Conservatives keep saying “no Sharia law in America,” but then they call for banning birth control, gay marriage, Muslim refugees, sex education, transgender identity, the teaching of evolution. Conservatism reminds me of sharia law, and fundamentalism is a problem no matter where it comes from.
A thought occurred to me when I saw the BBC headline this morning of the Queen and Prince William visiting the area of the Grenfell tower fire. A fire that has left 17 people confirmed dead with 76 missing.
Buckingham Palace: Receives £370m for refurbishment.
Grenfell Tower: Doesn’t receive £300,000 for a sprinkler system.
As pointed out by numerous voices, one example being Aamer Anwar, these people died because they were poor. They continually raised awareness that fire alarms didn’t work and lifts repeatedly stopped.
People jumped.
People who were on the lower floors hurled whatever they could at windows to try and wake people up. They are at outside the incident now wondering whether they should have bothered as they think it would have been better if their neighbours had died from smoke inhalation in their sleep rather than in a panic to escape.
Aamer Anwar, human rights lawyer and current rector of Glasgow University, has said that a government inquiry is not good enough as it allows the government to set the parameters. He pointed out examples like the Hillsborough disaster and Bloody Sunday and how the government continually white washes these to make no one, especially the government, look at fault.
He wants an independent inquiry and a criminal investigation. This happened as a result of Tory austerity and cuts to both social housing and to the emergency services. That blood is on their hands.
When Boris Johnson was mayor of London he oversaw the closures of dozens of fire stations. We had Labour leader to Tony Blair, John McTernan, saying that ‘Only 2% of a fireman’s time is spent fighting fires.’ You cannot afford to cut emergency services to save a quick buck. Austerity does not work.
According to Akala, rapper and poet, rich people living nearby complained that the tower block was an eyesore and urged a refurbishment. This refurbishment results in ‘pretty panels’ being placed on the outside, according to Aamer Anwar these panels assisted the fire.
This is an absolute tragedy and it exposes the utter corruption at the heart of government and in Tory austerity policy. Like Anwar, we fucking hope it ends in criminal charges.
BBC has confirmed the death toll has risen to 30. Fire chiefs expect it to be higher.
They’ve said they don’t expect to find any survivors and there’s still over 100 people missing. Some could be outside and unaccounted for but that still leaves a lot of people.
Note that this was social housing, so a lot of the people here were disabled.
Many of which were also housed on the upper floors.
Floors that the fire brigade simply couldn’t reach. They only had equipment to get to the 11th floor. Surely the government must have known this.
Speaking to my parents about this just now (they work at the OU) makes me so sad. The OU model is based on free education. It was always about being able to access courses really easily and one of its greatest strengths was that you could just dip in and out of learning. It embodied education free at the point of use. It is not surviving in a rigid fee based system. Older part time students doing short courses (who were a big part of the student bodies) just don’t come anymore (it is easier to spend £400 for a course than £3,000 for a semester), younger students want a student “experience” so are going to other unis, the central government higher education budget’s been cut to ribbons. The staff are completely and utterly demoralised. It’s shit. Complete shit.
I got to talk to my dad (who’s a head of department at the uni) a bit more about what these cuts entail. They’re devastating. A cut of £100 million to the university budget, 25%of the staff gone and 10%-40% of the modules gone. These aren’t cuts, this is the death of the university. He reckons that most of these cuts are unnecessary (according to the accounts he’s seen there’s a shortfall of £30 million), but he and other heads of department are barely getting a look in as these are being devised in a very unaccountable manner by the VC and his inner circle.
These dudes are fucking legit. They don’t just show up one day in court, either, they actually make friends with the kids and let them know they have a support system and that there are people in the world who care about them and will always have their back. And less important, but also cool, is that the few times a couple of them have come into my cafe, they’ve been super friendly and polite and when I told one of the guys that I noticed his Bikers Against Child Abuse patch and wanted him to know how awesome I thought he was because of it, he got kind of shy and blushed and said, “The kids are the awesome ones, we just let them know they’re allowed to be brave.”
The source is long, but so, so good. These men and women are available in 36 states, 24 hours a day to stand guard at home, in court, at school, even if the child has a nightmare. Many of them are survivors of childhood abuse as well, and know what it’s like to feel scared and 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.”
Actual tears.. hnngh
Show me more of people like this, world. I give up on humans too easily.
where do i sign up for this,i want to be in this gang
This is fucking amazing. It may be out of character for me to say this but rock on
Bikers Against Child Abuse was founded in 1995 by a Native American child psychologist whose ride name is Chief, when he came across a young boy who had been subjected to extreme abuse and was too afraid to leave his house. He called the boy to reach out to him, but the only thing that seemed to interest the child was Chief’s bike. Soon, some 20 bikers went to the boy’s neighborhood and were able to draw him out of his house for the first time in weeks.
Chief’s thesis was that a child who has been abused by an adult can benefit psychologically from the presence of even more intimidating adults that they know are on their side. “When we tell a child they don’t have to be afraid, they believe us,” Arizona biker Pipes told azcentral.com. “When we tell them we will be there for them, they believe us.” ( Article)
My parents are a part of this organization and they are metal af
They go on runs to protect the child if they feel even the slightest threatened no matter where. If the child needs them to go on vacation with them, they do. Bikers come from across the nation to watch over and take shifts for these kids. And the best part is once you’re adopted into this family as a BACA kid, you’re always one. Even when you’re 40 and the perp gets released from jail, they’ll come meet with you and find your best options for avoiding the person and maintaining the life you’ve built for yourself. Once a BACA child, always a BACA child. In Florida, there’s 100% rate for identifying the perp based on the child’s testimony. Why? Because BACA stands with the child and supports the child so they feel comfortable enough to point out their attacker.
What’s better than a badass biker gang being on your side???
NATIVE AMERICAN CHILD PSYCHOLOGIST WHO IS A BIKER AND NAMED HIMSELF CHIEF HELL YES I’M HERE FOR THAT AND BIKERS BEING BAD ASS TO PROTECT KIDS. HELL YEAH.
it’s back! I will always reblog BACA
Damn good people.
I know they wouldn’t consider themselves such, but these people are freaking heroes and the world is a better place because of them.
the U.S. holocaust memorial museum has a kickstarter to raise $250K to preserve, catalog, translate, and publish the diaries of holocaust victims and survivors. without exaggeration, we are the last generation who will be able to actually talk face-to-face with survivors, so preserving these diaries is CRUCIAL. with anti-semitism and holocaust denial on the rise, firsthand accounts like these diaries are a powerful thing to have.
this is the FIRST TIME these diaries will be published online, and there are over 200 of them. more info is on the kickstarter page, including an estimated timeline of their progress and some examples of the stories they have in their possession.
if you’ve got a couple bucks to spare, please consider donating.
either way, please reblog and spread the word. i can’t stress enough – especially now – how vital this project is.
half the fun of cat ownership is the random scavenger hunts, like, where is my small friend sleeping today? are you in the laundry basket? are you under the bed? have you curled up behind the shelf or on top of a cupboard or crept into a shopping bag? have you discovered a secret portal to another dimension and gone to have adventures with a tiny mechanical dragon? where are you, cat??
This is Orestes, my incredibly special fur child. He is in desperate need of a surgery to widen his urinary tract because of a chronic illness called struvite crystals. Even with an incredibly strict prescription diet to control his condition, the struvite crystals have grown and blocked his urinary tract 4 times in his short life.
He is going into the animal hospital for the 3rd time this week for struvite crystals blocking his urinary tract. He is refusing to eat or drink anything and is very lethargic. If left untreated, he will die.
Orestes has already been hospitalized for several days over night, had a catheter put in, been put on IV, been put on many medications, and has a prescription diet… but he’s not improving. He’s declining quickly.
Please help my cat and my family. We have no money left to afford any more treatment or the surgery. We have maxed out our credit cards trying to save him and our savings are depleted. The vet bills are climbing high and Orestes’ health is failing fast.
If you have anything to spare, even $5, it would be beyond appreciated.Anything at all will help us. We are desperate to save him and need any help we can get.
Thank you so much for anything you can give. If you cannot give, please at least pass this message along, reblog it, share it, etc.
Orestes is more than just a pet. He is our child, companion, and my literal life saver. Orestes has helped me through many bad nights and helps me tremendously with my PTSD. I and we cannot cope with losing him.
Again, thank you for any and all help. It is extremely appreciated.
TL;DR: Please help us out if you can. We’ve exhausted all of our funds and everything we have to save our feline, Orestes. We’re desperate at this point. Anything at all, even $5, will help us tremendously and is extremely appreciated. If you can’t donate, please at least share this so that other people can see. Thank you so very much. ❤
Urocyon's Jaunts 2.0 
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