Dr. Flowers @AlliFlowers@talkedabout.social

“To protect Montanans’ personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party, I have banned #TikTok in #Montana,” Gianforte tweeted today.

That's *awesome*! So... When are you going to also protect Montanans' personal and private data from United States corporations by blocking the likes of #Facebook, #Instagram, #Twitter, #Google and other companies that collect, sell and disseminate this data? Hmm?

#privacy

https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/17/23686294/montana-tiktok-ban-signed-governor-gianforte-court

@flexghost
Power corrupts universally. So the Mormon Church is corrupt, and here I thought the Mormon’s were supposed to be a step above, while acknowledging that the creation of the Mormon Church involved some hard core tall tales, and in some historically incidents, non-believers in Utah were treated harshly, so I guess it’s not that much of a shocker that they’d be running tax scams.

EU countries adopt law banning products which fuel deforestation | AP News https://apnews.com/article/eu-deforestation-rules-6177f0e426c04e78aeb60a13bb1c6ac6

companies trading palm oil, cattle, wood, coffee, cocoa, rubber and soy will need to verify that the goods they sell in the EU haven’t led to deforestation and forest degradation anywhere in the world since 2021.

The regulation also covers derived products such as chocolate or printed paper.

“Under DeSantis’s new laws, Floridians may never learn there was once a Black Superintendent of Schools in #Florida who was so forceful in his advocacy for civil and educational rights, that he had to sleep armed in his attic to ward off attacks from the KKK. Meet Jonathan Gibbs.” ⬇️⬇️ #BlackTwitter #BlackMastodon #BlackTwitterAllies #BlackMastodonAllies

https://twitter.com/profgabrielle/status/1658476337060003845?s=12&t=hVhA7Kp1h-yFBa787NhT3g

As GOP aims to punish poor, CBO says extending Trump tax cuts for rich would add $3.5 trillion to deficit https://www.rawstory.com/as-gop-aims-to-punish-poor-cbo-says-extending-trump-tax-cuts-for-rich-would-add-3-5-trillion-to-deficit/ #politics #uspol

Sickening.
These "judges" are rightwing extremist activists, not judges.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/17/abortion-pill-appeal-court-arguments/

@GottaLaff
btw, did you see Tacopina's latest gaffe about women? He dismissed a request from Victor Willis's family to stop playing Village People songs at Trump rallies until he was "asked by Willis himself". Didn't seem to know Willis's wife, Karen, is an experienced entertainment industry lawyer.

Via Scott MacFarlane:

ALERT: Justice Dept to seek 87 months in prison in #Jan6 case of Richard Bigo Barnett.

#DOJ about Barnett action inside Pelosi officer area: "Barnett found an envelope addressed to a congressman bearing the Speaker’s franking signature and stole it. Barnett then sat in the chair and posed for photos with his feet up on the desk, displaying the stolen envelope, and sticking out his tongue... Some of the photos captured the stun device at his waist"

Sen. Ron Wyden again seeks documents related to Justice Clarence Thomas gifts https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2023/05/17/Harlan-Crow-Clarence-Thomas/6071684357561/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

“The House voted on Wednesday to refer a Democrat-led resolution to expel Rep. George #Santos to the Ethics Committee, a move that allowed Republicans to avoid weighing in directly on the politically perilous question of expulsion for the embattled New York Republican.”

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/17/politics/santos-house-vote

Penguin Random House and others today sued school leaders in #Florida's Escambia County claiming that they have been too harsh in removing and restricting books from public school libraries.

The legal challenge is the latest attempt to undermine policies enacted by the state's #GOP leaders restricting how students can be taught about race and gender issues.

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/17/penguin-random-house-others-sues-florida-school-district-over-book-bans-00097501?cid=mas

Also thinking today, as new anti-trans laws go into effect in FL or get signed to go into effect July 1st, of all the queer and trans people here in FL who can't leave. We've been fighting so long on so many fronts to protect our rights here in the state, and there are some big players helping (hello, Disney??? ACLU?) but it's not enough. And we're tired. We're trapped, and we're tired, and we need the rest of the country to rise up and say "Enough. No more."

"I have seen how the Palestinian people are at best second class citizens on their own ever-shrinking lands. Clearly, this is apartheid. We have denounced and defeated it before and we must again. Do not be brow-beaten into silent complicity by claims that supporting the near-defenseless Palestinian people is anti-semitic. The far-right government of Israel is doing this, not the Jewish people. Stand with the​​​​​​​ defenselessness, not the powerful." Mike said regarding this action. [2/n]