I am an ordinary person. A mother of two and a grandmother of one, I am a retired children’s librarian who loves to hike, bike, travel, pick purple wildflowers, grow cherry tomatoes, read to little kids, and dance. I shop at Costco. I love their tortilla chips and salsa. I read Lisa Scottoline, Sandra Cisneros, and Howard Zinn. I watch documentaries, rom-coms, and foreign films. I have a cairn terrier named Jinx and a grandpuppy named Mattie. I am just an ordinary person who happens to care an awful lot about peace and justice and human rights.

And yet on January 10, I was arrested for laughing during the confirmation hearing of attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions. And just this week, I was convicted of the two charges I received as a result of my arrest: one of disorderly and disruptive conduct, and one of parading or demonstrating on Capitol grounds. Sentencing happens next month — I could spend up to a year in jail, or be fined, or both. Just because I let out a chuckle at a public hearing.

She was convicted. My American acquaintances who support the Orange One pretend this did not happen, in fact - that nothing out of ordinary ever happened since the elections, and I hear more and more “I don’t follow American politics”. Like hell you don’t, cowards.  

This is the country I live in. And no, we are not “okay”.

anyway while white feminists are caping for tomi lahren,, about 25 black girls are missing in D.C due to possible sex trafficking and there has yet to be a national outrage….. THIS NEEDS ATTENTION

Latina girls are also turning up missing in the city and the police seem to be doing very less about the cases, or even nothing. ( https://www.google.com/amp/amp.usatoday.com/story/99573222/) I’m so sick of depending on social media to spread the word about these missing girls,, when the police are too busy cracking down on immigrants and weed users

I know I’m reblogging this a lot but the plot is thickening ya’ll…. apparently a woman named Laura Silsby was convicted of kidnapping Haitian children and selling them to rich people IN D.C. Why do I bring her up? Because she currently works with AmberAlert: 

I’m not saying Laura is once again responsible for a mass human trafficking epidemic, but there might be a reason why there has literally been no AmberAlerts for ANY of these missing girls……… WE DESERVE ANSWERS  

You can follow @ 2liveunchained on twitter. Her name is Erika totten. She’s been posting updates and vids of the meetings they’re having.

International Women’s Day, 10 Things I’m Thinking About

Any of these are worth far more than a bullet point, but here’s a condensed list of things I’m thinking about or reading about today:

What are you thinking about today?

Refugees unlawfully detained in airports after Trump’s immigration executive order

This is the shit we are dealing with. His order affects people on visas and have green cards. If you can consider donating to a legal defense fund.

https://help.rescue.org/donate/refugees-need-urgent-support?ms=gs_ppc_onex_inaug17_es_170112&initialms=gs_ppc_onex_inaug17_es_170112&gclid=CjwKEAiAn7HEBRDHwNqitoWqsQcSJAADWmI2vxx7DrJ7P-19AOTL9KRVOtQoVwtuPnBq9zMgzad0RRoCbjnw_wcB

My aunt works for IRC.  It’s a good organization.  Donate to help families.

Please spread the word for anyone potentially affected by the ban !!!

Vote 👏🏼 in 👏🏼 the 👏🏼 2018 👏🏼 Midterm 👏🏼 Elections 👏🏼

SERIOUSLY

If you vote in Democrats, they’ll be able to block Trump’s policies

It’s not just that they’ll be able to block Drumpf’s policies for the (hopefully only) remaining two years: the entire House of Representatives is up for re-election in 2018. Whoever wins the House in 2018 will still control it in 2020, when we have our next census. This means we voting districts will get to be redrawn and if Republicans retain control of the House in 2020, they will make gerrymandering even worse than it is now, which already favors them.

But the odds are severely in favor of Republicans for 2018. The election is ridiculously lopsided: 23 Democrat seats and both (there are only 2) Independent seats (who Caucus with Dems) will be up for the taking compared to only 8 Republican seats. Not to mention midterm election turnout is always far less than POTUS elections and Republicans consistently turn out for midterms while non-Republicans fail to show up worse than they normally do.

It gets worse. This is the Senate race in 2018:

All of the states in bold were awarded to Drumpf, 11 of which are currently held by Democrats. Republicans hold a 52 seat majority right now. If they can maintain the 8 seats they have to defend, they only need 8 Democrat and/or Independent seats to have a 60 seat supermajority and the power to pass basically anything they want under Trump for two years.

If you think it’s catastrophic now (and it is), imagine Drumpf and the Republicans with a 60 seat supermajority for two years plus a Republican House with the power to redistrict in 2020.

And that is why organizing now is critical. Getting people to run against every GOP House Member and tying every action by Trump to them. Make the 2018 elections ALL ABOUT TRUMP. This is also about taking back Governor’s Mansions. 

It is NOT impossible, but it requires effort. 2018 elections efforts SHOULD ALREADY BE UNDERWAY!

@ all my american followers

A little comic for National Coming Out Day! Not meant to encapsulate 100% of the spectrum of people’s experiences, just a little chat based on my personal findings :). Change is ok! (and so is not changing, of course!)

I saw this photo just earlier today and i just had to post it here 

//I’m fucked for life//

A beautiful reminder of who Noel Fisher is too

Mother of Navy Vet Shot at 30 Times by Police Begs For Justice

This video was posted by the mother of India Kager, who was shot 30 times by the police. One more unheard story of a black woman executed by the police for nothing. Moreover, for a really long time Mass Media didn’t have any information about this case. 

In September  India Kager, a 27-year-old Navy veteran from College Park, Maryland, was sitting with her boyfriend and 4-month-old son, Roman.

Perry was a “person of interest” in a  homicide, according to the police. They additionally claim that they had “confidential information” that he “was going to” commit a “violent crime.” But that’s about all they’re willing to say at this time to justify the incident.

Kager had nothing to do with her boyfriends crimes – past or future.

However,  officers began firing rounds that killed both Perry and Kager, indiscriminately. The baby, however, managed to survive – no thanks to the police who sprayed bullets wildly a the car.

Police didn’t explain anything and no justice for her daughter happened, so she is begging for it.

God Help you.

#sayhername #indiakager #blacklivesmatter

OMG I LOST MY SHIT OVER THIS Amazing art by @fleebites [Twitter]

‘Love Trumps Hate. Protests – in cities including New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Oakland, Philadelphia and Seattle.’

Boston too. I’m alive.

#NotMyPresident

The electoral college does not vote until December 19th. We have 40 days.

What does this mean?

Right now, the presidential election results are only a PROJECTION of the election outcome. They are PRELIMINARY RESULTS. A candidate still needs to earn 270 electoral votes to win. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, which means that more than 50% of the voters wanted her for president. The electoral college shouldn’t guarantee an override of the public’s opinion– and it doesn’t have to.

There are 21 states that do NOT restrict which candidate the electors vote for. Out of these 21, Hillary lost the following:

As you can see, these states are worth 166 electoral votes. As it currently stands, Hillary Clinton is projected to receive 232 votes. Trump is projected to win 306. This means that 37 votes need to be taken away from Trump to bring him down to 269. Hillary Clinton needs 38 votes ADDED to win 270. These electoral voters can also abstain, which means that they can refuse to vote for either candidate. If 37 of the voters within these states abstain then no candidate will have reached the required 270. In this case, the vote would be taken to the House.

Trump won Pennsylvania, a state that typically votes blue, by less than 100,000 votes. While it is highly unlikely to get all 20 electoral voters to cross party lines and vote democrat, it also isn’t impossible to convince a few of them to be “faithless electors.” We only need to convince 38 out of the 166. That is 23%. There are SIXTEEN states we need to focus our attention on.

A move like this would be unprecedented. However, as we all saw on November 8th, odds don’t guarantee reality. Trump had a less than 20% chance of winning, yet given the circumstances, enough people came together and made it happen. We can make this happen. 

Ask yourself this: What do we have left to lose? We can stay complacent and accept that this country will be run by a racist, sexist, islamophobic, homophobic, ablest bigot, or we can at least try. 

How?

SPREAD THE WORD. Trend #NotMyPresident to let people know that we do not accept being led by a man who does not care about our wellbeing. Email your professors, email the dean of your colleges. The last thing a university wants is negative press. Millenials can take a stand, but that doesn’t mean we have to be the only ones. Church-led events helped bring a lot of disillusioned voters to the polls. Spread the word in any way possible, whether it be on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or even in person. Stage a peaceful protest. Hand out flyers. Let the people around you know that you don’t accept this man as your leader when he won’t even accept you as a citizen with your designated rights.

These 166 people need to face the consequences of electing this man. 

Do this for the people who couldn’t vote. Do this for the people who live in the very real fear of being deported. Do this for the people who will have to face the rise in hate crimes. Do this for the people who have a very real possibility of losing their rights. Do this for the people who will no longer be able to afford necessities. 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Is this possible?

Yes, I wouldn’t have made the post without doing my research. Read the following paragraphs, taken from archives.gov:

Are there restrictions on who the Electors can vote for?

There is no Constitutional provision or Federal law that requires Electors to vote according to the results of the popular vote in their states. Some states, however, require Electors to cast their votes according to the popular vote. (The 16 states listed above do NOT restrict their electors to this rule.) These pledges fall into two categories—Electors bound by state law and those bound by pledges to political parties.

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the Constitution does not require that Electors be completely free to act as they choose and therefore, political parties may extract pledges from electors to vote for the parties’ nominees. Some state laws provide that so-called “faithless Electors” may be subject to fines or may be disqualified for casting an invalid vote and be replaced by a substitute elector. The Supreme Court has not specifically ruled on the question of whether pledges and penalties for failure to vote as pledged may be enforced under the Constitution. No Elector has ever been prosecuted for failing to vote as pledged.

SOURCE: https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/electors.html

Can Hillary still receive votes from the electoral college even though she’s conceded?

Think about it, Mitt Romney lost the 2012 election. All of the electoral voters didn’t immediately vote for President Obama the second he conceded. The election still ended up being 332 votes to 206. Not 538 unanimous votes for Barack Obama.

“For starters, it doesn’t matter if a losing candidate concedes, as far as the Electoral College process goes, according to Amy Bunk, director of legal affairs and policy at the Office of the Federal Register, among other experts.”

SOURCE: https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2016/10/20/can-losing-presidential-candidate-actually-challenge-election-results/s42xw8h3pcwFcXx7rsS14I/story.html

Conceding does not take a candidate’s name off of the ballot that the electoral voters see. In the past, “faithless electors” have voted for the projected losing candidate, or even voted third party. 

SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faithless_elector#List_of_faithless_electors

Concession really only means acceptance of the PROJECTED outcome. This does not mean that the actual outcome cannot be different from the projected outcome. Please keep this in mind.

HERE ARE THE ELECTORS YOU CAN BE CONTACTING

ARIZONA (9 Electors): J. Foster Morgan of Glendale, Walter Begay Jr. of Kayenta, Bruce Ash of Tucson, Sharon Giese of Mesa, James O’Connor of Scottsdale, Jerry Hayden of Scottsdale, Robert Graham of Phoenix, Edward Robson of Phoenix, Carole Joyce of Phoenix, Alberto Gutier of Phoenix, Jane Pierpoint Lynch of Phoenix

ARKANSAS (6 Electors): Jonathan Barnett, Jonelle Fulmer, Keith Gibson, Tommy Land, John Nabholz, Sharon R. Wright

GEORGIA (16 Electors): Not Listed, previous reports of a likely faithless elector

IDAHO (4 Electors): Layne Bangerter, Caleb Lakey, Jennifer Locke, Melinda Smyser

INDIANA (11 Electors): Stephanie Beckley, Jamestown; Daniel Bortner, Bedford; Laura Campbell, Carmel; Jeff Cardwell, Indianapolis; Donald L. Hayes, Jasper; Randall Kirkpatrick, Ligonier; Ethan E. Manning, Indianapolis; Macy Kelly Mitchell, Indianapolis; Edwin J. Simcox, Muncie; Fishers Kevin Steen, Muncie; Chuck Williams, Valparaiso

IOWA (6 Electors): Not Listed

KANSAS (6 Electors): Not Listed

KENTUCKY (8 Electors): Not Listed

LOUISIANA (8 Electors, includes alternates): Chris Trahan, Candy Maness, Lloyd Harsh, Jennifer Madsen, Charles Buckels, Christian Gil, Louis Avalone, Constance Diane Long, Kay Kellogg Katz, Verne Breland, Lennie Rhys, Glenda Pollard, Garret Monti, Scott Wilfong, John Batt, Raymond Griffin

MISSOURI (10 Electors, missing 2): Tim Dreste, Jan DeWeese, Hector Maldonado, Sherry Kuttenkuler, Casey Crawford, Tom Brown, Cherry Warren, Scott Clark

NORTH DAKOTA (3 Electors): Not Listed

PENNSYLVANIA (20 Electors): Not Listed

SOUTH DAKOTA (3 Electors): Marty Jackley, Dennis Daugaard, Matt Michels

TENNESSEE (11 Electors): Not Listed

TEXAS (38 Electors): Marty Rhymes, Thomas Moon, Carol Sewell, John Harper, Sherrill Lenz, Nicholas Ciggelakis, Will Hickman, Landon Estay, Rex Lamb, Rosemary Edwards, Matt Stringer, Shellie Surles, Melissa Kalka, Sandra Cararas, David Thackston, Robert Bruce, Margie Forster, Scott Mann, Marian K. Stanko, Tina Gibson, Ken Muenzter, Alexander Kim, Virginia Abel, John Dillard, Tom Knight, Marian Knowlton, Rex Teter, Stephen Suprun Jr., Jon Jewett, Susan Fischer, Lauren Byers, William Greene, Mary Lou Erben, Arthur Sisneros

WEST VIRGINIA (5 Electors, missing 1): Ron Foster, Patrick Morrissey, Ann Urling, Mac Warner

SOURCE. If anyone can find information on those not listed, please let me know.

ALSO a friendly reminder that a concession is not set in stone, and can be reversed:

“…a spoken concession does not necessarily deny a candidate office if there is a drastic reversal in the vote count…

It is exceedingly rare for a concession, once issued, to be retracted; BUT such an event occurred in the United States 2000 presidential election, when Democratic candidate Al Gore, Jr. telephoned Republican George W. Bush to concede the contest. Gore was apparently unaware of the close vote count in the state of Florida, and when he realized it, he proceeded to cancel his concession address.”

SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concession_(politics)

#NotMyPresident T-Shirts If interested, order closes on November 23rd. Prices are $20, and orders will be shipped directly to your address. All proceeds go directly to Planned Parenthood, an organization likely to be defunded under a Trump presidency. Link HERE.

teaforyourginaa: