#black conservative federation

[odinsblog]

Obviously I despise Republicans, but I hate Black Republicans sO fucking much. Trump is making racist jokes and they’re all just sitting there laughing and applauding him.

Talk about a “yassir massa,” house negro mentality. They would eagerly sell out their parents, their children and all their loved ones for just 0.003 seconds of basking in the white gaze.

Black Republicans are the living embodiment of house slaves who snitched and warned their white masters about field slaves plotting an escape.

By the way: racist “jokes” about the lights going out and only being able to see the white eyes and white teeth of Black people isn’t anything new.

This racist trope was used repeatedly in cartoons of the early 1900s.

[enfinizatics]

dear americans,

as a polish queer woman and human rights activist, i know exactly how you're feeling right now and what to expect from these elections. i lived through the 2015-2023 regime of pis, a right-wing populist party that divided families in the same way trump did. i’ve experienced the rise of fascism in poland, the influence of far-right parties like konfederacja, and their “santa’s little helpers”—ordo iuris, an ultra-conservative catholic organization (banned in many countries, mind you) that helped enforce a near-total abortion ban and runs anti-queer campaigns in public spaces. i supported the black protests in 2016 as a middle schooler when they first tried to ban abortion. as an adult, i actively participated in the 2020 women’s strike, running from police tear gas daily after they finally passed the ban. i supported friends who faced charges.

i’ve lived through intense homophobia in poland as a queer teen and adult. i survived the first pride march in my hometown, where far-right extremists threw stones and glass at us. i endured the anti-queer propaganda spread by the ruling party in state-owned media. i survived the “rainbow night,” poland’s own stonewall moment in summer 2020, when police arrested around 50 queer activists following the arrest of margo, a nonbinary activist. i survived the "lgbt-free zones," the targeted violence, the slurs from strangers on the street, and the protests i held against queerphobia. it was hard as fuck, but i survived.

but just because i survived, it doesn’t mean others did. many women died because of the abortion ban—marta, justyna, izabela, dorota, joanna, maria, and many others who didn’t survive pis’s draconian anti-abortion laws. milo, kacper, michał, zuzia (she was 12), wiktor, and other queer and trans kids and young adults took their own lives because of the relentless queerphobia.

despite all of this, our experience in poland can serve as a guide now. here are some tips for staying safe and how we, polish queers and women, organized under the regime:

safety first, always. if you know someone who’s had an abortion, no you don’t. if you know someone is trans, no you don’t. if you know people who help with safe abortions, no you don’t—at least not until you know it’s 100% safe to share. if you are queer or have had an abortion, only share this with people you trust fully. most importantly, not everyone has to be an activist just because they’re part of a minority. if it feels unsafe to share that you're queer, trans, etc., then don’t. it doesn’t make you any less queer.

use secure, encrypted messaging like signal for conversations on potentially risky topics, such as queerness, abortion, organizing counter-actions, protests—anything that might be used against you.

stay anonymous online. if you want to research or report something without surveillance, do not use regular internet. get a vpn (mullvad is affordable and reliable), download the tor browser (for both onion and standard links), and if you plan to whistleblow, consider using a riseup email account.

organize and build networks. community is everything now. support each other, foster independence, because your government won’t have your back. set up collectives, grassroots movements. create lists of trusted professionals—lawyers, doctors, etc.—who can offer support.

to lawyers and doctors: please consider pro-bono work. this is what got us through poland’s hardest times. your work will be needed now more than ever.

for protests or risky actions: always write a pro-bono lawyer’s number on your arm with a permanent marker.

get to know the anarchist black cross federation and other resources on safety culture: "Starting an anarchist black cross group: A guide"; Still We Rise - A resource pack for transgender and non-gender conforming people in prison; Safe OUTside the system by the Audre Lorde Project;

for safe abortion info or involvement: get familiar with womenhelpwomen.

stay radical, stay strong, stay informed: The Anarchist Library

if i forgot to (or didn't) include something, don't hesitate to reblog this post with other resources.

[buttacake80]

To my Asian, European, African, and Canadian friends...do y'all wanna know how the United States found itself under a fascist, Hitler-loving dictator named Donald Trump?

In another post, I started my timeline in 1980. The year I was born. But, it was also a turning point in US politics.

First, let me share my credentials.

- Bachelors of Arts - History

- Juris Doctor - Public Interest Law (Critical Race Theory)

- Masters of Philosophy (research degree) - Sociology (Race, Ethnicity, Conflict)

Just recently, we buried President Jimmy Carter, who was the president, when I was born. Jimmy was from Georgia, like my grandmother, and he came from a Southern Baptist background. Southern Baptists are known for being very conservative Christians who did not support abortion.

Jimmy, despite that background, actually supported LGBTQ rights by lifting a federal ban. He supported Roe v. Wade which protected access to abortion. And, he established the federal Department of Education.

However, Jimmy had an antagonistic relationship with Congress, and that alienated several Democrats, including Ted Kennedy, who was the brother of John F. Kennedy, a president who was assassinated.

The Kennedy family has an established name brand due to JFK and Robert F Kennedy (another brother and JFK's attorney general who was also assassinated). Ted was the younger, drunken brother who caused the accidental death of a college friend.

In 1980, Ted challenged Jimmy for the presidency even though they were both Democrats. Jimmy has the incumbent shouldn't have faced a challenge from his own party, but he had just been that bad.

So, this internal strife weakened the Democratic Party entering the 1980 election. In that same year, Jimmy boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Russia due to Russia's invasion of Afghanistan. Furthermore, there was a recession.

The Republican Party nominee was a former Hollywood actor turned politician named Ronald Reagan. Ronald was the governor of California and was trailing Jimmy in the polls until a presidential debate in which Ronald used his acting skills to make Jimmy seem incompetent.

Ronald believed in "trickle down economics." He believed that if the wealthiest people were taxed less, then they would spend more, thus boosting the economy and allowing prosperity to "trickle down" to the working & Middle class.

He also believed in increased military spending as this was the height of the Cold War with Russia. My own parents voted for Reagan because my dad was in the military.

Instead of trickling down, the wealthy just grew wealthier. Republicans continued to lower taxes for these individuals and businesses, so the money never trickled down. Social services were underfunded & unemployment increased. Reagan's response was to blame Black "welfare mothers" for abusing the system.

Republicans latch onto this. They implement work requirements for government assistance and make it harder for folks to pull out of poverty. As a result, a wealth gap separated white folk from the rest. White folk felt their hard earned money was supporting lazy white & Black folk, so they continued to constrict welfare programs.

[Section added] During Reagan's term, an unknown illness is killing young, gay Black & Latino men. It's AIDs. Reagan deemed it a gay disease that only affects gay people, so no funding is allocated to study this disease. It's viewed as retribution for their homosexua lifestyle. However, overtime, they learn about HIV once non-gay men were infected. Children die from the disease because blood is not tested for it, so some are born from it through their mothers while others were given transfusions.

Under Reagan, the Fairness Doctrine ends. Under this doctrine, news agencies had to report both sides of an issue. Because of this, television stations can now present one side. Fox News opens as a conservative network.

Ronald is well-loved by white folk. He gets elected to two terms. By the end of his term, the economy has recovered, and white folk are prospering. Then, his VP, George H.W. Bush, is elected.

Under George I, the Cold War ends, but we have the Gulf War in Kuwait. He signs trade agreements that result in several American companies, namely the auto industry, to shutter their doors and build factories overseas. This is due to a change in tariffs!

Millions of Americans lose their jobs as factories close. Detroit, as the leading auto manufacturer city, is devastated. Back in the 90s, Detroit was the 4th largest US city after Chicago. These factory closures hit the Midwest, especially hard.

This makes Bush unpopular. He is challenged by a young, charismatic Democrat named Bill Clinton.

Bill was a southerner like Jimmy, but Bill was a very well-known ladies' man. Bill appeals to Black Americans, though, and that allows him to defeat George.

Bill continues expanding trade agreements. He's a fiscal conservative despite being a Democrat, and under Bill, military spending is reduced.

[Section added] The rise of AIDs leads to further hate directed at the LGBTQ. During the 90s, several queer people are murdered. One such kid was Matthew Shepard. A college kid in Wyoming, he is beaten by a gang of white men. His family was terrorized so much, that they couldn't bury him because of fears his grave would be desecrated.

[A white woman Bishop in DC invites Shepard's parents to bury him in their graveyard. That Bishop is Marian Edgar Budde, the same Bishop who gave Trump his inaugural sermon this past week. She pleaded for Trump to have mercy on the queer community because she was the Bishop who buried Shepard!]

Bill is a popular president. The economy is booming, but he's still a lady's man, and he gets in trouble with a college intern.

This scandal adversely impacts the last few years in office so much so that his VP, Al Gore, loses the presidency to George W. Bush.

George Bush won the Electoral College while Al Gore won the popular vote. There was such a tiny margin that there were numerous recounts because of faulty ballots (hanging chads). Eventually, the Supreme Court intervenes and tells them to stop the count and certify George as president.

George II is the son of George I.

George II is a popular Texan with swagger. He wants to build up the military once again.

Clinton left a surplus of money, so what did George II do? He implemented tax cuts for the wealthy. That damned "trickle down economics" again. The wealthy get wealthier, increasing the wealth gap between white folks and everybody else.

They cut taxes while cutting social services. One of his biggest "achievements" was a restructuring of our educational system called "No Child Left Behind."

NCLB emphasizes test scores. School administrations are penalized if they don't meet these standards. They lost funding, so electives such as home economics, art, Music, etc are trimmed to make room for these test standards. By this time, my dad has retired from the military and is a school principal, and I remember the stress of trying to meet these standards.

These standards emphasize STEM at the expense of liberal arts. This is happening just as the internet becomes available to all.

Amazon opens as an online used book store. Facebook is started as a college message board. There's a tech boom, so everyone is being pushed into tech fields. Liberal arts education was devalued.

During his term, 9-11 happens. We declare war on Afghanistan. Islamophobia spikes. Fox News helps drive this narrative. Christianity is now being pushed into schools, whereas schools were previously secular.

[Section added] In 2004, the assault rifle ban was lifted. Now we are seeing a dramatic spike in school shootings. The Far Right embraces the expansion of the 2nd Amendment.

Then, we go to war in Iraq.

We aren't quite sure why we're at war with Iraq. We overthrow Suddam Hussein (from the Gulf War). George declares victory, then terminates the Iraqi Army.

This triggers an insurrection. Massive casualties are coming out of Iraq. The war in Afghanistan is overshadowed.

George serves two terms, but his VP is so unpopular that he doesn't run for president. Instead, the Republican nominee is John McCain.

Two Democrats fight for the nomination. Hillary Clinton, the wife of Bill, and Barack Obama.

Barack was a young, biracial Senator from Illinois. I attended law school in Illinois, and one of my classmates had been his legislative aide. I met Barack twice while a student. The first time, he had come to campus to propose a college-savings account. After his press conference, I latched onto his arm and refused to let go until he heard me, and I explained that his proposal was unrealistic because it assumed that a single mother would have the resources to save for an education when it was more likely her money would go towards groceries & rent or other immediate needs. (Fast forward two-three years, and the dude is repeating my line during the State of the Union! I had changed his mind!)

Barack beats Hillary for the nomination. He defeats McCain and is sworn in as the 1st black (not Black) president.

Obama is popular and well-loved by most Americans. Under his tenure, gay marriage is legalized.

Fox News triples down on their hatred.

Their network booms. They push Islamophobia 24/7. Highlight the fact that Obama's father was Muslim and that his middle name was Hussein.

Older Americans are watching program after program of this negativity. A movement starts called the Tea Party movement, which positions itself as a fiscally conservative movement. A bankrupt slumlord with a reality TV show gains popularity with these folks.

I wrote my master's dissertation on the Tea Party movement. It's called "Jesus and the White Man."

Donald Trump

Donald latches onto the Islamaphobia. He calls Barack by his middle name and questions his birth certificate. Donald grows popular with older Americans.

At the end of Obama's term, the son of VP Biden dies. This devastated Biden. He had lost his infant daughter & first wife in a car accident. He decides not to run for president.

Obama supports Hillary.

It is now Hillary v. Trump.

Trump pushes misogyny and Islamaphobia. Hillary is Bill's wife and a woman. She is the most qualified presidential candidate to ever run (at that time).

During Obama's last year in office, Justice Antonin Scalia* dies. Obama has the privilege to nominate that next Justice, but Mitch McConnell stalls through the election.

But older white Americans were barely okay with a black president. They were not about to let a woman serve as President. At the same time, an organization called Cambridge Analytica began to fine-tune an ultra conservative agenda.

With the help of Russian intelligence, they use Facebook ads to try to persuade voters to support Trump. They succeeded with white folk, but they did not succeed with the Black vote.

Russians used African bot farms in order to try to persuade Black Americans to support Trump. We rejected him at 90%.

Donald wins the Electoral College but not the popular vote.

Donald is a corrupt and ineffectual president. He tried to bribe foreign leaders and shared US intelligence with Russia.

However, as a populist, he latches onto the Christian Right. He nominates 3 Supreme Court Justices who lie during their confirmation hearings. These Justices will ultimately vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The Christian Right love this. But then COVID hits and the incompetence of Donald leads to millions of deaths. These Christian folk refuse to get vaccinated or wear masks.

Donald is an unpopular president and ranks as the worst president of all time.

Biden challenges him and wins.

Donald refuses to accept that he lost, so he organized an attempted coup. January 6th.

He's impeached. Twice.

McConnell refuses to take the step to have him permanently barred from office.

Biden takes office when COVID is still rampant. The Christian Right continue to push their agenda, seeking to remove protections for the LGBTQI.

Right wing media generates a lot of money. Podcasters jump on the bandwagon. Red pill content spills into the mainstream.

Kids who were isolated during COVID are now at home watching Joe Rogan & Theo Von. They spend hours upon hours on TikTok.

But unbeknownst to these kids is the history of Russian interference.

Schools emphasize STEM. They don't emphasize liberal arts or social sciences such as history or literature. The literacy rate plummeted to an all-time low. The average white American's reading level is at the 4th grade. They aren't able to engage in critical thinking.

They don't know the history of the Spanish Influenza. They don't know the history of a trade war that triggered the Great Depression. They don't know that our government has imprisoned citizens in internment camps. They don't know Hitler's rise to power.

In fact, Fox News frequently features individuals who deny the Holocaust.

Russia move their troll farms from Facebook to TikTok, where the algorithm serves as an echo chamber. Uneducated, illiterate folks gobble up 30-second videos but can't be arsed to watch anything over 5 minutes so complex issues are stripped down to sound bites.

The algorithm pushed right-wing fascist talking points. They rehabbed Donald while shifting Gen Z to the far right. They do not know how to verify information for themselves, so they gobble up misinformation and disinformation.

If a TikTok creator has millions of followers with thousands of views and likes, these kids assume that that info is factual. They do not vet shit for themselves.

Russia pushed anti-American propaganda that posed as pro-American talking points. Pushed isolationism. Pushed anti-democratic rhetoric. In fact, one of their greatest accomplishments is convincing Gen Z and uneducated, white Millennials into thinking we aren't a democracy.

We are a fucking Democratic Republic. Our constitution begins with: "We the people".

So, because of TikTok, Trump won.

That's why Biden was pushing for it to be banned before the election. The algorithm was being corrupted. But folks couldn't part from their addiction.

Folks who had been anti-Trump just 5 years ago are suddenly Trump supporters. They were brainwashed.

So, how did we get here?

We got here because most Americans are fucking STUPID.

[ramon-balaguer]

I plan on being there, are you? 🤩🙏🇺🇸#REBTD😇

[batboyblog]

Things the Biden-Harris Administration Did This Week #30

August 2-9 2024

The Department of Interior announced the largest investment since 1979 in outdoor recreation and conservation projects. The $325 million will go to support State, territorial, DC, and tribal governments in buying new land for parks and outdoor recreation sites. It also supports expansion and refurbishment of existing sites.

The EPA announced that Birmingham Alabama will get $171 million to update and replace its water system. The city of Birmingham is 70% black and like many black majority cities as struggled with aging water systems and lead pipes causing dangerous drinking water conditions. This investment is part of the Biden-Harris administrations plan to replace all of the nation's lead pipes.

The Department of Energy announced $2.2 billion in investments in the national power grid to help boost resiliency in the face of extreme weather. The projects will add 13 gigawatts of capacity, support 5,000 new jobs and upgrade 1,000 miles of transmission. Major projects will cut power outages in the west, drive down energy prices in New England, add off shore wind, and enable the development of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s wind resources.

The Justice Department won its massive anti-trust case against Google. A federal judge ruled that Google was an illegal monopoly. The DOJ has an ongoing antitrust suit against Apple, while the Federal Trade Commission is suing Facebook and Amazon for their monopolist practices

The US Government announced $3.9 billion in direct aid to Ukraine. The money will help the Government of Ukraine make up for massive budget short falls caused by the war with Russia. It'll help pay the salaries of teachers, emergency workers, and other public employees, as well helping displaced persons, low-income families and people with disabilities.

The Department of Energy announced $190 million to improve air quality and energy upgrades in K-12 schools. The grants to 320 schools across 25 states will impact 123,000 students, 94% of these schools service student bodies where over half the students qualify for free and reduced lunch. In the face of climate change more schools have been forced to close for extreme heat. These grants will help schools with everything from air filtration, to AC, to more robust energy systems, to replacing lighting.

USAID announced $424 million in additional humanitarian aid to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Due to ongoing conflict and food insecurity, 25 million Congolese are in need of humanitarian aid. This year alone the US has sent close to a billion dollars in aid to the DRC, making it the single largest donor to the crisis.

The Senate approved President Biden's appointment of Stacey Neumann of Maine, Meredith Vacca of New York, and Joseph Saporito Jr. of Pennsylvania to life time federal Judgeships. This brings the total of judges appointed by President Biden to 205. President Biden is the first President who's judicial nominations have not been majority white men, Judge Vacca is the first Asian American to serve in her district court. President Biden has also focused on former public defenders, like Judge Saporito, and former labor lawyers like Judge Neumann, as well as civil rights lawyers.

[typhlonectes]

Oldest Known Black Swift Found in Colorado

This story from the field comes from Bird Conservancy of the Rockies biologists Rob Sparks and Colin Woolley: “On August 1st 2023, we were excited to recapture a female Black Swift at a nesting site in Colorado, where it was first banded as an adult (after-hatch-year) bird in 2005! That makes this swift at least 19 years old, breaking the longevity record set in 2022… by this very same swift! That’s right, this swift has been returning to nest at the same site since at least 2005, and has been recaptured 14 times over the years. Research like this highlights the importance of long-term monitoring projects and what they can reveal about a species’ site fidelity and lifespan. Right now, this swift is likely in Brazilian airspace, soaring over the Amazon Basin, where it will remain aloft for the entire overwintering period. Here’s to hoping this bird returns to nest in Colorado in 2024!” All banding is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s BBL.

via: Western Bird Banding Association

[sprites4ever]

Mass shooting occurs in the USA, shooter is a majority member

Sane People: "Can we please do something about the fact that anyone can pick up a gun at any time?"

Conservatives: "Now's not the time to be discussing that, now's the time to send condolences to the relatives of the victims!!!

Mass shooting occurs in the USA, shooter is a minority member

Sane People: "Can we ple-"

Conservatives: "VIOLENT ILLEGAL TRANSGENDER JEWMMUNISTS FROM MARS!!! THEY'RE KILLING EVERYONE!!! WE MUST KILL THEM ALL, BECAUSE WE'RE BETTER THAN THEM!!!"

Seriously though, anti-gun safety mfs keep going on about how criminals don't adhere to laws, how only a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun and how guns don't kill, but people do.

Yeah, being a criminal MEANS that you don't adhere to laws. Anybody who adheres to laws does so, because the possible punishment for breaking laws deters them. That's why most countries have already figured out that your 1850 mentality of the good guy with a gun does, in fact, not work anymore in 2025. They have this thing called 'Law Enforcement'. It's crazy; they have specially trained and selected individuals who are educated on laws as well as defusing conflicts, who carry guns at all times and are allowed to arrest people or even use their guns for the sake of public well-being.

Did you denizens of Freedomistan know that in those same countries, the word 'Police' doesn't refer to racist and corrupt oppressors with badges and no oversight, who are so racist and corrupt that they'll even try to arrest a black undercover Federal Agent because he looks kinda similar to a wanted black man? In those countries, it refers to, and here's where it gets crazy, the mythical Good Guy With A Gun who can and will help you in emergencies and protect you from criminals, and you don't have to pay them a penny because the government is already doing that!

Those non-American communists are really crazy...

[dostoyevsky-official]

Federal health workers terrified after 'DEI' website publishes list of 'targets'

Federal health workers are expressing fear and alarm after a website called “DEI Watch List” published the photos, names and public information of a number of workers across health agencies, describing them at one point as “targets.”   It’s unclear when the website, which lists mostly Black employees who work in agencies primarily within the Department of Health and Human Services, first appeared. “Offenses” for the workers listed on the website include working on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, donating to Democrats and using pronouns in their bios. [...] A government worker said they found out theirs was among the names on the website Tuesday afternoon after a former co-worker sent them the link on social media.  “It’s unnerving,” said the person, who requested anonymity because of safety concerns. “My name and my picture is there, and in 2025, it’s very simple to Google and look up someone’s home address and all kinds of things that potentially put me at risk.” “I don’t know what the intention of the list is for,” the person said. “It’s just kind of a scary place to be.” On Tuesday evening, the site listed photos of employees and linked to further information about them under the headline “Targets.” Later Tuesday night, the headline on each page had been changed to “Dossiers.” [...] A person who isn’t on the list but works at a federal health agency called the website “psychological warfare.” The link, this person said, is being circulated in their private group chat of federal health workers, causing some to “freak out.” A note at the bottom of the website says, “A project of the American Accountability Foundation.” That group is a conservative watchdog group.

[sacramentohistorymuseum]

July 31st is World Ranger Day! It is a day that is observed internationally on July 31st each year on the anniversary of the founding of the International Ranger Federation (IRF), which is an organization that supports the work of rangers as vital protectors of conservation efforts and parks. World Ranger Day is also a day to remember the many rangers who have been injured or killed in the line of duty while protecting national and state parks.

The Sacramento History Museum is surrounded by Old Sacramento State Historic Park and we are thankful for the rangers and other staff that maintain the park around us. For today, Jared letterpress printed a small electrotype (copy of a woodcut) of the animal that is on the logo for California State Parks, the California Grizzly. This electrotype, made in the 1890s, is from the Lewis Winter Collection. The text below the bear reads, “World Ranger Day,” and it was typeset in 24 point Cheltenham Bold Condensed font. This was printed with black rubber base ink using our Washington hand press, which was made in 1852.

[roguetelepaths]

One of my issues with modern Trek is that these days, the utopianism of the Federation is an informed attribute — the things the Federation does are good, even when they're not, because it's the Federation doing them. This leads to things like Section 31, a plot device originally introduced to challenge the Federation's utopianism and show how easy it is for even the most well-intentioned social projects to fall to darkness, getting its own movie.

I've seen a lot of people say that what we need to fix Star Trek is a return to TNG-era bright and shiny utopian sensibilities, and I see the merit of that position, but I don't agree with it.

Federation ideals have roots in American exceptionalism (yes, I acknowledge that Trek has a global fanbase but also, it's an American TV franchise with a heavily American sensibility), and the last thing we need is to compound that with "Federation fuck yeah, also black ops intelligence agencies are Cool and Good". I think that we live in an era where we're reaping the consequences of the unacknowledged American capacity for evil. The Federation, too, has a capacity for evil which has only barely ever been acknowledged, because — and this is where I show my entire ass as someone who's mostly a Babylon 5 fan these days — people are always going to be people, and "after a few centuries we just evolved past all human conflict" was never a good premise, as idyllic as it may seem.

So we've been getting what looks from the outside like a subtextual descent into fascism that parallels the one the US is going through right now. Why not make it textual? Why not break the cultural, technological, and political stasis of the Federation by showing how in decline the Federation actually is, how conservative and imperialistic it's become, and— most importantly — that people are fighting it, even where no one would expect them to?

I think, when you come down to it, that's how you fix Star Trek. By allowing the Federation to have a dark and ugly side, showing that dark ugliness for what it is, and then giving the people the opportunity to drag it kicking and screaming back into the light.

[insert-witty-user-name-here]

One more thing, if you have capacity, please consider donating to advocacy organizations working to protect our rights.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news on an already bad news day, progressive advocacy organizations have seen their funding slashed since the election.

Lots of folks know about big orgs like the ACLU, HRC, BLM, Planned Parenthood, Amnesty International, and Trevor Project. These are incredible orgs doing good work.

Here are some smaller national orgs that don’t always get attention but are doing important work and could use some extra money:

Arab American Institute

Asian Americans Advancing Justice| AAJC

Autistic Self Advocacy Network

Black Alliance for Just Immigration

Black Voters Matter

Equality Federation (specifically donate to your local chapter! Organization serving LGBTQ+ people)

Immigrant Defense Project

Lambda Legal (legal agency for LGBTQ+ individuals)

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

League of Conservation Voters (environmental protection organization)

Mexican American Legal Defense Fund

Advocates for Trans Equality

National Council of Jewish Women

National Disability Rights Network

National Immigration Law Center

National Women’s Law Center

Native American Rights Fund

REFORM alliance (justice reform organization)

Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice)

Sierra Club (environmental protection organization)

Advocacy organizations could really use your support to fight these upcoming attacks.

Where we saw an outpouring of rage and support in 2016 from big political donors, that sadly hasn’t happened this time.

Last, noting local organizations are always best to donate to though can be harder to find.

If you’ve got time, I’d do some research and type into a search engine your state or city+ issue you care about+ advocacy organization. Browse their website and social media and see if they fit your vibe!

Wait there are even more awesome orgs doing awesome work if you have a specific interest! Give these groups a follow.

American Atheists

American Humanist Association

CASA (specifically donate to your local chapter! Organization serving immigrants)

Common Cause (multi-issue)

GLSEN (formerly Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network)

Interfaith Alliance

Jewish Council for Public Affairs

LatinoJusticePRLDEF

League of Woman Voters (specifically your local chapter)

MomsRising (multi-issue, just moms who want to protect their families 🩷)

PGLAG (formerly Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays)

Public Citizen (multi-issue)

Red, Wine, and Blue (group of moms who fight book bans locally)

Sikh Coalition

The Arc (organization that serves the disability community)

The Innocence Project (justice reform organization)

The Sentencing project (Justice reform organization)

Voto Latino

YWCA (specifically donate to your local chapter, organization that serves women)

Unite Against Book Bans

United We Dream (organization to protect DACA)

Union of Concerned Scientists (environmental protection)

Zinn Education Project (organization that supports an accurate teaching of history)

I hope this massive list also helps shed some light on how many brilliant people there are in this movement ready to fight for the rights of everyone.

Onwards. ❤️

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Monopoly is capitalism's gerrymander

For the rest of May, my bestselling solarpunk utopian novel THE LOST CAUSE (2023) is available as a $2.99, DRM-free ebook!

You don't have to accept the arguments of capitalism's defenders to take those arguments seriously. When Adam Smith railed against rentiers and elevated the profit motive to a means of converting the intrinsic selfishness of the wealthy into an engine of production, he had a point:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/28/cloudalists/#cloud-capital

Smith – like Marx and Engels in Chapter One of The Communist Manifesto – saw competition as a catalyst that could convert selfishness to the public good: a rich person who craves more riches still will treat their customers, suppliers and workers well, not out of the goodness of their heart, but out of fear of their defection to a rival:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/19/make-them-afraid/#fear-is-their-mind-killer

This starting point is imperfect, but it's not wrong. The pre-enshittified internet was run by the same people who later came to enshittify it. They didn't have a change of heart that caused them to wreck the thing they'd worked so hard to build: rather, as they became isolated from the consequences of their enshittificatory impulses, it was easier to yield to them.

Once Google captured its market, its regulators and its workforce, it no longer had to worry about being a good search-engine – it could sacrifice quality for profits, without consequence:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/24/naming-names/#prabhakar-raghavan

It could focus on shifting value from its suppliers, its customers and its users to its shareholders:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/15/they-trust-me-dumb-fucks/#ai-search

The thing is, all of this is well understood and predicted by traditional capitalist orthodoxy. It was only after a gnostic cult of conspiratorialists hijacked the practice of antitrust law that capitalists started to view monopolies as compatible with capitalism:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/20/we-should-not-endure-a-king/

The argument goes like this: companies that attain monopolies might be cheating, but because markets are actually pretty excellent arbiters of quality, it's far more likely that if we discover that everyone is buying the same product from the same store, that this is the best store, selling the best products. How perverse would it be to shut down the very best stores and halt the sale of the very best products merely to satisfy some doctrinal reflex against big business!

To understand the problem with this argument, we should consider another doctrinal reflex: conservatives' insistence that governments just can't do anything well or efficiently. There's a low-information version of this that goes, "Governments are where stupid people who can't get private sector jobs go. They're lazy and entitled." (There's a racial dimension to this, since the federal government has historically led the private sector in hiring and promoting Black workers and workers of color more broadly.)

But beyond that racially tinged caricature, there's a more rigorous version of the argument: government officials are unlikely to face consequences for failure. Appointees and government employees – especially in the unionized federal workforce – are insulated from such consequences by overlapping layers of labor protection and deflection of blame.

Elected officials can in theory be fired in the next election, but if they keep their cheating or incompetence below a certain threshold, most of us won't punish them at the polls. Elected officials can further improve their odds of re-election by cheating some of us and sharing the loot with others, through handouts and programs. Elections themselves have a strong incumbency bias, meaning that once a cheater gets elected, they will likely get re-elected, even if their cheating becomes well-known:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/gold-bars-featured-bob-menendez-bribery-case-linked-2013-robbery-recor-rcna128006

What's more, electoral redistricting opens the doors to gerrymandering – designing districts to create safe seats where one party always wins. That way, the real election consists of the official choosing the voters, not the voters choosing the official:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REDMAP

Inter-party elections – primaries and other nomination processes – have fundamental weaknesses that mean they're no substitute for well-run, democratic elections:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/30/weak-institutions/

Contrast this with the theory of competitive markets. For capitalism's "moral philosophers," the physics by which greedy desires led to altruistic outcomes was to be found in the swift retribution of markets. A capitalist, exposed to the possibility of worker and customers defecting to their rival, knows that their greed is best served by playing fair.

But just as importantly, capitalists who don't internalize this lesson are put out of business and superceded by better capitalists. The market's invisible hand can pat you on the head – but it can also choke you to death.

This is where monopoly comes in. Even if you accept the consumer welfare theory that says that monopolies are most often the result of excellence, we should still break up monopolies. Even if someone secures an advantage by being great, that greatness will soon regress to the mean. But if the monopolist can extinguish the possibility of competition, they can maintain their power even after they cease deserving it.

In other words, the monopolist is like a politician who wins power – whether through greatness or by deceit – and then gerrymanders their district so that they can do anything and gain re-election. Even the noblest politician, shorn of accountability, will be hard pressed to avoid yielding to temptation.

Capitalism's theory proceeds from the idea that we are driven by our self-interest, and that competition turns self-interest into communal sentiment. Take away the competition, and all that's left is the self-interest.

I think this is broadly true, even though it's not the main reason I oppose monopolies (I oppose monopolies because they corrupt our democracy and pauperize workers). But even if capitalism's ability to turn greed into public benefit isn't the principle that's uppermost in my mind, it's what capitalists claim to believe – and treasure.

I think that most of the right's defense of monopolies stems from cynical, bad-faith rationalizations – but there are people who've absorbed these rationalizations and find them superficially plausible. It's worth developing these critiques, for their sake.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/18/market-discipline/#too-big-to-care

[sammyunhinged]

I grew up in South Carolina, in a deep red county of Southern Appalachia. I live in the Boston area now for school and the number of people I talk to and witness who cannot comprehend their privilege—the privilege of simply being born in a northern state—is astounding to me.

The southern states are consistently ranked in the bottom in terms of education, minimum wage, and personal freedom. They are consistently at the top for rates of teen pregnancy, incarceration, poverty, child mortality, and STI (STD) diagnoses.

The conservative, republican policies in place are directly linked to all of these things. In the South we cannot afford to vote third party because our rights our on the line. Our state officials gerrymander to strip rights from black Americans. They incarcerate at mass levels to strip rights from the poor and non-white. They pass laws to take health and freedoms away from women, especially poor women. They refuse to raise minimum wage or give out more aid in order to help people live above the poverty line. They pass laws that make gender affirming care illegal for minors. They ban the discussion of queer identities from the classroom. Even more is at stake this election because of Project 2025. The federal government under Trump would strip away more of those rights and supports state level laws like the ones I mentioned above.

My state will not go blue this election. I don’t know if it will go blue in my lifetime, but my border states have and can again. Those in Georgia and North Carolina need to feel empowered to vote! My birth state of Texas absolutely could. Get out and vote! However, the rights of the people in conservative states rely on people in other states not voting third party.

My rights, my family and my friends rights, the rights of my high-school classmate and the rights of my four year old niece are all on the line. This election is personal to me. It should be personal to you.

[psychoticallytrans]

Hey. You. Disabled person.

We're in dark times right now, and a lot of us are probably going to die. A lot of us have always died, and we tend to be the first ones offloaded when times get hard for being "more trouble than we're worth".

Those people are wrong about us. We are worth every effort needed to keep us alive, because we are people. We are worth loving and caring for. Our quality of life and our joy are important.

The people who are wrong about us are currently in power, and are being given leeway to act. We are likely going to be stripped of a good portion of our healthcare, income, and networks. The first two are most likely to happen directly, through cuts to federal programs. The latter is likely to happen as the ones who love us are burdened under their own problems, and may no longer have the time, energy, or spare income to help us. Ignoring any of that won't help us.

So, our lives are valuable, but they're not being treated that way. What next?

Do what you need to to secure your healthcare. We're going to see a boom in black market and back-alley treatment. Find doctors and pharmacists you trust who keep their mouths shut and their standards of care high. If you can, stockpile medications that are expensive or likely to see shortages with the tariffs. If you depend on weed or CBD for part of your symptom management, see if you can find a grower who's likely to keep it up even if the conservative agenda on weed gets reinstated.

Look into alternative sources of income. Yeah, old news for a lot of us, and I expect you've heard all the old advice about data entry and so on before. Monetary isn't the only kind of income that'll help here, though. If a neighbor will pay you in food for helping set up a spreadsheet, that's food you don't have to buy. If your insurance no longer covers repairs to your equipment, then a technician and you can barter services.

Don't do their work for them. If they want you dead, then they should have to fight for every single death that they want to see. If you have to die, don't die quietly. Spread exactly why you're dying as loud and far as you can- social media, local papers, anywhere you can. Name your killers clearly and often. Don't make yourself easy to bury. Take their reputations down with you.

Do, however, prepare to be dead. If you have any assets you care about, get a will together and make sure they'll be sent to the people who actually gave a shit about you even when it was work. If your parents were pieces of shit, they don't get to sell your small collection or your left-behind art like they have a right to it. Draw up what you want done with your body.

Living wills are important too, as is declaring who has your medical power of attorney. These determine how you are treated if you are alive, but unable to communicate or not considered in your right mind. Be very careful about who you give these rights to, but if you don't give them to anyone, they probably will default to whoever your next of kin is. If there's someone better than them, get it down in legal terms. If you're gay and happily married, get it down that your spouse has your medical power of attorney, in case they manage to rule against gay marriage at the federal level. An advance directive covers both a living will and who has your medical power of attorney.

Hide. Steal. Fight. Commit crimes and use the legal system. Protect yourself and preserve your own life by any means you can get your hands on.

Because every single one of us who stays alive is spit in the face of everyone who thinks it would be more convenient to have all of us comfortably dead and out of their way.

Because every single one of us who stays alive is proof to the disabled people who come after us that we are not easy to get rid of, and that they deserve to fight as well.

Because every single one of us deserves to live.

I love you. Stay the fuck alive.

[batboyblog]

Things the Biden-Harris Administration Did This Week #29

July 26-August 2 2024

President Biden announced his plan to reform the Supreme Court and make sure no President is above the law. The conservative majority on the court ruled that Trump has "absolute immunity" from any prosecution for "official acts" while he was President. In response President Biden is calling for a constitutional amendment to make it clear that Presidents aren't above the law and don't have immunity from prosecution for crimes committed while in office. In response to a wide ranging corruption scandal involving Justice Clarence Thomas, President Biden called on Congress to pass a legally binding code of ethics for the Supreme Court. The code would force Justices to disclose gifts, refrain from public political actions, and force them to recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have conflicts of interest. President Biden also endorsed the idea of term limits for the Justices.

The Biden Administration sent out an email to everyone who has a federal student loan informing them of upcoming debt relief. The debt relief plan will bring the total number of a borrowers who've gotten relief from the Biden-Harris Administration to 30 million. The plan is due to be finalized this fall, and the Department of Education wanted to alert people early to allow them to be ready to quickly take advantage of it when it was in place and get relief as soon as possible.

President Biden announced that the federal government would step in and protect the pension of 600,000 Teamsters. Under the American Rescue Plan, passed by President Biden and the Democrats with no Republican votes, the government was empowered to bail out Union retirement funds which in recent years have faced devastating cut of up to 75% in some cases, leaving retired union workers in desperate situations. The Teamster union is just the latest in a number of such pension protections the President has done in office.

President Biden and Vice-President Harris oversaw the dramatic release of American hostages from Russia. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan held since 2018, Russian-American reporter for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Alsu Kurmasheva convicted of criticizing the Russian Military, were all released from captivity and returned to the US at around midnight August 2nd. They were greeted on the tarmac by the President and Vice-President and their waiting families. The deal also secured the release of German medical worker Rico Krieger sentenced to death in Belarus, Russian-British opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, and 11 Russians convicted of opposing the war against Ukraine or being involved in Alexei Navalny's anti-corruption organization. Early drafts of the hostage deal were meant to include Navalny before his death in Russian custody early this year.

A new Biden Administration rule banning discrimination against LGBT students takes effect, but faces major Republican resistance. The new rule declares that Title IX protects Queer students from discrimination in public schools and any college that takes federal funds. The new rule also expands protections for victims of sexual misconduct and pregnant or parenting students. However Republican resistance means the rule can't take effect nation wide. Lawsuits from Republican controlled states, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming, means the new protections won't come into effect those states till the case is ruled on likely in a Supreme Court ruling. The Biden administration crafted these Title IX rules to reflect the Supreme Court's 2020 Bostock case.

The Biden administration awarded $2 billion to black and minority farmers who were the victims of historic discrimination. Historically black farmers have been denied important loans from the USDA, or given smaller amounts than white farmers. This massive investment will grant 23,000 minority farmers between $10,000 and $500,000 each and a further 20,000 people who wanted to start farms by were improperly denied the loans they needed between $3,500-$6,000 to get started. Most payments went to farmers in Mississippi and Alabama.

The Biden Administration took an important step to stop the criminalization of poverty by changing child safety guidelines so that poverty alone isn't grounds for taking a child into foster care. Studies show that children able to stay with parents or other family have much better outcomes then those separated. Many states have already removed poverty from their guidelines when it comes to removing children from the home, and the HHS guidelines push the remaining states to do the same.

Vice-President Harris announced the Biden Administration's agreement to a plan by North Carolina to forgive the state's medical debt. The plan by Democratic Governor Roy Cooper would forgive the medical debt of 2 million people in the state. North Carolina has the 3rd highest rate of medical debt in the nation. Vice-President Harris applauded the plan, pointing out that the Biden Administration has forgiven $650 million dollars worth of medical debt so far with plans to forgive up to $7 billion by 2026. The Vice-President unveiled plans to exclude medical debt from credit scores and issued a call for states and local governments to forgive debt, like North Carolina is, last month.

The Department of Transportation put forward a new rule to bank junk fees for family air travel. The new rule forces airlines to seat parents next to their children, with no extra cost. Currently parents are forced to pay extra to assure they are seated next to their children, no matter what age, if they don't they run the risk of being separated on a long flight. Airlines would be required to seat children age 13 and under with their parent or accompanying adult at no extra charge.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced it is giving $3.5 billion to combat homelessness. This represents the single largest one year investment in fighting homelessness in HUD's history. The money will be distributed by grants to local organizations and programs. HUD has a special focus on survivors of domestic violence, youth homeless, and people experiencing the unique challenges of homelessness in rural areas.

The Treasury Department announced that Pennsylvania and New Mexico would be joining the IRS' direct file program for 2025. The program was tested as a pilot in a number of states in 2024, saving 140,000 tax payers $5.6 million in filing charges and getting tax returns of $90 million. The program, paid for by President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, will be available to all 50 states, but Republicans strong object. Pennsylvania and New Mexico join Oregon and New Jersey in being new states to join.

Bonus: President Biden with the families of the released hostages calling their loved ones on the plane out of Russia

[beardedmrbean]

(Reuters) - Target has been sued for allegedly concealing the risks of its diversity and social initiatives, leading to a backlash that caused customers to flee and the stock price of the Minneapolis-based retailer to plummet.

In a proposed class action on Friday, shareholders led by the City of Riviera Beach Police Pension Fund in Florida said Target defrauded them into paying inflated prices for its stock and unknowingly supporting management's "misuse of investor funds to serve political and social goals."

The lawsuit said the retailer, CEO Brian Cornell and other officials failed to disclose the risk of consumer boycotts stemming from Target's Environmental, Social and Governance and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives.

It also said Target concealed backlash from its May 2023 Pride Month campaign, which led the retailer to remove some LGBTQ-themed merchandise after in-store confrontations led some employees to fear for their safety.

Target's share price fell 22% on Nov. 20, 2024, wiping out about $15.7 billion of market value, after it forecast disappointing profit and holiday sales.

Shareholders said Target's underperformance stood "in stark contrast" to results at rival Walmart, and reflected "continued backlash from its campaigns."

Target did not immediately respond on Monday to requests for comment.

The lawsuit in the Fort Myers, Florida federal court seeks damages for Target shareholders from Aug. 26, 2022 to Nov. 19, 2024.

It was filed after Target said on Jan. 24 it would end DEI initiatives this year, including a program to support Black-owned businesses that it adopted following the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

Target joined Walmart, Amazon.com and some other prominent companies to scale back such initiatives, which have been attacked by many conservatives including U.S. President Donald Trump.

The case is City of Riviera Beach Police Pension Fund v Target Corp et al, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, No. 25-00085.