Simply Don't Get Shot

I don't even fucking know where to start, y'all

This one is gonna be a bit wacky and wild, as there's just a lot of STUFF happening. A lot of it melds together and a lot of it is honestly… uh… I guess I'd categorize it as "mega-bummer."

Before I jump in, I want to say I legit won't be mad if you just nope out of here. Shit is kinda on fire right now in the political world, and not the usual "omg can you believe what this politician said?!??!" way.

Clarence Thomas is even more of a sack of dogshit than previously understood

And to be clear: it was previously understood that he is a pretty giant sack of dogshit. Turns out, he's been taking annual massively expensive vacations paid for by a mega-rich Republican donor and not reporting them.

So the lifetime appointed Supreme Court Justice who is supposed to be an impartial judge has failed to report extravagant vacation packages paid for by a partisan donor. Sorry, "his friend".

Normally, a Justice would need to report any gifts over $450. Normally. But it's okay, he's only a member of a tiny council of unelected super-officials who get to define the meaning of law per their will in this country. Why should he need to follow any kind of rules or ethical standards?

Imagine hating peoples right to happiness so much that you change political parties just to actively hurt them more

State representative Tricia Cotham (who literally described herself as "not a politician") has switched parties while serving in the state house from Democrat to Republican. Her party switch hands Republicans a veto-proof super majority in the state capable of thwarting votes from the state's Dem governor.

Not content with simply turning her back on her own constituents, her move has now enabled the Republicans of North Carolina to file a mass of anti-trans legislation since that's all the rage among fascists these days.

This is because the party of white supremacy and trans genocide cannot internalize the fact that they are an aging, black-hearted group of soulless ghouls who have set up the literal entire planet to fail throughout the course of their lives, and instead of accepting that their entire generation has failed, they would prefer to find a scapegoat in some of the most vulnerable people out there.

A perfect scapegoat. They can't yell slurs against black people or gay people anymore, but that dangling "T" at the end of "LGBT" is just small enough of a population that they can still feel big and powerful as they grind people's freedoms beneath their boot.

It's the trans kids who are the problem. Don't you see?

The trans kids are so dangerous to our world order, that Arkansas is going to require permission from parents to treat trans kids with respect, while Idaho joins in with passing the now cookie-cutter anti-trans care bills. The Supreme Court at least didn't actively choose to screw over a trans teen, but that's about as far as they went.

I'm sure the parents of murdered schoolchildren will sleep soundly tonight knowing that Mrs. Beecher will have to ask parental permission before referring to a student by their preferred name. We've saved the country.

And then Biden's administration came out with the chaser: new proposed changes to Title IX regulations around trans kids in sports, in which they are basically saying "Well, you can't outright ban them, but you can discriminate as you see fit."

Joe Biden, a true friend of the trans community, believes that we should be more thoughtful about how we discriminate against marginalized youth. What a patriot.

I need to talk about something else. What do I have here let's see…

Oh, dear…

Elon Musk wants to see you naked

Turns out, employees at Tesla have been secretly sharing around videos recorded by Tesla car cameras, in some cases including the inside of people's private property, videos of naked people, and even one video of a child on a bike being hit.

Teslas are covered in cameras and often always recording. For a while, they would even be able to record video while the car was parked and OFF, which would be sent back to Tesla HQ. They claim to not do this anymore, but also THEIR STAFF IS PASSING AROUND VIDEOS OF NAKED PEOPLE CAPTURED BY THEIR CAMERAS.

You know that thing where people are like skeeved out by Amazon or Google or Apple always listening via Alexa or Siri or whatever? Now extend that to 360 high definition cameras looking at everything you do anywhere near your car. Or, anything you do anywhere near any Tesla.

Very cool, and very ethical.

Tennessee Republicans prefer when Black people shut up and children don't complain so much as they bleed out

After walkouts and protests from over 10,000 students, Republican lawmakers in Tennessee have voted to expel two of three lawmakers who stood in solidarity with the students.

It is truly impossible to ignore that they attempted to boot three lawmakers, only ended up booting two, both of whom are Black. The white person can stay, apparently.

In response to mass outcry from youth, Republicans chose to expel those who speak for them in the political process.

There's not a joke here that I want to make. This country is plagued with politicians who thrive on harm and hate. They enrich themselves by making our lives worse for the capitalist class who buys them out, and they get a free podium with which they can use the pen of the state to enshrine their hate as law enforced with violence.

ANYWAY, I'm losing my fuckin' mind at this point so let's hard pivot to some lighter more stuff

And also a reminder: breathe. Sitting in anger does not fix anything. It is not worth the physical tax on your well-being. Understand, internalize and let it reinforce your convictions, but don't stew. They don't deserve your increased blood pressure.

More Stuff

• Protestors in France stormed Blackrock's offices and there is video and its amazing
• Some people stole $500,000 of stuff from an Apple store by cutting a hole through their bathroom
• A police union director funneled a ton of fentanyl into the country because what else would a gang leader do?
• Someone stole the thumb off of a terracotta warrior statue because they were drunk at a party
• A Spanish TV star claims her surrogate baby was made using frozen sperm from her late son????
• A new major update for No Mans Sky seems pretty hype
• The Mario Movie is out and is getting a pretty solid reaction from folks