Oh andrea, We’re Really In It Now

but looks like queer is, uh, still the

most

used

With all the news about the sub going missing around the Titanic and OceanGate, I would like to state very clearly that the Titanic is considered an active graveyard/burial. There are likely still remains in the wreck (science side of Tumblr can explain). This is one of the reasons why pulling up artifacts is such a big deal and so rarely done. Engagement is carried out with so much respect and consideration for the victims and their descendants.

You don’t just decide I’ll pop over to this location of massive trauma and tragedy because it’s a popular culture icon I can brag about. This is not the frame of mind one should have when visiting a grave. Please recognize that for 1500 souls this was not where they wanted to rest, and is thus very different from visiting other famous graves (Oscar Wilde, Van Gogh, etc). And sure, maybe the Titanic seems like it would be more digestible as opposed to other thanotourist sites of human violence (ie Gettysburg, Auschwitz, Borden House). The fact that it was a natural disaster lessens the cognitive dissonance of it being of equal solemnity.

The amount to which me will police feminists…who are criticizing misogynists…by making a joke about men…is astounding.

and this is not counting the time they cast a trans woman to play a female character in the l word 

A guide on what the fuck is happening and what to do about it as a never JW, from an exJW.

JW congregations have just been told to start doing door-to-door preaching (aka ‘service’/‘service work’/‘witnessing’) again this September. They stopped for the past few years due to…well. The whole state of things. But it’s starting again! Fuck!

So, to get you folks in on the Secret Inner-workings of a Cult:

JWs do service work mostly on Saturdays and Sundays, but any day of the week is fair game, just less of them will be out on other days. Generally it’ll be in the mornings (anywhere between 9AM to 1PM being common, my family did 10AM to noon Saturdays), but any time of day is also fair game. Evening witnessing is encouraged, to catch parts of the service area who didn’t answer during morning service, like people who were at work or asleep.

JWs are given ‘territories’: entire neighborhoods if they’re a majority language and can generally bet on most of the people in a given area speaking that language; SPECIFIC ADDRESSES if they belong to a smaller language demographic. These are on ‘territory cards’, which include areas to fill out once they’ve called on houses. They often pull addresses from the phone book or other such directory, pulling based on name, or get referred new addresses from neighborhood sweeps in other congregations and were told x language was being spoken, so if you get called on by someone speaking your language and wonder how they got your address, it’s because they’ve collected data already! On You!

On that note: JWs collect data on you! A lot of it!! Those territory cards they fill out? They can include any information they gleaned from conversation (age? gender? personal details like if you’re married, if you live with your parents, etc? what religion do you belong to? any problems in your life they can ‘help’ with? any ‘problematic’ details, like if you’re queer? all of it.); if someone was home or not (yes we can see you peeking out from behind your curtains! we looked in windows!); if the person answering the door was uninterested; if they were aggressive; if they have dogs; if we were able to leave any publications with them; the details of any conversations we had, like which topics we discussed and which seemed to interest you the most; when to call on you again. The areas to fill this in on these cards are rather small so they usually only write down the most important information, but it is the most important information for trying to indoctrinate you into a cult. DO NOT give them any personal information. It will be used against you.

So that’s the gist of it. Now, you don’t want them at your door, probably.

Please do not harass them.

I know they’re annoying. We always knew we were being annoying. They do it anyways because they think they’re helping you. They often have children with them - not only because it’s often families going preaching together, but also because it’s a well known tactic to get a softer response from people they call on, to have a child with you. Even if there are no children, please do not harass JWs - they are cult victims, and doing so will only enforce their ‘us vs them’ mentality, and discourages members from leaving. The outside world hates you so much, so how can you leave?

“But what if—“ Nope! Beyond the whole ‘don’t be fucking cruel to abuse victims’ thing, it doesn’t even work! I’ve been threatened with dogs; my mother has been threatened with machetes; others have been flashed, or physically assaulted - we still went back eventually. Usually someone else would get the assignment, and usually we’d wait a bit, but we still went back.

“Okay, but what the fuck do I do, then?”

You open the door (yes, open the door; if you ignore them they’ll return again, assuming they just missed you or you were busy), let them tell you what they’re there for, and before the conversation goes further, you simply say:

“I’m not interested. Please put me on your do not call list.”

And then you tell them goodbye. Nothing more. Don’t say you have your own religion. Don’t say you’re queer. Don’t try to use the ‘magic word’ apostate - actual former members can get harassed.

Unfortunately, despite this being the most successful and least harmful strategy, it isn’t 100% foolproof. They’re supposed to write ‘do not call’ on the territory card next to your address, but they’re human and forget sometimes (or might not mark it intentionally, though I haven’t seen that personally); the next person who gets that card might not see the mark, as well. On top of everything else, even if not forgotten, they will eventually come back. It’s policy to come by after some time to check on you, ‘just in case’: just in case you changed your mind, just in case you moved and there’s someone else there now, just in case, oh, you recently had a loved one pass away and suddenly find yourself in an emotionally vulnerable position in need of support and sympathy.

If you have the knowledge and mental/emotional energy and stability to, you can go about trying to debate them, maybe help some of them doubt, but it is no easy task and there is no guarantee of any success. It takes a lot of patience. They are undergoing some extreme brainwashing and ‘waking up’ is incredibly traumatizing, and you will face a lot of resistance in trying to deconvert any of them. Again, only attempt this if you have the energy, stability, and knowledge required - the delicacy required, too. Otherwise, remember, it’s

“I’m not interested. Please put me on your do not call list.”

blocked me so can't reply directly but. You think a vasectomy means removing the entire testicles and I'M the fucking stupid one?

The MPR News article about thousands being trapped on Pine Ridge Reservation and ways to help get people winter clothing and firewood. Condition right now are dire with reports of people trapped in their homes and needing to burn clothes for heat.

Friends of Pine Ridge is doing a drive of both quilt/blankets/comforters and also heaters, they have links to stores where you can buy blankets that will give them to the reservation and links where you can donate money to help people buy propane, fire wood or other immediate needs

Friend of Pine Ridge works very closely and supports First Families Now that works to support children, elders and families on the Pine Ridge Reservation and you can donate directly to them below

One Spirit Lakota does a lot of work supporting the citizens on Pine Ridge Reservation and supporting the Lakota people in both firewood supplies for the winter and supporting in the youth in the Allen community around the reservation and more.

Any donation right now will be used for emergency services and supplies such as firewood, and food and other things for supporting people in need.

Sićangu Co typically works to provide housing, food, education, health and addressing systematic issues regarding those concerns but given the twenty feet piles of snow and emergency situation their donations right now are shifted to meet current need of clearing the snow, filing and distribution of drinking water, and donations will also be used to feed their personnel including snow plow drivers, delivery drivers, other volunteers as well as those in need.