dimwitted creation of science

Please help.

jolly-dolly:

acyanrust:

benfodens:

Okay Tumblr, here is the deal, I need your help. All of your help.

My mom works for Chrysalis, a nonprofit domestic violence shelter in Phoenix, Arizona. I cannot praise Chrysalis enough, honestly.

It’s the only domestic violence shelter in the valley that caters to all victims - women and men. Gay, lesbian, transgender, straight, pregnant, teenagers, men and women, they offer help and protection to anyone who is a victim of domestic violence. Not many other shelters can say that.

The thing is in order to run a great organization like this, they need funds. Currently Chase is offering up to $2 million in grants to organizations such as Chrysalis.

Here is where you come in. All you need to do is CLICK THIS LINK AND VOTE FOR CHRYSALIS. You don’t need to give any of your personal information or give any of your own money. You just need to vote for them.

Currently, Chrysalis is seriously trailing in the voting. I’ve seen bloggers on Tumblrs raise thousands of dollars in hours so I know something as easy as submitting a vote is something you guys can do.

Please, please, please, CLICK THIS LINK AND VOTE FOR CHRYSALIS.

If nothing else, please reblog this and get the word out guys. Any help is huge help.

As I do not have facebook, I cannot go vote - would some of my followers be so kind to go and vote on my behalf? It’s a cause I certainly support.

Boosting again, and will every time I see this.

I never reblog these things, and I just voted.

A cause I can get behind!

As a social worker, I’ve interacted with this shelter on both a business and a personal level (with friends). They’re great! And definitely worth the time for a few clicks toward a good cause. :)

Source: benfodens

crookedwinding:

jawdust:

stunthusband:

goodstuffhappenedtoday:

Bikers Against Child Abuse make abuse victims feel safe

These tough bikers have a soft spot: aiding child-abuse victims. Anytime, anywhere, for as long as it takes the child to feel safe, these leather-clad guardians will stand tall and strong against the dark, and the fear, and those who seek to harm.

The 11-year-old girl hears the rumble of their motorcycles, rich and deep, long before she sees them. She chews her bottom lip, nervous.

They are coming for her.

The bikers roar into sight, a pack of them, long-haired and tattooed, with heavy boots and leather vests, and some riding double. They circle the usually quiet Gilbert cul-de-sac, and the noise pulls neighbors from behind slatted wood blinds and glossy front doors.

One biker stops at the mouth of the street, parks in the middle of the road and stands guard next to his motorcycle, arms crossed.

The rest back up to the curb in front of the girl’s house, almost in formation, parking side by side. There are 14 motorcycles in all, mostly black and shiny chrome. The bikers rev their engines again before shutting them down.

The sudden silence is deafening. The girl’s mother takes her hand.

The leader of this motorcycle club is a 55-year-old man who has a salt-and-pepper Fu Manchu and wears his hair down past his shoulders. He eases off his 2000 Harley Road King and approaches the little girl.

He is formidable, and intimidating, and he knows it. So he bends low in front of the little girl and puts out his hand, tanned and weathered from the sun and wind: “Hi, I’m Pipes.”

“Nice to meet you,” she says softly, her small hand disappearing in his.
….
The unruly-looking mob in her driveway is there to help her feel safe again. They are members of the Arizona chapter of Bikers Against Child Abuse International, and they wear their motto on their black leather vests and T-shirts: “No child deserves to live in fear.”

Read more:http://www.azcentral.com/news/azliving/articles/2012/07/13/20120713bikers-against-child-abuse-make-abuse-victims-feel-safe.html?page=1#ixzz214xfChtS

I’ll admit - this made me tear up. I’d never heard of BACA before. Now I want to find the WA and OR chapters, and give them some money. I can’t give them a lot - I live hand-to-mouth - but they deserve my support. Surviving abuse is not - *not* - easy. These bikers have taken on a nearly-impossible task, struggling to make it a little easier. Amazing. Absolutely wonderful.

The bikers aren’t looking for trouble. They are there so the kids don’t feel so alone, or so powerless. Pipes recalls going to court with an 8-year-old boy, and how tiny he looked on the witness stand, his feet dangling a foot off the floor.

“It’s scary enough for an adult to go to court,” he says. “We’re not going to let one of our little wounded kids go alone.”

In court that day, the judge asked the boy, “Are you afraid?” No, the boy said.

Pipes says the judge seemed surprised, and asked, “Why not?”

The boy glanced at Pipes and the other bikers sitting in the front row, two more standing on each side of the courtroom door, and told the judge, “Because my friends are scarier than he is.”

This is the most beautiful, awe-inspiring thing I’ve read in a long time. I wanna write a book about these guys, Jesus Christ. Where’s the blockbuster movie about these badasses?

Too awesome for words.

What Rembrandt [a BACA member] knows is that a biker’s power and intimidating image can even the playing field for a little kid who has been hurt. If the man who hurt this little girl calls or drives by, or even if she is just scared, another nightmare, the bikers will ride over and stand guard all night.

If she is afraid to go to school, they will take her and watch until she’s safely inside.

And if she has to testify against her abuser in court, they will go, too, walking with her to the witness stand and taking over the first row of seats. Pipes will tell her, “Look at us, not him.” And when she’s done, they will circle her again and walk her out.

—-

So grateful to these people for doing what many social workers wish they could do better—making kids feel safer. They (we) have to work within the bounds of the (often very restrictive) law…which means no personal relationships, no standing with the child in court, no personal involvement. People like these folks are amazing for doing what they do! <3 (I’ve met a couple of BACA members, actually, and they’re every bit as awesome in real life as they are in articles. ;D)

(via cayliana)

Source: azcentral.com

Empathy Test

thatfilthyanimal:

chazzfox:

littlegal100:

hollyrandom:

littlegal100:

28
This is quite surprising.

63

Is that good?

Considering you have the highest score in the list then yes that is extremely good!

…24….x.x

47 o.o

Hmm. I got a 59, but I’m not sure that this is an entirely “fair” test. It measures empathy based too heavily on extroversion, in my opinion. (For reference, I am a pretty extroverted introvert; i.e., I really like being around people, but need a lot of alone time too.) I have introverted friends who are far more emotionally perceptive and intuitive than I will ever be—and they’d likely score far lower on this test!

I think you can be perceptive and kind and really care about people, while still needing to “practice” or analyze social interactions to feel comfortable with/understand what others are feeling. (I know I do! Heck, I took two years of classes on the subject, no joke. Awkward in-class roleplays and everything. XD)

And having a certain level of empathy is certainly helpful in social situations, but one thing I had drilled into my head during my MSW is that having too much uncontrolled empathy can be a bad thing. You can’t go around feeling everything that everyone around you feels (like reacting to those depressing news spots mentioned in the quiz); you have to have healthy emotional boundaries! And that means not always being a passive emotional sponge.

So anyway, my point is, if you do take this quiz and get a score that’s lower than you expected, keep in mind that no test is perfect. Your results may not reflect your reality. c;

Source: revcleo

I find myself explaining this to people a lot! I also hear, especially from people my age or younger, the phrase “I’m not a feminist…but I believe in equality for women.” Sweetie, that’s what a feminist IS! It’s okay to use that word, just like acknowledging that a patriarchal system exists doesn’t mean that you’re blaming any individual guys for the problem. They’re sucked into it, too.

And this is why I love wearing my “this is what a feminist looks like” shirts around. I don’t mind explaining all this if it means one more person might start to accept the idea. c:

(via gabberforth)

Source: thinkspeakwriteconsciously

fearless-melodies:

You think you’re pro-life?

hannahisawful:

feminisminapapercup:

“Let me tell you some things. I used to investigate child abuse and neglect. I can tell you how to stop the vast majority of abortion in the world. First, make knowledge and access to contraception widely available. Start teaching kids before they hit puberty.

Teach them about domestic violence and coercion, and teach them not to coerce and rape. Create a strong, loving community where women and girls feel safe and supported in times of need. Because guess what? They aren’t. You know what happens to babies born under such circumstances? They get hurt, unnecessarily. They get sick, unnecessarily. They get removed from parents who love them but who are unprepared for the burden of a child.

Resources? Honey, we try. There aren’t enough resources anywhere. There are waiting lists, and promises, and maybes. If the government itself can’t hook people up, what makes you think an impoverished single mom can handle it? Abolish poverty. Do you have any idea how much childcare costs? Daycare can cost as much or more than monthly rent. They may be inadequately staffed. Getting a private nanny is a nice idea, but they don’t come cheap either. Relatives? Do they own a car? Does the bus run at the right times? Do they have jobs of their own they need to work just to keep the lights on? Are they going to stick around until you get off you convenience store shift at 4 AM? Do they have criminal histories that will make them unsuitable as caregivers when CPS pokes around? You gonna pay for that? Who’s going to pay for that?

End rape. I know your type errs on the side of blaming the woman, but I’ve seen little girls who’ve barely gotten their periods pregnant because somebody thought raping preteens was an awesome idea. You want to put a child through that? Or someone with a mental or physical inability for whom pregnancy would be frightening, painful or even life-threatening?

I’ve seen nonverbal kids who had their feet sliced up by caregivers for no fucking reason at all, you think sexual abuse doesn’t happen either? You say there’s lots of couples who want to adopt. Kiddo, what they want to adopt are healthy white babies, preferably untainted by the wombs and genetics of women with alcohol or drug dependencies. I’ve seen the kids they don’t want, who almost no one wants. You people focus only on the happy pink babies, the gigglers, the ones who grow and grow with no trouble. Those are not the kids who linger in foster care. Those are certainly not the older kids and teenagers who age out of foster care and then are thrown out in the streets, usually with an array of medical and mental health issues. Are they too old to count?

And yeah, I’ve seen the babies, little hand-sized things barely clinging to life. There’s no glory, no wonder there. There is no wonder in a pregnant woman with five dollars to her name, so deep in depression you wonder if she’ll be alive in a week. Therapy costs money. Medicine costs money. Food, clothes, electricity cost money. Government assistance is a pittance; poverty drives women and girls into situations where they are forced to rely on people who abuse them to survive. (I’ve been up in more hospitals than I can count.)

In each and every dark pit of desperation, I have never seen a pro-lifer. I ain’t never seen them babysitting, scrubbing floors, bringing over goods, handing mom $50 bucks a month or driving her to the pediatrician. I ain’t never seen them sitting up for hours with an autistic child who screams and rages so his mother can get some sleep while she rests up from working 14-hour days.

I don’t see them fixing leaks in rundown houses or playing with a kid while the police prepare to interview her about her sexual abuse. They’re not paying for the funerals of babies and children who died after birth, when they truly do become independent organisms. And the crazy thing is they think they’ve already done their job, because the child was born! Aphids give birth, girl. It’s no miracle.

You want to speak for the weak? Get off your high horse and get your hands dirty helping the poor, the isolated, the ill and mentally ill women and mothers and their children who already breathe the dirty air. You are doing nothing, absolutely nothing, for children. You don’t have a flea’s comprehension of injustice. You are not doing shit for life until you get in there and fight that darkness. Until you understand that abortion is salvation in a world like ours.

Does that sound too hard? Do you really think suffering post-birth is more permissible, less worthy of outrage? “Pro-life” is simply a philosophy in which the only life worth saving is the one that can be saved by punishing a woman.”

Emphasis added by me.

(via eluvi-deactivated20120629)

occupyallstreets:

Arizona Official Considering Banning Ethnic Studies In Universities Too

Two years ago, Arizona outlawed the teaching of some ethnic studies courses in K-12 schools, and now it may expand the prohibition to universities too.

Just weeks after the state passed its infamous immigration law, it also passed a law aimed at scuttling Tucson’s Mexican-American studies program, which critics claimed taught kids to resent white people. The argument, at the time, was that teaching subjects like critical race theory to kids in high school amounted to indoctrination because they were not old enough to question the teaching critically, like university students.

But now, Arizona’s chief education official sees university-level Mexican-American studies programs as a danger too:

Arizona’s superintendent of schools, John Huppenthal, says Tucson’s suspended Mexican American studies curricula teaches students to resent Anglos, and that the university program that educated the public school teachers is to blame.

“I think that’s where this toxic thing starts from, the universities,” Arizona Superintendent of Schools John Huppenthal said in an interview with Fox News Latino. “To me, the pervasive problem was the lack of balance going on in these classes,” Huppenthal said.

Not surprisingly, a long list of Latino groups and education activists have protested the move, as they did when the state shut down Tucson’s program, decrying the imposition on free speech. “What we’re trying to do is expose children to a much broader perspective, so that we’re not indoctrinating,” said Augustine Romero, the former director of Tucson’s Mexican American Studies Department.

The ethnic studies law, which bans schools from offering courses designed for a specific ethnicity, had far-ranging consequences, including banning books like Shakespeare’s The Tempest and other seemingly anodyne works of literature.

And while many call the state prohibitions unprecedented, Devon Peña, the former director of the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies said, “There is a precedent, and it’s called McCarthyism.” “It’s just a witch hunt of a different color. Now, instead of going after the reds, they’re going after the browns.”

Source

I can vouch for the veracity of this. We (activists, social workers, students) have been fighting it for years. >_< There are always people willing to fund bigoted legislation.

Any other Arizonans out there feeling frustrated? Contact your legislators! Send them an email, give them a call, or drive down to the Senate or House and make an appointment! I promise, it’s not as scary as it looks from the outside. ;) (There’s even free parking.)

And don’t be discouraged because this legislative session is nearly over—it pays to get your words on the book for next time. Don’t let the prohibitionists’ voices be the only ones heard.

(via eluvi-deactivated20120629)

Source: occupyallstreets

ladystormcrow:

emmalyn:

So, a few friends and I planted a garden at a local family homeless shelter today. We raised money for it over the past couple of months, and today we actually did all the work. It turned out beautifully. Even better, the kids at the shelter seemed to have a lot of fun! c:

Oh man, that sounds like an awesome project, Emma :D Teaching a sense of accomplishment-through-fun is really great, and the neat thing about a garden is that it’s an ongoing project - it keeps on growing, literally! Did you go for any particular type of plant (flowers, edible, a mix of things, etc.)?

Aw, thanks hun! ^__^ And we definitely did our best to make sure that it was sustainable in a financial sense—donations are still coming in for additional tools, mulch, plants (in case some of these don’t make it), etc.

We went for hardy, desert-tolerant plants like aloe, octopus agave, and hen-and-chicks, with some red salvia and vincas thrown in for color. We also added blue spruce, lavender, and rosemary for ground-cover, but couldn’t really do any more edibles since we had to stick to things that would:

survive the long, brutal Arizona summer,
only need to be watered once a week or so,
not look too appealing to eat, as the shelter is in a lower-income neighborhood and the garden area isn’t fenced off, so we don’t want people or dogs eating all the plants, and
be completely harmless/non-poisonous (in case the little kids at the shelter accidentally eat something).

I still can’t believe we actually managed to get a good variety plants that fit all of these characteristics! Kind of a miracle, really. ;)

Source: emmalyn

So, a few friends and I planted a garden at a local family homeless shelter today. We raised money for it over the past couple of months, and today we actually did all the work. It turned out beautifully. Even better, the kids at the shelter seemed to have a lot of fun! c:

wow I quit

catbountry:

mooselikejagger:

murkyfuture:

yourdarlinglittlesammy:

Read More

ok guys, does anybody know how to set up a donation account? on Paypal maybe? somewhere else? fundly.com?

because recently got myself a credit card and I should put it to good use and because our dear spn family member Sashi is sick and needs our help!

If you can take a few minutes to read this, please.

This is Sashi, the friend I care most about in the whole world.

Ever since she was a kid, she’s been suffering from chronic pain on her abdomen, getting worse over the years, getting fucked over by doctors who dis-diagnosed her or flat out told her she was “lying” about her pain just to get pain killers.

After years of awful symptoms, trying to figure out whats wrong, ER visits when she couldn’t bear with the pain anymore, having to rush everytime to the hospital, she has finally been diagnosed with a severe case of Endometriosis, which requires a big surgery that also requires to remove her ovaries that are practically all covered in several tumors the size of big oranges, even she feels the stiffness on her tummy.

Endometriosis consists in cysts (in her case of 8cm) growing around her ovaries and affecting intestines and several organs.

Up-to date, she’s 24, had to quit her job (and therefore having no insurance) because she can barely move anymore. She has developed several other side problems from this disease, she can’t eat because there’s literally no room in her intern organs to proceed any food anymore.

As much as it hurts to type down and as tears well up in my eyes,

She’s dying.

She’s been slowly dying in front of my eyes for the past years of fighting.

After trying several times to get medi-cal, today she got denial again because according to the government she doesn’t count as a “disabled” person.

saving her life is up to a surgery that would cost thousands of dollars, I am uncertain exactly how much, I’m researching that right now, been researching all night, trying to find out some solutions; but if she finally could afford this surgery she’d be able to…start to live again.

Though, is sweet of the person above me that talked about donations, Sashi herself is reluctant of donations because the surgery is really, really expensive and its true, it would require a LOT of work/donations to get to any near goal.

I don’t want her to die and keep going through this, I would do anything that is in my hands to help her. To prove her wrong, to show her we care. I am writing this against her will because she would not want to sound “needy” or calling for attention for anyone. she’s always willing to help others with their problems, but she’s too fucking nice to ask for help for herself, she feels uncomfortable with this stuff. But, still. I need to write this. And its why she needs to keep on living, because she doesn’t deserve this at all, she’s the last person I know that would deserve this.

Can you take a minute to reblog, spread the word, and help us with any information you may have on some insurance or coverage she could get (medi-cal isn’t an option anymore, she’s been denied many times) maybe some of you know someone, or know about this stuff, hell, maybe there are some doctors out here. Maybe some answers are out there. Is worth a try, anything you can help her with.

btw, she lives in California for further information.

I want her to get this surgery, is really, really a must for her. You have no idea how it frustrates me and how useless it makes me feel when I see her go through the shittiest situations. I just want to help her.

And I can’t believe a gif set made by her gets 10.000 notes and this is getting like 12…people please, speak out. Reach out to her.

Signal boosting.

Signal boost, and also…(student) social worker** kicking in…