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@viewwrangler
Two days ago, a small group of Nazis demonstrated on an overpass in Lincoln Heights, a historically Black community near Cincinnati. While no actual punches were thrown, I think chasing off Nazis, ripping their flag away and burning it earns a spot on the Nazi Punch of the Day.
Today's Nazi Punch of the Day is an important lesson from the 1980 film The Blues Brothers: how to punch Illinois Nazis with your car.
(Tumblr user @felignis pointed out that NPD refers to a mental illness, so I'm switching that tag to NPotD. Thank you for that!)
this is one of those things that sounds like it's wack conspiracy theory stuff but. it's not.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-aides-lock-government-workers-out-computer-systems-us-agency-sources-say-2025-01-31/
Where to find some deleted CDC documents
The Trump administration is scrubbing the CDC’s website of documents on reproductive rights issues, sexual health, intimate partner violence
The Trump administration is scrubbing the CDC’s website of documents on reproductive rights issues, sexual health, intimate partner violence
apparently, the fascism will be televised - ICE attacks on Chicago begin
Somehow, ICE giving Dr Phil a ride-along for their attacks is entirely on brand for this administration.
(NB: You may need to watch a 30-second video to read the full article below.)
A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement said a range of federal agencies conducted "enhanced targeted operations" in Chicago
As far as locations go, nothing has been publicly released (well, duh) and not much is known. According to the Sun-Times:
... Officials told McGraw that 300 people were being targeted in Chicago, but specific details of the Chicago operations, including locations or number of arrests, were not released. Until Sunday, there were few reports of large immigration actions in Chicago despite previous statements that Chicago would be targeted as early as Tuesday morning, the day after President Trump’s inauguration.
[...] Two residents who live in the 9900 block of South Commercial Avenue in South Deering told the Sun-Times that immigration officers were on their block about noon Sunday and knocked on at least one door. The officers were in an unmarked van and “ICE” was clearly visible on their clothing, the men said.
[...] Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) said federal officials conducted operations in Logan Square but not in his ward.
A spokesperson for Organized Communities Against Deportations, an immigrant advocacy group, said they received reports that people were taken from Albany Park, Hermosa and Edgewater, and also from suburban Bolingbrook and East Chicago. “We are continuing to inform folks of their rights, and it seems at least in some circumstances asking for judicial warrants have at least prevented some folks from getting detained,” said Antonio Gutierrez, the group’s strategic coordinator....
Adult Transgender Legislative Risk Map, November 2024
This map is made and maintained by transgender journalist Erin Reed. She read all 550 bills targeting trans people in America in 2023 and 586 so far in 2024 and she scores state safety based on proposed and enacted legislation. She regularly updates the map (including explanations of recent legislative changes) on her site. She has a separate map for trans youth (which: warning, is even more scary), since a lot of policies target minors specifically.
It’s depressing as all hell, but Erin does great work and I’ve been using her maps to plan my career and vacations for years. It’s helped me figure out where to apply for grad school, and helps me keep track of what states I cannot do a layover in while flying because of bathroom bills.
here’s the current map as of January 19th, 2025
Fun times ahead! ICE to attack Chicago
And it's fairly certain that some citizens and permanent residents will get caught up in this. And that the administration won't care in the least.
Administration to send 100 to 200 officers to city on day two of new presidency, Wall Street Journal reports
And the only logical response to this is: yeah? So? So what?
I have supported the Equal Rights Amendment for more than 50 years, and I have long been clear that no one should be discriminated against b
... On January 27, 2020, the Commonwealth of Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. The American Bar Association (ABA) has recognized that the Equal Rights Amendment has cleared all necessary hurdles to be formally added to the Constitution as the 28th Amendment. I agree with the ABA and with leading legal constitutional scholars that the Equal Rights Amendment has become part of our Constitution.
It is long past time to recognize the will of the American people. In keeping with my oath and duty to Constitution and country, I affirm what I believe and what three-fourths of the states have ratified: the 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex.
Here's the problem with that statement. According to the normal ratification process for constitutional amendments, upon receiving the proper documents from the various ratifying states, the Office of the Federal Register drafts a formal proclamation for the Archivist of the United States to certify that the ratification is valid and that the amendment is now part of the Constitution of the United States. Because the ratification process for the Equal Rights Amendment has been so ... unusual, let's say, for this to work, Biden would have had to direct the Office of the Federal Register to draft and transmit the document to the Archivist. He did not do so, or at least, has not yet done so and shows no signs of planning to do so. Even if he had done so, there's an open question of whether or not Congress could overrule him with the Congressional Review Act, which covers acts by presidential administrations taken within the last 60 days of their administration. But, of course, he hasn't done any such thing, at least not yet, and his statement does not say that he will be sending the amendment to the OFR to start the final steps of the procedure.
There are, of course, several many other issues. Nebraska, Tennessee, Idaho, Kentucky, and South Dakota have all rescinded their ratification of the ERA, because -- as is also witnessed by their savage abortion laws -- they kind of hate women. (The position of the Archivist appears to be that rescinding ratification is improper and does not affect whether or not an amendment has been ratified ... but also that it is not their job to decide this question.) The date for ratification of the amendment was extended -- more than once, I think -- but has since expired. So the fact that Virginia, Nevada and Illinois decided to ratify the amendment 40 years late, pushing it theoretically over the limit (ignoring rescisions) may technically not matter. The issue of the deadline expiration has been litigated once before, but the courts punted and said that it was up to Congress to either extend the ratification deadline or to decide that the ratification was nonetheless valid anyway. And I somehow doubt that the most racist, sexist Congress in generations is going to do anything to aid ratification or do anything whatsoever to add this amendment to the Constitution.
But surely if Biden directed the OFR to send documents to the National Archives, then all would be fine and dandy, right? Well, Fun Fact: No. On Dec. 17, 2024, the National Archivist noted that the ERA cannot be certified as part of the Constitution due to "established legal, judicial and procedural decisions." (Primarily, but not purely, the deadline issues.) So even if Biden had directed OFR to start its process, it would have been rejected by the National Archives as an invalid amendment.
So basically, Biden's action is, if not quite purely "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing" ... well. Let's just call it performative and leave it at that, shall we? Let's shall.
(... Mind, it would be fascinating to see what would happen if he did decide to direct OFR to start its process. Apart from anything else, though, it's just too damn late. Even if the National Archives were willing to certify the amendment -- and, as noted, they are not -- if he directed that, there's not really much OFR or the Archives could do before Monday, when the clock ticks its last on his administration, and the Orange One could simply direct OFR to stop. So ... again, performative.)
Because the entire internet is for kids, right?
I suspect the near-term result of this policy is that many sites -- Bluesky, Xitter, Tumblr, almost all social media sites -- will geofence the UK, the way that Pornhub has geofenced and blocked the entire US south and several other states from access. But we shall see. Unfortunately.
The ultimate plan behind these laws -- including KOSA and related laws from the US Congress -- is to drive all such content from the web, no matter that the content is constitutionally protected from such official censorship efforts. It's not clear how long sites will be able to evade the intent behind these laws by blocking access to places with such laws.
There's also the fact that, with the existence of VPNs, these laws are largely pointless. All you have to do is install a VPN, let it seem to access from a country/state that doesn't have these nonsensical laws, and bob's yer uncle. That said ... how many people will actually use those options?
Research from the Children's Commissioner for England in January 2023 found that on average, children in the UK first see online pornography
Well, well ... how ... INteresting...
It will be fascinating to see if this goes anywhere, or if the incoming administration decides to quash this. Timing is, unfortunately, dreadful -- why couldn't this have happened a year ago? (Because they didn't have the case built yet, I know.)
Financial regulator alleges Musk later acquired shares of company at ‘artificially low prices’, stiffing shareholders
To be sure, I suspect that in normal times, an 11-days delay in filing required paperwork wouldn't draw that much of a penalty. But maybe we'll see. I think this may be one of the tribunal setups that is being challenged, but again, we'll see.
And so they begin
My, Il Fascisti GOP are certainly feeling their oats already, aren't they?
Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Mike Kelly is one of 29 House Republicans demanding an immediate end to the program.
The Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would force states to allow out-of-state visitors to ignore their concealed weapons restr
Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Scott Perry is cosponsoring a bill to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
They didn't introduce a bill to just repeal the $35 cap on insulin.
They introduced a bill to repeal the entire Inflation Reduction Act.
Which, among other things, means they want to get rid of:
the $35 insulin cap.
And a yearly cap of $2,000 for medications in Medicare Part D.
And allowing Medicare to negotiate for drug prices.
And requiring pharma companies to issue refunds to Medicare if the costs of their drugs rises faster than inflation
And an elimination of copays in Medicare Part D for vaccines like tetanus and rabies
And an expansion of eligibility for low-income subsidies for Medicare
Saying they want to eliminate just the insulin cap is understating their desire to fuck people over.
Well, that's all anybody needs.
oh, lord.
Bloomberg News says preliminary talks have taken place but TikTok spokesperson rejects report as ‘pure fiction’
Pettiness is everything, it seems
Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that the rest of us are going to have to live through it all (... when possible, of course), watching the outbreaks of internecine warfare among the far right would be truly amusing.
The claims came after Elon Musk was involved in a public feud with some Republicans over immigration.
This is the chunk of the article that is TRULY amusing:
...Some conservatives said they considered X’s actions to be a betrayal by Musk, who purchased the service then known as Twitter in 2022 in part because he said it had unfairly limited conservative speech. Musk has since called himself a free-expression advocate, even as he calls for jailing some of his critics.
Musk and X did not respond to requests for comment on Friday. But on Thursday night, about an hour before some conservatives started complaining about losing access to X’s premium features, Musk posted what he called “a reminder” on X. He wrote that the site’s algorithm automatically reduces the reach of a user if they’re frequently blocked or muted by other, credible users.
“If far more credible, verified subscriber accounts (not bots) mute/block your account compared to those who like your posts, your reach will decline significantly,” Musk posted.
But rather than satisfying people complaining about censorship, the post elicited even more accusations that Musk was shadowbanning his conservative critics, or reducing engagement on their posts without officially disclosing such actions to affected accounts....
I mean ... seriously, it is to laugh. It's been brutally clear that Musk's position is generally "my way or the highway", and how conservative or liberal you are is, if not exactly irrelevant, less important than doing what he wants or agreeing with him.
(I will just note that previously, the most muted/blocked account on Xitter was ... Musk. And he forced his techs to find ways around that. One can but assume that there's a one-account restricted workaround, if what he says about the site algorithm is true.) (One suspects it is not -- or at least, not simply -- but that is only one's opinion.)
One wonders if he'll dare to do such things to Agent Orange.
Bet he will.
That'll be fun.
For really peculiar values of "fun", of course.
pardon
While I decline to have any opinion on Hunter Biden's guilt, innocence, or appropriateness for pardon over literally thousands of other people … given the people being announced for various positions, I wouldn't trust any part of my child's case to the incoming "justice" department, either, if I had the ability to do anything about it. Not to say that this isn't hypocritical, because it very much is ... but it's also understandable.
Decision marks reversal after US president said he would not use executive authority, but now says Hunter Biden was only prosecuted for poli
