Again all this is about is a Christian nationalist desire to mimic Russia and remove all LGBTQ+ representation from the public view in the name of “protecting children from porn” as if just being or media representing LGBTQ+ people is pornographic and sexual. These people feel anything not straight and cis is sexualizing and abusing children simply because they do not want the LGBTQ+ people to exist. Hugs
Side note. Ron got home last night 3-2-2026 about 6 pm. I made him a supper of a salad and two hamburgers with the fixings. He was so happy. I was happy. We went to bed and snuggled which made Tupac who has snuggled me every night a bit unhappy but he pressed in from the other side. All day Ron and I have been together, unloading the car, doing laundry, Ron started on the floors in the kitchen, and we are making a pork tenderloin, potatoes, brown gravy, carrots, and greenbeans for supper. It is so good to have my husband home. I understood why he had been gone for the better part of three months but it sure is grand to have him home. I feel better, anxieties lower, and happy feeling up. Also for those worried I was not eating which I was not, I ate like a pig at a trough tonight, having a first heaping plate of everything and then going back for a second heaping plate. The end of the second one was a bit challenging to finish but I did. I offered to pick up the last bits of left overs but ron said he would do it. I think he noticed I was trying to hide that I was swaying and wobbleing when I walked due to my pain levels. Hugs
Discussion of gender is not sexualization. Making books available to students that represent the diversity of their experiences and showcase the numerous ways to be a person in the world is not sexualizing them. Such an interpretation says far more about the adults and the perspectives they’re applying to books than it does about the books or their intended audiences.
Following this week’s State of the Union Address, House Republicans worked quickly to advance legislation to ban books from public schools nationwide. House Resolution 7661 (H.R. 7661), also known as the “Stop the Sexualization of Children Act” would modify the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 by prohibiting use of funds under the act “to develop, implement, facilitate, host, or promote any program or activity for, or to provide or promote literature or other materials to, children under the age of 18 that includes sexually oriented material, and for other purposes.”
The bill was introduced by House Representative Mary Miller (Republican, Illinois). 17 additional Representatives cosigned it.
H.R. 7661 is an anti-trans bill, and tucked within its provisions are those that ban books for those under 18 that “include sexually oriented material.” This is the same vague language used in numerous states across the U.S. to ban books from public schools and public libraries. This bill includes “lewd” and “lascivious” dancing as prohibited topics or themes. No such books for young readers exist, but facts don’t matter to a regime seeking total and complete control.
The bill goes on to further define “sexually oriented material” as anything broaching the topics of “gender dysphoria or transgenderism.” The latter is an intentionally harmful word used as a cudgel to harm trans people. Such a broad definition also ensures that this kind of bill could be applicable in any situation where it would benefit the banners. It isn’t a stretch to see a bill like this used to outright ban all books by or about LGBTQ+ people under the guise of it being “sexually oriented.”
Though this legislation would apply to institutions using funds from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, there’s little question that it would expand to include all public libraries, not just those in public schools. We’ve already seen this very thing play out across the country.
These local-level policies, alongside state-level policies like Iowa’s Senate File 496 and Idaho’s House Bill 710–both still working their way through numerous lawsuits–provided the roadmap for the proposal of federal-level book ban legislation. It was only a matter of time, and the ongoing onslaught of anti-trans legislation and rhetoric that has grown exponentially under the Trump-Vance regime made this the prime moment.
Discussion of gender is not sexualization. Making books available to students that represent the diversity of their experiences and showcase the numerous ways to be a person in the world is not sexualizing them. Such an interpretation says far more about the adults and the perspectives they’re applying to books than it does about the books or their intended audiences.
You can read the full text of H.R. 7661 here, including its list of cosponsors. Right now, your best way to have your voice heard about this hateful and discriminatory bill is to call your House representatives and urge them to veto this bill at every opportunity. There are years’ worth of resources from which you can pull about where and how all of these bills are calculated and targeted, and you can pull from the numerous ongoing lawsuits challenging similar bills and policies at the local and state level. Let your lawmakers know that you’re watching them and their voting records, especially if they’re among the roster of those proposing the legislation.
These bills aren’t about removing books; books are just one of the tools. These bills are about the complete and total erasure and removal of queer people from American life.
Don't be fooled by this bill's name– this is a book banning bill that will exclude LGBTQ books from all public schools NATIONWIDE.Call your congresspeople and tell them to VOTE NO on this nakedly bigoted book banning bullshit. http://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c…
The conflation of porn and LGBTQ (but specifically trans) issues is purposeful. It's part of the Project 2025 plan to criminalize LGBTQ+ ppl.It starts with books. It moves to bathrooms. Then it moves to govt IDs. We're in it already.You don't need to be an expert to see where this goes next.
Nazi Republican Mary Miller who has quoted Hitler in the past now wants to ban strippers in public schools…and she's all in with banning any book that dares mention LGBTQ+ issues…www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/02/gop-…
Spain, US jointly operate military bases in Moron, Rota
US tankers head to Germany, France from Spanish bases, maps show
Spain says its bases will not be used for Iran attacks
MADRID, March 2 (Reuters) – Fifteen U.S. aircraft have left the Rota and Moron military bases in southern Spain since the U.S. and Israel launched weekend attacks on Iran, maps by flight tracking website FlightRadar24 showed on Monday.
Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Spain would not allow its military bases, which are jointly operated by the U.S. and Spain but under Spanish sovereignty, to be used for attacks on Iran, which Spain has condemned.
First the judges started questioning the truth of government officials and attorneys. Then the judges accused the DOJ / ICE of ignoring court rulings and orders. Now in this case Bondi’s posts clearly violate a judges orders and the constant posting on social media is designed to color or bias the public and potential jurors. The coruptin of this administration if beyoung anything we have ever seen in the US. I just read that Kash Patel has ordered the elete tatical teams around the country to rotate providing complete security and transportation. Not the regular FBI but the strategic elite teams. Hugs
“The government failed to respect Ms. Flores’s dignity and privacy, exposed her to a risk of doxxing, and generally thumbed its nose at the notion that defendants are innocent until proven guilty. The post also directly violated a court order sealing the case,” the judge wrote. “Notwithstanding, the government now seeks an accommodation from the Court that it blatantly failed to give Ms. Flores and her codefendants.”
The attorney general’s posts included names and photographs of the defendants.
Attorney General Pam Bondi’s posts made the government’s request for court-ordered discretion for its agents “eyebrow-raising, to say the least,” one judge wrote. | Allison Robbert/AP
Two federal judges have raised concerns about Attorney General Pam Bondi’s use of social media to publicize a wave of arrests last month of people charged with interfering with federal officers during an immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota.
In an order earlier this week, Magistrate Judge Dulce Foster said Bondi’s posts on X including the names and, in many instances, photographs of the defendants shortly after their arrests “violated a court order” placing those cases under seal.
Foster leveled the criticism in connection with the prosecution of Nitzana Flores, a South Haven, Minnesota, resident accused of assaulting two Border Patrol officers during a scuffle last month in Minneapolis surrounding the arrest of another person for allegedly ramming a government vehicle.
The judge said Bondi’s posting of the names and arrest photos undercut prosecutors’ request for an order to prohibit defense attorneys from publicly disclosing personal information about immigration agents involved in the case against Flores. The requested order would also prohibit any defense counsel from sharing that information with their client.
Foster said Bondi’s social media posts made the government’s request for court-ordered discretion for its agents “eyebrow-raising, to say the least.”
“The government failed to respect Ms. Flores’s dignity and privacy, exposed her to a risk of doxxing, and generally thumbed its nose at the notion that defendants are innocent until proven guilty. The post also directly violated a court order sealing the case,” the judge wrote. “Notwithstanding, the government now seeks an accommodation from the Court that it blatantly failed to give Ms. Flores and her codefendants.”
Foster modified the government’s proposal by broadening it to cover any party, victim or witness, while narrowing it to details such as phone numbers, residential addresses, email addresses and dates of birth. The judge also declined to restrict what evidence Flores can see and declined to prohibit disclosure of identities, which would include names and photographs.
At a hearing in a separate Minneapolis case last week, another magistrate judge, Shannon Elkins, directed prosecutors to “address whether the public posting of photographs violated the Court’s sealing order.” The government missed a deadline Tuesday to respond. Elkins later agreed to extend the deadline until Monday.
Justice Department spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment, but there are signs that Bondi got the magistrates’ messages.
On Friday, Bondi was careful not to jump the gun when announcing a new, massive wave of arrests in connection with a disruptive immigration-related protest at a St. Paul church last month. The new indictment Bondi announced added 30 defendants to the nine people already charged, who include former CNN anchor Don Lemon.
“YOU CANNOT ATTACK A HOUSE OF WORSHIP,” Bondi wrote in an X post that went up within a minute of the indictment being unsealed in the court’s online docket. “If you do so, you cannot hide from us — we will find you, arrest you, and prosecute you. This Department of Justice STANDS for Christians and all Americans of faith.”
While booking photos or mugshots are public in many states, the federal government has traditionally cited privacy concerns to resist making them public in federal criminal cases. In 2012, the Obama administration instituted a nationwide Justice Department policy to refuse release of such photos, except where necessary to track down a fugitive or for investigative reasons.
That policy appears to have been abandoned after President Donald Trump returned to office last year. The Justice Department has for decades routinely publicized the names, ages and hometowns of people arrested by including that information in press releases.
Soldier Details Chilling Messaging From Higher-Ups About ‘God’s Plan’ In Iran: ‘It Shocked Many Of Us’
One commander had a “big grin” on his face while saying Donald Trump “has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran,” a service member said.
and go on about our day being peaceful, in order to bring about peace. (I have a dental appt. to finish what was begun a couple of weeks ago at that dental appt. I feel all pure-white-dovey inside.)
In the previous post, I spoke on how I was so very tired of the political climate. One of the issues that I described was this constant stress of chaos that the drumpf administration purveys upon the American public and the world in general. Stress is debilitating. It leaves a person living in a constant state of fight/flight, questioning what we should be doing to survive the madness that is maga and a perpetual attack upon our empathy for those not so fortunate to only be stressed. There is a saying that goes generally that if you can’t do anything about it, don’t stress over it. But, I’m stressed.
Much of my stress is my own personal life challenges, but a lot of my stress comes in the realization that while I may hope to ignore those things that are beyond my control, others are not so free. How many lives have been destroyed in the turmoil of one man’s pursuit of totalitarianism? How many deaths do we lay at the feet of this conman? And worse, however reluctantly and contrary to our wishes, he is our leader and we are responsible for the atrocities he commits.
Let’s face it, he told us who he was before being elected – for the second damned time! He showed us he was a fraud, a rapist, a serial adulterer, a racist, a criminal. He stole from children, from his workers, from his wives.
So, right or wrong, earned or borrowed, stress presses down on me and many like me. And that chronic stress severely impacts our health by keeping us in that fight or flight reflex, leading to our burnout, mental impairment and physical illness. We struggle with chronic pain, insomnia, high blood pressure and a weakended immunity. We are anxious, depressed, and can’t remember why we came into the damned room!
Is this what it means to be an adult, or just an adult in the drumpf era? My god! I watch the news and find myself in line for ptsd treatment! What could be next? What ball will I drop next? What emotional eruption is next in line for me?
I’m so f’ing tired of being tired; I’m so f’ing tired of being depressed; I’m so very f’ing tired of being anxious.
Today one of my workers asked me if I was ok. He saw that I was angry, I guess. I laughed for a moment, told him I was fine and that my back was just hurting, that it was a typical Monday. He just stood there, in front of my desk and waited. And somehow I found myself very quietly saying no. I’m not ok.
I don’t really have the freedom to be anything but ok. I am the one that has to be there making sure things get done. I am supposed to be watching out for the morale of the team. I’m charged with the continuity of employment. I’m supposed to be the strong one, the boss. And there I was realizing that everything was broken, and there isn’t a damned thing I can do about it.
I don’t have answers to a damned thing, but today someone stopped what they were doing long enough to demonstrate that they cared, and I realized just how powerful that could be. It didn’t solve my problems, the sun didn’t shine any brighter and the birds weren’t singing overhead, but for a moment my burden was shared. For a moment I didn’t feel quite so alone. That made a huge difference. I hope I’m strong and wise enough to emulate that, and perhaps together we can outlast this too. Hugs.
“Then” (here, below “Now”) is also linked in today’s Peace & Justice newsletter. I’m posting from The Guardian so I can get the Then, and the Now from one tab because I’m lazy, I guess. I prefer to say “efficient, though.
US urges citizens to immediately depart over a dozen Middle Eastern countries
The US state department has urged Americans to immediately depart more than a dozen Middle Eastern countries amid US-Israeli strikes against Iran.
US citizens were urged to depart using commercial means from Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the [occupied] West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen, according to Mora Namdar, the department’s assistant secretary for consular affairs.
Hundreds of thousands of travellers are currently stranded in the Gulf states, as the airspace over some of the world’s busiest international airports, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi, closed over the weekend.
The US Senate’s Democratic minority leader ChuckSchumer said a briefing from Trump administration officials about the US war with Iran“raised many more questions than it answered”.
“Look, a whole lot of questions were asked. I found their answers completely and totally insufficient,” Schumer told reporters as he exited the meeting. He departed without taking questions.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio as well as CIA director John Ratcliffe are among those briefing Congress leaders in a classified facility in the Capitol.
A reminder that you can follow our US politics live blog for more US-focused reaction and developments:
Thousands join ‘day of rage’ across the Middle East
This article is more than 15 years old
In Iraq, six killed as frustration erupts over corruption Yemen holds its biggest pro-democracy rally Egyptians demand accelerated reforms
In Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, an anti-government protester chants slogans demanding the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The president ordered security services to protect protesters. Photograph: Muhammed Muheisen/AP
Protests erupted in cities across the Middle East and North Africa. At least six people were reported killed and dozens injured in Iraq; thousands took to the streets in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a; and Egyptians gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to demand an accelerated reform programme.
Iraq
Anger over corruption and abysmal basic services erupted in a “day of rage”, with the most serious clashes in Mosul and Hawija, in the north, and Basra in the south. At least six people were killed – three in Mosul and three in Hawija – and 75 injured in clashes with security services as protesters tried to attack government buildings.
Thousands of people made their way to the city’s Tahrir Square, but soldiers had closed it off with razor wire, using percussion grenades and firing in the air in an attempt to disperse crowds.
Lina Ali, 27, told Reuters: “The education system is bad. The health system is also bad. Services are going from bad to worse.” Protesters complained of high unemployment, a shortage of drinking water and frequent power cuts.
In Basra, the city’s governor, Shaltagh Abboud, said he would resign after 18 people were wounded in skirmishes between the 4,000 protesters and state security. A curfew was imposed until 6am tomorrow. There were also clashes in Falluja and Nassiriya.
Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, warned demonstrators they would become victims of al-Qaida and pro-Saddam violence.
Muntadar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George Bush, was arrested in Baghdad after travelling from Beirut to take part in the Day of Rage.
Yemen
Tens of thousands of protesters in Sana’a called for an end to the 32-year reign of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. It was the biggest pro-democracy rally in Yemen’s recent history. But small, yet violent, protests have been taking place across the country since Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak resigned two weeks ago.
Local media reported 30,000 anti-government demonstrators in Sana’a and more than 100,000 nationwide. Students, tribesmen, opposition activists and young professionals flooded the streets around Sana’a University, where protesters have been camped out since Sunday. “The people want the regime to fall,” they shouted, rising from their knees after a Friday prayer to mourn the deaths of two men shot dead on Tuesday by pro-Saleh supporters. The protest was peaceful, though at times tense. Protesters want better living conditions as well as political reform.
One banner read simply: “Look at the gap between the rich and poor.”
Riot police who tried to seize an anti-government protester had to fire in the air to dispel angry students demanding his release.
A few miles away, state media were out in force to film 10,000 middle-aged men, many carrying batons, marching up and down the streets yelling: “Saleh means stability.” These government loyalists, including impoverished tribesmen bussed in from far away, have been in Sana’a’s Tahrir Square for more than a month, holding rallies for which they have been given food, drink, and the placards, and accommodated in giant beige marquees. Anti-government protesters claim the loyalists are balataj, hired thugs, but Yemeni authorities deny any connection with the armed men.
Saleh has told his security forces to protect both sets of demonstrators and prevent any further clashes between them.
Egypt
Activists returned to Tahrir Square in their thousands to demand a faster pace to reforms. They want a new cabinet to replace one that includes many figures from the Mubarak regime. According to Al Jazeera they singled out the prime minister, Ahmed Shafik, who, they said, was hand-picked by Mubarak; and they want the former president, believed to be holed up in his Sharm el-Sheikh villa, to be put on trial and held accountable for his 31 years of rule,. They also want political prisoners released.
The ruling military council has promised elections within six months. “We do not want Shafik any more, even if they shoot us with bullets,” activists chanted. “Revolution until victory, revolution against Shafik and the palace.”
Tunisia
In the centre of Tunis, tens of thousands demanded the resignation of the prime minister, Mohamed Ghannouchi, seen as an ally of the ousted president. The uprising that forced former president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to flee on 14 January after 23 years in power was the catalyst for regional revolt. “Shame on the government!” and “Ghannouchi step down,” they shouted. Witnesses said it was the biggest protest since Ben Ali’s departure, when demonstrations were banned. Activists also protested against the bloody crackdown by forces loyal to Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi. Thousands of Libyans have fled to Tunisia.
Jordan
In the capital, Amman, 5,000 protested, demanding political reform. “Reform has become a necessity that cannot wait,” said Sheikh Hamza Mansour, the head of the Islamic Action Front, the country’s largest opposition group, at a rally. “It’s the demand of all Jordanians,” he added. Protestors chanted: “The people want to reform the regime”, “we want a fair electoral law”, and “people want an elected government”.
Bahrain
There were tens of thousands of anti-government protesters in Manama, adding to pressure for sweeping democratic change during two weeks of demonstrations in the strategic Gulf island kingdom. At least two marches converged on Manama’s landmark Pearl Square, the focal point of the uprising – the largest show of opposition strength so far.
Security forces made no immediate attempt to halt the marchers in an apparent sign that Bahrain’s rulers do not want to risk more bloodshed and denunciations from their Western allies.
Bahrain is the first Gulf state to be thrown into turmoil by the Arab world’s wave of change. The government had declared Friday a day of mourning for the seven people killed in clashes since 14 February.
Many protesters waved Bahrain’s red-and-white flag, chanting: “No dialogue before the government is dissolved,” and “For Bahrain’s future, we are not afraid to be killed.”
One procession split into separate groups of men and black-robed women, passing skyscrapers adorned with images of the nation’s ruling family.
Some demonstrators called on the US to do more to support their cause. “These people are fighting for freedom,” said Hussain Isa al-Saffar, 25. “The US … should be supporting freedom here.”
The White House said the national security adviser, Tom Donilon, spoke with Bahrain’s crown prince, Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, on Thursday stating the US’s support for reforms through dialogue with opposition groups. The US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, also held talks with Bahraini leaders Thursday.
In Pearl Square, a massive Bahraini flag was hoisted along with the phrase “martyrs’ square” in Arabic, a reference to those killed by security forces. Graphic photos of the dead were posted in the square, and a noose was fashioned around a portrait of Bahrain’s prime minister.
Palestine
The Palestinian Authority (PA) had authorised a Day of Rage to protest against the US veto of a UN security council resolution condemning Israeli settlements, but that was called off without explanation.
An unofficial protest on Thursday in Ramallah, the main city in the West Bank, demanded unity between the two main factions, Fatah and Hamas, as well as “liberation”.
Analysts say the Fatah-dominated PA and Gaza’s Hamas government are nervously watching uprisings elsewhere in the region. Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank complain of repression.
Scottie's Playtime 