The Money Mustache Community
Other => Off Topic => Topic started by: Poundwise on February 13, 2025, 05:37:41 PM
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The original thread (https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/off-topic/small-daily-acts-of-political-resistance/) has run its course. We're now in the "Empire Strikes Back" phase I think.
My tiny act of resistance is to share this article about upcoming protests at Tesla dealerships. Feb 15 and 19, I believe.
https://www.jphilll.com/p/its-time-to-take-down-tesla (https://www.jphilll.com/p/its-time-to-take-down-tesla)
There will also be a return of the 50501 marches on "Not My President's Day" (Jan 17).
You can look for the protests nearest to you here...
On Bluesky: https://bsky.app/search?q=50501 (https://bsky.app/search?q=50501)
On Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/50501/ (https://www.reddit.com/r/50501/)
There's a website: http://fiftyfifty.one/ (http://fiftyfifty.one/)
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I made three calls today (senators and rep), sat in on an hour-long Indivisible webinar, and donated some money to an LGBTQIA+ person in a red state who needs help.
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My small act of resistance is that I'll no longer share or visit any "X" or FB links.
The FB part is a half measure as I still do a monthly FB visit for my hobby topics that don't exist enough elsewhere. Once a few more hobby topics are complete, I may never visit FB again.
I've also been using DuckDuckGo for 99% of my web searches.
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I wish I was using facebook and X so that I could stop using them.
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My small act of resistance is that I'll no longer share or visit any "X" or FB links.
The FB part is a half measure as I still do a monthly FB visit for my hobby topics that don't exist enough elsewhere. Once a few more hobby topics are complete, I may never visit FB again.
I've also been using DuckDuckGo for 99% of my web searches.
It’s rough sometimes so far you can still replace the domain with xcancel.com and see the content (still preferable to completely ignore accounts still posting to twitter but sometimes you get too curious)
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I wish I was using facebook and X so that I could stop using them.
Ditto. Although never starting them is probably already a win.
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I was not in a "go out and get 'em" mode today. I stayed home, sheltered from the atmospheric river, and recovered from not sleeping so well and whatever it was I ate.
So my small thing for today is to recommend to you all this recent podcast interview with the founder of Indivisible, which is still out there. https://www.futurehindsight.com/episodes/playing-defense-for-democracy-ezra-levin
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Sent money to the ACLU.
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Glad to see there's a new thread. DW has been calling our reps daily. I've been researching prepper info. Maybe the MMM forum needs a short-wave channel "just in case". ;)
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Today I have given to BrightStars Bethlehem. The tragic violence ravaging Gaza and the Holy Land is leaving a generation of young Palestinians with hardships we can hardly imagine. Providing an outlet for community, arts, creativity, and healing can bring hope and joy to a young generation where such support and stability are desperately needed. Please consider donating today.
https://www.brightstarsbethlehem.org/palestine-is-my-valentine
I also made a post urging others to do this on my social media accounts.
I will also make calls to my two senators. Oh, and I brought a caramel roll to a trans friend for his birthday. :)
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I wish I was using facebook and X so that I could stop using them.
haha!
I am in the age demographic where Facebook reaches the majority of people who “ do” computers for our hobby groups. I use FB for my hobby groups about flowers, gardening, and dogs.
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Today I have given to BrightStars Bethlehem. The tragic violence ravaging Gaza and the Holy Land is leaving a generation of young Palestinians with hardships we can hardly imagine. Providing an outlet for community, arts, creativity, and healing can bring hope and joy to a young generation where such support and stability are desperately needed. Please consider donating today.
https://www.brightstarsbethlehem.org/palestine-is-my-valentine
I also made a post urging others to do this on my social media accounts.
I will also make calls to my two senators. Oh, and I brought a caramel roll to a trans friend for his birthday. :)
Donated! I also made a donation to Brigid Alliance, which "Supports people who must travel long distances for abortion care."
https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/823843989
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Today I have given to BrightStars Bethlehem. The tragic violence ravaging Gaza and the Holy Land is leaving a generation of young Palestinians with hardships we can hardly imagine. Providing an outlet for community, arts, creativity, and healing can bring hope and joy to a young generation where such support and stability are desperately needed. Please consider donating today.
https://www.brightstarsbethlehem.org/palestine-is-my-valentine (https://www.brightstarsbethlehem.org/palestine-is-my-valentine)
I also made a post urging others to do this on my social media accounts.
I will also make calls to my two senators. Oh, and I brought a caramel roll to a trans friend for his birthday. :)
I made a donation too. Your post here made a difference. :)
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Today I have given to BrightStars Bethlehem. The tragic violence ravaging Gaza and the Holy Land is leaving a generation of young Palestinians with hardships we can hardly imagine. Providing an outlet for community, arts, creativity, and healing can bring hope and joy to a young generation where such support and stability are desperately needed. Please consider donating today.
https://www.brightstarsbethlehem.org/palestine-is-my-valentine (https://www.brightstarsbethlehem.org/palestine-is-my-valentine)
I also made a post urging others to do this on my social media accounts.
I will also make calls to my two senators. Oh, and I brought a caramel roll to a trans friend for his birthday. :)
I made a donation too. Your post here made a difference. :)
I love this. I'm hoping this entire thread will be inspirational to forum members to act, and then post their actions to encourage all of us.
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Here is another act of resistance I came up with today, and will be implementing jext week:
A FB group that is basically the same as this idea: a place to record one’s acts of resistance.
A public group, for sharing ideas and holding ourselves accountable… as well as sharing innovative ideas for resisting. I’m going to set it up, ask friends to join, and ask them to share with their friends. Hoping to actually make this a big enough thing that it has an impact.
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Today I complained to Airbnb about their founder joining DOGE. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/airbnb-co-founder-joe-gebbia-take-role-musks-doge-nyt-says-2025-02-14/
Then I went here, and deleted my Airbnb account. https://www.airbnb.com/privacy/manage-your-data/deletion
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Today I complained to Airbnb about their founder joining DOGE. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/airbnb-co-founder-joe-gebbia-take-role-musks-doge-nyt-says-2025-02-14/
Then I went here, and deleted my Airbnb account. https://www.airbnb.com/privacy/manage-your-data/deletion
Oh, I did not know this, so thank you! Going to do the same!
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Thanks for Air BnB info / link. Also deleted now.
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I ordered 100 “know your rights” cards with info for people if they are stopped by the authorities for being suspected of being undocumented. I’m going to give a batch of them to a couple different places I frequent.
Edit: here is the link for anyone else who may be interested.
https://www.redcardorders.com/product-page/red-card-rights
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This isn’t a new one for me, but a longer term project I’ve been working on.
2025 marks the last time I will be giving any material money to the oil & gas industry. Either directly or through my utility.
Given the amount of lobbying and regulatory capture paid for by your oil & gas dollars, there is more power in NOT giving these companies money than there is in giving a few hundred to a worthy charity.
Every new gas car sold will create about $45k in revenue to the oil and gas industry over its lifetime (assuming US average mpg and car life; outliers exist in both directions).
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Did a one-time extra donation to our local public radio station.
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I just signed up to make a small daily donation to https://www.propublica.org/
More investigative journalism is what we need!
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Instead of ordering course materials I am going to make do with what I have.
We are trying to buy Canadian if we have to buy anything.
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My daily act of resistance is discussing with at least one person a day that fact that the 3 branches of government is less important in America today that the decisions of the 2 political parties—and that has happened in this century.
In other words, the constitution has already been subverted and nobody seems to care.
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I am also up in Canada. We are buying Canadian products first when we are grocery shopping.
Of non-grocery shopping, I had to buy eye-make up remover. The drug store one I had been using was stinging my eyes somewhat so I decided to get a better one. Normally, I would Have bought Estée Lauder. This time I bought one from France.
We also cancelled our trip to Las Vegas and are staying i our home province.
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I am also up in Canada. We are buying Canadian products first when we are grocery shopping.
Of non-grocery shopping, I had to buy eye-make up remover. The drug store one I had been using was stinging my eyes somewhat so I decided to get a better one. Normally, I would Have bought Estée Lauder. This time I bought one from France.
We also cancelled our trip to Las Vegas and are staying i our home province.
Given the FAA news posted elsewhere in Off Topic. I'm glad you aren't flying to the US. Stay safe!
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I have to work tomorrow, but I gave gas money to a few women from our local "liberal mom" group who are driving to our state capital for the protest tomorrow.
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I have a quote for inspiration.
I'm no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I'm changing the things I cannot accept.
Angela Davis. June 18 2024
I remember when she was a Black Panther. Good to see she's still going all these years later.
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Someone who knows I'm a local advocate asked to connect me to someone who's doing some kind of coalition building in my district. I'm waiting to hear back, but I'm hoping to take the opportunity to connect some of the local groups and folks who are involved in various ways in the community.
Very small (or at least effortless) thing: I use Ecosia as my default search. They are not Google, and they plant trees around the world with the money they raise. They seem to be getting it right about putting the right trees in the right places, rebuilding entire ecosystems, and working with communities and local people, and then caring for them; not just planting willy-nilly where they can get paid or sell carbon offsets or whatever. At one point, their page estimated how many trees I'd planted with my searches. At about 45 searches per tree, I made it to over 100 trees before the counter vanished.
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No more Airbnb account, no more x links, no more fb links. Easy, why not do it.
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I have a quote for inspiration.
I'm no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I'm changing the things I cannot accept.
Angela Davis. June 18 2024
I remember when she was a Black Panther. Good to see she's still going all these years later.
This quote is much much older than 2024, FYI.
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I have a quote for inspiration.
I'm no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I'm changing the things I cannot accept.
Angela Davis. June 18 2024
I remember when she was a Black Panther. Good to see she's still going all these years later.
This quote is much much older than 2024, FYI.
The source where I found it gave that date. That is why I was so specific.
It could be much earlier, of course, and she has possibly repeated it more recently.
Does it really matter? What matters is the call to action.
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Thanks for the AirBnB link. I haven't used it in years because of all the extra fees, fraud and illegal filming issues, but hadn't bothered to delete my account. Deleted it 5 minutes ago.
I had started buying more Canadian goods back in the first round with Trump. Now I am being even more vigilant - any source BUT the U.S. We had also planned to do a train trip to San Francisco next year - that's been scratched too.
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Today I am donating to a fund for legal fees for someone in my community who was picked up by ICE, calling my senators, and attending a Zoom town hall this evening with my rep.
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The cosplay gestapo has been doing pseudo-raids near me. Apparently without warrants or probable cause. They're wearing heavy tactical gear and banging on doors as a way to scare and intimidate immigrants.
https://www.denverpost.com/2025/02/16/ice-raid-denver-cruel-immigrants-fear/?utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=fb-denverpost&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social (https://www.denverpost.com/2025/02/16/ice-raid-denver-cruel-immigrants-fear/?utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=fb-denverpost&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social)
I'd love to find a way to find one of these raids and spend a couple hours verbally mocking them. The idea would be to keep a sense of humor and make them seem ridiculous. Do they really need body armor and M4's to talk to grandma?
The more we can build a crowd that views them as comical, the less serious their threats and raids become.
This would take some logistics and organizing that wouldn't be super hard, but is a little above what I would commit to. We'd need to figure out where they stage their tactical vehicles and have a way of following them to their destination. The rest would be easy.
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I was listening to the Money with Katie podcast this week. She was talking about how Corporate America’s is just good with Trump overall. And a simple act of resistance is just not being a consumer succa like MMM always reminds us.
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Got rid of my Airbnb account.
I also got rid of the guy I was seeing. He turned out to be a Trump supporter.
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Got rid of my Airbnb account.
I also got rid of the guy I was seeing. He turned out to be a Trump supporter.
Good for you.
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Officially deactivated my airbnb account today.
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I joined my union and associated mutual aid. It doesn't have any actual power but I'm a library worker. Our work has never been more important and anything we can do to buoy each other up so we can all keep coming to work is good
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Officially deactivated my airbnb account today.
Love it! I just deleted mine too. It didn’t have an option to write in an explanation, so I chose “not confident with how they handle customer data” as the reason.
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I think there might be better lists out there (please post if you know of them), but here is a rundown of companies/C-suite people's donations to Trump -- please consider boycotting any or all of these, and divesting from them to the extent possible.
https://www.newsweek.com/american-businesses-supporting-donating-donald-trump-list-2027957
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I think there might be better lists out there (please post if you know of them), but here is a rundown of companies/C-suite people's donations to Trump -- please consider boycotting any or all of these, and divesting from them to the extent possible.
https://www.newsweek.com/american-businesses-supporting-donating-donald-trump-list-2027957 (https://www.newsweek.com/american-businesses-supporting-donating-donald-trump-list-2027957)
That seems a bit "passive" for the day. How about posting their CEO's names, addresses, and photos of them and everyone on their family trees online? That might have a bit more traction. Heck, might as well post their SSN's and CC info too. Musk has ours!!
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I think there might be better lists out there (please post if you know of them), but here is a rundown of companies/C-suite people's donations to Trump -- please consider boycotting any or all of these, and divesting from them to the extent possible.
https://www.newsweek.com/american-businesses-supporting-donating-donald-trump-list-2027957
Looking at that list of names and companies (especially the companies further on down the list), the amounts of donations compared to size of company is relatively small. I have to believe that many of those companies were probably donating to both democrats and republicans (as they probably do every election) in order to hedge their bets. But that's also probably a good enough reason to consider boycotting them too..., since they're essentially trying to buy influence either way.
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I think there might be better lists out there (please post if you know of them), but here is a rundown of companies/C-suite people's donations to Trump -- please consider boycotting any or all of these, and divesting from them to the extent possible.
https://www.newsweek.com/american-businesses-supporting-donating-donald-trump-list-2027957
Looking at that list of names and companies (especially the companies further on down the list), the amounts of donations compared to size of company is relatively small. I have to believe that many of those companies were probably donating to both democrats and republicans (as they probably do every election) in order to hedge their bets. But that's also probably a good enough reason to consider boycotting them too..., since they're essentially trying to buy influence either way.
I just want to reiterate my point that money spent on gasoline and natural gas is where most household dollars end up being redirected directly to republicans interests.
My house was paying $5k per year in PERPETUITY on gasoline and utilities until I started clamping down on it. How many of your other efforts come close to the amount you spend on gasoline or natural gas?
Every new gas car sold will generate an average of $45k in revenue for the O&G industry over its lifetime on average.
Every gas water heater sold will create $5k in revenue for natural gas companies over its lifetime, on average.
Skipping an Amazon purchase or giving $50 to a charity is a drop in the bucket compared to these numbers.
Insulate your home. Get a heat-pump water heater. Retire a gas car. Any of these things will have a 10x to 100x impact over some of these feel good items being discussed.
Restricting yourself to low-effort and feel-good actions will get commensurate results.
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Insulate your home. Get a heat-pump water heater. Retire a gas car. Any of these things will have a 10x to 100x impact over some of these feel good items being discussed.
I've always heard that driving an old gas car into the ground is a better environmental choice than using it as an excuse to get a new electric car sooner. At least partly because you'll resell your gas car to someone else who will continue driving it, so you haven't actually taken its emissions out of the equation; you've just increased demand for new cars. I suppose "reduce carbon emissions" is a different metric from "reduce money to oil and gas companies," but it seems like a similar principle might apply.
I hate to sound like I'm defending inaction. My goal is to get my 24yo gas car to last until I live somewhere where electric charging is an option; if I have to replace it sooner, a conventional hybrid will be the best I can do. But if there's a flaw in my logic, I want to know.
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I would prob drive an old car until it was unrepairable and that makes good financial sense b/c I can DIY all the repairs. The math is a little more fuzzy when reliant on a repair shop. At some point the repairs do get more expensive. I passed along our ICEV to our eldest b/c last year I needed to reduce my time doing DIY repairs and our eldest needed a car. We bought a used BEV.
The environmental tip over point between a BEV and an ICEV of similar size is about 15,000 miles. At 15,000 miles the new BEV is better for the environment than a new ICEV which will continue to pollute it's entire lifetime. The BEV will too but at a far lower pace.
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/when-do-electric-vehicles-become-cleaner-than-gasoline-cars-2021-06-29/
In the end, do what works for you. Individual choices won't move any needle much IMHO. BEVs have momentum, they'll be the norm in time despite whatever we choose to do.
We need two cars occasionally, so rather than doing a his and her car, we're doing a large and small strategy. Normally we carpool in the BEV to work and around town together. The large car does the towing and the travels which we don't do as much of lately.
The larger car (medium size SUV) gets used by me once a week to drive to work separate from DW. That keeps the 12V battery charged. The overwhelming majority of our miles are done with the smaller, more efficient BEV. Eventually when our ICEV wears out, maybe we'll replace it with a BEV or an EREV. Won't be with a ICEV. Or maybe we won't replace it at all b/c we'll be retired.
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I think there might be better lists out there (please post if you know of them), but here is a rundown of companies/C-suite people's donations to Trump -- please consider boycotting any or all of these, and divesting from them to the extent possible.
https://www.newsweek.com/american-businesses-supporting-donating-donald-trump-list-2027957
This website tries to catalog political contributions in general, plus their relative political/ideological alignment. https://www.goodsuniteus.com/
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Interesting video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OXRBtgcLLw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OXRBtgcLLw)
How Crafting Became A Form Of Public Activism And Protest, by Amy of Melbourne
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I think there might be better lists out there (please post if you know of them), but here is a rundown of companies/C-suite people's donations to Trump -- please consider boycotting any or all of these, and divesting from them to the extent possible.
https://www.newsweek.com/american-businesses-supporting-donating-donald-trump-list-2027957
Looking at that list of names and companies (especially the companies further on down the list), the amounts of donations compared to size of company is relatively small. I have to believe that many of those companies were probably donating to both democrats and republicans (as they probably do every election) in order to hedge their bets. But that's also probably a good enough reason to consider boycotting them too..., since they're essentially trying to buy influence either way.
I just want to reiterate my point that money spent on gasoline and natural gas is where most household dollars end up being redirected directly to republicans interests.
My house was paying $5k per year in PERPETUITY on gasoline and utilities until I started clamping down on it. How many of your other efforts come close to the amount you spend on gasoline or natural gas?
Every new gas car sold will generate an average of $45k in revenue for the O&G industry over its lifetime on average.
Every gas water heater sold will create $5k in revenue for natural gas companies over its lifetime, on average.
Skipping an Amazon purchase or giving $50 to a charity is a drop in the bucket compared to these numbers.
Insulate your home. Get a heat-pump water heater. Retire a gas car. Any of these things will have a 10x to 100x impact over some of these feel good items being discussed.
Restricting yourself to low-effort and feel-good actions will get commensurate results.
I appreciate this POV. In our case, our energy usage is already very low, so we have not done much more to electrify it.
A fun (for the kids especially) thing you can do is turn off the power to your house, break out the candles, and enjoy a few hours without electricity. We did this a lot and my kids really got on board with it. It also made real power outages (extremely infrequent anyway) seem like no big deal.
Taking the train instead of flying is for me one way to have a big-bang reduction in my carbon footprint. According to my Amtrak statement, I've travelled nearly 7k miles and avoided more than 1,318 lb CO2e vs car.
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Insulate your home. Get a heat-pump water heater. Retire a gas car. Any of these things will have a 10x to 100x impact over some of these feel good items being discussed.
I've always heard that driving an old gas car into the ground is a better environmental choice than using it as an excuse to get a new electric car sooner. At least partly because you'll resell your gas car to someone else who will continue driving it, so you haven't actually taken its emissions out of the equation; you've just increased demand for new cars. I suppose "reduce carbon emissions" is a different metric from "reduce money to oil and gas companies," but it seems like a similar principle might apply.
I hate to sound like I'm defending inaction. My goal is to get my 24yo gas car to last until I live somewhere where electric charging is an option; if I have to replace it sooner, a conventional hybrid will be the best I can do. But if there's a flaw in my logic, I want to know.
The key is to not put a new gas car on the road. Every new gas car creates a ~$45k revenue stream for the oil & gas companies.
Buy a used car if you're not ready for an EV or PHEV. That car will be on the road until it dies regardless of who drives it.
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I'm doing volunteer tax prep through an organization that primarily serves Latinos, including a lot of immigrants. Every client whose taxes I do for free is someone who's not paying $300+ to the predatory tax prep services that dominate the neighborhood. I don't know of any other way to put thousands back into the pockets of low income folks with a couple hours of work.
Being a VITA volunteer requires computer literacy, ability to follow some basic logic rules, and passing a couple of tests, which is all stuff this community tends to excel at. I would really encourage others to look into volunteering at sites in their area (https://irs.treasury.gov/freetaxprep/), although at this point you're likely to need to do self-study as the intro sessions are usually held in Dec/Jan.
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Today I have contacted both of my senators, and just created the Facebook group for Daily Acts of Resistance. Will be setting it up and sharing it on FB in the coming days.
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Call it resistance I guess, but I have stopped buying US products wherever possible. And will not be visiting the US for any reason while the current regime is in charge. I certainly won't return until the US stops the moronic trade war and threats of annexation.
In practice this means I have cancelled my planned trip to Seattle to watch the Jays this year, and my planned road trip along the Oregon coast. My bucket list goal of doing a BBQ tour of the Southern States is likely on permanent hiatus - I will replace it with expansion of my already planned food tour of France and Northern Spain.
I already divested about $250k of US equities as part of my recent rebalancing, but that had to happen anyway. I won't be buying any US equities in the future however, because I don't invest in my country's apparent enemies. It's a damn shame, but that's the new reality of the US choosing to pick fights with its friends.
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The key is to not put a new gas car on the road. Every new gas car creates a ~$45k revenue stream for the oil & gas companies.
Buy a used car if you're not ready for an EV or PHEV. That car will be on the road until it dies regardless of who drives it.
That I can promise.
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Thanks for the fantastic ideas!
1. Will delete AirBNB soon.
2. Deleted X.
3. Deleted my USA Jobs profile.
4. Donated to ACLU.
5. Donated to Propublica.
6. Took a laid off friend to dinner.
7. Visited with a friend who might be laid off soon.
8. Emotional support for fed worker friends.
9. Use as little gas as possible.
10. Stopped any shopping at Target.
11. Began shopping at Costco to support them more.
I also downloaded my social security statement as I bet they'll try to mess with our data or--who knows?--even erase us.
I'll look into improving the insultation in our house in order to use less gas.
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Looks, in theory I have an account with Airbnb but I haven’t used them since running the Boston Marathon in 2016. I’d rather stay at a real BnB vs using them at this point.
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Looks, in theory I have an account with Airbnb but I haven’t used them since running the Boston Marathon in 2016. I’d rather stay at a real BnB vs using them at this point.
I’ve always been pretty lucky to just google the name of the property management company behind an Airbnb listing and finding the same property on their web site for less. Only works with property management vs individual owner but I prefer to deal with those anyway as individuals are usually more unreasonable about their rules
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I’ve always been pretty lucky to just google the name of the property management company behind an Airbnb listing and finding the same property on their web site for less. Only works with property management vs individual owner but I prefer to deal with those anyway as individuals are usually more unreasonable about their rules
That's a great hack. The management companies would rather deal with you directly too.
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Looks, in theory I have an account with Airbnb but I haven’t used them since running the Boston Marathon in 2016. I’d rather stay at a real BnB vs using them at this point.
I’ve always been pretty lucky to just google the name of the property management company behind an Airbnb listing and finding the same property on their web site for less. Only works with property management vs individual owner but I prefer to deal with those anyway as individuals are usually more unreasonable about their rules
I feel like AirBnB is played out anyway. Like a lot of people I used it in the first few years a few times. It was incredibly useful for a European trip where I couldn’t afford hotels. But after that I was always like, I don’t want to stay in someone’s old bedroom, I want a nice anonymous hotel. Also, AirBnBs really ruined neighborhoods. At the height of the AirBnB bubble, a neighbor was running one. Gah, it was awful! Weird people coming and going, including a beautiful naked lady who used to sit on the corner crying wearing nothing but a leather jacket. Parking got all jacked up. I was so glad when the house sold and was no longer an AirBnB.
Now I’m kind of on a hostels kick! Hostels are super affordable and fun and all-ages.
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Hostels are way cheaper and way more fun than Airbnbs.
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I subscribed to the anti-Trump MeidasTouch podcast, which just unseated Joe Rogan's podcast as #1 in the US
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-rogan-dethroned-meidas-touch-podcast-donald-trump-2032673
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Referred a faraway friend to find her local Indivisible group. And you too! https://indivisible.org/groups (https://indivisible.org/groups)
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Also, I spoke out in favor of congestion pricing in NYC in the comment section of a local newspaper. It was swamped with trolls who probably didn't live within a hundred miles of NYC let alone ever commuted there.
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I subscribed to the anti-Trump MeidasTouch podcast, which just unseated Joe Rogan's podcast as #1 in the US
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-rogan-dethroned-meidas-touch-podcast-donald-trump-2032673
Off-topic but why the ever living fuck does anyone listen to Rogan? I saw part of one of his podcasts on Climate Town and Rogan is ranting about how "oh the oil protestors are clothed in oil-based clothes what hypocrites I can't stand them!" But somehow elmo and cheeto are okay? Yeah sure whatever.
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I subscribed to the anti-Trump MeidasTouch podcast, which just unseated Joe Rogan's podcast as #1 in the US
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-rogan-dethroned-meidas-touch-podcast-donald-trump-2032673
Off-topic but why the ever living fuck does anyone listen to Rogan? I saw part of one of his podcasts on Climate Town and Rogan is ranting about how "oh the oil protestors are clothed in oil-based clothes what hypocrites I can't stand them!" But somehow elmo and cheeto are okay? Yeah sure whatever.
He is a dumb person’s idea of what a smart person sounds like. He’s “just asking questions.”
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This morning I sent a message to Gov. Hochul asking her to sign the New York Health Information Privacy Act. S929 (https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S929). And I called my New York state reps asking them to pass S3044, The New York Privacy Act (https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S3044) which passed the State Senate but not the Assembly last year.
If your state doesn't have good privacy laws reach out and demand one. This is not a red/blue thing as TX has better privacy laws than most states, I hear.
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Being registered as Independent means I sometimes get political solicitations from the right-wing. This week's included a "survey" from the Heritage Foundation.
It was the usual plea for money amid panic-inducing poll questions around immigration and other culture war topics, and "don't I want to support President Trump" with a donation to fight the brown hordes, etc.
Of course I answered "No" to everything with a bright cherry red marker, and a big Hell No to a donation amount. Then I sent it back to them in their own pre-paid postage envelope.
I've no idea if any human ever reads these things but I hope I cost them a few cents of their own time and money.
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I subscribed to the anti-Trump MeidasTouch podcast, which just unseated Joe Rogan's podcast as #1 in the US
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-rogan-dethroned-meidas-touch-podcast-donald-trump-2032673
Off-topic but why the ever living fuck does anyone listen to Rogan? I saw part of one of his podcasts on Climate Town and Rogan is ranting about how "oh the oil protestors are clothed in oil-based clothes what hypocrites I can't stand them!" But somehow elmo and cheeto are okay? Yeah sure whatever.
He has had a wide variety of interesting guests in the past - some people I would never normally listen to, and some I deeply admire. I've caught his show occasionally for years depending on who he's talking to, and some of the conversations have been really fascinating. He was attacked and treated quite poorly during covid (some of the concerns absolutely legitimate, and some of them completely wrong). He's not really a hard right wing guy, although it feels like he has been painted as such - he tends to let a guest steer the conversation. I haven't found many guests I want to listen to in the past year or so, and think this is because fewer left/centrist people are less interested in coming on his show any more . . . which honestly is a shame. In the past he has given many democratic and left leaning people a great platform to discuss issues they find important.
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Officially deactivated my airbnb account today.
I deleted my AirBnB account today, but it didn't let me type my reason. Booo.
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Yesterday, someone told me about Five Calls.
Make your voice heard. 5 Calls is the easiest and most effective way for U.S. constituents to make a political impact.
https://5calls.org/
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I subscribed to the anti-Trump MeidasTouch podcast, which just unseated Joe Rogan's podcast as #1 in the US
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-rogan-dethroned-meidas-touch-podcast-donald-trump-2032673
Just subscribed. Thanks!
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We own a small amount of IVV. Today they asked us to decide on a proxy voting policy for the underlying holdings, and we selected the climate-focused policy.
I'm also attending (half of) a webinar from GiveWell about the US Foreign Aid freeze.
I'm struggling to be motivated to do phone calls to congress, but I know I should. Ugh.
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We own a small amount of IVV. Today they asked us to decide on a proxy voting policy for the underlying holdings, and we selected the climate-focused policy.
I'm also attending (half of) a webinar from GiveWell about the US Foreign Aid freeze.
I'm struggling to be motivated to do phone calls to congress, but I know I should. Ugh.
Get the 5 Calls app if you haven’t already. It makes calling easy, even for a phone-phobe like me. Two observations:
1) once you start doing it, it gets a lot easier.
2) in my experience, most of the time you get kicked over to voicemail, which is less scary but you still get credit for doing it.
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I made a $5 monthly donation to my local food bank to do what I can to help my neighbors who are being impacted (direct debit from my credit union checking account, no need to give Chase a cut).
Now I am downloading the 5 calls app.
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We own a small amount of IVV. Today they asked us to decide on a proxy voting policy for the underlying holdings, and we selected the climate-focused policy.
I'm also attending (half of) a webinar from GiveWell about the US Foreign Aid freeze.
I'm struggling to be motivated to do phone calls to congress, but I know I should. Ugh.
Get the 5 Calls app if you haven’t already. It makes calling easy, even for a phone-phobe like me. Two observations:
1) once you start doing it, it gets a lot easier.
2) in my experience, most of the time you get kicked over to voicemail, which is less scary but you still get credit for doing it.
Oh noooo I had to talk to a person. Just a warning to be emotionally prepared for that! And then they have to tell you why the thing you are requesting is not happening. But I did it! Go me!
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I contacted my state-level reps about a bill to stop development in our state parks. This is a response to some really shady stuff our governor tried to pull last summer.
I am also attending my city's state of the city meeting today.
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... Joe Rogan ...
He has had a wide variety of interesting guests in the past - some people I would never normally listen to, and some I deeply admire. I've caught his show occasionally for years depending on who he's talking to, and some of the conversations have been really fascinating. He was attacked and treated quite poorly during covid (some of the concerns absolutely legitimate, and some of them completely wrong). He's not really a hard right wing guy, although it feels like he has been painted as such - he tends to let a guest steer the conversation. I haven't found many guests I want to listen to in the past year or so, and think this is because fewer left/centrist people are less interested in coming on his show any more . . . which honestly is a shame. In the past he has given many democratic and left leaning people a great platform to discuss issues they find important.
I donno. I disagree. Maybe he was leaning left the same way Musk was? Even back when he semi-endorsed Sanders in 2020, he was called out for being anti-trans. I don't recall the specifics, I'm sure they're googleable. There was more of this last year.
The few times I've listened to his show due to a recommendation, on subjects that I'm familiar with, he seemed less about information and more about the entertainment* of the idea. The singularity is coming soon, indeed. Crypto is going to be the medium of exchange soon. OK then.
Cynically, he might just be algorithmic, like TikTok. It could be that he saw the ratings going up with right wing content, and didn't care that he was a force multiplier for the right wing. But it's telling that he endorsed Trump even after Project 2025 was in the open, and I find his rants on trans people distasteful.
* I personally don't find his style entertaining, but I understand tastes can differ.
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Today I complained to Airbnb about their founder joining DOGE. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/airbnb-co-founder-joe-gebbia-take-role-musks-doge-nyt-says-2025-02-14/
Then I went here, and deleted my Airbnb account. https://www.airbnb.com/privacy/manage-your-data/deletion
Thanks for this. Deleted mine as well.
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Just made one phone call to my state senator expressing my support for some of his work and got a live person. Encouraged by this thread to do so. I will download the 5 calls app too.
Another small act of resistance is to order “Trump did this” stickers for the grocery store. Anyone doing this?
Also, in the category of LARGE acts of resistance, I feel like we Americans need to embrace more European- and South American-style protesting. Lasers, fireworks cannons, that kind of thing.
An alternative is using art and flash mobs for the same purpose. The whole story of clowns protesting
“White flour” was hilarious, not sure where that happened but it was genius.
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An alternative is using art and flash mobs for the same purpose. The whole story of clowns protesting
“White flour” was hilarious, not sure where that happened but it was genius.
I'm not sure what you are referencing but am totally intrigued!
Am curious to explore creative pathways of resistance as an artist..
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An alternative is using art and flash mobs for the same purpose. The whole story of clowns protesting
“White flour” was hilarious, not sure where that happened but it was genius.
I'm not sure what you are referencing but am totally intrigued!
Am curious to explore creative pathways of resistance as an artist..
Found it! https://wagingnonviolence.org/2017/08/nazis-afraid-clowns/
And here is the Orange Alternative, a Polish protest movement featuring dwarves (er, little people).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Alternative
Can you treat a police officer seriously, when he is asking you: "Why did you participate in an illegal meeting of dwarfs?"
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Another small act of resistance is to order “Trump did this” stickers for the grocery store. Anyone doing this?
This is the first I'm hearing about it. I can see some applicability, but I'm generally against making more work for low-paid workers, and I can't imagine it would change any hearts and minds in my extremely left neighborhood.
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I'm also attending (half of) a webinar from GiveWell about the US Foreign Aid freeze.
Recording available for anyone who is interested: vimeo.com/1058763882 (Sorry, I can't make it a linked URL or the forum automatically tries, and fails, to embed the video here.)
Context: GiveWell is an Effective Altruism nonprofit that does research on the most cost-effective ways to save and improve lives, resulting in a focus on global health. They direct about $350 million in donations per year to those causes. The webinar discusses how the temporary, and potentially permanent, loss of US global health funding (about $20 billion dollars annually) could impact their work.
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I attended and spoke at a local planning meeting in person and made the introduction between leaders of two different local organizations I work with. None of it is really in the national space, but I hope to urge a major development project away from cars and parking and toward housing near jobs and amenities; walking; biking; and wildlife-friendly construction and landscaping. I must have made an impression, at least. Committee members were referring to my comments.
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Another small act of resistance is to order “Trump did this” stickers for the grocery store. Anyone doing this?
This is the first I'm hearing about it. I can see some applicability, but I'm generally against making more work for low-paid workers, and I can't imagine it would change any hearts and minds in my extremely left neighborhood.
Yeah almost any business a worker is gonna have to scrape this off so I’m not really down on it and I never even saw the Biden ones in my area. I guess if I had frequented a business that left Biden stickers up for long periods of time it would be fair turnabout … but that’s not my neighborhood
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Made calls to my senators and representative about Trump's takeover of the USPS.
Donated money to the campaign of Josh Weil, Democrat for U.S. Congress (FL-6), who is running against Trump and DeSantis's handpicked nominee, Randy Fine in a special election on April 1.
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Future note: should the "DOGE dividend" come to pass, there are ready funds to donate to groups who will oppose the various atrocities and unconstitutional actions.
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An alternative is using art and flash mobs for the same purpose. The whole story of clowns protesting
“White flour” was hilarious, not sure where that happened but it was genius.
I'm not sure what you are referencing but am totally intrigued!
Am curious to explore creative pathways of resistance as an artist..
Found it! https://wagingnonviolence.org/2017/08/nazis-afraid-clowns/
And here is the Orange Alternative, a Polish protest movement featuring dwarves (er, little people).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Alternative
Can you treat a police officer seriously, when he is asking you: "Why did you participate in an illegal meeting of dwarfs?"
oh my--thank you so much! :)
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Thanks for the link to this website! I found a really good article here:
https://wagingnonviolence.org/ipra/2025/02/tesla-takedown-musk-moving-from-protest-to-resistance/
Trump and the Republicans don’t need our votes or those of Democrats in Congress. They don’t care how much we protest or complain. They don’t care what we, or even our Democratic representatives in Congress, say. The fundamental historical lesson of fascism is that all the fascists need is for us to show up to work, obey orders, pay our taxes, and not get in the way of their juggernaut. Our power is the power not to show up for work, not to obey orders, not to pay our taxes, and to get in their way.
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There's another 50501 protest on March 4. I'm trying to get up the courage to organize a protest that day at our nearest Tesla dealer.
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Thanks for the link to this website! I found a really good article here:
https://wagingnonviolence.org/ipra/2025/02/tesla-takedown-musk-moving-from-protest-to-resistance/
Trump and the Republicans don’t need our votes or those of Democrats in Congress. They don’t care how much we protest or complain. They don’t care what we, or even our Democratic representatives in Congress, say. The fundamental historical lesson of fascism is that all the fascists need is for us to show up to work, obey orders, pay our taxes, and not get in the way of their juggernaut. Our power is the power not to show up for work, not to obey orders, not to pay our taxes, and to get in their way.
We protest not to shame or influence Trump & Musk, but to let those who don’t agree with their machinations know that they are not alone. Similar with anti-Tesla protests, the goal should be to influence the company to distance itself from Musk or experience consequences for his repulsive actions. Just because Trump and Musk may seem to experience no consequences doesn’t mean that those in their orbit won’t. So far they have left and continue to leave a trail of destruction behind them, with, in the case of Trump, literally over a thousand people sent to prison for following his orders.
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But basically... at some point... somebody has to stop obeying their orders, right?
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But basically... at some point... somebody has to stop obeying their orders, right?
The Nazi party only won 38% of the vote (a plurality). That was enough to take power and silence the opposition.
Newly appointed FBI director Kash Patel has called for the government to target journalists. Our freedoms are being dismantled as we watch.
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But basically... at some point... somebody has to stop obeying their orders, right?
Plenty of people are, but they are resigning or simply getting fired. If the security guards lock you out of the building what choice do you have (outside of civil war/open rebellion)
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I just forwarded information from a local activist organization to local news outlets, about a local person detained by ICE (despite being married to a US citizen and living here the last 30 years). He was badly injured in the process. I included an the admonition to check the facts, because I found absolutely nothing about it in the news. Activists are working on getting him released from the hospital, not into ICE custody.
ETA: I also wrote my congress member about it.
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FYI, indivisible is organizing a no-spend day feb 28.
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1. Deleted What's App, FB, Instagram, and GoodReads. Have long ago banned Amazon from my life. Engaging on Substack and BlueSky.
2. Set up monthly donations to ACLU.
3. Regularly contacting State and Fed legislators re. horrible bills. Using 5calls and other apps to make this easy.
4. Attending a state lobbying day in March to advocate for human services in my state.
5. Donated my old car to public radio last summer. Following Sheryl Crow's lead, put the "my old car is NPR" bumper sticker on my new one to be an advertisement.
6. Organized a get-together of my community gardening group yesterday. We didn't discuss politics, but there's a lot of mutual support. Community capacity is key.
7. Connected with several friends and acquaintances at church today. It is a progressive place within a mainline denomination. We talked about how to support friends in the sciences who have lost jobs, made arrangements to send money to a local refugee resettlement non profit, and organized a carpool to go to the state capitol tomorrow to oppose an anti-trans bill.
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1. Deleted What's App, FB, Instagram, and GoodReads. Have long ago banned Amazon from my life. Engaging on Substack and BlueSky.
2. Set up monthly donations to ACLU.
3. Regularly contacting State and Fed legislators re. horrible bills. Using 5calls and other apps to make this easy.
4. Attending a state lobbying day in March to advocate for human services in my state.
5. Donated my old car to public radio last summer. Following Sheryl Crow's lead, put the "my old car is NPR" bumper sticker on my new one to be an advertisement.
6. Organized a get-together of my community gardening group yesterday. We didn't discuss politics, but there's a lot of mutual support. Community capacity is key.
7. Connected with several friends and acquaintances at church today. It is a progressive place within a mainline denomination. We talked about how to support friends in the sciences who have lost jobs, made arrangements to send money to a local refugee resettlement non profit, and organized a carpool to go to the state capitol tomorrow to oppose an anti-trans bill.
Amazing list!!
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I’m noting the effect town halls in red-states are having. In-person action and phone calls are VERY EFFECTIVE. Also, the leaking to journalists from Fed employees has been incredibly effective.
Small acts of resistance in the news:
TV monitors in HUD were hacked to show a gross AI video of Trump & Musk.
On Hacker News, discussion of the urgency to move software off of American cloud providers
Multiple fed employees told to hold off on reporting their activities to Musk
I read somewhere (have now lost it) that in activism, it’s not trying to move someone from apathetic to activist. That’s a huge leap. You are just trying to move someone one step away from their negative position (towards resistance or activism). That’s where personal stories can really help, things like saying how sad it is that cancer research won’t be funded, how plane traffic isn’t safe with fewer FAA staff or how national parks are struggling with trash without staff to clean it up.
Musk is enormously unpopular and this is only going to increase. Trump was already unpopular, same deal.
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I’m noting the effect town halls in red-states are having. In-person action and phone calls are VERY EFFECTIVE. Also, the leaking to journalists from Fed employees has been incredibly effective.
Small acts of resistance in the news:
TV monitors in HUD were hacked to show a gross AI video of Trump & Musk.
On Hacker News, discussion of the urgency to move software off of American cloud providers
Multiple fed employees told to hold off on reporting their activities to Musk
I read somewhere (have now lost it) that in activism, it’s not trying to move someone from apathetic to activist. That’s a huge leap. You are just trying to move someone one step away from their negative position (towards resistance or activism). That’s where personal stories can really help, things like saying how sad it is that cancer research won’t be funded, how plane traffic isn’t safe with fewer FAA staff or how national parks are struggling with trash without staff to clean it up.
Musk is enormously unpopular and this is only going to increase. Trump was already unpopular, same deal.
I absolutely approve of that HUD prank. Causing a firehose of mockery and chaos is one of the most effective things that can be done right now. It is an antidote to people feeling afraid and helpless: making people mock this sham of an administration and feel empowered that they can be caught on their back foot so easily. Love this.
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The only problem I have with that video is that it crossed my feed and I will never unsee it. But yes to mocking the ghouls.
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I offered to help make a digital poster for a friend who is organizing a Tesla protest, and to put it up on this site:
https://www.teslatakedown.com/
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House vote expected on budget today, I just called my Rep to express total opposition to Medicaid cuts (both offices).
Pointless since my rep is actually spearheading cuts to Medicaid, but :shrug: did it anyway.
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House vote expected on budget today, I just called my Rep to express total opposition to Medicaid cuts (both offices).
Pointless since my rep is actually spearheading cuts to Medicaid, but :shrug: did it anyway.
Based on footage I’m seeing of people vocally challenging GOP reps, I think your call is super important. Thank you. I’ll call my rep now too.
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Called my rep this morning demanding that she oppose the GOP budget completely. Absolutely ZERO help on keeping the government running unless they get DOGE and Musk out. The person I spoke to said they are getting a TON of calls in the last week saying their constituents want them to take a hard line on not cooperating with Republicans, and they are getting the message.
Also delivered a batch of "Know Your Rights" cards to a place I frequent that has a fair amount of people who are immigrants to this country as their customers. And ordered another batch.
In case anyone wants the link to purchase these cards (I may have given this up above but I'll do it again), it's here:
https://www.redcardorders.com/product-page/red-card-rights
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Just made two calls to my reps.
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I functioned as a simplifier b/c someone at work may have let their politics get in their own way and they were functioning as a complexifier. It surely looked like it.
Brown skin coworker could not get help from someone who I'm certain could help but didn't want to. If it happens again, thereby confirming my suspicions - I'm coming down on them hard.
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Europe gave their small act of resistance. Tesla sales volume for January was down 45% in Europe. Overall EV volume was up 37%.
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Shared this graphic with a hundred people. Maybe more now.
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I'm observing the blackout. Plan to do some more of the painting on my remodel, then a WHOLE bunch of deferred gardening tasks -- I spent 4-5 hours gardening yesterday and it was good for me in so many ways.
I'm foregoing my bonus points on groceries by not shopping on a Friday -- but figure I can get what I need next Tuesday when they have the senior discount (10% in store -- haven't ever used it so might as well check it out).
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I am participating in the economic blackout. No buying anything and I have logged out of my social media accounts.
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Today I had to stop halfway through my news reading because the details of how many people will die worldwide as a result of foreign aid cuts was so overwhelming.
I have been really frazzled in my personal life this week, which makes me feel like I have to avoid thinking about politics to conserve energy. I continue to struggle to do the basic task of calling my reps. Partly because there are so many things to call about that deciding what to say is overwhelming. I want to call about foreign aid today though.
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Participating in the economic blackout. I did go into a bookstore though, but only to pet the cat. I didn't buy anything.
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Participating in the economic blackout. I did go into a bookstore though, but only to pet the cat. I didn't buy anything.
Petting cats is an act of self care. Always permitted.
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I personally think the economic blackout is silly. Buying something next Tuesday versus today will make literally zero difference.
A sustained and long term boycott against 1-2 major retailers might make an impact.
That being said, I do need to go to the store today to get a present for a kids birthday party. It didn't take much of a nudge to get me to go to a small local toystore instead of Target.
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I personally think the economic blackout is silly. Buying something next Tuesday versus today will make literally zero difference.
A sustained and long term boycott against 1-2 major retailers might make an impact.
That being said, I do need to go to the store today to get a present for a kids birthday party. It didn't take much of a nudge to get me to go to a small local toystore instead of Target.
Target will notice that you didn't shop there. And you got the present so you won't be there tomorrow to get it. They lost that sale.
Your purchase is a drop in the bucket, but if enough people go elsewhere local instead of Target then the sales analyst people will notice. And if you shop elsewhere then they will notice because there is no extra sales volume in the next few days.
For big companies my own personal not-an-economist opinion is that if sales can shift to local, away from the big stores, they will notice. In Canada I am hearing the Canadian manufacturers are ramping up and purchasing departments are shifting sourcing, because BABA means things from Canada, or Mexico or Peru or the EU or wherever will sell, but the American goods and produce are not selling well. Even without a 100% boycott the shift is noticeable.
BABA - Buy Anything But American - we are still buying things not made/produced in Canada, it is a buy Canadian movement but even more so it is a don't buy American movement.
Americans can stop buying things from Red states, for example. For example, if my only source of dates is California I might buy them, but I won't be buying Arizona dates. Right now my dates are honey dates from Turkey, my blueberries are from Peru, my carrots and onions are from Ontario (so definitely even more local) and my furnace filters are made in Canada. I'm not buying (sob) my crunchy gluten-free crackers because they are made in a red state. I will adjust.
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Americans can stop buying things from Red states, for example.
Not if I live in one...
But local rather than corporate giants, no Amazon, etc. I can still do.
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Americans can stop buying things from Red states, for example.
Not if I live in one...
But local rather than corporate giants, no Amazon, etc. I can still do.
You still have options. Costco (good store, supports DEI) versus a local store whose owners are vocal MAGAs, for example. Or when choosing between similar items, look at where they are made. And please consider foreign as well, if you buy from Mexico and Canada it helps us survive the tariffs that are supposed to start on Tuesday.
Basically do what you can where you are. And remember the perfect is the enemy of the good. If 50% of your expenditure shifts, that will have an impact.
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I'm buying a refurbished iPhone from a reseller rather than buying new from Apple. And I'm buying American clothing directly from the Chinese manufacturer, so the American company doesn't see a cent of my money.
If you're avoiding Amazon, you can consider sourcing things from Alibaba or Temu. If quality is a concern, there are strategies to increase the likelihood that you are purchasing quality goods (I've learned several of them having spent years shopping on Taobao).
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I'm buying a refurbished iPhone from a reseller rather than buying new from Apple. And I'm buying American clothing directly from the Chinese manufacturer, so the American company doesn't see a cent of my money.
If you're avoiding Amazon, you can consider sourcing things from Alibaba or Temu. If quality is a concern, there are strategies to increase the likelihood that you are purchasing quality goods (I've learned several of them having spent years shopping on Taobao).
I'm sure many of us would appreciate learning those strategies. There are lots of YouTube videos about the bad quality stuff, it would be nice to know how to access the good quality stuff.
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For a long time, I've only bought used smart phones. Phones and laptops are often graded. Easy to find a well kept device with a couple years of age on it for half off the price of a new one.
I "failed" yesterday b/c of work. Bought food twice, bought $90 worth of fuel for my employer's truck after an all day drive, we had to hit the grocery store last night. Sorry. Next time.
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Today I planted my first seeds of the season in one of the plots I maintain for the food bank. All of the seeds were obtained for free at some local seed swap events (many donated to the events/the non-profit I support that runs them by the local grocery co-op). All of the seeds organic, non-GMO and heirloom varieties (means I can save seed and grow in perpetuity if I like the varieties) and produced by local seed growers.
I planted (S to N in a bed that runs E-W):
1) Snowflake lettuce -- just learned this is a Ukrainian lettuce! I originally grabbed the seeds because the variety is supposed to be both very cold hardy AND bolt-resistant. Hopefully they are Trump hardy, too.
https://www.adaptiveseeds.com/product/vegetables/lettuce/lettuce-snowflake-organic/
2) Giants of Colmar carrots
https://territorialseed.com/products/carrot-giants-of-colmar
3) Oregon Sugar Pod II peas
https://territorialseed.com/products/pea-oregon-sugar-pod-ii
4) Bulls Blood beets
https://territorialseed.com/products/beet-bulls-blood
5) Tundra spinach (oops -- apparently this is F1! Territorial no longer selling it, probably for that reason)
https://www.johnnyseeds.com/vegetables/spinach/savoyed-leaf-spinach/tundra-organic-f1-spinach-seed-3583G.html
6) Wild garden kales -- so these are Siberian, but I guess they represent solidarity with all of Putin's political prisoners....
https://territorialseed.com/products/kale-wild-garden
Cultivate and connect. And fight the coup however you see fit. For me it is growing healthy food and resiliant communities.
If you are inclined to grow things and live in a climate similar to mine, please consider buying seed from these and other local, ethical seed companies. NOT BAKER CREEK PLEASE!!!! They are very popular and have beautiful pictures, but they invited right wing nutjobs to a conference a few years ago and never apologized for it.
Territorial has a $10 off $30 purchase if you sign up for their website.
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I'm buying a refurbished iPhone from a reseller rather than buying new from Apple. And I'm buying American clothing directly from the Chinese manufacturer, so the American company doesn't see a cent of my money.
If you're avoiding Amazon, you can consider sourcing things from Alibaba or Temu. If quality is a concern, there are strategies to increase the likelihood that you are purchasing quality goods (I've learned several of them having spent years shopping on Taobao).
I'm sure many of us would appreciate learning those strategies. There are lots of YouTube videos about the bad quality stuff, it would be nice to know how to access the good quality stuff.
I found the following strategies to be helpful. Not 100% foolproof, but it does help to weed out the fake ads.
1. Number of recent sales - the more the better. On Taobao, I look for ads that have had at least 100 sales in the past month.
2. Reviews - the more 5-star ratings, the better.
3. Reviews - read the reviews. Read both the good reviews and the poor reviews. If there is more than 1 poor review saying the same thing, I avoid that seller. The reviews with with pictures are even better because you can compare the picture of the actual goods to the pictures in the ad or to pictures of the real thing.
4. Look carefully at the pictures in the ad. The ones that are fake will show different pictures that they have obviously downloaded from different websites, or the good that they are selling will look different in the different pictures. Look for labels to see if it's a brand name good or a knock off. For example, I was recently looking at Calvin Klein clothing, and noticed in the picture the label said "Cavlin Kieln".
5. Store rating - Taobao uses a 5-star rating system. I only purchase from shops with a 4.8 rating or higher.
6. Return policy - Go with one with a good return policy. When you receive the good, don't mangle the packaging. Open it carefully and inspect the good carefully and test it out before throwing away the packaging.
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^^^ Thanks!
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Today I printed off the text of the Declaration of Independence.
Consistent with the theme of #NoKings I think we should make the Declaration of Independence the subject of public and performance art throughout the country.
For almost every line of it there are multiple examples of how Trump has contravened our founding principles.
Even standing on the street corner and reading the Declaration of Independence while holding up #NoKings signs would be a powerful act.
Hell, make a video about it. Take out an ad and publish it in your local media.
I would love to get this stuff on billboards. I would love to encourage artist friends to make art based on it.
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I attended a local meeting to push for state and local funding for stuff that's losing or likely to lose federal funding.
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Today I printed off the text of the Declaration of Independence.
Consistent with the theme of #NoKings I think we should make the Declaration of Independence the subject of public and performance art throughout the country.
For almost every line of it there are multiple examples of how Trump has contravened our founding principles.
Even standing on the street corner and reading the Declaration of Independence while holding up #NoKings signs would be a powerful act.
Hell, make a video about it. Take out an ad and publish it in your local media.
I would love to get this stuff on billboards. I would love to encourage artist friends to make art based on it.
I love the #NoKings tag. I’ve seen so many good ones, I want to make a sign today & post it or walk around with it. Leafleting could be good too.
Reading the Declaration of Independence would result in me crying LOL I’m sure I couldn’t get through it.
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You need to do it School House Rock style!
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I joined a protest yesterday. We got a lot of friendly honks and waves, which was encouraging. :3
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There is a march for science this week: standupforscience2025.org (http://standupforscience2025.org)
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I am doing textbanking in support of a Voting Rights Act for the state of Maryland. If you live in Maryland or know people who do, please spread the word:
https://www.mdvra.org/ (https://www.mdvra.org/)
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I joined a protest yesterday. We got a lot of friendly honks and waves, which was encouraging. :3
I joined one today. Also friendly honks and waves, and hopefully we provided a tiny bit of support to the federal employees we were there to defend. I mean, nothing's going to change, but at least they know a thousand or so folks came out to protest their firings...
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There is a march for science this week: standupforscience2025.org (http://standupforscience2025.org)
Thank you for posting this -- my sister and I (and hopefully as many friends as I can muster) are going to our local event!
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There is a march for science this week: standupforscience2025.org (http://standupforscience2025.org)
Thank you for posting this -- my sister and I (and hopefully as many friends as I can muster) are going to our local event!
That's great! As well as the March for Science on Friday, there's also a March Fourth event tomorrow (Tues)! https://www.fiftyfifty.one/events
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I am looking into alternative cell carriers, since Mint Mobile is owned by T-mobile, and T-mobile is collaborating with Starlink.
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Tiny thing, but I almost got into my car to drive to work today but that would use gas and gas $$ goes to bad places. So I got on my ebike even though it was windy AF.
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Became a sustaining donor to local public radio.
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Committee meeting tonight re: local clean energy. Also saw 700 protestors gathered outside my Congressional Rep's office yesterday. I couldn't go, but am not following the org who called the protest.
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There is a march for science this week: standupforscience2025.org (http://standupforscience2025.org)
Thank you for posting this -- my sister and I (and hopefully as many friends as I can muster) are going to our local event!
That's great! As well as the March for Science on Friday, there's also a March Fourth event tomorrow (Tues)! https://www.fiftyfifty.one/events
The one in my state was pretty fun! (Also, quite mellow, at least the first hour or two. Then, after the "march" part, they had learning circles and I went back home to get some work done.
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Just called my reps and Senator using the five calls app. I’m not able to stay on topic though I just rant lol
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Just called my reps and Senator using the five calls app. I’m not able to stay on topic though I just rant lol
I hear you girl!
If you use T-Mobile, you might want to contact them to complain about their collaboration with Starlink. Then switch to another service until they cancel Starlink.
mike.sievert@t-mobile.com
https://www.t-mobile.com/contact-us
To be honest I haven't done that yet but I am currently looking into family plans that will suit us. Then I will take my family of 5 out of the T-Mobile/Mint Mobile network.
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There is a march for science this week: standupforscience2025.org (http://standupforscience2025.org)
Thank you for posting this -- my sister and I (and hopefully as many friends as I can muster) are going to our local event!
That's great! As well as the March for Science on Friday, there's also a March Fourth event tomorrow (Tues)! https://www.fiftyfifty.one/events
The one in my state was pretty fun! (Also, quite mellow, at least the first hour or two. Then, after the "march" part, they had learning circles and I went back home to get some work done.
Went to the Stand UP For Science rally in Seattle yesterday. It was both incredibly depressing (most of the speakers were incredibly talented scientists doing impactful work that were being hit by federal layoffs or budget cuts) and also incredibly energizing. Governor Bob Ferguson showed up -- he was kind of meh. The public servant who made the biggest impression was Dave Upthegrove, our commissioner of public lands. Keep your eyes on him -- he may emerge in the new wave of Democratic leadership.
My sign ("I trust SCIENCE, not ELON") almost made it into a photo in the local paper, but was blocked by the guy with the big American flag in front of me. I was ok with that. We need for people to see that those opposing this administration ARE the patriots. And we (and science) are not going down without a fight....
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I am going to a campaign launch for our next member of Parliament tonight. Next week it is going to be a non-partisan mobilization awareness. An election could be called as early as Monday, but gosh I hope that the NDP and the Bloc will work cooperatively with the Liberals for a bit longer while the elephant to the south is marauding around.
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The protest today was canceled due to low turnout. But I did join the FB group that organizes it.
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I went to a small local protest that started out with a couple of women. They've been coming back every Saturday for an hour at the same time and each time more people have come. Today (my first day) it looked like over 100 people, which is big for a little town! Lots of support from passersby.
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Just called one of my senators while supervising a toddler bath!
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Here's a fun one:
(https://scontent.ftpa1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/480180392_9819960961371915_8271630896604213881_n.jpg?_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=bd9a62&_nc_ohc=AWbZ4rLWc8sQ7kNvgG4EyM3&_nc_oc=AdhUbr8OScBufnuWyVo5QbHYE5117tTePmAUyNtQ3WWIszcP59y5-gxQZ5MuxPWAHYUo_8uyAqKDxAtZk63D9LHd&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent.ftpa1-1.fna&_nc_gid=AcwxIvmrmv_x0HT277u9W9m&oh=00_AYGIu_QHZfaUbYjSfiJfDabXvFty2fo5T1WqBysSo5NnPA&oe=67D3A23E)
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Gave honking support in my old Toyota as I drove past a Tesla protest yesterday. Today Tesla stock dropping like a stone (down 40% YTD!!!). Let no one tell you boycotts don’t work.
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I sent some emails to my reps/senators. I know calls are better, but I have been paralyzed trying to get myself to do the calls. This helped me break that barrier. My friend pushed me into it by reminding me that "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing poorly." I'll try to work up to doing calls, but emails are better than nothing.
Psychology is weird. I can't explain why this has been giving me so much trouble.
I'm attending a meeting tonight to try to do some volunteer research for a local democrats group.
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I sent some emails to my reps/senators. I know calls are better, but I have been paralyzed trying to get myself to do the calls. This helped me break that barrier. My friend pushed me into it by reminding me that "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing poorly." I'll try to work up to doing calls, but emails are better than nothing.
Psychology is weird. I can't explain why this has been giving me so much trouble.
I'm attending a meeting tonight to try to do some volunteer research for a local democrats group.
Do you have the 5 Calls app. If not, download it on your phone. It makes calling so much easier.
Also, I am a fellow phone-phobe, and in my experience, I usually get sent straight to voice mail. It still counts as calling if you leave a message.
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I do have the 5calls app. It wasn't even exactly the calling that was wigging me out--I think it was related to perfectionism. There's so much I want to say, and I can't say it all at once, and it got overwhelming. Procrastinating because I can't do it PERFECTLY so I might as well avoid it entirely.
Doing the emails helped shake me out of that a bit. I emailed about one topic (Ukraine), and it made me want to address another topic next time, and I can see more clearly how to break the task into chunks.
It's been a hectic and anxious few weeks in my personal life as well, so some brain functions just haven't been fully online. I am hopefully coming out of that period now.
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I do have the 5calls app. It wasn't even exactly the calling that was wigging me out--I think it was related to perfectionism. There's so much I want to say, and I can't say it all at once, and it got overwhelming. Procrastinating because I can't do it PERFECTLY so I might as well avoid it entirely.
Doing the emails helped shake me out of that a bit. I emailed about one topic (Ukraine), and it made me want to address another topic next time, and I can see more clearly how to break the task into chunks.
It's been a hectic and anxious few weeks in my personal life as well, so some brain functions just haven't been fully online. I am hopefully coming out of that period now.
Woo hoo!
People say that calling is more effective, BUT - it's okay if that is not something you have to give! And when I emailed my senator's office I received an on-topic form letter reply, suggesting that they are at least sort of logging those emails by topic at at least some of those offices.
I've also been really struggling with anxiety lately so I feel you. This week is feeling better.
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Made my calls to Congress today, thanks to reminders on this thread.
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Snail mailed a public records request to DOGE to see how they are using my personal data:
https://jamieraskin.com/doge-privacy-act-requests/ (https://jamieraskin.com/doge-privacy-act-requests/)
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Snail mailed a public records request to DOGE to see how they are using my personal data:
https://jamieraskin.com/doge-privacy-act-requests/ (https://jamieraskin.com/doge-privacy-act-requests/)
Thanks for this. I’ll do it as well, and urge everyone I know to.
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As a Canadian, can I ask a favour here that will also hopefully benefit you?
When you do these calls, could you mention:
1. the tariffs are a trade war started by Trump and you think it is folly. Also immoral and illegal, breaking a trade agreement with his allies and trade partners that he himself negotiated and signed in his previous term.
2. drop the talk and threats of annexing Canada and Greenland. If he does this, it is an illegal war and an immoral war, and puts the Armed Forces to choose between obeying their Commander in Chief but obeying unlawful orders, or disobeying unlawful orders and not obeying their CIC.
Seriously, Trump talks as if he is sort of joking but he sounds just like Putin did before invading Ukraine, and we here in Canada are understandably upset and nervous about this. But don't frame it like that, because they obviously don't care about damaging international relations. Frame it as putting the Armed Forces between a rock and a hard place*. Which is true, just not the whole picture.
* I doubt they would understand a reference to Scylla and Charybdis.
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Made my calls to Congress again.
My number one issue has been the threats against our allies. It’s such bullshit that we are letting this threat be normalized, sanewashed and camouflaged with Trump’s Orwellian language.
If someone (with a massive military) tells you they will take over your house because it’s not a real house, not really yours, you depend on them, you owe them, you’re less than them, or whatever bullshit reason they give, we can’t normalize this by saying, well, they didn’t say they were gonna invade or hurt us. I guess they really want my house. They just said it would belong to them now.
Fuck this shit. It’s been a fucking threat of invasion from day one and ridiculous that anyone would say otherwise. 100% Putin playbook.
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Made my calls to Congress again.
My number one issue has been the threats against our allies. It’s such bullshit that we are letting this threat be normalized, sanewashed and camouflaged with Trump’s Orwellian language.
If someone (with a massive military) tells you they will take over your house because it’s not a real house, not really yours, you depend on them, you owe them, you’re less than them, or whatever bullshit reason they give, we can’t normalize this by saying, well, they didn’t say they were gonna invade or hurt us. I guess they really want my house. They just said it would belong to them now.
Fuck this shit. It’s been a fucking threat of invasion from day one and ridiculous that anyone would say otherwise. 100% Putin playbook.
Thank you.
The entitlement is astonishing.
I saw a clip from what I would guess is Congress with the new US ambassador to Canada. He stated we are a sovereign state. The rep questioning him also stated we are sovereign, not a US state. So there is a bit of clarity. It is a shame that state in terms of a US state sounds similar to a sovereign state. The US needs to have provinces, then there would be less confusion. Or they should be saying sovereign nation.
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Left messages on Sen Gillibrand and Schumer's voicemail urging them to vote NO on the continuing resolution for MAGA's dirty budget. We must NOT write Musk a blank check!
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Left messages on Sen Gillibrand and Schumer's voicemail urging them to vote NO on the continuing resolution for MAGA's dirty budget. We must NOT write Musk a blank check!
Yes! If your Senators are Democrats, please call them tonight and leave a voice message demanding they vote no on cloture!
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Wrote some more emails today about how NIH cuts threaten my job. (My senators are Republicans, so I scolded them about voting for a budget while allowing their past budgets to be ignored.)
Major thanks to MMM for me not being especially worried about the job loss possibility, but I think it makes the message more compelling.
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Yes! If your Senators are Democrats, please call them tonight and leave a voice message demanding they vote no on cloture!
Thanks for the heads up, I checked quick and freaking Amy Klobuchar is undecided?! Do we all get more like our dads as we age???? (Niche Minnesota reference.)
I called and left a message.
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Made my calls to Congress again.
My number one issue has been the threats against our allies. It’s such bullshit that we are letting this threat be normalized, sanewashed and camouflaged with Trump’s Orwellian language.
If someone (with a massive military) tells you they will take over your house because it’s not a real house, not really yours, you depend on them, you owe them, you’re less than them, or whatever bullshit reason they give, we can’t normalize this by saying, well, they didn’t say they were gonna invade or hurt us. I guess they really want my house. They just said it would belong to them now.
Fuck this shit. It’s been a fucking threat of invasion from day one and ridiculous that anyone would say otherwise. 100% Putin playbook.
Thank you.
The entitlement is astonishing.
I saw a clip from what I would guess is Congress with the new US ambassador to Canada. He stated we are a sovereign state. The rep questioning him also stated we are sovereign, not a US state. So there is a bit of clarity. It is a shame that state in terms of a US state sounds similar to a sovereign state. The US needs to have provinces, then there would be less confusion. Or they should be saying sovereign nation.
Yeah, tell your government to stop negging Canada. We're just not that into you.
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Made my calls to Congress again.
My number one issue has been the threats against our allies. It’s such bullshit that we are letting this threat be normalized, sanewashed and camouflaged with Trump’s Orwellian language.
If someone (with a massive military) tells you they will take over your house because it’s not a real house, not really yours, you depend on them, you owe them, you’re less than them, or whatever bullshit reason they give, we can’t normalize this by saying, well, they didn’t say they were gonna invade or hurt us. I guess they really want my house. They just said it would belong to them now.
Fuck this shit. It’s been a fucking threat of invasion from day one and ridiculous that anyone would say otherwise. 100% Putin playbook.
Thank you.
The entitlement is astonishing.
I saw a clip from what I would guess is Congress with the new US ambassador to Canada. He stated we are a sovereign state. The rep questioning him also stated we are sovereign, not a US state. So there is a bit of clarity. It is a shame that state in terms of a US state sounds similar to a sovereign state. The US needs to have provinces, then there would be less confusion. Or they should be saying sovereign nation.
Yeah, tell your government to stop negging Canada. We're just not that into you.
We need a stalker do-not-contact minimum distance order.
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Some info on the public comment period for several anti-trans changes to passport policies: https://transequality.org/news/freedom-fly-passport-access-action
I personally know a trans guy with a legal name and gender change who applied for an expedited passport after the election, only to receive it back recently with an "F" gender marker. I know other trans people who are afraid to apply for any similar documents because of reports of the documents they HAVE being confiscated.
My comments will be along the lines of "The purpose of an ID is to allow an official to confirm the person in front of them is who they say they are. This policy makes that harder, not easier."
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This anti-trans shit is so fucking disgusting, what kind of a piece of shit do you have to be to agree with this?!
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Made a bulk food purchase online directly with the manufacturer. Avoided ordering via Amazon. Pricing was nearly identical.
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Made a bulk food purchase online directly with the manufacturer. Avoided ordering via Amazon. Pricing was nearly identical.
Who did you order from?
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Made a bulk food purchase online directly with the manufacturer. Avoided ordering via Amazon. Pricing was nearly identical.
Who did you order from?
It was a coffee manufacturer. Given the ongoing effects of climate change along with the tariff situation, I'm stocking up.
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It’s so obnoxious that manufacturers often charge more than Amazon/walmart. Just had to buy gopher traps from the manufacturer and it was a few bucks more… I get they need to establish an MSRP or whatever but ugh
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Some info on the public comment period for several anti-trans changes to passport policies: https://transequality.org/news/freedom-fly-passport-access-action (https://transequality.org/news/freedom-fly-passport-access-action)
Done, and I also pointed out that these changes would actually infringe on states' rights, since they're the ones who sey policy for birth certificates and name changes. It's a stupid argument, but I figure it might carry some weight with some of the republicans.
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I wrote to my state rep about a concerning bill targeting higher education in Ohio.
I've heard he's kind of nuts, so I'm not hopeful, but what else can I do...
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A White House Executive Order on late Friday (3/14) is effectively shuttering a number of tiny government programs and initiatives, including the IMLS (Institute for Museum and Library Services), which provides federal funding that has a huge impact on Native and Rural libraries, as well as funds research and initiatives in library spaces across the county.
I know we Mustachians love libraries, so please consider joining the ALA to send your elected officials a message to support the IMLS (https://app.oneclickpolitics.com/campaign-page?cid=9CyapZUB9sorxFLO4J0c&lang=en) and sign EveryLibrary's petition to stop those funding cuts (https://action.everylibrary.org/eoimls2025), both of which I've done.
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Some info on the public comment period for several anti-trans changes to passport policies: https://transequality.org/news/freedom-fly-passport-access-action (https://transequality.org/news/freedom-fly-passport-access-action)
Done, and I also pointed out that these changes would actually infringe on states' rights, since they're the ones who sey policy for birth certificates and name changes. It's a stupid argument, but I figure it might carry some weight with some of the republicans.
The republicans only care about "states rights" insofar as when they can apply it to impose their beliefs on others. Same as being "deficit hawks" only when they aren't controlling all branches of government.
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A topic to call about, if anyone is looking for one: https://aidsunited.org/action/policy-action-center/protect-cdc/ (https://aidsunited.org/action/policy-action-center/protect-cdc/)
CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention Is Under Attack! We Must Fight Back
We have heard very unfortunate news that there is an effort underfoot to completely eliminate CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention as quickly as within the next 24 hours.
We must take action now. There is no time to waste.
As part of the Trump administration’s efforts to cut programs and personnel, they’re eliminating any chance we have to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. by dismantling critical prevention efforts. This unconscionable decision would place all of our progress in reducing new HIV transmissions at risk and fly in the face of decades of bipartisan federal HIV policy, including the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative that President Trump created.
More details and sample script at the link.
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I joined a protest in front of the local Tesla dealership. It was great, about 20-30 people, and lots of supportive honks and thumbs up from passersby. I only regret that I didn't get more people to go; there were two journalists there but they looked disappointed with the turnout and I didn't find any articles about us later.
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US on track to lose Democratic status by next year - https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-democracy-report-1.7486317 (https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-democracy-report-1.7486317)
Small acts are not enough. Ready yourself to fight for real or lose everything.
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Small acts are not enough. Ready yourself to fight for real or lose everything.
I truly don't know what type of action this comment is supposed to inspire me to. If I knew how to "fight for real" beyond contacting my representatives and supporting protests, I'd be doing it already.
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Small acts are not enough. Ready yourself to fight for real or lose everything.
I truly don't know what type of action this comment is supposed to inspire me to. If I knew how to "fight for real" beyond contacting my representatives and supporting protests, I'd be doing it already.
I think some people are frustrated there hasn't been a "Big March" yet. They want to see millions on the streets. IMO that day is coming, but in the meantime there are many, many people doing many, many things every day. Just like compound interest, it adds up.
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I said this in another thread already, but I heard the founders of Indivisible talk about the need for a "Big March" by saying: the worst thing they can do is call for a big event and have it flop. That kills all momentum, it tells the administration they don't have to take us seriously, etc. The big event has to be built up to by successively bigger grassroots events.
To make that happen, we do need to be attending the smaller events and helping build the momentum toward a bigger one. This is not something I've been doing so far just due to scheduling conflicts, but it's something I want to do more of going forward.
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Totally agree, Tasse. Things are building.
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It's unbelievably frustrating to watch as Trump ignores all constitutional limits on his power and entrenches himself further daily on the one side. On the other side I see a bunch of people trying to play by rules that no longer exist -attending town halls with representatives who are clearly uninterested in representing voters, sending emails and texts to the same, or occasionally standing with a handful of people with signs at street corners. It's like you have two groups playing paintball but one of them is running around with real guns . . . and the folks with the paint are arguing that if they just tag enough on the other side they'll come out OK in the end. The asymmetry of capability has never been so stark, and things don't seem to be building anywhere near as quickly as necessary.
This is compounded by the fact that the Democrats absolutely should have shut down the government rather than completely abdicating responsibility as an opposition. They gave up the only leverage that they have, and in return got nothing. It's beyond insane. Would some Americans have been hurt by the government shut down? Yep. Will more Americans be hurt by appeasing Trump? Yep.
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I agree with all of that, but it still doesn't have any suggestions for what more I can do as an individual. And it's fine if you don't have them, but your previous post seemed like a call to action to me.
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It's unbelievably frustrating to watch as Trump ignores all constitutional limits on his power and entrenches himself further daily on the one side. On the other side I see a bunch of people trying to play by rules that no longer exist -attending town halls with representatives who are clearly uninterested in representing voters, sending emails and texts to the same, or occasionally standing with a handful of people with signs at street corners. It's like you have two groups playing paintball but one of them is running around with real guns . . . and the folks with the paint are arguing that if they just tag enough on the other side they'll come out OK in the end. The asymmetry of capability has never been so stark, and things don't seem to be building anywhere near as quickly as necessary.
This is compounded by the fact that the Democrats absolutely should have shut down the government rather than completely abdicating responsibility as an opposition. They gave up the only leverage that they have, and in return got nothing. It's beyond insane. Would some Americans have been hurt by the government shut down? Yep. Will more Americans be hurt by appeasing Trump? Yep.
Dude, I 100% agree with you. Can you suggest things that individuals should be doing that would be more impactful?
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It's unbelievably frustrating to watch as Trump ignores all constitutional limits on his power and entrenches himself further daily on the one side. On the other side I see a bunch of people trying to play by rules that no longer exist -attending town halls with representatives who are clearly uninterested in representing voters, sending emails and texts to the same, or occasionally standing with a handful of people with signs at street corners. It's like you have two groups playing paintball but one of them is running around with real guns . . . and the folks with the paint are arguing that if they just tag enough on the other side they'll come out OK in the end. The asymmetry of capability has never been so stark, and things don't seem to be building anywhere near as quickly as necessary.
This is compounded by the fact that the Democrats absolutely should have shut down the government rather than completely abdicating responsibility as an opposition. They gave up the only leverage that they have, and in return got nothing. It's beyond insane. Would some Americans have been hurt by the government shut down? Yep. Will more Americans be hurt by appeasing Trump? Yep.
Dude, I 100% agree with you. Can you suggest things that individuals should be doing that would be more impactful?
I'm not sure asking Canadians that is useful. We don't intimately understand your system so we don't know what tactics will work.
Offhand, for little things, support Canada, and Mexico, and the EU, however you can. Buy our goods instead instead of American products. Holiday internationally. Maybe fly multiple flags? But basically our economies are taking a hit, so economic support helps keep us going.
Canadians are trying to hit the US economy (especially red states, and yes we know blue voters also live there) hard and fast in hopes that your government realizes this was a bad idea. And we are increasing our military in case your government escalates.
We internationally would all be very happy if this policy disappears. Sadly for the US, the more other countries realign trade the more the US will not be seen as a good trade partner for a long long time.
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It's unbelievably frustrating to watch as Trump ignores all constitutional limits on his power and entrenches himself further daily on the one side. On the other side I see a bunch of people trying to play by rules that no longer exist -attending town halls with representatives who are clearly uninterested in representing voters, sending emails and texts to the same, or occasionally standing with a handful of people with signs at street corners. It's like you have two groups playing paintball but one of them is running around with real guns . . . and the folks with the paint are arguing that if they just tag enough on the other side they'll come out OK in the end. The asymmetry of capability has never been so stark, and things don't seem to be building anywhere near as quickly as necessary.
This is compounded by the fact that the Democrats absolutely should have shut down the government rather than completely abdicating responsibility as an opposition. They gave up the only leverage that they have, and in return got nothing. It's beyond insane. Would some Americans have been hurt by the government shut down? Yep. Will more Americans be hurt by appeasing Trump? Yep.
Dude, I 100% agree with you. Can you suggest things that individuals should be doing that would be more impactful?
I saw a clip of Schumer on THe View where he was absolutely reprimanded for his (in)action, but he defended it well, saying that while the budget was harmful, it would not have been as harmful as a shutdown would be. I am no expert one way or the other. But I had called Schumer two times prior asking for him to vote for the shutdown.
But I read this as evidence that all our phone calls and emails are WORKING! Our reps are having to justify their actions. My local congress reps were also making statements about Schumer and I really don’t think they would have if it weren’t for all the calls.
Politicians are a weird breed. No matter who you elect, if you don’t remind them that you’re watching, they either do nothing or do the opposite of what they said they’ll do. I can see that in my local politics which are a mess, filled with useless, performative people. Then you have the ones who think they’ve got it all figured out, and it’s easy. LOL.
No matter what, we must elect, then manage these people. Remind them they are civil SERVANTS. Democracy requires a modicum of participation.
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I'm not sure asking Canadians that is useful. We don't intimately understand your system so we don't know what tactics will work.
Totally. I don't really expect any of us to know how to fix this. But the request for suggestions is in response to Steve's post implying we ought to be doing more ("Small acts are not enough.") If he's got specific suggestions, I would genuinely love to hear them. If not, then it feels a bit like being booed from the sidelines. Everybody in this thread agrees we have a massive problem, and we are all trying to do something about it.
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It's unbelievably frustrating to watch as Trump ignores all constitutional limits on his power and entrenches himself further daily on the one side. On the other side I see a bunch of people trying to play by rules that no longer exist -attending town halls with representatives who are clearly uninterested in representing voters, sending emails and texts to the same, or occasionally standing with a handful of people with signs at street corners. It's like you have two groups playing paintball but one of them is running around with real guns . . . and the folks with the paint are arguing that if they just tag enough on the other side they'll come out OK in the end. The asymmetry of capability has never been so stark, and things don't seem to be building anywhere near as quickly as necessary.
This is compounded by the fact that the Democrats absolutely should have shut down the government rather than completely abdicating responsibility as an opposition. They gave up the only leverage that they have, and in return got nothing. It's beyond insane. Would some Americans have been hurt by the government shut down? Yep. Will more Americans be hurt by appeasing Trump? Yep.
Dude, I 100% agree with you. Can you suggest things that individuals should be doing that would be more impactful?
I saw a clip of Schumer on THe View where he was absolutely reprimanded for his (in)action, but he defended it well, saying that while the budget was harmful, it would not have been as harmful as a shutdown would be. I am no expert one way or the other. But I had called Schumer two times prior asking for him to vote for the shutdown.
But I read this as evidence that all our phone calls and emails are WORKING! Our reps are having to justify their actions. My local congress reps were also making statements about Schumer and I really don’t think they would have if it weren’t for all the calls.
Politicians are a weird breed. No matter who you elect, if you don’t remind them that you’re watching, they either do nothing or do the opposite of what they said they’ll do. I can see that in my local politics which are a mess, filled with useless, performative people. Then you have the ones who think they’ve got it all figured out, and it’s easy. LOL.
No matter what, we must elect, then manage these people. Remind them they are civil SERVANTS. Democracy requires a modicum of participation.
They assume voters aren't paying attention unless voters tell them otherwise. Which is usually true. Hundreds of pieces of legislation pass most years. How many people can only name one or two? How many people can name zero? How many people don't even know who their representatives are?
They usually vote with what they think their voters will want unless they start hearing from a lot of people.
I once heard a representative say that every phone call or email they get probably represents the views of about 15,000 voters.
Calling your representative about lesser known bills has a HUGE impact. If you're one of three people calling about a small bill than your voice means a lot.
Calls to Republican representatives are particularly powerful now, even if it doesn't seem obvious. Republican representatives are doing the mental math of whether they are more scared of Elon Musk's primary threats or if they're more afraid of their own voters. The craziness they tolerate is directly tied to how pissed their constituents are.
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I'm not sure asking Canadians that is useful. We don't intimately understand your system so we don't know what tactics will work.
Totally. I don't really expect any of us to know how to fix this. But the request for suggestions is in response to Steve's post implying we ought to be doing more ("Small acts are not enough.") If he's got specific suggestions, I would genuinely love to hear them. If not, then it feels a bit like being booed from the sidelines. Everybody in this thread agrees we have a massive problem, and we are all trying to do something about it.
I've been thinking hard about this.
The problem is that Trump has now decided to order his administration to ignore the law, and is regularly breaking laws. Playing by the rules when fighting someone not beholden to them is doomed to failure. The country is currently undergoing a constitutional crisis. There are limited options that civilians have in this sort of situation.
The two that seem like they may be effective:
Even large and coordinated marches in the street are not enough - we saw massive BLM protest marches after the George Floyd thing, and they amounted to little real change of any kind when all was said and done. What the BLM protests showed us though, is that law enforcement will seriously hurt and kill many in the protests (including journalists) with impunity. The only peaceful way that I can see to handle this problem is a going to be massive civil disobedience/strike. Enough damage to the economy cannot be ignored by those who profit the most by it. This seems to be the way that things are very, very slowly headed . . . but Americans are currently a fractured and individualistic people. This would require large scale coordination of a sort that hasn't been seen since the civil rights movement of the 60s.
Assassination of Trump seems like a reasonably safe option for the country. He is Fuhrer of the Republican party, and there is no obvious successor to take his place. Sure, Vance would step into power and continue pushing the government into bad directions, but the stranglehold that the cult of Trump has over Republicans would be broken and I strongly suspect that infighting would render the coordinated coalition to subvert democracy much less effective. There is a lot of knock on bad that would go along with this of course. I see this as a slim/outside possibility at best anyway. Trump knows he's unpopular and the last attempt on his life failed - he's certainly going to be much more careful now.
If the small things that you're doing are working towards one of those two goals, then they're probably helpful.
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I'm seeing online commentary about trump's mental decline. It is becoming obvious he has some sort of dementia.
Maybe pushing your reps to demand a thorough full health evaluation? Isn't there something in your constitution about forcing a president to step down for health reasons?
You have to push. It came out years later that Reagan was also declining mentally, his wife and staff concealed it. Trump's staff are also hiding his health status.
Of course then you are stuck with Vance.
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The only peaceful way that I can see to handle this problem is a going to be massive civil disobedience/strike. Enough damage to the economy cannot be ignored by those who profit the most by it. This seems to be the way that things are very, very slowly headed . . . but Americans are currently a fractured and individualistic people. This would require large scale coordination of a sort that hasn't been seen since the civil rights movement of the 60s.
I'd quit my job today if I thought it would help. As an employee of an NIH-funded research lab, though, striking kinda feels like doing their dirty work for them. But I'll support other strikes and boycotts if I can.
I'm not going to address your second suggestion.
Maybe pushing your reps to demand a thorough full health evaluation? Isn't there something in your constitution about forcing a president to step down for health reasons?
The cabinet can force a president to step down. Those are Trump's handpicked people (though confirmed by the Senate), not elected officials. I suppose congresspeople could informally pressure the cabinet to invoke it, but they don't have an official way to force it. That seems like the longest of long shots to me.
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It's unbelievably frustrating to watch as Trump ignores all constitutional limits on his power and entrenches himself further daily on the one side. On the other side I see a bunch of people trying to play by rules that no longer exist -attending town halls with representatives who are clearly uninterested in representing voters, sending emails and texts to the same, or occasionally standing with a handful of people with signs at street corners. It's like you have two groups playing paintball but one of them is running around with real guns . . . and the folks with the paint are arguing that if they just tag enough on the other side they'll come out OK in the end. The asymmetry of capability has never been so stark, and things don't seem to be building anywhere near as quickly as necessary.
This is compounded by the fact that the Democrats absolutely should have shut down the government rather than completely abdicating responsibility as an opposition. They gave up the only leverage that they have, and in return got nothing. It's beyond insane. Would some Americans have been hurt by the government shut down? Yep. Will more Americans be hurt by appeasing Trump? Yep.
Dude, I 100% agree with you. Can you suggest things that individuals should be doing that would be more impactful?
I saw a clip of Schumer on THe View where he was absolutely reprimanded for his (in)action, but he defended it well, saying that while the budget was harmful, it would not have been as harmful as a shutdown would be. I am no expert one way or the other. But I had called Schumer two times prior asking for him to vote for the shutdown.
But I read this as evidence that all our phone calls and emails are WORKING! Our reps are having to justify their actions. My local congress reps were also making statements about Schumer and I really don’t think they would have if it weren’t for all the calls.
Politicians are a weird breed. No matter who you elect, if you don’t remind them that you’re watching, they either do nothing or do the opposite of what they said they’ll do. I can see that in my local politics which are a mess, filled with useless, performative people. Then you have the ones who think they’ve got it all figured out, and it’s easy. LOL.
No matter what, we must elect, then manage these people. Remind them they are civil SERVANTS. Democracy requires a modicum of participation.
Yes, I agree that the pressure on politicians is doing some good. Schumer is on a CYA tour now because so many Dems are asking for him to step down. And for the record, I absolutely think his reasoning is bullshit, as do many other people, including Nancy Pelosi and Hakeem Jeffries. He absolutely should step down.
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Calls to Republican representatives are particularly powerful now, even if it doesn't seem obvious. Republican representatives are doing the mental math of whether they are more scared of Elon Musk's primary threats or if they're more afraid of their own voters. The craziness they tolerate is directly tied to how pissed their constituents are.
I may be an outsider looking in, but I disagree. I think many of the Republican representatives know that they will never again be answerable to the voters. The flagrancy with which your laws and constitution are being shitcanned speaks to this. The regime is ignoring every rule of law and every clause of the constitution it dislikes. Why would it turn around in 2026/2028 and subject themselves to the law and constitution and risk giving up even an ounce of power they have seized? It just ain't gonna happen.
I think the Republicans who understand this know that their choices lie between being Trump's faithful lapdog and accidentally falling out of a window, Russia-style. Self-preservation, not from a political perspective but something more fundamental, is now their most major objective.
I wouldn't be surprised if many of the Democrats who have been criticised for not pushing harder believe this to be a reality and are also genuinely fearful for their lives.
I think @GuitarStv is actually on the money in terms of viable options. Totalitarian brutalism can persist for an incredibly long time.
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When Trump first came into office this term, there were a number of democratic reps who expressed fear for their lives due to specific threats they were getting. It is my impression that this has diminished a lot. People are finding their strength, realizing that this is not what they voted for and not happy with the violation of basic norms. these packed Townhall meetings in Republican areas are proof of this.
It’s obvious that focused protest is what makes a difference. That’s why the Tesla boycott is working so effectively.
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When Trump first came into office this term, there were a number of democratic reps who expressed fear for their lives due to specific threats they were getting. It is my impression that this has diminished a lot. People are finding their strength, realizing that this is not what they voted for and not happy with the violation of basic norms. these packed Townhall meetings in Republican areas are proof of this.
It’s obvious that focused protest is what makes a difference. That’s why the Tesla boycott is working so effectively.
I genuinely hope you're right and I'm wrong.
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I'm not going to address your second suggestion.
It feels weird to even be mentioning it. Under normal circumstances, I'd be completely against it. In fact when there was an assassination attempt on Trump's life during campaigning, I was completely against it. But when rule of law is no longer in effect it severely limits legal means that exist to deal with a problem.
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I said this in another thread already, but I heard the founders of Indivisible talk about the need for a "Big March" by saying: the worst thing they can do is call for a big event and have it flop. That kills all momentum, it tells the administration they don't have to take us seriously, etc. The big event has to be built up to by successively bigger grassroots events.
To make that happen, we do need to be attending the smaller events and helping build the momentum toward a bigger one. This is not something I've been doing so far just due to scheduling conflicts, but it's something I want to do more of going forward.
The right thing to do is to do like the South Koreans did... have protests in the same place at the same time every week. This built up over time until they got huge.
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Oh yeah, here's another thing we could do. Somebody handed out a bunch of American flags at the last rally I was at. They said that we need to reclaim patriotism while the other side is playing around with black and grey flags, Gadsden flags, Trump flags, and Nazi flags. I think this is a good look.
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I said this in another thread already, but I heard the founders of Indivisible talk about the need for a "Big March" by saying: the worst thing they can do is call for a big event and have it flop. That kills all momentum, it tells the administration they don't have to take us seriously, etc. The big event has to be built up to by successively bigger grassroots events.
To make that happen, we do need to be attending the smaller events and helping build the momentum toward a bigger one. This is not something I've been doing so far just due to scheduling conflicts, but it's something I want to do more of going forward.
I'm thinking the same thing: if everyone knows to go to the state capitol (or wherever) every Saturday morning at 9am, it's an easy way for everyone to connect and increase the visible protest movement.
The right thing to do is to do like the South Koreans did... have protests in the same place at the same time every week. This built up over time until they got huge.
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US on track to lose Democratic status by next year - https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-democracy-report-1.7486317 (https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-democracy-report-1.7486317)
Small acts are not enough. Ready yourself to fight for real or lose everything.
Feel free to start a "What will it take to Save US democracy" thread. This is a thread for regular people just trying to get started doing something.
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The right thing to do is to do like the South Koreans did... have protests in the same place at the same time every week. This built up over time until they got huge.
The Tesla Takedown movement has been organizing protests at Tesla dealerships every Saturday https://www.teslatakedown.com/ (https://www.teslatakedown.com/). A recent protest in Tucson had 1,000 people.
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The right thing to do is to do like the South Koreans did... have protests in the same place at the same time every week. This built up over time until they got huge.
As much as I wouldn't care of Trump keeled over due to his own bad eating habits - I like the same place, same time protests better.
I think the average American voter is spoiled.
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You know what would be cool is if we could get one of those robocall companies to flood the congress peoples offices with calls.
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I mailed 20 letters to Wisconsin voters re: the state supreme court race.
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At a dinner with good friends from grad school the other night we invented a new party game. I'm calling it Doompocalypse Mad Libs. Fill in the blanks:
I wouldn't wish Trump on ________
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Printed out the DOGE FOIA request and got 4 friends to fill in out.
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Posted a local protest on social media, and hopefully helped turn out some people.
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I attended a Seedy Saturday. Had a bunch conversations about upcoming community tree planting events. I am part of group that facilitates tree planting.
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I attended a Seedy Saturday. Had a bunch conversations about upcoming community tree planting events. I am part of group that facilitates tree planting.
Maybe these folk would be interested to learn that Musk fired the people who maintain the national seed and plant biodiversity banks (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/opinion/doge-elon-musk-usda-crops.html) and be persuaded to speak out for them?
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I attended a Seedy Saturday. Had a bunch conversations about upcoming community tree planting events. I am part of group that facilitates tree planting.
Maybe these folk would be interested to learn that Musk fired the people who maintain the national seed and plant biodiversity banks (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/opinion/doge-elon-musk-usda-crops.html) and be persuaded to speak out for them?
They probably would, but since we are Canadian and my organization has a policy to be completely non-partisan, the engagement is really just softening a constituency for the more activist groups to follow.
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Oh, I didn't see that you are Canadian! Lucky you!
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Oh, I didn't see that you are Canadian! Lucky you!
Yes - I feel that frequently throughout the day.
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Florida wants to make child labor great again. https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/florida-senate-panel-advances-bill-to-further-roll-back-child-labor-restrictions/ (https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/florida-senate-panel-advances-bill-to-further-roll-back-child-labor-restrictions/)
I emailed my state senator calling this bill "appalling."
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I switched my donations from the local Democrat group to Democracy Forward, because they are actually suing the Trump administration. I'm participating in the Tesla Takedown protests weekly. And I contacted my state's lawmakers, Hakeem Jeffries, and Chuck Schumer regarding SignalGate. It's not a lot, but it's a start.
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Someone mentioned going to the Social Security website and downloading your earnings statements. With the impending staff cuts there's bound to be errors so at least you'll have a physical copy in the event your record "disappears."
More precautionary than an act of resistance but in these times it makes sense to do both.
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These iCE kidnapping, where everyone taking the person is masked and refusing to identify themselvesare super fucked up. That’s what I’m gonna be calling Congress about today.
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Just made my calls, saying that they should defend our constitutional right to protest and that these people should be having due process not to mention the fact that they should not be kidnapped by individuals wearing masks, refusing to ID themselves and being taken to undisclosed locations. This is absolutely unconscionable to be happening in the United States and the whole point of it is theater and to chill the rest of us into acquiescence.
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I'm sharing this investment rating website so that people can invest according to their values. https://www.asyousow.org/invest-your-values/
I have gotten rich off index funds, but I do have a few experimental funds and stocks, and am currently researching funds that will bring in decent returns without capitalizing off private prisons, weapons, and fossil fuels.
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These iCE kidnapping, where everyone taking the person is masked and refusing to identify themselves are super fucked up. That’s what I’m gonna be calling Congress about today.
Seems like a good way for the ICE agents to get shot.
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This is specific but I know we have a lot of DC-area folks in the forum and this thrift shop and its associated charity do some great and progressive things in regards to children and immigrants.
https://www.nvfs.org
Clock Tower Thrift Shop
2860 Annandale Road
Falls Church VA 22042
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Been sharing the Hands Off nationwide protest. Forgot if I shared it here. Oh well, I'll share it again! https://handsoff2025.com/
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Went to an Elon/Tesla #takedown today and protested with about 120 others. The majority of the cars passing by, in this conservative part of town, were in support.
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Went to an Elon/Tesla #takedown today and protested with about 120 others. The majority of the cars passing by, in this conservative part of town, were in support.
Well done!!
Today I just wrote to the national council of a nonprofit to which I belong, asking if they will have a presence on Bluesky soon.
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Switched to a small, local bank. They have lending practices that align with my values and pay a pretty good rate for savings as well.
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Sent Vanguard a message requesting that Musk companies be removed from VFTAX, https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vftax#price
Did it through this website: https://divestfromtesla.com/submit-request-to-etf-providers/
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I made my first calls to my federal representatives (House & Senate) about IMLS defunding and the SAVE Act. I was shaking when I got a real live person - I anticipated voicemails - but got through it.
Having read up on it, the SAVE Act might be the scariest piece of legislation I've seen in a long, long time.
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I mean, I have avoided shopping at Target, Amazon, and Starbucks for all of Lent, and have deleted social media off my devices, only going on the business account for my work once a week.
It has been my own small daily act of resistance to deprive these mega-corps of my money, and to shop locally instead.
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I made my first calls to my federal representatives (House & Senate) about IMLS defunding and the SAVE Act. I was shaking when I got a real live person - I anticipated voicemails - but got through it.
Having read up on it, the SAVE Act might be the scariest piece of legislation I've seen in a long, long time.
Well done! and yes SAVE stomps on the dying throat of our democracy.
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Emailed my county commissioners urging them to reject library censorship. A couple of elected officials are stirring up the usual nonsense.
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I'm going to out my location a bit here. My federal representative was supportive of January 6th. My Senators are split between the parties, but the R one is new and happy to join the Trump train, and the D is making headlines for being a wildcard and splitting with his party over major issues. My state senator was at J6 and says he went home before entering the Capitol, but is very supportive of the conspiracies and has recently introduced a state bill to ban mRNA vaccines. That same guy ran for governor of my state and lost, thankfully, to a guy who was considered for Harris's VP. My state rep is fine, R, and running for judge this year so likely to not do much.
My precinct is 2-1 R, all of my legislators will win election as long as they win their primary. Calling and telling them to support a D effort or not support a R effort feels futile. I also don't want to "out" myself to them as someone who hasn't voted for them, as I am part of a rather small industry and we count on them to support bills that would help us - so I save my political capital for those requests. But my Rep is cosponsoring the SAVE Act, so I messaged them to register my displeasure. I think outreach works if your legislator is swingable on an issue, or concerned about reelection. I'm not convinced that any of mine are.
Does anyone else struggle with reaching out, not because of nerves or a total sense of pointlessness, but because...well yeah it's unlikely to do much and I don't want to lose my reputation of being a supporter, which I think works to my advantage in other specific asks that I know other people won't make for me? It's a weird place to be.
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I can’t imagine them being concerned about my name as a supporter or not. I definitely know the feeling of wanting to be anonymous. Are you saying that your state is so small and/or you are so important that your name would stand out? I still think this would be a position of strength.
I’ve been calling Congress more than I ever have in my life Since January 20.
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Also, it’s clearly very effective because if it weren’t, why would Trump occasionally exhort his cult to call senators or do other things?
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I'm going to out my location a bit here. My federal representative was supportive of January 6th. My Senators are split between the parties, but the R one is new and happy to join the Trump train, and the D is making headlines for being a wildcard and splitting with his party over major issues. My state senator was at J6 and says he went home before entering the Capitol, but is very supportive of the conspiracies and has recently introduced a state bill to ban mRNA vaccines. That same guy ran for governor of my state and lost, thankfully, to a guy who was considered for Harris's VP. My state rep is fine, R, and running for judge this year so likely to not do much.
My precinct is 2-1 R, all of my legislators will win election as long as they win their primary. Calling and telling them to support a D effort or not support a R effort feels futile. I also don't want to "out" myself to them as someone who hasn't voted for them, as I am part of a rather small industry and we count on them to support bills that would help us - so I save my political capital for those requests. But my Rep is cosponsoring the SAVE Act, so I messaged them to register my displeasure. I think outreach works if your legislator is swingable on an issue, or concerned about reelection. I'm not convinced that any of mine are.
Does anyone else struggle with reaching out, not because of nerves or a total sense of pointlessness, but because...well yeah it's unlikely to do much and I don't want to lose my reputation of being a supporter, which I think works to my advantage in other specific asks that I know other people won't make for me? It's a weird place to be.
Reaching out still makes a difference. It probably makes more of a difference than reaching out in a heavily D district.
The general assumption among politicians is that most people aren't paying attention unless they get a lot of voter outreach.
Reaching out with general outrage is pointless.
Finding niche specific topics to reach out about can be highly effective. For example, reach out about maintaining specific clean energy tax credits, or an individual piece of legislation.
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I'm not that important lol, but I've met with my federal representative 3 times in the last year and he would recognize me on the street at this point, and knows my name if given the context of my industry. He also definitely assumes that, based on my location and industry, that I vote for him.
My state representative is on a first-name basis with me (which isn't saying much, but it is saying something) and immediately knows which bills I've advocated for (for my industry). My state senator definitely doesn't care what a non-Republican thinks. If you get enough context from my post to figure out where I live and who that is, then you'd understand why I say that lol. Federal Senators don't know a damn thing about me or our industry issues (their staff do, but not the actual Senators), so I could certainly reach out to them on things.
Trump tells is mostly-Republican base to call their mostly-Republican legislators over stuff. Not across-the-aisle calls.
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I'm not that important lol, but I've met with my federal representative 3 times in the last year and he would recognize me on the street at this point, and knows my name if given the context of my industry. He also definitely assumes that, based on my location and industry, that I vote for him.
My state representative is on a first-name basis with me (which isn't saying much, but it is saying something) and immediately knows which bills I've advocated for (for my industry). My state senator definitely doesn't care what a non-Republican thinks. If you get enough context from my post to figure out where I live and who that is, then you'd understand why I say that lol. Federal Senators don't know a damn thing about me or our industry issues (their staff do, but not the actual Senators), so I could certainly reach out to them on things.
Trump tells is mostly-Republican base to call their mostly-Republican legislators over stuff. Not across-the-aisle calls.
It sounds like you’re EXACTLY the kind of person they need to hear from.
Remember, diplomacy is the art of telling someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip.
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I have decided to boycott as much as possible American services and goods.
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I can't even enjoy playing keyboards in a rock cover band without suffering endless, cult-level nonsense from several MAGA bandmates. They simply cannot shut up about owning the libs, even when asked to drop it. I am no quitter, but damn that felt good.
Plus, when you end a gig set by playing a southern rock song like "I know A little" (great piano solo BTW), every red-hatted drunk feels like they have to come up and "trump-chat" you to death. One guy was following me back and forth while I was loading my gear in my car. I was like "Uh huh, Uh huh".
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I pulled together a bunch of friends and we're going to a Hands Off rally today. Our local weekly protest which started with two women in February has 500 people signed up and more expected! In a rather purple town, too.
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Heading out to my local Hands Off protest now.
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I was outraged to find that Avelo Air, an airline that I actually use, is doing deportation flights for ICE. I signed the following petition:
https://www.change.org/p/we-won-t-fly-avelo-until-they-stop-ice-flights-no-volaremos-con-avelo
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Emailed my state rep to vote no on funding cuts for education
Called my US Rep and Senators to vote no on the SAVE Act
Attending a local sustainable energy committee meeting tonight
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Although both my senators and my rep are democrats, I emailed all of them today reminding them that it is their job to work to convince their republican colleagues in order to start putting an end to this madness, or else the USA will lose its position as a dominant leader in the world.
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At this point, I'm not even hoping for "maintain our position of dominance," I'm hoping for "don't burn our bridges so badly we can't eventually rejoin the global community."
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My area organizers aren't planning an event for April 19, but I saw Indivisible is calling for a day of action to help your community out in some way. I signed myself and my spouse up to help with a local environmental project.
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I was outraged to find that Avelo Air, an airline that I actually use, is doing deportation flights for ICE. I signed the following petition:
https://www.change.org/p/we-won-t-fly-avelo-until-they-stop-ice-flights-no-volaremos-con-avelo
Same! There's a small airport they fly out of about 45 minutes away from me and there is a protest planned there today.
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Although both my senators and my rep are democrats, I emailed all of them today reminding them that it is their job to work to convince their republican colleagues in order to start putting an end to this madness, or else the USA will lose its position as a dominant leader in the world.
Thank you for posting this. Also in the very blue Chicagoland area and have been at a loss on how to galvanize in a blue state with blue representation - this is a great suggestion.
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Although both my senators and my rep are democrats, I emailed all of them today reminding them that it is their job to work to convince their republican colleagues in order to start putting an end to this madness, or else the USA will lose its position as a dominant leader in the world.
Thank you for posting this. Also in the very blue Chicagoland area and have been at a loss on how to galvanize in a blue state with blue representation - this is a great suggestion.
Even a single Democrat can do a lot. Look at Brian Schatz. https://www.axios.com/2025/04/07/schatz-holds-more-than-300-trump-nominees
We should tell our Senators that he's on the right track!
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I sold half of my holdings in VFTAX, which is supposed to be a conscience fund (https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/vftax/portfolio).
I'll be using https://investyourvalues.org/mutual-funds-etfs to find a fund that aligns better with my values and excludes companies like Tesla and Meta. I do have the luxury of choice; I am basically FIREd now.
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Sent emails to a local paper and to a favorite celebrity, urging them to make an account on Bluesky.
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Called my reps again yesterday through the 5 Calls app to ask them to fight for due process for deportees and anyone within our borders
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I have no idea what to say to any influential people so - I did what I could - and repaired a computer belonging to a couple who we are friends with that are VERY vocal in our area about various political and social causes. ;)
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Prevented a Trumper from being invited to speak as a guest of honor at the gala of a group I belong to.
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Donated to the ACLU, who are the lead attorneys for many of the men detained in El Salvador's CECOT prison.
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Joined my first protest march yesterday. It was really inspiring. Signed up with Indivisible as well, to hopefully get more ideas for future participation.
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Joined my first protest march yesterday. It was really inspiring. Signed up with Indivisible as well, to hopefully get more ideas for future participation.
I joined a protest on Saturday too. It felt great to participate. Turnout was impressive and the opposition was nil. A large percentage of the passing traffic beeped, waved, and cheered in support.
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I made a donation to the NRDC last weekend.
I’ve been struggling with prioritizing giving this year. There are a number of national causes I want to give to, but I don’t want to deprioritize local things like my kids school, and a summer camp for kids of cancer survivors that has done a lot for my family in particular.
I don’t know if I can categorize it as “resistance”, but I did take my EV to a local drive-electric event. I used the car outlets to make kids EV-powered pancakes. There’s maybe half-a-dozen people I helped along the journey to pick an EV for their next car. I know I convinced at least one person to wait for the Rivian R2 instead of buying a Tesla.
I’m a firm believer that the biggest financial impact you can make is to spend less on hydrocarbons. We have an EPA that has been bought and paid for by the oil & gas industry, while most households are still blindly paying thousands a year to the O&G companies. Find your own route to stop paying them money. Don’t forget the natural gas bill when you’re looking at it.
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Thanks to RFK's absolutely unhinged maligning of people with genetic differences, I've doubled down on my anti-pathologizing stance around neurodiversity.
Even the world of therapy is infected with an ABA-style bigotry against neurospicy folks, with a strong focus on reducing the perceptability of autistic patterns of behaviour rather than empowerment and normalization of them whenever possible.
Why are we pathologizing excited flapping when we could normalize it?? Why??? We can accept surgeons with full sleeve tattoos these days but we can't accept that a certain percentage of the population expresses feelings through totally benign movements that don't harm anyone?
Every day at my job I have to work my ass off deconstructing a powerful internalized belief in my neurodiverse clients that the very normal expression of their genetics makes them defective.
I get wonderful, interesting, intelligent, ethical, cool fucking people come to me to seek help in being less themselves because they've been told from the beginning that who they are is wrong. They come to me asking for techniques to behave differently, more acceptably and it makes me sick every fucking time.
The really sick part is that my particular client population are actually just better people than average. These are folks who volunteer a lot more than average, folks who are more dedicated spouses and friends, folks with much more robust senses of ethics and justice, and naturally more selfless and generous.
That's obviously not every neurospicy person, I'm not generalizing at all, I'm observing objectively that the kind of autistic folks who come to *me* for therapy are the kind of people I admire, the kind of people we should all want to hire, be friends with, marry into our families, etc, etc.
I do quite a bit of couples counseling between mixed neurotypes couples and it's consistently the neurotypical folks who struggle with intimacy, honesty, self-reflection, accountability, and connection. I spend most of my time in those sessions helping the neurodivergent person better understand the challenges of being neurotypical in our society, not the other way around.
This means I'm focusing very intensely on educating other therapists about the non-pathologizing approach to neurodiversity. That's not to say that some neurospicy folks aren't disabled, many are, but so are many neurotypical folks. It's not a product of having neurodiversity that makes a person disabled, it's a product of having some kind of disabling feature that may require accommodation.
Being neurodiverse is a diversity, not an illness. A diversity is a variation of normal, not a deviation from it. Neurodiverse people are not broken "normal" people, they're just a natural neural/genetic variation within the population.
I'm actually fairly certain that undiagnosed neurodiversity is enormously over represented within this particular community, which I firmly believe is a substantial contributor as to why this place has always been an exceptionally pleasant corner of the internet.
So in response to the US governments heinous and hateful targeting of neurodiverse folks as the latest scapegoat for American economic struggles, I'm getting very, very vocal in my world about the harms of pathologizing diversity, which unfortunately, my profession still does.
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I don't accept surgeons with full sleeve tattoos. They should be shunned from proper society and persecuted for their choices.
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Joined my first protest march yesterday. It was really inspiring. Signed up with Indivisible as well, to hopefully get more ideas for future participation.
I joined a protest on Saturday too. It felt great to participate. Turnout was impressive and the opposition was nil. A large percentage of the passing traffic beeped, waved, and cheered in support.
Most of the passing traffic was cheering for us. We did, however, have a family of hecklers. Parents & a young boy (maybe 10-12?) They were talking about how we were losers & going to hell for supporting homosexuals, so that was fun. There were actually multiple people with signs about Christianity & loving all of your neighbors, including the gays, trans, immigrants, etc & they were trying to get the hecklers to leave.
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I don't accept surgeons with full sleeve tattoos. They should be shunned from proper society and persecuted for their choices.
Funnily enough, visible tattoos are actually shown to make patients more comfortable with their doctors, this was actually researched by putting fake tattoos on MDs and measuring patient reported comfort level.
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Not my small daily act of resistance, but Harvard is resisting by suing the Trump administration.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/harvard-university-lawsuit-trump-administration-grant-freeze-1.7514999 (https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/harvard-university-lawsuit-trump-administration-grant-freeze-1.7514999)
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Not my small daily act of resistance, but Harvard is resisting by suing the Trump administration.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/harvard-university-lawsuit-trump-administration-grant-freeze-1.7514999 (https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/harvard-university-lawsuit-trump-administration-grant-freeze-1.7514999)
People in NYC have been wearing Harvard gear. It can be bought here: https://www.theharvardshop.com/
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Wrote to my state level representatives asking what can be done to protect medical privacy for people who don't want to be on Kennedy's autism list.
Yesterday wrote to my federal congress person and senator asking them to consider impeaching him for his hateful speech and incompetent actions, and to make a statement that they value the lives of people with disabilities. (Asking them to impeach Trump would not work so I started with one that is bothering me the most right now and might get more bipartisan support).
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The US protests have been making international headlines. These small acts done by “regular folks” do make an impact.
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The US protests have been making international headlines. These small acts done by “regular folks” do make an impact.
Yes, I am hearing of huge crowds in all sorts of surprising places, like Boise!
The local weekly protest in my town that started with 2 women in January drew 1000 people last week!
Next big national protests are May Day. https://www.mobilize.us/mayday/
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In a small-ish fishing village in the Baja, MX they held a protest march. About 50 peeps did the beach stroll.
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Today I connected a couple of lone activists in red districts with their nearest activist groups.
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Today I wrote to my alumni group urging people to write to our university president to defy Trump's illegal demands.
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Today I wrote to my alumni group urging people to write to our university president to defy Trump's illegal demands.
I was very heartened to see the university where I got my bachelor's degree is resisting the administrations demands.
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It was gloomy and chilly and it might rain, but I rode my ebike to work anyway to save gas. I do that these days more for political/resistance reasons than anything else- keep my dollars away from the oil and gas industry.
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We're traveling to the big city daily for medical reasons. Roughly $10 a trip vs $40+ if we take our ICE.
ICE is bigger and more comfortable interior. EV has lane keeping and active cruise which reduces driver fatigue. Easier to park the EV too.
Requires ~15 mins at the DCFC on the trip back. We're not dipping into the top or bottom 20% of the charge for durability reasons although people on the web assure me it's no big deal.
Happy to see that there are now DCFC every 20 miles along our route despite being a red state that doesn't seem to be enthusiastic about EV adoption (no tax incentives). Trump supporters everywhere.
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I wish I were brave and organized enough to go to a protest today, but I DID sign a petition about local school politics AND I switched from Goodreads to Storygraph and have taken at least 1 person with me so far, with 2 more of my FB friends being interested.
The irony of posting about it on FB doesn't escape me...
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I wish I were brave and organized enough to go to a protest today, but I DID sign a petition about local school politics AND I switched from Goodreads to Storygraph and have taken at least 1 person with me so far, with 2 more of my FB friends being interested.
The irony of posting about it on FB doesn't escape me...
What's the deal with goodreads vs story graph, other than gr being owned by Amazon? I think I tried story graph a couple years ago and it was hard to find my list of what I'd already read, which is my primary purpose for those apps, so went back to GR. I hate to live in a society where reading books is considered suspect.
I got into my old fitbit account and asked them to delete everything, along with a few other fitness related apps that i could remember using over the years. I'm sure I missed some.
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I wish I were brave and organized enough to go to a protest today, but I DID sign a petition about local school politics AND I switched from Goodreads to Storygraph and have taken at least 1 person with me so far, with 2 more of my FB friends being interested.
The irony of posting about it on FB doesn't escape me...
What's the deal with goodreads vs story graph, other than gr being owned by Amazon? I think I tried story graph a couple years ago and it was hard to find my list of what I'd already read, which is my primary purpose for those apps, so went back to GR. I hate to live in a society where reading books is considered suspect.
I got into my old fitbit account and asked them to delete everything, along with a few other fitness related apps that i could remember using over the years. I'm sure I missed some.
Yes, it's the Amazon connection. Are you concerned about Fitbit and privacy or is it the google connection?
I did have that issue with Storygraph at first but I can use my tags, and also you can go back indefinitely using recently read.
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I wish I were brave and organized enough to go to a protest today, but I DID sign a petition about local school politics AND I switched from Goodreads to Storygraph and have taken at least 1 person with me so far, with 2 more of my FB friends being interested.
The irony of posting about it on FB doesn't escape me...
What's the deal with goodreads vs story graph, other than gr being owned by Amazon? I think I tried story graph a couple years ago and it was hard to find my list of what I'd already read, which is my primary purpose for those apps, so went back to GR. I hate to live in a society where reading books is considered suspect.
I got into my old fitbit account and asked them to delete everything, along with a few other fitness related apps that i could remember using over the years. I'm sure I missed some.
Yes, it's the Amazon connection. Are you concerned about Fitbit and privacy or is it the google connection?
I did have that issue with Storygraph at first but I can use my tags, and also you can go back indefinitely using recently read.
I was mainly fed up with fitbit products breaking after a year or two, plus one of my regular passwords was recently compromised so I deleted any old accounts that may have used it. I don't think RFKs threat to collect health tracker data is too plausible but deleting can't hurt.
I could try story graph again. I'm not a fan of Amazon or Bezos although I was hoping he'd stand up against Trump on the tariff thing the other day.
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I subscribed to my local PBS station. I've been meaning to for a while but never got around to it. https://www.pbs.org/
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PBS is likely one of the main reasons that I'm a successful adult. Their website had a banner with links to email your reps to support NPR and PBS so I did that for my current address as well as where I grew up watching Oscar the Grouch and Masterpiece Theatre...
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PBS is likely one of the main reasons that I'm a successful adult. Their website had a banner with links to email your reps to support NPR and PBS so I did that for my current address as well as where I grew up watching Oscar the Grouch and Masterpiece Theatre...
Yup!
PBS is one of those things (along with libraries) that helped me understand that I liked to learn, just not in the typical classroom setting b/c ADHD I was unaware of at that time. School made me feel dumb, the other kids gave me a hard time b/c I was socially awkward. Self-learning via the library and PBS in small doses was much, much better than the classroom where I had to be on topic longer than was comfortable some days.
Naturally the conservatives are attacking these types of institutions. Must create worker drones I suppose. Not sure where the engineers and other specialists that run industrial operations are supposed to come from.
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PBS is likely one of the main reasons that I'm a successful adult. Their website had a banner with links to email your reps to support NPR and PBS so I did that for my current address as well as where I grew up watching Oscar the Grouch and Masterpiece Theatre...
Yup!
PBS is one of those things (along with libraries) that helped me understand that I liked to learn, just not in the typical classroom setting b/c ADHD I was unaware of at that time. School made me feel dumb, the other kids gave me a hard time b/c I was socially awkward. Self-learning via the library and PBS in small doses was much, much better than the classroom where I had to be on topic longer than was comfortable some days.
Naturally the conservatives are attacking these types of institutions. Must create worker drones I suppose. Not sure where the engineers and other specialists that run industrial operations are supposed to come from.
Last weekend, I saw a segment on tv where a republican congressman was talking on one of the news shows, talking about how the government shouldn't be funding tv or radio stations that are partisan or playing politics.
Do the republicans really think this about PBS? The last time I watched PBS newshour, it was like they were bending-over-backwards to try to be nonpartisan and objectively report news/facts.
I guess the sorry state of affairs right now with "conservatives" is that if a "news source" isn't outright parroting their talking points constantly, then they are instead somehow a "far left propaganda operation" or something.
Insane.
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PBS is likely one of the main reasons that I'm a successful adult. Their website had a banner with links to email your reps to support NPR and PBS so I did that for my current address as well as where I grew up watching Oscar the Grouch and Masterpiece Theatre...
Yup!
PBS is one of those things (along with libraries) that helped me understand that I liked to learn, just not in the typical classroom setting b/c ADHD I was unaware of at that time. School made me feel dumb, the other kids gave me a hard time b/c I was socially awkward. Self-learning via the library and PBS in small doses was much, much better than the classroom where I had to be on topic longer than was comfortable some days.
Naturally the conservatives are attacking these types of institutions. Must create worker drones I suppose. Not sure where the engineers and other specialists that run industrial operations are supposed to come from.
Last weekend, I saw a segment on tv where a republican congressman was talking on one of the news shows, talking about how the government shouldn't be funding tv or radio stations that are partisan or playing politics.
Do the republicans really think this about PBS? The last time I watched PBS newshour, it was like they were bending-over-backwards to try to be nonpartisan and objectively report news/facts.
I guess the sorry state of affairs right now with "conservatives" is that if a "news source" isn't outright parroting their talking points constantly, then they are instead somehow a "far left propaganda operation" or something.
Insane.
Empathy, science, and basic literacy are now "far left" to these book-banning jackholes. I signed the petition on their website and my kid uploaded a short video about his favorite shows.
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PBS is likely one of the main reasons that I'm a successful adult. Their website had a banner with links to email your reps to support NPR and PBS so I did that for my current address as well as where I grew up watching Oscar the Grouch and Masterpiece Theatre...
Yup!
PBS is one of those things (along with libraries) that helped me understand that I liked to learn, just not in the typical classroom setting b/c ADHD I was unaware of at that time. School made me feel dumb, the other kids gave me a hard time b/c I was socially awkward. Self-learning via the library and PBS in small doses was much, much better than the classroom where I had to be on topic longer than was comfortable some days.
Naturally the conservatives are attacking these types of institutions. Must create worker drones I suppose. Not sure where the engineers and other specialists that run industrial operations are supposed to come from.
Last weekend, I saw a segment on tv where a republican congressman was talking on one of the news shows, talking about how the government shouldn't be funding tv or radio stations that are partisan or playing politics.
Do the republicans really think this about PBS? The last time I watched PBS newshour, it was like they were bending-over-backwards to try to be nonpartisan and objectively report news/facts.
I guess the sorry state of affairs right now with "conservatives" is that if a "news source" isn't outright parroting their talking points constantly, then they are instead somehow a "far left propaganda operation" or something.
Insane.
Empathy, science, and basic literacy are now "far left" to these book-banning jackholes. I signed the petition on their website and my kid uploaded a short video about his favorite shows.
If they simply said "We don't want you to hear from anyone who disagrees with us," it might sound too much like every dictatorship ever created, so, it is couched in ambiguous words, black and white metaphors, and incremental steps to fool the populace about what the real goal is.
Of course, the fact that Harvard and Perkins Coie can fight back gives me hope. I am most angry that all this risk has been heaped on the United States for..some more money? The daily whims of the guy nominally in charge?
We have lost a lot, for small stakes it seems.
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This isn't really about the US, but I wrote my Congressman and Senators (even f!@$ing Ted Cruz) to press Israel to life it's ban on humanitarian aid to Gaza, which has been in place since mid-March.
What spurred me is an email from World Central Kitchen, which has served 130 million meals and had the last operating bakery in Gaza, has stopped serving because they are totally out of foor. They have had trucks positioned across the border since the ban started, waiting to resupply.
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Not today, but 5-2-2025, volunteered for a local Bernie "Fighting Oligarchy" tour. Had a great time. The man is amazing, he doesn't have a campaign running, just trying to fight against the goons. He has such an amazing amount of energy, stamina, and vigor, it really is energizing being at one of his rallies.
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Yesterday (or was it the day before?) I called my senator Gillibrand telling her that I firmly do NOT support this crypto bill that she sponsored. It may have started out well meaning, but now it's just another cash grab for Trump.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/03/crypto-democrats-senate-stablecoin-00325255
I'm also slowly beginning to reach out to everyone I know who is a nonvoter or on the fence. I've built up a big network and I need to use it.
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I'd like to look into donating money as much money as possible to my state government and taking a federal deduction for it. I trust the NY state government so much more than the feds at this point, and the money would go back to my community.
Any thoughts on this from tax professionals?
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I'd like to look into donating money as much money as possible to my state government and taking a federal deduction for it. I trust the NY state government so much more than the feds at this point, and the money would go back to my community.
Any thoughts on this from tax professionals?
I'm not a tax pro, but I don't know how one donates money to a state or local government. I've seen the occasional council item here where an individual has donated money for a dog waste station or some other thing, and the council has to accept it. Certainly support your local library (typically through a Friends organization or similar), any public radio or broadcasting that you like, and any educational or cultural institutions you like. Your museums, libraries, and schools are all staring down a major shortfall right now. Take transit if have the chance.
If NY is like California, you may have the chance on any given ballot to support various local measures that add local or state taxes on gasoline, property, sales, etc. Support the sensible ones of those, if you can.
Other than that, pay the state and local taxes you owe, but don't expect more than the existing $10K SALT deduction on your federal taxes.
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I'd like to look into donating money as much money as possible to my state government and taking a federal deduction for it. I trust the NY state government so much more than the feds at this point, and the money would go back to my community.
Any thoughts on this from tax professionals?
I'm not a tax pro, but I don't know how one donates money to a state or local government. I've seen the occasional council item here where an individual has donated money for a dog waste station or some other thing, and the council has to accept it. Certainly support your local library (typically through a Friends organization or similar), any public radio or broadcasting that you like, and any educational or cultural institutions you like. Your museums, libraries, and schools are all staring down a major shortfall right now. Take transit if have the chance.
If NY is like California, you may have the chance on any given ballot to support various local measures that add local or state taxes on gasoline, property, sales, etc. Support the sensible ones of those, if you can.
Other than that, pay the state and local taxes you owe, but don't expect more than the existing $10K SALT deduction on your federal taxes.
You absolutely can. But yes, be aware of the SALT deduction limit, which is under discussion to be raised in 2026.
https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/file/voluntary_contributions.htm#:~:text=If%20you%20file%20a%20personal,the%20year%20it%20was%20established.
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I'd like to look into donating money as much money as possible to my state government and taking a federal deduction for it. I trust the NY state government so much more than the feds at this point, and the money would go back to my community.
Any thoughts on this from tax professionals?
I'm not a tax pro, but I don't know how one donates money to a state or local government. I've seen the occasional council item here where an individual has donated money for a dog waste station or some other thing, and the council has to accept it. Certainly support your local library (typically through a Friends organization or similar), any public radio or broadcasting that you like, and any educational or cultural institutions you like. Your museums, libraries, and schools are all staring down a major shortfall right now. Take transit if have the chance.
If NY is like California, you may have the chance on any given ballot to support various local measures that add local or state taxes on gasoline, property, sales, etc. Support the sensible ones of those, if you can.
Other than that, pay the state and local taxes you owe, but don't expect more than the existing $10K SALT deduction on your federal taxes.
You absolutely can. But yes, be aware of the SALT deduction limit, which is under discussion to be raised in 2026.
https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/file/voluntary_contributions.htm#:~:text=If%20you%20file%20a%20personal,the%20year%20it%20was%20established.
TIL that California has this kind of thing too, but I don't get how the minimums work. It looks like they accept individual contributions smaller than that.
https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/personal/voluntary-contribution-funds/current-vcf.html
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Here in AZ, a woman left a bequest to the state in her will for a specific thing (can't recall the exact thing, maybe for a public park or similar..)
But the Republican legislature and governor decided that since they were short on funds that year (of course, nothing to do with the enormous tax cuts they love to enact) that they would ignore her bequest and "sweep" that money into the general fund.
There was an uproar from the woman's family and some back-and-forth but I think the gov't ultimately caved.
Point is, make sure any contributions you make come with ironclad rules that allow revocation if your contribution is used for anything else.
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Made a plan to vote on Tuesday, and reminded a few other people too. There's a few special elections up, and so few people turn out for off-cycle elections.
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I'm sick and feel the need to eat some healthy veg and fruit so I went to my locally owned and operated taqueria for huevos rancheros that I drowned in a tomato garlic salsa and ate outdoors. I washed it down with a mango juice drink. I don't know if it was psychosomatic but my sinus felt better instantly.
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Here in AZ, a woman left a bequest to the state in her will for a specific thing (can't recall the exact thing, maybe for a public park or similar..)
But the Republican legislature and governor decided that since they were short on funds that year (of course, nothing to do with the enormous tax cuts they love to enact) that they would ignore her bequest and "sweep" that money into the general fund.
There was an uproar from the woman's family and some back-and-forth but I think the gov't ultimately caved.
Point is, make sure any contributions you make come with ironclad rules that allow revocation if your contribution is used for anything else.
I think it’s the height of narcissism to think one can create something that a government entity must carry out by simply donating money. If not narcissism, it is at least naïve. I’ve been on many boards and have seen contributions that are targeted for a specific thing when that thing doesn’t exist. Yet the money targeted doesn’t begin to cover the cost of the thing. And the board hasn’t even decided that the thing needs to exist.
If you want to give money to a specific governmental thing, see that the thing is already set up to receive targeted donations.
The example of the top of my head, although there are many other others since I worked for a government institution, are ones in my former neighborhood. Somebody gave $300 upon the death of his mother because he wanted a rose garden in our city Park to honor her. The rose garden did not exist. A rose garden was not part of the park’s plan.
Same park, different idea. Someone had several thousand dollars to create a memorial for AIDS victims. He had already paid a landscape architect to draw up plans. For one thing, this was not enough money to achieve what his plan expressed. For another thing, it’s a city park and that needed to go through several levels of approval to create this.
And etc.
But anyone can write a check to the IRS to go to the general fund of the United States. If you want to help the national debt, do that.
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Giving strings attached funding to the state or no-strings attached funding to the feds was not what I had in mind. This is more like what I had in mind:
https://www.ny.gov/local-government-charitable-contributions
https://www.nysut.org/~/media/files/nysut/resources/2018/2018_04_19_factsheet_18_5_understanding_the_new_charitable_gifts_trust.pdf?la=en
"New York State will create a Charitable Gifts Trust Fund that will have two separate accounts—the Health Charitable Account and the Elementary and Secondary Education Charitable Account. Funds in the health account would be used
by the state for services related to primary, preventive, inpatient care, mental, vision, hunger
prevention, and nutritional assistance. Funds in the education account would be used by the state for the
support of elementary and secondary education of children in public schools"
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Learned about this free online course and thought it could be helpful for others too
https://www.coursera.org/learn/psychological-first-aid
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I think it’s the height of narcissism to think one can create something that a government entity must carry out by simply donating money. If not narcissism, it is at least naïve.
I sort of did this, but I at least tried to be deliberate. My local public library had a limited "library of things" already. This is where you can check out stuff that's not books or DVDs. It had a few efficiency tools courtesy of the city utility and a small assortment of other things. It was pretty popular for how invisible it was and how limited the offerings.
I did not just fling money that way and tell them to do something. I suggested that I'd like to offer a mini-grant to expand the collection, but I asked that there be a staff champion.
Foundation people put me in touch with staff. A particular librarian already had it in mind to expand the collection and wrote a proposal with what materials she wanted to add, along with what it would take to package them for circulation and an estimate of how long it would take to obtain everything and get it catalogued.
We met and talked over the details. Then I made the grant. I think the Foundation director even created a separate account for the earmark.
Unless you're determined that your contributions be in the form of extra state taxes, you might find out which local libraries and/or museums got hit by the federal funding chainsaw and direct some of your philanthropy their way.
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I think it’s the height of narcissism to think one can create something that a government entity must carry out by simply donating money. If not narcissism, it is at least naïve.
I sort of did this, but I at least tried to be deliberate. My local public library had a limited "library of things" already. This is where you can check out stuff that's not books or DVDs. It had a few efficiency tools courtesy of the city utility and a small assortment of other things. It was pretty popular for how invisible it was and how limited the offerings.
I did not just fling money that way and tell them to do something. I suggested that I'd like to offer a mini-grant to expand the collection, but I asked that there be a staff champion.
Foundation people put me in touch with staff. A particular librarian already had it in mind to expand the collection and wrote a proposal with what materials she wanted to add, along with what it would take to package them for circulation and an estimate of how long it would take to obtain everything and get it catalogued.
We met and talked over the details. Then I made the grant. I think the Foundation director even created a separate account for the earmark.
Unless you're determined that your contributions be in the form of extra state taxes, you might find out which local libraries and/or museums got hit by the federal funding chainsaw and direct some of your philanthropy their way.
It’s surprising how much can be accomplished locally by being “the woman doing something” instead of “the woman telling someone something can’t done”. There’s some incredible local infrastructure I enjoy that is the result of one woman’s TWENTY year effort researching how to acquire a particular plot of unused land. The final public area is perhaps not something she lived to see, but it’s pretty impressive that she accomplished it.
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I think it’s the height of narcissism to think one can create something that a government entity must carry out by simply donating money. If not narcissism, it is at least naïve.
I sort of did this, but I at least tried to be deliberate. My local public library had a limited "library of things" already. This is where you can check out stuff that's not books or DVDs. It had a few efficiency tools courtesy of the city utility and a small assortment of other things. It was pretty popular for how invisible it was and how limited the offerings.
I did not just fling money that way and tell them to do something. I suggested that I'd like to offer a mini-grant to expand the collection, but I asked that there be a staff champion.
Foundation people put me in touch with staff. A particular librarian already had it in mind to expand the collection and wrote a proposal with what materials she wanted to add, along with what it would take to package them for circulation and an estimate of how long it would take to obtain everything and get it catalogued.
We met and talked over the details. Then I made the grant. I think the Foundation director even created a separate account for the earmark.
Unless you're determined that your contributions be in the form of extra state taxes, you might find out which local libraries and/or museums got hit by the federal funding chainsaw and direct some of your philanthropy their way.
This is donation done right. You saw a need and then asked them specifically what they needed. Thing Libraries are such a good idea.
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I think it’s the height of narcissism to think one can create something that a government entity must carry out by simply donating money. If not narcissism, it is at least naïve.
I sort of did this, but I at least tried to be deliberate. My local public library had a limited "library of things" already. This is where you can check out stuff that's not books or DVDs. It had a few efficiency tools courtesy of the city utility and a small assortment of other things. It was pretty popular for how invisible it was and how limited the offerings.
I did not just fling money that way and tell them to do something. I suggested that I'd like to offer a mini-grant to expand the collection, but I asked that there be a staff champion.
Foundation people put me in touch with staff. A particular librarian already had it in mind to expand the collection and wrote a proposal with what materials she wanted to add, along with what it would take to package them for circulation and an estimate of how long it would take to obtain everything and get it catalogued.
We met and talked over the details. Then I made the grant. I think the Foundation director even created a separate account for the earmark.
Unless you're determined that your contributions be in the form of extra state taxes, you might find out which local libraries and/or museums got hit by the federal funding chainsaw and direct some of your philanthropy their way.
This is a lovely idea and a lovely gift, and you went about it in the right way.
My career was in a public library and the “ things” collections are a challenge to maintain. But still they are cool to have. I remember back in the day decades ago when toy collections first became popular, toys returned from checkout were not washed and sanitized. I remember thinking I wouldn’t want my two-year-old taking that stuff home necessarily, but then I suppose they’re no different than the board books that came back from circulation with bite marks.
Fortunately, humans are resilient against the germ o sphere.
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I think it’s the height of narcissism to think one can create something that a government entity must carry out by simply donating money. If not narcissism, it is at least naïve.
I sort of did this, but I at least tried to be deliberate. My local public library had a limited "library of things" already. This is where you can check out stuff that's not books or DVDs. It had a few efficiency tools courtesy of the city utility and a small assortment of other things. It was pretty popular for how invisible it was and how limited the offerings.
I did not just fling money that way and tell them to do something. I suggested that I'd like to offer a mini-grant to expand the collection, but I asked that there be a staff champion.
Foundation people put me in touch with staff. A particular librarian already had it in mind to expand the collection and wrote a proposal with what materials she wanted to add, along with what it would take to package them for circulation and an estimate of how long it would take to obtain everything and get it catalogued.
We met and talked over the details. Then I made the grant. I think the Foundation director even created a separate account for the earmark.
Unless you're determined that your contributions be in the form of extra state taxes, you might find out which local libraries and/or museums got hit by the federal funding chainsaw and direct some of your philanthropy their way.
This is a lovely idea and a lovely gift, and you went about it in the right way.
My career was in a public library and the “ things” collections are a challenge to maintain. But still they are cool to have. I remember back in the day decades ago when toy collections first became popular, toys returned from checkout were not washed and sanitized. I remember thinking I wouldn’t want my two-year-old taking that stuff home necessarily, but then I suppose they’re no different than the board books that came back from circulation with bite marks.
Fortunately, humans are resilient against the germ o sphere.
All those tiny humans chewing on board books put their hands and feet in their mouths before and after clambering around on plastic play structures at preschool, too.
There are other right ways to donate to a city.
I recall the city council formally accepting a low four figure sum for a dog waste station some individual felt was needed in one of the city parks. I didn't see the back-end part of that transaction. (Honestly, I've had excellent results just figuring out where to ask and asking for stuff like this. I've gotten bike racks, a few feet of red curb to let people see traffic coming around the corner, and I may be at least partly responsible for some of the drinking fountain upgrades in my city.)
I was a library volunteer at the time and got an inside glimpse of someone else's six-figure donation to the library. I don't think it was earmarked, but they might have run their plans by the donor. They ended up naming one of the program rooms after the donor's late wife and upgrading the media equipment in it significantly, which turned out to be a great thing to have already done when the pandemic pushed a bunch of the programming and public meetings online.
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Gave a $20 tip to a Ukrainian refuge who gave me a 'student massage' at a local massage school. She was fully trained and credentialed as a massage therapist in her country and is going to school so she can legally practice in the US.
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I finally found alternative to T-mobile and Mint Mobile that will work for my family. Visible.com (https://www.visible.com/) has a $20/month unlimited data plan sale, and it's on the Verizon network. When I canceled, they asked why, and I had the joy of explaining Mint that it’s because T-mobile is collaborating with Starlink. I will be taking 5 more family members with me.
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I bought 2 pints of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, does that count?
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Emailing my Congressional rep doesn't do much, as I live in the bluest of blue districts.
However, I did start emailing a Republican rep in neighboring district that is considered competitive.
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I bought 2 pints of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, does that count?
Ben and Jerry no longer own the company, but I think it does make sense to patronize those businesses which reflect our values.
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I bought 2 pints of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, does that count?
Ben and Jerry no longer own the company, but I think it does make sense to patronize those businesses which reflect our values.
This is why, in Canada, I'm still shopping at Costco. I'm also still checking country of origin, of course.
Haven't bought anything from walmart.ca or a physical Walmart store since the tariffs started. Or Home Depot.
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I bought 2 pints of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, does that count?
Ben and Jerry no longer own the company, but I think it does make sense to patronize those businesses which reflect our values.
This is why, in Canada, I'm still shopping at Costco. I'm also still checking country of origin, of course.
Haven't bought anything from walmart.ca or a physical Walmart store since the tariffs started. Or Home Depot.
Same, but I should bother to tell Walmart and Home Depot why I don't shop there. They probably keep thinking "we need to expand our market share but people aren't buying... let's treat the workers worse so we can lower prices!"
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I bought 2 pints of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, does that count?
Ben and Jerry no longer own the company, but I think it does make sense to patronize those businesses which reflect our values.
This is why, in Canada, I'm still shopping at Costco. I'm also still checking country of origin, of course.
Haven't bought anything from walmart.ca or a physical Walmart store since the tariffs started. Or Home Depot.
Same, but I should bother to tell Walmart and Home Depot why I don't shop there. They probably keep thinking "we need to expand our market share but people aren't buying... let's treat the workers worse so we can lower prices!"
I'm in Canada so it is pretty obvious for those stores. I have lots of alternatives.
I don't drink coffee/tea out much, and when I do it is usually Tim's, but I gather Starbucks is noticing it too. After all, if we want better coffee than Tim's there is Second Cup. And lots of local coffee roasters. We don't grow coffee here but we can at least do the rest of the steps here.
A&W (totally Canadian here, no affiliation with A&W in the US) is doing well, MacDonalds isn't.
I did email the company that makes my gluten-free crackers that I would no longer be buying them due to tariffs (that was before the 51st state garbage).
I jsut found Canadian-made cat food and, even more important, Canadian-made light-weight kitty litter. I guess it is time to email the old manufacturers as to why their sales may be down an infinitesimal fraction.
Canadians are still pretty firm in the boycotts. Nothing like trump mouthing off regularly about the 51st state and his new ambassador doing the same. After all, he said the US didn't need anything from Canada. We figure that includes our dollars buying US products and visiting the US.
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If Trump's revenge tax comes to fruition, I suspect the anti-American sentiment in Canada will only harden.
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If Trump's revenge tax comes to fruition, I suspect the anti-American sentiment in Canada will only harden.
It won't so much harden as add the ones who were sort of one the fence about it all.
And he already sent us the ambassador that was hated in the Netherlands during his first term.
And those state governors who visited, being so blatant about missing our tourist dollars. No point wanting us back when you can't guarantee our safety crossing the border.
Did you see the massively hokey golf balls some golf course guy is giving out to Canadian tourists? Wow, just wow, I lack other towards, at least semi-polite ones.
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I had delicious Mexican comida for dinner at my local taqueria then a pedicure at a locally owned and operated nail joint--paid in cash both places and was a pleasant and agreeable customer :)
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Call me crazy but I think Good won over Evil this work week.
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I went to a protest yesterday. More than 1,000 people turned out in my li'l Southern city. :3
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6 million estimated nationwide.