All purpose news and politics thread part VII: News & Politics Total Landscaping

[Panfoot]

I honestly don't see how DeSantis sees this as a win! Is it that teachers won't be able to indoctrinate children and teach them how to be gay under the settlement (something that was never actually the case)?

It's not a major win, but it's not a complete loss either. Some of it is left intact, and all the hate it's inspired and teachers who left because of it all still happened, that damage is done. Like a lot of these laws it didn't matter that it wouldn't stand up to scrutiny, it didn't need to it just needed to the damage at the time, like for example it's still inordinately hard to get access to HRT medications while that bill is in the courts, not to mention the new DMV stuff which will take who knows how many years to get rid of(if ever depending on the next elections here).

[Username taken]

If it is a suicide, so be it.

What drove them to choose suicide over living? The anti-trans bullying campaign waged by the far right certainly played a role in it. I speak as a suicide survivor who lived through the AIDS crisis. When your government, the media, the churches, and the school systems all side with the bullies making your life hell, it makes it hard to see a reason to go on.

When the president (or former president) openly calls you monsters, or filth, or vermin? When world leaders are all calling for your eradication and erasure? When teachers are barred from protecting their students from bullying and assault for fear of being labeled ‘groomer’? When your classmates make you feel like a freak?

Transphobia leads to death. Their suicide is simply death by transphobia.

Chaya Raichek - and everyone who legitimizes her hatred as ‘parental concern’ - is a monster. And any attempt to pretend that this suicide somehow exonerates her from any responsibility in the tragic abuse and death of this child is an idiot.

Very true.

[The Cool Thatguy]

https://us.yahoo.com/news/desantis-a...214616286.html

You know it's bad when DeSantis is attacking Libs of TikTok.

Bad...?

I dunno about that.

[Username taken]

Bad...?

I dunno about that.

I mean, Libs of Tiktok has spread so many lies that even a GOP governor has to call out her trash. DeSantis obviously did so because she was tweeting lies about his state but in his statement he pretty much affirmed what most normal minded people have accused her of.

Libs of Tiktok is just farming for clicks by sharing rage bait. A good chunk of them being hateful and venomous misinformation.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

If it is a suicide, so be it.

What drove them to choose suicide over living? The anti-trans bullying campaign waged by the far right certainly played a role in it. I speak as a suicide survivor who lived through the AIDS crisis. When your government, the media, the churches, and the school systems all side with the bullies making your life hell, it makes it hard to see a reason to go on.

When the president (or former president) openly calls you monsters, or filth, or vermin? When world leaders are all calling for your eradication and erasure? When teachers are barred from protecting their students from bullying and assault for fear of being labeled ‘groomer’? When your classmates make you feel like a freak?

Transphobia leads to death. Their suicide is simply death by transphobia.

Chaya Raichek - and everyone who legitimizes her hatred as ‘parental concern’ - is a monster. And any attempt to pretend that this suicide somehow exonerates her from any responsibility in the tragic abuse and death of this child is an idiot.

All too true. It's as I've said in this thread several times before, the LGBTQ+ community is the only marginalized group that the right can safely, and relentlessly attack without any appreciable fear of blowback or consequence for their vile actions. And, I'm sorry to say, that hate is not going to end anytime soon, if at all.

[Deathstroke]

https://us.yahoo.com/news/desantis-a...214616286.html

You know it's bad when DeSantis is attacking Libs of TikTok.

He's probably just pissed that they are cutting in on his bread and butter.

[Tendrin]

A firm that helps kids with autism grew till it had 265 clinics. Then private equity took over.

It turns out once again that private equity and health care don't mix all that well.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/f...123040189.html

[Dalak]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...btq-rcna143298

I jumped to conclusions too fast on this (Mets was right to say we should wait for the medical report).

That being said, the bullying this young individual faced was just unfortunate.

May they RIP.

If it is a suicide, so be it.

What drove them to choose suicide over living? The anti-trans bullying campaign waged by the far right certainly played a role in it. I speak as a suicide survivor who lived through the AIDS crisis. When your government, the media, the churches, and the school systems all side with the bullies making your life hell, it makes it hard to see a reason to go on.

When the president (or former president) openly calls you monsters, or filth, or vermin? When world leaders are all calling for your eradication and erasure? When teachers are barred from protecting their students from bullying and assault for fear of being labeled ‘groomer’? When your classmates make you feel like a freak?

Transphobia leads to death. Their suicide is simply death by transphobia.

Chaya Raichek - and everyone who legitimizes her hatred as ‘parental concern’ - is a monster. And any attempt to pretend that this suicide somehow exonerates her from any responsibility in the tragic abuse and death of this child is an idiot.

This is accurate.

Very true.

Whether those students beat this person to death or they beat them until they thought Suicide was a better option, the beating had a direct influence upon this tragic death. It doesn't absolve the students from responsibility either, nor the school system or the current culture that's so permissive for violence & bigotry against others if they happen to be the wrong kind of different. I'll admit I was wrong to assume the beating itself had killed Nex, but that doesn't change these basic things.

It is also another regretful reminder of the many ignored warnings posted on these forums regarding Trans youth being driven to suicide by this detestable behavior which is embraced by conservatives & the GoP.

It's not a major win, but it's not a complete loss either. Some of it is left intact, and all the hate it's inspired and teachers who left because of it all still happened, that damage is done. Like a lot of these laws it didn't matter that it wouldn't stand up to scrutiny, it didn't need to it just needed to the damage at the time, like for example it's still inordinately hard to get access to HRT medications while that bill is in the courts, not to mention the new DMV stuff which will take who knows how many years to get rid of(if ever depending on the next elections here).

Considering how often the courts bring down this sort of thing, this is the ultimate goal - Making life harder & more painful for these people. The goal they have of reshaping the judiciary into something that will be more permissible to this sort of open bigotry is also very clear, which is why so much effort is being unleashed to get Trump back in office by people who are better off rejecting him and the hate he has brought with him into the spotlight.

I mean, Libs of Tiktok has spread so many lies that even a GOP governor has to call out her trash. DeSantis obviously did so because she was tweeting lies about his state but in his statement he pretty much affirmed what most normal minded people have accused her of.

Libs of Tiktok is just farming for clicks by sharing rage bait. A good chunk of them being hateful and venomous misinformation.

He's probably just pissed that they are cutting in on his bread and butter.

Gee, if only Moderates could see what this blatant extremist seems to get.

It turns out once again that private equity and health care don't mix all that well.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/f...123040189.html

But Private Enterprise . . .

[Tami]

It turns out once again that private equity and health care don't mix all that well.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/f...123040189.html

What Private Equity Firms Are and How They Operate

Private equity investors — typified by firms like Bain Capital, Apollo Global Management, TPG, KKR and Blackstone — are different from venture capitalists, who provide a cash infusion to small startups and hope they blossom into the next Facebook. Nor are they stock traders making split-second decisions to buy or sell shares in public companies. Rather, private equity funds aim to take control of a business for a relatively short time, restructure it and resell the company at a profit.

But as ProPublica and many others have shown, the ways in which private equity goes about this restructuring can raise a number of concerns, over such things as layoffs and furloughs for employees and degraded services for customers. Critics also worry that private equity firms weigh down acquired companies with substantial debt from the money borrowed to finance the purchase.

Once private equity firms acquire a company, they encourage executives to make the company operate more efficiently before selling — or “exiting” — several years later, either through a sale to another investor or through an initial public offering.

One of the more criticized aspects of leveraged buyouts is that the debt used to finance the acquisition doesn’t belong to the equity firm or fund. Rather, it belongs to the newly acquired company — and it can become an anchor that drags that business down.

The collapse of Toys R Us is a good example. Private equity giants including Bain Capital and KKR joined together in 2005 to purchase the flagging kids’ retail giant for $7.5 billion, even as the retail toy industry was contracting amid increased competition from Amazon and other online sellers. Though the once-popular chain’s revenues did not sink notably in the years that followed, the billions in debt related to the purchase continued to grow relative to the company’s revenue as its owners reinvested excess cash into the business to make it competitive with online retailers. Eventually, debt holders lost patience and decided that they could get more of their money back if Toys R Us closed up entirely than if it continued operations.

In 2020, ProPublica spotlighted a hospital chain run by a private equity firm that had repeatedly tried and failed to unload its health care business on new buyers. Employees at hospitals under this umbrella told us they were sometimes unable to purchase basic supplies like sponges and IV fluids, elevators broke down regularly, and ambulance drivers’ fuel cards were rejected at the pump. Yet the equity firm had already managed to squeeze out $400 million in dividends and fees for itself and investors.

By the time a potential buyer was found for that hospital chain in early 2021, its equity owners had saddled it with $1.3 billion in debt, while the firm and investors were set to walk away debt-free and having reaped a total of $645 million.

[kidfresh512]

“This school district has failed him”: Trans Katy teen drops out after gender policy passes

Despite the air of confidence he typically wore through the halls, 17-year-old Kadence Carter suffered through most days at Mayde Creek High School in Katy.

Several of his classmates constantly bullied and misgendered Kadence, a transgender male. He wore multiple chest binders every day to school, which dug aching craters into his shoulders and stained his skin with bruises. He avoided drinking water the entire eight-hour school day so he wouldn’t need to use the boys’ bathroom, where he worried about getting beaten up.

The unrelenting struggles Kadence faced came to a head in August 2023, when the Katy Independent School District board of trustees passed a controversial gender identity policy opposed by many LGBTQ+ students and advocates. One day after the policy went into effect, a teacher held up the attendance roster in front of Kadence, pointed to his deadname and said, “We’re going back to this one now,” he recalled.

Two weeks later, Kadence walked out of Mayde Creek High for the last time.

“I feel like I've missed out on a big part of growing up,” Kadence said. “I’m not gonna graduate. I'm not gonna get my cap and gown. I'm not gonna go to prom. … I keep telling myself that I don't care. But at the end of the day, I'm missing out on something that most kids get.”

Earlier this school year, Katy’s conservative school board became one of the first in Greater Houston to pass a policy that requires staff to disclose students’ gender identity to parents and allow employees to reject students’ requests to use different pronouns, among other protocols.

But for opponents of the policy and LGBTQ+ advocates, Kadence’s story embodies one of the worst fears about the impact of such guidelines: that they can drive transgender children out of school systems entirely. As of mid-January, district officials had contacted the parents of 23 children to notify them of name or pronoun changes, records obtained by the Houston Landing show.

“They haven't been through the experience of feeling alienated,” Kadence said. “When someone's telling you every day that you aren’t who you say you are, you start to question yourself. You start to believe the things that they tell you, that you're inherently a bad person because you were born a certain way.”

William Carter has supported his son from the second he found the courage to come out. Their bond is strengthened through the small things — the long drives they take together, the at-home Pride celebrations William throws, the way William uses his hand to sign “I love you” when Kadence is overwhelmed. Nothing is more important to Kadence than his dad.

At school, several of Kadence’s peers routinely bullied him, but teachers were generally more supportive. He sent an email about his identity to all of his teachers at the beginning of each semester, asking them to call him Kadence, not the name listed on the attendance sheet. The extra step protected him from being deadnamed, and also helped him identify which teachers were most accepting of him.

It all had gotten to be too much. The constant bullying, the intolerance, the physical and mental energy it took to make it through each day. Kadence couldn’t envision a world in which school got easier — it only seemed to be getting worse, and fast.

That night, Kadence and his father made plans to enroll him in online classes. He left Mayde Creek High in mid-September.

Perez, the Katy board president, said the policy boils down to one key priority: informing parents about what their kids are going through. Perez said he isn’t aware of any issues with unaccepting parents.

“It’s not like, ‘OK, I think that this person is transgender, so I’m gonna call their parents.’ … There’s no hunting,” Perez said. “If the student decides to keep that a secret, nothing happens. It’s not like an outing. … We have to assume that most parents are good, loving parents and are gonna do what’s best for the child.”

Reading this at work I had to stop and finish reading it later I cant get all upset at the bullying described right now. But I read enough to see that at least Kadence had a very supportive and loving father to be there, and love and protect. Which is amazing because it is when the families and close friends are also hostile, where you see the hopeless spiral that could lead to suicides etc.

I just don't see how anyone can think that they have the right to go out of their way to demonize people and tacitly sanction this type of bullying as a formal policy. They can say whatever they like about "protecting the kids". But, how is making a child THIS upset and forced to just drop out helping the children?

[CaptainEurope]

US firm that paid indicted FBI informant Smirnov tied to Trump associates, records reveal

So the "smoking gun" that the House GOP thought they had in their Biden impeachment was just a squirt gun pulled right out of Trump's unwashed arschloch.

[AnakinFlair]

Meanwhile, Chuck Schumer has directly criticized Netanyahu and his far-right government and called for new elections in Israel

WASHINGTON — In the most significant criticism by a U.S. leader against the Israeli government since its war with Hamas began, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday called for new elections in Israel to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the U.S. ever, said in remarks on the Senate floor that “the Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7.”

“The world has changed — radically — since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past,” Schumer said in what was billed as a major address by the Democratic leader from New York.

Netanyahu has “lost his way,” Schumer continued, “by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel" and by indicating he isn't interested in the formation of an independent Palestinian state, which has been a U.S. goal for decades. Schumer said that Netanyahu has aligned himself with “far-right extremists” like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who he said are “pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows.”

“Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah,” the majority leader said.

Schumer argued that Israel must make “course corrections” in its strategy against Hamas and make a better effort to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza. They “do not deserve to suffer for the sins of Hamas, and Israel as a moral obligation to do better,” he said. “The United States has an obligation to do better.”

This is my favorite part:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., denounced Schumer for his remarks, saying on the Senate floor afterward that it is "grotesque and hypocritical for Americans who hyperventilate about foreign interference in our own democracy to call for the removal of a democratically elected leader of Israel."

McConnell says without any hint of irony. Like the US hasn't made it a habit of removing democratically-elected governments in the past if they didn't fit with our vision of the region.

[Tami]

Meanwhile, Chuck Schumer has directly criticized Netanyahu and his far-right government and called for new elections in Israel



This is my favorite part:

McConnell says without any hint of irony. Like the US hasn't made it a habit of removing democratically-elected governments in the past if they didn't fit with our vision of the region.

Thing is Senator Schumer is right. I agree about how the US should normally stay out of other countries business unless officially asked for help. However what is going on is creating an international crisis in the middle east.

[zinderel]

“This school district has failed him”: Trans Katy teen drops out after gender policy passes











Reading this at work I had to stop and finish reading it later I cant get all upset at the bullying described right now. But I read enough to see that at least Kadence had a very supportive and loving father to be there, and love and protect. Which is amazing because it is when the families and close friends are also hostile, where you see the hopeless spiral that could lead to suicides etc.

I just don't see how anyone can think that they have the right to go out of their way to demonize people and tacitly sanction this type of bullying as a formal policy. They can say whatever they like about "protecting the kids". But, how is making a child THIS upset and forced to just drop out helping the children?

Their God sanctions and encourages their hatred. That’s how they can think they have the right to destroy the lives of children whose existence they disagree with. It’s how they sleep at night despite the direct hand they have in the deaths and suffering of children.

“It’s not like I WANTED that disgusting pervert dead, I just didn’t want their disgusting perversion around my child. No, it doesn’t matter that the disgusting pervert is a child. They’re a disgusting pervert that god hates, so who cares how often I refer to them in demonizing terms? It’s not like I killed them. I just repeatedly pointed out, with community support, what a disgusting pervert they are for existing in opposition to my wishes!”

“Children and desperate people are being mutilated by razor wire traps and having their kids yanked out of their arms and are being shot by God-Fearing Patriotic Americans protecting their homeland? It’s not happening to REAL people, just illegal immigrants, who broke the law, so who cares?”

“Black people aren’t unfairly targeted by police due to racism. If those black people would just have listened to authoritah the way they USED TO, they wouldn’t have been shot in the back or choked to death on camera or shot after the police broke into the wrong house.”

“Women want access to safe, legal abortions?! They want to murder their precious unborn babies just because they don’t want to be pregnant?! They shouldn’t be filthy whores, then, and should keep their legs closed until they’re willing to accept their god-given role as ‘Mother’. Oh, she’s 10? And was raped? God made that happen for a reason, and that changes nothing. We need to punish the doctor who gave that 10 year old girl back some semblance of a life.”

“If Palestinians didn’t keep electing Hamas, they wouldn’t deserve to be slowly wiped out by a man who has made no secret of his desire to wipe them out and who has used any excuse to justify atrocity. Besides…they’re only Muslims, so it’s not like anyone will miss them.”

“The only people dying to this horrible disease are queers, and it’s not like they’re REAL people. They’re gross, and God created AIDS because He agrees with me. Why waste money on educating the public or trying to find a cure? Let’s just let it run its course and see what happens...oh, a straight, white kid got it from a transfusion? Now we have to care…”

“Genocide’s happening across Europe and Asia? It’s only happening to the Jews/Gypsies/Polish/handicapped/trade unionists/communists/socialists/the Chinese, so America doesn’t need to get involved. We’ve got our own concentration camps, and they’re FIIIIIINE...”

All because they believe God is on their side.

[AnakinFlair]

Their God sanctions and encourages their hatred. That’s how they can think they have the right to destroy the lives of children whose existence they disagree with. It’s how they sleep at night despite the direct hand they have in the deaths and suffering of children.

“It’s not like I WANTED that disgusting pervert dead, I just didn’t want their disgusting perversion around my child. No, it doesn’t matter that the disgusting pervert is a child. They’re a disgusting pervert that god hates, so who cares how often I refer to them in demonizing terms? It’s not like I killed them. I just repeatedly pointed out, with community support, what a disgusting pervert they are for existing in opposition to my wishes!”

“Children and desperate people are being mutilated by razor wire traps and having their kids yanked out of their arms and are being shot by God-Fearing Patriotic Americans protecting their homeland? It’s not happening to REAL people, just illegal immigrants, who broke the law, so who cares?”

“Black people aren’t unfairly targeted by police due to racism. If those black people would just have listened to authoritah the way they USED TO, they wouldn’t have been shot in the back or choked to death on camera or shot after the police broke into the wrong house.”

“Women want access to safe, legal abortions?! They want to murder their precious unborn babies just because they don’t want to be pregnant?! They shouldn’t be filthy whores, then, and should keep their legs closed until they’re willing to accept their god-given role as ‘Mother’. Oh, she’s 10? And was raped? God made that happen for a reason, and that changes nothing. We need to punish the doctor who gave that 10 year old girl back some semblance of a life.”

“If Palestinians didn’t keep electing Hamas, they wouldn’t deserve to be slowly wiped out by a man who has made no secret of his desire to wipe them out and who has used any excuse to justify atrocity. Besides…they’re only Muslims, so it’s not like anyone will miss them.”

“The only people dying to this horrible disease are queers, and it’s not like they’re REAL people. They’re gross, and God created AIDS because He agrees with me. Why waste money on educating the public or trying to find a cure? Let’s just let it run its course and see what happens...oh, a straight, white kid got it from a transfusion? Now we have to care…”

“Genocide’s happening across Europe and Asia? It’s only happening to the Jews/Gypsies/Polish/handicapped/trade unionists/communists/socialists/the Chinese, so America doesn’t need to get involved. We’ve got our own concentration camps, and they’re FIIIIIINE...”

All because they believe God is on their side.

I was driving behind someone the other day who had a sticker in their rear window that said "God is Pro-Life". I wanted to ask that driver "Do you know how many millions of people are killed every year due to natural disasters? Or how about Noah? Or Sodom and Gomorrah? You still think God is pro-life?"