Sarah Bonner, a teacher at Heyworth Middle School in Illinois, held a “book tasting” for her students. During the tasting, she offered students a variety of books to choose from, including “This Book Is Gay” by Juno Dawson. The book is a nonfiction guide to LGBTQ+ identities and experiences.
Some parents of Bonner’s students were upset that she had offered the book, and they filed a police report against her, alleging child endangerment. The police investigated the report, but they ultimately decided not to press charges.
Bonner has defended her decision to offer the book, saying that she wanted to provide her students with a diverse range of reading material. She has also said that she believes that “This Book Is Gay” is an important book for young people to read, as it can help them to understand and celebrate their own identities.
Conservative pundit Matt Walsh reacted to this news story, and said that “…according to this groomer teacher the only way to treat the quote unquote LGBT Community equally is to sexualize and groom children.”
Donald Trump discussed his plans to combat critical race theory and “…transgender insanity” at his speech in Greensboro, North Carolina and received a standing ovation. Trump took note of the reaction: “It’s amazing how strongly people feel about that. I talk about cutting taxes, people go like that, i talk about transgender everybody goes crazy. five years ago you didn’t know what the hell it was.”
Sam hosts independent journalist Erin Reed to discuss the recent spate of anti-trans bills working their way through state legislatures across the country. Then they’re joined by Joshua Landis, head of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, to discuss Syria’s recent re-introduction into the Arab League. First, Sam runs through updates on the Florida grand jury Trump case, Mark Meadows’ testimony against Trump, the continuing environmental emergency in the American northeast, right-wingers leaving behind their gas stove schtick, Tucker’s Twitter show, and US-Ukraine intelligence on the Nord Stream fiasco, also diving into the absurdity of economists sticking with their decades-old unemployment lies. Erin Reed then dives right into assessing the state of the right-wing’s attack on trans people nationwide, exploring how they got the entire GOP on board despite the topic’s electoral failures, and why Florida is a good case study for the fundamentalist dystopia they want to create. Wrapping up, Erin tackles the similarities we see between transphobic healthcare legislation and abortion TRAP laws, discusses the fight between progressive and fundamentalist states over border rights and trans care, and why parental rights might wind up saving trans lives in court.
Hello everyone. I have put off writing this all day. First I have not felt well and second I wanted to do it without sounding overdramatic. But Ron’s panic when he saw the EKG’s and his insistence that if it ever happens again I must wake him right away, I think a little drama is warranted.
Last night, I had a dream unlike any dream I have had before. Something to keep in mind is that other than my nightmares about my childhood abuse, I have the ability to gain superpowers in my dreams. Even in dreams dealing with my adoptive father lately I have seen my self trying to stand up to him, even if I am unable to get the words out that I want to shout and instead being woken / waking up with Ron trying hard to help me and telling me I am either shouting or making guttural sounds at a large volume.
Last night was different, I had no powers, and in my dream I knew I was about to die. The dream took place in the front yard facing the street in a home we use to own. One of my favorite homes. It was very dark, no moon, and was slightly raining. We also had rain last night. In my dream as I twisted and danced to avoid stepping in a large puddle on our walkway to the street, (I did not have and did not seem to need my ever present canes) a black car pulled up in the street next to me. A woman was in the car and gesturing to me, I could see this because she had the inside car dome light on. As I approached the street she pulled up to the curb in the next door home.
As I walked toward the car she pulled into the driveway of the home. I was not sure what to do so I stood there in the yard. The woman got out of the car and had a large double barrel shot gun and pointed it at me as she walked towards me. I turned to run but tripped and fell on the ground.
As I rolled over she was less than five feet from me with the gun pointed at me. In my mind / dream I knew she was going to shoot me. In the dream I remember thinking she is going to kill me and I cannot do anything to stop her. Then I woke up with my Apple watch buzzing like crazy on my wrist. Unlike Ron or James, I wear my watch all night. The watch was displaying a red alert saying I was in AFIB. I really couldn’t process what the watch said as I did not have my glasses on and I was struggling to breathe.
After a while I calmed down and got my glasses and ran an EKG from my phone. That also came back bad with AFIB. I laid in bed for another 45 minutes cuddling with Ron before doing it again. The reason I did it again was I was again having shortness of breath. It again came back with AFIB. My chest hurt so I got up.
When I did so I woke Ron and that is normal. He asked what was going on and I stupidly said my heart was in AFIB and I stupidly told him the truth, that I was having trouble breathing and my watch was saying I was in AFIB. Ron worked 16 years in the Open Heart ICU and I don’t think I have ever seen him out of bed that quickly. He demanded to see the EKGs, so I gave him my phone. That started a morning of checks, repeat checks, lots of me being told to do this, don’t do that, and being watched like a toddler around open live electrical wires. After I had my coffee and breakfast, my heart rate returned to sinus rhythm. It has stayed that way all day. The breathing problem is much worse at night when I am laying down in bed. Anyway, that is what happened. I was not scared until Ron seemed to be so upset. I never had a dream where I was in danger and couldn’t save myself that was not related to my childhood abuse. This time I knew she was going to shoot me and I was going to die. Weird. Hugs
Read the full article. Josh McKoon [photo above] first appeared on JMG in 2015 when he introduced an ultimately failed bill to legalize anti-LGBTQ discrimination by businesses and employers. In 2016, he appeared here for his pointless bill to “protect” preachers who refuse to officiate same-sex marriages. According to McKoon, the veto of his 2016 bill by GOP then-Gov. Nathan Deal was “slap in the face to conservatives, to evangelicals and to the broader faith community.”
The Confederate monuments (and the flag) are kept around to keep the flame alive that the South is gonna rise up again, and next time they’re gonna win. I can’t tell you how many times I heard “The South shall rise again!” growing up. Far too many Southern whites are still bitter about losing the war and having slavery taken away from them. And the end of segregation just made them even angrier. The Union may have won the war, but far too many Southern whites remain unreconstructed in their heart and mind. They revere the monuments for what they stand for. So, I’m not one bit surprised that the Georgia GOP wants to keep those monuments in place.
O/T: Ms Lindsey’s staunch defense and filthy boudoir mouth at yesterday’s interview explained:
The program enables schools that predominantly serve children from low-income backgrounds to offer all students free breakfast and lunch, instead of means-testing them and having to manage collecting applications on an individual basis. As with many universal-oriented programs, it is more practically efficient and, as a bonus, lifts all boats. This is what Republicans are looking to eliminate.
NEW: The New Republic is reporting that Republicans are focused on banning free lunch for America’s school children. Despite ample need, Republicans believe exacerbating child hunger is a winning message for them in 2024. @newrepublichttps://t.co/P7FcHycoGl
— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) June 15, 2023
mkbear68a day ago Because those poor kids cold get a job and pay for their own damn lunch!
and pull them out of school so they are both poor and dumb …equals perfect Fox New viewers.
… well because we all know that nothing says “Loving Christian” better than “Hungry Poor Children”.
now they can live in fear of being human trafficked. By their own parents because they cannot afford to feed them.
GOP: “Why should I pay for free lunches for those rugrats? Let their whore mothers who should have kept their knees together pay for their lunches.”
Also GOP: “Anybody who even gives a pregnant 14-year-old a ride to a state that offers abortions gets the death sentence.”
It is not about abortion… or anything except policing women’s sexuality, keeping the poor poor, and maintaining the rich white cishet “Christian” men from feeling threatened in anyway.
I used to work for my State’s Free Lunch program. You wouldn’t believe the number of kids who told me that the School Lunch was the only real meal they got all day. And they feared the coming of summer because it meant the wouldn’t be getting a real meal until school started again.
You have to be really malignant to pull a meal out of a hungry kid’s mouth.
Gregory In Seattle2 days ago This is what Republicans want for us all. While they might mouth platitudes against violence, this is EXACTLY what they and right wing propaganda outlets stir up with their incessant, vitriolically hateful rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ communities.
JackFknTwist3 days ago Aged 21 and 23. They must know fucking everything at that age. They must be so bright, politically astute and have vast knowledge of international history. Or else they are another pair of ‘fucking morons’ (thanks Rex) or Evangelicals or pro-life , again fucking morons. Or all of the above
Doug1054 days ago A common statement from the religious side of this issue goes something like this “stop shoving your gay agenda down our throats”. In the same breath, they go on to say, “You don’t see us shoving our religion down your throat”. Well then… Have you ever had a homosexual knock on your door (usually around dinner time) asking if you have found Elton John? Have homosexuals ever passed laws that make the government print “In Homosexuality We Trust” on your money? When was the last time homosexuals passed laws that rewrote the Pledge of Allegiance to say, “One Homosexual Nation”? Have homosexuals erected a monument with Marc Jacobs’ top 10 fashion rules at your local courthouse? Have any homosexual groups spent millions trying to pass laws to outlaw marriage between a woman and a man? Have homosexual activists worked to pass laws limiting birth control, abortion, etc? Did a homosexual ever prevent you from buying liquor or a car on Sunday? Is there a book promoting homosexuality in almost every hotel room in the country? Have homosexuals pushed for laws to make the missionary position illegal? Have homosexuals tried to pass a law allowing them to legally refuse service to Christians? Right, they have never shoved their religious agenda down our collective throats.
As a liberal, I am constantly accused of being intolerant for not accepting someone’s hateful or repressive convictions. It’s as if “tolerance” has come to mean accepting and respecting someone else’s views, regardless of what they are or who they affect. And that’s wrong.
Tolerance: a fair, objective and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc.,. Differ from one’s own; freedom from bigotry
Being open-minded does not mean arbitrarily respecting everyone and accepting everything. There are things that no one should tolerate, such as bigotry, suppression of liberty, denial of equal rights, and abusive restrictions.
I try to preach and practice tolerance, but I do not have to tolerate anyone’s intolerance. There is never an excuse or justification for hatred or abuse.
Read the full article. Kristina Karamo, you will recall, says Democrats drink the blood of children and that demonic possession is sexually transmitted. She last appeared here when she compared a gun control bill to the Holocaust.
This may be the start of getting our democracy back. How far will the hard right Justices be willing to go to ignore racial injustice to remain white republican power? Hugs
I posted this last year when it first came out. I want to repost it. The message at the end is so vital and important to what is happening today. If you are not willing to listen to Beau and you should, he relates the tale that 30 years ago he was dating a girl who it turned out her father was a die hard racist bigot. The girl was mortified by this. The point that Beau makes at the end of the story is that just as the people who protested and railed against the mixing of the blacks and whites back then are thought of as weird stupid bigots the people doing this to the LGBTQ+ people today will be thought of in the same way. Of course Beau is more generous than I am, if these bigots manage to make the US the Christian nationalist theocracy they want then no one will be free to look back badly on them, look at Iran, the Taliban in Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia among other religious countries that are ruled by church doctrines instead of secular laws acknowledging advancements in understanding of all things since their holy books were written. Hugs
Scottie's Playtime 