1/29/2017 link roundup

[snickfic]

If you read only ONE thing from this roundup, read this:
* Republicans Begin to Break With President Trump (Time).

Activism / Resources
* Outside the US, it's easy to feel powerless in the face of Trump's #RefugeeBan. A few resources for the UK and Europe: (Twitter/storify)

* $$ Flip this seat! Special election to replace Trump's anti-Obamacare health chief is huge opportunity (Daily Kos). Please note I have done zero research on the other two Dems running for this seat.

* Spreadsheet: What your senators and governors have been saying about the ban

* Geometry of Redistricting: Summer School - five-day course for math PhDs on topics needed to become an expert court witness on gerrymandering

* $$ Spreadsheet: Rapid Response Giving. IDK anything about most of these; be sure to investigate before you give them money!

* Hate the phone? Voicemail full? Fax the bastards for free online! (Twitter). NOTE: I've been told that the free ones are very invasive, so proceed with caution and/or consider looking into some of the paid ones instead.

* Campaign for New York Health - NY state introduces single-payer health care paln. Further context explained by a nonnie here. NYC folks, call your reps if this is something your for!

Good News
* Trump administration issues waiver to let green card holders avoid travel ban (Washington Times)

* Airbnb is providing free housing to refugees and anyone not allowed in the US. Stayed tuned for more, contact me if urgent need for housing (Twitter, Airbnb CEO)

* Court says Wisconsin GOP must draw new Assembly map after ruling current map is illegal gerrymander (Daily Kos)

* NEW: @ACLU now says it has received 290,000 online donations totaling $19.4 million since Saturday morning. Average per year is $3-4 million (Reuters via Twitter)

* Breaking: In new fed case, Judge Dolly Gee (CD Cal) requires the *return* of a [specific] person deported under the Trump EO (Buzzfeed via Twitter)

* California politicians speak out against Trump's actions on immigration, Gov. Brown delivers State of the State address (LA TImes). Sen. Feinstein introduces legislation that would a) rescind the Muslim ban executive order and b) "prevent a president from unilaterally banning groups of immigrants. "

* Uber vs. Lyft: Rideshare Companies Dragged Into Immigration Debate (NBC). This stuff matters, you guys. Forget the right side of history; there are a whole lot of companies and corporations out there who desperately do not want millions of Americans lumping them with Trump.

* Today, at Detroit Metro Airport, protesters made room for Muslims to pray. They used protest signs as prayer mats. (Twitter)

Analysis
* 10 Senate seats that could flip in 2018 (The Hill)

* Malevolence Tempered by Incompetence: Trump’s Horrifying Executive Order on Refugees and Visas - scathing review of the Muslim ban, not just as a policy but as a document, by someone who professes himself to "believe in strong counterrorism powers" and be "positively enthusiastic about American surveillance policies," aka not exactly your usual quarter for denouncing something like this.

Comments

[lightbird]

Thanks as always for this round-up, and it's nice to see so many links under the 'Good News'.

Republicans Begin to Break with President Trump

Took them long enough.

[snickfic]

Hey, better late than never. I will TAKE it. And you are welcome!

Edit: also it's not like there wasn't also a whole bunch of bad news. I kind of assume people already have sources for that + I just did not feel up to keeping and linking it today. But yeah, that is a lot of links of good news.

[lightbird]

Oh, plenty of bad news, but extra good news is always welcome. :)

[stardreamer]

If the Republicans are serious about reining in Trump, the FIRST step is to get rid of Bannon. It shouldn't be difficult -- the guy has to have stuff in his background that would warrant arresting him.

[snickfic]

At this point I am just holding my breath for whatever happens next. It's all happening SO FAST.

[colorblue]

It's pretty awesome that there's this much good news to share, and I'm always cheered when I hear of trouble in the Republican party. Hopefully this means that GOP reps will be joining the Democrats in some future votes.

re: Uber vs Lyft -- I wrote a post this afternoon that provides more context.

[snickfic]

That's an awesome post. Would you consider reposting part or of all of it to thisfinecrew? I suspect a lot of people don't have that background knowledge. (I, who do not even own a functional smartphone, have never used either Lyft or Uber in my life.)

[colorblue]

Glad you found it helpful. Sure.

[tassosss]

Thanks for the link round up. Everything really is moving really fast to keep up with.

[snickfic]

For real. I had to delete several links because I collected them last night and by the time I wanted to post they were obsolete. And you're welcome. <3

[redbird]

I mentioned the fax thing to my partner, who hates making phone calls, and he said he has looked into the online fax thing and they the free ones are all very intrusive in terms of privacy, "basically spyware." That's a quick conversation, but seems worth a heads-up to people considering installing such a thing.

He has just added that "basically spyware" refers to the free options, and he is considering some pay ones.

[snickfic]

That's good to know, thank you! I'll add a note.