merumorimaru

6% of the US is 19 million, as stated above. There are only 3 states that have over 19 million people in them. 19 million is the population of the entire state of New York. That’s more than half the population of California.

3 neo-Nazis for every Jew in the country. 

3 neo-Nazis for every Jew in the country. 

This April, millions won’t be able to afford their bills even if they want to pay them. Like the pandemic, this is the inevitable consequence of a system that wasn’t designed to keep us safe in the first place.

https://itsgoingdown.org/what-you-need-to-know-about-rent-strike/

Organize for self-defense!

What Is A Rent Strike?

A rent strike is a collective refusal by tenants of a building, housing project, or dwelling to pay rent to their landlord. Often, groups of tenants have set demands that they want addressed, such as: unfair rents, unmade repairs, or an end to harassment by management.

Throughout history, rent strikes have been a tactic utilized by renters to combat slumlords, racism and attacks on civil rights, high rents, and also secure and defend housing for poor and working people in times of crisis, pandemic, and economic depression.

In recent years in the face of the growing housing crisis, rent strikes have grow in popularity in larger cities as a tactic utilized by renters to fight back against predatory landlords. Organizations such as the LA Tenants Union and Parkdale Organize have mobilized to back massive rent strikes which have resulted in key victories for tenants. Occupations of vacant housing, such as the recent occupation organized by Moms 4 Housing in Oakland, CA, have also resulted in victories.

Who Is Calling For The Strike?

There are a wide variety of autonomous groups, organizations, networks, and individuals who are pushing for the rent strike. This includes:

A network of autonomous anti-capitalist groups and organizations across the country.

The group Rent Strike 2020, which has been pushing petitions signed by tens of thousands of people.

Groups of renters, such as the anarchist housing collective, Station 40, located in the Mission District of San Francisco, who have publicly declared that they will go on rent strike starting April 1st.

Seasoned tenant organizations such as Parkdale Organize.

Hasn’t The Government Called Off Evictions?

In short, the government is some areas has placed a moratorium on evictions. This means simply that for a set amount of time, they agree to not evict anyone who can’t pay their rent, but they still expect you to pay it at a later date and in a timely manner. This means more debt and more payment of money you don’t have.

As 5 Demands, an online rent strike hub, wrote:

Current moratoriums on evictions and utility shut offs protect you from immediate threat of losing your home or having your utilities shut off, as long as those moratoriums are in place. Your landlord can’t file for eviction for non-payment during the moratorium and the utility companies can’t turn off your water or electricity. You can use the money you’ve kept on the immediate things you need, like medicine and food. The moratoriums alone don’t prevent you from owing back-payment once they lifted, though. That’s why we are pushing for a rent and debt cancellation, so millions of people are not facing insurmountable debt on the other end of this crisis.

We also know that millions of people organized and united in refusing to pay will overwhelm court and eviction symptoms, which have a finite capacity.

Won’t A Rent Strike Hurt Landlords?

Simply put, for middle-class landlords who rent out extra property, there are simply more protections from foreclosure than there are for renters. Homeowners across the US are getting federal mortgage relief and HUD has also called for a halt on foreclosures. According to NPR, homeowners can also have their “mortgage payments reduced or suspended for up to 12 months.” In cities like New York, there is currently a moratorium on mortgages for 90 days, while in California, those paying a mortgage will be given a grace period.

Corporations like Subway, the Cheesecake Factory, and Adidas have already declared that they won’t pay rent in April. There's mortgage relief for the middle class, but none for renters. They want the poorest to foot the bill.

It should also be noted that many corporate retail stores are also not able to pay rent and are currently working with landlords to pay reduced or restructured rent – or in some cases even given grace periods.

For renters, these protections do not exist – our only way forward is through collective action. As Parkdale Organize wrote:

Landlords’ resources will allow them to withstand the COVID-19 pandemic better than most, while tenants are more and more concerned with our daily survival. The government has already announced financial support and mortgage suspensions for businesses and landlords. By keeping our rent we will have more money for groceries, medicine, disinfectant supplies, and other basic necessities. Our landlords will be fine without our rent. We may not be.

How Can I Plug Into The Rent Strike?

The best way to is link up with a group that already exists or one closest to you.

You can also call this hotline and talk to organizers who will help you find local initiatives and resources for your strike:

WEB: 5 Demands Global

CALL: (312) 883-4677

TEXT: (316) 742-0167

EMAIL: [email protected]

LOCAL GROUPS

ATLANTA

Atlanta Survival Program

AUSTIN

Rent Strike ATX | 512-200-7750

CARBONDALE

Rent Strike Carbondale

CHICAGO

Autonomous Tenants Union

Chicago Medical Autonomy

Tenants United

DENVER

Denver Rent Strike COVID-19

Colorado Rent Strike and Eviction Defense

DURHAM

Can’t Pay Won’t Pay DURM

FLAGSTAFF

Flagstaff Rent Strike

INLAND EMPIRE

Rent Strike IE

KINGSTON

Rent Strike Kingston

LONDON

Rent Strike London

LOS ANGELES

LA Tenants Union

MADISON

Madison Rent Strike 2020

MINNEAPOLIS

Rent Strike Twin Cities | (763) 294-5592

MONTREAL

Greve des Loyers

NEW YORK CITY

COVID-19 Rent Strike

OLYMPIA

Olympia Assembly

OTTAWA

COVID-19 Rent Strike Ottawa | +1 (353) 883-5608

PHILADELPHIA

Philadelphia Tenants Union

PORTLAND

PDX Rent Strike

RICHMOND

Eagle Mill Rent Strike | 804-554-4032

Pollard & Bagby Tenants Council

Richmond Tenants Defense Council

SAN FRANCISCO

Bay Area Rent Strike

Station 40

Tenant and Neighbor Council

Oakland Tenants Union

SF Eviction Defense Collaborative

Tenants Together

SANTA CRUZ

Drop Rent Santa Cruz

SEATTLE

Seattle Rent Strike

ST. LOUIS

STL Rent Strike

TORONTO

Parkdale Organize

Further Resources

Sample letters to neighbours and landlords:

Dealing with landlords:

Coronavirus rent strike info:

this wont work unless you get other people that your landlord rents to on board. talk to other people in your building or on your property about it. If only one person doesn’t pay rent, it’s not a strike. You’ll just get in trouble for not paying rent. If nobody pays rent, it is a strike.  

https://twitter.com/CriminelleLaw/status/1037511306906099712

Reminds me of my mom getting remarried several years ago, for about a weekend - dude waited until after the wedding to tell her he expected her at waiting at home with dinner waiting when he finished work.

He’s not a little kid, he’s a grown ass man and if he hasn’t learned that 1. Teachers and nurses are smart as fuck and 2. That women aren’t and shouldn’t be lesser to him then when the hell is he going to learn from that?

These men pointed out what they were so proud of… how hard they worked… and tried suggesting that they stop. Tried making them feel bad about it. This is a common pathway into emotional and psychological abuse.

It was designed to make them feel bad and give it up. The next step would have been “what else can I take away”. Those situations where the woman’s confidence is shattered and it takes her years to get free of the asshole… 9/10 started with comments like this.

People wonder how anyone stays with an abuser - this is how. Because manipulative people don’t hit you or insult you on the first date. They wait until you’re invested in them and the relationship, and then they start small, with comments like this.

And they rely on the fact that so many people’s reaction will be “okay, that sucked, but we can come back from this.” They bank on their victim thinking that way. They might even apologize and claim they won’t do it again. But they always do, and they escalate slowly, so you’re a frog in a pot of hot water.

The Amazon Rainforest is on fire. Government protections have been reduced and land is being illegally cleared through deliberate wildfires. Indigenous peoples are being burned out of their homes.

The Amazon rainforest sits at 17% deforestation and climbing. Science suggests that if the rainforest reaches deforestation levels as low as 20-25%, an irreversible chain reaction of desertification will begin that could lead to the Amazon and its life-giving rain being lost forever.

I’m hosting a charity event on stream on Saturday, August 31st to raise money for the cause.

It will take place from 1-10 PM EST, on the Picarto streaming site here: https://picarto.tv/LupusDraconis

No account is needed to join in!

DONATION OF ANY AMOUNT AT ANY POINT BETWEEN NOW AND THE END OF THE STREAM WILL GET YOU ARTWORK!

A sketch/thank you drawing is guaranteed, and higher levels of donation will get you higher levels of detail, such as inks or color! Donations can be sent to me via Paypal or sent directly to your choice of charity! If you choose to donate directly to a charity, please email me evidence such as a receipt to get your art! Suggested charities to donate are: - AmazonWatch , which works locally with indigenous people to enact governmental and policy changes to protect the land - Rainforest Action Network, which is a larger organization that fights companies and industries that drive rainforest deforestation

YOU CAN EMAIL PROOF OF DONATION TO: [email protected]

Art will be created during the August 31st event, and delivered after the event to all donators who provide the necessary contact information. Further information about the art and the event itself will be available on the stream.

ALL donations given to me will be donated to Amazon Watch.

I will donate all funds sent to me and provide proof of donation within 24 hours of the event ending.

So yeah, they are destroying the biggest ecosystem that is the Amazon right now. And the world must know.

Hey everyone sorry for the massive post, but the Amazon rainforest has been burning for 3 weeks now, the fires are raging so strong that cities kilometers away have been darkened by the ashes, and even if it’s small I think we can all do something about it. Here’s some info I’ve gathered: 

The current Brazil president, far-right Jaír Bolsonaro, is a climate change denier, he’s withdrawn a lot of the protections that were in place to keep the rainforest safe, and he’s in favor of exploitation of the rainforest, because of this, there is no official media coverage to make the information reach the rest of the world.

From Sunrise Movement: 

Fires are being started deliberately under Bolsonaro’s rule to illegally deforest indigenous land, people have died in the fires already. The video shows a Pataxó woman talking about it https://twitter.com/sunrisemvmt/status/1164180958666469376 

 Because of the defunding of the organizations that would protect the rainforest and the lack of media coverage, it’s hard to figure out what to do to help, but here’s what I’ve found out: 

 Here you can Sign the petition to Demand BlackRock stop financing Amazon destruction, Blackrock has the most money invested in the fossil fuel and agribusiness industries, and is a huge contributor to climate change https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/sign-the-petition-demand-blackrock-stop-financing-amazon-destruction?source=direct_link&referrer=group-amazon-watch

https://amazonwatch.org/donate

You can pledge solidarity with Brazil’s resistance and donate here: https://amazonwatch.org/take-action/pledge-solidarity-with-brazils-resistance

And there is this petition to stop the exploitation of the rainforest which you can sign: https://www.change.org/p/impedir-o-desmatamento-e-exploração-da-amazônia 

Also:  https://www.ran.org/ 

for the last 2+ weeks, the Amazon has been catching fire. Yes, it’s the season where that’s normal but because of the sayings (aka incentive) of our new president, some farmers are taking advantage of that and intentionally setting the trees on fire. Yesterday, because of this, the sky of São Paulo looked like this. AT THREE IN THE AFTERNOON.

Hospitals of the northern states are filling up with people (especially children and seniors) claiming they can’t breathe properly. ALREADY ENDANGERED ANIMALS ARE DYING. THIS IS SERIOUS.

Germany and Norway, huge donators to the Amazon cause will stop sending money because they don’t see results (that can also be credited to our president, who has been tweeting angrily ever since - not because he cares about the environment, btw). That money gives this guy and his team equipment to save little guys like these:

THIS AFFECTS EVERYONE, NOT JUST BRAZILIANS. The Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world, and it’s being destroyed. WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING.

If your country is holding elections, vote for someone who cares about this. Don’t let another Bolsonaro or another Trump have the power to do something and then do nothing. This is going to shape our future — if we have one.

PLEASE REBLOG, EVERYONE NEEDS TO SEE THIS!!

chag sameach and shabbat shalom!! i thought i would compile a list of dog-whistles (which are best described as “code-words” in politics) for my goyim followers/mutuals, because, while i know most of you are not ill-intended, seeing them on my dash still hurts and as such i thought it would be a good time to educate!! please be aware of the things before you post them, especially during big holidays like pesach.

LIZARD JOKES AND CONSPIRACY THEORIES: point blank this is the easiest identifiable form of modern antisemitism that so many of you igore/aren’t aware of. the “lizard people” joke stems from antisemitic and racist conspiracy theorist david icke, who argues that the world is run by a secret cabal of alien lizard people, many of whom are jewish. he’s fond of accusing famous jewish families of being lizards. remember when everyone got a chuckle out of mark zuckerburg being a lizard robot person because he’s haha funee emotionless? it’s because he grew up jewish. remember when jack black made his youtube channel and his entire comment section was flooded with lizard jokes about him and his kid? they’re both jewish. the very core of conspiracy theories themselves are built on the foundation of the elders of zion, a fabricated antisemitic text purporting to describe a jewish plan for global domination. do you see what i’m getting at here? when you, a goy, reblog relatable memez about a character from a piece of media calling themselves any variation of a lizard and tag is as “hehe mecore,” you’re contributing to antisemitism and its corresponding dog whistles. when you create flat earth meta or have entire discord servers dedicated to the moon landing being faked, you’re contributing to antisemitism and its corresponding dog whistles. if you truly want to be a good ally, especially to your jewish followers, remember this information before you subject us to antisemitism. 

BLOOD LIBEL: blood libel is also very prevalent in modern culture, however it’s not as easily identifiable as it’s not so popularly known to goyim (especially in america). blood libel is the “accusation that Jewish people used the blood of christian children in religious rituals.” the best way i can sum up blood libel in pop culture is hayao miyazaki/studio ghibli’s film “spirited away,” in which a haggard, big-nosed witch kidnaps children (in haku’s terms specifically, light-eyed children) and controls them by stripping them of their memories of their past life, including the knowledge of their names and their families. another one is tangled, in which case i’ll just link this post as it goes into really specific, very great detail. now, i love a good ghibli and disney film like the rest of you, and i’m not saying you have to completely stop watching them, but what i am saying is that understanding blood libel to its core helps you better identify antisemitic creators. 

THE ILLUMINATI/NEW WORLD ORDER: the original illuminati was coined in the 1700′s as a secret society in germany, which later became the topic of fascist propaganda in the early 20th century. the myth claimed that the illuminati was a subversive secret society controlled by nameless “jewish elites” who supposedly propped up capitalism and communism, among other things. while the modern version of the illuminati is inherently harmless and actually just pretty fucking ridiculous, the place it stems from teeters into dangerous waters. the whole idea that society is run by shadowy, upper-class jews has antisemitism written all over it.

now, these are just dog-whistles that scrape the surface. there are so many more, and not just against jewish people. the point of this post is to highlight the fact that tumblr (and specifically young white teens on tumblr) are in love with the idea that vampires are real and the 17th century is the best time period and aliens are controlling our DNA or whatever. in thinking and participating all this, you’re spreading false, antisemitic rhetoric that goes completely beyond aliens building the notre dame and delves into dangerous, hurtful territory. i don’t know about anyone else on jewblr, but i’m tired of seeing the lizard jokes and the conspiracy theories and the fucking pepes. we give so much and yet we’re blamed for things so often and given so little in return. i know you can do better.

Here are some examples of how companies just slapped the most inane slogan they could think of on their floats, handed out free shit with their logos made rainbow on them, and that was 90% of the parade.

Let’s not reduce it to just one pride parade being problematic, because this is a pervasive trend in pride celebrations. Our spaces are being coopted by marketing opportunists performing wokeness in the hopes of winning over what is now a commercially viable social group.

When I was struggling with my sadness earlier this year, I was actually experiencing a lot of distress and shame about how sad I felt. I hadn’t even realized it was happening, but I felt like I “shouldn’t be this sad”, and that “my sadness was a weakness”. None of that was true! But once I acknowledged this, I could actually address how I was tunneling myself into more sadness, and now I do a much better job of accepting my sadness as it is. 🌻 I hope this piece can help you in some way. 

The comedy in the show came from the family’s “odd” lifestyle, rather than from infighting and petty bickering, or worse, as was common on other shows of the time, thinly veiled references to spousal abuse. They didn’t make fun of each other or act like their children were creatures from another world. Were they strange and outside of social norms? Yes. Were they united in creating a loving home and being good, supportive parents? Absolutely.

These two support and adore their children, care for an aging mother and an estranged brother, put family before everything, and they love each other, wholly, fiercely, without reserve. They are every bit as much in love after at least a decade of marriage as they were the day they met.

It’s nobody’s surprise that many of the aesthetic and thematic elements of The Addams Family in its various incarnations are influenced by Gothic tradition (not goth, that mostly came later. And not Goth, that was much much much too early), and I think Gomez’s words are a dead bullseye in terms of Gothic mentality.

“Make her feel like she’s the most sublime creature on earth”

The sublime is a recurring theme throughout Gothic literature. Although the word (like “awesome”) has lost a lot of it’s original luster over the intervening decades, sublime doesn’t really mean elevated and lofty (or even heavenly) as it’s often used today, but rather something possessing the power and grandeur to induce awe and veneration in the mind of the beholder. Although less than divine, something sublime possessed a wildness and power that transcended human ability to control…or even to comprehend.

Sublime is standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon leaning as far as you dare over the railing and still not being able to see the canyon floor below. Sublime is warrior-queen Galadriel being tempted by the One Ring. Sublime is waking up in the middle of the night in the heart of a wild thunderstorm.

“Make her feel like she’s the most sublime creature on earth”

Gomez isn’t advising Fester to treat a woman he fancies like a princess, or even elevate her to pedestal of angelic nature (who’s idea was it to equate femininity with purity anyway? What a laughable and historically damaging idea. Shame on whatever dead (probably) white dudes promoted that!)

Gomez is advising Fester that if he truly loves a woman he must do everything he can to remind her of how she’s an untameable force of nature who’s grandeur brings him to his knees in awe and terror. Just like Morticia, for Gomez.

I’ll sign off with one of my most favorite quotes of all time, because it feels suddenly very relevant:

“When I find myself surrounded by so much beauty, I feel as if I am the eye of a hurricane.”

So close to halfway funded! Help me and my mom fund our cute bunnies enamel pin Kickstarter!

Each soft enamel pin will measure 2 x 1.6 inches, with a detailed kimono screenprint inspired by the seasons!

The stretch goal pair of star and moon buns will unlock at $3,800 funding!