What Does Your State Do Best

BY FC Expert Blogger JD RuckerTue Dec 28, 2010

Remembering Those We Have Lost in 2010

This is Great.

WBC is at it again.

The Westboro Baptist Church has posted a list of new places and publications to hate. I read the Good As You blog everyday and they made the list.

For those of you who do not know about the WBC or its founder Fred Phelps, here is a quick summery.
They Hate Everyone. We are all going to hell. Natural disasters are a good thing. A dead solider is a good thing. They think Jerry Falwell is in hell and deserves it.
All because they hate homos so much.
Start at the link and discover for yourself how sick this family is.

Six ways the religious right groups lie about the gay community

If a person hears something often enough it can become the truth in their mind even if it is not true. These hate groups have been spreading lies over and over for a long time so it is our job to spread the truth and expose the liers over and over.

This is a crosspost from Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters 

This a repost which has been updated. We know that religious right groups peddle distortions designed to demonize the lgbt community.

However we really should do more than simply declare them bigots. The lgbt community needs to follow the advice of high school math teachers and "show our work" in proving what needs to be known about these so-called pro-family groups, i.e. that they lie intentionally to create a phony picture of the lgbt community. So I have compiled a pattern of religious right deception which can be broken down to six techniques:

1. Using nonrepresentative or out-of-date studies to make generalizations, or distorting legitimate studies to give misleading conclusions

Example 1 - Religious right talking point: According to the book Homosexualities: A Study of Diversity Among Men and Women, 43 percent of white male homosexuals had sex with 500 or more partners, with 28 percent having 1,000 or more sexual partners. Therefore gays have no concept of mongamy and certainly can't be trusted to raise children.

Truth - Homosexualities was a book written in 1978 that only looked a certain portion of the lgbt population (gay men in the city of San Francisco). It also did not look at same-sex households. In addition, the authors of Homosexualities (Alan Bell and Martin Weinberg) said that their book should not be used to generalize about all gays in general:

“. . . given the variety of circumstances which discourage homosexuals from participating in research studies, it is unlikely that any investigator will ever be in a position to say that this or that is true of a given percentage of all homosexuals.”

Example 2 - Religious right talking point: Same sex marriage and gay adoption are bad ideas because research shows that the best places to raise children are in homes with a mother and a father.

The truth - The research only looked at heterosexual two-parent households as opposed to single parent heterosexual households. Same-sex households were never included.

Point of fact - The following researchers, physicians, and Ph.D.s have complained about how the anti-gay industry has misused their work:

A. Nicholas Groth,

the six researchers of a Canadian study (Robert S. Hogg, Stefan A. Strathdee, Kevin J.P. Craib, Michael V. Shaughnessy, Julio Montaner, and Martin T. Schehter),

Dr. Robert Garofalo (see Gays as Diseased),\

Lisa Waldner,

Dr. Kyle Pruett,

Dr. Elizabeth Saewyc,

Carol Gilligan,

Dr. Robert Spitzer,

Dr. Francis Collins,

Gary Remafedi,

Professor Michael King,

Professor Lisa Diamond,

Judith Stacey,

Angela Phillips,

the authors of the book Unequal Opportunity: Health Disparities Affecting Gay and Bisexual Men in the United States (Professors Richard J. Wolitski, Ron Stall, and Ronald O. Valdiserri),

Theo Sandfort, and

John Horgan.

2. Repetition - Despite the fact that several physicians and researchers complain about the distortion of their work, corrections are usually not made. In fact, you can still find the work of the six Canadian researchers, Judith Stacey, A. Nicholas Groth, and Robert Garofalo, as well as many others being distorted on various religious right webpages.

3. Conspiracy Theory - Claiming that gays and lesbians are consistently plotting to "erode traditional values"

Example - “The agenda of homosexual activists is basically to change America from what they perceive as looking down on homosexual behavior, to the affirmation of and societal acceptance of homosexual behavior. It is an agenda that they basically set in the late 1980s, in a book called After the Ball, where they laid out a six-point plan for how they could transform the beliefs of ordinary Americans with regard to homosexual behavior—in a decade-long time frame." - Craig Osten, Q&A: The Homosexual Agenda, Focus on the Family, July 25, 2003

4. Dire Consequences - Claiming that a pro-gay law or ordinance will lead to negative consequences without proof that the consequences will take place.

Example 1 - “Imagine, if you will, a 280 lb linebacker who likes to wear a dress and high heels and lipstick, you know comes to church wanting a job at the front desk as a receptionist and they turn him away because they don’t feel that that represents their values or the image that they’re trying to hold at that church, under ENDA they could be held accountable for discrimination against that individual.” - Matt Barber, Concerned Women for America, 2007

Example 2 - “H.R. 254 elevates one group of Americans above others, creating a special class of victims. All things being equal, it means that if a 5-foot-2-inch grandmother is violently attacked on the street, she is less worthy of justice than the 6-foot-4-inch homosexual man who is attacked by the same assailant.” - Matt Barber, Concerned Women for America, 2007

5. Phony Experts - Creating their own "experts" on the lgbt community. One such "expert" is Linda Harvey of Mission America. According to her bio, she is a former ad executive who became a born again Christian. Another phony expert is Glenn T. Stanton of Focus on the Family. He is considered an "expert" on the subject of homosexuality but has a master’s degree in interdisciplinary humanities with an emphasis in philosophy, history and religion. And this also includes organizations. In a recent appearance on the news program Hardball, Family Research Council head Tony Perkins cited the  "work" of the American College of Pediatricians as proof that "homosexuality poses a danger to children." However Perkins neglected to mention that the American College of Pediatricians is not a legitimate group but a sham organization laundering religious right distortions as scientific fact.

6. Dehumanizing Semantics - Consistently using language (i.e. demonstrative verbs and adjectives) in their talking points, sound bites, and press releases to deliberately make gays and lesbians seem like impersonal, threatening outsiders. These verbs and adjectives include such phrases as:

• promoting homosexuality
• marketing homosexuality
• endorsing homosexuality
• teaching homosexuality
• homosexual activists
• radical gay agenda
• forcing their agenda on us
• pro-homosexual
• sodomy advocates
• sodomy lobby
• sexual anarchists
• special rights
• homosexual behavior
• legitimizing their lifestyle
• lifestyle
• deadly lifestyle
• redefining marriage
• counterfeit marriage
• aggressive minority of sexual deviants
• homosexual indoctrination
• ramming their agenda down our throats
• gay militants
• they are after our children
• homosexuals can’t reproduce so they have to recruit
• normalizing homosexuality
• marketing their lifestyle to children
• indoctrinating children

If the lgbt community is going to get any headway with combating religious right groups, the labeling of these groups as bigots without any discussion or knowledge of their techniques of deception  must stop. The lgbt community must roll up its collective sleeves and do the hard work not just to educate those in the mainstream, but also itself.

Elton John & Partner Become Parents

 

Elton John and his partner David Furnish have announced the birth of a son.

The baby boy, who was born Dec. 25 in California via a surrogate, weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces. "We are overwhelmed with happiness and joy at this very special moment," John and Furnish tell Us in a joint statement. "Zachary is healthy and doing really well, and we are very proud and happy parents." This is the first child for John, 62, and Furnish, 48. The couple married in 2005 after 12 years together.

Actually, Us Magazine, the couple is civilly partnered in the UK, not married. The baby's full name: Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John.

NJ Blizzard

December 2010 Blizzard Timelapse from Michael Black on Vimeo.

NYC Snowplow Vs. Parked Cars

Toys

Thank goodness the holidays are over!  Everyone spent the 26^th sleeping, eating leftovers, and playing with their new toys.

It is the toys I want to address. When I was a kid there were no video games, PCs, or even VCRs. (Yes I am that old). Most of what we got was bikes, board games, skates, music, and my favorite….a portable cassette player. It was stuff to get outside and play. Then came technology.

We parked it in front of the TV with cable and VCRs. Home video games were simple at first but once you got hooked, it was hours on your butt running Mario around. PCs came along to make life richer with knowledge and wider in the ass. Obesity is a problem in America with childhood obesity on the rise.

Now the games have turned a corner. No longer does one sit to play a game. Wii changed that. We have a Wii and it can be a workout playing any game as well as the exercise programs. It has brought the family together like board games and it gets you out of the chair. I personally, am the world’s greatest Rock Band drummer. Great cardio.

The Xbox Connect has brought interacting with the game to a new level. While I have not had the pleasure, my son has and he filled me in on how it works and how sore he was after playing all day. It “sees” you and anything else that comes into its field of vision. Very interesting.

My wife has a new toy on her phone. It is a talk to text feature for text messaging. She likes it for the most part except when she uses slang or mispronounces a word. She is from the south and has a bit of an accent when it comes to some words. Needless to say she has had to learn the correct pronunciation of a few words. I am from Ohio where most pronunciations are used for Webster’s dictionary so I find it funny. There is also text to talk and talk to text on most computers or you can get one on line.

There is a new app. for the phone called Word Lens that can “look” at a sign in one language and translate it to another instantly. Very cool.

After discussing all the cool interactivity, my son brings up Orwell’s 1984 and Big Brother. (Conspiracy theory genes run in my family). He is not sure if he likes being “seen and heard” by all these toys. They are fun to play with but don’t leave them on when you are finished, someone may be watching. I can see how it all could lean that way. If I had something to hide or suffered from any form of paranoia the idea of being watched is conceivable.

My take is different. Maybe very different. Here goes….

I like that games have gotten us off our collective obese asses and maybe inspire us to become a more physically fit nation. The Xbox Connect is a step closer to fully interactive 3D holodecks where one can be fully immersed in any fantasy of your choice.

I think the text to talk and back will not only teach the proper use of whatever language you speak but enable you to quickly learn other languages and if there is no time to learn you can use your Universal Translator to read and tell you what the sign or menu says.

All of these toys can and will lead us to a more interactive world. With better and faster sharing of information, we will have a clearer understanding and appreciation of other people and cultures. With knowledge, education, and exposure to differences we will be less discriminating. Would it be nice if the world could work together as one? With the barriers of language and discrimination gone, we could be.

We are just one large rock rotating in space among billions of other rocks. Some like ours. I am less concerned with Big Brother as I am hoping someone else is watching and waiting to meet us.

I have to go now…….my Wii is “calling”.

This Week in Holy Crimes

 

Crosspost from joemygod.com

This Week In Holy Crimes

Over the last seven days...

Texas: Pastor Earl Post arrested for stalking a teenage girl.
New York: Rabbi Victor Koltun pleads not guilty to ordering the murders of two men. Koltun was previously sentenced to five years for mail fraud.
Connecticut: Pastor David Pomales and his children arrested in church brawl.
Bangladesh: Imam Afsar Ali arrested in connection with the death of a woman who was publicly caned for adultery.
Kansas: Pastor Mark Holick arrested for attempting to force gospel tracts upon Muslims exiting a mosque.
Italy: Court upholds the seizure of $30M in Vatican assets used to launder money for the mafia. The Vatican claims it's all a "misunderstanding."
Texas: Pastor Sandra McGriff arrested for burglary after cops apprehended her stealing two fur coats from the home of a church member. Police also found three purses and a laptop in McGriff's Jaguar.
California: Father Joseph McCabe denied bail pending extradition to Ireland on numerous counts of child molestation.
Texas: Pastor Ivory McDaniels charged with multiple counts of sexual assaults on female minors.
Ireland: Report shows Dublin Archdiocese transferred Father Tony Walsh to cover up numerous sexual assaults on boys and girls. The church never reported Walsh to the police.
Iowa: Pastor Timothy Parker sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexual assault on a child.
Bolivia: Father Jose Ochua sentenced to 22 years in prison for sexually abusing at least 19 children in an orphanage.

This Week's Winners
Ireland: A newly released report shows that five Catholic priests formed an informal molesters network in which they enabled one another's crimes by providing rooms in which to commit the attacks and by organizing group excursions with their victims. The report is the first to show that the five accused priests all knew each other and worked together.

How to Wrap a Cat

My Mom sends me the funnest things sometimes.

Holiday music for friends and family.

I spent the morning looking for and finding a strange variety of holiday videos.
Each one is different and all should make you laugh. Liberace was a true showman and no one can play like he did. Adam Sandler..... What more do I need to say.
There is a song I have not heard for far to long and some nice choirs.
Enjoy and have a Happy Holiday Season.
BJ

12 ghetto days of Christmas

I like that this family spent time to come up with this. They have a good message at the end.

I'll be broke for Christmas

Adam Sandler - Original Hanukkah Song