Tag: nation
There’s trouble in Startup Nation
For Israeli entrepreneurs, the prospect of rising pressure on the country’s credit rating made banking diversification a more pressing issue.
There’s trouble in Startup Nation by Anna Heim originally published on TechCrunch
The Human Cost: ‘We’ve become a renting nation’: Landlords benefit from high house prices, but millions of renters find themselves trapped
Rachel Baiman – Common Nation of Sorrow
Feminist Facebook group Pantsuit Nation is abruptly shut down
The Facebook group Pantsuit Nation, which went viral in 2016 as a safe haven for Hillary Clinton supporters, is abruptly shutting down.
The news took the group’s members and moderators by surprise. But in 2019, Pantsuit Nation became a part of Supermajority, a membership-based organization that helps women advocate for themselves and their communities. It was no longer under the direct control of its founder Libby Chamberlain.
On Thursday, Taylor Salditch, Supermajority’s interim executive director, announced that the organization would begin “pausing” any new posts, comments, and reactions, starting March 18. The move effectively shuts down the 2.9 million-member group.
Salditch said Supermajority would instead be focusing on engaging young women in key states to win upcoming elections, including the 2024 presidential race. Supermajority had been paying contract moderators to keep Pantsuit Nation running.
“We know that it will take a laser focus on our core work and are prioritizing our time, talent and resources to achieve that outcome,” wrote Salditch.
Salditch’s post has since garnered more than 1,500 comments, many of them critical of the decision, calling it “short sighted,” “terrible,” and a “huge miscalculation.”
In response to Mashable’s request for additional information about why Supermajority decided to shutter the group, Salditch sent a version of her Facebook post but provided no additional information:
“Over the past several weeks and months, we have taken stock of our work, particularly focusing on our success in 2022, and developed a strategic approach to best position Supermajority to build women’s political power into 2024. We are focusing on engaging young women voters, both white women and women of color, in key states to increase turnout and win elections and policies that enable women and their families to thrive. We know that it will take a laser focus on our core work and are prioritizing our time, talent and resources to achieve that outcome.
“Supermajority has decided to pause the ongoing management of the Pantsuit Nation x Supermajority Facebook page on March 18. Pantsuit Nation has always been much more than an homage to sharp trousers and the leadership of one woman; this group grew into a community of connection, knowledge sharing, and mobilizing because of each member.
“What does this mean? We are pausing any new posts, comments and reactions on the page. Community members will continue to have access to years worth of shared stories to revisit, and they will continue to be an invaluable part of the Supermajority community. We like to think of this channel as a time capsule that spans a historic and tumultuous 7+ year time in our country’s history.
“When I was working on the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016, knowing that this space was created where people could celebrate, commiserate and organize together was a bright light in an otherwise dark time. Pantsuit Nation x Supermajority created a community that inspired strangers to share their stories and hopes for the future. Those conversations sparked friendships, trained new activists, organized community meetings and so much more. The group may be paused but the spirit (as well as the memories in this group) remain!”
Some of the group’s moderators, who were suddenly laid off effective Friday, started a new Facebook group called Our Nation, which has already attracted tens of thousands of followers.
Yet, it will be impossible to replicate Pantsuit Nation’s unique origin story.
In the final weeks of the 2016 election, Chamberlain started the group as a place to express unabashed support for Clinton at a time when that felt rare. She invited a few dozen friends to wear pantsuits when they voted for Clinton. Those friends invited their friends. Within weeks, Pantsuit Nation had a membership of 1 million people.
“[Pantsuit Nation] is not a place to convince anyone how great she is,” Chamberlain told Mashable at the time. “It’s a place to celebrate how great she is.”
The praise also gave way to storytelling and organizing. Members shared heartfelt personal experiences about subjects like emigrating to the United States, seeking abortion care, coming out to conservative family members, and more. These stories could spark controversial or even offensive discussions about race, religion, sexuality, gender identity, and disability, and some activists remained skeptical of the group.
Yet posts also frequently prompted conversations about how to raise money for various causes, how to be a better ally, how to protest, and how to advocate for certain pieces of state and federal legislation. Members in conservative states often said the group helped them feel less politically alone.
In a post responding to the decision, Chamberlain thanked the organization for making it possible to compensate the group’s moderators but also pointed to efforts to keep Pantsuit Nation going.
“I’m disappointed at this decision, but it’s not mine to make,” she wrote. “If you look around the community today you’ll see some of our passionate and loyal moderators are fighting to keep the group alive.”
Credit: Facebook
Chamberlain, who formerly served as head of community for Supermajority, told Mashable in an email that she’s “proud and excited” to see the organization’s state-based turnout strategy yield “crucial wins for women across the country.” She added that she understood why Pantsuit Nation’s “story-based, international community” might feel tangential to Supermajority’s electoral strategy.
While Facebook groups can be powerful engines of connection and organizing, they typically require highly active moderation for a high-quality experience. A volunteer-run operation can become beset by burnout. At the same time, it can be difficult to convince funders that moderation for a Facebook group should compete with resources for efforts like microtargeting voters in swing states such as Wisconsin and Arizona, for example. Though Pantsuit Nation could energize and mobilize groups of female and female-identifying voters, its reach isn’t granular, and the effects are hard to quantify.
But as Supermajority swiftly discovered, Pantsuit Nation’s loyal members appeared to see the decision as about much more than a strategic tradeoff. Chamberlain said in an email that she was sad no one else would be able to share their story in Pantsuit Nation.
“I also think that we need all hands on deck and all resources available to tackle threats to our democracy, particularly as we approach the 2024 election,” she wrote. “I strongly believe that Pantsuit Nation has a role to play, and so my hope is that Supermajority will consider giving us a chance to make that happen.”
Biden addresses nation as tech VCs fear monger over Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse
President Joe Biden has now officially delivered public remarks about the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, offering a stark contrast between the venture capitalists who fear mongered in the days after its failure.
“Americans can have confidence that the banking system is safe,” Biden said on Monday, three days after the largest bank collapse since 2008. “Your deposits will be there when you need them.”
Biden echoed the guarantee that the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve and FDIC made on Sunday: All of Silicon Valley Bank’s depositors will be made whole and have access to all their money, even what’s beyond the FDIC-insured $250,000. Basically, any individual customer or business client of the bank will have full access to the entirety of their funds.
In addition, the president said that the money for depositors would not be funded by the taxpayer.
“No losses will be born by the taxpayers,” he said. “Instead the money will come from the fees that banks pay into the Deposit Insurance Fund.”
As for bank shareholders and investors, Biden emphasized that there would be no bailout for them.
“Investors in the banks will not be protected,” the president said. “They knowingly took a risk and when the risk didn’t pay off, investors lose their money. That’s how capitalism works.”
Silicon Valley Bank’s issues began after announcing the company needed to raise billions of dollars in capital on Wednesday. The announcement caused panic in the tech industry. Founders and VCs who were customers of the bank eventually sparked a bank run with tens of billions of dollars being withdrawn from the bank.
Biden offered a stark contrast to the apocalyptic scenarios that some tech VCs were posting about on social media over the past few days.
“Where is Powell? Where is Yellen?” venture capitalist and Elon Musk associate David Sacks posted on Friday, referring to Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and U.S. Secretary of treasury Janet Yellen. “Stop this crisis NOW. Announce that all depositors will be safe. Place SVB with a Top 4 bank. Do this before Monday open or there will be contagion and the crisis will spread.”
“YOU SHOULD BE ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED RIGHT NOW — THAT IS THE PROPER REACTION TO A BANK RUN & CONTAGION,” tweeted Jason Calacanis, a VC and Sacks’ podcast co-host. “@POTUS & @SecYellen MUST GET ON TV TOMORROW AND GUARANTEE ALL DEPOSITS UP TO $10M OR THIS WILL SPIRAL INTO CHAOS.”
Silvergate, Signature Bank collapse not a sign of ‘contagion’
Some pointed to recent bank closures like Silvergate and Signature Bank, which was taken over by regulators on Sunday, as proof of a spreading problem.
However, Silvergate shut down days before Silicon Valley Bank. In addition, both Silvergate and Signature Bank had well-known, lingering issues for months related to the cryptocurrency-friendly nature of those two now-failed banks. And, according to Biden, depositors from those banks will be made whole as well.
Bank stocks plunged on the market on Monday. However, some of the hardest hit on the stock market, like First Republic Bank, told CNBC that they are just not seeing that many depositors withdraw their funds.
While the dust has far from settled, one thing we haven’t seen: Everyday Americans lining up at their local banks, trying to withdraw all of their money as some VCs warned.
According to the Federal Reserve, the median account balance for the average household in the U.S. is $5,300 – well within the up to $250,000 insured by the FDIC.
CMU Digest 12.03.23: Spotify, recorded music stats, Live Nation, BBC, Jesus And Mary Chain
BIGFOOT? HUGE TRACKS & DEAD DOG Discovered at Muskowekwan First Nation, Saskatchewan (PHOTOS)
Tey Faye of Muskowekwan First Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada shared on her Facebook page on March 8, 2023, some amazing photos she took near her grandparent’s home.
“So, last night (March 7, 2023) I heard my dogs barking at I don’t know what but it sounded pretty creepy when I heard a strange growl. Don’t usually hear them barking the way they were either. Woke up to one of them dead. Not sure how he died but he probably was injured from whatever that was, maybe? I don’t know. What kind of tracks these are? I personally think it’s Bigfoot. But everyone has their own opinions. Not to mention the snow was just above my knees taking these photos. I was pretty creeped out. Located in Saskatchewan.”
The response from various readers has been mixed with some claiming outright that it’s definitely a Bigfoot while others felt it might be various wild animals including rabbits, wolves, and deer:
“Just a deer jumping through the snow that’s all,” wrote GeorgeMoosetail.
Jonathan Ballantyne wrote:
“If it was a Sasquatch it would be like a human running in the snow. These look like an animal jumping straight upward and landing straight down. I’d say wolf. It’s probably a lone wolf, sick or elderly. If it’s alone desperate for food. If it’s coming close to people.”
Regarding the wolf theory, Woody Don pointed out a certain detail that the others were missing:
“If the tracks were from a wolf or cougar or any long-tailed animal, how come we don’t see the tail track as well? Can make fun of me or whatever but I know these aren’t from any four-legged animal.”
Chynna Simms noted:
“Most people say wolves but the tracks are very strange. I’d like to believe it was just a wolf but it could have been something more sinister.”
LeeAnne Thomas wrote of the deer theory:
“She also mention one of her pet dogs had died that night…it’s hard to say. I was thinking deer hops too but their little hooves would have been more into the snow than their stomachs.”
Linda Herman wrote of Tey’s dog:
“Your dogs were protecting you. I’m so sorry you lost one. But such long strides and looks like some sort of two-legged tracks.”
Chase Jimmie probably said it best, though:
“I as an Alaskan native always heard a saying – ‘Just don’t think about it.'”
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