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May. 4th, 2017 01:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwydion* "Trump keeps praising international strongmen, alarming human rights advocates:" https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-keeps-praising-international-strongmen-alarming-human-rights-advocates/2017/05/01/6848d018-2e81-11e7-9dec-764dc781686f_story.html?utm_term=.d39e47d18ab4
* Republicans want to remind you that a trillion dollar tax cut for the richest 2% is so incredibly pressing that it is absolutely necessary to kick millions of working people off their health care. They want to remind you that absolutely every one who is sick deserves it because of "poor choices" including people born with genetic diseases and congenital defects,people deliberately poisoned because of choices Republicans made to legalize the dumping of mining debris and toxic waste into their water supply or deliberately giving them lead poisoning in Flint, and especially for anyone who has ever been raped. According to Republicans anyone who has eve been raped deserves to pay out of pocket for medial treatment and mental health treatment since they chose to be violently assaulted. Similarly, pregnancy is a pre-existing condition so anyone who can't afford to pay an extra 20,000 dollars a year for health insurance ought to be denied pre-natal health care and should be forced to pay out of pocket for all medical costs. This will have the added benefit of dramatic increasing maternal and infant mortality which is an important cornerstone of the Republican pro-life agenda as can be seen by the doubling of both in Texas as a result of their pro-life policies there. Republicans want to remind you that all cancer is entirely the patient's fault and that charging cancer patients and survivors and extra 140.000 a year or more for insurance is the Christian thing to do and therefore the right and moral price is to let people die. After all, no number of lives are to many to sacrifice to prevent billionaires from having to pay their share of taxes into a system they benefit from mightily on every level.
They have announced they have enough votes to pass this monstrous thing in the House. If you possibly can and have Republican Congress Critters, phone first thing in the morning to complain. Call your house Member first, but don't forget your Senators, as it goes there next and we need them to say no. Real human beings will die in numbers I sudden to contemplate if this passes.
* "My Birmingham Trans Fam Weren't Shown Any Love By TSA At Love Field:" http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2017/05/my-birmingham-trans-fam-werent-shown.html
* "In one powerful tweetstorm, this woman demolishes the hypocrisy of fat shaming:" https://mic.com/articles/175606/in-one-powerful-tweetstorm-this-woman-demolishes-the-hypocrisy-of-fat-shaming#.e35VgLSgw
* I wrote this elsewhere, but thought it might be of general interest:
There are good science based anti-bullying curricula that focuses on proactive adults and the bystander effect. Rather than the usual victim blaming and placing the onus for fixing things on the person under attack, it mobilizes the adults in the school to intervene early wherever possible and focuses on getting the kids who are not directly involved to take whichever the following steps they are comfortable with. 1. Leave. Bullies read silence as support. 2. get an adult. 3. Signal disapproval of the bully. Most people are not up to 3, but one and two actually do work if you have the adults in the school actually committed to improving things, and if you turn the school culture around and kids start feeling safe speaking up, you do start getting three. I’ve seen girls mob a jerk hassling a disabled kid before I could cross the room. I’ve seen boys confronting a homophobe. We are talking middle school here, the absolute worst as far as bullying goes. It does not work if the whole school staff doesn’t commit from Principal on down and in the early stages it takes a lot of effort from the adults, but I’ve never been prouder of my kids than when i saw them standing up for each other after I modeled how to do it in the early part of the year. note that the same concepts tend to work when women are being harassed in public places. If multiple people step in together in a bullying situation in a school or at a bus stop or wherever, the bully tends to back the fuck off. There is power in numbers if people of good will have the corage to step in. A good school anti-bullying program is about systemic change that empowers kids and adults to protect people being harassed.
I’ve also seen it not work places where the implementation is half assed. It also takes time and effort the first half year to a year to get the momentum going, so it needs an energetic administrator and enough staff willing to try to make it work. It gets way easier once the positive change in school culture gains momentum, and in the long run is much less work and distress for everybody but the first part is pushing a boulder up hill.
I am sorry all schools don’t do it. I’m sorry that there are still Social Darwinist dinosaurs out in classrooms and in Administrators offices. I am sorry there are pro-bullying racists and homophobes in authority in schools where they should absolutely not be allowed.
It is never the kid being picked on’s fault. It is certainly the fault of the bully, but it is all absolutelyalso the fault of Admin and staff for being too lazy to protect the students under their charge. It’s never 100% percent, but it absolutely is possible to change things if the will is there.
The reason most Anti-bullying curriculum is shit is because the adults at your school decided they’d rather be lazy than keep you safe. It’s not 1970. They know perfectly well the old platitudes don’t work, and how to do it properly. They are choosing not to.
* Today was pretty productive despite a rocky start. People got delivered where they needed to go. I cleared out a bunch of meat Squirrel had found too daunting by dint of giving it to friends who will use it. (Squirrel has been learning to cook for himself since the big health scare a few years ago. I haven't cooked meat since Skye and I broke up so I'm in the neighborhood of a decadish rusty, but I have helped him here and there with tips and suggestions, but mostly by making sure he has chicken and fish and then reminding him that he needs to cook what's defrosted before it goes bad until he either cooks it or it goes bad. He does the actual cooking himself and has made a lot of progress, but the last few months, the large meats have been taking up space and he's been basically paralyzed by things he can not cook. He's got plenty of smaller things and I've been getting him to cook for himself again the last week or two, so now is an ideal time to get things he can't handle out of the way of the things he can, if that makes sense). Anyway, the meats are sorted out. I hit the far grocery on the way back from dropping of a friend and meat, and got staple supplies. I somehow managed to be under budget despite buying too much cheese yesterday, which is important, as it means I now have a tzaziki allowance to spread over the rest of the month. I planted a new basil plant in favor of the one that didn't make it. This one is big and healthy. The guy said likely the one I got last month took chill coming over the pass and the failure to thrive likely wasn't my fault. I also wasted what was left of the toilet paper money after buying toilet paper on discount bulbs. They were not the species I wanted specifically and it is too late in season, but it was a lot of bulbs and not much money and they are things I will enjoy if they make it. I buried them with the seed infused compost, so if I don't get flowers, odds are I will get tomatoes and if I'm lucky carrot greens. Everything is put away. The dishes are running. I had Baba Ganouj and the tale end of Tzaziki with warm garlic naan and huckleberry sweet tea for dinner The lettuce is growing so well I can likely have salad again tomorrow, and last Sunday I had fresh from the garden baby asparagus with my risotto, cut rinsed, and cooked just long enough to be soft enough to eat. I still really need another big planter minimum and I could really use more stands, but such is life.
* This is amazing: http://gwydionmisha.tumblr.com/post/160291588482/video-game-ideam
*****
* Full list of Resistance and charity links has been migrated to my profile as it was getting out of hand.
* This is a Real Life friend of mine. They do very much need the money and a number of people and beasts depend on him and his husband. They have been incredibly helpful and supportive of me. If you can kick in, it is a kindness.: https://www.youcaring.com/tod-788345
* Help pay for cat food, litter, meds, medical copays: paypal.me/Gwydion or Paypal Lethran@gmail.com
* Want Game of Thrones without the creepy? We desperately need new players. We are very inclusive. "Game of Bones MUSH:" gobmush.wikidot.com
* Republicans want to remind you that a trillion dollar tax cut for the richest 2% is so incredibly pressing that it is absolutely necessary to kick millions of working people off their health care. They want to remind you that absolutely every one who is sick deserves it because of "poor choices" including people born with genetic diseases and congenital defects,people deliberately poisoned because of choices Republicans made to legalize the dumping of mining debris and toxic waste into their water supply or deliberately giving them lead poisoning in Flint, and especially for anyone who has ever been raped. According to Republicans anyone who has eve been raped deserves to pay out of pocket for medial treatment and mental health treatment since they chose to be violently assaulted. Similarly, pregnancy is a pre-existing condition so anyone who can't afford to pay an extra 20,000 dollars a year for health insurance ought to be denied pre-natal health care and should be forced to pay out of pocket for all medical costs. This will have the added benefit of dramatic increasing maternal and infant mortality which is an important cornerstone of the Republican pro-life agenda as can be seen by the doubling of both in Texas as a result of their pro-life policies there. Republicans want to remind you that all cancer is entirely the patient's fault and that charging cancer patients and survivors and extra 140.000 a year or more for insurance is the Christian thing to do and therefore the right and moral price is to let people die. After all, no number of lives are to many to sacrifice to prevent billionaires from having to pay their share of taxes into a system they benefit from mightily on every level.
They have announced they have enough votes to pass this monstrous thing in the House. If you possibly can and have Republican Congress Critters, phone first thing in the morning to complain. Call your house Member first, but don't forget your Senators, as it goes there next and we need them to say no. Real human beings will die in numbers I sudden to contemplate if this passes.
* "My Birmingham Trans Fam Weren't Shown Any Love By TSA At Love Field:" http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2017/05/my-birmingham-trans-fam-werent-shown.html
* "In one powerful tweetstorm, this woman demolishes the hypocrisy of fat shaming:" https://mic.com/articles/175606/in-one-powerful-tweetstorm-this-woman-demolishes-the-hypocrisy-of-fat-shaming#.e35VgLSgw
* I wrote this elsewhere, but thought it might be of general interest:
There are good science based anti-bullying curricula that focuses on proactive adults and the bystander effect. Rather than the usual victim blaming and placing the onus for fixing things on the person under attack, it mobilizes the adults in the school to intervene early wherever possible and focuses on getting the kids who are not directly involved to take whichever the following steps they are comfortable with. 1. Leave. Bullies read silence as support. 2. get an adult. 3. Signal disapproval of the bully. Most people are not up to 3, but one and two actually do work if you have the adults in the school actually committed to improving things, and if you turn the school culture around and kids start feeling safe speaking up, you do start getting three. I’ve seen girls mob a jerk hassling a disabled kid before I could cross the room. I’ve seen boys confronting a homophobe. We are talking middle school here, the absolute worst as far as bullying goes. It does not work if the whole school staff doesn’t commit from Principal on down and in the early stages it takes a lot of effort from the adults, but I’ve never been prouder of my kids than when i saw them standing up for each other after I modeled how to do it in the early part of the year. note that the same concepts tend to work when women are being harassed in public places. If multiple people step in together in a bullying situation in a school or at a bus stop or wherever, the bully tends to back the fuck off. There is power in numbers if people of good will have the corage to step in. A good school anti-bullying program is about systemic change that empowers kids and adults to protect people being harassed.
I’ve also seen it not work places where the implementation is half assed. It also takes time and effort the first half year to a year to get the momentum going, so it needs an energetic administrator and enough staff willing to try to make it work. It gets way easier once the positive change in school culture gains momentum, and in the long run is much less work and distress for everybody but the first part is pushing a boulder up hill.
I am sorry all schools don’t do it. I’m sorry that there are still Social Darwinist dinosaurs out in classrooms and in Administrators offices. I am sorry there are pro-bullying racists and homophobes in authority in schools where they should absolutely not be allowed.
It is never the kid being picked on’s fault. It is certainly the fault of the bully, but it is all absolutelyalso the fault of Admin and staff for being too lazy to protect the students under their charge. It’s never 100% percent, but it absolutely is possible to change things if the will is there.
The reason most Anti-bullying curriculum is shit is because the adults at your school decided they’d rather be lazy than keep you safe. It’s not 1970. They know perfectly well the old platitudes don’t work, and how to do it properly. They are choosing not to.
* Today was pretty productive despite a rocky start. People got delivered where they needed to go. I cleared out a bunch of meat Squirrel had found too daunting by dint of giving it to friends who will use it. (Squirrel has been learning to cook for himself since the big health scare a few years ago. I haven't cooked meat since Skye and I broke up so I'm in the neighborhood of a decadish rusty, but I have helped him here and there with tips and suggestions, but mostly by making sure he has chicken and fish and then reminding him that he needs to cook what's defrosted before it goes bad until he either cooks it or it goes bad. He does the actual cooking himself and has made a lot of progress, but the last few months, the large meats have been taking up space and he's been basically paralyzed by things he can not cook. He's got plenty of smaller things and I've been getting him to cook for himself again the last week or two, so now is an ideal time to get things he can't handle out of the way of the things he can, if that makes sense). Anyway, the meats are sorted out. I hit the far grocery on the way back from dropping of a friend and meat, and got staple supplies. I somehow managed to be under budget despite buying too much cheese yesterday, which is important, as it means I now have a tzaziki allowance to spread over the rest of the month. I planted a new basil plant in favor of the one that didn't make it. This one is big and healthy. The guy said likely the one I got last month took chill coming over the pass and the failure to thrive likely wasn't my fault. I also wasted what was left of the toilet paper money after buying toilet paper on discount bulbs. They were not the species I wanted specifically and it is too late in season, but it was a lot of bulbs and not much money and they are things I will enjoy if they make it. I buried them with the seed infused compost, so if I don't get flowers, odds are I will get tomatoes and if I'm lucky carrot greens. Everything is put away. The dishes are running. I had Baba Ganouj and the tale end of Tzaziki with warm garlic naan and huckleberry sweet tea for dinner The lettuce is growing so well I can likely have salad again tomorrow, and last Sunday I had fresh from the garden baby asparagus with my risotto, cut rinsed, and cooked just long enough to be soft enough to eat. I still really need another big planter minimum and I could really use more stands, but such is life.
* This is amazing: http://gwydionmisha.tumblr.com/post/160291588482/video-game-ideam
*****
* Full list of Resistance and charity links has been migrated to my profile as it was getting out of hand.
* This is a Real Life friend of mine. They do very much need the money and a number of people and beasts depend on him and his husband. They have been incredibly helpful and supportive of me. If you can kick in, it is a kindness.: https://www.youcaring.com/tod-788345
* Help pay for cat food, litter, meds, medical copays: paypal.me/Gwydion or Paypal Lethran@gmail.com
* Want Game of Thrones without the creepy? We desperately need new players. We are very inclusive. "Game of Bones MUSH:" gobmush.wikidot.com