jumpingjacktrash:

theothin:

astrond:

rileymcdaniels:

• minimum wages have been raised by ballot measures in more than one state
• ex-felons have regained the right to vote
• queer people are being elected
• women are being elected
• POC are being elected
• gun control measures are being passed
• the republicans cannot pass a single law without democratic support now
• do not look at me and tell me that these do not fucking matter because they do

A good night last night, overall.

My takeaway is that the arrow of history just took a turn toward a brighter future.

Now, the voices of reason and the powers of liberal democracy must redouble our efforts, reestablish the fundamental checks and balances within our governance framework, and continue to move that arrow to the left.

And our new operative word for 2019?  “Emoluments”

on that note:

Judge shuts down Trump’s request to drop Emoluments lawsuit by citing his own tweets

oh, that’s satisfying.

moon-tide:

medaea:

medaea:

medaea:

weird and horrible how as soon as a girl turns 18 she loses any protection from being taken advantage of… 17 and a half is a child but just turned 18 is fair game for male sexual predators

the fact that men think an 18 year old girl has all the wisdom and capabilities of an adult woman is bad, but it’s particularly barf-worthy to realize that they don’t actually think 18 is the line between a girl and a woman. it’s only the law that says that. men think a girl is ready to become a woman and do things women do as soon as she “looks” like a woman or begins to imitate women. male sexuality is inherently wack and we are failing girls by exposing them to it.

can you guys please rb this version instead

OP is specifically addressing the issue of men who are genuinely batshit insane and think that literal children are/can be women, but I hope people realize that most predatory men don’t actually believe that. Older men who routinely pursue 18-19 year olds know exactly how young and vulnerable they are. They prey on them for precisely that reason.

These men may claim to see them as women, but the truth is that many of these men do see these girls as children—legally fuckable children that they can groom into perfectly-tailored sex dolls and/or wives. It’s not an accident or cultural miseducation or toxic masculinity or whatever bullshit excuse they come up with to make it seem unintentional and redirect blame. Predatory men know exactly what they’re doing.

literallyaflame:

janglingargot:

biggest-gaudiest-patronuses:

vorbits:

vorbits:

biggest-gaudiest-patronuses:

*someone posts selfie* wow they’re kinda attracti—

*remembers teenagers are on this site*

*checks op’s bio, they’re a minor*

what a sweet kid…a cute bean… you deserve only good things…be happy and safe little muffin… I wonder if I could pull off that eyeliner…

hey gaudy? you’re a cool adult.

#and this is why the ‘but they looked 18/21’ excuse is such utter bullcrap#you check#you ALWAYS check#and you NEVER get to use a young person’s appearance to justify your own inappropriate behavior

reblogging again for the tags because this holds so much value to me as a minor and i think it’s really important that y’all understand this.

#adults have a responsiblity to keep kids safe  #no matter how old they are

When I was sixteen, my family visited Hawaii, and I had a cute new swimsuit. I was a pretty busty teen, with the vocabulary of an AP English student, and while I was out swimming, a couple of college guys started flirting with me. Nothing gross, just pleasantly casual hey-you-look-great-how-are-you-enjoying-the-beach stuff.

After a minute or two of this, one of them asked if I was there with friends, and I said no, I was with my family. “Wow, you still travel with your family?” one exclaimed. “That’s cool…”

“Well, I am sixteen,” sez me.

Reader, they blanched. They flustered, they apologized, they assured me that they’d thought I was also in college, they wished me a good vacation and they bounced. All within about a minute of realizing they’d been chatting up a minor.

I was mildly mortified at the time, but now? I look back and think, Ah, what good men. What good young men.

Fun fact, this happened to me when I was, I shit you not, twelve years old. I had a comically deep voice for my age and gender, and I was well-spoken, so I regularly got mistaken for an older girl in spite of my babyish face.

Long story short, one fateful day, a university student started talking to me (somewhat flirtatiously) at a Harry Potter meet-up and when he asked what university I was going to to I had to explain that I was, in fact, in the sixth grade. Both of our souls left our bodies. He was great about it though, he asked me about my classes and if I was ready for high school and shit, and I got to ask him about college which was cool cause I didn’t get to interact with many college students!

It’s not a crime to misjudge a person’s age, it happens all the time. It IS a crime to willfully ignore someone’s age and sexually harass them!

themightyglamazon:

brunhiddensmusings:

themerrywolf:

brunhiddensmusings:

myanacondadontexist:

kaleighbytheway:

tilthat:

TIL a 30-year-old elephant named Ben sought help at a safari lodge after being shot by poachers. The elephant waited patiently near the lodge for the 6 hours it took for a vet to fly in and dress his 3 bullet wounds.

via ift.tt

The fact he’s named kinda brushes over the fact this is a wild elephant. Born in the wild, raised in the wild, the only human interaction is watching the safaris. And after mean humans shot him, he decided the best course of action was to go visit the nice humans who just take pictures in hopes they’d help him. And then, even though they didn’t help him right away, he trusted that because they continued to be nice, he was safe, and they would help him.

also the people saw an elephant and were like “that’s a ben”

i hope he tells the other elephants where they can get help

@brunhiddensmusings

Actually, they do!

https://www.thedodo.com/elephants-travel-humans-help-1353631970.html

Orphans who were rescued, raised, and released by the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya have communicated that it is a place of safety to other elephants who’ve never even been there.

Injured animals will show up there when they have been harmed by poachers because they know it is a place where they can get help!

i am very glad elephants have a functioning yelp system

Heads up I love elephants

venomanti:

venomanti:

venomanti:

@the people who are angry that Freddie Mercury dies at the end of Bohemian Rhapsody, good. you should be angry. this is your history. this is what people like us went through, not that long ago. use that anger to fight harder.

and don’t blame the people who made the movie, because this is the truth. he lived, and he was brilliant and good, and he died because the government was cruel and didn’t care about people like him. I’m sorry. you can’t change the past, and it would be disrespectful to the memory of him to try. yes, it’s fucked up.

don’t let it happen again.

I’m not going to tag this with #spoilers because it’s not a fucking spoiler. it’s a real person, who lived and died, and it’s really fucking fucked up that you want to erase the life of a real goddamn person so that you can have a happy ending.

colt-kun:

mllemusketeer:

elodieunderglass:

anamatics:

thevelvetdevil:

smallercomfort:

luchia13:

hey guys psa regarding hospital bills

don’t just pay it. do not automatically pay the hospital bill when you receive it. call your health insurance provider and POLITELY say, “excuse me, i just received a bill for $1200 for my hospital visit/ER visit/etc., is that the correct amount i’m supposed to pay?” because hospitals bill you before your health insurance and they will take your money no matter how the amount due may change based on your health insurance looking at it. 90% of the time, if your health insurance is in any way involved in the payment of that bill, you do not have to pay as much as the hospital is billing you for. call your health insurance provider first, and POLITELY request clarification, always remember that the person you are talking to is human and this is just their job, and then you will very likely find out you actually only owe $500.

don’t shout at anyone about it, don’t get mad, just understand that this is The Way Things Are right now and call your health insurance provider before paying the bill your hospital just sent you. there’s a chance the hospital bill might be correct, true, but call your health insurance provider.

THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT. after my car accident last year the hospital billed me ~$8000. They sent me letters asking me to pay, and I called them back saying my insurance was processing the claim. This is also what I told the collection agency when they kept calling me about the $1000 emergency room fee (billed separately from the hospital fee, mind you). Once everything got straightened out, all I was actually liable for was my $200 emergency copay.

!!!!!!! things my ass didn’t know !!!!!!!!

Yes this is a life lesson my adulting ass didn’t know I needed and I’m out 80 bucks for an anti-nausea pill. 😒😒😒😒😒

Reblogging for American friends.

Also, it is important [for people receiving medical care in the USA] to carefully read all of the items on the medical bill and look for errors and overcharges. I know that the normal feelings of avoidance and dread can make it hard to look at scary hospital bills, and that’s okay! But as the OP mentions, private orgs like hospitals don’t monitor overpayment of bills – they are motivated to charge you extra – and it is basically impossible to get your money back. Read the bill carefully and make sure that the charges are correct, using the links below for help if you need. If they haven’t sent you an itemized list, you can ask for one. Sometimes you will be charged extra for items or treatment you didn’t receive. Most people don’t know that you can dispute medical bills! But in 2009, Consumer Reports stated that 8 out of 10 medical bills scrutinized by a watchdog had errors, and generally you are not obligated to pay for someone else’s error.

You may be charged for using medication that you actually brought into the hospital with you – that’s easy to dispute! You may be charged for the consumables used during your stay such as sheets, gloves, gowns, etc – the hospital should actually cover that under its running budget. You may be charged for a brand name drug if the generic was available for cheaper – the links below explain how and when you can dispute this. You may be charged a surprisingly expensive “oral administration fee” (where a nurse puts pills for you to take in a little clean paper cup and then hands it to you) but that’s worth disputing if you were actually able to take the pill out of a bottle and put it in your own mouth. And so on.

8 Things You Should Know About Challenging a Medical Bill (FORBES) (includes links to sites that help you calculate how much a procedure/treatment usually costs in your area, if the costs seem super high)

7 Tips for Fighting and Paying A Huge Medical Bill (FORBES) This explains briefly how to negotiate costs, and payment plans.

10 Common Medical Billing Overcharges You Can Prevent (Bill Advocates) A breakdown of errors and overcharges to double check.

Check medical bills for errors: Overcharges are fairly common, and correcting them can save you thousands of dollars (Consumer Reports) More of the same with links to some groups.

This goes for ANY medical bill. If there’s a serious issue, make your insurance call the provider woth you on the phone. This made $600 on physical therapy bills just… go away for me. Didn’t pay a cent.

@rainehavoc

thoughtslostandfound:

All food service workers should 100% be entitled to free ass meals on the job. Not discounted, not half off. Free.

tyleroakleyisthebae:

kanthara:

ask-blood-soaked-pancakes:

caitlincst:

kingforhermione:

rox1108:

007-reporting:

angelsontheearth:

17851

That’s disgusting.

Well done society.

Well done.

20,299.

148,628

170,488

I swear if this gets any more notes then I fear for the next generation.

389,556

Dear God

448, 916

I’m surprised this rapidly increasing number is news to anyone. 

half a million. such a stupid little world.