#How to Help

[cosmogyros]

gotta share these wonderful tags from @donotgogently, thank you for the permission <3

Can you tell me it'll be okay? And mean it?

Yeah. It feels like shit now and there's a lot to worry about, but there was a lot to worry about last month and four years ago and eight years ago and twelve years ago and sixteen and twenty and twenty four and twenty eight and on and on and on.

Continue to work locally, continue to help people, continue to speak up for what is right and protest what is wrong.

We all should be breaking unjust laws and taking care of one another because you don't survive things like this by being isolated and alone, you survive things like this by building networks and creating parallel systems and growing tight bonds with the people in your community (either physically or digitally).

Plan on helping someone get an abortion. Plan on lying to ICE. Plan on helping someone get hormones. Plan on defending an encampment. Plan on sharing information that is being hidden. Plan on potesting a pipeline or supporting forest defense. Plan on not crossing picket lines. Plan on helping your friends get their meds.

The US Federal Government sucks shit and is not here to help. But there are millions of people who want to help each other, and those are the people you should be focusing your energy on.

It's going to be hard, but it was always going to be hard. I believe in my community, I believe in the networks I've built, I believe in the ability of small groups to make change and I believe in you.

Don't panic about what's on the horizon, do something *today* that will make someone else's life better tomorrow and it will feel less like the world is falling down.

[remindertoclick]

Your Daily Reminder to Click for Palestine!

[thatdiabolicalfeminist]

I've been messaging with a 17yo kid from Gaza, named Nader.

When I asked what he wanted people to know about his family's situation, he immediately answered "the bitter cold".

His other answer was about how incredibly expensive everything is in Gaza right now. Here's context: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/16/how-much-does-food-cost-in-gaza

Can you imagine being in this situation? Made homeless where the stores are no longer getting consistent deliveries and might be bombed, the government is barely operating cuz it keeps getting bombed, there's not even charity getting into your besieged area, and most people's jobs—including your big brother's—have been bombed beyond repair?

Where it's getting so cold and you CAN'T get warm because you're relying on strangers to help you get that coat or blanket, or bc you need the little money that trickles in to just survive??

And can you imagine living this way for OVER A YEAR as a normal teenager who has a little brother and a baby niece with malnutrition to stress about too?

I know people are tired of hearing about Gaza. It's upsetting that this genocide has continued so long with so few powerful people even trying to stop it. But we have a responsibility to our fellow humans, to help them survive persecution.

Nader is seventeen. None of this should be on his shoulders. Please help his family be safe so he can stop feeling like it's his job to make sure his family has what they need.

This campaign was verified as authentic by gazavetters (#4 on this spreadsheet), which I have seen Palestinians I trust cite as a trusted source.

Can you give up one treat this week to help Nader's family have the basics?

If you donate at least $10 and comment on this post with proof, I'll record a silly voice message for you or draw you a post it note doodle!

Please also consider following @abdalsalam1990, the tumblr account this family is using to try to raise funds, as a reminder to yourself to share the campaign or contribute in the future.

Tagging usernames off the top of my head in hopes you'll share this fundraiser; please message me if you don't want to be tagged in things like this, or if I didn't tag you but you DO want to be tagged in posts like this.

Edit edit: thank you @transmutationisms for teaching me how tagging works 😅 i've only been on this site 10 years lmao

@wizardarchetypes @herpsandbirds @brattylikestoeat @tearsofrefugees @milf--adjacent

@vampiricvenus @mostly-funnytwittertweets @sweatermuppet @mostlysignssomeportents @probablyasocialecologist

@timequangle @repotting @robertreich @antifainternational @dlxxv-vetted-donations

[pilloclock]

Donate to Congo:

Help Congo 🇨🇩 you do not need the latest iPhone yours works absolutely fine.

[swordandstars]

I have some good news and some bad news.

Bad news: the resolution passed in the House.

This means that it's heading over to the Senate, where they'll tinker with it and vote again.

If it passes the Senate, it goes to the President, who has the option to veto.

Which means NOW you reach out to your Senators (both of them) and tell them that you want them to vote NO on this Trojan horse of awful.

But: we have two more chances to keep this from becoming law. The fight's not over yet.

And that's not even the good news!

For various reasons of political fuckery/ rules lawyering, this bill had to go through TWO rounds of votes in Congress to get through.

It didn't pass the first time because it had a higher threshold of votes to meet (2/3 Congress Critters had to vote yes) and it failed because it couldn't clear that bar.

So the people behind the bill sent it through AGAIN in a way that needed fewer votes to pass (only 1/2 of Congress Critters had to vote yes). This time it got through.

But along the way, almost 40 people changed their vote to "No". ALL BECAUSE OF YOUR OUTREACH.

That's huge.

Here's the home page for the bill. Check out the "Roll Call Votes" section to see how your Representative voted:

Personally? Mine flipped her vote from "Yes" in the first round to "No" in the second.

Outreach. Works.

So, what do we do now?

Click the link above, and see how your Rep voted

Send them an email thanking them for their support/ telling them how disappointed you are. Why? Because it's important to let them know you pay attention to how they vote.

Contact your Senators (both of them) and ask them to vote NO

Contact the White House and let President Biden know you want him to veto this thing if it hits his desk

Resources

Not sure who your Representative or Senators are? Click here and type in your address:

Not sure how to contact your US Representative, Senators, or the White House?

I personally use Resistbot. It's free, fast, and easy:

Readers, make sure you have all your favourite Ao3 fics downloaded.

Writers, make sure you have copies of all the fics you have posted on Ao3.

I don’t want to be alarming, but things could get really bad really fast. OTW shared this today on Twitter, and I'm a bit worried about it 😅

Ao3 is a non-profit organisation. If they have to start paying taxes, I have no idea what will happen.

[garland-on-thy-brow]

Personally, I am going to tax my thoughts of doom.

In the past I used to donate to LGBTIQ+ Military (Ukrainian NGO) whenever I saw something stupid said about the war online. Today I am donating a fixed amount for every hour I spend thinking how we are fucked. 

Donation link: English version, Ukrainian version.

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Autistic Meltdown: How to Help

Lil Penguin Studios/Autism Happy Place

[kedreeva]

Usually a bit too stubborn to do this, but a surprise $250 vet bill was not ideal, so here I am. If anyone has some spare change this week, and if Bug has brought you happiness worth giving it, I could use a little help.

To explain, she tore the keratin sheath off a nail yesterday, exposing the quick/bone underneath. I took care of it with everything I had on hand to the best of my ability and it will likely heal- the tear was clean and my care of the wound was sound. I found the wire she caught it on and fixed it, to prevent this from happening again.

Ouch!

Thankfully, we are in good enough standing with my vet that she was able to see us today on her lunch break instead of weeks from now like they're booked out to, which she is a saint for doing (and hopefully we make it easier because my birds are always well behaved and quick to deal with). She gave us some antibiotics to prevent infection in the skin and bone, a med to help blood flow to give the nail a good chance to heal and regrow, an anti-inflammatory/pain med, and wound balm for bandaging.

I paid for it, obviously, but I used a large chunk of the cash I had set aside for the feed bill which is coming due in the next week or two (usually around $350 for 4-6 months worth), and I could really use a fucking break after the last year.

So, if this silly little gremlin

has touched your life and you'd like to help me out in her care and make my week a little better, I have PayPal (itamashiisparkle@gmail.com) and ko-fi, and if I have to I can probably figure out other things (random apps are my nightmare, but I will dream for her if that's what it takes)

Thanks in advance for anyone willing to help us out, donating or signal boosting this post. Have another Bug

[amaditalks]

This whole issue of whether the “vetted“ crowdfund campaigns for Gaza’s families are legitimate really points up a pretty basic tenet of Internet and financial safety that a whole lot of people have either never been taught or have forgotten.

Only give money directly to individuals with whom you have a relationship of trust, or to people who are personally known and trusted by people with whom you have a relationship of trust.

This should also be your standard offline.

Now I’m not talking about giving a few dollars to a stranger outside the Burger King asking for help to get food.

But campaigns trying to raise thousands of dollars? Those demand special scrutiny.

And if you are 3 degrees or more removed from the person who will benefit, or can only rely on the word of a virtual stranger about legitimacy, it makes much more sense to give money to a trustworthy organization instead, so you can be sure that your money will actually help people and not line the pockets of a scammer.

[edenfenixblogs]

hello! I’m not a Jewish person (ethnically or religiously), but I was wondering if you know of any ways that I can help Jewish people right now? Like if you know of any donation programs or volunteer work or food drives or anything of the sort that I could do to help? I want to help fight antisemitism and help Jewish people beyond simply spreading awareness on Instagram, but I’m not exactly sure how or where to start. This is a very dumb question, I’m so sorry, you can ignore this if you want

(CONT'D) also, I have another question, I’m so sorry To preface this question, I’d like to say that I’m a very stupid individual who knows absolutely nothing about anything. So the question is, do you have any book or article recommendations that showcase Jewish people’s experiences, values, perspectives, etc. Like for example, are there any books written from the perspective of an Israeli/jewish person who had moved from wherever they were to the state of Israel in 1948 (I apologise if this is a horrible example, I just know absolutely nothing about anything and everything, but I’m open to learning)

Thank you so much for asking these valuable questions!!!!! (And thanks for being patient until I was able to answer!)

Neither of your questions are dumb, and you don't need to be sorry! You're not stupid and I hope you can be as kind to yourself as you have been to me and my community in your questions.

I was wondering if you know of any ways that I can help Jewish people right now?

Truly the very best thing you can do to support Jews at this time is routinely check in on us, speak up for us, and correct misinformation or antisemitism if you see it happening. This means not running away if your Jewish friends mention two antisemitic experiences they've had in one week. This means adding a media bias/fact check link when someone sends you antisemitic propaganda from Al Jazeera. This means saying "Hey. That doesn't help Palestine. That just hurts Jews," when someone's "activism" veers too far in the wrong direction. That means that you don't just shout ceasefire now without also acknowledging that Hamas and Hezbollah also need to cease firing. This means making sure your donations and your links to donations go to sources that do not fund Hamas, like Anera. It also means making sure your donations for the I/P conflict support interfaith efforts whenever possible. I routinely promote the interfaith and intercultural organizations represented within AllMEP; https://www.allmep.org/ Also, steer clear of culturally expropriating organizations like JVP.

Like if you know of any donation programs or volunteer work or food drives or anything of the sort that I could do to help?

Ones that specifically help Jews, you mean? I don't actually! Unfortunately, the international conversation since 10/7 has had very little to do with how to help Jews in Israel or in diaspora. I would say that you should look into and perhaps even email or call your local synagogues and see if they have any kind of fund for their buildings or if they're trying to raise money to pay security and donating to them. Aside from that, I'd love for my followers to weigh in on this, as they'll know better.

Book Recommendations!

These aren't exactly what you're looking for. But I believe deeply in my heart that every single non-Jewish person should read:

Jews Don't Count by David Baddiel

People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn

Night by Elie Wiesel

There are plenty of other books that are less of a bummer to read than those, too. But I think for any non-Jew to truly understand us they need to understand the unexamined antisemitism they carry with them and they need to have true, first-hand accounts about the holocaust to understand the legacy it left to us as well as what it took away.

Followers with more specific recommendations, please offer your advice in comments or replies or reblogs or tags! I'm just one person. I don't claim to speak for my entire community, nor have I ever. But I think, as a larger community, we can all steer you in the right direction, Thank you!!!!!

[gwydionmisha]

The Boomers Attack: We are Fucked

Summary:  On the 16th, Monday a week ago, HOA announced an emergency meeting that members weren't allowed to vote or participate in.  Thursday they rammed through a special assessment for $4416 and change due in 90 days.  This is on top of the $141 and change they raised us every month in august.  I am currently spending nearly everything on housing and bills.

The rate hike was legal as it was voted through properly: Reasonable notice. People allowed to vote. The second very likely was not, but that likely won't make a difference. See below.

I contacted Medical social Worker immediately, who sent me to HUD Monday, who sent me to another agency, who sent me an email of places to call.  I have called places and left messages where I could.  A couple didn't apply or I need to try again.

Really though, according to the guy at the second organization, we would need 51% of people living here to do a class action suit to stop it.  We can't post signs anywhere, and according to Squirrel, the Boomers are using the Facebook community to organize to sue anyone who can't afford to pay on time. (I don't Facebook; Squirrel does.)  They are keeping ears open for people involved in organizing to lower the monthly rate increase, but anyone drawing attention is liable to be sued in retaliation, so... yeah.

Squirrel can cover $2000, maybe even half.  We will see.  2000's about a month's pay for them.  It is impossible for me as I have about a hundred a month after bills and I'm already committed to 1. Pay mechanics so the car will make it to November, and some other commitments, like gas to get me to physio, cat litter, etc., out of the hundredish I have after bills. To give you an idea of the scale of the catastrophe, my half is about 3 month's entire income.

I will keep phoning around.  I still need to call HOA, but given how draconian they are being, I don't have much hope of a payment plan.

I know there are more important things going on in the world than my housing. Still, I don't have a lot of options.

If you can afford to chip in:

Paypal Gwydion

[queer-geordie-nerd]

HOW TO HELP:

A list of organisations working to aid communities around the world suffering humanitarian emergencies.

MSF provide urgent medical and surgical care in conflict and crisis zones, providing treatment to anyone who needs it, regardless of political affiliation or what side of a conflict they’re on.

The World Food Programme provides urgent food packages to communities that are most at risk of food insecurity, in places like Sudan, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, the Congo, Ukraine, Palestine, Syria, Yemen, and many more.

https://www.rescue.org/uk?_gl=1*1pjpb2g*_ga*MTA0MjAyNTQ0MC4xNzA3OTE3NTA1*_ga_2VX3X7JYPY*MTcwNzkxNzUwNS4xLjEuMTcwNzkxODMwMS4wLjAuMA..*_ga_DDZCWB8N2Y*MTcwNzkxNzUwNS4xLjEuMTcwNzkxODMwMS40Ny4wLjA.

The International Rescue Committee provides vital aid to people living in conflict zones, such as Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan.

Action Aid supports women and girls around the world who are most at risk of deprivation and poverty, sexual violence and FGM. They also provide menstrual products in areas where it is almost impossible to find the most basic levels of hygiene and sanitation, such as conflict zones.

Beyond Conflict is a mental health charity working with survivors of war, with a focus on children, and are currently funding projects to help both Israelis affected by the Hamas pogrom in October and Palestinians affected by the ongoing war.

Refugees International works with refugees and displaced people around the world.

[beardeddetectivepaper]

$5,727/$20,000

Please help my friend get his family out of Sudan. They are a family of 7 and we are trying to get them out of Sudan as soon as possible with the its current state of aljazeera. It’s no longer safe, we are trying to raise money to cover their travel expenses (visas, air fare tickets, accommodation) But we cannot do it alone, please help us bring this family to safety! My friend is only 19 and he is looking for work after relocating but it’s proven to be difficult! I’m a working college student with low income so there’s not much I’m able to do either. We want to reach out and help bring his family to the UAE with him so that they are safe from the war and terror happening in Sudan. If you can’t donate, that’s fine! We understand but please share this fundraiser. I just want the best for them, to see they reunited and out of harms way. I wish the same for every family separated and suffering as well! Thank you so much for your help, we appreciate it so much!

If you want updates, I’ll post whatever I can on my IG highlights! @st4rfirebot “PLEASE HELP”.

[remindertoclick]

Here's your daily reminder to click for Palestine!!!

U.S. residents, take 5 minutes and use this link to pressure your members of Congress to stop sending weapons to the Israeli military!!

(Letter variants you can copy/paste under the cut!!)

Original letter written by Jewish Voice for Peace:

I am writing as your constituent to ask that you do everything in your power to press the Biden administration to suspend all weapons shipments to the Israeli military, and oppose all future military funding to Israel. The Israeli government has vowed to push forward with a large-scale military operation in Rafah, even though President Biden has repeatedly said such an operation would be a "red line." On May 7, the Israeli military seized the Rafah border crossing, a crucial passage for humanitarian aid, and ordered 100,000 Palestinians in eastern Rafah to evacuate. The 1.3 million displaced Palestinians sheltering in Rafah will have nowhere to flee should a full invasion commence. Millions of Palestinian lives now hang in the balance. I urge you to do everything in your power to stop this unfolding catastrophe before it's too late. Thank you.

Slight variations I created (so that emails don't get marked as spam for being identical to each other)

Variation 1:

I'm writing to you as your constituent to ask you to do everything you can to pressure the Biden administration into suspending all weapons shipments to the Israeli military and opposing any and all future military funding to Israel! The Israeli government is pushing forward with a large-scale military operation in Rafah. President Biden has repeatedly said such an operation would be a "red line," yet his administration is still supporting this operation. On May 7th 2024, the Israeli military seized the Rafah border crossing, a crucial passage for humanitarian aid, and forced 100,000 Palestinians in eastern Rafah to abandon their homes. 1.3 million Palestinians have been displaced. Those sheltering in Rafah have nowhere to flee during a full invasion. Millions of Palestinian lives now hang in the balance. Their fate lies in the hands on Congress, in your hands. I urge you to do everything in your power to stop this unfolding catastrophe before it's too late. Thank you.

Variation 2:

I'm writing you today to ask that you do everything in your power to convince the Biden administration to stop funding Israel. We have to telk them to stop all shipments of weapons to the Israeli military and oppose all future military funding to Israel. The Israeli government has vowed to push forward with a large-scale military operation in Rafah... President Biden made it clear that such an operation would be a "red line," and yet he continues to fund them. On May 7th of this year, the Israeli military seized the Rafah border crossing, a crucial passage for humanitarian aid, and forced 100,000 Palestinians to flee their own home of Eastern Rafah. Should a full invasion commence, 1.3 million displaced Palestinians sheltering in Rafah will have nowhere safe to go. Millions of Palestinian lives now hang in the balance. I am begging you now, as your constituent, to do everything in your power to stop this unfolding catastrophe before it's too late... Thank you

[thatdiabolicalfeminist]

A lot of people will be spending more time with their families of origin in the next few weeks.

And when you're with people you've spent so much time around in the past, it can be easy to fall into old habits and social role dynamics without really noticing, and without evaluating whether those patterns are reflective of the values we have now.

So with that in mind, I'd like to gently suggest taking a closer look at your family's interactions and see whether there are patterns you're part of that you don't want to be and could potentially do something to disrupt.

For example, is there anyone:

your family routinely treats as faintly ridiculous or hysterical?

or whose ideas, opinions, or interests are automatically dismissed by the group when those same things would be worthy of consideration/discussion from someone else?

or who gets teased and made fun of more than others, or past the point where they seem to be having fun?

or who is expected to do a disproportionately large amount of work that others could be helping with?

or who is consistently left out of group activities and is not asked if they'd like to join this time? (Do they think you'd be happy if they did join in?)

or who is automatically treated like "the problem" in any conflict they're in, regardless of whether they initiated the conflict or were being reasonable or not?

or who makes/has made repeated requests that some reasonable boundary be respected that is habitually ignored, belittled, or argued with?

or who habitually speaks or acts in unkind or unloving ways and gets minimal pushback, and/or minimal concern for the targets of their unkindness, because "that's just how they are"?

Or is there maybe:

a gender, racial, and/or class/income, etc., divide in who in your family does how much cooking/cleaning/kinship work?

a difference in who leads dinnertable conversations and whose input, interests, opinions, etc., are more valued/respected?

a difference in whose job or home life is worthy of being asked about?

automatic assumptions about people's interests, skills, life experiences, etc., that haven't been updated in years? Is anyone trying to build connections and find out more about who each of you are now?

Group social dynamics are always complicated, and perhaps never more so than in families. I'm not in your family, and I don't know the complicated contexts between each of the members. I also don't know how you'd like your family interactions to go, or if you're even spending time together willingly or unwillingly. Maybe this post will be helpful to you, maybe not.

But if you want your family to interact in more loving ways, sometimes as adults or even teenagers there ARE things we can do to interrupt patterns people are participating in without even noticing!

We can start helping with work we're not expected to participate in, and we can ask others who don't participate to take on part of the task. (In many families, a man standing up and starting to clear away the dishes and saying, "Brian, would you mind grabbing the green beans and the mac and cheese?" would be out of the ordinary if the women usually do that, but (in many families) people would go along with it once suggested.)

We can try to bring neglected others into conversation by asking and genuinely listening to their thoughts and opinions.

We can speak up when someone's interrupted and insist that we want to hear the rest of their thought.

We can take seriously the person treated like a joke, and show others that we're taking them seriously.

We can say "I don't think we need to discuss people's bodies here" or "not cool, dude" and redirect the conversation when someone is unkind.

Sometimes we can take people aside and ask them to ease up on a person being teased. Sometimes saying "I think it's actually hurting their feelings" or "it's not funny anymore, let up" is enough to actually make a difference.

We can ask about someone's job, interests, home life, hobbies etc., when they are usually left out of being asked.

We can try to remember that people aren't fixed in stone, and try to get to know who people are now without making too many assumptions.

Sometimes harmful patterns can be interrupted just by pointing them out and making an effort to not participate in them anymore.