Helen H-A
Radical optimist. All about women, money, and power, especially as it plays out in politics, startups and investing. True blue Philly 💙
- “The point is not to get back to normal. Normal is how we got here. The wall looks permanent until the day it comes down.”
- Reposted by Helen H-Asemi-regular reminder that ICE was only created in 2003 when you are asked to imagine a world without ICE, you're basically being asked to remember where you were when Lilo & Stitch came out
- Reposted by Helen H-ANew Gist: The Abuse Factory It shouldn't be difficult to act swiftly and without hesitation when the question posed is "Is it OK to work with the child sexual abuse material factory?" But our state failed this most straightforward of tests this week. www.thegist.ie/the-gist-the...
- Reposted by Helen H-AHere is a video of a frozen creek that had begun to thaw, and the water was flowing beneath the thin ice on top. I took this because it was soothing and wonderfully bloopy and I wanted to listen to it for hours. You are all welcome to enjoy it, too. Let your brain settle here and rest for a moment.
- Reposted by Helen H-AHere’s some things that can be done by a party out of power - file impeachment articles every day in the House - withhold unanimous consent in the senate and filibuster every nominee - be everywhere with comms saying this is lawless and impeachable
- Reposted by Helen H-AReminder: resolutions can be fun! You can resolve to try a new cheese every week, eat all the weird fruits you’ve been curious about at the grocery store, or commit to watching 12 different classic films. Why make crappy resolutions when you can make happy ones
- Reposted by Helen H-AA group of five independent voters including political commentator Michael Smerconish filed a lawsuit Wednesday asking a Pennsylvania court to end the commonwealth’s bar against independent voters participating in primary elections. From @petehallpa.bsky.social
- Reposted by Helen H-AHey cuties, wanna share some snacks, chat, & pack up native plant seeds for free distribution? Join us December 17th for the next iteration of the Native Plant Prep Party! The goal: Pack up 10,000 seed packets. We're currently at 2000 already packed. RSVP here: luma.com/o3sladpu
- Reposted by Helen H-AWith the goal of reaching new ppl w/biodiversity action, we're expanding the Native Plant Project to bars. We're calling it Biodiversity Beers. In collab w/artists Marian Bailey, @hanfranstudio.bsky.social, & @the666cat.bsky.social, we're making pint glasses that encourage planting of native 🌱
- Reposted by Helen H-AAn overwhelming bipartisan majority has sent the PA CROWN Act to Gov. Shapiro's desk; this has been a priority of @repmcclinton.com @latashaforpa.bsky.social for years. It will prohibit discrimination based on a person’s hair type, hair texture or hairstyle. www.palegis.us/legislation/...
- The irony of sharing this on social media is not lost on me, but if you're looking for support / solidarity in getting off your phone and into the real world, my pal Mark is here to help! thephiladelphiacitizen.org/the-citizen-...
- Reposted by Helen H-AOne of the many things I really admire about @repdwightevans.bsky.social is that not only has he decided to retire from Congress next year at 72 after decades of public service, but he announced it well enough in advance so that any interested candidates could compete in an open primary.
- Reposted by Helen H-AMy segment starts at 11 minutes in 🥰
- My PhillyCAM fellowship is “wow, so you’ll give me 5 minutes to share cool people on the radio??” Tonight’s ep has @sarahmackattack.bsky.social talking about one tiny awesome thing she does — showing off the local minifauna (bugs!) I could do a whole hour just on her. soundcloud.com/phillycam/bl...
- Reposted by Helen H-AOh, what’s that? You need some free or cheap stuff to do in Philly? I got you. Mon 11/10 Bad Art for Good Make art that encourages action on imp you issues! Wed 11/19 Native Plant Prep Party Help me pack native seeds for free distribution! Fri 11/21 Drink & Draw Get all links at Lu.ma/dgs
- My PhillyCAM fellowship is “wow, so you’ll give me 5 minutes to share cool people on the radio??” Tonight’s ep has @sarahmackattack.bsky.social talking about one tiny awesome thing she does — showing off the local minifauna (bugs!) I could do a whole hour just on her. soundcloud.com/phillycam/bl...
- Reposted by Helen H-AZohran was polling at six percent in January. Nothing is impossible
- Reposted by Helen H-AWalmart, McDonalds and Amazon are the largest employers of people who require SNAP assistance. The CEOs earned between 18-40 million last year, 1000x their median employee income. They took billions in profits, while their workers relied on SNAP to survive. Wanna fix fraud and abuse? Fix that.
- Reposted by Helen H-AGosh, thanks, Google (whose algorithms have long pushed users toward extremist content, because profit is everything and humanity is nothing, to Google).
- Reposted by Helen H-AReminder: There’s no such thing as “a substack” and definitely no such thing as _your_ substack. www.anildash.com/2024/11/19/d...
- Reposted by Helen H-ABringing intercity buses back to a proper terminal is a recognition that people deserve more than a curb under a highway overpass — they deserve shelter, dignity and respect.
- Reposted by Helen H-AHeyyyy we desperately need more archaeologists to volunteer to answer questions from students via video chat through @skypeascientist.bsky.social. We have 80 unmatched teams. We’ve already matched 650 😵💫 If you know any archaeologists, please send them here www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html
- I joined a radio fellowship this year. This Wednesday at 5:30, my first-ever piece will air: wppm.phillycam.org My topic: Join Philly, and why you should join a club. Joining a club, a fellowship, a group, etc - it’s all saying YES to something new. I hope you find your YES, wherever you are.
- Reposted by Helen H-ASlides from the Touch Grass talk at BarCamp Philly #bcphilly docs.google.com/presentation...
- Reposted by Helen H-AIf you are energized by today, and are in PA, then here is an action item: VOTE.
- Just 17 days before the election where the GOP is trying to end Dems’ majority on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Alex Burness wrote the best thing you’ll read about the race. boltsmag.org/pennsylvania...
- Reposted by Helen H-AWithout reporters to ask questions "how will the American people find out what is being done at the Pentagon in their name, with their hard-earned tax dollars, and more importantly, the decisions that may put their sons and daughters in harm's way?" www.npr.org/2025/10/14/g...
- Reposted by Helen H-AThe head of Vancouver’s transit agency can sum its ridership recovery in one word: Frequency. “Running the bus every 30 minutes isn’t going to cut it if you want to grow ridership.“ Many Vancouver 🚌 run every 5min or less, and the SkyTrain runs every 3-4min, via @davidzipper.bsky.social
- Reposted by Helen H-Asince denver launched its e-bike rebate program - the have sold 10,000 e-bikes and reduced an estimated 1,000,000 car trips - replacing millions of VMTs and reducing air pollution there are no climate silver bullets... but damn - e-bikes and e-cargo bikes are close denvergov.org/Government/A...
- Reposted by Helen H-AI can't stop thinking about this. We're pursuing zero fire risk in multifam, while tolerating much more in single-fam. People respond by building and living in single-fam, where they're exposed to not only one of the highest fire death risks in the developed world, but also TONS more car crash risk
- Love this new report on buildings' relative fire safety from @alexhrwtz.bsky.social and Pew colleagues. www.pew.org/en/research-...
- Reposted by Helen H-ASo exciting for Philly! Read more about this announcement, and what it took to bring Unrivaled to our city, in @thephilacitizen.bsky.social: thephiladelphiacitizen.org/wnba-unrival...
- Reposted by Helen H-AAs you cancel streaming services, here is a casual reminder that only 16% of Americans read for pleasure anymore, and your local library has hundreds or thousands of books you haven't read. They would love to see you stop by and renew your library card.
- Reposted by Helen H-AYesterday I was sitting with the realization that many Black organizers I know are grieving. Not grief over a person, but over a paradigm. A vision of what organizing could accomplish that’s cracking beneath their feet. 1/12
- Reposted by Helen H-AIn response to my rant yesterday, I was asked how we can make better parks and other public places for teenage girls? What do they want? I have answers to this, so now a positive 🧵. Starting in Sweden, where this was co-designed by teenage girls.
- Reposted by Helen H-AThis is one I've been thinking about for a long time, and I do hope you'll read it, and share it. The stakes have never been higher, but it'ss never been clearer: @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social is exactly what NYC's entrepreneurial community needs. www.anildash.com/2025/08/20/z...
- Reposted by Helen H-AOPINION: "The choices made today could determine whether Philadelphia becomes a national model for sustainable urban mobility — or a case study marking a heartbreaking collapse of public transportation in one of America’s great cities." — Sylvie Gallier Howard and Maurice Jones
- Reposted by Helen H-AThe correct way to square this circle is to propose the expansion of the House in such a way that neuters gerrymandering for everyone as part of the midterm campaign.
- Reposted by Helen H-ADuckDuckGo has added a feature to filter out AI images from search results.
- Been building this community for a year, but this week feels like we’re getting traction. Send me your Philly women, folks! technical.ly/entrepreneur...
- Reposted by Helen H-AIt’s hard to be an optimist these days. But I’ve seen rainbows the past two nights and hundreds of fireflies and I’m reminded that the real magic of this world has nothing to do with us.
- Reposted by Helen H-Athis is especially important to know about right now as the feds pour tens of billions into detention
- Prisons across the U.S. rely on incarcerated labor, often paying people cents per hour—or nothing at all. Historian Robert Chase answered readers’ questions on how this system developed, how it works today, and efforts to challenge it. boltsmag.org/the-pas...
- Reposted by Helen H-AI think I saw this on tiktok but someone said, "you may not need medicaid, but your local hospital does"
- Reposted by Helen H-ABtw if you live in Philadelphia and own a building (like your house for example) with a big wall like this and want a science mural, get at me. Especially if your street has high foot traffic. Philadelphians feel free to repost this one.
- Reposted by Helen H-ABeyond the cruelty of stripping millions of healthcare, forcing many rural hospitals to close, and funding a vast new police-state apparatus targeting immigrants and Trump's domestic enemies, the fiscal implications of the budget bill are devastating for the longterm financial health of the country.
- Reposted by Helen H-Ahell yeah
- Reposted by Helen H-AThe whole trans girls in sports discussion is absolutely being used to propagandize people into being transphobic bellends. In K-12, the number of trans girls in sports is five. In college the number is fewer than ten, according to the NCAA President. You're being manipulated. Please stop.
- What amuses me is that Gavin Newsome could have probably ridden this shit all the way to the White House if he’d kept his yap close about trans girls in sports. Now no matter what he does in response to this Trump manufactured crisis, all I’ll ever think is “you raised a kid who likes Charlie Kirk.”
- Reposted by Helen H-A1 in 12 Americans live in California. 1 in 35 Americans live in LA County. LA is America
- Reposted by Helen H-ABriefly wandered over to The Other Place to gauge the response to the NASA budget devastation to encounter a bunch of gleeful 'we spend too much money, so this is great.' TO BE, ONCE AGAIN, PERFECTLY CLEAR, THE BUDGET REQUEST MOVES ALL THIS MONEY TO DEFENSE. IT SPENDS IT. NO MONEY IS SAVED.
- Reposted by Helen H-A"Most shootings are not premeditated. Most shootings, instead, start with words—arguments that escalate and end in tragedy because someone has a gun."
- Reposted by Helen H-AThe state lags far behind most others in solar development: Pennsylvania currently ranks 49th in the nation for its growth in solar, wind and geothermal generation over the last decade, according to PennEnvironment. From @capitalandmain.bsky.social
- Reposted by Helen H-A"If you look at the news and you look at entertainment, what disproportionately gets covered there are gang wars over drug-selling turf or people shot as part of robberies. But that turns out to be like a very skewed picture of what gun violence in America actually is."
- Reposted by Helen H-AA bunch of tech CEOs are talking about being “AI-first”, the latest in a series of CEO fads like “return to office”, “founder mode” and “pivot to full fascism”. This one’s weird, though, because it only makes sense if… none of their workers are great at their jobs. anildash.com/2025/04/19/a...
- Reposted by Helen H-AThis is getting fewer headlines than it should. After coming to power promising to help working people, the president is revealing his real priorities by actively making it easier for banks to rip people off.
- Reposted by Helen H-AThe Importance of Being Cringe
- Reposted by Helen H-AI feel like I'm going insane every time I see a media story about DOGE that doesn't also mention the fact that the Government Accountability Office exists and performs the exact function that DOGE pretends to, only in a credibly constitutional, non-partisan, and conflict-of-interest-free manner
- “Run for office” can sound really daunting. But you don’t have to do it alone! There are lots of people and programs to help. (If you’re in PA and need help finding them, just ask. I’d love to help get you connected!)
- Reposted by Helen H-AFor those affected by last month's jet crash near the Roosevelt Mall, two key deadlines are coming up next week for small business grants and American Red Cross assistance.
- Reposted by Helen H-AFederal workers launch a new site to share inside information about DOGE
