Pastor Mark Burns, a loyal supporter of former President Donald Trump and a Republican congressional candidate, said earlier this week that parents and teachers who communicate with children about LGBTQ issues pose a “national security threat” to the United States and added that those found guilty of “treason” should be executed. Coach D reacts.
A toy yellow school bus is placed in front of a cross to honor Rojelio Torres, one of the children killed during the mass shooting in Robb Elementary School, while an American flag is seen in the foreground, Sunday, May 29, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. Wong Maye-E/AP
Some 44% of Republicans say mass shootings are “something we have to accept as part of a free society,” a poll found.
The poll found that a majority of Democrats and Independents said shootings are preventable “if we really tried.”
The survey comes after a string of mass shootings have again prompted Congress to assess gun control.
More than 4 in 10 Republicans think mass shootings are inevitable in a “free society,” according to a new poll by CBS News and YouGov.
One of the questions in the poll asked respondents if they feel that mass shootings are “unfortunately something we have to accept as part of a free society” or “something we can prevent and stop if we really tried.”
In response, 44% of Republicans said mass shootings are inevitable “as part of a free society.” Meanwhile, 85% of Democrats and 73% of Independents said mass shootings are preventable “if we really tried.”
The survey had a sample size of 2,021 US adults that were interviewed between June 1 and June 3, per CBS News, which noted the margin of error is ±2.6 points.
Following the shooting in Uvalde, President Joe Biden insisted that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is a “rational Republican” who could agree to gun control measures, despite the party’s longtime refusal to seriously entertain policy changes on firearms.
McConnell signaled his willingness for Republican senators to work with Democrats on a bipartisan push for gun safety legislation, but he did not endorse any specific proposals. The Minority Leader said he had “encouraged” Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, to talk to key Democrats “who are interested in trying to get an outcome that’s directly related to the problem.”
Days later, a conservative radio host tweeted that Cornyn was “open to making gun laws more restrictive.” Cornyn responded to the tweet, saying it was “not gonna happen.”
In the CBS/YouGov poll, respondents from political parties across the board seemed to agree that it is unlikely Congress will “pass any laws in the next few months that will make significant changes to gun policy.”
A total of 66% of Democrats, 72% of Independents, and 71% of Republicans indicated that they think it is “not very likely” or “not at all likely” that Congress passes significant, new gun policies in the coming months.
I want to point out that Turkey used to be a secular democracy and is still a member of NATO. They have transformed into a hardline strongman government with few democratic elements, and the government is promoting a Muslim theocracy. As for NATO Turkey has become one of the biggest obstacles for NATO growth and development. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is close with Putin and so threatens the secrets of US systems used my NATO. It is a bad situation made worse by religion taking over the government. And again near the end I have highlighted the same slurs and attacks by government on the LGBTQ+. President Tayyip Erdoğan’s government has shamelessly sought to paint LGBTQ+ as “perverts” or claim they don’t even exist as they tear away at what little rights LGBTQ+ people have in Turkey.
Turkish police descended on a peaceful Istanbul Prude protest. (Screen capture via Twitter)
Turkish police brutally beat and allegedly “tortured” nearly a dozen LGBTQ+ activists in Istanbul who were simply celebrating the start of Pride Month.
On 5 June, members of İstanbul LGBTİ+ Onur Haftası, which organises Istanbul Pride, gathered in the Yeldeğirmeni neighbourhood of the Kadıköy district to read a statement welcoming the start of Pride.
But as activists came together to celebrate 30 years of Istanbul Pride at around 6.30pm, a wave of police swept over the street. Hundreds of officers wielding riot shields proceeded to arrest 11 LGBTQ+ campaigners, according to video footage shared by İstanbul LGBTİ+ Onur Haftası.
Officers from Turkey’s national police force, the General Directorate of Security, were joined by the Çevik Kuvvet riot squad to squash the peaceful protest.
Activists and onlookers alike booed as people were escorted into police vans. Cordons of police lined the street and raised their shields up high in an attempt to prevent bystanders from seeing officers handcuffing and shoving activists.
Remaining defiant, Pride organisers and other campaign groups continued to raise intersex-inclusive Progress flags and heckle even as police detained them.
“Istanbul LGBTI+ Pride week is 30th [sic] years old. Police attacked and arrested LGBTI+ people who met in Yeldegirmeni streets in Istanbul- Kadikoy to celebrate Pride Month,” İstanbul LGBTİ+ Onur Haftası tweeted.
“Queer pride will defeat police torture! Istanbul Pride March countdown just begun! This year to we will resist!”
Istanbul LGBTI+ Pride week is 30th years old. Police attacked and arrested Lgbti+ people who met in Yeldegirmeni streets in Istanbul- Kadikoy to celebrate Pride Month. Queer pride will defeat police torture!
— İstanbul LGBTİ+ Onur Haftası (@istanbulpride) June 5, 2022
Members of İstanbul LGBTİ+ Onur Haftası, as well as two members of Trans+ Korteji, were arrested by police that evening. Trans+ Korteji claimed that, while in custody at the Vatan Police Station, officers “tortured” activists and shared alarming photographs of their heavily bruised wrists and legs.
Those arrested were all released later that evening.
— İstanbul LGBTİ+ Onur Haftası (@istanbulpride) June 5, 2022
With the theme of “resistance” 2022’s Istanbul Pride parade is scheduled for 26 June. But how police crushed a small gathering was a troubling forewarning of what the coming weeks will be like for LGBTQ+ people.
Istanbul Pride’s parades attracted hundreds of thousands of attendees for 13 years before the governate of Istanbul banned LGBTQ+ Pride events in 2015. Each year since city officials have invented reasons to prohibit the parade, such as “safety concerns” or COVID-19 restrictions, all but going in the face of Turks’ constitutional right to hold a peaceful protest without prior permission.
Yet activists refuse to back down and march anyway – and they have their reasons to. President Tayyip Erdoğan’s government has shamelessly sought to paint LGBTQ+ as “perverts” or claim they don’t even exist as they tear away at what little rights LGBTQ+ people have in Turkey.
In one of the most violent crackdowns yet, 2021 Istanbul Pride saw a shower of rubber bullets and tear gas strike LGBTQ+ Pride-goers. Around 20 were detained.
İstanbul LGBTİ+ Onur Haftası knows that this year won’t be any different. In the statement the group intended to read out on 5 June, organisers hoped to say that Pride is not only a celebration but is and always will be a protest.
“We LGBTIQA+ people are on the streets again. Our voices, laughter, and slogans echo in these streets. We are here with our identities, orientations, queerness, and all our existences,” the statement said according to the Turkish press agency Bianet.
“We are strong together, we continue to exist,” İstanbul LGBTİ+ Onur Haftası added. “Happy Pride.”
This has been well known for a century, maybe longer. People who have nothing, who are hungry, cold, hopeless will do whatever they can to get what they need, even crime. Let’s give them another way, we can easily afford it in this country if we stop robbing the public to funnel the money to the wealthy. Hugs
A new paper in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, published by Oxford University Press, indicates that removing cash welfare from children when they reach age 18 greatly increases the chances that they will face criminal justice charges in subsequent years.
Supplemental Security Income is a United States program that provides payments to people with disabilities who have low incomes. Children qualify for the program based on their disability status and their parents’ low income and assets. Until 1996 children automatically continued to qualify for the adult program when they reached 18 years old unless their incomes increased.
As part of changes made to US social welfare programs in 1996 the US Social Security Administration began to reevaluate children receiving SSI when they turned 18 using different, adult, medical eligibility criteria. The Social Security Administration began removing about 40% of children receiving benefits when they turned 18. This process disproportionately removes children with mental and behavioral conditions such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Using data from the Social Security Administration and the Criminal Justice Administrative Records System researchers estimated the effect of losing Supplemental Security Income benefits at age 18 on criminal justice and employment outcomes over the next two decades. By comparing records of children with an 18th birthday after the date of welfare reform enactment on August 22, 1996, and those born earlier (who were allowed onto the adult program without review) the researchers were able to estimate the effect of losing benefits on the lives of the affected youth.
They found that terminating the cash welfare benefits of these young adults increased the number of criminal charges by 20% over the next two decades. The increase was concentrated in what the authors call “income-generating crimes,” like theft, burglary, fraud/forgery, and prostitution. As a result of the increase in criminal charges, the annual likelihood of incarceration increased by 60%. The effect of this income removal on criminal justice involvement persisted more than two decades later.
The researchers found that the impact of the change was heterogeneous. While some people removed from the income support program at age 18 responded by working more in the formal labor market, a much larger fraction responded by engaging in crime to replace the lost income. In response to losing benefits, youth were twice as likely to be charged with an illicit income-generating offense than they were to maintain steady employment.
While each person removed from the program in 1996 saved the government some spending on SSI and Medicaid over the next two decades, each removal also created additional police, court, and incarceration costs. Based on the authors’ calculations, the administrative costs of crime alone almost eliminated the cost savings of removing young adults from the program.
“Traditionally, economists talk about the income effects of welfare programs in the context of the formal labor market—that welfare discourages work,” said the paper’s authors, Manasi Deshpande and Michael Mueller-Smith. “What we find is that the income effect of welfare benefits can also manifest as reductions in criminal activity. In fact, in the SSI context, cash welfare has a much larger discouragement effect on criminal activity than it does on formal work.”
Direct correspondence to: Manasi Deshpande University of Chicago Department of Economics Saieh Hall for Economics 347 1126 East 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637 mdeshpande@uchicago.edu
To request a copy of the study, please contact: Daniel Luzer daniel.luzer@oup.com
Remember that hundreds of elected Republicans support Russia over the US interests and vote against any aid to Ukraine. This is the country the right wing media support and want the US to become. Seems they really hate democracy. Hugs
Torture in Russia is becoming part of the government’s policy, the head of a disbanded anti-torture organization warned Sunday.
Sergei Babinets, the head of the Russian Committee for the Prevention of Torture, announced that his organization is disbanding after the government labeled it a “foreign agent.” It is the latest indication of Moscow violating human rights at home and through its invasion of Ukraine.
In a Telegram post, Babinets wrote that he did not want to continue to work under the label, which he described as “an insult and slander,” from the Russian government, according to a report from The Moscow Times.
“Despite the obvious importance of our mission, the authorities have been trying for many years to portray it as foreign and harmful,” he said in his post, according to the newspaper. “The authorities are sending a signal that torture is becoming [or has already become] a part of government policy.”
Torture in Russia is becoming part of the government policies, warned the leader of an anti-torture NGO that disbanded on Sunday. The news came one day after authorities labeled the organization a foreign agent. Russian Police officers run to detain a man holding a poster reads: “No war” during a unsanctioned protest rally at Manezhnaya Square in front of the Kremlin, March,13,2022, an inset of Committee for the Prevention of Torture NGO.GETTY/NGO
In Russia, the “foreign agent” label is often used against organizations, journalists, and opposition members accused of being funded by foreign governments. Those who carry the label may be subject to penalties or other constraints, according to the Times.
The committee, founded in 2000, has advocated for justice against Russian authorities accused of torture, particularly in Chechnya, which is viewed as a particularly authoritarian region in Russia where the group has faced security concerns, according to a 2016 report from The Guardian.
Their work had been made more difficult by the Russia-Ukraine war as thousands of Russians have been arrested for protesting the invasion that was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin in late February, Babinets said in a March interview with the organization Civil Rights Defenders.
“Currently, the work of the Committee is facing more and more obstructions, and human rights are practically seen as an ‘enemy’s value,'” he said at the time.
The organization’s press secretary Natalia Kurekina, in the same interview, warned of “alarming” violence from police against those engaged in anti-war demonstrations, including “ill-treatment” and beatings. She added the government’s crackdown on the independent media has made it more difficult to publicize this information.
It’s the latest sign of the Russian government potentially cracking down on human rights. According to data from OVD-info, an organization that tracks the number of arrests in Russia, at least 15,451 protesters have been arrested so far since the conflict began.
The Russian military has also faced allegations of human rights abuses in Ukraine, including attacks targeting civilians, including on kindergartens and hospitals.
German LGBT+ pride goers were subject to attack. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images)
A Pride event in Karlsruhe, Germany descended into chaos after 30 men violently attacked the crowd and set an LGBTQ+ flag ablaze.
The incident occurred on Saturday (4 June) when the group ganged up on the flag carrier and began to hurl a barrage of insults and hate speech, as reported by Queer.de.
Members of the crown attempted to help the person being attacked, but were in turn attacked themselves. People reported that they were pulled by their hair, kicked, brought to the ground and further beaten.
The attackers then proceeded to steal the flag and burn it. The person carrying the flag sustained several minor injuries and was transported to the hospital.
Karlsruhe police have opened an investigation into the incident, but have been accused of failing to prevent the attack and of reacting “inappropriately”.
An eyewitness at the event alleged that the police let the group of men “run on without being checked.”
German journalist Amelia Brandt wrote on Twitter: “The police who were called reacted to the situation in an extremely inappropriate way.”
She added: “Despite a police presence of at least 10 vans, only 9 police officers got out and took care of those affected.”
— 🍂 Armilla Brandt 🍂 (@armillabrandt) June 6, 2022
Brandt also alleged that the those who were injured and attended to by emergency services were met with anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments.
Criminal police are now investigating. A statement released on Monday (6 June) said: “Police headquarters in Karlsruhe have received allegations from various quarters that investigations were not carried out on site and subsequently not with the required intensity.”
The LGBTQ+ spokesperson for Germany’s ruling SPD party, Florian Wahl, said: “Our sympathy goes to the victims of this attack. But anti-queer attacks are increasing across Germany, and we have to take decisive action against them.”
Wahl said that allegations made about the Karlsruhe police would be investigated. He said: “An anti-queer attack is not a simple brawl… but an attack on the existence of the victim. The state government must ensure that the police recognize anti-queer attacks, call them by name and act appropriately and sensitively.”
Hate crimes continue to be a concern for the LGBTQ+ community in Germany. Reuters reported that violence against queer people increased by 36 per cent in 2020.
Markus Ulrich, a spokesperson for Germany’s biggest LGBTQ+ group LSVD, told Reuters at the time: “Hate crimes against queer people have been on the rise in the past three or four years.”
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Germany since 2017 and a Pew Research survey found that 86 per cent of Germans think homosexuality should be accepted.
What the republican right wants to happen here in the US. I have five of these stories in my news feed this morning. I doubt I will post all of them, but it shows that attacks on the LGBTQ+ is on the rise worldwide. This is not normal that this hate would continue unless it is fueled by something / someone. Here in this story it is politicians that refuse and block change. Why? Who is paying them to anti-LGBTQ+ instead of moving forward toward acceptance? Religions? Big money fascism? The worst of these stories come from the former Soviet countries and Russia. Russia is exporting anti-tolerance hard. No wonder the right wing in the US loves Putin, they all hate the same groups. Hugs
Uzbekistan LGBT+ continue to face violent human rights violations. (Photo by Monirul Bhuiyan / AFP) (Photo by MONIRUL BHUIYAN/AFP via Getty Images)
A new report has found that the LGBTQ+ community in Uzbekistan is under renewed threat as many face persecution, imprisonment, abuse, and brutal human rights violations.
Thirty-six LGBTQ+ people were convicted under the Article 120 of the Uzbek Criminal Code, which criminalises homosexuality in the majority Muslim country, in 2021, found a new report by the International Partnership for Human Rights, Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA), and the Eurasian Coalition on Health, Rights, Gender and Sexual Diversity (ECOM).
Twenty-five of them were imprisoned.
Police play a key part in the persecution of queer folk, demanding money in exchange for not outing people to relatives, and torturing and humiliating them.
One young man recounted his experience in a detention centre in the report, and said: “They suspended me from the ceiling using handcuffs, beat me severely, and tried to rape me with a truncheon.
“I have never been beaten and intimidated like that in my entire life. I wanted to die to free myself from this torture.”
The police told him to pay $2,000 (£1,623) or face imprisonment under Article 120. The man paid the police officers and was released.
Elsewhere in the report, one gay man reflected on Uzbekistan attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community. He said: “It’s as if we lived on a different planet, where it is normal to hate, imprison, discriminate, and kill people simply for who they are.”
Uzbekistan redrafting of the criminal code will make life harder for LGBT+ people. ( Credit: ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP via Getty Images)
Stories like this continue to crop up in the former Soviet country, the only one which still hasn’t removed its Soviet-era anti-LGBTQ+ laws.
The report even found that police use information from HIV centres to find people in order to exploit and extort money from them.
Currently under Article 120, same-sex sexual conduct can be a punishable offence up to three years. Uzbekistan is currently drafting a new criminal code but the law would merely transpose Article 120 into a new Article 154, with the wording unchanged, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Between 2017 and 2021 it was reported by HRW that police carried out bogus, debunked anal examinations to find and prosecute men for same-sex relations, but these were in fact found to be forms of torture and abuse.
Politicians have stood in between any kind of legislation changes.
In 2021 Alisher Kadyrov, leader of Uzbekistan’s National Revival party, even suggested identifying LGBTQ+ people in the country and taking away their citizenship so that other countries could offer them refuge.
“When I put forward this proposal on social networks, up to 100 LGBT people got in touch with me and agreed with what I had said,” Kadyrov said, according to EurasiaNet.
Ethan Schmidt, a friend of Arizona MAGA candidate Kari “KKKari” Lake, was arrested on an outstanding warrant on Sunday in Mesa.
Schmidt showed up at a March For Our Lives rally with an assault weapon. Then, he found out what happens when you show up at an anti-gun rally with an assault weapon.
This is the same fine person who said he’d be “hunting LGBT supporters” at Target stores during Pride Month and also has been filmed harassing Black Lives Matter protesters.
Schmidt previously appeared on JMG when he harassed cancer patients at a wig store for wearing masks.
In January, he was banned from the Arizona Capitol after harassing a black lawmaker, saying that his mask was a “slave muzzle.”
In February, he earned national headlines when he berated store employees for selling Black History Month items.
Earlier this month he was detained after his group harassed abortion rights protesters and his accomplice was arrested for assault.
According to the Tucson Sentinel, Schmidt is currently awaiting trial for DUI. In a video posted to Reddit, Schmidt can be seen flaunting his ankle monitor.
Ethan Schmidt was arrested after harassing people at the March For Our Lives rally in Phoenix. pic.twitter.com/SofYObVcBi
Ethan Schmidt, a right wing provocateur who has made videos with Kari Lake, Wendy Rogers, and Paul Gosar, warned Target he will “hunt LGBT supporters” in their stores and across Phoenix in June, stating they “are not safe” and they “can’t hide.” pic.twitter.com/O3ReHVN3qY
Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers made a video promoting Ethan Schmidt, who is now stating he will “hunt LGBT supporters” at Target and across Phoenix. pic.twitter.com/1CBmJGHYvN
Kari Lake appeared in a video promoting Ethan Schmidt’s account.
Kari Lake refuses to publicly denounce Ethan who is now stating he will “hunt LGBT supporters” at Target and across Phoenix. pic.twitter.com/FB9Ue831G9
My question as well. In my opinion, just threatening to hunt people down and shoot them should be a crime. I thought it was. Silly me. I guess they’ll be giving him a $300 bail and give his gun back when they release him.
What is most pathetic about people like him and people of his ilk is that he has no ideology except hate. Anything he disagrees with is all about the 2nd amendment and using weapons to take back their lives. They really don’t understand what they are hating. They just threaten against anything they disagree with. Very sad and very republican.
Another dumb fuck who has had stupid hammered into him He has no clue what the second amendment mean but can only parrot ‘second amendment second amendment. These people have always been around but have achieved a high degree legitimacy under X#45 . Lethal confrontation has become an accepted norm
School districts across Ohio will be able to authorize teachers, principals and other staff to carry firearms into classrooms this fall after 24 hours of training.
The new law, signed Monday by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, will lower the required training hours for armed school personnel from about 700 hours to four scenario-based training hours, plus a maximum of 20 hours for first-aid training, history of school shootings and reunification education.
“In life we make choices, and we don’t always know what the outcome is going to be,” DeWine said at a news conference. “What this Legislature has done, I’ve done by signing it, is giving schools an option based on their particular circumstances to make the best decision they can make with the best information they have. That’s all any decision-maker can do.”
Ohio school districts are not required to allow staff to carry firearms under the law. House Bill 99 allows local boards of education to decide whether they want staff to carry firearms at all and how much training will be required.
DeWine said he directed the Ohio School Safety Center to require at least 24 hours of training and eight hours of requalification training each year. The move appeared aimed at eliminating confusion among lawmakers over whether the bill established a minimum number of training hours.
Private businesses that want to train school staff must also meet the 24-hour minimum to have their curriculum approved, DeWine said.
‘Do something’
Democrats and gun control advocates panned the new law, saying it won’t do enough to prevent gun violence and mass shootings. Law enforcement officials have also said 24 hours is not enough time to learn how to safely use a firearm.
Opponents argued DeWine walked back on promises to address gun violence after a gunman killed nine people in Dayton in 2019. The governor responded to cries of “do something” by unveiling a package of gun control reforms, but they never went anywhere in the GOP-controlled Legislature.
“I feel like a putz for believing him,” Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said. “He did something, alright. He gave in like a coward, and he made the problem worse.”
DeWine has signed three bills loosening gun restrictions since the shooting.
“It’s a complete bastardization of what people said in Dayton, frankly,” said former Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, who is running for governor against DeWine. “This is not what the people of Dayton had in mind when they started chanting that.”
During Monday’s news conference, DeWine urged lawmakers to consider provisions of the 2019 legislation that would increase penalties for straw purchases and prevent people with severe mental health conditions from possessing a firearm.
DeWine touts school safety efforts
DeWine’s signature puts an end to years of debate over how many hours of firearm training Ohio teachers should have.
Parents in the Madison Local Schools district in southwest Ohio sued the district over its armed teacher program, arguing that the training required – about 24 hours – violated state law. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled for the parents in 2021.
The court ruled in a 4-3 decision that Ohio Revised Code required anyone authorized to carry a gun on school grounds to have 20 years of experience or peace officer training. DeWine argued the ruling made firearm training unmanageable for school districts that wanted to permit it.
But some law enforcement disagreed.
“I think it’s a horrible idea to arm our teachers,” Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said. “There’s a lot of training that’s involved in that. It’s naïve to believe that is something we can put on them and expect them to respond to from a law enforcement perspective.”
The governor used Monday’s news conference to highlight other school safety initiatives that he’s rolled out since the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The new capital budget includes $100 million in grants that schools can use to upgrade building security. The state is also investing in training to help school staff identify behavioral health problems in students.
“We are trying to do and have been trying to do every single day things that people keep safer – keep kids in school safer but also these same children who go home to neighborhoods where there’s violent crime and repeat violent offenders,” DeWine said. “Their lives are important, too. All children’s lives are important.”
#BREAKING: Gov. Mike DeWine, joined by Lt. Gov. Jon Husted Monday morning, confirmed he has signed a bill that allows teachers and education staff to carry guns with training slimmed down from peace officer requirements. DETAILS: https://t.co/Dq6Fh9OwhZpic.twitter.com/0676jRWreW
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Monday that he signed a bill permitting teachers to carry guns to school. The bill requires only 24 hours of training if school districts opt into the new legislation.
Republicans: teachers are communists who want to molest your kids and change their genders while listening to Bob Marley. Also republicans: we need to arm teachers.
Scottie's Playtime 