Texas Legislators End Session Targeting Transgenders Rather Than Important Issues

Pardon the Interruption

Texas has been governed by Republicans on all levels of government for the past two decades -- Representative Pete Laney was the last Democrat to hold Speaker of the House in 2003. Since then, laws and policies have been written with conservative ideologies.

As a Texan, I align myself to libertarian ideas of limited government, economic liberty, and individual rights. However, the recent blatant attack on transgender individuals by the state's leadership and makes me question as to whether our state needs change.

Rather than prioritizing crucial matters such as common-sense gun control and other important issues, the conservative state legislature yet again focused on transgenders and limiting their rights.  

The legislature passed, SB 14, restricting transgender access to health care, which not only affects those under the age of 18, but also affects adults. Case in point, my transgender daughter, who is an adult, received a call from her provider indicating they were no longer providing gender-affirming care. This followed the state's Attorney General Ken Paxton initiating an investigation to one of Texas' largest hospitals. 

So now, my daughter will have to seek gender-affirming care elsewhere, pay out of pocket, perhaps shop the black market for unregulated hormone replacement therapy. This is absolutely concerning to her mother and me.

What's disheartening is that May 24th was the 1-year anniversary of the tragic event that occurred in Uvalde, Texas, where a gunman shot and killed 19 elementary students and two teachers with an AR rifle purchased on his 18th birthday. Rather than debate the issue, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, prevented any discussion of gun control brought up by the senator from Uvalde. Watch this video of Senator Gutierrez' passionate speech after he was silenced for suggesting an amendment on gun control.

Strategically, following the tragedy, Governor Greg Abbott made sure to remove all blame from himself and the leadership and placed any future tragedies on the school itself. In other words, the reason this issue is not being addressed is because the leadership is gambling on our kids lives. If it happens again, god-forbid, they are not to blame. 

The Texas Legislature should have prioritized a balanced agenda that respects the rights of all individuals and promotes the principles of liberty, individual responsibility, and limited government interference.

 

Scott Stantis (Dallas Morning News)

Dance: RIVER - Tula

Choreographer: Marie Bugnon

Dancers : Julie Diaz, Jeremy Marquet, Julie Nouaille, Juliette Riffé, Laura Valles, Lola Perez, Sarah Beattie

via Marie Bugnon

Cosplay is an Art: STAR WARS CELEBRATION 2023

via MaxCorp Entertainment 

Dorothea Lange

Photography Appreciation

Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, on May 26, 1895, Dorothea Lange was a prominent American photographer, photojournalist, and documentary photographer known for her powerful images that captured the human condition during the Great Depression and World War II. 

At a young age, Dorothea was fascinated by the variety of people she saw while wondering the streets of New York, a trait she would use as a documentary photographer. After graduating from high school, she began her study of photography at Columbia University under Clarence H. White. She would later get apprenticeships with several New York photography studies, including that of Arnold Genthe. 

Dorothea settled in San Francisco after her plans to travel the world was disrupted, in 1918. She found a job in a photographic supply shot and became acquainted with other photographers.

Her early studio work mostly involved shooting portrait photographs of San Francisco's social elite. She shifted her interest to documentary photography in the 1930s. Dorothea began to photograph the lives of farmers and migrant workers affected by the economic crisis. 

During the Great Depression, millions of people in the United States were jobless. Some 300,000 people migrated west to California, hoping to find work. Unfortunately, work was hard to find in California.

Dorothea captured the attention of local photographers and media for her documentary photography of the unemployed, poverty, and homeless. This led her to be employed with the Farm Security Administration. 

One of Dorothea's most recognized photograph is Migrant Mother, which became an iconic symbol of the Great Depression. As she would later write about the photograph in Popular Photography, "I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother [Florence Owens Thompson], as if drawn by a magnet. I do not remember how I explained my presence or my camera to her, but I do remember she asked me no questions... She told me her age, that she was thirty-two. She said that they had been living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed. She had just sold the tires from her car to buy food. There she sat in the lean-to tent with her children huddled around her, and seemed to know that my pictures might help her, and so she helped me. There was a sort of equality about it." 

In 1941, Dorothea was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship for achievement in photography; however, she gave up the fellowship to go on assignment for the War Relocation Authority to document the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. One permanent internment camp she documented was Manzanar, where more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated. Many of her photographs were seized by the military, and weren't released until 2006.

Dorothea's photographs were not only important for their historical value, but also for their artistic merit. She had a keen eye for composition and was able to capture the humanity of her subjects in a way that was both intimate and universal.

In 1984, she was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum. 

Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California (1936)

White Angel Breadline (1933)

April 20, 1942

Sources: 

Wikipedia

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dorothea-Lange

https://anchoreditions.com/blog/dorothea-lange-censored-photographs

whf c. ai (30%)

Fancy Feet

When I was a teenager, I worked in shoe sales. Back then, I was very green in life experience, but I knew when I was being hit on. Mostly cougars, 20 years older, would flirt with me. 

There was one lady, a regular customer, in particular, who asked me to pull off her boots. As I obliged, she gave me a sly grin. 

In hindsight, I should have been bold and flirted back. I could have probably had a very different story to share.

Doug Sneyd, PLAYBOY 

Harold Budd

Music Appreciation

Born on May 24, 1936 in Los Angeles, California, Harold Budd was an American composer and poet, recognized for creating ambient soundscapes.

Budd developed a fascination with music at a young age. Growing up in a touch neighborhood, he found refuge playing in bars and jazz clubs in South Central Los Angeles. He even joined the regimental band where he played drums at Presidio of Monterey (POM), when drafted into the army.

He later enrolled in an architecture course at Los Angeles City College, then switched to a course in harmony and renaissance counterpoint. This path would lead him to a career as a composer. 

Budd studied music at California State University, Northridge. He graduated from CSUN, and then went on full scholarship to the University of Southern California. After completing his education, Budd began his career as a composer, working in a variety of genres including jazz, rock, and experimental music. 

Budd's breakthrough came in 1978 with the release of his first solo album, "The Pavilion of Dreams." The album was a collaboration with the British ambient musician Brian Eno and showcased Budd's unique approach to ambient music. The album was widely acclaimed and set the stage for Budd's subsequent career.

Over the next few decades, Budd continued to release a string of critically acclaimed albums, including "The Plateaux of Mirror," "The Pearl," and "Lovely Thunder." His music was often characterized by its dreamlike quality, with ethereal textures and subtle melodies creating a sense of otherworldliness.

In addition to his work as a composer, Budd was also a prolific poet, publishing several collections of poetry over the course of his career. His poetry was often as minimalist as his music, with sparse, evocative language creating vivid imagery.

Budd passed away after suffering a stroke and from complications of COVID-19 on December 8, 2020.

Sources:

Wikipedia

Cyber Dating in the 90s

The 90's were a transformative decade for internet and technology. As more of us plugged our modem, new opportunities for communication and connection to individuals from across the world became possible. One of the most notable developments of my time was cyber dating. 

Imagine typing and typing and typing just to woo a potential mate you had zero chance of meeting. Sending pictures was a task. First you had to take a photo. Take the 35mm film to get processed and printed, which would take a few days. Then scan the photo onto the computer. You were lucky if you had a scanner because those things cost a lot. Then you had to hope you had enough memory bites left on your AOL or Prodigy account to send the file by electronic email. 

Yes. Cyber dating was a bitch.

Keith Robinson (PLAYBOY), November 1994