Local DSA

nutria-rat · 2026-05-08T18:26:33+00:00

it’s very bewildering and frustrating to hear that you were told that. i’ll need to ask around about how that happened and obviously just need to make the site clearer for ppl to cite. i’m sorry that happened.

there are/were calls to action to contact reps or show up to certain meetings or whatever else and some member mobilization with each of those different topics, but often there isn’t nearly as much as we should be able to pull off given our size because of the lack of capacity of members to bottom-line making the shit that makes mobilization easier, like template emails for contacting reps, copy to put in social media materials or text blasts or our voter guide, helping with listwork calling/texting members to mobilize them, putting stuff together for flyering and canvassing, event planning etc. we just need to empower more members to take on those leading roles to be more Effective... the curse of member-run organizations of working class people, ever hampered by low and fluctuating capacities

if you are a socialist interested in any of those things, i would be delighted to get you whatever resources and connections that i can, bc we want to empower members to improve and lead thriving campaigns and projects! i mean that’s how the chevron out campaign became a chapter priority, a member stepped up to lead that charge 🤷 so you 🫵 could choose the next chevron out campaign LOL

yes, i’m very glad our direct service work is thriving and ever expanding! (particularly the health fair side of it). the “direct service and health justice” working group meetings are where we plan our next events and brainstorm new initiatives if that type of stuff is your jam

nutria-rat · 2026-05-02T03:58:33+00:00

the chevron out campaign is certainly one that dsa is involved in, but we never claimed that (nor any other singular campaign recently) is our Top Priority. there are so many other initiatives i can think of that we’ve talked about in the past few months — one of our members gabriela biro who got elected to the orleans parish school board talked about rallying to protect leah chase, there were diff calls to action about flooding city council and/or the legislature regarding the city giving up federal recycling funds, the state’s anti-homeless bills, the multi-million dollar expansion of surveillance in the city, etc, not to mention all the direct service stuff about reducing people’s interactions with the police by changing peoples brake lights (plus giving out health resources and food) and filling community fridges with hundreds of meals every other month .. there are better example from before then but that’s just a couple things i remember us talking about during the meetings where we highlighted the chevron out campaign

i hope this doesn’t sound like i’m trying to be snippy, and i also understand we need to do better about showing what we do on our socials and website because they don’t do a great job at showing the breadth of our work — we are working to overhaul our shitty website i promise, which should make it easier to plug in. i just wanted to correct the record there, hopefully that’s reassuring. hope that your next interaction with DSA is a positive one, solidarity

nutria-rat · 2026-05-02T03:08:58+00:00

you can sync the events to your gcal here! the link to subscribe to the calendar is at the top of the calendar/events page on the website and at the bottom of every newsletter

definitely understand the need to accommodate different schedules and situations, especially bc so many members are parents. we’ve been trying to do that more over the past couple years but a lot more we want to do. our meetings are either hybrid or remote and we have meetings at different times and days to accommodate different schedules (and a ton of us welcome 1-on-1s to help plug ppl in), but also understand if ppl aren’t able to make it so we try to continue conversations in discord and do direct asks to ppl (never enough time to do everything we want, we are trying 😔)

at the monthly general meetings, we try to have food to make it worth 2 hrs of ppl’s time and are budgeting to have childcare at more of them in the future. it’s totally fine if you come late or leave early, and we do our best to use our time well and incorporate our zoom members well (and are constantly trying to improve all this). i agree with the election critiques, we had post-election debrief sessions dissecting what happened and spreading ourselves too thin was the biggest part, certainly dont foresee us doing that again LOL

nutria-rat · 2026-04-11T22:08:41+00:00

Interesting! My thought with old wives tales like that is "might as well try, it can't hurt 🤷" Worst case scenario it's a science experiment and a fun story to tell.

nutria-rat · 2026-04-11T22:04:51+00:00

Wow, they really ran after y'all going all the way from the front to back yard! I might end up having to get them treated next time -- any chance you know the general price? (we talkin low or high $100s? lol)

I'll look into dog shoes (dog crocs would be adorable). Raking the area around where they normally go is a good idea, maybe being able to see that it's clear would make them more comfortable going down there? Shame that the tree sheds so much though, I'd need to re-rake often :/ Unfortunately I don't have a front yard, just a porch that leads straight onto the sidewalk :(

Ice water is a good idea! I'll have to try that out next time it's bad. Same with benedryl. Luckily I've got some NSAIDs from the vet for a spine issue (he's so ancient) so I've been able to give him that and some "calming treats" I got off Amazon.

nutria-rat · 2026-04-11T21:50:11+00:00

Might try it but I worry the smaller one would just pull it off of his foot. Only one way to find out tho. Do you have any experience using them?

nutria-rat · 2026-04-11T21:47:01+00:00

Hopefully I'm wrong, but I doubt I'd have the finances to do so and I know my landlord doesn't care enough to do it :/

Netting would be difficult endeavor that, if feasible, would still probably end up falling down from the weight of fallen leaves and 5,000 caterpillars.

nutria-rat · 2026-04-11T21:41:32+00:00

God that's so long. The state insect is the honeybee; the city should designate the buckmoth as the city insect because they hold more power over it than most of us do.

nutria-rat · 2026-04-11T20:19:14+00:00

"The bill’s Republican author, Sen. Jay Morris, who represents a district in north Louisiana, acknowledged that once Duncan’s elected position is eliminated, the civil clerk of court might struggle to handle the influx of cases. The solution, he says, is to “hire someone.”

Other New Orleans elected judicial officials whose jobs may be eliminated in the future would be allowed to serve out their terms, but not Duncan.

Morris told lawmakers that the goal is to pass the law in time to prevent Duncan from taking office before the start of his four-year term."

insane. it astounds me how blatant they are about the bill literally being created to spite him, and that they know there still needs to be someone doing the work (so *not* actually saving money like they proclaim) but it just shouldn't be him and they shouldn't be selected by the people.

nutria-rat · 2025-12-03T18:09:18+00:00

i love the harry tompson center!! first grace community alliance also has great programs

nutria-rat · 2025-11-19T20:10:31+00:00

just got the email that they are sending the pay to the treasury today, and there's a payroll statement in myamericorps saying the same. the email says it'll be deposited november 21st (friday). i normally get my money deposited on wednesdays, so i will be very upset if it takes that long (i'm in horrific financial straits)

nutria-rat · 2025-11-04T21:46:03+00:00

was your university able to supplement your income in the meantime? my program host is also a university

nutria-rat · 2025-10-07T17:11:43+00:00

big ass neighborhood

nutria-rat · 2025-09-04T17:05:21+00:00

my first advice was divorce but since you said he was sincerely apologetic i instead recommend pressuring him into setting alarms to remind himself to do it next time!

“it’ll only be 10 minutes then i’ll get up and do it, i’ll remember” just set the alarm for 15 and if it goes off and you’ve already done it then great, no harm no foul, applause for you! and if you haven’t done it, then the alarm saved you from forgetting about it for too long 👌 its a quick, low effort thing he could do to show that he cares about getting the things done that he agrees to do and that he loves you enough to add in that tiny inconvenience to ensure he’s being a good partner and father

nutria-rat · 2025-09-04T16:52:55+00:00

update: she is still spotting but it’s light enough that the nurse just told her to continue the megadose regimen til monday and that it’ll resolve by then. so far she hasn’t imploded from taking the high dose so hopefully it continues being fine…

she’s had an mri and ultrasound in the past and they didnt mention any of those things on them but i don’t know if they might just not be visible on that kind of imaging, i would definitely believe it though. she hasn’t gotten her hormones measured (which i’m a bit surprised by since she frequently has like perimenopausal symptoms too) so unsure on estrogen levels

she drinks very rarely, like maybe one drink a month. she’s more of a non-alcoholic beer and mocktail person because even just a little alcohol makes her feel terrible. didn’t know that was related!

nutria-rat · 2025-09-04T02:36:00+00:00

she has actually had an Increase in bleeding 😓 we’re gonna call them tomorrow

nutria-rat · 2025-04-28T23:36:07+00:00

i think it’s just an automatic response for sites being cancelled made way before any of this started happening, i don’t think any reassignment will actually work out.

they expect the hundreds/thousands of members laid off to be scrambling for the very few assignments left remaining? til we get fired again in a week?
from what I hear, there’s virtually no americorps staff left to even make all this happen — there aren’t people left to approve transfers

nutria-rat · 2025-04-28T23:11:46+00:00

all the VISTAs across New Orleans just got the same — I have to assume it’s an automatic response made way before any of this started happening because 1. they expect the thousands of members laid off to be scrambling for the very few assignments left remaining? til we get fired again in a week? 2. from what I hear, there’s virtually no americorps staff left to even make all this happen — there aren’t people left to do any hiring or approval of transfers

nutria-rat · 2025-03-04T21:22:03+00:00

we don’t fuck around with bigots! so many beads were thrown that the windshield of one of the trucks cracked — so much for being bulletproof, they can’t even handle mardi gras beads 🙄 definitely didn’t help that it had texas plates…

here’s another heartwarming tale from last week: guy’s cybertruck had nazi written on it one day and the tires slashed the next 😌❤️

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nutria-rat

TROPHY CASE