Facebook takes down false ad from PAC on Republican Graham

I don't recall seeing this anywhere.

Oct 26 (Reuters) - Facebook Inc said on Saturday that it had removed an ad which falsely claimed that U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham supported the Green New Deal, demonstrating that it will fact-check ads from political groups but not politicians.

The ad, which ran on Friday, was put up as a stunt by a left-leaning Political Action Committee, or PAC, called The Really Online Lefty League, to test Facebook's political ad policies.

Facebook spokesman Tom Channick told Reuters on Friday that since the new ad came from a political action group, rather than a politician, it was eligible for review by the company's third-party fact-checking partners.

MORE https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/facebook-takes-down-false-ad-from-pac-on-republican-graham/ar-AAJp3xb

Angry high school students chase off members of the Westboro Baptist Church

When members of the Westboro Baptist Church showed up at a high school campus in Kansas City, MO, to protest the recent election of a trans girl as homecoming queen, a group of high school students were not pleased.

As members of the hate group congregated outside Oak Park High School, waving their usual “God Hates Fags” signs, they quickly faced a group of counter-protesters, carrying signs that read “Westboro Baptist Church need Jesus” and chanting “Long live the queen!”

When the hate group saw the mob of students heading their way, they realized they outnumbered and immediately ran to the safety of their minivan. As they skidded away hastily, students cheered.

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2015/10/angry-high-school-students-chase-off-members-of-the-westboro-baptist-church/?fbclid=IwAR3pp26xTnifjDo53VtuNF_sS9Dew1R6xWtrfiMAaWzku1Z52VQqopfjlTA

Satanic Temple Sues Missouri Over Abortion Rights - and Could Win

ON ITS FACE, IT SOUNDS like the epitome of a frivolous, if not blasphemous, lawsuit: A group of Satanists in Missouri sued the state over its strict anti-abortion laws on religious-discrimination grounds. A state trial court agreed, sort of, dismissing the case not long after it was filed in 2015.

But skepticism about The Satanic Temple's suit against Gov. Eric Greitens, a Republican, and Show-Me State administrators ended when the Satanists appealed, the state Supreme Court agreed to take the case – and, based on the arguments presented in court, experts say the Satanists could actually win.

If they prevail in the case, an organization named for the Dark Lord of the Underworld could upend a 2016 law requiring women to wait 72 hours before an abortion, forcing doctors to give women ultrasounds of the fetus and offering them literature declaring that "life begins at conception." Although the state's highest court won't rule for several weeks, the group has already claimed a big victory: It says the state did a 180 on the ultrasounds during oral arguments, acknowledging that they're voluntary and not mandatory.

"It's kind of ironic," says Mary Ziegler, a Florida State University law professor who specializes in women's rights issues. "This is showing that people on both sides of the political spectrum can use religious freedom" to challenge laws they don't like. Adding to the irony: Members of The Satanic Temple don't really believe in Satan. Though the organization is described as dedicated to Satanic practice and promotion of Satanic rights, it's actually a progressive political organization that sees the biblical Satan as a metaphor, and their mission as rebellion against tyranny.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/missouri/articles/2018-01-26/satanic-temple-sues-missouri-over-abortion-rights-and-could-win?fbclid=IwAR2EpX-CYpmVQQItV8uyxmfB_QkKM44YhVqn_ruKXXy6J-qFoGhZjTrVjGs

** Federal Judge Slaps Down Abbott/Paxton Texas Voter Purge **

Please note this came in my email from the Lone Star Project. I don't know if my local news has even brought this to light.

In a court order issued earlier today, Federal District Court Judge Fred Biery stopped Greg Abbott and his Secretary of State in their tracks prohibiting them from taking further action to remove Texans from the voter rolls without getting the process approved by the federal court. The order extends to county officials as well.

Excerpts from Judge Biery’s order are direct and damning:
“The evidence has shown in a hearing before this Court that there is no widespread voter fraud.

“It appears this is a solution looking for a problem.”

“…perfectly legal naturalized Americans were burdened with what the Court finds to be ham-handed and threatening correspondence from the state which did not politely ask for information but rather exemplifies the power of government to strike fear and anxiety and to intimidate the least powerful among us.”

“…local officials are ORDERED not to remove any person from the current voter registration list until authorized by this Court.”

“…the Secretary of State is affirmatively ORDERED to advise and direct local voting officials not to send notice of examination letters nor remove voters from registration without prior approval of the Court”

“…the Secretary of State is ORDERED to tell other counties which are not parties to this litigation, or party counties which will not agree to a pause, not to send any notice of examination letters nor remove voters from registration without prior approval of the Court with a conclusive showing that the person is ineligible to vote.”

“The Court further finds and concludes the Secretary of State, though perhaps unintentionally, created this mess. As Robert Fuighum taught in All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, "always put things back where we found them and clean up our own messes."

Comments from Lone Star Project Director, Matt Angle:

“Judge Biery joins a long line of federal judges who looked at the facts and ruled that Texas Republican leaders used their official powers to violate the voting rights of Texas citizens.

“Texas Republican leaders don’t even try to fake it anymore. They exist in mortal fear of a growing electorate and their hostility to voters of color drives virtually every move they make related to elections.

"Too often Greg Abbott’s quiet demeanor gets him a pass. The one constant in the long list of state actions ruled to be discriminatory by federal judges since 2002 is Greg Abbott. Whether Governor or AG, Greg Abbott is the point in the spear of voter intimidation and suppression in Texas.

“Hypocrisy is too civil a word to describe Ken Paxton yelling “voter fraud” while he sits under felony indictment awaiting trial for swindling and fraud. Paxton is an ethics dumpster fire whose career defines corruption.”

Background
State Republican leaders compiled a list of over 95,000 Texas residents and alleged that they were noncitizens on the current voter rolls and claimed that over 50,000 had cast ballots in Texas elections. The list was broken down by county, and then county elections administrators were directed to remove anyone on the list whose citizenship could not be confirmed.

In an effort to sensationalize the issue and intimidate voters, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott immediately issued a press release headed “Voter Fraud” alert and using language clearly intended to intimidate and suppress Latino and other Texas voters of color.

The entire operation was a transparent effort to justify a voter purge in Texas.

A cursory review of the Secretary of State’s list revealed tens of thousands of Texans who are citizens, legally registered and able to vote. Abbott’s Secretary of State appointee, David Whitley took so much criticism for bungled vote suppression effort that his confirmation as Secretary of State has so far been blocked.

Minority advocacy and voter protection groups including LULAC, the Mexican American Legislative Caucus and the Campaign Legal Center filed suit in federal district court on behalf of citizens targeted by State leaders. The order by Judge Biery follows days of testimony where plaintiff attorneys built an overwhelming record condemning the intent and process used by Republican State leaders.

wha Wha WHA: Al Gore is coming to D/FW

Dictionary definition of TRUMPERY

A Texas Judge Interrupts A Deliberating Jury To Claim That God Told Him The Defendant Is Not Guilty.

A Texas judge interrupts a deliberating jury to claim that God told him the defendant is not guilty.

In Texas, Comal County Judge Jack Robison tried to convince a jury that a defendant was not guilty because God told him so.

By invoking an imaginary conversation with an imaginary God, Judge Robison was trying to “sway jurors to return a not guilty verdict in the trial of a Buda woman accused of trafficking a teen girl for sex.”

According to the Herald-Zeitung in New Braunfels, Judge Jack Robison apologized to jurors for the interruption, but defended his actions by declaring:

When God tells me I gotta do something, I gotta do it.


https://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressivesecularhumanist/2018/01/texas-judge-tells-jury-god-says-defendant-not-guilty/#disqus_thread