収束ゾーンでのライフ: Life in the Convergence Zone

Okay! So! Tesla Takedown Day, March 29th, as it happened in Lynnwood.

It went pretty well. I’m not good at estimating crowd sizes; I thought it was around 300, but it turns out they did a more formal count and it was more like 425. That’s funny, given the location and area code, but also pretty dang good for south Snohomish county.

Drivers going by honked a LOT of support. The counter-crowd was functionally nonexistent – we had a couple of drive-by finger-throwers and swearers, but I only saw one (1) MAGAt hat. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I do think I expected a little more than that.

There was also one fash hanger-on littleman doing a livestream while walking down the sidewalk through the crowd. I think he only did one run-through – I can’t be sure, but I didn’t spot him a second time, and I was looking. He had a couple of his buds trailing behind him, maybe as bodyguards? They weren’t talking, though.

Littleman himself was going off to his audience of maybe tens about how “pathetic” all these people were with “nothing better to do” on a Saturday afternoon. I really wish I’d turned around and gone into my “aren’t you so pathetic! what a good li’l booklicker! <3” doggie voice before delivering commentary about how if protesting is pathetic showing up to cover a protest must be a whole ‘nother world of pathetic but alas, I didn’t.

There’s always next time.

But yeah, even in Snohomish County, the people going by were overwhelmingly on our side. Overwhelmingly, and enthusiastically. Which isn’t that surprising but is good to have confirmed.

Cascadia Strong, team.

Hm, what else? I’ve got a few other notes:

The GMC dealership next door to the Fashhaus had to set up traffic monitors, because the crowd on sidewalks meant they couldn’t see the road on the way out. We weren’t blocking the driveway at all, we just blocked the view by being there. They weren’t mad – after all, we weren’t protesting them.

Lots of people wanted photos of my sign – both sides, specifically. I think I want to change “DO NOT” on the “DO NOT BUY CARS FROM NAZI ASSHOLES” to “DON’T” though, because:

DON’T buy
CARS from
NA-zi
ASS-holes

…is a good chant rhythm. Repeat the set three times, then “Don’t! Buy! their CARS!” over the same beat count, and you’ve got a nice little bit going, I think.

One of the few pro-Tesla cretins who did show up drove by the crowd a couple of times in their Incel Camino with a big I <3 ELON sign, but I couldn’t help but notice that they’d debadged the skip truck. No Tesla logo to be seen.

Hilarious.

We had a couple of T-Rex brigade people show up, that’s always fun. I also managed to completely miss that other people I know where there. From talking with them on Monsterdon afterwards, I literally walked by them multiple times and didn’t notice. But, well, I suppose that wasn’t the point.

Anyway, all in all, two hours, overwhelming enough support to help a bit with the ol’ morale, plus the weather held and we biked there so got in some good exercise. Not a bad day.

Next major event up are the Hands Off!/All Out protests on the 5th. I’ll have a post up about it on Monday; find your local and show up. It won’t be specifically Elon Musk this time, it’ll be about the whole Trump administration, and these have to keep happening and keep getting bigger.

See you on Saturday, I hope.

Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.

Okay, so there are four (4) statewide initiatives on the Washington State ballot this year, all funded and backed by a California hedge-fund manager named Brian Haywood. He’s your usual hedge-fund dickhead, and has worked with the MAGA-pilled Washington State GOP to dump several million dollars into these.

So, what are they?

Two are “fuck yeah climate change” initiatives, the pro-carbon pro-global-warming horseshit you’d expect out of MAGAttry. These are I-2117 and I-2066. 2066 discourages electrification and requires more availability and use of natural gas. 2117 repeals sections of the 2021 Washington Climate Commitment Act and prohibits the state from discouraging use of carbon-based fuels via carbon caps or investments.

So those are a big two FUCK YOU NO. How about the others?

The next one is a tax cut focused on the very wealthy. I-2109 blows a massive hole in the already-underfunded education budget by massively cutting taxes on the state’s 4000 wealthiest people, making our already-regressive tax system super extra regressive. Very Trumpian, so there’s no wonder the MAGAts like this one a lot.

The last one is one of those “medical choice!” amendments that is really about “choosing to go bankrupt because people don’t understand maths.”

I-2124 seeks to eliminate WA Cares, the state’s long-term-healthcare insurance programme. If you love going bankrupt when you’re old and too sick to work so you can end up dying penniless and possibly homeless, this is definitely the initiative for you!

Obviously, I am unimpressed. Brian Heywood moved up here to be our new Tim Eyman after Original Tim Eyman did too many crimes and so isn’t running initiative campaigns anymore. The difference is that while Eyman was making a business out of it and making money – or trying to – Heywood already has all the money he needs so doesn’t have to cash in the same ways.

So please vote no on all of these, ‘k? I’m not super impressed by Defend Washington‘s weirdly vague website, but they do have at least some information on all the initiatives and why you shouldn’t vote for them.

Two hands, two fingers each means giving four fingers to this bullshit.

Vote no across the board on statewide initiatives in 2024.

21 days remain.

Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.