Queen of the Slipstream

PAGING MICHAEL J. DOLAN!  CALL FOR MICHAEL J. DOLAN!

there are several posts going around about how to best help if you witness an ICE raid/arrest as a (white) citizen. many of them are filled with extremely bad, LARP-y advice such as screaming at agents and getting physically close to them. in most cases, this is just going to make things worse for everyone at risk (including yourself). you need to stay calm, and avoid getting someone accused of resisting arrest.

to be clear: most of these fascists dont care about the law. “illegal” is not a magic word you can say to make them stop. and, being a white citizen is not an impenetrable shield. you can still be arrested, so be prepared for that. you are, however, less likely to be arrested, and MUCH less likely to be killed or held extralegally.

here is what you should actually do to help:

record, and make sure your phone auto-backups to a cloud. streaming can be problematic because its best to have lawyers look over the footage first. be aware they might also grab your phone, even without a warrant. if they’re grabbing it out of your hands, try to lock it. make sure you have a pin lock, not pattern or fingerprint. here’s some other ways to protect your phone from cops.

if you are able to film, and have determined it won’t escalate the situation, make it obvious you are doing so, because secretly recording is illegal in several states. narrate any violation of rights you see. here is a Q&A about filming ICE.

stay several feet back from agents, because they can claim you’re impeding them. if you’re recording and they claim this, take several steps back, and announce it as you’re doing so, if you’re filming.

ask if they are free to go, if someone is being approached. if ICE insists on the person asking for themself, and they speak spanish*, tell them “por favor repita: ‘am i free to go?’” (this just means “please repeat”) if the agent says yes, tell them “usted puede dejar”. if not..

calmly inform people of their rights if they are being arrested. they do not have to speak at all to agents, answer any questions without a lawyer, or sign anything. they do have to show their paperwork if they have it, but do NOT have to hand over the paperwork/passport, or consent to a search of themselves/belongings, without a judicial warrant (not administrative! here’s the difference). it is crucial that they give as little information as possible to ICE.

if you speak spanish, list their rights in spanish as well, and translate what the agents are saying. if not, keep the google translate app on your phone – it’s not perfect, but it’s quick/accessible and can download languages for offline use. you can also memorize this sentence: “no tiene que responder/dar su consentimiento” - “you dont have to respond/consent”

get their lawyer’s contact info, if they have one and are being taken away by ICE. many people carry a card with emergency contact info on it, including childcare info and loved ones, so you can offer to call those numbers for them.

call for legal help. do not call the ACLU or other big organizations for immediate help, call your local immigration help center (for New York State, contact IDP at 212-725-6422. for California, call the TRUST hotline at 844-878-7801). United We Dream is an immigrant-lead organization that provides aid nationwide, and can be reached at 844-363-1423. please save these numbers in your phone!

know the ICE rapid response network in your town, and keep their number on hand. if there isn’t one close to you, here’s how to make one.

finally, here are some useful toolkits:

comprehensive ICE response guide

know your rights posters for in-home raid readiness, community flyers, and informative videos

ACLU videos explaining what to do in various situations with ICE

im almost out of insulin. i still need another $303 to cover my next pickup. my last post isnt getting any notes so i had to make a new one. please help

paypal: https://www.paypal.me/dataentity

cashapp: https://cash.me/$minmoh

venmo: minmoh (idk how venmo works so idk if this is all you need or not)

you know and like them

You know what’s really important to the other person, their hopes and goals and pet peeves and preferences and fears, and you consciously integrate this knowledge into how you interact with them.

You’re curious about their thoughts and opinions. You’re aware they have a rich inner life and you get excited to find out what they think and how they feel about things, even things that have nothing to do with you. You ask questions and you truly listen to and try to understand the answers.

You seek out opportunities to share experiences with them. You want to be around them and you want to understand why they love the things they love. You want to welcome them into enjoying new things you think they’d like based on your knowledge of them and their preferences.

When they don’t like something you like and vice versa, it isn’t threatening, because you both respect each other and there are other things you can do together. 

you are emotionally available

You pay attention to the kindnesses they show you, and you show appreciation when they listen to you vent or are patient with your foibles or remember your favourite things or make your life brighter in any way.

You make an effort to show these same little kindnesses to them. You often ask about and try to keep track of what they like. You make tiny gestures all the time just to make them happy, and you don’t keep score of them in hopes of getting something you want.

You are honest and considerate with them. When you’re upset about something else you don’t blame it on them or start a fight just to fight. When you need to bring a problem to their attention you do it in a loving way. You don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep and you don’t pretend you feel anything you don’t feel.

You work hard to understand yourself and what’s important to you, what you want and what you feel and why you feel the way you do. Even if you aren’t totally sure what you’re really feeling yet, you try to share yourself with the other person. You’re willing to be vulnerable and let them see your fears and your flaws and your complicated feelings about things.

you actively respect them as your equal

You respect them as a person. There are things you admire about them and you find some of their ‘flaws’ endearing and it’s okay that there are things about them you don’t like because they’re a whole complicated person and you appreciate them for the whole package of who they are. You don’t secretly think you’re better than them. You don’t see them as disposible or fungible or a means to an end.

You respect them as the authority on their life/experiences and acknowledge that however well you know them, there are complexities to them you’ll never fully grasp. You never assume that you’re done getting to know them or that you could make their choices better.

You believe them when they tell you how they feel. You don’t ever try to convince them their feelings are wrong even if those real feelings are in response to a misunderstanding or have a context you don’t fully understand.

You’re comfortable letting them take the lead as often as you do, and you’re willing to compromise on things that affect both of you because their opinions are just as important and well-reasoned as your own. You acknowledge their capacity to know things you don’t or have good ideas you didn’t think of.

you do relational work

You talk to each other when either of you feels relationship problems arising, even if you don’t fully understand them yet, and you work together as a team to keep each other feeling safe and respected and listened to. You work to be patient and supportive and to not take it personally when other things are bothering them.

You apologize, freely and without expecting them to force themselves to heal faster to make you feel better. Your apologies are about letting them know you understand and respect and care about their hurt and that you are choosing not to hurt them in that way again. You don’t have hidden agendas.

When there are choices to be made that affect both of you, you talk them through together and decide together. You don’t expect them to do all the planning work, and you don’t make choices that affect them without their input.

you respect their time and effort and don’t act entitled

You understand you aren’t the only thing they have going on. You give them space to have other interests and friends and you appreciate your time together without making them feel obligated to pay attention to you 24/7. You also make time for them while maintaining your own interests and other relationships.

You make an effort to seek out and cultivate other sources of emotional support and connection so that you are not relying on this person to meet all your emotional needs.

You don’t expect them to do personal work for you that you’re capable of doing, and if they do such work, you intentionally do similar work for them, work that needs to be done just as often and requires just as much time/effort, because you care about them and don’t want to burden them with extra work.

If they wash the dishes you use, you prepare their meals. If they do the grocery shopping, you do the laundry. You don’t ever take it for granted that it’s their job to do personal maintenance work (chores, home care, body care, appointment planning, kinship work) for you without reciprocation. If you are capable of meeting your own basic needs but haven’t bothered to learn to do that work or why it’s important, you seek out resources on your own to learn.

If you genuinely are not capable of doing your own basic self/home maintenance due to disability etc., you don’t assume they will automatically take over that work. You have frank and honest discussions about your needs and their interest/limitations/capabilities wrt helping out, and you seek out and cultivate other sources of support where possible/necessary.

you actively prioritize their happiness

You make sure they know you appreciate their nos. Every no reassures you that their yeses really mean yes, and you check in all the time to find out what they want and don’t want, because it’s so important to you that they don’t just grin and bear it. You actively encourage them to tell you about their boundaries and you make a deliberate effort not to pressure them.

You want them to be happy. You are willing to be deeply inconvenienced without them knowing about it if it will make them happier. You develop a habit of thinking about their feelings and how your words and actions will impact them. If you think they’re unhappy because of you, you want to know why because you are genuinely willing to put hard work into making them happy.

If they’re unhappy because you’re incompatible in a fundamental way, you’d rather give up your relationship with them than let them stay miserable because of it.

okay since you and everyone else on that post apparently can’t read or think critically: the point is not that the Curiousity rover was a fascist or problematic or whatever. the point is that the way people anthropomorphized the shit out of it is going to be exploited by companies in the future making robots for explicitly evil purposes.

exhibit A is Boston Dynamics. you know all of those goofy videos they put out where they shove a humanoid/quadrupedal robot while it’s walking and it manages to correct itself and everyone in the comments oohs and aahs over how impressive it is or says something like “omg stop being so mean to it”? all of those robots are being made on military contracts with the explicit purpose of either killing people or making it easier for the US military to kill people. for example, the robot in this gif looks goofy, right?

it was designed on a military contract to carry ammo and supplies for soldiers in the field and was only rejected because it was too loud and slow. literally the only purpose for this thing’s existence is to make the US military able to kill more people more easily, but Boston Dynamics has figured out that by putting out cutesy promo videos of cutting-edge robots while staying mysteriously silent on why theyre building them (hint: it’s not just for fun), they can influence public opinion away from “robots are being used as tools to do horrible, horrible things” and towards “awww look at the widdle doggy slipping on ice!”

tl;dr:

For one Native American tribe whose land straddles the U.S.-Mexico border, President Trump’s proposed border wall would, literally, divide its people.

The Tohono O'odham Nation stretches through the desert from just south of Casa Grande in southern Arizona to the U.S. border — and then beyond, into the Mexican state of Sonora. This means that if Trump gets his $5.7 billion border wall, it would cut right through the tribe’s land.

“It would be as if I walked into your home and felt like your home was not safe, but I want to build a wall right smack in the middle of your home and let me divide your family,” Verlon Jose, vice chairman of the Tohono O'odham Nation, tells NPR’s David Greene. “It is putting a blockage into our way of life, into things that we’ve been doing for hundreds and hundreds of years. And when you interrupt those things, bad things happen.”

Native American Leader: ‘A Border Wall Is Not The Answer’

hi again, i hate making these posts and i hate begging but my gf has been really really ill for the past five weeks and will likely need to go to the hospital for bloodwork, ultrasound and possibly a minor surgical procedure and we have zero funds to pay for it all. im asking for donations as we cannot afford to seek treatment, let alone the cab to the hospital because they’re too weak to walk/bus and just leave the house in general. if you can spare anything, please, anything will help us. 

i know you hate seeing these posts and i hate making them and i feel like shit but we’re hardly surviving and we can’t get government aid at this time and the job hunt has thus far been unsuccessful. i wouldnt be asking if i had literally any other means to pay for this. 

if you would like something in return, and i would LOVE it if you ask because i HATE begging for help, this is my commissions post. i can do sliding scale too if you can’t afford the suggested prices.