ninja-techie

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https://www.change.org/p/department-of-land-and-natural-resources-protect-pololu-valley

I saw this on Tiktok and thought it needed to be passed on. Pololū Valley is sacred land currently at risk of being developed into yet another "scenic tourist attraction" for profit. Activists like @/melemaikalanimakalapua on Tiktok are fighting to have this petition seen by as many people as possible in order to prevent the senseless destruction of this land.

Note that the petition says not to donate to change.org--donations to change.org do NOT protect Pololū Valley.

I hope that by spreading this to tumblr, I can help it reach more people. Please sign this and reblog it if you can!

https://www.change.org/p/department-of-land-and-natural-resources-protect-pololu-valley

[ninja-techie]

I’m just super fucking bitter that once the flint water crisis got it’s 15 minutes of fame people stopped giving a shit. The water is still poisoned, people! Donations have plummeted and people have been forced back into drinking and bathing with the water! The medical effects of this are astounding, cases of legionnaires disease have skyrocketed, people are having seizures, people are having weird rashes break out over their body, people (including me!) are having their blood poisoned, and it’s not just lead! it’s coliform bacteria! it’s THMs! it’s all in the water and it gets into the bloodstream and breaks down blood vessels, causing bruising and petechiae and internal bleeding and no one gives a shit anymore and it’s only gotten worse like how many people are going to have to die until people realize this is still a problem

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I feel like book piracy has become so normalized now and its honestly so ugly and disappointing. Like I totally understand that some people in other countries have straight up no library access but for people in the US/UK?? saying that pubs are their 'free trial' without even trying to use a library??? I truly think younger readers using them don't realize how badly it could fuck an author over

i think book piracy comes down to people not understanding the differences between the film industry and the book industry. i don’t fully understand the film industry bc it’s not my focus, but i do know that pirating movies or shows is not going to directly impact the actors and/or the little people behind the movie or show. (if someone wants to elaborate on how, please do! i’m not really sure.)

however, pirating books is going to directly impact authors, not publishers or CEOs or any other bigwigs. an author is paid thus: they sign a contract for a certain amount of money, say, $100,000 for a two-book deal. that means that each book will be (technically) worth $50,000. depending on the contract, a check will be written for $25,000 upon the author turning in the version of the manuscript that the editor bought. that check will go to the author’s agent, who will take their 15% commission, which will be $3,750. then, the agent will send the remaining $21,250 to the author, minus taxes. with that same scenario, a check with the remaining $25,000 will be written upon the author turning in the final copy of the manuscript, aka the version that will go to the printer, and the process repeats (the check is sent to the agent, the agent takes their 15%, the author gets the remaining $21,250, minus taxes). 

that’s not where this story ends, though: in every contract is a thorough section detailing royalties, aka how much the author will receive per sale of a copy of their book in the book’s entire lifespan. if an agent is good, this will be one of their most important areas they focus on during negotiations. it’s imperative that people know that royalties can make or break an author’s career. it’s better to have larger royalties than a larger advance, bc an advance is only once, whereas royalties will continue as long as the book continues to sell (hardcover, paperback, audiobook, ebook, etc). the higher the author’s advance, the more pressure there is for the author to break even, aka for the author to make back the $50,000 spent on that first book. in a worst case scenario, if an author doesn’t earn back their advance (a big turn of phrase in publishing), they could have book 2 canceled, or they could possibly never be able to sell another book to a publisher again due to a poor sales record. in that case, it’s likely the author will have to re-debut under a pen name so the publisher backing them can treat them like a debut author. or, you’ll see an author’s first printings tank between book 1 and 2 or book 2 and 3 etc etc. for instance, Enchantee by Gita Trelease had a first hardcover printing of 175,000 copies (which is big for a debut!), while book 2 of that series, Everything That Burns, has a first hardcover printing of 75,000 copies. now, i can’t see the sales numbers, but it seems likely a lack of sales is the culprit here. 

so when people say that pirating books will directly influence whether or not your favorite author gets to publish more books, they really mean it. it won’t affect the publisher (who has massive protections in place) nearly as much as it will affect the author (who doesn’t have those same protections), and it could mean that your favorite author never gets to finish that series you love or can never publish another book again. in conclusion, don’t pirate books, kids. 

[ninja-techie]

Chevron bought the US justice system

You know that free-floating sense that multinational corporations are above the law, able to buy their way out of consequences for even the most blatant, heinous crimes?

There’s a (nearly) unbelievable, highly concrete example  of it underway right at this moment.

It’s the story of Steven Donziger, a campaigning lawyer who sued Chevron for its ecocide in Ecuador, a genocide against indigenous people, committed with cooperation from a brutal military dictatorship.

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/02/free-steven-donziger/#free-donziger

Donziger managed the impossible. He secured a conviction against Chevron, and a $9.8 billion judgment against the company, owed to the indigenous people they poisoned, whose lands and bodies remain poisoned and sick to this day.

Now, if you’re an exec at Chevron and you value money more than life, the rational move that proceeds from this judgment is straightforward: any legal maneuver that costs LESS than $9.8b is your fiduciary duty to your shareholders.

Give it to Chevron: buying your way out of red-handed genocidal environmental racism is an art form, and they are masters.

First, Chevron paid $2m relocating Ecuadoran judge Albert Guerra to the US, where he testified that the the Ecuadoran fine was the result of a bribe.

Chevron paid for Guerra and his family to move to the USA, paid for his immigration process, paid his income tax, and coached him for 53 days before he appeared in the Southern District of New York Court of Judge Lewis A Kaplan.

Kaplan believed Guerra, and continued to believe him even after Guerra recanted his testimony and admitted that he’d lied at Chevron’s behest.

Six other courts, including the Supreme Courts of Ecuadoran and Canada, have upheld the fine against Chevron.

Why would Kaplan believe Guerra after Guerra said he was lying? Maybe it has something to do with Kaplan’s own legal background: before he was a judge, he was a corporate lawyer working for a firm that represented tobacco companies in cancer liability lawsuits.

Kaplan used Guerra’s testimony to convict Donziger on civil racketeering charges. Chevron brought the charges, and cannily, they dropped their demand for monetary compensation, which meant Donziger couldn’t get a jury trial.

But the fact that Chevron didn’t seek monetary damages doesn’t mean what you’d expect: after Kaplan ruled against Donziger, the judge hit him with an order to pay Chevron millions in court fees.

Worse still, he ordered Donziger to turn over his laptop and phone - not to the court, but to Chevron, who would then get access to his privileged attorney-client communications with the victims of Chevron’s ecocide, opening those people to violent retaliation.

Donziger appealed the order. Kaplan then charged him with a misdemeanor for having the temerity to appeal. This was so chickenshit that the District Attorney refused to take up the case, so Kaplan appointed a corporate lawfirm that fronts for Big Oil to prosecute Donziger.

This firm, Seward & Kissel, has a blue-chip roster of climate criminals for clients, including Chevron itself. They are prosecuting Donziger in front of Judge Loretta Preska, whom Kaplan hand-picked to hear the case (he had to violate SDNY procedures to make this happen).

Preska is a member of the Federalist Society, a corporate-backed law organization whose major donors include Chevron.

Donziger is fighting this with his hands tied behind his back. Not only did Kaplan get him disbarred (there’s a pending appeal), but he had him *arrested*.

Donziger is the only person in the entire USA who is in pre-trial detention for a misdemeanor. The only one. He’s been under house arrest for more than 580 days. The maximum sentence for the misdemeanor is 180 days. He still hasn’t had a trial.

Donziger spoke to Esquire’s Jack Holmes about his case, describing how Kaplan has barred him and his Ecuadoran clients from seeking enforcement of the judgement anywhere in the USA.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a35812573/steven-donziger-chevron-house-arrest/

Preska, the Federalist Society judge whom Kaplan picked to hear the contempt charge, has denied his request for a jury trial.

Donziger calls it “corporate political prosecution” and calls himself “a corporate political prisoner.”

This is bigger than the judgment against Chevron. As Donziger says, “if you can’t do this kind of legal work to hold these polluters accountable, the destruction of the earth will happen at a faster pace.”

The corporate takeover of the justice system isn’t an abstract conspiracy theory. It is very specific, and it is playing out before our eyes, in a courtroom in New York City.

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Ch💓

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Let’s get it done

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Anastasia Trusova on Instagram

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Archive.org is facing a lawsuit

tldr: the Internet Archive/WayBack Machine is super important in term of archived content, billions of stuff are on there, and with the current event happening in the world like stated above,without this tool, it will be hard to properly document what took place. It will be easy for certain people to rewrite history. Dont let them.

DONATE HERE (post dont get much exposure with working links sorry)

 archive.org/donate/

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

IF YOU CANT DONATE THEN PLEASE SPREAD THE INFO

On twitter,tumblr,facebook,heck,anywhere you want,this needs to be talked about !

[ninja-techie]

On this 4th of july i would like to boost my tribe’s bee farm!! https://iowaybeefarm.com/ is their website! They sell honey, beeswax products, giant jars of bee pollen, lip balms and lotions!

pretty much everything is really cheap (much cheaper than it should be) and you can get a whole gift basket for 35 bucks!

[ninja-techie]

Into the woods, Doug Eng

[ninja-techie]

help keep a black trans woman off the streets

hey guys its aaliyah! a few days ago my land lord basically told me my female roommates aren’t comfortable sharing a room with me because I’m transgender??? they said tht me being transgender & having friends over (which wasnt detailed in the craigslist ad) is huge problem & I’m basically being given a month to leave. if you follow me on IG you know I’ve been trying to get a new job because my current one at starbucks hasnt been cutting it. they barely giving me any hours & because of that I’ve had to reduce my savings these past couple months from $400 to $100 just to get by. Good news is I found a new place in the area tht I can afford Bad news is its gonna be $900 to move ib (monthly $600 plus $300 deposit) if there is any way yall could spare a couple bucks each to help me get there I would more than appreciate it.

https://cash.app/$AaliyahBreaux

https://www.paypal.me/aaliyahbreaux

[ninja-techie]

[ninja-techie]

HALT! Do you have sensory issues? Overwhelmed by sound in a messy environment? Desperately wanting to write that essay/fanfiction but your ADHD is getting on the way? In need of atmospheric sound for your tabletop game??

Please let me introduce you to MyNoise.net - a lifesaver on all aspects.

Mynoise provides an incredible index of noise machine generators with personalizing sliders to suit your every taste.

Missing the sound of a lively coffee shop during the pandemic? They have that. That specific, calming noise of a public park in a peaceful afternoon? they have that. Rain sounds? City sounds? Want to fuck around and listen to some uninterrupted Gregorian chants? They have that also!

According to the website:

"myNoise generators cover the whole audible frequency range, from 20Hz to 20kHz, over 10 color-coded sliders. Through a simple but accurate calibration process, all myNoise generators can be shaped to your personal hearing thresholds and compensate for your audio equipment and listening environment deficiencies, including the presence and nature of background noise. Calibration is unique to this website, and makes calibrated noise machines stand out from regular white noise machines. During the calibration process, we are able to measure your personal hearing levels, and adapt our noises accordingly. If you are suffering from age-related hearing, you'll be surprised to hear frequencies you thought were lost."

And that's not all. When I say 'incredible' I really mean it; I've found myself using the website on multiple occasions, for work, creative and stress-related issues, and the variety of machines provided cannot be overstated. You've got animal noises, nature soundscapes, street sounds, meditation aids, melody-based lullabies, magical soundscapes, medieval ambiance, situation specific sounds, white noise generators-- and a lot more!!! They even have noise to block out IRL sounds you don't want to hear.

Just take a brief look at what the index page provides:

There's something for EVERYONE. And it's all for free! It's been for free for years, and it is the creator's wish that it remains accessible to everyone who might need this kind of aid in life. I am using it to write this post right now. Though if you read some of the above index, you may have noticed that the support for the website has been very low lately.

Which brings me to the reason I'm making this post. Mynoise is curated and maintained by a single person:

Please check out the Mynoise Index for yourself, donate if you can, and tell your friends who might be interested ♡

[ninja-techie]

Optical Illusion Paintings by Rob Gonsalves