October 22, 2016

Anything is acceptable in the name of religion

Killing 50,000+ chickens, goats, and Jesus in the name of forgiveness

What do chickens, goats, and Jesus all have in common? If they are killed in the right way, your sins can be forgiven.

Kapparot, the ritual slaughter of chickens, coincides with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, October 11-12 this year. Participants and PETA estimate that 50,000 chickens will be slaughtered in Brooklyn alone. The bird carcasses are supposedly donated to the poor, though they are often thrown in the trash. [WARNING: There is video evidence of the birds being thrown away, but it is disturbing. It shows bloody, dying birds on the ground, and trash bags full of dead chickens being thrown in a dumpster. It also shows the actual killing of the birds.]

For the ritual, Hasidic Jews grab a chicken by the wings and swing it around their heads three times to transfer their sins to the bird. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, while swinging the birds, the soon-to-be-redeemed supplicants chant, “This be my substitute, my vicarious offering, my atonement. This cock [or hen] shall meet death, but I shall find a long and pleasant life of peace!” If you know religion, you should know what comes next. The bird is ritually slaughtered. The slaughterer is vicariously redeemed—cleansed of all sins.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/freethoughtnow/killing-50000-chickens-goats-and-jesus-in-the-name-of-forgiveness/

October 22, 2016

A Walkthrough and Review of the Ark Encounter

https://ncse.com/library-resource/kentucky-gets-ark-shaped-second-creation-museum

October 20, 2016

What would happen if Trump Refuses to Accept Election Results

After Wednesday night’s debate, the pundits and various media personalities are now focused entirely on Donald Trump‘s apparent admission that he won’t commit to accepting the election results. Well, precisely, he told Fox moderator Chris Wallace, “I will look at it at the time. I will keep you in suspense.”

The reaction has been intense. The Associated Press opened their article about the debate by saying that Trump threatened “to upend a basic pillar of American democracy.’ CNN’s David Gregory said his comments, “undermine our democracy, it’s way outside the tradition of our democracy and presidential races.” University of California-Irvine election law professor Rick Hasen said, “Trump’s gambit may be planned or, more likely, he’s just making it up as he goes along. It is no joke. Our democracy is a fragile thing which depends upon accepting the rules of the game.” Clearly, this is serious stuff. And Trump’s unwillingness to commit to respecting the election results is pretty unprecedented.

But from a purely legal standpoint, http://lawnewz.com/uncategorized/what-actually-happens-if-donald-trump-doesnt-accept-election-results/



https://www.quora.com/What-would-happen-if-Donald-Trump-lost-and-refused-to-concede-the-election

October 20, 2016

I’m Praying For God To Bring Hillary Clinton Down And Confuse Her Mind

Another worthless prayer IGNORED

Yesterday on “Trunews,” Rick Wiles said that he has been praying for Donald Trump before each debate to ask God to protect him and guard him against demonic attacks from witches.

Before the third debate, Wiles decided that he will also be “praying that confusion would cloud Hillary Clinton’s mind and that fear would come upon her.”

“I’m praying that Hillary Clinton will fall in this debate in whatever manner God chooses to bring her down,” he said. “If the witches can pray against Donald Trump, the Christians can pray that Hillary Clinton will fall.”

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/rick-wiles-im-praying-for-god-to-bring-hillary-clinton-down-and-confuse-her-mind/

October 20, 2016

Florida sees surge in new voters after weeklong registration extension

Source: Tampa Bay Times

TALLAHASSEE — The extra week of voter registration in Florida has produced nearly 37,000 new voters, and the surge will continue in the coming days as the state sets an all-time record for the total number of voters.

Gov. Rick Scott's chief elections officer, Secretary of State Ken Detzner, said 36,823 voter registration forms have been verified from people who registered from Oct. 11 to Tuesday, and 26,773 more applicants are being verified.

That's a potential bounty of 63,596 more voters. Scott won re-election as governor two years ago by 64,145 votes.

The voter roll will get even larger as an unknown number of additional voter forms are still in the mail and will be valid if they were postmarked by Tuesday.

Read more: http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/florida-nets-64000-new-voters-with-extra-week-of-registration/2299165

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Kinda disproves Scott's refusal to extend registration dates in view of the hurricane. Let's hope most are Democrats.

"Along the I-4 corridor in Central Florida, Hispanic outreach groups have been particularly active in recent weeks registering new voters. As those new voters join the rolls, Florida Democrats have largely eliminated the Republicans' long-standing advantage in returned mail ballots."

October 19, 2016

Why Are So Many Horror Films Christian Propaganda?

When it comes to Christian propaganda films, most people think of the obnoxious God's Not Dead, or Nic Cage's get-me-out-of-IRS-debt Left Behind—criticially reviled assaults on the secular world that occasionally make a lot of money. But there's another genre that seems to have the same proselytizing agenda that champions Christianity and demonizes all other faiths (including the faithless): horror movies.

Every year we endure more of these predictably edited, laughably plotted thrillers centered around a young girl foolishly toying with the tools of Satan (usually a Ouija Board), becoming possessed by a demon, and then being exorcised by a priest who was struggling with his faith but now sees the error of rational thinking.

It's true that not all horror films serve as mouthpieces for Christianity—there are even a few examples that condemn church leaders—but nearly any horror film that touches on the supernatural will either condemn the faithless ( The Conjuring, The Rite ), frame non-Jesus religions as spooky (The Wicker Man, The Exorcist, Sinister ), or claim that Biblical prophecy is coming to pass (Legion, The Omen). Even slasher films with no ties to religion often dabble in moralistic tropes against drugs, premarital sex, or doing anything the least bit salacious.

"[Many filmmakers] see their jobs as being missionaries for Christianity, and film is their missionary tool. Fear is a missionary tool."
—Hector Avalos

http://www.vice.com/read/why-are-so-many-horror-films-christian-propaganda

October 18, 2016

Peter Thiel's Silicon Valley storm: backing Trump with $1.25 million

Billionaire Peter Thiel's $1.25 million backing of Donald Trump's presidential campaign has caused rifts in Silicon Valley with the ex-chief executive of Reddit taking a stand against the tech founder, accusing him of funding "violence and hate."

Thiel is an investor who helped found PayPal and is currently chairman of start-up Palantir.

Over the weekend, news broke that Thiel had donated $1.25 million in support of Republican candidate Trump. Thiel is a supporter of Trump and spoke at the Republican National Convention. But his support of Trump is in contrast to the majority of the tech industry which has so far donated around $8 million to the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, versus $300,000 to her rival, according to Recode, citing Crowdpac data.

Thiel is a part-time partner at Y Combinator (YC), a major Silicon Valley start-up accelerator run by Sam Altman, who tweeted on Sunday that Trump's views are an "unacceptable threat to America." But Altman added that he would not fire Thiel because it's a "dangerous path to start down."

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/18/peter-thiel-donald-is-trump-backing-at-center-silicon-valley-storm.html

October 18, 2016

Obama caused Hurricane Matthew!

Jim Bakker Blames Hurricane Matthew On Obama

Today, televangelist Jim Bakker said that God used Hurricane Matthew to punish President Obama’s stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He alleged that the “hurricane has something to do with what Obama did” when the White House updated its press release on the president’s remarks at the funeral of former Israeli President Shimon Peres to remove its description of Jerusalem as being part of Israel, due to the city’s disputed status.

Bakker found it particularly interesting that the hurricane was named Matthew since the Gospel of Matthew is considered to be the gospel with the most emphasis on Jewish traditions.

“I really believe that God’s trying to speak to America and we need to wake up,” he said.

October 17, 2016

Larry Flynt offers up to $1 million for 'scandalous' audio or video of Donald Trump

Larry Flynt, the man behind Hustler magazine and Hustler clubs, announced Monday that he is offering an up to $1 million bounty for any "scandalous" clips of Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Specifically, Flynt is seeking "verifiable video footage or audio recordings for use prior to the November 8 election clearly showing Donald Trump engaging in illegal activity or acting in a sexually demeaning or derogatory manner." Hustler will pay the clip's provider if the company uses it in any way, a Monday news release said.

"I have always celebrated women. Women in all shapes and sizes. To treat a woman like Mr. Trump himself has is both disappointing and unbelievable, especially coming from someone who wants to be our President," Flynt said in a statement that explained that the pornography-peddling businessman took offense at Trump's claims of respect for women.

Consequently, Flynt "has made it his mission to call these hypocrites out and provide the public with as much information about their indiscretions as possible," the statement added.

Trump's campaign was rocked earlier this month after the release of 2005 footage depicting the New York businessman making crude comments about women, bragging about groping them. Trump has apologized for those comments, but some members of his own party called for him to drop out of the presidential race.

According to Hustler, Flynt made similar offers in 2007 and in 1998 for any prominent member of public office.

October 17, 2016

Socialized costs, Privatized Profits

NFL Ratings Woes Continue as Sunday Night Football Posts 9.0 Overnight, Lowest in Five Years

Are people getting smart to the con?

The 2016 NFL ratings decline continued Sunday, with this week’s Colts-Texans game down 38% from last year’s Week 6 Sunday Night Football match-up — according to the Sports TV Ratings industry tracking site. The game notched a 9.0 overnight rating for NBC.

Several factors must be taken into account to give context to this low number: First, the game took place opposite the highly viewed National League Championship baseball series between the Chicago Cubs and LA Dodgers, which drew Fox Sports 1’s largest audience ever. Fox Sports executive Michael Mulvihill reports that the baseball game posted a 5.0 rating.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/nfl-ratings-woes-continue-as-sunday-night-football-posts-9-0-overnight-lowest-in-five-years/