June 7, 2022

SPEAK TO YOUTH! MY GOODNESS

FIRST OF ALL. JOE BIDEN IS THE BEST.
WHEN WE GIVE HIM A SOLID MAJORITY, HE WILL BE AMONG THE GREATEST PRESIDENTS OF ALL TIME.

Otherwise:
https://democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=16766140
WHAT A GREAT IDEA

AFAIK,
They DON'T LISTEN to AM Hate Radio
They DON'T WATCH Fox Hate Television
They DON'T FOLLOW hate groups on social media.
They're trying to live their own lives.

And they're being gunned down by RWNutjobs.

HEY OLD FARTS OF 30 or so years (or lots more)
THIS IS THE FUTURE. It's THEIRS (see Jefferson Quote)
GIVE THEM ONE by urging them to vote.


Apologies for the CAPS. I am FIRED UP by this idea.
and I'm a dad who wants a future for my daughter and others!

and otherwise, GOTV GOTV GOTV.
https://democraticunderground.com/100216380145

Posted in response to Kaleva
https://democraticunderground.com/100216765977

This fall will tell us how much young people care about women's rights, mass shootings, and climate
We may see record turnout.

Or maybe not.

I'm not going to try and predict which way this will go but I'm hoping these issues will result for a record turnout of progressive and moderate young voters so Dems can solidify control of Congress and we can make gains at the state level.

Jefferson: according to metro.us
https://www.metro.us/can-the-constitution-be-changed/

Did the Founding Fathers intend the Constitution to be changed?

Thomas Jefferson did. In fact, he believed that the Constitution should be updated every 20 years. He expressed this belief in a 1789 letter to James Madison.

“No society can make a perpetual constitution, or even a perpetual law,” he wrote. “The earth belongs always to the living generation. They may manage it then, and what proceeds from it, as they please, during their usufruct. They are masters too of their own persons, and consequently may govern them as they please. But persons and property make the sum of the objects of government. The constitution and the laws of their predecessors extinguished then in their natural course with those who gave them being. This could preserve that being till it ceased to be itself, and no longer. Every constitution then, and every law, naturally expires at the end of 19 years. If it be enforced longer, it is an act of force, and not of right.”

That one of the Founding Fathers considered a Constitution older than 20 years “an act of force” could come as a shock to some “strict Constitutionalists.”

That's a bit over the top, IMO, especially since we HAD AWB, which was designed to "sunset", which it did, perhaps costing hundreds of lives to be lost.

Regardless of the constitutional issues, young people CAN rewrite laws.

And we need to do so now. Write "bulletproof" laws to protect rights that the Supreme Klan can't "nullify".

June 6, 2022

Stand Up and Fight! GOTV links and positive actions everyone can do.

Reposting for visibility, as requested.
Please reply with any additions or updates.

GOTV as if your life and the lives of many others depend on it
BECAUSE THEY DO

Donating to DNC is always effective, but there's always more to do. Here is a list of what I've found. Adding to it as I find actionable items.

VERY VERY LATEST!
Dems launch plan to elect thousands of local election supervisors
Protect Elections from thuggery.
DU post by mahatmakanejeeves
https://democraticunderground.com/10142905218
Politico article: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/18/democrats-recruiting-push-local-election-officers-00025733

A Democratic candidate recruiting group is pitching donors on an ambitious three-year program to find, train and support 5,000 candidates for local offices in charge of election administration, a sprawling national effort intended to fight subversion of future election results.

The program would recruit candidates in 35 states for everything from county probate judges in Alabama to county clerks in Kansas and county election board members in Pennsylvania — all offices that handle elections and will be on voters’ ballots between now and 2024.

RUN FOR SOMETHING:
https://runforsomething.net/
SIGN UP, AND RUN!
https://wherecanirun.org/

FIGHT FOR VOTING RIGHTS
After a year of assaults on American voting rights, the next steps are clear: end the filibuster and enact federal voting rights legislation that protects voters, no matter what state they live in.
https://naacp.org/campaigns/civil-rights-scorecard

VERY LATEST!
(updated May 29, 2022)
Omaha Steve has an updated list of all current ActBlue DU links for donations,
https://democraticunderground.com/100216743202
Includes Ukraine!
(see below for the first five I collected)

OTHER LISTS!
CrispyQ has assembled a great list here:
https://democraticunderground.com/100216548509

LATEST
Progressive Turnout Project is the largest voter contact organization in the country, specifically dedicated to mobilizing the Democratic Party and defending democracy.
Our mission: rally Democrats to vote.
https://www.turnoutpac.org/
From Wednesdays.


I WHOLEHEARTEDLY SUPPORT Rev. Senator Warnock!
Read the letter that Omaha Steve got from Senator Warnock. (GA)
https://democraticunderground.com/100216555367
AND KEEP THE SENATE BLUE AND TRUE
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/duforwarnock (Pinback's DU for Warnock site)
Senator Warnock's official campaign site:
https://warnockforgeorgia.com/

NEW OFFICIAL Democratic Underground for Beto O'Rourke Governor Texas 2022
Donate here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/du4beto
(There are other Beto links below, FYI)

The DU has a new Stacey Abrams for Governor of GA ActBlue donation link!
Donate here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/duforstaceyabrams

https://democraticunderground.com/100216519360
Carol Blood will be facing a hardline conservative for Governor of Nebraska.
Donate to Carol here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/duforblood
Here is her site: https://www.electcarolblood.com/

UPDATED!
OFFICIAL DU ActBlue for Tim Ryan US Senate from Ohio
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/demsrule86forryan
OFFICIAL Democratic Underground for Ohio Senate 2022
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/duohiosenate22
Tim's page: https://timforoh.com/

NEW!
Courtesy of Tommymac
#GOTV2022 Resources:
https://runforsomething.net/
https://www.rockthevote.org/
https://swingleft.org/
https://events.democrats.org/
https://www.democratsabroad.org/voting_news
https://www.padems.com/
https://www.texasdemocrats.org/
https://vademocrats.org/
https://www.georgiademocrat.org/take-action/
https://www.floridadems.org/get-involved/
https://www.ncdp.org/resources/
Awesome.

NEW!
https://democraticunderground.com/100216468060
If you haven't attended any DNC organizing or training sessions, you're missing out!!!
And we need EVERYBODY. I just got done with a Social Media Ambassador training. They have AWESOME tools to use on social media.
Thank you, CousinIT!



NEW!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/3/9/2084766/-To-elect-a-progressive-majority-we-need-to-flip-North-Carolina-s-open-Senate-seat
Want to end the filibuster? Then help this fantastic Senate candidate beat the GOP
Progressives have two goals when it comes to the Senate this year: preserving our current majority, and making sure our next majority supports reforming the filibuster. Fortunately, this year’s race in North Carolina gives us the chance to do both, which is why Daily Kos is proud to endorse former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley in her bid to flip this open seat from the GOP.
ActBlue link
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dkendorses2022beasley?refcode=20220309fpdn1foot

NEW!
https://democrats.org/act/?permalink=volunteer-to-protect-democratic-majorities
Volunteer To Protect Democratic Majorities (DNC)
DNC sent this list of items you can sign up to do. (I pasted a copy of it at the bottom of this post)

NEW!
https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2022/3/6/2083529/-Wasting-90-million-or-investing-90-thousand-How-to-win-in-every-corner-of-the-country
How to win in every corner of the country.

So we came up with a three-pronged strategy:

1) All Politics Are Local: ... it requires local control and a local touch on messaging and campaign infrastructure to truly be successful.

2) Training: We wanted to find grassroots activists and volunteers, to give them as much knowledge and experience as we could.

3) Unconventional campaigning: We knew we couldn’t win a toe-to-toe fight, so we had to take every weakness and make it a strength.

NEW!
https://betoorourke.com/
Beto For Texas

https://act.betoorourke.com/signup/bft-volunteer/
Volunteer

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bft-website
Donate via ActBlue

https://democraticunderground.com/100216417431
10 Things You Can Do To Defend Democracy
Source: https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/blog/2022/02/28/10-things-you-can-do-to-defend-democracy/
General, but good.

https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2022/2/19/2081124/-Democrats-can-win-in-November-but-all-of-us-need-to-roll-up-our-sleeves-to-help-kick-some-GOP-butt
Democrats can win in November, but all of us need to roll up our sleeves to help kick some GOP butt

https://postcardstovoters.org

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216345614
Don't just complain, do something. Help GOTV!

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/100216311744
We're Not Going To Win If We Keep Saying We're Losing

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216219159
President Joe has me Fired up. I'm ready to get off my arse and GOTV for 2022 right now.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215975225
Doom posting is voter suppression.


ITEMS YOU CAN SIGN UP TO DO FROM DNC

How would you like to volunteer? (Check all that apply)
Become a social ambassador
Make calls
Host an event
Organize friends
Send texts
Organize in your community

• I am a Spanish speaker (Y/N)

If you'd like to organize around a specific community, select all that apply:
Black
Latino
AAPI
Native American
Women
LGBTQIA+
Youth
Disability
Rural
Small Business
Climate
Seniors
Veterans
Other

Guy Kawasaki, an early Apple employee, wrote an article entitled: Don't Kvetch, Kick Butt
I approve of his message.

June 5, 2022

A feature? Nay, part of a PLAN.

Chaos means weak government, and that means little or no regulation of oligarchs. Period.
It's exactly the Nazi Germany playbook

Normalize hate and violence.
Stochastic terrorism.
Bring down elected government.

IT CAN BE STOPPED.

THIS IS NOT 1938 GERMANY.

I posted the above in response to Umair Haque's apocalyptic article (I think they all are), noted here:
https://democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=16762019

My longer response:
https://democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=16762063
Things Have Causes

And in it, I give some excellent references, including the series in DailyKos
https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2021/8/6/2044226/-America-2021-The-Good-the-Bad-the-Ugly
“Democracy in Crisis: We’ve Been Headed Here for Decades.” Part 1of 8
Read all 8 to get the "plan" in detail.
I strongly recommend doing so.

June 5, 2022

SPEAK TO YOUTH! MY GOODNESS, WHAT A GREAT IDEA

AFAIK,
They DON'T LISTEN to AM Hate Radio
They DON'T WATCH Fox Hate Television
They DON'T FOLLOW hate groups on social media.
They're trying to live their own lives.

And they're being gunned down by RWNutjobs.

HEY OLD FARTS OF 30 or so years (or lots more)
THIS IS THE FUTURE. It's THEIRS
GIVE THEM ONE by urging them to vote.


Apologies for the CAPS. I am FIRED UP by this idea.
and I'm a dad who wants a future for my daughter and others!

and otherwise, GOTV no matter who.
https://democraticunderground.com/100216380145

June 5, 2022

People believe stories more than reality before them.

There is a lot thread of apocalyptic thought among the RW.
So, nothing matters.
Kurt Spellmeyer(1) calls it "world despising" and all the red hats have their sadistic crimes washed away (or so they think)

That said, I prefer to think of the current situation as TIME TRAVEL.
Twilight Zone?

We are returned to 1938 Germany with an opportunity to REVERSE HISTORY in a way.
This fascist crap CAN BE STOPPED.

It repeats through history. The question is whether just people stand up and stop it before it reaches epic proportions.

If I have a "story" to believe, I choose a modified form of Pascal's Wager:
I gamble that somehow, somewhere, what we do to others is done to us.
And I base my actions on that.


__________
(1) Buddha at the Apocalpse: Awakening from a culture of destruction.

June 4, 2022

Filipino Food 101: Recipes to Get You Started

https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-get-started-cooking-filipino-food-5270830
For unknown reasons, my brother got this link in his email. (OK, I get it, SPAM, that's for breakfast.)

Not 101 recipes, just 22 or so.

Enjoy.

June 4, 2022

Things have causes.

This didn't happen out of the blue. It was orchestrated. I am pasting together some posts here.

For a good idea, read the 8-part series in DailyKos:
https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2021/8/6/2044226/-America-2021-The-Good-the-Bad-the-Ugly
“Democracy in Crisis: We’ve Been Headed Here for Decades.” Part 1of 8

Short version is that chaos means weak government, and that means little or no regulation of oligarchs. Period.
It's exactly the Nazi Germany playbook

Normalize hate and violence.
Stochastic terrorism.
Bring down elected government.

IT CAN BE STOPPED.

THIS IS NOT 1938 GERMANY.

Slightly longer: In recent times, three groups, oligarchs/tycoons, evangelical bullshitters, and the customary politicians have felt declining influence (of the persuasion variety) and have ganged up to gain secular/political power (of the brute force variety) riding the horse of racism, the oldest "vehicle" for gaining power in history. This gets their "base" and then again there are the usual lies like "trickle down economics" ( I call that golden showers) and other nationalistic crap.

For more details, read this great series on DKos
https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2021/8/6/2044226/-America-2021-The-Good-the-Bad-the-Ugly
“Democracy in Crisis: We’ve Been Headed Here for Decades.” Part 1of 8
Read all 8 to get the pattern in detail.

For a look into the crooked minds of the perpetrators, read
The Psychology of Genocide by Steven K. Baum. (2008)
He groups people into three categories: Perpetrators, Bystanders, and Rescuers.
How Frickin appropriate is that TODAY?

And, to get an idea how the "cult" behaves, read
When Society Becomes an Addict by Anne Wilson Schaef,
because cult behavior shares lots of patterns with addiction.
When you read the list, you will recognize lots of folks in the Wacko Party.

And those are my recommendations. I can't possibly summarize other than what's at the top.
I also referenced an article on the psychology of mass-shooters.
All one needs to know is that they are "groomed" ... no need to tell you who does that.

And I have said my peace!

June 1, 2022

Today's gorgeous daisy.

Cross-posted to Nevilledog's account of the tribute Trey Ganem is paying to the Uvalde victims:
https://democraticunderground.com/100216749453
My tribute to them.

May 30, 2022

The Mule-Ear Daisies have popped open. Posting for Memorial Day.

These are Wyethia Elata (Hall's) or Wyethia helianthoides.

I am waiting for a bunch that's in the shade to open.
They have curly petals, which would make them the Elata.


It's like a miniature world in there.
Pretty awesome for a wild flower.

This is about 1/10 the size of the original, so I cropped a bit of the original to show the fantastic detail inside. (below)

May 29, 2022

More to come. That's only part 1.

The fun part is going to be the perversion (nice choice of words) of religion.
You might look at "The Enchantments of Mammon" by Eugene McCarraher
There are others. Too much to read, so I skim.

I came up with this triumvirate of
Quack so-called Christians,
politicians, and
oligarchs,
tied together with racism as the engine, and that series in DKos kind of confirmed that. It's a historical pattern.
Some references here. This is all so complex, so I try to boil things down for clarity.
https://democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=16739451

I really don't want to expand beyond this, for the TLDR factor.
The Daily Kos link is also here:
https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2021/8/6/2044226/-America-2021-The-Good-the-Bad-the-Ugly
“Democracy in Crisis: We’ve Been Headed Here for Decades.” Part 1of 8
Read all 8 to get the pattern in detail.

I should aim for one "accusation is a confession" a day, since I have been taking notes for a while.
This replacement theory was the core of nazi-ism, and still is.
There are references. I save stuff, but I do want to streamline things, as people go off in all directions here, and diversion is the #1 enemy tactic.