back in the 00s a single dancing anime chibi gif would feed us for months on end
Bill H.R. 9495, aka the “Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act,” was meant to protect US Hostages from tax penalties; the problem is that the bill received an add-on that would give the Treasury Secretary the power to strip any non-profit of their tax-exempt status based on the idea that the nonprofit is a “terrorist supporting” organization, all without due process or a justification.
And although another exemption was added to the bill that would "protect" Non-profits from this by exempting Non-Profits that have approval from the Office of Foreign Assets Control(OFAC). This would still target non-profit organizations since all it would take to attack them is to just rescind that prior approval
This would give the upcoming Trump administration the power to kill any non-profit org, from AO3 to the ACLU. Even local nonprofits and independent news sources could be stripped of their status and be unable to receive funding to stay open, all because they had different views than the government.
Unfortunately, the bill passed the House and is headed toward the Senate, but there hasn't been any update regarding the bill or a date to vote on it; it's probably best to find your Senator and call, email, or fax them to tell them to vote no if it comes to a vote.
Below are some tools and a list of Senate leaders you should call in addition to your senator:
Democrat Senate Leaders:
Chuck Schumer:
Phone: (202) 224-6542
Fax: (202) 228-3027
Dick Durbin:
Phone: 202-224-2152
Debbie Stabenow:
Phone:(202) 224-4822
Elizabeth Warren:
Phone: (202) 224-4543
Mark R. Warner:
Phone: 202-224-2023
Amy Klobuchar:
Phone: 202-224-3244
Fax: 202-228-2186
Bernie Sanders:
Phone: 202-224-5141 Fax: 202-228-0776
Catherine Cortez Masto:
Phone: (202) 224-3542
Joe Manchin:
Phone: 202-224-3954 Fax: 202-228-0002
Cory A. Booker:
Phone: (202) 224-3224
Fax: (202) 224-8378
Tammy Baldwin:
Phone: (202) 224-5653
Brian Schatz:
Phone: (202) 224-3934
Republican Senate Leaders:
Mitch McConnell:
Phone: (202) 224-2541 Fax: (202) 224-2499
John Thune:
Phone: (202) 224-2321
Fax: (202) 228-5429
John Barrasso:
Main: 202-224-6441 Fax: 202-224-1724
Joni Ernst:
PHONE: (319) 365-4504
FAX: (319) 365-4683
Shelley Capito:
Phone: 202-224-6472
Steve Daines:
p: (202) 224-2651 f: 202-228-1236
Find Your Senator:
Or you can call the Congressional switchboard today and ask to be connected with each of your Senators’ offices. Demand they vote against this bill: (202) 224-3121
If you don’t like talking to people, you can call after their offices close so you can leave a message
you can also Text RESIST to 50409 to send your message into a fax and email to your senator
Fax tool:
Here are some call scripts that you can use as fax and email as well:
If you have a Democrat Senator, you can use this script:
“I am calling Senator [THEIR LAST NAME] as a constituent to urge them to vote against the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, when it comes to the Senate floor. This bill would give the Treasury the power to kill non-profit organizations without evidence, and will be used as a sledge hammer to destroy any organization that speaks out against the incoming President’s agenda. No matter who was in power, this bill would be authoritarian and ripe for abuse. Handing this power to a President known to be vindictive, and who has promised to be a “day one” dictator, would be a failure of congressional leadership. Please share my thoughts with the Senator, urging them to vote against this dangerous legislation. Thank you”
If you have a Republican Senator, you can use this script:
“As your constituent, I urge you to vote NO on H.R. 9495. This bill poses a dangerous threat to the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment and must not pass the Senate. It grants any incoming administration unchecked authority to revoke the tax-exempt status of non-profit organizations without oversight or due process. Such government overreach is not what the Founding Fathers envisioned for our democracy. This bill undermines the principles of free speech and freedom of association, cornerstones of American liberty.
H.R. 9495 threatens to pave the way for political suppression, allowing the government to selectively target and shut down organizations based on ideological disagreements. This could affect any non-profit, including churches and conservative groups, as well as organizations that champion human rights and civil liberties. Regardless of political leanings, this bill sets a chilling precedent that no American patriot should support.
While situations relating to the hostages deserve careful attention, they can and should be addressed in a separate, narrowly tailored bill. H.R. 9495, however, is a broad, unconstitutional overreach that strikes at the heart of free speech and freedom. It is unpatriotic and incompatible with the values we hold dear as Americans.
I implore you to stand as a defender of liberty and uphold the rights of your constituents. Be a patriot, listen to the voice of the people, protect our God given right to free speech as Americans, and reject this dangerous legislation. Vote NO on H.R. 9495. Thank you, God Bless and God Bless America.”
Here’s that petition again:
prompt 4 interacting w/ main cast Or how far behind my fellow GT artists can I get challange
Anyways, yes I forgot to take a photo of this but had it done yesterday
But about Kore and Amaya, I like to think of them as a sibling like, mentor-mentee kind of relationship, as they are both bird heroes and also Kore just generally is quite protective over her younger trainees
I like to imagine them sparring and going through obstacle courses regularly, to like, feed the competitive parts of themselves, though I imagine Kore would still have Amaya beat most of the time(she is getting closer to equaling that ratio though)
Just in time for Valentine’s Day... 💔
Ready to break up with Google?
So are we!
We’ve rounded up a bunch of privacy-centric alternatives for everything Google.
Check out the full list over on the blog!
- The Ellipsus Team xo
Attended pride today and AMTRAK WAS THERE
We here at amtrak love the gay community, you make up a decent chunk of our ridership
i think the near-extinction of people making fun, deep and/or unique interactive text-based browser games, projects and stories is catastrophic to the internet. i'm talking pre-itch.io era, nothing against it.
there are a lot of fun ones listed here and here but for the most part, they were made years ago and are now a dying breed. i get why. there's no money in it. factoring in the cost of web hosting and servers, it probably costs money. it's just sad that it's a dying art form.
anyway, here's some of my favorite browser-based interactive projects and games, if you're into that kind of thing. 90% of them are on the lists that i linked above.
A Better World - create an alternate history timeline
Alter Ego - abandonware birth-to-death life simulator game
Seedship - text-based game about colonizing a new planet
Sandboxels or ThisIsSand - free-falling sand physics games
Little Alchemy 2 - combine various elements to make new ones
Infinite Craft - kind of the same as Little Alchemy
ZenGM - simulate sports
Tamajoji - browser-based tamagotchi
IFDB - interactive fiction database (text adventure games)
Written Realms - more text adventure games with a user interface
The Cafe & Diner - mystery game
The New Campaign Trail - US presidential campaign game
Money Simulator - simulate financial decisions
Genesis - text-based adventure/fantasy game
Level 13 - text-based science fiction adventure game
Miniconomy - player driven economy game
Checkbox Olympics - games involving clicking checkboxes
BrantSteele.net - game show and Hunger Games simulators
Murder Games - fight to the death simulator by Orteil
Cookie Clicker - different but felt weird not including it. by Orteil.
if you're ever thinking about making a niche project that only a select number of individuals will be nerdy enough to enjoy, keep in mind i've been playing some of these games off and on for 20~ years (Alter Ego, for example). quite literally a lifetime of replayability.
Costume. Chitons.
I personally believe that Mrs. Murray has a notebook where she writes down all of the incredible things Qiu says. Or at least she should! 🤭 Here's a peek at a convo between the two of them while at school.
Our Life: Now & Forever is a nostalgic Visual Novel where you create your own character and grow from childhood to adulthood with your two closest neighbors. It’s currently in development by GB Patch Games.
Steam Page
Itch.io Page
Discord - Twitter - Website - Patreon