Michelle Walker (she/her)

Abolish I.C.E.

Spotify Wrapped, YouTube Recap, Amazon Delivered, Apple Replay, and other year-end summaries of what we listened to and watched on streaming platforms, is a reminder that our data is being harvested by corporations we pay to steal our data.

Happy Labor Day!
Support workers and unions around the world today:
1. Disengage with Amazon as much as you are able.
2. Commit to ditching all Starbucks products.
3. Remember that your labor, and how you choose to use or withhold it, has power. Sign your strike card here:
generalstrikeus.com

This is one reason I have been buying so many DVDs lately. I can't trust streaming services.

The state decides if what you were legally doing is now illegal (ie protesting/boycotting Israel), can decide to designate you as disabled to lock you away (they will make up disabilities to do it, ie Drapetomania), and now they want to weaponize citizenship to funnel people to concentration camps.

Exclusive: A Washington state agency is sharing drivers' private data with ICE The KING 5 Investigators find Washington's Department of Licensing has been sharing driver's license data with federal immigration agents, sparking privacy concerns.

Yo @governorferguson.bsky.social: What. The. Fuck.
www.king5.com/article/news...

Hmm. Where have I seen that in the New York Times before...

One thing I am seeing misreported in the media today about the Skrmetti ruling is a claim that the supreme court ruled this is "about age, not transgender status."

SCOTUS also ruled this is about "diagnosis, not transgender status"

Bans targeting adults are likely legal under this ruling.

The sweeps of the encampments and his podcast sucking up to the right JUST HAPPENED. Telling Trump to not piss on his authority is self serving, while coincidentally being the right thing to do.

DOGE was a smash and grab robbery of our personal data.

Out of touch doesn't even begin to describe these people.

Holy shit - Gavin Newsom has clarified that this goes even further.

The transgender runner will compete "in her own category."

California is basically instituting a sports ban.

www.kcra.com/article/cali...

A reminder that if this same headline and subhed was published somewhere else with Qatar changed to Israel, the same Free Press that published this piece would scream that it was antisemitic.

Big corporations, and the oligarchs, got that way *partly* because we kept giving them our money. Stop what you can. Diversify your spending where you can.

What are you changing?

2. I changed my phone service: I had chosen Verizon years ago for fear that secondary service providers would get so deprioritized, that the coverage wouldn't be good enough; that has not proven out. I now pay about $16/ month, in advance, versus $73/ month. 😳

1. Reduced my streaming services: The amount of video streaming accounts I had active crept up to 4. I am down to 2, and considering going down to 1.

Action Item: funnel less money to the corporate overlords

I've never been a big spender, not in my budget, but there were a couple of things that I was recently able to change.

*rest of you.

"...before expanding their research into additional chronic health conditions."

They are making a database, with personally identifiable information, including from that surveillance device you wear to track your steps.

Autistic people are the "pilot project" before they come for the test of you.

And, this bar is on the floor, OPPOSE GENOCIDE.

my reaction to this is not "oh Trump's losing it" it's "the entire point of fascism is that the leader declares reality and everyone else has to follow it".

That may be to someone I know that needs a little help, or to a stranger posting on the Lane County Mutual Aid Network, or to someone I've been learning from online. This money is already out of my regular accounts, so, to my brain, it is already gone... and waiting to do some good.

Having money show up in my life, without detailing the struggles, justifying my choices, and expecting to be surveiled, is such a blessing.
I'm now making a habit of keeping some money (as available in my shifting circumstances) in my Venmo and PayPal accounts to give.

Action Item: Engage with mutual aid/ direct giving.

I've experienced first hand the hurdles and road blocks in trying to get help, whether it is healthcare, social security, disability assistance, or the financial freedom to buy what your kid will actually eat.

Prime has some decent shows...but so do several other platforms, without pressing so hard for you to rent/ purchase even more programming and merch.
Diversifying is important; big corporations got that way by our use, and they should not have the power they currently have.

Over the years, especially accelerated by COVID, I slid into the habit of Amazon being the go to for everyday items. I am now trying to embrace the discomfort and less convenience of finding things at different stores in my community.

Action Item: Cancel Prime membership.

I FINALLY did it! I had good intentions to do it a few years back, but my kid (and I) talked me out of it.

There are teams you can join and badges to earn if that is your thing, or if you are trying to get a group of people engaged with boycotting through competition, but you can also scan away without needing to get gold stars.