#louisiana legislature

[tomorrowusa]

Tuesday is Election Day in many parts of the US.

VOTE! 🗳 🇺🇸

A number of sites provide you with an opportunity to see who is on your ballot and what issues are being contested. They don't include an actual image of your ballot but they do let you know what's on it.

VOTE411 Voter Guide

Sample Ballot Lookup - Ballotpedia

Vote Informed on the Entire Ballot - BallotReady

Of course check the site of your local election authority. In some places it's the county clerk and in others it's a board of elections. The elections mentioned in this post are a small number of those around the US on November 7th.

Because of the GOP SCOTUS overturning of Roe v. Wade, state legislatures now determine whether a state supports reproductive freedom or not. State governments have been badly neglected by liberals for decades — and that situation needs to end.

Both chambers of the state legislature in Virginia are up for election on Tuesday. If both fall under Republican control then the state will join the rest of the South in restricting abortion.

Virginia is not the only state having elections for its state officials.

STATES HOLDING ELECTIONS FOR STATE LEGISLATURE

Virginia

New Jersey

Mississippi

Louisiana

STATES HOLDING ELECTIONS FOR GOVERNOR

Kentucky

Louisiana

Mississippi

There are numerous municipal elections, special elections, ballot measures, and constitutional amendments to be decided on Tuesday.

The biggie is the Ohio constitutional amendment on reproductive freedom. Voters in Ohio have the opportunity to overturn the gerrymandered Ohio Republican legislature's ban on abortion. Vote YES on Ohio Issue 1.

A very local but important contest is the special legislative election in New Hampshire to fill a vacancy in Hillsborough County District 3 (in the Nashua area). Right now Republicans have a one seat advantage in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. If Democrat Paige Beauchemin wins this seat then Republicans will be forced to share power with Democrats in the chamber.

Good candidates for federal office often emerge from state and local government. Before he was elected to the US Senate in 2004, Barack Obama served several terms in the Illinois legislature.

There is no such thing as an unimportant election.

[thereallovebug]

I find this development extremely disturbing. Not because I have a bleeding heart for people who molest little kids. I save my sympathy for their victims. I’m sure most people’s first reaction hearing about this will be, “Good. They have it coming” I get it; these are horrific crimes that are life and soul crushing.

But I’m not here to argue the best way to deal with them. I’m looking at the big picture.

The GOP-led legislature of Louisiana has passed a bill to remove more bodily autonomy from a group of citizens. The governor just needs to sign the bill into law.

Don’t let the word “option” in the title fool you; the option is not up to the prisoner as perhaps a last-ditch effort to “cure” their urges, but up to the judge to impose as a punishment on behalf of the State. So the LA government is prepared to force surgical castration on a select group of prisoners. (And let’s not even get into the anti-trans irony here) BTW, this law will also apply to people who have biological female parts (not exactly sure how that will work, but since the government already decides what goes on in your uterus, this is just the next step).

And here’s an interesting statistic from a quick Google search:

“In Louisiana, Black people constituted 33% of state residents, but 52% of people in jail and 67% of people in prison.” (emphasis mine)

So who is this gonna affect the most? Racism can’t possibly also be a factor in this decision, eh?

Like I said, a lot of people aren’t going to care about this. But it does make me wonder which group of “undesirables” will be targeted next and how, “for the good of the public”?

(Oh, and, FUCK the DEMOCRATIC legislator who sponsored this bill. Girl, you need to switch parties because this kind of shit is not supposed to be what we’re about! 😡)

And for those Americans reading this: we have an election coming up this November and this is a prime example of why down-ticket candidates are important, too. Local and state politicians are just the larval form of national politicians, so please remember to do your research and VOTE.

[thenewdemocratus]

Jesse Dollemore: 'Republicans Send Out Their MOST IMMORAL to Defend 10 Commandments in Classrooms!!!'

Source:Jesse Dollemore talking about MAGA and the 10 Commandments. They really should actually learn about the TTC (as Donald J. Trump calls them) before they preach about them. Just to make sure (if for no other reason) that they actually believe what they’re saying. Because 1 of the 10 Commandants is:”Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” Source:The New Democrat “Jesse talks…

[talkissues]

Human Zoos: America's Forgotten History of Scientific Racism

[toni-onone]

In the last month, the GOP-led state Legislature in Alabama defied a Supreme Court order to create a second majority-Black district, as did the Legislature in Louisiana. In Florida, new education guidelines have been approved by the state Board of Education that require students be told of the benefits people earned because of skills learned as slaves.

Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), the youngest elected member of the House, blasted his home state for the guidelines.

I see the truth is too much for some to give, too close to righteousness huh?

[femmchantress]

Our state legislature is trying to basically end the Louisiana branch of the film industry by removing all the incentives to film and host productions here and it’s so fucked, like all the industry folks I know are in an absolute panic

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Rosemary Westwood at NPR:

A group of high-level managers at the Louisiana Department of Health walked into a Nov. 14 meeting in Baton Rouge expecting to talk about outreach and community events. Instead, they were told by an assistant secretary in the department and another official that department leadership had a new policy: Advertising or otherwise promoting the COVID, influenza or mpox vaccines, an established practice there — and at most other public health entities in the U.S. — must stop. NPR has confirmed the policy was discussed at this meeting, and at two other meetings held within the department's Office of Public Health, on Oct. 3 and Nov. 21, through interviews with four employees at the Department of Health, which employs more than 6,500 people and is the state's largest agency.

According to the employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they fear losing their jobs or other forms of retaliation, the policy would be implemented quietly and would not be put in writing. Staffers were also told that it applies to every aspect of the health department's work: Employees could not send out press releases, give interviews, hold vaccine events, give presentations or create social media posts encouraging the public to get the vaccines. They also could not put up signs at the department's clinics that COVID, flu or mpox vaccines were available on site. The new policy in Louisiana was implemented as some politicians have promoted false information about vaccines and as President-elect Donald Trump seeks to have anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. And some public health experts are concerned that if other states follow Louisiana, the U.S. could face rising levels of disease and further erosion of trust in the nation's public health infrastructure.

[...]

A blow to public health practice

Staff at Louisiana's health department fear the new policy undermines their efforts to protect the public, and violates the fundamental mission of public health: to prevent illness and disease by following the science.

[...]

Experts fear consequences of undermining trust in vaccine

Last year, 652 people in Louisiana died of COVID, including five children. Louisiana currently is tied with DC for the highest rate of flu in the U.S. In 2022 alone, flu killed 586 people in Louisiana. Every health department staff member, former staff member, public health official and vaccine expert contacted by NPR repeated the scientific consensus that vaccines are safe, effective, and essential for preventing illness, hospitalizations, and deaths.

[...]

Policy change follows new governor's election

Until becoming Louisiana governor in early 2024, Republican Jeff Landry served as the state's attorney general for eight years. During the pandemic, he criticized the state's COVID response and filed lawsuits over federal and state vaccine mandates. On Dec. 6, 2021, Attorney General Landry spoke at a state committee hearing against adding COVID to the childhood immunization schedule. At his side was Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who presented false claims about COVID vaccines. This year the Republican-controlled legislature passed five bills — all signed by Gov. Landry — and two resolutions aimed at loosening vaccine requirements, limiting the power of public health authorities and sowing doubt about vaccine safety.

Gov. Landry also appointed Dr. Ralph Abraham, a family medicine doctor, to be the state's surgeon general. That position co-leads the Department of Health, and is tasked with crafting health policy that is then carried out by the departmental co-leader, the secretary. [...] Abraham said masking, lockdowns and vaccination requirements "were practically ineffective," that COVID vaccine adverse effects have been "suppressed," that "we don't know" whether blood from people who've been vaccinated is safe for donation and that "we hope and pray" COVID vaccines don't increase the risk miscarriages.

[...]

A slippery slope to future disease outbreaks

Experts told NPR they feared a policy that undermines COVID, flu and mpox vaccinations could have a spillover effect, reducing public trust in vaccinations overall, including those given to children to prevent a host of dangerous and deadly illnesses. "I believe that we will see measles cases. I believe we will see whooping cough cases. I believe we will likely see meningitis outbreaks," said Hood. In the Nov. 14 meeting, a staff member asked whether the ban on promoting vaccines applied to children's immunizations, but the answer was noncommittal, according to an employee with knowledge of the meeting's details. "My understanding was it's not clear to what extent we might be able to promote childhood vaccinations," the staff member said. (The Louisiana Department of Health's statement to NPR said the changes in policy and messaging do not apply to childhood immunizations.) Nationally, vaccination rates for serious childhood diseases have been falling in recent years, including in Louisiana.

[...]

The rise of public health officials promoting misinformation

Louisiana isn't the only state where public health officials have recently announced controversial decisions and repeated false or discredited health theories. Florida's surgeon general has made false claims about COVID vaccines, undermined school vaccine mandates for the measles and said local officials should stop adding fluoride to water supplies.

The consequences of anti-vaxxer extremism and anti-public health sentiments being normalized by Republicans: Louisiana bans the state's Department of Health from promoting COVID, flu, or mpox vaccines.

[shituationist]

The right-wing in Louisiana has been pretty successful in convincing dumb people that not getting in the way of people doing something to themselves means forcing people to do something. For example, in the gender affirmative care "debate", right-wingers have convinced the simple-minded that allowing minors to take puberty blockers is the equivalent of forcing children to undergo sexual reassignment surgery. The debate in Louisiana, as one conservative lawmaker actually pointed out in dissent to his colleagues, rhetorically hinged on the idea that there were many children undergoing SRS, an epidemic of it, even, when in fact no example could be found of such a thing happening in Louisiana ever.

That didn't stop the reactionary legislature from banning gender affirmative care for minors in toto. And the rhetoric has been so successful that to even suggest that transgender minors should be allowed to access care that demonstrably improves their lives means, to enough people, that you want to forcibly and coercively castrate people's children.

It might reflect the conservative presumption that minors are not people endowed with bodily autonomy and rights, but the property of their parents, who are alone tasked with making decisions for them. Those who advocate for giving more autonomy and liberty to teenagers are accused of wanting to abuse teenagers - as if allowing transgender teenagers to choose, for themselves, to halt the effects of puberty is the equivalent of forcing those teenagers to - because parents feel as if they're being forced to accept that their child is not simply theirs to do with as they please.

[reasonsforhope]

"Two years ago, the biggest battles in state legislatures were over voting rights. Democrats loudly — and sometimes literally — protested as Republicans passed new voting restrictions in states like Georgia, Florida and Texas. This year, attention has shifted to other hot-button issues, but the fight over the franchise has continued. Republicans have enacted dozens of laws this year that will make it harder for some people to vote in future elections. 

But this year, voting-rights advocates got some significant wins too: States — controlled by Democrats and Republicans — have enacted more than twice as many laws expanding voting rights as restricting them, although the most comprehensive voter-protection laws passed in blue states. In all, 39 states and Washington, D.C., have changed their election laws in some way this year...

Where voting rights were expanded in 2023 (so far)

Unlike two years ago, though, we’d argue that the bigger story of this year’s legislative sessions was all the ways states made it easier to vote. As of July 21, according to the Voting Rights Lab, [which runs an excellent and completely comprehensive tracker of election-related bills], 834 bills had been introduced so far this year expanding voting rights, and 64 had been enacted. What’s more, these laws are passing in states of all hues.

Democratic-controlled jurisdictions (Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island and Washington) enacted 33 of these new laws containing voting-rights expansions, but Republican-controlled states (Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming) were responsible for 23 of them. The remaining eight became law in states where the two parties share power (Nevada, Pennsylvania and Virginia).

That said, not all election laws are created equal, and the most comprehensive expansive laws passed in blue states. For example: 

New Mexico adopted a major voting-rights package that will automatically register New Mexicans to vote when they interact with the state’s Motor Vehicle Division, allow voters to request absentee ballots for all future elections without the need to reapply each time and restore the right to vote to felons who are on probation or parole. The law also allows Native Americans to register to vote and receive ballots at official tribal buildings and makes it easier for Native American officials to get polling places set up in pueblos and on tribal land.

Minnesota followed suit with a law also establishing automatic voter registration and a permanent absentee-voting list. The act allows 16- and 17-year-olds to preregister to vote too. Meanwhile, a separate new law also reenfranchises felons on probation or parole.

Michigan enacted eight laws implementing a constitutional amendment expanding voting rights that voters approved last year. Most notably, the laws guarantee at least nine days of in-person early voting and allow counties to offer as many as 29. The bills also allow voters to fix mistakes on their absentee-ballot envelopes so that their ballot can still count, track the status of their ballot online, and use student, military and tribal IDs as proof of identification. 

Connecticut became the sixth state to enact a state-level voting-rights act, which bars municipalities from discriminating against minority groups in voting, requires them to provide language assistance to certain language minority groups and requires municipalities with a record of voter discrimination to get preclearance before changing their election laws. The Nutmeg State also approved 14 days of early voting and put a constitutional amendment on the 2024 ballot that would legalize no-excuse absentee voting.

No matter its specific provisions, each of these election-law changes could impact how voters cast their ballots in future elections, including next year’s closely watched presidential race. There’s a good chance your state amended its election laws in some way this year, so make sure you double-check the latest rules in your state before the next time you vote."

-via FiveThirtyEight (via FutureCrunch), July 24, 2023

[partisan-by-default]

A Texas lawmaker has filed a bill that would reclassify two drugs used for reproductive health as controlled substances, which would place further restrictions on their access.

The proposal mirrors a law in Louisiana that went into effect Oct. 1 that treats mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled substances in state law. While the drugs are used in medication abortions, they have other applications such as treating life-threatening hemorrhaging.  

Texas state Rep.-elect Pat Curry, a Republican from Waco, has filed legislation, House Bill 1339,  that is comparable to the Louisiana law. Some health care providers have criticized Louisiana’s measure over its stricter storage and documentation requirements. Physicians have said the additional steps could place patients’ lives at risk.

Both Louisiana and Texas have strict abortion bans in place. Both states bar the procedure in almost all instances.

The Texas Legislature convenes for its next lawmaking session Jan. 14. 

Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed the new law, Act 246, in May, despite 270 doctors signing a letter against it. Mifepristone and misoprostol have been pulled off obstetric hemorrhage carts in hospitals and are now stored in passcode-protected cabinets outside of labor and delivery rooms.

[tomorrowusa]

The medical brain drain out of red states continues.

In August we posted about how OGBYNs are leaving states like Florida whose Republican governments have enacted severe restrictions on reproductive healthcare.

Many of those same states have also passed laws targeting the LGBTQ+ community. In doing so they have made life difficult for LGBTQ+ healthcare professionals and their families.

Dr. Jake Kleinmahon, a pediatric cardiologist, has recently fled from Louisiana to New York with his family because of homophobic laws passed by the Republican-controlled Louisiana legislature.

[Jake] Kleinmahon, a pediatric cardiologist, earned his medical degree from Tulane University, and despite leaving the state to complete his fellowships, he said he felt drawn to Louisiana. “At the time there was only one heart transplant doctor in the state of Louisiana,” he said, adding some children who needed heart transplants had to be transferred out of state. “I believe the kids in Louisiana should have the same world class health care as any other part of the United States.” He accepted a job at a local children’s hospital as director of the pediatric heart transplant program. But this past spring the Republican-led state legislature passed a series of controversial bills that targeted the LGBTQ community.

Thanks to Republicans, Louisiana now has one fewer pediatric heart transplant surgeon.

The Kleinmahons join other LGBTQ families who are also facing the same choice. They say they no longer feel safe or welcomed in states that have passed laws targeting their community. Many have made the difficult decision to leave. In 2023, more than 525 anti-LGBTQ bills were passed in 41 states, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that advocates for the LGBTQ community. Of those bills, more than 220 explicitly targeted transgender people. As of June, 77 anti-LGBTQ bills had been signed into law. Many of the laws enacted have been met with legal challenges from advocacy groups and LGBTQ families. Some have been blocked by judges while the legal battles play out in court. [ ... ] Kleinmahon said he was also receiving hate mail at his job from people condemning him for being gay and saying he needed to “find Jesus.” Louisiana Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed three bills, including one that banned gender-affirming care for most transgender minors, and HB 466, the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill that prohibited teachers from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity in class. The state legislature overturned Edwards’ veto of the gender-affirming care ban and the new law will go into effect in January.

Those homophobes urging Dr. Kleinmahon to "find Jesus" are going to have more difficulty finding qualified medical specialists in their state.

In August, Kleinmahon decided to move his family to Long Island, New York, where he took a job at another children’s hospital developing a heart transplant program. Kleinmahon said he worries his departure will leave a void in the Louisiana healthcare system. There are now only two pediatric cardiologists who manage heart transplants in the state, and they will be expected to serve the same number of patients, he said. “That is going to affect care,” Kleinmahon said, adding that “the absolute hardest part is me saying goodbye to my patients.”

State legislatures and state governments in general need to get more attention from moderate and liberal voters. When Republicans control a state they proceed to turn it into a MAGA dystopia like Florida and Texas. We can no longer afford to ignore what goes on in our state capitals.

It may take years to dislodge the mini-Trumps in some states, so the sooner we get started, the better. The first step is to find out who is representing you in your legislature. This site can help...

Find Your Legislators Look your legislators up by address or use your current location.

[momkat]

If you are in the USA today, go VOTE!!!

So many people only vote in presidential elections when it is the smaller more local elections that have so much control over your lives!!! The president is not a king and can effect NOTHING if they have a hostile congress!! Congresspeople come from smaller local government offices! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

If you don't show up to vote against, then you are voting for. A mediocre candidate who votes FOR you in office most of the time is still better than a hostile candidate who will vote against you while in office. If you can't vote for, then at least vote against!

Vote LOCAL!

School Board – Your local School Board is responsible for:

Content of your sex education including gay sex & safety, and all the sexual variants that real people have.

whether gay marriage can be talked about in school

whether a child gets called their chosen name vs their dead name in class.

all policies about trans kids, including anti-bullying policies

whether or not your school has to tell parents that you are identifying as queer. (If a kid is not telling their parents that they are some form of alt/queer/non-b THERE IS A REASON FOR IT. Schools telling these parents can result in abuse, shaming, being kicked out of the house, being 'beaten straight' etc.)

Access to gender affirming care in the clinic or counselor's office

Book bans – school book bans are often used as a step/justification for book bans at the local library.

The content of your history class. Whitewashing slavery. Whitewashing Nazi Germany. Whitewashing colonialism.

And much, much more. In addition, School Boards are often a stepping stone to larger offices. The progression is: School Board, City/County board, State office, National office. If you want state and national officials to support you, you have to grow them at the LOCAL LEVEL!!!

City/County Government:

How much money schools get. (And therefore can effect/dictate policies.)

How much money cops get. (And therefore can effect/dictate policies.)

How much money public services (firemen, local health services, libraries etc) get.

Local government regulations & laws (i.e. being arrested for 'indecency' because you are in drag.)

And again, don't forget that these are the 'feeder' offices that lead to government offices. These people go on to state offices!!

Your STATE Legislature is responsible for:

All abortion policies. Since Roe v. Wade has been tossed there is no federal prevention against any abortion policies.

All sexual health policies. From birth control to sex changes. Their laws can range from sensible to inhumane.

All CIVIL RIGHTS policies that are not explicitly guarded and monitored by the federal government are left up to the states. Take a look at Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, Arizona, etc. if you want examples.

And, of course, they can dictate policies to smaller municipalities (see City/County).

The most likely State office that leads to the presidency is Governor or a state. If you want better presidents, you need better governors!

Gerrymandering:

“But...but, but... I am gerrymandered so it doesn't make a difference if I vote!!” It DOES! If you are in a gerrymandered district and the crazy left wing crusader wins with a landslide because you DID NOT VOTE, then their party will keep putting in crazy right wing crusaders! If the vote is closer, EVEN IF YOU LOSE, their party is more likely to put in a more centrist candidate because they don't want to risk losing the seat. In addition, voting records are used to determine 1) the NEXT time areas are redistricted and 2) To show severe gerrymandering to courts to OVERTURN gerrymandered districts and force a redistricting. Right now there are people who are wining court case after court case to force redistricting of gerrymandered states and they are using voting data to do so!!! VOTE!!!

Please re-post this. Please blaze this. Please pass it on. PLEASE VOTE!

[darkmaga-returns]

December 8, 2024Image by Alberto Giuliani

Guest post by Paul Gardiner

Regardless of a presidential pardon, Dr Anthony Fauci remains subject to possible prosecution for violations of state criminal codes that he (and other named officials) allegedly committed during the Covid-19 pandemic. On behalf of hundreds of aggrieved families of lost loved ones during the pandemic, extensive legal briefs requesting criminal investigations of alleged state crimes have been submitted by the Vires Law Group, West Palm Beach, FL, to attorneys general in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. View the Texas filing here.

This article identifies some of the huge financial payments (bonuses) paid to hospitals during the pandemic. Further, it is believed that these payments served as motivation to encourage the extensive use of the toxic drug remdesivir as well as end-of-life ventilators for many Covid-19 patients. Additionally, the coercion of attending physicians (and nurses) by hospital administrators and other officials to “go along” with toxic treatments of Covid-19 patients is described.

Regarding remdesivir, the recent testimony of Dr. David Martin before members of the Oklahoma state legislature (view here for short video) is daunting to say the least. His testimony is a strong indictment of those who supported and administered remdesivir, a drug publicly known to be highly toxic, causing kidney and other organ failure contributing to or causing a patient’s ultimate death.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 6/18/2024

might flood today! might not! who knows! i live in the paved over swamp! mackintosh’s main concern is this bowl of grapes

listening

sligo river blues performed by john fahey. part of the point of doing this weekly is when i sit down to draft these, i am occasionally forced to go "ooh. i forgot to listen to music while pacing around last week. maybe that's why i was a tremendous cunt and wanted to claw out of my own skin."

anyway i care about two people on tiktok and one of them is a couple renovating a stunning house in the pacific northwest from a level 5 hoard (DK Dreamhouse), and one is this guy dylanwesch who is i guess music nerd tok? a lot of ambient stuf which i love to click around on the computer to. listened to part of this album while debugging a GIS problem this week

-

reading

i read six books this week, which is really the clearest possible sign i need to up my antidepressants. read the shepherd king duology by rachel gillig (Fine but i had some issues with the authorial style, felt very YA as opposed to NA, did have a very cool magic system, unfortunately i liked the second couple’s banter and relationship Way More than the main couple’s). finished the last three books in the temeraire series, i have not much to say about them except i adored them wholeheartedly. also before i read those i wrote all the below in a fit of pique

the great state of west florida by kent wascom. instagram kept serving me ads for this book and i am once again a little unnerved by meta's advertising.

publishers' weekly synopis

In Wascom’s wacky and wild fourth adventure for the Woolsack clan (after The New Inheritors), lawless gunslingers and reactionary Christian nationalists face off in a divided Florida. The year is 2026 and 13-year-old orphan Rally Woolsack is rescued from the abusive foster family who brought him to Louisiana by his long-lost uncle Rodney, who regularly responds to challenges of mortal combat on the app DU3L. Rally is thrilled to get away from his tormentors and return to Florida, although it turns out Rodney has pulled him from the frying pan into the fire. Troy Yarbrough, a state legislator whose family runs a creepy evangelical Christian college in its mansion on Florida’s panhandle, has introduced a bill calling for the region to secede from the state. Rally, reckoning with the long-running bad blood between his family and the Yarbroughs, derides Troy’s vision as a “Jesus-riddled white ethnostate with a beachside pastel tinge.” With the bill on the floor of the state legislature, and with everyone packing firearms, the Florida Wars begin. Fans of pulpy dark humor will relish the climactic showdown between Yarbrough’s henchmen and those loyal to an elusive figure called the Governor, as right-wing nutjob Troy is saddled by mad cow disease and Rally is rescued by his crush. This high-octane satire feels all too plausible. Agent: Gail Hochman, Brandt & Hochman Literary. (May)

i had some trouble with this one! on its face it seems like the kind of thing i would eat with a spoon. in practice it's more of a coming-of-age than a just-before-the-apocalypse story and i have a lot of trouble relating to a thirteen-year-old boy. even if he is bisexual. in this interview wascom says he's "re-mythologizing the Western" which i can kind of see? it's very pulp and ultra-violent in a spaghetti western kind of way, and seems written in a way easily adaptable to the screen. not quite vaporwave but a lot of anime influence: the author thanks twelve Japanese directors and manga artists at the end of the book.

there's an odd authorial quirk where the thirteen-year-old boy often points out (internally and externally) that the adults in his life are just talking at him about politics. which is a pretty accurate portrayal of childhood, but lampshading it in this way doesn't really make me excited about wascom's authorial chops? this is your fourth book. this book revolved around a couple brutal fight scenes (and one giant setpiece crowd scene, which has vibes and atmosphere in spades), and that's a perfectly fine reason to write a book, but if that's your strength i would be very happy to have you focus on that instead of sections where both the kid and i the reader are bored.

there's a scene with babysitter/babysittee sexual abuse that unlocks how the abused character makes decisions for the rest of his life, but it was extremely graphic and i wasn't really prepared for that. i don't know that i would have read this book if i had that knowledge aforethought.

overall not quite what i wanted it to be: the author in this interview said he's been working on it for over a decade and had to keep throwing out parts coming true during trump's presidency. i picked this pulpy novel up as an escape from the terrible politics of today, which is not what this books is. i don't know if i buy that he was simply too good at predicting the future, but i do like the choice stated in his interview "I abandoned the predictive stuff and tried to tell a story like it was written on an obelisk in the future, like what Denis Johnson did with Fiskadoro, or Joanna Russ with The Female Man". it does feel very much like the narrator from Mad Max 2 telling his story of meeting Max as a feral kid. again, some interesting ideas in here, does deliver on the Southern Gothic doomed political family aspect, as well as the same flavor of heat-wave climate tragedy as JG Ballard's The Drowned World, but i would have liked to focus more on his cool furiosa-like aunt in a white mustang with an anime mech arm. criminally underused character

-

watching

watched The Hunter (2011, dir. Nettheim) because of the Temeraire books! they used an archaic name for Tasmania that made me go “where the Fuck is that” and then i looked at the media mentions section of the wikipedia page. beautiful film in a very spare way. lots of long loving shots of willem defoe in the wilderness enduring various weather conditions.

i don’t know if it stuck the landing quite as well as i would like, but like defoe you fall in love with the land and the family so slowly it’s very startling when you finally do fully realize it. i think i was supposed to cry at the end but didn’t quite manage it. one of my favorite springsteen songs is part of the diagetic score in a way that made me cry, which i also did not expect.

-

playing

shoutout to the Thing Matching genre of phone game. this one is very much watch-ads-to-win but the levels are pretty long and i like shuffling objects around while listening to podcasts and trying to fall asleep

-

making

fallow week

[toni-onone]

Really Louisiana? As bad as the roads are, among other things and this is your priority? Do y’all even give a little of a crap about us residents/ taxpayers? You know we the people, this is spitting in our faces; wow. This is unacceptable.

[ausetkmt]

This Day in History

Time Periods: 1866

Themes: Reconstruction

The New Orleans Massacre (also known as the New Orleans Riot) occurred on July 30, 1866, when white residents attacked Black marchers gathered outside the Mechanics Institute, where the reconvened Louisiana Constitutional Convention met in response to the state legislature enacting Black Codes and limiting suffrage.

As explained in “An Absolute Massacre: The 1866 Riot At The Mechanics’ Institute“:

The parade of marchers had thwarted off the mob on the other side of Canal, but once they made it to the Mechanics’ Institute, where the convention was taking place inside, they were beset by more violence. A gang of white supremacists and ex-Confederates attacked. Fire sirens went off, signaling police to attack. They were sent by the mayor.

“There was panic because the police and firemen, armed, surrounded that building and began advancing,” says [Caryn Cosse] Bell. “The attack was premeditated. Lead police chief Harry T. Hayes, what he was doing at the time was recruiting policemen from Confederate veterans. They stormed in and started shooting, chasing people down the street.”

The brutal attack led to a total of 150 casualties, including 48 deaths (44 African Americans and three white Radical Republicans).

The New Orleans and Memphis riots strengthened the argument by Radical Republicans (a faction in the Republican Party) that President Johnson’s Reconstruction plan was insufficient and greater protection of African Americans was needed.

Read more at Black Past.org. Find resources below to Teach Reconstruction and to teach about the long history of the fight for voting rights.