By https://x.com/AndromedaPip/status/2108102746666934382

By https://x.com/AndromedaPip/status/2108102746666934382

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/9737581

Mamdani is stone-faced as the protesters call him a traitor and sellout.

https://x.com/petersterne/status/2107985730182009339

some chants

Anti-Mamdani chants at the protest:

“Zohran, what do you say? How many kids did you kill today?”

“700,000 dead. Mamdani, your hands are red!”

“Traitor, traitor, come on out! You sold all your people out!”

“Zohran, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide!”

From Nerdeen Kiswani, Founder of Within Our Lifetime

“MAYOR MAMDANI, TAKE A STAND! STOP THE SALE OF STOLEN LAND!”

Protesters confront Zohran Mamdani at an Israeli October 7th event, over the sale of Palestinian land through Israeli real estate events held right here in NYC.

Mamdani once introduced the Not On Our Dime Act to stop New York nonprofits from financing illegal Israeli settlements. Yet since becoming mayor, he has not publicly advanced a comparable initiative. When protesters confronted these land sales, he condemned their rhetoric rather than announcing concrete enforcement measures against the sales themselves.

In January, I outlined four existing legal avenues his administration could pursue, from consumer protection enforcement to investigations of potentially unlawful real estate marketing. None requires waiting for the state legislature.

https://x.com/NerdeenKiswani/status/2107988916703768990

Wow. A student organizer leading protests against Zohran Mamdani tonight reveals that she previously interned for him.

Now she’s leading chants against the very politician she once worked for, accusing him of prioritizing his own political advancement over the people and movements that helped bring him to power.

She delivers an ultimatum: The protests can stop when Mamdani stops the sale of stolen Palestinian land in NYC and abolishes the CUNY Board of Trustees, which advances Israel’s interests within the nation’s largest urban public university system.

https://x.com/NerdeenKiswani/status/2107997231416483892

Genuinely not as disappointed in Mamdani as I am at all those who refuse to hold elected officials feet to the fire.

He has absolutely no incentive to deliver on the demands of the Palestine movement if we don’t relentlessly make those demands. Meanwhile, Zionist organizations are doing exactly that, applying pressure and getting more and more of what they want, while people who claim to be on the left or support Palestine tell us our strategy should be to shut up.

https://x.com/NerdeenKiswani/status/2108018821663453545

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/9737581

Mamdani is stone-faced as the protesters call him a traitor and sellout.

https://x.com/petersterne/status/2107985730182009339

some chants

Anti-Mamdani chants at the protest:

“Zohran, what do you say? How many kids did you kill today?”

“700,000 dead. Mamdani, your hands are red!”

“Traitor, traitor, come on out! You sold all your people out!”

“Zohran, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide!”

From Nerdeen Kiswani, Founder of Within Our Lifetime

“MAYOR MAMDANI, TAKE A STAND! STOP THE SALE OF STOLEN LAND!”

Protesters confront Zohran Mamdani at an Israeli October 7th event, over the sale of Palestinian land through Israeli real estate events held right here in NYC.

Mamdani once introduced the Not On Our Dime Act to stop New York nonprofits from financing illegal Israeli settlements. Yet since becoming mayor, he has not publicly advanced a comparable initiative. When protesters confronted these land sales, he condemned their rhetoric rather than announcing concrete enforcement measures against the sales themselves.

In January, I outlined four existing legal avenues his administration could pursue, from consumer protection enforcement to investigations of potentially unlawful real estate marketing. None requires waiting for the state legislature.

https://x.com/NerdeenKiswani/status/2107988916703768990

Wow. A student organizer leading protests against Zohran Mamdani tonight reveals that she previously interned for him.

Now she’s leading chants against the very politician she once worked for, accusing him of prioritizing his own political advancement over the people and movements that helped bring him to power.

She delivers an ultimatum: The protests can stop when Mamdani stops the sale of stolen Palestinian land in NYC and abolishes the CUNY Board of Trustees, which advances Israel’s interests within the nation’s largest urban public university system.

https://x.com/NerdeenKiswani/status/2107997231416483892

Genuinely not as disappointed in Mamdani as I am at all those who refuse to hold elected officials feet to the fire.

He has absolutely no incentive to deliver on the demands of the Palestine movement if we don’t relentlessly make those demands. Meanwhile, Zionist organizations are doing exactly that, applying pressure and getting more and more of what they want, while people who claim to be on the left or support Palestine tell us our strategy should be to shut up.

https://x.com/NerdeenKiswani/status/2108018821663453545

a couple snippets from the interview. the first snippet is about Tom Morelloa doing some concert to promote voting in the midterms. the second snippet is him saying that he didn't vote for Kamala because of her complicity in Gaza genocide, he doesn't use the word genocide.

https://archive.is/o6xOR

bold is interviewer, non-bold in tom

Is there an argument that people’s focus on Ed Sheeran is indeed a distraction from what they should be focusing on?

Yeah, 100 percent. It’s all right to shame him in this moment because he deserves the shame, but not the focus. The focus is your and my tax dollars are going to commit horrific war crimes in the Middle East, and that, I believe, should be the focus and what we should be doing our best to stop in its tracks.

It’s a clickbait, it’s salacious, it’s, “Oh my gosh, poor Ed Sheeran.” First of all, has Ed Sheeran never seen a Macklemore performance before in the last three years? He certainly should’ve known what he was getting into.

The one thing that’s sort of adjacent is, this is a time where speech is being vilified and is a crime, where the truth is a crime, where skin color is a crime, where immigrant status is a crime, where gender is a crime, where sexual orientation is a crime. And it’s my belief that the true crime is the rise of authoritarianism, and the true crime is the erosion of freedoms, and the true crime is an impending environmental disaster. And so my hope at each one of my shows, I deputize the audience as anti-fascist crime fighters, and that’s really the way that I think you have to look at the world right now. Like, what are the real crimes that are happening, and what is it that you and I can do to stop it?

Now that I’ve gotten you fired up — your Power to the People Festival. What is its most essential purpose?

It is not PR or hyperbole to say it is a festival of peace, love, justice, and music. In a time where war is celebrated, this is a festival of peace. In a time where hatred and division are rife, this is a festival of love. In a time where injustice is the norm, this is a festival celebrating fighting for justice. In a time where there’s a lot of shitty music, there’s gonna be a lot of great music on this stage, so we’re going for four for four.

How much were the midterms on your mind when you scheduled this?

As my dear departed mom, Mary Morello, who passed away at 102 years old, was a very political person, said, “You’ve got to fight the fascists every which way you can.” One of those ways is at the ballot box. It’s not the only way, and you should not just think that because you’ve done that. Voting is a piece on the chessboard, and that you try to create an environment where in between the voting you can fight for a more just, a more peaceful, a more equal world.

And so, is the festival three weeks before the midterms? Yeah. Does the money from the festival go to voting rights organizations? Yeah, it does, but the festival is about something much bigger than that. It’s about what kind of world do you really wanna live in, and should we fight for that world, or should we settle for the one that’s being spoon-fed for us by the oligarchs?

Returning as promised to the electoralism issue — there are some on the left who tend to argue it doesn’t matter, don’t bother voting, both sides are the same. So what would you say to someone on the left who says, “Listen, man, I listen to Rage Against the Machine, and I know everyone’s the same. It’s about tearing down the power structure. Doesn’t matter who you vote for. I’m not voting”?

On the one hand, I think that rebellion is self-care, in a way, but I answered that already. Mary Morello was 100 percent right. You have to stop the fascists every which way you can. First of all, a lot of people who I greatly respect and admire the sacrifice they’ve made to try to get people with my color skin to be able to vote in this country, and have died, been lynched for it, they’ve been shot in the back for it, and it’s very disrespectful to their memory to do that.

But that in and of itself is not going to change the levers of power in a significant way. It’s not. It’s not. You should do it. But it would be like, okay, great, you vote, and on the next day you start working. You start working harder for the world you really want without compromise and without apology. And not just putting in the hands of whatever corporate Democrat you choke down your vote for in that particular election, that it’s your job to make the world the way that you think it could be to help those that are the most in need and to hold those accountable who are most guilty.

Do you feel that people on the left should have voted for Kamala Harris?

I’m crystal clear that people’s conscience cannot allow them to do something that they fundamentally believe is wrong. I was the scheduling secretary for United States Senator Alan Cranston. I saw how the corporate Democrat sausage is made. It is worse than you think. And there is a reason, there is a righteous fury at the corporate controlled, money controlled electoral system we have that is absolutely legitimate, and people cannot choke down — I understand it — voting for a candidate that’s responsible for what happened in Gaza, and they just can’t do it, and I’m not gonna blame them for that.

But I think that putting it on them is the most cowardly thing. Put it on the fucking Democratic Party. First of all, I don’t believe it’s their responsibility and they’re never gonna necessarily never do the right thing, but I think it’s all of our responsibility to co-create the world that we want and not point fingers at people that were just like, “Well, you know, my conscience didn’t allow me to do that, so it’s your fault.” I will not co-sign that.

Did you vote for Kamala?

I certainly did not.

You did not?

Did not. I couldn’t do it.

I didn’t realize that.

V for Vendetta — that one inch of who you are belongs to you, and they can’t have it. Now, I live in a state where it may not have moved the meter, but I just couldn’t do it. Couldn’t do it.

When’s the last time that you didn’t vote for the Democratic candidate?

Can’t remember the last time I did.

Wow, okay. I thought you were softening a little bit.

Can’t remember the last time I did.

Due to recent events.

by Nyazsche

Dbzero Governance Vote Post https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/63525728

Ahoy mateys!

A few of our users have recently pointed out that a lot of the pro-Zionist accounts on the fediverse nowadays seem to come from the feddit.org instance.

But whatever the excuse happens to be, they need to do better imo. Israel is currently the most violent, fascist and genocidal nation state in the Middle East (if you exclude the US military bases there). And yet feddit.org seems to regard the Palestinians fighting against Israel’s ongoing illegal occupation of their land as the real terrorists. ....

More context

Our instance already voted to ban pro-Zionist accounts (see https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/60585441 for reference) and the rule that was implemented is here: Golden Rule #8.

As further context, you can find relevant comments and discussion in this post by a banned feddit admin in MoG (that fact they chose to post in MoG is in itself quite telling), and this post about their defederation from quokk.au over anti-semitism allegations has recently become active again. ...

Note 2: If you think feddit.org deserves a full instance ban instead, or have alternative suggestions, then please leave your comments below. If enough people think that’s the better option, then we’ll do that instead.

In the end the Post had around 70% of support by dbzer0 users, who in the comments also called for defederation.

Here is a Link to Dbzer0 instances tab https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/instances where if you go to blocked instances you can see fedddit.org is now defederated

i dont think feddit has made a post now, but when they do i will add it

PBD Podcast

Erin In The Morning is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a subscriber.

On Tuesday, the president of the billionaire-backed Heritage Foundation, Kevin Roberts, appeared on the influential far-right PBD podcast to discuss gender-affirming care. During his appearance, he echoed usual far-right anti-transgender talking points, including linking being transgender to being inherently violent. Then, the conversation turned towards what the Heritage Foundation was working on when it comes to the future of transgender people. It was during this shift that Roberts darkly announced that his solution to being transgender was simple: "You outlaw it," and that the organization was working to ban gender-affirming care at all ages through an incremental process he described as "radical incrementalism."

"But where there continues to be disagreement is on what you do with adults. At Heritage, we believe that so-called transgender surgery is bad for anybody because of what you saw in Rhode Island yesterday," said Roberts, referencing a domestic violence shooting at a Rhode Island ice rink the day before. "There does seem to be a mounting body of evidence that suggests a correlation between that surgery at any age, mental health issues, and increasingly, although we're running the numbers on this at Heritage, acts of violence. We have to come to grips with that as a society, in a way that transcends left versus right, because this really is about the human condition." "How do you address this, though?" replied host Patrick Bet-David. "You outlaw it," Roberts responded.

Then, when asked if transgender adults should have their medication taken away, Roberts endorsed the idea, stating, "We like that idea, too. One of the reasons is that we not only work in coalitions, but we often work toward an ultimate goal via incremental steps—sometimes people will call us radical incrementalists. We're willing to take a quarter of the enchilada if we can keep working there. So if that's the kind of thing that policymakers can agree on left and right, Heritage would be fully supportive of that, knowing that ultimately we have an ideal position that would be much stronger than that."

See the clip here:

The Heritage Foundation is the conservative think tank behind Project 2025, which calls for cutting federal funding for gender-affirming care for both children and adults and equates being transgender to pornography. The organization has been a driving force behind anti-transgender legislation nationwide, with its staffers directly assisting in the drafting and promotion of state-level care bans and its analysts testifying in statehouses. Heritage is funded through a web of dark money networks, including DonorsTrust, which gave the foundation $365,000 specifically earmarked for "Going On Offense On Gender Ideology." Its board includes billionaire conservative megadonor Rebekah Mercer, while board member Sean Fieler has funneled at least $18 million since 2010 to anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ organizations, including a group that supported Uganda's law criminalizing homosexuality with the death penalty.

The organization's open call for gender-affirming care bans for all ages echoes earlier conversations among conservative legislators in places like Ohio and Michigan for similar policy goals. In a leaked Twitter Space from January 2024, legislators behind anti-trans bills, including Representative Gary Click of Ohio—the sponsor of the state's youth care ban—openly discussed how their plan was to end gender-affirming care for everyone. "In terms of endgame, why are we allowing these practices for anyone?" asked Michigan Representative Josh Schriver, in a conversation referring specifically to adults. Click, who has ties to the Heritage Foundation, confirmed the strategy: "We have to take one bite at a time, do it incrementally." Roberts' language on PBD is strikingly similar—his "radical incrementalism" and willingness to "take a quarter of the enchilada" mirrors Click's "small bites" almost word for word, suggesting a coordinated long-term strategy towards adult care bans.

It is significant that the conversation happened on the PBD podcast. Hosted by Patrick Bet-David, the show reaches millions through its combined YouTube channels. The podcast has provided a platform for far-right figures to promote conspiracy theories and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, including guests who have argued that homosexuality is a "worldview" being "inflicted" on children. That the head of the organization behind Project 2025 chose this venue to openly call for outlawing gender-affirming care for adults suggests a growing comfort by the organization to be more open about its plans.

Gender-affirming care bans have been increasingly targeting adults. In 2023, Florida's SB 254 banned nurse practitioners from providing gender-affirming care, resulting in 80% of trans adult care being eliminated overnight. That same year, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued an emergency rule targeting transgender people of all ages with requirements so onerous they amounted to a de facto ban; it was blocked in court and withdrawn after roughly three weeks. In 2025, Puerto Rico signed the most extreme care ban in the United States or its territories, criminalizing care for anyone under 21 with penalties of up to 15 years in prison. And of course, Trump’s recent executive orders ban gender affirming care to the age of 19.

One thing is clear: gender-affirming care bans have never been about science, despite attempts by far-right organizations to launder their lobbying efforts through pseudoscientific hate groups and overseas "reviews." Rather, it’s always been about hate. That much is made clear by the openly-stated agenda of a billionaire-funded political machine that has always been working towards one goal: the elimination of transgender people from public life. The only thing that has changed is that they are now saying it out loud.

Erin In The Morning is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a subscriber.

From Erin In The Morning via This RSS Feed.