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Meanwhile… In Opposite Land

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* Starting off with the Sunshine State. Axios…

A Florida school district is pulling nearly 2,000 books from its shelves — including some dictionaries and encyclopedias — to make sure they abide by a new state law.

The state law, which prohibits schools from carrying books that describe sexual content, comes as Florida continues to get pushback over its titles banned in prisons and classrooms.

Northern Florida’s Escambia County School District has taken away over 1,600 titles for review, including five dictionaries and eight different encyclopedias, according to PEN America earlier this week.

Part of the legislation, known as HB 1069, “expands parental rights in education by prohibiting classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in Pre-K through 8th grade,” according to the office of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).

* Ohio…

A second transgender woman’s attempt to run for public office in Ohio was challenged under a decades-old law that requires candidates to disclose previous legal names on election documents.

Arienne Childrey, a Democrat vying for a seat in the Ohio house of representatives, learned late last week that the head of her county’s Republican party, Robert Hibner, asked the local board of elections to reject her campaign petition.

Hibner’s letter to election officials comes just days after Vanessa Joy, also a trans woman, was disqualified from running for the Ohio state house. Both Joy and Childrey are accused of violating a 1995 Ohio statute that requires political candidates to disclose any legal name changes within five years of the election. […]

“I wasn’t surprised to get the phone call. Once the articles started coming out about Vanessa’s story, I knew there was a bullseye on us,” Childrey said.

* Another one from Florida. Newsweek…

More than 1,500 books have been temporarily removed from a Florida school district this week, including two written by former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly.

The Florida Freedom to Read Project recently obtained a list of books that have been temporarily removed from libraries in the Escambia County Public School District, which included encyclopedias, The Guinness Book of World Records and two books from conservative pundit O’Reilly: Killing Jesus: A History, and Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault That Changed a Presidency.

According to Pen America, the list also contains titles from David Baldacci, Stephen King, John Grisham and Nicholas Sparks.

In a statement to Newsweek, Escambia County Public Schools Superintendent Keith Leonard said: “I want to clarify that our district has not imposed a ‘ban’ on over 1600 books. Additionally, the dictionary has not been banned in our district. Any claims suggesting otherwise are inaccurate and should be disregarded.”

* Ohio…

An Ohio woman facing a criminal charge for her handling of a home miscarriage will not be charged, a grand jury decided Thursday.

The Trumbull County prosecutor’s office said grand jurors declined to return an indictment for abuse of a corpse against Brittany Watts, 34, of Warren, resolving a case that had sparked national attention for its implications for pregnant women as states across the country hash out new laws governing reproductive health care access.

A municipal judge had found probable cause to bind over Watts’ case. That was after city prosecutors said she miscarried, flushed and scooped out the toilet, then left the house, leaving the 22-week-old fetus lodged in the pipes. Her attorney told the judge Watts had no criminal record and was being “demonized for something that goes on every day.” An autopsy determined the fetus died in utero and identified “no recent injuries.”

Watts had visited Mercy Health-St. Joseph’s Hospital, a Catholic facility in working-class Warren, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) southeast of Cleveland, twice in the days leading up to her miscarriage. Her doctor had told her she was carrying a nonviable fetus and to have her labor induced or risk “significant risk” of death, according to records of her case.

Due to delays and other complications, her attorney said, she left each time without being treated. After she miscarried, she tried to go to a hair appointment, but friends sent her to the hospital. A nurse called 911 to report a previously pregnant patient had returned reporting “the baby’s in her backyard in a bucket.”

* Texas…

Texas state officials this week abruptly blocked federal U.S. Border Patrol agents from entering and patrolling a public area in the border town of Eagle Pass where they typically first encounter migrants who cross the Rio Grande illegally, two U.S. officials told CBS News on Thursday.

After seizing control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas National Guard units deployed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott have prevented Border Patrol agents from entering the area, the federal officials said. Border Patrol has used the park in recent weeks to hold migrants in an outdoor staging area before they are transported for further processing, including last month, when illegal crossings soared to record levels.

Earlier Thursday, Texas state officials prevented Border Patrol boats from patrolling that area, one of the officials added, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press. […]

In a filing early Friday with the Supreme Court, the Justice Department described the extraordinary standoff between Texas and the federal government. Citing testimony from local officials and photos, the Justice Department said Texas was using armed Guardsmen and vehicles to deny Border Patrol agents and federal National Guard soldiers access to roughly 2.5 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.

* Texas…

Kate Cox was pregnant with her third child when she learned the baby had a rare genetic disorder called Trisomy 18. Cox and her husband, Justin, were informed by their doctors that if their child survived the pregnancy, her life expectancy would be at best a week. With the baby’s health at risk as well as her own, Kate and Justin Cox sued the state of Texas for the right to have an abortion.

In her first interview since the Texas Supreme Court ruled against her, Cox talks about the case, her decision to have an abortion in New Mexico, and more in an interview with Tracy Smith for “CBS News Sunday Morning,” to be broadcast Sunday, January 14 on CBS and streamed on Paramount+.

Cox was 20 weeks pregnant when she and her husband filed the lawsuit seeking an exception to Texas’ ban on abortions because of the baby’s condition and the health risks to Cox. On December 11, while the Coxes were in New Mexico, the Texas Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling, saying Kate Cox did not qualify for a medical exemption to the abortion ban.

According to the couple’s attorney Molly Duane, the Texas Supreme Court said “essentially, Kate wasn’t sick enough [for an exemption].”

* Washington Post…

Republican governors in 15 states are rejecting a new federally funded program to give food assistance to hungry children during the summer months, denying benefits to 8 million children across the country.

The program is expected to serve 21 million youngsters starting around June, providing $2.5 billion in relief across the country.

The governors have given varying reasons for refusing to take part, from the price tag to the fact that the final details of the plan have yet to be worked out. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) said she saw no need to add money to a program that helps food-insecure youths “when childhood obesity has become an epidemic.” Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) said bluntly, “I don’t believe in welfare.”

Republican leaders have been criticized for playing politics with children in need, but they argue it is necessary to revert to pre-pandemic spending levels at a time when the United States is trillions of dollars in debt and lawmakers in Washington are struggling to come to a budget agreement. The summer food program was approved as part of a bipartisan budget agreement in 2022.

posted by Isabel Miller
Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 12:45 pm

Comments

==when childhood obesity has become an epidemic==

We’ll starve them. That will get them to lose weight. I have no words for the uncaring attitude Republicans have for people. Treating migrants like cattle. Denying food to kids. These Republicans sure are outstanding human beings. Absolutely pathetic.

Comment by Demoralized Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 12:51 pm
Removing dictionaries? Well, it usually feels like 1984 in Florida, so why not go whole hog.

Comment by Jibba Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 12:53 pm
=Republican governors in 15 states are rejecting a new federally funded program to give food assistance to hungry children during the summer months, denying benefits to 8 million children across the country.=

They’d literally rather let children starve than take money from Biden. Chew on that a while and remember, cruelty is the point.

Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 12:53 pm
For Republicans, the cruelty is the point.

Comment by Nick Name Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 12:56 pm
At some not too distant point, Texas’s behavior is going to cross the line into actual armed rebellion.

Comment by DS Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 12:59 pm
Not banning books, simply removing them from shelves so students don’t have access to them.

Someone sit this nitwit down and tell him he’s not nearly as clever as he thinks.

Comment by Flyin'Elvis'-Utah Chapter Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 1:03 pm
“… Texas’s behavior is going to cross the line into actual armed rebellion.”

They’ve done it twice before. Won the first time, lost the second time.

Comment by Anyone Remember Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 1:07 pm
==Republican leaders have been criticized for playing politics with children in need, but they argue it is necessary to revert to pre-pandemic spending levels at a time when the United States is trillions of dollars in debt and lawmakers in Washington are struggling to come to a budget agreement.==

This framing, free of further explanation, is part of a problem, and part of the reason why “lawmakers in Washington are struggling to come to a budget agreement.” Republicans are on a deliberate and stated campaign to make sure the government functions as poorly as possible, because they fear that accomplishing something while a Democrat occupies the White House will “make Biden look good when we’re only __ away from an election.”

One party is dead-set on doing nothing, and repeatedly labeling it as “congressional gridlock” or some such all-encompassing thing without ever naming the root cause or the primary offenders is malpractice.

Comment by Roadrager Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 1:09 pm
==Not banning books, simply removing them from shelves so students don’t have access to them.

Someone sit this nitwit down and tell him he’s not nearly as clever as he thinks==

Well, I’d open up a dictionary and explain to him how words have meanings, but… you know.

Comment by Roadrager Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 1:10 pm
===Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) said bluntly, “I don’t believe in welfare.===

I bet he believes in more tax cuts though. And Jesus.

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 1:14 pm
Always important to remember Republicans are not pro-life, they’re pro-birth. Because once a child is here they couldn’t give a flying you know what about their health and safety.

Comment by Henry Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 1:15 pm
How is the Texas National Guard being in a standoff with federal agents not a national story?

Also: Texas Republicans are blocking Border Patrol from doing their job…bizaroo world.

Comment by NIU Grad Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 1:23 pm
DS- Armed rebellion, by whom? Their people keep electing the same people. The top 3 locations from Site Selection magazine for new business are 1-Chicago 2-Dallas and 3-Houston with Austin coming in at #7.
Dallas according to Fortune magazine now has more finance workers than both Chicago and LA only being beaten by NY. Standing outside Texas complaining while they continue to get larger and attract more people is ignorant. It’s similar to people from other states saying Illinois is a hell hole when it’s not.

BTW the Ohio trans ballot removal should’ve been an easy catch, the law states name changes within 5 years of running. Equality Ohio should have been all over this, as it’s probably a barrier in many states. While the GOP is using it for obvious trans-phobic reasons, it is set up for criminals to not hide on the ballot via name change. Lesson learned.

Comment by Frida's boss Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 1:25 pm
= Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) said bluntly, “I don’t believe in welfare.” =

Except for himself.

https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/04/29/pork-processor-partially-owned-by-pillen-gets-25-million-federal-grant/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Nebraska/comments/18sfyc4/jim_pillen_says_he_doesnt_believe_in_welfare_but/

Comment by JoanP Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 1:29 pm
==Kate wasn’t sick enough==

Coming from the party that warned of ‘death panels’.

Comment by Jocko Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 1:33 pm
Opposite Land = Twilight Zone. Only, this time we’re not going to see Rod Serling bring us back to reality with a moral of the story.

Comment by Norseman Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 1:40 pm
=parental rights=

This has become camouflage bias and censorship. Politicians have basically goaded parents into trying to make curricular decisions that they are in no way qualified to do. And really, it is a minority trying to make decisions for everyone elses kids. I don’t get wound up when a parent calls and does not want their child to read a certain book or be involved in certain content, but when they try to block it for others I get a bit let’s call it passionate.

Comment by JS Mill Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 1:51 pm
Pillen believes only in “Welfare” if you iu are the right person. He is all for handouts to wealthy people. Property in Omaha area and Lincoln is way up in value so taxes on it are to without any rate changes. He wants to change it to shift the burden to poorer people by loweri g property taxes and replacing that with sales taxes.

Comment by DTownResident Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 1:59 pm
“I don’t believe in welfare.”

Unless it’s my state’s residents benefiting disproportionately from federal tax dollars. We love “free stuff” for ourselves.

Any time they want, the anti “socialism” people can start by ridding themselves of tax dependence.

Comment by Grandson of Man Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 2:14 pm
Hid the dictionaries. What could happen if students studied etymology? Oh, the horror.

Comment by Rudy’s teeth Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 2:34 pm
that Ohio case is haunting. they put that poor woman through a very public experience after her very personal sad experience. hope she sues.

Comment by Amalia Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 3:00 pm
Joan p nailed it. thank you

Comment by flea Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 3:28 pm
***They’ve done it twice before. Won the first time, lost the second time.***

Texas fought for independence from Mexico because Mexico was going to outlaw slavery, and Texas wanted to preserve slavery. Later, Texas fought for independence from the United States, again to preserve slavery.

Texas is the only state in the Union to secede from two different countries to preserve slavery.

Comment by Nick Name Friday, Jan 12, 24 @ 4:14 pm