Octopus Overlords

An influx of right-wing Christians fleeing liberal states has tilted the already conservative state even further to the right, and faith leaders are worried that their neighbors are being sucked into extremism by the newcomers, reported Religion News Service.

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A clash broke out last month at a board meeting for the Post Falls library, where conservatives raged against materials affirming LGBTQ people rather than, as one critic said, books “such as the Bible, such as Christian things, such as American things, such as patriotic things.”

One local activist spoke out against that rising tide of extremism but was shouted down by the conservatives in attendance.

“Those leading this attack on the libraries, both locally and nationally, can be directly linked to patriarchal white Christian nationalism,” said Josiah Mannion, a photographer and member of the newly formed Community Library Network Alliance.

The crowd erupted, with one person telling Mannion to "shut the f*ck up," and board members eventually called the police to calm the audience.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri Mar 10, 2023 2:21 pm Not to mention businesses. And with the way Florida has gone after Disney, I wouldn't be surprised to see resorts looking for greener (and less climate-dependent) locales.

As to shifting populations, it's a shame we can't coordinate the non-MAGAs fleeing MAGA states into a few battleground states.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri Mar 10, 2023 2:31 pm Then again, are there any purple states anymore? Florida, Ohio, (and Iowa, apparently) seem to have taken the red pill in a big way.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Fri Mar 10, 2023 2:45 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri Mar 10, 2023 2:31 pm Then again, are there any purple states anymore? Florida, Ohio, (and Iowa, apparently) seem to have taken the red pill in a big way.

Raises hand. State legislature is red. Overall attitude is Red, but consistently two blue senators. Governor and President go back and forth. Not sure of the history in the house but currently 8 blue to 6 six red, though games are definitely played to make it so while several members quit the GOP and retired.

El Guapo wrote: ↑Fri Mar 10, 2023 2:15 pm I think we're already at the point where this stuff is going to hurt the ability of Florida colleges to attract out-of-state non-MAGA students.

I also imagine that a non-MAGA people are increasingly going to just like move to Atlanta if they really want warm weather and a decent city.

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Fri Mar 10, 2023 4:07 pm ("Muskow", anyone?)

In 2021, the U.S. had one of the worst rates of maternal mortality in the country's history, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report found that 1,205 people died of maternal causes in the U.S. in 2021. That represents a 40% increase from the previous year.

These are deaths that take place during pregnancy or within 42 days following delivery, according to the World Health Organization.

The U.S. rate for 2021 was 32.9 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, which is more than ten times the estimated rates of some other high income countries, including Australia, Austria, Israel, Japan and Spain which all hovered between 2 and 3 deaths per 100,000 in 2020.

"We had some forewarning with the increase between 2019 and 2020 that it looked like maternal mortality rates were increasing during this pandemic period," she says. "With the overall COVID deaths that occurred in 2021, there was a shift towards younger people, so those would be in the age groups where people would be more likely to be pregnant or recently pregnant."

She says provisional data suggest the deaths peaked in 2021 and started to go down last year. "So hopefully that's the apex," Hoyert says.

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 11:24 am Looks like COVID deaths with maternity.

El Guapo wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 6:45 pm You might be wondering why, given that the GOP is famously concerned with powerful people abusing children. But you see, what really offends them is when a child abuse agency releases a report critical of how the state government treats foster children.

Long entrenched in a continuous string of scandals over child abuse and mistreatment, Texas’ youth prison system is broken beyond repair and should be shut down, according to a state lawmaker.

In a dramatic proposal Thursday, state Rep. James Talarico announced legislation asking his colleagues to close the state’s five juvenile prisons and dismantle the agency that runs them by 2030.

“For more than a century, kids in Texas child prisons have been beaten, raped and even murdered behind bars,” the Round Rock Democrat said at the state Capitol. “The incarceration that we inflict on our kids causes unimaginable trauma, and it leads kids to be more likely to commit crimes in the future.”

But Talarico’s measure to close the youth prisons and channel their funding into local rehabilitative systems isn’t the only drastic option on the table. Other lawmakers, and the Texas Juvenile Justice Department itself, want to address the failing system by building more prisons.

More than 100 children have died in Texas since 2020 while in the state’s child welfare system, including two who died from COVID-19 complications, according to a Texas Department of Family and Protective Services report provided to lawmakers Friday.

Forty-four children died in 2020 and 38 in 2021 while they were in the state’s care, according to a DFPS report obtained by The Texas Tribune. The numbers are on par with those reported in previous years. Twenty-two children have died in the first three months of this year, or about half the number of deaths in each of the previous five years.
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Most of the deaths listed in the report were attributed to “preexisting medical conditions” or abuse suffered before the children entered the system. The report did not go into detail as to what those conditions included.

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 7:02 pm

El Guapo wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 6:45 pm You might be wondering why, given that the GOP is famously concerned with powerful people abusing children. But you see, what really offends them is when a child abuse agency releases a report critical of how the state government treats foster children.

Even the ones they intentionally put into foster care.

OHIO is still my go-to state for WTF stories, but Tennessee is trying to take over.

Lady Maga is the creation Ryan Woods, a recently sober Salt Lake City native and a member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints.
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Now Lady Maga says she’s not a drag queen, but a “costume artist” who is a man who dresses up in women’s clothing, wears makeup, and displays feminine mannerisms.
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“As I’ve stated, I now prefer to call myself a costume artist—not a drag queen,” tweeted Lady Maga. “The drag world was a way I could use my talents, but they destroyed their credibility with predatory filth. I’m a performer. I can play any cosplay character. My artistry is about creativity & fun! ”

Woods, who is gay, has been doing drag for years but only came up with his MAGA-themed creation in 2019.

stessier wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2023 3:37 am Saying common ground exists lets him attack the Speaker for being held captive by the extremists when they aren't able to find any.

malchior wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2023 9:05 pm In the 'no shit sherlock' category we have this. Naturally some very serious people in the cult of Reagan have long called this a conspiracy theory and are talking about how this story is a nothingburger. I'm looking at Frum in particular but others are acting the same way.

For nearly 50 years, State Rep. Francis Thompson has represented his north Louisiana House district as a conservative Democrat, earning the title of the state's longest-serving legislator under that party's banner.

But Thompson said on Friday that he will switch parties and join House Republicans — which would give the GOP 70 House votes if all members vote along party lines, the number needed to override a veto by Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards. Republicans already hold a supermajority in the Senate.

"Let me be clear — nothing has changed," Thompson said at a press conference Friday at the Louisiana Republican Party headquarters in Baton Rouge. "There are values and principles that I firmly hold onto that guide my decisions. My conservative voting record over the years I have served in the Legislature speaks for itself."

Man Arrested After Making 'Minecraft' Death Threat To Sheriff
"What a shame" the Sheriff responded, "A 4chan troll has to come out of his room"

because as you can see in the video recorded by body cameras below, it didn’t take long for police to locate Golden at his mother’s house and arrest him. He’ll now be extradited to Floriday to face “a felony count of writing a threat to kill”.

@NYCMayor talks about a modern- single room occupancy (SRO) concept. He describes his son who has a stove that he doesn’t think he knows how to turn on. He suggests you don’t need a window in a bedroom. “You don’t need a window when you are sleeping.”

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 4:08 pm Who needs "fresh" air or a second egress point in emergencies?

For a bedroom to be considered legal in NYC, it must satisfy the following requirements:
* Be a minimum of 80 square feet
* Have a minimum width of 8 feet in any dimension
* Have a minimum ceiling height of 8 feet
* At least one window measuring no less than twelve square feet
* There cannot be a need to pass through any other bedroom in order to access the bedroom
* Two means of egress, including a window and a door that can be opened from the inside