Lurker > Humble_Novice

"An Alabama community is in shock after the tragic death of a local leader following their involuntary outing as a transgender woman "

"For our brother, F.L. Bubba Copeland, May God bless your soul and forgive those who took pleasure in your suffering. They should all be ashamed!

...

Disrespecting this person even in death.

I mean, my own family didn't really change when I came out as transgender.

Hell, my brother calls out my gender dysphoria as "misguided angst".

An Alabama community is in shock after the tragic death of a local leader following their involuntary outing as a transgender woman when a local conservative news blog posted photos of them embracing their secret gender identity.

Smiths Station Mayor F.L. Bubba Copeland, who also served as the pastor of First Baptist Church in Phenix City, was found dead Friday evening, Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones confirmed to Columbus, Ga., CBS affiliate WRBL.

I can confirm he took his own life, Jones said.

Besides his political and religious affiliations, Copeland was known locally for owning a small grocery store in the Alabama backwaters. Recent scrutiny emerged when Alabama news blog 1819 News reported Wednesday that Copeland had been engaging in explicit online activities, allegedly posting pornography, memes, and photos of themself in womens clothing online under the pseudonym Brittini Blaire Summerlin.

The report shared screenshots from Copelands now-deleted Instagram and Reddit accounts, where the openly explored their transgender identity. Copeland also reportedly shared transgender-specific fiction and erotica that they authored, according to published reports. Copeland discussed hormone replacement therapy in some of their online posts

The Advocate honors peoples chosen names and pronouns. Because Copeland did not publicly come out before their death, The Advocate is referring to them as the person they presented publicly.

The revelation quickly spiraled into a community-wide controversy, eliciting many empathetic and derogatory reactions. One of Copelands friends, former Phenix City School Superintendent Larry DiChiara, expressed his anguish and support for Copeland on social media after the mayors death.

In a Facebook post, DiChiara wrote, Please bare with me while I vent. I am so angry right now and heartbroken. I witnessed a good man be publicly ridiculed and crucified over the last few daysto the point that he just took his own life today. He revealed that he had reached out to Copeland offering support and encouragement, and Copeland had acknowledged going through some dark days.

In a pointed message to those who ridiculed Copeland, DiChiara asked, Are you happy now? What crime did he commit? Some of you people make me sick. I hope you are really proud.

He ended his post with a prayer for Copeland: For our brother, F.L. Bubba Copeland, May God bless your soul and forgive those who took pleasure in your suffering. They should all be ashamed!

The Lee County Sheriffs Office and the Lee County District Attorneys Office are currently investigating the death.

The situation took a tragic turn when deputies responded to a request for a welfare check on Copeland, spotting them driving their truck on a county road near their grocery store. Upon attempting to pull Copeland over, they stopped, exited their truck, and fatally shot themself, Jones told WRBL.

The distressing details surrounding Copelands demise highlight the stark reality of the societal pressures and the often harsh judgments individuals may face when their private lives, particularly concerning their sexual orientation or gender identity, are involuntarily thrust into the public domain, especially in conservative communities.

legal eagle will be struggling to keep up with all the trump trials. so much shit to go over

Been working at a library for nearly two months and can honestly say libraries are awesome.

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- The U.S. Census Bureau says 275,000 people moved out of Florida last year.

They say most relocated to Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina and Texas.

Analysts point to the rising cost of living, politics, and high property insurance premiums as reasons behind the shift.

"I am very concerned about affordability in Florida," Representative Matt Gaetz said. "I've spent most of my adult life trying to make Florida a place that people would want to come -- and we saw so many come to. We saw housing prices rise, and as a result of hurricanes, we've seen rising insurance. I believe the answer to this is to have state backed reinsurance so that you're able to mitigate some of the risk and lower those costs. And if you're able to do that in the short term, I think you'd have more people staying in their homes."

Are we able to clone our own organs yet? Legally and scientifically?

Mel Sembler, a St. Petersburg developer who parlayed his role as one of the Republican Partys most influential fundraisers into ambassadorships to Australia and Italy, has died. He was 93.

Sembler died following a battle with lung cancer, his son Greg told the Tampa Bay Times on Tuesday morning.

Sembler raised hundreds of millions of dollars for Republicans in races nationwide, from future presidents to local mayors, sometimes shifting allegiances when his preferred candidates dropped out, but never straying far from the nexus of GOP power.

Youd be hard-pressed to find anybody whos more dedicated or patriotic or able to sustain the effort over many, many years, former Vice President Dick Cheney, a longtime friend, told the Times in 2019.

Sembler was more than a donor. In Florida and beyond, he cultivated a network of GOP rainmakers willing to shell out thousands per plate at fundraising dinners at the drop of a hat, leading nearly every major Republican presidential candidate since the 1980s to covet his support.

How successful was he? After being named chairperson for the Republican Partys national finance committee in 1997, he oversaw more than $220 million in donations for George W. Bush and other candidates during the 2000 election, in the process clearing $10 million in debt held over from 1996. One star-studded dinner cleared $11.3 million in one night.

Ive never had anybody who gives me a major contribution ask for a darn thing except good government, Sembler told the Times in 1995. Most people dont believe that. And everybody thinks theres something dirty about fundraising.

In its heyday, Straight Inc. brought them closer to another anti-drug crusader, First Lady Nancy Reagan, as well as then-Vice President George H. W. Bush. And if the Reagan years established Sembler as a Republican power broker, the Bush years cemented it.

Sembler was not only one of Bushs biggest individual donors, contributing more than $100,000, but also Bushs Florida fundraising chief and the chairperson of his inaugural committee. When Bush took office in 1989, Sembler was nominated for the plum role of ambassador to Australia.

It was a controversial nomination, considering his political largesse; cartoonist Garry Trudeau even lampooned it in his Doonesbury comic strip. (Semblers reaction: You really need a good sense of humor when you get into politics.)

In 2016, he supported Jeb Bush for president, and when Bush dropped out, pushed for Sen. Marco Rubio. After Rubio also dropped out, Sembler initially seemed to waver over supporting Donald Trump, telling the Times hed have to give serious thought to voting for Hillary Clinton.

Times have changed, the country has changed, the electorate has changed, he said. I dont understand our country anymore.

In the end, he not only backed Trump, but was vice-chairperson of his inaugural committee.
Im a supporter of the party, he would say, and hes leader of my party.

How long till this topic gets locked

Yeah but who's "the left"?

Democrat is left-center, and Republican is ultra Right.

Er I think Gaston's henchman was gay in the newer Beauty and the Beast.
Oh and there was a blink and miss it gay kiss in Star Wars.
That's about it.

The largest Christian university in the U.S. is facing a record-setting fine from the Department of Education for allegedly deceiving thousands of students about the cost of its doctoral programs.

The department announced Tuesday it is fining Grand Canyon University $37.7 million, accusing it of lying to more than 7,500 former and current students about the price of the programs and saying 98 percent of students in them pay more than what is advertised.

The Federal Student Aid (FSA) office found the alleged deception went back to 2017, with the school telling students the programs cost between $40,000 and $49,000. Data from the school showed 78 percent paid $10,000 to $12,000 more, according to the department.

GCU lied about the cost of its doctoral programs to attract students to enroll, said FSA Chief Operating Officer Richard Cordray. FSA takes its oversight responsibilities seriously. GCUs lies harmed students, broke their trust, and led to unexpectedly high levels of student debt. Today, we are holding GCU accountable for its actions, protecting students and taxpayers, and upholding the integrity of the federal student aid programs.

The office said GCU defended its decisions by saying there were disclosures the programs could cost more due to continuation classes. The department rejected that answer, arguing the information was buried in documents and did not cover the substantial misrepresentations regarding cost.

The department is ordering GCU to fix the misrepresentation and go off the average debt a student incurs from the program. It also is requiring the school to tell current students about how to report violations and concerns about the university to the federal government.

GCU released a statement Tuesday denying the allegations and denouncing the administrations statement.

The school said the disclaimer the programs could cost more due to continuation classes is placed prominently in documents for students to see and that federal courts already agreed with it because it recently settled a case with similar allegations.

Headline: "Meta to Charge Monthly Fees For Using Facebook and Instagram"

First line of article: "Meta (META) announced today (Oct. 30) that it will charge Facebook and Instagram users in Europe a subscription fee for an ad-free experience starting in November."

TC has no shame confirmed.

Meta (META) announced today (Oct. 30) that it will charge Facebook and Instagram users in Europe a subscription fee for an ad-free experience starting in November. The subscriptions will cost 9.99 ($ 10.60) per month for web and 12.99 ($13.79) for mobile apps. Initially, one subscription will cover all accounts linked to its owner. But starting March 2024, users will have to pay an extra fee for each additional account, which will be 6 ($6.37) per month for web and 8 ($8.49) for mobile. The rollout came just days after Meta CFO Susan Li shared an update on the companys European ad strategy.

Meta said it introduced the subscriptions to comply with European Union regulations. In May, The E.U. fined Meta $1.3 billion for violating its data privacy rules by transferring user data in Europe to servers in the U.S. Following a legal battle, the E.U. effectively barred the social platform from harvesting user data across its platforms for targeted ads without user consent.

To resume collecting user data, Meta said in August it would make changes to comply with Europes General Data Protection Regulation around consent issues. Well continue to advocate for an ad-supported internet, even with our new subscription offering in the E.U., EEA [European Economic Area] and Switzerland. But we respect the spirit and purpose of these evolving European regulations, and are committed to complying with them, Meta said.

During Metas third-quarter earnings call last week, Bank of America analyst Justin Post asked Meta executives about the companys potential subscription offering and GDPR compliance issue in Europe. CFO Susan Li didnt reveal much, but said the company was working on a consent model for ads in Europe.

Even though Metas new subscription plan for Europe resulted from a legal battle, entirely subscriptions-based social platforms that used to be free may be something to keep an eye on.

X, formerly known as Twitter, is testing a $1 yearly fee for new users in the Philippines and New Zealand to access basic functions such as reposting, liking and replying to posts. X owner Elon Musk said this is the best way to get spam accounts and bots off the platform. In the past, Musk has floated the idea of making X a completely paywalled platform.

Meta reported an increase in ad revenue for the quarter ended September. Ad revenue rose 23 percent in the quarter from a year ago and showed strides since 2021. Li explained on the earnings call that the company is still cautious about what ad sales will look like going into the fourth quarter because of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Someone post that one Randy scene from that one South Park episode.

Even I hate Fandom wikis so much I can't vote no just to spite TC.

I don't get any popups with an adblocker. Fandom is shit though with the new skins which is why I barely edit anymore. It was much easier to edit the old way and the visual editor is the worse thing anyone has ever thought of.

Now you've done it.
Someone will vote no just to be a contrarian

I have complicated feelings on it

Wikipedia takes donations so it can be kept ad free because from this dude's POV it's an important repository of human knowledge (which is kinda right)

A lot of the stuff on fandom, which is heavily monetized, is ultimately stuff that sort of does not "matter" in the same way. Just very specific tv/movie/game series info.

I mean still fuck fandom but I kinda get it

The Megami Tensei one has moved away from it as well:

https://megatenwiki.com/wiki/Main_Page