Youth Advocacy
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 34 (224 total reports)
14.08.2024-20.08.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people as the US Election reveals two opposing viewpoints of the country’s future; one grim and full of despair, the other joyful and full of hope.
Songs to Enjoy
Two things Fascists hate: being called weird and being laughed at. This song is written to continue the laughter at the weird policies of Project 2025.
Special Adolescent Care Link of the Week
A Compliment That Really Means Something
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/08/give-great-compliment-happiness/679447/
The most effective way to grow a person or a team is proven to be specific compliments, not a compliment, but a high ratio of compliments tied to the behavior you are seeking to grow. This works just as much for raising teens, as enhancing the quality of your marriage, or increasing the effectiveness of your work team. The exact ratio is identified in this article by Arthur Brooks (a favorite writer of mine) as well as how to make your compliments effective. Brooks also points out that poorly planned compliments are not just ineffective, but can be demotivating and backfire.
Best Links of The Week
20.08.2024
The Mistake That Could Cost Trump the Election
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/08/project-2025-backfired-trump/679509/
Trump continues to want to hide Project 2025, but no more than Project 2025 wants to hide itself. It is hard for the Trump/Vance ticket to distance themselves from this document when Vance wrote the forward to the Heritage Foundation President’s (Kevin Roberts) new book; “Dawn’s Early Light.” While the DNC was busy laying a foundation for an America full of hope and meaning last night, Trump and his campaign continued unraveling with false claims and despicable lies. Everything from a fake ID picture of Taylor Swift endorsing the convicted felon to Trump accusing Harris of using sexual favors to make her way to the top. We haven’t seen the worst from Donald Trump, remember—as George Conway points out—this guy isn’t running FOR president, he’s running FROM prison.
19.08.2024
Trump’s Medal of Dishonor
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/08/trumps-medal-of-dishonor/679507/
Donald can’t help himself, he can’t make it day to day without finding someone to insult, this time taking on Medal of Honor Veterans. With Harris pulling ahead in the polls and Trump unable to stay on message, those who want their patsy, Donald Trump, in office are pulling out all the stops to do the campaigning he seems incapable of doing himself. The list includes Putin, the GOP, and Elon Musk. Putin’s Russia Information Machine is spewing disinformation on a scale not seen since Hilary Clinton ran for office. The GOP is harassing Harris and Walz with a bevy of nonsensical investigations (in the meantime, James Comey and his farcical investigative squad, seems to have forgotten about Hunter and Joe Biden—it’s almost as though those investigations were purely political. Elon Musk is supporting a bevy of false AI-generated imagines on his political platform, X, including a deepfake image of Taylor Swift appearing to support Trump. As the election gets closer and their convicted carny (Donald Trump) continues to mentally devolve, expect these attacks to worsen. Remember Fascists can’t stand being called “weird” and being made fun of—so keep it up. Keep laughing at their attempts as you support others lining up to flood the voting box this fall.
18.08.2024
Why Kamala Harris' New Politics of Joy Is the Best Way to Fight Fascism
Research has shown that two of the greatest weapons against fascism are Joy and Mocking. The Harris/Walz ticket are using those valuable weapons to pursue their campaign for President/Vice President. Polls show they are being very effective. While Donald Trump and J.D. Vance continue to make fools of themselves, the Harris/Walz campaign offers policies and laughter… and it is driving the GOP crazy. Trump can’t seem to focus on anything but personal attacks and Vance is busy alienating himself from women while the entire GOP seems determined to run as far as possible from it’s own platform, designed by a major funder, the Heritage Foundation. Dressing Project 2025 up as anything but what it is, merely puts makeup on a pig. No matter how they try to paint this, Trump and Vance are theirs and Project 2025 is their brainchild. In the meantime, keep on laughing, it’s driving them crazy.
17.08.2024
X’s chatbot can now generate AI images. A lack of guardrails raises election concerns
X is rolling out a very dangerous tool and it is in the hands of a very dangerous person, Elon Musk. Musk is a well-known Trump backer and promised Trump $45 million a month (which he later backed out of), but that doesn’t keep Musk from using his power and fortune to support Trump and the GOP in all ways possible. This article highlights another reason why rational people should “check their sources” when they see something that doesn’t seem right. As the TSA has been telling us for years, “If you see something, say something.” The images (and articles) that are being generated by AI are deeply realistic and have included using an AI Voice of Joe Biden telling voters to stay home in New Hampshire. Contrary to our intuition, we need to start with a basis of distrust when we see images, read articles, but even when we hear recordings or watch videos. People like Musk have no ethical boundaries to guide their behavior and the people he supports (like Trump and the GOP) have no qualms about lying in any form available to them.
16.08.2024
Trump’s Strike-Busting Comments Could Come Back to Haunt Him
This story highlights Trump’s meandering pandering to Elon Musk as they both laughed about busting unions. As this, The Atlantic, author, Lora Kelley, points out, Trump’s rambling conversation with Elon Musk was a serpentine diatribe about many fatuous things, during which—as Kelley points out, “Trump complimented Musk on his ‘fertile mind,’ celebrated the prospect of climate change creating more oceanfront property, and said that Vice President Kamala Harris resembled his own wife on a recent Time cover. But the moment when Trump praised the idea of firing workers on strike could be the one he comes to regret this election season.” It’s difficult to tell which incident Trump was referring to as Musk has illegally let go of so many employees. Union workers are a strong voting block in many swing states and Harris is pro-union, while Tim Walz himself was a member of a union and recently started his first solo campaign appearances with Union Members in California. Trump continues to offer such tidbits of banality to his opposition and his campaign managers (and many other Republican leaders down-ballot from Trump) are asking him to reign in his gibberish. It hasn’t worked so far. In an interview yesterday at Trump’s Golf Course in New Jersey, campaign aids laid out an array of breakfast foods so Trump would be reminded to speak about food prices and the economy. Instead, Trump rambled aimlessly for an hour, before mentioning the food next to him for about five minutes, and then returned to more of his sad, twenty-year-old “poor me” routine. Trump can’t seem to get beyond that Biden stepped aside and he is running (“unfairly” according to him) against Kamala Harris. Watching Trump dissolve cognitively is pathetic. Most pundits think that he will come completely apart at the upcoming debate with former prosecutor, Kamala Harris, who will not let up about Trump’s long history of misdeeds, felonies, and sexual assaults. This is “old turf” for Harris—used to prosecuting criminals and sexual offenders, but it sure will be new for Donald, used to softball interviews from the likes of Musk.
15.08.2024
Of Course Trump Is Going to Claim the Election Was Stolen If Harris Wins: Ex-Trump Official
Donald Trump is falling steadily in the polls and even his own staff can’t help him. His campaign staff is trying to put him in front of smaller crowds with one message at a time (for example, at a rally on August 14, he was only supposed to speak for an hour about the economy), but he couldn’t help himself. The penultimate carnival barker, he had to play to the crowd and his crowd doesn’t cheer when he speaks about policy. However, they go nuts when he speaks about race, immigration, or making fun of his opponent, so the campaign strategy went out the door and his talk devolved into the regular Trump fascist diatribe. George Conway has pointed out that Trump is not so much running FOR the presidency as FROM prison. So, as this article points out, what do we expect Trump to do the day after he loses? Will he congratulate Kamala Harris on her win and quietly accept the outcome? Of course not. This article analyzes what needs to be done ahead of time for when Trump does NOT accept the results. I would also like to add that this is not the time for complacency, polls are not votes and every vote is needed to send the GOP and Trump a clear message about their politics and agenda.
14.08.2024
'Republicans for Harris' want conservatives to vote Democrat in 2024 to topple Trump
Thank you to these brave Republicans who have decided to put nation before party. As the GOP Party enters it’s “Please Shut Up” phase (see article below), some Republicans are realizing that Trump and Project 2025, don’t want to just win an election, they want to dismantle the constitution. These Republicans are taking their oath of office seriously and pointing out they did not take an oath to a cult leader—or even a party—but to the Constitution of the United States and that is exactly what is at risk if Trump wins in the November election.
This Week’s Links
20.08.2024
The Mistake That Could Cost Trump the Election
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/08/project-2025-backfired-trump/679509/
Policy Isn’t Going to Win This Election
DNC: Biden passes torch to Harris in convention speech
https://www.dw.com/en/dnc-kicks-off-in-chicago-with-biden-headlining-first-night/live-69984295
Here’s why VP Harris wants price gouging banned
https://www.fastcompany.com/91175089/here-s-why-vp-harris-wants-price-gouging-banned
'Evangelicals For Harris' Ad Denounces Trump As False Prophet
Rep. Crockett at DNC: 'Kamala Harris has a résumé; Donald Trump has a rap sheet'
Trump Is Raking in Millions From Foreign Business Partners
After Falsely Accusing Kamala Harris of Using AI, Donald Trump Posts AI Slop About Her on Twitter
https://futurism.com/donald-trump-posts-ai-kamala-harris
The Simple Reason Trump Can’t Run a Campaign About Policy
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a61917383/trump-undisciplined-presidential-campaign/
Trump Accuses Kamala Harris Of Using Sexual Favors To Earn Nomination
https://okmagazine.com/p/donald-trump-alanis-morissette-parody-kamala-harris-sexual-favors/
The White House plan to stop companies from wasting our time
19.08.2024
Trump’s Medal of Dishonor
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/08/trumps-medal-of-dishonor/679507/
Donald Trump uses fake AI image of Taylor Swift to try and win support
Pro-Russia 'News' Sites Spew Incendiary US Election Falsehoods
https://www.barrons.com/news/pro-russia-news-sites-spew-incendiary-us-election-falsehoods-c3b5bb33
Scoop: Harris-Walz probes ignite House GOP divisions
https://www.axios.com/2024/08/19/harris-walz-house-republican-investigations
Without Using Trump's Name, Kamala Harris Calls Out 'Coward' Leaders
18.08.2024
Why Kamala Harris' New Politics of Joy Is the Best Way to Fight Fascism
George Conway's Donald Trump Prediction Takes Off Online
https://www.newsweek.com/george-conways-donald-trump-prediction-takes-off-online-1940668
Kamala Harris learned a lesson about the border early in her career. It’s paying off now.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/17/kamala-harris-immigration-border-gangs-00173819
Trump Has Turned Over an Old Leaf
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/08/trump-has-turned-over-old-leaf/679494/
Donald Trump Mocked for Saying He's 'Better Looking' Than Kamala Harris
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-kamala-harris-beautiful-mocked-pennsylvania-rally-1940750
The DNC starts Monday. Here’s what you need to know
https://www.npr.org/2024/08/18/nx-s1-5078651/dnc-convention-harris-walz-speakers-schedule
17.08.2024
X’s chatbot can now generate AI images. A lack of guardrails raises election concerns
Supreme Court keeps new rules about sex discrimination in education on hold in half the country
Kamala Harris Rolled Out An Ambitious Economic Plan. Here’s What’s In It
https://time.com/7011865/kamala-harris-economic-plan-groceries-child/
Brooks and Capehart on Harris’ economic policy proposals
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/brooks-and-capehart-on-harris-economic-policy-proposals
All the Artists Who Don't Want Donald Trump Using Their Music
Lt. Col. Vindman: Trump ‘Absolutely’ at Fault for Russia’s Ukraine Invasion
https://www.vice.com/en/amp/en/article/n7n9dq/alexander-vindman-russia-ukraine-invasion/
Republicans Have No Idea What to Do About Trump and Project 2025
https://newrepublic.com/post/184960/republicans-freak-out-trump-project-2025
What Kierkegaard Can Teach Us about the Meaning of Life
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/kierkegaard-can-teach-us-meaning-life-bookbite/51124/
16.08.2024
Trump’s Strike-Busting Comments Could Come Back to Haunt Him
Learning to Live By What You Want, Not What You Should Want
15.08.2024
Of Course Trump Is Going to Claim the Election Was Stolen If Harris Wins: Ex-Trump Official
Trump’s New Campaign Strategy Just Went Up in Flames
https://newrepublic.com/post/184892/donald-trump-campaign-strategy-up-in-flames
The Trump Campaign Endorses a Racist Theory
A Compliment That Really Means Something
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/08/give-great-compliment-happiness/679447/
14.08.2024
'Republicans for Harris' want conservatives to vote Democrat in 2024 to topple Trump
The Trump Campaign’s ‘Please Shut Up’ Phase
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/08/trump-campaign-musk-interview/679451/
Inside Project 2025’s Secret Training Videos
https://msmagazine.com/2024/08/13/project-2025-training-videos/
Trump Suggests He’ll Flee to Venezuela If Harris Wins the Election
The Power of Purpose