Amy G. Nelson

South Dakota locks up women at a higher rate than any other state, report says • South Dakota Searchlight South Dakota incarcerates women at a higher rate than other U.S. states — and countries — according to a new report from the Prison Policy Initiative.

"South Dakota women are imprisoned at a rate of 338 per 100,000. That’s a higher rate than Montana or Idaho...All three states have higher rates than El Salvador, the country with the highest incarceration rate. The nationwide incarceration rate for women in the U.S. is 112 per 100,000."

A bit of good news!

"In a little over two months, South Dakota Public Broadcasting raised $1.6 million to help keep its staff after losing federal funding. In July, SDPB announced it lost 100% of its federal funds, which amounts to around $2.3 million annually and around 22% of its entire budget."

Samuel L. Jackson, with few choice words for Trump Watch the Snakes on Plane star take on the snake in the Oval Office

“‘Motherf***ing wind farms. Loud, ugly, harmful to nature,' he says, then pauses and shakes his head. ​'Who says that? These giants are standing tall against fossil fuels, rising up from the ocean like a middle finger to CO2.’"

SWINGIN' WITH THE SWEETHEARTS Big Bands were all male, all white. Then from the shadows of Jim Crow came the International Sweethearts of Rhythm.

"On trumpet, Ernestine ‘Tiny' Davis was 'the female Louis Armstrong.' When she played in DC, Armstrong himself offered her five times her meager Sweethearts salary to join his band. She refused. ‘Well,' Davis recalled, 'I just loved them gals too much.’"

I wish we all had a clear path out of this regime. I teeter between hope and hopelessness every day. I've found - for me, at least - that Jess Craven and Jay Kuo are both really helpful. They offer concrete action steps when I feel completely lost.

You mustn't let the dystopian nightmare bullshit dim your fucking sparkle.

Some version of the Crusades might be right around the corner, too.

Beware of Christian nationalism, even on a T-shirt • South Dakota Searchlight The promoters of Christian nationalism seek a dangerous convergence of government and religion. Christian religion, of course.

"The promoters of Christian nationalism seek a dangerous convergence of government and religion. Christian religion, of course.

"We have seen what happens in other countries where religion and government become one. We should never want that here."

An unprecedented look at Trump’s unprecedented level of claims about unprecedented stuff Trust us, you’ve never seen anything like it, at least since the last time you never saw anything like it

New at Fight the Fire:
An unprecedented look at Trump’s unprecedented level of claims about unprecedented stuff.
Trust us, you’ve never seen anything like it, at least since the last time you never saw anything like it.

Painted lady butterfly rests on pink zinnia.

Late summer in South Dakota.

Minnehaha County Democratic Party: “we’re good, thanks” in response to a DJT post of his image superimposed on Mount Rushmore.

Mary Oliver Of The Empire We will be known as a culture that feared death and adored power, that tried to vanquish insecurity for the few and cared little for the penury of the many. We will be known as a culture that taught and rewarded the amassing of things, that spoke little if at all about the quality of life for people (other people), for dogs, for rivers. All the world, in our eyes, they will say, was a commodity. And they will say that this structure was held together politically, which it was, and they will say also that our politics was no more than an apparatus to accommodate the feelings of the heart, and that the heart, in those days, was small, and hard, and full of meanness.

Perhaps we should also paint tunnels on the wall so unsuspecting immigrants run right into it (aka Roadrunner vs. Coyote?) My god, this truly is the stupidest timeline.

“'There are a couple of takeaways here,' Binion writes. 'One: People still go to Subway. Did not know that. Two: The government's disproportionate response to this offense epitomizes why Trump's plan appears to be, at least for now, more political theater than a real solutions-oriented approach.'”

2.4K views · 126 reactions | Never let anyone silence you. You could lose everything and still walk away richer than those who treat others as less than human — because you’d still have your soul, yo... Never let anyone silence you. You could lose everything and still walk away richer than those who treat others as less than human — because you’d still have your soul, your voice, and your...

This was a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, resident’s response to Operation Prairie Thunder, the governor’s new initiative to assist ICE (aka terrorize black and brown people). Very well said.

Trump plans raids on DC's homeless tonight, sources say Advocates are scrambling to relocate people from tent encampments before imminent arrests.

“'Arrests will occur at night, in an effort to avoid news cameras,' Jesse Rabinowitz, communications director at National Homelessness Law Center, said via email."

Duluth man walks up to 12 miles a day checking in on people living on the streets Nathan Kesti walks up to 12 miles a day around downtown Duluth, offering “compassionate accountability” to people who don’t have a home, and who are often struggling with addiction and mental health i...

"Since Kesti started working as a street outreach worker for the organization Downtown Duluth nearly three years ago, he has logged nearly 29,000 of these one-on-one contacts with people in the city who don’t have a home."

AUGUST ENCORE: THANK YOU, RAY BRADBURY! Born into a world of radios and Model T’s, he envisioned a fantastic future. And you can’t say he didn’t warn us.

"Thanks for enthralling us with what might be. Thanks for warning us against turning ourselves over to, or into, machines. From Fahrenheit 451: 'Stuff your eyes with wonder. Live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.'”

Adopt A Station - Rescue Public Media Help preserve independent journalism and community programming across America by adopting a public media station. Congress has voted to rescind public media's funding.

Have you adopted a public media station yet?

Four South Dakota Newspapers Close as Parent Company Shuts Down A major blow was dealt to local journalism in South Dakota on Wednesday, August 6, as four newspapers, the Huron Plainsman, Brookings Register, Redfield Press, and Moody County Enterprise, publishe…

What a devastating day for local journalism in South Dakota. The Brookings paper was founded in 1882. The Huron paper was founded in 1886.

“'This is what happens when you put the wrong people in charge,' said state House Minority Leader Erin Healy, D-Sioux Falls, who voted against the bill. 'We talk a lot about freedom and privacy in this state, so it’s a shame that this legislation led to this type of breach.’"

The price of 1 lb of ground beef is now higher than the federal minimum hourly wage…

Girls will be like "I needed this." And it's literally just a road trip to Florida to burn down a concentration camp.

H/t Intersectional Memes and Feminist Dreams on Facebook.

Message from Taneeza Islam, SDVFP CEO:

A man in a dark suit stands behind a podium at an outdoor event with a small plane visible in the background. Large white text at the top reads JD Vance the victim of vicious closed-captioning. A lower yellow subtitle reads [single person clapping]. A banner at the bottom identifies him as Sen JD Vance R-Ohio vice presidential nominee and C-SPAN2 2024 live from Asheboro NC.

🤣

Local public broadcasting cuts will happen Oct. 31 without new funding, director says • South Dakota Searchlight SIOUX FALLS – South Dakotans should know what might stay and what might go at South Dakota Public Broadcasting within the next two weeks.

"Former Gov. Kristi Noem had proposed an evisceration of SDPB’s state-level funding before her departure to join President Donald Trump’s cabinet as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. State lawmakers rejected those efforts."

A challenge. I accept.

This is the first time I’ve seen them, too!