Demand Better Together

Actions for Week of May 17, 2020

Scrap the budget cuts, protect our vote, phone bank to flip the Senate, learn who won our NY-12 poll, and a joint COVID event with Four Freedoms

INSIST ON SAFE VOTING AND BUDGET JUSTICE

The only way we can get rid of Trump is to vote. Turnout will be critical come November, and we must make voting easy and safe.  To do that, we need to pressure the state legislature to pass bills that support no-excuse absentee voting for the general election.

Contact your state reps and tell them to protect our vote! 

While you are at it, insist that the appalling cuts in the last budget be reversed. It’s easy, all we have to do is tax second and third homes, and enact an ultra-millionaire tax.  

Call or use Resistbot to text your message.  Phone numbers, a script, and instructions at the link.  Signing up will help us track the number of calls and texts.

 

MONTHLY MEETING RECAP
The full agenda is here.

If you want to watch the full recording, you can do that at this link.

Congressional Vote Results
Thanks to everyone who voted and participated in our candidate debate last month. The clear winner  in our vote was Representative Carolyn Maloney, with over 2/3 of the first place votes cast.  You can read the official announcement here.


June Virtual Events
We’re going to host virtual events in June to phone bank for Mark Kelly (AZ) and the winner of the Democratic primary in Georgia. We’ll also have virtual “happy hours” for letter writing/voter registration campaigns (like we did last year). Click the link to sign up.

Discussion with Ben Kallos

  1. Everyone will get an absentee ballot application (that’s application, not an actual ballot) for the primary. Fill that in and request your actual ballot. If you don’t want to wait, get your application here. https://nycabsentee.com/

  2. You can now get tested for both coronavirus antibodies and infection. There are testing centers set up, and insurance will cover it. (Here’s a link to testing sites in Manhattan: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/coronavirus/resources/covid-testing.page#manhattan).  Lots of data at and more resources at https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-main.page 

  3. The eviction moratorium has been extended until August 20

  4. Alternate side of the street parking will resume May 18-24 for street cleaning. It will then be suspended again from May 25-June 7 We’re going to have to revise early voting procedures (less density). 

  5. There’s talk of closing entire streets for Greenmarkets so there is more room to spread out

  6. NY is hiring contact tracers to track the spread of coronavirus and notify people who may have been exposed.  You can work from home, with full pay and benefits.  Health care background needed.  Apply here https://1w20ju1nsz1k2xqrjx3ccsd1-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/76/2020/04/CT-I.pdf

  7. Fill out your census! You can do it online right here.

Tuesday, May 19
MARKERS FOR DEMOCRACY
10 AM
Guest: David Pepper, Chair of the Ohio Democratic Party

Join the Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 102 506 815
Password: 023440

Learn the strategy for turning Ohio blue, starting with two Ohio Supreme Court judge races If those seats flip, Ohio's extreme gerrymandering (which help give us Jim Jordan) can be fixed. David is a dynamic speaker and his presentation entitled Project Battleground will leave you feeling energized and hopeful.  To donate to a fund specifically set up to flip these two seats on the Ohio Supreme Court click here.

Thursday, May 21
***JOINT EVENT WITH FOUR FREEDOMS: VIRTUAL CAMPAIGNING AND COVID INFORMATION***
7 PM

Find out how to campaign virtually while maintaining social distancing. We’ll also be joined by Council Member Carlina Rivera, who chairs the City Council Committee on Hospitals.

She’s got a direct line on how well (or poorly) our hospital system is handling the COVID-19 pandemic.  We're co-sponsoring this event with Four Freedoms.

Here’s how to join:


Sat. May 23-Sunday May 24 PHONE BANK FOR TEDRA COBB

Weekend Calls

Weekday Calls

They have made over 100,000 calls over the past few weeks and are gearing up for a big weekend this Saturday and Sunday.  The goal is to make 30,000 calls in two days!  Sign up for the weekend (or the following week) using one of the links above.

ENTERTAINMENT AND EDUCATIONAL QUARANTINE RESOURCES

ADULTS

Original Manhattan
Take a tour of Manhattan before Europeans showed up.

Poppy Seeds and Mars Rovers
How poppy seeds could improve rover steering on Mars.

ISS Docking Simulation
Try to dock with the space station (without smushing it). Kids might like this too.

Ebooks
The NYPL has lots of ebooks, but they’re getting a bit swamped, and there’s a 3 book limit. These books are always available, and free. Get as many as you like.

Virtual Yosemite
We can’t visit Yosemite in person right now, but you can still tour it (and reach spots you might miss even if you were there in person).

The Night Watch
We’ve all seen this painting dozens of times, but this is different. The new image on the Rijksmuseum’s website is actually a composite of 528 photos. The result is the ability to zoom and zoom closer and closer to see fine details, of the clothing, the eyes, and the dog’s collar. The first link is to a detailed article about the image. The image itself is here.

KIDS

Amelia Park Children’s Museum 
Find out how to make a cloud in a jar, right inside your kitchen

Beyond the Chalkboard 
Learn how to juggle (and make your own balls) 

AMNH
How to draw a dinosaur (instructions plus pictures to download)

Junior Junction at the Railroad
Twice weekly story time and activities (every Tuesday and Thursday) for younger children. Find out the first job women got on the railroad, how to run a train, make your own engineer’s hat, and lots of other activities, 

National Informal STEM Education
Make your own mountains at home (out of paper) and build a rain gauge to measure rainfall near you. (All the links make it look complicated, but it really isn’t. They’re just thorough).

Activity Guides
https://www.nisenet.org/sites/default/files/exsci_space_mountains_activity.pdf
https://www.nisenet.org/sites/default/files/exsci_space_mountains_rain_gauge.pdf

Two Short Instructional Videos
 https://vimeo.com/245834493 and https://vimeo.com/245834493

Training and Facilitator Guides mentioned in the video
https://www.nisenet.org/catalog/exploring-earth-paper-mountains-2018 

****** Your steering committee: Jodi, Margo, Nicole, and Jonathan

P.S. This is our 150th newsletter!