the-sacred-now

[the-sacred-now]

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

[the-sacred-now]

ily, menswear guy

[the-sacred-now]

It's honestly funny to me to watch all the people be bewildered that, for example, the same electorate that in Missouri voted to ratify reproductive care access in their constitution also seem to have overwhelmingly voted for Trump, because it's honestly very simple:

The access to that in their own state is actually an issue of pragmatics, of stuff they want in the law; the presidency is a matter of identity. It's about who they are as people. And the narrative that so many of them have is that to vote for The Democrat (regardless of what that platform promises, what the pragmatic realities of the situation are, whatever) is to betray their community, to be a traitor, to be evil, not as a matter of action, but as a matter of identity.

The USA has this specific feature, where their President is both head of state and head of Executive arm and the Emotional Governance Icon of the whole culture. Bluntly, for all the vaunted democracy, you emotionally elect a new king every four years, and all of the emotional pagentry and almost spiritual weight that has always been part of what maintains a monarchy is imbued in this position. And that means that for a lot of people, a lot of the time, who you vote for as president taps right into really primal emotions of identity that are divorced from and override actual practical awareness of who's promising what.

It is the same kind of mess of really stupid, really emotional instinctive response to this shit that leads to "I'm going to protest vote because I Just Can't Bring Myself To Be Associated With Them Because [Whatever Fucking Issue]" you see on the left and we all saw people arguing passionately about here.

Because even when they wanted everything Harris was promising including in as many words demanding ceasefire, because of how in their emotions she's tied to the events so far, it feels like treachery to vote for her. It feels like it would make you a bad person.

And these feelings are so strong that yes, they will literally blank out knowledge of all of the things that Trump has actually done and actually promised that they hate, just like it will blank out the actual events and actual logistics and circumstances and for that matter what Harris actually said and actually promised.

This is something all people are vulnerable to doing, a way we are all vulnerable to fucking up when we look at these situations. And I'm not saying feelings aren't part of your decision-making process because without feelings, without emotions, there are no decisions - making decisions is a feelings-based process.

But our feelings are big, loud and really stupid and some of them are really sneaky about getting behind our cognition in a way that makes us start the "I reject your reality and substitute my own" thing so that you end up with people yelling that if you vote for Harris you might as well go out and shoot Palestinian children in the head yourself, and you also get people who clearly think abortion is healthcare voting quite sensibly to make sure that they in their state have access to it while also voting for the guy who's promised to make it illegal everywhere.

Humans do this all the time. And I'm telling you this because if you want to solve this kind of problem, if you want to fucking get people who clearly!!! WANT!!! THE SAME THINGS YOU DO!!!! BUT KEEP??? DOING THIS SHIT????

If you want to get them on your side instead?

You are going to have to find ways to overcome that part. You have to accept that this is part of what's going on, you have to accept that it is at play with all sides of any political spectrum and you have to figure out what it is that will solve it.

(It's not always one thing, either. In fact having multifaceted strategies is probably going to work better.)

And on a personal level, be really aware that you are not invulnerable to this either. Not because it's "bad" if you fall for it but because it will literally get in the way of the things you really want. Because we don't get rid of the toddler inside of all of us, by growing up - we just layer adulthood eventually on top of the toddler, and so inside of us all is a toddler who HATES GOING TO BED but is also getting more and more and more tired and miserable and is incapable of making the link that mayyyyybe going to sleep now will result in less miserable when they wake up.

That toddler you were is still in you and it really tends to own the areas of the very loud and stupid parts of your brain and fucks with the judgement that could potentially go "but what is the actual outcome likely to be and how long will it be in effect for and how will I feel about that?"

It's not weird that this could happen. It is intensely, predictably human.

[the-sacred-now]

I'm already seeing advice from people in the US to purchase queer books and other banned or "controversial" books on paper as a way to combat the wave of government censorship that is coming. While this is a good idea (it is! absolutely!), it's not accessible to everyone, and truly, we're not going to be able to consumerism our way out of this one.

If you can buy the books, do. Whether you can buy the books or not, borrow them from your library.

Borrow the paper versions. Borrow the ebook or audiobook versions. Request the titles you want that your library doesn't have. The more a title circulates or is requested, the better librarians are going to be able to defend keeping it if and when it's ever challenged.

Use libraries like @queerliblib too. The more members they have, the better they'll be able to fundraise.

Your community resources depend on you using them. Borrow the books before they go away.

InB4: Piracy is not the solution here. We're trying to keep community resources available, not make sure individual people can read individual books. Different problems.

The books are still available. Borrowing them from your library and returning them on time and in good condition will help keep them that way.

[the-sacred-now]

Ways you can volunteer when you have social anxiety

Hi, I know some of you feel motivated to organize and volunteer with the recent everything but as someone with an anxiety disorder I know the struggle. I’ve been volunteering sporadically since I was a teen and not all of it requires face to face to contact with the public. Here’s some ideas to get you started.

Cooking in kitchens and food pantries/volunteering to cook at places that have daily or weekly free or reduced cost meals like food not bombs, soup kitchens, summer or winter food trucks for low income k-12 students, religious community kitchens like at church gatherings or a Sikh langar.

Making clothing or blankets. Domestic violence shelters are often in need of these for both adults and kids. Organizations that work with foster kids are often also in need of clothing and blankets.

Contacting vendors: If you’re bad at talking to people but good at writing emails a lot of groups are in need of supplies.

Unloading trucks at stuff like food pantries and clothing drives. If possible you can request to be put in the back room or work on setup.

Just show up at the protest. Sometimes you can just stand there and be another body in the back of the crowd. That’s what I’ve done at every protest I’ve ever been in. Wear a face mask and a hat if you don’t want to be recognized. You’re sending a message just by being there.

House repair and garden planting. A lot of organizations that do this stuff will train you.

Write letters to prisoners. There’s a lot of organizations that let you do this but they’re usually specific to a local area. When I lived in Texas there was an organization that connected some classmates and I to a group of people in the local men’s prison who wanted to do a book club so we did a long distance book club with them for a few months.

After school tutoring, babysitting, religious or other types of classes for kids, etc. Some folks feel less anxious around kids and there’s plenty of opportunities to volunteer in both secular and religious capacities. You can tutor, babysit, help run classes, stuff like that. There’s also a lot of opportunities to work with foster kids without being a foster parent if that’s something you’re passionate about.

Counting money. Organizations get donations and those donations often come in the form of cash. This is the primary form of volunteer work my grandmother does for her church and some local charities. It’s a good choice if you’re someone who can’t stand for long periods of time and you’re good at basic math.

Donate blood. Yes this counts as volunteer work.

[the-sacred-now]

tbh foreign policy was listed as the least important issue for exit polls, arab and muslim heavy states like minnesota and michigan are not what lost harris the vote, and jill stein got under like one percent. everyone making this about leftists who didnt vote either pro or against is making something out of basically nothing. americans are fundamentally boring and apolitical and above all completely self centered. they do not give a fuck about the suffering of people in palestine or ukraine. they just know that gas was cheaper 4 years ago or whatever. the amount of incredibly normal people i know who arent even right wing so much as just sort of uneducated and incurious about any issues / had no interests beyond like big ten sports or binge drinking or getting ahead at work and getting rich are voting for him not people who agonized over a single thing ever. this is unfortunately a non issue bc americans dont care about anything but themselves, you just happen to be around small groups of the exception

[the-sacred-now]

a reasonable adult: Instead of operating by this extremely harmful and violent system that causes constant long-term damage, I think we should slowly transfer to a less-harmful system, gradually moving from the current conventions to less and less damaging ones in a sustainable pace that people have the time to adjust to. a tumblr intellectual who has never been outside: No. Evil. Die. We must all jump right into an extremely radical Perfectly Perfect System created in my image, and everyone who can't or won't just jump into doing something completely different than what they're used to doing, in one single step overnight, is a Bad And Evil Stupid Person and must be punished with violence until they stop being Bad And Evil.

[the-sacred-now]

I couldn't have said it better myself.

[the-sacred-now]

It’s not a waste of time to cure your ballot. Even if the presidential election has already been determined, cured ballots can still make a significant impact in local government. This includes city council members, local propositions, senate/house memebers etc.

Even though the presidential election is important it was not the only thing on our ballots. It’s still important to have your vote count. Cure your ballot and don’t be left wondering what would’ve happened locally if you didn’t.

[the-sacred-now]

Click through to see story links

[the-sacred-now]

[the-sacred-now]

I haven’t really seen any of the more recent U.S. election news hitting tumblr yet so here’s some updates (now edited with sources added):

There’s evidence of Trump cheating and interfering with the election.

Possible Russian interference.

Mail-in ballots are not being counted or “recognized” in multiple (notably swing) states.

30+ bomb threats were called in and shut down polling stations on Election Day.

20+ million votes are still unaccounted for, and that’s just to have the same voter turnout as 2020.

There was record voter turnout and new/first-time voter registration this year. We definitely should be well over the turnout in 2020.

U.S. citizens are using this site to demand, not only a recount, but a complete investigation into election fraud and interference for the reasons stated above:

Here is what I submitted as an example:

An investigation for election interference and fraud is required. We desperately need a recount or even a revote. The American people deserve the right to a free and fair election. There has been evidence unveiled of Trump cheating and committing election fraud which is illegal. There is some evidence of possible Russian interference. At least 30+ bomb threats were called in to polling places. Multiple, notably swing states, have ballots unaccounted for and voting machines not registering votes. Ballots and ballot boxes were tampered with and burned. Over 20 million votes that we know of are unaccounted for. With record turnout and new voter registration this year, there should be no possibility that there are less votes than even in the 2020 election.

Sources (working on finding more links but if anyone wants to add info, it’s appreciated):

FBI addressing Russian interference and bomb threats:

Emails released by Rachael Bellis (private account, can’t share original tweet) confirming Trump committing election fraud:

Pennsylvania's Centre County officials say they are working with their ballot scanner vendor to figure out why the county's mail-in ballot data is "not being recognized when uploaded to the elections software:”

Wisconsin recount:

[ID:

Multiple screenshots and images.

The first is a screenshot with a link and information for contacting the White House directly regarding election fraud. The instructions include choosing to leave a comment to President Joe Biden directly and to select election security as the reason.

The screenshot then instructs people to include any or all of the following information in a paragraph as a comment to the president:

32 fake bomb threats were called into Democratic leaning poll places, rendering polling places closed for at least an hour.

A lot of people reporting their ballots were not counted for various reasons.

This all occurred in swing states.

This is too coincidental that these things happen and swing in his favor after months of hinting at foul play.

Directly state that an investigation for tampering, interference, fraud is required, not just a recount.

The second image is from the FBI Twitter account that reads:

The FBI is aware of bomb threats to polling locations in several states, many of which appear to originate from Russian email domains. None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far. https://t.co/j3YfajVK1m — FBI (@FBI) November 5, 2024

The next four Gmail screenshots of an email sent to Rachael Bellis from Chris T. Spackman that read together as follows:

Dear BELLIS, RACHAEL E., The Dauphin County Board of Elections received a challenge to your absentee ballot you applied for in the November 5, 2024 General Election. The challenge argues that a provision of the Pennsylvania Election Code takes precedence over the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), which requires states and counties to permit U.S. citizens who move overseas to vote by absentee ballot for federal offices based on their last U.S. residential address.

The full text of the challenge that was filed appears below this email.

You may respond to the challenge in any of the following ways:

1. Call the Bureau of Registration and Election at (717) 780-6360;

2. Email a statement to the Bureau at Election election@dauphincounty.gov. Any statement you submit regarding the period during which you lived in Dauphin County, any family or connections that you still have here, and why you are now residing abroad would be read into the record.

3. Appear in person at a Board of Elections hearing scheduled for Friday, November 8 at a time to be determined in the Commissioners Public Hearing Room, 4th floor of Dauphin County Administration Building, 2 S 20d St, Harrisburg, PA 17111. The meeting is also likely to be livestreamed on Facebook on the Dauphin County channel.

Sincerely,

Christopher T Spackman

TEXT OF CHALLENGE BEGINS

Dear Dauphin County Board of Elections,

I am submitting this challenge to an absentee ballot application pursuant to 25 Pa. Stat.

3146.8(f).

25 Pa. Stat. 3146.8(f) Any person challenging an application for an absentee ballot, an absentee ballot, an application for a mail-in ballot or a mail-in ballot for any of the reasons provided in this act shall deposit the sum of ten dollars ($10.00) in cash with the county board, which sum shall only be refunded if the challenge is sustained or if the challenge is withdrawn within five (5) days after the primary or election. If the challenge is dismissed by any lawful order then the deposit shall be forfeited. The county board shall deposit all deposit money in the general fund of the…

The rest of the forwarded email is cut off.

The last image is a screenshot of the official statement from the Centre County, Pennsylvania Board of Commissioners released on November 6, 2024 that states:

Centre County Working with Ballot Scanner Vendor to Export Election Results.

(Bellefonte, PA) -Centre County Elections Office is working continuously to provide mail-in ballot data in order to post unofficial results.

To this point, all ballots have been scanned, including all mail-in ballots.

Centre County's Election team and IT team have identified that the data are successfully being exported from the mail-in ballot scanners, but that the data is not being recognized when uploaded to the elections software.

Centre County's Administrator, John Franek, Jr. stated, "We have not stopped working, and we will continue to work until unofficial results are posted and reported to the Pennsylvania Department of State."

As a next step, Centre County has begun working with the equipment vendor to adjust configurations to make the two systems-the mail-in ballot scanner and the elections software where data are uploaded -compatible with one another.

We will provide updates as we make progress.

/end ID]

[the-sacred-now]

from one chronically anxious person to another: the world is not going to go up in flames. What happens will be more slow, more bureaucratic, more boring. There is no catastrophe to end all catastrophes, no rapture, no sudden end. You can't give into the call of the void, because there is no void. So you just have to do the work to make tomorrow a better place, anyway. Because that's how it gets better.

[the-sacred-now]

One more thing before I go bury myself in a pile of blankets:

To everyone who voted Democrat for the first time, every former trump supporter who voted for Harris, everyone who voted for the first time, every Republican who did not want this result and voted for Harris, thank you.

I got a text from my cousin who has voted third party for decades who voted for a Democrat for the first time yesterday.

My aunt who voted for trump in 2016 and who's husband is a proud MAGA sent me a Snapchat late last night saying she is one of the women who secretly voted for Harris.

A former friend from college who used to be deep in the Republican party posted on Facebook yesterday that he voted for Harris.

I know you aren't the only ones.

I see that you tried.

[the-sacred-now]

i think weight loss ads should be illegal and im not kidding

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yo hey US people who sent in absentee ballots, they are tossing mail-in ballots for no reason. i just had to call my county board of elections and demand a cure for my ballot because north carolina didn't send out any notices of issues with ballots, and the issues are fake. if you voted by mail-in make sure your ballot was actually counted

[the-sacred-now]

my other grounding technique is remembering that the earliest abolitionists & the earliest suffragists had no proof that the world would ever make possible what they fought for and indeed many of them did not live to see it come to pass. and yet they did not succumb to despair so it would be disrespectful to their memory to let it overtake me