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apollotronica · 2 months

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APOLLO CAN U TELL ME ABOUR ON E OF UR OCS.. i was thinkin about how hearing u talk ab them kinda inspired me to actually pick my projects back up and also i think they r sick as helll :3 pretty pleaase ? ./NF!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

OKAY SORRY THIS TOOK ME SO LONG TO REPLY I WAS STUCK IN THE LABRYNTH (i couldnt decide which oc to talk about) BUT i relauzed i havent really talkrd about hiiro at all on here :3 EVERYTHING UNDER CUT and ill format it like i formatted the buwan post :3

this hiiro (left image most recent) ignore thr typology on the right its outdated

fun facts :3

likes: warm cloudy weather, bright lights, computers and technology, large cities, classic literature, anatomy and neurology, strong flavors, squid ink pasta

dislikes: most people, sunny days, manual labor, following orders, bland food, going outside, trains and train stations, getting wet

nationality: japanese

relatives: (adoptive) mother and father, elder sister (pacchi, 2 years older), younger sister (heru, 3 years younger)

early life (sort of???) (cw child injury/neglect, bullying, ableism?)

disclaimer i havent Fully fleshed out its backstory so this will just be a large summary of . stuff that Occured

hiiro and his sisters were put up for adoption almost immediately after heru was born (hiiro being 3, pacchi being 5) and they took turns taking care of her bcuz their parents were too "busy" to hire babysitters. hiiro and pacchi got into a fight while heru (like toddler age atp) tried to break them up. because hiiro has always been quick to anger and sort of physical, when heru tried to intervene his first instinct was to push her as hard as he could while yelling at her to stay out of it, it doesnt involve her . errmm aftermath of that argument was . heru got permenant brain damage and hiiro and pacchis relationship Completely broke apart :[ aww womp womp . Ok fast forward . heru is homeschooled by a tutor and hiiro and pacchi are both in junior high. pacchi is popular and friendly and pretty, but her grades are lacking . hiiro has always been incredibly smart (even though pacchi is 2 years older, he skipped a school year or two and is in her same year), but his social life is miserable . because of his temper and Overall Unfriendliness he was put in separate classes away from his peers where he was the only student under a teacher who didnt care about hiiro or Pretty much anything . it wasnt seen often but when he Was seen he was beat up n bullied relentlessly n followed home , so a lot of the time he spent nights hidden in the school or in damp alleys because he didnt want to lead anyone dangerous back to pacchi and heru . when he Was home pacchi ignored him and heru would try to make conversation but hiiro was Pretty much entirely nonverbal during their school years . at home hiiro drew and wrote and played like anyone else his age but bcuz hiiro looked different and sounded different and acted different it ended up outcast and alienated :[ womp womp

career ??

aaaanyway yada yada hiiro graduates early n basically disappears into researching neurology n brains n Specifically how theyre "programmed" , they end up lowkey kidnapping a couple people to experiment on them w a janky "neuroprogramming" device that, once hes sure is Safe To Use , hiiro uses on itself :3 the way proples brains show up on the device isnt like an mri or anything , the way it shoes up actually Depends on the person so sometimes itll be a short rpg or lines of code or Minesweeper and because hiiro Made the device they can decipher what each brain thing means and collects data based off that . but because what he does is Very illegal the government eventually tracks him down and forces it to work w them or theyll Krill him .

fun facts part Two :3

hiiro has only had alcohol Once and despite being of legal age they were kicked out for looking too young . he cant hold his liquor

he frequents a gaming cafe and knows all the staff by name but is too embarrassed to be seen in front of other people , so it rents out the whole cafe when it wants to go

hiiro has 3 cats and they are all Huge

after he Reappeared hiiro actually reconnected w his sisters and visits them as often as possible . Its not very affectionate at all though

i actually made his voice claim miyashita yuu . the songs where hes louder and yelling r more what i was thinking at the time , but i think miyayuu's soft speaking voice works as well

all the sleeves on their sweaters are slightly tethered and frayed because he fidgets with them while working . the right sleeve is more torn than the left

he doodles in his free time and has posted a couple oneshots on obscure manga forums . they dont keep up with them but one of them ended up getting really popular

hiiro Loves scifi . his entire apartment is decorated in super lame and obscure scifi anime posters and figures

THANKIES !!!

#☆ apollo answers #artpollo #dude this is so . messy #again i Havent fleshed out jis story much i just have main points But i hope i explained well ... hes so awrsome #apollos ocs #hiiro okashi #theyre albino btw smilr #i ws thinking ab adding mor e to his story cuz rn its kinda BOOOORRRIIIIINNNGGGG but i have no other ideas ...#hiiro was aldo a dnagan oc . ult neuroprogrammet #r #whatever #i coudve talked about like ccheck or cross but thatll come later methinkd #Anyway . enjoy hi.#m #im so tired i need a nap #hi lyria

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lawyerserving456 · 1 year

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lambertrocha25 · 1 year

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Package Properties Perth, Western Australia

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icarusfellintomyarms · 2 years

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Detroiters were refusing city-sponsored “free trees.” A researcher found out the problem: She was the first person to ask them if they wanted them.

A really great article written by Brentin Mock regarding the arrogance and racism of white environmentalists who “presumed to know what’s best” for communities of color without including them in the decision-making and planning processes."

Article under the cut if you don't want to click the link, lol. It's not paywalled! Some images may not load properly under the cut.

John Kost, left, and Barry Johnson, citizen foresters for the nonprofit group The Greening of Detroit, plant a tree in the Osborn neighborhood in Detroit in 2016. Photo by Carlos Osorio/AP.

A landmark report conducted by University of Michigan environmental sociologist Dorceta Taylor in 2014 warned of the “arrogance” of white environmentalists when they introduce green initiatives to black and brown communities. One black environmental professional Taylor interviewed for the report, Elliot Payne, described experiences where green groups “presumed to know what’s best” for communities of color without including them in the decision-making and planning processes.

“I think a lot of the times it stems from the approach of oh we just go out and offer tree plantings or engaging in an outdoor activity, and if we just reach out to them they will come,” Payne told Taylor.

In fact, this is exactly what was happening in Detroit at the time that Taylor’s report came out. In 2014, the city was a few years deep into a campaign to reforest its streets after decades of neglecting to maintain its depleted tree canopy. A local environmental nonprofit called The Greening of Detroit was the city’s official partner for carrying out that reforesting task, which it had started doing on its own when it was founded in 1989. By 2014, TGD had received additional funding to ramp up its tree-planting services to the tune of 1,000 to 5,000 new trees per year. To meet that goal, it had to penetrate neighborhoods somewhat more aggressively than it had in the past and win more buy-in from the residents.

The tree-planters met stiff resistance: Roughly a quarter of the 7,500 residents they approached declined offers to have new trees planted in front of their homes. It was a high enough volume of rejections for such an otherwise valuable service that University of Vermont researcher Christine E. Carmichael wanted to know the reasons behind it.

She obtained data that TGD collected on the people who turned them down, and then visited Detroit to interview staff members and residents. What she found is that the rejections had more to do with how the tree-planters presented themselves and residents’ distrust of city government than it did with how residents felt about trees. Carmichael’s findings (with co-author Maureen H. McDonough) were published in 2019 in the journal Society and Natural Resources.

The residents Carmichael surveyed understood the benefits of having trees in urban environments—they provide shade and cooling, absorb air pollution, especially from traffic, increase property values, and improve health outcomes. But the reasons Detroit folks were submitting “no tree requests” were rooted in how they have historically interpreted their lived experiences in the city, or what Carmichael calls “heritage narratives.”

It’s not that they didn’t trust the trees; they didn’t trust the city.

These are the stories that people from all walks of Detroit life tell themselves and each other about why city conditions are the way they are. The heritage narratives that residents shared about trees in Detroit were different from the ones shared among the people in city government and TGD.

A couple of African-American women Carmichael talked to linked the tree-planting program to a painful racist moment in Detroit’s history, right after the 1967 race rebellion, when the city suddenly began cutting down elm trees in bulk in their neighborhoods. The city did this, as the women understood it, so that law enforcement and intelligence agents could better surveil their neighborhoods from helicopters and other high places after the urban uprising.

The city was chopping down trees at a faster clip at this time. And the city was flying helicopters over their homes at one point—to spray toxic DDT from above on the trees. However, the government’s stated reason for the mass tree-choppings was that the trees were dying off from the Dutch elm disease then spreading across the country. These were competing heritage narratives of the same event—the clearing away of trees in the 1960s. The two narratives are in conflict, but it was the women’s version, based on their lived experiences, that led to their decision to reject the trees today. It’s not that they didn’t trust the trees; they didn’t trust the city.

“In this case, the women felt that [after the race rebellion] the city just came in and cut down their trees, and now they want to just come in planting trees,” said Carmichael. “But they felt they should have a choice in this since they’ll be the ones caring for the trees and raking up the leaves when the planters leave. They felt that the decisions regarding whether to cut down trees or plant new ones were being made by someone else, and they were going to have to deal with the consequences.”

“This shows sidewalk damage and a large limb that has fallen from a street tree planted, likely by the city, many years ago,” said study author Christine Carmichael. “Residents who were resistant to tree planting also often noted that they felt existing, large trees on city property were not adequately cared for and affected the appearance of the neighborhood, and presented a safety concern.” Photo by Christine E. Carmichael .

There was distrust not only of the city, but of the tree planters as well, particularly considering how TGD staff stepped to the people in the communities they were plotting on. The Greening of Detroit had 50,000 volunteers (during that 2011-2014 time period), most of them white and not from Detroit. The organization had just one community-outreach person on staff. And that outreach apparently did not include involving neighborhood residents in the planning of this urban-forestry program.

“City residents could request a tree planting in their neighborhood from TGD, but TGD’s green infrastructure staff decided in which neighborhoods to plant trees, as well as tree species to plant and tree maintenance protocols,” reads the paper. “TGD’s green infrastructure staff members committed to maintaining trees for three years after planting, which residents were informed of through door hangers and at community meetings, if they attended such meetings.”

Failing to meaningfully involve the residents in the decision-making is a classic environmental-justice no-no. However, from reading excerpts of Carmichael’s interviews with TGD staff members, it’s clear some of the tree planters thought they were doing these communities an environmental-justice solid. After all, who would turn down a free tree on their property, given all of the health and economic benefits that service affords? Perhaps these people just don’t get it. As one staff member told Carmichael in the study:

You’re dealing with a generation that has not been used to having trees, the people who remember the elms are getting older and older. Now we’ve got generations of people that have grown up without trees on their street, they don’t even know what they’re missing.

However, environmental justice is not just about the distribution of bad stuff, like pollution, or good stuff, like forestry projects across disadvantaged communities. It’s also about the distribution of power among communities that have historically only been the subjects and experiments of power structures.

In 2014, Detroit had an African-American population of 83 percent, and the highest rate of concentrated poverty among the top 25 metros in the U.S., according to the Brookings Institution. This forestry project was ramping up right as the city was in the throes of bankruptcy. These residents may have had different priorities in mind than those carried by the tree-planters who came knocking. Race and class matters in urban greening agendas, as the City of Houston once learned when it failed to survey non-white, lower-income residents for the creation of its parks master plan in 2014.

One Detroit resident whom Carmichael interviewed for her study told her: “You know what, I really appreciate you today because that shows that someone is listening and someone is trying to find out what’s really going on in our thoughts, the way we feel, and I just appreciate you guys. And maybe next time they can do a survey and ask us, if they would like to have us have the trees.”

Monica Tabares, TGD’s vice president of operations and development, said the organization always had a community-engagement process, but other factors complicated their interactions with residents, such as the city’s poor record of tree maintenance.

“Our capacity to fulfill every community partner’s needs was in hindsight a bit more difficult to achieve, and that resulted in some impressions among some individuals about not feeling the inclusion,” said Tabares. “Also, the city itself didn’t have the capacity to bring down dead trees, nor to prune trees, plus the fact that we were now replanting trees in some really decimated areas with no tree canopy. It left people questioning whether they were going to be taken care of. It just didn’t jibe right with all of our resident partners.”

Since talking with Carmichael and learning her study’s findings, Tabares says TGD has made several changes to its program, adding more material involvement of residents in the tree-planting and planning process. The organization now also has four community-engagement members on staff, all of whom live in the city of Detroit, which Tabares said has encouraged more trust from the residents.

“Having people come in and not be from the city and then dictate what goes on—not that we ever did that—but that’s the feeling. So we want people to feel comfortable with our engagement team that’s talking about the benefits of trees,” said Tabares.

The lessons learned from the study are immediately important, given that environmental organizations often partner with cities for these kinds of services. This is especially true when local governments don’t have the funding to do it (as happened in Detroit) or when the federal government shuts down ( what’s happening now). Having diverse staffs that reflect the city’s neighborhoods and understand the heritage narratives that run through them matter.

“Heritage narratives are important because they guide actions that are taken,” said Carmichael. “A nonprofit might say tree-canopy decline can be used to justify their approach to educating residents, because there are people who don’t understand the value of trees. But everyone I interviewed understood those benefits, so it’s inaccurate to say that. Ultimately, the feeling was that they were being disenfranchised.”

Brentin Mock is a staff writer at CityLab. He was previously the justice editor at Grist.

#detroit #environmetalists #enviromentalism #global warming #environmental activism

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ethereals-angel · 5 years

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Entitled. (II)

- you are in an open relationship with Baekhyun.

//E(I)//E(II)//

You got a call. You didn't know if you should be happy for having a new schedule, somewhat a new distraction, an escape from the repititive heartaches you experience every minute or so, or maybe, you should be upset because you're absolutely exhausted after all the work and stress because of your relationship with Baekhyun.

Oh, an orgasm is absolutely what you need right now. It's quite funny because you should have been getting some out of this open relationship but you knew you wouldn't open your legs for anyone that isn't your boyfriend. Unfortunately, your boyfriend's been busy opening the legs of women that isn't you.

You shook his hand firmly, a genuine smile on your lips, exhaustion still prominent but it'll do, you guessed. "It's a pleasure meeting you."

"I see you've been acquainted." Your manager, Jun, laughed as he enters the room, "you and Kai will be having a photoshoot. That's the first step."

You nodded your head, your eyes focused on your new co-worker. Definitely an eye candy. Kim Kai, the model every high-end brands would kill to have. All you know about him right now is that, and how determined he is to explore the acting industry. You've heard that he'd been training for a while and they have chosen you to be his first leading lady for an instant win. They guessed that since everyone loved you, they'll love him, too.

You never had a problem with any of your co-workers, or your leading men, just to be specific. You knew how to work the camera and how to exclude such chemistry with a man you just met. You knew you were the best choice.

"Guess we're stuck together." You mumbled, trying to lighten up the mood. They left you with the words, 'get comfortable with each other, you'll need it' so here you are, sitting right across of him in an expensive restaurant.

"Yeah. Such a pity." He teased, a playful smile playing on his lips. You just know, you were going to like him.

He insisted upon driving you home, earning quite the whispers and glances on your way to his car. You didn't mind. No matter what the truth is, they'll twist everything however they want it. You were spent anyway, you couldn't care less to anything right now.

The drive home was a silent, though, it wasn't the type of silence strangers have. You wouldn't call him a stranger after this day, he was an absolute angel and you were pretty sure you can call him your friend.

"We're here."

You hummed and gathered your things, shifting on the small space of his car. Once you've settled your eyes on him, you opened your mouth to thank him, only closing it back again when you realized he wasn't paying attention to you. Your heart rate picked up seeing how he's intently staring somewhere outside the confines of his expensive car.

"Isn't that your boyfriend?"

You swallowed hard, panic clouding your mind, "Kai... I... thanks for-"

"Are you seeing that?"

You hesitantly turned your head, following his line of sight. There he is. Your eyes stung, heart throbbing with pain as you processed the sight of his hands planted on a girl's hip, kissing her with so much passion outside of your own house. A bigger hole pierced through your heart, looking away immediately as you cannot look at the love of you life give all of him with a kiss. A kiss that isn't for you.

"I... yeah... uhm..." you blinked rapidly as you hurriedly shifted on your seat, trying to block your boyfriend and his other girl from Kai's sight with your body, "I should... go..."

He tore his eyes off them, furrowing his eyebrows at your strange actions, "what are you doing? He's literally cheating on you."

You shook your head, immediately regretting it, cursing yourself as the tears you've been trying so hard to hold back slipped, rolling so carelessly on your flushed cheeks, "no..." you chuckled bitterly, "no, he's not."

"Huh?"

"Look, Kai. I really need to go. I'm just so... tired..." you wiped off the tears with the back of your hand, "please, don't talk about this to anyone..."

"But..."

"Please? I can't do this right now..."

He let out a small sigh, his orbs held so much confusion and pity. You hated it. You never wanted to be looked at with pityness, but you guess you really are pathetic. "Well, it is your business... but can we talk about this? We're going to work together for a good amount of time. You know I can't just..."

You nodded your head, wanting to end this conversation already. You really are tired. You felt like you're going to pass out if this continues on any further, "I will."

Your glassy eyes met his happy, satisfied ones. Your body ached, you felt like you were going to get a really bad fever that'll kill you. Finally, you thought.

"Hey, love." He welcomed you home, immediately wrapping his arms around your waist. You felt your soul leave your body when he placed a small kiss on your lips, can't help but remember how he was kissing the other girl a while ago.

How is this so easy to him? When did going back to you right after he finished fucking other women became so normal to him? You can't help but blame yourself. You should blame yourself. This is your fault. You are the stupid one in the relationship.

"Saw pictures of you with that model earlier." He started, his eyes bore into yours, "was it good? Were you satisfied?"

"What?"

"He fucked you, didn't he?"

You gasped a single breath because that hurt. That fucking hurt. You felt like crying again. You were so fucking tired, so tired of working, so tired of crying, so tired of dealing with him.

All this and you can't find the courage in you to just let him go. You can't and as the time passes by, you hated yourself more and more.

You were so hurt, so mad, and all you wanted to do was to hurt him back. You wanted to make him feel what you felt almost half of the relationship, the hatred clouded your mind, overshadowed your love, but how could you if you weren't so sure if he cared, if he loved as much as you do.

"Yeah. T'was mind-blowing."

The next following days were a blur, meetings and discussions, on and on about how they'll introduce Kai and the plans about the up-coming movie. It was getting boring, yes, but at least you wouldn't have to spend more awkward time at home.

"I think it's best if you two attend the gala together."

Your eyebrow immediately shot up with that, "what about my..." you faltered, "my boyfriend?"

You can feel Kai's eyes burning holes through the side of your head, still very confused of what happened three days ago. He couldn't seem to find the best time to question you about it with how packed both your schedules are. You knew you were happy about it, dealing with people telling you how foolish your relationship with Baekhyun is definitely getting tiring.

"Yeah, I think that'll create a scandal, we don't want that." One of the staffs agreed with you, making you relax on your seat a little. You're sure you are currently agitated with him right now but you wouldn't want to create another fight to stress you and him out again.

Your mind flew to the night you stayed at home alone, to the nights he neglected you, to the nights to sobbed yourself to sleep. You were so miserable and you're still thinking of what he would feel right now? Would he care, though? You were pretty sure he won't be leaving with you that night, what would be the point of having him as a date if you would still end up driving home by yourself?

You cleared your throat, "but... yeah I guess having Kai as my date would be a great idea," you trailed, "after the movie announcement, it would make sense why, and... I don't think Baekhyun would mind."

"That's settled, then."

"What... what do you mean we're not going together?"

Your heart rate picked up as you paced through the house, getting what you needed for tonight's event before going to your stylist's place. You never actually had the time to talk to Baekhyun about the sudden change of plans because he knew, you knew, it was automatic. You're his plus one, and he's yours. It only changed this time.

"They needed me to go with Kai."

"What?"

"For work."

You sighed when he didn't respond after that, picking up your bag, ready to leave.

"But... but I wanted to spend time with you tonight..."

Your steps halted, eyes shifting from the door to him. Your blood boiled, a bitter laugh bubbled out your throat even before you could stop yourself, "Oh, Baekhyun, I know, you know, you would leave me for someone else," you broke off the eye contact, before he sees how broken you are, "don't lie to yourself."

#exo #baekhyun #baekhyun x reader #baekhyun angst #baekhyun imagines #baekhyun fanfic #baekhyun fanfiction #baekhyun fic

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cscclibrary · 4 years

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[Color photo: Protesters against police brutality in Columbus, OH on June 2, 2020. In the foreground, a male African-American protester is supine, hands clasped behind his back as if handcuffed. An African-American woman holding a sign kneels on his neck. Two other protesters nearby hold similar poses, and more protesters in the background stand and hold signs. Photo taken by Paul Becker, used under CC license.]

Criminal justice reform, the police state, mass incarceration, police violence, the unique danger of criminalization faced by Black persons in the United States--all of this and more have been on our country’s collective mind since the murder of George Floyd on May 25th of this year. These have long been topics of student papers here at Columbus State, but now they’re something more: people all over the country are seeking books about these and other related topics, not to write an essay for a grade, but to educate themselves about how our criminal justice system came to be, and what, if anything, can be done to rectify it.

We’ve assembled a sizable list of ebooks that can help you learn about these topics. The first portion of our list are items which discuss the history and current context of the criminal justice system; the second portion focuses on barriers to reentry for former prisoners. Although access to these items is limited to current Columbus State students and staff, readers associated with other institutions may find that they have access through their own libraries.

[Note: All book descriptions are provided by their respective publishers.]

History and Current Context:

The Crisis of Imprisonment: Protest, Politics, and the Making of the American Penal State, 1776-1941. “America's prison-based system of punishment has not always enjoyed the widespread political and moral legitimacy it has today. ...[This book] covers the periods of deep instability, popular protest, and political crisis that characterized early American prisons.”

Incarceration Nation: How the United States Became the Most Punitive Democracy in the World. “[A] sophisticated and highly accessible picture of the rise of mass incarceration.”

Building the Prison State: Race and the Politics of Mass Incarceration. “Examining civil rights protests, prison condition lawsuits, sentencing reforms, the War on Drugs, and the rise of conservative Tea Party politics, [this book] explains why politicians veered from skepticism of prisons to an embrace of incarceration as the appropriate response to crime.”

The Cambridge Handbook of Policing in the United States. “[P]rovides a comprehensive collection of essays on police and policing, written by leading experts in political theory, sociology, criminology, economics, law, public health, and critical theory. It unveils a range of experiences--from the police chief of a major metropolitan force to ordinary people targeted for policing on the street-and asks important questions about whether and why we need the police, before analyzing the law of policing, police use of force, and police violence, paying particular attention to the issue of discrimination against marginalized and vulnerable communities at the blunt end of police interference.”

Too Easy to Keep: Life-Sentenced Prisoners and the Future of Mass Incarceration. “[I]llustrates the harsh consequences of excessive sentences and demonstrates a keen need to reconsider punishment policy.

Children of the Prison Boom: Mass Incarceration and the Future of American Inequality. “[D]escribes the devastating effects of America’s experiment in mass incarceration for a generation of vulnerable children.”

Handbook on Children with Incarcerated Parents: Research, Policy, and Practice. “[E]xamines family life, health, and educational issues that often arise for the millions of children in the United States whose parents are in prison or jail.”

Paying for the Past: The Case against Prior Record Sentence Enhancements. “[E]xamines the neglected but critically important topic of sentence enhancements based on prior convictions in the United States. Most sentenced offenders have a prior record, and in many cases that record carries more weight at sentencing than the new crime being punished.”

The School-to-Prison Pipeline: Education, Discipline, and Racialized Double Standards. “[O]ffers a research and comparison-driven look at the school-to-prison pipeline, its racial dynamics, the connections to mass incarceration, and our flawed educational climate--and suggests practical remedies for change.”

Color behind Bars: Racism in the U.S. Prison System. “A diverse, critical analysis of racial and ethnic disparities within the American criminal justice system that encourages critical thinking by providing various sides to the issues.”

Misdemeanorland: Criminal Courts and Social Control in an Age of Broken Windows Policing. “An in-depth look at the consequences of New York City's dramatically expanded policing of low-level offenses. ...[S]hows how the lower reaches of our criminal justice system operate as a form of social control and surveillance, often without adjudicating cases or imposing formal punishment.

Ending Overcriminalization and Mass Incarceration: Hope from Civil Society. “[I]ntroduces the key issues that need immediate attention and provides concrete direction about effective solutions systemically and relationally.”

Barriers to Reentry:

Living in Infamy: Felon Disfranchisement and the History of American Citizenship. “[E]xamines the history of disfranchisement for criminal conviction in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the post-war South, white southern Democrats expanded the usage of laws disfranchising for crimes of infamy in order to deny African Americans the suffrage rights due them as citizens, employing historical similarities between the legal statuses of slaves and convicts as justification.”

After Life Imprisonment: Reentry in the Era of Mass Incarceration. “[E]xamines the experiences of 'lifers' upon release. Through interviews with over sixty homicide offenders sentenced to life but granted parole, [the book] tracks those able to build a new life on the outside and those who were re-incarcerated.”

Jesus Saved an Ex-con: Political Activism and Redemption after Incarceration. “This book sheds light on how former gang members and formerly incarcerated persons wage campaigns to expend the rights of those with criminal records.”

On the Outside: Prisoner Reentry and Reintegration. “[E]xamines the lives of 22 people--varied in race and gender but united by their time in the criminal justice system--as they pass out of the prison gates and back into society.”

Convicted and Condemned: The Politics and Policies of Prisoner Reentry. “[T]his book explores the evolution of a felony conviction, the common understanding of it, and the way it became shorthand for criminality and deviance specifically linked to black skin. On the basis of social practices, politicians took the common understanding of a felony conviction and extended its function beyond the boundaries of the criminal justice system so that a felony conviction is now embedded in policies that deny felons access to public housing, educational grants, and employment opportunities.”

#resource list #columbus state community college #criminal justice reform

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natpeabct · 4 years

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Into the Shark Tank

To learn more about Bright Side, we went as a group to a destressing session. Here we not only got to get a greater sense of Bright Side, we also got to speak to Madz, one of the leading members of the Bright Side team. After 30 minutes of focusing on our breathing and working out the tensions in our next muscles, we were ready to pitch. I stumbled through the main points and Madz was pleased. All we had to do was put everything we’ve got on an A4 and send it through for their meeting on Monday morning to pitch. So we hit the books and fleshed out the bullet points of our statements into sentences and sent it through. Here are those statements.

Contextual (11/3/2020)

Many university students are living in a state of uncertainty as they transition into adulthood. This uncertainty, compounded with academic demands, social challenges, and a doubtful future are directly related to heightened stress levels (Deasy, Coughlan, Pironom, Jourdan, & McNamara, 2014). Additionally, the internet has become increasingly dominant. This has negatively affected self-esteem, sleep and mood in university students (Younes, Halawi, Jabbour, El Osta, Karam & Hajj, 2016). New Zealand’s “she’ll be right” attitude creates a culture that holds social expectations to simply neglect stressors (McCool, 2017).

“Bright Side is a space for AUT students – designed to explore how we can develop better self-knowledge, a greater sense of purpose and meaning, and achieve the life we dream of.” (Student Digital Workspace, 2020)

Because of Bright Sides recent conception and obscure location, many students and staff are unaware of this useful resource. In addition to creating an installation to naturally encourage students to become more mindful of their stress, we want to take this opportunity to spread awareness amongst the AUT community of Bright side.

Deasy, C., Coughlan, B., Pironom, J., Jourdan, D., & McNamara, P. M. (2014). Psychological distress and lifestyle of students: Implications for health promotion. Health Promotion International, 30(1), 77-87. doi:10.1093/heapro/dau086

Younes F, Halawi G, Jabbour H, El Osta N, Karam L, Hajj A, et al. (2016) Internet Addiction and Relationships with Insomnia, Anxiety, Depression, Stress and Self-Esteem in University Students: A Cross-Sectional Designed Study. PLoS ONE 11(9) doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0161126

Sdw.aut.ac.nz. (2020). Bright Side: Explore Your Life’s Purpose And Meaning - AUT. Retrieved from https://sdw.aut.ac.nz/opportunities-and-careers/bright-side-explore-your-lifes-purpose-and-meaning

McCool, M. (2017, November 13). The 'she'll be right' attitude is killing us. Stuff. Retrieved from https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/98829352/the-shell-be-right-attitude-is-killing-us

Conceptual (11/3/2020)

We aim to create a mobile installation that will act as a distilled version of Bright Side’s purpose to create awareness of the useful workshops and courses out to the AUT community. Aligning with Bright Side, the installation will be non-digital and centred around mindfulness, interactivity and de-stressing; creating connections through the empathy of shared experiences. The mobility will allow us to set up in different locations around the AUT campus to maximise outreach.

The user experience of the installation will be designed in a simple, non-confrontational and organic way for members of the AUT community to engage with mindfulness and de-stressing.

Empathy is understanding and sharing the feelings of another person. Through empathy, compassion and helping behaviours are mobilised (Elliot, Bohart, Watson & Greenberg, 2011). Empathetic responses not only allow for physical and psychological health benefits but also for creating motivation amongst a diverse community with varying viewpoints. (Khanjani et al., 2015). Students at university more or less experience similar stressors as mentioned.

Regular experiences of social support from others can minimise how students may see support as a threat (Stallman, Ohan and Chiera, 2017). That, in turn, may inverse the mindset people may have that they are intimidated by the Bright Side space or the idea of seeking outside support to aid with their distress. Social support will also allow for more common instances of empathy amongst the community as experiences will be shared in a safe and trusted space.

We intend to establish this connection of social support within a crowd through indirect communication from participatory action and this, in turn, will create a sense of anonymous social support throughout the community. We will create a method with the intent of naturally encouraging others to become more mindful and open about their mental state.

Elliott, R., Bohart, A., Watson, J., & Greenberg, L. (2011). Empathy. Psychotherapy, 48(1), 43-49.

Khanjani, Z., Mosanezhad Jeddi, E., Hekmati, I., Khalilzade, S., Etemadi Nia, M., Andalib, M. and Ashrafian, P., 2015. Comparison of Cognitive Empathy, Emotional Empathy, and Social Functioning in Different Age Groups. Australian Psychologist, 50(1), pp.80-85.

Stallman, H., Ohan, J. and Chiera, B., 2017. The Role of Social Support, Being Present, and Self-kindness in University Student Psychological Distress. Australian Psychologist, 53(1), pp.52-59.

All work is written collaboratively by Charina, Aurora and myself

#ctec607

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theotherjourney7 · 2 years

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“The Week In Covid

A look at what's happened with Covid this week (as Friday 8 April 2022). Excuse the abundance of sarcasm - it's been a tough week for truth and logic!

1. Hancock (the UK's former Health Secretary) made the news again this week, in what I initially thought was a psychology experiment testing "just how much BS will the public take'.

2. He claimed the UK pandemic strategy of ‘suppressing the virus until vaccines and treatments were available’ was the right one, he’s glad they followed it, and they have beaten Covid.

3. It transpired he was being serious. Or at least he was serious he wanted the public to believe it. When folk pointed out his government didn’t suppress the virus until they had to and their delays led to some of the longest national lockdowns in the world, 10s of thousands dying, 100’s of thousands left moribund, the biggest fall in GDP of all OCED countries, thousands of businesses going bankrupt, the BBC swiftly took him to task for trying to re-write history and reported widely on it. Sorry, they didn’t really.

4. The symptom profile in the UK was expanded this week. It now includes the commonest symptoms of Covid, two years after we knew the commonest symptoms of Covid, and about eighteen months after acknowledging the actual symptoms of Covid could have helped suppress the virus until vaccines were available.

5. But the expanded symptom profile is just in time - the same week - as shops start to sell Covid tests. Maybe Johnson and Hancock’s mates have taken enough of the taxpayers money and it’s time for someone else to make some bucks off a pandemic that is robbing people of their freedoms and loved-ones.

6. The public now have to pay to test for a disease the government are wilfully permitting to spread (a lesson in supply and demand economics), only to be allowed to spread it freely anyway…

7 ...They have now officially moved from shafting the public discretely to shafting the public at every opportunity and in plain sight.

8. The ‘Covid is like the Flu’ crowd were served another blow as Covid hospital admissions peaked higher than they did in January, a mere three months ago. Either climate change is really playing havoc - it is - and we are having several winters a year - we’re not -, or Covid isn’t the fecking Flu!

9. But apparently, according to experts (I mean, armchair pundits) it’s OK the hospitals are filling up, because only half are in ‘primarily’ for Covid…Apparently if you go to hospital for a reason that isn’t Covid, Covid can’t harm you…no, that can’t be right. Oh yeah, its the endless stream of BS from the denialists.

10. Estimates put hospital acquired Covid at 22% of all inpatient Covid cases. Meanwhile, staff are still expected to wear plastic bibs and paper masks to protect themselves and their patients. It’s not like they are dealing with high risk patients, or we can’t afford staff going off sick. Oh wait, they are and we can’t.

11.The Govs HSE are now refusing to pursue the allegation that their guidelines on PPE for staff are stupid and likely led to avoidable HCW deaths, as alleged by one of their senior advisers (the death bit).

12. And if the allure of working on the NHS frontline wasn’t great enough, on top of the ‘we don’t give a sh!t about you PPE guidelines’ and the ‘why don’t you have a real world pay cut’ incentives, staff must now join patients in England in paying for parking. But Johnson loves the NHS, honest!

13. Just to prove Johnson has won the fight against Covid, the public in a number of areas were told not to go to hospital unless problems were life-threatening due to ‘high levels of Covid cases’.

14. Other A&E departments had to turn ambulances away because they were too full because of “high levels of Covid cases”.

15. Elective operations also had to be cancelled due to…yes…you’ve guessed it…’high levels of Covid cases’.

15. But don’t worry Javid and his mates have a solution that will reverse the decade of underfunding and neglect his government have pursued, the refusal to strengthen the NHS during the pandemic, and their inability to appreciate the need to actually care for those who get Covid

16. Their Covid Recovery Plan (no not a rehab service for those recovering from Covid. Wouldn’t that be nice.) will take more of the public’s money for the NHS and invest it in the…private sector. Wait, let me check my notes again…yes they will strengthen the NHS by investing more of the NHS’s money in the private sector. Maybe we didn’t pay them enough to do near f’all during the initial stages of the pandemic.

And apparently paying a private hospital to do knee operations will free up some ambulances, GPs, and A&E staff to treat strokes, heart attacks and cancer. No, makes perfect sense, when you don’t have an utter scoobie about how healthcare actually works.

17. But seriously, what could go wrong putting a bunch of out-of-touch accountants in charge of the public’s health?

18.Speaking of out of touch unqualified Ministers, this week the Education Minister said it was fine not to wear a mask because he washed his hands a lot.

19. In other news, WHO declare that Covid is airborne.

20. And in other news, Long Covid rates in children climb even higher, as yet more evidence emerged of physical consequences of repeated exposure to a SARS virus - who could have guessed?

21. The Government responded to a number of business sectors request to limit the impact of Covid on their businesses. To which the Government duly tried to limit the impact of a rapidly spreading virus by stopping anything that would stop it spreading.

22. In other news, the economic recovery falters and businesses struggle as staff members contract some sort of mysterious viral illness. They think it may be a viral infection called ‘Like-the-flu honestus' derived from the Latin word ‘Fuk’um’. Oh wait, no, it’s Covid!

23. A number of business leaders ask the Government to bring back free testing. Not the businesses making money from the tests, other businesses losing money because there are no free test. It all gets a bit confusing.”-Dr. Dan Goyal

#uk conservative party #boris johnson #boris johnson govt #uk covid #uk covid news #covid news #covidnow #coronavirus nhs #uk healthcare #for real #long covid

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kittenstorm · 6 years

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Phew! After a torturous, three-month long period of excruciating pain, uncertainty and bleakness, I’m finally entering a new stage - recovery! 💚

Tonight will be my last night here. I’m very sore, movement can be excruciating but this time I’m happy because I know it’s a sign of healing.

Since early January I’d been getting severe pains around my right hip/leg and lower back before and during my monthly, I put it down to a one off occurrence. In February, for two days I was keeled over, sobbing and phoning my Mum to come get me. A feeling of my thigh being torn vertically whilst a knife being stabbed rapidly into my back all the way to my tummy - I was close to calling an ambulance but instead I opted for 111.

I was referred to urgent care. The consultant told me, ‘You don’t look like someone in pain enough to have kidney stones.” He gave me codeine and told me to book a GP appointment and ask for blood tests. My Mum managed to get me an emergency GP appointment early the next day. The doctor gave a brief examination of my stomach and said, ‘I don’t think it’s your appendix, it could possibly be your ovaries but I’m not entirely convinced - unless your pain threshold is high and you’ve fooled us all, haha.” So she booked me a pelvic scan for the end of the following month, March 23rd.

During March I had started to develop chest, arm and shoulder pains. I felt shortness of breath and had instant moments of severe fatigue. At some point I had my first ever panic attack. My second major one which I posted here was also met by an urgent care appointment - to which I was again told to contact my GP and given antacids for acid reflux. I began to believe that’s all it was.

The day of my scan arrived, it wasn’t a pleasant experience especially as I’ve been ‘inactive’ for years 😶 - but the woman was very gentle and calming. I received my results the same day, a large cyst was found on my right ovary. Ultimately it turned out to be 10 cm by 17cm - 💀MASSIVE💀. My GP was meant to urgently refer me but she didn’t.

My Mum, who is a gynae nurse suspected all along it was a cyst - in fact as soon as she found out she was already pulling strings to get me onto her ward. Two days later the pain was back - my Mum didn’t hesitate and drove me to A&E where blood tests were taken straight away and I was sent to her ward - she’d already got me admitted.💜

I had an emergency operation yesterday evening, unfortunately the cyst was so bad and that huge, my right ovary couldn’t be saved. During recovery the surgical team were telling me they couldn’t believe it. Apparently my cyst had torsioned three times and they were gobsmacked as to how I put up with the pain for so long. They have women wailing in agony with small 3cm cysts - I received a lot of admiration, love and sympathy for my pain threshold. When the cyst twists - it stops blood supply hence the pain. They said I was extremely lucky I hadn’t become septic from it.

There’s been a lot of hush and deep thinking around the ward whilst I’ve been here, a lot of questions have been asked and the consultants/regs have been questioning me whilst being careful not to say much about their own feelings. I’ve heard they are going to investigate my situation for medical neglect on my behalf. Apparently women have been sent up to the gynae ward for much less - and they want to know why I was sent away with severe hip pain and shortness of breath twice without blood tests or a scan - and why my GP didn’t refer me when the scan results read URGENT.

I’ve been told repeatedly what the consequences would have been if I’d left the cyst for just another few months or less - and it’s harrowing - all because I didn’t trust my body, listen to my Mum or push for the GP to listen to me.

I’ve had a lot to think about during my time here - I cried this morning over everything - how amazing my surgical/medical staff have been and the unwavering support from my family and friends.

🌙⭐ Thankyou for all of you wonderful friends, acquaintances and even just passing mutuals who’ve offered me messages of love, concern and support, just reading the notes has been uplifting and heartmending during this time!

💜Lot’s of love💜

🐱 Kitten xxx

The picture above is my room - two lovely healthcares helped me get into the bathroom for a shower, then once I was stable on my feet they left me to it and when I came out they had changed my bed sheets and tidied around. 😌💕

#personal #kittens hospital journey

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gordonwilliamsweb · 3 years

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Indiana School Goes Extra Mile to Help Vulnerable Kids Weather Pandemic

After covid-19 forced Olivia Goulding’s Indiana middle school to switch back to remote learning late last year, the math teacher lost contact with many of her students. So she and some colleagues came up with a plan: visiting them under the guise of dropping off Christmas gifts.

This story also ran on USA Today. It can be republished for free.

One day in December, they set out with cards and candy canes and dropped by the homes of every eighth grader at Sarah Scott Middle School in Terre Haute, a city of more than 60,000 near the Illinois border where both Indiana State University and the federal death row are located. They saw firsthand how these kids, many living in poverty and dysfunctional families, were coping with the pandemic’s disruptions to their academic and social routines.

“You just have a better concept of where they’re coming from and the challenges they really do have,” Goulding said. “When you’re looking at that electronic grade book and Sally Lou hasn’t turned in something, you remember back in your mind: ‘Oh, yeah, Sally Lou was home by herself, taking care of three younger siblings when I stopped by, and I spotted her helping Johnny with his math and she was helping this one with something else.’”

The school’s experience provides a window into the hardships millions of families across the country have endured since last March, and exemplifies why education isn’t the only reason many Americans want schools to fully reopen. Schools like Sarah Scott help hold their communities together by providing households with wide-ranging support, which has become much tougher during the pandemic.

“A lot of our students are struggling emotionally,” said Sarah Scott’s principal, Scotia Brown. “They’re stressed because they’re falling behind in their work. Or they’re stressed because of the conditions they’re living with at home.”

Even before the coronavirus struck, kids at Sarah Scott faced significant obstacles that compounded the normal social challenges and surging hormones of middle school. They live in Vigo County, which has the state’s highest rate of child poverty and high rates of child neglect. Nearly 90% of students qualified for free or reduced-fee lunches. Some showed up needing to shower and change at the school, which has a food pantry that also offers clothes and hygiene products.

Things got more difficult for students when covid threw Sarah Scott’s normal schedule into disarray. Initially, the school went totally remote, then moved to partially in-person for the start of the 2020-21 school year. When covid spiked in October, Sarah Scott went remote again because not enough substitute teachers could fill in for quarantining staff. Since January, students have been spending part of each week in the school building, with no plans as of early March to open fully.

Kids were given laptops to use at home. But internet access can be problematic.

“Internet has been the worst,” said Samantha Riley, mother of seventh grader Mariah Pointer. “So many people are on it, it shuts down all the time.”

When that happens, she uses the Wi-Fi emitting from the school bus that sits in front of her apartment complex, one of several parked around the community to fill the gaps.

Even when the internet works, though, keeping kids on task at home isn’t easy. Heather Raley said she often cries from the stress of trying to make her eighth grade daughter engage online. “It just seems like we’re always butting heads over this,” Raley said. “It’s just a bigger battle getting the work done.”

As in many other communities, students are falling behind academically. Some don’t do any of their e-learning activities. Sarah Scott’s reports to child protective services for educational neglect — when caregivers aren’t getting their children to either in-person or remote classes — have more than tripled this school year.

Brown said she also worries about physical neglect and abuse, which is harder to detect when interacting with students remotely. “If you’re in an abusive home and you have to be there five days out of the week because you’re doing remote learning, you’re in that environment even more,” she said.

More time at home can also mean doing without necessities, including food.

The school helps by offering free breakfasts and lunches for in-person students and to-go lunches on remote days. Sometimes, the principal delivers boxes of groceries to students’ homes. The school recently secured a microwave for one family and an inflatable mattress for a student who’d been sharing a bed with his grandmother.

For some kids, the stress of the pandemic has worsened emotional problems and mental illness. Recently, a former Sarah Scott student who had moved out of state logged into her former teacher’s virtual class to say she planned to kill herself. The school contacted police, who checked on her. Referrals for suicidal students are up fourfold, Brown said.

School social worker Nichelle Campbell-Miller said it’s been tough counseling kids online or through text messages.

“I am all about building relationships and being in person and being able to dap you up or give you a hug and be like, ‘Hey, what’s up?’” she said, using a term for various greetings like fist bumps or elaborate handshakes. “So being online is extremely difficult for me, because you can’t really tell the tone of your student. When I’m talking to you in person, I can read your body language and I can gauge where you’re at.”

Right now, she said, the psychological well-being of her middle schoolers is even more important than education.

Many students, such as eighth grader Trea Johnson, come up against challenges on both fronts. Trea transferred to Sarah Scott two days before covid ended in-person learning.

“We struggle with school anyway,” said his mom, Kathy Poff. “Then when this pandemic came along, it just knocked our feet out from under us.”

His grades plunged. He began to hate school, Poff said. He didn’t attend his daily video meetings with his teachers. His mother fought with him to complete his online assignments.

“I usually get pretty bored,” said Trea, whose long, straight hair sometimes falls over his eyes.

Poff found him a therapist he meets with once a week. She said his mood and academic productivity have improved. He wants to be a computer programmer and has been coding in his spare time lately. She also moved his computer into her bedroom so she could better monitor him and has started paying him to do his schoolwork.

“I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be a 13-year-old going through this pandemic,” said Poff, 51, a single mother. “They’re going through changes anyway, adjusting to adolescence and figuring out who they are, and they don’t even have a social group to figure that out.”

Goulding, the math teacher, said she’s glad she and her co-workers can help provide stability and continuity during this trying period. One recent night, for example, she got a call from a truant boy’s grandmother, who said she was in poor health and raising him alone. The next day, the principal and social worker picked him up and drove him to school.

Still, Goulding lamented not seeing her most vulnerable students on the days when they are remote.

“How do I check on my kids? How do I make sure they’re eating? How do I make sure,” she paused to compose herself, her voice quavering, “they’re safe?

“You’re no longer thinking about, ‘How are they doing on their polynomials?’ You’re thinking about, you know, the reality of life.”

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

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This story can be republished for free (details).

Indiana School Goes Extra Mile to Help Vulnerable Kids Weather Pandemic published first on https://nootropicspowdersupplier.tumblr.com/

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stephenmccull · 3 years

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Indiana School Goes Extra Mile to Help Vulnerable Kids Weather Pandemic