Three Wins Today: Oct 3, 2025

We must make humans more human.

Yesterday was Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. It’s funny, I didn’t fast, I didn’t even stop using technology, but I didn’t look at the news or use social media at all. And somehow, I still felt like I was in a space between reality and fiction. There was a whole lot of politics talked about, but for an entire 25 hours I didn’t know what was happening in the moment, and it was the most important detox.

One thing that kept coming up, through the various sermons and pledge asks was the idea of love, seeing the world through love. The idea that we all have the capacity to hold several things in our hearts at once. And the idea that you can’t change someone’s heart by telling them that they’re wrong, that doesn’t work.

I spend a lot of time trying to use my heart to respond to my comments, and not see the worst in someone just because they say something I don’t agree with.

But I always think, why would I make them think I agree with anything, isn’t that counterproductive?

The reality, as I learned time and time again yesterday, is that no, it’s not. compassion is always productive. Rabbi Sharon Brous of Ikar, said in a sermon yesterday that she was at an AI conference in Japan, earlier this year, to explain, from a spiritual place, what the dangers of AI are. And she sat through several sessions where the main question was “how we we make robots more human?” When it came time for her to give her talk, she began it “My question is not how we make robots more human, but how do we make humans more human?”

And that’s the bottom line. We’ve lost our humanity, yes, us too, I’m not just talking about Republicans.

Every time I see a nasty comment, and I quote it, typically calling the person out, though I should really be focusing on calling them in, I inevitably get a reply saying “that’s a bot, just block them.” I’m not saying there aren’t bots, but I am saying our inability to see someone’s pain as authentic and not manufactured by a computer is dangerous.

Some accounts that do this are bots, absolutely, but I don’t think that’s nearly as common as we think.

So, going forward, I’m going to keep assuming everyone who comments on my posts is a human (unless it’s a porn thing, but that’s obviously a different story,) and assume they are lashing out because they are scared and in pain.

Will I get it right every time? Absolutely not. Will I still lose my temper? I can guarantee you I will slip up. But, I want to help make humans more human. Come to my comments from a place of compassion rather than letting my fear and pain cloud my ability to be a human.

And I hope you will join me and try to do this going forward too. “Kill them with kindness” is a phrase for a reason, after all.

Now, on that note, here are today’s wins!

Quack-O-Grams being delivered to Members of Congress

California

Thu, Oct 2 - Governor Gavin Newsom put out a statement that any university that gives in to Trump will lose all state funding immediately:

IF ANY CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY SIGNS THIS RADICAL AGREEMENT, THEY’LL LOSE BILLIONS IN STATE FUNDING — INCLUDING CAL GRANTS — INSTANTLY. CALIFORNIA WILL NOT BANKROLL SCHOOLS THAT SELL OUT THEIR STUDENTS, PROFESSORS, RESEARCHERS, AND SURRENDER ACADEMIC FREEDOM.

It’s in all caps because this is what he posted across social media. The press release goes on to explain why he’s being so clear:

According to news reports, President Donald Trump’s so-called proposed “compact” is nothing short of a hostile takeover of America’s universities. It would impose strict government-mandated definitions of academic terms, erase diversity, and rip control away from campus leaders to install government-mandated conservative ideology in its place. It even dictates how schools must spend their own endowments. Any institution that resists could be hit with crushing fines or stripped of federal research funding.

I hope other states with Dem governors follow suit.

New Jersey

Wed, Oct 1 - Jon Bon Jovi’s JBJ Soul Kitchen is a community restaurant that serves “paying customers and those in-need.” Everyone who needs one can get a fresh hot (or cold) meal. And he said, if you are a furloughed federal employee during the shut down, if you come with your government ID, you can get a free three course meal at any of their three locations, for the duration of the shutdown.

jbjsoulkitchen

A post shared by @jbjsoulkitchen

It’s another example of the power of one. Yes, he’s Jon Bon Jovi, but this is what his restaurant already does and he’s extending it to federal workers. Could any of your skills help make the shutdown a softer place to land for people in need?

Resisting is a combo of fighting against the literal fascism, through boycotts, protests, actions and voting, and mutual aid. Taking care of your community in any way you know how is fundamental to fighting against this administration.

Washington DC

Wed, Sept 17 (Ongoing)- Colette Delawalla created Stand Up For Science in February, and she’s already putting her name on the map.

SUFS created Quack-O-Grams. Delawalla, along with a person in a duck mascot costume deliver rubber duckies to Republicans, to hopefully force them to impeach RFK Jr.

She said:

If he’s going to make a joke of our health and our country, we’re gonna make a joke of him.

Each duck is paid for through a donation (or several) from a constituent. So the more ducks a member receives, the more constituents donated from that district.

You probably have some questions, namely, “who cares, how will this help?” Well, Dalawalla already has the answer on the FAQ:

Hey, you know what? It is worth a shot. This is going to grab attention, it brings people joy during a hard time, and at the end of the day, MOCKERY IS A USEFUL TACTIC AGAINST FASCIST REGIMES.

These people want to make a joke of our health…we will make a joke of them.

Read that again. Mockery is a useful tactic against fascism. And we’ve seen this time and time again. Authoritarianism only works if people are too scared to fight back. That’s why these companies, institutions and organizations bowing down is so concerning. But the best way way to stop them is to make them look weak, and that’s the essence of mockery. And we learned this when Stephen Colbert was canceled and Jimmy Kimmel was “preempted indefinitely.” Our ability to mock is one of our greatest powers right now.

But you probably follow me and support my wins, so that might not have been your concern. You might be thinking of the environmental impact of so much plastic. Well, she answered that too:

We are sensitive to the environmental impact of this action. We are working with several groups to repurpose ducks to use for this campaign, we will recycle ducks to Dems, and we are planning more actions with these! Rest assured, we are getting creative.

I can’t wait to see how these are recycled to Dems nor the future actions.

You can donate a duck (one is just $3.) or sign the petition that will be directly delivered to congress (so far 13,645 have signed the petition) and you can also email SUFS to include a longer written statement.

The bottom line is “we are getting creative.” I always say it and I already said it once this post, it’s the power of one. Bon Jovi has food, Delawalla has rubber duckies. What do you have? We all have something creative we can do to help the resistance.

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So that’s what I have for you today, sorry if you’ve heard these stories already, I thought they were getting less attention and then I learned, especially with Newsom, that’s not so much the case.

Our voices are our super power, but only when we use them!