Ace Rings are ace things

Remember Stephen Miller. Remember Joe Arpaio. Remember Puerto Rico.

Remember the lifting of the ban on military gear for police. Remember Bears Ears. Remember “shithole countries.” Remember the DREAMers. Remember child separation.

Remember the Black Voters Matter bus in Louisville, Georgia.

Remember Citizens United. Remember Cambridge Analytica. Remember dominionism. Remember Steve Bannon. Remember Roger Stone. Remember Merrick Garland. Remember Obamacare repeal.

Remember Betsy DeVos. Remember the tariffs and the trade war. Remember net neutrality. Remember “the enemy of the people”.

Remember the emoluments clause. Remember Paul Manafort. Remember Michael Cohen.

Remember gerrymandering.

Remember the federal deficit. Remember the tax fraud.

Remember Crimea. Remember Semion Mogilevich. Remember Flight MH17. Remember Vladimir Putin. Remember novichok.

Remember NATO. Remember Helsinki. Remember Montenegro. Remember Maria Butina.

Remember “I like people who weren’t captured.” Remember “if we have them, why can’t we use them?”

Remember Xinjiang. Remember Rodrigo Duterte. Remember Jared Kushner and Mohammed bin Salman. Remember the Rohingya. Remember refugees. Remember HIV and HPV. Remember Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Remember Trump “fell in love” with Kim Jong Un. Remember Jamal Khashoggi.

Remember “grab ‘em by the pussy”. Remember the global gag rule. Remember Roy Moore. Remember Roe v. Wade. Remember Christine Blasey Ford.

Remember the Paris Agreement. Remember Scott Pruitt. Remember ANWR.

Remember the trans military ban. Remember “he wants to hang them all!”

Remember Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Remember the NRA.

Remember oversight power. Remember voter suppression.

Remember the ineptitude, the deceit, the cruelty, and the glee.

Gun Reform Advocate Emma González Is Bisexual—And The President Of Parkland’s High School GSA

Stoneman Douglas High School student Emma González, who made headlines with her moving call-to-action at a gun control rally after a deadly mass shooting at her school, isn’t new to activism: The 18-year-old is openly bisexual and the president of her school’s Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA).

Just days after the massacre, she was handed a mic and told she could speak to the nation about what needs to be done. Her moving speech “called B.S.” on the NRA—and the conservative politicians who accept donations from the organization. The tragedy has propelled her activism forward, she said: “This has changed me fundamentally to the core.” (read more)

Bi people are far more likely to experience violence, particularly bi women and trans bi folk, especially those of color. Violence against LGBTQ+ people is on the rise, particularly against trans women of color. The second largest mass shooting in the US was at a gay club on a night for LGBTQ+ latinxs in 2016. 

Tweet via Steve Marmel reads:

After years of hard-fought advocacy, over 20 failed bills, and an extraordinary, unprecedented national postal survey, same-sex marriage has finally become the law of the land in Australia.

Hundreds of LGBTI advocates and couples who have been waiting years for this moment watched on from the public gallery, sometimes raucously, as the House of Representatives passed a historic vote in favour of change on Thursday evening.

DON’T SCROLL PASS! FOUND THIS ON GOOGLE+ AND I FEEL LIKE IT IS IMPORTANT!

today is Nov. 15. the FCC, under chairman Ajit Pai, will not listen to the public despite millions of comments in support of net neutrality. They are going to try their hardest to kill net neutrality, which in turn will kill the internet, which in turn will help eradicate democracy. it won’t just affect Americans, it has the potential to affect the entire internet, something we ALL use daily. you can bet your ass other countries will see america doing this, and use it as an excuse to do it in their own countries.

this is what buying a plan without net neutrality looks like there:

you have to pay MORE for features you’re already guaranteed to have under net neutrality. and in america, you already know how expensive everything is.

democrats AND republicans both want net neutrality. advocacy groups in touch with congress have said that if your members of congress receive calls from you, they are more encouraged and more likely to take action to stop Pai’s plan to gut net neutrality. after Nov. 22, it will be MUCH HARDER to convince your member of congress.

please, call them. call them daily.

Are you waiting for next year — the 2018 midterms — to cast your first vote against the Trump/GOP agenda?

You might not have to wait that long.

We researched every election coming up next month, and we found that at least 100 million Americans have a state, city, or district election on November 7. That’s about 1 out of every 3 people nationwide!

We’ve compiled a handy list of these elections. Find out whether you have an election, and make your plan for voting. (If you live in Virginia or Washington state, check out our website for more info about these crucial elections — and donate to help Flippable candidates win.)

Statewide Elections

94 million Americans have statewide elections on November 7. There are lots of seats at stake in New Jersey and Virginia (including the governor and the state legislature), while other states have ballot initiatives on major issues like healthcare and criminal justice:

Maine: Ballot measure to expand Medicaid, plus 4 more

New Jersey: Governor, Lt. Governor, all 120 state legislative seats

New York: Ballot measure to call a state constitutional convention, plus 2 more

Ohio: Ballot measures on criminal justice and drug prices

Pennsylvania: State judicial elections (Supreme, Superior, and Commonwealth Courts)

Texas: Ballot measures (7 total)

Virginia: Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, all 100 seats in the State House

Washington state: Ballot measure on property tax, plus 2 more

City Elections

Some of America’s biggest cities have important elections this year — for mayor, city council, district attorney, & more:

Atlanta (GA): Mayor and city council

Aurora (CO): City council

Boise (ID): City council

Boston (MA): Mayor and city council

Buffalo (NY): Mayor and city court

Charlotte (NC): Mayor and city council

Cincinnati (OH): Mayor and city council

Cleveland (OH): Mayor and city council

Columbus (OH): City council, city attorney, and city auditor

Detroit (MI): Mayor, city clerk, and city council

Durham (NC): Mayor and city council

Greensboro (NC): Mayor and city council

Jersey City (NJ): Mayor and city council

Miami (FL): Mayor and city council

Minneapolis (MN): Mayor and city council

New York City (NY): Mayor, city council, comptroller, public advocate, and borough presidents

Orlando (FL): City council

Philadelphia (PA): District attorney and city controller

Pittsburgh (PA): Mayor and city council

Raleigh (NC): Mayor and city council

Seattle (WA): Mayor and city council

St. Petersburg (FL): Mayor and city council

St. Paul (MN): Mayor

Wichita (KS): City council

Congressional and Legislative Seats

There are 220 state legislative seats up for grabs in New Jersey & Virginia, plus 30 seats in other states across the country. Heads up, Utah: you have a U.S. Congressional election!

Georgia: State Senate districts 6 and 39, State House districts 4, 26, 42, 60, 89, 117, and 119

Maine: State House district 56

Massachusetts: State House districts Berkshire 1 and Essex 3

Michigan: State House districts 1 and 109

Mississippi: State House districts 38 and 54

Missouri: State Senate district 8, State House districts 23 and 151

New Hampshire: State House districts Hillsborough 15 and Sullivan 1

New Jersey: All 120 state legislative seats

South Carolina: State House district 113

Utah: 3rd Congressional district

Virginia: All 100 seats in the State House

Washington: State Senate districts 7, 31, 37, 45, and 48, State House districts 7, 31, and 48.

Make your voting plan

If you don’t see your state or town listed here, don’t assume you can’t vote on November 7. Follow these steps to make sure you’re ready on Election Day:

Check your registration.

Search for your local elections office.

Make a plan to vote (find your polling place, arrange a ride, put Election Day in your calendar).

There are even more elections in the month after Election Day (most notably the U.S. Senate race in Alabama on December 12). If you don’t have an election, you probably know someone who does. Reach out & encourage them to vote!

These off-year elections often see low turnout and razor-thin margins, so every vote is important. We aren’t waiting for 2018 to start winning big — and you don’t have to, either.

UPDATE: Since publishing, we’ve added three more state legislative races to our list: New York Assembly districts 27 and 71, and New York State Senate district 27.

New study projects a stunning drop in 2018 millennial voter turnout in battleground states

The 2016 presidential election — and its outcome — may have given plenty of Americans a new sense of urgency when it comes to civics.

But a new study projects that 40 million Americans who voted last year will likely not show up at the polls for the 2018 midterms.

And that two-thirds of those “drop-off” voters will be millennials, unmarried women and people of color.

THIS MATTERS

YOUR VOTE MATTERS SO MUCH OKAY

Just look at the difference young people getting out and voting made in the UK general election this year…young voters CAN make a POSITIVE DIFFERENCE by getting out and voting 

And I know this isn’t a presidential election but it is in some ways EVEN MORE IMPORTANT

Because the president can’t do anything without congress and the senate on his side…but likewise, if the Republicans get a majority it means it will be easier for that disgusting sack of stinking dog-vomit Donald Trump and his party of traitors and criminals to push through the DISGUSTING things they want to try and inflict on the country and its people

Am I registered? Shit, who knows? I’ve moved five times in the last four years. I think I registered, but that was a year ago, did I change districts since then? Where even are the polling places in this town? What are their hours? I know I submitted a registration, but did they get it? I didn’t get a confirmation. Did they lose my form? Am I even eligible? Who knows? Oh well, I’m sure I can always register in the days leading up to the – whoops, there’s a deadline and it’s already gone by.

This is one of those civic skills that you would really think would be taught in high school, and – surprise! – it isn’t.

So here’s how to check which district you’re in and who your rep is.

Here’s how to find out if you’re registered.

Here are the deadlines for when to register.

Here’s how to register, if it turns out you’re not.

Here’s how to find local polling places.

I wasn’t able to vote in the 2004 election because the state I lived in at the time (Texas) had the wrong deadline date on their website. I had plenty of time to register, I thought. So I go to register two weeks before the deadline, and the website has changed, and the deadline now says it was two months prior.

Where I lived in MA, in the 2008 election, the polling places local to me were all grandfathered in and not disability accessible. Plus, it had just snowed and I was in incredible pain from my rheumatoid arthritis, and I couldn’t walk up stairs. It also was not easy to get an absentee ballot.

Since moving back to my homestate of Washington, where they will prod you about registering to vote when you get state ID or driver’s licenses, and I think they ask if you’re there for other reasons too. Also, voting is by mail. The only times I haven’t is primary, usually because I can’t find out enough information about the candidates at that point. To my knowledge, the only voting you have to go somewhere for is the presidential caucus, and people have been trying to change that to be by mail, too. (It should be!)

Even though it’s made this easy, only about half of the state votes. That’s better than some states where it’s 30% or less, but it’s still way too few. There are multiple other countries that have an 80-90% voting participation.

2018 in particular is so, so, so very important, because if the Republicans remain in power, or worse, get a supermajority, we are completely fucked. What’s going on right now will look minor in comparison, because if they get a supermajority where they can basically push through what they want, we will spend the next decade or more undoing the damage they’ll have done – at least, what of that damage can be undone. Some of it, like environmental damage, will be permanent and once the damage is done, there’s no taking it back.