Rep. Crockett at Work For We The People

(There are others; it’s a thing to look at. But Republicans have actually made a Democrat-a black, woman elected Democratic US House Member-the news of the weekend. No wonder Wednesday has to be a big news day for Trump!) (Also, blue language within!)

Why Are White MAGA Weenuses So Scared Of Jasmine Crockett? Here’s Why. by Evan Hurst

Bless their mediocre little hearts. Read on Substack

And now we’ll talk about Jasmine Crockett.

screengrab, Jasmine Crockett doing Kendrick Lamar before Donald Trump’s Hitler address to Congress

This week, let’s talk about one of the heroes of the anti-Trump opposition, one of the leaders who’s actually showing up and showing people how it’s done, and terrifying the fuck out of Donald Trump and his white MAGA Nazi fascists in the process.

I’m of course talking about Jasmine Crockett, Democratic congresswoman from Texas, specifically Dallas. Have you noticed she’s the subject of right-wing manufactured outrage every week now, for some new terribly egregious offense she has committed against their delicate sensibilities?

We wonder why they don’t like her. Trying to put our finger on it.

Is it because she’s a powerful, brilliant Black woman who isn’t remotely intimidated by these white racist fascist MAGA motherfuckers, who also happens to be smarter than each and every one of them?

Well, yes, but it’s even more than that!

Why are they so mad at Jasmine Crockett?

This week, Attorney General Nazi Barbie Pam Bondi has been all over the TV, with all the gravitas of Michele in Romy & Michele’s High School Reunion declaring that she invented Post-Its, that Crockett better “tread very carefully” with calling for peaceful protests against Elon Musk and Tesla. OR ELSE.

Bondi has claimed that people are using “weapons of mass destruction” against Teslas, and she is just pretty sure that Jasmine Crockett is a prime instigator of all this #TeslaTakedown business. “You have this Congresswoman Crockett who is calling for attacks on Elon Musk on her birthday. ‘Let’s take him out on my birthday,’ she says. Yet she turns and says ‘Oh, I’m not calling for violence,’” she complained to serious journalist Maria Bartiromo on the Fox Business Network, where business is discussed. “Well she is an elected public official, and so she needs to tread very carefully because nothing will happen to Elon Musk, and we’re going to fight to protect all of the Tesla owners throughout this country.”

Okeydoke. Has Crockett been calling for violence against Musk, or Tesla dealerships? Of course not. Would she be mad if we laughed at a Cybertruck driving by and made jokes amongst ourselves about what a loser probably is driving it? Probably not. But no violence.

Also, any idiot knows, or can figure out — maybe even Pam Bondi! — that the Tesla protests are called #TeslaTakedown and that they’re entirely peaceful. You either have to be extremely stupid or a lying scumbag — or both, like maybe even Pam Bondi! — to believe differently.

As my former Wonkette colleague Liz Dye details ably at the Public Notice newsletter this week, Bartiromo was just one stop on Bondi’s tour of ridiculous media appearances this week trying to scare Crockett. She was on “Hannity” this week, bellyaching that Crockett must “apologize immediately, not only to all Texans, but to our country, to the American shareholders of Tesla, because she is promoting violence.” (Apparently some shit happened at a Tesla dealership in Austin. It had nothing to do with Jasmine Crockett.)

At the end of the “Hannity” clip, Bondi also faked outrage over Crockett supposedly inciting violence against beloved senator Ted Cruz when she said that for Democrats to win races in Texas, “this dude has to be knocked over the head, like hard, right? Like there is no niceties with him. Like at all. Like you go clean off on him.” In context, any fucking moron — even Pam Bondi maybe! — could tell that she was talking in the context of political races, about being willing to punch your opponents hard.

MAGA, whose leader Donald Trump has throughout his political career incited violence against racial minorities, journalists, the US Capitol and more, can spare us the fucking whiny-ass histrionics.

Of course, as Liz Dye notes, Jasmine Crockett has said repeatedly that she’s not advocating violence, like this past weekend on MSNBC, when she told Alex Witt, “Tesla’s tanking right now, and I’m okay with that,” but added that “Just in case the slow people listening try to clip this later, I just want to say that I have never promoted violence whatsoever.” She also said maybe people who have problems with political violence shouldn’t have pardoned 1,500 MAGA terrorists for their actions to help Donald Trump overturn the 2020 election on January 6. She was just saying!

And she said more! It’s a great interview, enjoy it if you haven’t seen it: https://youtu.be/WdyO7DKGCbw

Let’s see, what else are they mad at Jasmine Crockett about? Oh just everything.

She called Texas’s Greg Abbott “Governor Hot Wheels” at the Human Rights Campaign gala. Maybe she shouldn’t have said that. She says she wasn’t talking about his disability, but rather his “planes, trains, and automobiles he used to transfer migrants into communities led by Black mayors, deliberately stoking tension and fear among the most vulnerable.” Of course, Greg Abbott is a sadistic monster, and we’re not going to spend a lot of time worrying about the feelings of people who are obsessed with hurting trans kids and filling the Rio Grande with murder buoys to slice up migrant human beings.

Of course, you know who really makes fun of disabled people?

Again, miss us with your fake outrage and your crocodile tears, MAGA.

OK, why are they REALLY so mad at Jasmine Crockett?

Because on top of being a Black woman who doesn’t respect them, and on top of being a Black woman who is smarter than them, she has their fuckin’ number, and she knows it, and they know it.

This week in an interview with The 19th, Crockett mocked the stupid, prurient Republican MAGA Nazi obsession with transgender kids playing sports, saying that according to Republicans, “That is the biggest issue that we’ve had. Since when? Since when? Find the little trans child that is ruining your life. I mean, I’m just like, what are we doing? Like, what are we doing?”

That’s one example.

Let’s talk about how Crockett explains the white Republican obsession with eliminating DEI. In a congressional hearing before the election, she said, “This election is the best example of why y’all are so afraid of [DEI] because then you can’t have a simple-minded, under-qualified white man. […] You’ve got to pay attention to the qualified Black woman that is on the other side.”

On February 3 on CNN, Crockett discussed the white supremacist in the White House and the rampant coddling of mediocre white nationalist MAGA boys: https://youtu.be/s5a3fAXHsRA

“I am tired of the white tears. Listen, if you are competent, you are not concerned. […] I had to work 10 times as hard as they did just to get into the seat. When you look and you compare me to Marjorie Taylor Greene or me to Lauren Boebert, there is no comparison. And that is the life that we have always lived.”

“So, the only people that are crying are the mediocre white boys that have been beaten out by people that historically have had to work so much harder.”

Yep, that’s why they hate her right there.

If you are competent, you are not concerned.

You see, Jasmine Crockett understands something about this white conservative MAGA obsession with DEI that MAGA buffoons and Nazis are desperate to avoid confronting. Every time you see a white Trump-supporting man babbling about bringing back “merit,” the fantasy he’s openly masturbating to is that if only all the DEI programs go away, if only affirmative action goes away, if only they can get back to “merit” and that one MLK Jr. quote they like about “not the color of your skin but the content of your character,” THEN order will be restored and white conservative Christian men will start to naturally float to the top again, where they belong.

Jasmine Crockett knows that fantasy is some fuckin’ bullshit.

She knows that DEI doesn’t put women, LGBTQ+ people and racial minorities in jobs they’re not qualified for, but rather that it makes it less likely that extremely mediocre white Christian conservative men will get positions they’re totally not cut out for, positions they have not earned, positions they’re far too stupid to fill.

Fuck, look at Pete Hegseth and Mike Waltz and the rest of the Signal-Gate dumbfucks and tell us about all the brilliant talent America’s been missing out on.

DEI is all about merit. It’s all about — for instance — making sure dumbfuck good old boy frat boys and date rapists from SEC schools who aren’t qualified to pick up Jasmine Crockett’s dry-cleaning don’t get all the high-powered jobs, when far more capable people are willing, available, and more deserving.

Jasmine Crockett knows that good DEI policies help expose the secret that white conservative men never really were impressive people in the first place. They never got where they are because they were creative or clever or had something to offer that nobody else had. They stole it, and then let themselves believe they earned it, that their talent and their bootstraps got them there.

The only people crying are the mediocre white boys.

Yep, that’s why they hate her. (snip)

Peace & Justice History for 3/31

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorymarch.htm#march31

Extras from Chop Wood, Carry Water

Extra! Extra! 3/30 🤩 by Jessica Craven

All the good news that’s fit to print. Read on Substack

Screenshot of a post from Threads. Typo not my fault!

Hi, all, and happy Sunday!

Another difficult week is behind us. And while awful, awful things continued to happen, a huge number of really encouraging things did as well. Here’s a list of many of them. Please feel free to add more in the comments—I’m certain I left some important things out.

Remember, we can’t keep fighting without maintaining morale, so make sure you share this list with everyone you know who needs a lift. Remind them that action taken—even in the face of hopelessness—lifts our spirits; it also leads to wins like the ones below. We don’t wait to feel optimistic to act. We act, then feel optimism surge back into us as our actions create change.

I think after reading this list you’ll agree

Enjoy. See you tomorrow when we get back to work.

Read This 📖

The West Ada School District made national headlines recently when administrators ordered a school teacher to remove signs containing welcoming messages from her classroom. Read about what happened next—you’ll feel better about humanity.

Celebrate This! 🎉

A federal judge blocked Elon Musk’s DOGE from accessing people’s private data at the Education Department, the Treasury Department, and the Office of Personnel Management.

The Social Security Administration abruptly backed off planned cuts to phone services for disabled and some elderly Americans applying for benefits amid an uproar from advocates.

A D.C. federal judge rejected the Trump administration’s request to lift his previous order preventing the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport hundreds to a Salvadoran labor prison without due process. The block remains in place.

More than 175 years after their reservation in Illinois was illegally sold at auction, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation is now in line to get their land back.

New Hampshire Republicans staged a hasty retreat on their plans to shutter the New Hampshire State Library after a wave of outrage and anger from constituents.

The Healey-Driscoll Administration has implemented two standing orders allowing approximately 500,000 eligible Massachusetts residents to obtain free over-the-counter birth control pills and prenatal vitamins.

A Republican bill to allow guns on college campuses (known as campus carry] FAILED in the Florida Senate. Two Republican colleagues were absent from the meeting, and another voted no with Democrats.

The American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers are suing the Trump administration on behalf of their members for “unlawfully cutting off $400 million in federal funding” to “force Columbia University to surrender its academic independence.”

Education advocacy groups and unions filed two lawsuits challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle the Department of Education.

A federal judge ruled that a Columbia University student who took part in campus protests against Israel’s military offensive in Gaza cannot be detained as she fights orders for her deportation.

FLIP! In South Carolina Peter Smith, Jr. won a special election for Dorchester County Council District 1 in a solid Trump district BLUE!

FLIP! Democrats won TWO special elections in Pennsylvania—one they were expected to win and one, a State Senate seat, in a R+23 district! WOW!

To help protect shrinking coastal wetlands, a new conservation effort is preserving two salt marshes in Nova Scotia.

The village of Pinecrest in Florida has launched an effort to convert food scraps into nutrient-rich compost that will be delivered to the Miccosukee Tribe in the Everglades which, for starters, plans to use it in a community garden.

In an exciting new announcement, the New Zealand Electricity Authority predicted that their electricity grid will be 100% renewable by 2040.

California added more than 26,000 EV chargers in the last six months.

The UK announced plans to plant 20 million trees, creating 2,500 hectares of new woodland area.

Yellowstone’s iconic bison herds have merged into a single entity after 100 years of wandering the park.

A federal judge temporarily blocked Texas A&M University System from enforcing a ban on drag shows being held at its special event venues.

The most innovative companies in corporate responsibility—like Cisco, Land O’Lakes, Delta, Toyota, and even the board game Catan—are finding ways to make new advances in business for good. Very encouraging!

Renewable energy capacity around the world surged last year — particularly in the U.S. and China. New data shows that renewables, such as wind, solar, geothermal, and hydroelectric power sources are growing at far faster rates than traditional power sources such as coal and natural gas.

The Supreme Court upheld Biden-era federal regulations on “ghost guns.” Huge.

James Boasberg, the judge Trump and Republicans are trying to impeach, was assigned to the Signal-gate case.

Trump got ridiculed for demanding that a portrait of him hung in the Colorado statehouse be taken down because he thought it was unflattering.

Protests and boycotts are working. Tesla’s sales are plummeting world-wide. Also? Target has lost 5 million customers, while COSTCO has gained 7 million. Keep up the pressure.

The government watchdog group American Oversight is suing Pete Hegseth and several other top Trump officials, claiming their use of Signal’s disappearing messages function is a clear breach of the Federal Records Act.

A new Navigator poll finds that views of Trump’s tariff plan are becoming increasingly negative, with tariffs being a top driver for those disapproving of Trump’s economic handling.

In related polling news, ratings of Trump’s overall job approval and handling of the economy are now both underwater, with a majority of Americans disapproving of his economic handling for the first time.

There are Indivisible groups now in Dublin, Ireland, and Ottawa Canada! WOW!

Airline travel between Canada and the US is “collapsing” amid Trump’s tariff war, with flight bookings between the two countries down by over 70%, newly released data suggests.

Three high profile law firms, Keker, Van Nest & Peters, Jenner and Block, and Wilmer Hale, are finally standing up to Trump.

A federal judge said he will order the Trump administration to preserve records of a text message chat in which senior national security officials discussed sensitive details of plans for a U.S. military strike against Yemen’s Houthis.

The federal judiciary has established a task force to consider how to protect judges targeted by Trump after they issued rulings against the administration. It is operating under “the direction of the Judicial Conference, a policymaking body led by Chief Justice Roberts.”

Republicans withdrew the nomination of GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik to serve as US Ambassador to the United Nations because they’re afraid of losing her seat—and maybe even seats in Florida!

Senator Susan Collins has joined Democrats in the Senate to challenge Trump’s cuts to congressional spending.

California State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) and 57 Democratic Assemblymembers announced that they would stop communications from official state accounts on X.

A local official in New York rejected Texas’ effort to enforce a $100,000 judgment against a New York doctor accused of sending abortion pills to the state.

The Vancouver Auto Show broke attendance records after banning Tesla.

U.S. officials went door-to-door in Greenland to find anyone who wanted to be visited by the Vances. They found no one.

A federal judge ordered a Colorado school district to return 19 banned books to libraries.

Local library patrons, with help from the ACLU, are suing officials in South Carolina’s most populous county for systematically purging literature by and about LGBTQ people from its public library collection.

From December to now, consumer confidence in Trump’s ability to bring down energy costs dropped by 9 points.

Residents of Paris voted to pedestrianize 500 more streets in the city as part of the local government’s efforts to reduce the use of cars and improve air quality.

A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction blocking efforts to shut down the CFPB.

Florida Congressional candidate Gay Valimont went on Fox News to talk outside of the bubble about why Republican voters should support her.

Indiana Rep. Victoria Spartz held three Town Halls and was roundly booed and jeered in all of them.

There were four Republican-backed extreme constitutional amendments on the ballot in Louisiana yesterday. The voters REJECTED them all (in a state Trump won by 22 points in November).

Beto O’Rourke teamed up with Tim Walz to have a town hall meeting in the Houston, Texas area.

Watch This! 👀

Here’s footage of the Tesla Takedown I—and many of you!—attended in Old Town Pasadena. It was a blast, with 500-600 people there, and there were hundreds and hundreds of other ones all across the country! Amazing!

(Snip-I cannot get a link for the 44 second video, so just click up beneath the title, then scroll to the end on the page. It’s nice, and not at all long.)

Abundant Beauty

The roofs are shining from the rain./The sparrows tritter as they fly,/And with a windy April grace/The little clouds go by. by Worriedman

Sara Teasdale – “April” Read on Substack

The rest of the poem-

Yet the back-yards are bare and brown
With only one unchanging tree–
I could not be so sure of Spring
Save that it sings in me.

Sara Teasdale is a great poet!

Melting snow and cold March rain bring the April flowers.

Daffodils,-

Crocus –

This lovely lady was at the stable yesterday.

She stayed 20 foot away from me for quite awhile, then finally decided I was worth a visit –

The first clematis blooms –

Mandevilla, also known as rocktrumpet or dipladenia ( it’s not a dipladenia – the two are often confused – I can’t remember the difference)

A cat for Caturday!

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

‘maga Re-Education’

Improper Ideology by Clay Jones

Another fascist EO from the Great Red-Ass Baboon Read on Substack

MAGA re-education continues.

Donald Trump has issued an executive order for Vice President (sic) JD Vance to work with Congress to rid the Smithsonian Museum and National Zoo of “improper ideology” that is “inconsistent with federal law.”

First, what is “improper” ideology? Even Nazi ideology isn’t illegal, so what is Trump talking about here? And what’s “improper” about any ideology at the non-partisan Smithsonian? Is Fonzie’s jacket too woke? Is the Enola Gay gaying up the Air and Space Museum?

And what is “improper” ideology at the zoo? Are the zebras more Black than White? Are the Giant Pandas too Chinese? Are the Black bears getting preferential treatment over the polar bears? Do we need to deport the Brown bears to El Salvador? Maybe JD will remove all the animals that have exhibited gay behavior, which would include lions, bats, giraffes, bonobos, penguins, macaques, flamingos (obviously), lizards, gulls, and the mascot of the Republican Party, elephants, except they don’t stay in the closet and lie about it.

The Vice President is on the board of The Smithsonian, even if he’s a mascara-wearing couch-humping dolphin porn-searching gaslighting lying racist moron. However, while the federal government helps fund the Smithsonian (which includes the National Zoo), it’s not owned or under the government’s control. It’s not the responsibility of any of the three branches or even Elon’s fake and unconstitutional fourth branch.

All JD and Congress can do is cut funding if they don’t do as Trump “desires,” which is the way JD put it to Greenland, “We can’t just ignore the president’s desires.”

The executive order on “restoring truth and sanity to American history” alleges that the country has undergone “a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history.” It instructs Vice President Numb-Nuts to work with Congress to prohibit spending on “exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with federal law and policy.”

We don’t have laws that ban “improper” ideology. We have laws that PROTECT ideology.

Among the exhibits Trump wants to ban are those in the American Women’s History Museum that “recognize men as women in any respect.” The order also calls out an exhibit on race and sculpture at the Smithsonian.

Trump’s EO also instructs the Secretary of the Interior (Dough Burgum) to reinstate any national monuments or statues within his jurisdiction that were “removed or changed to perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history.” You know, Confederate statues.

This falls right in line with Trump deporting a green card holder for protesting, cutting funds to universities for allowing protests, deporting people for writing Op-Eds, revoking hundreds of visas from student protesters, and banning words like “black,” “gay,” and “women” from government websites.

The Trump regime is trying to rewrite history while engaging in censorship. It’s re-educating. Renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and making English our “official” language is a part of this, too.

This is what fascist governments do. The Nazis, the Soviets, and Imperial Japan all attempted to change history, currency, and even the languages in nations they captured. In North Korea, they tell the people their leader is a god who doesn’t even need to poop and he can talk to dolphins. By the way, dolphins can be gay, too. Russia claims that nobody is gay in the country, not even the dolphins.

The Smithsonian is wonderful, and now I’m scolding myself for not visiting the place in over a decade. It has 19 museums, 14 education and research centers, and the National Zoo, and they’re all FREE. I’ve been there several times, with most of it spent in the Air and Space Museum because I couldn’t drag my kid out of there.

If you’re in Washington, visit the Smithsonian. Hell, make a special trip to visit Washington (use the Metro while you’re here). I love the zoo, and the pandas are back. Visit it soon before Donald Trump destroys it, like he’s also planning to do with the Kennedy Center.

Everything Donald Trump touches dies.

Music notes: I listened to The Who and some Pete Townsend solo stuff. He really wants to kiss those rough boys, but not in Russia.

Drawn in 30 seconds: (snip-go see it)

Peace & Justice History for 3/30

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorymarch.htm#march30

Stars & Movies!

Watchlist: Elliot Page, Peppermint and other trans icons share the movies that shaped them

Mar 27, 2025 Kate Sosin

This story was originally reported by Kate Sosin of The 19th. Meet Kate and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy.

Transgender Day of Visibility, held every March 31, was founded 16 years ago to give trans people a day to celebrate trans life and community. At a time when transgender people are facing unprecedented vitriol and attacks, it’s more important than ever to seek out accurate and affirming portrayals of trans life.

The 19th asked 10 trans icons, from Elliot Page to Peppermint, to reflect on the movies that move them and that and affirm the dignity of trans people.

Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Elliot Page

Actor (he/him)

Recommended film: “Framing Agnes”

“‘Framing Agnes’ highlights two fundamental truths about the transgender community: One, that we have always existed, and two, we have always found clever ways to get what we need to live more authentically and ultimately survive. It’s crucial now more than ever, for trans and cis people alike, to learn about the history of the trans community, to defend trans rights and advocate for our humanity to be acknowledged and respected — because as seen in the film, our world has always had trans people in it, and it always will.”

Peppermint

Actress and singer (she/her)

Recommended film: “Monica”

“I’d recommend people watch ‘Monica’ because it shows a trans woman in a normal context where she was able to connect with her family and display a more motherly and nurturing nature towards the end of the film, which is something we don’t often get to see trans women, portrayed in ways that are actually true to how many of us are.”

Brian Michael Smith

Actor (he/him)

Recommended film: “Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen”

“My pick is definitely ‘Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen.’ It powerfully unpacks how decades of misrepresentation in media have fueled harmful narratives, directly contributing to the unprecedented wave of anti-trans legislation we’re seeing nationwide — laws targeting our health care, sports participation and basic rights. It’s groundbreaking because it centers trans voices authentically sharing our own experiences, created entirely by trans filmmakers — unlike many films, articles and legal discussions that talk about us without ever including us. It’s essential viewing right now to counter misinformation, uplift our community and reclaim our stories during this critical fight for our humanity.”

Geena Rocero

Author, writer and director (she/her)

Recommended films: “Joyland,” “Lingua Franca,” “Asog” and “Tangerine”

“These are films that center trans characters in their complex humanity. As a writer and director, these kinds of character studies fascinate me. In our current political culture that dehumanizes trans folks, these films present trans lives full of agency.”

Tuck Dowrey

Director of development for PAGEBOY Productions (he/him)

Recommended film: “Changing the Game”

“This documentary is incredibly timely given the current attacks on trans youth and their right to just be kids, which includes their right to participate in sports. ‘Changing the Game’ highlights the benefits of sport for young people, particularly the social and developmental benefits, and sheds a light on the shameful and needless bullying of transgender children by adults and lawmakers. Arguments to exclude trans kids also inevitably adversely impact all girls and women, because if we begin to allow certain bodies to be questioned and investigated, it sets a dangerous precedent for anyone who exists outside of rigid gender stereotypes — in athletics and beyond. As a trans man and athlete, I passionately believe all kids should have access to the life-saving outlet of sports. ‘Changing the Game’ cuts through the misinformation and shows that trans kids in sport are no different than anyone else, and they deserve to play. It’s a must-watch for everyone.”

Tre’vell Anderson

Co-executive director of the Trans Journalists Association (they/them)

Recommended film: “Kokomo City”

“At a time when certain political forces are aiming to pit historically excluded communities against each other, a film like ‘Kokomo City’ — bold and uncompromising in its focus on the relationships between Black trans women and the broader Black community — stands firmly at the intersection. Director D. Smith’s propulsive interrogation is at once entertaining and informative, raw and inspiring, and I’m sure you’ve likely never seen a film like this, especially not from this vantage. You’ll be craving more authentic Black trans narratives after watching.”

Sav Rodgers

Filmmaker and founder of the Transgender Film Center (he/him)

Recommended film: “Heightened Scrutiny”

“While ‘Heightened Scrutiny’doesn’t have traditional distribution yet, it’s a documentary well worth your time to seek out as it travels through the film festival circuit. Sam Feder’s follow-up to ‘Disclosure’follows [American Civil Liberties Union] attorney Chase Strangio as he prepares to argue a landmark trans rights case, United States v. Skrmetti, before the Supreme Court. The case, which is still pending, will determine whether bans on trans healthcare for minors violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

“The most powerful aspect of this timely documentary draws a direct link between irresponsible, prejudiced reporting at major media institutions like the New York Times and how quickly these half-baked op-eds become cited as ‘evidence’ in anti-trans legislation around the country. Despite how bleak the world is, this film presents a case for hope: hope that we will endure, that people are fighting for us and that we can continue to fight for each other.”

Hope Giselle

DEI consultant and activist (she/her/Beyoncé)

Recommended film: “The Mudge Boy”

“This is a queer love story that I know isn’t beautiful, but is honest and a depiction of the way that a lot of AMAB folks experience what we think is love for the first time. A film that’s hard to watch at times, but so beautiful to see happens so that you don’t feel alone.”

Tuck Woodstock

Host of the Gender Reveal Podcast and editor of “2 Trans 2 Furious” (he/him)

Recommended films: “The Aggressives” and “Beyond the Aggressives: 25 Years Later” double feature

“In a society where transness is continually misrepresented as some kind of hot new trend for predominantly White youth, it’s an incredible gift to watch this quartet of (broadly) transmasculine queers of color grow and evolve over a quarter century. While the documentaries don’t shy away from the obstacles faced by their subjects — including everything from relationship conflict and (lack of) health care access to incarceration and [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] detention — they nevertheless capture the freedom and relief of living in the world as exactly yourself.”

Kae Petrin

Co-executive director of the Trans Journalists Association and Data & graphics reporter for Civic News Company (they/ze/hir)

Recommended film: “Neptune Frost”

“After a divine gender transformation, a lost runaway joins forces with an escaped miner who’s mourning the death of his brother. Together they become beacons of hope and resistance, forming an anticolonialist hacking collective in the mountains of Burundi. The collective takes on The Authority, a totalitarian regime that ravages the workers and the environment with a violent military and aggressive drone attacks. Despite the dark subject, an unshakeable optimism and hope thread through the Afrofuturist parable. Also, it’s technically a musical. It has everything: worker solidarity, gender magic, meddling gods, romance and song breaks. And it feels particularly resonant now, even though its U.S. release came several years ago.”

Alex Schmider

Senior director of entertainment at GLAAD (he/him)

Recommended film: “Will & Harper”

“‘Will & Harper’ is a story about friendship. Harper Steele and Will Ferrell have been friends for over 30 years after meeting while working on ‘Saturday Night Live.’ After Harper’s transition, they hit the open road to reintroduce her to the American small towns, dive bars and stock car races that she has always loved — now, as herself — while processing what this new stage of life means for them individually and as friends. When trans people are so often portrayed as existing in isolation from other people, this documentary is a joy to watch as Harper and Will traverse the country making each other laugh and drinking bad beer. Comedy is a powerful tool that can create connection with an audience when they are laughing with us, not at us. ‘Will & Harper’ is a funny, sincere and enjoyable ride with two comedians who are at their best when together.”

Disclosure: Alex Schmider is a board member of The 19th. Find a full list of our board members here.

I’ve Seen Cartoons About This …

also it’s been talked about on “Grey’s Anatomy.” This is real, and exciting.

Tiny robots powered by magnets could one day do brain surgery

Robot tools powered by magnets (Supplied)

Most brain surgery requires doctors to remove part of the skull to access hard-to-reach areas or tumours. It’s invasive, risky, and it takes a long time for the patient to recover.

We have developed new, tiny robotic surgical tools that may let surgeons perform “keyhole surgery” on the brain. Despite their small size, our tools can mimic the full range of motion of a surgeon’s wrist, creating new possibilities for less-invasive brain surgery.

Robotic surgical tools (around 8 millimetres in diameter) have been used for decades in keyhole surgery for other parts of the body. The challenge has been making a tool small enough (3mm in diameter) for neurosurgery.

In a project led by the University of Toronto, where I was a postdoctoral fellow, we collaborated with The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Canada to develop a set of very small neurosurgery tools.

The tools are only about 3mm in diameter. In a paper published in Science Robotics, we demonstrated these tools could grip, pull and cut tissue.

Their extremely small size is possible as they are powered not by motors but by external magnetic fields.

Three small robotic tools, one with a blade and two with grippers. — *Three magnetic tools: a cutter, a gripper and forceps. Changyan He*

Current robotic surgical tools are typically driven by cables connected to electric motors. They work in much the same way as human fingers, which are manipulated by tendons in the hand connected to muscles in the wrist.

However, pulleys smaller than several millimetres wide to control the instruments are weak and prone to friction, stretch and fracture. This creates challenges in scaling down the instruments, because of difficulties in making the parts of the system, assembling the mechanisms and managing friction in the cables.

Magnetic controls

The new robotic system consists of two parts. The first is the tiny tools themselves: a gripper, a scalpel and a set of forceps. The second part is what we call a “coil table”, which is a surgical table with several electromagnetic coils embedded inside.

In this design, the patient would be positioned with their head on top of the embedded coils, and the robotic tools would be inserted into the brain via a small incision.

Diagram showing a patient lying on a table undergoing brain surgery. — *Patients would lie on a ‘coil table’ containing magnets which are used to control the surgical tools. Changyan He*

By altering the amount of electricity flowing into the coils, we can manipulate the magnetic fields, causing the tools to grip, pull or cut tissue as desired.

In open brain surgery, the surgeon relies on their own dexterous wrist to pivot the tools and tilt their tips to access hard-to-reach areas, such as removing a tumour inside the central cavity of the brain. Unlike other tools, our robotic neurosurgical tools can mimic this with “wristed” movements.

Surprising precision

We tested the tools in pre-clinical trials where we simulated the mechanical properties of the brain tissue they would need to work with. In some tests, we used pieces of tofu and raspberry placed inside a model of the brain.

We compared the performance of these magnetically operated tools with that of standard tools handled by trained surgeons.

We found the cuts made with the magnetic scalpel were consistent and narrow, with an average width of 0.3–0.4mm. That was even more precise than those from traditional hand tools, which ranged from 0.6 to 2.1mm.

Microscope video showing a tiny scalpel slicing some tofu. — *The magnetic scalpel, shown slicing some tofu inside a model of the brain, can make cuts more precise than those done with traditional tools. Changyan He*

As for the grippers, they could pick up the target 76% of the time.

Microscope video showing tiny grippers picking up a lump of raspberry. — *The magnetic grippers (shown here picking up some raspberry) were successful 76% of the time. Changyan He*

We were surprised by how well the robotic tools performed. However, there is still a long way to go until this technology could help patients. It can take years, even decades, to develop medical devices, especially surgical robots.

This study is part of a broader project based on years of work led by Eric Diller from the University of Toronto, an expert on magnet-driven micro-robots.

Now, the team wants to make sure the robotic arm and magnetic system can fit comfortably in a hospital operating room. The team also wants to make it compatible with imaging systems such as fluoroscopy, which uses x-rays. After that, the tools may be ready for clinical trials.

We’re excited about the potential for a new era of minimally invasive neurosurgical tools.

Changyan He, Lecturer, School of Engineering, University of Newcastle

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

2 Diverse Poems by Diverse Women

As always, click on the titles to see more about each poet, and why she wrote her work posted here.

1951, Brenda Hillman 1951 –

Was it odd to be born?

Was it odd to be born
when women wore rick-rack

& the sun was a bracelet of yes?

When wind bent dandelions in puffy winglets,
& wisdom did raise her voice & not say weed &

when the toad did raise its spikes at the same time
as federal codes
& the try-to-be-perfect raised its voice?

Did the clang of copper collectors & the too-many lawns
begin in Arizona

while peel-paint steeples rose over dirt for the prism
of progress,

minerals torn from mines with no mouths
but you had a mouth & sang early?

When nuclear testing began north of love
& the Remington computer was placed in office use,

when there was just as much beauty & sex as later,
while some lay down at drive-ins in Chevies on seats
the color of crushed
berries & phone calls went up to a dime?

When Congress loaned money to countries because their grains had
ancient fungus claviceps purpuria that caused
visions & swelling
under the silent claw of the predator?

Was shame in you born before beauty?
Was beauty was shame was beauty?

As white gravel spread under the white churches
as silver sequins on danceless
dresses tacked on each
“hanging by a thread”

like drops of sweat on horses at the city’s edge

while downcast daisies were mimicked on sisterly aprons
catching sugars from women making pudding from boxes
under swamp coolers

with slightly mildewy pads in a breeze
created for doing housework by yourself?

Was it odd to be born when two
types of purslane in the west were called weed,
even agave used to make soap,
though it was home to the yucca moth, central & sweet, its

terminal clusters piercing thunderheads over red pick-up trucks,

& lowly dogbane hiding from developers with sibling roots
     of fungi with “no downsides to pesticides”
            & florets like diamond periods on certain fonts
                                    also were called weed?

Was it odd to be born near hillsides with radars
        like baby ears of question marks

     under the silent claw of the predator,
when mountains shook toward sabino canyons

& there was Jello salad at picnics?

Here from this century can you say
was it wild to be born?

Was there anything else like this, anything at all?

———————————————————-

Failed Poems, Jessica Abughattas

will crawl out of the drain and try to kill you
like some 80s horror flick. The picture of us at the Santa Fe
Railyard, foreheads glistening. The black widow creeping
from the mound of linens still warm from our bodies. Mechanical
hum of crickets when you push into me in the middle of the night, when
I can’t sleep and the years replay like a foreign movie, a terrible one
where the voices sound underwater. Failed poems will steal
your breath when you wake parched, hungover, emptied
in a room full of the steady buzz of the refrigerator.
When all that excites you is momentary, an earthquake in which
all the books shake in place, and nothing falls. No one ever reads
failed poems, but they follow you home in the dark and tuck in
beside you. Failed poems are cute grim reapers that live in cartoon snowcaps.
They’re midnight döner kebabs that give you heartburn.
Once, in Zurich, we were served rabbit paella at a party
celebrating an exhibition of an artist from Venice Beach
who used to be homeless but drinks $25 Erewhon smoothies and paints
hundreds maybe thousands of happy faces with his feet. His canvasses
go for $25,000. Toe paintings are better or at least significantly
more profitable than failed poems. Failed poems won’t help you
earn a living. You will probably have to do freelance marketing
to sustain the creation of failed poems. Failed poems accrue interest.
They seep into dreams where all your friends line up to blow
your husband. They cost a monthly cloud subscription to maintain.
Failed poems are injected into your father’s veins when he ODs
for the second time this year. They’re shared to infinity
when you’re canceled for fringe political views. When you’re six
feet under, a failed poem is written on your head. It’s a prayer
in the form of a failed poem, the last words
you hear on earth

“Goldilocks Bird”

Seaside Sparrow

I want to say I’ve seen this bird, but I don’t know how I could have, other than maybe when I was younger on one of dad’s business trips through the South, as a combo summer vacation. Over 50 years ago, but the bird looks familiar. I bet there are readers here who get to see them often! Click through for facts and to hear their song.