Saturday 9: Morning Train

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! 

Saturday 9: Morning Train (1981) 

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

I’m going to do my best to answer your comments but it has been a little hectic here at the cottage. I had company just about every weekend this summer, and now I got a leak in the cold water pipe and it has buckled my wood laminate floor and I'm waiting for the plumber. But right now it is to the grocery store before the weekend mob.

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

1) In this song, Sheena Easton sings about her lover, who takes a train to and from work each day. When is the last time you took public transportation? Where did you go?

It was to Provincetown, I’ve have taken the bus a couple of times and if I go back to Connecticut next week, I’ll go to Hartford on the bus.

2) His workday begins at 9 and ends at 5. Do your days stick to a predictable schedule?

Hey! I’m retired… I don’t have schedules!

However, I do have meetings and doctor’s appointments.

3) In the evening she sings that they may go to a movie, a restaurant or slow dancing ... whatever she wants. Which of those would you choose?

A restaurant, I like a good food and good friends.

4) As a little girl, Sheena Easton performed at family gatherings, not just because she was talented but because she could be a bit of a ham. When you were a kid, were more often shy or outgoing?

Shy, looking back I had all the symptoms of ADHD and other learning disorders.

5) In the late 1980s she was the spokeswoman for Bally's health clubs. Do you have a gym membership?

Nope.

6) In 1987 she played Sonny Crockett's love interest on Miami Vice. Were you a fan of the show?

Nope. To me all the stars of the show all seemed to have their noses in the air.

7) This weekend is a good reason to have a picnic or barbecue. The best-selling barbecue sauce flavors are sweet, spicy, and smoky. What's your favorite?

Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce Honey.

I tried them all and that was the one I liked the best, I tried store brands and all the other brands.

8) Labor Day weekend may offer a golden opportunity for napping and sleeping in. Do you snore?

I don’t know… I’m asleep.

9) Labor Day traditionally marks the beginning of the fall. Will you be adding any new fall clothes to your wardrobe? 

Yes, I should get a new parka. The one I have now, I had about 20 years! I got it at Eastern Mountain Sports, it is down filled, made out of heavy canvas, hip length, and oversize pockets. The zipper pull broke off so I use a ribbon, but it is great other than the zipper. I been looking at new coats and they are all just nylon shells stuffed with plastic fillings. I found one jacket for over $1,000! can you believe that! The only way I would buy that is if the filling was made out of spun gold. The lowest priced one is only $60, I think that one you can wear in Beverly Hills in a chilly night when it down to the 50s.

If I do decide to buy a new parka I go for the one that is -20 rated.

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!

Life On A Sandbar

POOF!

Just like that the traffic died down and “No Left Turn*” rule vanishes. There are no lines at take-out places. But this weekend we will get another rush of cars coming on the Cape followed a couple of days later a rush to get off Cape. It is kind of like the tide.

There will be a wave of people around Columbus Day, that is followed by some more waves for “Women’s Week”, then “Trans Week”, and then “Bear Week”. So you wonder what is Bear Week? Well it is when hairy chested and beaded men desend upon P’town.

Such is life on a sandbar with the ebb and flow of the tides.

*During the peak summer season traffic is backed up in both directions and it is easier to make a right turn. Then take the next left turn, make a U-turn and then a right back on to the main road. That way you only have to cross one lane at a time.

Really?

Are the Republicans really going there, invoking one of the worst Supreme Court rulings and one that we fought a civil war over?

Republican group cites notorious Dred Scott ruling as reason Kamala Harris can’t be president
Group also challenged right of Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley to appear on Republican primary ballots
The Indepentent
By Gustaf Kilander
August 28, 2024

The National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA) has cited the infamous 1857 Dred Scott Supreme Court decision, which stated that enslaved people weren’t citizens, to argue that Vice President Kamala Harris is ineligible to run for president according to the Constitution.

The group also challenged the right of Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley to appear on Republican primary ballots.

The Republican group’s platform and policy document noted that “The Constitutional qualifications of Presidential eligibility” states that “No person except a natural born Citizen, shall be eligible, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President.”

[…]

The document and the citing of the Dred Scott decision were initially noted by lawyer Andrew Fleischman on X, formerly Twitter.

The group, which adopted the document during their last national convention held between October 13 and 15 last year, goes on to argue in the document that a natural-born citizen has to be born in the US to parents who are citizens when the child is born, pointing to the thinking of Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

And you still think that the Republicans are not racists?

Republican Group Says Kamala Can't Be President Because This 170-Year-Old Supreme Court Decision Likens Her to a Slave
The National Federation of Republican Assemblies are attempting a gross and racist stunt.
The Root
By Candace McDuffie
August 26, 2024

Former president Donald Trump set the tone in his numerous attempts to disparage Vice President Kamala Harris to keep her from the White House this November. However, his allies have taken things a wildly racist step further.

[...]

A reminder: Dred Scott v. Sanford declared that slaves weren’t U.S. citizens and thus not protected by the federal government; it’s wildly considered one of the most reviled decisions in the history of the Supreme Court.

According to the platform and policy document from the NFRA, the way that the Constitution describes presidential requirements disqualifies Harris entirely. The group also questioned the validity of Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy running for president based on citizen requirements which state that only “natural-born citizens” can hold the position.

The documents argued that Harris, Haley and Ramaswamy had parents who “were not American citizens at the time of their birth.” Problem is, the Dred Scott ruling (which was overturned, by the way) has nothing to do with Harris, Haley or Ramaswamy, and the NFRA cited it for no good reason except to...maybe call Harris a slave...?

This is just blatant racism! Pure and simple.

The tactics of the NFRA serve as just another excuse to endorse Trump, which the group officially did back in October. In a statement to The Independent, the group’s president Alex Johnson doubled down on his attack on Harris.

“We firmly believe that faux Democrat Ms. Harris should never hold office for any of the many reasons people choose to highlight, including her party’s tactics on dividing people by race and class, which mirror those that have led nations like Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea into totalitarian regimes,” he stated.

This is not your father’s Republican party but a party taken over by a racist who’s father was in the KKK, the Washington Post wrote, “Trump’s father, Fred Trump, was arrested twice: in 1927 during a Ku Klux Klan riot”.

---

A minor incident happened in town but the right-wingers caught the scent of it and it is now the "cause du jour" for them.

So what's the beef?

Well a health inspector was inspecting a restaurant. Yup, that is what started it, the health inspector was making a routine inspection when the owner started videoing her inspection and when he got too close she is alleged to have pushed the camera out of her face. The owner then said that was assault and followed her around videoing everything,

He called the police, the police came and he gets into a hassle with them, raises his voice and gets arrested. The charges were later dropped. But it has become "Cause célèbre" for the right-wing people.

 

These are some of the comments on the video...

• It's time cops get charged this stuff would end no accountability
• This owner is the 1st and the only business man standing against the corrupt inspectors.
• Our entitled public Servants need to be checked, or this is going to get ugly. This rules and laws and accountability for us but not for any of them is bull. "We investigated ourselves and found no wrongdoing." Welfare Recipients with badges.
• Dirty corrupt disgusting public servants plain and simple!!
• Dirty, corrupt public servants: global exposure!
• Just a bunch of tyrants , protecting their own...
• Get the witch trespassed so she can never inspect the place again.

But all the comments were negative...

BACK THE BLUE 100%, this owner is a POS instigator, he should be embarrassed for the way he acted.

At the very end of the video there was this conversation...

going to the car I don't know what you're doing were you headed down were you patted down for weapons so I don't know what you have don't matter I don't

 

know man that matters what are you Korea that matters yeah all right

you're gonna do that now you're under arrest

I don't know who or why brought in race into it? But it sounded like the owner brought up race of the officer.

***

Since I wrote this last night, everything about the incident has been taken down from the town's Facebook page.

We Cannot Be Overconfident.

That is the trap we cannot fall into, no matter what the polls say, this election is going to be determined by who can motive their base and independents to get out the vote.

Republican offensive risks backfiring with transgender friends, family

The Hill

By Brooke Migdon

August 27, 2024

Former President Trump and other Republicans are casting Vice President Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as left-wing radicals whose administration would initiate a seismic cultural shift meant to undermine conservative values, especially when it comes to advancing protections for transgender Americans.

It’s a strategy meant to excite conservative voters and win over parts of the center, but surveys suggest it risks backfiring, with LGBTQ people and their allies using threats and misinformation spread as a rallying cry to drive voters to the polls for Democrats.

Wait a minute! Who is using “threats and misinformation”? Does she mean that we are using the threats and misinformation that the Republicans are making against us as a counterpoint? Like “Look at all those lies about us that the Republicans are making!”

Trump during an appearance on “Fox & Friends” this month called the Democratic ticket of Harris and Walz “communist” and, while describing Walz’s ideology, said Walz is “heavy into transgender” in an apparent reference to new Minnesota laws that outlaw conversion therapy and protect seekers and providers of gender-affirming health care from prosecution by states with bans in effect.

Do you remember ballot Question 3in Massachusetts back in 2018 how it passed with 67% of the vote, the Republicans think that everyone hates us but it is only the Republicans who are in an echo chamber.

“If we take a look at surveys that ask voters what their priorities are, trans rights are usually not very high,” Magni said. “There is a group of voters for whom that is a very high priority, and it’s not just transgender folks, not just trans voters, but it’s also their families, whose lives have been impacted by the decisions made by different states in the last couple of years. These voters are highly motivated to show up.”

Harvey Milk was right… Come out, come out wherever you are!

Gay people, we will not win our rights by staying quietly in our closets…we are coming out! We are coming out to fight the lies, the myths, the distortions! We are coming out to tell the truth about gays!

For I’m tired of the conspiracy of silence. I’m tired of listening to the Anita Bryants twist the language and the meaning of the Bible to fit their own distorted outlook. But I’m even more tired of the silence from the religious leaders of this nation who know that she is playing fast and loose with the true meaning of the Bible. I’m tired of their silence more than of her biblical gymnastics!

We make a difference when people know us. Just by being out and being ourselves we bring about change and that’s why Trump and Company fear us and want us back in the closet. They fear school children when they know trans people they will see through the Republican lies.

“LGBT people are seeing that there is one party who is treating us like decent human beings, and there is another party who is putting a target on our backs, and that is highly motivating,” said Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, executive director of Advocates for Trans Equality, a transgender rights group that has endorsed Harris. “LGBT people are now disproportionately turning out to vote, and to vote for Democrats as a party who has our back.”

It is not just us who are motivated to vote Blue… but also our families, our friends, and the whole LGBTQ+ community… that is over 15% of the population! Come out, come out wherever you are and VOTE!

A survey of transgender Americans conducted by Heng-Lehtinen’s group in 2020 and published in February found that trans people are more likely to be politically engaged, with more than 80 percent of voting eligible respondents reporting they were registered to vote in the 2020 presidential election. 

Seventy-five percent of voting eligible respondents said they cast a ballot that year, compared with 67 percent nationwide, the highest voter turnout of the 21st century, according to the Census Bureau.

WE VOTE!

Democratic leaders in public statements and conversations on the convention floor promised to protect LGBTQ rights, though transgender issues were rarely talked about outright, and a trans speaker was notably absent from the stage. Anti-transgender rhetoric took on a much more prominent role during July’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where prominent GOP figures railed against trans peoples’ pronouns and criticized the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports. 

“Both parties have centered LGBTQ people this year — one for the better, one not so much,” said Kierra Johnson, president of the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, an organization dedicated to building queer political power.

We vote and we vote Blue! But this election will only be won by a few percentage points, we cannot be complacent we have to Vote and get our friends to vote and to vote Blue.

---

You see it in Caitlyn Jenner, embracing the Republican party. She thought she could be the next Republican governor of California. Then there is the Republican candidate for office in Middletown who is far right. At the cities public meeting she said,

...She is here to support Jon Pulino. She has seen nothing that is homophobic, transphobic, or anything of that nature, including the cable access show in question. She is just amazed that Nigel Macon Wilson is being called racist. It's unbelievable, but then again, she is called transphobic, as well. There is no homophobic and transphobic anywhere from our Middletown Republicans…

You can read about these “'Some Very Fine” people them here and here.

So I just don’t understand why people vote against their own best interest is it because of internalized transphobia? Is it that they have blinders on and believe the party is more accepting of LGBTQ+ people than it actually is? Is it because they align more closely with Republican fiscal policies, tax plans, or views on government regulation? Is it because I had Gender Confirming Surgery, everyone else are just men in dresses? Is it because they put “Me” before “Us”?

 

Then you have the fact that they want these on the city's LGBTQ+ council, why? To disrupt it?

---

Trump is above the law! He just ignored the law about making political ads in national cemeteries.

Fallout from Trump’s Arlington National Cemetery visit continues after campaign video

NPR News

By Stephen Fowler

August 29, 2024

Former President Donald Trump shared a TikTok video including footage from Arlington National Cemetery that likely violates a federal law against using military cemeteries for campaigning purposes. NPR previously reported Trump campaign staffers had a physical altercation with an Arlington National Cemetery staffer on Monday over the restriction.

It’s not the first time Trump has been accused of politicizing the military, but the campaign is seeking to downplay what happened in the aftermath.

[...]

But the Trump campaign was not authorized to film or photograph in Section 60, federal law prohibits the use of military cemeteries for campaign events and two campaign staffers got in a physical and verbal altercation with the Arlington staffer that tried to prevent the filming.

The law means nothing to him. He does whatever he pleases.

When Billionaires Attack Us.

They are just pouring money into anti-LGBTQ causes and the Republicans…

Powerful conservative operative’s Do No Harm group is a threat to transgender kids (exclusive)
Leonard Leo, the man responsible for reshaping the U.S. Supreme Court into an ultra-conservative body, is targeting trans youth’s access to gender-affirming care.
The Advocate
By Christopher Wiggins
August 13, 2024


Do No Harm, a nonprofit organization established in 2022 to combat what it calls ”wokeism” in medicine, has quickly emerged as a formidable force in the anti-transgender movement. With substantial financial backing from a conservative network led by conservative legal operative Leonard Leo, the group has focused on opposing gender-affirming care, posing a significant threat to the LGBTQ+ community. But what is the group really up to?

Leo, a key figure in the conservative legal movement, is known for his instrumental role in shaping the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority. According to ProPublica, Leo built the machine that remade the American legal system, advising former President Donald Trump on the nominations of now-justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. He previously helped pick or confirm the court’s three other conservative justices: Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, and Samuel Alito. Leo’s influence extends beyond the judiciary, as he now channels considerable resources into various conservative causes, including Do No Harm.

We are not the only ones he is going after but also…

Inside Conservative Activist Leonard Leo’s Long Campaign To Gut Planned Parenthood
KFF Health News
By Rachana Pradhan
August 16, 2024

A federal lawsuit in Texas against Planned Parenthood has a web of ties to conservative activist Leonard Leo, whose decades-long effort to steer the U.S. court system to the right overturned Roe v. Wade, yielding the biggest rollback of reproductive health access in half a century.

Brought by an anonymous whistleblower and later joined by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the suit alleges the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and three Planned Parenthood affiliates defrauded the Texas and Louisiana Medicaid programs by collecting $17 million for services provided while it fought state efforts to remove it as an approved provider.

[…]

Leo, an anti-abortion Catholic, is connected to the key players in the Texas lawsuit — the whistleblower plaintiff, an attorney general, and the judge — according to a KFF Health News review of tax records, court documents from multiple lawsuits, statements to lawmakers, and website archives.

Leo provided legal counsel to the anti-abortion group at its center, and he has financial and other connections to Paxton.

They filed the case in federal court in Amarillo, Texas, where Matthew Kacsmaryk is the only judge. He is a longtime member of the Federalist Society, the conservative legal juggernaut for which Leo has worked for over 25 years in various capacities and currently serves as co-chair.

His name pops up again,

The Lever identifies Leonard Leo as main villain behind swing state voter purge
The Daily Kos
By Alonso del Arte
August 26, 2024

Dictator wannabe Donald Trump can still win this election. Not fair and square by winning the popular vote, obviously, but through a combination of voter suppression and voter intimidation tactics that might give him another Electoral College misfire.

[…]

Katya Schwenk reporting for The Lever:

    Behind a new slate of GOP lawsuits aimed at suppressing voters in electoral battleground states is a cadre of lawyers tied to Leonard Leo — the judicial activist widely credited with engineering the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority.

    On Aug. 8, the Republican National Committee filed a last-ditch legal challenge in Arizona, asking the United States Supreme Court to remove 40,000 people from the state’s voter rolls by Thursday, the deadline for some counties to print ballots. The case could tip the election results in a critical swing state that President Joe Biden won in 2020 by less than 11,000 votes.

    The lawyer leading Republicans’ case is Tyler Green, a partner at Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, a small but highly influential conservative law firm that has received millions from a Leo-linked nonprofit. He is also the administrative trustee of a dark-money slush fund run by Leo that in 2022 received a record-breaking $1.6 billion donation from an elusive billionaire.

[…]

Leo and his political apparatus have exerted influence by installing conservative judges, then spearheading cases before those judges that have the potential to skew the country’s laws in their favor. It’s why Leo is credited with helping to overturn Roe v. Wade — and now his operation appears to be using the same playbook to control swing-state ballot boxes, with the potential to tip the scales this November.

[…]

Leo has wielded power by amassing immense financial influence through a network of clandestine nonprofits that obscure where exactly his billions are going — an arrangement that is now under investigation by Washington, D.C.’s attorney general. Leo’s network bankrolled Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation campaign and arranged payments to Ginni Thomas, Thomas’s wife, while his legal groups had cases before the Supreme Court.

Then we have the billionaire who is mentoring JD Vance.

Here Are J.D. Vance’s Biggest Billionaire Donors
The richest donors to his 2022 Senate bid included stalwart Republican megadonors and Silicon Valley billionaires. Some have yet to put their weight behind the Republican ticket.
Forbes
By Leo Kamin
July 19, 2024

Donald Trump’s running mate, Ohio senator J.D. Vance, has always had a dual appeal. He comes from the rust belt–the impoverished southwest corner of Ohio he details in Hillbilly Elegy–but has excelled in the centers of America’s elite–at Yale Law School and the VC firms of Silicon Valley.

He drew on that appeal as a Senate candidate in 2022. He brought in donations from staples of the Republican donor base, including Elizabeth Uihlein and Kelly Loeffler. But he also pulled in large sums from tech billionaires like Roku’s Anthony Wood and Oculus’ Palmer Luckey.

[…]

The potential veep himself might also take some credit for bringing the world’s richest man fully into the MAGA fold. In the wake of Vance’s announcement, The Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk was committing $45 million a month to a pro-Trump PAC. “TRUMP VANCE,” he recently posted on X. “Resounds with victory.”

1. Peter Thiel
Donations to Vance groups: $15 million | Net worth: $7.9 billion

Vance once described a talk Thiel gave as “the most significant moment of my time at Yale Law School.” He said it helped him realize that he was overly “obsessed with obtaining professional credentials,” even though it was Thiel himself–a PayPal co-founder and early investor in Facebook–who helped provide Vance with one of the first of many impressive resume lines. Soon after law school, Vance took a job as a principal a Mithril Capital, a VC firm Thiel cofounded. He didn’t stay long, but the pair’s bond clearly endured: Thiel dished out more than $15 million to support Vance in 2022. A once self-professed libertarian who has published lengthy treatises on political theory, Thiel backed Trump in 2016, but recently told The Atlantic that he regretted it and would be staying out of politics in 2024. That could change with his former employee now on the ticket.

In another Forbes article,

JD Vance And Peter Thiel: What To Know About The Relationship Between Trump’s VP Pick And The Billionaire
By Antonio Pequeño IV
July 16, 2024

JD Vance, former President Donald Trump’s running mate, has had a long, collaborative relationship with GOP donor and Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, one that has aided Vance from his time in venture capital to his role as an Ohio senator.

Vance and Thiel’s relationship dates back to 2011, when the senator met Thiel following a talk the venture capitalist gave at Yale Law School that Vance has characterized as “the most significant moment of my time” at the institution, according to a blog post he wrote for Catholic magazine The Lamp.

Vance began planning for a career pivot outside of law following the talk, noting Thiel was “possibly the smartest person” he ever met and that Thiel’s Christian faith “defied the social template I had constructed—that dumb people were Christians and smart ones atheists,” according to the post.

Thiel later became a “pretty good mentor” to Vance, according to The Washington Post, with Vance making the switch to venture capital and joining the Thiel-co-founded Mithril Capital in 2015 as a partner, according to Politico.

Now do you think Trump picked Sen. Vance for his political skills or his deep-pocket friends?

It is time to bring back the upper tax brackets like in the 50s and 60s where the upper brackets were 90% and also bring back the estate taxes to prevent dynasties.

They made their money from off of our backs, it is time that they are taxed to feed the hungry and shelter the homeless.

---

There is a survey going around on Facebook by Pew Research: Are you a Faith and Flag Conservative? Progressive Left? Or somewhere in between?

 

Of course I am a flaming liberal. One of the questions was about us and the results so far might floor you...

You answered: Greater social acceptance of people who are transgender is good for society
Good = 88%
Bad = 38%

Cuckoo Award

Whoa! This one is so far out there it is bordering on insane! I don’t know how else to put it.

Environmental group asks federal agency to investigate RFK Jr. for allegedly strapping severed whale head to roof of car in 1990s

It comes after Kennedy admitted he put dead bear cub in Central Park.

ABC News

By Will McDuffie

August 27, 2024

An environmental group is calling for a federal agency to investigate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who allegedly used a chainsaw to cut off the head of a dead whale, strapped it to the roof of his minivan, and drove it across state lines roughly three decades ago when he was in his 40s.

[…]

"Bobby -- who likes to study animal skulls and skeletons -- ran down to the beach with a chainsaw, cut off the whale's head, and then bungee-corded it to the roof of the family minivan for the five-hour haul back to Mount Kisco, New York," according to the article.

This beats his bear incident, NPR writes…

A decade after the shocking discovery of a bear cub carcass in Manhattan’s Central Park, the mystery of who dumped it there has finally been solved.

And the man taking responsibility is none other than presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

He goes beyond Cuckoo this almost goes as far the “Loose Screw Award!”

A Great Idea Or...

In Boston they are converting an old school over to a senior housing… but that is not all. It is housing for us!

Former school repurposed for New England’s first LBGTQ affordable senior housing community
McKnight Senior Living
By Kathleen Steele Gaivin
June 13, 2022

The former William Barton Rogers Middle School in Hyde Park, MA, which has sat idle for years, soon will see new life as Boston’s — and all of New England’s — first affordable housing community specifically for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) older adults.

LGBTQ Senior Housing Executive Director Gretchen Van Ness told Boston radio station WBUR that approximately 65,000 LGBTQ older adults are known to be living in Massachusetts.

“They’re much, much less likely than other older adults to have family, community, church support,” she said. “So having a place to go that’s affordable and welcoming, where they can live their authentic lives, is critical for their safety and health and well-being.”

LGBTQ Senior Housing is behind the 74-unit project, for which a groundbreaking is scheduled for Friday. The first residents are expected to move into The Pryde of Hyde Park, a spin on combining “pride” and “Hyde Park,” in fall 2023.

Guess what is opening?

LGBTQ senior housing opens up in Hyde Park
By Natalie Khait, Boston 25 News Staff
July 04, 2024

 A first-of-its-kind housing community is opening in Hyde Park.

[…]

The Pryde includes studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments available to households earning less than 30% to less than 100% of the Area Median Income (AMI). Several apartments will be set aside for the formerly homeless and 60% of the units will give preference to current Boston residents at the initial lease-up.

Residents will also be able to enjoy programming including resident lounges, a sunroom, large event, and gallery spaces, classrooms for continued learning, a fitness center, on-site laundry, an outdoor courtyard, and more.

CBS News reported, “The tenants were selected through a lottery to fill the 74 units. The building used to be William Barton Rogers Middle School before it was converted.”

You know maybe that is tell us something if there is such a demand where you have a waiting list… maybe you can use more LGBTQ+ senior housing.

*****

I have an intern debate… are they ghettoizing us?

Stick us all in one place so we don’t have to worry about discrimination and bigotry just like they did in Warsaw ghetto during WWII. While in an integrated facility they have to worry about complains about being mistreated by other residents.

What do you think?

online polls

At Four In The Morning, Reading Headlines…

And a question pops into my head, I was reading;

Revealed: JD Vance promoted far-right views in speech about extremists’ book
Up from Conservatism advocates repeal of Civil Rights Act, investigations into ‘gay lifestyle’ and defunding childcare
The Guardian
By Jason Wilson
22 Aug 2024

In a December 2023 speech, JD Vance defended a notorious white nationalist convicted over 2016 election disinformation, canvassed the possibility of breaking up tech companies, attacked diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts and talked about a social media “censorship regime” that “came from the deep state on some level”.

The senator’s speech was given at the launch of a “counterrevolutionary” book – praised by the now Republican vice-presidential candidate as “great” – which was edited and mostly written by employees of the far-right Claremont Institute.

In the book, Up from Conservatism, the authors advocate for the repeal of the Civil Rights Act, for politicians to conduct “deep investigations into what the gay lifestyle actually does to people”, that college and childcare be defunded and that rightwing governments “promote male-dominated industries” in order to discourage female participation in the workplace.

So when I read that what popped into my head was… “The Lavender Scare” it was like “Deja Vu all over again.” So I asked my favorite AI, Perplexity AI: “Compare the Lavender Scare with today's anti-LGBTQ+ movement?”

Answer
The Lavender Scare of the 1950s and today's anti-LGBTQ movements share some concerning parallels, but also have significant differences:

Similarities

•     Institutionalized discrimination: Both eras saw attempts to codify discrimination into law and policy. The Lavender Scare led to Executive Order 10450, which banned homosexuals from federal employment. Today, we see efforts to pass laws restricting LGBTQ rights in areas like education and healthcare.
•   Moral panic: Both periods feature a moral panic about LGBTQ people as a perceived threat to society. In the 1950s, homosexuals were seen as security risks and communist sympathizers. Today, some groups portray LGBTQ individuals, especially transgender people, as threats to traditional values or children's safety.
•   Impact on LGBTQ lives: Both movements have real-world consequences for LGBTQ individuals, including job loss, discrimination, and increased fear and anxiety within the community.

Differences

•     Scope of persecution: The Lavender Scare primarily targeted federal employees, while today's anti-LGBTQ efforts are more broadly aimed at LGBTQ rights in various sectors of society.
•    Visibility and representation: During the Lavender Scare, LGBTQ people had virtually no public visibility or representation. Today, LGBTQ individuals have more visibility in media, politics, and public life, though discrimination persists.
•   Legal protections: The Lavender Scare occurred in an era with no legal protections for LGBTQ individuals. Today, there are some federal and state-level protections against discrimination, though these are often contested.
•   Public opinion: Public attitudes towards LGBTQ people have shifted significantly since the 1950s, with greater acceptance in many parts of society, although opposition remains in some quarters.
•   LGBTQ activism: The modern LGBTQ rights movement is much more organized and visible than in the 1950s, with established advocacy groups and legal resources to fight discrimination.

While both periods demonstrate how fear and prejudice can be weaponized against marginalized communities, the current era benefits from decades of LGBTQ activism, increased visibility, and evolving social attitudes. However, the persistence of anti-LGBTQ sentiment and policy efforts shows that the struggle for full equality and acceptance continues.

So what are your thoughts about what the AI wrote? If you were a history teach and you asked that question on a test, how would you grade it?

Back then it was bipartisan effort in attacking us, now it is just the Republicans.

A Nail On Our Coffin.

An appeals court just put another nail in our coffin, they made our health care ban permanent in Florida!

Florida is allowed to restrict transgender health care, appeals court rules
A lower court had ruled that the law should be permanently blocked, but this decision reverses that.
The Advocate
By Trudy Ring
August 26, 2024

A federal appeals court ruled Monday that Florida’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth and restrictions on it for trans adults can be enforced while a lawsuit against it proceeds.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled 2-1 that the state is likely to win the case, known as Doe v. Ladapo, so the injunction against the law should be stayed. Doe is one of the anonymous plaintiffs who sued, and Ladapo is the Florida surgeon general.

“The district court likely misapplied the presumption that the legislature acted in good faith when it concluded that the prohibition and regulation provisions, and the implementing rules, were based on invidious discrimination against transgender minors and adults,” the majority opinion states. Judges Britt C. Grant and Robert J. Luck were in the majority.

Judge Charles R. Wilson dissented, writing that the district court had “identified sufficient record evidence to support concluding that the act’s passage was based on invidious discrimination against transgender adults and minors” and that “withholding access to gender-affirming care would cause needless suffering.”

Tampa Bay Times wrote...

Federal appeals court allows Florida’s trans treatment restrictions for now
A judge in June had issued an injunction against Florida’s restrictions.
By News Service of Florida
August 27, 2024

A federal appeals court has at least temporarily allowed Florida to move forward with restrictions on treatments such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender people.

A panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday issued a stay of a ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle that blocked the restrictions. The stay effectively means the restrictions can take effect while the appeals court considers an underlying appeal of Hinkle’s decision.

Hinkle in June issued an injunction against the restrictions, finding, in part, that they were motivated by “animus” toward transgender people and violated equal protection rights.

[…]

But Judge Charles Wilson dissented, saying he would “not find that the district court misapplied the law nor abused its discretion.”

“On balance, evidence in the record demonstrates that the plaintiffs and class members would suffer if the stay were granted — withholding access to gender-affirming care would cause needless suffering,” Wilson wrote. “In contrast, denying the stay would support a ruling grounded in the public interest. This matter is a medical issue, where patients are best left to make decisions alongside health professionals, with access to complete, unbiased information, as needed.”

Okay here is a pop quiz!

1) Who appointed judge Britt C. Grant?
A. Obama
B. Trump
C. Biden
D. Other

2) Who appointed judge Robert J. Luck?
A. Obama
B. Trump
C. Biden
D. Other

3) Who appointed judge Charles R. Wilson?
A. Obama
B. Trump
C. Biden
D. Other

1) B, 2) B, 3) D President Clinton.

Vote Blue as if your life depended up it… because it does!

The Dismantling Of Federal Agencies

With the single term as president Trump appointed over 234 federal judges during his four years in office. And they have started to wreck havoc on the federal agencies.

Judge strikes down Biden admin ban on noncompete agreements: ‘Arbitrary and capricious’
The New York Post
By Reuters    
Aug. 20, 2024


A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday barred a Federal Trade Commission rule from taking effect that would ban agreements commonly signed by workers not to join their employers’ rivals or launch competing businesses.

US District Judge Ada Brown in Dallas said the FTC, which enforces federal antitrust laws, does not have the authority to ban practices it deems unfair methods of competition by adopting broad rules.

Brown had temporarily blocked the rule in July while she considered a bid by the US Chamber of Commerce, the country’s largest business lobby, and tax service firm Ryan to strike it down entirely. The rule was set to take effect Sept. 4.

Brown in her ruling said that even if the FTC had the power to adopt the rule, the agency had not justified banning virtually all noncompete agreements.

I had to sign one, as an electrical engineer I could not work in electronics anywhere in the U.S., it basically forced me to work for only them. If I didn’t like the pay or working conditions… well tough cookies.

Then we have…

Court permanently blocks environmental civil rights protections for Louisiana’s Black communities
The new ruling bars the state from considering whether to permit industrial facilities in communities already facing a disparate impact from pollution
The Louisiana Illuminator
By: Terry L. Jones
August 24, 2024

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana this week issued a permanent injunction that prevents the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice from using Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to control how Louisiana regulates polluting facilities.

Judge James Cain’s ruling solidifies his earlier decision in January, which blocked EPA from imposing or enforcing so-called disparate impact-based requirements in its permitting decisions. In the earlier decision, Cain wrote that “pollution does not discriminate,” and that if a regulating authority had to consider race in its enforcement decision making, it will “indeed participate in racism.”

Cain is federal court appointee of former President Donald Trump.

EarthJustice, a nonprofit environmental law organization, said the court’s ruling is a significant setback for civil rights and environmental justice in Louisiana. EarthJustice’s Patrice Simms said it could embolden other states to seek similar exceptions and discourage other federal agencies from implementing civil rights enforcement.

Then we have the Supreme Court overturning years of precedents.

Supreme Court Chevron Decision Threatens Our Food, Water, and Air | Opinion
Newsweek
By Steve Cohen and Michael Shank
August 14, 2024

Americans may have heard a lot lately about the "Chevron decision" in the news, though most probably wouldn't be able to describe what it is exactly. It's not household knowledge yet. And while Chevron might be a household name for folks who get gas there, the Supreme Court's recent decision striking down the legal principle of Chevron deference will soon become relevant and potentially a risk to every household in America.

The recent decision Loper Bright v. Raimondo, a direct byproduct of former president Donald Trump's stacking of the Court, overturned 40 years of precedent under which America's federal government, its agencies, and scientists used their expertise to regulate things—like toxic chemicals that are harmful to human health—without having to go to court each time to interpret an aspect of a given law.

As of this summer, however, that is no longer standard practice. The Loper Bright decision turns over key decision-making powers to courts, judges, and clerks who don't have the scientific expertise to protect Americans from toxic chemicals and other dangers.

Increasingly partisan judges and their clerks, who are equally unqualified in the subject matter of a given federal rule, will now have the power to block actions they don't like. We've seen it happen before. In one opinion, Supreme Court Justices wrote that laughing gas, or nitrous oxide, was the chemical key in reducing ozone pollution, when it wasn't even close to the right chemical compound. Justice Neil Gorsuch even published the opinion online before catching the error hours later.

It will even get worst! This is one of the thing that Project 2025 writes about, dismantling the federal agencies. In the EPA the plan is to restructure the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (Which the judge in Louisiana already did.), Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assistance, and the Office of Public Engagement of Environmental Affairs. In the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) they plan… The plan advocates for relaxing worker safety rules enforced by OSHA, rolling back regulations that protect workers, which would likely include many OSHA standards, but that is not the end of the changes they want to reduce enforcement capabilities of federal agencies, which would likely include OSHA's ability to conduct inspections and issue citations. And the nail on the coffin, they also want to fire career civil servants with political appointees who align with the Republican ideology.

 

If Trump gets elected he will appoint another Supreme Court justice and more federal court judges 

Vote Blue! We need to save our country from falling into the hands of the oligarchs.

Toxic Masculinity!

Every man wants to be a macho, macho man
To have the kind of body always in demand
Joggin' in the mornings, go man go
Workouts in the health spa, muscles grow
Macho Man Songwriters: Jacques Morali / Henri Belolo / Victor Edward Willis / Peter Whitehead By The Village People

 

 

 

Toughing up!
Don’t show any weakness!
Be a man!
Boys don’t cry!
Don’t show any emotion!
Real men don’t cry!
Real men tough it out!

These are all examples of toxic masculinity and it is running rampant in the Republican party. MSNBC writes…

Toxic masculinity refers to harmful stereotypes and expectations placed on men and boys that restrict the range of emotions they are allowed to express. It promotes the idea that men should be stoic, unemotional, and "tough" at all times.

I’m sad for Coulter and others who’ve come out of the woodwork to mock Gus expressing love for his father. One is forced to assume that Coulter, and those like her who made remarks too awful to mention, are unfamiliar with the deep, unbridled love and joy that was on display between father and son. Jealousy, they say, breeds contempt.

[…]

As a career educator, I continue to witness boys conditioned to display a toxic, aggressive version of masculinity. It’s the kind exemplified by the sort of brazen selfishness, cruelty and misogyny that was amplified during Donald Trump’s term as president.  The only appropriate response to adult men who know of no other way to be men is pity.

But stop and think for a moment about abortion? It is the domination of men telling what women can do to their bodies. It is the ultimate form of toxic masculinity!

Look at the attacks on trans people with the lens of toxic masculinity.
Do they go after trans men? No.
Do they go after lesbians? No, it is always about gay men.
They go after trans girls and women, they go after drag queens why?

Macho, macho man (yeah)
I gotta be a macho man
Macho, macho man (yeah, yeah)
I gotta be a macho

Take a look at Trump… the predator. He looks at women as objects to be conquered. PBS News
reported how he talks about women,

The footage of Donald Trump in which he brags about aggressively groping women and trying to seduce a woman who is not his wife is the latest example of crude and sexist comments made about women by the billionaire businessman and former reality TV star.

[…]

“It must be a pretty picture, you dropping to your knees.” — Trump to a female contestant in 2013 on an episode of “Celebrity Apprentice.”

[…]

“All of the women on ‘The Apprentice’ flirted with me — consciously or unconsciously. That’s to be expected. A sexual dynamic is always present between people, unless you are asexual.” — Trump, also from “How To Get Rich.”

[…]

“I saw a woman who was totally beautiful. She was angry that so many men were calling her. ‘How dare they call me! It’s terrible! They’re all looking at my breasts.’ So she had a major breast reduction. The good news: Nobody calls her anymore — nobody even looks — and not only that, it was a terrible job.” — Trump to Stern in 2008.

BBC writes,

How Trump talks about women - and does it matter?
By Ritu Prasad
28 November 2019

With a number of women running to take on President Donald Trump in the 2020 election, the president's language about his opponents will undoubtedly be a recurring issue. But is there really a gender difference to his attacks?

[…]

"This was not an angel, this woman, okay? And there were a lot of things that she did that I didn't like."

Mr Trump added that his staff felt they had to be kind because "she's a woman - we have to be nice."

Professor Marianne LaFrance, a psychologist at Yale University, says this remark is a prime example of gendered language.

"That referencing says she's not an individual, she's not a professional, she's first and foremost a woman," Prof LaFrance says.

"One of the things that's interesting about women and language is that women are 'marked'." Men, she notes, are not usually referred to as a "male person".

"But we find it often easy and useful to describe a person first and foremost as a woman. Not a politician - she's a woman politician. You don't often say he's a male politician."

Consider, when Trump describe women he doesn't find attractive has he uses insulting terms like "fat" and "ugly" and this guy was president and wants to be again!

You can tell a macho, he has a funky walk
His western shirts and leather, always look so boss
Funky with his body, he's a king
Call him Mister Ego, dig his chains

Just look at Congress… how many Republicans in Congress are women? There are only 43 Republican women serving in the 118th Congress with 34 in the House and 9 in the Senate while there are 107 Democratic women serving in Congress with 92 in the House and 15 in the Senate.

Now tell me does looking through the lens of “Toxic Masculinity” help make sense on their animosity toward trans women? They wear glasses that distorts their view of women, it makes them fear that they might be gay if they are attracted to a trans woman. That would be the worst thing to happen to them being labeled “GAY!”
 

Macho, macho man (macho man, yeah)
I've got to be, a macho man (I've got to be)
Macho, macho man (yeah)
I've got to be a macho! (Alright)

 

When I was still working we were showing an Asian man around our shop, now the manufacturing manger was a woman and this Asian just could not follow a woman around in front of him. He was always in front of her. When she stopped the Asian man who was leading always had to race back when she stopped to explain one of our processes. It was so noticeable that it was comical.
 

Every man ought to be a macho, macho man
To live a life of freedom, machos make a stand
Have your own lifestyles and ideals
Possess the strength of confidence, that's the skill

 

And just think how impossible it will be for Trump to lose to a woman and the Republicans to have to be lead by a woman!

 

And look at the Republican women... Ann Coulter who thought it wrong for a man to display emotions, they have groomed her well.

Vote for the woman who can lead… vote Blue!

---

Along those same lines... Trump the bully.

They had already already settled it. They agreed to the same schedule and rules Trump made with President Biden. But VP Harris wants changes, an open mic.

Is this thing on? Harris and Trump battle over hot mics at debate.

Negotiations over the Sept. 10 spectacle have hit an impasse over whether to leave the microphones on.

Politico

By Eugene Daniels

August 26, 2024

Privately, the veep’s team believes that Harris can get Trump to lose his cool and say something impolitic on mic.

“She’s more than happy to have exchanges with him if he tries to interrupt her,” one person familiar with the negotiations tells Playbook. “And given how shook he seems by her, he’s very prone to having intemperate outbursts and … I think the campaign would want viewers to hear [that].”

 Here is where things get interesting. Trump team knows it is a trap! But will Trump take the bait?

For its part, the Trump campaign sees this all as a bait and switch. They want the ABC debate governed by the CNN rules — even though those rules were agreed to by the Biden campaign, not the Harris campaign.

I think Harris has his number, call him a wimp or chicken and I bet he will take the bait,

“But the agreement was that it would be the same as it was last time. In that case, it was muted,” Trump told reporters at a stop in Northern Virginia. “I didn’t like it the last time but it worked out fine. I mean, ask Biden how it worked out — it was fine. And I think it should be the same.”

His pride and ego will make him to have an open mic. And you know he will not be able to keep from becoming a bully.

I Was Just Reading…

About life expectancy in the different states and it is very, very interesting!

Map Reveals US States With Worst Life Expectancies
Newsweek
August 25, 2024

America has the lowest life expectancy of all English-speaking countries, new research has found. However, this varies significantly across the nation, with some states seeing much lower life expectancies than others.

"It's well-known that American life expectancy performs very poorly compared to other high-income countries," Jessica Ho, associate professor of sociology and demography at Penn State and senior author on the new paper, told Newsweek via email. "[However,] even compared to this subset of countries with shared characteristics, the U.S. has very low life expectancy, which is quite alarming."

That you Republicans for making us the worst country to live long and prosper.

Whatcha you mean that it is the Republican’s fault? You are always blaming the Republicans!

Well here is the worst and best states for the longest life…

With this in mind, taking the data from 2018, the following five states experienced the lowest life expectancies:

1.     West Virginia—74.5
2.     Mississippi—74.6
3.     Alabama—75.1
4.     Kentucky—75.3
5.     Tennessee—75.6

At the other end of the spectrum, these five states saw the highest average life expectancy for that same year:

1.     Hawaii—81
2.     California—80.8
3.     Minnesota—80.5
4.     New York—80.5
5.     Connecticut—80.4

Notice anything about the states? Like the fact that the worst states are all Republican and the best states are all Democratic?

Vote Blue for a longer life!

The New Underground Railroad.

The Underground Railroad help Blacks flee slavery to Canada and non-slavery states, the new underground railroad helps trans children flee oppressive state.

Colorado group helps other transgender people escape hostile states, unsafe conditions

KXAN

by: Cora Neas

August 23, 2024

Transgender Texans, frequently the targets of antagonistic state legislation and policies, continually weigh the threats to their civil rights against the costs of relocating to safer, more survivable states.

A recent directive at the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Driver’s License Office instructs employees to disregard court orders for sex marker changes, which are currently legal under Texas law. It also told employees to report any Texans who present such an order, which stirred fears that state law enforcement may create a list of transgender people.

Only 0.43% of adult Texans and 1.42% of Texans aged 13-17 identify as transgender, according to the UCLA Williams Institute. That’s around 122,700 people — less than the population of College Station.

That is why they pick on us, we don’t have the political power to fight back, so like most bullies they pick on the little guy.

Conversations in Texas transgender communities this week included talk of “escape plans” to flee eroding civil rights. Similar conversations came during the 2023 regular legislative session, when state lawmakers filed more anti-LGBTQ+ legislation than any prior session.

I despise what the are doing to us just so that they can get political power! The only thing that saved us were the courts but Trump changed all that by appointing far-right judges who put the Bible before the Constitution.

Moving to another state can cost thousands of dollars, disconnects a person from their community and medical care. Remote work may remain an option for some, but most Americans would also need to find a new job after such a move.

Those prohibitive factors are ones that Denver-based nonprofit Trans Continental Pipeline (TCP) hopes to ameliorate.

“We help queer people get out of the states that don’t really like us and come to Colorado,” TCP executive director Keira Richards said. “We’ve been told by national analysts that Colorado is the safest state for queer people. So we’re trying to help people get here.”

I know that so trans people came to Connecticut to find safety, but remember Connecticut only stays Blue if you vote! Connecticut is Blue only because the cities, all the rest of Connecticut is deep red, the only thing that the Connecticut Republicans care about is their pocketbooks.

Richards describes TCP as a support and networking organization, able to provide contacts for housing, employment and transition-related medical care providers.

“We can get people free flights. We can offer grants to help with the relocation. We can manage a lot of the logistical side of things,” Richards said. “There is a certain amount of autonomy that they would need. We can only do so much, so they certainly need to take control of their move.”

That should become the model for other states to follow. However, Trump has vowed to make the ant-trans laws nationwide!

 

And other organizations are also stepping up.

These Trans People And Their Families Can't Afford To Flee To A Friendlier State
These families are desperate to leave their anti-LGBTQ+ states — but it’s not that simple.
HuffPost

By Nico Lang
August 16, 2024

Bradie Anderson has been fighting to be herself for as long as she can remember. She knew she was a girl ever since she was very young, but others haven’t always seen it that way. When Bradie was 7 years old, her Catholic elementary school in Ohio gave her the choice to either pretend to be a boy or leave, so she left. And being the only out trans girl at her new public school drew the wrong kind of attention: At one point, a group of boys added her to a group chat in which they threatened to violently attack and castrate her.

[...]

Many families of trans youth across the country have come to that same realization now that 25 states have passed laws restricting some or all forms of transition care to minors, whether in the form of hormone replacement therapy, puberty blockers, or surgical interventions, the latter of which are rarely performed on patients under 18. A 2024 survey from the National Center for Transgender Equality found that 47% of trans respondents had considered leaving their state following the introduction of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. But the reality is that the vast majority will not have the resources to do so.

But for many trans people the option pf moving is not an option... 

Thousands of trans people and their families have been displaced from their homes as a result of the ongoing trans refugee crisis in the United States. When the progressive think tank Data for Progress polled trans Americans in June 2023 about whether they intended to leave their states due to the introduction of anti-trans legislation, 43% said they had been weighing whether to do so, and 5% of respondents said they had already moved. That figure represents about 80,000 people being forced to flee their homes, according to separate data from the Williams Institute, a pro-LGBTQ+ think tank at the University of California, Los Angeles, that puts the U.S. adult trans population at around 1.6 million.

These numbers indicate there are more than 1.5 million trans people left behind in the mass migration from anti-LGBTQ+ states ― and even that picture is incomplete, as the Williams Institute did not include trans youth in its data. About 300,000 young people between the ages of 13 and 17 in the U.S. identify as trans or nonbinary, as the institute’s own reporting estimated in June 2022. (Many advocates believe that this figure is itself an undercount because of the difficulty of reaching trans kids to survey them, particularly if their parents aren’t supportive of their identities.)

This is something you expect from Russia or China or Iran not here in the United States... Vote Blue as if your life depends upon it because it does for other trans people.!

---

Update 6:00PM

A friend pointed out that there is also an underground railroad for abortions!

The abortion underground: Groups quietly help women who have to travel to access care
“We're squirting a bottle of water at a building that is on fire. But it is something that people can do ... ," one volunteer said.

NBC News

By Adam Edelman

September 1, 2019

It was a warm June afternoon when Judith Plaskow got the email reminding her of a guest arriving soon.

The woman staying at Plaskow's Washington Heights apartment was a stranger who needed to be picked up at the Port Authority bus terminal on Manhattan's West Side. She was young — just 19 — and had never been to New York City before. Plaskow guessed she'd be scared.

The woman wasn't coming to the big city for thrills or fun. There'd be no Broadway show, no visit to the Empire State building. She was making a 10-hour trip to receive safe, legal abortion care — because where she is from, it is not possible to get it.

[...]

Thus, an increasing number of groups like Haven have emerged in recent years whose sole aim is to aid women who have no other option but to travel. Together with regional "abortion funds," another category of volunteer groups that communicates with clinics to cover the actual cost of care, they comprise a robust but quietly functioning network working to preserve abortion as a fundamental right, even for people who live where that right is increasingly being challenged.

What is this country coming to?

Who Owns Trump? Or Follow The Money!

Well it turns out that the Chinese own a big chunk of him!

What is wrong with Donald Trump?

USA Today

By Bill Gindlesperger

August 21, 2024

What is wrong with Donald Trump? How can anyone who is revered by some people as a successful business person have so little, if any, business success? Is there anything that Donald Trump touches that does not wilt and die and go belly up?

Nope! He is a loser and what do loser do when they are drowning? Reach out for a life raft.

Take his latest business venture. It presently trades on the stock market as Trump Media & Technology Group Corp (TMTG). It is a Sarasota, Fla., based money pit, best known as the owner of Truth Social. It also hypes its plan to launch a subscription based streaming service called TMTG+ ... which sounds a lot like a copycat Disney+. Yet, no matter what Donald Trump calls it, this, too, is going south in a handbasket.

That means he is looking for investors, and where does he look? To China!

The plot immediately thickened as it turned out that DWAC was created with the help of ARC Capital, a Shanghai-based firm known for listing Chinese companies on American stock markets and which had been under US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation for misrepresenting shell corporations.

The DWAC-Trump venture was initially linked to China Yunhong Holdings until the end of 2021 when the lead banker promised to sever ties with China and dissolve Yunhong.

It was then that the connection between Shanghai-based ARC Capital and DWAC was exposed for its heavier than previously disclosed investment in Donald Trump’s venture.

Wait a minute! Wasn't Trump harping about Chinse firms investing in the U.S.? The New York Times writes,

Essentially, Mr. Trump’s trade agenda aims at backing the United States away from integration with the global economy and steering the country toward becoming more self-contained: producing a larger share of what it consumes and wielding its might through one-on-one dealings with other countries.

Okay, how will his trade policies be effected when China has millions invested in Trump's company? Do you think that they have leverage on him?

Forbes writes in the 2020 elections,

President Donald Trump, who declared “I don’t make money from China” in Thursday night’s presidential debate, has in fact collected millions of dollars from government-owned entities in China since he took office. Forbes estimates that at least $5.4 million has flowed into the president’s business from a lease agreement involving a state-owned bank in Trump Tower.

An article in Newsweek reported back in 2021,

Former President Donald Trump's new social media project is backed by a venture that appears to have opaque Chinese connections, new findings have shown.

Trump, who is still banned from Twitter and Facebook, announced Truth Social on Wednesday, vowing to "stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech." It's the result of a merger between Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) and Digital World Acquisition Group.

[...]

On Thursday, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings posted online revealed seemingly indirect connections to potential business in China. MeidasTouch News found Digital World chief executive Patrick Orlando was also listed as the CEO of China Yunhong Holdings Ltd.

And now Truth Social!

Investors greenlight Trump’s $5.7 billion Truth Social deal

Reuters

By Helen Coster and Svea Herbst-Bayliss

March 23, 2024

Former U.S. President Donald Trump came a step closer on Friday to reaping a major windfall from his social media firm after investors in a blank-check acquisition company approved a merger currently worth about $5.7 billion.

The deal values Trump's majority stake in the company that holds his app Truth Social at about $3.3 billion. The windfall could prove vital as Trump grapples with the financial fallout of a string of legal cases against him, including a $454 million judgment in a civil fraud case in New York.

Shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC) (DWAC.O), opens new tab, the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that plans to list Trump Media & Technology Group on the stock market through a merger, voted in favor of the deal on Friday.

Now tell me, who owns Trump?

Trump said of China's President Xi is a'brilliant man' who rules with 'iron fist'

So will the Chinese pay his tab for the court, how beholden do you think Trump will be to the Chinese when they say get out of the Philippines? Hmm... will Trump have to register as an Agent of a Foreign Government for receiving money from China?

---

Then we have his campaign donations, you think that you are donating to the campaign but...

Trump’s businesses are raking in millions of dollars from Republican political campaigns – including his own

CNN

By Casey Tolan, Isabelle Chapman and Nelli Black

August 23, 2024

Late last year, former President Donald Trump announced his endorsement of car dealership owner Bernie Moreno for Ohio’s Senate seat – elevating an untested candidate who’d never held public office over several other more prominent Republicans.

Two days later, Moreno’s campaign spent about $17,000 at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, and then followed up by spending an additional $79,000 the next month – making him one of the Florida club’s top political spenders.

He wasn’t alone. With glitzy Mar-a-Lago fundraisers, stays at Trump’s hotels, and flights on the former president’s private jet, Republican candidates and political groups are on track to spend more on Trump’s businesses this year than any year since 2016, according to a CNN analysis of federal campaign finance data.

Trump himself has been the biggest spender, both this year and over the last decade. Between his three presidential campaigns, Trump and associated political groups have funneled more than $28 million in campaign donations to his businesses – helping convert the enthusiasm of his political supporters into personal profit.

Other Republicans have followed suit, spending millions at Trump’s properties in an apparent attempt to curry favor with the former president and signal their allegiance to him to GOP voters.

This sounds like a "vigorish" scheme to me, where you pay the mob bosses a cut of your pay.

But since Trump famously descended his golden escalator in 2015, every congressional candidate whose campaign has reported spending money at his businesses has been a Republican, the FEC data shows.

Most of them have received an endorsement from Trump at some point in their political careers. And some of the biggest spenders are politicians who have never held elected office but received key early endorsements from the former president that helped their campaigns win or avoid competitive primaries.

The question is where is all Donald's campaign money going? The left leaning New Republic writes,

Bombshell Report Exposes How Trump Is Lining His Pockets With Campaign

A new investigation reveals how Donald Trump is profiting off Republican campaigns—and using his own to rake in millions.

By Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling

August 23, 2024

Amid a year of legal woes that added up to roughly half a billion dollars, Donald Trump has been leeching cash from an eyebrow-raising source: his campaign.

According to a CNN analysis of federal campaign finance data, Trump and associated political groups have funneled more than $28 million in campaign donations into his businesses since he first ran for office in 2015.

Other Republicans are reportedly also using their campaign budgets on Trump’s businesses in order to earn favor with the conservative populist. Republican candidates and conservative investors, including Bernie Moreno, former Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker, and Arizona Senate hopeful Kari Lake, have spent more on Trump’s businesses this year than at any point since 2016, reported CNN. Those expenses added up by way of “Mar-a-Lago fundraisers, stays at Trump’s hotels, and flights on the former president’s private jet,” the outlet reported.

[...]

“He’s clearly now in complete control of the Republican Party,” Daniel Weiner, director of the Brennan Center’s Elections and Government Program, told CNN. “Patronizing his businesses has become one of the accepted ways that candidates and public officials express their loyalty to the party’s leader.”

Didn't at one time this has been called a "shakedown"?

Under Trump more then ever, we have the best government money can buy.

This Says A Lot!

About the people who are Republicans… they talk a lot about family values but they would make fun of a disabled person.

Gus Walz broke the internet with his tearful love for his dad. Then the bullying began
USA Today
By Michael Collins and Sam Woodward
August 22, 2024

A tearful, unscripted moment between Tim Walz and his 17-year-old son, Gus, has unleashed a flood of praise and admiration – but also prompted ugly online bullying.

Gus Walz, who has a nonverbal learning disorder as well as anxiety and ADHD, watched excitedly from the front row of Chicago’s United Center and sobbed openly Wednesday night as his father, the Democratic nominee for vice president, delivered his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.

[…]

Walz followed up by expressing his love for his family from the stage, saying, "Hope, Gus and Gwen, you are my entire world. And I love you."

Now that is family values and look what the Republicans said and did about him.

But the show of affection triggered a swath of snark and ugly comments on social media, many from MAGA supporters of former President Donald Trump, who faces Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Walz in November.

Conservative columnist and right-wing provocateur Ann Coulter mocked the teenager’s tears. “Talk about weird,” she wrote on X. The message has since been deleted.

Mike Crispi, a Trump supporter and podcaster from New Jersey, mocked Walz’s “stupid crying son” on X and added, “You raised your kid to be a puffy beta male. Congrats.”

Alec Lace, a Trump supporter who hosts a podcast about fatherhood, took his own swipe at the teenager: “Get that kid a tampon already,” he wrote, an apparent reference to a Minnesota state law that Walz signed as governor in that required schools to provide free menstrual supplies to students.

That’s the Republican family values. The British newspaper Independent wrote about Ann Coulter reply,

“Talk about weird…” Coulter wrote above the news article.

[…]

The founder of the gun safety groups, Moms Demand Action and Everytown, Shannon Watts, wrote on X: “I am neurodivergent. When I was 14, I was diagnosed with ADHD, OCD, and several learning disorders, including dyscalculia.”

“We’re not weird, we’re wonderful. And we’re your family, friends, and fellow Americans.”

In Variety…

“Jesus. What ass-wipes,” Ana Navarro wrote in an Instagram post that featured Coulter’s deleted comment. “Of course Republicans and Trumpers on social media taking shots at Gus Walz. You have to be a special kind of heart-less mutant to attack a 17 year-old special needs kid -not involved in politics- for the simple act of expressing love for his father.

[...]

 Rosie O’Donnell reacted to Coulter’s remark by writing: “Talk about a cruel heartless woman – she’s the worst.”

“There is a special place in Hell for adults who bully Children,” added Star Jones. “God does not like ugly … and he ain’t [too] fond of vile and disgusting women who use their vast platform to vilify the vulnerable. #DoBetter.”

Yeah, but look at Trump when he made fun of the disabled reporter... " performed an impression of Serge Kovaleski, who suffers from a congenital joint condition, at a rally."

Slate writes,

To those of us watching at home, the poignant moment built slowly—then happened all at once. Wearing a suit that was a little too big and a slightly loosened tie, young Gus stood in the audience and cheered, alongside mom Gwen and sister Hope, as his father talked about public school teachers and respecting individual privacy. As Walz shared with the country the fertility struggles he and his wife had endured, Gus sat silently, his mother’s arm around him. “Hope, Gus, and Gwen, you are my entire world, and I love you,” Walz told his family. The line once again brought Gus to his feet, and his lips started quivering. Applauding along with the arena crowd, Gus put his hand on his heart, pointed to his dad onstage, and shouted “I love you!” in return. “That’s my dad!” he then declared proudly and tearfully three times to those around him.

[...]

When Gus wept on Wednesday night, he became a paragon of something bigger than him: an evolved sense of manhood—or boyhood. Other young men across the country could see in Gus the catharsis that can come from defying any stereotypes and expressing this love publicly and with pride. Gus’ tears might be his greatest secret power yet.

Now those are my family values are love, respect and acceptance.

You know when a family is untied like that, that is brings the country together, love.

Another family is brought together by love and acceptance.

Dwyane Wade Is 'So Damn Proud' of Daughter Zaya, 16, as They Launch a New Safe Space for Trans Youth (Exclusive)

The NBA Hall of Famer was presented with the Elevate Prize Catalyst Award for his advocacy for the trans community

People

By Liam Quinn

May 23, 2024

Dwyane Wade racked up a number of accolades during his Hall of Fame NBA career. Now, he’ll need to make room for another award — this time for his advocacy work done off the court.

Wade, 42, was presented with the Elevate Prize Catalyst Award on Thursday, May 23, in Miami, where he spent most of his Hall of Fame NBA career with the Miami Heat. The 13-time All-Star received the award for his advocacy work for the transgender community. Wade, who has turned down several honors prior to this one, says this new accolade stands separate from his basketball achievements.

[...]

“You will hope as a parent that your kids feel comfortable to communicate with you when they're confused and they're looking for answers,” Wade says. “Whatever it is they are experiencing, that they feel comfortable enough to express those things to you. You won't want it to be someone else. At the end of the day, they're your kids. But you have to create the environment for that.”

This morning I asked why, why do they hate us... isn't love so much better?

I read about all the violence that is directed towards us when we have never done anything to them. It is about showing respect for other. They say it against their religion but what religion is based in animosity? It is not their religion that hates us, it is them who hide then animosity toward us behind their religion.
 

I'm voting for the party that is all about love and not about hate.