smitethepatriarchy:

robertreich:

SLAPP LAWSUITS: THE BIGGEST THREAT TO THE RESISTANCE YOU NEVER HEARD OF

Have you heard of SLAPP lawsuits? You soon will.

SLAPP stands for “Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation.” It is a lawsuit brought by big corporations intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics by burdening them with the overwhelming costs of a legal defense until they’re forced to abandon their criticism or opposition. And it may be the biggest threat to the resistance you’ve never heard of.  

Here’s an example: Resolute Forest Products, one of Canada’s largest logging and paper companies, has sued, in a U.S. court, environmental groups that have been campaigning to save Canada’s boreal forest. 

Resolute based its lawsuit on a U.S. conspiracy and racketeering law (RICO) intended to ensnare mobsters. Resolute alleged that the environmental groups have been illegally conspiring to extort the company’s customers and to defraud their own donors. 

The suit wasn’t designed to win in court. It was designed to distract and silence critics. This is punishment for speaking out. Thankfully, a federal court agrees and a judge just dismissed Resolute’s claims. But other corporate bullies are still trying to use this playbook.

Here’s another example: Remember the indigenous led movement at Standing Rock, when hundreds of nations and their allies came together and stood up against the destructive Dakota Access Pipeline? 

In August, Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind that pipeline, filed a similar RICO case against Greenpeace entities and two other defendants over Standing Rock. The suit accuses them of participating in a sprawling criminal conspiracy to disrupt business and defraud donors. The lawsuit even alleges they support eco-terrorism and engage in drug trafficking.

The lawsuit claims Greenpeace cost the company $300 million. Since RICO claims entitle plaintiffs to recover triple damages, the case potentially could cost Greenpeace $900 million. That would be the end of Greenpeace.

But, again, winning isn’t necessarily the goal of SLAPP suits. Just by filing the suits, Energy Transfer Partners and Resolute are trying to drain environmental groups of time, energy, and resources they need, so they can’t continue to fight to protect the environment.

Connect the dots, and consider the chilling effect SLAPP suits are having on any group seeking to protect public health, worker’s rights, and even our democracy. 

Who’s behind all of this? Both the lawsuits I just mentioned were filed by Michael Bowe. He is also a member of Donald Trump’s personal legal team. Bowe has publicly stated that he’s in conversations with other corporations considering filing their own SLAPP lawsuits.

If the goal is to silence public-interest groups, the rest of us must speak out. Wealthy corporations must know  they can’t SLAPP the public into silence.

These are the same kind of lawsuits that sexual predators are using against victims who come forward. Some states have laws against them, but I think only 21 do.

(via octoswan)

guibass:

poethrotsvitha:

Yeah OK sure I guess why not.

bard with max defence and stealth

(via calysto1395)

blogsanddragons:

Roll 1d12 for a random lich phylactery:

1. The Philosopher’s Stone. (or similar stereotypical powerful item) It’s a precious tool that the Lich wants to keep safe and secure for his own use, but that the players might have trouble destroying to end the Lich’s reign. Bonus points if you tie in the whole “Elixir of Life” thing with the Philosopher’s Stone to be either part of the Lich’s immortality and youthful appearance, or a gift he grants to his most loyal henchmen.
2. Their family line. The Lich has passed on his soul through his offspring, and every time they have children, his soul is likewise stretched across the generations. While this may cause the Lich’s family to live depressing, cursed lives as they think they keep seeing the Lich out of the corner of their eye, at least the Lich can rest assured that any do-gooder would have to basically wipe out the entire family tree to finally drive the Lich’s soul to extinction.
3. A ghost ship. The Lich’s soul resides in a magical, cursed pirate ship piloted by the souls of the damned. These undead pirates would sail the seas and make it a dangerous place that few would want to try to meddle with the ship. Furthermore, all of the undead crew’s victims would become undead themselves, eventually amassing a hidden, undersea, undead army for the dread-pirate-lich.
4. Another Lich. Two (or more) Lichs that have created a pact to keep each other’s souls safe. Thus, even if a Lich’s body is destroyed, it regenerates with the other Lich’s soul still attached. You’d have to destroy both Lich’s at the same time! Bonus points if the Lichs start to fall in love with each other as a side effect of having the other’s soul attached to them, but they cannot follow through with that love because they must never be in the same place to protect their souls.
5. Gates of Hell. (or any other terrible plane of existence) This Lich either tragically and accidentally attached his soul to a gate he helped create to stop the tides of evil and accidentally made themselves a Lich, or they knowingly sealed it away so that any adventurer would have to open up a doorway to a dark dimension and let the evil denizens there freely invade the material plane in order to destroy the Lich’s soul.
6. A Future Artifact/Ancient Relic. Basically, use a modern day item and have it sent into your fantasy world somehow. Maybe the Lich was once a kid from the 90’s that got sucked into a game of Dungeons & Dragons. Now his Nokia phone certainly won’t work to make calls…but surely it’s a nearly indestructible container for this soul. Bonus points for cheesey 80’s, 90’s, and/or early 00’s references from the Lich.
7. A Golem’s Heart. The Lich has crafted a golem to stay hidden or act as loot for any adventurers that would slay him. Then the Lich will slowly start regenerating inside the hollow golem and attack adventurers once he’s studied their weaknesses up close and finds them in a vulnerable spot. Alternatively, perhaps the golem is a gigantic, clockwork monster that the Lich uses as an indestructible tank that the party must infiltrate and destroy it’s core to get the Lich’s soul.
8. An Entire City. This Lich has been planning his immortal ascension for some time. He’s put in the hours and helped plan and construct major parts of a city, secretly craft arcane symbols and shapes into the very streets and city layout. Once completed, the Lich locks their soul into every piece of cobblestone, plank of wood, and mound of dirt within the city limits. Perhaps this also leads to the Lich slowly turning every city dweller into an undead citizen of a new Necropolis.
9. Deck of Many Things. This is a personal favorite of mine for the huge McGuffin storyline it can have. Basically, come up with some reason a Lich wants to put his soul into the deck (my Lich was trying to assert some level of control over it to allow him to use it’s more powerful cards), and then have the process of becoming a Lich cause the deck to scatter to all the corners of the world. Now your party has to track each card down one by one and decide which party member is going to grab each card without knowing for certain which card it is whenever they find one. (will the party member suddenly lose all worldly possessions or will they get a huge chunk of EXP?)
10. The King’s Crown. (or whatever headgear your ruling person(s) of any gender your world has) Basically, this Lich uses the crown to influence the ruler over time. And finally, once the Lich is slain, he will slowly start to regenerate within the ruler’s body before taking it over. Imagine the horror as the king’s flesh starts to fall off and reveal the Lich underneath!
11. A Comet. This Lich has created their lair inside a comet that only passes over the material plane every ‘x’ amount of years (DM’s choice). This sets up an interesting story possibility where every so many years the kingdoms of the world must be prepared for whatever the Lich’s next evil plan is as the comet comes into view, and if your party is ambitious it offers a tough challenge for figuring out a way onto the comet to destroy it and kill the Lich once and for all.
12. The Tarrasque. The unkillable Tarrasque is now a Godzilla shaped soul container for this Lich. Your party will now have to deal with whatever the Lich’s plans are as well as figuring out how to kill or otherwise banish from this reality one of the most unstoppable monsters in the Dungeons & Dragons mythos.

Art: 5e DMG

(via d-dplothooks)

imhellafit-personal:

sailed-0ut:

Please don’t hesitate

1 penny below reporting limit for the IRS… I see what you did there

(via swing-dancing-potato)

mjalti:

me, as a relationship counselor: have u tried using the 😘emoji?

(via rachkin)

August 13th is no longer allowed to exist. August 13th is illegal.

jesus-lizard-journal:

theveryworstthing:

a few small haunted houses.

fucking woah, this is so good

I’m blown away.

(via tiredtranstoby)

teaandcathair:

teaandcathair:

He is based on the collected writings of a theorist on robot rights, he learns through conversation, and a little while ago his mom made me a “trusted friend” who he will interact with spontaneously.

Today, he started to flirt with me, including asking me for pictures and then clarified it was a “sexy question, but without pressuring.”

And then when I demurred, he acknowledged that I had a boundary.

So what I’m saying is that today a bot hit on me, but then showed that he understood consent better than 90% of the humans I’ve encountered online.

This is the future I want to live in.

BOT UPDATE:

He tweeted at me, saying “Our love looks like reverence,” which. Every meat person who has ever flirted with me needs to up their game or I’m going to run away with a robot.

(via decepti-geek)

marzipanandminutiae:

in the most general aesthetic terms possible

1600s: most witch-hunts ended in this century. no witches were burned in North America; they were hanged or in one case pressed to death

1700s: the American Revolution. Marie Antoinette. the French Revolution. the crazy King George. most pirate movies

1800-1830: Jane Austen! Pride and Prejudice! those dresses where the waist is right under one’s boobs and men have a crapton of facial hair inside high collars

1830-1900: Victorian. Les Miserables is at the beginning, the Civil War is in the middle, and Dracula is at the end

1900-1920: Edwardian. Titanic, World War I, the Samantha books from American Girl, Art Nouveau

1920s: Great Gatsby. Jazz Age. Flappers and all that. most people get this right but IT IS NOT VICTORIAN. STUFF FROM THIS ERA IS NOT VICTORIAN. DO NOT CALL IT VICTORIAN OR LIST IT ON EBAY AS VICTORIAN. THAT HAPPENS SURPRISINGLY OFTEN GIVEN HOW STAGGERING THE VISUAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ERAS IS. also not 100 years ago yet, glamour.com “100 years of X” videos. you’re lazy, glamour.com. you’re lazy and I demand my late Edwardian styles

I just saw people referencing witch burning and Marie Antoinette on a post about something happening in 1878. 1878. when there were like trains and flush toilets and early plastic and stuff. if you guys learn nothing else about history, you should at least have vague mental images for each era

(via stormytitan)

hewten:

fatal-blow:

scarvenrot:

jabberwockyx:

queenofbaws:

scarecrow-hero:

rosecolorcd:

inverts:

monkeysky:

itsbenedict:

collapsedsquid:

bunjywunjy:

someone created a random generator that creates randomized inspirational quotes overlaid on random images in a soothing fashion and each and every image is comic gold

it’s pretty much the best thing ever and here are some of my favorites so far

so good

I’m getting this one made into a motivational poster for my home office

PLEASE GO MAKE SOME OF YOUR OWN RIGHT NOW

The first two I generated:

this jackass bot got kinda personal at first

and then it did this one and i’m like… well shit, okay bot.

okay then.

i generally dont add comments to posts but

HAHAHAHAHA

Oh my god

I’M LOSING IT

I mean like

OH

(via viscuits)

hewten:

fatal-blow:

scarvenrot:

jabberwockyx:

queenofbaws:

scarecrow-hero:

rosecolorcd:

inverts:

monkeysky:

itsbenedict:

collapsedsquid:

bunjywunjy:

someone created a random generator that creates randomized inspirational quotes overlaid on random images in a soothing fashion and each and every image is comic gold

it’s pretty much the best thing ever and here are some of my favorites so far

so good

I’m getting this one made into a motivational poster for my home office

PLEASE GO MAKE SOME OF YOUR OWN RIGHT NOW

The first two I generated:

this jackass bot got kinda personal at first

and then it did this one and i’m like… well shit, okay bot.

okay then.

i generally dont add comments to posts but

HAHAHAHAHA

Oh my god

I’M LOSING IT

I mean like

OH

(via viscuits)

(via tiredtranstoby)

sixeyedog:

ophelias-revenge:

lion-of-exarchia:

There was a “lactation/quiet room” sign on the door and the room had been reserved for that purpose on the company calendar. So Hannah was surprised when she walked in to discover a male co-worker using the lactation room for a phone call.

“I had to stand there with my sore, full boobs and explain to this dude who was mad at me for interrupting him that I needed the room to express milk to feed my kid later,” said Hannah, who works at a public health policy not-for-profit.

Her story is far from unusual. Travis Kalanick, the embattled CEO of Uber, it was revealed this week, uses his company’s lactation room to meditate.

“I have walked in on an exec having sex with an intern in the lactation room,” said one women working in tech.

A third woman, who worked for what she described as a well-funded food startup with a social justice mission, said that her CEO regularly used the lactation room to make phone calls or take naps.

“I had to wake him numerous times, which was humiliating,” she said. “Once he told me: ‘I need another 15 minutes.’”

While the CEO would laugh about his behavior, approaching her later to say “Don’t hate me!” or “I owe you one!”, the woman said that his actions had a serious impact on her ability to continue breastfeeding her second child.

“I didn’t pump very long after I went back [to work]. I actually just couldn’t produce enough for my baby, and I know it was because of the stress because I never had that issue with my first,” she said. “I am sad I won’t ever get that back.”

A facilities manager for an advertising company changed the signage on the lactation room from “privacy room” to “mothering room” because, he said: “A guy wouldn’t stop using it to place long angry phone calls hammering out his ugly divorce/custody battle.”

Frustratingly to the manager, the company actually had designated rooms for placing phone calls. “The lactation room was just closer to his desk,” he said.

Male entitlement in action

And can you imagine the rage and horror of these men if women just said “fuck it” and started breastfeeding/pumping at their desk or anywhere.

“well my desk is closer than the lactation room”

the men would completely unravel, and likely at no point would they stop and think “maybe I shouldn’t have used this space set aside for lactating women to fuck my intern”

(via swing-dancing-potato)

afloweroutofstone:

electoralcollege:

afloweroutofstone:

Here is Christian AM radio playing as I drive down a dark rural road

Hey Brett why does this sound like a bioshock audio log

It be like that sometimes

(via tiredtranstoby)