More TWATs for Week Ending 5/1/22

 

As I stated in the last episode of TWATs, there was more to come. These stories are a bit more involved than normal so they were relegated to if I have time department.

 

The Satanic Temple is at it again and I mean that in a good way. https://triad-city-beat.com/satanic-temple-after-schools/

The move to host the After School Satan Club at Joyner Elementary comes as a direct response to the Good News Club, an evangelical after-school organization which applied to use three Guilford County schools last month.

But according to source,

On Tuesday afternoon (26th), Nora Shoptaw with Guilford County Schools told TCB that the requests for renting GCS facilities by both the Good News Club and the After School Satan Club were under review. Neither is authorized to use GCS facilities at this time.

“GCS is currently reviewing with its legal counsel how fliers for non-school sponsored clubs and events are distributed, as well as the district’s obligation to grant organizations equitable access to our public facilities,” Shoptaw’s statement reads.

It seems the Guilford County school district did not take the case from 2001, Good News Club v. Milford Central School, seriously. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/533/98/ GNC v Milford held that when a government operates a "limited public forum," it may not discriminate against speech that takes place within that forum on the basis of the viewpoint it expressed. In this case, religious speech.

And yes, The Satanic Temple targets school districts that allow evangelical or conservative Christian clubs in their schools to offer an alternative after-school program. Knowing this it is important to note,

In response to the school district’s possible change in policy, Bobby E. Fowler, the state director of the Child Evangelism Fellowship of North Carolina, Inc., sent school board members and the superintendent a letter advocating to let the Satanic Temple to use school facilities.

“Although CEF strongly disagrees with what Satan Clubs teach, we do agree that the Supreme Court Ruling applies to them as well,” Fowler wrote.

A continuation of a story touched upon in the previous TWATs episode. https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2022/04/gop-lawmakers-spreading-false-furries-claim-school-kids-are-pretending-to-be-animals-and-demanding-litter-boxes-again/ It seems the furry debacle is or has become quite widespread. What started in Nebraska, has now hit Minnesota. Has gone from the pulpit to state legislatures (Steve Drazkowski, Eric Lucero, and Tim Miller all Republicans).

According PolitiFact, “School districts in Iowa, Michigan and Nebraska have debunked claims that they are providing litter boxes in bathrooms.” Also, other Furry claims have occurred in Wisconsin and Texas.

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/apr/08/facebook-posts/claim-about-schools-providing-litter-boxes-student/

As NCRM notes, “These are grown adults, elected officials, standing in the Minnesota people’s house and spreading ridiculous falsehoods.”

 

I may have missed this little factoid concerning Roger Stone. Not only is he a wack-job but now a religious one at that. IOWs he saw the gift https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/roger-stone-claims-there-is-a-satanic-portal-over-the-white-house/

Stone—who was convicted by a jury on seven counts of lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction in relation to special counsel Robert Muller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election—claims to have become a dedicated Christian because God used Trump to pardon him for his crimes. In this capacity, Stone claims to have developed a new appreciation for the importance of waging “spiritual warfare” through prayer.

Gotta hand it to Roger. He knows how to play the grift and he plays it well. The merging of politics and spirituality, a dangerous mix.

 

Here is a perfect example of Trump's claimed voter fraud. https://www.rawstory.com/tracy-kay-mckee/ The issue, McKee is a Republican.

According to the New York Daily News, a 64-year-old woman now living in California was given probation instead of jail time as prosecutors wanted after she confessed she used her dead mother's ballot to vote twice in the 2020 presidential election in Arizona.

The report notes that a tearful Tracy Kay McKee admitted that she cast the fraudulent vote for her deceased mother in Maricopa County -- the same county that conducted the months-long and expensive investigation into election fraud at the behest of former president Donald Trump. that did not go his way.

The report states that McKee was handed two years of probation, hit with a fine and ordered to perform community service in lieu of the 30 days in jail prosecutors asked for.

Note:: An Associated Press review of every potential case of voter fraud in the six battleground states disputed by former President Donald Trump has found fewer than 475 — a number that would have made no difference in the 2020 presidential election. https://apnews.com/article/voter-fraud-election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-7fcb6f134e528fee8237c7601db3328f

"I support military aid to Ukraine but I want to say that we would not even be in Ukraine if President Biden did not shut down the Keystone Pipeline on the first day [of his presidency]," Watkins replied.

"'Because now that that's shut down, we have to get our oil and we're getting it from Russia and we're getting all these problems through the Ukraine that would not have happened if Biden did not shut down the Keystone pipeline," he added.

An incorrect statement by Ron Watkins, https://www.rawstory.com/ron-watkins-corrected-video/ a GQP candidate running for Arizona's 2nd Congressional District. He was corrected, on stage, by Walt Blackman,

"That is not why [Russia] went into Ukraine. They went into Ukraine because Ukraine [wanted] to be a part of NATO. Listen, you're trying to work on a national stage and you don't even know why the war started in Ukraine, it had nothing to do with the Keystone pipeline."

It's about damn time Republicans put a stop to the idiocy coming from their party.

And FYI the US gets 3-6% of oil from Russia (now banned), less than 2% from Ukraine. It is important to note as well that the US would not benefit from the pipeline as TC Energy claimed. TC Energy is a Canadian company and even with its expected production, the effects on the market would be negligible.

Just when I think we have hit rock-bottom when it comes to stupidity, along comes another bright and shining star. Elijah Schaffer https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2925874847708794 from TheBlaze is a prime example. There is so much wrong with this statement, I don't know where to begin.

TWATs for WeekEnding 5/1/22

 

“Now, I understand we could walk down the street, something could happen. We could be at church, something can happen. One-hundred percent understand that,” Lori Ferguson told WCSC. “My kids asked me where the police were to protect them. They didn’t want to take a shower, in our own home, because now they’re traumatized by what happened tonight.”

 

Sadly this “feeling” (for lack of better term) became all to real within 24-hrs of the NCRM's posting of said story. https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2022/04/now-i-understand-parents-outraged-after-shootout-during-kids-baseball-game-leaves-children-traumatized-video/ It is the second time with 6 weeks that I have felt fear for the children of friends.

 

 

So I haven't shared much NIFBy (New Independent Fundamentalist Baptist) hate of late, thought I would change that. https://onlysky.media/hemant-mehta/preacher-teachers-grooming-kids-should-be-beheaded-on-live-tv/

What fascinates me, they are so predictable with their hate.

He went from the claim that teachers are showing pornographic images to kids (which is a lie), to saying they must be pedophiles (a lie), to saying they should be executed with a gun to the head (WTF…), to saying we should publicly behead those teachers on live television (WTF²).

So my introduction to “furries” was the 2003 episode of CSI called Fur and Loathing. Love or hate the episode it was a stereotypical presentation according to critics. But I became intrigued and did a bit more digging. For brevity, yes there can be a sexual aspect but generally there is not. It is cos-play costume play.

Flash forward 15ish years and I have about 10 individuals on friends list that would be considered part of the furry culture. Needless to say the reality presented does not reflect the reality that exists. Hence reading about this shit does not surprise me. https://www.rawstory.com/furries-at-school-2657218947/

The Austin Independent School District this week fell victim to a harassment campaign after right-wing activist Chaya Raichik falsely accused them of teaching second-graders about furries.

,,,

Shortly after Raichik lobbed false accusations against the Austin Independent School District, it was flooded with angry calls and messages from her followers, who accused the schools of teaching "sexual fetishes" to children.

The school district, for its part, did a review of its curriculum and found no "furry worksheets" created for second-graders.

As Matt Binder from Mashable notes, https://mashable.com/article/libs-of-tiktok-furries-school-troll-fake

Furries are an internet subculture whose members often create an anthropomorphized animal version of themselves and identify and act as that animal character. Furries are not explicitly sexual in nature; however, furry fetish tropes have pigeonholed the community into being identified as such by the mainstream.

Also, according to Binder, Raichik previously spread BS about schools leaving out litter boxes for students that were choosing to "identify as cats."

 

No one has been held accountable because after 60+ court cases no proof was brought forth. And you can bet that if Dr Fauci, for some odd reason, did jack-shit the Reich would still be calling for his head.

https://www.rawstory.com/john-bennett-anthony-fauci/

You would think after 2+ yrs that rational thinking would return.

 

Speaking of rational thought, as one comment notes, “Those who want loyalty and respect, must be worthy of these things first. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE4lb0XTuco

Again, I would like pastor Shane Vaughn to demonstrate the claims he makes. How did President Trump make churches better?

Generally, I do not agree with the Catholic League (Bill Donohue) https://www.catholicleague.org/marjorie-taylor-greene-slanders-catholics/ but when they are lied about by a known crank, a defense is required. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/even-catholic-league-denounces-marjorie-211252848.html While I agree with Greene's assessment of the RCCs handling of the pedo scandal (although she forgets that it is not “just” a RCC issue), she is incorrect in regards to illegal immigration and refugee settlement.

While Catholic Charities receives funding, as do MANY non-profits, they undertake tasks that would otherwise fall to the government; they fulfill a need as well as holding a particular area of expertise. Catholic Charities has a long history of assisting migrants and refugees, and in the long run it saves the gov't money.

In the end it boils down to this. Instead of using a FOX “news” talking point (s) Marjorie, try reading your fucking bible.

"When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God." ~Leviticus 19:33-34

It should be noted that Greene did not specify a specific part of Catholic teaching she believes church leaders are violating by aiding immigrants.

 

So, the other day I was asked why I include some of the clips I do. Easy answer, because of the outrageous nature of what is being said. Also, an easy answer, because many of these individuals ARE running for public office. IOWs “we” are responsible for the idiots in office.

Case in point “"Trucker Randy" Bishop, who previously chaired the Antrim County Republican Party filed to run for a seat representing the 37th state Senate District as a Democrat. https://twitter.com/HeartlandSignal/status/1518656851516301312

“That in turn has led to scrutiny of his radio rants, one of which in particular where he complained about how mixed families in commercials upset him.“ https://www.rawstory.com/trucker-2657205337/

With that I bring this episode to an end, although I may be adding another installment.

This week I bring to you Mr Mythos. https://www.youtube.com/c/MrMythos An “occult researcher, mythweaver, truth seeker.” What I find interesting, Mr Mythos delves into the Hollow Earth mythos which not many do. For me just something different to watch/listen too.