Quick Updates: “It’s Hard To Write Articles After Feasting!”
But that doesn’t mean we won’t at least say *something,* in this case about what’s going on.
Hey, friends,
Last week, we talked about Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and how it tried to de-facto ban Queerness under the guise of “indecency” laws. Since then, its government has indeed changed its laws around, so there’s hope that this specific issue is resolved - even if the tactic we examined remains all too real.
This week, well, let’s just say it’s been busy for me. Holidays are holidays (even on stolen land), and I’ve got a lot of work for my day-job of writing novels that hopefully soon I’ll be able to share with you. After all, wouldn’t the world be better with a shadowy cast of super-powered people creating new natural resources and forcing hostile parties to end their wars?
No? Because that steals peoples’ freedom of choice?
Well, here’s some quick news articles to get you going. It’s like our “In Other News” section, but on steroids.
Kathy Hochul (finally) Signs A Languishing Bill Protecting Freelancers
When I wrote an article about Kathy Hochul and the NY Dems being pretty awful, one thing I talked about was her refusal to sign a Freelancer protection bill. After all, I spent many years as a freelance writer and I most definitely did not get paid on a regular basis, or have any real guarantees other than hoping my clients would follow up.
Well, according to More Perfect Union, she’s now signed it.
This doesn’t at all solve all of my other issues with her, but it’s a suggestion that maybe if we lean on her hard enough - and are clear that we will not vote for her unless and until she changes her agenda for the better - we can accomplish positive changes.
Baggage Handlers At Air America Caught Mishandling Wheelchairs
TikTok user Haez93 took video which was widely shared on the internet of baggage handlers absolutely demolishing customer wheelchairs.
This is a huge issue. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen wheelchair users talk about how their thousands-of-dollar, custom-made wheelchairs got trashed by airline companies. In the abstract, it seems so simple: “It’s just a chair on wheels.”
Except it isn’t. That’s not how this works. That’s not how any of that works.
These chairs are specially made to accommodate people with lifelong disabilities, and any damage can make it so people are endangered. Take the case of Engracia Figueroa, a disability advocate whose wheelchair was destroyed by United Airlines. While using a non-custom-made chair, she developed sores that ultimately killed her.
In other words, United Airlines’ negligence killed her, making me wonder how many of their staff actually were held accountable for that.
I don’t say this kind of thing lightly, but if you negligently mishandle wheelchairs, you at least need to be fired and held financially liable for replacements. If your actions cause harm, you need to go to jail.
Long Island Schools Vandalized With Swastikas As Hate Rises
In something a bit more local to me, a number of schools in my area were vandalized with Swastikas.
This comes amidst a nationwide - if not worldwide - rise in anti-Semitism, particularly the kind that targets the Jewish people. The rise follows the Israeli-Hamas war in the Middle East, the origins of which we talked about on this platform.
This increase in hatred has been far from one-sided, as nationwide increases in Islamophobia have led to violence against the Muslim community.
As we discussed in our article about the 10/7 Atrocity and cycles of violence, hatred breeds hatred.
It’s also easily exploited: Bigots get to sit in the middle and throw barbs at whichever side they feel like, and they can blame it on the other. The Nazis who marched through Wisconsin’s capital don’t just hate one side or another: They hate both, but are more than happy to exploit one side’s hatred for the other in order to get their jollies.
It’s up to us to fight them.
Louisiana Sheriff’s Race Decided By One Vote
In Caddo Parish, two men ran for the office of Sheriff. One is a Republican, one is a Democrat. Sheriff is a powerful position, one that sets the tone for law enforcement in an area, but it’s generally not seen at the same level of a Congressional or Presidential election, so turnout for these kinds of races can be low.
In this week’s election, the Democrat, Henry Whitehorn, appears to have won the election by one vote.
While this is subject to a recount, and that win may be reversed or expanded, it goes to show how close elections can be in some instances - and how important it is to get votes out.
This is why, when we say to politicians “You have to earn our vote,” they need to listen. They can’t take our votes for granted, because they might just lose by one vote.
That is the power of Democracy, and why people in a “democratic” party should be doing all they can to get their ideas out into the wild - say, by hosting debates even if it seems almost certain who is going to win a nomination - and get people talking about, evaluating, and understanding them.
Nobody wants to be that guy who loses by one vote only to realize, “I could have done more, and I didn’t.”
And, according to Beau of the Fifth Column, this has apparently happened three times in recent days. So you’d better believe one vote is worth pursuing.
A Brief Truce In The Middle East? Or Something More?
Today, a short “pause” in the battle between Israel and Hamas started, along with a hostage exchange. President Biden has said he hopes this is just a start, which I’d hope is made manifest with making this temporary pause more permanent.
There’s no guarantee that’s going to be the case, with Israel’s defense minister suggesting this war has a long way to go. On this publication we’ve tracked some of the genocidal language that Israel’s leadership has embraced (such as Netanyahu citing the story of the Amalek), but we’ve also tracked how many innocent people were brutalized in the 10/7 atrocity.
The hope is that this peace expands into something more permanent, but even if it doesn’t we can only hope that civilians are spared the worst of the damage - even if those hopes are thin.
Sea Turtles Doing Well In Florida
In uplifting news robbed straight from Reddit’s R/UpliftingNews, the sea turtle population in Florida is doing particularly well. I’m far from an expert on nature, but the fact that the population is high suggests that hopefully the broader oceanic ecosystem is doing well.
Turtles are cute!
Thank you for reading The Progressive Cafe. If this article has helped you, please consider signing up for our mailing list. This article is by Jesse Pohlman, a sci-fi/fantasy author from Long Island, New York, whose website you can check out here.