I draw this analogy to the state travel issue: It's illegal to gamble in Utah. But that state can't prohibit or prosecute its inhabitants from going to Vegas and gambling, and they can't collect private information about it either. How on earth can those 19 AGs justify the request? They twist themselves into pretzels by arguing that they would want the ability (let me see if I get this straight) to prosecute out-of-state providers for fixing botched abortions that had occurred inside their subjugating red state? I can't even follow it.
It's so obviously a control issue. They are so peeved that they can't stop their female citizens from being whole, equal people !
oh geez, i know i am late in posting, was gratefully away/off-grid... but THIS never left my mind. I realized I do not have all that many more topics to speak about... I just ant basic facts to be available to anybody and everybody!!! We NEED to understand our bodies, how they work, and go forward person by person without judgment.
Feb 2023 article. Positive news, with link to head organization. Although it’s really important to help those who need care, providers, those who are fighting the system through law/policy/regulations, & pro-choice candidates, it’s also important to expand preventative access to those striving for education. There are so many areas that are affected it seems overwhelming when viewing the big picture.
The forced birthers are already gearing to nip this in the bud. I read something recently that I cannot find now where legislators are intending to submit bills that would pull funding from state funded colleges that allow this, and a few days ago Kristen Hawkins of Students for Life published a piece on the Fox News site all about how awful it is to have Plan B on campuses. It’s full of the usual misinformation and innuendo. It seems to be aimed at parents.
The fact that the organization helping the vending machine concept is student led, armed with factual medical information and training, is a bonus on many levels. Hawkins is currently targeting Christian schools who have allowed Planned Parenthood to be involved with their school clinics. That’s her main focus, according to her website. They even have a tattle link to target those schools. But she is also targeting birth control with legislatures.
Bob Vanderplatts has an "s" at the end of his name. He is also targeting the three judges in the Iowa Supreme Court abortion case, but you already knew that. He ran for governor and lost in his primary, so he is a little bitter sh#t.
Wish us luck. Tomorrow several clinic defenders will join local Satanist group the Satanic Grotto to beard the lion in his den, and attend/picket a local church where one of the major Planned Parenthood protesters preaches. Some of the Satanist group are planning on actually attending the service - the rest of us will be protesting outside.
Think of it as a GREAT BIG dose of their own medicine. Kansas City Clarity should be on-hand providing video journalism. With a little luck, I'll be back with links to videos rather than sitting in the slammer. 😉
It's pouring rain and there's no sidewalk, which took care of outside protesters. The inside group got the satisfaction of making them call the police to turn us away. Some "Christians" they are.
I lost sleep last night over that AGs’ letter. It goes after gender-affirming care as well as abortion care, because of course it does. 19 AGs signed it - that’s 19 states whose highest law officer wants the right to know what healthcare people are getting across the border.
Yeah. And they went to a ridiculous level of twisting and turning logic to even form an argument -- that a doc in red state might botch an illegal abortion and send the woman for care out-o -state and they (prosecutors) would need to get those out-of-state records to pursue charges.
These draconian anti abortion laws being written by Republicans treat women with less concern than cattle. A farmer would never let a good dairy cow be endangered by carrying a dead calf. These Republicans are literally practicing medicine without a license. Pregnancy is WAY too complicated to legislate.
They also are trying to shove their religious ideas down the throats of the rest of us. They also do not follow Jesus's teachings to love one's neighbor as oneself and care for the vulnerable. Their words are lies.
A couple of years ago, I told my niece it would be impossible for her to buy a pregnancy test over-the-counter in Georgia (where she lives) if Roe was overturned because every positive pregnancy test will have to be tracked. Anti-abortion states would set up state boards and commissions to track pregnancies, and any pregnancy that didn’t end in a live birth would be investigated. I even said they’d do everything they could to restrict interstate travel. I’m not surprised by how prescient I was, but then I grew up with these people. They’ve been salivating for this for decades. It’s why I comment here and share my background so often. When I say, “Oh, they’ll do X,” I’m not being hyperbolic or hysterical. I’m relieved to see Jessica picking up on these outcomes so early. We have to keep talking about this in our wider communities, no matter how much we hear, “Oh, that will never happen.” Because it has already happened. It’s happening now.
I screamed about the coming overturning of Roe from 1980 onwards. No one listened, and it was incredibly frustrating. I was “hysterical” and “overreacting.” The seeming shock on the left when it finally happened was just - I don’t have words.
Now I’m screaming about everything you mentioned and more - and again, I’m overreacting. I point out to people that at 64, and not having a female child, this change won’t impact me directly. I’m not saying these things because I’m afraid for my own future. I point out that I was right about Roe. What do I hear? Crickets. It makes me want to bang my head against the wall.
I’m with you. I don’t have a daughter and I cannot be pregnant. I discuss this solely to help others. So many people cannot see evil until it bites them personally. Still, I keep reliving stuff I’d rather forget because I believe it can make a difference for others.
And here’s another thing if it helps. I’ve heard how my writing impacts people. A few readers reach out and tell me. But it’s always a tiny fraction of the total. You don’t know how many minds you’re changing. Or to use some of my former Evangelicalese, how many seeds take root. Most people will never tell you what your words/example/influence meant to them, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have an impact. Keep going. I’m right here with you.
I’ve routinely ranted for years on social media - usually FB as it’s simpler. But I’ve been motivated to at least open a Substack, though I haven’t put up a lot there yet. I don’t think anyone is reading it, but I’ll keep plugging away.
The one thing I have is time. I’m disabled (Multiple Sclerosis), so I’m home most of the time. On days that I’m feeling ok, I should really do more writing. Thank you for the push.
I just subscribed to your SS. Maybe following yours will give me the push I need to start one. I've been thinking about solely focusing on "When Republicans say this, they mean that" as my theme. But it means bathing in the sewer of my far-right Christian nationalist upbringing every day and reliving what a radical Republican I used to be. Maybe that should be my penance. Ha.
I'm sorry about your MS. Not that sorry helps. Your light will shine even brighter for me now.
Thank you, Andra. You’ve given me a push, for sure.
I kept my SS a bit less focused, because some days, I just can’t swim in the filth, without feeling like I’m drowning. I can’t promise to write every day, or even every week, but I promise to keep doing what I can, with your encouragement.
It turned out, when I was finally diagnosed with MS, that I’d had it for 26 years already. (At some point, I’ll be writing about doctors who don’t listen to women. I’d had physical issues for all of that time, but doctors kept blowing me off. “It’s all in your head.”) Heat and stress are my two biggest triggers, so this time of year is misery.
Do what you can do - you certainly don’t owe anyone penance for how you were raised. This is going to be a long fight, and we need you with us. Like the flight attendants say, you have to put your own mask on first before you can help anyone else. Take care of yourself, so you can stay in the fight.
Maybe instead of devoting the entire theme of your SS to that topic, you could put up one post that’s a glossary of sorts, that you can add to over time, as particularly egregious statements are made. The rest of the SS could be devoted to whatever you feel you need to write about. There’s no rules here.
I like the theme and focus you've chosen, and I do think it would be enlightening to many people. BUT you can only do as much as you can do. You have to take care of your own health first because no one else will do that for you, but there are a lot of us against the fascists. If you wrote a piece and published it and it felt satisfying, you'd know that's something you could do again. If it felt stressful, that would be a sign to take it easy. Of course it might feel both so what do you do then. But it's not your responsibility to monitor and police these people; you only get one life so you have to do what's best for YOU. Which of course is always very very difficult to figure out.
One question that hasn't really been answered yet is how many resources the state is actually prepared to deploy to enforce its laws. The results so far have almost exclusively been voluntary compliance and undetected violations. To your point about pregnancy tests, there is no doubt that's what they want to do. But we haven't done much to test their ability to enforce these laws yet, and I do think that might result in a whole other level of outrage. At the very least it requires a lot more effort from them than just pontificating.
You and I both know everything is riding on 2024. If they win, they’ll do whatever they want to whomever they like with piles of taxpayer money. That’s already happening in gerrymandered states with supermajorities and courts sewn up.
But I agree. Tell every woman they have to ask permission or have an interview to leave their state? (Which I can also see them doing. I already want to ask my GYN for a certified letter stating that I cannot be pregnant.) This impacts half the population of any state. And while I know plenty of women who’ll shrug and say, “So what? I never go anywhere anyway,” many suburban and independent voters won’t stand for it. The outrage is building. I hope it’s a blue tsunami by the election.
If they win in 2024 we've got even bigger problems if that's even imaginable. They would have won on authoritarianism, lies, and an extremist agenda. They would be emboldened to do absolutely anything. A "national security" law allowing for the arrest of journalists, academics, activists, etc. would be likely in the first year; that's what history tells us about these movements.
We don't know how much AI generated deception there's going to be in the campaign, but the voting itself is reasonably protected, at least for control of the White House, because Republicans don't control enough states to get the electoral college by themselves. Which would make it worse if they do win, because it would mean Americans really chose that. Biden would be lucky to be so old, because he wouldn't have long to live with the blame for having handed our Weimar Republic over to the Nazis.
Do either of you know of any good guides or recommendations for rooting out this deception in our daily lives? I'm very selective about the news I consume and the outlets I support. I'm no longer on Facebook, I stopped using Twitter, and I'm laser-focused with who I follow on Instagram. I rigorously report information I don't want to see, not because I want to live in a silo but because I die a little inside every time I see 45's fucking face. Unlike many on the left, I don't share or amplify content from far-right politicians. People like Marjorie Taylor Greene say stupid shit for the express purpose of goading the left into making fun of her, because when the left makes fun of her, it outrages the base. Similarly, I don't read articles that aren't really news (like when The Guardian devoted an entire live thread to Tucker Carlson's interviews with Republican presidential candidates this week. WHY? Why give that fired asshole access to a reputable platform?)
I'm interested to hear how others are preparing for this disinformation onslaught.
It's a good question that I don't have many answers to. You can more or less trust a source but that doesn't mean the information is worth reporting. I don't intake a lot of news myself because most of it is upsetting but much of it is also transitory. Often if I see or hear something I want to know more about I google it, and then I have lots of articles to choose from. The only subscription I have is to The Economist, but I look at Bloomberg once most weekdays (the articles themselves are usually behind a paywall) and I get emails from them and from WaPo which I sometimes glance at. I read this newsletter every day, and I look at the top of the notes feed too. I used to check out 538 frequently, but now that it's under new management I'm waiting to see what Nate Silver does because I trust him for data analysis. Every so often I look at daily kos elections, and I imagine I'll do that more when we get closer to the election. But yeah I don't really know what one can do other than trust your own judgement and try to maintain a healthy skepticism.
There’s going to be A LOT of AI generated bs floating around. Some coming from shell companies, labeled as memes (not ads), untraceable to actual people because they are set up through registered agents in WY. Trump has hired Prevail Media & been paying them since Dec. per FEC reports. Check out their website per AI work and multiply that for all these right wing media production companies. Also, digital “armies” not purchasing ad time, but “organically” spreading 2-3 minute “meme” ads, especially on Twitter, rumble, gab, etc. Just did a deep dive on a group last week.
Thanks for the update. I think a lot of the right wing extremists want sex to be a "sacrament"...i.e. women can only do it when they are trying to get pregnant. Of course, men can do it all they like.
That story about the woman who refused cancer treatment is honestly...gross? I'm not sure quite what the right word is. Her cancer was growing the whole time, and now she's likely to leave her children motherless. How does that help them? I mean, I could maybe, MAYBE, understand refusing treatment to try to advance the pregnancy as far along as possible, and induce as early as survivable for the fetus, but then you get your cancer treatment! And the people lying to this woman, offering "alternative" (ie likely quack) treatments, that's despicable.
The myriad effects of the crisis are all working together to increase maternal mortality, but we will also eventually have public knowledge of deaths directly due to the laws Dobbs has enabled.
What exactly do these people think is going to happen when that time comes? Yes I know they're trying to prepare the country for it, plotting to blame the doctors and so forth, but, I think their delusions and their arrogant, reckless overconfidence are yielding them a big blind spot.
Yes it's true it may need to be the first White woman who dies, since there is abundant evidence that America does not care when people of color die, but it's also true that pro-choice voters who have been voting Republican, i.e. potential swing voters, will be especially shocked and appalled when that happens, because they take their white privilege as an inviolable expectation.
We don't want anybody to die, but it's inevitable that she will, and when she does, it's not going to go well for them. And we're going to make damn sure of it.
I love Aid Access!! I’ve donated to the organization before, but because it’s not a US-based entity, contributions aren’t tax-deductible. Does anyone know a way to contribute that allows a US tax deduction? I would absolutely contribute more; I think flooding the zone with abortion pills is going to be a major part of the solution to the Dobbs disaster.
I bought some from them as soon as roe was overturned. Still sitting in my medicine cabinet. Doubt I'll ever need them but sure is a relief to have them in case I do or come across someone who does.
I ordered meds from a US supplier to have on hand too! But I just sent a donation to Aid Access, to help subsidize all the US Rx’s they are now providing. I’d love to find a way to make tax-deductible donations to Aid Access-- not sure there’s a US-based supplier that will mail the meds wherever they’re needed!
There are several groups in Mexico, one in Guanajuato, who are sending meds to a lot of Texas women. I would love to connect with and donate to them to thank them for all their help.
Kim, I’ve read about those groups too! Amazing! Another group to whom I’d love to give some $$. But they are loosely structured & fairly anonymous, so I don’t know how to do that!
I draw this analogy to the state travel issue: It's illegal to gamble in Utah. But that state can't prohibit or prosecute its inhabitants from going to Vegas and gambling, and they can't collect private information about it either. How on earth can those 19 AGs justify the request? They twist themselves into pretzels by arguing that they would want the ability (let me see if I get this straight) to prosecute out-of-state providers for fixing botched abortions that had occurred inside their subjugating red state? I can't even follow it.
It's so obviously a control issue. They are so peeved that they can't stop their female citizens from being whole, equal people !
Just want to clarify that the April 2022 HIPAA protections mentioned here are not yet law (the regulation text is not even final yet)
oh geez, i know i am late in posting, was gratefully away/off-grid... but THIS never left my mind. I realized I do not have all that many more topics to speak about... I just ant basic facts to be available to anybody and everybody!!! We NEED to understand our bodies, how they work, and go forward person by person without judgment.
i tried to make a contribution via Venmo for Iowa abortion access. unfortunately, it didn't work. perhaps there is another way. i cannot send a check.
Feb 2023 article. Positive news, with link to head organization. Although it’s really important to help those who need care, providers, those who are fighting the system through law/policy/regulations, & pro-choice candidates, it’s also important to expand preventative access to those striving for education. There are so many areas that are affected it seems overwhelming when viewing the big picture.
https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/inside-students-push-to-get-emergency-contraception-vending-machines-on-campus/
Positive news:
https://fortune.com/well/2023/07/01/plan-b-college-campus-vending-machines-roe-wade/amp/
The forced birthers are already gearing to nip this in the bud. I read something recently that I cannot find now where legislators are intending to submit bills that would pull funding from state funded colleges that allow this, and a few days ago Kristen Hawkins of Students for Life published a piece on the Fox News site all about how awful it is to have Plan B on campuses. It’s full of the usual misinformation and innuendo. It seems to be aimed at parents.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/abortion-vending-machine-much-worse-sounds
Thanks for posting that. She is a force for sure, wish she was on our side haha
The fact that the organization helping the vending machine concept is student led, armed with factual medical information and training, is a bonus on many levels. Hawkins is currently targeting Christian schools who have allowed Planned Parenthood to be involved with their school clinics. That’s her main focus, according to her website. They even have a tattle link to target those schools. But she is also targeting birth control with legislatures.
Bob Vanderplatts has an "s" at the end of his name. He is also targeting the three judges in the Iowa Supreme Court abortion case, but you already knew that. He ran for governor and lost in his primary, so he is a little bitter sh#t.
My mistake, it's Vander Plaats. Dutch Reformed, I am guessing.
Yeah he's been trying to control the Republican party in Iowa for a long time.
Department of Taking the Fight to Them
Wish us luck. Tomorrow several clinic defenders will join local Satanist group the Satanic Grotto to beard the lion in his den, and attend/picket a local church where one of the major Planned Parenthood protesters preaches. Some of the Satanist group are planning on actually attending the service - the rest of us will be protesting outside.
Think of it as a GREAT BIG dose of their own medicine. Kansas City Clarity should be on-hand providing video journalism. With a little luck, I'll be back with links to videos rather than sitting in the slammer. 😉
It's pouring rain and there's no sidewalk, which took care of outside protesters. The inside group got the satisfaction of making them call the police to turn us away. Some "Christians" they are.
https://www.youtube.com/live/SE6FMJ9BcyY?feature=share
Good luck! This is important work.
Awesome!
I lost sleep last night over that AGs’ letter. It goes after gender-affirming care as well as abortion care, because of course it does. 19 AGs signed it - that’s 19 states whose highest law officer wants the right to know what healthcare people are getting across the border.
Yeah. And they went to a ridiculous level of twisting and turning logic to even form an argument -- that a doc in red state might botch an illegal abortion and send the woman for care out-o -state and they (prosecutors) would need to get those out-of-state records to pursue charges.
Give me a break. Baloney....
These draconian anti abortion laws being written by Republicans treat women with less concern than cattle. A farmer would never let a good dairy cow be endangered by carrying a dead calf. These Republicans are literally practicing medicine without a license. Pregnancy is WAY too complicated to legislate.
They also are trying to shove their religious ideas down the throats of the rest of us. They also do not follow Jesus's teachings to love one's neighbor as oneself and care for the vulnerable. Their words are lies.
Yes!
A couple of years ago, I told my niece it would be impossible for her to buy a pregnancy test over-the-counter in Georgia (where she lives) if Roe was overturned because every positive pregnancy test will have to be tracked. Anti-abortion states would set up state boards and commissions to track pregnancies, and any pregnancy that didn’t end in a live birth would be investigated. I even said they’d do everything they could to restrict interstate travel. I’m not surprised by how prescient I was, but then I grew up with these people. They’ve been salivating for this for decades. It’s why I comment here and share my background so often. When I say, “Oh, they’ll do X,” I’m not being hyperbolic or hysterical. I’m relieved to see Jessica picking up on these outcomes so early. We have to keep talking about this in our wider communities, no matter how much we hear, “Oh, that will never happen.” Because it has already happened. It’s happening now.
Andra,
I screamed about the coming overturning of Roe from 1980 onwards. No one listened, and it was incredibly frustrating. I was “hysterical” and “overreacting.” The seeming shock on the left when it finally happened was just - I don’t have words.
Now I’m screaming about everything you mentioned and more - and again, I’m overreacting. I point out to people that at 64, and not having a female child, this change won’t impact me directly. I’m not saying these things because I’m afraid for my own future. I point out that I was right about Roe. What do I hear? Crickets. It makes me want to bang my head against the wall.
As soon as RBG died I said there goes Roe. People thought I was over reacting.
I’m with you. I don’t have a daughter and I cannot be pregnant. I discuss this solely to help others. So many people cannot see evil until it bites them personally. Still, I keep reliving stuff I’d rather forget because I believe it can make a difference for others.
And here’s another thing if it helps. I’ve heard how my writing impacts people. A few readers reach out and tell me. But it’s always a tiny fraction of the total. You don’t know how many minds you’re changing. Or to use some of my former Evangelicalese, how many seeds take root. Most people will never tell you what your words/example/influence meant to them, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have an impact. Keep going. I’m right here with you.
Thank you, Andra
I’ve routinely ranted for years on social media - usually FB as it’s simpler. But I’ve been motivated to at least open a Substack, though I haven’t put up a lot there yet. I don’t think anyone is reading it, but I’ll keep plugging away.
The one thing I have is time. I’m disabled (Multiple Sclerosis), so I’m home most of the time. On days that I’m feeling ok, I should really do more writing. Thank you for the push.
I just subscribed to your SS. Maybe following yours will give me the push I need to start one. I've been thinking about solely focusing on "When Republicans say this, they mean that" as my theme. But it means bathing in the sewer of my far-right Christian nationalist upbringing every day and reliving what a radical Republican I used to be. Maybe that should be my penance. Ha.
I'm sorry about your MS. Not that sorry helps. Your light will shine even brighter for me now.
Thank you, Andra. You’ve given me a push, for sure.
I kept my SS a bit less focused, because some days, I just can’t swim in the filth, without feeling like I’m drowning. I can’t promise to write every day, or even every week, but I promise to keep doing what I can, with your encouragement.
It turned out, when I was finally diagnosed with MS, that I’d had it for 26 years already. (At some point, I’ll be writing about doctors who don’t listen to women. I’d had physical issues for all of that time, but doctors kept blowing me off. “It’s all in your head.”) Heat and stress are my two biggest triggers, so this time of year is misery.
Do what you can do - you certainly don’t owe anyone penance for how you were raised. This is going to be a long fight, and we need you with us. Like the flight attendants say, you have to put your own mask on first before you can help anyone else. Take care of yourself, so you can stay in the fight.
Maybe instead of devoting the entire theme of your SS to that topic, you could put up one post that’s a glossary of sorts, that you can add to over time, as particularly egregious statements are made. The rest of the SS could be devoted to whatever you feel you need to write about. There’s no rules here.
Your encouragement means a lot to me. Thank you.
I like the theme and focus you've chosen, and I do think it would be enlightening to many people. BUT you can only do as much as you can do. You have to take care of your own health first because no one else will do that for you, but there are a lot of us against the fascists. If you wrote a piece and published it and it felt satisfying, you'd know that's something you could do again. If it felt stressful, that would be a sign to take it easy. Of course it might feel both so what do you do then. But it's not your responsibility to monitor and police these people; you only get one life so you have to do what's best for YOU. Which of course is always very very difficult to figure out.
Solidarity to you and your daughter, Waverly. I scream into my pillow often (and sometimes scream out loud in my apartment. Ha. My poor husband...)
Thank you, Waverly.
It’s not the best fit for a type-A control freak, for sure! 🙂
One question that hasn't really been answered yet is how many resources the state is actually prepared to deploy to enforce its laws. The results so far have almost exclusively been voluntary compliance and undetected violations. To your point about pregnancy tests, there is no doubt that's what they want to do. But we haven't done much to test their ability to enforce these laws yet, and I do think that might result in a whole other level of outrage. At the very least it requires a lot more effort from them than just pontificating.
You and I both know everything is riding on 2024. If they win, they’ll do whatever they want to whomever they like with piles of taxpayer money. That’s already happening in gerrymandered states with supermajorities and courts sewn up.
But I agree. Tell every woman they have to ask permission or have an interview to leave their state? (Which I can also see them doing. I already want to ask my GYN for a certified letter stating that I cannot be pregnant.) This impacts half the population of any state. And while I know plenty of women who’ll shrug and say, “So what? I never go anywhere anyway,” many suburban and independent voters won’t stand for it. The outrage is building. I hope it’s a blue tsunami by the election.
If they win in 2024 we've got even bigger problems if that's even imaginable. They would have won on authoritarianism, lies, and an extremist agenda. They would be emboldened to do absolutely anything. A "national security" law allowing for the arrest of journalists, academics, activists, etc. would be likely in the first year; that's what history tells us about these movements.
We don't know how much AI generated deception there's going to be in the campaign, but the voting itself is reasonably protected, at least for control of the White House, because Republicans don't control enough states to get the electoral college by themselves. Which would make it worse if they do win, because it would mean Americans really chose that. Biden would be lucky to be so old, because he wouldn't have long to live with the blame for having handed our Weimar Republic over to the Nazis.
Do either of you know of any good guides or recommendations for rooting out this deception in our daily lives? I'm very selective about the news I consume and the outlets I support. I'm no longer on Facebook, I stopped using Twitter, and I'm laser-focused with who I follow on Instagram. I rigorously report information I don't want to see, not because I want to live in a silo but because I die a little inside every time I see 45's fucking face. Unlike many on the left, I don't share or amplify content from far-right politicians. People like Marjorie Taylor Greene say stupid shit for the express purpose of goading the left into making fun of her, because when the left makes fun of her, it outrages the base. Similarly, I don't read articles that aren't really news (like when The Guardian devoted an entire live thread to Tucker Carlson's interviews with Republican presidential candidates this week. WHY? Why give that fired asshole access to a reputable platform?)
I'm interested to hear how others are preparing for this disinformation onslaught.
It's a good question that I don't have many answers to. You can more or less trust a source but that doesn't mean the information is worth reporting. I don't intake a lot of news myself because most of it is upsetting but much of it is also transitory. Often if I see or hear something I want to know more about I google it, and then I have lots of articles to choose from. The only subscription I have is to The Economist, but I look at Bloomberg once most weekdays (the articles themselves are usually behind a paywall) and I get emails from them and from WaPo which I sometimes glance at. I read this newsletter every day, and I look at the top of the notes feed too. I used to check out 538 frequently, but now that it's under new management I'm waiting to see what Nate Silver does because I trust him for data analysis. Every so often I look at daily kos elections, and I imagine I'll do that more when we get closer to the election. But yeah I don't really know what one can do other than trust your own judgement and try to maintain a healthy skepticism.
There’s going to be A LOT of AI generated bs floating around. Some coming from shell companies, labeled as memes (not ads), untraceable to actual people because they are set up through registered agents in WY. Trump has hired Prevail Media & been paying them since Dec. per FEC reports. Check out their website per AI work and multiply that for all these right wing media production companies. Also, digital “armies” not purchasing ad time, but “organically” spreading 2-3 minute “meme” ads, especially on Twitter, rumble, gab, etc. Just did a deep dive on a group last week.
We have to be ready for it.
Prevail Media is not a shell company btw. But the website blurb on AI is interesting.
That sounds entirely plausible given the state of things right now.
Thanks for the update. I think a lot of the right wing extremists want sex to be a "sacrament"...i.e. women can only do it when they are trying to get pregnant. Of course, men can do it all they like.
I would love to know more about activities being done in reaction to the ‘crisis pregnancy centers.’
They should at least be shut down in the blue states.
I’m sure they’ll whine about ‘free speech’ and pretend to be oppressed when they can’t lie
(When lying is literally unChristian, but not abortion.)
Yes, that is exactly the Republican playbook on everything.
That story about the woman who refused cancer treatment is honestly...gross? I'm not sure quite what the right word is. Her cancer was growing the whole time, and now she's likely to leave her children motherless. How does that help them? I mean, I could maybe, MAYBE, understand refusing treatment to try to advance the pregnancy as far along as possible, and induce as early as survivable for the fetus, but then you get your cancer treatment! And the people lying to this woman, offering "alternative" (ie likely quack) treatments, that's despicable.
And it was evidently in vain.
"Tragically, Luke was born 14 weeks premature in September and died two weeks later after an infection."
The myriad effects of the crisis are all working together to increase maternal mortality, but we will also eventually have public knowledge of deaths directly due to the laws Dobbs has enabled.
What exactly do these people think is going to happen when that time comes? Yes I know they're trying to prepare the country for it, plotting to blame the doctors and so forth, but, I think their delusions and their arrogant, reckless overconfidence are yielding them a big blind spot.
Yes it's true it may need to be the first White woman who dies, since there is abundant evidence that America does not care when people of color die, but it's also true that pro-choice voters who have been voting Republican, i.e. potential swing voters, will be especially shocked and appalled when that happens, because they take their white privilege as an inviolable expectation.
We don't want anybody to die, but it's inevitable that she will, and when she does, it's not going to go well for them. And we're going to make damn sure of it.
I love Aid Access!! I’ve donated to the organization before, but because it’s not a US-based entity, contributions aren’t tax-deductible. Does anyone know a way to contribute that allows a US tax deduction? I would absolutely contribute more; I think flooding the zone with abortion pills is going to be a major part of the solution to the Dobbs disaster.
I bought some from them as soon as roe was overturned. Still sitting in my medicine cabinet. Doubt I'll ever need them but sure is a relief to have them in case I do or come across someone who does.
I ordered meds from a US supplier to have on hand too! But I just sent a donation to Aid Access, to help subsidize all the US Rx’s they are now providing. I’d love to find a way to make tax-deductible donations to Aid Access-- not sure there’s a US-based supplier that will mail the meds wherever they’re needed!
A shell company with registered agents running a non-profit could be set up with donation page stating x% of donation funds going to Aid Access??
Rs do stuff like this all the time to fund & hide how their dollars are spent.
There are several groups in Mexico, one in Guanajuato, who are sending meds to a lot of Texas women. I would love to connect with and donate to them to thank them for all their help.
Kim,
There was a great piece on that group last fall in WaPo.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/18/illegal-abortion-pill-network/
Kim, I’ve read about those groups too! Amazing! Another group to whom I’d love to give some $$. But they are loosely structured & fairly anonymous, so I don’t know how to do that!
That's a good idea. I should do that, too.