Ideas and suggestions post

[tanaqui]

Please use this post to leave any links you'd like us to include in future link round-ups or to make suggestions for topics you think we should cover.

Feel free to comment on any existing posts with relevant new links as well.

And don't forget – you can also make your own posts at any time.

Topics we're planning on covering currently include:

• Inspiration


• Donate


• Reproductive Health


• Ally-ship


• Racism


• Antisemitism


• Trump Plans


• Love meme


• Supreme Court


• Personal


• Suicide Hotlines


• LGBTQA+


• Organize


• Internet Safety


• Lessons from Autocracies


• Voting Rights


• Climate Change


• Environment


• Electoral College


• Where Trump Voters are Coming From - Economics of the Midwest we can't ignore

Comments

[scribblesinink]

Hey! Not entirely sure what category this fits in, but the mayor of San Jose had this to say: “We’ve Got Your Back” by Sam Liccardo https://medium.com/@SamLiccardo/weve-got-your-back-4c2fdcb0b915#.64t5wreo4 (found through morgandawn who posted it verbatim in her journal).

[tanaqui]

spikedluv posted suggesting Boston residents phone/write in support of a councillor looking to get a similar initiative passed in Boston, so I'm sure there's a more general action point to be made for people to ask their city councilors to press for similar statements from their mayors. :-)

[tanaqui]

(Dropping this here to make sure I don't lose/forget it.)

For Americans currently overseas: Democrats Abroad, the DNC's international branch, has a page for volunteering: http://www.democratsabroad.org/volunteer

[tielan]

I haven't seen anything here about the run-off elections in Louisiana? Is that worth mentioning/pointing people to/working out how to get around things like voter suppression and lack of time, etc?

It's a long shot, I think, but to get one more seat in the House (and the Senate) the effort might be valuable?

[tanaqui]

Thanks for the suggestion - I've done some research into how people can help and will make a post shortly.

[hannah]

I've seen it suggested to pressure electoral college members to change their vote this year, but nothing clear on who to contact or what to say - that is, if I'm in New York, whether I should phone the Wyoming representative or not. Might you post something about that in the next couple of weeks?

[tanaqui]

That's a really interesting question. We can certainly do some research on the topic and see if we can put a post together helping to clarify the options with respect to the electoral college.

[tsumego]

One of the things I was thinking about for a centralized comm/space would be to have either state-specific posts or tags, and then a "national" section, which would allow people to navigate or filter to actions that are relevant to them - thoughts?

[cesy]

This would be great, and also a tag for international-impacting stuff.

[cesy]

Also see spoonlessactivists, holyfucktheelection.com, Avaaz.com

[cesy]

And http://siderea.livejournal.com/1321238.html and other stuff by Siderea - further good links in the comments there.

[snickfic]

Have you considered creating a feed from this comm to Tumblr? You can do it through IFTTT. I can set it up for you if you'd like. It would automatically crosspost all posts from this comm to a dedicated Tumblr, either full text or as links, as you prefer.

You guys are doing great work, and I'd like more people to be able to see it!

[tanaqui]

Thanks for the great suggestion -- crossposting to Tumblr is a great idea. We'll get back to the comm once we've got that set up (and let you know if we need help with IFTTT).

[snickfic]

Hey, I am putting together a "Why you should join your local Democratic party" post. Would that be appropriate to post to the comm? In terms of time investment it's less low-key than what you describe in the comm profile, so I wanted to check.

[tanaqui]

That sounds fine to me! The focus is on low-key actions mostly to provide resources for people who want to do something but haven't got a lot of time, money, energy or other resources -- but we're definitely happy to see a sprinkling of ideas that will work for people who are able to do a little more.

[teaotter]

Maybe in the next round-up, we can have the calendar for Cabinet confirmation hearings or at least what we know so far.

[tassosss]

Thats a really good idea. We can do that.

[tielan]

A link: "So you just got home from your local Women's March. Now what?"

To be included in a 'what next' post, perhaps?

[tassosss]

Thanks! I'm putting together a post for this topic.

[glass_icarus]

Hi team, not sure where action-tracking falls, but I saw a friend of a friend had created Today in Trumpland for what looks like daily recaps of government action. It's missing the first few days, but I have a c/p'd fb post that covers (most of?) days 1-4 here.

[tanaqui]

I just made a post about this and have asked Tassoss to add it to the What's Next? post - thanks for the link.

[ghost_lingering]

Hey -- not sure if this is the right place for this comment, but I'm wondering if you've seen anything about the best people/institutions to contact regarding the changes in the National Security Council. Having a political advisor on the NSC is inappropriate (particularly one as odious as Bannon) and (possibly?) moving the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the NDI to positions of lesser importance is bizarre to me. I'd like to reach out to *someone* but I'm not sure who the best people would be -- I haven't seen any thing about it.

[tanaqui]

Hey, sorry for the belated response. In case you haven't seen them yet, snickfic posted a couple of links in one of the the link roundups:

Bill in Congress - currently in three House committees -- Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Armed Services -- so a chance to contact representatives on those committees.

Senate Committee on Homeland Security taking calls on Bannon's Appointment

[tielan]

Saw this in terms of prepping for the 2018 Midterms. A long way away, but something to definitely be thoughtful of: http://spokespider.tumblr.com/post/156958752714/positive-pebble-elrond50-mewiet

[rydra_wong]

If it's not been posted yet -- a new Trump-related news round-up:

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/

[tanaqui]

I just made a post about this and have asked Tassoss to add it to the What's Next? post - thanks for the link.

[tinny]

I saw this on twitter this week, and I think it's important to keep in mind that he does have at least this one agenda: to make us afraid. We must not let him shape our view of the world.

Link:
https://twitter.com/robwijnberg/status/828986630564364289/photo/1

Picture in case the link vanishes:

[kyrielle]

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/commentary/sd-utbg-trump-military-deport-fletcher-20170224-story.html

The Trump administration has ended the policy whereby immediate family (parents, spouse, children) of active-duty members of the military were not to be deported (provided no criminal conviction existed).

Because, you know, keeping our promises doesn't matter. Neither does keeping our active-duty military focused on their jobs and not worrying about their family....

URGENT call -- or, URGENTLY call? for 2/27-2/28

[monanotlisa]

Can I suggest an urgent post?

Please make the phone calls to out of state reps on the Judiciary Committee and share this action with friends:

According to reports, House Republicans are going to try to bury a resolution that could expose the president's ties to Russia and his business conflicts of interest.

The "Resolution of Inquiry," sponsored by Jeff Nadler of New Jersey, "demands that Attorney General Jeff Sessions hand over to the Hill any document, record, memo, correspondence or other communication' pertaining to 'criminal or counterintelligence investigations' related to Trump, White House staff or his business."
This resolution SHOULD get a vote on the House floor, but it WON'T if the Judiciary Committee kills it next week.

We need to pressure the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee. Call and demand that they NOT KILL the Resolution of Inquiry when it comes to them Tuesday.

Sample Script: Hi, my name is ______ and I’m a constituent from (City/Zip). I’m calling to express my support for Congressman Nadler’s Resolution of Inquiry. In light of House chief of staff Reince Priebus’ improper request to the FBI, and reports that the Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the chairmen of the Senate and House intelligence committees, had already begun speaking to reporters to challenge the story about a Russia connection to the Trump campaign, it is imperative that the Justice Dept. now releases all information regarding the Trump investigation to congress.

Will _________ support Nadler's Resolution of Inquiry? Thank you for all your hard work answering the phones.

Call the House Judiciary Committee (202) 225-3951
And call the members of the committees:
Chairman Bob Goodlatte (VA-06)
Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, Jr. (WI-05)
Rep. Lamar Smith (TX-21)
Rep. Steve Chabot (OH-01)
Rep. Darrell Issa (CA-49)
Rep. Steve King (IA-04)
Rep. Trent Franks (AZ-08)
Rep. Louie Gohmert (TX-01)
Rep. Jim Jordan (OH-04)
Rep. Ted Poe (TX-02)
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (UT-03)
Rep. Tom Marino (PA-10)
Rep. Trey Gowdy (SC-04)
Rep. Raúl Labrador (ID-01)
Rep. Blake Farenthold (TX-27)
Rep. Doug Collins (GA-09)
Rep. Ron DeSantis (FL-06)
Rep. Ken Buck (CO-04)
Rep. John Ratcliffe (TX-04)
Rep. Martha Roby (AL-02)
Rep. Matt Gaetz (FL-01)
Rep. Mike Johnson (LA-04)
Rep. Andy Biggs (AZ-05)

Re: URGENT call -- or, URGENTLY call? for 2/27-2/28

[tanaqui]

Posted as a separate post - thanks for the tip.

Rep. Goodlatte has tabled a substitution amendment that on first glance still seems to call on Sessions to give up the documents, but I haven't compared the two versions in detail - do you have any information on what the difference is?

[teaotter]

Do you think it would be useful to have a post on strategies for talking with more conservative friends and relatives?

I've been having a lot of luck with mine, lately, after years of us more or less agreeing to disagree. So I'd be happy to share what's working for me, get advice from others on what they've tried, and maybe encourage other people to give it a shot.

In the long run, I think that bridging the communication divide in a human way is going to be important for building more support for progressive policies in red states. But I know that there's a LOT going on right now, and I don't want to overwhelm anyone by just posting random advice.

[tassosss]

I think that would be very helpful. Family can be one of the most daunting groups to talk to as well because it can be complex.

I'd say go for it.

[kyrielle]

Well, unless President Trump refuses to sign the bill, the regulation keeping our ISPs from selling our browsing history is going down.

Minnesota is moving to handle it on a local scale; maybe those of us in other states should be reaching out to our state government to add similar local legislation?

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/03/isp-privacy-rules-could-be-resurrected-by-states-starting-in-minnesota/

[tassosss]

Thanks for the link. I'll post this. It's good to know the state actions on these things.

VPN pages

[ninja007]

Hi, since they've decided they're going to sell our internet web browsing history and IP addresses to the highest bidder, a friend suggested we start using VPN's.

Here's an excellent link: https://qz.com/945261/how-to-get-a-personal-vpn-and-why-you-need-one-now/

Re: VPN pages

[tanaqui]

Great suggestion - I'll make a post about it. And agreed, that's an extremely helpful link.

[watersword]

I don't have time to do a write-up atm, but the EPA is soliciting public comment on the plan to roll back environmental regulations; they're required by law to take comments into account when deciding next actions.

[tanaqui]

Thanks for pointing this out. I'll do some digging around and try to put a post together.

[watersword]

Rep. Ted Lieu (D - CA) has introduced a bill to ban conversion therapy (aka abusing queer people to make them not-queer) nationwide: HR.2119 - Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act of 2017. There's a companion bill in the Senate, S.928 - Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act of 2017. People can contact their reps or senators to thank them for co-sponsoring (the list of cosponsors is available at those links), or urge them to vote for the bills if and when they get out of committee (I'm not 100% clear on how that would happen).

[tanaqui]

Thanks for the heads up on this -- I'll make a top-level post about it.

[percygranger]

On the organizing front, I just discovered this:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/105476246/pocket-revolution-app

[alexseanchai]

https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/06/22/1674147/-Police-literally-drag-people-away-from-McConnells-office-as-protests-break-out-over-GOP-bill

Police are literally dragging people away, including those who are disabled or in wheelchairs, leaving the hall of the Senate offices streaked with blood.

Ways to help those people. The protestors whose blood. HELP. I, this, I, what is coherence and what are spoons?

[alexseanchai]

Net neutrality protest Jul 12 because we as online activists cannot afford, in multiple senses of the word, to lose net neutrality.