#this is what democracy looks like

[odinsblog]

🗣️THIS IS WHAT INCLUSIVE, COMPASSIONATE DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE

Minnesota Dems enacted a raft of laws to make the state a trans refuge, and ensure people receiving trans care here can't be reached by far-right governments in places like Florida and Texas. (link)

Minnesota Dems ensured that everyone, including undocumented immigrants, can get drivers' licenses. (link)

They made public college free for the majority of Minnesota families. (link)

Minnesota Dems dropped a billion dollars into a bevy of affordable housing programs, including by creating a new state housing voucher program. (link)

Minnesota Dems massively increased funding for the state's perpetually-underfunded public defenders, which lets more public defenders be hired and existing public defenders get a salary increase. (link)

Dems raised Minnesota education spending by 10%, or about 2.3 billion. (link)

Minnesota Dems created an energy standard for 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040. (link)

Minnesota already has some of the strongest election infrastructure (and highest voter participation) in the country, but the legislature just made it stronger, with automatic registration, preregistration for minors, and easier access to absentee ballots. (link)

Minnesota Dems expanded the publicly subsidized health insurance program to undocumented immigrants. This one's interesting because it's the sort of things Dems often balk at. The governor opposed it! The legislature rolled over him and passed it anyway. (link)

Minnesota Dems expanded background checks and enacted red-flag laws, passing gun safety measures that the GOP has thwarted for years. (link)

Minnesota Dems gave the state AG the power to block the huge healthcare mergers that have slowly gobbled up the state's medical system. (link)

Minnesota Dems restored voting rights to convicted felons as soon as they leave prison. (link)

Minnesota Dems made prison phone calls free. (link)

Minnesota Dems passed new wage protection rules for the construction industry, against industry resistance. (link)

Minnesota Dems created a new sales tax to fund bus and train lines, an enormous victory for the sustainability and quality of public transit. Transit be more pleasant to ride, more frequent, and have better shelters, along more lines. (link)

They passed strict new regulations on PFAS ("forever chemicals"). (link)

Minnesota Dems passed the largest bonding bill in state history! Funding improvements to parks, colleges, water infrastructure, bridges, etc. etc. etc. (link)

They're going to build a passenger train from the Twin Cities to Duluth. (link)

I can't even find a news story about it but there's tens of millions in funding for new BRT lines, too. (link)

A wonky-but-important change: Minnesota Dems indexed the state gas tax to inflation, effectively increasing the gas tax. (link)

They actually indexed a bunch of stuff to inflation, including the state's education funding formula, which helps ensure that school spending doesn't decline over time. (link)

Minnesota Dems made hourly school workers (e.g., bus drivers and paraprofessionals) eligible for unemployment during summer break, when they're not working or getting paid. (link)

Minnesota Dems passed a bunch of labor protections for teachers, including requiring school districts to negotiate class sizes as part of union contracts. (Yet another @SydneyJordanMN special here. (link)

Minnesota Dems created a state board to govern labor standards at nursing homes. (link)

Minnesota Dems created a Prescription Drug Affordability Board, which would set price caps for high-cost pharmaceuticals. (link)

Minnesota Dems created new worker protections for Amazon warehouse workers and refinery workers. (link)

Minnesota Dems passed a digital fair repair law, which requires electronics manufacturers to make tools and parts available so that consumers can repair their electronics rather than purchase new items. (link)

Minnesota Dems made Juneteenth a state holiday. (link)

Minnesota Dems banned conversion therapy. (link)

They spent nearly a billion dollars on a variety of environmental programs, from heat pumps to reforestation. (link)

Minnesota Dems expanded protections for pregnant and nursing workers - already in place for larger employers - to almost everyone in the state. (link)

Minnesota Dems created a new child tax credit that will cut child poverty by about a quarter. (link)

Minnesota Democrats dropped a quick $50 million into homelessness prevention programs. (link)

And because the small stuff didn't get lost in the big stuff, they passed a law to prevent catalytic converter thefts. (link)

Minnesota Dems increased child care assistance. (link)

Minnesota Dems banned "captive audience meetings," where employers force employees to watch anti-union presentations. (link)

No news story yet, but Minnesota Dems forced signal priority changes to Twin Cities transit. Right now the trains have to wait at intersections for cars, which, I can say from experience, is terrible. Soon that will change.

Minnesota Dems provided the largest increase to nursing home funding in state history. (link)

They also bumped up salaries for home health workers, to help address the shortage of in-home nurses. (link)

Minnesota Dems legalized drug paraphernalia, which allows social service providers to conduct needle exchanges and address substance abuse with reduced fear of incurring legal action. (link)

Minnesota Dems banned white supremacists and extremists from police forces, capped probation at 5 years for most crimes, improved clemency, and mostly banned no-knock warrants. (link)

Minnesota Dems also laid the groundwork for a public health insurance option. (link)

I’m happy for the people of Minnesota, but as a Floridian living under Ron DeSantis & hateful Republicans, I’m also very envious tbh. We know that democracy can work, and this is a shining example of what government could be like in the hands of legislators who actually care about helping people in need, and not pursuing the GOP’s “culture wars” and suppressing the votes of BIPOC, and inflicting maximum harm on those who aren’t cis/het, white, wealthy, Christian males. BRAVO MINNESOTA. This is how you do it! And the Minnesota Dems did it with a one seat majority, so no excuses. Forget about the next election and focus on doing as much good as you can, while you still can. 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

👉🏿 https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1660846689450688514.html

[jomiddlemarch]

Spent the morning at the Planned Parenthood rally/march (rally at our state Supreme Court followed by march through the streets to the State House.) Addressed 75 postcards to voters in New Hampshire. Emailed my state finance committee to urge them to pass a bill expanding access to abortion in my state. 

There are so many ways to take action. You don’t have to do them all. Pick one.

[sataniccapitalist]

BREAKING: In what might be the worst case of police repression in recent US history, 61 mostly peaceful Cop City protestors are in a Georgia court today to face "racketeering" charges and 35-yr prison terms.

Shameful abuse of power by @Georgia_AG Carr.⤵️ https://wabe.org/arraignment-set-for-cop-city-protesters-charged-with-racketeering/

[shima-draws]

Seething at one of the tags on that poll saying FMA is a military + genocide apologist anime have you even WATCHED it

[chimaeraonwards]

what the fuck

Source: Al Jazeera

is this what life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness looks like? is this democracy?

shame on the united states of america

[kingsmoot]

welcome to the night's watch a noble thousands year old institution run with the most hairbrained bullshit scam artist election fraud voting system ever conceived

[valyrianfreehold]

As much as I love dragons and I am overly invested in dragons in this setting and always get incredibly sad and emotional when they suffer/die I do not forget that at their core they’re flying metaphors for power. They’re weapons used for enforcing and maintaining power by people whose interests lay in feudalism, patriarchy, and monarchy.

They do have personality and spiritual/magical connection to their riders but they are not sentient. They represent an age that was doomed to catastrophically collapse because they were created with blood magic and suffering and deployed to enforce an empire created on the back of chattel slavery and conquest.

It was practically written in the stars that the Targaryens would inevitably turn on each other and tear each other apart and their dragons would die in this conflict long before their house’s collapse.

It is my personal wish that Dany’s children are the true last of their kind. She brings change and hope and a future for society and a fighting chance against the Others but I don’t think her dreams are sustainable on the backs of a renewed dynasty of dragon riders. It makes me sad bc I think dragons are such a fun and romantic and exciting part of fantasy writing but I also like GRRM’s world and attached commentary. And what dragons mean in this setting is ultimately an unsustainable fiery grip on absolute power. Dragons plant no trees.

I hope that Dany is the last Targaryen because in her quest of looking forward to the possibility of a new world, she builds her dreams on a foundation that is not doomed to rot and burn away.

[asocial-skye]

I like the Jedi, but I don't know why "A powerful military organization that actively supports the government while not being a part of the government should have criticized the corrupt policies of their state and raised objections to enslaving and buying human beings" is such a negative take that it warrants being put in the jedi critical tag.

[persephoneflouwers]

[emily-mooon]

Look at my children and tell me that you love them.

[wifegideonnav]

gonna be honest im tired of the brackets now. we could’ve just stopped after sexyman and tumblrwoman. i promise you don’t actually have to survey people to determine the disco elysium character with the cutest knee dimples. put the polls down and back away slowly.

[cptnbeefheart]

Please tell me more about the homosexual subtext in Jaws. I hadn't considered it before!

there is something inherently sexual to me about 3 men being stranded in the middle of nowhere with nothing but each other to accompany themselves in between the thrill of the hunt ... how the only person with a family is the chief. Quint, Brody, hooper all being truly committed to their work, and we see Brody's struggle with this when his child's life is in danger as a result of his inaction. i really love the moments before hooper & brody's dinner where michael brody is imitating his father-- making the same pained expressions without knowing what could be so troubling to his dad. young michael learning to perform his masculinity by watching the chief internalize the consequences of mayor vaughn's refusal to protect civilians amidst shark attacks. AND ALL AT THE DINNER TABLE AS ELLEN OBSERVES.. when hooper, brody & quint are finally on the boat and we see hooper imitate quint's can-crushing in the same way michael imitates the chief. The chief's power and jurisdiction clashing with quints. Before the departure when Brody kisses ellen goodbye and she cries not just because she is fearful that he may be putting his life in danger but because of his proximity to Quint. who sings raunchy songs about women only in the context of their sexuality. and who has hooper and brody prove their competence and strength to him before he can allow them to join the hunt. quint never opening up about the uss indianapolis until moments before his death.. hooper LITERALLY baring his chest at quint & brody and explaining his failures in his relationships with women. while brody observes, wondering if the only scar he has, an appendix removal is enough to share.. the trio's shared experience by the end is as intimate and scarring as anything they've ever endured. TOGETHER AS MEN

sorry this is so disorganized and not really elaborating moreso just conjuring images and pointing at them pepe silvia style

[thisismenow3]

Semantics or genuine misunderstandings?

I keep feeling such… depression, I guess? Anger ain’t the right word, nor is sadness. It’s just an all encompassing defeat kind of feeling when I see someone defend their position on an important topic by pretending only the most egregious kind of idiotic arguments against their position are the other side.

The specific instance for this right now is seeing people act like anti-Zionism means anti Jew ignoring the multiple meanings of the word. And then do things such as act like the only way people could side with Palestinians (they usually just say Hamas and limit how often they say the name of the people group being oppressed… wonder why) is if no Israelis were harmed October 7 2023. Bru, some people are malicious idiots that think this way, but I and many people who don’t believe in reactionary group punishment (war crimes) don’t need to ignore the rape and murder and etc of Israelis on October 7 to know two wrongs don’t make a right.

And underneath it all is a failure to engage with the biggest and most salient point of the “side” they rail against; why do people in the West Bank deserve to have their homes taken over and themselves violently thrown out by Israeli settlers? Oh that’s already been happening for 75 years? Seems like you’re ignoring the real issue then. Hamas will always have recruits as long as the Palestinians are treated as sub humans who cannot have freedom of movement, cannot have freedom to keep their stuff or their lives. This applies to Gaza as well, but it’s curious that even with the two step of “they killed and raped civilians! So of course we must snipe grandmas in the streets and in mosques and churches while pillaging and raping in the rubble!” they can’t engage with the fact that they’ve tied their idea of their own and their group’s safety to the genocide of the outgroup. And that on top of that they misuse accusation of antisemitism to hide from this reality like some kind of American Christofascist would, or Russian propagandist, or Azeri nationalist.

But this reality levels their whole wordview, not just argument. They need the delusion of settlers stealing land and houses and soldiers sniping old women and children and denying food, clean water and healthcare to somehow being necessary to combat Hamas… cause otherwise you’d have to admit you are supporting a government that is trying to speed run the American genocide of native Americans. We, Americans, didn’t have to fully regime change or do anything to Iraq to fight terrorism or to keep ourselves safe. More people should’ve listened to how this was reactionary “spill more of their blood to salve our wounded pride and the hearts of those who died in the towers!!!!!!!!” bullshit, but they didn’t. What Israel did and does to Palestinians before October 7 and since makes all of the Levant less safe. Just like with counter terrorism, war and war crimes actually make the problem worse and soft power non military solutions are the actual defenses