#actionable steps

[metalheadsagainstfascism]

THERE'S SO MANY PROTESTS. HOW DO I FIND THEM?

Here. This link. Save it. Bookmark it. Find your local protests.

Remember the rules

Don't bring your phone. If you do bring your phone turn it off.

Bring water, water, and more water

Bring your own portable charging device, don't borrow anyone else's charging bank. It's incredibly easy to download shit on people's phones with that shit

If you see anyone at the protest that's trying to incite violence, they're probably a fed. Don't talk to them. Distance your group from them as quickly as possible.

If you see anyone on the other side inciting violence, RECORD THEM. There was a case at a local anti-ICE protest where MAGATS assaulted protesters, and police arrested the peaceful protesters and media tried to frame them. Police didn't arrest the MAGATs until video footage started circulating.

BE SAFE

-fae

[afeelgoodblog]

Advice to young me.

[vintageandroid]

More Actionable Things You Can Do

I just want to mention Jay Kuo's substack The Status Kuo, which not only updates on current events with the Federal Government and context, but also, critically, shares things that can be done and specific issues to address with your representatives, and also highlights things that are being done or have been done.

Mostly I wanted to link to his most recent one, which is lengthy but ends with some serious suggestions of things citizens should speak to their reps about.

tl;dr: put the blame on Musk right now and not Trump; urge your Dem congress members to join Senators Schatz and Kim:

[explanation + scripts below the "keep reading" cut, for both Dem reps and GOP reps.]

The second tactic is one suggested by the recent statements of Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey. Both senators focus on the fact that while the Democrats are out of power in government, they are not without power to slow or even stop the seizure of the financial levers of the government by the Trump White House. Sen. Schatz declared last week that he would use his right to withhold unanimous consent on all new state department appointees unless and until USAID was restored as an agency. This was a tactic used by Sens. Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Tommy Tuberville to stall Biden-era appointments. Such a move would force each and every Trump appointment to go through a full round of regular process before the Senate, instead of batching groups of appointees through. It would mean the GOP Senate would have to decide between using its time to pass things like the budget or get appointments through. Other Democratic senators should be urged to join Schatz in his protest so that he is not a single target who is easier to bombard. Sen. Kim also drew attention by suggesting over the weekend that he’s open to shutting down the government in order to protest the takeover of government systems by DOGE and the shuttering of whole agencies like USAID. Normally, it is the GOP that has threatened shutdowns when it didn’t get its way politically. Here, all the Democrats would have to do is pledge to do nothing—not lift one damn finger—to help the GOP pass its budget or lift the debt ceiling… unless the White House backs off of its attempts to shut off the money and furlough government workers. The government faces a March 14, 2025 deadline to enact a new budget. Barring something truly wild, it almost certainly will have to lift the debt ceiling to do so. Hardliners within the GOP inevitably will use the opportunity to try and extract concessions by way of drastic spending cuts to popular programs. If the Democrats band together behind Sen. Kim’s call to “Just Say No,” as it were, then the budget disaster will be entirely in the hands of the GOP.

(Excuse the long-ass excerpt; there's even more in the link above.)

I encourage you to call or write to your senators, especially if you have dem senators, and encourage them to unite with these two.

Let me give you a simple script.

If you're calling, begin by stating your name and your zip code, and if you're leaving a voice mail, include your address and, perhaps, a phone number. Then, choose one of the bracketed sections:

As a constituent, I urge Senator [Name] to band with [Senator Schatz]/[Senator Kim]'s call to [withhold unanimous consent]/[shut down the government] in protest of Musk's attacks on government agencies. Voters want to see you taking action right now. Thank you for your time.

That's it! That's all you have to say! You can reword that to suit your preferences better, but the important thing is, you don't have to be eloquent, you just have to tell them what actions you want them to take.

Calling is usually better than emailing, but a) the phone lines are melting to bits because they are getting 1500 calls a minute instead of the usual 30-50 and b) emailing is better than nothing. If you can, call, but if you can't, email! Simple as that.

If you have a Republican senator/rep, your focus should be on Musk. This isn't a perfect script, but let me try. Again, if you're calling, give your name and zip code (and if it's a voicemail, your address and maybe phone number), and then:

I want to express to Senator/Representative [whoever] that I believe Elon Musk has too much influence over the current administration given that he was not elected and his actions seem largely self-serving. I urge Senator/Representative [whoever] to take action against his rushed and clumsy dismantling of government agencies. Thank you.

Again, feel free to reword that and if anyone has a better script with more specific actions, feel free to add that.

Also, please remember to be polite to staffers and to be brave and do the thing! As I said in my 5Calls post last week, feel free to let me know you contacted someone and I'll tell you how cool you are for it.

[juniperharvest]

The State Department opened for public comment on their changes to the 3 passport forms (1st application, renewal, & request for correction).

Let them know what you think! The State Department is legally obligated to read every unique comment.

[tanddiscord]

I am struck once more, by how difficult it is to turn a desire to enact postive change on the world, into action and results.

We are witnessing our countries and allies descend into fascism. We are witnessing genocide. We are witnessing techonological and economic monopolies grow ever more pressent. We are witnessing the polariation of every aspect of poltical and philosophy. We are witnessing old fashioned gender norms and expectations being reinforced on all sides of the political spectrum, even in LGBT spaces, alongside an ever widening gap between LGBT and otherwise likeminded cis people. We are witnessing what might potencially be the early stages of the birth of AGI, being heralded by private companies with no moral or safety guidlines.

It seems entirely plausible that we find ourselves in the 'calm before the storm', along any number of axes, and yet it seems inaprochable to do anything at all to influence the course of history, the storm seems impossible to influence, and along those axes where the storm is already here, it seems there is nothing one can do to shift its path, or minimise its harm. Simply put: What the fuck are we supposed to do about all of this?

[writing-with-olive]

For January, if i made an event with small weekly challenges that related to community organizing or US-based activism, where those who participated had the opportunity to submit a creative work to a raffle to get promoted by a pin to my blog for the following week, would you be interested in participating? You would not need to be a follower to participate, and all challenges would be built to take fewer than 15 minutes, and be free.

[michellesanches]

Book Summary - "How to Do the Work" by Nicole LePera

In “How to Do the Work”, renowned holistic psychologist Nicole LePera presents readers with a transformative roadmap to self-discovery, healing and growth. Drawing upon her professional expertise and personal experiences, LePera offers actionable steps to break free from patterns that hold us back, unravel unresolved traumas and create a path toward authentic well-being. This article explores the…

[vintageandroid]

I did contact my legislative individuals about this. I don't know what they can do, but I figure I'd suggest that if anyone's seeing this and hoping for some suggestion of action. They need info to tally so they know what people are concerned about.

I don't have a script because I don't remember exactly what I said, but I know I specifically cited the comparisons to 1930s Germany, as well as mentioning HIPAA concerns, and I thanked my reps for stepping up for people in my state before encouraging them to do so for more vulnerable people.

Uhhhhhhhh that seems bad

[delicatelysublimeforester]

A Resilient Planet: Exploring the Wisdom of Nature and Canada's Path to Sustainability

[mrbizz1]

Forget Perfect: Embrace the Power of Daily Improvement

Disclosure and Disclaimer This blog post was created with the assistance of AI to ensure it is as informative and engaging as possible. Additionally, some of the links included in this post are affiliate links. If you click on them, I may earn a small commission. This comes at no extra cost to you. Your support helps me continue creating valuable content—thank you! The Illusion of Perfection: A…

[wickedzeevyln]

Day One

If mobile devices can get bug fixes and updates, why can’t we? Unless the object is to slow the device down or simply a planned obsolescence. As the final hours of the year slip away, (does it really?)many of us find ourselves reflecting on the paths we’ve walked—paths often marked by challenges, uncertainty, unfulfilled hopes, and unmet expectations, so every year we jot down a list of promises…

[metalheadsagainstfascism]

Next National Protest

Next National Protest is held by these guys on May 1st

They are protesting the billionaire takeover by Trump and Musk. Here's where you can find or organize your local event.

The Hands Off protest did really well so let's keep these protests going.

If you still got friends from the hands off protest or are still active in the community, join this one too.

-fae

[goodoldbandit]

"Dream in a pragmatic way." - Aldous Huxley.

Sanjay Kumar Mohindroo Sanjay Kumar Mohindroo. skm.stayingalive.in Turning Ambition into Reality: Practical Dreaming Discover how to combine vision with practicality to achieve your goals. Turn aspirations into action with this inspiring, pragmatic approach to success. Dreaming fuels creativity and ambition, but achieving dreams takes more than imagination. It requires thoughtful planning,…

[vintageandroid]

Another rep. script for Mahmoud Khalil

Hey, I have been trying to ease off the politics a bit but y'know, the politics won't ease. Anyway, you're probably familiar with the Mahmoud Khalil situation (if you're not: Mahmoud Khalil, who is a legal resident of the US, was taken from his home by ICE due to his participation in peaceful protests, and is being held without a formal charge; more info from Robert Reich) and it's one that deserves some focus. Commentary and scripts behind the cut so it doesn't take up your whole feed. DO NOT clown or debate in my notes or I'll eat you.

Regardless of what you think about his views, he has not done anything illegal, and he is being held without being charged for a crime, and his family was lied to about his location so they can't contact him. THAT IS BAD. Even if you disagree with his views (and again please don't debate in my notes one way or another, I am not here for that discussion), you cannot support only "free speech" that backs you and your opinion. You can tell individuals to shut up all you like if you disagree with them, but the second the government starts shutting people up, that is an actual first amendment violation, and not a good precedent to set.

This is a test. If the regime can black bag one man, they can do it to more. You know the "first they came for" poem, I don't need to tell y'all shit. SO, time to contact our reps. (Please don't come in here telling me that talking to them is useless; representatives and senators are going through the courts, which takes time, but is going to be effective in the long run. It's just not glamorous and showy.)

5Calls, as usual, has a script for phoning your reps. (AltNPS also had a script for calling ICE but I can't find it now so it may have been taken down.)

I encourage you to call if you can, but if you can't, here's an email script as well. If you email, put something like "constituent concerned about first amendment" in the subject line, something that makes it likely it will be seen by the staffers and actually reaches your senator's desk or whatever. Use the word "constituent" anyway. Here's what i wrote to mine (in addition to making calls), so you can copy my homework and make something similar, but try to change it up a little bit:

Senator [blank], the recent situation with Mahmoud Khalil has me (and many others) deeply concerned about our first amendment rights being eroded in this country. He has been held without charge, his family has been denied knowledge of where he is, despite him being a legal resident of the US, all because he peacefully backed views that are not in line with the current president's preferences. I urge you to do what you can to help this man and to prevent this from becoming a trend. I know there is a lot to deal with right now, but this is one of the worthiest causes yet. Regardless of anyone's views of Palestine and Israel, we cannot just have people arrested (effectively kidnapped) for their views and beliefs. We have a right to free speech, whether we agree with it or not, and we NEED our representatives especially to stand up and fight for those rights before they are fully eroded. Because once this is established, what next, or whom? People standing for DEI or trans rights? People standing against Trump at all? Democrats? Women who speak up? It sounds like a slippery slope, but history has shown us that we cannot allow things like this to happen at all. Please, please, be bold and take a stand. Thank you.

My current senator is a democrat, so that made that easier, but I can write one for your republican senator. Let me try:

Dear Senator [asshole], I am deeply concerned about the government overreach with regards to the unlawful arrest of Mahmoud Khalil. Supporting this arrest seems to go against our constitutional rights and does not promote the ideals of a small government, nor of lawfulness. He has done everything correctly in becoming a legal resident, and he has not been charged with any crimes, and I do not think this is an appropriate action for the government to take. I ask you to stand against this situation and support our constitutional right to free speech and peaceful protest.

Using lots of words like "constitution" and "small government" and emphasizing rule of law is going to work slightly better with the Republicans, or at least, has a greater chance than a script written for Democrats.

Anyway, yeah, that's what I got to say. Try, again, not to be an ass in my notes. If you want to be combative or cynical or whatever, it is free to make new posts on Tumblr instead of doing so on mine.

[motivatedsavages]

Paradigm Shifts and Personal Growth: How to Upgrade Your Mindset for Success in 2025

Have you ever felt like you’re living the same year on repeat? Stuck in a mental loop where every challenge feels like déjà vu? That’s your paradigms at work—those deeply ingrained beliefs that shape how you see yourself, the world, and what’s possible. If 2024 was a year of “same old, same old,” let’s make 2025 the year you break free. Your paradigms are the mental operating system running your…

[forgottenbones]

The answer isn't Online Masculinity