There Are Differences

All religions are not the same... there are affirming religions and then there are fire & brimstone religions!

Transgender priest joined dozens of Maine faith leaders to testify against anti-trans bills

The Maine Monitor

by Sean Scott

July 28, 2025

The Rev. Gwen Fry realized she was a transgender woman in 1976 as she watched the transgender tennis player Renée Richards fight to compete in the U.S. Open as a woman.

Now an Episcopal priest working in Waterville, Fry joined dozens of clergy and religious leaders from across Maine this spring to testify against a slew of bills that aimed, in part, to prevent transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports.

“My church and now my state protects the trans community,” Fry said in her testimony. “I no longer live in fear to leave my house like I did in Arkansas because of the protections afforded me here in Maine. If these bills pass we will be taking giant steps backwards and my small community will experience a return to the same discrimination and oppression I fled moving to Maine.”

The news media darlings are the fire and brimstone religions, GLAAD reports,

Missing Voices: A study of religious voices in mainstream media reports about LGBT equality

A three-year study of mainstream news coverage about the intersection of religion and issues affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community1 showed that media outlets overwhelmingly quoted or interviewed sources from Evangelical Christian organizations to speak about LGBT lives, and the messages from those sources were significantly more negative than positive, resulting in a 'religion versus gay' framing.

Where are the pro-LGBT religious voices?

The ‘Missing Voices: A study of religious voices in mainstream media reports about LGBT equality’ study, released by GLAAD and the University of Missouri Center on Religion & the Professions,  analyzes messages presented in national news outlets by religious voices about issues affecting the LGBT community. The research, a three year study of 316 news stories about LGBT issues, using 1,387 different religious sources on national television and print news media, shows a disproportionate reliance on anti-LGBT religious voices commenting on LGBT people and issues. Three out of four religious messages came from people whose religions have formal policies opposing LGBT equality, despite the fact that acceptance of LGBT people is growing across faith traditions

The news media is largely omitting a pro-LGBT religious perspective and ignoring individuals who identify as both LGBT and religious, particularly those who identify as Christian. As a result of this framing, it is likely that media consumers have distorted views of the relationship between LGBT people and religion and follow a false 'gay vs. religion' frame.

The media often gravitates toward voices that provoke strong reactions, and that usually means highlighting conflict rather than nuance as a result it reinforces the fire & brimstone and it marginalizes the affirming voices!

Major Findings

• Media outlets persistently quoted sources from Evangelical Christian organizations to speak about LGBT issues, and the messages those sources conveyed were significantly more negative than positive.
• Individual Evangelicals are consulted at a higher rate than their presence in the population would warrant (34% of media coverage versus 26% of the U.S. population).
• Furthermore, Evangelical Christians account for almost 40% of all the negative statements about LGBT issues made by religiously identified spokespeople. Spokespeople for the Roman Catholic hierarchy account for another 12%.
• Pro-LGBT or LGBT-identified sources are predominantly presented without any religious affiliation, thus reinforcing the mainstream media framing of 'religion vs. gay'.

The article goes on to write...

 A Maine Monitor analysis found that roughly 50 clergy members, religious leaders and other representatives of faith-based groups testified individually on the anti-transgender legislation — significantly more than testified on abortion legislation this session. All but four of them opposed the bills, invoking their faith to defend the rights of transgender youth.

When we were passing the gender inclusive non-discrimination bill we had a number of religious leaders speak in favor of the bill, including a bishop.

Cuckoo Award

Today's Cuckoo Award goes out to all the Republicans trying to pass legislation to ban “weather modification” and environmental geoengineering and allude to the use of “chemtrails!”

Republicans across the country are pushing bills to stop government 'weather modification'
“If it doesn't exist,” said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., a co-sponsor of federal legislation targeting geoengineering, “then you don't have anything to worry about.”

NBC News

By Allan Smith and Matt Dixon

July 29, 2025

For years, outlandish theories about the U.S. government’s using airplanes to spray harmful chemicals over U.S. homes or powerful elites controlling the weather were relegated to the fringes of society.

Not anymore.

As the internet has provided rocket fuel for such claims, Republican lawmakers across the country are introducing, passing and enacting laws to ban “weather modification” and environmental geoengineering and allude to the use of “chemtrails,” a longtime theory that planes are spreading chemical agents on an unsuspecting public. As more people are exposed to dangerous flooding, the GOP lawmakers have pointed to the fringe theories as potential explanations for extreme weather, pushing them further into the political mainstream. (Scientists have found evidence tying the increasing frequency of extreme weather to climate change.)

Republican lawmakers in nearly 20 state legislatures have proposed such legislation, with governors in Tennessee and Florida having signed bills into law. On the federal level, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., recently introduced the “Clear Skies Act,” which would outlaw forms of geoengineering and hit alleged weather modifiers with penalties of up to $100,000 for each violation and potential prison sentences of up to five years.

Quack... quack... quack!

Of course  Reps Marjorie Taylor Greene is involved, she is the leading quacking in Congress!

Greene, who is leading the charge to pass federal legislation to ban weather modification, said she saw “kind of a funny hypocrisy” among climate change activists who are “yelling, ‘We’ve got to stop climate change.’”

“But yet they’re like, ‘No, don’t stop manmade climate change,’” she continued. “So I find that to be a laughable hypocrisy. And so it just doesn’t add up to me.”

It just shows the level of education that the Republicans... none.

“It’s not a conspiracy theory,” Pennsylvania state Sen. Camera Bartolotta, a Republican who co-sponsored legislation in her state, said in an interview. “All you have to do is look up.”

Cuckoo, cuckoo!

“I get a lot of calls on it,” Burchett said, adding: “It’s a hot button issue. … And it’s an issue that was in the real realm of the conspiracy theorists. But if you look [online], you’ll notice that it has taken on a little bit more mainstream. You have one group that says it’s real, and the other group says ‘you’re a lunatic,’ that it doesn’t exist.”

Asked what he would say to someone who believes he is a lunatic for proposing his legislation, Burchett said the bill is a no-lose proposition.

“If it doesn’t exist,” Burchett said, “then you don’t have anything to worry about.”

Does that mean most of your constituents are stupid so you cater to them?

“They’re upset over what they call chemtrails they see in the sky,” Greene said of constituents who have contacted her about the issue. “They’re continually upset about it, and they’re engaged on it. But it hadn’t gotten there on a wide scale. Remember the flooding in Dubai? That was one of the first times I saw, like, ‘Oh, this went mainstream, and people are paying attention.’”

I don't have an idiot award but if I did she would be the first recipient!

“I know so many people today, they’re finally noticing, and it gets worse and worse and worse,” she said. “Every single day, you can’t look at the sky and not see huge stripes sprayed by all these planes every single day and every night.”

Today the award is not given to any one person but to the entire Republican party! They are all cuckoo.

---

Okay, that being said, contrails do affect the weather. When the World Trade Center was attacked and all the planes were grounded, well the weather changed. It became one big science experiment!

Contrails reduce daily temperature range

David J. Travis1, Andrew M. Carleton2 & Ryan G. Lauritsen1 

Nature volume 418, page601 (2002)Cite this article

A brief interval when the skies were clear of jets unmasked an effect on climate.

Abstract

The potential of condensation trails (contrails) from jet aircraft to affect regional-scale surface temperatures has been debated for years but was difficult to verify until an opportunity arose as a result of the three-day grounding of all commercial aircraft in the United States in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001. Here we show that there was an anomalous increase in the average diurnal temperature range (that is, the difference between the daytime maximum and night-time minimum temperatures) for the period 11–14 September 2001. Because persisting contrails can reduce the transfer of both incoming solar and outgoing infrared radiation and so reduce the daily temperature range, we attribute at least a portion of this anomaly to the absence of contrails over this period.

This is a natural process. The engines burn carbon based fuel and it particles of soot comes out of the engine and water vaper condenses around the particle and creates clouds. If you look at picture of of WWII bomber over Germany there are all contrails coming from their engines!

There Is No Difference...

How many times have we heard that from trans people who didn't vote. Do they still feel that way?

Buttigieg: Approach to transgender rights ‘starts with compassion’ 

The Hill

by Brooke Migdon

July 28, 2025

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Democrats should approach transgender rights, including eligibility requirements for trans athletes, “with compassion” during an interview aired early Monday with NPR’s “Morning Edition.” 

Buttigieg, who confirmed in May that he is weighing a bid for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination after passing on a Senate run in Michigan, was asked about his messaging on transgender rights in response to remarks from former Obama White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel that diminished trans identities.

Emanuel, a Democrat and former Chicago mayor, has also said he is considering a 2028 presidential bid. 

“Your approach starts with compassion — compassion for transgender people, compassion for families, especially young people who are going through this, and also empathy for people who are not sure what all of this means for them,” Buttigieg, who ran unsuccessfully for the 2020 Democratic nomination, told host Steve Inskeep on Monday.

Do you really think that the Republican's have compassionate bone in their body? In Democrat control states they passed a bills...

• In Washington, HB 1971 expands access to prescription hormone therapy by hospitals and health systems.
• In Michigan, in late January 2025, Michigan enacted legislation expanding its hate-crime statutes to explicitly include gender identity and expression
• In Delaware, Governor Matt Meyer signed an executive order designating Delaware as a "sanctuary state" for gender-affirming care, protecting both patients and providers from punitive action by other states.
• In Massachusetts, in July 2025, Massachusetts lawmakers moved ahead with legislation to codify protections for gender-affirming care and related patient privacy rights.
• In Colorado, the Kelly Loving Act (HB 25‑1312): Expands the Colorado Anti‑Discrimination Act to include protections based on gender identity, mandates respectful use of chosen names and pronouns, removes court order requirements for gender marker updates if previously changed documents exist, and prohibits enforcement of out‑of‑state restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors. Signed into law.
• In California, Senate Bill 59 (“Transgender Privacy Act”): Introduced in January 2025, it extends court records confidentiality (including name/gender changes) to adults, retroactive, building on earlier protection for minors. Still moving through the legislature; not yet law as of now.
• In Connecticut, we passed House Bill 6913, titled “An Act Prohibiting Long‑Term Care Facilities from Discriminating Against Long‑Term Care Facility Residents”, was passed by the Connecticut General Assembly.

But, but...

According to Trans Legislation Tracker,  953 introduced bills represent an unprecedented volume in a single year and 120 bills were signed into law.

So don't give me this crap about both parties being the are the same! One is helping us and one s trying to kill us!

Mini-Post: Cheater, Cheater...

Caught on camera cheating... what does say about the integrity of the President of the United States that he cheats with even batting a eyelash. He sees playing by the rules for suckers.

He is a sleaze bag!

---

Updated 7/29 @ 8PM

Commander in Cheat!

President Trump 'Not Happy' With His Golf Nickname

Andrew Holleran

July 27, 2025

President Trump is likely "not happy" with his golf nickname, according to his supporters.

The President of the United States has developed a new nickname on the course this weekend. President Trump, 79, played a couple of rounds of golf in Scotland. The President of the United States has a prestigious course, Trump Turnberry, in Scotland, where he has family roots.

President Trump, who was in Scotland to work on a deal with the European Union, played a round of golf on Saturday and another round on Sunday.

However, video of President Trump potentially getting caught bending the rules is going viral on social media.

In the wake of the video, President Trump is being referred to as the "Commander in Cheat."

He's not going to like that.

"PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE CADDY DROPPING A BALL FOR ME! INVESTIGATE OBAMA AND KAMALA HARRIS INSTEAD! STOP CALLING ME COMMANDER IN CHEAT!" one fan joked.

"No wonder the Commander in Cheat always wins the championship trophy at his own golf courses. He cheats at everything because he sucks at everything," another fan added.

Weirder And Weirder

With Trump anything is possible, even letting go a convicted sex trafficker (AP News) who is serving a 20 year sentence.

Justice Department granted Ghislaine Maxwell limited immunity during meeting: ABC

The Hill

by Miriam Waldvogel

July 25, 2025

The Justice Department (DOJ) granted Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, limited immunity before she sat for two days of interviews with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, ABC News reported Friday.

Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking and other charges. The interview comes as the Trump administration faces significant pressure from its base to reveal additional information about Epstein, who has been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories.

[...]

Blanche, meanwhile, said the department would share more information “at the appropriate time.” He and Maxwell spoke for a total of nine hours over two days.

ABC reported that the immunity Maxwell was granted is often granted in order to help individuals cooperate with a criminal case.

It is very suspicious that the Deputy Attorney General met with her... what are they up to?

Newsweek reported that,

The unusual one-on-one meeting between the deputy attorney general and Maxwell occurred amid renewed pressure on the Trump administration to release the files surrounding the Epstein case.

The DOJ has faced fierce bipartisan backlash since releasing a memo saying that the government never had an Epstein "client list," and that the sex offender and disgraced financier died by suicide in his Manhattan jail cell in 2019.

[...]

The New York Times reports that Maxwell was granted conditional immunity, often known as proffer immunity, which is commonly used to encourage cooperation by protecting the interviewee from self-incrimination in exchange for testimony.

Now here is the kicker and what makes it suspicious...

Markus said that included discussions about a potential pardon. "We haven't spoken to the president—or anybody—about a pardon," he added. "The president this morning said he had the power to do so. We hope he exercises that power in a right and just way."

This is all about the "Epstein Files" why do they need to talk to her? Release the files! It is as simple as that!

Ghislaine Maxwell gives US Department of Justice details on ‘100 different people’ linked to Jeffrey Epstein, lawyer says

Ghislaine Maxwell is “finally able to say what really happened,” her lawyer claims as the convicted sex trafficker meets with a top White House official.

News.com.au [Is owned by Rupert Murdoch]

Benedict Brook

July 26, 2025

Ghislaine Maxwell will “finally be able to say what really happened,” her lawyer has said as the convicted sex trafficker met with a top White House official for a second day.

On Friday, US time, it was reported Maxwell had discussed around “100 different people” linked to the late pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

[...]

Asked about a possible pardon by President Trump for Maxwell, Mr Markus said Mr Trump was the “ultimate deal-maker”.

“We haven’t spoken to the president or anybody about a pardon just yet. And, you know, listen, the president this morning said he had the power to do so,” he told reporters.

Here is my take on all this, I think that when all the dust settles... she will have her pardon, she will not name Trump but she will add a whole list of others perverts who raped young girls. And the original list of names will fade back into the darkness.

Mini-Post: "Say it ain't so..."

Surprise, surprise... Federal agents lied!

Justice department drops cases against LA protesters after officers caught making false claims

Revealed: records show border patrol gave inaccurate testimony about people it jailed. Prosecutors now face ‘embarrassing’ dismissals

The Guardian

Sam Levin

Mon 28 Jul 2025

US immigration officers made false and misleading statements in their reports about several Los Angeles protesters they arrested during the massive demonstrations that rocked the city in June, according to federal law enforcement files obtained by the Guardian.

The officers’ testimony was cited in at least five cases filed by the US Department of Justice amid the unrest. The justice department has charged at least 26 people with “assaulting” and “impeding” federal officers and other crimes during the protests over immigration raids. Prosecutors, however, have since been forced to dismiss at least eight of those felonies, many of them which relied on officers’ inaccurate reports, court records show.

But now weeks latter...

The Guardian’s review of records found:

• Out of nine “assault” and “impeding” felony cases the justice department filed immediately after the start of the protests and promoted by the attorney general, Pam Bondi, prosecutors dismissed seven of them soon after filing the charges.
• In reports that led to the detention and prosecution of at least five demonstrators, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents made false statements about the sequence of events and misrepresented incidents captured on video.
• One DHS agent accused a protester of shoving an officer, when footage appeared to show the opposite: the officer forcefully pushed the protester.
• One indictment named the wrong defendant, a stunning error that has jeopardized one of the government’s most high-profile cases.

“When I see felonies dismissed, that tells me either the federal officers have filed affidavits that are not truthful and that has been uncovered, or US attorneys reviewing the cases realize the evidence does not support the charges,” said Cristine Soto DeBerry, a former California state prosecutor who is now director of Prosecutors Alliance Action, a criminal justice reform group.

The government got what they wanted... a perp walk! They got on every newspaper, on every evening news of them busting heads and enforcing the law... so what the cases got thrown out, they got the talking heads on the evening news to talk about them.

Open You Pocketbooks! $$$$$

Trump is in Scotland on a business trip or is he?

Trump’s Scotland trip are kind of reminds me of my neighbor who used to go on vacation always made sure each day he attended a business meeting so he could write off the trip as a business an expense. is Trump’s Scotland more of a golf trip than a business trip.

The Standard reported that Trump’s Sunday and Saturday were golf-heavy, with no formal meetings scheduled aside from trade talks with Ursula von der Leyen and the Starmer meeting later in the week. On Saturday, he played at least 18 holes at Turnberry—nine in the morning, lunch break, then another nine in the afternoon. It also reported that nothing official was scheduled Saturday, leaving Trump free to spend the day on the course.

As reported by Reuters... After meeting Starmer on Monday, most remaining time at Turnberry and later at Aberdeen was spent opening a new golf course, playing rounds, and hosting family—all with substantial security and little sign of official business beyond the trade talks.

Trump’s trip to Scotland is mostly to visit his golf courses. Where’s the backlash?

As the US president fires thousands in the name of preventing alleged fraud, he continues to spend taxpayer funds on his outings

The Guardian

By Mohamad Bazzi

July 25, 2025

Donald Trump will be visiting Scotland for five days, but he won’t spend most of his time in high-level diplomatic meetings or conducting other state business. He’s primarily visiting two of his golf resorts, and dedicating a new golf course named in honor of his mother, who was born in Scotland.

In other words, Trump appears to be going on a junket, paid for by US taxpayers, to check out his golf properties in a foreign country.

The White House has shared few details about Trump’s upcoming “private” trip, which starts on Friday and runs through 29 July. The secrecy is deliberate – to avoid questions and criticism of a presidential visit that is mainly focused on promoting Trump’s business interests. As of Tuesday, three days before Trump’s expected arrival in Scotland, the US administration still had not shared the president’s itinerary with the Scottish police force, which is bracing for protests in several cities.

Most coverage of Trump’s trip has focused on the fact that the White House decided to ban Wall Street Journal reporters from the press pool that will travel with the president, in retaliation for the outlet’s recent report connecting Trump to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But few media outlets have asked why Trump is visiting Scotland in the first place, especially since the White House is planning another, more elaborate state visit to the UK in September, when Trump will be hosted by King Charles.

Well I can tell you "Where's the Backlash" there isn't any because the news media here is covering that angle of the trip!

AP News wrote...

Donald Trump’s getaway is taking him considerably farther from the nation’s capital, to the coast of Scotland.

[...]

The White House isn’t calling Trump’s five-day, midsummer jaunt a vacation, but rather a working trip where the Republican president might hold a news conference and sit for interviews with U.S. and British media outlets. Trump was also talking trade in separate meetings with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

$10,000,000 of our dollar!

---

I asked the AI ChatGPT: "So maybe a total of 6 or 8 hours spent on business and the rest of the time golfing?"

Yes, based on available reporting, your estimate is very plausible—and likely generous.

---

🕰️ Estimated Breakdown of Trump's Scotland Visit

Trump’s Scotland trip spans about 5 days. Here’s a realistic view of how the time seems to have been spent:

Activity	Estimated Time
Business Meetings	~6–8 hours total
Golf / Leisure	~30+ hours (multiple rounds + ceremonies)
Travel / Transfers	~5–6 hours
Press / Media / Events	~3 hours (combined)

---

📊 Business Activity: What’s Actually Documented?

1. Meeting with UK PM Keir Starmer – ~1 hour

2. Meeting with Scottish First Minister John Swinney – likely ~30 minutes

3. Trade talk with Ursula von der Leyen (EU) – possibly up to 1.5–2 hours

4. Private briefings or aides meetings – maybe another 2–3 hours if you include prep/debriefs

🟰 That totals around 5–7 hours—with some optimistic padding.

---

⛳ Golf & Resort Promotion

• Saturday: Played two full rounds (Turnberry) – ~7–8 hours

• Sunday: Ribbon-cutting + golf at new Aberdeen course – ~5–6 hours

• Monday–Tuesday: Golf + media/photo ops each day – ~3–5 hours per day

• Total golf/leisure time: Easily 25–35 hours, if not more.

---

✅ Conclusion

Yes, 6 to 8 hours of business is a solid and even generous estimate. The rest of the time—roughly 80–90% of the trip—appears dedicated to:

• Golf

• Brand promotion

• Family events

• Minimal media interaction

It mirrors your original analogy almost perfectly: like someone who books a 15-minute “business meeting” just to justify a tropical vacation as a tax write-off.

---

Update: 7/2 @ 4AM

The Hill writes,,,

Plenty of publicity for the golf courses

Critics have long lamented overlaps between Trump’s political activities and his business interests.

They were further irked by the Scotland trip, which was at least as much about golfing as about political business.

But Trump seems sure to appreciate the massive amount of free publicity he has just got bestowed upon his Scottish courses.

Mini-Post: No Empathy

They are soulless, they are heartless, they know no boundaries!

Trump Wants to Deport a Children’s Hospital Chaplain to Egypt, Where He ‘Faces Death’

To so many in Cincinnati, Imam Ayman Soliman was a beloved Children’s Hospital chaplain known for comforting the parents of dying kids

The Rolling Stone

By Asawin Suebsaeng

July 23, 2025

 In recent years, if you lived in the Queen City metropolitan area and your young child was severely ill, or dying of a terminal condition, chances are good that you encountered Ayman Soliman, who until recently was a Muslim chaplain at the renowned Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

Whatever your faith or beliefs, he would have consoled you and your family in your darkest hours, in the kind of moment that every parent lives in abject terror of ever having to face. If you and your family were Muslim, the chaplain may have answered your questions about whether a do-not-resuscitate order for your child was permitted by the Quran. One former colleague of the imam recounts that specifically because of Soliman, there are poor members of the community who did not need to worry about paying for the funerals of their babies who didn’t make it out of the hospital alive.

Absolutely none of that matters to President Donald Trump and his administration, which is seeking to deport Soliman back to Egypt, where he and his advocates say he will be marked for death — in part due to his work as a journalist there in the midst of the Arab Spring.

This is horrible! This is inhumane! This is Germany 1930s and the Gestapo! 

He is playing to his xenophobia MAGA base, he doesn't how many live he kills, he doesn't care who he destroys as long as it brings him votes!

 

Mini-Post: Misogynistic?

Tell me do you feel that this misogynistic of the Secretary of Defense?

Hegseth’s ousting of female leaders may have ‘chilling effect’ at Pentagon

The Hill

by Ellen Mitchell 

07/26/25

The unexplained removal of the first female head of the U.S. Naval Academy last week is the latest in a string of top military women who have either been fired or redelegated to largely invisible roles under the Trump administration.

The ousting of Vice Adm. Yvette Davids from her post as the first female superintendent of the academy in Annapolis, Md., makes her one of at least five senior female service members who have been moved out of their roles since January.

That trend, coupled with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s well-documented antipathy toward women in combat roles prior to becoming Pentagon chief, could have a chilling effect on women enlisting in the armed forces, experts say.

You know what the Democrats have to do? Is to introduce a bill to allow women in combat and leadership roles! That way if they vote "no" they will have to answer to fifty percent of their voters.

If You Can't Win Honestly Cheat!

The Republicans are worried so they do what Republicans do... stack the deck!

The White House wants more states to redraw House maps to help GOP. Democrats are readying a fight

AP News

By  MEG KINNARD and JOEY CAPPELLETTI

July 24, 2025

The White House is eyeing redistricting efforts beyond Texas to help Republicans hold the U.S. House in 2026 — and Democrats are preparing to escalate in response, with one senator vowing to go “nuclear” if needed.

What’s shaping up to be a multistate redistricting battle could mark the opening round for House control ahead of next year’s midterms, when Democrats see retaking the House as the party’s best chance to break Republicans’ hold on Congress and President Donald Trump is determined to keep the GOP’s majority. Democrats, under pressure from their base to match GOP tactics, have grown more forceful in their messaging and are taking concrete steps to push back, even as the party enters at a disadvantage.

“If they’re going to go nuclear, then so am I,” said Sen. Elissa Slotkin. “They’re forcing us into this position because they’re trying to pick their voters.”

Yes, both parties do it... but one party has developed the art of jerrymandering to a fine art. 

At Trump’s urging, Texas Republicans are looking to redraw congressional maps to favor GOP candidates during a 30-day special legislative session that started this week. Trump has said he wants to carve out five new winnable GOP seats.

They want to make it so that Texas is forever and ever Republican!

The Houston Chronicle writes about their power grab...

The exploits of then-Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay – often called “the exterminator” for his career in pest control management – seem almost nostalgic now compared with the gluttony and hubris driving the Texas redistricting sequel launched this week in Austin under decree of President Donald Trump. 

“Five, I think we get five,” Trump told reporters, describing the “simple” off-year gerrymander of congressional seats that he reportedly had to strong-arm Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to abide. “And there could be some other states – we’re going to get another three or four or five in addition. Texas would be the biggest one.”

Absolute power corrupts absolutely! KESQ reports that the Republicans now control the process and could flip as many as 2–3 Democratic seats by redrawing 2022 maps! In Missouri the Republicans are discussion redistricting in the House according to WSLS.

They have stacked the deck in their favor!

Mini-Post: Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery

Welcome to the new racist nation... where Black and trans art is eradicated!

Artist Amy Sherald cancels major Smithsonian exhibition, citing censorship

CNN

By Jacqui Palumbo

July 24, 2025

The artist Amy Sherald has canceled a major exhibition of her work at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, citing censorship over one of her paintings depicting the Statue of Liberty modeled after a transgender artist.

Sherald, who reached national fame for her official portrait of Michelle Obama in 2018, has since become one of the most prominent living American painters for her vibrant portraits of Black life, portrayed in grisaille, or gray tones, against expanses of blue.

Her mid-career survey “American Sublime,” which was set to go on view at the National Portrait Gallery in September, has traveled around the country, debuting at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art before stopping at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, where it is currently on view. At the Whitney, the artist Arewà Basit, after whom the painting “Trans Forming Liberty” is modeled, appeared at the opening party to take pictures with Sherald in front of the monumental artwork.

But there is a snag, in her works there is a painting of a trans woman... WHOA!

In a statement, Sherald said she was informed by the National Portrait Gallery that the museum that “concerns had been raised internally” about the painting.

“These concerns led to discussions about removing the work from the exhibition,” she continued. “While no single person is to blame, it is clear that institutional fear shaped by a broader climate of political hostility toward trans lives played a role.”

So she did the right thing... all or nothing! She chose nothing!

I say other artist should boycott Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery until stop the discrimination and fire Trump appointed Board members!

I Don't Even Know Where To Begin!

This is how sick the Republicans are. The judge they have just appointed to the bench believes religion show be part of the law!

Senate confirms lifetime seat for Trump judicial appointee who compared being gay to bestiality

Joshua Divine has argued that Christians are obligated to impose their values on others.

LGBTQ Nation

By John Russell

July 25, 2025

Senate Republicans confirmed anti-LGBTQ+ Missouri Deputy Solicitor General Joshua Divine to a lifetime seat on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri on Tuesday.

Divine’s appointment was opposed by Senate Democrats and progressive organizations due to his extreme conservative record on abortion and voting rights, HuffPost noted. But Sen. Angus King (I-ME), who usually caucuses with Democrats, joined with Republicans to push Divine’s nomination over the line. King, who supports both reproductive rights and voting rights, did not indicate why he ultimately sided with Republicans on Divine’s appointment.

So there was one Democrat who put religion ahead of the Constitution and voted for a bigot!

In a tip sheet on Divine, progressive judicial advocacy group Alliance for Justice said that he “has built a legal career advancing hardline conservative positions that threaten to significantly undermine core constitutional protections related to civil rights, reproductive freedom, LGBTQ+ equality, environmental protections, and immigrant rights.”

The Leadership Conference Education Fund writes,

Mr. Divine does not possess the requisite experience to be a federal judge, and in his limited legal career he has demonstrated significant hostility to our civil and human rights. A 2016 law school graduate, most of his career has either been clerking or working for Senator Josh Hawley. In his short time practicing in the Missouri solicitor general’s office, Mr. Divine has tried to distinguish himself among extreme conservatives by attacking our civil and human rights. As the Missouri attorney general stated in response to the selection of Mr. Divine for the federal bench, Mr. Divine “has been the driving force behind some of the most consequential legal battles [the Missouri attorney general’s] office has taken on”[1]— and he specifically notes “[w]hether it was dismantling the Biden Administration unlawful student loan bailout or shutting down radical attempts to harm Missouri children, Josh brought…leadership every step of the way.”[2] Loyal to the anti-civil rights agenda and the Trump administration, Mr. Divine frequently appeals to the Trump administration in numerous cases. These include suing the Biden administration after they halted construction of President Trump’s southern border wall[3] and suing the state of New York after President Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records, accusing the state of election tampering and claiming that the case was brought for politically motivated reasons to “assist Joseph Biden’s campaign”[4] — and that New York interfered when the “aim of millions of Missourians is to elect Trump to the Presidency.”[5]

Even before his time as an attorney, Mr. Divine wrote extensively about conservative issues in extremely problematic ways. He authored nearly 50 columns for his college newspaper on a myriad of topics, some of which are detailed below. The topics also include appallingly calling for required literacy tests to vote,[6] defending the man who murdered Trayvon Martin,[7] and saying that opposition to burdensome voter ID laws is “ridiculous.”[8] During his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing and in questions for the record, he was asked about his writings and had the opportunity to distance himself from them — but he chose not to. These biases have translated to his legal career, as demonstrated below.

He was groomed for this judgeship... legal career includes clerkships for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Judge William Pryor of the Eleventh Circuit. He has held significant roles such as Chief Counsel to U.S. Senator Josh Hawley and Deputy Solicitor General of Missouri. As Solicitor General, Divine has been involved in high-profile cases, including leading Missouri's efforts to challenge federal student loan forgiveness programs and defending state laws restricting gender-affirming care for minors.

I asked ChatGPT, "Has he been biased by his Christian views?" It Replied...

Joshua Divine’s legal career and public record indicate that his Christian conservative views have influenced his positions on certain issues, particularly related to LGBTQ+ rights.

* **Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage:** In past writings and legal arguments, Divine has expressed opposition to same-sex marriage, often grounding his views in traditional Christian beliefs about marriage.

* **Gender-Affirming Care:** As Missouri’s Deputy Solicitor General and later Solicitor General, he defended state laws restricting gender-affirming medical care for minors. These stances align with socially conservative positions often informed by religious convictions.

* **Criticism from Advocacy Groups:** Civil rights and LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations have highlighted that his legal work and public statements reflect a perspective that could be seen as biased against LGBTQ+ rights, often tied to his Christian worldview.

* **Judicial Philosophy:** As a nominee for federal judgeships, Divine’s record has been scrutinized for indications that his personal beliefs might influence his judicial decision-making, raising concerns about impartiality in cases involving LGBTQ+ civil rights.

In summary, while Divine’s legal and judicial philosophy is rooted in conservative Christian values, which inform his stance on LGBTQ+ issues, whether this constitutes “bias” depends on one’s perspective. Supporters argue he is upholding traditional values and the rule of law, while critics see his actions as discriminatory.

This does not bode well for us. LGBTQ Nation goes on...

In a separate statement, Reproductive Freedom for All President and CEO Mini Timmaraju blasted Divine’s confirmation, arguing that it proves that Trump lied to voters when he claimed during his campaign that he would leave decisions about abortion access to the states. Trump, Timmaraju said, “is actively working to eliminate abortion access nationwide.

Surprise, surprise... Trump lied!

Mini-Post: Guess What Trump Is Doing Now?

Trump latest decree is environmental laws cost too much for business! Um... what about our health? Doesn't that count and not the bottom line?

Trump administration grants two Indiana plants ‘relief’ from toxic pollution regulations

By Sophie Hartley

Indianapolis Star

July 25, 2025

Last week the Trump administration eased pollution regulations for dozens of industrial sites across the country that spew toxic emissions — two of which operate inside Indiana.

Across a series of four proclamations, the White House gave the roughly 90 facilities — chemical manufacturers, sterilization facilities, power plants — an additional two years to meet hazardous air pollution rules set by the EPA under the Biden administration. 

The new proclamations will allow certain facilities to keep operating under the EPA’s old regulations until roughly 2028 and 2029, although individual deadlines vary.

In Indiana, a chemical manufacturing plant in Mount Vernon, SABIC Innovative Plastics, and a medical equipment sterilization facility in Ellettsville, operated by Cook Medical, both received extensions.

But these were not the only businesses, they are only the Indiana business, a total of 90 businesses were exempted!

The government claims "that meeting compliance is too burdensome/expensive to the business but not meeting the compliance levels can be very burdensome to the health of nearby communities," Gabriel Filippelli, a biochemist and urban health researcher at Indiana University, wrote to IndyStar in an email.

[...]

The American Chemistry Council, which represents manufacturers like SABIC, maintained the cost of meeting pollution regulations could exceed $50 billion, per a partially filled records request that the IndyStar obtained from the EPA.

And how much is a human life worth... is that figured into the bottom line?

It isn’t yet clear if or how the administration will address the potential public health impacts of two-year exemptions. And while it's hard to gauge exactly how two additional years of non-compliance will impact communities downwind of pollutants, the exemption "equals two years of potentially profound impacts on community health," according to Filippelli.

Our lives are only collateral damage to Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign.

Oh... and one last question... how much did they donate to his campaign?

Saturday 9: Rhythm of My Heart

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

Saturday 9: Rhythm of My Heart (1991)

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

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

1) Rod Stewart sings that the words "I love you" roll off his tongue. When did you most recently say, "I love you?"

It has been a very, very long time.

 

2) In "Rhythm of My Heart," he recalls running down the alley with his lady love. Does your neighborhood have alleys?

We have lawns. We have lawn care companies take care of them.

 

3) Rod is well known for his coif. Are you having a good hair day today?

Um… that supposes that I have hair.

 

4) Rod was the youngest of 5. He remembers that, as a family, they enjoyed singing with Al Jolson records. Did your family have singalongs?

We were a very unmusical family growing up. Which is amazing because my brother’s family is very musically inclined.

5) He is proud of his luxury car collection, which includes a Rolls Royce, a Ferrari and the one rumored to be his favorite: a classic mid-70s Lamborghini Countach LP400 Periscopio. Looking back on years as a driver and a car owner, which vehicle is your all-time favorite?

I really don’t have favorites… my brother kids gave names to their cars. Me? I just look at a car to get me from point A to point B. Right now I am driving a 2017 Prius Plug-in with 92,000 mile and an average mpg of 80.2 mpg.

6) Rod turned 80 this year and he's still touring. Once known for his hard partying, he takes better care of himself now and rides a stationery bike every day. What steps do you take to keep fit?

That is my problem… nothing. I’m too short of breath. And it is a big downward spiral.

 

7) In 1991, when this song was popular, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry died. Do you have a favorite Star Trek character?

Not the original series but I think Sir Patrick Stewart was the best captain. 

8) Also in 1991, Seinfeld was a big deal on network television. Today the entire series is available to stream and on DVD. When you binge a show, are you more likely to pop in a disc or turn to a streaming service?

I don’t know… I have never binged watched a show. I watched a couple of back to back episodes but I haven’t binged watched a show. I might watch a few Barney Miller shows back to back but that was because nothing else was on. 

9) Random question: Have you ever cared for a hamster or a gerbil? (Extra non-existent Saturday 9 points for its name.).

Nope… but I had a white mouse that I shot into space (Well at least the first 200 feet off the ground) for a science fair. We won first prize.

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

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

Another court saves no way! In A two to one vote the court of appeals shot him down on "Birthright Citizenship"

Judges Deal Crushing Blow to Trump on Birthright Citizenship

Yet another court has shut down Trump’s bid.

The Daqily Beast

By Josephine Harvey

Jul. 23 2025

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

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

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

Gould was joined on the majority by Judge Michael Hawkins, who was also appointed by Clinton. Judge Patrick Bumatay, a Trump appointee, partially dissented, arguing the states did not have the right to bring the case.

Hmm... imagine that, a Trump appointed judge thinking that the states have no say about the Constitution! At least he didn't agree with Trump's stupid argument that they can be stripped of US citizenship.

Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, See No Evil

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

Fact Check Overview: Falsehoods and Misleading Tropes About Transgender People

By GLAAD

July 24, 2025

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

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

The Republicans are trying to wipe us out by making it illegal to even talk about us in schools, just like Putin did in Russia (BBC News)

The article goes on and notes the terminology used by the Republicans:

• “Gender Ideology” and “Transgenderism”
• Intentional Mischaracterizations of Transgender Health Care
• Misleading Narratives About Transgender People and Restrooms, Locker Rooms, and Single-Sex Spaces
• Transgender Participation in Sports
• False Claims of “Grooming”
• “Trans Terrorism” and Other False Claims in High-Profile Crimes
• So-Called “Transvestigations” of Public Figures

The lies are to demonize us, to make us less than human! I worry about what's down the line for us.

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

Do You Want A Little ICE with that?

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

He did everything right but that wasn't enough to keep him from getting raped.

Makeup artist Andry Hernández Romero describes horrific sexual & physical abuse at CECOT in El Salvador

He called it "an encounter with torture and death."

Out Magazine

By Christopher Wiggins

July 24, 2025

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

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

Hernández was one of more than 250 Venezuelan men expelled under the revived Alien Enemies Act, a wartime-era law that President Donald Trump used to deport people without hearings or asylum screenings. Though he entered the United States legally at the San Diego border, appeared for an appointment the U.S. government gave him, and passed an initial credible fear interview, federal agents cited his tattoos—crowns reading “mom” and “dad”—as alleged proof of membership in the Tren de Aragua gang, something his lawyers continue to deny. He had no criminal record.

ICE did all that in your name!

Feds Make It a Crime to Give PPE to ICE Protesters

The Trump administration is trying to criminalize activism like identifying masked immigration agents.

The Intercept

By Akela Lacy

July 23 2025

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

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

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

In addition to arresting hundreds of immigrants across Southern California, the government is targeting a mounting number of people who are responding to the raids or helping protests. Some of those targeted have provided supplies to protesters or tried to identify ICE agents conducting raids in masks and plain clothes.

Now they are not only going after peaceful protester but also the bystanders!

Alejandro Orellana, 29, pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy to aid and abet civil disorders. According to a grand jury indictment, the face shields were “advertised as designed to protect from chemical splashes and flying debris.”

“Alejandro Orellana’s arrest for distributing supplies is an outrageous violation of civil rights and should be a wakeup call to people everywhere,” said California attorney Thomas Harvey.

They are doing all this in your name!

ICE Agents Confronted Manhattan Little League Players at Practice, Then Their Black Coach Did This…

"I just said to myself, 'I'm willing to die to make sure you get home,'" coach Youman Wilder said.

The Root

By Angela Johnson

July 23, 2025

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

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

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

The coach said he was disappointed that bystanders in the area didn’t do anything to protect the children during their confrontation with ICE agents, calling them “cowards.” But for him, doing nothing was not an option. He told CNN, “I just said to myself, ‘I’m willing to die to make sure you get home.'”

And this wasn't just any ordinary coach...

Wilder’s youth baseball program has been a vital resource in the community for over 20 years, nurturing the love and talent for the sport in Black and brown kids. In addition to helping nearly 400 kids get into college, 45 of his players have been picked up by Major League Baseball teams. But since the incident, Wilder says attendance at his practice has dropped dramatically as the children and their families are afraid they’ll be targeted again.

What did the coach do? He stood up and fought back!

Sand up and fight back!

Sand up and fight back!

Sand up and fight back!

---

ENDING CRIME AND DISORDER ON AMERICA’S STREETS

Executive Orders

July 24, 2025

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

Section 1.  Purpose and Policy.  Endemic vagrancy, disorderly behavior, sudden confrontations, and violent attacks have made our cities unsafe.  The number of individuals living on the streets in the United States on a single night during the last year of the previous administration — 274,224 — was the highest ever recorded.  The overwhelming majority of these individuals are addicted to drugs, have a mental health condition, or both.  Nearly two-thirds of homeless individuals report having regularly used hard drugs like methamphetamines, cocaine, or opioids in their lifetimes.  An equally large share of homeless individuals reported suffering from mental health conditions.  The Federal Government and the States have spent tens of billions of dollars on failed programs that address homelessness but not its root causes, leaving other citizens vulnerable to public safety threats.

So now Trump is making homelessness a federal crime! And what does he mean by "mental health conditions"? He has said in the past that we suffer from "mental illness" does he include us? (PBS)

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

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

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

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

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

What is scary is what he says he want to do with those they round up...

Shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment will restore public order.  Surrendering our cities and citizens to disorder and fear is neither compassionate to the homeless nor other citizens.  My Administration will take a new approach focused on protecting public safety.

"Long-term institutional" i.e. concentration camps!

More "Alligator Alcatraz"?

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

You are complicit in in the spread of fascism!

---

Update: 5:00PM

Trump order pushes forcible hospitalization of homeless people

Trump’s executive order could increase hospitalization of homeless individuals with mental health and substance use disorders.

The Washington Post

By David Ovalle

July 24, 2025

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

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

The order said shifting homeless people into long-term institutional settings will restore public order. “Surrendering our cities and citizens to disorder and fear is neither compassionate to the homeless nor other citizens,” Trump’s order said.

Is Trump just blowing smoke for his base?

The impact of Trump’s executive order remains unclear because states set laws and handle the process of involuntary commitments. Critics warned that such a policy threatens returning the nation to a darker era when people were often unjustly locked away in mental health institutions, and does nothing to help people afford housing.

I can't help but think that he is going to tie federal funding into this somehow! The article goes on to say that Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill"

The executive order was issued as the Trump administration has slashed more than $1 billion in covid-era grants administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and is proposing to slash hundreds of millions more in agency grants.

Isn't that something, he cuts programs to help the homeless and then wants to jail them for being homeless!

Homelessness — and perceptions of street crime run amok — has proved a potent issue for Trump and Republican leaders as the nation grapples with a mounting housing crisis.

And that is what he is doing creating an image of lawlessness that is fake! Crime has been going down. When they tell MAGA people that they save it is "fake news" and then when you tell them that the data come from the FBI they don't believe the data because it comes from the government. So they only believe what Trump tells them to believe.

My thoughts... 

• He is building concentration camps.
• Way more then needed for undocumented immigrants.
• "Mentally ill homeless people?
• Could his long range plains include us in the concentration camps?

Who knows what evil lurks in Trump's mind?

I asked ChatGPT: Could his long range plains include us in the concentration camps for trans people?

🧠 Historical context: Why people are alarmed

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

• Mass detention without due process

• Facilities used to isolate or control marginalized groups

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

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

Now, we are seeing:

• Federal facilities built under humanitarian pretexts

• Loosely defined eligibility for confinement

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

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

---

🚨 Could this expand to target political dissidents or others?

This is where concern turns into a critical civic question.

If:

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

• Dissent is conflated with disorder,

• And legal safeguards like due process are ignored,

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

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

---

🔚 Bottom line

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

You can ask:

• Why are so many facilities being built?

• Who defines “mentally unfit”?

• What rights do people have if wrongly confined?

• What oversight exists?

These are the right questions.

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

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

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

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

• Expanding surveillance powers under the guise of safety or order

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

⚠️ And that’s the point of chilling effects:

They don't need to jail everyone — they just need you to hesitate, to wonder, “Will I be punished if I speak up?”

That hesitation is the real control.

---

🛡️ What breaks the chilling effect?

• Speaking anyway — thoughtfully, critically, and in solidarity

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

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

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

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