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Saturday, December 30, 2023
Smithsonian magazine shares Thirteen Discoveries Made About Human Evolution in 2023, like...
Smithsonian magazine shares Thirteen Discoveries Made About Human Evolution in 2023, like...:
Smithsonian magazine shares Thirteen Discoveries Made About Human Evolution in 2023, like “Homo sapiens were in southeast Asia thousands of years earlier than expected.”
Thursday, December 28, 2023
Republican Lawmaker Spoke in Support of Bill to Kill Gay People in Uganda: Report
Republican Lawmaker Spoke in Support of Bill to Kill Gay People in Uganda: Report:
U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, a Republican representing parts of Michigan, encouraged the Ugandan government to “stand firm” amid the international backlash against the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, which includes the death penalty in some cases, during a speech in Uganda last October. The act is also known as the “kill the gays” bill.
U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, a Republican representing parts of Michigan, encouraged the Ugandan government to “stand firm” amid the international backlash against the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, which includes the death penalty in some cases, during a speech in Uganda last October. The act is also known as the “kill the gays” bill.
Tuesday, December 26, 2023
Remembering Civil Rights Activist Fred Shuttlesworth
Remembering Civil Rights Activist Fred Shuttlesworth:
Sixty-seven years ago yesterday, on Dec 25, 1956, pioneering civil rights activist Fred Shuttlesworth survived a Ku Klux Klan bombing.
Fred Shuttlesworth somehow survived the KKK bombing that took out his home next to the Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.
An arriving policeman advised him to leave town fast. In the “Eyes on the Prize” documentary, Shuttlesworth quoted himself as replying, “Officer, you’re not me. You go back and tell your Klan brethren if God could keep me through this, then I’m here for the duration.’”
Months later, he and his family were beaten after trying to enroll his daughters in an all-white school.
They beat him with fists, chains and brass knuckles. His wife, Ruby, was stabbed in the hip, trying to get her daughters back in the car. His daughter, Ruby Fredericka, had her ankle broken. When the examining physician was amazed the pastor failed to suffer worse injuries, Shuttlesworth said, “Well, doctor, the Lord knew I lived in a hard town, so he gave me a hard head.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called him “the most courageous civil rights fighter in the South”. You can learn more about the bombing at the Equal Justice Initiative and about Shuttlesworth at the King Institute, in this hour-long documentary. and Andrew Manis’s 1999 biography of Shuttlesworth, A Fire You Can’t Put Out.
Tags: Fred Shuttlesworth · racism
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Tuesday, December 12, 2023
45 Years Ago, Gay Activist Anthony Adams Was Murdered. Utah Police Are Still Missing Evidence
45 Years Ago, Gay Activist Anthony Adams Was Murdered. Utah Police Are Still Missing Evidence:
On Nov. 30, 1978, gay rights activist Anthony Adams went missing. The 25-year-old was found murdered three days later in his Salt Lake City apartment.
On Nov. 30, 1978, gay rights activist Anthony Adams went missing. The 25-year-old was found murdered three days later in his Salt Lake City apartment.
Monday, December 11, 2023
Joe Sacco’s acclaimed graphic novel about Gaza is being rushed back into print.
Joe Sacco’s acclaimed graphic novel about Gaza is being rushed back into print.:
Palestine, Eisner Award-winning cartoonist Joe Sacco’s seminal nonfiction graphic novel about Gaza, which pioneered the medium of “comics journalism” upon its publication over twenty years ago, has been rushed back into print in response to surging demand.
First published across nine issues by Fantagraphics from 1993 to 1995, and then as a single volume edition with an introduction by the Palestinian American academic and critic Edward Said in 2001, Palestine is a record of Sacco’s own journeys around Gaza in the winter of 1991/92. Sacco spent this time meeting with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the narrative focuses on the minute details of everyday life in these areas.
Sacco had intended to write and draw a comic book based on his experiences traveling through Palestine, but, as he told the Observer earlier this week:
…when I was there, my journalistic training kicked in and, more than just talking to people, I started interviewing them … I began approaching the topic more systematically, trying to understand the actual structure of the occupation and its effect on Palestinians. So the fusion of comics and journalism was organic. I had no theory of graphic journalism. I was making it up as I was going along.
Sales of Palestine were initially slow—largely because people didn’t seem to know what to make of it, or even how to categorize it—but the book went on to win an American Book Award, develop a strong cult following, and become a core text of university courses examining the conflict. As Said wrote in his introduction to the book: “With the exception of one or two novelists and poets, no one has ever rendered this terrible state of affairs better than Joe Sacco.”
Gary Groth, the co-founder of Fantagraphics, said that demand for Palestine has soared since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent bombing of Gaza:
We blew out of our inventory of several thousand copies quickly and are reprinting now. Retailers and wholesalers began ordering the book in far greater quantities than in the recent past, which indicates that every element down the chain—consumers and retailers—are expressing demand for it.
As the Observer reports, Sacco is happy that the book is reaching a new audience, but that’s tinged with a deep sorrow for the current plight of the Palestinian people:
That the book itself still has relevance is a sorry testament to the enduring tragedy of the Palestinians—though, in some ways, it’s also a tribute to their fortitude, their unwillingness to give in.
I would go back, if I could get in. Thankfully, many brave Palestinian journalists are doing exemplary work despite the appalling conditions and the very real danger to themselves and their families. But the main reason I would like to go back to Gaza is to see my friends there. I hope they will make it through this.
Friday, December 8, 2023
Brittney Griner and Wife Remember Americans Still Imprisoned Overseas One Year After Release
Brittney Griner and Wife Remember Americans Still Imprisoned Overseas One Year After Release:
Brittney Griner and her wife, Cherelle Griner, have released a holiday message celebrating the one-year anniversary of Brittney’s release from incarceration in Russia and remembering the Americans still wrongly detained overseas.
Brittney Griner and her wife, Cherelle Griner, have released a holiday message celebrating the one-year anniversary of Brittney’s release from incarceration in Russia and remembering the Americans still wrongly detained overseas.
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
FL Student Who Prompted Principal’s Suspension, Student Walkouts Has Lived as a Girl Since 2nd Grade
FL Student Who Prompted Principal’s Suspension, Student Walkouts Has Lived as a Girl Since 2nd Grade:
The young volleyball player at the heart of 5 staff suspensions and large student protests in Monarch High School, Florida never experienced a testosterone-fueled puberty and has no conceivable athletic advantage.
Monarch High School’s principal, James Cecil, was abruptly suspended from his duties and hundreds of students walked out of their classes in protest, all because a girl who’d never been known as anything else at the school was participating with her peers on the volleyball team. Miles away from scaremongering stories of boys posing as girls to intrude on women or gain an advantage, this story of a young athlete being targeted, and the collateral damage caused to the entire community, exposes the truth of how laws targeting trans youth operate in practice.
The name of the volleyball player at the center of the controversy in Broward County is not publicly available, but reporting for the Miami Herald has linked the student to a lawsuit filed in 2021 on behalf of a then-thirteen-year-old trans girl referred to in the suit as D.N. The suit sought to challenge Florida’s 2021 ban on the inclusion of trans athletes in school sports teams. Superintendent Peter Licata, the man responsible for abruptly reassigning MHS Principal James Cecil along with the Assistant Principal Kenneth May, Athletic Director Dione Hester, and two other staff members claims not to have known about the lawsuit before his decision. It is currently unclear whether the suspended principal and other staff members were aware of the suit, the law’s requirements, or the transgender athlete’s trans identity. Licata has described receiving a tip from a constituent letting him know a trans athlete was participating on the MHS volleyball team.
The 2021 lawsuit describes a trans girl, then in middle school, as having displayed signs of gender dysphoria from earliest childhood. It states that she was formally diagnosed and undergoing a social transition at age seven, and commencing puberty blockers at age 11, forestalling any potential impact of testosterone on her athleticism.
screenshot from 2021 court filing, hosted by Courthouse News
The suit describes the girl as having joined a girls’ soccer team soon after her social transition and that much of her social life revolves around her participation in athletics. At the time of the suit the girl was still playing soccer, but it mentions that she intended in 2021 to try out for volleyball.
According to the Miami Herald’s reporting, the lawsuit was recently dismissed after U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman sided against the family and with the state of Florida on November 6, but is currently being amended.
The student seems to enjoy massive support in the school, with hundreds of her fellow students joining a walk out to protest for trans rights and against the reassignment of their principal.
If the student has been on puberty blockers followed by estrogen, as suggested in the lawsuit, this would likely negate any claim of her having an unfair athletic advantage over cisgender players. The influence of testosterone during puberty is the only theoretical avenue by which trans women are claimed to attain a competitive advantage, as pre-pubertal children display no innate sex-based differences in athletic ability. After puberty, studies have been unable to conclusively show trans women who undergo testosterone suppression for a period of years retain any athletic advantage, however the question is hotly contested. Trans women who suppress testosterone to certain approved levels have been eligible for elite competition for many decades, but a movement is growing to ban their participation despite a lack of clear evidence showing their advantages over cis women.
Pulse Foundation Dissolved as Florida County Scrutinizes Its Financials
Pulse Foundation Dissolved as Florida County Scrutinizes Its Financials:
The foundation formed to create a permanent museum at the site of the Pulse shooting formally dissolved. Now, elected officials in Central Florida want to know what happened with millions in public investment for the site.
The foundation formed to create a permanent museum at the site of the Pulse shooting formally dissolved. Now, elected officials in Central Florida want to know what happened with millions in public investment for the site.
Wednesday, November 22, 2023
Cruel conservatives mock bearded cis woman with transphobic insults
Cruel conservatives mock bearded cis woman with transphobic insults:
Conservatives are now mocking Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg, a cisgender queer woman with a beard, calling her a “man pretending to be a woman” and other transphobic insults.
Rosenberg appeared on CNN to discuss the Israel-Hamas war, and instead of engaging with her ideas, the right is insulting her appearance. Rosenberg, like 5 to 10% of cis women in the U.S., has a beard and chooses not to shave it.
Related:
Lil Nas X slams anti-trans troll who said his Halloween costume “mocks women”
Nas’s costume was definitely polarizing….
“Man pretending to be a woman also pretends to be a rabbi,” hate influencer Chaya Raichik — who runs the LibsofTikTok account on X — wrote with a screenshot of Rosenberg’s picture.
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“Sir, Halloween was nearly a month ago,” wrote conservative pundit Riley Gaines, an athlete who has based her entire conservative speaking career around the fact that she once tied for fifth place in a swimming competition with University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas.
Oli London — a white man who drew media attention and widespread criticism in 2022 when he publicly identified as “trans-racial” and admitted to having extensive cosmetic surgery to look like South Korean pop stars — called Rosenberg a “transgender bearded ‘Rabbi'” and insisted that she is “a male,” even though she is not. He also said that she works for an organization funded by Jewish philanthropist George Soros, a figure in many right-wing and antisemitic conspiracy theories.
Outkick, a conservative sports site run by the Fox Corporation, called Rosenberg “a transgender with a beard” and used he/him pronouns to refer to her.
This isn’t even the first time conservatives have mocked her for her appearances in the past month. Several weeks ago, she heckled President Joe Biden at a campaign event in Minneapolis. Conservative talk show host Megyn Kelly called her “a man pretending to be a woman” who was “pretending to be a rabbi too.” Kelly is Catholic.
“I’m so proud to be a queer and visibly gender non-conforming femme woman who could take that action,” Rosenberg told Mother Jones about her heckling of Biden. “Let all, especially SWANA [Southwest Asia and North Africa] and Jewish bearded femmes see ourselves in power and unafraid.”
Hate Group Leader Backs DeSantis After $95K Donation
Hate Group Leader Backs DeSantis After $95K Donation:
The Washington Post reports:
Iowa evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats endorsed Ron DeSantis for president on Tuesday, joining a roster of prominent conservatives in a state that could be make-or-break for the Florida governor’s campaign as it faces stiff headwinds.
Evangelical Christians have made up almost two-thirds of Iowa GOP caucusgoers in past years, and DeSantis is appealing heavily to that demographic.
He’s also spent time with Vander Plaats’s group, the Family Leader, which advocates “biblical values” in government. That includes opposing abortion and any policy that, in its view, “encourages” people to identify as transgender or have same-sex relationships.
Read the full article.
In the Fox interview below, Vander Plaats denies having sold his endorsement, despite his group’s having taken a recent $95,000 donation from DeSantis.
In 2009, the Family Leader led the successful campaign to remove three Iowa Supreme Court justices after they ruled in favor of same-sex marriage.
In 2011, Family Leader head Bob Vander Plaats was accused of soliciting $1 million from then-presidential candidate Rick Santorum in return for his endorsement.
In 2016, Trump claimed that Vander Plaats wanted $100,000 “for himself” in return for hosting a Trump event. Vander Plaats then endorsed Ted Cruz.
The post Hate Group Leader Backs DeSantis After $95K Donation appeared first on Joe.My.God..
Ingraham: Dems Are Plotting To Steal 2024 Election
Ingraham: Dems Are Plotting To Steal 2024 Election:
“All of these characters sound like people who are prepared to cheat, or at least justify cheating next year. After all, if Trump really is what they say he is — the man who will end democracy, a Hitlerian figure — then how could he possibly be allowed to be able to run for office, be approaching the White House?
“If they really believe what they’re saying, shouldn’t we expect that they’ll try to defeat him or knock him off by any means necessary?
“And because the voters are turning to Trump, all they can do is write insipid articles alleging the same old, same old. They’re so angry that they’re prepared to break the whole system, perhaps even laying the groundwork for election interference next November, because they just don’t care. It’s about winning. That’s all that matters.” – Laura Ingraham.
The post Ingraham: Dems Are Plotting To Steal 2024 Election appeared first on Joe.My.God..
Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Border Patrol sending migrants to unofficial camps in California's desert, locals say
Border Patrol sending migrants to unofficial camps in California's desert, locals say:
Residents of the Southern California border community of Jacumba say hundreds of migrants are dropped off every day at ad hoc sites where conditions are often dire. They call it a humanitarian crisis.
(Image credit: Ash Ponders for NPR)
Gay Assemblymember Low eyes South Bay House seat
Gay Assemblymember Low eyes South Bay House seat:
Sunday, November 19, 2023
Saturday, November 18, 2023
Robert Moses Put Monkeys in a Park in Harlem. They’re Finally Gone.
Robert Moses Put Monkeys in a Park in Harlem. They’re Finally Gone.:
School kicks trans teen out of high school musical because he wasn’t born a boy
A Texas high school says that a transgender student will no longer be allowed to play the male lead in a student production of Oklahoma!
Max Hightower, a senior at Sherman High School in Sherman, Texas (about 65 miles north of Dallas), was cast as the male lead in the classic musical last month, according to KXII. “It was a beautiful day,” Max’s father, Phillip Hightower told the local CBS affiliate.
Related:
Federal judge strikes down Texas drag ban
“This decision is a much needed reminder that queer Texans belong and we deserve to be heard by our lawmakers.”
But days after Max landed the role, Phillip Hightower says that the school’s principal called to inform him that his son would not be allowed to play the role after all due to a new policy. Hightower says he was told that “actors and actresses could only play a role that was the same gender they were assigned at birth.”
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Hightower said that he was “devastated,” describing the effort Max has put into the school’s Bearcat Theater program throughout high school. He said that his son has previously been allowed to “dress up as male” when cast in historically female supporting roles, and noted that cross-gender casting has always been a part of theater.
“All kinds of actors have played all kinds of parts,” Hightower said.
In a statement on Monday, Sherman Independent School District said that it was postponing the production of Oklahoma!, which was originally scheduled for December, until sometime after January 15, 2024.
“It was brought to the District’s attention that the current production contained mature adult themes, profane language, and sexual content,” the statement read. “Unfortunately, all aspects of the production need to be reviewed, including content, stage production/props, and casting to ensure that the production is appropriate for the high school stage.”
The script of the original stage musical does include sexual themes, sexual innuendo, violence, murder, drunkenness, and nonconsensual drugging.
It went on to clarify that “There is no policy on how students are assigned to roles.”
“As it relates to this particular production, the sex of the role as identified in the script will be used when casting,” the statement read. “Because the nature and subject matter of productions vary, the District is not inclined to apply this criteria to all future productions.”
Hightower told KXII that his son is taking the news in stride.
“I expected him to be crying, but no, Max is a fighter,” he said, adding that the family is determined to fight the policy and see Max reclaim the lead role in Oklahoma! “I want every kid to be recognized and noticed and allowed to be themselves,” Hightower said.
In June, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed into law a bill that would have criminalized “sexually explicit” performances in the presence of minors, defining such performances as those in which “a male performer [is] exhibiting as a female, or a female performer exhibiting as a male.” A federal judge struck down the law in September, ruling that it “impermissibly infringes on the First Amendment and chills free speech.”
Similar laws have been blocked by courts in Florida, Tennessee, and Montana, with critics claiming they amount to bans on drag performances and can also be interpreted as banning transgender people from performing onstage.
http://dlvr.it/Sz12ky
Transgender Online Creators’ Images Misused in Transphobic PragerU Propaganda Film
Jessica Hutfless, a transgender woman, software engineer, and pinball enthusiast, was shocked when her image was being exploited in a documentary advertisement by the Prager University Foundation, a conservative advocacy organization known for its transphobia.
http://dlvr.it/Sz0q8w
Friday, November 17, 2023
Florida GOP Rep Shouts All Palestinians Should Die
Newsweek reports:
A Florida state representative, identified online as Republican Michelle Salzman, has gone viral on social media for shouting “all of them” after being asked how many dead Palestinians will be enough. The politician was responding to a speech calling for a ceasefire from Democrat Rep. Angie Nixon.
Speaking in the Florida Senate a visibly emotional Nixon asked: “We are at 10,000 dead Palestinians, how many will be enough?” A heckler then shouts “all of them,” causing Nixon to reply: “One of my colleagues just said all of them. Wow.” The resolution introduced by Nixon was later defeated 104-2.
Read the full article. The original clip has nearly 10 million views at this writing. As you can see below, Salzman appears to be a supporter of Moms For Liberty. Salzman has one of the wildest Wikipedia entries that you’ve likely seen.
The post Florida GOP Rep Shouts All Palestinians Should Die appeared first on Joe.My.God..
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http://dlvr.it/SyzYsq
Lauren Boebert schooled by elder Democratic congressman while trying to grandstand about immigration
Anti-LGBTQ+ Christian nationalist Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) got schooled by a high-ranking Democrat this week when she couldn’t answer a simple question about an anti-immigration amendment she tried to shove into a government funding bill.
On Wednesday, Boebert tried to insert an amendment into the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act for 2024, a bill that largely funds various government agencies, roles, and other administrative functions. Her amendment sought to ensure that no taxpayer funds in the bill would support sanctuary cities that protect undocumented immigrants from prosecution or deportation.
Related:
Lauren Boebert’s district trolls her with Beetlejuice displays & candy touting her “spooky” values
This is one trick that she won’t consider a treat.
The only problem: Although the bill did mention the District of Columbia, and its Mayor Muriel Bowser did say in 2016 that it was a sanctuary city, the spending bill didn’t mention anything about sanctuary cities, nor did its specific funding requirements allow for any funds to be used for such a purpose.
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The funding bill mostly addresses the salaries and operating expenses for various federal government roles, offices, and programs, including repairs to the White House and vice presidential residence, money for various programs — like those for HIV/AIDS, drug control, and indigenous communities — and also gives money to run the District of Columbia’s judiciary, schools, and public utilities.
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) heard Boebert introducing her amendment and, taking an opposing chamber lectern, said, “I rise in perplexion.” He then requested permission to ask her a question. She agreed.
“What funds in this bill are used for the purposes you are opposed to?” he asked.
After a small pause, she replied, “This is precautionary.”
He asked, “Precautionary for what?”
She answered, “There are sanctuary city policies that are in place that are allowing the refuge of illegal aliens in this and there is an influx of crime and drugs in these cities and there is no way for these folks to even report what is taking place because they are protected under this fake policy that has been created that is subduing the actual rule of law that we have in the Constitution of the United States.”
He replied, “I understand that, but what you’ve said is none of the funds in this bill can be spent for that objective. What funds are in this bill that are to be spent for this objective?”
She said, “I have seen this administration use all sorts of funds to protect illegal aliens.”
Reclaiming his time, Hoyer then pointed out, “There are no funds in this bill to do that. So this is just an opportunity for you to stand and perhaps speak about an important subject, I understand that. But there are no funds in this bill to accomplish that objective. You don’t believe that the chairman would put funds in to accomplish that objective, do you?”
The chairman Hoyer was referring to was Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR), chair of the House Appropriations Committee. That is, Hoyer was asking Boebert if she thought her Republican colleague would actually sneak funds into this bill to help sanctuary cities protect undocumented immigrants.
Boebert replied that she didn’t trust the Biden administration to honestly handle taxpayer money, and that if Hoyer believed that the bill contained no funding for sanctuary cities then he should support her amendment.
However, Hoyer explained the House Rules Committee Chairman, Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), had approved rules for the discussion at hand prohibiting House members from entering amendments unrelated to a bill.
“If we do this amendment,” Hoyer said, “any subject that anybody has an interest in would be subject to such an amendment.”
“There are no funds in this bill, Mr. Speaker, for the objective that the gentlelady wants to prevent,” he continued. “This amendment has no place in this bill because there is no money in this bill [for this purpose]. You can argue about the sanctuary cities and argue about the border and do all of that, but this is not the bill to do it on.”
http://dlvr.it/Synxts
http://dlvr.it/Syz5FY
Trump Salutes During Altered National Anthem Sung By Capitol Insurrectionists, Says “I Call Them J6 Hostages”
The Hill reports:
Former President Trump on Thursday referred to those jailed over their actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol as “hostages” during a rally with supporters in Texas.
Trump walked on stage at a Houston rally to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” as he typically does. But when it concluded, a song in which Trump collaborated with a chorus of inmates detained on charges related to the Jan. 6 insurrection began to play, and the former president stood saluting.
“Well, thank you very much, and you know what that was,” he said to open the rally. “I call them the ‘J-6 hostages,’ not prisoners. I call them the hostages, what’s happened. And you know, it’s a shame.” Money raised from the song was reportedly directed to families of the Jan. 6 mob who participated on the track.
Read the full article.
The post Trump Salutes During Altered National Anthem Sung By Capitol Insurrectionists, Says “I Call Them J6 Hostages” appeared first on Joe.My.God..
http://dlvr.it/Syymsr
Thursday, November 16, 2023
Romero & Tucson Council Dems coast to wins; Vail incorporation fails
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and her fellow Council Democrats easily won re-election Tuesday, with blow-out victories over GOP challengers. In Vail, a move to incorporate was rejected 60-40.
http://dlvr.it/SynDk7
http://dlvr.it/SyxLkq
Reviving Montezuma Pass: Sky Island Alliance's bold initiative to ... - AZPM
Emily Burns, program director for SIA said closeby, there was once an oak grove in 2020, that was bulldozed for a parking lot for federal border wall construction. Although construction was canceled, scars were still left on the landscape.
“A road was cut in on the slopes of the Huachuca Mountains there, so that (the) border wall could come all the way over the Huachuca Mountains and extend in the San Rafael Valley,’ Burns said. “So if you’re driving here in 2020, this would have been a major construction site, there were steel bollards, sections of border wall pile, there were tanker trucks spraying water on the road, it was quite a scene.”
But the natural landscape has slowly started to heal.
“An interesting part of the history of attempts to modify the border when really it’s peaceful and there’s no construction, it is just fabulous habitat for wildlife,” Burns said.
Burns said about two-thirds of the state is walled off and in some places animals are no longer able to freely pass in between Sonora and Arizona, isolating species like ocelots and jaguars, who are cut off from the core population and unlikely to find a mate and reproduce.
The barrier has also disrupted seed disperses, affecting plant species’ ability to reproduce.
“We really consider the border wall a major evolutionary experiment that’s been set in motion and I think it’s up to all of us to try to prevent that experiment, leading to the extinction of species that are really iconic in North America and important to all of us,” Burns said.
Emily Burns, program director for the Sky Island Alliance near border barriers in the Sierra Vista District of the Coronado National Forest on Wednesday, Oct. 18. Burns says the Sky Island Alliance has wildlife cameras that cover 30 miles of border which the organization monitors.
Katya Mendoza, AZPM News
The San Rafael Valley and Sky Islands for that matter, are known for their biodiversity. The region of mountain ranges span across four states and two countries, from Tucson, Arizona, all the way to Magdalena, Sonora.
Lichtenhan believes that wildlife populations will begin to contract away from the area.
“Part of why wildlife has been so numerous and healthy in these areas is because of the access to resources on both sides of the border,” Lichtenhan said. “Once you close those off, animals have to kind of pull back to where those major resources are available.”
SIA’s focus on rehabilitating old roads aims to provide wildlife with areas devoid of human impact or interaction with cars or ATVs.
“This project came from our desire to help this region recover, help make this an even more beneficial landscape for wildlife and that’s it,” Lichtenhan said.
Border barriers in the Sierra Vista District of the Coronado National Forest on Wednesday, Oct. 18. Emily Burns, program director for the Sky Island Alliance says the state government opted not to place shipping containers in this specific area.
Katya Mendoza, AZPM News
With a network of wildlife cameras that cover 30 miles of border, SIA is able to document wildlife passageways. Burns hopes that the data will be able to convey more than just wildlife crossings.
“We want our wildlife community data to really tell the world that this is an incredibly important place where we do not need and cannot have a border wall in the future,” Burns said. “Right now, there are no current federal plans to build a border wall across the San Rafael Valley but there are law waivers in place and it could be that in the future, a presidential administration decides to build a border wall here.”
As volunteers work throughout the year to document road conditions, plans for restoration will be scheduled in the new year.
“Together we can really help to limit that erosive force in this area,” Lichtenhan said. “The sky’s the limit.”
http://dlvr.it/SywbjY
Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Tuesday, November 14, 2023
School kicks trans teen out of high school musical because he wasn’t born a boy
A Texas high school says that a transgender student will no longer be allowed to play the male lead in a student production of Oklahoma!
Max Hightower, a senior at Sherman High School in Sherman, Texas (about 65 miles north of Dallas), was cast as the male lead in the classic musical last month, according to KXII. “It was a beautiful day,” Max’s father, Phillip Hightower told the local CBS affiliate.
Related:
Federal judge strikes down Texas drag ban
“This decision is a much needed reminder that queer Texans belong and we deserve to be heard by our lawmakers.”
But days after Max landed the role, Phillip Hightower says that the school’s principal called to inform him that his son would not be allowed to play the role after all due to a new policy. Hightower says he was told that “actors and actresses could only play a role that was the same gender they were assigned at birth.”
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Hightower said that he was “devastated,” describing the effort Max has put into the school’s Bearcat Theater program throughout high school. He said that his son has previously been allowed to “dress up as male” when cast in historically female supporting roles, and noted that cross-gender casting has always been a part of theater.
“All kinds of actors have played all kinds of parts,” Hightower said.
In a statement on Monday, Sherman Independent School District said that it was postponing the production of Oklahoma!, which was originally scheduled for December, until sometime after January 15, 2024.
“It was brought to the District’s attention that the current production contained mature adult themes, profane language, and sexual content,” the statement read. “Unfortunately, all aspects of the production need to be reviewed, including content, stage production/props, and casting to ensure that the production is appropriate for the high school stage.”
The script of the original stage musical does include sexual themes, sexual innuendo, violence, murder, drunkenness, and nonconsensual drugging.
It went on to clarify that “There is no policy on how students are assigned to roles.”
“As it relates to this particular production, the sex of the role as identified in the script will be used when casting,” the statement read. “Because the nature and subject matter of productions vary, the District is not inclined to apply this criteria to all future productions.”
Hightower told KXII that his son is taking the news in stride.
“I expected him to be crying, but no, Max is a fighter,” he said, adding that the family is determined to fight the policy and see Max reclaim the lead role in Oklahoma! “I want every kid to be recognized and noticed and allowed to be themselves,” Hightower said.
In June, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed into law a bill that would have criminalized “sexually explicit” performances in the presence of minors, defining such performances as those in which “a male performer [is] exhibiting as a female, or a female performer exhibiting as a male.” A federal judge struck down the law in September, ruling that it “impermissibly infringes on the First Amendment and chills free speech.”
Similar laws have been blocked by courts in Florida, Tennessee, and Montana, with critics claiming they amount to bans on drag performances and can also be interpreted as banning transgender people from performing onstage.
http://dlvr.it/SyjLKH
http://dlvr.it/SyrPJr
Transgender Online Creators’ Images Misused in Transphobic PragerU Propaganda Film
Jessica Hutfless, a transgender woman, software engineer, and pinball enthusiast, was shocked when her image was being exploited in a documentary advertisement by the Prager University Foundation, a conservative advocacy organization known for its transphobia.
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Florida GOP Rep Shouts All Palestinians Should Die
Newsweek reports:
A Florida state representative, identified online as Republican Michelle Salzman, has gone viral on social media for shouting “all of them” after being asked how many dead Palestinians will be enough. The politician was responding to a speech calling for a ceasefire from Democrat Rep. Angie Nixon.
Speaking in the Florida Senate a visibly emotional Nixon asked: “We are at 10,000 dead Palestinians, how many will be enough?” A heckler then shouts “all of them,” causing Nixon to reply: “One of my colleagues just said all of them. Wow.” The resolution introduced by Nixon was later defeated 104-2.
Read the full article. The original clip has nearly 10 million views at this writing. As you can see below, Salzman appears to be a supporter of Moms For Liberty. Salzman has one of the wildest Wikipedia entries that you’ve likely seen.
The post Florida GOP Rep Shouts All Palestinians Should Die appeared first on Joe.My.God..
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Monday, November 13, 2023
Lauren Boebert schooled by elder Democratic congressman while trying to grandstand about immigration
Anti-LGBTQ+ Christian nationalist Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) got schooled by a high-ranking Democrat this week when she couldn’t answer a simple question about an anti-immigration amendment she tried to shove into a government funding bill.
On Wednesday, Boebert tried to insert an amendment into the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act for 2024, a bill that largely funds various government agencies, roles, and other administrative functions. Her amendment sought to ensure that no taxpayer funds in the bill would support sanctuary cities that protect undocumented immigrants from prosecution or deportation.
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This is one trick that she won’t consider a treat.
The only problem: Although the bill did mention the District of Columbia, and its Mayor Muriel Bowser did say in 2016 that it was a sanctuary city, the spending bill didn’t mention anything about sanctuary cities, nor did its specific funding requirements allow for any funds to be used for such a purpose.
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The funding bill mostly addresses the salaries and operating expenses for various federal government roles, offices, and programs, including repairs to the White House and vice presidential residence, money for various programs — like those for HIV/AIDS, drug control, and indigenous communities — and also gives money to run the District of Columbia’s judiciary, schools, and public utilities.
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) heard Boebert introducing her amendment and, taking an opposing chamber lectern, said, “I rise in perplexion.” He then requested permission to ask her a question. She agreed.
“What funds in this bill are used for the purposes you are opposed to?” he asked.
After a small pause, she replied, “This is precautionary.”
He asked, “Precautionary for what?”
She answered, “There are sanctuary city policies that are in place that are allowing the refuge of illegal aliens in this and there is an influx of crime and drugs in these cities and there is no way for these folks to even report what is taking place because they are protected under this fake policy that has been created that is subduing the actual rule of law that we have in the Constitution of the United States.”
He replied, “I understand that, but what you’ve said is none of the funds in this bill can be spent for that objective. What funds are in this bill that are to be spent for this objective?”
She said, “I have seen this administration use all sorts of funds to protect illegal aliens.”
Reclaiming his time, Hoyer then pointed out, “There are no funds in this bill to do that. So this is just an opportunity for you to stand and perhaps speak about an important subject, I understand that. But there are no funds in this bill to accomplish that objective. You don’t believe that the chairman would put funds in to accomplish that objective, do you?”
The chairman Hoyer was referring to was Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR), chair of the House Appropriations Committee. That is, Hoyer was asking Boebert if she thought her Republican colleague would actually sneak funds into this bill to help sanctuary cities protect undocumented immigrants.
Boebert replied that she didn’t trust the Biden administration to honestly handle taxpayer money, and that if Hoyer believed that the bill contained no funding for sanctuary cities then he should support her amendment.
However, Hoyer explained the House Rules Committee Chairman, Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), had approved rules for the discussion at hand prohibiting House members from entering amendments unrelated to a bill.
“If we do this amendment,” Hoyer said, “any subject that anybody has an interest in would be subject to such an amendment.”
“There are no funds in this bill, Mr. Speaker, for the objective that the gentlelady wants to prevent,” he continued. “This amendment has no place in this bill because there is no money in this bill [for this purpose]. You can argue about the sanctuary cities and argue about the border and do all of that, but this is not the bill to do it on.”
http://dlvr.it/Synxts
Trump Salutes During Altered National Anthem Sung By Capitol Insurrectionists, Says “I Call Them J6 Hostages”
The Hill reports:
Former President Trump on Thursday referred to those jailed over their actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol as “hostages” during a rally with supporters in Texas.
Trump walked on stage at a Houston rally to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” as he typically does. But when it concluded, a song in which Trump collaborated with a chorus of inmates detained on charges related to the Jan. 6 insurrection began to play, and the former president stood saluting.
“Well, thank you very much, and you know what that was,” he said to open the rally. “I call them the ‘J-6 hostages,’ not prisoners. I call them the hostages, what’s happened. And you know, it’s a shame.” Money raised from the song was reportedly directed to families of the Jan. 6 mob who participated on the track.
Read the full article.
The post Trump Salutes During Altered National Anthem Sung By Capitol Insurrectionists, Says “I Call Them J6 Hostages” appeared first on Joe.My.God..
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Marlon Wayans reveals that his son is transgender & how he wants him to feel free
Marlon Wayans reveals that his son is transgender & how he wants him to feel free:
Actor and comedian Marlon Wayans has melted the hearts of parents everywhere with his recent comments on having a transgender son.
While promoting his new comedy special in which he discusses his son’s transition, Wayans spoke on The Breakfast Club radio show about learning to embrace his son for exactly who he is.
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“I talk about the transition [in the special],” he said. He also acknowledged that he is still working on using the correct pronouns. “Not her… his… their transition, but my transition as a parent, going from ignorance and denial to complete unconditional love and acceptance.”
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“And I think there’s a lot of parents out there that need to have that message,” he continued, “and I know I’m dealing with it. It was a very painful situation for me but, man, it’s one of the best funniest hours I probably could ever imagine.”
He emphasized that the most important thing is that his kids are happy. “I gotta respect their wishes, right? And as a parent I just want my kids to be free – I want them to be free in spirit, free in thought, free to be themselves.”
“The more you know yourself, the more you can govern yourself, the more you live your truth, the happier your existence. So if they can’t get that in a household with their father and their mother, how the f**k do I send them out into the world with that kind of confidence? And I’m just so proud of them for being them – but that don’t mean that I ain’t got jokes.”
He said he knows he doesn’t always get the pronouns and words right but that his son loves him for doing his best.
“They know I love them. They see me try and they’re like, I’m happy.”
He also said he did the set about his son in front of a bunch of world leaders. “I felt like I want to do this set right here because it’s important to me… All you world leaders having this summit, I want you to think about these people… and how to be inclusive of this generation.”
Romero & Tucson Council Dems coast to wins; Vail incorporation fails
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and her fellow Council Democrats easily won re-election Tuesday, with blow-out victories over GOP challengers. In Vail, a move to incorporate was rejected 60-40.
http://dlvr.it/SynDk7
Sunday, November 12, 2023
Reviving Montezuma Pass: Sky Island Alliance's bold initiative to ... - AZPM
Reviving Montezuma Pass: Sky Island Alliance's bold initiative to ... - AZPM:
Emily Burns, program director for SIA said closeby, there was once an oak grove in 2020, that was bulldozed for a parking lot for federal border wall construction. Although construction was canceled, scars were still left on the landscape.
“A road was cut in on the slopes of the Huachuca Mountains there, so that (the) border wall could come all the way over the Huachuca Mountains and extend in the San Rafael Valley,’ Burns said. “So if you’re driving here in 2020, this would have been a major construction site, there were steel bollards, sections of border wall pile, there were tanker trucks spraying water on the road, it was quite a scene.”
But the natural landscape has slowly started to heal.
“An interesting part of the history of attempts to modify the border when really it’s peaceful and there’s no construction, it is just fabulous habitat for wildlife,” Burns said.
Burns said about two-thirds of the state is walled off and in some places animals are no longer able to freely pass in between Sonora and Arizona, isolating species like ocelots and jaguars, who are cut off from the core population and unlikely to find a mate and reproduce.
The barrier has also disrupted seed disperses, affecting plant species’ ability to reproduce.
“We really consider the border wall a major evolutionary experiment that’s been set in motion and I think it’s up to all of us to try to prevent that experiment, leading to the extinction of species that are really iconic in North America and important to all of us,” Burns said.
Emily Burns, program director for the Sky Island Alliance near border barriers in the Sierra Vista District of the Coronado National Forest on Wednesday, Oct. 18. Burns says the Sky Island Alliance has wildlife cameras that cover 30 miles of border which the organization monitors.
Katya Mendoza, AZPM News
The San Rafael Valley and Sky Islands for that matter, are known for their biodiversity. The region of mountain ranges span across four states and two countries, from Tucson, Arizona, all the way to Magdalena, Sonora.
Lichtenhan believes that wildlife populations will begin to contract away from the area.
“Part of why wildlife has been so numerous and healthy in these areas is because of the access to resources on both sides of the border,” Lichtenhan said. “Once you close those off, animals have to kind of pull back to where those major resources are available.”
SIA’s focus on rehabilitating old roads aims to provide wildlife with areas devoid of human impact or interaction with cars or ATVs.
“This project came from our desire to help this region recover, help make this an even more beneficial landscape for wildlife and that’s it,” Lichtenhan said.
Border barriers in the Sierra Vista District of the Coronado National Forest on Wednesday, Oct. 18. Emily Burns, program director for the Sky Island Alliance says the state government opted not to place shipping containers in this specific area.
Katya Mendoza, AZPM News
With a network of wildlife cameras that cover 30 miles of border, SIA is able to document wildlife passageways. Burns hopes that the data will be able to convey more than just wildlife crossings.
“We want our wildlife community data to really tell the world that this is an incredibly important place where we do not need and cannot have a border wall in the future,” Burns said. “Right now, there are no current federal plans to build a border wall across the San Rafael Valley but there are law waivers in place and it could be that in the future, a presidential administration decides to build a border wall here.”
As volunteers work throughout the year to document road conditions, plans for restoration will be scheduled in the new year.
“Together we can really help to limit that erosive force in this area,” Lichtenhan said. “The sky’s the limit.”
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