BREAKING: Wondering if there's something you could do to help Democrats win control of the Washington State Senate? Do you wish our kids' schools had better funding? Then check out this new project that Barak Gaster and two friends put together. It collects all the info you need to make a difference right now. Sign up for monthly newsletter updates, to flip the State Senate now. Sign up now to learn about 2 special elections which are just 6 months away. Did you know that we are just one seat away from flipping the Senate to Democratic control? To help our schools, to promote clean energy, to protect our health care, and more. So copy and paste this to your timeline. Together let's turn Washington blue! 

Today Trump will sign an executive order to repeal the Clean Power Plan of the EPA. Become your own Clean Power Plan. Share please. ​  Tip of the hat to globalstewards.org  for the 20 ways.    photo and meme are my own.

This is one of the most subversive ways to undermine the Trump climate agenda, with personal and community action.
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Another Great Resource: https://www.ourstates.org
"AS WE WORK TO BLOCK TRUMP'S AGENDA IN CONGRESS, HIS AGENDA IS ALREADY BEING IMPLEMENTED IN MANY STATES. " - What is happening in Your state?

The ERA is a bipartisan bill to amend the constitution to guarantee equal rights for women!

More on the ERA at http://www.equalrightsamendment.org​

History from Wikipedia on the ERA
In February 1970, NOW picketed the United States Senate, a subcommittee of which was holding hearings on a Constitutional amendment to lower the voting age to eighteen. NOW disrupted the hearings and demanded a hearing on the Equal Rights Amendment and won a meeting with Senators to discuss the ERA. That August, over 20,000 American women held a nationwide Women's Strike for Equality protest to demand full social, economic, and political equality.[27] Said Friedan of the strike, "All kinds of women's groups all over the country will be using this week on August 26 particularly, to point out those areas in women's life which are still not addressed. For example, a question of equality before the law; we are interested in the Equal Rights Amendment." Despite being centered in New York City—which was regarded as one of the biggest strongholds for NOW and other groups sympathetic to the women's liberation movement such as Redstockings[28]—and having a small number of participants in contrast to the large-scale anti-war and civil rights protests that had occurred in the recent time prior to the event,[27] the strike was credited as one of the biggest turning points in the rise of second-wave feminism.[28]
In Washington, D.C., protesters presented a sympathetic Senate leadership with a petition for the Equal Rights Amendment at the U.S. Capitol. Influential news sources such as Time also supported the cause of the protestors.[27] Soon after the strike took place, activists distributed literature across the country as well.[28] In 1970, Congressional hearings began on the ERA.
Representative Martha Griffiths of Michigan achieved success on Capitol Hill with her House Joint Resolution No. 208, which was adopted by the House on October 12, 1971, with a vote of 354 yeas (For), 24 nays (Against) and 51 not voting.[29] Griffiths's joint resolution was then adopted by the Senate on March 22, 1972, with a vote of 84 yeas, 8 nays and 7 not voting.[30] The Senate version, drafted by Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana,[31] passed after an amendment proposed by Senator Sam Ervin of North Carolina that would exempt women from the draft was defeated.[20] President Richard Nixon immediately endorsed the ERA's approval upon its passage by the 92nd Congress.[20]

2017 Offices Subject to Election  -Everything you need to find the office to run for in and around King County.  Filing Date is May 10th for Most positions to be elected in Nov 2017.   Check your county commissioners website to find local offices near you. 
Download the full PDF of positions at http://www.kingcounty.gov/~/media/depts/elections/for-candidates/pdfs/offices-subject-to-election.ashx?la=en

Effective Action comes from PASSION, KNOWLEDGE AND ACTION.  Get Informed: Balletopedia is an easy resource to check what is going on in any state:​https://ballotpedia.org/Washington

How's it going?  I'm trying to figure out how to settle into a marathon pace for this resistance.  I find that I tend to be "all-in" or "all-out" and I judge myself either way.  Finding the balance is hard, and very different for each of us.   I took last weekend off of the news, Facebook and social media.  I enjoyed it at the time, but I also felt like I was "cheating", and letting you all down.   It also made it really challenging to try to "catch up" Sunday night. I didn't call my Senators or Congresswomen last week, and I didn't go to the town hall. So then I wonder if I'm not doing enough.  So here are some things that I've found are working for me:

1. Share the load  - Engaging more people in real activism (Facebook doesn't count) and giving them the tools to understand the issues, make the calls, share their stories and write their own postcards makes me feel like I don't have to "do it all".  I can specialize and give my talents where they are best used.
2. Meet with like minded people  - I'm an introvert, so this isn't natural for me, but I find having coffee or lunch with someone with the same resistance mission, and having a conversation that isn't all venting is very helpful.  Meeting with my local Indivisible group, or the local Democrats, or the Emerge Washington formation team (run women run) and hearing what so many others are doing gives me more hope than anything else.  I've recommitted to making it a priority to get out and meet with people.
3. Think about my kids -  When I get tired, I think about my kids. My own kids, my kids from all the youth groups I've led, from girl scouts to destination imagination.  I think about my host-students and exhange students from all around the world.  I want to be a Role Model for them, and to make the world a better place for them.  This makes me happy, hopeful and rededicated.  I can do anything for my kids.
4. Take time off of electronics and recharge.  For me i've found that taking 4-6 hour vacations from Facebook,  Twitter and the news is really important.  I'm not going to be on top of the breaking news. I have to accept that. I've got a life to live too, and I'm don't have the luxury to follow this all day, and its not healthy.  (I find if I spend too much time I get way too far into the conspiracy theories and the far corners of the liberal propaganda, which is not healthy for me).  
5. Be Grateful Spending a few moments each day to be grateful for what I do have, acknowledging to myself the privileges that I have, and being thankful to be able to have the resources to resist helps keep things in focus.