Just a few things weighing on my mind tonight … things like the 2024 election; the people of Ukraine, Israel, and Gaza; the rising racism, anti-Semitism, and Islamophobia that is on the rise around the globe today; the chaos that defines the U.S. Congress today; the environment and fossil fuel dominance; extreme wealth inequality;  the gun culture in the U.S.; and the fact that I still have some Christmas shopping 🎁 to do with only 16 days left ‘til Christmas! 😵‍ But aside from all that, there is this …

Kate Cox has the misfortune of living in Texas – a state that like so many others in the southern half of the United States believes that women are somehow less valuable, less intelligent & capable, than men.  Kate and her husband have two children and were hoping for a third when she got pregnant five months ago.  But, as sometimes happens, Mother Nature had other ideas and the fetus has been diagnosed with Trisomy 18, a genetic abnormality that usually results in miscarriage, stillbirth or death soon after birth.  Cox’s doctor warned that carrying the pregnancy to term could jeopardize her health and future fertility, including uterine rupture and hysterectomy.

But, since Kate lives in Texas where abortion is so strictly regulated that it is almost completely banned, Kate had to file a lawsuit to get ‘permission’ to protect her own health.  The good news is that Kate drew an empathetic judge, Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble.  Judge Gamble ruled that Kate can, indeed, have an abortion …

“The Court finds that Ms. Cox’s life, health, and fertility are currently at serious risk. The longer Ms. Cox stays pregnant, the greater the risks to her life.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

But then … enter the shameless Texas State Attorney General, Ken Paxton … a ‘man’ who apparently believes, as I stated at the outset, that women are second-class citizens and should be ruled by men.  Paxton threatened legal action … sent a letter to all the hospitals involved with Cox’s care saying the judge’s order would not excuse the hospital or doctor from civil or criminal liability “including first degree felony prosecutions.”

Pro-life?  What about Ms. Cox’ life?  Oh … that doesn’t have value, does it?

I don’t yet know how this will play out, but I know that if I lived in Texas, I would be giving some serious thought to relocating to a different state, preferably one that recognizes that in this, the 21^st century, women have rights equal to men!  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr …

It seems that two of the most dishonest ‘men’ in the media today met up at an outhouse somewhere deep in the woods …

Their purpose?  Apparently to trade lies, from the transcript I partly-read of their conversation.  Don’t even bother to look for it … it’s not worth your time, but I thought the picture was worth a thousand words!

Is anyone surprised that the latest rankings show Florida students are posting some of the lowest SAT scores in America?  Gee … you don’t think it could have something to do with all the banning of books, the whitewashing of history, and the refusal to allow teaching of anything that doesn’t promote white, Christian, straight society, do you?

From an article in the Orlando Sentinel …

New rankings show Florida students are posting some of the lowest SAT scores in America.

We’re talking 46th place. Down another 17 points overall to 966, according to the combined reading and math scores shared by the College Board.

Florida trails other Southern states like South Carolina and Georgia. We trail states where more students take the test, like Illinois and Indiana.

We somehow now even slightly trail Washington, D.C. — a district long maligned as one of the supposedly worst in America, where all students take the test.

Hmmmm … maybe if the governor and his henchmen stepped back and stopped dictating what can and cannot be taught, Florida schoolchildren might have a chance to learn something?

Okay, that’s enough of my thoughts/snark for now … have a great weekend … do something fun!