusers are just cowards. i see a lot of domestic abuse in my part of town. it's everywhere, all the time. being a trauma survivor, i am often re-traumatized and heavily triggered when i witness these things. i am overcome with nearly blind rage, because every part of my brain begins to scream "Don't let what happened to you happen to them!" the bystander effect does not apply to me. i am not the person who stands there too scared to move. i act.

earlier today while i was waiting for a ride to go see some friends, i overheard a guy fighting with what i assume to be his girlfriend or ex. normally i just leave people be when it's just words being exchanged, i can't really do anything to stop two people from spiraling into an argument. however, as i watched, i noticed the guy kept getting within inches of the woman's face, puffing out his chest- clearly showing signs that he was ready to hit her. he was throwing things and charging at her. these are clear signs of aggression. he was barely stopping himself short of body slamming her.

i couldn't handle it. from across the road, i screamed "Don't you FUCKING touch her." at the top of my lungs. instantly, the guy sank into himself, visibly scared. without turning to look at me, he kept telling me to fuck off and to not get involved while walking away from me. i didn't listen. i followed him and kept shouting for him to leave the woman alone. he wouldn't listen. finally, at the top of my lungs, now way closer to this asshole, i shouted "I'm doing this because I want you to know that people are watching you. We are watching you do this."

what did this guy try to do? he finally turned around. slowly, carefully tried to approach me. as slow as fucking possible. this guy was moving at a snail's pace. he could ZOOM up into this woman's face, practically bumping her with his chest, but the second it came down to approaching a masculine, 300 LB musclebound person with a beard, chest hair, and a deep voice, suddenly, he was scared. he didn't have that machismo anymore. suddenly, he wasn't the big man.

he would not get within 20 feet of me. he meekly backed off after I told him to fuck off several times. he was so fucking scared of me he was practically thankful for me telling him to get the hell away from me. he was thankful i didn't come over there and beat his ass and he should've been. i have had to step in in other situations like this, and the EXACT. SAME. THING. HAPPENS.

i have stepped in on 2 separate occasions before this to chase off abusive men from harassing their partners. one such occasion was my next door neighbors arguing so loud i could hear them in my apartment at maximum volume. like, as if i was in the room with them. the woman had divulged that she had been sexually assaulted by one of the guy's friends, to which he told her it wasn't assault, she was just cheating on him. obviously the verbiage was far worse than how i'm describing it here. same thing happened. i flew into a blind rage

by the time i got out of my apartment and over to theirs, they were throwing hands. luckily i was able to get myself between them and pull the woman under my arm. once the man saw me, he immediately turned into a sniveling coward. he would not come anywhere near me. this man refused to even take a step in my direction. he wouldn't even say anything to me. instead, he runs off to his car and tries to take off. because he's fucking scared of someone calling him out for his bullshit.

another time some guy was screaming at his wife on christmas eve in front of their children- this was my neighbors on the other side. i had this bullshit going on all around me. do you see why i couldn't take it? this guy was quite possibly the biggest idiot and the biggest coward. at first i told him that his kids are going to remember that for the rest of their lives and that he needs to get his shit together. he deflected all of it by asking why i was getting involved and i told him because it DOES involve me. everyone around you can hear you. you have now involved the community. this guy literally not ONCE turned to look at me. his head sank down into his shoulders and he would not even look at me. he was scared shitless. he kept pulling the brim of his hat down over his face: embarrassed. where'd all that confidence go, huh?

abusive people are genuinely the most cowardly people you will ever come across in your entire life. i'm serious. this pattern extends well beyond the times where i was willing to risk my safety and even my life to help other people. it really is incredible to see the transformation happen before your eyes- an abuser is with their victim, someone they can turn inside and out and they feel so cool and confident, but the second someone they can't control steps into the picture, its all over. they're a wreck. suddenly that composure is gone. they're not in control and that scares the shit out of them.

abusive people are not powerful. they're not stronger than you. they're not smarter than you. they're scared fucking cowards who will do whatever it takes to get what they want out of life without actually having to do anything. they can't even survive being confronted with their own wrong doings. if you are in an abusive situation, your abuser wants to make you think that they're a mastermind, that they're so much smarter than you and that you're a fucking idiot, but all they're doing is warping your perception of reality. these people are seriously fucking as cowardly as it gets.

now please read this: I know what i'm doing is dangerous. i am VERY physically strong and am always carrying a cane, meaning that i always have a weapon on me at all times. please acknowledge this. please don't get physically involved with anyone in these types of situations unless you are dead sure you can hold your own in a fight. i'm serious. i am also capable of identifying concealed weapons because i used to have friends who concealed carried. if you notice a weapon DO NOT ENGAGE. i ONLY approach UNARMED people.

you have no idea what could happen in a situation like this so be careful when attempting to close a gap. what's safer is to start recording what's happening on your phone, and to try to gather the attention of everyone around you. letting abusers know that people are watching them scares the fucking shit out of them. they don't want to be caught or observed, they just want to continue to get away with whatever they're doing because they're convinced they're in the right. forming a mob is the easiest way to diffuse a public abusive situation. the aggressor WILL back down if you bring enough people. outnumbering the person is the way to go, the more of you there are, the easier it is shield the victim, and chase away the attacker.

we HAVE to start taking care of each other as a community again. this is literally HOW abuse propagates. this is literally how abusers gain their power in the first place. when you are completely closed off from your immediate community, no one can help you. when your community ignores each other out of fear of 'stranger danger', your community falls apart. you don't have one. there IS no community- and you can't just live like that. we NEED community. the reason why capitalism is both killing us and cannibalizing itself is because it destroys communities.

please look out for your neighbors. they are people. they are real fucking people. they are not an inconvenience. they are not an annoyance. they are real humans with real problems and sometimes they get into real danger. i don't care if you're young and you think it's weird to try to befriend your elderly neighbor. you never know when they might be able to help you. you never know when they might need your help. you never know when, hell, they might just want to, i don't know, talk. please look out for each other. please don't just stand there when you witness someone being hurt. please don't go "oh it'll resolve itself" or "I can't step in because that girl will just go back to him later" or whatever dumb excuse our brains come up with when we're scared.

if you're scared watching an episode of violence, think about how scared the victim is. you are experiencing nothing in comparison. please do what you can to protect the people around you. even if it's calling for your other neighbor who is bigger and more physically imposing, whether it's calling your family members or friends to come help, please rally together your local community and help each other when and where possible. literally even shouting things like "hey, what's going on over there?" "hey, what are you doing?" "what's with all the shouting?" can rattle their nerves and diffuse the situation. your voice can be a weapon.

as someone who went through years of severe emotional, emotional and physical abuse at the hands of a really abusive ex, i desperately wished at multiple times during our relationship that someone would've stepped in and helped. and no one ever did. and it resulted in me getting my fucking right leg broken. i have a permanent injury that will stay with me for the rest of my life because i wasn't able to walk away and nobody stepped in to help me. look. if i can do something to stop that happening to anyone else: i'm going to. nobody deserves a broken leg over a verbal argument over literally fucking nothing. nobody deserves to be treated like shit just because someone else is a sniveling coward who thinks they can get their way by pushing other people around. i'm not humoring this shit. if i can be the voice that haunts abusers in their nightmares, i'm happy to fucking be there.

quite literally the only day you can rb this the last one was 2005

Why do we say that capitalism must be “dismantled”?

You’ll hear phrases like “Smash the state!” “Eat the rich!” and “Smash capitalism!”

And, yes, of course, but… :)

However relevant those sayings are, our work must be careful, highly organized and above all planned.

Because capitalism and all of its associated systems are not discrete, abstracted entities we can attack independently.

It is a structure, like a complicated machine with many thousands of working parts…

And right now it is connected to absolutely everything.

If we do this… [picks up huge hammer and smashes the machine]

Then a lot of vulnerable people will die.

The machine was built and improved and redesigned and patched over the course of generations. It is very good at its intended purpose, which is ultimately to generate profit.

Every human being alive today relies on the byproducts of the machine to survive, without exception.

The machine’s engineers want it to keep working like it does. In fact, they want to optimise it.

That will kill all remaining life on Earth.

So, we must destroy the machine, quickly and carefully

We must examine its deadly programs and mechanics and replace them with alternatives we built together.

The engineers don’t want us tampering with the machine.

However, we make it run…

So we can make it STOP. Together.

How will YOU help us to safely dismantle the machine?

iww.org

p.s. My computer is on its last legs. If you would like me to draw you a little cartoon and help me get a new computer, learn more at this post.

malls are dying because they don't have blacksmith, apothecary, alehouse or peddler's