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if-you-fan-a-fire · 11 months

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I'm inserting some of my own comments on a story with not a lot of information available, except that provided by a correctional officer - highly motivated to tell a very partial and anti-prisoner narrative. I am no expert - I've spoken very informally and casually to people who have done time or worked at Stony Mountain Penitentiary, but that's it. I await further information, or interviews with inmates or even staff outside the security apparatus about this incident.

From the Winnipeg Free Press, July 19, 2023:

"...a riot broke out in Stony Mountain Institution's exercise yard Monday. Corrections officers used live ammunition to break up the brawl; another inmate was sent to hospital with a gunshot wound. Colton Patchinose, 33, was pronounced dead shortly after RCMP officers from the Stonewall detachment arrived at the federal prison north of Winnipeg at 6:35 p.m. to help deal with the "large fight" that involved several "edged weapons." The prairie region president of the union that represents corrections officers said the officers fired multiple rounds as warning shots to try to quell the chaos that broke out before 6:30 p.m., striking an inmate, who remains in hospital. "There was an outright riot," Union of Canadian Correctional Officers [UCCO] official James Bloomfield told the Free Press Tuesday. Bloomfield said an estimated 30 inmates were directly involved in the brawl, using homemade knives and spikes and blunt force weapons and "anything they could grab a hold of in that yard" to fight each other. There was warning shots that were fired. That is not something that we do very often and it got to a point where there were "several warning shots fired," he said. "We did deploy a lot of pepper spray last night, as well, to try to get that group under control and get it all back to a safe place today." About 100 inmates were in the yard at the time, Bloomfield said.

[There is very clearly a lot more going on then the UCCO president is capable of articulating or understanding - that there was a need the night BEFORE this event to spray ranges in pepper spray raises some questions to me.]

...

"Definitely gang violence - that's what this is about, it is fuelled by the drug trade within the institution. This is what that results in, it is one of the most violent institutions in this country," he said. The union has been trying to push federal corrections officials to address violence and the drug trade in the prison but have not had much luck, he said.

['Gangs' in prison have a bunch of overlapping identifies and reasons for formation - including the tendency of CSC itself to identify any three individuals in an organization or group outside their sanction as a security threat group. The extent to which these gangs are connected to street gangs or organized crime in Winnipeg or elsewhere is hard to gauge from press statements. I'm sure it is a complicated issue. The gangs also serve as a way of organizing and controlling the flow of contraband into the prison, often with outside help. The Union head makes a big deal of 'throw-overs' - that is, contraband being thrown over the perimeter - though corrupt staff are also a major conduit as well as family visits. What drugs are being traded is left obscure as is the volume of this trade.]

////

From the CBC article, July 19, 2023:

"No correctional officers were physically injured but "as you can imagine, there's definitely mental health injuries that occur over the next day or two for witnessing a murder or for the stabbings that occurred," Bloomfield said. "That's a very difficult situation to respond to, to deal with, to see. So over the next few days we'll be monitoring the staff and looking for symptoms and signs of stress injuries and mental health injuries."

[Again, a man died and many other prisoners were injured - their concerns and undoubtedly the desire of many uninvolved in this incident for safety and security don't really matter in this framing of the event. 'Trauma' as a way for the caretakers of power to avoid their own responsibility for causing it themselves, or the broader issues that bring violence to their door, is a really growing trend I've noticed...]

The incident was another example of a violent and unpredictable work environment for staff at the prison, which is being fuelled by gang activity and drugs, Bloomfield said. "There has been a lot of violent activity at Stony Mountain for a very long time. We have a huge amount of drugs within that institution," he said. "It is one of the highest throw-over institutions in the country, which means people throwing drugs over the fences into the institution." Bloomfield also suggested there are few to no repercussions for inmates who are involved in violent behaviour, which allows it to escalate. "The service has refused to address any behavioural concerns … for a very long time. It's almost encouragement," he said.

[What the Union's demands are I can only imagine. At other institutions like Millhaven, security and safety for correctional staff means they have nearly complete control of movement throughout the institution, in defiance of the needs or planning of other departments (like classification, education, inmate committee...) to the point that it is detrimental to operations or the individual needs of inmates. Also, Stony Mountain has a very white guard force with a large Indigenous prisoner population, which can't help matters and might explain a great deal...]

#manitoba penitentiary #prison riot #prison violence #trafficking in prison #drug trafficking in prison #prison shooting #shot to death #correctional service of canada #prison guards #crime and punishment in canada #prison gangs #indigenous prisoners

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carriesthewind · 4 months

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Hmm, is that the sound of chickens, beginning to come home to roost?

After months of resisting, Air Canada was forced to give a partial refund to a grieving passenger who was misled by an airline chatbot inaccurately explaining the airline's bereavement travel policy. ... Air Canada was seemingly so invested in experimenting with AI that Crocker told the Globe and Mail that "Air Canada’s initial investment in customer service AI technology was much higher than the cost of continuing to pay workers to handle simple queries." It was worth it, Crocker said, because "the airline believes investing in automation and machine learning technology will lower its expenses" and '"fundamentally" create "a better customer experience."

I also highly recommend reading the decision itself:

Highlights:

"In effect, Air Canada suggests the chatbot is a separate legal entity that is responsible for its own actions. This is a remarkable submission."

"While Air Canada argues Mr. Moffatt could find the correct information on another part of its website, it does not explain why the webpage titled “Bereavement travel” was inherently more trustworthy than its chatbot. It also does not explain why customers should have to double-check information found in one part of its website on another part of its website."

And not "AI" related, but delicious snark:

"Air Canada is a sophisticated litigant that should know it is not enough in a legal process to assert that a contract says something without actually providing the contract."

#ai bs #lol #and good for the customer for refusing to take the company's shit #and taking them to court #I am a big fan of customers taking companies to small claims court

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dromaeocore · 11 months

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For those of you who like the idea of peer respites, I just want to say these are not the only alternatives to the mainstream psych system :] Here's a big ol' list, and many/most of them are peer-run. I live in America, so a lot of this is US-based, but I've tried to make it as internationally accessible as possible!

I'll start with the live-in options. So ya'll already know about peer respites, if you read my latest post about it. There's a few more similar things out there.

Soteria Houses - More long-term (months+) community homes for folks with lived experience of psychosis/similar extreme states, with peer support, that focus on a humane and person-centered approach. Much more freedom & agency than your traditional group home.

Hurdalsjøen Recovery Center - a "medication-free" (aka medication-optional) psychiatric hospital in Norway. Allows patients to choose whether to stay on or taper/remain off psychiatric drugs. Focused on healthy eating, exercise, and recreational therapy options.

Bethel House - Similar to Soteria Houses, a homelike environment in Japan for people with schizophrenia, etc. that focuses on social reintegration.

Organizations, clubs, groups, etc:

Students With Psychosis - A peer support community with programming for students with psychosis

International Map of Hearing Voices/Intervoice networks - Non=pathological support groups for people who hear voices, see visions, etc. US directory, UK directory.

Clubhouse International - Gives people with mental illness opportunities for friendship, employment, housing, educational, and medical services all in one place. Founded by a group of friends who survived a psychiatric hospital together.

Project LETS - A radical approach to peer support and healing that has a disability justice centered approach, giving people with lived experience a voice and focusing on mutual aid. They provide peer mental health advocates, self-harm prevention, and more.

The Mad Society of Canada: A grassroots community of practice that brings together folks who want to provide non-coercive, ethical, survivor-informed mental health services/policy.

Power to the Plurals: Resources and events for people who identify as plural/multiple/systems.

The Wildflower Alliance: Grassroots peer support, training, and advocacy community based in Massachusetts.

Alternatives To Suicide (Alt2Su): Peer support groups that allow people to talk about suicidal thoughts without fear of being committed to the hospital, etc

Trainings:

Intentional Peer Support = Trauma-informed peer support training

Emotional CPR - Trauma-informed mental health support training program for the layperson

Hearing Voices Curriculum: Targeted towards mental health professionals to better understand the experience of hearing voices. Warning: It's expensive!

Cities that have a particularly awesome way of dealing with folks in crisis/with mental illness/etc:

Geel - a farming community where residents welcome people suffering with severe mental illness/distress into their homes and live with them, share work, etc (Edit: apparently Geel is a small city with like 40,000 people and not a farming community lol, I was misinformed. Thanks to @roxbot for the correction!)

Trieste - a city with a community centered system of care that integrates housing and peer support

Warmlines (generally run by peers) and Crisis Lines that don't call the cops: (Most of these are taken from this post by trans-axolotl on Crisis Lines)

Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860, 24/7

BlackLine: 1 (800) 604-5841, has texting options

The Plural Warmline (No number, check the site)

THRIVE: text message line at 313-662-8209, 24/7

Promise Resource Network: (833) 390-7728, 24/7

Project Return Peer Support Network: (888) 448-9777 English or (888) 448-4055 Spanish, hours are Monday through Friday 2:30 PM to 10:00 PM PST and Saturday and Sunday 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM PST

Wildflower Alliance Peer Support Line: 888-407-4515, hours are 7pm to 9pm EST Monday through Thursday and 7pm-10pm EST Friday through Sunday

Key Consumer Organization: 800-933-5397, hours are 8am - 4:30pm EST, Monday - Friday.

MBRLC Peer Support Line: 877-733-7563, hours are 4 pm-7:45 pm EST every day.

US Warmline Directory (unlikely to call cops, but check with the individual line first)

Misc:

CommonGround software - A software developed by Dr. Pat Deegan (an individual who was diagnosed with schizophrenia) that allows clients to communicate their needs to their doctors more efficiently to support shared-decision making with medication.

Open Dialogue- An psychosocial approach to psychiatric services that focuses shared decision-making and dialogue between client, providers, and family (if the client wants family involved), and often more minimal use of medication.

Integrative Psychiatry - A holistic form of psychiatry that focuses on nutrition, exercise, therapy, and psychosocial factors, where medication is just an aspect of treatment. US database of integrative psychiatrists here.

I will also give a somewhat honorable mention to Mobile Crisis Teams. They are a fairly new alternative to the usual "call the cops on your local mentally ill person". They are composed of nurses, therapists, social workers, occasionally peer support workers, etc. They hook the individual up with support/resources - which can often mean forced hospitalization/forced treatment FYI - but it is a step up from being killed by cops. Look up "[city] Mobile Crisis Team" to find out if there is one in your city.

A note: Something being on this list =/= it is perfect, just that it is an alternative to what we've got. So don't come at me, lmao. Feel free to add on if you know of anything else!

#long post #VERY long post lol #mental health #psychiatry #psych critical #psychiatry critical #psych wards #mental illness #neurodivergency #police brutality #antipsych #antipsychiatry #anti psychiatry #peer support #oh i'm gonna write a book on all this stuff btw uwu #WHAT ELSE CAN I TAG THIS WITH SO IT SHOWS UP FOR PPL???

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orion-my-rion · 5 months

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i cannot keep quiet about this anymore.

if you're in the US or Canada and interested in learning a language using a free app please get a library card and download MANGO. it's very good and extremely free with a library card (there are many public libraries and universities using the service, so make an account and use the search feature here to find out if there's one near you).

mango currently has 72 available languages and dialects (that's right! different courses for french or canadian french! spanish or latam spanish!). it's set up basically like an audiobook with text. the idea is that the narrator explains the words while you read, and you repeat after them or say the translation out loud when prompted. there's a daily review where you go through flashcards. you can also use the flashcards at your leisure and create your own. at the end of each chapter there's a listening comprehension quiz and a reading comprehension quiz. i cannot emphasize how effective this all is. and it's free with a card.

if you're not in the US or Canada and/or looking for something more like duolingo (don't use duolingo btw tldr they fired translators and replaced them with "ai"), then try BUSUU! it only has 14 languages atm but the lessons are really descriptive and effective. it also has a feature where you can correct other people's open-ended speaking/typing exercises. you set your fluent languages, and exercises by people learning those languages will appear in your feed for you to correct. you can even add others as friends! and, much like duolingo, it has a streak and leaderboard system for you to strive for, minus the guilt-tripping owl.

busuu is free (you watch ads to unlock lessons and they're all skippable after like five seconds), although it also has paid premium/plus versions (i don't use the paid version—the language courses are available for free, and the ad system is Really unobtrusive).

so that's my wisdom for the day. mango and busuu. please check them out :)

#languages #language learning #mango languages #busuu #duolingo #<- in case people are using this tag to search for alternatives #this feels like a sponsor thing. it's not. i'm just autistic about language resources #i had to make a post about this bc my family and friends are tired of hearing about it LOL #orion originals

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godbirdart · 11 months

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since paypal is once again a hot topic because of the “”new”” conversion fee:

international paypal users are already familiar with the conversion fee. this isn’t new to anyone outside the USA. we’ve been paying conversion fees on our USD to [insert regional currency] conversions forever now, it ain’t new.

you can correct me if i’m wrong - and i 100% encourage yall to double check yourselves instead of simply taking my word at face value - but the only difference is they’re making the conversion automatic. instead of you yourself manually converting the currency you have in your paypal account, any international currency is automatically converted to your local one the moment you receive it. i didn’t see the fee rates but knowing paypal, they’re probably increasing the conversion fees.

you can opt out of the automatic conversion by going through your payment preferences under the block payments tab - you just have to do so before September 11, 2023.

to the american artists trying to switch to other services for their commissions may I bring to your attention the following: Cashapp, Venmo and Zelle are all exclusive to the United States [with the exception of Cashapp, which does have availability in the UK]

americans won’t be impacted much [if at all] by this if you’re doing USD to USD transactions. if you really want to switch to something else because paypal just sucks all around, maybe consider Square or Stripe.

Square is available in the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, the UK, Ireland, France and Spain

and Stripe has availability in the following countries

someone mentioned that Wise is also out there. i personally haven’t used wise and i don’t want to just go ahead and blindly recommend it if i haven’t had any firsthand experience with its services, but it does have a large global availability - even some countries that Square and Stripe don’t have.

feel free to add to this, or correct me if i’m wrong anywhere. i want artists online to thrive instead of outright panicking every time paypal so much as twitches

#paypal #long post #july 2023

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vergess · 1 day

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hello do you happen to have an explanation/definition of what pinkwashing is? don't trust googlie with a term so new and it does not line up with my understanding of the terms it's made up of (-washing = covering or changing the original or true depiction, pink- = I only know this term in politics from pink-collar and I am 99% certain it does not mean the same thing here)

Oh, yeah, you're absolutely correct about it not being a pink-collar thing.

For my followers, pink-collar refers to paid work outside the home that is traditionally held by women. The "pink" refers to women, femininity, etc. Just girly things, if you will.

In pink-washing, however, the pink refers to pink triangles, a prominent symbol of queer survival after pink triangles were used to mark sexual deviants (that is, gay men and trans women).

Pink-washing is the use of "we have queer rights, unlike those barbaric savages" to justify state violence.

Right now, the term is mostly coming up in discussions of Israel. In that specific context, it refers to the fact that Israel is far and away the most progressive and well-protected place for queer people of all sorts in the middle east. Which the Israeli government often likes to point to as proof that their brutal ethnic cleansing is a "necessary force" to protect queer lives from Islamist extremism.

It's a sort of, "look, I know what I'm doing is bad, but what they're doing is way worse: look at how badly they treat their queers. Obviously I must be violent to help civilize the animals, for the sake of their queers," often while actively killing queer civilians for being for the wrong race.

Unfortunately, pink-washing is itself strong evidence that a state devalues her queer citizens, thinking of them not as vulnerable people to be protected (as the state will insist is the case), but rather as tokens to be trotted out as proof of the state's "goodness." And should any queer person defy the role of "good little token," they are inevitably and severely punished. As they say (they being in this case an Israeli sociologist whose name escapes me entirely), "A trans woman in uniform will be given medical care, but a trans woman who refuses military service will go to a men's prison."

Pink-washing is also extremely, EXTREMELY common in the U.S. though this doesn't get as much air time lately as Israeli pink-washing. But, the U.S. very regularly uses pink-washing around gay (not so much trans) rights to justify both imperial and domestic violence. Even at the per-state level, it is extremely common for people in "progressive" states to say absurd shit like, "well we treat our gays with respect, unlike Alabama!" to thought-stop themselves from noticing how miserable their lives are as a direct consequence of state action (or even state inaction to stop violence, as is often the case with capitalism and policing problems).

There's also a significant problem in Canada with their pretty solid record on queer rights being used as a counter-argument to their mistreatment of indigenous peoples. This too is pink-washing.

Pink-washing also devalues to lives and specifically the queerness of the people being targeted for violence. You know. By killing them and stuff. But also by denying that they deserve the very right to life and safety that is supposedly the mission statement.

If the entire point of pink-washed violence really was queer liberation, they would suck at that because they keep killing all the queer people they don't fucking like.

#Asks #Answered asks #foggysharkstarlight #pinkwashing #Homonationalism

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sgiandubh · 8 months

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Mordor says He returned only for Visa reasons. They did some math and understood that Sam had been there for almost 90 days, só It was time for a quick walk home.

Dear Visa Anon,

Which Mordor luminary came with this idea? The MENSA-level CRT Clique or Miss Marple, who thinks I know nothing (the Dimwit from Madrid is still learning how to spell, so I can't believe it's her)?

Regardless. These people should immediately stop watching Ninety-Day Fiancé on their cable network, following a severe overdose on Uzbek midgets and Egyptian gigolos 'looking for true love' stories.

Maybe they could also have checked their facts before solemnly stating bullshit, since they clearly think all the visitors to the wonderful U S of A are tourists and as such, entitled to a maximum 90-day stay at a time (and then a short hike to Tijuana or Canada and back on tracks: not EDI/GLA, FFS!).

Incidentally, may I remind these geniuses that S has been spotted only near EDI, which of course would mean for them he'd be getting his visa there. Unless...

Unless you know the US General Consulate in EDI does not issue any type of visas - LOL, idiots. And unless he'd need to be in LHR for the pre-appointed interview and then another 7 working days delay for processing and 1-3 working days for passport delivery by mail only (never in person, chickadees). Doesn't really click with timelines, Madam Expert.

Because they are all very intelligent, they also forgot everything about/never bothered to look for the new-ish ESTA system (https://www.handyvisas.com/esta-us-visa/british/), especially designed for Visa Waiver countries' citizens. So I insist: if traveling as a tourist, S does not need a visa to enter the US for up to 90 days - that is correct, but by no means applicable to S's reality. And if he knew he'd need to stay more than 90 days, he would have applied for a visa - mandatory - in London before the Summer of Sassenach tour.

But he is not traveling as a tourist and very probably not under another type of non-immigrant visa, simply because he has businesses there and he is also involved in the OL project with *** (d'oh!).

Let's unpack:

As per US current regulations, S cannot apply for a B-1 (business non immigrant visa). To understand why, kindly refer to the US Customs and Border Protection FAQ (https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/B-1%20permissible%20activities.pdf). I already munched it up for you:

He could only apply for a O-1 B immigration visa, for which his agent or employer should mandatorily petition the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. These are special visas designed for the individual who (...) has a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry and has been recognized nationally or internationally for those achievements. This is very subjective and a contract with * should be enough - I was in a taxi when I received your ask and immediately checked with a friend from the US Consulate, to indulge you. And all this hassle just because a Tumblr Nobody has flatulent opinions, huh?

According to the USCIS's own regulations, not Dutch fantasy or Belfast sagas, the authorized period of stay and possibility of extension are as follows (https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-workers/o-1-visa-individuals-with-extraordinary-ability-or-achievement):

The good thing about getting this visa (and I think * sorted it out a long time ago for both of them) is that it helps tremendously with the Green Card procedures, something I bet the farm both S & C already have, by now.

So doing the maths was perfectly inane and useless.

Does that answer your question, clever Anon? Can I go back to the Quaich post I must finish (it will be VERY long, beware) today?

Thanks for asking and I am sorry for the length: this fandom being paranoid, I had to include all the tedious details. I hope we can put this idiocy to rest, now. Parochial twits.

#anon

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mostlysignssomeportents · 1 year

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The IRS will do your taxes for you (if that's what you prefer)

This Saturday (May 20), I’ll be at the GAITHERSBURG Book Festival with my novel Red Team Blues; then on May 22, I’m keynoting Public Knowledge’s Emerging Tech conference in DC.

On May 23, I’ll be in TORONTO for a book launch that’s part of WEPFest, a benefit for the West End Phoenix, onstage with Dave Bidini (The Rheostatics), Ron Diebert (Citizen Lab) and the whistleblower Dr Nancy Olivieri.

America is a world leader in allowing private companies to levy taxes on its citizens, including (stay with me here), a tax on paying your taxes.

In most of the world, the tax authorities prepare a return for each taxpayer, sending them a prepopulated form with all their tax details — collected from employers and other regulated entities, like pension funds and commodities brokers, who must report income to the tax office. If the form is correct, the taxpayer signs it and sends it back (in some countries, taxpayers don’t even have to do that — they just ignore the return unless they want to amend it).

No one has to use this system, of course. If you have complex finances, or cash income that doesn’t show up in mandatory reporting, or if you’d just prefer to prepare your own return or pay an accountant to do so for you, you can. But for the majority of people, those with income from a job or a pension, and predictable deductions, say, from caring for minor children, filing your annual tax return takes between zero and five minutes and costs absolutely nothing.

Not so in America. America is one of the very few rich countries (including Canada, though this is changing), where the government won’t just send you a form containing all the information it already has, ready to file. As is common in complex societies, America has a complex tax code (further complexified by deliberate obfuscation by billionaires and their lickspittle Congressjerks, who deliberately perforate the tax code with loopholes for the ultra-rich):

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/11/the-canada-variant/#shitty-man-of-history-theory

That complexity means that most of us can’t figure out how to file our own taxes, at least not without committing scarce hours out of the only life we will ever have to poring over the ramified and obscure maze of tax-law.

Why doesn’t the IRS just send you a tax-return? Well, because the tax-prep industry — an oligopoly dominated by a handful of massive, ultra-profitable firms — bribes Congress (that is, “lobbies”) to prohibit this. They are aided in this endeavor by swivel-eyed lunatic anti-tax obsessives, like Grover Nordquist and Americans for Tax Reform, who argue that paying taxes should be as difficult and painful as possible in order to foment opposition to taxation itself.

The tax-prep industry is dominated by a single firm, Intuit, who took over tax-prep through its anticompetitive acquisition of TurboTax, itself a chimera of multiple companies gobbled up in a decades-long merger orgy. Inuit is a freaky company. For decades, its defining CEO Brad Smith ran the company as a cult of personality organized around his trite sayings, like “Do whatever makes your heart beat fastest,” stenciled on t-shirts worn by employees. Other employees donned Brad Smith masks for selfies with their Beloved Leader.

Smith’s cult also spent decades lobbying to keep the IRS from offering a free filing service. Instead, Intuit joined a cartel that offered a “Free File” service to some low- and medium-income Americans:

https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free

But the cartel sabotaged Free File from the start. They blocked search engines from indexing their Free File services, then bought Google ads for “free file” that directed searchers to soundalike programs (“Free Filing,” etc) that hit them for hundreds of dollars in tax-prep fees. They also funneled users to versions of Free File they were ineligible for, a fact that was only revealed after the user spent hours painstaking entering their financial information, whereupon they would be told that they could either start over or pay hundreds of dollars to finish filing with a commercial product.

Intuit also pioneered the use of binding arbitration waivers that stripped its victims of the right to sue the company after it defrauded them. This tactic blew up in Intuit’s face after its victims banded together to mass-file thousands of arbitration claims, sending the company to court to argue that binding arbitration wasn’t enforceable after all:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/24/uber-for-arbitration/#nibbled-to-death-by-ducks

But justice eventually caught up with Intuit. After a series of stinging exposes by Propublica journalists Justin Elliot, Paul Kiel and others, NY Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of AGs from all 50 states and DC that extracted a $141m settlement for 4.4 million Americans who had been tricked into paying for Turbotax services they were entitled to get for free:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/turbotax-to-begin-payouts-after-it-cheated-customers-new-york-ag-says/ar-AA1aNXfi

Fines are one thing, but the only way to comprehensively end the predatory tax-prep scam is to bring the USA kicking and screaming into the 20th century, when most of the rest of the world brought in free tax-prep for ordinary income earners. That’s just what’s happening: the IRS is trialing a free tax prep service for next year’s tax season:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/05/15/irs-free-file/

This, despite Intuit’s all-out blitz attack on Congress and the IRS to keep free tax-prep from ever reaching the American people:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/20/turbotaxed/#counter-intuit

That charm offensive didn’t stop the IRS from releasing a banger of a report that made it clear that free tax-prep was the most efficient, humane and cost-effective way to manage an advanced tax-system (something the rest of the world has known for decades):

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p5788.pdf

Of course, Intuit is furious, as in spitting feathers. Rick Heineman, Intuit’s spokesprofiteer, told KQED that “A direct-to-IRS e-file system is wholly redundant and is nothing more than a solution in search of a problem. That solution will unnecessarily cost taxpayers billions of dollars and especially harm the most vulnerable Americans.”

https://www.kqed.org/news/11949746/the-irs-is-building-its-own-online-tax-filing-system-tax-prep-companies-arent-happy

Despite Upton Sinclair’s advice that “it is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it,” I will now attempt to try to explain to Heineman why he is unfuckingbelievably, eye-wateringly wrong.

“e-file…is wholly redundant”: Well, no, Rick, it’s not redundant, because there is no existing Free File system except for the one your corrupt employer made and hid “in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.’”

“nothing more than a solution in search of a problem”: The problem this solves is that Americans have to pay Intuit billions to pay their taxes. It’s a tax on paying taxes. That is a problem.

“unnecessarily cost taxpayers billions of dollars”: No, it will save taxpayers the billions of dollars (they pay you).

“harm the most vulnerable Americans”: Here is an area where Heineman can speak with authority, because few companies have more experience harming vulnerable Americans.

Take the Child Tax Credit. This is the most successful social program in living memory, a single initiative that did more to lift American children out of poverty than any other since the days of the Great Society. It turns out that giving poor people money makes them less poor, which is weird, because neoliberal economists have spent decades assuring us that this is not the case:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/16/mortgages-are-rent-control/#housing-is-a-human-right-not-an-asset

But the Child Tax Credit has been systematically sabotaged, by Intuit lobbyists, who successfully added layer after layer of red tape — needless complexity that makes it nearly impossible to claim the credit without expert help — from the likes of Intuit:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/29/three-times-is-enemy-action/#ctc

It worked. As Ryan Cooper writes in The American Prospect: “between 13 and 22 percent of EITC benefits are gulped down by tax prep companies”:

https://prospect.org/economy/2023-05-17-irs-takes-welcome-step-20th-century/

So yes, I will defer to Rick Heineman and his employer Intuit on the subject of “harming the most vulnerable Americans.” After all, they’re the experts. National champions, even.

Now I want to address the peply guys who are vibrating with excitement to tell me about their 1099 income, the cash money they get from their lemonade stand, the weird flow of krugerrands their relatives in South African FedEx to them twice a year, etc, that means that free file won’t work for them because the IRS doesn’t actually understand their finances.

That’s a hard problem, all right. Luckily, there is a very simple answer for this: use a tax-prep service.

Actually, it’s not a hard problem. Just use a tax-prep service. That’s it. No one is going to force you to use the IRS’s free e-file. All you need to do to avoid the socialist nightmare of (checks notes) living with less red-tape is: continue to do exactly what you’re already doing.

Same goes for those of you who have a beloved family accountant you’ve used since the Eisenhower administration. All you need to do to continue to enjoy the advice of that trusted advisor is…nothing. That’s it. Simply don’t change anything.

One final note, addressing the people who are worried that the IRS will cheat innocent taxpayers by not giving them all the benefits they’re entitled to. Allow me here to simply tap the sign that says “between 13 and 22 percent of EITC benefits are gulped down by tax prep companies.” In other words, when you fret about taxpayers being ripped off, you’re thinking of Intuit, not the IRS. Just calm down. Why not try using fluoridated toothpaste? You’ll feel better, and I promise I won’t tell your friends at the Gadsen Flag appreciation society.

Your secret is safe with me.

Catch me on tour with Red Team Blues in Toronto, DC, Gaithersburg, Oxford, Hay, Manchester, Nottingham, London, and Berlin!

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/17/free-as-in-freefile/#tell-me-something-i-dont-know

[Image ID: A vintage drawing of Uncle Sam toasting with a glass of Champagne, superimposed over an IRS 1040 form that has been fuzzed into a distorted halftone pattern.]

#pluralistic #earned income tax credit #eitc #irs #grover nordquist #guillotine watch #turbotax #taxes #death and taxes #freefile #monopoly #intuit

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delurkr · 1 month

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The Canadian Clarke AU - The Draft Lottery and the Move to Canada

This post concerns events that took place in 1970, 1971, and early 1972. Skip the first heading if you don't want an explanation of the relevant real-world info:

Background:

The Vietnam War had technically been going on for most of Dennis's life and it escalated in the 1960s, as did many Americans' resistance to the draft. From 1969 through 1972 the U.S. was drafting young men into the military through a lottery system. The function of the lottery was to assign a random number, ranging from 1 to 365 (or 366), to every day of the year, namely to every possible birthday. Each year, the numbers were drawn in an event publicized through every media outlet. The assigned numbers determined the order of who would be drafted in the following year: the first number called was 1, and the numbers increased until the cutoff the next year (December 31 unless otherwise extended), and then the next lottery would be drawn if needed.

To be clear, if you were a young man in the correct age bracket targeted by a given year's lottery, the random number assigned to your birthday told you how likely you were to be drafted the next year. The draft calls started with 1 and worked their way up throughout the year. The first Vietnam-era lottery, held in 1969, called men during 1970, and at the end of 1970 the highest number called turned out to be 195. That number sort of set the standard for individuals concerned about being drafted in future lotteries, although the numbers in following years never reached that high again.

So that was me trying to explain the relevant parts as clearly as I could, but here is the U.S. government webpage on the topic, with charts of the numbers assigned to every birthday in each year's lottery: Vietnam Lotteries | Selective Service System : Selective Service System (sss.gov)

The effect on Dennis:

Dennis was born on April 29, 1951. The draft lottery held on July 1, 1970, targeted men born in 1951. The number randomly assigned to his birthday was 111 out of 365. In 1971, number 111 was drafted, the highest number called being 125.

My best guess is that Dennis would have received a notice of induction into the military towards the end of 1971. Obviously there's no reason to assume he is a military member in canon, but at the same time there's no other canon-supported reason to believe that he would have grounds to be excused from the draft in real life, so that's why this AU exists.

Story:

In 1970, the Clarkes of course know that there is a chance that 19-year-old Dennis could be drafted next year. On the first day of July, the family watches and listens to the lottery broadcast as the numbers are called. Dennis is assigned number 111. It is not high enough to keep them from worrying. It's only halfway through 1970, and the previous lottery is still underway; no one yet knows how high "high enough" is, but the numbers climb as the year goes on, and when the previous lottery expires after reaching 195, they can reasonably fear that Dennis's number will be snatched up before the end of the year 1971.

Cue the Clarkes spending a year and a half in anxiety that Dennis will be forced into the military at age 20. He will perhaps be sent to the war in Vietnam and potentially never make it back home, like thousands of soldiers already - perhaps even a few they used to know. They stew over it, but for the sake of Megan in particular they rarely speak of it out in the open. The issue is merely added to the pile of mounting pressure created from the failing factory and, once October comes, Megan's increasingly disturbed behavior and whatever else.

(Note that these details are still open to adjustment, I'm always learning new info.) Early in 1971, Dennis has a pre-induction physical examination, which basically works as a head start to establish that he's eligible to be drafted when/if his number comes up. Bad news for him: he passes, and the military officially classifies him as 1-A, fit for military service if he gets called.

Then there's a point soon after when Anne puts together a letter to the draft board inquiring about the possibility of him getting conscientious objector status, but James makes sure it is never sent. It's not a completely unreasonable fear that the letter would only bring attention to Dennis and potentially get him a draft order sooner or even prevent him from getting completely overlooked if there was any tiny chance of that happening.

In November, Dennis receives an order of induction in the mail. He is given a certain date on which he is required to report and be sworn into the military and then be shipped off to basic training immediately, a date that's probably only a month or less away. It seems Dennis doesn't have a choice, except - there is always a choice, if the nation's many thousands of war resistors, including the ones fleeing to countries out of reach of the U.S. government, have proven anything.

James knows what he wants. It's no secret that he has always hated this war and its politics; he has two young sons, his sons, and they aren't going off to die in Nixon's war on his watch (no he doesn't care that President Nixon didn't start the conflict). In line with his usual m.o. of outwardly ignoring problems and hoping they go away, James insists that they ignore the draft notice, end of story. Maybe the draft board won't follow up on it. If they do, well, he'll take care of it then.

For Anne, it's more complicated. If your country calls, it's a duty to answer, and on a practical level Dennis does not have any other legal options. Of course she doesn't want to see him in a war, and if they had acted earlier he might have had a chance to join the reserves or something, but it's too late for that now, so why prolong the inevitable? The best thing now is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best like everyone did in the wars of her generation and every generation before.

Dennis himself is mostly unsure about what he should do; all over the country there's all sorts of clashing opinions to reckon with and the war is still very confusing, even though lately he couldn't help but tune in to more of the discussions, knowing that it was likely only a matter of time before it all affected him. But one sure thing is that the negative publicity and extensive media coverage of this war leaves no room for heroic fantasies, and it would be nice to not end up numbered in one of the daily casualty reports on the nightly news. So if dad says he doesn't have to go, then... he doesn't want to go. And then, too soon for any of them, the date passes when he was supposed to report, and he didn't go.

So on January 16, 1972, the family is in limbo. They don't know what's going to happen next, and they can't really ask around to find out. Dennis is breaking the law, and if the wrong person finds out he's knowingly ignoring an induction order, they might inform the authorities and who knows what would happen then. The one thing they all know is that Dennis's days with the family are numbered - realistically, it's only a matter of time before the draft board doubles down on the matter. The only options the Clarkes see are for Dennis to join the military, or pack his bags and sneak out of the country.

At the start of February, they are driven to action. It's a Wednesday when Dennis gets a second notice from the draft board with a new induction date; it serves as another chance in case he missed the first order, but it's also a warning if he's been intentionally defying it.

So the Clarkes don't push their luck any further. Dennis has already made his decision to leave the country if it came to that. There's a quick few days of hurried packing and realizing they are thoroughly under-researched and unprepared for what his move to Canada may entail, but that Sunday Dennis's luggage and most of the Clarkes are piled into the family station wagon on the multi-hour trip to Montreal, Quebec. (Only Tanya opted out of the trip, and Dennis will spend the next few years being bitter about that.)

The tension in that car gets stronger and stronger as they approach the border. They've heard tell of so many other draft dodgers escaping to Canada, but were those Americans privy to some insight the Clarkes don't have? They don't know if they will be refused entry if they pick the wrong point of crossing, and they can't even be sure there isn't a chance that Dennis could be arrested on the spot if they give the wrong answers to the wrong questions.

But the crossing is unexpectedly smooth after all. They're visitors, they tell the border official, and they make a quick and quiet entry into Canada.

There isn't much for the Clarkes to do when they reach Montreal. It's a big city, and somewhere there's folks who help people like Dennis, but James and Anne hardly know more than Dennis himself does. "Find the Americans" is the best advice they can give. They have to leave in a few hours; tomorrow is a workday. They find a cheap room for Dennis to stay in and give him some cash, and they promise to help him with the immigration process when the time comes. They can mail him whatever papers he needs. They can mail him any of his possessions if he left something important back home. They can mail letters, and he can write back.

"Call us in the morning," they tell him, and several hours later the Clarkes are down one member on the return trip to Little Hope, while Dennis is left by himself in a hotel room in Montreal with some very dim-looking prospects and no idea what to do next.

Aaaand that's the start of the AU. Congratulate yourself if you read this far, and here's the timeline for good measure 🙂

#too many words lol but there is way more that has to be explained #i'll cover his first few years in canada in other posts eventually #canadian clarke au #little hope au #dennis clarke #the clarke family #the dark pictures anthology #little hope

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ere-the-sun-rises · 4 months

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Please for your own sake do 5 minutes of reading on the subject instead of uncritically repeating what you were taught as a child. Hamas are the military wing of the political party that currently administrate Gaza and have since 2006. Terrorism is an arbitrary label applied to any violence that opposes the actions of a state.

Hi! Thanks for reaching out! I understand what you're trying to say, and you're not entirely wrong. However, there is some key points you're misunderstanding. There are differences between terrorists, militants and state actors.

Terrorists can be lone wolves in service of a higher ideology, decentralized violent movements or organized collectives that use terror tactics as a means to achieve their goals (usually because there are relatively few of them). These acts do not have to be against their own state or a state at all. A Western example of this would be the FLQ, a Québeçois separationist group from Canada active in the 1980s. This group bombed mailboxes, cars and offices, as well as abducted and killed politicians.

Militants are a more cohesive unit, large and well armed enough to engage in direct engagement. They also tend to be more centralized and can carry out coordinated long-term assault strategies. They can resort to terrorist strategy, but do not depend on them. The IRA were militants.

State actors are organizations that belong to a government, in-power political party or country. These would include things like police, armies, private military contractors (in the employ of a state), the Nazi SS (originally the Nazi Party's militarized wing) or the USA's National Guard.

To be a state, there must be a geographical zone one controls, an affiliated populace and an independent governmental body (as in, it operates itself without answering to a mother-state as a colony would be expected to). To achieve statehood, the state must also be internationally recognized, since acceptance of government-issued documentation (like passports) depend on other states accepting them as valid. States can exist as clients to larger states, or depend heavily on another state for resources so long as daily government function is not answerable to another state.

With those definitions out of the way: Palestine, Hamas and Israel, then.

Israel is an internationally recognized state with a UN seat, their own armies, allies and treaties. Israelis have government documentation accepted around the world and there are routes to becoming an Israeli citizen. Israel is a state.

Palestine is a geographical zone within which Israel exists, as well as a by-word for an ethnicity belonging to said region. Palestine does not have a functional government, cannot issue government documentation or verify citizenship, nor does it control its own internal affairs uninterrupted. This is because Israel has stopped it from doing so - funding for any bureaucracy comes from Israel and Israel controls the borders, whether that be letting people in or out. Palestine is not recognized as a state by any other states.

Hamas is a terrorist organization. It fails to make militant status because its forces are small, it cannot control or hold territory, it is not capable of meeting another force in direct engagement and it relies almost exclusively on terrorist tactics to accomplish any goal. You are correct that Hamas was voted into power in 2006, but that means very little. Not only was that election's turnout suppressed by Hamas to start, but it was 18 years ago without another being held since. Insofar as a government exists/has existed at all, it is not independent. As I said, Israel controls the geographic zone in its entirety - Hamas has no control over Palestine's border, nor does it issue passports or verify citizenship and it was never capable of doing so. What Ministries do function are paid for by Israel, not through state revenues like taxes (which you need state apparatus to extract, which Hamas does not have). Even the PLO in the West Bank (which is closer to an actual government body) does not have that power and never did. Does Hamas run institutions like the Health Ministry which are usually run by governments? Yes. Does that make it a government? No. Because it cannot govern.

I have a feeling, my friend, that you are the one who has not read very much. Israel has willfully decided to attack a geographically captive group of non-citizens who do not belong to any state in order to eliminate a terrorist organization. As the only state actor in this conflict, Israel is in control and always have been. They, therefore, are liable for every horrific thing they've done over the last 70-some years and have no excuse for any of it.

Irregardless, I don't give a fuck about Hamas. Hamas are terrorists - what the fuck did you think they were gonna do? They were gonna do terrorism, you goddamn idiot. Israel doesn't have an excuse - they're genocidal apartheid warmongers who want to annex the whole region for their own. The end.

I hope every Israeli official who authorized this gets tried in the Hague and every soldier who gleefully participated in this never know peace for the rest of their hopefully long and miserable lives.

I hope every innocent Israeli civilian never has to worry about terrorism in their lives again. I hope every Palestianian never hears gunfire or ordinance ever again, that they will know warm homes, olive trees, complete families and peace again and never lose it.

And I hope you, my friend, never ever find yourself in a situation where your horrific and unmitigated suffering is so ruthlessly and heartlessly dismissed - that you never know what it is like to live the way the Palestinians are right now.

No one deserves this.

#Palestine #Israel #Hamas #israel hamas war #i stand with palestine #free gaza #free palestine #politics

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allthecanadianpolitics · 1 month

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Every morning, Indigenous men at the Waseskun Healing Centre north of Montreal gather for a healing circle, where they smudge, share stories and sometimes gain spiritual guidance from elders.

The centre is the equivalent of a minimum-security prison but here, the men are called residents, rather than inmates, prisoners or offenders. [...]

Waseskun is among 10 healing centres across the country that are funded by Correctional Service Canada and reserved for Indigenous offenders serving time in federal custody. The lodge, one of the oldest in Canada, sits amid the tall pines and rocky land of Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez, 100 kilometres north of Montreal.

It is the only federally funded healing centre east of Manitoba and is one of six in the country that is Indigenous-run. Waseskun, which has been singled out by Public Safety Canada as a success story, serves only men and has 22 spots reserved for those who were sentenced to terms of more than two years. [...]

Zinger said there’s an urgent need for more and better-funded Indigenous-led healing centres to provide alternatives to conventional prisons. Almost three decades after the creation of the first healing lodge in Canada, there are only 139 beds across the six community-run healing lodges in Canada. Lodges run by the CSC provide another 250 beds. [...]

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland

#cdnpoli #Indigenous persecution #healthcare #mental healthcare #budget plans #there's 10 of them how are you underfunding them fucks' sake

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if-you-fan-a-fire · 2 years

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Prisoners have the right to vote “Scholars use the term carceral citizens to refer to people who are criminalized and face significant constraints to participating fully in social, economic and political life.

Issues that impact the general public are also issues that impact imprisoned people. As critical public policy and criminology scholars active in community work, we spoke with current and formerly imprisoned people to hear about how they experienced voting in Ontario’s prisons.

Interviewees told us the majority of imprisoned people return to their communities, so it is important for them to have a democratic voice and stake in the communities they return to.

One recently released federally imprisoned person, and former chair of the inmate committee at Joyceville Institution, Kevin Belanger, shared his thoughts about why being allowed to vote is so crucial:

“I think it’s very important for us to vote … it allows guys to feel, even a little bit, a part of society, to know that their vote counts. But we really are voting with a disadvantage because we are not educated on what is going on. This is because of many parties not realizing that if they want our vote, they need to send us something so we know their positions, because if not, we’re going to be guessing.”

Another recently released federally imprisoned person, James Ruston, shared his perspective about political engagement as a prisoner:

“As a long-term prisoner, I learned to regret the lack of mindful concern for the community in my past choices. In my exile, I came to believe in the value of social relationships that inspires an inclusive respect for a nurturing and collaborative social contract. Being supported to vote, to make decisions about my community, endears me to that community.”

Barriers to voting Interviewees told us there are a variety of legislative, bureaucratic and procedural issues that act as roadblocks to voting inside Ontario prisons.

Ruston said that insufficient communication from correctional facilities can prevent prisoners from even knowing how to register in the first place. Belanger said that barriers to literacy can also prevent some imprisoned people from accessing this important information.

When an election is called, a prison staff member is appointed as an election liaison. They are responsible for advertising the election and registering voters. Imprisoned people must fill out their ballots in the presence of the liaison officer, and are not permitted privacy when voting.

The final deadline for registration occurs before the deadline for the general public. Those who do not register in time are barred from voting. This happened to several women in a Kitchener correctional institution in 2018 when their elections liaison officer failed to hand out voter registration forms in time.

Those who do register still might not get to cast their votes. Seventy-seven per cent of people in provincial prisons are in remand, meaning they have not been sentenced and may be imprisoned for a short amount of time. Prisoners who have registered to vote inside prisons, but are released before the voting date, are not permitted to vote by the regular process.

In the 2015 Canadian federal election there was a 50.5 per cent turnout of imprisoned voters compared to 68 per cent in the public — and 7.5 per cent of votes from imprisoned people were rejected. By comparison, only 0.7 per cent were rejected overall in Canada.

Further, if there are any delays and special ballots do not arrive to be processed in time, they will not be counted, as happened with 205,000 ballots in the 2022 election.

Pandemic-specific barriers Pandemic restrictions have resulted in a number of unique enfranchisement barriers. Since there are still active COVID-19 cases and restrictions at Ontario prisons, these barriers are ongoing.

Under the Shaping the New Normal Risk Management Framework (available through freedom of information), items are not to be shared between imprisoned people during times of COVID-19 risk.

In addition, non-profits that support prospective voters have sometimes been barred from doing their work inside prisons. This was the case in Saskatchewan for Elizabeth Fry Society staff, who were unable to enter prisons to help imprisoned people register to vote in 2020.

Though Elections Canada states prisoners cannot be denied an opportunity to vote, even for security reasons, some prisoners at the Atlantic Institution were prevented from voting in the 2019 federal election due to an institutional lockdown.

Recommendations The majority of people in prison do not need to be there. During parts of the pandemic, the number of people imprisoned in Ontario decreased from 8,113 to 6,405.

But the number of imprisoned people in provincial jails has risen since. In addition to decreasing the number of people imprisoned, we need to do better ahead of the fast approaching municipal elections in October.

Barriers to voting in municipal elections are even worse. Ontario’s Municipal Elections Act explicitly prohibits imprisoned people from voting. This act must be amended to allow imprisoned people to vote in October.

We call on respective governments to ensure that the relevant election agencies run the vote in prisons effectively. Elections Ontario must ensure imprisoned people are provided information on their candidates, registration assistance and facilitation by Elections Ontario employees on voting day. Voting is a right; everyone should have equitable access to it.”

- Linda Mussell and Jessica Evans, “Imprisoned citizens face barriers to voting in Ontario.” The Conversation. June 2, 2022.

#2022 ontario provincial election #carceral citizens #voting #voting behind bars #ontario prisons #canadian prison system #correctional service of canada #words from the inside #coronavirus pandemic #coronapolitics #lockdown #crime and punishment in canada #research quote

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