Golda Velez
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goldavelez.org
Golda Velez
@goldavelez.org
2K followers 3K following 4.3K posts
60% earnest 10% snark and the rest is random tree pics and stuff

volunteer human rights- RaisetheVoices.org
earned governance startup- LinkedTrust.us
signal: @minty.53
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goldavelez.org
Golda Velez @goldavelez.org · 15d
vvvvvvvvvvvvvv
strictlychristo.bsky.social StrictlyChristo 🇺🇦🌻🚫👑 @strictlychristo.bsky.social · 16d
Soft secession

Legislation creates a Federal Tax Escrow Account in the state treasury. Instead of employers forwarding collected federal taxes to Washington, they send them to the state. The state holds the money in escrow. A legislative panel reviews federal spending for constitutional compliance.
Experts Say Blue States Can Stop Paying Federal Taxes. There’s Precedent
If we could use nullification for people to get high, why can’t we use it to protect human rights and stop fascism?
medium.com
goldavelez.org
hope you had a lovely thanksgiving, small or large, together or not. grateful for my family, i just don't like sharing photos of them on social media. here is some fruit and potatos tho.
November 28, 2025 at 2:32 AM
goldavelez.org
more of this, please.
thetnholler.bsky.social The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 7h
🔥POWERFUL AD ABOUT ICE AGENTS: “What will you say when your kids ask you about your day? A mask can’t hide you from your neighbors, your family, God… you can walk away, but the shame will follow you home.”
November 28, 2025 at 12:36 AM
goldavelez.org
Useful database! glad that Tucson Police are not using it, but shame on the UofA, Marana and Oro Valley police depts!

check out deflock.me and www.atlasofsurveillance.org for your city!
November 28, 2025 at 12:26 AM
Reposted by Golda Velez
atconnect.eu
... attributed to the new app: whtwnd.com/atconnect.eu...

We (@schuman.de, @mathewlowry.bsky.social) are developing ATmosphere Health Index to help the community understand where the ATmosphere is going, and build a data-driven narrative of its evolution. We need your help, so read & get in touch!
Infographic from https://whtwnd.com/atconnect.eu/3lwwasw7for27 showing 99+% of all ATmosphere events "belonging" (is that the right term?) to Bluesky, and showing the breakdown of the other <1% between Anisota and several others. Anisota predominated. More details in the post.
August 21, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Reposted by Golda Velez
boone.bsky.social
Scoop: Provisions of the NDAA that would ensure military members’ right to repair their own equipment are set to be removed from the funding act, replaced by language that will require the military to pay subscription fees to defense contractors via “data-as-a-service.”
www.wired.com/story/subscr...
The US Military Wants to Fix Its Own Equipment. Defense Contractors Are Trying to Shoot That Down
A push by military contractors could alter pending legislation that would have empowered servicemembers to repair equipment. Lobbyists are pitching a subscription service instead.
www.wired.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:24 PM
goldavelez.org
so one good thing about ai-assisted coding is you get more time to research your own interests while it works...

corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2025/08/07/t...
Transparent Election Initiative
A bipartisan team of former Montana officials have unveiled an oddly simple yet startlingly robust legal mechanism for undoing Citizens United that ...
corpgov.law.harvard.edu
November 26, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by Golda Velez
atprotocol.dev
👀
November 26, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Reposted by Golda Velez
getdweb.net
Happening in ~one hour!
DWeb Virtual Meetup — Open Source Ag Tech for Small Farmer Sovereignty

On approaches to design and build open ag tech through close collaboration with farmers and farm workers and address the agroecological crisis.

Register here:
www.eventbrite.com/e/dweb-virtu...
November 26, 2025 at 5:11 PM
goldavelez.org
This thing, of saying something publicly that everyone is thinking privately, matters.

Message to troops:

“You’re not imagining the danger.
And you’re not standing alone against it.”

Have been hoping to see this centered more. Not my style of article, but important to share to servicefolx
therealjackhopkins.bsky.social Jack Hopkins-The Original @therealjackhopkins.bsky.social · 2d
When Mark Kelly spoke to the troops, he wasn’t talking politics. He was reinforcing the pillars of a free country.👇
www.jackhopkinsnow.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:24 PM
goldavelez.org
tea that matters
mjsdc.bsky.social Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 2d
When liberals secured a majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2023, they changed internal procedures—over the objection of the conservative chief justice, who claimed they were taking away her power. Today the justices released MESSY details about the affair...
www.wicourts.gov/sc/rulhear/D...
BRIAN HAGEDORN, J. (concurring). The Wisconsin Supreme Court is composed of seven justices who are supposed to be members of the same team. Unlike trial courts, when we act, we do so collectively. To accomplish this, over the last 175 years, this court has established various practices and traditions, both formal and informal. These practices ensure all voices are heard, create clear lines of decision-making authority, and establish consistent and neutral processes to govern our case-deciding and administrative work. Some of these are reflected in formally adopted Supreme Court Rules, and some in our Internal Operating Procedures. But the true currency of a court like ours is trust. When trust is broken like it has been here, every aspect of our work suffers. ¶2 This all began in the summer of 2023 when four justices wished to make significant changes to how this court functions. Fair enough. These modifications could have been pursued through a process built on collegiality and mutual respect. Instead, my colleagues pursued a more destructive path. ¶3 The morning our then-newest justice was sworn into office——August 1, 2023——my four colleagues at that time set off to reshape our court and the operation of the court system. They had apparently engaged in significant discussions in the months prior and decided to force through these changes during our summer recess, and to do so via email with or without the input of their other colleagues. They issued a press release triumphantly announcing that these changes were all about transparency, accountability, and inclusivity. This was true in the same way Pearl Harbor was a strike for peace in the Pacific. I will not rehash every detail (Justice Ziegler's excellent writing recounts much of the history), but the reader deserves a taste. ¶4 The first shot sounded when my four colleagues fired the Director of State Courts, who functions as the CEO of administrative matters for the entire judicial branch. Without following any established process, one of my colleagues sent an email proposing that we fire our Director and install a new, preselected interim Director in his place. This happened through email, over the course of two business days, while the Director was out of town on state business, during our summer recess. He never received a performance review indicating concerns; he was simply told his employment was over. This came just months after some of these same colleagues emphasized the importance of having all justices participate in hiring key staff. ¶5 Later that same week, my colleagues proposed dramatic changes via email affecting both our case-deciding and administrative responsibilities. The email invited justices to attend a new, unscheduled meeting of the court later that week to discuss the proposals. One justice said she could not be there; another objected to the meeting as outside our court calendar. The meeting would go forward no matter what, we were told. I implored my colleagues to reconsider, to treat their fellow colleagues with the respect they would want if circumstances were reversed. They refused. The meeting went on as expected, and with only four members present, they voted to fundamentally remake our court. ¶7 Among their changes, my colleagues radically altered the role of the chief justice. They created a new, three-person administrative committee (on which the chief justice would ostensibly sit) to take over nearly all of the chief justice's most important administrative duties. And they did so in the face of serious objections that these changes violated the Wisconsin Constitution, which says the chief justice "shall be the administrative head of the judicial system." Wis. Const. art. VII, § 4. One justice who in the past championed the constitutional role of the chief justice suddenly changed course. Again, these actions stripping the chief justice of powers she had exercised for as long as anyone could remember were proposed via email, and were voted on a few days later during an unscheduled meeting of just four justices during our summer recess. Not exactly transparent, accountable, and inclusive. ¶8 Another significant series of amendments to our internal rules involved modifying the way we consider certain kinds of cases, essentially making it much easier for this court to expedite cases coming to us outside the normal appeals process. Why the change? As everyone understood, my colleagues had the not-sosecret goal of swiftly hearing particular politically charged cases. This was all by design. ¶9 And how did this experiment go? Not well. Administratively, it was not clear who was in charge. We experienced significant breakdowns in communication amidst a lack of clarity about who was doing what. Our staff was often caught in the middle of a court that did not have established lines of communication and authority. And when the Director of State Courts was unceremoniously fired for what many perceived as political reasons, it sent a shockwave through the system. Furthermore, my colleagues' changes were not one and done. Throughout the past two years, they continued to modify the court's procedures in a similar ad-hoc fashion, often after realizing problems with their earlier ill-considered changes. This only added to the confusion. ¶10 Finally, at one of the court's internal conferences this past June, my colleagues shifted course. One of the four announced she was "withdrawing" her prior votes from the past two years (which, by the way, is not a thing) with the idea that every disputed change was now, all of a sudden, reversed. What changed? Again, it was no mystery. My colleagues wanted to take power away from then-Chief Justice Annette Ziegler. Such a move ensured that my colleagues would run the court through the administrative committee. Following the April 2025 election, they concluded they would have the votes to elect a chief justice of their choosing and have a block of votes to support her, so they no longer needed to seize those powers. This is not a cynical take. It is exactly what happened. ¶11 What's past is past, however. I have no desire to hold this against my colleagues, and I am grateful they have changed course. In fact, I was happy to work collaboratively on many operational changes reflected in this order, most of which I
November 25, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Reposted by Golda Velez
gtconway.bsky.social
This is exactly what you do
With presidents who coup
cnn.com CNN @cnn.com · 2d
Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro must begin serving his 27-year prison sentence for plotting an attempted coup, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has ruled. https://cnn.it/4p1dgDV
November 25, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Reposted by Golda Velez
jonseidel.bsky.social
U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Fuentes, in dismissing Midway Blitz-related charges against Dana Briggs last week, said he was lifting restrictions on relevant video.

Today he made the video available through the clerk's office at no cost to the public. Here's the first.
November 24, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Reposted by Golda Velez
maddow.bsky.social
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Signs across Chicago mark locations of ICE arrests
Signs resembling temporary no parking notices serve as reminders for the thousands of people arrested by federal immigration authorities under "Operation Midway Blitz" and the pain left behind for lov...
chicago.suntimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:02 PM
goldavelez.org
i feel targeted act.womensmarch.com/signup/Massc...
Uncomfortable Conversations: How (and Why) to Talk with MAGA Family
November 24 | 8:00pm ET/5:00pm PT The holiday season is coming, and for many, that means navigating political landmines at the dinner table. On Nov 24 at 8pm ET, we’re teaming up with Leaving MAGA for...
act.womensmarch.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Reposted by Golda Velez
rsmith670.bsky.social
November 24, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Reposted by Golda Velez
dholms.xyz
devs, seriously check this one out. @matthieu.bsky.team knocked it out of the park with this

we'll be collecting feedback & doing some light iteration before the official release, so give it a go & let us know what you think!
matthieu.bsky.team Matthieu 🦋 @matthieu.bsky.team · 3d
Hey y'all, we just released a new SDK for working with Lexicons in TypeScript! 🥳

It focuses on improving DX and some of the pain points of the current tooling (see my previous post below).

It's currently in beta and we'd love to get your feedback 🙇‍♂️

www.npmjs.com/package/@atp...
November 24, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Reposted by Golda Velez
markhamillofficial.bsky.social
This is who she was.
Passionate in her beliefs. Fiercely loyal to her friends. Never afraid to let you know exactly where she stood. The best.

Fun Fact: I remember arguing with her over which of us hated Piggy the most. I was sure I did. She disagreed. It remains unresolved...
cwebbonline.com Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 4d
Carrie Fisher was the blueprint.
Protect your people. Call out the predators.
#RESIST
November 24, 2025 at 8:15 PM
goldavelez.org
see he can be nice and calm or you know, appropriately forceful. Thank you @gallego.senate.gov for standing up!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAjs...
November 24, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Reposted by Golda Velez
eliothiggins.bsky.social
It produces a performative ecosystem. Actors aren’t communicating; they’re staging provocations for yield. The result is disordered discourse: signals detached from truth, identity shaped by escalation, and a feedback loop where the performance eclipses reality itself.
November 23, 2025 at 8:06 PM
goldavelez.org
here was the official, historic drop on bluesky - i think this was a key point
slotkin.senate.gov Senator Elissa Slotkin @slotkin.senate.gov · 9d
We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community.

The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.

Don’t give up the ship.
November 24, 2025 at 6:32 PM
goldavelez.org
thank you @captmarkkelly.bsky.social - you know you're hitting a nerve when they threaten to kill you, keep it up!
captmarkkelly.bsky.social Captain Mark Kelly @captmarkkelly.bsky.social · 5d
Trump has been firing those who disagree with him, but here’s the thing: He can’t fire us.

He can try to intimidate all he wants, but I’m not going to be bullied.
November 24, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Reposted by Golda Velez
djbyrnes1.bsky.social
Moments ago: tenants of the South Shore apartment building that federal immigration agents raided at the end of September held a presser to announce they're forming a tenants union.

They're demanding, among other things, sewage removal and heat and electricity restroration.

More updates TK.
November 24, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Reposted by Golda Velez
radleybalko.bsky.social
Every Democrat in Congress should put out a video saying troops have an obligation to refuse unlawful orders. Make them prosecute all of you. This isn't a close call.

I'd add Republicans too if I thought any of them had the courage to actually cross Trump on this.
ronfilipkowski.bsky.social Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 3d
Hegseth is now threatening to recall Sen. Mark Kelly to active duty in order to court martial him.
November 24, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Golda Velez
vanhollen.senate.gov
Yesterday, President Trump tried to justify the murder of Jamal Khashoggi by saying "things happen."

Today, Senate Republicans blocked a resolution that condemned his murder.

The Republican party's refusal to stand up for a free & fair press endangers journalists worldwide.
November 19, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Reposted by Golda Velez
vanhollen.senate.gov
The U.S. has the leverage to help stop the RSF's atrocities in Sudan, RIGHT NOW. But to do that we have to use it.

Today, Republicans blocked my effort to pass legislation to suspend arms sales to the UAE until we can verify they are no longer arming the genocidal RSF. Shameful.
November 21, 2025 at 3:27 AM