All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[Spike-X]

Sounds like an oxymoron.

Because it is.

[Tendrin]

"Teachers just want Trump to look bad."

"malicious compliance"

"The study is flawed and they just want DeSantis to look bad"

And so it goes.

[Tendrin]

If only someone had passed a law that would help rural hospitals stay open and expand health care to the poor in these places.

JACKSON, Miss. — The number of babies in Mississippi being treated for congenital syphilis has jumped by more than 900% over five years, uprooting the progress the nation’s poorest state had made in nearly quashing what experts say is an avoidable public health crisis. The rise in cases has placed newborns at further risk of life-threatening harm in a state that’s already home to the nation’s worst infant mortality rate.

In 2021, 102 newborns in Mississippi were treated for the sexually transmitted disease, up from 10 in 2016, according to an analysis of hospital billing data shared by Dr. Thomas Dobbs, the medical director for the Mississippi State Department of Health’s Crossroads Clinic in Jackson, which focuses on sexually transmitted infections.

Dobbs, the state’s former health officer, said he’s spoken with health care providers who “are absolutely horrified” that babies are being born with the disease, and in rare instances dying from it.

“This seems like something that should have happened a hundred years ago, not last year,” said Dobbs, who is also a dean at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. “There’s really kind of a shock.”

The Mississippi State Department of Health does not formally track congenital syphilis deaths but said there was at least one baby who died in 2021.

[aja_christopher]

"Teachers just want Trump to look bad."

"malicious compliance"

"The study is flawed and they just want DeSantis to look bad"

And so it goes.

All you can do is make excuses when you have nothing better to offer.

Meanwhile -- on the other side of the political aisle Republicans were attacking schools for issuing mask mandates during Covid.

"Florida governor: school districts that defied no-mask mandate to lose $200m"

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-funding-covid

As stated before: Republicans make themselves look bad enough -- no one has to do it for them.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, 2016, as well as 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, as well as 2021, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day”posted profiles of the U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, Markwayne Mullin, who we noted was a Birther conspiracy theorist, having entertained the ramblings of a constituent about President Obama’s birth certificate at a town hall, saying he agreed with them that it was fraudulent, but didn’t feel anything could be done about it. Mullin is also noteworthy for voting against disaster relief funding for Hurricane Sandy while having the double standard of wanting federal aid whenever a tornado hits Oklahoma. Mullin also claims America’s food stamp program has widespread fraud because he has personally witnessed “physically fit people using food stamps”. Mullin has not only voted against every opportunity to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but has also directly lied to constituents by telling them the healthcare exchanges had not opened, when they were. Lastly, Mullin has also been one of the GOP’s members on the Benghazi Select Committee, having called for numerous investigations into the attacks, never being satisfied with previous ones that have all concluded there was no malfeasance of culpability by the Obama administration. Over the past year, Rep. Mullin has voted to defund Planned Parenthood, tried to pass legislation to prevent the acceptance of Muslim refugees, and when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was allowed to speak before Congress, Mullin went on Twitter to post a misspelled message of support, “God Bless Isreal”.

In 2017, Mullin has had some tense standoffs with constituents, including a town hall where he declared the anger he faced was “bullcrap” and whining that his appearance was a “service” because “no one paid him to be there”.

Only three months before the 2018 election, he was found guilty of campaign finance violations after an ethics investigation and forced to pay back $40,000, and was investigated for investing in the same businesses that Rep. Chris Collins did and led to him being indicted for insider trading. Did we also mention that a week before the election, Mullin, who himself is of Native American heritage, mocked Sen. Elizabeth Warren for her own, and then insinuated that the Trail of Tears was actually a “volunteer walk”?

But let us not forget what other stupid things Markwayne Mullin had to say on January 6th, during the attack on the Capitol Building by Trump supporters staging a violent crew and hunting for specific Democratic members of Congress and Vice President Mike Pence to murder them. You see, Mullin had already spent weeks contributing to “The Big Lie”, as we documented, so he was potentially culpable, and someone might just say he’s a seditious prick who has no place in America’s politics. That makes it little surprise that he had the gall to blame “both sides” for the attack:

”We all (have responsibility),” he said. “The media has responsibility, the Republicans have responsibility, the Democrats have responsibility. Those who post the most ridiculous things on social media … have responsibility. No one is to blame here. We are all to blame.”

We should also note that against the wishes of the State Department, Pentagon, and intelligence community, and all reason, in September of 2021, Markwayne Mullin attempted to sneak into Afghanistan for reasons that remain unclear, although he insisted he had someone he wanted to sneak out of the country before the return of the Taliban to power (courtesy of Donald Trump abandoning our allies there and signing an agreement to pull out the U.S. Military). Mullin never apologized for hurling insults at several diplomats, and when word went public about his behavior he responded, “I’m not Rambo…”

Which, isn’t the best reference, since in his third movie, Rambo fought alongside the Mujahdeen.

Bottom line, Markwayne Mullin is still a seditious idiot. He is, now, regrettably a U.S. Senator, winning the special election to replace James Inhofe in 2022. Now his stupidity can permeate the upper chamber of the legislative branch, as well. Just… just great.

[Godzilla2099]

U.S. Jet Shoots Down Flying Object Over Canada

96 more to go

[Tami]

96 more to go

At least we're finally getting an age old answer as to what a UFO really is.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

96 more to go

I see what you did there!

[Catlady in training]

The "pro-life" crowd seem oddly unconcerned with children being bullied to suicide. Hmm.

A huge part of "pro-life" crowd does not care one bit, once the child is no longer in a woman's body.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

A huge part of "pro-life" crowd does not care one bit, once the child is no longer in a woman's body.

BINGO! QPublicans aren’t pro-life, they’re pro-birth, they just want to make people think they care about kids once out of the womb when, in fact, they don’t.

[Tami]

BINGO! QPublicans aren’t pro-life, they’re pro-birth, they just want to make people think they care about kids once out of the womb when, in fact, they don’t.

They aren't Pro-Birth, they are racists and misogynists using pregnancies as a means for reducing the poor and non-white populations, and exerting control over women in the same way rapists do, only without the actual physical act. Pregnancies are always risky, even more so for minority women and poor women with limited access to medical care. They don't care if the mother dies, if the child dies, they just sit back in their McMansions, knowing that their families will always have access tot he best medical care because they can afford it.

They are racists, and they are the worst kind of hypocrites. Trust me, if one of their teenage daughters came home and said she was pregnant, they would have her on a private plane, in secret, to wherever they could get her an abortion if needed.

There are some who do buy into the whole 'Life begins at conception' mantra, but that is mostly among women. Men will say it, not because they believe it but because it gives them control.

[ed2962]

96 more to go

[ed2962]

Gah! Literally just heard on the news they shot down a fourth over Lake Huron!

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Gah! Literally just heard on the news they shot down a fourth over Lake Huron!

Really? This **** is getting crazy.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

We could see 99 Balloons at this rate.