We have 45 days to express our opposition to catastrophic changes.
It's the End of American Science As We Know It
We have 45 days to express our opposition to catastrophic changes.
[...] These rules, which we have 45 days to comment on starting May 29th, will affect every federal agency, affecting Housing, Education, Health and Human Services, NASA, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy among all the others.
I urge you to read Elizabeth Ginexi’s detailed summary. The broad brush strokes reflect the historical authoritarian moves described in my talk:
Diminishing or eliminating peer review in favor of political appointee decision-making. The peer-review process is where experts anonymously assess scientific proposals and outcomes on the basis of their expertise. Removing this means that funding decisions will be made on the basis of political sensibilities, rather than scientific sense.
Targeting climate change research, which is our best hope for sustaining all life on Earth. U.S. government agencies are some of the biggest climate change research organizations in the world and gutting their capacity to do this work literally puts the future of our species at risk.
Targeting and cutting research by and about disfavored minority groups (specifically trans people and anyone doing “DEI,” where it’s clear “DEI” is primarily a placeholder for “Black people” in the eyes of this administration).
Political litmus tests for researchers that allow grants to be cut if the researcher is a member of a civil rights organization the administration doesn’t like, even when their membership activities are kept completely separate from grant activity.
Total control over researcher conference attendance.
Functionally this means a political takeover of university research apparatuses by encouraging universities to censor their researchers.
This will also function as fiscal influence over professional societies through cuts to researcher attendance of conference and membership dues.
These changes are dystopian and ecologically unsustainable. They also completely unravel the American scientific enterprise in a way that is so thorough that you’d think only someone who really hates the United States would do this.
[...] Here’s What You Can Do
Submit a comment opposing these changes. You can use Elizabeth Ginexi’s summary to help you highlight the problems. YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE A GOOD WRITER TO DO THIS! JUST WRITE WHAT IS IN YOUR HEART!
This is a federal government issue, but it will affect the states because many of them get grants from the federal government. Contact your state reps — House and Senate — and governor and urge them to publicly and vigorously oppose these changes. Yes even if they are Republican. Remind them of how this will hurt farmers who get funding from the Department of Agriculture, state public health infrastructure, etc. These rule changes are almost certainly illegal under Congressionally-passed laws, and we need the states to be ready to sue if they get implemented.
Contact your Congressional representatives. Phone calls are better than emails, but do the best you can. You can use 5 Calls to find the numbers. Yes you need to call Republicans. Be a thorn in their side, even if you think they won’t listen.
Tell everyone who will listen. Forward this email. Text people the link to Elizabeth Ginexi’s summary.
So, Things Are Terrible and You Want to DO SOMETHING
The election is over and, ah...did not go well. While a lot of folks are doing a post mortem of the campaigns and trying to understand what happened with the vote and fighting over who shoulders the blame, we've gotta turn an eye toward the future and figure out, okay fam, where the fuck do we go from here.
I don't have all the answers on this, and I'm not an authority by any means, I'm just a horror author with a blog. But I've been thinking a lot about it and I wanted to share my thought process with others who might want to DO SOMETHING but feel they're spinning their wheels.
Buckle in. This will be a long one.
Step One: Understand the actual risks and stakes.
I think it is very easy to start panicking now about the worst possible case scenario -- jackbooted military busting into the door to disappear everyone who ever said something mean about Trump or bought a banned book or something -- and let fear turn into inaction.
I'm not saying things can't get that bad, and I'm not saying that it won't be absolutely terrifying right out the gate for some particularly at-risk groups -- but the distance between "now" and "V for Vendetta" is long and filled with a lot of intermediary steps. There will be so many opportunities to prevent the worst case scenario.
I say this because, if your mental image of "Bad Things Happening" is The Purge, it will be easy to wake up on inauguration day, look outside to see that the world is not on fire, think, hey, maybe things will be okay after all, and then completely disengage. Alternatively, you might feel so frozen with terror at the possibility of persecution that you do nothing. This is why people are saying: don't obey in advance.
It is essential for those of us with more privilege to use it to take care of those who are more vulnerable.
So. Who is most vulnerable? What does that vulnerability actually mean? What are the most likely risks of Trump's presidency? Here's a Guardian article that I think does a good job of summarizing some of the main issues. Go read that, then come back here.
Step Two: Take steps to protect yourself
You've gotta put your oxygen mask on first, right? So before you start getting involved in other causes, figure out what risks YOU are at, immediately, and do as much as you can to secure yourself. Some potential action steps depending on your circumstance may include:
Renewing your passport (helpful for leaving the country, but also for gender/name change purposes)
Getting vaccines / boosters
Securing birth control
Ensuring your necessary papers (birth certificates etc.) are where you have access to them.
Drawing up legal paperwork for spouses/partners (always a good idea, a helpful safety measure in case you lose marriage rights)
Bolstering your data privacy and online security. Here's a step-by-step guide I found that could help with that.
The specific steps you need to take here depend on what risks you, personally, face. You'll want to do some more research into this for your particular scenario.
No matter who you are, though, it's probably a good idea to start saving money and being a little more conservative with your spending and/or pay down debts to free up some cash. You don't know what kind of emergency may befall you, and having spare money for an emergency is never a bad idea.
There is a possibility that the cost of many things you rely on might go up, if Trump goes through with his tariffs plan. You will want to plan for that.
Food costs may also rise due to tariffs (we import a lot of food from Mexico and Latin America for example) as well as a loss of immigrant labor. There is also a possibility that food safety standards could fall due to overturning regulations. Now would be a good time to look into local food resources like farm share/CSA, community farms, etc., and to stock up on a few key staples like rice and beans.
Okay. Now that YOU are reasonably safe...what can you do to protect your community?
Step Three: Get Involved
Here is your mission: You need to stay engaged enough to know what's going on, without burning yourself out or exhausting yourself, and to take actual decisive actions instead of wasting your energy arguing on the internet.
Got that? Okay. Good. Here are some action steps:
Support independent journalism. Subscribe to local papers, donate to and watch public broadcast programming. I signed up for news from ProPublica, for example, as well as the news-roundup service What The Fuck Just Happened Today. The goal is to stay informed without falling down an endless rabbit hole of upsetting information.
Share news and resources with others in your circle. This can be a good use of social media. It's what I am doing right now!
If it is safe for you to do so, challenge and educate your friends/family members/neighbors/coworkers. Only if it is safe for you to do so. Do not put yourself at risk doing this. And do not waste your time arguing with people who are unlikely to change. But if you have well-meaning people in your life who you think could be won over, look for opportunities to do this - the right way. I've had some success with this, I will probably write a guide about it in the future. In the meantime, here's a good article that can help.
Join local grassroots activism groups. You'll have to do some work to decide what groups to join and which causes you want to support, because you cannot do everything. But there are tons of organizations taking direct action in all kinds of causes. Search "grassroots [cause] activists in [where you live]" to start finding things. Once you get involved in one group, you might meet people who can introduce you to other groups and causes. Yes, this means you will have to go outside and meet people. I'm sorry.
Join direct action groups. Same concept as above. You'll have to search in your area but once you know people it'll be easier to find more opportunities. Some of these groups may overlap. You might find direct action opportunities by engaging politically and vice versa. GO OUTSIDE AND TALK TO PEOPLE WHO ARE DOING THINGS TO HELP.
Get involved in local politics. Here are some quick tips. A lot of things are affected at the city level - stuff like book bans and bathroom bills are often battled first at local libraries and schools, and you can be part of those conversations! Sheriffs are elected and can have a big influence on local policing. Local elections affect how tax dollars are spent, how homeless populations are treated, and lots more. Don't snooze on local elections. Get involved and stay involved.
Look up your representatives. Get in the habit of calling, emailing, and writing letters. Figure out what legislature is being passed and then call your reps and harangue them about it - both to support bills you approve of and shoot down ones you don't. Sign petitions. Join email campaigns. Here's one you can go sign right now from the ACLU. See? Not that scary.
I think a lot of people figure that getting involved in politics doesn't matter or that it's all small potatoes but...man. The president is not god, no matter what he thinks. The sitting administration is not the sole power in the universe. There is an entire machine of government we can lean upon and act upon.
Finally, some general safety notes:
Some forms of direct action are not legal. Take steps to be safe if you choose to partake. Follow the lead of more seasoned activists for what forms of communication to use and so forth.
If you're not willing or able to put yourself at legal risk to act, you can help others by donating to bail funds and legal defense funds.
We've already seen this in some areas, and it will only get uglier - some bad actors are feeling emboldened by the change in regime and will misbehave. It's a good idea to learn some self-defense skills, in whatever way is comfortable to you, and brush up on some tenets of victimology that can help you stay safe. I'll write more about that in the future.
All right. That's all for now. It's by no means comprehensive...but should hopefully help you get started taking the next step. Stay safe out there.
His lore is pretty complicated, he was created with hope and creation. His owner (me) was a kind person that would tell him any questions he had. (He wasn’t talking he was writing on a board). One day while he was out he saw a mouse that was surrounded with stickmans, that real made him wonder. No one literally had an answer about it. But he was answered about the wonders of his world and other stuff. He understood everything. He was the key to the door to unanswered questions. He used his powers mostly help and dive deeper in his world about what is happening. He’s pretty strong compared to dark lord. He was also involved in the chaos that happened in victim vs animation. Might add another character as a friend or assistant..? Uhmm soo Still thinking about his lore and might change it uh not sure but here some of it!!! He likes to travel around and see what is happening and adapt more.
The first recall he let violent felons out , gave them 5k a month and they rigged the vote. If you have friends in California... Please send and get a hold of rescue California 🔗
We need these people out of our communist state, he and his auntie created. We went red. This will send a clear message we are done with democrat dangerous antics.
People of California can participate in signatures to get this corrupt man OUT OF HIS SEAT.
What are you going to do Californians?
It's a good way to get involved or you can stay a lawless communist state? It's your choice...
