Saturday, July 26, 2025

Saturday 9: Rhythm of My Heart

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…


Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) Rod Stewart sings that the words "I love you" roll off his tongue. When did you most recently say, "I love you?"
It has been a very, very long time.
 
2) In "Rhythm of My Heart," he recalls running down the alley with his lady love. Does your neighborhood have alleys?
We have lawns. We have lawn care companies take care of them.
 
3) Rod is well known for his coif. Are you having a good hair day today?
Um… that supposes that I have hair.
 
4) Rod was the youngest of 5. He remembers that, as a family, they enjoyed singing with Al Jolson records. Did your family have singalongs?
We were a very unmusical family growing up. Which is amazing because my brother’s family is very musically inclined.

5) He is proud of his luxury car collection, which includes a Rolls Royce, a Ferrari and the one rumored to be his favorite: a classic mid-70s Lamborghini Countach LP400 Periscopio. Looking back on years as a driver and a car owner, which vehicle is your all-time favorite?
I really don’t have favorites… my brother kids gave names to their cars. Me? I just look at a car to get me from point A to point B. Right now I am driving a 2017 Prius Plug-in with 92,000 mile and an average mpg of 80.2 mpg.

6) Rod turned 80 this year and he's still touring. Once known for his hard partying, he takes better care of himself now and rides a stationery bike every day. What steps do you take to keep fit?
That is my problem… nothing. I’m too short of breath. And it is a big downward spiral.
 
7) In 1991, when this song was popular, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry died. Do you have a favorite Star Trek character?
Not the original series but I think Sir Patrick Stewart was the best captain. 

8) Also in 1991, Seinfeld was a big deal on network television. Today the entire series is available to stream and on DVD. When you binge a show, are you more likely to pop in a disc or turn to a streaming service?
I don’t know… I have never binged watched a show. I watched a couple of back to back episodes but I haven’t binged watched a show. I might watch a few Barney Miller shows back to back but that was because nothing else was on. 

9) Random question: Have you ever cared for a hamster or a gerbil? (Extra non-existent Saturday 9 points for its name.).
Nope… but I had a white mouse that I shot into space (Well at least the first 200 feet off the ground) for a science fair. We won first prize.



Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend! 

Friday, July 25, 2025

Mini-Post: A Crushing Defeat... For Trump!

Another court saves no way! In A two to one vote the court of appeals shot him down on "Birthright Citizenship"
Yet another court has shut down Trump’s bid.
The Daqily Beast
By Josephine Harvey
Jul. 23 2025


A federal appeals court has dealt a blow to President Donald Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship, ruling that his executive order was unconstitutional.

“The district court correctly concluded that the Executive Order’s proposed interpretation, denying citizenship to many persons born in the United States, is unconstitutional. We fully agree,” Judge Ronald Gould, a Bill Clinton appointee, wrote for the 2-1 majority on the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals.

The majority concluded in Wednesday’s ruling that the executive order was “invalid because it contradicts the plain language of the Fourteenth Amendment’s grant of citizenship to ‘all persons born in the United States.’”

Gould was joined on the majority by Judge Michael Hawkins, who was also appointed by Clinton. Judge Patrick Bumatay, a Trump appointee, partially dissented, arguing the states did not have the right to bring the case.
Hmm... imagine that, a Trump appointed judge thinking that the states have no say about the Constitution! At least he didn't agree with Trump's stupid argument that they can be stripped of US citizenship.

Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, See No Evil

Well the Evil Trump is talking about is us, the trans community.


In the current cultural and political landscape, LGBTQ people — and especially transgender and nonbinary people — face an onslaught of attacks, including extraordinary levels of inflammatory, false, dehumanizing rhetoric.

Anti-LGBTQ media figures, political leaders, and others are enlisting classic fear-mongering tactics: propagating malicious harmful lies and bigotry to target a historically marginalized group of people with false, dehumanizing narratives. All in an effort to retract the basic civil and human rights of transgender people, while attempting to consolidate political power and distract from real issues. These current campaigns are spelled out in the extreme-right agenda of Project 2025 and the Heritage Foundation’s 2021 so-called “Promise to America’s Children.” They include attempts to: ban essential health care for trans youth and adults; eliminate participation in sports; prohibit access to bathrooms and other public facilities; prevent access to accurate state and federal identity documents; endanger trans inmates by incarcerating them in institutions inconsistent with their gender identity; dismantle basic civil rights including housing and workplace discrimination protections and military service; as well as restricting freedom of expression by suppressing and even criminalizing books, education, and culture by and about LGBTQ people.
The Republicans are trying to wipe us out by making it illegal to even talk about us in schools, just like Putin did in Russia (BBC News)

The article goes on and notes the terminology used by the Republicans:
  • “Gender Ideology” and “Transgenderism”
  • Intentional Mischaracterizations of Transgender Health Care
  • Misleading Narratives About Transgender People and Restrooms, Locker Rooms, and Single-Sex Spaces
  • Transgender Participation in Sports
  • False Claims of “Grooming”
  • “Trans Terrorism” and Other False Claims in High-Profile Crimes
  • So-Called “Transvestigations” of Public Figures
The lies are to demonize us, to make us less than human! I worry about what's down the line for us.

Though I’m an inactive member of the Stonewall Speakers, I used to still get requests to speak. Now? Almost nothing. Schools are afraid. Afraid that Trump is brandishing the sword of retribution above their heads, demanding they shut down anything LGBTQ+ — even our voices.

Do You Want A Little ICE with that?

The racist are out of control... it is inhumane they way are treating people. Just like the Gestapo!

He did everything right but that wasn't enough to keep him from getting raped.
He called it "an encounter with torture and death."
Out Magazine
By Christopher Wiggins
July 24, 2025

After 125 days in silence, detained inside an El Salvador concrete fortress built to disappear people, gay makeup artist Andry Hernández Romero is finally home in Venezuela, alleging he was tortured, sexually abused, and denied food while detained under a Trump administration deportation order that erased him from society.

“It was an encounter with torture and death,” Hernández, 32, told journalists at his family home in Capacho on Wednesday, describing how he and others were beaten, shot with rubber projectiles, and confined in dark cells, before they were suddenly freed on Friday. “Many of our fellows have wounds from the nightsticks; they have fractured ribs, fractured fingers and toes, marks from the handcuffs,” he said, according to Reuters. “Others have marks on their chests, on their face ... from the projectiles.”

Hernández was one of more than 250 Venezuelan men expelled under the revived Alien Enemies Act, a wartime-era law that President Donald Trump used to deport people without hearings or asylum screenings. Though he entered the United States legally at the San Diego border, appeared for an appointment the U.S. government gave him, and passed an initial credible fear interview, federal agents cited his tattoos—crowns reading “mom” and “dad”—as alleged proof of membership in the Tren de Aragua gang, something his lawyers continue to deny. He had no criminal record.
ICE did all that in your name!
The Trump administration is trying to criminalize activism like identifying masked immigration agents.
The Intercept
By Akela Lacy
July 23 2025


Speaking on Fox News last week, a top official from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the agency was expanding its dragnet for arrests. 

“I think we all know that criminals tend to hang out with criminals,” ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan said. “And so when we start to build a case, we’re going to be going after everyone that’s around them. Because these criminals tend to hang out with like-minded people who also happen to be criminals.”

The pledge to broaden arrests came as an immigration sweep that sowed fear across the Los Angeles area has been met by a growing protest movement to stop the raids and arrests.

In addition to arresting hundreds of immigrants across Southern California, the government is targeting a mounting number of people who are responding to the raids or helping protests. Some of those targeted have provided supplies to protesters or tried to identify ICE agents conducting raids in masks and plain clothes.
Now they are not only going after peaceful protester but also the bystanders!
Alejandro Orellana, 29, pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy to aid and abet civil disorders. According to a grand jury indictment, the face shields were “advertised as designed to protect from chemical splashes and flying debris.”

“Alejandro Orellana’s arrest for distributing supplies is an outrageous violation of civil rights and should be a wakeup call to people everywhere,” said California attorney Thomas Harvey.
They are doing all this in your name!
"I just said to myself, 'I'm willing to die to make sure you get home,'" coach Youman Wilder said.
The Root
By Angela Johnson
July 23, 2025


A New York City baseball coach was willing to put his life on the line to protect his young players in the face of danger. When ICE agents approached a group of his kids during practice, Youman Wilder, the founder of Harlem Baseball Hitting Academy, stepped up in a major way.

In an interview on MSNBC’s “Deadline White House,” Wilder said he instructed his kids not to respond to armed agents who approached them at a park on New York City’s Upper West Side.

“I heard them saying, ‘Where are you from? Where are your parents from?’ And I just stepped in and said, ‘This is very inappropriate to ask these kids anything,'” he told host Nicolle Wallace. “I’m just going to have them implement their Fifth Amendment right and not say anything to you.’”

The coach said he was disappointed that bystanders in the area didn’t do anything to protect the children during their confrontation with ICE agents, calling them “cowards.” But for him, doing nothing was not an option. He told CNN, “I just said to myself, ‘I’m willing to die to make sure you get home.'”
And this wasn't just any ordinary coach...
Wilder’s youth baseball program has been a vital resource in the community for over 20 years, nurturing the love and talent for the sport in Black and brown kids. In addition to helping nearly 400 kids get into college, 45 of his players have been picked up by Major League Baseball teams. But since the incident, Wilder says attendance at his practice has dropped dramatically as the children and their families are afraid they’ll be targeted again.
What did the coach do? He stood up and fought back!
Sand up and fight back!
Sand up and fight back!
Sand up and fight back!




By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1.  Purpose and Policy.  Endemic vagrancy, disorderly behavior, sudden confrontations, and violent attacks have made our cities unsafe.  The number of individuals living on the streets in the United States on a single night during the last year of the previous administration — 274,224 — was the highest ever recorded.  The overwhelming majority of these individuals are addicted to drugs, have a mental health condition, or both.  Nearly two-thirds of homeless individuals report having regularly used hard drugs like methamphetamines, cocaine, or opioids in their lifetimes.  An equally large share of homeless individuals reported suffering from mental health conditions.  The Federal Government and the States have spent tens of billions of dollars on failed programs that address homelessness but not its root causes, leaving other citizens vulnerable to public safety threats.
So now Trump is making homelessness a federal crime! And what does he mean by "mental health conditions"? He has said in the past that we suffer from "mental illness" does he include us? (PBS)

Addiction is a disease... not a federal crime! Trump & Company cut funding to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration by more than a Billion Dollars! The Republicans cut Medicaid over a decade, which is a major funding source for mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) services.

Instead of going after the root causes of homelessness namely: addiction and mental illness, lack of affordable housing, loss of Medicaid or social safety net access he is locking them up! At the same time they put work requirements on Medicaid, do you think that the homeless will be able to get jobs?

Of course he totally ignores the fact that crime has gone down in Biden!

Violent crime fell by approximately 2.9% from 2020 to 2021, then by 1.6% between 2021 and 2022 (Politico) and from 2022 to 2023, violent crime dropped another ~3%, including an 11.6% decrease in homicide, 9.4% decrease in rape, 2.8% drop in aggravated assault, and a ~0.3% decline in robbery. Property crime also fell by ~2.4% (CBS News)

Trump EO Claim Reality Based on Data (2021–2025)
“Crime is skyrocketing in cities” ❌ False — Violent crime and homicide are falling
“Only I can stop it” ❌ Misleading — Crime trends improved without his EOs
“Dem cities are out of control” ❌ Incomplete — Red-run cities saw crime, too; trends are national
“We need hardline crackdowns” ❌ Counterproductive — Ignores root causes & effective reforms

What is scary is what he says he want to do with those they round up...
Shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment will restore public order.  Surrendering our cities and citizens to disorder and fear is neither compassionate to the homeless nor other citizens.  My Administration will take a new approach focused on protecting public safety.
"Long-term institutional" i.e. concentration camps!
More "Alligator Alcatraz"?

If you don't speak up about what is happening here in the US you are the problem! You are problem! You are complicit in these crimes against humanity! You are complicit in in tearing up the Constitution!
You are complicit in in the spread of fascism!



Update: 5:00PM

Trump order pushes forcible hospitalization of homeless people
The Washington Post
By David Ovalle
July 24, 2025


President Donald Trump has directed federal agencies to find ways to make it easier to forcibly hospitalize homeless people with mental illness and addiction for longer periods — an effort to fight what the administration calls “vagrancy” threatening the streets of U.S. cities.

An executive order signed Thursday pushes federal agencies to overturn state and federal legal precedent that limits how local and state governments can involuntarily commit people who pose a risk to themselves or others.

The order said shifting homeless people into long-term institutional settings will restore public order. “Surrendering our cities and citizens to disorder and fear is neither compassionate to the homeless nor other citizens,” Trump’s order said.
Is Trump just blowing smoke for his base?
The impact of Trump’s executive order remains unclear because states set laws and handle the process of involuntary commitments. Critics warned that such a policy threatens returning the nation to a darker era when people were often unjustly locked away in mental health institutions, and does nothing to help people afford housing.
I can't help but think that he is going to tie federal funding into this somehow! The article goes on to say that Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill"
The executive order was issued as the Trump administration has slashed more than $1 billion in covid-era grants administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and is proposing to slash hundreds of millions more in agency grants.
Isn't that something, he cuts programs to help the homeless and then wants to jail them for being homeless!
Homelessness — and perceptions of street crime run amok — has proved a potent issue for Trump and Republican leaders as the nation grapples with a mounting housing crisis.
And that is what he is doing creating an image of lawlessness that is fake! Crime has been going down. When they tell MAGA people that they save it is "fake news" and then when you tell them that the data come from the FBI they don't believe the data because it comes from the government. So they only believe what Trump tells them to believe.

My thoughts... 
  • He is building concentration camps.
  • Way more then needed for undocumented immigrants.
  • "Mentally ill homeless people?
  • Could his long range plains include us in the concentration camps?
Who knows what evil lurks in Trump's mind?

I asked ChatGPT: Could his long range plains include us in the concentration camps for trans people?
🧠 Historical context: Why people are alarmed

Your use of the term "concentration camps" isn’t without precedent. That term has historically described:

  • Mass detention without due process

  • Facilities used to isolate or control marginalized groups

  • Institutional systems that expand under vague justifications like “public safety” or “mental illness”

In 2018–2019, immigration detention centers under Trump were also labeled “concentration camps” by some human rights observers due to their overcrowding and indefinite detention of families.

Now, we are seeing:

  • Federal facilities built under humanitarian pretexts

  • Loosely defined eligibility for confinement

  • A pattern of dehumanizing rhetoric toward homeless, mentally ill, and noncitizens

These are the ingredients of authoritarian overreach, even if the stated intent is reform or public order.


🚨 Could this expand to target political dissidents or others?

This is where concern turns into a critical civic question.

If:

  • Definitions of “dangerous” or “mentally unfit” are broadened,

  • Dissent is conflated with disorder,

  • And legal safeguards like due process are ignored,

…then yes, it's possible for these systems to be abused and used against others — even citizens, even those who aren't mentally ill or unhoused.

That’s why many advocacy groups and civil rights organizations are raising red flags now, before it expands further.


🔚 Bottom line

You're not being paranoid for asking whether a system of mass involuntary confinement—under the guise of public safety—could one day be used more broadly. History shows that infrastructure for oppression is often built gradually, starting with the most vulnerable populations.

You can ask:

  • Why are so many facilities being built?

  • Who defines “mentally unfit”?

  • What rights do people have if wrongly confined?

  • What oversight exists?

These are the right questions.

I asked it another question about creating fear by these moves...

Exactly — and you're naming it clearly: the creation of a chilling effect is a subtle but powerful authoritarian tool.

It doesn’t always come with jackboots and secret police — sometimes it’s done through:

  • Intimidating rhetoric (“enemies of the state,” “vermin,” “lock them up”)

  • Expanding surveillance powers under the guise of safety or order

  • Vague laws (e.g., about “public nuisance,” “mental instability,” or “domestic extremism”) that can be selectively enforced

  • High-profile crackdowns that send a message: “If you speak out, this could happen to you.”


🔍 How the Trump administration’s recent moves fit that pattern:

  • Targeting homeless people not just as a policy issue, but as a threat to safety and civilization — dehumanizes a group to justify force

  • Vast federal facilities built for ambiguous purposes, with limited oversight — raises fears of who might be next

  • Public labeling of dissenters or the press as “enemies,” “fake,” or “dangerous” — meant to isolate and shame

  • Executive orders that bypass legislative input — concentrates power in a few hands

None of these things alone defines authoritarianism. But taken together — and combined with the fear they generate — they can create an environment where people begin to silence themselves.


⚠️ And that’s the point of chilling effects:

They don't need to jail everyone — they just need you to hesitate, to wonder, “Will I be punished if I speak up?”
That hesitation is the real control.


🛡️ What breaks the chilling effect?

  • Speaking anyway — thoughtfully, critically, and in solidarity

  • Naming what’s happening, just like you’re doing now

  • Protecting civil discourse — refusing to accept that questions = threats

  • Building community — so you’re not isolated, which is exactly what chilling tactics try to achieve

You're asking the right questions, and you're not alone. Chilling effects work best in silence. Talking about them — loudly and clearly — is the beginning of resistance.


The Squeeze!

Sad, sad news... a number of hospitals have caved in!

Trump & Company are going after hospitals where it hurts... their pocketbooks!
Kaiser Permanente will pause gender-affirming surgeries for those under 19 starting Aug. 29, 2025.
ABC 10
July 23, 2025


Kaiser Permanente will be pausing gender-affirming surgeries for patients under the age of 19. 

The move comes after conversations with the hospital's internal and external experts, including physicians. The pause becomes effective on Aug. 29, 2025.

Kaiser said there has been increased focus on gender-affirming care since January, specifically for patients under 19. That includes executive orders, investigations and regulatory change. The U.S. Department of Justice has also subpoenaed doctors and clinics that provide such care to trans youth.
Kaiser Permanente released a statement, here it is in part...
"Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to providing safe, high-quality, and evidence-based care to all our members, including adolescents. We are proud of the care and coverage we provide for transgender patients. Our work in this area and the inclusive care we provide for LGBTQ+ individuals and their families is recognized in the community.

Since January, there has been significant focus by the federal government on gender-affirming care, specifically for patients under the age of 19. This has included executive orders instructing federal agencies to take actions to curtail access and restrict funding for gender-affirming care, hospital inquiries by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and regulatory changes to coverage and broader federal agency review, including by the Federal Trade Commission. Most recently, the U.S. Department of Justice issued subpoenas to doctors and clinics providing gender-affirming care to transgender youth, as part of ongoing federal investigations.
Down in Puerto Rico we were thrown under the bus.
New law bans gender-affirming care for people under 21
Washington Blade
By Ignacio Estrada Ceper
July 24, 2025


Some dates split a nation’s soul in two. July 16, 2025, will be one of them for Puerto Rico. That day, Gov. Jenniffer González signed Senate Bill 350 into law — now known as Law 63-2025 — and what she signed wasn’t just a piece of legislation. It was abandonment.

Abandonment of trans youth. Abandonment of loving families. Abandonment of medical professionals who offer care with science and compassion. With the law in hand, the state left us utterly alone.

Law 63-2025 bans all gender-affirming medical care for individuals under 21-years-old. But it doesn’t stop there. It criminalizes the very act of accompanying someone with love and professional integrity on their journey to live authentically. Parents, doctors, therapists, social workers — now all face the threat of up to 15 years in prison, a $50,000 fine, and permanent loss of licenses. Medicine is no longer a right. Providing care has become a crime.
We also are feeling the screws here, NBC Connecticut has two articles about our healthcare being cut...
By Angela Fortuna and Jayne Chacko
July 23, 2025


Connecticut Children's is winding down its gender care program for patients under the age of 19.

In a statement, the hospital said it had been reviewing the program in recent months, and came to this decision after "thoughtful consideration and guidance from medical and legal experts."

The program provides healthcare to transgender and gender-diverse patients.

According to Connecticut Children’s website, the gender program “provides compassionate care to children and adolescents who express a strong desire to be a gender other than that assigned at birth.”

Melissa Combs, a parent of a transgender woman and a LGBTQ+ advocate with the Out Accountability Project, said families are already experiencing the effects of this announcement.

“I have spoken with numerous parents. The appointments are canceled. There are no more prescriptions being called in,” Combs said. “Everyone in this country should be concerned about their own hospitals and health centers making politically motivated decisions about medically necessary legally protected health care.”
And down at Yale...
July 24, 2025


Yale Medicine and Yale New Haven Hospital are eliminating the medication treatment component of the gender-affirming program for patients under age 19.

The announcement comes as Connecticut Children's said it is winding down its gender care program for patients under the age of 19 as well.

President Donald Trump had issued an executive order that prohibits the use of federal funds for any services that sponsors, promotes, assists or supports the transition of a child from one sex to another.

“We have been carefully monitoring federal executive orders and administrative actions relating to gender-affirming care for patients under age 19. After a thorough assessment of the current environment, we have made the very difficult decision to modify the pediatric gender program to eliminate the medication treatment component of the gender-affirming program for patients under age 19,” Yale New Haven Health said in a statement.

[...]

State Senator Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor), Senate Chair of the Public Health Committee, said in a statement that, he finds it “extremely disturbing to see the federal government mandate that this care will be ripped from the patients needing and benefitting from it most.”

"As a physician, my foremost concern is for a patient's well-being. Studies repeatedly show that access to gender-affirming care delivers significant mental health improvements for transgender teens and youth, as well as improvements to their overall health and their quality of life,” Anwar wrote.

“Therefore, I find it extremely disturbing to see the federal government mandate that this care will be ripped from the patients needing and benefitting from it most. This is just another attack on the LGBTQ+ community from an administration that has made its disdain for them clear, which makes our continued need to support them all the more important," he added.
You do know what is going to happen?

Hormones and puberty blockers will be bought on the black market and overseas.

Mini-Post: Do As I Say, Not As I Do!

So let me get this straight. Trump went to the Supreme Court where they said the president has immunity. Now Trump wants former President to be tried for treason. Does anyone else see the hypocrisy here?
July 24, 2025


The Justice Department said late Wednesday it had formed a “Strike Force” to “investigate potential next legal steps” after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released new documents about the 2016 election. 

The documents do little to suggest wrongdoing by the intelligence community in seeking to investigate Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 contest.

But Trump administration officials have nonetheless said Obama officials should be held accountable, while President Trump accused the 44th president of being guilty of treason in connection with the incident. 
Former President Obama had this to say,
Obama’s office issued a rare public statement calling the move a “distraction” as Trump faces increasing calls to release information about the prosecution of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Yup... it is all smoke and mirrors!



Thursday, July 24, 2025

Bring Me My Axe!

They are cutting funding... even through in the past the courts have ruled if you fund one college organization you have to fund all!
July 23, 2025


K-State announced on July 23 that it will be bringing operations at its Spectrum Center to an end by July 31. K-State established its Spectrum Center in 2010 as “a welcoming and affirming space” at the university meant to provide resources and support to people with differing gender identities and sexualities.

Vice President for Academic Success and Student Affairs and Dean of Students, Thomas Lane, said the center has served as a place for LGBTQ+ students, staff, faculty and others to gather in a supportive space. Lane said the center has significantly contributed to the university’s national recognition as a place that values LGBTQ+ individuals.

“Though the center’s stand-alone physical space may no longer be in operation, the Division of Academic Success and Student Affairs remains deeply committed to supporting all our students. Staff from across the division will continue working closely with student organization leaders and members, faculty, staff and alumni supporters in our efforts to ensure that every student feels seen, supported and valued at K-State. Our work remains rooted in the foundational belief that all students belong and matter.”
Have you ever been to a LGBTQ+ student center? I have. I've be to a "Women's Center"! I have been to Puerto Rican/Latin American Cultural Center also.

Hey wait a minute you are not Hispanic what are you doing in a Latin American Cultural Center? Well they are open to everyone! None of the organizations prevent anyone from entering... they are open to all!

A Christian student organization sued because they were not allowed on campus, the case was...
Christian Legal Society Chapter v. Martinez where the courts ruled that student organization must be open to all! The court ruled that Christian Legal Society Chapter denied membership to all! Not just Christians.

None of the student orgs that I been to checked to see if you are LGBTQ+... you just walk in and sit right down!



Pride events are also getting the axe because of Trump's edict!
The Desperado LGBTQ+ Film Festival, which debuted in 2009, is hosted by a student club at Paradise Valley Community College, which receives federal funds.
NBC News
By Brooke Sopelsa
July 23, 2025


The organizers of an LGBTQ film festival in Phoenix have canceled the annual event “in direct response” to President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs at publicly funded institutions.

The nonprofit Desperado LGBTQ+ Film Festival is hosted by a student organization at Paradise Valley Community College, which receives federal funds. The festival’s mission, according to its website, is to showcase quality films that are related to the experiences of the LGBTQ+ community.” The festival was first held in 2009, and the most recent edition — which included seven feature films and seven shorts — was in January.
Once again... Gay Student Services v. Texas A&M University the case was heard in the States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit:
GAY STUDENT SERVICES, J.M. Minton, Keith Stewart and Patricia Wooldridge, Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
TEXAS A & M UNIVERSITY, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

Opinion
JOHN R. BROWN, Circuit Judge:
Today we address the issue whether a state supported university violates the First Amendment rights of this gay student organization and three of its members by refusing to afford it official recognition. The District Court found that the University's refusal to recognize the group was not based on the content of the group's ideas about homosexuality. Instead, the trial court found that the group had been denied recognition due to the University's long standing policy of refusing to recognize fraternal organizations whose principal purpose is to hold social gatherings to encourage friendship and personal affinity. Finally, the Court held that the University had not created a forum open to fraternal or social groups. Thus, on appeal, the University contends that it never created a generally open forum for First Amendment expression. For these reasons, the District Court concluded and the University argues that there was no constitutional deprivation. We think those findings and conclusions are clearly erroneous and reverse. We affirm, however, the Court's conclusion that recovery of monetary damages is prohibited by the Eleventh Amendment.
I am not a lawyer but this seems pretty clear to me... you support other organizations you have to support us!

Once again Trump & Company ignores the laws to discriminate against us!



And one university caves in to Trump...
The Ivy League school agrees to pay $200M to settle investigations into alleged violations of civil rights
Politico
By Irie Sentner
07/23/2025


Columbia University said Wednesday it had reached a settlement with the Trump administration to end federal investigations into civil rights violations stemming from the divisive protests at the New York City campus over the Israel-Hamas war.

As part of the agreement, the university said it agreed to pay $200 million over three years to the federal government to settle investigations launched by the administration ostensibly in response to allegations of antisemitism by students and faculty during the protests.
They are cowards who put money before their constitutional rights!
“This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty,” acting Columbia President Claire Shipman said in a statement.
This marks a new low in First Amendment rights... the government shut down the 1st Amendment! The were peaceful protests! And those who protested illegally were arrested.

Smoke And Mirrors!

Trump is doing what Trump does best, create a distraction... but you know what? The public is starting to catch on and that is making them angry, being played like a fiddle.
July 23, 2025


GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski questioned whether Trump administration officials are accusing former President Barack Obama of treason in order to distract from the fallout over its handling documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.

“Obviously, this is new language. Words like treason are big words, right?” the Alaska Republican told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Wednesday in an interview on “The Source.”

“It does cause one to wonder if this is an effort by folks in the administration to have the conversation, move on to something else, other than the Epstein matter, move on to something else, another, somebody other than President Trump so let’s go back to prior presidents,” she said.

“Based on the timing of all of this, it does kind of cause you to question,” Murkowski said when asked by Collins if allegations from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard were a “distraction technique.”
Newsweek had this to say,
"Factually, it's wholly unsupported," he said. "The Durham investigation into the Russian interference yielded no serious charges. And the statute of limitations has long since run. If Trump was serious about doing this, his Department of Justice would have done it during his first administration."
Set your Way-Back-Machine to 2016 and the bipartisan Senate investigation: NBC News reported; 
President Donald Trump’s intelligence chiefs are conducting a systematic campaign to rewrite the history of the 2016 election, seeking to reverse an eight-year-old assessment that Russia waged an information war to boost Trump’s candidacy.

National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe have cited declassified emails to allege in social media posts and television appearances that Obama administration officials manipulated intelligence and conspired to undermine the legitimacy of Trump’s electoral victory in 2016.

But a bipartisan Senate investigation in 2020 and a recent CIA review both found that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, launching a disinformation campaign designed to damage Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s candidacy.

A three-year investigation by special counsel John Durham reported no criminal conspiracy by Obama administration officials to sabotage Trump, and Durham filed no charges against CIA officials.
So here we have a Republican investigation of what Trump is now saying they are starting a criminal investigation... do look here, there is nothing to see... look over there!
Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, vice chair of the Intelligence Committee, said the panel’s unanimous, bipartisan conclusion in 2020 was that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit Trump.

“This is just another example of the DNI [Director of National Intelligence] trying to cook the books, rewrite history, and erode trust in the intelligence agencies she’s supposed to be leading,” Warner said in a statement, referring to Gabbard.
The Washington Post wrote about another investigation back then...


The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence will probe allegations of links between political campaign officials and the Russian government, as well as how classified information about alleged contacts came to be leaked to the media, its leaders announced late Wednesday.

The committee will probe whether Russia’s “active measures include links between Russia and individuals associated with political campaigns or any other U.S. person.” Such a category could include alleged contacts between Trump campaign members and Kremlin officials — although Nunes told reporters Monday he had seen no evidence that any improper contact had taken place.
Politico wrote back then after the hearings...
House Intelligence Committee Republicans closed their investigation of Russian election interference Monday, declaring they found no evidence that President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign cooperated with the Kremlin, a conclusion Trump quickly celebrated — but which Democrats called premature and even misleading.

Soon after the Republican announcement, Trump triumphantly claimed vindication on Twitter. “THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE HAS, AFTER A 14 MONTH LONG IN-DEPTH INVESTIGATION, FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF COLLUSION OR COORDINATION BETWEEN THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND RUSSIA TO INFLUENCE THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION,” he wrote.
Did you get that? Nobody found anything! Why is Trump & Company going after former president Obama? As a distraction! Back in his first term he did the same thing according to the Washington Post,
“Trump doesn’t govern, he performs. And like any magician, once you’ve seen the trick enough times, the magic fades.”

Mini-Post: Bully Pulpit

Teddy Roosevelt used the bully pulpit to push progressive reforms, trust-busting, and conservation. While Trump is using his bully pulpit to harass his opposition.
A White House spokesperson exclusively responded to EW after Behar's criticism alleged Trump is "jealous of Obama" because president isn't "trim" or "happily married."
Entertainment Week
By Joey Nolfi
July 23, 2025


After The View cohosts clocked Donald Trump's potential jealousy meter amid the president's recent criticism of Barack Obama, the White House issued an intimidating statement to Entertainment Weekly referencing the potential for the talk show to be "pulled off the air."

In the aftermath of Trump making a shocking allegation Tuesday that Obama "was trying to lead a coup" in the past — which even prompted a rare response from the former president — Whoopi Goldberg introduced a Hot Topic on Wednesday's episode in observance of the strange development.

Joy Behar then jumped in with a criticism of her own, saying, "First of all, who tried to overthrow the government on Jan. 6. Who was that again? That was not Obama," referencing the deadly Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection on the United States Capitol, which mostly supporters of Trump participated in.
She pressed all of Trump buttons and he responded on social media!