It's time to act: 6 things you can do right now to help families separated at the border.

What's been happening at the border is an affront to human decency.

By now, we are presumably aware of the new 2018 policy at the U.S.-Mexico border that has children being taken from their parents arms and held in separate facilities — a practice that a UCLA psychology professor has likened to torture , that the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics has called " government-sanctioned child abuse ," and that the U.N. high commissioner on human rights has called " unconscionable ."

In just six weeks, nearly 2,000 children have been separated from their parents, with no guarantee they will see them again.

Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

There are lots of myths and misunderstandings floating around about the policy and its implementation. So you might want to read this , this , this , and this to get the facts straight. Then get ready to act.

It's easy to feel helpless and hopeless — but don't. Here's a list of real things you can do today.

Awareness is important. Action is vital. Here's what you can do:

1. Pressure President Donald Trump to put an end to this policy.

Trump appears to be using children as hostages to get his immigration agenda passed through Congress. But Trump has the power to end this policy all by himself now. He apparently has an executive action in the works to end the policy, so pressure appears to be working. Keep it up. Call the White House . Bombard Trump on Twitter, his chosen way to communicate with the American people. Let the administration know that this policy crosses a red line.

2. Call your senator and ask them to support the Keep Families Together Act.

If Trump doesn't put an end to the policy himself, Congress will have to act. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) has introduced a bill that would bar border agents from separating children under 18 from their parents unless a court or welfare official determines it is in the child's best interests to do so or if there is a strong likelihood that the child is being trafficked or doesn't actually belong with the adult they are traveling with.

Our bill puts the welfare of children first and foremost. It bars separation except in cases of abuse or traffickin… https://t.co/43zOxbf3Ye
— Senator Dianne Feinstein (@Senator Dianne Feinstein) 1529456940

3. Participate in a #FamiliesBelongTogether march on June 30.

Or organize one in your area if there isn't one already in the works. A large anchor rally will be held in Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., with other rallies and marches taking place across the country. Go to Moveon.org to find a rally near you.

4. Donate to legal aid organizations that specialize in immigration at the border.

The most immediate need for these families is legal representation and advocacy. Here's a list of nonprofits that are on the ground at the border providing legal aid to help get children reunited with their parents.

ASAP: Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project connects families seeking asylum to community support and emergency legal aid.
The Florence Project for immigrant and refugee rights provides free legal and social services to detained immigrants in Arizona and ensures that people facing removal have access to counsel, understand their rights under the law, and are treated fairly and humanely.
KIND: Kids in Need of Defense ensures that no child appears in immigration court alone without high-quality representation.
Tahirih Justice Center provides a broad range of direct legal services, policy advocacy, and training and education to protect immigrant women and girls fleeing violence.

(Also, if you need a little inspiration that hope for humanity is still alive, this Facebook fundraiser for RAICES , the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services in Texas, has already raised more than $10.5 million — in just four days — making it the most successful Facebook campaign to date.)

5. Support the ACLU.

The American Civil Liberties Union is an organization that works consistently to support human rights to all people in our country, to not only assist when injustices occur but to try to prevent rights from being infringed in the first place.

Separating families is more than cruel and unnecessary – it’s torture. We won't sit quietly while the Trump administration terrorizes asylum seekers.
Posted by ACLU on Tuesday, June 19, 2018

6. Keep speaking out and sharing reliable journalism about this story.

This atrocity, which should transcend partisan politics, is being turned into a war fueled by highly biased media outlets. Misinformation is part of what got us here , so utilize tools like MediaBiasFactCheck.com to determine the reliability of where you get your information. Share the facts, bust the myths, and keep putting the truth out there for these families.

This is our country. We should not accept cruelty to children being done in our name.

And we don't have to. Now is the time to act to end this shameful and inhuman practice.

Community

Facebook group brings people together IRL to make meaningful friendships

True

Making new friends as an adult is challenging. While people crave meaningful IRL connections, it can be hard to know where to find them. But thanks to one Facebook Group, meeting your new best friends is easier than ever.

Founded in 2018, NYC Brunch Squad brings together hundreds of people who come as strangers and leave as friends through its in-person events.

“Witnessing the transformative impact our community has on the lives of our members is truly remarkable. We provide the essential support and connections needed to thrive amid the city's chaos,” shares Liza Rubin, the group’s founder.

Despite its name, the group doesn’t just do brunch. They also have book clubs, seasonal parties, and picnics, among other activities.

NYC Brunch Squad curates up to 10 monthly events tailored to the specific interests of its members. Liza handles all the details, taking into account different budgets and event sizes – all people have to do is show up.

“We have members who met at our events and became friends and went on to embark on international journeys to celebrate birthdays together. We have had members get married with bridesmaids by their sides who were women they first connected with at our events. We’ve had members decide to live together and become roommates,” Liza says.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 𝐍𝐘𝐂 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐒𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐝® (@nycbrunchsquad)

Members also bond over their passion for giving back to their community. The group has hosted many impact-driven events, including a “Picnic with Purpose” to create self-care packages for homeless shelters and recently participated in the #SquadSpreadsJoy challenge. Each day, the 100 members participating receive random acts of kindness to complete. They can also share their stories on the group page to earn extra points. The member with the most points at the end wins a free seat at the group's Friendsgiving event.

Keep Reading Show less

friendship

Education

3,700-year-old Babylonian stone tablet gets translated, changes history

They were doing trigonometry 1500 years before the Greeks.

via UNSW

Dr. Daniel Mansfield and his team at the University of New South Wales in Australia have just made an incredible discovery. While studying a 3,700-year-old tablet from the ancient civilization of Babylon, they found evidence that the Babylonians were doing something astounding: trigonometry!

Most historians have credited the Greeks with creating the study of triangles' sides and angles, but this tablet presents indisputable evidence that the Babylonians were using the technique 1,500 years before the Greeks ever were.

Keep Reading Show less

education

Health

Please read this before you post another RIP on social media

There is a hierarchy of grief and it's important to know where you fall on it before posting about someone's death.

Image from GOOD .

Working through grief is a community thing.

Grieving in the technology age is uncharted territory.

I'll take you back to Saturday, June 9, 2012. At 8:20 a.m., my 36-year-old husband was pronounced dead at a hospital just outside Washington, D.C.

By 9:20 a.m., my cellphone would not stop ringing or text-alerting me long enough for me to make the necessary calls that I needed to make: people like immediate family, primary-care doctors to discuss death certificates and autopsies, funeral homes to discuss picking him up, and so on. Real things, important things, time-sensitive, urgent things.

At 9:47 a.m., while speaking to a police officer (because yes, when your spouse dies, you must be questioned by the police immediately), one call did make it through. I didn't recognize the number. But in those moments, I knew I should break my normal rule and answer all calls. "He's dead??? Oh my God. Who's with you? Are you OK? Why am I reading this on Facebook? Taya, what the heck is going on?"

Keep Reading Show less

culture

It's time to act: 6 things you can do right now to help families separated at the border.

What's been happening at the border is an affront to human decency.

1. Pressure President Donald Trump to put an end to this policy.

2. Call your senator and ask them to support the Keep Families Together Act.

3. Participate in a #FamiliesBelongTogether march on June 30.

4. Donate to legal aid organizations that specialize in immigration at the border.

5. Support the ACLU.

6. Keep speaking out and sharing reliable journalism about this story.

This is our country. We should not accept cruelty to children being done in our name.

Van Gogh saw something it took scientists another 100 years to see.

I'm not easily impressed, OK?

Get this: Van Gogh was a pretty cool artist (duh), but as it turns out...

...he was also A SCIENTIST!*

Here's the story.

~~~TURBULENCE~~~

Thing is, scientists are pretty much *just* starting to figure this stuff out.

Then you've got Van Gogh, 100 years earlier, in his asylum, with a mutilated ear, who totally nailed it!

But did other artists depict turbulence the way Van Gogh did?

Not even "The Scream" could hold a candle to Van Gogh!

Watch the video below to learn even more:

And experimenting with online dating for dogs and cats might just be working.

An estimated 50 million people worldwide use Tinder. So LifeLine and other shelters and rescues figure why not give it a shot?

Animal profiles are also showing up on Bumble, which is home to another 20 million users or so.

Like sweet Duke here.

Each pet is assigned to a volunteer who creates the profile and handles the conversations after a match

For LifeLine, the experiment is still new. But Hirsch says people are responding to it incredibly well so far.

This new animal dating idea has another upside for apps — and the people using them, too.

They were doing trigonometry 1500 years before the Greeks.

There is a hierarchy of grief and it's important to know where you fall on it before posting about someone's death.

Grieving in the technology age is uncharted territory.

While I can in no way speak for the entire planet, I certainly feel qualified to propose some suggestions — or, dare I say, rules — for social media grieving.

There is a hierarchy of grief.

In the days before social media, these expressions came in the form of phone calls, voicemail messages, and floral deliveries.

Please give us a minute.

Do you get where I'm going with this?

Your love and expressions of support are appreciated and needed, but they can also be ill-timed and create unintended additional stress.

Few gifts are greater than having your final wish granted.

Before 54-year-old Mario passed away, he had one special goodbye he needed to say ... to his favorite giraffe.

The Ambulance Wish Foundation , a Dutch nonprofit, helps people like Mario experience one final request.

Even more beautiful than the work this organization does, though, are the things its patients are asking for.

Sometimes it feels like there's never enough time. Not in a day. Not in a year. Not in a life.

A victory for America.

~TURBULENCE~

Thing is, scientists are pretty much just starting to figure this stuff out.