MockingbirdQ

ASAN Calls for Federal Hate Crime Prosecution for the Murder of Alex Spourdalakis

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:59:22 -0500

ASAN Calls for Federal Hate Crime Prosecution for the Murder of Alex Spourdalakis:

Last week, Alex Spourdalakis, a 14-year Autistic boy living in River Grove, Illinois, was murdered by his mother and godmother. After failing to kill him with sleeping pills, they stabbed him in the chest repeatedly before slitting his wrists. This murder was premeditated and motivated entirely by Alex’s disability.

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network condemns unequivocally and without qualification the murder of Alex Spourdalakis and calls on the United States Department of Justice to prosecute his murder under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. The law allows the federal government to prosecute as a hate crime acts of violence when “the crime was committed because of the actual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of any person.” Alex’s murder clearly fits within the intent and purpose of that law.

Many in the media have attempted to excuse Alex’s murder or sympathize with his killers, citing the challenges of his disability and the need to improve the quality and availability of service-provision. Such justifications are not unusual in the aftermath of such atrocities and they remain as inappropriate as ever. Alex Spourdalakis’ murder is the latest in a long strand of similar killings by family members and caregivers. His death is not about services, nor is it about the difficulties associated with his disability. Prior to murdering him, Alex’s mother was offered and refused services from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. In truth, Alex’s murder is about a reprehensible and repulsive ideology all too common within our society that preaches that it is better to be dead than disabled. As long as our society treats the lives of disabled people as worth less than those of the general population, more disabled children and adults will be subject to acts of violence and murder. As a result, we call for the prosecution of Alex’s killers to the fullest extent of the law.

evilguineapiginator: darbesaurus: tittymonsta: cfgirlflying: ...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:56:38 -0500

evilguineapiginator:

darbesaurus:

tittymonsta:

cfgirlflying:

schoolofcharmmentality:

missmeoh:

kestrelsansjesses:

mariaacristina:

Some ignorant asshole left this note on my sisters car today!! My sister was parked in a handicap spot WITH her handicap sticker on the mirror and some jerk has the nerve to write this note to her! My sister has Cystic Fibrosis, a condition which attacks the lungs. She is very sick but you cannot tell just by looking at her. She cannot breathe when walking in this heat! So screw you ignorant jerk!!! I hate you!! Please share this with whoever you can! Thank you!

Fuck people who do this. I’ve been harassed in person before for using my handicap placard, and the woman made me cry. No apologies. She just drove away.

THIS INFURIATES ME.

I FUCKING HATE PEOPLE SOMETIMES.

Makes me so mad.

I’m about to kill someone

One time my uncle parked in a handicapped spot and started to get out of the car, and some lady came up and started yelling at him. She said a bunch of rude stuff about him not being handicapped, so he pulled up his pant leg and took off his prosthetic leg without a word.

Do they expect people to fall out of the car and crawl along the floor or something? Not every disability is visible!

My mother had polio as an infant, leading to a twisted spine and deformed leg. She could walk with only a cane until recently, but with difficulty and only short distances. She physically needed that handicapped space she had a handicapped license for, just to get from that nearby parking space to the store’s electric cart so she could shop.

But apparently many people are too ignorant and lazy to notice the license plates with the handicap marker on them, because I remember many times growing up returning to our car to find similar notes stuck under the windshield.

The fact that ANYONE thinks they have a right to police who is disabled enough or in the “correct” way to use handicap spaces in parking lots is beyond annoying :(

Writing a story by hand:

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:42:11 -0500

for-the-love-of-the-words:

Expectation:

Reality:

"If we can’t write diversity into sci-fi, then what’s the point? You don’t create new worlds to give..."

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:11:56 -0500

““If we can’t write diversity into sci-fi, then what’s the point? You don’t create new worlds to give them all the same limits of the old ones.””

- Jane Espenson (from interview with Advocate.com)\

I dunno how many which ways this needs to be said

(via aragingquiet)

Shoutout

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:17:33 -0500

So I’m teaching a writing class, and these teens are working at a much higher writing level than I am used to teaching and I’m having trouble keeping them interested and challenged.

The last thing I want to do is use the same boring test-prep materials that they have already had to do too much of last year.

I know I’m lucky enough to have writers of all types and specializations as followers, so I’m begging for ideas. What are some websites, youtube videos, documents, or assignments that have been particularly useful or inspiring for your own writing?

Why is it that...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:07:27 -0500

there is always that one kid every year who pushes every boundary you set and gets the whole class’ attention without ever actually breaking any rules you can call them on.

And they generally are clever and get all their work done fast so they have lots of time to be a pain in the teacher’s butt.

But despite it all you can’t help liking them :P

thepoliticalfreakshow: Georgia Hero Who Became Paralyzed After...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:51:58 -0500

thepoliticalfreakshow:

Georgia Hero Who Became Paralyzed After Saving 4-Year-Old Girl Is Unable To Pay For His Medical Bills

A man being hailed as a hero for saving a 4-year-old girl from drowning in a Georgia creek remains in the Redmond Regional Medical Center’s Intensive Care Unit after becoming paralyzed from the waist down during the rescue.

Michael Patterson was at Euharlee Creek near Rockmart last Saturday with his 9-year-old son Cole when the two heard Carlisa Jones cry out that her daughter Jevaeh had been pulled underneath the water.

Patterson selflessly dove straight down off the dam without a moment’s thought.

Unfortunately, “he dove too deep,” his mother Vickie Jones said, and hit his head hard on the creek’s rocky bottom breaking his neck in three places and severing his spine.

Amazingly, Patterson still managed to save the little girl’s life.

“They don’t know how (he saved her),” Jones said. “The little girl was at the bottom, but they saw something push her up. They got the little girl and they didn’t realize what happened to Michael.”

The 43-year-old was found minutes later floating down the creek, with his face in the water.

“He did drown,” his mother told The Cedartown Standard. She said he is currently in a medically induced coma and has been on and off life support.

Patterson, who just two weeks ago pulled a man out of a burning gasoline tanker, is being called a “real hero” by his doctors.

But there is not much else they can do for him, and Jones says her son doesn’t have the health insurance necessary to get better treatment.

A carpenter by trade, Patterson had just recently landed a contractor gig, but the job did not provide insurance.

“He’s been employed for many years, but when the market fell and everything, he got in the unemployment line because many companies had to cut back,” his mother said. “He worked on his own here and there. He’s a wonderful, hard worker.”

Jones, who is also taking care of a husband with Stage IV cancer, says she wants to have Patterson transferred to a private nonprofit spinal cord rehabilitation hospital, and hopes to be able to raise the necessary funds with the Internet’s help.

“If anything can be done, they will do it,” Jones said of the doctors at the Shepherd Center.

Patterson’s family and friends have started a donation fund in his name, as well as a Facebook page with regular updates on his condition.

Expand

[photos via Facebook, screengrab via WSBTV]

Worn out.

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:04:35 -0500

Tired and stressed and I’ve got a crapload of papers to grade tonight.

Wanna hear the fun part? I was teaching reading but more students signed up to take freshman writing, so I was switched to that this morning. With no prep or materials. Joy.

And it was decided I will specifically be teaching students “literary writing” i.e. to write short stories of various types.

Given how badly I edit my own fanfiction, the irony is killing me :P

The 'yes or no' game.

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 21:38:36 -0500

You can ask me anything and I’ll answer honestly, but only with yes and no.

reuters: Thousands of Brazilians have protested in several...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 21:26:37 -0500

reuters:

Thousands of Brazilians have protested in several cities over the past ten days, and organizers are planning for another march in Sao Paulo on Monday night.

Rising prices for public transportation was the original cause of the the protests, organized by Movimento Passe Livre. Since then, Brazilians have joined protests for various other reasons, including rising crime, income inequality, and corruption.

The protests are quickly becoming a sign of a weakening public confidence for Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The protest’s nickname “Salad Uprising” was coined in response to the arrests of those who carried vinegar with them as an aide against police tear gas.

Tumblr blog Salad Uprising is reporting to collect stories and pictures from demonstrations across Brazil (Reuters cannot confirm individual posts on external blogs; please message the Reuters on Tumblr if you seek more information on any news).

When police tried to disperse the crowd on Thursday in Sao Paulo, violence erupted, injuring dozens and leading to nearly 200 arrests.

Photo: posters read, “Dilma, we are the ones who pay for your housing” and “Communities exist.” REUTERS/Alex Almeida

Why aren't more people freaking out about the new Venezuelan labor law?

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 21:19:48 -0500

bluandorange:

monetizeyourcat:

dancepunksnotdead:

You know, the one that gives housewives/full-time mothers a pension— wages for housework?

It’s ONLY A HUGE VICTORY FOR FEMINISM, SOCIALISM, AND WOMEN OF COLOR. Not a big deal or anything. Tumblr is mysteriously silent about this.

http://rabble.ca/columnists/2013/05/venezuelas-new-labour-law-best-mothers-day-gift

holy shit!

fucking COOL

marielikestodraw: read smut Male A: “I don’t need any prep, I’m so ready for you!!!” Male B: ...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 21:07:55 -0500

marielikestodraw:

*read smut*

Male A: “I don’t need any prep, I’m so ready for you!!!”

Male B: “ok”

*anal sex*

Me:

To be fair, sometimes anal sex doesn’t require prep. If you’ve done it quite a bit and recently for example. Or if the bottom has already done some self-prep in the bathroom beforehand perhaps. Any sex act gets easier with experience for the most part.

Sometimes the burn due to no prep is just something a person might want or enjoy, and assuming the person penetrating at least covers their dick with lube then that can be enough to prevent any real harm.

I mean, let’s be honest. Anal sex is very rarely portrayed all that realistically in fic anyway. No one ever has to stop and apply more lube ten minutes in, or run for the bathroom right afterwards when they didn’t use a condom or say, “Not tonight sweetie” because the Mexican food they ate earlier that evening gave them the runs or because their hemorrhoids are flaring up :P In real life, bodies are messy and uncooperative and unromantic but we tend to gloss over that in stories.

I know the current trend in fanfiction is to have tons of prep and stretching with fingers and rimming and such before anal penetration, but that isn’t the ONLY way to have anal sex. Anal sex can be rough and fast or slow and careful or anything in between, and writers should be able to portray those variations if they like.

Study links pupillary reflex, heart rate in autism — SFARI.org - Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 16:12:44 -0500

Study links pupillary reflex, heart rate in autism — SFARI.org - Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative:

Interesting, but definitely needs a larger study done to verify these results.

Lydia speculation under cut

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:44:48 -0500

So given she is obviously supernatural and has the whole red hair and screaming thing going…

Anyone else think Lydia is going to be revealed to be a banshee?

A Year After Deferred Action, Dreamers Change Their Lives, And The Immigration Debate

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:38:55 -0500

nbclatino:

A key role of the increasingly vocal young immigrants has been making the personal political in a whole new way. The Dreamers have put some of the most intimate moments of their lives out on display for the public to see.

Read More

Miso Head: brashblacknonbeliever: With Father’s day fast approaching, I would...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:38:01 -0500

Miso Head: brashblacknonbeliever: With Father’s day fast approaching, I would...:

brashblacknonbeliever:

With Father’s day fast approaching, I would like to send a shout out to the people typically ignored on days like this:

To the people with abusive fathers

To the people absentee fathers

To the people who don’t know their fathers

To the people who cut their fathers…

Where the heck are these Teen Wolf Season 3 episode descriptions everyone is talking about?...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 12:55:51 -0500

Where the heck are these Teen Wolf Season 3 episode descriptions everyone is talking about? I’ve searched every tag I can think of to find them, and no luck.

Seriously, I want to be spoiled!

If you had asked me when I was eighteen, I would have likely told you I was never going to marry or...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 11:46:13 -0500

If you had asked me when I was eighteen, I would have likely told you I was never going to marry or have children or anything of that type.

I had vague expectations of finishing college, and renting a run down apartment near where my parents lived and just trying to live independently, and I wasn’t even sure I could manage that.

But by the time I was nineteen and I had met the love of my life, that had all changed. When we had been dating six months, he gave me a promise ring - but if it had been an engagement ring, I would have gladly said yes.

I wanted to spend every day together, and do anything that made him happy and just have him near.

By then I wanted marriage and our own apartment and to start having babies. Having to wait another three years for any of those things was one of the hardest times in my life.

I still sort of wonder what it would be like to be raising teenagers right now, instead of small children. To be counting the years until we have more time and privacy in single digits.

But my guy is a great father, and a good husband and I need to let him know that on Father’s day and every day.

Shieldmaiden Battle Outfit ~ Chains in your hair and blood on...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 07:04:52 -0500

Shieldmaiden Battle Outfit ~ Chains in your hair and blood on your face

sandorsmanlytears: #these two women right here #let me tell you...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 05:18:47 -0500

sandorsmanlytears:

#these two women right here #let me tell you about these two #they both believed with all their hearts that knights were chivalrous #that there really was such a thing as honour #that the villains were clearly the villains #and right from wrong was always black and white #but then real life happened #and even though they were disillusioned #and they found out life was nothing like the songs #they didn’t give up and they didn’t give in #they did not become completely demoralized or malevolent #like so many others who are subjected to the game of thrones do #bc the thing is #sansa is still gentle and kind #just now she wears her courtesy as her coat of mail and never reveals her true feelings #bc she learned what happens when you trust and believe #and brienne is still trying to be the honourable knight #but realizes she’s one of the few honest and loyal oath keepers left #and she has seen the horrific deeds other “knights” have done #but now they are no longer the naive girls they once were #and they realize there is no black and white #there is only grey #but they choose to be the good in this corrupt world