princesslizard

[princesslizard]

you’re getting there.

everytime you try again, you’re getting there.

everytime you get up and face another day, everytime you find yourself smiling, everytime you get through a rough patch, everytime you encourage or help someone else, everytime you do something you love.

you’re always getting there.

[princesslizard]

you’ll heal from this. maybe not today or tomorrow. but you’ll heal just as all wounds do in time with patience and care.

[princesslizard]

Sweet Digital Dreams

#art #tadc

[princesslizard]

[princesslizard]

This month's comic for Autostraddle. You can read all my Autostraddle comics here.

[princesslizard]

[princesslizard]

[princesslizard]

goodnight everyone (:

do your daily click

spreadsheet of families in Gaza you can help today

donate to:

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Help diabetics in Gaza

The PCRF

Anera

UNRWA

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Help a Sudanese family escape conflict

Darfur Women Action

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Sudan Emergency Appeal

[princesslizard]

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[princesslizard]

The things I devoured so I could devour you

#art #dungeon meshi

[princesslizard]

happy pride month to these two mice working at the rodent's gazette, or whatever they have going on

[princesslizard]

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[princesslizard]

Have no fear! Amy Rose is here!⭐

#art

[princesslizard]

Federal regulators on Tuesday [April 23, 2024] enacted a nationwide ban on new noncompete agreements, which keep millions of Americans — from minimum-wage earners to CEOs — from switching jobs within their industries.

The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday afternoon voted 3-to-2 to approve the new rule, which will ban noncompetes for all workers when the regulations take effect in 120 days [So, the ban starts in early September, 2024!]. For senior executives, existing noncompetes can remain in force. For all other employees, existing noncompetes are not enforceable.

[That's right: if you're currently under a noncompete agreement, it's completely invalid as of September 2024! You're free!!]

The antitrust and consumer protection agency heard from thousands of people who said they had been harmed by noncompetes, illustrating how the agreements are "robbing people of their economic liberty," FTC Chair Lina Khan said. 

The FTC commissioners voted along party lines, with its two Republicans arguing the agency lacked the jurisdiction to enact the rule and that such moves should be made in Congress...

Why it matters

The new rule could impact tens of millions of workers, said Heidi Shierholz, a labor economist and president of the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. 

"For nonunion workers, the only leverage they have is their ability to quit their job," Shierholz told CBS MoneyWatch. "Noncompetes don't just stop you from taking a job — they stop you from starting your own business."

Since proposing the new rule, the FTC has received more than 26,000 public comments on the regulations. The final rule adopted "would generally prevent most employers from using noncompete clauses," the FTC said in a statement.

The agency's action comes more than two years after President Biden directed the agency to "curtail the unfair use" of noncompetes, under which employees effectively sign away future work opportunities in their industry as a condition of keeping their current job. The president's executive order urged the FTC to target such labor restrictions and others that improperly constrain employees from seeking work.

"The freedom to change jobs is core to economic liberty and to a competitive, thriving economy," Khan said in a statement making the case for axing noncompetes. "Noncompetes block workers from freely switching jobs, depriving them of higher wages and better working conditions, and depriving businesses of a talent pool that they need to build and expand."

Real-life consequences

In laying out its rationale for banishing noncompetes from the labor landscape, the FTC offered real-life examples of how the agreements can hurt workers.

In one case, a single father earned about $11 an hour as a security guard for a Florida firm, but resigned a few weeks after taking the job when his child care fell through. Months later, he took a job as a security guard at a bank, making nearly $15 an hour. But the bank terminated his employment after receiving a letter from the man's prior employer stating he had signed a two-year noncompete.

In another example, a factory manager at a textile company saw his paycheck dry up after the 2008 financial crisis. A rival textile company offered him a better job and a big raise, but his noncompete blocked him from taking it, according to the FTC. A subsequent legal battle took three years, wiping out his savings. 

-via CBS Moneywatch, April 24, 2024

--

Note:

A lot of people think that noncompete agreements are only a white-collar issue, but they absolutely affect blue-collar workers too, as you can see from the security guard anecdote.

In fact, one in six food and service workers are bound by noncompete agreements. That's right - one in six food workers can't leave Burger Kings to work for Wendy's [hypothetical example], in the name of "trade secrets." (x, x, x)

Noncompete agreements also restrict workers in industries from tech and video games to neighborhood yoga studios. "The White House estimates that tens of millions of workers are subject to noncompete agreements, even in states like California where they're banned." (x, x, x)

The FTC estimates that the ban will lead to "the creation of 8,500 new businesses annually, an average annual pay increase of $524 for workers, lower health care costs, and as many as 29,000 more patents each year for the next decade." (x)

What's a Noncompete Agreement, Again?

Noncompete agreements can restrict workers from leaving for a better job or starting their own business.

Noncompetes often effectively coerce workers into staying in jobs they want to leave, and even force them to leave a profession or relocate.

Noncompetes can prevent workers from accepting higher-paying jobs, and even curtail the pay of workers not subject to them directly.

Of the more than 26,000 comments received by the FTC, more than 25,000 supported banning noncompetes. 

#positive

[princesslizard]

EYES ON THE CALIFORNIA ONLINE AGE VERIFICATION BILL-AB3080

This is an ammendment to an already existing Californian law to prevent minors from purchasing items that are illegal to sell to minors, including alcohol, porn, tobacco, fireworks and the like. You can take a look at the most recent text here

Now, whats wrong with that ? It's important to protect minors!! Which is absolutely true!

However the issue here resides in the fact that websites selling such products will require adults to submit their ID to access their websites and purchase what they want.

And with data breaches being more and more frequent recently, this is a recipe for disaster.

It could also target sites such as Patreon, Fansly, Onlyfans(etc) which, people already submit their credit card to buy what they want already.

This would give a huge blow to Californian businesses and have **a ripple effect on the Internet in the US since a lot of tech companies are within California.**

There needs to be a better privacy law before any age verification bills can be actually effective and properly protect minors and privacy for everyone.

Remember the UK age verification bill ? Minors are already in danger because of having to show their ID due to data leaks.

There are also many other issues with AB3080 that you NEED to keep in mind too :

No guarantee of personal privacy when submitting for Age verification when purchasing and ID protection after purchase. Who handles the ID? What ensures it is not held indefinitely, putting it at risk of a potential data breach?

The definition of what defines “harmful to minors” is too vague and overly broad to interpretation and could be abused and exploited in case of a political party change in California.

The 1/3rd provision is another over reach. Who will define what is porn? Are sales defined as direct sales or links to another site? It’s too broad and can be abused.

Fiscal impact has the potential of a loss of online sales tax revenue and drive businesses out of California.

Which is why, I AM URGING YOU TO CALL YOUR REPS AND TELL THEM TO VOTE NO !

Use this to contact your reps, it’s fast to use and there is a script for inspiration.

Find your reps:

https://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/

Send faxes to your reps with this:

Make sure to emphasize this will be bad for the economy of California, especially since California is ona tight budget this year.

If you try to contact them and it doesnt work, that must be because you’re not in Cali, that's ok, as you should sitll make posts about this using the tags #AB3080 and #NoOnAB3080

Please also note, notorious anti-LGBTQIA religious groups are behind the authoring of the language of this bill, primarily NCOSE & EXODUS CRY.

PLEASE REBLOG !