The Political Thread

[Comrade Khan]

As a teacher, I believe the current rules in my school work fine : phones need to be turned off and inside kids' schoolbags. If they ring, confiscate them and the kids can get them back from the monitors at the end of the day. If it happens too often, the parents will be asked to come and get the phone themselves. Usually does the trick, as they're annoyed to have to come after work just for that.
Kids don't need it inside the school, we have all their family's information in case of emergency.

I agree with this 100% was never a problem to reach my parents when I was in school b4 cells existed.

 

[Y2Jayne]

I agree with this 100% was never a problem to reach my parents when I was in school b4 cells existed.

Same honestly. There's that website we all use to put grades online, take the register, give detentions etc. The school can send text messages to all the parents of one class or even the whole school with two clicks. The secretaries also have everybody's phone number, including parents' workplaces'.

 

[Chris]

My high school's original phone policy was they could confiscate even if they saw the outline of it in your bag or pants pocket

 

[Comrade Khan]

My high school's original phone policy was they could confiscate even if they saw the outline of it in your bag or pants pocket

OK that's insane lol

 

[Grimoire Lenin]

 

[Y2Jayne]

Yeah that'll help

Stonehenge sprayed with orange powder paint by Just Stop Oil activists | UK news | The Guardian

Two people arrested, say police, while Rishi Sunak’s comments on protest prompt response from Labour donor

amp.theguardian.com

 

[Chris]

Nothing like idiots pushing normal people away from causes they might otherwise support if you aren't a fucking idiot about it

 

[Chris]

Pretty smart when that one justice was caught on tape saying he wanted to return America to a proper Christian county I guess

Louisiana Requires Ten Commandments to Be Displayed in Every Public Classroom

A law signed by Gov. Jeff Landry on Wednesday makes the state the only one with such a mandate. Critics have vowed to mount a constitutional challenge.

www.nytimes.com

Gov. Jeff Landry signed legislation on Wednesday requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in every public classroom in Louisiana, making the state the only one with such a mandate and reigniting the debate over how porous the boundary between church and state should be.

Critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, have vowed a legal fight. But it is a battle that proponents are prepared, and in many ways, eager, to take on.

The legislation is part of a broader campaign by conservative Christian groups to amplify public expressions of faith, and provoke lawsuits that could reach the Supreme Court, where they expect a friendlier reception than in years past. That presumption is rooted in recent rulings, particularly one in 2022 in which the court sided with a high school football coach who argued that he had a constitutional right to pray at the 50-yard line after his team’s games.

 

[Samoa Looch]

Louisiana

I'd say "Yea, okay, go ahead" if every fuckin' conservative politician involved can not only name the Ten Commandments by heart, but also can proof they all follow them religiously without fail...

 

[Chris]

Judge in Trump Documents Case Rejected Suggestions to Step Aside

Two federal judges in South Florida privately urged Aileen M. Cannon to decline the case when it was assigned to her last year, according to two people briefed on the matter. She chose to keep it.

www.nytimes.com

Shortly after Judge Aileen M. Cannon drew the assignment in June 2023 to oversee former President Donald J. Trump’s classified documents case, two more experienced colleagues on the federal bench in Florida urged her to pass it up and hand it off to another jurist, according to two people briefed on the conversations.

The judges who approached Judge Cannon — including the chief judge in the Southern District of Florida, Cecilia M. Altonaga — each asked her to consider whether it would be better if she were to decline the high-profile case, allowing it to go to another judge, the two people said.

 

[Chris]

Timothy Mellon, Secretive Donor, Gives $50 Million to Pro-Trump Group

The cash from Mr. Mellon, a reclusive billionaire who has also been a major donor to a super PAC supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is among the largest single disclosed gifts ever.

www.nytimes.com

Timothy Mellon, a reclusive heir to a Gilded Age fortune, donated $50 million to a super PAC supporting Donald J. Trump the day after the former president was convicted of 34 felonies, according to new federal filings, an enormous gift that is among the largest single disclosed contributions ever.

The donation’s impact on the 2024 race is expected to be felt almost immediately. Within days of the contribution, the pro-Trump super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., said in a memo that it would begin reserving $100 million in advertising through Labor Day.

The group had only $34.5 million on hand at the end of April, and Mr. Mellon’s contribution accounted for much of the nearly $70 million that the super PAC raised in May. On Wednesday and Thursday, the super PAC began reserving $30 million in ads to air in Georgia and Pennsylvania around the Fourth of July holiday.

 

[Chris]

US supreme court upholds ban on domestic abusers possessing guns – live

Chief justice delivers 8-1 opinion that upholds the ban on people under restraining orders possessing gun

www.theguardian.com

Supreme court upholds ban on domestic abusers possessing guns​

In its final decision of today, the supreme court has upheld provisions of a 1994 law that bans people under domestic violence restraining orders from carrying guns.

The decision was backed by the court’s three liberal justices, and five of six conservatives, with only Clarence Thomas dissenting.

 

[Grimoire Lenin]

Lol of course Clarence Thomas dissented.

 

[Chris]

Bragg Asks Judge to Extend Trump’s Gag Order, Citing Deluge of Threats

Donald J. Trump claims the order has unfairly restricted his free speech rights ahead of his sentencing on 34 felony counts. He has nonetheless attacked the judge, prosecutor and justice system.

www.nytimes.com

Prosecutors in Manhattan said on Friday that a judge should keep in place major elements of a gag order that was imposed on Donald J. Trump, citing dozens of threats that have been made against officials connected to the case.

The order, issued before Mr. Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial began in mid-April, bars him from attacking witnesses, jurors, court staff and relatives of the judge who presided over the trial, Juan M. Merchan.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers have sought to have the order lifted since Mr. Trump’s conviction in late May. But in a 19-page filing on Friday, prosecutors argued that while Justice Merchan no longer needed to enforce the portion of the gag order relating to trial witnesses, he should keep in place the provisions protecting jurors, prosecutors, court staff and their families.

 

[Chris]

Israeli Official Describes Secret Government Bid to Cement Control of West Bank

Israeli judges have long ruled that Israel’s control of the territory is a temporary military occupation and complies with international law. A powerful minister’s recent speech, caught on tape, suggested the government is trying to change that.

www.nytimes.com

An influential member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition told settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank that the government is engaged in a stealthy effort to irreversibly change the way the territory is governed, to cement Israel’s control over it without being accused of formally annexing it.

In a taped recording of the speech, the official, Bezalel Smotrich, can be heard suggesting at a private event earlier this month that the goal was to prevent the West Bank from becoming part of a Palestinian state.

“I’m telling you, it’s mega-dramatic,” Mr. Smotrich told the settlers. “Such changes change a system’s DNA.”