ladymordecai

[ladymordecai]

Homes are expensive because of landlords hoarding them for profit, not because of regulations.

[ladymordecai]

I'm going to just copy the whole damn thing below so people know that these efforts are happening:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Biden administration officials are working against the clock doling out billions in grants and taking other steps to try to preserve at least some of the outgoing president’s legacy before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.

“Let’s make every day count,” President Joe Biden said in an address to the nation last week after Vice President Kamala Harris conceded defeat to Trump in the presidential race.

Trump has pledged to rescind unspent funds in Biden’s landmark climate and health care law and stop clean-energy development projects.

“There’s only one administration at a time,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told reporters at a news conference Thursday. “That’s true now, and it will also be true after January 20th. Our responsibility is to make good use of the funds that Congress has authorized for us and that we’re responsible for assigning and disbursing throughout the last three years.”

But Trump will control more than the purse strings come January. His administration also can propose new regulations to undo some of what the Biden administration did through the rule-making process.

Here are some of the moves the Biden administration is taking now:

Getting infrastructure spending out the door

Biden administration officials hope that projects funded under the $1 trillion infrastructure law and $375 billion climate law will endure beyond Biden’s term and are working to ensure that money from the landmark measures continues to flow.

On Friday, Buttigieg announced over $3.4 billion in grants for projects designed to improve passenger rail service, help U.S. ports, reduce highway deaths and support domestic manufacturing of sustainable transportation materials.

”We are investing in better transportation systems that touch every corner of the country and in the workers who will manufacture materials and build projects,″ he said. “Communities are going to see safer commutes, cleaner air and stronger supply chains that we all count on.″

Speeding up environmental goals

Announcements of major environmental grants and project approvals have sped up in recent months in what White House officials describe as “sprinting to the finish” of Biden’s four-year term.

The Environmental Protection Agency recently set a nationwide deadline for removal of lead pipes and announced nearly $3 billion to help local water systems comply. The agency also announced that oil and gas companies for the first time will have to pay a federal fee if they emit dangerous methane above certain levels.

The Energy Department, meanwhile, announced a $544 million loan to a Michigan company to expand manufacturing of high-quality silicon carbide wafers for electric vehicles. The loan is one of 28 deals totaling $37 billion granted under a clean-energy loan program that was revived and expanded under Biden.

“There is a new urgency to get it all done. We’re seeing explosions of money going out the door,” said Melinda Pierce, legislative director of the Sierra Club. Biden and his allies ”really want to finish the job they started.”

Ukraine aid

Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters this week that Biden wants to “spend down the authority that Congress has allocated and authorized before he leaves office. So we’re going to work very hard to make sure that happens.”

The Biden administration would have to rush $7.1 billion in weapons — $4.3 billion from the 2024 supplemental and $2.8 billion that is still on the books in savings due to the Pentagon recalculating the value of systems sent — from the Pentagon’s stockpiles in order to spend all of those funds obligated before Trump is sworn in.

There’s also another $2.2 billion available to put weapons systems on long-term contracts. However, recent aid packages have been much smaller in size, around $200 million to $300 million each.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said the funds are already obligated, which should make them harder to take back because the incoming administration would have to reverse that.

Pressure to quickly confirm judicial picks

Another priority for the White House is getting Senate confirmation of as many federal judges as possible before Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

The Senate this week voted 51-44 to confirm former prosecutor April Perry as a U.S. District Court judge in northern Illinois. More than a dozen pending judicial nominees have advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee; eight judicial nominations are awaiting committee votes and six are waiting for committee hearings.

Trump has urged Republicans to oppose efforts to confirm judicial nominees. “No Judges should be approved during this period of time because the Democrats are looking to ram through their Judges as the Republicans fight over Leadership,” he wrote on social media site X on Nov. 10, before congressional Republicans chose their new leaders.

Student loan forgiveness

The Education Department has been hurrying to finalize a new federal rule that would cancel student loans for people who face financial hardship. The proposal — one of Biden’s only student loan plans that hasn’t been halted by federal courts — is in a public comment period scheduled to end Dec. 2.

After that, the department would have a narrow window to finalize the rule and begin carrying it out, a process that usually takes months. Like Biden’s other efforts, it would almost certainly face a legal challenge.

Additionally, the Biden administration has room to speed up student loan cancellation for people who were already promised relief because they were cheated by their colleges, said Aaron Ament, an Education Department official for the Obama administration and president of the National Student Legal Defense Network.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona could decide that case and others rather than hand them off to the Trump administration, which is expected to be far friendlier to for-profit colleges. “It’s a no-brainer,” Ament said. “There’s a good number of cases that have been sitting on Cardona’s desk. It’s hard to imagine that those would just be left untouched.”

Trump has not yet said what he would do on student loan forgiveness. However, he and Republicans have criticized Biden’s efforts.

[ladymordecai]

For folks in more "liberal" areas who haven't previously encountered bigoted graffiti, let's talk about what to do when that happens. (Because you can't assume that "someone" will do something. "Someone" has to be you.)

First, be prepared. Keep some large stickers and a wide tip sharpie in your bag / jacket / car.

If you encounter hate graffiti (most likely a swastika or short slogan) that has been markered onto a surface like a bathroom stall, for example a swastika or slogan, use the sharpie to render it illegible. Don't get fancy, get it done quick and move on.

You may also encounter hate flyers or stickers on the backs of signs. This is where the stickers come in handy. Again the goal is to cover the bigotry quickly and move on. (This is a "fly casual" situation, so make sure you keep your cool. )

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REMOVE HATE FLYERS OR STICKERS WITH YOUR BARE HANDS.

Sometimes, razor blades may be hidden behind to injure anyone trying to remove the sticker/ flyer. Not often, but often enough that you shouldn't fuck around, lest you find out.

I also do not recommend using a credit card to try to scrape the sticker off. Not because it's unsafe, but because it's very easy to snap your card in half that way.

Take action, but stay safe.

[ladymordecai]

Hey, the ACLU is getting people to send letters to your Reps to have Congress pass the No Kings Act.

This act would make constitutional amendments to ensure that even sitting presidents are held liable for their actions. That NOBODY is above the law.

Their goal is 150k messages sent and at the time of writing this they're about 2.1k off from that goal!

ACLU gives you a prefilled message that you can edit to send to make the process easier, and will send it out for you.

This only takes a few minutes!

[ladymordecai]

Click through to see story links

[ladymordecai]

HR 9495 is going back up for voting. All non-profit orgs are in danger.

The Committee on Rules is meeting at 1600 EST on 18 Nov 2024. The agenda includes HR 9495.

If this bill passes, the Secretary of the Treasury would have the power to strip any non-profit group of it's tax-exempt status with no due process.

If you are part of the fandom community and you are in America, please contact your reps and ask them to vote NO on HR 9495.

[ladymordecai]

Alright everyone, I am a weak person. After relentless suggestions and pressure from all my friends and some of my family members I got my butt out of my chair and figured out how to turn my pridesaurs into actual stickers!

It was a longer process then it should have been, since I am very picky with quality. I tried several print shops in my area, all of which did not achieve the proper results, so I got myself a printer and cutting machine and oh man, I just love the results! Took me a lot of time and effort to learn and figure things out (testing different printing settings and sticker paper material) but I am very happy with how these little guys turned out!

If you would like to support my silly little dinosaur art, then you can buy any of these stickers from my Etsy shop, which I just set up recently. I am pretty new to this entire business side of art things, but I am trying my best :D so a like or a reblog would go a long way. Thank you guys so much for all your kind words and support

Link to my shop:

If you have any requests or questions, please don't hestitate to reach out!

[ladymordecai]

YES

MY FEMINISM WILL BE INTERSECTIONAL OR IT WILL BE BULLSHIT -Flavia Dzodan

Boys can do "girl" things! Black women's experiences and concerns will be different than white women's! Pay decreases in jobs women do, regardless of the work! Clothes have no inherent gender!

Excluding or attacking people who don't fit in boxes or because you don't like their box is what the patriarchy does. Any feminism that wants actual, real-world equality for women, for everyone, must fight against that.

The radfems hate me for my inclusive swag <3

Men are always welcome in my feminism. Along with everyone of every gender. Whether they be trans, cis, perisex, intersex, anything.

They claim it would make feminism weaker, and I couldn’t disagree more. We’re stronger together. This doesn’t mean ignoring when folks experience relative gendered privilege or excusing misogyny. This just means acknowledging that sexism harms people of all genders in different ways, and that we are all better off without it. Women and people afab shouldn’t be forced to be feminine, men and people amab shouldn’t be forced to be masculine. Intersex and non-binary experiences must be recognized. My feminism looks like fighting for women’s rights, but equally looks like fighting for trans men’s rights.

You’ll always have a place at by my hearth. I am and always will be an anti-sexist above all. Let’s fight the systems in place together.

[ladymordecai]

Goyim can reblog

[ladymordecai]

[ladymordecai]

OK Tumblr Geriatric Ward, let’s talk about your posture-

there are things you should be doing now to prevent yourself from starting to look like 🥀

Why does it matter? Future you would like to avoid the pain, limited motion, and fall risk that goes along with worsening posture.

What’s the focus?

1. Keep the flexibility in your spine

2. Stretch the muscles in the front

3. Strengthen the muscle in the back

Here are some simple things you can do daily while sitting and when you get up to go into the bathroom or the kitchen

Keep the flexibility by doing these repeated movements: 10 repetitions several times a day

The goal is to give yourself a double or triple chin. Keep your nose pointing forward, don’t let it tip up or down

Thoracic extension- use a chair with a seat back that comes up to the level of your shoulder blades. Try to bend back over the top of the chair without arching away from the seat back and without extending your neck. If the pressure from the top of the chair is uncomfortable you can place a towel there

Stretch the muscles in the front by using a door frame. This one will feel good afterwards

If this isn’t enough of a stretch you can do one side at a time. If you have the right arm up step forward with the right foot and turn slightly to the left. Then do it on the other side.

Strengthen the muscles in the back by squeezing your shoulder blades together for a count of 10 and then repeating 10 times. You can do this several times a day Hint: Don’t lift your shoulder blades up

There are lots more exercises for strengthening your back muscles but this is a good starting point and easy to do. I like doing it while driving

Tips:

Do the best you can

If it hurts stop

Envision future you saying thank you each time you do one of the exercises

[ladymordecai]

Venus flytrap dragon from my Dracoflora II series! This fella is destined to be enamel pin-ified and is currently available for preorder on Kickstarter.

[ladymordecai]

* for the non USians, jelly in this case refers to a soft, sweet spread that is like jam but is made from juice instead of pieces of fruit

[ladymordecai]

Image ID: [hashtags from @ perfectlyvalid49: #I honestly believe this movie should be taught as part of Holocaust curricula #to show it wasn't just Germany and it wasn't only in the 1930s and 40s #also - for those unaware #though Fiddler on the Roof is a work of fiction it is based in reality #and in reality 'it won't be too bad I wouldn't worry' means that only some of the Jews will be killed instead of all of them #it means he thinks Tevye won't die but doesn't care that people in his community - his friends or family almost certainly will #Fiddler is set in 1905 - a year where about 1500 Russian Jews were killed in 'unofficial demonstrations' #goyim have always been blase about a few Jews dying so that the rest of us will know our place] end ID

And this scene is MASTERFUL. The power dynamics are so clear. Tevye swings from celebration to dread in an instant. The horror that this man who says he likes him is also willing to commit violence against Tevye and his community--is going to. The gratitude that he gave Tevye a warning, even if he won't go against orders. Damn.

Fiddler's juxtaposition of life and joy to harsh times and persecution is woven throughout the story and this scene is a clear demonstration.

Dear God, did you have to send me news like that, today of all days? I know, I know we are The Chosen People, but once in awhile, can't you choose someone else?

[ladymordecai]