Rape Pregnancies A Silver Lining From God

Ugh. I can’t even suppress the nausea induced by this mess of a person.

via YouTube Republican State Rep. Tila Hubrecht held a press conference Thursday to defend her views on rape pregnancies.

During an intense Tuesday floor debate on the measure, Hubrecht made the case that women should not be allowed to abort pregnancies caused by rape.

“When God gives life he does so because there’s a reason, no matter what,” she said. “Sometimes bad things happen, horrible things, but sometimes God can give us a silver lining through the birth of a child.” Because, yeah, rape sucks, but there’s nothing like nine months of living with your rapist’s baby growing inside you to help you get over it!

Full Story Here.

Oregon: sweeping protection for transgender students

oregon-1

Transgender students across Oregon should be able to use the bathrooms, names and pronouns they want, according to unprecedented guidelines released Thursday by the Oregon Department of Education.

In a sweeping 15-page document the department issued what are likely to be controversial suggestions for Oregon educators — directing them to allow transgender females to play girls sports, for example, and transgender boys to wear tuxedos to prom.

They also suggest school leaders use transgender students’ preferred names, even if that differs from a legal name, on all transcripts and diplomas. And they say the state will require no proof before changing a student’s gender in Oregon records.

“A student who says she is a girl and wishes to be regarded that way throughout the school day should be respected and treated like any other girl,” the document reads. “So too with a student who says he is a boy.”

Full Story Here. And, YAY, Oregon!

Scarface shot dead in old age

Courtesy Yellowstone National Park Scarface, a famous, beloved and much-photographed grizzly bear living in Yellowstone National Park, was shot dead by a hunter in a killing that is being investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Courtesy Yellowstone National Park
Scarface, a famous, beloved and much-photographed grizzly bear living in Yellowstone National Park, was shot dead by a hunter in a killing that is being investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Another wild animal with a fan base among humans has met a violent end, when Grizzly Bear No. 211—known to his human friends as Scarface—was shot dead near Gardiner, Montana. Scarface was the best known of about 750 grizzlies who call Yellowstone National Park home but who, like the Yellowstone bison, sometimes stray across the invisible lines marking the park on a map.

[…]

This was the context of Scarface becoming a rock star among the grizzly population in Yellowstone National Park. Male grizzlies fight among themselves during mating season and Scarface had sustained injuries over the years that made him easy to pick out of a bear lineup, particularly his damaged right ear. In the ongoing research into the habits of the grizzlies in Yellowstone, Scarface had been captured, collared, and released 17 times.

Scarface did survive to a ripe old age for his species, 25. In his prime, he weighed 600 pounds. He was down to 338 pounds and biologists expected this last winter to be his last. They meant a death from old age, not from gunshots. Social media were full of outrage from biologists and wildlife photographers, for whom Scarface had become a symbol of the species struggling for survival against climate change and the invasion of bear habitat by humans.

[…]

Shooting a grizzly is unlawful except in self-defense, but Scarface had a long history with people that made him an unlikely candidate to attack a photographer or a hunter. Because of the Endangered Species Act violation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has opened an investigation into the circumstances of the shooting. Several photographers, decrying the shooting, declared that Scarface was the most photographed bear in Yellowstone.

ICTMN has the story.

Cisgender Kids Bullied by Inclusivity.

The families, represented by right-wing attorneys, claim the federal government's policies on trans students amount to "discrimination" against cisgender students.

The families, represented by right-wing attorneys, claim the federal government’s policies on trans students amount to “discrimination” against cisgender students.

One transgender student. A whole lot of cisgender students. Result: lawsuit against trans*persons inclusivity, non-discrimination and protection policies.

The Obama administration is bullying Illinois families by requiring cisgender (nontrans) students to share a locker room with a transgender classmate, according to a federal lawsuit filed by 51 families in Palatine, Ill.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Chicago, claims the federal government is discriminating against students by allowing a transgender girl at William Fremd High School to use the locker room that corresponds with her gender identity.

The families are being represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom and Thomas More Society, both notorious right-wing, anti-LGBT legal nonprofits, which claim that the U.S. Department of Education’s inclusive stance on trans bathroom access is a “blatant violation of student privacy.”

[…]

Wilson represents the 73 parents and 63 students who are named plaintiffs in recent lawsuit. The court filing alleges that since that ruling was handed down, using the locker room with a trans student has made life difficult for the plaintiffs’ families. “Every day these girls go to school, they experience embarrassment, humiliation, anxiety, fear, apprehension, stress, degradation and loss of dignity because they will have to use the locker room and restroom with a biological male,” the complaint reads.

The suit further claims that female students who weren’t comfortable undressing in the presence of a trans person were “ridiculed and harassed by other students to such an extent that the stalls are not a practical option.” The students filing the claim further stated that their peers labeled them “transphobic” and “homophobic” due to their discomfort.

ThinkProgress‘s Zack Ford notes the irony that the aggrieved families refuse to accept the same accommodation the school initially offered the trans student — that she use a private restroom and changing facility, away from all other students.

Zack Ford has an in-depth story at Think Progress. The Advocate also has this story.

Marriage Farm – Broken. For the moment.

If you click the link for the Let Them Marry Retreat, this is what you see (click image for full size):

LTM

Note: Contrary to vicious Internet rumors we do not support or In any way condone child sexual activity of any sort, child marriage, or any other illegal activity. Nor do we support or condone forced marriages. We believe that parents should NOT seek a spouse for a child where that child has not actively sought for the parents to do so.

Don’t think this has gone away, though. It’s just oozing underground. On this page, you see Note: The November Get Them Married Retreat has been cancelled. Below that though…

Let Them Marry ministries is dedicated to educating the church in regards to the Biblical path to marriage. The goal has always been that this information would transform the hearts and lives of our readers and that there would be a resurgence of young, fruitful, Godly marriages. The public persona of the ministry has always been theoretical and theological. At the same time, off the radar, dozens- even hundreds- of people, mostly one on one, have come to talk about the specifics of their case: how can they get married?  How can they get their children married?

We’re hoping to be able to get people together for some ‘get to know you’ retreats, allowing families to meet, greet, and, hopefully, result in marriages, but we’re still working on the details

If you want to be notified about future Get Them Married Retreats, sign up below:

Note: We will only use the emails in this list to notify you about Let Them Marry and future Get Them Married Retreats. We won’t sell or give away your email address.

Who are you? *
Check all that apply

All this shit is going to carry on, they are  just going to be a bit more cautious about people finding out about it, and change some non-essentials, like ‘get to know you‘ rather than get them married, but it’s still going to be marriage farm. Looking over that little checklist, it would seem that women are good for one thing only – being auctioned married off and having those babies, babies, babies.

“The public persona of the ministry has always been theoretical and theological.” What the hell does that mean? Do they know what theoretical means? It wouldn’t seem so.

Alex Magala

Alex Magala, Official Site.

The Moldovan-born performer of Britain’s Got Talent fame appeared on Ellen to show off his acrobatic sword-swallowing routine. Magala not only swallowed two different swords—a typical Western-looking blade and a katana—but also managed backflips and pole-dancing with the swords. Inside him. Because gay men everywhere just needed to be knocked down a peg—or 20.

Ellen asks what we’re all thinking. Why—just why?

“I’m from Moldova, it’s in Eastern Europe,” Magala says. “It’s a poor country, pretty much nothing to do.”

Out Story here.

I’d say something, but the screams are still echoing in my brain.

Free to Pee at…

pee_inx750

After big-box retailer Target made headlines by reaffirming its long-standing trans-inclusive restroom policy last month, several other national chains are promising that customers and employees can use the restroom that best matches their gender identity at stores nationwide.

Representatives with Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, and Hudson’s Bay Co. — which operates high-end department stores Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor — all confirmed to USA Today “that employees and customers in their stores are welcome to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with.”

[…]

Bookseller Barnes & Noble told the national paper that as a company, it strives to treat “all employees with dignity and respect.” “For our transgender employees and customers, that means they are allowed to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with,” spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating told USA Today.

I am so relieved. B&N is the only large bookseller in Bismarck, and I love going to the bookstore. All this actually means is that these companies aren’t interested in instituting Pee Police™. (I keep thinking about Psi Corps in B5. It’s the evil Pee Corps!) That’s a good thing, but a lot of national chains aren’t responding in the same way. They aren’t responding at all.  Full Story Here.

Feeling that “black” connection.

Evang

“While we were fertile, we were both deeply convicted that one of the ways to be pro-life is to involve ourselves in adoption… Knowing that it is often more challenging to find adoptive homes in the United States for non-Caucasian children we informed the agency that we were willing to accept any child except a fully Caucasian child. We did this with the deeply held conviction that if the Lord wanted us to have a fully Caucasian child my wife would conceive naturally,” Halbert writes.

In about 1,500 words, Halbert describes why having black babies is “enriching” and “beautiful.”

“There is something beautiful and enriching being the only white face sitting and chatting with some of my African-American friends as my son gets his hair cut on a Saturday morning. There is also something wonderful in the relationship that is built as my wife asks a black friend on Facebook how to care for our little biracial daughter’s hair.”

[…]

The Halbert’s pro-life perspective calls for them to “rescue” embryos frozen by prospective parents but never used. The couple selected African-American embryos specifically so their adopted children would feel that “black” connection.

I, um, I really don’t know what to say here. These people think the scales of racism fell away from their eyes, they obviously think they are doing something wonderful and great, and…words fail.

Via Inquisitr. The full story is here.

Cool Stuff Friday

German multimedia designer Tobias Gremmier visually captures the poetic kinetics of martial arts in Kung Fu Motion Visualization. This four minute video is the latest project from the prolific author, musician and cyber-savant. Posted to his Vimeo, Gremmier materializes the physics of the human body through digitally analyzing the movements of a kung fu drill. Each motion of the fighter’s body is outlined and traced through by a trail of digital dust particles, a mesh of geometric planes, or a stream of fractal webs.

Via The Creators Project.

Ingrid Baars; all images courtesy of Joseph Gross Gallery.

Ingrid Baars; all images courtesy of Joseph Gross Gallery.

Art LeadHER is a colorful tribute to the recent rise of female artists in contemporary art. The group show, opening today at Joseph Gross Gallery, is the inaugural annual exhibition for ArtLeadHER, a platform launched by the show’s curator Mashonda Tifrere in March of this year for International Women’s Day. The platform, like the show, is dedicated to “celebrating and bringing awareness to women in the art world.”

The Full Story is Here.

Motorbikes by yok and sheryo.

Motorbikes by yok and sheryo.

Traditional artists try virtual reality art for the first time.

We all know that art can exist in virtual reality, from games like Adr1ft, to films such as Collisions. Virtual reality has shown itself to be a unique medium for immersing audiences in a work of art. But what about creating art within virtual reality? Google’s Virtual Art Sessions set out to experiment with exactly that.

Google invited six artists who all work with different mediums and material, to test out Google’s new Tilt Brush software. Tilt Brush functions as a palette and a brush that simulates painting in a 3D environment. Jeff Nusz, one of the people on the Data Arts Team at Google, commented in the behind the scenes video that it was interesting to take artists accustomed to working with physical things and “hand them this new medium, this new tool that no one knows how to use.”

Obliterating male and female distinctives.

House Speaker Tim Moore (The News & Observer)

House Speaker Tim Moore (The News & Observer)

North Carolina Republican lawmakers vowed to defy a federal order to repeal or stop enforcing a controversial anti-LGBT law.

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday found the law violated the federal Civil Rights Act and Title IX, and officials ordered lawmakers to comply with those laws by next week or risk billions of dollars in federal education funding.

But House Speaker Tim Moore indicated Thursday that he and his fellow Republicans had no intention of meeting the federally mandated deadline, reported The News & Observer.

“We will take no action by Monday,” Moore said. “That deadline will come and go. We don’t ever want to lose any money, but we’re not going to get bullied by the Obama administration to take action prior to Monday’s date. That’s not how this works.”

[…]

One of their fellow Republicans, state Rep. Mark Walker, sniffed that Bruce Springsteen was a “bully” after the rock legend canceled a concert appearance over HB2.

“Bruce is known to be on the radical left,” Walker said. “He’s got every right to be so, but I consider this a bully tactic. It’s like when a kid gets upset and says he’s going to take his ball and go home.”

Aaaaand just what it is you all are doing? Mandating bigotry into law certainly seems like serious bullying to me.

The Christian Action League of North Carolina — one of the primary backers of the controversial law — offered a scenery-chewing statement urging GOP lawmakers to disobey the Obama administration:

“At the hands of his henchmen in the U.S. Department of Justice, King Obama, has delivered his message of intimidation to the state of North Carolina.

“The Administration has taken it upon itself to declare “sex” in Title VII and Title IX includes “sexual orientation” and “gender Identity.” This interpretation goes far beyond the language adopted and intended by Congress. Nevertheless, the Great Pontiff of Political Correctness holds the educational futures of our state’s children hostage, while dangling the money bags of federal funds over their heads, demanding in exchange North Carolina bow to the madness of obliterating male and female distinctives – something foundational to every society in human history.

“The battle over North Carolina’s common sense law, HB 2, has national significance. Must every state, more specifically, 28 other states, with laws similar to our own be forced to sacrifice their fundamental right to privacy and safety when using a restroom, locker room, or shower? That is the question of the hour.

“If this doesn’t make people righteously indignant, then our culture has lost any capacity for real moral outrage. We deserve exactly what we’ll get – confusion and chaos. Either truth is something evidential and verifiable or it’s purely subjective and determined wholly in the eye of the beholder.

“It is imperative the Governor and state lawmakers remain strong and fight the advancement of this misguided agenda. No federal law, approved by the people’s Representatives in Congress requires North Carolina comply with the Obama Administration’s demands.”

-Dr. Mark Creech

Well, male and female ‘distinctives’ are certainly foundational when it comes to misogyny, patriarchy, and every day sexism. They certainly do provide a framework for intolerance and remaining close-minded. All of which are great reasons to obliterate them. (As if it were possible to obliterate them. Christians do love being melodramatic.)

Full Story Here.

UPDATE:

(CNN)- North Carolina will meet a Monday deadline to respond to the U.S. Justice Department about the state’s transgender bathroom law, Gov. Pat McCrory said Thursday.

“We’re reviewing (the Justice Department letter) and we hope to have a response in the very near future.” he said, according to CNN affiliate WNCN.

When asked if the state will respond before Monday’s deadline set by the Justice Department, McCrory answered in the affirmative.

“Definitely,” he said. “We’ll have a response by Monday.”

CNN Story.