Denounce the 52 Democrats Who Voted to Enable Trump's Attacks on Nonprofits

From Civic Shout:

In a shocking and deeply disappointing move, 52 House Democrats just voted in support of a bill that would give Donald Trump unprecedented power to target nonprofits and strip them of their tax-exempt status. This bill would allow Trump’s Treasury Secretary to label organizations as “terrorist-affiliated” without due process—a direct threat to the charities, advocacy groups, and nonprofits that fight for justice, equality, and environmental protection.

Trump has repeatedly shown hostility toward organizations that challenge his agenda. With this new power, he could cripple nonprofits that support marginalized communities, defend civil rights, and advocate for progressive values. Voting for this bill was a betrayal of the very principles these Democratic lawmakers were elected to protect.

As Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of Indivisible, put it, "If you're looking for a handy list of Democrats who have no f***ing clue what is about to hit and need their spines stiffened ASAP, this is a good place to start."

The House is expected to vote on this bill again as soon as soon as today. We need to make sure these 52 Democrats join the majority of other Democrats in standing with nonprofits against this dangerous and misguided legislation.

Tell Democrats: Don’t enable Trump’s attacks on nonprofits. Reject the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act if it comes up for another vote.

Here’s the full list of House Democrats who voted in favor of this bill:

Colin Allred (TX-32), Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Yadira Caraveo (CO-8), Ed Case (HI-1), Kathy Castor (FL-14), Jim Costa (CA-21), Angie Craig (MN-2), Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Sharice Davids (KS-3), Don Davis (NC-1), Debbie Dingell (MI-6), Lois Frankel (FL-22), Jared Golden (ME-2), Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15), Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), Josh Harder (CA-9), Jahana Hayes (CT-5), Steny Hoyer (MD-5), Marcy Kaptur (OH-9), Greg Landsman (OH-1), Susie Lee (NV-3), Mike Levin (CA-49), Kathy Manning (NC-6), Lucy McBath (GA-7), Grace Meng (NY-6), Gwen Moore (WI-4), Jared Moskowitz (FL-23), Frank Mrvan (IN-1), Donald Norcross (NJ-1), Frank Pallone (NJ-6), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Chris Pappas (NH-1), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-3), Pat Ryan (NY-18), Adam Schiff (CA-30), Brad Schneider (IL-10), Hillary Scholten (MI-3), Kim Schrier (WA-8), Brad Sherman (CA-32), Elissa Slotkin (MI-7), Eric Sorensen (IL-17), Greg Stanton (AZ-4), Haley Stevens (MI-11), Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), Tom Suozzi (NY-3), Emilia Sykes (OH-13), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Norma Torres (CA-35), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Gabe Vasquez (NM-2), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25).

These Democrats have aligned themselves with Trump’s harmful agenda instead of standing up for the nonprofits that play a critical role in our democracy.

We call on these 52 Democrats to reverse course and stand up for nonprofits that serve the public good. It is unacceptable for Democrats to give Trump unchecked power to attack the organizations that protect our rights, serve our communities, and work tirelessly for a better world.

Sign this petition to denounce these Democratic lawmakers and demand that they stand with nonprofits when the bill comes up for another vote.

https://actionnetwork.org/forms/denounce-the-52-democrats-who-voted-to-enable-trumps-attacks-on-nonprofits 

Will Durant

 

Will Durant, born as William James Durant on November 5, 1885, in North Adams, Massachusetts, was an American writer, philosopher, and historian. He and his wife Ariel were among the most eminent scholars of the 20th Century. A charming video about their romance is linked below.

https://fstube.net/w/dVk6LVyxy3ooNKUWLC15xq

OTD: Gay Author Augusten Burroughs

 

Bestselling author Augusten Burroughs was born on this day in 1965. As his website states:

Augusten Burroughs is one of the most widely-read and critically-acclaimed memoirists in the world. His works are published in more than 30 countries and have sold over 10 million copies, making him one of the best-selling LGBTQ+ authors of all time.

"The #1 bestselling author has written eight memoirs, one novel, a self-help book and a children's picture book. His memoir Running with Scissors was a publishing phenomenon, spending more than 70 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and exploding the memoir genre wide open. Augusten's follow-up memoir, Dry, details the story of his recovery from alcoholism and remains -- over 20 years after its publication -- a staple literature in the recovery community.

 

Bruce Rind writes about him:

 

Shortly after the Catholic Church sex scandal involving priests sexually involved with boys began, Burroughs retold his own involvement with priests to add some nuance to the invariant black-and-white presentations in the media. Burroughs noted that

 

"Catholic priests have given me some of the best blow jobs of my life."

 

The first was when he was 14 years old. Though his mother was not Catholic, nor even particularly religious, she frequented a Catholic church on Sundays for the symbolism, and young Augusten occasionally accompanied her. He would spend his time walking around the offices rather than attending the services. Often on his explorations he would pass by a priest, on whom he had a crush “because he was young and almost hunky.”

 

Eventually in the priest he could discern a hunger to match his own. At one point, Augusten passed the priest in the hallway and then walked into the men's room for the sole purpose of peeing. Then the priest walked in – Augusten thought the priest entered to scold him about some bad conduct. Instead the priest walked up to the urinal next to him and began staring at Augusten's penis in an absorbed, transfixed manner. For Burroughs, the unfolding situation was sudden and unexpected, but not unwanted.

 

As Burroughs commented, he himself felt horny, so he dropped his pants and stepped away from the urinal, facing the man – and getting what turned out to be his “first excellent blow job from a Catholic priest.”

 

The priest then began sobbing – he was fearful that his transgression would become known. Augusten, though, assured him he would never tell, and he never did tell anyone. He commented that he felt terrible – not for the sex, but for the priest's reaction. But for the sex itself, Burroughs provided the following analogy to convey his feelings:

 

“He was a hunky young guy in the wrong career who got my rocks off. For a straight guy, it would be like being 14, and having one of the centerfolds from Playboy step out of the magazine and hand you a bottle of mineral oil.”

 

Rind adds that Burroughs did realize that not all sexual encounters with Catholic priests have been positive and that he had homoerotic desires when his own encounter took place.

 

Source: Article by Bruce Rind "Blinded by Politics and Morality -- A Reply to McAnulty and Wright" in Censoring Sex Research, republished in Positive Memories by T. Rivas.

An Appeal from Political Prisoner Nelson Maatman

This was posted online yesterday: 

Dutch gay political activist Nelson Maatman has now spent 2 1/2 years in Mexican jail awaiting trial on frame-up charges, under atrocious conditions. He's recently released an update on his conditions.

Nelson was arrested as a result of a set-up by two corrupt NGOs, the Netherlands-based Free A Girl and the US-based Operation Underground Railroad run by con man Tim Ballard. Below Nelson's message, I'm appending images of an email leaked from Ballard's organization acknowledging entrapment behaviors on their part.

> 11th of October 2024, RVPO, Ciudad de México > > For the last couple of months I've been dating the most amazing guy. We have so much in common and the things we don't have in common I like even more. It's been a hard knock life for the both of us, but when I'm with him it feels like the whole world disappears including the hell hole we're in. > It's far from easy. We're both scarred by our difficult pasts, but together we're working on it. Recently however things have become impossible and it seems like absolutely nobody is helping us. > A while back my boyfriend - whom was living 3 doors down at the time - ‘accidentally’ go transfer to a new dormitory by prison administration. They moved him to the group cell in the dormitory for recidivists. Those are people whom are in jail for at least the third time in their life. Not cold-hearted sicarios, but the worst kind of street thugs live there. > It's my boyfriend's first time in prison for a relatively small crime when he was 18. He's not some tough gangster. He has learned to stand up for himself, but he's still a timid gay guy that even the prison admits is vulnerable in prison, and for that he legally has the right to protection. Protection he doesn't get. Protection we need. > > Things went to hell a few weeks ago. For some thoughts brought me my boyfriend - whom was already marked by several hits he took - the hit him several times in front of me and told me that if I didn't pay that they'd beat the shit out of him. I paid the extortionist and then I paid some more to get rid of them. > I bought my boyfriend a bunk in a relatively quiet part of the group cell so he'd be safer, more comfortable and we'd have a place to hang out. I waited to visit so he could settle, but soon things went wrong again. A guy in one of the bunks below him falsely accused my boyfriend of stealing a radio. My boyfriend has a large history of false accusation and and as a gay guy in a homophobic ‘Catholic’ country ALWAYS got screwed over. > I didn't want to risk his safety or for him to end up in punishment. From my own experience I know how bad it is down there. I've often called it “worse than Guantanamo”, that should give you an image. > I paid to replace the radio, I paid to have the accuser moved out, and I paid for protection. I decided it was time to let my presence be known since I have a lot of rep in other parts of the prison. I paid the mafia for my right to visit and to get their ‘blessing’. > Despite the roaches and smell of death rat, his bunk turned into a little slice of heaven for us to hang out, smoke, talk, kiss, but it didn't last long. Things got weird quick. > My boyfriend started talking about how I should break up with him because he was supposedly no good for me. They found the real thief, but didn't give us back our money. And I was getting sick of the amount of favors and gifts the mafioso kept demanding. That was just the first day. > The second day my boyfriend acted distant, but initially wouldn't tell me why. At the end of the day as it was getting close for me to leave he finally broke and told me they were forcing him to extort me, but that he didn't want to. They had a used condom and wanted to force him to file a rape complaint if I didn't pay. > > No, yes, I know it sounds ridiculous, but do realize that I'm already being held for two and a half years for HUMAN TRAFFICKING and drug trade without trial, without evidence and without the possibility of a defense against a crime I obviously didn't commit. > With the Mexican Government against me a condom with my sperm and a forced or made up victim declaration. I could easily be looking at several extra years of pre trial detention. And what about my boyfriend his safety? > > I didn't have a choice. I paid to get the condom and faked breaking up with my boyfriend, publicly accusing him of extortion to stop the actual extortion. Obviously I didn't formally accuse him of extortion and it's with his knowledge and consent. Secretly we're still seeing each other in other parts of the prison. > > The prison and my embassy - his embassy sucks - are aware of the situation and have promised to take appropriate action. They haven't done anything at all. I communicate with them daily and they keep telling us ‘not to worry’. > We're in danger come on broke, underweight and starving. Nobody helps. > > Nobody helps mainly because apparently two guys who love each other is something horrible. More horrible than the systematic torture that goes on in this prison, or the trafficking of transforming for sex. > > Please somebody send help or at least some money so we can eat! Stop looking away. > > Nelson Maatman > > 11th of October 2024

You can click on each of the images below to view the page in full.

 

 

 

 

 

PfP's Annual Gala is Back!

From Playgrounds for Palestine:

Annual PfP Gala is back! Light refreshments & silent auction, followed by dinner, presentations, and entertainment.

It has been a long absence since covid first paused our annual gala, a constant of our community since 2001.

So much has happened in the past year, and PfP has stepped up to do our part to protect our children, especially in Gaza. This year, we finished three playground projects that carried over from previous years, but our flagship project now is a school we recently established in Gaza to serve 120 students (for now). We are hoping to expand and grow to meet the dire need of children who are facing another year without school.

These children are our future and we refuse to sit by while their futures are being stolen. We hope you will join us to learn more about this initiative and support our work.

PfP remains a labor of love, with an all volunteer administrative staff in the US. Our biggest source of income are individual donations and sales of AIDA olive oil products.

The evening will begin with light refreshments and a silent auction, followed by dinner, presentations, and music by the stunning, talented, compassionate, beautiful, soulful Farah Siraj.

Get your tickets now.

It's Kate Winslet's Birthday!

 

 

Actress Kate Winslet was born on this day in 1975. One of her best-known roles was in Titanic, whose opening she missed to attend the funeral of Stephen Tredre, her first love, after he died from bone cancer. He had urged her to break off their relationship so that she could focus on making the movie, but she subsequently expressed regret that she hadn’t been with him at the end. As related by T. Rivas in Positive Memories:

“British academy-award winning actress Kate Winslet had a relationship with her colleague Stephen Tredre that began when she was 15 and lasted for about five years, from 1991 to 1995. Tredre was almost 13 years her senior.

"Shortly after he died of cancer in 1997, Kate Winslet confessed he had been the love of her life.

“She confirmed this again for an interview in 2008 connected to her performance in The Reader:

“'He was very much the love of my life during those years.’"

https://www.vulture.com/2008/12/three_out_of_four_the_reader_s.html

The Inquirer's Confusion Reflects Why Democrats Are Losing

 

The Philadelphia Inquirer has an article reporting on the fact that Democrats have been losing ground to Republicans among working-class Philadelphians. The article itself is marked by a terminological conflation that precisely reflects the reason many Democrats don't understand why this is happening.

It says, "[W]orking-class voters in Philadelphia, a once reliable voting bloc for the party, have drifted right in recent years." Variations on this are repeated several times in the article. Yet not an iota of evidence is presented that working-class Philadelphians have become more conservative ideologically -- only that more are voting for the GOP, at least when its nominee is Trump.

It's not working people who've been moving to the right; it's the Democratic Party that's done so, leaving workers less reason to vote for it. In the absence of a mass workers' party, it's primarily the Republicans that benefit.

But this shift also increases the opportunities for a solution to this problem. The more workers see Trump as the lesser evil, the more can make Vote Pacts with those who still see Harris in that light -- freeing both to vote for a real pro-worker alternative like the Green Party.