margaret belongs to the void now
Why is this so funny
the implication that both of these movies exist not only in the same universe but the same place and time and that there's some sort of bizarre competitive attitude between them is SENDING me
This song and video is irritating me😂😂
I'm the one in green tank not getting low because she has bad knees lmfao
sunshineghost-deactivated201508
cool fact for people who have a problem with looting:
cops in america are legally allowed to take people’s property (including large sums of money) purely because they feel like it. it’s called civil forfeiture and there are literally thousands of cases of pigs taking people’s property. that is looting.
pitmother
i watched this happen to my roommate after the cops kicked our doors in at 6 AM on a weekday for a no-knock raid that, surprise surprise, didn’t turn out anything. they opened his wallet in front of him, took out about $300 and told him that since they had no record of where it came from on premises, that they’d have to take it from him. they took this man’s rent money right in front of him while he was in cuffs and told him “too bad”.
there was also a friend’s car in our drive way that had broken down so they left it over night. the doors were locked and the windows were up, and since the owner wasn’t there, they decided it’d be cool to just bust in all the windows to perform another fruitless search.
In Philly it’s been a HUGE and MASSIVE problem with cops taking people’s bank accounts, cars, electronics and pretty much anything worth any amount of money under a law that lets the DA seize property they think is related to a crime. “Related’ is a vague term though. They once forced a women and her grandchildren out of her home to sell it at auction because her son was found by police with $20 worth of weed.
(Depending on the property in question it can go under Civil Property Seizure or Seize and Seal, they’re not the same law but they work the same)
They don’t have to prove it’s related to a crime before or after, and even if the person suspected of the crime is cleared at questioning or acquitted at trial, you have to go through a MONTHS long process of court appearances (you can’t miss one or be late or you lose, no rescheduling) in hopes that they MIGHT get their stuff back. Most don’t.
Most people don’t think it’s worth the expense of days missed at work and a lawyer to get back a couple hundred dollars or whatever else the police stole. The city makes MILLIONS of dollars each year off this, around $6-10 (The DA doesn’t provide figures)
but tell me more about “good cops.”
because i hate the civil forfeiture system, the NYPD civil forfeiture system keeps no tally of its forfeitures because it would crash their system to compute it, and there may be only one backup of the whole system. a system that seized (an assumed) $68 million in property just in 2013.
please take a moment to really appreciate the argument of why "most cops don't live in the cities they oversee" needs to be addressed
joelleity
[transcript:
Yusuf Abdul-Qadir: what percent of the police live in the city?
mayor: about 5% or so
Yusuf Abdul-Qadir: 5%, so 95% don’t live in the city.
mayor: yes.
Yusuf Abdul-Qadir: so when you say that the vast majority of the percentage goes towards salaries, et cetera, fringe benefits, that means that they take their money on 81, go to outside the city, pay taxes in those communities that have some of the best schools while we have an underfunded school district--
someone else: $60 million up.
Yusuf Abdul-Qadir: so i just want to put into context what we’re talking about, because it’s really easy to say, mayor-- and with all due respect, i like you. but that was a very politician answer.
mayor: sorry, what specifically?
Yusuf Abdul-Qadir: the, “we will consider, and we will look.” what we’re saying is we’re not interested in considering and looking. what we’re saying is, actually, there’s $50 million. commit to $20 million cut, because we’re sending money-- as the mayor of Syracuse, when you don’t have a tax base, you’re sending money out of Syracuse. and not just for 30 years-- for the rest of their life because their pensions, their health insurance, their families. so we are funding for other people’s communities to have the promise of the American dream while we are denying it in our community. that’s the context that you, as the mayor, have to look at this under.
so when we talk about renegotiating union contract, what we’re saying is you can’t play around with, “maybe, um, we will--” no. y’all got to go, because you don’t provide a service that is beneficial to the community, that is meaningful to the community. the services that you provide criminalize our community, impoverish our community, reallocate resources to suburbs. we are actually funding the suburbs, both in our police departments and in our schools.
and to be clear, just to be clear, it’s not just the fact of, like, the percentage of people. we’re also funding what race of people are on the police force, the percentage of race of teachers, as well, superintendent, board president. so we want to put in context, because it’s not just a class issue. it’s a race issue. we’re telling black and brown people and poor people, you don’t matter. the devil’s in the data and in the details, mayor. respectfully, it is not acceptable for us to be here considering.]
Source: youtu.be
wwmvea-deactivated20190202
Don’t go praising Korra and Asami’s progressiveness by mentioning only Korra as a poc and failing to acknowledge that Asami’s a poc as well
In case it’s not sinking in: no one in the Avatarverse is white, full stop. Anyone who’s pale-skinned is coded as eastern Asian.
And yes, this still applies even if they have auburn hair or whatever. Pigment mutations laugh at your ethnocentrism.
Reblog to make a fandom racist cry.
The Fire Nation is Japanese. The Earth Kingdom is Chinese. The Air Nomads are Tibetan. The Water Tribes are Inuit.
There are other peoples out there, but they are mostly just fantasy versions of other Asian or Native peoples.
Korra is an Inuit, Asami is Japanese, and Mako and Bolin are mixed race Chinese/Japanese.
taga-bakod
This is an over-simplification. The Avatarverse combines cultures quite often.
For example:
1. The Northern Water Tribe, while also being Inuit-inspired, has Chinese-inspired architecture. Note the circular doors.
2. The character of Song from Zuko alone is very clearly wearing a Korean hanbok. She is from the Earth Kingdom.
3. The Kyoshi Island Warriors dress in kendo uniform-inspired outfits and wear Kabuki-inspired facepaint, both Japanese, despite being Earth Kingdom.
Also, the Fire Nation is most certainly not primarily Japanese-inspired.
1. They had initially planned to base the design of their armor on samurai armor. This is where the misconception typically originates from. However, it was changed before the show came out and they switched to Tang dynasty style armor. Note the pointed, up-turned toes. That is a feature of Tang dynasty armor. The shoes worn by samurai had rounded toes.
2. Look at the clothing of the Fire Nation Royal family. It looks nothing like a kimono. They are wearing hanfu. That panel of cloth attached to the front of the belt is called a bixi. The hairpieces they wear are based off guan, and the practice of distinguishing the heir through a specific headpiece is Han Chinese in origin. The pointed layers of cloth worn over their shoulders are inspired by Thai dance costumes.
3. The commoners’ clothes in Book 3 appear to be inspired by Thai clothing.
4. Fire Nation cuisine is notably spicy. Japanese cuisine is not. However, Thai cuisine is and so are some variants of Chinese cuisine.
5. Zuko’s broadswords are Chinese dao swords.
Yes, the Fire Nation might draw some parallels to World War II Japan in its actions, but its material culture is most certainly not Japanese-inspired.
I know that you mean no harm by parroting the error that the Fire Nation is Japanese-inspired. It is a common misconception that gets circulated due to misinformation and a lack familiarity with Asian culture. It just gets tedious sometimes, for people of Chinese descent, like me, when parts of our culture get misattributed to Japan simply because Japanese culture is more familiar (sometimes, we think “more fashionable”) to Westerners.
White people getting mad that the characters are all POC, if race and seeing yourself represented doesn’t matter if it’s a good story, why are you getting so upset?
*pretends to be shocked*
This is such an embarrassing attempt at a cover up oh my gooood
“Oh actually those were confiscated fireworks! Yeah that’s the ticket, that’s why the cops are all in plain clothes and pulling it out of their cars”
Yeah sure that’s a “bust” alright. And the cops have no badges (even undercover/plainclothes wear their badge when the bust happens) no gloves while HANDLING EVIDENCE (so they must be ok with this “criminal” having all charges dropped) and there aren’t any other uniformed officers present for crowd control. Fucks sake, cops really can’t even lie which is why they don’t want cameras showing WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS EVERY DAY!!!!
Portland Oregon police tear gassed protesters last night (June 30th) outside the police union office.
yami-no-bakura
Big pharma had twitter delete the original tweet and sources (TWICE), but OP is reposting them.
asexualgeorgecostanza
Twitter appears to be really trying to suppress this one.
Anyways, Breonna Taylor
Breonna Taylor - On March 13, 2020, Breonna Taylor lay sleeping with her boyfriend Kenneth Walker.
Outside police silently gathered, preparing to raid what they believed to be a residence linked to two drug dealers.
One of these drug dealers was thought to be receiving mail at Taylor’s apartment, resulting in a judge signing a search warrant with a “no knock” provision.
The warrant claimed that a US Postal Inspector confirmed that the dealer had been receiving packages at the apartment. Postal Inspector Tony Gooden has said that his office had told police there were no packages of interest being received there.
Taylor and Walker were awoken by a loud bang at the door.
Taylor yelled “Who is it?” multiple times to no response before Walker armed himself with a legally owned firearm.
Walker fired 1 shot before the officers returned with over 20 rounds. Taylor was shot at least 8 times. No drugs were found in the apartment.
Breonna Taylor worked as an EMT. She aspired to be a nurse and had no criminal past. She was working during the coronavirus crisis.
On May 29, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer indefinitely suspended the use of “no knock” warrants. The shooting is currently under investigation.
Artist: @thefakepan
stupid leftists and their belief in *checks notes* the intrinsic value of human life
Reblog if you would burn down the statue of liberty to save a life
Here’s the thing, though. If you asked a conservative “Would you let the statue of liberty burn to save one life?” they’d probably scoff and say no, it’s a national landmark, a treasure, a piece of too much historical importance to let it be destroyed for the sake of one measly life.
But if you asked, “Would you let the statue of liberty burn in order to save your child? your spouse? someone you loved a great deal?” the tune abruptly changes. At the very least, there’s a hesitation. Even if they deny it, I’m willing to bet that gun to their head, the answer would be “yes.”
The basic problem here is that people have a hard time seeing outside their own sphere of influence, and empathizing beyond the few people who are right in front of them. You’ve got your immediate family, whom you love; your friends, your acquaintances, maybe to a certain degree the people who share a status with you (your religion, your race, etc.)–but beyond that? People aren’t real. They’re theoretical.
But a national monument? That’s real. It stands for something. The value of a non-realized anonymous life that exists completely outside your sphere of influence is clearly worth less than something that represents freedom and prosperity to a whole nation, right?
People who think like this lack the compassion to realize that everyone is in someone’s immediate sphere of influence–that everyone is someone’s lover, or brother, or parent. Everyone means the world to someone. And it’s the absolute height of selfishness to assume that their lives don’t have value just because they don’t mean the world to you.
P.S. I would let the statue of liberty burn to save a pigeon.
tsunderepup
also, there is an extreme difference between what things or principles *i* personally am willing to die for, and what i would hazard others to die for. and this is a distinction i don’t think the conservative hard-right likes to face.
an example: so, as the nazis began war against france, the staff of the louvre began crating up and shipping out the artworks. it was vital to them (for many reasons) that the nazis not get their hands on the collections, and hitler’s desire for them was known, so they dispersed the objects to the four winds; one of the curators personally traveled with la gioconda, mona lisa herself, in an unmarked crate, moving at least five times from location to location to avoid detection.
they even removed and hid the nike of samothrace, “winged victory,” which is both delicate, having been pieced back together from fragments, and incredibly heavy, weighing over three metric tons.
the curators who hid these artworks risked death to ensure that they wouldn’t fall into nazi hands. and yes, they are just paintings, just statues. but when i think about the idea of hitler capturing and standing smugly beside the nike of samothrace, a statue widely beloved as a symbol of liberty, i completely understand why someone would risk their life to prevent that. if my life was all that stood between a fascist dictator and a masterpiece that inspired millions, i would be willing to risk it. my belief in the power and necessity of art would demand i do so.
if, however, a nazi held a gun to some kid’s head (any kid!) and asked me which crate the mona lisa was in, they could have it in a heartbeat. no problem! i wouldn’t even have to think about it. being willing to risk my own life on principle doesn’t mean i’m willing to see others endangered for those same principles.
and that is exactly where the conservative hard-right falls right the fuck down. they are, typically, entirely willing to watch others suffer for their own principles. they are perfectly okay with seeing children in cages because of their supposed belief in law and order. they are perfectly willing to let women die from pregnancy complications because of their anti-abortion beliefs. they are alright with poverty and disease on general principle because they hold the free-market sacrosanct. and i guess from their own example they would save the statue of liberty and let human beings burn instead.
but speaking as a leftist (i’m more comfortable with socialist tbh), my principles are not abstract things that i hold aside from life, apart or above my place as a human being in a society. my beliefs arise from being a person amidst people. i don’t love art for art’s sake alone, actually! i don’t love objects because they are objects: i love them because they are artifacts of our humanity, because they communicate and connect us, because they embody love and curiosity and fear and feeling. i love art because i love people. i want universal health care because i want to see people universally cared for. i want universal basic income because people’s safety and dignity should not be determined by their economic productivity to an employer. i am anti-war and pro-choice for the same reason: i value people’s lives but also their autonomy and right to self-determination. my beliefs are not abstractions. i could never value a type of economic system that i saw hurting people, no matter how much “growth” it produced. i could never love “law and order” more than i love a child, any child, i saw trapped in a cage.
would i be willing to risk death, trying to save the statue of liberty? probably, yes. but there is no culture without people, and therefore i also believe there are no cultural treasures worth more than other people’s lives. and as far as i’m concerned the same goes for laws, or markets, or borders.
lastxleviathan
Well said!
This is an excellent ethical discussion.
The first time I came across this post, randomslasher’s addition was life changing for me. I suddenly understood where the right was coming from, and I had never been angrier.
This is also why so many people on the right fail to see the hypocrisy of trying to make abortion illegal when they themselves have had abortions. They can tally up their own life circumstances and conclude that it would be difficult or impossible to continue a pregnancy, but they’re completely mystified by the idea that women they don’t know are also human beings with complicated lives and limited spoon allocation.
This is also why they think “get a job” is useful advice. In their heads they honestly do not understand why the NPCs who make up the majority of the human race can’t just flip a switch from “no job” to “job.” When they say “get a job” they’re filing a glitch report with God and they honestly think that’s all it takes.
This is also why they tend to view demographics as individuals. They think that every single Muslim is just a different avatar for the same bit of programming.
Borrowed observation from @innuendostudios here, but: there’s also a fundamental difference in how progressives view social problems versus how conservatives view them. That is, progressives view them as problems to be solved, whereas conservatives do not believe you can solve anything.
Conservatives view social issues as universal constants that fundamentally are unable to be changed, like the weather. You can try to alter your own behavior to protect yourself (you can carry an umbrella), and you can commiserate about how bad the weather is, but you can’t stop it from raining. This is why conservatives blame victims of rape for dressing immodestly or for drinking or for going out at night: to them, those things are like going out without an umbrella when you know it’s going to rain.
“But then why do conservatives try to stop things they dislike by making them illegal, like drug use or immigration or abortion?” And the answer is: they’re not. They know perfectly well that those things will continue. No amount of studies showing that their methods are ineffective will matter to them because effectiveness is not the point. The point is to punish people for doing bad things, because punishing people is how you show your disapproval of their actions; if you don’t punish them, then you’re condoning their behavior.
This is why they will never support rehabilitative prisons, even though they reduce crime. This is why they will never support free birth control for everyone, even though that would reduce abortions. This is why they will never support just giving homeless people houses, even though it’s proven to be cheaper and more effective at stopping homelessness than halfway houses and shelters. It’s not about stopping evil, because you can’t; it’s about saying definitively what is Bad and what is Good, and we as a society do that by punishing the people we’ve decided are bad.
This is why the conservative response to “holy fuck, they’re putting children in cages!” is typically something along the lines of “it’s their parents’ fault for trying to come here illegally; if they didn’t want to have their kids taken away, they shouldn’t have committed a crime.” It doesn’t matter that entering the US unlawfully is a misdemeanor and child kidnapping isn’t typically a criminal sentence. It does not matter that this has absolutely zero effect on people unlawfully entering the US. The point is that conservatives have decided that entering unlawfully is Bad, anything that is not punishing undocumented immigrants – due process of asylum and removal defense claims, for example – is supporting Badness, and kidnapping children is an appropriate punishment for being Bad.
the media refuses to cover this because they don’t want laborers to understand the power a union holds.
longshoremen have shut down 29 ports in solidarity with BLM, in honor of George Floyd and Juneteenth
we have to spread the word because the mainstream media won’t; there is power in a union!
(By the way the preview image for the last article? That is indeed ANGELA DAVIS who came out for the protest.)