3rdbogwitch2theleft

[3rdbogwitch2theleft]

Childhood can be scary.

A collection of some of my hand-drawn horror looping animations!

[3rdbogwitch2theleft]

UK government planning to scrap a major disability benefit

I'm only just scraping by and the government are proposing to take away PIP (a disability benefit), which would be HALF of my income wiped out.

"Reforms to personal independence payments (PIP) could include stopping regular cash payments, and instead offering claimants one-off grants for things like home adaptations." -- "Disabled people face end to monthly benefits cash", BBC News, 29 April 2024

And:

"The plans, which will be consulted on over the coming months, also include proposals to “move away from a fixed cash benefit system”, meaning people with some conditions will no longer receive regular payments, but instead access to treatment if their condition does not involve extra costs." -- "People with depression or anxiety could lose sickness benefits, says UK minister", Guardian, 29 April 2024

That's what the NHS is supposed to be doing...

Genuinely absolutely terrifying.

Can anyone living in the UK join in with an (hopefully!) overwhelming cascade of unique emails to their MP opposing this? WriteToThem.com makes it very quick and easy.

They're proposing to replace it with one-off grants that the individual can apply for, which is absurd and horrifying, so feel free to point out how that won't work as well!

Here's what I'm writing, and do not just copy-paste my letter/email, because that makes it less legit. Do your own thing, even just one sentence telling your MP that you're opposed is enough if that's all you can manage. Whatever you want to say is what your MP needs to hear.

Dear [MP's name], Today I learned that the government plan to scrap PIP, and maybe replace it with something like a one-off grant application process, before the next election. ("Disabled people face end to monthly benefits cash", BBC News, 29 April 2024: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0ry09d50wo) PIP is about half of my income (about 44%). I don't spend it on occasional large purchases, I spend it on countless things that are more expensive for me than they are for other people. PIP is in place to acknowledge, as it says in the above article, that disabled people's lives are more expensive than non-disabled people's lives by hundreds of pounds per week. ("Previous research from Scope suggests households with at least one disabled adult or child face an estimated average extra cost of £975 a month to have the same standard of living as non-disabled households." That's £225 per week, and the maximum amount of PIP you can get is £184.) So firstly, it could be argued that PIP doesn't even cover the additional expenses of the average disabled household. And next, the cost of implementing an alternative system would be worse for disabled people, totally unsuited to its purpose, and more expensive to run. Worse for disabled people: Currently PIP acknowledges that being disabled takes a lot more work to maintain a comparable standard of living, and as it's an amount of work that the claimant cannot sustainably do, they are given money so that they can pay someone else to do it. These costs are distributed across all living expenses, in addition to occasional one-off purchases of e.g. mobility aids. Having to apply for one-off payments for expenses would be more work on top of that, so if the disabled person isn't able to do it (which is very likely) they will either have to work less in their day jobs in order to spend more time applying for one-off grants, or they will have to also apply for one-off payments to pay someone to apply for more one-off payments. This is self-evidently a waste of energy and time, and totally impractical, as well as being counter to the entire point of disability benefits. It would also be extremely undignified for the disabled people, and arguably against human rights (right to private life and dignity), to have to justify each purchase to the government. Totally unsuited to its purpose: One off-grants are not suited to ongoing higher expenses such as having to buy more prepared food (e.g. carrot batons are more expensive than raw carrots and go off much more quickly). Does this policy assume that disabled people's PIP is only for things like wheelchairs and walking sticks? More expensive to run: The system for PIP applications is already fairly backlogged, in that my last application took over 6 months to complete. I was awarded PIP for 10 years. If every application for a one-off grant had to be accompanied by an application of a similar scale that wouldn't be workable, so presumably an initial PIP application like the current system's would still be required to qualify for the system in the first place, and then following that, numerous smaller applications for money (e.g. for taxis, pre-chopped veg, painkillers, specialist clothing, etc.) would be carried out per person per month. The disability benefits system would have to be scaled up significantly, and it would be much more expensive. It is far cheaper to give people a set amount of money based on their needs; it's the same money that you would be giving them in grants anyway, but without having to process each purchase/one-off application. I implore you to oppose this proposal. It is blatantly unworkable to the level of absurdity, but more importantly it is inhumane. I look forward to your reply detailing your stance. Many thanks in advance. Yours sincerely, [My name]

But, again, if you can't manage anything long or complicated like that, your best is good enough. Even if they're not all perfectly written and detailed, we want to bowl them over with sheer quantity of emails.

[3rdbogwitch2theleft]

Honestly, it’s non Black poc as well, but a lot of the awful takes I’ve been seeing have been from white people primarily. And I feel like as a mixed race black person, I need to clarify what the fuck Kendrick is saying regarding Drake’s blackness.

When he critiques Drake’s relationship to blackness and his identity, he is not saying that mixed race Black people cannot be black or that “he’s not black because he’s Jewish”, he is saying that Drake has consistently used Black people, blackness, and black culture to further his career and further his capital, while not contributing to the culture overall. Drake has separated himself from other Black people until it became “popular” to be and “act” black. He has shoehorned himself into cultures that he has not been brought up in like when he had this whole era where he would speak in broken patois and use Jamaican American and Jamaican Canadian vernacular and slang despite not having any connection to that culture.

The types of people he surrounds himself with in both in his family and recreationally speak to how he does not see other Black people as his kin. They are either associates or they are fetishized.

Kendrick calling him a colonizer is not a dig at him being Jewish either. It’s a dig at him using hip-hop culture and black culture as a means to become rich. He is literally colonizing an aspect of the culture that is still demonized (hip-hop and rap are still very much demonized as forms of art by wider society) and repackaging it for white people and non-Black people to enjoy and getting rich off of it because he picks and chooses aspects of blackness to present to make money. He is a morally and artistically bankrupt individual.

This is why, unless you fully understand the context of what is happening, Drake’s history as well as the history of hip-hop and rap, you should not have an opinion about this beef. Especially if you’re going to be misinterpreting what is being said by the main protagonist (basically) of this beef.

[3rdbogwitch2theleft]

Shoutout to everyone who has run into a room after hearing a loved one scream this weekend expecting grievous bodily harm only to discover Kendrick has dropped another track

#My partner just had surgery. I thought we were going to have to go to the ER #Turns out the only person injured was Drake

[3rdbogwitch2theleft]

Jane Austen was so funny

[3rdbogwitch2theleft]

Happy Death of the Endless Appreciation Week!

[3rdbogwitch2theleft]

[3rdbogwitch2theleft]

Love being fun and silly with strangers… Today at the farmers market the hummus guy saw my bag and was like “We’re filling that up right??” and I was like Twist my arm!! and we both hooted. Then at the end he was like “By the way the baklava is only half sliced so make sure to slice before serving… that is, if you’re going to share!!” and I was like “Oh I wouldn’t count on that!! 😉😉” and we shared another hearty laugh. I love playing in this space with you

[3rdbogwitch2theleft]

[3rdbogwitch2theleft]

[3rdbogwitch2theleft]

[3rdbogwitch2theleft]

I don’t even care who fucking wins the presidency this year look at this

#us elections #its primary season please please vote in your primaries!! Check if people running are being funded by AIPAC (pro isreal lobbyists) #Also if you want to register your protest if the Biden admin’s support of the genocide in many states you can vote “not committed” in the #presidential primary #sorry to go on and on about primaries every time I see a voting post but primaries are where more radical change is possible #primaries are for voting your ideals and generals are for doing the best you can with what you’ve got #Don’t forget your down ballot items. State elections and local elections have a huge impact on your day to day life

[3rdbogwitch2theleft]

This is monumental. May it be the start of a new movement

[3rdbogwitch2theleft]

Drake might actually kill himself

[3rdbogwitch2theleft]

people love to complain about sex scenes in tv shows and violence in movies when the real danger is scenes that make you feel second hand embarrassment.

#oh for a sympathetic cringe rating system #but no we just have to dive head first into whatever we're watching reading viewing

[3rdbogwitch2theleft]

💋💕 chappell my beloved,

[3rdbogwitch2theleft]

enough toxic masculinity I'm ready for salubrious mexicanity. I'm ready for a social movement that encourages (esp straight, cis) men to indulge in things that make them more joyful, emotionally healthy, and help them strengthen not core muscles but core compassionate communication skills.