you see whenever i dont understand someone's sexuality or gender or pronouns or whatever i go "ohwell this has nothing to do w me!" and move on w my day

One fallacy, I think, of anti piracy arguments is that a lot of them seem to assume that if I'm unable to pirate something I'm going to pay for it instead rather than going "oh! that's a terrible shame" and then quickly forgetting about it

"If you were not pirating [media] you'd be paying for it and therefore piracy is evil 😡" actually if I were not pirating that media I would be thinking about something else. I have made the decision to not spend any money on this and even god himself could not shake it

the research on this was already done decades ago and then quickly squashed because the record labels did not like the finding that people who pirated music were spending way more money on actually buying music legally than people who did not pirate music. it turns out people who care enough to pirate media are generally big fans of that media and willing to spend money on it if they have the money to spend

article is from 2009 so we have known this for a LONG time.

The Norwegian study looked at almost 2,000 online music users, all over the age of 15. Researchers found that those who downloaded "free" music – whether from lawful or seedy sources – were also 10 times more likely to pay for music. This would make music pirates the industry's largest audience for digital sales.

Wisely, the study did not rely on music pirates' honesty. Researchers asked music buyers to prove that they had proof of purchase.

Useful information

[VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:

"All your tests/labs came back clear! Isn't that great?"

American healtcare is a business, and you are the customer. Here's something you can say:

"It's great that we ruled out X, Y, and Z with these tests. However, I'm still having these symptoms, and they're effecting my daily life in these specific ways. So what's next on your list of differential diagnoses?"

And if that doesn't get you anywhere, you can say something like:

"Okay, we've ruled out all of the common causes for my symptoms. So when do we start exploring more rare explanations?"

And if that still gets you nowhere, you're going to document their refusal to do further testing in your chart, because they don't want to have to put that in writing. Keep going, you're worth it. I love you, mean.

END VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION.]

Anti homelessness and ableism are tightly intertwined

Any measure taken against homeless people WILL harm disabled people, because fundamentally, they are about removing accessibility.

Anti homeless attitudes rely on the same underlying logic as ableism. That they “deserve” their misfortune, that they just aren’t trying hard enough, that they are inherently immoral, etc.

it’s a small wonder why when you look at how the entire purpose of anti homeless politics is to gatekeep access to society from people deemed unworthy

ALT

It’s

WHAT????

ALT

“Is Gy*sy a Slur in England?”

I’ve gotten a lot of variations on this question… not just from people living in the UK, but all over the world. In general, the answer is always “yes.” Any variation of “gypsy” is a slur, anywhere on Earth, when used by gadjo (non-Romani) people.

This is an especially prickly issue in the UK and Ireland, though. This is, in large part, because Britain and Ireland are home to Irish Travellers— an entirely separate ethnic group who also have a history of living itinerant lifestyles. (I’ve covered the difference between Travellers and Romani right here). It’s common for people in the UK and Ireland to refer to both groups, collectively, as “Travellers” and “Gypsies.” Many British Romany treat this as inevitable ignorance, and not worth their effort to correct.

I will not speak on behalf of Traveller people. Some of them are perfectly comfortable being called “Gypsies.” Others find it deeply offensive. For their perspective on that issue, you need to check out groups that focus on their advocacy.

But many advocacy groups in the UK use the g-slur in their official names? So, that’s confusing.

You’re right. It is confusing. Even the government uses it.

Romany and Travellers work closely together to champion our collective rights, as we share many struggles. In addition, any person who lives an itinerant lifestyle in the UK often gets lumped into these efforts. This includes traveling performers, among others, and these people almost always call themselves “gypsies.” They should not be doing that. It’s racist. But it’s become a catch-all term for anyone who lives in non-permanent housing, and travels regularly.

The majority of groups which only advocate for Roma do not use the word “Gypsy,” even in the UK. For example, these groups serve only Romani communities:

The Roma Support Group, UK

The European Roma Rights Centre, UK

Romani Cultural and Arts Company

National Roma Network

While these serve the entire GRT (Gypsy, Roma, Traveller) population:

The National Federation of Gypsy Liaison Groups

Gypsy Travellers Wales

London Gypsies and Travellers

Friends, Families and Travellers (Gypsy-Traveller.org)

The government in England, Ireland, Wales, and the UK have followed the lead of these advocacy efforts. They rarely use the word “Gypsy” to refer to Romani people alone; it’s only employed, officially, as a more general term. You might also see “Romany Gypsy” in official documentation, to refer specifically to Roma who are itinerant (not settled). Government paperwork moves pretty slowly to catch up to social change, which is a good indication of how long we’ve been working to change this language.

There are plenty of people who call themselves “Romany Gy*sy,” though. What about them?

The thing is: The older generations of British Romany are very cautious about trying to change the term. They’ve been fighting the good fight for decades, working hard to get the British and Irish governments to take Romany rights seriously. In doing so, they had to embrace a lot of white colonialist language. They had to call themselves something that white people recognized.

Also, there’s a related issue that Romani do not like to talk about…

Many Romani, from all different tribes/clans, do not like white people to know our language. Not even individual words. It’s always safer to have a way to communicate that white people cannot understand.

If you aren’t Romani, it’s nearly impossible to find someone willing to teach you Romani ćhib. I speak two variations—Sinte and Angloromani—and I would never, under any circumstance, teach anything to outsiders that you couldn’t find easily online. I haven’t even taught my white husband. It wouldn’t be worth my family’s wrath, frankly.

So, Romany in England were hesitant to teach gadgo the correct terms. This went on through recent generations. My grandparents forbid it, even here in the United States.

I think the move to open up our language a little is a positive change, and I don’t like non-Romani to use the g-slur around me. That’s my personal opinion. Some of my UK family think the rest of us are being ridiculous. The term “Gypsy” has been reclaimed more effectively in England than in any other English-speaking country, and that’s because of our ancestors’ hard work.

But let me be clear:

“Reclaiming” a word is situational.

Just because I’m okay with being called “queer” by my family and friends, or by an advocacy group, doesn’t mean I’m okay with it when some lady in the checkout line calls me that. I don’t know her, and I don’t trust her intentions. She’s just as likely to be a bigot as an advocate.

Just because I might use the word “Gypsy” to write about myself or my own people doesn’t mean I’m okay with white people doing it.

“Queer” has a much longer, and more successful, history of reclamation than the g-slur. It also has a shorter history used as slur. And yet, “queer” still isn’t for everybody, or for every situation. That’s the challenge of reclaiming slurs.

Yes, “Gypsy” is a slur. Yes, they still use it openly in the UK. These facts can and do coexist, pretty much all over the world.

I feel qualified to speak on this topic because I am half British Romany myself, and I still have family living there. I’m not as qualified as a British Rom living in Britain, though, so…

British Romany: please chime in, if you can.

yayyyyyy supplies for our next batch of sex worker care kits arrived ☺️ they get hygiene wipes, deodorizing wipes, first aid kit, lube, condoms, makeup remover wipes, throat spray and mace

we ARE running low on individual packets of lube which are on our wishlist if you'd like to support us that way

Just saw an adult man growl at a qr code on the wall

i love you lisp i love you stutter i love you pressured speech i love you damaged vocal cords i love you aphasia i love you mutism i love you selective mutism i love you deaf voice i love you apraxia i love you speech delay i love you vocal tic i love you articulation disorder i love you sign language

i hate you societal norm to make fun of speech impediments i hate you “get it fixed” mentality i hate you mocking someone for the way they communicate i hate you “go to speech therapy so your kid won’t be bullied” i hate you i hate you i hate you

It's so wild how many grown adults can't grasp such a basic concept like "if you are nicer to strangers they will usually be nicer to you in return"

I work a job where I interact with the public. If my customers are nice and pleasant I will bend over backwards for them. If my customers are unpleasant I will do the absolute minimum as required to not get in trouble. I'll never not do my job, but by god I can and will do the bare minimum.

Hi! Im moonie and recently I've been having some financial issues with being currently unhoused. Don't have family to help me either. Any donations help, they'd be used for food, transportation, motel costs or saving for a security deposit/furniture.

c.sh.pp $moonie7567

at some point every women’s clothing brand decided that no one needs office clothes anymore and everyone dresses like an aspiring IG influencer. what the fuck are these clothes. 

thank u, senator cruz, for raising awareness on this important topic!

This website gives me whiplash

I was reading something about Whitestown, Indiana and my eyes nearly popped out of my head thinking it was one of THOSE comically racist towns. Nice to know, at least the name, wasn’t that.

Racisttown, named after the abolitionist Stopbeing Racist,

That's nothing. Check THIS shit out

WHAT THE HELL

George Washington Hitler and his son Dr. Gay Hitler,