So much for the New World Order One World Government....
Greetings, fellow Dot Calm Readers, Freedom Righters, and Truth Crusaders!
I'm back...didja miss me?
Two things today: gun control and Brexit.
First, Brexit...
I confess, I'm disappointed that the Brits decided to leave the EU--especially after listening to John Oliver's commentary (under Movies below ICYMI last time). It remains to be seen whether the immigration advantages of leaving outweigh the economic advantages of staying. I hope for the sake of the Brits that this works out for them and that they don't rule out returning to the EU if it doesn't. Conservative David Cameron, who was in favor of staying, is stepping down in three months as a result of the referendum. He sounded almost broken in the clip I heard of him speaking on NPR this morning. I hope there are some rays of sunshine and productive work for him in the future.
Meanwhile, I'm feeling the need to tease my Tea Party Christian friend...I want to say to him, "So much for the New World Order One World Government" and see what he says. Between Brexit and the failure of the Israel-Palestine peace talks last year, he can relax that Jesus isn't coming back any time soon according to Irvin Baxter's End Times predictions, which my friend believes the same way normal people believe that gravity happens. Irvin had him believing that the peace talks would complete by close of 2014 or 2015 and that the new temple would go up on the Temple Mount, thus ushering in the resumption of Jewish animal sacrifices to Yahweh and the very literal beginning of the end:
"...Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas has said that he will press charges against Israel and her leaders before the International Criminal Court if a peace agreement is not reached by April 29, 2014. This could result in Israeli leaders being placed on trial at The Hague and sentenced to prison by the international tribunal.
"Last but certainly not least, Israel’s main supporter, the United States of America, is determined that an agreement will be reached at this time. The US is prepared to use all the power at its disposal to see that an agreement is reached. Israel does not want to alienate its main ally.
"So do I believe the time for the prophesied final seven years has arrived? I DO! Do I know for certain that it will be done by April 29th? No. But it certainly looks like the time for the fulfillment lies just ahead!"
So, I guess Irvin's "seven-year plan" clock has been reset to zero, ha. Irvin also has my poor gullible friend believing that O'Bama is going to chip everybody as a provision of Obamacare (he isn't) and that the chip will be "the mark of the beast" that you'll have to have in your right hand or your forehead in order to buy, sell, work, and trade (bullshit...but damn funny bullshit).
And now, gun control...
It seems as though the Dems have finally grown some backbone on common-sense gun control...it's about time.
Meanwhile, since my last post, I've been reading about the four bills that Congress failed to pass, hence the sit-in. I agree with the Pubs that giving the Attorney General more-or-less sole authority to say yea or nay to gun purchases was too much power for the Executive Branch, but I totally agree with the Dems that the Pubs' bills were either dangerous or useless and that it's good that the Dems didn't compromise.
In other words, the Pubs were not serious about enacting common-sense gun control, as overwhelmingly approved by the American public, when they offered their bills. The Republican measures were just so much political theater.
What a surprise...not.
Meanwhile, the Pubs used the Dems' sit in to vote on a Zika bill targeting Planned Parenthood:
Zika causes severe birth defects, and it can be sexually transmitted. Helping women prevent pregnancy is an important part of Zika prevention efforts. Yet part of the Republicans’ bill effectively excludes Planned Parenthood from distributing birth control under a $95 million grant program.
Republicans have threatened government shutdowns over Planned Parenthood before, and they consistently offer spending bills that gut or eliminate funds for low-income family planning clinics through the Title X program. Yet they’ve also tried to argue that women could just go to Title X clinics or other providers if Planned Parenthood were to be defunded. That’s nonsense, as Vox’s Sarah Kliff has explained; Planned Parenthood is too integral to the health care system, and other clinics just wouldn’t have the capacity to take over for it.
Democrats and reproductive health advocates were outraged at the Zika bill.
"The bill the GOP pushed through last night makes a mockery of the Zika health crisis that so many Americans are concerned about," said NARAL Pro-Choice America president Ilyse Hogue in a statement. "House Republicans' constant claim that they’re out to ‘protect the unborn’ falls flat when this bill undercuts the very protections women need to bear healthy children."
What part of "reduce abortions by making birth control available" do they NOT understand? What part of "it's both stupid and unfair to force only young and poor women to give birth to Zika babies" do they NOT understand? What part of "it will cost millions of dollars to keep microcephalic Zika babies alive over their lifetimes" do they NOT understand?
During a recent webinar for the Kaiser Family Foundation, the CDC's Frieden said the lifetime cost of care for a microcephalic child would be somewhere between $1 million and $10 million. ...If just 13,000 babies are born in the U.S. with this disability or to women who migrated here for better medical treatment, the cost of keeping them alive and providing for their lifetime care could range from $13 billion to as much as $130 billion.
These bastards are NOT pro-life...they are PRO-SUFFERING.You know what it's gonna take for the Pubs to do anything about anything?
Some of their own will have to be affected by whatever crisis. Some of their own loved ones will have to be gunned down by some Christian ammosexual terrorist. Some of their own wives or daughters will have to be forced to give birth to microcephalic Zika babies--which is unlikely because these politicians have the money to go wherever in the world they want to get as many abortions as they want. Like Larry Flynt said George W. Bush got his girlfriend an abortion before it was legal.
Republicans simply lack the empathy to do the right thing otherwise.
And that stinks because the sorts of crises it will take to wake them up are precisely what nobody would ever wish on anybody--they are the sorts of crises we'd like to see NEVER happen to anyone...not even our worst enemies.
smh
Don't forget to read Dot Calm's shadow's favorite independent sources of news and information:
Daily Kos
AlterNet
Democracy Now!
Slate
Vox
BuzzFeed
Conservatives are Destroying our Future
Conservative Clown Car
Mrs. Betty Bowers, America's Best Christian(TM)
God, the Good Lord Above
Americans Against the Republican Party
Americans Against the Tea Party
Please keep supporting Bernie--send him a buck o' five if you can. At the very least, I'm gonna send $15 to Debbie Wasserman Schultz's Democratic primary opponent, Tim Canova, on Bernie's behalf (yup--ain't done it yet but still definitely planning to...I know, I know! This week, without fail--I think that vote is on the 28th). Schultz needs to GO!
Thanks for reading, and thanks for being good to yourself and your loved ones. Hug or call an LGBTQ friend today, please. I am still reaching out to my dear, delightful never-been-"normal" buds and budettes.
And, whatever you do,
GO TO YOUR LOCAL PRIDE EVENTS!
No time like the present to fly your never-been-normal colors proudly and/or support those who might be a little shy coming out. Show them that the ignorant, the haters, and the terrorists are LOSERS and that living joyfully in your own skin is where it's at!
With condolences for the victims in Orlando--who were primarily Latino, so love to my Latino buds and budettes, too--and their families...and in solidarity with my LGBTQ brothers, sisters, and everything in between around the world...I remain
- Dot Calm's shadow
(P.S.--consider the standard Blogger-random-formatting disclaimer to be still in effect. Grrrrr!)
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MAKE AMERICA
GAY AGAIN
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Mailbag
Headlines I found in my travels...
These all happen to be from Slate...but I'll never tell, oh no...
Islamization of radicalism--being radical turns you to Islam (or whatever fundamentalist religion speaks to/for your rejection of society)...not the other way around
A NC mother of four, who could have died from getting pregnant with an IUD, shares the real-life, terrifying impact of NC's absurd new abortion law, which includes a 72-hour waiting period that can easily spread into weeks and hundreds of miles of travel--or forced birth of a deformed baby and/or death of the mother--if, like, there's snow
Good--Mississippi's anti-LGBT law is about to go down in flames because it violates the establishment clause
Everything you need to know about the four newest chemical elements being added to the periodic table--definitely worth reading, especially if you're not a science nerd
Setting the record straight for second-wave feminism's bad rap...great read regarding just what we owe to first- and second-wave feminists...and it's a LOT...lest we forget!
Oh, wait...here are some from Vox...
An expert sums up the economic consensus about Brexit. It’s bad.
Why the Brexit vote result has UK scientists terrified
Brexit will hurt the UK. But it could save the European Union.
One winner and four losers from the Brexit referendum
Brexit should be a wake-up call to US liberals: don’t assume Trump will lose
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There are over 8 million veterans enrolled to receive a wide range of services through the Veterans Administration. In 2013 alone, the VA accommodated almost 90 million outpatient visits; that's an average of almost 250,000 appointments every day.
Those numbers should help explain why for-profit hospitals and people like the Koch Brothers are fighting so hard to privatize veterans' health care.
I served two tours in Kuwait during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and I get great care from the VA. And while we should always strive to decrease wait times, I am not alone. According to independent polls, over 90% of veterans approve of their inpatient and outpatient care through the VA.
In 2014 after the VA crisis, Congress passed a large veterans health care bill that authorized funds to hire more doctors and nurses to keep up with the influx of veterans recently returned from two new wars overseas. But the legislation also called for a commission to develop recommendations for improving veterans' health care (The Commission on Care). And I am sad to tell you, a number of members of the commission are trying to phase out all VA hospitals and clinics over the next two decades.
We can stop them.
Sign our petition calling on the "Commission on Care" to stop trying to privatize veterans health care and instead focus on improving access to a well-funded, properly staffed VA.
Privatizing the system would severely under-fund the department, leaving many veterans with service-connected injuries out in the cold. Often times, VA centers are equipped to deal with specialized care, amputations and traumatic brain injuries, in a way a local doctor or hospital may not be.
For veterans in need of specialized care, both physical and mental, they may not have a caregiver to turn to in their area.
But more to the point, as a RAND study recently indicated, "the quality of care provided by the VA health system generally was as good as or better than other health systems on most quality measures."
Sign our petition calling on the "Commission on Care" to stop trying to privatize veterans health care and instead focus on improving access to a well-funded, properly staffed VA.
This is not only a very real legislative issue, but it will also be an election issue. The Koch Brothers, who have an employee on the "Commission on Care," are going to spend untold millions on the presidential and senate races through their shell organization, Concerned Veterans for America.
That is why it is so important we stand together to make our voices heard.
All my best,
Rick Hegdahl
Iraq War Veteran
VoteVets
Paid for by VoteVets
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From Diane RussellI wanted you to be the first to know that I just turned in a formal request to the DNC Rules Committee to strike the Super Delegate section of the national bylaws and eliminate the system nationally once and for all. Politico has the story this morning!
At least one member of the Rules Committee must introduce the amendment - and the deadline is this week. Will you help me launch a full court press to convince the Committee to take up the amendment and send it to the convention floor for debate in Philadelphia?
Sign on as a Citizen Co-Sponsor of the Amendment to Abolish Super Delegates!
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Something historic just happened.
Starting at 11:25 a.m. EDT Wednesday, dozens of members of Congress waged a sit-in on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Why?
Because Paul Ryan and other congressional leaders — who are beholden to firearms industry funding and the gun lobby’s attack dogs at the National Rifle Associate (NRA) — won’t allow so much as a vote on even modest reforms that have overwhelming, bipartisan support among voters.
Sadly, this is emblematic of what politics in America has become.
The American people actually agree on lots of things: commonsense steps to end the epidemic of mass shootings, for one, but also raising the minimum wage, breaking up the biggest banks, averting climate catastrophe, stopping disastrous trade “deals,” protecting consumers, guaranteeing heath care as a basic right, overturning Citizens United, and on and on.
But progress is blocked by corporations that have a stranglehold on our political process as a result of a broken campaign finance system they have corrupted beyond reason.
Until we fix that problem, progress will be achingly slow at best on all the rest.
The good news is that we’re building a powerful movement to rescue our democracy.
Donate now to help us keep standing up to the gun makers and other corporate interests.
Thank you!
Onward,
Robert Weissman
President, Public Citizen
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We won something big last week and we want to make sure you know just how important it was. For over a decade, CREDO fought ferociously to protect Net Neutrality. Last week a federal court handed us a huge and game-changing win for the future of an open and equal internet when it rejected the lawsuit to overturn the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) historic Net Neutrality rules. For all of us who are members of CREDO, this was a special fight. As a telecom that fights for social justice – and as a progressive advocacy group that organizes on the internet – the battle for Net Neutrality was a personal one. More than a million dollars in donations, and fierce grassroots advocacy by CREDO members, played a major role in pushing the FCC to ban content discrimination on the internet and pass the strongest possible Net Neutrality rules in early 2015. These rules were immediately challenged in court. CREDO, and some of our allies – including Free Press, Demand Progress, ColorOfChange and Fight for the Future – defended the Net Neutrality rules from this assault in federal court by filing as intervenors in the case on behalf of the FCC. Now the Federal Appeals Court – which had ruled against an earlier set of weaker Net Neutrality rules – upheld the FCC’s decision. This has been a long fight for us, going all the way back to when George W. Bush deregulated broadband and opened the door for big corporations to discriminate on the internet. We had to bring the fight to Democrats and Republicans alike. There was an enormous amount of money spent lobbying against us. But while their side had a lot of money and lobbyists, our side had millions of grassroots activists who were willing to speak out again-and-again for an open and equal internet. We could not have won this fight without the leadership of a new generation of civil rights leaders who put Net Neutrality at the heart of their equality agenda. ColorOfChange, a group CREDO has long funded, is a powerful voice for protecting civil rights online. Their advocacy, and that of groups like the Center for Media Justice, the Media Action Grassroots Network, and the National Hispanic Media Coalition, was crucial to pressuring President Obama, his FCC, and Democrats who in the past have sided with corporate lobbyists, to support the strongest possible Net Neutrality rules. We’re proud of the part we’ve played in this victory. We also know from experience that our victories are rarely permanent. In fact, the corporations who sued to invalidate the rules are no doubt planning to appeal to the Supreme Court. We will have to defend these rules again in the future, and with your help we will continue the fight to protect the internet from corporate control. Thank you for playing a part in this historic victory for a free and open internet. Ray Morris, CEO CREDO Action from Working Assets |
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From David CicillineI’m still in awe.
Last night, my Democratic colleagues and I took over the House floor to demand action on gun violence.
We stayed and fought for 26 hours. But what did Speaker Ryan do? He sent the Republicans home so that we couldn’t vote on any common-sense gun reform measures.
So, our sit-in may be over, but this fight is certainly not.
Will you join me and Democrats across the country to demand a vote on common-sense gun safety?
While I’m so proud to have been a part of such an historic moment with John Lewis and so many of my Democratic House colleagues, I am just so baffled that not a single Republican took to the floor to defend their argument.
GUTLESS COWARDS is what they are.
Speaker Ryan even had the nerve to call our sit-in “nothing more than a publicity stunt.”
Did the 49 families that had a loved one mowed down by an AR-15 killing machine in Orlando think this was just “a publicity stunt?”
Did the parents of the 20 children massacred in Newtown think this was just “a publicity stunt?”
Do the families of the 89 people that are shot and killed every single day in this country think that this was just “a publicity stunt?”
I think not, and to suggest otherwise is a gross disservice to families that have been racked by gun violence.
I refuse to stop here. I refuse to be silenced. And I refuse to accept these tragedies as “just the way it is.”
So, please join our movement that has already captured the support of the thousands of people by signing your name to DEMAND action on gun violence:
http://go.cicilline.com/
Thanks,
David
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From LeftAction
Sign the card: Thank Rep. John Lewis for FIGHTING BACK against the NRA >>
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From the ACLU--Stop the FBI's warrantless domestic spying on YOU
Imagine that the FBI could suddenly get information about the websites you visited and the emails you sent without getting permission from a judge. Would you stop visiting certain websites? Or maybe avoid emailing your pastor, therapist, or lawyer?
Send a message and urge your senator to vote against Senator McCain’s amendment.
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From freepress.net--CNN wants to hire Corey Lewandowski, of all people!
Unreal. CNN just hired Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, as a paid commentator.
Lewandowski oversaw a campaign rooted in racism, misogyny and other forms of hate.
It’s appalling that a news network gave this man a job. This is the guy who:
1. Assaulted a reporter who was trying to ask Trump a question1
2. Oversaw a campaign that routinely blacklists reporters2
3. Barricaded the press inside pens during Trump events
Lewandowski doesn’t belong in a newsroom. Demand that CNN rescind the offer.
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You know who I would NOT WANT
in my daughter's bathroom?
Brock Allen Turner.
You know who I would NOT WANT
in any public bathroom,
especially around kids?
A Catholic priest
A Christian pastor
A Republican homophobe
in my daughter's bathroom?
Brock Allen Turner.
You know who I would NOT WANT
in any public bathroom,
especially around kids?
A Catholic priest
A Christian pastor
A Republican homophobe
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Democracy Now!
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Get to know
LGBTQ+
To fear is to hate; to know is to love
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Daily Kos
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RELIGION KILLS
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Marco Rubio is running for reelection.
He's missed so many votes
that one must conclude
that he really hates the job
(or at least the American public).
I guess it's good money for nothing
if the best you have
are his work ethic and his morals.
are his work ethic and his morals.
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ICYMI: John Oliver's comments on why Brexit is a bad idea...*sigh*
Mateen's gay lover comes forward--his motivation definitely seems to have been revenge and religious self-loathing. Cenk is right--can't we effin' stop teaching our kids to hate themselves?!??
The Democrats' sit-in
Oklahoma Republicans inferred that poor people are animals? THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT, Kyle!
Now, this is funny...Republicans claiming God told this or that evangelical to run for President...
...like Scott Walker, who in his certainty about God's will is clearly batshit crazy (but I'm sure that's not why he looks cross-eyed)
...and Rafael Cruz, whose batshit son DEFEATed doesn't fall far from the sphincter, was supported by televangelist Kenneth Copeland, who has been hired by Donald Trump...yep, you read it right: Trump's new Christian advisor says that God chose Ted Cruz to be President! Don't worry--Trump has other Christian arrows in his quiver--like the Tea Party intellectual, Michele Bachmann (BA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA..."Tea Party" and "intellectual"..."intellectual" and "Michele Bachmann" in the same sentence...oh, I make myself laugh!)
...and give DEFEATed some prunes already, for the love of Pete!
Michael Jackson's child porn...
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posted by Dot Calm @ 6:23 PM
