margokesses reblogged
My new writing blog is @wordyshit
margokesses reblogged
in 1972, zeinab shaath released the EP "the urgent call of palestine". inspired by the contemporary counterculture movement, and the protest songs of bob dylan and joan baez in particular, the then-teenage shaath used her life experiences (she was the first member of her family born outside of palestine (specifically, in egypt) in 1954) to write the first english-language songs dedicated to palestinian liberation. in 1973, she'd even shot a four minute music video for the title track in collaboration with the PLO. the original master was siezed by the iof in the 1982 siege of beirut.
you can read the full story about her, the songs, and how both the ep and music video were only recently remastered for international listeners with help from the majazz project and discostan here. you can listen to it (and buy it, both physically and digitally, directly from her) on the bandcamp embed/link provided.
margokesses reblogged
in paris you gotta sleep with one eye open
margokesses reblogged
This is Money Snake. She only appears every 312 years.
If you reblog her picture within the next twenty-five seconds you will have good luck and fortune for the rest of your life.
I reblogged her late last year and my 2024 has been very satisfying work-wise and (secure enough to not stress out) money-wise so far. Money Snake is wise and good.
margokesses reblogged
Ok I reblogged this with a long talk in tags recently but this is for all you fuckers in the notes, as a librarian whose library has gone fine-free since the last time I reblogged this post:
- YES, going fine-free encourages returns. I can tell you that from my own experience at the check-in desk. In the weeks after we went fine-free, we got SO MANY returns on books that were hella overdue.
- YES, library fines disproportionately impact poor people. Here's how it works: you're a single mom who checks out 10 picture books for your kid. For whatever reason, you're unable to return those 10 books on time. In fact, you're unable to return them for a long time. Each of those books hits the maximum fine. In my system, this was $5. When you return the books, you owe $50. If you can pay off the $50, fine. If you can't, then you feel like you're fucked. Maybe you've had a bad experience with owing money before. Maybe you've had a bad experience with an incompetent or bigoted librarian. Either way, you don't feel like you can deal with the cost of returning the books. But eventually the books go into billing, and now you're on the hook for the full price of each book. Even if you return them, you still owe $50. An account with $50 or more in fines/fees is considered delinquent, meaning you can't even use the computer or printing services, let alone check out books. So now you're stuck with these books and these fines and no library access and you're fucked. It doesn't matter how you got here. Rich and poor people alike wind up here. What matters is that for rich people it's not a big deal, and for poor people it's a REALLY big deal.
- YES, libraries do everything we can to avoid this situation. We send reminder emails. We offer payment plans. We cap fines at $50. This prevents MANY people from ending up in this situation, but it doesn't prevent EVERYONE from winding up here. Libraries serve a LOT of people!
- NO, fine free doesn't look the same everywhere. In my library system, we've eliminated late fines on every type of item, but we still charge replacement fees for books that are very long overdue (60 days I think). The replacement fee is cleared if the book is returned. But if you look at the notes, you'll see other libraries using different fine-free systems. This is because every library is different and has to work within its own context. Which brings me to..
- YES, libraries need the money they get from late fines. HOWEVER! Fine free IS possible for every library, if their parent organization chooses to fund it! Libraries are government entities. They exist to provide services, not to make money. The last time I reblogged this post, I didn't believe my library would be able to go fine free for a very long time. Then, we made a proposal to the government we work for to use a special fund to replace what we typically collect in late fines. We were able to go fine free because we got the funding from our parent organization - you know, the guys who collect taxes and fund social services with the taxes they collect (at least in theory).
- THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE MEAN WHEN THEY SAY DEFUND THE POLICE.
- (That's right motherfucker this was an anti-cop rant all along!)
- City and county budgets are finite, but they CAN fund fine-free libraries. The question is always, what funds are going to be used? What might they have funded instead?
- When people call to defund the police, it is in part because police are funded by public money. (It's mostly because the police are an inherently oppressive and racist institution, but bear with me here.) The exact same money that arms and empowers police officers is money that could be used for fine-free libraries, fare-free buses, or better supplied classrooms. It's money that could go to health departments or senior centers or parks. NONE OF THESE ENTITIES EXIST TO MAKE MONEY, but some of us have to because we're underfunded by our municipality's budget.
- UNDER-FUNDING SOCIAL SERVICES IS A GRIFT. It directly displaces the cost of living in a society from rich people (homeowners and landlords who pay property taxes) onto poor people (the single mom in our thought experiment above, or someone who can't afford a car so they pay but fare, or the kids whose classroom doesn't have pencils).
- If you're unhappy with social services where you live, look at your city and county budgets. Find out how much money your local governments have and where it's going. If you want to agitate, agitate. If you want to run for office, run for office. If you want to take direct action, then I would certainly never advocate for anything illegal hahahaha
TL;DR Fine free is great, it's in line with libraries' mission of public service, and it is doable, but only if governments choose to fund it. If they say they can't, look at where their money is coming from and where it's going.
margokesses reblogged
poor little boy got his booster vaccines. he is 2.5 pounds, and is very sad about everything
margokesses reblogged
A Jessie/Misty zine is being made to help raise money for Rachael Lillis! I'll absolutely be doing a piece for this~ Join if you can!
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guys i love her so much
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BUTTERFLY IN THE SKY trailer A documentary about LeVar Burton's Reading Rainbow
LeVar Burton currently runs a podcast series called LeVar Burton Reads where in every single episode, he reads a short story from diverse range of authors
I highly recommend it esp if you grew up with Reading Rainbows
margokesses reblogged
What do we think of the new ocs lads?
What do we think of the new ocs lads?
margokesses reblogged
tiana from princess and the frog inspired by this antique
margokesses reblogged
BOA (2024) | Megan Thee Stallion
margokesses reblogged
Before I watch the new episode everyone promise to be normal
margokesses reblogged
I feel like the psyops are back…
Ok let’s go over this again, for those with short memories:
The psyops work by taking (screenshotting or paraphrasing) REAL leftist takes by REAL people, (very often American POC,) generally where they are upset or discouraged about the us government or democrats specifically.
Then, the psyop either adds to the post (or in a separate post) something to direct the conversation into “things will never change” “voting does nothing” “politicians are all the same” etc.
The POINT of the psyop is to make leftists who agree with the REAL person who made the original post ALSO agree with the psyop, by conflating the two as being the same person, or at least being on the same side.
anyone who tells you not to vote is not on your side
ID |Twitter handle: BlackAmazon aka Sydette Harry
And people love the manipulation argument, newly "All Black folks are bots" also shared by Black bourgeoisie and fake radicals who jazz it up by combining it with dismissing actual applied experience to his academic privilege.
To justify the sloppy scholarship that led us here"] end of ID
ID [Because please note Jill and many white liberals especially those whose platforms are based on movements, and social history Tend to run to the argument of "Black people are bots/manipulated"
EVEN ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE WHO AGREE WITH THEM] end of ID
You know what ? Let me disturb my peace again. The last time people were talking about (Russian) psyops, those happened to be Black blogs from flesh and blood Black people that were branded as bots. People can't actually be discouraged by the fact that their lives are a genuine hellfire, that there are legitimate facts that show Biden has fulfilled none of his promises, that there are pictures of border patrol whipping Haitian immigrants, under Biden's term. Now, they have to be bots. Once again, is Trump materially worse ? Yes. But all Biden has given and is still giving is toilet water and rotten food, and you can't expect people to be scared of something that they're already living in anyway.
And look, let's talk about your campaign strategies. At some point, you need to give people the promise they'll be taken care instead of repeating the same talking points about Trump taking over because the police is slamming professors and students to the ground, the National Guard is hanging out in public transportation, the Supreme Court ruled on a fraudulent case, and all Biden has to say is that students need to calm down. If it walks like facism, speaks like facism, sounds like facism, well what is it ? And please, stop with this lie that Biden is going to be pushed left.
One another thing. You keep saying vote, are you insuring that the people you yelling "vote" at can vote safely and efficiently seeing as they are armed Proud Boys walking around, Republicans are doubling down on the gerrymanding, access to voting booth is getting damn near impossible, ballots are being officially fucked with (see Alabama) ?
margokesses reblogged
for some reason middle aged comic fans coming on the internet to defend their decision as to why they thought a twelve year old should have died or lived is so funny 😭😭😭
margokesses reblogged
how many of the "i don't listen to rap because too much of it is violent" people on here have made some variation of a "hot girl summer" joke not knowing and not caring enough to find out that the phrase "hot girl summer" was coined by megan thee stallion (a black rapper)
Megan thee stallion doesn’t really rap about violence so what are you talking about. 😭😭 two different types of raps
yeah baby that's the point of the post
this really is the piss on the poor website huh