Texas Republicans want to take millions from HIV prevention and use it to fund abstinence

Texas has the third highest HIV diagnosis rate in the country. Texas is fifth highest in teen pregnancy rates.
 
Republicans in Texas are working on their budget. This past Tuesday they approved an amendment that would cut $3 million from HIV prevention programs and spend that money elsewhere—on abstinence education.

The GOP-controlled House overwhelmingly approved the budget amendment, but not before a tense exchange with Democrats that veered into the unusually personal. Republican state Rep. Stuart Spitzer, a doctor and the amendment's sponsor, at one point defended the change by telling the Texas House that he practiced abstinence until marriage. The first-term lawmaker said he hopes schoolchildren follow his example, saying, "What's good for me is good for a lot of people."

What's good for me is good for a lot of people? Infuriating. So infuriating, in fact, that things got pretty interesting after that little speech.  
READ MORE

3 members of Florida Department of Corrections found to be in KKK; arrested for murder plot

No need to pinch yourself, it really is 2015. According to the Orlando Sentinel:

Two current and one former prison employee who all belonged to the KKK planned to kill a black inmate as he was released in retaliation for a fight, officials said Thursday. The three men — Thomas Jordan Driver, 25, David Elliot Morgan, 47, and 42-year-old Charles Thomas Newcomb — each were arrested Thursday on one state count of conspiracy to commit murder, according to a statement from Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's office.

In light of this, you must remember that a record 346 inmates died in Florida prisons last year—including men and women who were gassed to death, burned to death, and beaten to death, all by staff. It can be hard to really believe that we are in 2015, but this is absolutely our new normal. READ MORE

Indiana pizzeria that said they'd discriminate against gays now closing due to backlash

Crystal O'Connor of Memories Pizza, Walkerton, Indiana

Yesterday Memories Pizza was all over the news for saying this:

"If a gay couple came in and wanted us to provide pizzas for their wedding, we would have to say no," O'Connor told local affiliate ABC 57. "We are a Christian establishment."

Not sure what self-respecting human being would want wedding pizzas in the first place, but okay. We get it. You're hateful. And guess what happens when you take to the media to trumpet your right to discriminate?

Memories Pizza, a takeout restaurant in Walkerton, Indiana, has closed its doors following outrage over remarks the shop owner made regarding same-sex marriage. [...] Co-owner Kevin O'Connor, whose relation to Crystal is unclear, said Memories is "temporarily" dark until "threatening" calls and online posts die down, according to TMZ.

Funny how when you trumpet to the world that you're going to discriminate against people, you get an overwhelming negative response—even if you try to claim it's not discrimination.  READ MORE
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Indiana Pizza Parlor That Won't Cater Gay Weddings Gets Over 100K In Donations

If you were worried about Memories Pizza, the pizza parlor that won't cater gay weddings ... don't be. It seems that they are receiving some fairly large donations from the religious right for their "martyrdom."

From The New Civil Rights Movement:

An Indiana Pizza Parlor that won't cater same-sex weddings on religious grounds has become the latest martyr in the religious right's war on gays and progressives. They've faced a tremendous backlash, including harassing phone calls, negative reviews on Yelp and Facebook, and angry comments on Twitter. One high school coach was suspended for suggesting the pizza parlor be burned down.

The backlash has been so huge and immediate the family-owned business says they are forced to close their doors, at least for now, until the outrage subsides.

Conservative activist and Internet talk show host Dana Loesch has taken up their cause. Loesch, who has a show on Glenn Beck's The Blaze website spoke with Crystal O'Connor Wednesday evening.

Loesch says The Blaze set up a GoFundMe account for the O'Connor family. It's received over $55,000 since Wednesday afternoon.  READ MORE

Indiana Legislature bucks Governor Mike Pence on his LGBT stance

The Indiana Legislature, the legislature that wrote a version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act that implicitly allowed for discrimination against the LGBT community, has bucked Governor Mike Pence. The Governor appeared on ABC's ThisWeek where he defended the bill.

George Stephanopoulos asked Mike Pence if he would create a fix by making LGBT a protected class in their civil rights statutes. His answer, "I will not push for that." Stephanopoulos then asked if he could support a fix that stated that "This chapter does not establish or eliminate a defense to a claim under any federal, state or local law protecting civil rights or preventing discrimination." His answer, "George look, we are not going to change the law."

Governor Mike Pence had attempted to clean things up in tone in his press conference but continued to defend the bill.

Well the legislature acted.  READ MORE

Michele Bachmann takes to Facebook to write a stunningly spiteful Obama rant. Commenters fire back.

Two days ago, Michele Bachmann—once presidential candidate and elected official for eight years—posted this abominable status update on Facebook:

Luckily her commenters weren't having it. They took her to town. Here's a sampling of the response—taken from the top of the list down.

You just couldn't resist the comparison to capitalize on using those lost lives as a cheap shot at Obama could you....using the deceased of such an atrocity for such a totally inappropriate and cheap political snide is just totally disgraceful and disrespectful, too much so to endorse you as a political candidate

(BTW, that was the top comment and was liked over a thousand times.) READ MORE

Senator Says Critics Of Indiana Should Get ‘Perspective,’ Be Thankful State Doesn’t Execute Gays

Appearing yesterday on CNN, Senator Tom Cotton (R) urged critics of Indiana’s “religious freedom” law to get “perspective,” suggesting the treatment of LGBT people in Indiana compared favorably to countries where gay people are executed.

“I think it’s important we have a sense of perspective,” Cotton said. “In Iran they hang you for the crime of being gay.”

Watch:

READ MORE

Stanford Will Now Be Free To All Students From Families That Earn Less Than $125,000 Per Year

Last week, Stanford University announced that more accepted students won’t have to pay anything for tuition, which normally runs nearly $46,000 a year.

Students whose families make less than $125,000 a year and have assets worth $300,000 or less, including home equity but excluding anything that they have saved in retirement accounts, won’t have to pay tuition. Students whose families make less than $65,000 also won’t have to pay for room and board, which can run about another $14,100. Scholarships or grants will cover the costs instead, and the school has a $21 billion endowment. The thresholds were previously $100,000 for free tuition and $60,000 for free room and board.

Students will still have to contribute at least $5,000 a year from part-time work during the school year, working during the summer, and/or savings.

“Our highest priority is that Stanford remain affordable and accessible to the most talented students, regardless of their financial circumstances,” said Provost John Etchemendy in a press release. “Our generous financial aid program accomplishes that, and these enhancements will help even more families, including those in the middle class, afford Stanford without going into debt.” The school says that 77 percent of undergraduates leave without student debt.

That makes Stanford graduates somewhat unique, as about 70 percent graduate with debt, owing an average of $29,000 at the end of last year. Student loan debt has tripled over the last decade. Meanwhile, nearly a third of those who have started to pay back the loans are more than three months behind on payments. READ MORE

In Face Of Strong Iran Deal, GOP Has No Choice But To Lie

I always appreciate it when someone else does the work of rounding up the liars and putting quotes from them in one place. Today's collection is actually courtesy of Newsmax, who was kind enough to put together an article of reactions from some of the top right wing liars. (See? That widget actually does come in handy sometimes!)

We begin with General Michael "Torture is Awesome" Hayden:

"It took us 18 months to get to the outline of a framework and now we're going to get to the fine print in what, three months?" asked Hayden, who led both the CIA and the National Security Agency. "That shows you how difficult this is.
"We have just agreed that Iran will be an industrial-strength nuclear state and that it will never be any more than one year away from having a nuclear weapon," he said.

Clearly Hayden didn't pay attention to the details outlined by President Obama, because if he had, he would know that Iran was about 2-3 months from having a weapon. I'll take the one-year time frame over 60-90 days, wouldn't you? It's always much more convenient for the wingers to pretend they're shocked -- SHOCKED, I say -- over something they've been proclaiming for years now.

We move next to Speaker John Boehner, who is a master of weaselspeak while saying almost nothing. READ MORE

American police killed more people in March (111) than the entire UK police have killed since 1900

Yeah. Those numbers are real.

A total of 111 people were killed by police in the United States in March of 2015. Since 1900, in the entire United Kingdom, 52 people have been killed by police.

Don't bother adjusting for population differences, or poverty, or mental illness, or anything else. The sheer fact that American police kill TWICE as many people per month as police have killed in the modern history of the United Kingdom is sick, preposterous, and alarming.  READ MORE

Mike Pence flip-flops on Indiana's license-to-discriminate law, says it 'doesn't need to be fixed'

At Tuesday's train wreck of a press conference to defend Indiana's new license-to-discriminate law, Gov. Mike Pence spent nearly 45 minutes alternating between lies, whining and complaints about being smeared, but he also guaranteed that this law would be fixed:

Let me say I believe this is a clarification, but it’s also a fix ... I think it’s important that we take this action this week.

And yet just hours later, Pence scurried over to Fox News to assure Sean Hannity:

Well look, I stand by this law, uh, the law doesn't need to be fixed, we need to fix the perception.  READ MORE

American Family Association host warns of 'homosexual supremacy' in Indiana

American Family Association talking head Bryan Fischer

One of the most vocal voices right now defending Indiana's new in-defense-of-discrimination law and vowing holy retribution of Gov. Mike Pence or other state politicians reverse themselves or water down the law is American Family Association talking head Bryan Fischer, who has taken to Twitter to unleash a stream of off-the-rails warnings against "Big Gay" coming to steal your socks and microchip your pets, or something.

The pressure Big Gay has put on Indiana is proof they are not about "marriage equality" but "homosexual supremacy."
— @BryanJFischer

Indiana will soon find it is impossible to satisfy the homosexual lobby. They will immediately be back for more. And more.
— @BryanJFischer

Despite the rather obvious fact that Mr. Bryan Fischer is a raving lunatic, he and his organization continue to hold great sway in the Republican Party, though the AFA recently tweaked his official job description after an AFA-sponsored trip for House Republicans to Israel garnered bad press.

Rather than spend any amount of time reacting to Fischer's opinions on "Big Gay" or his promises of retribution against the state if they backtrack on their discriminatory stance, however, let us instead simply present a small sample of Fischer's past pronouncements. You know, as a public service.
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A little video from the comments section:

Antarctica hits 63.5 degrees Fahrenheit as Mitch McConnell promises to sabotage global climate pact

National Geographic reports:

Scientists have measured what is likely the highest temperature ever on Antarctica: 63.5 degrees Fahrenheit (17.5 Celsius).

The measurements were made last Tuesday at Argentina's Esperanza Base, on the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, according to the meteorological website Weather Underground. The previous hottest known temperature on the continent was 62.8°F (17.1°C), recorded at Esperanza Base on April 24, 1961.

The Weather Underground called last week's temperatures a "remarkable heat wave," although they occurred during the end of the austral summer, when Antarctic temperatures are typically highest.

The temperature has yet to be certified as an official record for the continent by the World Meteorological Organization.

It's hard to draw much conclusion from a single temperature record, cautions Gavin Schmidt, a climate scientist with NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City. Last year Antarctica also logged a record cold temperature, he notes.

And what does our Senate Majority leader say to the world about the undeniable climate change that has been observed by 99 % of scientists? READ MORE

A little quiz about religious liberty

Seems like Indiana and Arkansas legislators have made now a good time to reprise this little quiz on religious freedom. Written by the Rev. Emily C. Heath at the United Church of Christ, the quiz is three years old. But it ain't obsolete.

"How to Determine if Your Religious Liberty Is Being Threatened in Just 10 Quick Questions." Just pick "A" or "B" for each question. Please do not copy off your neighbor's quiz.
 
1. My religious liberty is at risk because:

A) I am not allowed to go to a religious service of my own choosing.
B) Others are allowed to go to religious services of their own choosing.

2. My religious liberty is at risk because:

A) I am not allowed to marry the person I love legally, even though my religious community blesses my marriage.
B) Some states refuse to enforce my own particular religious beliefs on marriage on those two guys in line down at the courthouse.

3. My religious liberty is at risk because:

A) I am being forced to use birth control.
B) I am unable to force others to not use birth control.

4. My religious liberty is at risk because:

A) I am not allowed to pray privately.
B) I am not allowed to force others to pray the prayers of my faith publicly.

5. My religious liberty is at risk because:

A) Being a member of my faith means that I can be bullied without legal recourse.
B) I am no longer allowed to use my faith to bully gay kids with impunity.

6. My religious liberty is at risk because:

A) I am not allowed to purchase, read or possess religious books or material.
B) Others are allowed to have access books, movies and websites that I do not like.

7. My religious liberty is at risk because:

A) My religious group is not allowed equal protection under the establishment clause.
B) My religious group is not allowed to use public funds, buildings and resources as we would like, for whatever purposes we might like.

8. My religious liberty is at risk because:

A) Another religious group has been declared the official faith of my country.
B) My own religious group is not given status as the official faith of my country.

9. My religious liberty is at risk because:

A) My religious community is not allowed to build a house of worship in my community.
B) A religious community I do not like wants to build a house of worship in my community.

10. My religious liberty is at risk because:
A) I am not allowed to teach my children the creation stories of our faith at home.
B) Public school science classes are teaching science.
 
Scoring key:   READ MORE

Deliciously Ironic – More Money in Politics Causes Unexpected Dilemmas for Republicans

ANGRY BIRDS

The Citizens United decision by SCOTUS was celebrated by Republicans because it opened the flood gates to more money in politics. They envisaged record amounts of money being spent on their elections and this indeed happened as we saw in the 2014 Midterms. Little did they realize how it could also adversely impact them. They are finding out, however, and they are not happy about it.

The first obvious deleterious effect occurred in the House and has leveraged a major split in Republican ranks. Most see this as a factional split between the establishment and the tea party but, like the melting polar icebergs, there is a lot more going on beneath the surface. READ MORE

Activists 'Shut Down' Nestlé Water Bottling Plant in Sacramento

Environmental and human rights activists, holding plastic “torches” and “pitchforks,” formed human barricades at both entrances to the Nestlé Waters bottling plant in Sacramento at 5:00 a.m. on Friday, March 20, effectively shutting down the company's operations for the day.

Members of the “Crunch Nestlé Alliance" shouted out a number of chants, including ”We got to fight for our right to water,” “Nestlé, Stop It, Water Not For Profit," and “¿Agua Para Quien? Para Nuestra Gente.”

The protesters stayed until about 1 pm, but there were no arrests.

Representatives of the alliance said the company is draining up to 80 million gallons of water a year from Sacramento aquifers during a record drought. They claim Sacramento City Hall has made it possible through a "corporate welfare giveaway."

“This corporate welfare giveaway is an outrage and warrants a major investigation,” Coalition spokesperson Andy Conn said. “For more than five months we have requested data on Nestlé water use. City Hall has not complied with our request, or given any indication that it will. Sacramentans deserve to know how their money is being spent and what they’re getting for it. In this case, they’re getting ripped off.”  READ MORE

As backlash against Indiana's license-to-discriminate law grows, damage control is failing

Indiana legislators are scrambling to do damage control on the state's new license-to-discriminate law, but that damage control definitely won't extend to repealing the law. In fact, mostly what they're doing is continuing to make discredited claims about the law being similar to existing religious freedom laws in other states and at the federal level. With Gov. Mike Pence repeatedly refusing to say that the law won't mean discrimination, the economic consequences have really piled up for the state.

Companies including Angie's List and Salesforce responded quickly, with Angie's List changing its plans for a major Indiana expansion and Salesforce cancelling a conference in the state. The outcry against the Indiana law is having a ripple effect in other states, as well. A Montana bill similar to the Indiana one failed to pass the state House, while in Georgia, a state House Judiciary Committee meeting on such a bill was cancelled. Since there are just days left before the Georgia legislature's 2015 session ends, it's not clear the bill will advance.

Connecticut, meanwhile, is joining the companies pulling business out of Indiana. Gov. Dan Malloy is signing an executive order banning state-funded travel to Indiana, because:

When new laws turn back the clock on progress, we can’t sit idly by. We are sending a message that discrimination won’t be tolerated. -DM
— @GovMalloyOffice

But let's not just focus on the opponents of discrimination. Surely the Indiana business community is loudly cheering its newfound license to discriminate, right?
Our @MThompsonCNBC is looking for Indiana co's actively supporting #indianabill. None have spoken up -- yet. @CNBC
— @carlquintanilla 

READ MORE

Florida's Attorney General on George Rekers: He Was the Best Anti-Gay Expert Available

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum yesterday stuck by his decision to hire anti-gay activist George Rekers—the George Rekers who was later caught with a male escort—when the state had to defend its ban on adoption by gay couples.

Rekers, who himself has adopted a child, testified in 2008 in defense of Florida's gay marriage ban, which McCollum supports. As AG, McCollum pushed to hire Rekers over the objections of Department of Children and Families.

McCollum, who is running for governor, says he wouldn't have hired Rekers had he known "that about him"—that is, that Rekers is apparently gay.

"Knowing what I know now, I never would have hired him. At the time, I think it was the appropriate thing to do," McCollum told the Sun Sentinel. "I didn't know that about him.

But Rekers — who was a co-founder of the Family Research Council and until the scandal served on the board of ex-gay group NARTH, which tries to cure homosexuality — was just not a credible witness. The judge in the Florida case threw out his testimony, saying it was too ideological. The judge in a similar Arkansas case, in which Rekers was also an expert witness for the state, did the same.

READ MORE

FL Legislator's "Revenge" Bill Goes After Children Allowing ALL Discrimination! (Take That Indiana!)

#161 of My Stupid State

The Florida wingnuts just can't freaking stand not being in the spotlight.  They couldn't give us ONE day for Indiana to take the heat off with their inane hate bill.  We always have to be #1 in bigoted buffoonery.

OK, here we go:

40 years ago, this state passed a gay adoption ban. When it was recently, (and finally), challenged in Court, the only so-called "expert" the GOP politicians could find (and pay) to defend it turned out to be a self-hating, male hooker.  Yes, that happened.  Somehow, the GOP lost the case.

Fast forward this week.  Because the GOP lost that case, one of our dumbest state legislators, Rep. Jason Brodeur,  proposed legislation that he is literally calling a "revenge" bill that plays with children's lives.

Jason Brodeur is a name I've mentioned before.  He is my own legislator and already infamous for proposing that psychiatrists/docotrs be fined 5 million for asking someone if they have a gun in the house.

Now he has created legislation that will allow taxpayer-funded private agencies to deny kids parents for practically any reason.  I give you PCB HHSC 15-03, the Conscience Protection for Private Child-Placing Agencies:  READ MORE

• Civil Rights
• Florida
• jason brodeur
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• My Stupid State

Gov. Mike Pence lied

On ABC's Sunday program "This Week," Indiana Gov. Mike Pence gave a career-ending performance in which he repeatedly refused to answer whether Indiana's new "religious freedom" law, SB 101, allows discrimination against gays and lesbians (#NotReadyForPrimeTime). Pence also likened SB 101 to the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) signed into law in the '90s and those adopted by about 19 states since. Then he added:

And after last year's Hobby Lobby case, Indiana properly brought the same version that then state senator Barack Obama voted for in Illinois before our legislature. And I was proud to sign it into law last week.

Lies. All of it. Indiana's new law is substantially different than both the 90s-era RFRAs and there is no parallel to be drawn between Indiana now and the Illinois bill Barack Obama voted for 17 years ago. First, these new RFRAs aren't even close to the same as those that have been passed by other states over the last couple decades. The new ones are RFRAs on steroids. The old RFRAs were meant to keep the government from infringing on the religious beliefs of individuals. The new ones vary, but they almost all apply to private disputes. That is new and will allow people to use their religious beliefs as a defense if they are sued for discrimination by another individual.
Here's more from a real lawyer, Jenny Pizer at Lambda Legal.  READ MORE

Ex-CFO Stands up to Chik-Fil-A, Loses Job, Livelyhood, Ends up on Food Stamps. ABC Thinks it's Funny

In this ABC News report we see Adam Smith along with his wife and family living on Food Stamps.  Adam, used to be the CFO of a big time medical device company pulling down $200k per year with over $1 Million in stock options.

Not anymore.

Not after Adam decided to film himself going through the drive thru of Chik-fil-A and giving the cashier a piece of his mind.   ABC News plays this as a cautionary tale.  As if, look what poor Adam did to himself by posting this video online.  But the thing is this, Adam was correct about everything he said about Chik-Fil-A.  He was also correct to say it directly to a Chik-Fil-A employee who clearly and directly endorsed their bigoted policies by continuing to work for that company, and this is further shown when that employee - who obviously didn't lose her job - went onto Fox News to crow about how poor Adam was so sorry for what he did.

Adam actually isn't sorry for what he said about Chik-Fil-A.  He was only sorry he said it to her and not their CEO.

It seems completely lost on ABC that the real horror is why Adam lost his job in the first place.  It was because bigoted anti-gay activist Terrorized That Company With Bomb Threats.
http://www.rawstory.com/...

In the 2012 video, which Smith has since taken down, the former executive for a medical device manufacturer bullied a Chick-fil-A cashier over her company’s anti-gay policies after chief operating officer Dan T. Cathy made statements opposing same-sex marriage. READ MORE

Prisoners Use Disturbing Cellphone Photos to Blackmail Inmates & Their Families

*Wow. Any family getting a text with a photo like the one above attached has got to be heartbroken to see their relative in this vulnerable position. But where there’s a will, there is a way, and prisoners have found a way to blackmail their peers in this situation and use it to get money from families.

The submissive prisoner in the photo has been identified by officials at Burruss Correctional Training Center in Forsyth, Ga. as 18-year-old Cortez Berry. The photo was taken behind bars by a contraband cell phone.

Berry is seen in a submissive squat in the photo, while two gang members stand over him in a prison bathroom. His left eye and face is swollen as the result of a savage beating. And one of the men holds a noose of some sort around his neck while throwing a hand sign. The other man points at the camera as if his hand is a gun.

All 3 men are shirtless.  READ MORE

Backlash is swift and furious after Indiana pizza restaurant owner brags about ‘no gays’ policy

A small Indiana pizza and ice cream parlor is coming under fire after its owners went on the news and boasted that their establishment would not cater gay or non-Christian functions.

After Crystal and Kevin O’Connor of Memories Pizza appeared on ABC 57 to declare their support for Governor Mike Pence and the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act yesterday, the backlash was immediate.

“If a gay couple came in and wanted us to provide pizzas for their wedding, we would have to say no,” Crystal said as she stood in the restaurant, which is festooned with Christian paraphernalia.
“We’re not discriminating against anyone, that’s just our belief and anyone has the right to believe in anything,” she added. “I do not think it’s targeting gays. I don’t think it’s discrimination. It’s supposed to help people that have a religious belief.”

Despite not believing that the bill would lead to targeted discrimination against members of the LGBT community, O’Connor told the station that her establishment would use the bill to avoid having to cater events like gay or non-Christian weddings.

Her father, Kevin, said everything came down to the issue of choice. ““That lifestyle is something they choose. I choose to be heterosexual. They choose to be homosexual. Why should I be beat over the head to go along with something they choose?” he asked.

Members of the online foodie community did not take kindly to Memories’ ownership bragging about being the first business to publicly implement the discriminatory power granted by the RFRA. Robert S. pointed out the obvious on Yelp, writing that “in all my queer life, I’ve never known a gay to cater their wedding with pizza.” READ MORE

They're also begging on Go Fund Me. com here: 

CNN’s Chris Cuomo Grills Anti-LGBT Indiana Law Defender

This hasn't been a good week for the so-called "Christian" anti-LGBT bigots out there. Mike Pence has been a train wreck in one television appearance after another and his defenders aren't doing a whole lot better: Cuomo Confrontation with IN Conservative Gets Personal: ‘Own Who and What You Are’:

New Day host Chris Cuomo, who’s become a one-man wrecking ball over Indiana’s just-passed “religious liberty” bill, confronted Ryan McCann, Policy Director of the Indiana Family Institute, Tuesday morning for his third contentious interview on the subject in the past 24 hours.

McCann argued that the bill only ensures protections for religious minorities, something Cuomo said was belied by the presence of anti-LGBT figures at the bill’s signing. McCann said that the statements Cuomo was alluding to had been passed around the internet “by the left.”

Things got personal when Cuomo demanded McCann account for the real motives behind the bill, which was supported by “groups like yours, that are Christian-based, with an animus toward the LGBT community. Own who and what you are. There’s nothing wrong with that you’re allowed to believe it but you’re not about native Americans or people who want liver transplants, right?” READ MORE

Jeb Bush: People Won't Think Indiana's Discrimination Law Discriminates

Jeb Bush is working it hard these days, pandering to every fringe group he possibly can while walking away from the mainstream.

I think it's worth considering Bibi Netanyahu's tactics when you listen to him bless Indiana's right-to-discriminate bill, because I guarantee you that if he wins the nomination he'll be telling everyone he didn't really mean that thing that he said during the primaries.

In GOP-land, you say whatever you have to say to get the nomination, then lie about moving to the center in order to get elected. Then as soon as you're elected, you go right back to pandering to all the far-right groups who bought you that nomination in the first place.

But even with all that, this is pretty stupid.

"I think Governor Pence has done the right thing," says Bush. "Florida has a law like this. Bill Clinton signed a law like this at the federal level."

Stop right there, because that's lie number one.READ MORE

The Big Lie The Media Tells About Indiana’s New ‘Religious Freedom’ Law

On Friday, the Washington Post published an article titled “19 states that have ‘religious freedom’ laws like Indiana’s that no one is boycotting.” The article snarks about organizations like the NCAA that have protested Indiana’s law, noting “the NCAA didn’t say it was concerned over how athletes and employees would be affected by Kentucky’s RFRA when games were played there last week.” The piece concludes “Indiana might be treated as if it’s the only state with a bill like this, but it’s not.” The piece has been shared over 75,000 times on Facebook.

The Washington Post article largely mirrors the argument advanced by Indiana Governor Mike Pence. Appearing on ABC’s This Week, Pence claimed “Then state-Sen. Barack Obama voted for [the Religious Freedom Restoration Act]. The very same language.”
The same argument is parroted on Fox News and elsewhere.

It’s not true. READ MORE

Worse than Rodney King. Shocking dash cam video shows suburban Detroit police brutally beating man.

Floyd Dent is an amazing man. He has worked his entire adult life, from age 20-57, for Ford Motor Company in suburban Detroit. Never a day in his life has he been in trouble with the law. Loved by his family and community, he's about as upstanding of a citizen as a man could be.

So, when the Inkster Police in Wayne County, outside of Detroit, trailed Floyd's car, suspecting him of purchasing drugs, what happened next may be the most preposterous case of police brutality in modern American history.

Yanked from his car and put into a brutal, illegal choke hold, officers begin to repeatedly punch Floyd in the face, nearly knocking him unconscious. Another officer comes up and shocks Floyd three separate times with his Taser—putting him at great risk of death. In all, ten officers, all of them white, made contact with Floyd during this ordeal.

While in the hospital, Floyd was forced to take drug tests, which all came back negative for drugs.
They eventually charged him with not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. Floyd even disputes this charge. One of the officers, as you will see in the video, was previously cited by the government for falsely planting evidence.

See the brutal video below and share this immediately. FROM THE SITE

15 things everyone would know if there were a liberal media

Reince Priebus (and apparently many others) still thinks there's a liberal media.

While I share Reince's frustration with the media, as a liberal, I'd like to go on record and state that the media isn't focusing on issues I care about. They seem to be far more focused on entertainment and making money.

Don't believe me?

1. Where the jobs went.

Outsourcing (or offshoring) is a bigger contributor to unemployment in the U.S. than laziness.
Since 2000, U.S. multinationals have cut 2.9 million jobs here while increasing employment overseas by 2.4 million. This is likely just the tip of the iceberg as multinational corporations account for only about 20% of the labor force.

When was the last time you saw a front-page headline about outsourcing?  READ MORE

John Boehner tries to school Obama on leadership. Fails. Miserably.

John Boehner has been a notoriously weak and ineffective speaker, struggling to get the Republican votes he needs on major legislation and facing an unprecedented number of his own members voting against him for speaker this year. Under the circumstances, you'd think he and his people would just try to stay away from questions of leadership, but instead, on Wednesday Boehner's blog featured a piece attempting to show how much President Obama sucks by comparing him to the leadership of John Boehner. According to Boehner's blog, Obama was "going to Cleveland to try and start a partisan political brawl."

(In reality: to announce investments in manufacturing and talk about the economy.) READ MORE

Alarming Princeton Study Reveals Gay Black Man More Likely to Get Higher Salary Than a Straight One

*Its no surprise that being a black man in the U. S. is tough. Nor is it a surprise that being a gay black man is seen by many as double-jeopardy – the whole double minority thing. But as it turns out, being a black gay man has its benefits. Especially when it comes to the corporate world, according to a study done by Princeton University.

And that may come as a surprise to many.

The study was led by sociologist David Pedulla, who directed his researchers to explore what effects race and sexuality have on the chances of being considered for jobs and starting salaries. And what they ended up with is that a gay African-American man not only stands a better chance of landing a job, but also getting paid better than his heterosexual counterpart.

So contrary to popular belief, where two minority groups are considered, again, double-jeopardy, apparently that doesn’t apply here; where it seems to work for you rather than against.  READ MORE

Fiorina's Presidential Plan To Save The Economy: Stop Lazy Workers From 'Watching Porn All Day Long'

Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, who is expected to announce a campaign for president, said over the weekend that she could improve the economy by cutting federal worker pay because they were "watching porn all day long."

In a Sunday interview with Fox News host Chris Wallace, Fiorina said that there was a "higher than 90 percent" chance that she would become a Republican presidential candidate.

The former HP CEO explained that she would make a formidable candidate "because I understand technology: a transformational tool, because I understand bureaucracies, how they work and how you need to change them. And our government is a huge bureaucracy."

According to Fiorina, the United States was "destroying more businesses than we are creating" for the first time in U.S. history under President Barack Obama's administration. READ MORE

Mike Pence Spends 20 Minutes Lying To ABC News About His Anti-Gay Discrimination Law

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) on Sunday insisted that people on the Internet had conspired to create a "misunderstanding" that a so-called "religious freedom" law was about denying services to LGBT people. But at the same time, he repeatedly refused to answer if it effectively gave Christians a legal defense for discriminating against same-sex couples.

"I understand that there's been a tremendous amount of misinformation and misunderstanding around this bill, and I'm just determined -- and I appreciate the time on your program -- I'm just determined to clarify this," Pence told ABC's George Stephanopolous.

"So this is a yes or no question," the ABC host noted. "Is Advance America right when they say a florist in Indiana can now refuse to serve a gay couple without fear of punishment?"

Pence, however said that the purpose of the bill that he signed was to "empower" religious people.
And this was a pattern that would be repeated over the next 20 minutes: Stephanopolous asking if the bill allowed anti-LGBT discrimination, followed by Pence dodging the question.

"And so yes or no, if a florist in Indiana refuses to serve a gay couple at their wedding, is that legal now in Indiana?" Stephanopolous asked. "Yes or no?" READ MORE

Watch This Fox Host Realize Gohmert Is Bonkers As He Unveils His 'Plan' To Bomb Iran

Possible Republican presidential candidate Louie Gohmert shocked Fox News host Arthel Neville with what she said was a "dangerous" and "volatile" plan to bomb Iran's nuclear sites. During an interview on Sunday, Gohmert argued that President Barack Obama negotiations with Iran had already failed because he was "already allowing them to go full-blown nuclear." The Texas Republican said that he had another solution for dealing with Iran: "You step up the sanctions full-blown, and I think that it's time to look at a plan to go in and bomb them." But Neville immediately saw a downside to effectively declaring war on Iran. "If the U.S. bombs Iran's nuclear facilities, do you think Russia is going to stand by and let that happen?" she asked. "I don't think Russia is in a position to do anything," Gohmert opined. "They're bogged down too many places." READ MORE

Think Gun Control is Bull$h!t? Open Your Eyes and Have a Laugh in the Process

Tucker Carlson: I Am Against Whipping People Up Into A Frenzy Of Fear And Hatred Based On Lies

Here's the statement from the forensic pathologist who examined Mike Brown's bullet-riddled body.

I didn't think it was possible to despise Tucker Carlson any more than I already did, but he has managed to surpass my lowest expectations. Fortune Magazine listed two of the Ferguson protesters as two of the top fifty leaders of 2014. In his most sardonic voice, which makes a cat in heat seem soothing by comparison, Tucker said, "there they are, they became full-time protesters, that is a JOB now, they are leading the charge behind the Hands Up, Don't Shoot Movement after the killing of Michael Brown. Since then, the Justice Department ruled that Brown never had his hands up, so are they really leaders? Carlson is referring derisively to protest leaders Johnetta Elzie and DeRay McKesson. Their nomination to the Fortune list stands in stark contrast to the denunciations of the Ferguson protesters as anti-cop anarchists. Since then, the Justice Department ruled that Brown never had his hands up, are they really leaders?Tucker had on Conservative radio talk show host David Webb who consider Jonathan Capehart's take on the D.O.J. report as the gospel truth. Unbeknownst to Tucker and Webb, nothing was ever definitively proven.  READ MORE

Mike Pence... Job Creator

Credit: DonkeyHotey

Republish Reprint

If Indiana Gov. Mike Pence decides to throw his hat into the 2016 GOP clown car, he'll definitely be able to claim that he was a "job creator." Just not in his state. As we already discussed here, the leaders of the Disciples of Christ church sent a letter to Pence telling him they would be forced to reconsider holding their 2017 convention in Indianapolis if he signed the so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law. Now that he's signed it, the hits just keep on coming.

Thousands turned out to protest the law in Indiana over the weekend.

The popular local business review and search site Angie's List is canceling its expansion plans in response to Indiana's "religious freedom" law.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray is banning city-funded travel to Indiana. He plans to sign an executive order next week.

And former NBA star Charles Barkley released a statement saying wants the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to yank its March Madness Final Four tournament out of Indiana.
READ MORE

America's Oligarchs Want It All, And They Want It Now

Jeb Bush would seem to be the near-ideal presidential candidate for the billionaires who own American democracy -- he wants what they want and believes what they believe. But now they're making it clear that he's not sufficiently deferential on one particular issue:

The warnings trickled in soon after an announcement began circulating last month that James A. Baker III, the former diplomat who is now a foreign policy adviser to Jeb Bush, would be a featured speaker at a conference hosted by J Street, the liberal pro-Israel advocacy organization.

It could be problematic, conservative donors and Israel hawks told Mr. Bush’s team, if Mr. Baker spoke at the event, according to three people briefed on the discussions....

Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino mogul and a powerful donor to Republican “super PACs,” is among those who have expressed concerns to Mr. Bush’s friends and allies, several of them said. Mr. Adelson is said to be incensed over Mr. Baker’s comments and the lack of pressure put on him by the Bush team before his address -- a significant concern, given that Mr. Adelson has the resources to pour tens of millions of dollars into the Republican presidential primary.... READ MORE

Female Victim Of Brutal Attack Rejects Colorado Republican's Donation

Gordon Klingenschmitt

Gordon Klingenschmitt doesn't have a guilty conscience over his remarks, in fact, he amped up the rhetoric and suggested that a ‘demonic spirit' was behind the attack.

O[h] come on, is it God or a demon? He needs to make up his mind.

In an interview with KOA News Radio 850 about his comments, he staid that "if you were offended because I quoted the bible in church, I ask you to forgive me but I will not apologize for quoting the Bible in church."

Right Wing Watch reports:

Repeatedly insisting that the things that he says on his television program should not reflect of his role as a legislator, Klingenschmitt went on a claim that his religious freedom is somehow being violated by all of the criticism that he is receiving. READ MORE