Surviving same-sex partners and spouses will now be able to apply for Social Security survivors benefits due to the Biden Administration dropping appeals of a case that was supported by the Trump Administration, Axios reports.

Previously, life partners were not eligible to receive Social Security payments that were available to traditional married couples because gay marriage was not recognized federally.  In 2015, the Supreme Court rules same-sex marriages were a Constitutional right.  Through the LAMBDA Legal Fund, surviving members of gay and lesbian partnerships and marriages sued the Social Security Administration in 2018 seeking survivors payments they had been denied in the past.

After two federal district courts ruled in favor of the applicants in 2020, the Trump administration filed notification of appeal.  On Monday, the Justice Department and Social Security Administration notified the court that it was dropping the appeal, allowing surviving partners to file to receive unpaid benefits.

“We can’t produce synthetic fibers.  Uhhh, so much of the carpets and rugs we have, synthetic.  The toothbrush, you wouldn’t have a modern day toothbrush,” Republican Texas Congressman (and no snarky name I can come up with will be better than what he was called in high school) Louie Gohmert began.  “Now I realize that yes, there are people who have used bark off certain trees to brush their teeth.  I get that, but I kind’ve like having a modern day toothbrush myself.  You wouldn’t have that without fossil fuels, particularly natural gas.”

“There is currently a large crowd of what appears to be QAnon believers at the AT&T Discovery Plaza in downtown Dallas. A popular QAnon theory recently is that JFK Jr. of the Kennedy family will be making a big announcement at Dealey Plaza by the grassy knoll sometime tomorrow” reports Protean Magazine publisher Steve Monacelli, which isn’t totally accurate because…

…they acually think the whole family is making a comeback, per these Telegram chat messages spotted by Twitter user @dappergander. Unmentioned of course is the daughter who’s still alive.

Reuters:  “U.S. prosecutors in Colorado on Monday charged a 20-year-old California man with assaulting a flight attendant on an Oct. 27 American Airlines flight that forced its diversion.  The New York to Santa Ana, California, flight made an unscheduled landing in Denver after the alleged assault in which witnesses said a flight attendant was punched in the nose, resulting in bleeding and a concussion.

“Brian Hsu, of Irvine, California, who is also charged with interference with a flight crew, was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond by U.S. Magistrate Judge Autumn Spaeth after making an initial appearance in a U.S. district court in Santa Ana on Monday.  Spaeth ordered him to appear in Denver on Nov. 15 for a hearing and directed him to submit to a mental health evaluation.

“A lawyer for Hsu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.  U.S. airlines have reported a record number of violent incidents this year and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has pledged a ‘zero tolerance’ approach.  American Airlines Chief Executive Doug Parker said in a video posted on Instagram last week ‘this type of behavior has to stop,’ calling the incident ‘one of the worst displays of unruly behavior we’ve ever witnessed.’

Associated Press:  “A Texas radio host was sentenced to three life prison sentences Monday for a Ponzi scheme in which he bilked elderly listeners out of millions of dollars.  William Neil ‘Doc’ Gallagher also got a 30-year prison sentence from state District Judge Elizabeth Beach for his August guilty pleas. The sentences are to be served concurrently

“The sentencing came after more than a dozen senior victims testified during a three-hour court hearing about losing anywhere from $50,000 to $600,000 invested in the Gallagher Financial Group. Some said they had to sell their homes, borrow money from their children or take part-time jobs to supplement their Social Security benefits.  ‘Doc Gallagher is one of the worst offenders I have seen,’ said Lori Varnell, chief of the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Elder Financial Fraud team.

“Gallagher, 80, and his Gallagher Financial Group advertised on Christian radio with the tagline, “See you in church on Sunday.” He promoted his investment business in books, such as ‘Jesus Christ, Money Master,’ and on Christian radio broadcasts.  Gallagher has been behind bars since his March 2019 arrest on similar charges filed in Dallas County. In 2020, he pleaded guilty to those charges and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was indicted in Tarrant County in August 2019.”

“On January 6th, Lindsey Graham was running around the Capitol ordering the Capitol Police to murder the protestors,” Fox News host (and male equivalent of a Karen) Tucker Carlson cries.  “Quote, ‘You’ve got guns!  Use them!  We give you guns for a reason!’ shrieked Lindsey Graham.  Shoot American citizens for the crime of trespassing.  Really?  This is the conservative position?  Unarmed protestors show up, but they shouldn’t have been there.  We’ve never defended that and never would.  But kill them?!  What the hell’s wrong with you, Lindsey Graham.  How long before you’re ordering drone attacks on people you don’t like?”

Tuckums doesn’t remember all those times he promoted the so-called “castle doctrine” that lets people use deadly force on anyone who wanders onto the property.  Or the entire “stand your ground” law which allows people to use deadly force if they just feel scared.  Regardless, conservatives eating their own is a pleasure to watch.

Cyber Ninjas, the Saratoga, Florida-based company that conducted a questionable recount of ballots in Maricopa County, Arizona at the behest of GOP state senators even though the company had no experience in conducting an election audit, has claimed it lost more than $2 million on the effort and is now refusing to turn documents over to the state senate.

According to Garrett Archer, the so-called “data guru” of KNXV ABC-15 in Phoenix, the Cyber Ninjas claim that the 300 records the senate has received from the company constitute the bulk of the information the senate is due, with the rest of the records being confidential information relating to business secrets of the company.  The Senate has previously said the records from Cyber Ninjas was an “insubstantial percentage” of relevant documents.

Earlier, the Cyber Ninjas released a simple balance sheet in which it claims it lost $2.125 million on the operation.  It’s revenue listing shows it $6.75 million:  $50,000 from the Arizona senate and the balance from private political action groups.   The company claims to have incurred $8.875 million in expenses, including $5.2 million in payroll expenses and $1.18 in depreciation expenses over the seven months the effort occurred.  Another half million dollars is listed as “travel expenses.”

As reported earlier on NatZero, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent a letter Monday to the Texas Association of School Boards asking the group’s members to review the title in school libraries for “obscene” material, according to KXAN NBC Austin reports.

While Abbott doesn’t specify any titles or school districts where such material is available, he warns that “A growing number of parents of Texas students are becoming increasingly alarmed about some of the books and other content found in public school libraries that are extremely inappropriate in a public school system. … You have an obligation to Texas parents and students to ensure that no child in Texas is exposed to pornography or other inappropriate content while inside a Texas public school.”

Abbott’s claims are likely intentionally ambiguous, seeing as there have been no issues with Texas schools distributing pornography in the past.  But as the Houston Chronicle noted, Republican politicians in Texas have been targeting for removal from school libraries books having to do sexual identity, gender identity and race. 

Racine County, Wisconsin Sheriff Christopher Schmaling, a known Trump fan accused the Wisconsin Elections Commission of breaking the law when in May of 2020 they decided to forego the usual practice of having special deputies enter nursing homes to help residents fill out their absentee ballots, the Wisconsin Examiner reports. Schmaling convened a press conference last week where he revealed a staggering eight nursing home residents in Racine County voted “illegally”, with the help of employees rather than the deputies, but that he would not be referring anyone criminally to the county district attorney, instead calling on the Wisconsin attorney general, Josh Kaul, a Democrat, to conduct a statewide investigation, to which Kaul probably silently considered for 4 to 5 seconds before resuming doing his actual job. Wisconsin House Speaker Robin Vos (a total worm utterly terrified of Trump) jumped in the fray and called on all six members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission plus WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe to resign.

Because eight people in nursing homes voted outside of normal procedure. Schmaling didn’t even say who they voted for. They could’ve written in fucking Thomas Dewey for all he knows. If he’s got some secret statewide conspiracy of Pro-Biden nursing home employees on his hands then why isn’t he arresting any of them? Why wouldn’t his deputies be kicking down doors and slamming some faces into trays full of vanilla pudding to subdue and drag them the fuck out in handcuffs?

We all know why. But just a quick statistic, as the Wisconsin Examiner points out in a Friday article about Schmaling’s press conference: “There are less than 19,000 nursing home residents in Wisconsin, according to data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. So even if nursing home staff had illegally influenced the vote of every nursing home resident in the state and all of them had been forced to cast a vote for Biden, that influence would not have changed the results of the election” because Biden won the state by 20,608 votes in 2020. So like most Republicans, Schmaling is way more effective at calling press conferences and talking shit than real action.

“The estranged wife of Republican Senate candidate Sean Parnell testified under oath Monday that he choked her until she bit him to escape, that he hit their children and verbally lashed out at her with obscenities,” reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“In tears, Laurie Parnell said that her husband, endorsed by former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate primary, called her a ‘whore’ and a ‘piece of shit’ while pinning her down. She testified that after a Thanksgiving trip he once forced her out of their vehicle alongside a highway after raging at her, telling her to ‘go get an abortion.’ Parnell’s web site describes him as a pro-life candidate. Laurie Parnell also testified that Sean once slapped one of their children hard enough to leave fingerprint-shaped welts through the back of the child’s T-shirt. She spoke in a court hearing over custody of their three school-age children, describing years of intense rage and abuse that she said she endured from her husband. At one time, she testified, ‘He tried to choke me out on a couch and I literally had to bite him’ to get free. ‘He was strangling me.’ Parnell denied the claims and insisted that he looks forward to a future court date where he’ll be able to tell his side of the story.”

“A growing number of parents of Texas students are becoming increasingly alarmed about some of the books and other content found in public school libraries that are extremely inappropriate in the public education system. The most flagrant examples include clearly pornographic images and substance that have no place in the Texas public education system. These parents are rightfully angry. Parents have the right to shield their children from obscene content used in schools their children attend. They are right that Texas public schools should not provide or promote pornographic or obscene material to students. Texas school libraries are governed by their respective independent school districts and by standards established by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission and approved by the State Board of Education.”

“All are accountable to the State. Unlike classroom textbooks that are reviewed and adopted by the State Board of Education, library books and other classroom resources are to be reviewed at the district level. Collectively, your organization’s members have an obligation to determine the extent to which such materials exist or are used in our schools and to remove any such content. You must also ensure transparency about the materials being taught in the classroom and offered in school libraries. Also, each of our schools should have an appropriate and transparent process to vet library materials before they are used. You have an obligation to Texas parents and students to ensure that no child in Texas is exposed to pornography or other inappropriate content while inside a Texas public school” says Low Energy Greg in a letter to Texas Association of School Boards Executive Director Dan Troxell in reference to a new GOP inquisition taking place in Texas.

“Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite and accused accomplice to wealthy sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was never offered a plea deal related to her sex-trafficking case, prosecutors said on Monday. Maxwell, 59, appeared in Manhattan federal court for a lengthy hearing that addressed issues over witness testimony and proposed exhibits ahead of her trial date later this month – including the Little Black Book of famous names and addresses which Epstein’s former butler claims he snatched from the financier’s Palm Beach lair. When Judge Alison J. Nathan asked Maxwell whether the government and her lawyer were correct in stating a plea bargain wasn’t offered to her, she confirmed before adding: ‘I have not committed any crime.’ One of Maxwell’s attorneys, Bobbi Sternheim, also indicated the defense never asked for a deal” – Daily Beast.

Seth Abramson: “A current Republican candidate for the United States Senate from Pennsylvania, Everett Stern, is claiming that he was approached by agents from Michael Flynn’s Patriot Caucus – funded by Texas billionaire Al Hartman – who told him they’re working with former intelligence agents from both domestic and foreign intelligence agencies to acquire dirt on state and federal politicians. Their goal? To extort those politicians into pushing to audit and decertify Joe Biden’s November 2020 election victory and reinstall Donald Trump as president.”

“Stern says that he was given the impression that the Patriot Caucus did not care if illegal means were used to acquire or deploy the intelligence they sought. Stern now says he has evidence of these contacts, and provided it to law enforcement. If true, Stern’s allegations could well amount to treason – and not just in the lay sense, but the statutory one. Working with agents of a hostile nation to bring down the U.S. government would indeed be akin to an act of war against the United States, and so providing aid and comfort to a foreign hostile engaged in such an act of war (let alone directing the effort) might well be Treason. Given Flynn’s illicit activities since 2015 – catalogued in detail in Proof of Collusion (Simon & Schuster, 2018), Proof of Conspiracy (Macmillan, 2019), and Proof of Corruption (Macmillan, 2020) – one certainly can’t say it would be out of character for Flynn. Not only did former president Barack Obama go out of his way to tell Trump that he should not hire Flynn because of information the federal government had about Flynn’s activities abroad; not only did the former president thereafter fire Flynn following a scandal related to his contacts abroad; Flynn was then indicted by DOJ for lying to the FBI about his contacts with hostile foreign nationals involved in election interference.”

“Stockholders will be asked to complete an in-person symptom screening and receive a negative result and present: verification that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (e.g., an original or copy of their COVID-19 vaccination record card from the CDC) along with government-issued photo identification; or acceptable proof of a negative COVID-19 test result (PCR or antigen) from within 24 hours of entering the FOX Studio Lot along with government-issued photo identification.”

“All stockholders must wear facial coverings while inside buildings at all times on the FOX Studio Lot. If you do not have any facial covering, a FOX representative will provide a mask for you at no cost to you” – Fox News shareholder memo via Media Matters.

In the wonderful, detailed recounting of the January 6th domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol and the events surrounding it by the Washington Post, published Sunday, an episode that deserves scrutiny may be overlooked.  Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham urged the Senate sergeant-at-arms and other law enforcement officers to shoot the insurrectionists:

The Senate and House leaders also had been evacuated by Capitol Police and taken to an undisclosed location, but many lawmakers remained in their chambers for a few minutes before they were led to safety in the Hart Senate Office Building. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham was irate that senators were forced to flee their own chamber. He yelled at the Senate sergeant-at-arms. “What are you doing? Take back the Senate! You’ve got guns. Use them.” The South Carolina senator was adamant. “We give you guns for a reason,” he repeated. “Use them.”

A late supporter of Donald Trump’s–he once described Trump as an “interloper and a demagogue of the greatest proportion“–Graham’s order on January 6th demonstrates that the violent Trump addicts were viewed as a danger to even the most steadfast Trump supporters and that they wanted more violence at the time. Today, however, GOP members of Congress and Trump have attached their legacy to calling the only insurrectionist killed by law enforcement that day a martyr.

“I’ve worked in good faith for three months, for the past three months, with President Biden, Leader Schumer, Speaker Pelosi and my colleagues on the reconciliation bill, and I will continue to do so,” Democratic West Virginia Senator (and man who apparently thinks children just raise themselves while Mommy and Daddy work two jobs) Joe Manchin.  “For the sake of the country, I urge the House to vote and pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill.  Holding this bill hostage is not going to work in getting my support for the reconciliation bill.  Throughout the last three months I have been straightforward about my concerns that I will not support a reconciliation package that expands social programs and irresponsibly adds to our $29 trillion in national debt that no one seems to really care about or even talk about, nor will I support a package that risks hurting American families suffering from historic inflation.  Simply put:  I will not support a bill that is this consequential without thoroughly understanding the impact it will have on our national debt, our economy and most importantly, all of our American people.  Every elected representative needs to know what they are voting for and the impact it has, not only on their constituents, but the entire country.”

Politico:  “The Supreme Court wrestled Monday with the most significant abortion cases it has heard in nearly three decades, mulling the fate of a Texas law that has sharply restricted abortions in the state by opening health care workers and others to the threat of private lawsuits for facilitating the termination of a pregnancy.  Two appointees of President Donald Trump — Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — raised the hopes of abortion rights advocates with their questions in Monday’s arguments. Both aired concerns that Texas’ abortion ban was designed to evade federal law and constitutional review.

“Kavanaugh seemed troubled by the possibility that allowing the Texas law to remain in effect could lead other states to pass laws that would intrude on various rights protected by the Constitution — one of the key arguments the abortion clinics challenging the law put forward when asking the court to strike it down.  Kavanaugh theorized that a left-leaning state could offer a $1 million bounty against those who sell an assault rifle, like an AR-15, then claim it wasn’t using state power because only private parties could bring the suits.  ‘There’s a loophole that’s been exploited here or used here,’ Kavanaugh said. ‘It could be free speech rights. It could be free-exercise-of-religion rights. It could be Second Amendment rights.’

“Barrett, meanwhile, focused on a provision in the Texas law that limits which legal arguments alleged abortion facilitators can make to defend themselves when sued under the statute. She noted that the law seeks to block defendants from arguing to state judges that allowing members of the public to collect thousands of dollars in damages over someone’s abortion could chill others seeking to obtain or provide abortions.  ‘I’m wondering if, in the defensive posture in state court, the constitutional defense can be fully aired,’ Barrett said.”

As another winter approaches and Texans still have fresh in their memories the winter storm that knocked out power to millions and left between 250-1,000 people dead, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott isn’t putting any effort into fixing the fragile, stand-alone Texas power grid.  Instead, he says Texas is putting three billion dollars to things like razor wire at the border and sending law enforcement to the border to stop the all-afeared CARAVAN.  Oh, and “Texas is building its own border wall” ’cause that worked out so well under Trump.

Libertarian (?) scholar Richard Hanania, weighs in on a whole lot about the current shitshow of political media in a brilliant essay titled “Liberals Read, Conservatives Watch TV“. Some choice clips:

“In the age of cable news and the internet, the main media sources on the left and right have each engaged in a mass mobilization campaign. Conservative media perfecting the ‘infotainment’ genre of news commentary brought people into politics that a generation earlier would’ve paid more attention to professional wrestling or monster truck rallies instead. Liberalism has captured a combination of an overeducated class with more desire for status than intellectual curiosity along with mentally ill individuals who in the 1990s might have joined some apolitical subculture instead of becoming passionate about race and gender issues. While during the Clinton era the split between the TV watchers and readers alongside the right-left axis was already there, it has become much more extreme. This has been referred to by political scientists as ‘increasing education polarization,’ a phrase that I don’t think captures the most interesting aspects of what is going on…”

“…One thing I noticed a while ago is that, while I read a lot of different websites, only conservative sites tended to slow down my computer with spam. And a lot of it is simply fraudulent, stuff like ‘check out Ben Carson’s secret brain pills.’ My theory as to why is that conservatives are trying to squeeze every penny out of their audience, while liberals also care about maintaining credibility with smart people and signaling that they run serious websites. Moreover, the alternative to ads is making people pay for a subscription, something liberals are more likely to do. I just went to the Washington Examiner and clicked a random article, and got this, only after clicking through a pop-up that took up the whole screen.”