Wondering what to do if Biff declares martial law?
Do you try to leave the area before it’s closed off? Where to go? For me outside of a city sounds less likely to be clamped down on.
Stay and hunker down? Be ready if it’s closed down for a long while & keep inside.
Emergency supplies would make sense in either case, I guess. Have a relationship with an attorney before? Set up communication with friends to support each other?
That’s entirely possible, especially after the recent events on New Years…
Could be, but also unless you know folks out in the burbs or ex-urbs, could be more risk of running into violent trumpers…
Yeah… how well do you know your neighbors? That can be helpful in building up a network if needs be at home.
Good idea.
Sometime outside of phones if possible, too. If not, download an encrypted app for communication maybe?
At least I’m not the only person paranoid about that… I started thinking about it right after the NOLA/Vegas stuff happened…
I have WhatsApp- never used it though.
As far as outside the City - I was thinking of an artsy town with a large queer population like New Hope, PA etc.
Yeah, that could be good. Where I am could… go either way? I’m in a solidly blue district, the community around us is majority Black, but not too far from here very much is Trump country (like 10-20 miles out east, in the area between ATL and Athens). At least 3 people on my street voted for Trump that we know of (signs on their lawn kind of thing). We’re close enough to town that I’m not to concerned about finding somewhere safe if we need to… but as you say, large cities, even blue ones, could have real problems. The solution, as always, is community building and solidarity, of course.
My best guess is that federal martial law or emergency measures would be imposed specifically and selectively to punish cities and states that defy the regime’s worst demands. It would most likely be welcomed in rural and red areas as just desserts for liberals and progressives and “urban” types, so going to the country might be more dangerous than staying put or trying to go abroad. At least in the city, everyone is in the same boat.
That said, the more likely scenario for the immediate future is harassment and intimidation of the sort we’ve seen in Hungary and Russia against individuals and organisations. Those speaking out for LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights, and immigrants are going to be the first to find themselves the targets of tax audits, libel suits, de-funding, and also of media and social-media driven stochastic terrorism by Know-Nothing orcs and CHUDs.
Informers and denouncers will be volunteering all over out of ideological zeal, opportunism, or just to settle personal scores. Creating a miasma of constant, low-level fear is what the scumbags have in mind, and it seems that corporate America – from the WaPo to Facebook to McDonalds – has decided to comply in advance.
Either way, two weeks’ emergency supplies are always a good idea. Same for having a sympathetic attorney lined up. For private communications and organising with trusted individuals and groups, I’d recommend Signal, ProtonMail, and a good VPN based outside the U.S.
In the end, though, Mindy is absolutely correct that the only way we’re going to get through this is by building community, mutual aid, and solidarity with the vulnerable.
And maybe a household generator too, in case the power goes down.
I’m thinking of looking into it for my house, but I know nothing about it, and fear the cost might be prohibitive.
They’re pricey, but might be a good idea if the “rugged individualists” further defund infrastructure, divert resources toward crypto and AI scams and take the U.S. power grid into developing-world brown-out territory.
I just read about this product, which might be a good fit in my condo.
Thanks!
I have the food setup since Covid. That freeze dried stuff along with rice & beans.
Set up a proton mail account as backup - will need to look into signal & a non US VPN. I had Nord which was good for accessing some sites when traveling.
I have a camping solar panel to keep the phone & tablet going if the electric is off during civil unrest.
Camping gear is always useful in an emergency. Fire up the camp stove!
Interesting.
IMHO, solar is the best option for small scale power (phone, laptop, lights) Never gonna be able to run a stove or freezer of off a small-scale system, though. We are looking into roof-top solar for better security. That’s really all that we are still hooked up to. If we can get more-or-less (will not get completely independent, but enough for the basics) free of the cord, we will be set for the foreseeable future. And for Underground RR part deux, if it comes to that. Not feasible for most, I know, but we can, and we will be available to help if we can.
I just stumbled on this site. Their advice on privacy and security when using tech seems sound.
Aber für mich geht’s gut!
Same!
's gleiches!
Mostly not news. Mostly features and human interest stories.
IN NEW YORK’S GREENWICH VILLAGE, VOLUNTEERS COMBAT A TIDE OF GAY-BASHING
September 19, 1990
Am so loving this.
Absolutely genius.
(FTA:)
But gay activism, New York-style, requires a certain ironic panache. This summer, at a meeting called to discuss community foot patrols as a response to rising anti-gay violence, recruits came up with names like the Lavender Berets (“just didn’t click,” says a guy who was there) and the Stonewall Brigade (too soberly lefty, perhaps). The Pink Panthers title, with its echoes both of '60s politicization and silver-screen camp, won swift approval. The group’s logo – an inverted pink triangle bearing a paw print – was invented that very night.
This is the kind of sticky meme leveraging (back before the term even existed) that we need right now. That and the “always make it look like you’re having way more fun that your opposition” tactics, because people do notice. It’s that part of our cave-dweller-brain that is being leveraged right now by curated Fb crap, influencers, Tiktok peeps, etc.
One more reason why fascists fear artists. It’s the art, folks, it’s the art… and the attitude.
I have copies of some of this stuff, laminated.
My apartment is now well-stocked with non-perishable food and cleaning supplies as if I’m heading into another pandemic.
I don’t know what the tariffs will do to supplies and prices, and I don’t know what Trump will do to take revenge against the home town that hates him.
I realize that I would like to be able to stock up on enough supplies so I could stay inside my apartment for the next 4 years. That, of course, will not be possible.
