Detroit is the largest and most populous city in the state of Michigan, with 4.3 million residents in its metropolitan area. It is best known as the center of the U.S. automobile industry, housing the headquarters of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. Detroit is also a major port on the Detroit River, which is shown flowing through the city in this Overview — does anyone know why the river has two shades?
Four years after a young Montreal woman was sent home from work for having braids in her hair, the Quebec Human Rights Commission has ruled she was a victim of racial and gender discrimination.
The owner of Madisons New York Bar and Grill in downtown Montreal has been ordered to pay the 23-year-old $14,500 in damages.
“She took me aside personally and told me she didn’t want that kind of hairstyle in her establishment,” Lettia McNickle said, while fighting back tears.
McNickle recalls the distress she felt the day she was sent home by her boss in November 2014 and hopes the commission’s ruling will serve as a lesson to other employers.
“Now they [Madisons] know and other restaurants and companies know that they can’t get away with this,” she said.
McNickle’s mother, who worked as a hairdresser for two decades, claims it’s a victory for all black women.
“I just want to encourage other black women out there to be proud of who you are, from your afro hair to your curly hair, whether you want to straighten it out, it doesn’t define you,” Huelette McNickle said.
Black women are forced to assimilate to eurocentric hairstyles because our hair is punished for its natural state.
“It’s just hair”
“Why don’t you just wear your natural hair?”
Good. Now if we could get the US to agree, but it’s not discrimination because they can “just straighten it.” Sigh.
This reminds me of that Jurassic Park quote, about being so preoccupied with whether or not you could do something they didn’t stop to think if they should.
So what if they can straighten hair or shave a beard? So what if that tattoo or piercing was their choice? And don’t get me started on unnatural hair colors. Is it really any of your business?
Or to put it another way. If you are forcing a black woman to relax her hair to keep her job, the typical cost of that is $50 to $70. Every other month. With every single time risking physical injury.
Even if you ignore the risk, you are effectively paying that woman $25-35 a month less than her white coworker in the same job with the same pay.
let me tell you something that is fucked up about grief.
you get a couple years out and everything starts to feel kind of normal again, and you go back to being a person with thoughts and feelings that are about something other than your dead loved one
you still think about them. probably every day. but as time goes on you learn to bear it, to carry that sadness with you throughout your day, to hold it and know it but not let it consume you, and you think, “this is progress” and “i am getting better”
and then one day, nearly three years after, something catches your eye. and it’s just a person wearing a shirt they used to wear, or a news article that they’d think was funny, or a tv show that they would have liked. and suddenly the wind gets knocked out of you and you’re bent double, unable to breathe, tears spilling on your kitchen floor because it’s been three years and it somehow doesn’t hurt any less than it did the day they died
except now you’ve been carrying it for three years, and functioning fine, and knowing that you can function without this person that meant so much to you is a hurt all its own, it turns out. shouldn’t you still be lost and afraid? shouldn’t you still be hating every second of your miserable fucking life? shouldn’t you still be driving to the cemetery at two in the morning to cry and beg for a sign that they’re listening? you barely slept that first year. now you sleep just fine. did you even really love them, if you’re okay now?
and then the next morning you wake up and you go to work like you always do, and the weight you carry is a little heavier that day, but you’re so used to carrying it you barely notice. what difference does it make?
Yes. The getting used to it part. But then you don’t, really.
So the Spoon Theory is a fundamental metaphor used often in the chronic pain/chronic illness communities to explain to non-spoonies why life is harder for them. It’s super useful and we use that all the time.
But it has a corollary.
You know the phrase, “Stick a fork in me, I’m done,” right?
Well, Fork Theory is that one has a Fork Limit, that is, you can probably cope okay with one fork stuck in you, maybe two or three, but at some point you will lose your shit if one more fork happens.
A fork could range from being hungry or having to pee to getting a new bill or a new diagnosis of illness. There are lots of different sizes of forks, and volume vs. quantity means that the fork limit is not absolute. I might be able to deal with 20 tiny little escargot fork annoyances, such as a hangnail or slightly suboptimal pants, but not even one “you poked my trigger on purpose because you think it’s fun to see me melt down” pitchfork.
This is super relevant for neurodivergent folk. Like, you might be able to deal with your feet being cold or a tag, but not both. Hubby describes the situation as “It may seem weird that I just get up and leave the conversation to go to the bathroom, but you just dumped a new financial burden on me and I already had to pee, and going to the bathroom is the fork I can get rid of the fastest.”
In class we were talking about how cats teach themselves to hunt around their collar bells, and this dude followed that up with “well you know how Santa has those reindeer covered in those bells, right?”
and what he going for was “the bells on cat collars are the same that reindeer are pictured wearing”
But what *I* heard was “Santa’s Reindeer are predator animals that are covered in bells for our protection” and let me tell you I did not appreciate that.
I need Ameritumblr to understand that we’re all freaking out about some Cabinet resignations because the British system has a thing with no confidence votes having a direct and immediate effect and, well, in summary, we may literally not have a government this time tomorrow. no prime minister, no line of succession, nothing.
it wouldn’t be healthy to care about it as much as we do but a little freaking out in solidarity would be comforting. we do the same for you.
so in fact what I’ve learned from this is that in America, “the government” means “the whole civil service”, and in Britain, “the Government” means “the Government”.
Good news! The Government has been found in contempt of Parliament! That should clear up any remaining confusion!
HE MOVED THE MACE
THEY RECEIVED 48 LETTERS
The Government has reached its Post Limit of drama for the day
It sounds like “government” gets used about the same as “[current] administration” does in the U.S.?
In any case best of luck.
yes, “government” is the specific coalition currently agreed to be in charge. this sounds really weird if you’re used to “government” to refer to “the institution as a whole”.
If I understand correctly (and I might not), in practical terms, a Brit saying “there is no Government” is roughly analogous to an American saying “There is no President [but his ceremonial roles are still performed by the same unelected figurehead that they always are], Vice President, Cabinet, or Speaker of the House, and all of these positions can be filled when — and only when — the House manages to elect a new Speaker.” With the House electing a new Speaker being potentially made more complicated by the fact that there are more than two parties with non-trivial representation.
Yes? (Or is there something I’m missing?)
If the above is roughly correct, then what the Brits call “no government” is more like the Federal Government (specifically; lower-level governments being unaffected) being on autopilot than it is like the government not existing at all.
If it goes through (as a VONC on the Government as a whole) it triggers the Dissolution of Parliament, which happens every time there is a General Election and means that for 25 days, there is no Parliament – all the MPs get fired, basically.
Ministers (although possibly not the PM? gov.uk is unclear on this) actually stay in their jobs (otherwise we’d also have no equivalent to Secretary of State etc), but there are some formal and informal limits on what they can do – no big changes or anything. So there is still a line of succession.
All the civil servants also stick around and keep things running. The result of the VONC would not, as far as I can tell, be any different from what happens every time there’s an election.
hi! i’m multiply disabled and my total income is roughly half minimum wage – difficult to survive on at the best of times, but almost impossible when medical expenses start to mount. my monthly premiums have gone way up, my monthly prescription costs have spiked dramatically, and i have also been sick literally nonstop for over two months on top of my usual chronic illnesses and disabilities.
i am struggling with basic necessities like food and medicine. there are also some small children whose christmas is entirely dependent on what i am able to provide them, which currently isn’t much.
if you would like to help me, i have a paypal and a necessities wishlist
if you would like to make a poor family’s christmas a bit merrier, i also have this christmas wishlist that’s mostly kid gifts
please don’t feel pressured to help, i’m just throwing this out there in case anyone with the resources feels like lending a hand.
♥
hey i REALLY appreciate the help i have received so far!! thank you!!
i still need to pick up my most expensive medication on friday and i could still really use some help if anyone feels like/is in a position to offer it!
Urocyon's Jaunts 2.0 
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