January 19-20, 2016::End of the day round-up

As I read this, I am reminded of this meme:

Asking you to give me equal rights implies that they are yours to give. Instead I must demand that you stop trying to deny me the rights all people deserve. (Attributed to Greg Bulmash)

Ben Carson: 'Abnormal' LGBT People Shouldn't Get 'Extra Rights'

“It’s beyond ridiculous that you take the most abnormal situation and then you make everyone else conform to it. That doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. That’s one of the very reasons that I have been an outspoken opponent of things like gay marriage. I don’t have any problem with gay people doing anything they want to do. You know, it’s a free country, there’s freedom of association. However, when you now impose your value system on everybody else and change fundamental definitions and principles of society, I have a big problem with that. Everybody is equal, everybody has equal rights, but nobody gets extra rights. And when we start trying to impose the extra rights based on a few people who perhaps are abnormal, where does that lead?”

"Revenant" gun made by local gunsmith WJAC https://t.co/RZNdu6fKT2 Bill's work is beautiful,,, love to see locals getting recognition!!

This is just nuts!!  If I read this correctly, these bills are just from this year (2016) - HB 1794, HB 1953, SB 644, HB1714, HB1815, SB802, HB 1370, HB 1433, SB 801, HB 1755.

Missouri Republicans to Push Anti-Choice ‘All Lives Matter’ Bill

HB 1794, sponsored by Rep. Mike Moon (R-Ash Grove), would establish the All Lives Matter Act, an example of what activists view as anti-choice legislators using the Black Lives Matter movement for their own restrictive agenda. It would amend state law to define a fertilized egg as “a person” and life as beginning at conception. So-called personhood laws have been an unmitigated failure. Voters in state after state have rejected by wide margins personhood ballot initiatives, and personhood bills have failed to gain any traction in legislatures.
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The push for personhood legislation is far from the only anti-choice measure to be considered in the upcoming session. The past five years have seen the Republican-dominated Missouri state legislature propose more anti-choice bills than any other state.

Lawmakers introduced dozens of anti-choice bills during the 2014 legislative session, and introduced dozens more during the 2015 legislative session. Few anti-choice bills have been passed with a Democratic governor in Missouri, proving an obstacle for GOP-led attempts to end legal abortion. However, the vast number of anti-choice bills introduced for 2016 has caused concern for many advocates.

The state legislature convened Wednesday, and lawmakers have already filed an assortment of anti-choice bills that restrict reproductive health care, including prohibiting physicians from using specific abortion procedures, restricting minors’ access to abortion care, and appropriating the rhetoric of racial justice activists in the so-called All Lives Matter bill.
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Lawmakers introduced dozens of anti-choice bills during the 2014 legislative session, and introduced dozens more during the 2015 legislative session. Few anti-choice bills have been passed with a Democratic governor in Missouri, proving an obstacle for GOP-led attempts to end legal abortion. However, the vast number of anti-choice bills introduced for 2016 has caused concern for many advocates. 

The state legislature convened Wednesday, and lawmakers have already filed an assortment of anti-choice bills that restrict reproductive health care, including prohibiting physicians from using specific abortion procedures, restricting minors’ access to abortion care, and appropriating the rhetoric of racial justice activists in the so-called All Lives Matter bill. 
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Despite a state investigation that cleared Planned Parenthood of any wrongdoing, lawmakers have introduced a pair of bills that would change state law governing the donation of fetal tissue. These bills include several other targeted regulations of abortion providers (TRAP) laws, including the creation of reporting requirements and admitting privilege requirements for abortion providers, along with ambulatory surgical center (ASC) licensing and inspections.

CBS host challenges Paul Ryan on Obamacare repeal attempt ‘How is that an alternative'

Paul Ryan called out for his act of appeasing Right Wing ideologues in yet another irresponsible bill to repeal Obamacare.

Moderator John Dickerson noted that Paul Ryan said he wanted the Republicans to offer an alternative to the president. Yet one of the first things he did this year, was to offer a repeal of Obamacare. "How is that an alternative?" Dickerson asked.

"It's not," Paul Ryan admitted. "That's why we have to come up with an alternative. So, you're right about that."
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The President has been asking all of those who are opposed to Obamacare to come up with ideas to make it better for over 5 years. Republicans have never committed to providing a practical alternative or any modifications of consequence. The reason why of course is that Obamacare actually follows conservative principles articulated by the conservative think tank the Heritage foundation. Otherwise America would have had the more sensible solution, Medicare for all / Single Payer health care.

As I have mentioned before, I am following the Oregon Bundy debacle from afar.  One of my comrades, regarding the SovCit Movement in regards to Kent Hovind, has been following it much closer; offering some interesting commentary.  For those interested, he can be found here:  Kent Hovind and Jo Hovind v USA - IRS https://t.co/lUIAo0M6Cz

Explainer: The Bundy Militia’s Particular Brand Of Mormonism

“I’m Captain Moroni, from Utah.”

That’s how one militiaman at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge responded to OPB’s Amanda Peacher when she asked for his name.

That name is not a silly response to deflect responsibility: In many ways, it encapsulates a deeply intertwined anti-federal sentiment mixed with Mormon symbolism. Captain Moroni is a crucial figure in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He’s also a heroic figure for anti-federalist extremists.

In the modern day west, Captain Moroni has become one of several powerful symbols for the Bundy militia’s anti-governmental extremism.

,,,

Ultimately, the small town Abraham Bundy founded would be abandoned, after the Bundy family could not secure water and grazing rights from the federal government.

Bundy has previously said in interviews that relocation played a significant role in shaping his family’s outlook toward the federal government.

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“The main reason we’re here is because we need a place to stand,” Bundy said. “We stand in defense, and when the time is right we will begin to defend the people of Harney County in using the land and the resources.”

January 13, 2016::End of the day round-up (pg 2)

Ben Carson: Gays And 'Secular Progressive Movement' Are 'Beating People Down' Over LGBT Rights

"The way it works now is they target you and they have all kind of hate speech ridicule, if there’s a way they can bring action against you they will do that, try to ruin your life," the retired neurosurgeon stated, somewhat from experience. Students at Carson's prestigious Johns Hopkins University petitioned in 2013 to have him removed as commencement speaker after his outrageous anti-LGBT comments.

"Look at all the people who because of their religious convictions and their belief in what the Bible says have lost their livelihood and they’re put in jeopardy over the gay marriage issue, when in fact this is supposed to be a country where you live and let live," Carson continued.

Atheist parents take on Christian ‘Good News Club’ with ‘Better News Club’

The group, consisting of atheists, humanists and skeptics, announced its own after-school program: a Young Skeptics club featuring science, logic and learning activities.

Young Skeptics is being sponsored by a volunteer-led group calling itself “The Better News Club.” Its members come from the Atheist Community of Rochester — the same group whose leader offered the first atheist invocation before a town meeting in Greece, N.Y., after the Supreme Court ruled in May that public meetings could begin with sectarian prayers.

Both clubs are based at Fairbanks Road Elementary School in Churchville, N.Y.

The Better News Club and Young Skeptics operate under the assumption that “it’s more important to teach children how to make belief decisions for themselves, rather than accept claims presented to them without thinking critically about those claims,” according to its mission statement.

As Hemant notes, Dawkin's statement in question was made 24 years prior to the 2013 publishing of Dahlstrom's book,,,



The $58 Million Frivolous Lawsuit Against Richard Dawkins is Finally Over

The lawsuit was filed by Karl L. Dahlstrom, a self-proclaimed “modern Renaissance man” who wrote an anti-evolution book called The Organized Universe in 2013. That book offered “scientific proof” that Darwinism was a hoax. To no one’s surprise, the experts were not convinced.

Dawkins, of course, has made a career out of explaining evolution to the masses — and he gets noticeably frustrated by people who trot out the same faulty arguments against evolution time and time again.
And that was the source of conflict.

In 1989, Dawkins wrote in a New York Times book review that “It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane (or wicked, but I’d rather not consider that).”

Dahlstrom was convinced that the “somebody” Dawkins referred to in that statement was him.

I have a "strange" fascination with non-traditional music. Although my preference is old time jazz (no vocals) and early swing, stuff like klezmer music is just fun to listen to.

60 Years Later, A Wild, Baffling Recording Finds A Modern Spark

The Brothers Nazaroff are remaking the disc with a tribute release called The Happy Prince — though the group, which comprises klezmer musicians from three continents, is a lot more polished than their inspiration. Michael Wex, author of the best-selling book Born to Kvetch: Yiddish Language and Culture in All Its Moods, says he was taken aback when when he heard the original 1954 recording. "My my initial reaction to it was, 'How the hell did this get recorded?'" he says. "It sounds like the Yiddish-speaking janitor and a bunch of his friends at Folkways broke in one night, and just sort of seized the equipment and started playing songs."

I am a sucker for a good lentil chili or curried lentils over rice. Being that I do not eat beef (maybe 3-4 times a month if that), lentils and chic peas (hummus) are a substitute protein for me. Whether I would go so far as to call them a "superfood", - eh, prolly not,,, I eat em cuz I like em and they're cheap.


Seeing that there may be an added benefit to the overall environment of the planet is a added bonus

With Twice The Protein As Quinoa, The Pulse Might Be The Year’s New Hot ‘Superfood’

“I don’t know if I could be any more excited about this category of food,” Tim McGreevy, CEO of the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council, told ThinkProgress. “This recognition is terrific for the industry and pulse farmers, but overall it’s important for the world. We have to have more focus on these crops.”

Beyond their nutritional characteristics, pulses are unique in the plant kingdom in that they fix their own nitrogen in the soil, meaning that growing pulses requires little to no added inputs from synthetic fertilizers. Nitrogen fertilizers, when applied to soil, release nitrous oxide as a byproduct, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to agriculture’s carbon footprint. Excess nitrogen can also be washed away during storm events, making its way into streams, rivers, lakes, and bays where it encourages algal blooms and dead zones that can be destructive to marine ecosystems.
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Still, the pulse industry will need to overcome some key barriers before lentils and beans can reach the superfood status of things like quinoa; perhaps the most pressing issue is that most consumers either don’t know what pulses are, or are unaware of their environmental and health benefits. Currently, O’Neill said, most of the Montana’s pulse crop is exported, either to India or Mexico. In the United States, the majority of demand for pulse crops comes from garbanzo beans, which are used in hummus. But O’Neill and McGreevy both hope that the spotlight given to pulses by the United Nations increases both public interest in the food, as well as public funding for crop research.

Havoc and Chaos: January 10, 2016::End of the day round-up

Trump campaign style harkens back to George Wallace in 1968 (VIDEO)

Maddow in her usual style brought many good comparisons between Trump and Wallace. Trump is a novice politically, Wallace was a master, marking the "beginning" of the Southern Strategy.

South Carolina Bill Targets Viagra to Get People Talking About Anti-Choice Laws

South Carolina’s legislative sessions begin next week, and on the agenda in the Republican-dominated house could be a much talked about pre-filed bill regarding men’s reproductive health.

State Rep. Mia McLeod (D-Richland) pre-filed a bill in December mandating that men seeking medication for erectile dysfunction jump through the same legal hoops as women seeking basic reproductive health care, including abortion care.

“Oh, I don’t think it’ll pass,” McLeod told South Carolina’s NBC affiliate, WCBD. “I really just want to broaden the discussion and get people thinking about and talking about some of the issues that women face who are seeking legal abortion services in this state.”

WATCH: @realBenCarson confronted at Staten Island town hall: "Do you think I chose to be gay?"

If it wasn't for Carson's prior idiotic statements, I could possibly pass this off as a "caught off guard moment". BUT,,,

"Because a lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight -- and when they come out, they're gay. So, did something happen while they were in there? Ask yourself that question."

his "history" of stupidity runs deep and as a candidate he should be "prepared". It is moments like these when the true colors begin to fly!

10+ Independent Online News Sources and Why America Needs More of Them

Lumosity to Pay $2 Million to Settle FTC Deceptive Advertising Charges for Its “Brain Training” Program

The creators and marketers of the Lumosity “brain training” program have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges alleging that they deceived consumers with unfounded claims that Lumosity games can help users perform better at work and in school, and reduce or delay cognitive impairment associated with age and other serious health conditions.

As part of the settlement, Lumos Labs, the company behind Lumosity, will pay $2 million in redress and will notify subscribers of the FTC action and provide them with an easy way to cancel their auto-renewal to avoid future billing.

“Lumosity preyed on consumers’ fears about age-related cognitive decline, suggesting their games could stave off memory loss, dementia, and even Alzheimer’s disease,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “But Lumosity simply did not have the science to back up its ads.”

Projection much,,,

Why Don’t More Scientists Believe in Creation?

Also, most people go through the public school system, and they hear from an early age just evolution. They never hear, and they are not taught even to consider, an alternative hypothesis. So they are taught from an early age to suppress the truth, and so this is just the fruit of an educational system that ignores the opposition.

Also, by and large, they just don’t read our literature. They’re ignorant. Now, sadly, the professing Christians who hold evolution (for example, the BioLogos community) also seem to practice the same thing. In the few interactions I’ve had with their scholars, whether it’s theologians or scientists, they are clueless about anything scholarly that we’ve written. I’ll ask them, “Name the last young earth creationist scholarly book you’ve read.” The response: “I don’t know.” Have you read Coming to Grips with Genesis? No. Have you read Earth’s Catastrophic Past? No. So why don’t more people accept this? Because they’re totally ignorant of what we’ve printed. And they don't want to consider it.

And so to me that’s the answer to the question, “Why don’t more people believe it?” They never consider it; a lot of them probably don’t want to consider it because this obviously strikes at the very heart of their worldview, and Romans 1 says that it’s not just that there’s some indirect “Oh, I might have to think about Christianity.” No, the things of God are clearly seen from what has been made, so the creation issue strikes at the heart of their cherished beliefs, and they have to suppress it.

It’s practically impossible to define “GMOs”

Debates rage over what to do about genetically modified organisms, but we rarely stop to ask a more basic question: Do GMOs really exist? It’s an important question, because no one in this debate can tell you precisely what a GMO is. I’ve come to the conclusion that “GMO” is a cultural construct. It’s a metaphor we use to talk about a set of ideas. It doesn’t map neatly onto any clear category in the physical world.

GMOs, like other cultural constructs — think of gender, or race — do have a basis in reality, of course: We can roughly define “male” or “Asian,” but when we try to regulate these divisions, all kinds of problems crop up. And definitions of “GMOs” are much messier — “nerd” might be a roughly equivalent category. You know what a nerd is, but things would break down fast if you were required to label and regulate all the nerds. The definition of a nerd depends on the context; it depends on who’s asking. Same with GMOs.

As one researcher put it, “It is theoretically and practically impossible to precisely specify a supposed common denominator for all these [GMO] products.”
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Like porn, GMOs defy strict definition because, like porn, GMOs are a cultural construct with borders that shift with the times. Perhaps the most accurate definition of GMO is social and contextual: Organisms breed in a way that people find threatening. Before GMOs, people objected to cross-pollinating flowers, on the grounds that gardeners were playing God. If that were a concern today we’d surely consider these engineered flowers GMOs. This cultural definition doesn’t make for firm borders, but there is a fuzzy collection of attributes — a gestalt — that we can all comprehend.

January 6, 2016::End of the day round-up

King Crocoduck's closing remark is a bit apropos considering a discussion held the other night concerning my delving into the fallacies behind the "Tornado in a Junkyard" analogy. I had stated that instead of doing "real" science in regards to ID, the proponents sit back and "just think up" counter arguments regardless of whether science supports those views. Best example is Behe and his testimony during Dover v Kitmiller (2005) where he admitted under oath 'that evolution could not explain immunology without even investigating the subject. He was presented with 58 peer reviewed articles, nine books, and several textbook chapters on the subject; he insisted they were 'not good enough.'"

Here's what KC had to say to his adversary [6:26], spawned from the misapplication of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics - nothing can not be greater than something.

Your pretension that your philosophical ponderings on causality are even remotely comparable to the rigor and discipline required to understand the subject under discussion.

,,,[Lots of sciencey, mathey terms that blew right over my head and I wouldn't be able to spell if my life depended on it]

This is the arrogance that underlies creationism. This notion that a layperson, can sit back and idly think about a discipline that takes years to understand much less master and disprove it with facile simple minded arguments.

Sweet Justice?: Bakery Owners Finally Pay Fine For Discriminating Against Lesbian Couple

“Aaron and Melissa Klein are devoted to honoring God in every aspect of their lives, including how they conduct themselves in this litigation. Oregon law requires that as they appeal the Oregon government’s decision denying them their First Amendment rights, they must either pay the amount imposed by the Oregon government, or obtain a bond for the amount of the judgment,” Smith said. “The least expensive option to stay in compliance with the law was to pay the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries funds that will be kept in a separate account until they prevail in their court appeal.”
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The Oregonian reports that the Kleins paid a total of $144,000 to the state this month; that figure includes accrued interest for their refusal to pay it earlier. At the time, they claimed they simply couldn’t afford the fine---even though they’d raised approximately $517,000 from various crowdfunding sites in order to cover the debt. “It's difficult to understand the Kleins’ unwillingness to pay the debt when they have, very publicly, raised nearly a half million dollars,” a labor bureau spokesman said in an October statement.

Despite that windfall, they say they’ve suffered for their refusal to bake the cake. Aaron Klein claims he was forced to work as a garbage collector after they closed their storefront location, and vandals broke into the business’ branded car twice.

We Want Debunk (1) : The Alkaline Diet

If you remember I touched on the acid/alkaline mythos last month. Guerilla Girl attacks from a bit different angle:

The website acidalkalinediet.net says that acid-forming diets are the cause of acidosis and the major cause of diseases like cancer, diabetes, and stroke. This is a red flag of pseudoscientific theories: several different diseases are attributed to one cause. The truth is that each disease is unique and has a unique cause. For the purposes of this post, I’ll talk briefly about acidosis and cancer.
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While it’s certainly true that fruits and vegetables are good for you, it’s because they are nutrient-dense, not because they are alkaline forming. The alkaline diet seems very restrictive to me – it’s basically a raw vegan diet (oooh, another diet to debunk!). I have no problem with ethical vegans, but the vegan diet takes some work to do in a healthy way (see Ginny Messina, RD for more information). Most of the foods on the acid-forming list can be beneficial – fish, dairy, grains, legumes, even caffeine has nutrients and proven health benefits. It seems like restrictive diets are increasingly popular, and there is growing concern that they can lead to disordered eating.

The "disordered eating" issue is one I may tackle some time in the near future.

Pat Robertson: Beat non-religious kids on Christmas until they appreciate ‘blessings of discipline’

Robertson immediately recommended that the grandson should be taken “to the woodshed and let him understand the blessings of discipline.”

“He needs a strong male figure,” Robertson continued. “He’s going to wind up in a correctional institution, and the next thing you know, he’s going to be doing hard time in some prison. And then he would wish he wasn’t such a smart, you know, wise guy. Because he’ll be disciplined in a way that he’ll never forget in some prison.”

“He needs discipline in the worst possible way.”

In the end, the Christian Broadcasting Network founder recommended that the viewer avoid her daughter’s house on Christmas.

UPDATING: Alabama Chief Justice Issues Order Blocking Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

The Chief Justice of the Alabama State Supreme Court Wednesday morning issued an order to all probate judges to not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Judge Roy Moore claims a previous order issued by his court in March remains in effect, and warns those judges that they "have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary" to Alabama state law and its constitution.

Justice Moore, "said the conflict between the state court ruling and the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June has caused 'confusion and uncertainty' among probate judges," AL.com reports.

The Decateur Daily adds that "Moore's order found that a June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that struck down laws banning same-sex marriage in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee did not necessarily affect Alabama's similar laws."

Ben Carson would consider banning gays from the military

“Well, I think the first priority again is cohesion, and the second priority would be that the commander-in-chief listen to the best military advice, so on a number of these social issues the best military advice has been thwarted and the administration has said, ‘Do this, do this, do this,’ apart from military and defense considerations as a priority,” said the general.

Tapper asked Carson if he agreed with the general’s remarks, Carson said:

“One of the things that I learned in a long medical career is that you make decisions based on evidence, and not on ideology. So, yes, I would be willing to sit down with people from both sides and examine the evidence and make decisions based on what the evidence shows.”

Nicol Simard of Atheism TV had the perfect response to Ben Carson

He be willing to sit down with people from both sides and examine the evidence and make decisions based on what the evidence shows? This is coming from a creationist? From someone who believes pyramids were build to store grain?

Please don't mind me while I roll on the floor laughing IN A PUDDLE OF MY OWN PISS because he made me pee myself, I laughed so hard.

Matt Carey offers a complete breakdown of the William Thompson debacle that began last year.


The William Thompson Documents. There’s no whistle to blow.

For those unfamiliar with the story of William Thompson, here’s a brief introduction. William Thompson is a CDC researcher who has worked on vaccine/autism studies. About 2 years ago he approached Brian Hooker (an autism parent and very vocal advocate for the idea that vaccines cause autism) stating that a statistically significant result was not only left out of an old study but that this represented not a scientific decision, but misconduct on the part of the CDC. It is worth noting that “statistically significant” is not the same as “proof of a connection”. Brian Hooker published his own analysis (incorrectly claimed as being the same as the CDC analysis method) in a now retracted paper. The result he presented was that there was an apparent increased risk of autism for one small subset of the study population: African American males, who were vaccinated not on schedule but before age 3.

There are some questions, of course, that this raises. Is this result very strong? Does the lack of inclusion in the paper represent scientific fraud or a legitimate scientific decision?

Those following the anti-vaxx movement are well aware of the stir this caused. Those outside the "bubble" should have been but the story was woefully under-reported.

The importance of what Matt didn't find: 1] The vaccines-cause-autism story is built on lies and it is very damaging. There has been nothing since the Kanner/Bettleheim “refrigerator parent” idea that has caused so much damage to our community. And that is the real story here. A group of people perpetuating a failed idea by carefully crafting a story.

In other words maybe now this trope can finally be laid to rest and science can concentrate on what it does best.   "And they [referring to Hooker and Wakefield] still aren’t calling for better services better diagnosis in these underserved groups. Instead they are just trying to recruit as many parents as they into the vaccines-cause-autism camp. Imagine being convinced, wrongly, that you participated in injuring your own child. The charlatans who prey on our community with fake–and sometimes abusive–therapies rely on the vaccine/autism idea for the majority of their business."

2] Science wins!!

I really should have written more about this debacle,,,sigh!!

Science deniers use false equivalence to create fake debates

This article is #3 of the 12 most popular posts on Skeptical Raptor during 2015. This article discusses how science deniers employ false equivalence to create fake debates.

If you read a news article, Google a scientific topic, or watch TV, you’d think that some scientific principles were actually being debated by scientists. The unfiltered information about important scientific subjects allows the science deniers to use a false equivalence to make it appear that the often minority, and scientifically unsupported viewpoint is equivalent to the scientific consensus which is based on huge amounts of published evidence.

From listening to the screaming and yelling, you would think that scientists aren’t sure about evolution, vaccines, global warming, and the age of the earth (or even the age of the universe). There are even those who think there’s a debate that HIV doesn’t cause AIDS. It’s because some news sources think there’s a debate, so bring one person to represent one side, and one for the other, and the person screams the loudest often wins.

An anti-equality faith healer is trying to build a mega-complex in San Diego

Morris Cerullo, an 84-year-old evangelical mega-church pastor and self-proclaimed faith healer and miracle worker, is proposing an 18.1-acre mega-church complex in the city of San Diego, California.

Cerullo, who was convicted for falsifying tax documents between 1998 and 2000, a conviction overturned on a technicality in 2007, has been flying under the radar in the city with this proposal that would include a religious retreat, underground catacombs, a Jerusalem-style Wailing Wall, an outdoor amphitheater and bazaar, a TV studio, and timeshare units for his followers.

The complex would be built on the site of the San Diego Resort Hotel complex which Cerullo recently purchased.

Ted Cruz And Ben Carson Appear In Film Promoting A Radically Anti-Gay Pastor And Slavery Defender | Right Wing Watch

Pastor Douglas Wilson is a radically right-wing pastor from Idaho who defends slavery, calls for gays to be exiled and adulterers to be put to death. In 2012, he was invited to speak at Indiana University, which led to protests and confrontation and now, a right-wing documentary about the controversy called "The Free Speech Apocalypse."
Directed by Darren Doane, perhaps best known for directing Kirk Cameron's "Saving Christmas," which is literally one of the worst films ever made, the new movie presents Wilson's experience of going up against the left-wing "tolerance buzzsaw" and, amazingly, features appearances by Ted Cruz and Ben Carson:

The Free Speech Apocalypse exposes the strategies of the anti-God, anti-traditional, hyper-liberal elite and offers perspective on the cultural decay that has accelerated across the country over the three years since Wilson's visit to Indiana University.

Worst yet, The Free Speech Apocalypse demonstrates clearly the erosion of free speech and religious liberty in America. The right to hold your own opinions if they differ from leftist agendas is vanishing at an alarming rate, and it's time for ordinary Americans to wake up and speak out.

This documentary features (among others) Sweet Cakes owners Aaron and Melissa Klein, as well as presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Dr. Ben Carson outlining the concerns they have that unelected judges are ruling against the common citizen's Constitutional right to free speech.

A trailer posted on the film's website prominently features both Cruz and Carson.
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Earlier this year, Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee and various Republican members of Congress appeared in another right-wing anti-gay documentary alongside a Religious Right activist who openly calls for gays and all those how refuse to submit to Christianity to be put to death.

Are GOP presidential hopefuls utterly incapable of doing any research or vetting before agreeing to appear in these sorts of films?

Ted Cruz And Ben Carson Appear In Film Promoting A Radically Anti-Gay Pastor And Slavery Defender | Right Wing Watch

Cuomo Challenges Carson: You Think Gays Get More Legal Protections than Christians? | Mediaite

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo’s interviews with neurosurgeon headline generator Ben Carson have caused some trouble for the latter, to the point that he’s said he won’t discuss LGBT issues anymore. Nonetheless Cuomo pinned him down on the subject Thursday morning, appearing bewildered when Carson intimated that the LGBT community was a more protected class than Christians under the Constitution.

“I would like to see as much emphasis on the rights of Christians…as there is to some of the other groups,” Carson said. “I would like to see a much greater conservation about Christians and their rights. Why are we not talking about that?”

“We are right now,” Cuomo said. “The LGBT community gets far less legal protection, as you know—”

“No, not as I know,” Carson objected.

“How do you not know that?” Cuomo asked.

“The important thing is for us as a nation to recognize that all citizens of the United States are protected by our Constitution,” Carson said. “We need to stop deciding that one group versus another is the flavor of the day.”

Cuomo Challenges Carson: You Think Gays Get More Legal Protections than Christians? | Mediaite

Ben Carson: Congress Should Oust Judges Who Rule For Marriage Equality | Right Wing Watch

Speaking last night with Iowa talk radio host Steve Deace, Carson said that Congress should “reprimand or remove” federal judges who issue “unconstitutional” rulings striking down state bans on same-sex marriage.

What the president and what the Supreme Court need to reiterate is that the states have a mechanism whereby they can determine the will of the people, it’s called ballot referendum. It has been done multiple times already, 32 states have indicated that marriage is between a man and a woman, and a few judges have come and overturned that. That, as far as I’m concerned, is unconstitutional, and Congress actually has oversight of all what they call the inferior courts, everything below the Supreme Court, and that’s where those overturns have come. And when judges do not carry out their duties in an appropriate way, our Congress actually has the right to reprimand or remove them.

After Deace alleged that a Supreme Court victory for marriage equality advocates would undermine freedom and lead to the “persecution of the church” and “open season on Christians,” Carson said Congress should intercede if the Supreme Court deems same-sex marriage bans unconstitutional.

“We certainly cannot give up if, in fact, that turns out to be the case because we do still have the Congressional mechanism,” Carson said. “And the key here in our country, values and principles cannot be drummed out of us. They’re going to try and the only way we maintain a country with values and principles is we have to be brave enough to stand up for what we believe.”

Two issues with what Carson states. First, he is ignoring the Constitutional promise of equality, saying it should be voted on. Second, Congress cannot simply remove a judge for ruling in a way the majority disagrees with. Governing by intimidation never works

And whilst pondering that, Carson, has never held an office of public trust; but at the same time he is motivated by his religion, not by a deep understanding of American political history. I am wondering what exactly does this man think he would be doing if the SCOTUS had decided to let each and every state decide if he was more than three fifths of a person? Does Jim Crow ring a bell?

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Civil rights are not up for a vote. They are dependent on the Constitution, which guarantees them.

Ben Carson: Congress Should Oust Judges Who Rule For Marriage Equality | Right Wing Watch

Conservative hero Ben Carson hit with plagiarism scandal - Salon.com

Why is this important?

While no man is above reproach or without fault, we expect our candidates for political office to be above plagiarizing, Dr. Ben Carson is no exception. He of all people should know better,

In his 2012 book America the Beautiful, conservative activist and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson related the story of when he was caught plagiarizing as an undergraduate psychology major. ”During my research for one of the papers in an advanced psychology course, I found some passages that seemed particularly appropriate, and I included them in my writing,” Carson explained. “I did not, however, indicate that this was the work of someone else; frankly, I had never even heard of the term plagiarism.” A professor identified the plagiarized passages, Carson wrote, and their meeting over the paper prompted an epiphany: “Even though I did not know the implications of plagiarism, I certainly should have known inherently that what I was doing was wrong. I had done it before without consequences and probably would have continued doing it if I had not been caught.”

Apparently, that experience wasn’t searing enough. On Tuesday, BuzzFeed revealed that Carson plagiarized portions of the very same book in which he wrote of his college plagiarism. Although Carson often cited the works he copied in his endnotes, he did not indicate in the text of the book when he had borrowed the words of other authors.

Conservative hero Ben Carson hit with plagiarism scandal - Salon.com

It's exactly as they want

I am not sure how I missed this but,,,

What We're Up Against 

Recently, the news reported that David Koch—the conservative boogeyman of the left—will be interviewed by ABC's Barbara Walters for her "The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2014" special scheduled to air on Sunday. [And yes this is David Koch of Koch brothers fame.]

In the interview, he unequivocally states, "I'm basically a libertarian, and I'm a conservative on economic matters, and I'm a social liberal." It harkens back to a 2012 Politico article where he said, "I believe in gay marriage," pointing out that he openly supported legal abortion as a Libertarian party candidate in 1980.

Marriage Supporter, this is exactly the problem. Millionaires and billionaires are lining up in support of this radical social agenda... even on the right! And I need your help to stop it!

Another perfect example of ceremonial Deism,,,

Pastor to deliver Capitol sermon Sunday amid controversy

Some Democratic lawmakers are criticizing the plan for a controversial pastor to deliver a sermon at the state Capitol Sunday, while Republicans participating in the sermon defended his inclusion as a matter of free speech.

The Rev. Matt Trewhella co-founded Wisconsin-based Missionaries to the Preborn in 1990, and will deliver the Election Sermon at the Capitol Rotunda at 2 p.m. Sunday and give a talk at the Lewis and Clark Library at 3:30 p.m. Monday. Both are sponsored by Project Liberty Tree under the Covenant Community Church in Whitehall.

Trewhella is pastor at Mercy Seat Christian Church in Milwaukee.

The scary part, is this is exactly what he and his ilk want,,,

Rick Wiles: Nuclear Holocaust Will Kill Us All Thanks To Gay People

End Times broadcaster Rick Wiles is upset that Western nations have imposed sanctions on the Russian economy, contributing to the country’s recent financial crisis, since Wiles is a big booster of Vladimir Putin and especially the Russian government’s anti-LGBT policies.

On his radio show “Trunews” this week, Wiles predicted that the U.S. will provoke Russia into using nuclear weapons “and just obliterate us while we sleep at night.”

And when this happens, Wiles warned, God won’t come to America’s aid: “We are on the edge of World War III and this time the United States of America does not have divine protection because we’ve become a nation of homosexuals and atheists and lesbians and God-haters.”

Ben Carson's Bizarre Explanation Of Why Obamacare Is Unconstitutional

The likely GOP presidential candidate explained that the law helps some people while hurting others, so is therefore unconstitutional: “Your solution should be something that represents all the people. The Constitution says one of the purposes, in the preamble, it says is for the ‘promote the general welfare.’ What that means is that we do things that help everybody, we don’t pick this group and say, ‘We’re going to help you at the expense of this group over here.’ That’s not promoting the general welfare so we’re actually violating the Constitution in that sense.”

In that case, a whole host of laws could be considered unconstitutional since nearly everyone can point to a law that they think affects them negatively while helping others. “It wasn’t really about health care, it’s about control,” Carson said of the health care law.

Staver: Ex-Gay Therapy Bans Are 'An Assault Against God Almighty

"These whole issues of homosexuality is a direct assault on gender, on family, on marriage," Staver said. "As a policy matter, if you were to sanction homosexuality in the law, you are sanctioning harmful activity to individuals. It is patently unhealthy, both physically and mentally ... We cannot recreate the natural created order and assume that there are no consequences; there are consequences to children. So Liberty Counsel is involved in these strategic areas, these areas of assault against the family, against gender, against marriage and family; they are an assault against the very foundation of our society, they are an assault against God Almighty and his created order. This is an assault against all of the Judeo-Christian values that we hold near and dear and that's why we must be involved in these cases, we must win these cases": 

California Pastor Warns America Is Turning Into Nazi Germany Unless Pastors Get Involved In Politics

"We were at Auschwitz and Birkenau at the death camps and we came to realize thirty two SS guards killed nine hundred thousand Jews," McCoy said. "You're either committed or you're compromised and we stood there, a hundred and ten pastors, realizing that if we don't speak up, we're going to watch those rail cars just annihilate our culture and we're going to be held captive by a minority and we have a responsibility to speak up": 

Camenker: Gay Student Clubs Love To Recruit 'Kids From Christian Backgrounds

"I have seen over the years, a movement of, in general, where you have kids who are very vulnerable, maybe having troubles at home, maybe having their own issues and the gay clubs will say 'the reason you're not fitting in is because you're really gay,'" Camenker said. "And they will take them under their wing and they will persuade them to come out because this is who you really are. And pretty soon these kids are getting involved in these really horrible behaviors, horrible things at the meetings. We've seen it up close and we've seen the anxiety that the parents go through when their kids are suddenly taken over by this."

"Yes, they love getting kids from Christian backgrounds," he continued. "That seems to be something that they particularly enjoy to do":

ADF Lawyer: Gay Rights Opponents May Soon Be 'Put In Jail For Standing For Marriage'

Austin Nimocks of the Alliance Defending Freedom, which wants to make gay sex a criminal offense, said in an interview earlier this week that gay rights advocates are planning to throw their opponents in jail.

While speaking to “Washington Watch” guest host Josh Duggar about the legal case of a Washington florist who was held in violation of the state’s Consumer Protection Act for denying service to a same-sex couple, Nimocks warned that “the persecution is only going to ramp up and it’s going to become more fierce.”

ADDENDUM::Ben Carson: Gay Rights, Pro-Choice Activists Use 'Hate Speech,' Are Enemies Of America | Right Wing Watch

Who the fuck is Saul Alinsky and why does his name always come up in regards to liberals?  And yes, that is said in jest. Dudes been dead 40 some years and people are still bitching because he was for the Have-Nots.

What follows is for those who want to change the world from what it is to what they believe it should be. The Prince was written by Machiavelli for the Haves on how to hold power. Rules for Radicals is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it away." (Rules for Radicals)

Guess I better get another copy, mine just fell apart,,,

Carson, who would never ever use inflammatory or conspiratorial language, told the extremely sympathetic Brody that such activists are “hateful people” and “the enemies” of everyday Americans because they “try to divide
everybody up” and “incite people to anger and to hatred.”

“A good example would be somebody who is pro-life, the inciters would come along and say, ‘you’re anti-women, you hate women’ and they try to get women to hate you, when in fact you love women, you just happen also to love life and love babies. But that’s how they try to create the divisions,” he said. “Somebody who is pro-traditional-family, they’ll come up and say, ‘he’s a homophobe, they hate gay people, they’re nasty’ and they just try to incite all this stuff really to further their own agendas.”

Rather than following the teachings of Jesus, Carson explains, liberals are under the influence of Saul Alinsky.

Ben Carson: Gay Rights, Pro-Choice Activists Use 'Hate Speech,' Are Enemies Of America | Right Wing Watch

Ben Carson Thinks God Is Calling On Him To Save America, Stop Putinesque Obama | Right Wing Watch

Haven't we heard this canard of "god told me to run" before? Bachmann, Bush, Santorum and Cain come to mind,,,

Christian Broadcasting Network reporter David Brody has been slowly releasing excerpts from his interview with likely Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson, who has told Brody that liberals are responsible for “hate speech” and that he “feels fingers” from God telling him to make a run for the White House.

Today, Brody released another segment from his interview where the conservative activist was joined by his wife, Candy, to describe how God is calling him to make a presidential bid.

“We recognize that we are being instruments in the hand of God, he is the one who really orchestrates all of this,” Carson said.

After warning that the future of America is in peril, Carson stressed that “we are in fact a Judeo-Christian nation and I think that’s a huge part of our strength.”

Ben Carson Thinks God Is Calling On Him To Save America, Stop Putinesque Obama | Right Wing Watch

I guess they never give up,,,

AFA: 'Mandatory Gay Brain-Washing' Will Destroy America

An action alert from American Family Association President Tim Wildmon today warns of a plague of “mandatory gay brain-washing” sweeping the nation. Such brainwashing, he reports, is being done by people like a gay public official in Kentucky whose Twitter account is “flaming with pro-gay hype” — such as news of his engagement. The only thing to do, Wildmon says, is to watch AFA’s new movie about anti-Christian persecution and "pray for America" because “I am convinced that the survival of America as the greatest nation in history rests on whether the nation turns away from its slide into secularism and once again seeks the true God.”

Rep. Frank Wolf Says Christians May Need To Go To Jail In Order To Wake Up America

Rep. Frank Wolf also appeared in a prerecorded interview, telling Perkins that religious liberty is under attack in America because the church has been intimidated and fallen into silence.

In order to combat this, the Virginia Republican said, Americans need to imitate people like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Dietrich Bonhoeffer and prepare to go to prison in the face of government oppression.

"Frankly," Wolf said, "some people in the church may have to go to jail and that would wake up America. That would literally wake up America if they arrested a cardinal, if they arrested a bishop, if they arrested a prominent pastor":

Pastor On Marriage Equality Court Victories: 'The Republic Is Officially Dead'

Right-wing pastor Paul Blair of Reclaiming America for Christ is not happy that same-sex marriage is now legal in his home state of Oklahoma, and took to BarbWire today to call on state government officials to defy federal court rulings on issues like marriage.

Blair warns that “the republic is officially dead” as a result of overreaching government officials and judges, charging that the courts “have no authority” to strike down Oklahoma’s ban on same-sex marriage.

He writes if the states don’t push back against the judiciary, then people like Judge Terence Kern, who ruled in favor of two lesbian couples challenging the ban, might as well run all state affairs: “Let’s dissolve the state legislature, send the governor home and everyone else saving us at least half of our state’s annual budget. Apparently Federal Judge Kern already rules the state, so let him have an office in downtown OKC and we can be ruled by our masters and quit kidding ourselves.

NC pastor comes unglued over coming gay weddings: ‘You think Ebola is bad now, just wait!’

“So the book of the Revelation is about End Times events and what happens when this world is destroyed by fire, when the stars and the universe and the sun and the moon, like untimely figs cast from a tree, are just completely done away with and annihilated,” he said, telling his congregation to focus on what the Bible said would happen before that.

“Listen, folks, it’s on,” he announced. “You might as well get ready for it. It’s on. It’s just a matter of time when they’re going to say to the churches… It’s just a matter of time before our constitution in our churches will be overturned like our state constitution just been overturned this week. I mean, it’s coming.”

Baity said that even after God flooded the Earth to stop homosexuality, people were “out of their habitation” in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

“They were doing something that was not normal, they were doing something that was not natural, and as a result of that, like God judged this world with a flood, he judged Sodom and Gomorrah with fire!” the pastor exclaimed. “The most blasphemous thing I’ve heard in 40 years of ministry, I heard on the news last night, where rogue judges have gone against the will of the ministry and made America a country where there’s totalitarianism, where there are judges who have set themselves up as dictators to overthrow the will of the people! And they placed their sanction upon marriage that is out of the habitation of God’s creation!”

[,,,]
“You think Ebola is bad now, just wait. If it’s not that, it’s going to be something else. My friends, I want you to understand, you can’t thumb your nose at God, and God turn his head away without God getting your attention.”

Klingenschmitt: Government Recognition Of Gay Marriage Is Deceiving Citizens Into Hell

"Gay marriage is still illegal in all fifty states because God has decreed it so," Klingenschmitt declared before praying that "our laws will reflect God's highest law so that our government locally does not deceive our citizens into Hell by telling the citizens this is okay, this is normal, this is acceptable when God, you yourself, have decreed it to be sin":

Michael Savage: Ebola Could Be A 'Blessing' That Prompts Obama's Removal From Office

In an interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones last week, conservative radio host Michael Savage said President Obama plans to “use Ebola as a pretext” to exercise authoritarian control over the United States.

 “He wants an insurrection,” Savage said of Obama. “He wants his Kristallnacht. He wants to take the guns, he wants to arrest people, he wants to detain people for their own safety.” Rather than getting impeached, Savage continued, Obama “is liable to use [Ebola] to gain even more power.” 

[,,,]
 Jones warned that Obama may use Ebola as a “false flag and try to blame it on the liberty movement,” while Savage said Obama may remain as president even after his second term expires.

GOP Congressman: Obama Wants Ebola To Spread So He Can 'Take Control' Of Everything

Rep. Steve Stockman yesterday chatted with End Times broadcaster Rick Wiles, telling the “Trunews” host that President Obama may be delaying the government response to the Ebola epidemic because he wants the virus to spread. Once it spreads, Stockman argued, Obama will use the Ebola outbreak as a justification to declare emergency powers.

The Texas Republican lawmaker insisted that was simply just asking the question: “It’s just bizarre there’s not enough action up front and I’m wondering if that’s — I’m not saying this — but I’m wondering if that’s intentional in order to create a greater crisis to use it as a blunt force to say, well in order to solve this crisis we’re going to have to take control of the economy and individuals and so forth.”

WND Columnist: Obama Might Bring Ebola To America To Cancel 2016 Election

WorldNetDaily columnist Mychal Massie writes today that Ben Carson is right to be worried that the 2016 election may not even take place, warning that President Obama wants to “destroy America” and see to it that “we are being placed in eminent peril by disease-carrying illegal aliens flooding our shores.”

Massie contends that undocumented immigrants may bring Ebola and other diseases into the U.S., arguing that Obama will give “a free pass for illegals who are invading our borders” and offer “safe harbor for those he has to know are infected disease carriers” in order to create chaos in America.

Then, Obama might use the resulting chaos as a pretext to cancel the election, declare “martial law to prevent a run on banks and to allow government-controlled media blackouts.”

Klayman: Obama Must Be 'Taken Alive' For Bringing Ebola To America To Afflict White People

Conservative legal activist Larry Klayman has filed a lawsuit against President Obama for “providing material support and aid to international terrorism and facilitating terrorism” by not implementing a travel ban on people from countries facing an Ebola outbreak.

Health experts have advised against enacting a travel ban, explaining that such a move might actually increase the risk of an outbreak, but Klayman has his own idea as to why the Obama administration hasn’t enacted a ban: anti-white racism.

Klayman writes in his weekly column that “Obama has favored his African brothers over the rest of us by allowing them free entry into this country” and “relegating whites and others who are not black or Muslim to the back of the bus has become an invidious form of reverse discrimination. This was not right when blacks were subjected to this treatment, and it is not right now – particularly given its deadly implications.”

“I do not advocate violence, and I want Obama to be taken alive to be deported and pay for his inadequacies under the rule of law,” Klayman writes. “But he must be forced from office as soon as possible, before all is lost.”