In short words: this CEO guy is the second-worst possible example of what could go wrong when you pursue a "disruption at all costs/any price" philosophy. I'm saying "second-worst" because with him it IS clearly greed, and he's competent at being greedy.

Who knows what the fuck a Trump is good for.

Boosted for the Public Service. Because this exposes the real heart of it. Why people resist Student Debt Forgiveness--because it's a one-to-one, apples-to-apples fair comparison. Debt is debt. You have all of these conservative old men (mostly) living endlessly on borrowed money and reputation, and they never get called on it. You get so-called "small businesses", more like sleazy realtors who become sleazier politicians, and they do the same, rotating their lives all around the same thing. Always debt borrowed against Daddy's or Grandpa's Capital, never income.

But God Forbid if mere students should EVER catch a break from being relentlessly called on OUR debts, right? (*rolls eyes*)

TAX the RICH

Sure, why not? :D

Reblog to give your followers some cheesy garlic bread

Basically, the short version of AI as it currently is, is: it uses probability, and "standards of deviation", to create a BOX, or a Bell Curve, to work inside of. Asking it to work "outside the Box" will produce aberrations and monstrosities. And also, the "Box" as such has to be huge (and contain lots of copyrighted/stolen material) before its "thinking Inside the Box" begins to make sense.

AI has to have way WAY too much access to data that would be considered "privileged" to us puny humans (because profit margins) before its Magic-8-Ball system can get to "seems legit."

I spy, with my little eye, a photo that was faked by an AI image generator! Can you spot the clues?

FB is turning into a parade of fake AI images churned out by click-farming pages. More misinformation is on the way. Learn some tricks for spotting AI photos!

Reblogging for the Public Service and future reference. Thanks for posting this OP. :)

I found an extremely dope disability survival guide for those who are homebound, bedbound, in need of disability accommodations, or would otherwise like resources for how to manage your life as a disabled person. (Link is safe)

It has some great articles and resources and while written by people with ME/CFS, it keeps all disabilities in mind. A lot of it is specific to the USA but even if you're from somewhere else, there are many guides that can still help you. Some really good ones are:

How to live a great disabled life- A guide full of resources to make your life easier and probably the best place to start (including links to some of the below resources). Everything from applying for good quality affordable housing to getting free transportation, affordable medication, how to get enough food stamps, how to get a free phone that doesn't suck, how to find housemates and caregivers, how to be homebound, support groups and Facebook pages (including for specific illnesses), how to help with social change from home, and so many more.

Turning a "no" into a "yes"- A guide on what to say when denied for disability aid/accommodations of many types, particularly over the phone. "Never take no for an answer over the phone. If you have not been turned down in writing, you have not been turned down. Period."

How to be poor in America- A very expansive and helpful guide including things from a directory to find your nearest food bank to resources for getting free home modifications, how to get cheap or free eye and dental care, extremely cheap internet, and financial assistance with vet bills

How to be homebound- This is pretty helpful even if you're not homebound. It includes guides on how to save spoons, getting free and low cost transportation, disability resources in your area, home meals, how to have fun/keep busy while in bed, and a severe bedbound activity master list which includes a link to an audio version of the list on Soundcloud

Master List of Disability Accommodation Letters For Housing- Guides on how to request accommodations and housing as well as your rights, laws, and prewritten sample letters to help you get whatever you need. Includes information on how to request additional bedrooms, stop evictions, request meetings via phone, mail, and email if you can't in person, what you can do if a request is denied, and many other helpful guides

Special Laws to Help Domestic Violence Survivors (Vouchers & Low Income Housing)- Protections, laws, and housing rights for survivors of DV (any gender), and how to get support and protection under the VAWA laws to help you and/or loved ones receive housing and assistance

Dealing With Debt & Disability- Information to assist with debt including student loans, medical debt, how to deal with debt collectors as well as an article with a step by step guide that helped the author cut her overwhelming medical bills by 80%!

There are so many more articles, guides, and tools here that have helped a lot of people. And there are a lot of rights, resources, and protections that people don't know they have and guides that can help you manage your life as a disabled person regardless of income, energy levels, and other factors.

Please boost!

Something I need to get done.

It's occurred to me that the computer virus that took out my last computer, the week of January 11-12, might not be a random occurrence. Meaning it's been on my mind that maybe Google and/or Comcast let that virus through to my machine specifically, on purpose. And that even if those corporations didn't, so much, allow that to happen, still, there's people out there who likely want me gone.

Not just quiet, but dead. I wasn't able to get online and pay bills and take care of my needs for 2 months. I ran out of toilet paper (and backup plans FOR my backup plans on that) multiple times. I starved--living on vending machine "food" and mostly just eating the barest minimum needed to prevent organ failure (about 1200 calories a day). My point is that I made it, but just barely.

I have to assume, moving forward, that I have enemies that (for whatever reason) want a nobody like me dead.

And if I had to guess, some of this has to do with my run-in with a local guy who was, at the time, acting as an undercover cop, watching (and blending in with) the homeless population in town where I live. For whatever head-fucked reason, this buzzcut weirdo got it in his head to call me a Nazi just because I wouldn't listen to his story while he had his buddy crowding me at my back.

And for real, as if the threat to my immediate safety weren't clear enough, okay, the truth is, I don't smoke, don't drink alcohol, and don't believe in (the long-term legality of) weed. Point is I didn't have anything he wanted and I merely told him so, but nah, Mr. Random Ass Buzzcut had to go off and make threats I guess. And since he couldn't get cleared to shoot me right away . . . ?

I'm guessing this person looked me up online, saw some of the things I had to say about the Cop City mess (not supporting it) and about drones and surveillance generally (ditto, not supporting that either).

And so the Rented Bastard got cleared to sneak a virus into my computer, possibly through the cable/coaxial rooms in my building.

What I do in fact know is that the timing of all of this couldn't have been worse, with the virus's hitting during the one cold snap we had this winter, and that this thing was specifically about bricking my Chromebook. A cheap shot, against a cheap computer, going after a shut-in he couldn't reach any other way. And this nearly killed me.

What I'm saying is: make plans for the worst. Plan for disasters to strike, because on the local level you and I both might be overrun with alt-right psychos, and no, not in your whole Zip Code, but on a neighborhood level. Make plans to have a backup phone or internet device just in case. Assume that anything you do to try to save society, WILL have local consequences. Assume the local cops will turn on you. Trust NO ONE with a Buzzcut haircut. Also, don't trust your own local mailbox--if you have to send anything in snail mail, in the postal service, actually send it FROM a Postal Box at least some distance from where you live. Some addresses in some neighborhoods have a habit, apparently, of making sure mail disappears and does not get sent out, whether it's personal letters or bill payments.

Because I've seen the difference in the Media since I've come back. People, some people at least, are hellbent on returning to tyranny and ruin. And even the people who say they don't support Trump, okay? They're also leaning into AI and drones and augmented reality in ways that will support the next bastard. No really, nine days before the Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk . . .at least one newspaper ran an article saying, in effect, that "man will fly in 1-10 million years."

That's how much clue the powers that be, in the Media, want you to have. They want you to be stupid and quiet. They DON'T want you to revolt against AI and drones and surveillance tech. They don't want you to think that pieces of Cop City--the AI profiling, and the augmented reality gear--could still proceed even without the obvious paramilitary training grounds for rednecks and traitors with badges.

And they don't ever want you to make plans that involve your surviving for extended periods of time without the internet. Think. These people--police, Media types, corrupt politicians--want you on your smartphone leaving your breadcrumb trails of metadata and hard data here, there and everywhere. They want you to tell them where you live and what the layout of your abode is like. They want you to make it easy for them, because most of their muscle is selected for ideology, not competence. Anymore Police are selected for their politics and their lack of impulse control--nobody expects them to have a brain or to be allowed to use it.

I would make plans to survive without internet, but I am in too bad a way, in terms of my health. Odds are I won't be able to not be a shut-in anytime soon. So don't do what I'm doing. Don't be the canary in the coal mine--they're the first to die when it goes bad. Be the people who know to get out on the first warning. Make plans that let you keep food, toiletries, shelter and utilities going without your first or second internet devices working. Start from that: not being an internet-dependent shut-in like I am, from my bad health.

Then from there, make three plans to keep this struggle as ingrained as possible. These are more divisive and assume worst-case scenarios, I'm telling you this now.

1-- Learn how to keep and use a sidearm, and get one. Yes, it's necessary, the bad guys WILL have guns, the barest minimum you can do is make plans to shoot back when they show up at your door.

1b-- and having done that, make a short and specific kill list. Keep this to yourself and make sure it dies with you. What I can say about this is: don't think individuals, think lineages. Think family trees, made of cancer, that need to be ripped out root, stem and branch to keep society safe long-term. It's not enough to be rid of Osama bin Laden, for example, when other Bin Ladens live. There's others for whom this applies, and much more so.

2-- Don't become ignorant of that which threatens you. To be clearer, learn about AI, learn about drones, learn how surveillance technology works. Know your enemies, and know their weapons better than they do themselves. Know what the weaknesses are, know how to drop a drone with any improvised tool you can lay hand on. And understand: one weakness that will be a thing for a while is the lithium-ion battery, and/or the lithium-sulfur, or solid-state batteries this technology will need to function. Understand that ANY bricked technology with these batteries on board is a potential weapon itself. Study the chemistry involved and learn how to use it.

3-- Make plans to have your brain, your mind, your thoughts, your metadata and hard data, get destroyed on your death. No, I'm not suggesting a suicide plan where you blow your brains out. What I'm saying is: once you are dead, people can slander you any way they want to, and nobody will defend you. No really, why do you think the police are so into virtual reality? They want to snag the data of the recently dead and abuse it for THEIR agenda. At minimum they want to have the names and faces of the people they've shot dead, saying THEIR words and promoting THEIR garbage.

At worst? Post-singularity, post transhumanist technology, it might be possible to FORCE digital immortality on people, just to FORCE them to "agree with" things they'd never support in life. It could be as dumb and brain-dead as what the police would do, or it could be as insidious as bringing someone "mostly" back, meaning the "resurrection" is 95 to 98 percent accurate, enough to break your heart . . . but on ONE topic they're corrupt and coerced into supporting that which they'd never do in their original, true life.

No really, absent any constitutional protections of one's data and/or thought process post-death, you have to assume the conservative, and/or nationalist elements are GOING to look for ways to exploit you after you've died. It would be better to just abandon the whole idea of digital immortality altogether--just make plans to have your brain destroyed, and your internet traces wiped out, so that the enemies of society don't get to make a muppet mockery out of you.

Yeah. Sorry to go on a bit, but I have to get this poison out of my head, so I'll stop having nightmares about this specific way the world ends. But still, if people in the Media are any indication, some folks are still hellbent on Trump Part 2, and what the fuck even is wrong with people?? Don't you get it that dystopia, ruin and bedlam are what you get out of that? Ugh. No. Let's not turn the entire century into an utter shithole, shall we?

My apologies in advance if this ruins the vibe, but . . .

. . . would any potential, interested "dolls" want to chat? No really, I can't do much more than that right now--I'm recovering still from some physical health problems. But right now? I feel like I just can't talk with anyone about "the stuff", you know, either turning the willing into dolls (my thing) or becoming the doll (possibly yours?). This is just me needing someone to talk to, maybe share some links to DeviantArt pics I find engaging, and in general we'd just swap stories and ideas. And yes, my bias is towards making Barbies of women, but I can be flexible, especially since I'm not even remotely doing any hypno or anything active right now. (and really, I need the change of pace. I need to get out of my own head--away from my own problems. And I can use a break from the political/societal stuff too.) Thanks in advance for your time, I do appreciate would-be dolls with an attention span. :)

A doll is a kind of prey animal that just wants to feel small and safe in someone's arms.

I'm Back.

Let's see . . . nope, I didn't die, my laptop did though, and I nearly did, and had to do some surgery? And then therapy to get my head on a little bit straighter? That's it, the shortest version.

Oh, so you want details? More of those below the break.

It started the week of January 10th, into the 11th. Comcast was having a data breach. And somehow, between them and Google? You know, the company openly PROMISING to update and protect Chromebooks through 2026, and Samsung devices in particular, through 2028? Those guys?

Somehow, a virus got through and knocked out the Wi-Fi. At first I thought it was the cable room's problem, that's how bad it was. Nope, it wasn't that and Comcast swore up, down and sideways that it wasn't their router at all (*eyerolls*). So I did what any Chrome person does and did a Powerwash, and . . .

Somehow, restoring everything to FACTORY DEFAULT didn't restore the ability of my device to find or use Wi-Fi. Yeah.

Then from mid-January to mid-February, my life wasted away as I tried three times, over three weeks (so no, not stalking) to contact my out-of-state best friends in hand-written snail mail through the Postal Service. I was living off of stuff from the vending machines and shredding old pants I didn't wear any more to use as backup-backup-BACKUP toilet paper of LAST resort. (not flushing it but otherwise, you know).

Either NONE of the three letters went through at all (which means the USPS wasn't doing its job) or my friends gave up on me.

THEN, on the 18th of February, late night, into the morning of the 19th, the bane of my existence, my bladder/prostate issues, got too severe. I was down to the last 2 to 3 percent of my urinary function again, couldn't pee or poo to save my life, and was in blinding pain. I had to decided: die in my apartment, surrounded by enemies or die in the hospital surrounded by "professionals."

I chose the latter, nearly died in blinding, howling agony anyway, then had people torture me for an hour-plus trying to put a catheter in me (the first 3 times without ANY anesthetic, mind you, and the 4th with only a numbing gel) before finally deciding I needed it done surgically. One surgery (WITH anesthetic, thank goodness), a cystoscopy, a urethral stent and a Foley implant later, and well, yes, I still had to fight DAILY to have any time to recovery from SURGERY in this hospital, and still had to fight for a pen and paper to write things down with so I could try to arrange for a safer place for me to recover than the public housing mess I'm stuck with now.

So you know, I did what I had to do: get released after the 6th day in the hospital to the local Respite Center to also get titrated on something for the depression while my body tried to heal up (or kill me four more times with pain issues in multiple places). Good times, (sarcasm), and I had to ask for a third week in a two week program to get anything done. Like a new State ID and/or a free "government phone to get back on the internet with. And well . . .

I have the temporary ID, will get a real one sent to me in about a week, and the phone? It came with a bad SIM card and is useless, so far, as a phone. But with a LOT of struggle (tiny screen, bad eyes and big fingertips) I was able to get online and pay some bills, and thanks to the money I had "saved" from not being online at all for 2 months, I was able to start the "pay bills, hurt, then die" cycle over again with a newish Samsung Chromebook. Because the smartphone sucks? Yeah. :-p

And yeah, this includes a bladder infection (taking care of that) and having the Foley implant swapped out manually for a new one (the nurse I saw at the Urology department Wednesday was good, and so was the stent at keeping me from feeling much). Things are weird right now, my body's still in more than occasional pain, and It's bad that I've lost my besties of more than 15 years . . .

But I'm still around for people to pick on, I guess. (*shrugs*)

Oh, by the way. :D

I finally sprung for it and saw the movie. The _Barbie_ movie. I know, six months-plus later and all that. And . . . . it's an excellent movie. It isn't the best thing ever, but it's hardly as "middling" or "mediocre" as some would make it out to be. It's a comedy is what it is. It is essentially exactly what the narrator tells you it's going to be: take the doll's eye view of feminism and "burst their bubble." And it only seems weird because it's been a while since we've had a comedic farce in movie theaters. Meaning: the idea is to be over-the-top ridiculous enough that you roll with it and let yourself smile and laugh at the strangeness of it all.

The only reason why I didn't get to this movie sooner was because it IS also more than a bit musical. I dislike musicals, but that's just me talking, I've seen a few too many of them, that's all. And in truth, even the musical parts make sense in terms of plot eventually. And so does The Rant (mild spoiler: it's the anti-brainwashing tool, use the cognitive dissonance of how it's a contradiction to BE in, *ahem* that situation in Kendom, how it's a contradiction to even BE a woman sometimes,and *bam*, their minds are back).

Point is: this is the movie we deserved. :) That and . . . it's somewhat in-character for the doll characters to BE airheads, if you think about it much. They're supposed to be blank slates, and suggestible. That's the whole point, the person playing with the toys brings their mind and imagination to the table. The movie is a bit fast-paced with some of the explanations, but it's all in there, it's all explained.

Good movie is good, and it is somewhat shameful that the Golden Globes felt a need to have some walking haterade with a Star Trek Reject name for a host show up and NOT be as funny as the "you're a fascist" line. Yes, it's a First World Problem, but still, who even was that guy, and how are people going to remember that guy's name? =)))) I sure don't.

Okay, I'm sorry I went on a bit, I didn't mean to man-splain or anything. But I did say I was going to get to the movie eventually and well, this is a good solid film, very well done.

For the public service and what's going to be among the first of MANY reminders from me. This year is an election year, sure, but this is NOT about supporting whatever Joe Biden is doing. In truth he failed me when he couldn't get the so-called, corrupt-ass "Supreme Court" to stay off his dick, regarding Vast Student Debt Relief. I could at least see the point behind his intervening to keep Israel from turning Gaza into a complete Graveyard--even if it soiled America's character to do so, not stepping in, between Israel and Gazan Palestinians would have been so much worse.

But failing to help people in over their heads with student debt, like myself . . . Yeah, that hurt. Point being, this is NOT about voting FOR Biden.

This is absolutely about voting to shut Trump, and ALL of his, the fuck out forever. No more so-called "republicans". Forever. They're all either fascists or complicit with them. There is no more reasoning with them, no more patience with their abuse, in a Mass Media sponsored by hostile foreign nationals (the family of Rupert Murdoch), or on an internet sponsored by the same (Youtube shamelessly being in Vlad Putin's pocket).

There is only the wall of resentment and silencing: vote to keep Trump and all of his family and all of his wannabes the fuck OUT. Forever. This isn't what they've earned--they've earned literally worse, the wages of treason literally are death--but it's what we can manage to do without massively arming ourselves and getting ready to do MORE THAN silencing the fascist bitches among us.

Using the ballot beats using the bullet at this time. This could change. But we have to be responsible and make sure that that change isn't our doing, that we don't go over that edge ourselves.

Reblogged for the public service, and just to remind people that YES, I am a "creepy old fart" of the sort that nobody likes. :-p *lol*

Reblog if you’re 30 or older

This is an experiment to see if there really are as few of us as people think.You can also use this to freak out your followers who think you’re 25 or something. Yay!

I've got to say this because it needs to be said.

The one moment I want from all, ALL of this, is for a Judge to finally snap into Trump, say, "Enough with you, your privilege and your threats. You're going directly to jail, and you'll stay there for the duration of the trial and live like a criminal in jail until I SAY OTHERWISE, you complete asshole."

But we can't rush that. The catches are: a) we have to cross all of our Ts and dot all of our Is, and make sure it's all correct in every detail to get Trump in prison and keep him there, and b) we have to give more states enough time to strike Trump from the ballot under the 14th Amendment. If it's states doing it, then we need as many as possible, two (Colorado and Maine) won't cut it. Two can be overcome in the Electoral College, we need more like twenty. At least.

But yeah, we decent people have to hold off on our gratification for a while longer yet. Some of us might not have much left in life BUT patience and discipline, but we have to have more of those in a minute than our foes do in their whole lives, for sure.

“As any professional interrogator can tell you, deep down inside, all of us humans are really just scared little kids. The more we’re broken down by the circumstances of life or government policy, the less secure we feel, the harder it is to get by in life, and the more scared we become. And, for many people, out of that fear comes the willingness — hell, the enthusiasm — to embrace “big daddy” in the form of a tough guy leader who promises to “restore” those who feel the fear back to their previous (or imagined future) positions of power, wealth, and authority. This becomes particularly easy for fascist leaders when their followers are convinced that the nation’s government has become hopelessly corrupt, a project rightwing fossil fuel billionaires, rightwing media, and Republican politicians have been promoting here in the US for decades. Ever since the Reagan Revolution, in their zeal to cut their own taxes and stop regulation of the fossil fuel and other polluting industries, they’ve been hammering the message that our government has been seized by “deep state socialists” bent on destroying our country. Republicans and the billionaires who own them have repeated this conspiracy theory so often for the last few decades that an entire religion, Qanon, as arisen around it. This belief, that much of what our government does is illegitimate or even malicious, makes it easy for low-information voters to bind themselves to a fascist “reform movement” that promises better times ahead. As fascist followers act out their violent threats against their leaders’ perceived enemies, they get an inner sense of strength and the feeling that they’ve joined a community: that diminishes their own fear for a short while. The more an “other” — political enemies; racial, religious, and gender minorities; women — are blamed for the ills of the nation, the more vigilante-style violence against them is justified and the more violent the future becomes. When the state pushes back against that violence, as America did after January 6th, the calls for increased violence become even louder. Trump is practically shouting “kill them!” with a bullhorn and even our court system is afraid to stop him by throwing him into jail as they would have any other common criminal who encouraged such violence against judges, juries, witnesses, court officials, and their families.”

— Will Trump’s Violent Movement Conquer America?

The second biggest threat in 2024.

Short version: lots of Americans in general and lots of Democrats in particular are feeling poorer than we were, thanks to lapsed and betrayed benefits. Meaning: yes, having the corrupt and back-biting Supreme Court push people off of a cliff with regards to student loan relief didn't help, but it runs deeper than this.

It's that AND the engineered expiring of Trump's "tax breaks" for the middle class during Biden's term, and also this:

Meaning people feel like they're losing money hand over fist, regardless of how well people might be doing in the workplace.

And yes, it's the Second Biggest issue since it isn't about a) putting Trump behind bars and disqualifying him from further political office (remember the 14th Amendment) and also stuffing the Supreme Court until it gets back on the damned team again, OR b) doing whatever it takes to keep World War III, As Usual, from breaking out in the Middle East over Israeli business (and yes, it's complicated and a mess, but the short of it is (i) Israel has no business even remotely looking or sounding fascist at any given time, while (ii) Hamas and Palestinians really could learn how to be a civil society and NOT just constantly attack and kill people like the REST OF the Middle Fucking East).

What I'm saying is: I can wrap my tired brain around the Second Biggest Issue. I can imagine our doing something about it. Trump's not going to go to or stay in prison until or unless we stuff the Supreme Court and also throw the entire book at him, 14th Amendment and all. And we've all, as human beings, completely blown the last three good chances we had at peace between Israel and anyone else? Yeah.

So, here's the deal with the Second Biggest Issue. Congress in general and the Traitor Party in the House in particular just needs to get rolled the fuck over. It's that simple: everyone needs to be grabbed roughly as fuck by their shortest short hairs and brought back ON the team already, if only because the rest of the world is so fucked up that WE have to be a rational neighbor if not role model for them.

And in the medium-term this means finding ways (without engineering a new pandemic, mind you) to force the issues on a) Student Loan Debt Relief, wherever possible, since it was promised until Harlan Crow's sleeper muppets on that "Supreme Court" decided to be fucking traitors, and b) rreforming and funding the hell out of expanding Social Security until people on it are no longer in abject poverty. Yes, two high-risk and high-profile goals at once, I get it.

But to be candid, I can't think of much else that would give President Joe Is Still Biden some honest-to-God, "sit down and SHUT UP" Points to use against whatever Trump Muppet he faces in 2024. And as for having those points already, versus Congress? There's already plenty of blackmail material that can be coughed up against ANY Congressman, it's just a question of how willing you have to be to go IN on everyone as roughly as possible.

And there's the issue: is there the will and manpower to actually put a gun to everybody's head in Congress until actual good work and budgeting gets done? I doubt it. But to be candid? We had two solid years of control of the Congress and they STILL didn't deliver the goods. They still didn't act aggressively in the best interests of this Union and her people. Nope, not even post-January 6th.

What I'm saying is: it's not just corruption. It's not just the unfettered psychosis of the Reich Wingers in the House.

It's that the people who say they represent the actual majority of this nation literally refuse to act like it time and again even when they can. At this point I'm assuming your average Democratic Congressman has some form of Stockholm Syndrome and literally will not act in the best interest of the American People who voted for them, nope, not until or unless they can "get brownie points" by sucking Traitor Party off somehow. It's appalling and ridiculous.

It is. It's appalling and ridiculous that I have to cyberbully and threaten folks and demand a coup'd'etat, of all things, just to get anything to work properly? Yeah. But here we are now, and the Media's looking for excuses, any excuses, to betray the President and to let the Head Traitor out of the cage before he's even in it.

Boosting for the public service. People need to put their money, literally where their mouths are. No, not eating it, but by using your donations to back up what you say you believe.

If you want to do good and only that, make sure your money is on board with that. Don't support outcomes you don't want.

Reblogged to make a modest point.

As someone who might have cancer and who might die broke of it? I agree with the above sentiments/statements entirely, and I don't even consider myself all that liberal, never mind socialist.

This is how miserable, miserly and right-wing America's become in this 21st Century in Progress. We can't even promise women equal rights. We can't even protect LGBTQ people alongside ordinary citizens--it always ends up becoming a beggar-thy-neighbor game of pitting the civil (and human) rights of one group against the next.

We can't even promise that our own kids won't be shot dead at school or that said school will feed them a decent lunch (and not something dictated by bill collectors in the wrong line of work entirely).

And no, that's not socialist, saying those things, admitting that far FAR too much of what's going on, is about pandering to some rich-bitch lily-white old man and his old money, and his delusions of being King of the World with his recycled Scrooge business. That's just telling the truth.

It's telling the truth, that we've let far too much of civil society get away from us, we neglected too many real-world pursuits for too long. We've done so much better than this, before, and we didn't even have mass media or this internet . . .

Oh wait.

Reblogged for the Public Service. Simple, practical suggestions are rare on this internet. Some things are severe enough that you don't want to take the risk.

Do you care about climate change? Then you don't want to be caught without ANY shelter in the winter (in anything resembling a four-seasons, "we have winter here" climate). You also don't want to be caught outdoors in desert climates (cold exposure at night, animal exposure day and night, and lack of access to potable water). Ditto with being caught outdoors in year-round heat climates (California, Florida, Texas) where if seasonal fires don't kill you, heat-deranged people might.

Mainly though? America in general and the more civilized, "blue state" parts of it in particular, might end up being unusually uptight and paranoid about homelessness. People who aren't normally pro-police might become that, specifically, if they THINK you might be a panhandler. I wish I were kidding about this one--this in particular is one of the BIG fatal flaws about where I live. Otherwise decent people in my current hometown are SO fucking paranoid about homelessness and poor people in general that they're willing to screw up EVERYTHING good (disability and elderly access, mass transit, public libraries) just to put the social shank to "those people."

In essence, having no shelter puts a target on your back. It isn't as big a target as the one mentally ill people wear, and nowhere near as big as the ones worn by people of color, okay? But it's a target: if you are homeless authorities in general and police in particular are trained and brainwashed into attacking you, and not helping you.

If you can do anything to NOT be without shelter, even if it's living out of a van or RV short-term (very short-term), do it.

What to do if you find yourself homless- written by someone who has actually been homeless

Most important: Spend the money you have on a motel. Churches probably will not actually help and shelters can be dangerous or turn you away. At a motel you have free breakfast, access to running water, and a lockable place to sleep. Do not waste money on a gym membership like the popular version of this post says to do, YMCA memberships are like $40.

2. Contact family and friends. Now is not the time to worry about being a burden. Your survival and safety comes first and that is all that matters, anyone worth having in your life will agree.

3. Start a gofundme. Even if someone can’t offer you a place to stay, they might be willing to toss out $5 so you can eat today.

4. Libraries have free wifi. Apply to any and all jobs you can think of if you aren’t already working.

5. Any home is a good home. Even if it’s a dingy apartment in a bad neighborhood. If its cheap and you can afford it, snatch it up. 

6. Pancake mix and peanut butter are filling, cheap, and last a long time.

PLEASE SHARE THE FUCK OUT OF THIS

Done for the public service. I know it's hard for some, but sometimes you do have to pay a little bit of attention to what you're doing. Ask a few questions at least: Is this a real person? No, do they act like a real person would around here?

Are you sure they're about the things you like? Actually read what they have to say, beyond keywords.

Have they reconsidered anything lately? This is a tough one--you don't want someone who NEVER questions their past conduct, but at the same time, if their mind is open to being changed at the drop of a hat, it might be a sign that they just don't care much about anything. So let others off the hook, forgive them for things a few months to a few years old, if there's signs they've changed, but be careful.

A lot of mistakes can be avoided simply by doing what you're here, online, in the moment, to do. Actually read content. Actually look at other people. Don't just scroll mindlessly on auto-pilot. Don't just assume others in your clique have it right or even have your interests at heart--you know, with their DNI Lists and the like.

Look into things yourself when you look into things. :)