1/31/2015::In other news,,,

Walker touts unconventional 'master's degree'

In a radio interview earlier this week, Walker unveiled a slightly different response when asked about his lack of a college degree. The governor, who left Marquette University in his senior year to take a full-time job, could be in a presidential field that includes lawyers, doctors and business people with bachelor's and advanced degrees.

"I'm like the majority of people in America," Walker told Hugh Hewitt. "I'm someone who went to college, had the opportunity in my senior year to go and take a job full-time, which was not the only reason I went to college, but one of the biggest reasons was to get a job."

Then he got married and started a family. "Like a lot of folks in America, you know, your family and your job take the time away from you finishing it up," Walker continued. "I've got a master's degree in taking on the big government special interests, and I think that is worth more than anything else that anybody can point to."

Governor unveils budget cuts, limits school suit costs

"Actions speak louder than words, and today we've seen that the words Gov. Ducey spoke at the State of the State were hollow," Senate Minority Leader Katie Hobbs, D-Phoenix, said in a statement. "The budget he revealed (Friday) cuts funding for neighborhood schools, universities and economic development efforts, all of which we know give taxpayers a return on their investment.

"And while his budget takes from our schools and universities, forcing tuition raises on Arizona's middle class, it gives away more than $100 million to private prisons," she said. "Is this what Gov. Ducey meant when he closed his State of the State address by saying, 'Let's give our best for Arizona'?"

 More on the debacle that is Kansas and Texas,,,

Republican Economic Failure and Idiocy are on Full Display in Kansas

It’s like I’ve said numerous times before, you cannot build an economic ideology solely off the notion of cutting taxes. At some point you’re going to cut taxes to such a low level that governments cannot function properly. And since Republicans have done just about everything they possibly can to vilify any hint at a tax increase, suggesting one would almost certainly be political suicide for any member of the GOP.

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This is a similar (though not exact) issue Texas is about to deal with as well. When you base an economy on horrifically flawed ideologies, it’s eventually going to catch up with you. While pushing for tax cuts makes for great politics, reality proves time and time again that it makes for terrible policy. And while not all tax cuts are bad, they’re certainly not this economic savior Republicans often make them out to be.

Over 80 percent of Americans support “mandatory labels on foods containing DNA”

The Oklahoma State survey result is probably an example of the intersection between scientific ignorance and political ignorance, both of which are widespread.The most obvious explanation for the data is that most of these people don’t really understand what DNA is, and don’t realize that it is contained in almost all food. When they read that a strange substance called “DNA” might be included in their food, they might suspect that this is some dangerous chemical inserted by greedy corporations for their own nefarious purposes.

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The same is true of much scientific ignorance. For many people, there is little benefit to understanding much about genetics or DNA. Most Americans can even go about their daily business perfectly well without knowing that the Earth revolves around the sun. Even the smartest people are inevitably ignorant of the vast majority of information out there. We all have to focus our time and energy on learning that information which is most likely to be instrumentally useful, or at least provide entertainment value. For large numbers of people, much basic political and scientific information doesn’t make the cut.

Kentucky Republican says 1891 law lets him drive drunk while he’s in office

Kentucky state Sen. Brandon Smith’s (R) lawyer argued in court on Wednesday that he should not be charged with driving under the influence because of a provision in the state constitution, WKYT-TV reported.

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Smith was arrested on Jan. 6, the opening day of the legislature, and charged with speeding and a DUI after allegedly blowing a .088 on a preliminary breath test. He was also reportedly caught driving at 65 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone.

“The members of the General Assembly shall, in all cases except treason, felony, breach or surety of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance on the sessions of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House they shall not be questioned in any other place,” the section reads.

Johnson told the Associated Press that the provision was added to state law in 1891 to “keep legislators from being bothered by people who would arrest them during sessions.”

10/8/2014::Extras

Businessman at Center of Lesbian Custody Case Charged With International Kidnapping

A prominent Christian direct-mail guru with former ties to an anti-Semitic publication now faces federal charges for his alleged role assisting a woman flee the United States with her biological daughter after losing custody of the child to a former lesbian partner.

Philip Zodhiates, whose direct-mail business, Response Unlimited, targets conservatives and Christians, is scheduled to voluntarily appear for arraignment next Wednesday in Buffalo, N.Y. A grand jury there returned a two-count indictment on Sept. 19 charging him with conspiracy to defraud the United States and international parental kidnapping.

Lisa Miller, who became in international fugitive after fleeing the U.S. in 2009 with her daughter, is also charged in the indictment, along with Timothy David Miller, 37, a Crossville, Tenn., pastor. The current whereabouts of Lisa Miller and her daughter, who is now 12, are unknown.

Timothy Miller initially was charged with international kidnapping in May 2011 in Vermont, but Justice Department prosecutors dismissed the charges five months later after his attorneys challenged the admissibility of statements he made when arrested.

Matt LaPorta, a spokesman for Zodhiates, told Hatewatch today that Zodhiates would have no comment and referred queries to Robert Hemley, a Burlington, Vt., attorney who also declined comment.

The New York indictment is the latest development in a complex case that has received wide-spread attention because it focuses on the rights of non-biological parents in same-sex unions, while becoming a lightning rod for conservative Christians who condemn homosexuality.

Minnesota Anti-LGBT Activists Turn To Scare Tactics, Religious Persecution Rhetoric In Opposing School Trans-Inclusive Policy

Opponents of a proposed framework for allowing transgender students to participate in school sports in Minnesota has come under fire from anti-LGBT activists in the state, including from the Minnesota Child Protection League, which ran a full-page ad in the Minneapolis Star Tribune this week with the message: “A male wants to shower beside your 14-year-old daughter. Are YOU ok with that?”

At a hearing yesterday, the group that oversees high school sports in Minnesota tabled the proposal until December after speakers warned that the policy would amount to “transgender promotion” and because some students may have religious objections to transgender identity, it would “intentionally endorse one particular religious view over another.”

The Minnesota Child Protection League claims that its transphobic ad generated over 10,000 emails to the sports board. Andy Birkey with The Colu.mn reports that “most of the speakers in opposition” at yesterday’s hearing “had a connection with either the Child Protection League or the Minnesota Family Council,” a state affiliate of Focus on the Family’s political arm.

9/19/2014::In other news

Preserving the ancient ruins of Utah’s Nine Mile Canyon

,,,Spangler continues to identify and preserve the canyon’s cultural history, which, he says, is at risk from industrial development and vandalism.

Utah’s energy boom is driving Spangler’s current preservation efforts. In 2000, massive natural gas reserves were discovered on the plateau above Nine Mile Canyon. Developing those gas reserves means driving thousands of semi-trucks through the canyon’s dirt roads.

“What we have is a perfect storm of one of America’s richest archaeological districts sitting right next to one of America’s greatest natural gas reserves,” said Jerry Spangler, “and a conflict happens when you have industrial development in a cultural landscape.”

Gore: Fracking Won't Solve Our Climate Crisis

"In his first term I expressed some considerable concern about what I thought he was failing to do," Gore said, adding that after the demise of cap-and-trade legislation in the Senate, "there was not the kind of energy and activity that I felt was appropriate." But Gore credited Obama for shifting course dramatically in his second term, and for going around the "logjam" in Congress by instructing the EPA to issue "historic regulations" on carbon emissions from power plants.

Gore did criticize some of Obama's policies, including the president's "all-of-the-above" energy strategy, which Gore described as the "prevailing code for 'let's keep burning fossil fuels.'"

"But it's not fair to just take those things out of context without looking at the totality of his policies," he added. "And the totality of what he's doing now in his second term is really historic."

Gore expressed skepticism about the fracking boom. He said he opposed the use of natural gas as a bridge fuel—something the Obama administration has supported—"until and unless they demonstrate the ability to stop the methane leaks at every stage of the process, particularly during fracking." (Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that some scientists argue can negate the climate benefits of burning natural gas instead of coal.) And he added that the increasing cost-effectiveness of solar and wind power was already posing a "threat to the viability of natural gas as a source of energy in the marketplace."

Want to be more like ISIS? Ban Evolution in Your Classrooms

Sometimes, rarely, but sometimes I think those of us who occupy the space to the left of center in American politics can be a little quick to put religious conservatives into the same box that the Taliban occupy. Hell, “The Newsroom” is a show many of we liberals adore, and Will McAvoy — the central character — outright called the Tea Party “America’s Taliban” at the end of the first season. It’s a fairly apt comparison when you consider the fact that both groups lean almost entirely on a less-than-mainstream interpretation of religious teachings to inform their decisions, and that both groups would clearly have zero problems with their religious texts being if not the sole law of the land, the sole basis for the laws of the land. I just think it’s smart to watch how closely you tie your friend Bob McChristian to the Taliban because there are still many cultural differences between the two groups, and just as we hate when conservatives paint us all with the “Anti-American” or “Anti-business” brush, we should be just as careful not to play the over-generalization game.

Then again, when you read stories like the one Rachel Maddow’s blog posted about ISIS banning evolution being taught in the schools that reside in regions they take over, you can’t help the comparisons. And you know, I don’t really feel bad for the right-wing religious zealots when they get compared to ISIS or the Taliban, because they’re the foamy-mouthed equivalents of each other,,,

8/3/2014::More news than you can use

Science and Scientific Theories vs. The Fraud of Religion; Exposing Creationist Charlatans and their Intelligent Design Lies, Causing a Pandemic of Scientific Illiteracy and Ignorance

The creationists and ID movements always claim to be separate and different. Both movements almost never discuss their own claims, other than fraudulently attacking facts of Science. Creationists and intelligent designers have the exact same hypothesis. Yes, hypothesis. It is not Scientific, even though both movements claim to be Sciences. Their hypothesis is nowhere near a Scientific Theory. Their hypothesis is from the bible and it is called Genesis. It has never been tested and no tests can be performed using their hypothesis.

Genesis is a completely unproven, unsubstantiated, and untested religious claim, written by anonymous jews, anywhere between 1400 BCE and 70 CE. The section that contains the creation claim is 56 verses long and fits on 2 pages of paper. It contains no research and no evidence. It was not developed using any Scientific Method, process or peer-review. It boils down to some anonymous guy made a religious claim. Nobody really knows when, why, how or even who made-up the Genesis story. It is completely unscientific and naturally impossible. Genesis defies common sense, logic, reason, rationality and reality. The dubious Genesis religious claim is Scientifically illiterate.

America 'Ended Slavery, We Didn't Bring Slavery To North America' Says Top Baptist Leader

"Movies and books like Dinesh D’Souza’s book ‘America’ are so important," Land told his audience, "because if you are younger than forty and you’ve been taught in the public schools, you have not learned the real story of America."

What is the "real" story?

"You have been taught a lie about America as a colonial power, as a rapacious power," Land claims. "As Dinesh points out, we ended slavery, we didn’t bring slavery to North America. Slavery was there, the Native Americans were enslaving each other before we got here. Eventually, we ended slavery. We have been a civilizing influence in the world."

Kramer uses campaign funds to fight sex assault accusations

A campaign finance report shows republican lawmaker Bill Kramer used donor funds to pay an attorney $10,000 to defend him against sex assault accusations.

"There is no way on earth that campaign funds should be able to be used by an official to defend that official against sexual assault charges," Executive Director Mike McCabe of the watchdog group Wisconsin Democracy Campaign tells 27 News.

The finance report for Rep. Kramer (R-Waukesha) lists payments to to Gatzke & Ruppelt SC for "Legal Fees-Compliance/Administrative" of $5,000 on March 22, and $5,000 on June 2. Attorney James Gatzke was publicly identified as Kramer's attorney after a woman's accusations of sexual assault surfaced. And police records show Gatzke accompanied Kramer to Muskego for a police interrogation three days after the March campaign payment.

Kramer has been charged with two felony counts of sexual assault. Authorities say Kramer sexually assaulted a former political aide after a republican event in Muskego in 2011. Authorities say the woman came forward after two other women accused Kramer of sexual harassment earlier this year.

Substitute Teacher Fired for His Music Video Mocking Religion Finally Gets Some Justice

He was a long-term substitute teacher at a school district in Sandwich, Massachusetts, and once administrators found out about his video last December, he was unceremoniously fired from his job — and blacklisted from subbing anywhere in the district. Why? Because… well, they had no good reason. It’s not like Hurley was talking about religion in the classroom. The fact that students could access the video online should have been irrelevant. (***Edit***: Just to clarify, it doesn’t look like anyone complained specifically about him. The administrators decided to preemptively remove him from the classroom.)

Hurley got in touch with the state’s ACLU in January and they worked together to remedy the situation. I can’t imagine it was that difficult a case. Even the town’s lawyer “very quickly acknowledged this was wrong.”

This week, I’m happy to say, the two sides agreed on a settlement,,,

Ron Paul-backed NV candidate vows to defund government to fight fluoride and chemtrails

A Ron Paul-endorsed candidate for county commissioner in Nevada outlined her conspiracy theory-informed vision for local governance in recently posted video.

Cindy Lake, a Republican candidate for Clark County commissioner, said she became active in politics because Paul – the former Texas congressman and failed presidential candidate – mentioned during a debate that he supported the right to drink raw milk.

“I think you have a right to put whatever you would like to put into your body, if you’re a grown adult,” Lake said during a candidates forum in April, which was posted online Thursday. “I don’t think the government should tell any of us what we should eat, drink, or how to raise our children.”

Religious Effort To Halt Climate Change Puts Rabbi Moti Reiber Behind Church Pulpits

"My feeling is that I’m the only person these people are ever going to see who’s going to look them in the eye and say, ‘There’s such a thing as climate change,’” Rieber said. “I’m trying to let them know it’s not irreligious to believe in climate change.”

He is at the vanguard of religious efforts — halting in some places, gathering speed elsewhere — to move the ecological discussion from its hot-button political and scientific moorings to one based on theological morality and the right thing to do.

Where allowed behind the pulpit in a United Methodist or Lutheran church, Rieber can sense a restless shifting in the pews as he draws parallels between God asking Adam to tend the Garden of Eden and humankind’s stewardship duty to the environment.

7/25/2106::Stuff I couldn't fit in

Fox hosts outraged that Texas 911 operators are ‘forced’ to help dying non-English speakers

The hosts of Fox & Friends on Wednesday were shocked to learn that emergency responders were “forced” to serve non-English speakers in life-threatening situations even if the callers were suspected of entering the country illegally.

“They stumbled across the border illegally and now they need your help!” Fox News host Steve Doocy complained, pointing to a 911 call in Brooks County, Texas where a man who could only speak Spanish asked for a helicopter rescue because his cousin was “turning purple.”

“A small Texas town forced to answer 911 from stranded illegals in Spanish!” Doocy exclaimed.

“Not only are they understaffed and lacking resources, now they’ve got to deal with illegal immigrants who have no business being here,” co-host Brian Kilmeade opined.

Abortion Protesters Interrupt Church Service, Tell Pro-Choice Worshippers To ‘Repent’

Hundreds of anti-choice activists are currently congregating in New Orleans to stage protests against abortion around the city, an event that’s expected to last all week long. So far, tensions have come to a head in an unexpected place: the sanctuary of a church, where abortion opponents interrupted a service to tell congregants that they don’t have a “true faith” because their denomination supports reproductive rights.

This week’s protests are being spearheaded by the national anti-abortion group Operation Save America, which used to go by the name Operation Rescue National. That far-right organization, frequently criticized for its “militant” tactics, is perhaps best known for being tied to Dr. George Tiller’s assassination. And on Sunday, as part of its week long protest in Louisiana, group members decided to take their message straight to the First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans.

Richard Land Links Gay Rights To Nazi Germany

After lecturing liberals on why they are wrong to fault the United States for slavery, former Southern Baptist Convention official Richard Land drew a connection between the rise of gay rights and Nazi Germany.

While guest-hosting yesterday’s edition of “Washington Watch,” Land spoke with Fox News correspondent Todd Starnes about President Obama’s recent executive order to protect employees of federal government contractors from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

He told Starnes that conservatives need to stand up to “the gay thought police” or face Nazi-style persecution, mentioning Martin Niemöller’s anti-Nazi poem “First they came….”

Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment (AUDIO)

Award winning journalist and former NPR reporter Janet Heimlich examines religiously motivated child abuse and neglect in her new book Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment.

Examples of religious child maltreatment include beating children based on beliefs about “biblical chastisement,” refusing to report abuse to protect a faith community, and denying children need medical care due to beliefs about faith healing. Children in harmful religious cultures also suffering emotionally.

Marco Rubio Is The Real Victim Of The Gay Rights Movement

In an attempt to woo social conservatives in advance of a possible presidential bid, Sen. Marco Rubio delivered a speech at Catholic University today, where he attempted to come across as a uniter on social issues like marriage equality and abortion rights while assuring his party’s right flank that he agrees with their hardline policy positions.

The Florida Republican drew heavily from the Religious Right’s persecution narrative to claim that while LGBT people have faced discrimination in the past, he and fellow opponents of marriage equality are now the victims of widespread “intolerance.”

“We should acknowledge that our nation is marred by a history of discrimination against gays and lesbians,” he said. “There was once a time when our federal government not only banned the hiring of gay employees, it required federal contractors to identify and fire them. Some laws prohibited gays from being served in bars and restaurants, and many states carried out law enforcement efforts targeting gay marriages.”

“Fortunately, we’ve come a long way since then,” he continued. “Many committed gay and lesbian couples feel humiliated by the law’s failure to recognize their relationship as a marriage, and supporters of same-sex marriage argue that laws banning same-sex marriage are discrimination. I respect their arguments, and I would concede that they pose a legitimate question for lawmakers and society.”

But now, according to Rubio, it is gay-rights opponents whose rights are under attack.

7/23/2014::I'll Take it From Here

CNBC's Climate "Expert": "Demonization Of Carbon Dioxide Is Just Like" Demonization Of "Jews Under Hitler"

The cable business channel CNBC continued to push climate change denial on its network, hosting a professor who compared the "demonization" of carbon dioxide to the Holocaust.

Physics Professor William Happer has published no peer-reviewed research on climate change, yet co-host Joe Kernen introduced him as an "industry expert" on the July 14 edition of Squawk Box. After a softball interview with Kernen, co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin challenged Happer for "not believ[ing] in climate change" -- to which Happer responded by telling Sorkin to "shut up." Sorkin then asked Happer about comments he made to The Daily Princetonian in 2009 comparing climate science to Nazi propaganda. Happer doubled down on his comments, stating that "the demonization of carbon dioxide is just like the demonization of the poor Jews under Hitler. Carbon dioxide is actually a benefit to the world, and so were the Jews."

Climate-Denying 'Expert': Carbon Demonized 'Just Like Jews Under Hitler' (VIDEO)

For shits and giggles here's what David Pakman has to say,,,

Yolo County Officials Perplexed By Unusual Spike In Whooping Cough Cases

She’s puzzled by the spike, because nearly 95 percent of kids in Yolo County public schools are vaccinated.

“We have not seen the dramatic decline in the use of vaccine in this county that some other counties have seen,” she said.

She says her department is doing all it can to keep parents educated.

The Centers For Disease Control recommends babies have five whooping cough shots before kindergarten and another booster in the seventh grade. It also asks pregnant moms to get the shot in their third trimester.

Sometimes, ‘What Would Reagan Do?’ is the wrong question

This over-the-top Reagan worship isn’t just wrong; it’s ironic. In 1983, some of the prominent conservative media voices of the day actually complained bitterly that Reagan’s response was wholly inadequate.

George Will – yes, that George Will – called the Reagan White House’s arguments “pathetic” at the time, insisting, “It’s time for [Reagan] to act.”

The president responded publicly with rhetoric that made the president sound rather helpless. “Short of going to war, what would they have us do?” Reagan said. “I know that some of our critics have sounded off that somehow we haven’t exacted enough vengeance. Well, vengeance isn’t the name of the game in this.”

One wonders what the reaction would have been from the right and the Beltway media if Obama responded with similar rhetoric to a comparable situation.

Limbaugh: ‘Eerie’ crash of Malaysian flight is an ‘opportunity’ to save Obama from border crisis

Radio host Rush Limbaugh on Thursday said that the news media was covering the crash of a Malaysian flight that went down in the Ukraine because it was an “opportunity” to save President Barack Obama from the crisis of refugee women and children coming to the U.S. border.

“It’s a Malaysian Airlines jet,” Limbaugh explained to his listeners. “I’ve got the British Open [golf tournament] on the top monitor. I haven’t had CNN on all day. What do you want to bet they have broomed everything, and are covering wall-to-wall the Malaysian Airlines flight shot down by a missile?”

“I don’t want to appear to be callous here, folks,” he continued. “But you talk about an opportunity to abandon the bad Obama news at the border!”

MN GOP candidate: ‘Knocked up’ women don’t deserve dinner, dancing at their wedding

A Republican candidate for a seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives is being criticized for outrageous statements about mothers-to-be she posted on her right-wing blog.

[,,,]
“Don’t you think that if you’re having a baby — and you’re not married — that you should forego the shower?” she asked. “I also think that if you get married — and are knocked up — you should get married quietly. At a courthouse, at a private home.”

Kihne specifically said that there should be no dancing or dinner for prospective brides who are pregnant. She acknowledge that “I’m seen as very cold-hearted with this issue and it’s caused a couple of big arguments in my family,” but insisted on standing her ground against “the idiots in Hollywood who make it look ‘cool’ to tote a baby around sans daddy.”

Driver Says God Told Her ‘I’ll Take It From Here,’ So She Let Go Of Wheel; Promptly Runs Over Motorcyclist

Depending on how you look at it, either God drove a car into motorcyclist Anthony Oliveri or – more likely – a woman took a leap of faith and the laws of physics did the rest.

While driving along the roads of Fort Wayne, Indiana, a car suddenly and inexplicably swerved directly into Oliveri. Police say the car not only ran over his bike, but also over Oliveri, leaving him badly injured on the road. The car kept on driving.

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Police caught up with the woman who hit Oliveri several blocks down the road. According to the police report, the woman – identified as 25-year-old Prionda C. Hill – told them that “she was driving and out of no where God told her that he would take it from here and she let go of the wheel and let him take it.”

7/13/2014::And the craziness countinues

Renew America Pundit Warns Gay Marriage Will Turn Us Into Marxist Slaves

Donald Hank of Renew America responded to the decision of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to allow pastors to officiate same-sex weddings by accusing Presbyterians of “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” and supporting “social Marxism.”

“This is social Marxism and we are slaves to it in the US,” he writes. “Isn’t it time to throw off the chains? It's all up to the people.”

He adds that gay marriage “is like saying a dog is a cat” and will allow for “our culture and hence our sovereignty to be destroyed.”

Thanks to the Baptists Who Defend Church/State Separation

Back when Baptists were in the minority in the U.S., they were strong supporters of church/state separation. Now, firmly in the majority, we’ve seen them virtually in lockstep with the Christian Right. It’s a shock to many that groups like the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty are actually on our side when it comes to interpreting the First Amendment.

Ken Camp, writing for the Associated Baptist Press, reminds us how tough it is these days for Baptist ministers to speak out against their own congregations,,,

Anti-Gay Activists Hopeful Hobby Lobby Will Lead To License To Discriminate

Anti-gay activists are rejoicing at the Supreme Court's decision in Hobby Lobby today, in part because they are hopeful that the decision will pave the way for one of their own policy goals: to use the religious liberty argument to push for broad exemptions for corporations from nondiscrimination laws.

[,,,]
Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber is hopeful that the decision bodes well for those trying to use religious freedom as a cloak to justify discrimination against LGBT people: There may be reason for them to be optimistic. As SCOTUSblog pointed out, the majority's opinion pointedly leaves open "the question of whether the Government has a similarly compelling interest in preventing discrimination on the basis of sex or sexual orientation."

With respect to implications for other kinds of religious-based discrimination, the Court writes that racial discrimination in hiring will not be permitted under RFRA because "The Government has a compelling interest in providing equal opportunity to participate in the workforce without regard to race, and prohibitions on racial discrimination are precisely tailored to acheive [sic] that critical goal." Note that this leave open the question of whether the Government has a similarly compelling interest in preventing discrimination on the basis of sex or sexual orientation.

Doctor cleared after complaint over Orthodox Jewish practice of sucking blood from baby’s penis at circumcision

A Toronto doctor who employs the traditional Jewish practice of orally sucking blood from a baby’s penis following circumcision has been cleared by Ontario’s physician review board after an anti-circumcision activist filed an official complaint accusing him of religious bias and “sexual motive.”

The ritual of orally suctioning blood from a circumcision wound, sometimes through a plastic tube, is known as metzitzah b’peh and is practised almost exclusively among Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jewish circles.

“There is no information to support the … contention that there was a sexual motive to the method by which the [doctor] performed ritual circumcisions,” reads a decision document published Tuesday by the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board.

The Board ultimately concluded that the original complaint, which was linked to a Seattle-based anti-circumcision group, was obviously meant as “a broadsided attack on the practice of circumcision.”

“I’m pleased with the decision, but I’m not going to comment,” Dr. Aaron Jesin, a family practitioner who has performed more than 10,000 circumcisions, told the National Post by phone on Wednesday.

Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Floats Again, After Two Years

More than two years after it ran aground off the Italian coast, the cruise ship Costa Condordia is floating again. Salvage workers managed that feat Monday by expelling water from large caissons, the pontoons that are attached to its sides.

"Six hours after the refloating began, the 115,000-ton vessel had cleared its custom-made platform by one meter," reports NPR's Sylvia Poggioli. "The ship is to be raised another meter today. Then it will be towed 90 feet eastward and anchored to the seabed and land with chains and cables."

The initial moments of the refloating were seen as the most dangerous, as it wasn't known if the hull could maintain its integrity. Today marks another step in the largest maritime salvage operation in history.

The current phase of the operation is expected to take about one week. Eventually, officials plan to tow the massive ship to Genoa, more than 100 miles away, to be used for scrap. The total salvage operation will reportedly cost more than $2 billion.

6/27/2014::Past but not forgotten

Rifle-toting MI man won’t be charged after frightening cops with revolution talk

Police stopped a rifle-toting Michigan man last month who was apparently intoxicated and warning of revolution, but they eventually decided not to charge him.

Officers were called May 4 after several witnesses reported the man walking along a street in Kalamazoo with the weapon, and police stopped the man for a jaywalking violation.

The Kalamazoo Gazette examined police reports and dashboard camera video of the incident that showed officers trying to balance public safety concerns with the man’s Second Amendment rights.

It’s legal to openly carrying guns in Michigan, but it’s illegal to brandish one – which police described as “waving or displaying the firearm in a threatening manner.”

'Healing Evangelist' Todd Bentley Tells Man With Cerebral Palsy: 'I'm Not Giving You My Anointing,' After He Calls Him a Fraud at Crusade

Todd Bentley, the controversial founder and "healing evangelist" of Fresh Fire USA, withheld his healing "anointing" from a vocal critic of his ministry at a revival crusade in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after the man called him a "worker of iniquity" before his faith-filled audience.

The critic, Justin Peters who operates Justin Peters Ministries in Oklahoma and suffers from cerebral palsy, is captured in a YouTube video, challenging Bentley with a quote from Matthew 7:22, calling him a fraudulent preacher after he was invited to testify during the revival service.

Scam Artist Preacher Benny Hinn: Give Me $1,000 and You’ll (Somehow) Become Rich!

Benny Hinn, the scam artist with a net worth of $42,000,000 who poses as a preacher and “heals” people (though he never releases their medical records), knows exactly what you have to do to make him yourself wealthier: Just send him $1,000.

[,,,]
Actually, Hinn writes that he’s asking for $1,000 because there’s something special and biblical about the number 1000. But it’d be *crazy* to just ask for 1,000 pennies, right? Of course it would. Jesus totally meant dollars. American dollars.

Ex-Gay Group Praises Texas GOP, Compares Anti-Gay Activists To Opponents Of The Ku Klux Klan

Writing on behalf of the ex-gay group Voice of the Voiceless on Monday, DL Foster praised Texas Republicans for adopting a resolution in support of ex-gay therapy.

Foster, likening the GOP’s ex-gay resolution to the fight against anti-black discrimination at the hands of groups like the Ku Klux Klan, attacked “the anti-American actions of liberals who continue to deny rights and suppress hope for potential millions of Americans seeking avenues to change sexual and emotional dysfunctions.”

He even claimed that prohibitions on ex-gay therapy for minors, such as laws recently passed in California and New Jersey, would prevent survivors of sexual abuse “from getting much needed counseling” and encourage “suicidal” thoughts.

Ohio Board Of Education Member Calls On Religious Right To Take Over Education

One of Ralph Reed’s most infamous statements — “I want to be invisible. I do guerilla warfare…You don't know it's over until you're in a body bag” — came in an era of school board takeovers by stealth Religious Right candidates. But stealth is so 1990s. At the Road to Majority conference sponsored by Reed’s Faith and Freedom coalition last weekend, a member of the Ohio state board of education openly called on conservative Christians to take over the educational system and return it to a foundation of “biblical truth.”

Mark Smith, who was appointed to the board of education by Gov. John Kasich last year, is president of Ohio Christian University and president of the Ohio Faith and Freedom Coalition. He said at one board meeting that books like Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” are “quite divisive” and part of an “underlying socialist-communist agenda.”

[DELUSIONAL]Bryan Fischer Can't Understand Why Anti-Gay Bigots Are Demonized For Living In The World Of Common Sense

"You and I are people that are living in the world of common sense," Fischer told the caller. "We're living in the world of reality, we're living in the illumination of the Word of God that says homosexuality is a sin ... We live in the world of science ... We live in that world, it's the world of reality, it's the world of truth, it's the world of research, it's the world of medicine, it's the world of health, it's the world of science. And you're exactly right, this is skewed thinking here where all of a sudden we're the ones that are demonized."

6/16/2014::In case you missed it

TEAvangelical Nutcase Pat Robertson Tells Kid Not To Call Cops When Dad Threatens Mom With Gun

While reaching into his mailbag, Robertson found a letter from a child, and answered the letter on air. The child asked how they should handle the situation when their abusive father drew a gun on their mother:

"Whenever my parents fight, my dad threatens my mom with his gun. Fortunately, this now means nothing to my mom, and she never goes nuts about it; she is very calm. But as a child, I get nervous and worried when this happens. Even my younger brother saw this incident. What should we do about it and him?”

Pat, as always, had something intelligent to say. He told the child that “you don’t want to get your father busted . . . but you could,” and suggested that the child speak with their mother instead of “busting” their father. Robertson said that they should “Say, ‘Mom, this thing is scaring me and I ask you, please, to get my father to have some help.’” The advice wouldn’t be Pat’s if it weren’t generously called “questionable.” Still, he does seem to recognize the dangers of the situations involved saying that:

“One day he’s gonna pull the trigger. It doesn’t take too much if you’ve got a loaded weapon and you’re brandishing it around, ‘I’m gonna kill you,’ and the next thing you know the thing goes off. Maybe accidentally, but the mother will wind up dead. You need to do something to intervene but you’re a kid, what do you do, y’know? Your mother ought to take care of that.”

Ted Nugent compares Jewish Congressman Eric Cantor to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels

Former rock star and political gadfly Ted Nugent celebrated House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s primary loss to Tea Party candidate David Brat, comparing the GOP’s only Jewish congressional member to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.

Writing for ‘birther’ conspiracy website World Net Daily, Nugent urged readers “Let’s go ‘Eric Cantor’ on them all!,” by throwing out politicians who indulge in “Joseph Goebbels and Saul Alinsky smoke-and-mirrors politics.”

“I say we the people have had way more than enough compromise, backpedaling, Joseph Goebbels and Saul Alinsky smoke-and-mirrors politics for one generation, and I say it’s about time we go Eric Cantor on the whole gang of deceivers and liars infesting our government right now,” he wrote. ” There’s only so much decent people can take.”

Oak Hill (TN) Commissioner Candidate Who Was Victim of Anti-Atheist Smear Campaign Gets Elected

Earlier this week, Campbell took second in the election — enough to earn a seat on the board and by a *ton* of votes over the third place finisher — and she’s now trying to get to the bottom of who sent that mailer. Jonathan Romeo of the Brentwood Home Page has the story,,,

Religious Right Lawyer: Discrimination Against Blacks, Jews ‘Fundamentally Different’ From Gays

Liberty Counsel head Mat Staver testified before a House sub-committee hearing on religion this afternoon, telling Congress that discrimination against Black people and Jewish people is wrong, but against gay people is acceptable. Today’ hearing, The State Of Religious Liberty In The United States, was chaired by Tea Party extremist and birther Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ).

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) grilled Staver, whose law firm is closely affiliated with Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University. Staver is also the Dean of Liberty University School of Law .

Staver told Nadler he thinks that a photographer, based on her religious beliefs, refusing to take photos at a wedding of Black people is “fundamentally different” from a photographer refusing to take photos at a wedding of gay people.

Van Hollen: Clerks issuing licenses to gay couples could be charged

Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said Thursday that same-sex couples who have wed in recent days are not married in the eyes of the law and that county clerks issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples could be prosecuted.

Also Thursday, Republican Gov. Scott Walker backed Van Hollen's work defending the gay marriage ban but sidestepped questions on whether clerks should be charged and what his personal views on gay marriage are now.

Three district attorneys running for attorney general — two Democrats and a Republican — said they would not issue charges against clerks and their area. A Democratic state representative running to succeed Van Hollen also criticized the idea of issuing charges.

"You do have many people in Wisconsin basically taking the law into their own hands and there can be legal repercussions for that," Van Hollen said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "So, depending on who believes they're married under the law and who doesn't believe they're married under the law may cause them to get themselves in some legal problems that I think are going to take years for them and the courts to work out."

Evangelical Leaders Warn Of 'Secular Totalitarianism' And 'Jail' For U.S. Christians

Russell Moore, who heads the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, hosted Rick Warren, David Platt, and Samuel Rodriguez for a June 9 panel on religious freedom in America through the lens of the Hobby Lobby case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

According to an account by Tom Strode in the Baptist Press, Rodriguez, who heads the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, warned, “Today’s complacency is tomorrow’s captivity. The firewall against secular totalitarianism is religious liberty and religious pluralism.”

“Secular totalitarianism” in this context is the requirement, being challenged in the Hobby Lobby case, that for-profit businesses provide insurance coverage that includes contraception methods to which the company’s owners have religious objections

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6/13/2104::And in other news

SC gov. calls to ban ‘black biker week’ after shootings, but not white Harley week

Gov. Nikki Haley (R) has called on one South Carolina town to end an event for black bikers, but has not opposed a similar so-called “Harley Davidson” biker week that is predominantly white.

During the days of segregation, the town of Atlantic Beach began the Myrtle Beach-area Bikefest, which was one of the few events that allowed African-Americans to congregate. Even today, Atlantic Beach bills itself as “the only Black owned beach in the nation.”

White bikers riding Harley Davidson motorcycles are more likely to come a few weeks earlier for the “Myrtle Beach Bike Week.”

After three people were killed just 14 miles away from Bikefest over the Memorial Day weekend, Haley said that it was time for the African-American tradition to end.

[,,,]
“If you’re going to stop the black bikers weekend, you should stop all biker weekends, regardless if nothing happened during that time,” Atlantic Beach resident Jennequa Miller told the AP. “That’s unfair.

This Lawmaker Complained Sex Education Was ‘Normalizing’ Homosexuality And His State Took Action

A middle school sex ed program will only be taught to Hawaii students if parents explicitly opt-in, the state Department of Education said today. The announcement was the culmination of a long campaign by a virulently anti-gay state legislator who objected that the program was “normalizing” homosexuality.

Hawaii State Rep. Bob McDermott considers gay sex “aberrant behavior” and has been fighting to eliminate the sex ed program, called Pono Choices, for months. McDermott believes that men should “not have anal sex” and “also has problems with oral sex.”

In January, McDermott produced an 18-page report lambasting the program. In the report, McDermott complained the sex ed curriculum was “simultaneously normalizing anal sex and homosexual behavior” and after taking the course students “might be under the impression that homosexuality and lesbianism are quite common.” He objected to the programs “implicit endorsement of homosexuality” and the presentation of “homosexual behavior as the equivalent of male-to-female relationships.”

Feds Rush To Provide Basic Supplies For Surge Of Migrant Kids Held In Makeshift ‘Warehouses’

Unaccompanied children entering the United States at almost double the rate of last year are testing the limits of Department of Homeland Security capacity, as some 1,000 minors who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border on their own were transferred to an Arizona “warehouse” that has not been used to hold people in years, according to the Associated Press. The children — including pregnant teens and a 1-year-old with diarrhea — are sleeping in plastic containers and haven’t showered in ten days, according to the Honduras consul to the United States, who visited the site.

The Obama administration declared an “urgent humanitarian situation” this week, and is now ordering thousands of toilets, cots, and other basic provisions for the thousands of migrant children in federal custody. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson declared “a level-four condition of readiness” in the Rio Grande Valley in May after seeing a McAllen, Texas Border Patrol facility overcrowded with children earlier this month. Photos released by conservative news site Breitbart purport to depict packed processing centers in Texas.

Thus far in the 2014 fiscal year, about 47,000 children have been apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border — a 92 percent increase over the previous year, according to Customs and Border Patrol figures. Federal officials have been transferring minors from Texas to other states to handle the surge. Almost all of the 750 children already transferred to Nogales, Arizona this week are from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, where crime and corruption are associated with a surge in migrants fleeing the country. Another 300 were reportedly transferred to the facility by early Sunday morning.

Supreme Court: POM Wonderful Can Go Ahead And Sue Coca-Cola Over Lack Of Pomegranates In Its Juice

POM Wonderful snagged a legal win today in one of its two ongoing cases: The U.S. Supreme Court sided with the juice maker in its decision, which said that POM can proceed with a lawsuit alleging that the label on Coca-Cola’s “Pomegranate Blueberry” is misleading because most of the drink is actually made of grape and apple juice.

It was a unanimous vote for POM (though Justice Stephen Breyer sat this one out), and one that could mean more lawsuits like this against food makers who perhaps fudge it a bit on labels, reports the Associated Press. And if there’s something we consumers hate, it’s fudging. Unless that means eating actual fudge, because yum.

Leading up to this decision, other courts had come down on Coke’s side because the label complies with Food and Drug Administration laws and regulations.

But that’s not enough, the Supreme Court said — just because the label technically conforms to the rules doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not misleading to consumers.

Do we really need Angelina Jolie?

A couple years ago, I met Jolie briefly in the UK. I’d been asked to present our work documenting sexualized violence in Syria to Hague and others dedicated to this issue. She listened intently and said nothing. Since, I’ve heard her speak out multiple times for survivors who are not able to speak for themselves or able to obtain the global reach their stories so dearly need. Whether they are living a difficult life trying to raise a baby from rape, as Mireille, or they are unable to even step outside a hospital room, as the girl in southern Turkey, or they are being forbidden from living a life of recovery and freedom as the woman in Idlib, she is speaking for them by saying she supports this cause.

Jolie’s stratospheric visibility is making these women and girls visible.

For that simple fact alone, I believe we need Angelina Jolie, just as we need the investigators, the prosecutors, the philanthropists, the advocates, and the journalists. Because the attention economy for truly caring about suffering is tiny (as is the funding for efforts to help), we need Angelina Jolie. It is with her help, her devotion to the suffering of women who cannot leave their houses because of the intense stigma of rape, that we can bring attention to this issue. Now we just need governments to take on the complex problems that lead to rape in war and the needs of survivors after the fact. Until they do, Angelina Jolie, we need you.

6/6/2014::An odd mix of stories

County prayer: Which way is witch? After ruling, Wiccan just might return

The letter, written by Americans United Legal Director Ayesha N. Khan and ACLU of Virginia Legal Director Rebecca K. Glenberg, notes that “Although this policy has previously been upheld in court, the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Town of Greece v. Galloway makes clear that prayer opportunities must be available to persons of all faiths.”

The case in which the board’s existing policy was upheld was a lawsuit filed by a county resident, Cynthia Simpson, a member of the Reclaiming Witches order who asked the county in 2002 to add her name to the list of clergy invited to lead invocations at board meetings.

Simpson won the first round in U.S. District Court in Richmond, but the county ultimately prevailed when the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the board has a right to set restrictions on the kinds of prayers given at its meetings as well as the people who lead them.

[,,,]
But the new Supreme Court ruling reverses that logic. The justices ruled that imposing restrictions on the content of legislative prayers is unconstitutional, and that lawmakers can avoid that problem by allowing representatives of all faiths to lead invocations, in which they may name any deities they choose, or none at all.

New Orleans Charter Schools Shouldn’t Treat Students Like Prisoners

Is my high school, Lake Area New Tech, a prison or school? Students arrive ready for school every morning, but unfortunately must wait outside the building until security guards unlock the doors at 7:30 a.m. It could be raining, hailing, or sleeting, but they will NOT open the doors until then. Once the doors are unlocked, it takes the guards 15 to 20 minutes to search each student and check for uniform violations. That leaves us with just a few minutes to eat breakfast before class starts at 8 a.m. That’s not enough time for 600 students to make it through the cafeteria line. On a typical morning, we are treated like prisoners, which causes students to react in a variety of negative ways.

Some students break the rules in response to how they are treated. I know how they feel because I was once punished for an act of “rebellion.” At my school, female students are required to wear skirts and socks of a certain length. One day I arrived at school without the proper socks and was told by my principal that I had two options: I could either go to in-school suspension or get my parents to bring the right socks,,,

Two Years Later, the Indian Skeptic Who Debunked a “Miracle” is Still in Exile in Finland

Sanal Edamaruku — a.k.a. “the Indian James Randi” — has debunked a lot of sacred cows in his life. In 2012, after explaining how a statue of Christ could be dripping water seemingly on its own, he was charged with “hurting the religious sentiments of a particular community.” The “crime” could have resulted in a prison sentence of up to three years in addition to a fine, so Edamaruku fled from his home before he could be punished (or physically attacked).

Since then, Edamaruku has been in Finland. And according to Samanthi Dissanayake of BBC News, he still can’t go back home,,,

Officer's Demise Causes Deep Problems For Joe Arpaio

When sheriff's deputy Ramon Charley Armendariz hanged himself, he left behind a house full of questions.

Among the items at his house were a stash of drugs, evidence bags from old cases, hundreds of fake IDs and thousands of his video-recorded traffic stops that were withheld in a racial-profiling case against his boss, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Now, the quest for answers has raised the possibility that a yet-to-be-determined number of his cases could be thrown out and has refocused attention on Arpaio and his department, already under close watch by a federal monitor in the profiling case.

The judge overseeing the case has raised the prospect that Armendariz may have been shaking down people living in the U.S. illegally during traffic stops, and the top prosecutor in Phoenix described the situation as a "mess" as his staff begins to sort it out.

Mark Creech: 'Hunger Is Rampant In India' Because 'False Religion' Makes People Vegetarians

North Carolina Religious Right activist Mark Creech has a theory about why “hunger is rampant in India.” It’s not that “they don’t have enough food,” the Christian Action League director writes today in the Christian Post. Instead, he claims, it’s because “false religion has a stranglehold on their hope for a better future.”

“Though I do not mean to disparage that beautiful country, it cannot be denied the two prominent religions, Hinduism and Islam, hold the nation back,” he writes. He argues that the vegetarianism of many Hindus and what he believes is Islam’s teaching that “human initiative amounts to nothing” are perpetuating hunger in India.

“The factor determining wealth is connected more to a people's belief system than anything else,” he concludes. We hope nobody tells him about Qatar.

Dear Tom Cruise, where are your Scientology Super Powers?

Tom Cruise used to be very vocal about Scientology, but now there’s silence. He once boasted running 17MPH, but there’s not even a verifiable record of that. And what about psychic abilities, telekinesis and super intelligence? But undoubtedly he has super powers because otherwise the whole Scientology thing is a fraud, right? And unquestionably Tom has enough integrity to apologize if he was promoting something that wasn’t true, right? But why does he take so long in giving us the verifiable evidence?

5/31/2014::Old(er) stories but still relevant

Everest is being desecrated, says son of Sherpa Tenzing Norgay

Sherpa Tenzing Norgay would be saddened if he were alive to witness the “charade” that climbing Everest has become, according to his son.

Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary made history in 1953 when they became the first men to reach the top of the world.

Hundreds now attempt the climb every year, with queues forming at the summit and rubbish strewn down the mountainside. Sixteen Sherpas were killed in an avalanche last month as they navigated a treacherous icefall, a reminder of the risks they face in order to meet the growing demand of Western climbers.

Norgay died in 1986, and Sir Edmund in 2008. The legendary Sherpa’s son, Norbu Tenzing, said his father would be dismayed by what had become of the mountain.

“I don’t think he would have been happy to see the charade that Everest has become today.

Congressional Candidate: Democrats Commit ’99 Percent’ Of Mass Shootings

An Arizona Republican running for Congress argued that Democrats commit nearly all the mass shootings in the country. Gary Kiehne, a rancher looking to unseat Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ), made the claim when asked about gun rights at a Republican primary debate on Saturday.

“If you look at all the fiascos that have occurred, 99 percent of them have been by Democrats pulling their guns out and shooting people,” Kiehne said. “So I don’t think you have a problem with the Republicans.”

Kiehne also boasted that he had “more guns and ammo than any one of my competitors.”

Kiehne’s claim that 99 percent of shootings were committed by Democrats is completely false, yet continues to be a persistent myth on the radical right. Roger Hedgecock, a conservative radio host, seems to have originated this message soon after the Newtown shooting, as President Obama was preparing a plan to combat gun violence.

Republican Rubio: I don't believe in climate change and I'm ready to be President

Last time a non-white, under-50 junior senator with some name recognition ran for president it worked out pretty well for him. Appearing on ABC News' This Week, Florida Senator Marco Rubio said if it's his time to play that part for the Republican party, he's ready.

"I mean, I'll be 43 this month, but the other thing that perhaps people don't realize, I've served now in public office for the better part of 14 years," Rubio told ABC's Jonathan Karl. "Most importantly, I think a president has to have a clear vision of where the country needs to go and clear ideas about how to get it there."

Part of Rubio's "clear vision" is to cut what he sees as wasteful spending on programs to combat and curb climate change.

NE mayor challenges atheists over faith-based event: ‘Take me to f-cking court — I don’t care’

An atheist group said a Nebraska mayor rudely dismissed their concerns over a possible church-state violation.

Omaha Atheists expressed their concern over a “Faith and Freedom” Memorial Day event Sunday that was sponsored by the city of La Vista, Neb., reported the Friendly Atheist blog.

One of the group’s members, Robert Fuller, said he gave his business card to Mayor Douglas Kindig and asked to speak with him later about his concerns, but the mayor indicated he wasn’t interested.

“Take me to fucking court because I don’t care,” Kindig allegedly told Fuller.

The holiday event, which was held at La Vista Central Park, featured a pancake breakfast, carnival, and Memorial Day service held by the associate pastor of the town’s Bellevue Christian Center.

The religious service was sponsored by the churches of La Vista.

Graham: Pastors Need To Be Willing To 'Get Our Heads Chopped Off' For Opposing Gay Rights

Franklin Graham spoke at the Family Research Council's Watchmen on the Wall conference yesterday where he told the assembled pastors that they all needed to be willing to have their heads chopped off for speaking the truth that gays are bound for hell.

'Son Of Sam' David Berkowitz Denied Parole, But Says Jesus Has Forgiven Him D

avid Berkowitz, a.k.a. the "Son of Sam," was denied parole again last week, but the notorious serial killer didn't even bother turning up for his hearing.

And now, his lawyer is explaining why.

“David told me that the reason he has never sought freedom from the parole board by attending parole hearings is because ‘Jesus has already freed my heart, soul and mind and has forgiven me,'" Mark J. Heller told the New York Post's Page Six.

Heller told the Post that while Berkowitz was raised Jewish, he joined Jews for Jesus in prison, where he's served as a minister’s assistant.

Maine Ethics Committee Finds Gay Marriage Foe NOM Guilty; Imposes Record Fine

The Maine state ethics board on Wednesday voted unanimously to impose a record fine against the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) for violating Maine's donor disclosure law.

In imposing the hefty fine, the committee accepted the recommendation of the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, which determined that NOM attempted to conceal its donor list during the 2009 people's veto campaign that repealed a gay marriage law approved by lawmakers. Three years later, voters reversed course, making Maine the first state in the nation to legalize such unions at the ballot box.

The board imposed a record $50,250 fine against NOM, the Kennebec Journal reported. The organization vowed to appeal the ruling, saying it would not disclose its donors list. It said doing so would put individuals at risk of threats and harassment.

5/17/2014::More to ponder

23 Years Later, Senator Who Interrogated Anita Hill Still Doesn’t Understand Sexual Harassment

Anita Hill’s testimony helped put the issue of sexual harassment on the map for millions of Americans who hadn’t previously grappled with the subject. After Hill stood her ground in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, other women finally had a name for what was happening to them in the workplace. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission saw a sharp spike in the number of sexual harassment charges the following year.

But, as Simpson’s recent comments demonstrate, our elected officials haven’t necessarily come very far in this area. Simpson appears to remain confused about the distinction between sexual harassment and sexual assault; while the latter involves physical contact, Hill’s sexual harassment allegations don’t actually hinge on whether or not Thomas touched her.

For exactly this reason, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) recently began pushing Congress to implement mandatory sexual harassment training, noting that many of the lawmakers in office may not realize what exactly constitutes inappropriate behavior. Those type of tranings, which are common in the private sector, have been mandatory for years in the executive branch. But they’re still voluntary for House and Senate personal and committee offices. “This is the House of Representatives, not a frat house. It is time for all of us to get trained,” Speier said in a statement at the time.

Allen West: Kidnapped Nigerian girls are a ‘fishy’ Obama plot to distract from Benghazi

Former Rep. Allen West (R-FL), a Fox News contributor, suggested this week that focus on nearly 300 kidnapped girls in Nigeria was a “fishy” plot to take attention away from President Barack Obama’s “scandals,” including the terrorist attacks in Benghazi.

In a Monday column on his website, West opined that concern about the terrorist group Boko Haram, which kidnapped the girls, “right now seems fishy to me.”

“I find it interesting that everyone (including the First Lady) is now all up in arms about Boko Haram and their jihadist actions,” he wrote.

Judge: Conservative group can’t have docs that would ‘out’ LGBT Justice Dept employees

In a decision memo handed down Monday, a U.S. district judge denied a FOIA request by the far-right activist group Judicial Watch in which conservative activists tried to obtain the names of LGBT employees at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle wrote in her decision that to allow Judicial Watch access to those documents “creates a palpable threat to privacy” of employees at the Department. Huvelle wrote that she was unwilling to compromise that privacy for the “relatively inconsequential (if not non-existent) interests” of the conservative group.

On August 23, 2012, LGBT employees at the Justice Department held the “Lavender Law Conference & Career Fair,” where they were addressed by Attorney General Eric Holder. The event was sponsored by the LGBT Bar Association.

Spitting, Stalking, Rape Threats: How Gun Extremists Target Women

What happened to Longdon in Indianapolis is part of a disturbing pattern. Ever since the Sandy Hook massacre, a small but vocal faction of the gun rights movement has been targeting women who speak up on the issue—whether to propose tighter regulations, educate about the dangers to children, or simply to sell guns with innovative security features. The vicious and often sexually degrading attacks have evolved far beyond online trolling, culminating in severe bullying, harassment, invasion of privacy, and physical aggression. Though vitriol flows from both sides in the gun debate, these menacing tactics have begun to alarm even some entrenched pro-gun conservatives.

[,,,]
Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, has faced a continuous barrage. "For me, the question is always, 'Why does this person want to kill or rape or silence me?'" she says. "I think the answer is that this issue touches a cultural nerve based on gender, geography, and other politics. There are pundits who make a good deal of money encouraging this type of anger."

Some staunch advocates of expansive gun rights recognize that this kind of bullying is bad for the movement. In March, a talk radio host and self-described gun enthusiast in Wisconsin called the "in your face open-carry playbook" tactics "perfectly legal, and perfectly stupid." After the Arlington restaurant incident, the editor of BearingArms.com wrote that Open Carry Texas had achieved "a public relations disaster."

Our own very public Idaho

There was, however, a catch: Otter insisted on an inclusive event, featuring all of the Republican candidates, not just the top two. That meant Otter and Fulcher would share the stage with a biker named Harley Brown – the public television network that aired the debate did so on 30-second delay because producers assumed Brown would use profanity during the event – and an elderly anti-abortion activist named Walt Bayes.

As Chris Hayes explained last night, the strategy worked exceptionally well – Fulcher received less than 13 minutes of airtime, a fraction of what he would have received in a one-on-one debate. Otter hoped to deny his principal rival a platform – or at least less of one – and that’s precisely what happened.

In this case, Fulcher’s loss was our gain. I, for one, will not soon forget the line, “Get this lunatic out of my cellar!”

Poor Kentucky has no stomach for Obama, even if he backs programs they depend on

“Here’s what he said about the coal business: ‘Go ahead, build your coal-fired energy plants, we will shut them down,’” Feltner alleged.

“Is that something for a president to say?,” he added. “He’s got a problem with the poor people.”

[,,,]
“I guess Democrats just worry about money in their pocket, what they and their friends are doing. They’re not worried about us small people,” Miller said.

“The Republicans, they are the ones that know … raised up like we have, you know. Know what it’s like, what we need, what shouldn’t been taken away,” Miller added.

[,,,]
But Bryant says voters’ main motivation when they go to the polls are coal and social issues: abortion, guns, and same-sex marriage, which he labels “the three biggies.” This is conservative Christian country.

4/11/2014::Leftover news already

Jose Manuel Martinez Confesses To 40 Killings

A suspected contract killer charged in Central California with killing nine people confessed to investigators that he carried out up to 40 slayings in a career spanning decades, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Errek Jett, the district attorney in Lawrence County, Ala., said that Jose Manuel Martinez, 51, told investigators he carried out the crimes working as an enforcer for a drug cartel. Jett said they believe Martinez because of the details he gave investigators.

Martinez was arrested last year shortly after crossing the border from Mexico into Arizona and sent to Alabama, where he awaits trial on one murder charge. Once word got out, a steady stream of investigators from across the country came to question Martinez, Jett said.

Tea Party Activist: 'Gay Supremacy Is Becoming A Monster That Carries Greater Evils Than White Supremacy Ever Did'

Mary Baker, leader of Conservative Moms for America and a speaker for the Tea Party Express, is warning in a blog post for Tea Party Nation that “gay supremacy is becoming a monster that carries greater evils than white supremacy ever did.”

Her post, which Tea Party Nation leader Judson Phillips emailed to members today, also makes the absurd claim that white supremacy was “quickly put down” in America and argues that the gay rights activists are motivated by “hate” and bent on their opponents’ “utter annihilation.”

Baker explains that gay rights advocates are worse than white supremacists because “I could disagree with the beliefs of white supremacist and still hold to Biblical views about life, marriage and sexuality. Many people in America fought against their own kind in order to rid us of this hateful group but Gay supremacist have bullied every sector of our nation and now sit as the giant bully against all Americans who disagree with their radical agenda.”

Couple Locks 4-Year-Old In Dog Cage For 14 Hours A Day: Cops

Police in Oklahoma arrested a couple who are accused of keeping a 4-year-old boy locked in a wire dog cage for 14 hours a day.

Suzanne Satterfield, 33, Johnathon Lee, 31, were both charged with child abuse Tuesday, News on 6 reports. Satterfield faces an additional charge of permitting child abuse, while Lee is also charged with the sexual abuse of another child.

Lee allegedly told deputies that for the past three weeks, the Chelsea couple would keep Satterfield's 4-year-old son in the cage at night, during nap time and when he needed to be disciplined. Lee estimated that all together, the boy would be in the cage for about 14 hours a day, according to Tulsa World.

There Are 10 Times More Mentally Ill People Behind Bars Than in State Hospitals

Severe mental illnesses, like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, are brain diseases—biological conditions like heart disease or epilepsy. Yet in this country, the institutions most likely to be treating people with these illnesses are not hospitals, but rather jails and prisons.

According to a new report from the Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC), a nonprofit advocacy organization, the United States has fully returned to the 18th-century model of incarcerating the mentally ill in correctional institutions rather than treating them in health care facilities like any other sick people. In 2012, there were roughly 356,268 inmates with severe mental illnesses in prisons and jails, while only 35,000 people with the same diseases were in state psychiatric hospitals.

The numbers of incarcerated mentally ill have been growing, and TAC reports that their treatment in the corrections system is nothing less than abominable. Mentally ill inmates are more likely to become the victims of sexual assault and abuse. They're also overrepresented in solitary confinement, and they are much more likely than other prisoners to commit suicide.

Florida Family Fatally Shoots Home Intruder: Police

Police say members of a Winter Haven, Fla., family acted in self defense when they shot and killed a home intruder early Monday.

Mitchell Large, 40, allegedly entered the family's home through the back door at about 7 a.m. He ignored a warning shot fired at the door, Police Chief Gary Hester told Fox Tampa Bay.

Police said family members armed themselves. More than one shot was fired at the intruder as he made his way into the kitchen. The homeowner's 20-year-old daughter was also at home at the time, but not involved in the shooting.

Large appears to have been unarmed, but Hester said the family was within their rights.

3/19/2104:: Extra news thats been hanging around

About That ‘Common Core’ Math Problem Making the Rounds on Facebook
Hemant's explanation makes so much sense once you think about it:

Except that the top doesn’t make sense, the bottom does, and the connection to Common Core is completely misunderstood. (Says this math teacher.)

Here’s what’s going on: The top is how most of us learned subtraction. I’m sure your teachers taught you what was going on mathematically, but do you really remember what they said? Probably not. For us, it’s just an algorithm. You can do it without thinking. You hope there’s no “borrowing” of numbers involved, but if you had to do it by hand, you could probably pull it off.

The problem with that method is that if I ask students to explain why it works, they’d have a really hard time explaining it to me. They might be able to do the computation, but they don’t get the math behind it. For some people, that’s fine. For math teachers, that’s a problem because it means a lot of students won’t be able to grasp other math concepts in the future because they never really developed “number sense.”

[,,,]
As that image also points out, Common Core doesn’t say, “Do this.” Rather, it suggests some general standards that students at each grade level should meet and most states have agreed to adopt those standards.

Klingenschmitt: 'It's A Tragedy Every Time Somebody Comes Out Of The Closet'

Brown said that Sam was being selfish by coming out because he was putting himself ahead of the good of any team that drafts him by forcing the team to have to deal with his sexuality. Brown went on to lament that our culture has reached a point where it celebrates "when a man says that I am attracted to other men," at which point Klingenschmitt joined in to declare that "it's a tragedy every time somebody comes out of the closet."

How Long Will Obsolete Religious Fantasies Govern Sensible Secular Governance?

My main point: Specific religious beliefs are now truly and obviously obsolete. Particularly the ones with their monotheistic male dominated cultures. In fact, looking outward as our space tools now permit, these religions will shortly seem to most people as lacking in their wildest projections of beliefs (e.g. their frequent claims of offering supplicants an after life).

Science can now predict (as the National Geographic Magazine’s March 2014 Black Hole cover story does) that our Sun only has another 5 billion years to go before its extinction. They know this as they have observed similar galaxies go down.

A Man Slams Down A Bigoted Question So Hard He Brings Down The House

People of color are often asked, "What kind of ____ are you?" in relation to their ethnicity. It's quite a different question than "Where are you from?"

Example: An American is asked which country in Asia they're from. Or they're asked, "What kind of Asian are you?"

Doesn't that kind of sound like someone is asking what brand they are? Even if it doesn't to you, it's quite a loaded question — one that Alex Dang ponders,,,

Secularism too fragile a basis for society, English bishop says

He began by noting the increasing clashes between Christianity and present-day secularism, saying that “perhaps surprisingly, secularism…is a deconstructed version of Christian morality” and “a form of post-Christian ethics that thrives because its values continue to derive their vitality from the Christian patrimony still embedded in British culture.”

Secularism indeed “has its own theological terms such as equality, diversity, freedom, respect, tolerance, non-discrimination, multiculturalism, social cohesion, ethnic communities, inclusivity, quality of life, sustainable development and environmentalism,” he stated.

“All these values are derived from fundamental Christian values. Thus, the secular concern for tolerance comes from the biblical 'love of neighbor' but, disconnected from Christian practice and belief, it has become a soft value, free-wheeling, expanded with new meaning, now permitting what formerly was unlawful.”

Koch Group Abandons Obamacare 'Horror' Stories After Fact-Check Backlash

But what's notable about the ads is what they aren't: A personalized story of someone who's been negatively affected by Obamacare, the kind of verifiable set of facts that can be checked -- and rebutted, as happened with a recent AFP ad that led to significant backlash from the fact-checking community.

"People don't like political ads. I don't like them either," a woman tells the camera to start AFP's new ads, announced Monday by the group. "But health care isn't about politics. It's about people."

She then criticizes the law for canceled health plans, narrow provider networks and higher premiums while linking Landrieu and Udall to those problems -- but she speaks in general talking points. The new ad buy is $1.7 million across the two states, and the spots will run for three weeks.