Important News-

I was putting together a post on this, then saw tengrain had already done so, so here it is. There is an additional snippet/link from LawDork beneath the MPS window here; I was tossing around which parts to snip for a post when I opened MPS’s page.

SCOTUS Comes For Education

SCOTUS conservatives seem eager to increase parents’ religious rights in public schools by Chris Geidner

Tuesday’s arguments over Montgomery County schools’ story-time sessions included alarming questions about LGBTQ people. Read on Substack

The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservatives appeared eager on Tuesday to side with parents wanting to opt their students out of story-time sessions in Montgomery County’s public schools in Maryland that included a handful of books that contain same-sex couples and discussion of what it means to be transgender.

The question brought to the court by the parents’ lawyers from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is not whether schools can do so — as many do — but rather whether the First Amendment’s free exercise guarantee constitutionally requires it.

The school district has argued — and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed — that teachers simply reading the books and students being exposed to these ideas do not constitute “coercion” such that parents’ free exercise rights are implicated.

But, in an alarming sign for LGBTQ people, it was clear that at least three of the justices believe that describing queer people accurately — acknowledging their equal existence — amounts to taking sides or trying to “influence” children.

More broadly, and after two-and-a-half hours of arguments at the Supreme Court, it was clear that the argument from the parents — with backing from the Trump administration — is going to prevail. The only real question was how the court will resolve the case. Given the different paths the court can take, though, the answer to that question is important.

It was, however, a lopsided argument that showed how extreme the “religious freedom” arguments have gotten in front of a court that has made clear that it backs religious supremacy over many — if not most — other constitutional rights. (snip-MORE)

Wednesday cartoons / memes / news. It is still Wednesday right?

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A whistleblower's disclosure details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor datawww.npr.org/2025/04/15/n…

— Lauren Ashley Davis (@laurenmeidasa.bsky.social) 2025-04-15T13:25:35.612Z

Trump donors eye potential bonanza if US succeeds with Greenland land-grab

— The Guardian (@theguardian.com) 2025-04-15T12:17:15.902Z

And by me as I was being abused emotionally, physically, and sexual. I was going to the SDA church and told god would protect me if I prayed hard enough. He did not, no matter how hard I prayed. I guess I was not worthy. The Christian apologist say that the right of free will for the abuser was more important than the safety of the abused child. Hugs

Some memes for you.

It’s sad that we have to remind people

that we can say something is wrong in America without being accused of being treasonous. It’s almost like a cult following or something…

hugs. randy

Peace & Justice History for 4/23

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryapril.htm#april23

Carl Sagan Calls it.

I have nothing to add. Hugs. -randy

Afternoon Snark

I wish I could write stuff this good! Enjoy Larry David’s writing, though. Full story linked in the title; I found the story on today’s The Alt Media’s column. Among others, so go there, too. Maybe someone can get into the full essay on the NYWT, even, because I can’t. Still, this is entertaining in itself!

‘I must say, mein Führer, I’m so thankful I came’: Larry David spoofs Bill Maher’s fawning White House visit with Trump

Essay describes a surprise invitation in 1939 to a previously vocal critic for dinner with the Nazi leader, where ‘suddenly he seemed so human’

Larry David has written a long spoof essay in the New York Times in response to Bill Maher’s recent glowing account of his dinner with President Trump in the White House.

The essay, entitled My Dinner With Adolf, purports to be written by someone who was “a vocal critic of his on the radio from the beginning, pretty much predicting everything he was going to do on the road to dictatorship”. But he agrees to dine with the Führer because he “concluded that hate gets us nowhere. I knew I couldn’t change his views, but we need to talk to the other side”.

The dinner proves an eye-opening success, with the author much tickled by Hitler’s jokes, struck by his warmth and humanity and impressed by his skills as an agony uncle. As he leaves, he tells Hitler he’s pleased he came. “‘Although we disagree on many issues, it doesn’t mean that we have to hate each other.’ And with that, I gave him a Nazi salute and walked out into the night.”

The late-night pundit Bill Maher had dinner with the president on 31 March, and many predicted it would have been a combative meeting. Both men have been frank about this dislike of each other, with Trump calling Maher a “lowlife” and his show “dead”.

But on the 11 April episode of his show, Real Time, Maher described the president as “gracious” and “much more self-aware than he lets on”.

“Everything I’ve ever not liked about him was – I swear to God – absent, at least on this night with this guy,” said Maher. “He mostly steered the conversation to, ‘What do you think about this?’ I know: your mind is blown. So is mine.”

He added: “A crazy person doesn’t live in the White House. A person who plays a crazy person on TV a lot lives there, which I know is fucked up. It’s just not as fucked up as I thought it was.”

In his essay, David closely mirrors Maher’s tone, saying that one of his own jokes “amused him to no end, and I realised I’d never seen him laugh before. Suddenly he seemed so human. Here I was, prepared to meet Hitler, the one I’d seen and heard – the public Hitler. But this private Hitler was a completely different animal. And oddly enough, this one seemed more authentic, like this was the real Hitler. The whole thing had my head spinning.” (snip-MORE)

Original Memes!

The Gays Had the Funniest “Get Me to God’s Country” Memes. Here Are Our Faves

A post made by country singer Morgan Wallen after walking off the SNL stage has become a much-mocked viral sensation.

By James Factora

If you’re anything like us (gay and deeply unwell), a certain five-word phrase has been echoing in your head since Saturday evening: “Get me to God’s country.” For those of blessed readers who have no idea what we’re talking about, allow us to explain. Country singer Morgan Wallen, who I had never heard of before this weekend, was the most recent musical guest on Saturday Night Live, with recent Oscar winner Mikey Madison serving as the show’s host. He abruptly walked offstage as the show was ending, still fully on camera, then proceeded to post a picture of a jet with the caption, “Get me to God’s country.”

Considering that this guy apparently called his neighbor the N-word in a highly publicized 2021 incident (for which he later apologized), it’s hard to place much stock in Wallen’s judgement about which American geography is holy and which isn’t. (Besides, a certain gay little website is headquartered in New York too, so it’s personal.) Thankfully, the gay internet immediately did what it does best and proceeded to meme the hell out of Wallen’s words. Below, scroll through some of our faves. (snip-I can’t possibly snag all of these! They’re a worthy click. -A)

The Protestant Work Ethic

Hello Everyone! I recently told you about taking a small vacation – it’s really a working vacation as I’m going to be opening my parent’s “summer home” up for them as they make their snowbird way back from the Sunshine State. And, as of this writing, I’ve not left yet – but damn! It feels so good to exit the rat race!!

In America many of us, especially in Gen X and before, have been raised with the moral expectation of working everyday and being in early, staying late, working until we drop.

The end result is that we break down our body, our mind, our very soul, sacrifice our relationships and our time with loved ones — our very life! — to struggle up a ladder that seems to be attached to a moving goal with the hope that we are respected by our community, our family, and that God will smile down upon us that we have done so well with what He has given us.

Yet no sooner do I have a bit of money than everything costs more and I realize I now have to work harder and longer just to get where I thought I needed to be to enjoy life again. It isn’t fair, and it never was meant to be. It’s a manipulation, a lie, a tale told to fools and I wouldn’t need a vacation if I was truly doing that which brings me peace, joy, love.

So, I guess what I’m really trying to say here as I get ready to bounce my happy fat ass off to the great white and play in the forests for a while is that I so wish I could start life over understanding that idea that I have only so much time, and I should be spending it on that which brings me fulfillment and actualization rather than just making some millionaire millionairer. Hugs. Randy

NBC NEWS: Info Pete Hegseth shared with wife, brother came from top general’s secure messages

Info Pete Hegseth shared with wife, brother came from top general’s secure messages
Hegseth has denied the information he shared was classified, but it was given to him on a system for sensitive and classified information, sources told NBC News.

Read in NBC News: https://apple.news/AalNGGBhjSXy7HzNCvnqVyA

Shared from Apple News

Best Wishes and Hugs,Scottie