“Mr President,
Passage would not have been delayed if Senator Schumer had kept his promises. Good news is despite his mendacity, it will pass next week.
-Senator John Cornyn”

Seems they already gave up the lie about funding it and are now ready to admit it was pure political payback using cancer stricken vets as pawns in their game to get Biden and the Dems back for having the audacity to pass less than minimal environmental legislation.

I had this wrong. In my defense, there had been excessively little coverage of this plan on American TV or media.

Astonishingly, this was the UN, through Turkey as an intermediary, negotiating between Russia and Ukraine to allow safe passage of Ukrainian grain ships out of Ukrainian ports for sale on the world market, and more astonishingly, it’s been successful. Russia has agreed to allow and guarantee safe passage to, and Ukraine guarantees safe passage through minefields for cargo ships going in and out of these ports held by Ukraine.

Teacher here. It's made-up-nonsense. I don't give a shit what gender or sexual orientation a kid is and im CERTAINLY not going to try to convince anyone to change anything about themselves.

That said, I'm going to acknowledge that gay/trans people exist in authorship and literature as it arises. You can't read someone like Whitman (Leaves of Grass, arguably America's greatest poet) and not come across references to sexuality either implicit or explicit. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45472/i-sing-the-body-electric

It becomes relevant in passages like this:

5
This is the female form,
A divine nimbus exhales from it from head to foot,
It attracts with fierce undeniable attraction,
I am drawn by its breath as if I were no more than a helpless vapor, all falls aside but myself and it,
Books, art, religion, time, the visible and solid earth, and what was expected of heaven or fear’d of hell, are now consumed,
Mad filaments, ungovernable shoots play out of it, the response likewise ungovernable,
Hair, bosom, hips, bend of legs, negligent falling hands all diffused, mine too diffused,
Ebb stung by the flow and flow stung by the ebb, love-flesh swelling and deliciously aching,
Limitless limpid jets of love hot and enormous, quivering jelly of love, white-blow and delirious juice,
Bridegroom night of love working surely and softly into the prostrate dawn,
Undulating into the willing and yielding day,
Lost in the cleave of the clasping and sweet-flesh’d day.

----------------------------------
Maybe a conversation like:

"'Love flesh swelling' like he's in love with some woman and they...he...?"

"Probably not, he didn't have any serious female relationships as far as I am aware."

"But the title is 'The female form'"

"Well, it's possible, but it's not likely the case that he was talking about himself being in love with a woman. This poem is in the text but he wrote many other pieces about he-himself falling into and out of love with various men and we have letters documenting those relationships with his male significant others. Although, I'm not sure what to call them because gay marriage would have been illegal at the time. He's likely writing the poem in a way where he appreciates the female form and sees men who are drawn to it like the way I appreciate watching bees act obsessively driven to the middle of flowers. I like watching Bees in action, but that doesn't mean I'm going all pollen crazy, still I appreciate it for what it is."
-------------------

This is an example of how discussion of sexuality would come up in my classroom as I imagine it. Note how I'm not trying to convince the kid I'm talking to to turn gay like it's a big game of rainbow-red-rover or something. Nevertheless, knowing the author's sexual preference in this instance informs our understanding of the piece.


My own personal theory?
The people railing against things like this are the same shitheads that can't be bothered to read ANYTHING and instead giggle and guffaw at "hurhurhurhur he hadd'a boner" where I get to live an early stage of Idocracy.

Also, I agree that the "funky stuff" shouldn't be just avoided altogether. For goodness sake, just let teachers have the difficult conversation that everyone is avoiding. Reminds me of when Peggy Hill was struggling to say "Penis" when she was assigned sex ed.

@bcglorf
Reading bible passages in class as “something we can all agree on” is the definition of proselytizing to a captive audience….and outside of private religious schools is totally inappropriate.

It’s not “fun” to be ostracized in public because you believe different mythology or are smart enough to ignore all stone aged mythology…..really only disbelieving one more myth than the believers.

Getting the season completely wrong because you don’t know it was chosen to make it easier to use religion as a political tool is a bit different from “the exact date being inaccurate”. It’s an outright, bold faced, well documented lie, created as a political ploy from the 4th century used to degrade and absorb Zoasterism/Mithraism in order to control the masses politically. That is absolutely a “credibility” issue, and if you don’t get it, that’s an education and/or ethics issue. Christianity has many major credibility issues, being “created” (codified) as a political tool is just one of them. Stealing almost every bit of the mythology from previous religions and denying it is another.

Yes, the misuse of Fauci clips out of context is another issue of truthfulness here, but those who are intentionally ignorant of the reality they just lived through are lost and not worth wasting my breath on. As anyone with two brain cells knows, the first, “you don’t need to wear a mask in public” was recommended at that time because a massive mask shortage meant health care workers had to reuse paper masks sometimes for months during a major pandemic, (and clearly they needed priority on the limited supply) not because we had information saying they weren’t useful….but that’s a minor detail of history I feel only brain dead ignoramuses consider in question, relevant, or factual, and they have discarded fact, truth, reason, and logic in favor of their cult of personality….so there’s no real point arguing with them. Just let them get Covid and hope for EIA.

Preaching one religion in a public class room and claiming “we all agree” is a continuation of a much more pernicious, long term, continuing battle for the religious freedom our country was founded on, and I find it outrageous and anti American that you dismiss it as nothing. I can only hope your children’s teachers aren’t a vastly different, contradictory religion than you and they don’t teach your children that everyone agrees with their religion, not yours, and don’t use proveable fallacies to make their point….but if they do I’ll be here to dismiss your concerns.
🤦‍♂️

Hey! No proselytizing in the classroom! 😉

Besides, the passage he read indicates that Christ’s birth would not be mid winter or the shepherds would likely not have been in the fields at night, it’s pretty cold and wet in Bethlehem (a 1/2 mile high city) in late December.
Any professor should know December 25th was Mithra’s birthday, a popular religious holiday, and emperor Constantine usurped it for Christianity as a way to consolidate religions to make it easier to use against the masses as a political tool.
You’re celebrating a dishonest political plot and an Iranian/Roman Pagan God’s birth, not the birth of Jesus.

I've actually sailed around Cape Horn on a tall ship, and am a full member of the International Association of Cape Horners (IACH). She was SV Tenacious, and it was Auckland, NZ to Port Stanley, Falkland Islands. Thankfully, we timed it well and got VERY lucky with the weather and had a clear rounding. We did have a force 11 (just short of a category 1 hurricane) one memorable night somewhere east of Point Nemo, but for the most part it was a pretty smooth passage. Of course I got the tattoo (full rigged ship) on my right upper arm.

Absolutely not, why are you lying? I stated that contraceptives aren't perfect, and fail at much higher rates than most think. There is no contraceptive that's 100% effective, and on average the most common are well over 8% failures according to the CDC, but there is abortion that's 100% effective. I never said anything approaching an implication that people are too stupid to use them, it's insanely stupid to think what I said was assigning blame to end users for not using other contraceptives.

They do use contraception, and still need secondary methods when contraceptives fail, which some do for over 1/4 of people who use them. No contraception is 100% effective....not even abstinence if you believe the bible.
BTW, the church has repeatedly tried to stop contraception from being available....Don't try to pretend you're still sticking to your religious arguments when you say that, the church/Christianity opposes contraception just like they oppose abortion, clearly because they like having power over others, not because we need more people.

Maybe she paid them, it's not clear nor is that relevant. The passage listed sentences for crimes done to her, but says if violent abortion was the totality of the "harm", then there was no harm and no crime. They couldn't be more clear that the unborn child wasn't capable of being murdered or harmed.

No, it hasn't been smashed. You claim it was, you look it up and prove your own position if you can. It's already been asserted successfully by people much smarter than you.

To kill something it first had to live. To live, it has to breath. No breath, no life, just a potential life.

Agreed, so learn the fundamentals, because you have them wrong.

The bible says if a group of men beat a woman so hard she has a miscarriage but otherwise don't hurt her, no crime or harm has been done, but if they harm HER an eye for an eye comes into play. That's as close to directly saying abortions are fine because the unborn aren't people under Christianity as you could possibly hope for 1800 years before the current procedure existed....but it should be noted that the practice began nearly 5000 years ago in China, and 3500 years ago in European culture. It was not unknown when the bible was written, but is unmentioned beyond this passage that indicated it's not a crime under Christianity.

All the nonsense you've been taught and are repeating is not in the bible, it's only coming from the church as a power grab over reproduction rights. If you don't know the fundamentals of your own religion, please don't try to impose your ignorant misunderstandings on others.

https://abc7.com/shoplifting-video-san-francisco-walgreens-theft/10791421/

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/16/us/san-francisco-shoplifting-walgreens/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/21/us/san-francisco-shoplifting-epidemic.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_California_Proposition_47

Since the passage, retail stores have reported a spike of 50 percent in shoplifting. In many cities, like San Francisco, it is almost ignored by the police because it is a waste of time to try to catch the suspect.

Walgreens and CVS have closed multiple locations in California cities because of the losses.

As much as @bobknight33 spams far right stuff, it is understandable to consider this suspect. But in this case, it is actually a major epidemic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_(book)

That seems to be a take-off from a passage in this book.

"Where is your GOD now?"

grim stuff.

No church in this witch. She is a pure grifter. Her guide smells of sulfur.

I would go hunting for the videos, but Biden has already stated that he fully plans to empower Beto to be his gun control 'czar'. Beto has already said that he absolutely is coming for "our" guns. He plans a forced turn in or buyback of all assault style weapons, presumably those also covered by laws that allow them under federal tax stamps (full auto).

In addition, Biden lists the following on his website as his plans:

1. Hold gun manufacturers accountable. In 2005, then-Senator Biden voted against the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, but gun manufacturers successfully lobbied Congress to secure its passage. This law protects these manufacturers from being held civilly liable for their products – a protection granted to no other industry. Biden will prioritize repealing this protection. (Only this is misleading. Do shoe manufacturers get sued if you kick someone in the face? Do knife manufacturers get sued if you stab someone? Do car manufacturers get sued when you get into an accident? No and neither do most other manufacturers. Putting this in place means that any time a gun is used in a crime, they can try to sue the manufacturer of that gun into non-existence. It doesn't even have to be an 'assault' weapon, any gun manufacturer is at risk. The only thing that wouldn't count is blackpowder guns since they aren't classed as firearms.)

2. Ban the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Federal law prevents hunters from hunting migratory game birds with more than three shells in their shotgun. That means our federal law does more to protect ducks than children. It’s wrong. Joe Biden will enact legislation to once again ban assault weapons. This time, the bans will be designed based on lessons learned from the 1994 bans. For example, the ban on assault weapons will be designed to prevent manufacturers from circumventing the law by making minor changes that don’t limit the weapon’s lethality. While working to pass this legislation, Biden will also use his executive authority to ban the importation of assault weapons. (So this would be a perma ban on assault weapons and would also anticipate changes to circumvent the law. This would be the assault ban of 1994 on steroids.)

3. Regulate possession of existing assault weapons under the National Firearms Act. Currently, the National Firearms Act requires individuals possessing machine-guns, silencers, and short-barreled rifles to undergo a background check and register those weapons with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Due to these requirements, such weapons are rarely used in crimes. As president, Biden will pursue legislation to regulate possession of existing assault weapons under the National Firearms Act. (So even if he doesn't get Beto to push through a buy back, he can force owners of assault rifles to be subject to the EXTREMELY restrictive NFA. Not only that, but it's expensive and would be a tax on gun owners yearly.)

4. Buy back the assault weapons and high-capacity magazines already in our communities. Biden will also institute a program to buy back weapons of war currently on our streets. This will give individuals who now possess assault weapons or high-capacity magazines two options: sell the weapons to the government, or register them under the National Firearms Act. (Covered this already. But if this does go through, you likely won't be seeing me on here anymore as it will be a cold day in hell before I surrender my guns or pay the government to be allowed to own them.)

5. Reduce stockpiling of weapons. In order to reduce the stockpiling of firearms, Biden supports legislation restricting the number of firearms an individual may purchase per month to one. (Once you get this through, it is far easier to get legislation passed to cap how many guns a person can own total. Fuck that.)

6. Require background checks for all gun sales. Today, an estimated 1 in 5 firearms are sold or transferred without a background check. Biden will enact universal background check legislation, requiring a background check for all gun sales with very limited exceptions, such as gifts between close family members. This will close the so-called “gun show and online sales loophole” that the Obama-Biden Administration narrowed, but which cannot be fully closed by executive action alone. (I can deal with this, just means you need to go through an FFL.)

7. Reinstate the Obama-Biden policy to keep guns out of the hands of certain people unable to manage their affairs for mental reasons, which President Trump reversed. (Not 100% on this one, but it isn't a deal breaker)

8. Enact legislation prohibiting an individual “who has been convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime, or received an enhanced sentence for a misdemeanor because of hate or bias in its commission” from purchasing or possessing a firearm. (Felony yes, but that already exists. Misdemeanor, fuck no.)

9. Close the “Charleston loophole.” (yeah, no problem with this one)

10. End the online sale of firearms and ammunitions. Biden will enact legislation to prohibit all online sales of firearms, ammunition, kits, and gun parts. (So if I want to build another AR15 I can't? Fuck that. You still have to get the primary receiver through or shipped to an FFL. Which means a background check every single time.)

11. Create an effective program to ensure individuals who become prohibited from possessing firearms relinquish their weapons. (I would be for this if it wasn't for the fact that it is one step away from the government outlawing guns. Once this mechanism is in place at a federal level, all that means is you are one vote away from having your guns seized.)

12. Incentivize state “extreme risk” laws. Extreme risk laws, also called “red flag” laws, enable family members or law enforcement officials to temporarily remove an individual’s access to firearms when that individual is in crisis and poses a danger to themselves or others. (Sounds good, but nobody is willing to state the guidelines that the family or LEO will have to follow. That means that it is completely up to family members and LEO's to decide what constitutes a 'crisis'. Bet you a lot of LEO's in protest states would red flag most protesters immediately if this law existed now in all states.)

13. Give states incentives to set up gun licensing programs. (This is above and beyond the federal checks. This would mean any gun owner or potential owner would have to maintain and pay for a separate gun license. Also, it allows states and locales to decide what constitutes the requirements for the gun license. There are already some states doing this and you have to get permission to even own a gun from the sheriff or other official. Fuck that.)

14. Put America on the path to ensuring that 100% of firearms sold in America are smart guns. (Are you fucking kidding me? What if the battery runs out, what if it gets hacked, or what if the government decides to flip a switch and shut them all down? I'll never agree to this.)

15. Require gun owners to safely store their weapons. Biden will pass legislation requiring firearm owners to store weapons safely in their homes. (IE, locked in a safe or partially disassembled, possibly a combination of both. Why bother having a gun for home defense if it can't be used without spending 5-10 minutes to make it available/functional?)

16. Stop “ghost guns.” (This is just stupid. 3d printed guns might be able to fire a few shots before reaching a critical failure. You can't 3d print a lower or upper receiver that matches a stock one. Yes, they made lowers for the original m-16s, but they swapped from those because they were shit. They broke constantly. And those weren't printed, they were molded from a tougher plastic. A 3d printed one is not nearly as strong. Either way, I don't care too much about this because it is a buzzword for non-gun people. Just like bumpstocks. You can still bump-fire a regular ar-15, the bumpstocks were just training wheels for idiots.)

Now he has a shitload more laws he wants to pass, but most of them I don't care too much about. I won't bother covering all of them. In any case, he is going to go after guns on a scale unseen to this point. If the dems get control of both houses, he will get these laws passed. Then the only hope is that SCOTUS votes them down as unconstitutional.

I won't vote for Trump, but I will be doing my part to maintain a split congress. Which means straight republican ticket other than Trump.

Same mentality and radicalism as ISIS. He even wants his own white Christian state.

"They're against drugs" while chain smoking
"The Klan ain't never lynched people"
"The Klan ain't gotta go out and kill black folks no more"

All while talking nonsense and quoting bible passages that could easily be interpreted to mean the OPPOSITE of what he claims.

Sounds like you picked the wrong game to play. Your passport has always been worthless.

Last thing I remember
I was running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
"Relax", said the night man
"We are programmed to receive
You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave"

Welcome to the Hotel California

"...all of life's riddles are answered in the movies." - Steve Martin, Grand Canyon

"There's nothing like bringing in the herd"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PunAKEccqyU

Yeah, the entrance and egress points are so much nope for me.

I don't think I have Claustophobia, but "Cleithrophobia".
I have no problem with small, enclosed places. Elevators, short or thin passages (like waterslides) hold no discomfort for me. Just the idea of being stuck somewhere though *shudders*. If I have room to move, I'm fine. That Ryan Reynolds movie Buried? I'm sorry, but I will never provide a critical review for you to read. Nope. Nope... Nope.

12 of the 19 were allowed passage.
This guy doesn't know what he was talking about at times.