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(cartoon by Clay Jones)

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(cartoon by Adam Zyglis)

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(cartoon by Jen Sorenson)

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(cartoon by Walt Handelsman)

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(cartoon by Walt Handelsman)

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(cartoon by Dave Granlund)

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This also goes for letting your dogs jump all over your friends and strangers. Don’t assume your dog won’t hurt someone just because you don’t care when it jumps on you.

But my big epiphany about the sidewalk challenge actually came when some asshole slammed right into me extra hard. It hurt. And I was mad. And I said something like, “Hey!” (I also glared after his retreating back in a very intimidating manner, which didn’t really accomplish anything.)

But more than that, it occurred to me that if I had an invisible disability the collision could potentially have hurt me a lot more. So I got even more irritated.

And then, after a couple minutes, I realized something else: what if the asshole who just bumped into me had an invisible disability and I hurt him?

What if I’m the asshole?

Importantly, when I decide to hold my own line (not move out of an oncoming pedestrian’s way) while walking, I am making big assumptions about the people around me. I’m assuming the person I’m running into (or letting run into me, we’ll get to this distinction in a minute) has the cognitive and physical ability to: 1) see that they can’t hold their own line without running into me, 2) process this information, and 3) respond by making the necessary adjustments.

So what about seeing me and processing my approach? There are multiple conditions can that affect cognitive function. These can be linked to or separate from difficulties then executing certain physical maneuvers. … Maybe I avoid bumping into people who “look” disabled. But this is not enough. Depending on severity, many disabilities are entirely invisible to the average passerby.

What about step 3 (making physical adjustments to share space with others)? Conditions could that limit the ability to make rapid physical adjustments to available space include some of the conditions listed above, plus cerebral palsy, the use of certain prosthetics, and traumatic brain injuries. Just because a person seems to be keeping pace with others and walking in a fairly straight line does not mean they have the capacity to execute last-minute maneuvers.

This is where the distinction I mentioned earlier between “letting a privileged person run into me” and “running into a person [that I perceive as more privileged]” breaks down.

#disability #chronic pain #be considerate #share the space #feminism

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MONTGOMERY, AL—Conveying her concerns that the additional obstacles presented by parenthood would be too much to bear, 12-year-old abuse survivor Abigail Dunn was reportedly worried Wednesday that she wouldn’t be able to handle being a mom on top of everything else she had going on. 

“I have several book reports and a big algebra test coming up in the next few weeks, and I had even been thinking about trying out for my school’s chorus, but giving birth and caring for an infant is going to really cut into my studying time,” said the seventh-grader, who acknowledged that the intense feelings of shame and fear associated with trauma had already placed her significantly behind her peers and added that there would likely be even greater challenges to raising the offspring of the man who attacked her. “This year has been hard in a lot of ways. We had to move to a new neighborhood, and my family life has been very, very bad, especially recently. My relationship with my stepdad is pretty much a nightmare. I wish I were responsible enough to look after a baby, but I’m just so scared that I won’t be. I’m really sorry.” 

At press time, Dunn had expressed hope that her unborn child would be friends with the babies of all her fellow pregnant classmates.

#alabama #tween pregnancy #satire #abuse #abortion law

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#EndIncomeInequality #EndOligarchy #TaxTheRich #UniteBlue #Politics #OurProgressive — view on Instagram http://bit.ly/2VyNVaO

#income #taxes #millionaire #etc

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“Perception is more important than reality.”

Jesus Christ. These people are absolutely fucking insane. 

#swamp politics #ivanka #how to win #perception #reality

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And, demanding benefits too!

#our country #southern pride #confederate flag #contradiction #patriotism

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#headphones #technology #tech #music #apple

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The consumer economy we have in America needs a fundamental change. The wealth generated in America needs to be taxed and spent to help the 99%, not given as welfare to the top 1%.

#bread #food #generation gap #society

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The destruction of nature threatens humanity “at least as much as human-induced climate change,” UN biodiversity chief Robert Watson said as the five-day meeting began.

“We have a closing window of opportunity to act and narrowing options.”

A 44-page draft “Summary for Policy Makers”, obtained by AFP, catalogues the 1,001 ways in which our species has plundered the planet and damaged its capacity to renew the resources upon which we depend, starting with breathable air, drinkable water and productive soil.

The impact of humanity’s expanding footprint and appetites has been devastating.

Up to a million species face extinction, many within decades, according to the report, and three-quarters of Earth’s land surface has been “severely altered”.

A third of ocean fish stocks are in decline, and the rest, barring a few, are harvested at the very edge of sustainability.

A dramatic die-off of pollinating insects, especially bees, threatens essential crops valued at half-a-trillion dollars annually.

Twenty 10-year targets adopted in 2010 under the United Nations’ biodiversity treaty - to expand protected areas, slow species and forest loss, and reduce pollution - will, with one or two exceptions, fail badly.

Based on an underlying report that draws from 400 experts and weighs in at 1,800 pages, the executive summary has to be vetted line-by-line by diplomats, with scientists at their elbow.

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) document, once approved, will be released on 6 May.

Historically, conservation biology has focused on the plight of pandas, polar bears and a multitude of less “charismatic” animals and plants that humanity is harvesting, eating, crowding or poisoning into oblivion.

But in the last two decades, that focus has shifted back to us.

“Up to now, we have talked about the importance of biodiversity mostly from an environmental perspective,” Watson told AFP ahead of the Paris meet.

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