I hope this is what you meant by tag: Justine Littlewood

Jury nullification. Pass it on.

Jury nullification is so fucking important.

This is something that more people should be aware of, if only because (in many states, at least) defense attorneys are actually prohibited from mentioning it to jurors. The law allows a jury to return a “not guilty” verdict contrary to the facts of the case, but not for the defense to inform them of that power or to argue for its application in the current trial.

I didn’t know about this. Wow.

always reblog

This is SUPER IMPORTANT and also a good reason to show up for jury duty. You know all those laws you think are stupid? This is your chance to maybe do something about it. 

I…. I thought this was common knowledge… signal boosting this because it obviously isn’t!

from scholarly journal wikipedia:

Reasons may include beliefs that: the law itself is unjust,[5][6] the prosecutor has misapplied the law in the defendant’s case,[7] the punishment for breaking the law is too harsh, or general frustrations with the criminal justice system.

[ID : An informational graphic that reads “Did you know? Jurors can say “Not guilty” when people break unjust laws. If it shouldn’t be a crime they shouldn’t do the time. Share this to save good people from bad laws.“ At the bottom, top the right, is an emblem in a circle, of an upraised, black, closed hand. Scales that are unevenly balanced extend from either side of the fist. Text around the emblem reads” learn more” and “PowerToTheJury.org” /end ID]

[Plain text: (italics) Reasons may include beliefs that: the law itself is unjust,[5][6] the prosecutor has misapplied the law in the defendant’s case,[7] the punishment for breaking the law is too harsh, or general frustrations with the criminal justice system. (End italics). End plain text].

x

Unions are trash. Theyll Destroy a whole company for firing a shitty worker.

unions are the reason you aren’t paid 2.50 an hour with steel beams about to bust ya head open shut up lol

Unions are why you have 5 day, 40 hour full-time work weeks. Unions are why they have to pay you in actual dollars instead of “company credits” that you can only spend at the company-owned stores. Unions are why there are fucking fire exits at your place of work. Unions are why it’s not okay for your supermarket ground beef to be any percentage human.

You think your company pays you out of the goodness of their hearts? Or even out of “market pressure?” The “job market” is a myth perpetuated by the capitalists. Corporations would pay you nothing if they could get away with it. And you argue “oh, but if they paid me nothing I’d just go to another one.” Wrong. Because to maximize profits, they all want to pay you nothing. Corporations exist to maximize profits while reducing risk for investors. It’s part of their entire function to find ways to cut costs as much as possible, and that includes finding ways to pay you nothing.

Unions are your defense against that. You think all a union does is strike? If you pay union dues, a lot of that is spent on lobbyists in various governments reminding your lawmakers that you have rights as a living human being that a corporation should not be able to stomp all over. Unions hire lawyers so that if you’re fired for bullshit reasons, the union can stand up for you against your boss. They’re called unions because workers are uniting to pool resources so that they can stand up to these corporate overlords with more money than God. Unions exist because you might not have the words, resources, or time to fight workplace injustices all by yourself. That’s the whole fucking point.

And if a business shuts down because a union is striking, it’s because the business was abusing people and didn’t deserve to be in business anyway. Don’t make excuses for the corporations. They already have trillions of dollars and a couple million lawyers to do that for themselves. They don’t need your help.

The erasure of labor history from US history curriculum has caused so much fucking damage to this country. 

It’s called “environmental amnesia” and it’s an actual issue environmentalists discuss how to combat. The climate crisis makes it more widespread but it’s been something that’s happening for generations. The story of The Lorax describes it beautifully. The idea that what you remember is what you consider normal, but if the changes happen slowly over generations, you don’t see how large they are because you don’t personally remember them being very different, even if you were told stories about it.

wake up babe new jesus just dropped

This is the funniest and most thoughtful I’ve ever seen an organization use a meme and it’s good people with good goals who don’t just want your money on top of it

For those of you who aren’t aware the Monterey Bay Aquarium is actually a really cool place!

• they are non-profit

• they have a living kelp forest!

• it focuses on local ocean wildlife

• they were the first aquarium to get a great white shark to eat and they are the only public aquarium to display a great white shark for more than sixteen days

• they have a seafood watch program where they promote sustainable seafood

• they are actively fighting against ocean pollution

So yeah support them, they’re awesome and I love them

They also have a tumblr @montereybayaquarium

It looks like there’s-

there’s m-

there’s many bene-

your bare minimum isn’t actually that bare or minimum. my dad once told me that there’s nothing in this world that’s easy and that’s true tbh. everything we do takes energy, time, and effort. even the little things. if you feel like you’re not doing enough please try to think about your circumstances and what’s currently available to you: chances are, there’s something that’s diverting or otherwise draining you. and to pull away from that and get something done regardless? well, i think that’s really admirable! please try to take pride in the things you do accomplish in a day, no matter how small or trifling you perceive them to be. you can’t be proud of your growth if you don’t notice where you already are!

no offense but this conversation was literally a major turning point in my life

mormon kids under the age of 18 being told their church is a cult

mormons 18-24 after they go through their endowment ceremony and receive their new name and secret clothing and learn the secret handshakes and passwords and realize everyone around them has been secretly doing this the whole time and now theyre going to be sent away from their family for 2 years where they will literally not be allowed to be alone for 1 second of the day except to go to the bathroom and they have no idea how to get out of what they just got into

one of the only perks of being a mormon woman is that i didn’t get my endowment at age 19 and i had a little extra time to mature and be out on my own. that’s all i needed to make a clean break and i got out at 21 before i wouldve gotten my endowment. 

wait what? can anyone elaborate on this? because I had no idea this was a thing

basically when youre a mormon kid growing up you realize your church is a little strict but you’re like whatever. i have friends at church because i go to church 6 days a week and everyone around me is affirming that this is the right thing to do and we have special knowledge no one else has otherwise everyone would be like this. so youve gotta go teach them & it’s the greatest thing in the world to be a missionary. also the temple is beautiful and amazing and spiritual and holy and everyone wants to go there. but it’s a secret! :) because it’s holy and sacred

then if youre a boy and u turn 18 they’re like wow amazing!!! you get to go on a mission and be like all the great men around you!! and now you get to go through the temple! so #blessed!

and then you go through the temple and all the above mentioned SECRET CULTY SHIT happens (EXPLANATION HERE http://mormoncurtain.infymus.com/topic_templeceremonies.html) and youre shipped off to a strange place where everything you eat, wear, go, listen to and do is controlled, and you’re not allowed to talk to your family or friends (except through a once-a-week email) and you literally are being watched by your companion at all. times. 

some might say “you can leave at any time” but consider that i never went on a mission and i never went through the temple and i still consider leaving the mormon church the hardest thing i ever did. you have no social network outside the church. you are lacking major knowledge and skills. you have to grapple with the fact that you may never see your family again.

I’m reblogging this again bc I have Thoughts.

Leaving is such an isolating experience. No one inside wants anything to do with you anymore and no one outside understands the scale of messed up that Mormonism is. Like it’s easy to point and laugh at the ridiculousness, but it’s literally a cult. There’s so much trauma involved and there’s trauma in leaving.

People on the outside don’t understand how hard it is to leave. I grew up where all my friends were catholic and are no longer religious and they’re like “well everyone hates church, you just stop going” but Mormonism isn’t like that at all. For starters I had to get a lawyer involved to leave and then the ostracization from the entire community that nurtured me growing up was just the cherry on top. It’s effectively being shunned. Everyone you were forced to call sister and brother growing up no longer wants anything to do with you. And you deserve it, because you shouldn’t have fallen for the anti-Mormon lies.

Leaving The Church was the hardest thing I ever did and my family accepts me so I’m a lucky one. But they still ardently adhere to the institution that hurt me and has resulted in the deaths of people I love. I will never understand.

“There’s so much trauma involved and there’s trauma in leaving.”

It’s easy for people looking in from the outside to forget this. Thank you for the reminder. Can anyone recommend resources for young Mormons looking to explore their options?

Please note: this post will be directly addressed to those hypothetical young Mormons

If you know you’re ready to leave, use quitmormon.com. It’s run by the guy from reddit who is now famous in exmormon circles for offering absolutely free legal services to anybody who needs help leaving. You can give your church id number if you know it, but it’s not required (I never memorized mine, and I sure wasn’t going to ask for it). He takes care of everything. This keeps TSCC (the so-called church) from getting all your latest info and keeps them from hassling you or harassing you. They have to talk to your lawyer instead. Pre 2015, it felt almost impossible to try to leave, but it’s a lot easier now! The years of picketing General Conference to force an excommunication trial are over!

Find a support system. Lean on your friends that have never been mormon, any family members who left, anyone you know who left. I’m an exmormon happy to answer any questions, and I’m sure there are plenty others in the notes who would be super willing to be supportive too. Exmormon groups are many and varied now, and it’s best to find the one that vibes for you. There’s a subreddit that’s popular, but I personally used - and I know this sounds weird, since I don’t have kids - a forum called Mormonism & More on the site babycenter.com. It was started several years ago by some mormons who had questions they weren’t allowed to ask on the normal mormon board (because that board required uplifting, mormon-approved answers at all times). It’s since shifted to ex-mormons or people who want to leave but can’t right now because of family situations. Even though the threads were years old, I spent weeks on that forum, reading about what other people had gone through and how they got through it, and to me, that was super helpful.

Research the culty stuff at your own peril. I liked learning about that stuff for a really long time, because I felt learning about all those secrets (I especially liked learning about the truth of the Book of Abraham) … it helped me feel valid in my choice. It helped me keep in mind that this was something that I had escaped, something that had wanted to hurt me. Missing your abuser doesn’t mean you should go back, it means you should keep moving forward. Missing your cult has the same solution. Lots of people fell for the “we’re totally not a cult!” line by TSCC. Some of them will not offer sympathy. If you want to watch the hidden camera videos of endowments and other temple stuff, I would super super recommend you have a trusted friend watch them with you. And bring comfort food. You’ll probably need it.

TSCC put out a series of essays on controversial (read: faith-killing, eye-opening, omg how could I have ever supported the people who did this) issues in mormon history. They are the Orthodox LDS pre-approved responses to a lot of the more incriminating accusations that have been leveled at TSCC over the years. They should be hosted on TSCC website somewhere, and would have been posted around or after 2015. They may reaffirm your faith now that you know TSCC’s defense, but they may push you right out the door. (Or break the shelf? Do Mormons still use the shelf analogy, or is that retired now?)

Lots of mormons become atheists after leaving. Many join mainstream xian churches. Some become witches, some study every religion they can get their hands on, some try to go back and realize all the magic (or holy spirit, if you prefer) is gone. Don’t think you have to know right away. Some people throw away or burn all their mormon stuff, some people keep it to show their kids, but again, you don’t have to make that decision right away. Some people call TSCC a cult after they leave, myself included, but you don’t have to if it makes you uncomfortable or it it doesn’t feel true to your experience.

Look up religious trauma syndrome. It’s real. The pain you will probably feel is real, the grief you will probably feel is real, and in many ways, you may have to mourn the death of what you were always told Life Will Be For You.

And learn that the world is not half as evil as TSCC told you. Your coworkers who drink a beer at the end of the day are not evil or abusive. Your friends who wear sleeveless shirts are not evil or promiscuous. You’re allowed to wear short shorts! You’re allowed to drink coffee! You’re allowed to ask questions in a faith community without being silenced or condemned! You’re allowed to not want kids! There’s a lot of unlearning here.

TLDR? You have options. You have freedom. Find nonmormon friends who will support you. Be kind to yourself.

People joke about Mormons but this is the first time I’ve seen anything at all directed towards people who need to get out.

I had a high school friend turned college roommate who left, moved 4 hrs away, and I had to lie to people who showed up repeatedly that he wasn’t home. That’s just the smallest outside perspective of this. They kept coming.

It is a cult. It operates by manipulating people. My aunt, who also left, converted from Catholicism when she was a single mother in her 20s who needed help. The church gave her a network of tangible support and got her through a vulnerable, scary time in her life–and used that

because if you don’t, forty years from now the missionaries will still be showing up at your house, calling your parents and asking for your location, and generally stalking you.

I actually thought about this for awhile, and yesterday had my paperwork notarized to officially leave the church (quitmormon.com is amazing!) Entirely because I don’t want my name to be associated with a homophobic, sexist and racist organization. I don’t want my descendants to think that I was complicit in a Mormon agenda.

“Kids are bullied because they do xyz behaviors.”

No, kids are bullied because they are around bullies.

Just as domestic abuse victims are abused because their abusers are abusers (and not bc of the victims’ behavior), kids are bullied bc bullies are bullies.

There is not some divided responsibility between victim and bully, and if we teach kids that there is, we teach them to accept or perpetrate abuse throughout their lives.

Okay but let’s go a layer deeper than that - Kids are bullied because of broad societal pressure to conform to a status quo, which encourages other kids - the insecure ones, the angry ones, the easily brainwashed ones, the unsympathetic ones - into bullies. Not just through pointing out targets to them(obviously, any square pegs not fitting round holes), but by fostering certain ideas that make the bullies not question their bullying instinct. One of those ideas is “they deserve it for xyz behaviors, so it’s their fault anyhow”, but another of those ideas - and equally crucial, I think - is “people like this are always attacked, it’s right and normal to attack them, therefore not only is this fine but I can get away with it”. Even the most asshole kid - and unfortunately some kids are assholes, although of course no kid is BORN an asshole so you definitely have a complex web of issues to address when you find one in that state - has some sense of self-preservation. Having a reason to target kids who are different (which is often code for neurodivergent, or queer, or being of a different race/religion/nationality, or disabled, or being considered conventionally unattractive in any way eg: fatshaming) is an important factor in bullying, but equally important is easy opportunity and a lack of consequences. When bullies think (or know) that most people around them agree that the victim is the actual problem because they’re not ‘normal’ enough and thus they deserve what they’re getting, it really gives the bully carte blanche. So yes, it’s absolutely critically important to recognize that no one causes their own bullying, but it’s also important to acknowledge why bullies exist. And it’s generally because of the demonization of anything outside what is considered the ~acceptable norm~ in society - an attitude that bullies (who are themselves kids) did not establish, but definitely internalize. Bullies tend to be the trickle-down effect of the most toxic aspects of society. To fix the problem of bullying on a deeper level than just punishing the kids who do it(usually while adults in their lives continue to spew hatred for people who are different with no repercussions, so like…that sends a very mixed message), you also have to tackle the ideologies that create them. Because I can’t emphasize this enough: they’re kids. Kids are not born bad, and it’s also unfair to expect them to be able to tell right from wrong when their role models aren’t modeling it. Some actually can and do, and they’re incredible for it, but that’s way too high a bar to expect children to be able to consistently clear and then tell the ones who don’t that it’s because they’re just terrible people.

This weekend I was told a story which, although I’m kind of ashamed to admit it, because holy shit is it ever obvious, is kind of blowing my mind.

A friend of a friend won a free consultation with Clinton Kelly of What Not To Wear, and she was very excited, because she has a plus-size body, and wanted some tips on how to make the most of her wardrobe in a fashion culture which deliberately puts her body at a disadvantage.

Her first question for him was this: how do celebrities make a plain white t-shirt and a pair of weekend jeans look chic?  She always assumed it was because so many celebrities have, by nature or by design, very slender frames, and because they can afford very expensive clothing.  But when she watched What Not To Wear, she noticed that women of all sizes ended up in cute clothes that really fit their bodies and looked great.  She had tried to apply some guidelines from the show into her own wardrobe, but with only mixed success.  So - what gives?

His answer was that everything you will ever see on a celebrity’s body, including their outfits when they’re out and about and they just get caught by a paparazzo, has been tailored, and the same goes for everything on What Not To Wear.  Jeans, blazers, dresses - everything right down to plain t-shirts and camisoles.  He pointed out that historically, up until the last few generations, the vast majority of people either made their own clothing or had their clothing made by tailors and seamstresses.  You had your clothing made to accommodate the measurements of your individual body, and then you moved the fuck on.  Nothing on the show or in People magazine is off the rack and unaltered.  He said that what they do is ignore the actual size numbers on the tags, find something that fits an individual’s widest place, and then have it completely altered to fit.  That’s how celebrities have jeans that magically fit them all over, and the rest of us chumps can’t ever find a pair that doesn’t gape here or ride up or slouch down or have about four yards of extra fabric here and there.

I knew that having dresses and blazers altered was probably something they were doing, but to me, having alterations done generally means having my jeans hemmed and then simply living with the fact that I will always be adjusting my clothing while I’m wearing it because I have curves from here to ya-ya, some things don’t fit right, and the world is just unfair that way.  I didn’t think that having everything tailored was something that people did. 

It’s so obvious, I can’t believe I didn’t know this.  But no one ever told me.  I was told about bikini season and dieting and targeting your “problem areas” and avoiding horizontal stripes.  No one told me that Jennifer Aniston is out there wearing a bigger size of Ralph Lauren t-shirt and having it altered to fit her.

I sat there after I was told this story, and I really thought about how hard I have worked not to care about the number or the letter on the tag of my clothes, how hard I have tried to just love my body the way it is, and where I’ve succeeded and failed.  I thought about all the times I’ve stood in a fitting room and stared up at the lights and bit my lip so hard it bled, just to keep myself from crying about how nothing fits the way it’s supposed to.  No one told me that it wasn’t supposed to.  I guess I just didn’t know.  I was too busy thinking that I was the one that didn’t fit.

I thought about that, and about all the other girls and women out there whose proportions are “wrong,” who can’t find a good pair of work trousers, who can’t fill a sweater, who feel excluded and freakish and sad and frustrated because they have to go up a size, when really the size doesn’t mean anything and it never, ever did, and this is just another bullshit thing thrown in your path to make you feel shitty about yourself.

I thought about all of that, and then I thought that in elementary school, there should be a class for girls where they sit you down and tell you this stuff before you waste years of your life feeling like someone put you together wrong.

So, I have to take that and sit with it for a while.  But in the meantime, I thought perhaps I should post this, because maybe my friend, her friend, and I are the only clueless people who did not realise this, but maybe we’re not.  Maybe some of you have tried to embrace the arbitrary size you are, but still couldn’t find a cute pair of jeans, and didn’t know why.

This post is one of those things that I will reblog every time it appears on my dash.  This is so important, and no one ever tells you about it.

I almost didn’t read this but then I did and I’m really glad that I did.

Super important

Tldr: The reason clothes never “looked right on you” is because models and celebrities always had their clothes tailored to fit them perfectly.

I love this post but it always frustrated me just a little because I can’t even afford to buy new clothes let alone get the clothes I have tailored. But then I remembered that a lot of things are easier to do than you think they will be, so here’s some resources on how to alter your own clothes!

Please read this, it’s an opportunity to learn about yourself, possibly a new skill and why it isn’t you, it’s the industry.

On the short-lived “Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style” he actually voices this in the episodes. Gunn’s solution is to take a box of binder clips into dressing room to simulate what alterations can do to the garment. It was a huge “a-ha!” moment for me on how to view clothes on the rack. I even do it for bras.

at some point there needs to be a bigger conversation on here about the notion that suffering inherently makes you a better person

so many perspectives here seem fundamentally based in this (very christian) idea that we improve as people through suffering. whether its godawful anti-abolition takes about ‘rehabilitative’ imprisonment, posts about how we need to bully the weird greasy freaks so they grow up normal and well-adjusted, media criticism takes about how good redemption arcs have to require characters to suffer horribly first, or insensitive posts about how abuse survivors are better for it in the end, it’s a dangerous and untrue assumption to make about the world. and so much stuff on here seems to rely on that belief

“But see, this is where I get hung up, because when we valorize the idea of sacrifice, of loss, of suffering… When we grow up in a house that does that, we internalize this idea that being happy is a selfish act. But sacrifice doesn’t mean anything. Sacrifice? In the service of something greater, maybe, but just in and of itself? What’s the good in that?”

–Bojack Horseman

You don’t have to be worse to deserve to be better.

#you only see those who’ve made good out of their suffering because you dont see those that dont survive it

Alfie Kohn, The Myth Of The Spoiled Child (via jacobwren)

honestly missionaries are evil. the idea of traveling the world to tell people Who Didnt Fucking Ask that their beliefs are wrong in the hopes that theyll adopt your beliefs seems sinister

The Christians in the notes whining are so absolutely stupid

I don’t even want to talk about how they specifically target poor people and hold basic necessities over their heads in exchange for faith.

“I read about an [Inuit] hunter who asked the local missionary priest, ‘If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?’ ‘No,’ said the priest, ‘Not if you did not know.’

‘Then why,’ asked the [Inuit] earnestly, ‘did you tell me?” -Annie Dillard

(edited to remove slurs/dated language)

My culture and our religious practices (Inuit) have been decimated by Christianity and I fucking hate pretending its a neutral thing.

Christians in the notes still don’t get it. They’re saying that missionaries aren’t that bad bc they’re just trying to save all ppl and they’ve started quoting bible verses and whatnot but here’s the thing: I. Don’t. Believe. In. That. Like your beliefs and scriptures are non applicable to me (and everyone else who isn’t Christian, or at least abrahamic) bc we’re not christian and I literally don’t care if you think we “need to be saved from Satan” or smg bc frankly, it’s not your business and that “well meaning, innocent” intention is still forcing your religion onto us. OP is right. Missionaries are evil. Leave other religions tf alone.

How to recover an unsaved draft on Microsoft Word

 This literally saved my ass a few minutes ago. Yes, you can recover those files that you accidentally closed and thought you couldnt get back. 

Right after that happens, open Microsoft Word again and click File - Info - Manage Versions - Recover Unsaved Documents.

It is literally that simple.

Reblog - save a life

Reblog - save a file

Reblog - to save a student

I've said this before and I'll say it again: it's more important to know and understand fully why something is harmful than it is to drop everything deemed problematic. It's performative and does nothing. People wonder why nobody has critical thinking skills and this is part of it because no one knows how to simousltansly critique and consume media. You need to use discernment.

This is ultimately why propaganda is going to work on you. Because you never learned how to think for yourself and the actual ideology behind things. You simply rely on group think and the bare minimum explanations to tell you what's good and bad.

I’ve realized that the more diverse a cast is, the easier it is to spot the racist fans. They won’t ship a white main character with the black girl who’s his love interest because it’s “heteronormative” (it isn’t) and they want more “gay representation”. But then when his best friend is also a person of color they don’t ship them together because they just “don’t see them that way”. But then they’ll headcanon a Tragic Whiteboy Backstory for the kid that said literally 8 words to the main character. That kid will be their favorite character, their sweet little “cinnamon roll”and there’ll be 40,230 m/m fics of him and the main character. “Representation”. My ass. 

Don’t let show runners/writers/producers/tv executives off the hook here who frequently sabotage characters and actors of color and then pretend like it’s not their fault the white characters who get fed the lovingly crafted development, interesting plotlines, and have every questionable thing they do excused by plot contrivances are responded to by the audience

See: Star Wars sequels, Sleepy Hollow, ALL the CW DC shows, Marvel, Doctor Who, Star Trek: Discovery

fellas is it gay to be gay

according to historians? no.

being fetishized isn’t a privilege 

nor is it a compliment