Jesus Christ to Run for Burnley MP.

Mr. Christ plans to run to become Burnley's MP at the next election.

Mr. Christ plans to run to become Burnley’s MP at the next election.

Jesus Christ is alive and well at 77 years old, and living in Burnley.

Jesus Christ is a retired bus driver from Burnley. Well, sort of.

John Edward Birtwhistle, 77, changed his name by deed poll to that of the Messiah after realising he had ‘healing powers’ and that he was the son of God in a past life.

Despite claiming to have the extraordinary ability to heal people, Mr Christ is still struggling with shingles.

Mr Christ started believing he was heaven-sent in 1986 when people unexpectedly started calling him Jesus.

[…]

He now realises he was Jesus Christ in a past life, with memories coming back to him ‘in dreams’.

‘When I was here 2,000 years ago I was teaching these people how to live in harmony with the spirit and it was all to do with nature; grow your own food, eat fruit and veg and only drink water,’ he recounted.

[…]

‘People say Jesus changed water into wine. I didn’t do that, I changed wine into water. Alcohol is bad for you.’

Mr Christ has been suffering from some health problems in recent years but says he will not let them stand in his way.

He has been suffering from shingles since 2013 and also had a stroke two years ago.

‘I got shingles because of the stress,’ Mr Christ said.

‘I was frightened of losing my eye because it was so bad but they operated and saved it. But I’m still taking the tablets.

‘I’m trying to get off these pills but it’s up to the force. It’s the force of nature,’ he added.

[Read more…]

Sunday Facepalm: Stop Clicking Around.

hiltonad

I guess the petition and outrage over Target’s inclusive pee policy has died down, so the American Family Association has found something new to be all outraged over, and have been hawking a new petition in an attempt to shame the Hilton Hotel chain over being terribly inclusive too. I think the advert is kinda cute. Er, I mean it’s obviously evil, those men are in bed!

In the June, 2016, issue of Travel and Leisure magazine, Hilton Worldwide shocked readers by placing a full-page ad that featured two men in bed together. Click here to see the ad.

Travel and Leisure isn’t a gay-specific magazine sent directly to homosexual’s homes. It’s a widely distributed mainstream publication that can be found in many public places such as doctors’ or auto repair waiting rooms.

If Hilton had advertised two men playing tennis, cards, or having lunch, that would have been reasonable. However, Hilton chose to make a cultural and social statement by purposely marketing the promotion of homosexuality to a large segment of the population who finds the idea of two men sleeping together unnatural and offensive.

I guess it didn’t occur to these arbiters of morality that Hilton was aiming at the queer market, letting all the queer folk know that Hilton is inclusive. Not everything is about you, AFA. As for two men playing tennis, cards, or having lunch, well that wouldn’t work with the cute tagline Stop Clicking Around, now would it. Perhaps you didn’t get the double entendre there.

So far, Hilton is defending its decision to promote homosexuality in the magazine and will likely take it further with other forms of mainstream media. Hilton said, “Hilton Worldwide is a global company of diverse cultures serving diverse guests…We are proud to depict and reflect our guest diversity in our advertising…”

Good for Hilton! I think this is great news, and the more mainstream, the better. It’s past time that queer folk are normalized.

Sign our petition to Hilton Worldwide, urging them to market responsibly by advertising in a more family friendly manner when marketing through mainstream media.

Nope, not going to do that. Fuck you and your “family friendly manner” in any marketing whatsoever. If you are going to be that damn upset over an advert, perhaps you shouldn’t be reading things like Travel and Leisure magazine. I understand that bible of yours is advert free. Stick to that.

Via Christian Post and AFA.

Thug is Racist? Really?

Bob Goosman. Facebook.

Bob Goosman. Facebook.

A Dallas weatherman who resigned before he could be fired over a Facebook post calling the victims of police violence “thugs” said he didn’t know the comment would be interpreted as racist, the Dallas Morning News reports.

Bob Goosmann, formerly chief meteorologist for KRLD, posted the comment on Wednesday and by Friday had resigned, stating that he would have “rightly” been fired had he not.

“As many of you have probably noticed, I’ve stayed away from politics on FB,” Goosmann had written. “The DNC parading the mothers of slain thugs around on their stage has me furious.”

He has since deleted the post.

[…]

“I used the word thugs in my post, but I thought a thug was just a violent person,” Goosmann wrote in response to criticism. “The definition of thug does not mention any race. I will say I talked with an African American acquaintance and he told me that he feels like when he hears the word, it is in reference to an African American individual. I had NO IDEA.”

Perhaps if you actually talked with people of colour now and then, you might have known that. Not that I believe that “I had no idea” line.

Via Raw Story.

Marvel: World of Wakanda.

Zenzi, in green, a revolutionary in Wakanda, the home of the Black Panther. Credit Marvel Entertainment

Zenzi, in green, a revolutionary in Wakanda, the home of the Black Panther. Credit Marvel Entertainment.

The world of the Black Panther, the Marvel Comics hero who hails from the fictional African country of Wakanda, is about to get bigger. Marvel announced on Friday a companion series, World of Wakanda, which is to premiere in November.

And just like the current Black Panther series, which is written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, the author and a national correspondent for The Atlantic, the new comic will be written by newcomers to the industry: the feminist writer Roxane Gay and the poet Yona Harvey.

“My agent was not thrilled that I was taking on another project,” Ms. Gay said. But learning to write comics exercised different creative muscles, which she said she found exciting.

“It’s the most bizarre thing I’ve ever done, and I mean that in the best possible way,” she said.

Her story, written with Mr. Coates, will follow Ayo and Aneka, two lovers who are former members of the Dora Milaje, the Black Panther’s female security force. “The opportunity to write black women and queer black women into the Marvel universe, there’s no saying no to that,” she said.

The first issue of World of Wakanda will include a 10-page second story by Ms. Harvey about Zenzi, a female revolutionary who incited a riot in the first issue of the Black Panther series. Mr. Coates, who recruited both writers, said he thought it was important to have female voices help breathe life into these characters. “The women in Black Panther’s life are very, very important,” he said.

[…]

Having such a diverse group of creators, particularly women, comes at an important time. While superhero comics have been making great strides in the diversity of their characters, the same is not always true of their writers and artists. This disparity was part of the discussion when Marvel revealed that Riri Williams, a 15-year-old black genius, would don Iron Man’s armor. She was created by the writer Brian Michael Bendis, who is white, and the Brazilian artist Mike Deodato.

[…]

But both Mr. Alonso, who is Mexican-American, and Ms. Gay, who is black, understand where fans’ impatience comes from. “In general, people of color are underrepresented in most storytelling,” Ms. Gay said. There is also a frustration, at the onset of change, “when you get sort of a trickle, and you need a flood.”

Mr. Coates, a longtime fan, said he was aware of the arguments about gender and comic books. “We have to open the door,” he said. “It’s not, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if there are more women writers, more women creators in comics?’ That would be nice, but in many ways, it is kind of an imperative.”

He recalled an editor at Marvel’s being asked why Captain Marvel, who once wore a revealing costume, switched to a more militaristic uniform. The editor said he wanted his daughter to be able to dress as the hero for Halloween. “The idea is that the world of comic books, the Marvel universe, should be as open to his daughter as it is to my son,” Mr. Coates said. “I think that’s so important.”

Full Story here. Seriously looking forward to this!

Simon Moya-Smith: Does the Liberty Bell Ring For Native Americans?

Peggy

Peggy Flanagan, White Earth citizen and Minnesota State Representative became first Native Woman to address DNC from the podium. Credit: Suzette Brewer.

If you missed Simon Moya-Smith’s first column on the DNC, it’s here.

DNC. Notes spanning days 2 & 3 & 4: All a blur now. This bar reeks of vomit. Old vomit. At a joint called Fridays in Philly. “I think the president or Hillary Clinton is staying across the street,” the black bartender tells me. “Right there. At The Logan.” Secret Service man the hotel doors. “That’s a lot of guns and sunglasses,” I utter. “Best to stay inside.”

[…]

Meanwhile, back here at the scene, the DNC, people can’t find a seat. Volunteers in yellow shirts block the doorway with their bodies against a hoard of excited Dems. “Try section 204. I hear they’re still letting people in there,” one says. I walk a full 360-degrees ‘round the Center. No luck. No seats. No hope. A woman in a Hillary hat, once excited, now stands in tears. No chance of getting in the arena. What’s left, then? The hallway. The muffled echo of the speaker blows in. For a moment I consider inviting the poor lady to a drink. Something to take the edge off. Dull the pain. But in an instant she’s gone, running into the fray, sobbing, asking God for a seat. “Please! Please!” Amen. Right. And to those who did land a seat they got watch Peggy Flanagan, Ojibwe, take the lectern and read a letter to her daughter where she affirmatively stated, “We (Native Americans) are still here.”

I head to the men’s room. A man in the stall sniffs once. Sniffs twice. He booms out the door. Bang! Ready, he is. Wired, for sure. Good idea. Coke and a stale hot dog it is. But the concession line’s too long. I’ve never seen a more dapper crowd clamoring for wieners. And what is the difference between something like the DNC and live theater? Is all of this just The Show? It has all the moving parts of a Broadway production. Lights! Make-up. Celebrities. Dance numbers. A script on the screen. Exhausted interns hoping to make it, break into the biz. And what does any of this have to do with Indian country? Everything, goddamnit. This is our land. Our ancestral home. The old country. “We never left,” Suzan Harjo said. During roll call a few days ago, a torrent of indigenous languages rumbled the walls of the Center in a roar of revitalization. Life again. But then on the final night of the DNC, presidential nominee Clinton failed to mention Native Americans when she spoke of systemic oppression. What a disappointment. Should we take this as an indication of her awareness of racial violence in Indian country? Has she heard the names Allen Locke or Sarah Lee Circle Bear or Mah-Hi-Vist Goodblanket or Rexdale Henry or (more names here) before? Not sure. Here’s hoping.

Note: Links added by me.

I slept four hours last night, and I don’t expect to sleep much again tonight. Delayed flight after delayed flight. People fleeing Philadelphia all at once. Bottleneck City. Where’s the Liberty Bell? It didn’t ring for Native Americans then. Does it ring for us now? … Something to contemplate over cheesesteak and fries and and pie at Reading Terminal, the massive market here in Philly where gluttony is god and the chicken sandwiches are good-not-great. But I digress. I always digress.

I met a Trump fan at pub on I think Broad St. A grumpy fucker. Later, I was denied service at an ostensibly straight bar. Can’t remember its name at the moment. Blurry. Ended up at Woody’s, a gay bar. Instant service. Intelligent talk. No ostentatious erudition in here. Just people woke. People aware. A drag queen blows me a kiss. I smile and nod, kinda dorky like. I am a dork, though. A socially awkward Hobbit. And I’m OK with that.

The epilogue to this story is this: When the GOP elected Donald Trump as their presidential nominee they officially became the party of racism and misogyny. No indigenous North American languages were spoken during roll call at the Republican National Convention last week. No recognition of Native American sovereignty at all. Just dystopian soothsayers in sandwich boards shouting “the end is near!” I’m convinced the Democratic Party is the party for Native Americans. We just have to convince Clinton that no good comes from fracking:

“Would you like a glass of water, madam nominee? … No, it’s actually not from this tap here. This is fracked water, madam. You can light it on fire if you want. … And since I have you, can we talk about Leonard Peltier? … Your husband, Bill, claims to be a descendant of the Cherokee. Has he been back home lately? How does he take his fry bread? … Yes, ma’am, I have had a several coffees – well, cappuccinos. The DNC was quite the spectacle, wasn’t it? Man, Bill loves balloons, doesn’t he? Peggy Flanagan was wonderful, wasn’t she? Debra Haaland, too. All the Natives there that night. So about that water. I see you haven’t taken a sip. I wouldn’t either. A filthy water is a filthy earth, and it’s our fault. Fracking. Just say no.”

The full article is at ICTMN, and as usual, is vividly brilliant. Click on over to read the whole thing.

Video Released of Loreal Tsingine’s Death.

Winslow Police Department via YouTube

Winslow Police Department via YouTube.

A recently released body camera video of a 27-year-old Navajo woman who was shot five times after allegedly being involved in a shoplifting incident in Winslow, Arizona, shows the altercation between the police officer and Loreal Tsingine. Tsingine died, while the officer was cleared of any wrongdoing earlier this week.

No audio was available in first seconds but the video portion shows how the officer aggressively pushes Tsingine to the ground. A pair of scissors is seen in her hand as another officer is seen behind her. The officer pushes her again and something falls out of her pocket, which looks like medication. She gets up and walks toward the officer with the pair of scissors in her hand as he lifts his gun and aims directly at her. The video then fades to black and the audio kicks in. After the sound of heavy, labored breathing the officer says, “She came at me with those scissors.”

“I don’t care if she stole copy,000 worth of merchandise or whether she was brandishing a knife or scissors. In the larger historical context, I see this as a violation of an Indigenous woman and her space was violated,” said Brandon Benallie of the Border Town Justice Coalition of the video. “She responded appropriately. In this larger historical context, she acted bravely. She dared to defend her body.”

Benallie also questioned why the other officer did not get involved. “There was no point for him to shoot. This other cop could have taken her down. (Officer) Shipley chooses to murder her rather than create a situation where Loreal would be alive today.”

Benallie, the family of Tsingine and other members of the Border Town Justice Coalition will line the streets of this small town near the Navajo Nation today in efforts they say will hold the city’s police department accountable for crimes towards Indigenous people after Officer Austin Shipley shot Tsingine on Easter.

“Join us and make sure the Winslow Police Department and the City of Winslow, a bordertown settlement, are held accountable for their inhuman crimes towards Indigenous people and other people of color,” read a Coalition news release.

The group is protesting a recent decision by an independent ruling by the Maricopa County Attorney’s office, which stated that no criminal wrongdoing occurred. The Winslow Police Department requested an independent investigation into the incident by the Arizona Department of Public Safety, which turned over its report to Maricopa County at the request of Navajo County Attorney’s office.

Loreal Tsingine’s death at the hands of cops didn’t make the news anywhere much, outside of local news and Indian news outlets. Indigenous people are killed at high rates by cops, and they are subject to the same harassment as other people of colour. I doubt much will be done in this case, but here’s hoping anyway. My thoughts are with the family, friends, and protesters.

Bodycam footage Winslow Arizona shooting.

Full story at ICTMN.

Juniper, Fire, and a Firebomber.

From Crimson Clupidae:

Anyway, One of my favorite old dead trees (desert Juniper) from Madera canyon.

The campfire picture is a fun study in contrasts. The only difference between the two shots is using the flash or not. I really like the look of the glowing/burning embers.

This particular aircraft (a 747-400) is converted into a firebomber, and I think is currently the largest firebomber in the world. You can read more about it here: http://fireaviation.com/tag/747/

Click for full size.

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