Notices by Sarah Taber (sarahtaber@mastodon.online)

Anyway, here's my Patreon! It's got cool bonuses like extra news videos.

patreon.com/farmtotaber

And here's my Ko-Fi, a one-time tip jar if monthly subscriptions aren't for you but you still want to support.

ko-fi.com/farmtotaber

If you can't give, we've all been there, please signal boost!

Which is a bummer, because right now is a GREAT time to be getting info in front of your average rank & file Americans.

Public opinion's already turning on the new president due to cost of living.

https://x.com/AstorAaron/status/1892339242950344830

And BOY do I have some stuff to say re: cost of living.

The upshot: the US left is having a moment where it really needs to find its new voice.

And the fact that big donors have no idea how to build up social media yet? Means rank & file people get to decide what that new voice sounds like.

That's why I'm doing short videos- to get free, high-quality info in front of people who really need it.

It's also why I'm beating the drum on this sponsorship drive. It's *extremely* up to individual creators to find a way to pay our editors, researchers, etc.

Meanwhile right-wing creators have a relatively easy time finding grants, partnership deals, etc.

They also target gullible people & teach them to be paranoid about new information. That makes it easier to sell them scam supplements, crypto currency, etc.

So they move into some other genre of content. They paywall. Or they just quit making media entirely.

There are other reasons lefty media creators have a hard time staying in the game, but this is the existential one IME. If you can pay your bills, you can overcome most of the other barriers.

The thing is, we've had lots good left-leaning & center-left podcasters & content creators.

But making good consistent content is a full time job for multiple people.

Very few left or center-left creators can get to the point where they can afford to make that.

Post '24, elected leaders & major donors on the center-left have woken up to this problem. "We need more social media!"

As far as I can tell though, they still don't know what to do about it. Last I heard they were stuck on "Who's gonna pay for it? How do we build the grant programs?" etc. 🤦🏻♀️

The relative ease of financing right-wing social media means more creators can turn it into a full-time job. They can stick w it long enough to build big audiences.

That's why the right has so many highly-viewed podcasters & social media creators. And it's why they won in '24.

Anyone else been hearing a lot about "We just need better messaging!" "We just need a left Joe Rogan!" lately?

About that. There's one reason the right has more social media than the left, with bigger audiences.

Right-wingers pay their creators. End of list.

(Also you can't copy-paste Joe Rogan onto the left bc scam supplements are ~key to his business model. There's a limited number of suckers who fall for that. And they're already listening to Joe Rogan.)

-Purging the civil service of "disloyal bureaucrats."

This is a classic dictator move. Here's the thing: it backfires. A LOT.

Giving your political opponents nothing to do & nothing to lose is a TERRIBLE way to stay in power. I'm just saying. There's a reason stable governments don't do this.

In the middle of all the "nothing," here are some big moves that have happened!

-We found out which biz leaders feel like their future is compatible with democracy (lookin at you Costco), & those that don't.

May not sound like a big deal, but knowing what major players' vision is is important!

-The Pope put right-wing US Catholic leaders on notice re: duties to immigrants.

Given that Trump announced he's ready to raid churches, this just might be important later!

https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/letters/2025/documents/20250210-lettera-vescovi-usa.html

Real political change, while it's happening, rarely feels like real political change is happening.

What does it feel like?

Usually "nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, all at once."

so if you look at it that way, we're right on schedule 💀

We keep wanting to say "We're in unprecedented times," but we're not.

Jim Crow wasn't even that long ago. Rule of law is a recent invention in the US. These times are extremely precedented.

Take real time to learn abt the Civil Rights movement.

Gonna wrap this up with some take-aways from the civil rights movement.

As kindly as I can possibly say it- don't wait for Congress to fix this for you.

Did we get a Civil Rights Act bc Congress woke up one day & said "Oh! People need civil rights! Let's pass some laws."

No. We *made* them do it.

The headline frames this protest as being about DEI, which is burying the lede quite a bit imo. Military family members have at least $70B worth of reasons to be upset w this admin.

The local mil family group chats are wild rn. That's all I'm saying

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/12/pete-hegseth-dei-protest-germany

-Alienating the US military. DOGE is targeting "programs with lapsed funding authorization."

Guess what's the single biggest federal program with expired funding authorizations?

Veterans' healthcare. By over $70B.

https://www.businessinsider.com/doge-elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-government-spending-cuts-veterans-nasa-2024-11

New video!

Since the US is deporting farm workers, I'm making helpful videos for Americans on how to get started as a farm worker. Welcome to your new job picking crops!

feat. handy phrases in Spanish so you can communicate with your new boss, the crew foreman <3

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGQ61IdtiKh/

Some good news!

USDA has (finally) approved a bird flu vaccine for poultry flocks.

https://www.science.org/content/article/u-s-conditionally-approves-vaccine-protect-poultry-avian-flu

I'm just saying. Some Big Farm Policy Decisions are being made here by a guy whose pickup trucks can't even handle mud