Look Beneath The Floor Boards.

My name is Jessie. The individual always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.If you try it, you will be lonely often and sometimes frightened.But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.

[gaylor-moon]

heres this weeks meme bye

[bbbrujo-deactivated20161217]

[discreet45]

[babyanimalgifs]

the most romantic thing you’ll see today

[berniesrevolution]

The Sad Spectacle of Cities Groveling to Amazon | Current Affairs

Watching desperate mayors plead for investment is a reminder that we need a major redistribution of wealth and power…

Every city in America wants Amazon to locate its second headquarters there. It’s the “trophy deal of the decade,” promising up to 50,000 jobs for a single lucky metro area. According to an NPR report, cities are resorting to desperate measures in order win Jeff Bezos’ heart. Birmingham littered its streets with enormous Amazon boxes. (See above.) The mayor of Kansas City bought a thousand items on Amazon and reviewed them all. Tucson sent Amazon a 21-foot saguaro cactus, which Amazon declined. Places as unlikely as Gary, Indiana and Fargo, North Dakota have gotten their hopes up. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicleproclaimed that “a great case can be made for the Buffalo Rochester Metro Corridor,” since while the region may lack some of Amazon’s stated search criteria, it makes up for it in “moxie.”

There’s something sad about watching suffering post-industrial cities like Gary plead for an investment from Amazon. (Gary’s mayor issued a heartfelt appeal, on the mistaken assumption that Jeff Bezos possesses a conscience.) It feels like the peasants are coming before the king, bearing whatever meager offerings they can scrape together, and begging him for his favor. Having humbled themselves at Bezos’ feet, praised his products and promoted his brand, nearly all of them will walk away with… nothing. Even though Bezos could single-handedly transform the economic fortunes of a place like Gary, the spoils will almost certainly go to a place that is already prospering.  

Part of trying to lure Amazon, of course, involves bribery: cities are trying to put together a favorable package of financial inducements that will make them appear sufficiently “business-friendly.” As Slate’s Henry Grabar explained, “virtually every city and state will roll out a carpet of tax breaks, plum real estate, and other local incentives. (All for a company dedicated to undermining the local businesses that will pay taxes to support the services Amazon uses.)” It’s a common pattern among municipalities trying to convince large companies to move there. And as Grabar points out, even when a company accepts an offer, they also have a powerful means of extorting the city in the future, by constantly threatening to take their business elsewhere. The whole system  “rewards corporations for being flighty, faithless partners to cities and punishes small and local businesses that cannot make credible threats to secure their own incentive packages.”

This dynamic is commonly called the “race to the bottom”: cities and states must compete with each other to give corporations the lowest taxes, the fewest labor regulations, the largest giveaways of property. The more a place is struggling, the more they need outside investment, and the more they’ll be willing to do in order to bring in new firms. This gives people like Jeff Bezos phenomenal leverage over the weak. If Bezos told the mayor of Detroit that his city would be a top-3 contender if and only ifthe mayor recorded a promo ad for Amazon in which he stood nude singing a song called “Hail To Thee, Amazon” while saluting the company logo, the mayor would have to consider the offer carefully. (A mayor who cared about the economic well-being of his residence probably ought to agree.) Honestly, that’s really not far off from what is happening: mayors are recording ads for Amazon, and the only thing that has kept them from fully debasing themselves is that Bezos hasn’t yet requested it.

This pattern recurs over and over. Louisiana nearly bankrupted its state treasury writing checks to the film industry, as part of a doomed effort to turn New Orleans into the “Hollywood of the South.” (When the checks dried up, the industry left.) The case of sports stadiums is notorious. Sports teams force municipalities to spend a fortune building new stadiums, on the promise that the local economy will be “stimulated.” They can then threaten to leave unless they receive further bribes. (And it turns out that they don’t stimulate much at all, bringing few economic benefits in return for the millions of dollars spent appeasing team owners.)

(Continue Reading)

[ch0die-foster]

[parrotiny]

i want to know what bears think sometimes

[mediocrechick]

[parrotiny]

[morgluxia]

[doublesslightpeppa-deactivated2]

[ofools]

[ch0die-foster]

a bird: *hops across the ground*

me: *just goes absolutely fucking wild*

[ch0die-foster]

For People Who Say Public Assault isnt “That bad”

Penis #1

My first penis. We were both about 6, and alone on the playground near my home. He showed me his penis, and told me I had to touch it. When I said no, he yelled at me, threw playground gravel in my eyes, and called me a spoiled brat. I ran home crying, embarrassed and guilty-what did I do wrong to make my friend so angry? In the years following the incident, my parents said he had a troubled home life and men in his life had treated him very badly. I wonder where he is today.

Penis #2

I was around 7, and playing in the Gage park fountain in a bathing suit by myself, while my mother and older cousin Peter sat nekarby talking. An older man also sat nearby, but behind the bushes. Masturbating. When the adults noticed, the chases him away. He disappeared into to anoniminity which he came from. To this day, there is a reason that there are no longer bushes surrounding that gage park fountain.

Penis #3

I was about 10/11 when I was invited over to hang out with a friend in the neighbourhood, Amanda. She asked me to go into the basement to wait for her. That is when I met her older brother who was around 13/14??? He immediately brought his penis out and started masturbating and asked if I liked his penis. I went back upstairs and didn’t mention anything about what happened. The only time I ever mentioned it again is when I was 14, to a. Lose friend. She asked me if it was big and was amazed that such a popular boy was “interested in me” I felt guilty and never talked about it again.

Penis #4

I was 13 and I was at a local bus stop with a friend. A significantly older man approached, and started telling us a sad story about how his girlfriend had just broken up with him. Just as he started to earn our trust, he asked if he could take out his penis; and if we’d evaluate it to confirm if it was “small”. I was so scared.

Penis #5

I was about 19 when a friend and I went to a local man named Matthew McKinnon’s house after hitting the bar on Valantines day. We were there under the assumption the he and my friend may or may not hook up. When we got there he said he was going to get beers, but came back with his penis out of his pants-masturbating in front of us. I felt super uncomfortable so I went and sat in the bathroom on my phone, hoping he would go to bed. Instead, he barged into the bathroom unannounced without knocking. He was masturbating, and was BEGGING me “please just touch it, COME ON!” I said no, and he tried to kiss me. This was the LAST way I would have wanted my first kiss to happen with a man. I was too afraid to make a scene or “ruin the night” So I went upstairs to sleep in a bed. When I woke up he was there. I have numerous friends with similar stories about this person.

Penis #6

I was 20 when I saw a penis for the first time, with my given consent. It was pretty cool. It was a positive experience.

Penis #7

Age 21 a man on James street followed me while masturbating, and it trigger a major panic attack that caused serious anxiety and unpredictable crying fits throughout the following weeks.

Penis #8

This past summer at age 22 a man in plain sight is masturbating out front of Jackson Square, and myself and 2 peers witness it. There are young families walking by. I’m furious.

This is a serious systematic problem. It isn’t benign. It’s real assault, and it’s something women and gender non conforming folks experience constantly throughout their lives. These experiences compromised my sense of security and safety and I can never have that back. It fucked with my sexuality and ability to trust. It made me doubt myself and think I was crazy. It made me feel like I should be lucky to receive attention, given the fact that I’m fat and otherwise undesirable. This isn’t normal. It’s not okay. It’s not normal. And it needs to stop.

[gif87a-com]

[tertwig]

This is the most punk rock thing I’ve ever seen

[noseforahtwo]

What do I donate to the kickstarter for their album.

[workers-of-the-world-unite-blog]

[rihardgansey]

I might not be the coolest, smartest or prettiest but for sure I’m the sleepiest.

[im-taking-accountability-deacti]

There are 4 things I learned when I was 25:

You do not have to be affectionate all the time to care for someone, in fact, caring can also mean a couple of texts or silence for a few days while you both live your lives happily and separately.

People do not care for you less when they’re busy with their own lives. It’s your reaction to them being their own person - and your ability to make yourself happy - that determines how they feel about you.

Not everyone reciprocates to your actions the same way. If you want someone to acknowledge, be interested in, or treat you a certain way for your efforts, all you have to do is let them know. They will try their personal best to accommodate that within their personal spectrum of feelings.

No one owes you 100% of them, not even after 30 years, because someone having a percentage of themselves is what keeps them sane at the end of the day and that’s okay.

[ducksaysm00]

These things are so important to learn.

[gif87a-com]

View this post on Instagram

[rebel-ryan]

RASPBERRIES!!!!!

[karina-padilla]

Im crying at the park

[mrhenry13]

[sippincuppas]

.

[takealookatyourlife]

It’s so fucked up that women are so universally dismissed and hated in society that nearly every single woman goes through a phase (if not a lifetime) of thinking she isn’t like other women purely because she has rational thoughts, hobbies, feelings, and needs.

[sunflwrseeds-scully]

- milk and honey