I am getting my grove back making videos. This is the best I have done since I started again. I realize I have to speak from my heart on issues I know and understand. I enjoy doing them when they are stress free like this one. In the future I will edit stuff into them, I have the program to do that. But right now I like doing what I did a few years ago. Back then I did not bother with lighting and fussing over the camera, I simply started up the recording program and talked directly to the camera. Please take a look at the video and tell me both what you think of the content. Hugs
I talk about how some people want to throw trans people under the bus and stop supporting them. That is not how to change people’s hearts and minds. I describe how we managed to change public opinion on gay people. Hugs
March 11, 1988 Ten days of protest and direct action ensued demanding an end to nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site. The site, larger than the state of Rhode Island, is an outdoor laboratory and national experimental center for testing nuclear weapons. The actions resulted in over 2,200 arrests, the largest number of arrests in U.S. history for a political protest outside Washington, D.C.
March 11, 2011 More than 85,000 Wisconsin citizens rallied outside the Capitol in Madison to welcome the return to the state of fourteen Democratic state senators. Known as the Wisconsin 14, they had left the state to deny the senate a quorum, thus delaying passage of legislation which took away public employees right to collectively bargain and restricting other rights of union members. State Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller remarked about the gathering, “This is what democracy looks like!” The Wisconsin 14
The land of free speech and the right to protest that is in the constitution is no more. King Donald was displeased and so removed the offender. Hugs.
Trump confirms detention of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil: ‘the first arrest of many to come’ – live
Trump says Ice took the Palestinian student protester into custody after his executive order
Hope you’re enjoying your weekend. To give you a bit more enjoyment, here’s all the good news I could find from the week that just ended. I’m certain there was more, but the below is a good sampling. As awful as things are right now—and they are awful—there’s much good happening as well.
Enjoy this list, read it a few times, and share it with friends. It is not by staring relentlessly at what’s wrong that we will prevail, but in lifting up what’s working and celebrating it. Really!
Let’s do that. Then tomorrow we’ll get back to work making new victories.
The Trump administration has rescinded its decision to cut off legal aid for unaccompanied immigrant children. You sent letters about that! Bravo!
After a public outcry, the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs has resumed the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, lowering energy bills for thousands of Alabamans.
The Supreme Court lifted its hold on a lower court order compelling the Trump administration to resume nearly $2 billion in foreign aid funding from USAID. HUGE!
Over the weekend after Trump and Vance’s meeting with Zelensky in the Oval Office supporters like you donated $2,597,908 to UNITED24, the Ukrainian government’s official fundraising website. Wonderful!
In Minnesota, House Republicans brought House File 12 to the Floor, legislation that would prohibit trans and non-gender conforming youth from participating in girls’ sports in Minnesota schools and subject all women and girls to inappropriate scrutiny about their bodies. Democrats defeated it!
Rep. Al Green, was ushered out of Trump’s address to Congress by security guards after raising his voice about Medicaid. THAT is resistance!
Campaign Legal Centerfiled a new lawsuit challenging the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). They claimed Elon Musk’s and DOGE’s actions are unconstitutional.
The African Development Foundation is putting up a fight and denying DOGE and Pete Marocco — the State Dept official dismantling USAID — access to their building.
More than 34,000 Vermonters attended Rep Rebecca Balint’s town hall the night of the SOTU —she was joined by Sen Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch. Wow! (You can view a recording on Facebook.)
A federal judge extended a nationwide preliminary injunction on Trump’s executive order to end federal funding for gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth.
The White House pulled the expected signing of the executive order to dismantle the Department of Education
A federal judge ruled that the head of the Office of the Special Counsel, who is responsible for protecting whistleblowers, must be able to continue in his role through the duration of his term.
Alabama’s parole rate more than doubled in 2024. The board released 20 percent of prisoners last year compared to just eight percent in 2023. One lawmaker credited the boost to increased scrutiny from journalists.
A crowd hundreds strong gathered near the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association campus in Boulder on Monday to protest cuts made to the agency last week as part of the Trump administration’s effort to downsize the federal government.
The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) reinstated about 5,600 probationary USDA employees that had been terminated by the Trump administration.
“Hamilton” is canceling plans to perform next year at the Kennedy Center, citing President Trump’s moves to impose his values on the venue. “We’re not going to be a part of it while it is the Trump Kennedy Center,” said its creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda. Couldn’t love him more.
Virginia lawmakers unanimously passed a bill to educate the public about common menstrual disorders like endometriosis and PCOS.
Educators in New York City are embracing rather than restricting discussions of race in schools. Leaders have said they’ll do so whether the Trump administration approves or not.
Black churches across the country were awarded more than $8 million in grants by The National Trust for Historic Preservation, part of an effort to preserve buildings that played significant roles in Black history.
Stanford University chemists have developed a practical, low-cost way to permanently remove atmospheric carbon dioxide, the main driver of global warming and climate change, using rocks.
A federal judge ordered the reinstatement of Democratic NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox, whom Trump fired to eliminate the board’s quorum.
CBS has filed a motion to dismiss Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit over former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 60 Minutes interview last year, calling the suit an “affront to the First Amendment without basis in law or fact.”
Ontario will charge 25% more for electricity shipped to 1.5 million Americans starting Monday in response to Trump’s tariffs, Premier Doug Ford said Thursday.
A Federal judge in Rhode Island entered a preliminary injunction that indefinitely blocks Trump’s freeze on federal grants and loans, saying the Trump Administration “put itself above Congress.” This lawsuit was brought by Democratic state Attorneys General, led by New York AG Letitia James.
Watch This! 👀
Warning, this is slightly risque. But if you saw the weird AI-generated video about “Trump Gaza” that Trump reposted last week, you have to see this. (Full disclosure; I have not watched it. No time for videos today unless it’s one of you people here. Also, the scene shown has ruined my lunch. -A)
Hi all. I love Erin Reed and her substack Erin In the morning. I don’t subscribe to many but I do hers. Here is something for all those that say European countries are reversing on gender affirming care or cite the horrible bias of the debunked Cass review. Hugs.
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The recommendations, released by the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany, come at a time when US politicians erroneously claim that Europe is “pulling back” on transgender care.
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In recent years, U.S. politicians have selectively framed European healthcare policies to justify restrictions on transgender care, seizing on a handful of conservative policies to claim that “Europe is pulling back.” The most extreme example, the United Kingdom’s Cass Review, has been wielded to justify a near-total ban on puberty blockers and even cited in U.S. Supreme Court arguments. But new medical guidelines from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland tell a different story. These countries have reaffirmed the importance of gender-affirming care for transgender youth and issued sharp critiques of the Cass Review, calling out its severe methodological flaws and misrepresentations.
The guidelines, released Friday in German, span more than 400 pages and represent the collective expertise of 26 medical and psychotherapeutic professional organizations, along with two self-representation organizations from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Their stated goal is “to provide guidance to all professionals in the healthcare system who deal with young transgender and non-binary people for the best possible professionally informed care based on the current state of medical knowledge.”
Transgender medical guidelines and associated medical organizations recommending them.
From the outset, the guidelines explain the importance of gender affirming care, stating that there are “no proven effective treatment alternative without body-modifying medical measures for a [person with] permanently persistent gender incongruence.”
Importantly, the guidelines were developed with those who are experts in the fields of gender affirming care having a voice at the table, unlike the Cass Review: “Current guidelines, which are published by medical societies, were predominantly developed by clinical experts for the field of application and are based on an integrated synthesis of the assessment of available evidence and the broadest possible expert consensus.”
The guidelines directly recommend puberty blockers and individualized, prioritized care for transgender youth undergoing physical changes.In the section on puberty blockers, the guidelines state with a strong recommendation: “If, in individual cases, the progressive pubertal maturation development creates a time pressure in which health damage would be expected due to longer waiting times to avert irreversible bodily changes (e.g. male voice change), access to child and adolescent psychiatric or psychotherapeutic clarification and medical treatment optionsshould be granted as quickly as possible.”
The guidelines also deliver a strong critique of the Cass Review, the report currently being used to justify bans on gender-affirming care in the United Kingdom and leveraged in other countries to further restrictions. German medical societies deem the Cass Review largely inapplicable to their own guidelines due to its numerous methodological shortcomings. One of their sharpest criticisms focuses on the lack of transparency regarding those who advised and produced the review, as well as the limited expertise of those involved.
“Medical professional societies were not recognizably involved in the preparation of the report. A so-called “Assurance Group” was appointed, but it was explicitly not involved in the development of recommendations for the Cass Review. There are reports that an “Advisory Board” was also established. The composition and specific contribution of this “Advisory Board” are not documented (Ruuska et al., 2024; Cass, 2024),” read the guidelines.
They also criticize the Cass Review and NHS’s recommendation of “psychotherapy” for gender dysphoria as without evidence and as potentially harmful: “Psychotherapy is recommended for co-incident disorders, for which there is already an indication due to the co-incident disorder itself. However, it is also recommended or the ‘management of [GD] associated distress.’ None of the studies included in the review in question were able to show a reduction in gender dysphoria through psychotherapy.”
The new German, Austrian, and Swiss guidelines mark a significant advancement for transgender healthcare in those countries, reinforcing a growing trend in Europe toward expanding, not restricting, access to gender-affirming care.They join the ranks of nations like Spain and France, which have taken more progressive stances on transgender rights, including medical care. More importantly, they dismantle the false narrative that Europe is “pulling back” on transgender care.In reality, it is the United States that stands as an outlier, with its regressive policies placing it far to the right of much of the Western world.
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Story March 07, 2025 (Watch and/or listen on the page, linked just above.)
Republicans in Congress are pushing forward budget plans that would cut trillions in federal spending and give trillions more in tax cuts that disproportionately benefit corporations and the ultra-rich. This week, hundreds of faith leaders gathered on the Christian holy day of Ash Wednesday on Capitol Hill to voice their opposition. “There’s no way you can do the kinds of cuts they’re talking about — it’s mathematically impossible — without touching Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid,” says Bishop William Barber, one of the participants. Barber also reflects on the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when civil rights marchers were brutalized in Selma, Alabama, and stresses that economic justice was always at the heart of the movement alongside ending segregation and winning voting rights.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
House Republicans narrowly adopted a budget proposal last week to cut as much as $2 trillion in spending over a 10-year period, in part to fund Trump’s tax cuts. A new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office shows the proposed budget would require massive cuts to Medicaid spending. Meanwhile, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, has warned the U.S. government will go bankrupt without his Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, which is working to slash a trillion dollars from the deficit.
This week, hundreds of faith leaders gathered to mark the Christian holy day of Ash Wednesday on Capitol Hill and to protest the impact the proposed cuts could have on the poor and the vulnerable. This is Bishop William Barber speaking at the protest Wednesday.
BISHOP WILLIAM BARBER II: If an unelected technocrat can delete the financial commitments of a government established for the people and by the people, and we don’t say anything, we betray our moral commitments to liberty.
AMY GOODMAN: Faith leaders also shared findings of a new report Wednesday called “The High Moral Stake: Our Budget, Our Future,” which details how President Trump and the Republican Party are taking more essential services and money away from working people while cutting taxes for the wealthiest. It was authored by Institute for Policy Studies, the Economic Policy Institute and Repairers of the Breach.
For more, we’re joined from North Carolina by Bishop William Barber, president and senior lecturer at Repairers of the Breach, national co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, founding director of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School. He’s co-author of the new book White Poverty: How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy.
Bishop Barber, welcome back to Democracy Now! on this 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when voting rights activists marched — tried to march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge, led by John Lewis, and were beaten down by Alabama state troopers. Five months later, the Voting Rights Act would be signed by President Johnson. Your thoughts on putting history and this moment together, and what you were demanding on Wednesday?
BISHOP WILLIAM BARBER II: Well, thank you so much, Amy.
As I was listening to that song, “We Shall Overcome,” there’s another line that says, “We are not afraid.” And I want to thank Representative Green for his courage and showing the way of courage. He’s a dear friend of mine. He’s exactly right: You cannot wait until a dictator is in charge. You must challenge the way toward that dictatorship.
And we must remember, on this day 60 years ago, we did see that Bloody Sunday, but for nearly 40 years, Amelia Boynton, who was also beaten that day, a woman that John Lewis held in his arms, they have been working against voter suppression in that particular city. They also connected the issues of voter suppression and voter denial to economic injustice. Remember, the voting piece was supposed to be a part of the Civil Rights Act of ’64 along with raising the minimum wage to a living wage, and those things were gutted out of the ’64 Civil Rights Act, which made the ’65 march and the ’65 Voting Rights Act necessary.
At the end of that march, when they finally did reach Montgomery, Dr. King gave an amazing sermon. And he chose not to just talk about voting rights, but he chose to connect voting rights to economic injustice. And in that sermon, he said that the greatest fear of the greedy oligarchs in this country was for the masses of Black people and poor white people to join together and form a voting bloc that could fundamentally shift the economic architecture of the nation, and that every time this possibility becomes possible, the forces of extremism and the forces of division sow that division to keep it from happening.
I think we see that here today, what’s going on with this Congress. And it’s amazing to me, for instance, that they would censure Representative Green. They didn’t censure our sister out of Georgia. They didn’t censure the man who called Obama a liar on the floor. It’s a strange time that — the cheering, the applauding. But I think we are in a crisis of civilization, really, not just a crisis of democracy. It’s going to call people to have to stand, regardless of where they are.
So, what we’re dealing with right now, Amy, before I even talk about the specific policy, is this immoral philosophy that’s at work. Number one, they are operating off of the deliberate attempt to use executive orders as a way of intentionally violating the Constitution, thereby creating enough confusion to distract people from what’s going on in the Congress, because what happens in the Congress has the weight of the law, and EO doesn’t have the weight of law.
Number two, we are seeing the tyranny of technology and the dehumanization of people.
Number three, we’re seeing the attempt to make people justify their existence, which has its roots in racism, apartheid and Nazism.
Number four, we’re seeing the denial of equality on every front.
Five, we’re seeing the outright violation of freedom of speech, due to the process — due process and equal protection under the law for all persons, and an attempt to end birthright citizenship.
Number six, we are seeing the outright betrayal of liberty.
Number seven, we are seeing the idolatry of the certainty of white supremacy, that some people can decide who’s in, who’s out, who’s right, who’s wrong.
And number eight, we’re seeing the misuse of religious Christian nationalism in an attempt to falsely claim that their immoral actions are moral.
This is what is underneath, if you will, what we see going on. It is dangerous. It leads us to dictatorships and worse. And we must be courageous in this moment. I think that what you saw happen with Representative Green is just the tip of the kind of pushback we’re going to see as the weather gets warmer and as people see more and more the kind of damage that’s being suggested by this current budget and this current Congress. (snip-MORE; watch/listen on the page)
Trump’s shock new demands to Zelensky ahead of high-stakes peace talks
Trump has upped the ante on his requests, demanding Zelensky call an election and consider stepping down as leader, insiders claimed.
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