#chevron bench

[chelseafcazul]

Family Room St Louis

Small transitional enclosed terra-cotta tile family room photo with white walls, no fireplace and a tv stand

[rogerlilyrp]

Kids Room in Houston

Kids' room - large traditional girl medium tone wood floor kids' room idea with gray walls

[garciamiah]

Dining Room - Great Room Great room idea with beige walls and a small traditional ceramic tile floor.

[whovians-suffer-most]

Mudroom in Seattle Example of a mid-sized farmhouse brick floor and multicolored floor entryway design with white walls and a dark wood front door

[porraelmo]

Transitional Basement in Vancouver

An expansive transitional underground photograph of a carpeted basement with gray walls, a regular fireplace, and a tile fireplace.

[gegant]

Mudroom Mudroom in New York Large elegant brick floor and red floor entryway photo with white walls and a white front door

[entcrprise]

Rustic Bedroom - Paneling

Inspiration for a large, rustic guest bedroom remodel with gray walls and a medium-toned wood floor, brown walls, and wall paneling.

[mattlauzon]

Flat Panel Closet in Los Angeles An illustration of a sizable, modern, gender-neutral walk-in closet with flat-panel cabinets and gray cabinets.

[catbui]

Living Room Enclosed in Seattle

[corporationsarepeople]

It's long been a conservative dream: shrinking the federal government. And on Friday, part of the dream came true: the Supreme Court tossed a 40-year principle that boosted the power of government regulators on environmental, labor and other laws.

Could the federal agency that sets workplace safety rules be the next target?

—-

This ruling is an extreme overturning of decades of precedent and government operation, but the idea that Congress delegates too much isn’t a crazy one.

But Congress DID specifically delegate this role to the Executive when it created OSHA, and Nixon signed it. If Congress wants to take that power back, it can vote to do so.

The Judiciary has no business jumping in here to undo an act of Congress. This is peak “legislating from the bench,” simply because conservatives can’t muster the votes to overturn OSHA.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Lisa Needham at Public Notice:

It’s been barely a week since conservatives on the US Supreme Court radically upended the balance of power between the branches of government, giving the federal courts the exclusive power to interpret statutes rather than deferring to agency experts. And we’re already seeing impacts on the ground. Right-wingers have been in the habit of running to their preferred courts to get regulations overturned, but the decision in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, which officially destroyed agency deference, will make it easier — even routine — to block every Biden administration rule they don’t like.  Lawsuits to invalidate specific rules had been proceeding through the federal courts before Loper Bright, generally arguing that agencies exceeded their authority in promulgating a rule. These lawsuits exist in no small part because the Supreme Court made it clear they would destroy Chevron deference for years now, with Justice Neil Gorsuch having led the way well before his appointment to the Court. 

Trump appointee Sean Jordan, who sits in the reliably hard-right Eastern District of Texas, was so eager to block a Biden administration’s overtime rule that he dropped his decision the same day Loper Bright came out. It runs 36 pages and mentions Loper Bright multiple times, which means either Jordan was so confident of the Supreme Court decision that he either wrote it in advance or he hurried to stuff Loper Bright into his already-written opinion. Jordan’s opinion also rests heavily on dictionary definitions rather than expertise from the Department of Labor, which issued the rule. So now, the rule that would have made 4 million more Texas workers eligible for overtime, and thus more pay, is blocked thanks to a hurried read of a SCOTUS opinion and Webster’s Dictionary. 

What this mean is that anytime a business doesn’t like a federal rule, it can just sue. It promises to be a free-for-all. Three hospitals in New Jersey sued HHS the day Loper Bright came down, saying the agency’s interpretation of a statute governing Medicare reimbursement is unlawful. In another case, filed before Loper Bright, a trucking company challenging the Biden administration’s rule that addressed misclassification of independent contractors filed a memorandum on July 2 arguing that Loper Bright means the court should not defer to the Department of Labor’s interpretation of the law. The next day, Trump appointee Ada Brown of the Northern District of Texas enjoined enforcement of the Biden administration’s rule prohibiting non-compete agreements but limited the injunction to the plaintiffs, which are various pro-business groups like the Chamber of Commerce. 

[...]

Bigotry from the bench

Unsurprisingly, much of the assault on administration rules relates to any regulation that would protect transgender people. Four days after Loper Bright was handed down, another Trump appointee, Judge John W. Broomes in Kansas, enjoined the Department of Education from enforcing its Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs rule in Kansas, Alaska, Utah, and Wyoming. The Department of Education spent two years finalizing the rule, which would have prohibited discrimination based on gender identity under Title IX.  The unofficial text of the rule, which runs 1,577 pages with supporting material, is jam-packed with legal analysis. Hundreds of pages are spent explaining how the DOE considered and addressed public comments and the document details the mental health impact of discrimination against LGBTQ students. 

Broomes’s expertise is in natural resource law, a background that does not lend itself to a detailed understanding of Title IX, sex discrimination, or gender identity. But none of that matters. His opinion sneers about “self-professed and potentially ever-changing gender identity” and insists that things like using correct pronouns for students and allowing them to use the bathroom that conforms with their gender identity is an issue of “vast economic” significance. Given that the only costs of the rule are things like updated administrative guidance and perhaps hiring additional Title IX staff, the idea it is a vast economic question is, to put it politely, a reach. Instead, Broomes sided with the conservative plaintiffs, including Moms for Liberty and an Oklahoma student who asserted that using the correct pronouns for other students violated her religious beliefs. Because of this mix of conservative state litigants, private anti-trans groups, and an Oklahoma student, the extent of Broomes’s injunction is even weirder than the patchwork blocking of the HHS rule.

Besides blocking the rule entirely in four states, the rule is also blocked for the schools attended by the members of two private plaintiffs, Young America’s Foundation and Female Athletes United, and all schools attended by the children of members of Moms for Liberty. So now, if you are a transgender student unlucky enough to attend school anywhere in the country where a child of a Moms for Liberty student also attends, you’re out of luck. If your school is free of children of book-banners, you get the protection of the federal rule — unless you live in Kansas, Alaska, Utah, and Wyoming, in which case it doesn’t matter what school you go to.  Over at Law Dork, Chris Geidner has a good rundown of not just how the courts are sledgehammering LGBTQ rights, but also how having courts, rather than regulators, make these decisions results in an uneven patchwork of rulings over a Health and Human Services rule that prohibited health care providers from discriminating based on gender identity. Only five days after Loper Bright was issued, three separate federal courts issued rulings blocking parts of the HHS rule. There’s no chance that William Jung, a Trump appointee to the federal district court for the Middle District of Florida, hadn’t already written most of his decision before Loper Bright was issued, but the case gave him far more ammunition. Fung’s ruling in Florida v. Department of Health and Human Services blocked part of the Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities rule from going into effect — but only in Florida. 

The Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo ruling by the judicial activist MAGA Majority on the Supreme Court is having devastating consequences.

[aerialworms-art]

Spocktober + Trektober Day 14 - Historical AU

Yeehaw, baby!

(ID under cut)

[Image ID: A black and white drawing of Jim Kirk, Spock, and Doctor McCoy from Star Trek: The Original Series.

They are sitting atop a stagecoach. Spock and Jim are sitting on the front bench. Jim has the reins in his hands. McCoy is sprawled out in the back, head leaning on the railing, his feet (clad in cowboy boots) crossed over the railing on the other side. They are all dressed in western clothing with cowboy hats. Spock and Jim are wearing shirts and waistcoats; Spock's is buttoned up, Jim's waistcoat is unbuttoned and his shirt is hanging open to his collarbone. McCoy is also wearing an apron and has his shirtsleeves rolled up. His hat is jauntily placed over his face and he has a stem of straw sticking out from his mouth. Jim and Spock both have stars pinned to their chests that vaguely resemble the Starfleet chevron. Spock is wearing a bolo tie with the IDIC symbol on the pin.

Jim is saying, "Alright, listen, these Dodge City cops aren't likely to trust 'big city folks', so we're gonna have to blend."

Spock replies, "Which is why you're making us wear these absurd hats."

Jim: "...they're not that bad."

McCoy: "Yeah, they are."

Above the drawing is written "Trektober" and "Day 14 - Historical AU" Below it is written "@aerialworms" and "Spocktober"./End ID]

[thecurioustale]

A Supreme Court Ruling that Should Not Be Enforced

I think the Chevron Defense ruling last week is the most dangerous decision by the Supreme Court this year, as it will immediately begin to disrupt the the entire federal executive's ability to function and will directly lead in the coming years to the dismantling of environmental protections, worker protections, regulatory oversight, and much more.

But today's ruling on presidential immunity is, by far, the most unconstitutional ruling of this term, and one of the most breathtakingly unconstitutional rulings I have ever seen or learned about by the US Supreme Court. It is up there with Citizens United (corporations are people), Plessy vs. Ferguson (segregation in schools), and Dobbs (stripping people of acknowledged constitutional rights).

I understand the need for individual officeholders to have blanket immunity from civil litigation (so you sue the organization, not the person) and even some qualified criminal immunity for that officeholder's official activities. But what the Supreme Court did today, in its 6–3 ruling, is declare that the US president need only declare or construe or even simply believe that they are acting in an official capacity, and, therein, they are immune from all criminal liability unconditionally.

The President of the United States is now above the law. Full stop.

For years I have wondered where we should draw the line on lawless behavior and extremism from our courts, especially the US Supreme Court. The thing about our rule of law is that you have to accept the outcome of court cases; if you don't you are basically calling for violent revolution whether you realize it or not, and at an absolute minimum you are calling for chaos and unrest.

I have always asserted that Neil Gorsuch's votes on the Court should not be recognized, as his appointment to the Supreme Court was the result of a power grab by Mitch McConnell. But of course as more time passes this becomes more and more unlikely. And Kavanaugh and Barrett's appointments I have no choice but to accept as legitimate, so even if Gorsuch were not counted this ruling would still have been a significant 5–3 majority.

Citizens United was real close for me to delegitimizing the ruling majority on the bench at the time, and the more recent Dobbs ruling actually crossed my personal line and made all of the justices who signed it unfit to hold their offices, but I figured that it would still be better to resolve the problem by passing a federal abortion rights law when Democrats next have the opportunity and continuing to try to flush the fascist judge problem out of the judiciary through maintaining control of the White House and Senate and appointing new judges over time.

But this ruling, now, raises the possibility by at least an order of magnitude that our constitutional system of democracy and rule of law in America will be dismantled by the next sufficiently extreme or unscrupulous Republican president, be that Trump himself or whomever else.

Just to give you an idea of the landscape that we now live in, Joe Biden could, at this moment, order military special ops teams to assassinate Donald Trump. Hell, he could do it himself: He could walk up to Trump and pull the trigger. And he would be completely immune from criminal prosecution for it now or ever. And that's just the beginning.

If not corrected, this will be used someday to overthrow our democracy. And by then it will be too late for us to do anything about it through peaceful means.

In 2020 I worried that, even if Biden won the presidency, it would just be four years of calm before the real storm began. At the time I wasn't thinking about another Trump presidency but rather the committed fascists high in his party who want to succeed him. Cruz, DeSantis, the usuals. Trump is a buffoon with very little self-control, but a lot of these other people are smart cookies. In 2024 my worry remains relevant: We are one step closer today to handing the fascists our country.

If I were the president at this moment, I would declare this ruling invalid. Because it is. Not only does it have no basis in the Constitution, but it upends some of the most fundamental assumptions of our Constitution and our whole legal regime. I would go before the public and say "This ruling is illegal. This ruling gives me the power to assassinate anyone I want; to run criminal enterprises from the Oval Office; to commit fraud and extortion and embezzlement of your money as taxpayers; to imprison my political opponents, shut down the free press, and forcibly remove from office any judge or police officer with the gall to rule against my actions or try hold me accountable. This ruling makes me a king. That is what makes it illegal. As the leader of the executive branch of our government, I have a duty not to enforce an illegal and unconstitutional ruling, and I am directing all federal agencies to similarly disregard it. Neither I nor any other US president should be placed above the law."

And believe you me, I would be tempted to go a lot further, including appointing six new justices on the Court and no longer recognizing the old six. But for the sake of the country and the way we do things in this country I would limit myself to the above action of refusing to recognize this one ruling.

I understand that this opens a Pandora's box. That's how the fascist resurgence in this country has worked: Republicans will do something completely unreasonable (like gumming up judicial nominations), forcing Democrats to break norms just to get the people's business done (like eliminating the judicial filibuster), which Republicans then turn around and exploit to their advantage (as by using their time in power to appoint whomever they want to the courts). But I think this is the way it has to be. We can't let this ruling stand. The other problems—Citizens United, Dobbs—can be fixed through legislation. This one can't, except maybe by a law that specifically declares that a president is not above the law, which I'm not sure would itself be constitutional. In any case, another problem with that is that fascists are selective in their application of the law. They have no problem ruling in favor of conservatives, but will never permit that exact same legal reasoning to then benefit their ideological enemies.

But yeah, this is bad. The Chevron ruling will begin to erode our federal executive in horrible ways, and this immunity ruling sets the stage for nightmarish conduct by a future president.

I didn't watch the debate the other day, or any of the analysis after the fact. I know who I am voting for, and, on some level, I didn't want to have to watch Biden's inevitably uncharismatic performance. And then everyone started melting down and crying that the sky was falling, so I went and watched a short clip of Biden's worst moments, and I get it. That performance goes beyond the stutter that often wrongly gets conflated with dementia. But in this case he clearly lost his train of thought and he did it on-stage in front of millions of people. That's a rough day.

I still don't think the mate is senile. I have seen plenty of people have the meltdown that he had, and I have had that meltdown myself. It doesn't necessarily mean anything. But even if Joe Biden were hunched over in a wheelchair drooling out the side of his mouth, I would still vote for him, and gladly. Because not voting for him is a vote for Trump, and I would not vote for a candidate who spent the whole debate lying and who himself is a traitor, an egomaniac, a convicted felon, a con artist, a failed coup plotter, and an ethically bankrupt, intellectually stunted manchild. And because, moreover, he has run a good administration. He has good people around him, and can be ably succeeded by Vice President Harris if needed. When you vote for a president you are voting not just for an individual but for a team, and that team's ethos, and I have no doubt which team, which ethos, I support. We are asking the wrong person to drop out of this race.

Anyway! President Biden is going to speak to the public tonight about this court ruling. I don't know what he will say. I don't expect anything meaningful a la refusing to enforce the Court's ruling, but it sure would be nice. President Trump should be prosecuted for his alleged crimes on January 6 (which is the trial most directly impacted by this ruling), crimes of which Trump is unambiguously guilty and which are "alleged" only in the blindfolded eyes of Justice for the sake of due process. America needs this accountability, or we will suffer terribly for want of it in the future.

[stelly38]

The GTO pulls out of a filling station in Blythe, California, population five thousand, two hundred twenty three. A lizard skitters across the road to safety as the car gains speed and coasts along the ribbon of pavement. "Nothing like the open road," the driver says to himself, his wavy blonde hair whipping about in the breeze. He'd checked his map back at the Chevron; the Arizona state line was just a hop, skip, and a jump down the road.

He spins the radio dial to see if he can pick up a signal, and Cream's Sunshine of Your Love blares out of the static, crystal clear and bright as the summer sky. If he steps on the gas, he'll hit Phoenix before nightfall. It's hot as blazes as the sun beats down on his back, and he keeps his eyes steady on the shimmering horizon as he sings along with the tune: "Give you my dawn surprise / I'll be with you darling soon / I'll be with you when the stars start falling..."

The highway snakes slightly southward and bends around a towering rock formation, the boulders the same earthy red color as the clay pots that decorate his mom's porch. Up ahead, a tiny figure appears, growing larger as the car approaches. The driver slows to pass him, the stranger's handsome face framed in his rearview mirror. He eases the brakes on, and gravel crunches under the tires as he pulls over. "You all right, buddy?" he calls, as the stranger sidles up next to the car.

Heavily perspiring, dark curls sticking to his forehead, the young man sets his knapsack down and regards the driver. Streaks of dirt decorate the sweaty patch that's soaked through the front of his t-shirt. "I'm cool, man. You?" he says, grinning at the driver. A silver peace symbol dangles from a leather cord around his neck.

"You don't look very cool," the driver says, watching a drop of sweat descend into the forest of stubble on the man's cheek. "Where are you headed?"

The stranger squints into the distance and spits on the dusty rocks that line the shoulder of the road. He reaches in his back pocket and holds up a little white card. "My number came up, and I gotta get gone. Don't know where yet," he says.

The driver waits a beat, then leans across the bench seat to pop open the passenger door. "I don't know if its far enough, but I can get you to Phoenix tonight. Hop in."

Thanks for inviting me to take part in the event, @linane-art

[simstorian-blog]

The Drifter Challenge House 006 Part I

(CC List + Links)

World Map: Willow Creek

Area: Sage Estates -- Oakenstead

Lot Size: 50 x 50

Gallery ID: Simstorian-ish

Build Mode -- buy mode items come from these sets too

Harrie's Brownstone Collection 2

Harrie's Brownstone Collection 3 

Felixandre's Chateau Blois Set

Felixandre's Colonial Set

Felixandre's Trianon Set

Felixandre's Georgian Set

Felixandre's Gothic Set

Felixandre's Schwerin Set

Peacemaker's City Living Add-Ons

Peacemaker's Stone Chevron Tiles 

Peacemaker's Wood Slat Flooring

Buy Mode

Entryway/Hallways

Harrie's Country Collection 3 (Used Throughout)

Harlix's Kichen (Used Throughout)

Harlix's Livin' Rum

Peacemaker's Caine Living

Peacemaker's Hampton Retreat (Used Throughout)

Peacemaker's Kitayama Living

Winner9's Rug

Office

Harlix's Jardane (Plant, Parasol Outside)

Meinkatz' Moor Rug

Mlys' Bookcases

Peacemaker's Elsie Set (Used Throughout)

Peacemaker's Phoebe Set

Peacemaker's Vara Office

Pierisim's Oak House 5

Pierisim's Office Plant

Wondymoon's Aurum Table Lamp

Living Room 

Harlix's Tiny Twallers (Used Throughout)

Peacemaker's Atwood Ottoman

Peacemaker's Baker Couch

Peacemaker's Bayside Lamp

Pierisim's Oak House 1 (Curtains)

Kitchen/Dining

Harrie's Halycon Appliances

Peacemaker's Colour Me Rug

Peacemaker's Province Kitchen

Peacemaker's Shaker Sink

Bathrooms

Harlix's Bafroom

Peacemaker's Hamptons Getaway

2nd Fl Living/Entertainment

Harlix's Livin' Rum (Used Throughout)

Peacemaker's Hudson Plant

Peacemaker's Kitayama Plant

Peacemaker's Oasis Plant

Pierisim's Oak House 3 Plant

Bedrooms

Peacemaker's Hamptons Hideaway (Bench)

Peacemaker's Rocking Chair

Winner9's Egoista Blanket

Winner9's Nota Pillows

Winner9's Rug

Everything else is in the game, refer to the icons in the gallery. 

Do not re-upload my builds. They take me hours to complete.

Tray Files: Download

[quantumqwerty]

The home in St. Louis, a goofy writing about Flo

The weather was warm on the outskirts of St. Louis as Flo was busying herself, tidying the place where she calls home. Dusting this, organising there, and a lot of shuffling her numerous plants until she felt contempt. She was in her element whilst cleaning, when she could allow her mind to drift and wander about all the fairytale scenarios that may have played out in this wonderland of viridian and hidden veils. It was moments like these, where she could finally let herself rest and allow any worries and fears to melt away in her 19th century floorboards she loves so dearly. Thinking about this home sent her back to her childhood, running to the heavy oak door and being greeted by the warm smile of her beloved late grandma, the smell of sassafras and pollen heavy in the thick, humid summer air. Flo could smell these wonderful smells now, as she closed her eyes and painted a picture, a picture of happy times, filled with gratitude that she may live in this home she once only saw in her dreams, and the exclusive summer days when she would be persuasive enough to allow her father to stay here a few nights. She meandered down the delicate spiral staircase into the kitchen, just as she remembered it in her youth. Flo could remember helping her grandmother, although it was more likely that she got in the way more than helping. Flo would run around the kitchen, grabbing this and stirring that, all whilst glued to the hip of her fair and friendly grandmother. Propping herself on a bar stool, she remembered her young eager self pulling herself upon these exact stools to perch and enjoy a cherry, rhubarb or apple pie made by her tender and ever generous grandma. She looked fondly at the jukebox across the room, although she was not in the mood for dance. Flo sat and simply savoured this time, guilty of not being able to share these moments. Her loneliness struck her, although it’s been seven years of living in this home, she was filled with a sense of absolute loneliness. She turned her head to her counter, a small tank sat filled with plants. In the tank a small frog, covered in more colours than the sunset, sat enjoying the humidity of this spring afternoon. Maybe she wasn’t fully alone, though her pet, lovingly named Chevron for his pointy features, wasn’t much of a talker. Flo stood as she touched the countertop of the galley island where the stools were lined up neatly in a row. She wandered her way into her gorgeous garden, laced in cobbled pathways, fruit trees, rose bushes, a small pond, a glasshouse for her exotic plants and more. Gratuity filled her heart as she realised just how fortunate she was to be left with such a gorgeous and well loved home. She briskly stepped towards a bench by the side of the house, feeling the grooves of the wood as she seemingly melted on the weathered planks that have been here for as long as time. She gazed deep in the inky sky, cast with a light show of peachy reds and vibrant oranges, her earrings glistening in the light like fireflies in the fields.