#Utah Open Primary

[animatronicappreciation]

hi! i was talking about build a bear to a friend and just remembered they used to have animatronics (? if they count as those?) at the entrance (this article has an image: https://clarksvillenow.com/local/build-a-bear-workshop-comes-to-clarksville/ but you can just look up ‘build a bear entrance’ and find some, they simply move their arms a bit from what i remember)

i haven’t really seen any close up pictures or anyone documenting where they are now if they got rid of them all so i thought i’d ask around :o

Ok so funnily enough, I (Mod Possum) WORK at a Build-A-Bear Workshop, so this is right up my alley, lol!!

So, what anon is talking about is our little bear buddy (his name is Bearnard, not to be confused with another mascot of ours by the name of Bearemy) that sits in front of some of our store windows! Our store still has one, and he's still functional!

Here's a couple of pictures from outside of our store! Our store hasn't changed much since it opened, so we've still got what's called the "Heritage Store" look! Heritage Stores are the ones that look like we did back when we opened in '97-- a color scheme of primary colors, prominent theming to make you feel like you're really building a teddy bear (bear bins that look like spools of thread, stickers on bins that make it look like stitching, gears on the wall, et cetera), and so forth. It's a very cozy atmosphere compared to what many Build-A-Bears look like now.

This ^^^ is what our Discovery Stores look like. Not nearly as whimsical or fun as our Heritage Stores, right? It just feels cold and sterile in comparison, but that's just my opinion, haha!

Maxine Clark is the founder of BABW, and was the CEO for many years. However, she stepped down as CEO in 2013, and that was when the company's vision for our stores began to change. Sharon Price John took over as CEO, and her way of doing things was a lot more business-driven rather than fun-driven, at least in my personal opinion.

June 4th of 2015, only two years into Sharon Price John's tenure, was the first announcement of the Discovery Store that I could find online. There wasn't much to be said about it in the article I read since that wasn't the basis for the article, but it said that the first Discovery Store would be opening in Utah later that year.

Maxine Clark's way of operating her business was a lot more whimsical than Price John's, but it didn't really amount to a profitable business, focused more on bringing an experience to the world than being a true business. When Price John took over, the company became infinitely more corporate than it was under Clark's reign.

Over time, more and more of our stores have been converted to Discovery Stores, and although we're more profitable than we once were, I can't help but wonder at what expense. My opinon's not important to the topic at hand, I know, lol, but what that means is that the friendly little Bearnard animatronics have been disappearing one by one, since they don't reuse them for the Discovery Stores.

As to where they've all gone... I truly have no idea. I would assume it's a "destroy this prop as it will not be used again" situation. I've gotten some items from a former Heritage Store turned Discovery that they held onto for a while before our DM told the store to "get rid of them" (iirc he told the managers of that store that he didn't really care where they went as long as they were gone), so it's not out of the realm of possibility that some may have survived, but due to how unwieldy it would be to transport these figures, I also wouldn't be surprised if it was just easier to trash them.

The figures have VERY limited movement. With ours, he just tilts his head from side to side on repeat, all day, every day. Some stores, like pictured below, had two figures rather than our store's single figure, so I don't know what movement, if any, the bear in the tutu (presumably Bearnice, another of our characters, lol) has. I would guess that she also tilted her head back and forth, but I can't say for sure, since it's not clear in the photo and it's been quite a while since I have seen a store with two of the figures.

It's a shame that these figures are going the way of the dodo. They may be incredibly simplistic figures, but I do enjoy how whimsical they are!

If anyone has any more information about our little storefront friends, I would LOVE to hear it! I'll try and consult with my other employee friends (shoutout to the BAB subreddit for connecting us!) and see what they have to say. I'll report back if they have anything interesting to say!

-Mod Possum

[nerdygaymormon]

Gather Conference 2025 - my highlights

Before I even got to Utah, met an amazing person while on a layover at DFW airport, Raquelle Roulette (google her). We truly would be in awe at all the heroes and amazing folks around us if we only knew their stories

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I arrived in Utah on Thursday, June 26th, and my friend @loveerran picked me up and drove us to a restaurant where we had lunch with Peggy Fletcher Stack, senior religion writer for The Salt Lake Tribune.

I found Peggy to be open and authentic. She was herself and wanted us to be ourselves. It felt like we connected on several levels. She shared with us her thoughts about the many changes that President Nelson has made to the LDS Church, the importance of community, and which fairly well-known person she refuses to interview or quote for stories because they are a liar. We talked about things in our life, like her cats, MAGA family members, and that being Primary pianist was my favorite church calling.

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After lunch, Erran and I traveled to Provo where I unpacked and took a nap. When I woke up, I washed my face and was rudely reminded that water comes out of the faucet very cold in Utah, not lukewarm like in Florida. I was wide awake. 🥶

That evening was the Gather Conference's Meet & Greet which was held in a Provo city park. It was great to connect with friends who were there and to meet some new friends. 

I was introduced to Cynthia and Paul Winward and exclaimed that I know who they are, and Paul replied, "you mean you know who she is." Nope, I know him, too. He's treasurer for Affirmation, and I'd seen him give financial updates over the past two years when I served on the Affirmation Board or as VP. I told him he looks more handsome in person. I think he blushed a little and his wife said everyone looks better in person compared to the little box you see them in on Zoom.

Cynthia is a co-host of the podcast At Last She Said It. I am a regular listener, and told her that I love it's women's voices, so several times I've had a comment I thought about sending in, but I didn't want to be a man stepping into that space. Then I shared how I loved a voicemail on their most recent episode by a woman who had served as her ward's compassionate service leader, and if a man requested a meal for his family, she'd contact his ministering brother. If the ministering brother's wife asked what sort of meal is needed, she would answer, "whatever HE can make," and a LOT of pancakes got delivered. I LOVE THAT.

I shared how when I became a stake executive secretary, I suggested the stake presidency to stop asking the stake relief society presidency to make meals, we're capable men. I also told Cynthia about making a meal for 30+ people when an apostle came to my stake center, and afterwards he came to the kitchen and expressed surprise that it was all men cleaning up, to which I replied that the Handbook doesn't list cooking or cleaning as duties of any of the sisters' callings. Cynthia laughed, high-fived me, and said while they don't have male guests they do sometimes play voicemail comments from men and encouraged me to send that message to them.

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On Friday, June 27th, the Gather Conference began with an invocation from Elder Steven E. Snow, an emeritus Seventy who recently went public as an ally because he loves his gay granddaughters.

Dr. Jennifer Finlayson Fife gave the keynote address and spoke about developing self-trust and to value ourselves and that this is necessary to create healthy relationships. Being true to ourselves and being authentic allows us to be authentic in our relationships. If we have to outsource our self worth to others, that leads to problematic relationships, for example we could become subservient to someone in order to get their praise because we need them in order to feel good about ourselves and to obtain love. The focus becomes keeping the other person happy, which means we avoid bringing up truthful things to avoid conflict. It can feel like you are disappearing.

When we need the validation of others, it's hard to live authentically because we have to hide parts of ourselves or things that bother us in order to not risk upsetting others. We need companionship and love, and many people compromise in order to find it. However, when you are true to yourself, you're able to be loved and known by others, and they will love you for who you are and not who you pretend to be.

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J. Kirk Richards is an artist who creates beautiful images around the idea that all are alike unto God, including LGBTQ individuals. He spoke about early church history when dancing was completely forbidden and even referred to by church leaders as a “mortal sin.” He then shared other quotes and stories showing the progression of how this changed radically in a span of only seventeen years. He quoted Brigham Young who proclaimed dancing to be a “divine ritual.” Imagine that ….. in the short span of 17 years from MORTAL SIN to DIVINE RITUAL.

When our understanding changes, things which once seemed dangerous and sinful can actually be uplifting and righteous.

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Jessica Angus, a trans woman, and Ben Higinbotham, a trans-masc nonbinary individual, each shared they felt divinely inspired to transition. Don't they worry they might have misunderstood and they'll face the wrath of God? Ben answered, "God isn't throwing lightning bolts at us, He's throwing love."

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Friday afternoon were Breakout Sessions based on identity. I went to the Gender Identity session where Hannah Bryan, who performs drag under the name Charity Heels, showed that trans and nonbinary people have existed in many societies. She pointed out that we call some people nonbinary because our society has decided there's just two genders and not everyone fits this binary, but many other cultures acknowledged multiple genders, they actually have words for people whose gender is neither male nor female.

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@loveerran spoke of her experience at learning she's intersex. She only learned this a few years ago because her parents had kept this from her. Erran followed this up by explaining that the LDS Church needs to expand its understanding of gender. For example, the church has decided that your spirit's sex matches that of your mortal body, and you're either male or female. While for most people their outward genitals, their inner reproductive organs, their hormones, and their chromosomes, all line up, that isn't true for everyone. Do we consider someone to have a male spirit if they have XY chromosomes but are missing the SRY gene, which its absence causes the individual to have feminine characteristics? What of the Guevedoces where some males are born looking like girls and grow a penis at puberty?

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Friday night I was among the last at the conference center and was on hand when someone asked Charlie Bird to do a backflip. He nailed it!

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On Saturday, June 28th, the Gather Conference began with an invocation offered by Reverend Mother Dani Lee of St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Provo, Utah.

Bishop Karen P. Oliveto was interviewed at the conference. In 2015, she became the first openly lesbian bishop in The United Methodist Church, and she was married to a wife. She was assigned the Western Jurisdiction which includes Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana.

When she'd visit congregations in rural towns, she often was the first openly-queer person these church goers had ever met. She describes this as a "ministry of vomit," because people would express all the pain, trauma, questions, doubts, and misgivings they have about queer people. She was there to catch the vomit, to show that no matter what is thrown at her, she is there to love and help people, she will be there through their worst and best moments. Eventually the saying went around, "If you want to keep hating on the bishop, don't meet her."

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Carol Lynn Pearson spoke of her husband who was gay and they divorced but he remained in her life. When he was dying of AIDS, he moved back in and she took care of him. The next year, in 1986, she wrote a memoir about the experience, Goodbye, I Love You, which led to a national book tour including appearances on programs such as Good Morning America. She has been a pioneer in bringing the attention of Latter-day Saints to the plight of queer members.

Carol Lynn describes LGBTQ+ members as modern-day pioneers, some acting as scouts out front who see what is ahead and urging the rest of the church to shift and move faster. She said we haven't yet arrived to a place where we can say, "This is the place," so we carry on, we don't have to settle for things as they are now.

She hopes people leaving this conference have a “more immediate understanding of the hugeness of this situation. Everybody in our church has a gay son or a lesbian cousin or a neighbor that we love. All of us are affected by this. And so today, we are listening with different ears than we did before.”

“We are ready. People down here at the bottom in the church are ready for more progress, and more rapid progress toward the goal of a kind of equality.”

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Alisha Anderson, who is lesbian, gave my favorite address of the conference. She spoke of planting mustard seeds and what she learned from that experience. “I have learned to listen to plants. I can’t say to a wilting plant, ‘I gave you the right amount of water.’ No, it’s not about what I think it needs, but what it knows it needs. And if I listen, I can give it what it requires to grow.”

Seeds and plants know what they need. Queer people know what they need and should be listened to rather than instructed to be like straight people.

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Travis Steward is a former mission president and worked for decades at the missionary training center. He is gay and in a mixed-orientation marriage. He said that if others are disappointed in us, that's their problem, not ours. They created the expectation. Being ourselves is not a problem or a wrong, it's up to them to change their expectations.

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Saturday afternoon's breakout sessions covered a variety of topics. I actually skipped the first round of breakouts to speak with a friend about their journey of coming out and how his family has reacted and what has changed.

I attended the breakout session "Steps, Detours, and Discoveries: Plotting Your Church Path" which was a panel of four queer Mormons and was moderated by Tom Christofferson. I thought it interesting that initially they spoke about good leaders they'd had but then each shared about problematic leaders, definitely highlighting the idea of "leadership roulette."

Meghan Decker shared that when she was suicidal because of her mixed-orientation marriage, her bishop advised her that "God would rather have you get divorced than dead." But in response to a question about possibly getting her temple recommend revoked for dating women, she replied, "Their game, their rules." She can't control him and his decisions. Her relationship with Christ isn't determined by what her bishop does. She'd like him to be a spiritual advisor and mentor, but not to tell her to go against personal revelation.

Another woman who is a senior at BYU shared that her bishop took away her recommend when she said that she intends to date women in the future (presumably after she graduates and isn't beholden to the BYU Honor Code). I was shocked. This was a preemptive cancellation, she hadn't yet done anything to warrant her recommend be removed from her, she was still living her life in compliance.

Tom Christofferson ended the session with his rules for revelation:

Don't tell the Lord what He must say

Don't tell the Lord what He can't say

Keep to yourself what He does say

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Saturday evening was a concert by The Lower Lights. I loved it! They are so good! They give a folk rock interpretation of Christian songs. If they're in your area, do yourself a favor and check them out.

Pastor Stan Mitchell ended the conference with a wonderful prayer. I thought it beautiful there were several leaders of other Christian traditions invited to participate in this conference. We have much to learn from each other.

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For me, the best part of this conference is people. I got to meet friends of mine and hug them and catch up. I met some folks I've only known online from Tumblr's queerstake, and I met some people for the very first time.

There's the wife of a YSA bishop from SLC who came, she is a delight and everyone in her ward is fortunate. I later learned she's the mom of someone from queerstake.

There's the mom from Arkansas who told me that her bishop & stake president won't allow a Gathering, so Scott Mena and I, who both do Gatherings in Florida, said she can simply have friends over each month, and that doesn't need to be endorsed by the church. We talked about ways to promote her Gathering and described how the different Florida Gatherings do things very differently from each other as a way to give her ideas of what she may want to do.

There's the dad who came because his child recently came out, and at the Meet & Greet he told me he was wearing the gayest shirt he owned, and I nodded, then he said it's because the logo is in colors. I replied, "Oh, it's not the logo that makes this shirt gay," as I waived my hand across his front, "it's purple with artistic accents." The next day he found me at conference and says he told his wife what I said about his shirt and they laughed, but he doesn't have anymore "gay" shirts for the rest of the conference. "I have something for you, a pin that looks like a CTR ring shield but the background in rainbow colors. Now you can signal you're an ally no matter what you wear." He immediately pinned it onto his bag.

There's the lesbian couple who are facing leadership roulette. They attended the Saturday breakout panel moderated by Tom Christofferson, and it was as though the session was put together specifically for them.

There was the friend who pointed out someone he thinks is attractive but is too nervous to go over and meet. I said it's time to head towards the next session and I walked us right over to the person he pointed out and said I really liked his hair, it's so curly. He smiled and said thanks, and I introduced myself, "oh, and this is my friend." He complimented my friend's curly hair. It was fun to be someone's wingman.

I don't like standing alone in the hallways during breaks, it makes me feel anxious, so at those times if I saw someone else alone and they smiled at me, I took that as an opening, that perhaps they were also wanting to connect with someone while at the conference. That strategy worked pretty well.

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Rather than go to the after party, which sounds like fun with karaoke and board games, Erran and I went back to the air bnb we were staying in. Erran baked a cake and I played funny TikTok videos and we laughed and laughed, almost to the point of wheezing. It was such a good end to the day

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On Sunday, Erran and I attended the local ward. Sunday School was great, the man who taught the lesson is a counselor in the bishopric and works as a therapist. My main takeaways are that when our basic needs aren't being met then we are more susceptible, and we should consider what things bring us closer to Christ as there are many things which don't. He also shared that two of the most successful things to do when someone is suicidal is to look them in they eyes, and physical touch, because these reinforce that someone cares, someone loves them. It may seem simple, but its among the most effective things to prevent a suicide.

Afterwards, Erran and I spoke with him outside in the summer sun, or rather, Erran spoke and I was there for moral support. Erran shared a bit about her story. He listened without interrupting then made some affirming comments. He had been facing Erran so I couldn't tell how he was receiving her story and was relieved at his positive response.

Erran explained how what he taught in Sunday School was in line with her experience of accepting her transness. Erran asked if he'd be interested in being a presenter to LGBTQIA+ LDS people at a future conference?

Before he could answer, a woman came out the doors and walked over to Erran to greet her and say she remembers Erran from last year's Affirmation Conference. She had several pins, such as "you're safe with me" and her church bag had a picture of folding chairs with one of them colored in rainbow.

As she's speaking to Erran, I feel prompted to give her the CTR ring I had on my pinky finger. I commented that I liked her bag, and handed over the ring. She got emotional and showed us her finger, which had an indented groove around the base of it where her old CTR ring had been. She had an MRI last week and needed to remove the ring, but because she hadn't taken it off for 10 years and her fingers had gotten larger, they had to cut it off. So now she has a new CTR ring, but one with a rainbow background. It fit her finger perfectly.

I don't know how the bishopric counselor interpreted this, but it seemed to me like God sending a confirmation that Erran is out here doing good things and this man should accept the invitation to speak to queer members.

He then asked a few questions about what does she think he should say, is it just a repeat of his lesson or does she want something different. She clarified that she will recommend him to be a speaker and would like to remain in touch and communicate more about the topics in his lesson.

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I have some extended family who live in Utah and they usually will host dinner for me and some of my queer LDS friends. It's become my favorite part of trips out to Utah for conferences. After dinner, we all hang out.

One of my friends who comes to dinner is an expert on Pioneer Day and he told us that the Salt Lake airport was dedicated on Pioneer Day and at that time they had the few surviving Mormon pioneers take a plane ride over Emigration Canyon. A journey that had taken them 3 days in their covered wagons was completed in 9 minutes.

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After dinner, we had an invitation from Bree & Kit Borrowman to come to their home to meet Pastor Stan Mitchell. My group actually showed up late. We arrived as others were departing. The pastor stayed, and so did 3 others. It was a very small group. It was a good conversation. I admire him and his ministry.

I thanked him for his prayer to close the Gather Conference, it was very meaningful to me. He commented that public prayers like that are difficult because it's easy to say things for show, to try to be impressive. What the person offering the prayer should do is channel what those in the room want said, to act as the mouthpiece for the group. We agreed that he expressed the hopes and yearnings in our hearts.

Erran confessed that she did not know who he was until earlier this year when I shared a post which quotes him saying, "It's not the elders, it's not the leaders, not the apostles, not the pastors, not the bishops, not the clerics. It's the mothers who are the prophetic voice. Everyone else is playing with plastic chips and monopoly money. The mothers are playing with every damn dime they have. They are playing with flesh in the game and that makes them not compromised weaklings, but the veritable prophets of this movement." He found his original post and read the entire passage to us. Very moving.

He spoke of meeting Liz Dyer who started Mama Bears in the hopes she could make the world kinder, safer, and a more loving place for all LGBTQ+ people. He met with her and his heart was opened.

Since then, he has found the mothers of LGBTQIA+ kids, who call themselves Mama Dragons and Mama Bears, to be his co-laborers in 'gospel work.' They are not professional clerics, they are like Mary to Jesus, they are the witnesses of the suffering, they are there when the other disciples run away.

He shared that as we learn more about the character of God, how we interpret the words on the page will shift. But also, the things we experience also causes change. He spoke of how slavery is permitted in the Bible and that for centuries Christians defended slavery. However, the huge number of slaves in the Western hemisphere caused many to see the extreme suffering that slavery caused. They saw mothers crying and pleading as they were separated from their children at slave auctions. They saw the brute violence casually perpetrated on slaves. They saw how cruelty transformed the character of the slave owners. They may believe the Bible, but they felt dissonance from what it said with how they felt about the consequences of its support of slavery. This caused churches to reevaluate what the Biblical words mean and decide that opposing slavery is the position that is most Christlike.

Same thing is happening with queer people and Christians. As they hear our stories and learn of the pain and shame we inherited from church, as they attend funerals for those who died by suicide, as their children come out and don't fit into their faith community, people are saying there's a dissonance between what my church teaches and how the consequences feel to me. Surely this isn't what God wants happening to his beloved children.

Of all the Christian traditions, the LDS Church is best setup to make changes towards progress due to our belief in ongoing revelation. Those at the top who sit in the red chairs need to get on the ball because the suffering is ongoing and bodies are piling up. The sooner they act, the less pain and hurt will be incurred. 

However, change like this usually happens in the pews, it comes from the ground up, not from the top down. The change is made at the grassroots level by families who have a child who comes out, by people who are unhappy at what is being taught at church about queer people because they have a gay uncle they love. They see the hurt and trauma first hand, and their visceral reaction against it leads them to want and advocate for change.

He shared a story about when he visited Haiti and he saw a young girl drinking water in the street which had sewage in it. He went to stop her but a woman stopped him and asked what he was doing? Well, he’s trying to stop her from taking in these toxins which will make her sick. Yes, but she needs water to survive. She doesn’t have access to clean, life-giving water, so she has to make due with this polluted water. Similarly, for queer people what gives us spiritual life also contains toxins which make us sick.

He thanked Bree & Kit for opening their home. He said that he's been sharing their story since before he ever met them, that the idea of a teacher transitioning and being supported by the school administration, parents, and students at a school in Utah was hopeful.

Afterwards, he spoke with me for a few minutes. I thanked him for all his efforts, that change needs people like him, that there aren't enough queer people to get the change we need. I asked why a cis, straight man with no queer kids would be so invested in ministering to queer people and fighting for our inclusion and equality in Christianity? He answered that once his heart changed, he took up the cause of love and inclusion of queer people in church.

He will be in Florida later this year and invited me to meet with him over dinner. He also said he'd invite me to attend church with him while he's in Florida, but knows that may be complicated for me.

I will gladly worship with that man and look forward to meeting with him later this year.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

2007 fairy tale mansion in Orem, Utah has 4bds, 9ba, $7.8M + $2,500yr. HOA fee. Look at all the chimneys- 1 for each of the 4 fireplaces.

Aren't the 3 balconies lovely? Aren't the twin fireplaces magnificent?

The view from the balconies.

And look at this gorgeous conservatory.

For $7.8M, they mention the appliances, but what about this other stuff?

The conservatory is open to the kitchen. What an interesting rustic ceiling, it looks like something out of an old mine. The stove is huge, and it has a sculpted cement exhaust hood, plus there are 2 big islands, each a different style.

I have never seen an armoire in a kitchen. Love the matching pizza oven, too.

There's a lovey dinette/breakfast room off the kitchen.

Here's sitting area on the mezzanine by one of the balconies. Beautiful beams in the ceiling.

The primary bedroom looks like a castle room with it's ceiling beams and large fireplace.

Huge en-suite.

This home is a crafter's dream. Look at this craft room.

I'm not sure what they do in here, I don't know what the hood is for, but it looks like an art studio. If it's not, it would certainly make a nice one.

Cement stairs to the next level.

Or, if you prefer, take the elevator.

Very rustic home theater.

Plus an exercise room with sauna.

I can't tell if this is an old architectural salvage sink, or if it's just made to look old.

The the spacious powder room there's another ancient looking sink.

Looks like terrariums in this room.

Incredible pool with cabanas.

Plus an indoor pool, as well.

Outdoor kitchen.

The gardens are amazing.

Grand entrance to the estate.

I wouldn't mind living in the guest house.

Look at the kitchen in the guest house- this is crazy.

https://www.trulia.com/p/ut/orem/1343-s-1100-e-orem-ut-84097--1129221731

[onecornerface]

How to make the electoral college worse

I asked ChatGPT to make the Electoral College even more complicated. The result:

-- 🔁 1. Elector Chains (Recursive Delegation) Instead of voters choosing electors directly, they vote for Primary Elector Selectors (PES).

Each PES chooses a Secondary Elector Selector (SES).

The SES then nominates a Tertiary Elector, who finally casts a presidential vote.

Each state decides how many layers deep this goes. For instance:

California: 5 levels.

Delaware: 2 levels.

Texas: An Electoral Commission of 40, who form subcommittees to select SESs based on regional political quotas.

-- 🏛️ 2. State Legislature Integration (Inconsistently Applied) Some states amend their constitutions so that:

Upper houses nominate PES candidates.

Lower houses approve SESs.

In Nebraska and Maine, the Governor has veto power over Tertiary Electors, unless the veto is overturned by a unanimous school board vote.

-- 🕰️ 3. Temporal Layering Electors from different layers are selected at different times:

PESs elected during midterms.

SESs selected in off-years.

Tertiary Electors must be confirmed no sooner than 90 days before and no later than 5 days after the general election. If missed, electors are chosen by lottery from DMV records.

-- 📜 4. State-By-State Voting Method Divergence Each state adopts its own logic for how votes count toward electors:

New York: Proportional popular vote → PESs chosen by ranked choice.

Florida: Popular vote determines the political balance of a PES panel, which then selects electors by deliberative council.

Utah: State Senate alone appoints electors, unless overruled by a petition signed by 50% of active LDS members.

-- 🔄 5. Electoral Review Tribunals After electors vote, their choices are reviewed by:

A State Electoral Tribunal, composed of retired judges, university deans, and randomly selected mayors.

If the Tribunal rejects the vote (on procedural or aesthetic grounds), the elector is replaced by the runner-up SES's second choice.

-- 🏴‍☠️ 6. Contingency Elections within States In the event of a tie or disqualification at any level:

The State Board of Historical Preservation hosts a tiebreaker vote.

Must be held in a historically significant building.

Votes counted using pre-Civil War ballot boxes.

Results announced via town crier or semaphore.

-- 🧩 7. Interstate Electoral Trading States may trade electors with one another, subject to:

Approval by both state legislatures.

An intergovernmental negotiation period (minimum 30 days).

Oversight by a Joint Electoral Compact Commission, whose members are appointed via an elaborate rotation system involving lottery winners, high school civics teachers, and former electors.

-- 🛑 8. Elector Eligibility Restrictions To be a Tertiary Elector:

Must not have been a member of any political party in the last 20 years.

Must pass a citizenship quiz, ethics course, and psychological evaluation.

Must not have been employed by or related to any previous elector.

Bonus: Vermont requires all Tertiary Electors to have milked a cow within the past 6 months.

-- 🗳️9. Final Certification Ceremony Votes are cast by Tertiary Electors, then:

Delivered by hand to Washington, D.C., via state-chosen couriers (horseback recommended).

Opened only during the Grand Electoral Convocation, held every four years at sunrise in a rotating location, chosen by drawing marbles from a velvet sack.

[diazdami]

THE ART OF DISASSEMBLY.

When a brutal serial case reopens old wounds, CSI Damian Diaz finds himself forced to work alongside Jenna Raven—the woman tied to his deepest grief.

Primary Genre: Crime Thriller / Psychological Thriller

Subgenres: Police Procedural, Emotional Drama, Tragedy

Status: On-Going

Taglist: Open

PROLOGUE: Another Day, Another Case

PROLOGUE: Another Day, Another Case

Damian Diaz [P.O.V]

JUNE 15, 2023. 7:40 A.M. MY APARTMENT, I was slouched on the couch, phone in hand, heartbeat syncing with the one damn cricket chirping outside my window.

The morning heat pressed in—sticky, stale—typical Utah summer. It’s June, after all. I hadn’t showered yet, and didn’t plan to. No point. I’d finished all my cases last week, so work today? Optional. And I wasn’t feeling it.

I glanced out the apartment window, looking down at the road. Total gridlock. Figures. And what the hell—why were people wearing swimsuits? This is Utah. There’s no beach here. Just a few overpriced pools probably an hour away and swarming with chlorine and kids.

I looked back at my phone. Snapchat. Bone-dry. Drier than McDonald’s buns on a slow day. I hate to admit it, but my motion on there? Pathetic. If anyone’s got Snapchat on lock, it’s Leon. The name says it all. Leon. You just know.

Ting!

The microwave beeped.

“Ah, guess the Carbonara’s hot now,” I muttered, stretching.

I stood up and headed to the kitchen. Just as I reached for the microwave door, my phone buzzed. Incoming call—Detective West.

— Call Starts —

“Good morning, Detective—”

“Good morning, Damian. No time to talk. Head to the trailer park on the southwest side of Hyatt Centric Hotel, Park City. Your C.S.I. work awaits.”

“Sure… I’ll be there…”

— Call Ends —

Great... Didn't even get to eat my damn Carbonara...

What a morning.

Chapter 1 - coming soon.

Note: Prologue and Epilogue are shorter than actual chapters.

Question #1: What does the Red sentences stand for?

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

NASA's Roman mission shares detailed plans to scour skies

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team shared Thursday the designs for the three core surveys the mission will conduct after launch. These observation programs are designed to investigate some of the most profound mysteries in astrophysics while enabling expansive cosmic exploration that will revolutionize our understanding of the universe.

“Roman’s setting out to do wide, deep surveys of the universe in a way that will help us answer questions about how dark energy and dark matter govern cosmic evolution, and the demographics of worlds beyond our solar system,” said Gail Zasowski, an associate professor at the University of Utah and co-chair of the ROTAC (Roman Observations Time Allocation Committee). “But the overarching goal is that the surveys have broad appeal and numerous science applications. They were designed by and for the astronomical community to maximize the science they’ll enable.”

Roman’s crisp, panoramic view of space and fast survey speeds provide the opportunity for astronomers to study the universe as never before. The Roman team asked the science community to detail the topics they’d like to study through each of Roman’s surveys and selected committees of scientists across many organizations to evaluate the range of possibilities and formulate three compelling options for each.

In April, the Roman team received the recommendations and has now determined the survey designs. These observations account for no more than 75 percent of Roman’s surveys during its five-year primary mission, with the remainder allocated to additional observations that will be proposed and developed by the science community in later opportunities.

“These survey designs are the culmination of two years of input from more than 1,000 scientists from over 350 institutions across the globe,” said Julie McEnery, Roman’s senior project scientist at NASA Goddard. “We’re thrilled that we’ve been able to hear from so many of the people who’ll use the data after launch to investigate everything from objects in our outer solar system, planets across our galaxy, dark matter and dark energy, to exploding stars, growing black holes, galaxies by the billions, and so much more."

With all major hardware now delivered, Roman has entered its final phase of preparation for launch, undergoing integration and key environmental testing at NASA Goddard. Roman is targeted to launch by May 2027, with the team working toward a potential launch window that opens in October 2026.

High-Latitude Wide-Area Survey

Roman’s largest survey, the High-Latitude Wide-Area Survey, combines the powers of imaging and spectroscopy to unveil more than a billion galaxies strewn across a wide swath of cosmic time. Roman can look far from the dusty plane of our Milky Way galaxy (that’s what the “high-latitude” part of the survey name means), looking up and out of the galaxy rather than through it to get the clearest view of the distant cosmos.

The distribution and shapes of galaxies in Roman’s enormous, deep images can help us understand the nature of dark energy — a pressure that seems to be speeding up the universe’s expansion — and how invisible dark matter, which Roman will detect by its gravitational effects, influences the evolution of structure in our universe.

For the last two years, researchers have been discussing ways to expand the range of scientific topics that can be studied using the same dataset. That includes studying galaxy evolution, star formation, cosmic voids, the matter between galaxies, and much more.

High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey

Roman’s High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey can probe our dynamic universe by observing the same region of the cosmos repeatedly. Stitching these observations together to create movies can allow scientists to study how celestial objects and phenomena change over time periods of days to years.

This survey can probe dark energy by finding and studying many thousands of a special type of exploding star called type Ia supernovae. These stellar cataclysms allow scientists to measure cosmic distances and trace the universe’s expansion.

“Staring at a large volume of the sky for so long will also reveal black holes being born as neutron stars merge, and tidal disruption events –– flares released by stars falling into black holes,” said Saurabh Jha, a professor at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and ROTAC co-chair. “It will also allow astronomers to explore variable objects, like active galaxies and binary systems. And it enables more open-ended cosmic exploration than most other space telescopes can do, offering a chance to answer questions we haven’t yet thought to ask.”

Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey

Unlike the high-latitude surveys, Roman’s Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey will look inward to provide one of the deepest views ever of the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. Roman’s crisp resolution and infrared view can allow astronomers to watch hundreds of millions of stars in search of microlensing signals — gravitational boosts of a background star’s light that occur when an intervening object passes nearly in front of it. While astronomers have mainly discovered star-hugging worlds, Roman’s microlensing observations can find planets in the habitable zone of their star and farther out, including analogs of every planet in our solar system except Mercury.

The same set of observations can reveal “rogue” planets that drift through the galaxy unbound to any star, brown dwarfs (“failed stars” too lightweight to power themselves by fusion the way stars do), and stellar corpses like neutron stars and white dwarfs. And scientists could discover 100,000 new worlds by seeing stars periodically get dimmer as an orbiting planet passes in front of them, events called transits. Scientists can also study the stars themselves, detecting “starquakes” on a million giant stars, the result of sound waves reverberating through their interiors that can reveal information about their structures, ages, and other properties.

Data from all of Roman’s surveys will be made public as soon as it is processed, with no periods of exclusive access.

“Roman’s unprecedented data will offer practically limitless opportunities for astronomers to explore all kinds of cosmic topics,” McEnery said. “We stand to learn a tremendous amount of new information about the universe very rapidly after the mission launches.”

IMAGE: NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s three main observing programs, highlighted in this infographic, can enable astronomers to view the universe as never before, revealing billions of cosmic objects strewn across enormous swaths of space-time. Credit NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

[gwydionmisha]

Presidential Primaries are ongoing:

NOTE: There is now a call for people to vote "uncommitted" in the Democratic primary as a protest against Biden's Israel policy, I have voted that way in my up coming primary. The time to pressure Biden with your vote is now, not in November. The more of us who do this the more likely he'll actually do something.

North Dakota: (Republicans), 3/4/24

Alabama, Alaska (Republicans), Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa (Democrats), Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, American Samoa (Democrats): 3/5/24

Hawaii: (Democrats): 3/6/24

American Samoa (Republicans): 3/8/24

Know your state's schedule and where to vote. Make sure you and your friends are registered. If you are voting in person, plan how to get there.

If you live in an open primary state consider voting strategically. Otherwise, vote your heart in the primary. Remember how all those votes for Sanders and Warren pushed Biden and the party platform further left?

Remember to vote in all the races, not just the top of the ticket even if it's in a separate primary (as it is in my state). Who runs congress, your state, and your local government really matters. In some states this is a separate primary. Check the rules for your state.

Never, ever sleep on a chance to vote.

It is always better to vote for someone who will listen to us than to let someone who is actively trying to kill us.

[hannahssimblr]

Chapter Eighteen (Part 2)

There are no family photos on the walls of this house, which is entirely different to my home. My mother framed everything, because I was the only child, and therefore everything I did and every milestone I achieved was wonderful and amazing. There’s a photo of me, eight and smiling on the day of my first communion that has pride of place on the mantelpiece next to my parents wedding photos, as though my first reception of the body of Christ (a wafer) was as important as their vow to each other. I was cute back then, but it’s easy to track my progression from cute child to awkward teenager by simply following the path of photos on the wall above the television, where I am immortalised forever in my school uniform, picture day after picture day, year after year until they mercifully stopped taking them at the end of primary school and I was free to duck away and hide my braces and acne from any and all cameras.

There are no such records in the Turner house. There are no notches on the door frames that measured the growth of the children, no ancient crayon drawings still stuck to the fridge, or, for the extra special ones, framed on the wall where visitors can see them. There’s no sad, punctured football in the back garden, or Ribena stain on the carpet, and I can’t see what’s inside the cupboard under the stairs, but I guarantee there’s no outsized roller skates or fad toy from Christmas 2002 stuffed in there either. This house is like somebody opened an interior design magazine and bought everything on the page.

Jude climbs on a chair to reach a box, way up high on the very top of a bookcase.  He settles next to me on the sofa and lifts the lid without any of the reverence or intentionality I feel it deserves, and hauls out a handful of photographs. 

“There are before me.” He says, and I don’t care about those ones. His mother is very beautiful, and when she’s young even more so, but Collette Turner is of about as much interest to me as I am to her. When he hands them to me I just leave them on the coffee table and poke my fingers around in the box with him until we find the ones from November 1991. 

“There I am.” He says, and rightly so, there he is. A tiny baby screaming in his mother’s arms as she, looking like a child herself stares bemusedly down at the pink, squirming thing in her arms. “Apparently all I did was make noise.” He says. “Nothing has changed there. I also wasn’t cute.”

“You weren’t.” I agree, but I like the photo anyway. Even in these first minutes of his life there’s something furious and uncompromising about him, all clenched fists and red face. He’s so tiny. My heart swells for him. 

“I did get cute though.” He says, putting another photo into my hands of him at maybe two years old, wearing nothing but a nappy and a pair of cowboy boots. He’s standing on wobbly little legs on some dirt path, while sandstone pillars and jagged rock formations soar up into the sky behind him. It’s the kind of landscape that you only see in cartoons. 

“Did you see the road runner when you were there?” I deadpan. 

He smirks. “That’s Bryce Canyon. My great aunt brought me along on a trip with her kids. I think I was two.” He flips it over to where Sept. ‘93 is scrawled in blue biro. “Almost two. Her kids were in college at that point. I think there’s photos of us all.” He has a quick shuffle through the stack and withdraws several more from Utah, mostly of him being held, or cuddled or kissed on his chubby cheeks by four twenty somethings who look like extras from Seinfeld. Looking at their faces, their patterned jumpers, their floppy haircuts brings back a sense-memory of what it felt like to exist in the nineties. That pervasive smell of cigarettes and the old, brown plastic ashtray on my uncle’s table. The cuffs of light wash jeans and the creases in my cousin’s white sneakers as I tied and untied his shoelaces beneath the kitchen table, and Paul Simon’s Obvious Child, and our old TV that spit out white noise and wobbled until someone banged it with their fist to set it right again. I feel as affectionate towards those snippets of memory as I do about this tiny, cowboy boot wearing Jude, perched high on his cousin’s shoulders.

“Is that your great aunt?” I wonder, pointing to a ruddy cheeked woman in her early forties that crouches down with her arms around him at the base of a sandstone pillar. 

“Yes, Maureen.” he’s mentioned her before in passing. I know that her husband was in the military, and that they lived all over the world for years. When he retired they settled in New Mexico, and she and her family were in the picture a lot when Jude was a child.

“When’s the last time you saw her?” 

“When I was fifteen, but it’s not always easy to find the time anymore. She calls me every Christmas and on my birthday, and sometimes she sends me gifts.” He brushes his thumb thoughtfully over the photo. “You know, I miss her. She was kind of like my other-mother for a while.”

“Maybe you should go and visit again.”

“Yeah, I’d really like to.” He digs through the box and pulls out a more recent one of them both from 2007. They’re standing in her kitchen with their arms around each other, and she’s short and round, and he’s so tall and gangly with a wooden beaded necklace on, and they both have the biggest smiles. “Maybe I’ll go in the autumn.”

“Definitely! I think that’d be amazing.”

“It’s just weird because it’s hard to know where I’m going to be then, you know? Now that I’m graduating from college I’ll have to, like, look for a job.” He says it like it’s a dirty word, and there is the tiniest twinge of anxiety in my belly.

“Something will work out.” I say passively. I’ve tried not to think about what’s going to happen after college, and whether or not he’ll decide to move back to Ireland again once he finishes his final project. We’ve just avoided the conversation, even though sometimes during our long talks we bring us right up to the knife’s edge of it before we stealthily change the subject, but I soon have to acknowledge the elephant in the room, and it’s that we don’t know where he’ll be in six months. We don’t know what things might look like between us, and neither of us knows yet what he wants. 

“Yeah, definitely.” He says hopefully, and I take the photo of him and Maureen so that I can take a closer look. 

“2007.” I murmur. “You were so dreamy. I wish you’d seen what I looked like in 2007, it’d be like a jump scare.”

He chuckles. “No way, Evie.”

“I had cystic acne and braces,” I confess. “I was so ugly.”

“You haven’t even brushed up against ugly in your entire life. And I had braces once too, believe it or not.”

“Oh I’d believe it.” I feast myself on the view of his immaculate teeth. “Did your dad do that?”

“He did, and funny you should mention him, because he’ll probably be home soon. Do you want to endure an awkward, socially inept conversation with him or do you want me to take you home?”

“Oof, tough choice.” 

Jude takes all of the photos from my lap and from the table and taps them gently into formation before stacking them back into the box where they’ll no doubt sit there unbothered for another few months or years, dusty and forgotten atop the bookcase. 

“Let’s get moving.” 

Jude’s car idles outside my apartment for half an hour, because every time I try to get out I look over my shoulder at him and feel compelled to kiss him goodbye, just one more time. 

“Jesus Christ, you’re a great kisser.” I say as his lips slide from my mouth to the curve of my jaw, and his fingers caress the nape of my neck. “Where did you learn to do that?”

“Back of my hand.” He murmurs. “Glad you’ve noticed, I’ve actually never kissed a girl before.”

“Oh shut up.” I snicker. 

“You know, if you think I’m good with my mouth you should see what else I can do with it.”

I breathe out a laugh, and my body shivers so intensely from head to toe that I have to twist out of his grip. This is full-on dirty talk. I don’t know how to do that. I should probably give him a slow, seductive smile and say something like “Well why don’t you come upstairs and show me?” But I obviously don’t. I say “Oh.” and then laugh way too loudly which completely dissolves the sexual vibe and he goes from looking flirtatious to amused. “What?”

“I mean, you can come in if you like, I know I owe you one but full disclosure I haven’t shaved in days.”

“Are you trying to lure me in with handjobs and hairy legs?”

“Feeling enticed?”

“You bet.”

I lean back against the passenger door and wrap my arms around myself. “Well, whatever you want to do is fine.”

His expression is funny as he takes me in, my body language, the metre of space I’ve managed to carve between us, and his eyebrow twitches sceptically. “I don’t want things that you don’t. You know that?”

I nod. 

“When you want me to come in, I’ll come in, but you don’t have to do things for me just because you think you owe me.”

“I will want to.” I say. “Just later.”

“Well lucky for you I’m busy the next while. I’m in the last weeks of my thesis and I really need to buckle down, so if we’re fooling around it will probably not do wonders for my concentration.”

I pout. “But I’ll still see you?”

“Of course, I’ll always make time for you.” He pulls me into him by my wrists and kisses me one last time, and I’m starting to  wonder how I’ll ever be expected to kiss another man again when he pulls away from me. “It’s time for you to get out of my car. I’m wasting diesel.” He teasingly shoves me away and I scramble for the handle and scurry out onto dark streets wet with rain as he springs forward to smack my arse.  

“Later, alligator.” He says, and I shut the door behind me with a thunk. 

Beginning // Prev // Next

[yetisidelblog]

This week is a busy week. We expect to send several emails about press releases, vigils, and other news about Brad's case. 

Today, we are taking time to educate followers about the firing squad--what we know, and what we don't know. Because the simple truth is that most people across South Carolina don't even realize the death penalty is still practiced in the state. That's how little this system impacts people's everyday lives. And that's why we are taking time today to educate people about what it means for the state to use gun violence on its own citizens. The firing squad is something we've never had before, and it could have catastrophic effects: not just the people witnessing it, but also for SC commerce and business interests.

Here's what we know about the Firing Squad:

The firing squad became a legal method of execution in May 2021 with Senate Bill 200. The legislation made the electric chair the state’s primary means of execution while giving death row defendants the option of choosing death by firing squad or lethal injection if those methods are available. The firing squad has allegedly been operational in the state of South Carolina since March 22, 2022. 

Only 5 other states have this method: Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah, South Carolina, and Idaho. South Carolina became the 4th state to add it to their execution methods. 

The firing squad is NOT considered cruel and unusual punishment in the state of South Carolina. This decision came from an SC Supreme Court ruling on a case called Owens v. Stirling. 

SC Department of Corrections spent about $53,600 TAXPAYER DOLLARS on supplies and materials to renovate the Death Chamber and make it bullet-proof. For comparison, that was the average salary of an SC school teacher in 2022. 

Brad will be the first person executed by firing squad in South Carolina's history. South Carolina has never used a firing squad to carry out executions in its history...not even during the colonial period.

There have only been 3 executions by firing squad since 1976. The last execution of this nature was in 2010 in Utah. Since then, Utah has gone back to executions with lethal injection drugs. 

Members of the firing squad are allegedly volunteer SCDC employees. They "must meet certain qualifications," but those qualifications are not given to the general public. We don't know their experience with guns, or whether their employment is dependent on being a "volunteer" executioner.

Names and other identifying information about executioners remain a state secret. If an executioner were to reveal themselves to the public, they could risk being incarcerated up to 5 years (per the Execution Secrecy Law passed in 2023). 

The construction and design work was allegedly done "in-house." SCDC did not provide an operational definition of "in house" labor, so we do not know if this work was done by SCDC employees or prison labor. 

How will the execution happen?

SCDC released their protocol in 2022. We have taken the liberty of inserting Brad Sigmon's name every time SCDC used the word "inmate" in their original press release:

Three firing squad members will be behind the wall, with rifles facing Brad Sigmon through the opening. The rifles and open portal will not be visible from the witness room. All three rifles will be loaded with live ammunition.

The witnesses will see the right-side profile of Brad. Brad will not face the witness room directly. The electric chair faces the witnesses directly.

Brad will wear a prison-issued uniform and be escorted into the chamber. Brad will be given the opportunity to make a last statement.

Brad will be strapped into the chair, and a hood will be placed over his head. A small aim point will be placed over his heart by a member of the execution team.

After the warden reads the execution order, the team will fire. After the shots, a doctor will examine Brad. After Brad is declared dead, the curtain will be drawn and witnesses escorted out.

Let's be honest: the firing squad is the most honest execution method, showing how executions continue the cycle of violence. And that is why we must keep talking about it. We need to let Gov. McMaster know the violence done in our name matters...especially when most people don't even know what's being done in their name. 

Tomorrow we will be in your feed with ways that you can resist the executions this week--including a new and creative opportunity in collaboration with Brad Sigmon himself.

Keep signing. Keep sharing. Keep calling and emailing the Governor. It's making a difference!

@upontheshelfreviews

@greenwingspino

@one-time-i-dreamt

@tenaflyviper

@akron-squirrel

@ifihadaworldofmyown

@justice-for-jacob-marley

@voicetalentbrendan

@thebigdeepcheatsy

@what-is-my-aesthetic

@ravenlynclemens

@writerofweird

@anon-lephant

@mentally-quiet-spycrab

@therealjacksepticeye

[byler-alarmist]

HERE IS THE LIST OF PRIMARY ELECTION DAYS FOR ALL US STATES AND TERRITORIES

For several states, you must submit your ballot BY TODAY (March 5th) (Alabama, American Samoa Democratic presidential caucuses, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa Democratic caucus mail vote, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah Democratic presidential primary and Republican presidential caucuses, Vermont, and Virginia)

Here is where you can find the deadlines to cast a ballot (local times)

Vote down the ballot with special attention paid to your local offices and ballot measures!

IT'S SUPER TUESDAY; GO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!!!!!

[hellstobetsy]

Elections Today!

In New York:

Anti-Israel congressman Jamal Bowman is facing a primary challenge from AIPAC-backed George Latimer

Various downballot races in New York, in which Hochul decision to block congestion pricing plays a big role

Pro-cop District Attorney David soares, is facing a primary challenge from the Working Families Party-endored Lee Kindlon

In Utah

Right-wing governor Spencer Cox is facing a primary challenge from righter-wing challenger Phil Lyman, who was pardoned by Trump after being convicted for driving an ATV through a bunch of Native American Artifacts

In Colorado

Police-abolitionist Elisabeth Epps is facing a non-abolitionist primary challenger

Dave Williams, far-right anti-gay nutjob who got in notice for "God hates Pride" posts, is running for Congress in Colorado's fifth district. He's in a primary race against a marginally less far-right crank, literally named Crank. This district is so red that the GOP Primary is basically the election.

Polls are open in all these places still, so if you live in these areas you have a chance to vote!

[inkandguns]

So if you’re crossing the border illegally Utah is the best state to head to. It’s so beautiful and apparently welcoming. I might have to show up as a migrant from Washington for these benefits.

[nerdygaymormon]

Sometimes you mention that you've lived long enough to see changes in the church on LGBTQ topics. What are some of the major changes you've experienced in church?

I feel like I've lived in 3 eras of the LDS Church.

When I was a child, it was an era that now seems very far away. Black people weren't allowed to go to the temple or have the priesthood (which also limited which callings they could have in church). Church met twice on Sundays, once for Sunday School (children attended Jr Sunday School) and I think priesthood quorums met prior to Sunday School, and then we came again later that day for Sacrament meeting. This part is fuzzy to me, but I think youth activities were on Tuesday, and Primary was on Wednesday (and I think Relief Society was also on Wednesday). In addition to paying tithing, my parents were asked to contribute to the local ward budget, and we raised money to build the local church building. I remember my family working on the local church farm (I'm not sure if it was part of the welfare system or was a fundraiser for the local stake/ward budgets, perhaps both). There was a BIG emphasis on food storage. Social life revolved around church as there were many activities such as the annual Gold & Green Ball (dinner and a dance for the married folks, it was a big deal, they'd dress fancy for it). The church members were socially and politically conservative.

My teens and young adult years were spent in a different era. The church had undone the restrictions on Black members. Church was now consolidated to a 3-hour block on Sundays (except for youth activities on Wednesdays). Temples started getting built in big cities outside of Utah but still were a far drive for many members, instead of going on a temple trip once a year, as a youth we could go twice a year when a temple was built a few hours away. There were still a lot of activities, especially for the teenagers, such as big stake/regional dances, sports competitions, road shows, and a big youth trip in the summer. The ward budgets came from the church (from the tithing) and not from individual members of the ward giving more, and we no longer had to contribute (either money or labor) for local church buildings to get constructed. We didn't work on farms anymore, but worked in the cannery (I remember hearing adults talk about operating machines that bottled ketchup). While the membership was still very conservative, a more moderate approach was being taken by top leadership, and President Hinckley made big steps towards being more open with the world.

I'd say that President Nelson has ushered in another era. Two-hour church on Sundays. Wednesday youth programs being less rigorous or programmed. Temples within a relatively short drive of members and encouragement to go often. Teenagers can have their own temple recommends. No home or visiting teachers and instead a conversation and informal friendship counts as ministering. Few church activities outside of those for youth and our regular church meetings. More accommodation for differences in beliefs of what were considered core doctrines & principles (this started before the Nelson era). The internet has caused the church to be more open about its past, including some issues which are hard like racism and polygamy (again, this predates the Nelson era). There's also been steps to undo some of the patriarchy in the church structure (like women can serve as witnesses and changes to the temple ceremony).

I definitely would not want to go back to the era of the 1970's when I was a child. While there are things I miss from the era of Hinckley & Monson, I don't think I'd like to revert back. The one effect I worry about from the recent changes is people have weaker social ties to their church community. I've heard leaders say that church isn't a social club, but for a long time it was and I think the church underestimates the importance of social connections.

—————————————————

As for LGBTQ history in the LDS Church, Nathan Kitchen, the former president of Affirmation, did an excellent job in describing the changes in the church on these topics. I have lived through 5 eras of the church on LGBTQ issues.

The era from when I was a child was brutal. Even saying you're gay was seen as sinful. You were expected to fight with everything you had to completely erase these feelings. Attempts to remove these “tendencies” included electro-shock therapy at BYU. Most families would reject the queer family member.

The death of President Spencer W. Kimball in 1985 led to the next era for LGBTQ members. Rather than insist on complete erasure of homosexual feelings, gay members were to behave like straight people--get married and have kids and DON'T TELL ANYONE. This is the invisible generation who felt isolated and alone, hidden from other members and each other. Every so often we still hear about a former mission president or stake president who finally comes out after decades of living as a straight person. Most of the mixed-orientation marriages failed, the queer person eventually spoke their truth, picked up the pieces of their shattered dreams, and moved on and out of the church.

In 1998, President Gordon B. Hinckley did a widely-viewed interview with Larry King in which he said said we love "so-called gays and lesbians" and put forward the idea that gay thoughts aren’t a problem, but gay actions are. The church's view was that some of us are struggling with unwanted same-sex attractions, much like people who have other addictions. Even as the church led a major effort to defeat marriage equality, queer members no longer had to remain hidden, so they found each other and attended conferences together and encouraged each other. Members would admire queer members for their wrestle against their attractions. Because they were trying to make this path work and were admired for it, these queer members mostly didn’t share their struggles & mental health challenges with their family, friends, or other members. They were visible, but largely were silent. A generation seen but not heard.

Beginning in the early 2010's, a growing number of gay members receive media attention, and groups like Mama Dragons and North Star are formed. By the mid-2010's the church shifts its approach and starts highlighting and celebrating gay and bisexual members who are single & celibate, and also a few who are in mixed-orientation marriages. The church starts softening its former positions as it officially rejects conversion therapy, advocates for no violence and doesn't require members to deny their queer identities. As long as you are single & celibate, you are welcome. This is also when trans members start entering the consciousness of the church as in 2015 Emmett Claren (now Emmett Presciado) starts a YouTube channel where he documents his transition and in 2017 Kris Irvin makes national news for having a bishop threaten to withhold a BYU ecclesiastical endorsement if Kris receives top surgery. LDS families no longer automatically reject their queer children, but tend to leave the church together if their queer child doesn't feel welcome or safe at church. One last effort to pull membership back occurred in 2015 with a policy against gay couples and their children, and it received a LOT of pushback and generated a wave of members leaving the LDS church.

I think we entered a new era in 2019 as the Handbook policy of 2015 is reversed. In 2020 the now-publicly available Church Handbook softens the approach to gay and bi members but puts in more rules and restrictions of trans members. It's the beginning of a dichotomy where we see progress for people who aren't heterosexual and regression for people who aren't cisgender. In 2024, there are now married gay couples quietly attending church and not being excommunicated (which wasn't a thing even just 2 or 3 years ago), and trans members are facing severe restrictions due to more changes in the Handbook. It's hard not to believe more positive changes for gay and bi members will be coming, even as the church ratchets up its fight against trans members.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

The prices of homes in the ski resort town of Park City, Utah are insane. This 1912 2bd., 1ba artists cottage is priced at $3.5M! The real estate is calling it a "tiny gem." Well, b/c it's an artist's home, it is colorful, but not $3.5M worth.

Enter thru a small foyer that is papered in complementing patterns.

Through the foyer enter a living room that was opened up to the kitchen.

This is nice- the kitchen island is made from an antique safe with a marble top.

I like the vintage office stools painted gold.

In the kitchen is an opening to this sort of sun porch. There's an odd little platform on one end, so I get the impression that this room was something else at one time.

This is the single bath and it has an ornate Oriental motif.

A walk-in closet was made, possibly out of a smaller bedroom.

They aren't showing a 2nd bedroom, so this is the primary. It's not very big for a $3.5M home.

The fenced in yard has a cement patio and the rest of the space is stone, but description calls it "zero-scaped." (I've never heard of that.)

There's no garage, but there's some extra land back here.

Aerial of view of the neighborhood.

[mariacallous]

so it looks like Becky Edwards, the Utah Republican who voted for Biden (openly) and got Utah to be the only Red State to recognize climate change is gonna win the primary to fill Utah's open 2nd Congressional seat, she failed to unseat Mike Lee in a primary last year but is likely headed to Congress this year

and I just... I find people like her puzzling because like she seems okay? like this is on her website and it sounds like any Democrat

"Everyone should have a seat at the table. I am committed to expanding opportunity and improving the quality of life for all Utahns, especially those who have historically been left out of the conversation. Race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and other factors should not limit opportunities or access to education, employment, housing, and healthcare. Together, we can make significant progress toward our nation’s highest ideal of “liberty and justice for all” as we consider steps to expand opportunity and leave a better legacy for the next generation of all Utahns."

and I just... like.... the Republican Party is so rotten I get confused when people like this pop up and its like if you had any human decency how can you end up with these people, idk we'll see.

Utah is also weird which is a factor here.