Billy Lucas was just 15 when he hanged himself in a barn on his grandmother's property. He reportedly endured intense bullying at the hands of his classmates—classmates who called him a fag and told him to kill himself. His mother found his body.
Nine out of 10 gay teenagers experience bullying and harassment at school, and gay teens are four times likelier to attempt suicide. Many LGBT kids who do kill themselves live in rural areas, exurbs, and suburban areas, places with no gay organizations or services for queer kids. [...] I wish I could have talked to this kid for five minutes. I wish I could have told Billy that it gets better. I wish I could have told him that, however bad things were, however isolated and alone he was, it gets better.
If you have a problem with someone's sexuality or sexual orientation? GO FUCK YOURSELF ... regardless of what teabagger [ironic, ain't it?] Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell says.
Jennifer Keeton Says She Was Told to Change Her Christian Beliefs or Be Dropped From the Program [...] David French, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund and also director of its Center for Academic Freedom, told ABCNews.com that the lawsuit on Keeton's behalf is one of about a half-dozen similiar cases involving counseling or social work students in the last few years.
Hmm, David French, where have I heard that name before? Oh wait, I remember:
Eastern Michigan U. student's lawsuit is dismissed [...] Julea Ward says she was removed from Eastern's counseling program because she refused to counsel gay clients, saying she believed homosexuality was morally wrong. [...] Alliance Defense Fund attorney David French says the group will appeal the decision.
Oh where to start ... I'll start here: Jennifer Keeton wasn't told to change her beliefs, she was just told she'd have to attend sensitivity classes. And if she didn't attend them she couldn't complete her studies.
That sounds reasonable to me. They didn't ask for her to change her beliefs, they just asked her to attend more classes.
Julea Ward also failed in her attempt to get a degree so she could impose her religious beliefs on the public.
That also sounds reasonable to me.
Look, if you're going for a geology degree, and you think the Earth is 6000 years old, you flunk. Because you can't do your job.
If you're a pharmacist and you refuse to sell condoms, or any other legal BC, you flunk. Because you can't do your job.
Frankly, if your religious views make it impossible to do your job? Find another job.
By bringing their doxastic errors into secular professions they are imposing their religion on others. The 1st Amendment doesn't work that way.
Western Prince William Del. Bob Marshall, R-13th, says disabled children are God’s punishment to women who have aborted their first pregnancy.
He made that statement last Thursday at a press conference to oppose state funding for Planned Parenthood.
“The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children,” said Marshall, a Republican. [...] According to Marshall, Planned Parenthood receives “about $500,000 a year” from the state.
But Jessica Honke, director of public policy for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, said the only state funding Planned Parenthood receives is from Medicaid reimbursements. That amount was about $35,000 in the 2009 fiscal year, according to the Department of Medical Assistance Services.
Planned Parenthood provides a wide range of gynecological and other health services, from cancer screening and HIV prevention to birth control for low-income women. [...] [Rev. Joe] Ellison said he was “declaring war against Planned Parenthood.”
Yep, nothing more Christain than god punishing children for their parent's actions, lying, & declaring war.
When President Obama took office, gun rights advocates sounded the alarm, warning that he intended to strip them of their arms and ammunition.
And yet the opposite is happening. Mr. Obama has been largely silent on the issue while states are engaged in a new and largely successful push for expanded gun rights, even passing measures that have been rejected in the past.
In Virginia, the General Assembly approved a bill last week that allows people to carry concealed weapons in bars and restaurants that serve alcohol, and the House of Delegates voted to repeal a 17-year-old ban on buying more than one handgun a month. [...] "The watchword for gun owners is stay ready," said Wayne LaPierre, chief executive of the National Rifle Association. "We have had some successes, but we know that the first chance Obama gets, he will pounce on us."
So let me get this straight, cars and alcohol=bad, guns and alcohol=good. With any luck these morons will shoot each other and raise our collective IQ. Virginia ain't for lovers anymore.
The Drudge Report and other conservative sites are highlighting a newly-unveiled logo for the U.S. Department of Defense's Missile Defense Agency and complaining that the new logo is reminiscent of both the Obama campaign logo and an Islamic flag.
"the new MDA shield appears ominously to reflect a morphing of the Islamic crescent and star with the Obama campaign logo," writes Big Government's Frank Gaffney. "… Team Obama is behaving in a way that -- as the new MDA logo suggests -- is all about accommodating that 'Islamic Republic' and its ever-more aggressive stance."
Jesus Christ on a toasted muffin, is there anything they can't read anything into?
Alabama Republicans Jo Bonner and Robert Aderholt took to the U.S. House floor in July, denouncing the Obama administration’s stimulus plan for failing to boost employment. “Where are the jobs?” each of them asked.
Over the next three months, Bonner and Aderholt tried at least five times to steer stimulus-funded transportation grants to Alabama on grounds that the projects would help create thousands of jobs.
They joined more than 100 congressional Republicans and several Democrats who, after voting against the stimulus bill, wrote Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood seeking money from $1.5 billion the plan set aside for local road, bridge, rail and transit grants. The $862 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed last year with no Republican votes in the House and three in the Senate.
I was trying for a pithy comment, but these people are lying, armed, hating, christofascist, paranoid, hypocrites ... and given all the fits that's news to print. What's wrong with this picture!?
The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn't change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care.
Under the bill, headed for a D.C. Council vote next month, religious organizations would not be required to perform or make space available for same-sex weddings. But they would have to obey city laws prohibiting discrimination against gay men and lesbians. [...] City leaders said the church is not the dominant provider of any particular social service, but the church pointed out that it supplements funding for city programs with $10 million from its own coffers. [...] From 2006 through 2008, Catania said, Catholic Charities received about $8.2 million in city contracts, as well as several hundred thousand dollars' worth this year through his committee.
With the Catholic Church, the Mormon Church and evangelicals churches advocating political actions I think they abrogated any right to the 1st Amendment when they crossed the line between church and state.
Personally, I never understood why religions get a break in taxes. Now pardon me while I go shear my flock for tax exempt dollars.
Police along with the Secret Service are investigating after a local country club discovered a symbol that represents eastern religious beliefs carved into the green.
Lakeville Country Club workers discovered the vandalism early Monday morning.
Police believe the vandals meant to carve a swastika next to President Barack Obama's name on the 18th hole; however, the symbol was backwards and means hope and peace in some Eastern countries.
The comforting thing is that these morons can't even get a swastika straight. The uncomfortable thing is that it doesn't take much brain power to pull a trigger.
Four Republican lawmakers have accused the most prominent Islamic advocacy group in Washington of trying to plant "spies" as interns on Capitol Hill. [...] In an unusual announcement this morning, four conservative Republicans — Reps. John Shadegg (Ariz.), Paul Broun (Ga.), Trent Franks (Ariz.) and Sue Myrick (N.C.) — formally asked the House Sergeant at Arms to launch an investigation of the Center for American-Islamic Relations. They accused CAIR, a non profit group, of trying to infiltrate Capitol Hill with interns and staffers.
Shadegg said Wednesday that CAIR is an organization that “members of Congress should be aware of and that should be investigated by the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service.” [...] The proclamation from the four Republicans came in advance of a book, entitled "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld that's Conspiring to Islamize America," which includes a forward by Myrick. The author of the book, Dave Gaubatz, an anti-Islam activist who wrote last year that “a vote for Hussein Obama is a vote for Sharia Law.” [...] The lawmakers also released a one page "strategy" document they said they obtained from CAIR. But the document basically lays out a fairly straight forward public relations and lobbying strategy and indeed, one of the goals is "placing Muslim interns in congressional offices" and registering people to vote.
But, but, blacks! and Muslims! and Mexicans! Geebus, they really got nuthin' except flinging poo and hope something sticks.
America has always been a melting pot of cultures, religions and races (BTW, I don't even know what a race is.) We're all Americans and we deserve to be represented by our elected offals [sic].
A federal judge challenged the backers of California's voter-enacted ban on same-sex marriage Wednesday to explain how allowing gay couples to wed threatens conventional unions, a demand that prompted their lawyer to acknowledge he did not know.
[raises hand] I know, I know, ooh, teacher call on me I got the answer! It doesn't. The only possible reason they could have is the christain bible, and that's against the Constitution of the US and CA.
Jack Thompson, the disbarred crusader against violent video games, has sued Facebook, alleging site users posted violent threats against him. In a Facebook group called "I Hate Jack Thompson", one post in particular was singled out and mentioned in the lawsuit. The posting stated, “Jack Thompson should be smacked across the face with an Atari 2600.” [...] He is seeking $120 million in damages. Requests to remove the postings were faxed to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, but received no response.
Tee hee, tee hee, tee hee, I feel my BP going down as I giggle and make fun of someone thinking an Atari 2600 could ever have an impact on anyone in the 21st century. Especially a virtual 2600.
I wonder whether Jack would have to say jack about this next article:
A former military lawyer who served in the Reagan White House and worked for Ross Perot is suing a Dallas-based religious organization in a case that could test the limits of free speech and prayer.
Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said he wants Gordon Klingenschmitt, a former U.S. Navy chaplain, to "stop asking Jesus to plunder my fields ... seize my assets, kill me and my family then wipe away our descendants for 10 generations." [...] Weinstein, 54, said his family has received death threats, had a swastika emblazoned on their home in New Mexico, animal carcasses left on their doorstep and feces thrown at the house. [...] "I never prayed for anyone's death," [Klingenschmitt] said. "I never prayed for anyone's violence. All I did was quote the Scriptures." [...] He "would never pray evil upon my enemies," he said, "but the justice of God is not evil." [ED:Nice Catch-22 there irReverend]
Does he want Mikey Weinstein to die? "I pray the Psalm that his days are few," he replied. [...] Klingenschmitt left the Navy with an honorable discharge after being found guilty in a 2006 court-martial for disobeying an order not to wear his uniform at a news conference. He said he ministered to Christians and non-Christians alike but said he sees "the whole world as a mission field," including the military.
"The suit raises numerous free speech and religious freedom issues," Ammerman said in his statement, adding that it "incorrectly implies that endorsing agencies exercise control over those they endorse, including their independent actions and speech."
That's not only religulous, but illogical.
Of course you exercise control over what chaplains you endorse.
And they've stated that they endorse christains who view "the whole world as a mission field" to convert non-christains.
Teenage pregnancies and syphilis have risen sharply among a generation of American school girls who were urged to avoid sex before marriage under George Bush's evangelically-driven education policy, according to a new report by the US's major public health body. [...] The CDC says that southern states, where there is often the greatest emphasis on abstinence and religion, tend to have the highest rates of teenage pregnancy and STDs. [...] Kristi Hamrick, a spokeswoman for American Values, which describes itself as a supporter of traditional marriage and "against liberal education and cultural forces", said the abstinence message is overwhelmed by a culture obsessed with sex.
Poor Kristi, she didn't get the memo the teenage sex, and pregnancy, and single mothers are to be celebrated according to the GOP's vice-presidential candidate.
She also doesn't understand statistics. The rate of pregnancy and STDs went up the most in the states that had the most aggressive Christain policies of 'abstinence.'
Amid intense public debate over the use of torture against suspected terrorists, an analysis by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life of a new survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press illustrates differences in the views of four major religious traditions in the U.S. about whether torture of suspected terrorists can be justified. Differences in opinion on this issue also are apparent based on frequency of attendance at religious services.
Please note that the question posed was about torture of suspected terrorists, not 'harsh interrogation tactics' of 'known terrorists.'
The 'Christians' supported torture. Evangelicals, Catholics, Protestants, all think some torture is OK even if the subject of that torture is just suspected of being a 'terrorist.'
I'm not an atheist, I believe in god, but this is yet another reason I'll never believe in religions. The more you go to church the more you believe that torture is justified!
WTF is wrong with this picture!? Religionists are always saying how their belief keeps them on a moral path. I've always thought that knowing right from wrong had nothing to do with religion, but I never would have suspected it would be so flipped from right to wrong in the faiths I grew up in.
It seems to me that the way you treat others will be how you will be treated.
[...] Academic debate on controversial topics is fine, but those topics need to have a basis in reality. I would not invite a creationist to a debate on campus for the same reason that I would not invite an alchemist, a flat-earther, an astrologer, a psychic, or a Holocaust revisionist. These ideas have no scientific support, and that is why they have all been discarded by credible scholars. Creationism is in the same category.
Seriously, read the whole thing.
Religious scholars & philosophers debate religion, scientists present data. The data is peer reviewed, relies on predictions, and is proved wrong or correct.
Scientists do not come to a consensus, they come to a conclusion that is supported by proven facts that can reproduced.
Philosophers & religionists may come to a consensus, but when they do there are a paucity of facts, just a mutual acceptance of some of the oppositions' viewpoints.
AKA, "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts."
Two things in the comments on this article stood out to me: 1) Attributed to Professor Robert May: "That would look great on your CV, not so good on mine" 2) Attributed to George Hrab: If you deny evolution then you're denying biology. If you deny biology then you're denying chemistry. If you deny chemistry then you're denying physics. If you deny physics then you're denying mathematics. If you deny mathematics then you're denying reality.
Robert May's quote comes under the category of 'Ohhh, Snap!'
George Hrab's quote is poetry & truth in the form of a mathematical proof. I think he should have included astronomy, but it probably wouldn't have scanned as well.
The Obama administration plans to reverse a regulation from late in the Bush administration allowing health-care workers to refuse to provide services based on moral objections, an official said Friday.
[...] Under the rule, workers in health-care settings -- from doctors to janitors -- can refuse to provide services, information or advice to patients on subjects such as contraception, family planning, blood transfusions and even vaccine counseling if they are morally against it. [...] Many health-care organizations, including the American Medical Association, believe health-care providers have an obligation to their patients to advise them of the options despite their own beliefs.
Ladies & Gentlemen, I present you Benny the Rat (and devil take the hindmost): I'm not sure why these folks are apologizing, it's not like they Photoshopped it.
And maybe this image is just as 'sanctified' as all those images of the Virgin Mary that appear on walls, and potatoes, and toast.
BTW, I've never mentioned this before, but did you know Pope Benny was a member of the Hitler Youth?
We all should be forgiven our youthful indiscretions, but when we choose to do them as adults it's fair game. *********** What has become a STANDARD DISCLAIMER: I have nothing against Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Mormon ... &tc, &tc, believers. I do have a problem with some leaders of those religions who insist on ignoring facts and killing other people or justify the killing of other people. I'm just funny that way.
Another Orange Co. minister has spoken out against Rick Warren's Invocation at the upcoming Obama inauguration, but not in the way you hoped:
Southern Baptist Pastor Wiley Drake bashed Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren this week, saying "God will punish" Warren for agreeing to give the invocation at President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration next month.
"I pray He is kind to you in this punishment that is coming," Drake wrote in a widely-released e-mail. In it, the First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park pastor criticizes Warren's "recent plan to invoke the presence of almighty God on this evil illegal alien," a reference to Obama.
Who is this idiot? Clearly someone who doesn't support the U.S. Constitution:
In early 2008, while he was the pastor for the First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, Reverend Drake was a vocal supporter of ArkansasGovernorMike Huckabee's presidential campaign. He sent out a letter personally endorsing Huckabee. However, the letter was on church stationery; thus, to the Internal Revenue Service, Rev. Drake was endorsing a political candidate as a church leader and endangering his church's tax-exempt status.
Rev. Drake's violation of federal tax law was reported to the IRS by an advocacy group called Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU), which had warned him for endorsing Dick Mountjoy for a U.S. Senate race with a Southern Baptist Convention letterhead. Rev. Drake asked his parishioners and others to pray for revenge using an imprecatory prayer for the punishment, shame, and even deaths of AU officials. He defended these actions by saying, "The prayer does call for serious, serious punishment on people. But I didn't call for that, God did," and, "The Bible says that if anybody attacks God’s people, David said this is what will happen to them…." Drake also did not fear IRS investigation, explaining, "They don’t scare me. I don’t give a rip about the IRS. I don’t believe in the separation of church and state and I believe the IRS should stay out of church business."
I'm not sure about who Drake's God is, but it sure doesn't sound like this guy:
Romans 12:19-21 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Ephesians 4:31-32 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Psalm 37:8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.
Leviticus 19:17-18 Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
How much ignorance, stupidity, and hate can be rolled up in one person . . . Oh yeah, I forget, there's also Rev. Fred Phelps.
Dr. Warren, author of “The Purpose Driven Life,” will deliver the invocation.
It's not all bad news, however:
Aretha Franklin and Dr. Rick Warren, an evangelical minister of the Saddleback Church, are among the select group of people who will participate in Barack Obama’s inaugural swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 20.
Mr. Obama has also chosen Elizabeth Alexander, an African-American poet at Yale University, and some of the world’s premier musicians, including Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma, to share the podium with him.
In honoring the civil rights movement, Mr. Obama has asked the Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, dean of the civil rights movement and co-founder with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, to deliver the benediction.
That's a fairly diverse group. The musicians are African-American, Israeli-born American, and Chinese-American. And contra Warren, Dr. Lowery understands something about discrimination.
My tingling pastor-sense tells me that he selected Warren because he likes him and feels comfortable with him on a personal level. That's not as much of a stretch as it might seem; Jeremiah Wright and Trinity UCC are both much more evangelical than the rest of the UCC. Warren probably resonates with Obama in ways that somebody like myself never could.
. . . Nobody likes Warren. The Religious Right think he's a flake because he's too liberal, and everybody else thinks he's a flake because he's a shallow idiot. From where I'm sitting, as the victim of an extremely expensive and extremely rigorous theological education, Obama could have gotten a better invocation from Stuart Smalley. It would have as much depth, and at least it would be doing a Democrat a favor.
I have a couple of thoughts on this, and yes, I may be naive.
First, as many have suggested, this may be a genuine attempt to try and attract the reasonable younger evangelicals that are slowly splintering from the base movement of Falwell and Robertson. I think that will have extremely limited success, because for many of those folks, everything starts and ends with Choice v. Abortion. If Charles Manson ran for President, and claimed to be Pro-Choice™, they would vote for him.
Second, Warren will deliver a generic invocation. Obama will likely make some very inclusive statements during his speech, and may even mention gays and/or the LGBT community. If he does this, he pwns Warren, puts him in a box. In a way, it reduces Warren and his bigotry to the role of "the hired help". It's saying "we'll let you come to the dinner, but you still have to sit at the little kid's table".
Third, it may even be a more confrontational calculus: "OK, big shot, you want to be the Next Big Thing™ in evangelical Christiandom, and you want an audience, come speak at my Prom. I'll invite you, but many here among us don't like what you're selling".
Or Pastor Dan could be right in the end:
Mainline Protestant pastors are opinion leaders in their communities, and they tend to appreciate their GLBT friends and not appreciate slick weasels like Rick Warren. I was hardly the only pastor to support Obama, or to stick up for his vision of hope and reconciliation. Obama just spat in our eyes, and it's going to take a while to get over it.
Here's the thing about Warren. The main evangelical movers of the '70s, '80s, and '90s, in terms of TV exposure, were indeed Falwell & Robertson. Clearly they wanted political power. However, the evangelical leaders who were doing the work of 'saving souls' were, among a few others, Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel and John Wimber of the Vinyard. The main difference between the last two names and the first two were that CC and VCF sprouted many franchises, small churches all over the country, in their attempt to bring people to Jesus and salvation.
CC & VCF annointed many new pastors, and sent them out to preach and save people. Other '70s and '80s churches, like Kenneth Copeland in TX, built empires based on a single personality. Joel Osteen in TX has done the same recently. No real attempt at spreading their message to reach more people than the basic, albeit large, congregation.
Warren is the contemporary result of Copeland, and Osteen. He has built a huge campus, spent $$$'s in state-of-the-art audio & video equipment, and packs thousands into several services every Sunday. But he hasn't spread his ministry into franchises. It's all Warren, all the time. His message, his book, his ministry.
And he seems to love his power, even as he clearly favored McCain during Saddleback Church's Candidates debate forum. And Obama may actually like the guy, as many have suggested. But I don't think many on the far-evangelical right will take to Obama, and many of those same folks will see Warren as craven and manipulated.
I hope so. Still, he's a bigoted lying hate-monger.
A great contributor to the danger of the Southern California fires, this week, and always, is the phenomenon of Santa Ana Winds.
Commentor, friend, and former San Fernando Valley resident Valley Girl writes a guest post covering the Santa Anas from several perspectives, inc. art, poetry, and meteorology:
Once again destructive fires are raging across Southern California. It's fire season, the time of the Santa Ana. Anyone who knows SoCal knows what the Santa Ana is. It's an ugly wind, a dry wind, one that can turn the smallest ember into a raging destructive fire. The human consequences are obvious, but not so obvious the fate of animals and household pets. The following is just a sample, but it goes out with thanks to all of the animal shelters and private animal hospitals who are stepping up to help:
"This is the official theme song for southern california fires" a commenter said in response to the YouTube. People may take offense at this, but as a Valley Girl, I'd say it's apt. As are the visuals in the YouTube. Let me repeat, the Santa Ana is an ugly and destructive wind, and creates bedlam both externally and internally. It whips up the dirt and dust and pushes it right under your skin.
~~GROWING up in West Hills, Brett Gurewitz learned that Los Angeles was a more unruly beast than the far-off cities he read about in schoolbooks. “The telling thing about L.A. is the fact that it has a fire season. I’m a third-generation Angeleno, and proud of it, and if you grow up here you learn that fire is a cyclical thing. To me, it meant L.A. wasn’t quite tamed. Other cities, like New York and Paris, are settled and established – they long ago became docile, tamed things. Not Los Angeles.”
Gurewitz plays guitar in Bad Religion and writes many of its songs, which long ago established it as the most high-minded band among L.A.’s pioneer punks. In the fire season of 2004, Gurewitz watched the blazes on TV and in the vacuous news chatter he heard themes that would become the song “Los Angeles Is Burning.”~~
Somewhere high in the desert near a curtain of blue St. Anne’s skirts are billowing But down here in the city of limelights The fans of Santa Ana are withering And you can’t deny the living is easy If you never look behind the scenery It’s show time for dry climes And bedlam is dreaming of rain.
Joan Didion captured this in 1967 in an essay "The Santa Ana" from "Slouching Towards Bethlehem"- snips:
~~There is something uneasy in the Los Angeles air this afternoon, some unnatural stillness, some tension. What it means is that tonight a Santa Ana will begin to blow, a hot wind from the northeast whining down through the Cajon and San Gorgonio Passes, blowing up sand storms out along Route 66, drying the hills and the nerves to flash point. For a few days now we will see smoke back in the canyons, and hear sirens in the night[...]
~~I recall being told, when I first moved to Los Angeles and was living on an isolated beach, that the Indians would throw themselves into the sea when the bad wind blew. I could see why. The Pacific turned ominously glossy during a Santa Ana period, and one woke in the night troubled not only by the peacocks screaming in the olive trees but by the eerie absence of surf. The heat was surreal. The sky had a yellow cast, the kind of light sometimes called "earthquake weather." My only neighbor would not come out of her house for days, and there were no lights at night, and her husband roamed the place with a machete. One day he would tell me that he had heard a trespasser, the next a rattlesnake.
~~"On nights like that," Raymond Chandler once wrote about the Santa Ana, "every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen." That was the kind of wind it was.~~
And, for a more scientific take, this is from NOAA
~~What are Santa Ana winds?
~~During the fall and early winter, high pressure over the high desert of the Great Basin region causes winds on the southern side of the high to blow from the east, toward the Pacific Ocean and lower air pressure offshore. The winds push dry air from the inland deserts of California and the Southwest over the mountains between coastal California and the deserts.
~~As the air descends from mountains, it is compressed and the temperatures increase. These hot, and very dry winds(relative humidty of 10 to 20% or lower are common) dry out vegetation, increasing the fuel available to feed fires. The gusty winds and eddies of winds swirling through canyons and valleys also fan flames and spread tinders.~~
For decades, Pleasant Grove, Utah, permitted a Ten Commandments monument and an array of historical artifacts amid the benches, trees and flowers of its Pioneer Park. Yet in 2003 when the Summum church asked to erect a monument displaying its core principles, "Seven Aphorisms," the city declined.
The city said it wanted only monuments that related to Pleasant Grove history or were donated by groups with long-standing ties to the community. That rejection spawned a case, at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, that could have ramifications for monuments across the country. [...] In a 1995 case, [Justice O'Connor] devised the current compromise standard. The court ruled Ohio could not keep the Ku Klux Klan from adding a Latin cross on Capitol grounds where other groups were allowed to put up a Christmas tree and menorah. [...] Summum, established in 1975, merges Egyptian customs, such as mummification, with elements of Gnostic Christianity that teach, for example, that spiritual knowledge is experiential. Summum followers believe that before God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, God handed down a stone tablet of seven aphorisms of a higher law.
Jay Sekulow, of the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative organization specializing in religion cases, represents Pleasant Grove. He says the city need not accept Summum's monument simply because it displays the others. "Accepting a Statue of Liberty does not compel a government to accept a Statue of Tyranny," he told the justices in his brief.
Sekulow contends the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, which ruled against Pleasant Grove, erred in considering Pioneer Park a "public forum" for private speech. He says the city was engaged in "government speech" as it selected permanent displays to convey its own themes and can choose among artifacts offered for its 2½-acre park in a historic district. [...] [Pamela Harris, representing Summum] says Pleasant City cannot claim markers at the site are "government speech" because the city did not create their message. "The city did not control the content of the Ten Commandments monument when it was created; the Eagles did," she wrote.
Privately sponsored speech must be "allowed on equal terms" when governments create a public forum, Harris said, referring to O'Connor's test in the 1995 case. [...] "Every park in the country that has accepted a VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) memorial is now a public forum for the erection of permanent fixed monuments," [Judge Michael McConnell, an appointee of President Bush who previously was a prominent religious-law scholar] said. "They must either remove the war memorials or brace themselves for an influx of clutter."
Fourteen states and the federal government have urged the court to reverse the 10th Circuit decision. The U.S. Justice Department says that if the ruling stands it could affect national parks, which contain thousands of privately funded objects.
Nine municipalities, led by Casper, Wyo., urged the justices to adopt a "bright-line rule" that says when government accepts a donation of property, any resulting message becomes government speech. The municipalities contend the 10th Circuit decision could force a city to choose "between removing works it has accepted" or displaying works from private groups regardless of whether they "promote the common good." [...] Conservative justices, including Antonin Scalia, have pressed for rules that would allow governments wider latitude to accept certain religious markers and to reject others. He wrote in the 1995 case that "government suppression of speech has so commonly been directed … at religious speech that a (constitutional) free-speech clause without religion would be Hamlet without the prince."
Hoist on their own retard!
Point by point: The city said it wanted only monuments that related to Pleasant Grove history or were donated by groups with long-standing ties to the community - Umm, I'd say 33 years of a religion is both history and "long-standing ties to the community." Besides, who are the Mormons to reject another's religion!?
"Accepting a Statue of Liberty does not compel a government to accept a Statue of Tyranny" - Strawman anyone? Dude, we're talking about suppressing a religion you don't agree with, not building statues to Bush!
"Sekulow contends the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, which ruled against Pleasant Grove, erred in considering Pioneer Park a "public forum" for private speech. He says the city was engaged in "government speech" as it selected permanent displays to convey its own themes" - In the first place, there is no such animal as 'government speech', there is only 'free speech' in the constitution. In place the second, it is public land, it belongs to the people, and promoting one religion over another is unconstitutional, (see 'US Constitution; 1st Amendment'.)
"They must either remove the war memorials or brace themselves for an influx of clutter." - OMG, clutter!!! Won't someone think of the children! If you didn't want 'clutter', you shouldn't have allowed certain select groups of private entities to raise monuments on OUR land.
And finally we (unfortunately) have JustUs [sic] Scalia: "government suppression of speech has so commonly been directed … at religious speech ... - I wonder what mental backflips Scalia will have to perform to wind up ruling for Pleasant Grove?
The decision by the city to suppress the free speech and religious expression of Summum should not stand. At least according to previous rulings, as always INAL.
My personal opinion: If you want to donate money to a city to beautify a park, that's great. If you donate money only to erect a shrine to your cause in a public park, it shouldn't be allowed.
But once it's allowed, you have to make it available for all Americans.
It's called 'free speech' and 'freedom of religion.' You can look it up.
SAN DIEGO—Workers in the San Diego County clerk's office who object to same-sex marriages may be excused from officiating at gay weddings.
County Clerk Gregory Smith says he is considering allowing his employees to opt out of the ceremonies for religious or moral reasons.
Smith says he doesn't think it's correct "to force employees to do it, and I don't think you would want someone who is hostile to your beliefs performing your ceremony."
Quite frankly, this is an insipid decision, on a par with allowing pharmacists to refuse dispensing of materials that conflict with their religious beliefs.
I realize that it takes a certain subjectively fragile suspension of reality to maintain fundamentalist thought of any faith, but these people are government employees who are tasked to uphold the laws of the state that they work for - All of them, not just the ones that they feel comfortable with.
Do the job that you have contracted to do, or declare yourself incompetent to do so on religious grounds and find a more suitable pastime that enables you to maintain your fictions and refrain from inflicting yourself on those who choose not to share your beliefs.
Nor, despite the size of his congregation, is Hagee the real issue. McCain's character is. A fool who would actively seek out this loon's endorsement. A moral coward - yes, coward - who would equivocate about denouncing such ideas and the bigots who hold them.
Such a person is not a serious candidate for president.
I would think so too, except for one thing: I know better. For 5 years my two main clients were evangelical mega-churches that also had recording studios. I ate lunch with these people, listened to their rants, and have a really clear picture of their beliefs.
Here's the point Tristero misses, which is the idiot-savant genius of McCain's campaign: No one on the right, NO ONE, cares about Hagee, with the possible exception of a few moderate genuine conservatives, that is. All 3 of them.
But the far-right Evangelical end-times Christians, for whom Hagee is a dog whistle the size of a Marshall stack, will still support McCain, even more now than before. Not only is he a "true believer" by courting and wedding Hagee, but now he's been bloodied by the secular humanists that threaten the Christian way of life. His rejection of Hagee's support isn't a betrayal of Hagee's prophecy, but a tactical retreat in the face of the abortionists, school desegregationists. and gay-marriage supporters whose defeat his administration will hopefully bring about. And thus is a stronger hero born.
The only problem might be Hagee's perceived anti-Semitism, which is only a problem for Jews. Because the evangelical Far-right and its ministers like Hagee don't give one golden crap about actual Jews. To them, Jews are indeed God's chosen people, who will still likely not get into Heaven unless they become, you know, Christians. But because they're Chosen, fundies pay lip service to them. You don't want to piss off the Big Guy. It's like going to a party at the creepy rich kid's house because he has a swimming pool.
And to them, Israel isn't an actual country with actual people. Instead, it's the Armageddon battleground, sacred for what it promises them in salvation. Anyone else left after the final battle is dust, not worthy of consideration. Including the Jews.
For movement conservatives, the Hagee deal is just noise. They have issues with McCain, but the hyper-religious don't matter to them except as pawns who vote. It's a macrocosm of the evangelicals and the Jews; the larger group views the smaller one as somewhat useful, but in the end, merely a means to that end.
So McCain won a demographic, scorns one of their icons, yet still walks away with their support. Imagine if Obama asked for the support of Noam Chomsky, then rejected it. Many on the left would be righteously indignant. But it's OK if you're a Republican. Karl Rove would be proud.
The painting in question, a student project completed in 2003, adorns a wall in the corridor leading to the Bastrop High School gym. It depicts the sometimes unpleasant history of the town, showing scenes of a Mexican and Comanche raid and slaves working in a cotton field, as well as unifying visions of children of different ethnicities reaching out to one another. [...] Patty Green, the art teacher who coordinated the project, said she doesn't understand why the issue is coming up now. Austin muralist Raul Valdez organized a group of Bastrop students to paint the mural using a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Bastrop Association for the Arts.
"It sat up there for five years, and nobody had a problem with it," said Green, the head of the Bastrop association.
Bastrop resident Lauren Hansell, who made the original complaint, homeschools her children but visits the school on Fridays to pray with students at the flagpole.
A Christian, Hansell said she wants the mural removed because of the war and slavery scenes and depictions of Buddha and ancient gods. [...] Among the images on the mural are an Aztec sun, ancient Egypt's King Tutankhamen, Buddha and Shiva, a Hindu deity, dancing on a demon of ignorance.
Hansell, who at first interpreted Shiva's dance as a message in favor of abortion, said laws that bar Christian symbols from public schools should apply to the mural.
The First Amendment, which bans government-sponsored religious activities even as it protects religious expression from government interference, allows students to pray during school in informal settings, according to U.S. Department of Education guidelines.
So after 5 years of the mural being displayed a woman who has nothing to do with the school except for proselytizing every week on school grounds complains and engenders a controversy.