#senate house library

[sound-art-text]

A new audio experience that probes the connection between the environment, language, sound and silence, marking a unique collaboration between Artangel and Senate House Library.

A Thousand Words for Weather takes place across three floors of London’s most iconic library as a sonic installation born out of a collaboration between writer Jessica J. Lee and seven other London-based poets of different mother-tongues.

Each poet chose and defined ten words for the weather in Arabic, Bengali, English, German, French, Mandarin, Polish, Spanish, Turkish, or Urdu. They then went on to translate one another's chosen weather words or phrases, contributing to a unique multilingual weather ‘dictionary’ that seeks to generate a shared language describing our collective experience of climate and the changing environment while exploring the nuance of meaning in translating and describing our multilingual realities.  

These words form a sound piece created by sound artist Claudia Molitor and integrated with a bespoke playback system designed by software architect Peter Chilvers that inputs data from the Met Office, enabling the sound to be altered depending on the weather outside.

Visitors will be able to interact with a series of listening posts installed throughout the library, with all admissions taking place during term-time opening hours. You can book a day pass in advance which covers the cost of entry into the library.

#artangel #Claudia Molitor #Senate House Library #eventplanner #weather #A Thousand Words for Weather #climate #sound art #poetry

[deadpresidents]

Do you have any fave history sites you can recommend?

There aren't a ton of history website that I spend much time on, but there are two places that immediately come to mind that might be a surprising source of fascinating history content: the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate websites! The House has a blog of sorts called "Whereas: Stories from the People's House" that has published seemingly endless pieces about really interesting Congressional history. They are usually pretty short, but I have often just got lost digging through all the little stories and following related links. It's really cool. The Senate has a similar site, called Historical Highlights, and, again, there are some really interesting stories about people, events, the artwork or architectural details of the Capitol, and much more.

Both the House and Senate also have links to information about specific traditions or symbols that are really educational and informative. And there are scores of resources that you can download from both institutions -- entire books, along with historic reports and oral histories.

Another thing that you might not know is that you can contact Senate or House historians through the websites of the respective chambers of Congress if you have questions about something and they'll actually respond. A few years back, I was working on something regarding the Vice Presidency and had a really obscure question that I just could not find an answer on. I e-mailed the Senate historian, and a few days later, they responded with a detailed answer, directions to further sources, and an offer to help if I needed any further assistance! I'm not kidding when I say that it was legitimately the most impressed I've ever been with anything connected to the United States Congress.

#History #Congress #U.S. Senate #U.S. House of Representatives #Historians #National Archives #Library of Congress

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Congress should investigate Ginni Thomas for her involvement in the January 6th attack on the Capitol and attempts to overthrow the 2020 election and Justice Clarence Thomas for his failure to recuse from related cases, according to a request sent by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington today to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.

Ginni Thomas, who holds a government position as a board member of the Library of Congress Trust Fund, messaged the Trump White House encouraging then-President Donald Trump to refuse to concede and join an attempt by Sidney Powell to have the Supreme Court overturn the election result. She also contacted multiple state officials in an attempt to have them set aside and alter the result of the election in their states. She told Trump’s chief of staff that an army was gathering to keep Trump in office and took part in the January 6th rallies that led to the attack on the Capitol.

“It is critical that those responsible for the attack on the Capitol be held accountable and that the integrity of the Supreme Court not be tainted by conflicts of interest,” CREW President Noah Bookbinder said. “The Judiciary Committees have responsibility for the oversight of our judiciary and law enforcement agencies, and investigating Ginni Thomas’s conduct and Justice Thomas’s failure to recuse is an essential exercise of that oversight responsibility.”

Justice Thomas has recused himself from 54 cases since joining the Supreme Court in order to avoid the perception of potential conflicts of interest, including 17 cases involving his son. He has never recused because of a potential conflict involving his wife, and was the sole vote to keep the White House’s communications around the attempt to reject the election results secret despite his wife’s communications with the White House on related issues.

“It is hard to imagine something more damaging to the public trust in the Supreme Court than a Justice ruling on cases that could relate to their spouses’ attempts to overturn American democracy,” Bookbinder said. “An immediate investigation is needed.”

#us politics #news #2022 #citizens for responsibility and ethics in washington #justice clarence thomas #ginni thomas #recusal #us supreme court #georgia election investigation #sen. lindsey graham #election interference #house judiciary committee #senate judiciary committee #Library of Congress Trust Fund #Noah Bookbinder #2020 election #the big lie #trump's big lie

[tomorrowusa]

Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI-03) has it in for teens.

Congressman Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin is a MAGA Republican who has a habit of disrespecting teens.

‘Jackasses,’ ‘little s‑‑‑‑’: GOP congressman curses out teenage Senate pages 

Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) is in hot water after he cursed out a group of teenage Senate pages in the Capitol rotunda early Thursday morning.

According to a transcript written by a page minutes after the incident and obtained by The Hill, Van Orden called the pages “jackasses” and “pieces of s‑‑‑,” and told them he didn’t “give a f‑‑‑ who you are.”

The pages are a group of 16- and 17-year-olds who assist Senate operations, and when the Senate works late — as it did Wednesday night on National Defense Authorization Act amendments — pages generally rest nearby in the rotunda.

“Wake the f‑‑‑ up you little s‑‑‑‑. … What the f‑‑‑ are you all doing? Get the f‑‑‑ out of here. You are defiling the space you [pieces of s‑‑‑],” Van Orden said, according to the account provided by the page.

“Who the f‑‑‑ are you?” Van Orden asked, to which one person said they were Senate pages. “I don’t give a f‑‑‑ who you are, get out.”

“You jackasses, get out,” he added.

The incident, which occurred just after midnight, outraged members of the upper chamber, with one calling the string of remarks “horrible.”

[ ... ]

Van Orden did not dispute the exchange and defended his actions when asked by The Hill.

“The history of the United States Capitol Rotunda, that during the Civil War it was used as a field hospital and countless Union soldiers died on that floor, and they died because they were fighting the Civil War to end slavery. And I think that place should be treated with a tremendous amount of respect for the dead,” he said.

Van Ordrn’s defense was pathetic and hypocritical when you look into the company he keeps.

GOP Candidate Bankrolled Jan. 6 Riot Trip With Campaign Cash

Van Orden, a former Navy SEAL and small-time actor, has previously acknowledged attending the Jan. 6 rally, but has repeatedly claimed he never entered the Capitol grounds. However, social media posts from the riot suggest that isn’t true.

A Facebook image from Jan. 6 shows Van Orden standing on a wall on the Capitol grounds that was inside a restricted area. (The Daily Beast recreated the photo on Friday and confirmed that Van Orden would have had to cross police barricades to reach that area.)

Yep, Van Orden was one of the terrorists who assaulted the US Capitol on 06 January 2021. He yelled at teen Senate pages for taking pictures of the rotunda while lying down – apparently a tradition for pages. But did Van Orden yell at his terrorist buddies who smeared their own shit on the Capitol?

MAGA mob rioters smeared their own feces throughout the Capitol and 'tracked brown footprints' in several hallways during violent siege

But wait, there’s more!

Back in his home district, Van Orden yelled at a teen library assistant for a Pride Month display at the public library.

Congressional candidate Derrick Van Orden confronted teen library staffer over Gay Pride display

A staffer at a southwestern Wisconsin library says a Republican congressional candidate threatened her over a gay pride display. 

Kerrigan Trautsch, a page at the Prairie du Chien Memorial Library, told the La Crosse Tribune that Derrick Van Orden came into the library on June 17 and complained loudly about a display of fiction and nonfiction books about homosexuality in the children’s section. The display was part of the library’s efforts to recognize Pride Month. 

Trautsch, who was 17 at the time, describes herself as an advocate for the LGBTQ community. She said Van Orden was angry, and that he said the books offended him and that taxpayers shouldn’t have to see them.

[ ... ]

“He was full-on shouting at this point and he kept aggressively shoving the books around,” she said.

Van Orden ended up checking out every book from the display except one a library patron was already reading, she said. She went home and told her parents that she didn’t feel safe at work anymore.

He’s obviously a homophobe in addition to being a pal of poop smearing insurrectionists.

Van Orden is a first-class asshole. He fits in well in a GOP caucus which includes Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, George Santos, and Lauren Boebert.

Many high profile House GOP assholes like MJT come from super safe districts. But that isn’t the case with Van Orden.

In 2022 Democratic Gov. Tony Evers carried Van Orden’s WI-03. And Van Orden himself won by only 3.8% of the vote last year.

The right sort of Democrat with a good campaign could send Van Orden back to MAGAland where he can smear the walls with poop like his friends on January 6th.

Here’s WI-03.

Though it’s gerrymandered, WI-03 does contain four branches of the University of Wisconsin system. So Florida students trying to escape Ron DeSantis’s takeover of that state’s universities can find refuge at a U of W campus in Wi-03 while helping to make House Republicans a minority again.

And keep WI-03 in mind next year if you like to make individual contributions to congressional candidates.

#derrick van orden #republicans #us house of representatives #wi-03 #wisconsin #derrick van orden hates teens #derrick van orden is a homophobe #house republicans #pride display #prairie du chien memorial library #kerrigan trautsch #us senate pages #us capitol rotunda #assault on the us capitol by pro-trump terrorists #insurrectionists smearing poop on the capitol #election 2024

[always-coffee]

WV Libraries Are Under Attack: How to Help

News came out yesterday that West Virginia House passed House Bill 4654. This would remove “bona fide schools, public libraries, and museums from the list of exemptions from criminal liability relating to distribution and display to a minor of obscene matter. …”

Potentially criminalizing librarians is bad, and it’s straight out of the fascist playbook. “Opponents of the bill said that while the bill does not ban books, the bill would have unintended consequences for public and school libraries, resulting in increases in challenges to even classic books and attempts to criminally charge librarians over books not pornographic in nature, but books that include descriptions of sex. They also said it could result in improper criminal charges against library staff,” Steven Allen Adams writes.

So, the question is: now what? What do we do? Where do we go from here?

If you live in West Virginia, call you state senate reps. You can find them listed here.

It’s okay to keep your message short:

“Hi, I’m [full name] calling from [ZIP code], and I’m a constituent of [Senator Name]. I am calling to voice my opposition to Bill 4654, because this is a dangerous step toward book banning. It could potentially harm librarians and libraries, which is incredibly wrong. Do not back this dangerous bill.

You can also ask how many people have called to voice their opposition to this bill. This may annoy the person on the phone, but they technically have to answer you. They may be evasive anyway. But you can either give them your contact information and tell them you’d like a call back or you can call back again later and ask for the tally.

The thing is, people rarely call in. A handful of calls is considered a lot, and the best thing you can do right now is make yourself a nuisance. Good trouble, etc.

Only call if you live in West Virginia, because they do not count calls from those outside their constituency. I am obviously not an expert, but if you have additional questions, ask them and I’ll try to help. I learned way more about how politics work during the last presidency than I thought humanly possible.

Additional resources:

#libraries #librarians #book bans #civic duty #speak up #west virginia

[mckitterick]

Christofascist Republican calls LGBTQ people "filth" during public forum

The culture of hate among Christofascists recently led to the violent beating and subsequent death of Choctaw two-spirit teenager Nex Benedict in Oklahoma.

When questioned about how 50+ anti-LGBTQ bills might have affected this case, State Senator Tom Woods said,

“We are a Republican state - supermajority - in the House and Senate. I represent a constituency that doesn’t want that filth in Oklahoma.”

Several audience members clapped at his statement, while others appeared shocked.

“We are a religious state and we are going to fight it to keep that filth out of the state of Oklahoma because we are a Christian state - we are a moral state,” Woods said. “We want to ... let people be able to go to the faith they choose. We are a Republican state and I’m going to vote my district, and I’m going to vote my values, and we don’t want that in the state of Oklahoma.”

State Representative David Hardin added, “How you live your life personally, that’s between you and God... but what goes through our public schools - I will fall back on my faith. I want to make sure that at least the children in our public schools have that faith... what I want to make sure of is that our young children have the right to grow up with that faith."

After the forum, Woods reiterated his stance on the matter: "I support my constituency, and like I said, we’re a Christian state, and we are tired of having that shoved down our throat at every turn... I stand behind my statement, and I stand behind the Republican Party values."

When asked what he thought of Woods’ characterization of LGBTQ people as “filth,” State Senator Dewayne Pemberton said, “No comment.”

Again and again, today's christofascist Republicans (any other sort doesn't get elected these days) reveal that they want to indoctrinate public school kids into their own bigoted hatred, forcing children to hate anyone who doesn't subscribe to their narrow interpretation of their religious texts. Christofascists seek to impose their personal, misguided religious biases on the general public, including creating laws codifying hate and authoritarian control over the lives and bodies of everyone, not just others in their own religion.

Make no mistake, Nex Benedict's death was caused by christofascist indoctrination of the three girls who brutally beat Nex in that school bathroom. Nex Benedict's death was caused by the school failing to take their injuries seriously, by hate codified in Oklahoma state laws designed to harass LGBTQ folks and normalize bigotry against them, by Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters appointing hate-speech villain Chaya Raichik (responsible for "Libs of TikTok") to the Oklahoma Department of Education's Library Media Advisory Committee even though she doesn't live in the state (but he likes that she used Benedict's school and teacher for targeted hate). And on and on - it's a systematic attack on personal freedom and human rights - and the lives of queer folks.

Nex Benedict's death is exactly what christofascists seek through indoctrinating children into their hate that perpetuates bigotry into the future and forcing their religious fanaticism into the public sphere through unconstitutional laws built on hate and control.

Do you want to live in a theocracy dictated by those who narrowly interpret their personal religious texts to promote hate? Because as long as citizens fail to speak out against these harbingers of civilizational collapse, they'll only feel more and more emboldened to turn hate crimes into victories.

We must not let another of our people become victim of systemic bigotry. To protect children and end generational indoctrination, we must fire all public officials who subscribe to christofascist hatred and, when appropriate, prosecute them for the violence they incite.

If we fail to end the careers of hateful christofascists, we fail our children.

#Nex Benedict #christofascism #theocracy #fire all republicans

[renthony]

From the article:

As Republicans nationwide continue to sound the alarm about how children are supposedly being indoctrinated and “groomed” into adopting LGBTQ identities at school, West Virginia legislators are pushing a new kind of crackdown on books deemed “obscene.” The idea is as simple as it is chilling: make librarians and teachers criminally liable for providing such material to kids. House Bill 4654, introduced by Republican Delegate Brandon Steele, passed in the West Virginia House of Delegates on Friday by a vote of 85-12 and now heads to the state Senate. (The “nays” included all 11 Democrats in the House.) Rather than establishing a new law, HB 4654 would simply strike the first two exemptions to an existing code prohibiting the “preparation, distribution, or exhibition of obscene matter to minors.” These include any “bona fide school” presenting the content as part of a “local or state approved curriculum,” as well as any “public library, or museum, which is displaying or distributing any obscene matter to a minor only when the minor was accompanied by his or her parent.” Steele argued in the chamber ahead of the vote that removing those protections against criminal liability for teachers, librarians, and other educators is crucial to children’s safety. “I’m here to protect our young people and make sure they are not put in a vulnerable position where they are presented with pure pornography in an effort to groom them and prepare them for a potential sexual abuse or sexual assault,” he said. Tony Hodge, co-chair of the West Virginia GOP, warned that opponents of the bill “want obscene material available to children.” But the bill’s detractors say it’s a clear attempt to purge books and information that may challenge strict conservative values from institutions of learning. The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia noted that fearmongering about “pedophile librarians” brought HB 4654 out of committee and onto the House floor. “The bill is designed to create confusion for educators about what kinds of materials can be taught or displayed,” the nonprofit chapter posted last week on X (formerly Twitter). It also accused proponents of using examples of allegedly criminal content that did not meet the definition of obscenity. In the West Virginia criminal code, “obscenity” is — as elsewhere — broadly described. It includes matter “intended to appeal to the prurient interest,” or that an “average person, applying community standards, would find depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexually explicit conduct,” or that a “reasonable person would find, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.” Such wide-ranging definitions have been key to lawsuits attempting to restrict the availability of books about gender and sexual identity.

#west virginia news #censorship #book banning #libraries

[zombiesama]

Banning LGBTQ+ Books (March 2023)

I want to talk about what’s happening in my home state of North Dakota regarding banning books in libraries, coming from a queer library assistant. 

Two state bills, SB 2360 and HB 1205, are aiming to ban “obscene” materials. What are obscene materials? Well one of the bills, SB 2360, defines obscene as a number of things including written or visual depictions of:

Human masturbation 

Sexual intercourse

Deviant sexual intercourse

Sexual perversion

Sex-based classifications

I’m sure you can imagine what lawmakers mean by “deviant” and “perversion”, and if you can’t, they’re trying to be as vague as possible with their bigotry targeting the LGBTQ+ community while claiming it’s for the protection of children. A tale as old as time, really. 

HB 1205 is worse. Where SB 2360 tries to be vague about its targeting of the LGBTQ+ community, HB 1205 is very blatant about it.

Its definition of “explicit sexual material” includes “sexual identity” and “gender identity” and the bill aims to ban these books from libraries in the state.

Thankfully, an amendment was adopted for HB 1205 (the worse of the two bills) stating that this only applies to children’s materials, however, I need to stress that book banning, especially targeting marginalized groups, is still bad, even if it’s just children’s materials. Dozens if not hundreds of books in my local library alone will have to be discarded if these bills pass. And, because lawmakers have publicly accused us of this, I need to state that no public library in North Dakota contains pornography, and we are especially not pushing pornography on minors.

Currently, libraries across the state are preparing a class-action lawsuit against the state that will take effect if either of these bills pass. My library director just announced this morning that we’re joining the lawsuit. People across the state have been planning and going through with read-in protests and postcard writing campaigns. We’re doing all we can to keep these bills from passing, and I want the rest of the country and the LGBTQ+ community to take notice. 

Please spread word, and if you’re from North Dakota, please contact your representatives! Here is a form you can fill out to contact them easily:

TL;DR : North Dakota’s House and Senate are trying to pass bills that would limit what books North Dakota library patrons have access to on the basis of banning “obscene” materials. This includes mentions of sexual and gender identity.

#library #books #queer #lgbt #lgbtq #book banning #north dakota #politics

[not-safe-for-democracy]

Missouri House Republicans voted to defund all of the state’s public libraries, in a proposed $45.6 billion state budget that will soon move to a vote in the GOP-controlled state Senate.

Source April 11, 2023

#things republican-controlled states are up to #republicans #defunding libraries #libraries

[enmusthighs]

Cybertronian Liminal spaces ideas: TFP

Tunnels (thru Mts, under cities, etc.)

Red Sand Deserts (Rust Sea Similarities)

Large Scale Industrial Sectors (Think big, automated assembly lines; Similar to their factories)

I also feel like truly gigantic cities (Lots of skyscrapers; similar to their cityscapes) would be similar enough to evoke a sense of nostalgia.

Cybertronian Specific Places:

OP - Libraries (the bigger the more nostalgic he gets) and Rome, b/c of the Collusium (I imagine it reminds him of Kaons Arena)

Megs - Rome (Same as OP), Empty Mines, and ruined Forts (even tho their forts 100% looked different, our ruins still give the same effect)

Ratch - Colleges (Academy Days, specifically the long, winding trails from one building to another), Hospital Corridors (If he has a holoform) and Oddly enough, Victorian Houses. Old and creaky, reminiscent of an old era.

Star - The Buj Kalifa (Vosian Remenicent). Sometimes Specific weather patterns, like Hailstorms or Freezing Rain, remind him of the stinging Acid rain of Cybertron. He hates Blizzards too.

Bulk - Construction sites get him. Rome as well (architecture in general, really).

Sounders - Rome, Government Buildings (specifically, the twisting hallways some important buildings have) and castles/forts.

Arcee - Tunnels, Ravines (I imagine she hid a lot on cybertron, cracks in cybs exoplates would be similar to ravines), and old houses (dilapidated buildings, slowly rotting away; similar to one specific spider incident.

KO - Raceways (obv), but also airports (hanger bays specifically) and large scale paint factories. Also, Buj Kalifa (HC that KO is a Grounded Seeker, explaining SS comment in TFP). Maybe medical tents as well? He was a front line medic after all.

Bee - Rocky mountain roads (scouting), ruins like Stonehenge, and ghost towns. Places where life has been destroyed. Also, war ravaged cities and mysterious old paths through the trees.

BD - Similar to Bulk, but add Mines and industrial buildings too.

Smokey - Libraries (not to the same extent as OP tho), old ruins, and abandoned junkyards (similar effect to the transport ship) I also HC that the escape pod made him pretty Claustrophobic. So small spaces are a no go.

Shockers - Labs, research buildings, but also government buildings (Senator days) and hospitals (too pristine/white a room; he slightly panics) HC that Shockers hates the color white with a dying passion.

Jackie - Labs as well, but also hanger bays and random bars get him too. (HC that he basically found Seaspray in a galactic bar.)

Dread/Quake - Old English/French architecture and Rome

Mags - Government buildings, Libraries (somewhat), but mainly offices and conference rooms get this guy.

Arachnid - Dug out Tunnels (insecticon hives), fancy buildings (Senete esch enough; similar to all her targets homes), and out-of-the-way villages (similar to other organic planets easiest targets)

I think that basically everyone (everyone important I think? Cliffs dead so I didn't include him lol).

HOOOOLY FUCK man you put a LOT of thought into this, this is so cool. The bit about lifeless or decayed places igniting that kinda nostalgia in Bee is actually really sad if you think about it.

Man now I wanna see an episode where a relic is found near the remains of the colosseum, and it has a lot of bots on edge.

I feel like the cities with big reflective or iridescent skyscrapers are spot on, especially in the flashbacks. To add to city scenes, in the flashbacks they had huge streets and ramps and freeways that looked a lot like ours too! (Unless I’m remembering wrong and I’m just nuts)

#tfp #transformers #transformers prime #optimus prime #megatron #starscream #bulkhead #tfp arcee #ultra magnus #tfp breakdown #tfp knockout #tfp airachnid #tfp shockwave #tfp soundwave #tfp bumblebee #tfp smokescreen #wheeljack #tfp ratchet #dreadwing #skyquake #liminal spaces #liminal nostalgia

[wilwheaton]

every accusation is a confession

Found this on Reddit:

Republican Ralph Shortey, Donald Trump's Oklahoma campaign chair and former Oklahoma state senator, was indicted on four counts of human trafficking and child pornography. He plead guilty to child sex trafficking.

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/trump-s-oklahoma-campaign-chair-plead-guilt-child-sex-trafficking-n822461?fbclid=IwAR142W77Q5Dan71BsxC_5uH8h1BBA4EGyqP_VMsrx7lSvoPX9Njjvt0oHK0

Republican Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert was indicted on federal charges of structuring bank withdrawals after prosecutors alleged Hastert had molested at least four boys as young as 14 and attempted to compensate his victims and subsequently conceal the transactions. Hastert eventually admitted that he sexually abused the boys whom he had coached decades earlier, and was sentenced to fifteen months in prison.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/18/us/dennis-hastert-released.html

Republican Tim Nolan, chairman of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in Kentucky, pled guilty to child sex trafficking and on February 11, 2018 he was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison.

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2018/05/03/former-judge-tim-nolan-could-sentenced-today-more-drama-could-get-way/577947002/

Republican congressman Mark Foley, in charge of the congressional caucus dealing with exploited children and predominant anti-gay politician, caught sexually harassing 16 year old page boys working under him.

https://www.cc.com/video/u1k1hb/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-headlines-foley-erect

Republican Pennsylvania State Senator, Mike Folmer, arrested and convicted of child pornography charges.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Folmer

Republican Minnesota State Representative Jim Knoblach Drops Out Of Race After Daughter Says He Molested Her For More Than Ten Years 22 Sep 2018

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/22/lawmaker-quits-race-after-daughter-says-he-molested-her-more-than-decade/?utm_term=.8ac8527c7f43

Republican anti-abortion activist Howard Scott Heldreth is a convicted child rapist in Florida.

https://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/sops/flyer.jsf?personId=28587

Republican County Commissioner David Swartz pleaded guilty to molesting two girls under the age of 11 and was sentenced to 8 years in prison.

http://www.lanternproject.org.uk/library/child-abuse-arrests-and-court-cases/child-abuse-arrests-trials-and-proceedings/ex-county-commissioner-admits-sexual-abuse-of-girl/

Republican judge Mark Pazuhanich pleaded no contest to fondling a 10-year old girl and was sentenced to 10 years probation.

http://www.poconorecord.com/article/20120426/NEWS90/204260334

Republican legislator Edison Misla Aldarondo was sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping his daughter between the ages of 9 and 17.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edison_Misla_Aldarondo

Republican Mayor Philip Giordano is serving a 37-year sentence in federal prison for sexually abusing 8- and 10-year old girls.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Giordano

Republican campaign consultant Tom Shortridge was sentenced to three years probation for taking nude photographs of a 15-year old girl.

http://archive.easyreadernews.com/archives/news2001/0621/rb%20Shortridge.php

Republican Senator Strom Thurmond, a notable racist, had sex with a 15-year old black girl which produced a child.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strom_Thurmond

Republican pastor Mike Hintz, whom George W. Bush commended during the 2004 presidential campaign, surrendered to police after admitting to a sexual affair with a female juvenile.

Republican legislator Peter Dibble pleaded no contest to having an inappropriate relationship with a 13-year-old girl.

https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/18/nyregion/embroiled-first-selectman-takes-leave.html

Republican Congressman Donald “Buz” Lukens was found guilty of having sex with a female minor and sentenced to one month in jail.

https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/25/us/teen-ager-in-ohio-testifies-to-sex-with-a-congressman.html

Republican fundraiser Richard A. Delgaudio was found guilty of child porn charges and paying two teenage girls to pose for sexual photos.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2003/04/24/gop-activist-admits-to-child-porn/5af2adf0-bec8-4a10-b061-014de679422a/?utm_term=.d7ebcbf4f92b

Republican activist Mark A. Grethen convicted on six counts of sex crimes involving children.

http://www.thenewblackmagazine.com/view.aspx?index=437

Republican activist Randal David Ankeney pleaded guilty to attempted sexual assault on a child.

https://www.westword.com/news/randy-ankeney-suit-that-could-free-thousands-of-prisoners-headed-to-state-supreme-court-6054115

Republican Congressman Dan Crane had sex with a female minor working as a congressional page.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Crane

Republican activist and Christian Coalition leader Beverly Russell admitted to an incestuous relationship with his step daughter.

https://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/02/opinion/journal-beverly-russell-s-prayers.html

Republican congressman and anti-gay activist Robert Bauman was charged with having sex with a 16-year-old boy he picked up at a gay bar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bauman

Republican Committee Chairman Jeffrey Patti was arrested for distributing a video clip of a 5-year-old girl being raped.

http://www.njherald.com/article/20060510/ARTICLE/305109971

Republican activist Marty Glickman (a.k.a. “Republican Marty”), was taken into custody by Florida police on four counts of unlawful sexual activity with an underage girl and one count of delivering the drug LSD.

https://www.arktimes.com/TheHoglawyer/archives/2007/08/28/the-latest-republican-sex-scandals-plural---more-of-the-same

Republican legislative aide Howard L. Brooks was charged with molesting a 12-year old boy and possession of child pornography.

Republican Senate candidate John Hathaway was accused of having sex with his 12-year old baby sitter and withdrew his candidacy after the allegations were reported in the media.

https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/06/us/politics-the-senate-maine-candidate-again-faces-1990-child-sex-accusation.html

Republican preacher Stephen White, who demanded a return to traditional values, was sentenced to jail after offering $20 to a 14-year-old boy for permission to perform oral sex on him.

http://www.thedp.com/article/2004/01/brother_stephen_convicted_of_soliciting_sex

Republican talk show host Jon Matthews pleaded guilty to exposing his genitals to an 11 year old girl.

https://www.houstonpress.com/news/jon-matthews-conservative-talk-show-host-and-sex-offender-pulled-from-kpfts-prison-show-6740755

Republican anti-gay activist Earl “Butch” Kimmerling was sentenced to 40 years in prison for molesting an 8-year old girl after he attempted to stop a gay couple from adopting her.

Republican Party leader Paul Ingram pleaded guilty to six counts of raping his daughters and served 14 years in federal prison.

https://culteducation.com/group/1255-false-memories/6514-man-in-notorious-sex-case-finishes-term.html

Republican election board official Kevin Coan was sentenced to two years probation for soliciting sex over the internet from a 14-year old girl.

https://www.semissourian.com/story/57773.html

Republican politician Andrew Buhr was charged with two counts of first degree sodomy with a 13-year old boy.

https://www.arktimes.com/TheHoglawyer/archives/2007/08/28/the-latest-republican-sex-scandals-plural---more-of-the-same

Republican politician Keith Westmoreland was arrested on seven felony counts of lewd and lascivious exhibition to girls under the age of 16 (i.e. exposing himself to children).

http://www.chattanoogan.com/2002/6/21/23202/Tennessee-Legislator-Commits-Suicide.aspx

24 pages more here - https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/4/28/2028057/-Republican-Sexual-Predators-Abusers-and-Enablers-Pt-24

#republicans are garbage #fuck these fascists

[1five1two]

And on the subject of burning books: I want to congratulate librarians, not famous for their physical strength or their powerful political connections or their great wealth, who, all over this country, have staunchly resisted anti-democratic bullies who have tried to remove certain books from their shelves, and have refused to reveal to thought police the names of persons who have checked out those titles.

So the America I loved still exists, if not in the White House or the Supreme Court or the Senate or the House of Representatives or the media. The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries.

Kurt Vonnegut

#quotes #kurt vonnegut #books #education #knowledge

[stupittmoran]

Top 10 headlines the media didn't tell you this week, Repost & FoIIow for more.

Canadian journalist who called for COVID anti-vaxxer concentration camps dies suddenly at 33.

Tennessee city to ban all LGBTQ books from public libraries along with "Drag Queen Story Hour"

Alex Jones makes his debut back on 𝕏 after Elon Musk poll ends in his favor.

West Virginia Secretary of State says the 2020 election was ‘stolen by the CIA.’

House member calls for the FBI to arrest and shackle Hunter Biden for refusing a Congressional subpoena.

Elon Musk challenges Zelensky demanding answers as to why American citizen Gonzalo Lira is being held in Ukrainian prison.

Former military officer destroyed the satanic statue at the Iowa Capitol.

According to new poll, Trump now leads Biden across all seven swing states.

Senator Katie Britt introduced new legislation to prevent illegal immigrants from voting in federal elections.

Biden says the US Government is spending money to create 3 new Covid vaccines — Will you be taking them?

If you appreciate this Top 10 recap, remember to Repost and FoIIow me for another week in a clown world 🤡🌎

TaraBull𝕏

@TaraBull808 on Twitter/X

[lakecountylibrary]

Indiana Legislative Update: SB 12

Concerning teachers, school libraries, and censorship

Hey tumblr! We're taking a break from your regularly scheduled book recs and library love to give you a heads up about SB 12, a bill that's recently passed the Indiana Senate and is headed to the House next.

If you haven't heard about SB 12 yet, now is the time to take notice.

In its current form, the bill would open Indiana teachers and school librarians to criminal prosecution under obscenity laws for any books, ebooks, and educational resources in their library.

The Indiana Library Federation and we here at LCPL are watching this bill's progress carefully. You can read more about our concerns and send an email to your representatives here: https://action.everylibrary.org/stopsb12

(If you can't find your reps using the automated form, you can look them up at https://iga.in.gov/legislative/find-legislators/)

And you can read the full text of the bill for yourself here: https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2023/bills/senate/12

If you don't live in Indiana, we just ask you to spread the word and get as many eyes on Indiana as are on Texas and Florida.

As always, thank you for your support. We'll keep you posted on what happens next.

#censorship #book banning #Indiana #sb 12 #teachers #public libraries #school libraries #librarians #tumblrarians #bookblr #booklr #tumblarians #libraries have always been political #i get so mad every time i have to pull out that tag

[mariacallous]

(JTA) – The Biden Administration’s new point person for combating book bans at school districts and public libraries across the country is a gay, Jewish progressive activist who has served as a government liaison to the Jewish and LGBTQ communities.

The appointment of Matt Nosanchuk comes as the thousands of book challenges nationwide have focused on books with LGBTQ as well as Jewish themes, in addition to works about race. Nosanchuk was named a deputy assistant secretary in the Department of Education’s civil rights office earlier this month. In that role, he will lead training sessions for schools and libraries on how to deal with book bans — and warn districts that the department believes book bans can violate civil rights laws.

An Education Department official recently told the 74, an education news site, that the bans “are a threat to students’ rights and freedoms.”

“I am excited to return to public service to work on behalf of the American people,” Nosanchuk posted to LinkedIn earlier this month. “There is a lot of important work to do!”

The Education Department declined to make Nosanchuk available for an interview. He has already taken heat from conservative outlets, which have pushed the narrative that the books being removed from schools and libraries are too sexually explicit for children. Kayleigh McEnany, the Fox News host who served as Donald Trump’s press secretary, called him a “porn enforcer” on-air.

But his appointment has been celebrated by librarians and book access activists. “This is a step forward for the Biden Administration, who has heard the concerns of parents and taken action, but it is just the beginning,” the National Parents Union, a progressive parental education activist group, said in a statement.

Nosanchuk’s career has largely focused on working with the LGBTQ and Jewish communities. In 2009, after serving in a number of roles in Washington, D.C., Nosanchuk was appointed as the Department of Justice’s liaison to the LGBTQ community — a position he held while Obama was still publicly opposed to same-sex marriage. He later worked on the Obama administration’s opposition to a law barring same-sex couples from receiving federal benefits.

He subsequently served as the White House liaison to the Jewish community during Obama’s second term, and in 2020 was the Democratic National Committee’s political organizer for Jewish outreach and LGBTQ engagement. That same year, he cofounded the New York Jewish Agenda, a progressive policy group that he led until earlier this year.

Nosanchuk’s first webinar in his new role was held Tuesday in partnership with the American Library Association, an organization with which a number of Republican-led states have recently cut ties. He begins his work after a year that has seen several school districts take aim at books focused on Jewish experiences or the Holocaust.

Two weeks ago, a Texas school district fired a middle school teacher reportedly for reading a passage from an illustrated adaptation of Anne Frank’s diary to eighth-grade students. Other schools’ removals of “The Fixer,” a Jodi Picoult novel about the Holocaust and other texts have been likened to Nazi and Stalinist book burnings —  comparisons that proponents of the book restrictions reject.

Democratic politicians, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, have accused Republicans of wanting “to ban books on the Holocaust.” A recent Senate hearing on book bans included testimony from Cameron Samuels, a Jewish advocate for access to books, along with numerous references to “Maus,” a graphic novel by Art Spiegelman about the Holocaust that was pulled from a Tennessee middle school curriculum last year.

PEN America, a literary free-speech advocacy group, welcomed Nosanchuk’s appointment.

“Book removals and restrictions continue apace across the country, as the tactics to silence certain voices and identities are sharpened,” the group said in a statement. “Empowering the coordinator to address this ongoing movement is critical.”

[captainjonnitkessler]

Some of you really need to drop the “incremental change is worthless” shit and start appreciating the sacrifices of the activists who spent hundreds of years making the incremental changes that made this country livable for people who aren’t straight white Christian men.

I’ve seen a lot of posts about how “well Democrats could have prevented this but didn’t, so they’re just as bad as Republicans and voting is worthless”, and those posts do a massive disservice to all the people who have been fucking trying. Almost every issue I’ve seen people complain about Democrats not preventing, there’s a bill that would’ve fixed it that got stalled by Republicans in the House or Senate. Democrats tried to pass abortion protection just last month but Republicans in the Senate blocked it. Acting like Democrats totally have the power to fix everything and just aren’t doing it is not only blatantly untrue, but it’s massively damaging and spreads a message of helplessness and despair. That’s the last fucking thing we need right now!

You know why evangelicals have so much power despite being a minority of the population? Because they show up. They’re a dedicated, consistent voting block who show up to EVERY election, every town hall meeting, and every PTA meeting, vocally and en masse. And it took them 50 years, but now we’re seeing the results of all that grassroots organizing.

So yeah. There’s not going to be a revolution that just magically fixes every problem with this country. There IS going to be a huge number of people who wake up every day determined to make tiny changes - to their town, their community, their schools, their libraries - and they’re going to do that every day for 50 years, and if there’s enough of them, we’ll get there. It’s slow and it sucks and it’s not glamorous or exciting, but it’s how progress is made. So get off your high horse and join us, and maybe we can get there a little faster. 

#us politics #FUCKING VOTE #THIS IS AN ELECTION YEAR. VOTE.