I can't even read the whole thing. But my general response to this kind of crap is that we live in a SOCIETY where we absolutely have to have rules and regulations and laws that we ALL have to deal with. We don't have personalized governments, laws, rules and regulations for each damn person in the country! WTAF? Why don't parents take care what THEIR kids are reading, and leave the rest of us alone. Just a suggestion.
Alito: “Many Americans, like the parents in this case, believe that biological sex reflects divine creation, that sex and gender are inseparable, and that children should be encouraged to accept their sex and to live accordingly.”
He could have stopped there and said, “I also feel that way. And that’s our right, to believe what we choose to believe, and to raise our children in our belief system. But what we don’t have is a right to decide what other people get to believe, or what other people choose to teach their children based on their own religious beliefs.” And he would have legitimately expressed his beliefs without impinging on anyone else’s.
"The storybooks, however, suggest that it is hurtful, and perhaps even hateful, to hold the view that gender is inextricably bound with biological sex." Well, I haven't read the books in question, but that sure sounds like a chuckleheaded utterance, I must say. Anyone with a functioning mind should be able to see that gender doesn't reduce facilely to "biological sex." If you insist on giving up the conceptual distinction between "gender" and "biological sex," you've pretty much given up on any kind of meaningful, respectful discussion of the whole affair. Which, of course, is no problem for right-wingers since the only "respectful" way to talk to them is to agree with them and question none of their stupid, ignorant biases.
If I were LGBTQ+ and had a big network in that community, I would wait until the court’s vacation is over and then plan a big love in right in front of the Alito’s house.
I need this asshole to understand that gay people aren’t going to stop existing just because they make him feel icky.
This is the ruling that district judges cannot shut down evil Trump policies nationwide, even policies that blatantly violate a profoundly flawed Constitution. Six phony judges - Senile Inquisitor Sam, Corrupt Uncle Clarence, Kneel Neil, Drunk Brett, Sister Amy and Pathetic John have decided that Felon Trump can continue committing crimes until THEY sprinkle holy water on them. You must understand that SCOTUS is the last remnant of a legislature. Oh, there's the zoo full of screaming monkeys and the senile care facility called the Senate, but those are about as effective as the Roman Senate was under Bootikins (aka Caligula).
This is where we are. This ruling is the Enabling Act.
O.T. addendum on another topic. According to the NYtimes, the Flatulent FFOTUS is "encouraging" Fed Chair Jerome Powell to resign now, so that the corrupt and greedy felon can appoint a toady to loot the country. Here's what I think Chairman Powell should write in response:
"I hope and expect that you will have passed away by next February, when my term expires. Your inane and corrupt meddling in the economy is destroying the nation. I will leave it in God's hands to save us. But I will complete my term, in accordance with the laws and constitution of the United States."
"they found that God-bothering homophobic bigot parents have the right to opt their children out of the books public school teachers and librarians can place on their shelves,"
The god-bothering homophobic bigot parents always had the right to opt their children out of books in the school library. My brother was an elementary school teacher for over 20 years. He retired in 2011 and that option was available for the parents in his school here in AZ. Most of the parents who get involved in these lawsuits never check with the school about anything including how their children are doing but hear this shit on right wing media and then freak out.
Yeah, suddenly with all the rw crap coming down the pike now, normally dis-involved parents "care" about their kids education. Ex-teacher and substitute teacher here.
Yes, they can opt their kids out of all kinds of things as long as it isn't part of the curriculum they need to pass their grade. And even then, there can be adjustments made. Parents just need to read the information that the schools send and show up for parent/teacher meetings. Most don't want to be that involved, they just want to whine.
"The University of Virginia’s president, James E. Ryan, has told the board overseeing the school that he will resign in the face of demands by the Trump administration that he step aside to help resolve a Justice Department inquiry into the school’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, according to three people briefed on the matter.
"For the leader of one of the nation’s most prominent public universities to take such an extraordinary step demonstrates President Trump’s success in harnessing the investigative powers of the federal government to accomplish his administration’s policy goals.
The New York Times reported on Thursday evening that the Justice Department had demanded "Mr. Ryan’s resignation as a condition to settle a civil rights investigation into the school’s diversity practices.
"In a letter sent on Thursday to the head of the board overseeing the university, Mr. Ryan said that he had planned to step down at the end of the next academic year but “given the circumstances and today’s conversations” he had decided, “with deep sadness,” to tender his resignation now, according to one of the people familiar with the matter who was briefed on the contents of the letter.
I just don’t understand why these people don’t see the pattern. When you negotiate or capitulate with Trump all it ever wins you is the next pressure campaign and escalation anyways.
You may as well fight, because you might actually win.
As one who was born in Takoma Park, MD and attended junior high and high school in Bethesda, the socialisms and adoration of Bakunin and the Rosenbergs came easy. We sang the Internationale every morning and the birthdays of Marx and Lenin were school holidays. The hammer and sickle flag flew proudly from many flagpoles and the local hangout, the Hot Shoppe at Wisconsin Ave. and East West Highway, the center of Bethesda, served borscht and vodka-flavored milkshakes. I rest my case.
"They’re just full of culture-war whammies today, that certain Supreme Court Six."
MAGAdroids have a problem with "culture," be it theater, literature, societal mores, nonMAGA-approved movies/videos/music, art...
> "How few problems must we have, if contests over culture and status and how other people make us feel are our central concerns? Robert Tracinski
-----
"that God-bothering homophobic bigot parents have the right to opt their children out of the books"
I have to wonder how many parents will refer to religion to yank their kids out of Storytime when it is actually a moronic belief that just hearing about gays, lesbians, bisexual, and trans will make their kids experiment with "alternative" lifestyles (not wrong, just alternatives)? Today, it's concerned parents regarding LGBTQIA+; when I was growing up in the 1950s it was mixed race marriages (Clarence and Ginny would ***never*** have been accepted in polite society) and integration in general that was going to tear the fabric of America asunder.
-----
"How was their First Amendment hurt? Book titles on the approved-reading list with themes of trans and gay people existing and having happy lives surrounded by support and full of love and joy, which are things they do not want their children to know exist."
We can't allow this to happen in order to protect our youth. How will the kids learn that perversion is perversion under any guise, and that perverts deserve to be othered and ostracized? Teaching that everyone is entitled to love who they wish, and the joy of sharing one's love with another, flies in the face of G-d's laws. If I'm not mistaken, the Bible specifically says to love your neighbor... unless they're queer.
-----
"The Court’s ruling means that parents are entitled to notices and the ability to opt out of books with themes they object to."
Next up on their list are books that say that Americanized "Evangelical Christianity" isn't the only way to approach G-d, that the Muslims, Jews, ***real*** Evangelicals (i.e. Jimmy Carter), almost every other form of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and other religions can enjoy G-d's (or in many cases, including mine, G-dess') love too.
-----
"that children should be encouraged to accept their sex and to live accordingly"
And when children can't accept their biological sex and suffer Gender Dysphoria, then what? Is Alito (bless his heart) willing to take personal responsibility for the results of his being an asshole?
> "Emerging evidence indicates transgender adolescents (TGAs) exhibit elevated rates of suicidal ideation and attempt compared with cisgender adolescents (CGAs).
...
TGAs had higher odds of all suicidality outcomes, and transgender males and transgender females had high risk for suicidal ideation and attempt. Authors of future adolescent suicidality research must assess both gender assigned at birth and current gender identity to accurately identify and categorize TGAs." https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7011156/ (Actually, I'm quite surprised that this page hasn't been taken down yet given the mass removal of other pages that didn't fit the Fulvous Fuckwad's narrative and stunk of DEI.)
Generally, these right-wingety types would surely consider our disagreeing with them a profound violation of their First Amendment Right to Always Be Agreed With.
Can we look at “opt out” options as a reverse closet? Will it become the equivalent in some circles of “you can’t sit here?” Don’t know. Just wondering.
The Bible is nothing but a collection of Hebrew Mythology. It should be given the same credence as the mythology from any other culture. In other words, not much at all. In fact, the perception of "God", by European Christians, borrows much from Teutonic paganism. Conversion to Christianity was accomplished by making it not too much different. In particular, the selections of "Holy Days". Christian celebrations became associated with dates that were already celebrated. The winter solstice became "Christmas" the equinox "Easter", and so on.
When I first got into Xword puzzles I was bummed that my mythology references did not include Bible people. Since that day ,when I realized that lightning did not even strike near me, my discussions with God involve lot more critiquing of at yelling at he/she/.
You'll get no arguments from me that pretty much all religious texts are collections of a shared mythology. Even so, there has to be a First Matter, if you will, that a myth can be constructed around.
If you find this kind of stuff interesting, there are numerous books that map out early pagan sites of worship located in locations that emit a certain power from within the Earth. When Catholicism took over Europe, they built churches and cathedrals on these sites. Among them are cathedrals like Amiens, Chartres, and Notre Dame de Paris. A fair number of the converts didn't care what they were called, they just knew that agreeing to baptism was the only way they could worship where their ancestors did.
You are correct about the solstice/Christmas connection, but mistaken on the equinox/Easter tie if you were referring to Easter falling near the equinox. Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the equinox:
> "the Church have decided (in their infinite wisdom) that, for the purposes of calculating the date of Easter, the Vernal Equinox shall always be on the 21st of March, irrespective of when it actually is astronomically! In addition, they have also decided to alter the period between full moons!
...
for the Church it is either 29 or 30 days. Obviously they are simple minded folk who cannot cope with the complications of real astronomy. As a consequence of these two simplifications, the date of Easter Sunday will always lie between the 22nd of March and the 25th of April" https://thecuriousastronomer.wordpress.com/2013/03/31/how-is-the-date-of-easter-determined/
Correction. Easter is the first Sunday after the “Paschal Full Moon” Nevertheless, a nod to paganism. I grew up around farmers who followed the old ways. You only plant it the moon is in a water or earth sign and never during the last quarter. Weeding is much more effective if done in a fire sign during the last quarter. Never replace your roof when the moon is waxing, it will leak for sure. Sadly. those secret truths are all but forgotten now.
I'm not sure what the correction is. The Paschal Moon is the first full moon after the vernal equinox, so I believe we are on the same page.
> "Easter occurs on the first Sunday after the “Paschal full Moon.” In simple terms, this is the first full Moon immediately following the vernal (spring) equinox." https://www.almanac.com/easter-paschal-full-moon
Anyway, thanks for the input and a TIL; I know approximately zilch about farming nor its historic ties to Astrology.
If Jeff Bezos can marry a plastic blow-up doll, then why can't Uncle Paul marry Uncle James?
At least Paul and James are the same species.
I can't even read the whole thing. But my general response to this kind of crap is that we live in a SOCIETY where we absolutely have to have rules and regulations and laws that we ALL have to deal with. We don't have personalized governments, laws, rules and regulations for each damn person in the country! WTAF? Why don't parents take care what THEIR kids are reading, and leave the rest of us alone. Just a suggestion.
Imagine we had a SCOTUS full of "activist judges" who are "legislating from the bench". Oh wait.
Alito: “Many Americans, like the parents in this case, believe that biological sex reflects divine creation, that sex and gender are inseparable, and that children should be encouraged to accept their sex and to live accordingly.”
He could have stopped there and said, “I also feel that way. And that’s our right, to believe what we choose to believe, and to raise our children in our belief system. But what we don’t have is a right to decide what other people get to believe, or what other people choose to teach their children based on their own religious beliefs.” And he would have legitimately expressed his beliefs without impinging on anyone else’s.
But instead he’s a full fucking religious nutjob.
"The storybooks, however, suggest that it is hurtful, and perhaps even hateful, to hold the view that gender is inextricably bound with biological sex." Well, I haven't read the books in question, but that sure sounds like a chuckleheaded utterance, I must say. Anyone with a functioning mind should be able to see that gender doesn't reduce facilely to "biological sex." If you insist on giving up the conceptual distinction between "gender" and "biological sex," you've pretty much given up on any kind of meaningful, respectful discussion of the whole affair. Which, of course, is no problem for right-wingers since the only "respectful" way to talk to them is to agree with them and question none of their stupid, ignorant biases.
Love Alito’s first paragraph. And you, Mr. A(hole)? Are YOU stating something clearly normative?
If I were LGBTQ+ and had a big network in that community, I would wait until the court’s vacation is over and then plan a big love in right in front of the Alito’s house.
I need this asshole to understand that gay people aren’t going to stop existing just because they make him feel icky.
Since this post is about the evil that Trump owned judges are doing, I want to point out this:
https://www.salon.com/2025/06/27/no-right-is-safe-liberal-justices-issue-dire-warnings-after-birthright-citizenship-ruling/
This is the ruling that district judges cannot shut down evil Trump policies nationwide, even policies that blatantly violate a profoundly flawed Constitution. Six phony judges - Senile Inquisitor Sam, Corrupt Uncle Clarence, Kneel Neil, Drunk Brett, Sister Amy and Pathetic John have decided that Felon Trump can continue committing crimes until THEY sprinkle holy water on them. You must understand that SCOTUS is the last remnant of a legislature. Oh, there's the zoo full of screaming monkeys and the senile care facility called the Senate, but those are about as effective as the Roman Senate was under Bootikins (aka Caligula).
This is where we are. This ruling is the Enabling Act.
O.T. addendum on another topic. According to the NYtimes, the Flatulent FFOTUS is "encouraging" Fed Chair Jerome Powell to resign now, so that the corrupt and greedy felon can appoint a toady to loot the country. Here's what I think Chairman Powell should write in response:
"I hope and expect that you will have passed away by next February, when my term expires. Your inane and corrupt meddling in the economy is destroying the nation. I will leave it in God's hands to save us. But I will complete my term, in accordance with the laws and constitution of the United States."
"they found that God-bothering homophobic bigot parents have the right to opt their children out of the books public school teachers and librarians can place on their shelves,"
The god-bothering homophobic bigot parents always had the right to opt their children out of books in the school library. My brother was an elementary school teacher for over 20 years. He retired in 2011 and that option was available for the parents in his school here in AZ. Most of the parents who get involved in these lawsuits never check with the school about anything including how their children are doing but hear this shit on right wing media and then freak out.
Yeah, suddenly with all the rw crap coming down the pike now, normally dis-involved parents "care" about their kids education. Ex-teacher and substitute teacher here.
Ta, Marcie. Is Martha Ann the bridesmaid for the marriage of church and state? Vergogna.
Yes, let's all base our morals on the opinions of sexual harassment and porn addict, Uncle "Clarence" Thomas.
Does that mean that parents can opt their kids out of reading those shitty children’s books that Kirk Cameron was promoting a few years ago?
Yes, they can opt their kids out of all kinds of things as long as it isn't part of the curriculum they need to pass their grade. And even then, there can be adjustments made. Parents just need to read the information that the schools send and show up for parent/teacher meetings. Most don't want to be that involved, they just want to whine.
Get stoned, drink beer, watch the game....
Education targeted everywhere
"Trump forces the President of Univ of Virginia to resign. Who is next?
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/6/27/2330505/-Trump-forces-the-President-of-Univ-of-Virginia-to-resign-Who-is-next?
"The University of Virginia’s president, James E. Ryan, has told the board overseeing the school that he will resign in the face of demands by the Trump administration that he step aside to help resolve a Justice Department inquiry into the school’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, according to three people briefed on the matter.
"For the leader of one of the nation’s most prominent public universities to take such an extraordinary step demonstrates President Trump’s success in harnessing the investigative powers of the federal government to accomplish his administration’s policy goals.
The New York Times reported on Thursday evening that the Justice Department had demanded "Mr. Ryan’s resignation as a condition to settle a civil rights investigation into the school’s diversity practices.
"In a letter sent on Thursday to the head of the board overseeing the university, Mr. Ryan said that he had planned to step down at the end of the next academic year but “given the circumstances and today’s conversations” he had decided, “with deep sadness,” to tender his resignation now, according to one of the people familiar with the matter who was briefed on the contents of the letter.
WTF will it take to break this fever?
Seriously.
I just don’t understand why these people don’t see the pattern. When you negotiate or capitulate with Trump all it ever wins you is the next pressure campaign and escalation anyways.
You may as well fight, because you might actually win.
As one who was born in Takoma Park, MD and attended junior high and high school in Bethesda, the socialisms and adoration of Bakunin and the Rosenbergs came easy. We sang the Internationale every morning and the birthdays of Marx and Lenin were school holidays. The hammer and sickle flag flew proudly from many flagpoles and the local hangout, the Hot Shoppe at Wisconsin Ave. and East West Highway, the center of Bethesda, served borscht and vodka-flavored milkshakes. I rest my case.
Jumping Jeebus, are we supposed to be marrying the dogs and cats, or eating them? These wingnuts can't make up their minds!
Yes.
I guess a wedding registry with an emphasis on cooking equipment is in order.
"They’re just full of culture-war whammies today, that certain Supreme Court Six."
MAGAdroids have a problem with "culture," be it theater, literature, societal mores, nonMAGA-approved movies/videos/music, art...
> "How few problems must we have, if contests over culture and status and how other people make us feel are our central concerns? Robert Tracinski
-----
"that God-bothering homophobic bigot parents have the right to opt their children out of the books"
I have to wonder how many parents will refer to religion to yank their kids out of Storytime when it is actually a moronic belief that just hearing about gays, lesbians, bisexual, and trans will make their kids experiment with "alternative" lifestyles (not wrong, just alternatives)? Today, it's concerned parents regarding LGBTQIA+; when I was growing up in the 1950s it was mixed race marriages (Clarence and Ginny would ***never*** have been accepted in polite society) and integration in general that was going to tear the fabric of America asunder.
-----
"How was their First Amendment hurt? Book titles on the approved-reading list with themes of trans and gay people existing and having happy lives surrounded by support and full of love and joy, which are things they do not want their children to know exist."
We can't allow this to happen in order to protect our youth. How will the kids learn that perversion is perversion under any guise, and that perverts deserve to be othered and ostracized? Teaching that everyone is entitled to love who they wish, and the joy of sharing one's love with another, flies in the face of G-d's laws. If I'm not mistaken, the Bible specifically says to love your neighbor... unless they're queer.
-----
"The Court’s ruling means that parents are entitled to notices and the ability to opt out of books with themes they object to."
Next up on their list are books that say that Americanized "Evangelical Christianity" isn't the only way to approach G-d, that the Muslims, Jews, ***real*** Evangelicals (i.e. Jimmy Carter), almost every other form of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and other religions can enjoy G-d's (or in many cases, including mine, G-dess') love too.
-----
"that children should be encouraged to accept their sex and to live accordingly"
And when children can't accept their biological sex and suffer Gender Dysphoria, then what? Is Alito (bless his heart) willing to take personal responsibility for the results of his being an asshole?
> "Emerging evidence indicates transgender adolescents (TGAs) exhibit elevated rates of suicidal ideation and attempt compared with cisgender adolescents (CGAs).
...
TGAs had higher odds of all suicidality outcomes, and transgender males and transgender females had high risk for suicidal ideation and attempt. Authors of future adolescent suicidality research must assess both gender assigned at birth and current gender identity to accurately identify and categorize TGAs." https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7011156/ (Actually, I'm quite surprised that this page hasn't been taken down yet given the mass removal of other pages that didn't fit the Fulvous Fuckwad's narrative and stunk of DEI.)
fnord
Generally, these right-wingety types would surely consider our disagreeing with them a profound violation of their First Amendment Right to Always Be Agreed With.
Can we look at “opt out” options as a reverse closet? Will it become the equivalent in some circles of “you can’t sit here?” Don’t know. Just wondering.
The Bible is nothing but a collection of Hebrew Mythology. It should be given the same credence as the mythology from any other culture. In other words, not much at all. In fact, the perception of "God", by European Christians, borrows much from Teutonic paganism. Conversion to Christianity was accomplished by making it not too much different. In particular, the selections of "Holy Days". Christian celebrations became associated with dates that were already celebrated. The winter solstice became "Christmas" the equinox "Easter", and so on.
When I first got into Xword puzzles I was bummed that my mythology references did not include Bible people. Since that day ,when I realized that lightning did not even strike near me, my discussions with God involve lot more critiquing of at yelling at he/she/.
You'll get no arguments from me that pretty much all religious texts are collections of a shared mythology. Even so, there has to be a First Matter, if you will, that a myth can be constructed around.
If you find this kind of stuff interesting, there are numerous books that map out early pagan sites of worship located in locations that emit a certain power from within the Earth. When Catholicism took over Europe, they built churches and cathedrals on these sites. Among them are cathedrals like Amiens, Chartres, and Notre Dame de Paris. A fair number of the converts didn't care what they were called, they just knew that agreeing to baptism was the only way they could worship where their ancestors did.
You are correct about the solstice/Christmas connection, but mistaken on the equinox/Easter tie if you were referring to Easter falling near the equinox. Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the equinox:
> "the Church have decided (in their infinite wisdom) that, for the purposes of calculating the date of Easter, the Vernal Equinox shall always be on the 21st of March, irrespective of when it actually is astronomically! In addition, they have also decided to alter the period between full moons!
...
for the Church it is either 29 or 30 days. Obviously they are simple minded folk who cannot cope with the complications of real astronomy. As a consequence of these two simplifications, the date of Easter Sunday will always lie between the 22nd of March and the 25th of April" https://thecuriousastronomer.wordpress.com/2013/03/31/how-is-the-date-of-easter-determined/
Peace out, my friend.
fnord
Correction. Easter is the first Sunday after the “Paschal Full Moon” Nevertheless, a nod to paganism. I grew up around farmers who followed the old ways. You only plant it the moon is in a water or earth sign and never during the last quarter. Weeding is much more effective if done in a fire sign during the last quarter. Never replace your roof when the moon is waxing, it will leak for sure. Sadly. those secret truths are all but forgotten now.
I'm not sure what the correction is. The Paschal Moon is the first full moon after the vernal equinox, so I believe we are on the same page.
> "Easter occurs on the first Sunday after the “Paschal full Moon.” In simple terms, this is the first full Moon immediately following the vernal (spring) equinox." https://www.almanac.com/easter-paschal-full-moon
Anyway, thanks for the input and a TIL; I know approximately zilch about farming nor its historic ties to Astrology.
fnord