Hold Their Feet To The Fire

you know what? Fuck you. *turns your strong and stoic and serious character into a crying, traumatized, whimpering, curled up mess in the floor*

Where did you go? 😭

Hi Anon. The last year has seen some big upheavals, both wonderful and really really difficult, in my personal life and it is a huge regret of mine that keeping up with this blog was one of the things that fell off my metaphorical plate as I dealt with those changes.

That being said, I think it's time for me to be back. I wish it was under happier circumstances.

For now, here are some resources on staying grounded and moving forward in the wake of today's news:

•Finding Steady Ground: Strengthening our spirits to resist and thrive in these times

•10 Ways to be prepared and grounded now that Trump has won

And here are some great other blogs to follow that post similar good climate and environmental news if you need more of that on your dashboard.

•@climatecalling

•@reasonsforhope

•@gardening-tea-lesbian

•@thehopefuljournalist

Today we grieve, tomorrow we roll up our sleeves and get to making things better. No one gets to vote on that.

Maybe it's just me as a Filipino who has lived through a murderous dictatorship and oligarchies in a queerphobic country controlled by the rich who brutalize grassroots pro worker movements all under the military abuse of US imperialism but...

You just gotta keep showing up. Support each other. Don't just fight for yourself. The work is hard, but you just gotta keep doing it. You'll always see results, even if they're not always the ones you want, or as big as you want them to be.

All your work always matters. Even if it doesn't feel like it at first. It always matters.

It’s the end of the week maybe you need to see a bitty otter bowl. x

My October election reminder, part two:

(there are actually two reminders here, in honor of it being part two)

1. Just because you don't know that something happened, it doesn't mean it didn't happen. Even if you are political active/politically informed, you probably aren't tracking every new bill, law, executive order, regulation change, policy change, etc. at the federal, state, and local levels.

If you're thinking or keep hearing that a politician never did something, especially if it's something that they support, spend a little bit of time fact checking it. You might be surprised by what you find.

2. There is a remarkable amount of domestic state-level law/policy that the federal executive branch (and in some cases Congress) has no say over. With a federalist system, a huge amount of power over domestic laws lies with the states, not the federal government.

In fact, even things like standardizing the drinking age were done by tying federal highway funding to the change--states could and in some cases did refuse to change it to 21 for years.

All of that is to say, if you're wondering why the federal government hasn't forced a change on the states, consider a) do they have the votes in Congress to pass a law mandating that change and b) would it be constitutional in the first place?

Which means that, if you want change in your state, you're going to have to show up and vote on the state level as well as the federal level, not only this year but every year that there is a state or local election.

I feel like I should say that you don’t have to be Jewish to care about things that hurt the Jewish community. The idea that we are insular and would rather no one stick up for us than have gentiles stand with us is antisemitic. The idea that we would rather suffer in silence is a way to isolate us. Your Jewish friends do not want to struggle alone. They do not want you to look the other way. We want you to care while respecting the boundaries of our culture and faith. You don’t have to be us to stand with us.

Whenever Trump tries to send a citizen to El Salvador, it will probably start with someone people on the retributive justice mindset will not want to be seen defending in any way. It will be a serial rapist, a child molester, a violent murderer, or something like that. At the very least it will be someone accused of something bad.

Regardless of who it is, it will make people uncomfortable to defend what is ultimately their own rights as well, in much the same way people don't like to publicly defend sufficiently outrageous criminals from things like the death penalty, prison rape, or vigilantism.

Planet fitness is offering free showers, wifi, and charging stations to first responders and residents in the LA area who've been affected by the fires btw.