J.K. Rowling: Defending Abusers.

When Johnny Depp was cast as Grindelwald, I thought he’d be wonderful in the role. However, around the time of filming his cameo in the first movie, stories had appeared in the press that deeply concerned me and everyone most closely involved in the franchise.

Harry Potter fans had legitimate questions and concerns about our choice to continue with Johnny Depp in the role. As David Yates, long-time Potter director, has already said, we naturally considered the possibility of recasting. I understand why some have been confused and angry about why that didn’t happen.

The huge, mutually supportive community that has grown up around Harry Potter is one of the greatest joys of my life. For me personally, the inability to speak openly to fans about this issue has been difficult, frustrating and at times painful. However, the agreements that have been put in place to protect the privacy of two people, both of whom have expressed a desire to get on with their lives, must be respected. Based on our understanding of the circumstances, the filmmakers and I are not only comfortable sticking with our original casting, but genuinely happy to have Johnny playing a major character in the movies.

I’ve loved writing the first two screenplays and I can’t wait for fans to see ‘The Crimes of Grindelwald’. I accept that there will be those who are not satisfied with our choice of actor in the title role. However, conscience isn’t governable by committee. Within the fictional world and outside it, we all have to do what we believe to be the right thing.

Given Rowling’s love of colonialism and her staunch embrace of bigotry, this comes as no surprise to me. I walked away from her some time back, when she made it clear that her bigotry was more important to her than respecting indigenous peoples and portraying their traditions and stories correctly.

People everywhere are demanding that senators, congress critters and various public personalities to resign over harassment and abuse. But not Ms. Rowling, no. She makes it more than clear that she does not believe Ms. Heard, given her understanding of the circumstances. Uh huh. Rowling & Co: “Did you do that, Johnny?” Johnny Depp: “No! Bitches lie!”

Fantastic Beasts director David Yates previously defended casting Depp, calling Heard’s domestic abuse allegations “a dead issue.”

There’s a sweet sentiment for you. There has been, of course, quite a reaction, but I doubt it will be enough of one to put a dent in Ms. Rowling’s pockets.

There’s more at Raw Story.

The Voice of God at the Gates of Hell.

Oh, it’s Lance Wallnau again. Lance has decided to be the voice of god with presidential access, because um, someone has to do it?

Lance Wallnau posted a video on Periscope today in which he declared that if Americans rebel against the will of God and give Democrats control of Congress in the 2018 elections and allow them to impeach President Trump, it’ll mean that “the spirit of Antichrist” has triumphed over the church.

Streaming from inside the Center for National Renewal in Washington, D.C., with whom he apparently has an official connection, Wallnau declared that charismatic Pentecostal Christians such as himself have been called to “have access to presidents as the voice of God” so that they can “release this warrior angel for America.”

The Center for National Renewal expends quite a bit of time and energy to come across as mild and humanitarian, and I suppose for christians, they might slant a bit to that side, but their main drive is the ‘centrality of christ’, which they feel should be front and center in every facet of life, including government. They seem to think they’ll be successful in bringing together all the 30,000something factions of christianity. They are firm believers in National Christianity, which should worry the hell out of everyone.

Of course Lance decides that his particular flavour of christianity will be the voice of god with access to presidents. The plural is interesting. I guess Lance wants a lock on more than just the Tiny Tyrant. Oooh, a warrior angel. That would be something to see. Too bad we never will.

“If America goes down,” he warned, “if we screw up these midterms coming up, if we let the devil put a false impeachment on this president, if the will of man rebels against the will of the majority of the people that put him in through the Electoral College, then the spirit of Antichrist beat the spirit that was in the church of Christ.”

Boring. So boring. The talk about the antichrist has been going on for fucking decades, people have been so sure that this or that president is the antichrist, yadda, yadda, yadda. So now it’s just the spirit of the antichrist, is it? I guess you can’t blame an antichrist of getting tired of waiting and wandering off. Seems to me that people have been rebelling and fighting against the crime called the electoral college ever since the election, which the Tiny Tyrant lost. The electoral college is an unnecessary appendage, which was first dreamed up as yet another protection for slave owners. It has no business in a modern constitution which disavows slavery altogether. Unsurprising you find christians in favour of the spirit of slavery. As for impeachment? I live in hope, and it would not be false. The idiot king has no right to be in office.

“So that is why I am at the gates of influence,” Wallnau added. “Because Washington is where the gates of hell want to take over and it’s not gonna happen.”

Mm hmm. Which is it, gates of influence or gates of hell? I think you’re going to have to pick, Lance. Some would say there’s little difference between the two, given lobbyists and the wealth of corruption bubbling away. Personally, I think you just want to get in on some of that oh so sweet corruption, stuffing those pockets with more cash.

Via RWW, there’s video.

The Heartland Institute.

The Heartland Institute is still busy, somewhat behind the scenes, in their quest to mold the constitution to their desires, none of which are good.

The Heartland Institute, a right-wing think tank that promotes free-market ideology and denounces climate-change “alarmism,” published an interview this week with Neal Schuerer, an advocate for a “convention of states” to propose a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. The BBA effort is one of several active right-wing campaigns to convene a convention under Article V of the Constitution in order to limit the powers of the federal government. Under Article V, if 34 states submit calls for a convention to propose constitutional amendments on a given topic, Congress must call a convention of states.

[…]

Proponents of a convention to promote a balanced budget amendment have been sparring in recent years with an even more aggressive effort that aims to dramatically limit the jurisdiction and power of the federal government, replacing our current constitutional order with one focused on states’ rights. That effort is backed by Religious Right leaders, including Alliance Defending Freedom’s Mike Farris, Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver, Christian-nation “historian” David Barton and anti-marriage-equality activist Robert George.

Just like our evangelical government, this too is serious business, and needs to be known about and taken seriously. Now that all the christians slavering over end times have gotten their Idiot King to make the Jerusalem move, they are feeling powerful and unstoppable. And they just might be, given that the Tiny Tyrant cannot say no to them, and most people being blissfully unaware of what they are doing.

Schuerer himself calls the BBA a “first step”:

A balanced budget amendment to the Constitution is the first step in reining in an all-powerful, all-consuming central bureaucratic government that our founding document attempted to guard against.

We as citizens of the United States have the right and duty to bring about responsible reform to our founding document, reflecting the values of the people and the nature of free and independent states. We know what needs to be done. All we need is the courage to just do it.

It’s important to realize that this is not about constitution reform and dragging that moldy document into the current century; this is about making it even more regressive. These are people who want the power and right to oppress and prosecute all those people they have problems with, which amounts to most people.

Schuerer says his group Campaign Constitution is working with the Heartland Institute’s Center for Constitutional Reform to “bring all the competing interests together.” And he talks about how close his group’s effort is to reaching the threshold of 34 states:

The Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force entered the 2017 state legislative year with great expectations, following the Trump election and the number of Republican governors and legislature majorities growing.

Twenty-eight states had active applications, with the goal of adding four to the number—Arizona, Idaho, Wisconsin, and Wyoming—bringing the number of active applications to 32.

Arizona and Wyoming approved the BBA application resolution. Maryland, New Mexico, and Nevada rescinded applications, making a net loss of one and bringing the number of active applications to 27. Recently, Wisconsin approved the BBA application, returning the total to 28.

Moving into 2018, there is very little margin. Idaho, Kentucky, and South Carolina are a must, bringing us to 31 active applications.

Montana will likely join in when it gets that close, to 32.  Minnesota and Virginia are tough calls because of internal political disagreements on the issue of an Article V amendment convention. Washington state and Maine are anyone’s guess.

That brings the Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force and the national Article V movement to 32 states by the end of 2018.

Now would be the time to get very worried, and to try and find ways to counter these evil assholes who are intent on making things much, much worse. Every day, we get closer to the Theocalypse.

Via RWW.

“Basically Enslaved”, “Indentured Servitude”, and “Scary Things”.

Engaged gay couple Dave Mullins, second from left, and Charlie Craig, left, were joined by a small group of supporters in Lakewood on Saturday, August 4, 2012 to protest and boycott the Masterpiece Cakeshop.  Kathryn Scott Osler, The Denver Post.

Oh, the conservachristians have their collective knickers in a knot over cake, and the fervent desire to discriminate. We’ll start with Tony Perkins, the despicable leader of the Family Research Council.

Yesterday, on FRC’s “Washington Watch” program, Perkins hosted anti-LGBTQ activist Jon Scruggs, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom to discuss the Supreme Court arguments in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case. Perkins told Scruggs that requiring business owners not to discriminate against LGBTQ people seemed like a “slippery slope and there’s really no end to what the government could then force you to do.”

No, it’s not a slippery slope, and there isn’t any ‘beastly’ thing awaiting which the government wishes to force on you. It’s very simple: if you have a public business, in which you contract with the public to supply ____, then you should supply it, with no prejudice towards any paying customer. It’s not like the government is gonna come knockin’ on your door and tell you that you have to host a gay wedding or anything.

Scruggs said he agreed because the attorneys arguing for nondiscrimination protections believe that calligraphers should be forced to write wedding vows and that bakers should have to write “bless this marriage” on a purchased cake if requested, which Scruggs called “scary things.”

Oh, all the gods ever! Calligraphers with a public business might have to copy wedding vows! ‘Bless this marriage’ might have to come out of an icing tube! The horror, why those are the scariest fucking things ever! Couldn’t possibly be anything scarier, no, no.

“That sounds like to me, John, that sounds like indentured servitude. You have no choice in the matter. Yes, they’re compensating you, they’re giving you something, but you have no say as to what you do with your talent, your ability and your skills,” Perkins said.

That is not indentured servitude, it’s not even close. You fucking white christians are so damn desperate to come across as though you suffer on par with those who have been enslaved. It’s beyond offensive, and it’s arrogant assholery to the nth degree. Stop it. Of course people have a say as to what you do with your talent, your ability, and your skills. If you want to exchange your talent, abilities, and skills for money, well, then you have to deal with people. All kinds of people. If a cake baker lives in fear of the day a non-hetero couple walks in to their store, well, they could turn their talents to writing cookbooks. Then they wouldn’t have to fear facing gay people in person, and they could pretend no one but straight christians buys their cakebook. I’m an artist. I’m an atheist, bisexual artist. I’ve had plenty of christians as clients, and if someone wanted me to do a prayer in calligraphy, I’d do it. Who the fuck cares? I don’t have to believe in that crap to do my job, and I don’t have to like my clients, either. That’s kind of how business works, fellas. I’ve also had clients who decided they weren’t comfortable working with an atheist (Christians always ask), and I don’t run off screaming and crying about it.  It’s not even worth a shrug.

Scruggs agreed, adding, “And even worse, not just that type of servitude based off of something that’s irrelevant, but something that cuts against the core of who you are.”

Mmmm, and cutting against the core of a happy couple in search of cake, well, that’s okey dokey, right? It won’t hurt any of the bakers or calligraphers out there to just do their fucking job. They can always fall on their knees later and pray or something.

Via RWW.

Moving on to Mat Staver:

Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver joined Florida radio host Joyce Kaufman yesterday to discuss the Supreme Court arguments in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, which Staver said dealt with whether a baker, Jack Phillips, would be “basically enslaved” to be a spokesperson for views he disagrees with by being required to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple.

No, he would not be enslaved. Nor would Mr. Phillips be a spokesperson in any way, shape, or form. All he was asked to do was make a fuckin’ cake, something he does in his store, which caters to the public. Soon as the cake is done, his part in it is over.

You know, [Phillips] doesn’t bake Halloween cakes either. So, you know, it’s not like he’s just picking on one person or another, he’s an artist, he’s a person who doesn’t want his business and his life basically enslaved to be the mouthpiece for some issue or ceremony or message that violates his conscience and religious beliefs, and he should have the right to do so.”

Well, if you want to go that route, then the solution is simple: Mr. Phillips can stop making wedding cakes. Once again, there is no enslavement here. If Mr. Phillips wants to have a store in which he contracts with the public, then he must deal with the public. All of it.

Via RWW.

A Climbable Bookshelf.

Oh do I ever have bookshelf and house envy right now. Raging envy. This is such a good idea! And all that spaciousness and light!

Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves are lovely, and can act as a robust focal point in any home. But accessing the high shelves can be a problem. The common side-kick has always been ladders, which can also add character and charm. But for smaller homes like in Japan they can be a nuisance, occupying too much space for not enough usage. But Japanese architect Shinsuke Fujii came up with a simple, yet brilliant solution that solves another problem too: earthquake safety.

The “House in Shinyoshida,” as it’s called, named for the neighborhood in Yokohama where it stands, was conceived shortly after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. The client, who happened to be an avid book lover, approached Fujii with the task to design a home around a large bookshelf that’s both easily accessible but also one that won’t spill all the books if there’s ever a tremor.

The solution was to slant the entire western-facing façade and create a built-in slanted bookshelf whose shelves also function as a ladder.

You can read and see more at Spoon & Tamago.

Profiling Pence.

By college, Pence had slimmed down and developed something akin to swagger. The yearbooks from his time at Hanover College, in southern Indiana, depict him as a popular, square-jawed hunk. (Hanover College).

No man can serve two masters, the Bible teaches, but Mike Pence is giving it his all. It’s a sweltering September afternoon in Anderson, Indiana, and the vice president has returned to his home state to deliver the Good News of the Republicans’ recently unveiled tax plan. The visit is a big deal for Anderson, a fading manufacturing hub about 20 miles outside Muncie that hasn’t hosted a sitting president or vice president in 65 years—a fact noted by several warm-up speakers. To mark this historic civic occasion, the cavernous factory where the event is being held has been transformed. Idle machinery has been shoved to the perimeter to make room for risers and cameras and a gargantuan American flag, which—along with bleachers full of constituents carefully selected for their ethnic diversity and ability to stay awake during speeches about tax policy—will serve as the TV-ready backdrop for Pence’s remarks.

When the time comes, Pence takes the stage and greets the crowd with a booming “Hellooooo, Indiana!” He says he has “just hung up the phone” with Donald Trump and that the president asked him to “say hello.”

The Atlantic has an in-depth look at Mike Pence, and what drives him. He seems to have a whole lot of not-so-humble ambition inside all the evangelical coating, which, while thick enough, doesn’t stop Pence from being a primary Trump apologist, or supporting all those who are certainly not in the good ethics/morals camp.  It makes for interesting reading.