Tag: bible

Right Wing Nutballs never give up on banning books

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Somewhere amid the current outbreak of parental fears over Covid vaccine mandates, misguided attacks on critical race theory being taught in elementary schools and the fistfights and yelling at school boards, we’re seeing a renewed attempt to ban textbooks…It’s not that parental challenges to textbooks are new, but the intensity is prompting the Department of Justice to act.

Justice is seeking ways to address a “spike in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence” against school boards, administrators and staff; against teachers, administrators and school board members in heated conflicts over Covid safety policies and curriculum content.

That, in turn, has Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and leading Republicans attacking Justice and offering to defend parental rights to decide that curriculum match their community values, even if it means banning books.

Titles like The Catcher in the Rye, A Brave New World, Lolita and Lady Chatterley’s Lover are among the classics barred from schools or libraries over time. Now there has been a shift. The American Library Association’s Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2020 showed that the books challenged the most concern “racism, Black American history and diversity in the United States.”

Uniform national standards aren’t the hardest thing in the world to create and order. Even in a nation barely competent as the United States. Finding politicians with sufficient backbone to stand up to archaic bigotry, racism and religion, is the hard part.

Class warfare still exists

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In a head-spinning piece of political propaganda, President Donald Trump delivered a speech in the Rose Garden…in which he vowed to send the military to contain protestors calling for racial justice. As he spoke, he made an example of the protestors assembled in front of the White House in Lafayette Square, ordering federal agents to attack the crowd with tear gas and rubber bullets.

Then, Trump and his aides walked across the street to St. John’s Church, a historic site also known as the Church of the Presidents, for a photo op. In front of the 200-year-old structure, Trump held up a Bible, using it as a prop, just like he was using the church — all to the consternation of religious leaders…

Trump did not make the White House-documented outing alone. Among the aides who walked with the president was his daughter, Ivanka Trump, the only one wearing a mask despite the still-raging pandemic. Ivanka also, conspicuously, carried a large white leather tote — an accessory that elicited many questions. Because: What was she carrying in there? “Her pride? Her soul? S’mores?” lawyer Asha Rangappa asked on Twitter…

So what was in the handbag? Was it something meant to give aid? If you pause CSPAN’s video of the event at the 4:47 mark, you’ll see, as one eagle-eyed tweeter noticed, a hand-off: Ivanka passing her father the very Bible he abused for a photo op. (“Is that your Bible?” a reporter asked. “It’s a Bible,” Trump responded.)…

That purse holds Ivanka’s keys to the kingdom…The Daily Mail ran an article with the headline “She means business!” breathlessly describing how Ivanka was “dressed to impress” as she left her house…carrying that white bag. “Be beautiful like Ivanka and carry a Max Mara tote bag,” suggests the article, linking to where you can buy it for $1,540.

Like her daddy, Ivanka doesn’t think “Money can buy anything”. She thinks it can buy EVERYTHING!

Catching up with Looney News: Michele Bachmann says this will be the last election if Hillary wins

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❝ I believe without a shadow of a doubt this is the last election. This is it. This is the last election. And the reason why I say that…is because it’s a math problem. It’s a math problem of demographics and a changing United States. If you look at the numbers of people who vote and who lives in the country and who Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton want to bring in to the country, this is the last election when we even have a chance to vote for somebody who will stand up for godly moral principles. This is it.

❝ Hillary Clinton, I’m not judging her spiritually or where she is at but we know where she’s going to come down on Supreme Court justices, she’s pro-Planned Parenthood. She’s for everything I’m against…This isn’t even close between what Donald Trump stands for and espouses and what Hillary Clinton stands for and espouses. People look at Trump and he can be course [sic] and a little crude and all the rest and I say get over it! Get over it because what he is going to do is uphold religious liberty and advance the constitutional republic that our founders gave us.”

“She (Hillary Clinton) has said herself that she is going to grant wholesale amnesty to people from the Third World who are here in the United States and we hear this fake number of 11 million illegal aliens in the United States. Wrong! It’s about 30 to 40 million illegal aliens currently in the United States – 30 to 40 million!”

❝ “What Hillary Clinton’s ultimate goal is is to secure her reelection. The very first thing she will do as President Hillary Clinton is this: she will have a wholesale amnesty so that Republicans will never again have the chance at winning Florida or Texas. If we can’t win Florida or Texas, it’s game over.”…

❝ “God says to every nation for all of time, ‘I set before you life and death, what are you going to choose?’ If you look at the book of Genesis, you don’t even have to get beyond Chapter 3 to see God gives us life. The first thing he gives mankind is life. What does man choose? Death. We choose rebellion and death. You go from Genesis all through the Bible to the book of Revelation; man stupidly makes the same decision over and over again by rejecting life and choosing death. What I’m telling you is that’s what we’re looking at now in this country.”

Sigh. Can anyone have a rational conversation, discussion, with a nutball who rejects evidence-based data? Whose entire analysis of the political economy of the United States requires the governance of a book written in the 14th Century to satisfy the ruling monarchy of England?

Losing an election – as flawed, gerrymandered and restricted as racist Republicans can get away with – so disturbs the mind of True Believers that death appears to be a likely – if not glorious – alternative.

True Believers want the Bible to be the official state book in Tennessee

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Tennessee Senate committee meeting

❝ Lawmakers voted to make the Bible the official Tennessee state book…

In a 19-8 vote on Monday, members of the State Senate passed HBO615, sponsored by Republican Steve Southerland, in an attempt to “[recognize] the Bible for its historical and cultural contributions to the state, rather than as government endorsement of religion,”…

Which is how you phrase this crap to make it sound like you actually think the Constitution of the United States defines how you govern.

In the real world, this means bible-thumping opportunist politicians figure they can screw a few more votes out of folks who believe that a 14th Century book compiled by a royal committee should tell our government how to run this country. Really.

❝ Seventeen Republicans and two Democrats voted in favor of the bill — presented just days before candidate filing deadlines for this November’s congressional elections — with six Republicans and two Democrats opposed, primarily for concerns over its constitutionality. Five senators abstained.

❝ …To Hedy Weinberg, the executive director of the Tennessee ACLU, the bill is nothing more than a “thinly veiled effort to promote one religion over other religions [which] clearly violates both the United States and Tennessee Constitutions,”…

If the new bill is approved by Gov. Bill Haslam, Tennessee will become just the second state in the country to have an official state book of any kind (in 2003, Massachusetts deemed the 1941 tale “Make Way for the Ducklings” its official children’s book).

During the Civil War a significant portion of Tennessee refused to join the forces of slavery in their revolt against the Union. I wonder if there is the same level of honesty, civility and dedication to the US Constitution in today’s Tennessee government?

More earthquakes hit Oklahoma — concern rises as wastewater injection continues

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Local damage in Edmonds homes over here

❝A 4.2 magnitude earthquake struck north Oklahoma City early on New Year’s Day, the latest in a series of temblors in the area in recent days that has prompted state regulators to call for more restrictions on oil and gas operators.

No injuries and only minor damage were reported with the quake, which struck at 5.39am on Friday near Edmond, about 16 miles north-east of Oklahoma City…

The city of Edmond reported about 4,400 power outages in the area shortly after the quake, but it was not clear if the two were related and power was restored within a few hours.

❝The temblor is the latest of at least a dozen since Tuesday, when a 4.3 magnitude earthquake was recorded.

❝Oklahoma has become one of the most earthquake-prone areas in the world, with the number of quakes magnitude 3.0 or greater skyrocketing from a few dozen in 2012 to more than 800 in 2015.

Many of the earthquakes are occurring in swarms in areas where injection wells pump salty wastewater – a byproduct of oil and gas production – deep into the earth. As a result, state regulators have begun reducing the volume or shutting down disposal wells in response.

…the Edmond area has not previously been associated with the activity.

❝The Oklahoma Corporation Commission issued a statement on Friday saying its Oil and Gas Division staff would have blah, blah, blah – to say on Monday.

Remember, folks. This is Oklahoma. Politicians oppose pretty much any policies not called for in the Old Testament. My experience in the oil industry suggests a few more buck$ will magically appear in campaign funds, decisions about sanity and safety will be pushed back until a disaster the size of a world-class tornado occurs. Even then, change will be managed county-by-county. Back-slappers with full wallets still rule Oil Country.

One Christian arguing with another over the 10 Commandments – hits him in the face with her bible

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A conversation about the 10 Commandments led to blows between a man and a woman at a Cartersville motel.

According to a police report, Carolyn Unfricht and Daniel Camarda were arrested on charges of simple battery in connection with a physical altercation that followed a discussion about the Bible and the Commandments. Unfricht was also accused of trespassing, the report says.

Unfricht and Camarda were “highly intoxicated with slurred speech and having some difficulty walking,” authorities said.

A Cartersville police officer responded to the Crown Inn just after 1 a.m. Saturday morning. When the officer entered the room, there was blood on the carpet and a bloody towel in the sink, the report says.

Unfricht told the officer that the conversation “became heated” and she hit Camarda across the face with a Bible she was holding. The blow left a mark on Camarda’s face and broke his glasses.

Unfricht said Camarda “slung her across the room,” where she hit the television and a table, according to the report. She sustained a cut to her head and injured her right foot…

The pair was arrested and taken to the Cartersville Police Department and then booked into the Bartow County Jail.

Unmarried Christians? Married Christians? To each other or someone else – fighting in a motel at 1AM?

They were charged under laws governing family violence. Har.

Rick Perry cranks up Republican fear of women for another round

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Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry on Wednesday launched another battle to pass sweeping abortion restrictions after a marathon speech by a Democrat lawmaker briefly halted a bill critics say could shut most abortion clinics in one of the nation’s biggest states.

Democratic Senator Wendy Davis, once a teenage mother who went on to earn a Harvard Law degree, was propelled on to the national political stage when she spoke for more than 10 hours to block a measure that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

It proved a short-lived victory for women’s groups and abortion rights advocates fighting to stop abortion restrictions across several states. Perry called for another special legislative session to reconsider the proposal on July 1…

I wouldn’t expect anything less from a Texas Republican. They respect the truth even less than they care for women’s rights.

Davis’ filibuster of the Republican supermajority in the Texas legislature was streamed live on some national media websites.

Republicans managed to stop her about two hours before the midnight end to the special legislative session, citing parliamentary procedures, but they were unable to complete voting on the abortion bill before the deadline…

If the measure ultimately passes, Texas would become the 13th state to impose a ban on abortions after 20 weeks and by far the most populous. In addition, the legislation would set strict [phony] health standards for abortion clinics and restrict the use of drugs to end pregnancy.

Republican backers said blah, blah, blah…

The U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide in 1973, but conservative states have enacted laws in recent years that seek to place restrictions on the procedure, especially on abortions performed late in pregnancy.

The debate rages across the nation. Twelve states have passed 20-week bans, including two states where the bans take effect later this year, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. Courts have alreaady blocked the bans in three of the 12 states – Arizona, Georgia and Idaho.

Folks outside the United States have to understand that the rule of law only means obedience to 19th Century ideology for what passes for Republicans, nowadays. Science, honesty, dialogue, consensus, democracy and respect for all citizens – are meaningless words leftover from some time warp when traditional American conservatism valued those standards.

Nevermore.

Texas abortion bill stopped by brave women who occupy state legislature – UPDATED

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There have been dramatic scenes in Texas after a bill that threatened to close every abortion clinic in the state was overturned just hours after it was passed.

The law was initially approved by the Republican-controlled senate after a day of extraordinary scenes during which Democrats were accused of attempting to filibuster the bill by embarking on a marathon speech to run the debate out of time.

But Texas Lieutenant Governor David Dewhust has now reversed his decision after acknowledging Republicans missed the deadline to pass the vote after protesters reportedly shouted them down during the final 15 minutes before the vote deadline.

Republicans insisted they had started voting before the midnight deadline and passed the bill in time. But computer records of the voting were checked and revealed they were out of time.

The new law would have banned abortion procedures after 20 weeks of pregnancy and demanded that clinics upgrade their facilities and be reclassified as ‘ambulatory surgical centres’.

The bill also demanded doctors performing abortions must be granted the right to admit patients to their clinic first by a hospital within 30 miles of the premises…

Speaking before the vote, Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said: “If this passes, abortion would be virtually banned in the state of Texas, and many women could be forced to resort to dangerous and unsafe measures.”

During the debate women’s rights supporters had screamed protests from the public gallery while in the hall outside the Senate chamber, hundreds more protesters wearing orange T-shirts queued for a seat.

In dramatic scenes Democrat Wendy Davis was accused of filibustering after she began speaking against the bill at 11:18am and was only halted at 10:03pm, less than two hours before the midnight deadline, after three complaints from Republicans.

Senate rules dictate speakers must stay on topic and remain standing without physical support or breaks for meals or to use the bathroom…

Governor Dewhust eventually halted the speech after determining Ms Davis had strayed off topic when she talked about a sonogram bill passed in 2011.

Texas’ miserable bible-thumping governor, Rick Perry, called this special session of the state legislature just to pass the latest attack by Republican political hacks on women’s rights. He didn’t count on women throughout Texas spontaneously marching upon the Republican-controlled state legislature to do everything they could to impede passage of the bill.

Republicans tried everything in their trick bag to stop Wendy Davis. They ruled she was out of order when one of her fellow Democrats helped her put on a back brace to ease the pain of standing, trying to school the ignoranuses before her.

Meanwhile the visitors’ gallery filled with women from all over the state. Lines snaked out to the street of women clamoring to get in to speak out against this reactionary and patriarchal law. And when Ms. Davis was finally forced to relinquish the podium, the mass of women began to shout out individually and collectively from the gallery.

The tumult forced delay after delay until the Republicans were finally defeated by the clock.

UPDATE: These rat-bastard Republicans actually tried to change the time stamp on the voting record printout to save their miserable anti-women law. They were confronted with a side-by-side comparison of the attempted fraud – posted on Twitter.

http://tinyurl.com/q3qcjxq

Farmer Fincher – in Congress – has collected million$ in subsidies – wants cuts in the food stamps program

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A Tennessee congressman who supports billion of dollars in cuts to the food stamp program is one of the largest recipients of federal farm subsidies, according to new annual data released by a Washington environmental group.

Using Agriculture Department data, researchers at the Environmental Working Group found that Representative Stephen Fincher, a Republican and a farmer from Frog Jump, Tenn., collected nearly $3.5 million in subsidies from 1999 to 2012. The data is part of the research group’s online farm subsidy database from which the group issues a report each year.

In 2012 alone, the data shows, Mr. Fincher received about $70,000 in direct payments, money that is given to farmers and farmland owners, even if they do not grow crops. It is unclear how much Mr. Fincher received in crop insurance subsidies because the names of people receiving the subsidies are not public. The group said most of the agriculture subsidies go to the largest, most profitable farm operations in the country. These farmers have received $265 billion in direct payments and farm insurance subsidies since 1995, federal records show.

During debate on the farm bill in the House Agriculture Committee last week, Mr. Fincher was one of the biggest proponents of $20 billion in cuts to food stamps in the legislation. At times he quoted passages from the Bible in defending the cuts…

Scott Faber, vice president of government affairs at the Environmental Working Group, said that Mr. Fincher was being hypocritical. “Not only is he advocating deep cuts to other people’s money while he is getting subsidies, he also voted to increase the subsidies that he benefits from,” Mr. Faber said…

The most significant change in both the House and Senate bills is the end of direct payments, which cost taxpayers about $5 billion a year.

Both the House and Senate bills would use the savings from eliminating direct payments to increase financing for crop insurance, a federally subsidized program that pays 62 percent of the premiums for farmers and covers decreases in crop yields or revenue. About $1.3 billion a year is paid to 15 insurance companies to sell and process the policies…

Food stamps would receive a $4.1 billion cut in the Senate farm bill. An amendment by Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, to reverse the cuts by using money from the crop insurance program was soundly defeated after a passionate plea by Senator Pat Roberts, Republican of Kansas, who called crop insurance vital to farmers.

Someone in Washington, DC, please mail me a penny postcard when Congress decides to subsidize premiums to insure how I make my living.

Meanwhile, the sight, sound and smell of a hypocrite like Congressman Fincher is more than any American should have to bear. The aroma of fermenting pig manure is easier to take than a con artist who hustles the American taxpayer for subsidies – then whines about families trying to get by on food stamps like they’re some kind of danger to national freedom.

He should get an honest job.

Fundamentalist Christians remove pink Bibles, halt support for cancer research foundation

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To promote breast cancer awareness, supporters buy pink shirts, pink shoes, pink mouse pads and a host of other pink products.

Until Wednesday, there was even a pink version of the Holman Christian Standard Bible on store shelves. That’s no longer the case.

Southern Baptist-owned LifeWay Christian Resources is recalling its pink Bible because it benefited a charity with ties to Planned Parenthood. The “Here’s Hope Breast Cancer Bible” was sold at Walmart stores and other major retailers, with a dollar per copy going to the Dallas-based Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation.

LifeWay decided to recall the Bible after receiving complaints that some of the breast cancer charity’s local affiliates donated funds to Planned Parenthood…

The Komen foundation issued a statement of its own, saying that LifeWay’s decision was disappointing and that all funds from the Bible sales would go to breast cancer programs. Andrea Rader, from the charity’s marketing communication department, said LifeWay had pledged $25,000…

Komen has acknowledged that some funds have gone to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings, saying its Planned Parenthood funding paid for 139,000 breast exams and about 5,000 mammograms, detecting 177 cases of cancer in the past five years, according to the charity’s website…

Darlene Jacobs of Mt. Juliet, a supporter of the foundation, said the LifeWay decision was shameful. She says she has raised money for the charity ever since a friend was diagnosed with cancer seven or eight years ago and that Komen does great work…

“I don’t think it is very Christian to take money from poor women who were receiving mammograms with that money,” she said. “Are all the Christians going to boycott Komen altogether…?”

Which presumably won’t be the case. I would hope that most folks practicing one of the 57 varieties of Christianity popular in the United States aren’t sectarian and bigoted against women having rights, women’s organizations supporting a multiplicity of goals, and good sense overcoming religious fanaticism.