Month: February 2025

Thailand’s Public Health Ministry Will Allocate More Than $4 Million for Trans Health Care

https://www.them.us/story/thailand-gender-affirming-care-funding-government

Even as right wing media is desperately trying to erase the gains made by the LGBTQ+ communities here and in the UK, worldwide we see more and more acceptance for LGBTQ+ people.   Maybe there are no rabid Christians trying to force the entire country to worship their version of god based on their church doctrine.    Those people do what we first did, they got out among the people, they stood up to be counted, they were vocal on social media.  We better get back out there.  Send the best speakers to these places to correct and spewed misinformation / lies.  They wore shirts with their pride on them.  I am going to buy a few as soon as I get paid.  I need new shirts anyway.  Hugs 

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According to the The Bangkok Post these health services are expected to provide care for around 200,000 trans people.

By Abby Monteil 

January 28, 2025

Image may contain Parade Person Accessories Bracelet Jewelry and Pride Parade

SOPA Images/Getty Images

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On the heels of legalizing same-sex marriage, Thailand’s Public Health Ministry is now allocating 145.63 million baht (roughly $4.3 million) toward funding health services, including hormone replacement therapy (HRT), for transgender citizens.

 

The Southeast Asian country’s National Health Security Board approved the funding during its 2025 budget planning. The Bangkok Post reports that these health services are expected to provide care for around 200,000 trans people out of the country’s estimated trans population of 314,808. Deputy government spokesman Anukool Pruksanusak said in a statement that the Public Health Ministry’s coverage of gender-affirming healthcare aims to reduce national health disparities by emphasizing both physical and mental healthcare for “sexually diverse individuals,” per the Bangkok Post.

article image
 

Earlier this week, thousands of queer Thai couples tied the knot as Thailand officially began recognizing marriage equality on January 22, making it the first Southeast Asian country and the third Asian country overall to do so. Under the legislation, same-sex couples are entitled to the same legal, financial, and medical rights afforded to married heterosexual couples, including inheritance and adoption rights.

“This marriage equality law marks the beginning of Thai society’s greater awareness of gender diversity, and our embrace of everyone regardless of sexual orientation, race, or religion — our affirmation that everyone is entitled to equal rights and dignity,” Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said in a recorded statement played at a mass wedding in the Thai capital city of Bangkok on January 22, according to CNN.

The Russian nothingburger is back on the menu, by Ann Telnaes

If you ever had doubt Trump is in the pocket of Putin. Read on Substack

Peace & Justice History for 2/20

The Republican President has been in office one month today, and we’ve seen some of today’s history repeat itself already. Republicans are working very rapidly.

February 20, 1942
The vast majority of teachers in German-occupied Norway refused to comply with the forced Nazification of the school system. The government had ordered display of the portrait of German-installed Minister President Vidkun Quisling (formerly head of Nasjonal Samling, the Norwegian fascist party) in all classrooms, revision of the curriculum and textbooks to reflect Nazi ideology, and teaching of German to replace English as their second language.The teachers organized and 12,000 of 14,000 nationwide wrote the same letter on this day to the education department refusing membership in the newly formed Nazi teachers’ association. Two days later clergy throughout the country read a manifesto against Nazi control of the schools.

Vidkun Quisling (on right), Germany’s puppet leader in Norway,
allowed Germany to invade his country and declared himself Prime Minister. In Norway his name has become synonymous with traitor.
How the teachers pushed back 
Norwegian teachers prevent the Nazification of education 
February 20, 1956
The U.S. rejected a Soviet proposal to ban nuclear weapons tests and deployment. The U.S. continued atmospheric nuclear testing in the South Pacific and Nevada until 1963.
February 20, 2011
Nearly 40,000 pro-Democracy Moroccans demonstrated peacefully in
57 towns and cities across the country. Though there was sporadic
violence later that night, Interior minister Taeib Cherqaoui called the earlier efforts “the healthy practice of the freedom of expression.”

Donkey and Minions and Flowers, Oh, My!

And now that the rage of thy rapture is satiate with revel and ravin and spoil of the snow, And the branches it brightened are broken, and shattered the tree-tops that only thy wrath could lay low, Algernon Charles Swinburne – “March: An Ode”

by Worriedman Read on Substack

I’ll be honest, I’m not really sure yet what that poem is trying to say – I just know that ”-satiate with revel and ravin and spoil of the snow,” is just a badass phrase. The kind of phrase I hope I’m smart enough to understand someday!

Today is going to be really good pictures of flowers and really good pictures of a mule and some donkeys. What can I say? It’s what I’m good at and I’m lucky to have found my calling.

It was cold when I took these pictures yesterday. 14° with a dozen mile an hour wind. The wind chill was somewhere around “cold as hell” verging on “What the F*#k?!” I couldn’t wear gloves and still work the camera so I took pictures until my fingers hurt.

I’m going to have to work until I die so I have an inexhaustible source of amaryllis.

That’s all I got room for – Thanks for dropping by! (snip)

Gotta have more memes. Wednesday’s memes are going out today as I was flat out busy yesterday.

A news headline under the "Economic Policy" section reads: "Musk’s DOGE seeks access to personal taxpayer data, raising alarm at IRS." Below the headline, a subheading states: "The unusual request would put sensitive data about millions of American taxpayers in the hands of Trump political appointees." A timestamp indicates the article was posted 21 minutes ago. At the bottom, there is an icon showing an estimated reading time of "4 min." The background is black, and the text is white.

A screenshot of a Twitter/X exchange between 60 Minutes and Elon Musk. The 60 Minutes post, made 2 hours ago, discusses former USAID administrator Andrew Natsios refuting claims by Donald Trump that USAID is rife with fraud. Natsios is quoted as saying, "The most accountable aid agency in the world is USAID. I have written actually widely on this subject." The post includes an image of Natsios sitting in a dimly lit room, wearing glasses, a suit, and a sweater, with a red overlay highlighting the quote. The 60 Minutes tweet has 360 replies, 428 retweets, 899 likes, and 53K views. Below, Elon Musk responds an hour later, stating: "60 Minutes are the biggest liars in the world! They engaged in deliberate deception to interfere with the last election. They deserve a long prison sentence." His tweet appears in the standard X interface, with his profile picture showing him speaking on stage with an American flag in the background.

It is a cult

 

A Cool Meme from Faithful America

It came in an email with action alerts, linked. I made a religious statement earlier, and I don’t want to overdo religion here. Anyone can participate without fear, though, and they don’t check to see if you’re Christian; they just appreciate the help. Mainly I really like the toon above; it belongs here. Good Afternoon!

There Are Good Things Happening-

I love reading The Bee’s blog. It’s so refreshing! These posts are especially comforting.

Good News For 2025

Neutrality Is NEVER An Option!

Peace & Justice History for 2/19

As well, Feb. 19th is the annual Day of Remembrance of Pres. Roosevelt’s E.O. 9066, interning Japanese-Americans.

February 19, 1919
A Pan-African Congress was organized by W.E.B. DuBois in Paris, France, to coincide with the Versailles Peace Conference after World War I. DuBois, sociologist, historian, novelist, playwright, and cultural critic, served as special representative of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), and was assisted by Blaise Diagne, a member of the French Parliament from the West African colony of Senegal.

W.E.B. DuBois, founder of the NAACP and convener for the Pan-African Congress in Paris.
The Congress’s aim was to call the issue of “international protection of the natives of Africa” to the attention of the United States and the European colonial powers who were making momentous decisions on the nature of the post-war world.
DuBois was a moving spirit behind the growing struggle for self-determination among Africans, both on the continent and in the diaspora, and the Pan-African Congresses helped to bring the issues of this struggle to world attention. The Pan-African Congress was re-convened in 1921, 1923, 1927, and 1945.

Attendees at the Pan-African Congress.
More about W.E.B. DuBois 
More depth on the Pan-African Congresses
February 19, 1942
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, ten weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, issued a directive ordering all Japanese Americans (Nisei) evacuated from the West Coast of the U.S., and forcing them to live in concentration camps. Executive Order 9066 authorized the Secretary of War and military commanders “to prescribe military areas . . . from which any or all persons may be excluded.”

San Francisco Chronicle February 27, 1942 Photo by Dorothea Lange

Japanese American residents board the bus for Camp Harmony, 1942.
There was strong support from California Attorney General Earl Warren (later U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice), liberal journalist Walter Lippmann and Time magazine—which referred to California as “Japan’s Sudetenland”

Japanese-American child on bus to concentration camp. photo: Dorothea Lange
112,000 citizens of Japanese ancestry were relocated, losing their businesses, homes, and belongings to the white residents of their former neighborhoods.This day is referred to as the “Day of Remembrance.” It has been commemorated every year for 67 years to remind Americans of that miscarriage of justice, and to ensure such things do not happen again.
Children of the camps 
Note: In the entire course of the war, 10 people were convicted
of spying for Japan, all of whom were Caucasian
Day of Remembrance 
“Not Enough People Know About Day of Remembrance” 
February 19, 1972
Paul McCartney’s song, “Give Ireland Back to the Irish,” was immediately banned from airplay by the BBC.
Opening of the song:
Give Ireland back to the Irish
Don’t make them have to take it away
Give Ireland back to the irish
Make Ireland Irish today
Great Britain you are tremendous
And nobody knows like me
But really what are you doin’
In the land across the sea
Tell me how would you like it
If on your way to work
You were stopped by Irish soldiers
Would you lie down do nothing
Would you give in, or go berserk?
  
Paul McCartney and “Wings” rehearse the song 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryfebruary.htm#february19

Another Resource-

Not the usual, true, but still a resource! I’m not trying to “recruit”; I’m not vegan myself, and only part-time am I vegetarian. Still, the email header was “44 Recipes That Don’t Use A Single Egg!” We can all use such knowledge, IMO. 😉

44 Vegan Recipes You’ll Want to Make All the Time

Load up on fruits, veggies and plant-based protein with these crave-worthy picks.

Scroll For More Photos (on the page)

Vegan Mac ‘n’ Cheese

This low-fat, dairy-free version of an American classic certainly has the right look, with its creamy orange sauce, thanks to pureed cauliflower, vegan Cheddar and turmeric. Use umami-packed miso paste and nutritional yeast to evoke the savory, nutty quality of cheese.

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Vegan Caesar Salad with Crispy Capers

Photo: Teri Lyn Fisher

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Vegan Caesar Salad with Crispy Capers

Our plant-based Caesar salad covers all the flavor bases of the original, and then some. A classic Caesar gets savory umami from anchovies, Parmesan and Worcestershire and richness from egg yolks. We created an easy protein-packed dressing in the food processor of silken tofu, nutritional yeast and vegan Worcestershire sauce along with the traditional lemon and garlic. This velvety, super-flavorful dressing joins sourdough croutons and a unique garnish of crunchy fried capers for a satisfying salad that’s deliciously vegan.

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Description: Food Network Kitchen's Vegan Shepherd’s Pie. Keywords: Creamer Potatoes, Garlic, Chives, Cremini Mushrooms, Tomato Paste, Rosemary, Peas, Carrots

Photo: Matt

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Vegan Shepherd’s Pie

Whether you are sticking to meatless Mondays or eat plant-based every day, this vegan version of shepherd’s pie will satisfy any cravings for that warming winter classic. It looks just like the meat version and tastes just as good. We streamlined the process (including using frozen peas and carrots and baking the pie in the same skillet used to cook the vegetables) to make the dish as accessible and weeknight-friendly as possible. Note that although a food processor chops the mushrooms really fast, you can use a knife, if you prefer.

So click through on the title, at top, or here to see it all. There is truly something for everyone.