Florida governor and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis signed a bill Thursday that would allow for roads across Florida to be made with “radioactive” mining waste that has been linked to cancer.
The measure, brought forward by the state House, adds phosphogypsum to a list of “recyclable materials” that state officials say can be used in road construction.
The list already included ground rubber from car tires, ash residue from coal combustion byproducts, recycled mixed-plastic, glass and construction steel, which officials had previously determined are “part of the solid waste stream and that contribute to problems of declining space in landfills.”
An aerial view of the partially drained New Gypsum Stack South wastewater reservoir at Piney Point in Palmetto, Florida, on May 4, 2021. The reservoir held about 480 million gallons of water in March and was in danger of collapsing and flooding the area. THOMAS O’NEILL/NURPHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES
But unlike most of those products, phosphogypsum is not a material that is aggregated in landfills. It’s the remains left behind from mining phosphate, which is described by the EPA as being a “radioactive material” because it contains “small amounts” of uranium and radium.
Phosphate rock is mined to create fertilizer, but the leftover material, known as phosphogypsum, had decaying remains of those elements that eventually produce radon. That substance is known as a “potentially cancer-causing, radioactive gas,” a spokesperson for the EPA previously told CBS News. And because of that risk, phosphogypsum is federally required to be stored in gypstack systems – not landfills – in an attempt to prevent it from coming in contact with people and the environment.
“The Clean Air Act regulations require that phosphogypsum be managed in engineered stacks to limit public exposure from emissions of radon and other radionuclides in the material,” an EPA spokesperson previously told CBS News.
Before it can be used, the state’s Department of Transportation will need to conduct a study to “evaluate the suitability” of its use, the bill says, and “may consider any prior or ongoing studies of phosphogypsum’s road suitability in the fulfillment of this duty.” That task must be completed by April 1, 2024.
DeSantis has not yet publicly commented on the signing of this bill, and CBS News has reached out for a statement.
Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director and attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement that the bill is a “reckless handout to the fertilizer industry.”
“Gov. DeSantis is paving the way to a toxic legacy generations of Floridians will have to grapple with,” Bennett said. “This opens the door for dangerous radioactive waste to be dumped in roadways across the state, under the guise of a so-called feasibility study that won’t address serious health and safety concerns.”
What makes phosphogypsum so risky?
Radon, the gas emitted from phosphogypsum, trails just smoking to rank as the second-leading cause of lung cancer, and is linked to about 21,000 lung cancer deaths every year in the U.S., according to the EPA. The agency also says it’s the “single greatest environmental source of radiation exposure.”
Because of this threat, the EPA has banned the use of phosphogypsum in projects for decades. However, a spokesperson for the agency previously told CBS News that it is permitted for agricultural and indoor research, with restrictions, and it can be approved for specific uses if the project “is at least as protective of human health as placement in a stack.”
In a statement to CBS News on Friday, the EPA said that the passing of the legislation, HB 1191, “does not affect EPA’s regulation of phosphogypsum,” noting the legislation specifies that the phosphogypsum be used “in accordance with the conditions” of the agency.
“Any request for a specific use of phosphogypsum in roads will need to be submitted to EPA,” the spokesperson said, “as EPA’s approval is legally required before the material can be used in road construction.”
If it is approved, the EPA previously told CBS News it would “open a public comment period, make any applications and our technical analysis of those applications publicly available, and seek input on the proposed decision.”
Florida’s history of phosphogypsum problems
Phosphate mining has been an ongoing source of contention within Florida for decades. This issue has most recently been seen in the controversy surrounding Piney Point, a former phosphate mining facility in the Gulf Coast’s Manatee County — that after several years of problems — had a nearly “catastrophic” breach in 2021 that resulted in 215 million gallons of water with environmentally toxic levels of nutrients ending up in Tampa Bay within just 10 days.
TOXIC LEAK: Residents near Piney Point retention pond in Manatee County, Florida were evacuated on Saturday as officials fear an "imminent" collapse of a local wastewater reservoir contaminated with material that could be radioactive. https://t.co/phrXuNUqdgpic.twitter.com/dQ9RCkYYBA
It was found to be a contributor to a red tide event and massive fish kill in the area in the following months. It lead to a lawsuit from the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, and prompted Florida lawmakers to budget $3 million to clean up the site.
Ragan Whitlock, a staff attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, told CBS News when the bill was introduced that “history has shown wherever this waste goes, environmental contamination has followed.”
The state has 25 gypstacks, several of which have had leaks, sinkholes and other issues arise throughout their lifespans. In May, more than 20 organizations, including the Center for Biological Diversity, urged DeSantis to veto the bill.
“No environmentally conscious or ‘green’ governor worth his salt would ever sign a bill into law approving roadbuilding with radioactive materials,” Rachael Curran, an attorney with People for Protecting Peace River, said in the letter urging the governor’s decision.
And even with the promise of the state’s Department of Transportation looking at conducting a study or considering one that has already been done, Whitlock told CBS News he has “very little confidence” in the state’s “ability to manage this project.”
“The feasibility study that the Florida Department of Transportation would create is only aimed at addressing whether this would be a suitable construction material,” he said. “The Florida Department of Transportation is not in the position to make a finding about the health and safety of this product to Floridians and our environment.”
For more information on the damage to the Florida environment and the harm to residents, read the following. Sure will help get tourist dollars, won’t it. Hugs.
More than 300 hundred homes and multiple businesses in the area around Piney Point have been evacuated.
A state of emergency has been declared by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for Manatee, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
State and local officials are coordinating efforts.
Herald-Tribune journalists are covering the situation in Piney Point and possible impacts to the area, like we have for over 20 years. Local journalism like this is supported by our readers. If you’re a subscriber we thank you. And if you’d like to subscribe, please see our current offers here.
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Last week, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection approved the pumping of wastewater into the Tampa Bay ecosystem from a retention pond at Piney Point – a former phosphate plant in Manatee County. A leak in the liner of the reservoir has caused a partial breach in one of the containment walls and officials hope that pumping more than 30 million gallons of wastewater out of the reservoir will relieve pressure on the walls and reduce the chance of an uncontrolled major breach.
More than 300 hundred homes and multiple businesses in the area around Piney Point have been evacuated. State and local officials are coordinating efforts and a state of emergency has been declared by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for Manatee, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
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The shoreline along Tampa Bay, just north of Port Manatee and Piney Point. Millions of gallons of wastewater are being pumped into Tampa Bay at Port Manatee in an effort to avoid a catastrophic failure of a containment wall at Piney Point.
MIKE LANG, SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE
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This still image from video shows the breach in the containment wall of the Piney Point reservoir. United States Congressman Vern Buchanan toured Piney Point Monday, Apr. 5, 2021, getting a look at the breach in the containment wall, the pumping outflow and Port Manatee where the wastewater is being pumped into Tampa Bay.
MIKE LANG, SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE
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Wastewater from Piney Point is flowing into Tampa Bay at this berth at Port Manatee. United States Congressman Vern Buchanan toured Piney Point Monday, Apr. 5, 2021, getting a look at the breach in the containment wall, the pumping outflow and Port Manatee where the wastewater is being pumped into Tampa Bay.
MIKE LANG, SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE
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United States Congressman Vern Buchanan toured Piney Point Monday, Apr. 5, 2021, getting a look at the breach in the containment wall, the pumping outflow and Port Manatee where the wastewater is being pumped into Tampa Bay.
MIKE LANG, SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE
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Wastewater being pumped from the Piney Point reservoir flows into Tampa Bay at Port Manatee, via this water-filled ditch in the center of this image. United States Congressman Vern Buchanan toured Piney Point Monday, Apr. 5, 2021, getting a look at the breach in the containment wall, the pumping outflow and Port Manatee where the wastewater is being pumped into Tampa Bay.
MIKE LANG, SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE
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Wastewater from Piney Point is flowing into Tampa Bay at this berth at Port Manatee. United States Congressman Vern Buchanan toured Piney Point Monday, Apr. 5, 2021, getting a look at the breach in the containment wall, the pumping outflow and Port Manatee where the wastewater is being pumped into Tampa Bay.
MIKE LANG, SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE
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Wastewater being pumped from the Piney Point reservoir flows into this ditch and into Tampa Bay. United States Congressman Vern Buchanan toured Piney Point Monday, Apr. 5, 2021, getting a look at the breach in the containment wall, the pumping outflow and Port Manatee where the wastewater is being pumped into Tampa Bay.
MIKE LANG, SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE
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Wastewater being pumped from the Piney Point reservoir flows into this ditch and into Tampa Bay. United States Congressman Vern Buchanan toured Piney Point Monday, Apr. 5, 2021, getting a look at the breach in the containment wall, the pumping outflow and Port Manatee where the wastewater is being pumped into Tampa Bay.
MIKE LANG, SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE
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The wastewater containment ponds at the old Piney Point fertilizer plant property in Manatee County. A breach in a containment pond wall led to more than 200 million gallons of polluted water being dumped into Tampa Bay. Florida lawmakers have included $100 million in the 2021-2022 budget for the Piney Point cleanup effort, among other budget earmarks targeted at projects in Sarasota or Manatee counties.
MIKE LANG/HERALD-TRIBUNE FILE
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Congressman Vern Buchanan got an aerial tour of the Piney Point reservoir breach, pumping outflow and Tampa Bay on Monday, Apr. 5th
MIKE LANG
What is the situation at Piney Point on Tuesday?
The strategy of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and other agencies working on Piney Point is to reduce the amount water so that there is less pressure on the damaged reservoir retaining walls, in order to prevent a catastrophic breach that could send a massive wall of water into the surrounding area.
After pumping more than 30 million gallons of wastewater each day from Piney Point into Tampa Bay, the amount of water in the Piney Point retention pond has dropped to under 300 million gallons, down from approximately 480 million gallons last week at this time.
The addition of new federal and state resources should increase the rate at which water can be pumped out of Piney Point.
Is there a second breach in the Piney Point retention pond?
While the leaking wastewater containment pond wall at the old Piney Point fertilizer plant site continues to be a critical situation, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection said Monday that concerns about a possible second breach in the wall have proven to be unfounded.
Manatee County officials said that a drone equipped with thermal imaging equipment identified a possible second breach in the wall at 2 a.m. Monday. An investigation later determined that the area identified was not another wall failure, according to the DEP.
“Our technical team and our engineers came in and evaluated and determined there was no second breach,” said DEP Spokeswoman Shannon Herbon.
What are the environmental impacts of pumping Piney Point wastewater into Tampa Bay?
Environmental groups say they worry that recent releases from a Piney Point wastewater treatment facility will eventually fuel an algae bloom that could impact coastal Southwest Florida.
Nutrient-rich waters from the treatment facility will offset natural balances in the coastal estuaries and will eventually end up in the Gulf of Mexico, where red tide initiates.
The region was partially crippled during a 17-month red tide bloom that started in the fall of 2017 and lasted until the spring of 2019.
What will happen to Piney Point once this crisis is over?
State lawmakers are pushing a bill to fund a complete cleanup and closure of the phosphogypsum stacks at Piney Point with American Rescue Plan funds, an effort that could cost upwards of $200 million.
On Monday evening, Senate President Wilton Simpson (R-Trilby) announced that the Senate will consider a budget amendment on Wednesday when it considers Senate Bill 2500, known as the General Appropriations Act.
What about evacuations for people living near Piney Point?
More than 300 households and numerous businesses have been evacuated and those evacuation orders are still active.
On Monday, Manatee County Public Safety reported that the county has had to help relocate more people among the more than 300 households that were covered by the mandatory evacuation around the Piney Point wastewater reservoir. 102 residents have now been provided shelter at local hotels with the assistance of Manatee County and the Red Cross.
DeFascist can indeed get the country on a different path – Here’s what Ron DeFascist has accomplished –
– LGBT students cannot discuss their personal lives with teachers or counselors, making them feel marginalized, alone, and possibly increasing their risks of suicide. Some parents with LGBT family members are moving out of the state. State ACLU currently suing to end this.
– Universities are unsure what they can or cannot teach based on the whims of literally one man. GOP prefer students to be inculcated with cheap cheerleading America First nationalism (this shut down by a judge, results pending)
– History teachers can’t teach about the truth of American racism and black history because it might upset white people
– Some teachers are seeking employment in another state.
– A school principal had to resign because one of her teachers showed students a picture of Michelangelo’s David.
– A teacher is under investigation because she showed 13 year olds a Disney movie with a gay character.
– Women who discover they’re pregnant after 6 weeks, and are unable to have a child, can’t get an abortion in Florida, even though there should be retroactive abortion, Don Jr. lives there
– Property taxes and insurance costs are becoming unaffdable
– Million dollar contracts are given to DeFascist’s donors
– 87,141 people died of Covid in Florida. Less would have died had there been the slightest of protective measures taken, but DeFascist didn’t allow that.
– Hispanic farm and construction workers are not going to work out of fear of DeFascist’s draconian rules to punish undocumented workers and their bosses. Hispanic truckers are refusing to deliver to the state. Farm products are rotting while remaining unpicked.
– Students and companies who support diversity and inclusion are no longer allowed to do so.
– Trans children can no longer get medical care, use bathroom of pronouns of their choice (this shut down by a judge, results pending)
– a court could temporarily remove children from their homes if they receive gender-affirming care
– LGBT people who seek medical care can be denied it if they’re unlucky enough to have a religious fanatic doctor.
– Drag queens can be arrested for appearing in drag in public where children can see them. (this shut down by a judge, results pending)
– Any idiot can buy a gun without a permit, training, or with or without a criminal record.
– Disney, the state’s largest employer, is suing DeFascist because of politically motivated harassment after he started a fight with them because they don’t approve of his anti-LGBT laws. Disney cancelled a $1 billion construction project that would have brought the state over 2,000 jobs.
– More to come. White retirees probably love him because he’s getting rid of the blacks, gays, immigrants and other assorted annoyances. DeSantis calls Florida “the freest state in America.” Actually you’re free to move here, retire and die.
The woman claims the Massachusetts facility failed to diagnose her pregnancy as ectopic and, as a result, she lost a fallopian tube during emergency surgery.
A Massachusetts woman claims that an anti-abortion crisis pregnancy center failed to diagnose her ectopic pregnancy during an ultrasound appointment and that the pregnancy later ruptured, requiring emergency surgery to remove one of her fallopian tubes. Ectopic pregnancies are never viable and can be life-threatening; the pregnancy should have been terminated immediately.
The woman, known as Jane Doe, filed a class action lawsuit on Thursday in Worcester Superior Court alleging that Clearway Clinic in Worcester didn’t follow standard medical care. The suit also claims that Clearway engages in deceptive practices to lure in people seeking the full range of pregnancy options, when its actual purpose is just to dissuade them from getting abortions.
According to a press release, Doe thought she might be pregnant in October 2022 and wanted to get an ultrasound. She found Clearway through an online search and got an appointment later that day. A Clearway nurse did an ultrasound and said the pregnancy was both viable and in her uterus; the suit says it’s against state medical regulations for registered nurses to read ultrasounds because they’re not licensed diagnosticians. A physician didn’t see Doe, though her discharge paperwork said a medical doctor provided her care.
A month later, Doe felt shooting pain on her side and was so weak and lightheaded that her husband called 911, per the release. Emergency room doctors diagnosed her with a ruptured ectopic pregnancy and internal hemorrhage. In order to stop the hemorrhaging, doctors did emergency surgery in which they had to remove of one of her fallopian tubes. None of this should have been necessary, as legitimate medical providers would have ended Doe’s life-threatening pregnancy with medication—typically the cancer drug methotrexate.
Jezebel contacted Clearway for comment and didn’t hear back by publication time. CEO Jill Jorgensen said in a statement to Mass Live, “We cannot speak as to any individual’s medical claims or history due to HIPAA regulations.” She added that Clearway hadn’t faced an allegation like this in its more than 20 years of operation.
Crisis pregnancy centers, or anti-abortion centers, already receive millions in state funds, and many lawmakers are trying to increase funding after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision. Many CPCs don’t employ medical professionals, but still have their staff perform dubious ultrasounds. They’ve also been known to mislead people by saying their pregnancies are less far along than they really are so they run out of time to get an abortion. CPCs using non-medical staff aren’t bound by the medical privacy law HIPAA. While this particular facility appears to have employed healthcare workers, they didn’t adhere to medical standards.
The woman’s attorney, Shannon Liss-Riordan, called Clearway’s actions “not only illegal, but abhorrent” in a statement. “Our client was forced to undergo a traumatic, dangerous, and completely avoidable emergency surgery to save her life because she was deceived into going to an anti-abortion clinic instead of an appropriate healthcare provider,” Liss-Riordan said. “At every step of the way, she was led to believe she was receiving appropriate medical care when in fact she was subject to a campaign of misinformation and unfair and deceptive practices.”
The Massachusetts-based group Reproductive Equity Now said anti-abortion centers outnumber real abortion clinics in the state by three to one. That figure is about the same nationally, but the ratio is often higher in Republican-controlled states.
Rebecca Hart Holder, president of Reproductive Equity Now, said in a statement that the case proves that anti-abortion centers harm not only people seeking abortions but also people who need basic pregnancy care. “These facilities fail to offer safe or legitimate health services, putting patients at serious risk,” she said. “When a person is seeking compassionate abortion or pregnancy care, the last thing they should have to worry about is a false health diagnosis that delays or stands in the way of life-saving treatment.”
When it comes to teen relationships and sex education, I’ve observed a pretty big difference in how those things are approached in many parts of the US compared to what I was used to being a teenager in Germany. Sara and Kevin from @MyMerryMessyGermanLife moved from the US to Germany and their 4 kids are now growing up there so I wanted to know what their experiences have been with these topics! 🙂
A federal court blocked Florida’s new drag show law, ruling the state’s effort to bar children from attending “adult live performances,” is overly vague and likely unconstitutional. The decision Friday by U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell comes only a day after another federal court overturned another Gov. Ron DeSantis-backed law prohibiting gender-affirming care treatment in Florida from being covered by Medicaid. “This concern rings hollow, however, when accompanied by the knowledge that Florida state law presently and independently… permits any minor to attend an R-rated film at a movie theater if accompanied by a parent or guardian,” Presnell ruled. “This statute is specifically designed to suppress the speech of drag queen performers,” Presnell wrote in his 24-page decision. “In the words of the bill’s sponsor in the House, State Representative Randy Fine: (the legislation) will protect our children by ending the gateway propaganda to this evil – ‘Drag Queen Story Time.’”
Courts are putting a stop on the anti-#LGBTQ laws pushed by @GovRonDeSantis and @TheFLGOP. This is what happens when fascist authoritarians believe they can ignore the U.S. Constitution. Thankfully, some checks and balances still exist. https://t.co/Eaf9yBzapy
“This concern rings hollow, however, when accompanied by the knowledge that Florida state law presently and independently… permits any minor to attend an R-rated film at a movie theater if accompanied by a parent or guardian,” Presnell ruled.
From the opening paragraph, US District Judge Gregory Presnell, an 80-year-old Clinton appointee, calls out the state of Florida's action for what they are: an attempt "to suppress the speech of drag queen performers." pic.twitter.com/BhxHUqZGg6
Paddycakes2001 Melissiaan hour ago From the transcript of the court hearing: THE COURT: The plaintiffs accuse you of invidious discrimination in violation of the 14th Amendment. How do you answer? STATE’S LAWYER: That’s the point, Your Honor.
mkbear684 hours ago Well, this was expected and they knew it, but it plays to the base and gets donations, but it puts real people at risk.
Moms for Liberty is an American conservative organization that advocates against school curriculums that mention LGBT rights, race, critical race theory, and discrimination, while multiple chapters have also campaigned to ban from school libraries books that address gender and sexuality issues. The group began by protesting COVID-19 protections in schools, including mask and vaccine mandates.
Moms for Liberty has been criticized for harassment, for deepening divisions among parents, for making students’ education more difficult, and for having close ties to the Republican Party rather than being a genuine grassroots effort.
The group was labeled an “anti-government extremist” organization in 2023 by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Formation January 1, 2021 Founders Tina Descovich, Tiffany Justice, Bridget Ziegler Headquarters Melbourne, Florida, U.S. Area served United States Membership 70,000
It was very obviously discrimination, and it’s obvious from the arguments they put before the court that this has nothing to do with any form of concern for anything other than brazen politics and just flat out hatred of a minority group.
Bingo. This is performative art for their target voting bloc (evangelicals) who vote solid Red in every election like clockwork. Dems don’t have the equivalent. There’s literally nothing on the Left that’s anything like the consistency of the Right when it comes to voter outreach.
Good. I hope that all these hateful and cruel laws are struck down. The slave states want to make laws that health care workers don’t have to give LGBT people medical assistance at ALL if they have “deeply held” religious beliefs against us. It’s time we are considered to be human beings, not just another theocratic political football. If you prick us, do we not bleed?
Historically, (like 2 years ago, not 20), law in the US doesn’t let you single out a group, especially a disfavored group, and pass laws against them. Nice to see some vestiges of that core idea are still here.
And note that THOMAS is the #1 cheerleader for getting rid of ‘equal protection’.
So you encourage book banning, demonize LGBTQ people and your tactics are compared to the historical actions of Nazis all while being designated as a hate group by the SPLC and then you try and refute that by quoting Hitler?! M4L keeps showing us who they are. Believe them. https://t.co/0WABae4f3A
— Jim Stewartson, Anti-disinfo activist 🇺🇸🇺🇦💙 (@jimstewartson) June 22, 2023
this Hitler quote that Moms For Liberty used is the same Hitler quote that Republican Rep. Mary Miller recited at a Moms For America event two years ago!
And yet republicans never debate about the cost, while claiming $300 for the poorest people with children a month is obscene and we can not afford it. The Pentagon fails every audit, and I just watched where they are overcharging thousands of dollars a piece for a trash can that they use to charge $300 for. Yet Manchin says we need to cut social security. Hugs
Tucker Carlson's former head writer has resurfaced as Charlie Kirk’s radio producer; he had resigned after @oliverdarcy reported that he had posted racist, misogynistic, homophobic, and other awful content on an online forum. https://t.co/K9GLB0wjlSpic.twitter.com/tqAJsBkzs4
Brooklyn Albert18 hours ago I see the handiwork of the likes of Scott Lively and his ilk, spreading the gospel of hate and their twisted comprehension of history to African, Caribbean, and Latin American countries.
Authoritarian advocates, whatever their form, need some “other” to be dehumanized and oppressed. When everybody more or less has the same race and culture in a country, they then cast about for some other way of differentiating for the purposes of fomenting hate. Sometimes it’s by religion, sometimes by ethnicity, but if those are relatively homogeneous, they’ll go for LGBTQ status or political identity.
For example, in America in the 1950s, they did both of those latter, along with racist bigotry: People perceived to be not-straight and those who were accused of being socialist or communist. All three were targeted for systematic oppression.
It stuns me that these leaders are so focused on sexuality and making gay people pay for their sexuality with severe punishments and even death. Why is this even on their minds? Is being gay causing some sort of great turmoil in their countries? Are they trying to undermine their governments? Are they just living their lives like everyone else? So much angst over gay people. He contradicts his own statements in just one paragraph. “Gay Africans don’t exist.” – “kick LGBT people out of Kenya completely,” Well, which is it? Who gets kicked out if they don’t exist in the first place? Screwy like the radical Christians that foment this hatred.
Some of them genuinely seem to think that the existence of LGBTQ people threatens the continued existence of the human race, because not enough people are breeding.
Kenya has 53 million people in an area the size of Texas. Underpopulation is not a serious issue there.
JoeMyGodMod3 days ago You may recall Eric Metaxas for the time he sucker-punched a passing kid on a bicycle on his way into the White House for a Trump event and then lied about it even after video surfaced. It’s what Jesus would want.
Read the full article. Andersen, who lost a lawsuit to get on the ballot, has not so far been accused of wrongdoing. As you can see in his campaign clip below, he ran on a promise to end pandemic mandates.
Earlier this week Kennedy claimed that chemicals in drinking water are turning children transgender and that WiFi radiation causes brain cancer.
Unearthed: RFK Jr. pushed HIV/AIDS denialism, attributing AIDS not to HIV, but to a “gay lifestyle” and recreational drugs:
“There were people that were part of a gay lifestyle, they were burning the candle at both ends, …there were poppers on sale everywhere at the gay bars.” pic.twitter.com/BK2WXxjyg8
Hank: NO MORE WoW!!!4 days ago “The magnitude of the value of the Bible as a literary work outweighs any violence or profanity which may be contained in the book,” So, will they do the same for ALL books??? or just the ones, they deem fit???
“Public spaces are public spaces,” U.S. District Court Judge David Nuffer wrote. “Public spaces are not private spaces. Public spaces are not majority spaces. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution ensures that all citizens, popular or not, majority or minority, conventional or unconventional, have access to public spaces for public expression.”
In his 80-page ruling, Judge James M. Moody Jr. of Federal District Court in Little Rock said the law both discriminated against transgender people and violated constitutional rights for doctors. He also said that the state of Arkansas had failed to substantially prove a number of its claims, including that the care was experimental or carelessly prescribed to teenagers.
“Rather than protecting children or safeguarding medical ethics…the prohibited medical care improves the mental health and well-being of patients and that by prohibiting it, the state undermined the interests it claims to be advancing.” https://t.co/Y8yImyNZoq
Republicans know these hateful laws will never survive court scrutiny. The point was to drum up paranoia and grievance among voters. And with the help of the media, it was working. But there are hopeful signs that a backlash is forming.
— Matthew, June Goomba (@TeachAllAmerica) June 20, 2023
The law is extremely broad, which actually creates a host of other complications. A group of lawyers previously told The Dallas Morning News that the measure could restrict performances by artists such as Madonna and Miley Cyrus, which often feature sexual dancing. The text could even affect bachelorette parties, if they involved sex toys or other paraphernalia. The new changes could even impact cheerleading and criminalize sexual conduct between consenting 17-year-olds (17 is the age of consent in Texas). Movie screenings and art history classes could similarly come under fire. And of course, the law will affect its original target: drag performers, Pride parades, and transgender people just trying to live their lives. Lawsuits against similar bans are planned or already underway in other states. In Florida, the Orlando outpost of Hamburger Mary’s sued the DeSantis administration last month.
Rep. Lauren Boebert claims that she is forcing a House vote on impeaching President Biden because she is "directed and led" by "the spirit of God" in everything she does: "We are doing what is right, what is righteous. History will prove that." pic.twitter.com/EBoKqYEFif
In the fall of 2022, the FBI got a report that Marian Hudak had used his Dodge 1500 truck to try to run off the road two black people who were also driving. He allegedly yelled racial epithets at them. pic.twitter.com/ZZ9jIRGXbM
Hudak eventually followed them home, where a confrontation happened. Here’s hudak’s truck, which was well known in the area because it was decked out in American, Confederate, and Trump flags. pic.twitter.com/I5x3HG3lgJ
“Kentucky law prohibits the Attorney General from using or attempting to use ‘his official position to secure or create privileges, exemptions, advantages, or treatment for himself or others in derogation of the public interest at large,’” the letter, which was sent out Friday afternoon and obtained by The Daily Beast, said.
Woah. Daniel Cameron, the Kentucky Attorney General and GOP candidate for Governor, was being bankrolled by an addiction recovery company that his office was supposed to be investigating. He only recused himself after people started looking into it. https://t.co/2FlYsqgdzj
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) June 23, 2023
Yikes. 😬
Daniel Cameron tried — and failed — to force TV stations to hide the truth about him hiring the Bevin cronies who helped pardon politically-connected killers and rapists.
Walters, who was appointed state secretary of education by Christianist Gov. Kevin Stitt in 2020, faced calls to resign in 2022 after it was revealed that a Koch-funded group that advocates for privatizing public schools was paying him $120,000/year. Stitt rejected calls for Walters’ resignation and attempted to reappoint him again earlier this year, but the state Senate refused to allow him to hold the elected superintendent and appointed secretary of education posts at the same time.
Oklahoma superintendent Ryan Walters says separation of church and state is a "false narrative" and that the 1962 school prayer case was one of the Warren court's "unAmerican and hateful court decisions." In a jaw-dropping speech, he says he'll enforce a minute of daily silence. pic.twitter.com/tQvOYVCe1m
Walters is also considering ordering each school to post a copy of the 10 Commandments and to teach a "Western civilization course" as a way "to foster gratitude and informed citizenship." These recommendations came from a panel he picked to return religion to schools.
Yves R. Mektin3 days ago edited Well, Oklahoma does have the second lowest high school SAT scores in the whole country*, so maybe tots and pears will help. * West Virginia is the only state that did worse
All those states compete to see who can lead the fastest race to the bottom. Apparently, Louisiana has the lowest life expectancy in the country (Hawaii has the highest).
So he doesn’t like the 1961 decision…toots, the SC ruled on this a bunch of times. And don’t throw that ‘found fathers’ shit around, they did NOT. Under gawd my ass. ;(
Thomas Jefferson penned the wall metaphor in a letter to the Danbury Baptists in 1802. He celebrated the First Amendment for “building a wall of separation between Church & State.” The Supreme Court has endorsed this view many times. First in 1878. And then again “in 1947, 1948, 1961 (three times), 1962, 1963, 1968, 1973, 1977, 1982, and again and again in countless concurrences, dissents, and lower court opinions,” according to a recent law review article. The wall metaphor nicely sums up the relationship.
I thought Article 11 of the 1796 Treaty of Tripoli did a handy job of summarizing what The Founding Fathers™ thought of Christianity in America, since it passed in the US Senate unanimously while being signed by many of the actual founders –
Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen (Muslims); and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan (Mohammedan) nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.
Not to forget the Treaty of Tripoli – the first treaty entered into by the United States – and having constitutional power — which states that the United States has no national religion.
After Roe was overturned, the Notre Dame Religious Liberty Institute, which has filed numerous briefs before the court, paid for a trip to Rome for Alito. https://t.co/Kvun6nQidG
Per Florida Politics, the “groomers” slur was first popularized by viciously anti-LGBTQ former DeSantis administration spox Christina Pushaw, a registered foreign agent for the nation of Georgia and his current “rapid response” campaign director. Pushaw began pushing the term early last year during the start of the “Don’t Say Gay” campaign.
sfbob Jack3 days ago “Groomer.” Noun. Definition (per DeSantis): 1. A person who does something you disapprove of or who says something you disagree with. 2. A person who believes in providing factual, age-appropriate information to children on topics pertaining to sexuality, sexual orientation, gender, and gender identity.
What amazes me is, while they’re howling about grooming, they manage to completely ignore the ones actively doing it and getting busted for it weekly, the churches.
The GOP friction stems from a push by Rep Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) who publicly revived the discussion by trying to prevent funding in an energy and water development bill from being used to rename Army Corps civil works projects that are named after the Confederacy or an individual who served in the Confederate military.
“One of the things that is irritating a few of us: a certain member from Georgia is wanting to re-bring up the Confederate base names,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told POLITICO.
Bacon said he told the Georgia Republican that he would “would fight him” on trying to prevent funding from going toward renaming. (Clyde’s amendment doesn’t mention military bases.)
Bacon led that effort in the House to create the process for renaming the military assets.
He noted on Friday that he recounted to Clyde about how African-Americans have thanked him for his work on renaming the Confederate assets. In a separate statement, Bacon added that the issue was settled in 2020 and that he didn’t think it was “wise to re-litigate” it.
“Confederate generals fought for a cause that we know was wrong and violated their oaths to Constitution. Most of the 10 that bases were named for were also terrible generals. … Finally, some were affiliated with racist actions after the war. Most of these bases were named around WW1 and done to placate the Jim Crow elected leaders at the time,” he added in the statement.
Didn't know a Confederate flag presentation in the Capitol riot on January 6th, was a part of a "normal tourist visit," as Congressman Andrew Clyde claimed. pic.twitter.com/UNYqswCV0g
— Rick Ocean 🇺🇲🇳🇴 Support Ukraine, Save Europe (@RickOceanMusic) November 8, 2022
Pollos Hermanos ✓ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈa day ago GOP: “Democrats were the party of The Confederacy.” Also GOP: “Don’t you dare take away honors to The Confederacy!”
I don’t know the “official thinking” of American historians on point, but I believe much of what we’re seeing today with respect to the Republican Party is 160 years of simmering resentment by the South regarding its loss in the 1860s Civil War now coming to the surface.
Trump “tapped” into it. “Build the wall” was metaphor for “keep the coloreds out.” His embrace of rabid racists, including neo-Nazis, is a “message received” by the Republican base.
They miss the old plantation days, the good old days. When the coloreds and the women knew their place and there was no “deviance” like drag queens and trans people.
In Germany, Nazi paraphernalia like swastika flags, et all, as well as neo-Nazi political parties are officially banned by law. (Germany doesn’t have a First Amendment).This is the reason that German Nazis fly Confederate flags. You are known by the company you keep.
RealityBass2 days ago Remember when we were expected to believe that Trump was so rich that he would use his own funds to campaign, didn’t need to raise money, therefore he was incorruptible? Good times.
What a liar. He said he would use his own money. Just like everything else about him, – a lie, a scam, a con, a fraud …..from getting someone to sit his exams to his 2016 campaign to his subversion of a democratic election.
His whole life has been devoted to scamming. He has never earned an honest buck. It’s all been about the underhand deal, the stiffing people and companies what they are owed. Now there is no way around not paying his lawyers. they won’t act for him without being paid up-front. But Giuliani can fuck off, he’s gonna be hung out to flap in the wind.
248,000 children were legally married in US in last 10 years. 77% were girls as young as 12, married to much older men. Which would account for human trafficking and rape in most part of the world, but in USA it's just old-fashioned "marriage." Hint: it's rape contract. pic.twitter.com/76Yv6zBbtY
— GRRLunderground 🏳️🌈🇺🇸⛑️🟧 (@grrls_sxy_shoes) June 25, 2023
The one’s fighting to keep this is fundamentalist religious republicans. Each state that has tried to raise the age has had it fought by religious groups and voted down by republicans. Ask why if their aim to remove LGBTQ+ books / media to protect the children and claiming pride flags sexualizes kids, yet they fight to keep preteen girls being legally raped by older men! The truth is these people just want to remove any non-heterosexual thinking from society and push straight heterosexual thinking on everyone, especially the kids. Hugs
Seward County has become Nebraska’s capital of “civil forteiture,” in which Sheriffs deputies pull over out-of-state motorists, confiscate any cash they find, and send them on their way without charging them with crimes. Though the state banned the practice years ago, a loophole in the law’s wording effectively nullifies it and there’s little point fighting to get the money back because local courts won’t give it to you.
In the past decade, Seward has seized money in at least 90 state civil forfeiture cases, nearly double any other Nebraska county. In those cases, they initially seized a total of $2.2 million from motorists. Drivers rarely fight to get their money back. Those who do rarely win, according to court records. The $2 million kept by the county was split. Half went to a state fund for schools. Half went to a county fund overseen by a board of police chiefs, the Nebraska State Patrol, the county attorney and the sheriff. Records from meetings of that board, held at a Pizza Kitchen in Milford, detail how they decided to spend the seized dollars.They bought stun guns and bulletproof vests for the Seward and Milford Police Departments. They bought a sheriff’s cruiser with the words “Paid for by drug proceeds” emblazoned on the back. They bought an $18,000 drone for the Nebraska State Patrol. And they recently spent $15,000 on two ballistic shields, bought after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Thieves, plain and simple. The deputies doing it, the Sheriffs running it, and the judges rubber-stamping it all know what they are up to.
There is a video at the link. Notice these people were saving children by scaring them by, people are yelling, banging on the windows and doing Nazi salutes while holding a sign that says, “defend white communities, Hugs
CONCORD, N.H. —
The New Hampshire Attorney General’s office said it’s looking into an incident outside of a café in Concord.
Cell phone video shows a group of people protesting outside of the Teatotaller on Sunday while the café was hosting its monthly drag story hour event.
“All we were doing was promoting literacy and providing kids with cute, good stories,” drag queen Juicy Garland said.
In the videos, people are yelling, banging on the windows and doing Nazi salutes while holding a sign that says, “defend white communities,” all while a drag performer was inside reading books to families.
“I’m sure that was a lot more scary than anything else for the children that were here,” Liam Magan, Teatotaller general manager, said.
This Teatotaller location just opened up a year ago, and they started hosting these events in November.
But the owner said this isn’t the first time they’ve gotten pushback.
“It’s not the first time. It’s not the second time. It’s not the third time,” said Emmett Soldati, owner of Teatotaller. “But the truth is that we have been doing this kind of programming basically since we have existed in the state of New Hampshire, which is over a decade. And at the end of the day, we are going to continue doing programming that the community loves.”
The attorney general’s office has identified the protesters as members of NSC-131, which the Anti-Defamation League calls a neo-Nazi group, and said its civil rights unit is looking into the incident.
Juicy Garland, the drag queen who was reading at Sunday’s event, said this reaction won’t stop her from doing what she loves.
“I will be back and we will continue to do these,” Juicy Garland said. “If anything, I’m only more encouraged by these people to continue doing what we do.”
Teatotaller management told News 9 that safety is their main priority and that they hope this type of reaction won’t stop people from wanting to come here.
Management said they’re not letting protesters stop them from hosting more events like this in the future because they say there’s a need for more inclusive spaces.
The shoreline along Tampa Bay, just north of Port Manatee and Piney Point. Millions of gallons of wastewater are being pumped into Tampa Bay at Port Manatee in an effort to avoid a catastrophic failure of a containment wall at Piney Point.MIKE LANG, SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE
This still image from video shows the breach in the containment wall of the Piney Point reservoir. United States Congressman Vern Buchanan toured Piney Point Monday, Apr. 5, 2021, getting a look at the breach in the containment wall, the pumping outflow and Port Manatee where the wastewater is being pumped into Tampa Bay.MIKE LANG, SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE
Wastewater from Piney Point is flowing into Tampa Bay at this berth at Port Manatee. United States Congressman Vern Buchanan toured Piney Point Monday, Apr. 5, 2021, getting a look at the breach in the containment wall, the pumping outflow and Port Manatee where the wastewater is being pumped into Tampa Bay.MIKE LANG, SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE
United States Congressman Vern Buchanan toured Piney Point Monday, Apr. 5, 2021, getting a look at the breach in the containment wall, the pumping outflow and Port Manatee where the wastewater is being pumped into Tampa Bay.MIKE LANG, SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE
Wastewater being pumped from the Piney Point reservoir flows into Tampa Bay at Port Manatee, via this water-filled ditch in the center of this image. United States Congressman Vern Buchanan toured Piney Point Monday, Apr. 5, 2021, getting a look at the breach in the containment wall, the pumping outflow and Port Manatee where the wastewater is being pumped into Tampa Bay.MIKE LANG, SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE
Wastewater from Piney Point is flowing into Tampa Bay at this berth at Port Manatee. United States Congressman Vern Buchanan toured Piney Point Monday, Apr. 5, 2021, getting a look at the breach in the containment wall, the pumping outflow and Port Manatee where the wastewater is being pumped into Tampa Bay.MIKE LANG, SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE
Wastewater being pumped from the Piney Point reservoir flows into this ditch and into Tampa Bay. United States Congressman Vern Buchanan toured Piney Point Monday, Apr. 5, 2021, getting a look at the breach in the containment wall, the pumping outflow and Port Manatee where the wastewater is being pumped into Tampa Bay.MIKE LANG, SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE
Wastewater being pumped from the Piney Point reservoir flows into this ditch and into Tampa Bay. United States Congressman Vern Buchanan toured Piney Point Monday, Apr. 5, 2021, getting a look at the breach in the containment wall, the pumping outflow and Port Manatee where the wastewater is being pumped into Tampa Bay.MIKE LANG, SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE
The wastewater containment ponds at the old Piney Point fertilizer plant property in Manatee County. A breach in a containment pond wall led to more than 200 million gallons of polluted water being dumped into Tampa Bay. Florida lawmakers have included $100 million in the 2021-2022 budget for the Piney Point cleanup effort, among other budget earmarks targeted at projects in Sarasota or Manatee counties.MIKE LANG/HERALD-TRIBUNE FILE
Congressman Vern Buchanan got an aerial tour of the Piney Point reservoir breach, pumping outflow and Tampa Bay on Monday, Apr. 5thMIKE LANG
