I know I probably shouldn't still be angry about this, but every time I hear about the economy, take home pay, and all that being better under Trump, I just want to explode. I live in Indiana, and worked in the RV industry for almost 40 years (as a single mom, it was one of the few jobs I could get with my high school education). It's a pretty good indicator of the economy, and it fell pretty drastically during Trump's time in office. In 2018 we were working 4 days a week for quite awhile, and then in 2019 things got worse. I ended up losing my job from the company I'd worked for nearly 23 years. At 60 years old, I had to find something else--and NO ONE would hire me. I put in hundreds of apps, went to every job fair there was (and there were hardly any people there hiring), and begged friends and acquaintances for leads. The only place to ever call me was an assisted living facility, with a server's job for $12 an hour--so I took it. I had no other options. So, NO, for me at least, it was absolutely not better, and I can't forget that. Sorry for the rant :(
I am glad you are ranting. People need to know. I was thinking this same thing while I watched. I was at a student watch party put on by the Poli Sci profs, so I had to be content with muttering. The lies were unbelievable. And that they focus on Walz's trip to China the year of the protests. Give me a break.
The rescue link is for monthly donations only. Here’s the link for one-time…scroll down. https://www.renegadepawsrescue.org/donate I’m in Augusta, Georgia, which got absolutely creamed. Ceiling fell in the room I was in, but I escaped—so fortunate! Many of my friends have lost their houses. My beautiful old trees came down, two of them onto our roof. No power, no water, gas leaks everywhere. Yes, it’s hell in NC, which is getting the lion’s share of coverage, but Georgia needs help, too. Thanks for getting the word out.
We were fortunate to have our bedroom and bathroom untouched. Kitchen, dining room, and living room are trashed, and the trees that did it are still on the roof, waiting for tree service to remove and tarp the holes. But what hurts my heart most is that my front yard, which Ive dedicated to native plants, was just crushed by trees. We were trapped for two days by downed trees. We finally managed to get out and drive to Atlanta where our daughters live. Again—we were lucky! I know people with far worse stories. I’ll figure out a link for community donations, thank you!
Connie, I'm so glad you escaped; how scary! And I feel the loss of those beautiful old trees, too; we have them here in IL and have survived many huge branches on our roof and porch. It's something many people don't think about in these situations. I am so glad you're able to stay somewhere, and hope you are able to rebuild and restore your home and garden.
I live in Asheville, NC, which was pretty much wiped out. There is a lot of mutual aid happening, but the need is horrific. All water services are out and won't be restored for weeks to months. Most have no power. Mainly because of the lack of water and housing in a semi-dense population area, we're facing a looming public health crisis (no flushing toilets, no hand washing, no bathing.) The only real resources are hand sanitizer if you can find it and publicly distributed water, but only if you have your own containers and enough gas to get to the distribution site (gas is also basically impossible to get).
BeLoved Asheville is probably the best local org I know of, both during regular times and now. They're doing tons of coordination and giving away tons of bottled water (no personal container required!) and food. If anyone would like to donate, you can Venmo them at @BeLoved-Asheville or PayPal them at BeLovedAsheville. I can personally vouch for all they do.
Most rural areas and hollers are in severe distress with no way in or out and mainly elderly residents. They have no power, water, or food and everyone is basically still unaccounted for because there's no cell service. I have tried to look for good orgs doing work on this, but I also have limited connectivity and haven't found anything. If anyone knows of one, please share.
We have friends in Asheville, and they managed to let folks know yesterday that they'd survived and been able to get to their parents' house nearby and have established a small mutual aid community -- with younger members venturing out each day to try to get water and medications and finding wifi to reach out to other family and friends and try to coordinate local survival. But they also said there's a real limit to how long they can keep going unless more water and food is able to get to people.
I thought Walz did fine. JD Vance was better but he lied or didn’t answer questions throughout the debate. Americas are idiots if they think a prolific liar wins in a debate. Or they just don’t know what a debate is.
I listened to the last half of the debate on the radio and had to rely on their voices, rather than demeanor. Vance is insufferable. His voice oozes condescension for women and he reminds me so much of guys we all back away from. I couldn’t get over it and just kept gravitating to the nice guy.
Echoing Connie C... I'm in South Carolina and we were also hit hard. Half a million of our <3M residences are without power. My community is still over 50% without power and many people are also without water. We also have almost no cell service in our area. The factory where I work still hasn't been able to establish contact with several of our employees and at least two remain hospitalized with injuries sustained during the storm.
The devastation in NC is horrifying, but the media attention does seem to be focusing exclusively on that, potentially to the detriment of relief efforts elsewhere. And it's extremely difficult to coordinate services without internet or cell service.
My impression of the debate (didn't watch--had to sleep)was that Vance is a MAGA funhouse-mirror version of a "coastal elite" whereas Walz is more of an Everyman and the whole "our smart guy beat your guy who's just like us" seems a very weird dynamic
I am confused about the size of this factory. How can a factory only have 10 employees? It makes me wonder what happened to the other employees? Did they have 4 wheel drives and leave earlier? Did most of these poor people NOT have cars so stayed, hoping for the best? I would not be a great decision maker in a disaster. Fire is more common in my area and honestly if you do not evacuate early, surviving is just luck.
Thanks for the links. I prefer local places where the organization really knows the community.
I wonder if the people who stayed did so out of fear of losing a desperately needed job. More and more it is apparent that employers across many fields see employees as a disposable resource.
"Whose rage has political capital and whose is ignored?"
I loved how you tied together natural disasters and inhumane policies and laws - both leaving most people at the mercy of politicians that will never feel the negative effects. It was so obvious when you pointed it out but also an eye opening comparison. And I felt surprised/emotional/satisfied to hear my strong feelings about abortion rights come from the mouth of a white, male judge in Georgia - Judge McBurney's words are powerful. I wonder how much his words can make any kind of lasting difference in a red sea of folks with their fingers in their ears.
The words in that ruling made me cry and I’m Canadian, Ffs. When they overturned Roe it was devastating to see, even from here. Let’s hope this next year is the year sanity (and humanity) returns to your legal system.
I keep seeing Vance described as smooth when I see and hear SLIMY. The constant repetition of first names, the happy resting face when the topics at hand are not to be smiled at, and the few facts that oozed out were disgusting. MAKE THE WINDOWS STRONGER. IMMIGRANTS TOOK OUR HOUSES.
The Amazon link to the wishlist doesn't send you or come with a shipping address (unless I missed a box to click somewhere which is entirely possible.)
I found it interesting that Walz was questioned on a statement he made in 1989, really digging for that one. Vance’s recent change of heart on Trump, his many and quite recent lies that have called violence down on the people of Springfield Ohio seemed to be given about the same weight.
There is a lot of false equivalence. When Vance said Trump left the White House and turned over power it should be pointed out that besides encouraging insurrection he refused to participate in any of the formal or informal activities and slunk of to Florida, the biggest sore loser in our history.
We have gotten so used to crazy town that this debate qualifies as boring when it was pretty much the pre Trump norm.
This has been a tough week, and the debate really compounded the vast chasm between the two parties for me. I feel like the moderators should have pinned Vance down on his comments about menopausal women, and on child-free women as well. I don't know if that was a conscious choice, but I appreciated Walz's support for women to control their own bodies. I agree with Roxy - the lies that Vance spewed about the economy being better under tRump were so aggravating. I attended a campus event where we watched, so I had to save my anger for when I got home, and thankfully I missed all the pundits calling it for the smooth (aka slimy) guy. That's not what I saw, and your point about Grassle speaks to this.
Thanks for all the links for support orgs. I will be clicking on them, and I might just copy and paste them to my socials.
I am angry about many things, but today it is that my email server has chosen to forward substack posts to Junk. Given who I subscribe to, I must believe that JD Vance is controlling my email. Or at least one of his minions. My middle name is Vance and I've been going on for months about how I hope we are not related--maybe he caught wind of it?
A dear friend lives in Boone, NC, and the surrounding areas have been as hard hit as Asheville. It is apocalyptic, she says. She says she hasn't seen anything like it since her reporting days over 40 years ago her power came on yesterday after several days off, and was restored by volunteer linesmen from Ohio. And the people in her area of Vilas serving up free meals? The Mexican immigrant food truck, which has been open every day it can be and is serving food for free. Tell me again why we don't want immigrants?
I know I probably shouldn't still be angry about this, but every time I hear about the economy, take home pay, and all that being better under Trump, I just want to explode. I live in Indiana, and worked in the RV industry for almost 40 years (as a single mom, it was one of the few jobs I could get with my high school education). It's a pretty good indicator of the economy, and it fell pretty drastically during Trump's time in office. In 2018 we were working 4 days a week for quite awhile, and then in 2019 things got worse. I ended up losing my job from the company I'd worked for nearly 23 years. At 60 years old, I had to find something else--and NO ONE would hire me. I put in hundreds of apps, went to every job fair there was (and there were hardly any people there hiring), and begged friends and acquaintances for leads. The only place to ever call me was an assisted living facility, with a server's job for $12 an hour--so I took it. I had no other options. So, NO, for me at least, it was absolutely not better, and I can't forget that. Sorry for the rant :(
I am glad you are ranting. People need to know. I was thinking this same thing while I watched. I was at a student watch party put on by the Poli Sci profs, so I had to be content with muttering. The lies were unbelievable. And that they focus on Walz's trip to China the year of the protests. Give me a break.
The rescue link is for monthly donations only. Here’s the link for one-time…scroll down. https://www.renegadepawsrescue.org/donate I’m in Augusta, Georgia, which got absolutely creamed. Ceiling fell in the room I was in, but I escaped—so fortunate! Many of my friends have lost their houses. My beautiful old trees came down, two of them onto our roof. No power, no water, gas leaks everywhere. Yes, it’s hell in NC, which is getting the lion’s share of coverage, but Georgia needs help, too. Thanks for getting the word out.
Sending you so much love and let us know any local places we can support to help you all out. Is your house habitable?
We were fortunate to have our bedroom and bathroom untouched. Kitchen, dining room, and living room are trashed, and the trees that did it are still on the roof, waiting for tree service to remove and tarp the holes. But what hurts my heart most is that my front yard, which Ive dedicated to native plants, was just crushed by trees. We were trapped for two days by downed trees. We finally managed to get out and drive to Atlanta where our daughters live. Again—we were lucky! I know people with far worse stories. I’ll figure out a link for community donations, thank you!
Here’s one organization that is helping: https://goldenharvest.org/?
Connie, I'm so glad you escaped; how scary! And I feel the loss of those beautiful old trees, too; we have them here in IL and have survived many huge branches on our roof and porch. It's something many people don't think about in these situations. I am so glad you're able to stay somewhere, and hope you are able to rebuild and restore your home and garden.
I live in Asheville, NC, which was pretty much wiped out. There is a lot of mutual aid happening, but the need is horrific. All water services are out and won't be restored for weeks to months. Most have no power. Mainly because of the lack of water and housing in a semi-dense population area, we're facing a looming public health crisis (no flushing toilets, no hand washing, no bathing.) The only real resources are hand sanitizer if you can find it and publicly distributed water, but only if you have your own containers and enough gas to get to the distribution site (gas is also basically impossible to get).
BeLoved Asheville is probably the best local org I know of, both during regular times and now. They're doing tons of coordination and giving away tons of bottled water (no personal container required!) and food. If anyone would like to donate, you can Venmo them at @BeLoved-Asheville or PayPal them at BeLovedAsheville. I can personally vouch for all they do.
Most rural areas and hollers are in severe distress with no way in or out and mainly elderly residents. They have no power, water, or food and everyone is basically still unaccounted for because there's no cell service. I have tried to look for good orgs doing work on this, but I also have limited connectivity and haven't found anything. If anyone knows of one, please share.
We have friends in Asheville, and they managed to let folks know yesterday that they'd survived and been able to get to their parents' house nearby and have established a small mutual aid community -- with younger members venturing out each day to try to get water and medications and finding wifi to reach out to other family and friends and try to coordinate local survival. But they also said there's a real limit to how long they can keep going unless more water and food is able to get to people.
I am so sorry your community is suffering from all of this, Kelsey. Thanks for the rec for Asheville donations.
I thought Walz did fine. JD Vance was better but he lied or didn’t answer questions throughout the debate. Americas are idiots if they think a prolific liar wins in a debate. Or they just don’t know what a debate is.
I listened to the last half of the debate on the radio and had to rely on their voices, rather than demeanor. Vance is insufferable. His voice oozes condescension for women and he reminds me so much of guys we all back away from. I couldn’t get over it and just kept gravitating to the nice guy.
Echoing Connie C... I'm in South Carolina and we were also hit hard. Half a million of our <3M residences are without power. My community is still over 50% without power and many people are also without water. We also have almost no cell service in our area. The factory where I work still hasn't been able to establish contact with several of our employees and at least two remain hospitalized with injuries sustained during the storm.
The devastation in NC is horrifying, but the media attention does seem to be focusing exclusively on that, potentially to the detriment of relief efforts elsewhere. And it's extremely difficult to coordinate services without internet or cell service.
Thanks for paying attention.
Let us know some places we can donate to send help. I’ll post them again in the Friday newsletter. Sending you so much love.
https://cccfoundation.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=1059
Thanks!
Thank you!!
My impression of the debate (didn't watch--had to sleep)was that Vance is a MAGA funhouse-mirror version of a "coastal elite" whereas Walz is more of an Everyman and the whole "our smart guy beat your guy who's just like us" seems a very weird dynamic
Those people died in the flood because America insists that it is perfectly acceptable to fire people at a whim.
Hope the families sue that employer
I am confused about the size of this factory. How can a factory only have 10 employees? It makes me wonder what happened to the other employees? Did they have 4 wheel drives and leave earlier? Did most of these poor people NOT have cars so stayed, hoping for the best? I would not be a great decision maker in a disaster. Fire is more common in my area and honestly if you do not evacuate early, surviving is just luck.
Thanks for the links. I prefer local places where the organization really knows the community.
I wonder if the people who stayed did so out of fear of losing a desperately needed job. More and more it is apparent that employers across many fields see employees as a disposable resource.
"Whose rage has political capital and whose is ignored?"
I loved how you tied together natural disasters and inhumane policies and laws - both leaving most people at the mercy of politicians that will never feel the negative effects. It was so obvious when you pointed it out but also an eye opening comparison. And I felt surprised/emotional/satisfied to hear my strong feelings about abortion rights come from the mouth of a white, male judge in Georgia - Judge McBurney's words are powerful. I wonder how much his words can make any kind of lasting difference in a red sea of folks with their fingers in their ears.
Holy s*** Judge Robert McBurney that decision statement!! A male feminist in Georgia!
The words in that ruling made me cry and I’m Canadian, Ffs. When they overturned Roe it was devastating to see, even from here. Let’s hope this next year is the year sanity (and humanity) returns to your legal system.
I keep seeing Vance described as smooth when I see and hear SLIMY. The constant repetition of first names, the happy resting face when the topics at hand are not to be smiled at, and the few facts that oozed out were disgusting. MAKE THE WINDOWS STRONGER. IMMIGRANTS TOOK OUR HOUSES.
Thanks so much for the disaster relief suggestions!
The Amazon link to the wishlist doesn't send you or come with a shipping address (unless I missed a box to click somewhere which is entirely possible.)
It doesn’t show the address but when you check out it sends it to the right place
The address appears as the name of the nonprofit when it asks you to select an address. I just sent some formula and had a good cry for everyone.
Yes, that worked. Thank you.
I found it interesting that Walz was questioned on a statement he made in 1989, really digging for that one. Vance’s recent change of heart on Trump, his many and quite recent lies that have called violence down on the people of Springfield Ohio seemed to be given about the same weight.
There is a lot of false equivalence. When Vance said Trump left the White House and turned over power it should be pointed out that besides encouraging insurrection he refused to participate in any of the formal or informal activities and slunk of to Florida, the biggest sore loser in our history.
We have gotten so used to crazy town that this debate qualifies as boring when it was pretty much the pre Trump norm.
This has been a tough week, and the debate really compounded the vast chasm between the two parties for me. I feel like the moderators should have pinned Vance down on his comments about menopausal women, and on child-free women as well. I don't know if that was a conscious choice, but I appreciated Walz's support for women to control their own bodies. I agree with Roxy - the lies that Vance spewed about the economy being better under tRump were so aggravating. I attended a campus event where we watched, so I had to save my anger for when I got home, and thankfully I missed all the pundits calling it for the smooth (aka slimy) guy. That's not what I saw, and your point about Grassle speaks to this.
Thanks for all the links for support orgs. I will be clicking on them, and I might just copy and paste them to my socials.
I am angry about many things, but today it is that my email server has chosen to forward substack posts to Junk. Given who I subscribe to, I must believe that JD Vance is controlling my email. Or at least one of his minions. My middle name is Vance and I've been going on for months about how I hope we are not related--maybe he caught wind of it?
A dear friend lives in Boone, NC, and the surrounding areas have been as hard hit as Asheville. It is apocalyptic, she says. She says she hasn't seen anything like it since her reporting days over 40 years ago her power came on yesterday after several days off, and was restored by volunteer linesmen from Ohio. And the people in her area of Vilas serving up free meals? The Mexican immigrant food truck, which has been open every day it can be and is serving food for free. Tell me again why we don't want immigrants?