Qoupfd

she was smiling when she said it, but i found that one sentence so abysmal. that toddler knew her mom didn't just happen to come and check on her. she understands that there is a camera in her room by which her mom (and as far as she might comprehend, any adult) can access her in her private space, in her private time, at all times.

can you imagine? never on your own. can't sleep? too bad. you're a child and the grown ups are watching you. lie in bed in the dark. pretend to sleep. behave.

it's 10 pm and the rest of the house is enjoying winding down after a long day. your parents don't need to worry about putting on a professional face like they do at work. your older siblings get to be themselves instead of who they have to be at school. everyone gets to relax. but not you.

it's 10 pm, and you're three years old, and you must continue to do everything right, because they are watching you.

Shanks + One Piece Openings

USians, find your reps and call them. This is yet another book ban bill targeting transgender people and anything that mentions race, civil rights, or historical figures of color.

HR 8705 text if you want to dig into it.

Sample script for blue reps:

My name is [_____] and I live in [zip code/district/neighborhood]. I'm calling about HR 8705, the latest attempt by the GOP to erase entire communities from the story of the United States. If passed, it will have a suppressive and damaging effect on our schools and libraries. Teaching a full and honest picture of U.S. history is not indoctrination. Editing and sanitizing that history in favor of patriotic propaganda and white nationalist talking points, however, is. Please do everything in your power to block this horrible bill.

Sample script for red or purple reps:

An extra useful phrase since this is in the House, and this is an election year for every single one of them:

"Right now, I don't know who I will be voting for in November"

Tell them that, then tell them that you're going to be watching this bill, and what they do about it WILL impact your vote. It does not matter if you are actually undecided. It doesn't matter if you would rather eat glass than re-elect that guy. Whenever you place these calls, you are an undecided independent swing voter.

Or, if you can play the part in person, "I voted against you in the last election, but I've been paying attention since then, and I was leaning towards voting for you this time, but not if you support this."

As for the actual bill, this one isn't written in crayon by an idiot. It would be much harder to weaponize in malicious compliance, and harder to sue into oblivion.

How do you communicate when the government censors the internet? With a peer-to-peer mesh broadcasting network that doesn’t use the internet.

That’s exactly what Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters are doing now, thanks to San Fransisco startup Bridgefy’s Bluetooth-based messaging app. The protesters can communicate with each other — and the public — using no persistent managed network.