#politics are important

[mallgothchloe97]

“I follow that creator for their art, not their politics,”

The act of making art is political. Art is protest. Art is an act of rebellion. In a world where human worth is determined by how much money they make and especially how much money they can make for others, creating for the love of it is revolutionary. 🫶🏻

Making art is political.

Art is political.

Simple as that.

[bl00dline]

the whole tiktok situation is EXACTLY why media literacy and education on propaganda is so important. the notifications about tiktok going down and then coming back use VERY propagandistic language, and with a literal fascist coming into power in the us tomorrow we need to be even more critical of the information we’re consuming and stay on the lookout for political stunts like this

[strawberryraviegutz]

FRIENDLY REMINDER THAT TRUMP DID NOT SAVE TIKTOK!! THIS WAS ALL A STUNT TO MAKE HIM LOOK GOOD!!

PAY ATTENTION TO WHATEVER HAPPENS NEXT!!

[moonlayl]

[mugiwara-lucy]

With Kamala/Walz going up DAILY, I've seen more people talking about voting third party/Jill Stein (EW) and I believe the above screencaps from @three--rings can explain WHY Third Party votes NEVER work NOR is this the election to screw around in.

Everyone....like she says above.....PLEASE LEARN FROM HISTORY!!!

(Because if Trump gets in, he's NEVER LEAVING).

[quinloki]

I think the wildest thing about the TikTok Ban is that TikTok decided to adhere to it beyond the letter of the law.

They bent their knee willingly and gave up space and a platform they did not have to. They consciously decided to fuck over their user base when there was no valid reason for them to do so.

I've seen people talking about how you absolutely do not want to obey ahead of authority, and to see TikTok do it is... weird. It's unsettling. It feels like a dangerous stunt.

Specifically, it feels performative. It's got the marks of a Great Drama™, and given Trump's first 4 years and his absolutely bonkers love for theatrics over anything else, this just feels hollow. Like TikTok is trying to turn it's - generally younger - user base into "fans" of the republicans.

They can't really scoop up youths any other way, honestly. But using a big impactful story and putting Trump as the "hero" who saves their beloved platform.

It's not even the 20th and I just don't like how this new administration is starting. I do not like a private company complying beyond the letter of the law in advance of that law either. Because the only thing the law laid down was that they couldn't update the app on Apple and Google.

There wouldn't have been any fines or legal ramifications.

[troythecatfish]

This measure, if passed in Senate, would make it illegal for the US State Department to cite genocide statistics.

In other words, illegal to do its job.

[politijohn]

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

Historic wildfires blaze through LA months after the Democratically-run city cut fire service funds.

News headlines rhetorically ask us to consider what happens when CA inmates - working as firefighters for roughly $6 per day - cannot contain unprecedented fires.

Billionaires drain the already water-starved state of its supply as hydrants dry up when needed most.

This system has to go.

[chelledoggo]

some actually practical pieces of information that hopefully may quell some worries about Trump's second term:

This article explains the impracticality and illegality of Project 2025, and why most of it is very likely to be legally struck down.

This article explains how, even with a narrow Republican majority in the House, Trump will only be able to pass very bland partisan laws or bipartisan laws.

The ACLU has already prepared a gameplan for combatting the effects of Project 2025.

The state of New York has contingency plans to fight against Project 2025.

like obviously it's still gonna be a rough 4 years, and i'm not dismissing any legitimate worries. i'm just hoping this might ease some anxieties just a little.

if anyone else has some similar pieces of practical information that can dispel some of the panic, please feel free to share them!

stay vigilant and keep fighting, but try not to despair. try to keep a calm and level head as we head into the new year.

[rvllybllply2014]

First time election voters psa

You are not allowed to wear your candidates gear not even a hat pin, you will be turned away and have to change outfits

Make sure you have a valid id at least in Missouri look up your states requirements

Phones might be allowed in booths but once again check with you state, most say that you can’t take a picture of your ballot

Candidate canvassers are not allowed within several feet of the polling station entrance varies by state so be sure to look it up for your state if they are breaking the law report them to polling station workers

It is public information that you voted but it’s private about how you voted, ie nobody will know unless you tell them

If you mess up on a paper ballot you’re allowed to request a new one

If using a machine and it malfunctions alert the poll workers

Polls close at 7:00pm but as long as you are in line before then, stay you have the right to vote

If any issues arises during voting contact your state’s election board to file a comlaint

Most importantly happy Election Day and vote like your life depends on it because it does

[vamptranny]

the trump administration is already slowly taking away our rights, no longer legally recognizing us and only seeing two genders in america — male and female — and passports no longer taking new gender maker changes or x gender markers. this is just the start of it most likely

they've erased mentions of LGBTQ on government websites and removed pages related to honoring nex benedict and matthew shepard, like they never existed. we know they existed though and we need to keep both nex benedict and matthew shepard's names alive and remember what horrible violence and hate crime took them away from us.

this is not to scare anyone. this is to inform the masses on what our government is doing. censorship is actively happening around us. do you know the world is protesting for us? no? the united states have already started their censorship, their propaganda for this administration. do not let them censor us and hide us from the truth. speak up, learn, adapt, and inform others.

[sniperct]

NOAA “should be dismantled and many of its functions eliminated, sent to other agencies, privatized, or placed under the control of states and territories,” Project 2025 reads. The proposals roughly amount to two main avenues of attack. First, it suggests that the NWS should eliminate its public-facing forecasts, focus on data gathering, and otherwise “fully commercialize its forecasting operations,” which the authors of the plan imply will improve, not limit, forecasts for all Americans. Then, NOAA’s scientific-research arm, which studies things such as Arctic-ice dynamics and how greenhouse gases behave (and which the document calls “the source of much of NOAA’s climate alarmism”), should be aggressively shrunk. “The preponderance of its climate-change research should be disbanded,” the document says. It further notes that scientific agencies such as NOAA are “vulnerable to obstructionism of an Administration’s aims,” so appointees should be screened to ensure that their views are “wholly in sync” with the president’s.

Climate change is the single most important issue in the entirety of human history. One party wants to fight it. The other party wants to let the earth burn; in fact, they want to accelerate the fire.

[tired-and-swaggy]

[moonlayl]

“Mistake”

[swordandstars]

Friends!

Are you feeling hopeless in the face of the oncoming MAGA-pocalypse? Want to do something fast, easy, and free that will make a difference?

If you're in Michigan, keep reading! If you're not, signal boost this to your Mitten State Mutuals!

Michiganders, it's time to contact your state reps and tell them to vote YES on HB 6034 and HB 6035. Together, these two bills comprise the Freedom to Read Act and they severely limit the ability of assholes to ban books in the state of Michigan.

Want to read the bills for yourself? Click here:

https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Search/ExecuteSearch?sessions=2023-2024&docTypes=House%20Bill,Senate%20Bill&contentFullText=%22freedom%20to%20read%22

Tl;dr? Here's an article and video summarizing the Act from CBS News:

Not sure how to contact your Michigan state representatives? Text RESIST to 50409 and Resistbot will walk you through it.

It's easy, it takes about 5 minutes, and you can do it from your couch/bed/puddle of despair.

Tips for contacting elected officials:

1) If you're asking them to vote YES or NO on something, say that in the first line. Bonus points if you can tag the actual bill (HB/House Bill) number.

2) Only include ONE issue per communication.

3) 1&2 are because these are being skimmed by interns who keep a running tally of what each communication is about. One communication = one point.

3a) Don't be a dick to the interns. Their lives are hard enough.

4) Keep it short. One sentence very clearly stating what you want. One or two sentences about why they should care about what you want ("As a resident of your district, I know you agree that SOMETHING SOMETHING FREEDOM, SOMETHING SOMETHING LIBERTY, SOMETHING SOMETHING THINK OF THE CHILDREN.") Appeal to the person they claim to be in their campaign ads. Get it, give them clear instructions, get out.

5) No profanity.

6) No threats.

7) No memes/ slang/ sarcasm/ lols. You are cosplaying as someone who thinks salt is too spicy and whose greatest joy in life is sorting their collection of plain white socks.

8) 5, 6, & 7 are because anything you communicate to an elected official will become a matter of public record. It goes into a file. And if anyone ever pulls that file, you want to be on record as the most boring, conscientious, polite, non-threatening motherfucker who ever lived.

Now go forth and make your voice heard!

(Hey @unpretty and @official-michigan-posts, can you help get the word out?)