"Lock 'em up"

And throw away the key, the is the Republican philosophy. They're "Tough On Crime" however it doesn't work!

Scotland was the 'murder capital of Europe'. Then it started treating violence like a disease

BBC News

29 June 2026

Eve Livingston

In the early 2000s you were three times more likely to be assaulted in Scotland than in the US. But when the Scottish authorities started looking at violent crime as a public health problem, levels plummeted and the country now ranks among some of the safest in the world.

It was no ordinary day in court. There was no jury, no witnesses or defendants at Glasgow Sheriff Court on 24 October 2008. Instead, in front of the judge, who was dressed in full regalia, were 85 rival gang members from the east end of Glasgow, Scotland's biggest city.

For decades, the area had been plagued by territorial youth gangs, organised crime and fights over drugs and weapons, with knife crime an almost daily occurrence.

Despite their ongoing feuds, the assembled gang members fell silent as they were addressed in turn by a range of speakers. A mother described seeing her son's unrecognisable face after a gang-related machete attack at age 13. An American basketball player recalled losing his brother to gun violence. Doctors and surgeons described brutal lacerations and permanent disfigurements.

The message was clear: the violence has to stop.

But it is not the message that the Republicans push!

In Idaho they are tough on drugs! But it can snare unsuspecting women who get caught in their traps!

How THC tests have landed more than a thousand new mothers onto child abuse registries

CBS Sunday Morning

By Erin Moriarty

August 9, 2026

Giving birth to her fourth child in January of 2021 was life-changing, says Nicole Hamann, but not in the way she ever imagined. While still at the hospital, Hamann was informed that both she and her newborn tested positive for a trace amount of THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana. [A urine test is given to mothers, which is followed up by testing the umbilical cord.] "I felt like, all of the sudden, I was a criminal," Hamann said.

"Through all of my pregnancies, I took very good care of myself and my body. Now all of the sudden, I have these people making me feel guilt and shame and fear."

Hamann lives in Idaho, where marijuana is illegal. But a month before giving birth, Hamann, who has no criminal record, says she accidentally ate a pot-laced brownie at a relative's home in Oregon, where marijuana is legal. She says no one was interested in hearing her explanation of why she had THC in her system.

But that was enough to sic the hounds on her!

Child and Family Services began an investigation immediately, because in Idaho (and a number of other states), a single positive test result of THC in a newborn is considered presumptive evidence of child abuse.

"They knocked on my door, and there was an officer standing with them, a police officer," Hamann said.

Here in Connecticut it would have been handled a lot different! It wouldn't have escalated to criminal charges right off the bat!

Take a look at Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire verses Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas.

Maine recorded just 100.1 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. New Hampshire recorded 110.1, and Connecticut 136.0. Massachusetts was higher at 314.7, but still below the national rate of 359.1. Now look at the four states we're putting in the “lock ’em up” category; Louisiana recorded 519.8 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. Arkansas recorded 579.4, Tennessee 592.3, and Texas 389.4. Put another way, the violent-crime rate in Tennessee was almost six times the rate in Maine. Arkansas was nearly six times Maine's rate. Louisiana's rate was more than five times Maine's.

Now just look at Texas, they had a violent-crime rate almost four times that of Maine and more than three times that of Connecticut.

But perhaps the most important numbers aren't the violent-crime rates. They're the incarceration rates.

The Prison Policy Initiative's 2024 state data show an incarceration rate of 272 per 100,000 residents in Maine, 278 in New Hampshire, 326 in Connecticut, and 241 in Massachusetts.

Compare that with 1,067 in Louisiana, 912 in Arkansas, 817 in Tennessee, and 751 in Texas.

There it is.

The states in our “lock ’em up” group are incarcerating people at dramatically higher rates than the four New England states.

And yet they are not safer. In fact, three of the four, Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee, have violent-crime rates substantially higher than the national average. Texas is also above the national average. Meanwhile, Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut have among the lowest violent-crime rates in the country. Massachusetts is below the national average as well.

But when the Republican cry "We are tough on crime, unlike those pansy liberals!" Their MAGA crowd all cheer on.

It Has Changed.

The other day I pulled in to the Stop & Shop, and when I came out, I looked around my car... BMWs, Mercedes, Escalades, and Porsches. Yeah, I saw them all before, but they seem to have taken over the lot.

Wicked Local writes... in Two 'quirky' Massachusetts town are some of the best East Coast trips...

Provincetown, Massachusetts

World Atlas named Provincetown, also known as P-Town, as one of the quirkiest and most fun towns to visit on the East Coast because of how much it offers its visitors.

"Victorian buildings house working art galleries beside bookstores, bakeries, and drag performance venues, which gives the street a mix few other New England downtowns can match," World Atlas said.

Yes, they are all still there, but the quaint little stores are disappearing, and the quaint little restaurants are disappearing. They are going upscale! The weathered storefronts are being replaced by steel and glass. The one- and two-story buildings that have been there for centuries are now being turned into three-story, million-dollar condos. The old Bohemian atmosphere is disappearing, replaced by conspicuous consumption. It's turning into Yuppieville!

I know someone who worked there for well over a dozen years, but not anymore; he cannot find a place to stay. It was gay heaven for us, but now it is GAY INC. heaven. You see the BLING they're wearing. It reminds me of... of... of... Fire Island on Long Island, NY.

The Truth.

Under our Constitution… you, the military are answerable to us. The voters.

And we demand that our congressional representatives get answers from the administration to the following questions:

1. How much damage was done to the U.S. military bases in the Middle East?
2. Are the reports true that some of these bases are unusable?
3. Was the damage the cause of the resupply problems with the USS Abraham Lincoln?

Then there are questions about who was fired or removed from positions within the U.S. intelligence establishment — including the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the NSA, and parts of military intelligence:

4. Did these changes affect the intelligence used in the bombing of the school in Iran?
5. Did these changes affect the planning to protect our military bases in the region?
6. Did these changes affect the deployment of ships to rotate in and out of the Middle East?
7. Did these changes affect logistics and resupply for the Middle East combat zone?

I think we need to find out whether all of this was the result of incompetence, a political agenda, or both.

They Don’t Come Back!

One thing that we have learned from Trump’s “Tariff Yo-Yo” is that they don’t come back! Businesses find other suppliers.

Trump accuses Canada of wanting ‘benefits of being a State, without being one’ amid trade war

The Hill

by Tara Suter

08/23/26

President Trump on Sunday claimed that Canada desires the “benefits of being a state, without being one” amid trade tensions between the U.S. and its northern neighbor.

“Canada wants the benefits of being a State, without being one!!! They have also charged our great farmers, for many years, massive amounts of Tariffs. No more!!!” the president said in an early morning Truth Social post.

On Saturday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that his country would implement retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. starting on Sep. 8, responding to the Trump administration’s new 50 percent tariffs, which just went into effect.

During a press conference, Carney said that Canada would “match Washington’s new tariffs dollar for dollar in order to protect Canadian workers, farmers, families and businesses.”

But it is much more than the tariffs… once businesses find another supplier, they don’t come back! Trump isn’t just shooting himself in the foot; he is doing it to the whole nation! The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) writes:

We use the 2018-2019 U.S. trade war to examine how supply chains adjustments to a tariff cost shock affect imports and exports. Using confidential firm-trade linked data, we show that the decline in imports of tariffed goods was driven by discontinuations of U.S. buyer–foreign supplier relationships, reduced formation of new relationships, and exits by U.S. firms from import markets altogether. However, tariffed products where imports were concentrated in fewer suppliers had a smaller decline in import growth. We then construct measures of export exposure to import tariffs by linking tariffs paid by importing firms to their exported products. We find that the most exposed products had lower exports in 2018-2019, with most of the impact occurring in 2019.

A tariff doesn't necessarily cause a business to bring production home. It can cause the business to find a different foreign supplier. And once the new supply chain is established, lowering the tariff doesn't necessarily undo that decision.

They don’t come back! Think about it. If you are having problems with Supplier A and now you are doing business with Supplier B… would you go back to Supplier A?

Trump is doing what Trump does best... wreck things. What a loser... but sadly he is the head of our country.

[/Editorial]

When Else?

[Editorial]

I am going to ask one single question: When else did we see a government lock up the disabled?

People are worried about the handwriting on the wall. What they are hearing makes many people very, very nervous. Back in the 50s and 60s, people were warehoused in “institutions,” and there still are some “institutions,” but I believe they are now only for those “who need the care.”

But that is the $64,000 question… who decides who needs to be warehoused?

They grew up with disability rights. Now, they're fighting to keep them

August 20, 20265:00 AM ET

Heard on All Things Considered

Jonaki Mehta

Cody and Kaleigh Brendle grew up near the Jersey Shore, going out on their grandfather's boat on weekends, learning to swim and riding bikes together.

"I was the annoying little sister — like, 'Wait for me, wait for me!'" said Kaleigh. She remembered standing by in awe at summer camp as her fearless older brother scaled rock-climbing walls and went down waterslides. "I was like, 'Wow, he's doing all this — maybe I can try.'"

The siblings said they've always relied on each other for support navigating life as two blind kids, now adults. Cody, 27, lives at home with his parents, and Kaleigh, 23, is starting law school across the country.

We have learned that it is much better for the person to be able to live at home… however it is much more expensive. But it depends upon the level of assistance. Do they need only someone to clean and cook for them? Or do they need 24-hour care?

In practice, the integration mandate requires that states provide people with disabilities the services they need to thrive in their homes or communities — in other words, in the most integrated setting possible. For someone with intellectual or developmental disabilities, that could mean a personal care worker helping them to get dressed or eat, or a case manager helping them find a job or housing, among other services.

But you know what? It is cheaper to warehouse them… stick them all in a warehouse. Cheaper than humane care. But do you know who will not get warehoused? The billionaires! The ones who can afford it. So not only do we have a “K” economy, we have a “K” healthcare system.

NPR’s All Things Considered goes on to say:

Now, a lawsuit brought by several Republican-led states, Texas v. Kennedy, is working its way through the courts. The plaintiffs argue that the federal government cannot require states to provide disability services in the community rather than in institutions. Then, in June, the Department of Justice (DOJ), which enforces the integration mandate, issued a legal opinion taking a similar position — essentially aligning itself with the plaintiffs in the case. "Congress has not imposed an integration mandate on states," the memo reads. It goes on to say the Olmstead decision "held only that a state cannot institutionalize such patients without justification. … What counts as adequate justification remains an open question." In July, the DOJ also clarified that it would no longer enforce Olmstead in the same way it had in the past.

See, we get down to who decides? Who decides, the conservatives or the liberals?

I watched the movie Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson, where a lesbian was committed to an insane asylum in 1924, just because of her sexual orientation. Will trans people be locked away in an insane asylum… out of sight, out of mind?

It all boils down to ideology: liberals = us, conservatives = me. Liberals care about others. We care about people. We care about healthcare. We care about the environment. We care about future generations.

We don’t put profits before the lives of people. We don’t put profits ahead of the environment. We don’t put our profits ahead of our future generations.

Here is an aside: Do you know why wine is only around 18 to 20 percent alcohol?

Well, it turns out all those greedy yeasts see all that sugar and go bananas, starting to gobble up all that sugar! Oh, they can’t get enough. They poison themselves to death. Their waste is alcohol. They actually shit themselves to death.

The Republicans see humane care for the disabled as a drain upon their wealth! Lock them behind walls, and no one can see them. Then you can give the contracts to warehouse and feed them to your billionaire friends.

They have said that the homeless should be housed. They have said that trans people should be housed.

I go back to my first question: When else did we see a government lock up the disabled? Who got paid to build the concentration camps?

One last thought. From the archaeological record of prehistoric humans caring for injured and disabled members of their groups through the historical record, we see evidence of something that predates governments, political parties, and economic systems: people taking care of people.

Are we better than them?

[/Editorial]

Off To The Race

What are your thoughts on today's race?

Trump’s IndyCar race: Doing 200 in a 25 mph zone with manhole cover-displacing torque

AP News

By  WILL WEISSERT

August 6, 2026

The speed limit along Pennsylvania Avenue is 25 mph.

But the open-wheel race cars roaring through the longest straightaway of the upcoming Washington IndyCar race organized by President Donald Trump could be going nearly eight times that fast.

“If we did that during the regular day, I think people would be put in jail, perhaps for the rest of their lives,” Trump joked recently while hosting an IndyCar pit crew at the White House to hype the Freedom 250 Grand Prix.

The race, scheduled for Aug. 22 and 23, features vehicles that typically reach street-course speeds approaching 200 mph and have enough torque to tear off manhole covers. It is the latest — and the fastest — of the major events Trump has hosted against the backdrop of America’s 250th birthday, a larger celebration he has made as much about himself as possible.

[...]

The IndyCar event will be 250 miles (400 kilometers) over 147 laps on a 1.66-mile (2.67-kilometer) track featuring seven turns. Series owner Roger Penske, whom Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019, led the effort to make the race happen in the District of Columbia. He gave the president a racing helmet, urging him to wear it “when you’re riding around in The Beast, leading the field to the green flag” — a traditional prerace kickoff that may feature the presidential limo.

So what do you think?

online polls

Duh... They Don't Think Of Trans Men

In their animosity toward trans women, the conservatives didn't even think about trans men... in their fear: "Oh God... men will dress as women and rape our girls in the bathrooms!" But look what they created! This is from back in 2017.

Transgender teen wrestler who's used to winning on mat now has a bigger, though partial, victory

Mack Beggs won Texas state girls' title but wants to compete against boys.

ABC News

ByMORGAN WINSOR

March 27, 2017

Already accustomed to winning on the mat, transgender teen wrestler Mack Beggs can now enjoy another victory -- a change in policy that will allow him to compete in some matches against boys, the gender with which he identifes.

The organization that governs amateur wrestling in the United States recently changed its policy to allow transgender wrestlers to compete against the gender which they declare as their own.

[...]

The student won the Texas state girls' title in wrestling last month, capping off a season in which he was undefeated -- but one that drew controversy.

And now we have...

Kansas Trans Guys Are Using Women’s Bathrooms, as Legally Required, as a Form of Protest

A group of transgender men who call themselves the "SB244 compliance crew” have been using women’s bathrooms in protest of a Kansas law that mandates that they do so.

them

By Quispe López

August 20, 2026

Not all heroes wear capes. Some just use the bathroom. A group of transgender men who call themselves the “compliance crew” have been using women’s bathrooms in protest of a Kansas law that mandates that they do so.

The new law, Senate Bill 244, went into effect in February of this year, after the state legislature successfully overrode Democratic governor Laura Kelly’s veto on February 13, and requires all people to use sex-separated facilities in government-owned properties that correspond with their assigned sex at birth, effectively banning trans people from the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity. The law also incentivizes everyday people to call the police and sue for damages up to $1,000 if they believe they’ve shared the bathroom with a trans person violating it.

According to the ACLU of Kansas, this extends to restrooms and locker rooms, with an additional provision that prohibits trans people from updating their driver’s licenses and state IDs to reflect their gender. The wide-ranging law caused panic when it went into effect earlier this year, as it also invalidated licenses that had gender markers that do not correspond with someone’s assigned sex at birth.

Naturally, as with other anti-trans laws across the country, it is already causing confusion around enforcement, as a trans woman was charged in June for presenting a police officer with a driver’s license that contained a male sex marker, which the new law mandates, though the charges have since been dropped. But if it’s confusion they want, it’s confusion the “compliance crew” seems ready to create.

The group was created by a transgender man named Charles Osman immediately after the law went into effect. Per KCUR, the local NPR affiliate for Kansas City, the compliance crew began going into public women’s restrooms, in a form of protest known as malicious compliance, which involves following a law to its exact phrasing rather than the way it might have been intended, which in this case is likely discouraging trans people from using public restrooms altogether. So far, they have done so in a public library, swimming pool, and water parks across the state, making the point that the law causes discomfort for everyone involved.

I think that it is terrific. It shows how stupid the conservatives are in their hatred of us.

The excuse the Republicans give is to protect women from monsters, but they have actually made it much worse! Now, thanks to the Republicans, they can just walk right in!

And the Supreme Court just put in its two cents, the Constitutional Center writes:

On Tuesday, a divided Supreme Court held that state lawmakers can regulate gender identity in scholastic sports competitions, and in particular, block transgender students born as biological men from competing in women’s and girls’ sports.

On January 13, 2026, the justices heard oral arguments for three hours in both West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox, a case from Idaho. Tuesday’s decision applied to both cases.

In his majority opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said in West Virginia v. B.P.J. that “Title IX allows schools to provide separate women’s and men’s sports teams defined by biological sex, and West Virginia has permissibly maintained female sports for biological females consistent with Title IX.”

Title IX bans discrimination based on sex in educational programs and activities that receive federal financial funds. However, the Education Amendments Act of 1974, known as the Javits Amendment, allows schools receiving funds under Title IX to establish “reasonable provisions considering the nature of particular sports.”

[...]

In his majority opinion, Kavanaugh pointed to actions taken by the former Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) in1975. “HEW promulgated comprehensive regulations requiring that schools provide ‘equal athletic opportunity for members of both sexes’ and authorizing ‘separate teams for members of each sex where selection for such teams is based upon competitive skill or the activity involved is a contact sport,’” he said.

Kavanaugh also held that “the term ‘sex’ in Title IX, the Javits Amendment, and the Title IX regulations cannot plausibly be interpreted to refer to anything other than biological sex.” He also rejected claims that the restrictions on trans athletes competing on women’s and men’s sports teams violated the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.

Of course, you all know that "cannot plausibly be interpreted to refer to anything other than biological sex" flies in the face of many other Supreme Court rulings!

Beginning with Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins (1989), the Court didn't simply hold that “sex = gender.” It held that discrimination based on sex stereotypes is sex discrimination under Title VII. And then there was Bostock v. Clayton County (2020), where the Court took that logic considerably further. It held that firing someone for being transgender necessarily involves treating that individual differently because of sex. The Court explicitly connected its reasoning to Price Waterhouse: if an employer would have made a different decision had the employee's sex been different, that is discrimination “because of sex.”

But now that all went out the door! And the Court just created a nightmare! And now, in the context of Title IX, the Court has said that the term “sex” cannot plausibly be interpreted to mean anything other than biological sex. But wait a minute... the language in Title IX and Title VII is remarkably similar. Both prohibit discrimination “because of sex.” So how did “sex” become broad enough in Bostock to encompass discrimination against transgender people, yet suddenly become so narrowly defined in Title IX that it means only biological sex?

I mean, it is so stupid! How stupid? Well, think of this: State A allows trans women to play on women's teams. Now suppose a team from a state whose rules permit a trans woman to compete qualifies for a regional competition held in a state whose rules prohibit her from competing. What happens? Is one team handicapped because it has to lose some of its players?

What a can of worms!

U.S.S. Donald Trump?

What do you think the new aircraft carrier should be named. Trump want to name it after him.

But there have been other suggestions...

online polls

Or you can suggest a name for the carrier in the comments!

Life On A Sandbar: Tell the Time of Day

When you wake up early in the morning, you can hear the traffic on Route 6—mostly truck traffic. Overnight, it is gas trucks, food trucks, and all the other things that the Cape needs. When the sound of the truck traffic dies out, you know the four-wheelers will be taking over.

There are two ways to tell if it is low tide: your nose and pickup truck traffic. If the pickup trucks are heading for the beach, it's low; conversely, if they are heading away, the tide is coming in. Huh? You see, at low tide, the oyster beds are exposed so the farmers can tend to their crop—oysters. From what I understand, as the oysters grow, they put them in larger cages.

Then there are "switch days"—Saturdays and Sundays. If you sit in P-town for brunch outside, you might hear a mysterious rumble and start looking at each other wondering what on earth that noise is. Finally, the waiter bursts out laughing and tells you what's coming: sure enough, it's a parade of people walking to the docks with suitcases on wheels. It is 11:00 AM, you have to be out of your rooms, and the ferry to Boston leaves at 11:30. The afternoon boats bring the wave in the opposite direction.

The year is divided into two seasons: the "no left turn" season, also known as summertime, and the rest of the year.

Right about now... POOF! The traffic is gone, along with the crowded streets and parking lots, the fighting for a table at a restaurant, and the rug rats. Everyone is heading back to school.

But then there are the weekends. It is like the Cape inhales and fills with cars, bikes, and surfboards. And then it exhales, and the traffic all reverses, cars with surfboards and kayaks on their roofs and bicycles on their tailgates heading back off-cape.

So this Saturday, it's cloudy, cold (mid-60s), and dreary. It is very quiet.

Saturday 9 Shoo Fly Pie!

Saturday 9: Shoo Fly Pie (and Apple Pan Dowdy) – 1946
On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…

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

This month Saturday 9 will be tasty, featuring songs with food in the title.

1) Shoo fly pie got its name from Shoo Fly the Boxing Mule. After the Civil War, the mule who could box was such a popular circus attraction that a molasses manufacturer started featuring him on their packaging. Since molasses is the key ingredient of this pie recipe, homemakers just began referring to it as "shoo fly pie." If we looked, would we find molasses in your kitchen?
Yes, but… but… it is probably over ten years old!

2) Apple pan dowdy is another uniquely American recipe from the 19th century. It's like apple pie, except it only has a top crust, which is broken up. Apples are a good source of fiber, Vitamin C and antioxidants. Do you consider nutrition when choosing a dessert? Or are you just all about how it tastes?
Well for dessert… I consider chocolate milk shake as nutritional. You see my doctor said I needed more calcium, drink more milk, so… I figured a  chocolate milk shake is just what the doctor ordered!

3) The lyrics describe these two desserts as the ultimate comfort foods, able to make "the sun come out when the heavens are cloudy." Do you find that the foods you crave change with your mood?
I am on Ozempic for my diabetes and it kills your appetite and my food craving. I can’t even finish a whole lobster! 

4) Singer June Christy pleads with her mama to whip up this "wonderful stuff." Did your mother have a dish you often requested?
My grandmother did, I loved potato pancakes. And she used to make beer cruller but the recipe was never passed on.

5) June was born in Springfield, Illinois' capital. Have you been to your state's capital city?
Ha, ha...Have I! Well let me count the ways… worked there, went to school there, went to plays, movies, and conferences there. Oh and testified there before committees and served on juries both state and federal. 

6) June spent years singing with Stan Kenton's Orchestra. At one point, she gave 38 performances in 35 towns in 35 days. That's a busy schedule! Do you thrive on activity? Or do you find yourself rejuvenated by quiet time?
Well it is getting harder getting around… my exercise is going shopping!

7) In 1946, when this record was popular, bikinis were first seen in Paris fashion shows. How often have you worn your swimsuit this summer?
Zero. This has been a cool summer as in temperature wise.

8) Also in 1946, Elias Tupper invented Tupperware, a plastic container with an airtight top that's great for preserving leftovers. Are there any leftovers in your refrigerator right now?
Yes, and it is 4 in the morning on the Saturday and the leftover spaghetti is starting to look good right about now! 

9) Random question: Is there a day of the week that goes by faster than the others?
Yes, the day that I have a doctor’s appointment, it seems like I’m always rushing… that is something special for a senior, to have to be somewhere on time. I was going to go to the post office yesterday… but it was drizzling. Maybe today, but it also says thunderstorms… so maybe Monday and Mondays are when I order my groceries for me to pick up. Oh by the way, specking of groceries, I found a place that has good meats… a fish store!

---

I had company for the week up here at the cottage, a couple a few years younger that me and they fell in love with the bike trails. They also when to Carnival which is a hoot! As my grandfather would say.