A Russian Art Connection.

Leonardo da Vinci, “Salvator Mundi” (c.1500), oil on panel, 25 7/8 x 18 in.(65.7 x 45.7 cm) (image courtesy Christie’s).

There was an astonishing sale at Christie’s, the last privately held da Vinci, supposedly, for an unprecedented amount of money: over $450 million dollars. The Russian connection is of interest, as is the doubtful provenance of the painting. There’s also the problem of such a painting, if it’s a true da Vinci, going into private hands. No museum could possibly have coughed up over 400 million for it.

Last night, Christie’s auction house sold “Salvator Mundi,” which it claims is the last painting by Leonardo da Vinci in private hands, for an astounding, record-setting $400M (the final price was over $450M with fees). The sale was controversial for a couple of reasons: that mind-numbing number itself, but also the fact that there are a lot of questions — and serious doubts — about the painting’s authenticity, restoration, and provenance.

One can therefore be forgiven for initially overlooking another elephant in the room — the identity of the seller. When there’s this much money involved, though, it usually pays to follow it, and here the money leads directly back to the Russian billionaire Dmitry E. Rybolovlev. Rybolovlev’s family trust sold the painting, through Christie’s, to an undisclosed buyer, but if his name sounds familiar for other reasons, that might be because in 2008 he paid (through a company he controlled) $95M to buy a Palm Beach mansion from Donald Trump.

You can read more about this at Hyperallergic, and there’s an earlier article too. The earlier article is disheartening, to say the least, as half of all the world’s wealth is in a very small circle of people, while little money ever goes to all those things which make for a healthy society. Once again, I’m reminded of A Perfect Circle’s new beatitude…

Sunday Facepalm.

This is from some days back, it’s hard to keep up with the constant stream of conspirashit coming from the conservachristians. Today, we return to Rick Wiles, who for once, has dropped the commie threat he’s so attached to, in favour of the New New Nazis, who are coming to get you, Barbara.

“There is a hatred of Christianity,” Wiles warned. “The homosexuals, the leftists, the socialists, the communists, the deep state in Washington, they hate [the Bible], they’re going to team up with the Muslims, you’re going to have an alliance of God-haters that are coming together to form a new Nazism in America.”

So. Much. Crap. I don’t hate your non-existent Jehovah, dude, or your ghostie trinity and whatever. Who on earth has that kind of time, or is willing to make such an emotional investment? Not me. I wouldn’t care about theists at all if you’d just mind your own damn business. Keep your gods where they belong, in your head, your house, and your place of worship. Keep that nonsense out of government and publicly funded institutions, and we are good. I don’t know how to break this to you, Mr. Wiles, but muslims aren’t god haters. They believe in the same god you do. Abrahamaic religions, y’know. All from the same source. Glad I could clear that one up.

Now, we do have nazis. Mostly hateful, bigoted, incredibly insecure white people, who think Nazism is a dandy idea, no matter how much they try to re-brand it. All the new nazism is on them. Me, I’m anti-Nazi, anti-shite supremacist, and anti-fascist. That goes for all the lefty liberals I know, too.

“Right now, what we are experiencing is what the Jews experienced in the ’30s and early ’40s in Nazi Germany,” he continued.

Oh the fuck you are. Such a vile liar. :spits: You’re privileged out the ass, sir. There speaks the voice of arrogant privilege, that you dare compare yourself to people who truly suffered.

“That spirit of Nazism slaughtered millions of Jews, that spirit in here in America. Let me tell you something, it’s going to be different this time. The Christians are going to be rounded up.”

That “spirit of nazism”? Yeah, it’s being held by white people, in particular, white christians, who want to stomp all over everyone who doesn’t fit their tiny box of “acceptable” people. You’re a loudmouthed, lying, wannabe leader of that spirit of nazism. You fucking christians, with your endless persecution complex. You want people to believe they are being persecuted, so very badly. What you don’t want is to actually be persecuted. It’s all pretend with you. “Oh dear god, people are ignoring us on social media! The persecution!” “Look, social media doesn’t approve of our hateful bigotry! Oh, the torture! Oh, the persecution! All we said is that gay people should be executed! What’s wrong with that?”

Shut the fuck up. Just shut up. Throughout history, christians have excelled at being those who torture, imprison, and execute anyone deemed guilty of heresy, with a side specialty in genocide, like the Albigensian Crusade.

Saint Dominic Presiding over an Auto-da-fe. The whole piece may be seen here.

You christians are dripping with centuries upon centuries of blood. You should be down on your knees in perpetuity, begging for mercy and forgiveness for all your crimes against humanity.

Warning that Christians are going to be ostracized and pushed into a “digital ghetto” as their rights are methodically stripped away, Wiles declared that “the ultimate desire of these people in America right now that are in high places of power in this country, the ultimate desire is to kill you. Listen to what I am saying. They are coming for you, they plan to destroy you, they plan to destroy the church, they hate Jesus Christ, they hate you, they hate your children and they are coming for you.”

Oh, a digital ghetto. Well, that’s different, isn’t it? I’m coming for you? :Snort: I don’t think so. I fully admit, I’d be much happier if you’d all shut the fuck up, and stop trying to stick your nose up everyone else’s crotch, but I do not have time to come after you all, I’m a busy person. I couldn’t be arsed to do so anyway. All I want is for you to mind your own damn business, and deal with the fact that no, not everyone else believes as you do. You christians can’t even agree with one another. There’s something like 38,000 different factions of christianity*, and none of you agree on anything. Get your own fucking house in order, that should keep you all occupied for a few centuries.

I have absolutely no desire to kill anyone at all. Most people are not bloodthirsty like you christians, who project your bloodlust all over everyone else. Why don’t you figure out just why you’re projecting so hard? That one might keep you busy a while. Clutch your bible, and go off and have a think, and please, please be quiet a while. The noise of you being “censored” and shoved into a digital ghetto is one mighty cacophony.

*Here’s a basic list.

Via RWW, there’s video.

 

The Terror of…SOY!

Via Medium.com

The things which go on while I’m under my rock. Perhaps it’s just me, but none of the men in the above look to be lacking in masculine qualities. This, of course, calls into question as to what those ‘necessary masculine qualities’ might be, and I’m not sure I want to know. The concepts of masculinity and femininity are, for the best part, damn silly, and for the worst part, terribly toxic and harmful. We aren’t extruded bits of plastic labeled Ken and Barbie. We come in a wide variety of everything. Ah well, on with the show.

Popular figures among the alt-right and users of right-wing internet forum boards such as 4chan frequently used the term “soy boy” to attack their liberal critics, using the term to label their targets as politically or physically weak. Alt-right YouTube pundit James Allsup claims to have invented the term “soy boy,” which experienced brief mainstream exposure through right-wing pundits such as Mike Cernovich.

The weakness, it is argued, comes from increased estrogen levels experienced when consuming soy products and the alleged resulting feminine behavior.

Oh for pity’s sake. Soy has to be one of the most studied and investigated plants on the planet, considering its versatility and utility. There are no studies which show that soy consumption “effiminizes” the poor menfolk. For most people, soy is quite beneficial, and no, it has no impact on those precious testosterone numbers, dudes. Your testosterone is safe with soy.

In a video uploaded to his YouTube account yesterday, Paul Joseph Watson, Infowars editor, attempted to explain how the consumption of soy products is to blame for decreased testosterone levels and lower sperm counts in men, resulting in depression and feminine behavior.

“Men with high estrogen take on feminine traits. They find it harder to handle stress. They become less assertive. They become low energy. Their voices get higher. Their genitals shrink. They lose muscle tone,” Watson said.

Goodness me. You’d think there would be panic in the streets! Media would be wall to wall coverage of the great penis shrink of 2017. Talk shows would have sobbing men behind screens, talking about the horrible degredation of testicle loss and puberty voices. Interestingly enough, there have been a high number of men lately who have not handled stress well at all. These are ‘masculine’ men, too. The ones who have histories of abusive, assertive, nay, aggressive behaviour. They tend to take out their problems with a gun, which ends up with many dead people, including themselves. I think I’ll stick with the men who aren’t terrified of soy.

Later in the video, Watson attempted to correlate increased sales of soy products in the United States to unrelated articles that detail a “substantial drop” in men’s testosterone levels in the United States and “otherwise healthy and lean” young men developing enlarged breasts—or as Watson describes them, “bitch tits.”

Bitch tits. Gosh, that must be one of those necessary masculine qualities, denigrating anything deemed female. I think we can all live without that one. One of these days, you manly menly dudely types are going to have to deal with the fact that yes, men have breasts. By the way, you should be doing regular checks for lumps, just like you do for those precious testicles, because men get breast cancer too. They come in many different shapes and sizes. A lot depends on diet, true, and whether or not you work out. If you’re eating a trash diet, you’re probably gonna have hairy man teats. Have you all taken a good look at your idol Trump when he’s in his golf clothes? Yeah. He could probably do with laying off the McD’s. Going back to the image above, none of those men look like they are sporting a healthy rack.

In his pseudo-scientific explanation, Watson even claimed that soy found in infant baby formula is making children liberal “from birth.”

“Rather than people with already pre-existing left-wing beliefs being attracted to vegan-style tofu soy diets, we’re actually creating an army of soy boys from birth,” Watson said. “What a terrifying thought.”

:Cough: Excu…hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha *gasp* hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha *thud*

Okay. I’m a bleeding heart liberal, a compleat lefty. I did not grow up on soy products, because they weren’t a big thing way back when. I don’t eat much soy now. That has not affected my leftiness in the least. I’m pretty sure you can’t get leftiness in bottle. That would be rather big news. Why do I get the idea you idiots think this is just like the “commies are behind flouridation” business?

Watson warned that “soy is the silent killer” of masculine behavior and that the world is “losing an entire generation of young men to soy.”

At the end of the video, Watson issued a warning to his male viewers: “Men, if you don’t want to develop a bunch of retarded beliefs about how inviting in millions of rapey migrants is a good idea, about how anyone to the right of Michael Moore is literally Hitler, about how fantastic communism is, or about how being a white male is shameful and wrong, while literally growing tits and seeing your penis shrink at the same time, when it comes to soy just say no.”

Hahahahahahaha. My my. I look forward to the intense, saturated, “Just Say No…to Soy!” campaign. The War on Soy. Maybe that could put an end to the idiocy of the war on drugs. Okay, probably not. You fellas don’t need to be concerned with ‘rapey’ immigrants. You should be concerned with all the homegrown rapey men, y’know, the ones who tend to put all kinds of emphasis on being masculine.

Such privilege, that you literally have nothing more to do than to sit around and make up such shit. I wish I had that kind of free time. The whole mess, including video, is available at RWW.

Dammit Jim, That’s Not Biblical!

Facundus Beatus, f. 191v: The Dragon gives his power to the Beast. Commentaria In Apocalypsin, 8th Century. Click for giant size.

It’s Jim Bakker, again. The title of this post is a bit unfair; I couldn’t resist. You can’t honestly say something is or isn’t biblical, given the sheer amount of different versions and interpretations. It’s just a god mash hash. This recent tearful plea by Jim has to do with The Great Tribulation, upon which, there are many versions and interpretations, and a number of different beliefs.

“If they kill our president or they destroy him or whatever, if we elect the other side,” Bakker said, “this is it. I think maybe Trump is here to give us time to get ready because all hell is going to break loose. We’re not going to have the Antichrist show up to get the sign of the Mark of the Beast on our forehead or hand, it won’t happen without hunger. Hunger is going to be the main thing. Most people don’t get it, they don’t want to get it, but that is why I am so obsessed with you all being prepared.”

Horrendous Hyperbole, Jim! Electing democrats is not the same as murder. Really truly. It is fun to see how much you change your narrative from one appeal to the next. So now the Tiny Tyrant isn’t the Jehovah blessed saviour, he’s just a little sort of hourglass? How the mighty fall. I hate to break into this melodrama, but people who have enough money to buy your yuck inna bucket are in no danger of going hungry. There are people in this world who are going hungry. A great many people have already been displaced by climate change, and can no longer sustain themselves in their homelands. There are plenty of people living in poverty right here in Ustates, who not only can’t afford nutritious food, they’re stuck in food deserts. All manner of children cannot concentrate in school because they are consumed by hunger. And here you are, hawking your absurdly expensive crap inna bucket. There isn’t a shred of decency in you, Jim. There certainly isn’t so much as a tattered remnant of shame anywhere to be seen.

Bakker’s wife, Lori, warned that Christians who don’t think they would ever accept the Mark of the Beast will inevitably do so when they see that their children or grandchildren are starving, which prompted Bakker to bring out his newborn grandson, whom he cradled as he wept, saying, “I hear them crying, I’ve heard them crying for years and God says, ‘What will you do if these babies are starving?’”

There are babies starving right fucking now, you evil piece of shit! Do you care? No. Your answer to ‘god’s’ question: oooh, sell the rubes nasty shit inna bucket!

What happened to the rapture? Aren’t you among those who believe the rapture will happen prior to the tribulation? You seem awful certain your ‘flock’ won’t make the cut. From what I recall about what I was taught, if you fuck up and get stuck in the tribulation, those who go nobly to their deaths right away will get to do the ghostly happy dance up to Jesus. So, no need to buy your stuff, no need to starve. Just die. Should be a cakewalk for you christians, you’re always going on and on and on and on about being persecuted, and being wannabe martyrs, and there’s your chance!

The program then immediately cut away to a pre-filmed segment promoting Bakker’s $1,500 “Complete Grocery Store” survival package.

One thousand, five hundred dollars. Right. I have no words for just how gosh-darn godly and righteous that one happens to be. You are the naked face of hypocritical greed, complete with crocodile tears, and a willingness to use your infant grandchild. Evil, thy name is Jim Bakker, and you fit the new beatitude to a T.

You can see the oh so tearful Jim at RWW, if you so wish. One good thing about this nasty nonsense, I get an excuse to indulge in some fabulous art. One more from Beatus below the fold, Osma Beatus, f. 139: The Frogs:

[Read more…]

The Migrant Quilt Project.

TUCSON SECTOR 2004-2005, 282 deaths.
Made by Carol Hood, Sunny Klapp, Phyllis Sager, & Virginia Wenzel, of Prescott, Arizona.

Picked from the desert, I’m gazing at the tiny pieces of Jeans. These are what’s left of real lives. They had hopes and dreams of better and safer futures. (Virginia Wenzel)

There is a wealth of heartbreak at The Migrant Quilt Project, but it’s heartbreak all should feel. No one should be able to turn a cold heart and hateful mind to the mute witness of so much death.

The Migrant Quilt Project.

What We Deserve…

Dante and Virgil in Hell, William-Adolphe Bouguereau.

There are times I idly wish some form of underworld existed; when it comes to mouthy, obnoxious, immoral christians, I could get on board with the notion of hell. At least for a time. I can’t ever get past that ‘tortured for all eternity’ business, it’s just too much. No matter which particular underworld, any treatment would pall after a sufficient time. Anyroad, Liz ‘Red Shoes!‘ Crokin had something of a pity party the other day.

Liz Crokin declared recently that she is not worried about her career suffering due to her obsessive efforts to prove that countless government, business and entertainment leaders are involved in a massive satanic pedophile ring because she knows that she will be rewarded by God for her work.

I wonder, does it ever dawn that there has been no reward? It has to occur at some point. No wonder theists then take refuge in ‘the afterlife!’.

In an interview with the America First Media Group last week, Crokin said that while she has suffered personally and professionally because of her crusade to expose supposed rampant pedophilia and child sacrifice, she would “rather be poor and getting the truth out there and being on the right side of God and history.”

That’s nice. It’s easy to be on the right side of a ‘god’, when said ‘god’ is a figment of your imagination, and of course believes everything you do, and shares all your hatreds. As for history, ah, that one is not quite so easy to deceive. It is remarkably arrogant of Ms. Crokin to think she’ll make the history tomes of the future. I’m afraid the majority of humanity never gets close to being recorded for all posterity.

“Judgment Day is coming and not only is God going to unleash His wrath on the pedophiles, He’s also going to unleash his wrath on the people that knew about it and covered for it,” Crokin said. “People like us will be rewarded by God … People like us who have been censored and punished for having politically conservative viewpoints, supporting Trump and especially the people that have hurt us for trying to help children and save children from predators, there will be a day where we will not have to worry about our bills and we will get lifestyle that we deserve.”

Oh my. There’s a lot of material there, but I’m going to focus on this one small part:

we will get lifestyle that we deserve.

This is about lifestyle? This is about your desire to have the power which comes with obscene amounts of money? I’m pretty sure christianity throughout the ages has had plenty to say about rich people and filthy lucre, not that it has ever stopped christianity at large from amassing filthy amounts of wealth and power. Gosh, I thought you’d be all happy to be poverty ridden in the cause of your god. I rather doubt you’re all that poor, either. I expect you might be exceeding the framework of your current lifestyle. People do that one all the time. So, Jehovah is going to look upon you one of these days, say Good work, Red Shoes, have a pile of money! ? Hmmm. From what I remember of my christian days, it doesn’t work like that.

As for Jehovah unleashing his wrath on those who sexually abuse children, he’s had one hell of a long time to do just that. People have been abusing children in a variety of ways since always. That god of yours didn’t care when the church was using children as convenient fodder for the crusades, which also allowed the church to pile up on all that filthy lucre. Your god didn’t care when children were routinely worked and fucked to death by all those holy servants. And so on. There are children around the world suffering at the hands of adults, every single moment of every single day. Haven’t noticed a great swath of punishment happening. And it won’t happen. Trying to narrow it down to non-existent cults in Hollywood won’t help at all, because your god doesn’t exist. It’s on us to change things; it’s on us to help all those in untenable situations. I note you aren’t doing that, Ms. Crokin. Well, keep hollering. I’m sure if you pander to the willfully ignorant and gullible, you’ll get your hands on that filthy lucre one of these days.

Oh, and if you’re being censored, I expect silence. That would be blissful. Unfortunately, no bliss for us. Apparently, Ms. Crokin jumped all over the Tiny Tyrant’s recent fumble with a water bottle to turn it into something mysterious and cooooool:

President Trump’s Fiji water stunt today was no question strategic! He does not usually have a special table with water on it! They put the water on the table front and center on purpose because it’s a clue. The clue is Fiji! Plus, Trump was so dramatic about the water, it’s obvious he was sending a message. Also, he knew the brain dead MSM reporters would mock him for this leading people like me to take note and research the significance of Fiji.

There are lots of working theories on what Fiji symbolizes. The CEO of Fiji is corrupt as hell and a huge Clinton backer. Obama is a fan of Fiji water too, travels there and allegedly has a bunker there. I’ll post more theories in the comments.

If you can’t see that this was a strategic move, you don’t understand Trump. Literally everything he does has significance, meaning, symbolism, etc. Plus, he’s a master troll! Let’s not forget his epic photo op in front of the kids right after he got into the White House in front of Hillary Clinton’s portrait, lol!

Via RWW.

Melting! We’re Melting!

Let’s see:

Using “badge politics”, censoring those who don’t worship twitter’s liberal dictator, & implementing procedures to annihilate conservatives from the Internet?

Sounds like twitter is carrying out its own “final solution” for conservatives.

And so it begins. Twitter is quick to call me and others Nazis, but they are literally trying to eradicate my presence. Just like Hitler.

Twitter is uh, cracking down on hateful tweeters (not the Tiny Tyrant, natch), by removing their little checkmark. Yeah, that will show them. While I can’t say I think much of this ‘action’, it’s certainly upsetting the conservanazi crowd. Laura Loomer says Using “badge politics”. If that little checkmark didn’t mean anything to you Ms. Loomer, why on earth did you pursue it so hard? You claim Twitter is ‘annihilating’ conservatives, literally trying to eradicate your presence. Going by your checkmark free tweets, that has not been accomplished in the slightest. Perhaps you should save your hyperbole for a time when Twitter actually does something, like ban your account.

All the checkmarkless nazirati are having fits, as if this truly impacts their ability to spread their bigotry, hate, and fear. Perhaps it does, and if so, good. You can read many of the linked tweets of the nazirati at RWW.

Red Shoes? Let’s Dance! Oh. Nevermind.

Red Shoes! Red Shoes! Illuminati! Squuuuaaaawk! Oh yes, uh, satanism, child abuse, child sex slaves, all that.

Making a second appearance on a program hosted by one-time “Survivor” contestant Anna Khait that was streamed on Mike Cernovich’s Facebook page last Thursday, Liz Crokin continued on her mission to expose the supposed fact that leading government, entertainment and business leaders are involved in a massive satanic pedophile cult by linking Podesta’s choice of shoes to Illuminati mind-control.

“Tony Podesta is obsessed with his red shoes,” Crokin said. “There is symbolism for red shoes in the occult and it’s also tied to satanic ritualistic abuse and the trafficking of children.”

Or, you know, Mr. Podesta might really like the colour red, and he might really like those shoes. Perhaps your obsession with someone else’s shoes isn’t terribly healthy, Ms. Crokin. I have a fair number of red shoes m’self. What’s not to love? Do blue suede shoes get in on this at all?

“The Illuminati, the elites, they use ‘The Wizard of Oz’ to mind control child slaves,” she added. “They use certain films to program children and part of the programming is having them watch these films

Uh huh. I did not like The Wizard of Oz in the least when I was sprog. Bored me silly. Whether or not sprogs like the film, it’s not at the level of oooOOOOOoooOOooo mind control. Now, out of this one movie, you’re focusing on the ruby slippers? Really? Oh, you christian conservatives are so void of imagination. There’s a lot of material to work with there, and you go with shoes.

and they also sexually abuse them and they physically abuse them because the abuse splits their personality and creates different personalities, so then they are able to program them and control them and they virtually become MK-Ultra programming.”

That one merits you one universe worth of Shut the Fuck Up and sit down, Ms. Crokin. A whole lot of kids suffer terrible abuse, and they do not end up with “split personalities” which make them ideal “agents” in one of your idiotic scenarios. You can leave all of us who have suffered abuse the hell alone. I’ll add that christian conservatives are high up there when it comes to abusing children. Look to your own house, you vile bag of poison.

“This is a known thing,” Crokin insisted. “They use ‘The Wizard of Oz’ to mind control these child sex abuse victims. Well, what does Dorthy wear in ‘The Wizard of Oz’? Red shoes!”

No. It. Is. NOT. A. Known. Thing. It’s something you made up, and you’re pretending that red shoes make this nefarious connection between whatever and whatever. I’ll be heading into town today, and already have my outfit ready, which includes brown boots. I am so tempted to change everything so I can wear a pair of red shoes. Everyone should wear red shoes! They’re festive and cheerful! And, it’s the right time of year for that, too.

Via RWW, where there’s video.

A Solid Christian.

Roy Moore speaks at Voters Value Summit 2017. (Photo: Jared Holt for Right Wing Watch).

Oh, so many evangelicals of the religious reich are propping up Roy Moore with absolute zeal, and a gigantic raft of lies. I’m not going to address all of them; I have a busy day ahead, but some of this, ugh, toxic morality is so damn disgusting. I will make the point that it’s hardly uncommon for men in their late 20s/early 30s to pursue people in their early teens; it happened to me often enough, and yes, that was in the 1970s. That sort of age gap wasn’t as frowned upon then, a man of 32 with a solid career was considered to be a good match for someone 17 to 19 years old, a steady hand, so to speak. Yeah, I know. I am thankful attitudes have changed in that regard. All that said, it does not make that behaviour any less skeevy or questionable. There’s a massive power imbalance there, and that was particularly true in Moore’s case, as he was a district attorney, and most teenagers aren’t completely clear on just how much power is or isn’t contained within that position. Moore was in a position to make an effective threat.

The fact that Moore was so very careful to not engage in intercourse tells me he knew damn well what he was doing was wrong, and he didn’t want to be caught. He certainly didn’t want to be punished in any respect, so he was very cautious. Does the fact he’s been married the last 32 years make it okay? No. I’ve been married for 38 years, together with my partner for 40 years. What does that tell you about the state of my marriage? Nothing. What does that tell you about my character and actions for the last 40 years? Nothing.

I expect many of the evangelicals supporting Moore wouldn’t be upset if a 32 year old wanted to date their teenage daughter, and that really does not make anything better. It makes it much worse.

The American Family Association stood by its endorsement of Moore, writing in a statement, “AFA Action believes Justice Roy Moore to be a truthful man and a solid Christian.” Bryan Fischer, a radio host for AFA’s American Family Radio, wrote that establishment Republicans were turning against Moore because they “despise ordinary Americans like us who believe in the Ten Commandments, natural marriage, normative sexuality, right and wrong, the Constitution as written by the Founders, the rule of law, and the Judeo-Christian tradition of truth claims and moral values.”

I’m an ‘ordinary’ American. I’m mixed race, childfree, bisexual, and identify as female. I’m an atheist who is committed to inclusion and acceptance. I live rural, with one partner and too many animals. I do not believe in the ten commandments, natural marriage, or missionary position only and don’t fuckin’ enjoy it. I don’t believe in the constitution; I think it’s high time for a rewrite. I believe in marriage equality. I do have a strong sense of right and wrong. I somewhat respect law. A lot of it is damn stupid, and needs serious reworking too, and the police system needs to be torn down and redone completely. WTF is the “Judeo-Christian tradition of truth claims and moral values”? Truth claims? Jesus Christ. How about the truth? I’m not allergic to that. I am allergic to the twisted, abusive bullshit you asses present as ‘moral values’. Your ‘moral values’ say Moore is a stand up guy, not a skeevy man who used his position to impose on teenagers. Why in the hell should I pay attention to such a version of “right and wrong” ? No. Just no.

AFA president Tim Wildmon told Religion News Service, “I don’t think this kind of story will change support for him among Christians since he has categorically denied it. Most will see it as dirty politics.”

There are none so blind as those who refuse to see. That little sentiment should be familiar to you all.

Jerry Falwell Jr., one of President Trump’s strongest allies in the Religious Right, told RNS, “It comes down to a question who is more credible in the eyes of the voters — the candidate or the accuser.” He later clarified that he believed the candidate.

Ah, the christian version of bitches be lying. How lovely.

Anti-choice activist Janet Porter wrote in WorldNetDaily that she trusts Moore in part because he doesn’t think her “heartbeat bill,” which would ban abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy, goes far enough. Porter laid out her theory that Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos encouraged the paper to manufacture accusations against Moore in order to bring him profits. “Not sure who to vote for?” she wrote. “Just look at who the enemy is firing at the hardest. He’s the guy you want.”

Don’t be dragging Lucifer into this mess. Your imaginary archvillain hasn’t done anything. If Moore was such an amazingly upstanding christian, why didn’t he fight off the temptation to impose himself all over one teenager after another? Why, when the urge came over him to accost a teenager or go hunting them at the local mall, was this solid christian not on his knees in prayer? The only enemy here are Moore’s own actions. “Hey, it was a long time ago” does not excuse it. Look at Moore’s attitude towards bodily autonomy rights. Is this a man who views women as full human beings? No.

Ugh, ugh, ugh, so damn disgusting. RWW watch has the full rundown, replete with links.

Further reading from Mano Singham.

The Anti-Trump Hotel.

Oh, this place sounds fabulous! From what I’ve read, I might want to live there. :D

The first thing you’ll see when you walk into Eaton Workshop, a hotel opening in late spring 2018 in Washington, is a custom-commissioned video art installation by AJ Schnack, shown on a series of vintage-style television screens. All day long, it’ll broadcast a montage of footage from the presidential elections of 2012 and 2016 that’s built around one pointed question: How did our country get where it is today?

It’s not a subtle statement, and it’s not meant to be.

In Trump’s Washington, Eaton is planting a clear flag as a haven for Democrats. It’s the world’s first politically motivated hotel, the flagship for a global brand that’s built around social activism and community engagement. And it comes with a pedigree: As the daughter of Ka Shui Lo, the creator and executive chairman of Hong Kong-based Langham Hospitality Group Ltd., founder Katherine Lo knows a thing or two about luxury hotels and world-class service.

Lo firmly believes that hotels ought to be catalysts for good. In a world where we can be conscious consumers—of everything from clothing to food to baby products—she argues there’s a place for conscious hotels, too. This isn’t a revolutionary idea: Already, 1 Hotels has built a small collection of luxury properties entirely around the idea of sustainability, and Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts has made a significant, brand-wide commitment to bolster community programming for disadvantaged children in all of its destinations. It’s one of many five-star brands that have a conscious ethos but choose not to flaunt it.

Eaton Workshop is different. With a premise that’s built around liberal activism and civic engagement, the brand will weave a liberal philosophy into every aspect of the guest experience, some more obvious than others.

[…]

Among the Washington location’s programming signatures will be a sort of TED talk series driven by the liberal agenda, consisting of fireside chats and rooftop lectures that Lo hopes will be free, open to the public, and streamable as Eaton-branded podcasts. Then comes the art program, which—aside from the political statement piece at check-in—will include commissions from at least a half-dozen up-and-coming local artists and a street-facing exhibition window curated in partnership with local museums and institutions. A co-working space will prioritize memberships for progressive startups, activists, and artists, while a wellness program will offer “inner-health-focused treatments” such as Reiki and sound baths, rather than facials and massages. (Some of these features will roll out a few months after the hotel opens.)

Just as important, partners and staff will be brought on board, both for their skills in the food and beverage worlds and their activist track records. For instance, Lo saw the cocktail director of the famed Columbia Room, Derek Brown, as a perfect fit to be the hotel’s beverage director—not just because he’s won such awards as Imbibe magazine’s Bartender of the Year but because he “cares deeply about social justice.” To wit, Brown actively champions policies that fight sexual harassment in the bartending industry and acts as chief spirit advisor for the National Archives.

Similarly, Lo says that the “amazing life story” of house chef Tim Ma “perfectly expresses our brand ethos.” The Chinese-American culinary up-and-comer was an engineer at the National Security Agency for years before discovering his true passion in food. At Eaton’s to-be-named restaurant, Ma is planning a menu with a heavy focus on vegetables from an on-site garden.

A guest who does nothing other than check in, sleep atop Eaton’s organic mattresses, and check out will still have a sense of the hotel’s mission, says Lo. “We plan to have new ideas in the minibar—an activist toolkit, for example, that includes sheets with information to help you call your congresspeople. And if we’d been open during this year’s Women’s March, I could have seen us putting poster boards and markers in the rooms!”

Political statements such as these will be tailored to each property. In Hong Kong, for instance, Lo says she’d like to replace Bibles in the nightstand drawers with copies of the United Nations Declaration for Human Rights.

Raw Story and Bloomberg have this story.  Eaton Workshop.

Contagious America: The Anti-Equality Tour.

Kim Davis, the county clerk from Kentucky who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the U.S. Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision, spent nine days in October on a tour of Romania to boost religious conservatives’ push for a referendum to put a ban on same-sex couples marrying into the country’s constitution. Davis traveled with Liberty Counsel Vice President Harry Mihet, who was born in Romania. Mihet discussed the trip last week with Liberty Counsel president Mat Staver on Faith and Freedom, the group’s weekly radio show.

Staver said that Mihet and Davis met with “four out of the six top archbishops of the Orthodox Church” as well as evangelical leaders and heads of “pro-family” organizations. Mihet said they spoke to “several hundred people” in six of the country’s largest cities, with “thousands” more watching online.

Staver said that Davis made the trip to tell her story as a warning about “the implications” of a country going “the wrong way on marriage.” Mihet said Davis gave a “powerful” message about the need to define marriage in the constitution to prevent the kind of “devastating” impact on people of faith experienced in the United States because of “judicial activism and judicial overreach.”

The monstrous contagion that is America. People everywhere, don’t let your countries grow up to be Amerikka. Please. Be better than us, it’s not like it’s a high bar. RWW has the full story.

“They fall down if you’re dumb.”

Trump l’oeil: the atrium of Trump Towers.

I’m quite surprised Jim Bakker can breathe, he’s so busy screeching out dire warnings. This one is quite standard, democrats in power = all hell’s gonna break loose, you bet.

Bakker and his guest, Sharon Gilbert, agreed that President Trump is being protected by God and that Trump is much smarter than people think.

“You cannot build the most beautiful skyscrapers in the world if you’re dumb,” Bakker said. “They fall down if you’re dumb.”

It’s not nice to make someone snort tea in laughter. Most beautiful? Cheapshit gilt all over everything? Corners cut all over the place? Beauty is subjective, and I don’t find any Trump establishment to meet that standard. They might make The Gaudiest, Most God-Awful structures anywhere. As for them not falling down, were you under the impression that Trump actually got out there and did the construction? Set it up? Supervised it? No. He hired people, all of them smarter than him, to do the actual work. Trump wouldn’t know work if it smacked him in the face.

Bakker went on to warn that while Trump is committed to defending Christianity, Democrats are intent on destroying it.

“The left has become anti-Christ,” Bakker continued. “I’m convinced, if we would have elected the other candidate, we would be, right now, probably packing boxes to move out of our buildings and Christian television would begin to be a part of the end of era of the freedom of Christian television. They don’t want us, we’re one voice that speaks biblically and they don’t like the fact that God’s word differs with what they teach. If we change positions in this country and the other team takes over, you better get ready because all hell is going to break loose and America will not be a religious nation any longer.”

Oh fuck off. We were all doing quite well the past eight years, with a highly peaceful and scandal free white house, one in which actual work got done. No one cares about your tiny shows or your youtube channels. I thought Pres. Obama was supposed to be the anti-christ, and you all never stopped screeching for the whole time. No one came and got you in the middle of the night and quietly disappeared you. No one came to get you in daylight, either. You’re still here, spraying toxic stupid shit into the air by the tonne.

Oh, so you’re all one voice which speaks biblically? Two words: Roy Moore. You all don’t seem to be one voice there. One thing you can count on christians never being: a united front. You’re all so splintered and fractious, you’ll fight one another forever over the most piddling of things. That’s why I have little respect for moderate christians, because they are the foundation you religious reich asses rest on, and they won’t stand up to you.

So, America will  not be a religious nation any longer. That would be a good thing, because this is supposed to be a secular nation, not a christian one. Of course, as everyone remotely rational knows, the democrats don’t have the spine to say boo to christians. Nothing on that front will change. Never does.

Your ugly, psychopathic god preaches every evil. I would hope that good people would differ greatly in what they teach. I’m all for inclusion and acceptance. You want hate, rabid fear, exclusion, divisiveness, and the power to hurt others. No fucking thanks.

I did get a laugh looking at the opening screen on the video – there are wrapped boxes everywhere (most likely empty), a happily pagan winter solstice tree, garlands, and garish decorations. How very commercial of you, O righteous dude! Tsk.

Via RWW, there’s video.

Sunday Facepalm.

Thoughts & Prayers, Thoughts & Prayers, Thoughts & Prayers, pretty much the only response of conservatives and too many christians in any crisis. Unsurprisingly, people at large have finally gotten fed up with Thoughts & Prayers, and aren’t at all shy anymore about telling the Thoughts & Prayers Parrots where to stick those thoughts and prayers. This has upset Ralph Reed of the Faith and Freedom Coalition something awful. He has a little petition:

…I’m writing you, along with thousands of other supporters of Faith & Freedom Coalition, to demand that Democrats stop using the lives of the 26 victims of Sutherland Springs to push a political agenda.

As Americans, we need to come together in a time of tragedy. We must focus on what unites us–not how we can score political points.

But instead, members of your party have gone on the record openly mocking Christians for offering their prayers, support, and guidance over the last few days. And worse, members of your party have exploited these victims to push radical gun laws that wouldn’t have prevented the attack in the first place. …

No one is using them as a political prop of any kind. What’s happening is anguished outrage over all those who stubbornly defend absurd and insane laws in this country, which is already drowning in guns, and refusing to acknowledge that change is desperately needed, to save lives. Of course, one of the major problems with christians is that you assholes always go on and on and on about how this life doesn’t count, it’s the one after you’re all dead and decayed.

If you all want to believe that, fine, but stop inflicting that view on everyone else. There are plenty of people who are most focused on this life, because we know it’s all we get, and time is short. It’s truly awful the way christians always find a way to disdain and disrespect life, in spite of all those Thoughts & Prayers. You support unfettered access to guns. You fight even the tiniest of regulations. You defend those men who routinely abuse their families. You protect those who sexually assault and rape. You defend the rights of rapists. You fight against women having the slightest amount of bodily autonomy. You protect those who abuse children. You support and encourage the death penalty. You support wars. Yeah, your morality just shines through all those Thoughts & Prayers.

You act as though Thoughts & Prayers are some sort of action; that they mean something. They don’t. They are just a way for you to hoist yourself into the spotlight, while actively refusing to do one thing which would make for a positive, and less blood-soaked change. Why should anyone give a damn about your parroting prayers? Are all your TweetPrayers so valuable?

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father in secret shall reward thee openly. – Matthew 6: 5-6.

I expect your little petition will be ignored; I certainly hope it will be. After all, if those Thoughts & Prayers were supposedly directed to your god, what difference does it make how others react to them? Oh, ye of little fuckin’ faith, so very frail.

You can see the whole thing here.