June 30, 2022

Like Cheney, Riggleman turned on TFG over

TFG's refusal to participate in the peaceful transfer of power. But never forget: Trump endorsed him in 2018, and he won, in part, by campaigning with white supremacists. Very grateful for his service now, but he helped grow the beast*.






* Not a reference to TFG's vehicle.

June 22, 2022

Public librarian chiming in here.

I don't know the particulars of this incident aside from this post, but let me just note that this happened at a public library. The PBs could not legally be kept from entering the building. Thus, a cop entering with them and escorting them through the library was appropriate to keep escalation at bay.

I am an ACAB kind of gal, but honestly, if they'd been barred from the building before entering and creating a disturbance, they could sue the town. So I'm not happy that PBs were disrupting story time, and I'd prefer it if police never had to enter a public library. But in this case, it seems like someone at the library (not necessarily a library worker) doesn't understand what PUBLIC means.

June 10, 2022

I live in Western Mass and the local dialect includes

'aks' and 'liberry.' It used to bug me, but one day I read something that was like, "Do you understand what's being said? Because that's what language is supposed to convey: understanding." After that, I don't care how anyone pronounces anything, as long as I can understand what they're saying. I still mess up but I'm working on it!

Put another way, I'm trying to shift focus onto whoever is speaking to me, to understand what they are saying rather than making it all about my discomfort with the way others express themselves.

Edited to add: the dialect is more pronounced in the Black population here, but the local white kids often speak it, too.

June 10, 2022

This quote may indicate an even longer coup plan:

The majority of the Capitol’s 658 single-pane windows were quietly upgraded during a 2017-19 renovation of the historic building. The original wooden frames and glass were covered with a second metal frame containing bomb-resistant glass.

But planners skipped about a dozen ground-floor windows, including some located in doors, because they were deemed to be low risk in the event of implosion, largely due to their discreet or shielded location, or because the building couldn’t structurally handle the load of the heavier frames.

Emphasis mine to note that these renovations happened on Trump's watch.

June 5, 2022

Gun rights *are* a very complicated issue.

The point here isn't that he he may or may not be a gun nut, it's that he recognizes that being a gun nut or anti-gun doesn't matter in God's eyes, so it shouldn't be a matter in evangelicalism. He recognizes Jesus never said dick about guns. He understands the difference between living a Christian life and living an American life is also very complicated, as they have to be held in tension with each other when they diverge. Faith is something for congregants to grapple with, not weaponize or politicize.

Not to mention, many, many Democrats and liberal Christians own guns. I'm not one of them but I 100% support this pastor for drawing boundaries and speaking truth.

May 27, 2022

WSJ doesn't know the difference between types of LEOs.

After many quotes about local police inaction, they write

Danny Ruiz, whose great-niece died in the attack, said he arrived at the school after hearing gunfire and felt grateful for the police response.
“The Border Patrol agent who took him out, to me, that guy is a hero,” said Mr. Ruiz, 51.

Border Patrol arrived an hour after the first 911 call and finished what the local cops didn’t even start.

May 27, 2022

The Internet Archive is the older, well-known

web site to archive pages, via the Wayback Machine. Good to have both sources; if it’s not at one, it might be at the other.

https://web.archive.org/

May 11, 2022

The final outcome will never be "abortion rights everywhere" if it goes back to the states.

Hell, we don't even have abortion rights everywhere under Roe, as many, many poor women haven't been able to access abortions in states that have bullied abortion providers to close up shop and leave. Agreed, though, that a sex strike wouldn't work - or would only work if we could get the Justices' spouses on board.

March 22, 2022

NOT true that CRT only exists in law school!

Where'd this dude get that idea? I was first exposed to it in my undergraduate Peace Studies program in the late 1990s, then again in seminary in the early 2000s for my MDiv, and again in library school for my MLS five years ago. Yes!! I have never formally studied law and yet I've been taught CRT at universities and grad school across the country for longer than this yahoo has been alive. I mean, he's on the right track, no need to derail the argument with straight-up ignorance.

Personally, I'm of the mind that Anti-Racist Baby should be required curriculum in every state and federally funded preschool and kindergarten in the country, and CRT deeply entrenched in our elementary and primary schools along with the 1619 Project. The "but it only happens in law school" argument ultimately throws the good people teaching CRT outside of law classrooms under the bus. At best, the argument ignores and undermines their work. At worst, it sets them out to fend for themselves when the GQP's kids come home from college and report it's actually being taught as a cross-discipline concept.

March 2, 2022

There is nothing specific about filming prisoners

in the Geneva Convention. It says that prisoners of war cannot be humiliated by the organization imprisoning them. A couple points after that bullet about prisoner treatment requires them to be humanely treated. So this doesn't go against the GC because, as you noted, it's filming done by civilians, and it demonstrates both humane treatment and upholds the prisoner's dignity by allowing them food and contact with family.

Geneva Convention: http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/instree/y3gctpw.htm