Betterment and Praxis

[Image description: a largish cardboard box containing around a hundred packets of vegetable seeds]

Our library is hosting a seed swap tomorrow and, well, we're friends with folks whose family runs a local business, where they have one of those vegetable seed stands on display. All it took was asking if they had any seeds they would like to donate for the event and seed library and they gave us scores of seeds. My wife and I organized them this evening and I'll be bringing them to the swap, then sticking whatever's left in the seed library.

I'm really excited about how many folks in our town this might provide some measure of relief and security - in addition to the seed swap attendees, the library also grows veggies in the plot out back for donation to the local food pantry and involves kids from the nearby schools for some of the garden projects.

If your library runs programs like this (or other local community support groups do), I'd really encourage you to volunteer even just calling some local spots for support or donations. Sometimes you get the chance to make an outsized difference.

Just wanted to share the servers Gardenfence has identified as hate sources so you can curate your fedi experience better.

https://github.com/gardenfence

Curious what the general consensus is on what we should do with our savings. My friend just liquidated 1/3rd of his portfolio. Wondering what I should consider for my 401k. What are you all doing?

I just signed up for the RSS feeds that tell you what bills are going through the senate, congress, and the oval office. I recommend this subscription.

for your propaganda use

Growing up in Arizona (little fluffy clouds), this unnecessary twice-a-year routine is still baffling.

Origin and Mission: The Visibility Brigade model was born in 2020 out of a frustration due to the lack of physical messaging in the real world regarding the existential crisis we face as a nation. People need “social proof” to know how best to act and we deliver this weekly. We present our messages at a pedestrian walkway over Route 4 in Paramus, New Jersey. Our goal is to remind folks of this crisis, to suggest simple actions to take and to support pro-democratic state and national candidates. However, perhaps the greatest purpose at present is to comfort heartbroken voters and let them know that they are not alone.

Who We Are And What We Do: as Margaret Meade once wrote, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world, indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." A Visibility Brigade needs only a handful of dedicated members (5 minimum) to create weekly actions. This requires a weekly dedication of 60-90 minutes a week of placing a simple message in a public location, usually an overpass or other well-trafficked locale.

"We have less than 30 days until the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) laws are rescinded. This is the 50-year bedrock of American environmental conservation. Normally, these actions take years but the administration has provided 30 days for public comment gutting clean water and clean air. Please stop scrolling for 2 minutes and populate the Federal Register with dissent. The comment period ends on MARCH 27!

A. Go to https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/02/25/2025-03014/removal-of-national-environmental-policy-act-implementing-regulations

B. Click on the green rectangle in the upper right corner ("SUBMIT A PUBLIC COMMENT") .

C. Fill in your comment, and info at the bottom, and SUBMIT COMMENT. All you are required to fill out is first name/last name, your comment, then click the "yes I know this is a public comment" box at the bottom."

-@[email protected]

STATE OF PLAY: WHY WE’RE TAKING ACTION

The Trump-Musk coup is underway, and we’re all paying the price. Through his farce agency DOGE, Elon Musk and Trump are dismantling democracy in real-time and ripping apart the services millions rely on. Here’s what’s happening:

• 💥 Economic terrorism at OMB: Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) attempted to cut all federal funding for child nutrition, healthcare, domestic violence shelters, and veterans' programs. A judge blocked it—for now.
• 💰 Elon Musk has his hands on U.S. Treasury payments: Trump’s Treasury Secretary secretly gave Musk access to a system that moves trillions of dollars. Will he block payments to safety-net programs? Funnel confidential financial data to his companies? We don’t know—because there is zero oversight.
• 🏦 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was gutted: At Musk’s behest, Trump-installed director Russell Vought ordered all investigations and enforcement actions to stop—allowing banks, payday lenders, and credit card companies to scam Americans with zero consequences.
• ⚖️ JD Vance declared the courts illegitimate if they try to stop Trump. He openly stated that the judiciary has no right to constrain the president’s power.

And while all of this unfolds, House Republicans are trying to ram through an extremist budget that rips food off tables and puts education and healthcare out of reach—while handing over control of government funding to Elon Musk. They’re slashing programs that help families afford rent, childcare, and healthcare and stripping resources from the very agencies that keep corporations in check. All the while, Musk and Trump tighten their grip on the government, using it as a piggy bank for their own gain. This isn’t governance; it’s outright theft.

They think they can get away with it because people won’t notice. That’s where we come in.

Because knowledge is power, learn about active boycotts right now.

Perhaps you’ve seen dozens a boycotts across your social media feed. Look up what boycotts are happening now and who is organizing them rated by our criteria of what makes a boycott effective.

This workbook is intended as an extension of the book Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba. It was created to feature resources that the authors couldn't fit in the book, including other helpful books, essays, wisdom from veteran organizers, and more. Educator and activist Ursula Wolfe-Rocca drafted the "Souped-Up Study Guide," which is the core of this workbook. The other components are included as a supplement to the guide. The workbook is designed so that it can be used by independent study groups and individuals outside of group settings.

If you look, there are people resisting at every level. Blockades of freeways. American Bar Association urging an end to illegal orders. Past inspector generals penning op-eds, as a current inspector general refuses to accept her illegal firing. The Pope slamming VP Vance’s theology.

We can’t put everything you could do in here — including ways to ground yourself in these times — but here are some starting points on how to orient and help fight the coup.

Every year, there are constant calls for solidarity actions both nationally and internationally. In recent years, the go to action of choice for many has been banner drops along highly trafficked streets and freeways. We in no way shape or form want to take away from these actions. Banner drops can be seen by potentially thousands of people, photos of the banners can be shared online, and write ups of the action give those behind it a chance to issue a statement of solidarity. Moreover, banner drops are also often easy to carry out and help build trust and confidence between those doing the action.

The point of this column is simply to get people to think about different actions, the logic behind them, and how they can help in accomplishing the goal of letting people know about a struggle or repression that comrades face, expanding that struggle, and aiding materially to that struggle. Beyond that, we hope to create a list of easy, reproducible, and low risk actions that you and your friends can use on top of banner drops – thus expanding the tools in your tool box. Above all, remember that these are just ideas, and we encourage everyone to engage in experimentation to better fit them into your own local context.

In carrying out actions, even small ones, we want to communicate with the wider world that something important is happening and they need to know about it. Also, when comrades face repression, we want to shine a light on that abuse and let people know that it is happening and that we have their backs, just like we hope that they would have ours. Lastly, we also want to experiment with tactics which allow us to meet new people that we could potentially form affinity with.

Towards that end, here are some ideas.

A nice interactive map and live list of available mutual aid in the US.

An option to take action.

Let me know where to post this if not here, thanks in advance.

A maintained list of DEI and Anti-DEI companies.