Billy G.
@bgolden15.bsky.social
Harm Reduction, rural dweller, occasional maker of art, animal nerd
Reposted by Billy G.
A lot of attention has (rightfully) been on feds coming to Chicago to arrest immigrants & potentially raid homeless encampments (like in DC)
But also worthy of attention: Today city officials (without feds) are planning on clearing a homeless encampment.
chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/20...
But also worthy of attention: Today city officials (without feds) are planning on clearing a homeless encampment.
chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/20...
Another North Side homeless tent camp is targeted by the city
Following a more than yearlong battle at nearby Gompers Park, city officials say they will begin to clear a camp at Legion Park along the river Tuesday.
chicago.suntimes.com
September 9, 2025 at 1:54 PM
A lot of attention has (rightfully) been on feds coming to Chicago to arrest immigrants & potentially raid homeless encampments (like in DC)
But also worthy of attention: Today city officials (without feds) are planning on clearing a homeless encampment.
chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/20...
But also worthy of attention: Today city officials (without feds) are planning on clearing a homeless encampment.
chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/20...
Reposted by Billy G.
Reposted by Billy G.
Reposted by Billy G.
“We found a large gap in housing assistance for people who use drugs in Oregon” @estherchung.bsky.social @morgangodvin.bsky.social @barrotlambdin.bsky.social in BMC Pub Health pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39988688/
Housing assistance among people who are unstably housed and use drugs in Oregon: a cross-sectional study - PubMed
We found a large gap in housing assistance for people who use drugs in Oregon and identified several factors associated with obtaining housing assistance. Our findings can inform future interventions ...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
February 24, 2025 at 5:35 PM
“We found a large gap in housing assistance for people who use drugs in Oregon” @estherchung.bsky.social @morgangodvin.bsky.social @barrotlambdin.bsky.social in BMC Pub Health pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39988688/
Reposted by Billy G.
"[Palestinians] will not be relocated, resettled, or replaced. Power and wealth will not decide the fate of Gaza. History is not written by thieves – it is written by those who resist, by the will of the people."
— #AJOpinion by Hassan Abo Qamar ⤵️
— #AJOpinion by Hassan Abo Qamar ⤵️
A letter from Gaza to Mr Trump
Gaza was already the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’ and it will be again – when we, the Palestinians, rebuild it.
www.aljazeera.com
February 18, 2025 at 7:33 PM
"[Palestinians] will not be relocated, resettled, or replaced. Power and wealth will not decide the fate of Gaza. History is not written by thieves – it is written by those who resist, by the will of the people."
— #AJOpinion by Hassan Abo Qamar ⤵️
— #AJOpinion by Hassan Abo Qamar ⤵️
Reposted by Billy G.
Native American activist Leonard Peltier has left a Florida prison after nearly 50 years behind bars, following a commutation from former US President Joe Biden ⤵️
Native American activist Leonard Peltier released from US prison
Supporters celebrate the release of an Indigenous activist imprisoned for killing of FBI agents after a flawed trial.
www.aljazeera.com
February 18, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Native American activist Leonard Peltier has left a Florida prison after nearly 50 years behind bars, following a commutation from former US President Joe Biden ⤵️
Reposted by Billy G.
Not to be alarmist, but this is the most radical presidential action I've ever seen. He's straight up seizing Congress' budget power. What do laws matter if the mad king's whims dictate what gets enforced and where money goes?
It's not a policy memo - it's a revolution. Don't let it be a quiet one.
It's not a policy memo - it's a revolution. Don't let it be a quiet one.
Trump is blowing up the Constitution and dismantling democracy before our eyes.
Freezing all federal grants is a radical transformation of the relationship between the President & Congress.
It’s illegal & dictatorial & Americans will die as a result.
www.politico.com/news/2025/01...
Freezing all federal grants is a radical transformation of the relationship between the President & Congress.
It’s illegal & dictatorial & Americans will die as a result.
www.politico.com/news/2025/01...
Trump administration orders sweeping freeze of federal aid
In a two-page memo, the Office of Management and Budget ordered all federal agencies to temporarily suspend payments.
www.politico.com
January 28, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Not to be alarmist, but this is the most radical presidential action I've ever seen. He's straight up seizing Congress' budget power. What do laws matter if the mad king's whims dictate what gets enforced and where money goes?
It's not a policy memo - it's a revolution. Don't let it be a quiet one.
It's not a policy memo - it's a revolution. Don't let it be a quiet one.
Reposted by Billy G.
Unfortunately it's this type of nimbyism that's the problem, not the unhoused.
People complain about homeless people sleeping on the streets, and then complain when they're offered housing in their community they're already sleeping in. Smh 🙄
www.theorca.ca/commentary/r...
People complain about homeless people sleeping on the streets, and then complain when they're offered housing in their community they're already sleeping in. Smh 🙄
www.theorca.ca/commentary/r...
Rob Shaw: Vancouver court case exposes cracks in B.C.’s approach to fast-tracking housing
Judicial decision fuels neighbourhood tensions and provincial ambitions
www.theorca.ca
January 3, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Unfortunately it's this type of nimbyism that's the problem, not the unhoused.
People complain about homeless people sleeping on the streets, and then complain when they're offered housing in their community they're already sleeping in. Smh 🙄
www.theorca.ca/commentary/r...
People complain about homeless people sleeping on the streets, and then complain when they're offered housing in their community they're already sleeping in. Smh 🙄
www.theorca.ca/commentary/r...
Reposted by Billy G.
Criminalizing drug users has never worked. Prison is isn't about rehabilitation, it's about incarceration.
This approach has led to a revolving door of prison, parole violations, and overdose. We can't keep doing the same things over and over expecting a different result
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
This approach has led to a revolving door of prison, parole violations, and overdose. We can't keep doing the same things over and over expecting a different result
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Report on decriminalization says Saskatoon police have 'embraced' rethink around drug possession | CBC News
A new report says Saskatoon police have "embraced" a shift around illegal drug possession, moving toward recognizing drug use as a public health concern as opposed to focusing on punishment, but one a...
www.cbc.ca
December 20, 2024 at 11:56 PM
Criminalizing drug users has never worked. Prison is isn't about rehabilitation, it's about incarceration.
This approach has led to a revolving door of prison, parole violations, and overdose. We can't keep doing the same things over and over expecting a different result
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
This approach has led to a revolving door of prison, parole violations, and overdose. We can't keep doing the same things over and over expecting a different result
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Reposted by Billy G.
The carceral system is inundated with crises – poor conditions, escalating deaths, environmental dangers. That's why investigative journalism is more important than ever
Here are 10 stories from 2024 that shined a light inside the "black box" of mass incarceration 🧵
Here are 10 stories from 2024 that shined a light inside the "black box" of mass incarceration 🧵
December 17, 2024 at 7:09 PM
The carceral system is inundated with crises – poor conditions, escalating deaths, environmental dangers. That's why investigative journalism is more important than ever
Here are 10 stories from 2024 that shined a light inside the "black box" of mass incarceration 🧵
Here are 10 stories from 2024 that shined a light inside the "black box" of mass incarceration 🧵
Reposted by Billy G.
Poilievre don't care about fentanyl. He tried to blame Dilaudid!!! He's just sucking up to Trump. This is an old strategy of appeasing strongmen. "Each one hopes that if he feeds the crocodile enough, the crocodile will eat him last." www.thestar.com/politics/pie...
Pierre Poilievre says it shouldn’t take Donald Trump to make the Liberals sort out a fentanyl crisis
Poilievre used an Opposition day motion to hammer Justin Trudeau, saying reduced sentences “for drug kingpins” and lax borders “threaten our trade relationship with our biggest trading partner and gre...
www.thestar.com
December 12, 2024 at 2:21 AM
Poilievre don't care about fentanyl. He tried to blame Dilaudid!!! He's just sucking up to Trump. This is an old strategy of appeasing strongmen. "Each one hopes that if he feeds the crocodile enough, the crocodile will eat him last." www.thestar.com/politics/pie...
Reposted by Billy G.
If the board makes Bluesky inhospitable to trans people by courting virulent transphobes like Jesse Singal, the quality of this place will nosedive.
I don't want to be here if trans people (my trans friends, especially) aren't safe and don't want to be here.
I will not pay for this.
I don't want to be here if trans people (my trans friends, especially) aren't safe and don't want to be here.
I will not pay for this.
BlueSky is trying to monetize so let's show them some numbers:
Reskeet this if you refuse to pay for BlueSky+ until trust & safety decides to prioritize marginalized users.
That's $96 / year of lost revenue for each reskeet...
Reskeet this if you refuse to pay for BlueSky+ until trust & safety decides to prioritize marginalized users.
That's $96 / year of lost revenue for each reskeet...
December 10, 2024 at 7:44 AM
If the board makes Bluesky inhospitable to trans people by courting virulent transphobes like Jesse Singal, the quality of this place will nosedive.
I don't want to be here if trans people (my trans friends, especially) aren't safe and don't want to be here.
I will not pay for this.
I don't want to be here if trans people (my trans friends, especially) aren't safe and don't want to be here.
I will not pay for this.
Reposted by Billy G.
Appreciated these anachronistic pharma ads for pain medications from the early 2000s.
https://buff.ly/414cj4q
From Ben Westhoff via the Drugs + Hip-Hop substack
https://buff.ly/414cj4q
From Ben Westhoff via the Drugs + Hip-Hop substack
Slideshow: Opioid Advertisements From the Height Of the Crisis
The opioid crisis didn’t happen by accident.
buff.ly
December 10, 2024 at 9:12 AM
Appreciated these anachronistic pharma ads for pain medications from the early 2000s.
https://buff.ly/414cj4q
From Ben Westhoff via the Drugs + Hip-Hop substack
https://buff.ly/414cj4q
From Ben Westhoff via the Drugs + Hip-Hop substack
Reposted by Billy G.
It’s wild to watch in real time as our legislature chips away at the expressed will of Ohio voters.
The Ohio House Committee on Government Oversight has amended HB 475, which would slash state funding to cities if they provide financial support to people seeking abortion. This bill is an assault on the citizens who rely on their community to be able to access essential health care.
December 10, 2024 at 3:12 PM
It’s wild to watch in real time as our legislature chips away at the expressed will of Ohio voters.
Reposted by Billy G.
Yes, and don’t forget the lonely and scared folks, too. A library can be a calm in a storm when no other is available.
Everyone belongs. “There are unhoused people, mentally ill people, library kids, library teens, grandparents, autistic people, neurodivergent people who all use a library, and it belongs to all of them.” - Mychal Threets
December 9, 2024 at 10:29 AM
Yes, and don’t forget the lonely and scared folks, too. A library can be a calm in a storm when no other is available.
Reposted by Billy G.
Trans folks held a dance party in the Capitol bathroom to protest the bathroom ban on there.
December 5, 2024 at 3:59 AM
Trans folks held a dance party in the Capitol bathroom to protest the bathroom ban on there.
Reposted by Billy G.
Hundreds in California rally for pardons for immigrants ahead of Trump presidency, Tamar Sarai reports. With Trump’s plans for mass deportations, pardons could protect those who have served their sentences, advocates say.
prismreports.org/2024/12/05/h...
prismreports.org/2024/12/05/h...
Hundreds in California rally for pardons for immigrants ahead of Trump presidency
With Trump’s plans for mass deportations, pardons could protect those who have served their sentences, advocates say
prismreports.org
December 5, 2024 at 4:50 PM
Hundreds in California rally for pardons for immigrants ahead of Trump presidency, Tamar Sarai reports. With Trump’s plans for mass deportations, pardons could protect those who have served their sentences, advocates say.
prismreports.org/2024/12/05/h...
prismreports.org/2024/12/05/h...
Reposted by Billy G.
Too many ill-informed people may equate how they think trans care is akin to lobotomies. But they don't get; Lobotomies and other forms of discredited care (conversion therapy) were tools to control behavior.
Trans health care isn't to control a person, it's to liberate them.
Trans health care isn't to control a person, it's to liberate them.
December 5, 2024 at 4:21 PM
Reposted by Billy G.
In US, Tenants Are Usually on Their Own
Can New National Tenant Union Change That?
The Tenant Union Federation is fostering a wave of tenant leaders who have been pushed to margins—many of them elderly, disabled, low-income
Can New National Tenant Union Change That?
The Tenant Union Federation is fostering a wave of tenant leaders who have been pushed to margins—many of them elderly, disabled, low-income
In the US, Tenants Are Usually on Their Own. Can a New National Tenant Union Change That?
The Tenant Union Federation is fostering a wave of tenant leaders who have been pushed to the margins—many of them elderly, disabled, low-income—as they aim to transform renters into a powerful…
buff.ly
December 5, 2024 at 1:33 PM
In US, Tenants Are Usually on Their Own
Can New National Tenant Union Change That?
The Tenant Union Federation is fostering a wave of tenant leaders who have been pushed to margins—many of them elderly, disabled, low-income
Can New National Tenant Union Change That?
The Tenant Union Federation is fostering a wave of tenant leaders who have been pushed to margins—many of them elderly, disabled, low-income
Reposted by Billy G.
Interesting research paper. Some good data from clients on a safer supply program in #yyz including the fact that no medication was reported being shared with opioid-naïve individuals!
#drugsky
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#drugsky
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Motivations for and perspectives of medication diversion among clients of a safer opioid supply program in Toronto, Canada
Safer opioid supply programs in Canada have come under intense scrutiny related to the perceived risk of diversion of safer opioid supply medications.…
www.sciencedirect.com
December 5, 2024 at 2:23 AM
Interesting research paper. Some good data from clients on a safer supply program in #yyz including the fact that no medication was reported being shared with opioid-naïve individuals!
#drugsky
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#drugsky
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Billy G.
Here are the #nitazenes we have seen recently at the UNC Street Drug Analysis Lab.
The live report data tracker is updated every night https://buff.ly/3CVpRoQ if you want to see the latest
The live report data tracker is updated every night https://buff.ly/3CVpRoQ if you want to see the latest
December 5, 2024 at 7:17 AM
Here are the #nitazenes we have seen recently at the UNC Street Drug Analysis Lab.
The live report data tracker is updated every night https://buff.ly/3CVpRoQ if you want to see the latest
The live report data tracker is updated every night https://buff.ly/3CVpRoQ if you want to see the latest
Reposted by Billy G.
If your community does not have enough witnessed consumption sites, then your whole community is an unwitnessed consumption site.
#harmreduction
#bcpoli
#onpoli
#harmreduction
#bcpoli
#onpoli
December 4, 2024 at 5:41 PM
If your community does not have enough witnessed consumption sites, then your whole community is an unwitnessed consumption site.
#harmreduction
#bcpoli
#onpoli
#harmreduction
#bcpoli
#onpoli
Reposted by Billy G.
Everyone should be sharing this story about the Amnesty International report because yes many of us have long acknowledged that it’s a genocide but there are still people who need the validation of a report from an org like Amnesty to believe it’s true zeteo.com/p/amnesty-co...
Amnesty International Investigation Concludes Israel Is Committing Genocide
“We will look back and say, ‘Why did we not do more earlier?” Amnesty's director tells Zeteo.
zeteo.com
December 5, 2024 at 1:36 AM
Everyone should be sharing this story about the Amnesty International report because yes many of us have long acknowledged that it’s a genocide but there are still people who need the validation of a report from an org like Amnesty to believe it’s true zeteo.com/p/amnesty-co...
Reposted by Billy G.
this is part of why it's so harmful to use legal coercion to treat addiction... jail disrupts medical care, judges & cops often oppose the treatment that is most effective & there's not a single medical condition in which jail is the best place to get care.
It's sobering how often people cycle in & out of jail in a year, in a lifetime, and how little public safety we gain from that. (Actually @prisonpolicy.bsky.social's earlier report on this subject was called "Arrest, Release Repeat: How police and jails are misused to respond to social problems.")
December 3, 2024 at 8:33 PM
this is part of why it's so harmful to use legal coercion to treat addiction... jail disrupts medical care, judges & cops often oppose the treatment that is most effective & there's not a single medical condition in which jail is the best place to get care.