Rachael Maddow reports the election results! America wins!

Wednesday's show left no doubt as to the impact this elction year has had on the American people. In it, she tears into the GOP losses with her usual humor and insight while leaving little doubt as to who really won this year.

This video is from the Advocate and tells it the best:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Dear Abbey: My husband and I are not religious...

An interesting comment on the state of "Christians" relevant to the GOP/Tea Baggers who seem so good at standing on selective admonishments culled from irrelevant verses to make their point.

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I are not religious. We believe that people are entitiled to their own beliefs. My problem lies with my brother-in-law and his wife. They are two of the most judgemental, sanctimonious people I have ever known. They "hate" (their word) Mormons, Catholics, etc. How would you suggest I respond to their criticism of our "lack" of Christianity and their offers to pray for us?

-BITING TONGUE IN GREAT FALLS, MONT.

DEAR BITING TONGUE: If your relatives are an example of people who practice Christianity, heaven help the rest of us. If you must interact with them, practice selective deafness, and when they spout hatred, excuse yourselves.

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From One Christian to Another :’ Don’t Be An Idiot. - WWJD?

John Scharfenberger on November 10, 2011 at 9:53 PM 

"Calling all CHRISTIAN PATRIOTS,..

There’s a lot of folks these days who want to ‘brandy’ the Bible, when they argue with me.

They call themselves CHRISTIANS.

Yet,.. the books they ‘thump me over the head with’ are invariably from the OLD TESTAMENT.

The books of the OLD TESTEMENT are indeed, in the Bible,..

They’re also in the Talmud, and the Koran. (almost unchanged)
This is the book of the Jews and the Muslims.
Lot’s of ‘fire and brimstone’,.. lots of ‘judgementalism’.
Great for ‘beating the shit out of somebody ‘verbally’.

But WE’RE CHRISTIANS.
We have a complete set of DIFFERENT books.
Mathew, Mark, Luke and John.
We’re BETTER than those folks,.. according to some)
So when you discuss the Bible with ME,… leave the Old Testament at home.

By doing this, I as a liberal, can take most of the ‘bullets’ out of your gun.
See, Jesus didn’t get upset with ANYBODY,..
Not even the Romans who put him to death.
He was all about Love, and generosity (charity), forgiveness, etc,etc,…

Oppps,… I’m wrong,..
I’ve made a mistake,…

HE DID get upset at somebody,..
Do YOU remember who?????

Yeah, a good Christian like yourself caught my error right away,..

Jesus was upset with the MONEYLENDERS.
He didn’t have much use for THEM.

Ya know,… I think he just might ‘take a stand’ on this OWS business.
And I don’t think he’d come down on the side of the banks.

Do you??????

How do YOU think he’d feel about the foreclosures?"

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The Prophets of Doom : We Are In Far More Than A Depression

I'm just watching a TV program first aired in the spring of 2011 called "The Prophets of Doom" (link to the entire show) on the History Channel. Discussing the current problems facing our world are six experts from several fields -  financial, environment, energy, computers - who are talking about the crisis we are in now as a country and drawing the parallels to past civilizations and their demise.  

It's extremely important that people do wake up before the dam has burst, so to speak. In fact, one of them used a dam bursting as an example. People who live several miles downstream from a dam about to rupture worry, fret and try to do something to rectify it. Those a little closer are not as worried, still are concerned, but don't really react in time. But those who live the closest to it don't believe that anything will happen and don't react at all. Their thinking, a protective reaction of the brain that "it can't happen to me", don't say or do anything because they trust that someone built the dam strong enough to not rupture.

Our society is in a crisis in every form -  financially, politically and environmentally. But the basic thesis of their discussion is that historically, people refuse to believe that anything can or will happen to them because we are the biggest, we are the strongest, we have everything and dominate by buying, taxation, having the biggest military, and even the best technology. 

At some point our country's system, which one of them calls a ponzi scheme, will reach a point of insolvency in which we cannot recover, and by definition, will collapse. This has been shown to be true in every civilization that has risen to the length and breadth that we have. However, due to the level of our technology, our collapse will be different in that it will not be able to recover due to the draining of our natural resources and the fact that they cannot be replaced (oil, water, etc.), the pollution of clean drinking water and food from chemicals and pesticides, the collapse of our financial system, the most obvious one of all at the present that people can relate to. One of the participants proposed an very interesting thought. Dr. Hugo DeGaris thinks that through the vast improvements in the area of Artificial Intelligence, we may be creating the society of the future, which consists of robots and machines that not only can think for themselves, but will do so at the speed of light, a thousand times faster than the fastest human brain operates. His theory postulates that if this point is reached, this new society may consider humans as being inferior and make a logical decision to eliminate us as a species. Of course this is farther down the line than the pressing issues of financial collapse we face now. 

Yet even with all this knowledge, a greater percentage of the people still refuse to believe that this can or will happen to us. 1 in 4 Americans is considered to be at Level 1 in the table of literacy. That means that there are roughly 44 million people in America that cannot read, write or express their thought well enough to communicate. A staggering number at the very least. They are among those that live closest to the dam and believe that the politicians and government know more than they do and will always take care of them.

This is a very interesting and relevant look at our forthcoming political, financial and environmental collapse and the discussion was much more than I could express here. I feel that I live way downstream and I'm worried that those who live next to the dam are not waking up fast enough to be able to get to higher ground before the dam bursts and they drown.


So, once again I say to those who live within a few miles of the dam, get up, get involved, participate, get informed, vote, complain, pursue, and let those who believe they are in charge of us that we are here and we are not going to go down with their ship.

In addition to Dr. DeGaris, here are a few names of those involved in the discussion: Michael Ruppert, Dr. Nathan Hagens, John Cronin, James Howard Kunstler.

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Remove their hateful billboard that says "Homosexuality is Sin"

Given that these people are "Christians" in the sense that they believe and follow every word in the Bible, then they are completely wrong in making this "assumption." It is common for people to selectively use verses from the Bible to make a point without first understanding the background, meaning and true intent of that verse. I'm assuming that this billboard is based upon Leviticus 18:6, which reads: "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female. It is an abomination." A similar verse occurs two chapters later, in Leviticus 20:13: "A man who sleeps with another man is an abomination and should be executed." On the surface, these words could leave you feeling rather uneasy, especially if you are gay. But just below the surface is the deeper truth about God -- and it has nothing to do with sex.

Leviticus is a holiness code written 3,000 years ago. This code includes many of the outdated sexual laws we mentioned earlier, and a lot more. It also includes prohibitions against round haircuts, tattoos, working on the Sabbath, wearing garments of mixed fabrics, eating pork or shellfish, getting your fortune told, and even playing with the skin of a pig. (There goes football!)
Once again, people are using portions of a greater picture without understanding the true intent. While there isn't enough room here to say much more, it behooves those who wish to condemn others based upon convenient selection of Bible verses to do their homework first.

More explanation is available at: http://www.soulforce.org/article/homosexuality-bible-gay-christian. This sign MUST be taken down because it is baseless in its assumptions and without concern for the true meaning of God's Love.

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Houston Chronicle Blogger Mom Says Gay Teens Should Stay in Closet to Avoid Suicide

A November 3rd  article from the Houston Chronicle Blogger, Kathleen McKinley, has incensed a lot of people, including me as a bullied, gay person. This rant goes way beyond rational thinking and blames the victim, instead of the bully, for being bullied and ending their own life as a result of it.

To think that someone could even think this way is beyond comprehension, logic, whatever you want to call it. Possibly the best way is the rantings of a bully (using Jesus as their namesake?)

Here is a little of her "Christian" thinking:

"...Am I mad at the hateful mean kids who bully and tease these teens? You bet I am. But I am just as mad at the idiotic adults who force our adult views on kids, and pull them into our adult world long before they are mature enough to handle it. The 13 year old that killed himself told his Mom he was gay. She said she already knew and hugged him. She said she just assumed that everyone else would be as accepting as she was.

Really? Have you been around teenagers? They are cruel and mean. They constantly tear each other down. It was bad when I was a teenager, I can only imagine what it's like now. No, I don't have to imagine how it is now. This is how it is now. Why in the world would you give teenagers a REASON to tease you? Oh, yes, because the adults tell you to embrace who you are, the only problem? Kids that age are just discovering who they are. They really have no idea yet. The adults tell you to "come out," when what we should be telling them is that sex is for adults, and there is plenty of time for figuring out that later. Figure out yourself first. Focus on the kind of person you want to be, not the kind of person you want to sleep with. A 13 year old should not be building his life around his sexual orientation. He should be being A KID ... We have sexualized our kids with movies, music, and culture, and now we have viruses like HPV running rampant before they even go to college. We should all be ashamed of ourselves. [...]

Let's let kids be kids, for God's sake. Remember the gay young boy's last message said, "How do you know it will get better?" He was a KID! Kids can't see around the corner. They just aren't mature enough yet. They don't see it getting better no matter how many times Lady Ga Ga says it will. So, enough with our politically correct campaigns aimed at kids.

It's killing them."

Of course any sensible, educated person (who follows and ascribes to this ***holes views of right and wrong) knows that by suppressing these feelings, especially those of making the choice to be gay, everything will be better and all will be happy.

I'm not sure what planet Ms. Kathleen comes from, possibly the same one as our Republican slate of gay-haters, but her thinking is dangerous to everyone who is being bullied for any reason and also dangerous advice to parents who don't open conversation with their children about these issues. As parents we are responsible for preparing our children to face the "real" world, one filled with hate, discrimination and violence against those who, whether by choice or not, are different.

Please read the full story for all the comments to follow her thinking as it becomes more idiotic and illogical, ending in a total mess of bullying crap. Where are those laws outlawing cyberbullying?

Following is an excellent reply from the long comment thread to this bully  :

Spoken like a woman who has never in her life met or had more than a twenty second conversation with a gay person. Sexuality is all about sex? Really? Kids aren't "sexual" at 13? Well, I guess all that psychology and a little hormonal shift called "puberty" must all be wrong.

You should be ashamed of accepting your kid for who they are? What the fuck kind of bullshit are you on, woman? Look, many people who were gay knew they were different even before they can clarify why. My best friend watched Elvira at age seven and knew she was attracted to her (she still is). She literally knew she liked girls before she knew what sex even was. She wasn't confused, she wasn't "mislead" or "coached"--it was something she knew, deep down. So what are we supposed to do, you idiot, when your kid tells you they are gay? Tell them they're wrong? Tell them they're "too young to know"? Yeah, that'll learn them, and not make them suicidal at all.

What are we supposed to say when they come home at eight years old and say, "Daddy, what does 'gay' mean?" Are we supposed to say "gay is a bad word" (Ooh, psychological damage when they get older--either self-hatred or scorn for others). Are we supposed to change the subject, so they think they can't trust us? Because we're obviously not supposed to simply state what gay is--their tender little brains couldn't handle it!



Dear Kathleen McKinley: Every single mental health expert, psychologist, child development expert and teacher with a bare minimum of education would shore me up when I say you are completely, totally, and dangerously wrong in absolutely everything you said. See attached video.

Edited by senselocke: superinsomniac at 11/03/11 11:48 PM

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Southwest Idaho schools throwout Student Club Rule

BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- A legal group claims Idaho's largest school district rejected a measure to require a parent's signature for students to participate in school clubs amid pressure from a national organization that promotes equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

But the Meridian School District says the proposal was dropped because the vast majority of their student clubs do not currently require parental permission.

The Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based group of Christian lawyers, issued a statement Monday saying the district was "duped" by gay rights activists into ditching the proposed parental consent policy. The group claims the proposal was cut amid pressure from Lambda Legal and the Idaho Safe Schools Coalition.

Those organizations wrote the district in August, saying the proposed rule would be harmful to already vulnerable students.
 (Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) is a conservative Christian nonprofit organization with the stated goal of "defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.

The Alliance Defense Fund established the Day of Truth "to counter the promotion of the homosexual agenda and express an opposing viewpoint from a Christian perspective." The Day of Truth is held annually following the Day of Silence, which is organized by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). The Day of Silence is the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network's (GLSEN) annual day of action to protest the bullying and harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students and their supporters. Students take a day-long vow of silence to symbolically represent the silencing of LGBT students and their supporters. The Day of Silence has been held each year in April since 1996. The 2010 Day of Silence was held on April 16; in 2011 it was on April 15

ADF has announced that beginning in 2009, it was passing on its leadership role in the Day of Truth to an ex-gay organization, Exodus International, who had prepared the resources for the event. On October 6, Exodus International stated they would no longer be supporting or leading the Day of Truth.

On November 11, 2010, Focus on the Family announced it had acquired the Day of Truth event and was renaming it to the Day of Dialogue. The goal would remain unchanged.

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Adrian Smith demoted for not backing gay marriage after criticising new law on Facebook | Mail Online

Sometimes I believe that a cause, protest, even the "right" for equality of same-sex marriage can go a little too far. Don't get me wrong, I believe that equality is needed for all of us and has to come about soon. And it is in many ways with same-sex marriage legal now in six states and civil unions in a few others.  But sometimes, in our zealous fight to win, we have collateral casualties that shouldn't be.

I believe this is the case with Adrian Smith, a Christian and employee of the Trafford Housing Trust, living in the UK, who placed a somewhat inocuous statement on his personal FaceBook page stating his belief that, "allowing gay weddings in churches was ‘an equality too far’." His statement and page were only viewable by his friends and not the general public, but apparently one of his co-workers complained, asking : "‘Does this mean you don’t approve?’ The following evening after work, Mr Smith, who attends an evangelical church in Bolton, responded: ‘No, not really. I don’t understand why people who have no faith and don’t believe in Christ would want to get hitched in church.‘The Bible is quite specific that marriage is for men and women. If the State wants to offer civil marriages to the same sex then that is up to the State; but the State shouldn’t impose its rules on places of faith and conscience.’

Recent legislation proposed in the UK would allow gay ceremonies to be held in churches and other religious places.

Adrian Smith

Lawyers for Mr Smith, whom friends describe as affable and non-confrontational, say his comments were merely expressing an ‘honest belief’ based on his Christian faith.

I believe that this is a fair expression of his personal beliefs and a violation of his civil rights . Unfortunately, his life has been affected by this as his employer suspended him, then  demoted him to money support adviser, handling rent collection. His pay was reduced from £35,000 to £21,396 a year, phased in over a year, and he was given a final written warning.

The question remains thus: can we sometimes, in our fight for equality, go too far and create the very same situation for people for which we are fighting for?

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Santorum: ‘I’ll die’ to stop same sex marriages | The Raw Story

The fact that Rick Santorum is so "passionate" as he says about not allowing gays to marry and putting an end to birth control because they both "violate the teachings of the Bible" is not such an issue as the fact that, if chosen as President he pushes his values on the rest of the country. This clearly violates the Constitution when it comes to the separation of church and state. Religion has no place in the governance of a country as large and important to the economy as ours. Unfortunately, Santorum sees no need to make that distinction and with the support of so-called religions groups nationwide, who are just waiting to impose their own values and ideals on everyone else as being right, his election could put us back to below 3rd world countries such as Nigeria.

Lawmakers in Nigeria (famous as the scamming capital of the world) are currently attempting to resurrect a bill that would outlaw same-sex marriages once and for all and make it a criminal offense even punishable by death, if one is caught, or perceived to be even thinking of, committing a homosexual act of any kind. This leaves the law wide open for interpretation and could allow for the murder of thousands of innocent people just because they are "perceived" to be gay. We don't need such laws here with all the anti-gay agendas in movement around the country now. Many of which enjoy tax-exempt status as they push their radical agenda's.

We need leaders in this country who are more passionate about getting Americans back to work, getting the economy back on track, and creating equal rights for ALL people - gay, straight, or otherwise.

Although this interview is a little hard to hear, Santorum expresses these radical, religious views in an interview with The Raw Story

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Anti-Gay Teacher’s Students Allege Classroom Homophobia :: EDGE Philadelphia

A NJ teacher posted anti-gay rhetoric on her  FaceBook page in possible violation of school policy, yet to be decided. We know how that's going to turn out. But what's worse is that she is teaching and preaching in a public classroom that "being gay is a 'sin' that 'breeds like cancer', ..." Over a hundred comments have been posted supporting and criticizing her for crossing the line. Almost every one of them tries to defend their position in one way or another. The problem is that the whole issue was missed here; these students are at the stage in their lives when they are most impressionable, need the most love and attention, and need the support of parents, teachers and other people of influence.

For this teacher to "preach" her own "Christian" ideology in a classroom or online is not Freedom of Speech but a clear form of hate and violation of the Constitution regarding separation of Church and State. She should be dismissed from her position immediately. These same so-called teachers are contributing to the death of hundreds of teenagers, gay and straight, who are struggling with a lot of issues, but haven't developed mentally enough to know how to sort out the right and wrong of these people and their "teachings."

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Chart Showing How Candidates Would Vote on LGBTQ Issues

This chart indicates how the current candidates would vote on different LGBT issues (go to this site frequently as candidates' votes change in different areas and are updated on the chart.)

Methodology  •  Starting in August 2011, a survey was delivered to the office of each active, formally announced candidate via e-mail, web mail, and/or facsimile, and also via certified U.S. mail for which a campaign employee signed a receipt confirming the delivery.  Each candidate’s survey showed his or her latest stand on each LGBT issue, based on speeches made, documents signed, and interviews given.  All candidates were invited to notify MEUSA of updates to their positions as they occur, up through election day on 6 November 2012. 

Send questions and comments to:  NFlaherty@MarriageEquality.org.

Oral Roberts' Grandson drops the Hate and comes Out

Catholic Church to Family of Deceased Gay Man: You Can Drop Dead Too. Oops. Maybe Not.

How can you make death worse? Well, a Roman Catholic Church in San Diego put its best minds to work on the problem and came up with a great idea: denying a funeral for a dead man because he was gay. Then, after the man’s partner and the LGBT community protest the bigotry of the decision, do a complete about-face, just after the family makes alternative plans. Yes, do that.

John Sanfilippo, owner of a popular gay bar, SRO Lounge, died on June 24. But when the priests at Our Lady of the Rosary Church found out that he was survived by his partner of 30 years, Brian Galvin, they told Sanfilippo’s family that the Mass was canceled. That the priests managed to do so just two days after Sanfilippo died speaks both to their efficiency and their complete lack of humanity.

City Commissioner Nicole Murray Ramirez, a friend of the Sanfilippo family, told San Diego LGBT Weekly, “The Sanfilippo family and Brian are, of course, devastated and are trying to get the mass in another church.”

This isn’t the first time that a San Diego Catholic Church refused funeral services for a gay man, according to the Weekly. Another gay businessman suffered the same final homophobia gesture in 2005. However, the Church isn’t always that fussy about who it will provide a funeral mass for. Mafia leaders regularly get a sanctified send-off, as seen here, here, and here. Guess in the eyes of the Church there’s still a big difference between killing your fellow man and loving him.
In the end, the church hierarchy announced that John Sanfilippo’s funeral was back on, apparently bowing to the political pressure or, perhaps, coming to its senses.

The Sanfilippo family nixed that idea, however, saying they would make plans at a gay-affirming San Diego church.

“All of a sudden, they change their mind…Why? Because they got caught in the process of denying equal rights to people,” said Sanfilippo’s friend, Neil Thomas.

Photo Credit: San Diego LGBT Weekly

Monday Watercooler: Bachmann is now the face of the GOP | 365gay.com

I think, most likely along with a lot of other Americans, that this has gone on long enough. Why is the media giving her such validity, especially in light of her husbands problems, her anti-gay, and her hateful views of anyone who doesn't agree with her views, as twisted as they are?

Michele Bachmann embodies the spirit of a hateful, make the rich richer, anti-gay, hypocritical, anti- equal rights (except for her and her associates) leader that the Republican party has come to be known for...we get that. In my view she didn't "win the Iowa Straw Poll' in the least bit, as the media seems to be so well painting her as having "won." Won what? The discussion avoided the real issues facing most Americans and instead focused on stupid bickering between her and other candidates. Who is it that is thinking she won this contest? Not me. If she comes into power, only through the lack of Obama's ability to stand on his own and make decisions that are best for the country, we will most likely either see a roll-back into the dark ages of the RC church making the decisions for us, or the richest 1% that run the country now will get richer as the poor get even poorer. Same thing!

I for one am ready to tune out of this business of pre-paid politics and prepare for the revolution that more polls tell us is coming.

Miami's Catholic Leaders Accused of Underground Gay Sex Mafia | News | The Advocate

Here we are again! I don't follow how the Bishop in NY, who was so adamant about fighting the legislation allowing gay marriage, could use the "moral compass"of the RC church while one of Florida's most powerful Catholic leaders is being accused of running the Miami Archdiocese like a gay sexual mafia boss.

Like most religious factions who are opposed to gay rights, the hypocrisy of their argument against the rights of gays to marry  never is brought up in their soap-box speeches.

Gawker reports that a group of Catholics from South Florida calling their organization Christifidelis had launched a major investigation into the activities of Archbishop Emeritus John C. Favalora. In a report from Christifidelis called "Miami Vice," the group found that Favalora was part owner of a company that manufactured an aphrodisiac drink and took trips to Key West with "gay associates."

365gay.com | Religious group starts fund for marriage equality opponents in New York

I guess that there will always be someone that opposes another persons viewpoint. But it just doesn't make sense in this economy that these religious organizations will spend millions of dollars trying to impose their viewpoint on ohters when that money could go towards what the churches were originally founded for-aid to the poor.

365gay.com | Religious group starts fund for marriage equality opponents in New York