 Sending my vote home! Click on the photo to find the Spanish post office nearest to you. Don't wake up on November 7 and think "If only..." VOTE! HELP REGISTER OTHERS TO VOTE!!! Whether you are in the USA or abroad join the massive voter registration effort. Contact a grassroots organization near you. Swing Left Indivisible Rock the Vote League of Women Voters Progressive Action, Global Exchange (PAGE) They'll show you what to do and put you to work in places where your efforts are most needed to boost turnout in November.  Make sure to check that your ballot was sent to your current overseas address. STOP, LOOK, LISTEN! by Kathy Sherretts I got my ballot! The state of Maine is on the ball—I got the link to download my ballot on September 21 (as well as another link to track its arrival.) Are you still waiting for your absentee ballot? In the meantime, you can research some of the down-ballot candidates in your home district. If you don't recognize names, and are uncomfortable voting blindly along party lines, you can check with organizations whose missions you support to see which candidates they are endorsing. Thanks to our American Resistance Sevilla team for their efforts to provide voter registration forms and answer questions for Americans who want to vote this fall.If you have questions for our voter registration team, email us at [email protected]. --Kathy Sherretts Interactive: Washington Post: How easy is it to vote in your state? by Kate Rabinowitz and Kevin Uhrmacher While this graphic does not specifically address absentee voting, it does provide links to each state’s website for further ballot information. Podcast: Mother Jones: Voting has never been harder—or more important. (36 min) Everything you need to know about the fierce, multi-pronged attack on your vote in November—and how to fight back. Also, an interview with Washington Governor Jay Inslee, perpetual thorn in Trump’s side. Article: Philadelphia Inquirer: PA prison books and mail policies draw protests, petitions, and possible legal challenges by Samantha Melamed As part of new security measures, the DOC is cutting off inmates' access to long-standing volunteer-run free books programs. The effort to control contraband also includes a $4 million contract with Florida-based Smart Communications to scan and digitally forward inmate mail. Another idea, from a conservative columnist: Washington Post: The least-bad solution to the Kavanaugh dilemma by David Von Drehle Since Sandra Day O’Connor, Republican presidents have had eight chances to promote another woman to the Court; instead, their idea of a justice seems to be getting narrower.  Doesn't everyone deserve a good book? For more ways to take action check out the action plan put together by PAGE (Progressive Action Global Exchange), and Americans of Conscience; read the featured action suggested by Indivisible; or check out the online training platform of Resistance School and sign up to any of the more than 15 free courses they offer on organizing 101, team building, contacting voters, and building movements. 
0 Comments
 Last week, a couple of the American Resistance Sevilla members helped Jim Mercereau, a representative of Rock the Vote Spain, ease the process of requesting an absentee ballot to more than 160 US university exchange students who came to Sevilla for a semester or a year. We really appreciate the help of Morgan Reiss from CIEE and Sara Pink from The Texas Tech University Center in Sevilla for giving us time and access to the students. Do you have an opinion on the issues? VOTE! HELP REGISTER OTHERS TO VOTE!!! Whether you are in the USA or abroad join the massive voter registration effort. Contact a grassroots organization near you. Swing Left Indivisible Rock the Vote League of Women Voters Progressive Action, Global Exchange (PAGE) They'll show you what to do and put you to work in places where your efforts are most needed to boost turnout in November.  Donald Trump's hurricane tweets show he can always go lower by Chris Cillizza (CNN, Sept. 14, 2018) STOP, LOOK, LISTEN! by Kathy Sherretts Strength in Numbers I enjoy poking around on the website FiveThirtyEight.com. Check out their analysis of the U.S. house and senate election prospects; also, a feature on How Money Affects Elections. Over the past ten years the polling aggregation site has been linked with the New York Times, ESPN, and ABC News. (I’m only mildly disturbed by the realization that FiveThirtyEight treats politics and sports exactly the same way: Trump’s approval ratings are down, as is the frequency of Tommy John surgeries among major league pitchers.) • Remember, Election Day is November 6, and your requested ballot for overseas voters should be sent to you by September 22. Watch for the arrival of your blank absentee ballot. If you don't receive an absentee ballot in time to return it to your state, you can download the FWAB (Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot) as a backup ballot to vote. If your official absentee ballot arrives after you send in the FWAB, fill out and send in the official ballot as well. Your state will count only one. --Kathy Sherretts Politics meets weather: Bloomberg: North Carolina Weakened Its Building Codes in 2013 by Ari Natter Amid increasing anti-regulatory sentiment, North Carolina and other storm-prone states have been easing building codes, while the effects of global warming escalate. Podcast: Radio Atlantic: Is Democracy Dying? (44 min) Writers from The Atlantic's October issue discuss this precarious moment in history, as democracy struggles against the rise of authoritarianism and populism. Article: New York Times: Detention of Migrant Children Has Skyrocketed to Highest Levels Ever by Caitlin Dickerson Federal shelters are near capacity, due not to new arrivals, but to fewer children being released to relatives—as undocumented family members are afraid to come forward for fear of being detained themselves. Nationwide Wireless Alert: Vox: FEMA’s testing a new “presidential alerts” system that sends messages to your phone by Emily Stewart I’m sure it will be just fine.  We just learned that the presidential alert test has been postponed to October 3rd (just one month before the midterms!!). Here is a photo of what it's supposed to look like — if he stays on script. For more ways to take action check out the action plan put together by PAGE (Progressive Action Global Exchange), and Americans of Conscience; read the featured action suggested by Indivisible; or check out the online training platform of Resistance School and sign up to any of the more than 15 free courses they offer on organizing 101, team building, contacting voters, and building movements.   Massive crowd turns out for "Rise for Climate, Jobs and Justice" march in San Francisco, CA, on Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018. In the run-up to the Global Climate Action Summit on Sept. 12-14, thousands gathered to march down Market street to Civic Center to drum up support for "climate leadership" and call on government officials to take responsibility. Our very own Karen and Rich McCann took part in it. Stand up for what you believe in!! VOTE! HELP REGISTER OTHERS TO VOTE!!! Whether you are in the USA or abroad join the massive voter registration effort. Contact a grassroots organization near you. Swing Left Indivisible Rock the Vote League of Women Voters Progressive Action, Global Exchange (PAGE) They'll show you what to do and put you to work in places where your efforts are most needed to boost turnout in November.  The Battle for Crazytown: America’s newest live-streaming reality show features the foreign-policy establishment fighting for its life against Donald Trump by Stephen M. Walt (Robert and Renée Belfer professor of international relations at Harvard University). STOP, LOOK, LISTEN! by Kathy Sherretts Don't Worry, We've Got This Bob Woodward warns us —and the infamous New York Times Op/Ed piecereiterates—that White House decisions are being steered by senior staffers who are preventing the president from doing anything rash or harmful. Constitutional crisis averted! You're welcome, America! Actually, the Constitution is built to deal with this sort of crisis, and its process is being circumvented by some anonymous schmoes that nobody elected, in order to keep the Republican status quo. I joined an online workshop this week on helping Americans register to vote from abroad. This big takeaway for me as a voter is that just being registered doesn't mean I will automatically get my absentee ballot. We all have to follow up and request one. You can check at Vote From Abroad --Kathy Sherretts Article: Mother Jones: Election Officials Are Alarmed as Trump Administration Subpoenas Voter Data From 44 North Carolina Counties by Ari Berman The request, coming so close to the midterms, could interfere with election preparation and intimidate voters. One subpoena asks for “any and all poll books, e-poll books, voting records, and/or voter authorization documents, and executed official ballots (including absentee ballots)” in 44 counties from 2013 to 2018. Another asks for “all voter registration applications,” along with documents including absentee ballots and early voting forms, for every county in the state over the past eight years. Map: CityLab: Inside the Massive U.S. 'Border Zone' by Tavi Misra We think of border patrol as operating on the southwest border of the U.S., but the “border zone” actually extends much further into the country. Here, different legal standards apply: Customs and Border Control agents can enter private property, set up highway checkpoints, and detain individuals based on race and ethnicity. Article: Grist: Civic Virtue by Eve Andrews A get-out-the-vote effort in the Boston area urges environmentalists to the polls using tools of behavioral psychology. The idea is to tap into these voters’ desire to project the best versions of themselves—people who are committed, engaged, and follow through on a promise. Podcast: Retropod: The time a president deported 1 million Mexican Americans for supposedly stealing U.S. jobs (6 min) After Herbert Hoover launched a national program of “American jobs for real Americans,” nearly 1.8 million Mexicans were deported. About 60 percent were U.S. citizens.  The mission of the Environmental Voter Project (EVP) is to get more environmentalists to vote in every election. For more ways to take action check out the action plan put together by PAGE (Progressive Action Global Exchange), and Americans of Conscience; read the featured action suggested by Indivisible; or check out the online training platform of Resistance School and sign up to any of the more than 15 free courses they offer on organizing 101, team building, contacting voters, and building movements.  Time is getting short! Elections are less than 65 days away!! VOTE! HELP REGISTER OTHERS TO VOTE!!! Will you be in the USA at all this summer? Join the massive voter registration effort. Contact a grassroots organization near you. Swing Left Indivisible Rock the Vote League of Women Voters They'll show you what to do and put you to work in places where your efforts are most needed to boost turnout in November.  Spinelessness—is it problem, or a feature? (See the entire cartoon here) Doonesbury, by Garry Trudeau. STOP, LOOK, LISTEN! by Kathy Sherretts It’s the Loneliest Number It would only take one Senator to stand up to Trump, says James Fowler in the Atlantic. ‘With Republicans clinging to a precarious 50–49 majority, every individual GOP senator can serve as a check on Trump’s excesses whenever they choose to act.’ Put the Kavenaugh hearings on hold until the White House releases his records. Demand the president’s tax returns. Protect the special prosecutor’s investigation. Halt the unilateral destruction of NAFTA. For awhile, I thought that my senator, Susan Collins of Maine, would be that senator. Like many of her fellow Republican lawmakers, she deplores, she decries, she laments. What she doesn't do is act. --Kathy Sherretts Interactive Graphic: New York Times: From Criminal Convictions to Ethical Lapses:The Range of Misconduct in Trump’s Orbit by Larry Buchanan and Karen Yourish For extra credit: print these out, pin them to your wall, and connect them with red yarn. Report: Washington Post: U.S. is denying passports to Americans along the border, throwing their citizenship into question by Kevin Sieff Under President Trump, passport denials and revocations are part of a "denaturalization" effort, questioning the citizenship of people who have lived, voted and worked in the United States for their entire lives. People Magazine talks to immigration lawyers advising U.S. citizens detained at the border. Esquire sees something more sinister here than a tough border policy at work. Just for fun: Bad Lip Reading: White House Press Briefing (3 min)  “Undocumented, Unafraid” is the rally cry for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrant youth nationwide. After nearly 10 years of grassroots activism and mass mobilization, United We Dream Action is going directly to voters, hitting the campaign trail in 2018. For more ways to take action check out the action plan put together by PAGE (Progressive Action Global Exchange), and Americans of Conscience; read the featured action suggested by Indivisible; or check out the online training platform of Resistance School and sign up to any of the more than 15 free courses they offer on organizing 101, team building, contacting voters, and building movements.  |
resist the madness!American Resistance Sevilla is a non-partisan community mobilizing Americans living abroad to take peaceful action defending our lawful rights and freedoms. Learn more Archives
November 2020
Categories
|
RSS Feed
