#bad things congress did today

[enigma2meagain]

🚨🚨 URGENT! Congress trying to pass anti-LGBT bill under the guise of “child safety”!

UPDATE 09/05/2023:

Well well well, if it isn’t the consequences of her bigotry

So Marsha Blackburn, in her infinite wisdom, decided to admit in an interview with the bigoted Family Policy Alliance that the Kids Online Safety Act is a GIANT anti-transgender bill (or at the least, it’s so poorly written that it makes targeting transgender people easier). Naturally, after this blunder, she and Blumenthal are trying to do damage control. But WE have the videos, and people’s responses to this open confession in the links below:

Alejandro Caraballo’s Tweet with the Video.

Erin Reed’s followup article

Attempts at damage control commented on by Ari Drennen

PinkNews’ article about it.

Beacon Broadside Article

Mashable Article

So with all that in mind, please make way to the Bad Internet Bills website to tell your Senators that you STRONGLY advise them to drop their support/refuse to support this awful bill in light of this, or that their re-election chances will drop considerably.

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UPDATE 02/14/2023: Richard Blumenthal is a lying snake who’s trying to get both KOSA and EARN IT Act back into law.

He persistently continues to ignore all of the backlash against these bills, the criticisms and highlighting the serious flaws of the bill by numerous human rights and LGBTQ organizations, and it’s telling that there seems to be no one who opposed the bill at the hearings today.

Fortunately, there are those are speaking up against it, such as Evan Greer from Fight For The Future.

Keep your eyes and ears open. We will be hearing more about these bills as time goes on.

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UPDATE 01/30/2023: Well, Chuck Schumer has chosen to backstab human rights and pro- LGBTQ communities, as well as the internet by trying to fast-track KOSA. The time table is as follows:

REINTRODUCTION OF THE BILL IN FEBRUARY

HOLDING MARKUPS IN MARCH

And holding a floor vote in JUNE

https://twitter.com/evan_greer/status/1620088145554579456

KEEP IN MIND, this was the man who blocked legitimately good anti-Big Tech bills like AICOA on the pretense they would be “too much”, but was perfectly fine with the travesty of KOSA.

This man is in Big Tech’s pockets, because only they can afford to pay the fines that such a restrictive pro-censorship bill would enforce. The only people this bill helps are the exact people it claims to stop, while LGBTQ people have to pay the price for the greed of the corrupt congressmen and women.

All of the relevant links are still below, but I will be updated this as we go.

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UPDATE 01/17/2023: Nothing has happened yet, but there have been rumblings of our “favorite” Senator Blumenthal talking about trying to push KOSA in again. I’ll mostly be keeping an eye on things for now, and you guys should too on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media and news outlets.

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UPDATE 12/20/2022: KOSA BILL HAS NOT BEEN INCLUDED IN THE FINAL OMNIBUS BILL! WE DID IT!

https://twitter.com/evan_greer/status/1605261800479547392

That being said, this is very much a reprieve, since Blumenthal and Blackburn, and their cohorts have made it clear they intend to get this bill back into Congress next year. But WE DID IT. We managed to get this bill stopped from being added in the omnibus bill.

I want to thank all of you who helped to reblog this post, signed the various petitions and the open letter, and especially if you went and called your Senators. Without your effort, this might have turned out VERY differently!

Thank you all, and I hope the rest of this year is a pleasant one!

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So, this is a particularly long post, but it’s an absolutely IMPORTANT ONE. PLEASE REBLOG! LIKING IS USELESS!

UPDATE 12/14/2022: Two weeks ago, 90+ human rights, LGBT, and tech orgs signed onto an open letter telling Senators NOT to pass this bill. in response, over 230 orgs led by the American Psychological Association signed a letter urging senators to push this bill forward.

An updated version of the bill has been pushed forward by Senators Blumenthal and Blackburn, who claim to have changed the bill in response to feedback, but insight by the likes of Evan Greer and Ari Cohn have made it clear that the changes are superficial at best, and arguably fail to properly address the problems of the original bill.

https://twitter.com/evan_greer/status/1603139423071309825

We got blindsided by this, and we REALLY need your help!

Further explanation HERE: https://www.tumblr.com/fullhalalalchemist/703545300138262528/urgent

POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA like Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, etc. about your opposition to this! The more voices speaking out the better, and we can’t do this alone!

The Hashtags are:

#KOSA

 #STOPKOSA

 #KidsOnlineSafetyAct

“Kids Online Safety Act” (no hashtag and quotes, just the regular words)

And PLEASE call your Senators at (202-224-3121).

ESPECIALLY CALL THESE THREE, SINCE THEY ARE THE MAJOR PEOPLE WHO COULD END UP PUTTING THE BILL INTO THE OMNIBUS/MUST PASS SPENDING BILL:

Maria Cantwell (202) 224-3441

Chuck Schumer (202) 224-6542

Nancy Pelosi (202) 225-4965

LINKTREE WITH ALL INFO HERE: https://linktr.ee/stopkosa

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ORIGINAL POST:

In a particularly scummy move, the Kids Online Safety Act is going to be put into the must pass end of year spending bill: www.axios.com/…

The two laws best positioned to get rolled into big year-end legislative packages, according to advocates and lawmakers, are:

The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which would require platforms to guard kids from harmful content using new features and safeguards and to make privacy settings "on" by default for children. The law also mandates privacy audits and  more transparency about privacy policies.

At first glance, the bill doesn’t sound bad, since it’s about helping “protect children” online. But like every “protect the children” type law, this would censor the internet of anything “harmful” to children aka any LGBT, NSFW, or whatever the Right doesn’t like, force everyone to upload their govt ID’s to even access anything online, and surveil everyone else. Gutting everyone’s privacy in an era where we see massive state violence and encroaching fascism globally. This is not only pushed by the same people (Senator Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn) who created the awful EARN IT Act, but also has many of the same flaws, such as pro-censorship, anti LGBT resources and content, and pro-mass surveillance.

But the biggest problem, as Mike Stabile has pointed out, is HOW the mechanism to which this works: The State Attorney General.

This addition would allow states like Texas and Florida to sue companies for having LGBTQ+ content, along with sex education resources, incentivizing these platforms to ban that content. To be more specific, the bill allows the state attorney general to sue if they believe that platforms do not protect minors from a list of harms that includes politicized terms like "grooming" which, as we've seen can include any sort of LGBTQ information, entertainment or literature.

RuPaul on TikTok?

A clip on transgender youth on Facebook?

A gay character in a Disney movie?

Suicide hotlines for gay youth?

Cue a suit from Texas or Florida targeting the entire web.

And the problem is that given the current political climate and the cruel behavior of a number of GOP aligned political groups in positions of power, this only ends up making things RIPE for abuse and mass censorship (since companies will probably end up choosing to acquiesce to their demands rather than risk being subject to liability) not to mention the damage this would cause to children who might need resources regarding LGBT or sex education.

Furthermore, the definition of “sexually exploitative material”, “grooming”, and “child porn” has been used in the past year to target transgender people, drag queens, and the wider LGBTQ+ community by likening their very existence as sexually violent. Yet another way this bill’s language will be used to target a community that is already facing violence. Every night, Fox News blasts a story on “sexualization of children '' to fear-monger around the LGBT community. One needs to not look any further than the right-wing ecosystem to see how KOSA would easily be weaponized.

This article by Mike Masnick on Techdirt also goes further into KOSA and its adjacent bills.

To make matters even worse, on top of the usual suspects of NCOSE ( They used to be called Morality in Media, and are a far right group disguised as an anti sex trafficking org infamous for being religious assholes who HATE anything to do with sex or LGBT) supporting this travesty of a bill, it’s been revealed that the Senate leader is claiming there’s no opposition.

This is literally giving the fascists a dangerous tool to abuse, all for the sake of political brownie points against ‘Big Tech’. A tool that far right groups like the Heritage Foundation have OPENLY stated will abuse to silence LGBTQ+ or sex-ed content for youth everywhere if it passes.

The ONLY way this works is by making sure who is and isn’t a minor is to have some form of age-verification scheme. And the only way to do that is through a third party like ID.me which has recently come under scrutiny for, you guessed it, data leaks. So everyone who accesses anything online will be forced to upload their govt IDs. How is this protecting anyone’s privacy?

With all that said, what can we do?

Well, the same thing we did for the EARN IT Act; we make a LOT of noise, and get the word out.

If you have read all of the above and want to fight this, sign this open letter against KOSA.

And PLEASE call your Senators at (202-224-3121).

ESPECIALLY CALL THESE THREE, SINCE THEY ARE THE MAJOR PEOPLE WHO COULD END UP PUTTING THE BILL INTO THE }OMNIBUS:

Maria Cantwell (202) 224-3441

Chuck Schumer (202) 224-6542

Nancy Pelosi (202) 225-4965

There is a call script with phone numbers here.

Fax them, email them. Tell them they MUST oppose this bill. CONTACT any major human rights, LGBT, and cybersecurity related organizations aligned and let them know about this bill, and the harm it can cause to LGBT rights and children! If you need more information on KOSA, we have a LINKTREE HERE.

EMPHASIZE THE HARM TO CHILDREN WHEN YOU CONTACT PEOPLE, SINCE THEY’RE TRYING TO CLAIM THAT THIS WILL HELP PROTECT CHILDREN’S PRIVACY, WHEN IT DOES THE EXACT OPPOSITE.

There’s also a Petition by the Electronic Frontier Foundation  and from Fight For the Future.

[marvelslut16]

Acquaint Yourself With The Avengers

Prompt number: 29 "That's all? Easy."

Fandom: Marvel

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!reader

Rating: E(veryone)

Word count: 4.2k+

Warnings: Maybe some swearing. Slow Burn? Reality TV show hate. Bucky (and readers') self hatred. Talk of death.

A/N: Hey guys! I feel like I've been gone forever- work is killing me! But I'm back for Fictober and I'm really hoping I'll finally do the whole month. This is part 1 of 2 I think- but I'm open to writing more in this universe. Part two will be up in a few days if not tomorrow. I have never watched a reality TV show, so please bare with me for the mistakes I no doubt made.

“This has to be a joke,” you deadpan, throwing the joke of a contract onto the table in front of you. Steve murmurs in agreement on your left, and an increasingly uncomfortable Bucky shifts in his seat to Steve’s left. “Tony, reality shows are crap. What were you thinking?”

“This is coming from higher up than me,” he rubs his temples, giving away his exasperation. Over the years Tony started to slowly step out of the spotlight, no longer seeking out media coverage. “It’s directly from Fury, and the few Congress members that are still on our side. Since the Accord drama our ratings have been dipping, we need them to see that underneath it all we’re just human.”

“And if I don’t agree to it?” your voice hardens as you have a staring contest with the billionaire. 

“Then you’re out.”

“So you’re telling me if I don’t exploit my life, if we all don’t exploit our lives- we’re kicked to the curb. Just like that? Years of work and helping people just flushed down the toilet?” you’re on the verge of angry tears.

Your mother had drilled into your brain since you were a young impressionable child, that reality shows were trash, that they did more harm than good. The worse things people did on these shows the more famous they got, it teaches young children that they’ll get rewarded for their bad behavior. You wonder what she would think of you now, about to agree to become that trash just so you can continue to help the people that are bound to talk shit about each and every one of your friends online. 

“I agree with (Y/N/N),” Steve finally speaks up, quickly glancing at Bucky’s clenched fists. “Bucky shouldn’t be subjected to having twenty cameras shoved in his face, not so soon after rejoining society.”

It’s been a month since Bucky came to live with everyone at the newly built compound, he had spent the previous three months after the Accords in Wakanda receiving the best help Shuri could provide. You wouldn’t say that you and Bucky are friends, but you two are definitely friendlier than he is with most of the team. You’ve never pushed him to talk, you two can sit in peaceful silence, something Sam does regularly because of his experience with PTSD and the benefits of talking about it. 

“You’re just worried that more people are going to start speculating that you're dating him,” Sam joins the conversation, referencing the newest gossip article published today. Some ‘news’ site wrote a fifteen paragraph article speculating on a non-existent romance between the super soldiers, stemming from one single photo of Steve standing half in front of Bucky and pushing a camera out of his face on the way into a restaurant- for a team dinner. 

“On the topic of relationships, I don’t really want a bunch of cameras in mine and Clint’s,” Natasha speaks up from the other side of the table, Clint nods along.

“The last thing people need is hours of footage of Vis and me to analyze and bully us about, I already get enough judgment and hate,” Wanda adds, crossing her arms over her chest. Vis rests a comforting hand on her soldier, he’s learned enough about human emotions- especially Wanda’s- to know not to add anything. 

“You guys are overreacting,” Sam rolls his eyes. “Plus this could be a good time to promote things we’re passionate about, like group therapy for Veterans.” 

“It sounds fun,” Thor booms, you roll your eyes. No one will say anything about him, he’s conventionally attractive, has a sexy accent, and he’s a literal God. He has nothing but adoring fans. 

“All publicity is good publicity,” Tony grimaces. “We can’t go any lower, we’re already at the bottom of the barrel.”

“Peter’s lucky he’s a minor and anonymous,” you pout, out of the corner of your eye you can see Bucky crack a small smile. With that one final comment you're signing the contract, because at the end of the day you’ll do whatever it takes to be able to help those in need. Everyone has a similar vein of thought, all signing their own contracts. 

Later that night you're sitting in the living room with Bucky, the News is playing in the background, but neither of you had been paying it any mind. You’re too focused on coming up with worst case scenarios about the impending reality show. Bucky can practically hear the gears whirring in your head, he keeps glancing over at you to make sure you're okay. Not that you notice because you're too wrapped up in your own little world. 

“What if they edit it to make one of us the villain?” you ask out of nowhere, this is the first time you’ve broken the peaceful silence in the months you’ve been sitting with him. “Sorry, forget I said anything, I’m gonna head to bed.”

“It’ll be me,” Bucky whispers when you stand up from the couch. “They’ll take this opportunity to show everyone what a monster I am.”

“You aren’t a monster Bucky,” you squat down in front of him when you see that he’s staring at his lap. “You can’t be blamed for what Hydra made you do. And anyway, they usually pick an unsuspecting person on one of these shows and edit it so their words and actions are all twisted. They ruin people’s characters, not make hard hitting political statements.”

“You think they’ll target you?” he asks it like it’s a question, but it’s more of a statement. 

“Yeah I do,” you sigh, standing up and plopping on the couch beside Bucky for the first time. “I’m mysterious, or at least that’s what Tony and Peter keep telling me. I don’t have a big social media presence, I do my best to avoid the paparazzi when I go out, and I very rarely speak at press conferences. If they don’t make me the villain, I’m worried they’ll hyperfocus on me until I slip up and become one.”

“I think it’ll be Vision, since he’s a robot,” Bucky adds after a minute of silence, and you can’t help but smile at him.”

Before you know it, Wednesday rolls around, and the fifteen person crew shows up to invade your lives. You start to get overwhelmed by the ten cameras they are setting up, two in a confessional area, and the other three in the living room where you are all supposed to do your opening scripted talk- where Tony will explain why you guys are doing the reality show Acquaint Yourself With The Avengers. On top of those cameras, the crew are setting up hidden and security cameras to catch the action when they aren’t there filming on the main ones. Once you're all seated on the couches- your stuffed between Bucky and Sam- the PA, Alice, comes over to talk to you all.

“So filming will happen Thursday through Tuesday most weeks, unless a big event falls on an off day, crew leaves by ten PM at the latest, and the hidden cameras will go dormant after midnight. No children will be in the final product- as requested by Scott, we can evaluate on a case by case basis if any of the rest of you choose to have children down the line and want to show them. Are there any questions?” she asks, but gives a look that screams not to ask any. “Well if there aren’t any, we should get to shooting, we’re already twenty minutes behind.”

You say your two scripted lines in the beginning scene and then zone out through the rest, you’re a little worried your face will give your lack of enthusiasm away, but none of the crew says anything so you assume you're fine. Soon enough, you're dismissed, but not allowed to go far because the first interviews for all of you are about to take place in the dining room. You and Bucky both stay firmly planted on the couch while most of the others go to the kitchen to get something to drink, or lurk in the dining room to watch said interviews- Steve being the first to be interviewed. 

“Just act like the camera’s aren't there,” you say unhelpfully when you notice his gaze shifting uneasily from one camera to the next. In reality you too are struggling with them watching you from every possible angle. 

“That’s all? Easy,” Bucky deadpans, a laugh bursts out of your mouth and his eyes twinkle.

“Did you just make a joke,” you laugh again, this time far quieter. For the first time since the camera crew arrived you forget they’re there, too lost in this one real moment with Bucky, too lost in his gorgeous crystal blue eyes. It’s the first time you’ve ever seen him let his guard down with anyone other than Steve. 

“And if I did?” he asks playfully, leaning in closer to you, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. 

“Then I’d say do it more often, it’s a good look on you,” you grin back at him, and you're only broken out of your trance when Alice calls for Tony. 

She calls you after Tony, hair and makeup come rushing over to give tiny last minute adjustments to your appearance after you're seated in front of a ring light. You start to fidget with the hem of your shirt as the PA flips through her paper to get to her list of questions about you, the suspense just making your anxiety skyrocket.

“To start off we’re just going to ask some easy and basic questions to get you warmed up. So (Y/N), you’ve been with the Avengers since it was first formed, tell us what that’s been like, and make sure you put the question in your answer.”

“I’ve been with the Avengers since 2011, I was the second one Director Fury recruited, right after Tony. I’ve loved all of the good deeds we have been able to do for people all over the world, and I’ve made some lifelong friendships too. It’s amazing being able to do something you love with the people you love.” 

“Good good,” Alice nods, looking down at her questions. “Now tell us how you feel about all of the new auditions to the team since then, and don’t hold back.”

“We’ve had some pretty great people join since the seven of us were originally put together, not only are they good, friendly people, but they are also all very skilled at what they do. I love watching the team grow, it just means that we have more skills and manpower to be able to help even more people,” Alice rolls her eyes at your response.

“For this next part we’re going to put up article headlines talking about how you’re the most private Avenger, even more so than Natasha. So just tell us why you’re so private.”

“There isn’t all that much to say, I’m just a private person,” Alice makes a keep going gesture from behind the camera. “I’ve always been pretty private and I was only thrust into the limelight when I joined the Avengers Initiative. I do my job to help people not to get recognition, that’s what my career has always been about. I never felt the need to post a lot of selfies online or make a tweet about the workout I just did. People are allowed to do those things, and there’s nothing wrong with that, I’ve just never understood why people would care what I’m doing in my day to day life.”

“Do you feel safe in the compound?” the question comes out of left field and you aren’t sure why it’s being brought up.

“Of course I feel safe! I’m in a highly secured compound with my fellow Avengers, there’s nothing safer.”

“One last question, everyone is dying to know, what’s your relationship status?” Alice even seems like she’s interested in the answer.

“Like I said before, I am a very private person, but I suppose I could answer this. For the whole two people wondering about my relationship status, I am single at the moment. I’ve just been really focusing on my job, and I’ve learned that people don’t necessarily like coming second to my job and my friends.”

“Thank you,” Alice smiles. “Can you send Bucky over next?”

You do as you’re told, search out Bucky and send him on his way to the dining room. Instead of heading to sweet freedom, your room, you loiter and watch Bucky’s intro interview. “Sergeant Barnes, what has it been like joining the Avengers and how has everyone treated you?”

“It’s been okay and mostly everyone-” Bucky gets cut off by Alice.

“Make sure you put the question in your answer.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Bucky is clearly starting to get agitated with all of the focus and cameras on him.

“Say something like joining the Avengers has been really good, it’s helping me get better with teamwork again blah blah blah. The team has welcomed me in and it’s reminiscent of my time in the Army, something like that,” Bucky gives one nod, turning back to the camera in front of him. 

“Joining the Avengers has been really good, it’s helping me get better with teamwork again,” you bring your hands to your mouth to stifle your laugh at Bucky repeating you word for word. “The team has welcomed me in and it’s reminiscent of my time in the Army.”

“Okay,” Alice draws the word out at Bucky’s lack of originality. “Who would you say your best friends on the team are?”

“Steve,” Bucky responds without thinking, and Alice tells him to mention at least one other person. “Other than Steve, probably (Y/N).” 

You're shocked, but flattered, by his response. Sure, he may have just said that because you were right there and staring at him, but maybe he meant it. Maybe all of those nights on the couch with him meant something to him.

“Oh really?” asks, clearly liking whatever spin she’ll eventually put on this conversation in editing. 

“Yeah, she um, she was the first one to really welcome me and spend time with me,” he rubs his neck nervously. 

“Just like (Y/N), you’re really private too,” you take a step forward seeing that the questioning is starting to put Bucky on edge. 

“Cause it’s no one's business,” Alice, thankfully, doesn’t push. 

“Are you ever worried you may do something to put your team members in danger?”

That’s enough!” your voice comes out firmer and louder than you imagined it would, drawing the attention of the rest of the Avengers. “Bucky isn’t going to sith there and take your abuse, his interview is done.”

You hold your hand out to him, and he jumps to grasp it, gripping it like it’s his lifeline. You’ve never touched Bucky before, and you keep your brain from running at how warm and nice his right hand feels in your own. You lead him out of the room, away from the prying eyes, and the now constant camera presence. You pull Bucky to your favorite room in the compound, the library. You deposit him on the comfy chaise lounge in the middle of the room while you go grab two books. You come back with Harry Potter for you, and The Hobbit for him, you had heard him talking to Steve about the movies once and learned he read it back in the day. 

Little do you know, the littlest action of knowing Bucky’s favorite book on top of the way you stood up for him out there means more to Bucky than he’ll ever know how to express. It thaws his frozen heart just a little.

[kytsuine-blog]

Ok so I'm going to do a better, Tumblr-focused writeup soon and also track down those blogs to talk about them more specifically, but I fell for a misinformation scheme today and want to talk about how and why. Here's an email I sent my little cousin about it.

This morning, I encountered a Tumblr post talking about the TikTok ban and the government's attempt to severely curtail digital privacy rights as part of it.

I had heard that the TikTok ban was currently up for debate in the Senate, after passing the House with strong bipartisan support. I was not surprised by the information in the screenshots; it matched with things I knew the government had tried to do often in the past, and often under similar circumstances. I looked up the bill linked to verify, and yeah, it was an active bill that had been introduced in the Senate. (I should have realized then that there was an issue with what I was reading, but in my defense it was about 6:00 AM, and I was just glancing over things in the parking lot before going in to work.)

Concerned for the digital privacy and security of my family, and especially the ones I can't just drive to, I drafted the following message to you:

"I haven't had time to read all the way through the RESTRICT act that the Senate proposed, but summaries I've seen indicate that as written it's a massive overreach. It's better known as the TikTok ban; the news has been focusing on that part as it passes through Congress so far.

I always sign my emails to you with my public key. Both of you should look up how to use PGP to send me encrypted emails with that. It may become even more important soon to normalize secure encryption in Internet communications, and there may also be things that we wish to discuss that state or federal laws may frown on in the future.

I planned to introduce topics related to computer and information security more gradually, but making sure that talking about those is possible at all is an important part of that.

Congress.gov page on the bill

Tweet thread"

(As an aside, I do still think that normalizing encryption is a very worthwhile thing to do; it makes the web a safer place for activists and informants needing a way to communicate without surveillance, without being singled out as enemies of the surveillance state.)

I then checked through the notes of the Tumblr post to see if there was more context I wanted to share, and noticed people who called out a detail that I missed. That post was first posted in March of 2023, a little over a year ago. It refers to an entirely different bill than the TikTok ban which is currently going through the Senate, one which activists successfully stalled (and likely killed) last year. This year's bill is much more targeted (though, as implemented, I still have issues with it); its text can be found here.

This is a classic example of how misinformation spreads. I did not have bad intent when I went to share that commentary on last year's bill with you, and I did not find it from someone with bad intent (in fact, she subsequently shared a commentary I posted on the actual bill, in reply to her original incorrect post.) From what I can tell, on March 14, a number of mostly inactive politically-focused blogs all shared that post directly from the original poster (not from someone who had it in their feed, like a normal Tumblr interaction). Each of these was tagged with fairly popular political tags. None of these blogs has posted since, keeping it at the top of their page to get more eyes on it.

Misinformation is spread deliberately, and it takes caution and checking of your biases to combat it. I almost fell for this one because I expected it to be true. I should have checked on it before sharing anything at all. Looking at it now, I ask: who benefits from this?

Most directly, proponents of the current TikTok ban benefit from activist efforts being directed towards a functionally dead bill. This, apparently, includes the strong majority of the House, on both sides of the aisle; it may be assumed that it also includes the government's surveillance agencies (as it is easier to compel data from American companies than from foreign ones, particularly Chinese ones). It could also include other social media sites, especially those like YouTube and Instagram that compete directly with TikTok in the realm of algorithmically driven short videos.

More abstractly, though, this misinformation benefits the status quo, and conservatism as a whole. By causing people who are invested in the TikTok ban (mostly left-leaning people) to engage with more stringent and concerning bills, stress is increased on activists and burnout becomes more likely. Targeting the mental health of left-leaning activists is a tactic we've seen multiple times recently in misinformation campaigns; another example is the "the Guardian is doing a story on DIY HRT" hoax that recently circulated among my trans friends. This type of stressful lie misinformation serves the dual purpose of causing activists to burn out and decreasing trust among communities that share it.

This is a new specific strategy to me, but the solution is the same as ever. Check your sources when you speak publicly, check how your biases affect what ideas seem "clearly correct", and aim for your statements to maximize quality, rather than quantity. That's a discipline I still need to refine, but it's not hard. Just requires a bit of diligence.

[uboat53]

Welcome back to another episode of "This is how FOX News Lies to You", today we're looking at a story related to Trump's trial in New York City.

You may have heard that Michael Cohen, the prosecution's star witness, isn't a great guy. After all, he worked for Trump for decades, arranged the payments that silenced two women who wanted to tell their stories about having affairs with him, admitted to stealing money from Trump, and may have lied under oath to Congress and the courts. This is both true and, because he's the star witness in a criminal case against Trump, something that Trump and his allies in government and media would very much like you to know.

But how to get that message out without having to cover inconvenient facts like how he worked for Trump for a long time and how he did bad things that Trump asked him to do? Well, if you're FOX News, you get a Republican congressman to talk about it, then you cover only what the congressman said instead of doing any of your own reporting.

It's particularly noticeable in this article because once they switch gears to talking about Matthew Colangelo, one of the prosecutors who they believe is the link between the prosecution and the Biden Administration, suddenly they provide lots of information that didn't just come quoted from the mouth of a Republican congressman!

This is how FOX News collaborates with elected Republicans to lie to you. If they don't want to report the whole details of the actual story they'll just get a Republican somewhere to make a political statement and, instead of doing any reporting of their own which might get in the way of the convenient partisan narrative they want you to hear, they'll just put together a story out of the quotes they get and print it.

Anyways, here's the story in question, it's well worth a read so that you can see exactly what I'm talking about.

[grumpycakes]

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE VOTE 2, DISASTER BOOGALOO CONT. **UPDATED

DAY 3 10/19/2023 • OOPS NO VOTE • 12 Noon EST

< Previous (Day 2)

So McHenry saunters in w the entourage, calls them to order, and the Chaplin leads in on prayer.

Chaplin’s prayer is basically “we’re over it but got grant us the compassion and wisdom to get our shit together and govern for the country, Amen” just flower-ier and less sassy.

Still hate that we gotta have a prayer before govt work but

Still gotta have them pledge allegiance

AND THEN MCHENRY IMMEDIATELY CALLS A RECESS.

So what TF happened?

Jim Jordan in a moment of clarity (and probably some shaming from his colleagues) realized he doesn’t have the votes, and won’t for a while. So he has TEMPORARILY pulled his bid for the Speakership.

In the meantime, it looks like they are working on a proposal for McHenry to take over some speakership roles for a LIMITED TIME. We won’t know how long until the proposal is made/put before congress.

This move is most likely JUST to get the budget done and agree on how much aid we’ll be sending to Ukraine and Israel. Otherwise the Government will shut down and shit will go into free fall. This covers the asses of the Republicans while still not having to pick a speaker.

It also is taxing to force them all in session DAILY for at least 2 hours to do these votes.

SOME TAKEAWAYS I’VE SEEN

We could still get a 3rd vote today depending on how fast they make up the legislation

This isn’t great for Jordan, it’s a weak move to let someone else do speaker things while you beg and bribe people to vote for you

A lot of the far rights/hardliners are mad about the move to give temporary powers. Basically advocating for making everyone stay and suffer multiple rounds of voting again (cannot fathom why when it just made McCarthy look stupid last time, unless they truly just would rather burn the govt to the ground than do anything helpful)

Reportedly McHenry doesn’t want temporary powers either rofl

While the republicans will whine and moan that the Dems should have bailed them out (either by voting present for McCarthy or by the same for the new speakership votes) it is not their job NOR DID REPUBLICANS HELP THEM AT ALL WHEN THEY HAD THIS NARROW OF A MAJORITY. And they didn’t devolve into this kind of chaos

Dems are just asking to pass budgets and aid, and are probably just stepping out of the way of this train wreck

This has never been an issue till this year (and this partisanship/far right monstrosity the Republicans have fomented)

The next speaker will most likely IMMEDIATELY reverse that dumbass rule that one person can force a vote to remove the speaker

APPARENTLY some of the republicans that did not vote for Jordan have been receiving “Credible death threats.” Over it????? JFC

Yes, since they called a session to vote, they HAD to gavel in, pray and get set up to CALL IT OFF. And that’s hilariously stupid

ADDED EDIT 8PM 10/19/2023

Lolll fuck. So Jim Jordan had a “Closed door meeting” with the rest of the republicans to work out how/if to give McHenry additional powers and CAME OUT AN HOUR LATER SAYING THERE WILL BE NO SPECIAL POWERS. HE’S GONNA GO AGAIN. (Didn’t happen today lol) They apparently were fighting over whether or not it’s LeGaL or cOnStiTuTiOnAl to give the interim speaker powers. Loll but according to McCarthy when Gaetz tried to argue they basically told him to shut up. So it sounds like some of the repubs are still mildly homicidal abt Gaetz.

But a few things,

1. It’s legal and constitutional if y’all MAKE LEGISLATION FOR IT. And you can make the legislation be like ONLY THIS ONCE CAUSE WE GOTS PROBLEMS

2. I cannot fathom why they are so down bad to embarrass themselves. This doesn’t look good, this isn’t inspiring confidence, and since no one on the repubs are willing to budge or concede for each other you’re fighting a losing battle. You have the majority, use it.

3 . This feels like weird toxic grandstanding of if you just stand your ground it’ll bend but like, it’s not HAPPENING. And people will hate you worse for fucking w the government.

4. OH AND IF YHEY PASS THIS AND DEMS JOIN IN FOR IT TO HAPPEN IS RHAT NOT A WIN FOR THE REPUBS????? That they can get ANYTHING DONE?????

McCarthy talked to reporters and said it’s the fault of Gaetz, the “Crazy 8” (really classy dude) and the dems. And that he was taken out by less than a quarter of the house. But my dude. If it was 8 of your Repubs and then ALL THE DEMOCRATS. That’s. That’s a MAJORITY OF THE HOUSE.

Jim Jordan apparently did denounce the death threats agaisnt republicans.

END ADDITION

So that’s where we are @ u @ chaos-ville. I’ll make a new post or update y’all if they do a vote today.

Next (Day 4 Vote 3) >

[wack-ashimself]

Know what I never want to hear again, not even ONCE, the rest of my life?

"Our government would never do that."

YES, THE FUCK, THEY WOULD. THEY HAVE. THEY DID. THEY WILL, EASILY, AGAIN.

If we could also include to avoid: "Our government never did that" and "Our government COULDN'T do that*" It would be much appreciated.

During #JFK: They wanted to do a #falseflag, and blame it on #Cuba. During #Nixon: Crack to the blacks.

In the 70s, the #CIA OPENLY admitted they had a gun with a dissolving bullet that could cause an undetectable, natural looking heart attack. NOW, they have radar dishes they can point at people to give them execrating pain, making them nearly immobile.

We started with a genocide to fund the #usa, had slavery for far too long, made concentration camps for Japanese-Americans during #WW2 where we stole BILLIONS from their houses and assets, and today? Today we have the largest #prison#slave population in human history; yes, more than when we actually had legalized slavery. The biggest military EVER, which, historically, has killed more than any other military with new age weapons. Yeah-can't deny the whole white phosphorus, regular ole bombs, and of course, NUCLEAR WEAPONS. What's ironic? Japan actually hates us more for the firebombs we used on them (more suffering instead of instant death). Didn't know about the #firebombs? MOST DON'T.

And then we get to 9/11. Ya know. When our government shut down all airports, but let a FEW special planes go out of #Florida just after it happened, containing some very unique individuals (proven). Or how about how not 1, not 2, but 3 buildings fell down perfectly straight, which is basically impossible from being hit on ONE side. Oh, and the 3rd building, building 7, which contained a lot of classified government documents was never HIT by anything!? Or how JUST before all this happened, the pentagon announced (not for the first OR last time**) they lost trillions of dollars, and had no idea where it went? OR how the guy who owned the #twintowers insured them for terrorist attacks just months before it happened?

Finally, today....where our #DEMOCRATIC president, brain dead #biden, is openly funneling guns, weapons, and worse to a terrorist colonizing state called #israel, against a nearly completely defenseless people in #Palestine? A #genocide, in real time, for MONTHS now, funded by our government. They're trying to pass another funding bill of billions as I type. Over 12k children killed in cold blood. MULTIPLE RAPES have been proven done by the israelis. You literally can not imagine a worse thing to happen due to a government (outside adding cannibalism).

SO PLEASE, never fucking god damn say again "Our government would never do that" when they have done it EVERY-FUCKING-TIME! <Forgot to mention the experimentation on their own citizens. That's a whole other post!>

Because when you live in an #oligarchy, you got to assume the rich in control will do ANYTHING IMAGINABLE AND UNIMAGINABLE to maintain their wealth and power. Historically, they always fucking do. WAKE UP!

*The technology they hold back and use against us may not come out to the public for DECADES. We have proven weather modification is real AND works. Not a debate. And Direct Energy Weapons (DEW) have been documented to being real just recently...You really think they can monitor, categorize, AND filter ALL THE DATA we say and do without AI? No. And they've been doing that for HOW long? Over 20 years? And when did we get access to AI? Side note-pentagon RIGHT NOW strong arming their way thru congress, trying to force them to allow the military to turn on AI's capabilities to choose what it kills. So that's...#terminator fun.

**The #pentagon, aka, the military, losing money has been a tried and true method of filtering money to the bad guys. It's kinda like how Tony Stark found out he was arming terrorists in Iron Man. You forget we helped for Al-Qaeda and #Isis? WE DID. Osama Bin Laden was a CIA asset! Why? To fuck with everyone in the Middle East all the way to Russia. Look it up if you didn't know.

<When we do physical or mental labor for taxes to be taken away, they usually go to murder. When you do your job, your taxes pay mostly for the rich to get richer and murder. Nothing else. If I'm wrong, look outside at how great it is, how free everyone is, and all the happy smiles. We allowed this to happen. We can create something better without them. What's the harm in trying? It can't get worse, sadly. But at the same time, inspiringly: we can only go up from here. :)>

No war but the class war.

[frostyreturns]

I’m reading Roughing It by Mark Twain, which is a series of semi-autobiographical tales and some satire from his journey across the American west in the 1800s. 

One thing that stuck out for me was his description of the formation of a territorial government in Nevada in going from Washoe county to a state with a U.S governer. I used to think the problem with the oldest versions of the U.S government was that it never stayed representative, that it eventually took too much power and eventually became the beast it is today like all government eventually do. However even in this description people were not on board with it from day 1 and from start looks like a seizure of power from the people. The areas of Nevada were largely ignored by the government and had to fend for themselves and did, even had their own loose organized association to handle some of the things people expect a government to do. And virtually as soon as they did this the federal government swooped in and said nope nope we’re in charge here, congress declared Nevada a state and installed their own leader. 

So even in the early days of the formation of U.S control over the territory people were like who the hell is this outsider that has no idea how we do things or what we need that’s now here to tell us what to do. And this was all under Lincoln a president that both the right and left tend to claim as their own and see as a hero. From this description I completely understand the sentiment that the civil war was more about keeping the union together than “freeing slaves” and understand why people at the time saw even Lincoln as a tyrant, as he kept and expanded federal authority.

Just a reminder that government has always been this way and is always bad.

[yr-obedt-cicero]

I think it's incredibly depressing that Alexander always wanted his family to be close and together, and dreamed of the Grange being this house that all the family would live in and grandkids would come to visit, but just after his death and all the effects it caused the family seems to have split apart and just hated each other

This took me a bit to getting around to answer because I had to think it over a lot, but honestly, they really weren't?

Don't get me wrong, they weren't perfectly accommodating for each other, and they definitely had their fights and sqaubbles. But a particularly important detail being that; usually, the strain or disagreements were between siblings, which is rather normal. I know when often scrolling through my blog you'll find me more than not talking about their fueds, but that is really because I find it moreso entertaining. There are plenty of affectionate letters between many of them, and they seemed to have been a tight knit family.

They all seemed to have regularly kept in contact, and although finding their correspondence is difficult, in some letters at the Library Of Congress you can see mentions of one sibling talking to another. So, while we don't have these exact letters today, that doesn't mean they didn't exist. The grandchildren speak affectionately of seeing their grandparents, like James's house, Nevis, was a particular favorite for when they were hosting parties or family gatherings. And John and James often worked together when getting Hamilton's papers all back, or trying to propose statues and other memorials for their dad's memory.

Of course though, there is Alex Jr's story, and how he seemed to have been eager to run off and start his career; completely ignorant to his mother's depressed state after losing her eldest son, husband, and her daughter becoming mentally impaired. Which left a lot of the “eldest son” responsibilities dumped onto James when he was quite young. And he just overall seemed arrogant and inconsiderate, like snatching off with his dad's letters without permission while the brothers were trying to settle Holly's will. But I've already done plenty of analysing and theories on Alex and his characteristics that you can find here too. Which I would consider to be the only note-worthy fight, as I have talked about John's and William's slight distance but that isn't really severe by any means or even important. And honestly, the major reason the brothers even fought was because of politics. As they were Hamiltons, and what do you expect other than political egotists? Even then, James was still checking in on Alex, asking Phil II about their letters between each other.

Elizabeth and Holly truly seemed to have been the glue holding that family together, in all honesty. There are many records of them visiting the various boys, even traveling way out West to see William. And Holly kept in contact with all of her siblings, even after her mother's death. Who, by the way, I think did a fine job raising all the kids on her own after Hamilton's death. Sure, she didn't take the best route of just remarrying and financially stabilizing her children or their futures, additionally giving them a father figure to help guide them. But she did her best to overview their education, kept them housed, and they all remembered her fondly and affectionately.

The only thing I think even gets close to constituting as dysfunctional, is the biography drama. Which I will admit, clearly caused the worst strain between Elizabeth and John, which is where they start to edge out of simple sibling rivalry. I think that is where Elizabeth mistakenly treated John as a paid biographer, rather than her son who had agreed to do such out of familia obligation. But he also had his own bad traits, and his family kinda saw him as lazy. But I'll delve deeper into that later.

And if anything, we have no idea what their lives would have truly been like if Hamilton had lived. In fact, things could have been much worse. Surely some things would have played out better, but there is no doubt that Hamilton would have immensely disagreed with most of his sons about their politics, and with them all being egotistical politicians; you can imagine the discourse. So if you think Alex's and James's fued was bad...

If anything, I think their attempt to all stick together despite their differences shows that they were trying to keep Hamilton's ideal of a close family alive. Especially Elizabeth who tried very hard for such.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

November 15, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

NOV 16, 2023

Extremist Republicans today shut down House business by refusing to pass a procedural vote to take up a spending bill, as they had threatened to do in retaliation for the passage yesterday of the continuing resolution to fund the government into the new year. This is the fourth time the extremists have defeated special rules in the House this year, and as deputy chief of staff for Representative Don Beyer (D-VA) Aaron Fritschner pointed out, their doing so is highly unusual. In the previous 20 years the House voted down no such measures at all. 

Although they were in the middle of a 17-vote series, the Republicans then recessed the House until after Thanksgiving. 

Members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus made it clear they are angry that their own demands are not being met. “We’re sending a shot across the bow,” caucus chair Scott Perry (R-PA) told reporters. “[W]e are done with the failure theater here.” 

Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) angrily said to his colleagues: “One thing. I want my Republican colleagues to give me one thing. One. That I can go campaign on and say we did. One! Anybody sitting in the complex, if you want to come down to the floor and come explain to me, one material, meaningful, significant thing the Republican majority has done besides, ‘Well, I guess it’s not as bad as the Democrats.’” 

In contrast, the Democrats with the same slim majority in the last Congress passed a series of sweeping bills that are already changing the country. Today marks the second anniversary of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act that invested $1.2 trillion—$550 billion of it new spending—in roads, water systems, electrical grids, broadband, bridges, and so on.

So far, that act has seen the start of more than 37,000 projects across the country. Bridges, airports, and supply chain projects are underway, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. The Democrats today emphasized that they are delivering on the things that make people’s lives easier, and the White House listed a number of Republicans who voted against the measure only to boast of the benefits of the infrastructure investments to their constituents.

 “And,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a video in which he echoed the tagline of the administration: “the great news is, we’re just getting started.” 

The investment in infrastructure is part of what has created a booming U.S. economy. Growth is far better in the U.S. than in Europe or China, where a property bubble and local government debts have led to deflation. 

That economic strength is standing behind President Joe Biden in San Francisco, where he traveled yesterday for a summit of the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum (APEC groups economies, not nations). APEC economies make up almost half of world trade and about 62% of global gross domestic product. 

Today, Biden met with Chinese president Xi Jinping in a much anticipated second meeting since Biden took office. But even before today’s discussion, the two leaders announced a new climate agreement. The U.S. and China are the world’s two largest climate polluters, accounting for 38% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. 

China did not agree to phase out coal, which is the dirtiest fossil fuel, but both countries agreed to ramp up renewable energy capacity around the world and to reduce emissions in their power sectors overall. This is the first time China has agreed to cut emissions. In two weeks the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference will take place in Dubai. Observers hope the willingness of China and the U.S. to make this announcement, even with its limitations, will jump-start negotiations there. 

Remarks by Biden and Xi before their meeting were cordial but tense. Biden emphasized that their “meetings have always been candid, straightforward, and useful,” telling Xi: “I value our conversation because I think it’s paramount that you and I understand each other clearly, leader to leader, with no misconceptions or miscommunication. We have to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict. And we also have to manage it responsibly—that competition.”

Xi responded that the China-U.S. relationship “is the most important bilateral relationship in the world,” and while it “has never been smooth sailing over the past 50 years and more…, it has kept moving forward amid twists and turns. For two large countries like China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option. It is unrealistic for one side to remodel the other, and conflict and confrontation has unbearable consequences for both sides.”   

In their four-hour meeting, the two leaders agreed to recommence military communications more than a year after China broke them off when then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. The two countries also agreed to strengthen cooperation on stopping the flow of what are known as precursor chemicals—the chemicals needed to make street fentanyl—which are produced in China and shipped to drug operations primarily in Latin America. The U.S. has cracked down hard on that trade; additional Chinese cooperation will be welcome. 

They agreed to continue to work together to address climate change, as well as to address the risks of artificial intelligence. 

On the rest of their discussions, concerning Taiwan, human rights, the Middle East, and Ukraine, the two leaders “exchanged views,” according to the White House readout. Later in the day, meeting with business leaders who have grown nervous about investing in China, Xi assured them that China wants to be friends with the U.S., and “does not seek spheres of influence, and will not fight a cold or hot war with any country.”

In his remarks welcoming APEC leaders this evening, in the city of the famous Golden Gate Bridge, Biden emphasized the power of building bridges to span space and time, the past and the future. He spoke of connecting diverse communities: “All across the traditions, cultures, and languages, we find the common dreams we share for ourselves and for our children.” 

Biden urged his audience to “take full advantage of this summit to make new connections and spark new partnerships, because every step we take to deepen our cooperation, to launch a new venture, to tackle the challenges that impact on all of us is a step toward realization of the enormous potential of our Asian Pacific future…, a future where our economics are strong, vibrant, and sustainable because our workers are empowered and protected; women and girls are full and equal participants in every aspect of our society; young people…can envision for themselves the lives and hope for unlimited possibilities.”

The strongest tools we have to meet this era’s challenges, he said, are “connection, cooperation, collective action, and common purpose. That’s why we’re all here.”  

Late tonight, by a vote of 87 to 11, the Senate passed the continuing resolution to fund the government into the new year. One Democrat and ten Republicans voted no.

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[demontruth]

Call my Congress's man, call my Senator!

Called the White House but have leave them an e-message (their word not mine) but I'll be off to that next.

Pretty much saying they have to cut off aid of any kind to Israel. Especially in light of murders of 7 WCK aidworkers! Because their deaths are horrible enough, but we all know it about so much more. It's just another step in the genocide of Palestinian people! Netanyahu and the Israelis are doing this on World stage and no one is stopping them. We all know if my country, the US cut off all aid to Israel that would send a very clear message. As much maybe this shouldn't be so it would change other countries from sending Israel aid also!!

So if enough of use basically annoye our Senators, Congress people, the President! More likely it is they do something. Remember this is an election year!! We have the power. If everyone could stand up against Vietnam War, we such as fuck can stand up against the war in Israel! We all know the Palestinian people need our help, the world's help!!

Sooo it's super easy, most of the time you're going to talk to voice mail. I write what I wanted to say on note book on phone first. I have a tendency to get tongue tied when i'm nervous. Mostly if a real person answered...lol 😅

If you're not sure who you're Congress person and Senator are you can Google then for your state. Senators cover your whole state so that's the easy one. Congress people are by what district you're in, but I got you covered just go to house.gov, enter your zip and will give the info. Now with it was little harder for me because I literally live on a congressional districts line so two different Congress men could been mine, so it may ask for your address, which they did with me and it figured out which side of line I was on I got corrected Congress men's name. It 5 mins max to figure it, if that.

If you do get a person on by any chance just be polite, you ask to speak to Senator or Congress person but usually 10 out of 10 chances you're going to get their busy, not there, in meetings, so on... So just ask to leave a message always give them your name and way to contact you so they know your a real voter and not some nut. I've found that's always a good thing in this situation (don't worry they going do anything with it) just think the amount of these kind of messages they take a day! Then just read out what you write out what write down on note book. I also like that it makes me sound more put together 😉

There you go. I just wanted to put this out there for anyone that's never done this before might be nervous or anxious and it's holding you back. Calling Senator and Congress person office for first or for me every time scary and cause my anxiety to shot up. But then I do it and it's all good and feel 💯 better for doing it.

Our forefathers were definitely not the best examples of kind men to idolize. They were horribly flawed, slave owners, racist, did have issues with different religions and I can go on. Their ideals which I do believe were with the best of intentions are what our country is built on. There not all bad. I believe in we the people. Government for people by the people. We're all create equal. We all have right life, liberty, happiness, and freedom. I believe for everyone, everywhere. No their government doesn't have like ours (thank goodness). We especially should never allow any country to get away with genocide and look the way. We didn't in WWII. Even though we're not in this War with Israel as on the ground fighting, we're still in it by giving aid. But now the US giving aid to the enemy. If this was 1943, we'd basically giving aid to Hitler! That's never going to ok!

So please call your Representatives today!!

[mojoflower]

Time to Go Comment to Codify Traveler's Rights

[I just cut & pasted this from a recent mailing from Scott's Cheap Flights... which is a fabulous resource, if you don't know about them already. But here's a good way to reach out and begin stopping airlines from abusing passengers they way they've been doing more and more lately. Also, it's interesting to see that this is happening. Yay, Buttigieg!]

***

With rampant delays and cancellations, it’s been a tough summer for many travelers. But a new proposal from the Department of Transportation could finally make some headway in bolstering travelers’ rights.

Passengers’ rights today

Under federal law, if an airline cancels or significantly changes your flight, you are entitled to a full cash refund. Period. It does not matter if:

Your ticket is marked as non-refundable (e.g. basic economy)

It’s on a foreign airline flying into/out of a US airport

It’s not the airline’s fault (e.g. a global pandemic or bad weather)

You bought your ticket through a third party (though they may charge you a processing fee)

Your flight is on Spirit

Even if the airline’s cancellation email only mentions a flight voucher (as many do!), the Department of Transportation rule is crystal clear: If there’s a cancellation or significant change and you no longer wish to travel, you’re entitled to your money back.

The problem: how significant is “significant”? This lack of definition not only makes it confusing what your rights are, but it also allows airlines to change their policies on a whim. (Take United Airlines which, in March 2020, quietly changed their policy to claim that any delay less than 25 hours was not significant, and thus not refund-eligible.)

Separately, if you booked a flight in 2021 but didn’t feel safe traveling amidst a new variant, you were usually only eligible for a voucher if the flight still operated. And on some airlines, those vouchers had expiration dates as little as 2 or 3 months down the line.

Both those facts could soon change.

Proposed rule

Earlier this month, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg proposed new regulations that, if enacted, would be the largest boost to traveler protections in years. First, the DOT would finally define “significant.” Under the proposal, a “significant” delay is 3+ hours on a domestic flight or 6+ hours on an international flight. Second, the DOT would require airlines to provide non-expiring vouchers for pandemic-related disruptions. This would include things like closed borders, stay-at-home orders, or even just if you didn’t feel safe to travel because of a serious communicable disease. And if an airline takes a bailout—as US airlines did to the tune of tens of billions of dollars—those passengers would be entitled to refunds rather than non-expiring vouchers.

Make your voice heard

The proposed rule is currently in its required 90-day public comment period, after which the DOT will weigh feedback and finalize what final regulation (if any) to put forth. I guarantee airlines and their lobbyists will be registering their feedback in the hopes of watering down or even defeating this proposal. I’ve left a comment, and I’d encourage you to as well. (You can do so here in under 60 seconds.) ***Here's a link to Scott's comment, so you can use it as a model*** Don’t let the “proposed” nature of the rule fool you; it’s quite likely to become law. It doesn’t need to pass Congress, it just needs to complete the agency rulemaking process. While it will likely take over a year to be finalized, Buttigieg has been an outspoken advocate of travelers’ rights, and I would be surprised if the proposal ultimately fails.

This is not the EU passenger protection law

When I posted about this proposed rule on Twitter, many folks likened it to EC 261, the EU law that mandates up to 600 euros of compensation for delays or cancellations. There’s a big difference. The EU regulation gives you compensation and lets you keep your flight. This proposed rule only gives you a cash refund if you choose not to keep your flight. I’d love to see EC 261-style traveler protections in the US someday, but this isn’t it.

More to come?

Also this month, Buttigieg sent notice to the airlines of possible further action if they don’t voluntarily improve operations. He singled out two things that airlines should currently be expected to provide:

That airlines provide passengers with airport meal vouchers during 3+ hour delays.

That airlines provide passengers with hotel vouchers when flight disruptions strand travelers overnight.

While some airlines currently do this, it’s spotty at best and varies widely airline to airline and day to day.

Though these two are not yet formally proposed regulations, if airlines don’t improve service, that could change.

[secretgamergirl]

So this is why I’ve never liked the term “TERF.”

Earlier today someone linked me to an interview someone did with a well-known terrorist who was planning to host some hate rallies in New Zealand. I’m not going to link to it, because it does have a genocidal monster shouting hate speech, and I really don’t like putting that sort of thing in front of people (I feel bad enough with the above link for context). I will say though that the interviewer was someone who knew what she was talking about and was constantly calling her out on her utter BS, and the tour itself was cancelled when the very first stop on the tour had people throwing stuff at her on stage and she just kinda ran off. Nicely done New Zealand!

At one point in the interview though, the interviewer started to press her on just why she thinks it is that full on card-carrying neo-nazis keep showing up to her events and supporting her, which is, you know, a factual thing that happens, because she shares 100% of their ideology and all, and along with a lot of other random BS and denial that this is even a (very well documented) thing that happens, she blurted out a true statement to my surprise- “nazis would never support feminism!” This is true, as is the fact that they support the hell out of her, and everyone else in their movement, and a lot of people really do need to stop and solve that logic problem.

Now, I don’t like to bring this up, there’s a lot of other hats I wear that I’d much rather be seen with, but I’m an actual expert on modern fascism. Like, I’ve done tons of research and had findings published by recognized anti-fascist organizations and written about this for multiple publications, prepped materials for proposals to major corporations, the U.S. Congress, and the U.N. so what I’m going to get into here isn’t “random person on the internet has a hot take” it’s “this is what I’ve learned doing serious research on the subject.”

So, this woman who was going to speak in New Zealand is part of this... cult, frankly, which people refer to as the “TERFs.” They keep rebranding what they actually call themselves, but I’d like to focus on “TERF” because it’s an accronym, for “Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists” and that’s worth breaking down a little. The “Radical” is in there because, well, they’re a weird cult who spends every waking moment of every day whipping each other into a frenzied desire to enact plans to bring about the death of every trans person in the world. This also covers why “Trans-Exclusionary” is in there, but the actual noun modified by those adjectives is “Feminists” and like... not a single one of these people is a feminist.

I’m not painting with a broad brush here. It’s honestly a shockingly small group of people. You could fit them all in one room, people have done so several times, and new faces aren’t ever present at their meet-ups. It’s not especially hard if you’re so inclined to look into them one by one and get a handle on their beliefs and yeah, I do mean every single one of these people. I’m also not doing some kind of “no true Scotsman” thing here and saying they don’t qualify as feminists because they’re hateful monsters.

I’m saying they don’t qualify as feminists because they are actively opposed to every single agreed-upon tenet of feminism I’m aware of. Now granted, I don’t think there’s a specific list of bullet points everyone, or even like 95% of everyone are going to fully agree with, so here’s what comes immediately to my mind:

The most fundamental concept with feminism is the idea that people aren’t defined and limited by gender and should not be discriminated against along those lines. TERFs are constantly ranting and raving about how women are inferior to men when it comes to strength, endurance, speed, tests of skill, the ability to win trivia contests, and any other situation where they can claim women to be lesser in order to scaremonger.

I’m not going to give the time of day to any “feminist” who isn’t an intersectional feminist, extending this general ethos to all forms of discrimination. TERF discussion groups are a shocking hotbed of just absolutely shocking racism, classism, harping on people’s appearances, and general xenophobia. In particular they routinely come up with conspiracy theories about non-white women being “secretly men,” but they also regularly engage in full-blown “Jews control the banks and media!” conspiracy nonsense, your standard garden variety racism, and come out in vocal opposition to things like programs to give people free access to tampons/pads.

Surely though these people have a “my body my choice” sort of stance on abortion though, right? Why no! TERFs quite famously came out in force to oppose Ireland’s recent decriminalization of abortion.

OK, but what about de-stigmatizing sex-work? Yeah people also often refer to them as “SWERFs.” They all spout of baffling nonsense about “selling bodies” and “prostituted women” and crap like that.

Treating women as actual people and not just vessels for the birthing of new humans? Yeah no. This is like their ENTIRE thing. They define womanhood in terms of motherhood so dogmatically they’d cling to arguments that mean you stop being a woman when you hit menopause and a pregnant child is “a woman.”

How about queer rights in an explicitly cis context? We all generally associate lesbians with feminism, right? Well, funny thing about that. One of the many other terms TERFs use to refer to themselves is “political lesbians.” But they define that not in a way that has anything to do with women, but with “hating men” where of course “men” is acting as a code-word for trans women. They’re plenty fond of actual men, with most “political lesbians” having husbands and all, and they are, you guessed it, broadly repulsed by thoughts of two women being in love with each other.

OK, how about this. Just as a last ditch bare-minimum standard- the basic notion of being kind to women and supporting women’s success. Oh no, absolutely not. These people absolutely go for the throat of any woman who isn’t a member of the cult. Hell even internally they keep tabs on each other with spreadsheets policing language and such. They regularly refer to cis women who don’t actively hate trans people as “handmaidens.” Like as a reference to The Handmaid’s Tale. Specifically the women in it forced into sex slavery. Who they apparently see as the villains because, well, see the above bit on being called SWERFs.

Now as all of the above positions also line up neatly with the politics of Nazis, like the ones who work security when some of these people do public speaking gigs, or the husband of one of them who set up their personal social media site, piggybacking off the one set up for out and out neo-nazis, is it fair to refer to them as Nazis? I mean... it fits close enough that in most practical situations yeah, go right ahead with that. There IS the distinction though that even though they are anti-feminist as all hell, the majority of TERFs are themselves women, therefore your average Nazi thinks of them as sub-human and doesn’t really want to give them a seat at the table. There’s also the friction that Nazis are very much anti-intellectual, and while TERFs are all about denial of basic science, into fake journalism, and all-around disconnected from reality, they’re way way into presenting themselves as intellectuals, which is another big wedge there.

[dumbestthingiveeverheard]

Dumbest Thing I've Ever Heard: 8/9/2023

Fifth Place: Ann Coulter

Did you know that The New York Times is plotting against Ron DeSantis? If not, then you didn't read Ann Coulter's new column, where she writes:

Right now, nothing would help the Democratic Party more than somehow blocking Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida from becoming the Republican presidential nominee.

The Democratic Party doesn't have to block DeSantis, the Republican base has already done that for them. As established, DeSantis has been polling a distant second to Trump the entire race--and even that's starting to get rather difficult for DeSantis to maintain. The New York Times doesn't need to plot against him anymore than they needed to plot against Bill Weld in 2020.

Fourth Place: J. Michael Luttig

The retired right-wing judge was on CNN today, where he said the following:

Frankly, I don’t care about the Republican Party at all, except to the extent that the two political parties in America are the political guardians of democracy in our country. American democracy simply cannot function without two equally healthy and equally strong political parties. So, today, in my view, there is no Republican Party to counter the Democratic Party in the country. And for that reason, American democracy is in grave peril.

This notion that we somehow have to bail out the Republican Party because having two parties is needed for democracy is utter nonsense. It would be no different than somebody making the same comment about the Whig Party, the Federalist Party, or the Democratic Republicans. The Anti-Masonic Party dissolving did not turn us into a one party state, nor did the end of the Know Nothing Party.

In truth, we already have multiple political parties outside of the main two--the Libertarians could take a chance in Congress, as could the Green Party, and the Reform Party, and the Right to Life Party, and the Socialist Party, and tons of others. The end of the Republican Party will not mean perpetual Democratic rule, it will mean a new party will finally have the chance to rise from the ashes.

Third Place: Mike Pence

Did you know Joe Biden launched a war on gas? That's what Mike Pence declares in a new video where he badly attempts to look like he's filling a pickup truck. Of course, the rise in gas prices since 2020 has to do primarily with the fact that people are--you know--actually driving now and weren't back then, the COVID-19 pandemic caused people to travel much less. (One person told me the roads were so clear a previously hour and a half long car trip took them fifteen minutes.) It's this thing called supply and demand, when demand increases and supply doesn't prices go up because the amount people are willing to pay goes up.

Oh, and if Biden is declaring some kind of war on energy, somebody should really consider telling the President given he has approved more oil and gas drilling permits on public land than Trump--wrongfully in my opinion.

Second Place: Nick Akerman

If you're like me, you think the Donald Trump trial should be televised--that is not the opinion of Nick Akerman, who wrote an article from The New York Times with headline of "Why Televising the Trump Trial Is a Bad Idea." You see, although the media has felt the need to televise every trial it thinks it can sensationalize that it comes across, it seems like the one which would actually change the lives of the American people needs to be behind closed doors. Public transparency is only for OJ Simpson, not for the former President.

Actually, the article mentions the OJ trial, and Akerman says:

A major lesson from the O.J. Simpson murder trial, which gripped the nation when it was broadcast starting in 1995, is how the impact of television can undermine a trial when the judge, the lawyers, the defendant and the witnesses play to the viewing audience, as they did then. This turned a grave murder trial, with Mr. Simpson’s guilt or innocence hanging in the balance, into daily entertainment.

Given how OJ Simpson is now one of the most hated men in America as he had been since the start of the trial, it seems rather surprising that Akerman is saying televising this trial would somehow help Donald Trump.

Winner: Matt Walsh

White people are not going extinct, despite what Matt Walsh will tell you. A recent article in The Hill did find that white people might not be a majority in this country come from twenty years from now, but that does not mean we will be losing white people. In spite of that, Matt did a long rant on his show today about how white people could be going extinct in the near future.

I will not be reprinting that rant, because it is nothing short of the rantings of a deranged racist--but I will say it is based on a total misunderstanding of data, one I do not believe was unintentional.

Matt Walsh, you've said the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

[grumpycakes]

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE VOTE 2, DISASTER BOOGALOO CONT.

OCTOBER 18 2023 • DAY 2 VOTE 2 • 11:30am

< Previous (day 1)

McHenry, interim Speaker, doesn't slam the gavel so damn loud for once!!!!

They have the Chaplin lead the house in a prayer. And like, she seems lovely, the prayer was fine. But the fact that we have a CHAPLIN SAY PRAYER BEFORE THE HOUSE COMMENCES A VOTE. WHEN WE HAVE A WHOLE ASS RULE ABOUT SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE.

anyway

They are lead in the pledge of allegiance like goddamn children in US schools.

They do the WHO'S HERE, vote/buzz in to make sure they have a Quorum (aka enough ppl here to hold a legit vote of the majority of congress). There's a timer for the vote but it always runs out and sits at 0 for a few mins before they call it. It's strange.

433 are here, 212 Democrats, 221 Republicans, 217 votes for a majority, (Jordan can only lose 4 votes)

McHenry gives the SIDDOWN IT'S NOMINATING SPEECH TIME command. He had to call for the tellers like an annoyed teacher when the students they're calling aren't coming up. He is condescending and annoying to me.

SPEECHES

Mic Cole Republican Representative from Oklahoma

Talks about how he'd said the people who did this would cause chaos and uncertainty. And that he was proven right (loll you fucking said it dude)

He talks about how this garners finger pointing/blame/badmouthing between the aisle but that HE'S not going to (Very big of you, ur so good/s)

He's friends w Jim Jordan and goes into telling us how great and superspecialawesome Jordan is

When he mentions that Jordan has great personal integrity there are GROANS from the house. Damn

Says being the speaker takes a spine of steel (lolll idk if he's meaning this as a jab at McCarthy and spinelessness, but I love it)

Bullshit about Dems not helping out but that they shouldn't have to rely on them and that if you're a republican your choice should be easy (IT SHOULD, SO WHAT DOES THAT SAY)

Standard Republican BS on spending, border wall lies, racist dog whistles about illegal border crossing. Bad time all around

LOLL I realized Border Security is also BS so that's fitting

Says no one has done more for Border Security than Jordan ( first off, doubt it. Second that is NOT A GOOD THING)

Goes into Israel guilt trip

Says it's Israel's right to respond forcefully and gets a goddamn standing ovation (please stop glorifying war)

Calls on all Repub.s to use they're narrow majority to get them a speaker

CAN WE NOT UNITE CONGRESS ON HELPING A COUNTRY DO WAR????

Jim Aguilar Democratic Representative of California

Starts by saying he's here to nominate Hakeem Jeffries (bratty dems cheer about it lol)

Promises to make speeches shorter if this gets as ridonk as last time (can we start it now tho???)

Points out that Jim Jordan has had secret meetings and probably made back deals to get speakership

Points out that Jeffries has 212 votes, not technically a majority, but more than any Repub

Points out that Jordan denies the election of 2020, hasn't ever actually made legislation, or done like basic lawmaking shit

Warns of Jordan's extreme agenda of stripping abortion rights, gutting social security and medicaid/care, and his apparent willingness to not go after Jan 6 perps.

Calls out the Repubs for putting us through 15 days of chaos, and that 15 days is enough

Gets to boast about how united Dems are (very nana nana boo boo lol)

blahblahblah Jeffries, Dems get shit done standard shit

DEMOCRATS CHANT JEFFRIES FOR LIKE A MINUTE. Like I get it, but also ew

VOTING STARTS

NOTABLE VOTES

(key: * change in voting from yesterday | + same vote as yesterday)

Bacon - McCarthy + (Poor clerk has to pause to write McCarthy in)

Bilirakis - Actually votes today! Jordan *

Buchannon - Donalds * (OH he voted for Jordan yesterday!!! mmmmm two more and Jordan loses)

Buck - Emmer +

Chavez Deremer - McCarthy + (Lots of murmuring as I'm sure everyone is aware that Jordan has now lost)

Conolly - Says something about election deniers, votes for Jeffries, sounds like the Republicans didn't like it

D'Esposito - Zelden +

Diaz-Balart - Scalise +

Ellzey - Mike Garcia +

Ferguson - Scalise * (BRAND NEW DEFECTOR WEEWOOWEEWOO)

Garbarino - Zelden +

Gimenez - McCarthy +

Gonzalez (Tom) - Scalise +

Granger - Scalise +

James - Candance Miller of Michigan * (new suggestion, but he didn't vote for Jordan yesterday either)

Jeffries and Jordan get applause when they vote for themselves (rolls eyes into oblivion)

Kelly of PA - "Former Speaker of the house John Boehner" * (voted for Scalise Yesterday. Also that's how you spELL BAYNOR???)

Kiggans - McCarthy +

LaLota - Zelden +

LaMalfa - JORDAN * (Gets cheers for falling in line eugh)

Lawler - McCarthy +

Lee of NV - Jeffries but people cheered about it??? +

McCarthy - Jordan (Still gets applause about it but it's less than yesterday lololol)

Miller-Meeks - Granger * (NEW DEFECTOR WEEWOO)

Payne - MIA/Jeffries on recall but he gets claps about it??? +

Pelosi - Jeffries + (We... we don't gotta cheer for her every time do we???)

Rutherford - Scalise +

Scalise - Jordan (loll love that he's just like "I do not see it")

Simpson - Scalise +

Spartz - MIA/Actually Votes today on recall!! Jordan * (they clap about it)

Stauber - Westerman * (WHO THE FUCK?? New defector wee w-)

Tlaib - MIA/Votes Jeffries on recall +

Trone - MIA/Votes Jeffries on recall + (hey T Dems, get it together!!!)

VanOrden - Jordan + (HAS THAT ONE FAN CLAP FOR HIM ABOUT IT AGAIN. YEA JUST ONE DUDE)

Womack - Scalise +

McHenry calls them to order and then SHUSHES THEM, AGAIN LIKE AN ANNOYING TEACHER. YOU ARE GROSS AND CREEPY.

433 Present • 217 votes to win

199 votes for Jordan (OH SHIT U LOST GROUND)

212 votes Jeffries (Dems just gotta cheer about it like the petty assholes they are and deserve to be)

5 McCarthy (HA HA)

3 Lee Zelden

7 Scalise

1 Byron Donalds *

1 Mike Garcia

1 Candace Miller *

1 John Boehner *

1 Kay Granger *

1 Bruce Westerman *

(Some new names on there!)

No majority, no speaker has been chosen.

McHenry must be scarred from the back to back voting in Jan and AGAIN IMMEDIATELY calls the house into recess and the feeds cut.

IMPORTANT TAKEAWAYS/NEWS

As stated before NOTHING can happen EXCEPT to vote in a new Speaker without a Speaker appointed. And they're fast approaching the deadline for needing to have the budget done. So the Republicans basically have 2 choices.

1 Pick a different Nominee. Problem here is that there's enough far rights to stop the election of a Moderate/wiling to COMPROMISE AND WORK WITH OTHERS candidate. And there are enough moderates to stop the election of a super far right candidate.

Wee could be in a hellish limbo

2 Make a resolution w the help of Democrats to empower McHenry, Intnerim (Pro Tempur) Speaker, allowing him to oversee the budget shit and LET CONGRESS DO SOME GOVERNING.

Jordan got 4 votes to go to him he didn't have before, but LOST 5 VOTES at the same time. Jordan left everyone with the impression that he would be gaining votes. If he were a less power hungry fart, he'd step down, but he refuses.

Speaker of the house is 3rd in line to the presidency (so if Prez and Vice Prez get axed the Speaker becomes president). So it does make sense that some are fighting very hard to not vote in Jordan. However, trump and the MAGA bs has such a chokehold on the Republican base that the Moderate Republicans don't want to vote for a candidate not backed by trump. But like, what in the dystopian hell.

Jordan, to be taken seriously as a candidate, would have PREFERABLY won back votes. And while he kinda did, he kinda also lost one MORE than he gained. Amazing you failure party.

YES TECHNICALLY either 10 REPUBLICANS vote as present and let Jeffries get elected OR 5 DEMOCRATS vote themselves present adjusting the needed vote to 215 (which Jordan is still not getting). Again, Political Suicide, not going to happen.

Republicans were going to have a meeting at about 1 30PM EST.

A spokes person for Jordan said he's not STEPPING DOWN AND IS READY FOR A 3RD ROUND OF VOTING! (for the love)

Next vote to probably be held tomorrow about midday EST

Next Day 3 >

[nickgerlich]

Imagine This

Amid all the talk about the US and other nations possibly banning TikTok, the states and universities already doing so, and worries about national security, no one has raised the $64,000 question: What would life be like without it?

At the personal level, that’s an easy one. I seldom if ever use it, and could easily live without it. But what about those people who spend multiple hours each day on it, those influencers relying on it to push their content and to make money, those businesses doing likewise? Now you’re starting to step on toes.



But there is such a place on this orb that has gone without TikTok for three years now: Hong Kong. And it’s not because this special administrative region of China banished the social media app or anything. No, TikTok deselected itself from the region entirely. There was a new national security law that went into effect on 1st July 2020, which allowed police to request user data without a warrant.

Whoa. That’s serious stuff. And think about it. This caused TikTok to blink hard enough to pull its service entirely. Compare this to how hard it has defended itself to Congress.

While TikTok had not become quite as ubiquitous there as it is in the States today, it was still a powerful medium. Pulling the plug meant that local businesses and influencers had to start all over on other platforms, like Instagram. I’m sure it was very disruptive, but at the same time, it’s not like there weren’t other social media sites to while away the day for casual users. Can you say infinite scroll?

While we are pondering a city that has already gone without TikTok, let us now consider the extreme: a place with no social media whatsoever. I know. It’s hard to imagine. Heck, we wouldn’t have much need for this class, because digital marketing could be tucked away into other courses. 



All we have to do is turn back the clock 21 years, to when Friendster launched, followed by MySpace (2003) and Facebook (2004). Sure, there were a few feeble attempts at what could loosely be called social media before then, like Classmates, as well as the many discussion boards and listservs. But that’s like saying the Blackberry was a smartphone. Close, but no cigar.

For most of my students, that would be a time when they were mere toddlers. In other words, you have only known a time when social media was present. And that is a big part of the reason why you are called digital natives. You have known nothing else.

Now imagine it all gone. That’s like asking an old timer like me to imagine life without television. Of course, I can imagine life without landline phones, because we did away with those in recent years. But television? No way.

Were we to do away with all social media, meaning all the usual suspects as well as YouTube, because that is as much a social platform as any of the others, our lives would be very different. We would plausibly have a lot more free time, or at least time to do other things. You know that Weekly Screen Time thing that Apple sends to its users every Sunday? Mine is bad bad bad.

We also would not have to be concerned about the effects of social media on young girls, which research has shown has serious negative effects. Think self-esteem as well as fears over their location being revealed.

Furthermore, the culture of narcissism that has blossomed during the social media era would be put back in its box. We would have to resort to other ways to admire ourselves. We’d have to find other ways to get that dopamine rush that comes with getting online affirmations. Maybe we’d have to join softball or bowling leagues, choirs, acting troupes, whatever in order to get the attaboys and attagirls that we all crave.

I also see how my social media behavior has changed in recent years, most notably since COVID and a highly contentious election. Today, I consume social media for entertainment. I post one, maybe two, items a day, but always steer clear of engaging people in conversations that will likely require multiple comments back and forth. If this sounds like an argument, you would be right. I have better things to do. Or, as I say to myself every day, “I do not suffer fools gladly.” Repeat after me.

But while it might be fun to consider a world without social media, I’m not so sure it would be as great as we might think. Consider our ability to stay in touch with people from the many chapters of our lives. At the tender young age of 25, you may not think that to be much, but add four decades, and suddenly you have many chapters with many players. I do not want to imagine the rest of my life without all of those connections.

And then there are the limitations of physical geography. In a world without social media, we are limited to knowing people with whom we could come in actual contact. But thanks to Facebook, et al., we can meet many new people, and sometimes even make friends or find spouses. It’s a lot harder to do that if you just hang out at the same old bar.

We would also have to revert to old information sources to stay on top of the news. My feed is carefully curated to local and national media so that I have all the news that’s fit to print, along with long-read features from reputable magazines. I would miss that, and in many regards, my life would become more complicated without it.

Finally, what else would I do during fits of insomnia? I know. Experts tell us that we should sleep in total darkness, and the light emitted by our phones will only make us more awake. But I read to get sleepy. Without all the scrolling or autoplaying of reels, I would have to do what I did in the Stone Age: Turn on the lamp and pick up a book or magazine. I’m pretty sure that’s quite a bit worse when it comes to all that light.

Yeah, I can imagine a world without TikTok, if only because I am not particularly engaged. But when it comes to social media, it, like so many other changes we have discussed this term, has already left the station. And maybe, like Ozzy Osbourne, we’re going off the rails on this crazy train.

It’s just that I don’t know that I want to go back to the station.


Dr “The Media Sells It And You Live The Role“ Gerlich

Audio Blog

[96thdayofrage]

We must be intentional in our aim to build upon a nation with such a rich heritage. This history shapes and makes America the greatest country on the planet.

Our nation didn’t earn this from being one without faults, or shortcomings, but rather because we have the opportunity to get it right, to celebrate the good and even embrace the bad — accepting the bad with the understanding that we can’t change the past, but we have an obligation to our posterity to lay the foundation for unity, peace, hope and love.

So given this opportunity to acknowledge and to celebrate a pivotal part of American history, it is with honor and with intense joy that I say “Happy Juneteenth!”

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. It is also known as Emancipation Day, Day of Jubilee, Freedom Day, Black Independence Day and our Country’s Second Independence.

It's a 156-year-old holiday, yet until recently, most Americans had never heard of Juneteenth. One must ask why?

Nevertheless, let's explore the events that have led to this momentous celebration in America today.

Again, Juneteenth is a holiday celebrating the freedom of slaves in the United States. The name "Juneteenth" derives from the month of June and the 19th day; it is celebrated each year on June 19.

Slavery is viewed by many historians as our country’s original sin. According to Hasan Kwame Jeffries, associate professor of history at Ohio State University, “Slavery was our country’s Achilles’ heel, responsible for its near undoing. When the Southern states seceded, they did so expressly to preserve slavery.”

On Sep. 22, 1862, the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln. It would go into effect on Jan. 1, 1863. On New Year's Eve 1862, the first “Watch Night” services took place. On that night, all enslaved and free African Americans gathered in churches and in their homes across the country awaiting news of the Emancipation Proclamation.

The proclamation declared “that all persons held as slaves within the rebellious states are, and henceforward shall be free.” At midnight, prayers were answered as all enslaved people in Confederate states were legally declared free. Union soldiers, many of whom were black, marched onto plantations and across cities in the South reading small copies of the Emancipation Proclamation, thus spreading the news of freedom throughout the Confederate states.

The most intriguing thing about “all” of the slaves celebrating the Emancipation Proclamation is that this proclamation only freed slaves in Confederate states that left the Union during the Civil War. Border states, the states that stayed in the union — Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland and Delaware, were not impacted.

Though the Emancipation Proclamation became effective on Jan. 1, 1863, it could not be implemented in places that were still under Confederate control. As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until much later.

On June 19, 1865, freedom finally came 2½ years after the Emancipation Proclamation when Gen. Gordon Granger and his troops traveled to Galveston, Texas, to announce General Order No. 3. The result of this order? More than 250,000 enslaved people were freed.

Consequently, the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified by Congress six months later on Dec. 6, 1865. It officially abolished slavery in the United States.

The culmination of the above events led to the first Juneteenth celebration the very next year in Texas, on June 19, 1866. The original observances included food, singing of spirituals such as “Many Thousands Gone” and “Go Down Moses,” prayers, dances, parades; some events featured fireworks which involved filling trees with gunpowder and setting them on fire.

It is also noted that early celebrations involved helping newly freed Blacks learn about their voting rights.

Juneteenth has been mostly celebrated in Texas and has been a state holiday for Texans since 1980. Since then, other states followed in the acknowledgments and celebrations. Today, people celebrate Juneteenth in different ways: prayer vigils, parades, marches, street fairs, fireworks, presentations about black heritage, barbecues, public service awards, Miss Juneteenth pageants and even raising the Juneteenth Flag.

This flag is half red and half blue with a star in the middle. As part of the celebration, red food and strawberry soda were popular in that they symbolized the blood of the enslaved and the resilience in bondage.

Currently, almost all states recognize Juneteenth in some capacity; nonetheless, only a few states have made it an official holiday. On June 17, 2021, Congress passed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, and President Joe Biden signed it into law making it a federal holiday.

Gov. Kay Ivey has authorized Juneteenth as a holiday for state workers this year in Alabama. Furthermore, it is especially meaningful to me as a former educator that Gadsden City Council voted unanimously to approve Juneteenth as an official holiday in the city. It speaks volumes to their continuous commitment to educate, to encourage diversity, to be inclusive and yes, to acknowledge and celebrate American history.

In closing, I would like to reflect personally on what Juneteenth means to me. Let me digress back to the day leading up to freedom for those enslaved. I think about the “Watch Night” services and how much praise, worship and prayer they most undoubtedly were engaged in.

As midnight approached, I would like to think the praise and worship became ecstatic even amongst those slaves in the borders states that were exempt from this proclamation of freedom. I want to believe their prayers helped open the door to freedom.

I’m always amazed at stories of those enslaved and their perseverance, their unwavering spirit of hope. With the history of slavery, its ending and, now, Juneteenth celebrations around the world, it's a reminder of the resilience and faith many slaves had.

Slaves were hopeful people, not hopeless people, and despite their temporary bondage, God was still in control!

Again, I can only imagine what Juneteenth meant to the newly freed slaves on Jan. 1, 1863, those in Texas who were released 2½ years later and those in the border states six months after that. I can say in my years of studying and teaching on slavery from its origin to emancipation, one thing is evident: Most slaves had a prayer life.

Juneteenth is not a Black cultural event; it is an American cultural event. As we celebrate Juneteenththis year, come in a spirit of expectation, a spirit of love, a spirit of unity, a spirit of hope that our future as Americans will be brighter than our past.

“Won’t it be wonderful when Black history and Native American history and Jewish history and all of U.S. history is taught in one book. Just U.S. history,” wrote Maya Angelou.

I firmly believe that I have an obligation — we have an obligation — to strengthen one another, to encourage one another, to teach the past with a hint of optimism that from the darkest depths in our nation's history there is light. We are to be the light of the world.

The late, great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.”

Ernestina Cady Hardrick taught African American Studies and American Government at Gadsden City High School. She retired this year. The opinions reflected are her own.