US Politics, March 2023: "We want our own safe space, and we deserve it"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/03/07/actor-ben-savage-congress-schiff/

Former “Boy Meets World” actor Ben Savage is running for a U.S. House seat in a Los Angeles district represented by Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D), who is seeking California’s open Senate seat.

Savage, who had filed as a Democrat in January, formally announced his bid Monday in an Instagram post, declaring himself a union member, longtime resident of the district, and “unhindered by political divisions and special interests.” He emphasized his newness to politics in the post. Savage previously ran for a West Hollywood city council seat in 2022 and lost with more than 6 percent of the vote, according to election records.

“I’m running for Congress because it’s time to restore faith in government by offering reasonable, innovative and compassionate solutions to our country’s most pressing issues,” he said.

EVery generation gets the Gopher it deserves.

Biden bucks liberals and tells Democrats to get tough on crime.

“Crime is only gaining salience as an issue. It seems that Biden, as he apparently runs for re-election, is informing his party to wake up," said @mattsgorman.https://t.co/YHWzOYOor1

— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) March 6, 2023

C'mon man! FUND the police!

Biden knows that '90s nostalgia is hot right now, so looking to remaster the 1994 crime bill for a deluxe anniversary reissue. Savvy!

Biden's got no fecks to give.

FINALLY somebody who promises to "get tough on crime"

Can't believe nobody's ever tried this before

They've got the big brains on this one

Wake up Democrats!!!

I cannot believe people are falling for this fucking bullshit again

Maybe it'll work the 50000000000000000th time we shovel money into police departments and do absolutely fucking nothing about the utterly broken systems of early years education, medicine, after-school programs etc

I mean it's okay, it's only people's entire lives we're playing with for the sake of election positioning

Go ahead fuck it why not!

xpost - They are, believe me. It's been really disappointing to hear how many people I interact with on a daily basis, many of them who are otherwise very liberal and in some cases outspokenly anti-police, who have suddenly gone all in on "crime" being the number one issue that needs to be addressed.

"Last fall, Gallup found that a record 56% of Americans reported crime had gone up in their area — the highest uptick since the pollster first started asking the question in 1972. A follow-up survey in January found that 72% of Americans expected crime to continue to rise this year.

Residents of urban areas reported a 15 percentage point drop in their perceived quality of life over past year in deep-blue New Jersey, according to a new Monmouth University poll, while suburbanites said their quality of life remained stable."

Beyond the issue that throwing money at the carceral complex won’t actually change anything, there’s also the fact that crime, including violent crime, is very low at present.

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/10/31/violent-crime-is-a-key-midterm-voting-issue-but-what-does-the-data-say/

The conservative hellion who lives upstairs babbled for minutes a few weeks about how "these savages" (in Cuban Spanish) broke into her son's Jeep, stealing minor crap from the glove compartment. They called the cops.

Last week I went to my car early in the morning and noticed a thief had stolen a supply of quarters I keep by the gear shift. I left the door open or they opened it. Either way, I don't give a shit, nor is my incident an indicator that Crime Is Up. But most people blow up the anecdotal into a Kantian imperative.

https://townsquare.media/site/385/files/2020/10/violent-crime-NJ.jpg?w=1200&h=0&zc=1&s=0&a=t&q=89

People are fed lies by a very well organized set of lobbyists and a credulous press that swallows every word of it and churns out stories about shortages of cops etc it's just maniacal when you look at the data, it's bullshit but EVEN IF IT WEREN'T it has been shown again and again that cops do not reduce crime

Sorry but I've just about had it. I am completely fed up

What seems to be happening, at least in parts of Chicago, is that crime isn't necessarily up at all, but it seems to be moving into neighborhoods that have traditionally seen less crime.

Like we're probably experiencing the same, or fewer, number of carjackings, but when two of them happen in Lincoln Park, folks act like the end times are upon us.

Here's a comment, jon, from one of the sites I visit:

Despite Fox News focus on it NYC specifically has seen little increase. But it's very bad in places like Baltimore and Chicago. Generally it also seems more widespread, compared to the nineties there has been some convergence between rural and urban areas leading to people who lived through the nineties to think if it's thus bad here what must it be like in NYC.

I think at this point we do have to acknowledge that crime is worse, but we also need to get the message across that it doesn't seem correlated with how hard or soft an area is on crime. Big problem is the increase is too new to really be able to take a data driven approach to the current increase.

Residents of urban areas reported a 15 percentage point drop in their perceived quality of life over past year in deep-blue New Jersey, according to a new Monmouth University poll, while suburbanites said their quality of life remained stable.

A couple of restaurants I really liked in my city have closed over the last year, but I don't know if I'd call it a 15% drop in quality of life. Maybe 9-12%.

Here in Oakland at least, rates of crime are hard to evaluate... so many people are like, "well, they stole my catalytic converter for the 3rd time, I'm not even gonna bother calling the police anymore" because all they do is show up like a day later and take a report that gets filed away somewhere

I tried to file a report online when all my buildings' mailboxes were broken into one night. My police report was REJECTED because I wasn't the victim, I guess they wanted each of the 20 residents to file separately. I didn't even know that police reports could be rejected, but I guess it helps their numbers

tbf a part of the problem in Chicago is the cops are still fucking whining about the protests and refusing to do jack shit. also the embarrassing shit like this:

WATCH LIVE: SkyCam9 over Mt. Sinai Hospital after a Chicago police officer is shot on the city’s South Side | Details: https://t.co/VSU0qFStDP pic.twitter.com/uEGW9P3zRq

— WGN TV News (@WGNNews) March 2, 2023

at one point I saw a report that over 400 units converged on the hospital. yes, that's what needs to happen when one (1) police officer is shot.

at one point I saw a report that over 400 units converged on the hospital. yes, that's what needs to happen when one (1) police officer is shot.

This is a plot point in the movie Triple 9. A group of criminals plan a robbery that involves shooting a cop, calling it in, and then committing a heist across town while all the other cops speed to the scene to stand around consoling each other.

"He was just two days away from retirement.."

oh, so when the police all gather in solidarity, in their cars no less, it's cool for them to block access to the hospital

there's been a slight uptick of violent crime here, but it seems focused around drugs and kids that fell out of the system during the pandemic

both of which are social problems exacerbated by human misery and a breakdown of community

when most people say their quality of life has gone down, it means "I see more homeless people"

oh, so when the police all gather in solidarity, in their cars no less, it's cool for them to block access to the hospital

yep! totally cool that ambulances had to be diverted to other, more distant hospitals because cops are babies.

look out, someone squeezed out a giant turd on the house floor

“I hereby appoint the honorable Marjorie Taylor Greene to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. Signed, Kevin McCarthy” pic.twitter.com/Em5JsIH5uW

— Acyn (@Acyn) March 8, 2023

Caligula's horse

there's always a "yes, we can go even lower" with the USA, isn't there

all part of the wheelin' & dealin' she did with Gaetz

they also get to park in McCarthy's spot on Fridays

"so, about those Jewish space lasers..."

Here we go, this is what I want to see more of. Not just as one-offs but as sustained effort. Concerts aren't enough, obviously, but it still feels good to see. https://www.stereogum.com/2216210/love-rising-tennessee-lgbtqia-benefit-concert/news/

Love Rising is a benefit concert that will take place later this month at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville to raise money for LGBTQIA+ organizations in response to the state’s anti-LGBT legislation, including the recently passed laws restricting drag shows and transgender treatment and surgery for minors.

Artists tapped to perform at the event include Hayley Williams, Jason Isbell, Julien Baker, Allison Russell, Amanda Shires, Brittany Howard, Brothers Osborne, Hozier, Jake Wesley Rogers, Joy Oladokun, Maren Morris, Mya Byrne, Sheryl Crow, the Rainbow Coalition Band, Yola, and more that are yet to be announced.

that's great - hopefully Dolly jumps on the bill

Need a drag runway show between sets imo

more marj:

Majorities of Americans in both parties said they disagree with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) recent call for a “national divorce” between Republican- and Democratic-led states, according to a new poll released on Wednesday.

Greene called for a “national divorce” in a tweet last month in order to “separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government.”

“From the sick and disgusting woke culture issues shoved down our throats to the Democrat’s traitorous America Last policies, we are done,” she said in the tweet.

America Last! Dems have some work to do, we're still well above some other nations

Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill into law this week that rolls back a number of child labor protections across the state, including a measure that had required employers to obtain work certificates for children under the age of 16.

...Previously, minors under the age of 16 needed to verify their age and get the written consent of a parent or guardian before a work certificate could be issued by the state’s Division of Labor. But H.B. 1410, known as the Youth Hiring Act of 2023, which passed the Arkansas state legislature earlier this month, no longer requires youth under the age of 16 to have that work certificate as a condition of their employment.

...opponents of the legislation have argued that the work certificate served as a form of protection for vulnerable youth, especially immigrant youth, who may not always have a parent or guardian to sign off for them to work and who could be exploited without that certificate.

...Sanders’ signing of the bill comes after a major US food sanitation company that operated facilities in eight states, including Arkansas, recently paid a $1.5 million civil penalty for employing minors in hazardous conditions.

Packers Sanitation Services illegally employed at least 102 children between the ages of 13 and 17 in jobs that required them to use toxic chemicals and clean razor-sharp saws.

And it's a trend:

Passage of the Youth Hiring Act of 2023 represents the latest attempt in mostly Republican-led states to loosen child labor laws, despite federal officials seeking to crack down on offenses.

In Ohio, lawmakers are considering a bill that would let 14- and 15-year-old children work year-round until 9pm each day. The bill has bipartisan support and includes a resolution that would ask the federal government to change its child labor laws.

In Iowa, legislative proposals would allow children at least 15 years old to sell alcohol and children at least 14 years old to work specific jobs in meatpacking plants. The Iowa bill would also protect companies from liability if a child got sick or injured or died while at work.

Lawmakers in Minnesota, which is led by a Democratic governor, Tim Walz, have filed a bill that would permit children aged 16 and 17 to work construction jobs.

Reports by the New York Times have exposed the hiring of migrant children to work dangerous jobs at factories and elsewhere, flouting federal law.

Describing a “widespread exploitation of migrant children”, the Times noted that a recent surge in unaccompanied minors across the southern border has driven many into brutal work across the US, forcing some to balance school and work, whether processing milk for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream or making socks for clothing stores.

The Iowa bill would also protect companies from liability if a child got sick or injured or died while at work.

But have any of these kids been exposed to a drag show, that's the main thing we need to focus on here.

we have to keep them working in the meatpacking plants, so that they won't end up at the drag shows, dontcha see

otoh

https://frinkiac.com/meme/S08E15/851500.jpg?b64lines=V2Ugd29yayBoYXJkLCB3ZSBwbGF5IGhhcmQu

note that, in addition to the multi-state slate of anti-lgbtq legislation, Iowa is also introducing legislation to consolidate a lot of state agencies and powers under direct control of the governor

I’d assume it’s pilot legislation drafted by the usual people pushed in a state that managed to recently draft more republican legislators, meaning they’re of the current post-Trump era

it’s absolute garbage

also worth noting the industries employing people of young age that aren’t one-off places are so-called “agriprocessors” aka slaughterhouses. it’s been a running struggle in rural america to keep up with immigrant communities. we had a decent immigrant laborer->education->next generation pipeline at one point, but the idea of english learning programs and solid education are under attack

so the new pipeline is immigrant labor -> their kids work at the same job after education ends at a young age

I’d hope we could make the jobs better but they can’t even figure out how to rotate stations at the factory so you don’t get repetitive strain injuries

How in the hell did I miss that Sarah Fuckabee Sanders was elected governor of Arkansas?!?! Truly just the most cursed timeline imaginable.

'elected'

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