Atticus Finch is racist in Harper Lee’s new book and people are furious
According to the New York Times review of Go Set a Watchman, the man who once stood against the darkness of racism has attended a Klan meeting and talks about “Negroes” as second-class citizens. Expectedly, readers aren’t taking it well — but upon closer inspection this is actually a fascinating development.
Every 28 Hours (7.10.15): Last night, a black Mississippi farmer was choked to death by a police officer. Jonathan Sanders was exercising his horses, when a white cop approached him, pulled him off his horse, and choked him with a flashlight. Literally no explanation has been provided as to why this unarmed man was stopped, let alone murdered. At the time of this post, at least five other people today alone have been killed by the police. #staywoke #farfromover
please also take a moment to read about amaria diljohn, the fourteen-year-old black girl who was murdered in toronto yesterday when a public city bus driver ran over her and drove off, leaving her on the road. the driver has not been charged. please spread this. please talk about this. i know canadian issues aren’t often widely discussed on tumblr, but it’s important that this becomes widely known so the driver is brought to justice.
amaria’s family has also set up a donation fund to pay for her funeral - details are here.
Serena Williams overcame a slow start, eight double-faults and a nervy finish to beat Garbine Muguruza 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday for her sixth Wimbledon title, fourth Grand Slam championship in a row and 21st major overall.
The win means Williams holds all four Grand Slam titles at once — completing the second “Serena Slam” of her career. What’s more, she secured the third leg of a calendar-year Grand Slam and, if she wins the U.S. Open, will become the first player to sweep all four majors in the same season since Steffi Graf in 1988.
Williams, winning her 28th straight Grand Slam match, is now just one major title behind Graf on the Open era list and two behind all-time leader Margaret Court Smith.
At 33, Williams is also the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam title in the Open era. She has now won seven major championships in her 30s [X]
Highlights of the budget
- Education maintenance grants to be scrapped and replaced with loans
- No automatic housing benefit for 18 to 21 year olds
- Freezing “working age benefits” for 4 years
- Child tax credits restricted to 2 children by 2017
- Household benefits capped from £26K a year to £20K a year
- Cuts to ESA payment for clients deemed capable of “work related activity”
- Minimum wage to be set at £9 by 2020 (for over 25s only)
Whilst Robert Peston is telling you on BBC News that this is quite a “red” budget, bear in mind that the victims will be young people on low incomes, disabled people and children who’ve committed the terrible crime of being born into large, low income families.
“Hard work causes stress, poor health and early death – above all, it has never solved poverty. We work longer hours now than we’ve done for fifty years, yet the gap between the rich and poor has never been wider. Working hard cannot solve an economic crisis. The fact we are all expected to work so hard is in fact a result of economic crisis: a crisis that did not appear in 2008, but has been with us far longer. This is the crisis at the heart of capitalism: a tension between the 1 percent who control the economy, and want to continually increase their wealth, and the rest of us, who are expected to work ever harder, in order to generate profit and to keep us from occupying our time in meaningful ways like questioning or challenging the status quo.”
from Strike! Magazine article by Selina Todd – Fuck Your Hard Work (via relivingthe80s)
Western Canada Wildfires Infopost
Haven’t seen a big info post for the large amount of wildfires currently active in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia, especially as to what people can do. So here it is:
Keeping Informed:
Each province has their own website pages dedicated to wildfire information. If you are in an area currently affected by a wildfire, they can be of help as they have maps of fire activity and smoke distribution as well as air advisories. They also have information about wildfire management and prevention if you’re curious/aren’t up to date on that. There have been no reports yet as to whether any of these wildfires were started by human error but always obey Fire Bans, and be careful of open fires even if you’re on private property near brush or woods. These pages also have contact information for reporting a fire you don’t see on their reports and maps. If you are active on Twitter, consider following your province’s emergency info/alert agency.
Saskatchewan - Map of Active Fires >100ha (pdf), Fire Ban info, Air Quality Readings (doesn’t seem to be working for me atm), SaskAlert
Alberta - Wildfire Status Map (pdf), Fire Ban info, Air Quality Health Index (mobile friendly view), Alberta Emergency Alert
British Columbia - Active Wildfires Map (Google Maps), Fire Ban info, Air Quality Health Index, Emergency Info BC
All - Smoke Forecasts (epilepsy warning: maps may flash white between frames)Keeping Safe:
People in all smoke affected areas: please read the Lung Association of Saskatchewan’s Forest Fires and Lung Health Sheet. It has symptom info for smoke inhalation and very importantly, warning signs for Asthma and COPD attacks. Here are some general precautions to take:
- Stay cool and hydrated.
- Avoid strenuous exercise.
- Remain indoors if possible.
- When driving, keep windows and vents closed, use air conditioning with the recirculation setting to avoid introducing outside smoke.
- If you use an air conditioner in your home, follow advice as above.
- If you have a room air cleaner in your home, use it. Make sure filters, which can be especially helpful (such as HEPA filters), have been replaced if necessary. Consider purchasing one if you or anyone in your home appears to be sensitive to the effects of the smoke.
- Pay special attention to children, the elderly, and those with pre-existing medical conditions.
- Take shelter in large air conditioned buildings.
How to Help:
On the front line, firefighting services are provided by the Forestry Service and they do not accept donations. The best way to help them is to follow fire bans, be cautious, and be prepared for evacuation by having supplies and plans ready if you are in a wildfire risk area and to pay attention to any evacuation warnings and orders.
Evacuation services are generally provided by the Canadian Red Cross, a Non-Governmental Organization. They are who to call if you have been separated from family due to evacuation orders. They do accept monetary donations, and you may specify where you wish for your donation to go, such as to Canadian disaster relief. If you are not in an area where evacuees are being sheltered, this is probably the most effective way to help.
If you are in an area where evacuees are currently being sheltered, local organizations likely take over as the Red Cross volunteers already have their hands full at evacuation centres. In Saskatchewan, the Salvation Army is accepting summer clothing and footwear for evacuees, which can be dropped off at their thrift stores. However, efforts are largely decentralized, so please do local research for where you can volunteer or donate, or even connect with evacuees needing shelter if you have (or can make) space in your home. There is a Facebook page called Sask Evacuations - Helping One Another you may want to check out.
Finally, spread the word. The more informed we all are, the better.
Project Consent is a global campaign designed to battle sexual assault and rape culture by raising awareness, spreading education, and promoting consent. In the past year alone, Project Consent has: spoken with well known media figures on the impact of rape culture, worked with porn industries on incorporating consent in their videos, held community seminars to discuss consent, published various submissions from survivors, produced series of videos/photographs to invoke discussion, and more. Project Consent is an ongoing movement to shed light on sexual assault around the globe. You can find more information regarding our work and impact here.
Project Consent is also non-profit and funded by students. The staff at Project Consent are here by volunteer basis only because we believe in the work that we’re doing and all expenses are paid for out of our pockets. That being said, we would highly appreciate any sort of contribution in order to continue our work. All funding would go towards organizing events, hosting charges via website, shooting videos and photoshoots, and working with different communities to bring awareness around the world.
Please consider donating to our GoFundMe to further support our message and our work! We thank you in advance.
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Women fire back at Oprah Magazine’s fat shaming with #RocktheCrop
“Can I pull off a crop top?“ "If (and only if!) you have a flat stomach, feel free to try one.” When O magazine wrote that response they probably didn’t see the wave of outrage, viral hashtag and badass response coming their way. But that’s probably because they’re part of the problem with fashion advice.