#civil-liberties

[thepersonalwords]

You can control the visibility of my name and my popularity, but you cannot control the frequency at which people are quoting me. Truth always rises with time.

Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

[hussyknee]

Link to thread.

Link to article.

Link to author's bio.

Alt text enabled on all images.

[pintadorartist]

ADVOCATES IN CONGRESS HAVE THREATENED TO NOT VOTE FOR ANY SPENDING BILLS UNLESS KOSA IS INCLUDED

While the Continuing Resolutions does not include KOSA, advocates for the bill are still pushing VERY HARD to add it to the package of bills, even going as far as to not vote for disaster relief bills if KOSA is not added to the package of bills.

WE HAVE TO CALL AND MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD. Below are the posts for contact info and call tools to call, email, and fax both representatives and senators to tell them to say NO to KOSA, it's important to keep up the pressure.

STOP KOSA (SENATE VERSION)

STOP KOSA (HOUSE VERSION)

[lassieposting]

Yes, I am an ardent hater of today's "if you feel powerless, don't forget that you can donate :))) even though you can barely feed yourself :)))" culture, where the average person has no power or agency to fight for what they believe in beyond stumping up cash.

Yes, I am going to remind y'all anyway that the American Civil Liberties Union is there to fight for your rights and they could use your support if you have any to spare. If you subscribe to their newsletter they send you regular updates on what they're doing to fight Drumpf and his force of fascist fuckwits.

[captainxtra]

HEADS UP! HR 9495 HAS BEEN RECEIVED IN SENATE!

Reminder on how to find your Senators!

If you have a GOP/MAGA Senator, use this advice from Reddit in trying to convince them to oppose it:

Do not stop fighting!

[lastcatghost]

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Oliver Willis at Daily Kos:

Donald Trump has a long history of racism, from excusing the actions of Nazis to promoting the racist birther conspiracy theory. Trump also surrounds himself with racist advisers like Stephen Miller, who is currently formulating the administration’s harsh immigration policy. Trump continued this approach in the first few days of his second presidency by issuing a series of executive orders meant to undo past actions by the U.S. government to address the harmful effects of racism. Trump and his fellow Republicans have for years attacked programs meant to counter racism and encourage diversity, attacking diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. They have falsely claimed that these programs prioritize mediocrity over qualified individuals and decision making. But in reality, the anti-DEI crusade has been a smokescreen for rolling back civil rights.

In his executive order “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” the Trump administration made this posture clear. The order explicitly rescinds Executive Order 11246, which President Lyndon Johnson signed in 1965—an order Johnson used to desegregate federal contracting. As the Department of Labor website explains (for now, at least), the Johnson order “reinforced the requirement that federal contractors not discriminate in employment and take affirmative action to ensure equal opportunity based on race, color, religion, and national origin.” The department also notes that the Johnson order—now gone, thanks to Trump’s actions—were a “key landmark in a series of federal actions aimed at ending racial, religious and ethnic discrimination.” Reversing an order meant to attack racism and pro-segregation policies was described by the Trump administration in a release as “protecting civil rights and expanding individual opportunity.”

[...] The administration issued an order instructing the Department of Transportation and the FAA to “immediately stop Biden DEI hiring programs and return to non-discriminatory, merit-based hiring.” The order claimed without evidence that increasing diversity in transportation programs somehow makes travel more dangerous for Americans. As evidence, the administration pointed to a January 2023 FAA outage as “an illustration of the importance of FAA competence.” But in reality, as the FAA determined at the time of the outage, the cause was a corrupted database issue that occurred when files were deleted by mistake by a contractor. That’s not exactly a diversity issue.

Racist-in-Chief kills LBJ’s 1965 EO that desegregated federal contracting as part of his racist quest to end DEI programs.

See Also:

Vox: Trump’s sweeping new order tries to dismantle DEI in government — and the private sector

NCRM: ‘Civil Rights Canon in American Law’: Trump Rescinds Historic LBJ Nondiscrimination Order

[alwaysbewoke]

[palatinewolfsblog]

"Justice too long delayed is justice denied."

Martin Luther King.

[mentally-quiet-spycrab]

Urgent update!

Stop HR9495!

Say NO to S.5384! (Stop the bill that Abolishes the Department of Education, and for Other Purposes)

Say NO to H.R. 9218! (Stop the bill that would allow Representatives to re-define what Biological Sex is)

Say NO to SB72! (Ref 1) (ref 2)

Tell Congress: Take action to prevent cuts to IRS funding in the end-of-year government funding bill! (HURRY BEFORE DECEMBER 20TH COMES!)

(PLEASE CHECK AND COPY THE LINKS HERE AND REBLOG/REPOST THEM ON A NEW POST TO KEEP IT TO RELEVANCE!)

Stop HR9495 by calling your Representatives and Senators!

Spread awareness about the Australian Social Media Ban!

Stop the DOGE Acts!

Stop 472472!

Keep fighting! Please spread the word on BlueSky, Reddit, Instagram, etc.!

Call and message Majority Office, Senate Democrats to help Impeach trump and prevent him from taking role of president!

REJECT Brooke Rollins for Secretary of Department of Agriculture!

Say NO to Congress’s plan to gut Medicaid for tax giveaways to the rich and corporations!

Demand Congress that they Need to Safeguard Our Democracy! They must passes new federal legislation strengthening protections for voting rights and preventing election subversion! (Donations)

Resist Trump and Vance! Help Democrats TAKE BACK Congress and defend democracy! (WITH DONATIONS)

Help End the Age of Plastics: Global Plastics Treaty Now! (DONATE)

Help Bend the Arc reach $15,000 in donations to help resist Trump!

Help us DEFEND public education from the Trump/Vance administration! (With donations)

Protect public education and defend democracy!

Ireland must keep supporting Syrian refugees! Please sign Petition! (URGENT!)

Donate to Casa to help Defend Immigrants!

(NOTE: Please Repost or Reblog. Just likes alone don't really do much.)

[teatimeatwinterpalace]

At the Russian Court (3/?)  I M P E R I A L  D I A D E M  

‘Regal assemblage of pearls and old diamonds. This diadem is, past question, one of the finest specimens of its kind.’  Fersman

This splendid diadem, worn by the Empress Alexandra at the opening of the Duma, was catalogued by Fersman as early 19th century, but it is more likely to have been made by the court jeweller Bolin expressly for the Tsarina, using antique pearls and diamonds from the Imperial Cabinet. Fersman considered it to be the fiest piece in the entire imperial collection. All trace if of it is lost after the inventory of 1922, and it seems likely that as with other pieces from the collection it was sold or broken up when some of the imperial jewels were sold by Christie’s in London in 1927. 

The Empress Alexandra in court dress for the opening of the first Duma in 1906, photographed by K. Bulla. She wears the diadem, a small diamond chain of the Order of St Andrew, and a collier de chien in pearls and diamonds and a pearl and diamond cluster necklace, both surely created by Bolin to accompany the diadem. Neither necklace appears among the inventoried jewels, and it is likely that they had been taken by the Empress to Tobolsk and then disappeared. | The Jewels of the Romanovs Family and Court by Stefano Papi 

[goopgirlie813]

https://action.aclu.org/reg-action/keep-trump-administrations-hands-our-data

The ACLU has set up a page to submit a demand that Biden make an exectuive order to prevent the government from buying people's data. This could be massive because if the Trump administration has that kind of access to people's information it could easily be used against people (like tracking people's periods to prevent them from getting abortions or targeting political opponents.)

I would also suggest just looking through the ACLU website in general and seeing what you can contribute to. Maybe make some posts of your own about them so they can get more support.

https://www.aclu.org/

[pintadorartist]

Bill HR 9495 still remains a threat to nonprofits and independent news

Bill H.R. 9495, aka the “Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act,” was meant to protect US Hostages from tax penalties; the problem is that the bill received an add-on that would give the Treasury Secretary the power to strip any non-profit of their tax-exempt status based on the idea that the nonprofit is a “terrorist supporting” organization, all without due process or a justification.

And although another exemption was added to the bill that would "protect" Non-profits from this by exempting Non-Profits that have approval from the Office of Foreign Assets Control(OFAC). This would still target non-profit organizations since all it would take to attack them is to just rescind that prior approval

This would give the upcoming Trump administration the power to kill any non-profit org, from AO3 to the ACLU. Even local nonprofits and independent news sources could be stripped of their status and be unable to receive funding to stay open, all because they had different views than the government.

Unfortunately, the bill passed the House and is headed toward the Senate, but there hasn't been any update regarding the bill or a date to vote on it; it's probably best to find your Senator and call, email, or fax them to tell them to vote no if it comes to a vote.

Below are some tools and a list of Senate leaders you should call in addition to your senator:

Democrat Senate Leaders:

Chuck Schumer:

Phone: (202) 224-6542

Fax: (202) 228-3027

Dick Durbin:

Phone: 202-224-2152

Debbie Stabenow:

Phone:(202) 224-4822

Elizabeth Warren:

Phone: (202) 224-4543

Mark R. Warner:

Phone: 202-224-2023

Amy Klobuchar:

Phone: 202-224-3244

Fax: 202-228-2186

Bernie Sanders:

Phone: 202-224-5141 Fax: 202-228-0776

Catherine Cortez Masto:

Phone: (202) 224-3542

Joe Manchin:

Phone: 202-224-3954 Fax: 202-228-0002

Cory A. Booker:

Phone: (202) 224-3224

Fax: (202) 224-8378

Tammy Baldwin:

Phone: (202) 224-5653

Brian Schatz:

Phone: (202) 224-3934

Republican Senate Leaders:

Mitch McConnell:

Phone: (202) 224-2541 Fax: (202) 224-2499

John Thune:

Phone: (202) 224-2321

Fax: (202) 228-5429

John Barrasso:

Main: 202-224-6441 Fax: 202-224-1724

Joni Ernst:

PHONE: (319) 365-4504

FAX: (319) 365-4683

Shelley Capito:

Phone: 202-224-6472

Steve Daines:

p: (202) 224-2651 f: 202-228-1236

Find Your Senator:

Or you can call the Congressional switchboard today and ask to be connected with each of your Senators’ offices. Demand they vote against this bill: (202) 224-3121

If you don’t like talking to people, you can call after their offices close so you can leave a message

you can also Text RESIST to 50409 to send your message into a fax and email to your senator

Fax tool:

Here are some call scripts that you can use as fax and email as well:

If you have a Democrat Senator, you can use this script:

“I am calling Senator [THEIR LAST NAME] as a constituent to urge them to vote against the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, when it comes to the Senate floor. This bill would give the Treasury the power to kill non-profit organizations without evidence, and will be used as a sledge hammer to destroy any organization that speaks out against the incoming President’s agenda. No matter who was in power, this bill would be authoritarian and ripe for abuse. Handing this power to a President known to be vindictive, and who has promised to be a “day one” dictator, would be a failure of congressional leadership. Please share my thoughts with the Senator, urging them to vote against this dangerous legislation. Thank you”

If you have a Republican Senator, you can use this script:

“As your constituent, I urge you to vote NO on H.R. 9495. This bill poses a dangerous threat to the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment and must not pass the Senate. It grants any incoming administration unchecked authority to revoke the tax-exempt status of non-profit organizations without oversight or due process. Such government overreach is not what the Founding Fathers envisioned for our democracy. This bill undermines the principles of free speech and freedom of association, cornerstones of American liberty.

H.R. 9495 threatens to pave the way for political suppression, allowing the government to selectively target and shut down organizations based on ideological disagreements. This could affect any non-profit, including churches and conservative groups, as well as organizations that champion human rights and civil liberties. Regardless of political leanings, this bill sets a chilling precedent that no American patriot should support.

While situations relating to the hostages deserve careful attention, they can and should be addressed in a separate, narrowly tailored bill. H.R. 9495, however, is a broad, unconstitutional overreach that strikes at the heart of free speech and freedom. It is unpatriotic and incompatible with the values we hold dear as Americans.

I implore you to stand as a defender of liberty and uphold the rights of your constituents. Be a patriot, listen to the voice of the people, protect our God given right to free speech as Americans, and reject this dangerous legislation. Vote NO on H.R. 9495. Thank you, God Bless and God Bless America.”

Here’s that petition again:

[cavalierzee]

Arresting Liberty

[captainxtra]

A reminder that House and Senate will be back in session this coming week, we need to look out for bad bills like HR 9495 in case they do go up for a vote.

Reminder on how to find your Senator in order to contact them:

If you have a GOP/MAGA Senator, read the advice given here:

Don’t spam them with messages!

[lastcatghost]