@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee
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JamesBazan

@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee

I used my real name on the bird site to keep me nice. It didn't work, but cishet male privilege meant I mostly got away with it, so I'm not too optimistic about being "nice" on here.
White supremacy is a terrorist ideology.
The survival of democracy is on the line, so "BothSides" = Instablock
#NCPolitics #NCPol #Charlotte #NCGA
Header is a lip balm. Balm for your soul may not be banana flavored.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

w7voa, to random
@w7voa@journa.host avatar

Trump, in South Carolina at a rally, outlines a scenario in which he would “encourage” Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to other NATO members.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-russia-attack-nato-allies_n_65c7e443e4b069b665dfb762

JamesBazan,
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

@w7voa Boosted with Alt text

TonyStark, to random
@TonyStark@progressivecafe.social avatar

Many leftists think criticizing anything and everything that happens, even unequivocally good news, is a sign of intelligence and some sort of cred, regardless of what the actual criticism is.

So whenever they see someone report a good thing about how stuff is going, they reflexively see an opportunity for an easy dunk. Some of the stupidest people online.

JamesBazan,
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

@TonyStark @Snowshadow I heard an interview with Ross Gay the other day where he asked: "Why do we spend so much time on what we don't want in our lives?" Left unsaid: reaction to the negative requires less commitment than imagining the positive--or, in keeping with Ross Gay's thesis, the "joyful."

heidilifeldman, to history
@heidilifeldman@mastodon.social avatar

Will be interesting to see what mental gymnastics self-proclaimed “originalist” Supreme Court Justices will use to argue that of the does not disqualify Trump from holding the office of U.S. president. Here’s an excellent amicus brief from leading experts on the history of the provision and how it was understood by people at the time of its adoption. https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-719/298999/20240129110006501_23-719%20bsac%20American%20Historians%20Final.pdf

JamesBazan,
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

@heidilifeldman What a powerful conclusion:
"As Missouri Republican John B. Henderson declared the day he cast his vote for the Fourteenth Amendment in the Senate, 'The language of this section is so framed as to disenfranchise from office the leaders of the past rebellion as well as the leaders of any rebellion hereafter to come.'”

TonyStark, to random
@TonyStark@progressivecafe.social avatar

Knocking on every door to hunt for undocumented people. Demanding access to homes. No subpoena.
Guaranteed that documented and citizen immigrants would get caught up in this nightmare with people trying to migrate here.

This is not the country I want to live in and we have the ability to stop it.

Trump’s Immigration Plan Is Even More Aggressive Now -
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/02/trumps-immigration-plan-is-even-more-aggressive-now/677385/

JamesBazan,
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

@TonyStark In the 1930s my oldest brother was named Joaquin after our Dad, grandfather, great-great uncle, and 3Xgreat grandfather. Then they started deporting anyone with names like that if they didn't have proof of citizenship on them when they were stopped. The next three sons were named John, Joseph, and James. Our sisters got "squinting" names--names that were common in English and Spanish.

JamesBazan,
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

@TonyStark In California, if they picked someone off the street, they wouldn't let him go home to get their military discharge papers.

marcelias, to random
@marcelias@mas.to avatar

NEW: Pennsylvania Republicans are asking the Supreme Court to revive the discredited independent state legislature theory to challenge pro-voter registration policies enacted by President Joe Biden and Governor Josh Shapiro.

Watch now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mO9qwRRzhg&t

JamesBazan,
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

@marcelias If we vote, they lose. That's why they amplify cynicism couched in anti "establishment" rhetoric. It worked in 2016. It will always be part of their arsenal against democracy.

JamesBazan, to random
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

JamesBazan, to random
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

Six years ago we took her big sister to Disney. We were waiting to meet Winnie the Pooh when a family with a child & a Park escort went around to be next in line. The woman behind us complained, "Why do they get to skip?" I replied, "Trust me, you don't want to be able to do that."
I only saw the strain in the parents' eyes. I only saw pain; I couldn't see the respite.
My younger granddaughter had her Make a Wish meeting this morning. I understand differently now.

JamesBazan, to random
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

NC church whose pastor says women that wear shorts invite rape has received millions in public tax dollars for school vouchers
https://notesfromthechalkboard.com/2024/02/24/nc-church-whose-pastor-says-women-that-wear-shorts-invite-rape-has-received-millions-in-public-tax-dollars-for-school-vouchers/

davidaugust, (edited ) to politics
@davidaugust@mastodon.online avatar

RFK Jr. brain has a dead worm that ate part of his brain in it, and has been impacted by mercury poisoning.

Well…this seems at once shocking and like it makes absolutely perfect sense.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/08/us/rfk-jr-brain-health-memory-loss.html?unlocked_article_code=1.qU0.MjjY.L1k3c9ClwkDy&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb

JamesBazan,
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@davidaugust I'm old enough to remember when brain wos would have been disqualifying. But back then, rape and insurrection probably would have derailed campaigns.

JamesBazan, to random
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It occurs to me that we have a Supreme Court majority that lied under oath to get the job. That cutesy "Roe is settled law" dodge that most of them used to evade the question was far short of the oath they took:
"Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you will give before this Committee on the Judiciary of the United States Senate will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"
I shouldn't be surprised by the depth and breadth of their faithlessness.

JamesBazan, to random
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

From the files of: "both parties are the same."
The Alabama Chief Justice Who Invoked God in Deciding the Embryo Case
"“Human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God,' he wrote in a concurring opinion that invoked the Book of Genesis and the prophet Jeremiah and quoted at length from the writings of 16th- and 17th-century theologians." https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/22/us/alabama-ivf-tom-parker.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

TonyStark, to random
@TonyStark@progressivecafe.social avatar

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is investing approximately $1.6 billion into the much-needed restoration of the Brent Spence Bridge and the construction of a second bridge linking Ohio and Kentucky.

This bridge will provide a significant upgrade in infrastructure and transportation, create good union jobs, and pay attention to equity. This is what real governing looks like.

Fixing the Brent Spence Bridge - Center for American Progress:
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/fixing-the-brent-spence-bridge/

JamesBazan,
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

@TonyStark Covington, Kentucky is a real bastion of the far right. Nearly 60% voted for Trump. Can you imagine transactional Trump funding needed infrastructure in a place he lost that badly?

JamesBazan, to random
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

I love it here, but I hesitate to post food pics because there are so few. I'm proud of this "Christmas Candy" I'm making. Candied jalepeños are always a treat. I threw a half dozen yellows in for visual interest.

Sliced jalepeños cooking in a sweet syrup with mixed spices.
Seven pints of candied jalepeños all sealed from canning bath.

JamesBazan, to random
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

Trump's plundernomics suits Musk to a "t." Narcissists tend to love each other (until they don't) because they see themselves reflected in the brittle, shiny surface of those with no interiority. Well, no interior life except the fear of being found out.

https://wapo.st/3x2eF7b

JamesBazan, to random
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

Thousands of millionaires haven’t filed tax returns for years, IRS says
"Werfel said the returns represent hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid taxes, on more than $100 billion of income.

"Few of the 125,000 missing returns will lead to criminal tax evasion cases."
[Surprise! /s]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/02/29/tax-returns-irs-millionaires/

JamesBazan, to random
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

"Trump Says He Gave NATO Allies Warning: Pay In or He’d Urge Russian Aggression"
How's that for memory?

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/10/us/politics/trump-nato-russia.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

JamesBazan, to random
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

“These students are going to have to find out what law and order is all about. Make sure you have your weapons in ready positions.” Brigadier General Robert Canterbury, Ohio National Guard, Kent State University Commons, May 4, 1970.
Apparently, "law and order" is all about being shot to death for protesting an illegal secret invasion of Cambodia, or walking to class while others are protesting.

JamesBazan, to random
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

Yesterday was Charlotte Great Strides fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. (Go Team Violet!I) I've never seen fundraising on Mastodon, so I'm not now. I do, however, want to share this picture of my granddaughter taken by her Aunt Jillian.
At Foundation events, the CFers wear the purple "I Am a Fighter" shirts to make it easier for them to keep at least five feet apart.

JamesBazan, to random
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

On 5/17/1972, On May 16, 1971, my wife's cousin Craig Farlow was shot down after inserting ARVN Marines near Hue in Vietnam. His helicopter exploded on impact.
He was 23.
A year and a day after he was MIA, on May 17, 1972, Craig was declared Killed In Action. The location of his name on the Vietnam Memorial, the final panel, Panel 1W, Row 26, reflects that date.
His remains were never recovered.

Green_Footballs, to random
@Green_Footballs@mastodon.social avatar

Trump keeps recycling this “argument” again and again without ever apparently realizing he’s saying that Joe Biden could throw him into a deep dark dungeon and keep him there and Trump would have no escape.

It’s another case of: either Trump’s that dumb or he thinks all his marks are that dumb.

JamesBazan,
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@Green_Footballs he knows President Biden is too honorable and honest to act so faithessly, while he suffers no such constraints himself.

JamesBazan, to random
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

Republican running to lead NC’s diverse k-12 schools says “Islam is evil,” Muslims should be banned from elected office

https://notesfromthechalkboard.com/2024/04/27/republican-running-to-lead-ncs-diverse-k-12-schools-says-islam-is-evil-muslims-should-be-banned-from-elected-office/

GabeMoralesVR, to random
@GabeMoralesVR@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar

So, serious question: If the #SCOTUS declares that a president has sweeping immunity, including over assassinating citizens, what's to stop #Biden from just taking #Trump out?

JamesBazan,
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

@GabeMoralesVR it's hanging on, "We're betting you are too ethical and patriotic to act as an absolute despot. We know this other guy has no such constraints."

StillIRise1963, to random
@StillIRise1963@mastodon.world avatar

Fascists are going to get rid of all public education. Have you saved up for your kids yet.🤔

JamesBazan,
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

@philip_cardella @StillIRise1963 in NC, the state constitution requires free & equitable public education. While continuing to defy a 1997 court order requiring them to provide that equitable funding for rural schools, the gerrymandered GOP supermajorities in the General Assembly lifted the income cap for private school subsidies. Now, they want to take an additional $300 million from public education to fund subsidies for families in the top 8% of incomes with kids already in $30k/year schools.

gwaldby, to random
@gwaldby@mastodon.social avatar

Abortion restrictions increase risk of intimate partner homicide, study finds https://www.salon.com/2024/05/08/abortion-restrictions-increase-risk-of-intimate-homicide-study-finds/

JamesBazan,
@JamesBazan@mastodon.coffee avatar

@gwaldby "Homicide is the leading cause of death for pregnant and postpartum women in the United States. The researchers found that the enforcement of one TRAP law was linked to a 3.4 percent increase in the rate of intimate partner violence-related homicides."
In the linked study from Tulane, 68% of those homicides are committed using firearms. So... we can expect victim-blaming to accompany the thoughts and prayers.

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