Notes of the Week with Nick Paro and Walter Rhein is an unabashedly progressive conversation - grounded in true pro-dignity, pro-life values free from the lies of regressives. <br/><br/><a href="https://sickofthis.substack.com/s/note-of-the-week?utm_medium=podcast">sickofthis.substack.com</a>
Notes of the Week
Claim This Podcastby Nick Paro and Walter Rhein
33 episodes
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Notes of the Week with Nick Paro and Walter Rhein is an unabashedly progressive conversation - grounded in true pro-dignity, pro-life values free from the lies of regressives. <br/><br/><a href="https://sickofthis.substack.com/s/note-of-the-week?utm_medium=podcast">sickofthis.substack.com</a>
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9/16/2025
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Recent Episodes
May 27, 2026
Notes of the Week | E34 - Pushing Forward
<p>Notes In Review</p><p>This episode lands one week after Dr. <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/124093758-melissa-bird">Melissa Bird</a>, a Shivwits Band of Southern Paiutes descendant, social worker, lay preacher in the Episcopal Church, and first-time congressional candidate, lost her Oregon primary — and immediately committed to running again. <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/@nickparo">Nick Paro</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/@walterrhein">Walter Rhein</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/@empoweredleader1">Margaret Williams</a> host. Bird ran in Oregon’s second-largest congressional district (six counties, nearly the full Oregon coast), pulled “almost 21,000 votes” and 21% of the vote against the incumbent, and raised over $75,000 from more than 800 donations while refusing corporate money. Her opening point is the one the rest of the conversation orbits: a working-class, Native, queer, openly bisexual woman married to a disabled veteran is not “unelectable” — that label is a capital structure, not a verdict from voters.</p><p>Sources & References</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://birchbarkbooks.com/products/the-rediscovery-of-america">The Rediscovery of America — Ned Blackhawk (Birchbark Books)</a> — Bird’s assigned reading for the audience; the historical spine for the episode’s treaty-law and decolonization arguments.</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://ballotpedia.org/">Ballotpedia</a> — The free-media baseline Bird tells voters to check first and tells candidates to fill out before doing anything else.</p><p>* Calling In — Loretta Ross — Cited by Walter as the practical framework for the show’s accountability-without-cancellation posture; Ross quotes Bird in the text.</p><p>Thank you <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/443649430-a-eevie-bateman">A. Eevie Bateman</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/178744313-beth-cruz">Beth Cruz</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/66521654-dr-eric-lullove">Dr. Eric Lullove</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/116079548-leftieprof">LeftieProf</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/380544577-nabanita">Nabanita</a>, and many others for tuning into my live video with <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/12044824-margaret-williams-ms-acc">Margaret Williams, MS, ACC</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/15113701-walter-rhein">Walter Rhein</a>! Join me for my next live video in the app.</p><p>Actions You Can Take</p><p>* Check out the new: <a target="_blank" href="https://shop.sickofthisshitpublications.com/">Sick of this Shop!</a></p><p>* Check out the new network and affiliate calendar: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.broadbanner.com/">BroadBanner</a></p><p>Submit questions, feedback, and artwork for <strong>Notes of the Week</strong> with Nick and Walter:</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://forms.gle/4WSu8qGkSA7Wxbh98">Sick of this Shit Community Comment Form</a></p><p>Call your public servants on important issues:</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://5calls.org/">5calls.org</a></p><p>Join the efforts to unmask law enforcement and de-flock the States:</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://deflock.me/">deflock.me</a></p><p>Service members can get un-biased information on legal vs illegal orders:</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ordersproject.com/">Orders Project</a></p><p>* Reach out on Signal: @TheOrdersProject.76</p><p>Learn empathy forward, human centered, experiment based Leadership & Growth Courses for Higher Ed & Non-Profit Professionals:</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bcognitionlabs.com/">B. Cognition Labs</a></p><p>Nick’s Notes</p><p>I’m Nick Paro, and I’m sick of the shit going on. So, I’m using poetry, podcasting, and lives to discuss the intersections of chronic illness and mental wellbeing, masculinity, veteran’s issues, politics, and so much more. I am only able to have these conversations, bring visibility to my communities, and fill the void through your support — this is a publication where engagement is encouraged, creativity is a cornerstone, and transparency is key — please consider becoming a paid subscriber today and grow the community!</p><p><strong>Join the uncensored media at the </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://1acollective.com/"><strong>1A Collective</strong></a></p><p>Support as a paid subscriber however you can — to help get you started, here are a few discounted options for you</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://sickofthis.substack.com/50forever">Forever at 50% off</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://sickofthis.substack.com/60saver">Forever at 60% off</a></p><p>A special thank you to those who are a part of the <strong>Sickest of Them All</strong></p><p>~ <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/309303179-soso">Soso</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/5428714-millicent">Millicent</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/136249074-courtney">Courtney 🇨🇦</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/66521654-eric-lullove">Eric Lullove</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/32751953-terry-mitchell">Terry mitchell</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/301213629-carollynn">Carollynn</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/208030486-julie-robuck">Julie Robuck</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/356845797-masonsheher">Mason/She/Her🩷💜💙</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/180488664-kimmy-win">Kimmy Win</a> ~</p><p><strong>For support, contact us at: </strong>info@sickofthisshitpublications.com</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://sickofthis.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2">sickofthis.substack.com/subscribe</a>
May 19, 2026
Notes of the Week | E33 - Candidate Carousel #2 with Ericka and Abel
<p>Candidate Carousel #2 puts one Courage for Democracy congressional candidate — <a target="_blank" href="https://erickakopp.com/">Ericka Kopp</a>, running in Virginia’s 1st District — and Progressive congressional candidate <a target="_blank" href="https://www.abelchavezforcongress.com/">Abel Chavez</a>, running in California’s 48th — across a panel of <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/@nickparo">Nick Paro</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/@walterrhein">Walter Rhein</a>, with guest co-hosts <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/282557101-lisa-gonzalez">Lisa Gonzalez</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/@thepanickedwriter">Ellie Leonard</a>. Kopp, a practicing healthcare attorney and caregiver to a disabled combat veteran, opens by pulling apart the Virginia Supreme Court’s reversal of the state’s redistricting referendum — the same court that had told the people to vote, then overturned the result by a single justice’s vote — and connects it to Louisiana v. Callais, which gutted the Voting Rights Act and led directly to Louisiana cancelling its US House primary.</p><p>Kopp’s institutional argument is procedurally sharp. She agrees for the need to move the US Marshals Service out of the Executive branch and under the Judiciary so that federal judges can actually enforce contempt against ICE — which, by her count and Lisa’s, has violated roughly 10,000 court orders. She commits, on day one of her term, to filing articles of impeachment against Donald Trump under Rule 9 to force every member of Congress on the record, followed by articles against the rest of the regime — and to backing a Speaker of the House who is not Hakeem Jeffries. She frames continuous impeachment as Congress’s constitutional duty, not a one-shot political maneuver. On the Epstein files, Kopp signs on — explicitly, on this record — to collaborate with Ellie Leonard and other independent researchers from a House seat, calling the missed statutory release deadline its own impeachable obstruction. Ellie pulls the conversation through US Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan and the 134 unsigned bank accounts, the Einstein visa pipeline as a trafficking funnel, and the DOJ’s deliberately obstructed search system. Both candidates agree: the people in those files cannot continue to be the people investigating them.</p><p>Chavez’s pitch starts at the school board he won in an all-red California district against a Republican incumbent with ten times his funding. From that seat he secured $30M in funding, built early-college high school pathways, and implemented trades programs — and that record is the spine of his federal platform: trades buildings and business pathways in every high school, STEM to STEAM funding restored where districts have stripped arts to pay for whiteboards, hard separation of church and state in publicly funded schools, no books banned in libraries, and a discussion into regulatory needs and practical implementations around Artificial Intelligence (AI). He grounds the AI urgency in concrete cases — the documented 450+ AI-induced suicide guidance incidents (the Last Week Tonight ChatGPT segment), the use of AI to deny Medicare and Medicaid claims with no human oversight, the DOGE grant-defunding fiasco, and Ellie’s reporting that teachers in her district are generating and grading assignments with AI while students do the work with ChatGPT teams. The throughline of the full two hours: institutional capture is solvable from the local rung up — Planning Commission, Board of Supervisors, <a target="_blank" href="https://scc.virginia.gov/">State Corporation Commission</a> — but only if voters fund grassroots candidates who refuse the corporate lane and refuse to flinch at the word “impeachment.”</p><p>Key Takeaways</p><p>* <strong>Show up to local meetings before the vote.</strong> Lisa and Ericka are blunt: Board of Supervisors, Planning Commission, town council, and city council meetings are where data centers, ICE facilities, and rezonings get decided. Virginia’s <a target="_blank" href="https://scc.virginia.gov/">State Corporation Commission</a> is taking public comment on the NextEra–Dominion Energy merger right now — submit one. Hanover County’s planned ICE concentration camp was stopped by a standing-room-only Board of Supervisors meeting.</p><p>* <strong>Check your voter registration monthly, not seasonally.</strong> Lisa Gonzalez was purged off the Ohio rolls after a DMV name change under a state “election integrity” program; she only caught it because the validation postcard listed the wrong name. Verify yours from Ericka Kopp’s “I Will Vote” widget at <a target="_blank" href="https://erickakopp.com/">erickakopp.com</a> or directly through your state Secretary of State, and put it on a recurring schedule — not just before primaries.</p><p>* <strong>Treat impeachment as a continuous practice, not a one-shot.</strong> Kopp commits to Rule 9 forced votes against the entire regime, citing prior filings by Al Green, Shri Thanedar, and John Larson as evidence the procedural path exists. Track which member of your delegation will file, and which is hiding behind “decorum.” <a target="_blank" href="https://citizensimpeachment.com/">Citizens’ Impeachment</a> is organizing the constituent side of that pressure.</p><p>* <strong>Fund grassroots candidates who refuse corporate, foreign-lobby, and AIPAC money.</strong> Both Kopp and Chavez are running 100% grassroots against well-funded primary fields. Donate directly: <a target="_blank" href="https://erickakopp.com/">erickakopp.com</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.abelchavezforcongress.com/">abelchavezforcongress.com</a>. The full <a target="_blank" href="https://couragefordemocracy.com/">Courage for Democracy</a> slate is 150+ candidates organized to take a Democratic House majority without the corporate-PAC lane.</p><p>* <strong>Pressure school boards on STEAM and on AI use.</strong> Ellie reports teachers in her district are generating and grading assignments with AI while students complete them with ChatGPT teams, and that arts and special-ed programs are being cut to pay for whiteboards. Ask your district two specific questions: who actually reads the work, and which line items in next year’s budget protect arts, music, theater, and special-education electives.</p><p>* <strong>Demand an AI oversight regime with teeth.</strong> Chavez’s proposal: a cabinet-level AI regulator whose officials cannot take industry money — past, present, or for ten years after — with chain-of-custody auditability in any system touching healthcare claims, education, or the military kill chain. Lisa’s anchor cases: AI-denied Medicaid claims, the 450+ AI-induced suicide guidance incidents, and the DOGE grant-defunding fiasco.</p><p>Sources & References</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://erickakopp.com/">Ericka Kopp for Congress (VA-01)</a> — Campaign site, policy priorities (A-Z order), voter registration widget, and donation page.</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.abelchavezforcongress.com/">Abel Chavez for Congress (CA-48)</a> — Campaign site, bilingual policy pages, and grassroots donation page.</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://couragefordemocracy.com/">Courage for Democracy</a> — The 150+ candidate slate organizing the grassroots House majority push.</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://citizensimpeachment.com/">Citizens’ Impeachment</a> — Constituent-side organizing for continuous Rule 9 impeachment pressure.</p><p>* US Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase — Civil litigation referenced for the 134 trafficking-linked bank accounts.</p><p>Thank you <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/12442489-evan-fields">Evan Fields</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/436405643-letters-from-a-feminist">Letters from a Feminist</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/178744313-beth-cruz">Beth Cruz</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/315050911-chris-resists">Chris Resists</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/379513971-education-is-a-lamp">Education is a lamp</a>, and many others for tuning into my live video with <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/15113701-walter-rhein">Walter Rhein</a>! Join me for my next live video in the app.</p><p>Actions You Can Take</p><p>* Check out the new: <a target="_blank" href="https://shop.sickofthisshitpublications.com/">Sick of this Shop!</a></p><p>* Check out the new network and affiliate calendar: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.broadbanner.com/">BroadBanner</a></p><p>Submit questions, feedback, and artwork for <strong>Notes of the Week</strong> with Nick and Walter:</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://forms.gle/4WSu8qGkSA7Wxbh98">Sick of this Shit Community Comment Form</a></p><p>Call your public servants on important issues:</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://5calls.org/">5calls.org</a></p><p>Join the efforts to unmask law enforcement and de-flock the States:</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://deflock.me/">deflock.me</a></p><p>Service members can get un-biased information on legal vs illegal orders:</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ordersproject.com/">Orders Project</a></p><p>* Reach out on Signal: @TheOrdersProject.76</p><p>Learn empathy forward, human centered, experiment based Leadership & Growth Courses for Higher Ed & Non-Profit Professionals:</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bcognitionlabs.com/">B. Cognition Labs</a></p><p>Nick’s Notes</p><p>I’m Nick Paro, and I’m sick of the shit going on. So, I’m using poetry, podcasting, and lives to discuss the intersections of chronic illness and mental wellbeing, masculinity, veteran’s issues, politics, and so much more. I am only able to have these conversations, bring visibility to my communities, and fill the void through your support — this is a publication where engagement is encouraged, creativity is a cornerstone, and transparency is key — please consider becoming a paid subscriber today and grow the community!</p><p><strong>Join the uncensored media at the </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://1acollective.com/"><strong>1A Collective</strong></a></p><p>Support as a paid subscriber however you can — to help get you started, here are a few discounted options for you</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://sickofthis.substack.com/50forever">Forever at 50% off</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://sickofthis.substack.com/60saver">Forever at 60% off</a></p><p>A special thank you to those who are a part of the <strong>Sickest of Them All</strong></p><p>~ <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/309303179-soso">Soso</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/5428714-millicent">Millicent</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/136249074-courtney">Courtney 🇨🇦</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/66521654-eric-lullove">Eric Lullove</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/32751953-terry-mitchell">Terry mitchell</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/301213629-carollynn">Carollynn</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/208030486-julie-robuck">Julie Robuck</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/356845797-masonsheher">Mason/She/Her🩷💜💙</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/180488664-kimmy-win">Kimmy Win</a> ~</p><p><strong>For support, contact us at: </strong>info@sickofthisshitpublications.com</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://sickofthis.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2">sickofthis.substack.com/subscribe</a>
May 5, 2026
Notes of the Week | E32 - A Candidate Carousel
<p>Notes In Review</p><p>This special episode of Notes of the Week is structured as back-to-back interviews with two progressive congressional candidates: <a target="_blank" href="https://armstrongforwisconsin.com/">Chris Armstrong</a>, running in Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District against incumbent Tom Tiffany, and <a target="_blank" href="https://abelchavezforcongress.com/">Abel Chavez</a>, running in California’s 48th — the seat just vacated by 26-year incumbent Darrell Issa after the passage of Prop 50. <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/@nickparo">Nick Paro</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/@walterrhein">Walter Rhein</a> host alongside guest co-host Eevie Bateman, a former early-childhood-education director and full-time writer who joined to help boost grassroots candidates. The through-line of the conversation is the same in both halves: the Democratic Party’s “electability” frame is broken, the new generation of candidates wins by being present and direct with voters, and the existing legacy media will not give that work oxygen — independent media has to.</p><p>Armstrong, an enterprise architect and IT consultant from St. Croix County, makes the technocracy fight personal. He argues for federal-level taxation on tech billionaires (“let me hold the door open” if they threaten to leave), for permitting regulations that ban data center NDAs after Wisconsin municipalities discovered local councils were being kept in the dark on multi-billion-dollar deals, and for treaty-law-based environmental protection citing the 1854 ceded territories and the seven federally recognized tribes inside CD7. Armstrong is running as part of a collaborative slate with Ginger Murray and Fred — explicitly refusing to attack his primary opponents because the goal is to flip the seat. Eevie introduces a Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath finding that Gen Z is the first generation in 60+ years to underperform their parents cognitively, with the inflection point at the 2010 introduction of classroom technology, and Armstrong agrees regulation is essential — particularly around children, data centers, and the AI bubble.</p><p>Chavez’s pitch is procedurally specific in a way most candidates never get to. He won an all-red school board seat against a GOP incumbent who outspent him 10-to-1 by sending color-coded mailers (red for Republican households, blue for Democratic, identical message), then was elected school board president by his four Republican colleagues by picking battles strategically. He passed the first school bond in 17 years — tens of millions of dollars — by running a community survey first so residents themselves asked for the increase. His congressional platform is concrete: cap class sizes at 24, build a trades building in every high school, fund schools by federal allocation tied to enrollment with rich-district property tax overflow funding poor-district baselines, hire school psychologists instead of school resource officers, and refuse all corporate, foreign-lobby, and AIPAC money. Both candidates close on the same point: this is winnable if the party stops protecting incumbents who can fundraise but won’t fight, and if independent media keeps building the coverage legacy outlets refuse to provide.</p><p>Key Takeaways</p><p>* <strong>Visit and support both campaigns directly.</strong> Chris Armstrong’s site is <a target="_blank" href="https://armstrongforwisconsin.com/">armstrongforwisconsin.com</a>; Abel Chavez’s site is <a target="_blank" href="https://abelchavezforcongress.com/">abelchavezforcongress.com</a>. Both candidates are funded primarily by small-dollar grassroots donations and refuse foreign-lobby money. If you can’t vote for them, you can fund them, share them, or volunteer remotely — Armstrong’s 7th District covers ~57% rural northern Wisconsin and Chavez is running in CA-48 with a Spanish-bilingual platform.</p><p>* <strong>Track the Wisconsin data center NDA fight.</strong>Armstrong reports that Wisconsin municipalities entered non-disclosure agreements with data center developers without informing local councils or residents, that legislation is moving through the still-Republican state legislature to ban this practice, and that many proposed developments have been paused or canceled after public pushback. This is a bipartisan issue — verify how it’s playing in your state and demand the same prohibitions on local-government NDAs with private developers.</p><p>* <strong>Read the Horvath testimony on classroom technology and Gen Z cognition.</strong> Eevie cites Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath’s congressional testimony documenting a sharp 2010 inflection point in cognitive measurements for children — attention, memory, literacy, numeracy, executive functioning — correlating with the introduction of classroom devices. Look up the testimony, compare it against your own school district’s tech-in-classroom policy, and bring it to your next school board meeting.</p><p>* <strong>Push school board meetings toward citizen-initiated agenda items.</strong> Chavez points out that school board members are barred by procedure from responding to public comment, which makes the three-minute public-comment slot largely performative. Advocate for a community-petition pathway — a fixed signature threshold (30, 40, 50) that forces a board vote on a constituent-proposed item — as a structural reform in your district.</p><p>* <strong>Stop accepting “but they can win” as a Democratic primary argument.</strong> Both Armstrong and Chavez are running against opponents — and against an internal party logic — that treats fundraising totals as proof of electability. Armstrong’s response is collaborative slates that don’t attack each other; Chavez’s response is refusing AIPAC, corporate PAC, and stock-trading money entirely while still raising near $480,000. Pressure your local Democratic Party to evaluate primary candidates on platform and proximity to voters, not on the size of their super PAC.</p><p>People, Organizations, and Terms</p><p><strong>People:</strong></p><p>* Chris Armstrong — Democratic candidate, Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District. IT consulting company owner, enterprise architect with 30+ years in the field, University of Minnesota astrophysics graduate. Running on transparency, environmental protection, taxing tech billionaires, treaty-law enforcement, and a six-step “resistance, retake, remove, restore, reimagine, reconcile” framework. First candidate to enter the race in February 2025.</p><p>* Abel Chavez — Democratic candidate, California’s 48th Congressional District. High school chemistry and physics teacher, business broker who helps small-business owners retire ethically by placing local entrepreneurs as buyers, current school board president. Won his school board seat by 10x outspent margin in an all-red district. Running on Medicare for All, working-family childcare, ICE accountability, immigration humanity, and refusal of AIPAC and corporate money.</p><p>* Eevie Bateman — Guest co-host. Former early-childhood-education director, now full-time writer and blogger based in Texas. Joined the show after Stephanie Hernandez asked her to vet and boost Chavez. Writing memoir and a novel; topical focus on feminist cultural criticism, religion, and “fuck the patriarchy, and if y’all would have just listened to Black women.”</p><p>* Tom Tiffany — Current Republican incumbent in Wisconsin CD7, now also running for governor of Wisconsin. Armstrong’s argument: flipping CD7 simultaneously denies Tiffany the gubernatorial pipeline.</p><p>* Darrell Issa — Outgoing 26-year Republican incumbent in CA-48 who dropped out following Prop 50, opening the seat Chavez is contesting.</p><p>* Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath — Cognitive neuroscientist who delivered congressional testimony documenting a generational inflection point in cognitive measurements aligning with 2010 classroom-tech adoption.</p><p><strong>Organizations / Programs:</strong></p><p>* Courage for Democracy — Candidate group Armstrong is part of. Hosts have previously interviewed Brittany Jones (Oregon gubernatorial candidate) and reference the network’s united-front principles. Chavez is not currently a member; the hosts encourage him to join.</p><p>* Indivisible — Sponsor of the April 5, 2025 “Hands Off” protests. Armstrong organized a CD7 event via Mobilize that drew 250 people including Republicans and independents.</p><p>* The SAVE Act — Republican legislation Armstrong cites as voter-disenfranchisement legislation requiring ID-name matching that primarily harms married women who changed names.</p><p>* Enbridge Line 5 — Canadian oil pipeline currently being rerouted around (but still through the ceded territory of) the Bad River Band Indian Reservation. Wisconsin DNR comment period closed the Saturday before recording.</p><p>* AIPAC — American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Chavez explicitly refuses its donations and frames refusal as proof of independence.</p><p>* Bluebonnet Program — Texas curriculum initiative Eevie cites as inserting religious indoctrination into public schools.</p><p><strong>Terms / Concepts:</strong></p><p>* Technocracy / Technofascism — The framing Nick uses for the Thiel/Karp/Palantir-aligned tech-billionaire push toward post-constitutional governance, data privatization, and unregulated AI/data-center expansion. The hosts also produce a separate show, Palintalk, on the topic.</p><p>* Ceded Territory — Land covered by 1854/1842 treaties that retain tribal hunting, fishing, and gathering rights even outside modern reservation boundaries. Armstrong argues these treaties are an underused legal mechanism against extractive development in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota.</p><p>* ADA (Average Daily Attendance) Funding — California’s per-student-day school-funding formula (~$92/day per Chavez) that incentivizes schools to focus on attendance over learning outcomes. Chavez argues this drives the bloated administrator-to-teacher ratio.</p><p>* Tiered Mental Health Support — Chavez’s school-psychologist model, which sorts students into needs tiers (1 through 4) for proactive support. He argues this is the actual mechanism for reducing school violence — not a school resource officer.</p><p>Sources & References</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://armstrongforwisconsin.com/">Chris Armstrong for Wisconsin (CD7)</a> — Campaign site, policies, and donation page.</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://abelchavezforcongress.com/">Abel Chavez for Congress (CA-48)</a> — Campaign site, bilingual policy pages, and donation page.</p><p>Thank you <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/12044824-margaret-williams-ms-acc">Margaret Williams, MS, ACC</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/385631085-lori-modafferi">Lori Modafferi</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/63449719-the-real-pambo">the real pambo</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/11289996-arlenemach">ArleneMach</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/287704978-acejonesz">Acejonesz</a>, and many others for tuning into my live video with <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/15113701-walter-rhein">Walter Rhein</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/151039348-chris-armstrong-for-congress">Chris Armstrong for Congress</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/415454879-abel-chavez">Abel Chavez</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/443649430-a-eevie-bateman">A. Eevie Bateman</a>! Join me for my next live video in the app.</p><p>Actions You Can Take</p><p>* Check out the new: <a target="_blank" href="https://shop.sickofthisshitpublications.com/">Sick of this Shop!</a></p><p>* Check out the new network and affiliate calendar: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.broadbanner.com/">BroadBanner</a></p><p>Submit questions, feedback, and artwork for <strong>Notes of the Week</strong> with Nick and Walter:</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://forms.gle/4WSu8qGkSA7Wxbh98">Sick of this Shit Community Comment Form</a></p><p>Call your public servants on important issues:</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://5calls.org/">5calls.org</a></p><p>Join the efforts to unmask law enforcement and de-flock the States:</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://deflock.me/">deflock.me</a></p><p>Service members can get un-biased information on legal vs illegal orders:</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ordersproject.com/">Orders Project</a></p><p>* Reach out on Signal: @TheOrdersProject.76</p><p>Learn empathy forward, human centered, experiment based Leadership & Growth Courses for Higher Ed & Non-Profit Professionals:</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bcognitionlabs.com/">B. Cognition Labs</a></p><p>Nick’s Notes</p><p>I’m Nick Paro, and I’m sick of the shit going on. So, I’m using poetry, podcasting, and lives to discuss the intersections of chronic illness and mental wellbeing, masculinity, veteran’s issues, politics, and so much more. I am only able to have these conversations, bring visibility to my communities, and fill the void through your support — this is a publication where engagement is encouraged, creativity is a cornerstone, and transparency is key — please consider becoming a paid subscriber today and grow the community!</p><p><strong>Join the uncensored media at the </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://1acollective.com/"><strong>1A Collective</strong></a></p><p>Support as a paid subscriber however you can — to help get you started, here are a few discounted options for you</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://sickofthis.substack.com/50forever">Forever at 50% off</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://sickofthis.substack.com/60saver">Forever at 60% off</a></p><p>A special thank you to those who are a part of the <strong>Sickest of Them All</strong></p><p>~ <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/309303179-soso">Soso</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/5428714-millicent">Millicent</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/136249074-courtney">Courtney 🇨🇦</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/66521654-eric-lullove">Eric Lullove</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/32751953-terry-mitchell">Terry mitchell</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/301213629-carollynn">Carollynn</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/208030486-julie-robuck">Julie Robuck</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/356845797-masonsheher">Mason/She/Her🩷💜💙</a> | <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/180488664-kimmy-win">Kimmy Win</a> ~</p><p><strong>For support, contact us at: </strong>info@sickofthisshitpublications.com</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://sickofthis.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2">sickofthis.substack.com/subscribe</a>
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