nazgul

nazgul , 1 month ago to random

The phrase “the cruelty is the point” has been around a long time, but I’m not sure people realize just how literal and explicit it has gotten.

For instance, the UK Home Office policy on refugees seeking asylum is called “The Hostile Environment Policy”. That’s the actual name for it. The policy is based on the theory that if you’re as cruel as possible to refugees (holding them in hotel rooms for years, rounding some up and shipping them to Rwanda, denying them basic safety and care…) then they’ll either “voluntarily" go home, or they’ll stop coming.

The actual result is of course that refugees get raped, abused and killed, or try to go underground and get trafficked. And the workers and volunteers who deal with refugees suffer massive burnout and mental health problems.

Because there is no way, short of shooting refugees on sight, that the UK can make the odds worse than what asylum seekers have suffered in their home countries and in their journey to the UK.

But conservatives don’t care, because if nothing else, they’ve punished the people who came.

Keep that in mind when you look at US Republican policies on refugees. The cruelty is absolutely the point. The policies themselves don’t work at all.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Office_hostile_environment_policy

nazgul , 2 months ago to random

Last night’s #sunset #photography

Guanajuato, MX

Orange sunset with far clouds casting shadows on the sky. In the foreground the hills of Guanajuato with the houses rising to the peaks. Zoom view.
Orange sunset with far clouds casting shadows on the sky. In the foreground the hills of Guanajuato with the houses rising to the peaks. Wide view.

nazgul , 2 months ago to random

Obligatory #SolarEclipse2024 #eclipse photos, dog and colander edition.

#DogsOfMastdon #MoonDogs #MoonShadows

German Shepherd mix lies in the shade surrounded by crescent-shaped sunlight from leaves, and with some crescents on her forehead.
Crescent moons in the shadow of a colander, where each circle is now a crescent.
A dustpan with a rock on it holds up an upside down colander.

nazgul , 2 months ago to random

A bit of good news and sweetness before I head to bed.

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/04/beastie-boys-paid-for-trans-womans-gender-affirming-surgery/

nazgul , 2 months ago to random

“ACLU of Indiana sued to challenge the ban on behalf of five anonymous Jewish, Muslim, and spiritual plaintiffs and the group Hoosier Jews for Choice.”

Not only did the appeals court cite Governor Pence’s religious freedom law in striking down the abortion ban, it also cited the Hobby Lobby case as a reason.

We need more reminders for the far right that they own neither religion nor even Christianity

https://lawandcrime.com/abortion/severely-decreased-their-sexual-intimacy-with-their-husbands-indiana-appeals-court-uses-mike-pences-religious-liberty-law-to-block-abortion-ban/

nazgul , 3 months ago to random

Some positive news for a change.

Via that other site, on the subject of the Key Bridge.

Again, a moment to pause & appreciate the cool professionalism of those in & around the Key Bridge at 1:24 am Tuesday.
Ship’s pilot radios in that ship has lost steerage & will hit bridge.
Someone (maritime control?) transmits urgent alert to Maryland/Balt police dispatch…
—>
2/ Police dispatched with just a few crisp phrases—ship has lost steering, close the bridge to traffic—and race to do just that.
No time for confusion. No time for … ‘What do you mean, close the bridge? Who says?’
4 minutes, alert to collapse.
Bridge successfully closed…
—>
3/ That’s amazing. Again, a system worked—a government system.
All those people just ordinary frontline workers in anonymous, sometimes invisible jobs.
Maritime radio operators. Police/fire dispatchers. Bridge police & state police.
All working 11p to 7a o’night shift.
—>
4/ Cool, direct, urgent, successful.
Maybe not a college degree or a 6-figure salary among them—and they used their training & experience at the most critical, high-pressure moment to save lives.
All day, every day—that happens & we don’t see it.
That’s your ‘deep state.’
—>
5/ Just in Port of Baltimore, 45 cargo container ships come & go every 24 hours.
16,000 ships a year.
They require all this guidance all the time (and US has 8 LARGER ports).
Each ship with 5,000 containers loaded & unloaded.
Not to mention… —>
6/ The 8 construction workers on the bridge—patching potholes in the middle of the night, so the road stays maintained, at a time that reduces inconvenience to us (and yes, is easier for them too because of low traffic).
Every night… —>
7/ Every night, 5 or 6 days a wk, men & women just like them do that dangerous work on interstates & bridges in all 50 states.
Here’s the moment:
An officer who closed one of the approaches says on radio…‘Can we notify the construction workers? Can we call the supervisor?’
—>
8/ The officer was ready to drive out & warn the workers when someone on the radio — seconds later — said, The bridge is down. The whole bridge.
That unnamed officer had been immediately thinking about how to save those guys out on the bridge—workers just like him.
Thanks. —>
9/ Thanks to all these folks who make the world run, and run safely 99% of the time, and work with skill, grace, clear-headedness in invisible but essential jobs.
Even as disaster unfolded Tuesday after midnight, they were at work.
https://twitter.com/cfishman/status/1772966665531084836