ACLU Cheers House Judiciary Committee for Supporting Bills Expanding Protections for Journalists & Reining in Warrantless Government Surveillance
https://www.aclu.org/documents/coalition-calls-congressional-hearings-fourth-amendment-not-sale-act
... a bipartisan bill that would close the loophole law enforcement agencies use to obtain Americans’ cell phone location data without a warrant
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1265
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2738
#ACLU #surveillance #privacy #4thAmendment #Congress
QAnon supporters promoting 'Sound of Freedom'
https://www.npr.org/2023/07/19/1188405402/qanon-supporters-are-promoting-sound-of-freedom-heres-why
Sound of Freedom (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_of_Freedom_(film)), a Christian thriller about a former federal agent rescuing children f. exploitation, is a surprise box office hit.
The movie - heavily promoted in conservative media - is criticized as a vehicle for conspiracy theories / culture wars.
Trump is hosting a screening on Wednesday at his golf club in Bedminster, NJ
#QANon #ConspiracyTheories #CultureWars #FarRight#ChristianRight
... Addendae
Trump Promotes ‘Sound of Freedom,’ a Conservative Hit About Child Predators
Hosting a screening at his private club, the former president is the most prominent Republican to embrace a film lauded by both mainstream conservatives and far-right QAnon believers
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/19/us/politics/trump-sound-of-freedom.html
#QAnon #DonaldTrump #ConspiracyTheories #CultureWars #RepublicanParty
Judge in E. Jean Carroll Case: Yes, Donald Trump Is a Rapist
A judge rejected Trump’s semantic attempt to throw out the case
https://newrepublic.com/post/174448/judge-e-jean-carroll-case-yes-donald-trump-rapist
Trump’s request for new trial in the E. Jean Carroll case - after he was found liable for sexual abuse, battery, & defamation, - was rejected.
In his desperate attempt to avoid accountability, the twice-impeached twice-indicted former president may have unintentionally allowed himself to be formally known as a rapist.
#DonaldTrump #rapist
Russia slid to total LGBTQ ban in < 10 yrs
https://popula.com/2023/07/19/the-winding-road-to-hell
* 2013 Putin signs anti-LGBTQ law banning “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations among minors”
* 2022 Putin expands anti-LGBTQ law, outlawing public displays of LGBTQ behavior
* 2022: list of banned books
* June 2023-06 Putin creates institution to research LGBTQ “social behavior”
* Duma passes bill banning legal gender changes, gender-affirming healthcare
...
#Russia #lgbt #homophobia #transphobia #VladimirPutin
... cont'd
Russia is not alone in its spiraling towards the Middle Ages without rights and freedoms.
Though it had long seemed that the world was moving towards acceptance of LGBTQ people, many other countries have been tightening anti-LGBTQ laws, including the UAE, Uganda, Nigeria, and Iran, all joining Russia at the bottom of the LGBT Equality Index ranking.
LGBT Equality Index
https://www.equaldex.com/equality-index
#lgbt
Russia slid to total LGBTQ ban in < 10 yrs
https://popula.com/2023/07/19/the-winding-road-to-hell
* 2013 Putin signs anti-LGBTQ law banning “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations among minors”
* 2022 Putin expands anti-LGBTQ law, outlawing public displays of LGBTQ behavior
* 2022: list of banned books
* June 2023-06 Putin creates institution to research LGBTQ “social behavior”
* Duma passes bill banning legal gender changes, gender-affirming healthcare
...
#Russia #lgbt #homophobia #transphobia #VladimirPutin
nostr:npub15hp03nc3sd3dfsh3a2nl05qnxue8utn6advhkzjxff5kkz0yh4tstmllpf Nice! 👍 Victoria 🙏
Good Kings Bad Kings
Susan Nussbaum
https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/susan-nussbaum/good-kings-bad-kings/9781616203252
Susan Nussbaum: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Nussbaum
American actress, author, playwright, and disability rights activist
"Susan Nussbaum" "Good Kings, Bad Kings"
https://northboot.xyz/search?q=%22Susan+Nussbaum%22+%22Good+Kings%2C+Bad+Kings%22
#SusanNussbaum #activists #DisabilityRights
Gene variation may explain immunity from COVID-19
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230719112613.htm
People with COVID-19 who never develop symptoms >2x as likely as those who become symptomatic to carry a gene variation that helps them obliterate the virus
A common allele of HLA is associated with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06331-x
HLA-B*15:01 is carried by ~10% of the study population
It doesn't prevent the virus f. infecting cells but prevents people f. developing any symptoms
#COVID19 #HLA
... Addendae
The Humiliation of Ron DeSantis
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/07/ron-desantis-cnn-interview/674751
Before his stump speeches in his 2022 reelection campaign DeSantis liked to play a video montage that showed him being gratuitously rude to reporters at press conferences
.
His CNN interview was a rejection of one of the Florida governor’s most cherished principles: mainstream journalists are the enemy & should be treated with undisguised contempt
...
#RonDeSantis #hypocrisy #neofascism #populism #2024PresidentialCandidates
... cont'd
"DeSantis liked to play a video montage that showed him being gratuitously rude to reporters"
That asinine populism intensified here:
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/110651379832563084
[2023-07-03] GOP Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis' horrific transphobic attack ad
Video: https://files.persagen.com/01/desantis-transphobic_attack_ad-2023-06-30.mp4
Thread: https://mastodon.social/@persagen/110651190709407029
#RonDeSantis #transphobia #TransLivesMatter #neofascism #CultureWars #RepublicanParty #ChristianRight
... Addendae
The Humiliation of Ron DeSantis
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/07/ron-desantis-cnn-interview/674751
Before his stump speeches in his 2022 reelection campaign DeSantis liked to play a video montage that showed him being gratuitously rude to reporters at press conferences
.
His CNN interview was a rejection of one of the Florida governor’s most cherished principles: mainstream journalists are the enemy & should be treated with undisguised contempt
...
#RonDeSantis #hypocrisy #neofascism #populism #2024PresidentialCandidates
Texas State Troopers Reportedly Told to Push Migrant Kids Into Rio Grande
Gov. Abbott’s border militarization initiative leads officers to deadly actions against asylum seekers
State troopers on Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX)’s border militarization initiative were ordered to push migrant children back into the Rio Grande & to deny water to asylum-seekers amid a life-threatening heatwave
#GregAbbott #Texas #asylum #HeatWave #RepublicanParty #neofascism
Time for Florida to Stop Institutionalizing Disabled Kids
Florida violated Americans with Disabilities Act by institutionalizing children w. complex health needs in nursing homes vs. providing community health services
“Unjustified institutionalization of individuals w. is unacceptable, esp. given the advances in technology and in the provision of home-based care,” District Judge Donald Middlebrooks wrote in his decision
#Florida #healthcare
... Addendae
Lewy body disease can be detected before symptoms
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230718164245.htm
Lewy body disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease.
A research group has now shown that the disease can be detected before symptoms appear, using a spinal fluid test.
Researchers also demonstrate that reduced sense of smell is strongly linked to Lewy body disease even before other clear symptoms have developed.
#LewyBodies #neurodegeneration #olfaction
'Mind controlling' parasitic worms missing genes found in other animals
Hairworms are missing the tiny 'hairs' responsible for cell movement, filtration, & sensing that every other animal has
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230718164256.htm
https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(23)00908-9
Different hairworm species are missing ~30% of the genes expected to have. The missing genes are responsible for the development of cilia, the hair-like structures present in at least some of the cells of every other animal known.
#genomics #Nematomorpha
... Addendae, cont'd
RFK Jr. Wants to Make It Easier for Doctors to Spread Medical Lies
His war on a California law against Covid misinformation is just the beginning
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/07/rfk-jr-ab-2098-california-misinformation-doctors
#RFKjr #ConspiracyTheorists #COVID19
QAnon supporters promoting 'Sound of Freedom'
https://www.npr.org/2023/07/19/1188405402/qanon-supporters-are-promoting-sound-of-freedom-heres-why
Sound of Freedom (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_of_Freedom_(film)), a Christian thriller about a former federal agent rescuing children f. exploitation, is a surprise box office hit.
The movie - heavily promoted in conservative media - is criticized as a vehicle for conspiracy theories / culture wars.
Trump is hosting a screening on Wednesday at his golf club in Bedminster, NJ
#QANon #ConspiracyTheories #CultureWars #FarRight#ChristianRight
'Active club' hate groups growing in the U.S.
https://www.npr.org/2023/07/19/1188111769/active-club-hate-groups
Young male neo-Nazis have converged to protest
* drag queen story hour, Bozeman MT
* DQ story hour, Livingston, MT
* Lewis County Pride Festival, Centralia WA
* Wind River Pride event, Lander, WY
* Oregon City Pride, Portland OR
The men are members of white nationalist movement "active clubs," decentralized cells that ready their members for violence against their perceived enemies
#neoNazis #extremism #whiteNationalism
Putin, Wanted for War Crimes, Will Not Attend Summit in South Africa in Person, Kremlin Says
The decision allows South Africa to avoid a predicament over whether to arrest the Russian leader. He is the subject of a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, to which South Africa is a signatory
What is the fediverse and why does Threads want to join?
Allows users to connect & communicate w. others seamlessly across platforms
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/fediverse-explainer-1.6905837
Before you can join Threads, a disclaimer pops up: "Future versions of Threads will work within the fediverse ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fediverse
an ensemble of federated (i.e. interconnected) servers that are used for web publishing & file hosting - which, while independently hosted, can communicate with each other
#Mastodon #fediverse #Threads
Jason Aldean defends song after video pulled by U.S. broadcaster CMT
https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/jason-aldean-try-that-in-a-small-town-video-1.6910815
Critics say the song promotes violence.
The video includes:
* clips of protesters confronting police
* scenes of the U.S. flag being burned | courthouse that was site of a lynching of a Black man in the 1920s
https://persagen.com >> search: aldean AND transphobia >> click result >> Preview (bottom pane)
Jason Aldean is married to transphobe Brittany Aldean (née Brittany Kerr). ...
#JasonAldean
... cont'd
"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." -- Martin Luther King, Jr
"Better to die fighting for freedom then be a prisoner all the days of your life." -- Bob Marley