ARKANSAS TRIED TO PASS A LAW CRIMINALIZING LIBRARIANS WHO SUPPORT ACCESS TO BOOKS AND MATERIALS ARKANSAS' LAW MAKERS DON'T LIKE

 UPDATE BELOW

Judge blocks Arkansas law allowing librarians to be charged over ‘harmful’ books 

"Decision comes as lawmakers in conservative states are pushing for measures making it easier to ban or restrict access to books" 

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"The lawsuit comes as lawmakers in an increasing number of conservative states are pushing for measures making it easier to ban or restrict access to books. The number of attempts to ban or restrict books across the U.S. last year was the highest in the 20 years the American Library Association has been tracking such efforts. Laws restricting access to certain materials or making it easier to challenge them have been enacted in several other states, including Iowa, Indiana and Texas.

From Politico: 

"The executive director of Central Arkansas Library System, Nate Coulter, said the judge’s 49-page decision recognized the law as censorship, a violation of the Constitution and wrongly maligning librarians."

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From what I remember when I read history, one of the first things a totalitarian government does is ban or burn books and imprison citizens who support the free access to books and materials the totalitarian government opposes. 

It appears our fellow Americans in the state of Arkansas have never read any history. Either that, or they're embracing anti-American ideals in service to their ignorance of history and their desire to exert authoritarian control over American citizens.

UPDATE:

The AG of Alabama wants to prosecute anyone who assists a girl or woman who leaves the state to get an abortion where it is legal.

Let me repeat:

Alabama's AG, Steve Marshall, explicitly threatened providers with felony charges for assisting Alabamians to leave the state for a federally legal medical procedure.

When the SCOTUS handed down Dobbs and people said, "Next they're going to try to prosecute women for traveling out of state for an abortion,"  the GOP said, "We would never do that! How dare you!"

So the states that have essentially banned abortion want to keep girls and women from freely traveling to another state that does not ban abortion. How will they do this? Will they have state troopers stop every car at their borders and check to see who's pregnant and who's not?

Remember when people laughed at those who warned that the religious right would not stop just with banning abortion in their own states, but would do all in their power to stope girls and women from freely traveling to other states. This was always their plan.

And do not for one minute think they won't try this with birth control. Justice Thomas himself stated that Griswold vs Connecticult  needs to be reconsidered as well as same sex marriage.  

I remember when JFK was running for the presidency and many people were afraid he would be too much influenced by the Pope/Vatican in his presidency. JFK gave an important speech allaying those fears, and the RCC did not interfere in our secular laws.

Not anymore. 

What the far right Catholics on the Court are doing is playing into the doctrinal hands of far right Catholics and will likely codify Catholic doctrine into American secular law, if they can get away with it. And it appears, so far, that they will.

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

 

SATURDAY NIGHT DANCING...

 

in the starlight.

He just celebrated his 80th birthday!

"It's simply based on lying on the beach on a starry night, watching the stars reflecting on the water."

                     Mick Jagger, 2001

It's simply based on lying on the beach on a starry night, watching the stars reflecting on the water. Mick Jagger, 2001

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL????

 

LOL!

"Reacting to the superseding indictment filed against Donald Trump this past week that contains three new charges tied to obstruction of justice and illegally sharing classified documents, the editors of the conservative Wall Street Journal urged Republican lawmakers to stop making excuses for him and make sure he is not on the ticket in the 2024 election.".

THE STUPIDEST DAMN THING ON THE INTERNET

 

From time to time I'll choose to post something mind-numbingly dumb that I find in surfing the intertubz.

This one is a doozy: 

" Something else that’s never brought up. During the slavery years of the 1800’s life was a whole lot tougher for EVERYONE, not just slaves. They didn’t have electricity, much less cars and roads to travel on. Homes were mostly cabins heated with a fireplace, no A/C, no plumbing, pipes, running water, super markets or malls. I’m old enough to remember when refrigerators first came in, then freezers. Before that, we had ice boxes with the ice man delivering big blocks of ice he’s carry on his shoulder, which was covered with a leather blanket so he wouldn’t get cold or wet. Tough. Crude. However, we didn’t think so ’cause it was an improvement over what preceded it. Folks have too much time on their hands today so they come up with crazy notions instead of having to take care of themselves because they have it too easy. Maybe what is needed is another Great Depression to bring everyone back to reality."

This group was discussing slavery and how, well golldern it!, slavery was practiced by Black people too! And slaves on American plantations DID learn skills that helped them when they were no longer slaves. 

However, if these people had read any history, they'd have understood that freed slaves were giving NOTHING to start their freed lives -- a majority of them had no reading or writing skills, no money, no land, no families, since their children had been stolen from them. But other than that, they were free to use the few skills they learned from being a beaten and tortured slave. 

But...but, according to the person who's quoted in the text above, EVERYONE had it bad in the 1800s, not just the beaten, tortured, landless, homeless, moneyless, familyless, orphaned, recently freed slaves!

NOTE TO THE UNINFORMED GROUP ABOVE:

Enslaved Africans were already skilled!

"Here are some simple, historical facts: Africans already were skilled before they were enslaved. And, in many cases, enslavers sought and purchased people coming from specific African societies based on skills common in those societies. 

Decades of research — slave ship manifests, plantation ledgers, newspaper articles, letters, journals and archaeological digs — by dozens of scholars supports this, much of it compiled in the 2022 book “African Founders: How Enslaved People Expanded American Freedom,” by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Hackett Fischer.

[SKIP]

"Transatlantic slavery was an economic model proposing that skilled laborers, who were benefiting themselves and their communities, be abducted, transported and forced to use those skills to benefit others. Other skills such as literacy, ministry and music-making were often banned, because they did not benefit — and even threatened — the enslaver."

PLEASE TAKE THE TIME...

 

to watch this, even if you have to stop and come back to it:

Never thought in my lifetime I'd hear this!

Giuliani Concedes He Made False Statements About Georgia Election Workers

 

Giuliani was once called "America's Mayor." Now he's just another Donald Trump failed lackey who sold his honor and decency to a Liar, Cheat, Fraud, and Rapist. ETTD!*

*Everything Trump Touches Dies

NYTimes:  "The concession by Mr. Giuliani came in court papers filed on Tuesday night as part of a defamation lawsuit that the two workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, had brought against him in Federal District Court in Washington in December 2021. 

The suit accused Mr. Giuliani and others of promoting a video that purported to show Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss — who are mother and daughter — of manipulating ballots while working at the State Farm Arena for the Fulton County Board of Elections. 

In a two-page declaration, Mr. Giuliani acknowledged that he had in fact made the statements about Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss that led to the filing of the suit and that the remarks “carry meaning that is defamatory per se.” He also admitted that his statements were “actionable” and “false” and that he no longer disputed the “factual elements of liability” the election workers had raised in their suit. 

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 “Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States to target you? The president of the United States is supposed to represent every American. Not to target one. He targeted me. A proud American citizen who stood up to help Fulton County run an election in the middle of a pandemic.” 

"Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss are true patriots. Nothing will ever repair the damage Donald Trump & Rudy Giuliani did to those two women. Their lives were ruined. Their lives were threatened. All in the pursuit of a lie. A disgusting, democracy destabilizing lie."--JoJofromJerz

GOOD NEWS!

 .

h/t Dave Miller

Don't listen to the naysayers. This is good news for the country. Thanks to Joe Biden and his administration.

DJ Trump wants to be POTUS again, but all he has to offer the American people is "retribution," and whining about how unfair he's been treated.

Trump is a crybaby who's done nothing for the American people except give permanent tax breaks to billionaires and make us look like idiots in front of the world for putting him in the WH.

Morgan Stanley credits Bidenomics for ‘much stronger’ than expected GDP growth

PUBLISHED FRI, JUL 21 20235:21 PM EDT

President Joe Biden’s economic policies drove an unexpected economic surge that has forced Morgan Stanley to make a “sizable upward revision” in its GDP forecasts. 

Biden’s 2021 infrastructure bill has created “a boom in large-scale infrastructure,” wrote MS analysts, while domestic business investment “is rebounding, led by manufacturing.”

[skip]

Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is “driving a boom in large-scale infrastructure,” wrote Ellen Zentner, chief U.S. economist for Morgan Stanley, in a research note released Thursday. 

In addition to infrastructure, “manufacturing construction has shown broad strength,” she wrote.

Listen to George Orwell (Eric Blair)

 

 

 Donald Trump: 'What you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening' 

 In a wide-ranging, free-flowing speech to a veterans association, the US president, Donald Trump, criticised the media for its reaction to his trade tariffs policy, accusing it of broadcasting "fake news" and saying that people should not believe what they see or what they read. --25 July 2018

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Florida Governor DeSantis's administration tried to sanitize slavery history by suggesting that slavery wasn't all that bad because some slaves learned skills that would be beneficial to them. 

Former U.S. Rep. Will Hurd of Texas, who announced last month that he was joining the race for the GOP nomination, blasted the idea that enslaved people were able to use slavery as some kind of training program. “Slavery wasn’t a jobs program that taught beneficial skills,” 

Hurd, the son of a Black father and a White mother, tweeted. “It was literally dehumanizing and subjugated people as property because they lacked any rights or freedoms.”

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

 

A Trump supporter in Iowa asked him how his faith has grown since he entered presidential politics in 2015 and who has mentored him in his journey.

Trump, being a non-religious conman, cannot answer, so he babbles on about himself with comments unrelated to the supporter's question.

It is another example of how his religious cultists continue to worship this scoundrel and conman, even when he gives them living, breathing evidence of his lack of knowledge of any religion, let alone Christianity, and what it means to be a man of faith. 

 

Lonnie Hammack @hammackl: 

"Well that question certainly stumped Trump. 

It's impossible to answer how your faith in Christ has grown when one has no such faith. 

Trump is probably the most areligious president we've had. I think the only god that Trump believes in is himself."

SATURDAY NIGHT SINGING

 

I grew up hearing this wonderful man's musical talent. He will be missed. RIP Tony.

 

 Tony Bennett served in the US Army during World War II and was demoted for breaking segregation rules and hanging out with a Black soldier

 

Here are the lyrics to the controversial song promoting vigilantism (lawlessness) by Jason Aldean.

Lyrics

Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk
Carjack an old lady at a red light
Pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store
Ya think it's cool, well, act a fool if ya like

Cuss out a cop, spit in his face
Stomp on the flag and light it up
Yeah, ya think you're tough

Well, try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
Around here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won't take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don't
Try that in a small town

Got a gun that my granddad gave me
They say one day they're gonna round up
Well, that shit might fly in the city, good luck

Try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
Around here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won't take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don't
Try that in a small town

Full of good ol' boys, raised up right
If you're looking for a fight
Try that in a small town
Try that in a small town

Try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
Around here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won't take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don't
Try that in a small town

Try that in a small town
Ooh-ooh
Try that in a small town

Joe Scarborough of "Morning Joe" Describes DJ Trump as a Mob Boss

 

I (and millions of Americans) do NOT disagree.

Also, this from the presiding  judge during the E. Jean Carroll sexual assault civil case: 

The judge said the verdict did not mean that Carroll “failed to prove that Mr. Trump 'raped' her as many people commonly understand the word 'rape.' Indeed … the jury found that Mr. Trump in fact did exactly that.”

This week, the guy who Evangelical Christians support for the presidency of the US threatened a federal investigator.

Good luck my fellow Americans with supporting a rapist and a wannabe mobster threatening the feds. 

Joe Scarborough, a former friend of Trump's turned bitter enemy, said that Trump really does not seem to understand how much trouble he's facing. In particular, he focused on the recent video that Trump shared in which he ominously said that it would be "dangerous" for Special Counsel Jack Smith to put him in jail — implying that MAGA supporters could carry out another insurrection or terror attacks. 

 "I don't know if Donald Trump understands," Scarborough said. "He's talking like a mobster. 'It would be a shame, very dangerous for Jack Smith and his family' and they're “more dangerous now than in 2020 or 2016." 

 "He's just so stupid, he really is," said Scarborough. "He just doesn't understand. He's going up against the feds!" 

 Scarborough then let loose with an epic rant, ripping Trump to shreds and destroying lingering hopes amongst his supporters that he might somehow wriggle out of trouble. 

"He doesn't understand that he can't bully and bluster and threaten his way out of criminal charges that are coming, because he broke the law, because he stole nuclear secrets, because he stole secret plans to attack Iran, because he stole secret military secrets, because he has, people all around him, all around him, on Jan. 6, that are testifying against him. 

No Democrats! No moderate Republicans, all Trumpers!" Scarborough went on. "Everybody that he ever hired has gone before the grand jury, everybody that was around him Jan. 6 went before the grand jury. All Trumpers!" he said. 

"And he's going to be charged for some of the most serious crimes in America, and his response?" 

 "His response, instead of talking to his lawyers saying, 'Hey, get me a deal. I don't know what it's going to look like, but get me a deal, because they've got me dead to right. My own people are the people testifying against me. Get me a deal.' 

Instead of that he goes on an Iowa radio show and like a mobster threatens Jack Smith," Scarborough went on. "Has he not looked at pictures of Jack Smith?" he asked. "This guy looks like the judge on 'Andor,' all right? He looks like the guy that takes the good guy from the 'Star Wars' galaxy and throws him into jail for life. He doesn't understand." 

 "Does he think Jack Smith is going to be intimidated by mob-like threats?" he concluded. The answer, of course, is NO. Jack Smith will not back down and he is more than a match for the ignorant, impulsive Trump. 

 When the dust finally settles, the smart money is on Trump ending up behind bars.

MT Greene tells a crowd about all the wonderful things President Biden has done and is doing for Americans:

 

 

How can anyone even THINK of putting Trump back into the WH????

"A model prosecution memo recently released by Just Security, an online forum for analysis of U.S. policy on law, rights and security, described how Trump and his cronies organized Republicans in battleground states that Biden had won, including Michigan, “to sign and submit false certificates claiming that they were the authorized to cast votes, on behalf of their respective states, in the Electoral College for Donald Trump.”

Authoritarianism? What Authoritarianism?

 

The AGs of the following states want to seize the private out-of-state medical records of GIRLS and WOMEN who may leave their states where abortion has all but been banned to go to states where the medical procedure is legal:

Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, Alaska, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Georgia, Montana, Idaho, Nebraska, North & South Dakota, Tennessee, Ohio, Texas, South Carolina, and Utah.

That's right. Those states' attorneys general want girls' and women's private medical records.

This is the direction this country is moving in. Don't pretend it isn't happening.

Listen:

 

The Tennessean (behind a paywall) reported: 

"Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti wants the state to be able to investigate and compel information on out-of-state abortions, according to a letter he co-signed with 18 other Republican attorneys general in response to a White House-backed federal rules change that would further shield reproductive health medical records."

How is this NOT an egregious invasion of the most private of private personal information? 

This smells of a modern religious inquisition!

And The Party of Trump is all in for it.

I'd like to hear from libertarians on this most recent assault on our liberties.

 

This is for our friend, skudrunner...

 

who frequently comments here and claims President Biden is incompetent and his administration has accomplished nothing for Americans:

“The econ­omy is gen­er­at­ing solid growth and con­tin­u­ing em­ploy­ment gains. Infla­tion has dropped to 3%-4%. The US is out­per­form­ing al­most all the world’s ma­jor economies." --The Wall Street Journal

With the American Rescue Plan’s two-year anniversary now behind us, this blog post revisits the economic impact of pandemic response policies of the Biden Administration. 

The economic recovery from the pandemic in the United States has been historic relative to prior episodes with employment recovering to pre-crisis levels much faster than after recent recessions. And while a counterfactual recovery is impossible to observe, data suggests that the actions taken by the Biden Administration meaningfully contributed to the pace of recovery and strength of the labor market. 

One way to put this rebound in context is relative to recoveries in other advanced economies. Acknowledging that other advanced economies faced different economic shocks—notably, our European partners were more adversely affected by Russia’s war against Ukraine—the evidence shows that the U.S. economic recovery has been quite strong. 

This blog assesses the U.S. recovery along three key characteristics: 

• The size of the U.S economy is now over 5 percent above its 2019 level 
• Core inflation in the United States is now lower than in many major advanced economies 
• The U.S. labor market recovery has been exceptionally strong 

 U.S. ECONOMIC RECOVERY FASTEST AMONG COMPARABLE ADVANCED ECONOMIES

RFK, Jr. is mentally deranged.

 

"The NYPost obtained video from a recent RFK Jr. event where he suggested COVID is a Chinese bioweapon “ethnically targeted” to “attack Caucasians and Black people” and to spare “Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese” people. He then falsely claimed the U.S. has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on labs in Ukraine to develop similar bioweapons that target people by their race."

He stated that the Jews were the masterminds who designed it at the Chinese lab. It’s been a conspiracy theory for a long time now.

Whenever you hear some nut job blame ANYTHING on "the Jews," that person is either an antiSemite, a raging conspiracist, or mentally deranged.

I think RFK, Jr., is all three.

He's a disgrace to the Kennedy name.

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

 

SATURDAY NIGHT SONG

 

In honor of France's Bastille Day and the wonderful visit I had with my French family for two weeks, I post Edith Piaf (The Little Sparrow), and her signature song:

Viva La Belle France!

 

P.E. Will Be Away for a Week.

We'll be hiking and enjoying New Hampshire's White Mountains. I spent almost all my summers on Cape Cod, so I look forward to exploring this area of New Hampshire.

See you in a week.

Be excellent to each other.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

 

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

 

SATURDAY NIGHT DANCING

 

The American Tax Payer Bailed Out Banks When They Made Risky Loans

 

But forgiviing $20,000 to eligible students for their student loans is bad? 

Why did bankers who made bad loans get relief, but students who were duped into high interest loans for their education did not?

From an email:

"Remember that time in 2008 when banks that purposely made risky mortgage loans for profit were deemed “too big to fail?” The government bailed them out to the tune of more than 700 billion! 

Taxpayers directly paid more than 245 billion of that. Yet, Republicans, including the 6-3 partisan court, say it is illegal to forgive up to 20K in student loan debt for hard working Americans! 

This is a great American failure. The gap between rich and poor, the haves and have nots, is financial and represents a double standard in how they are treated under the law. 

 The rich get richer. The poor get poorer. The middle class gets screwed. And that is just fine with Republicans."