#south carolina fox laws

[deeppenguinstudent]

I love the hc that everyone in the Foxes is literally in love w jeremy. Like at first they don't see why Kevin is so obsessed but after Jean comes out to be in a relationship w him and the Foxes see him around more when Jean drops by they literally love him so much. Like even Andrew opts to silently listen as Jeremy rants to the Foxes about mundane things and during the USC games everyone comes in Jeremy knox jerseys. The Foxes would be like that one father in law that steals your boyfriend every chance they get when jerejean visit South carolina

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

July 6, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JUL 7, 2023

The payroll processing firm ADP said today that private sector jobs jumped by 497,000 in June, far higher than the Dow Jones consensus estimate predicted. The big gains were in leisure and hospitality, which added 232,000 new hires; construction with 97,000; and trade, transportation and utilities with 90,000. Annual pay rose at a rate of 6.4%. Most of the jobs came from companies with fewer than 50 employees. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is a way to measure the stock market by aggregating certain stocks, dropped 372 points as the strong labor market made traders afraid that the Fed would raise interest rates again to cool the economy. Higher interest rates make borrowing more expensive, slowing investment. 

Today, as the Washington Post’s climate reporter Scott Dance warned that the sudden surge of broken heat records around the globe is raising alarm among scientists, Bloomberg’s Cailley LaPara reported that the incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act for emerging technologies to address climate change have long-term as well as short-term benefits. 

Dance noted that temperatures in the North Atlantic are already close to their typical annual peak although we are early in the season, sea ice levels around Antarctica are terribly low, and Monday was the Earth’s hottest day in at least 125,000 years and Tuesday was hotter. LaPara noted that while much attention has been paid to the short-term solar, EV, and wind industries in the U.S., emerging technologies for industries that can’t be electrified—technologies like sustainable aviation fuel, clean hydrogen, and direct air capture, which pulls carbon dioxide out of the air—offer huge potential to reduce emissions by 2030. 

This news was the backdrop today as President Biden was in South Carolina to talk about Bidenomics. After touting the huge investments of both public and private capital that are bringing new businesses and repaired infrastructure to that state, Biden noted that analysts have said that the new laws Democrats have passed will do more for Republican-dominated states than for Democratic ones. “Well, that’s okay with me,” Biden said, “because we’re all Americans. Because my view is: Wherever the need is most, that’s the place we should be helping. And that’s what we’re doing. Because the way I look at it, the progress we’re making is good for all Americans, all of America.”

On Air Force One on the way to the event, deputy press secretary Andrew Bates began his remarks to the press: “President Biden promised that he would be a president for all Americans, regardless of where they live and regardless of whether they voted for him or not. He also promised to rebuild the middle class. The fact that Bidenomics has now galvanized over $500 billion in job-creating private sector investment is the newest testament to how seriously he takes fulfilling those promises.”

Bates listed all the economic accomplishments of the administration and then added: “the most powerful endorsement of Bidenomics is this: Every signature economic law this President has signed, congressional Republicans who voted “no” and attacked it on Fox News then went home to their district and hailed its benefits.” He noted that “Senator Lindsey Graham called the Inflation Reduction Act ‘a nightmare for South Carolina,’” then, “[j]ust two months later, he called BMW’s electric vehicles announcement ‘one of the most consequential announcements in the history of the state of South Carolina.’” “Representative Joe Wilson blasted the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law but later announced, ‘I welcome Scout Motors’ plans to invest $2 billion and create up to 4,000 jobs in South Carolina.’ Nancy Mace called Bidenomics legislation a…‘disaster,’ then welcomed a RAISE grant to Charleston.” 

“[W]hat could speak to the effectiveness of Bidenomics more than these conversions?” Bates asked.

While Biden is trying to sell Americans on an economic vision for the future, the Republican leadership is doubling down on dislike of President Biden and the Democrats. Early on the morning of July 2, Trump, who remains the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, shared a meme of President Biden that included a flag reading: “F*CK BIDEN AND F*CK YOU FOR VOTING FOR HIM!” The next morning, in all caps, he railed against what he called “massive prosecutorial conduct” and “the weaponization of law enforcement,” asking: “Do the people of this once great nation even have a choice but to protest the potential doom of the United States of America??? 2024!!!”

Prosecutors have told U.S. district judge Aileen Cannon that they want to begin Trump’s trial on 37 federal charges for keeping and hiding classified national security documents, and as his legal trouble heats up, Trump appears to be calling for violence against Democrats. On June 29 he posted what he claimed was the address of former president Barack Obama, inspiring a man who had been at the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol to repost the address and to warn, “We got these losers surrounded! See you in hell,…Obama’s [sic].” Taylor Tarranto then headed there with firearms and ammunition, as well as a machete, in his van. Secret Service agents arrested him. 

Indeed, those crossing the law for the former president are not faring well. More than 1,000 people have been arrested for their participation in the events of January 6, and those higher up the ladder are starting to feel the heat as well. Trump lawyer Lin Wood, who pushed Trump’s 2020 election lies, was permitted to “retire” his law license on Tuesday rather than be disbarred. Trump lawyer John Eastman is facing disbarment in California for trying to overturn the 2020 election with his “fake elector” scheme, a ploy whose legitimacy the Supreme Court rejected last week. And today, Trump aide Walt Nauta pleaded not guilty to federal charges of withholding documents and conspiring to obstruct justice for allegedly helping Trump hide the classified documents he had at Mar-a-Lago. 

Trump Republicans—MAGA Republicans—are cementing their identity by fanning fears based on cultural issues, but it is becoming clear those are no longer as powerful as they used to be as the reality of Republican extremism becomes clear. 

Yesterday the man who raped and impregnated a then-9-year-old Ohio girl was sentenced to at least 25 years in prison. Last year, after the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision recognizing the constitutional right to abortion, President Biden used her case to argue for the need for abortion access. Republican lawmakers, who had criminalized all abortions after 6 weeks, before most people know they’re pregnant, publicly doubted that the case was real (Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost told the Fox News Channel there was “not a damn scintilla of evidence” to support the story). Unable to receive an abortion in Ohio, the girl, who had since turned 10, had to travel to Indiana, where Dr. Caitlin Bernard performed the procedure.

Republican Indiana attorney general Todd Rokita complained—inaccurately—that Bernard had not reported child abuse and that she had violated privacy laws by talking to a reporter, although she did not identify the patient and her employer said she acted properly. Bernard was nonetheless reprimanded for her handling of privacy issues and fined by the Indiana licensing board. Her employer disagreed.

As Republican-dominated states have dramatically restricted abortion, they have fueled such a backlash that party members are either trying to avoid talking about it or are now replacing the phrase “national ban” with “national consensus” or “national standard,” although as feminist writer Jessica Valenti, who studies this language, notes, they still mean strict antiabortion measures. In the House, some newly-elected and swing-district Republicans have blocked abortion measures from coming to a vote out of concern they will lose their seats in 2024. 

But it is not at all clear the issue will go away. Yesterday, those committed to protecting abortion rights in Ohio turned in 70% more signatures than they needed to get a measure amending the constitution to protect that access on the ballot this November. In August, though, antiabortion forces will use a special election to try to change the threshold for constitutional amendments, requiring 60% of voters rather than a majority.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

“In her presence, the world seemed to shimmer with radiance and joy.”

Melania Trump remembers her mother as ‘a ray of light in the darkest days’

In her eulogy, the Slovenian-born former first lady paid tribute to her mother’s “nurturing spirit” and “unparalleled affection.” “She embodied the best mother, wife, grandmother, mother-in-law — a true beacon of love and luxury in our lives,” Melania Trump said. “She’s a true inspiration, a role model to me, and to so many.”

'Her nurturing spirit had no limits, creating a legacy that will last for generations,' 'With her beauty and impeccable sense of style she turned heads. But it was her unwavering dedication and hard work that made her exceptional.'

Melania Trump's Amazing Grace by Sundance

"There is a particular type of grace that surfaces when a daughter grows stronger as a direct result of a closely bonded mother’s guiding wisdom.  Historically and generationally, women of eastern Europe are known for a particular style of strength.  Always prepared to be left alone due to conflict, war, or the loss of hardened warriors, an internal fortitude is created blending femininity with a deliberate, cold and pragmatic approach at life.  The daughters of these quiet but strong-willed generational women, learn skills of emotional control, loyalty, deliberateness and fortitude that turn the finest silks into fabrics stronger than titanium.  It is transparently obvious that Melania learned well from Amalija.

Paying tribute to the guiding hand upon her life, to her mentor, counselor, friend and beloved mother, First Lady Melania Trump delivers a farewell eulogy to her guide.  If you have ever wondered where the centered strength of Melania Trump originated, listen carefully and you can hear the heartbeat of Amalija Knavs in this delivery."  WATCH:

Terry Spencer Associated Press January 18, 2024

PALM BEACH, Fla. — Former First Lady Melania Trump on Thursday remembered her mother as “a ray of light in the darkest of days” during a funeral service at a church not far from the family’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

The former first lady said she always found peace in the presence of her mother, Amalija Knavs, 78, and that her mother was always there to listen.

“In her presence, the world seemed to shimmer with radiance and joy,” Melania Trump said during a eulogy as her husband, former President Donald Trump, sat nearby. “Our bond was unbreakable.”

The former first lady said her mother celebrated her family’s triumphs and supported them during difficult times. She said she would remember the laughter that accompanied travels with her mother, father and sister and “conversations that flowed effortlessly with grace and charm.”

“Rest in peace my beloved mother,” Melania Trump said before stepping down from the pulpit.

She then stood in front of her mother’s casket, touched her fingers to her lips and placed them on the casket.

Among the guests who arrived before the start of the private service for Knavs at The Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea were two of Donald Trump‘s children from previous marriages, Tiffany Trump and Ivanka Trump; Ivanka Trump’s husband, Jared Kushner; and Republican U.S. Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

The church is where Trump and his wife were married in 2005. Knavs died Jan. 9 in Miami after an undisclosed illness.

At midmorning, a hearse pulled up in front of the church followed by an SUV carrying the former president and first lady and two other vehicles with their Secret Service detail. Wearing a black dress and sunglasses, Melania Trump and her father, Viktor Knavs, led a procession up to the church, followed by the former president and their son, Barron.

They then waited on the steps of the church as the coffin was lifted from the hearse and taken into the church.

After the service, a priest waved an urn of incense and a man held up a cross as the coffin was carried out of the church, followed by Melania Trump and her father, and then Donald Trump and their son, Barron.

After the coffin was placed in the hearse, the former president and first lady exchanged pleasantries with the priest. Donald Trump led his wife to an SUV with her father, and then he got into a separate vehicle.

During the Trump presidency, the first lady’s mother lived in New York along with her father and occasionally appeared at the White House. Amalija Knavs was at a 2018 ceremony where the first lady debuted her “Be Best” public awareness campaign to help children.

The Knavses raised Melania, born Melanija, and her older sister, Ines, in the rural industrial town of Sevnica while Slovenia was under Communist rule as part of Yugoslavia. Amalija Knavs was a textile worker and homemaker, while her husband worked as chauffeur before becoming a car dealer.

The former first lady, 53, attended high school in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, and changed her name to Melania Knauss when she started modeling. She settled in New York in 1996 and met Trump in 1998.

She sponsored her parents’ immigration to the United States, and they became citizens at a New York City courthouse in 2018, while Trump was president.

Their lawyer said at the time that they applied for citizenship on their own and didn’t get any special treatment.

In her eulogy, the Slovenian-born former first lady paid tribute to her mother’s “nurturing spirit” and “unparalleled affection.”

“She embodied the best mother, wife, grandmother, mother-in-law — a true beacon of love and luxury in our lives,” Melania Trump said. “She’s a true inspiration, a role model to me, and to so many.”

Trump likewise paid tribute to Knavs during his victory speech at the Iowa caucuses, saying, “She’s up there, way up there. She’s looking down and she’s so proud of us. And I just want to say to Amalija, you are special, one of the most special people I’ve ever known.”

Trump’s adult children from his previous two marriages also attended the service for Melania Trump’s mother: daughters Ivanka Trump and Tiffany Trump and their husbands, Jared Kushner and Michael Boulos, and sons, Don Jr. and Eric, and their partners, Kimberly Guilfoyle and Lara Trump.

Trump’s in-laws remained in their native Slovenia after Melania Trump moved to New York City to become a model in 1996 and after she married Trump in 2005. They moved to the United States when Trump was president, and Melania Trump sponsored their bid to become citizens in 2018. After Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, he, Melania and Barron re-located to Mar-a-Lago. Amalija and Viktor Knavs joined them at the resort, “living it up as well-heeled retirees” and spending a great deal of time with their daughter and grandson, as the New York Post reported.

Meanwhile, Trump has reportedly been able to spend more time with his youngest son since leaving the White House and moving to Mar-a-Lago. In a 2015 People interview, Melania Trump admitted to being the more hands-on parent due to her husband’s first presidential campaign. But free from running the country or a real estate empire at Mar-a-Lago, Trump sometimes plays golf with his son or enjoys a one-on-one dinner with him, TheThings.com reported. Melania Trump told People about the “beautiful respect and admiration” that exists between father and son, and that “Barron loves to be one-on-one with Dad.”

Barron’s natural athleticism and height also makes Trump proud, according to reports. At a 2020 campaign rally, Trump called him out, proclaiming, “My Barron. My tall Barron. My beautiful Barron. Handsome. He is handsome.”"

Donald Trump's youngest son Barron is now comfortably the tallest in the family, towering over his father at his grandmother's funeral.

Father and son stood next to each other as they mourned Melania Trump's mother Amalija Knavs, who died on January 9 aged 78.

Barron, now 17, stands at 6ft, 7 inches - taller even than his ex-president father who at 6ft, 3 inches is a towering figure himself.

The teenager stood beside Donald Trump, Melania, and Knavs' widower Viktor, dwarfing all three as they waited for the coffin to arrive on Thursday morning.

Knavs was farewelled by about 100 mourners at Bethesda-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Palm Beach, Florida, where Melania gave a moving eulogy.

Barron's four-inch height advantage over his father was obvious from the moment they got out of the car together, as the boy put a guiding hand on Trump's arm.

Melania in her eulogy gushed about her mother's love for her grandson Barron, whom she 'showered with affection, illuminating his world with love, tender care and unwavering devotion'. 

Trump credited his son's impressive growth to Knavs' traditional Slovenian cooking at a campaign event before the Iowa Republican caucuses.

'That's how he got so tall, he only ate her food,' he joked to the crowd of supporters.

'I said you're gonna be a basketball player. He said, "well, I like soccer dad, actually". But you can't talk them into everything! Barron was a special boy.'

Barron is said to have a close bond with his grandmother, who along with Viktor taught him to speak Slovenian as he grew up.

Bojan Pozar wrote in his book 'Melania Trump - The Inside Story: The Potential First Lady' that Barron 'almost certainly speaks Slovenian with... Ines, his aunt, who also lives in New York'.

'Ines Knavs was the one who took care of all the paperwork at the Slovenia consulate in New York so that Barron could formally acquire Slovenian citizenship,' he added.

Barron is believed to be the first son of a president to have dual citizenship.

Barron has grown dramatically since his father's inauguration in January 2017 when he was just 10

Barron Trump, 6.7 towers over his father at grandmother's funeral

The teenager stood beside Donald Trump, Melania, and Knavs' widower Viktor (left), dwarfing all three as they waited for the coffin to arrive on Thursday morning

They walked slowly towards the church as a foursome, in complete silence, dozens of agents looking on, the three men wearing black suits and ties and Melania in a black suit jacket, black skirt and a silver cross around her neck

Other photos from the funeral show Barron next to his grandfather Viktor and various other mourners - and being far taller than all of them. 

Mourners joined Melania and her father Viktor Thursday morning at the same picturesque Palm Beach church where she married Trump nearly two decades earlier.

The former president flew into Florida in the early hours to be at his wife's side, the pair following closely behind the hearse in one of around a dozen black SUVs, arriving just after 10am.

Melania and Trump were accompanied by Barron while Knavs' widower Viktor looked visibly upset but paused to compose himself before joining the others.

They walked slowly towards the church as a foursome, in complete silence, dozens of agents looking on, the three men wearing black suits and ties and Melania in a black suit jacket, black skirt and a silver cross around her neck.

Reverend Tim Schenck, who joined Bethesda as rector in 2022, stood at the church entrance waiting to greet them with a somber nod of the head and some brief words of comfort.

Melania remained stoic and expressionless behind her black jumbo sunglasses as all four turned in unison to watch as Knavs' coffins, bedecked with a dazzling display of white roses, orchids and lillies was carried from the street to the church.

Finally they all turned to go inside, the coffin entering behind them, passing another huge pink and white floral display comprised of roses, carnations and daisies.

All four emerged from the church just behind the coffin, which was carried by six pallbearers

Melania maintained her steely composure as she emerged from church, watching in silence as the coffin was carried outside, flanked by pallbearers and clergy

Melania Trump delivered a touching eulogy for her mother Amalija Knavs, who died January 9, aged 78

Barron is spotted towering over his mother and father as they left the funeral of his grandmother

Inside as she gave the eulogy, Melania's voiced cracked from the podium as she said, 'Rest in peace, my beloved mother'.

'Her nurturing spirit had no limits, creating a legacy that will last for generations,' she said.

'With her beauty and impeccable sense of style she turned heads. But it was her unwavering dedication and hard work that made her exceptional.'

Melania maintained her steely composure as she emerged from church, watching in silence as the coffin was carried outside, flanked by pallbearers and clergy.

As the procession reached the road and she watched her mom being loaded back into the hearse, Trump reached out and tenderly squeezed his wife's hand.

She left in the same vehicle as her dad while Trump followed in another SUV, giving a nod of gratitude to Secret Service agents who closed the road to ensure a smooth getaway for mourners.

Melania's mother Amalija Knavs (center, pictured in June 2018) was laid to rest on Thursday at the same picturesque Palm Beach church where her daughter married Donald Trump nearly two decades earlier

The Trumps have been regulars at the 125-year-old chapel since Melania wed then-real estate mogul Donald there in 2005 in front of VIP guests including Hillary and Bill Clinton.

A year later, Barron was christened at the Gothic-Revival style venue, which is less than three miles from Trump's swish Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago.

The Trumps also attended several Christmas services there throughout his Presidency.

Former First Lady Melania Trump 's mother Amalija Knavs, 78, died after being hospitalized in Miami, Florida, over the holidays

It was unclear if Donald Trump would make it after a heated exchange with a New York federal judge overseeing E Jean Carroll's defamation case against him. The judge denied an application to delay the trial.

At the funeral Thursday, Trump seemed to put aside his anger and his need to be the center of attention. He wore a solemn expression as he let Melania Trump lead the proceedings. He walked to the side of her, her father, Viktor Knavs, and Barron as the four entered the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, not far from his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Judge Lewis Kaplan noted that the former president was not legally obliged to be court in person anyway.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12980173/barron-trump-donald-melania-mother-funeral-florida.html?ito=native_share_article-bottom

[vees-strangeworld-omniverse]

ARGONUS FAUNA: treehounds, domestic gray foxes + breeds

(NOTE: descriptions copy-pasted from DA where i normally/originally post my works. any context that is missing here on tumblr can be found on my DA [linked here and on pinned post] )

[this image is actually a recent addition to the roster of fauna, having been posted in july 2023.]

a collection of treehound breeds that i sketched whilst i was out in south carolina visiting family. my god, i have never been surrounded by SO MANY DOGS (four of them total, not including our own dog that we brought with us), which may or may not have been the real inspo for this piece.

so, anyways, i've already drew these guys a long while ago [tumblr post about them is here], but i'll gladly talk about it again.

    these guys are treehounds, a domesticated variant (subspecies?) of the planet's gray fox , the smallest amerigian canid (though to us it's the size of a lion). they were one of many attempts by humans to get a dog analog back into their society, and of all the attempts these were (strangely), the most successful. they were one of only a handful of wild animals to have been tamed and domesticated exclusively by human, though their origins on their actual domestication had been lost to time. what is known, however, is that the first domesticated treehound originated from Western Coast Province, and that there were several environmental factors that could've played a role in the taming/domestication. there also exist a sort of local folk tale that explains their origin (but i'll leave that till the end).

    anyway, fast forward to modern day, and there exist several breeds of treehounds, all having been bred with specific usages. let's just get into it.

AKIYOTE     one of the least derived breed, yet simultaneously the most widely used by humans. the akiyote is considered the german shepherd of the treehounds; an intelligent and cunning breed, it's a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to the jobs it has.     the akyote originally was created to be a guard fox. but, like the german shepherd, it is often most associated with human law enforcement; search-and-rescue, narcotic detection, tracking, pursuing criminals, etc.. it also is a widely used service animal, and especially with the physically and visually impaired.     the akiyote is a relatively modest-sized breed; they come in varying hues of the typical gray & red colors their wild ancestors have, however they all consistently have a darker-colored head, back and tail tip. usually these dark spots are black in color, though in lighter-colored individuals it could present itself as a darker gray/silver. although a typically friendly and moderately active breed, the akyote needs to be well-socialized and well-train, as they're known to be aggressive towards strangers. however, once properly trained, they're considered an amazing and loyal breed.

SPECKLED RETRIEVER      were the akiyote is a vulpine german shepherd, the speckled retriever is a labrador in a fox's body. much like the lab, they're a "gun-fox", having been initially bred to flush out, find and retrieve game (mainly birds and rabbits). however, like the akiyote, they're a VERY versatile breed; arguable much more than the akiyote.     the speckled retriever had long been used in search-and-rescue, water rescues, and are popular as service animals. as a matter of fact, because of their relatively large size yet very calm and smart temperament, in the human world they are the poster child for service foxes; mobility assistance, guiding, seizure alerting, therapy, autism support, ect. sometimes they're often preferred over other treehound breeds when it comes to service animals.     the speckled retriever is easily recognized for it's floppy ears, short fur, and a near-solid colored coat with a white underside and it's namesake "speckles" that run down it's back. they come in an assortment of colors; red (most popular), gray, silver, tan, chocolate, etc. like said, they are an intelligent yet very calm breed. in spite of their seemingly lithe frame, they're strong swimmers and love to swim just as much as they love to climb. their temperament and easy care makes them popular as family pets, as well as a good beginner breed for those who wish to own treehounds themselves.

RABBIT COLLIE     a strange breed that is popular with freerunners who own ranches/farms, the rabbit collie is an unusual breed with an unusual history to it.     you see, during the initial breed development, they weren't bred by humans, but rather initially bred by the elkinets who wanted to see how effective they were at pest control. this included breeding in wild gray fox DNA into them (similar to how the australian cattle dog is part-dingo), to add extra energy for hunting. however, once a few freerunners got their hands on them, they were then bred further to become not just pest control, but also effective herding foxes. they'd herd typical freerunner livestock like poultry, guinea pigs and rabbits; however, they also were great at flushing (and killing) pest like rats, mice and occasionally house sparrows.     the rabbit collie gets its's name partly because of it's long, wiry hair which makes it's ears look longer than they really are. they're commonly very light in color; silver and light tan being the two main variations. they're one of the smartest breeds of treehound, however they are also a very active breed that needs lots of space and enrichment; not to mention the long fur, which sheds alot and requires quite the upkeep. this makes them the least beginner friendly, though in the correct hands/paws they can be just as good pets.

PANTHER PINSCHER     the panther pinscher initially doesnt even look like a treehound or any known canine; as a matter of fact, it look more like a cat than anything else. but even still, this breed is not one to be messed with.     the panther pinscher is a large breed that was used to fill the role of all the big, heavy working dogs. it's was bred to be used mainly as a guard/watch fox, protecting it's homes from intruders and trespassers. however, it's large size also allows it to do heavy lifting, by pull carts and carrying supplies in specialized harnesses. it's a symbol of strength and intimidation, which makes it a common mascot in many human schools. and one could not forget the controversial (and often illegal) practice of "fox-fighting", where much like pitbulls these guys were the forerunners of.     this breed is well known for it's panther-like appearance (of which they're still debate as to whether this was intentional or not). it's size is more closer to the planet's red foxes (or to us more closer to a liger's size), making it the largest breed of treehound. it's short fur, short face and small ears give it that feline-like look, and only seems to come in solid colors (black, blue and white being common), sometimes having white spots on their legs, chest and tail tip. yet in spite of it's intimidating appearances and initial usages, it has became popular with many families. how? well, as it turns out its a surprisingly well-rounded breed in temperament and care; they're easy to train and easy to socialize, and are rather friendly animals towards children and other pets. if size and local laws on certain breeds isn't your problem when looking for great family pets, then a panther pinscher might just be for you.

TEACUP FOX     the teacup fox is what one would consider the lovechild between a jack russel and a chihuahua in fox form; in direct contrary to the panther pischer, it's the smallest breed out there.     the teacup fox was initially bred to be a kind of pest control; it's tiny sizes allow them to reach spaces that other vermin-hunting breeds couldn't. however, whilst it was effective at it's job, it's small size quickly made them a popular companion animal to those who do not have the space for any other breeds of treehounds. these breeds would later be classified as "minifoxes" of which the teacup fox would be the posterchild for.     the teacup fox comes in many colors and coat lengths, however the main defining trait is it's size; it is no bigger than the planet's chihuahua or pomeranian (closer to a lab/golden retreiver), and it almost looks like a treehound kit itself. although considered an "apartment friendly" breed, it is still an active breed that needs proper exercise and enrichment. it is also a skittish breed, and while quick to bond with it's owner and other house members, they can be rather aloof with strangers. thus, whilst not a bad option, it's still a breed that needs some consideration.

BOBPUG     the bobpug is also a minifox breed, just a little bit bigger than the teacup fox. of all the breed listed here, the bobpug had perhaps the simplest usage.     this fox was bred purely for companionship. more specifically, it was bred to be as smart, calm and friendly as some of the larger treehound breeds, yet be small enough to fit in most homes. bassically, a miniature version of all the big guys listed above, minus size. this wasn't the first breed to have been bred for such reasons, but it's by far the most popular and well-known. they are often the second or third most popular breed to be used as service animals.     the bobpug gets its name from it's short face and naturally short tail (believed to have been unintentional by the breeders). like the teacup fox, it comes in a wide variety of colors and coat lengths; some varieties also have floppy ears like the speckled retriever. however, it is slightly bigger than the teacup fox, and unlike the teacup fox is is a rather calm, smart, easily-trained, and overall a very well-rounded breed. although they get along great with most owners, they're popular with elderly people and families with young kids due to being smaller and more patient.

[tumblr note: this was going to contain a short story attached to the original deviantart post, but this one is already long enough so i'm gonna make a seperate post about that]

[spiderlegsmusic]

Since the republicans have nothing, they are now pushing against the democrats saying crime is up. But see, crime is down. Violent crime is down 15% so they come back with “the numbers may be down but do you feel safer?” 🤣

Republicans think you’ll get shot everywhere and they’re the gun nuts! If you’re afraid you’ll get shot, why don’t you pass meaningful gun control legislation? Because you’re lying and trying to scare your old gullible viewers on FOX News.

They can’t come up with anything real to come up with so they make up a bunch of bullshit and because their audience aren’t the sharpest peanuts in the turd, they believe them

Pretending they’re afraid of gun crimes. Republicans have lost their minds completely and are just making shit up. Anyone who takes this seriously is not smart.

If they’re afraid of gun violence, stop flooding the cities with guns that come from Florida, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas which is where nearly all of the illegal guns apprehended by police in big cities come from because those places have lax gun laws where it’s too easy to buy guns.

Sorry, you GQPers can’t support the NRA and bitch about gun crimes. You don’t have a platform on which to pontificate because you’re stupid and everyone sees through your bullshit.

Don’t forget that FOX News had to pay $750 million in damages for lying by saying the 2020 election was stolen. They had no evidence and 61 courts rejected the GQP’s cases of election fraud because there was no evidence.

They think screaming about something makes it real. If that were the case, the way I scream about these brainless liars, they’d all have disappeared by now—FOX News, Newsmax, maga, the GQP congressmen, and that orange, tiny hand, convicted felon turd would be gone!

So nothing they say is real, everything they say is a bullshit talking point lie. Fuck these bozos and the people who believe in them should wake the fuck up and realize they are being lied to. There’s plenty of evidence but as we know, maga republicans don’t know what evidence is or what that word even means. They just repeat the lies they are told. Pathetic

[beardedmrbean]

DUNCAN, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said three family members have been charged in connection to the disturbing death of a special needs 13-year-old from Spartanburg County.

An investigation was launched into the death of Robert Blake Fish, who passed away on Oct. 8, 2022. He was diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome earlier in life, a severe medical condition that causes epilepsy and other developmental delays.

When first responders were called to his home in the fall of 2022, investigators said they found Fish left out on the porch. The teen was only 47 pounds when he died, officials said.

After an autopsy was completed, the coroner’s office listed Fish’s death as malnutrition and dehydration. Other significant conditions included withholding seizure medication, the coroner reported.

The teen was supposed to be on multiple different medications according to authorities, but he was not being given them by his mother, Hope Fish. Investigators said they found a bottle of seizure medicine for Fish at the home that had been filled five months earlier - and still had 85 pills inside.

After a lengthy investigation, Hope Fish, Freddie Fish II and Freddie Fish Senior were all charged and booked into the Spartanburg County Detention Center on April 24.

Hope Fish has been charged with murder, felony child abuse and unlawful neglect towards a child.

Freddie Fish II, the victim’s uncle, is facing accessory to murder and unlawful neglect towards a child charges.

Freddie Fish Sr., his grandfather, has been charged with unlawful neglect towards a child.

Hope Fish, Freddie Fish II and Freddie Fish Senior were all charged and booked into the Spartanburg County Detention Center

When Hope Fish was working, Freddie Fish Sr. was the boy’s primary caretaker. Officials said Freddie Fish II was also a trained caretaker and did not help him.

During a bond hearing on Thursday afternoon, Hope Fish and Freddie Fish II were denied bond. Freddie Fish Sr. was given a $5,000 bond.

According to an obituary for the 13-year-old he “never met a stranger” and was “always smiling and making those around him laugh.” He loved Mickey Mouse, Christmas and milkshakes from Cookout.

“Robert was the definition of an angel on earth,” his obituary says.

[ausetkmt]

Biden condemns white Supremacy at site of church shooting in South Carolina

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Courting Black voters he needs to win reelection, President Joe Biden on Monday denounced the “poison” of white supremacy in America, declaring at the site of a deadly racist church shooting in South Carolina that such ideology has no place in America, “not today, tomorrow or ever.”

Biden spoke from the pulpit of Mother Emanuel AME Church, where in 2015 nine Black parishioners were shot to death by the white stranger they had invited to join their Bible study. The Democratic president’s speech followed his blunt remarks last Friday on the eve of the anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, in which he excoriated former President Donald Trump for “glorifying” rather than condemning political violence.

At Mother Emanuel, Biden said “the word of God was pierced by bullets of hate, of rage, propelled not just by gunpowder, but by a poison, a poison that has for too long haunted this nation.”

That’s “white supremacy,” he said, the view by some whites that they are superior to other races. “It is a poison, throughout our history, that’s ripped this nation apart. This has no place in America. Not today, tomorrow or ever.”

It was a grim way to kick off a presidential campaign, particularly for someone known for his unfailing optimism and belief that American achievements are limitless. But it’s a reflection of the emphasis Biden and his campaign are placing on energizing Black voters amid deepening concerns among Democrats that the president could lose support from this critical constituency heading into the election.

Biden’s campaign advisers and aides hope the visit lays out the stakes of the race in unequivocal terms three years after the cultural saturation of Trump’s words and actions while he was president. It’s a contrast they hope will be paramount to voters in 2024.

AP AUDIO: Biden condemns white supremacy in a campaign speech at a SC church where Black people were killed.

AP correspondent Jennifer King reports.

Biden also used his second major campaign event of the year to thank the state’s Black voters. After an endorsement by Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn, one of the highest-ranking African Americans in the U.S. House, the state made Biden the winner of its Democratic presidential primary in 2020. That, in turn, set him on a path to become the party’s nominee and defeat Trump to win the presidency.

“I owe you,” he said.

Biden was briefly interrupted when several people upset over by his staunch support for Israel in its war against Hamas called out that if he really cared about lives lost he would call for a cease-fire in Gaza to help innocent Palestinians who are being killed under Israel’s bombardment. The chants of “cease-fire now” were drowned out by audience members chanting “four more years.”

The president also swiped at Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina, and Trump, without naming either one.

Haley was governor at the time of the shooting and gained national attention for her response, which included signing legislation into law removing the Confederate flag from the state Capitol. But she has been on the defensive recently for not explicitly naming slavery as the root cause of the Civil War when the question was posed at a campaign event. Her campaign responded Monday with a list of comments attributed to Biden that it said showed he’s racially insensitive.

Biden called it a “lie” that the war was about states’ rights. “So let me be clear, for those who don’t seem to know: Slavery was the cause of the Civil War. There’s no negotiation about that.”

Haley, speaking at a Fox News Channel town hall on Monday, pushed back that it was “offensive” for Biden to give a political speech at the church. She also raised Biden’s ties to Democratic segregationist senators early in his career.

During his successful 2020 run for the White House, Biden faced criticism from fellow Democratic contenders for alluding to his work with Sens. James Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia while trying to make a point about lost civility in national politics.

“I don’t need someone who palled around with segregationists in the ‘70s and has said racist comments all the way through his career lecturing me or anyone in South Carolina about what it means to have racism, slavery, or anything related to the Civil War,” Haley said.

On more current events, Biden noted the scores of failed attempts by Trump in the courts to overturn the 2020 election in an attempt to hold onto power, as well as the former president’s embrace of the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

“Let me say what others cannot: We must reject political violence in America. Always, not sometimes. Always. It’s never appropriate,” Biden said. He said “losers are taught to concede when they lose. And he’s a loser,” meaning Trump.

It was June 17, 2015, when a 21-year-old white man walked into the church and, intending to ignite a race war, shot and killed nine Black parishioners and wounded one more. Biden was vice president when he attended the memorial service in Charleston.

Biden’s aides and allies say the shootings are among the critical moments when the nation’s political divide started to sharpen and crack. Though Trump, the current Republican presidential front-runner, was not in office at the time and has called the shooting “horrible,” Biden is seeking to tie Trump’s current rhetoric to such violence.

Two years after the attack, as the “Unite The Right” gathering of white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, erupted in violent clashes with counterprotesters. Trump said merely that “there is blame on both sides.”

Biden and his aides argue it’s all part of the same problem: Trump refused to condemn the actions of the white nationalists at that gathering. He’s repeatedly used rhetoric once used by Adolf Hitler to argue that immigrants entering the U.S. illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country,” yet insisted he had no idea that one of the world’s most reviled and infamous figures had used similar words.

And Trump continues to repeat his false claims that he won the 2020 election, as well as his assertion that the Capitol rioters were patriotic and those serving prison time are “hostages.”

At Mother Emanuel, Biden revisited themes from the Jan. 6 anniversary speech he delivered Friday.

Biden has repeatedly suggested that democracy itself is on the ballot, asking whether it is still “America’s sacred cause.”

Trump, who faces 91 criminal charges stemming from his efforts to overturn his loss to Biden and three other felony cases, argues that Biden and other top Democrats are themselves seeking to undermine democracy by using the legal system to thwart the campaign of Biden’s chief rival.

South Carolina is the first official Democratic nominating contest where Biden wants another strong showing.

In an interview with The Associated Press before Biden’s appearance, Malcolm Graham, a brother of Charleston church victim Cynthia Graham-Hurd, said the threat of racism and hate-fueled violence is part of a needed national conversation about race and American democracy.

“Racism, hatred and discrimination continue to be the Achilles’ heel of America, of our nation,” said Graham, a city councilman in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Certainly, what happened to the Emanual Nine years ago is a visible example of that. What happened in Buffalo, years later, where people were killed under similar circumstances, shows that racism and discrimination are still real and it’s even in our politics.”

After the speech, Biden met privately with religious leaders and family members and survivors of the church shooting. He also dropped in at Hannibal’s Kitchen, a soul food restaurant, to shake hands.

Later Monday, Biden flew to Dallas to make a brief stop at a memorial service for Eddie Bernice Johnson, the influential former Texas congresswoman who died on New Year’s Eve. Johnson was 89.

Biden said in a statement last week that he and Johnson had worked together during her 30 years in Congress and he was grateful for her friendship and partnership.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

By Steve Benen

As the current Congress got underway, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy assured his members that he’d honor something called the “72-hour rule” — an informal commitment that assured Representatives that they’d have a few days to read legislation before it reached the floor for a vote.

With a dangerous debt ceiling deadline looming, and time running out, there was some speculation that House Republican leaders would simply waive the rule and advance the bipartisan “Fiscal Responsibility Act” faster. McCarthy, for good or ill, stuck to the policy.

Apparently, for some, that’s not quite good enough. For example, Republican Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, a House Freedom Caucus member, told reporters yesterday that he considers it an “insult” to only have a few days to read the bill.

The South Carolina Republican — perhaps best known for misspelling “marital law” while pushing the Trump White House to deploy the military to nullify the 2020 election — took the same message to Fox News, arguing, “It’s like the Pelosi days. You gotta pass it before you read it.” Norman added, “[W]e ought to have a lot more time” than 72 hours.

First, the fact that Republicans continue to screw up an innocuous 2010 quote from then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi remains disappointing.

Second, let’s not forget that the Fiscal Responsibility Act is only 99 pages. “War and Peace” it is not. What’s more, we’re talking about double-spaced pages, with a large font, generous margins, and a modest number of words per page.

Even a slow reader could get through this bill pretty easily in an afternoon.

Rep. Ted Lieu had a little fun at his far-right colleague’s expense. “Let’s do some math,” the California Democrat wrote on Twitter. “If GOP Rep Ralph Norman works 8 hours a day, that’s 24 hours over 3 days to read 99 pages. That comes out to reading a little over 4 pages every hour. And these are double spaced text pages. Alternatively, he can have AI summarize the bill for him in 1 [minute].”

Evidently, despite his complaints, the South Carolinian has apparently read enough of the bipartisan deal to know he doesn’t like it: Norman condemned the agreement as “insanity” a few hours after it was announced.

[ravenkings]

When Donald J. Trump responded to his latest indictment by promising to appoint a special prosecutor if he’s re-elected to “go after” President Biden and his family, he signaled that a second Trump term would fully jettison the post-Watergate norm of Justice Department independence.

“I will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the United States of America, Joe Biden, and the entire Biden crime family,” Mr. Trump said at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., on Tuesday night after his arraignment earlier that day in Miami. “I will totally obliterate the Deep State.”

Mr. Trump’s message was that the Justice Department charged him only because he is Mr. Biden’s political opponent, so he would invert that supposed politicization. In reality, under Attorney General Merrick Garland, two Trump-appointed prosecutors are already investigating Mr. Biden’s handling of classified documents and the financial dealings of his son, Hunter.

But by suggesting the current prosecutors investigating the Bidens were not “real,” Mr. Trump appeared to be promising his supporters that he would appoint an ally who would bring charges against his political enemies regardless of the facts.

The naked politics infusing Mr. Trump’s headline-generating threat underscored something significant. In his first term, Mr. Trump gradually ramped up pressure on the Justice Department, eroding its traditional independence from White House political control. He is now unabashedly saying he will throw that effort into overdrive if he returns to power.

Mr. Trump’s promise fits into a larger movement on the right to gut the F.B.I., overhaul a Justice Department conservatives claim has been “weaponized” against them and abandon the norm — which many Republicans view as a facade — that the department should operate independently from the president.

[...]

As the Republican Party has morphed in response to Mr. Trump’s influence, his attacks on federal law enforcement — which trace back to the early Russia investigation in 2017, the backlash to his firing of then-F.B.I. director James B. Comey Jr. and the appointment of Robert S. Mueller III as special counsel — have become enmeshed in the ideology of his supporters.

Mr. Trump’s top rival for the Republican nomination, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, also rejects the norm that the Justice Department should be independent.

“Republican presidents have accepted the canard that the D.O.J. and F.B.I. are — quote — ‘independent,’” Mr. DeSantis said in May on Fox News. “They are not independent agencies. They are part of the executive branch. They answer to the elected president of the United States.”

Several other Republican candidates acknowledged that Mr. Trump’s handling of classified documents — as outlined in the indictment prepared by the special counsel, Jack Smith, and his team — was a serious problem. But even these candidates — including Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, and former Vice President Mike Pence — have also accused the Justice Department of being overly politicized and meting out unequal justice.

The most powerful conservative think tanks are working on plans that would go far beyond “reforming” the F.B.I., even though its Senate-confirmed directors in the modern era have all been Republicans. They want to rip it up and start again.

[...]

[gardensgrey]

When people say Hillary should just "shut up and go away," I think back on this photograph. It's from the 3rd Presidential debate where Hillary destroyed Trump. He was humiliated. Remember? It was the debate where Hillary quipped back: "Well, that's because he [Putin] would rather have a *puppet* as President." The look on Trump’s face was priceless. No one had so thoroughly deconstructed and dismantled “The Donald” to his face -- in-front of millions. Maybe that’s why he still holds such a grudge against Hillary? And guess what? Hillary was right (as usual). Putin feared Hillary after witnessing her tenure as Secretary of State. He also realized Trump was a charlatan that stupid Americans would vote for. This led to a massive Russian propaganda effort to sway the election in Trump's favor. Ultimately, Trump won most of the swing states by less than 1% -- 80,000 total votes made Donald Trump the winner of the electoral college. This illegitimate victory has forever undermined our democracy and standing in the world -- exactly what Putin wanted. A weaker America. Twice in the last 20 years a Republican has lost the popular vote but won the electoral college. I simply can’t wait for the day a Democrat wins the electoral college but loses the popular vote. Republicans will freak out and never shut up about it. Point is -- Hillary proved during the debates that she is highly intelligent, articulate, tough, and can out-debate pretty much anyone. Hillary warned us first and she was right about pretty much everything: --The “deplorables.” --Trump's dangerous temperament: "A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons." --Dog-whistling to racists. --Collusion with Russia (Trump has never been able to win a fair fight -- I hope it was worth it, Donnie!) So when I hear people say Hillary should go hide under a rock, I look back at the debates. Why? Because after watching them no one can deny that Hillary Clinton has irreplaceable wisdom and irreplaceable experience. No one can deconstruct and dismantle Trump the way Hillary can. From his dog whistling to racists, dangerous temperament, and treason with a foreign government to steal the Presidency, Hillary calls out Trump like no one else can. I rarely see someone who is able to cut through Trump’s BS so articulately. That's why to this day Trump still attacks Hillary. He can't get over it. He can't get over the fact that she got 3 million more votes than he did (even despite Comey and Russia interfering). Deep down Trump knows he is a puppet that won because of outside forces (primarily the electoral college). On the contrary, Hillary is the rightful choice of the American people. Trump is an illegitimate President. Imagine if Russia and the FBI had favored Hillary and hurt Trump. Imagine if a Republican had won the popular vote but lost the electoral college. Would Fox News ever get over it? At the end of the day no woman has ever been a Presidential nominee for a major U.S. party. No woman has ever won the popular vote by 3 million votes. Except for former Yale graduate, lawyer, First Lady of Arkansas, First Lady of the United States, two-time New York Senator, and Secretary of State Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton. Personally, I'm loving the unfiltered Hillary. We truly need her voice now and forever. So never discount or dismiss Hillary's wealth of knowledge and ability to dismantle and deconstruct Trump. Hillary humiliated buffoon Trump during the debates. Never forget this. And remember -- any man with this resume would have easily won the Presidency: WATERGATE: Youngest lawyer ever appointed to an impeachment trial. 26-year-old Yale Law graduate Hillary Rodham. CHILDREN’S DEFENSE FUND: Investigated African American juveniles being placed in South Carolina adult prisons, and posed as a racist housewife to expose segregation throughout schools in the South. FIRST LADY OF ARKANSAS: Hillary successfully reformed the entire K-12 Arkansas educational system, expanded healthcare for those in rural Arkansas, worked at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Legal Services, and co-founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. First female partner of the Rose Law Firm. The joke in Arkansas was that they “hired the wrong Clinton.” FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Hillary spearheaded the Adoption and Safe Families Act, the Foster Care Independence Act, Office on Violence Against Women, the Campaign Against Teenage Pregnancy (lowering abortion and teenage pregnancy rates), and the Children’s Health Insurance Program — providing 8.9 million low-income children with healthcare access. In 1994, Hillary proclaimed on the world stage in Beijing, China: “If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights once and for all.” TWO-TIME NEW YORK SENATOR: Hillary secured 20 billion in federal funds to rebuild downtown New York City after 9/11. She also secured healthcare for 9/11 First Responders and expanded access to care for the National Guard, Reservists, and their families. U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Passed the first-ever U.N. Resolution on gay rights (proclaiming: “human rights are gay rights and gay rights are human rights” on the world stage), and made it so trans Americans can legally change their gender on their passport. Hillary also rebuilt relations with every nation after the disastrous Bush Administration, traveling to 112 countries — more than any other Secretary of State. Our worldwide favorability rose 20% during Hillary’s tenure. Her primary focus was on women’s rights and health, bringing up issues such as forced abortion and maternal mortality rates. Hillary re-opened relations with Burma, enacted a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and killed Osama Bin Laden. She also was instrumental in putting together the Paris Climate Agreement, something Trump has since removed us from. “I’ve been called many things by many people. Quitter is not one of them.” ~Hillary Rodham Clinton “When you stumble, keep faith. And when you’re knocked down, get right back up, and never listen to anyone who says you can’t or shouldn’t go on.” ~Hillary Rodham Clinton Hillary has shown us that we must never give up. To always be resilient. “Onward Together!” -- Hillary’s new organization that is helping train, equip, and fund progressive candidates across America.

[wawerrell]

Affirmative Action

Dissenting in Students for Fair Admission, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson describes the pernicious way that, in the wake of any law aimed at establishing meaningful equality, certain white Americans feel “slighted.”

This is nothing new; Justice Jackson illustrates this by citing the disastrous Civil Rights Cases of 1883, in which an 8-1 majority found the Civil Rights Act of 1875 to be unconstitutional, bringing an end to Reconstruction and an unconscionable halt to legal protections for Black Americans. The language of that majority opinion is eerily prescient; the author, Justice Joseph Bradley, writes what one might easily mistake for an evening monologue on Fox:

“When a [Black American], by the aid of beneficent legislation, has shaken off [enslavement], there must be some stage in the progress of his elevation when he takes the rank of a mere citizen,” Bradley the Bootstrapper writes on behalf of the Court, “and ceases to be the special favorite of the laws.” Bradley displaces responsibility for inequality from those who wrote the laws to those who were captives of the laws, complaining that, owing to the progressives’ insatiable appetite for equality, the scales of justice tipped too far toward favoring Black Americans. (It is all too easy to project more contemporary debates — the stubborn resistance to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Juneteenth as Federal holidays, for instance, or the mere existence of Black History Month — onto this one-hundred-forty-year-old opinion.)

Having defined the present injustice, Bradley then pivots to a two-part redefinition of the past. He first hearkens back to those halcyon days of racial harmony during slavery — “There were thousands of free colored people in this country before the abolition of slavery enjoying all the essential rights of life, liberty, and property the same as white citizens” — before lamenting the divisive overreach that indoctrinated ill will and sowed the seeds of racial discord: “yet no one at that time thought that it was any invasion of his personal status as a freeman because [the Black American] was not admitted to all the privileges enjoyed by white citizens.” Remember those bucolic days on the plantations when we just got along, when we weren’t taught to hate one another or ourselves simply because of the color of our skin?

If they hadn’t banned every book that mentions race (and weren’t incapable of stringing together a coherent compound-complex sentence), Moms for Liberty could have written that sentence. After all, white victimhood and wistful appeals to fake memories are not endemic to judicial arguments; they instead are so pervasive as to be the very bedrock undergirding American conservatism and the platform of major candidates.

Memory is a powerful, malleable, fallible thing, and, as a shepherd wields a crook, Republicans employ treacly glosses of the past to lull voters into a terminal nostalgia, one that has substituted “Leave it to Beaver” for actual childhood memories. Nikki Haley, spastic conservative colon of South Carolina and bush-league politician, is good for more than just compromising the Social Security Numbers of every South Carolinian; her rhetoric, clumsier and more obvious than Larry Craig in an airport bathroom, lays bare the big game: “Do you remember when you were growing up, do you remember how simple life was, how easy it felt? It was about faith, family, and country. We can have that again, but to do that, we must vote Joe Biden out.”

Life is never simple. Life has never been easy. But the “Again” in MAGA is nevertheless conjured up daily by conservative lotus eaters on Facebook who share insipid “copypasta” about how they rode their bikes for hours around the neighborhood and weren’t afraid of anything and school was mandatory and teachers were people you could trust and respect and how they watched their mouths around their elders and dressed respectably and how their angelic mothers wielded both fresh cookies and her wooden spoon and always stood there lovingly at the end of curfew with her arms akimbo when her boys showed up muddy.

Of course, such memories are patently fake: the middle of the century in America was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of civility, it was the age of sit-ins and German shepherds, it was the epoch of scientific wonder and space, it was the epoch of thalidomide and Agent Orange, it was the golden era of nonviolence, it was the bloated body of Emmett Till, it was afternoons spent without care, it was the Lavender Scare, it was the summer of flowers and love, it was the summer of assassinations.

Any glancing familiarity with or conversations about these wildly heterogenous realities, however, would eliminate the win condition for Republicans: that voters are stupid enough to conflate fake memories with real values. A Republican win requires willful denial, a blind embrace of a whitewashed past. Republicans need a “Mandela effect”: a fake memory in which Nelson does not die but instead publicly voices that he’s cool with Apartheid.

And because Republicans like DeSantis and Trump need an electorate with as complete a knowledge of American history as a CCPedia article on Tiananmen Square, they are hellbent on destroying education in America. As the “Woke Mind Virus” throws up cannons to the right, left, and front of the White Brigade, Republicans rush to codify provisos and slash budgets to ensure that only the most anemic history and only the most anodyne perspectives appear on any syllabus. (Shoutout to Mary Wood, ratted out by her students for daring to assign them Ta-Nehisi Coates.) As allegations of “grooming” and “indoctrination” abound in schoolboard debates, Charlie Smirk leads his benighted crusaders against college campuses, those petri dishes of communism and hedonism.

Affirmative action — to such empty suits the death knell of classical meritocratic education — was among the largest targets for conservatives; a less diverse campus, after all, means more “free speech” (i.e., bigoted speech without repercussion or consequence). All told, “Students for Fair Admissions, Inc.” is a grand old victory for the Republicans in their war against education.

The case was brought before the Supreme Court by an incorporated body of mediocre students, helicopter parents, alums who never framed their degrees, and the racist windbag Edward Blum — all purporting to have been treated unfairly, all bemoaning an imbalance in admissions. The only possible explanation for why they were rejected from Harvard or UNC, this corporation argues, is that their dream school lowered standards in order to admit a less-qualified and undeserving Black student — solely because of that applicant’s race. (Note that Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. did not target legacy and donor admissions. Makes you think!)

What is their “evidence” for this?

The existence of a Black student at any institution that has ever rejected a white applicant (or, with kudos to Blum’s excellent ventriloquism and shameless manipulation, an AAPI applicant).

In his opinion eliminating affirmative action, Chief Justice John Roberts directly rebukes Justice Jackson with a lengthy excerpt from a case thirteen years after “Civil Rights Cases”:

‘Justice Harlan knew better,’ one of the dissents decrees. Indeed he did: ‘[I]n view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here. Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.’

Most anyone who has written a high school paper will recognize Roberts’ brackets, which indicate a writer has meddled with a quotation. Roberts’ alteration here may seem small — the streamlining of a quotation; the weird APA practice of capitalizing after a colon — however, its diminutive size on paper belies its unbelievably large admission. Because in the full text of Harlan’s famous dissent to “Plessy v. Ferguson,” the word before “in” is “But”:

The white race deems itself to be the dominant race in this country. And so it is in prestige, in achievements, in education, in wealth and in power. So, I doubt not, it will continue to be for all time if it remains true to its great heritage and holds fast to the principles of constitutional liberty. But in view of the Constitution…

Harlan, born to a Kentucky family that purchased, owned, and sold humans, believed that, barring any perverse swerve away or premature exit from white “heritage,” white people were comfortably on cruise control in the United States. Such a supposition reveals his belief in a fair and balanced order of races, and that that “natural” hierarchy dictates that the white person — even an Abigail Fisher — “naturally” dominates non-whites.

The underlying belief of this corporation and the majority of the Supreme Court is not that different from Justice Harlan’s opinion (the portion, that is, John Roberts did not excerpt) and not that different from Justice Bradley’s: most anything past abolition and enfranchisement is undue overcompensation, the special treatment and even coddling of Black Americans. Race blindness in admissions, they believe, will restore the “fair and balanced order” that affirmative action jolted askew. Race blindness will ensure that only the most qualified applicants — which is to say the white applicants — receive large envelopes, thereby rectifying the imbalance and diminished standards of college campuses.

Top: Daniel A. Varela / Miami Herald via AP file

Bottom: AP Photo / Jose Luis Magana

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

March 5, 2024 (Tuesday)

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

MAR 6, 2024

Possibly the biggest story today in terms of its impact on most Americans’ lives is that as part of its war on junk fees, the Biden administration announced an $8 cap on late fees charged by credit card issuers that have more than a million accounts. These companies hold more than 95% of outstanding credit card debt. Currently, fees average $32, and they fall on more than 45 million people. The White House estimates that late fees currently cost Americans about $25 billion a year. The rule change will save Americans about $10 billion a year.

The administration also announced a “strike force” to crack down on “unfair and illegal pricing.” Certain corporations raised prices as strained supply chains made it more expensive to make their products. But after supply chains were fixed and their costs dropped, corporations kept consumer prices high and passed on record profits to their shareholders. The strike force will encourage federal agencies to share information to enable them to identify businesses that are breaking the law. 

Banking organizations and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce came out swinging. Executive vice president Neil Bradley said that such regulation “to micromanage how private businesses set prices will have the same result: shortages, fewer choices for consumers, a weaker economy, and less jobs.” 

And in what perhaps illustrates why voters don’t appear to know much about what the administration is doing, these stories have gotten far less attention today than the primaries and caucuses. 

Today is Super Tuesday, when 15 states and one territory choose their primary candidates for president and for the House of Representatives and the Senate (although in Alaska, only Republicans vote today and in American Samoa, only Democrats vote today). About 36% of Republican delegates will be awarded today, and that’s the side people will be watching because on the Democratic side, Biden has a virtually uncontested lead with the exception of candidate Jason Palmer, who won the Democratic caucuses in American Samoa.

Trump is expected to win today’s Republican contests, but observers are watching to see what percentage of the vote challenger Nikki Haley, former governor of South Carolina, takes from him. As I write this, she appears to have won Vermont and run strongly elsewhere, especially in the suburbs. Three states conducted exit polls and they, too, show warning signs for Trump as 78% of Haley voters in the North Carolina primary, 69% in California, and 68% in Virginia refused to say they would support the party’s nominee no matter who it is. 

It is also notable that polls showed Trump with a much stronger margin over Haley than materialized today. As Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo notes, it is not yet clear what that means.

Trump is on his way to becoming the Republican presidential nominee. On Friday the Republican National Committee (RNC) will meet in Houston to choose a new chair. The only people running are Trump loyalist Michael Whatley and Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who hope to become co-chairs. Natalie Allison reported today in Politico that the RNC will not vote on a resolution that would have prohibited the RNC from covering Trump’s legal bills. 

Trump is certainly in need of money. Today, his lawyers demanded a new trial in the second E. Jean Carroll case, complaining that the judge limited what he could say, and asked for a judgment figure significantly lower than the $83.3 million the jurors awarded. By the end of Friday, Trump must post either the money or a bond covering it.

This morning, Trump told Brian Kilmeade of Fox & Friends that he was not worried about coming up with the money to pay the $454 million he owes in the New York fraud case, or the interest it is accruing at more than $100,000 a day. “I have a lot of money. I can do what I want to do,” Trump said. “I don't worry about anything. I don't worry about the money. I don't worry about money.”

Yesterday, Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, admitted he lied under oath during his testimony in that case. He will be sentenced in April. 

Super Tuesday is also the day that the 2024 presidential campaign begins in earnest for those who had not previously been paying much attention, and Taylor Swift today urged her 282 million followers on Instagram “to vote the people who most represent YOU into power. If you haven't already, make a plan to vote today,” she wrote.

The presidential contest is only one of the many contests on the ballot today, but most of those results are not yet in. 

Although the Arizona primary will not be held until March 19, we did learn today that Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) will not run for reelection. Her exit will leave the Arizona senator’s race to election-denying Trump Republican Kari Lake, who lost the Arizona governorship in 2022 (although she continues to insist she won it), and Arizona Democratic representative Ruben Gallego. 

Just as voters don’t appear to know much about what the administration has done to make their lives better, a recent study from a Democratic pollster suggests that voters don’t seem to know much about Trump’s statements attacking democracy. When informed of them, their opinion of Trump falls.

Trump has called for mass deportations of immigrants and foreign-born U.S. citizens; on February 29, he said he would use local police as well as federal troops to round people up and move them to camps for deportation. Asked yesterday by a Newsmax host if he would “order mass deportations if you win the White House,” Trump answered: “Oh, day one. We have no choice. And we’ll start with the bad ones. And you know who knows who they are? Local police. Local police have to be given back their authority, and they have to be given back their respect and immunity.” 

On the one hand, caps to credit card late fees and an attempt to address price gouging; on the other hand, local police with immunity rounding up millions of people and putting them in camps, for deportation. And, in between the two, an election. 

People had better start paying attention. 

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 4.12

240 – Shapur I becomes co-emperor of the Sasanian Empire with his father Ardashir I. 467 – Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. 627 – King Edwin of Northumbria is converted to Christianity by Paulinus, bishop of York. 1012 – Duke Oldřich of Bohemia deposes and blinds his brother Jaromír, who flees to Poland. 1204 – The Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade breach the walls of Constantinople and enter the city, which they completely occupy the following day. 1606 – The Union Flag is adopted as the flag of English and Scottish ships. 1776 – American Revolution: With the Halifax Resolves, the North Carolina Provincial Congress authorizes its Congressional delegation to vote for independence from Britain. 1807 – The Froberg mutiny on Malta ends when the remaining mutineers blow up the magazine of Fort Ricasoli. 1820 – Alexander Ypsilantis is declared leader of Filiki Eteria, a secret organization to overthrow Ottoman rule over Greece. 1831 – Soldiers marching on the Broughton Suspension Bridge in Manchester, England, cause it to collapse. 1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Fort Sumter. The war begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. 1862 – American Civil War: The Andrews Raid (the Great Locomotive Chase) occurs, starting from Big Shanty, Georgia (now Kennesaw). 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Fort Pillow: Confederate forces kill most of the African American soldiers that surrendered at Fort Pillow, Tennessee. 1865 – American Civil War: Mobile, Alabama, falls to the Union Army. 1877 – The United Kingdom annexes the Transvaal. 1900 – One day after its enactment by the Congress, President William McKinley signs the Foraker Act into law, giving Puerto Rico limited self-rule. 1910 – SMS Zrínyi, one of the last pre-dreadnought battleships built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, is launched. 1917 – World War I: Canadian forces successfully complete the taking of Vimy Ridge from the Germans. 1927 – Shanghai massacre of 1927: Chiang Kai-shek orders the Chinese Communist Party members executed in Shanghai, ending the First United Front. 1927 – Rocksprings, Texas is hit by an F5 tornado that destroys 235 of the 247 buildings in the town, kills 72 townspeople and injures 205; third deadliest tornado in Texas history. 1928 – The Bremen, a German Junkers W 33 type aircraft, takes off for the first successful transatlantic aeroplane flight from east to west. 1934 – The strongest surface wind gust in the world at the time of 231 mph, is measured on the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire. It has since been surpassed. 1934 – The U.S. Auto-Lite strike begins, culminating in a five-day melee between Ohio National Guard troops and 6,000 strikers and picketers. 1937 – Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at Rugby, England. 1945 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies in office; Vice President Harry S. Truman becomes President upon Roosevelt's death. 1945 – World War II: The U.S. Ninth Army under General William H. Simpson crosses the Elbe River astride Magdeburg, and reaches Tangermünde—only 50 miles from Berlin. 1955 – The polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, is declared safe and effective. 1961 – Space Race: The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first crewed orbital flight, Vostok 1. 1963 – The Soviet nuclear-powered submarine K-33 collides with the Finnish merchant vessel M/S Finnclipper in the Danish straits. 1970 – Soviet submarine K-8, carrying four nuclear torpedoes, sinks in the Bay of Biscay four days after a fire on board. 1980 – The Americo-Liberian government of Liberia is violently deposed. 1980 – Transbrasil Flight 303, a Boeing 727, crashes on approach to Hercílio Luz International Airport, in Florianópolis, Brazil. Fifty-five out of the 58 people on board are killed. 1980 – Canadian runner and athlete, Terry Fox begins his Marathon of Hope Run in St. John's, NF. 1981 – The first launch of a Space Shuttle (Columbia) takes place: The STS-1 mission. 1983 – Harold Washington is elected as the first black mayor of Chicago. 1990 – Jim Gary's "Twentieth Century Dinosaurs" exhibition opens at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. He is the only sculptor ever invited to present a solo exhibition there. 1992 – The Euro Disney Resort officially opens with its theme park Euro Disneyland; the resort and its park's name are subsequently changed to Disneyland Paris. 1999 – United States President Bill Clinton is cited for contempt of court for giving "intentionally false statements" in a civil lawsuit; he is later fined and disbarred. 2002 – A suicide bomber blows herself up at the entrance to Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda Market, killing seven people and wounding 104. 2007 – A suicide bomber penetrates the Green Zone and detonates in a cafeteria within a parliament building, killing Iraqi MP Mohammed Awad and wounding more than twenty other people. 2009 – Zimbabwe officially abandons the Zimbabwean dollar as its official currency. 2010 – Merano derailment: A rail accident in South Tyrol kills nine people and injures a further 28. 2013 – Two suicide bombers kill three Chadian soldiers and injure dozens of civilians at a market in Kidal, Mali. 2014 – The Great Fire of Valparaíso ravages the Chilean city of Valparaíso, killing 16 people, displacing nearly 10,000, and destroying over 2,000 homes.

[sa7abnews]

Florida woman missing in South Carolina after vehicle found empty with keys inside

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/16/florida-woman-missing-in-south-carolina-after-vehicle-found-empty-with-keys-inside/

Florida woman missing in South Carolina after vehicle found empty with keys inside

A Florida woman is missing in South Carolina after authorities found her empty vehicle off a dirt road in Allendale County with the keys still inside on Tuesday night, according to the sheriff’s office.Callers reported Jessica Rapsys, 27, missing on Aug. 13 around 8 p.m., and gave Allendale County dispatch an address along a dirt road by Creek Plantation – a private tract of land in Martin currently used for horse breeding, according to the county’s website.It is still unclear why Rapsys was in the Creek Plantation area on Tuesday, Allendale County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Steven Robinson told Fox News Digital.Robinson, who responded to the scene of Rapsys’ disappearance himself on the evening of Aug. 13, said the area where officials located her vehicle is “heavily wooded and swampy,” particularly after recent heavy rainfall in the area.FAMED CALIFORNIA KIDNAPPING HOAXER SHERRI PAPINI BREATHES NEW LIFE INTO SCHOOLMATE’S 1998 DISAPPEARANCE”The vehicle was stuck on the railroad tracks. We notified CSX, the railroad company, to halt all the trains coming through that area,” Robinson said.Authorities also conducted a preliminary check of Rapsys’ vehicle, “which had no one in or around it,” Robsinson said. FAMILY OF TEXAS A&M STUDENT FOUND DEAD AFTER PICKING UP UBER EATS ORDER SUSPECTS FOUL PLAYEmployees at Creek Plantation searched the area on horseback Tuesday, according to the chief deputy.”It was dark.… We needed as much assistance as we could get,” he added.INVESTIGATORS HUNT MELISSA WITTS’ ARKANSAS KILLER 30 YEARS AFTER MYSTERIOUS TRAIL OF BLOODThe sheriff’s department called in authorities from neighboring counties, including Hampton County, which responded with bloodhounds. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) dispatched a tracking team to the area on Tuesday evening.On Wednesday morning, the Department of Energy aviation unit launched two helicopters over the area and began conducting grid searches along with SLED, Robinson said. The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources also dispatched four-wheelers on Wednesday.The Creek Plantation area comprises 2,526 “acres of timberlands and open fields used for agriculture,” according to the Allendale County website.Rapsys is described as a 27-year-old woman with blonde hair and brown eyes. She is about 5 feet, 6 inches tall. Anyone with information about her disappearance is asked to call 803-584-7067 or the communications non-emergency line 803-584-8152.

[weather-usa]

Death toll from Debby rises to 7 as North Carolina homeowner killed by tornado

FEMA's Urban Search and Rescue Team discovered the body of a missing person on Lloyd Road in Lucama, North Carolina, according to Stephen Mann, the director of communications for Wilson County, who confirmed the fatality to FOX Weather. The individual's home collapsed on them during a likely tornado early Thursday morning.

Tropical Storm Debby claimed another life on Thursday after making its second landfall near Bulls Bay, South Carolina, overnight. As the storm slowly moves up the Eastern Seaboard, it is creating a dangerous flood and tornado threat for millions of Americans.

FEMA's Urban Search and Rescue Team found the body of a missing person on Lloyd Road in Lucama, North Carolina, according to Stephen Mann, Wilson County's director of communications, who confirmed the fatality to FOX Weather. The individual’s house collapsed during a tornado early Thursday morning.

This raises Debby’s death toll to seven.

Springfield Middle School in Lucama also sustained extensive damage, likely from the same tornado. Wilson County Schools Superintendent Lane Mills described the damage to FOX Weather as heartbreaking. The tornado seems to have hit the 6th- and 7th-grade halls the hardest, with sections of the roof and walls either missing or severely compromised.

Climate and Average Weather Year Round in 18428 - Hawley PA:

"I am thankful that students and staff were not in the building during the time of the storm," Mills said. "This situation will be ongoing, and we don’t yet know the full extent of the damage, but we will be sharing information and next steps with our families and staff as we can."

The National Weather Service in Wilmington, North Carolina, also issued Flash Flood Warnings on Thursday morning for several counties in southeastern North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina.

Emergency management reported that thunderstorms were producing heavy rain in Bladenboro, North Carolina, just before 5 a.m. ET, after 5-8 inches of rain had already fallen, flooding all roadways leading into the town. In response, Bladen County Emergency Services issued a voluntary evacuation order for residents in and around Bladenboro.

While patrolling in Bladen County, two deputies narrowly avoided being hit by a large tree that fell across Highway 87. Both deputies escaped without injuries, though the patrol car's windshield was shattered. The sheriff's office reported that the deputies were able to prevent multiple vehicles from colliding with the fallen tree.

"This is a reminder of why it's important to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary," the deputies stated. "Law enforcement throughout Bladen County is always taking extra precautions to keep residents as safe as possible."

Debby's heavy rain and strong winds have also led the PGA to postpone the first round of the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, until Friday.

Weather Forecast For 59901-Kalispell-MT:

https://www.behance.net/gallery/201158941/Weather-Forecast-For-59901-Kalispell-MT

President Joe Biden has approved emergency declarations for Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Florida. These declarations authorize FEMA to provide federal assistance to protect lives, property, and public health and safety.

What is the forecast for Debby?

After making its initial landfall along Florida’s Big Bend on Monday morning as a Category 1 hurricane, Debby unleashed over 20 inches of rain, sent storm surges flooding into Southwest Florida, and caused power outages for more than 300,000 customers at the storm's peak.

Heavy rainfall is expected to continue across southeastern North Carolina and eastern South Carolina through Friday, resulting in significant flooding, according to the National Hurricane Center. The NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center has issued a Level 4 flood risk, the highest on its scale, for parts of southeastern and north-central North Carolina and western Virginia on Thursday. This flood risk will shift to the Northeast on Friday.

As Debby moves further inland on Thursday, it will bring the worst of the flooding, with widespread rainfall of 3-6 inches expected and localized amounts reaching up to 15 inches across portions of southeastern and north-central North Carolina, including Raleigh, Greensboro, Charlotte, and Fayetteville. A few tornadoes are also likely in central and eastern North Carolina and southern and central Virginia. Numerous rivers are predicted to rise to moderate or major flood stages.

In response to the threat, a Tornado Watch has been issued for much of Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina through the evening, including the nation’s capital, which will remain under the watch into the early hours of Friday.

See more:

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-32026

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-32030

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-32033

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-32034

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-32035

Starting Friday, the storm system will finally begin to move northward, with heavy rain spreading into the Northeast, according to the FOX Forecast Center. Significant flooding is possible on Friday and Saturday, from the Carolinas up through Maine.

[masterofd1saster]

CJ current events 21mar24

Pornhub has shut down access in Texas.

Pornhub wants you to know its feelings hurt over Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, 23-50627 (5th Cir. 2024).

CV NEWS FEED // Pornhub has ceased offering its explicit website in the state of Texas, citing the Lone Star State’s passage of a law that protects children from viewing online pornography. The Houston Chronicle reported Thursday that visitors who attempt to access Pornhub’s site from Texas “are now greeted with a long message from the company railing against the legal change as ‘ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous.’” “The company calls for age verification by the makers of devices that let people on the internet, instead of individual websites,” the Chronicle added. Pornhub wrote in its message to users: “As you may know, your elected officials in Texas are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you to access our website.”***

Oh, no. If you're a Texan who like pr0n, how will you survive?

***

CIA was at the Capitol on January 6????

&

&

&

ATF SRT After Action Report, Activation Number SRT- 21-075 (Jan. 6-7, 2021).

WT Flock?

***

Testify against Clinton or something?

Police said the Boeing whistleblower found dead in his car outside a South Carolina hotel last Saturday was found with a "silver handgun" and a "white piece of paper that closely resembled a note," Newsweek reported Friday. The Charleston Police Department said it was still making inquiries about John Barnett, who was discovered in a hotel car park with a single gunshot wound to the head.*** A coroner’s report said Barnett, 62, died from a "self-inflicted" wound, though a close family friend of Barnett’s told WCIV-TV,"I know he did not commit suicide." "He wasn't concerned about safety because I asked him," the friend said. "I said, 'Aren't you scared?' And he said, 'No, I ain't scared, but if anything happens to me, it's not suicide.' "*** https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/john-barnett-boeing-handgun/2024/03/15/id/1157484

***

Colorado Prison Director is "TRAVIS TRANI?"

Colorado is poised to become the first state in the country with segregated holding cells for transgender women in prison, if a judge signs off on it.  After a class action lawsuit was filed by several transgender inmates in 2019 against the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) alleging discrimination, harassment and assault, a judge is scheduled to rule on a consent decree that would bring further changes – including surgical sex changes and hormone treatment – to the state's penitentiary, Fox News Digital has learned.  The consent decree, a court-ordered settlement in a legal dispute, would also require all trans women currently or previously in CDOC to receive a $2.1 million payout, depending on the severity of the alleged assault, discrimination and harassment while in prison. Rewards could range from $1,000 to $10,000 per plaintiff. *** The decree would enact several changes. First, it would create two separate housing units for transgender women inmates: the "Voluntary Transgender Unit" (VTU) at the men's Sterling Correctional Facility, and the "Integration Unit" (IU) at the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility.*** Greisen told Fox News Digital the decree would also "allow the class members to transition to gender-affirming housing at the women’s facility, and ensure that necessary medical and mental health treatment will be provided." *** https://www.foxnews.com/politics/colorado-to-become-the-first-state-to-build-separate-inmate-units-for-transgender-women

Raven v. Polis, 2019CV34492 (Denver D.).

Nothing in the consent decree says transgender people won't or can't be incarcerated in women's prisons. You might be a small woman serving a sentence for a non violent crime sharing a judicially approved cell with

Keith Rivers, 46, now known as "Cupcake," is currently serving a life sentence for murdering a victim outside a tavern in 1999. According to the class action lawsuit, Rivers came out as transgender in 2004 *** Another plaintiff, Andre Karpierz, 47, who goes by "Lavinya," is also serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for first degree murder. Karpierz is currently being held in the Denver Womens Correctional Facility, according to CDOC records.

***

Funny duffleblog -

Military aide must ‘dummy cord’ nuclear football after leaving it on Biden’s Corvette

"I guess finger sandwiches are more important than nuclear security, huh?"

Whiskey Fueled Tirade March 18, 2024 THE WHITE HOUSE – Lt. Col. Jason Schmutz will be required to ‘dummy cord’ the President’s Emergency Satchel, commonly referred to as the ‘nuclear football,’ to his body after leaving it on top of President Biden’s 1967 Corvette Stingray, sources confirmed today.  “What a f*cking newb,” White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told the Duffel Blog. “The nuclear football sat on the hood of the President’s ‘shaggin’ wagon’ for the better part of an hour while Schmuckatelli was stuffing his face.” This is not the first time sensitive materials were left in the vicinity of the president’s sports car. In 2023, it came to light that President Biden had classified documents stored in his garage next to his Corvette.*** Sources say Schmutz was eating lunch in the West Wing when he stopped eating and looked around his seat, turned pale, and ran out of the Navy Mess. By the time he reached the President’s Corvette, a Secret Service agent had secured the nuclear briefcase and handed it over to the White House Military Office sergeant major.  “Missing something, sir?”, the sergeant major asked, the briefcase sitting on his desk next to a large spool of 550 paracord. “I spoke with the Chief of Staff and he thought it might be a good idea if we made it, uhh, a bit more difficult to leave your weapon system here behind, hooah?”*** “He messed up but I think he can still recover,” Schmutz’s colonel said as he signed career-ending UCMJ paperwork for an enlisted servicemember who lost his government cell phone. “He’s a good officer and man can he run fast.” At press time, Schmutz was seen walking toward Marine One next to the President, the nuclear football tethered to his Army Green Service Uniform belt. https://www.duffelblog.com/p/military-aide-must-dummy-cord-nuclear-football-after-leaving-it-on-biden-s-corvette

***

Why try to hide it?

Both https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/maryland-church-teacher-accused-of-child-sex-abuse/3565670/ and https://wjla.com/news/local/sexual-abuse-teacher-derwood-montgomery-county-police-department-ervin-jeovany-alfaro-lopez-minor-children-charges-arrest-multiple-charges-crime report that Ervin Jeovany Alfaro-Lopez molested multiple kids at a church in Maryland.

What they fail to mention is that Alfaro-Lopez is "an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador who has been deported twice from the United States." Even MSN can see how that's relevant. https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/ervin-jeovany-alfaro-lopez-maryland-church-teacher-charged-with-child-abuse-is-a-twice-deported-illegal-migrant.

***

Yeah, so?

An expert who has testified in foster care cases across Colorado admits her evaluations are unscientific

https://i0.wp.com/www.denverpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/TDP-Z-20230410-Bailey-Colorado-Interveners-01-1.jpg?fit=780%2C9999px&ssl=1

Diane Baird, LCSW, at her desk in Wheat Ridge. (Photo by Trent Davis Bailey for ProPublica)

Diane Baird had spent four decades evaluating the relationships of poor families with their children. But last May, in a downtown Denver conference room, with lawyers surrounding her and a court reporter transcribing, she was the one under the microscope. Baird, a social worker and professional expert witness, has routinely advocated in juvenile court cases across Colorado that foster children be adopted by or remain in the custody of their foster parents rather than being reunified with their typically lower-income birth parents or other family members. In the conference room, Baird was questioned for nine hours by a lawyer representing a birth family in a case out of rural Huerfano County, according to a recently released transcript of the deposition obtained by ProPublica. Was Baird’s method for evaluating these foster and birth families empirically tested? No, Baird answered: Her method is unpublished and unstandardized, and has remained “pretty much unchanged” since the 1980s. It doesn’t have those “standard validity and reliability things,” she admitted. “It’s not a scientific instrument,” Eli Hager reports.

If you thought social work was a science, I really must ask you to drop the crack pipe.

+++

Watched a really good movie, Regression (2015). Shrink purported to offer scientific advice on interrogation in a ritual satanic abuse case. trailer The result was false accusations.

***

BB -

***

Aspiring drag queens have the right to Equal Protection

SHANGELA WAS A breakthrough star. With her sharp-tongued retorts, viral catchphrases, and distinctive Southern accent, the gregarious Texas drag queen quickly rose to become one of RuPaul’s Drag Race’s most beloved contestants. “[It’s] like ‘Angela’ with an ‘S-H,’” she explained on the show. “The debutantess of the Deep South.” Despite an early Season Two elimination when the queen was in her late twenties, a more polished version of the future star returned to the runway for two other installments in the show’s franchise. Drag Race fans often complain that she was robbed of the crown during her appearance on the show’s All Stars spinoff. “She’s amazing. We’ve actually put her on the show, like, three times?” RuPaul told Andy Cohen in 2022. “She’s a fabulous queen.”*** But behind the curtain — in hotel rooms and apartments — four people allege to Rolling Stone that Darius Jeremy (“DJ”) Pierce, the man behind the famous drag persona, either sexually assaulted them or attempted to have sex with them when they were too inebriated to consent. A fifth person claims Pierce attempted anal penetration in a bathroom closet despite rejecting his advances. *** Five people independently described nights out with Pierce when they were between the ages of 18 and 23. All five said that Pierce, nearly double their age and fresh off headline-grabbing spots on the silver screen and awards-show red carpets, drank with them through the late hours of the night and into the morning. The accusers all said they were acutely aware of Shangela’s celebrity status — three people said they were aspiring drag queens. *** https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/shangela-rupaul-drag-race-sexual-assault-1234974148/

***

Thurs

Good parents?

HOUSTON – A trio of suspected bank robbers dubbed “little rascals” are in custody, according to FBI Houston. The three boys are accused of robbing a Wells Fargo in the 10200 block of North Freeway. “They are 11, 12, and 16-year-old boys charged locally with robbery by threat. Because they are juveniles, their names, and no additional details will be released,” FBI Houston said on X, formerly known as Twitter. According to KPRC 2, KSAT’s sister station in Houston, the group of suspects demanded cash from a bank teller.*** Two of the suspects were arrested after their parents allegedly noticed them in the security footage and contacted law enforcement, according to CNN.*** https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2024/03/20/group-of-children-dubbed-little-rascals-arrested-for-robbing-wells-fargo-bank-fbi-says

***

Free speech case

Rubbing it in.

***

If you want to work at that school, they prolly want your fingerprints

Bensenville, Illinois - Chicago suburb

***