#putting off the election by posting these

[talisidekick]

I hath been summoned! Henlo!

You'll need to be on desktop to use the link posted above, be aware of that. But I've been summoned to info-dive and give a rant, so without further ado:

Before the November 1st 2024 update, there was already three problematic "guidelines" in the Content Classification system. These are:

Section II: Sexual Themes

Non-educational discussions of sexual topics or experiences. 

Non graphic conversations related to sexual activities, preferences, fetishes, etc.

Directly encouraging or eliciting conversations in chat that would qualify as containing Sexual Themes as listed above.

Asking users in chat to describe their first sexual encounter

As these are left vague, it leaves them open to interpretation as to what a "non-educational" discussion consists of, and as well as what "sexual topics or experiences" are. This is problematic because a to a conservative interpreter or a company with conservative values, this can mean anything LGBTQ+ is a "sexual topic". And simply saying "I like women" as a woman, or "I like men" as a man, or identifying as trans and stating either can be interpreted as a "non graphic [conversation] [relating] to ... preferences, fetishes ...". So ... yeah, that's not great. And while I agree that asking users in chat to describe their first sexual experience should be tagged, that example is not the limitation of the point listed above. Simply asking chat "are there any gays in chat?" can be seen as "Directly encouraging or eliciting conversations in chat that would qualify as containing Sexual Themes as listed above." by a bigoted conservative interpretation. It's not a stretch, conservative bigots have done this in the past, still do today, and will in the future because classifying anyone queer as inherently sexual lets them define themselves as inherently 'pure', and thus beyond accusation of wrong-doing by mistreating queer people verbally and physically.

And while this is already bad and can be misused to harm queer people, lets talk about the NEW section as of November 1st, 2024:

Section VII: Politics and Sensitive Social Issues

First up, right out of the gate:

"Twitch is a place for people to express themselves and discuss the world around them. We require streams to be labeled when the focus of the stream includes discussions and debates about political or sensitive social issues such as discussions about elections, civic integrity, war or military conflict, and civil rights. Examples of content that require a classification label include but are not limited to:"

Please note the LAST line. "... not limited to:". This means every point made next in these guidelines is not the limitation, so when we see the bulletpoints:

Discussing ideological or socio-political views on topics like gender, race, sexuality, or religion

Discussing legislation related to a sensitive social issue such as reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, or immigration

Immediately, if you are queer, this system can be used to put you behind a curtain that the average user that DOES NOT HAVE AN ACCOUNT will not see. That means you'll only see traffic from accounts that signed up, and have turned off their filtering, as a streamer if you're a person of colour, transgender, queer, an immigrant, potentially of a religious minority ...

This is bad. Real bad. PoC, Queer, Immigrant, Religious minority folk, beware, talking about your life may get you smacked with a warning, or a permanent content lable.

Twitch is gonna start kinda censoring queer people and it would be really helpful if you could read the next few sentences and then also go to a link and click the word vote.

They're implementing a new rule where if you discuss "sensitive social issues" at all you have to flag your streams as such, these issues include things like war and political unrest but also any lgbtq topics (once again our existence is political).

Essentially a streamer will have to choose between never ever mentioning anything queer (or even just discussing their own life if they're queer themselves) or flagging every stream with "sensitive social issues" and scaring away 90% of viewers.

If you have a twitch account you can go here and log in and click vote. They do listen. Please vote.

[sirfrogsworth]

Early voting to beat the lines... the best-laid schemes of mice and men often go awry.

So... yesterday was quite the day.

After being stuck in bed for the past 6 weeks with some mystery slump, I was finally feeling better. So I decided I would try to cram as many errands into my day as possible. That works better for me when I drive out into the world because I end up only having to do one big recovery instead of a bunch of little recoveries.

My to-do list...

Go to the doctor

Vote early

Return oxygen machine to FedEx store for scammy eBay guy

Return Amazon package to the UPS store

Get gasoline for my whip

Go to Discount Tire to get my tires filled for free

Drop a check off for my lawn guy

Mail a secret package to Katrina at the US Post Office

It would have been nice if I could have gone to just one shipping place instead of all three, but the universe has a sense of humor and likes to do shit like that to me on a regular basis.

So, I get my checkup, it goes quick, no long wait, I'm feeling good.

As I get in my car, it starts to rain. It was an ugly day and it actually has not stopped raining to this very moment a day later. Just gray, windy, chilly, and wet. I look up the voting place and start the GPS.

Wipers and music on full blast, it's time to get my vote on.

When I reach my destination, I realize early voting is at some kind of private golf club. And at the center is a recreation center—which is a public building.

So it's like this private/public turducken situation.

I was expecting this errand to take 20 minutes. Because early voting always seemed like a way to get in before the crowds of election day for a more convenient voting experience.

But the parking lot was packed and I feared my expectations were about to be subverted.

As I walk through the parking lot I see a bunch of signs in the ground.

And a particular one caught my eye.

This is bullshit.

Like, just a straight up lie. No truth to it whatsoever.

Amendment 3 in Missouri basically restores abortion rights in the state. And Republicans have taken issue with the following language...

"The Government shall not deny or infringe upon a person's fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which is the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions."

They claim the phrasing "but not limited to" means you can give an 8-year-old kid "sex change surgery."

This is how their online flyer puts it...

It could also include a free puppy.

Or a zillion bucks.

Or a clown will come to your house after the abortion and honk your nose.

It's ridiculous and desperate. I honestly don't know how it is legal for them to put a lie like that outside of a polling location, but here we are.

The organization "Missouri Stands with Women" is run by... a man.

It was set up by a lawyer named "Edward Greim" on behalf of the Federalist Society.

His law firm has a lovely biography about him. And a bunch of publicly available contact information. I say that for no reason whatsoever.

The Federalist Society funds all kinds of shit like this. Their main thing is installing conservative judges all over the country who will reinterpret or negate legislation. And they do it all to "stand with women" by taking away their reproductive rights.

Here is the board of directors of the Federalist Society.

Ya know, before I looked this up, I said to myself, "I bet it's going to be a sausage fest." I am psychic.

I think it would be more accurate to say they stand with A woman.

Just one.

And she sucks.

Nicole is a law professor at Notre Dame. She chose her Catholicism over her right to choose. The Catholic Church will fuck your rights and your children and Nicole will help them do it.

Anyway... back to my quick and easy voting experience...

So as I'm walking in to vote I keep passing a ton of these awful signs. I notice an older woman standing next to the aforementioned "child sex change" sign and she says, "Can I talk to you about Amendment 3?"

At this point, I'm pretty angry. I look her dead in the eyes and say with my most assholish tone, "NO." as I walk past her.

And then she finishes her sentence...

"...to protect the reproductive rights of women."

Ah, dammit.

I thought she was an old Karen but she was cool as heck. Standing out in the rain telling people the sign is bullshit. I wanted to turn around and apologize but I was stuck in full social anxiety mode so I just kept walking.

If that old lady happens to have a Tumblr and follows me and is willing to read this giant story... I just want to say I am sorry. I thought you were awful and I should have let you finish your sentence. You're super cool and I'm happy there are folks like you fighting for what is right.

I get inside and a young woman greets me. She tells me the line is in the next room and points. I still wasn't quite sure what the situation was. The parking lot being full gave me pause, but I was still hopeful I could have a swift early voting experience.

But I walk through the doors and into a huge gymnasium and my heart sinks.

It's hard to represent in pictures how long this line is.

It goes all the way to the end of the gym, loops around, and comes back. At first I was not too discouraged, because there was a nice gentle ramp at the start of the line.

But then I notice several sets of stairs at different stages of the line. And I'm just thinking how hard it would be to stand in this line and then also having to go up and down several sets of stairs.

So I go back to the young woman working there and ask what their accessible voting options are. And she told me I could do curbside voting and points outside. I then notice a line of cars wrapped around the parking lot. I don't know how I didn't see them walking in, but I guess I was too busy being a jerk to elderly progressive women.

My biggest concern was time.

The longer this takes, the more energy I use up, the longer my eventual recovery will be.

They tell me the car option is the slowest. And I could be in line for 2 to 3 hours. And then an old man who seemed to be in charge walks over and tells me the fastest option is to stand in line.

So I walk back out to my car and grab my cane and decide to try the long serpentine gynasium line.

I start walking up the ramp and some of the other folks see how slow and labored I'm walking and they start encouraging me. "You can do it! You got this!" Which I suppose was meant to be a positive helpful thing. But I found it to be embarrassing.

I get to the end of the line and notice most of the line has bleachers directly next to it. So I decide to sit down and rest and figure out how I am going to survive this experience.

It took me a while to recover from the long walk to this spot. I watched a bunch of people pass me by and the line was actually getting much longer as I rested. I was not really sure what to do. I was trying to problem-solve this situation but the answer that kept popping up in my mind was just... "go home."

But I felt this was too important and that wasn't really an option.

My best idea was to ask someone if they would hold my spot in line. Perhaps I could just sit in the bleachers and follow them around in the line, staying as close to them as I could. But my social anxiety was set to maximum and I was not finding the courage to ask someone.

After about 10 minutes of sitting, resting, and thinking, I basically say, "Fuck it, I'll try to stand in line."

I get up and start walking to the end of the line.

Then I hear a voice yell out to me.

"Hey, man! Come over here! This is your spot!"

A young man was waving at me. He was accompanied by his wife. Both of them were dressed in black and they had a sort of goth skater aesthetic going on. He had a competitively bushy beard, but with less gray. And she had very vivid purple hair.

I was a little confused and still processing what was happening. Then they both started waving at me to join them in line. They remembered I got there just before and told me I should be in front of them. I walk over and thank them. Then he suggests...

"Hey, why don't you just sit in the bleachers and follow us around the line."

He suggested my idea!

Without me asking!

I felt like he read my mind or something.

Can bearded people read each others' minds? Was this some beard skill I was unaware of?

"I got you, man. You just sit and we'll keep your place."

And his violet hair'd significant other agreed. "Yeah, we got you."

The kindness of strangers was more accessible than my polling place and I was just so thankful in that moment.

So I sat in the bleachers and watched them traverse the line. In the middle of the gym there were some teenagers playing basketball. And so I just rested and watched them play.

That young man in the red pants was like a goddamn Harlem Globetrotter. He was just embarrassing the others. He was bouncing the ball behind his back and through his legs and then he just danced around his opponents like a figure skater. It was such an unbalanced matchup. He might as well have been playing 4th graders. Not only was he significantly faster and more maneuverable, but he was consistently hitting 3-pointers.

And then during a break, he ran towards the hoop, jumped from the free throw line, flew all the way to the net, grabbed onto the rim, and proceeded to do several pull ups as if they were the easiest thing in the world. I don't think I've seen anyone jump that far and that high in real life and it was just a bonkers display of athleticism.

I spent the entire wait watching him humiliate the others—hoping he would get a full ride scholarship to some prestigious university.

And I hoped the other boys paid attention in school and got straight As, because basketball was not going to work out for them.

As my new goth skater friends progressed through the line, I would make sure to keep sight of them. Every once in a while I'd give them a head nod to acknowledge we were in this together. After an hour and a half they were at the final segment of the line, so I sat next to the wheelchair folks.

I probably could have argued to sit with them in the first place. But I really did not feel like making the case that I was just as disabled as them and needed that level of consideration. The old man running things seemed quite stressed and was putting out 8 fires at once. And my anxiety wasn't really cooperating enough to be assertive in my needs.

But it worked out in the end, so I'm not going to dwell on the lack of accommodation for people who weren't *visually* disabled.

My new bearded friend neared the end and waved me over. I thanked him and his wife profusely.

I joked, "Thank you for adopting a voter."

They seemed confused by my joke.

"No problem, man. Happy to help."

I told him and his wife they truly saved me. "I honestly don't think I would have made it through the line." And then I looked back...

I said, "As crazy as this is, I do find this kind of turnout encouraging." His wife agreed and said, "We were saying the same thing!" And then I thought, "Can the wives of bearded people absorb the mind reading ability? I hope she can't read my mind right now. Although, I'm mostly thinking that her hair is a really cool shade of purple, so she'd probably find that complimentary."

As I waited to get my ballot I could hear the happy couple behind me. They were very cute. They were making fun of each other in a very lovey-dovey fashion. I had high hopes they were going to grow old and gray and purple together based on their chemistry. And I was just so thankful they were able to recognize that I needed help without me asking. Because I probably would have just caved to my anxiety and not asked for help otherwise.

I got my ballot and sat down to fill in all of the appropriate squares. Thankfully I had prepared a cheat sheet on my phone.

It was an exact replica so I was able to copy it and finish quite rapidly.

Then I fed my votes into the vote-eating monster and they gave me a sticker.

My quick 20 minute adventure to vote early only took 2.5 hours!

And because I didn't want to buck tradition, I stood outside in the wind and the rain and took a voting selfie.

Yep, that seems about right.

Ah, crap... that was only the second thing on my to-do list.

Let's speedrun the rest of this story, shall we?

I drove to FedEx. I hauled a 40 pound box inside. I plopped it on the counter and said, "Man, this thing is heavy!" as I tried to catch my breath. The 20 year old working there then lifted it like it was a feather and I felt great about that.

I drove to the gas station because I was nearly on empty—that is both a metaphor and not a metaphor. I filled my ride with go juice.

I noticed I was a mile from the tire store and they fill up tires for free. So I did that and the guy was super nice and complimented my tires. I felt both weird and proud about having my tires complimented. Like, I had nothing to do with my tires being nice. But I accepted the praise on their behalf.

I drove to the UPS store. The last time I was there I made a scene. They refused to box up a return and I got upset and wasn't feeling well and they had to find a chair for me to sit in because I was going to faint. So I was hoping the same woman wasn't there, but she was. She didn't recognize me, so it was fine.

I drove to my lawn guy's house. He wasn't home. I dropped a check in his mailbox. My checks have corgis on them. My checks are cute.

I drove to the post office. I sent a secret package to my bestie, Katrina. I'd tell you what is in it, but it is an inside joke and you wouldn't get it. The woman noticed my voting sticker and I couldn't help thinking about what I just accomplished to get that sticker.

On my way out I noticed a miracle.

2 of the 4 doors were fixed!

I mean, I don't know why they couldn't fix all 4, but now the employees won't freeze in the winter. So I take that as a win. It only took a year and a half to accomplish and I'm sure all of my phone calls and emails did not help at all. But I'm going to pretend I saved the day regardless.

And then... I drove home.

5 hours of errands.

I was so fucking tired. My back was on fire with pain. I immediately collapsed into my bed. I passed out. And I slept for 14 hours.

The End

[sleepinglionhearts]

It's election night! That means I, who try not to voice too many of my thoughts and opinions because this is supposed to be my fun blog, have things to say!

You know, all things considered, if The Orange Menace wins the election, the one thing I am absolutely going to be tear-my-hair-out angry about, completely insane about, would be to start seeing posts from the sorts of people who were very anti-vote, "it doesn't matter anyway" complaining about Harris losing.

Like they weren't, yknow, part of the problem.

I cannot tell you how disappointing it is to live in Texas, to know that sometimes the voter margins are so, so slim, to see in my county alone that the numbers could probably have shifted very solidly blue if only there were More Than 30% Voter Turnout!!

And for all of those who will be surprised! Surprised about the consequences of The Orange Guy winning! And upset about it! In the same vein of conservatives who get upset because, say, the abortion ban affected them, "why didn't anyone warn me" etc, etc, SURPRISED!

I already went through this in 2016, in college, with OTHER QUEER AND POC STUDENTS ALL LAUGHING OFF THE ORANGE WIN THEN, and then somehow being shocked that he made things worse?

And I know I can't put the blame entirely on them, but with the things I hear from my younger coworkers even, the attitudes they or their friends have, it's like. Aha. Ohoho. I know where this comes from. I've seen this attitude somewhere.

Hate that.

[hacash]

The argument demonstrated here against voting for Kamala has a couple of major, and I do mean major, logical falldowns.

Number one: saying 'I'm not advocating for Trump, I'm advocating that the people running a genocide lose an election' overlooks the crucial fact that only one of two people will be running the USA in January: Trump, or Kamala. That is just a fact. The fact that I routinely see multiple people from outside the US posting about this topic because they see US citizens either ignoring or being unaware of this fact is, frankly, a lot.

So I feel like at this point if you claim anything else could happen, you are being wilfully ignorant of the facts about how your country is run. Either Kamala or Trump is going to be running one of the most powerful countries in the world, and as a US citizen it is your job to decide which one that it. If you advocate for the Democrats to lose the election, you are advocating for the Republicans and Trump to win. It's that simple.

Number Two: 'You made it through four years of Trump and you can do it again'. Interesting point there! I feel like the woman who was killed at the Charlottesville far-right rally, the thousands who died during Trump's mishandling of COVID, any and all vulnerable immigrants in the US, the women put at risk by having abortions and certain pregnancy complications due to Roe vs Wade being dismantled, the queer kids in places like Florida vulnerable to homophobia and transphobia, any number of people put at risk by Trump slashing food safety regulations left right and centre, the Ukrainians who will be even more exposed to Russian imperialist attacks once Trump withdraws support, everyone whose lives were in danger when a fucking right-wing mob stormed the Capitol, not to mention everyone around the fucking world who may just, just be a little unsettled by Trump's deep desire to start dropping nuclear bombs on anyone who pisses him off might want a word with you there.

And that's certainly not to mention the Palestinians you claim to be supporting, who will most certainly suffer when Trump ramps up his support of Netanyahu to eleven (more on that later).

Look, I'm not saying that if the Democrats win peace will reign and everything will be perfect, but come the fuck on. I don't know if the people making this argument are literally so young that you weren't really politically conscious during Trump's presidency, but please don't insult those of us who did have to sit through the whole shitshow by saying crap like this. I don't care how sick you are of hearing it, elections mean choosing the least shitty option. If you still need it explained to you that Harris is less shitty than Trump, that is a you problem.

Number Three: 'some words and hype around what people think Trump will do' - No. I'm sorry, just no. We went through this the last time Trump became president. Trump has already shown us who he is. This is not a matter of our imaginations working overtime, this is an understanding of what will happen: based both on Trump's previous words and what he has already done in the past. Showing even more support to Netanyahu, encouraging and aiding him in his work, is not something 'people think Trump will do', it's something Trump will do. For all that you may dislike the Democrats (and I think @qqueenofhades had some good posts about Harris/Biden at least making attempts to push for peace in the room) it is bizarre at this point to pretend like Trump won't be significantly worse when it comes to supporting Netanyahu's actions.

This is a man who recognised Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel (leading to widespread condemnation around the world, including the UN, Arab League, and EU), said that Israel should keep on building settlements in the West Bank without stopping, and, once again, has been pals with Netanyahu since the very beginning. This is a man who thinks the answer to any problem is to send in the nukes and the gunboats, and who has made his disdain for Muslim lives painfully fucking clear. (I doubt very much that his respect for Jewish lives is that much better, but that's another post). If you don't realise that having Trump in charge of US foreign policy is only going to dramatically worsen the situation for Palestine, that is, once again, just wilful ignorance at this point.

-

“Trump would be the worst,” Asmaa Nimilaat, 50, said from a hospital where thousands of people are sheltering in Deir el-Balah, an area in central Gaza. “But any candidate that becomes president will not support Palestinians.” - from the Al Jazeera article further up the post.

I feel like people wilfully focus on the second half of the quote when they should be paying attention to the first. Yes: as things stand, neither political party is doing wonders for Palestine, and that sucks. But Trump would be the worse. For America and for Palestine, and for the rest of the world. There is literally only two futures open to us now: one where Trump wins, and one where Harris wins. And Trump would be the worst. At this point, trying to keep some sort of moral superiority in excusing not doing everything you can to keep Trump out by claiming 'we don't know he'll be bad/the Democrats still suck/I don't want complicity in American imperialism' is, quite frankly, ignorant and inward-looking at this point. You have an actual chance not only to benefit yourselves (by voting in a leader who is at least halfway decent) but to make life even a little bit better for people in numerous countries around the world (who will now get to deal with the less awful version of America dominating the world stage), and the notion that some people might actively choose not to is, frankly, staggering to me.

[onioneyez]

Belated Halloweeeeen post! The mask’s bottom jaw fell off but I had a great time putting this together and stalking around in chicken feet. My toddler niece thought the crotch face was Thomas the tank engine.

Original image from this tumblr post

More pics:

[throwawayblog-thrwaway]

not voting isn’t “burning the system down” you absolute dipshits. if you actually wanted to burn the system down you’d literally be burning down the homes of congressmen, but most of y’all don’t actually want that, you just want to roleplay as a radical online for cookie points from the other members of your self-righteous hypocritical circlejerk.

your glorious revolution isn’t coming because you’re too goddamn chickenshit to actually revolt. go and actually fucking do something or just shut the fuck up

[solarsunshine]

what’s really disheartening about the maya/tori situation on tiktok is seeing maya adopt white supremacist suppression tactics (the fake smiling, tears, and the muting of tori) in their dialogue. to me at least, this just shows that the way non-poc leftists have been centering themselves in the movement of palestinian liberation here in the united states has been not only successful, but welcomed, going off of the reactions to the livestream.

historically, black american activists have been some of palestine’s biggest and longest supporters. activists and diplomats like ralph bunche was critical of the development of israel before they (israel) even declared themselves a state. malcom x was deeply tied to the palestinian cause, eventually visiting gaza before his assassination. james baldwin, angela davis, the black panther party, and more recently, the ferguson protesters have all had close ties and even direct communication with palestinian liberationists. there legitimately has not been a bigger or more vocal group in america for palestinian liberation than black americans as a whole.

the lack of intersectional interest in the face of kamala harris’s campaign has been insane. the assumption that black americans are ignorant to harris’s sins as attorney general is so far from reality that i am genuinely in awe. black americans were more affected by her stances in california than any other minority group, and the assumption that we forgot is so baffling that i am almost speechless. kamala is not a perfect candidate, however, many lgbtq+, black, and disabled folks can recognize that she is the lesser of two evils. neither candidate is ideal, but it is common knowledge that third party candidates have no chance of even denting the polls this close to the election. (for even the smallest chance of a third party candidate winning, we would have to start voting in every election year round, big or small, but that’s a conversation for another day!) so that leaves us with the 2 big party candidates. the american government is so deeply entrenched in the foundations of israel that realistically, this is not a one election catch-all. the best we can do with this election is harm-reduction, not elimination. it is NOT ideal in any way, shape, or form, but it is a base we can develop on. trump is genuinely terrifying for the idea of democracy, and the fact that people equate that whole mess to the harris campaign, is so lacking in common sense that i genuinely had to take a breather. freedom of speech, civil liberty, and the right to protest are in the direct line of fire in this election cycle with the current rise of trumpian laws being put in front of both congress and the supreme court.

intersectionality is based on the idea that we can limit the harm to oppressed people in facing multiple oppressors, NOT having tunnel vision onto one form of oppression, because all oppressive ideologies are inherently linked. a large group of non-poc, pro-palestinian liberation supporters are not grasping the true basis of this mindset, and are actively bringing more harm to the palestinian cause by rejecting a more multi-faceted understanding of how to actually achieve liberation. there is a lack of understanding that we as americans can only support the liberation of palestine. trying to center the idea of palestine’s liberation as something that american activists can only achieve is based in the same ideology of the “white-savior” phenomenon. palestinian people have given us direct ways that they want support, and largely, american supporters have either de-stabilized or suppressed the original outreach and replaced it with more performative activism. the rampant racism, suppression, de-centralization of both black voices and palestinian voices goes directly against the beauty of palestine’s multi-ethnic, religiously diverse, and multi-faceted history as one of the most diverse areas of art, culture and thought in history.

[plaguedoctormemes]

Another post says that only 48 of 50 states give provisional ballots out, so even if poll workers say that you are not qualified to vote it’s worth asking anyway. Most poll workers ive met are kind and patient and are willing to help you if you have problems. If you’re there, they want you to vote so they will do anything legally within their power to make sure you can. Some states allow you taking pics of your ballot, but i would rather stay on the safe side and just not do it. If you want to take a pic celebrating or showing off you voted, just take a pic with the I VOTED sticker on you instead or something.

Remember, there is more to the election and voting than just a president. Your ballot also includes other candidates at lower levels (the lower someone’s position is, the more tangible their influence is on your life) so even if you do not believe that voting for presidents matter or you dislike any of the presidential candidates for any reason, voting for the other non-presidential candidates matter.

Additionally, use this as an opportunity to learn how to vote (if you’re new to it) and to get more comfortable at voting in the more local levels. Voting for your city council and local reps is just as if not more important.

One more thing; if anyone tries to talk to you in line about your vote in a way that makes you uncomfortable or intimidates you, you absolutely can just ignore them. I like to put in ear buds and listen to music until I make it to the front of the line.

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

[dollarstoreartsupplies]

i feel like some people are acting as though america will not end 2024 with a president,,,, like someone is getting elected fuckheads this is politics 101 if you don’t have an actionable plan stop guilt tripping people from fucking voting because if they don’t vote we’re still gonna have a fucking election

[notsocooljess]

no wait tell us more about the angsty one shot 👀

hey anon! thanks for the ask!

i should say that my tired self called it angst but it is definitely more devastating and a practice in writing fear

but the one shot involves peeta holding and comforting katniss as she is dying in the quell and his response after. it would occur the day after the beach kiss.

i’m still working on it to challenge myself but not sure i’ll ever post it. i’m not sure it would be well receipted or liked with good reason (which i also know doesn’t mean it’s bad - there’s plenty of good media out there that people know is good that isn’t well liked). but also just not sure it’s something the fandom wants! and i wouldn’t blame anyone for that.

we’ll see what happens!

[fictionadventurer]

The Shocking Redemption Arc of Chester Arthur

To my great pleasure, I get to tell you about Chester A. Arthur. If you don’t know his story, that’s a surprising statement, because most people don’t even recognize his name as one of the presidents. That’s a crying shame, because this guy has the most fascinating character arc of any president I’ve come across so far. He entered the presidency as a despicable, corrupt, conniving political lackey, and left it as--

Well, I’d best get on with the story.

Chester Arthur started out as an idealist. He was the son of an abolitionist Baptist minister, and though he dropped the religion in adulthood, he remained devoted to abolishing slavery. He became a lawyer with a New York firm that argued several civil rights case, and he rose to fame in 1854 when he served as the defense attorney for Elizabeth Jennings, the Northern version of Rosa Parks. Arthur’s victory in her case led to the desegregation of New York City’s public transportation.

During the Civil War, Arthur got an appointment as New York’s quartermaster general. After the war, Arthur returned to civilian life and became a Republican “party man” who worked behind the scenes to draw in voters, funding, and supporters. He and his wife Ellen (called Nell) both loved the finer things in life, which drove Arthur to do whatever he could to gain fame, wealth, and social status.

This is where I need to explain the spoils system. For the first hundred-plus years of American politics, all federal positions were filled by appointment. When a new president came into office, he could award government positions to his supporters--"to the victor go the spoils". Federal employees were required to donate money to the ruling party. There were no requirements for education or relevant experience. Any job could be filled by anyone with the right connections. If you think that sounds like a breeding ground for corruption and cronyism, you’d be absolutely right. By the 1870s, the system was getting extremely corrupt, and there was a growing push for reform.

But not by Chester Arthur. He owed his career to the spoils system. Through his work in the party, he became the right-hand man of Roscoe Conkling, New York’s senior senator and the state’s “political boss”. Conkling was a flamboyant showman, a magnetic politician, and a ruthless man. He had been a major supporter of Ulysses S. Grant’s presidential campaign, so Grant gave Conkling control over all the federal appointments in New York. Conkling used his power to fill positions with his friends and supporters, and he was brutal in attacking anyone who got in his way.

Because Chester Arthur was Conkling’s most loyal supporter, he got the best federal job in the country—Controller of the Port of New York. Before income tax, around 60-70% of federal funds came from the tariffs at this one port. The controller got a salary similar to the president’s, plus he was able to take a percentage of all the fines they levied. At the height of his power, Chester Arthur made $50,000 a year, which is a lot when the average skilled worker at the time made $500. (A rough estimate puts his salary at $1.3 million in today’s dollars.)

Arthur was living the high life. He racked up huge tailor bills. He had a gorgeously furnished house. His job allowed him to force his employees to donate a percentage of their salary to the Republican Party, which gave him even more power within the political machine. He bought huge amounts of wine and cigars that he handed out to people he was wining and dining for the good of the party. His wife resented that he was rarely home because of his political work, but Arthur loved the machine too much to stop.

After his 1876 election, President Rutherford B. Hayes desperately tried to reform the spoils system, but was blocked every step of the way by Roscoe Conkling. Finally, in 1878, Hayes managed to remove Arthur from his position as port controller, under suspicion of corruption, which allowed Arthur to spend more time working for New York’s political machine.

In January of 1880, Arthur was in Albany working for a political campaign when his wife caught pneumonia. By the time Arthur got home, Nell had fallen into a coma, and he wasn’t able to speak with her before she died. He felt guilty over her death, and especially the lack of closure caused by his devotion to politics. But instead of changing his ways, Arthur moved in with Conkling and became more devoted to politics than ever.

Which brings us to the 1880 Republican Convention. The Republican Party was split between two warring factions—the Stalwarts like Conkling who wanted to keep things the way they were, and the Half-Breeds who wanted civil service reform. President Hayes refused to seek re-election (partly because Conkling had made his life miserable) so these two factions somehow had to agree on a new candidate. Conkling supported a third term for Ulysses S. Grant. The Half-Breeds supported James G. Blaine of Maine—who happened to be Conkling’s mortal enemy.

James Garfield was there to nominate John Sherman—the Secretary of the Treasury and the younger brother of the famous Civil War general—and I can’t go any further in this story before I tell you a little bit about him. James Garfield is one of the most ridiculous overachievers in the realm of American politics. He was born into a dirt-poor farming family (he’s the last president ever to have been born in a log cabin). At sixteen, he left home to work on a canal boat, but quit after he nearly drowned, and his mother and brother scraped up enough money for him to go to school. His first year, he paid for his tuition by working as a school janitor. His second year, the school hired him to teach six classes (while he was still a student!) and then added two more because of how popular he was. By the time he was twenty-six, he was president of that same school. He became a lawyer and was elected to Ohio’s state legislature. During the Civil War, he became the youngest person to earn the rank of general. While fighting in the Civil War, his friends put his name in as a candidate for the US House of Representatives, and Garfield won even though he refused to campaign. He then served several terms in the House, where he became popular, but he refused to seek the presidency, because he’d watched several friends become warped by their presidential ambitions.

At the 1880 Republican Convention, Garfield was the more popular Ohio candidate, but insisted he was there only to nominate Sherman. At one point in his nominating speech, Garfield asked the audience, “Now, gentleman, what do we want?” To Garfield’s horror, one man shouted, “We want Garfield!”

Garfield remained loyal in nominating Sherman, but the spark had been lit. The voting went round after round after round for two days, with the votes being split between Grant, Blaine, and Sherman, with no one getting enough to win the nomination. Garfield got one vote in the third round. In the thirty-fourth round, Garfield suddenly got seventeen votes. Garfield stood to protest, saying no one had a right to vote for him since he hadn't consented, but the president of the convention--who was secretly thrilled because he liked Garfield more than any of the other candidates--told Garfield to sit down.

By the thirty-sixth vote, Garfield had won the nomination.

Now they had to choose a vice president. Several of the delegates got the idea to throw a bone to Roscoe Conkling. He was furious that Grant had lost the nomination, and he was vindictive. Conkling controlled New York’s political machine, so without him, the Republicans would lose New York, and without New York, they’d lose the election. He had to be placated. So the delegates nominated Chester Arthur, his right-hand man, as vice president.

Conkling told Arthur to refuse the nomination, but Arthur accepted, saying it was a greater honor than he had ever hoped to achieve. That's putting it mildly. The only position he’d ever held was port controller, and he’d been removed from that. Plenty of people thought nominating him was a horrible idea—a man like Chester Arthur only one step away from the presidency? But other people thought it was a shrewd political move—it would placate Conkling’s faction of the party, and Garfield was young and healthy and would rule in a time of peace. It wasn’t like there was any chance he’d die in office.

After Garfield was elected, Arthur immediately started causing problems. He all but openly boasted of buying votes in the election—which was not a great look when it had been a close race. He was completely on Conkling’s side in his war against Garfield. After Garfield appointed Levi Morton, a Stalwart, as Secretary of the Navy, Conkling sent Arthur and another lackey to drag Morton out of his sickbed--forcing him to drink a bracing mixture of quinine and brandy--and bring him to Conkling’s house to get chewed out, which caused Morton to resign. Conkling forced another Stalwart Cabinet nominee to resign on inauguration day.

Then Conkling went to war over the federal appointments. At first, Garfield placated him, appointing several of Conkling’s candidates. But then Garfield nominated Judge Robertson as Port Controller of New York Harbor. Conkling was livid. That was the prime federal position, a major source of Conkling’s power in the party, and Robertson was one of Conkling’s political enemies. In Conkling’s mind, Garfield had stabbed him in the back. Arthur agreed, and openly bad-mouthed the president to the press.

Conkling and the other New York senator resigned their Senate seats in protest—a dramatic political move. In those days, state legislatures voted for senators, and Conkling believed that since he controlled so many New York politicians, they’d easily get re-elected to their old seats. Unfortunately, the legislature was sick of being under Conkling’s thumb. The election became a drawn-out battle, and Chester Arthur went to Albany to help Conkling in his campaign.

While he was there, the unthinkable happened. On July 2, 1881, James Garfield was shot at a train station by Charles Guiteau, an insane office-seeker. Guiteau had come to the White House every day for months seeking an appointment under the spoils system. When that failed, he decided God wanted him to get Garfield out of the way so the spoils system could continue. After he shot the president, Giteau shouted, “I am a Stalwart, and Arthur will be president!”

As you can imagine, that made things really bad for Arthur. He’d just spent months fighting the president tooth and nail, and the assassin had mentioned his name. Plenty of people thought Arthur had something to do with the shooting. He and Conkling both needed police details to protect them from lynch mobs.

Arthur didn’t want to be president; in his mind, vice president was the perfect job—a position with a lot of political leverage, but no responsibility. He went to the White House hoping to convince Garfield that he had nothing to do with the shooting, but the doctors wouldn’t let him in the room. He managed to speak to the First Lady, where he got choked up with emotion and was observed to be in tears. A reporter later found him in the house where he was staying in Washington, and noted he'd obviously been weeping.

To Arthur’s relief, Garfield seemed to get better. The bullet had missed his spinal cord and all his major organs. If he’d been left alone, Garfield would have made a complete recovery. Unfortunately, his doctors repeatedly prodded the bullet wound with unsterilized instruments, and Garfield fell victim to a massive infection. He lingered for months, slowly starving and rotting to death.

Through all this, Arthur stayed in New York and refused to take up presidential duties; with so many people accusing him of the assassination, he didn’t want to make it look like he was preparing to usurp the throne.

It eventually became clear that the assassin had acted alone, which laid the rumors to rest, but no one wanted Arthur to be president. James Garfield had been a man of the people. The working class considered him one of their own, proof that anyone could rise from poverty and become president. He was an idealist, a champion of civil rights, a family man who lived modestly. For the first time since the Civil War, a president had been supported by both the north and the south, and the country had come together in grief. Chester Arthur was Garfield’s exact opposite—a conniving political lackey who’d become a millionaire through corruption.

James Garfield died on September 19th. To the American people, it looked like their worst nightmare had come true. Conkling’s lackey was in the White House, and now Conkling would rule the nation the same way he’d ruled New York.

Yet, to everyone’s surprise, President Chester Arthur became a completely different man. In one of his first speeches, he listed civil service reform as one of his top priorities—a shocking move for a man who’d become president through the spoils system. Soon after Arthur’s inauguration, Conkling demanded he name a new Controller of the Port of New York. Arthur angrily refused and called Conkling’s demand outrageous. Conkling stormed out in fury and never forgave Arthur. (Arthur did later risk his reputation to nominate Conkling for the Supreme Court, but Conkling, ever petty, refused the position.)

Arthur didn’t have a complete personality transplant. He still lived lavishly, hosting lots of state dinners. He still preferred the social duties of the presidency to actual government work, and he was a hopeless procrastinator. Always fastidious, Arthur refused to move in to the rotting, rat-infested White House until they fixed up the dump, and he ran up extravagant bills during the remodel.

Yet, as a president, he was...respectable. He worked for African-American civil rights. He started a major process of rebuilding and reforming the outdated and corrupt navy. He did sign the Chinese Exclusion Act, but he had vetoed an earlier, harsher version and only signed a much-reduced one (that probably would have been voted in anyway if he’d vetoed it). That remodel of the White House, even if it ran over-budget, was long overdue.

Most shocking of all was his unswerving devotion to civil service reform. He continued an investigation into a government postal scandal, even though everyone assumed he’d drop it. He voiced his continuing support for reform efforts. In 1883, Arthur signed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. As written, the act required only 10% of federal jobs to be assigned based on merit, and even that required the president to take action to enforce it. People assumed that Arthur would sit back and do nothing, so the spoils system would remain in place. Yet Arthur immediately formed a commission to enact the reform, even appointing some of his old enemies. The man who’d benefited most from the spoils system became the one to finally destroy it.

How do we explain such a complete and sudden change? Part of it’s a matter of personality. If I can indulge in a bit of meta, Chester Arthur seems to be a textbook example of the sanguine-phlegmatic temperament—someone who wants to fit in with the crowd, to go with the flow. As a political lackey, this made him self-serving and amoral, but as president, the crowd he had to impress was the American people. After months of getting crucified in the press, with tons of articles saying what they didn’t want him to be, he’d have plenty of motivation to become what they did want him to be.

A more important motivation, though, was death. His wife’s death was likely the first shock that would make him step back and take stock of his political career. Garfield’s death had an even more profound influence on him. The spoils system had led a madman to murder a president in Arthur’s name; if anything could motivate a man to change the system, that would be it. Even more profound than that was his own death. Not long after entering the White House, Arthur was diagnosed with a fatal kidney disease. He hid the diagnosis during his term, but his actions in office were the actions of a man doomed to die, with a mind toward the legacy he’d leave behind.

Yet there’s another stranger, more mysterious influence that I’ve left to last because of how cool the story is. The day before his death, Chester Arthur—who’d become ashamed of his old life—asked a friend to burn the vast majority of his papers. Years later, among the papers that had been spared, his grandson uncovered a packet of twenty-three letters from a 31-year-old invalid named Julia Sand. Julia came from a family very interested in politics, and her illness meant that she spent a lot of time reading the newspapers, so she was familiar with Chester Arthur’s political career. In August of 1881, she sent Chester Arthur a letter that began, “The hours of Garfield's life are numbered—before this meets your eye, you may be President. The people are bowed in grief; but—do you realize it?--not so much because he is dying, as because you are his successor.” Over seven pages, Julia scolded Arthur for his corrupt ways, but assured him of her faith in his better nature, and urged him to reform. She sent letters over the next two years, full of encouragement and scolding and political advice. She called herself his “little dwarf”, because her lack of ties to him meant she could be completely honest with him.

There’s no evidence he ever answered her. But she did offer some rather specific political advice that he seems to have followed. And he did visit her once. In 1882, he stopped by her house in the presidential carriage, surprising her and her family (who had no idea she’d been writing to the president) with an hour-long visit. She seemed to grow more frustrated with his lack of answers after that, and no letter exists after 1883.

There’s no way to say what kind of effect the letters had on him. But amid all the turmoil after the assassination, it must have meant something to have one voice saying she believed in him. She was a voice from outside the Washington political machine, who could serve as a sort of conscience. The fact that those letters survived when so much else burned suggests he considered them worth saving.

No matter the reason, the truth remains that Arthur entered the presidency as an example of all that was dirty and loathsome in the political system, and he left it as a respectable man. In giving up his old ways, he sacrificed connections he’d spent years building. His old friends never forgave him, and his old opponents never quite trusted his reform, yet he did what he thought was right even if it meant he stood alone. In summing up his presidency, I don’t think I can do better than contemporary journalist Alexander McClure: “No man ever entered the Presidency so profoundly and widely distrusted as Chester Alan Arthur, and no one ever retired... more generally respected, alike by political friend and foe.” I think that deserves to be remembered.

[sanct1f1ed]

favorite stan twins characterization is that they're both equally insane. stanley just gets more air time to show it off. loosely inspired by a post i read earlier but here's some absolutely insane things both of them have done

stanley:

drugged a person and turned them into an exhibit in the mystery shack

had a vegas wedding to a prospector-themed novelty dispenser

gave mabel a grappling hook

failed to steal an animatronic badger

chewed his way out of the trunk of a car

punched at least three bald eagles

is multiply divorced, possibly even with the novelty dispenser

committed premeditated murder on a llama

faked a heart attack to get on Wheel of Fortune

took his clothes off in front of a live studio audience on Wheel of Fortune

has a rivalry with a fifth grader, a grandmother, and a man who exclusively dresses like a corn cob

stanford:

pulled a gun on a bus driver when he wouldn't let a pig on board

directly assisted in mind-controlling ronald reagan during his election in 1980

gave mabel a crossbow

got bitten by a vampire bat and subsequently began sampling human blood

owns contraband outlawed in 9000 dimensions; keeps it in an extremely flimsy plastic case

"accidentally" set a hawk on fire

has exes ranging from as normal as his old college buddy to as weird as a triangle and an alien with 7 eyes who put a metal plate in his head

wears turtlenecks because he's hiding multiple tattoos he regrets, including one themed around "all star" by smash mouth

is an Extremely wanted criminal across hundreds of dimensions; was completely kicked out of one for card counting

is, bizarrely, super into the band Eurythmics

can see shrimp colors

[ameliafuckinjones]

Anyone but Shapiro for Veep god I'm begging you

[musical-chick-13]

Like I genuinely might just. Have to not finish this story, if I can't get all of it posted before January. I know this is the absolute LEAST of my potential problems should a certain someone get elected, but it still sucks.

[tuiccim]

Hey friends. I know I put that part 2 would be posted today but with work and elections stuff I think it'll be best to hold off until Thursday. Thanks for understanding!

We're Gonna Burn Masterlist

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female!Reader

Warnings: Smut, Sex Pollen, Non/DubCon (because sex pollen), enemies to lovers, emotional aftermath.

Summary: An exposure to a strange powder makes you feel as if you're burning to death, your only relief is in the person you hate the most. When the dust finally settles, will you be able to move past this stranger encounter or will your own emotions cause you to burn out?

A/N: Special thanks to my beta reader @whisperlullaby

Part 1 - September 5, 2024

Part 2 - November 7, 2024

Part 3

Part 4

Updates and taglist: Due to the unreliable nature of tags, I no longer keep a taglist. Please follow my sideblog @tuiccimfanfiction  and turn on notifications for updates. All series and new stories will be reblogged to it. You will only receive notifications when a new part or story is out! Nothing else will be blogged to the page. I can’t thank you enough for your support!

[fairuzfan]

Is there anything I can do to help Palestinians besides call my representatives and beg them to stop killing people?

This is a great question. There are a few things you can do—just off the top of my head:

BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) https://bdsmovement.net/

Direct Action https://www.palestineaction.org/

Urge your University/School/Organization to put out a statement denouncing Israel

Organize a Protest/Participate in a local one

You might already be doing this but while calling your reps, tell them that as a voter, you're unwilling to support them in the upcoming election unless they urge the White House to take a stand against Israel and stop funding them

Share art/writing/films around Palestinian culture

If you're part of a union, ask them what they're doing to urge their industry leaders to take a stand against Israel + pressure the White House OR urge them to start a strike/walkout/etc if they're not doing anything already

Talk with your friends IRL about Palestine, whether in an activist capacity or watching a movie or literally anything

Reach out to a mosque to see if you can help them with anything

See if your city/state council has put out a statement in support of Gazans. If not, try to push them to do so.

Donate to Palestine Legal or Direct Action if you have some money to spare

KEEP TALKING ON SOCIAL MEDIA!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know some of these don't feel like they have as big of an impact on helping Palestinians, but we do need to make an effort not to forget their humanity in the face of continued erasure and the media's sensationalist rhetoric.

Talking on social media and posting—while not seeming like a lot—does SO much. I know in USAmerica, it's like yelling into a void, but political analysts are saying that most of the "Global South" has completely lost any amount of goodwill it may have had the past few years. Hopefully, countries will start to put sanctions and embargoes en masse on the US and Israel soon.

Our goals here are BOTH short-term and long-term. We hope for the life and liberation of the Palestinian people, so anything that you can think of might help at some point in the future is encouraged to at least try.

If anyone else has any more ideas, feel free to reblog and add on. Thank you for asking, and here is to a liberated Palestine where Palestinians can live and thrive without fear.