Sinclair, the one in the video, has recently begun treatment for leukaemia, and in that time was laid off. Putting the link to the gofundme page to give her some financial relief and aid <3
There are people – some in my own Party – who think that if you just give Donald Trump everything he wants, he’ll make an exception and spare you some of the harm. I’ll ignore the moral abdication of that position for just a second to say — almost none of those people have the experience with this President that I do. I once swallowed my pride to offer him what he values most — public praise on the Sunday news shows — in return for ventilators and N95 masks during the worst of the pandemic. We made a deal. And it turns out his promises were as broken as the BIPAP machines he sent us instead of ventilators. Going along to get along does not work – just ask the Trump-fearing red state Governors who are dealing with the same cuts that we are. I won’t be fooled twice.
I’ve been reflecting, these past four weeks, on two important parts of my life: my work helping to build the Illinois Holocaust Museum and the two times I’ve had the privilege of reciting the oath of office for Illinois Governor.
As some of you know, Skokie, Illinois once had one of the largest populations of Holocaust survivors anywhere in the world. In 1978, Nazis decided they wanted to march there.
The leaders of that march knew that the images of Swastika clad young men goose stepping down a peaceful suburban street would terrorize the local Jewish population – so many of whom had never recovered from their time in German concentration camps.
The prospect of that march sparked a legal fight that went all the way to the Supreme Court. It was a Jewish lawyer from the ACLU who argued the case for the Nazis – contending that even the most hateful of speech was protected under the first amendment.
As an American and a Jew, I find it difficult to resolve my feelings around that Supreme Court case – but I am grateful that the prospect of Nazis marching in their streets spurred the survivors and other Skokie residents to act. They joined together to form the Holocaust Memorial Foundation and built the first Illinois Holocaust Museum in a storefront in 1981 – a small but important forerunner to the one I helped build thirty years later.
I do not invoke the specter of Nazis lightly. But I know the history intimately — and have spent more time than probably anyone in this room with people who survived the Holocaust. Here’s what I’ve learned – the root that tears apart your house’s foundation begins as a seed – a seed of distrust and hate and blame.
The seed that grew into a dictatorship in Europe a lifetime ago didn’t arrive overnight. It started with everyday Germans mad about inflation and looking for someone to blame.
I’m watching with a foreboding dread what is happening in our country right now. A president who watches a plane go down in the Potomac – and suggests — without facts or findings — that a diversity hire is responsible for the crash. Or the Missouri Attorney General who just sued Starbucks – arguing that consumers pay higher prices for their coffee because the baristas are too “female” and “nonwhite.” The authoritarian playbook is laid bare here: They point to a group of people who don’t look like you and tell you to blame them for your problems.
I just have one question: What comes next? After we’ve discriminated against, deported or disparaged all the immigrants and the gay and lesbian and transgender people, the developmentally disabled, the women and the minorities – once we’ve ostracized our neighbors and betrayed our friends – After that, when the problems we started with are still there staring us in the face – what comes next.
All the atrocities of human history lurk in the answer to that question. And if we don’t want to repeat history – then for God’s sake in this moment we better be strong enough to learn from it.
I swore the following oath on Abraham Lincoln’s Bible: “I do solemnly swear that I will support the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the state of Illinois, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of Governor …. according to the best of my ability.
My oath is to the Constitution of our state and of our country. We don’t have kings in America – and I don’t intend to bend the knee to one. I am not speaking up in service to my ambitions — but in deference to my obligations.
If you think I’m overreacting and sounding the alarm too soon, consider this:
It took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours and 40 minutes to dismantle a constitutional republic. All I’m saying is when the five-alarm fire starts to burn, every good person better be ready to man a post with a bucket of water if you want to stop it from raging out of control.
Those Illinois Nazis did end up holding their march in 1978 – just not in Skokie. After all the blowback from the case, they decided to march in Chicago instead. Only twenty of them showed up. But 2000 people came to counter protest. The Chicago Tribune reported that day that the “rally sputtered to an unspectacular end after ten minutes.” It was Illinoisans who smothered those embers before they could burn into a flame.
Tyranny requires your fear and your silence and your compliance. Democracy requires your courage. So gather your justice and humanity, Illinois, and do not let the “tragic spirit of despair” overcome us when our country needs us the most.
Sources:
• NBC Chicago & J.B. Pritzker, Democratic governor of Illinois, State of the State address 2025: Watch speech here | Full text
USA people! Buy NOTHING Feb 28 2025. Not anything. 24 hours. No spending. Buy the day before or after but nothing. NOTHING. February 28 2025. Not gas. Not milk. Not something on a gaming app. Not a penny spent. (Only option in a crisis is local small mom and pop. Nothing. Else.) Promise me. Commit. 1 day. 1 day to scare the shit out of them that they don’t get to follow the bullshit executive orders. They don’t get to be cowards. If they do, it costs. It costs.
Then, if you can join me for Phase 2. March 7 2025 thtough March 14 2025? No Amazon. None. 1 week. No orders. Not a single item. Not one ebook. Nothing. 1 week. Just 1.
If you live outside the USA boycott US products on February 28 2025 and stand in solidarity with us and also join us for the week of no Amazon.
I don’t know how many of you lovely people know what’s happening, but the by-and-by is that Netflix has officially canceled Shadow and Bone, and any potential spin-offs. I don’t like this. No one likes this. And so, I ask, if you have a moment or are even slightly interested, maybe go sign this petition?
[ID: a tweet from user @NailsNCrowns (miguel gomez stan account.) that reads “someone put together a google doc of 150 gynecologists that will tie your tubes without asking if you have kids, your marital status and no matter your age. It’s sorted by alphabetical order by state.” They include the link. Below is another tweet that reads “if your city isn’t on the list, please check back in a few hours because the list is updated hourly.” /end ID]
Yesterday (July 18th) settlers and IOF soldiers raided Al Aqsa mosque. They beat women, attacked worshippers and shot live bullets inside the mosque to make way for Israeli Jewish visitors
From Abbotsford to Yoho National Park, a heat wave shattered temperature records in British Columbia on Saturday — and meteorologists expect the weather to get even hotter over the next couple of days.
The Village of Lytton was the hottest place in the country Saturday, with a record-breaking 43.2 C according to Environment Canada. The previous record there was set in 2006, at 39.9 C.
Other notable highs include the Fraser Valley, which broke 40 C at Cultus Lake for the first time yesterday.
For all Americans keeping track 50c is around 123f i think. It’s what the summer temps in Arizona and New Mexico are like usually.
And for anyone who would like to say “lol that’s just summer here, nbd,” these are places where homes and most businesses do not generally have air conditioning. It doesn’t get hot enough during the summer to have a/c. Care homes might not have a/c in individual rooms. People are going to die from this. Forests are going to burn because of this.
Texan here.
Put foil on your windows and block with heavy blankets or curtains to keep sunlight out, that’s where the majority of your cool air leaves.
If you can’t get a hold of fans buy ice packs and stuff the freezer with em, you can place wrap them in towels and place them on pulse points on your body to keep you cool and avoid heat stroke.
If you do have a fan place a bowl of ice behind it to spread that cold air around the room
Wear your lightest clothing both in fabric and color WEAR LONG SLEEVES IN A LOOSE LIGHTWEIGHT FABRIC IT TRAPS SWEAT AND IT KEEPS YOU COOL, heat is attracted to dark colors.
Drink water no matter how thirsty you are, mix in gatorade to keep electrolytes up. Try to avoid ice cold though because it causes your body to heat up even more.
I hope this helps any of my Canadian followers. Some of us Texans still suffer so help these tips we use down here help ya’ll up there.
So it IS true that “this is just summer” where I am, but that means I know survival things you don’t and y’all were very kind to Texans during the polar vortex so from an Arizonan to all my overheating Canadians:
1) strip down to nothing. Pick out a light shirt and pants. (I like pajama pants for this.) Put them on. NO UNDERWEAR, it’ll make the next step suck. Now go get in a cool shower. Yes, with your clothes on. You can sit on a towel when you get out if you have cloth furniture. If you have long hair, use this opportunity to braid and bun it. It’ll stay wet longer, and keep you cooler.
2) stay indoors as much as possible.
3) If you have box fans, put a tub of ice water behind each one and aim it toward the ceiling on a 45-degree angle. Cool air sinks, so this will help circulation in your space and keep it cooler.
4) try to sleep during the day, if you can—body temperature automatically lowers during sleep. Dampen your top sheet and sleep under only that, in the nude if your living situation allows.
5) NO SODA. NO COFFEE. NO TEA. If you must drink these things, keep it to a minimum. In extremely hot weather, they can dehydrate you (especially soda).
6) find a friend or family member you can check in with at least once a day. Extreme heat can make you sluggish and disoriented even if you’re not in danger of overheating. Having someone to touch base with can help keep you engaged.
7) plan cold meals and do any necessary cooking at night. If you can stay awake this long, 2-3am will be the coolest part of the night and the most ideal for cooking. You’ll want lots of things like sandwiches, cut fruit, meat and veg that you like when they’re cold. Cooking during the day will heat up the house and you won’t want what you’ve made because it’s warm.
8) in the same vein, plan on 5-6 small meals rather than three moderate-to-large ones. You’ll find that you’re not actually all that hungry, and it’ll be easier to have a sandwich now and another in two hours than to eat a soup and sandwich and fruit right now. If you have an eating disorder and eating this way concerns you for your recovery, find a buddy to check in with, and remember: THIS IS HEALING. This is allowing your body to digest small amounts at a time so it’s not overwhelmed by unusual heat. You are eating the same amount overall, just in smaller bits.
9) buckle your seatbelts when you get out of the car, and if you have to park outside, leave your windows open by a couple of centimeters. This will prevent heat buildup (the hottest I’ve ever registered the inside of my car was 142 degrees—about 61C). If you have access to a piece of cardboard, put it inside your windshield to block out the sun. It really does help.
Stay safe, friends. Take care.
Rubbing alcohol will evaporate at higher humidity than water, you can rub that on your skin if it’s too muggy for sweat to evaporate. I’m guessing all that hand sanitizer we all stocked up on will work
Quick “It’s too hot to move” things I make:
“Greek” salad. Shave a cucumber of it’s outer skin if you don’t like the bitterness of it(if you have subpar cucumbers sometimes it’s better to leave the skin on for taste) and cut into small chunks or slices. toss it in a bowl with grape tomatoes. Add a drizzle of olive oil, some salt and pepper and garlic powder, then generous amounts of feta to taste. BOOM. Cooling, hydrating and yummy.
berries, watermelon, citrus fruits, all those things have lots of water and things that will help you cool off.
Want something delicious? Make a parfait with a mix of yogurt, cream cheese, sour cream, and/or pudding. Mix it up depending on how healthy you want it and add in a shit ton of berries and top with whipped cream if you’re into it. Add vanilla wafers or graham crackers or whatever other crunch thing you want(we put chunks of angel food cake in ours sometimes). It’s cooling and decadent- which will get your mind off how hot it is.
The Korean philosophy to cool off in the summer is to eat really hot, spicy soup. The idea is that you will sweat even more and that will help cool you off. It’s not a plan for everyoen tho.
Also, just a reminder I periodically give people visiting the mountains: in extreme conditions you are unused to, you may have trouble staying hydrated because your electrolyte count has gotten weird. I use Pedialyte to restore electrolytes (I loose them frequently thanks to my chronic illness) but anything like gastorade, powerade, or vitamin water can help. How much you’ll need will depend on how difficult it is to stay hydrated in that moment, but the average person will usually do okay on one serving per day.
If you’re looking to support genocide survivors in Iraq, please check out Yezidi Crafts and Enterprise, operated by the Free Yezidi Foundation. You can purchase handmade carpets by Ezidi women and support their work. There are many beautiful, traditional and fun designs that you can look through. Maybe you’ll find something to put on your wall or floor, it’s worth having a look at.
Even though I wished for it, I never expected this to be shared so widely, so thank you to everyone who reblogged it. As some of you might have read on the website, the shipping was restricted due to Covid. The Free Yezidi Foundation messaged me on Twitter however and let me know that they will soon start shipping again. So please look out for that if you have set your eyes on a carpet. And thank you again for sharing, you can surely imagine what this means to the women who you are supporting.
