More crazy and bigoted news that drives my depression

From the linked article in the above Joe.My.God. post.   Remember, this is a Yale history grad, claiming that is OK to honor Confederate Generals that fought the US government to keep slavery because “But at the end of the day, you know, we had people that have done great things for this country,” DeSantis said.”

Ron DeSantis doubles down on restoration of ‘iconic’ Fort Bragg name

Despite the limited scope of the DoD’s renaming, the Governor likened taking Bragg’s name off the fort to moves to “take Abraham Lincoln off the statue down in Boston … take Teddy Roosevelt down in New York City” and “remove George Washington’s name from schools in San Francisco.”

“And that’s not, I think, what I want to see. I mean, I think you can look back at anybody and you could find flaws. But at the end of the day, you know, we had people that have done great things for this country,” DeSantis said.

“I’m not in a position to say that somehow I’m so much better than any of this. It’s a different time. People make mistakes. There’s different parts of our society, we look back and can say was a mistake. But this idea that we’re going to erase history, I just think, is fundamentally wrong, and we’re not going to do that.”

Brian Curtis 2 days ago
“We shouldn’t erase history,” say Republicans who support expunging all record of Trump’s impeachments.

You Again? Brian Curtis2 days ago

And no teaching the histories of minority groups unless they reflect positively on white, christian men.

That would be too traumatic for them to bear!

Rebecca Gardner2 days ago

While we’re at it, let’s also create Fort Hirohito. Why not, he was the leader of a foreign nation that attacked the United States. Let’s run with this theme Governor Fucknutz.

carswell Hayseed2 days ago edited

Fort Rosa Parks. Black, female, uppity, liberal. The GQP will have a collective aneurysm.

mkbear682 days ago

“And here’s the thing, you know, you learn from history, you don’t erase the history” and yet history that makes students uncomfortable can’t be taught in schools…right

band💋 DmR2 days ago

That’s what happens when you’re clearly running for president of the Confederate States of America.

tbj5 Yves R. Mektin2 days ago

Trump’s an elderly sociopathic narcissist, he’s spent decades refining his charisma and reflexes to lie instantly, without hesitation and with complete believability.

Ronnie isn’t, even if he’s a sociopath himself, he’s just hungry for power and clout and tries constantly to copy Trump to try and steal his thunder and his followers. But he can never be as good a liar.

🔄arithrianos🔄2 days ago edited

Wow, he first says the name of the military base did not cause him to learn any history at all, then claims keeping the name is vital to learning the history he was totally ignorant about until they removed the name of the incompetent traitorous slaver, demonstrating he is lying through his teeth. He must have experts help him prove himself a liar like that, I don’t think he’s clever enough to figure it out himself.

TK2 days ago edited

I guess he means we learn only from white history, not the black history he is censoring in the schools. That’s erasing history, asshole!! This guy is such a lying fucking hypocrite.

Watters wanted and got the Tucker spot at fox. To get it he has to appeal to the most right wing demographics sought after by media, and to win them he has to be full open racist and the most ardent supporter of the right wing conspiracies along with pushing the idea of Christian nationalism. Hugs

Sarah2 days ago edited

So, if we make DC and Puerto Rico states, will Hawaii become “real America,” since it won’t be the most recent anymore?

Anyway, well, we know why he doesn’t think Obama is a “real American.”

vap Sarah2 days ago

No. Because in MAGA land only White, Christians are “real Americans”

John L vap2 days ago

Even then you have to be the Reich kind of “Christian”

Houndentenor Sarah2 days ago

No, he means that Obama is black and therefore not a real American because real Americans are white.

SkokieDaddy – wiener dog dad2 days ago

Now that he’s been given Tuckum’s time slot, he needs to up his hate-the-black-guy game to earn his bona fides.

Uncle Mark: HoHo-smoking homo Doug10518 hours ago

I’ll check Texas for the proper roasting temperature setting

clay 2 days ago
Between her sarcasm, mental health problems, and internalized anti-Semitism, how can I take her seriously enough to even criticize her?

Hayseed2 days ago

Who cares about the tapes or even the documents case? We need to focus on what is really important…

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Chris Baker Reality.Bitesa day ago edited

If man sees a kid playing in the street, then notice a car driving down the street, and he shrugs and says ‘free will’ and the car hits the kid, is that man a good person or a bad person?

Yet somehow Christians want to tell you that God is good, even though he allows bad things to happen. (And he could have just stopped it all by making Adam and Eve barren, or ending the world 4000 years ago.)

NotJoea day ago

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Gigia day ago

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RR Unbordered Americana day ago

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TWO MEN leaving a public restroom .
Man#1 approaches Man#2 and says:
“Excuse me sir but I noticed you didn’t wash your hands after using the urinal. I’m from Texas and in Texas we’re taught you should always wash your hands after using the restroom.”
Man#2 replies: “Well I’m from California and in California we’re taught you should’nt pee all over yourself.”

bambinoitalianoa day ago

This is Biden trying to take away our electricity! I’m going full blast until it brownout! Freedum!

Sarah bambinoitalianoa day ago

I’m going full blast until it brownout!

Happens to me after I eat bean soup.

Skeptical_Inquirer bambinoitalianoa day ago

I wish non-Dem Texans would learn to blame the GQP they vote in for the shitty state of their infrastructure but if the Ted Cruz fleeing for Cancun didn’t teach them shit . . .

Serene Pumpkin Skeptical_Inquirera day ago

The GQP has had 100% control of the state for what, 20 years? And still the fascists find ways to blame powerless Democrats

IamSmartypantsa day ago

This is really a non-issue because if the power goes out and people die, nobody can sue the power company because the Republican Texas Supreme Court just held that Republican-controlled ERCOT is immune from lawsuits. No liability = No Problem.

Secure 💪🏻 IamSmartypantsa day ago

This is nothing like the giant frozen front of 2021. We did all of this last summer. If anything, it would be rolling blackouts. We will be fine.

What, me worry?a day ago

Did they ever get around to upgrading their grid? I’m guessing it will go down and stay down for days before the 4th.

bambinoitaliano What, me worry?a day ago

No, they told everyone to kiss their grid when they rejected Beto.

Strang previously appeared here when he declared that people who oppose Trump are possessed by demons and that voting against Trump is a vote for the “apocalypse.” Also, holograms and Trump’s impeachments? Both the work of Satan. We last heard from him when he appeared in a “documentary” with Dr. Demon Semen.

Ščŏŧŧ Ċ – 🇺🇦 🕊3 days ago

What’s happening lines up with God’s Word regarding what would happen in the end times before Jesus returns.

But that’s what you want, isn’t it? Shouldn’t you be happy? I mean, your imaginary friend is going to show everyone he’s not imaginary after all. That’s a good thing, right?

Chris Baker mythictom3 days ago

There was a book, “The Late Great Planet Earth” that was popular among the end times folks. “The last days are nigh!” Published in 1970. 53 years ago. And even in the late 1800s, preachers were saying the end times were near.

They literally pray “Lord come quickly!” But then complain about all the “signs of the end times” as if that’s a bad thing. They should be working -toward- the ‘one world government” and a global currency and world peace and “the mark of the beast” because that’s what will bring the rapture. (Your eschatology may vary).

Harveyrabbit 🐱3 days ago

Expelled from caucus. AKA thrown back in the pen.

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This is basically the attempt by white supremacists to prevent the natural decline of white majority / supremacy in the US. They are terrified over the demographics that shows the steady decline of the white majority and the increase in non-white people. It terrifies them because they fear being treated as they have treated POC all during the history of the US. They want to remain the unchallenged authority they have always been. This denies everything we understand about culture and human development, not to mention what the US has always stood for. We are better / stronger / improved the more we blend and add to our prior society. Hey if you treat others that are different from you decently, they will do the same to you. If you act like an asshole toward them, they might do the same back. The thing to understand is be a decent nice person to others. Remember race is a social construct. We are all humans. We may look different but we really are the same species. Do dogs or cats of different colors be racist against each other, and should they, as they are all dogs or cats. Hugs

Todd20036 Rex3 days ago

DeSantis is worse than trump. He’s smarter, more ambitious, and actually wants to rule the country

Trump just wants the pomp and circumstances

Darreth TexasBoy3 days ago

Yes… and look which demographic he’s coddling. They’ll fall totally in line with him. Evangelicals always find the worst in humanity to align themselves with

NorthBayFella Dave B3 days ago

I don’t do 1930s/40s comparisons lightly or often, but DeSantis could certainly be someone to take us down a
similar road, just a 2020s version of it. He’s already taking actions in that vein — shipping human beings like cargo, book bannings, etc. I’m not suggesting it could be a literal Holocaust, but he will seriously and intentionally harm a lot of Americans (and more so, people wanting to become Americans) before he would be done. A lot of people would die.

Also, I’m not not saying he wouldn’t cause a literal Holocaust, either.

JackFknTwist a day ago edited
O/T : –
At the risk of having only one tune, I don’t think it can be said often enough that in their doctrinaire zealotry the conservative Justices of the Supreme Court have betrayed their underlying hypocrisy.
In their preening self-importance all they have exposed is their lack on any integrity, their enthusiasm to lie at any opportunity and their shallow semblance of probity.
What we have on the US Supreme Court is a few liars, charlatans and those willing to prostitute themselves at the alter of the Federalist Society on the one hand and to rich ‘grooming’ billionaires on the other.
Was there ever a Supreme Court so compromised?

The_Wretched JackFknTwista day ago

Yes, 1937 or so. Towards the end of the “gilded age”, the SCOTUS was as virulently anti-decency as Alito and Thomas are now. FDR, then president, make a threat to “pack” (unfvck) the court and the court suddenly changed its tune on what the law was. Then the plan to fix the court fell apart.

There’s some suggestion that a similar thing may have happened between last term and this one with regard to KNAW, Roberts and Raspberry Baret. They have not gone along with the same degree of YOLO-ALITO that marked last year / the Dobbs Term.

SkokieDaddy – wiener dog dada day ago

“I’m in capable of crafting legislation that respects the constitution. Vote for me for president” – Ron DeSantis

[Please clap]

NotMiguela day ago

They can’t win on real issues that matter to people so we’ll have lots of noise on wedge issues over the next year. Brown people invading, drag queen groomers and Susie has to call her teacher they/them at school.

rednekokiea day ago

DeSantis keeps trying to resurrect the infamous Jones commission – which attemped to erase homosexuality from all colleges and other schools throughout the state some 50 years ago, along with the actions of Senator Joseph McCarthy, who tried it nationally. The only result was the ruining of the reputations and hopes of over 200 students and faculty in Florida.
This is evil in its strongest form.

Nic Peterson Ed B21 hours ago

Most of this is Florida law, so US SCOTUS is largely irrelevant unless there is a conflict with Federal Law. The Florida SCOTUS is packed with bigots, in a large sense the fate of Florida rests in the hands of the appellate courts.

Nic Peterson Sam_Handwich21 hours ago

That’s gonna be the kicker. We already know the FLSC is packed with bigots. The appellate courts are either going to side with a dictator or with the republic that placed them in their robes.

Ninja0980 Sam_Handwicha day ago

The 11th Circuit (thanks to Patrick Leahy’s stupidity) and SCOTUS are controlled by bigots who will uphold this shit.

Ouch It Bit Mea day ago

I feel like this is part of the whole make shit up and get it to the current Supreme Court so they can declare god and church and money or whatever. Like the website bitch in Colorado and the made up gay client.

Uncle Mark: HoHo-smoking homoa day ago

Win or lose, Tater will screech about how he’s “fighting for families* and against woke culture & a woke & woke judges.” Others will be smart enough to point out his losses or how vaguely worded his laws are, but at the end of the day, DePudding will declare himself “the great fighter for American values*”

* values & families don’t include individuals, friends or family of the LGBTQ, nonChristians, nor nonWhite racial groups. Additional exclusions not listed or implied are applicable by the tiny dictator

GladysKravitza day ago

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.

BartmanLA2 days ago

Fantastic news! The world is evolving, but sadly the GQP and TFG will do everything in their power to stop equality in this country from becoming pernanent and legal. I’m sure TFG is probalby labelling Nepal as one of those shit hole countries he doesn’t like.

Gianni2 days ago

Apparently, our evangelical and assorted radical Christian groups, who hate us with the love of God, didn’t know where Nepal is or didn’t know such a country existed. I’ll bet they’re boning up on their geography now.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports:
Two protesters offended by a Pride exhibit at the Rancho Peñasquitos Library have checked out nearly all the books in the display and vowed to keep them until the library eliminates what they call “inappropriate content” for children. The anti-gay protest is the latest example of a growing national backlash against Pride exhibits, which experts say has been fueled by debates over how schools should handle transgender minors.
The Rancho Peñasquitos protest ratchets up the usual backlash San Diego library branches experience when they create Pride exhibits or host events like drag queen story times, said head librarian Misty Jones. The protesters, Peñasquitos residents Amy Vance and Martha Martin, said libraries are open, public spaces for children that should be free of references to gender identity and how adults experience sexual attraction.
Read the full article. A local city council member is raising money to buy additional copies of the books.

Phil in Colorado2 days ago

I’m starting to think this is a matter for the police. They checked them out and stated that they have no intention of returning them unless the library does exactly what they want. Last I checked, that’s called theft.

MrRobotoLA Phil in Colorado2 days ago

They get 5 renewals, unless the items have holds on them. So I urge anyone and everyone in San Diego who is disgusted by their motives to place holds. MANY HOLDS. That way they will be required to return the items or be turned in to a collections agency. That will also likely block their library privileges to borrow any other materials. If it goes beyond that, it is indeed theft.

nocadrummer2 days ago

I had a home in a small town for nearly 30 years. It had a small library, maybe twice the size of the one in my high school. The “Christians” would come in and check out ALL the non-Christian religious books and never return them. It was their way of making sure people couldn’t learn about other religions. And this was before Trump and the MAGA folks.
If your religion of “Christianity” is SO GREAT, it should be able to prove itself against the others by its merits and ideals, not by making the beliefs of others unobtainable.

astroworf2 days ago

Damn these people. A book offered me permission not to hate myself for being who I am.

*** Editor note ***  It was books that gave me my escape from my life.  It was books that let me leave the life of abuse, hurt, and fear I was living constantly at home, in my home.  It was books that let me understand I was not a horrible abomination in life that was going to do horrible things and die in a gutter as my adoptive parents (the ones beating and sexually abusing me and letting their kids do so) claimed long before they even knew I was gay, that I did not need to suffer in silence, (Which I did for most of my life).   These books that these people are trying to ban and deny to the very kids that need them meant so much to me and other kids.  Please do not let them.  Look in the 1950s these people want to revert the social and country to there were no of these kinds of books, no positive representatives in media, but gay, lesbian, and trans kids still existed.  I am going to post a video about a old long time soap opera about gay people and the damage hate can do.   Hugs.


2 days ago

When you say “wife,” “husband,” “fiancé,” “girlfriend,” etc.–all commonly heard from heterosexuals–you are inserting sexuality in public spaces where children are or may be.

Darreth weshlovrcm2 days ago

Mere gender identification on a bathroom door is the actual issue here. These delusional evangelicals are literally incapable of connecting the dots on gender/sexual expression issues.

Houndentenor Flatlander – TXPoast3 days ago

I’m currently reading a book about the John Birch Society and everything they are doing now is the same shit the Birchers were doing in the 50s and 60s. Only back then MSM and even the GOP leadership weren’t on their side.

Hank: NO MORE WoW!!! 3 days ago
Once again, the GQP TAKES AWAY RIGHTS & POWER FROM THE CITIZENS!!!!

ChipSF weshlovrcm3 days ago

They don’t care about corporations either. They only want Republicans to hold the power over everything – people, corporations, city councils, school boards, etc.

Kyle Childress3 days ago

Republicans sure don’t like people voting, do they? They’ll overturn elections, make it harder for statewide resolutions to pass, throw out elected officials they don’t like, and now this. Democrats might wish to mention this on the campaign trail.

Melissia3 days ago

Kinda like how Texas has created special rules that only apply to specific counties that vote mostly Democratic that take away aspects of self-governance from them.

Fascists love centralizing power.

Legal As Of Today In Florida: Bathroom Bill, K-8 “Don’t Say Gay,” Refusal Of LGBTQ Patients, Concealed Carry

A recap of what’s legal as of today in DeSantis’s Florida:

In public facilities, including prisons and schools, a new requirement will go into place requiring designated bathrooms for men and women, and individuals will be required to utilize facilities based on their gender as assigned at birth. It has no exceptions even for those who have fully transitioned through gender-reassignment surgery.

The Board of Education has already effectively expanded through high school a prohibition of instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity. A new law (SB 1069) codifies that at least through 8th grade. The legislation also prohibits any requirement that school officials use preferred pronouns that don’t match gender assigned at birth.

Health care providers can now turn patients away and refuse treatment based on “conscience-based objections.” DeSantis signed the new law (SB 1580) in front of a “Prescribe Freedom” sign and said it empowers physicians to act within their own morals. LGBTQ advocates label it a right to discriminate bill against gay and transgender Floridians, and the latter group has already seen restrictions on health care put into place this year by statute and the Board of Medicine.

Also going into effect today is the right to carry a concealed weapon without any permit or training, the right of hospitals to refuse care to undocumented patients, and a law allowing the state to use radioactive fertilizer byproducts in the creation of roads. That last one came about due to lobbying by the phosphate industry, which in 2021 saw a leakage of their toxic byproducts into Tampa Bay.

 

Georgia teacher faces termination after reading book about acceptance to class

Georgia teacher Katie Rinderle read the children’s book “My Shadow is Purple” to her fifth grade students. But after one parent’s complaint, Rinderle was placed on leave and now faces termination under Georgia’s new censorship laws. 

Florida bill allowing radioactive roads made of potentially cancer-causing mining waste signed by DeSantis

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-radioactive-roads-phosphogypsum-potentially-cancer-causing-mining-waste-bill-signed-ron-desantis/

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.” 

Piney Point Wastewater Reservoir
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.

 

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.

https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/local/manatee/2021/04/06/piney-point-retention-pond-what-you-need-know-tuesday-florida-wastewater-leak/7103334002/

Piney Point: What you need to know on Tuesday, April 6 about evacuations, Florida wastewater leak

https://www.heraldtribune.com/videos/news/2023/06/28/manatee-county-mosquito-control/12178802002/

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  • 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.

***

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.

  
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.
 
 
 
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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
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.
 
 
 
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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
 
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.
 
 
 
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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
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.
 
 
 
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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
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.
 
 
 
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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
 
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.
 
 
 
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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
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.
 
 
 
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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
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.
 
 
 
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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
 
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.
 
 
 
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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
Congressman Vern Buchanan got an aerial tour of the Piney Point reservoir breach, pumping outflow and Tampa Bay on Monday, Apr. 5th
 
 
 
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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.

April 6 updates:U.S. 41 reopens; mandatory evacuation order remains in place

Is the wastewater radioactive?:Your questions about the leak answered

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.
 

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.

DEP official says no second breach in Piney Point retention pond wall

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.
 

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.

Piney Point waters may fuel harmful algae bloom along Southwest Florida coast

Gov. DeSantis updated the Piney Point situation (April 4, 2021) during a Sunday morning press conference held at Manatee County's Public Safety Department in Bradenton.
 

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.

Florida Senate seeks to use federal COVID relief money to clean up Piney Point site

"It's leaked before and they didn't fix it -- please don't put another band-aid on this" -- local resident Bill Schafer. BILLY COX| HERALD-TRIBUNE
 

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 –

GladysKravitza day ago

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.

Key Doc In Supreme Court LGBTQ Case Is Likely Fake

The SCOTUS ruled for the bigots!  The religiously driven seriously old haters of the newer culture ruled it is OK to discriminate against the gays, if you have a sincerely held belief.   I am hurting so bad seeing the US revert to a religiously driven theocracy that denies any progress in society since the 1950s.  We fought these battles, we in the US are now going so far backward from the rest of the world.   Hell even Nepal just approved same-sex marriage.   The fundamentalist won’t stop even as they age out and become more of a minority until they rule us all with their hateful church doctrines based on words of people who did not even understand germ theory written 2,500 years ago.   I am so upset at a country that claims all people are created equal that says because I am gay I have less or no rights if someone has a belief against my existence.   On a prior case one of the Justices wrote that discrimination against religion is the worst kind of discrimination.   Well you can choose your religion, you can change it or stop believing in any of them.  I was born gay.  I don’t have a choice in that.   I am gay.  But someone who can choose what myths they believe in that day can deny me services or rights due to that belief.    Sad hugs.  

The Guardian reports:

The suit centers on Lorie Smith, a website designer who does not want to provide her services for gay weddings because of her religious objections. In 2016, she says, a gay man named Stewart requested her services for help with his upcoming wedding. “We are getting married early next year and would love some design work done for our invites, place, names etc. We might also stretch to a website,” reads a message he apparently sent her through a message on her website.

In court filings, her lawyers produced a copy of the inquiry. But Stewart, who requested his last name be withheld for privacy, said in an interview with the Guardian that he never sent the message, even though it correctly lists his email address and telephone number. He has also been happily married to a woman for the last 15 years, he said. In fact, until he received a call this week from a reporter from the magazine, Stewart says had no idea he was somehow tied up in a case that had made it to the Supreme Court.

The New Republic reports:

“I’m not really sure where that came from,” he told me of the mysterious 2016 inquiry that used his name, email address, and cell phone number to request a wedding website for a same-sex marriage nearly a decade after he married a woman. He is a designer himself, something of a known quantity in design circles—he’s spoken at conferences and on podcasts, and has a “decent Twitter following,” he said.

The design world is small. But not small enough, he said, that he had heard of Lorie Smith—not until her case was already before the Supreme Court, and the design community began discussing its potential fallout. It didn’t make sense to him. Why would a web designer—as the website the inquiry referenced as his own made clear that he was—living in San Francisco, seek to hire someone in another state who has never built a wedding website, let alone a website for a same-sex wedding, to build his wedding website?

Photo: Alliance Defending Freedom president Michael Farris.

Hit the New Republic link for a very in-depth accounting of this story. As I’ve said many times, the ADF invents these businesses with sole intention of challenging local LGBTQ rights ordinances. The ruling in the case is expected tomorrow morning.

 

 

So seven years of court cases, and how many lawyers… But it takes a journalist to expose the ADF as fraudsters who lie to the judges?

The ADF were always fraudsters and they file these lawsuits to fraudster judges. It’s the grifting that keeps on giving.

They will have written their opinion based on the assumption that the plaintiff’s filing was true and correct. They won’t abandon it because the filing is being challenged now. Unlike in the case involving the athletic coach proselytizing on the field on school time, where the conservative justices MADE UP “facts,” or at best completely mischaracterized them, here no one could ask if the plaintiff’s “facts” were correct. There just was not enough information to argue with them. The real argument should have been over the plaintiff’s standing to pursue a case that had no real-world consequences since she was only contemplating entering the wedding web-design business.

There’s a good bit of perjury that happened along the way to SCOTUS. Ignoring the crime of perjury should concern CJ Roberts a good bit.

Well, you know how the saying goes:
Love the sinner. Hate the phony-sin-I-had-to-fabricate-because-I-have-never-really-experienced-discomfort-by-being-asked-to-do-anything-and-I’m-a-big-fat-liar.

I defend their right to live their lives according to a 2,000 year old book of myths and fairy tales (even though they fail to live according to it), but I object to them legislating my civil rights according to their 2,000 year old book of myths and fairy tales.

(Written, incidentally, by misogynistic men who owned other humans, and were puzzled by where the sun went at night.)

Tomorrow is the last day of the term; the Court convenes at 10 am, and this is one of only two argued cases remaining. This case was pretextual and flouted anything I was taught about standing and before-the-fact irreparable harm. Nonetheless, it got through the appellate process without being thrown out, and here it is.

It doesn’t augur well.

SCOTUSblog materials on the case are at

https://www.scotusblog.com/…

Journalism is now officially dead if a case made it all the way to the Supreme Court and will have a the ruling tomorrow and this is just now being uncovered, how much other shit has gone to SCOTUS and nobody checked.

I also blame the Defense Attorneys for not doing their due diligence

Wouldn’t have mattered, these bigots were looking for an excuse to gut LGBT discrimination laws.

 

Hate Group Plans “Major Push” To Inflict Jesus On You

Seriously important, especially since the SCOTUS just ruled for a Christian mail carrier who refused to work Sundays.  She took the job knowing it would be required, then demanded special accommodations for her religious faith.   You know, something Christians feel they have a right to, yet no other religion should be given.   The post office she worked for tried to accommodate her but due to staffing needs they had to schedule her to work Sundays and she threw an entitled fit.   So the court ruled for her right to have her religion take priority over everyone else and any other needs.   If I was an employer, I would be wary of hiring Christians.   Seriously this court is creating a theocracy for Christians.   No other religion or atheist need to apply.   It is a scary time, and this bode bad for the upcoming case of a made up pretend business to challenge anti-discrimination laws requiring equal treatment for same-sex couples.  Hugs

Kyle Mantyla reports at Right Wing Watch:

Emboldened by recent Supreme Court decisions upholding prayer in schools, crosses erected on public lands, and flying Christian flags on public buildings, right-wing activists intend to “go on offense” by pushing Christian nationalist policies at all levels of government and society.

Among those leading the charge is Kelly Shackelford, president of First Liberty, which was integral to laying the groundwork for the right’s spate of Supreme Court victories. During a recent appearance on an Intercessors For America broadcast, Shackelford announced that his organization has launched a Restoring Faith In America campaign to mobilize far-right Christians to rush into the spaces opened by these court rulings and “occupy it”

“Everywhere that crosses went down, they go back up,” Shackelford declared. “Everywhere the 10 Commandments was taken into the closet, it comes back out. Everywhere that prayer was taken out, it goes back in. Everything has changed.”

As you’ll hear in the video below, Shackleford’s group plans a “major push” to inflict Jesus on public schools in a “thousand different” ways and “occupy the land God won for us” through the US Supreme Court. He last appeared here in May 2022 when he raged to Fox News about employers “forcing” the COVID vaccine on workers. Of note, First Liberty Institute is the former employer of anti-LGBTQ Texas federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who is attempting to ban abortion pills and PrEP insurance coverage.

 

 

The “don’t shove your sexuality down my throat” crowd wants to shove their religion down yours.
That’s how hypocrisy works.

And let’s remember: RELIGION is a LIFESTYLE CHOICE.

Yes, childhood experience is a strong factor, but there are plenty of churches, mosques, and other groups that are overjoyed to help you give up your false religion and adopt their true one.

Another example of hypocrisy: Dumb Idiot Ham bemoans “evolution” being shoved down the throats of kids in schools and churches everywhere while planning to shove down his own young earth creation fantasies down the throats of kids in schools and churches everywhere.

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Is it any wonder why the number of people who identify as Christian or religious is shrinking

Christianity in the U.S. is quickly shrinking and may no longer be the majority religion within just a few decades, research finds
https://www.cbsnews.com/new…

And as the numbers shrink amongst religions, those still within the faiths will be the most diehard, outspoken and obnoxious. I hope they continue to shrink until they are no longer relevant at all. That’s what is driving them nuts as it is…they are becoming less relevant and it hurts their feelings!

That’s the flaw in their plan. Back when prayer and religion were allowed in schools (the 50s), kids were a little more well-behaved/obedient/subservient as well as overall more religious. They were all mostly Protestant or Catholic. So it was easy just to fall in line. Now we have various religions represented in schools, and I am sure there will be maliciously complaint teachers who will have non-Christian prayers in their class.

It’s less about that so much as it’ll be clearer to kids something ugly’s being forced on them. Instead of just being able to think ‘It’s always been this way.’

Which explains why this guy and his cohorts are in such a hurry to force it on everyone.

The “religious freedom” crowd will now push their minority, theo-fascist “religious beliefs” down everyone else’s throats. And you will see there will be no tolerance of anyone whose faith (or no faith) is different from theirs.

Of course! Freedom of religion means you are free to worship MY god in any way I approve of.

I get the feeling that when these evangelicals say they are going to take the 10 Commandments back out of the closet, they mean the Protestant version of the 10 Commandments. Well, unlike the Catholic version, the Protestant version forbids graven images. (See commandment #2) So maybe they first should consider converting to Catholicism, since stone depictions of the 10 Commandments are themselves graven images, and are thus self-forbidding.

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And the Jewish version is different still.

 

When they talk about us queers, they seem to forget that one of their commandments is against bearing false witness.

 

 

Knowles: “Ban Evil Pride Flags From All Public Spaces”

So this morons only shtick is to push hate and fear.   Yes that is the standard operating mode of the right now.  But this guy is riding high with his almost non-stop attacks on the LGBTQ+.  Just like Matt Walsh it is all he has to have someone notice him.   It is always the other that is the fault or reason things are bad with these people.   But the guy is a flat out liar but it won’t matter as all his followers want to hear is the hate.   He claims that it is illegal to fly Nazi flags, “We ban all sorts of flags from public spaces – Nazi flags … “  Hugs

SkokieDaddy – wiener dog dad2 days ago edited

We ban all sorts of flags from public spaces – Nazi flags, hammer and sickle flags.

You might want to let Florida know.

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moisturize me SkokieDaddy – wiener dog dad2 days ago

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Chris Baker SkokieDaddy – wiener dog dad2 days ago

Yes, I don’t know where any flags are banned in public spaces. He must be living in an alternate reality,

Also, Christians have a flag. So if he is saying that no one is a real American unless they only fly the American flag, he forgets those people, and all the people who fly the ‘don’t tread on me’ flag, university flags, etc

Houndentenor Chris Baker2 days ago

I drive by countless frontyard flag poles where they are flying a Trump flag instead of the American one. It’s their property and they can fly whatever they want, but it’s definitely not the American flag. Of course when Republicans do it it’s okay.

PickyPecker2 days ago

our planet is literally on fire in so many ways, and morons like this are worried about flags? air-quality high alert (dangerous levels) for us here today. visibility is wayyy down….looks like a ground fog. my nose has been dripping all morning, GAH! first time i have seen noaa use ‘smoke’ in our forecast. looks like afternoon garden projects are on hold. again.

Makoto2 days ago

“But is it more extreme than turning Christmas day into Christmas week into Christmas month into Christmas season into — left unchecked, I promise you — Christmas always.”

Only difference between my quote and his is that the ever-expanding Christmas season really seems to be a thing… yet folks like him always talk up a “War on Christmas” as if it’s the thing under assault and bringing death threats to employees and such.

Haters Disrupt Connecticut Church’s Pride Service

This is no longer a religious rights against civil rights, but one religious sect’s ideas forced on everyone regardless of their beliefs.  It is now the minority of the minority forcing their hate on everyone.   The new fundamentalist Taliban moral police, and every one even other religious people better have the right view of sex and morality or face the wrath of the gang thugs.  From the link in the article above, “Mental emotional trauma is still a thing. That’s still a real thing. So many of our people are experiencing that kind of aftermath to this event,” said Gray.

Here’s the deal: Don’t pray in my schools and I promise not to think in your churches.

This anti-Christian attack should be condemned by all. But it begs the question “Why is it always the far-right fascists/anti-gay activists–the ones demanding “religious freedom”–who are the first to attack the faith and sincerely held religious beliefs of others?”

Because it is not, and never has been, about “freedom of religion.” Rather, it has always been about imposing their religion on everyone else whether wanted or not. They are called christofascists for a reason.

 

Exactly. They want freedom only for the “correct” version of Xtianity.

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The early history of Christianity is a huge hodge-podge of competing gospels, doctrines, and schools. The orthodoxy that eventually emerged was the result of centuries of political arguments, and even then often very minor differences are contentious. If you really want to dive down that rabbit hole, I can recommend some books by Bible scholar Bart Ehrman, he has a number of books that are very readable for a non-scholarly audience.

Because fascists always like to misuse words like “freedom” and “liberty”

The right still loves to bring up the ONE time ACT-UP demonstrated inside St Patrick’s Cathedral (with a closeted bishop presiding over the service!). That was almost 40 years ago and they are still upset. I’m sure they’ll be fine with this though.

Another American absurdity is that having a ‘sincerely held religious belief’ exempts you from obeying laws you disagree with.
– and we are about to see this go down in the Supreme Court this week.

I’m old enough to remember when Christians were accusing LGBTQs of demanding “special rights.”

It’s one of the bizarre features of the current cabal of Federalist Society conspirators on the Court that they now hate Justice Scalia’s decision in Employment Division v. Smith. That case held that the 1st Amendment free exercise clause doesn’t require the state to grant a religious exemption to neutral laws of general applicability.

But that was fine because it denied members of the Native American Church an exemption concerning drug laws. Now that the Catholics have the numbers on the Court, they want to overrule Smith and make Catholics and other Xtians exempt from laws they don’t like.

Y’all know they didn’t come to persuade the masses to their hateful ideology, and they certainly didn’t change any minds that day. This was all about trolling, terrorizing & proclaiming their own warped sense of moral superiority.

Now could y’all just imagine the violent outrage if gay protesters decided to pay some of those hate-filled churches with protesters of their own?

 

  

Kansas, Other States Threaten To Undo Legal Gender Changes; What To Do

https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/kansas-other-states-threaten-to-undo

Here is the first opening of the article.  Please go to the link above to read the article.   Hugs

Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, and Tennessee all have passed laws “defining sex” to exclude trans people. Now Kansas intends to revert all gender changes back legally. Here’s what you can do.

JUN 27, 2023
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Please support my independent reporting and activism on transgender legislation by subscribing. You help me keep this going and keep people informed.

In a shocking announcement, Attorney General Kris Kobach of Kansas released an official opinion on Monday that will threaten transgender people’s legal documents in the state. If Kobach’s opinion is enforced, transgender individuals who had moved ahead and legally corrected their birth certificates and driver’s licenses now may have their corrections reversed. The wrong gender marker may be placed on all legal documents provided by the state.

Kansas Senate Bill 180, passed in April, defines sex as “biologically determined at birth.” Kobach interpreted this to mean that state agencies must now revert the gender markers on driver’s licenses and birth certificates for transgender people in the state, even if they were changed legally in the past. This is an unprecedented move; transgender people who have changed their legal documents have often seen those changes as safe from legal interference once the process has been completed.

Kansas is not the only state that could begin taking such steps. North Dakota, Tennessee, and Montana have also passed similar bills this year. There is concern that these states may follow Kansas’ lead in enforcement, leaving transgender people uncertain about how to proceed and protect their legal gender changes.

There is much more at the link above.