celeste

They stopped the raid and made it a protest. They couldn't kidnap any more immigrants on that street. I think they did do something.

https://6abc.com/post/immigration-agents-conducting-sweep-nycs-famed-canal-street-confronted-protesters/18055773/ This article says that it was started by people on their way home from work.

In response, a contingent of protesters, many of whom appeared to be on their way home from work, surrounded the masked officers, attempting to block their vehicle as they shouted "ICE out of New York" and called on other pedestrians to join them.

The thing to keep in mind is that while these random people did nothing (blocked a vehicle and called more people to join them) the incident became about them. ICE had to leave at the time. And, meanwhile, anyone undocumented could get out of there.

As more New Yorkers joined the fray, some of the federal agents retreated on foot, followed by jeering protesters and honking vehicles. Additional federal agents, armed with long guns and tactical gear, also arrived in a military tactical vehicle.

And now these agents have to harass a bunch of citizens instead of immigrants.

I feel like "mic drop" should describe something cool that was said.

“I was backstage, and this is what I want to do,” Monáe continued. “And so I jetted back to, you know, the 2000s. And I was like, ‘I can have the musical, make the music, create the lyrics, and create community around transformation and being queer.’ And not even just in sexuality, but in how we see the world.”

Yes, slack-jawed reader, this whole thing is likely a creative little metaphor for Monáe’s own connection to Bowie’s music, and how it gave her the courage to embrace her own chameleon-esque powers of artistic reinvention and genre-smashing personal growth.

Well, she's an alien from outer space and a cybergirl without a face a heart or a mind, so it makes sense.

Reminds me of this art installation

There was a post on tumblr a bit a ago that was like "fascists eventually go after their own. so if you are trans and out and thinking of going back in for your safety, it's unlikely to work out that way. if you were pro-trans in better times, it's safer in the long run to stay that way and work together." basically if you try to hide your past beliefs, when fascists start needing new out groups to punish, your history will get you targeted anyway.

Report and if mods and admins ignore it and it keeps happening, go into a lighter version of "I'm being stalked" mode and start a new account with no reference to the old one. They "win" and you move on with your life.

You mean as animals, instead of humans with animal features? I don't know what specifically you're talking about, but usually it springs from a desire to play with traits the animals are assumed to have. The less they're playing at being a human with fur or echolocation or whatever, the more it's about a desire to disconnect from human responsibilities and worries.

Some people who have been abused in a way that resembles how humans treat animals (assumption of stupidity, obedience required with the assumption you're incapable of understanding why you need to do things, etc) will play at it when they're free of it as a way to process the shitty way they were treated in a way they can control.

But it mostly seems to stem from a desire to not think about human concerns for a while, and just exist in your body as we assume animals do.

Not that I know of. When I had sleep paralysis every night it was because I was sleeping on my back under a heated blanket on a futon. Changing that reduced the sleep paralysis. Finding your personal triggers is helpful. I mostly get it these days if I'm abruptly woken up and then fall immediately back to sleep. Try messing with how you're sleeping, or look up suggestions on how to break out of it? On the rare occasion I still get it, I know how to break out because of that unfortunate period of time when I got to experiment every night.

I wonder if an alarm like you're suggesting would just make regular alarm noises. That'd probably work. The one time an episode itself made me break out of it, I thought I heard my mother screaming in the kitchen, in a way that made me think she'd chopped off a finger. I immediately leapt out of bed and ran there, like, "are you okay???" thinking she'd be bleeding out. She looked at me and asked the same question, since she'd been minding her own business and suddenly i yelled and ran in. Alarm that makes a blood curdling scream, anyone?

Are there so many high profile thefts at the louvre because it's such a famous museum?

The purpose is for previously comfortable people to get used to taking action to oppose fascism. It's mostly a large visible Fuck You Trump party, but you meet people there. You got up, you broke your routine, you were in line at Michaels with other people who were also buying posterboard and markers. They're in your community. You aren't surrounded by them - they are surrounded by us. And, huh. There are more of us here then there are cops in town. Interesting.

At events, those previously comfy people make connections and when they say "i wish i was doing more" someone else can say "some of us are going to the home depot on monday to interfere with ICE." or even just "there's a dinner after this why don't you come too?"

Then it feels less weird to get up and do something next week. There are plenty of people who will just have the fuck you party and not do anything else, but there are also plenty who will do more.

Its purpose is to create momentum. That's how I see events like this. Most people don't have a quick on switch for taking big actions. You practice things and talk about things first.

If you're on bsky, @drlisacorrigan has a thread that discusses the theory behind events like this. It starts:

In social movement studies, we talk about how marches and protests expand the threshold of acceptable risk so that people take more and bigger social risks IN PUBLIC, EN MASSE. This is extremely important for the bourgeois white folks holding signs and building social rapport.

I think you have to be logged in to read her thread, but I believe what she says is the theory behind why nokings was created. On their page, you find a ton of other groups that are partnering - real world groups that do real things - and they also have weekly suggestions of actions to take.

So the demands of the protest, imo, are for comfortable people to get up, figure out who's around them and with them, and take action or join one of the partnering organizations that fit their interests and skillset. Since the problem can't be solved with one single action, like impeachment, there needs to be labor involved in every aspect.

Another demand, much catchier, is that we not have kings in the United States.

“And then you’ve got Karoline Leavitt, who’s sick; she’s out of control,” Jeffries continued. “I’m not sure whether she’s just demented, ignorant, a stone-cold liar or all of the above. But the notion that an official White House spokesperson would say that the Democratic Party consists of terrorists, violent criminals and undocumented immigrants, that makes no sense.”