Notices by Anirvan Chatterjee (anirvan@mastodon.social)

I just wrote a @wikipedia page for Vaishno Das Bagai, a South Asian immigrant whose life was shaped—and shattered—by racist U.S. laws in the 1920s. His story of heartbreak, and his final suicide note, has haunted me for years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaishno_Das_Bagai”

I remember the moment when I moved from a tech startup to academic science: two largely non-overlapping types of jargon.

I love this list of suggested plain English alternatives:

https://andersonchris.medium.com/the-nerd-urban-dictionary-abcd55ca7ac4

TLDR: 21 red states sued the Biden administration to avoid disclosing their transportation emissions stats. Here are some of the numbers they were trying to avoid reporting.

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2024/11/19/many-state-transportation-emissions-rise-as-gop-pols-dont-want-us-to-the-data

I just made 52 calls to Georgia voters for #KamalaHarris and the Dems.

In many cases, we left voicemail for Dem-leaning voters, with short instructions on when and where to vote.

Here are a few of my interesting calls to Georgia this morning:

• A middle-aged Black woman told me three out of four people in her family had already voted, and they were just waiting on their son to go vote today. They were so organized!

• An older White man reassured me that he'd voted for Harris today.

1/🧵

There are 23 days until the election, and everything I care about is on the line: climate justice, healthcare, and more.

The Democrats are far from perfect, but the alternative is so much worse.

Today was my second day phonebanking for #KamalaHarris.

It was really easy and fun, and you can do it from your home. Please ask if you have questions!

Here's how to sign up for a training:

https://events.democrats.org/event/551644/

4/

We ended the call talking through his early voting options. I texted him the https://iwillvote.com/ website, and he looked up his closest location.

He wasn't the only one. I probably talked to at least ten more Harris voters today who are planning to vote early in-person.

Some voters had the dates and poll locations down cold.

I loved the middle-aged Black woman who, in the end, laughed and assured me that she'd done all her research. "Don't worry, me and my girlfriends got this down!"

3/

The NC Bernie guy and I spent a long time on the phone, connecting over our frustration with Biden / Harris / mainstream Dems, and the pro-war values of both parties.

I talked about how Bernie had managed to get trustbusters like Lina Khan into the Biden administration, but that was too deep in policy for him.

In the end, what moved him was the idea that it's easier to fight for our values against a Dem administration than w/Trump—and he talked himself into supporting Harris.

We ended…

2/

I just finished my Saturday shift, volunteering for the Democrats and #KamalaHarris, calling swing state voters.

In a few hours, I was able to win over a new swing state voter for Harris, and help several Harris-leaning voters figure out how to vote early.

My favorite call was with a disengaged left-of-center Bernie voter in North Carolina.

When I asked about his top issues, he said "free healthcare, free wifi, freedom to grow marijuana". So I responded…

1/

https://democrats.org/call/

#USPol

"Why do so many people believe the Electoral College protects 'rural' interests when it demonstrably does not? I believe what’s happening is that these people are using 'rural' as a euphemism for 'white,' and 'urban' as a euphemism for 'Black.' The Electoral College protects white interests and sensibilities from being overrun by the emerging non-white majority in this country, and the people who defend the EC are desperate to keep it that way."

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/the-electoral-college-is-bad/

I just started volunteering for the Democrats, calling swing state voters for Harris.

On my 20th call, I chatted with a strong Harris supporter in Wisconsin.

She has autoimmune issues, but has been posting on social media about the election, and is so proud of her son, who'll be helping get neighbors to the polls.

We're all doing what we can.

This was my first time calling in 2024, and it was surprisingly easy. You only need a computer/smartphone. Please join me!

https://democrats.org/call/

There's just a month left until the election, and everything I care about is on the line.

Today was my first day phonebanking for #KamalaHarris.

It was really easy and fun, and you can do it from your home. Please ask if you have questions!

Here's how to sign up for a training:

https://events.democrats.org/event/551644/

/5

Calling swing state voters also makes you a political therapist.

I had a 5 min conversation with a Wisconsin who was excited to chat, because she usually has to stay quiet about her values:

• "Trump makes me wretch, but Vance slithers, he's even scarier."

• "My brother's a hard-core Republican. He refuses to talk to me."

• "During Obama, we used to live on a street full of Republican signs. My husband wanted to put up a Democrat sign, but neighbors would probably burn our house down."

/4

From my calls to Wisconsin voters this morning:

- An older Black woman knows politicians will say anything to get elected — but still voting for Harris and Baldwin, and telling all her friends.

- A small business owner from a town of 1000 people said he was initially on the fence, but did his own research, and is strong Harris, and excited to vote in his first Presidential election.

- A 72 year old from Wisconsin: "I won't tell you how I'm voting, but trust me — I'm not voting for Trump!"

/3

Phew! Finished 120 calls for #KamalaHarris to Wisconsin voters today.

While many were hangups or answering machines, I had some great conversations.

So many of the Harris voters mentioned things like the economy, reproductive rights, or democracy as core motivating factors. I loved hearing from White men about why they're so fired up.

I had a few helpful conversations with folks on the fence, or only soft Harris. In swing states, every vote matters.

/2

Front Porch Forum sounds so wholesome. Could it scale to larger communities and states?

I don't know who needs to hear this, but just a reminder: caste has spread and metastasized, extending beyond primarily Hindu/Indian spaces to diverse social and physical geographies across South Asia. Naming caste discrimination isn't anti-Hindu or anti-Indian, because sadly, it's bigger than that.

https://theconversation.com/caste-doesnt-just-exist-in-india-or-in-hinduism-it-is-pervasive-across-many-religions-in-south-asia-and-the-diaspora-180470

"Separating out the right to marry from the right to live with your spouse…you have literal children with…is trash on its face, but it’s also dripping with hypocrisy coming from Barrett. I doubt that she would apply her own logic to her own family. Barrett, famously, has adopted children from other parts of the world (and renamed them). I somehow don’t think she would recognize a right to adopt as 'distinct' from a right to live with the children she’s adopted."

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/munoz-supreme-court-marriage-immigration/

This is incredible

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/4/modis-bjp-loses-majority-in-india-election-shock-needs-allies-for

"The INDIA coalition proved more resilient and successful than many analysts had expected, despite grappling with state agencies freezing party funds and jailing opposition leaders in the buildup to the polls. They were particularly boosted by regional parties who far outperformed the BJP, such as the Samajwadi party in Uttar Pradesh, the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party in Tamil Nadu."

#India #IndiaElections

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/04/india-election-results-narendra-modi-bjp

"'Private jets are the single most polluting form of transport, causing about 10 times more CO2 emissions per passenger than a regular flight, and up to 100 times more than trains. About two thirds of such flights are done for leisure over short stretches on which a lower-emitting alternative exists'"

https://stay-grounded.org/farnborough-action-week-may-2024-private-jets/