Sorry this may be the last post I make today. I am not doing well. I have had 3 hours sleep in two days. Monday I got a steroid shot in each shoulder so I could move them again. My bones ache so bad I wondered if I had gotten a cold or flu again. Steroids do depress my already depressed immune system. But I can hardly stand the pain in my hands, arms, legs, and I am not a jolly fellow today. Tomorrow I have my allergy shots. That should be great, right, what could go wrong with how I feel. Ron is going with me and we are going to buy the flooring for the Florida room Ron built and that will be my new office. As I have said before it is to give me more light and not feeling so isolated and will give us a spare bedroom for visitors. Hugs
🪓DELETION UPDATE—More than 1,000 pages are now deleted from websites of CDC, National Institutes of Health, and other sites of the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a new WSJ analysis—including many **vaccine recommendation** scientific pages! https://t.co/nA23A8qDQIpic.twitter.com/u5bHXUVRHE
NEW: Elon Musk's friends have infiltrated the GSA and they're looking for ways to use White House credentials to access agency tech, potentially allowing them to remote into laptops, read emails, and more, sources say.w/ @zoeschiffer.bsky.social http://www.wired.com/story/elon-m…
It’s also the latest example of Trump trying to blame the Biden administration and Democrats on issues that arise during his term. Trump’s memo alleges that Biden’s administration “egregiously rejected merit-based hiring, requiring all agencies to implement dangerous ‘diversity equity and inclusion’ tactics, and specifically recruiting individuals with ‘severe intellectual’ disabilities in the FAA.”
Nearly one in 10 Americans now identify as LGBTQ+, according to Gallup — almost double the percentage recorded just four years ago.
In 2020, 5.6% percent of U.S. adults identified as LGBTQ+ on the Gallup survey, and today, 9.3% of adults in the U.S. identify as part of the community. That number represents a one-point bump from just a year ago, and a staggering increase from the 3.5% first registered in Gallup’s inaugural 2012 poll measuring the size of the LGBTQ+ community. The rise in Americans openly identifying as LGBTQ+ is largely due to an uptick in people who identify as bisexual, especially among Generation Z, according to Gallup’s breakdowns of the data.
More than one in five Gen Z adults (23.1%) now identify as LGBTQ+, per Gallup, followed by about 14% of millennials. Older generations, including Gen X, Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation, all identify as LGBTQ+ at rates of 5% or below, tapering off to only 1.8% for those born in or before 1945.
Of the 900 people surveyed who identified as LGBTQ+, more than half — 56% — indicated that they were bisexual. In fact, more than half of both Gen Z (59%) and millennial (52%) queer people identified as bisexual. These numbers are consistent with past polling that has shown that bisexual people are an “invisible majority” within the queer community.
The percentage of trans U.S. adults has also increased when compared with the survey’s 2024 results. In last year’s poll, fewer than one percent (0.9%) of American adults identified as trans, while this year, 1.3% of respondents self-identified as such. Likewise, last year, 11.8% of the LGBTQ+ population identified as trans, while this year that percentage was recorded at approximately 14%.
The poll notes that LGBTQ+ identification has a strong correlation with being a woman, being politically liberal, and living in an urban area. For example, 21% of liberals, compared to 3% of conservatives, identified as queer or trans, while, overall, 10% of women identify as part of the community compared to 6% of men.
Gallup based its results on interviews with more than 14,000 U.S. adults. Respondents were asked to identify as straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or something else, and are allowed to indicate multiple identities when responding.
As the percentage of Americans who identify as LGBTQ+ rises, the statistic inches closer to a famous and controversial claim based on the work of human sexuality researcher Alfred Kinsey in the 1940s. Kinsey estimated that about one in 10 Americans were predominantly homosexual — a figure that was colloquially flattened over the years to become the oft-repeated claim that 10% of the population is gay. Kinsey, however, did not believe identity was easily fixed or categorized and often, instead, spoke about behaviors. For example, through surveys and interviews conducted with thousands ordinary Americans, Kinsey estimated that more than a third of men had a same-sex sexual experience in their lives, while at least one in five women had had the same.
The results of Gallup’s poll suggests a population increasingly likely to be at odds with the Trump administration’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies, which include a January executive order making it the official position of the U.S. government that there are only two genders defined at birth. That memo is part of a recent conservative efforts to deny and regulate the existence of trans people nationwide. In 2024, a record number of bills aimed at limiting trans freedoms, including access to gender-affirming health care, were introduced in state legislatures.
This videos are hard to watch, I had to fast forward over the part showing the man harassing these people and acting like a deranged gang thug, which maga is. It is going to get worse as more of these vigilantes think they have a right to be enforcers of their own opinions. We need to make sure that every event is punished and made public to stop these people from acting this way. Hugs
A south Carolina man is in jail for illegally detaining people he thought were “illegals”
Canceling any non white male centric holiday in the name of DEI? Sounds about Project 2025 of them.
Wanting lower grocery prices is good; believing a liar is not.
Deporting his supporters: They got your vote, they don’t need you anymore.
Looks like DOGE is coming for the Department of Labor next.
If I were to ask 1000 people what they value the most in a partner, I would likely get near to 1000 similar answers, that would likely consist of variants of someone being a horny boy scout: Cleanliness, commitment, common sense, communication, compassion, confidence, consistency, courage, creativity, harmony…. You get my point.
If I were to ask the same questions of employees, I would get, again, similar answers.
We want to work for an employer who is creative, confident, inspiring, loyal and successful, among other attributes. Most of middle class workers want to be paid every payday, have a confidence that we will have a job the next week rather than living in fear of what is just around the corner, and know that our hard work is valued and appreciated.
But we have found that when we want a national leader, we find those staid truths boring. Carter was one of the smartest and kindest presidents we have ever had, but he was thrown over for someone who spoke well at celebrity shows and told good stories. That man went on to convince the country that if they only gave the rich man more money they would prosper by the scraps falling to them from on high. The die was cast: oratory skills of a story teller hold precedence over other attributes such as trustworthiness, competence and consistency. Somehow being bombastic and entertaining gained the highest priorities for way too many.
When I was going to school, I remember a dream of man that he was a warrior so that his son could live a life of peace and be a farmer, putting food on his table and raising his family in safety and security. And the farmer wanted his son to be a businessman so he didn’t have to live a life of broken hands and aching back.
And the businessman wanted his son to be a scholar and an artist so he could bring innovation, understanding and beauty to his world. This was to be the guide for man living a life of peace and confidence in the wonderful things that life could bring.
Some of my proudest moments in life were to see equality in marriage made fact, to see the government of the people begin to value the health of the country rather than just the martial stance of our army, and to see our youth feel free to be themselves no matter how that was expressed. Conversely, some of my saddest moments have come with the avowed destruction of those points of authenticity and growth of our people because some found it so profoundly threatening that they preferred fake entertainment, avarice and chaos. My enduring hope is that people want to be genuine, they want to be free, they want peace and security and a reality that does not change whenever the powers that be find it inconvenient.
An amendment from Rep. Susan Ruiz, a Shawnee Democrat, to modify the bill’s language so best interests of a child in foster or adoptive care remained the top priority at DCF was rejected by the House. She said the amendment was necessary because the bill was drafted in a way that could force a subsection of children in Kansas to endure more trauma.
“You have to remember why children come into the system in the first place,” Ruiz said. “They come into the system because of abuse and neglect, and it comes in so many forms.”
Ruiz told House colleagues that Kansas youth were physically beaten and emotionally traumatized by parents and church leaders who wanted children to adhere to a certain sexual orientation or gender identity. Some kids were expected to “pray away the gay,” she said.
Others were compelled to undergo so-called conversion therapy, she said. It has little basis in science, but proposes to erase a person’s gender identity or sexuality — usually to conform to ideals of other people.
“This bill opens up the door to one of the most horrible forms of therapy that any human being can be exposed to,” Ruiz said. (Snip-MORE)
TOPEKA (KSNT) – Kansas’ attorney general and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) have signed a deal to assist federal immigration forces in the Sunflower State.
Danedri Herbert with the Kansas Office of the Attorney General said in a press release on Monday, Feb. 17 that Attorney General Kris Kobach and the KBI have signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This will allow KBI agents to work alongside Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to remove immigrants who are residing in Kansas illegally.
A limited number of KBI agents will receive ICE training that authorizes the agents to arrest immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally, serve and execute warrants for some immigration violations and issue immigration detainers, according to the press release. Herbert said a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes states and political subdivisions of a state to enter into agreements like this. (snip-MORE)
Scottie's Playtime 