fracturedrefuge:

pacifistic-badass:

Paul Corby, a 23-year old man, has Left Ventricular Noncompaction, a rare congenital disorder that causes the heart muscle to appear spongy and makes it harder for the heart to pump blood throughout the body. As of now, only 20 percent of his blood is being pumped out of his heart and takes 19 medications a day, most of which are to try to stabilize his heart.

The only cure for LVN is transplant.

Paul does not smoke or drink and is an otherwise healthy man. Yet according to a letter from the transplant physician at PennMedicine, Paul has been denied the placement in large part because he is autistic.

Here is the response letter from the doctor:

There is a post on another blog that goes into more detail about the situation.
Here is the link:http://blogs.babble.com/strollerderby/2012/08/07/family-young-man-denied-heart-transplant-because-hes-autistic/

I haven’t seen any posts about this going around, and it is very troubling that this man may very well die because of discrimination against autistic people.

So PLEASE sign this and reblog. You might help save a life.

Link to petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/help-my-autistic-son-get-a-life-saving-heart-transplant#

Again PLEASE sign and reblog.

Help save a life.

Signed and boosting.

fracturedrefuge:

impromptuonedykedanceparty:

“Defer the Bullshit” is our ongoing effort to resist the propaganda around the Obama Administration’s new Deferred Action campaign for undocumented youth. While some youth *may* have a chance at relief, Deferred Action is at best insufficient, and at worst misleading, dangerous and deliberately deceptive. They call it a relief program – we call it an enforcement campaign. As always, Mr Obama is using immigrants as guinea pigs for his own political gains. “DEFER THE BULLSHIT” It is an effort to combat misinformation, dispel the myths – and to demand Mr. Obama use his executive powers for real solutions.

Background

President Obama has advertised a new campaign supposedly granting relief to undocumented youth who meet certain criteria. But Homeland Security documents clearly state: even people who meet all the criteria may be rejected and turned over to I.C.E. There is no guarantee they will be granted any kind of relief, and the government will be able to initiate deportation proceedings against them, or their families, at any time. In addition, even if granted, Deferred Action does not represent a legal status or safety from deportation. It simply meas the government may temporarily postpone efforts to remove you.

Undocumented people have been living under conditions of constant terror imposed by this regime’s deportation policies. Any initiative that seems to offer some relief is understandably greeted with great hope. But this campaign promises nothing more than a chance that maybe the government will postpone its efforts to deport you – while exposing you to extreme risks, including the risk of deportation simply for applying! While Deferred Action this may be a good option for people already in custody, it is incredibly cynical to bait young people who are not yet in custody and are therefore not subject to deportation in the first place.

Mr Obama, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) and Congressman Luis Gutierrez have been misleading the public about the benefits and risks of Deferred Action for youth. ICIRR Chief Executive Officer Lawrence Benito stated “We encourage every undocumented youth who fits the criteria to take advantage of this great opportunity to come out of the shadows by applying for deferred action.” We consider it irresponsible to encourage people to apply without appropriately analyzing the risks involved. ICIRR has also stated that undocumented youth would be “free from deportation”. This statement is false: deferred action offers no protection from deportation. ICIRR and Congressman Luis Gutierrez have been recruiting people into a dangerous and uncertain situation for their own political gains.

The document at the root of all the hype is a memo released by Janet Napolitano, addressed to three branches of the Department of Homeland Security. While there has been much propaganda around this new campaign, it is clear this memo is not about justice, it is about enforcement. Further, a Memo is not a law, it is not a pardon or an executive order. And it offers no guarantees. It is a set of instructions from the DHS boss to the people who work in agencies under her command. It outlines a set of criteria for how Prosecutorial Discretion should be applied.

Prosecutorial Discretion has been used in the immigration system for 30 years, and is fundamental to the criminal justice system as well. It allows the authorities to decide on a case-by-case basis how, and if, to enforce laws against people. Discretion can be applied in your favor or against you; it is not based on laws, accountability or rights, but on administrative “priorities” set by different agencies at different times. In the US, this has lead to unchecked powers for prosecutors, police and ICE agents, who act with impunity against poor people, immigrants and people of color.

The new memo outlines a set of priorities in order to better enforce immigration laws through Prosecutorial Discretion. Obama has fashioned himself as the “tough on immigration” president, setting deportation quotas that put pressure or every agency, and every part of the system, to make as many people as possible subject to deportation. But the courts are backlogged, the system is clearly failing and DHS is unable to meet its own quotas. Instead of using his executive powers to provide real relief, Obama is finding “innovative” solutions based in “efficiency” and disinformation. The propaganda encourages youth who have not yet been detained, and who are not yet in custody, to turn themselves in to Homeland security – in exchange for the possibility that Prosecutorial Discretion may be used in their favor and they may be granted Deferred Action. But DHS documents reveal that even those who meet all the criteria may be turned over to ICE, and deportation proceedings may be initiated against them at any time. Furthermore, Deferred Action offers no protection from deportation. Defer means to postpone, Action refers to any action initiated by the government with the purpose of deporting someone. So Deferred Action, even if granted, means simply this: the government will temporarily postpone efforts to deport you. It does not represent status or safety from deportation; and DHS decisions are final with no possibility of appeal.

While falsely promising *maybe* relief for some, the new Obama campaign is expanding enforcement in several significant ways:

Making more and more people deportable. Baiting youth to turn themselves over to Homeland Security makes more people subject to deportation. This is not only about the risks faced by these youth, who may be deported as a result of applying. We understand that criminalizing immigrants is not really about deporting 12 million people, but about making entire populations deportable, and therefore exploitable.Reinforcing the good immigrant vs bad immigrant divide. This campaign promises “maybe” rewards for those deemed by the administration to be like “good Americans” while pushing for more enforcement against all others, who are by default more likely to be categorized as “bad immigrants”.Expanding criminalization. The new campaign introduces the notion of “significant misdemeanor”, which is a new and very fuzzy category of crime. We have seen the tendency to expand and make more flexible what constitutes a “criminal alien” for deportation purposes. Every time new language is introduced to “invent” new crime categories, this represents an expansion of criminalization that affects all immigrantsSocial justice movements are buying into the hype and are turning their focus away from demanding real solutions. We are supposed to believe this is a victory and to become facilitators of Obama’s campaign. Just as undocumented youth are “put to work” as unwaged ICE agents in apprehending themselves, social justice advocates and organizers are put to work as recruiters for Homeland Security.Our eyes off the prize: keeping us focused on case-by-case solutions pushes demands for justice for all further and further into the background.We will not be so easily duped. We refuse to be satisfied with case-by-case solutions. Our demands continue to be: justice for all!

In Solidarity,

No Name Collective

Moratorium On Deportations

oh fuck. signal boosting, please spread!

Signal boost!  This is important and needs just as many notes as the post with the deferment forms that was reblogged.

highvoodoopussypope:

So you can block her pre-emptively before she stalks you again.

aboutmaleprivilege:

I’ll just quote Teen Voices’ website (http://www.teenvoices.com/:

Teen Voices need your help. Because of a recent decrease in funding, we’re at a crisis. We must raise $300,000 by August 1. Yes, it’s that bad.

For nearly 25 years, girls and young women in Boston and beyond have counted on Teen Voices to provide a positive, girl-friendly space to grow as writers and leaders. We are not going down without a fight.

You know us, and you know our work—our girl-generated magazine is the only publication of its kind. Thousands of girls around the globe count on Teen Voices to publish their work and offer honest, positive stories that address real issues in their lives.

The good news is our magazine and our afterschool program are stronger than ever. We’ve produced two excellent issues in the past year and over 225 online articles—including interviews with inspiring girls in action and powerful leading ladies like Donna Brazile, Jennifer Buffett, and Maria Hinojosa. We consistently have a waiting list for our afterschool and summer journalism program, and our Boston-based teens consistently show growth in perseverance, social efficacy, and acceptance of others.

With a strong and dedicated staff and an army of passionate teens and volunteers, we are poised to take Teen Voices to the next level in 2013, reaching many more girls worldwide. We have a vision to increase our web traffic tenfold and become the go-to place for smart girl media. We have plans—and even a grant!—to make teenvoices.com an interactive, smartphone-friendly forum for girls to amplify their voices.

It’s all within reach.

But right now, we need funds to get around this challenging corner and move our organization to a stronger future. With your help, Teen Voices can partner and transform to amplify the voices of girls. Whether you can afford $5, $50 or $5,000, every donation brings us closer.


You can send a safe and secure contribution through PayPal:


Or mail a check to:

Teen Voices
80 Summer St, Suite 400
Boston MA 02110 


We need your donations by August 1!

Please forward this message to every person you know who believes that girls can change the world. And thank you for investing in the power of teen girls’ voices!

The Teen Voices team For updates on our campaign, like “Teen Voices Magazine” on Facebook and join the conversation on Twitter @teenvoices #notwithoutafight

To read our latest and greatest girl-generated media, visit www.teenvoices.com.

“So what?” You say. “Why should I care? It’s just a nonprofit in Boston.”
No, it’s not. I would know. I interned there. It was my first internship and in fact my first experience in any sort of feminist institution. I read just about every issue of Teen Voices—and that’s a lot of magazines—because I had to organize the archives. And those magazines were what eventually led to this blog.
Teen Voices was not “a feminist magazine”. It was a magazine by (primarily) young WOC in Boston during an after-school mentoring program. These girls were awesome. They were funny, kind, and the magazines they created cast light on issues that—if you have been reading this blog, you know—are invisible in popular media. Everything from trans* issues, suicide, surviving assault, foster family life, great restaurants run by women in Boston, interviews with CIBO MATTO (YES THE CIBO MATTO THAT DID “Know your Chicken” and “Birthday Cake”, it was in one of the old magazines, I told you Teen Voices is badass!!!1). At the back of the magazines was this awesome section where they took an advertisement from TV or a magazine and described in articulate terms just how it was objectifying a woman’s body or using sex to sell a product. Bam.


That was my first internship, and it was years ago, but I still have a couple of magazines on my shelf. They are evergreen. They’re filled with art people sent in, letters, advice, and positivity. There is no end of positivity in this awesome magazine.


TEEN VOICES NEEDS TO STAY ALIVE. Teen Voices’ slogan was “because you’re more than a pretty face” and now it’s “changing the world for girls through media” which fits what they do better.

I’m sounding like an infomercial now, but don’t take my word for it. Go to teenvoices.com right now, you’ll see what’s awesome about them. They recently interviewed a member of the Olympic Swimming Team in a great article. They have a review about a movie focusing on sexual assault in the military up right now, worth a look. Poetry, fiction, music reviews, art, photography—all by teen girls. You can read their magazine, which goes out to learning centers, schools, and many other institutions, online or in print if you donate for a subscription.


I KNOW MY FOLLOWERS ARE PROBABLY NOT RICH. BUT PLEASE, REBLOG THIS AND DONATE WHAT YOU CAN. TEEN VOICES IS NEEDED, NOT JUST IN BOSTON, BUT NONPROFITS LIKE THIS SHOULD EXIST EVERYWHERE FOR GIRLS ALL OVER THE PLACE. MAYBE GET YOUR EMPLOYER TO MATCH A DONATION WITH YOU. THIS IS A NONPROFIT, SO YOU CAN DEDUCT ANY DONATION ON YOUR TAX RETURN. THIS LINK I’M POSTING GOES TO THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE WITH A PAYPAL LINK.

http://www.teenvoices.com/2012/07/20/teen-voices-needs-your-help/


Thank you for reading this far. We now return to your scheduled programming where I call mean people bad words.

transhousingnetwork:

My name is Colleen, mid-twenties, MTF/androgynish person, just starting my proper transition, and I’m in need of a safe place to stay and get started with a new life. I currently live in Indiana, but I’m looking to move out at the end of August/start of September. I currently live with my parents, but I don’t know how long they’ll allow me to stay with them, and I need to get out on my own anyway. I’m happy with pretty much any major US city. (I’d also be okay with moving out of the country, but I don’t have a passport or anything, so that’s problematic.)

I am looking for a place to stay for three or four months, while I get settled into living on my own. I would prefer to live with an MTF, but other trans* people and cis allies are fine. I cannot pay rent immediately, but I will be looking for a job and a place of my own so I can get out of your hair and/or make sure you’re properly paid for your help as quickly as possible. While I am unable to pay, I will be happy to do things like clean, do your laundry, and otherwise keep things tidy and organized for you. (I’d cook for you too, but I’m still getting the hang of cooking, and I’m a vegetarian, so it’s up to you if you want to risk me making your meals.)

If you’re interested in helping me get on my feet while I start a new chapter of my life, please get in contact! I’ll answer anything you need to know about me.

http://funnyguts.tumblr.com

trenzalorefields:

trenzalorefields:

on my dash there are some of you reblogging this picture:

can i just let all of you know that the left two could be extremely dangerous as the plastic can absorb the chemicals and then put them back into the drink you put inside of the bottle

please don’t try it guys! do the mayonnaise/vodka thing instead.

reblogging for anyone who missed this last night.