50501 General

!Decisions@lemmy.fiftyfifty.one

This community lets you influence the next actions of 50501.

Repost from https://reddit.com/r/50501/comments/1jpzmrt/musk_stepping_down_is_part_of_broader_plans/ because I think it is important.

Rumors are milling about that Musk is stepping down, cool, great, grand and dandy. "Progress" is what it will seem like, as if they are running.

Suffice to say I've been watching and listening for a bit so lets get to the part where it's bad (edit:) if we allow ourselves and the public to grow complacent.

Project 2025

• People have been focused on the "flood" aspect of P2025, forgetting that this was planned over a long span of time with contingencies. Such as the fact Project 2025 has already compiled a massive list of "loyalists" who have applied to help them as employees in their little new-world-order business.

The Hatchet Man

• A common trick of businesses in Drumpy-boys era was to release someone into the system of a business, letting them cut and hack and harm, only to then "remove" them in some manner with all the assurances that "they can't do anything now, we're safe" before doing the real damage that was intended.

Orange-man and the GOP are going to pull a fast one on the general public. Musk will "step down", then all of those gutted safety-net positions will be backfilled with loyalists who will answer to primarily to GOP leadership and Orange-guy.

You might be saying "Why would he re-instate X or Y or Z departments?" for many, he wont. Not to mention others will be made/renamed to perform other tasks that seem like its back to normal on paper, they wont be either.

Oversight groups meant to come down on companies? Corpos? Musk? Nothing. What will happen however is that the entire system will be so utterly corrupted from the inside as to mean nothing anymore.

The heat dies down, people calm down a bit because it looks like things are going back to normal, the threat wont be so immediate, this is on purpose. But it'll have been the win-condition. The treatment for a wounded nation will then be to poison it fully from the top, down.

Project 2025 can't be defeated with a simple impeachment, it can't be broken with voting out some major faces like the pres or vp... This isn't something we "return to normal" over.

Regardless of the ending to this fiasco, this entire system is getting a re-write as was anticipated by the founding fathers...right now you folks are deciding who gets to hold the pen.

Thanks to @Taste-T-Krumpetz on reddit and many others saying individual protests are not enough and for pushing us to think further. Many folks are seeing the necessity of more impactful and sustained action, including and beyond street protest, and more sustained economic disruption.

It's also really important to disrupt all business as usual. Every day that goes by where we function like it is business as usual, going to work and shutting up while we're there, is normalizing this in our bodies, hearts and minds.

And, since they're flooding the zone, we can't all act on every single thing that pops up on the regime's timing. We have to be strategic and already in action. We know exactly what they're doing and what they're aiming for, so, we don't need to wait for them to do it before we act. Plus, they've already done enough that there are plenty of places to start.

So. I have been thinking along the following principles as far as guiding action:

1. No business as usual (economic disruption through boycotts / stopping spending, visibility, protest, vigils, sit ins, slow downs, stoppages, disrupting the systems that feed the regime's power in any way and making asks and demands that weaken the pillars of power.)
2. Building movements (Ongoing, cross-sector, based in class struggle and mutual aid. Weaken the pillars of power by reducing people's reliance on it and strengthening the people's reliance on each other. Connect with one another. Everything you do, invite at least one person to do it with you.)
3. Starting and acting from where you are (Your current roles and positions in the social order and what is important to you. For example, I am a white person, a higher ed instructor, adjunct laborer, union member, student debt holder, parent, caregiver for someone with a disability, live in low income housing, neighbor to many immigrants, etc. Any / all of these can be places I start and focus on and build from, and notice the connections between. Action is available to everyone, all the time.)
4. Our work as our power (And work as widely understood and including all forms of unpaid labor / social reproduction. Make our work benefit the people, democracy, pressure our institutions and workplaces, build workplace power, and take away any support we can from the regime in our work.)
5. Everyday / Every day action (Again, action is available to everyone all the time. Commit to acting every day, even in everyday ways.)

For me, as an adjunct professor, currently teaching online, I realized I have a lot of freedom about when and where I work. And, especially since Covid started, many other professors do as well. What is to stop us from starting to build power with daily or weekly "work-ins" at strategic locations, to bring visibility to the issues that affect our students and us and everyone in higher ed or education more broadly. This could be City Hall, courts, ICE buildings, etc. There could be one for each city. These could be a whole day with a clear schedule and people could come and go as they needed. There could be things like teach-ins, reading groups, work-ins, demonstration, dance parties, etc. In addition to building power and visibility in resisting the Trump regime, these could be access points for building power and organizing about workplace issues like bargaining and the budget, and cross-organizing across workplaces and sectors, taking further collection action, sharing calls to action, etc. Additionally, students could be invited so we could build different, new relationships of solidarity with our students. This also helps us build organizing power towards larger actions like work stoppages and strikes and also has the potential to bring media attention. This could provide us an opportunity to connect different things that are under attack by the Trump regime (trans rights, dept. of education, student debt, immigrant rights / deportations, , by explaining how all of these issues connect and impact students and our communities.

I'll also direct folks to the Repository of 50501 Related Resources (https://50501.chat/post/23757)

Since we want to do a general strike, shouldn't we call for unions to be made? Is there some resources to join or form a union in your workplace? (I will add resources to my list.)

I’m going to Washington D.C. on April 5th with my Dad. My mom has been freaking out because she’s convinced I’ll get abducted off the street and Trump will send me to El Salvador. I believe this is very unlikely and I’m going to D.C. anyways. Though I feel really bad freaking my mom out.

Edit: I am white. I’m not worried about being abducted. I just feel bad my mom is freaking out, and I’m wondering if anyone else has dealt with family members that didn’t want them to protest.

Just heard the news from Parnas on substack

Livestream: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP82KuMgT/

Together, we can stop this but we MUST be united. We all have a role to play in this and together, all of our efforts build into something massive. Even the tiniest effort makes a difference when it's all of us.

1. Everyone needs to be getting on Lemmy and Bluesky TODAY. 50501 has a mirrored instance of this subreddit on Lemmy. Don't be discouraged by the lack of people there, we need to build it up. I suggest using new usernames there. If you're not on Signal, get on there too. See this mod post for signing up to the Lemmy instance:

https://www.reddit.com/r/50501/comments/1j5f967/platform_announcement_50501_lemmy/

2. Anytime a political leader takes a stand, CALL THEM and show support. They need to know the people have their back. It's easy for this admin to gaslight us and our leaders so we need to validate each other.

3. Build local communities. Make connections at town halls, rallies and protests. Add people on Signal. Go to coffee house meetings. Academic professors have been speaking to people in various coffee houses in NY, let's get this movement across the country. Support academic speakers by coming out to listen to them speak, bring a donation.

4. Share evidence of our marches so other Americans see them. Our national marches are dependent on media attention. Since the media has been compromised, it's up to us to be our own press. Additionally, share evidence of good news and progress because this encourages us to unite and keep going.

5. They are trying to make us afraid but there are more of us than them. 99% is more than 1%. They are trying to "flood the zone", which is an authoritarian tactic used to make us feel overwhelmed with all the constant bullshit and like we can't do anything to stop this. It's easy to be afraid now. But if people don't stop this now and they gain total control, it becomes infinitely harder to stop and we will all be in a position where we wish we had acted. Don't let it get to that point.

6. Lawyers have been saying over and over again they are working diligently but they need the people in the streets keeping up the pressure. They've been calling for sustained protests. This is a fight for our democracy. 4 hours on a Saturday isn't going to cut it. This means we need either a protest where 3.5% of the population is camping out with a large amount of the population financially supporting them or protests where people are out there in shifts, ideally 3.5% of the population.

I'm not a particularly patriotic person but this stupid shit has drawn it out of me and I know other people feel that way too. Fighting for freedom is an American ideology; it's in our history, our media and our people. It's not just going to go away.

I live ~30 minutes outside DC and am planning on attending the protest on April 5. I have a 3yo and 5yo and would like to bring them, but I'm a bit nervous that might be a bad idea.

Anyone here involved in planning or know more details that can give me some advice on how kid-friendly the event might be?

For context, I've been attending political protests since my first in 2003 (against the invasion of Iraq....man do I feel old). I've been to some huge, heavily marketed events like the Women's March in 2017 or the various Marches for Science which I felt would be perfectly kid-friendly. I've also been to some heavily marketed events (a lot in 2020) which I absolutely would NOT want to bring a small child to.

Obviously, if I bring my kids I'm not going to be getting into much more than holding a sign and sticking to the less rowdy parts of the crowd. If things look like it's heating up a bit, my family and I will be out right away. But if this event seems like it might not have a great vibe for kids, I might think about taking them to a smaller event in Frederick or Annapolis instead.

I want to potentially start an archive, if there isn't one. I need a place to keep up with the evidence of the regime, because there is a lot of bullshit they are doing and we need to organize our evidence to show to people the ugly side of the Trump regime. Turnout, protests, informal videos, footage, evidence articles, anything related. If you need to upload videos, use catbox.moe.

A video has emerged of the arrest of a Turkish Tuft University graduate, showing her argue briefly with the men in hoodies and black jackets before being taken away.

Tufts University has confirmed that the person is one of their graduates, and that her lawyer has not managed to get in touch with her.

Statement of Tufts University on Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/paleofuture.bsky.social/post/3llayvzabtk23

Via @JessTheUnstill@infosec.exchange on Mastodon: https://infosec.exchange/@JessTheUnstill/114230118930979696

We know our authoritative govt officials are using Signal to avoid official channels that document conversations.

Signal's also a non-profit with a board of people who seem pro human rights https://signalfoundation.org/en/

Can we can ask Signal for help to:

block government officials from using signal

release conversations that promote authoritarianism (though it may be impossible to decrypt)

something else?

But also, what's an actionable outcome of this.

If (1), they will find another app. If (2), leak to media to publish? but there's no law enforcement anymore.

This may be grasping at straws, but is there something productive we can do here?

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/34943166

https://old.reddit.com/r/50501/comments/1jg6r8o/reddit_isnt_safe/mj6qhaw/?context=10000

Already signed up. Got the login verification email, followed through and did the security thing, “type the word from our sidebar below” passed all that and can not login.

I appreciate that but don’t bother. I tried with the instance listed in this post and still got the same login issues even after receiving the email to login and passing the security check etc. I deleted the app. I’ve tried enough times and never had any success so I won’t be trying again.

I think they signed up at 50501.chat.

It's a shame that Lemmy is missing out on new users just due to signup issues.

CBC Article

https://bsky.app/profile/chenoweth.bsky.social/post/3lkqrdxha3k25

https://ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/attach/2025/03/Letter_from_a_Palestinian_Political_Prisoner_in_Louisiana_March_18,_2025.pdf

The letter reads as follows:

Letter from a Palestinian Political Prisoner in Louisiana Dictated over the phone from ICE Detention March 18, 2025

My name is Mahmoud Khalil and I am a political prisoner. I am writing to you from a detention facility in Louisiana where I wake to cold mornings and spend long days bearing witness to the quiet injustices underway against a great many people precluded from the protections of the law.

Who has the right to have rights? It is certainly not the humans crowded into the cells here. It isn’t the Senegalese man I met who has been deprived of his liberty for a year, his legal situation in limbo and his family an ocean away. It isn’t the 21-year-old detainee I met, who stepped foot in this country at age nine, only to be deported without so much as a hearing.

Justice escapes the contours of this nation’s immigration facilities.

On March 8, I was taken by DHS agents who refused to provide a warrant, and accosted my wife and me as we returned from dinner. By now, the footage of that night has been made public. Before I knew what was happening, agents handcuffed and forced me into an unmarked car. At that moment, my only concern was for Noor’s safety. I had no idea if she would be taken too, since the agents had threatened to arrest her for not leaving my side. DHS would not tell me anything for hours — I did not know the cause of my arrest or if I was facing immediate deportation. At 26 Federal Plaza, I slept on the cold floor. In the early morning hours, agents transported me to another facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey. There, I slept on the ground and was refused a blanket despite my request.

My arrest was a direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza, which resumed in full force Monday night. With January’s ceasefire now broken, parents in Gaza are once again cradling too-small shrouds, and families are forced to weigh starvation and displacement against bombs. It is our moral imperative to persist in the struggle for their complete freedom.

I was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria to a family which has been displaced from their land since the 1948 Nakba. I spent my youth in proximity to yet distant from my homeland. But being Palestinian is an experience that transcends borders. I see in my circumstances similarities to Israel’s use of administrative detention — imprisonment without trial or charge — to strip Palestinians of their rights. I think of our friend Omar Khatib, who was incarcerated without charge or trial by Israel as he returned home from travel. I think of Gaza hospital director and pediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, who was taken captive by the Israeli military on December 27 and remains in an Israeli torture camp today. For Palestinians, imprisonment without due process is commonplace.

I have always believed that my duty is not only to liberate myself from the oppressor, but also to liberate my oppressors from their hatred and fear. My unjust detention is indicative of the anti-Palestinian racism that both the Biden and Trump administrations have demonstrated over the past 16 months as the U.S. has continued to supply Israel with weapons to kill Palestinians and prevented international intervention. For decades, anti-Palestinian racism has driven efforts to expand U.S. laws and practices that are used to violently repress Palestinians, Arab Americans, and other communities. That is precisely why I am being targeted.

While I await legal decisions that hold the futures of my wife and child in the balance, those who enabled my targeting remain comfortably at Columbia University. Presidents Shafik, Armstrong, and Dean Yarhi-Milo laid the groundwork for the U.S. government to target me by arbitrarily disciplining pro-Palestinian students and allowing viral doxing campaigns — based on racism and disinformation — to go unchecked.

Columbia targeted me for my activism, creating a new authoritarian disciplinary office to bypass due process and silence students criticizing Israel. Columbia surrendered to federal pressure by disclosing student records to Congress and yielding to the Trump administration's latest threats. My arrest, the expulsion or suspension of at least 22 Columbia students — some stripped of their B.A. degrees just weeks before graduation — and the expulsion of SWC President Grant Miner on the eve of contract negotiations, are clear examples.

If anything, my detention is a testament to the strength of the student movement in shifting public opinion toward Palestinian liberation. Students have long been at the forefront of change — leading the charge against the Vietnam War, standing on the frontlines of the civil rights movement, and driving the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Today, too, even if the public has yet to fully grasp it, it is students who steer us toward truth and justice.

The Trump administration is targeting me as part of a broader strategy to suppress dissent. Visa-holders, green-card carriers, and citizens alike will all be targeted for their political beliefs. In the weeks ahead, students, advocates, and elected officials must unite to defend the right to protest for Palestine. At stake are not just our voices, but the fundamental civil liberties of all.

Knowing fully that this moment transcends my individual circumstances, I hope nonetheless to be free to witness the birth of my first-born child.