Reminder: If you have no voter ID, apply for a postal vote.

Signal boost for UK followers.

Sneaky though that looks (and IMO it IS sneaky, surfacing now as it has) the reason is legit: issue of 60+ cards require a passport or other "strong" ID, issue 18+ cards do not.

So register to vote...

...and get correct ID with which to do it.

This might mean getting a Voter Authority Certificate, for which the deadline is 5:00pm on 26 June 2024.

However the Registration To Vote deadline is 11:59pm on 18 June 2024.

That means 19 days as of this post, and the clock is ticking.

*****

Northern Ireland's equivalent to the Voter Authority Certificate is an Electoral Identity Card, for which the deadline is midnight on 26 June 2024.

However:

I wonder how an application for one of these made right now - or indeed made the instant the General Election was announced - will play out come 4th June.

I live in England and EU citizens with settled status can vote!!! Please vote!

GUILTY ON ALL 34 COUNTS

Did you know?

Democrats have won the popular vote in seven out of the last eight presidential elections going back to 1992? The only time the GOP has won the popular vote in the last 36 years in a presidential election was in 2004, and it was a pretty narrow margin. This was a wartime election and the first election post-9/11. The Democratic candidate was the unfortunately uninspiring John Kerry, who had been lied about. You know how in politics we say someone has been "swiftboated" when a successful lie is told about them? That term originates with the 2004 election because a bunch of people concocted an elaborate lie about John Kerry's military service. He wasn't super inspiring as a candidate, but that was the worst thing he did. He wasn't a bad guy. He was just running in a very gross, jingoistic time after the worst terror attack in American history, and had a bunch of successful lies told about him to the point where a whole word about a specific kind of lie was invented about it. THIS is the only time since 1988 that the Republican party has won the popular vote. George W. Bush did not win the popular vote in 2000. The Supreme Court ordered that votes stop being counted in Florida and handed the victory to Bush.

Donald Trump has never ever won the popular vote. The electoral college handed him the victory in 2016, less than 15,000 votes across three states decided the election. Hillary Clinton in total won about 3.7 million more votes than Donald Trump. Trump HATES hearing this number. He hates even more that Joe Biden got about 7 million more votes. He hates even more that you bring up the fact that he lost his midterm elections for his party in 2018, badly. And that the "Red Wave" in 2022 did not happen because of backlash at his Supreme Court. Or that in 2023 voters continued to reject his Supreme Court at the polls.

He knows, the Republicans know, that if more people vote, they lose. They don't want small d democracy. They want authoritarianism. They want to suppress it.

So when you get cute about not wanting to vote, you're not doing activism. You're surrendering.

This. Don’t surrender. It’s the last thing we need right now.

So some good news.

The WFP is actually reaching Ghazzawis for food distribution and has even helped Ghazzan bakeries in Deir Al Balah and Rafah reopen by providing flour, yeast, water, etc... according to Palestinian journalist Hind Khoudary (this was on her story the other day so I can't link it).

The PCRF is also active in Ghazzah, providing medicine and even food to Ghazzawis in shelters.

Today, I ask each one of you to donate at least one dollar to both of these organisations, and more if you can spare it.

While the SAG-AFTRA strike is great news for the future of the industry, and worth celebrating, let's not forget people's livelihoods are on the line and act accordingly.

[image ID: piles of dozens of SAG-AFTRA ON STRIKE! picket signs. end ID]

Union members in the WGA and SAG-AFTRA are making this sacrifice for the very survival of the industry. There's a lot of glee at the strike, which makes total sense because we hope it will ultimately lead to the studios being forced into a position to re-negotiate for a better deal.

But in the midst of all this, please don't forget that there are real people forgoing paychecks and income for the big picture of this strike. And the studios are going to squeeze them as hard as they can, leading to real human suffering.

What can we, as fans and audiences, do to stand in solidarity?

-Be excited about the right things—halting studio production and forcing the studios into a better deal!—and not the wrong things (show cancellations, workers losing jobs—i.e. things that hurt the workers.) The important thing to remember is that the enemy here is the top studio executives, NOT the people who actually labor on your favorite media.

-Correct misinformation and disinformation whenever possible. Don't let anti-WGA propaganda go unanswered. Get your information directly from the WGA and SAG-AFTRA's official channels if possible, or their negotiation committee members. We're always happy to fact check!

-Support financially if at all possible (and if not, boost donations and fundraisers!) Picketers are choosing to participate in a work stoppage that will have immediate and devastating impacts on the most vulnerable low-income TV/film workers. If you see a fundraiser, boost it or donate if you can. Good places to start are the Entertainment Community Fund and the Green Envelope Grocery Aid fund.

-Get involved in fandom-specific action. The biggest fandom impacts we've seen are when fandoms unite together to fundraise or visibly show support. Follow the example of the Star Trek Snack Squad and Our Flag Means Strike to organize YOUR fandom today! Want tips and spreadsheet templates? Message us, we'd be glad to help you organize your fandom!

would cancelling streaming subscriptions do anything?

Neither the WGA nor SAG-AFTRA has officially called for a boycott of streaming services at this time. The main issue right now for the union is drying up studio pipelines of film/TV in order to really hit them where it hurts: running out of shows and films to premiere. Strikes are supposed to hurt, and when this fall rolls around and the networks/streaming services suddenly don't have anything new, that will hurt.

So it's up to each individual to decide to cancel streaming services in solidarity or not. (Keep in mind that shows premiering before the fall were already in the can before the strike was called and might depend on viewership for another season. Also, if a future official boycott is called down the line, you may want to maintain your leverage for that.)

All of this. #WGAStrong

All fair points:

And this is just recently. They literally always showed up at peaceful events Black people organized and met them with violence. The major difference was that in 2020, everybody who was never there before began to see it on their internet while they were stuck in the house.

So, they took the previous notion of "we weren't there, so we don't know what really happened" and copped out with the idea that violence doesn't help others stop being violent towards you...

TF. If they're being violent, they deserve violent reactions and any other reaction is simply only going to last until they react even more violently. So fuck it, we rage.

I’m moving right now and I can’t bring my stuff.

(Also it’s my birthday in 2 weeks.)

In order to avoid spreading a treatment-resistant bedbug infestation, I am not allowed to bring much of anything to my (shared) new home. I’m bringing my mobility aids, most of my medications, and a few other basic items, but that’s it.

I get to the new place tomorrow. (Feb 4th 2022)

I am physically disabled by severe illness that leaves me stuck in bed almost all the time. 

My income is thousands below the federal poverty line.

I need medications and medical supplies insurance doesn’t cover and other items that abled people don’t need. I routinely go without necessary items because I cannot afford them.

I’m already in debt to friends just for the actual moving process, on an income already not large enough to meet my needs. And I still need to replace clothes, toiletries, and other necessary items.

I’m asking for help.

I know times are hard for everyone, and I’m only asking for don ations if you’re a financially secure adult who genuinely wants to help. However, if you do meet that description, I’d be so grateful for even a small amount. Like literally a dollar would help so much right now. I’d also really appreciate anyone willing to share this post.

Right now the only way I can accept don ations is through wishIists. The 1st one also has gifftcards that I could use at cheaper stores.

Food/basic necessities wishIist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/19QO1LMKKHQ3A?ref_=wl_share

Housewarming wishIist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3G0Y3CKZ4433A?ref_=wl_share

Thank you so much to everyone who reblogged and/or donated!! I made it to the new place and have had no bug bites here! (touch wood lol) So happy to have made it!!

I’m having to rest a LOT to recover from the move, so I can’t be online as much as usual. But I’m so thankful for your help!! Thank you!!

I’d still appreciate people reblogging, as I’m still in need of more supplies than I can actually afford. Like a trash can, heating pad for my pain, toiletries, things like that.

I’m really sorry to beg - I know I’ve been begging for help for other poor people I know a lot lately - but I am so extremely poor and very much disabled by severe physical illness and I don’t have other options.

A friend of mine with a passion for folklore and small presses recently introduced me to Inhabit Media, and I’m so glad to have had a chance to peruse these books. 

Inhabit Media is an Inuit-owned publishing company based in Iqaluit, Nunavut (i.e. very very very North). They are dedicated to preserving and promoting the stories, knowledge, culture, and language of the Inuit and of Northern Canada, and they publish a range of books for children and adults that include contemporary and historical fiction, folklore and legends retold and beautifully illustrated, and non-fiction on history, science, and arctic life. 

If you enjoy folklore, oral history, wintertime storytelling, or really superbly creepy mermaids, definitely check them out. 

Signal boost, these look awesome!

@erosconleche

Maki Naro @ The Nib

HI GUYS! It’s Shin! My family and I decided to create this page to help our family and friends in Philippines. Idk if you guys know but a Super Typhoon recently hit my hometown - a small island east of the Philippines called Catanduanes. Typhoons always pass through our little island but this is the second one to hit in less than two weeks - residents were unable to recover from the first one then a super powerful one hit again. We are still unable to contact our family and friends until now which is scary :( No electricity, no drinking water and communication lines are down in the whole island as per the news.  Former residents of the island have started organising donation drives to help the affected families and my family and I want to do the same! I live all the way in Europe now but I want to do all I can to help them too. I grew up in that island and it hurts to see it like this. My grandma lives on her own and we still don’t know how she’s doing :( Dios mabalos! 

The Philippines just got hit by the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded in history

Yesterday, November 1, 2020, Typhoon Rolly (international name Goni) hit the central part of Luzon, Philippines. 

source: https://twitter.com/DrJeffMasters/status/1322676688002625536?s=20

Like the tweet said, it is the most powerful tropical cyclone to hit landfall in recorded history. 

The typhoon has now passed, but the aftermath is bad. Houses destroyed, farmlands flooded, and many, many evacuees. If you would like to see what’s going on, check the hashtag #RollyPH on Twitter, there’s a lot, which brings me to the most important point

how you can help

You can donate to help relief operations. 

There are many donation drives currently being circulated on Twitter, and you can find them by searching the #ReliefPH hashtag, here are just a few that I’ve found that have an option to donate through PayPal.

source: https://twitter.com/MovePH/status/1323104274335719425?s=20

source: https://twitter.com/MovePH/status/1323104255750799361?s=20

source: https://twitter.com/MovePH/status/1323104250612756481?s=20

source: https://twitter.com/MovePH/status/1323104238461878273?s=20

source: https://twitter.com/KayaNatinPH/status/1322819406578155520?s=20

And there are many many more. 

This is just the tip of the iceberg, a lot of people in my country are trying their absolute best to chip in and help those affected, but help from outside would definitely be something that could go a long way. 

If you can’t donate, maybe a reblog could bring this post to people who could. 

Thank you for reading. Stay safe and healthy, everybody.

Discourage art theft in fandom in 2020. Don’t fucking post other people’s art to your social media without permission, or at the absolute least credit. Don’t let other people do the same. ‘I found it on Google’, ‘all art belongs to its respective owners’, or ‘I found it on pinterest’ is not sufficient. It’s 2020. Please do better.

“CREDIT TO ARTIST” IS NOT CREDIT

Funny how that works

I am so pleased at how many notes are some version of “I don’t fear the science, I fear the corporations who control it” because that is EXACTLY the attitude you should have. GMOs can save us. Monsanto will kill us.

what people fear about GMO- ‘theyre gonna make frankencarrots that crave human flesh and cause diarrhea ’ what GMO actually is- ‘we made rice crop that is both drought resistant and flood resistant which will prevent about 20% of major famine disasters, also it now makes vitamin A because vitamin A deficiency in poverty stricken areas is a major killer of kids as most vitamin A rich foods dont grow there’ what people SHOULD be upset about- ‘i made all crops sterile so all farmers have to buy the seed from me in perpetuity and i will sue anyone who tries to go back to crops that produce their own seed’

^^^ THIS

FINALLY, A PRESSURE POINT TO FIGHT USPS SABOTAGE: LOTS of calls and emails to USPS Board of Governors. Ready, set, go. We know how to do this. Be concerned, firm, polite. Louis DeJoy, the Postmaster General and Trump appointee who is now dismantling the USPS on behalf of Trump, “serves at the pleasure of” and reports to the 6-member USPS Board of Governors. These six men have the power & duty to #StopDeJoy & prevent Election Day chaos. 5 of the 6 are Trump appointees, but retired Harvard lawyer (CCJ, @NastyOldWomyn) contributing this info on Twitter is clear that a relentless barrage of calls, emails, and other callings-out will absolutely get their attention. She says: · I’ve represented Boards as a lawyer, and I know “this kind of attention is not what they’ve signed up for. It’s disruptive to their day jobs, which is where they make their money.” · “None of the members wants to suffer reputational damage from overseeing the meltdown of USPS during a pandemic. They do NOT want to be in the spotlight, so SHINE IT BRIGHT!” · “Board members HATE being contacted, HATE having their phone mailboxes fill up with messages, HATE being inundated with emails and letters. And, oh, they would HATE being picketed at work, if someone decided to start a demonstration.” · In contacting these 6 Board members, “I plan to be polite but firm about my fury about the recent deterioration of USPS’s service, giving personal & family examples regarding medication & veterans services, & expressing my distrust of & dissatisfaction with the performance of PG DeJoy. In my experience, rudeness NEVER helps. Call & email each of the 6 USPS Board of Governors. Tell them who & what you are (a retiree? Veteran?), what you & family rely on the USPS for in this pandemic, how DeJoy’s changes are disrupting that & causing stress. Express worry about Vote-by-Mail. Their emails: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected].

Tagging @fericita-s @broadwaybaggins @mercurygray @tortoisesshells @britishdetectives @amarguerite @incognito-princess @sassy-doctor-foster @the-spaztic-fantastic to get some traction

Updates on Qualified Immunity for Law Enforcement, 6/20/2020

June 15 2020- The US Supreme Court declined to reexamine several cases which would have allowed it to reconsider qualified immunity, the legal doctrine created by judges that shields police and other government officials from lawsuits over their conduct. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/15/supreme-court-qualified-immunity-police-cases-320187

June 19 2020- Colorado Governor, Jared Polis, signed a police reform bill ending qualified immunity in the state. SB 217 was led by four POC Democrats, Herod, Garcia, Fields, and Gonzales-Gutierrez who worked alongside the ACLU to craft the legislation. Colorado SB 217 also requires all state and local police to wear body cameras by 2023 (with footage to be made public), bans chokeholds, shooting fleeing suspects and using deadly force unless a life is in immediate danger. It requires officers to report every time they stop someone they suspect of a crime and record that person’s ethnicity, race, and gender. https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/503681-colorado-gov-signs-sweeping-police-reform-bill-ending-qualified-immunity

You can call your state Governor and representatives to ask them to consider a similar bill. “My name is ___ and I am calling from (city, zip code). I am calling to ask you to work on ending qualified immunity for law enforcement at the state level, following Colorado’s lead.” 

The Ending Qualified Immunity Act (HR 7085), introduced by House Rep. Justin Amash (L-MI) now has 61 co-sponsors. 60 Democrats, and one Republican. https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/7085/

Pressley (D-MA), Omar (D-MN), DeGette (D-CO), Garcia (D-IL), Blumenauer (D-OR), McGovern (D-MA), Pingree (D-ME), Oscasio-Cortez (D-NY), Espaillat (D-NY), Meeks (D-NY), Velazquez (D-NY), Norton (D-DC), Lee (D-CA), Takano (D-CA), Carson (D-IN), Maloney (D-NY), Kennedy (D-MA), Tlaib (D-MI), Sherrill (D-NJ), Clarke (D-NY), DeSaulnier (D-CA), Pocan (D-WI), Grijalva (D-WI), Rush (D-IL), Trahan (D-MA), Khanna (D-CA), Clay (D-MO), Jayapal (D-WA), Horsford (D-NV), Beatty (D-OH), Green (D-TX), Dingell (D-MI), Huffman (D-CA), Bonamici (D-OR), Eshoo (D-CA), Hayes (D-CT), McEachin (D-VA), Kaptur (D-OH), Adams (D-NC), DeBene (D-WA), Schakowsky (D-IL), Smith (D-WA), Levin (D-MI), Doggett (D-TX), Casten (D-IL), Neal (D-MA), Larson (D-CT), Soto (D-FL), Napolitano (D-CA), McClintock (R-CA), Chu (D-CA), Porter (D-CA), Quigley (D-IL), Hastings (D-FL), Clark (D-MA), Kirkpatrick (D-AZ), Davis (D-IL), Scott (D-GA), Beyer (D-VA), Serrano (D-NY), and Raskin (D-MD). 

If your representative was listed please call and say: “My name is___ and I am calling from (city, state). My zip code is ___. Thank you for supporting the effort to end qualified immunity for law enforcement. This issue is extremely important to me, please do everything you can to move it forward in Congress.”  

If your representative was NOT listed, say: “My name is___ and I am calling from (city, state). My zip code is ___. I am calling to ask you to support the effort to end qualified immunity for law enforcement. This issue is extremely important to me, and I urge you to do everything you can to move it forward in Congress.”

Final tips: Your congresspeople have multiple offices. You can call EACH OFFICE, not just one location. 

Your congresspeople have an email submission form on their website. You can repeat this same script in an email. 

The website 5calls.org has many more short scripts such as this to help you make political calls. 

If you don’t know your representatives, search by zip code at: house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative 

If you don’t want to talk to someone on the phone, you can call after business hours and leave a message. 

HAZEL LEVESQUE HAS A MESSAGE FOR YOU

a request I received from a lovely friend of mine, who’s a black activist and part of the pjo fandom. I’ll put the links for petitions and infos down below, and I hope this helps spreading the message

blm site

ways to help

emerald black | eric logan | george floyd | julius jones | joão pedro | jennifer jeffley | belly mujinga | tony mcdade | amiya braxton | willie simmons

thread with more petitions