Texas Gov. Rick Perry to be Investigated for Abusing the Powers of His Office, Bribery and Coercion

Texas Gov. Rick Perry to be Investigated for Abusing the Powers of His Office, Bribery and Coercion

 

Posted by: Sky Palma 

on AATTP August 16, 2013 

This week, a Texas judge said that he plans to have a special prosecutor look at charges that Gov. Rick Perry broke the law when he cut funding for state public corruption investigators.

The watchdog group Texans for Public Justice filed a complaint that stems from an April drunk-driving arrest of Travis County District Attorney, Rosemary Lehmberg, who oversees the state’s criminal ethics department. The department’s cases included the prosecution of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and an investigation into the state’s $3 billion cancer research agency.

After her arrest, Lehmberg pleaded guilty and served a reduced sentence of less than 45 days. Amid loud demands from Perry and the state’s GOP for her to resign, Lehmberg refused. In response to her defiance, Perry threatened to eliminate $3.7 million from the state’s annual funding if she did not step down.

Lehmberg remained in office — and Perry made good on his threat, vetoing the money in June.

According to the two-page complaint that was filed shortly after Perry’s actions, the governor was accused of violating laws regarding “coercion of a public servant, bribery, abuse of official capacity and official oppression.” 

“Governor Perry violated the Texas Penal Code by communicating offers and threats under which he would exercise his official discretion to veto the appropriation,” 

the executive director of Texans for Public Justice Craig McDonald wrote in the complaint.

Gov. Perry’s office claimed that they haven’t heard anything in regards to an investigation.

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Arizona Violent Crime Down, Except Under Tough Anti-Immigration Sheriff

First Posted: 07/14/10 03:34 PM ET Updated: 05/25/11 06:05 PM ET 

A chart circulated by a leading immigration reform organization makes a basic, but compelling case that the new law passed -- though not implemented -- in Arizona could cause an increase rather than a drop in crime.
The non-profit group America's Voice sent out a chart on Wednesday, documenting the change in violent crime levels in various Arizona police jurisdictions from 2002 through 2009. The numbers tell two interesting stories.
The first is that, by and large, crime is down across the board. In Arizona as a whole, it has dropped 12 percent in the past seven years. But in major Maricopa County cities with their own police forces -- Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale and Tempe -- the rate has dropped even faster. (The group measured within Maricopa County because it is the epicenter of the immigration debate. But in Tuscon, which is not in the county, there has also been a drop in the crime rate since 2002, according to law enforcement statistics).


ArizonaCrime


Those findings alone suggest that the systemic violence often cited as the compelling argument for stricter border laws may be overblown.
But the more telling number may be the crime statistics for the portion of Maricopa County that is under the purview of controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio. According to data compiled by America's Voice, crime in that area has actually increased 58 percent since 2002.
Arpaio is considered something of a visionary among conservatives with respect to his approach to immigration. Many of his reforms, indeed, have served as a basis for the law that Gov. Jan Brewer tried to implement statewide. But he has clashed with other sheriffs over his methods, with some complaining that such broad anti-immigration policies put an overwhelming burden on law enforcement officials while producing social friction rather than safety.

America's Voice's chart isn't perfect. For one, Arpaio's domain is much smaller than those of the major cities within the county. Crime as a whole remains lower under his watch than, say, in Phoenix (only it's increasing as opposed to decreasing over time). Moreover, not every factor responsible for the violent crime level can or should be tied to immigration.
But the group's underlying point is that the discussion around immigration policy both in Arizona and the United States at large needs to be reoriented. And the raw percentages of violent crime statistics shown in the chart have that effect.

 

Sam Stein stein@huffingtonpost.com

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Right-Wing Christians Put Out Their Top-10 Favorite Racist Attacks on Obama (VIDEO)

 Right-Wing Christians Put Out Their Top-10 Favorite Racist Attacks on Obama (VIDEO)

November 24, 2013 | Filed under: Barack Obama,Racial Issues,Videos | Posted by: Mindy Fischer

The outright hatred for President Obama by right-wing groups who call themselves Christians and Patriots is just astounding. This website called “Americans Who Hate Obama” is one of many that proudly displays their racism and bigotry. Americans Who Hate Obama has put out a video with their top 10 favorite racist attacks on Obama.
This video proudly features things like calling the Obamas monkeys, terrorist Muslims, non-Americans, incompetent, and fried chicken and watermelon devouring negros.
It also features many unbelievably offensive slurs and signs. One says, “Send Obama back to the jungles of Kenya.” Another reads, “Don’t Re-Nig in 2012.” A girl shows off her new t-shirt that says, “Obama is my Slave.”
But, perhaps the most disturbing things in this clip are the pictures of nooses, including one with Obama literally hanging by a noose.

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Rush Limbaugh: “This Is Just Pure Marxism Coming Out Of The Mouth Of The Pope”

Rush Limbaugh: “This Is Just Pure Marxism Coming Out Of The Mouth Of The Pope”

FreakOutNation

opinionated politics | we inform, you decide.

November 27, 2013

By Anomaly

 We knew this would happen after Pope Francis called for renewal of the Roman Catholic Church and attacked unfettered capitalism as “a new tyranny”, while writing of income inequality, and urging global leaders to fight poverty. One by one Republican talkers will trickle in, to voice their negative opinions of the Pope.
Infamous bigot, Pamela Geller asked when the Pope became an Imam.
And now here’s Rush Limbaugh declaring,”This is just pure Marxism coming out of the mouth of the Pope.”

Listen to Rush’s objections as he mentions the Pope’s fight against poverty.

Rush Limbaugh would call Jesus Christ a CINO.
Courtesy of Media Matters. 

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Is a Neurotic Form of Christianity Destroying America?

July 12, 2013  

Posted by: Robert De Filippis

 

 
“The deconstruction of Christianity is not an attack on the church but a critique of the idols to which it is vulnerable – the literalism and authoritarianism, the sexism and racism, the militarism, and the love of unrestrained capitalism with which the church in its various forms has today and for too long been entangled, any one of which is toxic to the kingdom of God.”
“Strategically, diplomatically, socially, politically, morally, economically, evangelically, in every possible way we are witness today to a low point in American leadership, an ethical, social, political and biblical catastrophe.”
These passages from the book, What Would Jesus Deconstruct: The Good News of Postmodernism for the Church (The Church and Postmodern Culture) by John Caputo, taken out of context, might suggest that religion is the singular cause for the continuing trajectory of a deepening dysfunction in our society. But a twisted popular form of Christianity catalyzes two other more powerful ingredients; predatory capitalism and a government that serves the interests of big money.
These three powerful components work together to drag us down the slope to more and more dysfunction in the name of a more moral society – a moral society based on a set of values that are so misapplied as to become destructive.
In other words, these three components create a moral society that destroys its own villages in order to save them.
For instance, while we hammer home the lessons of radical individualism in the guise of moral virtue, we reduce the resources or opportunities required to become self sustaining for great portions of our citizenry.
Just to be sure no one mistakes our moral lesson of self-sufficiency, we raise the interest rates on student loans, and the vital college education needed for success in the future becomes less accessible to the masses.
To be sure our moral lessons continue,  we keep our taxes low and maintain our spending on defense against an imagined enemy and our educational system is gutted to balance the budget.
We are cursed with near sightedness. We can’t seem to see the long term effects on the country when a low skilled, minimally educated workforce must shoulder the tax load of the future or compete with highly educated citizens of other nations.
We have an amazing ability to blame the victims in our troubled society and justify our accusations on a revisionist Christian morality which would be unrecognizable to the Christ himself. Not so much because Christianity was St. Paul’s invention, but because of the absurdity of present day revisionist interpretations.
This modern form of Christianity has become an expedient for the infiltration of a radical form of capitalism intermingled with our public institutions. The very same institutions that were formed to protect the interests of the citizenry, who are now doing the bidding of the mega wealthy, while pointing to the moral failure of the masses they were intended to serve.
Yes, Mr. Caputo, we have many idols. And although I’m encouraged by your efforts to  deconstruct Christianity, I doubt our ability or willingness to take the same actions with capitalism and governance.
It would never get through the Republican led House of Representatives. That’s the one with all the good Christian Tea Party moralists.
Rather, they are satisfied to keep Americans dancing around the golden calf, with the improbable hope that eventually some of capitalism’s largesse will trickle down into their laps.
We are minimum wage, millionaires-in-waiting, fully immersed in this form of idolatry, trusting our day will come.
If there is an unpardonable sin, it’s using religion to separate and discriminate rather than to connect and make whole.
On America’s behalf, Mea Culpa!
Robert De Filippis

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Religious Right Furious Pope Francis Wants Them To Follow The Bible

 Religious Right Furious Pope Francis Wants Them To Follow The Bible

Written by: Sarah Wood

Many on the religious right are livid that Pope Francis would have the audacity to want people to live up to the actual teachings of the Bible which fully negates their agenda of sweeping the poor under the rug and rewarding the already obscenely wealthy.

“How dare he say trickle-down economics doesn’t work!” said Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). “The beloved Ronald Reagan, who was far more religious than any Pope said if we keep giving the wealthy more money, everyone will have more money. We just need to wait a little bit longer to see it work!”

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), devout Catholic, said of the Pontiff, “He is obviously reading from the wrong part of the book. Wealth and greed are beautiful Biblical concepts that go back even further than Jesus.”

“I just don’t diddly understand why therefore and more what this here supposed religious leader-type thingy thinks he’s up to,” said Sarah Palin.

Many in the religious right are denouncing the anti-capitalist remarks of Pope Francis. They don’t want any sort of actual religious facts and teachings to derail their attempt at creating a feudal society.

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Michigan about to require women to buy "rape insurance" based on petition signed by 4.2% of voters

Michigan about to require women to buy "rape insurance" based on petition signed by 4.2% of voters

by EclectablogFollow

The War on Women continues...

Graphic by Anne C. SavageCross-posted from Eclectablog.
Thanks to a petition drive that resulted in 4.2% of Michiganders voicing their minority opinion, Michigan is about to become a place where women have to plan ahead for their abortions. If you become pregnant accidentally or if you are raped and become pregnant and haven't purchased a separate abortion coverage rider on your health insurance, you won't be covered. This isn't just for state government insurance plans or those purchased on the health insurance exchange. It's for EVERY insurance plan available in the state.

Apparently no government is too small to get between you, your doctor, and your health insurer.

A controversial initiative that would require women to buy an additional rider on their health insurance if they wanted abortion coverage is one short step away from going to the Legislature, where it is likely to easily become law. Because no one filed a challenge by Monday’s deadline to the more than 315,000 signatures turned in to the Secretary of State, an initiative that would prohibit abortion coverage from being included in standard insurance policies will go forward.
And the Secretary of State certified Monday that Michigan Right to Life, which spearheaded the petition drive, has more than enough valid signatures to start the ball rolling on the new state law. A minimum of 258,088 valid signatures were needed. The anti-abortion activists turned in 315,477 signatures. And the Secretary of State’s elections division estimated that 299,941 of the signatures are valid.
The state Board of Canvassers will meet at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 2 to certify the signatures and then the petition moves to the state Legislature, which has 40 days to approve, reject or do nothing with the legislative ballot initiative.

If Republicans vote it down or fail to act on it, it will be a ballot iniatitive in the next general election. Neither of these is likely given their ideologically extreme views. If they pass it, it becomes law. The other 95.8% of us won’t have a say and neither will Governor Snyder. Don't tell me there isn't a War on Women in Michigan being waged by religious conservatives in our state. The evidence is right before you.
If you want chime in, Planned Parenthood has a petition going asking legislators to allow ALL Michigan voters to have a say in this. You can sign the petition HERE.

Originally posted to Eclectablog - eclectic blogging for a better tomorrow on Wed Nov 27, 2013 at 09:24 AM PST.

Also republished by Motor City Kossacks, Your Government at Work, State & Local ACTION Group, and Michigan, My Michigan.

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Conversations With A Tea Party Patriot: Is Obama Bisexual Or Homosexual?

Conversations With A Tea Party Patriot: Is Obama Bisexual Or Homosexual? (VIDEO)

 
June 16, 2013 | Filed under: Right wing hatred,Videos | Posted by: Kimberley Johnson

Are you a liberal? Well, according to this
scholarTea Party person, you are brainwashed. That “Jewish guy,” what’s his name, is funding liberalism and we are all sheep.
But the burning question, the real debate, is whether or not President Obama is homosexual or bisexual. Yes. They are seriously discussing this. Aside from calling him a Muslim, a Kenyan, a pot smoking Socialist, a Communist and a terrorist, he wants to take away your guns and he beats seven-month old fetus babies over the head.
 Her news sources? Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and “informative” Tea Party meetings.
Seriously, these people are scary and they vote. These are the folks complaining that Sarah Palin isn’t president.
Watch and weep.

---

Kimberley A. Johnson (BIO) – A.K.A. The Anti Coulter is the author of The Virgin Diaries and an activist for women’s rights. Like her on Facebook, Twitter or friend her on FB HERE.

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10 Headlines Fox News Might Have Written Had They Existed During Key Points in U.S. History

November 27, 2013 By Allen Clifton 

I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s noticed the tendency for conservatives to have what can best be described as a foggy recollection of history.  While modern day right-wing media outlets like Fox News mostly paint the Republican party in a positive light, anyone with any kind of common sense knows that, while political parties might have shifted over time, the beliefs of the “conservative” have not.
Hell, these people now try to claim that President Kennedy was actually a conservative and if MLK were alive today he would be a Republican.  And while many conservatives today love programs like Social Security and Medicare, their rabid opposition to anything “socialized” leads me to believe with great certainty that had Fox News been around during the time when Social Security and Medicare were created, conservatives would fiercely oppose both programs as well.
So while this idea has been explored by others, I decided I would give my own take on the type of headline I believe Fox News would write about certain issues that have happened throughout our history.
I figure, let’s have a little fun.
In no particular chronological order, here we go:
1) Watergate:
Liberal Witch Hunt Continues: Mainstream Media’s Relentless Attack on President Nixon Proves Their True Liberal Bias


2) MLK’s “I Have a Dream” Speech:
Racist Martin Luther King Descends on Washington D.C., Continues to Try to Make Race an Issue
3) Social Security:
FDR the Socialist? President Signs Largest Redistribution of Wealth Legislation in United States History
4) Medicare:
Following Kennedy’s Assassination, President Johnson Signs Communist-like Law Forcing Younger Americans to Pay for Free-Loading Seniors 
5) Truman’s Election:
Rampant Voter Fraud Leads to Unexpected Truman Victory
6) Pear Harbor Bombing:
FDR’s Nazi Sympathizing Backfires: German Ally Empire of Japan Attacks United States Naval Base 
7) Custer’s Last Stand:
American Hero General Custer Slaughtered by Pack of Illegal Immigrants
8) Lincoln’s Push to Free Slaves:
“King” Lincoln Wants the Federal Government to be Able to Seize Your Personal Property, Destroy United States Economy
9) University of Alabama Integration:
Police State in Alabama: President Kennedy Attacks States Rights, Sends Military to Protect Inferior Negros Trying to Mix with Whites 
10) Building of the Interstate Highway System:
Government Spending is Out of Control as President Eisenhower Plans Socialist Takeover of Interstate Travel 
Alright, I’m going to stop there.  Honestly, I could do this all day.
Did I exaggerate a bit on some of them?  I’m really not so sure.  Considering the radical nature of the Republican party — tea party Republicans in particular — and Fox News being the mouthpiece for the GOP, I think most of them would be fairly accurate.


But of course Republicans won’t agree with any of these.  Then again, most conservatives are in complete denial about the sad reality of their own party.
I hope those reading this will share this around and see if others agree with what these “headlines” from Fox News might have been.
Image via “If Fox News Was Around” on Facebook

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Latest job numbers not good for Scott Walker — or those looking for work

Latest job numbers not good for Scott Walker — or those looking for work

November 23, 2013 6:05 am  •  MIKE IVEY | The Capital Times | mivey@madison.com
Mike Ivey has been a reporter with The Capital Times for more than 25 years, covering business, the environment and politics. He was named the state's top business reporter in 2011 by the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.

A new round of numbers show the pace of job creation in Wisconsin slowing by 37 percent for the one-year period ending in June — not good news politically for Gov. Scott Walker or for those looking for work.

Figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released Thursday show Wisconsin added 23,968 private sector jobs from June 2012 to June 2013. That compares to the 37,959 jobs added from June 2011 to June 2012.

The numbers are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), which are drawn from data of 95 percent of state employers. The QCEW is generally considered the most accurate gauge of job growth.

The 23,986 jobs added over the period ending in June 2013 is down nearly 40 percent from the June 2010 to June 2011 period, when Wisconsin added 39,909 private sector jobs.

Democrats were quick to jump on the new CEW figures, saying they show Walker’s policies are not working to create enough jobs to replace all those lost during the recession. Wisconsin lost 149,652 private sector jobs from June 2008 to June 2009 under Gov. Jim Doyle when the nation went through its most dire economic downturn since the Great Depression.

"Far from the ‘unbelievable amounts’ of new jobs Scott Walker promised after the recall, these numbers are the worst we've seen in the past three years,” says Dem spokeswoman Melissa Baldauff. “Wisconsinites are sick of hearing excuses for why we aren't growing jobs like our neighbors in the Midwest and most of the rest of the nation.”

Walker has based his political future on improving the Wisconsin economy via tax cuts and ending public employee unions. But the state has lagged much of the rest of the nation in job growth under the first-term Republican, although the unemployment rate of 6.5 percent here remains lower than the nation’s 7.3 percent jobless figure.

The state ranked 34th in private sector job growth for the March 2012 to March 2013 period and 36th for the December 2011 to December 2012 period, according to the CEW. It’s not clear where Wisconsin ranks compared to other states for the June 2012 to June 2103 period, since numbers for all the states won’t be released until Dec. 18.

Walker also made a campaign pledge to help the state create 250,000 new private sector jobs during his four-year term, which began in January 2011. But the state is barely one-third of the way there with only 15 months remaining in Walker’s term.

Since the governor took office, Wisconsin has added 88,000 new jobs, according to the Current Employment Statistics, which are not considered as accurate as the CEW figures but are released in a timelier manner.

Meanwhile, economists are raising concerns over the lack of manufacturing job growth in the state. The latest CEW figures showed some improvement in construction hiring but not in manufacturing, a key component of the Wisconsin economy.

"I'm really surprised by the lack of job growth in manufacturing," Abdur Chowdhury, economics professor at Marquette University told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "That is a key factor for Wisconsin's recovery. The manufacturing sector generally provides good pay, especially for the three-quarters of state workers without four-year college degrees."

Read more: http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/mike_ivey/latest-job-numbers-not-good-for-scott-walker-or-those/article_138ea562-53a0-11e3-9bdc-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz2lrpeQImO

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Black Friday Our Walmart Announces 1,500 Protests Across the Country

 

Resist! Walmart, Workers Rights and Jobs
By Staff, www.PopularResistance.or
November 22nd, 2013

Above: Walmart Associates across the country are stepping forward to share their stories about the reality of working for the world’s largest private employer. They are coming forth to share their experiences and ask community supporters to hold Black Fridayevents at their stores. Whether these associates choose to do so anonymously or publicly, their words represent the silent majority of Associates who want to see Walmart become a better employer.

- CLICK HERE TO FIND AN ACTION NEAR YOU-  

Note: We urge people to follow the lead of the Network of Spiritual Progressives which has invited its “many tens of thousands of members,Tikkun subscribers, and allies across the country to participate in demonstratons on Black Friday, Nov 29th (the heaviest shopping day of the year) in support of the Walmart workers who have scheduled 1500 demonstrations at Walmarts around the country. If you can’t find one near you, create your own and invite your friends. Below are the reasons that these workers deserve our support. It’s the perfect activity for the day-after Thanksgiving!!  – Rabbi Michael Lerner  co-chair of the NSP with Rev. J. Alfred Smith, Sr.”

“Black Friday 2013 will mark a turning point in American history.”

Communities Should Support Walmart Workers

Walmart workers and community allies today announced plans leading up to and on Black Friday, saying 1500 protests are scheduled for across the country, in what is set to be one of the largest mobilizations of working families in American history. Workers are calling for an end to illegal retaliation, and for Walmart to publicly commit to improving labor standards, such as providing workers with more full time work and $25,000 a year. As the country’s largest retailer and employer, Walmart makes more than $17 billion in profits, with the wealth of the Walton family totaling over $144.7 billion – equal to that of 42% of Americans.
“Black Friday 2013 will mark a turning point in American history,” said Dorian Warren, associate professor at Columbia University. “Fifteen hundred protests against Walmart is unprecedented. Working families are fighting back like never before – and have the support of America behind them.
Emboldened by news from Walmart CEO Bill Simon that as many as 825,000 workers are paid less than $25,000 a year, workers and supporters are calling for better jobs nationwide. Major protests are planned in more than a dozen metropolitan cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Bay Area, Seattle, Sacramento, Miami, Minneapolis and Washington, DC.
The announcement follows revelations this week that many Walmart workers don’t have enough money to cover Thanksgiving dinner for their families. A photo from a Canton, Ohio store set the internet abuzz Monday, with workers,customers and commentators pointing to a food drive set up for Walmart’s own employees as proof that the retailer pays its workers poverty wages.
“Walmart’s right that associates do stick together and look out for each other. We have to because Walmart and the Waltons seem to be fine with the financial struggles that we’re all facing,” said Barbara Gertz, a five-year Walmart employee from Colorado. “We’re are all in the same situation, one that Walmart creates by paying us poverty wages that aren’t enough to cover holiday meals. We don’t want handouts; we want an employer that pays us enough to afford Thanksgiving dinner – and dinner every night of the year.”
Workers and community supporters have been inspired by actions across the country in recent weeks. In Los Angeles, workers went on a two-day strike that culminated in the largest-ever act of civil disobedience against Walmart, and last week, workers in Seattle, Chicago, Ohio and Dallas joined them in walking off their jobs.
The strikes, which call for an end to illegal retaliation at Walmart, come as the federal labor board this week issued a decision to prosecute Walmart for widespread violations of its workers’ rights. The decision will provide additional protection for Walmart’s 1.3 million employees when they are speaking out for better jobs. The Board will prosecute Walmart’s illegal firings and disciplinary actions involving more than 117 workers, including those who went on strike last June.
With the Labor Relations Board moves forward to seek a settlement that could include the reinstatement of fired workers, a group of Walmart employees who were illegally retaliated against are traveling to Bentonville, Arkansas to call on Walmart CEO Bill Simon to reinstate them immediately. Early Fridaymorning, November 22, the fired workers will visit Home Office to urge Walmart to live up to the anti-retaliation policy it professes to follow.
“I’m traveling to Bentonville with other workers who were wrongfully fired because Walmart needs to hear from us directly: we want our jobs back, and we want you to put the anti-retaliation policy you talk about into practice,” said Jeanna Slate, a fired striker, mother and grandmother from rural Texas who is traveling to Bentonville. “Walmart makes $17 billion dollars in profits while the majority of its workers make less than $25,000 a year. Walmart can do better.”
Walmart workers have escalated their online organizing and community outreach ahead of Black Friday 2013, allowing customers and community members to join the fight for $25,000 and an end to illegal retaliation. Chicago worker Charmaine Givens-Thomas launched an online petition asking President Obama to meet with Walmart workers, which currently has more than 100,000 signers; individuals can sponsor a Walmart striker online; and a new online portal,www.associatevoices.com, allows associates to step forward and request Black Friday protests at their stores. Just weeks since the launch, the number of cities that have requested a Black Friday rally is well ahead of the number at this point in 2012.
National leaders and community groups representing tens of millions of Americans, from every corner of the country, will join workers at protests leading up to and on Black Friday. Members of Congress, including Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN); women’s groups including the National Organization for Women and Family Values @ Work; and environmental and consumer protection organizations such as The Sierra Club, the National Consumers League and Food and Water Watch, have all pledged support for the courageous workers, saying their fight is a fight for all Americans.
“I learned about the growing protests online, and after seeing the news that Walmart was asking its own employees to feed one another, I knew I had to speak out,” said Rev. Holly Beaumont, organizing director for Interfaith Worker Justice New Mexico, who plans to join protests around Black Friday. “It’s not right. Anyone who works hard shouldn’t have to rely on food stamps, or charity from their coworkers, just to get by.”
Growing voices in business and the media have denounced Walmart for its unsustainable business model. A Bloomberg columnist recently called the company the true “welfare queen,” noting that Walmart is the largest consumer of taxpayer-supported aid. Following third quarter revenues that fell short of expectations, Forbes added that shoppers, shareholders and the retail giant have reason to worry. And the New York Times argued that Walmart employees deserve both raises and tohave the federal government behind them.
As calls for change intensify, academics, business experts and think tanks are offering ways that Walmart can increase workers’ wages without costing taxpayers, customers or the business a dime. A Fortune article pointed to investors wanting change - Walmart could easily raise wages by 50% without affecting its stock value. And public policy organization Demos released a report this week finding that Walmart could easily pay every employee $14.89 without raising prices by simply not buying its own stock to further enrich the Walton family.
Walmart’s low-wage model winds up costing us all,” said Amy Traub, Demos senior policy analyst and co-author of A Higher Wage is Possible. “When the biggest employer in the country doesn’t pay its workers enough to spend money in their communities, we don’t get the economic growth that creates more jobs. And when jobs don’t pay enough to support a family, taxpayers end up subsidizing Walmart’s workforce costs through public benefits like Medicaid and nutrition assistance.”
For more information on Black Friday protests, visitwww.BlackFridayProtests.org and follow the conversation and see photos at @ChangeWalmart, #WalmartStrikers andchangewalmart.tumblr.com.
OUR Walmart works to ensure that every Associate, regardless of his or her title, age, race, or sex, is respected at Walmart. We join together to offer strength and support in addressing the challenges that arise in our stores and our company everyday.
CONTACT: OUR Walmart 
Derrick Plummer, 202-466-1576; Giovanna Vitale, 646-200-5334; Alex Edwards, 810-986-0880
Walmart Associates Share Stories, Request Black FridayEvents at Their Stores
Associate Voices – Where Walmart Associates Connect with Community & Coworkers

	., http://forrespect.org/,
	Walmart workers and community allies today announced plans leading up to and on Black Friday, saying 1500 protests are scheduled for across the country, in what is set to be one of the largest mobilizations of working families in American history. Workers are calling for an end to illegal retaliation, and for Walmart to publicly commit to improving labor standards, such as providing workers with more full time work and $25,000 a year. As the country’s largest retailer and employer, Walmart makes more than $17 billion in profits, with the wealth of the Walton family totaling over $144.7 billion – equal to that of 42% of Americans.”Black Friday 2013 will mark a turning point in American history,” said Dorian Warren, associate professor at Columbia University. “Fifteen hundred protests against Walmart is unprecedented. Working families are fighting back like never before – and have the support of America behind them.Emboldened by news from Walmart CEO Bill Simon that as many as 825,000 workers are paid less than $25,000 a year, workers and supporters are calling for better jobs nationwide. Major protests are planned in more than a dozen metropolitan cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Bay Area, Seattle, Sacramento, Miami, Minneapolis and Washington, DC.The announcement follows revelations this week that many Walmart workers don’t have enough money to cover Thanksgiving dinner for their families. A photo from a Canton, Ohio store set the internet abuzz Monday, with workers,customers and commentators pointing to a food drive set up for Walmart’s own employees as proof that the retailer pays its workers poverty wages. “Walmart’s right that associates do stick together and look out for each other. We have to because Walmart and the Waltons seem to be fine with the financial struggles that we’re all facing,” said Barbara Gertz, a five-year Walmart employee from Colorado. “We’re are all in the same situation, one that Walmart creates by paying us poverty wages that aren’t enough to cover holiday meals. We don’t want handouts; we want an employer that pays us enough to afford Thanksgiving dinner – and dinner every night of the year.” Workers and community supporters have been inspired by actions across the country in recent weeks. In Los Angeles, workers went on a two-day strike that culminated in the largest-ever act of civil disobedience against Walmart, and last week, workers in Seattle, Chicago, Ohio and Dallas joined them in walking off their jobs. The strikes, which call for an end to illegal retaliation at Walmart, come as the federal labor board this week issued a decision to prosecute Walmart for widespread violations of its workers’ rights. The decision will provide additional protection for Walmart’s 1.3 million employees when they are speaking out for better jobs. The Board will prosecute Walmart’s illegal firings and disciplinary actions involving more than 117 workers, including those who went on strike last June. With the Labor Relations Board moves forward to seek a settlement that could include the reinstatement of fired workers, a group of Walmart employees who were illegally retaliated against are traveling to Bentonville, Arkansas to call on Walmart CEO Bill Simon to reinstate them immediately. Early Fridaymorning, November 22, the fired workers will visit Home Office to urge Walmart to live up to the anti-retaliation policy it professes to follow. “I’m traveling to Bentonville with other workers who were wrongfully fired because Walmart needs to hear from us directly: we want our jobs back, and we want you to put the anti-retaliation policy you talk about into practice,” said Jeanna Slate, a fired striker, mother and grandmother from rural Texas who is traveling to Bentonville. “Walmart makes $17 billion dollars in profits while the majority of its workers make less than $25,000 a year. Walmart can do better.” Walmart workers have escalated their online organizing and community outreach ahead of Black Friday 2013, allowing customers and community members to join the fight for $25,000 and an end to illegal retaliation. Chicago worker Charmaine Givens-Thomas launched an online petition asking President Obama to meet with Walmart workers, which currently has more than 100,000 signers; individuals can sponsor a Walmart striker online; and a new online portal,www.associatevoices.com, allows associates to step forward and request Black Friday protests at their stores. Just weeks since the launch, the number of cities that have requested a Black Friday rally is well ahead of the number at this point in 2012. National leaders and community groups representing tens of millions of Americans, from every corner of the country, will join workers at protests leading up to and on Black Friday. Members of Congress, including Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN); women’s groups including the National Organization for Women and Family Values @ Work; and environmental and consumer protection organizations such as The Sierra Club, the National Consumers League and Food and Water Watch, have all pledged support for the courageous workers, saying their fight is a fight for all Americans. “I learned about the growing protests online, and after seeing the news that Walmart was asking its own employees to feed one another, I knew I had to speak out,” said Rev. Holly Beaumont, organizing director for Interfaith Worker Justice New Mexico, who plans to join protests around Black Friday. “It’s not right. Anyone who works hard shouldn’t have to rely on food stamps, or charity from their coworkers, just to get by.” Growing voices in business and the media have denounced Walmart for its unsustainable business model. A Bloomberg columnist recently called the company the true “welfare queen,” noting that Walmart is the largest consumer of taxpayer-supported aid. Following third quarter revenues that fell short of expectations, Forbes added that shoppers, shareholders and the retail giant have reason to worry. And the New York Times argued that Walmart employees deserve both raises and tohave the federal government behind them. As calls for change intensify, academics, business experts and think tanks are offering ways that Walmart can increase workers’ wages without costing taxpayers, customers or the business a dime. A Fortune article pointed to investors wanting change - Walmart could easily raise wages by 50% without affecting its stock value. And public policy organization Demos released a report this week finding that Walmart could easily pay every employee $14.89 without raising prices by simply not buying its own stock to further enrich the Walton family. Walmart’s low-wage model winds up costing us all,” said Amy Traub, Demos senior policy analyst and co-author of A Higher Wage is Possible. “When the biggest employer in the country doesn’t pay its workers enough to spend money in their communities, we don’t get the economic growth that creates more jobs. And when jobs don’t pay enough to support a family, taxpayers end up subsidizing Walmart’s workforce costs through public benefits like Medicaid and nutrition assistance.” For more information on Black Friday protests, visitwww.BlackFridayProtests.org and follow the conversation and see photos at @ChangeWalmart, #WalmartStrikers andchangewalmart.tumblr.com. OUR Walmart works to ensure that every Associate, regardless of his or her title, age, race, or sex, is respected at Walmart. We join together to offer strength and support in addressing the challenges that arise in our stores and our company everyday. CONTACT: OUR Walmart  Derrick Plummer, 202-466-1576; Giovanna Vitale, 646-200-5334; Alex Edwards, 810-986-0880 Walmart Associates Share Stories, Request Black FridayEvents at Their Stores Associate Voices – Where Walmart Associates Connect with Community & Coworkers Walmart Associates across the country are stepping forward to share their stories about the reality of working for the world’s largest private employer. They are coming forth to share their experiences and ask community supporters to hold Black Fridayevents at their stores. Whether these associates choose to do so anonymously or publicly, their words represent the silent majority of Associates who want to see Walmart become a better employer.

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6 Outrageously Greedy Companies That Make Scrooge Look Like a Softie

6 Outrageously Greedy Companies That Make Scrooge Look Like a Softie 

AlterNet / By Lynn Stuart Parramore

Meet the companies offering sh*t sandwiches to employees for the holidays.

Photo Credit: shutterstock.com

November 24, 2013  |  

Ebeneezer Scrooge knew how a greedy capitalist deals with workers during the holiday season: Consider yourself cheated when they take a day off with pay to celebrate with their families.
But the old miser is bit too soft for many of today’s corporate titans. A day off with pay? Bah, humbug! Across America, workers are faced with no paid holidays at all or “encouraged” to work on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Some get paid extra, some don’t. Unless you have a union contract or work for the federal government, Thanksgiving and Christmas may just be another day on the job.
While Scrooge was forced to bow to Victorian norms and give his employees Christmas Day off with pay, American law does not require such generosity. In fact, the U.S. is a world leader in least generous holiday arrangements.
American misers don’t stop there: From paying starvation wages to abandoning victims of factory disasters, there is no action too heartless for some of our best-known companies. Here are some of the brands offering “season’s beatings” to hard-working people.
Kmart
Several stores on this list will be open on Thanksgiving, but Kmart has outdone them all by announcing it will be open 41 hours straight, starting at the obscene hour of 6am on Thanksgiving Day.
According to Kmart spokeswoman Shanelle Armstrong, the company is doing workers a favor, informing the Huffington Post that "We staff with teams & seasonal associates when possible, giving them the opportunity to make extra money during holiday."
Many customers obviously can’t appreciate such generosity, leaving irate messages on Kmart’s Facebook page like these:

“Hey Kmart! Because of you being Open on Thanksgiving and totally disrespecting your employees, Our Family will never spend a $ in your store!”
"I refuse to shop at a store that makes employees work on Thanksgiving so you can earn a buck this store among others takes the fun out of shopping on black Friday.”

Around the country, Kmart’s full-time employees report being pressured to work over holidays, despite the company’s claim of using seasonal and temp workers.
McDonald's
McDonald’s, never one to shy away from screwing employees, recently found itself caught up in a blizzard of negative PR for putting its business principles into writing in the form of a list of holiday budget tips for its workers, whose pay averages $8 per hour. (This just months after a stunningly McStupid employee budget guide that allowed zero dollars for heat and $20 for healthcare.)
The company has some money advice that would make Scrooge giddy. Facing debt? Try returning some of your presents and selling off possessions on eBay. Need to make a purchase? Go to a thrift shop instead of the mall. Feeling depressed? “Try to avoid using shopping as a pick-me-up or as a way to relieve boredom.”
McDonald’s concluded with a cheery holiday message for workers who live below the poverty line: “Financial security is something we all dream of. You can make this dream a reality with a little hard work and a lot of dedication.”
Thanks, McDonald's. Could we at least have fries with that?
Sears
With an Ayn Rand-worshipping libertarian at the helm (financier Eddie Lampert), it’s no wonder Sears has become the poster child of worker misery (Sears Holdings also now owns Kmart). When he took over Sears in January 2013, Lampert rolled up his sleeves, turning the company into a giant Randian experiment where workers were pitted against each other until the venerable retailer descended into a chaos of screaming matches and infighting.

Naturally, Sears will be open on Thanksgiving this year (8pm).  And that’s not all.

A year after the horrific factory fire in Bangladesh, Sears, which sold clothing made there, is giving victims the cold shoulder, declining to participate in a global effort to get compensation to injured workers and the families of survivors. According to the New York Times, some European retailers, like the Anglo-Irish Primark, have embraced their moral obligation and are working hard on the effort, but Sears is unmoved by the idea of burned and paralyzed victims, or families trying to survive without a breadwinner. Happy holidays.
Walmart
Walmart, boasting a profit of $15.7 billion last year, has distinguished itself by paying crap wages to its 2.2 million employees.In fact, the majority of its workers with children live below the poverty line.
This year, the company is actually holding food drives so that its own poorly paid employees can donate food to each other for the holidays.
Walmart is really a standout when it comes to caring about workers — for example, not giving a hoot if people die while making its products. The company recently showed what anti-sweatshop activist Samantha Maher calls “an astonishing lack of responsibility” to the victims of the Bangladesh factory fire where a large portion of its clothing was being made. Like Sears, it will not participate in relief efforts for victims.
Walmart has announced it will open its stores at 6pm on Thanksgiving, and according to chief marketing officer Duncan MacNaughton, employees are “really excited to work that day.” Gee, work or get fired? Or end up with so few hours that you can’t eat that week? What an exciting choice!
What MacNaughton does not say is that many Walmart workers would like to work full-time, but are forced to work part-time so the company can avoid offering benefits. They are also forced to deal with erratic schedules that drive them into poverty, making them unable to take second jobs or arrange childcare.
Josh Eidelson reports that Walmart can expect protests and demonstrations across the country during Black Friday, including strikes.
Apple
Apple was planning on increasing the number of stores open on Thanksgiving this year, but CEO Tim Cook made a big show of expressing his goodwill by insisting that only some of his employees should be miserable for the holidays: those working in stores on the Las Vegas Strip, Hawaii’s Waikiki Beach and New York’s Fifth Avenue.
Cook’s largesse is duly noted.
But so is the fact that Apple’s employees are pretty miserable to begin with. According to Glassdoor.com—sort of like Yelp for America’s workforce where employees leave reviews of their experience on the job—working for Apple is no picnic. In terms of satisfaction, Apple ranks #34, far behind tech companies like Facebook (#1), Google (#6) and Linked-In (#14). It also ranks below Shell Oil US (#18), Mastercard (#29) and Bain & Company (#4). Apple employees complain of long hours, difficulty in balancing life and work, and — surprise! — “retail hours involving holiday hours.”
Apple’s per-employee revenue is an off-the-freaking charts $2.13 million, yet the average salary of an Apple store “Genius” is $38,937, which, in locations like New York, is barely subsistence level. Apple is sitting on a tremendous amount of cash right now, but is it going to increase the pay and benefits of the workers who make its success possible? Or maybe invest in the development of new products? Perish the thought! No, it appears Apple is likely to do a massive stock buyback (read: stock manipulation) and enrich executives to the tune of $150 billion (if Carl Ichan has his way). Stock buybacks are a noxious form of redistribution of profits away from workers and an innovation-killer, and should be banned.
Let’s not forget that Apple is facing a class-action suit for conspiring with other tech firms to screw over employees with do-not-hire arrangements. Or that Apple iPhone workers in China work in virtual slavery. Or that Tim Cook sent an incredibly creepy video to employees warning them to read up on “business conduct” guidelines. Et cetera.
Macy’s
For the first time in its 155-year history, Macy’s will be open on Thanksgiving. This is especially ironic given that the iconic store has practically made its name synonymous with the holiday through its nine-decades-running festival of ginormous balloons, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. This year, many Macy's workers will not be able to enjoy the parade, because they will be inside bound to cash registers.
Macy's employees have reported an obnoxious scorescorecard system that the company uses to judge and control them. They also complain of low wages, dirty conditions, and poor training — which is no suprise given reports of "Shop and Frisk" incidents involving people of color getting harassed in the store.
Last year, we noted that Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren was spending his time lobbying to gut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Lundgren is part of a notorious group of greedy CEOs called “Fix the Debt” which strives to further distress hard-working people by running ad campaigns, purchasing members of Congress, etc. so that he and his fellow Scrooges can enjoy tax breaks by shredding the social safety net.
According to Forbes, Lundgren took home over $10 million last year.
And there you have it — a corporate climate in America which would make Scrooge himself shudder.

Lynn Parramore is an AlterNet senior editor. She is cofounder of Recessionwire, founding editor of New Deal 2.0, and author of 'Reading the Sphinx: Ancient Egypt in Nineteenth-Century Literary Culture.' She received her Ph.d in English and Cultural Theory from NYU, where she has taught essay writing and semiotics. She is the Director of AlterNet's New Economic Dialogue Project. Follow her on Twitter @LynnParramore.

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To quote from Sodom and Gomorrah: ” … So don’t be gay.”

 To quote from Sodom and Gomorrah: ” … So don’t be gay.”

November 9, 2011 By John Shore 

 

Is there some sort of resurgence happening around the idea that when it comes to proving that God condemns gay people, you just can’t beat the ancient story of Sodom and Gomorrah? Because lately I’ve been hearing from fundy-type Christians who want me to read S&G, so that I’ll understand that that’s the message of that story.
So I just now went and reread the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.
As far as I can tell, the Big Main Lesson of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is that if it ever happens that, for some inexplicable reason, every man in your town is suddenly seized by an overwhelming desire to gang-rape the angels who are sleeping over at your house, offer them your daughters to rape instead. But then worry not, because your guest angels will strike blind all the would-be rapists, who will then be unable to locate your front door, let alone your daughters. Also, if God later starts raining burning sulphur down upon your town, do not look back at that spectacle, no matter how far away from it you are at the time, because doing so will instantly transform you into a pillar of salt. And then that’s a drag for your family.
But maybe I just have a weird translation of the Bible. Maybe, in other translations, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah concludes in this way:

Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived. So don’t be gay.

That I have a bad Bible translation is most certainly the problem. Because I cannot think of any other reason for which any sane person would ever seriously suggest that the point of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is to prove that homosexuality is immoral.

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Conservative Christian Leader Says Single Moms Should Put Their Kids Up For Adoption

 
Author: Stephen D. Foster Jr. November 27, 2013 3:59 am

In what sounds like a strong suggestion for taking kids away from single moms by force, a ‘Christian’ leader urges them to give their kids up voluntarily. Photo from JuicyEcumenism.Com.

In what seems like a single step away from advocating that we take kids away from their single moms by force, a conservative Christian leader is urging them to give up their children voluntarily.

A conservative Christian leader says single moms should surrender their kids to Christian homes with two parents.

Right Wing Watch reports that Southern Baptist leader Richard Land is calling on single mothers to put up their kids for adoption so that Christian households with two parents can raise them.
In a November 23rd article published on The Christian Post, Land urges single mothers across the nation to stop being selfish and hand their kids over to good Christian parents so they can be raised properly, the way he thinks God intended.

“Keeping the baby is almost never preferable to allowing a baby to be adopted into a solid, faithful Christian home,” Land claims. “A single mother who keeps her baby is quite often denying that baby the father that God wants for that baby, and every baby, to have. Furthermore, in most circumstances, keeping the baby circumscribes and forecloses both the mother’s and the baby’s economic futures in tragic and unfortunate ways. If the mother is doing what is best for her baby (one of the defining marks of maternal love), she will part with her baby so that it will have the future God intended for him or her to have… Adoption allows the mother to give her child both a mother and a father who will love and cherish the child.”

Richard Land calls for a policy that would increase the number of kids in need of adoptive homes by millions.

Land says he understands that there are already 100,000 children waiting to be adopted in the United States, but he still thinks all 11 million single moms in the nation should freely surrender their kids. Why? Because he says the children of single moms are being raised improperly and really should be given the chance to have a father in their lives, even if they have to squander their childhood in orphanages waiting to be adopted.
Apparently, Land has no clue how many children that is. Try about 20 million. That’s how many children would be flooding the adoption system if Land had his way. Earlier in his article, before he completely insulted single moms, Land tried to make the case for adoption instead of abortion. He says that women should always choose adoption rather than seek an abortion. Since an estimated 1.2 million abortions are performed every year, that would be 1.2 million babies that the already overworked and underfunded adoption and child services system would have to deal with each year, in addition to the 20 million Land expects single moms to give up. Can anyone possibly imagine this turning out well?
Unless conservatives are literally willing to order their congressional puppets to open the government wallet and write a gigantic check (Can anyone honestly imagine that happening?), the system would implode upon itself. Millions of children would be stranded. And millions of children would be added to the million-plus children who are now homeless in America. It would create a crisis of epic proportions, with not enough Christian households around to solve it.

Richard Land’s call carves a dangerous path.

The fact is, abortion is a necessary choice that all women should have. Sure, they have ability to choose adoption. But it seems that Land is suggesting forcing that choice upon women. There are already so many children who have no home, why force women to thrust more children into that situation? It’s seriously insane.
Furthermore, after single moms read what Land said, it wouldn’t surprise me if they tarred and feathered him in a public square. As if conservatives haven’t attacked single mothers enough, this guy is openly claiming that they don’t raise their children right and that the only way they can do so is to have a husband. This personally enrages me, because I was raised by a single mother, as are millions of children every single year. Is it hard? Sure it is. But does that mean my single mother wasn’t a fantastic parent who raised me well? Absolutely not.
Land’s call for single moms to willingly surrender their children is a dangerous signal from religious conservatives. You know how conservatives are currently cheering for Russia to forcibly take children away from gay couples? It sounds like conservatives are now one step closer toward forcibly taking children away from single mothers here in America. I’m not sure what conservatives call that, but most sane people would call it kidnapping, which is illegal. Furthermore, Land’s call to for single moms to give up their kids to Christian couples is highly suspicious. Clearly, these Christian fundamentalists would be free to indoctrinate these kids. Basically, Land wants to take kids away from their single moms so they can be brainwashed with hate, fear, prejudice, and ignorance. Again, I’m not sure what Land calls that, but most sane people would call that child abuse.

Conservatives have stopped at nothing to attack single mothers.

This is yet another aspect in the GOP’s war on women. They simply can’t stand single moms, even though it’s a good bet that many right-wingers were raised by them. Despite that, conservatives have stopped at nothing to attack single mothers.
Kansas Republicans are increasing the cost of childcare across the state to fund abstinence-only programs that don’t work. You know who is going to be affected by that the most? Single moms. In Wisconsin, the GOP thinks single moms actually want fatherless children and have compared single motherhood to child abuse. Republicans even blame single moms for the epidemic of gun violence in this country.
But that’s not all. Republican policies such as abstinence-only programs and their anti-contraception crusade lead to more women becoming single moms. Not only that, their policies only make the lives of single mothers harder, thus making it more difficult to care for their children. GOP efforts to eliminate child care services, preschool, food stamps, and equal pay for women have only made things harder for single women.
Here’s a thought. The he-man woman haters within the GOP should get off their collective asses and begin pushing birth control and comprehensive sex education. The number of unintended pregnancies would drop as would the number of abortions. And here’s an even better idea. What if Republicans actually supported and enacted equal pay for women? What if they increased child care services and pre-school at the same time? Those combined efforts would reduce the number of women who become single mothers via unintended pregnancies. And single mothers would have a large enough income and the assistance they need to take care of their kids.

Richard Land’s call is sure to drive more women and their children into the welcoming arms of the Democratic Party.

Conservatives have the gall to wonder why women are voting for Democrats, and yet they attack women on all fronts. Of course, it’s not going to get any better for the GOP considering one of their own just insulted millions of single mothers and the millions of children who are raised by them. On that same note, let’s not forget that young people are increasing voting against the Republican Party. By attacking their moms, the GOP is just giving them another reason to vote Democrat.

Richard Land, and conservative men like him, are sexist assholes.

It’s amazing how conservative men can claim to know so much about child-rearing when they have made it abundantly clear that they expect women to do all the work. Maybe if Republicans advocated for teaching men to be good partners with the women they have a child with, more kids would have a father in their lives. Unfortunately, conservative men like Richard Land are too busy being sexist assholes, and you can’t expect sexist assholes to teach other men not to be one. In short, these anti-women conservative men are totally unfit to raise children and are totally unqualified to judge single mothers and how they raise theirs.

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Cartoon Claims Obamacare Means Men Will Get STDs From Women Who Can Now Afford Birth Control

The Huffington Post  |  By Paige Lavender

 

A cartoon is claiming men can thank Obamacare for getting sexually transmitted diseases from "women who now get free birth control."
The cartoon depicts an angry man next to a woman holding a pack of birth control pills, both with sores on their mouths. Under the words "thanks Obamacare!" are the hashtags #gotbrokencondom, #gotherpes, #gotpregnant and #gotchildsupport.
The cartoon was done by A.F. Branco, whose work is published at a website called Comically Incorrect.
The cartoon is a parody of an ad for Obamacare from DoYouGotInsurance.com called "Let's Get Physical," showing characters named "Susie" and "Nate" described as "hot to trot." In the ad, Susie gives a thumbs up while holding a pack of birth control pills.
See the cartoon below:

UPDATE -- 12:26 p.m.: Branco gave the following statement on the cartoon to HuffPost:

I'm not against birth control or nor do I feel that it is any of my business what people do sexually. However, I do feel that contraceptives are inexpensive and accessible enough that I shouldn't have to pay for them through my taxes. I also feel that my government shouldn't be promoting promiscuous sex as though condoms are the answer to all STDs and promiscuous behavior.

This post has been updated with a version of the cartoon sent to HuffPost by Branco.

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Why the Christian Right Believes It Has Once-in-a-Decade Chance to Impose Its Radical Worldview on America

Why the Christian Right Believes It Has Once-in-a-Decade Chance to Impose Its Radical Worldview on America

A change to obscure procedural rules in the U.S. Senate and the upcoming 2014 elections could be a dangerous window of opportunity.

November 26, 2013  

 

AlterNet / By CJ Werleman

Elections have consequences. The Senate Democrats’ detonation of the “nuclear option” has dramatically raised the stakes for secular progressives in 2014, because if there are two issues that juice the Christian Right the most, it’s women’s reproductive rights and judicial activism. On the latter, the Religious Right senses a once-in-a-decade opportunity to impose its radical worldview on America.
Last week, the Senate voted 52-48 to eliminate the ability of the minority party in the Senate to filibuster executive branch nominees and any judgeship below the Supreme Court by changing the requirements for passage to a simple majority vote. It was a historic move made because there was no other alternative, given the GOP’s unprecedented abuse of the filibuster. In the history of the United States, 168 presidential nominees have been filibustered. Half occurred under all presidents from Washington through to Bush. Remarkably, the other half has taken place under just one president: Obama.
Why such aggressive judicial obstructionism by the GOP?
Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. writes, “This era’s conservatives will use any means at their disposal to win control of the courts. Their goal is to do all they can to limit Congress’s ability to enact social reforms.”
The Christian Right, which is the GOP’s most reliable and agitated voting bloc, is obsessed with the courts, and the Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit is the nation’s second most important judicial body, which is why Republicans “gave the game away when all but a few of them opposed Obama’s three most recent appointments.”
Now that Democrats were forced into limiting the filibuster, the Christian Right has its incentive to mobilize for 2014. A simple majority control of the Senate gives it an opportunity to pack the courts with judges straight out of the Justice Scalia mold, who once said that separation of church and state would come under scrutiny under a Supreme Court with a Scalia majority. If the Christian Right sweeps Republicans to control the Senate in next year’s midterms, the anti-secularists will take a big step forward toward their stated ideological goals.
The recent Values Voter Summit demonstrated that the likely 2016 GOP frontrunners have a base wish to transform America’s secular state into a tyrannical theocracy — a nirvana absent gays, liberals, immigrants, Muslims and science books. The right-wing media elites are already doing their bit to gin up the far right’s judicial activists with Rush Limbaugh comparing filibuster reform to rape.
Truth in Action Ministries recently released a film titled Freedom on Trial, which features Robert Bork, the failed Reagan Supreme Court nominee, Eagle Forum founder Phyllis Schlafly, and Heritage Foundation vice president Genevieve Wood. The general theme of the documentary is that Christianity is under attack thanks to liberal "activist judges." Bork warns that courts are “teaching the people that religion is evil,” while another conservative attorney claims decisions that go against the Ten Commandments will “destroy the country.”
President Obama’s judicial nominees were being filibustered because they threaten to alter the circuit court’s philosophical balance. The Republican Party has again demonstrated that nullification and obstruction are ready-made weapons to ensure the courts remain dominated by conservatives.

Cass R. Sunstein, author of Radicals in Robes: Why Extreme Right-Wing Courts are Bad for America, writes, “Our courts now represents the most extreme elements of the Republican Party. These reformers include a number of federal judges—radicals in robes, fundamentalists on the bench….some of these judges do not hesitate to depart radically from longstanding understandings of constitutional meaning.” Political analyst James Fallows writes, “Add that to the simply unprecedented abuse of the filibuster in the years since the Democrats won control of the Senate and then took the White House, you have what we’d identify as a kind of long-term coup if we saw it happening anywhere else.”

The end of the filibuster threatens the far right’s stranglehold on our courts. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell warned, “The solution to this problem is at the ballot box. We look forward to having a great election in November 2014.” John McCain warned, “Democrats will regret this.”
For Republicans to take back the Senate, they’ll need to win six seats. Given Democrats will need to defend 21 seats, compared to just 14 for the GOP, and that seven of those 21 Democratic seats are in states that lean Republican, expect the Christian Right to be the party’s primary water carrier in the midterms.
Former Speaker Tip O’Neill liked to say that all politics is local. He was wrong. It’s tribal. The detonation of the nuclear option ensures the always-mobilized theological tribe will turn out in high numbers in 2014. This means America’s secular state will remain in the balance should the secular left tribe do no better than its impotency in 2010.
CJ Werleman is the author of Crucifying America and God Hates You, Hate Him Back. Follow him on Twitter @cjwerleman.

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Asshat Limbaugh Falls For "White Males Should Kill Themselves" Satire Piece

Asshat Limbaugh Falls For "White Males Should Kill Themselves" Satire Piece

by ProgLegsFollow

Conservative blogs have been abuzz the past few days over the latest round of bigotry against the oft-oppressed white male.   The "news" outlets are reporting that Noel Ignatiev, a real professor at Massachusetts College of Art, suggested in his final lecture that white males needed to kill themselves:

"If you are a white male, you don’t deserve to live. You are a cancer, you’re a disease, white males have never contributed anything positive to the world! They only murder, exploit and oppress non-whites! At least a white woman can have sex with a black man and make a brown baby but what can a white male do? He’s good for nothing. Slavery, genocides against aboriginal peoples and massive land confiscation, the inquisition, the holocaust, white males are all to blame! You maintain your white male privilege only by oppressing, discriminating against and enslaving others!
[...]
Obviously, all whites need to be destroyed, but why not start with white males? They are behind most of history’s greatest atrocities. Besides, some of the brothers like to bang white women. Eventually white women can breed out, but my feeling is that if you are a white male, you should kill yourself now. If you are a thoughtful person, with a social consciousness who considers himself white, you will consider suicide. It’s the right thing to do."

Today Rush Limbaugh picked up the story and ran with it--it fits perfectly with his ongoing narrative that white male Christians are subjected to nonstop persecution.
The only problem?  The lecture is completely fictional--as one of Limbaugh's office flunkies pointed out as soon as El Rushbo's Gucci ostrich loafer-clad foot was firmly in his mouth.

I shit you not, Limbaugh actually led into his aborted segment with the following statement:
"I look at how easily people are made to follow and made to believe things and lied to and act like sheep..."

Rush then attempted to lead his sheep into believing a false story about a professor whose white man's guilt leads him to suggest mass suicide for his white male students: Listen for yourself:
*
Just when the vein was bulging dangerously on his sweaty crimson forehead, one of Rush Limbaugh's staff told him off mike that the story was not real.
Egg dripping from his wattles, Limbaugh tried--and failed--to save a little face:

"Now they tell me that this professor's story has been debunked.  Well, it just showed up in a major blog last night.  Ok, so the story is a satire.  It's a major blog.  Where did it show up?  (Rattles papers to cover sounds of nervous flatus) Ahhhhhh, I'll have to click on the link to find out, cause the print...Washington Times reported it.  Why does something like that work?  There are professors who teach that the problem with the planet is human beings.  There are environmentalist wackos who teach that the world would be much better if there were no human beings.  And the left is filled with these kinds of extremists."

The story that suckered Limbaugh comes from a satirical website called Diversity Chronicle which includes such pieces as "Breaking News:  George Zimmerman Eats 3 Egg Omelet". Had Limbaugh actually done some research instead of getting all his information from headlines gleaned from easily outraged dimwit websites he would have found that the Ignatiev "lecture" included the following lines:

"Perhaps we are finally coming to an awareness in this country that the cancer known as the white race must be obliterated. Especially in the form of white males. Obama is president, and I think there is an excellent chance that we will never have a white male president again. I think we are witnessing the breaking of the back of the white male power structure. We will still have residual white males that must be dealt with, but I am confident that we’ve won. Eventually, I would like to put white males in concentration camps and work them to death just like they’ve done to everyone else. When they are all dead we can throw a party and dance around their corpses!"

But of course "facts" and "research" are not Rush Limbaugh's strong suit.

attribution: None Specified

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