ShazzieB
ShazzieB's JournalI skip a lot of them, but once in a while I'm pleasantly surprised.
I watched one tonight with the title "Jamie Raskin DEMOLISHES Lauren Boebert and the GQP," and it was worth it for the great clips of Jamie Raskin responding to a speech given by Bobo on the House floor. There was a little bit of Bobo in the beginning, but most of it was Raskin, and he was on fire!
The problem is, you never can tell with these things. I happened to get lucky with that one, but there have been a lot of others I only watched a little bit of, once I saw that they consisted of a tiny clip or 2 buried in the middle of someone pontificating for several minutes on What It All Meant. Those are the ones that feel like a waste of time to me.
I do NOT fault anyone for posting these, though. I assume good intentions on the part of my fellow DUers, and I am seldom disappointed. People who come here with genuinely bad intentions usually get caught and banned early on. (Go, MIRT!) The ones that stick around seem to post things for the same reason I do; because they got something out of an item and think someone else might as well. Sometimes people guess wrong, but so what? I've guessed wrong myself. Far be it from me to beat up on anybody else for doing the same. 
He is scum, but I find that suggestion very disturbing.
I don't know if you were joking, but I would object regardless. I find torture, no matter what the pretext, very disturbing. Can't change what happened in the past, but the idea of bringing it back is horrifying to me. I don't care who you want to reserve it for. Charles Manson? Adolf Hitler? Nope and nope.
For the record, I also oppose the death penalty, and I don't find prison rape jokes remotely funny. Some people tell me I'm just no damned fun at all! 
I could use some support.
My husband woke me up very early this morning to tell me he needed to go to the hospital. He is diabetic, and his blood sugar was getting dangerously high in spite of giving himself some insulin. Since then, he has been admitted to the hospital. They're taking good care of him, and I have every reason to believe he's going to be okay, but I'm all tied up in knots in spite of that. This is the third time in (I think?) 6 years that he's had to be hospitalized due to his blood sugar going through the roof, and he has come through fine in the past, but it's very worrisome that it keeps happening,
Obviously, he is not managing his diabetes as well as he needs to, and I am going to have to get more actively involved. He's very independent and hardly ever asks for help with anything. For a long time after the diagnosis he seemed to be managing fine, and I was happy to let him do so. The first time he had this kind of problem, he was getting over the flu, and the second time it happened, he was recovering from having a lot of teeth removed. Both times, he wasn't eating right, and also got dehydrated, and things kind of spiraled out of control before we knew it. We figured, okay, we will just have to remember to keep an extra close eye on his blood sugar any time he's under the weather.This time, there wasn't any precipitating factor like an illness, which is even more scary. So like I said, I am just going to have to stick my nose into things after this, and try to help him figure out how to keep this from happening again.
Later today, I will call my daughter and ask her to go with me to see him. In the meantime, I need to get some sleep. I was up really last last night (as is my habit), so I had only had about 3 hours of sleep when he shook ms awake to tell me what was going on. I know that if I don't get some sleep soon, I'm going to crash hard at some point. I was too keyed up to feel like sleeping for a while there, but fortunately, writing this has helped me calm down.
That's it for now. Will post again when I have an update.
The GOP Civil War Over Abortion Is Just Getting Started
Note: if this post looks familiar to anyone, that's because I originally posted this article in LBN. The thread was locked, due to being an opinion piece rather than a news story, so I am reposting here.
The intraparty conflict in post-Roe America was on full display here in the Hawkeye State, where a crop of declared presidential candidates and some who are still exploring a run gathered on Saturday for the first major event of the 2024 presidential caucus cycle.
The forum, hosted by the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, a leading organization of social conservatives, drew over a thousand like-minded attendees who came to the event in support of evangelical causes and to kick the tires on the expanding GOP presidential field.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/abortion-donald-trump-iowa_n_64454990e4b03c1b88c7a55d
Since the fall of Roe, Republicans have been gleefully shoving strict abortion bans down people's throats in one red state after another. Turns out a lot of voters are less than thrilled. Now Repubs are caught between a conservative base that wants a nationwide abortion ban, which is unpopular overall, and their desire to win elections. Oops!
The New "Pro-life" Movement Has a Plan to End Abortion
And it doesn’t care if American voters don’t agree with it.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2023/04/pro-life-anti-abortion-roe-mifepristone-pill-ban/673763/
Yet the movement’s activists don’t seem to care. Thirteen states automatically banned most abortions with trigger laws designed to go into effect when Roe fell; a Texas judge this month stayed the FDA approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, setting in motion what is sure to be a drawn-out legal battle; and some lawmakers are pursuing restrictions on traveling out of state for the procedure—what they call “abortion trafficking.”
*snip*
Hawkins [president of the anti-abortion group Students for Life] is realistic about the fact that her movement’s progress has a ceiling. Some states, especially the liberal strongholds of Illinois and New York, are never going to go for the kinds of laws that she’s pushing for. This is when, she says, her organization will shift its emphasis to the federal government—pushing for a constitutional amendment that would recognize fetal personhood, or for a ruling from the Supreme Court to affirm that the Fourteenth Amendment already does.
*snip*
Yet American culture seems to be moving in the opposite direction. The Dobbs ruling, though exciting for anti-abortion activists, was so enraging for abortion-rights supporters that, in some places, they responded by enshrining the right to abortion into state law. These and other political losses suggest that the pro-life movement is already overreaching—and generating a backlash. “It’s breathtaking to see people so motivated and so well funded to push an agenda that is so incredibly unpopular,” Jamie Manson, the president of the abortion-rights organization Catholics for Choice, told me. The months since Dobbs have exposed a fundamental tension between the outcome that abortion-rights opponents want and the one democracy supports.
Yeah, who cares what Americans really want? Who cares about democracy? Not these sanctimonious crusaders!
Their goal is for abortion to become “both illegal and unthinkable” (direct quote from the article) throughout this country. They are swimming against the tide, but we can't afford to let our guard down for a second.
By the way, that bit about about how they think the Fourteenth Amendment may already recognize fetal persohood is absolute codswallop. The Fourteenth Amendment, which defines the rights and privileges of US. citizenship, begins by stating that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States" are citizens thereof. There's not much I would put past the current SCOTUS "originalists," but its really hard to see how even they could redefine that very clearly worded statement to apply to the so-called "pre-born."
Cross-posted to Pro-Choice
The New "Pro-life" Movement Has a Plan to End Abortion
And it doesn’t care if American voters don’t agree with it.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2023/04/pro-life-anti-abortion-roe-mifepristone-pill-ban/673763/
Yet the movement’s activists don’t seem to care. Thirteen states automatically banned most abortions with trigger laws designed to go into effect when Roe fell; a Texas judge this month stayed the FDA approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, setting in motion what is sure to be a drawn-out legal battle; and some lawmakers are pursuing restrictions on traveling out of state for the procedure—what they call “abortion trafficking.”
*snip*
Hawkins [president of the anti-abortion group Students for Life] is realistic about the fact that her movement’s progress has a ceiling. Some states, especially the liberal strongholds of Illinois and New York, are never going to go for the kinds of laws that she’s pushing for. This is when, she says, her organization will shift its emphasis to the federal government—pushing for a constitutional amendment that would recognize fetal personhood, or for a ruling from the Supreme Court to affirm that the Fourteenth Amendment already does.
*snip*
Yet American culture seems to be moving in the opposite direction. The Dobbs ruling, though exciting for anti-abortion activists, was so enraging for abortion-rights supporters that, in some places, they responded by enshrining the right to abortion into state law. These and other political losses suggest that the pro-life movement is already overreaching—and generating a backlash. “It’s breathtaking to see people so motivated and so well funded to push an agenda that is so incredibly unpopular,” Jamie Manson, the president of the abortion-rights organization Catholics for Choice, told me. The months since Dobbs have exposed a fundamental tension between the outcome that abortion-rights opponents want and the one democracy supports.
Yeah, who cares what Americans really want? Who cares about democracy? Not these sanctimonious crusaders!
Their goal is for abortion to become “both illegal and unthinkable” (direct quote from the article) throughout this country. They are swimming against the tide, but we can't afford to let our guard down for a second.
By the way, that bit about about how they think the Fourteenth Amendment may already recognize fetal persohood is absolute codswallop. The Fourteenth Amendment, which defines the rights and privileges of US. citizenship, begins by stating that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States" are citizens thereof. There's not much I would put past the current SCOTUS "originalists," but its really hard to see how even they could redefine that very clearly worded statement to apply to the so-called "pre-born."
Cross-posted to General Discussion.
A Wisconsin teacher is on administrative leave after calling out school's homophobia.
A Wisconsin teacher is on administrative leave after complaining that her school banned [Miley Cyrus and] Dolly Parton's 'Rainbowland' from a student performance
https://www.insider.com/wisconsin-teacher-on-leave-rainbowland-ban-miley-cyrus-dolly-parton-2023-4
In March, school administrators refused to allow Tempel's students to sing "Rainbowland" — which is about acceptance and love — at a recent school production because it was "too controversial."
*snip*
Superintendent James Sebert did not return Insider's request for comment on Saturday, but he confirmed to the Journal-Sentinel that Tempel was on leave. In an email to the newspaper he called Tempel's situation a "personal matter," which is "confidential in nature."
According to the Journal-Sentinel, Sebert said in March the district's decision to ban "Rainbowland" was based on "whether it was appropriate for the age and maturity level of the students" and due to "social or personal impacts" on children.
This is the song that was banned (because gods forbid 1st graders should hear, much less sing, a song with lyrics like this):
Living in a Rainbowland
The skies are blue and things are grand
Wouldn't it be nice to live in paradise
Where we're free to be exactly who we are
Let's all dig down deep inside
Brush the judgment and fear aside
Make wrong things right
And end the fight
'Cause I promise ain't nobody gonna win (come on)
My husband and I stopped by an estate sale today (mini-rant).
One of the things I bought was this:
When I asked the prices for this and 2 other items (most everything was unmarked), the guy in charge looked at this one and said, "I feel like giving you this, just to get rid of her."
He walked away so fast that I didn't have time to fully process the comment. Once it sank in, I was pissed! I told my husband that it made me feel like not spending my money there, except I'd be cutting off my nose to spite my face by passing on items I wanted. So I bought them anyway, and I'm not sorry I did.
It was just a little thing, but grrrrr! It actually felt like a microaggression of sorts. If I imply that something you have or want to own is basically trash, am I not implying something about you? I think so!
Like I said, just a little thing, but it annoyed me enough that I felt like venting. But at least I got a cool action figure out of it. She'll be good company for my RBG action figure. 
Physicians demand assault weapons ban
This video is a few months old, but as timely as ever. Especially right now. 
Profile Information
Name: SharonGender: Female
Hometown: Chicago area, IL
Home country: USA
Member since: Tue Mar 26, 2013, 04:18 AM
Number of posts: 16,590
