#Kansas City Star

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

For the second week in a row, Republicans in state legislatures are making the interesting choice of fighting for child marriage. In Missouri, where children 16 or older can marry with parental permission, a bill to prohibit anyone under age 18 from getting a marriage license easily cleared the Republican-controlled Senate 31 to one last month. But now, the bill can’t get out of committee in the state House because seven out of 14 committee members are House Republicans who oppose the bill.

Those opponents include Rep. Hardy Billington (R), who insists without any evidence or logic whatsoever that banning child marriage will lead to a spike in abortions, even as abortion is totally banned in the state. “My opinion is that if someone [wants to] get married at 17, and they’re going to have a baby and they cannot get married, then chances of abortion are extremely high,” he told the Kansas City Star this week. Earlier this week, I also had to write about a different Republican lawmaker in New Hampshire who used the same argument against a bill to ban child marriage. This doesn’t make sense—if someone of any age is pregnant and doesn’t want to be, they’ll probably seek abortion care; this actually has nothing to do with marriage.

Another opponent of the bill, Rep. Dean Van Schoiack (R), told the Star that he opposes the bill because he knows someone who got married as a 17-year-old girl and is still married. “Why is the government getting involved in people’s lives like this?” Van Schoiak said.

Of course, if we’re bringing anecdotes and lived experience into this, I think I trust state Sen. Holly Thompson Rehder (R), who introduced the bill, a little more than Van Schoiack. “As a child that did get married, I would say I have a lot more insight to this issue than what he does,” Rehder said of Van Schoiack. Per the Star, Rehder got married at 15 to a 21-year-old, while her sister at 16 married her 39-year-old drug dealer. “The government does tell people when they can get married because we do have an age limit right now. The fact that [Van Schoiack] feels that it’s OK for a parent to make a decision for a child, that is a lifetime decision, is offensive.”

At this point, I would like to note that Rehder, who is currently running for lieutenant governor, might be right about this one thing, but is wrong about… pretty much everything else. Rehder supports the state’s total abortion ban and campaigned on a pledge to promote “the Trump Agenda” in her district in Southeast Missouri.

Nonetheless, if her bill doesn’t make it to a vote before the end of the legislative session on May 17, Rehder, who’s currently running for lieutenant governor, said she plans to introduce it as an amendment attached to another bill. She told the Star she’s confident that brought to the floor for a vote, the bill would have a majority…but right now, it’s simply being held up by its Republican opponents on committee.

Rehder’s bill comes after Missouri lawmakers in 2018 raised the state’s minimum marriage age to 16 with parental approval following backlash at the time over how many 15-year-olds in the state were being married. Currently, Missouri prohibits marriage between a minor and someone who is 21 or older, similar to the state’s statutory rape laws that prohibit sexual intercourse between someone 21 and older and someone under 17. This is all pretty needlessly confusing, but what isn’t confusing is that this is part of a pattern of Republican lawmakers going to bat for child marriage—from the state representative in New Hampshire who insisted that “ripe” and “fertile” teens should be able to marry, to a different Missouri lawmaker who last year declared that 12-year-olds should be able to get married because he personally knew someone who married at 12 (I mean, I hope they’re doing well today, but somehow, I, err, have my doubts…).

Experts and advocates against child trafficking have long pointed to how laws that permit child marriage put them at greater risk. The bill in Missouri’s legislature is notably part of a bipartisan effort, introduced by Rehder and Democrat Lauren Arthur. But despite Rehder’s best efforts, their bill is being blocked by members of her own party, even as Republican politicians have spent the better part of the last few years escalating their baseless and fearmongering smears of queer people as child sexual predators. As it turns out based on the political affiliations of every lawmaker fighting tooth-and-nail for child marriage (and, consequently, adult predators’ ability to marry children), the call might just be coming from inside the house—the Missouri state House, specifically.

[subsidystadium]

The Kansas City Royals screwed themselves yet still blame everyone else

The Kansas City Royals lost yesterday. Local taxpayers decisively rejected a sales tax plan that would have provided funding for a new ballpark and stadium renovations (for the Chiefs). Clearly, the public said no thank you to funding another billionaire owner’s venue while receiving nothing in return. Why couldn’t locals see that this deal was worth it? The Royals committed nearly every blunder…

[thatstormygeek]

You are entitled to your opinions and your beliefs, even if I don’t agree or share them. I believe this with such conviction that I volunteered to defend those rights — mine, yours, and all the people in this country I’ve never met — as a member of the armed forces. However, If you want to hate someone, then just do it. Own it. Don’t create some rationale to justify your hate under the guise of religion or protecting children. You simply just want to protect your ability to hate somebody.

- Charles Gragg, Jr.

[spiritofthemeadow]

ig - afternoondreams

[nwslfacts]

Leaked 2024 NWSL kits!

[machetelanding]

[odinsblog]

Racists be like, “Please stop singing the non-racist anthem! Can’t we just go back to the quietly racist anthem?”

Although “The Star-Spangled Banner” and all of its verses were immediately famous, Key’s overt racism prevented it from becoming the national anthem while he was alive, Morley wrote. There was no official anthem, and many people chose to sing other songs, like “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.”


Key’s anthem gained popularity over time, particularly among post-Reconstruction White Southerners and the military. In the early 20th Century, all but the first verse were cut — not for their racism, but for their anti-British bent. The United Kingdom was by then an ally.

After the misery of World War I, the lyrics were again controversial for their violence. But groups like the United Daughters of the Confederacy fought back, pushing for the song to be made the official national anthem. In 1931, President Herbert Hoover made it so.


“The elevation of the banner from popular song to official national anthem was a neo-Confederate political victory, and it was celebrated as such,” Morley wrote. “When supporters threw a victory parade in Baltimore in June 1931, the march was led by a color guard hoisting the Confederate flag.”

[debinhas-bicycle]

I love the NWSL

[allpromarlo]

chiefs fell tf off after pollution master swift got on the train i know who i'm blaming

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

GOP Rep. Vicky Hartzler of Missouri broke down crying on the House floor on Thursday as she begged her colleagues to vote against the bipartisan bill aimed at protecting same-sex marriage, the Respect for Marriage Act.

"I hope and pray that my colleagues will find the courage to join me in opposing this misguided and this dangerous bill," Hartzler said through tears.

Hartzler spent the first two minutes of her speech bashing the bill, claiming its "only purpose is to hand the federal government a legal bludgeoning tool to drive people of faith out of the public square and silence anyone who dissents."

The Respect for Marriage Act requires states to recognize any marriage made in another state and repeals the federal "Defense of Marriage Act" which previously defined marriage as between a man and a woman.

Hartzler further called the bill "unnecessary," and said that "Obergefell is not in danger," a reference to the Supreme Court's ruling in the Obergefell v. Hodges case in 2015 requires all states to recognize same-sex marriages and issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

In Justice Clarence Thomas' opinion in the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization from 2022, he called for the high court to reconsider several Supreme Court rulings that were made using the due process clause, which includes the Obergefell ruling.

Following his opinion and the Supreme Court's reversal of the nation's abortion protections granted in the famous Roe v. Wade case, Democrats labored to enshrine same-sex marriage protections in law.

This is not Hartzler's first time fighting against the expansion of marriage protections — as the Kansas City Star first noted, prior to her time in Congress, Hartzler vehemently pushed for an amendment to be added to Missouri's constitution that would define marriage as between a man and a woman.

Hartzler, who's been in Congress since 2011, will not be returning in 2023 after losing her campaign for an open Senate seat.

Rep. Hartzler's office did not respond to Insider's request for comment.

[seeminglyranch87]

Taylor & Travis Timeline

December 2023 - part 2

December 10 - Chiefs v Buffalo Bills, Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City.

Travis Kelce arriving ahead of game

Taylor flies into Kansas City to attend the Chiefs game with her cousins, Travis' cousins & friends at Arrowhead Stadium

Travis made a brilliant play contributing to a touch down but was denied due to a team mates penalty.

During the game, NFL announcer and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo referred to her as "Travis' wife" while on the air with announcing partner Jim Nantz.

"As you see, Kelce's wife, Taylor Swift, in the audience," Romo pointed out, quickly correcting himself and saying, "I'm sorry -- girlfriend."

"Not yet," Nantz said in response.

Chiefs were defeated 17 - 20.

Taylor and Travis leave the stadium together

Taylor and Travis together with team mates, coaches friends and family gather at Miracle Pop Up Bar

Travis' barber shares a photo of Taylor and Travis (x)

Lots of photos emerge from the party with Taylor and travis taking photos with friends - these have been cropped...

December 11 - Taylor is nominated for a Golden Globe for The Eras tour movie.

USA Today reports that Taylor has donated $1 million to a Tennessee tornado relief Fund (x) after a Tornado ravaged the state on Saturday 9 Dec.

ET article (x)

According to Cheterah Jackson, a Columbus, Ohio-based real estate agent and friend of Travis', the couple rented a luxury bus to transport their group and reserved the Christmas bar in downtown Kansas City for friends and family. 

Jackson tells ET, "My boyfriend Calvin Locke... is Travis' friend and has known him since the 7th grade. We were in the suite at the game, which was filled with family and friends."

"Taylor is an absolute sweetheart. She is very down-to-earth and kind." 

"Taylor and Travis are so in love. It was so cute seeing them together and I can see them getting married"  

December 12 - Taylor returns to NYC. Pictured with Miles & Keleigh Teller

December 13 - New Heights Ep. 68 airs (x 5:05)

Jason and Travis limit talking about Taylor although when the brothers chat about the No.1 & No.2 sales of NFL jerseys in the UK, they give credit to Swifties for helping with the success of topping the sales and Travis gives a "shout out to Kylie and Taylor." Travis suggests that perhaps they could "find our way over there this off season and say hello to everyone in person" and record a live show in the UK. Jason replies "we also got an opportunity to do one in Australia - we could make it a world tour"

Any one know of an international pop star who may be touring in the UK and Australia in 2024 that coincides with the NFL off season? Are the Kelce brothers hinting that Travis and perhaps Jason will join Taylor on tour next year? It should be noted that Patrick Mahomes has also raised the idea of possibly catching the Era's Tour in Europe in the off season too...

The boys answer "No Dumb Questions" from handle "metal-as-hell", a reference to Taylor's TIME article calling Travis "metal as hell" when he publicly declared his interest in dating Taylor.

Taylor Swift's 34th Birthday - Taylor heads to Banzarbar, NYC with friends to celebrate her birthday into the early hours of the morning - Happy Birthday Taylor! The paps even broke out into song to sing Taylor "Happy Birthday". Note Travis remained in KC with commitments to the Chiefs. This was expected.

December 14 - Taylor and friends share photos from the birthday celebration the evening before (x)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift)

December 15 - Taylor is named Billboard's No.1 Greatest Pop Star (x)

It didn’t seem possible that anyone could have a year this dominant: not this deep into the streaming era, not this long after the oft-proclaimed death of the monoculture, not when the entire industry seems to be in crisis over how to capture and hold onto listener attention. It was a year not to be judged against Swift’s 2023 peers, but against the entirety of modern pop history. 

There is no wasted potential with Taylor Swift, no what ifs – the chance was there for her to have one of the greatest years any pop star has ever had, and you know that she grabbed it. Taylor was here. No one who was around for her 2023 will ever forget it.

With reference to Taylor's relationship with Travis, Billboard's Andrew Unterberger says:

... rumors were beginning to swirl about her and Kelce. The Chiefs star had become increasingly coy in his comments about the pop icon, saying he’d invited her to come see him play a home game (after he’d seen her Eras show in Kansas City that July). She did indeed do just that on the September 24th, with her presence at Arrowhead sending both the worlds of sports and pop culture into a frenzy, and leading to numerous posts and videos of non-football-conversant Swifties sharing the sport’s rules with one another, so they could better understand what was happening in between the shots of their hero in a private box with Kelce’s mom Donna.  From then on, every Sunday (and a couple Mondays and Thursdays) of 2023 was overtaken with Taylor talk: Would she be showing up at the Chiefs’ next game? What other celebrities would she be attending with? What kind of Kelce swag would she be wearing, and what would that mean about their relationship? What do you mean Kansas City is on a bye week?While Swift’s short relationship with Healy was extremely controversial to Swifties and her long relationship with Alwyn was largely uninteresting to everyone else, her love story with Kelce – a well-liked, unproblematic figure, a Super Bowl-winning superstar as an athlete with enough of a Q rating as a celebrity to host SNL – was universally accessible, and found near-100% public approval. You didn’t need deep grounding in Swift Lore to understand the relationship, because it just felt right: the All-American athlete dating the All-American pop star. 

Go to part 1 of December 2023

Go to part 3 of December 2023

Return to the timeline

[subsidystadium]

The Kansas City Royals ask taxpayers to give them $1 billion. Then ask for additional $700 million...maybe more?

The Kansas City Royals must love keeping secrets. After announcing to everyone in 2022 that they were leaving their current ballpark, it took two years for them to finally tell us where the new one would be built. But anything else? Good luck. Things got so bad last year that the team owner had to write a public letter telling everyone to relax and just wait for the new ballpark to be announced.…

[womanwithahotdogstand]

i’m so torn about the new nwsl jerseys this year - i love and hate them at the same time?? does anyone else feel that way lol (especially about the orlando one - when it leaked, i hated it but now i kinda sorta like it??)

Welcome to Jordan’s 2024 NWSL kit thoughts that absolutely nobody fucking asked for!

Angel City: Hate both.

Bay FC: Despise both. Actually mad about this.

Chicago: The teal secondary jerseys go hard. The primary jerseys def look better in person (physically on a player.)

Houston: Love both! 🤩

Kansas City: The primary jersey hits. The secondary is white and boring.

Gotham: The black primary jersey looks better in person. I hate white secondary jerseys. Stop being boring, @ everyone.

NCC: A full fucking SLAY. Absolutely no notes. If I liked this team a fraction more than I do, i’d buy and wear both.

Orlando: Not sure I *love* the peach secondaries but I applaud them for doing something COMPLETELY different from their original color scheme. And I already know i’m going to love it on the players.

Portland: An unfortunate full fucking slay. No notes. ESPECIALLY the dark green secondaries. 😫🤌

Louisville: I don’t love them personally but I respect the creativity. They’re very Louisville, Kentucky coded and I appreciate that.

San Diego: A. FULL. FUCKING. SLAY. I will be buying a Naomi Girma primary jersey.

OL Reign: The primary ones hit hard. The secondary ones are white and boring.

Utah: PUTTING ‘AMERICA FIRST’ ON YOUR JERSEY IN 2024 IS SO FUCKING STUPID. I DO NOT CARE THAT IT’S A NAME OF A BANK.

Washington Spirit: An unfortunate for me FULL FUCKING SLAY. I love the rebrand. The yellow hits. The black ones have a cool pattern instead of being boring. It’s a serve.

[shatnerihardlyknowher]

YALL IS ANYONE GOING TO KC COMICON IM GOING AS CHEKOV IF SO WHAT ARE YALL DOIN?????

[spiritofthemeadow]

ig - afternoondreams

[always-rolling-my-eyes]

In the past six months alone, Taylor Swift has infiltrated:

-The NFL

-Dancing With the Stars

-Survivor

The range! She is unstoppable! 😍