SD Being Bullied By Out Of State Extremists - Again

Proud Lib recently posted where James "fungus on the family" Dobson is yet again sticking his unwanted nose into South Dakota's business.

Dobson is running ads urging South Dakotans to harass Senator Johnson into voting for hate legislation next month in Washington. Notice that the press release Proud Lib linked to includes Senator Johnson as being under their attack, but not Senator Thune. Is there any question that Thune is the bought and paid for poodle of Dobson's facist crusade?

If you actually think someone else's personal relationship in any way "devalues" yours, we have some oceanfront property in Oacoma we would like to sell you.

Hate is not a South Dakota value.

The US Senate Has More Important Things To Do

Bill Frist and some of the Republicans in the Senate seem to have forgotten they have real work to do. On June 7th they are going to attempt to vote on a "federal marriage amendment".

This junk legislation intended to appease James Dobson, Pat Robertson and the fringe extreme left not only would ban same sex marriages, it would also outlaw many of the rights of non-married heterosexual couples such as partner benefits at work etc.

Tell the Senate to get back to work on the real issues and quit pandering to a minority of noisy religious based bigots. The govt. can't tell you who to love.

Take action. Tools to do something about this are available at the Federal Marriage Amendment Task Force site.

SD Politics - Twisting Things To Fit

Read this recent blog post by Schaff, who is quickly becoming the northern branch of Sibco.

He took an article from the UK about late term abortions for repairable birth defects and tried to use it to claim that US statistics are now that most abortions are for rich white middle aged women. Talk about pulling statistics out of your lower orafice.

Nothing in that article stated anything even close to the statistic he created about US abortion demographics. Again, his credibility is quite in question. Isn't this guy a college professor??

The supposed "trend" in the UK to abort late term for repairable defects is a very sad concept. The article though, does not provide any numbers to support their claim that this is common.
The idea of people aborting late term for cosmetic reasons, in a country with national healthcare is pretty sad. We would like some numbers to quantify this before we would allow the reporter to claim it as a common occurance.

None of this changes US statistics that sadly reflect those in desperate situations, the young, the poor are the ones resorting to abortion. Schaff also failed to see yet again that making sure people in those situations have access to reliable forms of long term contraception is a far better option than leaving them in a situation where they resort to abortion.

But that reality takes all the fun out of it for the far right fundamentalist. If the poor and the young can control their reproduction beforehand then you can't persecute them for their sexual behavior and that just takes all the fun out of being a fundamentalist.

Christian Fundamentalist Fantasies Become A Video Game

The fundamentalist Christians now have their own mega-violent video game so they can live out those fantasies of killing everyone who disagrees with them. Would Jesus approve?

From the article:
" "Imagine: you are a foot soldier in a paramilitary group whose purpose is to remake America as a Christian theocracy, and establish its worldly vision of the dominion of Christ over all aspects of life. You are issued high-tech military weaponry, and instructed to engage the infidel on the streets of New York City. You are on a mission - both a religious mission and a military mission -- to convert or kill Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, gays, and anyone who advocates the separation of church and state - especially moderate, mainstream Christians.

Your mission is "to conduct physical and spiritual warfare"; all who resist must be taken out with extreme prejudice. You have never felt so powerful, so driven by a purpose: you are 13 years old. You are playing a real-time strategy video game whose creators are linked to the empire of mega-church pastor Rick Warren, best selling author of The Purpose Driven Life.."

Dust Up On Pine Ridge

Cecilia Firethunder is on 20 day suspension while the tribal council determines what to do.

Recent accounts over the last week included concerns over harrassment by outsiders, harsh racist statements flung at the tribe and concerns that an abortion clinic would bring violent religious clinic protesters to the Reservation.

The main concerns seems to be that Firethunder jumped ahead of the tribal council and appeared to be making a decision for them. Hopefully this will be straightened out as other past issues have.

Dispite the current struggles the plans for a women's clinic on the reservation are moving forward. At this point it is planned to be a clinic to receive reproductive healthcare and post-rape help, but will not be performing abortions. The people involved with the clinic said they will wait until the state abortion ban is finally decided before they will look at the issue of possibly providing abortions on the reservation.

One other comment made last week was that there was some talk of allowing only the women on the reservation to vote on this issue.

More Unruh Lies

When will the media finally call this woman out on her constant stream of lies?
Sadly our local media gives this woman a pass they would never give most other people.
The local media needs to start asking her to prove her statements. Even just pushing for what information she is using to come to her conclusions would be nice. Demanding to see some facts would look like journalism.

Unruh needs to be pressed on these claims. You know, the woman who was paying teenage girls for their babies that she was illegally adopting out. We can prove that one too, its public record.

Just today alone the Argus printed these baseless claims:

"I've heard some talk of looking at them," said Leslee Unruh, founder of the Alpha Center in Sioux Falls and a vocal supporter of the ban. "They (petition circulators) were not from South Dakota, and they were not asking for driver's licenses. I think they need to be looked at."


"We're glad this effort will give us the opportunity to educate the citizens, just as we educated the legislators, about how abortion hurts women,'' Unruh said. "The women of South Dakota are no longer suffering in silence.''


Unruh said there have been questions about whether signatures were collected properly, and supporters of the ban plan to comb through the names to make sure they're valid.

Petition New All Over National Media

Recent National Headlines:
Petition likely to nullify South Dakota abortion ban
From Raw Story
South Dakota Abortion Ban Put To Vote
From CBS News
* Hunt now is trying to claim he supports the referendum process he was calling invalid a few months ago. Unruh was trying to insinuate, again with no proof that signatures were collected illegally. Judging by the credibility of past accusations she has made we are predicting that it is complete made up bull excrement.
Petition filing could halt S. Dakota abortion ban
From Reuters

It also made the front page of the Huffington Post

The "Pro Life" War On Sex

Think they will stop at trying to outlaw abortion? Think again.
Contraception is to be outlawed next. Think were over reacting? Think again. More and more these anti choice groups are now railing against ALL forms of contraception and are demanding you live by their twisted world view.

Read it all here.

Anti-choice Protesters Picket Clinic That Does Not Perform Abortions.

You heard it right. Anti-choice extremists recently picketed a Woodbury MN clinic that DOES NOT perform abortions.

The PLAN clinic in Woodbury is an express services clinic that only provides certain contraceptive prescriptions such as the pill or hormone injections. The clinic will also provide STD, pregnancy testing and Plan B for those patients who do not need additional care or doctor exams. All services are performed by MA's or Nurse Practitioners as they are customarily done other medical clinics.
The clinic will not provide abortions.

The excuses for harrassing the clinic by the protesters were lame at best. They cited that money from the clinic would go to Planned Parenthood and one protester claimed that by providing health care services and contraception it would somehow promote abortions.
Read more about it here
Find out more about the Woodbury PLAN clinic here

Focus South Dakota

We added a link to Focus South Dakota to our site.

Take Back South Dakota

Robbinsdale Radical posted that Democracy in action is holding a "take back South Dakota" rally next Saturday, June 3rd.

The concept is true throughout the state: Take Back South Dakota

People are already working on taking our state back from the extremists that have caused such a mess. The abortion ban petition just turned in almost 38,000 signatures. Brookings recently barred sexual orientation discrimination in employment. Campaigns for candidates that are more in step with the real values of South Dakota are gaining steam to unseat the extremists in Pierre.

37,846

37,846 is the total signatures turned in for the petition to put the abortion ban to a public vote.

The number just posted on the SD Healthy Families site.

They needed around 17,000 signatures. They gathered an extra 20,000 signatures. How much more clear does it need to be that South Dakota does not support this extremist ban and invasion of people's medical privacy?

It was also noted that they had 1200 volunteers that's a large number of people willing to take up a cause in a state with a population of a large city.

No On Amendment "C" Link Added

A link to the "No on Amendment C" has been added to our blog.

http://www.againstdiscrimination.org/

If your not familiar, Amendement C is the ballot item to ban gay marriage in SD.
Its pre-emptive discrimination by the same lot of hate filled fundamentalists who brought SD the abortion ban and attempts to outlaw contraception.

No on C is working to educate the public to what Amendment C is and to urge them to vote NO on C.

A note from their site also pointed out that the Brookings city council recently approved an ordinance that bars employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Hate is not a South Dakota value.

Abortion Ban Petition To Be Filed Tuesday

SD Healthy Families will be submitting the petition to put the ban to a vote in November next Tuesday.

NY Woman Gives SD Legislators Her Opinion On The Abortion Ban

A NY woman sent coathangers enclosed with a letter to the SD Legislators who voted for the abortion ban.

"History proves that a woman will attempt to terminate a crisis pregnancy even at grave risk to herself," Beck writes in her letter. She continues by saying that a woman and a fetus possess an equal right to life is a matter of faith, not fact. She later explains that the coat hanger she sent was a symbol of compassion for mothers, sisters, wives and daughters in South Dakota.

Some conservatives are irritated that a woman from out of state stuck her nose into SD politics. The ban has much larger nationwide implications that could touch not only SD women but women nationwide. So it IS her business.

The best comment on this came from the comments section on the original story. Joseph Kosel wrote:
"To become upset about the realistic effect (unsanitary, illegal, back-alley abortions) of their vote shows how completely out of touch they are with the reality of women's issues. Americans have willingly died for much less personal issues of conscience. I wonder if the legislators pained reactions were exacerbated by the fact that a WOMAN had the temerity to speak without being spoken to and was, horror of horrors, disagreeing with them, without permission. These "conservatives" who want government out of our lives, but in our pants, appear to be self-appointed experts in passing judgment, so let them accept the judgment of the community and not cry about it."

Dakota War College didn't seem to get it, much like the legislators who received them. He claimed the woman was a "kook" who was bothering people who had nothing to do with them.
This issue has everything to do with all women in the US as this stupid excuse for legislation could potentially effect US law or laws in other states. Here's a hint. Women from all over the US are really offended and concerned about what SD is doing. If you think the abortion ban upset women from all over the US. You should hear the outrage when they hear the comments from fundamentalist South Dakotans who want to ban contraception and sex ed.

Abortion Ban Petition Has Enough Signatures To Go To Vote

Rumor has it that the petition to put the abortion ban to a public vote has more than the required number of signatures. Dave Kranz from the Argus reported this today.

The official news should be out next week when they file the final petition.

Sign The Abortion Ban Petition TODAY.

With the SD Taliban trying to rewrite the rules on when the signatures are due, the SD Campaign for Healthy Families has stepped up signature gathering. Rumor has it they are well on their way as far as signatures but every one counts to assure the will of the SD people to bring this to a vote is not cheated away from them a second time by Roger Hunt.

You can find out where to sign a petition by checking out the SD Healthy Families site.

Petition carriers were out today around Sioux Falls. We sited them in the Zoo parking lot and at the mall post office so they are probably doing so at other common signature gathering sites around the state.

If the ban itself does not outrage you enough. The fact that one man with an extremist agenda is trying to cheat our legal process here in SD a second time to prevent the people of SD from their right to vote on this issue.

Mullah Roger Hunt Tries To Cheat The System - Again.

Talibangelist leader Roger Hunt has found yet another way to try to cheat the will of the people and the legal political process here in SD. Mullah Hunt's newest stunt is to try to rewrite the final day of the legislative session used to measure the number of days til a petition is due. His attempt to cheat the system would shorten the number of days the abortion ban petitions have to be signed and returned to LESS THAN 90 DAYS.

When you can't win by being right or in the majority according to the SD Taliban you just rewrite the rules. This is a sad statement about the honesty of the Christian right in SD that they would again stoop this low.

Their previous stunts include Hunt using a technicality to remove the legislatures vote that would have put this issue to the people in the first place. Don't forget the task farce that ignored the testimony of qualified medical professionals in favor of the agenda of a handful of extremists that Hunt himself then passed off as "fact" to push the ban through. There was also Leslee Unruh's false claim that anyone signing the petition would end up on some "list".

The SD Taliban does not want this issue to come to a vote of the people of SD and will stoop to just about anything to do so.

Judge Strikes Down Okla. Gay Adoption Ban

An Oklahoma judge struck down a law that refused to recognize adoptions done by same sex couples in other states.

"U.S. District Judge Robin Cauthron ruled Friday the measure violated due process rights under the U.S. Constitution because it attempted to break up families without considering the parents' fitness or the children's best interests."

Of course the Oklahoma conservatives that put this unconstitutional law into place are claiming "activist judges".

How dare those judges do their job and strike down unconstitutional laws. Its just darn inconvenient to those intent on making unconstitutional hate based laws.

Add to this last week's news that a Georgia gay marriage ban was shot down.
The Christian Nationalist are getting their behinds handed to them on a silver platter.
Why? Because their actions are unconstitutional and blaringly so when exposed to the light of day.

FDA Unanamous Vote To Approve HPV Vaccine

"An FDA advisory committee on Thursday voted 13-0 that Merck's experimental human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil is safe and effective for girls and women ages nine to 26, which effectively recommends that the agency approve the vaccine for sale and marketing to the age group, the Wall Street Journal reports (Corbett Dooren, Wall Street Journal, 5/19). Merck in October 2005 announced that Gardasil in clinical trials was 100% effective in preventing infection with HPV strains 16 and 18, which together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 5/18). The trials showed the vaccine -- given in three injections over six months -- also was about 99% effective in preventing HPV strains 6 and 11, which together cause about 90% of genital wart cases. " Read More

Sounds straightforward. But no. The Christianist right is whining that they don't want a vaccine that could prevent cancer. Some of them think a vaccine could promote promiscuity, though they have not provide any evidence to back up this claim. But now there is more fighting within the ranks. The head of a Christian medical group that generally is trying to dismantle all sex ed and contraceptive efforts is supporting the vaccine. ""Where there are diseases out there, the only reasonable way you can protect individuals and society is to be immunized" (Baltimore Sun, 5/11)."

Trying To Excuse Bigotry

Jon Schaff at SD Politics missed by a mile with his attempt to justify the marriage ban amendment. He quoted an opinion from the WSJ that dealt mainly with the philosophy of self determination and the extent of the law. Schaff found a long shot way to try to connect this as justification for a case he pulled out of a lower orifice for banning gay marriage. As if this was a burning issue in SD in the first place?

All four of his points made to attempt to justify banning same sex unions could be equally applied to a same sex marriage as it could to a heterosexual marriage.
If a man-woman marriage "domesticates aggressive male sexuality", provides an outlet for sex, provides stability for society and kids, and being a vehicle for "self-giving", all of those attributes would equally apply to a same sex marriage.

The assumption that males are aggressively sexual and need to be controlled is quite the slap in the face to the gender as a whole. Only a portion of the male population seems to have issues controlling their behavior. Painting the entire male population as out of control and needing domestication is demeaning and insulting. It is no more accurate than the misguided attempts to paint women as weak willed, ignorant and in need of being submissive.

So lets be honest about it please. Banning gay marriage is simple hate and bigotry.
It has nothing to do with gay people and everything to do with a handful of homophobic hate mongers, who do not want to lose one of their last bastions of "socially acceptable" hate and discrimination.

Judiciary Committee Shouting Match Over Gay Marriage

Russ Feingold and Arlen Specter got into a shouting match over debate on Bill Frist's Gay Marriage Ban Proposal. Specter moved the committee meeting to a private room for today's debate and vote angering Feingold for the secrecy of what should have been a public accessible vote. The vote was along party lines approving the measure to go to the Senate floor.
Oddly, Specter said that he is opposed to the amendment yet he went out of his way to arrange a private vote and voted for an amendment he opposes.

This is clearly an election year stunt and the amendment is expected to fail in the Senate.

With all the real issues facing the US right now, Congress wasting time on this in a lame attempt to appease a loud minority group of fanatics is inexcusable.

Pro Life Author Left Speechless On Daily Show

Ramesh Ponnuru National Review editor & author of "Party of Death" was left stammering and flustered trying to answer some basic and honest questions posed by John Stuart.

The episode will replay later tonight and again tomorrow during the day.

Stuart questioned Ponnuru on stem cell research. He posed that if civilian lives lost in the war in Iraq are collateral damage as the US furthers its goals, then embryos used in stem cell research were collateral damage in the effort to advance science. Ponnuru was flustered for an answer.

Similar questions on abortion, the dependency on a religious view for a pro-life stance and the ultimate rights of women all were equally difficult for the author to come up with an appropriate response.

The Daily Show usually throws enough light humor into their interviews that they are not completely serious. Ponnuru could not even articulate himself against John Stuarts questions.

Fidelis Claims They Worked Behind The Scenes On The SD Abortion Ban

A little known group called Fidelis is claiming a behind the scenes role in the abortion ban and in actively fighting the referendum process.

"Fidelis worked with leaders in South Dakota to press for passage of the abortion ban, and is working today to fight a potential referendum or potential lawsuit expected to challenge the law."

Here is another bit from their site claiming more involvement in the SD ban.
"Fidelis retained South Dakota attorney Matthew McCaulley as a lobbyist during debate on HB 1215. McCaulley was the sponsor of a similar effort in 2004. Pro-life leaders in South Dakota, including Leslee Unruh of the Alpha Center, spearheaded the state effort to introduce and pass the legislation."
also from their site.
"Fidelis is a Catholic-based organization working with people of faith across the country to defend and promote the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, and the right to religious liberty by electing pro-life, pro-family and pro-religious liberty candidates, supporting the confirmation of judges, and promoting and defending laws faithful to the Constitution of the United States."

Joseph Cella was also involved in the Thune campaign and much of the anti-Daschle activities during the last election.

Read more on Joseph Cella's site The Ave Maria List.
Joseph Cella is also President of the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast


He has also been blasting Sen. Johnson recently.

From their own admissions and press accounts Fidelis was pressuring Gov. Rounds to sign the abortion ban. They also have quite the track record of trying to run our political officials out of office.

Do you really want a Catholic extremist group calling the shots in SD politics?
Too late they already are.

Christian Virgins - Overrated.

This whole ignorant virgin obsession going around, while it pleases Bill Napoli (a bit too much) the rest of the world finds it well, overrated at best.
Mark Morford at SF Gate was as disturbed by some of the new whacky pseduo-religious sex games the religious right are playing as many of us in South Dakota are.

"Look, the plague of sexual incompetence plagues our land like a plague. It infects our schools, our popular culture, our presidential administration. The right endorses wanton sexual stupidity (and all ensuing miseries, drug addictions, divorces, stresses, gun fetishes, online porn obsessions) through failed abstinence programs, STD misinformation, refusal to support quality birth control and the relentless repetition of lies about sin and depravity and a shocking ignorance of the transformative spiritual power of sex. Purity Balls? Nothing but a sad celebration of that exact ignorance.

No wonder over half of all teens who take any sort of virginity pledge end up breaking the ridiculous vow within a year (says a new Harvard study), and fully 88 percent end up having sex before marriage anyway. What's more, such silly pledges only result in more oral and anal sex among teens who try, vainly, to adhere. They also marry younger, have fewer sexual partners (read: less skill) and yet have exactly the same rate of STDs as kids who are smart enough to avoid such pointless pledges in the first place."

Yep. All that guilt infused dogma and 88 percent of them directly involved in the virginity cult end up having sex before marriage. They marry younger and have no better rate at preventing STDs.

Religious Right Threatening The GOP

The GOP made the deal to push their fringe agenda in trade for votes. Now the religious reich is threatening the GOP to do their bidding or face retaliation come November.

The biggest Christian Nationalist, James Dobson is clearly trying to pull the strings on the Republicans in Washington. He is pressuring people like Frist, Rove, Hastert etc. that they
want Congress to act against the will of the people and push for a marriage amendment and
laws banning abortion.

At a time when our country has real issues they should be dealing with all the religious right can think about is sex legislation.

It looks like the Republicans may be doomed either way. If they don't vote in these morality legislations, the Christian Nationalists will revolt. If they do, the entire rest of the country will revolt. Seeing that the majority of the US does not want the legislation it would seem that the answer would be clear and they would not pass these laws. But with approval ratings so low it might not help much.

Republican Gay Marriage Strategy Falling Apart

Laura Bush urges Republicans not to run on the gay marriage ban agenda during the November elections. Mary Cheney has also come out against the upcoming congressional attempt to rewrite the US constitution. Ms. Cheney said this to Fox news "But you know, what I can say is look, amending the Constitution with this amendment, this piece of legislation, is a bad piece of legislation. It is writing discrimination into the Constitution, and, as I say, it is fundamentally wrong." She is also currently promoting her new book and speaking out on the subject and her issues with Bush on the issue.

The gay marriage issue could blow up in the Republicans faces as more and more people see that the issue is a non-issue.

Reports also state that Karl Rove and other key Republicans want to use this issue in the November elections to attempt to motivate the religious conservatives to go out and vote, using the gay marriage ban as bait.

Sen. Bill Frist though, is actively trying to stir up this issue on TV news and will be trying to bring this constitutional amendment to Congress in June. Now might be a good time to remind your congresspeople that they have more important things to do than to be writing useless discriminatory garbage into the Constitution.
Read more here.

Do your duty. Make more babies.

Fox News John Gibson recently said not only the statement in the headline but this racist gem:
"Make more babies" because in "[t]wenty-five years ... the majority of the population is Hispanic"
and this one:
"Why aren't they having babies? Because babies get in the way of a prosperous and comfortable modern life. Peanut butter fingerprints on the leather seats in the BMW. The Euros are particular -- in particular can't be bothered with kids. Underscore that second point."

These people seem to have no problem drafting white American women into forced pregnancy for god and country. It sounds not only horribly racist but orwellian.

Fire Thunder Confirms Clinic Is A Go

A Moderate From South Dakota scooped the story.

Cecilia Fire Thunder confirmed that a board of directors has been established and the Sacred Choices Women's Clinic will move forward.

Possibly The Most Hated Woman In South Dakota

Lezlee "Meatloaf" Unruh. Planned Parenthood has a fairly civil expose of some of Mealoaf's (the baby broker) track record.

If the fact that she's lying to your kids isn't enough.
Or the fact that she wants to control your reproductive rights.
That she paid teenage girls to give her their babies.
The fact that this woman has already cost the state millions in legal & legislative costs
and will cost South Dakota millions more in the next few years should be enough for you
to be outraged.
Remember every time you pay your state taxes that part of that money is going to Lezlee's little crusade.

Plan B Available Over The Counter

Plan B, the morning after pill is an over the counter medication in Canada.
Plan B is currently a prescription only medication in much of the US and very hard to find in South Dakota.

Many doctors are urging women to keep this on hand in case of an emergency need. Since this is almost impossible to find in many areas of South Dakota that advice is probably not a bad idea.

Plan B can be purchased over the counter in Canada. Previously when Claritin was already over the counter in Canada before the US did so, many people purchased large amounts and brought it home with them at a considerable savings. Plan B could easily be purchased in Canada for your own potential use also. There are also many vetted Canadian pharmacies that you can order from online. The state of MN keeps a list.
It was not completely clear yet exactly what pharmacies might be able to mail order this from CA. Once we find out more we will post.

There are also some states where you can buy Plan B over the counter: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Washington and Vermont
EC Help keeps a list of US pharmacies that sell Plan B over the counter.
We have not confirmed if out of state pharmacies can mail over the counter drugs to people in South Dakota or not, but this may also be an option if you would not be traveling to those states any time soon.

News Roundup

Some abortions now legal in Colombia

Anti abortion protesters in Canada, govt. no intent in reviewing the laws.

Reid: Democrats Fight Republican Threat To Contraception Access, Abortion Reduction Efforts
"Senators Reid and Clinton are also cosponsors of comprehensive legislation, the Prevention First Act, aimed at reducing unintended pregnancies, preventing abortions, and improving women's health."

Doctors urge women to obtain advance prescriptions for Plan B

Christian Nationalism

Michele Goldberg has a very succinct explanation of Christian Nationalism.

It clearly cuts what these people really believe and what they are after.
Have no doubt that they are a political group, much like other facist political groups of the past.
They claim religion as the start of their ideology but these people are something else.
Who they are is purposely clouded with entanglements in various pseudo-religious groups.
The content of the article sounds very familiar to anyone who has had a discussion with a militant Christian Nationalist and sadly those same ideas have come out of the mouths of some of our states politicians.
For those tired of feeling like the Republican party has been taken over by these people, maybe its about time for the party to clearly state that certain ideas are not those of the Republican party and anyone believing or promoting those ideas should find the door. Let them form their own party rather than continuting to be a parasite on the Republicans. We know more than a few real Republicans that would be relieved to have this happen.
Either way, know what your dealing with and call these people what they are. Quit letting them hide behind a veil of religious protection.


From the article:
"

In the Christian nationalist vision of America, non-believers would be free to worship as they choose, as long as they know their place. When Venkatachalapathi Samuldrala became the first Hindu priest to offer an invocation before Congress, the Family Research Council issued a furious statement that reveals much about the America they'd like to create:

"While it is true that the United States of America was founded on the sacred principle of religious freedom for all, that liberty was never intended to exalt other religions to the level that Christianity holds in our country's heritage...Our founders expected that Christianity -- and no other religion -- would receive support from the government as long as that support did not violate peoples' consciences and their right to worship. They would have found utterly incredible the idea that all religions, including paganism, be treated with equal deference."

The iconography of Christian nationalism conflates the cross and the flag. As I write in "Kingdom Coming," it "claims supernatural sanction for its campaign of national renewal and speaks rapturously about vanquishing the millions of Americans who would stand in its way." At one rally at the statehouse in Austin, Texas, a banner pictured a fierce eagle perched upon a bloody cross. For a liberal, such imagery smacks of fascist agitprop. But plenty of deeply committed Christians also object to it as a form of blasphemy. It's important, I think, to separate their faith from the authoritarian impulses of the Christian nationalist movement. Christianity is a religion. Christian nationalism is a political program, and there is nothing sacred about it."

Street Preachers

http://kcimprov.com/missions/02.php

A group with a sense of humor about the whole thing.

Vatican Calls Creationism "A Form Of Superstitious Paganism"

Vatican astronomer Guy Consolmagno called creationism a form of paganism at a recent speech in Scotland.

From the article:
He described creationism, whose supporters want it taught in schools alongside evolution, as a "kind of paganism" because it harked back to the days of "nature gods" who were responsible for natural events.

National Day To Prevent Teen Pregnancy

Today is National Day To Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

In honor of this Sen. Bill Frist has refused to allow a bill to a vote that could do more to end abortion than anything the anti-abortion crusaders have done or attempted to date.

This bill Frist refused to allow to come to a vote looks at some realistic solutions to the issues at hand rather than preaching fundamentalist morality at a bunch of disinterested teens.

Annotated Rant Tells Off South Dakota

We are posting this link with a warning. It contains profanity. Ok, it contains alot of profanity.
It is an interesting read dispite the obvious anger and profanity used. Annotated Rant is just that. This persons scathing open letter to South Dakota is cited with sources as underlined links to support their points.

Read at your own risk.

Student Loan Debt. Cited As Reason To Delay Kids

Massive student loan debt has been cited as a common reason for forgoing, delaying or having fewer children. Student loan debts go up every year, are not dischargable even in bankruptcy and are becoming a larger and larger burden on young people as they move into careers and consider starting families.

Were sending our young people into the world saddled with huge debts. Sadly not having a family is a practical option for people severly stretched financially.

"Most People" Told Unruh Not To Go For The Ban

In an Aberdeen American News article today Leslee Unruh admitted that most of the prominent people in the pro life movement told her pushing this ban and its timing was an extremely bad idea. They knew the implications and what it could do in an election year. It seems that some of them knew the public backlash this kind of insane legislation would create.

Leslee Unruh again tries to gain sympathy by claiming that eggs and firecrackers were thrown at her horses and dog. Many of the women she tries to influence wish they had such problems.
But poor Leslee's problems get worse. She told Gov. Rounds that she was going to go have Lobster with some of the bills supporters to celebrate Rounds signing the bill. Poor, poor Leslee received some emails complaining of her cruel lobster eating ways. Imagine, getting sent emails you don't agree with. How horrible, what a tragedy. We should have sympathy for our rich lobster eating overlords.

Never mind that people trying to block the ban have received threats of bodily harm, insane tirades from pro lifers, various other in your face forms of harrasment and a couple of unverified death threats.

Please note that none of Leslee Unruh's claims were verified, she could be making them up.