X just added a new feature where users can see where a particular account is based geographically. In a shocking twist, it turns out that a huge number of high-profile pro-MAGA accounts are based in foreign countries: Africa, Russia, and India, for example.
Bookmarked: Here’s an excellent presentation on how to buy, set up and use a burner phone (especially when traveling into or out of the U.S. during this administration). This goes all the way down to less-obvious stuff like: buy the phone in cash and wear a mask; activate it on a public wi-fi network, and don’t do anything to attach your personal profile to the phone.
(via)
Robert Reich, national treasure, details five things we can do to stand up to fascism.
- Call your representatives. 5calls.org is a resource he suggests.
- Attend town halls. (bring people with you).
- Join resistance groups. Indivisible.org | ACLU | fiftyfiftyone
- Boycott companies that support this regime.
- Protect the most vulnerable in your community.
“Democracy is not a spectator sport.” Truer words could not be spoken.
We’ve been buying renewable energy for over fifteen years through a program Maryland’s legislature put together, which allows for consumers to choose who their provider is (as long as that provider is part of the program). I just got a letter from our longtime supplier saying they’re withdrawing from the program based on Maryland Senate Bill 1, which imposes stricter regulations on retail energy suppliers to protect consumers from misleading practices in the competitive energy market. So I have to go shopping to see if there’s someone else we can buy clean energy from.
We’ve also gotten several notices from the Johns Hopkins Medicine group, which informed us that as of today they are no longer in UnitedHealthcare’s network, because they “have been unable to get United to agree to a contract that puts patients ahead of profits.” Johns Hopkins took absolutely world-class care of my family and I when I had cancer, and UnitedHealthcare’s coverage came through for us. But that was almost eight years ago, and the world has changed a lot since then. I’ve only got one more checkup scheduled with Hopkins before they cut me loose, but now I’m considering skipping that because I don’t have the money to pay for all of those tests out of pocket. Greatest healthcare in the world, etc. etc.
Tired of dealing with a pair of wired headphones for my work computer, and unwilling to use my AirPods with that machine, I bought a pair of Anker Soundcore P20i headphones from Amazon for $20 a few weeks ago, and I’ve been very happy with their performance. I’ve got a handful of Anker products here, and I have to say I haven’t been disappointed with any of them. As far as inexpensive Chinese brands go, they have had the highest consistent quality.
Speaking in an episode of the conservative “Ruthless” podcast released on Tuesday, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said the move was “basically driving a dagger into the heart of the climate change religion”.
The US is poised to gut its current carbon emissions standards as part of Project 2025, which is terrible, terrible news for our country, our children, and our environment. This clown referring to “Climate change religion” is telling; another way to weaponize words along the fascist playbook. Personally, I’m happy to belong to this religion instead of “soulless corporate greed fuck-you billionaire religion”.
The resin I ordered a week and a half ago appears to be shipping from an address in Great Britain by a guy with a Russian surname. A shipping label was created and then canceled and then re-created last week, but apparently it hasn’t left the facility it’s being manufactured at yet. I have no idea when it’s going to get here, but I’d love to take the next step with that project. In this day and age of Amazon and overnight shipping, I’ve gotten very spoiled.
This article hit my LinkedIn feed on Friday, and it answers a question I’ve had rattling around my head for a couple of months: How the cuts in foreign aid affecting my old employers at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health? The answer is: scorched earth. Hopkins will have to lay off 2,000 people across the globe, with a large percentage here in Baltimore. My program was called the Center for Communication Programs, which was focused on teaching family planning in the global south, with a focus on educating and empowering women. We did a ton of partnerships with USAID, which is where I developed my intense hatred for their current logo, which I still have to deal with to this day. At that time our program was focused on preventative measures (we did not advocate or promote for the A-Word) but I’m sure whatever shape the program has taken now, it’s directly in the crosshairs of the right-wing christians. It was good work and it raised women up in places where they desperately needed it. I hope there is a way those programs can be kept alive.
In the meantime, one of the main offices for Social Security is about three miles north of here, and apparently the stooges are already there poking around.
98% of Costco shareholders voted overwhelmingly to reject a review of their ongoing diversity programs. The National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank, put forth the proposal, claiming DEI initiatives are somehow a risk to shareholders, which is fearmongering nonsense. We’ve been Costco members for years now, and I couldn’t be happier about it. In a time when we need to vote with our wallets (because our regular votes don’t seem to matter), this is one small bit of support my family can offer.
I can’t remember where I found this link, but it’s a Google doc outlining how we got to our current political situation and what we can do to change the direction our country is going. One paragraph stood out above others, and it bears repeating here because I haven’t seen any of the chuckleheads on TV saying this, and I don’t think I’ve really fully processed what happened yet:
Voters rejected the status quo — they didn’t embrace fascism. The best way to understand this is that voters were given a choice between the status quo and “not the status quo.” President Biden’s approval rating sat under 40% for this entire election season; by wide margins, Americans said the country was on the wrong track, and large majorities cited lingering and intense economic pain due to inflation and the aftermath of COVID. Vice President Harris ran an impressive campaign on an impossible timeline — but she couldn’t overcome the widespread frustration with the incumbent. The result was that a bunch of people chose “not the status quo,” either by voting for Trump or not voting at all.
There’s so much more good stuff in here—I’ve read through it once and my head is kind of full—but I’m going to return to it for a reality check and a roadmap to help make things better.
Carole Cadwalladr in the Guardian:
2 Journalists are first, but everyone else is next. Trump has announced multibillion-dollar lawsuits against “the enemy camp”: newspapers and publishers. His proposed FBI director is on record as wanting to prosecute certain journalists. Journalists, publishers, writers, academics are always in the first wave. Doctors, teachers, accountants will be next. Authoritarianism is as predictable as a Swiss train. It’s already later than you think.
5. You have more power than you think. We’re supposed to feel powerless. That’s the strategy. But we’re not. If you’re a US institution or organisation, form an emergency committee. Bring in experts. Learn from people who have lived under authoritarianism. Ask advice.
7. Know who you are. This list is a homage to Yale historian, Timothy Snyder. His On Tyranny, published in 2017, is the essential guide to the age of authoritarianism. His first command, “Do not obey in advance”, is what has been ringing, like tinnitus, in my ears ever since the Washington Post refused to endorse Kamala Harris. In some weird celestial stroke of luck, he calls me as I’m writing this and I ask for his updated advice: “Know what you stand for and what you think is good.”
10. Listen to women of colour. Everything bad that happened on the internet happened to them first. The history of technology is that it is only when it affects white men that it’s considered a problem. Look at how technology is already being used to profile and target immigrants. Know that you’re next.
(via Kottke)
My anxiety levels are rising.