#University strike

[watmalik]

Growing up is realising that Wade just wanted to hug Logan's ass 😭

[bakafox]

TREE! LAW! UPDATE!

[amalgamasreal]

So Universal Pictures may have just intentionally over-pruned all of the city owned trees in front of their LA corporate office in an effort to fuck with the WGA/SAG-AFTRA picketers during what is predicted to be the hottest week of the year so far:

And the LA City Controller is looking into it:

Once again it looks like it's time for:

[jay-wasstuff]

LA's environmentalist lawyers pulling up to Universal:

Update:

Well then, I guess:

[unaffordableamericanlandwhy]

Human’s Striking 4 A Decent Living!

Why hasn’t anyone protest against some of these greedy landlords? These greedy landlords are the cause of so many people not being able to afford to even be able to live payday to payday. I call this price gouging!!!

Who are these landlords? Who is really buying our American real estate? And why? Every time a group goes on strike, a big percentage of the reason is because those in the group cannot afford rent.

Whoever is buying our American real estate is bringing down American businesses. Employers are being blamed for their employees not being able to afford rent, when it is really the greedy landlords that are the fault for many of our homelessness.

We are losing our American way of life. From small business, to affordable housing, even some of our corporations can’t afford rent.

For many, the answer is to build new affordable housing that will likely not be affordable. There seems aplenty of places that are now for lease and rent that sit empty due to the monthly rent rate. So why built more to just sit empty? Make laws against rent greed...which I call price gouging!!!

[efilet]

WGA Strike signs!

At Fox Studios:

[WGA Strike sign reads "A.I. WROTE THE this sign]

At Netflix:

[2 WGA Strike signs read "our therapists keep saying we have to stand up for ourselves, so here we are, sorry." and "I like your offer as much as you like an angry female lead."]

At Universal Studios:

[3 WGA Strike signs read "If you want a funnier sign, PAY ME!", "PRODUCE THIS: " followed by an empty box, and "I HEARD A.I. REFUSES TO TAKE NOTES"]

At Disney Studios:

[WGA Strike sign reads: "THE GREEDIEST PLACE ON EARTH" in Walt Disney font]

for more signs: source

[the-emblematic]

One wild thing about Universal cutting up all those trees is I first heard about tree law like, maybe a month ago. One of my mutuals reblogged that one comic and my reaction was sort of mildly amused, but also a little confused as to why tree law seemed to be so popular of all things

It really feels like some great karmic entity leaned down and said hey here’s the set up to a joke that won’t get a punchline for a little while. But when it does you’re gonna love it

[blackpearlblast]

Brown University students are launching an indefinite hunger strike for Palestine

they are asking for their university to divest from companies profiting from the genocide in gaza and openly call for a ceasefire and will not eat until the university governing bodies hears and considers a divestment resolution. if you are not familiar with the physical toll a hunger strike takes on the body, it might be worth looking up to get a better sense of what a significant action these students are taking. the university's highest governing body is having their first meeting of 2024 on february 8-9th so let's rally around them to muster even more pressure on brown university.

brown university contact page: let's state our support for these students and let brown university know the world will be watching what happens next!

additional reading: coverage of this story in the university's student news paper - get to know some of the hunger strikers

[bigbrotherkillsme]

and so it begins. May 1st, 2023.

[foralleternityidiot]

the wga + sag-aftra co-strike means an indefinite pause on the endless onslaught of superhero media

[delicatefury]

Look. I have literally no horse in this race when it comes to the WGA/SAG Hollywood strike. I do not watch enough TV or movies to be affected and I’m not a part of the industry. I really haven’t cared.

As a lawyer and orchardist, however, I am now utterly entranced by the fact that some Universal Studios exec thought it was a good idea to cut down city-owned trees in the middle of summer.

There is no way to get around the absolute clusterfuck they have brought down upon themselves.

First, the ownership question. These trees are not owned by Universal. They’re the City of Los Angeles’ trees. That means the responsibility, and the right, to maintain them belongs to the city government. If you want to touch city property like that, you better have their permission. If not, you’re looking at anything from fines, to replacement/maintenance costs, to jail time.

Now, I don’t know LA, and I’m not licensed in California, but a lot of cities also require permits for any massive trimming like that that can affect public property (like the roads and sidewalks).

Second, they have zero excuses that can even remotely minimize the trouble they’re in. Anything that justifies that kind of pruning at this time of year would have likely required the full removal and destruction of the trees.

Because that level of pruning? You don’t do that in summer. You absolutely do not do that in summer unless the trees are dying or infested with something. Why? Because summer is healthy growth time. Summer is when your trees need all the energy they can get so they can grow and strengthen their branches and roots.

It’s also when they’re susceptible to diseases. Various bacteria, fungi, and insects strike during the summer and can cause severe damage. By trimming those trees so severely, not only are there a ton of gapping wounds for diseases to enter the tree, they’re now stressed by trying to replace that lost growth, which makes it even harder for them to survive any further damage.

Basically, Universal Studios might end up accidentally killing the trees. Which will make everything so much worse.

So, yeah. Now I’m invested.

[cryoverkiltmilk]

It's strange to see anyone surprised by Universal using a tactic as cruel as denying even shade to picket line members, in the heat-based hellscape that is Los Angeles. So let's try to condense the explanation.

By and large, executives are people who already come from wealth and privilege, and have that wealth and privilege protected throughout their life as they're escorted through whatever levels of education and then into employment.

Most of them have never received any kind of culture shock to make them aware of the struggles of 'lessers'. Their parents and peers had a vested interest in keeping the then-children from mixing with 'those people'.

They are insulated enough from daily life that they no longer see anyone outside their immediate wealth and influence bracket as human.

So a strike, to them, is not "people who want enough money to live and work in health", it's "The machine that makes us money is broken, get those workers back into their jobs so we can keep making money."

So the executives treat the strike like they would a broken machine or a disobedient pet. Hit it until it works, and replace it if it breaks.

And don't doubt for one minute that this wasn't at the advice of a Pinkerton or similar union-busting agency consultant. This is more than just petty; this is tactical cruely.

[flamingobasket]

[gay-jewish-bucky]

Actual footage of the Universal Studios* CEO "trimming" all of the shade trees at one of the L.A. WGA/SAG-AFTRA picket locations, so strikers have no protection from the intense heat of the sun

(*production company behind 2012's tumblr hit film The Lorax)

[millificent]

How do I reconcile supporting strikers with the fact that I am losing almost half a term of teaching (especially given the oxford teaching structure is so different from other unis that this could be catastrophic to students’ grades in upcoming exams, many of which will be used as indicators for job offers)

[rabid-transcendentalist]

The picture in the last two panels is the statement from the Berueau of Street Services saying that Universal Pictures whoever pruned those trees most certainly did not have a permit to do so and might be totally fucked in accordance with the law.