Check out THIS Creative Way for COPS to Steal MORE of Your Money

The owner of this channel seems to be a Libertarian. Whatever the case, this is some bullshit right here, fining people for not locking their vehicle. Yeah, that seems fair. (sarcasm)

~Sly~

30 Days of Haiga: Day 14: Lament for My Flag

Original background image:

Copyright: milena1234 / 123RF Stock Photo

Fighter planes image (upper left corner) source NPR News

Racist graffiti image source: Olean Times Herald

Misogynist quote source: Donald Trump

Notes:

I like to think the piece speaks for itself, but I will include a little personal history. 

When I was a young child in my early school years, I was very proud when it came time to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I sprang to my large and far from dainty feet, puffed out my scrawny chest, put my hand over my stalwart young heart, and spoke those hallowed words in my biggest voice. 

I was born in 1965. I didn't go to Kindergarten. Many years later I had a nightmare that Ronald Reagan ordered me to go back to school starting with Kindergarten. Initially, I attempted to comply, but then I realized that there was no legally binding reason for me to do this and I said "I quit," and walked out of the classroom to the sound of Mr. Reagan's voice berating me as a loser.

From first through third grade, the Viet Nam war was still taking place. I believed that the United States would eventually see that the war was a bad idea and would end it, so I said the Pledge proudly because I believed that my fine country would eventually do the right thing because we were the Good Guys.

During the next several years, the country was healing from the aftereffects of the Viet Nam War. I believed that we were headed in the right direction, and I thought that Jimmy Carter was a fine president and would continue to take us that way.

The Reagan era began when I was fifteen years old and I came to believe that we were all doomed to either eat flaming death in a nuclear holocaust or freeze to death in the nuclear winter which would follow. The Pledge of Allegiance lost its former wondrous appeal to me, but I still said it because I felt it was my duty as a patriot to try and believe in my country.

As my son says, the United States is still one of the best countries to live in, but we have a lot of problems. The election of Donald Trump brought a plethora of pathology boiling to the surface. 

We are not post-racist or post-misogynist and we are severely intolerant of anyone who isn't a God-fearing American "Christian." I put Christian in quotes because I don't think the behavior of those who subscribe to the ideals of American religious fundamentalists is Christ-like in any way. There is a frightening new wave of nationalism, and free speech is under fire. There is normalization of bigotry and intolerance.

This is not the America that young me believed in when she put her hand over her heart to proudly say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning at school and even at home in her bedroom on Saturday and Sunday because she thought it was the right thing to do.

This America brings tears to the eyes of middle-aged, working class me as I write these words. I despair for the loss of innocence in the heart of the child I once was and fear for the future of who I have become, for those I love, and for my fellow citizens of this world.

~Sly Speaks~

As real as it gets

Copyright Julia Henze +123RF.com 

‘We Need to Survive His Presidency’: Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters Blasts ‘Buffoon’ Trump—and the Media Covering Him @alternet

‘We Need to Survive His Presidency’: Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters Blasts ‘Buffoon’ Trump—and the Media Covering Him @alternet: 'It’s totally unpredictable. I don’t think he knows what he’s going to do.” Appearing on CNN Saturday morning, former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters tore into President Donald Trump—and the media covering him—while pondering if we are going to survive a Trump presidency.Speaking with host Michael Smerconish, Waters talked about his latest tour that features copious images of Trump—and not in a flattering way.Smerconish asked about the anti-Trump imagery and if the rocker was running “the risk of helping him by going over the top.”

5 Wingnuts and Reactionaries Bill Maher Has Made Peace with in the Last Year Alone @alternet

5 Wingnuts and Reactionaries Bill Maher Has Made Peace with in the Last Year Alone @alternet: Ted Nugent is just the latest extremist the 'Real Time' host has courted in recent months. With his snarky, irreverent style, liberal comedian Bill Maher has a way of getting under conservatives' skin. To many, the host of HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher” epitomizes the coastal elite who mock them mercilessly and belittle their values at every turn.



*************************************

Really have never cared for Bill Maher. To me he seems like one of those neoliberal men who is more than willing to throw women under the bus. He tends to use statements such as "like a girl" to insult men he dislikes.



~Sly~

5 “Proud Boys” suspended from duties and face investigation says chief of defence - APTN News

5 “Proud Boys” suspended from duties and face investigation says chief of defence - APTN News: APTN National News Canada’s military’s chief of defence staff says the five members of the “proud boys” group that interfered with a Mi’kmaq ceremony in …

Right Tyranny vs. Left Paternalism

The "left" is not entirely sweetness and light. They tend to be elitist, patronizing of poor and marginalized people, and very fatphobic. As opposed to the right, who want to smash everyone who isn't up to their standards under their jackboot goose step, the left has a tendency to behave as the Great White Hope, giving those falling into the White Man's Burden category a condescending pat on the head while killing us softly.

~Sly Has Spoken~

copyright juliahenze@123rf

Women are Half of Humanity

This is a comment I made on an article by Arthur Magida.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/might-5-ex-presidents-prevent-trump-making-us-unrecognizable-2020

A bit of nit-picking of an otherwise well-written piece. If the author were to state "these are times that try the human soul" rather than "these are times that try men's (and women's) souls," he would avoid putting women in parentheses as if we are an afterthought. I believe that the author does not think of women as an afterthought, given his biography."

Most of us learned the old, sexist literary rules of always referring to an unspecified person as "him" and using phrases such as "the spirit of man" to describe all people. 

Personally, I took hits to my grade because I refused to do that. These rules come from a time when women were seen as lesser and, in fact, thought not to have souls.

When making a direct quote, I don't change the wording as I am attributing the quote to the person who initially wrote it. However, when it comes to my own writing, I am human but I am not a man. I refer to the human spirit, to humanity (as opposed to mankind, unless I am speaking only of men.) 

It is past time to recognize that humanity encompasses more than "man". 

As I said, other than that, the author is spot on. 

Lord Dampnut and his cabinet of crooks present a terrible threat to everything the U.S. stands for, and to the safety of the entire world.

~Sly Has Spoken~

Copyright juliahenze +123RF.com 

NaPoWriMo 2017: Day 22: Sad State of Affairs

There once was the worst politician

Who obtained the highest position

T'was a sad state of affairs

Instead of making repairs

To destroy everything was his mission

~Sly~

Notes:

The NaPoWriMo prompt for today was to write a Georgic.

This is not a Georgic.

It is a limerick.

Nonetheless, it was inspired by that prompt.

Cross-posted to:

Sly Fawkes

Sly's Free Speech Space

Copyright juliahenze +123RF.com 

Marines Nude Photo Scandal and Apologizing for Predatory Men

Image source and reference article at The Daily Beast

What is wrong with these assholes? Men and service people should both be furious with them. They make the Marines look bad, and they make men look like creepy, immature, misogynistic predators.

There are some who use this as a "reason" why women shouldn't be allowed to serve in the Military, because, apparently, men are predators who don't know how to behave themselves in the presence of women. If I were a man, I would be very angry about this attitude.

Oddly enough, when working in mixed company, I do not and never have felt the need to jump the bones of every man I work with, and posting nude photos of them without their permission would never have occurred to me. It would have been fairly easy for me to obtain nude photos of men I'd worked with about 20 years ago, as I was working as an artist's model for part of my income.

So, in that instance, I sometimes posed with male models. Who were naked, and so was I. We didn't touch each other. We chatted with each other to pass the time. There was no "ZOMG, we have to have sex NOW!" attitude. 

Mature people can behave respectfully around persons of the opposite sex (or the same sex, if they are homosexual) and not try to get everybody in the sack. 

Insisting on treating other people like sex objects is NOT normal behavior. We should stop excusing such behavior by saying things like "boys will be boys." Most boys (and men) are not predators by nature. Let's quit apologizing for and defending those who behave in a predatory fashion.

~Sly Has Spoken~

Copyright juliahenze +123RF.com 

2014 Video: Jim Rickards Claims Russia Funding Daish

Not at all surprisingly, the comments are an utter cesspool.

Jim Rickards on the Demise of the Dollar

Trump Supporters Call For 'Liberal Genocide' and Deportation of Jews at Arizona Rally @alternet

Trump Supporters Call For 'Liberal Genocide' and Deportation of Jews at Arizona Rally @alternet: Things get ugly fast at a 'March for Trump' in Phoenix, Arizona.


Maricopa County burnished its reputation as the Trumpiest in America last weekend as hundreds of locals, including heavily armed militamen, white nationalists and even a few elected officials, gathered to support the 45th president. The ensuing 'March for Trump' was as horrifying as it sounds.

But we have nothing to worry about, Folks! Trust those White Knights in the White House! Not like their hate has bred this or anything.

"Liberal" isn't a genus, Genius. It's a philosophy.

Sadly, you can't fix stupid.

~Sly~

Sly Says: You Can't Fix Stupid

The following is a transcript from a rant on Tumblr inspired by a couple of ignorant idiots. Said idiots' names have been changed because I don't feel the need to have them attacked. They're probably too stupid to educate anyway.

Tweedle Dumb:

I hate feminists because I hate supremacists of all types.

Tweedle Derp:

Amen!

Sly Says: (from slysfreespeechspace.tumblr.com)

What in the actual hell are you smoking?

My guess is that you have never encountered the sorts of problems that feminism has worked to correct over the years.

Perhaps you are unaware that women still make 70 cents for every dollar that men make on average.

Perhaps it doesn’t bother you that the average woman in the United States not only has to work a full time job plus take care of the majority of the household duties.

Perhaps it doesn’t bother you that women are in danger of losing all the rights that teh ebil, ebil feminists have worked for under the misogynist regime of the puppet president Lord Dampnut and his handlers.

In any case, your statement is either woefully naive or willfully ignorant. You would do well to educate yourself. 

Feminism is not “female supremacy.” That is a load of crap spread by MRA’s, a group of “men” threatened by the idea of women being treated as equals, helped along by ignorant children on forums like Tumblr who simply don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.

Feminism is, very simply, “a range of political movements, ideologies, and social movements that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve political, economic, personal, and social rights for women. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment.”

If you are against that, then you are a person with whom I hope never to associate. 

If it is being a supremacist to desire equal treatment and equal opportunities for women, then a supremacist I am.

Merciful Heaven, the fact that I still have to explain this shit in the twenty-first century gives me one hell of a headache.

Reblogged to my Supernatural fandom blog:

I replied to this bullshit on my Sly’s Free Speech Space tumblr and unfollowed the person who had reposted it in the first place as fast as I could.

I just can’t even.

Of course if you look at the URL of the OP, (which was in the form of Classic Rock Band Dude One Luvs Classic Rock Band Dude Two) you may recognize the “C0ckles mindset,” that is, shipping a couple of men that they think look hawt together is the main driving force in their life. Never mind that neither of the men that this one is shipping look anything like the images of them from thirty years ago any more. (insert eyeroll) Or that they are not involved with each other that way.

I don’t usually bother commenting on shit from tumblrs by teenagers who have no fucking idea what they’re talking about (apologies to the teenagers who aren’t like this), but as someone who started seeing the need for the feminist movement as far back as when I was 8 years old, no joke, I despise bullshit like this, likely coming from a privileged teenage girl who has benefited from the work done by women in the feminist movement. 

Girls in sports? Thank the feminist movement. Women in politics? That’s the feminist movement. All the cool kick-ass female characters? You can thank the feminist movement for that.

Perhaps girls like this would like to go back to a time when women weren’t allowed to vote, when we were considered to be the property of our fathers and then our husbands, when our choices for careers (before marrying) were teacher, nurse, or secretary. I for one would not like that, and will fight tooth and nail to keep it from ever becoming that way again.

But hey, as long as you can ship a couple of guys who look sexxiii together, who needs that stinky ole feminism anyways?

~Sly Has Spoken~

Copyright juliahenze@123rf.com

My Letter to my Representative Re: The American Care Act

Republicans had seven years to come up with an Obamacare replacement, and THIS is it? The American Health Care Act would make healthcare less affordable and harder to get. This isn't a serious proposal. Vote NO on the American Health Care Act.

I  am 52 years old and have numerous pre-existing conditions. I can remember when it was impossible for people like me to get insurance. I can work, but I couldn't without the medications that make it possible to manage these conditions.

My son is 26 and depends on Medicaid. He is unable to work at this time, but he hopes that someday he'll be able to.

The Affordable Care Act isn't perfect and could use some work, but it is certainly a far better plan than what the Republican party would like to replace it with.

I know you actually care about the people in your district. Please resist this awful plan on our behalf.

Sincerely,

Sly Fawkes

For a description of what the replacement for the Affordable Care Act would look like, follow this link.

http://www.vox.com/2017/3/6/14829526/american-health-care-act-gop-replacement?yptr=yahoo

The Real Beneficiaries of Donald Trump's Fake Populism @alternet

The Real Beneficiaries of Donald Trump's Fake Populism @alternet: The 1 percent has strengthened its grip on power, and a shadowy 'deep state' won't save us. The prospect of four years of Donald J. Trump’s nonstop rants about imaginary conspiracies against his daughter, wholesale slander against the judicial branch and attacks on the press as enemies of the people has caused some Americans to slip into a comforting form of denial. He will be a blip in our history, they say, because our formal institutions, and the American people, will ultimately prevail against a rogue disruptor.

I Went from Being Homeless to a Full-Time Writer: Trump Wants to End the Programs That Got Me Here @alternet

I Went from Being Homeless to a Full-Time Writer: Trump Wants to End the Programs That Got Me Here @alternet: We couldn’t have made it out of the shelter without help. Six years ago, I lived with my then 3-year-old daughter, Mia, in a studio apartment. During the day I worked full-time as a maid, cleaning the houses of wealthy people. At night, I stayed up completing coursework for online college classes.It got so cold that winter that my daughter and I slept in the living room, because I couldn’t afford to heat the entire apartment. So instead we kept the doors to the room closed tight, and huddled together on the small pull-out couch I’d found for free.

5 Republicans Who Tried to Be as Awful as Trump This Week @alternet

5 Republicans Who Tried to Be as Awful as Trump This Week @alternet: The president may dominate the headlines, but his party is every bit as diseased. Less than 50 days into Donald Trump's presidency, the warp-speed decline of American empire continues apace.

Celebrities: Your Social Superiors

The Perils of Lesbianity

Sly Says: Just Stuff A Rag In Your Bloomers, Ladies

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/02/13/colorado-tampon-tax/

You can't make this shit up.
Some wit commented thusy on this article:
"Both tampons and pads are a little over 100 years old. Before then, for thousands of years, women found other ways to deal with the issue. They could use those old methods today. So, tampons and pads are a choice."

To which I responded:
Great plan. Women could just stuff a towel in their bloomers while menstruating. Modern toilet paper is also a fairly recent invention. We could go back to using pages torn from a catalog to wipe after doing our business in the outhouse. Or we could do as the Romans did and use a sponge on a stick in a public lavatory where one did one's business right next to one's neighbor. Said sponge would then be rinsed off for the next person to use. Or we could roll things even further back and squat in a field to do our duty, and then wipe with leaves.
Sound inconvenient and unsanitary? Well, so is walking around with a literal rag that has no adhesive stuffed in your underwear. You can't get much of anything done for fear that the damn thing may slip out of place. This method would be particularly problematic for a person who has very heavy periods.
My guess would be that you are a person who doesn't have to deal with the issue of menstruation. You would also seem to be a person who doesn't give much thought to how things affect other people. Try walking around with a wet rag stuffed in your underpants for a day and tell us all how convenient it is to use the "old methods" for dealing with menstruation.

~Sly Has Spoken~

copyright juliahenze@123rf.com

Sly Says: Stop Calling People Sluts

Emily Ratajkowski

From the following article:
https://www.yahoo.com/style/emily-ratajkowski-calls-out-journalist-for-slut-shaming-melania-trump-203207055.html

"The unabashedly political Emily Ratajkowski wore a pink pantsuit to a NYFW 2017 event. Melania Trump has an unlikely celebrity in her corner. Model, actress, and outspoken body-confidence and feminist advocate Emily Ratajkowski is stepping up to defend the first lady against a slut-shaming attack she recently overheard."

A few things:

Stop using the term “slut shaming.” We need to not be calling people sluts.
Emily Ratajkowski is not a feminist, she is a women’s liberationist. They are different things.
Women’s liberation is about being “sexually liberated.” Feminism is critical of the objectification of women. Objectification is not empowerment.
This being said, calling Melania Trump a “hooker” is rude and uncalled for. I honestly don’t care a fig about the photos she posed for in the past. She is not the one wreaking havoc on the United States. Her husband and his cabinet of deplorables are. Focus on them.

~Sly Has Spoken~

Copyright juliahenze@123rf.com

Happy 52nd birthday to me.

Sly Says: Tell Disney to Dump Trump

Why would a company that makes wonderful films that delight both children and adults and depict women as determined heroines want to associate themselves with a horrific misogynist and racist such as Donald Trump? I am ashamed and saddened to discover Disney's association with this reprehensible individual who is ruining our country.

Sign the petition and tell Disney to drop their association with Trump's companies.

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/tell-disney-drop-trumps-business-council-and-stop-collaborating-with-trump?source=direct_link&

Thank you,

Sly

copyright juliahenze@123rf.com

Sly Works Devil Vagina Magic

OOOGY BOOGY!!!

Apparently, also OOOGY BOOGY!!!

Aw, and here I thought the Satanic Panics were a thing of the past. 

They're still here, but back in the day when I was young, dinosaurs and rock musicians were their target. Now it's women. Evil, evil women.
Well, actually these types have always targeted women. But for a while their focus shifted just a little to dinosaurs and rock music.

Here's a quote from the article by Christian Dem in NYC.

"The religious right was none too pleased at the Women’s March. That was no surprise. But the vehemence of their reaction was staggering, even to this longtime religious right watcher. Apparently, standing up for women being respected and not objectified is a sign that you’re under the influence of either witchcraft or demons. How is that possible? Well, according to one religious right luminary, ANY opposition to the Donald is a sign you’re being influenced by the devil."

Click the link for more fun!

According to the mindset of these asshats, I was doing the devil's work back when I was a youngun in the 1980s and played that devil rock and roll music. 

Then, to make matters even more diabolical, I went to one of those musical devil ceremonies, and when a certain short man dressed in a schoolboy suit came out onstage, I shouted "WORK IT, ANGUS!" in hopes of making him drop trou. My evil devil magic worked, I tell you, because halfway through the show, he obeyed my command.

It looked a little bit something like this

I often sit in my Feminazi lair doing the devil's work to this very day, standing up for equality AND listening to devil music. Because we women, with our devil vagina magic, can multitask! And sadly, it appears that there will always be idiots to fight.

~Sly Has Spoken~

Image by juliahenze@123rf.com

Sly's Devil Vagina Magic Part Deux:

Trivia Time!

This is the Australian cover for the Highway to Hell album, which was Banned in the U.S. because apparently we have too many bible thumpers here who don't understand hyperbole and would have peed their pants if they saw this.

Here are some shockingly unscary out-takes from the photo shoot for the album cover. Because, surprisingly enough, these fellows were not actually particularly scary people.

Here is a shockingly tender photo of Angus Young being surprisingly not evil and gently guiding and caring for his very sick older brother. Because, shockingly enough, as Angus himself once said, while he may sometimes wear black underwear, he doesn't actually do blood sacrifices, and the real Satan is intolerance.

Sly realizes that she's gone off on a bit of a tangent and is now referring to herself in third person, but there is, in fact, a method to the madness. We have here in this snarky mini-history written by Sly proof that hate, intolerance, and extremism are a bad idea in any era and we really should examine these ideas, ridicule them, and put a stop to them.

Peace,

Sly

Christofacist Douchelords: Kirk Cameron

Sadly, cute little Cole Seever grew up to be a Christofacist Douchelord

Kirk Cameron says that a woman's purpose is to serve her husband, regardless of how she is treated by said husband.

http://churchandstate.org.uk/2016/09/conservative-christian-says-wives-should-submit-to-husbands-even-if-treated-like-sht/

I have something to say about that.

Dear Kirk Cameron,

Oddly enough, your life's purpose is to kiss my fat old feminist ass. Here's a big FUCK YOU in gratitude for your "inspiring" misogynist bullshit.

Love,

Sly Fawkes

copyright juliahenze +123RF.com 

Sly Says: But What About The Men?

Stock image from Dreamstime

Sly Says:

But What About the Men?

Please read this article. I would speculate that many of the men involved in these attacks have antisocial personality disorder. However, this does not explain everything. There are female sociopaths, and there are sociopaths who go through life without ever committing violent acts. In fact, the majority of sociopaths never commit violent acts. So what is the other factor that isn't being discussed? Meghan Murphy, the author of the article, suggests that our toxic patriarchal Western society is key, and I agree with her.

Our toxic, patriarchal society is failing everyone, men included.

Whenever these horrific incidents happen, the need for mental health intervention is always brought up.

Yes, mental health needs to be addressed. Better mental health care needs to be available and affordable for all. But most people with mental illness do not kill other people. The majority of people with mental illness are invisible to the public, not standing out in any discernible way. They aren't raving lunatics terrorizing the streets, swinging knives as they rail at unseen foes. The mentally ill are, however, easy scapegoats.

We need to look deeper, and the answer isn't going to be pretty or easy. It calls our way of life in Western society into question.

~Sly Has Spoken~

Image copyright juliahenze@123rf.com

Come On, Sly, Give the Rump A Chance--Please?

Tell me again how I'm supposed to be okay with having this in a key government position

The first election I voted in was Reagan vs. Mondale. I voted for Mondale.

I've had people tell me I'm being an "alarmist" and being "unfair" to The Rump, that I'm being "disrespectful" and need to "give him a chance."

I've been around for a lot of years and I have never felt this concerned before. Frustrated, yes. Worried, sure. After all, there was the Cold War and there was Reagan and his "Star Wars" plan. But I never compared Reagan to Hitler.

I never saw reason to compare either of the Bushes to Hitler either.

Surely one would think I might have reason for thinking as i do about The Rump, for disrespecting him so utterly, for feeling that comparisons to Hitler are apt. But nope, I'm just a silly little neophyte with and overactive imagination. These people can keep telling themselves that about the dissenters while The Rump and his lackeys destroy this country.

~Sly Has Spoken~

Copyright juliahenze@123rf.com

Sly Says: Become the Avalanche

Marty Walsh, Mayor of Boston

Here's the thing with the whole "you have to accept Trump as your president. You have to give the new administration a chance" bit.

I didn't vote for either of the Bushes. I accepted both of them as President. I wasn't afraid of either of them, although I was critical of certain of their decisions.

I accepted Ronald Reagan as president. I was very critical of his decisions. I was afraid that he might make a stupid decision that would end us up in a nuclear exchange. I still didn't despise him to the core.

I never thought that Reagan or either of the Bushes were inherently evil. I thought that there were ways in which they were misguided. I didn't think that joking about Reagan's Alzheimer's disease was funny.

I don't know if Trump is "evil" per se, but he is not a good person. He is a con man. However, I also don't think he's actually in charge. I think he's a puppet, and I think that those who are pulling his strings are very, very bad people.

You know how they say that one bad apple spoils the barrel. Well, there are a lot of bad apples in the barrel right now. If we don't get them out, they are going to destroy our country.

I do not accept Donald Trump as my President, and I do not accept this new administration.

If that makes me a "special snowflake," then I'm proud to be a special snowflake alongside people like Marty Walsh, the Mayor of Boston, who is resisting the bad decisions made by the new regime because they are harmful to the people of his city.

When enough special snowflakes resist, we can become an avalanche.

Let's be the avalanche.

~Sly~

Copyright: juliahenze / 123RF Stock Photo

Sly Says: Wake Up, People!

Image by Shepherd Fairey

For anyone still believing that everything is fine, that people like me are just being overly dramatic and/or unpatriotic, who still think that we need to give this new regime a chance, well, don't take my word for it. Just look at what has happened in the space of a week since tRump and his cabinet of deplorables took over.

Those who study authoritarian regimes suggest keeping a list of abnormal events after a demagogue is elected, as a way to remind yourself that this isn't normal and to keep from being overwhelmed into acceptance by the onslaught of attacks on our rights.

Here is a list below. We are 4 days in.

As the author says, "when you see all of this in one list, it is easy to get overwhelmed, at first-- it is also easy to see a pattern and to finally, finally recognize that none of this is normal, nor is it ok."

* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the DOJ’s Violence Against Women programs.

* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.

* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities.

* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Minority Business Development Agency.

* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Economic Development Administration.

* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the International Trade Administration.

* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Legal Services Corporation.

* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ.

* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Environmental and Natural Resources Division of the DOJ.

* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Office of Electricity Deliverability and Energy Reliability.

* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Office of Fossil Energy.

* On January 20th, 2017, DT ordered all regulatory powers of all federal agencies frozen.

* On January 20th, 2017, DT ordered the National Parks Service to stop using social media after RTing factual, side by side photos of the crowds for the 2009 and 2017 inaugurations.

* On January 20th, 2017, roughly 230 protestors were arrested in DC and face unprecedented felony riot charges. Among them were legal observers, journalists, and medics.

* On January 20th, 2017, a member of the International Workers of the World was shot in the stomach at an anti-fascist protest in Seattle. He remains in critical condition.

* On January 21st, 2017, DT brought a group of 40 cheerleaders to a meeting with the CIA to cheer for him during a speech that consisted almost entirely of framing himself as the victim of dishonest press.

* On January 21st, 2017, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer held a press conference largely to attack the press for accurately reporting the size of attendance at the inaugural festivities, saying that the inauguration had the largest audience of any in history, “period.”

* On January 22nd, 2017, White House advisor Kellyann Conway defended Spicer’s lies as “alternative facts” on national television news.

* On January 22nd, 2017, DT appeared to blow a kiss to director James Comey during a meeting with the FBI, and then opened his arms in a gesture of strange, paternal affection, before hugging him with a pat on the back.

* On January 23rd, 2017, DT reinstated the global gag order, which defunds international organizations that even mention abortion as a medical option.

* On January 23rd, 2017, Spicer said that the US will not tolerate China’s expansion onto islands in the South China Sea, essentially threatening war with China.

* On January 23rd, 2017, DT repeated the lie that 3-5 million people voted “illegally” thus costing him the popular vote.

* On January 23rd, 2017, it was announced that the man who shot the anti-fascist protester in Seattle was released without charges, despite turning himself in.

* On January 24th, 2017, Spicer reiterated the lie that 3-5 million people voted “illegally” thus costing DT the popular vote.

* On January 24th, 2017, DT tweeted a picture from his personal Twitter account of a photo he says depicts the crowd at his inauguration and will hang in the White House press room. The photo is of the 2009 inauguration of 44th President Barack Obama, and is curiously dated January 21st, 2017, the day AFTER the inauguration and the day of the Women’s March, the largest inauguration related protest in history.

* On January 24th, 2017, the EPA was ordered to stop communicating with the public through social media or the press and to freeze all grants and contracts.

* On January 24th, 2017, the USDA was ordered to stop communicating with the public through social media or the press and to stop publishing any papers or research. All communication with the press would also have to be authorized and vetted by the White House.

* On January 24th, 2017, HR7, a bill that would prohibit federal funding not only to abortion service providers, but to any insurance coverage, including Medicaid, that provides abortion coverage, went to the floor of the House for a vote.

* On January 24th, 2017, Director of the Department of Health and Human Service nominee Tom Price characterized federal guidelines on transgender equality as “absurd.”

* On January 24th, 2017, DT ordered the resumption of construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline, while the North Dakota state congress considers a bill that would legalize hitting and killing protestors with cars if they are on roadways.

* On January 24th, 2017, it was discovered that police officers had used confiscated cell phones to search the emails and messages of the 230 demonstrators now facing felony riot charges for protesting on January 20th, including lawyers and journalists whose email accounts contain privileged information of clients and sources. 

~Compiled by Amy Siskind~

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Copyright: juliahenze / 123RF Stock Photo

Sly Says: So I'm an Alarmist, Eh?

And so it begins my friends...
In Case You Missed It
The Senate voted 51 to 48:
1. To end coverage for preexisting conditions, veterans benefits, and aid to rural hospitals.
2. To remove discrimination protection for women in healthcare.
3. Against the provision allowing children to remain on their parent's insurance till the age of 26.
4. To cut off funding for the Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
5. Against ACA contraceptive coverage and maternity care provision.
6. To direct committees to send budget legislation to de-fund and repeal the Affordable Care Act.
For those who get health insurance through work, no pre-existing conditions. Lifetime caps for coverage are back for everyone.
Real actions are being taken that will affect more than just the 20-30 million people who will lose their health care coverage and the 3 million people who will lose their jobs.
Despite their assertions of this being an action to "repeal and replace," no viable alternative plan has been proposed.
As of this moment, no replacement exists.

Send letters. Tell how you or someone you care about will be hurt by these changes.

The White House has turned off its public comments site and they all ignore email. Need postage? Let me know. I bought a bunch of stamps today, so I can help if postage stamps are not in your budget.

Apparently, Speaker Ryan has had his phones cut off because of the volume of calls, so here is his mailing address:
1233 Longworth HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Fax: (202) 225-3393

I'd also urge you to find out which way your state's senators voted and give them a piece of your mind (positive or negative), and then keep this in mind when elections come around again.

COPY AND PASTE THIS. EVERYWHERE!

~Sly~

Copyright Juliahenze@123rf.com

Fat, Old, Ugly, But at Least Not a Sexist Piece of Crap

Kiss my fat ass

Mary says: Feeling really upset just now after seeing that two senators have made mean remarks about the women who were marching. I did march in DC and to see what's in the hearts of our government and the institutionalization of sexism, makes me sick.

Sly says: Fuck them. So what if they find us ugly? So what if they call us fat? I am fat. I'm also old. I'm also pretty sure most people don't find me to be in even the same zip code as pretty. Doesn't matter. My worth isn't tied to how desirable some cretin finds me. Took me a long time to get to this place, but now that I'm here I want to be in the face of so called men like this even more because it pisses them off, and that makes me happy.

~Sly Has Spoken~

Copyright Juliahenze@123rf.com

Sly Says: Melania Trump, the First Victim

Pity and do not ridicule Melania Trump. In her narcissistic husband's eyes, she's just another one of his possessions. I don't think she really wants to be part of this. Much as he's wretched and deserving of all criticism levied at him, I think she needs to be left out of the attacks. For those who say "why doesn't she just leave?" it really isn't that easy to "just leave." Once a person has been gaslighted for a long time, they come to doubt their own thoughts and feel that perhaps either things aren't "that bad" and they're just being "dramatic" or they fear that things could get worse if they leave.

We need to keep our criticisms confined to those who can actually do things that ruin our lives. That means the Rump. His adult children aren't immune from criticism, although I'm uncomfortable with attacks on Ivanka which insinuate that she's somehow a willing partner in his creepy behavior towards her. Laughing it off is not the same as willingness.

Barron should definitely not be attacked. As a minor, he really has no say. His actions at the inauguration were those of a child who was bored and uncomfortable with what was going on.

The Rump's elder sons seem to be real chips off the old block. I have no respect for anyone who pays for canned trophy hunts to prove their "manhood." And lest we forget, there was the infamous comparison of Syrian refugees to Skittles. Raise the rotten produce and launch, as far as those two are concerned.

There really doesn't seem to be that much to say about Tiffany. She doesn't have any influence.

The Rump is the one we need to focus on. Pictures of Melania from when she was a model are a non-issue. The woman went from one abusive man (her father) to another (The Rump.) She's suffering enough. Let's focus our criticisms on him, not her.

~Sly~

Copyright Juliahenze@123rf.com