Unlikely combinations

Happy Yuri's Night, everybody! Here, have a cat who figured out the bus schedule, which has nothing to do with Yuri Gagarin and the first human into space, but, on the other hand, may be kind of a metaphor. And if not, at least it's awfully cute.

(NEWS) Today's Cultural Warfare Update

Quite a bit behind on this; I'm sorry. I've been catching up from Norwescon. Zoology certainly has a lot of names to learn, doesn't it? I'm really bad at that. Anyway, here's a bit of catch-up.

Report in the UK: Some schools are dropping teaching of the Holocaust in order not to offend Holocaust-denying fundamentalist Muslims. This is bullshit. Anyone in the UK got more info on this?

Focus on the Family Canada starts promoting its anti-gay "Love Won Out" "gay conversion" seminars in Canada. As usual, a so-called "pro-family" org can't manage to do things like provide childcare ("Childcare: Unfortunately we are unable to provide child care.") but can manage to sponsour a daylong seminar on destroying the lives of GBLT people. Very good;

Focus on the Family Canada article saying that while fewer hospitals in Canada are providing abortions services, the number of abortions per year hasn't dropped much, and "the true number of babies aborted could well be much higher," noting that "chemical abortions" (which they don't define, but could be RU-486 and could, given their theology, include birth control in various forms, particularly the day-after pill) aren't counted;

Focus on the Family applauds Minnesota bill that would replace the Board of Judicial Standards with a randomly-chosen slate of volunteer applicants - gosh, I don't see that volunteer pool being packed and/or politicised, do you?;

Texas governor Rick Perry supports bill against "the religion of secularism in our schools";

Focus on the Family pushes the anti-gay "Day of Truth" event in schools, as a counter to the Day of Silence efforts by GBLT students; Scott Davis of Exodus International, an ex-gay group, condemns the "gay agenda" in schools and its "wrongheaded definition of tolerance" - that is, accepting GBLT students as people; Focus on the Family's subheading (calling the anti-gay protests "a Christian event") is part of their absolute equation of Christianity and anti-gay activity;

Focus on the Family condemns including sexual orientation (that includes heterosexual, btw) in the existing Federal hate-crimes law as "special protection for homosexuals," which is, of course, a lie, as anti-straight crimes of violence would be included. FotF also claims it "punishes those who hold politically incorrect thoughts and beliefs about homosexuality," which apparently includes gaybashing, and calls it a "thought crimes law"; there are enough layers of doublespeak here that one can only assume they've taken the wrong lessons from Orwell;

Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to thank legislators who voted against embryonic stem cell research, or, as they put it, "voted for life";

A follow-up to the attempt to drag Dr. George Tiller - as they put it, "notorious abortionist George Tiller" - before court by anti-gay activist and former state attorney general Phill Kline; all the charges were thrown out, but that didn't stop Mr. Kline from making upbringing up new allegations, and fishing through private medical records of former patients;

FotF coverage of the appeal of South Dakota's "informed consent" law, requiring doctors to tell women that abortion kills a living human being, causes depression, psychological distress, and other anti-abortion rhetoric; they are, of course, for it;

Focus on the Family condemns Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Seattle, WA) bill allowing companies to deduct domestic-parnter health benefit costs the same way that they're currently allowed to deduct married-partner health benefits cost; call it an attack on marriage and "bad for business";

Focus on the Family pleased to report that the Senate lacks votes on the stem-cell research bill to overturn Mr. Bush's promised veto; this article is notable in that they continue their tactic of attempting to equate blood stem cells with embryonic stem cells, in the attempt to make people think that if you've got one, the other has no extra potential. This is a lie;

Focus on the Family story reports that restrictions on abortion rights resulted in fewer abortions in Wisconsin;

Focus on the Family condemns Disney plans to allow same-sex couples to participate in their make-believe wedding events, quoting the Christian Action Network as saying, "it's blatantly targeting families," and talking about how CAN has "worked to expose Disney's Gay Days";

Focus on the Family promotes new South Dakota abortion ban bill, one which would self-suspend pending an overturn of Roe v. Wade; the last one, which had already been struck down by the courts, was overturned by public referendum;

Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM... well, sorta... for students to wear anti-abortion T-shirts on the 24th of April;

FotF: California bill to authorise marriage for same-sex couples will be vetoed if it is passed;

Concerned Women for America's Matt Barber demands Federal investigation of hate-crimes claims, claiming that anti-gay hate crimes are "fabricated"; as someone who has been gaybashed more than her fair share of times and has the scars and skull damage to prove it, I have a high and hearty FUCK YOU, YOU SHRIEKING DOGFUCKER for Matt Barber and all his CWA fucks;

Idaho passes bill requiring women get ultrasounds of their "preborn baby" before getting an abortion;

dogemperor posts a long, and very much worth reading, essay on Dominionism - as someone raised as a Dominionist, but who escaped the culture. If you want a good look at the inside from the inside, this is an important essay to read.

( Articles and excerpts below )

And to cleanse the palette

Out for a Pail of Oxygen

I have got to get busy processing these queued-up flower pictures. And taking more! Spring has sprung and means it this time. But now I have to read Chapter 33: Invertebrates. @whee.