Today's Cultural Warfare Update

Washington State legislature passes GBLT-rights bill after 30 years of trying; opponents are talking about a referendum to overturn it;

Faith and Freedom Network decry passage of GBLT rights bill, founds "Pastor's Network" to further organise fundamentalist congregations; includes Talking Points against GBLT-rights in general;

Free Congress Foundation theoconservative wonk calls Canada "hedonistic," decrys "cultural Marxism" of marriage rights; CBC has the good sense to wonder what the hell marriage has to do with Marxism;

Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to support Alito; yes, yet another one;

FotF story criticising any effort to filibuster Alito;

FotF plays the race card against Senator Salazar after he criticised Supreme Court Justice Thomas in very strong terms;

FotF on Republican leadership race in the House: "Each holds a perfect pro-family voting record," meaning 100% anti-GBLT and 100% anti-abortion-rights;

Virginia moves to put anti-marriage-rights language into its state constitution; Focus on the Family story quotes the amendment only in part, the part they're quoting doesn't mention civil unions or anything else of the sort (that are already illegal, as is marriage, in the state);

Washington Blade has full text; it's anti-CU, anti-DP, and bans any "legal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage";

Not only does it ban marriage, civil unions, domestic partnerships, and anything else, but even the anti-marriage-rights anti-civil-unions Democratic governor is worried the language goes to far and infringes upon private contract rights - but that won't stop him from signing it when it passes;

Focus on the Family: "Alito confirmation process nears end"; includes ACTION ITEM to support Alito nomination;

FotF pitches anti-marriage-rights DVD;

Focus on the Family story about Washington State's GBLT rights bill passing;

Pennsylvania legislature working on anti-marriage Constitutional amendment; :Rep. Scott Boyd, a Republican from Lancaster, along with 87 co-sponsors, introduced the Marriage Protection Amendment. The bill would change the state's constitution";

Concerned Women for America prepares propaganda packages for Virginia anti-marriage amendment; Robert Knight writes a lot about it; also writes supporting a bill banning reproductive medical fertility aid to unmarried women;

LifeNews news article on Target firing pharmacist who refused to dispense emergency contraception; presumably she acted in violation of corporate policy which accommodates her until and unless nobody else is available to do it; LifeNews also claims it can cause abortion (which the theoconservatives say about all forms of hormonal birth control, and some forms that aren't hormonal);

Concerned Women for America links Ford plant closings to being supportive of in GBLT-rights; includes notice of UPCOMING BOYCOTT from AFA, and ACTION ITEM to contact Ford dealers to tell Ford corporate to stop advertising in any GBLT-related publication in any form or "helping to promote homosexuality in any fashion";

AFA press release demanding Ford stop advertising to queers, cosigned by a bunch of other fundamentalist groups and leaders including Beverly LaHaye (for Concerned Women for America), James Dobson (for Focus on the Family), Richard Landis (Southern Baptist Convention), Paul Weyrich, etc;

AFA denounces University of Florida for allowing same-sex partners to enroll in health care, talks about expense of insuring disease-ridden homosexuals;

Some in Nebraska legislature upset after guest pastor prays state be forgiven for teaching evolutionary theory, allowing abortion; claims it wasn't political;

AFA newsbriefs talk about GLSEN teacher retreat, says it "will focus on how to subvert parents and the school system in order to advance the homosexual agenda"; also, Nebraska is going to consider Senate Bill 57, which would give jail time to "anyone who harms an unborn child" - I have no idea whether this would ban abortion entirely, but it's my offhand guess that it would; specific intent is to redefine a foetus; Governor Dave Heineman has pledged to sign it;

Conservative Voice: Evolutionary theory is Marxist, pagan, is based on not one iota of fact, and leads directly to Hell; only "Biblical religion, and more specifically the Genesis account of creation" can "overcome the classic pagan worldview model with its all-powerful State controlled by totalitarian god-like Promethean men";

Family Research Council ACTION ITEM to work for anti-marriage amendment in Pennsylvania;

Family Research Council ACTION ITEM to work for anti-marriage amendment in Illinois;

Family Research Council ACTION ITEM to strengthen indecency laws by increasing fines; hoping to get it passed in time for Superbowl XL. No, really.

( Transcriptions, articles, and excerpts )

Berries, politics, and unfortunate wordplay

Every time I start to transcribe a Concerned Women for America or similar fundamentalist asshate media spew - "asshate" was a typo but I think I'll leave it - I quietly hope, briefly, that their server is down so I don't have to listen to them hate me so very, very much.


Bright Berries

Not very much going on; I read a couple of research papers, one of which was very interesting and they're clearly looking towards some of the same sorts of things I want to look to if and when I get into graduate school. If I get to interview, I hope I get to interview with one of the authors of this paper - I listed one in particular very high up in my list. That'd be fun. ^_^

Wednesday's token: 0.1
Thursday's miles: 3.3
Friday's token: 0.1
Miles out of Hobbiton: 583.1
Miles out of Rivendell: 123.2
Miles to Lothlórien: 343.1

Here, this is kinda cool: GIANT OCTOPUS ATTACKS SUB! It's only a tiny (1 metre) remote-control research sub and the giant octopus is only about 45kg, but still, it did actually go after the submarine. Strange! Quicktime here, CBC story here.