The Post Office has been contending with a government that wants to rip them apart from the inside out AND a global pandemic, everyone needs to allow for a few extra days when they’re doing their mental calculations this year. Even on ‘normal years’ there’s a bit of a delay as we head into Christmas, there always has been. Just try and remember to be compassionate and understanding, their jobs are extra hard this year.
One thing we’ve been doing is putting out a box of snacks and water/gatorade so they can replenish while on the job, if you have the resources and space to do so it would be a really nice gesture and I’m sure they’d appreciate it.
I hate _% of people statistics being used like “oh it’s such a small number” cause 1% is a small number but 1% of 7 billion is 70 million. That’s more than the population of the UK, France or Italy.
6% of the US is 19 million, as stated above. There are only 3 states that have over 19 million people in them. 19 million is the population of the entire state of New York. That’s more than half the population of California.
Taking populations and turning them into percentages is okay until you try to say “oh that’s not a lot of people” but the reality is… That’s millions. That’s enough to be its own country. That’s fucking scary.
Like don’t get me wrong, that’s nicer than the idea that Americans are split pretty 50/50 on such issues…. but that’s still 3 neo-Nazis for every Jew in the country. 6% is a nice, softened way of saying “over 1 in 20 people”.
This April, millions won’t be able to afford their bills even if they want to pay them. Like the pandemic, this is the inevitable consequence of a system that wasn’t designed to keep us safe in the first place.
On April 1st, while corporate retailers skip on payments and homeowners are allowed to wave mortgages, millions of renters will be expected
What Is A Rent Strike?
A rent strike is a collective refusal by tenants of a building, housing project, or dwelling to pay rent to their landlord. Often, groups of tenants have set demands that they want addressed, such as: unfair rents, unmade repairs, or an end to harassment by management.
Throughout history, rent strikes have been a tactic utilized by renters to combat slumlords, racism and attacks on civil rights, high rents, and also secure and defend housing for poor and working people in times of crisis, pandemic, and economic depression.
In recent years in the face of the growing housing crisis, rent strikes have grow in popularity in larger cities as a tactic utilized by renters to fight back against predatory landlords. Organizations such as the LA Tenants Union and Parkdale Organize have mobilized to back massive rent strikes which have resulted in key victories for tenants. Occupations of vacant housing, such as the recent occupation organized by Moms 4 Housing in Oakland, CA, have also resulted in victories.
Who Is Calling For The Strike?
There are a wide variety of autonomous groups, organizations, networks, and individuals who are pushing for the rent strike. This includes:
A network of autonomous anti-capitalist groups and organizations across the country.
The group Rent Strike 2020, which has been pushing petitions signed by tens of thousands of people.
Groups of renters, such as the anarchist housing collective, Station 40, located in the Mission District of San Francisco, who have publicly declared that they will go on rent strike starting April 1st.
Seasoned tenant organizations such as Parkdale Organize.
Hasn’t The Government Called Off Evictions?
In short, the government is some areas has placed a moratorium on evictions. This means simply that for a set amount of time, they agree to not evict anyone who can’t pay their rent, but they still expect you to pay it at a later date and in a timely manner. This means more debt and more payment of money you don’t have.
As 5 Demands, an online rent strike hub, wrote:
Current moratoriums on evictions and utility shut offs protect you from immediate threat of losing your home or having your utilities shut off, as long as those moratoriums are in place. Your landlord can’t file for eviction for non-payment during the moratorium and the utility companies can’t turn off your water or electricity. You can use the money you’ve kept on the immediate things you need, like medicine and food. The moratoriums alone don’t prevent you from owing back-payment once they lifted, though. That’s why we are pushing for a rent and debt cancellation, so millions of people are not facing insurmountable debt on the other end of this crisis.
We also know that millions of people organized and united in refusing to pay will overwhelm court and eviction symptoms, which have a finite capacity.
Won’t A Rent Strike Hurt Landlords?
Simply put, for middle-class landlords who rent out extra property, there are simply more protections from foreclosure than there are for renters. Homeowners across the US are getting federal mortgage relief and HUD has also called for a halt on foreclosures. According to NPR, homeowners can also have their “mortgage payments reduced or suspended for up to 12 months.” In cities like New York, there is currently a moratorium on mortgages for 90 days, while in California, those paying a mortgage will be given a grace period.
Corporations like Subway, the Cheesecake Factory, and Adidas have already declared that they won’t pay rent in April. There's mortgage relief for the middle class, but none for renters. They want the poorest to foot the bill.
It should also be noted that many corporate retail stores are also not able to pay rent and are currently working with landlords to pay reduced or restructured rent – or in some cases even given grace periods.
For renters, these protections do not exist – our only way forward is through collective action. As Parkdale Organize wrote:
Landlords’ resources will allow them to withstand the COVID-19 pandemic better than most, while tenants are more and more concerned with our daily survival. The government has already announced financial support and mortgage suspensions for businesses and landlords. By keeping our rent we will have more money for groceries, medicine, disinfectant supplies, and other basic necessities. Our landlords will be fine without our rent. We may not be.
How Can I Plug Into The Rent Strike?
The best way to is link up with a group that already exists or one closest to you.
You can also call this hotline and talk to organizers who will help you find local initiatives and resources for your strike:
this wont work unless you get other people that your landlord rents to on board. talk to other people in your building or on your property about it. If only one person doesn’t pay rent, it’s not a strike. You’ll just get in trouble for not paying rent. If nobody pays rent, it is a strike.
Reminds me of my mom getting remarried several years ago, for about a weekend - dude waited until after the wedding to tell her he expected her at waiting at home with dinner waiting when he finished work.
I dunno, like I get that this version of manhood is “normal” but goddamn is it the most brittle, contemptable fuckin thing
Am i the only one that thinks they could have come back from this? Like please tell me this was just the straw that broke the camels back and not a one off event. He must be an at least somewhat respectable person if she managed to stay with him up til that point. Him feeling lesser is a taught facet of his life pushed upon him by the patriarchy. It obviously damaged the way he viewed his gf, and his relationship, but that doesnt mean it cant be untaught. And of course its not this womans responsibility to be his teacher, but i hope she at least made him aware that this is what happened and why she left…
Literally how can you come back from someone wanting to have more power over you?
He’s not a little kid, he’s a grown ass man and if he hasn’t learned that 1. Teachers and nurses are smart as fuck and 2. That women aren’t and shouldn’t be lesser to him then when the hell is he going to learn from that?
Why does it need to be a final straw? Signs that someone is this fucked up are logs, not straws. And being a “respectable” person is easy when you’re lying about who you are and what you think.
These guys waited until they thought their women couldn’t possibly exist without them and then tried to shut down the things that made them special. Being nurses. Public defenders. Teachers.
These men pointed out what they were so proud of… how hard they worked… and tried suggesting that they stop. Tried making them feel bad about it. This is a common pathway into emotional and psychological abuse.
It was designed to make them feel bad and give it up. The next step would have been “what else can I take away”. Those situations where the woman’s confidence is shattered and it takes her years to get free of the asshole… 9/10 started with comments like this.
Please understand that this wasn’t an off the cuff thing. This was something he’s been thinking for a while, but waited to say til he thought he could make her change to suit him.
This is so important. These are not normal or innocuous comments these are red flags and classic behavior of abusers. People like this are insanely manipulative. They hook you in and pick you apart piece by piece. It starts with this, moves on to isolating you from your support system, and then flashforward a few years and you’re convinced that you’ll never be good enough and you need them to survive. You end up broken and completely subservient. These women did the right thing and are brave for speaking. Abusers aren’t usually the neighbors you hear screaming and shattering dishes like you see in the movies. They’re your “friendly next door neighbors” and they keep quiet. People are too scared to talk. Again, why her speaking up is so important.
People wonder how anyone stays with an abuser - this is how. Because manipulative people don’t hit you or insult you on the first date. They wait until you’re invested in them and the relationship, and then they start small, with comments like this.
And they rely on the fact that so many people’s reaction will be “okay, that sucked, but we can come back from this.” They bank on their victim thinking that way. They might even apologize and claim they won’t do it again. But they always do, and they escalate slowly, so you’re a frog in a pot of hot water.
Don’t wait for the tenth red flag, because by then you’ll be starting to think that hey, that’s actually kind of a nice shade of red, so maybe it’s not so bad to have all these red flags around, maybe if I just decorated with them they’d be okay.
The Amazon Rainforest is on fire. Government protections have been reduced and land is being illegally cleared through deliberate wildfires. Indigenous peoples are being burned out of their homes.
The Amazon rainforest sits at 17% deforestation and climbing. Science suggests that if the rainforest reaches deforestation levels as low as 20-25%, an irreversible chain reaction of desertification will begin that could lead to the Amazon and its life-giving rain being lost forever.
I’m hosting a charity event on stream on Saturday, August 31st to raise money for the cause.
It will take place from 1-10 PM EST, on the Picarto streaming site here: https://picarto.tv/LupusDraconis
No account is needed to join in!
DONATION OF ANY AMOUNT AT ANY POINT BETWEEN NOW AND THE END OF THE STREAM WILL GET YOU ARTWORK!
A sketch/thank you drawing is guaranteed, and higher levels of donation will get you higher levels of detail, such as inks or color!
Donations can be sent to me via Paypal or sent directly to your choice of charity! If you choose to donate directly to a charity, please email me evidence such as a receipt to get your art!
Suggested charities to donate are:
- AmazonWatch , which works locally with indigenous people to enact governmental and policy changes to protect the land
- Rainforest Action Network, which is a larger organization that fights companies and industries that drive rainforest deforestation
Art will be created during the August 31st event, and delivered after the event to all donators who provide the necessary contact information. Further information about the art and the event itself will be available on the stream.
ALL donations given to me will be donated to Amazon Watch.
I will donate all funds sent to me and provide proof of donation within 24 hours of the event ending.
Please consider sharing, joining us for the event and donating to the cause! Thank you, and hope to see you there!
Ok so, the cloud of smoke over the city is from the burning of Amazon rainforest in Rondonia. Sao Paulo is 3300km (2052 miles) distant from Porto Velho. Athens is closer to London than Sao Paulo is to Porto Velho. Just to give you an idea of the damage they are doing to the forest right now, with the permission from the human trash president. Just so you guys from other countries have an idea of what's happening here in Brazil.
If you can reblog this to make people aware of the situation, I'll be really glad.
Look they've been burning the forest it's been 15 days now and people have died already in the fires. So the least I hope that the media will actually pay attention to Rondônia and the forest now that's affect São Paulo. The media here in Brazil is trying to take the attention away from the fires saying that what covered SP today as fog because of a cold wave, but many people already said: it's not fog, it's smoke. And if you're shocked about São Paulo sky, this is Rondônia where they are burning the forest:
So yeah, they are destroying the biggest ecosystem that is the Amazon right now. And the world must know.
Because if we depend on the media, the death of the Amazon won't be televised.
the amazon rainforest has been burning for 3 weeks, here’s some things you can do
Hey everyone sorry for the massive post, but the Amazon rainforest has been burning for 3 weeks now, the fires are raging so strong that cities kilometers away have been darkened by the ashes, and even if it’s small I think we can all do something about it. Here’s some info I’ve gathered:
The current Brazil president, far-right Jaír Bolsonaro, is a climate change denier, he’s withdrawn a lot of the protections that were in place to keep the rainforest safe, and he’s in favor of exploitation of the rainforest, because of this, there is no official media coverage to make the information reach the rest of the world.
From Sunrise Movement:
Fires are being started deliberately under Bolsonaro’s rule to illegally deforest indigenous land, people have died in the fires already. The video shows a Pataxó woman talking about it https://twitter.com/sunrisemvmt/status/1164180958666469376
Because of the defunding of the organizations that would protect the rainforest and the lack of media coverage, it’s hard to figure out what to do to help, but here’s what I’ve found out:
Here you can Sign the petition to Demand BlackRock stop financing Amazon destruction, Blackrock has the most money invested in the fossil fuel and agribusiness industries, and is a huge contributor to climate change https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/sign-the-petition-demand-blackrock-stop-financing-amazon-destruction?source=direct_link&referrer=group-amazon-watch
https://amazonwatch.org/donate
You can pledge solidarity with Brazil’s resistance and donate here: https://amazonwatch.org/take-action/pledge-solidarity-with-brazils-resistance
And there is this petition to stop the exploitation of the rainforest which you can sign: https://www.change.org/p/impedir-o-desmatamento-e-exploração-da-amazônia
Also: https://www.ran.org/
feel free to add other resources and photos of what’s happening since my internet is being AWFUL and not letting me share pics.
for the last 2+ weeks, the Amazon has been catching fire. Yes, it’s the season where that’s normal but because of the sayings (aka incentive) of our new president, some farmers are taking advantage of that and intentionally setting the trees on fire. Yesterday, because of this, the sky of São Paulo looked like this. AT THREE IN THE AFTERNOON.
Hospitals of the northern states are filling up with people (especially children and seniors) claiming they can’t breathe properly. ALREADY ENDANGERED ANIMALS ARE DYING. THIS IS SERIOUS.
Germany and Norway, huge donators to the Amazon cause will stop sending money because they don’t see results (that can also be credited to our president, who has been tweeting angrily ever since - not because he cares about the environment, btw). That money gives this guy and his team equipment to save little guys like these:
THIS AFFECTS EVERYONE, NOT JUST BRAZILIANS. The Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world, and it’s being destroyed. WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING.
If your country is holding elections, vote for someone who cares about this. Don’t let another Bolsonaro or another Trump have the power to do something and then do nothing. This is going to shape our future — if we have one.
PLEASE REBLOG, EVERYONE NEEDS TO SEE THIS!!
side note: not to sound bitter or ungrateful but also like what’s up with Europe… y’all exploited South America for centuries but just because you “aren’t seeing results” you stop helping altogether?? if you really wanted to help you wouldn’t stop because you think you aren’t helping lol
a list of antisemitic dog-whistles and jokes. tldr; goyim stop laughing at these things
chag sameach and shabbat shalom!! i thought i would compile a list of dog-whistles (which are best described as “code-words” in politics) for my goyim followers/mutuals, because, while i know most of you are not ill-intended, seeing them on my dash still hurts and as such i thought it would be a good time to educate!! please be aware of the things before you post them, especially during big holidays like pesach.
LIZARD JOKES AND CONSPIRACY THEORIES: point blank this is the easiest identifiable form of modern antisemitism that so many of you igore/aren’t aware of. the “lizard people” joke stems from antisemitic and racist conspiracy theorist david icke, who argues that the world is run by a secret cabal of alien lizard people, many of whom are jewish. he’s fond of accusing famous jewish families of being lizards. remember when everyone got a chuckle out of mark zuckerburg being a lizard robot person because he’s haha funee emotionless? it’s because he grew up jewish. remember when jack black made his youtube channel and his entire comment section was flooded with lizard jokes about him and his kid? they’re both jewish. the very core of conspiracy theories themselves are built on the foundation of the elders of zion, a fabricated antisemitic text purporting to describe a jewish plan for global domination. do you see what i’m getting at here? when you, a goy, reblog relatable memez about a character from a piece of media calling themselves any variation of a lizard and tag is as “hehe mecore,” you’re contributing to antisemitism and its corresponding dog whistles. when you create flat earth meta or have entire discord servers dedicated to the moon landing being faked, you’re contributing to antisemitism and its corresponding dog whistles. if you truly want to be a good ally, especially to your jewish followers, remember this information before you subject us to antisemitism.
BLOOD LIBEL: blood libel is also very prevalent in modern culture, however it’s not as easily identifiable as it’s not so popularly known to goyim (especially in america). blood libel is the “accusation that Jewish people used the blood of christian children in religious rituals.” the best way i can sum up blood libel in pop culture is hayao miyazaki/studio ghibli’s film “spirited away,” in which a haggard, big-nosed witch kidnaps children (in haku’s terms specifically, light-eyed children) and controls them by stripping them of their memories of their past life, including the knowledge of their names and their families. another one is tangled, in which case i’ll just link this post as it goes into really specific, very great detail. now, i love a good ghibli and disney film like the rest of you, and i’m not saying you have to completely stop watching them, but what i am saying is that understanding blood libel to its core helps you better identify antisemitic creators.
THE ILLUMINATI/NEW WORLD ORDER: the original illuminati was coined in the 1700′s as a secret society in germany, which later became the topic of fascist propaganda in the early 20th century. the myth claimed that the illuminati was a subversive secret society controlled by nameless “jewish elites” who supposedly propped up capitalism and communism, among other things. while the modern version of the illuminati is inherently harmless and actually just pretty fucking ridiculous, the place it stems from teeters into dangerous waters. the whole idea that society is run by shadowy, upper-class jews has antisemitism written all over it.
now, these are just dog-whistles that scrape the surface. there are so many more, and not just against jewish people. the point of this post is to highlight the fact that tumblr (and specifically young white teens on tumblr) are in love with the idea that vampires are real and the 17th century is the best time period and aliens are controlling our DNA or whatever. in thinking and participating all this, you’re spreading false, antisemitic rhetoric that goes completely beyond aliens building the notre dame and delves into dangerous, hurtful territory. i don’t know about anyone else on jewblr, but i’m tired of seeing the lizard jokes and the conspiracy theories and the fucking pepes. we give so much and yet we’re blamed for things so often and given so little in return. i know you can do better.
I ran a semi-popular Conspiracy website in the late 90s/early-00s (back when sites like that were mostly about UFOs, Majestic 12, Area 51 and Men in Black). Whenever someone showed up on the forums spouting off about “Lizard people” though, they were immediately banned.
Because even back then we knew what it was code for, and I was not having it.
Not only did Manchester pride think it was appropriate for them to have PRISON GUARDS at pride, but they thought that it was appropriate for them to have this float
Nah the problem is definitely pride in general being overly commercialised. At London Pride last year I just watched dumbstruck as the endless corporation floats went by with like the occasional local interest and protest groups being drowned out by the big sponsored party floats.
Here are some examples of how companies just slapped the most inane slogan they could think of on their floats, handed out free shit with their logos made rainbow on them, and that was 90% of the parade.
Let’s not reduce it to just one pride parade being problematic, because this is a pervasive trend in pride celebrations. Our spaces are being coopted by marketing opportunists performing wokeness in the hopes of winning over what is now a commercially viable social group.
Support your local queer organisations, support your local queer events, don’t let capitalism shoehorn it’s way into everything we fought to have just so corporations can make a quick buck off of our community.
The people who organized pride in my town last year banned corporations and political parties from walking as a group. It was great, they got a lot of shit for it, like politicians tried to play it like they just want to be supportive and “you’re suppressing our rights”, but they handled it so well like “you’re still free to come to pride and support us, you just can’t promote yourselves, this year’s parade is about solidarity so we all walk together”. Surprise a lot of people who claimed they just wanted to be supportive didn’t come… Best pride ever!
AND WE ARE FUNDED! Thank you very much everyone for your support!
There's still a few hours left to back, so if you haven't yet done so, check out me and my mom's enamel pin Kickstarter here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/merumori/ki-bun-seasonal-kimono-bunny-enamel-pins
Less than 20 hours left in our Kickstarter campaign, and we still need $200 more to hit funding goal! Help me and my mom make our cute bunny enamel pins!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/merumori/ki-bun-seasonal-kimono-bunny-enamel-pins
We're down to the last 44 hours, with only 25% left to go! Help me and my mom make these cute bunny enamel pins!! All seasons + star designs are now available as a backer option!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/merumori/ki-bun-seasonal-kimono-bunny-enamel-pins
When I was struggling with my sadness earlier this year, I was actually experiencing a lot of distress and shame about how sad I felt. I hadn’t even realized it was happening, but I felt like I “shouldn’t be this sad”, and that “my sadness was a weakness”. None of that was true! But once I acknowledged this, I could actually address how I was tunneling myself into more sadness, and now I do a much better job of accepting my sadness as it is. 🌻 I hope this piece can help you in some way.
Gomez and Morticia Addams actually have a very loving and extremely healthy relationship, both in the old TV show and in the more recent movies. They were also one of the first television couples to be shown to have an active (albeit offscreen) sex life. Their frank attitude towards sexuality was shocking in its’ time, but their relationship and their family dynamic is actually more functional and more…dare I say it…sane than most families portrayed on TV.
The comedy in the show came from the family’s “odd” lifestyle, rather than from infighting and petty bickering, or worse, as was common on other shows of the time, thinly veiled references to spousal abuse. They didn’t make fun of each other or act like their children were creatures from another world. Were they strange and outside of social norms? Yes. Were they united in creating a loving home and being good, supportive parents? Absolutely.
These two support and adore their children, care for an aging mother and an estranged brother, put family before everything, and they love each other, wholly, fiercely, without reserve. They are every bit as much in love after at least a decade of marriage as they were the day they met.
Just remembered in the second movie when their third child became “normal” for a period and although they were shocked and didn’t know how to handle it, they didn’t mistreat the child or love it any less. They accepted the difference, even though it was hard for them.
Posts about Gomez and Morticia Addams are almost always uplifting and I’m happy to have them on my dash, but I think my favorite bit about this conversation is what Gomez is actually saying to Fester.
It’s nobody’s surprise that many of the aesthetic and thematic elements of The Addams Family in its various incarnations are influenced by Gothic tradition (not goth, that mostly came later. And not Goth, that was much much much too early), and I think Gomez’s words are a dead bullseye in terms of Gothic mentality.
“Make her feel like she’s the most sublime creature on earth”
The sublime is a recurring theme throughout Gothic literature. Although the word (like “awesome”) has lost a lot of it’s original luster over the intervening decades, sublime doesn’t really mean elevated and lofty (or even heavenly) as it’s often used today, but rather something possessing the power and grandeur to induce awe and veneration in the mind of the beholder. Although less than divine, something sublime possessed a wildness and power that transcended human ability to control…or even to comprehend.
Sublime is standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon leaning as far as you dare over the railing and still not being able to see the canyon floor below. Sublime is warrior-queen Galadriel being tempted by the One Ring. Sublime is waking up in the middle of the night in the heart of a wild thunderstorm.
“Make her feel like she’s the most sublime creature on earth”
Gomez isn’t advising Fester to treat a woman he fancies like a princess, or even elevate her to pedestal of angelic nature (who’s idea was it to equate femininity with purity anyway? What a laughable and historically damaging idea. Shame on whatever dead (probably) white dudes promoted that!)
Gomez is advising Fester that if he truly loves a woman he must do everything he can to remind her of how she’s an untameable force of nature who’s grandeur brings him to his knees in awe and terror. Just like Morticia, for Gomez.
I’ll sign off with one of my most favorite quotes of all time, because it feels suddenly very relevant:
“When I find myself surrounded by so much beauty, I feel as if I am the eye of a hurricane.”
Kickstarter update! We are at about 50% funded, and halfway to go before the campaign ends!
Two new backer tiers have been added!
☆ Sticker Buns! - This tier will contain 6 stickers, one of each Ki-Bun (including the Tsuki-buns)! Each sticker will be die-cut on weather-resistant polyvinyl.
★ Five Bun Pins! - For $50, you will get to pick five bun pins of your choice! This tier will also include one sticker pack by default!
Check out our Kickstarter here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/merumori/ki-bun-seasonal-kimono-bunny-enamel-pins
