Tony Stark @TonyStark@democracy.town

To those complaining about vaccine mandates:

It isn’t mandating the vaccine by force. It's still your decision. If you're not vaccinated, you just need to get weekly testing. Sounds pretty common sense. Get a nose wipe a few times a week to make sure you won’t be killing others including your family. Of course, it's easier and safer to just get the shot.

This is how we keep schools, colleges and businesses open, folks. Get vaccinated. Wear masks where people can't be vaccinated. The schools and businesses shutting down are the ones that aren't doing it.

If you still don't want it, you still have an option. That option is to stay home and not work anywhere that's mandating a safe, effective vaccine that saves lives, including your own.

You don’t have to get a vaccine. You have your "freedom" to lose your job and your ability to go anywhere and see how much you make looking at QAnon accounts on the internet all day. #GetVaccinated

If you can, please support one of these abortion funds, which help people afford care and also related expenses like childcare and travel. Funds in Texas will now need to budget for lawsuit defense as well as for helping more people travel longer distances, while funds in other states will need to step in to backstop them. Here are ways to help:

Donate to specific Texas funds:

Texas Equal Access Fund- https://teafund.org/

Clinic Access Support Network-
https://www.clinicaccess.org/

Fund Texas Choice-
https://fundtexaschoice.org/

The Lilith Fund For Reproductive Equity-
https://www.lilithfund.org/

The Bridge Collective-
https://abortionfunds.org/fund/the-bridge-collective/

Jane's Due Process-
https://janesdueprocess.org/

Buckle Bunnies-
https://www.bucklebunnies.org/

SYS (Support Your Sistah)-
https://abortionfunds.org/fund/support-your-sistah

Frontera Fund-
https://secure.everyaction.com/OYACioIzMUaFmdTg_Wh2Kw2

The West Fund-
https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/contribute-to-abortion-access

Or split a single donation among 10 Texas funds at: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/txfunds

Today was a beautiful day to get vaccinated. So I did.

I vaccinated for myself, my loved ones, my family, and my friends. Science saves lives. Vaccines save lives.

Get vaccinated when you can, then help others get theirs. #Vaccination #VaccinesSaveLives #CovidVaccine #Shot1of2

Many are harkening back to Senator Harry Reid’s getting rid of the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees and looking at the make-up of the Court. I can certainly sympathize with that impulse. But how many compassionate, logical, pro-democracy efforts have been thwarted by the mere specter of a filibuster?

Hard to prove a negative, but I suspect that list is a long and painful read. For those arguing for the protection of the minority, remind yourselves that the design of the Senate, where California has the same number of senators as Wyoming, is already accomplishing that. The protection of democracy shouldn't be able to be filibustered. The threat of hypotheticals is a ghoul to scare away real and necessary progress.

If McConnell wanted more cream in his coffee and the filibuster was in his way, he would lose it without a thought.

Gov. Greg Abbott signs off on Texas’ new political maps, which protect GOP majorities while diluting voices of voters of color:
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/25/2021-texas-redistricting-explained/

Headline writers need to take more responsibility for their choice of words. I'd go with "sabotage" or "undermine" over "resist."

It makes actions (not just words) that are exacerbating a deadly public health crisis of historic proportions sound like some debating point in a tea party discussion.

Ivey blames the unvaccinated for new cases but will not use the only tool left to get them vaccinated. Persuasion, carrots, and every other measure have failed to get her state to even a 50% vax rate.

Republican governors -- and Republicans in general -- hate democracy and decency and common sense. They know where their bread is buttered. I doubt this woman is as much of a fool as she appears, but she has to play one on TV for her base, the same as Abbott in Texas. It's political opportunism of the worst sort while the hard decisions and real leadership are coming from those with actual courage. #VoteRepublicansOut

https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-education-alabama-health-ae9981614061559de1cb02480e6e605d

The surprising news hasn't really been surprising. We knew after 2016 that Facebook had been used for Russian disinformation, sold user data to political operatives, and profited off festering polarization.

Zuckerberg hacked Harvard's servers to launch a rudimentary dating app that graded the visual appeal of classmates, right? Not a stretch to see him put capitalism above country, public safety, and honest facts.

Even worse, Zuckerberg is falsely cloaking himself in a dedication to the 1st Amendment and free speech to hide his greed when he knows damn well that hate speech and incitement to violence are not protected forms of speech - nor is the 1st Amendment about Facebook protecting that speech. It's the role of the government.

Manipulation and driving anger for cash isn't something anyone should support. #Facebook

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/10/facebook-papers-democracy-election-zuckerberg/620478/

These are 2 headlines from today in the world we actually live in so I guess what we have to look forward to is Ron DeSantis’ mostly dead police force.