Conservatives Are Way Off The Deep End.

You Cannot Negotiate With Crazy People And Conservatives Are Way Off The Deep End.

By Justin “Filthy Liberal Scum” Rosario, September 28, 2011

“It’s no secret that a warped vision of Christianity has infested the Right Wing of our political system. It’s been going on for decades and has reached its crescendo in the candidacies of Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann, two people whose only qualification for running is that they are deeply committed to that distortion of Christianity known as “The Religious Right.” Neither are particularly intelligent or learned. Neither has a successful career as a legislator. Bachmann has not had a single bill she has authored made into law and Texas is doing worse under Perry than it did under Bush. This is a neat trick.

Also, it’s on fire.

But they don’t have to good at their jobs as politicians as long as they are “Good with God!”

And this is where Obama as the Anti-Christ comes in. Even before he was elected, he was spoken of in negative religious overtones

READ MORE

Undocumented Pregnant Women Forced To Give Birth While Shackled In Front Of Police

(NOTE: This is what a conservative Christian would most likely say: “If you didn’t want this to happen, then you shouldn’t have broken the law. I know you are coming here just to have a baby so you can be a US citizen. You are destroying the USA.”)

By Marie Diamond on Sep 29, 2011 at 3:20 pm

“Just when you thought the nationwide crackdown on undocumented immigrants couldn’t get any more brutal, the Huffington Post reports that pregnant women in Arizona and Tennessee were detained and forced to give birth while shackled to their hospital beds because they couldn’t produce identification. The shackling of female inmates when they go into labor has been a roundly condemned practice in prisons, but local authorities are now extending that humiliation to non-violent immigrant women whose only crime was being stopped by police without a valid license..” READ MORE

Religious Conservatives Fear the Future & Everything Else

Exit Stage Right: Why Religious Conservatives Fear the Future: Many of us who have long been tracking the Religious Right find it anything but rapturous. Here is a dogma based in fear and the ultimate judgment: If you’re not with us, you’re doomed to being Left Behind to suffer years of Tribulations: plagues, world financial markets crashing, environmental destruction, holy wars, and an Anti-Christ who is popular and evil; he supposedly rules over a One World system that doesn’t look very white, evangelical or even American. That’s why during his election, so many Internet sites were abuzz with the question: “Is Obama the Anti-Christ?” READ MORE

How Did Anti-Muslim Bias Seep Into FBI Training? “A counterterrorism training session at the FBI training center in Quantico, Va., taught agents that Islam was a violent religion and erroneously linked religiosity to terrorism. Officials close to the process say part of the problem is that the counterterrorism training division has a lot of autonomy.”

Why Are Religious Conservatives So Scared of Gay Sex?

Clergy Should Be Wary Of Religious Right Attempts To Politicize Churches, Says Americans United

Romney to Share Stage with Far-Right, Anti-Muslim Activist (NOTE: well who the heck else is he going to get to vote for him?)

The Right Word: Praying for Chris Christie to run (NOTE: WOW: Three fat rich white men, two who are drug addicts, and all claim to follow some version of christianity support a fat white man who claims to follow some version of christianity who is clearly addicted to food. WELCOME TO THE USA: White Trash At Its Best!!!!!)

Who Or What Will The Tea Party Audience Boo During The Next GOP Debate?

Warning to Churches: Beware of Religious Right: Americans United for Separation of Church and State today called on the nation’s clergy to reject Religious Right attempts to turn houses of worship into centers for partisan politicking.

Bullying Gay Kids Today, Voting Republican Tomorrow

Gay Teacher Harrassed By Students Sees Justice: Investigation clears gay Fort Worth teacher.

10 Myths Many Religious People Hold About Atheists, Debunked

A Conversation with a Teabagger or Birther

‘CHRISTIAN AMERICA – Revisionist History, Pulp Fiction, and new set of Graphite Irons’. By Shaun Costello

Conservative Christian Supreme Court Justice Failed To Disclose His Wife’s $700,000 Income

Religious Right Millionaire Backed Rick Perry’s Career, Paved Texas Conservative Politics With Money

25 Movies That Conservatives Hate

Get Out of My Bedroom – Conservatives have always complained that liberals were taking God out of society

Even If Your Name Is Cleared, FBI Can Keep You on Watch List

By Sarah Seltzer | Sourced from AlterNet
Posted at September 28, 2011, 8:23 am

“The FBI’s “Watch List” is a fabled roster of people the government agency has its far-reaching eyes on–if you’re on the list, your entanglements with law enforcement and transportation can be considerably difficult. But one would think that after these “watched” people are cleared of all wrongdoing, acquitted, or charges against them dropped, the slate would be wiped clean.” READ MORE

 

Calif. Christians Whine About Atheist Billboards

Calif. Atheist Billboards Lump Magic Underwear, Voodoo With Salvation: “An atheist group continues to spread its anti-Christian, anti-religion message in the typically conservative communities of Orange County, Calif., by unveiling two more billboard signs mocking faith this week.” READ MORE

Why You Shouldn’t Take Notes on Terrorist Plots

(NOTE: Quakers are still terrorists in the eyes of the FBI, because they helped slaves and they are anti-war. I sent an email to the FBI, asking if I was on any of their lists because I have given money to many organizations that fall under categories they like to deem as “potential threats” like: anti-war, animal welfare, civil rights, equal rights, helping the environment, religious tolerance/interfaith, etc. Needless to say, they never got back to me, so I am sure I am on some list for sure now…lol. Odd, the International Criminal Court replied to an email when I contacted them about George W. Bush. They were no help, but at least they responded. Does anyone remember a few years back when the gov. came out with some report about home grown religious extremist militant groups? Than all these congress folk stood up and said how supportive they are of the second amendment and then  I remember one congress person saying proudly; “Im a terrorist”, because he was happy to be called one if he fell into the guidelines the evil people in the Obama admin had labelled as terrorists. Well, i am not a gun totting white trash bible thumper, but I am a happy terrorist if it means i support civil/equal rights for all, ending war and oppression, stopping the destruction of the earth, and making sure animals do not suffer needlessly, I AM A PROUD AMERICAN BORN TERRORIST !!!!!)

STORY:

Why You Shouldn’t Take Notes on Terrorist Plots

By Adam Serwer, Thu Sep. 29, 2011

On Wednesday the FBI announced that it had arrested Rezwan Ferdaus, a Northeastern University graduate in physics, for allegedly plotting to fly model planes packed with explosives into government buildings in Washington, DC and elsewhere. As with previous sting operations, the actual plot, reliant on equipment provided by undercover FBI agents, was never going to take place. Unlike previous sting operations, the FBI got the target to outline the entire thing in writing.

“It seems like the FBI intentionally trying to ensure the entrapment defense couldn’t be mounted,” says Karen Greenberg of the Fordham Center on National Security.

According to the criminal complaint, Ferdaus handed the FBI agents a thumb drive with a plan described as “extremely detailed, well-written, and annotated with numerous pictures.” Ferdaus doesn’t appear to have found anything suspicious about two supposed Al Qaeda operatives asking for what sounds, essentially, like a grant proposal.

As Trevor Aaronson reported in the September/October issue of Mother Jones, the FBI has relied increasingly on these kinds of sting operations as they try to shift focus from “professional” terrorists to Lone-Wolf type individuals who haven’t received any kind of formal training. The government has come under criticism from civil liberties advocates who say that the government is using agent provocateurs to manufacture terror plots involving people who might not otherwise have committed crimes.

READ MORE

While Holding Disaster Aid Hostage, Cantor Lobbied FEMA To Quickly Help His Own District

“House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) made himself into a symbol of the Republican fixation on budget cutting at any cost when he insisted that additional funding to help Hurricane Irene victims be offset with cuts elsewhere. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s budget has been drained after a string of natural disasters, and the agency thought it needed more money to help disaster victims. But Republicans, led by Cantor, threatened to shut down the government rather than approve additional funds without offsets.

But evidently Cantor realized that this aid was important to his constituents. On Monday, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that while holding the agency’s funding hostage, Cantor was simultaneously lobbying it to aid his own district in Virginia” READ MORE

The USA Is No Longer Revolutionary, But Others Are

“The workers and youth in the USA(1) do not need to place their futures in the hands of nationalists, religious fundamentalists, or agents of imperialism. The revolutionary masses in USA (2) and elsewhere should place their trust in nobody but themselves, for they alone have the power to bring about the solution to the problems they face…” (NOTE: 1. Middle East and the Maghreb, 2. Egypt. Source: Egyptian working class organising and on the move – “a revolution within the revolution” http://www.marxist.com/egyptian-working-class-organising-and-on-the-move.htm, by Brian Adams 9/29/11)

Call President Obama and Demand Rene Gonzalez be returned to CUBA!

The Popular Education Project to Free the Cuban 5
www.freethecuban5.com
freethecuban5@gmail.com
free the cuban 5 hotline: 718-601-4751

URGENT ACTION:
Call President Obama and Demand Rene Gonzalez be returned to CUBA!

On October 7th, Rene Gonzalez, of the Cuban 5, will be released on parole after 13 years of unjust incarceration. The U.S. government is forcing him to serve his three year probation in Florida; where he has no family and will be at the mercy of the hostile community of right-wing Cuban Americans that helped secure his incarceration.

The Popular Education Project to Free the Cuba 5 is calling on all Cuban 5 supporters to pick the telephone and call President Barack Obama and demand that Rene Gonzalez be returned to Cuba, where he belongs.

Tell your family and friends to call!

Forward this message out to your entire Address book, post on twitter, Facebook, or Google +!

Thousands of phone calls can make a difference!
Call President Obama at
202-456-1111 and leave a message!

Judge Lenard’s Cruel and Bizarre Decision against Rene
by José Pertierra
Sept. 17, 2011
Reprinted from CubaDebate

On Friday, September 16, a federal district court judge made a bizarre ruling concerning one of the Cuban Five defendants who completes his jail sentence on October 7.

Judge Joan Lenard ruled that René Gonzalez, who has already served thirteen years in a federal penitentiary for being an unregistered agent of the Cuban government, will be forced for the next three years to live in Miami on what is called “supervised release.”

Mr. Gonzalez had asked the Court to allow him to return home to Cuba to be with his wife, Olga, and his two daughters, Ivette and Irma. Several years ago, the Department of State decided to permanently bar Olga from getting a visa to come to the United States. She has been able to visit her husband only once, during the last thirteen years. A cruel and unusual punishment for any prisoner.

Although born in the United States, Mr. González grew up in Cuba. He returned to this country—at the behest of the Cuban government—to monitor the activities of extremist groups in Miami who were carrying out terrorist attacks against Cuba’s civilian population from their safe havens in southern Florida. But because he did not register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and inform the Department of Justice of his activities here, he violated the law. The Miami-based terrorists he was monitoring, conversely, have never been prosecuted and remain free and protected in Miami.

What possible interest would the United States government have in further punishing a person whose only crime is fighting terrorism? Why force him to remain in Miami, a hotbed of anti-Cuba terrorism, for the next three years? Doesn’t it matter that Miami-based terrorists have murdered 3,478 Cubans and incapacitated 2,099 more during the past five decades? Furthermore, how can Mr. González be expected to comply with the terms of his supervised release in Miami?

The court-imposed conditions include prohibiting Mr. González “from associating with or visiting specific places where individuals or groups such as terrorists, members of organizations advocating violence, organized crime figures are known to be or frequent.” Does this not mean rather that he ought not to live in Miami, the sanctuary of terrorism in the United States?

The terrorists that Mr. González was tasked with monitoring continue to live in Miami. They openly advocate violence. As recently as April of this year, Luis Posada Carriles—the mastermind both of the downing of a Cuban passenger plane that killed all 73 persons aboard and of a campaign of terror in Havana that targeted civilians in hotels and restaurants —reaffirmed his support for further violence against Cuba. Posada Carriles and his terrorist friends live in Miami.

Why is the Court putting Mr. González’s safety at risk by forcing him to live for the next three years side by side with the very terrorists that he tailed as an unregistered Cuban agent?

Cuban-American terrorists are already responsible for the murders in the United States of Orlando Letelier (ex-Foreign Minister of Chile), Ronnie Karpen Moffitt (an American citizen), Eulalio Negrín and Carlos Múñiz Varela (Cuban-Americans who promoted a dialogue with the government of Cuba), as well as Felix García Rodríguez (a Cuban diplomat at the UN).

A public opinion survey conducted on the eve of the trial of the Cuba Five by legal psychologist Dr. Kendra Brennan concluded that Cuban-Americans in Miami have “an attitude of a state of war . . . against Cuba.”

Moreover, a 29-page study published a few years ago by Americas Watch said that “the dominant intransigent forces in Miami’s Cuban exile community” try to silence opposing viewpoints in Miami with violence. For example, a radio station was raided and one of its commentators beaten while other advocates of policy changes were subjected to bombings, vandalism of personal property and death threats. “While in the last few years there have been as many as a dozen bombings aimed at those who favor a more moderate approach toward the Castro regime, none has resulted in a single arrest or prosecution,” the report concluded.

It is irresponsible and dangerous for the United States to force René González to remain in this climate of violence and terrorism for the next three years. His life is at risk.

Judge Lenard explained that she cannot properly evaluate the “circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant.”

Really, judge? The “circumstances of the offense” are that René González came to the United States not to spy on the U.S. Government or to commit any crimes. His job was to gather evidence against terrorists who were operating with impunity from the United States and whose targets were innocent civilians in Cuba. In 1997, for example, Cuban-American terrorists organized a series of bombings at the most famous hotels and restaurants in Havana, including Cuba’s emblematic hotel—the Nacional—and the restaurant that Hemingway made famous, the Bodeguita del Medio. The purpose of the bombing campaign was to destroy Cuban tourism, thereby striking another blow to the Cuban economy that at the time was reeling from the loss of its customary trading partners in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

Especially after 9-11, the United States sustains that it is a matter of national security to punish the terrorists and reward those who combat terrorism. If that is the case, then René González should be allowed to return home to his family—rather than force him to remain in Miami surrounded by criminals who may very well have it in for him.
Judge Lenard also claims in her decision that, if she allows Mr. González to return to Cuba on October 7, she won’t been able to assess whether the American public “will be protected from further crimes of the defendant.” His only “crime” was failing to register as a foreign agent. How will Mr. González endanger the American people if he returns to Cuba? How much time does Judge Lenard need to make to properly evaluate something as clear as spring water?

The judge also alleges that more time is needed to “provide the defendant with needed educational or vocational training, medical care, or other correctional treatment in the most effective manner.” What?!!!

René González has no intention of living in the United States. His lawyer has already said that his client is prepared to renounce his American citizenship and return home to Cuba. He has no need of educational or vocational training whose purpose would be to reintegrate him into U.S. society. He wants to go home to Cuba and be reunited with his family, not be instructed on how to live in this country and endure three more years of estrangement from his family. As for medical care, he will have access to the best medical care in Cuba and it will be available at no expense to the United States or to himself.

To no one’s surprise, the Assistant United States Attorney in charge of the case, Carolina Heck-Miller, opposed Mr. González’s request to return to Cuba upon completion of his jail time. This is, after all, the same federal prosecutor who decided not to prosecute Luis Posada Carriles for terrorism, despite a request from the lead attorney on the case at the Department of Homeland Security.

The only saving grace in Judge Lenard’s otherwise inexplicable decision is that she gives Mr. González leave to re-file his Motion at a later time “should circumstances warrant modification.”

What circumstances could she be waiting for? For a terrorist in Miami to take a potshot at René?

Face Recognition and Digital Fingerprinting Creeping Into U.S. Workplace

Biometrics at Pizza Hut and KFC? How Face Recognition and Digital Fingerprinting Are Creeping Into the U.S. Workplace

By Tana Ganeva

Biometric technology is being used to more closely track low-wage workers, already desperate in a bad economy.

READ MORE

 

 

Better Parenting: Fewer Greedy Bankers and More People Who Care

How Better Parenting Could Produce Fewer Greedy Bankers and More People Who Care About the Future of the Earth

By Toni Nagy

“Avoiding the “mommy and daddy” issues that lead to retail therapy and consumerism, changing how we raise our children could nurture a generation that will actualize sustainability. Here is a theory: everyone who works for Wall Street has serious mommy and daddy issues. Actually, why not extend that to everyone who supports our current corporatized economic system? Think about it. If we didn’t spend our money filling the hole in our souls with retail therapy and went to actual therapy instead, we wouldn’t be living in a trashcan of a world. Maybe if we changed how we raised our children we could nurture a generation that would actualize true sustainability and economic rationality. Picture the possibility of transforming the world through parenting our kids in a way that prioritizes peace over power, longevity over profit, community over greed. And maybe those children of the future could be wearing those spiffy silver space suits made from recycled tinfoil.”  READ MORE

 

3 Things Everyone Must Know About the Lunatic-Filled Republican Party

Confessions of a GOP Operative Who Left “the Cult”: 3 Things Everyone Must Know About the Lunatic-Filled Republican Party

By Mike Lofgren

Former GOPer: “If you think Paul Ryan and his Ayn Rand-worshipping colleagues aren’t after your Social Security and Medicare, I am here to disabuse you of your naiveté.”

1. The GOP cares solely and exclusively about its rich contributors.

2. They worship at the altar of Mars.

3. Give me that old time religion.

READ MORE

“A Day in the Life of Joe Republican (Conservative)”

(Republican and Conservative interchangeable)*

Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee.

The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards.

With his first swallow of coffee, he takes his daily medication.

His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to insure their safety and that they work as advertised.

All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer’s medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance – now Joe gets it too.

He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs.

Joe’s bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.

Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath.

The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

He walks to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work.

It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards.

Joe’s employer pays these standards because Joe’s employer doesn’t want his employees to call the union.

If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he’ll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn’t think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

Its noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills.

Joe’s deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe’s money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime.

Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive.

His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards.

He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers’ Home Administration because bankers didn’t want to make rural loans.

The house didn’t have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck His nose where it didn’t belong and demanded rural electrification.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn’t have to.

Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good.

He doesn’t mention that the beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day.

Joe agrees: “We don’t need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I’m a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have.”

 

(*Note: this was originally published (anonymously) under the title A Day in the Life of Joe Republican. But this is a misnomer. In the last 140 years, the Republican and Democratic parties have switched sides several times, with one being conservative and the other being liberal. But labels and party affiliations change. What doesn’t change are the underlying political philosophies of liberalism and conservatism, and the fact that the liberals usually turned out to be right and the conservatives turned out to be wrong. And so it goes. Source: http://www.hcdems.com/misc/joe_conservative.html (no longer active at this time) Thanks goes to author, speaker and radio host Thom Hartmann, that is where I first heard it. There are many “versions” floating around on the internet also. NO ONE can argue when the facts are laid out for all to see.)

Study: Majority Of Young Evangelicals Have Pre-Marital Sex, Exposing Flaws With Right-Wing Attacks On Sex Ed

By Tanya Somanader on Sep 29, 2011

The religious right has a heavy-hand in conservative politics, particularly in an election year. Christian presidential candidates like Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX), Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) all tout their Christian credentials and signed the pro-life pledges to court the evangelical vote. But there is one traditional position that even young Christians are abandoning: the purity pledge. According to a recent study, 80 percent of unmarried evangelical young adults have had sex, only 8 percent less than the general unmarried adult population:

One of the biggest surprises was a December 2009 study, conducted by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, which included information on sexual activity.

While the study’s primary report did not explore religion, some additional analysis focusing on sexual activity and religious identification yielded this result: 80 percent of unmarried evangelical young adults (18 to 29) said that they have had sex – slightly less than 88 percent of unmarried adults, according to the teen pregnancy prevention organization.

This surprisingly high percentage should land a blow to the political canon of the religious right-wing. As chief proponents of abstinence-only education, religious right-wing organizations insist that delaying sex until marriage “is the only 100 percent effective way to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and out-of-wedlock pregnancy.” Health experts, however, note that evidence suggests such programs “are even harmful and have negative consequences by not providing adequate information for those teens who do become sexually active.” Studies have not found that abstinence-only programs cut pregnancy rates, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), or even the age when sexual activity begins.

Without proper sexual education, sexually active young adults are more likely to have unintended pregnancies or contract STDs. Family planning health centers like Planned Parenthood, however, are dedicated to addressing these needs. Indeed, Planned Parenthood’s chief services are sexually transmitted diseases testing and treatment as well as contraception. These services help Planned Parenthood prevent “more than 620,000 unintended pregnancies each year.” READ MORE

Debt Crisis Boost for Rapture ‘Industry,’ Magazine Says

“A new “apocalypse establishment” has emerged in the momentary absence of Harold Camping, exploiting the fears resulting from the approaching debt-ceiling deadline, and may help the End Times preacher to resurrect “professionally,” a business magazine says.” READ MORE

God’s Profits: Faith, Fraud, and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters

Amazon.com:

Product Description

Keenly observed and meticulously reported, “God’s Profits” examines the unholy alliance between a new breed of corrupt televangelists and the Republican Party, which is eagerly courting “values voters” in the nation’s largest megachurches.Author Sarah Posner exposes the activities of Kenneth Copeland, John Hagee, Rod Parsley, T.D. Jakes, and other politically connected, skillfully marketed, and increasingly influential religious leaders. Preaching the “prosperity gospel”???the notion that faith and tithing alone can ensure financial security???both in their churches and over the airwaves, these charismatic leaders scam the gullible even as they enjoy unprecedented access to top Bush Administration officials. Admired by Republican strategists for their antigovernment ideology and authoritarian leadership styles, these televangelists work together to maximize profits; protect themselves legally; influence elections, judicial nominations, and promote their pro-war, apocalyptic ideas.

From the Back Cover

* GOD’S PROFITS is is a fascinating and important investigation into the sordid nexus between religious zealotry and run-amok capitalism. Sarah Posner has given us a vivid account of a new generation of spiritual hucksters whose venality is nearly matched by their political influence. The story she tells is appalling, but the way she tells it is enormously compelling. — Michelle Goldberg —

* Sarah Posner has produced the definitive expose of America’s leading “prosperity gospel” preachers. With direct access to the Bush White House and Republican lawmakers, these televangelists have injected their Armageddon-based agenda into U.S. foreign policy. Posner’s book should serve as a stark warning to anyone tempted to dismiss the John Hagees and Rod Parsleys of the world as benign loons. — Max Blumenthal —

* Sarah Posner’s reporting on the religious right is dogged, informed, and ceaselessly illuminating. She never condescends to rank-and-file believers; at the same time, she never excuses their leaders’ hypocrisies or fundamental misunderstanding of, and threat to, our constitutional republic. — Michael Tomasky —

* Sarah Posner introduces us to the stars of a new evangelical movement who have declared welfare Satanic, poverty a religious curse, and redistribution of wealth “contrary to the word of God.” GOD’S PROFITS serves as an urgent warning about their toxic and corrupting effect on American politics. — Esther Kaplan —

* GOD’S PROFITS is an astounding tale of religious hucksterism–and its role in politics–as big and crass as the ostentatious empires of the Word of Faith movement itself. It features a cast of charlatans, demagogues, con men, and the pols and presidents who pander to them. It is also a window on the rise of the Bush family dynasty and details how John Hagee, Rod Parsley, and their ilk treat faith as a cheap political commodity on its behalf. — Frederick Clarkson —

Intelligence collection raises profound civil liberties concerns

Thursday 29 September 2011

A Nation of “Suspects”
Nancy Murray and Kade Crockford, Truthout and ACLU Massachusetts: “The recent dramatic expansion of intelligence collection at the federal, state and local level raises profound civil liberties concerns regarding freedoms and protections we have long taken for granted. If people generally appear unaware of ‘change in the air,’ a large part of the reason is the unparalleled resort to secrecy used by the government to keep its actions from public scrutiny. According to the new American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) report, ‘Drastic Measures Required,’ under President Obama (who had vowed to create ‘an unprecedented level of openness in Government’ when he first took office), there were no fewer than 76,795,945 decisions made to classify information in 2010 – eight times the number made in 2001.”
Read the Article

It’s OK to bill the taxpayers for gourmet coffee, pricey pastries, and bottled water.

Republicans and Democrats may be at loggerheads about the debt ceiling and what to cut from the budget, but they agree on one thing: “It’s OK to bill the taxpayers for gourmet coffee, pricey pastries, and bottled water.”

More fun reads:

Hatfield, Early Republican Critic of Religious Right, Dead at 89: “The Times obituary of former Senator Mark Hatfield notes his liberal stances and rejection of the rightward tilt of his party over his career—stances that also put him at odds with Democrats, notably his opposition to the Vietnam war. At the end of the piece, citing an interview Hatfield did with Sojourners magazine in 1996, the piece notes he found the religious right an “embarrassment” to his party, as well as his concern about its influence on Christianity, rather than politics.”

The 10 Worst Post-9/11 Military Contracting Boondoggles

Empire of Chaos: How 9/11 Shaped the Politics of a Failing State

9/11: How I Lost the Country I Used to Know and the Person I Used To Be: On September 11, 2001, I was lucky. I didn’t lose anybody close to me — except my country and the person I had been before.

Conservative Talking Head Blames Those Who Helped America Proper

Tom Friedman Tries to Scapegoat Baby Boomers — He Should Remember That We Helped Forge American Prosperity

“Baby boomers did not contribute to the economic decline of America. Actually, they helped create consumerist prosperity with teenager allowances and middle age purchases……Just recently, for example, New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, as he wandered through the streets of Greece,  wrote with Athenian authority that Baby Boomers were responsible for this country’s huge debt. Just because Eric Cantor and seventy-eight million other people fit into the rather vague category (1946-1964) of the Baby Boomer generation doesn’t mean that a particular generation caused the housing bubble, or turned our nation into one gigantic gambling casino. Yes, Virginia, there truly are people who daily bet against the economic health of the nation. “READ MORE

Inside the Wall Street Protests: An Eyewitness Account of Police Crackdown on Peaceful Demonstrators

AlterNet / By J.A. Myerson, September 25, 2011

“Protesters from the week-old “occupation” in New York’s financial district were arrested, penned up, and Maced on Saturday when the NYPD showed up to their march. A group of protestors from the camp ventured outside the park and marched on Union Square Saturday morning, and around 100 of them were arrested. Police sprayed peaceful protestors in the face with pepper spray, threw them to the ground and assaulted them with elbows, dragged a woman around by the hair, jumped over barricades to grab and rough up young people, and, when all was said and done, laughed to themselves triumphantly. This is exactly the sort of violence and brutality American authorities routinely condemn when perpetrated against non-violent civilians demonstrating for democracy in Middle Eastern dictatorships, even as they employ horrifying cruelty right here.” READ MORE

How Conservative Politicians Wait for God to Fix the Economy, With Frightening Results

God-Based Thinking Destroying the Economy

Joshua Holland / AlterNet

“The theology embraced by American religious conservatives may render them immune to evidence and reason when it comes to economic management.” READ MORE

Christiantiy Trumps Equal Rights Again In The USA

(NOTE: Sounds like SW is trying to save face, not get boycotted by gays, who percentage wise, have more “disposable” money to spend with less of a need to pay for a bunch of screaming brats in airplane isles. I am sure no child has been informed that his/her behavior has bothered anyone and any parent that lets their child act like an asshole, we all know, are assholes themselves so there is no use in telling them about their little spoiled brats disrupting the other customers. They can always pull the trump card “Oh, they are just being kids” just as many Christians back up their asshole behavior with “In the bible it says”. So, it is a no win situation for everyone, unless you are a heterosexual white person or family who can get dark-skinned people and gay people tossed from a plane, or anyone else. It must give them a rush just like when the KKK used to hang black people and their supporters, when it was clearly outlawed, they still felt above the law. It all boils down to conservative Christians in the USA believing they run the country and should be treated better than all others, heck, we fund all their churches and schools and organizations to travel the world trying to convert people and even get gays killed legally, like they have been trying in Uganda and other places for decades, where they have been unable to do that here in the USA, even though they are still trying today. I support rounding this pigs up and eliminating them or sending them to a country that will.)

STORY:

GLAAD Statement on Lesbian Passengers on Southwest Airlines: “Just like all couples, Leisha Hailey and Camila Grey should be able to express affection in public,” said Herndon Graddick, GLAAD’s Senior Director of Programs. “The widespread outrage around Leisha’s report demonstrates that fair-minded Americans will no longer stand for discrimination of gay and lesbian couples. Corporations need to ensure that employee training programs include best practices for welcoming all customers and that those practices are enforced.”

RELATED:

Southwest to ‘L-Word’ Star Passengers Complained About “Excessive” Lesbian PDA

Safe Flying With Side Of Cancer

(NOTE: Notice this: “After Union representatives in Boston discovered a “cancer cluster” amongst TSA workers”, the government and private sector ALWAYS need oversight, regulations, rules, and employees willing to pay attention and take action when their employer, regardless of who they are, are held accountable for their behavior. Capitalism DOES NOT have to be extreme in the ways it makes it’s money, as they always do, however, a tired, unhealthy employee in not a good one, so when “Profits Before People” without “We the People” is a very bad idea for us all.)

STORY:

Cancer Cluster Possibly Found Among TSA Workers – Slashdot

“TSA employees at Logan International Airport believe they have identified a cancer cluster in their ranks, according to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and released by the Electronic Privacy Information Center. They have requested dosimetry to counter ‘TSA’s improperly non-monitored radiation threat.’ (PDF) So far, at least, they have not received it. The documents also reveal a paper from Johns Hopkins (PDF) that essentially questions whether it is even safe to stand near an operating scanner, let alone inside one. Also, the National Institute of Standards and Technology says that the Dept. of Homeland Security ‘mischaracterized’ their work (PDF) by telling USA Today that NIST affirmed the safety of the scanners (PDF) when in fact NIST does not do product safety testing and never tested a scanner for safety.” READ MORE

RELATED:

Did Airport Scanners Give Boston TSA Agents Cancer?

TSA ‘ignored warnings’ on cancer cluster

Politics, Religion, and Science oh my………..

Why ‘Constitutional Conservatives’ Like Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry Have No Respect for the Constitution

“A great irony of our political discourse is that those who describe themselves as “constitutional conservatives” display not only habitual ignorance of what our founding documents proscribe, but also show blatant scorn for the most important principle they enshrine: the separation of powers. For much of our history, people across the political spectrum laid competing claims to being the true champions of the United States constitution, but in recent years that ground has largely been ceded to the far-right. When the Tea Partiers stormed into Congress, one of their first acts was a bit of political theater arranged by Tea Party caucus leader Michele Bachmann, R-Minnesota: reading the Constitution (with the embarrassing bits edited out) aloud on the floor of the House.”

READ MORE

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The Mystic Chords of Violence’s Memory

by Michael Shermer, Sep 27 2011. This is a review of The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, by Steven Pinker, (October 2011, Viking. 771 pages. ISBN 978-0-670-02295-3). Originally published in the Autumn issue of The American Scholar as “Getting Better All the Time.”

Excerpt: “The Bible (the “Good Book”), Pinker reminds us, “depicts a world that, seen through modern eyes, is staggering in its savagery. People enslave, rape, and murder members of their immediate families. Warlords slaughter civilians indiscriminately, including the children. Women are bought, sold, and plundered like sex toys. And Yahweh tortures and massacres people by the hundreds of thousands for trivial disobedience or for no reason at all.” In fact, the book opens with a murder. After creating the heavens and the earth and Adam and Evil and their two boys Cain and Able, the former killed the latter.”

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(NOTE: MORE CHRISTIAN WHINING!!! Its all fine and good when Christian organizations get public libraries to ban books, force laws to be passed even when they reside in another state, and dont mind taking money from tax payers to teach hatred here in the USA, but also in Uganda, where they helped create a “Kill the gays bill”…with American tax payers money….not to forget the mosque three blocks from 9/11 sight….all these Christians know what to do is whine, because being a victim is at the very core of their disgusting religion.)

Microsoft, other businesses put in middle of e-commerce gay-rights culture war

“Gay-rights advocates — including a Seattle man who started the effort — have gotten some of the world’s largest businesses, including Microsoft and Apple, to pull out of an e-commerce relationship with a marketer that indirectly gave money to conservative Christian groups that see homosexual behavior as a threat to the morality that holds society together.

Now the marketer and the Christian groups are fighting back, saying that the companies that have dropped the marketer were misled and that the charities are being slandered for their religious beliefs, according to a story published Sunday in The New York Times.”

READ MORE

RELATED:

Gay Rights Groups and Conservative Christians Clash Over Online Sales

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What McCain, Palin Have in Common with The Third Reich

by Len Hart

“Albert Speer is credited with having said that Nazi Germany was built upon empty, meaningless platitudes. The same can be said of every GOP ‘reign of terror’ –be it Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan or, more, recently George W. Bush. The rule of law means nothing to the GOP but that matters little to goppers. GOP demagogues have even less to offer. As a Reagan devotee swooned at the 1992 Republican National Convention in Houston: “Ronald Reagan made us feel good about ourselves”

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Michele Bachmann tailors “don’t settle” message for Christian base

“Don’t take your life, don’t take this university, don’t take the future of the most magnificent country God has ever bequeathed” for granted, Bachmann told Liberty students, putting a Christian spin on her recent campaign mantra of “don’t settle.” She continued, “Don’t settle for anything less than what this great and mighty God has planned for you.”

READ MORE

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Denialist Demagogues and McCarthyist Tactics

by Donald Prothero, Sep 14 2011

“A few weeks ago, Texas Governor Rick Perry made the news by not only topping the field of GOP Presidential candidates in denying climate change, but upping the ante, and blaming it on greedy scientists. Many of the other GOP candidates have claimed that scientists are trying to scam the public for nefarious purposes”

READ MORE

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Evangelicals Without Blowhards

by Nicholas Kristof:

“In these polarized times, few words conjure as much distaste in liberal circles as “evangelical Christian.”

That’s partly because evangelicals came to be associated over the last 25 years with blowhard scolds. When the Rev. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson discussed on television whether the 9/11 attacks were God’s punishment on feminists, gays and secularists, God should have sued them for defamation.

Earlier, Mr. Falwell opined that AIDS was “God’s judgment on promiscuity.” That kind of religious smugness allowed the AIDS virus to spread and constituted a greater immorality than anything that occurred in gay bathhouses.

Partly because of such self-righteousness, the entire evangelical movement often has been pilloried among progressives as reactionary, myopic, anti-intellectual and, if anything, immoral.

READ MORE

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Pat Tillman’s Atheism

by Michael Shermer, Sep 13 2011

In the 2010 documentary film, The Tillman Story, the story of Pat Tillman and his tragic death at the hands of “friendly fire” is retold. Tillman was the NFL star who gave it all up to join the military cause in Afghanistan after being inspired by 9/11 to do something for his country. He did not do it for the glory or publicity, and gave up a lucrative football career for what he perceived to be a worthy cause. After his death the U.S. government implemented a publicity campaign to use Tillman’s death as a tool to promote the war as a cause so worthy that even a highly-paid NFL star believed it to be worth the sacrifice. What the government failed to mention is that Tillman was killed at the hands of his fellow soldiers during a “fog of war” incident in a steep and narrow slot canyon in which there was much confusion about where enemy fire was originating. It’s a very disturbing film to watch—infuriating in fact—and Jon Krakauer’s book, Where Men Win Glory, presents the story in excruciating detail in a compelling narrative.

Pat Tillman was an atheist. At his funeral his younger brother Richard got up to speak, visibly upset, noticeably inebriated, and with beer in hand proceeded to thank everyone for their warm sentiments, but upbraided those like Maria Shriver and Senator John McCain who made religious overtones in their sentiments, noting about his brother Pat: “He’s not with God, he’s fucking dead. He’s not religious. Thanks for your thoughts, but he’s fucking dead.”

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More Americans neglecting health in sick economy; Skipping medical tests, forgoing drugs to save

by Lindsay Goldwert, Wednesday, September 28th 2011

“Of the 48% of Americans who said they’d neglected their heath in 2011, 21% admitted to putting off a doctor’s appointment ; 17% said they’d put off a medical procedure. It’s a sign of a sick economy — More Americans are taking dangerous risks with their health. In 2011, the percent of people in the U.S. who admitted to forgoing medical tests, medication and appointments in order to save money rose a staggering 9 percentage points to 48% — up from 39% in 2010, according to a Consumer Reports survey.”

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“Wednesday, public schools across the country will be the site of a religious ritual glorifying Christ

“Wednesday morning, Christian school children across the country will make a very public exhibition of their faith, an exhibition some of their non-Christian peers may find disturbing, if not intimidating. Wednesday, public schools across the country will be the site of a religious ritual glorifying Christ, and very publicly dividing the school into Christians and non-Christians. The ritual, known as “See You at the Pole,” is a controversial “student led” prayer rally set for the fourth Wednesday of September.”

READ MORE

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PHOTOS: 9/12 D.C. Protest Signs

September 17, 2009

(NOTE: OMG…LMFAO: why are there so many fat, ugly, old nasty people on the “right” side of politics? Don’t they realize if there were no “left” they would be skinny, starving, working 7 days a week, 20 hours a day, not allowed a bathroom or lunch break, if they lost a limb at work, they would have to do without or be fired, and the woman wouldn’t even be outside the kitchen, let alone wearing pants and showing any skin. The young ones would be in factories, the old would be dead because there would be no Social Security, Medicare, pensions, and other safety nets placed by “leftist” ideology, what was before just old people dying penniless and hungry after giving their blood, sweat and tears to the USA. Can’t wait to see what these pigs have in store for us as we get closer to the next presidential election.)

SEE PICTURES FROM CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIANS

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The United States of America, the way the Founding Fathers’ envisioned and planned it; is a ‘Constitutionally limited Democratic Republic’, however, America is a little bit of all types of political ideologies depending on who is in power and at what time in history.

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Science & Skepticism Triumph in the New Jersey Courts

by mattusmaximus on August 29, 2011

“It’s not often spoken of, but I think perhaps one of the most critical reasons why it is that we need to have a populace that is well educated in basic critical thinking and reasoning skills can be summed up in how our court system works.  In the United States, many trials in court are decided by juries, which are composed of everyday folk like you and me.  And, as is sometimes the case, juries that are tasked with making major decisions – such as in murder cases – can all-too-often fall victim to sloppy thinking.  And, unfortunately, sometimes this sloppy thinking is actively encouraged by rules set by the courts themselves!”

READ MORE

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(NOTE: Palin apparently hates free speech, unless it is her’s of course)

Sarah Palin threatens to sue author Joe McGinniss over controversial book, ‘The Rogue’

by Aliyah Shahid, September 27th 2011

“Sarah Palin wants to see Joe McGinniss in court.  The former Alaska governor is threatening to sue the author who wrote an explosive tell-all, alleging the pol had a sexual tryst with hoops star Glen Rice and dabbled in marijuana and cocaine.”

READ MORE

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The Republican War on Science Returns

by Chris Mooney, August 22nd, 2011

“My latest post at DeSmogBlog is about how, unfortunately, my six year old first book remains as relevant as ever. Just look at Jon Huntsman’s recent and dramatic stand against the anti-science tilt of his own party. However, there are at least three important updates, or considerations to add to the argument of the original The Republican War on Science.”

READ MORE

MORE FROM AUTHOR:

Articles:

• Why the Right Is More Anti-Science Than the Left

(September 27th, 2011)

Beyond Gardasil: The Religious Right’s Attack on Reproductive Health Science

(September 16, 2011)

• ‘The Science of Why We Don’t Believe Science’

(Article from May/June 2011 Issue of Mother Jones )

Books:

• ‘Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens our Future’

(Published by Basic Books July 14, 2009)

•  Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle Over Global Warming

(Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; First Edition edition,(July 2, 2007)

•  ‘The Republican War on Science’

(Published by Basic Books August 29, 2006)

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Denialist Demagogues and the Threat to Science

by Donald R. Prothero

Shortly after Texas Governor Rick Perry announced his candidacy for President of the United States, he made additional news by not only topping the field of GOP Presidential candidates in denying climate change, but upping the ante by claiming it was all made up by a conspiracy of greedy scientists. The same position has been articulated by all the GOP candidates except Jon Huntsman. That one of these people could very well win the presidency in 2012 should worry us with not only their ignorance of science, but the even more alarming tactic of using ad hominem and “shoot the messenger” tactics to try to discredit the overwhelming consensus of climate scientists around the world.

That consensus is well represented in James Powell’s new book, The Inquisition of Climate Science, a masterful compilation of nearly all the evidence, not only for the reality of anthropogenic global warming, but especially answering point-by-point the ridiculous attempts by climate deniers to cloud and distort the issues by raising one bogus charge after another. As many people have noted, the global warming deniers use many of the same tactics that creationists use to attack evolutionary science. These tactics include quote-mining statements out of context (the entire “climategate” email kerfuffle, which Powell shows was nothing more than careless use of language); and cherry-picking data and repeating discredited statements even though they’ve been debunked (such as the false meme about “it’s been cooling since 1998,” perpetuated by right-wing media again and again). There are many other similarities between the tactics of evolution-deniers and climate change-deniers, many of which are documented in Powell’s book in great detail.

READ MORE

Obama Still Not Clear About Religious-Based Hiring

Source: Religion Clause, September 23, 2011

National Groups Question Obama Policy On Faith-Based Hiring

Last week, 56 major religious, educational, health and civil rights organizations sent a letter (full text) to President Obama, again asking him to clarify the Administration’s position on religion-based hiring in federally funded faith-based programs. The groups oppose religious discrimination in hiring and firing for positions funded by federal dollars.  The letter follows a somewhat ambiguous response last month to similar concerns in a statement posted on the White House website by Joshua Dubois, Executive Director of The White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. (See prior posting.) [Thanks to Michael Lieberman for the lead.]

New York City Police Use 150-Year-Old Law Against Wearing Masks To Arrest Wall Street Demonstrators

“As ThinkProgress previously reported, hundreds of demonstrators have encamped themselves in the financial district in New York City, hoping to call attention to Wall Street’s misdeeds.” READ

Child Rapist Rev. Fights For Icons & Got $20,000 Grant From State

Restoration of Bald Knob Cross almost complete

Monday, September 26, 2011

By Patrick T. Sullivan

EXCERPT:

The 48-year-old cross had deteriorated over the decades due to aged materials and a lack of community support. After deciding to restore the cross in 2008, supporters have been faced with a federal lawsuit, sexual assault charges against a prominent cross fundraiser and a rough economy.

Despite those factors, the repaneling of the cross was completed in November and now the cross needs a new lighting system and landscaping for the restoration to be complete, said Jeff Lingle, president of Friends of the Cross, a group dedicated to raising funds to refurbish the 111-foot-high landmark.

“We’re getting close to the restoration being complete,” Lingle said. “The basic refurbishing is complete.”

Months before the last panel was put on the cross, the Rev. Bill Vandergraph, 73, was arrested on suspicion of predatory sexual assault of a child younger than 13 in June 2010. Vandergraph had been the president of Friends of the Cross but resigned when he was arrested, Lingle said.

He faces charges of predatory criminal sexual assault — a felony carrying a potential sentence of six to 60 years in prison — and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, each carrying potential sentences of 14 years.

Vandergraph will stand trial Dec. 12 in Jonesboro, Ill.

Vandergraph’s arrest did not hurt fundraising efforts, Lingle said.

The arrest “and the fundraising have been two different things,” Lingle said. “It didn’t have any effect on the restoration process.”

Two months after Vandergraph’s charges, prominent Illinois atheist Rob Sherman filed a federal lawsuit that requested the Friends of the Bald Knob Cross return a state grant given to the group to help with the restoration.

In his lawsuit, Sherman claimed that public funding shouldn’t be used for sectarian purposes. He had asked the organization in May to return a $20,000 grant the group received from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for the panels. When the group refused, he filed the lawsuit.

“It’s definitely a violation of the separation of church and state,” Sherman said recently.

 READ

Private Prisons Making Love With Lobbyist = The Need For Full Prisons

“U.S. Private Prison Population Grew 37 Percent Between 2002-2009 As Industry Lobbying Dollars Grew 165 Percent”: READ

Pope’s Visit To Germany Wont Save Catholic Church

Pope fails to satisfy critics on first state visit ‘home’

9-26-2011

“Pope Benedict XVI’s first state visit to his native Germany which wrapped up Sunday fell far short of the expectations of sex abuse victims and those clamouring for a more open and tolerant Church. Benedict’s four-day marathon taking in Berlin, the former communist East German city of Erfurt and staunchly Catholic Freiburg aimed to reinvigorate a Church in crisis in the face of the abuse scandals and growing secularisation.”

,…,

“But Germans are leaving both the Catholic and Lutheran Churches in droves. Richard David Precht, a best-selling German author on philosophical issues, said the lukewarm reception in Germany, which had taken great pride in his 2005 election, was symptomatic of a Western trend. “The fate of the Catholic Church in the next few years and decades is not looking very positive or euphoric and I don’t think the pope’s visit is likely to stop the decline of Catholicism in Germany,” he told ZDF public television.”

READ