Love Trumps Hate.

Planting Peace Billboard.

Planting Peace Billboard.

Planting Peace on Thursday erected a billboard right outside the location of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland that depicts Republican primary rivals Donald Trump and Ted Cruz embracing and preparing to kiss. The caption on the billboard reads, “Love Trumps Hate. End Homophobia.”

The billboard is going up just as the Republican platform committee passed what gay Republican groups are calling the most homophobic party platform in the GOP’s history.

Via Planting Peace and Raw Story.

Why Killer Cops Aren’t Prosecuted.

Max Becherer/AP Photo

Max Becherer/AP Photo

Steve Russell (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is a Texas trial court judge by assignment and associate professor emeritus of criminal justice at Indiana University-Bloomington. He lives in Georgetown, Texas) has a good article up at ICTMN. I’m just going to include a few points here. Click over to read the full, two page article.

2. When the officer is the perpetrator of the homicide, he or she is almost never interviewed in the same circumstances as other persons accused of homicide.

A civilian person of interest in a homicide may be interviewed without even a chance to change out of bloody clothes, and investigators will conduct the interview without a defense lawyer present, if possible. A spokesman for the Baton Rouge Police Department told The New York Times that the officers involved in the shooting of Alton Sterling were not interviewed the day of the incident because “we give officers normally a day or two to go home and think about it.”

Taking a human life unleashes powerful feelings even when doing so was necessary. Considering that, a police officer involved in a shooting will often be sent home right away and only returned to duty in a desk job. By union contract or by custom, the officer will have a lawyer provided and plenty of opportunity to talk to that lawyer before giving a statement for the record.

When the system finally does get around to recording the officer’s statement, the officer knows what’s on the video (if there is one, and there so often is now with phones and body-cams prevalent), and so is unlikely to give a statement that conflicts with it.

3. The normal burden of proof is reversed.

In normal circumstances, the homicide investigator is looking for facts to show probable cause to believe that an unjustified criminal homicide took place and the person of interest committed it.

Studies of how innocent people get convicted show a lot of “confirmation bias.” That is, investigators start with a theory of what happened and they minimize or disregard evidence that does not support their preferred theory.

When a police officer has deployed deadly force, the bias of every police investigator is to believe that the use of force was justified. Nobody wants to charge a fellow officer with a crime for coming down on the wrong side of a line around which they have had to dance. Rookie officers don’t get assigned to investigate other officers.

8. The prosecutor needs the police department and vice versa.

Should prosecutors and police start urinating on each other’s shoes, there is no practical limit to how bad each can make the other look in court, and in the court of public opinion.

For this reason, the investigation and prosecution of all officer-involved shootings need to be taken away from the department for which the accused officer works. The choices are a prosecutor from some other jurisdiction (complicated), a special prosecutor (expensive), or a prosecutor from the state Attorney General’s office (possible conflict of interest if the AG has to defend a civil suit from the same incident).

The final way to mitigate the team spirit between prosecutors and police officers is to go to a federal agency. To do this routinely would require legislation, because every officer involved shooting does not contain a federal issue.

Are the feds more competent and honest than the state police? Indians on reservations have strong opinions from watching Major Crimes Act cases.

We’ve come a long way since Indians could not testify against white people in court, but most of those rules came from states. The federal government has been better than that, the modern federal government lionized for honesty in the face of temptation in The Untouchables.

The FBI reported that between 1993 and early 2011, their agents killed 70 people and wounded 80 others. All 150 incidents were internally investigated by the agency that claims to be incorruptible and the source of forensic science that is state of the art for the entire world. How many FBI shootings out of 150 were found to be legally justified?

One hundred and fifty.

Full article is at ICTMN.

Jim Obergefell Takes On Religious Liberty Bigotry.

jim-obergefell-x750

In a disgusting move by the House, they decided to open hearings on anti-LGBT legislation on the Anniversary of the Orlando Massacre. Well done, U.S. Government! That’s the way to show us you really, truly care, and that all lives matter isn’t just a knee-jerk privileged response. For the sarcasm impaired, sarcasm. Jim Obergefell testified, and it is a very moving and emotional testimony. Here’s a bit:

Here’s what I said to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Tuesday.

Chairman [Jason] Chaffetz and Ranking Member [Elijah] Cummings:

Thank you for inviting me to testify today. My name is Jim Obergefell, and I was the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court’s historic marriage equality ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.

June 2015 was a joyous time for me and LGBT people across the country. The Supreme Court decision extending the freedom to marry to all loving couples was a landmark achievement in the long and ongoing struggle for equality under the law. I was deeply honored to have played a role in helping same-sex couples win this victory.

June 2016 was a time of heartbreak for millions around the world, including myself. The murder of 49 people and wounding of 53 others at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., on June 12 was a devastating tragedy and the worst attack on the LGBT community in our nation’s history.

Today, exactly one month after this horrifying event, I am appearing before this congressional committee to discuss a bill that would authorize sweeping, taxpayer-funded discrimination against LGBT people. I think that is profoundly sad. With all due respect to you, Chairman Chaffetz, and the members of this committee, this hearing is deeply hurtful to a still-grieving LGBT community.

It is my opinion that a hearing like we’re having today would have been much better spent in looking at how best to ensure that no one in this country is subjected to violence or discrimination based on who they are or whom they love.

Sadly, that is not the focus of today’s hearing. I will explain why I am so strongly opposed to the so-called First Amendment Defense Act, but I first would like to share a bit more about myself.

Mr. Obergefell’s full article can be read here.

Republic of Cliven Bundy.

Ammon Bundy, son of rancher Cliven Bundy, speaks at an event Friday, April 10, 2015, in Bunkerville, Nev. Credit: AP Photo/John Locher.

Ammon Bundy, son of rancher Cliven Bundy, speaks at an event Friday, April 10, 2015, in Bunkerville, Nev.
Credit: AP Photo/John Locher.

Cliven Bundy may be in jail, but he still has friends in Congress.

The U.S. House of Representatives next week is expected to vote on a proposal that would exempt 48 counties, primarily in the West, from the law that has been used for more than 100 years to protect archaeologically, culturally, and naturally significant resources in the United States, including the Grand Canyon and the Statue of Liberty.

The counties that would be exempted from the Antiquities Act of 1906 cover more than 250,000 square miles — an area nearly the size of Texas. The amendment, which was authored by Rep. Stewart (R-UT) and Rep. Gosar (R-AZ), appears to have two main purposes.

First, it would block the efforts of local communities in Maine, Utah, Arizona, and elsewhere which have been asking President Obama to establish new national monuments in their states.

In southern Utah, for example, the president would not be able to respond to the requests of tribal nations that he protect the Bears Ears area, which is a hotbed of grave robbing, looting, and desecration of sacred sites. It would also prevent the president from protecting Gold Butte in Nevada, where Cliven Bundy illegally grazed his cows for decades, as a national monument.

Though Rep. Gosar argues that the bill prevents local voices from being ignored, in both of the above cases there is strong local support for these national monuments. Seventy-one percent of Utah voters declared their support for a Bears Ears monument and the same percentage of Nevadans support the protection of Gold Butte.

The bill would also block a grassroots call to protect the Grand Canyon from uranium mining, the expansion of which would fall in Rep. Gosar’s district. The petition to protect the area has recently reached more than half a million signatures.

Second, the Stewart-Gosar amendment would make a major concession to the demands of scofflaw rancher Cliven Bundy and his followers who argue that the U.S. government should have no authority over national public lands in the West. Bundy and his sons Ammon and Ryan were arrested and indicted in February for their involvement in armed standoffs with federal law enforcement officials in Nevada and Oregon.

Jesus Christ. Anymore, you have to stay buried in your news media of choice just to know what evil the conservative asshole party is up to day by day. This is awful. I haven’t read enough yet to know if there are ways to fight this, but if I find them, I’ll post.

Full story here.

Trans Guidelines: 10 More States Sue.

Shutterstock.

Shutterstock.

A second lawsuit has been filed by states objecting to the Obama administration’s call for schools to avoid discriminating against transgender students, including the recommendation that trans students be allowed to use restrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identity.

Ten states led by Nebraska filed the suit in federal court in that state, the Associated Press reports. The other states in the suit are Arkansas, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Eleven other states, led by Texas and joined by some school districts and public officials, filed a similar suit in May. Both name the U.S. departments of Education, Justice, and Labor as defendants, plus the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The new suit uses much of the same language as the previous one and contends that federal government departments and agencies do not have the right to interpret the law as they did, declaring that a prohibition on sex discrimination in education also bans discrimination based on gender identity. The sex discrimination clause is in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

I knew this was coming, but it really hurts to see ND in that list.

The federal guidance document on treatment of trans students, issued in May, is not legally binding, but it does advise schools on how to comply with their legal obligations to students. Schools that do not comply may lose federal funding.

The new filing means that nearly half the U.S. states are challenging the Obama administration’s guidance, and doing so based on a “1972 understanding of sex,” notes Zach Ford at ThinkProgress.

They can’t go home to the 1950s, but they’ll take it as close as they can get.

Full story here.

Trump Supports NC HB 2.

donald-trump-now-supports-nations-worst-anti-lgbt-lawx750Yet another flip-flop from the premier con man, who will say anything at any time.

Donald Trump has flip-flopped on his stance on House Bill 2, the controversial law that forces transgender people in North Carolina to use public restrooms that do not correspond with their gender identity.

Trump appeared at a rally in Raleigh on Tuesday, where he spoke with The News and Observer about HB 2, which was forced through the state legislature in an emergency session on March 23. “I’m going with the state,” Trump said. “The state, they know what’s going on, they see what’s happening and generally speaking I’m with the state on things like this. I’ve spoken with your governor, I’ve spoken with a lot of people and I’m going with the state.”

These statements are a complete reversal from his earlier views on the bill.

[…]

Trump was applauded for his moderate stance on LGBT issues, with former GOProud president Chris Barron calling the presumptive Republican candidate “the most pro-gay Republican nominee ever.” The CEO has also claimed that he would be a champion for LGBT equality if elected to office, reiterating that point at Tuesday’s rally.

“I am better for the gay community,” he said. “I am better for women than Hillary will be on her best day.”

[…]

But in reality, he’s been backtracking on his purported LGBT allyship since his initial statements on HB 2 in April. Shortly after speaking out against the bill, Trump amended his condemnation in an interview with ABC, in which he claimed that he would “leave it up to the states” to decide what’s best for transgender people.

“Well, I believe it should be states’ rights, and I think the state should make the decision,” Trump said.

According to Chris Sgro, the executive director of Equality North Carolina, Trump’s flip-flop on LGBT rights shows that he would be dangerous for the LGBT community. “Over and over, he has shown himself to be unqualified as a presidential candidate, and no friend to gay and transgender people,” he said in a statement. “We must resoundingly reject his ill-informed discrimination in November.”

[…]

Trump’s about face on LGBT rights, though, may just be the start.

According to reports, he’s considering Indiana Gov. Mike Pence for the Vice Presidential spot on his campaign ticket. Last year, Pence signed into law the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which made it legal for businesses to discriminate against customers on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. That law was “fixed” after Indiana faced widespread boycotts in response to the bill’s passage, which reportedly cost the state $60 million in potential revenue.

“The Republican Party has a deep bench of qualified vice presidential candidates,” former Trump adviser Michael Caputo told the Indianapolis Star. “Some of them ring certain bells, and others ring other bells. I think Mike Pence rings the most bells of all.”

Once again, I’ll point to Trump’s volatility. He’s a con, and as a con, he will say anything, do anything, offer anything, promise anything, then turn around and do something else. There are a lot of people so anti-Clinton that they will vote for this monumental asshole out of spite. Please, I beg of you, think. Think hard. A vote for this man is to condemn this country into utter chaos, a place where the lives of people like myself will be forfeit, along with a whole lot of others. The States is hardly a shining beacon of humanism right now, but we all need to remember that it can get worse. Much worse.

In related news: Department of Justice Asks Federal Court to Block N.C. Law’s Anti-Trans Provisions.

The Christian Contagion.

We’ve all been watching the rise of white nationalism, going on everywhere, not just in uStates. The march of wannabe fascism is never alone though, it’s always hand in hand with a religion. This is hardly the tidal wave Christians make it out to be, but it’s not nothing, either. When times are interesting, people often turn to religion, and the times we are living in are interesting, to say the least.

People from all over Europe flocked to Nantes, France, last week to seek the Lord at the Grande Conference.

The purpose of the conference this year was to call an increasingly secular Europe back to a true relationship with God.

The key phrase of the conference was “mercy triumphs over judgment,” a banner declaring God’s ability to heal and restore Europe.

Chris Gore, a minister from Bethel Church in California spoke at the event and posted about it on Facebook. He says hundreds of people encountered the gospel and surrendered their hearts to Christ.

“The first session of the conference, over 70 percent of over 1,000 people gave their lives to Jesus for the first time,” Gore writes. “The hope of this nation is the gospel.”

Not only did hundreds of people give their lives to Christ, thousands more experienced life-changing miracles.

“Europe is alive for Jesus! What an incredible night in France. We saw tonight around 2,000 miracles and exactly 100 reports of deaf ears opening,” Gore posted along with a video of an auditorium full of people praising God.

The revival comes in a time when most news headlines bear grim news about Europe. Gore believes the key to overcoming the darkness surrounding Europe is equipping believers to be the light of the world.

[…]

The revival is not just staying in France. Gore and other ministers from around the world are also traveling to conferences in Germany and Austria later this month to change the spiritual condition of Europe with the power of the gospel.

It’s important to remember history here. Wannabe fascists have never  been shy about grabbing onto religion and using it as a vehicle to attain their rise. Here in the States, we’re already watching that one take place. Full Story Here.

War Cry Mockery: Pushing Back.

Shock jock radio host Howie Carr mocks Elizabeth Warren with the hand-over-mouth war cry at a Trump rally on June 29 in Bangor, Maine.

Shock jock radio host Howie Carr mocks Elizabeth Warren with the hand-over-mouth war cry at a Trump rally on June 29 in Bangor, Maine.

Trump’s bigotry seems to know no bounds, and as bigots go, he’s on the equitable side of being bigoted against most everyone. Within that however, Trump remains focused on bigotry and perpetuating nasty stereotypes when it comes to indigenous people. Trump has a history of hating on Natives, and I imagine he was thrilled with the whole Warren business so he could unleash his vituperative venom. As usual, people have no problem picking up such nastiness, doing what they think are Indigenous war cries, like ignorant children playing cowboy, with no thought at all to the real harm and damage they are doing.

While many Americans today are boldly leaning into social consciousness, other pockets of American society remain stubbornly swathed in the white supremacist cloaks of 1950 – an era when racism and bigotry were the celebrated norm.

Enter, Boston-based radio show host, Howie Carr, who recently opened up a Donald Trump rally in Bangor, Maine, with an all-too American mockery of Native Americans while referencing Elizabeth Warren, who claims Cherokee ancestry.

And the crowd loved it. Men turn toward each other laughing in amusement, while someone in the crowd even cheers with a loud whistle of support. A racist rally is a good ol’ time for those Trump Republicans.

But let’s just be clear – this particular critique of yet another charade at the Trump circus isn’t about Trump the Clown or his clown accomplice, Howie Carr. Nor is this critique about Elizabeth Warren, who has failed to adequately address her questionable Native American identity.

[Read more…]

Gyasi Ross on MSNBC.

“I think we have to be very clear, Donald Trump is just a symbol for an antiquated outdated mode of thought that unfortunately still exists.”

“I think we have to be very clear, Donald Trump is just a symbol for an antiquated outdated mode of thought that unfortunately still exists.”

Gyasi Ross, ICTMN’s Editor at Large, appeared on All In With Chris Hayes last night to address Donald Trump’s candidacy and, specifically, Trump’s 1993 quote, “They don’t look Indian,” as part of the presumptive Republican Presidential Candidate’s reoccurring shtick.

Hayes opened the segment by bringing up the opening of Foxwoods resort and casino in Connecticut, which presented competition to Trump’s casinos in Atlantic City. “Under federal law,” Hayes went on, “Native Americans don’t pay taxes on casinos located on their land.” In 1993 Trump sued the federal government by arguing that the law gave an unfair advantage to a certain class of citizen.

Trump was called to testify before Congress and got into a heated exchange with Representative George Miller. That’s when Trump delivered his infamous phrase, “They don’t look Indian.”

Hayes followed the video clip of the exchange by soliciting comments from Ross, and referred to Trump as the “great determiner of who has what ancestry.”

Ross, a Blackfeet Nation citizen, responded, “This is not a new script at all. … In many ways Native people have historically served as the canary in the coal mine in regards to racial relations and this is no different.

ICTMN has the full story, video below.

https://youtu.be/8_GKkst6tM0

Ken Burns Talks Trump.

cbs_ftn_berns_race_150823c-800x430

Ken Burns speaks to CBS (screen grab).

In an interview with the Daily Beast on a retrospective of his films, acclaimed documentarian Ken Burn spent the majority of his time discussing the candidacy of presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and what it says about America.

[…]

Discussing Burns’ film The Central Park Five — about five black teens who were wrongly convicted of assaulting a white woman in New York City — Burns recalled how Trump reacted at the time.

“He shamefully took out a full-page ad in all of the New York dailies asking for a restoration of the death penalty for two 14-year-old, two 15-year-old, and one 16-year-old innocent children,” Burns explained. “While New York State laws would not have permitted their execution, just the fact that there was a rush to judgment ought to be complete evidence of how temperamentally unsuited he is for the office he now seeks.”

Burns makes an excellent point here, in regard to Trump’s volatility. Trump is con man, always ready to twist in the wind, willing to change views in a heartbeat. All his viewpoints are on the repugnant side, which should be enough to scare people away, but it isn’t. Given that, people should seriously consider Trump’s eruptions into temper, and how that would translate in an office of high power.

“I find Donald Trump more of a super-predator. This idea that he can attack and attack and attack whole groups of people, and that we live in a media culture where that’s permitted to be tolerated—it’s the spectacle and not the truth of it,” he said. “An amoral internet permits a lie to travel around the world three times before the truth can get started, and we live in a place where lying is OK—where a lassitude develops where it doesn’t matter what the truth is—and that’s how it’s possible for someone like him to be advanced who is so clearly temperamentally unsuited and has no idea about governing.”

“The Republican Party has been extraordinarily successful at getting many groups of people to vote against their self-interest,” he continued. “Evangelicals are voting for Donald Trump. What part of Donald Trump reminds you of Jesus Christ? Trump lusts after his own daughter on national radio, talks about women’s bodies and breasts in such a disparaging way, and mocks them. How is this in any way Christian? When you make the ‘other’ the enemy, how is that Christian?”

Okay, that last question is silly. Christians are all about othering, it’s the lifeblood of their belief. If you don’t other, how you can get your self-righteous judgment on? (Yes, I know, #notallchristians.)

Full story here.

Catheter Cops.

Urinary catheter (Photo: drawdrawdraw, Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Urinary catheter (Photo: drawdrawdraw, Getty Images/iStockphoto)

South Dakota. I am so not surprised. SD cops aren’t exactly a nice bunch of people, and they have the bad habit of stopping anyone with a Rez license plate, or being suspiciously brown looking. In keeping with that, rather than looking to be good human beings, they’ve gone with a threat, one they are happy to carry out. Anyone who will be traveling in my part of the world, you might want to go around SD.

Police in South Dakota are collecting urine samples from uncooperative suspects through the use of force and catheters, a procedure the state’s top prosecutor says is legal but is criticized by others as unnecessarily invasive and a potential constitutional violation.

The practice isn’t new, according to attorneys, but it’s been brought to light in a recent case in Pierre. An attorney for a man charged with felony drug ingestion is asking a judge to throw out evidence from an involuntary urine sample, saying it violated his client’s constitutional rights.

[…]

“Sticking a needle in your arm is very intrusive – I can’t imagine anything more intrusive than this,” said Ryan Kolbeck, a Sioux Falls lawyer and president of the South Dakota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

It’s unclear how widespread the practice of forced catheterization is in South Dakota. Attorney General Marty Jackley said in an interview that the practice is permitted with a signed court order under state law, and he cited several  cases that supported the legality of the practice.

The attorney general said law enforcement would prefer not to collect urine samples by force, but that ultimately it’s up to suspects if they don’t want to cooperate.

“I don’t think anyone wants to go through that methodology,” Jackley said.

Police always take the person to a hospital if they are going to take a forced urine sample, said Tim Whalen, a Lake Andes attorney who has represented a couple of clients who have had urine samples taken without permission. Health care workers at the Wagner and Platte hospitals conduct the procedure on a regular basis, he said.

“They don’t anesthetize them,” Whalen said. “There’s a lot of screaming and hollering.”

Christ. Yeah, nothing wrong with this at all. Nope.

Kolbeck said he doesn’t know what state law would allow authorities to use forced catheterization. It’s an extreme measure that shouldn’t be used in routine cases such as drunken driving or drug ingestion, he said. Most disturbing, he said, is the fact that it could be happening to women.

“They want someone’s urine that bad?,” Kolbeck said.

The Pierre Police Department declined to comment and deferred all questions to the Hughes County State’s Attorney office. Hughes County State’s Attorney Wendy Kloeppner declined to comment on the case or the practice of forced catheterization.

Pam Hein, a defense attorney in Lake Andes, said the practice of forcing catheters into suspects’ urethras “has been going on for years.”

Hein has seen the issue from both perspectives. She’s served as Charles Mix County State’s Attorney and Bennett County State’s Attorney.

Often an officer will have suspicion of drug use, request the warrant for testing and get the test before any reports on a drug violation charge lands on a prosecutor’s desk.

“Do I think that it’s being abused? Yeah, I do,” Hein said.

Usually it doesn’t come to force, though, Hein said. The threat alone is enough. Officers can hold defendants in a room, sometimes for hours, she said, and then tell them they can offer the urine test voluntarily or face a warrant that would allow the officer to take it by force.

“Most of the time, when they threaten them with catheterization, they said, ‘That’s OK, you can have it,’” Hein said.

I am officially out of words. Argus Leader has the full story.

McCrory: Dying on Bigotry Hill.

Gov. Pat McCrory (R-NC) (nc.gov, Screengrab)

Gov. Pat McCrory (R-NC) (nc.gov, Screengrab)

he North Carolina state legislature is poised to transfer $500,000 from the state’s disaster relief fund to aid in the legal defense of HB2, the heavily-criticized law restricting restroom access, WRAL-TV reported.

“The governor asked for it,” said state Senate Budget Chair Harry Brown (R).

The funding was provided as part of a “technical corrections” bill added to another measure, House Bill 805, on Thursday, following the passage of the $22.34 billion state budget.

This, in the wake of a public statement by The Charlotte Hornets, who are not in favour of HB 2, but it seems there is simply no length to which McCrory is not willing to go to defend his bigotry. What happens if there’s a flood? Those have been happening in the area. What if there’s a fire or other disaster? The people of NC can simply go screw themselves, it seems. Full story here.

Also, North Carolina lawmakers adjourned for the year on Friday night after leaving mostly intact a law restricting transgender bathroom access that has drawn condemnation and jeopardized the state’s efforts to host the NBA All-Star Game, officials said. Full story here.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

The NBA and the Charlotte Hornets announced Thursday night that they will not support the proposed fix by North Carolina lawmakers to House Bill 2, the controversial law that forces transgender people to use public restrooms (in government buildings) that do not correspond with their gender identity.

“We have been engaged in dialogue with numerous groups at the city and state levels, but we do not endorse the version of the bill that we understand is currently before the legislature,” the organizations stated in a press release. “We remain committed to our guiding principles of inclusion, mutual respect and equal protections for all. We continue to believe that constructive engagement with all sides is the right path forward.”

The legislation, forced through during an emergency session of the state’s Congress, was introduced, debated, and passed in a single day. Signed into law March 23, HB 2 has been widely criticized — with over 160 businesses threatening to boycott the state if the bill is not repealed.

North Carolina Republicans had hoped that a compromise bill would quell the backlash. The version of the bill obtained by Charlotte TV station WBTV allows transgender residents to use the public restroom that most closely corresponds with their gender identity as long as they are able to “prove” their gender. Trans people can do so, according to the bill, by furnishing a “certificate of sex reassignment,” one notarized by the physician who performed the surgery. Many transgender people, however, do not have or desire surgery.

In addition, the draft of the bill sent to legislators Wednesday clarified the penalties for using the opposite-sex facilities. “Language in the latest draft of the bill would make it a Class 2 misdemeanor — one level higher than the normal penalty for trespassing — to trespass in a multiple-occupancy bathroom or changing facility,” reports WBTV.

This goes on, as McCrory and his fellow bigots insist on finding some way to legislate open bigotry. What is the final cost of this going to be for the people of North Carolina?

Full story here.

Got Safety Pin?

Credit: Shutterstock.

Credit: Shutterstock.

It might seem that the world is full of only terrible news these days, but from post-Brexit U.K. comes a tiny point of light. People around the country are wearing safety pins to show solidarity with immigrants and take a stand against racism.

The road to Brexit, as the U.K. decision to leave the European Union is called, was marked by blatant anti-immigrant rhetoric. And since last week’s vote, in which the Leave side was ultimately victorious, there’s been a significant increase in hate crimes. According to the National Police Chief’s Council, reported hate crimes have jumped by 57 percent since the vote.

In response to the open environment of hatred, people across the U.K. are now wearing safety pins — and tweeting pictures of themselves wearing them — in an act of solidarity with immigrants. The viral campaign was started by an American woman living in the U.K., who told indy100 that as a white woman, she doesn’t often get the same hate as other immigrants.

SafetyPin

“I’m always having to remind people I’m an immigrant,” she said. “You know, I’m white and speak English as a first language so I get a pass. They say ‘oh you don’t count, you’re not the kind of person we’re talking about.’”

[…]

While the campaign was a bright spot of inclusive push-back online, it was unclear how it translated into real world action. The woman who started the safety pin idea, who goes by the handle @cheeahs on Twitter, said she hopes the safety pins will be a real-world signal to people who may feel threatened that there are allies around.

“It’s just a little signal that shows people facing hate crimes that they’re not alone and their right to be in the UK is supported,” she told indy100. The little signal has now taken off like wildfire.

[…]

While most reactions have been positive, others have pointed out online that simply wearing a safety pin might do little in actuality to fight racism and xenophobia, raising specters of “hashtag activism” — which critics argue allows people to feel they’ve done something, without actually doing anything tangible. Others, however, say that social media campaigns are a vital organizing tactic that can spark a real-world effect — which seems to be the approach adherents to #safetypin, including its originator, are hoping for. On its own, she tweeted, the safety pin means “jack shit,” and it needs to be accompanied by both a decision to both actively speak out against public acts of violence, racism, and xenophobia, and also a decision to actively listen to those who have been marginalized. … “The first step is just getting it out in the open. The more people you start a conversation with, the easier it is to combat violence and abuse,” she said.

Full Story at Think Progress. Got Safety Pin? I do, mine are now in my ears.