Today's Cultural Warfare Update

Bloomberg's politics section reports on the massive theocon effort to turn out the GOP vote, and highlights several races where they've really been taking sides; what's fun about this is all the 501(c)(3) involvement;

Speaking of which, James Dobson using his national radio show for Thursday and Friday as a full-time GOP vote rally;

Focus on the Family condemns Rice comments recognising the deputy global AIDS coordinator's partner; according to FotF Focus on the Family staffer Tom Minnery, Rice's chief of staff called to say it was a "mix-up"; Family Research Council says that appointing a gay man to head an AIDS agency is a "conflict of interest" and that gay people having sex is one of "the root causes of the AIDS problem";

Focus on the Family pushes opposition to the state initiative that would repeal South Dakota's blanket (no exceptions for the health of the woman) abortion ban;

FotF outrage over a group of students visiting a woman's health clinic that provides abortion services as part of a class on political activism;

Faith and Freedom Network likes Joe Lieberman, and also says the fundamentalist right must keep the secularists and Democrats out of power as they'll "lead this nation to impotence, stagnation and slavery";

FFN actually uses the word husband to refer to the legally-married-to-him husband of the late Garry Studds, even if they surround the word with scare-quotes; meanwhile, they condemn the late Mr. Studds and the Democratic party, and oh yes, the press;

WorldNetDaily's Joseph Farah rips into Condi Rice and the current administration over the "mother in law" reference and for appointing a gay man to... well... any position at all, actually, as it's a crime against God; found via Andrew Sullivan;

This is just freakish: Rumsfeld "leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country"; I'm sure the theocons love it, but, um, what;

Violating the 11th Commandment, U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, is criticizing former House Majority Leader Dick Armey for his recent attack on Focus on the Family Chairman Dr. James Dobson;

Pope Benedict urges Roman Catholic leadership to fight marriage rights for GBLT people and any kind of civil unions arrangements as well;

Fundamentalist-organised protests prompt NBC to drop part of Madonna video;

Focus on the Family says Canada's marriage law "could be on shaky ground," saying marriage rights will "define an election";

Here's a neat one; many on the theoconservative side of things have been very upset about muslim taxi drivers refusing to carry people carrying alcohol; now here you've got a bus driver refusing to drive a bus with a GBLT-themed ad, and they're all happy about it - hmmmmmmmmm;

***** Thomas More Law Centre sues Los Angeles County for not keeping a Christian cross on the county seal, claiming that not having a cross on the seal shows "a disapproval of religion, including Christianity" and an unconstitutional hostility towards religion;

FotF condemns GBLT groups pointing out that the late Rep. Gerry Studd's husband won't receive Federal survivor's benefits because of the federal DOMA act; Concerned Women for America's Robert Knight (tho' they keep burying the CWA part deeper and deeper behind layers of front organisations) says that allowing survivor benefits would be "dangerous to society";

***** FotF pushes anti-judicial state initiatives, including a South Dakota initiative that would allow individuals to sue judges personally if they don't like the ruling; the clusterfuck this would create in the judicial system cannot be overstated;

FotF calls Viacom comments about how viewers who don't like a programme's content simply shouldn't watch it "absurd," calls for more government intervention against broadcasters;

Focus on the Family condemns GBLT business groups (chambers of commerce and the like), friendly-quotes other fundamentalists as saying they're a "drive for special status under the law"; they also drag in Mission America, a particularly virulent anti-gay group, saying that gay people are too unstable to have any purchasing power. Note the alternating reporting of "super wealthy perverts who make more money than us straights" and "have no economic value and aren't worth advertising to because they're too unstable to have money," as we see yet again how the theocon movement says whatever makes the people they hate seem worse;

Focus on the Family Canada reports on Quebec evangelical schools operating without provisional permits, says they are a response to "anti-biblical lessons, such as evolution and sex education";

Traditional Values Coalition demands explanation over Condi Rice recognising the marriage of the new (male) AIDS co-ordinator - since he's gay and all and they're both male; it's been covered before. They also protest having a gay person being AIDS co-ordinator because, "Why put a person in charge of fighting AIDS who is engaging in the very behavior that transmits this deadly disease?";

TVC uses the Foley scandal to promote their gays-are-all-pedophiles propaganda "report";

TVC condemns effort of the late Rep. Gerry Studd's husband to receive survivor's benefits, claims it's part of a greater effort to "have public sex in restrooms and parks decriminalized so homosexuals can freely engage in sodomy in restroom stalls and in bushes";

TVC simultaneously condemns Oslo natural history museum's exhibit on homosexuality in the animal kingdom as saying humans shouldn't do things animals do and claims that there is no such thing as a homosexual animal;

AFA condemns company firing of an HR manager who is active in the Virginia anti-gay initiative up for a vote this fall; the company says he was insubordinate, he says it's because of his politics;

Focus on the Family has more "get out the vote" efforts - I'm not including most of these, but here's a token;

Family Research Council announces rebroadcast of theocon "Liberty Sunday" confab;

FRC promotes its Texas endorsement sheet;

FRC promotes its Pennsylvania endorsement sheet.

( Articles and excerpts below )

I still have a few more flower pictures

Not too much going on; I studied bio some last night, but needed to do more - but there's all this necessary paperwork (health insurance, stuff like that) which had to get done now. I have more studying to do today, some Japanese homework, finish a lab report also due Monday - and I also have to go get a film cartridge for the fax machine (stupid real estate industry still does everything in the world by fax, it's freakish), and a new mailbox that locks, and stuff like that. @whee.

Ah, well, here, have a flower picture. Yay, flower pictures!


Late One Summer Afternoon

Thursday's miles: 2.0
Friday's miles: 2.0
Miles out of Hobbiton: 1378.9
Miles out of Rivendell: 913.9
Miles out of Lothlórien: 459.9
Miles past Rauros Falls: 52.0
Miles to Isengard: 420.0

If anyone was wondering...

I was screwing around with the locking mailboxes that Home Depot and McLendon's had on display, and discovered that even with the box locked, I could reach through the Mailsafe RSKW0000's incoming-mail slot far enough to reach mail left inside. My hands are kinda small but they aren't that small, so that's bad, and I got the Oasis, Jr. instead. I could get my hand (and arm!) pretty far inside that one, too, but not enough to get most mail, and the way the door works would make it hard to get any mail back out even if I could grab it. So, $20 more, but we've got a new mailbox. Now I just have to find time to install it.