Woo hoo--we survived another week!
Friends, this has been one tough but productive week. I'm mentally fried but happy. Hope you've had a good and productive week, too. Even with my hands full at home and at work, I still manage to keep my finger on the pulse of what's going on, even if I can't address all of it in Dot Calm's famous (infamous?) blog. Let's hit what we can, shall we?
Yes, I've been watching world affairs with dismay. No, I have no words to express my grief at all the violence. The people of this world are too good and too beautiful to deserve being targeted by the ideologues, extremists, fundamentalists, oligarchs, kleptocrats, and thugs. So many promising lives cut short, and for what? A quick buck? 72 non-existent virgins? A non-existent heaven? The innocent dead deserve better. Hell, even the guilty dead deserve better. We all deserve better. So I fight the good fight by trying to keep Dot Calm's readers informed and amused so that we can all fight the good fight together, each in our own homes and each in our own ways.
As an American, I work as tirelessly as I can to make this country better. I have a tremendous vested interest in striving to elect honest reasonable Bernie (best case) or qualified center-right Hillary (lesser of two evils, compared to any Republican). So I read, watch, and listen to news, donate my buck o' five to Bernie whenever I can, write this blog, and cross my fingers (and eyes)....
It's so funny watching this country during a major election cycle...
Fux Noise and the whole Republican-Christofascist juggernaut has been spinning, spinning, spinning since Ronald Reagan was in office...buying up media and politicians like it was going out of style when, in fact, they were just bringing it into style...
and the result?
It's 2016 C.E., and we have Donald "Money Boo Boo" Trump vs Rafael "BUSTed" Cruz celebrity death match.
Break out the popcorn, folks, cuz it's all of the misogynistic insults and none of the actual issues!
They'll even compare penis size--anything to get out of talking about what matters to us ordinary, non-filthy-rich folks!
So funny...
Cruz--who hates women more than anything except poor people, Black people, his fellow Latinos y Latinas, LGBTQ, scientists, actual subject matter experts, college-educated people, students, Democrats, non-ultra-right-wing Republicans, and atheists--is trying to reinvent himself as non-anti-woman by posing with female props, who are obligated to serve as such because they are related to him, motivated by Trump's latest remark that women should be punished for having abortions, which Trump promptly backpedalled when confronted.
Now, THAT'S rich.
In other words, in case you're bored and need the Cliff Notes version:
to Trump, a woman-object = incubator;
to Cruz, a woman-object = prop.
And there it is.
Trump, Cruz, and the rest of the Republican-Christofascist wingnuts are exactly the logical outcome of the Republican Big Religion, Big Media, Big Money system that created and nurtured them over the last thirty years.
Honestly, what did the Powers That Be expect but these two pieces of slime? What did they honestly expect but all the poo-flinging, armpit-scratching, chest-thumping, and brachiating that characterizes the 2016 Republican "dialog"?
They worked so hard for this moment and spent untold billions of dollars--they should savor and enjoy it!
In other words, now that the Get Obama Party is being so honestly and expertly represented by Trump and Cruz (and Kasich, even though he occasionally says something quasi-normal), who excel so powerfully at glibly spewing all their honest hatred and bigotry and filth, you'd think that the Powers That Be would be delighted to the point of bursting given just how fruitful all their hard work has been over the past three decades.
But they're not.
Hunh...
Some media outlets even say that the Get Obama Party is...panicking.
Looks like all that hatred and bigotry and filth is only supposed to be spoken sotto voce, in private, in hushed tones to like-minded haters. Not out in public for all the world to see and hear. When you say what you really think, you can't hide any more behind holier than thou.
As Maya Angelou once said, when people show you who they are, believe them the first time.
Looks like you and I were not supposed to know without cover of plausible deniability what toxic trash Republicans spew behind closed doors, among themselves.
Could it be that they've finally begun to realize that they need women to vote for them? And Blacks? And Latinos y Latinas? And LGBTQ? And educated people? And non-Christians? And young people? And, duh, more than just angry white middle-aged straight evangelical Christian males?
Nah...!
Just kidding...they do at least realize that they need women's votes. What's hilarious is that they seem totally unable to figure out how to win them.
So far, they seem very Biblical in their approach...very Trumptastic...
"You have to treat 'em like shit"
Trump says it, and Republicans believe it.
With enemies like that, Bernie and Hillary don't need friends!
With that, let's get to the rest of the goodies. The blog is cram-packed today--I worked extra hard on it just for you!
Hug and kiss your loved ones today, and don't forget to read Dot Calm's shadow's favorite independent sources of news and information:
Daily Kos
AlterNet
Democracy Now!
Conservatives are Destroying our Future
Conservative Clown Car
Americans Against the Republican Party
Americans Against the Tea Party
Mrs. Betty Bowers
God, the Good Lord Above
...And, whatever you do,
If at all possible, send him a buck o' five.
And away we go!
- Dot Calm's shadow
the Bible isn't a test
to see which humans
can reason well enough
to tell that it's all bullshit?
How do Christians know
the Bible isn't a test
to see which humans
refuse to worship a deity
that is clearly immoral?
How do Christians know
that God is so unreasonable?
How do Christians know
that they won't go to hell
and atheists won't go to heaven?
I was wondering whether American Christians are persecuting or persecuted...
According to Christianity Today, if any religion is being persecuted in America, it's Islam.
Then, I wondered whether American atheists are being persecuted.
Boy howdy, the Google shows a lot of articles demonstrating that American atheists have it tough right now, especially in the South and the Bible Belt.
HuffPo calls the discrimination against atheists "shocking."
NBC World News likens atheists to "lesser Americans" in the discrimination and persecution they suffer.
While I don't condone discrimination against Christians, please remember: Christians are the majority in this country. Well over 80% of Americans call themselves "Christian."
So I have a much harder time believing Christians when they claim persecution--to me, it just looks like sour grapes over the loss of unfair privilege. Other populations are stepping up wanting equal treatment, so Christians feel like they are losing privilege because now everyone wants equal privilege. All it sounds like to me is waah, waah, waah...you're not treating me like royalty any more...waah, waah, waah.
How do you define "the Ten Commandments"?
[x] Laws given by God,
[x] Written in stone,
[x] and called "the Ten commandments"?
If so, then THIS is what Christians should be fighting to put in the courthouses:
EXODUS 34:12-27
1. Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest,
lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and
cut down their groves:
2. For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
3. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
4. The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I
commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib.
5. All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.
6. But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck.
7. Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest.
8. And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the first fruits of wheat harvest.
9. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of
the passover be left unto the morning.
10. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
Yessiree, folks--THESE are the Ten Commandments. Not one syllable about honoring parents, not killing, not committing adultery, and not coveting. It's all about kissing God's eternal ass except for the last, rather bizarre, commandment about not boiling a baby goat in its mother's milk (eww! Who would do that?!??).
It only goes to show that Christians don't know their own Bible!
But now that you've read this, you know what's REALLY important to God!
I guess He changed His mind about commanding His people not to kill after He watched Moses command the Levites to kill some 3,000 of their male relatives (not counting women and children) for worshiping a gold calf.
Petitions
The NCAA and North Carolina’s discriminatory anti-LGBT laws | |
Tell the National Collegiate Athletic Association:
“An organization responsible for the welfare of the nation’s college student-athletes should not host or participate in events in any state that officially sanctions discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Stop hosting NCAA events in North Carolina until its discriminatory anti-LGBT laws are repealed.”
Add your name:
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From the desk of Ralph Northam, Virginia's Lieutenant Governor
A.J., politicians have no business telling women what to do with their bodies -- especially when most of the politicians are men.
But that’s exactly what just happened here in Virginia. Republicans in our General Assembly voted to DEFUND Planned Parenthood.
If we don’t fight back now, a woman’s right to choose could be completely dismantled before we know it.
Will you sign your name and demand Republican legislators stop their attacks on Planned Parenthood?
Take care,
Ralph Northam
Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
Paid for by Northam for Governor.
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From Color of Change: Trump's campaign manager arrested for assault--tell Coca Cola NOT to back Trump and his toxic hate!
There is no reason that Coca-Cola and other corporations should be sponsoring this clear support of violence. With their sponsorship of this summer’s Republican National Convention (RNC), where Trump will be coronated as the next GOP presidential nominee, Coca-Cola is signaling their support for Trump’s divisive, violent and bigoted platform.
We will not accept Coca-Cola’s legitimization of Trump’s violent, hateful, and authoritarian politics. Demand Coca-Cola immediately end its sponsorship of the RNC.
Until Justice is Real,
--Brandi, Rashad, Arisha, Evan, Brittaney, and Bernard
Tell Congress: Audit the Pentagon | |
Tell your member of Congress:
“Co-sponsor Rep. Barbara Lee’s Audit the Pentagon Act. Defense and military spending deserve the same scrutiny as other government programs.”
Add your name:
|
|
Tell Democratic leadership: Don’t cave to Republican hostage-taking on the budget | |
Petition to Democratic Congressional leadership:
"Hold the line by fighting to pass clean budget bills without any policy riders, including riders that will undermine Wall Street reform, defund health care, or gut environmental or consumer protections."
Add your name:
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This voter disenfranchisement is a direct result of a drastic reduction in polling places that was pushed through by local Republican elected officials, including an 85% reduction since 2008 in Maricopa County, which has a high concentration of Latino voters.
Sign if you agree with CREDO and Daily Kos: The Department of Justice must investigate voter suppression in Arizona.
The reduction in polling places that caused many of the problems in Arizona’s primary election would not have been possible if the Supreme Court hadn’t gutted the Voting Rights Act in the disastrous 2013 Shelby County decision. Prior to Shelby County, Maricopa County would have been required to submit its plan to reduce polling places to the Department of Justice for approval before moving forward, due to the county’s long history of voter suppression.
In the wake of the Shelby County decision, 2016 will be the first presidential election in more than 50 years in which voters don’t have the full protections of the Voting Rights Act. If the Department of Justice intervenes now in Arizona it will send an important message to other states in advance of this fall’s general election that the disenfranchisement of voters won't be tolerated in 2016.
Sign the petition to the Department of Justice: Launch an immediate investigation into voter disenfranchisement in Arizona.
Keep fighting,
Monique Teal, Daily Kos
[1] Political Action Committees are organizations formed for the purpose of raising and spending money to elect and defeat electoral candidates. Read more here: https://act.colorofchange.org/
http://act.colorofchange.org/
Video round up: Fla. omnibus antiabortion-rights law will limit women's health care access, critics say; Mich. lawmakers advance bill criminalizing abortion coercion
In today's clips, Reuters TV covers a Florida antiabortion-rights measure signed into law last week. Elsewhere, Fox 17 News' Michele DeSelms discusses an antiabortion-rights bill in Michigan that would criminalize coercing a woman into receiving an abortion. More »FDA updates medication abortion drug label
FDA on Wednesday approved a new label for a drug used in medication abortion, the New York Times reports. More »Supreme Court asks for supplemental briefs in contraceptive coverage case
The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an order that calls for both plaintiffs and defendants to file supplemental briefs in a lawsuit challenging the federal contraceptive coverage rules, the New York Times reports. More »House subcommittee targeting abortion providers subpoenas eight more groups
A House subcommittee investigating abortion providers in the United States on Wednesday issued subpoenas to eight medical organizations, drawing criticism from liberal lawmakers and medical groups, the New York Times reports. More »CDC issues new Zika guidance; state, federal efforts targeting fetal tissue donation could thwart Zika research
CDC on Friday issued guidance advising men and women who have been exposed to the Zika virus to delay pregnancy, the New York Times reports. More »Blogs comment on harmful effects of 20-week abortion bans, confiscation of medication abortion drugs mailed to Brazilian women amid Zika outbreak, more
Read some of the best commentary from bloggers at Salon, Slate's "The XX Factor" and more. More »Telemedicine could boost access to medication abortion, researchers say
Telemedicine could improve access to medication abortion for women who do not live near reproductive health providers, according to a report published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine, Reuters reports. More »Fla. gov. signs antiabortion-rights measure
Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) on Friday signed into law an omnibus antiabortion-rights bill (HB 1411) that imposes several new restrictions on abortion providers, the New York Times reports. More »Federal judge strikes down Ala. TRAP provision
A federal judge on Friday ruled that an admitting privileges requirement for abortion providers in an Alabama law (HB 57) is unconstitutional, the AP/Wall Street Journal reports. More »Physicians say new Ind. abortion restrictions could harm women
Physicians in Indiana are criticizing a new law (HB 1337) that imposes broad restrictions on abortion care and fetal tissue disposal, saying it could harm women's health, the Washington Post's "Wonkblog" reports. More »Blogs comment on misleading messaging in Zubik v. Burwell, lack of funding for proposed Okla. antiabortion-rights bill, more
Read some of the best commentary from bloggers at Religion Dispatches' "RD Blog," Daily Beast and more. More »
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Proverbs 20:23 states,
"Divers weights are an abomination
unto the LORD;
and a false balance is not good."
Don't you know what this means?!??
GOD HATES SCUBA!!!!!
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Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
Will wealthier Democrats support fundamental change? READ MORE»
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Janet Allon, AlterNet
"Anderson Cooper started it. He's a total poopy pants." READ MORE»
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Robert Reich, RobertReich.org
Sanders is gaining momentum in western states, plus there are 22 primaries up for grabs but the news continues to ignore it. READ MORE»
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By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
This may be the Massachusetts senator's toughest interview to date. READ MORE»
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By Amanda Marcotte, Salon
Anti-choicers are using Trump's comments to portray themselves as nicer to women, but in fact, they are worse. READ MORE»
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By Kali Holloway, AlterNet
The man who put 16 bullets into Laquan McDonald is now being paid by the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police. READ MORE»
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How Trump Wannabes Across the Country Are Waging a State-by-State Stealth War Against Refugee Rights
By Sarah Lazare, AlterNet
Lawmakers from South Carolina to New York are calling for xenophobic "refugee registries." READ MORE»
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By Reynard Loki, AlterNet
The
nation’s top state law enforcers have joined forces against Exxon—and
to defend Obama’s Clean Power Plan against attacks from Big Oil. READ MORE»
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By Mary Bottari, PR Watch
Cruz brings out his mother in an attempt to win the hearts of women. READ MORE»
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By Arturo Garcia, Raw Story
Adding insult to injury, this occurred after the 15 year old accused a Trump supporter of sexual assault READ MORE»
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Kali Holloway, AlterNet
His vision of America is one in which women have no rights—and it's not far from becoming a reality. READ MORE»
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Max Blumenthal, Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
A conference starring Roseanne and Israeli ministers was a symphony of extremist incitement.
READ MORE»
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By Marlena Fitzpatrick-Garcia, AlterNet
Perhaps they want first dibs on building Trump's wall. READ MORE»
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By Richard Eskow, Campaign for America's Future
Profiting off of the less-fortunate is in Wall Street's DNA. READ MORE»
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By Robyn Pennacchia, The Frisky
If they love guns so much, Republicans should bring them to the National Republican Convention. READ MORE»
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By Chris Hedges, Truthdig
The United States needs to answer for its own human rights violations. READ MORE»
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By Vijay Prashad, AlterNet
More CIA pictures of naked "detainees." READ MORE»
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Don Hazen, Jan Frel, AlterNet
The
African American congresswoman's campaign shares many qualities with
Bernie Sanders' surprisingly powerful primary campaign. READ MORE»
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Kali Holloway, AlterNet
As long as you've got a gun, you're sure to live happily ever after. READ MORE»
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Heather Digby Parton, Salon
Can there be any doubt about how dangerous it would be to elect this man as commander in chief? READ MORE»
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By Adam Johnson, FAIR
Cable news ignored primaries for three important states. READ MORE»
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By Stephanie Land, Economic Hardship Reporting Project
Conservatives are blocking access to crucial SNAP benefits, with work requirements and limits on what items people can buy. READ MORE»
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By Rob Bryan, AlterNet
Neither American Zionism nor K Street venality can fully explain the cult-like nature of AIPAC. READ MORE»
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By Maya Schenwar, Truthout
An interview with the editors of the new book, "Hell Is a Very Small Place: Voices From Solitary Confinement." READ MORE»
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By Steven Hill, Salon
The Uber model just doesn't work for other industries. The price points always fail—and that's a good thing. READ MORE»
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By Schumacher Center for a New Economics Staff, Schumacher Center for a New Economics
We must focus on community-supported industries to strengthen America's local economies. READ MORE»
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By Nicole Rafter, NYU Press
Genocides have increased in frequency since the breakup of the Soviet Union and emergence of the “third world.” READ MORE»
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By Brian McFadden, AlterNet
He's a right-wing daredevil. READ MORE»
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By David Edwards, Raw Story
Campaign aides debate whose worse: Trump's campaign manager or the attorney hired to defend him against assault charges? READ MORE»
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Donald "Money Boo Boo" Trump said
that women who have abortions
should be punished,
thus confirming
that the type of object
he perceives women to be
is "incubator."
He threw a trump card
Rafael "BUSTed" Cruz cannot overcome:
Trump has now proven
that he speaks for the entire
Republican Party,
including Evangelicals,
who, like Cruz
and my Tea Party Christian friend,
think women SHOULD DIE
for wanting or getting abortions.
That's what
my Tea Party Christian friend says.
So why is it that Trump,
my Tea Party Christian friend,
and the rest of the
pro-mandatory-birthers
back down so quickly
when others find this sentiment
barbaric and reprehensible?
********************************************
Groovy time, movie time--time for some groovy movies!
David took the census just like God told him to, which of course means that God HAD to punish David by killing some of his innocent subjects!
Mawwiage...
So, the New Testament gives two completely conflicting genealogies for Joseph to prove the bloodline of Jesus as a descendant of David, but isn't Joseph completely UNRELATED to Jesus, whose FATHER is supposedly GOD?
Which Ten Commandments? There are three sets, you know! But we'll only ever know two.
I'm posting this, one of my all-time favorite videos, purely for giggles--it's not safe for work, but, when you do watch it, make sure your speakers are turned all the way up!