The Republican New Cheating Scheme

Hey do you pay bills by mail? In Trump's attack on mail-in-voting will be causing massive problems for those who pay bills by mail.

Postal Service moving forward with Trump’s attack on mail voting

Democracy Docket

By Jacob Knutson, Jim Saksa

May 29, 2026

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) said in a yet-to-be-published proposed rule Friday that it’s drawing up plans to radically crack down on mail voting by sending ballots only to voters who are registered with the federal government.

The proposed rule, which will be formally published next week, is an alarming step toward implementing President Donald Trump’s sweeping attack on mail voting ahead of the 2026 midterm election. And it would represent a massive expansion of federal control over voting, without congressional authorization.

Trump signed a sweeping executive order in March that, in part, ordered the Postal Service to only send mail ballots to voters on lists created and controlled by the federal government. 

The order is currently the subject of multiple lawsuits. USPS’s proposed rule came a day after a federal judge overseeing one of the lawsuits declined to block the order. The judge concluded the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the order since federal agencies had not yet taken steps to implement it.

[...]

USPS is moving forward with the order even though legal experts and voting rights organizations have warned that it is a blatantly unconstitutional attempt to restrict the right to vote and usurp states’ authority over elections.

This is on top of this...

How USPS Postmark Change Could Affect Mail Deadlines

Dates on mail now reflect when it’s processed by the Postal Service, not when it’s dropped off

AARP

By Aaron Kassraie  

Published December 31, 2025

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) implemented new procedures for dating mail on Dec. 24, postmarking letters and packages with the date they are processed at a postal facility rather than when they are dropped off in a mailbox — a shift that could affect whether time-sensitive mail is considered on time. 

The USPS says the change is aimed at meeting strategic goals to cut costs and streamline mail processing by concentrating it in a smaller number of facilities. But it could create real challenges for consumers dealing with deadline-driven mail matters this tax season and beyond, from IRS filings and Medicare documents to mail-in ballots and government benefit notices.

Date differences between when a piece of mail is dropped off by the sender and when it is processed and postmarked are likely to “become more common” as the changes roll out, according to USPS.

That means a tax return dropped in a big blue mailbox on April 15 or a vote-by-mail ballot sent on Election Day could still be marked late — risking IRS penalties or a rejected vote — because USPS now postmarks when mail is processed rather than when it is sent.

Why are they doing this?

The answer lies in this "crack down on mail voting by sending ballots only to voters who are registered with the federal government." It is the same old lie about voter fraud. Now here is a 1984's Big Brother twist... the Republicans are the voter fraud is hidden (Hence: the reason why nobody found any rampant fraud.)

The Constitution gives the states the right to determine their voting policies, this is a classic case of Trump's  "Delay is a victory."

Chowdah

I am old enough to know how clam chowder has changed just in the time that I’ve been alive. In the last decade alone, it seems like there has been a race to see who can make the thickest chowdah!

Set your Way-Back Machine to the year of the Revolution… 1776! What was in their bowls back then looked more like Manhattan Clam Chowder. Brace yourself: the recipe consisted of clams, salt pork, onions, potatoes, and tomatoes in a clear broth.

Jumping forward to the 1830s and the recipe has morphed to…

CHOWDER RECIPE (1830)

The Frugal Housewife (1830)

Lydia Maria Child

TO MAKE A CHOWDER

Four pounds of fish are enough to make a chowder, for four or five people,—half dozen slices of salt pork in the bottom of the pot,—hang it high, so that the pork may not burn,—take it out when done very brown,—put in a layer of fish, cut in lengthwise slices,—then a layer formed of crackers, small or sliced onions, and potatoes sliced as thin as a four-pence, mixed with pieces of pork you have fried; then a layer of fish again, and so on. Six crackers are enough. Strew a little salt and pepper over each layer; over the whole pour a bowl full of flour and water, enough to come up even with the surface of what you have in the pot. A sliced lemon adds to the flavor. A cup of Tomato catsup is very excellent. Some people put in a cup of beer. A few clams are a pleasant addition. It should be covered so as not to let a particle of steam escape, if possible. Do not open it, except when nearly done, to taste if it be well seasoned.

OMG! There’s the tomatoes again!

In the 1920s, a lightning bolt split the chowder world apart. Those who worshipped New England called it Boston Clam Chowder, while those who still swore their allegiance to the tomato called it Rhode Island Red Chowder

Things got so heated that by 1939, a Maine politician actually tried to make putting tomatoes in chowder illegal! According to the New England Historical Society, the proposed law would have sentenced anti-creamy offenders to the impossible task of digging a barrel of clams at high tide.

It wasn't until the middle of the century that we saw chowder change from something resembling a clam stew into a true chowder.

Now, in the new century, we see chowdah get heavily thickened. It seems like a spoon needs to stand straight up in the bowl for it to even be called clam chowder anymore!

I prefer mine with milk or cream and no thickeners. One of the reasons I don’t like it thick is because the added starch spikes my blood sugar! When I'm on the Cape, I love going to Mac’s On The Pier—their chowdah is the perfect, traditional thin style.

Chalk Up Another One For Trump

60 Minutes first went on the air on September 24, 1968 and you can thank Trump for killing the show... 

Opinion | Major shakeup at “60 Minutes” raises questions about its future

Two program hosts were fired and its new executive producer has no background in traditional network news

Poynter

By: Tom Jones

May 29, 2026

Put this moment in your memory bank.

Years from now, we may look back and see what happened Thursday as among the most pivotal days — maybe for the better, although many are predicting for the worse — in the history of the best American TV journalism show that’s ever been.

On Thursday, CBS News and controversial editor-in-chief Bari Weiss shook up TV news gold standard, “60 Minutes.” This isn’t a minor tweak or slight change in philosophy. This is a major overhaul.

Weiss fired executive producer Tanya Simon, who had been with the program for nearly three decades and is part of CBS News royalty, (Her late father, Bob Simon, was a legendary CBS newsman).

Ever since CBS bowed down and kiss Trumps feet their ratings have dropped.

Wa! Wa!

Trump is taking all his marbles and going home!

Judge says Kennedy Center board broke law putting Trump’s name on building, blocks closure

AP News

By  MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and STEVEN SLOAN

May 29, 2026

A federal judge ruled Friday that President Donald Trump’s name was illegally added to the Kennedy Center and blocked the administration from closing the cultural and arts venue for major renovations — the latest legal setback for Trump’s efforts to leave his personal mark on the landscape of the nation’s capital.

Trump said in response that he’s backing away from his proposed renovation and returning control of the arts institution to Congress.

“Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into ‘NEVER NEVER LAND,’” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

He is having a five-year-old's temper tantrum. The $257 million renovation project was less about structural preservation and more about personal branding. Trump is like a little child living Never, Never Land in his own little fantasy world.

He is obsessed with branding everything with his name. If you have ever taken a dog for a walk, you know they have to brand everything with their scent: "This is my territory, keep your hands off!"

Cooper also concluded that the board “overstepped its statutory bounds” by unilaterally adding Trump’s name to the center. Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it, he said.

Wa!

Trump can't get his way, so he throws a petulant tantrum, takes his marbles, and walks away.

Only The Best, Only The Fittest

That caught my attention. The Secretary of Defense said that, and my first thought was, "Huh? What does he mean?"

Troops Must Be Fit and Tall to Attend Trump’s UFC Fight

“No fat troops” at the president’s birthday.

Mother Jones

Inae Oh

May 30, 2026

In preparation for President Donald Trump’s UFC fight on the White House South Lawn next month, Pentagon officials are hoping to lure hundreds of troops to attend the event. The catch? Troops need to meet strict physical requirements, including weight and height standards, in order to be eligible.

That’s according to internal memos seen by the Washington Post, including one demanding that troops “MUST MEET CURRENT WAIST-HEIGHT RATIO” and wear short-sleeved uniforms. Another memo revealed that the Pentagon is soliciting only junior-level officers. In other words: No heavyweights. You better be jacked. And no old people.

The report comes as construction for the cage fight begins to take shape, with the beginnings of a beastly octagon-shaped arena popping up on the South Lawn this week. The effort to attract a very specific kind of soldier is something of a theme for the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has effectively gone to war with “fat troops” and what he has deemed as “unacceptable” physical appearances in the military.

“Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops,” Hegseth said in October. “Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon.”

I would like to remind you all that this comes from history. We have seen this obsession with the hyper-masculine "perfect warrior" before.

A central part of Nazi ideology during World War II was the promotion of a highly idealized form of masculinity: physically strong, disciplined, militaristic, emotionally stoic, and devoted to the state.

Sound familiar?

Miltarty.com reported that,

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host and National Guardsman, has attempted to reframe the role of the Pentagon's top civilian leader during his first months on the job, casting himself as a relatable everyman -- "one of the guys."

Instead of the standard suit and tie, he regularly appears in khaki hiking pants, rolled-up sleeves that reveal tattooed forearms and occasionally a trucker hat emblazoned with an American flag. He often posts videos and photos of himself working out with troops.

But that carefully curated image -- so different from past defense secretaries -- may not be totally landing with the rank and file. Interviews with service members and a review of hundreds of social media posts on message boards suggest the image the Pentagon chief is trying to project is seen by some as overly manufactured and desperate for affirmation.

I think Hegseth has visions of himself as Crusader on a white horse leading the charge carrying the banner of the Crusades.

His visions match those of Germany 90 years ago.

 

Theme	Pete Hegseth's "Warrior Ethos"	Nazi "Hyper-Male" Ideal
Social Status	A separate "breed" of human untethered to the norms of polite society.	An elite racial/military aristocracy (SS) operating above regular law.
The Body's Role	Must be physically imposing, fit, uniform, and stripped of personal expression (no "shabby" troops).	Must project "Aryan" physical perfection, symmetry, and absolute uniformity.
View on Diversity	Rejects DEI and gender inclusivity as "woke weakness" that dilutes combat lethality.	Rejects diversity as "degeneration" and a contaminant to the collective state.
Rules of War	Rejects international constraints and rules of engagement in favor of maximum violence.	Utterly rejected international law, viewing violence as a positive good for state survival.

Oh, and by the way... just like the Secretary of Defense, Nazi Germany also hated gay people.

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Mystical Magical (2025)
On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…
 

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

1) This week's song is about a new love affair, and Benson Boone bounces between frustration and optimism when he thinks about it. Does anything inspire your mixed emotions these days?
Surviving.

2) The lyrics mention "moonbeam ice cream," which is something Benson just made up. Last summer, when this week's song became popular, ice cream shops were inspired to create flavors with that name. What's your favorite ice cream flavor, and will you take that in a cup or cone?
How can you limit yourself to one flavor when there are so many great flavors; rum raisin, butter pecan, cookies and cream, but you asked for my favorite… Husky Tracks! Every time I had to go on UConn's campus I always stopped by and got some. UConn is an agricultural college and they have their own dairy herd; you can't get ice cream fresher than that!
Husky Tracks
Vanilla ice cream with fudge swirl and peanut butter cups

3) He sings that "once you know" about a love like this, "you know." Tell us about something you had to experience to fully understand.
Boy, that's a hard question because it is something I haven't really thought about it. you know when you are retired one day just blurs into another.

4) He composed this song at the piano. Do you play piano?
Nope… I can’t keep a beat. I have Auditory Dyslexia where I miss a beat or double beat.
Gemini: “There is actually a fascinating and deeply researched connection between dyslexia and the inability to keep a steady beat.

For a long time, people thought dyslexia was purely a visual issue—seeing letters floating around or backwards. However, modern neuroscience has revealed that dyslexia is fundamentally a timing and rhythm processing issue in the brain.”

5) He first sang in public at a high school talent show, which he only entered on a dare. Can you recall any dares from your junior high or high school days?
Um… I don’t think that the statue of limitation has expired yet. So I take the Fifth! But most of us survived.

6) Benson was a good high school athlete and competed in diving at the state level. Can you execute a dive off the diving board?
Well first you have to be willing to jump into the water… I like to get my toes wet first.

7) When he was 18, Boone auditioned for American Idol. What were you up to when you were 18?
Well, I had just graduating and the drinking age was 18… so it is pretty easy to figure out. Party-time!

8) Benson has a dog named Max. He's not alone in this. "Max" is one of the most popular pet names in the US today. Have you ever known anyone (furry or otherwise) named Max?
Nope.

9) Random question: If we knocked on your door on one of your lazy, stay-at-home days, what would we likely find you wearing?
You mean like every day? When you are retired everyday is a lazy, stay-at-home day… PJs

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!

I Have A Question.

If voter fraud is so rampant as Trump says... How did he get elected?

Judge refuses to block Trump order to limit mail voting. There’s no immediate effect on the midterms

AP News

By  NICHOLAS RICCARDI

May 28, 2026

A federal judge has declined to halt President Donald Trump’s executive order creating a federal voter list and limiting mail voting, clearing the way for potential sweeping changes in how American elections are run shortly before this year’s midterm elections.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee in Washington, late Wednesday rejected the request by Democrats and civil rights groups that had argued Trump’s order would likely be found unconstitutional because the states and Congress, not the president, have the power to set election rules. Nichols agreed with the Republican Trump administration’s contention that it was too early to block the order because it has yet to be implemented.

Nichols’ ruling leaves the door open for further challenges when the Trump administration moves to implement the president’s directive. A separate lawsuit seeking to block the executive order is underway in Boston. No matter how rapidly the administration acts, no voting changes are expected during primary elections, which continue into next month.

I want to point out that even the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation documents only roughly 1,500 to 1,600 proven instances of election fraud collected over several decades! That is out of roughly 204 million voters!

So, what is it that Trump wants to do?

Trump administration promotes program to check voter eligibility. Critics fear a midterm purge

AP News

By  JOHN HANNA

May 17, 2026

Even as Democratic officials fight the effort in court, the Trump administration has run millions of voter registrations through government databases to determine their eligibility in a process that critics worry could end up purging valid voters from the rolls before the November elections.

At least 67 million registrations, primarily from Republican-controlled states, have gone through a beefed-up verification program at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and tens of thousands of those have been flagged as potential noncitizens or people who have died. Some states allow only a month for people to prove their eligibility and others suspend it immediately.

The scanning of state voter rolls at the national level is part of a broader effort by Republican President Donald Trump to federalize certain election functions and promote his messaging that elections are marred by noncitizen voting, even though instances of that are rare. Voting and civil rights advocates say the DHS system is error-prone and can mistakenly flag people who are eligible to vote.

Somehow I don't want Trump and his cronies to have my Social Security... I don't want the databases tied together! It give way too much power to Trump and his fascists tendencies! Autocracies love centralized

There have a number of improprieties that has been suggested that DOGE did with the SS database! Such as hand over sensitive personal data to an outside conservative advocacy group looking to "overturn election results" in certain states!

Trump has been trying to overhaul U.S. elections, including calling for a federal list of verified voters, and his Department of Justice has pushed states to hand over unredacted voter information for mass checks through the DHS program known as SAVE.

The Justice Department has sued states that refuse, saying the government is trying to ensure that they are complying with federal law and have accurate voter lists. States already take a number of steps to maintain the accuracy of their voter rolls.

SAVE, short for Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, was created under an immigration law mandating that DHS help federal, state and local agencies prevent government benefits from going to noncitizens. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an arm of DHS, said more than 1,300 agencies use it.

Remember, they have only found under 2,000 undocumented immigrants on the rolls! Yet, they want all this personal data on over 200 million voters. A centralized database like that will be a prime target for hackers!

It will also create massive problems with database matching. For example, some records might still use a woman's maiden name, leading to a database mismatch that could cause her to be tossed off the voter rolls! The same is true for trans voters, we might have a name and gender mismatch and also be prevented from voting!

Human rights organizations say this effort is designed to give the administration these lists so they can force states to purge voters—disproportionately targeting naturalized citizens, minorities, and women—just before major elections, as these groups tend to vote progressive. Critics argue the administration's motive is to feed data to partisan operations, and that this is an attempt to federalize the voting system and centralize election power in Washington. Just like Russia, China, and North Korea!

Weaponization

That word get tossed around a lot these days, but unfortunately  is is true!

Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3282, the federal government must formally charge or indict an individual within five years of the date the false statement was actually made.

Naw! No way! That Trump is weaponizing the Department of Justice.

DOJ launches criminal probe into E. Jean Carroll: Sources

Acting AG Todd Blanche recused himself from the investigation, sources said.

ABC News

By Katherine Faulders, Aaron Katersky, and Alexander Mallin

May 27, 2026

The Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the former Elle magazine columnist who accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. 

The investigation is allegedly centered around whether Carroll committed perjury during her civil lawsuits against President Trump, after which she was awarded a $5 million judgment, the sources said. 

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche recused himself from the investigation, given his past representation of Trump in the matter, the sources said.  

[...]

The Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the former Elle magazine columnist who accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. 

The investigation is allegedly centered around whether Carroll committed perjury during her civil lawsuits against President Trump, after which she was awarded a $5 million judgment, the sources said. 

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche recused himself from the investigation, given his past representation of Trump in the matter, the sources said.  

Instead of crossing of the naughty nice list Trump has them prosecuted!

Trump earlier this month asked a federal appeals court in New York to pause its ruling rejecting his challenge to her defamation lawsuit so he could pursue an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The request came after the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to rehear Trump's claim of immunity and his attempt to substitute the United States as a defendant in the case.

Vengeance is mine saith Trump!

War! What Is It Good For?

(War, huh) Yeah

(What is it good for?) Absolutely nothin'(War, huh) Yeah

(What is it good for?) Absolutely nothin'

Uh-huh, uh-huh

(War, huh) Yeah

(What is it good for?) Absolutely nothin'

Say it again, y'all

(War, huh) Huh, lookout

(What is it good for?) Absolutely nothin'

Listen to me, aww!

“War” by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong

Will Guantanamo Bay be Trump’s “USS Maine” or Johnson’s “Gulf of Tonkin”?

Is war number three being staged right now? Cuba is on Trump’s hit list!

Pentagon puts building blocks in place for Cuba invasion

The Navy’s presence in the Caribbean has not reduced despite the Iran war.

Politico

By Paul McLeary

05/27/2026

The Pentagon has spent months positioning the troops and weapons needed for the U.S. to launch a military attack on Cuba — all it needs is a final go-ahead from Donald Trump.

The president has floated an invasion of the island after economic and political pressure failed to topple the Communist government. But the Navy’s built-up presence in the region — the largest in the world outside the Middle East — would allow the U.S. to act immediately.

These strategically placed assets set the table for military action, from a capture of Havana’s leadership much like the seizure of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, to a series of precision strikes. And they open the possibility that the U.S. throws itself into the third international conflict of the Trump administration.

Do you remember Trump's campaign promises?

• “No new wars”
• “End the endless wars”
• “I’m not going to start wars, I’m going to stop wars”

Lying “Don”

Violence Around The World!

All around the world violence against the LGBTQ+ community is increasing, sometimes it us tearing down Pride flags, and other times it results in death and destruction. In England that violence caused to canceling of Pride.

Pride event cancelled after banners torn down

BBC News

Amy Holmes

May 27, 2026

A Pride music event in Hertfordshire has been cancelled due to safety concerns after banners have been torn down twice.

The first Loud & Proud event was due to take place at Shirley's Roadhouse in London Colney on 20 June, featuring live music from Christina Aguilera, Elton John and Britney Spears tribute acts, but organisers said banners advertising it had been removed from outside the venue.

Local Liberal Democrat councillor Liz Needham said: "I thought we were living in 2026 and had moved on from this kind of discrimination and was really hoping we could have a nice family-run event that would celebrate the LGBTQ+ community."

They are just like gnats... one little bite here, one bite there and they hope that it will drive us back into the closet.

Here in Connecticut, thee Connecticut State Police Hate Crimes Investigative Unit has a tip line, where you can report it...

Report Anonymously or Share Information

We encourage the public to report hate crimes and bias-related incidents. Your input helps improve understanding, tracking, and response efforts statewide. All reported information is collected and analyzed by the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy at UConn.

If you need immediate law enforcement assistance, call 911

Crank It Out!

Crank it out!

Something happened.

When I went to my first meeting for passing the non-discrimination bill here in Connecticut back in 2007, one takeaway that was brought home at the meeting was: if a legislator tells you how they are going to vote... believe them!

Fast forward to 2026... they now tell you what you want to hear and vote the way they are told to vote.

Also, when I first started giving testimony, it had to be in person. Now they allow online testimony. When I give testimony, I say my name and the district I am in. But now, many testify anonymously and you don't even know if they are actually from Connecticut!

Amount of public testimony on bills is growing, but who’s writing it?

CT Mirror

by Sasha Allen and Angela Eichhorst

May 22, 2026

The amount of public testimony — signed and anonymous — submitted on proposed Connecticut bills has risen sharply in recent years, but the reasons why are murky.

More than 43,800 pieces of written testimony were submitted during the 2026 legislative session, nearly a 250% increase compared to 2016. But this year, almost 8,000 of these submissions were anonymous, and much of the testimony was directed at bills addressing hot-button issues.

Bills dealing with homeschooling, vaccines and gun regulations received more than 2,000 pieces of written testimony each, according to the Connecticut General Assembly. While this year saw abnormally high counts of written testimony overall, these numbers have been climbing for decades.

How many were from Connecticut? How many were generated by PACs?

I remember when I went to a training given by a local lobbyist. One thing the legislators did when they received emails on a topic was sort them by subject line. All of those with the same subject line got filed in the circular file, because those are the ones you "just click" on to send. Those that they give the most weight to are the personal emails. (Hint: if you are going to click on one of those form emails, change the subject line and personalize the email.)

But since more and more testimony is submitted anonymously, it is difficult to determine specific factors behind the increase. Last year, nearly 18% of all testimony submitted was anonymous, according to a CT Mirror analysis.

Hopefully, they give them about as much credence as they did back at the turn of the century. But now comes a new challenge with AI!

It is difficult to determine which pieces of testimony are written by chat bots or researched using AI. But Warner believes the tool could be a contributing factor to overall submission increases.

“That’s not to say that the AI has written the testimony but somebody felt like they had a position but wasn’t quite sure how to articulate themselves,” Warner said. “It could be a waypoint between having the idea and being able to put pen to paper, digitally speaking.”

I am concerned about this. Legislators do listen to constituents, but how much weight they ascribe to them is debatable.

But should anonymous testimony be allowed? Should out-of-state testimony also be allowed? My thoughts are yes, but there should be some type of flag to indicate that they are out of state and that they are human.

SNAFU

Hey you remember all those people Musk laid-off in the CDC?

The Washington Post wrote back in October that,

More than 1,000 staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received layoff notices, including in units that respond to infectious-disease outbreaks, analyze science and health data to develop policy, and monitor the safety of employees, according to multiple individuals issued dismissal notices and others with direct knowledge of the cuts.

Now they need Ebola specialists they are nowhere to be found!

Is The U.S. Stepping Up In The Fight Against Ebola?

KFF

Authors: Josh Michaud and Jennifer Kates

Published: May 23, 2026

The recently announced Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which is quickly escalating in the region, emerges at a time when the larger fiscal and programmatic environment for global health efforts faces particular hurdles, and international cooperation has been significantly challenged. This is in large part due to policy decisions made by the Trump administration and presents the first real global outbreak test following those changes.

On May 15, news broke of a large, ongoing Ebola outbreak concentrated in northeastern DRC. Two days later, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak to be a “public health emergency of international concern” (PHEIC) given its size and because Ebola cases were already reported across the border in Uganda, making the outbreak a regional threat. Despite only recently being detected and reported, this already appears to be one of the largest Ebola outbreaks to date, with almost 746 suspected cases and over 176 suspected deaths as of May 21st

[...]

Ongoing effects of foreign assistance funding freeze and cuts. Alongside the dissolution of USAID, in early 2025 the Trump administration implemented a freeze on all foreign assistance funding for a period last year. As a consequence, partner organizations report that they had to fire staff and cease many disease prevention and detection activities, including Ebola-focused activities in Uganda and DRC. . Eventually, the State Department issued “waivers” to allow funding for existing “life-saving” assistance programs to continue, which included infectious disease outbreak detection and response programs. While certain activities resumed, the underlying system itself was affected.

Then we have Trump withdrawing from the UN's WHO and placing roadblock for the CDC to work with the WHO!

Exclusive: Trump admin shutting key US researchers out of global virus response talks, documents and sources reveal

CNN

By Sarah Owermohle

May 25, 2026

Key officials responsible for leading US research on infectious disease threats have been barred from speaking directly with the World Health Organization — effectively shutting some of them out of the global discussions on virus outbreaks, according to documents and multiple sources who spoke to CNN.

The internal Trump administration policy stops individuals at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from communicating with the WHO unless authorized by senior staff.

The federal health subagency was led for decades by Dr. Anthony Fauci and oversaw developing treatments for public health emergencies including HIV/AIDs and Covid-19.

The prohibition has been in place during an outbreak of hantavirus that some Americans have been exposed to. The communication limits were relaxed slightly in the past week as another virus outbreak — an unfolding Ebola epidemic centered in the Democratic Republic of Congo — intensified.

Can you believe this bull! Putting politics before the health of the country! And don't forget we now have RFK Jr. in charge of the CDC!

Medical Experiments On Inmates

Trump & his cronies wasted no time at all launching another attack on the LGBTQ+ community...

The Federal Bureau of Prisons is running a conversion therapy program. We must not let it stand

Opinion: The Trump administration is imposing unnecessary cruelty on incarcerated transgender people who have nowhere to go, writes NCLR legal director Shannon Minter.

The Advocate

Shannon Minter

Mar 19, 2026

On February 19, 2026, the Federal Bureau of Prisons issued a new policy on the “Management of Inmates with Gender Dysphoria.” The title sounds clinical. The reality is brutal: the federal government has now officially placed itself in the business of punishing transgender people for being who they are, by withdrawing their medical care, confiscating their personal belongings, and subjecting them to forced psychological treatment. It is, in every meaningful sense, a blueprint for a government-run conversion therapy program, one targeting thousands of incarcerated people who have nowhere to turn.

This is becoming increasingly similar to what the Nazis did to the Jews. Conversion therapy is already banned in many states because of the profound harm it inflicts on patients!

NCLR condemns this policy in the strongest possible terms. For now, a federal court order is blocking its enforcement, and we are committed to ensuring it stays that way. But the policy itself is a declaration of intent, and we are calling on everyone, not just those who are transgender, not just those who have loved ones in prison, to recognize what it represents and to oppose it.

Part of the AMA  statement reads:

LGBTQ so-called “conversion therapy”

So-called “conversion therapy” refers to any form of interventions which attempt to change an individual’s sexual orientation, sexual behaviors or gender identity. Underlying these ‘therapies’ is the assumption that homosexuality and gender nonconformity are mental disorders and that sexual orientation and gender identity can be changed. This assumption is not based on medical or scientific evidence. Professional consensus rejects pathologizing homosexuality and gender nonconformity and evidence does not support the efficacy of changing sexual orientation.

“Conversion therapy” often includes unethical techniques including electric shock, deprivation of food and liquid, chemically induced nausea and masturbation reconditioning. These practices may increase suicidal behaviors and cause significant psychological distress, anxiety, lowered self-esteem, internalized homophobia, self-blame, intrusive imagery and sexual dysfunction.

The APA statement on the Supreme Court case reads in part...

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is deeply concerned that the Supreme Court’s decision in Chiles v. Salazar will potentially harm many LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly minors, who will no longer be protected by state laws against conversion therapy.

Being LGBTQ+ is not a mental illness or disorder. Conversion therapy — efforts to change sexual orientation and gender identity — is not a legitimate therapeutic treatment. Leading health care entities, the APA among them, have concluded that these are potentially harmful, discredited practices and are not supported by scientific evidence.

Question: Do you know who else performed medical experiments on prisoners?

Consider Holmesburg Prison, where incarcerated people, many of them Black were used in pharmaceutical and chemical experiments from the 1950s through the 1970s. Those tests included exposure to dioxin, experimental drugs, radiation, and chemical agents.

And during World War II, a number of German physicians conducted painful and often deadly experiments on thousands of concentration camp prisoners without their consent.

Trump has officially stooped to that level in his pogrom to wipe us out!

It Is All TAS2R38 Gene’s Fault!

Are you a finicky eater… did your mother always tell you to finish your broccoli, only for you to turn up your nose at it? What about Brussels sprouts? Did you turn up your nose at them too? Can you brush your teeth before drinking orange juice? Do you also turn up your nose at artificial sweeteners? Well, there is a scientific reason for that!

It is all the TAS2R38 gene’s fault!

What about the OR6A2 gene? Doesn't have some part in all of this? Yes. Some people who have certain versions of the OR6A2 receptor are much more sensitive to aldehydes, which are compounds found in cilantro… and also in soaps and detergents!

Via Pub Med, the NIH website:

Supertasting, earaches and head injury: genetics and pathology alter our taste worlds

Neurosci Biobehav Rev

L M Bartoshuk , V B Duffy, D Reed, A Williams

Abstract

Family studies using thresholds showed that PROP (6-n-propylthiouracil) tasting is produced by a dominant allele, T. Nontasters have two recessive alleles and tasters have one or two dominant alleles. The bitterness of suprathreshold PROP and anatomical criteria subdivide tasters into medium and supertasters. Supertasters may be TT tasters, but this has yet to be demonstrated. Supertasters preceive the greatest bitterness and sweetness from many stimuli as well as the greatest oral burn from alcohol and capsaicin. Women are more likely than men to be supertasters. Otitis media and head trauma can alter taste and thus PROP classifications, complicating studies on PROP genetics. Some subjects with a history of otitis media show taste reductions, but others show enhanced tastes and appear to have more taste buds per fungiform papilla. Subjects with head trauma show reduced tastes on some oral loci, but there is evidence that severe reductions on the front of the tongue ameliorate reductions at the circumvallate papillae on the back of the tongue by a release of inhibition mechanism.

Do you know what “supertasters” were used for? During the Middle Ages, we were the king’s food tasters. What a job! You get to eat all the king’s best food… if you can stay alive!

This just goes to show that we are all different. As a lobster lover, I cannot get enough of the bug! But others turn their noses up at it, while I hate avocado. We all have different tastes!

---

I have to ask: why is it so hard to think that our sexuality and gender identity do not vary from person to person? Why is so hard for people to understand that we are all genetically we are all different?

A Double! A Double Cuckoo Award!

For the very first time a double Cuckoo Award is being given out! The first award goes to Trump for his post on Truth Social...

'Trump Called India A Hellhole,' Reporter Tells Marco Rubio. His Response
The exchange referred to an incident in April when US President Trump shared on social media a derogatory post by a podcaster that described India as a "hellhole".
NDTV 

May 25, 2026

 

 

 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio faced a curveball from an American journalist about his recent remarks on India during a press briefing in New Delhi on Sunday, as he stood alongside External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

A reporter raised the issue of Indians facing racism online and referred to a specific social media post involving US President Donald Trump. Rubio responded by saying he did not know who the reporter was referring to and had assumed the question concerned general online content.

"I don't know who he was talking about. I figured, I assumed that he was talking about people posting stuff online," Rubio said. "I don't even know, some of those could be a troll, it could be a bot, I don't know. So that's why I asked him specifically, can you tell me what you're talking about and who you're talking about. He didn't have a specific example."

And boy when he found out that his boss said he did a quick two-step!

 

So the first Cuckoo Award goes to Trump for calling India a "hellhole" and to Rubio for putting his foot in his mouth. 

Is This A Casus Belli

The Trump administration is looking for novel ways to rake the trans community over the coals. Now, they are trying to use our own protections against us!

WA’s transgender prisoner policy is target of new federal investigation

The U.S. Department of Justice inquiry follows a lawsuit from a prisoner in the state’s women’s prison who alleged a transgender woman attacked her there.

The Washington State Standard
By: Jake Goldstein-Street

May 19, 2026

The Trump administration on Tuesday launched an investigation into Washington state’s practice of housing transgender women in its women’s prison. 

In a letter to Gov. Bob Ferguson, the U.S. Department of Justice cited allegations that the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor has “failed to protect female prisoners from sexual and physical violence, harassment, voyeurism, and intimidation from male prisoners who identify as female.”

The Justice Department argued this could violate the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution’s protections against cruel and unusual punishment. Washington’s state constitution also prohibits cruel conditions specifically for prisoners.

A state Department of Corrections spokesperson said the agency was notified of the investigation Tuesday morning and plans to cooperate with the Department of Justice.

“DOC remains committed to upholding the rights and providing a safe environment for all incarcerated individuals in our custody,” spokesperson Chris Wright said.

The women’s prison currently holds 20 transgender prisoners, while there are 347 transgender or non-binary individuals held across all state prisons, Wright said.

As I wrote this morning... the federal government doesn't get to determine gender; the states do!

The inquiry follows a lawsuit filed last month against the state by a woman held at the Gig Harbor women’s prison, alleging a transgender woman physically attacked her. The woman alleged several other transgender women were held at the prison. 

KUOW reported that,

According to a letter from the DOJ's Civil Rights Division to Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson Tuesday, the investigation is based on information that the state “failed to protect female prisoners from sexual and physical violence, harassment, voyeurism, and intimidation” from transgender women within prison facilities.

In late April, a woman in the prison near Gig Harbor and a nonprofit sued the state Department of Corrections after she said she was attacked by a trans inmate. The DOJ's letter does not directly mention the ongoing lawsuit.

“Washington State must protect women inmates from the inherent dangers of incarcerating them with biological men,” Interim U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd for the Western District of Washington said in a press release. “Our Constitution protects the civil rights of every American, including woman who are in prison and forced by the State of Washington to live with male inmates.”

So  my push back... you mean that there were no other assaults in that prison? I don't know the number but I bet it was more than one, so what this attack so special? Go after the real problem, assaults in prison!

What the Republicans are doing is trying to justify overruling a judge.

Federal judge again blocks Trump from moving trans women into men’s prisons

Judge Royce C. Lamberth extended emergency protections after transgender women in federal custody detailed alleged sexual violence and abuse in men’s facilities.

The Advocate

Christopher Wiggins

May 20, 2026

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has again blocked the Trump administration from transferring transgender women in federal custody into men’s prisons, extending emergency protections in a lawsuit that has become one of the country’s most significant legal fights over the treatment of transgender prisoners under President Donald Trump’s second administration.

See! They are trying to use the Washington incident to wave in front of the judge... meanwhile we are getting raped in the men's prisons!

The ruling marks the latest turn in a case that began in January 2025 after three transgender women incarcerated in federal prisons sued the administration over Trump’s executive order mandating that the federal government recognize only sex assigned at birth. The order directed the attorney general to ensure that “males are not detained in women’s prisons” and sought to prohibit federal funding for gender-affirming care in custody.

See! They are trying to wave the Washington incident in front of the judge... meanwhile, we are being raped in men's prisons!

The fact that we are being raped doesn't matter to Trump's cronies; they are only interested in keeping their base riled up. All it will take is one Trump-appointed judge to flip the others!

A Constitutional Tug-of-War

In Congress, the Republicans have introduced H.R. 2616, the “Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act”—or as we know it, “Don’t Say Trans.” The bill is modeled after Florida’s "Don’t Say Gay" laws. The U.S. House Republicans wrote:

House Republicans Advance Bill to Protect Children from Gender Ideology in Schools

Washington, May 20, 2026

House Republicans are advancing H.R. 2616 – Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act, legislation led by Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) to require parental consent before schools make major changes involving a child’s name, pronouns, gender markers, bathrooms, or locker rooms.

So I got to thinking: where in the Constitution does it give the federal government the right to determine the gender of a child? And when the feds say “Biological Sex,” who gets to determine it?

(A caveat first: I am not a lawyer, so this is all conjecture on my part. As a lawyer friend I know likes to say… it's not over until the judge bangs his gavel.)

Article I, Section 8 (Enumerated Powers): This section defines the specific powers of Congress, such as regulating interstate commerce, coining money, and declaring war. States cannot create laws that interfere with these federal powers.

That is key to my argument. One of those realities of Enumerated Powers is that the federal government does not issue birth certificates—states do!

They are trying to worm around the Enumerated Powers. If you look closely at the text of H.R. 2616, it doesn't outright ban schools from changing a child's pronouns; instead, it says schools will lose federal funding under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act if they do so without parental consent. This is how the federal government asserts control without having the explicit constitutional right to dictate local education policy—it holds the purse strings hostage.

But I think that it still boils down to: who determines the gender of a child? If the states say the child is female, how can the feds challenge it? By requiring every child to get a DNA test?

No matter how they word it, the Constitution does not give the federal government the right to determine a child’s gender. This is going to be a long, drawn-out court battle!

When major constitutional battles break out over federalism, executive power, and states' rights, it is rarely just an abstract debate in a courtroom. In this case, the "pawns" being pushed across the board are real people whose daily lives, legal identities, and peace of mind are completely disrupted by changing political tides.

Historically, marginalized groups have frequently found themselves at the center of these structural tug-of-wars between state and federal power. Whether it was the fight over civil rights in the 1960s or same-sex marriage in the 2000s, the legal system often treats human lives as the testing ground for where federal authority ends and state sovereignty begins. And now, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 itself is being attacked.

It is a deeply exhausting place to be, especially when all people are looking for is stability, recognition, and the ability to go about their daily lives without their foundational identity documents being treated as a political football.

---

This all makes sense only if you ignore the mountain of medical and scientific research showing that gender identity and sexual orientation are inborn to a person and are not choices. Change the target to any other protected class besides gender identity, and you can see this bill for what it really is: bigotry and discrimination.

I Was Talking To…

[Essay]

Reality hit me!

I was talking to a conservative who believes that there are riots in New York City because of the mayor, Zohran Mamdani... and that the news media is hiding it. It floored me that he believed it so strongly and was so divorced from reality.

Republican voters believe things that aren’t true. That’s a problem for the GOP.

The party can’t make good arguments or put forward solutions unless it’s grounded in reality.

MS Now

By Ryan Teague Beckwith

May 24, 2026

Solar power is the cheapest form of electricity to set up in most parts of the world. Tariffs are paid by U.S. importers, who pass along the costs to consumers. And noncitizen voting is extraordinarily rare.

These three statements are facts. You can verify them by looking at scientific research, listening to experts or just reading reliable news outlets.

Recent polls, however, show that substantial numbers of Republican voters simply don’t believe these statements. That’s bad for the country, because it’s harder for us to solve problems and decide how to move ahead when we can’t agree on the facts. It’s also bad for Republican politicians — and they have only themselves to blame.

They seem to be living in their own reality. It really shocked me. It was like someone actually believing down is up!

Led by President Donald Trump, many members of the GOP in recent years have made their case by attacking the underlying facts, making baseless claims and undermining the credibility of independent experts who could contradict them. The result is a party that is increasingly out of touch with voters outside its ideological bubble and unable to come up with good arguments or practical solutions.

Just look at the numbers:

• In a January poll by Morning Consult, 51% of Republicans said tariffs are a “fee foreigners pay for selling products to the United States,” while 38% more accurately said they are “a tax on foreign products that Americans buy.”
• In a March poll by the Pew Research Center, 43% of Republicans said that solar power is more expensive to consumers than most other energy sources, while only 24% said that it’s cheaper.
• In an April poll by Ipsos, 82% of Republicans said that large numbers of noncitizens cast fraudulent ballots in U.S. elections, compared to just 38% of independents and 18% of Democrats.

The sheer number of Republicans who believe things that aren’t true distorts the political landscape. As problems arise, they effectively box Republican politicians out of making certain arguments or trying specific solutions. When Trump’s broad-based tariffs lead to increased prices, how can Republicans in Congress push back if their own supporters don’t see the link?

How can you even have a conversation with them? When you debate someone, usually both sides are grounded in reality—but the right-wing seems to live in a reality of its own! Remember back in 2024 when Trump said Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were “eating pets”? Well, about 52% of Trump supporters said it was “definitely” or “probably” true!

Right-wing influencers keep pushing the lie, and the MAGA crowd eats it right up! NPR wrote back in 2024 wrote,

Using dehumanizing language to describe immigrants is nothing new for former President Donald Trump or vice presidential candidate JD Vance. Accusations of immigrants being criminals, being rapists or poisoning the blood of the nation have become common currency. But this week, the rhetoric seemed to hit a new low: the allegation that immigrants eat pets.

Vance, who represents Ohio in the U.S. Senate, spread a debunked claim about Haitian migrants living in the city of Springfield, Ohio, on Monday, accusing them of abducting pets and eating them.

The claim, which local police say is baseless, was made by far-right activists, local Republicans and neo-Nazis before being picked up by Vance. A well-known advocate for the Haitian community says she received a wave of racist harassment in the aftermath of Vance's post.

That rhetoric was like nectar to the right-wing, even though everyone else was laughing at the absurdity!  

Researchers are well aware of this phenomenon. In fact, Joseph Goebbels is famously credited with the idea: “If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself.”

The spread of true and false news online

Soroush Vosoughi

Science

9 Mar 2018

Lies spread faster than the truth

There is worldwide concern over false news and the possibility that it can influence political, economic, and social well-being. To understand how false news spreads, Vosoughi et al. used a data set of rumor cascades on Twitter from 2006 to 2017. About 126,000 rumors were spread by ∼3 million people. False news reached more people than the truth; the top 1% of false news cascades diffused to between 1000 and 100,000 people, whereas the truth rarely diffused to more than 1000 people. Falsehood also diffused faster than the truth. The degree of novelty and the emotional reactions of recipients may be responsible for the differences observed.

These right-wing influencers care only about their audience size. The more people who listen, the more money they make. Because of this, they aren't interested in the truth—only in views and engagement. Sadly, for many people, the only place they get their news is from these podcasters, and those podcasters couldn't care less about the truth.

[/Essay]

BULL!

It is not gas taxes that are keeping gas prices high… It is Trump!

The Republicans are at it again… don’t look behind the curtain. Look at the Democrats!

Surging gas prices shine spotlight on CT’s fuel taxes

Emergency cap saves motorists a nickel at the pumps

CT Mirror

by Keith M. Phaneuf

May 21, 2026

Connecticut motorists are paying some of the highest gasoline prices in the nation — at the worst possible time.

An emergency state tax cap has been mitigating pain at the pumps since late March, but the price hikes driven by the ongoing conflict with Iran have some ready to revisit Connecticut’s fuel tax system.

“If the disruption continues, prices today will look affordable, which is horrifying,” said Chris Herb, president of the Connecticut Energy Marketers’ Association.

Do you remember TANSTAAFL? "There is no such thing as a free lunch," and in this case, as you cut revenue from the gas tax, what are you going to cut to offset the loss of revenue?

Of course, Trump wants to get in on the act. I wonder if his head is hollow! Sometimes you have to wonder.

An average of 51 cents per gallon goes toward state and federal taxes and fees. Federal taxes account for 18 cents of that.

NBC News

May 24, 2026

By Joe Murphy and Jiachuan Wu

As national gas price averages hover around $4.50 per gallon, one state has already suspended its gas tax, and now President Donald Trump and his Cabinet are talking about doing the same.

While a suspension would offer some relief, an NBC News analysis shows that gas prices would still average 35% more per gallon than they were at the start of the Iran war, even if all state and federal taxes were suspended. Average gas prices nationwide are up more than 50% since the war was launched at the end of February.

Trump told reporters Monday that he intended to suspend the 18 cents per gallon federal gas tax. Such a suspension would require an act of Congress. Democrats in the House and Senate proposed measures to suspend the gas tax in March.

Okay folks, the national debt is already skyrocketing… so he wants to cut revenue to offset a crisis that he created by invading Iran? He’s in a pickle and he knows it, so he is grasping at straws.

The Debt Dispatch writes that:

Gas prices have surged due to the war in Iran. In response, President Donald Trump and Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) have proposed suspending the federal gas tax for up to 180 days.

The proposal has bipartisan appeal. But it would be expensive, ineffective, and fiscally irresponsible. A three-month gas tax holiday would either accelerate the Highway Trust Fund’s insolvency by roughly nine months or require at least an $11 billion general-fund bailout. Meanwhile, the average driver would save only about $3 per fill-up.

The Gas Tax Holiday Increases Federal Deficit by At Least $11 Billion

The Federal Highway Trust Fund faces a significant funding shortfall. Figure 1 shows the ending balance of the trust fund from January 2008 to March 2026. The three spikes in account balance reflect Congress’s three trust fund bailouts in 2010, 2016, and 2021. Notably, these bailouts were not accompanied by corresponding increases in gas taxes or any other structural changes to federal highway revenues or outlays. Congress just chose to spend more.

But remember, Trump just asked Congress for another $15 billion for ICE and CBP!

The left-leaning Center for American Progress writes that...

President Donald Trump’s job performance is underwater with the public, and a majority of Americans disapprove of his handling of immigration, according to an April 2026 Fox News poll. Yet congressional Republicans are choosing to again fuel reckless, escalatory mass deportation tactics that the Trump administration is doubling down on, instead of supporting commonsense measures to stop dangerous, unaccountable actions from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and bring their standards up to the level of state and local law enforcement. Rejecting accountability for the Trump administration’s out-of-control ICE and CBP, congressional Republicans are forging ahead with a new, nearly $70 billion slush fund for DHS, ICE, and CBP with no guardrails to add to the mass deportation slush fund that they created just last year.

His $100 billion ballroom!

His "Independence Arch" in Washington, D.C., is estimated to cost at least $100 million!

Remember TANSTAAFL. Remember that whatever taxes they cut have to be offset with spending cuts… so the question to ask is, “What are they going to cut?”

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It Is Off To Court We Go!

If this makes it through Congress, you know that Trump will sign it, so our only hope will be the courts!

These 8 Democrats voted for the Republican national ‘Don’t Say Trans’ bill passed by the House

The ACLU and the House Equality Caucus blasted their fellow Democrats and the Republicans who voted to pass a bill threatening to censor educators nationwide and compel them to out transgender students against their will.

The Advocate

Dawn Ennis

May 21, 2026

Update: Virginia Democrat who praised LGBTQ+ inclusion is now helping Republicans out trans kids

Republicans in the House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday with the help of eight Democrats that, if approved by the Senate and signed into law by President Donald Trump, would force teachers across the country to out transgender kids to their parents. It would also ban schools nationwide from acknowledging that transgender people even exist.

The “Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act,” also known as H.R. 2616, passed by a vote of 217 to 198. All 209 Republicans who voted supported the measure, joined by eight Democrats. Meanwhile, 198 Democrats voted against the bill.

[...]

The text of H.R. 2616 says it would prohibit any school that receives federal funding from teaching “concepts related to gender ideology.” LGBTQ+ advocates warn the legislation could effectively bar teachers and school staff from acknowledging transgender identities in classrooms, libraries, or student support settings. Earlier versions and related House proposals also explicitly categorized material involving “gender dysphoria or transgenderism” as inherently “sexual,” language critics argued, which treated the mere existence of trans people as inappropriate for children. It could also forcibly out students who are transgender to their families before they feel ready, or even safe, doing so.

The Democrats are scared! Everywhere you read in the news that their loss was our fault. But remember one thing... "It is the economy stupid!"

Book Riot wrote...

What is HR 2616, the “Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act?” This bill differs from HR 7661, the national book ban bill, introduced by Illinois Republican House representative Mary Miller (a fan of Hitler). The two bills are closely aligned, especially as Republicans expanded HR 2616 in light of several other anti-LGBTQ+, and specifically anti-trans, education bills.

Under the guise of protecting “parental rights”–which parents’ rights being the question, of course–HR 2616 requires that any school receiving federal funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 require parental permission before using a student’s preferred gender, pronouns, or name on any school form or allowing them to use the bathroom or locker room that most aligns with their identity. The bill also prohibits teaching “gender ideology” in public schools receiving federal funding, as defined in Trump’s Executive Order 14168. Executive Orders aren’t laws, and in today’s conspiracy-as-fact landscape, it’s especially concerning that the targets are children.

We have to show the voters what this is... A Red Herring" that out of around 54 million total K-12 students, there are approximately 725,000 who identify as transgender! That is somewhere around 1%!!!!

This bill forcibly outs kids to their parents, regardless of how dangerous the situation would be for the child. It would also limit what can and cannot be taught in classrooms, inevitably meaning the wholesale elimination of concepts from the curriculum and the removal of swaths of books from classrooms and libraries. Trans people and trans history would be banned. As has been said from the beginning of the race to ban books in 2021, none of this has been about the books themselves. It’s been about the eradication of people that don’t slot into the imagined cishet, white Christian ideal. Bullying trans children allows grown adults to feel good, even if it doesn’t provide any solutions to the actual problems in contemporary America.

The bill is spiteful and hurtful and does exactly what the Republicans want... divert the voter from all the crisis now going on in this.

Go after them for passing this bill and ignoring... high gas prices, high food prices... the war in Iran! They put this on the fast track to divert the voters from the real problems and get them mad at us and not them!

"I've seen the Promised Land"

[Editorial]

You all should know who said that! Many people think that was about his summer working in Connecticut, specifically, when he went to a restaurant, looked for the "colored" section, and the waitress replied, "Anywhere you want."

Decades later, that spirit of quiet acceptance is still what makes New England special. I was just watching Yankee Magazine on public television and they visited Wiscasset, ME. I wanted to see if they would feature the famous lobster place, Red's Eats (they didn't); instead, what they showed were all the knick-knack stores in the town.

What I'm writing about is the owner of one of those stores... a gay couple.

The show made it a seamless segue from one business to another—from a store selling homemade candles to a store that sold old books and memorabilia. Period.

Many times I have written about lesbian and gay couples being run out of town. Yet, how beautiful it is that in the liberal Northeast, most people don't care if you're trans, if you're gay, or if you're Muslim... they care only if you are a good neighbor.

[/Editorial]

Is This Our Future?

More and more license plate readers are going up around the country, and speed cameras are the newest rage! These speed cameras can bring in millions in fines. However, we are now seeing ICE abusing these cameras and circumventing state laws. Furthermore, states are using these cameras to track trans children when they travel north to receive medical treatment.

And I have to wonder if this is our future here...

New Chinese surveillance leaves foreigners nowhere to hide

A Chinese cybersecurity expert has revealed to DW details of China's new high-tech policing. From ski resort facial recognition to seats on a train, the system can track anyone and compile a "holistic profile."

DW News

De Zheng

May 21, 2026

When a cybersecurity researcher known by the pseudonym NetAskari recently clicked on a tab labeled "Inquiry for journalist files" on an unsecured Chinese web dashboard, he expected to see a jumble of auto-generated mock data.

Instead, familiar faces popped up on the screen. It was a comprehensive database of almost every foreign journalist based in the Chinese capital Beijing around 2021, including official passport photos taken at the entry/exit bureau, private cell phone numbers, visa details, and dates of birth. He also found his own exact personal information lying dormant on this Chinese police watchlist.

Is this what ICE and CBP are creating?

"It was more interesting than shocking," NetAskari told DW. "When you work as a journalist in China, you basically assume you are always on their radar. But what surprised me was simply how easy it was to access this highly sensitive system."

Are US citizens who are trans activists being tracked here in the US?

Wednesday’s document, masterminded by White House “counterterrorism czar” Sebastian Gorka, does not mention far-right violence at all. It identifies “Violent Left-Wing Extremists, including Anarchists and Anti-Fascists” as a security threat of equal severity to “Legacy Islamist Terrorists” and “Narcoterrorists and Transnational Gangs.” The administration will now apparently “prioritize the rapid identification and neutralization of violent secular political groups whose ideology is anti-American, radically pro-transgender, and anarchist.”

In a bizarre but familiar turn, the document also blames transgender people for the shooting of Charlie Kirk. “Americans have witnessed the politically motivated killings of Christians and conservatives committed by violent left-wing extremists, including the assassination of Charlie Kirk by a radical who espoused extreme transgender ideologies.”

DW News goes on to report on how invasive the Chinese system relay is!

This system no longer relies solely on police cameras on street corners. It accurately records the specific train carriage and seat number a target occupies when arriving from Beijing or Shanghai.

It even synchronizes photos taken by facial-recognition ticket gates at local ski resorts directly into its tracking mechanism. The movements of the researcher's acquaintances who recently skied in Zhangjiakou were precisely flagged and mapped out with detailed trajectories in the system.

"The idea is simply to process as much data as possible from as many sensors as possible in real time," the researcher noted.

The system logs daily behaviors like gasoline consumption, regular shopping locations, and whether an individual frequently visits "petition areas."

This massive data-fusion effort attempts to stitch together a person's physical whereabouts, consumption habits and digital footprints into a flawless "holistic personnel archive."

The website for the Coram company reports that there are a number of surveillance companies beside Flock...

Why Organizations Are Moving Away from Flock Safety

Most teams don't leave Flock over a single issue. The reasons tend to cluster around three structural limitations that become harder to work around as security requirements grow.

Privacy and Data Control

Flock operates on a shared network, which means vehicle data collected at one deployment can be accessible beyond a single jurisdiction. For many organizations, that's acceptable. For municipalities, schools, and regulated industries, it's increasingly not.

The pressure isn't theoretical. In Norfolk, Virginia, a court ruling questioned the use of automated license plate readers under the Fourth Amendment. The ACLU has challenged the broader implications of large-scale license plate data collection at the national level. Richmond and Saratoga in California have already moved to replace Flock deployments through new RFPs. For organizations that need clear boundaries around data access and sharing, the shared network model is a structural limitation.

We are finding that businesses are using Flock to track customers who drive into their store parking lots. DW goes on to report:

China's granular system of social control

What NetAskari had stumbled upon is part modern China's emerging system of "holographic profiles."

He had unwittingly accessed a demonstration version of a remote tracking system designed for the Public Security Bureau in Zhangjiakou, the Hebei province city that hosted the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Though it was only a test panel, it was populated with real datasets, clearly outlining the trajectory of China's state surveillance machine, which is rapidly evolving from a network of simple street cameras into a data-fused, 24/7, predictive social control behemoth.

For years, China has operated the world's most extensive CCTV network. A massive initiative known as the "Xueliang" (Bright Eyes) project aims to merge these isolated islands of surveillance spread across the country.

But the data on the Zhangjiakou police dashboard shows the granular detail with which authorities can track an individual.

Here in the US, with our gun laws, is gun violence going to be the vector used to implement a state surveillance machine? Is this Trump's ultimate goal... to establish a state surveillance network?

“Counterterrorism” Now Officially Means Targeting Trans People

The White House will prioritize the “neutralization” of groups it considers “anti-American, radically pro-transgender, and anarchist.”

Mother Jones

Sophie Hurwitz

May 6, 2026

On Wednesday, the White House released a new “United States Counterterrorism Strategy,” the first such directive since a 2021 Biden-era memo emphasizing the need to combat white supremacist violence, which has now been scrubbed from the White House website.

Wednesday’s document, masterminded by White House “counterterrorism czar” Sebastian Gorka, does not mention far-right violence at all. It identifies “Violent Left-Wing Extremists, including Anarchists and Anti-Fascists” as a security threat of equal severity to “Legacy Islamist Terrorists” and “Narcoterrorists and Transnational Gangs.” The administration will now apparently “prioritize the rapid identification and neutralization of violent secular political groups whose ideology is anti-American, radically pro-transgender, and anarchist.”

In a bizarre but familiar turn, the document also blames transgender people for the shooting of Charlie Kirk. “Americans have witnessed the politically motivated killings of Christians and conservatives committed by violent left-wing extremists, including the assassination of Charlie Kirk by a radical who espoused extreme transgender ideologies.”

Gorka told reporters at a press conference Wednesday that the administration would “crush” any threat, “whether it is the cartels, the jihadists or violent left-wing extremists like antifa—and like the transgender killers, the nonbinary, the left-wing radicals who killed my friend, Charlie Kirk*, we will take them on, head on.”

Funny how the right-wing terrorist are not mentioned!

The feds already won a case to get the medical records of trans from a Rhode Island hospital, the hospital has to give all their trans children patient's anonymized records.

So here is a scenario:

In Texas, authorities use LPRs (License Plate Readers) to track a trans child's family as they drive to the airport. Through airport surveillance, authorities track the family as they board a plane, follow them as they land at Bradley Field, and monitor them as they pick up their rental car. From there, they are tracked through the network of LPRs here in Connecticut all the way to Yale New Haven Hospital!

Far-fetched? No, it is already being done! In late 2023, the Texas Attorney General's office sent a subpoena to Seattle Children’s Hospital in Washington and a nearly identical demand for patient records to QueerMed, a telehealth clinic based in Georgia that had previously served youth in Texas before the state's ban took effect.

Here is another scenario:

An LGBTQ center holds a weekly trans youth night. Texas authorities obtain traffic camera video of the road outside the peer support group meeting. Because the LGBTQ center is not a healthcare provider, surveillance of the peer support group is entirely legal.

Is China leading the way for a US national surveillance system?

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*While the individual responsible for Kirk's death was cisgender, early right-wing reports falsely claimed the shooter used bullets engraved with pro-transgender messages. The Trump administration seized on this narrative—along with an August 2025 mass shooting in Minneapolis committed by a transgender individual—to frame the broader transgender movement as a domestic terror threat, culminating in the official counterterrorism policies enacted this year