Margaret "Grits" Helme
@gritshelme.bsky.social
Knitter, librarian, ecosocialist degrowth enthusiast, she/they
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
You absolutely can care about and fight for Palestine and trans rights and racial justice and environmental justice and land back and abolition and reparations and intersectional feminism and economic justice and healthcare and housing and education for everyone.
It's actually all the same fight.
It's actually all the same fight.
June 14, 2025 at 9:02 PM
You absolutely can care about and fight for Palestine and trans rights and racial justice and environmental justice and land back and abolition and reparations and intersectional feminism and economic justice and healthcare and housing and education for everyone.
It's actually all the same fight.
It's actually all the same fight.
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
This
Avoid the violence/nonviolence debate. It’s a trap.
The only thing that matters is what actions lead to more justice and less harm.
Inaction and complicity in the face of brutal oppression is the worst form of violence. Never forget it.
The only thing that matters is what actions lead to more justice and less harm.
Inaction and complicity in the face of brutal oppression is the worst form of violence. Never forget it.
June 10, 2025 at 4:47 PM
This
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
“The line of reasoning is maddening, seemingly designed to scramble and demobilize support for the people of Los Angeles. Accept the terms of the debate, and you end up in a bizarre argument about how much violence from which armed agents of the law is acceptable.”
I wrote about Los Angeles and violence.
newrepublic.com/article/1963...
newrepublic.com/article/1963...
June 10, 2025 at 11:57 AM
“The line of reasoning is maddening, seemingly designed to scramble and demobilize support for the people of Los Angeles. Accept the terms of the debate, and you end up in a bizarre argument about how much violence from which armed agents of the law is acceptable.”
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
So-called “less-lethal” weapons like those that have been used against demonstrators in Los Angeles can cause severe, lasting harm like nerve or brain damage or blindness. They can also kill. www.wired.com/story/what-t...
What Tear Gas and Rubber Bullets Do to the Human Body
So-called “less-lethal” weapons like those that have been used against demonstrators in Los Angeles can cause severe, lasting harm like nerve or brain damage or blindness. They can also kill.
www.wired.com
June 10, 2025 at 10:36 AM
So-called “less-lethal” weapons like those that have been used against demonstrators in Los Angeles can cause severe, lasting harm like nerve or brain damage or blindness. They can also kill. www.wired.com/story/what-t...
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
A friend asked me what the deal was with the Trump administration and Haiti and I said that racists have never forgiven Haiti for the temerity of freeing itself and illustrating that their supremacy was a lie, and everything since then has been about "proving" it can't govern itself.
June 9, 2025 at 12:53 AM
A friend asked me what the deal was with the Trump administration and Haiti and I said that racists have never forgiven Haiti for the temerity of freeing itself and illustrating that their supremacy was a lie, and everything since then has been about "proving" it can't govern itself.
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
the fact that we don’t have @aoc.bsky.social running messaging for the democratic party tells you everything that’s wrong with the democratic party
May 29, 2025 at 1:24 AM
the fact that we don’t have @aoc.bsky.social running messaging for the democratic party tells you everything that’s wrong with the democratic party
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
It feels like a sip of water in a desert, but it's nice to see that something is working:
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Here Is Everything That Has Changed Since Congestion Pricing Started in New York
Fewer cars. Faster travel. Less honking. And some questions we still can’t answer.
www.nytimes.com
May 28, 2025 at 2:55 PM
It feels like a sip of water in a desert, but it's nice to see that something is working:
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
This appears to be a significant step forward for global climate litigation. One of Australia's main energy firms has been forced to make a whole series of clarifications about greenwashing claims.
Here it is, finally. The truth.
In a landmark #greenwashing legal case brought by @parentsforclimate.bsky.social, #EnergyAustralia has publicly acknowledged that offsets do not undo the harms of burning fossil fuels & apologised to more than 400,000 customers of its carbon #offsetting product
In a landmark #greenwashing legal case brought by @parentsforclimate.bsky.social, #EnergyAustralia has publicly acknowledged that offsets do not undo the harms of burning fossil fuels & apologised to more than 400,000 customers of its carbon #offsetting product
May 19, 2025 at 6:28 AM
This appears to be a significant step forward for global climate litigation. One of Australia's main energy firms has been forced to make a whole series of clarifications about greenwashing claims.
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
your energy actually is finite and spending time fighting about the former president while the current president is putting this country in a wood chipper seems like a bad use of it
May 19, 2025 at 1:39 AM
your energy actually is finite and spending time fighting about the former president while the current president is putting this country in a wood chipper seems like a bad use of it
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
At today's March on Washington for Gaza, little kids' shoes and sandals ran down Pennsylvania Ave to represent the 17,400 Palestinian children that "the US has paid for Israel to murder."
📸s from the demonstration (1)
📸s from the demonstration (1)
April 5, 2025 at 8:31 PM
At today's March on Washington for Gaza, little kids' shoes and sandals ran down Pennsylvania Ave to represent the 17,400 Palestinian children that "the US has paid for Israel to murder."
📸s from the demonstration (1)
📸s from the demonstration (1)
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
If low density areas of the city resist upzones, I think it’s time we stop distributing city resources based on geography instead do it per capita so that areas that are denser get more resources: more local schools, more library hours, lifeguards & parks staff, sidewalks, nicer street lighting…
"Actions that promote equity can feel like discrimination to people who are used to being the only voices in the room." 💯
publicola.com/2025/02/06/c...
publicola.com/2025/02/06/c...
Councilmembers Claim City Didn't Do "Broad Engagement" on Comprehensive Plan - PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett The city council’s comprehensive plan committee, chaired by Joy Hollingsworth, spent much of its two-hour meeting…
publicola.com
February 6, 2025 at 7:14 PM
If low density areas of the city resist upzones, I think it’s time we stop distributing city resources based on geography instead do it per capita so that areas that are denser get more resources: more local schools, more library hours, lifeguards & parks staff, sidewalks, nicer street lighting…
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
"Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) on Wednesday rolled out the Eliminate Looting of Our Nation by Mitigating Unethical State Kleptocracy (ELON MUSK) Act, which would ban 'special' government employees like Musk from having federal contracts."
New Democratic bill targets Elon Musk
Rep. Mark Pocan's ELON MUSK Act takes aim at the billionaire's federal contracts.
www.politico.com
February 5, 2025 at 11:48 PM
"Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) on Wednesday rolled out the Eliminate Looting of Our Nation by Mitigating Unethical State Kleptocracy (ELON MUSK) Act, which would ban 'special' government employees like Musk from having federal contracts."
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
Speaking as an agender: So weird for cis people to be like “I don’t get it” when you guys are like also very attached to your internal sense of sex and gender
Like what’s not to get? Not being an asshole, is what it looks like
Like what’s not to get? Not being an asshole, is what it looks like
February 6, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Speaking as an agender: So weird for cis people to be like “I don’t get it” when you guys are like also very attached to your internal sense of sex and gender
Like what’s not to get? Not being an asshole, is what it looks like
Like what’s not to get? Not being an asshole, is what it looks like
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
There's a lot going on, too much, but now reddit has bent the knee by shutting down *checks the most absurd notes on the most absurd coup in history* r/WhitePeopleTwitter
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reddit community banned as user spat with Musk intensifies
The tech billionaire had complained that some Reddit users were advocating violence against his staff.
www.bbc.com
February 6, 2025 at 12:16 PM
There's a lot going on, too much, but now reddit has bent the knee by shutting down *checks the most absurd notes on the most absurd coup in history* r/WhitePeopleTwitter
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
USAID fought apartheid. Musk is killing it
The makings of an unelected coup
the.ink
February 3, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
I note that www.glad.org is providing legal services here. They have a donate button at the top right of their website.
New: A Boston federal judge has temporarily blocked prison officials from transferring a transgender woman to a men's facility and denying her access to gender-affirming care in accordance with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump. www.reuters.com/legal/us-jud...
US judge blocks transgender inmate's prison transfer under Trump order
A U.S. judge has temporarily blocked federal prison officials from transferring a transgender woman to a men's facility and denying her access to gender-affirming care in accordance with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump, her lawyers said on Thursday.
www.reuters.com
January 30, 2025 at 10:50 PM
I note that www.glad.org is providing legal services here. They have a donate button at the top right of their website.
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
Normalizing spelling out what people actually mean when they cite DEI rather than letting them hide behind the safe cover of a euphemism that's been sapped of meaning
January 30, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Normalizing spelling out what people actually mean when they cite DEI rather than letting them hide behind the safe cover of a euphemism that's been sapped of meaning
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
Stop fucking saying he blamed “DEI,” which is some abstract, non-tangible idea. He is blaming people of color having jobs he thinks they aren’t qualified for. He’s blaming race. He’s being racist every time he says it. Journalists need to get fucking backbones, my word.
January 30, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Stop fucking saying he blamed “DEI,” which is some abstract, non-tangible idea. He is blaming people of color having jobs he thinks they aren’t qualified for. He’s blaming race. He’s being racist every time he says it. Journalists need to get fucking backbones, my word.
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
Tesla just announced that sales fell in Q4, and its shares dropped ~4%.
Nota bene ⤵️
Nota bene ⤵️
Musk's source of cash is loans secured by Tesla stock. If the stock price goes down low enough, he has to sell stock to meet the margin call, fueling the downward spiral. This makes him vulnerable in ways that no other oligarch is. If you think Musk is a problem, Tesla is your attack surface.
January 29, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Tesla just announced that sales fell in Q4, and its shares dropped ~4%.
Nota bene ⤵️
Nota bene ⤵️
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
Call it a purge, not a buyout. Call it a coup against Congress, not a spending pause. Call it censorship, not a review. Words matter, and we in the media have a chance to do better this time.
January 29, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Call it a purge, not a buyout. Call it a coup against Congress, not a spending pause. Call it censorship, not a review. Words matter, and we in the media have a chance to do better this time.
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
If you made this argument back in the day you were smugly dismissed as an economically illiterate lefty.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The Walmart Effect
New research suggests that the company makes the communities it operates in poorer—even taking into account its famous low prices.
www.theatlantic.com
January 25, 2025 at 12:05 AM
If you made this argument back in the day you were smugly dismissed as an economically illiterate lefty.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
Democratic administrations and university administrators spent the last fifteen months telling us that armed enforcement officers abducting people from campuses was good and commendable, and now the Trump administration will cash that check.
Schools and colleges are no longer considered “sensitive” spaces protected from immigration officials, under a new directive from the Department of Homeland Security.
www.newsobserver.com/news/local/e...
www.newsobserver.com/news/local/e...
UNC-Chapel Hill will ‘comply’ if ICE seeks students on campus, chancellor says
Schools and colleges are no longer considered “sensitive” spaces protected from immigration officials, under a new directive from the Department of Homeland Security.
www.newsobserver.com
January 25, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Democratic administrations and university administrators spent the last fifteen months telling us that armed enforcement officers abducting people from campuses was good and commendable, and now the Trump administration will cash that check.
Reposted by Margaret "Grits" Helme
Trans people exist, have always existed, and will loved and valued, no matter what their government tells them.
(Also, I’m a part of the government, and I’m here to tell you I love you + I won’t stop fighting for you no matter what!)
(Also, I’m a part of the government, and I’m here to tell you I love you + I won’t stop fighting for you no matter what!)
January 22, 2025 at 6:01 AM
Trans people exist, have always existed, and will loved and valued, no matter what their government tells them.
(Also, I’m a part of the government, and I’m here to tell you I love you + I won’t stop fighting for you no matter what!)
(Also, I’m a part of the government, and I’m here to tell you I love you + I won’t stop fighting for you no matter what!)