April 13, 2023

Travel advisories: avoid nonessential travel to Florida

Equality Florida, The Florida Immigrant Coalition, and NAACP Florida have issued travel advisories to avoid nonessential travel to Florida.

If you're going, be careful. If you're queer or a person of color, please be extra careful.

From the second link: "RECONSIDER TRAVEL TO FLORIDA DUE TO UNCONSTITUTIONAL LAWS WHICH ABUSE CIVIL LIBERTIES"

Equality Florida:
https://eqfl.org/florida-travel-advisory

Florida Immigrant Coalition:
https://floridatraveladvisory.com/

NAACP Florida:
https://naacp.org/articles/naacp-florida-state-conference-recommends-travel-advisory-state-response-african-american

April 12, 2023

Nebraska GOP legislators would rather go unpaid than back off on hurting children.

Thank you, to every Nebraska Democrat who continues to stand up for our kids. You are setting an example to your peers in every state & Washington DC.

Nebraska Filibuster: day 59 of 90

A routine bill to allow members of the Nebraska Legislature to get paid became the latest filibuster target Tuesday, as lawmakers continued to shadow-box over transgender health treatments for young people.

In a normal year, the required budget bill to pay lawmakers’ salaries draws little or no debate. But this is not a normal year. As the Legislature began the 59th day of its 90-day session, senators have yet to pass a single bill. That’s largely due to Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh leading the charge on filibustering, slowing unrelated bills in protest over legislation that bans certain health treatments for transgender youth.

Tuesday, Cavanaugh’s target was the annual bill appropriating the money to pay senators’ $12,000 annual salary. She started out talking about that salary.

“Part of the problem with getting a representative body in the Legislature is the salary. It is a barrier to entry for everyday Nebraskans who might want to run for office. You have to have the financial means to do it,” Cavanaugh said.

(article continues at: https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/transgender-health-proposal-continues-to-slow-legislature/ )

April 10, 2023

So, Lauren Boebert's son is driving recklessly, high as a kite...

( from "Flexghost" aka @flexghost@mastodon.social )

So, Lauren Boebert’s son is driving recklessly, high as a kite

He severely injures his friend, causing a permanent disability in the friends hand

Drug paraphernalia in the car.

The friend who was injured gets the drug charges

Boebert’s kid magically gets “careless driving causing bodily injury” reduced to non-functioning headlights.

But tell me about the “Deep State” again?

Story here: https://www.westword.com/news/lauren-boebert-son-car-wreck-injured-friend-16586981

April 10, 2023

Reframing gender affirming health care in light of Republican bans

I'm going to change what I'm calling it and implore allies to do the same. By calling it gender affirming care (or healthcare) instead of trans care, a spotlight is focused on the fact that every procedure, drug, etc. is used for non-trans people, too. But Republicans are only banning gender affirming care for trans people because our gender affirming care (GAC) goes against conservative gender norms while the same care for cis people reinforces those norms. Outlawing it only for trans people is discriminatory and a form of violence against us.

An excellent, heavy-with-supporting-links article on the topic, for those who would like to know more, or just want an article to pass on to others:

https://theconversation.com/gender-affirming-care-has-a-long-history-in-the-us-and-not-just-for-transgender-people-201752

April 8, 2023

Iranian police plan to use smart cameras to identify "violators of hijab law"

"Women who break Islamic dress code will be identified, warned on first instance and then taken to court"

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/08/iranian-police-plan-to-use-smart-cameras-to-identify-violators-of-hijab-law

Any Republican or tech/social media exec who tries to criticize the theocratic Iranian government is highly hypocritical.

April 7, 2023

CA's Gov Newsom is fundraising for Tennessee Democrats!

From Elon's hellhole of a website:

Time to stand up for Tennessee.
I’m committing $10,000 to the TN Dem Party.
We can’t stop with defending Justin Pearson and Justin Jones.
We have to defeat these authoritarian Republicans.
Who is with me?
Every dollar counts for @tndp [Tennessee Democratic Party's Twitter handle]

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ggn-tdp?refcode=tw-230407

April 7, 2023

Is this normal?

In the last month or two, the following Dems have switched to GOP

Rep. Marvin Robinson, Kansas

Rep. Francis Thompson, Louisiana

Rep. Tricia Cotham, North Carolina

Riverside, NJ Mayor Mike Higgins (flipping the township committee to a 3-2 Republican majority)

East Hanover, NJ Mayor Joseph Pannullo and all four members of the township council will switch from Democratic to Republican, marking a complete party flip in the township of 11,105 people

Am I mistaken or does all this feel...unlikely? In each case, the defectors allowed Republicans to take control either through a majority or supermajority, which makes me have to ask are they being bought off? Or is this sort of thing normal even when it happens en mass like this?

April 6, 2023

Update to the Rebekah Jones story (Florida)

Please note, I've not yet verified this with other sources.

An incident report released Thursday afternoon by the Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office allege that the 13-year-old made repeated threats to shoot up Holley Navarre Middle School and to stab students who angered him. Investigators interviewed multiple students who spoke with the teenager, as well as those who saw messages he posted on social media. In the messages to his friends, the teenager made the following statements, among others:

“I want to shoot up the school.”

If I get a gun I’m gonna shoot up hnms lol.”

“I’m getting a wrath and natural selection shirt so maybe but I don’t think many ppl know what the columbine shooters look like.”

“Okay so it’s been like 3-4 weeks since I got on my new antidepressants and they aren’t working but they’re suppose to by now so I have no hope in getting better so why not kill the losers at school.”

The teenager told one of his friends that he planned to shoot up the school the Thursday before Spring Break but there were too many things going on so he postponed it until March 31. Rebekah Jones arrives at the Santa Rosa County Courthouse to show support for her son following his arrest for allegedly making digital threats of terrorism. The students reported the claims to the school prior to that date and the investigation was launched. The teenager was homeschooled at the time of the alleged threats.

From: https://www.pnj.com/story/news/crime/2023/04/06/rebekah-jones-son-arrested-in-florida-what-we-know-about-digital-threat-allegations/70088634007/ (USA today affiliate, judging by the page livery)

Again, as with Aiden Hale this is another sign of stochastic terrorism. It's not just the evil leaders followers that they push to the breaking point. And to be clear, I am not defending either Aiden nor Rebekkah Jones' son if he had acted on his threats. My point is that stochastic terrorism as wielded by Republicans takes advantage of the most emotionally vulnerable people in the population. It pushes them to their breaking point until they snap, become irrational and commit violent acts. And it doesn't matter to those leaders which "side" they're on as both types of events can be played to the Republicans' advantage.

April 6, 2023

Excellent article about "woke"

"In her now viral MSNBC interview with host Ari Melber, the legendary Erykah Badu addressed how conservatives have twisted the term “woke” into something derogatory and weaponized it against people of color. Badu also discussed how she popularized the phrase with her 2008 song “Master Teacher” as well as on social media.

“There’s a song on [New Amerykah Part One] called ‘Master Teacher,’ and in that song... the chorus is ‘I stay woke,’ so ‘stay woke’ was introduced to the world by this album,” the 52-year-old star explained. “And I tweeted it about this group that was detained, Pussy Riot... In my tweet, I said ‘Free Pussy Riot...’ After that, ‘woke’ took off.”

Though it started off as a phrase meaning being aware of political, social, economic and racial injustice, the right has since contorted into having a negative connotation. Conservative leaders, like former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, have encouraged their followers to steer clear of anyone who calls themselves “woke.”

Ultimately, this strategy is popular in working to uphold white supremacy and the systems that keep marginalized communities oppressed. Badu insisted that they used the word as a dog whistle for something else. “I think they mean ‘Black,’” Badu stated. “It’s just another way to say ‘thug’ or something else, right?”

(continued at link, below)

https://www.theroot.com/erykah-badu-says-woke-has-become-another-word-for-bla-1850288463

April 5, 2023

Florida adds late amendment to SB1438 to effectively outlaw public Pride events.

First, the amendment extends the ban on drag to any permitted event.
But second, if drag occurs the person issued the permit automatically commits a misdemeanor.

Amendment: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1438/Amendment/533606/HTML

3 Before line 37
4 insert:
5 Section 1. Section 255.70, Florida Statutes, is created to
6 read:is liable to be charged with a
7 255.70 Public permitting.—
8 (1) As used in this section, the term “governmental entity”
9 means any state, county, district, or municipal officer,
10 department, division, board, bureau, commission, or other
11 separate unit of government created or established by law and
12 any other public or private agency, person, partnership, or
13 corporation or business entity acting on behalf of any public
14 agency.
15 (2) A governmental entity may not issue a permit or
16 otherwise authorize a person to conduct a performance in
17 violation of s. 827.11.
18 (3) If a violation of s. 827.11 occurs for a lawfully
19 issued permit or other authorization, the individual who was
20 issued the permit or other authorization commits a misdemeanor
21 of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
22 775.083.