Standing The Law On It's Head

You see the White Christian Nationalist think they are being discriminated against because they can't discriminant. Hun? Yeah they are saying that they are being discriminated against because they are white.

Trump’s justice department is weaponizing civil rights laws against students of color

Claims of discrimination at UCLA and Yale show how laws meant to foster inclusion are being used for the opposite

The Guardian

ReNika Moore

Fri 5 Jun 2026

The Department of Justice’s civil rights division was once known as the crown jewel of the agency, but under Trump it has become just another tool of this administration’s politicized and racialized attacks targeting Black, Latino and other people of color. The latest examples are the sham findings of discrimination the division issued against the medical schools of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Yale University for admitting high-achieving Black and Hispanic students. The administration is cynically wielding its anti-discrimination authority to tear down civil rights advances at the cost of equal educational opportunity.

In its findings, the justice department claimed the grades and test scores of Black and Hispanic admitted applicants were less competitive than those of white and Asian admits and said the schools intentionally discriminated against white and Asian applicants. But the justice department’s conclusions overstate the difference in scores between applicants and ignore other applicant data completely, including student transcripts, letters of recommendations and essays. The differences among GPAs and test scores – one standard deviation or less – were too small to be legally or statistically significant and may be explained by random factors unrelated to race. Comparatively, two standard deviations is the commonly accepted threshold that federal courts and social scientists consider statistically significant in racial discrimination cases.

Now this is on top of the Department of Defense reportedly blocked promotions to Black and women officers!

Hegseth blocks promotion of several Navy officers to 1-star rank

Hegseth has now intervened in both the Army and Navy’s most recent promotions.

ABC News

By Luis Martinez and Steve Beynon

June 2, 2026,

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blocked the promotions to one-star admirals of several senior Navy officers who had already been selected for promotion by a board of senior Navy admirals, three sources familiar with the move told ABC News. 

Secretaries of Defense have the authority to intervene in promotion lists for reasons of cause, but it is unusual to see Hegseth now having intervened in both the Army and Navy’s most recent promotions to the one-star rank.

The Navy officers removed from the Navy’s promotion list included African Americans, women, and white males who were removed for a variety of reasons, including their participation or involvement in military Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, sources said.

You know it sure does kind of like they government is racist. They keep tiptoeing right on the boarder of racism.

dDeb/dt

You engineers out there are probably thinking what rate are we measuring? It is the rate at which the national debt is increasing. So I asked Gimini...

 I asked  Gemini to look at national deficit through an engineering lens”

 If we look at this strictly through calculus and economic modeling—treating the national debt $D$ as a function of time $t$, and evaluating the first derivative, (dD/dt) (the instantaneous velocity of debt accumulation)—the data reveals specific trends.
Currently, $\frac{dD}{dt}$ is running at a baseline rate of +$2.6 trillion to +$2.99 trillion per year. Broken down into a daily rate, the government is currently adding roughly $7.2 billion to $8.1 billion per day to the total gross national debt. 
When comparing this current derivative to the peak values of $\frac{dD}{dt}$ under recent presidents, the trajectory shows the following:
1. The Maximum Peak of (dD/dt) (2020)
The absolute highest value for (dD/dt) in modern U.S. history occurred during the spring and summer of 2020 (Trump’s first term). When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the CARES Act was passed, the debt spiked by $3 trillion in roughly three months. During that specific window, the localized rate of change surged to an unprecedented annualized velocity of +$12 trillion per year.
The current rate of roughly $2.9 trillion per year does not match that localized peak acceleration.
2. High-Velocity Baselines (2021–2024)
During the Biden administration, the baseline velocity of(dD/dt) stabilized at a historically high level. Spurred by post-pandemic packages (like the American Rescue Plan) and structural deficits, the debt regularly grew by $2 trillion to $2.5 trillion per year.
The current velocity under the second Trump administration represents a slight acceleration of that trend line, nudging closer to $3 trillion annually. This increase is driven primarily by two forces adding velocity to the derivative:
    • The Revenue/Tariff Equation: New legislation, like the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, altered tax codes and implemented new tariff structures, which shifted the baseline revenue projections. 
    • The Interest Component: Because the Federal Reserve kept interest rates elevated, the interest component of the deficit has compound velocity. The U.S. now pays over $1 trillion a year just in net interest, acting as an internal accelerator on (dD/dt) regardless of new legislation. 
3. Looking at the Second Derivative: (dD/dt) (Acceleration)
If you are tracking whether the debt growth is speeding up faster than before, you are looking at the second derivative, (dD²/dt). The most dramatic positive spikes in acceleration (dD/dt) occurred in 2009 (the onset of the Great Recession under Obama) and 2020 (the pandemic under Trump). In both of those periods, the deficit did not just grow—it multiplied rapidly from the previous year's baseline due to emergency injections

The Physics of the National Debt: Why Acceleration is the Real Danger

If you want to understand where the U.S. national debt is heading, stop looking at the total dollar amount. You need to look at the physics of the system.

In engineering, we don’t just track velocity (how fast an object is moving); we track acceleration (the rate of change of that velocity). If we treat the national debt (D) as a function of time (t), the first derivative (dD/dt) is the velocity—how many billions of dollars we pour into the deficit per day.

Right now, that velocity is staggeringly high. But the truly dangerous metric is the second derivative:

d2D

dt2

>> 0

Translation: The rate of debt growth is actively speeding up.

In plain terms, this math means we aren’t just cruising down a highway at a steady 100 mph. Our foot is actively stomped on the gas pedal, and the speedometer is climbing.

When you pair massive revenue cuts (like restricting the system's intake valves) with skyrocketing interest rates (an internal, compounding feedback loop), the system enters a phase of thermal runaway. The machine is now generating its own velocity, regardless of what we do next.

SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC:

• Mass in the Tank (D): ~$39 Trillion and climbing.
• Flow Velocity (dD/dt): ~$2.5M to $3M added per minute.
• The Friction Link: Net interest alone now consumes over $1 Trillion annually, acting as a permanent internal accelerator.

Even In Connecticut!

Yes, it is even here in Connecticut we have right-wing agitator...

Man Accused Of Disrupting Pride Month Flag Raising Ceremony In Trumbull Arrested: Police
Police said a man is accused of repeatedly disrupting an LGBTQ+ Pride Month flag raising ceremony at Town Hall while using a megaphone.
RJ Scofield,
Patch 

Posted Fri, Jun 5, 2026

 

 

  A man accused of repeatedly disrupting an LGBTQ+ Pride Month flag raising ceremony at Town Hall was arrested Thursday, according to police.

In a news release posted to Facebook, police said Albert Mastri is accused of repeatedly disrupting the ceremony while using a megaphone.

"Despite multiple warnings from officers to stop yelling at attendees, including children, the individual continued to direct disruptive and profane remarks toward the crowd," police said in a news release.

Mastri was charged with breach of peace, according to police

He was charged with breach of peace.

 

 

 

 

Dad's Story

June 6th: D-Day and Dad’s Day

Thanks to history, I could never forget my dad’s birthday.

As I look back on his life and mine, I see the stages we went through as I grew up. Like most boys, it was a bit of a "love/hate" relationship—the teenage years were rather rebellious. I think that was also partly due to his own youth.

Being Italian back in the 20s, 30s, 40s, and even into the 50s carried a heavy burden. For summer jobs, they dug ditches (more on that later). Before WWII, my father, being the oldest, went to college. He was the first in the family! He attended RPI and earned a degree in Civil Engineering. Afterward, his brothers and cousins went into home construction. While in college, my father was also in ROTC.

Then came the Great Depression. He and his brother used to joke about how my father talked them into joining the National Guard during the Depression just for some extra cash. But then WWII happened, and guess who got called up first?

At the beginning of the war, he was stationed in Coastal Defense to guard against German submarines, before being sent to Key West to defend the harbor. After V-E Day, he went to the Pacific theater with an anti-aircraft unit. Then the Army made a discovery: he had a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering! They promoted him and put him in charge of rebuilding the Manila water and sewer systems.

(An aside for one of my pet peeves: What military units landed on Iwo Jima? A: The Marines. B: The Army. C: Both. The correct answer is “C,” both! But you never hear about the Army landing on Iwo Jima; it is always "John Wayne!" Toward the end of the campaign, the 147th Infantry Regiment—an independent unit from the Ohio National Guard—was assigned to the "mopping up" operations. Thousands of Japanese soldiers were still hidden in the island’s massive 11-mile tunnel network. The 147th spent months in intense, small-unit underground combat, using flamethrowers and satchel charges to clear the caves.)

After the war, he returned to Connecticut and climbed the ranks in education: teacher, then assistant principal, then principal. Eventually, he became the head of the state technical colleges.

I later attended Waterbury State Technical College. Only one person there knew who I was: the president of the college. I was the son of the boss of bosses! Then one day, just before my graduation, there was a knock on my classroom door. The professor turned and saw my father, immediately assuming he was there to see him in his capacity as the head of the professors' union.

Instead, my father said, “No, I’m here to see my son. My car broke down and I need a ride home.”

The professor looked at me, then back at my father, and I could practically see the gears turning as he put two and two together.

After I graduated, I went on to RIT for my four-year degree. My father retired the exact year I graduated from college—but just like me, he didn't truly retire. He worked as a consultant, advising other states on how to create two-year technical colleges, and wrote articles for trade magazines. He even became the head of the American Vocational Technical Association and stayed active in the Kiwanis. And, of course, there was travel!

I lived with my parents until I was in my forties, but there was a catch. The year my father retired and I graduated from RIT, they bought a summer cottage on a lake in New Hampshire. During the summers they were at the cottage, and in the winter they went to Florida. They were only home during November, December, March, and April. The rest of the time, I had the house to myself.

It was when I was building my own house that we truly bonded. I had the "great idea" of acting as my own general contractor—after all, I came from a home-building family! Yeah, right... but they didn't have a regular 40-hour-a-week job to balance at the same time!

When I was building the retaining wall, my father was right there giving me instructions. When I was laying brick and floor tiles in the basement, he was there too—sitting in a lawn chair, drinking his Bourbon Manhattan, calling out, “No, no, that tile is out of line,” or “that brick is low.” Those are the fondest memories I have of him.

(I actually got into a very heated argument with my brother over laying tile once! It was so heated that I left the cottage in the boat just to drive around and cool down. The argument was over whether to “butter” each tile one at a time, or put the thin-set mortar on the floor and do a whole section at once. After I did it my way, he admitted it was faster. I replied, "Of course it is—that’s how Dad taught me!")

I also remember getting a phone call at 7:00 AM right before rushing off to work. My mother said, “Your father is having chest pains.” I told her to call an ambulance, but she replied, "No, he wants you to take him. What would the neighbors think?"

Then there was the Saturday morning I got a call from my mother saying, "Come over and tell your father to stop chopping wood! He is 90 and he’s going to have another heart attack!" I told her, "Mom, he is doing what he wants to do. It makes him happy." I ended up chopping the wood that Saturday while we sat and talked.

A few years passed, my mother passed away, and the spark went out in my father. He passed away a few years later from an old folks' disease: aspiration pneumonia.

I carried an extra burden that he never knew about, something that cried me to sleep at night. He never knew I was trans, and I always wondered how he would have felt if he had known. Everyone tells me he would have been very accepting.

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: For You (1963)
On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…

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

1) In this song, Rick Nelson tells us he'd give his girl the stars from sky or a string of pearls. Have you more recently given or received a gift? What was it?
Nope… 

2) By the time this record was released, Rick was already a show business veteran. He had been a regular on his family's sitcom, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, since it began airing on radio when he was just 8. Most of us weren't child performers but many of us had chores around the house. When you were young, did your parents give you an allowance?
Mow the lawn.

3) The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet moved to TV, where fans saw Rick grow into a teen who drove a 1932 Roadster. The car really belonged to Tony La Masa, who collected classic cars and rented them out to TV and movie producers. Have you ever earned or raised money with your hobby?
I did!
I donate photographs to non-profits, one print in a silent auction for $250! 

4) Paul McCartney has called Rick Nelson an "underrated singer who could really carry a song" and said Rick was one of his influences. Who do you believe you have influenced, professionally or personally?
Yes, she said I should go for my MSW, best advice I had in a long time.

5)  This week's song was already an oldie by the time Rick performed it. "For You" was recorded the first time by Casa Loma Orchestra in 1933. In those days, most records were 78 rpm discs, thick and usually only able to hold 3 to 5 minutes of sound per side. Most record companies stopped producing them in the 1950s. Have you ever seen a "78?"
Yes. Sadly they were used to targets for a BB gun
 
6) The lyrics to "For You" were written by Al Dubin. After Al left college he supported himself as a singing waiter. That's really two jobs in one. Which would you do better at: singer or server?
 
7) The music was written by Joe Burke, whose last hit song was "Rambling Rose," recorded in 1948 by Perry Como. Have you ever heard of Perry Como?
Are you kidding?
My parents listened to him all the time, they watch his show, had his records.

8) In 1963, when Ricky's recording was on the charts, the Zip Code was introduced. How many different Zips have you lived in?
Okay we have to get a technical here… legal residences, one zip code. College, the family cottage in New Hampshire, and my cottage on Cape Cod.
 
9) Random question: When you were in high school, were you taller or shorter than your classmates? Or were you the average height?

Slightly above normal.

 

---

 

I am having problems with my laptop!

My mouse died! So I am trying to write with the touchscreen and I don't know if it is a virus or a corrupted app. But my laptop will probably will have to go to the emergency room 

European Union

Now that Viktor Orbán voted out of office in Hungry the European Union courts have ruled that;

The new EHRC code isn’t just about trans people’s access to toilets - it’s about protecting other vital single-sex spaces

The Guardian

Susanna Rustin

Mon 1 Jun 2026

Thirteen months after the UK supreme court delivered its landmark ruling that sex in the Equality Act refers to biological sex, and 10 days after an updated draft “code of practice” from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) was laid before parliament, the UK is once again rowing about single-sex spaces, and particularly toilets. Once again, the purpose and value of those spaces for women are at risk of being eclipsed by complaints from people who would prefer that they didn’t exist in a way that complies with the current law. The code confirms that there is no legal way to open a single-sex service to people of the other sex, even if they are trans. Organisations are told to address the likely disadvantage to trans people by offering alternative, mixed-sex facilities. Associations (membership organisations with rules) can be trans-inclusive if they want, as long as they do not claim to be single-sex. Bridget Phillipson, the women and equalities minister, said that avoiding any new “burden on business” was one of the reasons why the revised guidance has taken more than a year to arrive.

[...]

Trans people also suffer from high rates of domestic abuse and need access to services. There are justified concerns about inadequate funding. But mixed-sex support groups already exist, and a trend towards gender-neutral commissioning has been noted. The vast majority of public spaces and activities are already mixed-sex – which is why the Equality Act refers to single-sex ones as “exceptions”. What is not OK is the removal of this option on grounds that it is bigoted to seek a female-only space; or the claim that a service is single-sex when it is not.

The ILGA Europe writes that;

Landmark CJEU ruling demands Member States to ensure legal gender recognition to guarantee freedom of movement

Today’s judgment by the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) says all member states must provide for legal gender recognition procedures allowing their citizens who have exercised their right to move and reside freely in another member state to obtain identity documents matching their lived gender.

Today, the CJEU delivered its ruling in the case C-43/24 Shipova, marking a historic step forward for trans people’s rights across the EU.

The Court stated that under EU law provisions on freedom of movement and fundamental right to private and family life, member states have an obligation to legally recognise the lived gender of their nationals who have exercised their right to move and reside in another member state in their civil status registers; i.e. they must have a functioning process for legal gender recognition (“LGR”) in place. This is because, as the Court confirmed, identity documents and passports are key for EU nationals to enjoy freedom of movement, so in order to avoid “considerable inconveniences” in particular during identity checks or cross-border travel or in professional settings. Therefore, member states must provide identity documents and civil registry entries matching the person’s lived gender. The Court also recalled that tolerating discrimination against trans persons breaches their dignity and freedom. It also decided that national courts are not bound by supreme court’s decisions that run contrary to today’s judgment and EU law.

[...]

Why this matters 

This judgment goes beyond one individual case and applies across the EU. Currently, there are three EU member States, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia, that through laws, judgments and constitutional amendments, have made any access to LGR impossible. Without such recognition, basic rights, from crossing borders and accessing healthcare to applying for a job or enrolling at university, become daily struggles.

The CJEU now, for the first time, clearly states that having access to LGR is a prerequisite to enjoying fundamental rights within the EU and that EU member states have an obligation to ensure access to LGR for nationals who exercised their freedom of movement and reside abroad. The judgement confirms that the absence of any possibility to obtain LGR in a member state is incompatible with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Treaties provisions.

No way will the Supreme Court, they're too far to the right for them to rule like this! The Courthouse News Service said,

Pieter Cannoot, professor of law and diversity and legal scholar at Ghent University, said the judgment strengthens a growing line of EU case law limiting national restrictions on the recognition of LGBTQ identities. The court, he said, has “taken an important step towards recognizing a right to legal gender recognition in the EU,” linking the issue not only to free movement but also to fundamental rights such as privacy and nondiscrimination.

Other scholars see the decision as part of a broader shift in EU constitutional law. Uladzislau Belavusau, senior researcher in European law at the University of Amsterdam and the T.M.C. Asser Institute, said the ruling reflects a broader shift in EU law, where the accuracy of identity documents is increasingly tied to the practical exercise of EU citizenship. In his view, the judgment shows the court moving toward what he calls the rise of “sexual citizenship” in the union, where recognition of gender identity becomes part of how free movement rights function in practice.

This is not sitting well some of the countries in the EU, ZENIT reports that;

This clashes with conservative laws in countries like Bulgaria, where the Supreme Court rejected a registry change to uphold public interest and social values. Critically, the CJEU asserts EU law’s supremacy over national constitutional interpretations, even in core areas like civil law and personal identity. This overreach exemplifies Brussels’ agenda to centralize power, overriding elected parliaments and traditional cultural norms. The decision raises profound questions about EU primacy’s limits in sensitive matters, potentially compelling recognition of transgender identities that undermine societal foundations rooted in natural law. As Europe faces demographic and moral declines, this judicial activism threatens to impose progressive ideologies that erode national heritage and the sanctity of human dignity from conception onward.

It is kind of like the divide between the southern and the northern over trans rights!

Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire!

That schoolyard chant doesn't mean anything to the Republicans. What they are counting on are lazy voters who take everything they say as gospel.

The Republicans cite a huge number of boys getting breast surgery... which is a Republican lie! There is a medical condition called gynecomastia, which is the overdevelopment or enlargement of breast tissue in boys and men. It is a common condition often triggered by hormonal imbalances during puberty. But they lie and lump all those surgeries in with us! Do you know how many surgeries are done on trans girls to enlarge their breasts? "0", zero! None!

I think that the Republicans know the difference, which means they must be doing it intentionally.

Senate Scrutinizes Gender Transition Care for Minors
By Legis1 Editorial · Edited by Zarrin Ahmed, Joanne Levine
Friday, May 15, 2026

 

 

Why It Matters
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee is convening a hearing on gender transition procedures for minors at a moment when the medical establishment is shifting, the Trump administration has moved aggressively on the issue, and major hospitals have already changed their practices. What happens in that hearing room on May 21 could shape federal policy on one of the most contested questions in American medicine and politics.

 

[...]

 

What Cassidy Is Driving
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), a physician and HELP Committee chair, announced the hearing alongside a formal investigation into federally funded health entities he alleged were performing what he described as "irreversible gender mutilation on children and vulnerable individuals." Cassidy sent letters to federally supported community health centers scrutinizing whether they were providing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and related services to minors using taxpayer funds, according to Fox News reporting. He also cited the Department of Justice representation of community health centers or their providers in litigation involving gender transition-related services as a concern.

The hearing is an extension of a sustained oversight campaign. Cassidy had previously expanded his investigation to include the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Endocrine Society, alleging those organizations pressured the World Professional Association for Transgender Health to remove age limitations on gender surgeries. His committee's press office also reported that major U.S. hospitals ended gender transition services for children following actions by President Trump and Cassidy, framing that development as a direct result of the committee's oversight work.

First of all: it is Doctor Sen. Bill Cassidy. You mean to tell me that he, as a doctor, doesn't know the truth?

The Political Fault Lines
The committee's Democratic members, including Sanders, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), are expected to push back on the framing of the hearing and defend access to gender-affirming care. Baldwin, the first openly gay person elected to the Senate, has been a consistent voice on LGBTQ health issues.

On the Republican side, senators including Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) have each been vocal critics of gender transition procedures for minors in other venues and are likely to use the hearing to press that position.

Yay Chris! (More about him later.)

So Dr. Paul knows the truth too, yet he will not violate his doctor's Hippocratic Oath. However, he has voted against trans bills because of cost. MedPage Today writes...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) immediately pushed back, calling Wednesday's hearing "disappointing."

"It is disappointing in the sense as to why millions of Americans are giving up on the political process," Sanders said. "They look to Washington at a time when they are facing unprecedented crises, and they're saying who is responding to our needs. And today we are ... spending hours on a hearing that impacts an infinitesimal number of people."

He pointed instead to high rates of childhood poverty and hunger in the U.S. as well as high costs of healthcare.

Meanwhile, "what the medical and scientific community tells us is that gender-affirming care is associated with a lower risk of depression, severe anxiety, and suicidal thoughts," Sanders continued. "Bottom line, gender-affirming care for youth should be between a doctor, a patient, and their parents, not politicians and the federal government. Not only would banning gender-affirmative care do nothing to protect kids, it will make it harder for them to get the healthcare they need, and that would be a tragedy."

Hey do you remember the Republican mantra? About "parental rights", smaller government and getting off your back, well...

The government is "attempting to rob families of the right and freedom to make medical decisions about their own children," he contended. Additionally, the government is "baselessly attacking safe and effective medical care." And finally, "in a way we have never seen before in this country, the government is attempting to seize, secretly, the medical records of families to use private medical information about their children for an unlimited and unknown purpose."

"Few principles in American law are more settled than the right of parents to make medical decisions for their own children in consultation with their doctors," he added.

In response to questions from Sanders, Minter noted the "level of anguish" that healthcare professionals and families are experiencing due to the current administration's targeting of gender-affirming care for youth is "really profound."

[...]

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said Cole's experience is tragic, but contended it is a classic case of medical malpractice. "I think the solution here is malpractice cases," Kaine said. "I think the solution is standards of care by the [American Medical Association] and the plastic surgeons and the pediatricians, which are evolving as more research is done. I don't think the right answer is a federal one-size-fits-all."

Families are packing up and moving to "free states." Just like in the Jim Crow era when Black families fled the South, trans families are now fleeing the South just to get medical treatment for their children!

Listen to him! Take less than 5 minutes to listen to Sen. Sanders and hear the truth, not the Republican lies.

 

I first met Connecticut Sen. Murphy back in 2007 when I went down to lobby for the gender-inclusive version of ENDA, but he was a representative back then. The next time I met the Congressman, I was interning for my MSW at the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund (now known as She Leads Justice). The last time I met him, I was serving as the Executive Director of the Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition. It was at a press conference in the Legislative Office Building (LOB), and by then, he was a senator.