Crucifix! Crucifix! Crucifix!

Evangelist Joshua Feuerstein is all upset again, this time demanding a crucifix icon as some sort of rebellion (or possibly protection) against all those evil rainbows. Facebook has no intention of providing a crucifix for all the christians to mount themselves on, so good for them.

One user wrote:

“Remember GOD used the rainbow as a promise never to flood the earth again…but he will burn it with fire…so get ready…you can’t use a symbol that God created and pervert it without repercussions,”

Oh, christians are always so gosh darn loving, it just oozes out. Like poison. Such puerile whining! Where in the fuck is your faith? Why doesn’t that sustain you in the absolutely unbelievable torment and anguish of a rainbow icon? Isn’t suffering good for the soul? It’s all “god’s” plan or will or whatever? Mysterious ways, all that shit? Well, if I have to go up in flames, you’ll go too, if that vaunted flood of yours is any example. Unfortunately, any flames we see are more likely to be those of our own doing, in regard to climate change.

Via Raw Story.

Oh, Trumpholes.

A rather large “oops” on the part of Trumpholes yesterday. Apparently, every 4th of July, NPR reads the entire Declaration of Independence. So far, so good, if you like that sort of thing. Unfortunately, the next thing NPR did was to tweet out the whole text line by line, and the Trumpholes took exception to it, thinking it was yet another horrible leftist move which was saying terrible things about the Tiny Tyrant.

D.G. Davies, replying to @NPR: So, NPR is calling for revolution. Interesting way to condone violence while trying to sound “patriotic”. Your implications are clear.

Parker Molloy: NPR tweeted out the entire Declaration of Independence, and wow…uh…the responses are…something.

Via Raw Story, where you can see more of the tweets in question. Raw Story also has an interesting article up about a young reporter who turned a bit of the Declaration of Independence into petition form, and tried to get people to sign it in 1951. One person signed it, having recognized the origin. All the other people accused him of perpetrating a commie plot.

The Tiny Tyrant: A Metaphor for Independence.

Doug Wead speaks to Fox News (screen grab).

“I see the election of Donald Trump is a wonderful metaphor for Independence Day,” Doug Wead told Fox News over the weekend. “The media said who we should vote for, Wall Street told us, old money told us, Hollywood told us. Everybody said, ‘Here’s who you should vote for.’ And those stubborn independent Americans said, ‘I believe we’ll take the other guy, thank you.’”

According to Wead’s biography, he attended Central Bible College in Illinois for two years before dropping out. He later received an honorary doctorate from Oral Roberts University.

Is anyone at all surprised that the Regime historian isn’t a historian? No, faux-historian, most all those stubborn, independent Americans did not take the other guy. You’d be talking about the morons who make up the electoral college, but I doubt you know much about that. And no, it doesn’t matter one iota what the Founding Thieves would have thought of the Tiny Tyrant. They are long dead, not relevant, and such speculation is mere projection. Offered with no more comment, because this is the stupid that will kill us all. Video at the link.

Via Raw Story.

Thoroughly Modern … Trump.

Donald J. Trump: “My use of social media is not Presidential – it’s MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL. Make America Great Again!”

FFS. I don’t even, I, uh.

Via Raw Story, which also has select responses.

Sunday Facepalm.

The Tiny Tyrant was busy spending a fucktonne of taxpayer money in some useless flying about. He held the first “freedom rally” at the Kennedy Center. Now, I would have thought, what with being on the verge of National Fireworks and Stupidity Day, there would have been much jingoistic glurge over our precious freedoms tossed about, but there was a Trump curveball in this July freedom fest – the war on christmas!

Donald Trump spent an extra $400,000 of taxpayer dollars to fly from Washington, D.C. to his resort in New Jersey then back to Washington again for “the first ever Freedom Rally” at the Kennedy Center Saturday. During his speech, Trump decided “freedom” meant celebrating Christmas in July.

Trump began his speech by attacking the media and touting his election win, as he is known to do.

He went on to involved [sic sb invoked?] the memory of Benjamin Franklin and noted that at the Constitutional Convention, Franklin reminded his fellow delegates to “bow their head in prayer. I remind you, we’re going to start saying Merry Christmas again.”

Yep. It’s barely July, and at this point, I’d dearly like to see xmas stomped into the ground, scraped up, and tossed into a convenient abyss somewhere. The crass commercialism of it all is bad enough, and it’s beyond bad enough that every fucking year, the xmas panic has to begin earlier and earlier, and then there are all the fucking idiotic christians who are just convinced they are being horribly persecuted if everyone doesn’t go around shouting “merry xmas!” Some christians get it right, when they point out that the whole business of christmas isn’t christian at all, but they are far and few in between. The majority of christians “celebrate” the same commercialized pressure of gifting gone mad, forcing family together, and traditional overeating as everyone else, there isn’t any sort of sacred difference. This insistence that a majority are being disrespected by people saying anything other than “merry xmas” is absurd, at best, and it serves well to highlight the fucking idiocy of so many christian conservatives.

For years, I used to respond to “merry xmases” with “merry giftmas” or “merry mixmush” and people would always laugh. The ‘giftmas’ was always appreciated. That’s what it is, and if devout theists eschew the commercialized crap and do indeed celebrate their particular god[s], that’s fine, who cares? Why would they give a shit over a greeting? Truth be told, I’ve always been surprised over this manufactured drama, because if I were a christian, I think I’d resent people using my particular god as a banal greeting, especially one which typifies the worst sort of commercialized greed.

The comments came after Trump asked veterans to stand for recognition. he told the veterans that he was “handed a mess, believe me,” alluding to the previous administration. Trump has pledged to fix the Veterans Administration but this far he’s only signed an executive order that allows federal employees to be fired more easily.

“My administration will always support and defend your religious liberty. As long as I am President, no one is going to stop you from practicing your faith or from preaching what is in your heart,” Trump continued.

Oh yes, religious liberty! As long as you’re the right religion. There’s going to be much more of such shit from the Tiny Tyrant, because the hysterical idiots of christendom are the only corner still solidly backing him, as they have not given up on their Theocalypse yet. Fuck your religion. Fuck your gods. Fuck you, too. I want nothing to do with it, and I don’t care what you do at home or in church, but instead of constantly looking for ways you are being “persecuted”, it might be nice for once is you pay attention to all the people you’re busy oppressing.

Trump closed his speech to encouraging chants and assured supporters, “For those that are curious, we will build the wall.”

And there’s the anemic close. The wall has gone to being a footnote, while the “war on christmas” is the headline.

Via Raw Story. Video at the link.

ObDisclosure: We do celebrate Ratmas (One, Two). The rats love it, and it’s traditional.

Voter Fraud Commission: Beyond Stupid.

As with all things Tiny Tyrant, incompetency and stupidity rule. Politico has the story on how the so-called commission on voter fraud is open to yet more hacking, and would provide a goldmine for those with cybercrime on their mind.

Cybersecurity specialists are warning that President Donald Trump’s voter-fraud commission may unintentionally expose voter data to even more hacking and digital manipulation.

Their concerns stem from a letter the commission sent to every state this week, asking for full voter rolls and vowing to make the information “available to the public.” The requested information includes full names, addresses, birth dates, political party and, most notably, the last four digits of Social Security numbers. The commission is also seeking data such as voter history, felony convictions and military service records.

Digital security experts say the commission’s request would centralize and lay bare a valuable cache of information that cyber criminals could use for identity theft scams — or that foreign spies could leverage for disinformation schemes.

“It is beyond stupid,” said Nicholas Weaver, a computer science professor at the University of California at Berkeley.

“The bigger the purse, the more effort folks would spend to get at it,” said Joe Hall, chief technologist at the Center for Democracy and Technology, a digital advocacy group. “And in this case, this is such a high-profile and not-so-competent tech operation that we’re likely to see the hacktivists and pranksters take shots at it.”

Indeed, by Friday night, over 20 states — from California to Mississippi to Virginia — had indicated they would not comply with the request, with several citing privacy laws and expressing unease about aggregating voter data.

[…]

Experts also criticized the commission’s two options for states to submit their data: via a White House email address and a Pentagon-run file-hosting service.

“Email is the worst; it’s like sending all your postal mail using postcards instead of letters in envelope,” Hall said. “It’s one of the harder methods of communication to secure.”

The commission’s alternative option, a file-hosting service run by a branch of the Army, isn’t currently configured to properly encrypt web traffic, which Hall said was “a massive red flag for their ability to properly secure other forms of secure file transfer.”

The perceived digital security miscues left many specialists stunned.

“Nothing about this letter appears to take information security into account,” said Matthew Green, a computer science professor and cryptography expert at Johns Hopkins University. “If I didn’t know this letter was real, I would assume it was a clever spearphishing campaign.”

When it comes to my state, I’m afraid to look, but I’m sure they are being compliant. Yet another thing to worry about. Politico has the full story.

The Death of A Trumpian Paradise.

Politico has an excellent story up about the Colorado Springs experiment. The town elected a real-estate maven, with no political experience at all, who promised to make Colorado Springs great, just run it like a business. Sound familiar? In most respects, Steve Bach is just like a certain Tiny Tyrant. Bach also made much hay out of the whole “jobs, jobs, jobs!” business, which did not pan out in the slightest. This is a good lesson, because this is the road the whole damn country is going down, and it is going to fail, spectacularly. People rarely want to employ sense when it comes to money, and this is particularly true of Americans, who are always looking for a whole lot of something for nothing.

For a city, like the country at large, that was hurting economically, Steve Bach seemed like a man with an answer. What he promised sounded radically simple: Wasteful government is the root of the pain, and if you just run government like the best businesses, the pain will go away. Easy. Because he had never held office and because he actually had been a successful entrepreneur, people were inclined to believe he really could reinvent the way a city was governed.

The city’s experiment was fascinating because it offered a chance to observe some of the most extreme conservative principles in action in a real-world laboratory. Producers from “60 Minutes” flew out to talk with the town’s leaders. The New York Times found a woman in a dark trailer park pawning her flat screen TV to buy a shotgun for protection. “This American Life” did a segment portraying Springs citizens as the ultimate anti-tax zealots, willing to pay $125 in a new “Adopt a Streetlight” program to illuminate their own neighborhoods, but not willing to spend the same to do so for the entire city. “I’ll take care of mine” was the gist of what one council member heard from a resident when she confronted him with this fact.

That’s where Colorado Springs was frozen in the consciousness of the country—a city determined to redefine the role of government, led by a sharp-elbowed businessman who didn’t care whom he offended along the way (not unlike a certain president). But it has been five years since “This American Life” packed up its mics. A lot has changed in that time, not least of which is that the local economy, which nearly drowned the city like a concrete block tied around its balance sheet, is buoyant once again. Sales tax revenue has made the books plump with surplus. Enough to turn those famous streetlights back on. Seven years after the experiment began, the verdict is in—and it’s not at all what its architects planned.

One of the lessons: There’s a real cost to saving money.

Take the streetlights. Turning them off had saved the city about $1.25 million. What had not made the national news stories was what had happened while those lights were off. Copper thieves, emboldened by the opportunity to work without fear of electrocution, had worked overtime scavenging wire. Some, the City Council learned, had even dressed up as utility workers and pried open the boxes at the base of streetlights in broad daylight. Keeping the lights off might have saved some money in the short term, but the cost to fix what had been stolen ran to some $5 million.

[…]

There has been a lot of this kind of reckoning over the past half-decade. From crisis came a desire for disruption. From disruption came, well, too much disruption. And from that came a full-circle return to professional politicians. Including one—a beloved mayor and respected bureaucrat who was short-listed to replace James Comey as FBI director—who is so persuasive he has gotten Colorado Springs residents to do something the outside world assumed they were not capable of: Five years after its moment in the spotlight, revenue is so high that the same voters who refused to keep the lights on have overwhelmingly approved ballot measures allowing the city to not only keep some of its extra tax money, but impose new taxes as well.

In the process, many residents of Colorado Springs, but especially the men and women most committed to making the city thrive, have learned a few other lessons. That perpetual chaos can be exhausting. That the value of the status quo rises with the budget’s bottom line. And that it helps when the people responsible for running the city are actually talking with one another. All it took was a few years running an experiment that everyone involved seems happy is over.

Politico has the full story, recommended reading.

A Burden Of Buzzwords In A Blurb.

So, I’m reading an article, and get stuck on “activated cashews”.  WTF are activated cashews? I already know that yes, cashews are good for you, in moderation, like many things. I also knew I was going to be very sorry for clicking on the cashew link. Yep, definitely sorry. It’s certainly easy to take money from people who have an excess of it, and apparently, one hell of a deficit in the sense department. What are activated cashews? A serious excess of empty buzzwords, signifying nothing, and a small bag of very overpriced nuts. Here’s the buzzy blurb:

Our enzyme-rich, activated, and dehydrated cashews are a mineral-dense protein. Pure, alkaline water awakens the nuts’ dormant properties, increasing digestibility and micronutrient, vitamin, and enzyme count. These raw, activated, bio-available nuts are a low-glycemic, anti-inflammatory source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids that nourish skin, bones, and heart.

Perfect for high functioning snacking and activated nut milks, topping yogurts, puddings, and cereals, and for creating treats like granolas, cookies, crackers,  and your magical creations we haven’t discovered yet.

INGREDIENTS: Raw, organic, activated cashews

Gluten-free and non-GMO

As to why you need to activate nuts, or pay outrageous amounts of money for them? If you guessed this is a traditional method among certain cultures…bingo! I didn’t go into it enough to see just which particular tradition and culture is being co-opted here, but it all seems to trace back to one particular person, and a bunch of gullible idiots glommed onto it. Here’s a bit of it:

They seem like a great choice of snack – high in protein and essential fats, and riddled with fibre, antioxidants and minerals. This we know to be true, but they also contain natural chemicals that could interfere with your digestive system and prevent you from absorbing all of that wonderful nutrition.

Similar to how grains and legumes contain phytic acid, nuts contain enzyme inhibitors. Enzyme inhibitors act by binding to enzymes and decrease and/or block their actions. The enzyme inhibitors are beneficial to nuts, as they prevent the nuts from prematurely sprouting, however they also act on our digestive enzymes, preventing their proper digestion and absorption.

Nuts and seeds also contain small amount of phytic acid, which our digestive system is also unable to break down. Eating large amounts of raw nuts could then lead to symptoms such as feeling ‘heavy’, feelings of uncomfortable fullness, even nausea. Not only this, but it puts a massive strain on our our digestive system, compromising already fragile digestive tracts.

[…]

Activating nuts is an ancient and traditional practice that required the soaking of nuts and seeds in brine and letting them dry in the hot sun. Nowadays, we have a much faster and more sanitary method of drying, but the objective remains the same.

The soaking times of nuts vary according to what text you read. My personal method of activating nuts is inspired by Sally Fallon, as described in her book, “Nourishing Traditions”.
How to activate your nuts…

  1. Dissolve salt in enough water to cover the amount of nuts/seeds you are activating.
  2. In a large bowl place your nut or seed of choice.
  3. Cover with the salt water solution.
  4. Soak for the required number of hours.
  5. Strain and rinse the nuts.
  6. Spread over a dehydrator rack, or baking tray.
  7. Dry in the dehydrator for around 12-24 hours.
  8. If drying in the oven, set the oven at the lowest temperature possible, preferably no more than 65C. Stir or turn them occasionally, for the required drying time.
  9. And the result? A crunchy, delicious, totally bio-available and stress-free, nut!

It is important to ensure that your nuts really are dry and crispy before removing them from the dehydrator or oven, otherwise there is a risk that your beautiful and expensive nuts will become riddled with mould.

But mould is natural! Probably fuckin’ traditional somewhere in the world too, if you just look hard enough. Sweet Zombie Jesus, there are a lot of idiots in the world. It’s certainly easy enough to see why some people just decide to start picking pockets on a large scale, you can just make shit up wholesale, plaster buzziness all over it, and before you know it, you have a mattress full of money.

The Sweet Rainbow Image, Violated, Raped!

Photo by Benson Kua.

A few days ago, I posted about Linda Harvey’s deranged rant over some rainbow french fries containers at a Washington DC McDonald’s. She’s at it again, apparently unable to let this whole rainbow business go. In yet another unhinged screed at WND, Ms. Harvey comes up with every possible epithet to hurl at those who don’t pay attention to her particular meaning when it comes to rainbows. The title of her screed is The cross beats the stolen rainbow, but for all that, Ms. Harvey seems to be unable to focus on the cross, her eyes constantly sliding back to the rainbow and all those horrible sexual anarchists. Perhaps if you indulge in a few days worth of porn, Ms. Harvey, you might be able to loosen your fascination with all those speedo-clad, gyrating bodies.

Take, for instance, the magnificent rainbow. Its celebration overtones convey simple joy, innocence and purity of heart.

But the sweet rainbow image has been violated, raped by the deluded and fraudulent, and it now serves too often as a garish signpost for slavery to grave homosexual sin.

No, the ‘sweet’ rainbow image (which fucking one?) has not been violated, and it most certainly has not been raped. I have little use for idiots who just love to use the word rape to try and add shock value to something minor. People who have been raped would be happy to explain the differences to you, I’m sure. So, a depiction has been used by people you don’t like. Got it. That’s not rape, Ms. Harvey. Now, a rainbow is a rainbow is a rainbow. There are only so many ways to depict one, and they’ve all pretty much been done. Rainbows haven’t gotten more garish when they are on the queer side of life. As you’re the one who insists that rainbows began with the psychopathic tantrum you call Jehovah, perhaps you should be questioning his taste.

Rainbows are a natural phenomenon, and as I pointed out earlier, people have no doubt been fascinated with them for always. Most people figure out early in life how easy it is to make a rainbow. Not a big deal. It is in no way fraudulent for people to use depictions of rainbows in any way they want.

It’s clear God did not intend for the rainbow to represent rebellion, iniquity and division.

The rainbow flag in the queer community does not represent rebellion, iniquity and division. It represents acceptance, community, unity, and love.

The mightiest logo of all time is the cross, where Christ shed His blood for the world’s sin and God transformed the tool of torturous execution – what Satan intended for destruction and permanent humiliation – into eternal hope for all who would believe in Jesus.

Oh, I don’t think a cross is the mightiest logo of all time, Ms. Harvey. At the moment, it’s not even strong enough for you to keep your eyes on it. How does Lucifer get into this? The whole moronic scheme of “oh, hey, I’ll have a kid, then kill it to fix all my fuck ups” was Jehovah’s idea. A stellar example of how a fucking idiot thinks, to be sure. Anyroad, without all that nonsense, the bad plot of christianity falls apart.

Atheists want crosses removed wherever visible, of course, believing they deserve veto power over what they ironically find offensive – God’s salvation offer to humankind.

It’s not a matter of offense, Ms. Harvey. It’s a matter of the government not supposedly favouring one religion over others. That’s part of that constitution you fucking fanatics claim to love so much.

Well, I’m offended by the rainbows hung all over Columbus, Ohio, every June for “pride” month, as this beautiful image morphs into a brand identity for perversion. I feel excluded because the depraved have taken the Lord’s glorious sign of hope and corrupted it. Why shouldn’t I sue?

The beautiful image doesn’t morph at all. It’s still a rainbow. Go ahead and sue, who the fuck cares?

As Christians, we have that option, of course, but believers in Jesus Christ don’t always go this route because we are more secure than that, knowing that in this life or the next, every person’s knee will bow before Him and every tongue will confess that He is Lord.

:Snort: Oh, oh my :falls over laughing: About the most insecure people on the planet are christians. Your whole bloody history is a monument to the constant insecurity over your idiotic beliefs. Your insecurity is why there is always a court case in the queue over christians whining about having to bake a fucking cake or some other nonsense. If you truly had faith, none of this would bother you in the slightest. You don’t have faith, however, which is why you always go the same old route: oppression.

Yet millions are being misled by this wicked movement, and it’s especially heartbreaking that so many are children and teens.

Many children and teens are LGBTQ, and many of them are ruthlessly rejected by family, and often mercilessly bullied. A sign of acceptance, community, and love is crucial for those children, and yet, you would deny them that. Christian love in action.

The rainbow stands as God’s covenant with all mankind – not just those who believe in Him now, because some of these flagrant sinners will repent, which is our constant prayer.

Yeah, that’s what a rainbow means to you. It’s not what it means to everyone else. Historically speaking, rainbows have stood for all manner of things, and once again, your Johnny-come-lately god is not the be all end all in the matter.  Besides, that so-called covenant makes you christians a bit crazy, doesn’t it? You never shut up about wanting the apocalypse to hit, when there’s gonna be a great smiting and slaughter, and blood flowing from all us awful unbelievers. You don’t want peace, christians never want peace, so yeah, I can see how the rainbow as a symbol of love gets under your skin.

Is Satan clever or what? He has countless people in this country doing his bidding, failing to understand they are preppers for the pit of hell.

Their Savior – if they would recognize Him – is the real author of the rainbow for His original life-affirming, godly purposes.

:eyeroll: Lucifer doesn’t exist, anymore than your idiotic Jehovah, or the sacrifice on legs, Jesus. Being a prepper is more of a christian thing, Ms. Harvey, more of that apocalyptic wishful thinking. I’m not a prepper of any kind. Jehovah is not the author of rainbows, or anything else. “life-affirming” purposes? Oh, please.

Its current misuse needs to end. Rainbows should accompany what God would smile on. God is not smiling on homosexual conduct, gender defiance or the corruption of children, and He never will.

Oh, yes of course, you know exactly what Jehovah would and wouldn’t smile upon! It’s so convenient, isn’t it, having a little god puppet that believes exactly as you do? Even if your nasty god was real, I wouldn’t give a shit about what he did or didn’t like. An ugly, evil being, and not one I’d want anything to do with.

An appropriate rainbow for the “LGBTQ” sin identity front would look very different, featuring colors like brown, puce, mauve, gray and black – lots and lots of black.

Right, because we all know black is bad. Very bad. Man, you are such a nasty person. Well, Ms. Harvey, I guess you haven’t heard about the new rainbow flag! I’m sure we can all look for yet another screed once you do find out.

Depressing, uninspiring, empty, leading nowhere. Satan’s banner.

Um, I’m not sure how puce and mauve got in your depressing, uninspiring flag, do you even know what those colours are, Ms. Harvey? As for brown, gray, and black, those are lovely colours, many people like them, and they can be made to be quite exciting, dramatic, and inspirational. You’re quite the idiot, Ms. Harvey. This would be a nice project for a fucktonne of artists, though! I might have to play with this at some point myself, when I’m not quite so backed up with work.

The rainbow’s current use by sexual anarchists turns hope into a license for sin. Rainbow-adorned clergy? You are in for some hot eternal times, unless repentance comes along soon.

No, no, you have that all wrong. As previously noted, the rainbow is a symbol of acceptance, community, unity, and love in the queer community. That’s just brimming with hope. What do you offer? A lifetime on your knees, polishing the knob of a psychopath so you won’t be eternally tortured. Yeah, I’ll stay on the queer side here, thanks. Oh, rainbow adorned clergy – yes, there are some christians who try to get it right, but until they unite to take assholes like you down, being rainbow clad is not enough.

Gyrating, Speedo-wearing sado-masochists on rainbow-decorated “pride” floats? Look out for what’s coming, unless you bow before the King of Kings.

:falls over laughing again: Oh honey, you walked right into that one. Now, I would like to know how you deduce sadomasochism from dancing in speedos. Well, maybe not. Your tortured reasoning would be painful, I’m sure.

McDonald’s selling French fries in rainbow containers, and Amazon peddling an array of rainbow “pride month” apparel? There will be an accounting, do not doubt this.

Yeah, yeah, what the fuck ever. That useless god of yours never comes through though, does he? So you end up reduced to ranting on the internet, like millions of others, your screed whipped into the ever active whirlpool of internet screeds, a meaningless howl into the pixelated void.

Via WND.

The Amazon Washington Post and Internet Taxes!!1!

Donald J. Trump: “The #AmazonWashingtonPost, sometimes referred to as the guardian of Amazon not paying internet taxes (which they should) is FAKE NEWS!”

Y’know, at this point, I’d be relieved to find out that Donny is doing some serious drugs. File under Tiny Tyrant What The Fuck.

Via Twitter.

The Wisdom of Rick Joyner, Fucking Idiot.

 

WISDOM IN THREE PARTS:

Part I:

A. Back off and let those men who want to marry men, marry men.
B. Allow those women who want to marry women, marry women.
C. Allow those folks who want to abort their babies, abort their babies.

In three generations, there will be no more Democrats.

Part II:
10 Poorest Cities in America (How did it happen?)
City, State, % of People Below the Poverty Level

1. Detroit, MI 32.5%
2. Buffalo, NY 29.9%
3. Cincinnati, OH 27.8%
4. Cleveland, OH 27.0%
5. Miami, FL 26.9%
5. St. Louis, MO 26.8%
7. El Paso, TX 26.4%
8. Milwaukee, WI 26.2%
9. Philadelphia, PA 25.1%
10. Newark, NJ 24.2%

What do these top ten cities (over 250,000 pop.) with the highest poverty rate all have in common?

Detroit, MI – (1st on poverty rate list) hasn’t elected a Republican mayor since 1961

Buffalo, NY – (2nd) hasn’t elected one since 1954

Cincinnati, OH – (3rd) not since 1984

Cleveland, OH – (4th) not since 1989

Miami, FL – (5th) has never had a Republican mayor

St. Louis, MO – (6th) not since 1949

El Paso, TX – (7th) has never had a Republican mayor

Milwaukee, WI – (8th) not since 1908

Philadelphia, PA – (9th) not since 1952

Newark, NJ – (10th) not since 1907

Einstein once said, ‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’
It is the poor who habitually elect Democrats… yet they are still POOR.

Part III:

“You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people’s initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.”
~Abraham Lincoln

“Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the government take care of him had better take a much
closer look at the American Indian.”
~Henry Ford

Okay, all this idiocy can be distilled right down to: kill off all political parties except for conservative republican, always support the rich, and if you’re poor, go fuck yourself, because that’s your fault, natch. I’ll just briefly note that a good many white people on the poor side of life voted for the Tiny Tyrant, and many of them are now crying in their beer, because he hasn’t done one thing for them. At least the ones bright enough to figure out what a scam it all is. That last quote by Ford is pernicious, to say the least. After a partially successful genocide, and massive theft, no, the government didn’t do much for Indians, because they were busy stealing every fucking thing they could, and really didn’t want those inconvenient leftovers getting in the way. This would be Joyner’s way of expressing that ol’ white supremacy: white is might is right, yessir.

Let’s take a brief look at what some of those brilliant republicans have been saying about all us peons:

Paul Ryan says people just don’t want insurance, that’s all.  All those millions who would lose healthcare, ah, that’s their choice.

The Regime has threatened the insurance of low income people if Trumpcare isn’t passed, but hey, they care about you, they really do!

Sen. Ron Johnson explained how people with pre-existing conditions don’t deserve health coverage, because it’s like crashing a car.

Rep. Pete Olsen was laughing over prenatal and maternity care, pointing out that since people with those nifty X chromosomes didn’t need that shit, why should they pay for it?

Now, the vote on Trumpcare has been canceled. (Yay!) Don’t get over excited though, because this is far from over, and McConnell will not give up easily, nor will Ryan, Trump, or all the other empty bags of flesh who are utterly devoid of empathy.

Yes, I’m sure we are all so darn impressed with how republicans care for people, especially those pesky poor people. Rick Joyner’s “wisdom” can be found here.

Angel Dust.

No, not that kind of angel dust. This would be Jehovah blessed, gold dust, from angels. Angel dandruff. Whatever it might be, it’s got Lance Wallnau all kinds of high, as he descends further into the well of weirdness. Naturally, the angeldruff is gold, what better colour for money-grubbing members of the Religious Reich?

Right-wing preacher Lance Wallnau posted a video on his Facebook page yesterday recounting a meeting he had just attended that had such a strong presence of the Lord that he left literally covered in angelic gold dust.

Wallnau said he had recently joined with several “Seven Mountains” activists in Bend, Oregon, at a meeting where “I literally could feel the rush of God in the room, the hair stood up right on the back of your neck.”

On top of that, Wallnau said he also kept “getting this gold dust and glitter on my face” because of the presence of angels.

“That stuff is real,” he said. “It’s like angels were in the room.”

So, gold glitter is real. Yeah, that’s not news. Glitter is one of the most evil things on the planet, y’know. Can’t get rid of it. Years later, you’ll still be picking bits of glitter out of wherever. If Jehovah is a glitter peddler, oh, that’s bad news, dude. So, it was like angels were in the room, or angels were in the room? Because there are lots of stories about fairy dust and pixie dust, and so on. Could have been socialist pixies droppin’ the glitter bomb on you, Lance. Never know. Probably should track those ‘angels’ down and interrogate them.

These angels are on assignment to take control of the media for Jesus, Wallnau said, which is why “the New York Times and CNN [are] in such deep doo-doo and what’s happening with Hollywood and Johnny Depp and Bill Maher and all the big mouths and the crazies as they’re running their mouths; God is literally taking the wheels off of the chariot of pharaoh as he’s trying to persecute what God is doing” through President Trump.

I kinda think it’s your god emperor Trump who is in “deep doo-doo”. I will grant you the crazies are running their mouths, you fellas in the Religious Reich seem to be utterly incapable of shutting up, even when the slightest reflection would tell you yeah, maybe I should keep that to myself. So all of media, from journalism to television/movies to idiot preachers on the net, that’s pharaoh? Hmm. Do you really want to bring that up, Lance? Jehovah doesn’t have a good track record with chariots, seeing as they confounded him to the core. That brings us back to iron, which seems to have a nasty effect on your god. In many of the old stories about magical beings, iron is inimical to them. So, combined with the glitter, I’d say there’s a suspicion your god is some sort of evil elvish being. Don’t listen, Lance, the elves just want to play with you! I recommend reading Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett. Don’t worry, the witches are the good kind.

There’s video at the link for those who might want to watch. Via RWW.

Sunday Facepalm.

Robert Oscar Lopez truly hates Sylvia Plath and The Bell Jar. It’s symptomatic of every wrong thing in the world! Mr. Lopez has a rather stunningly long screed revolving around Plath, one which would take a very long time to fisk completely, so I’ll focus on some choice parts here and there, but the whole rancid rant is worth looking at, if you’re looking for a heap of rotten reasoning to start out your day, or round off your evening. One thing I’m not going to focus on, so I’ll give a quick mention here – Mr. Lopez just can’t resist bringing up Ms. Plath’s suicide, done while her children were in the house. “That evil slut, endangering babies!” Mr. Lopez brings that up every moment he can, a reminder that Ms. Plath’s life truly was worthless, but she’s gonna burn in hell for committing the sin of self murder. Naturally, while running down Ms. Plath’s book, Mr. Lopez not so slyly inserts an a plug, here, there, and everywhere, for his book, with the charming title of  “Wackos Thugs & Perverts: Clintonian Decadence in Academia”.  A bit of advice, Mr. Lopez – learn about commas. I’ll assume you didn’t have an editor who might have pointed out the benefit of such learning.

Okay, where to start? Hmmmm.

Next comes dysfunction, as people start basing their life decisions on their confused notions: for example, they decide to spend their twenties not on courtship but on working long hours and trying to publish bad novels, because their muddled judgment has told them life will be totally happy if they never get married or start a family (and if they change their mind in, say, their fifties, anybody can start a family with egg donors, surrogate wombs, and sperm donors.) Because of such poor judgment, they do self-defeating things like hang all their hopes for self-worth on getting a literary agent. They look for emotional closeness from co-workers and a shrink who charges $200 an hour to do what a husband would have done for free: nod, listen, and say, “yes, you’re so right.” (The difference is that a husband will also provide some good old-fashioned lovemaking—and babies!)

You give yourself away, Mr. Lopez. This isn’t about young people being twisted about by academia; it’s about women. Women who don’t do the right thing by eschewing education, allowing themselves to be married off at a young age, and burying themselves under the weight of their uterus. So, all the young men automatically get a pass in your twisted view? How about all the young men who aspire to be authors, and work on writing rather than courting? How about all the young men who decide babies aren’t for them? I guess everything is okay if you have a penis, right? After all, in your black and white world, the only thing required to fix up a wayward penis is a good woman, yeah?

As for a husband being as good or better than a therapist, I get the idea you have rose coloured telescopes glued to your eyes. Many marriages are good, but many more or not. Marriage is not a panacea, nor is it for everyone.

Next comes anxiety, as people immersed in this blurry world of nonsensical values find their waking hours plagued with stress, doubt, uneasiness, worry, fear, and of course blind rage. Having mismanaged and sabotaged the most important relationships around them, they cling foolishly to people who hate them. They spurn people who would love them. As they realize that they’ve made bad decisions, they start racking themselves and doubling down, excoriating themselves for not doing enough of the confused decision-making that got them there in the first place. “Maybe I shouldn’t have broken down and put up a profile on OKCupid! Maybe I just need to sign up for more writing workshops run by arrogant lechers who tell long-winded stories about how they got their novel published in 1982! Maybe I should try harder to be like Diane Chambers in Cheers.”

Umm, quick question, Mr. Lopez – what decade is this? I ask because I’m not so sure you’ve made it into the current century with the rest of us. As much as it would suit your purpose, relationships do not fit neatly into a little box, same size for everyone. It’s not up to you to say that all these relationships are automagically good, and all those are automagically bad. For all your bloviating over what you seem to think comprises academia, you could have done with a bit more of it in your life, Mr. Lopez, your writing leaves much to be desired. Your writing skills are on par with mine, which is in no way a compliment.

Finally arrives ignorance, the all-encompassing state in which this tragic process culminates and to which, like the Via Appia pointing to Rome, all of the bad thinking leads. Confusion has made knowledge unattainable, while dysfunction has made it impossible for the victim of this rhythm to discipline their lives for true study and actual learning. In a crippling state of anxiety, the mind is unable to focus. The ultimate result is the lack of any perspective and inability to gain it. Life becomes nothing but outbursts, reactions to provocations, obsessions, and increasingly violent ideations. Ignorance is not bliss. It is deadly.

Oh gods, your writing, painful it is. A lack of perspective is a common trait of being young. When you’re young, you live very much in the present. Generally speaking, we naked apes aren’t great at the whole long-term thinking/planning business. Experiences eventually pile up, allowing for perspective and introspection, you just have to give people a bit of time. It all works out. As for ignorance, well, ignorance is often innocent and correctable. Smug, willful ignorance, yes, that’s dangerous, and ugly, like the shined up shit you’re peddling, Mr. Lopez.

Never forget that Sylvia Plath, after writing about the tragically disoriented and suicidal Esther Greenwood, stuck her head in a gas oven and endangered the lives of her small children.

Yes, yes. Your obsession with Ms. Plath is bit off, y’know. What about all the generations of young people since Ms. Plath? Nothing to say about them? All the kids who got their education and made their way through life, many of them authors, many of them raising kids of their own? The silence is deafening.

To liberals, despite all their trucks with ideologically driven Black Panthers and ACTUP and pink pussy hats, Sylvia Plath epitomizes what they stand for: embittered observations about how annoying the world is, total inability to suggest anything better, sarcasm, whining, mental illness, self-absorbed neurosis, and suicidal politics with zero regard for what they do to children. The proliferation of talk therapy options, psychotropic drugs, and self-help books (including a boom in Christian sects structured around “healing” and “pastoral care for the whole person”) seems to have had no impact on the main problem facing the American left: They are profoundly spoiled, unhappy, and destructive.

I don’t have any problems suggesting better, Mr. Lopez, and neither do most of the people I know. America does not comprise the world, and there are many fine examples in the world of people getting it right. We often point out these real world examples, only to have people like yourself scream “commie socialists!” and run away. I’ll take a guess on the ‘suicidal politics’ business – that’s about women having bodily autonomy, right? A very simple phrase takes care of that one, Mr. Lopez: what I do in regard to my health is none of your fucking business, full stop.

There are countless reasons to express alarm about the left of today. My book’s title was intentionally provocative: Wackos Thugs & Perverts, to encapsulate the trivium of nihilistic tendencies that predominate in academia. You have wackos peddling wildly implausible theories about the world as if they are unquestionably smart. You have thugs on all levels, from the party racketeers who move trillions of dollars in tax-free holdings and student loans for worthless degrees, to the angry youths shattering windows and tweeting vile insults at people in the name of causes they barely understand. And at last you have the perverts who have declared war on every form of bodily dignity, striving to force their pornographic imagination into every nook and cranny of society.

Oh yes, there are whackos peddling wildly implausible theories, like Alex Jones, Lance Wallnau, Dave Daubenmire, all of Fox News, and so on. You’ve gotten your directions a bit mixed up there. Oh yes, there are thugs, monied criminals fucking everyone over for the sake of their pockets. There’s one sitting in the white house right now. At the moment, Mr. Lopez, hate crimes are spiking, and they aren’t being committed by those on the left side of life. Tweeting “vile insults” is bad? Perhaps you can manage to shut Trump the fuck up. It’s not those interested in social justice and human rights who constantly have their noses stuck in everyone else’s crotches, Mr. Lopez. That would be christians and conservatives. Perhaps if you managed to come up for air now and then, you’d see that those crotches are attached to actual human beings who deserve all human rights.

But there is room for compassion if we understand that the left is defined not by its politics but rather by its mental illness. They live in bell jars that they cannot understand or trace back to any clear person to blame. Thus they find wild monsters hidden behind everything that provokes them. They think Donald Trump wants to rape them and Mike Pence want to electrocute them to make them heterosexual. They think Vladimir Putin caused Hillary Clinton to lose an election. They think the Koch Brothers plot to sell them into slavery and Steve Scalise is a white supremacist.

Oh for fuck’s sake. You’re going to float away on that cloud of smug arrogance, Mr. Lopez. I don’t think Trump wants to rape me. Trump has a clear history of sexual assault, and has been accused of rape. Trump has admitted to committing sexual assault, and you think that should be ignored. Nice. Pence is a believer is corrective ‘therapy’ when it comes to gay people. That’s some very nasty shit right there. Perhaps you should learn about it. Maybe you’d be happy living in a theocracy, Mr. Lopez, I wouldn’t. It’s more than obvious by now that yes, there was interference in the election, there’s evidence to that effect. Of course, idiots such as yourself don’t care for evidence, do they? I think everyone would be better off if the Koch brothers simply went off and played with their money and left politics alone. A good many politicians are white supremacists, and quite open about it, look at Steve King, defender of all white supremacy.

This just goes on and on, and I’m stopping here. If you want to read the whole mess, here you go.