thisfinecrew | Recent Entries

It's February 2025, Trump is two weeks into his second term and in full swing on implementing Project 2025, working to dismantle the federal government and enrich his cronies, working on crashing the economy and destroying relations with a range of countries.

This community was created to encourage political and social action in the U.S. following Trump's election in 2016, a place of solidarity and information-sharing. While the United States recovered somewhat under Biden's term, Trump is now speed running his fascist, oligarchic agenda, aided and abetted by the Republican party.

Our community will continue its work, sharing links to information and actions you can take to "defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic", defend the federal government and its normal operations, and support public policy that helps people rather than hurts them. We stand with Black Lives Matter, Native Americans, Immigrants, Minority populations, LGBTQA+, Women's groups, the Unemployed, the millions upon millions of people who need Universal Healthcare, and everyone else who needs social and political support to improve their lives. Absolutely no hate-speech will be tolerated.

We also value self-care. Worrying about each issue can be daunting and overwhelming. It's okay to take a step back when you need to, and also to prioritize one or two issues that are close to you over spreading yourself thin on everything and burning out. Change is a marathon and a relay both.

Your mods are

tassosss and

tanaqui. We won't be as proactive as we have been (e.g. with the regular check in posts) but we are still here for this amazing community. Drop us a line via PM or on this post if you need anything.

We have a sister community

thissterlingcrew run by

tanaqui for taking political and social action in the UK.

What you can post to this community
1. Links to organizations, news articles, relevant posts elsewhere on the internet, etc. (mods will add tags/clean-up tags)
2. Links to action items and actions you are taking - called your representatives? great, maybe it'll inspire the next person to do the same
3. Celebration posts - let's take joy in the victories!
4. Community suggestions for posts or activities - they can be their own post or you can drop them in the comments of this post

Tagging: Please use available tags when possible. If you need a new one or have a tagging question please contact

redbird who is our tag guru.

Community name and title from:

"As long as there is injustice, whenever a Targathian baby cries out, wherever a distress signal sounds among the stars, we'll be there. This fine ship, this fine crew. Never give up... and never surrender." -- Jason Nesmith, Galaxy Quest

fabrisse

Today, my representative in Georgia, Buddy Carter - Republican, District 1, wrote an Op-Ed in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution urging our senators to vote for the Frankenstein abomination known as the "Big, Beautiful Bill."

(The Op-Ed is behind a paywall, but can be found here: https://www.ajc.com/opinion/2025/06/buddy-carter-sens-ossoff-warnock-should-support-trumps-big-beautiful-bill/ )

I wrote an email to Carter explaining why I thought he was wrong, and then adapted the language to send to my senators asking them to stay strong against it.

Because this bill is such a Frankenstein's Monster, I chose to limit my comments to the environmental issues which would have both direct and indirect impacts on Buddy Carter's district. I urge all of you who have Republican Senators to find sections of the bill to read which will have direct negative impacts on your state. If your representative voted for it, send them an email censuring them for those same negative impacts. Then write to both senators using the first email as a template.

My email addressed sections:
80152. Rescission relating to environmental and climate data collection.
80201. Rescission of funds for investing in coastal communities and climate resilience.
80202. Rescission of funds for facilities of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and national marine sanctuaries. [nb: this is especially important for hurricane regions and areas with a fishing industry, though I also pointed out the pods of dolphins off of our local Jeckyll Island State Park would be affected.]
80308. Timber production for the Forest Service.
80309. Timber Production for the Bureau of Land Management.

[The latter two will have adverse effects on air pollution levels, but there are whole sections on coal production and offshore drilling for oil and natural gas which will contribute to air pollution directly.]

80202 will also adversely impact tornado zones.

Let's work to defeat this bill.

chestnut_pod

I am aware of both these community orgs through their ties to the MALDEF and Raices. Happy to discuss more via DW message if you want more vouching.

Short-term/immediate bail and jail assistance for protesters: Jail Support LA

Jail support campaign of a long-running SGV mutual aid network: Operation Healthy Hearts

redbird

It's been a slightly quieter month since the last check-in, but still busy:

( May posts )

Thanks to everyone who posted. Here's a check-in poll to tell us what you've been doing:

Poll #33196

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 22

View Respondents

In the last month, I

View Answers

called one of my senators
10 (45.5%)

called my other senator
10 (45.5%)

called my congressmember
6 (27.3%)

called my governor
0 (0.0%)

called my mayor, state rep, or other local official
2 (9.1%)

did get-out-the-vote work, such as postcarding or phone banking
0 (0.0%)

voted
1 (4.5%)

sent a postcard/email/letter/fax to a government official or agency
9 (40.9%)

went to a protest
3 (13.6%)

attended an in-person activist group
2 (9.1%)

went to a town hall
0 (0.0%)

participated in phone or online training
0 (0.0%)

donated money to a cause
13 (59.1%)

worked for a campaign
1 (4.5%)

did textbanking/phonebanking
0 (0.0%)

took care of myself
13 (59.1%)

not a US citizen, but worked in solidarity in my community
1 (4.5%)

did something else (tell us about it in comments)
3 (13.6%)

committed to action in the coming month
5 (22.7%)

As always, everyone is free to make posts about any issues and actions they think the comm should know about. You can also drop some information into a comment to our sticky post if you'd like the mods to do it.

If you're looking for information on anything else, you can use our tags to check for any ongoing actions or resources relevant to the issues you care about. I try to keep the tag list up-to-date. If you need a tag added, you can DM me.

mxcatmoon

There's so many bad things going on requiring our attention that the cuts/firing in the meteorology and climate science communities gets less attention, but having a fully staffed NOAA is an important issue. Right now, there is a 100-hour livestream going on to call attention to how vital these services are, especially as hurricane season is upon us. I have it on in the background right now.

What can we do? Watch the livestream, call our Representatives, and go to 5 Calls for sample script/letters.

Info and schedule: The Weather and Climate Livestream

Direct YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rG4ePBqD-E

redbird

The clowns running the FDA have proposed restricting access to covid vaccines, to people over 65 or who have certain medical conditions. There's a public docket for comments on the proposal.

Your Local Epidemiologist has a good post about the proposal, including that the people suggesting this know that nobody is going to do the placebo-controlled tests of new boosters they want to require.

Possible talking points include:

Families and caregivers wouldn't be eligible for the vaccine, even if they share a household, unlike the current UK recommendations.

Doctors, dentists, and other medical staff wouldn't be eligible either.

My own comment included that the reason I'd still be eligible for the vaccine is a lung problem caused by covid.

gingicat

If (like me and my adult offspring) you owe paperwork to renew your Medicaid, you should get it in right away. And we're going to need to confirm eligibility twice a year rather than every other year.

Specific to Massachusetts/MassHealth, from the Patch:

( Read more... )

I will certainly be writing to my Senator, Elizabeth Warren, to thank her for continuing to protect disabled and poor people.

otter

https://translifeline.org/clarifying-misinformation-about-our-hotline-number/

Post from a friend who writes better than I do-

This is HARMFUL misinformation which is having a real impact, wasting a limited resource intended for a minority community, one that is also PROVIDED by members of that same community. When desperate Americans call, they are inadvertently harming Canadian trans people on both sides of the line.

At best, whoever made this graphic was woefully ignorant, but I suspect this may be strategic propaganda. But you know what? The intent doesn't matter; it's the outcomes that matter. Let this source of bad outcomes stop with you! Do not spread the wrong info, and correct it when you see it!

Corrections rarely get as much traction as the original misinfo, and I don't have much reach, so PLEASE feel free to share my dippy graphic (or make a better one). *They had made a graphic which I have not included*

Also, I know we all have limited mental energy right now, but you have GOT to fact check memes before you share them! I'm so sorry to say this, as good fact checking is difficult, and it's so much easier to just read and share. However, this is the kind of harm we enable every time we don't do our due diligence.

In the words of Shel Silverstein, some kinds of help are the kinds of help we all can do without. One relatively simple way to be Mr. Rogers helpers instead of Shel Silverstein "helpers" is to stand in the way of bad information - make sure it's really real before you pass it on, and if you aren't sure or don't have time to fully confirm the information, just don't post it!!!

redbird

It's been another busy month since the last check-in, with more than a dozen posts, who of which were lists of planned protests.

( last month's posts )

Thanks to everyone who posted. Here's a check-in poll to tell us what you've been doing:

Poll #33085 May 2025 check-in poll

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 25

View Respondents

In the last month, I

View Answers

called one of my senators
15 (60.0%)

called my other senator
14 (56.0%)

called my congressmember
10 (40.0%)

called my governor
5 (20.0%)

called another state or local official
9 (36.0%)

did get-out the vote work, such as postcarding or phone-banking
2 (8.0%)

voted
3 (12.0%)

sent a postcard/email/letter/fax to a government official or agency
12 (48.0%)

went to a protest
11 (44.0%)

attended an in-person activist group
6 (24.0%)

went to a town hall
0 (0.0%)

participated in phone or online training
3 (12.0%)

donated money to a cause
17 (68.0%)

worked for a campaign
0 (0.0%)

did textbanking/phonebacking
0 (0.0%)

took care of myself
19 (76.0%)

not a US citizen but worked in solidarity in my own community
2 (8.0%)

did something else (tell us about it in comments)
1 (4.0%)

committed to action in the coming month
7 (28.0%)

hermionesviolin

For people who like doing GOTV postcarding, Postcards to Swing States has opened up signups to order postcards for the Nov 4 elections in Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. (You would send the postcards in October.)

Postcards are free; you just provide the stamps -- and handwrite the postcards with the message they give you. (N.B.: Postage rates are going up on July 13, so you probably wanna stock up on Forever stamps now.)

The form lists the lowest amount you can order as 100, but I recall last year you could order in increments of 25 -- just add a note to your order specifying the actual number you want.

I've been doing postcarding with Reclaim Our Vote/Center for Common Ground and Postcards to Voters, so I don't think I'll be doing Postcards to Swing States this time around, but am happy to talk about my experiences with any of these 3 postcarding orgs if people are interested.

+

Postcards to Voters pretty much always has at least 1 campaign running -- sometimes for big elections, but often for smaller ones. Right now they're doing postcards to Florida votes whose vote-by-mail status has lapsed. From a recent post:

[Vote-by-mail (VBM)] Enrollment lasts up to two years, depending on how promptly one re-enrolls; it expires after each general election, so it’s tied to the Congressional and Presidential cycles. And everyone who’s signed up receives ballots for each local election as well.
The most important consideration is that voters who are enrolled in VBM are TWICE AS LIKELY TO VOTE, whether they choose to vote in person or by mail. It’s fine, if voters receive mail-in ballots, for them to turn up at the polls and opt to vote in person, instead.

Postcards to Voters is primarily on FB (they only email updates sporadically), but once you're an approved writer you can check for current campaigns on https://abby.postcardstovoters.org/

They have an Etsy shop you can buy postcards from, but you can use any non-partisan postcards (including just cutting up and decorating heavy paper yourself).

+

ROV/CfCG does fewer campaigns but specifically does outreach to Black voters. They require that you use their postcards (available to purchase for pretty cheap), and you need to also buy Avery labels and be able to print them -- because in addition to handwriting messages on postcards, you also print out a label that has info about where to find their polling place or similar information (depending on the campaign). (And like Postcards to Voters, you have to get approved as a postcard writer before you can get addresses.)

+

[So I would say Postcards to Swing States is the lowest barrier to entry, followed by Postcards to Voters, followed by Reclaim Our Vote/Center for Common Ground.]

contrarywise

This morning's newsletter from MassEquality included the following information regarding an upcoming hearing at the MA State House for three anti-trans bills targeting trans and nonbinary student athletes. Here's the details from the newsletter:

UPDATE: The first bill mentioned in the text below, H.358, does not appear to be an anti-trans bill, and it has been referred to a different committee. The correct bill number is H584, "An Act to ensure fairness and safety in school sports".

Also, the hearing for these bills is happening on Tuesday, May 6th, from 1-5 pm in Rm. B-2 at the State House.

Thanks to

wispfox for the corrected information!

---
We need your voice.

Three bills—H.358, S.350, and H.737—are scheduled for a public hearing before the Joint Committee on Education. These bills would restrict the participation of transgender student athletes in school sports, undermining their rights, safety, and dignity. Transgender youth deserve inclusion, not exclusion.

The committee will be accepting oral and written testimony, both in-person and remotely, during their upcoming hybrid public hearing:

🗓 Hearing Date: May 7th, 1pm

Register by 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Registration closes at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, May 5, 2025

Let’s show up and speak out—because all students deserve to play, belong, and thrive.

Click here to register to testify

If you’re unable to testify live, you can still submit written testimony directly to the committee.

You can email your testimony to Fiona Bruce-Baiden at fiona.brucebaiden@mahouse.gov and Emily Reynolds at emily.reynolds@masenate.gov, or mail it to:

Joint Committee on Education
24 Beacon Street, Room 473G
Boston, MA 02133

Please include “EDUCATION COMMITTEE TESTIMONY” and the relevant bill number (e.g., H.358, S.350, or H.737) in the subject line.

Be sure to include your full name, organization (if applicable), and phone number in your submission.
---
You can look up the text of these bills on the malegislature.gov website to inform your testimony or correspondence with your state legislators.

Current Mood: angry

conuly

( Some snail mail campaigns )

( May Day protests - this is tomorrow! )

petra

When the Supreme Court has made a decision, as it has in the case of the wrongfully-deported Abrego Garcia, the response from the Executive cannot be "Nah." If there is no check on Trump, even in the case of his hand-picked court saying he's wrong, the Constitution is no longer functional.

( Letter for your Representative, written by a friend who wishes to remain anonymous )

Mods, can we get a "deportation" tag?

teaotter

There's movement in the court case around the 60,000 ballots at issue in the state supreme court case, and it looks like some voters will have 15 days to potentially fix their problem and maybe get their vote counted.

More info: https://www.democracydocket.com/cases/north-carolina-supreme-court-2024-election-protests-rejection-challenges-ii/

This website should let people find out if their ballot is affected, and describe potential next steps: https://thegriffinlist.com/

redbird

It's been another busy month. Thanks to everyone who posted links and ideas.

Here's the poll, behind a cut:

( check-in poll )

As always, everyone is free to make posts about any issues and actions they think the community should know about. You can also drop some information into a comment to our sticky post if you'd like the mods to do it.

If you're looking for information on anything else, you can use our tags to check for any ongoing actions or resources relevant to the issues you care about. I try to keep the tag list up-to-date. If you need a tag added, you can DM me.

bibliofile

Today is election day in Wisconsin for state and local offices.

(You may have heard about the race for Wisconsin Supreme Court.)

Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Bring photo ID to verify your identity.

If you need to register before voting, bring proof of current address too.

One-stop site for voting info is MyVote Wisconsin: https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/

executrix

https://thepeopledissent.substack.com/p/1-day-1-million-protestors-1-list?utm_campaign=email-half-post&r=182ab&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

executrix

https://thepeopledissent.substack.com/p/a-map-of-protests-march-29-april?utm_campaign=email-half-post&r=182ab&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Worth subscribing, so you'll get EVERY week's protest map!

rydra_wong

The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) have a proxy caller system:

https://bsky.app/profile/autisticadvocacy.org/post/3lkjjufrql22x
https://proxycaller.org/

If you can't make phone calls because of disability, you can request that a volunteer make a call on an issue covered by one of ASAN's action alerts (generally disability and health-related) and provide a script for them. If you can make phone calls, you can sign up as a volunteer.

lightbird

According to an article in today's Gotham, NY Governor Hochul is pushing a last minute mask ban in state budget talks. If you live in New York, I urge you to contact her office, as well as your state reps, assembly member, and councilmember.

There's a form you can use to contact Governor Hochul here.

You can also call (518) 474-8390 during business hours.

COVID is still circulating and cases of other serious illnesses like measles are on the rise, and masks are one of the best ways to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe.

When I contacted the office I emphasized that a mask ban:

* risks public health and safety
* is discriminatory
* and called out her suggestion that "some people use masks to conceal their face while committing a crime" in context of protests and that peaceful protesting is legal and that protesters have the right to protect their health

lirazel

Does anyone have any thoughts on choosing which email lists to stay on and which to unsubscribe to?

I've been spamming my senators and rep with emails--basically every time I get an email asking me to send an email to them, I've been doing so. I get great joy out of flooding their inboxes!

The downside of this frequent activity is that I've been added to more and more email lists to the point where I'm now getting at least 20 emails a day asking me to sign a petition, send an email, donate money, or just be informed. It's definitely too much, but I'm not feeling like I have a good idea of how to decide which ones are worth staying on and which I should unsubscribe to.

I also feel that this habit of sharing mailing lists between all these progressive organization is not a great strategy--my fear is that people will become so overwhelmed by the deluge of emails that they'll just start unsubscribing to all of them or deleting them immediately.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this topic? Commiseration would also be acceptable!

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Never Give Up, Never Surrender

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Page Summary

tanaqui - Welcome to Making the World a Better Place
fabrisse - The So-called "Big, Beautiful Bill"
chestnut_pod - Two grassroots jail-support orgs re: L.A.
redbird - end-of-May check-in
mxcatmoon - Weather and Climate Livestream
redbird - proposed restrictions on covid vaccines
gingicat - Medicaid cuts
otter - Stopping spread of misinformation
redbird - Early May check-in post
hermionesviolin - postcarding opportunities
contrarywise - Follow-up to MA Anti-Trans Legislation
conuly - Some protest links I've posted in my journal that I thought you might all appreciate
petra - Trump must abide by SCOTUS in the case of Abrego Garcia: Contact your Representative
teaotter - If you or people you know voted in North Carolina
redbird - monthly check-in
bibliofile - Wisconsin elections today (4/1)
executrix - Collection of April 5 protests
executrix - This Week's Protest Map
rydra_wong - If you can't make phone calls -- or if you can
lightbird - New York Action Item
lirazel - Drowning in emails

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Never Give Up, Never Surrender

Links and Positive Action for the next Four Years

Recent Entries

Sticky: Welcome to Making the World a Better Place

The So-called "Big, Beautiful Bill"

Two grassroots jail-support orgs re: L.A.

end-of-May check-in

Weather and Climate Livestream

proposed restrictions on covid vaccines

Medicaid cuts

Stopping spread of misinformation

Early May check-in post

postcarding opportunities

Follow-up to MA Anti-Trans Legislation

Some protest links I've posted in my journal that I thought you might all appreciate

Trump must abide by SCOTUS in the case of Abrego Garcia: Contact your Representative

If you or people you know voted in North Carolina

monthly check-in

Wisconsin elections today (4/1)

Collection of April 5 protests

This Week's Protest Map

If you can't make phone calls -- or if you can

New York Action Item

Drowning in emails

Profile

June 2025

Links

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