#District Center 2023

[quietparanoiac]

Осчастливило нас мироздание.

Райцентр | Raytsentr | District Center (2023), 1x04

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday will honor Emmett Till, the Black teenager whose 1955 killing helped galvanize the Civil Rights movement, and his mother with a national monument across two states.

Till, 14 and visiting from Chicago, was beaten, shot and mutilated in Money, Mississippi, on Aug. 28, 1955, four days after a 21-year-old white woman accused him of whistling at her. His body was dumped in a river.

The violent killing put a spotlight on the U.S. civil rights cause after his mother, Mamie Till-Bradley, held an open-casket funeral and a photo of her son's badly disfigured body appeared in Black media.

The national monument designation across 5.7 acres (2.3 hectares) and three sites marks a forceful new effort by the President to memorialize the country's bloody racial history even as Republicans in some states push limits on how that past is taught.

"America is changing, America is making progress," said the Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., 84, a cousin of Till's who was with the boy on the night he was abducted at gunpoint from the relatives' house they were staying at in Mississippi.

"I've seen a lot of changes over the years and I try to tell young people that they happen, but they happen very slow," Parker said on Monday in a telephone interview as he traveled from Chicago to Washington to attend the signing ceremony at the White House as one of approximately 60 guests.

Tuesday marks the 82nd anniversary of Till's birth in 1941. One of the monument sites is the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago, where Till's funeral took place.

The other selected sites are in Mississippi: Graball Landing, close to where Till's body is believed to be have been recovered; and Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse, where two white men who later confessed to Till's killing were acquitted by an all-white jury.

Signs erected at Graball Landing since 2008 to commemorate Till's killing have been repeatedly defaced by gunfire.

Now that site and the others will be considered federal property, receiving about $180,000 a year in funding from the National Park Service. Any future vandalism would be investigated by federal law enforcement rather than local police, according to Patrick Weems, executive director of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner, Mississippi.

Other such monuments include the Grand Canyon, Statue of Liberty and the laboratory of inventor Thomas Edison.

Biden, an 80-year-old Democrat, will likely need strong support from Black voters to secure a second term in the 2024 presidential election.

He screened a film recounting the lynching, "Till," at the White House in February. Last March, he signed into law a bipartisan bill named for Till that for the first time made lynching a federal hate crime.

A Republican field led by former President Donald Trump has made conservative views on race and other contentious issues of history a part of their platform, including banning books and fighting efforts to teach school children accounts of the country's past that they regard as ideologically inflected or unpatriotic.

"This is an amazing, teachable moment to talk about the importance of this story as an American story that everybody can share in now, particularly at a time when people are trying to rewrite history," said Christopher Benson, president of the non-profit organization the Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley Institute in Summit, Illinois.

“We have a memorial now that is not erasable. It can't be banned and it can't be censored, and we think that's a very important thing.”

[redgoldsparks]

My very last comic for The Nib! End of an era! Transcription below the cut. instagram / patreon / portfolio / etsy / my book / redbubble

The first event I went to with GENDER QUEER was in NYC in 2019 at the Javits Center.

So many of the people who came to my signing were librarians, and so many of them said the same thing: "I know exactly who I want to give this to!" Maia: "Thank you for helping readers find my book!" While working on the book, I was genuinely unsure if anyone outside of my family and close friends would read it. But the early support of librarians and two American Library Association awards helped sell two print runs in first year.

Since then, GENDER QUEER been published in 8 languages, with more on the way: Spanish, Czech, Polish, French, Italian, Norwegian, Portugese and Dutch.

It has also been the most banned book in the United States for the past two years. The American Library Association has tracked an astronomical increase in book challenges over the past few years. Most of these challenges are to books with diverse characters and LGBTQ themes. These challenges are coming unevenly across the US, in a pattern that mirrors the legislative attacks on LGBTQ people. The Brooklyn Public Library offered free eCards to anyone in the US aged 13-21, in an effort to make banned books more available to young readers. A teacher in Norman, Oklahoma gave her students the QR code for the free eCard and lost her job. Summer Boismeir is now working for the Brooklyn Public Library. Hoopla and Libby/Overdrive, apps used to access digital library books, are now banned in Mississippi to anyone under 18. Some libraries won’t allow anyone under 18 to get any kind of library card without parental permission. When librarians in Jamestown, Michigan refused to remove GENDER QUEER and several other books, the citizens of the town voted down the library’s funding in the fall 2022 election. Without funding, the library is due to close in mid-2024. My first event since covid hit was the American Library Association conference in June 2022 in Washington, DC. Once again, the librarians in my signing line all had similar stories for me: “Your book was challenged in our district" "It was returned to the shelf!" "It was removed from the shelf..." "It was moved to the adult section."

Over and over I said: "Thank you. Thank you for working so hard to keep my book in your library. I’m sorry you had to defend it, but thank you for trying, even if it didn't work." We are at a crossroads of freedom of speech and censorship. The future of libraries, both publicly funded and in schools, are at stake. This is massively impacting the daily lives of librarians, teachers, students, booksellers, and authors around the country. In May 2023, I read an article from the Washington Post analyzing nearly 1000 of the book challenges from the 2021-2022 school year. I was literally on route to a festival to talk about book bans when I read a startling statistic. 60% of the 1000 book challenges were submitted by just 11 people. One man alone was responsible for 92 challenges. These 11 people seem to have made submitting copy-cat book challenges their full-time hobby and their opinions are having an outsized ripple effect across the nation. WE NEED TO MAKE THE VOICES SUPPORTING DIVERSE BOOKS AND OPPOSING BOOK BANS EVEN LOUDER. If you are able too, show up for your library and school board meetings when book challenges are debated. Send supportive comments and emails about the Pride book display and Drag Queen story hours. If you see a display you like– for Banned Book Week, AAPI Month, Black History Month, Disability Awareness Month, Jewish holidays, Trans Day of Remembrance– compliment a librarian! Make sure they feel the love stronger than the hate <3

Maia Kobabe, 2023

The Nib

[reasonsforhope]

"Palestinian plaintiffs and their legal representatives on Friday [January 26, 2024] presented a powerful case in federal court accusing President Joe Biden and other top US officials of complicity in Israel's genocide in Gaza.

People around the world tuned in for the long-awaited hearing in Oakland, with plaintiffs appearing in person and over Zoom in an unprecedented effort to hold the Biden administration accountable for its actions in Gaza.

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed the lawsuit in November 2023 on behalf of Defense for Children International–Palestine, Al-Haq, and eight Palestinians in the US and Palestine. The complaint accuses President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin of failing to live up to their legal responsibilities under the 1948 Genocide Convention and the 1988 Genocide Convention Implementation Act.

The United Nations convention classifies complicity in genocide, or the intentional destruction of a people in whole or in part, as a crime under international law and requires that states take measures to prevent such atrocities.

[Note: This is a big reason why politicians almost never call it a genocide, btw. Because if a country recognizes that it's a genocide, then they actually are legally required to do a bunch of things to stop it, under international law.]

The historic lawsuit contends that the Biden administration has failed to uphold its obligations by continuing to provide diplomatic and military support for Israel's brutal campaign in Gaza. Plaintiffs are asking the court to stop Biden from sending more weapons and munitions to Israel that are being used to kill Palestinians en masse.

The hearing before the US District Court for the Northern District of California took place just hours after the International Court of Justice issued provisional measures against Israel in a landmark case brought by South Africa.

-via TAG24, January 26, 2024. Article continues below.

Court contends with questions of jurisdiction and responsibility

In evaluating the allegations, questioning in Friday's hearing revolved around the so-called political question doctrine, by which federal courts regularly refrain from ruling on political matters seen as best resolved by the president and Congress.

The Department of Justice argued that according to the doctrine, the court has no jurisdiction to rule in the case.

"If the court condemns United States foreign policy toward Israel, it could cause international embarrassment and undermine foreign policy decisions in the sensitive context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," defense counsel Jean Lin told Senior District Judge Jeffrey S. White.

Katherine Gallagher of the CCR countered that the court does, indeed, have a responsibility to step in: "Here, the question is a legal one, whether the actions undertaken by the United States failed to uphold the obligation to prevent genocide, and that is an active obligation that requires that the United States not provide the means by which a genocide is being furthered."

"There is no discretion for any state to evade its obligations, its legal obligations. These are not policy decisions," she said.

Palestinian plaintiffs share powerful testimonies before the court

After legal arguments in the case, Judge White heard two hours of gut-wrenching testimony from Palestinian plaintiffs and a renowned Holocaust and genocide expert.

Rubin Presidential Chair of Jewish History at Wake Forest University Dr. Barry Trachtenberg shared his remarks before the court in spite of vehement US government opposition.

"To have an event fall under the 1948 Convention on Genocide requires both action and intent, and here we see that very, very clearly in a way that seems really quite unique in history," he stated, noting that there is now an opportunity to stop Israel's unfolding genocide in real time to prevent further loss of lives...

Judge White said he would take the testimonies to heart as he evaluates his constitutional responsibilities, describing the case as "the most difficult judicial decision" he has ever had to make."

-via TAG24, January 26, 2024

-

Note: I know a lot of people are really not gonna appreciate that last line. I'm not thrilled with it either. But it is worth noting that having a federal court overrule the US president's huge foreign policy and military decisions would be an absolutely massive deal/precedent

This is a case that deserves to be ruled on with an incredible amount of seriousness, if only because if you're a federal judge who's going to make that call, your written decision/legal justification needs to be unimpeachable

That said, if the judge uses jurisdiction to pass the buck here and avoid his legal and human responsibility to do what he can to stop a genocide, I'm gonna be pissed

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Working class Dems who campaign on economics beat Trumpists in elections

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me FRIDAY NIGHT (Mar 22) in TORONTO, then SUNDAY (Mar 24) with LAURA POITRAS in NYC, then Anaheim, and more!

The Democratic Party Pizzaburger Theory of Electioneering is: half the electorate wants a pizza, the other half wants a burger, so we'll give them all a pizzaburger and make them all equally dissatisfied, thus winning the election:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/16/that-boy-aint-right/#dinos-rinos-and-dunnos

But no one wants a pizzaburger. The Biden administration's approach of letting the Warren/Sanders wing pick the antitrust enforcers while keeping judicial appointments in the Manchin-Synematic universe is a catastrophe in which progressive Dem regulators (who serve one term) are thwarted by corporatist Dem judges (who serve for life):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/14/making-good-trouble/#the-peoples-champion

The Democrats – like all parties in two-party systems – are a coalition; in this case, a "progressive" liberal-left coalition with liberals serving as senior partners, steering the party and setting its policies. These corporate dems like to color themselves as "neutral" technocrats with "realistic, apolitical" policies that represent what's best for the country:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/05/not-that-naomi/#if-the-naomi-be-klein-youre-doing-just-fine

This sets up the left wing of the party as the starry-eyed, unrealistic radicals whose policies are unpopular and will lose elections. But for a decade, grassroots-funded primary challenges have made it possible to test this theory, by putting leftist politicians on the ballot in front of voters, especially in tight races with far-right Republicans (that is, exactly the kinds of races that the corporate wing of the party says we can't afford to take chances on).

The 2022 midterms included enough races to start testing these theories – and, unlike traditional midterms, these races enjoyed high voter turnout, thanks to the unpopularity of GOP positions like abortion bans, book bans and anti-trans laws. Jacobin teamed up with the Center for Working-Class Politics, Yougov and the Center for Work and Democracy at ASU and analyzed those races:

https://images.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/11134429/CWCP-Report-2024.pdf

Their conclusion: candidates from working-class backgrounds who campaigned on economic policies like high-quality jobs, higher minimum wages, a jobs guarantee, ending offshoring and outsourcing, building infrastructure and bringing manufacturing back to the US won with a 50% share of the vote in rural and working-class districts. Dems who didn't lost with a 35% share of the vote:

https://prospect.org/politics/2024-03-18-how-actually-existing-democrats-run-for-office/

In other words, in the kinds of districts where Trumpist politicians are beating Democrats, running on "left populist" policies beats Trumpist politicians.

That's the good news: if Dems recruit leftist, working class politicians and put them up for office on policies that address the material reality of voters' lives, they can beat fascist GOP candidates.

Now for the bad news: the Democratic establishment has no interest in getting these candidates onto the ballot. Working-class candidates, by definition, lack the networks of deep-pocketed cronies who can fund their primary campaigns. Only 2.3% of Dem candidates come from blue-collar backgrounds (if you include "pink-collar" professions like nursing and teaching, the number goes up to 5.9%):

https://jacobin.com/2024/03/left-populists-working-class-voters

All of this confirms the findings of Trump's Kryoptonite, an earlier Jacobin/CWCP research project that polled working-class voters on preferences for hypothetical candidates, finding that working-class candidates with economically progressive policies handily beat out Republicans, including MAGA Republicans:

https://images.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/08125102/TrumpsKryptonite_Final_June2023.pdf

Since the Clinton-Blair years, "progressives" have abandoned economic populism ("It's not a burning ambition for me to make sure that David Beckham earns less money" -T. Blair) and pursued a "third way" that seeks to replace half the world's of supply white, male oligarchs with diverse oligarchs from a variety of backgrounds and genders. We were told that this was done in the name of winning elections with "modern" policies that replaced old-fashioned ideas about decent pay, decent jobs, and worker power.

These policies have delivered a genocide-riven world on the brink of several kinds of existential catastrophe. They're a failure. The pizzaburger party didn't deliver safety, nor prosperity – and it also can't deliver elections.

Name your price for 18 of my DRM-free ebooks and support the Electronic Frontier Foundation with the Humble Cory Doctorow Bundle.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/20/actual-material-conditions/#bread-and-butter

[gillianthecat]

USA Protests for Palestine This Weekend

List from the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights

https://uscpr.org/oct-2023-protests/

Thursday, November 2

ST PAUL, MN | Thursday, November 2nd at 12PM at St. Kate’s O’Shaughnessy Auditorium

PORTLAND, OR | Thursday, November 2nd at 3PM at 911 NE 11th Avenue

BOSTON, MA | Thursday, November 2nd at 4PM at Brewer Fountain, Boston Commons

YPSILANTI, MI | Thursday, November 2nd at 4PM at Eastern Michigan University Student Center

CLEVELAND, OH | Thursday, November 2nd at 6:30PM at Beit Hanina Cultural Center

Friday, November 3

ST PAUL, MN | Friday, November 3rd at 4PM at Snelling & Summit Ave

BROOKLYN, NY | Friday, November 3rd at 4:30PM at Brooklyn District 10 Office 340A 9th Street

MENLO PARK, CA | Friday, November 3rd at 5PM at Meta HQ 1 Hacker Way

Saturday, November 4

NATIONAL MARCH ON WASHINGTON | Washington DC, November 4th, 2 PM. Freedom Plaza. Cosponsored by USCPR and other organizations.

OLYMPIA, WA | Saturday, November 4th at 12PM at City Hall

CINCINNATI, OH | Saturday, November 4th at 12PM at Ziegler Park

RICHLAND, WA | Saturday, November 4th at 12PM at John Dam Plaza

ORONO, ME | Saturday, November 4th at 12PM at UMaine Folger Library

NASHVILLE, TN | Saturday, November 4th at 1PM at Centennial Park

SAN FRANCISCO, CA | Saturday, November 4th at 1PM at Civic Center

SACRAMENTO, CA | Saturday, November 4th at 1PM at Arden Fair Mall

BURLINGTON, VT | Saturday, November 4th at 1PM at Battery Park

PROVO, UT | Saturday, November 4th at 1PM at 550 N University Ave

JUNEAU, AK | Saturday, November 4th at 2PM at Marine Park

LAKEWOOD, OH | Saturday, November 4th at 2PM at City Center Park

SEATTLE, WA | Saturday, November 4th at 3PM at 400 Pine St

TUSCON, AZ | Saturday, November 4th at 3PM at Catalina Park

Sunday, November 5

DENVER, CO | Sunday, November 5th at 12PM at 200 E Colfax Ave

DALLAS, TX | Sunday, November 5th at 2PM at 3333 Turtle Creek Blvd

ROCKVILLE, MD | Sunday, November 5th at 2PM at 101 Monroe St

SAN CARLOS, CA | Sunday, November 5th at 6:15PM at Hiller Aviation Museum

poster art by Shreya Shah from a publicly available collection of free art for Palestine

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week - June 6, 2023

1. Biden orders 20-year ban on oil, gas drilling around tribal site in New Mexico

Hundreds of square miles in New Mexico will be withdrawn from further oil and gas production for the next 20 years on the outskirts of Chaco Culture National Historical Park that tribal communities consider sacred, the Biden administration ordered Friday.

The new order from Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland applies to public lands and associated mineral rights within a 10-mile (16-kilometer) radius of the park. It does not apply to entities that are privately, state- or tribal-owned. Existing leases won’t be impacted either.

2. Groundbreaking Israeli cancer treatment has 90% success rate

An experimental treatment developed at Israel's Hadassah-University Medical Center has a 90% success rate at bringing patients with multiple myeloma into remission.

The treatment is based on genetic engineering technology. They have used a genetic engineering technology called CAR-T, or Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy, which boosts the patient’s own immune system to destroy the cancer. More than 90% of the 74 patients treated at Hadassah went into complete remission, the oncologists said.

3. Federal Judge Makes History in Holding That Border Searches of Cell Phones Require a Warrant

With United States v. Smith, a district court judge in New York made history by being the first court to rule that a warrant is required for a cell phone search at the border, “absent exigent circumstances”. For a century, the Supreme Court has recognized a border search exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement.

4. Indigenous-led bison repopulation projects are helping the animal thrive again in Alberta

Indigenous-led efforts are reintroducing bison to their ancestral lands in Alberta, bringing back an iconic species that was nearly extinct. These reintroduction projects, such as the one led by the Tsuut'ina Nation, have witnessed the positive impact on the bison population and the surrounding wildlife.

The historical decline of bison numbers was due to overhunting and government policies that forced Indigenous peoples onto reserves. These initiatives aim to restore ecological integrity while fostering spiritual and cultural connections with the land and animals. Successful results have been observed in projects like Banff National Park, where the bison population has grown from 16 to nearly 100, providing inspiration for future wilding efforts.

5. Breakthrough in disease affecting one in nine women

Sydney researchers have made a world-first leap forward that could change the treatment of endometriosis and improve the health of women living with the painful and debilitating disease. Researchers from Sydney's Royal Hospital for Women have grown tissue from every known type of endometriosis, observing changes and comparing how they respond to treatments.

It means researchers will be able to vary treatments from different types of endometriosis, determining whether a woman will need fertility treatments.

6. Latvia just elected the first openly gay head of state in Europe

The country’s parliament elected Edgars Rinkēvičs to be its next president, Reuters reported prime minister Krišjānis Kariņš saying.

Rinkēvičs publicly came out as gay in November 2014, posting on Twitter: “I proudly announce I am gay… Good luck all of you.” In a second tweet at the time, he spoke about improving the legal status of same-sex relationships, saying Latvia needed to create a legal framework for all kinds of partnerships.

7. France bans short haul flights

The introduction of France’s short-haul flight ban has renewed calls for Europe to cut down on journeys that could be made by train. Last week France officially introduced its ban on short-haul flights.

The final version of the law means that journeys which can be taken in under 2.5 hours by train can’t be taken by plane. There also needs to be enough trains throughout the day that travellers can spend at least eight hours at their destination.

----

That's it for this week :)

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[coochiequeens]

Woman’ is not an ambiguous term open to an evolving interpretation.” - the attorneys representing the women who want to keep the sorority house they pay $8,000 for male free.

By Genevieve Gluck December 14, 2023

The female complainants at the center of a lawsuit to have a trans-identified male removed from a sorority at the University of Wyoming have re-filed their appeal, demanding the court clearly define the word “woman.” Artemis Langford, previously known as Dallin, was accepted into Kappa Kappa Gamma (KKG) last September, spurring several women to file a lawsuit to have him removed.

In August, the case of Westenbroek v. Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity was dismissed on the basis that re-defining “woman” to include males was “Kappa Kappa Gamma’s bedrock right.” Despite hearing testimony from the women, some of whom stated Langford had “watched” them undress with an erection, Judge Alan Johnson rejected the women’s request to rescind Langford’s admission into the sorority.

However, on December 4, the young women filed an appeal to have the dismissal reversed, arguing that Langford’s presence in the sorority house “caused emotional distress in a personalized and unique way,” and demanding that the court clearly define the word “woman.”

In the appeal, the women reassert that Langford displayed “strange and sexual behavior” towards them, and caused them a level of discomfort and anxiety amounting to personal injury. It reiterates claims that Langford had been filming and photographing the women without their consent and had displayed a visible erection while in the house.

“Specifically, Langford’s unwanted staring, photographing, and videotaping of the Plaintiffs, as well as his asking questions about sex and displaying a visible erection while in the house, invaded Plaintiffs’ privacy and caused emotional distress in a personalized and unique way. And thus Plaintiffs have pleaded a viable direct claim. This Court should therefore reverse the district court’s dismissal of Plaintiffs’ derivative and direct claims,” the appeal reads.

Some of the allegations are a reiteration of previous claims, which Langford’s attorney, Rachel Berkness, has attempted to portray as both false and discriminatory during court proceedings. In June, Berkness filed a motion to dismiss the sorority women’s claims against Langford as “frivolous and malicious,” stating: “The allegations against Ms. Langford … were borne out of a hypothesis in search of evidence and pieced together using drunken party stories. Ms. Langford is not a victim; she is a target.”

The initial suit, filed at the end of March, had asserted that Langford, who is 6’2″, had been voyeuristically peeping on the women while they were in intimate situations, and, on at least one occasion, had a visible erection while doing so.

“One sorority member walked down the hall to take a shower, wearing only a towel … She felt an unsettling presence, turned, and saw [Langford] watching her silently,” the court document reads.

“[Langford] has, while watching members enter the sorority house, had an erection visible through his leggings,” the suit says. “Other times, he has had a pillow in his lap.”

As evidenced by his Tinder profile, Langford is “sexually interested in women.” It was further stated in that Langford took photographs of the women while at a sorority slumber party, where he also is said to have made inappropriate comments.

“At a slumber party, Langford ‘repeatedly questioned the women about what vaginas look like, [and] breast cup size,’ and stared as one Plaintiff changed her clothes,” reads the appeal. “Langford also talked about his virginity and discussed at what age it would be appropriate for someone to have sex… And he stated that he would not leave one of the sorority’s sleepovers until after everyone fell asleep.”

Langford was also said to have taken pictures of female members “without their knowledge or consent.” Some of the women noted that they had “observed Langford writing detailed notes about [the students] and their statements and behavior.”

In May, a judge twice prohibited the women from suing anonymously, while stipulating that Langford’s identity should remain protected. Langford was referred to by the pseudonym “Terry Smith” and male pronouns in the legal documents. Six of the women then refiled the lawsuit under their own names, and are requesting that the court void Langford’s membership in KKG.

“It is really uncomfortable. Some of the girls have been sexually assaulted or sexually harassed. Some girls live in constant fear in our home,” one of the sisters, Hannah, told Megyn Kelly during an interview on her podcast.

Rather than addressing the privacy and safety concerns of the women in KKG, who had each paid $8,000 to live in the sorority house, “Kappa officials recommended that … they should quit Kappa Kappa Gamma entirely.”

In June, the sorority filed a motion to dismiss the suit, calling it a “frivolous” attempt to eject Langford for “their own political purposes.” According to the motion, the women suing were flinging “dehumanizing mud” in order to “bully Ms. Langford on the national stage.” The sorority invited the women to resign their membership “if a position of inclusion is too offensive for their personal values.”

In the motion, lawyers for Kappa Kappa Gamma attempted to depict the suit as an attempt by “a vocal minority” to impose their views on Langford and the rest of the sorority members.

“Perhaps the greatest wrongs in this case are not the ones Plaintiffs and their supporters imagine they have suffered, but the ones that they have inflicted through their conduct since filing the Complaint,” they wrote. “Regardless of personal views on the rights of transgender people, the cruelty that Plaintiffs and their supporters have shown towards Langford and anyone in Kappa who supports Langford is disturbing.”

The recent appeal against the suit’s dismissal, filed on behalf of the young women by Sylvia May Mailman of the Independent Women’s Law Center, the Law Office of John G. Knepper, Schaerr Jaffe LLP, and Cassie Craven of Longhorn Law firm, details several alleged violations of the sorority sisters’ rights, as well as KKG’s own policies.

“The question at the heart of this case is the definition of ‘woman,’ a term that Kappa has used since 1870 to prescribe membership, in Kappa’s governing documents,” the appeal states. “Using any conceivable tool of contractual interpretation, the term refers to biological females. And yet, the district court avoided this inevitable conclusion by applying the wrong law and ignoring the factual assertions in the complaint.”

It goes on to note that from 1870 to 2018, KKG defined “woman” to exclude “transgender women” and that any new definition may not be enacted without a KKG bylaw amendment.

Numerous examples are given of rules put forward by the sorority which use the term “woman,” with the attorneys maintaining that “‘woman’ is not an ambiguous term open to an evolving interpretation.”

KKG leaders who approved Langford’s membership have “subverted Kappa’s mission and governing documents by changing the definition of ‘woman’ without following the required processes.” Kappa President Mary Pat Rooney’s legal team has argued that Langford’s admission into the sorority was based on a 2015 position statement which asserts that KKG “is a single-gender organization comprised of women and individuals who identify as women.”

However, the women’s legal appeal points out that KKG can only change its membership criteria by amending its Bylaws, a process which requires a two-thirds majority approval vote by a Convention of board members. As a Convention to amend Bylaws to reflect the position statement was never held, the appeal states, Langford’s acceptance into KKG is a violation of accepted policies.

KKG leadership is also accused of using “coercive” tactics during the process of voting Langford into the organization in September 2022. After an initial anonymous vote conducted via Google poll failed to result in Langford’s acceptance into the sorority, Chapter leaders developed a second, non-anonymous voting system in which multiple sisters changed their votes because of “fear of reprisal.”

In addition to denying women anonymity, Wyoming chapter officials, after consultation with Kappa’s leadership, had told members that voting against Langford’s admission was evidence of “bigotry” that “is a basis for suspension or expulsion from the Sorority.”

Curiously, prior court documents also reveal that Langford was admitted to KKG despite not even meeting their basic academic eligibility requirements. 

While KKG requires applicants to have a 2.7 Grade Point Average (GPA), Langford only had a 1.9 at the time he submitted his membership request, and was not on a grade probation. The legal complaint notes that this indicates Langford’s application was “evaluated using a different standard.”

In November, two longstanding alumni members of KKG revealed they had been expelled in an apparent retaliation for advocating that membership be restricted to females only. Patsy Levang and Cheryl Tuck-Smith had been members of the sorority for over 50 years, and had contributed to fundraising efforts for the organization.

Despite their long history of supporting KKG, Levang and Tuck-Smith were voted out by the sorority’s national leadership on November 9. Levang had been the past Kappa Kappa Gamma National Foundation President, while Tuck-Smith was an active contributor and organizer.

The women’s removal came after they had been vocally opposed to the admission of Langford to the KKG chapter at the University of Wyoming, and had supported a lawsuit launched by members of that sorority to have him removed.

Since news of the lawsuit first became widely circulated, Langford has received ample sympathetic coverage in mainstream media, with one MSNBC host labeling him “brave and unique.” In a recent profile by the Washington Post, Langford was given a platform to accuse the sorority sisters involved in the suit of lying while being compared to women who had historically been denied the right to a basic education.

[renthony]

From the article:

Katherine Rinderle, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, was an elementary school educator in the district for more than 10 years before she was fired in August 2023. According to the lawsuit, the county used these policies to terminate Rinderle after she read "My Shadow Is Purple." During her termination hearing, she said she chose the book because of its "anti-bullying message, to highlight that there were gender nonconforming students and other students with diverse identities in her school whose needs for acceptance were not being recognized or addressed," read the complaint. A three-member panel submitted findings to the Board against Rinderle's termination after Superintendent Ragsdale recommended her firing, according to the complaint. However, the board moved forward with her termination and rejected their findings. “The school board’s decision to fire me undermines students’ freedom to learn and teachers’ ability to teach,” Rinderle said in a statement to ABC News. “Many CCSD educators, including Ms. Grimmke and I, are committed to creating inclusive, diverse and empowering environments free from discrimination and harm, ensuring LGBTQ+ students feel safe, affirmed, and centered in their learning journey because that is what our children deserve.”

[fearsmagazine]

SAW THE MUSICAL: THE UNAUTHORIZED PARODY OF SAW Extends Off-Broadway and Announces National Tour.

After an astonishing New York run this Fall, SAW The Musical The Unauthorized Parody of Saw has extended its run Off-Broadway at AMT Theatre (345 West 45th Street) through Jun 23, 2024. It will also kick off a national tour in LA with a six-week run beginning Feb 29 at the Hudson Theatres Mainstage (6539 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90038 in Hollywood) SAW The Musical: The Unauthorized Parody began performances Off-Broadway on Sept 16, 2023, with its New York Opening Night on Sunday, Oct 1, 2023, and was called "Hilariously Absurd" by NPR. The run is extended through Jun 23, 2024, in Midtown's Theater District.

Danny Durr as Gordon and Jill Owen

The National Tour stops include Los Angeles, CA (Hudson Theatre Mainstage, Feb 29- Apr 7, 2024 ); San Diego, CA (Tenth Ave Arts Center, April 10 – 28, 2024), Las Vegas, NV (May 1 – 5, 2024), Portland, OR (Alberta Abbey, May 15 – Jun 9, 2024), Greely, CO (Union Colony Civic Center, June 2024), Chicago, IL (Jul 26 – Aug 18, 2024). Exact dates, locations, and tickets can be purchased by visiting www.sawthemusical.com/national-tour.

One of the most thought-provoking horror films of all time now is…a musical. SAW The Musical hilariously captures the events of the first movie, parodying the Saw that started it all, following from where Lawrence Gordon and Adam Stanheight find each other for the first time in the bathroom trap. Will they follow "the rules" as they discover each other's secrets? Will they escape the game in time and saw right through? A love story with fluidity (and lots more fluids), SAW The Musical: The Unauthorized Parody of Saw is Little Shop of Horrors meets Avenue Q, pushing the boundary on sexuality and how to love. [Parental Advisory: Explicit Content]

"SAW The Musical: The Unauthorized Parody of Saw brings the iconic horror film to life on stage with a wickedly funny twist. Now is the perfect time to laugh at the macabre as we blend horror and hair-raising laughter, creating a unique musical experience that's both hilarious and thrilling. Get ready for a love story entangled in traps, secrets, and unexpected humor, pushing the boundaries of entertainment with a dash of explicit fun." Cooper Jordan, Creator, and Producer

Created by Cooper Jordan (DEX! A Killer Musical, The Rat Pack Undead), SAW The Musical has a book by Award -Winning Writer Zoe Ann Jordan (Virtuoso - NYCHFF) and music & lyrics by Patrick Spencer & Anthony De Angelis (An Axemas Story), and directed & choreographed by Tony Award Winner Stephanie Rosenberg (Easter Bunny HOP! LIVE; Co-Producer: Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Anastasia) with music direction by Leigh Pomeranz (DEX! A Killer Musical) and fight direction by Dan Renkin (All My Sons, DEX! A Killer Musical). The Musical is produced by Cooper Jordan, Saw The Musical Parody LLC, Stephanie Rosenberg, Merciful Delusions Productions, Panit Chantranuluck, June Rachelson-Ospa, and more to be announced. Cooper Jordan is the Lead Producer.

SAW The Musical: The Unauthorized Parody of Saw (New York) stars Danny Durr (National Tour: A Christmas Carol, Tony-nominated War Paint) as Gordon, Adam Parbhoo (NY: Home's Kitchen) as Adam, Gabrielle Goodman (NY: Open, Stay) as Amanda/Alli/Jigsaw and Voiceover for Detective Tapp is by the late Donnell Johnson, with Swings & Understudies; Andrew Caira (New York: The Importance of Being Earnestly LGBTQ+, Regional/Tour: Atlantic City Blues Brothers), Patrick Voss Davis (Film: Lucky Louie. Regional: Newsies), James Lynch (New York: Baby Powder), Thomas Skea (Film: Out of Water), Morgan Traud (Regional: Mame), Jessica Morilak ("A Sketch of New York") and Keaton Barry. SAW The Musical's National Tour Casts will be announced in 2024.

For an updated schedule, National Tour tickets or to purchase tickets, please visit SawtheMusical.com.

[mariacallous]

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral arguments in a challenge to abortion pill access across the country, including in states where abortion is legal. The stakes for abortion rights are sky-high, and the case is the most consequential battle over reproductive health care access since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.

At the center of this fight is mifepristone, a pill that blocks a hormone needed for pregnancy. The drug has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for more than two decades, and it’s used to treat some patients with Cushing’s syndrome, as well as endometriosis and uterine fibroids. But its primary use is the one contested now—mifepristone is the first of two pills taken in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy for a standard medication abortion, along with the drug misoprostol.

If the justices side with the antiabortion activists seeking to limit access to mifepristone, it could upend nationwide access to the most common form of abortion care. A ruling that invalidates mifepristone’s approval would open the door for any judge to reverse the FDA approval of any drug, especially ones sometimes seen as controversial, such as HIV drugs and hormonal birth control. It could also have a chilling effect on the development of new drugs, making companies wary of investing research into medicines that could later be pulled from the market.

Pills are now the leading abortion method in the US, and their popularity has spiked in recent years. More than six in 10 abortions in 2023 were carried out via medication, according to new data from the Guttmacher Institute. Since rules around telehealth were relaxed during the Covid-19 pandemic, many patients seeking medication abortions have relied on virtual clinics, which send abortion pills by mail. And it keeps getting more popular: Hey Jane, a prominent telemedicine provider, saw demand increase 73 percent from 2022 to 2023. It recorded another 28 percent spike comparing data from January 2023 to January 2024.

“Telemedicine abortion is too effective to not be in the targets of antiabortion folks,” says Julie F. Kay, a longtime reproductive rights lawyer and director of the advocacy group Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine.

Tomorrow’s argument comes after a long, tangled series of legal disputes in lower courts. The Supreme Court will be hearing two cases consolidated together, including FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, in which a coalition of antiabortion activists filed a suit challenging the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, asking for it to be removed from the market. The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine is represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a right-wing Christian law firm that often takes politically charged cases.

Despite decades of scientific consensus on the drug’s safety record, the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine has alleged that mifepristone is dangerous to women and leads to emergency room visits. A 2021 study cited by the plaintiffs to back up their claims was retracted in February after an independent review found that its authors came to inaccurate conclusions.

In April 2023, the Trump-appointed judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas issued a preliminary ruling on the FDA case invalidating the agency’s approval of mifepristone. The ruling sent shock waves far beyond the reproductive-rights world, as it had major implications for the entire pharmaceutical industry, as well as the FDA itself; the ruling suggested that the courts could revoke a drug’s approval even after decades on the market.

The US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals narrowed Kacsmaryk’s decision a week later, allowing the drug to remain on the market, but undid FDA decisions in recent years that made mifepristone easier to prescribe and obtain. That decision limited the time frame in which it can be taken to the first seven weeks of pregnancy and put telemedicine access, as well as access to the generic version of the drug in jeopardy.

Following the 5th Circuit ruling, the FDA and Danco Laboratories sought emergency relief from the Supreme Court, asking the justices to preserve access until it could hear the case. In its legal filing, Danco aptly described the situation as “regulatory chaos.”

SCOTUS issued a temporary stay, maintaining the status quo; the court ultimately decided to take up the case in December 2023.

As all this was unfolding, pro-abortion-rights states across the country were passing what are known as shield laws, which protect medical practitioners who offer abortion care to pregnant patients in states where abortion is banned. This has allowed some providers, including the longtime medication-abortion-advocacy group Aid Access, to mail abortion pills to people who requested them in states like Louisiana and Arkansas.

Though the oral arguments before the Supreme Court begin on Tuesday, it will likely be months before a ruling. Court watchers suspect a decision may be handed down in June. With the US presidential election in the fall, the ruling may become a major campaign issue, especially as abortion access helped galvanize voters in the 2022 midterms.

If the Supreme Court agrees with the plaintiffs that mifepristone should be taken off the market, some in the pharmaceutical industry worry that it will undermine the authority of the FDA, the agency tasked with reviewing and approving drugs based on their safety and efficacy.

“This case isn't about mifepristone,” says Elizabeth Jeffords, CEO of Iolyx Therapeutics, a company developing drugs for immune and eye diseases. Jeffords is a signatory on an amicus brief filed in April 2023 that brought together 350 pharmaceutical companies, executives, and investors to challenge the Texas district court’s ruling.

“This case could have easily been about minoxidil for hair loss. It could have been about Mylotarg for cancer. It could have been about measles vaccines,” Jeffords says. “This is about whether or not the FDA is allowed to be the scientific arbiter of what is good and safe for patients.”

Greer Donley, an associate professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh and an expert on abortion on the law, doesn’t think it’s likely that the court will revoke mifepristone’s approval entirely. Instead, she sees two possible outcomes. The Supreme Court could dismiss the case or could undo the FDA’s decision in 2023 to permanently remove the in-person dispensing requirement and allow abortion by telehealth. “This would be an even more narrow decision than what the 5th Circuit did, but it would still be pretty devastating to abortion access,” she says.

The Supreme Court could also decide that the plaintiffs lack a right to bring the case to court, says David Cohen, a professor of law at Drexel University whose expertise is in constitutional law and gender issues. “This case could get kicked out on standing, meaning that the plaintiffs aren't the right people to bring this case,” he says. “If most of the questions are about standing, that will give you a sense that that's what the justices are concerned about.”

As the current Supreme Court is considered virulently antiabortion, reproductive-health-care workers are already preparing for the worst. Some telehealth providers have already floated a backup plan: offering misoprostol-only medication abortions. This is less than ideal, as the combination of pills is the current standard of care and offers the best results; misoprostol on its own can cause additional cramping and nausea. For some providers who may have to choose between misoprostol-only or nothing, it’s better than nothing.

Abortion-rights activists have no plans to give up on telehealth abortions, regardless of the outcome of this particular case. “Let us be clear, Hey Jane will not stop delivering telemedicine abortion care, regardless of the outcome of this case,” says Hey Jane’s CEO and cofounder, Kiki Freedman.

“They’re not going to stuff the genie back in the bottle,” Kay says.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) filed a lawsuit Friday against the Biden administration’s new student loan income-driven repayment (IDR) plan.

The lawsuit comes after the Department of Education launched a beta website this week for the Saving on Valuable Education (SAVE) application, the new IDR plan the White House has dubbed the “most generous” for student borrowers.

The NCLA, on behalf of the Cato Institute and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, filed a suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to stop the implementation of this plan.

The NCLA is arguing that the new IDR plan violates the Constitution’s Appropriations Clause, which allows Congress to be in charge of what debt owed to the Treasury can be canceled.

Under the SAVE plan, loan forgiveness would come quicker for many borrowers. For one, the plan allows borrower whose student loan has an original principal balance of $12,000 or less to get forgiveness after 10 years of payments.

It also allows certain periods of deferment and forbearance to count toward the time needed to get full forgiveness on an individual’s loan.

“In the Nebraska case, the Supreme Court struck down the Department of Education’s brazen attempt to pull a billion-dollar ‘elephant’ out of a statutory ‘mousehole.’ This time the Department’s loan-cancellation scheme does not even pretend to have a statutory ‘mousehole,'” said Sheng Li, Litigation Counsel for NCLA.

“The [Public Service Loan Forgiveness] and IDR statutes require borrowers to make a certain number of monthly payments before earning forgiveness. By trying to count non-payments as payments, the strategy seems to be to cancel $39 billion faster than a court can review and stop this blatantly unlawful act,” Li continued.

Along with the $39 billion the NCLA says the Department could cancel almost immediately, it would allow debt to be canceled for 2.8 million more IDR borrowers in the future.

“Instead of promulgating the plan through the required notice-and-comment and negotiated rulemaking process under the Administrative Procedure Act, the Department simply issued a press release that did not identify any laws to justify it,” the NCLA wrote.

The challenge to the SAVE plan comes two months before student loan borrowers will be forced back into repayment after the three-year COVID-19 student loan pause.

The Hill has reached out to the Department of Education for comment.

[zvaigzdelasas]

12 Sep 23

On September 4, the Japanese Supreme Court ruled that Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki is legally obligated to approve the relocation of a U.S. military base from the Okinawan district of Ginowan to Henoko district in the prefecture’s Nago city. The decision follows Tamaki’s years-long legal battle to prevent the relocation after landfill work, which began in 2018, unearthed the fact that a significant portion of the sea floor where the base is being built was too soft to support the original construction plan. In April 2020, the Japanese Defense Ministry’s Okinawa Bureau attempted to submit a revised building plan to account for the soft ground, which civil engineers described as “soft as mayonnaise,” but that was rejected by Tamaki in November 2021, after he claimed there was “insufficient research” into whether the revised plan would be feasible. Previous geological surveys indicated that the seabed was so soft that the base is likely to continuously sink. Tamaki claimed that “it was unacceptable to proceed with the construction of a new base that has no prospect of being completed.”[...]

Tamaki won a second four-year term in September 2022 by defeating Sakima Atsushi, who had the backing of the Liberal Democratic Party, which controls Japan’s government. Notably, Sakima was supportive of the U.S. base in Henoko. Tamaki’s re-election, while expected, thus highlighted how contentious the U.S. military still remains for the local populace given the unequal burden placed on Okinawa by U.S. bases.

While only accounting for 0.6 percent of Japan’s territory, the prefecture houses 70 percent of the 50,000 U.S. troops in the country[...] Okinawa has a crucial role in both Washington and Tokyo’s security posture toward China[...]

Despite that, many Okinawans have called for a reduction of military personnel on the island. A 2022-2023 public opinion poll conducted by researchers at several universities, including the University of the Ryukyus, found that nearly 70 percent of local residents think the heavy concentration of U.S. military personnel in Okinawa is “unfair.”[...]

the fortification of Japan’s defenses through Okinawa is also being used to counter [...] Russia and North Korea.[....]

it is highly unlikely that the Japanese prime minister will give in to the demands of the Okinawan people for a reduce U.S. military presence. This will ensure that anti-U.S. military sentiment will remain high on the island as Japan-U.S. security cooperation continues to strengthen.

14 Sep 23

[beardedmrbean]

A man accused of firebombing an anti-abortion office in Wisconsin last year has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of damaging property with explosives.

Online court records show Hridindu Roychowdhury, of Madison, filed a signed plea agreement Monday in the Western District of Wisconsin. He will face up to 20 years in prison but prosecutors have agreed to recommend the judge reduce his sentence because he has accepted responsibility for the crime. A judge is set to consider whether to accept the agreement at a hearing on Dec. 1.

According to court documents, someone broke a window at the Madison office of Wisconsin Family Action on May 8, 2022, six days after news outlets reported that the U.S. Supreme Court was set to overturn Roe vs. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

WISCONSIN MAN CHARGED WITH FIREBOMBING OFFICES OF PRO-LIFE GROUP

The reports sparked abortion rights supporters to mount protests across the country. Two Catholic churches in Colorado were vandalized in the days leading up to the Madison firebombing. And someone threw Molotov cocktails into an anti-abortion organization’s office in a suburb of Salem, Oregon, several days later.

The U.S. Supreme Court did indeed overturn Roe v. Wade a little more than a month later, putting Wisconsin's 1849 ban on abortion back in play. A Dane County judge this past August ruled that the state's ban doesn't apply to medical abortions, prompting Planned Parenthood to resume offering abortions in the state weeks later.

Someone threw two Molotov cocktails through the broken window, setting a book case on fire, and spraypainted "If abortions aren't safe then you aren't either" on the office's outside wall.

DNA FROM HALF-EATEN BURRITO TIES EX-WISCONSIN DOCTORAL STUDENT TO PRO-LIFE CENTER FIREBOMBING ATTACK

Firefighters extinguished the fire. Investigators pulled Roychowdhury's DNA as well as two other people's DNA from the Molotov cocktails and the broken window. DNA that investigators pulled from a half-eaten burrito that Roychowdhury threw away matched one of the profiles. Court documents do not say whether investigators have used the two unknown DNA profiles to identify anyone.

Police arrested Roychowdhury at Boston International Airport in March 2023. He had a one-way ticket to Guatemala, according to prosecutors.

Roychowdhury's attorneys, Joseph Bugni and Alex Vlisides, didn't immediately respond to an email Tuesday seeking comment.

[blue-blues-world]

mk 1 2023 characters as starbies workers

A/N: sorry for not posting on this page after leaving it dead for years, a lot of shit has happened lol. my mom got cancer, i lost all my friends, covid happened, then i got cancer, i almost didn’t graduate high school, then i got a job as a barista at the siren and i’m in college full time so i barely have any free time, but MK 1 came out and i love so many of the characters, so i couldn’t resist projecting onto them. if i get any requests, i’ll make sure to do my best to complete them, and if you ever submitted one and i didn’t get to it pls hmu again so i can get that done.

also if you guys like this AU and want more headcanons based on it, lmk :)

Starbucks Vocab:

DM - District Manager

SM - Store Manager

ASM - Assistant Store Manager

Proxy - A manager from another location who acts as a substitute for a store’s SM when they’re absent

Shift Lead/Shift - Shift Supervisor

Partners - Starbucks Employees

Connections - Partner/Customer Interaction

Connection Score - A score on a scale of 1-100 determining your store’s rate of connection with customers

Hot Bar - Where espresso drinks, teas, and matchas are made

Cold bar - Where frappucinos, refreshers, iced teas, iced coffee, and cold brews are made

kung lao

- works at a cafe store in a popular shopping center with raiden (jr.)

- pretty good at customer connections, primarily with the older ladies lol, older men don’t rlly like him

- barista, tried and got promoted to shift lead but demoted himself after the first week, thought it was too much work lol

- godly on bar, loves cold bar

- mf stays arguing with rude customers

- always puts his music on the in-store speakers

- it’s all 2010s club music

- most unserious person in the planet

- liu kang wrote him up once and all he said was ‘aight shawty damn’

- literally gives no fucks

- barista trainer, at first he only chose to do it for the bonus pay, but realized he really likes teaching the newbies plus he’s really good at it so he’s stuck to it

- bro is always filming tik toks at work that should definitely get him fired but he’s too good of a worker to be let go

- i can imagine him making parody videos making fun of that joboi dude, like bruh wtf is a griddy frappucino

- he usually gets a grande cold brew with a splash of sweet cream and three pumps toffee nut, but loves a good peach green tea lemonade too

raiden (jr.)

- was also a barista, but offered to promote to shift lead after kung lao quit and got the job almost instantaneously

- gets along with everyone, almost none of the customers give him trouble, and honestly how could they?

- elders love him, children love him, older women love him, teenage girls love him, he’s very well loved

- pretty well-rounded and is great on all positions, but front and warming is his strength

- constantly meal violating because he’s always scheduled for mid-shift and he works at a high volume store that gets most of the rush in the afternoons, so he’s always stepping in to help even if he’s on break

- someone please make this man eat his lunch

- always makes sure the floor is prefect before passing it on to the next shift, best believe he’ll have ovens done, floors done, cards done, ice bins done, lobby checked, stations restocked, all the other shifts are resisting the urge to kiss him on the mouth after they transition with each other

- doesn’t bend the rules too much

- that being said, he refuses to throw out the food at the end of the night. he won't tell you to take anything, but will definitely turn a blind eye

- wiping down the counters for his partners on the floor when it’s really busy is his love language

- bro eats like an old man, he’s constantly marking out oatmeal for every break, he’s like 15% oatmeal now

- he drinks the brewed coffee??? with cream and two splendas if he’s feeling sweet?????? not even an iced espresso, straight up pike. mf is an old soul fr, kung lao can’t stand it

- only exception is when he sometimes gets a tall iced matcha with coconut milk

- he was raised by his grandfather (raiden sr.), who is also his namesake

- loves his grandpa so much, it’s actually so endearing

- definitely could become an ASM if he wanted to, but he prefers being a shift since he’s still figuring himself out

liu kang

- he’s the store manager lol

- was offered to promote but chose not to, too much responsibility and he saw how disconnected district managers are from their baristas, and prefers working with them more closely

- is fed up with kung lao’s shit but can’t bring himself to fire him

- someone ordered the griddy frappucino once when he was on register, nearly short circuited

- constantly working on his dissertation, how he’s even pursuing an education and being such a good SM at once is beyond anyone’s understanding

- when asked how, he just says he meditates, which is not the advice most people expect or really want if we’re being honest

- super patient with his coworkers, and usually lets the petty stuff go

- wearing something slightly out of dress code? as long as it’s not a health code violation he doesn’t give a shit. got an apron pin that isn’t starbucks-approved? as long as it doesn’t have any profanity he couldn’t care less

- always has his trademark calm demeanor, but the only people who have ever managed to make him crack are kung lao (duh), johnny cage (double duh), and shang tsung (triple quadruple duh)

- His main drink is a trenta iced passion tea with no water and three splendas, or a tall cold brew with two pumps of sugar free vanilla, a packet of stevias, and a splash of coconut milk, usually enjoys it with a spinach feta wrap

- very healthy very granola indeed

shang tsung:

- is that regular that only ever seems to come in to give the baristas a hard time

- places orders that make the sticker the length of a novel and it changes every time

- it only gets worse when liu kang is on bar

- “may i have a trenta iced coffee blended with extra water, extra ice, twelve pumps of caramel, twelve pumps of classic, extra soy milk, extra coconut milk, extra almond milk, vanilla sweet cold foam, chocolate cream cold foam, matcha cold foam, and two splenda packets”

- no amount of meditative breathing can stop liu kang from nearly popping a vein every time he comes in

- he never even drinks the shit he orders

- always sends it back even if he didn’t even take a single sip

- throws it in the trash on the way out the door and makes sure everyone sees him do it

- what even is his drink order??

- sometimes comes into the store in costume pretending to be someone else (it’s obviously him)

- the ultimate grinch but just for liu kang

- comes in on christmas every year and hands everyone envelopes with their names on them, everyone’s envelope has $50 in it while liu kang’s envelope only has a dollar

- just an overall menace

- apparently was liu kang’s biochemistry professor his sophomore year of college, the beef has been going on since then

- when will it ever end? how did it even start? no one knows

johnny cage:

- doesn’t work at starbies either, instead he’s an ex-actor and entertainment business mogul that stops by before his meetings

- always stopping in cause he gets bored

- even chats it up w/ the regulars every now and then, usually kenshi

- speaking of kenshi, they were best friends in high school and college and have kept in touch since

- it’s also worth mentioning they were both total losers in high school

- they also were in a band together in their college years

- at first, partners at this store thought he was kind of obnoxious, liu kang included, but he won them over when he almost got in an argument with shang tsung in the parking lot and punched him

- no one made themselves an official witness but everyone talked about it

- gets a venti iced americano with two pumps of hazelnut and cream

Ashrah:

- she’s so sweet y’all

- an ASM at Kitana’s location

- pretty straight edge

- gets along well with everyone on the team and often is in charge of coordinating holiday parties, store meetings, and activities

- is very passionate in the whole community outreach thing, and has won the award for it multiple times

- comes from a rough background, so she applied at starbucks specifically for their free college program with Arizona State

- basically corporate’s employee wet dream

- that doesn’t mean she’s totally okay with the way they handle things, and sometimes bickers with kitana over how the store should be run

- hates hates HATES the forced connections thing, she believes conversation and interest in others should be genuine, not a sales tactic

- usually gets a grande iced black tea with strawberry açaí base, or a hot mocha with oatmilk

kitana:

- works as a store manager for a drive-thru location near a high school, but serves as a proxy for liu kang’s store

- rules that place with an iron fist, most of the baristas are scared of her

- but that usually goes away when they realize she’s a massive dork

- she pulled into the drive thru in a naruto t-shirt and hello kitty pajama pants once on one of her off-days and the illusion was shattered for everyone

- plays k-pop over the speakers and insists it’s a starbucks playlist (it’s not)

- girl is always stressed and always tired, doesn’t know how liu kang is still sane

- loves unpacking the carson order, it’s a nice getaway from the pressure of drive times and connection scores, plus she gets first dibs on any cute cups

- speaking of, she’s a chronic cup hoarder, it doesn’t matter if the cup is ugly, she still wants it

- almost cried when raspberry was discontinued

- gets an iced quad espresso with two pumps of vanilla and a splash of soy in a venti cup

mileena:

- also an SM for a different drive-thru location next to a grocery store, her and kitana are almost like day and night

- tanya is her asm, but they’re dating so she’s in the process of transferring to another location

- tried keeping it under wraps but truthfully they’re fooling no one

- girl is really just there for the vibes

- she would be bordering on terrible manager if she didn’t let her partners have fun

- wanna put your music on the speakers? go ahead but if she thinks your music sucks she’ll make you do a trash run

- forgot to request a specific day off three weeks ahead? you’re good, she hasn’t even made the schedule for that week yet lol

- are you batching frappucinos? thank fuck, she’s really trying to get those drive times down

- someone being a dick? let her know so she can argue with them lol

- whatever you do tho, keep those connections scores up. it’s the one thing she really gives a shit about

- her store is a high theft store, so she’s been doing her best to keep the store and her partners safe, but is always super paranoid when she works a closing shift

- trying to reach her phone on a day off is borderline impossible unless the store is being robbed or someone is dying, bi-han is her proxy but he’s not very friendly either so you’re fucked either way

- was also devastated when raspberry was discontinued

- gets a grande iced chai with oatmilk, two pumps of hazelnut, and strawberry cold foam, she’ll add on a couple blonde shots if she’s working an early shift

sindel:

- she’s the DM, it used to be kronika but she was fired for reasons no one will disclose

- vast improvement, let me tell you

- goes harder on both milleena and kitana, she refuses to let her daughters benefit from nepotism

- admires liu kang greatly, and was very disappointed when he rejected an offer to become a DM at a different district

- venti iced americano with 3 splendas and soy milk

- scary but nice

raiden sr.

- y’all know i couldn’t leave him out

- he wasn’t really in the new game but he’s too important

- doesn’t work at starbies at all, but is one of liu kang’s professors in college

- he is very fond of liu kang, they work closely together on his dissertation

- stops in every morning to see his grandson and his student, usually gets a black coffee or an earl grey tea

- is constantly scolding kung lao, he considers him a second grandchild and unfortunately that manifests in constant nagging

- loves his grandson to death and is very proud of him, but expresses it in a way that only raiden (jr.) and kung lao understand

- always beefing w/ shang tsung, except unlike liu kang’s beef w/ him, this shit goes back DECADES

- literally rancid beef

- always dissing each other

- shang tsung: surprised to see you here

- raiden: i come here almost every day, are you so old that your memory is failing you?

- shang tsung: i’m just surprised to see you haven’t died yet, old man

bi-han:

- SM at a high volume drive store located next to a busy highway and proxy for milleena’s store, hates his life and hates his job

- he barely likes anyone aside from his brother and tomas

- so friendly to customers that it’s unnerving to the partners on the floor with him

- seeing his customer service smile is so terrifying to everyone that knows him

- it gives like,,,,american psycho vibes

- only reason no one’s completely terrified of him is because he insists on wearing his fucked up high top vans to work and they aren’t non-slip so he’s constantly sliding around

- at this point he’s hoping he falls so he can go home early or injure himself badly enough to go on medical leave

- grabs the scalding hot dishes fresh out of the dishwasher with his bare hands just to feel something

- also doesn’t give much of a shit about the dress code, just don’t make it a problem with the food and health department

- loves hot bar, but hates that he has to talk to people because the hand off is right next to the espresso machine

- because of this, he’s usually on customer support

- he would quit if it wasn’t for sareena, his ASM, she’s the one thing keeping that place from falling apart

- has to take a smoke break after every shift

- someone PLEASE tell this man that coffee and a cigarette isn’t a meal

- huge coffee hipster, borderline pretentious and hates the bullshit that starbucks teaches

- “dead shots aren’t real, you idiot” - bi-han to tomas at some point

- never makes drinks to standard, always changes it to what he thinks is better

- “you’re supposed to pour the shots over the ic—“ “—no, it makes the shots taste like shit” - also bi-han to tomas at some point

- somewhat appreciates covid for the fact that it normalized wearing a face mask, it’s rare to ever see the bottom half of his face

- fell to his knees when the very berry refresher was discontinued

- that was the start of his villain arc

- now he only drinks a straight up iced quad blonde espresso, no cream, no sugar, no nothing

- however, he does love a good pour over

- tried the griddy frappucino in secret and loved it, fell to his knees a second time in despair

kuai liang:

- no one ever believes him when he says he’s bi-han’s brother because they’re so different

- consistent with connections, but always seems to attract the strangest of people so it usually ends awkwardly

- ultimate multitasker, excels in front and warming

- constantly burning his hands tho

- he keeps trying to convince bi-han to wear non-slip shoes

- he bought him those non-slip crocs and bi-han stopped talking to him for a week

- popular with teenage girls that come in because they think he’s dark and mysterious

- he’s just awkward

- hates the taste of coffee

- usually gets a pineapple passsion fruit lemonade with passion tea and no inclusions, he thinks they’re gross

smoke (tomas):

- literally carrying the majority of bi-han’s store’s connection score on his back

- big sweetheart, but kinda gullible and a bit of a pushover with customers

- let them start shit with other partners though, if you wanna see him mad

- wears the non-slip crocs that kuai liang bought for bi-han since he didn’t want them

- his barista love language is swapping out the sanitizer buckets and emptying the grounds drawers during peak

- people call him smoke cause he’s burnt so many cookies in the oven

- please don’t have this man on front and warming he’ll burn the store down

- average london fog enthusiast

[gumjrop]

The Weather

The CDC has finally released their own wastewater dashboard with state-level and regional trends. After public pressure to expand wastewater surveillance in September, including from all of us, it’s great to see some progress. The CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) landing page now includes dashboards to check national wastewater viral activity for COVID and Mpox. Additional dashboards for National and Regional trends, State and Territory trends, a wastewater viral activity map, and variants in wastewater are available.

As of 11/25/23, the Current Wastewater Viral Activity Map shows viral activity by state. Many states are reporting high to moderate COVID levels with very few reporting low levels. Approximately 350 sites delayed testing since September 15, 2023. After these sites have resumed testing for six weeks, their data will be added to the dataset. However, we’d suggest the CDC reconsider its color choices, as the calming blue shades they’ve chosen for “high” COVID transmission are misleading at best. They can refer to our red-shaded transmission map for reference.

Also updated 11/25/23, the national wastewater viral activity level is high and seems to be trending upward. The West is in decline while the Midwest, South, Northeast and National levels are at an incline. As with Biobot data, the most recent two weeks (indicated by gray shading on the graph) are subject to change due to reporting delays. Trends mentioned in this text are based on the areas before the shaded area shown in the graph. As we enter the cold and flu season, many in-person gatherings are held. We encourage you to continue monitoring local reports for a more accurate measure of levels. Also, please continue to, and support others in using, layers of protection. And as we continue to report on advocacy successes, remember that our actions and voices can enact change!

Hospitalizations

Weekly hospitalizations are trending upward in the last three weeks according to the CDC’s COVID data tracker, with over 19,000 weekly admissions reported 11/25/23. Since we last reported deaths on 10/28/23, there have been an additional 3731 deaths reported, for an average of almost 750 deaths per week. Remember that these numbers are an undercount related to reporting delays in place since the Biden Administration ended the Public Health Emergency. Remember also that COVID deaths follow hospitalization numbers, so we expect these numbers to increase in the weeks to come.

COVID remains the third leading cause of death according to the CDC in the US. We mourn all those who have died due to COVID, and in that mourning, call you to take measures to prevent death and disablement for yourself, your loved ones, and your communities. 

Wins

Early this month, school districts across the United States will be able to order free Covid-19 rapid tests from the national stockpile to be distributed to schools with the HHS encouragement to share them with, “students, staff, family members and others in the community.” While this school project of the Biden Administration feels long overdue, we hope new access to free tests aids in preventing the spread of Covid-19, if used correctly.  If your household has not placed a new order for more rapid tests from the federal government through covidtests.gov, you can still place an order for 4 free rapid covid tests here. The Horward Zinn Book Fair this weekend is requiring masks indoors, and outdoors, within 15 feet outdoors of the venue.  Increasingly progressive groups in this country are connecting the dots between our governments’ attempts to erase the ongoing pandemic in an effort to restore business as usual and the necessity of centering public health and disability justice in our social movements. Send them a note of thanks here. 

Take Action

We urge you to take a moment to read and sign on to this letter, authored by public health and medical professionals, demanding CDC Director Mandy Cohen reject HICPAC’s (Healthcare Infection Control Practice Advisory Committee) Guideline for Isolation Precautions: Preventing Transmission of Infectious Agents in Healthcare Settings. Current draft guidelines are incredibly insufficient, inappropriate, and fail to protect both patients and healthcare workers.  Letter can be found HERE. You also still have time to sign on to the National Nurses United letter urging the CDC “to reject HICPAC’s weak draft and create a new one that protects health care workers and their patients!” Sign-on deadline for both letters is this Friday, December 8, 2023.