June 23, 2020

Funny because it's not funny.

June 23, 2020

New really bad hunting rules

This sort of thing was never among my big issues, but this is so outrageous I have to get on it.

Petition: Trump Is Allowing Hunters to Kill Baby Bears and Wolves in Their Sleep!
https://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/298/957/138/?z00m=32443628

The Trump administration is infamous for a great deal of things, just one being its affinity for hunting and hunters' rights. During his time as president, Trump has made it a priority to grant hunters their wildest dreams -- he has opened up more and more public lands for killing sprees, allowed countless endangered species' body parts to be imported to the U.S. as trophies, and installed some of his closest personal friends and members of the hunting community into positions at important conservation organizations, such as the Fish and Wildlife Services. And now, his latest scheme to appease hunters is to allow them to take up the most antiquated and cruel hunting tactics -- including killing babies and mothers in caves and dens as they sleep.

Sign the petition if you think the National Park Service needs to immediately withdraw the newly published rules that would allow hunters to employ these terrifying hunting methods.

...

Incidentally, I don't think a city boy like Trump ever gave any thought to this, it is merely that he gives the Neanderthals is his party whatever they want.

Trump's fault because the buck stops on the president's desk, but I smell Pence.

June 21, 2020

Trump Isn't Sending National Guard To Seattle -- 'I Think It's Great Sitting Back And Watching This C

Trump Isn’t Sending National Guard To Seattle — ‘I Think It’s Great Sitting Back And Watching This Catastrophe’
https://dailycaller.com/2020/06/20/exclusive-trump-isnt-sending-national-guard-seattle-catastrophe/

...

Trump spoke with the Caller for more than an hour Friday evening on a variety of issues, including racial inequality, coronavirus, advertising boycotts, John Bolton, China, and the 2020 election.

In recent days, Trump has urged Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to deploy National Guard troops to retake CHAZ and said that he himself “will take care of it” if Inslee fails to act. The president said Monday that he had discussed the situation with Attorney General Bill Barr. When asked by the Caller what Barr is “advising” him to do, POTUS answered, “right now, I think it’s great sitting back and watching this catastrophe.”

The Caller asked, if he indeed isn’t currently planning on intervening, why continue with the tweets and statements indicating he would do so.

“Well, because we can do it anytime we want,” Trump answered. “But when I watch, it’s showing how bad that city system of government is because they’re all leftist Democrats running all these places that have these problems.”

...

Very likely he is lying but that is the official word for now.

June 21, 2020

Not necessarily taking this a face value, but ... (DC cops)

Nearly 3 out of 4 DC police officers ready to leave the force: Washington police union poll
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/nearly-3-out-of-4-dc-police-officers-ready-to-leave-the-force-washington-police-union-poll

Nearly three-fourths of Washington's Metropolitan Police Department said in a poll that they are considering leaving the force amid a police reform bill recently passed by the D.C. Council.

The proposal would require law enforcement body camera footage to be released to the public more quickly following a police-related shooting and would restrict when officers can use lethal force. It also would prohibit the department from purchasing military-style equipment from the federal government.

Local lawmakers stopped an attempt by one council member at large who proposed to limit the size of the force and cap it at 3,500 from its current size of 3,863. However, several hundred on the force revealed to the D.C. Police Union, which represents 3,600 Washington officers, detectives, and sergeants, that they are looking to leave anyway.

According to the survey of 600 local law enforcement members, of the 71% considering leaving, 25% may retire earlier than planned, 35% are seeking jobs at other law enforcement agencies, and 39% are considering leaving law enforcement altogether.

Additionally, 96% of those members polled said they believe crime will increase, and 88% said officer safety will plunge.

...

If true, the answer is clear. Let them go, hire new ones.

June 20, 2020

Polish president vows to ban LGBT teaching in schools

Polish president vows to ban LGBT teaching in schools — "LGBT ideology" is worse than Communism
https://orthochristian.com/131959.html

Note: Evil website. I read it so you don't have to.

As the June 28th presidential elections quickly approach, Polish President Andrzej Duda has vowed to ban teaching about LGBT issues in the nation’s schools.

The President is an ally of the right-wing Law and Justice Party, which considers LGBT ideology an invasive foreign influence that undermines the nation’s traditional Catholic values.

A few days later, Duda also spoke of LGBT ideology as “more destructive” than communism.

“Parents are responsible for the sexual education of their children. It is not possible for any institutions to interfere in the way parents raise their children,” he told a group of supporters, last Wednesday, Reuters reports.

In 2018, Duda also backed legislation that would have banned homosexual propaganda in schools and youth organizations.

He also pledged that he would not allow gay couples to marry or adopt, calling it a “foreign ideology” that is not accepted by Polish society. Poland does not legally recognize same-sex partnerships, though attitudes are slowly shifting.

Conversely, Duda’s main opponent, the liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, has drawn criticism for introducing education about LGBT matters into Warsaw schools and supports homosexual civil partnerships, but reportedly would not allow them to adopt.

Speaking at a campaign event in Brzeg, a small town in southwestern Poland, on Saturday, Duda noted that LGBT “is not people—it’s an ideology,” calling it more destructive than communism.

...

It's religion driving this, but note the nationalist conceit. That being gay is "un-Polish".

June 20, 2020

Tennessee legislature passes fetal heartbeat bill; Planned Parenthood, ACLU file lawsuit

Tennessee legislature passes fetal heartbeat bill; Planned Parenthood, ACLU file lawsuit
https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2020/06/19/tennessee-six-week-abortion-ban-fetal-heartbeat-down-syndrome/3214947001/

...

In addition to banning abortions after the point a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is as early as six weeks, the legislation also prohibits the procedure:

* If the doctor knows that the woman is seeking an abortion because of the child's sex or race

* If the doctor knows the woman is seeking an abortion due to to a diagnosis of Down syndrome

* For juveniles in custody of the Department of Children's Services, including removing the current option to petition a judge for permission

While there is an exception to the restrictions if a woman's life is in danger, there are no exceptions for rape or incest

...

Emphasis added. That's about as bad as it gets.

June 17, 2020

A tale of cop prejudice with not too bad ending

Explicit Bias
https://reason.com/2020/06/17/brickbat-explicit-bias/

Shenandoah County, Virginia, Sheriff Timothy Carter has apologized to pastor Leon McCray after McCray was falsely arrested by deputies. McCray, who is black, called 911 after a white family attempted to dump a refrigerator on his property and attacked him when he tried to stop them. When deputies arrived, they spoke only to the family, then arrested McCray for brandishing a firearm. McCray says that what makes the arrest even more disturbing is that one of the deputies has known him for 20 years. Charges against McCray were later dropped, and the five family members are now facing charges that include assault, trespass and hate crimes. No word on whether the deputies will face any discipline.

June 15, 2020

More Trump administration trans erasure, this time it's HUD

HUD to change transgender rules for single-sex homeless shelters
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hud-to-change-transgender-rules-for-single-sex-homeless-shelters/2020/06/12/d47a5744-ad03-11ea-9063-e69bd6520940_story.html

Single-sex homeless shelters could choose to accommodate only people whose biological sex matches that of those they serve, under a rule to be proposed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the coming weeks.

The proposed rule would scrap the Obama administration’s 2016 guidance requiring such shelters to accept transgender people but retains its 2012 rule barring federal housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The agency had been working on the regulation since spring 2019.

...

There is a higher than average rate of homelessness among trans people.
Mostly to do with young people being thrown out by intolerant parents.

Just as an aside, I think it's actually Pence who is driving this.
Trump has no pre-2016 history of being anti-gay or anti-trans.
Just as Mussolini had nothing against Jews until a certain political alliance kicked in.

June 15, 2020

Any distinguishing marks?

June 13, 2020

Truck Drivers Say They Won't Deliver To Cities with Defunded Police Departments

Truck Drivers Say They Won’t Deliver To Cities with Defunded Police Departments
https://cdllife.com/2020/truck-drivers-say-they-wont-deliver-to-cities-with-defunded-police-departments/

This is an interstate trucker trade publication that did a poll.

The headline is an exaggeration, but the article itself is straightforward.

...

Truck driving is historically ranked as one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. In 2018, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistic reported truck driving as the most deadly job in the country.

Truck drivers have spent the last year on the front line of a global pandemic and protests. Now many are fearful of what might happen if police departs disband or are defunded.

Truck drives have been voicing their concerns on the CDLLife App. After reading about their concerns, CDLLife posted a poll on the app.

We asked drivers on the app, “Would you pick up/deliver to cities with defunded or disbanded police departments? Why or why not?”

To date, 77% of drivers say they will refuse loads to cities with disbanded or defunded police departments.


...

77% means there will still be deliveries, but it will get more expensive.