#calls to action

[purplethespian]

The Rights of Disabled Americans Are Under Attack

We need to take action as soon as we can! Texas v. Becerra is an attack on disabled people and needs to be stopped.

What's happening? In the court case Texas v. Becerra, 17 states are suing the US government and because they are unhappy with additions made to Section 504 under the Biden Administration. They are asking the Justice Department to rule Section 504 unconstitutional!

What is Section 504? Section 504 is an extremely important law passed in the 1970s that protects disabled Americans from discrimination. If an entity, such as a school or hospital, receives money from the US government, it cannot discriminate against disabled people without losing that money.

Why are they asking for it to be ruled unconstitutional? In May of 2024, the Deparment of Health and Human Services issued updated guidelines for Section 504 to be more comprehensive and more specific about types of prohibited discriminatory actions against disabled people. Among these updated guidelines is an introduction that says (among many other things) that depending on the context, gender dysphoria could be a disability protected by Section 504. Naturally, because Republicans love to attack trans people, the Attorneys General of the 17 states, led by Ken Paxton of Texas, have launched a lawsuit about it.

Which states are part of the lawsuit? The 17 states are Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.

What can I do to help? The most important thing to do is to spread awareness about this. Very few people outside of the disabled community are talking about this case, which is terrifying because without Section 504, disabled people will lose part of what protects us from discrimination. If you are not disabled, please talk about this!

Another thing that you can do to help is to contact the Attorney General of your state and ask them to take action! If you live in one of the states involved with the lawsuit, you can call the office of your Attorney General and ask them to withdraw from the lawsuit. If you live in a state not involved, you can contact your state's AG and ask them to file papers with the court in support of Section 504.

You might also want to contact your representatives in Congress to tell them about the court case and ask them to take action to protect their disabled constituents. Your Senators and Representatives may be able to contact the AG of your state or take other action in support of Section 504. Here is a sample phone script to get you started:

"Hi, my name is [Name] and I am one of your constituents living in [City/Town Name]. My address is [address] (this ensures that your message/phone call will be counted). I am calling today to ask you to take action to support Section 504 and protect the rights of disabled residents of [State]. The court case Texas v. Becerra is trying to make Section 504 unconstitutional, which would leave millions of Americans, including those in our state, vulnerable to discrimination. Please contact [Attorney General] and ask [him/her] to [withdraw from this case/file papers for this case in support of Section 504]. [You may want to talk about how Section 504 is relevant to your life either as a disabled person or as someone who cares about disabled people and/or civil rights generally.] Thank you for your attention."

I will also be contacting my representatives for my state's government and asking them to commit to protecting the rights of disabled people in my state, regardless of the outcome of Texas v. Becerra. Here is the script I will be using:

"Hi, my name is [Name] and I am one of your constituents living in [City/Town Name]. My address is [address] (this ensures that your message/phone call will be counted). As you may be aware, 17 states (including our own) have filed a lawsuit against the federal government in a case called Texas v. Becerra, which if successful would make Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act unconstitutional. This would make millions of Americans, including those in our great state, vulnerable to discrimination. I am calling today to ask you to commit to protecting the rights of disabled [state residents], regardless of the outcome of this court case. I hope that you will support or introduce state legislation that protects disabled [state residents] from discrimination and other forms of harm. [You may want to talk about your experience as a disabled person or someone who cares about disabled people.] Thank you for your attention and for your work as a legislator."

Where can I find more information about this case and about actions I can take? DREDF, the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, has a page on their website talking all about this case and what you can do to help. They have sample scripts for contacting your state's Attorney General, as well as contact information for the AGs in all 50 states. They also held a community briefing recently where they talked about the changes to Section 504 that were introduced by the Biden Administration, what is happening with the court case, and what community members can do. The webinar recording is about 45 minutes long and can be found here.

Additionally, this website has information about the percentage of each state's population that is disabled, as well as other info. You may want to include that information when calling your various representatives.

The court will begin considering all information about the case on Tuesday, February 25th, 2025. This means that we need to act fast!

If we all come together to protect Section 504, I firmly believe that we can be successful. Let's do this!

[tower-of-hana]

STOP SCROLLING YOU FUCKING TROGLODYTE

Hey you STUPID FUCKING IDIOT how DARE you not know about this political situation. You NEED to care about this political issue now as penance for being so fucking stupid. I genuinely despise you which is why you should care about my opinions. You are LITERALLY SATAN unless you dedicate your entire life to solving this issue.

[anissapierce]

A spreadsheet tht collects phaleestini families in need of help

[artielu]

Ok, so. The Trump budget. It has already passed the House and now just needs 51 senators to pass it and send it to Trump for signature.

There are 53 Republican senators, 45 Democratic ones, and 2 Independents that vote with the Democrats. VP Vance is a tiebreaker vote.

So to block the bill, at least four Republican senators need to find their spines and the Democrats and Independents all need to keep their spines. This will not happen without direct action from voters.

They are only going to resist this bill if they hear from voters in their states. They do not care if some person from California calls them.

It's really fucking bad for everyone except the ultra-wealthy, surprise surprise.

I'm going to go through some of the features of this budget in reblogs, but trust and believe that it's horrible for the vast, vast majority of Americans, including you.

Highlights include:

Extends the Trump tax cuts passed in 2017. This continues $3.7 billion in tax cuts for the wealthy. If this budget does not pass, these tax cuts will expire and go back up without any action.

$150 billion in additional military spending

Work requirements for Medicaid. "childless adults without disabilities would be required to work 80 hours per month to qualify for benefits.". They expect millions of people to fail to meet work requirements and lose Medicaid.

Planned Parenthood and trans care. "Bans Medicaid from providing funding to Planned Parenthood as long as the organization continued to provide abortions, and would bar Medicaid from covering gender affirming health care to any beneficiaries. "

Reduces SNAP food stamp access that 40 million people use. "mandates work requirements for able-bodied SNAP enrollees who don't have dependents.".

Clean energy "dramatically scaling back many of the tax credits for clean energy."

Border walls and ICE. "$46.5 billion toward completing Trump's border wall. It also allots $5 billion for Customs and Border Protection facilities and more than $6 billion to hire and retain more agents and officers"

Student loans. "cut $330 billion from the student loan system by scrapping several existing repayment options, including the Biden-era SAVE program that based payments on income and household size.". Does anyone want to have student loan payments that you cannot afford?

Guts Obamacare. "Saves $100 billion, but will result in millions of Americans becoming uninsured if they fail to adhere to new paperwork requirements or can no longer afford insurance premiums."

Weakens federal courts that keep using orders that his actions are illegal and unconstitutional. It prohibits courts from enforcing contempt citations for violations of injunctions or temporary restraining orders unless the plaintiff pays a bond. Bonds can be EXTRAORDINARILY EXPENSIVE and are not currently required in these cases. The provision "would make most existing injunctions—in antitrust cases, police reform cases, school desegregation cases, and others—unenforceable," says the god of constitutional law, Dean Erwin Chemerinsky.

So, you folks in red states and you folks in wobbly blue states (PA, NC, etc), you need to call your senators and save us all.

Call every day. Call after hours so you can leave a voicemail and not talk to anyone.

For real y'all, millions of people are going to starve, go broke, and be without medical care if this bill passes. Which is a feature, not a bug, of the Trump administration.

And it will balloon the national debt to pay for these tax cuts for the wealthy.

[lakecountylibrary]

🔥 The beacons are lit; the library calls for aid

UPDATES FROM APRIL 1 AND MAY 5: https://www.tumblr.com/lakecountylibrary/782730356592967680/federal-court-halts-dismantling-of-imls-in-ala

UPDATE FROM JUNE 16: Government Accountability Office finds withholding IMLS funds is illegal (Library Journal) It is still important to call Congress and ask them to fund libraries in the 2026 budget.

The Trump administration has issued an executive order aimed at dismantling the Institute of Museum and Library Services - the ONLY federal agency for America's libraries.

Using just 0.003% of the federal budget, the IMLS funds services at libraries across the country; services like Braille and talking books for the visually impaired, high-speed internet access, and early literacy programs.

Libraries are known for doing more with less, but even we can't work with nothing.

How You Can Help:

🔥 Call your congressperson!

Use the app of your choice or look 'em up here: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member

Pro tip: If your phone anxiety is high, call at night and leave a voicemail. You can even write yourself a script in advance and read it off. Heck, read them this post if you want to.

Phones a total no-go? The American Library Association has a form for you: https://oneclickpolitics.global.ssl.fastly.net/messages/edit?promo_id=23577

🔥Tell your friends!

Tell strangers, for that matter. People in line at the check out, your elderly neighbor, the mail carrier - no one is safe from your library advocacy. Libraries are for everyone and we need all the help we can get.

...Wait, why do we need this IMLS thing again?

The ALA says it best in their official statement and lists some ways libraries across the country use IMLS funding:

But if you want a really specific answer, here at LCPL we use IMLS funding to provide our amazing interlibrary loan service. If we can't purchase an item you request (out of print books, for example) this service lets us borrow it from another library and check it out to you.

IMLS also funds the statewide Indiana Digital Library and Evergreen Indiana, which gives patrons of smaller Indiana libraries access to collections just as large and varied as the big libraries' collections.

As usual, cutting this funding will hurt rural communities the most - but every library user will feel it one way or another. Let's let Congress know that's unacceptable.

[ebtookaphoto]

during my travel across this year, i spent about $50 on esims. today seemed like a ripe time to match that sum and drop my raindrop into the ocean for doctors, journalists, and (if sufficient donations can be raised again!) civilians of Gaza.

i am so thankful to be able to travel freely and safely. i hope many others will be able to donate the price of a small or big thing they're thankful for. we know what the ocean is made of.

[webilaro]

Harnessing the Power of Calls to Action: Why Every Blog Needs Them

Harnessing the Power of Calls to Action: Why Every Blog Needs Them

Blogging has evolved into a powerful tool for marketers, serving not just as a platform for sharing information, but as a vital strategy for engaging readers, driving traffic, and generating leads. As the digital landscape continues to grow, ensuring that your blog posts do more than just inform has never been more critical. One of the most effective methods to enhance your blog's impact is through the strategic implementation of Calls to Action (CTAs). Understanding and leveraging CTAs can significantly transform your blogging strategy.

The Role of Calls to Action in Blogging

At its core, a Call to Action is a prompt telling the reader what to do next. This could be anything from signing up for a newsletter, downloading a resource, leaving a comment, or sharing the post on social media. While some might view CTAs merely as marketing tactics, they are, in fact, fundamental elements that guide reader behavior and engage your audience at multiple levels.

Consider a scenario where a reader finishes a blog post and has gained valuable insights. Without a clear CTA, that reader may exit the page without any further interaction. In contrast, a well-placed CTA encourages them to take the next step, leading to deeper engagement with your content and your brand.

Enhancing User Experience

Effective CTAs can enhance user experience by providing clear direction on what to do next. A blog without CTAs may leave readers feeling adrift after consuming content. By incorporating strategic CTAs, marketers not only guide readers but also enrich their experience.

For instance, if a blog post discusses a complex topic, a CTA offering a related downloadable guide can provide readers with additional resources and insights. This not only adds value to the content but also positions the brand as a helpful authority in the field.

Driving Engagement and Interactivity

In today’s content-saturated environment, engagement is crucial. CTAs foster a sense of interactivity, encouraging readers to participate. This can take various forms, including prompting readers to comment on their thoughts, share personal experiences related to the topic, or ask questions.

By integrating CTAs that invite engagement, such as “What are your thoughts on this topic? Share in the comments below!” you create a dialogue. This community-building aspect is essential for readership loyalty and can help turn one-time visitors into returning readers.

Boosting Conversions

When it comes to marketing blogs, the ultimate goal often extends beyond merely sharing knowledge; it’s about converting readers into customers or leads. CTAs are pivotal in this conversion process. By clearly guiding readers towards the desired action, CTAs help funnel traffic toward specific landing pages, subscription forms, or product pages.

Consider a blog post that narrates an engaging story about a product. A well-placed CTA like “See how this product can change your life—click here to learn more!” not only attracts attention but also motivates readers to explore the brand further. This integration of CTAs into the narrative can significantly enhance conversion rates.

Tailoring CTAs to Your Audience

Understanding your audience plays a crucial role in crafting effective CTAs. Generic prompts may not resonate with all readers, which is why marketers should tailor CTAs to reflect the specific interests and behaviors of their target audience.

Analyze previous blog posts to see which CTAs generated the most engagement. This data can help illuminate what types of CTAs (e.g., signups, downloads, comments) resonate best with your readership. Customizing CTAs based on audience insights fosters a stronger connection and improves their effectiveness.

Testing and Optimizing CTAs

The importance of testing and optimizing CTAs cannot be overstated. A/B testing can reveal valuable information about which CTAs are most effective, allowing marketers to refine their strategies based on real data.

Some key aspects to consider when optimizing CTAs include:

Placement: Location is critical. Experiment with placing CTAs at the beginning, middle, and end of your blog post to determine which position yields the highest engagement.

Language: The wording of a CTA can significantly impact its effectiveness. Using action-oriented language creates urgency and encourages readers to take action. Phrases like “Get started now!” or “Join our community today!” can instill a sense of immediacy.

Design: Visual elements matter. CTAs should be visually prominent, using contrasting colors, buttons, or graphics to ensure they stand out.

Leveraging Multiple CTAs

Incorporating multiple CTAs within a single blog post can amplify its effectiveness, as long as they complement each other. While primary CTAs direct readers toward a specific goal, secondary CTAs can serve to enhance engagement in other areas.

For example, in a post aimed at lead generation, include a prominent CTA for signing up for a newsletter, coupled with a secondary CTA inviting readers to follow the brand on social media. This not only diversifies engagement opportunities but also increases the chances of capturing reader interest from multiple angles.

The integration of Calls to Action is not merely suggested; it is essential for marketers aiming to maximize the effectiveness of their blogging efforts. By enhancing user experience, driving engagement, boosting conversions, and continuously optimizing strategies, well-crafted CTAs can transform a blog from a simple information source into a dynamic platform that actively engages readers and converts them into loyal customers.

As blogs continue to serve as a cornerstone for digital marketing strategies, recognizing the importance of CTAs will only become more critical. By harnessing the power of CTAs, marketers can ensure that their blogs are not just read but also acted upon, leading to deeper connections and greater success.

  This post was created using AutoPost yeti - An app that creates blogs that you can post automatically  to Medium, Tumblr and your Wordpress sites

find out more about it at https://app.webilaro.com/autopostyeti/home.php

[akanemnon]

Clearing the weeds

FIRST - PREVIOUS - NEXT

MASTERPOST (for the full series / FAQ / reference sheets)

[hayden-christensen]

HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN AND ARIANA GREENBLATT Behind the scenes of 'Ahsoka - Part Five: Shadow Warrior' (2023) Path of the Apprentice featurette

[dsudis]

Help win cleaner indoor air!

The Airborne Act (H.R. 9000) creates incentives to clean up indoor air! It offers tax credits to commercial building owners for conducting indoor air quality assessments and making upgrades to ventilation and air filtration.

Indoor air quality upgrades can reduce substantially airborne diseases—protecting our health and decreasing health care expenses, lost wages and lost productivity.

[stil-lindigo]

Bisan is calling for another global strike!

I saw some posts just outlining Jan 21st, and wanted to clarify that Bisan has called for a full seven days of action.

What a global strike would look like is:

calling in sick to work

purchasing bare essentials ahead of the week so you can observe the general boycott of goods / buying as little as you genuinely can

putting in a concerted effort to elevate Palestinian voices and make it clear that this strike is in support of a permanent ceasefire!

For those who will have to purchase necessary goods during this time, please observe the brands that the BDS movement is asking us to boycott!

♢♢♢

Right now is also a good time to mention some better uses for your money during this week.

Available e-sims in Gaza are running low!!

Mirna El Helbawi and her team are working round the clock to continue to connect Palestinians as Israel does its best to cut them off from the rest of the world.

You can learn how to purchase and send e-sims here, and below you’ll find a list of what is currently needed (the areas in brackets indicate what region you should select to buy e-sims in).

--

CareforGaza is an organisation that does verifiably good work, distributing supplies directly to Palestinian families.

They have a Gofundme set up at the moment, but because of Gofundme’s poor track record regarding refusing to transfer funds to Palestinians, I’d recommend continuing to donate directly to their PayPal here.

Good luck to all of you. Don't turn away from Palestine!

[cakemadeofbacon]

IMPORTANT UPDATE

Hello everyone. As you know the situation in Gaza is getting more dangerous every day.

You have probably heard me or someone else talking about a Gazan mother on tumblr @life-111 raising money to save her baby, but I really don’t know how to plead to you hard enough. Please please please donate to her. Her baby needs urgent medical attention.

You don’t need to buy a coffee every day. Use that money and actually help someone who needs it. Please.

She is now raising $7,640 to treat her baby abroad.

PLEASE HELP AND SHARE!!!

Gfm takes too long please dnate to this p*yp*l

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/ofkt637

Vetted by @gazavetters (line 576)

90-ghost

And Bilal-Salah

[winchestress]

1.04 | 2.08

[rebeccathenaturalist]

So--long story short, a FedEx driver killed a rattlesnake that happened to be on someone's porch, not causing any immediate problems. This is an all too common practice here in the United States, where a significant portion of the population has the backwards idea that "the only good snake is a dead snake" and that the only way to deal with a venomous snake in the proximity of a house, or people in general, is to kill it. Never mind that snakes tend to move on if left alone, and that there are numerous entities that can be contacted to move the snake safely to another place if so desired, and that most bites occur when someone is harassing, handling, or trying to kill the snake.

Dr. Emily Taylor of California Polytechnic State University (@snakeymama on Twitter) has requested that people contact FedEx about their recent commercial glorifying the killing of the snake, which you can view here. I've included both her and my letters to the appropriate folks at FedEx. There are options for both email and snail mail correspondence, and the more people FedEx hears from about this appalling matter, the better.

It's 2024, almost 2025. We have tons of information on rattlesnake behavior and best practices in coexisting with them (to include training your dogs in snake avoidance). We know plenty about the importance they have in local ecosystems, and the devastation that has been done through people slaughtering them, sometimes in the thousands (I wrote about the ongoing problem of rattlesnake roundups and their inherent cruelty here.) There are multiple rattlesnake species that are endangered or otherwise threatened with extinction.

The vast majority of encounters with venomous snakes are benign, and the vast majority of bites come from someone (person, dog, etc.) confronting the snake that was just trying to defend itself. We've spent a lot of time in this country defaulting to killing anything that inconveniences us, but there are better ways to live safely in proximity to wildlife that don't involve violence. It just takes a little more effort and awareness, and most importantly a significant attitude change that no longer vilifies native wildlife simply trying to live their lives.

As Dr. Taylor mentioned, if you want to contact FedEx, here are your options:

"You can help by reposting this or by emailing to express your concern about the commercial: mediarelations@fedex.com and to the CEO at FWSmith@fedex.com. Or send letters to: Fred Smith, CEO Brie Carere, Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer Ryan Kelly, Vice President of Marketing FedEx Corporation 942 South Shady Grove Road Memphis, TN 38120 USA"

[morganbritton132]

Hopper is never having a good day when he has to deal with children but he’s having an even worse day when the kids in question are Eddie ‘Come Back With a Warrant’ Munson and Steve ‘I’ll Answer Your Questions When My Lawyer is Present’ Harrington.

They are eight and seven years old in the backseat of his truck after Hopper caught them separately doing shit they’re not supposed to do. His plan was to drive around a bit, scare them, and then send them on their way but neither are taking it seriously.

Steve, at least, is sticking to his words and hasn’t spoken since he requested a lawyer. Eddie, on the other hand, hasn’t shut up.

Hopper said he was talking them to jail and Eddie’s response was to point out that they weren’t committing crimes. They were committing miss-de-meters and second, “The police station’s that way. You’re drivin’ to Uncle Wayne’s.”

Hopper feels like a glorified taxi driver at this point. He makes one last attempt to instill a little fear of god into these future felons by saying, “You’re going to get grounded by your parents and you’ll deserve it.”

There’s a beat of silence before Steve pipes up, “What’s grounded?”

“It’s when your parents bury you in the backyard,” Eddie supplies helpfully.

“Oh…” Steve says and then loudly announces, “Mr. Hopper, I can’t be grounded. We have a pool.”

“That’s okay,” Eddie cuts in before Hopper can steer this conversation in the right direction.

He clasps a hand on Steve’s shoulder in the rearview and tells him, “They’ll drown you instead.”

[sea-beam]

using action replay✨