SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Democratic controlled cities of Salt Lake City and Boise adopted new city flags this week showing support for LGBTQ+ people in defiance of their states’ Republican-controlled Legislatures, which have banned traditional rainbow pride flags at schools and government buildings.
The newly adopted city flags are displayed at the Salt Lake City and County building showing support for LGBTQ+ in defiance of their state’s Republican controlled Legislature, Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
Utah’s capital of Salt Lake City created new flag designs while Boise, the capital of Idaho, made the traditional pride flag one of its official city flags. The move in Utah came hours before a ban on unsanctioned flag displays took effect Wednesday.
The cities’ mayors spoke Tuesday morning to discuss their individual plans and offer each other support, said Andrew Wittenberg, a spokesperson for Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall’s office.
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall smiles as she attends the IOC session in Paris, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)Mayor Lauren McLean listens during a news conference at the Linen Building in Boise, Idaho, June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, File)
May 8, 1882 The American Peace Society was established when the peace societies of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania merged to become a national organization. Currently based in Boston, the merged organization was a result of the leadership of William Ladd, an advocate of a “Congress and High Court of Nations” for solving international disputes. William Ladd, one of the founders of the American Peace Society American Peace Society
May 8, 1933 Mohandas Gandhi began a 21-day fast to support political rights for the Dalit (or untouchables) whom he called Harijans, the children of God. He had been jailed by the British to interfere with his movement to end colonial control of India. He was released the day after he began his personal purification because the colonial authorities were afraid he might die in prison. Gandhi And His Fasts
May 8, 1962 An estimated 9,000,000 people in Belgium participated in a ten-minute work stoppage to protest nuclear weapons.
May 8, 1971 Nguyen Thi Co immolated herself in protest of the Vietnam War, as did Thich Nu Tinh Nhuan later that month.
May 8, 1984 Presbyterian minister Reverend Benjamin Weir was kidnapped in Beirut, Lebanon, while out walking with his wife, Carol. Members of Islamic Jihad (later known as Hezbollah), a terrorist group in Lebanon, held Weir for sixteen months—twelve of them in solitary confinement—along with six other Americans who were released later, including journalist Terry Anderson. Before the kidnapping, Weir had spent nearly three decades in Lebanon as a Christian missionary and teacher at the Near East School of Theology. In his various positions in the Presbyterian church since his release, Weir was a voice for reconciliation and tolerance. Reverend Benjamin Weir
Marlon Wayans is opening up about his 24-year-old trans son Kai, and the importance of parenting with “complete acceptance.”
The comedian appeared alongside his brother Damon Wayans on the April 30 episode of the IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson podcast. While discussing parenting advice, Marlon said that Kai’s transition “taught me what real, unconditional love was.”
“When they went through the transition, I actually went through the transition,” he said. “I went from denial to complete acceptance, and it took me a week to get there.”
Wayans joked that although he believes “only God can judge… If that’s a mistake and we get to heaven and God don’t let my child in, I’m going to shave a beard and sneak them in through the back.”
“I’m going to love my baby… I’m a father, and I’m always going to defend them,” he continued. “I’m always going to protect them. I’m always going to respect them. And there’s nothing anybody could ever tell me.”
The White Chicks star added that when it comes to the public’s reaction to him supporting Kai, he could care less about losing fans in the process.
“I lost people that are small-minded, small-hearted, and self-loathing,” he said. “So, goodbye… For every one I lose, I gain 150 more.”
This isn’t the first time that Wayans has used his platform to support Kai and other trans youth. Back in February, the actor defended his son after Soulja Boy called him a transphobic slur while publicly feuding with Wayans.
“You know you can get cancelled for transphobic slander like this,” he tweeted at the time. “Fortunately for you that you don’t have a career. Apparently, You BEEN cancelled for the last 17 years. Crank that was 2007. We waiting.”
Wayans previously opened up about supporting Kai during a September 2024 appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show, explaining that after his son came out, “I went through the five stages of grief to get to the beautiful, magical place called acceptance.”
“I learned that my family, my brothers, my sisters, have prepared me to be a rock in our family,” he said. “[Kai is] the same child they was before, they’ve just got a beard now. Okay. Same baby.”
This Substack writer followed me, for some reason, so I followed him back on the free plan. He’s a heck of an author! Here is this that came out today. Just click on the Read on Substack hyperlink to get the whole piece. It’s a worthy click.
Canadian 🇨🇦 Speaking with American 🇺🇸 of Goodwill by Dr. Richard Francis Hogan Read on Substack
Canada K1R 7X1 Tuesday April 29, 2025 17:39
My dear American friend,
As a Canadian—rooted in the North’s enduring landscapes, shaped by the intellectual rigor of Princeton, Harvard, and Alistair—the perspective I bring carries both the weight of my country’s values and the lens of scholarship. Canada itself is a testament to resilience: vast, unyielding, and profoundly ethical, it stands as a quiet lodestar amid a fractured Western Alliance.
The Alliance, once a cathedral of shared ideals—its pillars of democracy, its arches of trust, and its foundation of justice—has weathered quakes of greed and waves of corruption. Criminal actors, conspiring in darkness, have sought to erode these sacred stones, testing the integrity of the principles that bind nations and people alike. Yet Canada, like the glacier’s edge cutting through stone, does not yield. It understands that sovereignty is not merely a possession, but a responsibility—a covenant to protect truth and justice, not only for itself but for all who look to it as a beacon.
Ethically, Canada reflects what true kinship should embody: colleagues whose integrity is a bridge over tumultuous waters; partners who root themselves in mutual respect, like the intertwining roots of the great boreal forests; and friendships, which are the wildflowers that flourish even in the harshest tundra, bringing color and life to the frostiest of divides. To betray these values, through complicity or complacency, is to allow darkness to encroach upon what light remains. (snip-MORE)
Good-Day Playtime folks!! Not sure how I felt about being back to work today. I often do enjoy my job. I enjoy finding the solution to problems, working with people that are, quite frankly, smarter than I and coming to an understanding of an issue and seeking a solution. I enjoy the creative process of fabrication. What begins a draft on paper ending as a usable and well made product is often magical, in my mind. Ok, I’m a cheap date, I get it.
Many of the people I work with are very much drumpf lovers. I am well known to be not so enamored. In fact, if you asked me, I’d say I hate the guy…. but no, that’s not a fair word. I hate what he’s done. I hate what we’ve become because of this one …. person. Other presidents spoke on Hope and Change, a Shining City on a Hill, Camelot, A Thousand Shining Lights. Drumpf told me I would get to the point where I was tired of winning. I’m there! I lost Camelot. I can’t see the Shining City. Camelot is gone. I am hoping for a change…. But, I don’t hate the man. I was raised better…. ironically by people who are now enamored with the guy. Nonetheless, I don’t hate because I’m better than that. Still, I so hate what he’s done to us.
As I write this I am reminded of a person we had working at the shop who was my senior. He talked a great game, seemed able to manipulate people with ease, was divisive, derisive, abusive even. Somehow I thought he was good for the company despite his faults, despite the internal red flags waving so hard that I just talked myself out of recognizing for what they, for what HE was! In the end, he cost us two big customers, our reputation, and millions of dollars (remember, small business!) We are rebuilding, hoping we survive the cost of his devastating sabotage. I feel foolish for believing this guy. I feel foolish because I KNEW he was a snake, and I FELL FOR IT! I cannot tell you how embarrassed and hurt I am from this asshole.
Remember who you are and please Hold On To Hope as we weather this particular shit storm for this too shall pass and we – as a country, as communities, as families and as individuals – we will have quite the mess to clean up. We will need strong, mature and smart people who can not only speak in complete sentences but who are invested in rebuilding and success. And, just like that snake that I once worked with, we will need to learn from this and NEVER let it happen again. Hugs. Randy
Stop by here whenever you feel; there’ll be a light on, I bet! And I get what you’re saying, I believe. It does seem a good time to look around oneself locally, take stock, and be surrounded with the little things.
This blogger visits us here; I’ve seen likes on our posts. I checked out the blog and subscribed. I admit, I read with the Translate turned on, so I’ve copy-pasted a snippet here, in English. It’s not too long to read, so please do! It’s motivating.
The government’s instructions on the “sobriety” to be maintained in the celebrations of April 25 have led to the cancellation of celebrations and concerts, even in municipalities administered by left-wing councils. An indication is not a ban, but many mayors have preferred to avoid being accused of having violated the sobriety required during the five days of national mourning proclaimed for the death of the Pope. As in the case of Foligno, they even cancelled the performance of the philharmonic that was supposed to play the national anthem.
In Lastra a Signa, on the outskirts of Florence, the municipal council has decided to cancel the concert of Quarto Podere , a historic Tuscan band that has always combined commitment, tradition and irony in its long artistic career. In response to this absurd decision, the members of the group wrote a letter in which they expressed deep dismay and asked for a reconsideration. Here is a significant passage:
“ April 25, Liberation Day from Nazi-fascism, is a cornerstone of our Republic. We therefore consider it unacceptable that a left-wing government, in a secular State (as established by Article 1 of the Constitution), chooses to deny the possibility of adequately commemorating such a significant day, outraging the memory of those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. This choice appears even more serious at a time in history when our dignity, workers’ rights and the founding values of the Republic are under attack by a far-right government, clearly of neo-fascist origin; a government that, since it has been in office, has undertaken a systematic demolition of political rights, limiting the possibility of dissent and resistance, as demonstrated by the latest Security Decree. The proclamation of five days of national mourning represents yet another opportunity to exploit a contingent event and silence any form of dissent. We are convinced that Pope Francis – a figure we deeply respect – would have been opposed to a cancellation that betrays the inclusive and profound spirit of a celebration that, for our country, is sacred .”
Music, singing, artistic expression have always been perceived as dangerous by totalitarian regimes. (snip-MORE)
I think Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should run for president in 2028. Honestly, it is hard to look at the turnout for her “Fight Oligarchy” tour with Sen. Bernie Sanders and the extremely slick videos her campaign is pushing out and come away thinking she isn’t running. This doesn’t feel like someone merely running for another term in Congress or even as a challenger for Sen. Chuck Schumer’s Senate seat. This feels like something more on the level of the 2007-2008 Obama campaign, or even Barry Goldwater’s 1964 crusade.
Personally, I think Ocasio-Cortez should run because the Democratic Party and America overall needs it to happen. Right now, under Donald Trump we are in the vice grips of a racist, authoritarian cult. But Trump didn’t come out of nowhere. Trump’s actions are built on decades of conservative groundwork, from the aforementioned Goldwater campaign to the Reagan presidency, to the Bush presidency, and yes – including the Romney and McCain campaigns. All of it.
In response to this multi-decade assault facilitated via operations like Fox News, Democrats have been tepid at best. The party simply does not know how to fight, and it constantly promotes from the ranks of the “don’t fight” caucus. Just a few weeks ago, still coasting from his attachment to Bill Clinton in a campaign that was conducted nearly four decades ago, James Carville told Democrats to lie down and play dead in a New York Times op-ed. Carville’s world view is not an outlier. Democrats have been playing dead for most of my adult life and I’m just a few years short of fifty.
Coming off of the Clinton 2016 and Harris 2024 losses, the party needs a come to Jesus moment, a full-throated fight to determine what, if anything, it stands for and how it intends to conduct itself in the future. The recent DNC chair race solved none of this, because DNC chair is not an ideological position – it’s all about basic party function. The ideology of the party is still determined by leaders like Schumer, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Right now that ideology is – to be blunt – weak shit.
Ocasio-Cortez is a progressive and to be sure that is why I like her, but what I like about her even more is that she isn’t afraid of it. I’m tired of liberalism that is afraid to say what it is out loud, or that insists that every celebration of liberal ideology has to be balanced by some mealy-mouthed statement acknowledging the purported legitimacy of the conservative world view. It isn’t legitimate and more Democrats need to act that way.
The arguments against Ocasio-Cortez running for president don’t feel very compelling to me.
She’s a woman. This is the weakest counterargument and the most un-American. America is all about doing the big thing that hasn’t been done before and fighting for it. Simply because two women lost the election after getting the nomination, we’re just supposed to stop? If, after a robust primary process the voters within the Democratic Party decide that a woman is the best person to do the job, then she deserves the nomination – but we can’t simply let misogyny win out again because we are unwilling to fight.
She’s a progressive/socialist. The Democratic Party has been nominating centrists for decades. If political ideology was all about matching the candidate to the country, we would be discussing the easy presidential wins from former Presidents Gore, Kerry, Clinton, and Harris. Democrats should pick the best candidate who appeals to the world they believe in – because that kind of pure belief is far better than playing fantasy campaign manager, selecting a nominee based on what you think is most acceptable to some mythical middle America voter.
She needs more experience. This is a really ridiculous one. Back in 2007 when Obama was first debating entering the race, I prayed he would do it because I fear what the Senate does to the mind of a human being. Look at Kerry and his Republican counterpart in terminal Senate brain, John McCain. I look at the Senate as a zombie that sucks the charisma out of people and turns them into near-automatons spouting nonsense about an amendment they offered in committee and other things normal people don’t understand.
Ocasio-Cortez understands the inner workings of the government far more than the average person. Several years of getting stifled by the Senate won’t change that. Similarly, I don’t see the logic in letting her linger in the House, even if she eventually ends up in a senior leadership position like Speaker.
To use a sports analogy, in the past NFL teams would draft a quarterback and let them sit on the sidelines, purportedly learning the ropes from a veteran signal caller. But in the modern NFL, a guy is drafted and immediately thrown into the deep end to see if they can sink or swim. To be certain, many times that leads to a spectacular bust – or, like in the case of my favorite team the Washington Commanders – a rookie takes you to within one game of the Super Bowl in his first year.
Both Obama and Trump jumped into their races when they had grassroots momentum. They both beat back the establishment candidate (Clinton for Obama, Jeb! for Trump). The rallies, along with years of well received rhetoric and attacks from the right-wing machine say to me that Ocasio-Cortez has that “juice” and it would be a shame to let it wither.
I’m not arguing that she would win the nomination or even the general election. Who even knows if we can have free and fair elections anymore? But the fact that this cornerstone of American democracy is even in question at this point sort of makes the case that the same old, same old cannot continue to be the answer.
Something more needs to be done, and as Ocasio-Cortez keeps saying “a better world is possible.” So maybe let’s try it. (snip-MORE + photo of the cutest dachshund doggy ever)
Scottie's Playtime 