Category: Uncategorized

 
From Frances Langum:

YouTube doesn’t even follow their own guidelines if a channel is making them money. And now we find out their algorithms point pedophilia-types to home videos of younger children?!?

Here at C&L we’ve been following the story of Carlos Maza versus a specific YouTube channel that engages in anti-gay harassment specifically of him, by name.

This week Samantha Bee focused outrage on YouTube’s continued hosting of those videos, as well as YouTube’s algorithm allegedly encouraging pedophiles with “suggested” home videos of younger and younger children.

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From Michael John Scott at MadMikesAmerica:

It should come as no surprise that Chick-fil-A has a fan in Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. On Monday he signed into law a bill that blocks “adverse action” against the restaurant and other businesses and persons for contributions to religious groups. Chick-fil-A is a notorious hate organization that embraces the bible like an alcoholic embraces the bottle.

The bizarre “Save Chick-fil-A” law will take effect Sept. 1 and it stems from a decision to block a Chick-fil-A restaurant from opening at San Antonio’s airport. In March, councilman Roberto Trevino reportedly said the city did “not have room in our public facilities for a business with a legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior,” referencing donations to Christian groups including the Salvation Army, per Fox News.

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Cost and benefit: What politician wouldn’t like to publicize a benefit and keep the cost a secret?
– Ray
 
From Wisconsin conservative James Wigderson:

Gov. Scott Walker lost narrowly after opposing increases in transportation spending and taxation. His successor, Gov. Tony Evers, would like to raise the gas tax.

Republicans in the legislature are opposed to raising the gas tax, including many Republicans who actually supported a gas tax increase prior to the last election. Now Republicans would like to raise fees and borrowing to cover increased transportation costs.

Those are all debatable positions and here at RightWisconsin we have published articles from all sides of the transportation funding issue. We’re confident that the political process of the state budget will play out with some sort of compromise, even if that compromise leads to a renewed debate prior to the 2020 legislative elections.

That’s the way the process is supposed to work, even if it isn’t pretty or convenient to politicians.

Nearly hidden in the transportation budget passed by the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee (JFC) is a provision that would allow the committee to implement a mileage-based fee on drivers by 2023. The decisions to create the fee, how it would implemented, and the amount of the fee would all be in the hands of the 16-member JFC instead of the full legislature and the governor.

There are legitimate privacy concerns as well as concerns about the cost of the mileage fee. But those pale in contrast to the very idea that the mileage fee could be implemented without the consent of the full legislature, and in turn the consent of the governed.

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From Infidel753:

I don’t have a preferred candidate for the Democratic nomination yet (it’s way too early), but if I had to make a prediction today, I’d say that Biden will probably get it. This isn’t just based on his huge current lead in polls of Democrats. One can point to many earlier instances where the clear front-runner so long before the actual primaries didn’t get the nomination. However, Electoral-Vote today made this point:

The Democrats’ problem is that collectively they appeal to far more than half the voters, but individually they don’t. While Sanders is strong with blue-collar men, he is extremely weak with blacks. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) does great with blacks, but very poorly with blue-collar men. Elizabeth Warren does well with college-educated suburban women, but is nowhere with blue-collar men or blacks. Pete Buttigieg is the choice of many millennials, but is not so hot with Latinos. The only candidate who seems to do reasonably well with all Democratic constituencies (and who is hated by none) is Biden. In the end, this may make him the most acceptable compromise candidate.

This could help explain why, while polls show several Democrats beating Trump in key states, they almost always show Biden doing so by the largest margin (Quinnipiac even has him four points ahead of Trump in Texas). Polls of the general election ask voters to envisage a candidate as already being the nominee and potentially becoming President. Black voters’ lack of enthusiasm for Sanders, or blue-collar voters’ suspicion of Warren, etc., may well dampen support in such a scenario. But every major group in our coalition would turn out for Biden.

This may also account for his higher perceived “electability”, a word which it has recently become fashionable to disdain.

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From tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors:

We might have mentioned that in addition to a bringing bucket of fried chicken to a congressional hearing, the Dems thought that exhuming John Dean—Tricky Dick Nixon’s former White House Counsel (fired)—was a masterstroke of political theater, except for the part about anyone under the age of 65 knowing who he is, or even caring. We thought for sure this would be a snooze-fest that would fall on it’s face.

We were wrong.

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From Ted McLaughlin:

Texas has been a very red state for more than two decades now. It is a state that Republicans rely on for statewide offices and to send a majority to Washington. So one might think that Texans would agree with right-wingers on the issues of LGBT rights and abortion rights.

But a new poll shows that’s just not true.

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From Vixen Strangely at Strangely Blogged:

I was skeptical about the value of John Dean’s testimony comparing President Trump’s actions in office with Watergate, and still am. It’s not that I think the comparison is wrong–I don’t! It’s just that even after Nixon resigned (and was pardoned) we still got Republican presidents even though the madness of the criminality proposed or actually engaged in by Nixon and associates is actually mind-blowing when actually contemplated.

So we got Reagan and-Iran Contra (and I never could swear the October Surprise conspiracy wasn’t a real thing, either). When George H.W. Bush got into office, he pardoned the handful of Reagan officials that had been convicted, and it seems pretty unlikely that Bush was as “out of the loop” regarding that affair as he claimed.

George W. Bush’s presidency should have been the final straw.

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From The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser:

I am of the opinion that Evangelical Christianity is, overall, psychologically, socially, educationally, and politically harmful. This has become increasingly clear now that Evangelical beliefs are front and center in debates over global warming, same-sex marriage, LGBTQ civil rights, abortion, immigration, and a host of other issues. If Evangelicalism were all about personal salvation and piety, I would have no need to write this post, but since many Evangelicals are Heaven-bent on establishing the Kingdom of their God on earth and forcing the moral and immoral teachings of the Bible on all of us, it is imperative that atheists, agnostics, humanists, and other non-Evangelicals find effective ways to combat Evangelical influence, dominance, and control.

Far too many atheists think that the best way to reach Evangelicals is to argue with them, post anti-Christian memes, or engage in monkey-esqe shit-throwing contests on social media. While these types of activities might make atheists feel good or elicit laughs, they do nothing when it comes to turning back the Evangelical horde. The primary reason this is so is that Evangelicals are conditioned to believe that attacks and harassment from unbelievers are persecution. Evangelicals are taught to view such persecution as the normal part of living a godly life in a wicked, sin-filled world. 2 Timothy 3:12 says: Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Remember this the next time you feel inclined to put an Evangelical in his place. You are just feeding his persecution complex when you do. While it might make you feel good in the moment to gut a creationist on social media, ask yourself, what is it that I have accomplished by doing so? If the goal is societal transformation, then rational freethinkers and secularists must find effective ways to evangelize Evangelicals.

The purpose of this blog is to help people who have doubts about Christianity or who have already left Christianity. My goal has NEVER been to evangelize Evangelical zealots or apologists. I see myself as a facilitator, helping people on this journey we call life.

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From Dave Dubya:

The Normandy landings by air and sea were hard fought, with thousands of allied troops paying the ultimate sacrifice to liberate Europe from fascism.

Within a year, Nazi Germany was defeated.

How the wheel turns.

Today the “America First” president has undermined the alliance born of that conflict. Our Right Wing Authoritarian leader demeans and bickers with allies as he praises tyrants.

But that’s all fine with the clueless dupes and empowered white nationalists of his base. Their Orange Fuhrer can do no wrong. Right Wing Authoritarian followers are loyal to their authoritarian leader, every bit as loyal as Hitler’s followers.

The Leader proved he understands this, by bragging he could shoot someone down in the street and his cult would remain loyal.

White nationalists, Klansmen, and Nazis love him.

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