“Wake up, America!” #BLM protests & other antiracist, anti-fascist & pro-democratic things to do…

EVENT CALENDAR here!

We have so much work to do & nobody’s slowing down…

Our VOTER GUIDE here!

From president to propositions, we cover it all!

Project 2025 information here!

Watch “BAD FAITH” – Free screening link

BAD FAITH reveals how Christian Nationalist leaders have spread fear and anger for decades, distorting political issues into Biblical battles between good and evil. Financed through the secretive Council for National Policy, Christian Nationalists have succeeded in taking over the Republican Party, turning it into a powerful weapon to demolish democracy from within. Discover the origins of this organized grasp for power and the grassroots coalition of secular and interfaith leaders bravely confronting the unholy forces threatening democracy.

Watch it here: https://tubitv.com/movies/100020971/bad-faith

If you have a body, or your loved ones do, watch this.

Indivisible Ventura’s Voting Guide for the 2024 Presidential Election

Note: this post will be periodically updated! (10/14/2024). New endorsements and interesting bits of information are being added all the time!

Continue reading “Indivisible Ventura’s Voting Guide for the 2024 Presidential Election”

OK, this is either a really dull notice about updating election equipment, or a call to battle by election deniers.

If you’re looking for something to do to help our elections and democracy, you do not have to go far, or take a lot of time. Come and assure skittish supervisors that it’s the first option. Seriously!

A flashpoint for election deniers is coming Tuesday morningagenda item #36 – approval for County Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters Michelle Ascension to sign a contract with Dominion Voting Systems, Inc to upgrade our current equipment (both the voting system and mobile ballot printers), and to pay for the annual licensing and warranties.

Speak at the meeting, live, or on zoom, and/or send a short message for Agenda item #36. (Instructions here) Riff off of something like this. Try to use your own voice. It can be shorter – we’re really wordy:

I ask the board to authorize County Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters Michelle Ascencion to sign contractual forms with Dominion Voting Systems as necessary to keep our voting equipment up-to-date.

We appreciate the changes that both she and her predecessor Mark Lunn have made to improving voting accessibility, along with facilitating our all-paper-ballot elections as required by state law – the gold standard set by election experts.

Continue reading “OK, this is either a really dull notice about updating election equipment, or a call to battle by election deniers.”

Speak at the meeting, live, or on zoom, and/or send a short message for Agenda item #36. (Instructions here) Riff off of something like this. Try to use your own voice. It can be shorter – we’re really wordy:

I ask the board to authorize County Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters Michelle Ascencion to sign contractual forms with Dominion Voting Systems as necessary to keep our voting equipment up-to-date.

We appreciate the changes that both she and her predecessor Mark Lunn have made to improving voting accessibility, along with facilitating our all-paper-ballot elections as required by state law – the gold standard set by election experts.

Continue reading “OK, this is either a really dull notice about updating election equipment, or a call to battle by election deniers.”

Tell your senators to vote “NO!” on the GOP’s deceptively-named voter suppression legislation.

The GOP is genius at creating acronyms that imply the OPPOSITE of what their bills will actually do.

House Republicans, along with five Democratic ninnies, passed H.R.8281 – Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, voter-ID legislation that would require proof of citizenship, like a passport or birth certificate, to vote in federal elections. Supported by our former President and 34x felon Donald Trump, this duplicitous and elitist bill is actually a form of voter suppression against poorer American citizens and minorities, those whom the GOP suspects will vote for Democrats.

More than 9% of eligible voters (21.3 MILLION PEOPLE!) have no proof of citizenship readily available. And at least 3.8 million don’t have these documents at all, often because they were lost, destroyed, or stolen.” Only about 48% of U.S. citizens have a passport, and driver’s license and tribal ID cards do not prove a person’s citizenship and so couldn’t be used to register under the SAVE Act.

It is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in a federal election, because of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and because IMMIGRANTS AREN’T STUPID! (See more under “Deeper Dive,” below)

Continue reading “Tell your senators to vote “NO!” on the GOP’s deceptively-named voter suppression legislation.”

He’s gone too far. Ask the DOJ to invoke the Ku Klux Klan Act against Texas AG Ken Paxton for his raids on Latino voters

On August 20th, “…the Republican attorney general of Texas sent armed police officers after Hispanic voters—some in their 80s—to intimidate, threaten, and destroy them financially by forcing them to hire lawyers to defend themselves, even though they are perfectly legal voters.

It’s a manifestation of the new unofficial Republican slogan: “If you can’t win on the issues, cheat. And if cheating doesn’t get you over the top, intimidate!”

Write an email to Attorney General Merrick Garland:

Contact Merrick Garland at the Department of Justice here: https://www.justice.gov/doj/webform/your-message-department-justice

Continue reading “He’s gone too far. Ask the DOJ to invoke the Ku Klux Klan Act against Texas AG Ken Paxton for his raids on Latino voters”

Weekend project: Ask online marketplaces to live up to their own anti-hate speech policies!

Action – Go to your favorite online marketplaces and flag and report misogynistic terms used on wearable and decorative items.

We had no idea how much clothing was being sold with the “H” word as a misogynistic slur against Vice President Kamala Harris, an incredibly accomplished woman.

(NewYork) Misogyny Is About Power Donald Trump’s supporters in search of apparel have no shortage of options. On Etsy, for example, they can choose from a variety of T-shirt designs, some with a crude message. “Say No to the Hoe,” a few say, featuring Vice-President Kamala Harris’s face inside a circle with a line drawn through it. “Jo and the Ho Gotta Go,” decrees another, out-of-date option, which True Patriot Supply also offers in multiple colors. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that many Trump supporters had taken to wearing “Joe and the Hoe” shirts at the former president’s rallies. That Trump’s supporters are misogynistic will come as no surprise to anyone on the left; much of Trump’s appeal is based in part on a backlash to progress, including progress for women.

We looked at Etsy’s offerings first. Holy smokes! WTH, Etsy?!

Continue reading “Weekend project: Ask online marketplaces to live up to their own anti-hate speech policies!”

“Legislate in haste, repent at leisure.” This is no way to solve complex problems. Call your state legislators!

There is good news! Thanks to all your help, SB 1374 finally passed – restoring rooftop solar to schools and renters!!

(If you missed this issue, check it out here: https://indivisibleventura.org/2024/08/27/emergency-call-to-assemblymember-steve-bennett-yes-to-ca-sb-1374-help-schools/)

The bad news is that in the last three days of sessions, Governor Newsom has submitted six bills to pass with no vetting, no meetings, and no hearings. We don’t even know what’s in them and neither do most of our legislators. At least one, AB 3121 , has gathered experts’ opinions that it won’t work as advertised, and if fact, will harm those it professes to help.

Continue reading ““Legislate in haste, repent at leisure.” This is no way to solve complex problems. Call your state legislators!”

Emergency call to Assemblymember Steve Bennett! “YES” to CA SB #1374 – Help Schools!

This is going to a vote today and Bennett won’t publicly commit! If he’s not yours, do you know how your assemblymember is voting on this important bill?

Minimal call or email script to Assemblymembers: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Assemblymember[____] to know that I want them to support to SB-1374 – Net Energy Metering, that allows schools, farms, apartment buildings and others to use the solar power they generate, instead of having to buy all their power at market rates from greedy investor-owned utility companies. (Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric).

Continue reading “Emergency call to Assemblymember Steve Bennett! “YES” to CA SB #1374 – Help Schools!”

Mark your calendars! Local voter suppressionists are at it again!

Ventura County Board of Supervisors meeting on July 23rd and a whole slew of appearances at a city council meeting near you!

  • Wednesday, July 17, 6:30 PM Moorpark City Hall
  • Monday, July 22, 6:30 PM Simi Valley City Hall
  • Tuesday, July 23, 8:30 AM Tuesday, County Board of Supervisors, County of Ventura Hall of Administration
  • Tuesday, July 23, 6:00 PM Ojai City Hall
  • Tuesday, July 30, 6:00 PM Oxnard City Hall
  • Wednesday, August 7, 6:30PM Santa Paula City Hall

Election Denial poses an ongoing threat to U.S. democracy.”

Trump’s lies about his loss in 2020 has spawned a whole eco-system of right-wing election-deniers, from self-certified armchair “experts,” to county and state officials who are delaying or withholding certifications of election results. He’s apparently chosen his vice president based on his willingness to ignore the Constitution and overthrown a federal election if necessary.

Election politics have gotten so dysfunctional, that a Republican official in Nevada, bowing to pressure from her party, actually refused to certify the election she won! By a large margin! Even after the recount demanded by her challenger showed the results were correct!

Ventura County is no exception to coordinated and well-funded election denier pressure.

(See Restore the Vote Ventura’s (RTVV) demands and County Counsel’s responses here)

(See United Sovereign Americans’ (USA) highly decorative demands here)

Continue reading “Mark your calendars! Local voter suppressionists are at it again!”

Those who would sow distrust in our county elections to suppress voter access are back at the BOS meeting on Tues. June 18!

Time to get your 90-second speeches ready!

The election-deniers are back at it – spreading false claims of voter fraud and causing unnecessary anxiety for those who believe them. It’s funny, though, how their solutions to imaginary problems always require real suppression of access to the vote!

JOIN THE COMMUNITY IN PROTECTING ACCESS TO THE BALLOT!

Tuesday, June 18th, 11:30 am, Agenda item #93
Ventura County Board of Supervisors meeting.
Ventura County Government Center – Hall of Administration
800 S. Victoria Avenue, Ventura (It’s the building closest to the corner of Victoria and Telephone – 1st Floor.)

Why makes our California Voter’s Choice Act (VCA) so great?

Continue reading “Those who would sow distrust in our county elections to suppress voter access are back at the BOS meeting on Tues. June 18!”

Cap the utility tax! Then, make companies stop picking our pockets to fund climate change denial.

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BECAUSE OFFURIOUS CONSTITUENTS BLOWING UP THEIR PHONES”, a group of Democratic lawmakers, including Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, introduced AB 1999, which would cap their tax at $5 for low-income folks, and $10 for others. Then it was “quietly shelved in the Assembly without receiving a single vote,” thanks to Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas.

(Revised 05/10/24) BECAUSE OF YOUR CALLS, AB-1999 IS BACK! with a compromise – it caps the Utility Tax at $24 a month, limits increases to inflation, and sunsets the tax after three years. Yes, it’s still twice the national utility tax average, BUT IT IS CAPPED! That means it can only rise with the cost of inflation and cannot jump to $70 or $100 a month without legislation (PG&E wanted to START with $92!), and puts the whole process in the public eye. Even with this compromise – a “YES” vote is not an easy lift and the results will be felt by low and medium users first. (Check out the chart below under “Deeper Dive!”) Tell your legislators that you are tired at the endless price-gouging of investor-owned-utilities (IOU) like PG&E!

VOTING IS WEDNESDAY 5/15! Make your calls on Monday and Tuesday!!!

Part #1: “BLOW UP THE PHONES” of Assemblymember Speaker Rivas, who derailed AB-1999

Continue reading “Cap the utility tax! Then, make companies stop picking our pockets to fund climate change denial.”