Redistricting: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Let’s talk about how the world pities the US lack of freedom….

 

The Real History Behind Anti-Trans Laws

Wow.  There is a lot of historic information in this video.  The author / presenter has quick cuts to other personality characters she plays to highlight the absurdity of some positions held by the hierarchy.  She delvesdeeply into the idea of what is proper femininity, who steps outside it, and who thinks they are responsible for judging or enforcing it.  She delves into how many fights against change and equality are about fears by men of emasculation.  The lowering of men’s status.  When she elaborates on suffrage, all the fears seem to be that allowing women to vote would give women the right to be men and force men to be women.   Seem familure?   She goes into detail on how each repressive opressive responce to equal rights comes down to the same phrases such as save the children, save the family,  or the claims that society it self will end.   The clips she intersperses go by far too quickly so I had to stop the video to read them but she does describe what is on them.   The begining was choppy and it took me a bit to get  her style of presentation but once I did I found it very informative fillwed with facts, history, and fun to watch.  Hugs

The transgender bathroom ‘debate’ isn’t new (but it is stupid). I’m looking at you TERF’s…

Looking back through history, gender politics is consistently entangled with race, class, misogyny, and disability. Minority groups existing outside the ‘norm’ are attacked as ‘radicals’ or menaces to society…

But what prevails each time we face oppression AND causes real change in our society? 

 

 

Inside Trump’s Pathetic Great American State Fair

 

Inside Trump’s Pathetic Great American State Fair

June 27, 2026

The New York Times reports:

On the first day of the Great American State Fair on the National Mall, there were no butter sculptures, blue-ribbon livestock or prizewinning rutabaga pies to admire. But visitors could take in a gleaming portrait of President Trump, pick up a handbill promoting Turning Point USA and hear a speaker read a poem declaring every teen to be “a conscript in a spiritual world war.”

Volunteers with the River at Tampa Bay Church in Florida approached people asking if they knew that “Jesus loves you and has a plan for you.” Literature was distributed proclaiming that Mr. Trump was leading the “Great American Comeback.” Exhibitors included Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian institution, and the Museum of the Bible. On the edge of the grounds, performers sang hymns in a worship tent.

Under a sweltering sun, attendance was sparse, and power failures did not help — by Thursday night, the Ferris wheel had been out of commission for hours. Across from that ride, visitors could look at a smaller-scale model of Mr. Trump’s proposed 250-foot triumphal arch. Its vinyl covering — stapled over a wood frame and emblazoned with the words “One Nation Under God” — had already started buckling.

Civil War Memories reports:

Nobody who has been paying attention to the Trump administration’s handling of America’s 250th anniversary should be surprised that a Confederate flag turned up at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall. It was discovered at the North Carolina booth and in its own small way tells you everything you need to know about this whole production.

The controversy erupted after footage circulated showing the North Carolina exhibit featuring altered versions of the state flag with the Confederate battle emblem superimposed over the design. Governor Josh Stein’s office condemned the display, calling it a misrepresentation of North Carolina and demanding that organizers remove it.

North Carolina’s official state flag has never included the Confederate battle symbol in any version of its design. Not in 1861, not in 1885, not ever. Whoever put together that video display didn’t just stumble into Lost Cause territory by accident. They had to go out of their way to attach a symbol that the state itself had never chosen to fly.

Eleven states declined to participate and Freedom 250 chose local groups from each state to fill the booths. Videos on social media show baptisms being performed in a tent.

Of Course a Confederate Flag Showed Up at the Great American State Fair #CivilWarMemory #America250open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle…

— Kevin M. Levin (@civilwarmemory.bsky.social) 2026-06-27T11:27:28.581Z

10s of people attend Trump's Great American State Fair on the National Mall

— Molly Ploofkins (@mollyploofkins.bsky.social) 2026-06-26T01:30:21.408Z

Trump's "Great American State Fair" is turning into exactly the kind of disaster you'd expect…empty crowds, melting ice cream, Ferris wheel breakdowns, sky-high prices, and even a public indecency arrest.That and a whole lot more in today's bulletin:

— MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) 2026-06-26T22:06:28.974Z

Somehow President Donald Trump’s Great American State Fair keeps getting worse. trib.al/pU1PKl1

— The New Republic (@newrepublic.com) 2026-06-26T14:26:23.554670Z

Photo from Trump’s big State Fair. Damn, who wouldn’t want to part of this great club?! 🙄😜

— KittyKatGirl😻🙏💞🐞 (@mary1kathy.bsky.social) 2026-06-26T18:45:56.217Z

A Washington, D.C. lawmaker captured a tour of the Great American State Fair in Washington D.C. on Friday — showing a mostly empty fairgrounds.

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-06-27T00:00:18Z

You guys, don’t believe your eyes. The great American state fair is going awesome.#ETTD

— TheSnarkTank (@thesnarktank.bsky.social) 2026-06-27T14:57:06.457Z

There is a heifer named Melania at Trump’s fair

— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes.bsky.social) 2026-06-27T15:02:49.099Z

 

‘Very traumatic,’: Texas women denied treatment for miscarriage under state abortion ban

These complete no exception bans have pretend exceptions that no doctor can trust.  These paws and the people who push them do not see a woman as a whole real person, just a vessel for a possible offspring.   Women are dying when there is no viable fetus to protect because these laws do not see women as people.  Only men are human people.  Plus these laws are pushed by religious fanatics and not doctors.   Hugs

Texas resident Lynn Callaway filed a federal complaint against two Texas area hospitals that denied her treatment while she was having a miscarriage. “It has been a whirlwind, very traumatic,” Callaway said. In order to treat her miscarriage, she needed to receive the same procedure used in abortions. “I was someone who also did not realize that the abortion ban, particularly how it bans the pill, as well as the D&C, could also impact miscarriage care. That just never came to my mind, and that’s why it’s very important to understand these laws and understand how they impact everyone.” 

Is this why self pleasure is a sin?

In this video Dan hits back on the myth that in the bible / god will any sex outside of marriage is a sin.   He shows how many different sexual acts and groupings were included as Ok for the morality of the time.  I am listening to Separation of church and hate by John Fugelsang.  In the book he explains that the bible is a collection of writings written for the people of that time, the culture of that time, and about the morality accepted at that time.  He shares examples where different authors flat out disagree with each other, but they were separated by ceneriesin time.  Dan mentions something like that here and how each author had their own view of sex and what was moral.  He explains sexual agency and how in the bible for it to be considered sex a penis needed to be involved going into an orifice of some person with lesser status than the man with the active penis.   I like at the end where he talks of the dangers and torments of telling  developing children going through puberty that simply touching themselves is a sin, makes them an abomination to god, and will condemn them to hell.  Hugs

WH Doc Declares Church/State Separation Defunct

WH Doc Declares Church/State Separation Defunct

June 26, 2026

The Hill reports:

A draft final report from President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission released on Friday calls for “building bridges between church and state,” a seeming reversal of a longstanding U.S. legal principle. “Americans must know their rights and stand with courage when those rights are challenged,” the commission’s report reads.

“To preserve this freedom, we must build bridges, not walls, between the City of God and the City of Man. If we do so, we will pass on a free and prosperous nation to the next generation,” it continues.

The argument is a stark reversal of the legal principle that calls for the separation of church and state. The phrase “separation of church and state” does not explicitly appear in the Constitution, but the Constitution states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

Read the full article.

The commission is chaired by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who recently declared that James Talarico is going to hell.

Today he said, “From this day forward, the phrase separation of church and state has no power.”

Dan Patrick: "Separation of Church and state is not in the Constitution"

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-06-26T19:57:00.090Z

Dan Patrick: "Separation of Church and state is not in the Constitution"

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-06-26T19:57:00.090Z

PAULA WHITE: Nobody has stood up like you have stood upTRUMP: *sitting* *asleep*

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-06-26T19:51:58.887Z

just unreal how Trump can't stay keep his eyes open even while on camera in the Oval

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-06-26T19:47:39.537Z

Oh, unfortunately, we think about it every day.A “faith director” in every federal agency isn't a victory for religious liberty. It's an attempt to weave religion into the machinery of government. That's exactly why we have church-state separation.

— (@ffrf.org) 2026-06-26T16:53:24.449Z

Neither is Jesus.The Constitution says Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. "Separation of church and state" is the shorthand for that principle, one the Supreme Court has recognized for decades.

— (@ffrf.org) 2026-06-26T20:50:02.465Z

TX Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick: Separation of church and state should have no power over people ever again in America

— FactPost (@factpostnews.bsky.social) 2026-06-26T20:39:20.057Z

https://youtu.be/bHXxz32FtCg?si=Ny83c3aC2l0Tz90n

 

BREAKING: Buttigieg and family TARGETED in ‘politically motivated’ HOAX

This is horrific.  I think the police overreacted for just an anonymous tip with sketchy vague accusations.   It put this family through hell.  This is all to stop Buttigieg from entering politics, and if it is given any credit it will only increase.  Hugs