Posting this since with the truly mind-bogglingly stupid executive orders such as the freeze all federal funding one, it might be more helpful to call your state attorney general instead of your elected reps (though call them too). That is because state AGs (such as NY AG Letitia James has already done for this one) are the ones who are able to most quickly sue the federal government, whereas House and Senate members have less power in this situation. Plus, AG offices get fewer calls, so you may be able to more effectively hector your local elected officials. Do it if your state AG is a Democrat (to give them backup for probably suing Trump already) or a Republican, to shame them into at least feeling bad about it. So yes.
Also to add that right after posting this, I saw that 22 states had already sued (including mine, hooray) and a judge has issued a temporary pause while the case for permanent injunction is made. Once again: even when the orange fascists do absolutely shit-bogglingly stupid stuff and cause intentional chaos and panic, there are instant responses and judicial blocks. So yes – call your AG and make yourself heard, but also know that they’re out there working hard to protect us, and all is not lost. Baby steps, baby steps.
I desperately wish people would start actually reading the AO3’s TOS before confidently making ‘user guides’ to the AO3 that are just blatantly, flatly wrong.
Yes the AO3 has banned content. They do not allow anything that’s illegal under US law – though US law, importantly, does not ban fictional depictions of things – and they do not allow any commercial content. That includes your ko-fi link, or mentions that you do fic commissions. If you do post fic commissions to AO3 and want to mention the commissioner, the fic is a ‘request’ from the commissioner. This protects the AO3 and you from copyright law.
No the AO3 is not ‘a creative fanfiction archive’. It is a fandom archive. Your meta, insights, and theories are absolutely welcome and encouraged there. AO3 also encourages you to post other types of fanworks, like fan videos, podfics, and art, but unfortunately isn’t able to natively host those like it does text, so fic has kind of become what it’s known for. That absolutely does not mean that other types of fanwork aren’t allowed, or are discouraged by the site culture! Anybody who tells you otherwise is just plain wrong!
And another thing:
IT’S AN ARCHIVE – A STORAGE SPACE
THERE IS NO ALGORITHM
IT’S A LIBRARY, NOT A SOCIAL MEDIA SITE
So… (sigh) TAG YOUR FICS APPROPRIATELY AND PEOPLE WILL FIND YOUR STUFF.
Happy birthday to Moumen al-Natour (born 12 December 1995)! Al-Natour is a Palestinian lawyer and activist from the Gaza Strip who has been a harsh critic of Hamas. He has been arrested by the group at least 20 times. As a lawyer, he has represented journalists arrested for criticizing Hamas, and women seeking to leave abusive marriages. As an activist, he has been an organizer of the We Want to Live movement, which has organized protests against Hamas, and the founder of Palestinian Youth for Development, which has organized aid distribution to Gaza residents since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.
I hope that he and his family remain safe, and that his next birthday sees a Gaza Strip free of oppression and violence from any army or political party.
No but seriously he is so amazing?! I didn’t know he had been arrested TWENTY FUCKING TIMES, but I knew he was part of the We Want To Live movement, which already makes him extremely badass.
Palestinian Youth for Development is also amazing. In a place controlled by a brutal dictatorship that continually steals aid, and shoots Gazans in the legs and feet if they try to get it back, and which is known for claiming people are “collaborating with the occupation” and executing them, this guy has managed to put together a group that organizes Gazan youth and helps them get leadership skills by distributing aid, without working with or getting plundered by Hamas??
He’s basically training youth to be independent leaders, in a place that has never gotten to have such a thing. In between being threatened, harassed, imprisoned, and tortured.
He should be the fucking president of Palestine.
I cannot believe how hard it is to get the pro-Palestinian movement to support the activists in Gaza.
amhrancas 