EPA Opponent to Head EPA.

Fossil fuel-backed Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt could be the next head of the Environmental Protection Agency. CREDIT: AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki.

Fossil fuel-backed Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt could be the next head of the Environmental Protection Agency. CREDIT: AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki.

EPA Opponent to Head EPA. This is the kind of thing we are going to see more and more of, and while there are massive concerns with virtually every Trump appointee, this one is particularly worrisome, because this means there will be no more EPA. Instead there will be the office of Hell Yes, tear the planet to shreds, it’s all good! This news comes on top of the current rapid arctic ice melt. Rapacious greed and Christian dominionism are now in charge.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has been tapped to run the Environmental Protection Agency in the Trump administration, multiple sources reported Wednesday.

Pruitt’s selection, while not a surprise, signifies a complete rethinking of the EPA. Environmental groups were appalled by the selection, saying it was a win for polluters and a loss for the American public.

As with so many of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet and transition staff, Pruitt does not accept the scientific consensus on climate change. As attorney general, Pruitt has routinely backed fossil fuel interests over those of environmental regulators and has rejected the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon dioxide, the leading contributor to human-caused climate change.

Pruitt’s ties to fossil fuel companies run deep. He received some $300,000 in fossil fuel money to support his campaign for attorney general.

In one instance, Pruitt used talking points from an energy company in a letter to the EPA, opposing air pollution standards for natural gas production. According to reporting from the New York Times, Devon Energy, an Oklahoma-based oil and gas company actually wrote the 2011 letter, which Pruitt submitted on state letterhead.

Oklahoma, under Pruitt, is one of the states that has sued to block the Clean Power Plan, an ambitious EPA regulation that seeks to curb emissions from power plants. Along with other Republican attorneys general, Pruitt attended private, high-dollar meetings with coal companies prior to joining the lawsuit.

The full story is at Think Progress.

“(((Star Wars))) Is Anti-White Social Engineering.”

Star Wars Rogue One movie cast. Lucasfilm promotional pic.

Star Wars Rogue One movie cast. Lucasfilm promotional pic.

As I’ve said before, I’m not a Star Wars fan. I am married to one, who doesn’t expect me to watch the seemingly endless parade of movies, thankfully. I did read with interest that a woman was the lead in the recent flicks, and not in a love interest, uppity princess in a bikini role. Progress! Well, you’d think anyway. The white supremacist bros are all upsetty. Looking at the image above, I count 7 men and one woman. Okay, that’s not an overwhelming amount of women, so why are they whining now? It’s not just that there’s a woman protagonist, but all those dudes, they aren’t whitey-white! Let the whining commence.

White supremacists are continuing their call for a boycott of upcoming Star Wars film Rogue One, accusing the film’s producers of promoting multiculturalism and an “anti-white” agenda, forward.com reports.

“(((Star Wars))) Is Anti-White Social Engineering,” reads a Reddit post by GenFrancoPepe on the subreddit r/altright, including a gif showing the cast from the movie; according to the image, predominantly white characters fight with the oppressive Empire while an array of multicultural characters support the rebel fighters.

“So basically star wars was SJW propaganda from the beginning?” Another user, stanicpriest13 asked the forum. “Good now I don’t feel as bad about not watching the new films. The new films are going to flop big league anyway. You can push the female heroes as much as you like, but even most women don’t find it interesting.”

So basically star wars was SJW propaganda from the beginning?  :falls over laughing: Oh, the stupid. Star Wars was a bog standard story, and I don’t think you could call it SJW propaganda in any way. Yes, it was a very stunning film in terms of special effects, and it was fun, and there were some very good bits in it, but it’s hardly what you could call social justice centered, even if it was based on the age old “band of rebels vs evil empire”, as that is a fair summation of 90% percent of every story ever told. As for female heroes, I quite like them. Big fan of the current Thor, frinst. A female hero in Star Wars is one thing which might actually make me watch one of the movies. 

“This film should be boycotted. Episode 7 was bad enough featuring that retarded storm trooper Negro and another empowered White female in the lead roles,” InfoStormer wrote, later adding “It looks as if the Jew run company of Disney is going to pump out as many of these awful multicultural Star Wars films as possible.”

This bit ^ from the idiots at InfoStormer. I see they haven’t budged from that old, broken trope that all people of colour are less intelligent. I’ll bet they are seething that they can’t tack that onto the “empowered white female”.

In November, two Rogue One writers took up the cause of multiculturalism, digging at the alt-right calls for a boycott. “Please note that the Empire is a white supremacist (human) organization,” screenwriter Chris Weitz wrote in a tweet. Writer Gary Whitta retweeted his coworker’s statement, adding, “Opposed by a multi-cultural group led by brave women.”

I’d applaud this, loudly, if the writers hadn’t deleted their tweets. Hopefully, there are lots more people of colour and women than there are nazis running around, so have some courage, writers. Are white supremacist wannabe nazis staying at home sulking such a problem? After deleting their tweets, they went with this one:

Here’s the propaganda! Wait, I mean trailer.

Via Raw Story.

The GOP, So Busy…

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Praying. Yep. Driving that ol’ Demon-in-Chief outta the capitol. FFS, we are in so much trouble. Fascists are bad enough. 1% billionaire fascists worse. Religious fanatic fascism? Yeah, that’s gonna help. Be nice if these people could manage to work, and do something truly miraculous, like work for all people, rather than praying to their fictitious psychopath.

Two of the pastors who participated in the event, Dave Kistler of the North Carolina Pastors Network and Dale Walker of the Tennessee Pastors Network, discussed their experiences on the American Pastors Network’s “Stand in the Gap” radio program last Friday.

Kistler revealed that U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry Black preached to participants and reportedly prophesied that a revival is about to sweep America and “it will commence … in the halls of Congress” and Walker concurred.

“If God rules in the halls of legislation, it’s the pulpit’s benefit of being there, being on site and standing up and speaking the law of God to our elected leaders and praying for them,” Walker said. “It’s been the absence of the pulpits is the reason why Satan has ruled in the halls of legislation.”

Kistler also revealed that in addition to praying in the Kennedy Caucus Room in the Capitol, pastors were given access to the U.S. Senate chamber by Rep. Louie Gohmert. In the senate chamber, he said, “we got on our knees … and it sounded almost like a labor room as people were crying out to God for the revival that Chaplain Black believes is coming and that we believe is coming.”

“To do that in the Senate chamber was an absolutely astounding opportunity,” Kistler said, “and again it puts an exclamation point on the Senate chaplain’s assessment that revival is on the way and may indeed begin in the halls of Congress.”

All that showy bullshit, “oh look, I’m on my knees, fist on forehead!” “No, look at me, I’m bowed all the way down, with my head almost on the ground, but not like those other people do, no.” Why don’t these fanatical morons ever, just once, pay attention to their book of myths, where the sacrificed son of their psychopathic god specifically said not to pray in that manner?

Right Wing Watch has the full story.

Nipsters.

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IDENTITY EVROPA Nipsters.

You’ve probably seen it for a while now. Statistically speaking, there’s a good chance you’re even wearing it. The high-and-tight. The side-fade. The haircut that is has been colloquially referred to, as a recent article in The Washington Post pointed out, as the “Hitler Youth.” Sadly, though, the colloquial moniker—once used jokingly—is starting to ring a little too true lately.

Promoters of white nationalism have recently made an effort to reclaim the haircut, in part due to its historical connection to Hitler’s Germany. According to the Post article, it’s now even being referred to as a “fashy,” short for “fascist.” (Supes cute, you racist fucks.) Needless to say, for hipsters who have long sported the ‘do, it’s a troubling turn of events.

As to the genesis of the haircut’s cultural significance, part of it has to do with Nazi propaganda posters of the 1930s and ’40s—where Hitler Youth were shown sporting the cut—and part of it has to do with basic utility. World War II-era German soldiers had an easier time wearing and removing their helmets when they had it.

Since around 2010, the haircut was popularized by non-fascists thanks in large part to the nostalgia-laden aesthetic of hipster Brooklyn, as well as its adoption by pop cultural figures like Macklemore and David Beckham. Since then, the hairstyle has skyrocketed in popularity. As the Post article points out, “The tidy, chic lines that appealed to the Nazis became the choice of fashionable young men, gay and straight, because it’s both business-like and brash.”

[…]

As Long Nguyen, co-founder of Flaunt magazine tells the newspaper, however, it’s likely not a coincidence. “We call them ‘nipsters’—neo-Nazi hipsters,” says Nguyen. “It’s really important for them to make inroads into young people’s culture, in order to expand their base. It’s a lot easier to do that when they’re stealing the look of a familiar hipster style.”

Basically it’s a warning to us all then: The next time a good-looking guy in a high-and-tight offers to sell you a craft beer, make sure he isn’t trying to also sell you a dose of unabridged hate.

Nipsters. It’s a great word, with wonderful, crisp, mocking snark. I suggest this gets used. A lot. Via Esquire.

Continuation 13.

No catchy title this time around, just a quick round up of all the continuing awful in Trumpistan. I’m tired. I expect everyone else is too. Just one day, I’d like to bask in all good things, people being good, for a change.

Fake hunting license -- (KDKA screen grab).

Fake hunting license — (KDKA screen grab).

An unidentified high school student in Pittsburgh was booted from his school after posting a hunting license allowing the bearer to hunt down and kill “n****rs” on his Snapchat account, reports KDKA.

Via Raw Story.

‘I will cut your throat!’: Muslim ‘hero’ cop harassed and threatened in New York for wearing hijab.

Ohio interracial couple’s home trashed with swastikas and ‘white power’ slogans painted on it.

‘Santa is WHITE. BOYCOTT Mall of America’: Online racists are having a meltdown over mall’s black Santa.

Sunday Facepalm.

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Paul Hair, co-author of Hating Jesus: The American Left’s War on Christianity, is a wee bit upset over some confederate statues being dismantled and moved.

Reuters reported on Nov. 19 that Louisville, Ky. began dismantling a Confederate monument for removal to a different location. The dismantling of the monument is part of the progressive campaign to destroy all reminders of the Confederacy. This campaign, in turn, is part of the larger effort to demonize and destroy all of U.S. culture.

Oh my, all of American culture is gonna disappear, oh no! Just once, I’d dearly like a specific, clear definition of what constitutes U.S. Culture. Genocidal Bigotry, check. Religious fanaticism, check. Religious terrorism, check. Slavery worshiped as a beloved tradition, check. White supremacy, check. Fanatical fetishisizing weaponry, check.  Okay, what else?

None of those things are anything to be proud of, they should be national embarrassments, but noooo, those are the good things, the moral things, oh my yes! Ugh.

Demonizing and destroying American culture includes elevating evil. This is why the Obama regime honored sodomy by designating the Stonewall National Monument in June of this year.

I have never know anyone to obsess on genitalia and all the things one might do with said genitalia like hetro Christians. Isn’t it bad enough that you all have a massive porn consumption problem? Couldn’t you focus on the problems with your own genitals and leave everyone else’s alone? Or perhaps you could try actually having fun with your equipment, might loosen you up a bit, make you happy for five minutes or something. Queer people are not evil, sex is not evil, and saving Stonewall has absolutely nothing to do with sex, you dimwit. I expect you know that, too, it just burns like crazy though, doesn’t it, having a monument to a time of great social change, wherein the majority of people decided to elevate their minds and hearts, and become inclusive, better human beings. Christians just hate that sort of thing, I know. I shall squeeze a tear out for you, Paul. It won’t be genuine, mind, but I doubt you’d care.

There already is a movement urging the incoming Trump administration to undo the Obama regime’s massive land grab. That land grab included designating the Stonewall Inn and many other areas of land as parts of national monuments.

Oh, you’re one to talk about a land grab, you genocidal believer in Christian Dominionism. That wasn’t a “land grab” it was a desperate attempt to save some small portion of our mother, our source of life, y’know, the planet we’re on. We only get one, and it didn’t come from any god, and there sure as hell isn’t any god pointing a cosmic finger and healing all the damage idiots like you are doing, and intent on doing yet more. Some of us think that things like the richness of family, friends, community, and a healthy eco-system which sustains and gives life are more important than a select handful of white assholes who think there can never ever be enough money or power in their pocket.

As for a “regime”, no there hasn’t been one of those yet, but you’re fair dripping at the one looming on the horizon, aren’t you? Disgusting.

There’s no reason those objecting to America honoring sodomy couldn’t join the larger movement to undo all the national monuments Obama designated at large. And if that effort proves successful, it then would make it possible to destroy the Stonewall Inn and wipe out its stain on American history.

A stain on American history. I rather think that white Christian colonials were (and are) a stain on Turtle Island, and on Turtle Island history. Perhaps it’s time for a different movement, one to dismantle, bit by bit, every single fucking church on Turtle Island. All of them, gotta go. You stand for every evil, for every single one of your so-called sins. That’s a stain that needs scrubbing out.

Source.

Kirchmeier: I wanna be a star! Gimme money!

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Goodness. It’s rather clear just why Kirchmeier insisted on millions more on top of the 10 mil already provided, which bought him all kinds of white cowboy military tough guy Rambo goodies, most of which have been brought to bear on unarmed protectors. Hundreds of people have been badly injured by Kirchmeier’s tough dude fantasies, given reality by the unreal amount of money handed over by KKKJack Dalrymple, and we know who is backing him. (When you have invested all your money in oil, made sure there is no oversight and no accountability, why, so surprising oil would have his greedy backside, right?)

Now that millions more have been handed to him, Kirchmeier, after jerking around with the Morton County Sheriff’s fb, posting lies, getting caught, taking them down, lather rinse repeat a zillion times, yanking the whole account down, and now rebooting it, with Kyle the star of his dreams in “truth videos”. Sigh. This man is a flagrant criminal, and he’s never met a lie he doesn’t like. But he knows the truth, you betcha, and of course, he’s a bloody saint, and all those evil Indians and allies, well, we’re savages. And criminals. And liars. I’ve been out to the Oceti Sakowin camp, many times. Kirchmeier is a liar. He lies at every opportunity. I’ve witnessed his actions, I’ve heard his lies, and I’ve documented plenty, along with many others. Anyone with a conscience would be permanently bright red with embarrassment and shame right about now, but it looks like those are two things which do not exist in Kirchmeier.

Story at Medium, via #RuthHopkins.

In the meantime, this fucking thug of an asshole couldn’t even manage a proper thank you to those who fulfilled his Morton County and Burleigh County Cops’ wishlist:

On Friday December 2nd at approximately 2pm CST Water Protectors from Oceti Sakowin camp will fulfill a donation list that the Morton County Sheriff’s Department released on November 22, 2016.

The Oceti Sakowin headsman will join veterans, youth, and women leaders and stand with Leonard Crow Dog who will offer a prayer as Protectors deliver the supplies to the Sheriff’s Department in Mandan, ND.

Water Protectors offer these donations to the Morton County officers in generosity and compassion, despite the aggression and hostility they have shown innocent unarmed Protectors of this camp.

The following is a join statement from the Indigenous Environmental Network and the Indigenous Peoples Power Project :

“North Dakota taxpayers have already bankrolled the Morton County Sheriff Department with approximately 10 million dollars for the suppression of peaceful water protectors. Despite this excessive financial support, Morton County officers are asking taxpayers to donate supplies.

The Oceti Sakowin camp is a prayer camp, and a resilient, self-sufficient community. The camp is full of abundance– in spirit, in humanity, and in resources. Oceti Sakowin has enough to share. Generosity is an original teaching for the Lakota.”

Via Common Dreams.

internationalindigenousyouthcouncilgivespeaceofferingtolawenforcement

Several weeks ago, law enforcement dealing with DAPL protests sent out a list of goods they could use if the community would like to donate them.

The International Indigenous Youth Council saw that list and decided to use it as an opportunity for de-escalation. Lead by the council, demonstrators dropped off Gatorade, water, batteries, breakfast bars and more.

The teens said they wanted the police to know they have compassion for all people and all walks of life.

“As American citizens, as the good American citizens that we are, we went ahead and we supplied them with that. We gave them water because water is life,” says Thomas Lopez Jr., IIYC member.

We reached out to the Morton County Sheriff’s Department who declined to comment on camera. Instead, they directed us to a Facebook post that read:

“Thank you to the members of the International Indigenous Youth Council who stopped by with gifts of supplies and snacks for our employees. Your kindness and support is very much appreciated!”

Via KFYR. Wow, aren’t you just blown away by the thanks? How about how much it has been completely underplayed? You’d almost think Kirchmeier didn’t want anyone to know about this, and given the fact that it isn’t being shouted by the cops, or covered by anyone else, well, I guess that means he keeps getting to paint us as nasty, evil, savages. Look in a fucking mirror, Kirchmeier, and you’ll see the evil.

Trumpgrets.

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It seems that reality is slowly sinking in to some of those who voted for Trump, who now find themselves bewildered, angry, and sorrow-filled over the great tough dude they voted for. So much so, a tumblr has been started, compiling all the regrets. A great many of them have to do with Trump’s lack of action on the imprison/kill Clinton business. These people really thought he meant that isht.

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@realDonaldTrump PLEASE SHUT UP. Can’t you just ignore and zip it until you take office? The more you speak the more I regret my choice.

https://trumpgrets.tumblr.com/ * #Trumpgrets.

Trump’s Carrier Con.

President-elect Donald Trump at Carrier’s Indianapolis plant on Thursday. CREDIT: AP Photo/Evan Vucci.

President-elect Donald Trump at Carrier’s Indianapolis plant on Thursday. CREDIT: AP Photo/Evan Vucci.

If you think that Trump somehow “came through” on that jobs business, you need to think again. All Trump did was play a game, showering a billion dollar business with tax cuts and money, money, money, that is going to end up being pulled out of the taxpayers of Indiana’s pockets, some way or another. Close to 1,500 jobs are still moving to Mexico. So, great save, Donnie. Rather than swallow the bullshit whole, spend a few minutes of your day reading, not only about the details of this supposed great move, but how the media is complicit in selling the con, assuming most people will simply take it all as truth, and too many will do that. Don’t be one of them.

Carrier also confirmed in a press release on Wednesday night that it is getting economic incentives from the state, which “were an important consideration.” Various outlets reported that those incentives will amount to $7 million over a decade, or $700,000 a year.

At the event, Trump claimed that 1,100 jobs will remain in the state, which he said could go up and “is a minimum number.” Yet at least half of the company’s Indiana jobs will still go to Mexico. United Technologies, the parent company for Carrier, is still going to move 700 at the Huntington plant, while not all of the 1,400 jobs at the Indianapolis job are being retained.

Meanwhile, Indiana residents will shoulder the cost of the $7 million incentive package. But if past evidence is any guide, they won’t get much actual benefit for it.

The full story is here, go read, be informed. In the meantime, mainstream media has been spinning all this as “harsh consequences” threatened by Trump have worked in the case of Carrier. Couldn’t be farther from the truth. Yes, Trump did make noise about punishing corporations who wanted to move jobs out of the country, but the reality is that he’ll give them whatever they want, if they agree to keep “some” jobs in uStates. I can’t imagine who actually thought Trump would in any way be harsh when it came to corporations, he’s all for corporations, and he’ll make sure they get ultra sweet deals, while they continue to screw over workers, who will barely make a living wage, with zero safety net under them. There’s a full article about the media spin here, go read.

Yet the day after his speech, prominent media outlets ran with headlines saying that Trump is threatening to crack down on companies that move production offshore. They focused on his threat of “consequences,” despite the deal he actually struck with Carrier that includes no such consequences and despite other parts of his speech where he promised benefits to companies that threaten to leave.

Standing Rock: The Veterans Are Coming In.

Veteran Matthew Crane says soldiers like him have skills and training that could be useful in the Oceti Sakowin Camp. (Angela Johnston/CBC).

Veteran Matthew Crane says soldiers like him have skills and training that could be useful in the Oceti Sakowin Camp. (Angela Johnston/CBC).

American veteran Matthew Crane has been to Iraq and Kuwait, and has led disaster relief teams in the U.S. Now he says he’s found a new mission at the Oceti Sakowin Camp in North Dakota, supporting those opposing the Dakota Access pipeline.

The 32-year-old navy veteran is one of a growing number of ex-military members heading to the centre of the pipeline fight as part of a group called Veterans Stand for Standing Rock.

Naturally, Kirchmeier has been moaning about the veterans, saying they will bring violence. Right, because you damn piggish thugs haven’t been indulging in criminal violence at all, right? And shame on all the nDakota veterans* who are standing around tsking, and attempting to pour shame on these veterans who are standing up and doing the right thing. You can all go shut up and hide, and pretend you have morals somewhere in your back pocket. Doing whatever authority tells you, swallowing a gallon of oil and propaganda about us horrible savages, that’s easy. Standing up, thinking for yourself, recognizing evil, and having the courage to stand against it, that’s what the veterans at Standing Rock are doing, and everyone should be proud of them.

My thanks to those cops who have finally seen the light, and have refused to send people here. There aren’t enough of you, but it’s good there are some.

*Also, that cowardly lump of paste has the fucking nerve to say that the protectors have cost ND $10 million dollars. NO, THEY HAVE NOT. That criminal bigot, KKKJack Dalrymple cost the people of nDakota 10 million dollars, and has dumped another 7 million on that, for what? Oh, more piggish thugs! More shiny military equipment with which to brutalize the unarmed protectors. Fuck every single nDakotan who is such a fucking idiot that they buy this garbage. *spits*

Full article is here.

As for KKJack Dalrymple’s supposed “concern”:

The Standing Rock Sioux, in a statement on Wednesday, said that because “the Governor of North Dakota and Sheriff of Morton County are relative newcomers” to the land, “it is understandable they would be concerned about severe winter weather.”

They said the camp has adequate shelter to handle the cold weather, adding that the Great Sioux Nation has survived “in this region for millennia without the concerns of state or county governments.”

And KKKJack says he’s worried about all us Indians in winter. Yeah. Let’s see you walk 250 miles, Jack.

And for all those fucking idiots who keep claiming this is what we deserve, because hey, Standing Rock didn’t show to meetings, once again, yes we did. In 2012 and 2014, along with 2016. Stop spreading that damn lie.

Jew Jeans, Pick My Mad Cotton, So There! (Continuation 12).

levis

Levi Jeans has decided they don’t want customers with guns in their stores. Seems reasonable to me. I don’t want to be around people with loaded guns while looking for a pair of jeans. Naturally, the gun fondlers are more than a tad upset. As far as they are concerned, this means all Levi stores will be rushed by eager robbers, as I guess the only thing that keeps them out are armed customers. Who knew?

Gun rights advocates erupted in predictable outrage Wednesday after the famed denim brand Levi Strauss & Co asked customers not to carry firearms in its stores.

“Providing a safe environment to work and shop is a top priority for us at Levi Strauss & Co,” CEO Chip Bergh wrote Wednesday in a LinkedIn post. “That imperative is quickly challenged, however, when a weapon is carried into one of our stores. Recently, we had an incident in one of our stores where a gun inadvertently went off, injuring the customer who was carrying it.”

Bergh noted that as an international brand, the company felt impacted by the attacks in Paris, Nice and Orlando, adding “the presence of firearms in our stores creates an unsettling environment for many of our employees and customers.”

The Levi’s CEO said the company’s policy “boils down to this: You shouldn’t have to be concerned about your safety while shopping for clothes or trying on a pair of jeans.”

2nd Amendment activists took to Twitter calling for a boycott of the brand.

There’s a selection of said tweets at Raw Story, many calling for a boycott of the “Jew Jeans”.

Colorado Doctor Michelle Herren (Denver Channel, screenshot).

Colorado Doctor Michelle Herren (Denver Channel, screenshot).

An anesthesiologist with Denver Health is facing backlash over her racist Facebook remarks about First Lady Michelle Obama, the Denver Post reports.

Dr. Michelle Herren responded to a post about Obama’e eloquence, which also noted that the first lady was a graduate of Princeton University and then Harvard Law.

Herren wrote, “Doesn’t seem to be speaking too eloquently here, thank god we can’t hear her!” She added, “Harvard??? That’s a place for ‘entitled’ folks said all the liberals!”

JoAnn Nieto, a friend of the original poster told the Denver Post that she was outraged by the comments, and especially after learning where Herren worked. “It really outraged me to see that she works at Denver Health, which serves a huge minority population,” Nieto said.

Herren’s comments got progressively worse. In a following comment, she wrote, “Monkey face and poor ebonic English!!! There! I feel better and am still not racist!!! Just calling it like it is!” But she is “still not racist.”

Okay, you aren’t a racist. An evil, thoughtless, idiotic bigot. Better now?

Full story here.

As for the last story, I’ll just leave this here, you can find details here and here:

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Naughty? Nice? So Confused!

list

The American Family Association and Liberty Counsel, bastions of Christian bigotry, have both released their Naughty or Nice lists of retailers, which is basically about whether or not chances are you might hear “Happy Christmas” rather than the oh so evil and awful “Happy Holidays”. Personally, I don’t care, and if I do get a “Merry Christmas” from someone, I happily respond with “A Merry Giftmas to you!”, which always receives an appreciate laugh and smile.

This self-righteous bullshit on the part of some Christians is beyond idiocy. Christians who actually live according to the bible don’t celebrate the blasphemous Winter celebration, as the bible says it’s right bad, that whole tree and decoration business, and it doesn’t have jack shit to do with Christ or Christianity. It really doesn’t take much effort to learn about the Church’s dubious history with the various Winter holidays, and their attempt to stomp out all those nasty festivals and rituals. It’s also very hypocritical, because the majority of Christians celebrate the same Xmas as everyone else, all wrapped up in the commercialism and crassness, but neither the AFA or Liberty Counsel is in the slightest abashed about putting out their list of retail stores, where people can go and toss out astonishing amounts of money on goods which have nothing to do with poor ol’ baby Jesus. It’s like Zoidberg Jesus in a group of Santa Clauses.

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As Right Wing Watch notes, they can’t even agree on the naughty or nice list. Oh, the confusion!

For the second year in a row, the American Family Association and Liberty Counsel have released dueling “Naughty or Nice” lists designed to, as Liberty Counsel puts it, let Religious Right consumers know “which stores are censoring Christmas and which are openly celebrating it.”

Such efforts are vital, the AFA explained, because “there are secular forces in our country that hate Christmas because the word itself is a reminder of Jesus Christ. They want to eradicate anything that reminds Americans of Christianity. That is why it is important to remind governments and companies to keep the word Christmas alive.”

Right. So how many people are suddenly illuminated with thoughts of Jesus Christ when they hear the word Christmas? Or are the associations more likely to be trees, lights, gifts, decorations, family? Or perhaps frustration, debt, loss, loneliness, sadness, or despair? If you’re a Christian, be honest with yourself here. This is Christian puffery and hate at its finest – the mere idea of inclusion being so repugnant to so-called Christians. You’ll know them by their disdain and hate, not their love.

Unfortunately, AFA and Liberty Counsel can’t seem to agree upon which companies are “naughty” and which ones are “nice,” as several stores that are listed in one category by one group are listed in the other by the other group.

For instance, while Liberty Counsel declares that Barnes & Noble, Best Buy and Staples are all “nice,” the AFA declares that those same stores are all “naughty”:

naughtynice

Similarly, while AFA places Dick’s Sporting Goods and TJ Maxx on its “nice” list, Liberty Counsel has designated them as “naughty”:

nicenaughty

Hopefully, next year AFA and Liberty Counsel can iron out this discrepancy so that conservative Christian consumers can know whether they stores they are patronizing are good, God-fearing businesses or evil misanthropes intent on subjecting Americans to the unimaginable horror of being wished a happy holiday.

Oh yes, the awful! Oh all the gods, the thought of being nice to all people! The horror! Christians, the very best reason to eschew Christmas. I’ll take Saturnalia instead.

Via RRW.

No Gay at Grandma’s Funeral!

Connor Hakes (Facebook)

Connor Hakes (Facebook).

Connor Hakes, 23, asked to perform at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church after learning of his grandmother’s death on Nov. 21.

Hakes says he and his family have been longtime members of the parish, so he was saddened when Father Bob J. Lengerich denied his request in a lengthy letter that has since been made public. [Can be viewed at the linked article.]

In the letter, Lengerich said he was concerned that Hakes was living a same-sex lifestyle and openly advocating for LGBT rights.

“Anytime someone sins and then acts in the name of God, it causes scandal,” said Lengerich. “This is the main reason why you cannot (at this time) offer your gifts in service at St. Mary’s.”

The letter goes on to say that any person who serves in the church or as a representative of the church must uphold the church’s values.

The church suggested Hakes should perform his tribute outside of the church, saying “you are more than welcome to honor your Grandmother with a special tribute in song as long as it is outside of the Mass and outside of the Church, perhaps at the Funeral Home or Parish Hall during the viewing, at the cemetery after the committal and/or even at the luncheon.”

Hakes, who studied singing at Indiana University, says he’s performed at the church for several years, but he wasn’t surprised by Lengerich’s response.

“It was very clear that he had judged me and formed and opinion about me,” said Hakes. “There was no reason to believe I would be changing his mind.”

Hakes says the church’s decision was partly based on a photo that was posted on Facebook last year, which shows him attending a gay pride rally with friends.

Hakes says he believes his grandparents would be “disgusted” by the church’s decision.

“Their compassion and empathy was abundant, no matter who you were,” said Hakes. “They saw beyond race, religion, sexuality, and social class. They loved everyone. That is what it means to be a Christian. That is what it means to be Catholic.”

The church has responded with their usual mealy mouthed nothingness. It would be a bit more on point if they whacked their parish priest over the head with the need for actual morals. Oh wait…yeah, that won’t happen.

Full story here.