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Today, thousands of Americans are participating in a general strike. The instructions are simple: no work, no school, no shopping. The aim is ambitiousto pressure the Trump administration to remove ICE from local communities. The strike is a response to the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota. In the days since, calls for a nationwide shutdown have spread rapidly across social media, shared by activists, nonprofits, and everyday people urging a halt to economic activity. Celebrities including Pedro Pascal, Edward Norton, and Jamie Lee Curtis have amplified the message to their followers. Some businessesmostly small, independent oneshave heeded the call. Clothing label Misha and Puff, olive oil maker Brightland, and underwear brand Oddobody have all closed for the day, forgoing revenue as a form of protest. “The only thing the Trump administration responds to is the market,” says Polly Rodriguez, founder of the sexual wellness company Unbound Babes, who has shuttered her business for the day. “Our goal is to raise awareness today, link people to other resources, and gather donations for organizations on the ground in Minnesota.” [Screenshot: The General Strike US] The Organizers Behind This Strike Although the strike has been organized in a decentralized way, with no single leader at the helm, many participants have turned to the website and Instagram account of The General Strike US, which offer guidance about organizing a general strike. Eliza Blum, a longtime labor organizer, built the site in 2022, alongside other activists. “I wouldn’t say I’m a founder,” she says. “We’re very much a non-hierarchical, decentralized network.” Through her work with Fight for $15, the campaign for a $15 minimum wage, Blum saw firsthand how strikes forced companies and policymakers to pay attention. As the Trump administration pursued what she viewed as increasingly authoritarian policies, she began to see labor as a central tool of resistance. “When Roe v. Wade was overturned, I hit a personal breaking point,” she tells me. “Protesting in the streets, holding signs, calling our representativesit wasn’t enough. We live in an extremely capitalist society where our greatest weapon is our labor. If working people stopped working, we could shut down the country until our demands were met.” Other prominent voices have echoed that view. “What does a national civic uprising look like?” Robert Reich, a U.C. Berkeley law professor, wrote in his Substack last April. “It may look like a general strikea strike in which tens of millions of Americans refuse to work, refuse to buy, refuse to engage in anything other than a mass demonstration against the regime.” The General Strike website calls for people to sign a “strike card,” pledging their participation in future actions. The long-term goal, Blum says, is to secure commitments from 3.5% of the U.S. populationroughly 10.5 million people. The figure comes from research by political scientists Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan, which suggests that when 3.5% of a population engages in sustained protest, authoritarian governments are likely to collapse. So far, about 435,730 people have signed the pledge. Once the number reaches 10.5 million, organizers plan to coordinate a nationwide strike. In the meantime, Blum argues that smaller, recurring actions are essential for building momentum. Reich agrees. “[It will take more than] just one general strike, but a repeating general strike,” he writes. “A strike whose numbers continue to grow and whose outrage, resistance, and solidarity continue to spread across the land.” Last Friday, hundreds of Minnesota businesses closed as a show of opposition to ICE. For Blum, this was an important turning point. She saw local unions come together with community organizers to work collectively. This local strike had an impact, making headlines in the New York Times and the BBC. “It was the first time, since I’ve been doing this that I saw a general strike actually happen,” she says. Crowds marching from Scotland to London during the General Strike, 1926. [Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images] The History of General Strikes The term general strike is most closely associated with events in Britain in 1926, when trade unions organized coal miners to walk off the job after mine owners slashed wages and lengthened working hours. Workers across other industriesincluding transportation, printing, and manufacturingjoined in solidarity, bringing large parts of the country to a standstill. The government quickly intervened, framing the strike as a threat not just to employers, but to the nation itself. Union leaders soon found themselves in direct confrontation with the state, and after nine days, they called off the strike. “It was a total failure,” says Jonathan Schneer, a British historian whose book, Nine Days in May: The General Strike of 1926 comes out this summer. (Disclosure: Schneer is my father-in-law.) “The coal miners were ultimately left isolated and forced to work under even worse conditions.” Schneer notes that while todays general strike draws inspiration from the events of 1926, there are also crucial differencesmost notably the level of coordination involved. In England at the time, between a third and half of all workers were unionized, and labor leaders were able to mobilize a significant share of the population. It took enormous organization to pull something like that off, Schneer says. Nearly a century later, the landscape has shifted. Todays action is being organized largely online, at a moment when labor unions are far weaker than they were in early-20th-century Britain. The United States also has a much larger and more geographically dispersed population. What remains constant, however, is the central role of capitalism in everyday lifeand the idea that halting economic activity can still be a powerful way to command the governments attention. When enough people participate, Schneer argues, the signal is impossible to ignore. The Demands For Blum, the fact that the strike isn’t centrally organized is one of its strengths. Like other activist groups that emerged during Trumps second termincluding Indivisibleshe believes organizing works best at the local level, allowing communities to respond to their own conditions. Her role, she says, is less about directing the movement than equipping others with the tools to organize within their own networks. That decentralized structure also means there is no single, unified set of demands. The General Strike US website lists a wide range of causes worth striking for, from universal healthcare to voting rights. For now, however, participants appear to be coalescing around a more immediate goal: removing ICE from local communities. On social media, posts frequently express solidarity with protesters in Minnesota and call for the abolition of ICE altogether. While organizers encourage people to stay home from work and school, the most accessible form of participation is refusing to spend money. A number of small businesses have chosen to close for the day in solidarity, though no major corporations have followed suit. I am very disappointed in the lack of reaction from companies that are far more powerful and influential than we are, says Melody Serafino, founder of the communications agency No.29, which also shuttered operations. Let me be clear: posting on Instagram and shutting down our business for a day is not brave. Real courage is being exemplified by the people on the ground who are putting their lives at risk. For Blum, however, this moment is just the beginning. She sees the current action as the first in what she hopes will be a series of escalating strikesand says it is already producing results. In recent days, tens of thousands of people have signed strike cards through her website. There is still a long road ahead to reaching the 3.5% threshold of the U.S. population, but the numbers, she says, are rising steadily. Movements that reach that level of participation never fail to bring about radical change, Blum says. But it takes time.
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Snow has returned to the Philadelphia region, and along with it, the white residues on streets and sidewalks that result from the overapplication of deicers such as sodium chloride, or rock salt, as well as more modern salt alternatives. As an environmental scientist who studies water pollution, I know that much of the excess salt flows into storm drains and ultimately into area streams and rivers. For example, a citizen science stream monitoring campaign led by the Stroud Water Research Center in Chester County (about 40 miles west of Philadelphia) found that chloride concentrations in southeastern Pennsylvania streams remained higher than levels recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency not only after winter snowfalls but also in many cases during some summer monthsshowing salt persists in watersheds year-round. Once there, it can have a profound impact on fish and other aquatic life. This includes a decrease in the abundance of macroinvertebrates, which are small organisms that form the base of many freshwater food webs, and reductions in growth and reproduction in fish. Increased salt concentrations can also degrade and pollute the local water supply. Working with other researchers at Villanova University, I have measured spikes in sodium levels in Philadelphia region tap water during and immediately after snow melts. These spikes can pose a health risk to people on low-sodium diets. What local governments can do In recent years, many state and local governments nationwide have adopted best management practicessuch as roadway brining, more efficient salt spreaders, and improved storm forecastingto limit damage from salt to infrastructure, including roads and bridges. Roadway brining works by applying a salt solution, or brine, that contains about 23% sodium chloride by weight prior to a storm. Unlike road salt, brines adhere to all pavement and can prevent ice from sticking to the roadway during the storm. This potentially reduces the need for subsequent road salt applications. The environmental benefits of these best practices, when properly administered, are promising. The Maryland State Highway Administration reduced its total salt usage on roadways by almost 50% by using multiple best practices. The extent to which these strategies will continue to reduce the salt burden on roads and, by extension, improve the water quality of streams elsewhere will largely depend on political will and corresponding economic investments. Yet, roads are not the only source of salt to our streams. Recent studies have suggested that the cumulative amount of salt applied to other impervious surfaces in a watershed, such as parking lots, driveways, and sidewalks, can exceed that applied to roads. For example, one survey of private contractors suggests their application rate can be up to 10 times higher than that of transportation departments. I do not know of any studies that have been able to determine a household application rate. How to salt at home To better understand how individuals or households deice their properties, and what they know about the environmental impacts of deicing, I collaborated with a team of environmental scientists and psychologists at Villanova University and the local conservation-focused nonprofit Lower Merion Conservancy. In winter 2024-2025, the Lower Merion Conservancy disseminated a survey in a social media campaign that received more than 300 responses from residents in southeastern Pennsylvania. We are completing the analysis to determine a household application rate, but some of our initial findings provide a starting point for engaging households on how to limit the environmental impact of deicers. One key finding is that only 7% of respondents reported being aware of municipal ordinances regarding deicer use on residential sidewalks. Of those who applied deicers to their property, 55% indicated they were unsure whether they used them in a way that would reduce environmental harm. About 80% of all respondents indicated interest in learning more about the environmental impacts of road salt. Based on these survey results, here are several actionable steps that homeowners can take to reduce their deicer use. 1. Check your local municipal ordinance. Most municipalities in the greater Philadelphia area do not require deicer use but instead require clearing a walkable pathin most cases, 3 feet widefree of snow and ice within a certain time frame after a storm event ends. For example, the city of Philadelphia requires this to be done within six hours, the borough of Narberth within 12 hours and Lower Merion and Haverford townships within 24 hours. Narberth and Lower Merion specify which abrasivessuch as sand, ashes, and sawdustor deicers, like rock salt, can be used if ice persists. 2. Use rock salt and other deicers judiciously. The recommended amount from conservation organizations is one 12-ounce coffee mug of deicer for every 10 sidewalk squares. Keep in mind that pet-friendly deicers are not necessarily environmentally friendly. Many of these deicers contain magnesium chloride, which is harmful to plants and aquatic life. Deicers coupled with dyes might be a good choice to visually prevent over-application. They can also temporarily reduce concretes surface reflectivity, thereby increasing its warming effect and enabling melting. inally, its important to know that many deicers become ineffective at or below certain temperatures. Rock salt/sodium chloride loses its effectiveness at 15 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 9 Celsius), magnesium chloride at 5 F (minus 15 C) and calcium chloride at minus 20 F (minus 29 C). If temperatures are expected to fall below those numbers, it might make sense to skip the salt. 3. Sweep up after. We have all seen rock salt on sidewalks for days on end, especially when a storm never materializes. If the next storm brings rain, this leftover salt will form a concentrated brine solution that will wash down the nearest storm drain and into a local waterway. Leftover salt can be swept up and reapplied after the next storm event, saving money and supplies. Read more of our stories about Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, or sign up for our Philadelphia newsletter on Substack. Steven Goldsmith is an associate professor of environmental science at Villanova University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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E-Commerce
You probably know filmmaker and actor Taika Waititi from directing work like the Marvel movie Thor: Ragnarok or the Oscar award-winning film Jojo Rabbit. What you might not know is that hes also the creative mind behind multiple Old Spice ads, a bout of early 2010s PSAs for his home country of New Zealand, and some of the most iconic Super Bowl commercials of all time. From the early days of his career, between directing short films and appearing in acting gigs, Waititi has kept up a consistent cadence of ad work, ranging from spots for local names like the New Zealand Transport Agency to bigger brands like Samsung. Even as his Hollywood work has expanded, ad work remains a consistent part of his creative churn. In 2025, Waititi directed three different spots for the Super Bowl. This year, hes returning to Americas biggest game with a new spot for Pepsi. Waititi says he keeps coming back to the Super Bowl for the same reason hes done ad work for decades: it keeps his creative muscles firing. Selfishly, Ive used the world of making commercials as my filmmaking gym, he says. Inside Pepsi’s new Super Bowl spot Waititis 2026 return to the Super Bowl comes via a Pepsi spot titled The Choice, set to Queens I Want to Break Free. The ad carries on Pepsis long tradition of lightheartedly bashing its main rival, Coca-Cola, by signaling the superiority of its colas taste. This time, Pepsi turned to one of Coca-Colas most iconic symbols as the star of its new Cola War spot: the Coca-Cola polar bear. I feel like I’ve been watching the [Cola Wars] all my life, and so it was pretty fun just to take part in that and because it’s an iconic relationship that they’ve got, Waititi says. He adds that the spots bear-centric storyline was already established before he joined the project, and that my main job when it comes to these things is just to help solidify the tone, carry that through, and make sure that it’s fun and watchable. The bear has appeared in Coca-Colas advertising as far back as 1922, including in some of its most beloved Christmas ads. In The Choice, hes faced with the reality that he actually prefers Pepsi over Coke after conducting a blind taste-test of the two sodas. The realization drives him to his therapist (played by Waititi himself), before he ultimately breaks free from Coca-Cola and enjoys a Pepsi in, weirdly enough, a parody of the viral Coldplay kiss cam moment from last summer. Why ads are Taika Waititi’s creative gym Before Waititi ever became a household name, many of his clever, absurdist spots had already cemented themselves in the canon of advertising acclaim. Along the way, those projects were quietly shaping his creative voice and informing his larger projects. In 2008, Waititi directed a series of ads for Pot Noodle, including one surrealist spot called Moussaka Rap, a loosely Eminem-inspired song about the Greek casserole. In 2011, he tackled another rap video for Sour Patch Kids and an underwater ballad for Cadbury. His first big break in the ad worldand one of his most recognizable spots to this daywas NBCs 2012 Super Bowl bash Brotherhood of Man, which featured talent from on-air shows at the time like The Office and Parks and Recreation (as well as a now cringe-inducing cameo from The Apprentices Donald Trump), and which had such a fraught production that its inspired entire think pieces. What I remember about that was just how fun it was to visit all of these different TV shows and work with all of these people, Waititi says, adding with a laugh, Let’s not talk about everyone that I worked on that with. Waititi took a hiatus from the big game to produce iconic spots like Air New Zealand’s 2014 Lord of the Rings-inspired “The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made, featuring Elijah Wood; and a 2018 series of heavy hitters for Old Spice. By the time he returned to directing for the Super Bowl in 2025, Waititi was both an Oscar and Grammy winner. His spots last yeara heartstring-pulling ad for Lay’s, two shorts for Homes.com featuring Morgan Freeman, and a brain-rottingly ridiculous ad for Mountain Dew starring humanoid sealswere all met with a hearty dose of acclaim. For Waititi, ad direction isnt just a side gig; its a tool thats shaped his career. In the periods between filming larger projects, he uses commercials to test new jokes, try out character ideas, experiment with VFX, and work on new camera and lighting techniques. If he feels like theyre really good, he says, he can use them in a film at some point down the road. It’s fun to play with the creative space, and it’s not as risky for me when I’m making commercials, Wititi says. It’s just kind of a play space, reallya nice big sandpit.
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