Thurs - What Puts the "Red" in "Red State"? - Blood

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Today's Worst Joke in the World

If ignorance is bliss, there should be more happy people.
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Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees

Doesn't the QOP Believe In Parental Rights?  No.

A new lawsuit filed Wednesday is challenging Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive to investigate parents who provide gender-affirming care to their transgender children. The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal on behalf of three families, including the Briggle family, who have long been advocates for trans rights, including hosting Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton for dinner with their transgender son.

The lawsuit also seeks to block the state from investigating any families that belong to PFLAG, an advocacy group for parents and family members of LGBTQ+ people.

The state is currently blocked from investigating one family that brought a prior legal challenge. This lawsuit seeks to widen the number of people who cannot be investigated under the directive; according to the filing, PFLAG’s 17 chapters in Texas have over 600 members combined.

At least nine families are currently under investigation for potential child abuse by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services for providing gender-affirming care to their transgender children.

The QOP Hears From the People They Really Represent

More than 200 business leaders, representing employees in all 50 states, sent a joint letter to the Senate on Thursday, demanding “bold urgent action” to address gun violence in the wake of the killing of 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas last month.

“Like you, we continue to bear witness to the toll of America’s gun violence epidemic and its impact on our communities. Our country needs you to take bold urgent action to address our gun violence epidemic,” the letter said.

The letter is signed by some of the nation’s largest companies including Bloomberg LP, The Permanente Medical Group, Levi Strauss (LEVI), Dick’s Sporting Goods, Lyft and the Philadelphia Eagles.

The letter also notes the economic toll that gun violence takes.

“At a time when our economy is struggling to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, gun violence costs American taxpayers, employers and communities a staggering $280 billion per year. Employers lose $1.4 million every day in productivity and revenue, and costs associated with victims of gun violence,” the letter said.

Blame Previous Guy

If you need someone to blame for high gas prices, blame Vladimir Putin … and Donald Trump. Because when it comes to U.S. production, Trump presided over the biggest oil crash in history.

Here’s a graphic you’re unlikely to have seen on the news when the Very Serious People are making vague statements about how President Biden’s policies have affected oil prices.



The greatest single drop in U.S. oil production in history happened under Donald Trump. This came even as Trump was chopping away environmental regulations and delaying higher requirements for automobile mileage. It happened in spite of Trump authorizing pipelines and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and opening up national parks to exploitation. It happened because Trump so mismanaged the economy under the pandemic that not even his favorite industry could avoid taking a nose dive.

Trump’s handling of the economy was so chaotic that it created a disruption in oil production from which the industry has still not recovered. That’s something that both Republicans and the media pretend never happened.

Since Trump left office, U.S. production has gone up, not down. The fact that prices were increasing before Russia’s invasion is explained by two simple facts: 1) Speculators were already doing what they do—speculating—by guessing that Russia was going to invade, and 2) Joe Biden’s economic policies were driving up growth in the U.S. generating a rising demand for oil.

In addition to driving the economy off yet another Republican cliff, Trump contributed to those prices at the pump in another big way. President Obama had put in place fuel efficiency guidelines that required 5% increases each year through 2026. Under Obama, manufacturers would have been required to reach 54.5 mpg efficiency for both cars and light-duty trucks by model year 2025. Current efficiency requirements would be 48 mpg.

But as soon as he reached office, Trump began the process of rolling back those requirements. It became official in 2020, but the Obama requirements were never applied by the Trump Department of Transportation under Elaine Chao (Mitch McConnell’s wife). Under Trump, automakers had until 2026 to reach just 32 mpg. Over the course of his four years in the White House, the requirements for light trucks increased just over 1 mpg.

Does in Go Up or Down in the Polls?

Ryan Kelley, one of the Republican candidates for Michigan governor, was arrested Thursday morning on misdemeanor charges in the January 6th riot, the FBI confirmed to News 8.

Kelley, 40, of Allendale, was charged in federal court on Thursday for knowingly entering or remaining on the U.S. Capitol or its grounds without authority, disorderly and disruptive conduct in that space, knowingly engaging in any physical violence against persons or property on U.S. Capitol grounds and willfully injuring or attacking property of the United States, court documents say.

“In this case, the FBI received multiple tips regarding Ryan Kelley’s presence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021,” a document written by the FBI and submitted to the court says.

Those tips were both anonymous and from people who left their names. They came in online and through the FBI tip line. An FBI source also identified one of the people seen at the Capitol as Kelley.




Somehow, No One is Reporting That This Happened


































Guns Don't Kill People.  Smartphones Kill People.  Bring Back Dumb Phones!




While You're At It, Bring Back Hitler

Republican House candidate Carl Paladino praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s ability to rouse “the crowds” and declared Hitler “the kind of leader we need today” in a February 2021 interview on the radio station WBEN in Buffalo, New York.

Paladino, a businessman and leading GOP figure in New York state who was the party’s gubernatorial nominee in 2010, is running for the Republican nomination to replace the retiring Rep. Chris Jacobs (R-N.Y.).

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), chair of the House Republican Conference, the third-ranking position in GOP House leadership, swiftly endorsed Paladino after Jacobs announced his retirement.

“I was thinking the other day about — somebody had mentioned on the radio Adolf Hitler and how he aroused the crowds,” Paladino said, chuckling a little bit as he said the Nazi dictator’s name. “And he would get up there screaming these epithets and these people were just — they were hypnotized by him. That’s, I guess, I guess that’s the kind of leader we need today. We need somebody inspirational.”

Have Mouth, Will Blabber

Carl Paladino, a Republican congressional candidate in Buffalo, New York, backtracked on his claim that he didn’t post a conspiracy theory related to the mass shooting in Buffalo to his Facebook page on Wednesday.

He did, the candidate said, he “just didn’t remember” doing it.

Paladino, a New York co-chair of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, announced he was running in New York’s 23rd Congressional District race last week.

The seat will become vacant after GOP Rep. Chris Jacobs, who said he would back an assault rifle ban following the mass shootings last month, backed out of a reelection campaign due to backlash over his gun control stance.

Earlier this week, Media Matters reported that Paladino, a Buffalo native, shared a “false flag” conspiracy theory to his Facebook.

The conspiracy theory, the website shared, claimed the May 24 mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, which killed 19 students and two teachers, and one on May 14 at a market in Buffalo, which killed 10 people, were a way for Democrats to “revoke the 2nd amendment and take away guns,” and claimed the 18-year-old accused in the Uvalde massacre had been receiving “hypnosis training” through the federal government.

Paladino, after an earlier statement saying he didn’t know how to post to Facebook and that the post “wasn’t” from him, said he wrote the post, The Buffalo News reported.

“I just didn’t remember the fact that I published it; I couldn’t remember,” Paladino said.

He Will Do Anything For Money, and He Will Do That.

Dustin Johnson sat in front of a “LIV Golf” logo in England this week and, with a straight face, said, “I chose what’s best for me and my family.”

The money, he meant. Blood money, but never mind that.

When you have made a mere $72 million in your PGA Tour career, when your additional outside endorsement money starts with the TaylorMade cap they pay you to wear, when your father-in-law happens to be Wayne Gretzky, well, you get used to wealth and all that matters is more more more.

No matter the cost, apparently.

The cost in reputation, in legacy — all of the things that comprise one’s good name, the things so readily sacrificed in the name of greed.

Johnson is not alone. Former star Greg Norman and fading star Phil Mickelson are with him. So are Sergio Garcia, Graeme McDowell and a bunch of lesser lights.

But Johnson, a two-time major winner, currently ranked No. 15 in the world and still in his prime(ish) at 37, is the top current golfer to abandon the PGA Tour for the riches of the upstart LIV Invitational Golf Series.

On Wednesday, it was reported 2020 U.S. Open champ Bryson DeChambeau will join the breakout tour for its first U.S. event in three weeks in Portland, Ore.

History will note these are the dubious trailblazers who, in 2022, volunteered themselves as for-hire pawns of Saudi Arabia and all it stands for. And they always will be, the stain on their name indelible.

This is What Passes for Reasoning in the QOP

The massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde Texas that left 21 people dead, 19 of them children, has ignited a new level energy behind gun control reform, and a bipartisan Senate working group is "optimistic" legislation will pass.

On the House side, however, America's two parties remain firmly divided. A Wednesday vote on the Democratic Party's gun control bill, the Protecting Our Kids Act, passed the House 223-204, earning only five Republican votes. This followed a notice from Republican leaders earlier this week instructing members to vote "no" on the bill.

Congressman Tony Gonzales, who represents the Texas congressional district that houses the city of Uvalde, was among the "no" votes. In an interview with Newsweek, the freshman representative explained why he did not support the Democrat's new proposals.

"The reason why I'm a 'no' on all of them is: One, they don't get to the root of the problem," Gonzales said. "Two, they have a 0.00% chance of passing into law, so they're not real; and three, there has been no debate over it. We literally came back from our districts [on Tuesday], and on [Wednesday] we're voting on all of these bills."

How Good Is Thai Food After a Joint?  One Night in Bangkok Just Got Better.

People in Thailand can now grow cannabis plants at home and sell the crop after the nation removed marijuana from its banned narcotics list.

The nation is the first to advance such a move in South-East Asia, a region known for its stringent drug laws.

But recreational use is still banned, even though advocates say the easing effectively decriminalises marijuana.

The government is hoping that developing a local cannabis trade will boost agriculture and tourism.

It's even giving away one million cannabis seedlings to citizens to encourage pick-up.

"It is an opportunity for people and the state to earn income from marijuana and hemp," said Anutin Charnvirakul, deputy prime minister and health minister, on his social media accounts last month.
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Today's Best Person in the World Nominees

Who Knew Finance is a Foreign Language?

High school students in Michigan will soon be guaranteed a personal finance course before they graduate.

The Michigan House of Representatives on Tuesday passed HB 5190 by a vote of 94-13. The bill passed the state’s Senate in May with a vote of 35-2. Next, it will be sent to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for her to sign into law.

Her signature will make Michigan the 14th state to mandate personal finance education at the high school level, according to Next Gen Personal Finance’s bill tracker.

“At the most fundamental level, a high school education must prepare students for adult life,” said Rep. Diana Farrington, R-Utica, a sponsor of the bill, in a statement.

“Personal finance should be part of that educational preparation,” she added. “A financial literacy class will familiarize students with key financial concepts, helping them understand how to handle their personal budgets.”

Michigan’s legislation requires that all high school students take a half-credit course in personal finance before they graduate. That course can count as a math, arts, language or language other than English requirement at the discretion of local school boards.

Let's Hear What Jesus Said




It's a Great Step, But They Will Sell Them for 13 More Years.  Then Those Cars Will Stay in Service Another 12 Years.

 European lawmakers have voted to ban the sale of new diesel and gasoline cars and vans in the E.U. from 2035, representing a significant shot in the arm to the region’s ambitious green goals.

On Wednesday, 339 MEPs in the European Parliament voted in favor of the plans, which had been proposed by the European Commission, the E.U.’s executive branch. There were 249 votes against the proposal, while 24 MEPs abstained.

It takes the European Union a step closer to its goal of cutting emissions from new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles by 100 percent in 2035, compared to 2021. By 2030, the target is an emissions reduction of 50 percent for vans and 55 percent for cars.

The Commission has previously said passenger cars and vans account for roughly 12 percent and 2.5 percent of the E.U.’s total CO2 emissions. MEPs will now undertake negotiations about the plans with the bloc’s 27 member states.

The U.K., meanwhile, wants to stop the sale of new diesel and gasoline cars and vans by 2030. It will require, from 2035, all new cars and vans to have zero tailpipe emissions. The U.K. left the E.U. on Jan. 31, 2020.
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Invasions Have Consequences

Day 106

Fighting

Russian forces control most of the strategic city of Severodonetsk and are heavily shelling the twin city of Lysychansk, causing major damage, the governor of Luhansk region said.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the fight for Severedonestsk was “a very brutal battle, very tough, perhaps one of the most difficult throughout this war,” and said it is “where the fate of our Donbas [region] is being decided now”.

A mayoral aide in the city of Mariupol said 50 to 100 bodies have been found in many of the devastated high-rise buildings that are being searched, calling it an “endless caravan of death”.

Russian forces killed four civilians and injured another 11 in the Donetsk region on Wednesday, the governor said, and the Luhansk governor said attacks killed at least four people and injured six in Luhansk.

Two British nationals and a Moroccan captured while fighting for Ukraine could face the death penalty in one of Russia’s proxies in eastern Ukraine, Russia’s RIA state news agency reported.

Russia has launched at least 2,100 missiles against Ukraine since the start of the invasion, according to information collected by Visegrad, a cultural and political alliance of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. More than 600 of the missiles were launched from Belarus.

Diplomacy

Zelenskyy said that Russia will not join negotiations to end the war at present “because Russia can still feel its power”.

The US and China are expected to use the upcoming Shangri-La Dialogue summit to discuss the war in Ukraine, the Reuters news agency reported.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal thanked the European Parliament for voting in favour of making his country a candidate for EU membership.

Ukraine filed eight more war crimes cases against Russian soldiers, in addition to three sentences already handed down, adding up to now more than 16,000 opened investigations into possible war crimes during Russia’s invasion.

Moscow’s chief rabbi left Russia after coming under pressure to support its invasion of Ukraine, according to a relative.

Economy

The Institute of International Finance estimated Russia’s economy will shrink by 15 percent this year. Russia’s deputy prime minister said the country’s economy has been growing despite sanctions, Tass news reported.

A United Nations Global Crisis Response Group report said the war “has exacerbated a global cost-of-living crisis unseen in at least a generation” and is undermining the UN goal of ending extreme poverty around the world by 2030. It said that the war in Ukraine is increasing the suffering of millions of people by escalating food and energy prices, coming on top of ills from a growing financial crisis, the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.

The world economy will pay a “hefty price” for the war in Ukraine encompassing weaker growth, stronger inflation and potentially long-lasting damage to supply chains, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said.

China’s telecommunications giant Huawei has begun closing its retail outlets in Russia in part due to a decrease in demand, Moscow’s state news agency RIA reported.

Volkswagen is offering payoffs to employees at one of the company’s two plants in Russia if they agree to quit voluntarily, the Kommersant newspaper said.

Russia and Turkey have voiced support for a safe corridor in the Black Sea to allow Ukrainian grain exports, but Kyiv has rejected the proposal, saying it is not credible.

The UN said it is pursuing a deal that would allow grain exports from Ukraine through the Black Sea and unimpeded access to world markets for Russian food and fertilisers.

Russia has no legal obligation to facilitate the export of grain from Ukraine, a top official from Russia’s committee on constitutional legislation and state building said.

The Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said Ukraine would have to remove mines from its ports to allow them to reopen.

For Russia, Soldiers = Terrorists.

Two Britons and a Moroccan who were captured while fighting for Ukraine have been sentenced to death by a Russian proxy court in eastern Ukraine.

Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and Saaudun Brahim are accused of being mercenaries, Russian state media says.

The court, which is not internationally recognised, is in the pro-Russian so-called Donetsk People's Republic.

The men's lawyer said they all wished to appeal against the sentence, Russia's Tass news agency reports.

All three men were charged with being mercenaries, the violent seizure of power and undergoing training to carry out terrorist activities, RIA Novosti said.

The Britons' families have insisted they are long-serving members of the Ukrainian military and not mercenaries.

Severodonetsk

Reportedly half of Russia's entire army in all of Ukraine has been deployed in the Severodonetsk area.

From a Ukrainian Official:

The situation in Severodonetsk is very difficult. For the Russians, this (the capture of the city - ed. ) is fundamental, because they have already lied that they completely control it, but in fact there are battles in the city. Therefore, they throw all their reserves there and fire with everything they have.

A couple of days ago, the special forces really came in and cleared almost half of the city. When the Russians realized this, they simply began to level it with airstrikes and artillery. It makes no sense to sit in some high-rise building and wait until everything is completely destroyed.

Therefore, ours now again control only the outskirts of the city. But the fighting is still going on, Severodonetsk is being defended by us, it is impossible to say that the Russians completely control the city. And in the near future, I hope that this will not happen.

Ukrainian special forces reportedly operate at night, clear blind Russians from its positions, then retreat when Russia responds with its typical smash-everything artillery barrage. With nothing but rubble left standing, Ukraine is no longer restricted by its desire to protect urban infrastructure. Thus, Ukraine can now rain its own artillery and mortar fire from Lysychansk’s high ground anytime Russian forces expose themselves amidst the rubble.







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When Are They Going to Find Remains of the One-Eyed, One-Horned, Flying, Purple People Eater?

Remains of Europe's largest ever land-based dinosaur have been discovered on the Isle of Wight, scientists say.

Palaeontologists at the University of Southampton identified the remains of the predator, which measured more than 32ft (10m) long and lived about 125 million years ago.

The prehistoric bones belonged to a two-legged, crocodile-faced, predatory spinosaurid dinosaur.

PhD student Chris Barker, who led the research, said it was a "huge animal".
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The "Red" in "Red States" is the Blood

The firearm mortality in New York state is 5.3 people per 100,000. Even that number is very high compared to nations around the world. Still, it’s lower than the 10.8 rate in Illinois. So that claim about Chicago is … completely wrong. Not when states like Louisiana and Mississippi have death rates from guns over 25. Just to hammer that home, the rate of firearm mortality in these states is five times that in New York and over twice that of Illinois. No wonder these are considered “deep red states.”

Why would that be? Because the rate of gun ownership in New York is 20%, while in both Louisiana and Mississippi, the number is greater than 50%. Illinois is in the middle with 28%.

More guns, more deaths by gun.

Yes, it’s easy to point at cities like Chicago and make a weak argument about gun control laws not working, but the fact is that Chicago is directly adjacent to Indiana. What’s in those little blocks just across the line? Gun shops. Lots of them. Proving nothing more than if you make it dead simple to get deadly weapons people will still end up … dead. New York, where state law is more comprehensive and neighboring states are less willing to make a quick profit from selling murder machines to out-of-state residents, has fewer guns and many fewer deaths.

But even in Illinois, Chicago is not the hotspot for gun deaths. The numbers out of Chicago are waved around by pro-gun forces because: 1) That false perception that it has some very tough restrictions, and 2) the pervasive idea that it’s a hotbed of gang violence (an idea reinforced not just by right-wing media but by the genuinely pervasive cop TV that fills broadcast airwaves). But the truth is the only thing that makes Chicago seem to stand out is that it’s large. With 9.5 million people in the Chicago metropolitan area, it contains by far the greatest bulk of Illinois’ 12.7 million population.

Even so, notorious Cook County has a rate of 13 deaths per 100,000—that’s higher than the state average, but a lot less than smaller counties like Vermillion, which tops 15. Or the downstate county of St. Clair that touches 20. Tiny Massic county, with a total population of 14,041 and a statue of Superman in its capital city of Metropolis, has a rate of firearm mortality that is well above that of Chicago.







Firearm Mortality by State
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