Julie

windows 10 is garbage so every time i boot up the computer i have to run command prompt and enter

net.exe stop “Windows Search”

after

This adorable little robot is designed to make sure its photosynthesising passenger is well taken care of. It moves towards brighter light if it needs, or hides in the shade to keep cool. When in the light, it rotates to make sure the plant gets plenty of light. It even likes to play with humans.

Oh, and apparently, it gets antsy when it’s thirsty.

The robot is actually an art project called “Sharing Human Technology with Plants” by a roboticist named Sun Tianqi. It’s made from a modified version of a Vincross HEXA robot, and in his own words, it’s purpose is “to explore the relationship between living beings and robots.”

Short list of the Shit the HOA at my pervious house tried to pull:

Banning personal and community food gardens (The reason the tag for my garden is “The garden of earthly HOA violations”)

Banning people from using thier personal yards as Native Plant Restoration microzones, something that looks gorgeous and is extremely helpful to the local ecology

trying to get the city council to remove protections on adjacent city Open Space/Native Plant restoration zone so they could mow it.

mandating the use of ONE landscaping company in the neighborhood, coinicdentally owned by the HOA president’s son

Mandating the use of an unecessary water purification company on all properties.

suing city animal control for collecting lose dogs and cats and returning them to the addresses on thier collars.  You know. that thing animal control does so the animals don’t get run over or disemboweled by the coyotes or catch and spread rabies.  The thing that’s illegal to let your pet do out here for those reasons Karen.

Suing the city council to remove a city bus stop in the neighborhood that was heavily used by many residents.  They damn near got away with it becuase the HOA meetings were always in the middle of the day on a weekday.  You know, when the residents that use that stop are working.

Sending people letters threatening to fine them for having “Out Of Season” holiday decor.  Specifically targeting my Indian neighbors who were celebrating Diwali, not Christmas and the Jews with visible Menorahs.

Fining people for doing thier own appliance and car repair on thier own personal property

Fining people for operating a business out of thier house, specifically targeting a disabled neighbor that does comission tailoring and garment repair out of her home.  never bothered a soul except the one snoopy bitch who didn’t like that her clients were allowed to park in the tailor’s designated and otherwise unused parking space.

Trying to fine a neighbor for flying a Pride Flag

HOAs are invasive, bigoted, corrupt and cruel institutions that should never have been allowed to be created.  If you live in and HOA area, showing up at the meetings to tell people what the fuck is wrong with them, Joining your HOA board to protect your neighbors and possibly organize the dissolution of the HOA is one of the best things you can do to protect the marginalized members of your community.

You deserve mutual aid. You’re not too privileged for it, you’re not stealing it from people who need it more - you have a right to use community resources just as much as anyone else

I’ve seen food rot, clothes and books be forgotten in storage, because the people volunteering at or supporting these projects don’t think the resources are for them. Then those same volunteers will go out and put money they don’t have into the capitalist system to buy the resources they could’ve gotten for free

You’re thinking like a charity. You’re drawing a line between the people giving resources and the people taking them, which inevitably leads to a feeling of separation and eventually superiority, unconsciously seeing yourself as a savior coming in and helping the less fortunate. That alienates the people you’re helping from you, and results in neither side fully recognizing the other as human and the same as them

There’s a reason we say “solidarity not charity”. There’s a reason mutual aid is called mutual. Because by lifting each other up, we all become stronger. In solidarity and mutual aid, there is no separation between giver and receiver, because everyone involved is benefited by it

These pictures are what happened in poland following the arrest of Margot from anarcho queer collective @stopbzdurom (on ig) translated to “stop bullshit” for fighting homophobic and pro life propaganda in Poland.

For context: After the Re-Election of Andrzej Duda, from the conservative, corrupt, nationalist party PiS, who made his whole campaign about fighting LGBT “ideology” and dehumanising lgbt people in poland, things have quickly become worse than ever for us here. Its not unusual to see trucks with anti lgbt and pro life propaganda on them, calling gay people p*dophiles who want to adopt children to r*pe them. Me and my girlfriend stumbled into an anti gay protest like that in Kraków a month ago, one of polands most progressive cities. The protest was backed and protected by a police car and the protestors were holding a banner calling LGBT people pedophiles. Margots organisation was fighting these state backed initiatives by destroying public propaganda, organising lgbt dance events in places of white nationalist rallies and organising anti homophobic protests.

After Margots organisation destroyed pro life propaganda in Warsaw a few months back, she got arrested for the first time, taken from her house by undercover police men into an unregistered police car, without shoes or clothes. Nobody knew where she was for a few days and there was no information about her. She got found through a big social media action.

You may have seen the pictures of religious and significant statues in warsaw being clad with pride flags on social media, this was margots initiative. This is why she has been arrested again.

Margot is facing 2 months arrest in a polish men’s prison, which could mean death and hard physical abuse to her. All of that for hanging gay pride flags in public places. This is a textbook political arrest. Lawyers and politicians from leftist parties have been trying to help her, but the police wont let them reach her. The polish prime minister is on twitter saying she deserves this for “the profanation of national and religious symbols”.

Please spread this throughout social media and dont let it go unheard. Public outrage is the only way we can free her and fight polish governments political repression of anyone disagreeing with the current regime and real time descent into a dictatorship. Public outrage and bad press for poland is the only thing the government is afraid of.

If youre in Poland, join todays protest in Warsaw (plac Defilad) at 18:30 in solidarity with Margot.

follow and support her collectives page on instagram @stopbzdurom and follow @grupastonewall for updates on her situation and protests.