The X-gene.

I started volunteering at a nonprofit that helps people detained by ICE. ICE facilities are run by a private company and their stock shot way up the day Trump was elected. So ya, someone is most definitely making money from detainment.

I’m an immigration lawyer, with about 20 years in the field.  Previously, people in a situation like this likely would have been paroled into the US (that is, allowed entry to the country without establishing a lawful presence), allowed to check into a hotel, and told to collect their passports on their way home the…

Making her a bit darker makes sense because when Aang talks to his past lives about dealing with the Firelord she is the most brutal sounding of those he talks to.

I’m fascinated by Kyoshi. By the numbers, based on the canon we’ve seen, she IS the greatest Avatar. She lived for something like 200+ years, and of the five Avatars we’ve seen“on duty” (Wan, Kyoshi, Roku, Aang, Korra), Kyoshi’s reign was the most peaceful and “balanced.”

1. They didn’t have visas.

A political regime, having totalitarian aspirations, ideologically based on a relationship between business and the centralized government, business-and-government control of the marketplace, repression of criticism or opposition, a leader cult and exalting the state and/or religion above individual rights.

“If you ever wanted to see what country slowly turning into fascism looked like, this is it.”

Indeed, that’s what’s shocking here. It’s not entirely unsurprising that their Visa Waivers weren’t accepted. I mean, it’s probably idiocy on the part of HLS/ICE, but it’s not super-surprising, especially if they didn’t have a solid “We’re going to a meeting” story. And WotC does bear SOME responsibility for that,…

Privatized prisons are raking it in...

Exactly. Didn’t people used to just be stuck at the airport, waiting? (That’s not cool, but at least it’s not...this.) There were so many better ways to handle this. The raw aggression and vindictive cruelty fostered in parts of the U.S. law enforcement system is terrifying.

We need to fight. This shit needs to stop and it needs to stop now.

Somebody somewhere is making money from their detainment. That’s why it’s being used in this manner. Privatized prisons are raking it in and we’re just taking it. We need to stop being so complacent with regards to allowing people to profit from the utter misery of others.

There was an issue with their visas so their cellphones and luggage were taken away and then they were handcuffed and put in jail cells. They hadn’t done anything illegal. They were cooperating fully with customs. And yet they were thrown in jail because, hey, that’s what we do now.

Tahani is going to K’un-Lun so she can become the Immortal Iron Fist, Protector of K’un-Lun, Sworn Enemy of the Hand 

The thing I love about this show is you never know how high or how low a reference is going to go. Chocolate Rain, something I never expected but am entirely not surprised to see referenced.

Bit of a nonsequiter, but I will grab at any excuse to show this lovely ant picture. Translucent species, enterprising scientist used it to make some art. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/these-rainbow-colored-transparent-ants-are-what-they-eat-25521112/ Not shopped (or at least, not shopped a lot):

“Ant Painter” may not be the most grad-studenty job ever, but it’s up there.

Given that “survival of the fittest” is how we think of evolution, it can seem a little strange that some creatures (like ants and humans) thrive in groups.

I’m currently seeing how they form societies in my damn bathroom.