Welcome to Season 5! If you're feeling election anxiety, I've got a way for you to direct that energy towards winning in November. In addition to winning the White House, we also need to retake the House and keep the Senate; the change we need requires a blue trifecta. With that in mind, here are a few places where you can donate to key congressional races, i.e. races that are really close and underfunded, so a boost in funding can make a difference in the voter turnout needed to ensure a blue trifecta.

key House races

key Senate races

key House and state races

key House, Senate, and state races

*full disclosure: I have donated to each of these funds, so I am recommending what I myself have used

I have collaborated again with Mike Pinto, host of the Singing for Survival capoeira history podcast. This time, we discuss sexual abuse in capoeira and what we as capoeiristas can do to address the wrong that has happened and how to prevent it moving forward. One of those ways is to support CapoeirAcolher, an organization in Brazil that supports victims of such abuse.

My thoughts on voting no on Prop. 36.

More information:

LA Times Editorial Board piece on No on Prop. 36

Stop Prop. 36 campaign

Independent journalist Judd Legum has done several pieces on retail theft and Prop. 36:

• California's shoplifting laws are not broken. California is "fixing" them anyway
• A closer look at California's $267 million war on "organized retail crime"
• UPDATE: The truth about Target

The Vera Institute Infographic on Prop. 36 and longer analysis

Politico coverage on Prop. 36

How California's incarceration rates compare to other states and countries, by the Prison Policy Initiative