If you woke up tomorrow, and your internet looked like this, what would you do?
Imagine all your favorite websites taking forever to load, while you get annoying notifications from your ISP suggesting you switch to one of their approved “Fast Lane” sites.
Think about what we would lose: all the weird, alternative, interesting, and enlightening stuff that makes the Internet so much cooler than mainstream Cable TV. What if the only news sites you could reliably connect to were the ones that had deals with companies like Comcast and Verizon?
On September 10th, just a few days before the FCC’s comment deadline, public interest organizations are issuing an open, international call for websites and internet users to unite for an “Internet Slowdown” to show the world what the web would be like if Team Cable gets their way and trashes net neutrality. Net neutrality is hard to explain, so our hope is that this action will help SHOW the world what’s really at stake if we lose the open Internet.
Americans find themselves in a state of flux in 2015. Many people are dealing with the hard reality that those who are sworn to protect and serve, often do the exact opposite.
The topic of police behavior is at the forefront of discussions, worldwide. Market reactions to this interest in responsible application of authority as well as interest in the abuse of authority, are popping up online.
Trying to rely on the system, to report on itself, has proven to be a futile task. In instances of police killings alone, the official method for tallying these deaths was shown to be incredibly skewed and inaccurate.
The unaccountable nature of the state, coupled with today’s network of technologically savvy activists has paved the way for third party accountability sites that are proving to be quite helpful in the struggle for justice.
Up next in the world of answerable innovation is the site CopScore, aptly named for its interface which allows users to submit, “officer performance reviews.”
Anyone can register in a matter of seconds upon going to the site. However, in order to submit a review on an officer, you must know his or her name, department, and title. The form also requires that the registrant specify whether or not the officer arrested them.
If you actually want to post a performance review on CopScore, you will need to sign in and provide the officer’s badge number as well.
The site’s creator, Arion Hardison, explains that he, “put the badge number there because I did not want people posting fake reviews.”
“I wanted only people that had an actual interaction with the Cop to be able to vote,” said Hardison.
I like what I’ve been seeing from this younger generation of organizers and activists since relatively early on into the #Ferguson and #Garner protests. I just hope they can keep it up and make it into something more than just "protests"
Hoping for that day to come where nobody is forced to take to the streets, or pick up a mic in an effort to raise awareness to injustices, or to mourn lost loved one’s, but we’re not there yet.
It’s time to act in our own best interests for a change.
I wonder what would happen if we just uhhhh said fuck this and left…….
The guy in the back has the right idea.
Be Your Own Person: Take Charge of Your LIfe
Nothing says you have to stand around sheepishly just because everybody else is.
Those in power only have as much power as we allow them to have. We’re free to leave at any time, masters of our own destinies; we just haven’t realized that yet.
Better Late Than Never: A Birth Worth Celebrating.
The Birthday Boy: The late great Dr King Speaking of Late, Here I am waiting t ill his Holiday only to its kinda crazy that really happened
Hey, better late than never right?
On the 15th of January of 1929 MLK jr was born into this world. He would grow up to become one of the most influential people ever born. His lifetime left a fingerprint on the very fabric of society makeup and composition of this nation in a major and compelling way. The fingerprint of his lifetime will be felt and seen, and may even pop up in the extremely rare instance that it’s needed. world, into this world ., easily one of the most influential figures in my own personal growth and development journey and that of so many others was born.
Who knows where this nation would be, were he still here if he were with us still today; would the protests and the #BlackLivesMatter or #BlackBrunch #EricGarner and #Ferguson campaigns would still be going on?.
Tragedy Strikes @ The Lorraine Motel Memphis, TN-April 4, 1968
A Great Leader Is Taken From Us Far Too Soon.
Dr. King’s life, his wisdom, and his leadership were stripped from us that fateful day, April 1968, robbing us of what surely would have been a calming voice of reason, drowning out the angry din of the turbulent times that lie behind us, and those that lay ahead. His moral judgement serving as a nautical star, always guiding us towards that promised land, the one he dreamed of; where all men are created equal and judged only by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.
It Is His Day After All
In honor of his birthday, his name day and his me-mo-ray(that’s memory for the illiterates amongst you), I shared some of his stuff below, beginning with speech about that dream his name came to become synonymous with.
Obviously Dr. King can’t take all the credit for the entire civil rights movement, much as the media among other people would like to just give it to him. There were people and organizations fighting for the rights of African-Americans long before Dr. King ever got sent to Montgomery, or got the spotlight from the boycotts, but his pre-eminent role as the representative and face of the larger movement as a whole can’t be denied either,
He was merely upholding a tradition kept alive by all those who have fought for equality from the inside like A Philip Randolph who threatened to march on washington if African-Americans weren’t included to begin with. No more of this playing game and shit with your crappy ass little weaves or whatever the fuck you put in there. within their tribe or their own mind that we really don’t need to have any one there for it, because it’s just been one like
These Times, They Are A Changin:
From the time the Montgomery Bus Boycott began in 1955 until the his death in 1968 and even beyond; Dr King and the rest of the movement took the battle to the power structure and not vice versa, continuously applying pressure. in well thought out places In attacking racism and discrimination where it existed and was most vehement; the lunch counters, the bus stops, and the polling place, of the deep south, they not only placed the entire practice of Jim Crow on display, they put it on trial in the court of public opinion, a battle Jim Crow eventually lost.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr delivering one of his last speeches prior to his being assassinated at the hands of some backwoods simpleton who couldn’t plan his way out of a paper bag.
The Civil Rights Movement’s creative use of non violent direct action to frame and challenge the Jim Crow laws of the South met with violence and repression at the hands of small town police, members of the KKK, or just your garden variety, small-minded, red neck prick; most of which viewed by Americans across the nation were able to witness ignorance first hand at least once in their life. Meeting non-violence with extreme violence backfired, leading to increased support for the demonstrators and eventually leading to Jim Crow’s demise with the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965.
A Job Well Done? More Like It’s Just Begun, Time For Phase Two:
Let us not forget this little tidbit either, just before his murder, Dr King had been in the process of expanding his consciousness and understanding and taking riskier opinions than he had previously or at least in public.s . Rather than basking in the major accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement, especially for African-Americans of the South, he sought to do even more before he died, and his last efforts weren’t limited to the black community either welcoming all people regardless of religion and regardless of creed. He also came out against the Vietnam War publicly in one of his speeches, something the old Dr King would never have done for fear of rocking the boat. The Poor Peoples Campaign was open to all people regardless of race or anything like that, but it is probably my favorite speech of his .
Status Report: Where We Stand At Now
The Poor People’s campaign The plan was for a large multicultural group of poverty activists to march on the washington memorial plaza whatever and camp out there as a reminder of poverty that Congress wouldn’t be able to ignore it anymore. Sadly, Dr. King would not see this one through to completion James Earl Ray’s 30.-.06 cut his life short, and for no apparent reason other than who he is. At the time of the shooting, Dr. King and his entourage were in the middle of doing something with a document, it looked interesting
I think it’s pretty safe to assume everyone else feels the same as me when it comes to whether we feel as though we have to really put in very much effort .get up for anyone about our sloppy levels of play lately not being acceptable anymore. Everything has been all out-of-place I’m confident in saying I still don’t recognize the idyllic locale of his dream; guess we’re all still waiting on those two tickets to paradise as it sits now and you better believe this guy desperately is in need of a tan.
Gone But Not Forgotten
Luckily, I’m not the only one whose life the great Dr. King has touched. We can rest assured that his memory will live on, the light he used to combat darkness will continue to illuminate the way for each of us committed to making this world a better place, a righteous one filled with love.
Sometimes we all need to be reminded "Never, ever give up"
Answer by A Quora admin:
I tell my story of surviving Auschwitz to many, many young people. A lot of students are trying to figure out what sort of jobs they will have, and I always think it is funny when one of them asks me if I knew I wanted to start a museum after I was liberated from Auschwitz. I was 10 years old – all I wanted to do was to find some food and find my way back home! But I know what it is like to be young and to wonder how you will fit into this big, mixed-up, crazy world.
I have learned some important lessons in Auschwitz that I try to relay to young people. I tell them, when you graduate you will enter the job force. Hopefully you will get a job, but there is a good chance you won't like it. Not all jobs are perfect. You may get tired of it and you may quit. But I must remind you that all new beginnings are difficult. So you take another job, and that is difficult. After a while, you quit that too. Then you go to the third job, and pretty soon all you have is one failure after another. How are you going to deal with that?
I got into real estate in 1977. No reputable company wanted to hire me because I had an accent when I spoke. I ended up working for a very inefficient, unimportant company where I didn't make more than 2,000 dollars a year. That just about paid for my expenses. I did that for six years. But I refused to quit.
I kept calling the more esteemed companies where I would have a better opportunity. I would call them twice a year, and twice a year they all refused to hire me. They said, “Sorry, we aren't hiring right now.” Well I knew for a fact they were hiring new agents, but they weren't willing to give me a chance.
Ultimately I ended up with one of the largest companies. I had an ongoing joke with the second-biggest company. I kept telling the broker, “All I want is one day for you to askme to work for you, and I could say no.” And ultimately that is what happened.
You are probably not going to get the ideal job right away. You have to learn how to overcome hardship and succeed. I told myself, “If I ever quit real estate, it will be when I am successful and I have won – not because I would have given up.” I sold real estate for 36 years.
Beginnings are always hard. The middle is sometimes hard too. But these challenges can help you find your strength of character. If you can somehow apply your strengths to your job, you will succeed. Then you can quit because you wantto, not because you aren't making any money or no one likes you or you are unsuccessful.
In everything we do in life, we have to work through the early problems and succeed. How we respond to challenges impacts how we feel about ourselves. If you face a challenge and it does not turn out how you planned, that is okay. You can survive it, you can learn from it, and you will feel better about yourself after you go through it. But if you face a challenge and you give up, then you will feel worse about yourself and it will become harder to face the next challenge.
The number one lesson I learned in Auschwitz was this: Never, ever give up. If you never give up on yourself and on your dreams, all good things in life are possible.
It’s not your life, it’s life. Life is bigger than you. Life isn’t something that you possess. Its something that you take part in and you witness -Louis CK
Bear Witness and Take Part:
A great quote from one of my favorite comedians. He’s actually a pretty deep dude, which caught me entirely by surprise.
