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23 May - Harper Roast

Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper

Just some of the anti-democratic goings-on in the Harper government:

1. The “in and out” scheme – the Conservatives are alleged to have skirted their $18 million campaign spending limit in the 2006 election by transferring money “in” to local ridings that had not reached their campaign spending limits (ostensibly to pay for advertising at the local level) and then having that riding immediately send the money back “out” to the national party (who spent it on advertising at the national level). The riding associations then asked for the 60% refund from Elections Canada for the amounts spent, which totalled nearly $800,000.00.

2. The David Emerson appointment – 24 hours after Emerson was elected as the Liberal MP for Vancouver-Kingsway, Stephen Harper personally endorsed talks with him to have him cross the floor to the Conservative party and accept the Cabinet appointment as International Trade Minister.

3. The disgraceful system of vetting by the Prime Minister’s Office – nothing is released to the Canadian public by any department of the government without first being approved by the PMO.

4. The appointment of an UNELECTED Conservative organizer to the position of Minister of Public Works and Government Services.

5. Mark Tushingham is employed by Environment Canada and wrote a FICTIONAL account about global warming and the subsequent dispute over water resources between Canada and the U.S. Mr. Tushingham was given a directive from the Environment Department not to attend his own book launch. In fear of his job, he did not.

At the same time, the “Harper Government” cancelled 15 research programs aimed at reducing greenhouse gases.**

6. Elimination of the Access to Information database.

7. The shutdown of the Appointments Commission – originally instituted by Harper to make government appointments more transparent, he balked when a House of Commons committee requested that he withdraw his choice to lead the commission (a Harper supporter) because of concerns about remarks made by that person regarding immigration. Stephen Harper abruptly abandoned the Commission in a huff.

8. The Cadman affair – Chuck Cadman was sitting as an independent MP in the House of Commons and voted with the government in a 2005 budget vote, which created a tie. Speaker of the House, Peter Milliken, then had to vote and the Liberal budget passed.

Prior to his death from cancer, Mr. Cadman told his wife that, before the vote, two Conservative party officials approached him to offer a $1 million life insurance policy if he would vote against the budget. There is much, much more to this story, but in a 2008 court deposition, Stephen Harper admitted to personally authorizing that “an offer” be made to Mr. Cadman prior to that 2005 vote. It is illegal to bribe an MP.

9. Cancellation of the Court Challenges Program of Canada – the CPC is an organization whose purpose is to provide financial assistance for important court cases that advance language and equality rights guaranteed under Canada’s Constitution. It was designed to help those who could not afford to pay for lawyers to fight for their rights in Canada’s highest courts.

10. NAFTA-gate – Barack Obama was telling U.S. constituents in Ohio that he would reopen NAFTA to make it more beneficial to the U.S., but Stephen Harper’s closest aide told CTV that Obama advisers had privately told Canadian diplomats that the promise to reopen the trade agreement was just empty talk aimed at winning votes in Ohio. Needless to say, it caused no end of diplomatic embarrassment and probably lost votes for Mr. Obama.

11. Afghan detainees misinformation campaign

12. Reversals on 50% of the promised accountability measures

13. A secret Conservative handbook written to advise MPs on how to obstruct Paraliamentary committees

14. Personal attack ads launched outside of election campaigns

15. The lies used to smear opponents that the Conservatives deem to be “anti-Israel”

16. The lie of not supporting the troops used to smear opponents concerned by the Afghan detainee affair

17. The effort made to stop publication of a book written about the Harper team by a former top aide of Harper’s, Tom Flanagan

19. Advising people not to invest in Ontario

20. Instructing police to remove journalists from a public hotel lobby where a Conservative caucus meeting was taking place, in order to prevent coverage of that meeting

21. Calling Louise Arbour a “national disgrace” in the House of Commons. This highly respected woman is the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and the Court of Appeal for Ontario and a former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

Her crime? Calling for the protection of civilians during the Israel/Lebanon war of 2006.

22. Concerted efforts made to muzzle University academics who are critical of the government, going so far as to influence their removal from employment

23. Controlling press releases from all departments of government. An effort was also made to do so with Auditor-General, Sheila Fraser’s department, however she stood up to them by making the point that her job was to be an objective evaluator of the government’s performance and that he public had a right to know, without interference

24. Providing scripts to supporters for radio call-in shows

25. Preventing information on cabinet minister’s use of government jets from reaching the public

26. Hiding studies on crime done by the Justice Department

27. Plagiarizing the speech of the Australian Prime Minister

28. Hiding a report on firearms to prevent damning evidence about the gun registry

29. Improperly alleging that the opposition parties had no right to form a coalition government

30. Slashing the budget of the Harper-appointed Parliamentary Budget Officer, when he disagreed with the government about finances

31. Giving stimulus money to an inordinately high percentage of Conservative ridings

32. Withholding details of stimulus funding

33. Putting Conservative Party of Canada logos on government funding cheques

34. The Chopping Block:

Firing the head of the nuclear agency, Linda Keen. Halting the probe of Peter Tinsley’s military commission into the Afghan detainee issue. Firing the head of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP. Smearing diplomat Richard Colvin for his evidence about the Afghan detainee issue. Not renewing Pat Stogran as ombudsman for veterans’ concerns.

35. Supporting Calgary Conservative MP Rob Anders’ illegitimate nomination process, later overturned by the courts

36. Dismantling the 2011 census, creating a “National Household Survey” in its place and being required to spend an extra $30 million to “encourage” citizens to fill it out, now that it’s no longer mandatory

37. Lying about Statistics Canada being in agreement that dismantling the census wouldn’t be a problem

38. Knowingly hiring, as one of Harper’s chief aides, a disbarred lawyer who spent time in jail for stealing from his clients.

39. Preventing cabinet staff from testifying at Parliamentary committees

40. Proroguing Parliament twice, in both cases to save the government’s skin

41. Blaming the opposition for the non-passage of certain bills when, in fact, it was the proroguing of Parliament by Harper that killed those bills

42. Taking no responsibility for the G20 fiasco in Toronto, allowing the trampling of citizens’ rights in the process

43. Spending $1 billion on the G20 fiasco

44. Defending a cabinet minister’s (Bev Oda) lies to Parliament about the changing of a document after it was signed.

45. Using Government Minister’s offices and letterhead to solicit partisan Conservative Party donations

46. Harper’s offhand dismissal of the possibility of the government being found in contempt of Parliament, for the first time in Canadian history: “You win some, you lose some”.

47. The edict to government departments that the “official” name to be used in government correspondence is the “Harper Government”

Ad nauseum…

** I'm still against plying carbon credits to not affect an imaginary threat.

8 May - Austerity Cripples Research

National Research Council: Harper Tories Tell Agency To Focus On Industry, Not Raw Science
The Harper government is telling the National Research Council to focus more on practical, commercial science and less on fundamental science that may not have obvious business applications.

The government says the council traditionally was a supporter of business, but has wandered from that mandate in recent years — and will now get back to working on practical applications for industries.


Science Is in Deep Trouble
The re-launch of the National Research Council hosted by the Minister for State for Science and Technology Gary Goodyear shows science is in deep trouble in this country. By choosing to shift towards industry-driven applied research at the expense of scientist-driven basic research, the Conservatives continue to undermine scientific progress - and these policies will adversely impact all of us, including the very industry they purport to be servicing.

It is now clear the Minister of State has lost control of this file and his flailing mismanagement threatens to impede the growth of Canada's knowledge economy. Not only has laying off scores of top NRC researchers severely damaged morale within the organization, NRC production peer-review and patent production has severely dropped since Conservative tinkering began. Not only does the government have an alarming track record of muzzling its own scientists and stifling dissent, by shutting the door on basic scientific research at the NRC that truly leads to scientific breakthroughs, the Conservatives' short-sighted approach will in fact hurt Canada's longer-term economic growth.

At the re-launch press conference, the Minister of State unveiled what the Prime Minister's Office deems "the most significant transformation to the NRC in 100 years" - a shift away from discovery science and towards what industry deems as commercially viable. Before today, the National Research Council was still Canada's most venerable scientific research institution.

However the Minister of State seems to forget that the NRC's greatest resource is not buildings or equipment, but its people. The advancement of science is the NRC's raison d'être and the scientists who make up the NRC its beating heart. But to look inside the NRC now is to see an organization with a devastated morale: internal polling documents show only 2% strongly agree that the leaders of the NRC are making the right decisions for the success of the organization. In contrast, 43% strongly disagreed.
It's not difficult to see where that dissatisfaction comes from.

Science Cuts: Ottawa Views Pure Science As 'Cash Cow,' Critics Say
The email landed without warning in Brad Anholt’s inbox last April. It left him speechless.

“I couldn’t even talk about it. Not for hours,” said Anholt, one of Canada’s leading experts in marine biology and the director of the world-renowned Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, a not-for-profit teaching and research facility on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

With a staff of 30, Bamfield is used by visiting researchers to study fish, marine animals and ecosystems. The centre also runs education programs for students at all levels. The facilities are funded through a consortium of five western universities and, until recently, Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC).

But a single email from a director at NSERC changed everything. Anholt learned that he was losing a third of his research budget, worth about $500,000 a year. The money runs out April 1, 2014.

Anholt said there had been no consultation, no previous inquiries or communication from NSERC, the federal body that doles out $1.08 billion annually in research money to universities, organizations and businesses.

The cuts to Bamfield – which has received funds from NSERC each year since 1970 – were especially surprising because the federal agency had increased its allocation by 40 per cent just a year before, the last time the centre was awarded a grant. (NSERC grants can last up to three years and have rolling deadlines). The increase was due largely to Bamfield’s success with new projects and attracting world class researchers, Anholt said.

“The experts who had looked at us and had looked at all the applications that were out, they were saying we were doing an amazing job and we deserved more money,” he said. “And a year afterwards, it’s just yanked. With nothing.”

Is Any Science Safe?
This month, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) will apply two criteria in its review of research proposals: intellectual merit and impact. One discipline, however, will have to meet a further test. In March, at the urging of U.S. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), Congress halted funding for political science—“except for” research that the agency's director certifies as “promoting national security or the economic interests of the United States.” This extra test might not stop with political science.

UK scientists on collision course over £1bn research cuts ...
www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/aug/26/scientists-research-cuts...

2010-08-26 · Big reductions in the UK's scientific research capacity will be necessary if planned 25% cuts to government spending in the sector go ahead, the director ...

Top universities face cuts in research funding | Education | The ...
www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/mar/05/university-research-funding

2009-03-04 · Top universities face cuts in research funding • Gains for media studies and sports science • Cambridge, Imperial and UCL among losers

Science: Funding cuts threaten scientific research - Telegraph
www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/3321852/Science-Funding...

2008-01-15 · Researchers are in uproar after a recently established quango unveiled a series of cuts and abandoned some projects altogether because of an estimated £ ...

Budget cuts looming for medical research in Australia - Health ...
www.abc.net.au/.../budget-cuts-looming-for-medical-research-in/3004084

The health and medical research community is worried about the impact that this year's budget cuts might have on the federal government's funding of medical research.

Medical research cuts will push scientific stars into exile
www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/medical-research-cuts-will-push...

The rumoured $400 million cut to the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) budget would be disastrous for Australian science, for the intellectual ...

Hundreds rally against research cuts - Brisbane Times - Brisbane ...
www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/hundreds-rally-against...

... some of which had been developed in Australia. ‘‘Was my survival a miracle? Or the result of cutting-edge medical research?’’ she said. ‘‘Any budget cuts would ...

PM backs away from medical research cuts - ABC News (Australian ...
www.abc.net.au/.../pm-backs-away-from-medical-research-cuts/2610378

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has appeared to confirm reports that a planned $400 million cut from medical research has been scrapped. The rumoured budget cuts had ...

Cuts to student allowances could push postgrad students overseas ...
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10851170

... of research, innovation, expertise and knowledge in New Zealand. Of those surveyed, 158 said they would be severely disadvantaged by the changes, and 76 said the cuts ...

WHO | New Zealand cuts health spending to control costs
www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/88/10/10-021010/en/index.html

New Zealand cuts health spending to control costs New Zealand’s health-care system is undergoing a series of ... professor and director of the Health Services Research ...

ANZ job cuts in Australia and New Zealand | Scoop News
www.scoop.co.nz/.../anz-job-cuts-in-australia-and-new-zealand.htm

ANZ job cuts in Australia and New Zealand. Redundancies announced a short time ago at ANZ in ... Woodward Research provides free equity research re... 25 Nov | The Crunch

Research Projects on New Zealand English

There is an almost incessant flow of information after one bears the deprivations of online solitude for a while. Here is an example.

Greetings from Home

Is Heaven Up?

We visit you this day with an overview from what you call Home. We think it interesting that humans think heaven is up. That concept comes from when humans were very young, when your parents nurtured and cared for you. You remember your parents leaning in from above you, as they were picking you up from your crib. Even as you began to crawl and walk your parents towered above you. That shared memory in the collective of humanity is what makes you think heaven is above you in the sky. We tell you this story so that you can understand how humanity has evolved over time, through reaching different points of critical mass. It is happening again now.

We are not here to tell you which way to turn, nor to tell you whether anything you do is right or wrong because there are only personal choices for each and every one of you. Instead, it is about your empowerment. It is re-membering who you are as a spirit.

Ceiling of Evolution

One point we wish to share is that there is a part of you that exists at Home, no matter what you do here on Earth. You come in and take one of these physical bubbles of biology to play the game of pretending to be human. In order to do that, you have to also pretend to be separate from each other. It is such a wonderful game and you humans have become so good at playing it. You actually think you are separate from each other, when in fact you are not. That is fascinating to us. You walk around pretending to be separate, but you are actually connected to others with all these attachment cords. When you feel something someone else feels it, too. Of course, you share thoughts and feelings because your energetic structures are part of one another. Yet you place yourself in a little cocoon, pretending to be separate for the duration of your stay here on planet Earth. You do it so well, but that separation is beginning to go away. That separation is what has been keeping much of your own evolution at a certain level, at almost a ceiling of evolution on planet Earth. Now the separation is dissolving and that is creating much change on your planet. Some of these changes may appear in what you currently consider to be a negative way, but fear not for all change leads to advancement.

It is no longer possible to hold secrets on planet Earth. How beautiful is that? It is a direct result of all of humanity having better communication with their higher selves, and that is what you have started to emulate from Home right away. So far, there has only been a little inkling in your heart that determined whether something did not quite resonate with you. Now that humans are starting to listen without all the filters, you will learn how to fine-tune this new guidance system. The Pineal Crystals are already starting to activate. You are beginning to activate the crystals now. This process is moving very, very rapidly now throughout the Earth. In a relatively short period of time you will be able to feel as if you are inside one another’s heads, almost as if you can look through their eyes and see from their perspective. Can you imagine holding a secret at that point? Not possible, dear ones, and that is what humans are becoming accustomed to right now.

The CORE Personality

There is another point we wish to share to help you understand what is ahead. Each one of you has what we call a core personality. Your sciences in the area of psychology explain that the personality of a person is an accumulation of all experiences they have had in their lifetime. That is exactly correct, but it is not limited to just one lifetime; it includes all 12 simultaneous dimensions within each of your past lifetimes. After you complete an incarnation on planet Earth, you go Home and review each experience that you had. You examine each one, sorting through your original intentions and releasing those you completed. You set aside those experiences that you received a gift from and those you have not, placing them back into your energy matrix to ensure that you will bring them in the next time you enter a physical body. When you incorporate and release experiences, you incorporate them into something we call the core personality, the personality of the soul. That is actually the true personality without any hampering of your human thought patterns or belief systems. That is very magical and it is what is taking place now as humanity is evolving, particularly over the next two years. You are all going to start returning to your true core personality and that is very beautiful. What you will find is a confidence in who you truly are.

Ah, dear ones, this is such a difficult life for you to lead. You have basically taken off your wings and pretended to be human. You cannot even re-member who you were or why you came here. Yet you struggle, bump into one another, search to find people who are going in the same direction, and try to find your way in the dark. You have done very, very well. In the moment that you find a place, a door, or a path that works, you turn around and show it to other people. You open the door and hold it open so others can find their way, for you are truly beings of light. You are the predecessors of light on planet Earth. You have been here to plant this energy and open these doors so that when people start to awaken from the dream, there is one part they will not have to deal with. That is the final piece we wish to address today.

Love - Fear Quotient

There are times when light on this planet will be in many different forms. We have a slightly different definition of light than do most humans. Our definition certainly differs from how your scientists describe light, as a ray of light with various rays and focuses. They put electromagnetic waves over here, radio waves there, television waves here, and the visible light spectrum is a tiny little part of all those waves. We include all of that and more in our definition of light. Our definition of the purest form of light is love. Love is how you feel it in your bodies, hearts and souls. What is happening is that you now have an opportunity to spread more light on this planet than you have ever had before. Please be aware that with light come shadows, and with shadows come fear. Fear is the opposite of love. Many of you believe that hate is the opposite of love, but hate is an emotion. Hate is a reaction. Hate is a fear-based belief system which we call BS. The balance of fear and love is now shifting on planet Earth, thanks to the work that many of you have been doing.

You carry love, and when you express your light, it not only flows through you to fill you up, but it also flows around you to help others. Spreading light gives you a confidence within your soul, helping to re-mind you of who you truly are. The absence of light creates darkness, which is how we define fear. Humans feel darkness in their souls through fear. We have spoken of fear many times, for it is actually a lack of information; it is only possible to be afraid of the unknown. Once you fill in that information, even if it is incorrect, you lose the grip of fear and get to deal with what really is. We illustrate this concept by sharing a story with you. A woman wakes up one day and feels a lump in her breast. She is very concerned, for she quietly wonders if it is cancer like her mother had. She thinks, “No, I am stronger than that. I will not worry about it.” That woman could be in great danger, because that fear of cancer can easily create that dis-ease where there was none before. Fill the vacuum with knowledge and relieve your mind. Even though she goes to the doctor and finds out she does have cancer, the fear is gone so now she can deal with it. She could also decide that she does not agree with the doctors, but at least she would have the benefit of that knowledge and it is enough to fill the vacuum. Now she can start to heal, find the gift and start to release. This is often the hardest part for people to understand.

Fear is an Opportunity for Light

Then we come to rooms like this. There are thousands of you who are watching this broadcast—the Lightworkers on planet Earth. For you, dear ones, fear is an opportunity for light. Fear is calling you into work. Fear is an opportunity for you to be of service on this planet now, and that is what you do so beautifully. You bring love. You bring light. You bring information where there is none, so you can release this entire process of fear. We ask you to carefully watch the words you speak. If they can be construed as fear-based in any way, re-word them to more accurately communicate. Many will also become very sensitive to fear-based messages, motivations and actions in your own world. Fear can not control you when you are aware of it. Become aware of fear-based movements, as this is the typical manner in which humanity has been controlled for eons of time.

As you move out of the field of duality you will experience less of the light/dark, love/fear, good/bad, right/wrong, and up/down thinking. These opposites are now being balanced by a new connection to your own higher self. This is partly being facilitated by the crystals that are forming inside your own physical body, for they are going to help you. That which could have been very negative is now being adapted by the most adaptable beings throughout the universe…human beings. You are changing it all in the blink of an eye.

Help from the Other Side

All eyes of the universe are upon Earth, for this was the one game that was never expected to make it. This was the one game that had no predisposition—that had no guidance system built in. It was the game of total free choice and here you are leading the universe, about to evolve into a spot where you have never evolved before. We tell you it is so incredibly beautiful. You have come to visit us. You have come to see yourself through our eyes so we may reflect your beauty and help you to re-member Home, to re-member that part of you. What you are not aware of are the huge gatherings on this side of the veil to watch you, and honor you. For all those beings who stepped aside for you come in and play this game are on your side are working behind you.

There are sports on your planet that you love to play. You play football with teams all over the world. At the end of the season your teams go to the playoffs, all competing for the number one spot. A team that loses now becomes the other team’s champion. They want the team that was good enough to beat them to go all the way, just the same way that all those same beings on the other side are trying to help you do what you came to do. They are part of you and you have access to that help.

Manipulation

Humans have been manipulated over and over, and over again on this planet. It has happened in almost every government, religion, and corporation. The way you can most easily be manipulated is through your own fear. Start finding ways to break through even the smallest pieces of your own fear, and you can no longer be manipulated on planet Earth. That is starting to happen in a big way, but is going to take every one of you working together. A single soul cannot stop the manipulation. However, that is no problem because you are all part of each other and you are starting to let down those boundaries, honoring that within each other. Can you imagine a planet with beings that have evolved beyond the need for fear? That is true empowerment, for when you empower anyone else outside of yourself you are also empowering yourself. You are empowering and creating a space for that to happen. When you overcome this place of fear and start looking at the opportunities for spreading light, you become a magnet. As if magically, others will come to you with their fears and you will be making a difference on this planet. That is what you have come to do and we are here to help re-mind you of that.

We are so honored you are here, for we have been talking for a very long time and now you are listening. We are so honored to be here and see the most beautiful angels on the gameboard of planet Earth. Enjoy the ride, dear ones. Do not worry about the destination for there is none; it is all about the journey, so enjoy wherever you are in that journey right now. Embrace it, love it, laugh with it, cry with it, feel it and ride it out, because when you get Home you will tell all the beautiful stories of your journey on planet Earth. We will all sit around the fire with you and laugh…and make smores.

Dear ones, your whole world is changing. You have known this and have written about it for eons of time. You have known there was a big shift coming. Everyone postulated as to what exactly that looked like, and tried to find how you could speed it up. It is here, happening today, and it is continuing. All the dreams and aspirations you had once hoped for in the year 2012 are here today. We cannot wait to see what you create in 2012 because you are so excited about it, but first you must find which day you are going to play that game.

Connect in any way that you can, dear ones, and touch one another often for that is something that is only done on planet Earth. It is a way to help you re-member who you are, and for others to re-member who they are. It is a way to give your gifts freely and with a tremendous amount of love. Know that we are with you every step of the way, for we have never left you. Know that we love you, as we spread our wings just to reflect your magnificence and to help you re-member who you are. You are the greatest angels that have ever lived.

We leave you with three little reminders. Treat each other with the greatest respect. Nurture one another and play well together.

5 May - Talk to Action Site Update

, , , ...

This is the Weekly digest for Talk To Action [http://www.talk2action.org].

( Actually, there are 3 )

---------------------------------------------------------Christian Right Default: Blame the Jews By Frederick Clarkson, 2013-05-05 00:29:11
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
This past week we saw a remarkable example of the whipping-up of outrage
over the alleged persecution of Christians. The story turned out to be
bogus. Christian Right leaders are scrambling to recover. And its
getting ugly.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/5/5/02911/62326

----Investigating the Indiana Family Institute By Frederick Clarkson, 2013-05-02 20:21:22
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
The Indiana Society of Professional Journalists gave Andy Kopsa its 2012
award for Best Investigative Reporting for a newspaper under 40,000 in
circulation.  And it is well deserved. The judges wrote: "The writer
does a good job of connecting the dots to show the cozy intersection
between religion and politics in Indiana. He highlights the lack of
accountability and transparency on the state's part, raising legitimate
questions about whether public money is being spent properly. This is the
kind of watchdog journalism that can make a difference, giving readers
useful information to become more engaged in how their tax dollars are
being spent." Her story  Separation Anxiety:  Limited religious
mindset takes broad root in Indiana politics
[http://www.nuvo.net/indianapolis/the-twisted-web-of-church-and-state/Cont
ent?oid=2421237&showFullText=true#.UYLt_kqyIZU] appeared in the
altnerative weekly, NUVO.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/5/2/202122/8131

----Thomas E. Woods, Jr. and the Neo-Confederate Catholic Right By Frank Cocozzelli, 2013-05-01 16:38:58
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: Political Strategy -->
Thomas Woods is an increasingly influential
[http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/9/124434/9216]  player on
the Catholic Right. In this and a subsequent post, we will consider how
his world view is   incompatible with both Catholic Social Justice
principles and American history.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/5/1/163858/0598

----Memo To The Religious Right: You Don't Need The Government To Tell You When To Pray By Rob Boston, 2013-04-29 12:56:47
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: Analysis of Christian Right -->
Thursday is theNational Day of Prayer [http://nationaldayofprayer.org/],
and if you want to pray, by all means have at it.I'll let you in on a
little secret: You can pray (or not) as dictated by your very own
conscience. You don't need any branch of the government to tell you what
to do when it comes to religion.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/29/125647/853

----Book in 2012 Predicted Boston Bombing Motive By Chip Berlet, 2013-04-29 09:06:54
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
A book published in 2012 predicted the motive for the suspects in the
Boston Marathon bombing. Terrorist's Creed, by professor Roger Griffin,
explains how revolutionary religious movements construct a motive for
terrorism against the United States and the West. Griffin, a
world-renowned expert on totalitarian thought and the connections among
political fanaticism, violence, and religion, highlighted Chechnya in his
study that explains how young men are radicalized into a zealous form of
Islam. Carefully avoiding stereotyping Islam or Muslims around the world,
Griffin zeros in on the powerful allure of revolutionary "Islamism" in
mapping a course toward terrorism.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/29/9654/93161

---------------------------------------------------------The End of the Literature of Pooh Poohery on Dominionism? By Frederick Clarkson, 2013-04-28 16:50:45
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: Taking Action -->
It is no small thing that Sally Quinn, doyenne of religion at The
Washington Post, seems to have turned around on the problem of
dominionism. In a recent column
[http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/us-military-should-put-re
ligious-freedom-at-the-front/2013/04/26/c1befcea-ade2-11e2-8bf6-e70cb6ae06
6e_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines] at The Washington Post, where she is
the founder and co-editor of On Faith online, Quinn wrote about the
serious problems of divisions in the military, pointing in particular to
rape and proselytization. In the case of the latter, she highlights the
problem of "dominionism."   If this signals a trend, it is a sea
change at the paper, whose featured religion writer Lisa Miller was a
noted contributor [http://www.talk2action.org/story/2011/8/21/201517/933]
to the literature of pooh poohery about both the New Apostolic Reformation
and dominionism.   "'Dominionism'", Miller wrote at the time, "is
the paranoid mot du jour."   It is good to see these issues getting
fresh traction Inside the Beltway.  Let the debate that Miller et al
sought to squelch -- begin now in earnest.  The constellation of
issues related to religion in the military has long been reported and
discussed on this site.  Noted blogger Ken Bernstein at Daily Kos has
taken the conversation forward
[http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/04/28/1205430/-Religious-indoctrinatio
n-in-the-military-is-now-a-serious-issue]. I hope others will as well

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/28/165045/369

----Death by Dominion By Frederick Clarkson, 2013-04-26 19:05:03
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: Theocratic Leadership -->
The Chalcedon Foundation [http://chalcedon.edu/] in Valecito, California
was founded by R.J Rushdoony in 1965 and continues to this day as a think
tank devoted to the development of a school of evangelical Christian
thought called Christian Reconstructionism
[http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v08n1/chrisrec.html]. It is part of a
broader modern theocratic movement that many writers and scholars refer to
as dominionism, after the notion that a goal of many conservative
Christians is to "take dominion" over all aspects of society. The
Chalcedon Foundation conveniently provides its own explanation of the
notion of Christian Dominion [http://chalcedon.edu/topics/dominion/] on
its web site. This is significant in part because in a media flap a few
years ago some [http://www.talk2action.org/story/2011/9/10/02419/7944]
journalists and pundits engaged in a round of smears, denials and
distortions in response to reporting on the contemporary politics of
dominionism in the Republican Party.  Some professed ignorance
[http://www.talk2action.org/story/2011/8/21/201517/933], and claimed that
dominionism was insignificant if it existed at all. Some questioned the
motives of those of us who have written about these things. (Some of us
[http://www.talk2action.org/story/2011/10/6/11493/4209] formally responded
to the more egregious smears.)

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/26/1953/59650

----7 Experts Who Want to Reframe the Boston Bombing Media Coverage By Chip Berlet, 2013-04-26 07:20:55
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
Much media coverage of the worldview and motivation of the suspects in the
Boston bombing case--one now dead--was sensational and provocative. Very
little of it, however, relied on experts who use contemporary--rather than
outdated and discredited social science. Discussions of the possible role
of religion were often stilted or stifled. Contemporary sociological
theory contends that: Most people who join social movements,
political movements, or religious movements are not mentally ill or
stupid. They have adopted an ideology and constructed an identity that in
their view justifies their actions--whether these actions are deemed
constructive or destructive by society. The vast majority of movement
activists never engage in violence. There is no correlation linking
religious piety with violence. The radicalization process itself does
not cause violence. Dissent, movement activism, and non-violent civil
disobedience are part of the democratic process in civil society. So
we asked a variety of respected academics, researchers, and analysts of
movements and political violence to craft an answer to this question:
"As a person with expertise, what would you tell a reporter who
wanted to know what she or he needs to know to craft a better, more
informed story about the Boston bombings as details emerge? Below the
fold is a collection of their responses along with additional resources.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/26/72055/1220

----Press Sanitizes or Ignores Howard Phillips' Role in Using Religion to Radicalize the Political Right By Rachel Tabachnick, 2013-04-25 17:28:16
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
Following the death of Howard Phillips on April 20, the New York Times
described Phillips as a "pillar of conservative activism," but with no
mention of his role in the Religious Right or the Christian
Reconstructionist base of the political party Phillips founded.  The
Constitution Party, previously the U.S. Taxpayers Party, is described in
the New York Times as "based on the founding documents of the nation and
the original intent of the founding fathers" with no reference to the
party's mission "to restore American jurisprudence to its Biblical
foundations." It's impossible to describe the significance of
 Howard Phillips' career without mentioning religion, but mainstream
press tried.  Like former Rep. Ron Paul, with whom he worked closely
for many years, Phillips was at the nexus of the free market gospel and
authoritarian Christianity, using biblical inerrancy as the justification
for both social and economic policy. The redefining of libertarianism and
"religious liberty" as part of a theocratic agenda, is a driving force
behind the radicalization of today's political Right and its
"Constitutional Conservatism."

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/25/172816/151

----Boston Bombing: Ignoring the Dynamics of the Holocaust By Chip Berlet, 2013-04-24 08:58:14
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
A week before the bombing of the Boston Marathon I was in Colorado
explaining how demagogues can use skillful rhetoric to construct a
framework that justifies apocalyptic aggression in the name of a higher
purpose. Those who join in such a violent campaign to purify the land by
targeting the scapegoated enemies are heroes in this storyline. That is
what scholars Hannah Arendt and Gordon W. Allport spent decades explaining
about the Nazi genocide in chilling detail. That was my topic which I
summarized in less than ten minutes in the video here.
[http://www.colorado.edu/cwa/webcast/2463Chip.m4v]

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/24/85814/9342

----Boston Bombing Media Slant: Religion as Pathology By Chip Berlet, 2013-04-23 23:30:02
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
The corporate media is locked in a battle between two offensive frames for
explaining the Boston Marathon Bombings, both of which treat religion like
pathology. Right-wing frame: Blame Islam, the religion of violence, it's
all about a religion of uncivilized tribalists, unleash the FBI, round up
all the teenage Muslims in the United States. Pay no attention to all the
liberals mewing about civil liberties. Our religion is good; theirs is
bad. Liberal/Centrist Frame: It's not Islam, it is teenage angst, and
it's all psychological alienation. Send all the teenagers in the United
States to counseling sessions so they join the Peace Corps or the military
instead of Jihad or Occupy Wall Street. Religion is a crutch for the
damaged.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/23/23302/1294

----Christian Rapper Blasts Prosperity Preachers as "Fal$e Teacher$" By Bill Berkowitz, 2013-04-23 14:49:08
<-- Section: Dominionism in the military, Topic: All Topics -->
While Jay-Z & Beyonce's recent trip to Cuba to celebrate the couple's
fifth anniversary stirred up significant controversy, a new song by a
Christian rapper, relatively unknown to the general public, is ruffling
feathers in the conservative Christian evangelical community, especially
amongst a gaggle of religious gurus known as "Prosperity Preachers."
Christian rapper Shai Linne, according to Charisma News, "recently
released a song [which peaked at #7 on iTunes' Hip Hop/Rap charts] calling
out prosperity gospel teachers by name." The 12 pastors named are -- Joel
Osteen, Joyce Meyer, T.D. Jakes, Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar, Paula White,
Fred Price, Kenneth Copland, Robert Tilton, Eddie Long, Juanita Bynum and
Paul Crouch - and each name is followed by the song's refrain, "is a false
teacher!"

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/23/14498/6208

----Extreme Education: Ron Paul Teams With `Stoner' Gary North To Indoctrinate Home-School Kids By Rob Boston, 2013-04-22 11:52:28
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
Since 1988 I've been keeping an eye on a faction of the Religious Right
known as Christian Reconstructionists.Reconstructionists are so extreme
they make TV preacher Pat Robertson look like a moderate. They call
themselves Reconstructionists because they plan to "reconstruct" American
society along "biblical" lines - well, it's really more their
interpretation of what the Bible mandates. In their case, that means a
country that is a fundamentalist Christian theocracy operating under Old
Testament law.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/22/115228/417


---------------------------------------------------------Republican National Committee Won't Be Holding Gay Marriage Fundraisers Anytime Soon By Bill Berkowitz, 2013-04-21 12:05:27
<-- Section: Dominionism in the military, Topic: All Topics -->
Reports of the Decline of the Religious Right are Premature Rocking and
reeling from November's election debacle, the Republican Party has been
desperately trying to find its footing. A major goal - as stated in its
post-election Growth and Opportunity Project report - has Party leadership
looking to rebrand and re-market itself to younger people minorities and
gays, an almost impossible task considering the power of its conservative
Christian base. Despite its stated desire to reboot, the Republican
National Committee came out of its April meet-up in Los Angeles affirming
that it can not and will not be embracing change, at least as far as "The
Gay" is concerned. According to ABC News, RNC members "voted unanimously
to reaffirm the language in the GOP platform defining marriage `as the
union of one man and one woman.' The resolution went further, asking the
U.S. Supreme Court to `uphold the sanctity of marriage in its rulings on
Proposition 8 and the Federal Defense of Marriage Act.'"

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/21/12527/7192

----Why Bomb the Boston Marathon? By Chip Berlet, 2013-04-20 12:37:55
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
Islamic Totalitarians, Apocalypse, and Terrorism Walk a mile in the shoes
of those who claim to honor God and yet cheer the bombing of the Boston
Marathon. They represent only a tiny fraction of the Muslims on our
planet, yet they see themselves as carrying out the will of God. Fanatics
such as these can be found in many of the World’s religions. They
shoot abortion providers in the United States; blast apart buses in
Israel; and murder Muslims and Hindus in India. These religious
fanatics often combine a totalitarian political mindset with a belief in
sacred prophecy that they are mandated by God to rule the world, and they
must act now against their enemies because time is running out. In fact
they believe that we are approaching the end of time itself, the literal
end of the world as we know it. This worldview is call apocalypticism.
Sketchy details are emerging that suggests one of the motives for the
alleged suspects in the Boston bombing may have been a belief in an
obscure and contested Muslim prophecy about the apocalyptic End Times. We
may never know the full details of what motivated the Tsarnaev brothers,
but if we want to understand the genesis of much Islamic terrorism by a
small handful of Muslims around the world, a speculative tour of their
apocalyptic worldview may help us design a more effective response.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/20/123755/148

----Did Repression in Chechnya Breed the Boston Bombing? By Chip Berlet, 2013-04-19 08:44:40
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
The repression in Chechnya by invading Russian troops was brutal and
deadly. In 2002 Human Rights Watch issued a report stating that "Russian
forces in Chechnya arbitrarily detain, torture, and kill civilians in a
climate of lawlessness." Some Chechen Muslims suggest that Russia and
the United States reached an understanding whereby the US would not pay
attention to human rights abuses in Chechnya as long as Russian forces
were fighting radical Muslims. Richard H. Schultz, Jr. and Andrea J.
Dew in Insurgents, Terrorists, and Militias: The Warriors of Contemporary
Combat, note "the growing significance of Sufi Islam in the social,
political, cultural, and economic life of Chechnya." The Sufi form of
Islam around the world is a pacifist religious movement, and Sufis
generally stay out of politics, and sometimes are persecuted by the more
orthodox Muslims. According to Schultz & Dew, in Chechnya an aberrant
form of Sufism developed. Schultz & Dew suggest that after the Russian
invasion of the North Caucuses, the "idea of ghazzavat or holy war made it
easier for Chechens to take on" the Russian invaders. "By labeling the
Russians 'infidels,' the ghazzavat doctrine" infused the Muslim fighter
with a "feeling of worthiness and moral supremacy." In addition, it
"provided fighters with safe passage to the afterlife" by "eliminating
fear of death and the unknown." For some Muslims in Chechnya, terrorism
was the only viable form of resistance. According to Shultz & Dew,
"radical Islamists from various Arab and Muslim countries" joined the
Chechen resistance, and saw the fight as "part of the international holy
war." What began as a resistance by Chechen nationalists seeking
independence from Russia eventually morphed into a religious campaign
dominated by Muslims. According to Shultz & Dew, "radical Islamists
from various Arab and Muslim countries" joined the Chechen
resistance, and saw the fight as "part of the international holy
war." In 2003, the authors note, "the U.S. State Department
designated three Chechen groups as terrorist organizations and charged
they had links to al-Qaeda." This has been disputed by some experts.
Clearly, not all Chechen resistance fighters were Muslim; some were
simply nationalists opposed to the vicious Russian campaign against
Chechnya. And not all resistance fighters turned to
terrorism.Nonetheless, the question remains, did repression in Chechnya
breed the Boston Bombing?

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/19/84440/6448

----Sex Scandal: Brave W. Va. Student Challenges Inaccurate Sexuality Lecture By Rob Boston, 2013-04-18 10:41:41
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: Reproductive Rights -->
Recently I had occasion to talk with Ellery Schempp, the plaintiff in the
landmark 1963 school prayer and Bible reading case Abington Township
School District v. Schempp. The 50th anniversary of that ruling is in
June, and we'll have a story about the case in the forthcoming May issue
of Church & State.It's not too much of a spoiler to share one story
Ellery told me: After he filed a lawsuit against mandatory religious
exercises at his suburban Philadelphia public high school, the principal
was furious. The man actually called Tufts University, where Ellery had
been accepted, and urged officials there to rescind their decision to
admit him. Ellery, you see, was a "troublemaker." (Tufts officials ignored
the principal's demands.)

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/18/104141/766

----Falsehoods, By George!: Religious Right Seeks Retroactive Baptism Of America's First President By Rob Boston, 2013-04-16 13:01:45
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
If you have nothing better to do on Wednesday, May 8, at 6:30 p.m., you
could go to Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol and listen to a bunch of
Religious Right activists tell lies about George Washington. U.S. Rep.
Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and other members of Congress are sponsoring an
event to celebrate the 224th anniversary of the inauguration of
Washington. The event is called "Washington: A Man of Prayer."

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/16/13145/4839

----Ten Thoughts on the Boston Bombing By Chip Berlet, 2013-04-16 08:49:13
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
More mourning and prayers. Lots of praise for all the first responders.
Less speculation and gossip. Keep in mind that not all acts of violence
are terrorism. Realize that terrorism can be carried out by individuals,
groups, and governments. Talk to friends and family for support. Don't
spread rumors or more anxiety in any way. Confront the attention-seeking
conspiracists for spreading lies. Their swill is toxic to democracy. The
FBI has not stopped numerous acts of terrorism, they have entrapped
numerous hapless people and then busted them for headlines. Whoever is
responsible, do not blame entire groups of people based on their political
leanings, religion, or race.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/16/84913/8776

----David Kuo, Faith-Based Initiative Whistle Blower, Dies at 44 By Bill Berkowitz, 2013-04-15 03:11:53
<-- Section: Dominionism in the military, Topic: All Topics -->
(Thanks to Americans United's Rob Boston for calling attention to the
death of David Kuo in an earlier T2A post.) If you are a regular consumer
of conservative blogs, newsletters and other such stuff, you'd be on an
unsuccessful Sir Henry M. Stanley-like quest in order to discover that
David Kuo has died. (While Stanley found Livingstone, I have yet to see
any meaningful reporting about Kuo's passing in the conservative
media-sphere.) On April 5, Kuo died at age 44, after almost ten years of
battling a brain tumor. Although he wasn't a household name, Kuo was a
major player in the Bush Administration's Faith-Based Initiative who after
leaving the administration wrote a book blowing the lid off the
administration's faith-based shenanigans.  

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/15/31153/0810

Talk to Action Site Digest

, ,

This is the Weekly digest for Talk To Action [http://www.talk2action.org].

The Christian Right & Child Sex Abuse By Frederick Clarkson, 2013-04-13 20:31:40
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: Taking Action -->
The American Christian Right has a problem that I think has not been
adequately addressed by most interested journalists, scholars and
activists. The problem is that the conservative Catholic Bishops and the
conservative leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) have such a
bad record when it comes to child sex abuse, that it should be counting
against their moral and official standing far more than it has.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/13/203140/133

----Boykin's Muslim-Bashing Bombast By Bill Berkowitz, 2013-04-12 03:21:36
<-- Section: Dominionism in the military, Topic: All Topics -->
You wouldn't recognize William "Jerry" Boykin if you were sharing a pole
with him on the subway or sitting next to him on a bus. While he isn't one
of the brightest stars in the conservative Christian right's
constellation, he has certainly tried - and in some cases succeeded - to
raise his profile. For Boykin, now executive vice president of the
Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council, the path to right wing
stardom has revolved around a protracted and vicious anti-Muslim campaign:
Shtick that he's been purveying for more than a decade.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/12/32136/6068

----One Year Ago Today, the 'Least Credible History Book in Print' was Published By Chris Rodda, 2013-04-10 10:25:06
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: History -->
One year ago today, on April 10, 2012, a new book hit the shelves -- David
Barton's The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths You've Always Believed
About Thomas Jefferson. Although Barton has been writing "history"
books for well over two decades, he was relatively unknown outside of
evangelical Christian circles and those of us who fight historical
revisionism until a few years ago, when Glenn Beck, by making him his
resident "historian" and new BFF, propelled him to Christian nationalist
rock star status.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/10/10256/1901

----DeMint at Heritage: Curse or Blessing for Religious Right By Bill Berkowitz, 2013-04-10 02:44:47
<-- Section: Dominionism in the military, Topic: All Topics -->
Weyrich's vision, Coors' money, Fuelner's leadership, and Reagan's stamp
of approval propelled the Heritage Foundation to prominence. Will Jim
DeMint's marketing strategy lead to a conservative revival? For a good
part of the past forty years, The Heritage Foundation has been the most
influential conservative think tank in the country. Now, with its
long-time president Ed Fuelner stepping down and Tea Party favorite former
South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint becoming its president, will it continue
to prosper?

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/10/24447/3990

----Ron Paul Curriculum Launched by Reconstructionist Gary North and Neo-Confederate Thomas Woods By Rachel Tabachnick, 2013-04-09 12:44:34
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
Christian Post
[http://www.christianpost.com/news/ron-paul-launches-homeschool-curriculum
-to-teach-biblical-principles-to-k-12-students-93487/] and other media
sources have announced the April 6 launch of the Ron Paul Curriculum
[http://www.ronpaulcurriculum.com/public/RPC-Faculty-Members-Speak-Out-on-
Education-Today.cfm] for home schoolers.  Fox News described
[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/04/08/ron-paul-starts-libertarian-mi
nded-money-back-guaranteed-home-school-program/] the program as
"libertarian-edged" but Paul's curriculum is being produced by Gary North,
a leading Christian Reconstructionist, and  Thomas Woods, Jr., a
self-described founder of The League of the South. This launch
demonstrates Ron Paul's ongoing commitment to a worldview that is
dramatically different from that of the libertarian label Paul usually
receives, a worldview that has been described by Talk2action contributors
as theocratic libertarianism. Those embracing this ideology prefer to call
themselves "Constitutional conservatives."

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/9/124434/9216

----An Insider's Confession: David Kuo Blew The Whistle On `Faith-Based' Fraud By Rob Boston, 2013-04-08 14:18:57
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
There is some sad news to report today: On Friday, David Kuo died
[http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/j-david-kuo-onetime-leader
-of-bushs-faith-based-initiative-dies-at-44/2013/04/06/24e9cd6a-987e-11e2-
97cd-3d8c1afe4f0f_story.html]. He was only 44 and had been battling an
aggressive brain tumor.You might remember Kuo from the George W. Bush
presidency. He came to Washington in 2001 as an idealistic conservative
foot soldier hoping to help the poor through the "faith-based" initiative.
Two years later, he left disillusioned, convinced that the initiative was
little more than a partisan political stunt.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/8/141857/2900

Improbable Maximum Precipitation

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/04/06/improbable-maximum-precipitation

Ill Tempered Klavier says:
April 6, 2013 at 9:24 pm

Dear Mr. Parsons,

I think I’ll try and answer your criticisms.

My last physics class was over forty years ago and I spent my working life as a musician, operating engineer, and a couple of other things best not mentioned so I’m no expert. Even so most of the answers seem obvious to me.

Since 4.52e+8 joules is the additional energy needed to evaporate the amount of water required to yield a 20% increase in precipitation for one year, each year that continues needs that amount of additional energy from somewhere.

To be conservative, Willis used the evaporation energy for 100 deg. C. i. e. boiling point water. Cooler takes more, see the rubber handbook.

I hope this part is just sloppy reading of the post, not an attempted cheap shot. Willis first referred to global figures for both precipitation and temperature. Then after that, he used Central England as a check. He did not refer to his location at all.

An analysis of Nick Stokes’ point with any rigor would take much more time and calculating than I feel up to at the moment so I’ll content myself with quick and dirty and save the hard figures for later. The energy of evaporation would come through the atmosphere as (mostly) visible light, strike the water, and be converted to heat, evaporating the water. Convection currents carry the water vapor to a high altitude where it condenses. The latent heat from condensation is released as infra red radiation. The altitudes where this happens are above the lion’s share of atmospheric CO2. Therefore, the majority would be radiated to space and little would penetrate back to the surface and be available to re-evaporate water.

That last is basically the “Tropical Thunderstorm Thermostat” effect Willis described a few months ago. The full story should be quite a bit more complicated than that. I’ll get to work on it and report the results unless someone with a sharper pencil than I have beats me to it.

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Weekly digest for Talk To Action

Weekly digest for Talk To Action [http://www.talk2action.org].

Kathy Ainsworth, An American Terrorist By wilkyjr, 2013-03-31 17:38:19
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: anti-semitism -->
Photos of Kathy Ainsworth reveal a charming girl-next- door figure.
 Her good looks and winning personality were on display as she taught
fifth grade students at a private school in Mississippi.  Her story
is a fascinating account that links historical events in the late sixties.
 Her legacy identifies religious connections with the hard right in
the nation.  Her fame is still the topic of books and inter net
 web sites.   She was a real American terrorist motivated by
convictions with roots in religion   Kathy's life ended when she was
slain with an accomplice seeking to bomb a Jewish home in Meridan,
Mississippi.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/3/31/173819/655

----How about Zero Tolerance For Bishop Finn? By Frank Cocozzelli, 2013-03-31 09:28:20
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: child abuse -->
Newly installed Pope Francis is on record
[http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/pope-francis-supports-zero-tolerance
-child-abuse] regarding the Church and child abuse: Zero tolerance.  
Whether his papacy has any credibility on the matter may depend on how he
handles the situation of Bishop Robert Finn who heads the Diocese of
Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/3/31/92820/1572

----High Noon At The High Court: Supreme Court Takes Up Marriage Equality By Rob Boston, 2013-03-26 16:44:29
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: Gay Rights -->
I was fortunate enough to snag a seat in the press gallery for the oral
argument before the U.S. Supreme Court this morning in the Proposition 8
case, Hollingsworth v. Perry.Prop. 8 was narrowly approved by California
voters in 2008. It added a ban on same-sex marriage to the state
constitution. Opponents are challenging it in court, asserting that it
violates the rights of gays and lesbians who wish to marry.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/3/26/164429/164

----Does GOP's "Autopsy" Throw Social Conservatives Under the Bus? By Bill Berkowitz, 2013-03-26 12:27:54
<-- Section: Dominionism in the military, Topic: All Topics -->
After reading the recent report - aka "autopsy" - issued by the Republican
National Committee, some conservative Christian leaders are wondering if
the GOP is intentionally "throwing the party's social conservatives
overboard." When the Republican Party suffers a resounding electoral
defeat, as it did in November, you can pretty much count on the mainstream
media to re-up its flirtation with the notion that the Christian Right is
dead. Anyone who has watched the growth, development and ebb and flow of
this movement over the past four decades, knows that its demise has been
grossly exaggerated. Regardless of whatever defeats it may encounter, its
well-lubricated infrastructure remains pretty darned solid.   That
being said, however, after November's electoral defeat -- making it 5 of
the last 6 national elections in which the GOP lost the popular vote --
Republican Party leaders appear to be distancing themselves from what was
once its core constituency. Even more importantly, the GOP appears to be
distancing itself from the decades old "culture wars."

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/3/26/122754/306

“Iraq: Ten Years of Stupidity” : Comments

http://www.transcend.org/tms/2013/03/iraq-ten-years-of-stupidity/#comments

Alberto Portugheis says:
25 March 2013 at 14:11

“Iraq did not become a democracy as a result”

Dear Johan, I frankly cannot believe that you think the invasion of Iraq was to help the country become a democracy!!!!!

“—-war reveals intellectual poverty” Dear Johan, the most intellectual, cultured, well educated people, advised by other equally educated intellectuals, are those who chose the war path. Non-intellectuals are the millions of soldiers who blindly go to kill (and to die).

Exile and displacements were nor NO problem. On the cintrary, this was the boost the the Refugee Industry needed. At the moment, with Syria, those involved in the Refugee business, are celebrating on a daily basis.

“….the war-which may last 10 more years having upset so many unstable equilibria.” You are here predicting 10 more years of bounty and happiness for the War Industry.

“Nonviolence works against dictators”, you claim, but this is not so. You have no dictator in Switzerland, yet violence in many corners of the world, is what keeps the Swiss alive and rich.

This is why I don´t agree woth your statement on “US-UK war addictions”. The fact these two countries loose their own people in military interventions, the aforementioned Switzerland, France, Russia, China, Sweden, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, etc, also “send others to hell”.

The ONLY alternative: the Universal Abolition of Militarism


opit says:
25 March 2013 at 17:43

10th anniversary of the 19-20 March 2003 coalition invasion of Iraq the stupidity coalesced

That is not the stupidity of the leaders but rather the lameness of the pretexts. It is tough to sell invasion of a state by nuclear armed powers because the victim doesn’t have any – as per the NPT and IAEA certification. To then assert that the people openly advocating ‘overthrow of governments in an arc encompassing energy producing states’ as per the PNAC website or any analysis devoted to the Great Game and rewriting the political map of the Middle East are overly concerned about the health of their puppet governments ( like Saddam, who fought proxy war against Iran ) ignores not only the evidence of NATO Colour Revolutions in the Arab Spring and meddling of Al CIA-da in Libya and Syria but of the war gaming preceding the invasion i.e. Post Saddam Iraq : Desert Crossing.

Do not excuse as stupidity that which is perfectly explainable as cupidity. In the runup to ‘war’ it was blatantly advertised that the costs of the operation would be recouped from Iraq oil revenues. An excellent – if limited – video from the Panelist exposes part of the neglected scenario of the corporate rape of a country : The Real Winner in Iraq was Monsanto.

opit says:
26 March 2013 at 01:21

kobejin
Obviously stupidity has shortcomings at explaining repeated behaviour where corporations reap windfall profits. Do you think Halliburton chose to relocate from the US for reasons other than protecting against possible attempts to recoup losses to what was essentially theft? Or that American Service Members – and contractors – were immunized from Iraqi prosecution because there was no basis in which to charge them ? Avoiding prosecution is not evidence of lack of foresight. Neither were Bremer’s Orders http://www.uruknet.info/?p=42948

Dr. Bishnu Hari Nepal says:
31 March 2013 at 04:21

Is this only Ten Years of Stupidity? Is this not Ten Years of Crime Against Humanity, Sovereignty of a Nation and Ancient Civilization of the world killing more than 1.3 million people and spending more than US $1.3 trillion for the same?

Alberto Portugheis says:
31 March 2013 at 12:24

Dr Bishnu Hari says “…killing more than 1.3 million people and spending more than US $1.3 trillion for the same?” without realizing that 1.3 million “have to die” in order for others to make “U$A 1.3 trillion”.

If politicians did not intend killing people, why would they promote weapon manufacturing and trading? why would they give so much money to University Science Departments to help scientists develop faster and more powerful bombs, longer distance reaching missiles, more sophisticated drones, etc?

Not opposing weapon manufacturing and trade and Armed Forces, is the same as promoting war.

Alberto Portugheis says:
3 April 2013 at 00:47

Dear Bishnu,

“peaceful settlement of disputes” is exactly what politicians do all the time !!!!!!!! this is WHY we have so many wars. They are all carefully and “peacefully” debated in Government offices (I am a witness of wars negotiated in the UN) in Restaurants, in private homes of politicians and Armed Forces chiefs. You write as if wars were accidents that just happen, unexpectedly.

Please try to put yourself in the position of a man with a passion for flying air-fighters. You spend 4 years training, become a fantastic pilot, capable of hitting buildings and people with pinpoint accuracy at great speeds. Would you be a happy man if your Government made you spend your life at home watching TV?

Please imagine you are the owner of a bomb factory. Will you be happy with a Government who doesn’t give you business? will you vote for a Government that you know will never engage in wars or encourage other countries to fight?

How will you pay your employees if Governments decided not to have wars and you can’t sell your bombs?

Do you know how many poets, musicians, actors, school teachers, nurses, bus drivers, chefs, shoe makers, etc, finance political parties? NONE. But, look at the list of donors: Bankers, petrol and gold barons, military manufacturers (arms, tanks, mortars, landmines, bombs, Apache helicopters, warships, nuclear submarines, etc) They are the ones who help politicians reach power, together with their associates, the Media/Press barons.

Politicians are “forced” through very polite, civilized and sophisticated arrangements, to pay back the favour. If they neglect the tacit “code of practice” they don’t last in power, if they’re lucky not to be assassinated.

Diplomats are well educated and cultured people, more often than not, Now people forget Diplomacy is the Art of concealing what you are really thinking or doing. Officially, Diplomacy is described as “allowing international relations through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to issues of peace, trade, WAR, economics, culture, environment, and human rights. War is not made by soldiers or armed civilians. These are the victims of war. Wars are negotiated very carefully between very educated people. Warmonger Churchill was a painter. Hitler was a painter and a great music lover, who could sit for hours listening to a Wagner opera. He also loved, Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven.

International treaties – whether for war or for Peace – are usually negotiated by diplomats prior to endorsement by national politicians.

That’s how the GAME goes and it will NOT change whilst we allow military toys manufacturing and trading. IMPOSSIBLE!!!!

The Great Afghan Corruption Scam: How Operation Enduring Freedom Mutated into Operation Enduring Corruption

Talk to Action Digests

, , ,

This is the Weekly digest for Talk To Action [http://www.talk2action.org].
As The Right Turns By Frederick Clarkson, 2013-03-23 22:38:38
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
This week's featured item on As The Right Turns is a tale of influential
Christian Nationalist writer David Barton, whose distorted and politically
opportunistic versions of history
[http://www.politicalresearch.org/history-is-powerfulwhy-the-christian-rig
ht-distorts-history-and-why-it-matters/] have become increasingly
controversial
[http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/3/1/115025/8565/Front_Page/Barton_s
_Bad_Season_Christian_Nation_Advocate_Continues_To_Sink]. The Texas
Freedom Network flags
[http://tfninsider.org/2013/03/21/david-barton-on-just-war-theory-we-had-t
o-destroy-indian-tribes-to-civilize-them/] (with a hat tip to Right Wing
Watch
[http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/david-barton-explains-just-war-theo
ry-we-had-destroy-indian-tribes-until-they-became-civiliz]) Barton's
explanation of why white settlers had to wipe out Native American tribes
and why the plains buffalo needed to be exterminated. And In Other News:
  Following the goings on of the Religious Right from a critical
perspective can be, among other things, time consuming.  However, to
save you time, some of us who follow these things, can be followed on
Twitter.  So if you find yourself on Twitter, you might follow as I
do, these groups whose main focus is on the Religious Right:
 Americans United for Separation of Church and State @americansunited
[https://twitter.com/americansunited]  Political Research Associates
@PRAEyesRight [https://twitter.com/PRAEyesRight]  Religious Right
Watch @ReligiousRW [https://twitter.com/ReligiousRW]  Right Wing
Watch @RightWingWatch [https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch]  Texas
Freedom Network @TFN [https://twitter.com/tfn]  And of course, you
can follow me too @fredclarkson [https://twitter.com/FredClarkson]

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/3/23/223838/875

----Writing About The Right By Frederick Clarkson, 2013-03-22 22:00:49
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: Taking Action -->
One of the challenges in writing about the Religious Right and what to do
about it is the matter of terms and definitions.  That's why from
time to time I revise and update this post. From the earliest days
[http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/1/19/235149/867] of Talk to Action,
we have often written about how unfair labels and terms of demonization
are not only inaccurate and opposed to basic standards of scholarship and
journalism; but conflict with the basic values of all people of good will
-- and tend to be politically counterproductive as well.  The purpose
of this post is not to go over all that again.  I simply want to
highlight some useful resources on basic definitions and usage for those
who are interested in trying to get it right. In that regard, I want to
highlight a new addition to the canon, Rachel Tabachnick's important new
essay Spiritual Warriors with an Anti-Gay Mission: The New Apostolic
Reformation
[http://www.politicalresearch.org/spiritual-warriors-with-an-antigay-missi
on/], published in The Public Eye, which features fresh and definitive
usage of some important terms.  

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/3/22/22049/3608

----Pope Francis' Silence on Pedophilia and Argentina's "Dirty War" By Bill Berkowitz, 2013-03-22 12:55:12
<-- Section: Dominionism in the military, Topic: All Topics -->
Based on the information I've garnered over the past week or so, it would
not be fair to characterize Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio - now Pope
Francis - as having been complicit with the military dictatorship's
imprisonment, torture and murder of more than 30,000 Argentinians during
that country's "Dirty War." It would be a lot closer to the truth,
however, to see him as a man of inaction; one who, for whatever political,
religious and/or personal reasons, chose to remain silent. While it may be
understandable that Bergoglio was unwilling to risk his life during the
"Dirty War," which would have been threatened had he vigorously spoken out
against the military dictatorship's human rights abuses, it is far less
understandable why, for the longest time, he has remained virtually
indifferent to those who suffered at the hands of  sexually abusive
clergy in Argentina.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/3/22/125512/613

----Beware of Max Myers' "Strategy to Bring Transformation to Pennsylvania" By Rachel Tabachnick, 2013-03-20 14:29:44
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
How does a regressive and theocratic-minded movement market itself with
progressive-sounding jargon? The gubernatorial campaign of Max Myers is a
textbook example.  Myers has spent the last six years leading the
Global School of Supernatural Ministry under Randy Clark's Apostolic
Network of Global Awakening, part of the Revival Alliance network that
"commissioned" Todd Bentley and includes aggressively anti-abortion and
anti-gay activist Lou Engle.  Myers is running for governor as a
Democrat and kicked off a two-day media campaign at an LGBT community
center in Philadelphia on Monday. At his next stop, at the state capitol
in Harrisburg, Myers told reporters
[http://www.roxburynews.com/index.php?a=5923] that "he has a strategy to
bring transformation to Pennsylvania," although he would not reveal the
details.  Transformation is a buzzword that resonates with people
across the nation who have embraced the teachings of the apostles and
prophets of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR).

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/3/20/142944/066

----NAR Leader Running for Governor in Pennsylvania - As a Democrat By Rachel Tabachnick, 2013-03-18 22:32:34
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
Kicks Off His Campaign at Philly LGBT Center Max Myers spent the last six
years as the head of the Global School of Supernatural Ministry (GSSM) of
the Apostolic Network of Global Awakening (ANGA). ANGA is led by
internationally known apostle, Randy Clark, and includes the regional
Wagner Leadership Institute (WLI) and GSSM housed in the Apostolic
Resource Center in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, a few miles from the state
capitol.   Required reading for some of the ANGA programs describes
homosexuality as caused by demons. GSSM requires students to confess any
homosexual sex on their application forms.  Nevertheless, Myers is
running as a Democrat in the 2014 gubernatorial race and kicked off a
two-day media campaign on Monday morning at Philadelphia's William Way
LGBT Community Center.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/3/18/223235/954

----Holiday Humbug: Sarah Palin Plots To Restore The True Meaning Of Christmas By Rob Boston, 2013-03-18 12:14:22
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: Analysis of Christian Right -->
As I glance out my office window today at the snowflakes drifting down
from the leaden gray skies of Washington, D.C., I have to keep reminding
myself that spring will be here soon - on Wednesday, actually.But, of
course, that doesn't mean it's too early to start thinking about Christmas
- especially if you're Sarah Palin.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/3/18/121422/114

Previous Week

As The Right Turns By Frederick Clarkson, 2013-03-16 23:48:41
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
In this week's feature story in As The Right Turns, Blogger Slacktivist,
reminds
[http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2012/02/18/the-biblical-view-tha
ts-younger-than-the-happy-meal/] us that evangelicals did not always
believe that life begins at conception. In 1979, McDonald's introduced the
Happy Meal.     Sometime after that, it was decided that the
Bible teaches that human life begins at conception.     Ask any
American evangelical, today, what the Bible says about abortion and they
will insist that this is what it says....     That's new. If
you had asked American evangelicals that same question the year I was born
you would not have gotten the same answer. By the time of the 1988
elections, everyone in American evangelicalism was wholly opposed to legal
abortion and everyone in American evangelicalism was pretending that this
had always been the case And in other news:  Jandira Queiroz,
Research Fellow at Political Research Associates has the story
[http://www.politicalresearch.org/aclj-new-brazil-home/] of the American
Christian Right making moves on Brazil. She also has the story
[http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/sexandgender/6907/pentecostal_w
ith_history_of_hate_speech_selected_as_president_of_brazil_s_human_rights_
body/] of the political rise of the virulently anti-gay  "Marco
Feliciano, a right-wing Pentecostal pastor from the country's Social
Christian Party."  And in the U.S., Christian Right Latinos (both
Catholic and Protestant) are lining up
[http://www.christianpost.com/news/hispanics-of-faith-ask-obama-to-separat
e-lgbt-issues-from-immigration-reform-91083/cpt] with the Catholic Bishops
to say that any mention of LGTB civil rights in immigration reform is a
"deal breaker."  Among the leaders this nay to gay coalition is
Samuel Rodriguez
[http://www.politicalresearch.org/rev-samuel-rodriguez-not-so-moderate/],
leader of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, which
wants to sound a lot like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
once headed by Martin Luther King...

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/3/16/234841/241

----Make April 8 International Friendship Day By Chip Berlet, 2013-03-14 20:45:12
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
April 8, 2013 could be a day to welcome immigrants and people from other
nations. My colleague and friend Dr. Mohammad Mahallati, at Oberlin
College, wants Congress to declare April 8 International Friendship Day.
Mahallati, from a family with generations of Imams, says difference is a
blessing. He has his hands full at Oberlin due to a rash of recent racial
incidents, but he is an optimist. Indeed, we all should be optimists and
activists. Why? One big reason is that our country is facing an
unrelenting campaign to demonize immigrants, especially those from Mexico,
South and Central America, and the Middle East. This in part is based on
fears of the changing demographic backgrounds of the people who make up
our society. Fear of new immigrants is nothing new, nor is bigotry, racial
strife, or other aspects of anti-immigrant xenophobia. These days there is
also an entire industry devoted to spreading false and malicious claims
about Muslims. Xenophobia is one of those words few of us think about;
but it just means fear of the stranger or anything we find strange or
unfamiliar. We are told by social scientists that as a species we are
programmed to face the stranger with a fight or flight response.
They leave out the third F for friendship. Its not just a utopian
dream; the future of our nation depends on teaching about difference and
friendship among people from diverse backgrounds as a practical national
policy.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/3/14/204512/936

----Author of Christian Dominionist Textbook Plays Role of Thomas Jefferson on Fox News By Rachel Tabachnick, 2013-03-14 11:14:04
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
Hat tip to Ulyankee for his recent Talk2action post
[http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/3/8/233636/8181]. Fox News
recently featured
[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/08/fox-and-friends-thomas-jefferson
_n_2838526.html]  Steve Doocy interviewing Stephen McDowell in the
role of Thomas Jefferson. McDowell is the co-author of the popular
homeschooling textbook America's Providential History. This textbook
includes quotes claiming that there is no shortage of natural resources -
all the people on earth could live in Texas in single family homes and
live on food produced in the U.S. alone, for example. Authors McDowell and
Mark Beliles provide a list of "Christ Guidelines for Resistance to
Tyranny" and warn, "There may come a time when we must resist lawful
tyranny." (1991 edition, p. 31) It would be hard to find a better example
than this textbook, first published in 1989, of the Christian Dominionist
worldview behind much of today's paranoid, anti-government politics.
Quotes from the text follow after the fold.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/3/14/11144/4794

----False Freedom: Ky. Governor Should Veto Reckless `Religious Liberty' Law By Rob Boston, 2013-03-13 11:21:34
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: All Topics -->
Kentucky legislators have passed a law they say protects "religious
freedom" and have forwarded it to Gov. Steve Beshear.This morning,
Americans United joined other groups in the state asking Beshear to veto
the bill.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/3/13/112134/563

----As the Right Turns By Frederick Clarkson, 2013-03-12 00:22:09
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: Taking Action -->
This week we have an abbreviated and belated version of As the Right
Turns. President Obama has appointed the first woman to head the
perennially scandal plagued U.S. Air Force Academy.  Perhaps Maj.
Gen. Michelle Johnson [http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123338422] can
lead the Academy out of the era of anti-democratic religious supremacism
and bigotry.  The latest such unfortunate episode involves the
Academy's promotion of a homophobic web site, JewFAQ, operated by an
Orthodox Jewish layman.  The site declares
[http://www.jewfaq.org/sex.htm] among other things, that "The sin of
sexual relations between men is punishable by death (Lev. 20:13), as are
the sins of adultery and incest." The Military Religious Freedom
Foundation
[http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/2013/03/usafa-protest-rally-3813-
mrffs-colorado-springs-billboard/] (MRFF) has demanded
[http://www.csindy.com/IndyBlog/archives/2013/03/01/weinstein-to-stage-pro
test] that the Academy remove the link.  MRFF wrote:
 Additionally, it includes a speciously hideous comparison of the
originating cause of homosexuality to that of kleptomania. This disgrace
is an open slap in the face to all lesbian, gay, and bisexual USAFA
cadets, faculty, and staff. Additionally, the website contains the absurd
and perverse notion that males who masturbate should have their hands
chopped off." Additionally, the website states that women's social status
under Judaism is that they are "separate but equal," a statement that
typically stipulates the polar opposite of any modern, democratic
conception of "equality."

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/3/12/0229/59686

----No Weigel Room For NBC's Non-Disclosure By Frank Cocozzelli, 2013-03-10 19:18:49
<-- Section: Front Page, Topic: Broadcasting & Media -->
George Weigel, who has frequently appeared on the NBC Nightly News as a
"Vatican analyst" in the run up to the Conclave of Cardinals that will
select the next pope, has served as a  consultant on Catholic issues
to NBC since 1999.  But what NBC does not tell us -- is that Weigel
is no ordinary expert.  He is one of the leaders of today's Catholic
Right.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/3/10/191849/537