Good morning Engaged Defenders for Democracy!
Yesterday’s demonstrations
We had 10 and a dog at our Visibility Bridge Brigade over I47 and Anderson. Not the same without Diane. Still lovely energy from the amazing demonstrators!
Jenny and Jack had 9 at their Take a Stand Tuesdays: South Cary. Melissa joined us, which was a nice surprise, as well as Susan, who was an original regular whose been sidelined for a few months with knee and foot issues. Traffic was good and positive response was strong. Today’s dissent winners were a woman yelling “The Devil is a Democrat!” and a black man who told Shelly “Racism doesn’t exist in America.” Hmmm...
Pam and Melissa had 6 at their Take a Stand Tuesdays: Raleigh, including 4 regulars (including the return of Mike Who is Everywhere) and 2 newbies (who found us through Mobilize). A lot of positive response. There was a counter demonstrator who was yelling at them. One of the newbies yelled back. Gratefully, things did not escalate. Just a reminder to all who attend demonstrations to not respond to counterdemonstrators. They are looking for a fight. They cannot fight alone, so when they spew negativity at us, we smile and put up the peace symbol. Melissa did a great job at Demonstration Leader! We lead with empathy, positivity, kindness, and inclusion!
Melissa then went from Cary to hold her Break for Peace and had 7 Defenders. Limited shade and too much heat. Moderate engagement & mostly positive.
Maureen had 8 hot and sweaty seniors (okay one wasn’t a senior) slurping ice cream at her No Tyranny Tuesdays: Brier Creek. We should earn votes just for endurance. The only conservatives I see out in the hot sun are on the golf course or playing pickleball.
Gabriel and Joel had 9 roasting at their Protect Democracy at East Club and Roxboro.
Rob had ten brave souls and the inflated dinosaur rider standing in the heat with signs his Teachable Tuesdays in Carrboro! We had as a highly responsive cavalcade of drivers honked, waved and flashed the victory sign. The photo is a bit of a long-distance shot showing the event from across the street. We were all happy to be in the shade. So amazing to meet Rob and his excellent crew. Wonderful positive energy from the demonstrators and the cars. What an excellent location you have found.
Cynthia had 18 on her Raleigh Bridge Brigade near NCMA.
Democracy Out Loud!’s Mark created an amazing website where he tracks legislation in the NC legislature! Wow!! Thanks, Mark!!
https://lgps.democracyoutloud.org/#home
Love this that Becky saw on FB.
I made my calls and reached a human in Budd’s and Foushee’s office. The Budd staffer was the one who least likes to hear from me, but she politely took down my four concerns about ICE rounding up people without warrants and using profiling to detain people. I raised my concern about Hegseth mismanaging the military with experienced people quitting. I expressed my concerns about the unprecedented move from a CDC Director questioning results that states are sending up about measles’s deaths. And finally, I talked about the G20 summit, and how we need to regulate AI given the two systems worked together in a hacking operation without any human intervention. I had to leave four messages for Tillis as nobody seems to be answering the phones there anymore.
Good news from yesterday
The US House passed a bipartisan spending gap bill to avert a government shutdown. No more money for Border Patrol in this bill as demanded by Democrats.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/01/us/politics/house-vote-government-shutdown.html
Interesting, an 80-year-old progressive, Ed Markey beat a younger centrist Democrat in Massachusetts for MA Senate. It is not just youth, it is the message.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/01/us/politics/massachusetts-senate-democratic-primary.html
Costco is partnering with SCANHealth to enhance healthcare for older adults.
https://www.scanhealthplan.com/about-scan/press-releases/costco-partnership
Representative Massie read aloud the co-conspirators of Jeffrey Epstein and needs 218 signatures to force a vote on the Epstein Transparency Act II, given the Department of Justice is having trouble with the first one. The new law would allow state attorneys general, local district attorneys, survivors, and members of Congress to sue the Justice Department directly if when they fail to release required files.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/6062468-massie-names-epstein-coconspirators/
Over 600 organizations are fighting to stop Trump from destroying monuments and parks.
https://culturalheritagepartners.com/open-letter-to-congress-from-national-coalition
A federal judge hero sided with Florida International University students who held a silent ICE demonstration!
https://www.axios.com/local/miami/2026/08/24/fiu-students-ice-free-speech-aclu-florida
A retired Colonel in the Army running against Democratic Representative Don Davis in NC had to suspend her campaign as she bet on her campaign on Kalashi. Wow!
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/us/politics/house-candidate-kalshi-gambling.html
News that deserves our calls and demonstrations
A whistle-blower says the US Postal Service is already enacting the new rules based on the executive order that can mean many will not receive their absentee ballots or will receive them too late.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/01/us/politics/whistle-blower-voting-by-mail.html
But the silver lining is that half of the Republican Attorneys General signed on the brief that the Department of Justice created urging Judge Talwani to lift her ban.
College student, Pierre Damas Bel, likely committed suicide after his Temporary Protected Status was revoked. He was Haitian and was made to wear an ankle monitor which caused him to be bullied and not allowed to wear his Jr ROTC uniform. He wanted to be a doctor. Now he is dead. Cruel and tragic!
Here is a note from his father.
The US House passed a bill to extend TPS for Haitians. We need the Senate to pass Senate Bill 4814 when they return.
Google bent the knee and renamed Lake Ontario to Lake America. Really? And Apple Maps changed their map too.
https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/6059553-google-maps-renames-lake-america/
Today, I will call about 1) the US Postal Service cannot enact the executive order that Judge Talwani has blocked about mail-in ballots and half of the Republican Attorneys General do not support the executive order, 2) we need to stop treating those who had their Temporary Protected Status revoked like criminals. Senate needs to pass Senate Bill 4814. Pierre Damas Bel would be alive had the administration not required him to wear an activity monitor. Tragic.
Message of the day
Today I want to talk about a different level of censorship that is happening. Thanks, Darline for posting. Please read this article from The Intercept that talks about how Google has permanently deleted reviews from their Google maps from people who are incarcerated in ICE detention facilities. People in ICE detention centers have reviewed their experiences on Google maps, and Google has deleted these reviews due to their policy to remove reviews that are “consistently unhelpful, harmful, or off-topic. This includes places that people go to without choice or places only accessible to people stationed or assigned there—such as police stations and prisons.”
This is ridiculous censorship as people’s voices need to be heard. The conditions at ICE detention facilities are atrocious. We need to draw attention about this. Google puts profits over people. We need to raise our voices about this. What else are they censoring is my question?
https://theintercept.com/2026/07/20/google-maps-reviews-ice-detention-centers
Comic relief/Inspirational video
I leave you with a clip from Representative Lieu about voting. Thanks, Mark for posting.
https://youtube.com/shorts/7GH_tjM19js
Demonstrations today
We have four demonstrations today. Linda and Becky have their Woke Wednesday: Durham (7:30-8:30am), Jim and Lloyd have their Woke Wednesday: Chatham (4:30-5:30pm), Ray has his Woke Wednesday: Chapel Hill (4:30-6pm), and Shelly and Kim have their Visibility Bridge Brigade over I-40 and ATT (5-6:30pm). There also is a noise disruption event at UNC to interfere with the G20 AI summit at The Carolina Inn at 10am at The Well.
Please wear a button and/or t-shirt showing you are part of the resistance movement.
Please shop local. Please do not line the pockets of the oligarchs and feed corporations.
Warmly,
Kathryn
We hear about malfunctions on the Ships blockading Iran. Back in the early 90's we had marine Harrier wings(A wing is a number of planes and men) on ships on the Persian gulf for 6 months. If it was 100 F, the decks were 180F, A/C broke, fresh water broke, resupply was slow, all info was via snail mail. We had to launch our planes by 0400 or they couldn't get enough lift w/o using all fuel on take off.
My point is, we have troops with no purpose, they are there "just in case". The stress of being on constant alert wears down the nervous system. These men are working round the clock, some of them the share bunks, one sleeps days the other nights. (It was that way on smaller ships when I served before '95. Doubt it has changed)
We need to pressure Congress to end this and bring them all home.
Thank you for the Democracy Out Loud website link! ED4D is such a great resource for great resources. I appreciate you!