Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Looking Back at a Victory


David Fishback posted a piece on his blog about the successful campaign to improve the sex education program in Montgomery County, Maryland -- the campaign lasted from 2002, through many ups and downs and hard battles, until the final decision was signed off in 2014. He included in his post the full text of the handbook "Montgomery County,Maryland: A Case Study and Handbook for Action," written for PFLAG -- I will not include the handbook here, but will copy David's comments. You can read the book at David's blog or in PDF form at the PFLAG web site. In it, David reviews the many incidents that occurred here in our quiet, progressive little county, and outlines the lessons that can be learned. I am reproducing his blog post here verbatim.

Also, let's take this opportunity to congratulate David for winning a 2015 Heschel Vision Award, given by Jews United for Justice, for his tireless advocacy of LGBT rights, education, and justice.

Successful Public School LGBT Curriculum Advocacy


David S. Fishback




Last month, I presented a workshop at the PFLAG National Convention in Nashville entitled Case Study in Successful Public School Curriculum and Guidance Office Advocacy.

What is taught – and not taught – in our schools about sexual orientation and gender identity is extremely important. Too often, there is a deafening silence about such matters. Such silence too often allows misconceptions and unwarranted prejudices to fester and poison the atmosphere for our LGBT children.

Efforts to change what is taught in our schools can be daunting. Such efforts demand hard work, wisdom, empathy, and determination. But they can succeed.

On June 17, 2014, the Board of Education of Montgomery County, Maryland, unanimously gave final approval to a revised health education framework for secondary schools. This revised framework is based specifically on the longstanding findings of every mainstream American medical and mental health professional association regarding sexual orientation and gender identity, including the propositions that being LGBTQ is not an illness and that so-called “reparative” or “conversion” therapies are dangerous and ineffective. This action brought to a successful conclusion a dozen years of work by members of the Metro DC Chapter of PFLAG and others to bring the wisdom of the mainstream health care professionals into the middle and high school health education curriculum.

The Montgomery County experience may be useful for others around the country who seek to make schools not only safe for our LGBT children and children of LGBT families, but to help create a climate in which all of our children understand and appreciate each other.

Based on that experience, as PFLAG Metro DC Advocacy Chair, I created this publication, Curriculum Victory in Montgomery County, Maryland: A CaseStudy and Handbook for Action. It may be found at the PFLAG website at http://community.pflag.org/document.doc?id=1027 and is pasted below (but without the valuable hyperlinks in the website version). The campaign for curriculum revisions, and the lessons learned in the course of that campaign, was the basis for the October 18, 2015 workshop. The workshop was attended by PFLAGers from all around the United States.

I recommend that readers be aware, on the one hand, of the fact that this process took place in a relatively progressive community (which made it easier than it might be elsewhere); but also, on the other hand, of the fact that the culture in America has moved significantly in the last dozen years (which means that the dozen years it took from the start of the process in 2002 to the 2014 culmination could well be far longer than future efforts in other places).

In some communities, there may be widespread opposition to change; in others, opposition may be limited to a very small group of people. In some communities, political leaders may be very supportive; in others, they may be antagonistic or reluctant to “make waves.” In some communities, there may be a pent up desire to make the needed changes; in others, there may be a great fear of even talking about sexual orientation or gender identity. Within school bureaucracies, much may turn on the life experiences and hopes and fears of particular administrators. Every community is different, but there are common threads, the main one being that, as PFLAGers, we advocate for our children's lives, and we do so with the support of the mainstream American medical and mental health community.

See, also, http://focusonthefield.blogspot.com/2015/09/curriculum-victory-in-montgomery-county.html



206 Comments:

Anonymous Robert said...

David's MoCo handbook has been extremely helpful in Fairfax, where we've made intermittent progress and there is pent-up political support, but much attention from national anti-lgbt groups, and much local action from non-supportive politicians and a vigorous minority. The efforts are just beginning, and we'll need to work hard to support what changes have already been made. The Montgomery experience has been invaluable.

November 19, 2015 2:29 PM  
Anonymous it's all rigged by Rigby!! said...

it's nice to hear things aren't going well for the deviant propaganda agenda in Fairfax, Robert

why don't you delight us with some details?

November 19, 2015 2:44 PM  
Anonymous David S. Fishback said...

Thank you, Jim. You and the rest of the Teachthefacts.org people were so instrumental in achieving this progress in Montgomery County.

Robert -- Congratulations. You know you are doing great things when the trolls are nasty toward you.

November 19, 2015 3:01 PM  
Anonymous David S. Fishback said...

On November 17, PFLAG volunteer Mid-Atlantic Regional Director Catherine Hyde testified on Capitol Hill, talking about her transgender daughter, her family's journey, and what we should do as a society to protect all of our children. Her heartfelt testimony is important, and well-worth listening to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBOPbe3w2hc&feature=em-uploademail

November 19, 2015 3:23 PM  
Anonymous That ol' Fishback magic logic said...

David, David. Transgendered is a delusion that one is a gender other than they are. Why should it be treated any differently than other delusions?

Poor Robert the martyr. Must be doing something right: the trolls are out to get him. Of course, pursuing that logic, the trolls must be doing something right since the TFFers are out to get'em

November 19, 2015 11:48 PM  
Anonymous Robert said...

"Transgender" is not a verb.

November 20, 2015 4:36 PM  
Anonymous All Lives Matter said...

More Transgender People Have Been Killed in 2015 Than Any Other Year on Record

"At vigils across the country today, people are honoring the victims of fatal anti-transgender violence as part of an annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. At least 21 transgender people have been killed in the United States already this year, which is more homicides than any other year on record, according to a recent report by Human Rights Campaign. During the first six months of the year alone, more transgender people were killed than in all of 2014. Most of the victims were transgender women of color. So far, none of the attacks have been deemed hate crimes.

On Tuesday, a congressional task force launched in response to the "epidemic of violence against the transgender community." The Transgender Equality Task Force, chaired by Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.), who has a transgender granddaughter, aims to understand the causes of anti-transgender violence and identify what the federal government can do to improve the situation.

Activists say it's hard to know exactly how many transgender people are killed every year. One problem, they say, is that police officers often refer to transgender homicide victims with names and pronouns reflecting their gender of birth, rather than their gender identity. (For example, transgender women are often described by police officers as men.) And while the FBI last year began publishing statistics on hate crimes against gender-nonconforming people, the bureau's figures only reflect cases reported to authorities. Some crime-reporting programs at the state level have also opted, for budgetary reasons, not to collect data on hate crimes against transgender people, according to an FBI spokesman. Lauren Smith, a press contact for Honda, the chair of the congressional task force, said the issue of data collection has come up in discussions among task force members, but that the group won't be meeting until shortly after Thanksgiving to hammer out specific agenda items they hope to address."

November 20, 2015 5:17 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "Poor Robert the martyr. Must be doing something right: the trolls are out to get him. Of course, pursuing that logic, the trolls must be doing something right since the TFFers are out to get'em".

False equivalency. Trolls like you seek to deny LGBT people like Robert equal rights but we don't seek do deny you trolls equal rights. So you're out to get us, we aren't out to get you.

November 20, 2015 5:18 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

"More Transgender People Have Been Killed in 2015 Than Any Other Year on Record"

Bigots like Wyatt/bad anonymous consider that good news. They make perfunctory claims that they oppose murdering trans people but in reality they're happy the hate speech they spread has helped create an atmosphere of intolerance that leads to murder.

November 20, 2015 5:21 PM  
Anonymous LSD in HD said...

""Transgender" is not a verb."

Someone's been roberting. Any word can, obviously, become verbiage.

If someone thinks they are a gender they're not, there is no actual difference between that and any other delusion. Why do some think we should approach it differently?

There are tons of people in asylums who think they are Napoleon. We don't dig up his tomb to get a DNA sample to splice in. Why do we think we should give transgenders surgery in an attempt to make their delusions real?

Artifice is no more real than Priya's "boyfriend"'s brain is complete and functional.

Life is real, delusion is not.

Look it up.

When you're not hallucinating...

November 22, 2015 8:36 PM  
Anonymous who dat dare dem dum dums said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

November 22, 2015 8:39 PM  
Anonymous where have all the hippos gone? said...

"Every community is different, but there are common threads, the main one being that, as PFLAGers, we advocate for our children's lives,"

these children would have a lower mortality rate is they were encouraged to either be abstinent or enter into a monogamous heterosexual relationship

in every country where homosexuality is tolerated, AIDS is disproportionately represented among homosexuals

thus, in such a country, and we are one, it is vital that children be given accurate SOCIAL facts

not just "scientific" facts which only apply under laboratory controlled conditions

the real world is out there

"and we do so with the support of the mainstream American medical and mental health community."

a community that has caved to social and political pressure

it is documented, for example, that when the APA removed homosexuality from a list of mental health disorders the move was not agreed to by most practititioners

it was done as a response to intimidation and not hippocratically

November 23, 2015 11:04 AM  
Anonymous heidi heidi ho said...

thaz rite!!

those hippos don't dance no mo!!

November 23, 2015 11:08 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "these [LGBT] children would have a lower mortality rate is they were encouraged to either be abstinent or enter into a monogamous heterosexual relationship in every country where homosexuality is tolerated, AIDS is disproportionately represented among homosexuals".

That's a lie. The rate of STDs amongst gays is lower in accepting places and lower still in places that have marriage equality or civil unions for gays and lesbians. Encouraging gays to enter marriages with heterosexual women increases the rate of anonymous promiscuous sex amongst such gay men because they seek out anonymous sex with multiple partners in order to hide their orientation.

Research by Andrew M. Francis and Hugo M. Mialon in 2009 showed levels of HIV amongst gays in the United States dropped as tolerance increased.

Lesbians and gays who seek help from religious counselors have increased suicide risk:
http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/press-releases/25-june-2014

Gays who have negative attitude about their orientation have poorer mental health then gays with positive attitude about their orientation:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/uom-hnf091708.php


That anti-gay harrasment of LGBT children that Wyatt/bad anonymous promotes leads to poor adult health:
http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/01/28/8390#respond


Same sex marriage bans harm the mental health of gays and lesbians:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-hidden-brain/201003/the-mental-health-consequences-anti-gay-marriage-laws


Same sex marriage reduces stress and number of medical visits amongst gays and lesbians:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/12/16/same-sex-stress-visits.html


Gays perform better at work when they are out and can be themselves:
http://ukgaynews.org.uk/Archive/08/Jul/0302.htm


Openly gay employess improve productivity of their co-workers:
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2011/08/25/304168/study-openly-gay-employees-improve-their-coworkers-productivity/


Legally recongnized relationships of gay couples last longer:
http://www.365gay.com/news/082608-relationship-study/


Gay men have become less promiscuous in the U.S. as acceptance has increased:
http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/study-finds-us-gay-men-becoming-less-promiscuous050513


Availability of same sex marriage reduces rates of STDs:
http://www.academia.edu/446302/The_Effects_of_Same-Sex_Marriage_Laws_on_Public_Health_and_Welfare

November 23, 2015 1:05 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...


Wyatt/bad anonymous said "it is documented, for example, that when the APA removed homosexuality from a list of mental health disorders the move was not agreed to by most practititioners it was done as a response to intimidation and not hippocratically".

False. There was never any valid scientific reason for classifying gayness as a mental illness. Psychiatrists prior to 1973 just went along with the prevailing prejudices of the day and classified gayness as a mental illness by default, not because of any scientific research. In the 1950's Evelyn Hooker challenged the prevailing unsupported belief that gayness was a mental illness and did research showing that gays were indistinguishable from heterosexuals on common measures of mental health. Further research in the 60's corroborated this and so in 1973 the APA recognized the relevant research and appropriately removed gayness from the Diagnostics and Standards Manual of mental illnesses. Research continued in the 80's reaching the same conclusions and began to taper off in the 90's as that research also showed gayness was not a mental illness and made it apparent that no further research was needed.


I know a lot of psychiatrists in 1973 didn't agree with removing gayness from the DSM, I'm not sure if it was a majority or not and given Wyatt/bad anonymous's long history of lying we can't take his word for that. But in any event, that doesn't matter. The opinions of those psychiatrists in 1973 weren't based on science, they were based on the prevailing prejudices of the day and voluminous research prior to and after that time have indisputably shown gayness is not a mental illness. A flood of research has also shown that encouraging gays to reject their sexuality is damaging to their mental and physical health and an accepting society and gays who positively accept their orientation result in better health and happiness amongst gays and lesbians. It is simply unethical to encourage gays and lesbians to reject their sexuality and enter into opposite sex marriages with heterosexual partners. Research by Mark Regnerus showed such mixed orientation marriages have an extremely high rate of failure and are damaging to the children created in those marriages. Conversely children raised in same sex marriages do as well, if not better than children raised in opposite sex heterosexual marriages.

And for someone who gets all jazzed about typos in other peoples' writings and pretends that is a refutation of their arguments, nice misspelling of "practitioners".

Hahahahahahahahahaha!

November 23, 2015 1:15 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Just in case Wyatt/bad anonymous tries to distort the current situation I'll explain it first. Anti-gay sites like to gloat over the number of new HIV infections amongst 13-24 year old gay and bisexual males having increased 132% over the last several years. This is not due to increased acceptance, its due primarily to the increased prevalence of internet hookup applications like Tindr and Grindr. These make it much easier than its ever been to find an anonymous sex partner than its ever been before. However, most of this increase has been amongst young gays between 13 and 24. The overall rate of increase amongst gays and bisesexuals is much lower and the rate specifically amongst gays and bisexuals older than 24 has remained level or has dropped slightly.

New HIV infections amongst gays and bisexuals plummeted from a peak of about 75,000 per year to less than 18,000 per year by the early 1990s, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Infections currently hover around 30,000 per year. Experts say it's younger men, especially young black men, who are driving that current upward trend. The stigma about being gay is much greater in the black community than it is amongst other races which is part of the reason for the increase in new HIV cases in this group.

Research shows that HIV rates amongst gay and bisexual men older than 24 has dropped dramatically as acceptance has increased and in particular when legal recognition of gay and lesbian relationships was enacted. If sexual connections had been enabled by the internet as they currently are back at the peak of the HIV epidemic the number of HIV infections at its peak would have likely been around 150,000 or more so the current rate of 30,000 is a dramatic reduction from what likely would have been the case if the only variable was the rate of social acceptance of gayness.

As the large increase is mostly confined to young gay and bisexual men the availability of marriage to them has little effect on promiscuity rates because this is a group of mostly not ready for marriage. While the internet is largely responsible for the increase in rates of HIV amongst young gay and bisexual males another factor has been the appearance of drugs that well manage HIV in infected people. Young gay and bisexual males simply don't see the devastating effects HIV used to have on the infected and have no experience with watching people they know die from AIDS.

So, while the current rate of HIV infections amongst gay and bisexual males as a group has risen somewhat over the last several years due to the increased prevalence of internet hookup apps, it is still less than half of what it was at its peak and probably 20% of what the peak would have been had internet hookup apps been available at the peak of the HIV epidemic. All the research shows that all else being equal, stigmatizing gays leads to higher rates of promiscuity, lower HIV testing rates, and lower rates of access to health care that could prevent HIV or limit its transmission.

November 23, 2015 3:24 PM  
Anonymous when Ward awakes, he will remember everything said...

Lazy Priya must be getting prrreeeeetty dizzy from all the spinning (oops, I missspelled)

all the above just goes to prove that telling young people that homosexualitty is perfecftly safe and normal leads to higher mortality rates

as lazy Priya documents, it's the young who are getting AIDS more

it's happened as the gay friendly Fishback-style curriculums are spreading like an epidemic across America

the young are being convinced by these curriculums that homosexuality is OK

and AIDS is on the rise among the young

so, when David says "as PFLAGers, we advocate for our children's lives,", well, draw the logical conclusion

November 23, 2015 3:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

and that was just one statement from David's stupid post

just think if we took every line sand examined it for valididty

November 23, 2015 3:57 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

HIV is currently less than half it was at its peak. The recent increase is due to internet hookup apps like Grindr and Tindr. If these had been available when HIV was at its peak the current rate would be 20% of the peak. That's due to the acceptance and the legal recognition of gay relationships. The young gays aren't yet benefited by access to legal recognition of gay relationships.

All the research shows acceptance reduces STDS amongst gays and discrimination and stigma increases them.

November 23, 2015 4:16 PM  
Anonymous Another lying liar said...

Mr. Trump’s Applause Lies
By THE EDITORIAL BOARDNOV. 24, 2015


America has just lived through another presidential campaign week dominated by Donald Trump’s racist lies. Here’s a partial list of false statements: The United States is about to take in 250,000 Syrian refugees; African-Americans are responsible for most white homicides; and during the 9/11 attacks, “thousands and thousands” of people in an unnamed “Arab” community in New Jersey “were cheering as that building was coming down.”

In the Republican field, Mr. Trump has distinguished himself as fastest to dive to the bottom. If it’s a lie too vile to utter aloud, count on Mr. Trump to say it, often. It wins him airtime, and retweets through the roof.

This phenomenon is in fact nothing new. Politicians targeting minorities, foreigners or women have always existed in the culture. And every generation or so, at least one demagogue surfaces to fan those flames.

Here’s Donald Trump on Sunday: “When the Syrian refugees are going to start pouring into this country, we don’t know if they’re ISIS, we don’t know if it’s a Trojan horse. And I definitely want a database and other checks and balances. We want to go with watch lists. We want to go with databases. And we have no choice. We have no idea who’s being sent in here. This could be the — it’s probably not, but it could be the great Trojan horse of all time, where they come in.”

Here’s Joseph McCarthy in 1950: “Today we are engaged in a final, all-out battle between communistic atheism and Christianity. The modern champions of communism have selected this as the time, and ladies and gentlemen, the chips are down — they are truly down.”

Here’s Donald Trump last Tuesday: “We’re going to have to do things that we never did before. And some people are going to be upset about it, but I think that now everybody is feeling that security is going to rule. And certain things will be done that we never thought would happen in this country in terms of information and learning about the enemy. And so we’re going to have to do certain things that were frankly unthinkable a year ago.”

Here’s George Wallace in 1963: “We must redefine our heritage, re-school our thoughts in the lessons our forefathers knew so well, in order to function and to grow and to prosper. We can no longer hide our head in the sand and tell ourselves that the ideology of our free fathers is not being attacked and is not being threatened by another idea ... for it is.”

Mr. Trump relies on social media to spread his views. This is convenient because there’s no need to respond to questions about his fabrications. That makes it imperative that other forms of media challenge him.

Instead, as Mr. Trump stays at the top of the Republican field, it’s become a full-time job just running down falsehoods like the phony crime statistics he tweeted, which came from a white supremacist group.

Yet Mr. Trump is regularly rewarded with free TV time, where he talks right over anyone challenging him, and doubles down when called out on his lies.

This isn’t about shutting off Mr. Trump’s bullhorn. His right to spew nonsense is protected by the Constitution, but the public doesn’t need to swallow it. History teaches that failing to hold a demagogue to account is a dangerous act. It’s no easy task for journalists to interrupt Mr. Trump with the facts, but it’s an important one.

November 24, 2015 9:26 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Its a sad commentary on the intelligence of a large percentage of Americans that the blatantly lying racist buffoon Trump is leading in the Republican presidential nomination.

November 24, 2015 11:41 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

It has become virtually a mantra on the xenophobic and Islamophobic right that most of the Syrian refugees are "young men of military age" or some such nonsense. Carly Fiorina goes even further and says that the "vast majority" of the refugees are "able-bodied young men." PolitiFact points to data from the United Nations, which tracks all of the refugees, that completely refutes this claim:

The United Nations keeps track of more than 4 million registered Syrian refugees, with an online database that includes specific demographic data.

Let’s start by leaving out the other qualifiers — young and able-bodied — and look at whether the “vast majority” of refugees are men. We need not split hairs on what constitutes a “vast majority” here, since the gender breakdown is pretty evenly split; in hard numbers, the majority of refugees is actually female.

Further, to look at only the male refugees – which amount to 49.7 percent of the total – less than half of that population is age 18 or older. Men ages 18 to 59 comprise about 22 percent of all Syrian refugees.

Contrary to Fiorina’s statement, most refugees overall are children age 17 or younger.

This will, of course, do absolutely nothing to stop the Republican candidates from repeating this claim, nor will it prevent their gullible followers from believing it. They are, to be blunt, completely immune to facts.

November 24, 2015 12:16 PM  
Anonymous maybe Ward needs another lobotomy said...

"HIV is currently less than half it was at its peak"

this is really beside the point

the point was that where homosexuality is embraced as a normal part of society, AIDS (not just any STD) is disproportionately, by a large margin, represented in the homosexual community

and, as lazy Priya so nicely pointed out, it's worse among young homosexuals

so when schools start telling kids homosexuality is just another one of life's fun choices and the kids decide to try it out, they are in significant danger of early mortality

the highest rate of HIV infection in America: South Beach Miami, where gays are practically running the place

not far behind: downtown Washington, where David Fishback attends the annual pride parade and the commercial and entertainment districts are crawling with gays falling all over each other in packs

as for the ludicrous assertion of lazy Priya that recent increases are due to the internet: gays have hooking up anonymously on the internet from its beginning

the internet is a cyber community that tolerates everything, including homosexuality

wherever homosexuality is unrestrained, the results to society are devastating

HIV is currently less than half it was at its peak? if homosexuals had any self-control, it would 1% of its peak

the stats clearly show homosexuals have none and society needs to help them restrain themselves

think about it

when you're not feeding your internet porn addiction

November 24, 2015 12:52 PM  
Anonymous keep cutting out lobes til you find the insane one said...

you know, Republicans seem to think we shouldn't let the Syrian refugees in because some radical Islamists might be among them

I tend to disagree

we have millions of other ways anyone can get in

I don't think anyone wants to shut down tourism to America

and, additionally, America does a much better job assimilating immigrants than Europe does

so Muslims are not the same concern

still, Ben Carson is right in saying that Islam contradicts our Constitution

anyone entering should have to sign a statement that they affirm the U.S. Constitution

furthermore, this is not the vital moral issue that liberals make it out to be

if we don't let in 10,000, why can't Mick Jagger's love child, Justin pick up the slack?

better yet, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and Turkey and Jordan

better yet, a multi-national force led by the U.S. should establish a safe zone in Iraq where the refugees can live in peace and safety

paid for by the oil we seize from ISIS controlled territories

so, while it's true that refugees are not really a danger to us, there are preferable alternatives

here in the U.S., the 7-11 only needs so many cashiers

November 24, 2015 1:12 PM  
Anonymous commitment to the cure said...

"This revised framework is based specifically on the longstanding findings of every mainstream American medical and mental health professional association regarding sexual orientation and gender identity,"

this is a lie

there are no findings

the positions of the associations are opinions and have been heavily influenced by socio-political vicissitudes

there are by no means based on empirical findings

"including the propositions that being LGBTQ is not an illness"

completely subjective, based on your definition of wellness

to most, the inability to function in a procreative heterosexual relationship would be an illness

it's certainly not a condition of wellness

"and that so-called “reparative” or “conversion” therapies are dangerous"

dangerous?

well, there are risks of any therapy designed to cure mental illness

same gender sexual attraction is not the only harmful addiction

trying to address compulsions to porn addiction or pyromania or chain smoking or et al can cause similar problems to therapy that addresses homosexuality

but the benefits outweigh the risks

"and ineffective."

again, ineffective at what?

completely removing the desire to ever engage in homosexual activity?

as unrealistic as completely removing the desire to engage in other addictions

however, if the goal is to allow one to function in a normal healthy heterosexual relationship, it's doable

there will always be echoes and effects of one's former illness

but that doesn't mean homosexuals can't get better

they simply need to be vigilant and commit to lifelong therapy and support groups

November 24, 2015 10:59 PM  
Anonymous that's right!! ....lifelong said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

November 25, 2015 10:47 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...


I pointed out "HIV is currently less than half it was at its peak"

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "this is really beside the point the point was that where homosexuality is embraced as a normal part of society, AIDS (not just any STD) is disproportionately, by a large margin, represented in the homosexual community so when schools start telling kids homosexuality is just another one of life's fun choices and the kids decide to try it out, they are in significant danger of early mortality".

False. The research I posted shows that acceptance lowers promiscuity and STD rates amongst gays, improves their mental health, reduces the number of doctors visits, improves theirs and their co-workers productivity and more. The research shows legal recognition of gay relationships also reduces STDs and improves the mental health of gays. Young gays aren't genderally ready for marriage so this has yet to have a beneficial effect on them. The research I posted shows HIV rates amongst gay men would be FIVE TIMES what they are now if you had your way and American society was as rejecting as it had been.


Wyatt/bad anonymous said "as for the ludicrous assertion of lazy Priya that recent increases are due to the internet: gays have hooking up anonymously on the internet from its beginning the internet is a cyber community that tolerates everything, including homosexuality"

Obviously the increase is due to the internet. The prevalence of internet hookup apps makes it far easier to find a willing anonymous sex partner and increases the frequency of gay men doing so. It used to be much more difficult to find a willing partner so it was done less often.

November 25, 2015 12:24 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "HIV is currently less than half it was at its peak? if homosexuals had any self-control, it would 1% of its peak the stats clearly show homosexuals have none and society needs to help them restrain themselves".

False. The research shows that the number of new HIV infections would be FIVE TIMES what it is now if it weren't for increased social acceptance. The rate amongst older gay men of marriage age has remained flat or declined slightly over the last several years and will decline more now that marriage is available to all American gays. The increase in number of new infections over the last several years is largely due to young black men who live in far more homophobic communities (just as you promote!) than white gays and the presence of internet hookup apps has greatly increased anonymous sex amongst an insular group which also greatly increases the rate of new infections.

The promiscuity amongst a minority of gay men is not due to gayness itself, but rather to the state of being male and having a very high sex drive. If women were as willing to have sex as heterosexual men the HIV rates amongst heterosexuals would be just as high as they are amongst gays. Heterosexual men aren't as promiscuous as gay men because they aren't able to be, not because they don't want to be.

Think about it when you're not feeding your internet porn addiction.


David posted "This revised framework is based specifically on the longstanding findings of every mainstream American medical and mental health professional association regarding sexual orientation and gender identity,"

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "this is a lie there are no findings".

LOL! Your lie would be slightly less obvious if I hadn't posted piles of research showing that acceptance of gayness is beneficial to gays and society (which is a tiny fraction of what's been done all showing that gayness is a normal, natural, and healthy status for a subset of the population).

November 25, 2015 12:25 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

----------------------------------------------------------
Wyatt/bad anonymous said "the positions of the associations are opinions and have been heavily influenced by socio-political vicissitudes."

False. The position is based on volumes of research starting with Evelyn Hooker's work in the 1950's showing gays are indistinguishable from heterosexuals on common measures of mental health. It is the postition of the American Psychiatric Association prior to 1973 that was based on "opinions and heavily influenced by socio-political vicissitudes" - there was never any research to support the conclusion that gayness was a mental illness.

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "to most, the inability to function in a procreative heterosexual relationship would be an illness".

Oh, cool, the argument by popularity logical fallacy. Hahahahahahahaha!

David posted "and that so-called “reparative” or “conversion” therapies are dangerous"

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "dangerous? well, there are risks of any therapy designed to cure mental illness same gender sexual attraction is not the only harmful addiction trying to address compulsions to porn addiction or pyromania or chain smoking or et al can cause similar problems to therapy that addresses homosexuality but the benefits outweigh the risks".

False. On several accounts. Gayness in a monogamous relationship is harmless and benefits the people in it as well as society. There is no harm caused by treating porn addiction, pyromania, or chain smoking. Counseling gays to try to be heterosexual and reject their immutable orientation often leads to severe depression and suicide - look at the research I posted. You've pathetically tried to argue that quitting smoking leads to similar depression which is of course absurd - no one ever killed themselves because they couldn't quit smoking. The occaisional down feelings a person quitting smoking might feel are not in any sense clinical depression which is a severe state that is marked by constant hopelessness, crying, self harm, inability to work or gain pleasure, and a lack of will to live.

November 25, 2015 12:25 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

David said "and [sexual orientation conversion attempts are ]ineffective."

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "again, ineffective at what? completely removing the desire to ever engage in homosexual activity? as unrealistic as completely removing the desire to engage in other addiction however, if the goal is to allow one to function in a normal healthy heterosexual relationship, it's doable there will always be echoes and effects of one's former illness but that doesn't mean homosexuals can't get better they simply need to be vigilant and commit to lifelong therapy and support groups".

They're ineffective at removing any desire for same sex relationships. The American "ex-gay" industry has almost entirely collapsed as its leaders have admitted that the "therapy" was wholly ineffective at reducing same sex attractions. After decades (in some cases) of trying the leaders have admitted that they have not seen one single person change sexual orientations or even become slightly heterosexual. Functioning in a "normal healthy heterosexual relationship" is not a realistic or advisable goal for any gay or lesbian person. As you should know from your own anti-gay funded research by the anti-gay Mark Regnerus whose research, despite his best efforts, showed that relationships between gays and lesbians and an opposite sex heterosexual partner never work out and are damaging to the children they have in those relationships. Its time you stopped advocating that gays and lesbians enter into doomed heterosexual relationships that deprive the gay partner of happiness and devastate the opposite sex partner and their children when they inevitably blow up.

November 25, 2015 12:26 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

"This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.".

Oh-oh! Wyatt/bad anonymous is getting "dispassionate" again!

People who know they don't have a valid argument substitute anger for their lack of rational arguments.

Hahahahahahahahaaha!

November 25, 2015 12:28 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

If Wyatt/bad anonymous had his way and American society was as anti-gay as it was the number of new HIV infections amongst gay and and bisexual men would be FIVE TIMES what it is now.


Not to mention there being millions more broken marriages and damaged children from gay men marrying heterosexual women to try to hide their orientation and avoid the discrimination and violence from people like Wyatt/bad anonymous.

This is what Wyatt wants because he won't positively accept his own same sex attractions choosing instead to promiscuously seek out anonymous sexual encounters with men in order to keep his orientation a secret.

Remember Wyatt, research shows gays who positively accept their orientation are happier and better adjusted than those who don't.

Just renounce your self and external hatred and the LGBT community will welcome you with open arms.

November 25, 2015 12:37 PM  
Anonymous woeful is Ward said...

let's summarize the last six posts from a lazy unplugged Saskatchan:

anon: the sky is blue

lazy Priya: False. Orange juice contains no vitamin C at all

gee, who could argue with that kinda thinkin'?

November 25, 2015 4:45 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Everything I've said is supported by research.

The only thing supporting your false claims is your self-loathing.

Come out of the closet Wyatt.

November 25, 2015 4:56 PM  
Anonymous the weird world of Ward said...

did you have a lobotomy too just so Ward wouldn't feel alone?

your "arguments" have nothing to do with the points being discussed

the amount of vitamin C in OJ has nothing to do with the color of the sky

November 25, 2015 5:39 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ROFLMAO

Way to leave the troll choking on his own prejudice, without coherent rebuttal, and reduced to spouting bulloney about vitamins and the sky, Priya Lynn!

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 26, 2015 10:09 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Happy Thanksgiving Good Anonymous.

November 26, 2015 4:07 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Breaking news!

The first thing President Huckabee is going to do in 2017 is ban abortion and gay marriage

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!

November 26, 2015 4:08 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

You know what's hilarious?

Wyatt/bad anonymous has ranted on for decades about how gay men should marry heterosexual women and have children and yet his gay self is single and childless.

Wyatt won't even take his own advice, that's how much he believes in it!

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!

November 26, 2015 4:47 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt, you big old gay hypocrite you!

November 26, 2015 4:51 PM  
Anonymous svelte_brunette said...

Priya,

While it is true that a number of the most vocal anti-gay troglodytes are self-loathing closet cases, I'm really hoping that the Vigilance Puppet Master is not one of them.

Trust me, there is no one in the LGBT community here that wants anything to do with him / her.

There are any number of other reasons Troll Force 1 has selected Jim's little blog to hang out on, like...

He / she was abused as a child by a priest or relative, and does not know that perpetually hurling epithets about cyberspace to try and relieve one's torment is NOT a suitable substitute for a good therapist.

Or...

He / She is simply one of the 1%. Namely the roughly 1% of the population that are natural born sociopaths.

Or...
He / She could have been born into a family like that of Fred Phelps. Some of his kids have managed to escape his "church" and recover. Unfortunately, many of his kids have not.

The most important thing to remember is we now have wonderful gay couples getting married all over the country, trans people are now getting some job and housing protections, and Don Quixote is still doing the same thing and expecting different results.

There are plenty of excuses for Anon to be so trollerific, but many of us here in DC country sleep better at night knowing we don't have Voldemort haunting our midst.

Have a nice day,

Cynthia

November 26, 2015 8:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It’s that time of year to sit back and remember what we have to be thankful for in life. I, for one, am thankful that I live in a country where people can do something silly like wear a colander on their heads in their drivers license photos.

Not that something like that is incredibly common. Only about a handful of people have actually had this done, and it’s not always done easily. Recently, Lindsay Miller of Massachusetts won an appeal to wear a colander in her photo after initially being denied.

She’s not the first to win this right. In 2013, a Texas man won a legal battle to wear his pasta strainer in his drivers license photo, and in 2014 a Utah woman wore her colander and experienced surprisingly little resistance.

But it’s not the colander that’s important. It’s what it symbolizes.

A colander, to the uninitiated, is a sign of membership in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, aka Pastafarianism. The Flying Spaghetti Monster was created as a way to push back against religious dogma and the privilege religion has in society. But it’s also light-hearted and doesn’t take itself too seriously. The point of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is not to make everybody think the same way, but to give people the freedom to think for themselves. It’s not a rebellion against religion, per se. It’s against the “crazy nonsense done in the name of religion.”

That distinction is important, and it embodies what I love about the colander-wearers around the world. It simultaneously reinforces the principle of religious tolerance and knocking religion down a peg.

Pastafarianism, despite it’s goofy name and even goofier deity, is not fundamentally different from other religions. There’s no less proof that the FSM exists than any other god of antiquity. The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is a group of like-minded people who may or may not literally believe a holy text, but who abide by set of values. You know, kind of like other religions.

But you’ll notice that the Pastafarians who have fought to wear the headgear of their people in official state photos aren’t trying to get the privilege taken away from people of other religions. Instead, they want to be included. This is about recognizing that not everybody believes the same thing or thinks the same way–and that’s OK. The problem with living in a community that is majority anything – Christian, white, heterosexual, whatever – is that people start to assume things and make wild generalizations based on stereotypes or limited interactions with people in the “out-group.” We’ve all made this mistake, whether we know it or not. Visibility is important.

Colanders, in some ways, have become a symbol of religious tolerance. It seems silly, but if you think about it, it’s silly in a very familiar way. That might make some people uncomfortable but that’s what it means to live in a pluralistic society. The way out of this uncomfortableness is dialogue, not silence–and you can’t talk to people you don’t know are there.

November 28, 2015 1:38 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

My husband and I went to buy a colander yesterday. While we were waiting in the checkout line I put it on my head. The cashier and the other customers thought it was hilarious but they never heard about pastafarianism or the church of the flying spaghetti monster so my husband explained it to them. One of the other ladies said she was going to wear one the next time she got her driver's license picture taken.

November 28, 2015 4:18 PM  
Anonymous Feel the Bern, President Ben said...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, is gaining steam against top Republican rivals, according to a national Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

In a hypothetical matchup against the current GOP front-runner, business mogul Donald Trump, Sanders takes 49 percent of the vote to Trump's 41 percent. Against Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Sanders leads 44 percent to 43 percent. He also beats Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) by 10 percentage points and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson by 6 points.

Fifty-nine percent of voters also say Sanders is honest and trustworthy -- placing him well above former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his chief rival for the Democratic nomination, and above all top Republican candidates tested in the poll.

Clinton, for her part, has also gained some ground in the race, spelling good news for Democrats overall. She is now performing better against top Republican rivals compared to one month ago, when she was just slightly ahead of Trump and losing against all other Republicans in a Quinnipiac poll. In this latest poll, Sanders performs equally well as Clinton against Republicans or better.

In the Democratic primary, Clinton continues to lead with 60 percent of the vote to Sanders' 30 percent. Her lead has widened by 12 points since an October Quinnipiac poll.

In the Republican primary contest, the poll finds that Trump has gained while Carson, who was in second place one month ago, has fallen to third place. Rubio has jumped to second place with 17 percent of the vote to Trump's 27 percent. Cruz is now tied in third place with Carson at 16 percent.

With 11 months left until the general election, polls are still highly subject to change. For now, they are only able to capture a snapshot of the current state of the race, rather than serve as a predictor of the eventual outcome...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sanders-beats-republican-candidates-poll_565ee12ce4b079b2818c95fc

December 02, 2015 1:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Actually surprised that a socialist is doing so well. Being a libertarian, I wouldn't vote for someone who wants to tax the heck out of us and expand government paternalism.

Still, he's a likable enough guy and, seemingly, honest.

Also:

fasten your seat belts, kids: he supports the second amendment!!

December 02, 2015 6:44 PM  
Anonymous Made possible by the Second Amendment said...

There Have Been More Mass Shootings This Year Than There Have Been Days: 355 mass shootings in 336 days...and counting

December 02, 2015 10:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Looks like we have a TTFer who hasn't heard: most mass shootings take place in "gun-free" zones

December 02, 2015 11:32 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

"Looks like we have a TTFer who hasn't heard: most mass shootings take place in "gun-free" zones".

Bullsh*t.

December 02, 2015 11:47 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Look at lazy priya. Using that lobe-free logic Ward is known for.

Alas, facts are facts. Nuts who want to shoot up the innocent know if will be much easier if only they have a gun.

It's a well-known secret!!!

December 02, 2015 11:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Conservative media figures (like NeverWillBePresident Huckabee) often claim that mass shootings tend to happen in so-called "gun-free zones" in order to advocate for less restrictive gun laws. In reality, most mass shootings occur where firearms are allowed, and a Mother Jones review of mass public shootings over a 30-year period concluded, "In not a single case was the killing stopped by a civilian using a gun. And in other recent (but less lethal) rampages in which armed civilians attempted to intervene, those civilians not only failed to stop the shooter but also were gravely wounded or killed. Moreover, we found that the rate of mass shootings has increased in recent years—at a time when America has been flooded with millions of additional firearms and a barrage of new laws has made it easier than ever to carry them in public places, including bars, parks, and schools.

"Nuts who want to shoot up the innocent know if will be much easier if only they have a gun."

So why do the GOP and NRA work tirelessly to pass laws making it easier for everyone to buy, own and conceal a gun and harder for gun sellers to do background checks??

As noted in that Mother Jones report:

"In the past four years, across 37 states, the NRA and its political allies have pushed through 99 laws making guns easier to own, carry, and conceal from the government."

Yesterday NeverWillBePresident Huckabee said "So a tragedy, its (sic) always a tragedy when somebody engages in some mass murder. I think it's a reminder to us in most every case that we've had in this country, two thing have been a (sic) common denominators, one a mentally unstable person. Two a gun free zone. And those seem to be the common denominators. I don't know if that's the case in San Bernardino but if it turns out be it'll be one more horrible tragedy that we'll have to grieve through as a country."

I've got news for your NeverWillBePresident Huckabee. It's already a horrible tragedy not because of his stupid lies, but because 14 more innocent Americans were killed and another 17 were wounded by people with guns.

December 03, 2015 8:40 AM  
Anonymous In case you missed it, there were two mass murders by gun yesterday said...

A gunman in Savannah, Ga., shot four people early Wednesday, killing a woman and injuring three men.

Police haven’t arrested a suspect, said Eunicia Baker, spokesperson for the Savannah Chatham Police Department. They also haven’t released the names of the victims. The local media barely acknowledged the murder: One local television station covered it in three paragraphs.

No permit is needed in Georgia:

To carry a firearm in a person's home, place of business, or vehicle
To carry a long gun in a fully open and exposed manner
To carry a unloaded firearm in a case
To carry a firearm in someone else's vehicle, provided you would qualify for a permit
To carry a firearm while fishing or hunting, if you have a valid fishing or hunting license

State preemption laws prohibit localities from regulating the ownership, transportation, and possession of firearms. Georgia also has a law preventing localities (like Savannah) from enacting ordinances or lawsuits to classify gun ranges as nuisances.

December 03, 2015 8:51 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Excellent work Good anonymous.

And let's not forget that Republicans passed a law preventing CDC from researching the causes of gun violence and how to prevent it - Republicans are evil and crazy!

December 03, 2015 10:43 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/bad anonymous sure is obsessed with my husband Ward! He's jealous and resentful that he doesn't have a man.

December 03, 2015 10:45 AM  
Anonymous TTFers crack me up said...

"In reality, most mass shootings occur where firearms are allowed,"

a statement unsubstantiated by this ludicrous commenter

"and a Mother Jones review of mass public shootings over a 30-year period"

actually, the review was of 62 carefully selected cases over 30 years

but there have been 350 already just this year alone

if you select your sample without objectivity, you can prove anything

"concluded, "In not a single case was the killing stopped by a civilian using a gun."

well, most public mass shootings take place in gun-free zones so no civilians have guns

"And in other recent (but less lethal) rampages in which armed civilians attempted to intervene, those civilians not only failed to stop the shooter but also were gravely wounded or killed"

if they failed to stop the shooter, why were these cases "less lethal"?

"Moreover, we found that the rate of mass shootings has increased in recent years—at a time when America has been flooded with millions of additional firearms and a barrage of new laws has made it easier than ever to carry them in public places, including bars, parks, and schools."

throughout most of American history, most have possessed guns (it's a constitutional right) and if there are more know, it's simply because the population has increased

btw, the other link, not identified by the commenter, was to a review of 132 shootings over 7 years by Every Town, a group created with a mission to advocate for gun control

hardly unbiased

Every Town has been invited by many media outlets to debate with defenders of the Second Amendment and has always declined

just look at the recent Paris attacks

does anyone really think 200 people would have been killed in a theater if some of the patrons had guns?

still remember an interview I recently saw with Chris Rock:

"I was invited to speak at a gun control rally. I've never been a big gun control advocate but I do favor sensible laws, like no machine across the street from elementary schools.

When I got home, I looked at my e-mail and it was filled with violent threats from people who said they were going to hunt me down and torture and kill me. I just sat myself and thought: I need to go get me a gun!"

everyone has a right to defend themselves and their families

it's in the Constitution

just ask Senator Bernie Sanders

December 03, 2015 11:11 AM  
Anonymous Good anonymous said...

"Excellent work Good anonymous."

Oh, that just makes my day. Approval from this Canadian half-wit.

December 03, 2015 11:15 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

"Just look at the recent Paris attacks does anyone really think 200 people would have been killed in a theater if some of the patrons had guns?".

Wyatt you BOZO, more people having guns just means more of the type of attacks that occurred in Paris. People in the crowd having guns would have had minimal effect on the number of people that would have died. A bunch of amateurs firing wildly at the first sound of gunfire would have killed more innocent people before MAYBE eventually hitting the attackers with AK-47s who wouldn't have been stopped from killing large numbers of people.

Research shows people who own guns are far more likely to kill themselves or a family member than to kill someone attacking them with a gun. More Americans having guns means more radical right wing conservatives going on shooting sprees and killing multiple people. The occaisional "good guy with a gun" shooting a bad guy with a gun after the bad guy has already shot several people won't make up for all the additional mass shootings more guns would mean.

December 03, 2015 12:34 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Just imagine if Wyatt/bad anonymous had his way and at the Paris shootings at the first sound of gunfire in a crowded room 50 "good guys with guns" pull out their weapons and start shooting. In the confusion, not knowing where the shots are coming from with the bad guys shooting from places of cover the 50 "good guys with guns" would see each other with guns, start shooting at each other wildly, hitting unarmed innocent bystanders left and right and all the time the bad guys with AK-47's keep shooting into the crowd increasing the confusion and mayhem.

In the majority of mass shootings like Paris lots of "good guys with guns" like Wyatt wants would mean even more people would have been shot than otherwise would be.

More guns means more bad guys going on mass killing sprees.

Wow! Is Wyatt/bad anonymous ever stupid!

December 03, 2015 12:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"if you select your sample without objectivity, you can prove anything"

And if you provide no sample at all as the TTF Troll hasn't, you can tell any lie you want.

Just ask the GOP nominee to be, Donald Trump!

Let's see your link to a sample from an objective news source that proves your claim "most mass shootings take place in "gun-free" zones"

December 03, 2015 4:19 PM  
Anonymous Priya's farm is so funny!!! said...

"more people having guns just means more of the type of attacks that occurred in Paris"

this statement is based on no empirical evidence and no reasoning

thus, it's false

more law abiding citizens with a means of self defense will not produce more attacks by ISIS

the best way to prevent more Paris and San Bernadino attacks is to monitor Muslims who travel to, or were born in, the Middle East

"People in the crowd having guns would have had minimal effect on the number of people that would have died"

to begin with, if people in the crowd were known to have guns, the attacks probably wouldn't have happened

if the Muslims attacked anyway, there's no way 200 would have been killed

"A bunch of amateurs firing wildly at the first sound of gunfire would have killed more innocent people before MAYBE eventually hitting the attackers with AK-47s who wouldn't have been stopped from killing large numbers of people"

who's to say they'd be amateurs and who's to say they would start firing wildly

they'd more likely take cover and assess the situation

it'd be easy to figure out who the bad guys are

there's the ones yelling "allahu akbar"

"Research shows"

any time anyone looks at a lazy Priya cited research, it's clearly misinterpretted

maybe the lobotomized Ward feeds Priya this crap

"people who own guns are far more likely to kill themselves or a family member than to kill someone attacking them with a gun"

ever think that could be because any individual is about 300 million times more likely, at any given moment, to be with their family than with someone attacking them with a gun?

people really aren't attacked by guns that often

the rates are low, although up some since Barry the Incompetent became President

"More Americans having guns means more radical right wing conservatives going on shooting sprees and killing multiple people"

actually, FBI stats show more terrorist attacks are made by leftist environmentalists than any right-wing groups

"The occaisional "good guy with a gun" shooting a bad guy with a gun after the bad guy has already shot several people won't make up for all the additional mass shootings more guns would mean"

Priya has finally lost it

"Just imagine if at the Paris shootings at the first sound of gunfire in a crowded room 50 "good guys with guns" pull out their weapons and start shooting. In the confusion, not knowing where the shots are coming from with the bad guys shooting from places of cover the 50 "good guys with guns" would see each other with guns, start shooting at each other wildly, hitting unarmed innocent bystanders left and right and all the time the bad guys with AK-47's keep shooting into the crowd increasing the confusion and mayhem"

this all assumes that the gun holders had never had gun training and couldn't tell the guys with AK-47s, yelling "allahu akbar" from everyone else

ludicrous

Ward needs to spend some of the money he's earned parking cars at the country club on a psych for Priya

maybe the guy who did Ward's lobotomy is available!!

December 03, 2015 4:45 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990

"...It was introduced in the U.S. Senate in October 1990 by Joseph R. Biden and signed into law in November 1990 by George H. W. Bush...

18 U.S.C. § 922(q)(2)(A) states:

It shall be unlawful for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm that has moved in or that otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.

18 U.S.C. § 922(q)(3)(A) states:

Except as provided in subparagraph (B), it shall be unlawful for any person, knowingly or with reckless disregard for the safety of another, to discharge or attempt to discharge a firearm that has moved in or that otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce at a place that the person knows is a school zone.

Exceptions
Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 922(q)(2)(B):

[18 U.S.C. § 922(q)(2)(A)] does not apply to the possession of a firearm—

(i) on private property not part of school grounds;

(ii) if the individual possessing the firearm is licensed to do so by the State in which the school zone is located or a political subdivision of the State, and the law of the State or political subdivision requires that, before an individual obtains such a license, the law enforcement authorities of the State or political subdivision verify that the individual is qualified under law to receive the license;

(iii) that is—

(I) not loaded; and

(II) in a locked container, or a locked firearms rack that is on a motor vehicle;

(iv) by an individual for use in a program approved by a school in the school zone;

(v) by an individual in accordance with a contract entered into between a school in the school zone and the individual or an employer of the individual;

(vi) by a law enforcement officer acting in his or her official capacity; or

(vii) that is unloaded and is possessed by an individual while traversing school premises for the purpose of gaining access to public or private lands open to hunting, if the entry on school premises is authorized by school authorities.

Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 922(q)(3)(B):

[18 U.S.C. § 922(q)(3)(A)] does not apply to the discharge of a firearm—

(i) on private property not part of school grounds;

(ii) as part of a program approved by a school in the school zone, by an individual who is participating in the program;

(iii) by an individual in accordance with a contract entered into between a school in a school zone and the individual or an employer of the individual; or

(iv) by a law enforcement officer acting in his or her official capacity.

Definitions[edit]
Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(25):

The term "school zone" means—

(A) in, or on the grounds of, a public, parochial or private school; or

(B) within a distance of 1,000 feet from the grounds of a public, parochial or private school.

Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(26) the term "school" means a school which provides elementary or secondary education, as determined under State law."


SECOND AMENDMENT TEXT

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

December 03, 2015 4:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

""more people having guns just means more of the type of attacks that occurred in Paris"

this statement is based on no empirical evidence and no reasoning

thus it is false"


Anyone can easily see Priya Lynn's statement is absolutely true. All you need to do is compare the mass murder rate in the USA, more than one per day this year, with any other industrial nation that does not have a law like our Second Amendment.

I see you still have not provided a source for your claim "most mass shootings take place in "gun-free" zones"

What's taking you so long?

While you're searching for that source, you might want to reread the US law I posted above and note "gun-free zones" are defined as:

"(A) in, or on the grounds of, a public, parochial or private school; or

(B) within a distance of 1,000 feet from the grounds of a public, parochial or private school.

Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(26) the term "school" means a school which provides elementary or secondary education, as determined under State law."
"


Neither of the two mass shootings that occurred in the USA yesterday was in a gun-free zone as defined by US law.

December 03, 2015 5:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Just look at the recent Paris attacks does anyone really think 200 people would have been killed in a theater if some of the patrons had guns?"

Two-hundred people did not die in the theater.

Two-hundred people did not even die in the total of six coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13, 2015.

Wikipedia reports "The attackers killed 130 people, including 89 at the Bataclan theatre,"

If it wasn't for lies, errors, and petty personal attacks, the TTF troll would have nothing to say.

December 03, 2015 5:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

FACT

The San Bernardino mass shooters, Farook and Malik had two assault rifles and two semi-automatic handguns that were legally purchased and registered.



December 03, 2015 5:33 PM  
Anonymous Ward is from the island of misfit toys said...

"Anyone can easily see Priya Lynn's statement is absolutely true. All you need to do is compare the mass murder rate in the USA, more than one per day this year, with any other industrial nation that does not have a law like our Second Amendment"

actually, Ward, Priya is the king of the false correlations

the "mass murder rate" is really not relevant

the overall rate of violence had been falling for years until Obama and the media decided to stoke racial tension this year

still, I feel pretty safe

anyone feeling in danger might want to either get counseling or move to a safe place

which would be most places in America, protected by the 2nd amendment

"I see you still have not provided a source for your claim "most mass shootings take place in "gun-free" zones""

oh, I don't think that's necessary

everyone has seen the plague of school shootings

I see you still have not provided a source for your claim that yesterday's shootings were "made possible by the 2nd amendment"

or apologized for the links to the hocus-pocus studies done by Mother Jones and Every Town

(remember everyone: Every Town has been invited to debate its findings many times by the media, in televised debates, and has declined)

"Neither of the two mass shootings that occurred in the USA yesterday was in a gun-free zone as defined by US law"

don't remember saying every mass shooting took place in a gun-free zone

oh, that's right: I didn't

I said most have

nice you've come up with a legalistic definition to weasel out of the basic fact that keeping guns from law abiding citizens doesn't ameliorate the risk of violence

it's the kind of crap that shows I'm right

"Two-hundred people did not die in the theater.

Two-hundred people did not even die in the total of six coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13, 2015.

Wikipedia reports "The attackers killed 130 people, including 89 at the Bataclan theatre,""

oh, what a relief!

only 130 people who couldn't defend themselves were slaughtered

liberal nutcases must feel so much better

"If it wasn't for lies, errors, and petty personal attacks, the TTF troll would have nothing to say"

oh yeah

you'd never see a TTFer doing that

I mean, except a certain transgender Canadian, who never makes a comment without adding a nasty remark

or, the anonymi making false correlations and posting "studies" from organizations whose stated mission it was to advocate the point the study supposedly "proves"

"The San Bernardino mass shooters, Farook and Malik had two assault rifles and two semi-automatic handguns that were legally purchased and registered"

they also lived in house where they hid bombs and military style weapons

should we also outlaw housing?

they are terrorists

they would have gotten the guns anyway

Donald Trump is right: the only way to be safe is to monitor Muslims who have contact with the Middle East

they're high risk, because they believe in a violent religion

even lazy Priya's atheist buddies, Richard Dawkins and Bill Maher realize this

why can't you?

December 03, 2015 6:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

1. Robert Lewis Dear, shot up a Planned Parenthood office and shot one police officer to death

2. Christopher Sean Harper-Mercer, shot up students and faculty at Umpqua Community College

3. Mohammod Youssef Abdulazeez, shot up a military recruiting center and a Navy-Marine training facility

4. Dylann Storm Roof, shot up the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church

5. Elliot Rodger, shot up Isla Vista community

6. Ivan Lopez, shot up Fort Hood

7. Aaron Alexis, shot up the Washington Navy Yard

8. John Zawahiri, shot up his father and brother at home, and then people at Santa Monica College

9. Adam Lanza, shot up students and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School

10. Radcliffe Haughton, shot up estranged wife and others at the Azana Salon and Spa

11. Andrew Ongeldiger, shot up owner and fellow employees at Accent Signage Systems

12. Wade Michael Page, a white supremacist, shot up people at a Sikh Temple

13. James Holmes, shot up patrons at the Century 16 movie theater

14. One L. Goh, shot up in a classroom at Oikos University, a small Christian college

15. Scott Dekraai,shot up patrons and employees at his ex-wife's job, Seal Beach Hair Salon

16. Jared Lee Loughner, shot up an Rep. Gaby Giffords meet and greet outside a supermarket

17. Omar S. Thornton, shot up fellow employees at Hartford Distributors

18. Amy Bishop, shot up biology faculty members at University of Alabama in Huntsville

19. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, shot up Ft. Hood

20. Jiverly Voong, shot up people at an immigration service center

21. Steven Kazmierczak, shot up students and teachers at Northern Illinois University

22. Robert Hawkins, shot up shoppers at an Omaha shopping mall

23. Seung-hui Cho, shot up students and faculty at Virginia Tech

24. Sulejman Talovic, shot up Salt Lake City shopping mall

25. Charles Carl Roberts IV, shot up an Amish one-room schoolhouse

26. Jennifer San Marco, shot up former co-workers at a US mail processing plant

27. Jeffrey Weise, shot up fellow students at Red Lake high school, after he shot up his grandfather and grandfather's companion at home

28. Doug Williams, shot up fellow workers at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co.

29. Robert S. Flores, Persian Gulf War veteran, shot up fellow students and teachers at Arizona's College of Nursing

30. Charles Andrew Williams, shot up fellow students at Santana High

31. Michael McDermott, shot up co-workers at his Internet consulting firm job

32. Bryan Uyesugi, shot up Xerox co-workers

33. Larry Gene Ashbrook, shot up the Wedgwood Baptist Church

34. Mark Orrin Barton, shot up two offices of fellow investors

35. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, shot up fellow students Columbine high school

All of these people committed mass murder by gun. Twelve of them attacked “schools” but seven of the schools were colleges (Umpqua, Santa Monica, Oikos, University of Alabama, Northern Illinois University, Virginia Tech, Arizona Nursing), which unlike elementary and secondary schools, are not gun free zones.

Don't believe me? Ask the coeds at University of Texas, Austin, where they have been protesting their right to carry Cocks not Glocks.

That leaves 5 of 35 mass shooting events at gun-free elementary or secondary school zones (Sandy Hook, Amish one-room, Red Lake High, Santana High, Columbine) and refutes your claim “most mass shootings take place in "gun-free" zones”

December 04, 2015 8:03 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

35, huh?

and I see you're going back at least to Columbine, in the last millenium

and yet we keep hearing that there have been 350 so far this year

so, how you go about with this selection that "proves" your point?

was anyone carrying in the San Bernandino center?

reports are now saying they chose this place because it was a soft target with no resistance likely and they anticipated getting away to cause more death with the stockpile of weapons they kept at home

and they almost did

at home, they had bombs as well as guns

San Bernandino has very strict gun laws

the sheriff can deny a license for a gun to anyone without explanation

there are massive fees, mandatory training requirements and a limit of three guns

since the terrorists in SB violated these laws, why do you think they'd have complied with a law making guns illegal?

and, btw, Inland Regional Center is a county facility in San Bernandino where guns are not permitted

fyi, your legalistic definition that "gun-free zones" are only those designated by Congress is a joke

there are myriad places other than schools where guns are banned in America



December 04, 2015 9:06 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"San Bernandino has very strict gun laws

the sheriff can deny a license for a gun to anyone without explanation

there are massive fees, mandatory training requirements and a limit of three guns"


"All four guns used by the suspects in the deadly San Bernardino shooting have been traced and they were all purchased legally, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed Thursday.

CBS News' Paula Reid reported that two of the guns were purchased by someone who is already known by investigators.

A law enforcement source told CBS News senior investigative producer Pat Milton the weapons were purchased legally in California. The long guns were legally transferred from a friend.

Meredith Davis of the ATF said all four guns were bought four years ago. Davis said California requires paperwork when guns change hands privately but many other states don't.

She also said the rifles involved were .223-caliber - powerful enough to pierce the standard protective vest worn by police officers, and some types of ammo can even plow through walls.

The ATF told CBS News that the traces of the guns were completed within a couple of hours of the request being submitted...."


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/san-bernardino-shooting-atf-says-all-4-guns-bought-legally/

This means California gun laws have made the ATF's job easier to trace the weapons used in the attack. You think the gun laws that enable ATF to trace guns are a joke, or worse an invasion of your privacy, but I'm sure the San Bernardino victims and their families don't.

"fyi, your legalistic definition that "gun-free zones" are only those designated by Congress is a joke"

Are you having a good laugh about them?

You and your gun-nut friends *think* federal laws enacted to keep guns away from elementary and secondary school grounds are a joke.

You all must have really yucked it up after Sandy Hook.


December 04, 2015 9:35 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Where's your reputable source showing in America "most mass shootings take place in "gun-free" zones"

< crickets chirping >

December 04, 2015 9:38 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

'there are myriad places other than schools where guns are banned in America"

Yeah, let's see the American laws designating this myriad of "places other than schools where guns are banned in America" from a reputable source.

US Code would be a great place to look as it "is a consolidation and codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is prepared by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the United States House of Representatives."

The crickets will be chirping forever.

December 04, 2015 9:50 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"This means California gun laws have made the ATF's job easier to trace the weapons used in the attack. You think the gun laws that enable ATF to trace guns are a joke, or worse an invasion of your privacy,"

I've said neither of those things here. One enduring delusions of the left-wing fringe is that they can read the minds of others.

"but I'm sure the San Bernardino victims and their families don't."

I'm sure their only concerns is that the Muslim terrorist be apprehended and stopped, which they were, and it had nothing to do with tracing where they bought the gun.

"Are you having a good laugh about them?"

Actually, and those without reading comprehension challenges already know this, I was referring to your idea that the only "gun-free zones" are those created by some specific act of Congress. Your propaganda attempt is, yes, a joke.

"You and your gun-nut friends *think* federal laws enacted to keep guns away from elementary and secondary school grounds are a joke."

No, but such laws are not only ineffective but have led to greater loss of life.

"You all must have really yucked it up after Sandy Hook."

A perfect example of a place where fewer children would have died if there were an adult that could have defended them.

"Yeah, let's see the American laws designating this myriad of "places other than schools where guns are banned in America" from a reputable source."

You are twisting yourself up in knots. Not all places gun-free are so by law. Everyone in America knows all the places requiring a stroll through metal detectors.

As for "reputable sources", do you mean on the level of Mother Jones and Every Town? Usually, the left wing fringe means anyone who is left wing fringe.

"US Code would be a great place to look as it "is a consolidation and codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is prepared by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the United States House of Representatives.""

Wow! twisted..

"The crickets will be chirping forever."

The evidence is accumulating that a Muslim who traveled to Saudi and brought home a wife, had traveled to Pakistan and met with terrorists, had spoken by phone with terrorists, that had a computer full of ISIS propaganda...was not even on the Obama administration's watch list. And all Obama can say is let's pass gun control legislation.

Next November, Americans will throw Dems out of the White House,
and they better not try to come back in by climbing the fence!!

December 04, 2015 11:39 AM  
Anonymous Obama talks like Charlie Brown's teacher but loses like Charlie Brown said...

Will Obama ever apologize to the victims of his incompetence?

He took a job he had no qualification for and has made the world a much more dangerous place.

When will he apologize? When will he resign?

December 04, 2015 11:48 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Another ‘Patriot’ Arrested for Planning to Murder Blacks and Jews

The FBI has arrested a New York man who was stockpiling automatic weapons and ammunition so he could “execute kikes, coons and get money for the crew.” This is a repeat from pretty much every week in the last few years. But remember, when the DHS or FBI puts out reports about the dangers of right-wing domestic terrorism, that’s an outrageous insult to conservatives.

A man from Whitehall, New York was indicted in federal court this week after an FBI anti-terrorism task forced discovered that he was buying fully automatic machine guns to allegedly “execute” minorities.

According to the Albany Times Union, a federal complaint accused 18-year-old Shane Robert Smith of buying weapons and ammunition from an undercover agent on Aug 6. The firearms included two weapons capable of firing as fully automatic machine guns: a Colt M16 model A2 and a Military Armament Corporation “MAC 10” machine gun.

Smith also acquired a Beretta model 92FS handgun and 120 rounds of armor-piercing “green-tip” ammunition…

The Post Star reported that Smith told undercover investigators that he needed the weapons to “execute kikes, coons and get money for the crew.”

December 04, 2015 12:03 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...


Smith explained that he was building “a hit squad” and would need “a sidearm or heavy weapon” in case he got cornered.

In June of 2014, Smith was arrested for painting racist graffiti and threats of violence on homes and cars. Smith was placed on probation, but the case was sealed because he was under the age of 18 at the time.

What a shock, a guy who paints racist graffiti and threats as a teenager turns into an adult who tries to carry out those racist threats. Even Bill O’Reilly can’t explain that. We see these kinds of things continually, almost all of them coming from far-right anti-government, neo-Confederate and racist fanatics. But when the DHS put out a report in 2009 saying the risk of right-wing terrorism was increasing, conservatives lost their damn minds about it. It was the first great Obama conspiracy to round up conservatives and put them in FEMA concentration camps. The fact that the report was done during the Bush administration did not, of course, even make a dent in their dystopic fantasies.

December 04, 2015 12:04 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

I said "more people having guns just means more of the type of attacks that occurred in Paris"

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "this statement is based on no empirical evidence and no reasoning thus it is false"

LOL! Wyatt's false logic is working overtime! Just because you aren't aware of the evidence and reasoning for a statement in no way proves that statement false - what a moron! Apparently Wyatt's never heard of the academic edict "Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.". hahahahahahahahaha!

And of course there is PLENTY of evidence!

Good anonymous said "Anyone can easily see Priya Lynn's statement is absolutely true. All you need to do is compare the mass murder rate in the USA, more than one per day this year, with any other industrial nation that does not have a law like our Second Amendment.".

Exactly! Look at Canada: much stricter gun laws than the States and there's perhaps one mass shooting here every five years whereas in the States one happens every day. And the mass shootings in the States are a minority of the gun violence there, the vast majority of people killed in the States by gun violence don't die in mass shootings, you just don't hear about those shootings because of the banality of gun violence in the States.

December 04, 2015 12:10 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Even if the U.S. were to eliminate all mass shootings, it would hardly make a dent in the amount of gun violence there.

The pro-gun nuts keep trying to hide from the fact that more guns means not only more mass shootings, but more individual shootings which accounts for the majority of gun violence in the States.

December 04, 2015 12:22 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Republicans on violence

December 04, 2015 12:33 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster that I live in Canada!

December 04, 2015 12:36 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Australia had a problem with mass shootings up to 1996 when there was a massacre in Tasmania. A mass shooting is more than 4 people injured. There was a mass shooting every year for a number of years until this point.

Severe gun control measures were introduced. Guns were "bought back" for hard cash and destroyed. Automatic weapons were banned. No open carry of guns.

Basically unless you were a primary producer (farmer) you couldn't have a gun. You can still have a gun in Australia but its a tough process. Culturally Australians don't like guns like Americans do. If you walked around Sydney or Melbourne with a gun the riot squad would shut down the city and you would be in a hell of lot of trouble.

Since 1996 there have been Zero mass shootings. Zero.

You are 15 times more likely to die in the USA from a gun shot than in Australia.

Its just to sad that so many Americans die every day from these mass shootings and that the States can't let go of the second amendment and its love of guns. Until Americans can stop the fetishization of guns this will continue.

December 04, 2015 12:48 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

All the guns in the latest mass shooting in California were legally purchased. Just sayin'.

December 04, 2015 12:50 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

No surprise here:

Republicans have rejected calls for new gun regulations. They've even rejected the idea of banning people on the federal "No-Fly List" from purchasing guns. Imagine that! People the government deems too dangerous to allow on an airplane the Republicans insist they be allowed to own guns!

Remember, its Republicans who passed a law preventing government research into the causes of gun violence.

Republicans don't want to end the gun violence, they're happy to have it as long as they can encourage the widespread purchase of guns!

All the Republican's have to offer is empty and useless "prayers" for the victims of gun violence. God isn't fixing this.

December 04, 2015 1:00 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Currently Americans who buy guns at gun shows and online don't have to go through background checks. 93% of Americans and even the majority of gun owners support expanding background checks to cover the gun show and online purchase loopholes. Republicans, always looking out for the public good, oppose these common sense measures.

December 04, 2015 1:03 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"He took a job he had no qualification for and has made the world a much more dangerous place."

Thank you for reminding us all of the story of George W. Bush, the proud C student who blundered the US into destabilizing the Middle East and plundered our economy to give huge tax breaks to his wealthy contributors and left the rest of us deal with his Great Recession.

.

December 04, 2015 1:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"DECEMBER 04, 2015 11:48 AM
Blogger Priya Lynn said...
This comment has been removed by the author"

this habitual second-guessing of every comment is a sign of mental instability

"The FBI has arrested a New York man who was stockpiling automatic weapons and ammunition so he could “execute kikes, coons and get money for the crew.”

According to the Albany Times Union, a federal complaint accused 18-year-old Shane Robert Smith of buying weapons and ammunition from an undercover agent on Aug 6."

OK, so in New York you can be arrested for buying weapons and ammunition?

hate to break it to you, but gun violence happens in NY

this gun control doesn't seem to work

"LOL! The false logic is working overtime! Just because you aren't aware of the evidence and reasoning for a statement in no way proves that statement false - what a moron! Apparently you've never heard of the academic edict "Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.". hahahahahahahahaha!

And of course there is PLENTY of evidence!"

I think good anonymous was discussing evidence presented here, which despite it's supposed plenteousness, is suspiciously absent

"Exactly! Look at Canada: much stricter gun laws than the States and there's perhaps one mass shooting here every five years whereas in the States one happens every day."

funny, I've never seem one

why does everyone go apoplectic if anyone suggests controlling the border?

why are teeming masses clamoring to be allowed in to such a dangerous place?

"Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster that I live in Canada!"

interesting how obsessed atheists are with mocking the beliefs of others, it's revelatory

"All the guns in the latest mass shooting in California were legally purchased. Just sayin'"

just sayin' sumpin' wrong!

in San Bernandino, you are limited to three guns and paperwork must be filed for transfers to another person

these Muslims brought four to the center and had more at home

two of the weapons used were given to them without proper paperwork being filed

"Remember, its Republicans who passed a law preventing government research into the causes of gun violence"

yes, that's exactly the kind of crap we don't want our tax money spent on

remember, Every Town, the big gun control advocacy group has repeatedly refused to participate in public debate on this issue

"All the Republican's have to offer is empty and useless "prayers" for the victims of gun violence. God isn't fixing this."

actually, they offered prayers for the survivors

the strict gun control laws of the Golden State didn't fix this

but the person with the most responsibility is Barack Obama

George Bush had the Iraq war won and a secure Iraq in place and Obama came in and destroyed this accomplishment that we had sacrificed so much blood and treasure for

resulting in the rise of ISIS

an apology and a resignation is the least he can do

December 04, 2015 1:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

”A perfect example of a place where fewer children would have died if there were an adult that could have defended them.”

If only people employed in militias got guns, Adam Lanza wound not have had access to the weapons he used to shoot up children at the school after killing his mother at home. The solution to the American gun epidemic will not be more guns just like the solution to drought will not be more drought.

”Not all places gun-free are so by law. Everyone in America knows all the places requiring a stroll through metal detectors.”

Is that freedom to you, cowering behind metal detectors??

FYI, there are few metal detectors in public places like grocery stores, shopping malls, movie theaters, sports arenas, on every block of every neighborhood street. Too bad they won’t do a thing to protect us from plastic guns made by 3D printers.

”As for "reputable sources", do you mean on the level of Mother Jones and Every Town? Usually, the left wing fringe means anyone who is left wing fringe.”

On the level of Mother Jones would be great as long as their analysis was as well documented as MJ’s, like this:

”…We used a conservative set of criteria to build a comprehensive rundown of high-profile attacks in public places—at schools, workplaces, government buildings, shopping malls—though they represent only a small fraction of the nation's overall gun violence. The FBI defines a mass murderer as someone who kills four or more people in a single incident, usually in one location. (As opposed to spree or serial killers, who strike multiple times.) We excluded cases involving armed robberies or gang violence; dropping the number of fatalities by just one, or including those motives, would add many, many more cases. (More about our criteria here.)...”

”The evidence is accumulating that a Muslim who traveled to Saudi and brought home a wife, had traveled to Pakistan and met with terrorists, had spoken by phone with terrorists, that had a computer full of ISIS propaganda...was not even on the Obama administration's watch list. And all Obama can say is let's pass gun control legislation.”

At least Obama didn’t blow off any CIA generated Presidential Daily Briefing about this US citizen and his wife because there was no such PDB.

Compare that to Dumbya who blew off the PDB "Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US" a month before September 11, 2001.

BTW, Dumbya still holds the recored for allowing the terrorist attack that caused the greatest loss of US life on US soil to date.

You must be so proud!

"George Bush had the Iraq war won and a secure Iraq in place and Obama came in and destroyed this accomplishment"

How soon they forget. Even RedState reported Iraq War ends on Bush’s schedule, not Obama’s

"...All U.S. troops, except for 159 uniformed troops and officers as well as a marine guard in the US embassy in Baghdad, will be out of Iraq before December 31, 2011, as required by the Status of Forces Agreement President Bush made with Iraq.

The Democrats can trumpet the Obama Iraq withdrawal all they want, but it was accomplished right on schedule — a schedule established by President Bush, not Obama..."


Unfortunately, it's too late for Bush to give us his apology and hand in his resignation, and he's damn lucky Obama didn't have the DOJ investigate and prosecute him.

December 04, 2015 2:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"this habitual second-guessing of every comment is a sign of mental instability"

Or not catching the typo until after you've posted your comment.

"who dat dare dem dum dums said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

NOVEMBER 22, 2015 8:39 PM

...

that's right!! ....lifelong said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

NOVEMBER 25, 2015 10:47 AM "


JimK has made abundantly clear why he deletes some comments since 2005, when he told us "Morons' Comments Will Be Deleted"

December 04, 2015 3:37 PM  
Anonymous Today's Washington Post said...

The math of mass shootings

"The death tolls change, the places change: Nine in a church, 23 in a restaurant, 26 in an elementary school, now 14 at a holiday party. The faces in the memorial photos change the most.

But the weapons are the common denominator.

Mass killings in the United States are most often carried out with guns, usually handguns, most of them obtained legally.

There is no universally accepted definition of a mass shooting, and different organizations use different criteria. In this piece we look at the deadliest cases, beginning Aug. 1, 1966, when ex-Marine sniper Charles Whitman killed his wife and mother, then climbed a 27-story tower at the University of Texas and killed 14 more people before police shot him to death. The numbers here refer to 121 events in which four or more people were killed by a lone shooter (or two shooters in three cases). An average of seven people died during each event, often including the shooters.

This data — compiled from Mother Jones; Grant Duwe, author of “Mass Murder in the United States: A History,” and Washington Post research — does not include gang killings, shootings that began as other crimes such as robberies, and killings that involved only the shooter’s family....

....41 states and the District

Twenty-eight percent of the mass shootings occurred in workplaces, and 1 in 8 [12.5%] took place at schools. Others took place in religious, military, retail and restaurant or other locations..."


Vigilance readers are still awaiting your reputable source proving your claim "most mass shootings take place in "gun-free" zones"

< crickets continue chirping >

December 05, 2015 12:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"actually, the review was of 62 carefully selected cases over 30 years

but there have been 350 already just this year alone

if you select your sample without objectivity, you can prove anything"


The 62 cases over 30 years involved four or more PEOPLE KILLED by gun.

The over 350 cases in 2015 so far involved four or more PEOPLE SHOT by gun, not necessarily killed.

All "mass shootings" definitions are “objective” so long as they are clearly defined and from publicly verifiable information.

Snopes.com (http://www.snopes.com/351-mass-shootings/) reports:

"...Brock Weller, one of the people responsible for maintaining the crowdsourced web site ShootingTracker.com, elaborated on the reason to use four people shot instead of four people killed as the primary criterion for defining an event as a "mass shooting":

"The goal is to stop minimizing these acts of violence," Weller explains. The site's authors point to a 2012 shooting in which one person was killed and 18 people were wounded at a nightclub. Because only one person died, it was not considered a mass shooting. This June, 10 people were shot at a block party on a basketball court in Detroit; the next day, 11 were wounded when two people opened fire with a shotgun at a block party in West Philadelphia. Neither were widely referred to as mass shootings.

"Arguing that 18 people shot during one event is not a mass shooting is absurd," the Tracker's founders write. Medical advancements have helped save lives that would have otherwise been lost, a fact Weller believes the gun lobby benefits from. "Those gunshot victims are still just as shot and will never be the same," he says....

It should also be noted that GunViolenceArchive.org, another web site that tracks shootings across the United States, arrived at a slightly lower number of mass shootings, 310, over the same time period.

"…we have a slightly different counting. We use the derived FBI definition of "Four or more shot and/or killed, not including the shooter at the same general time and location."  From that we logically separate the victims from the perpetrator. Mass Shooting Tracker includes the perp as a victim when they are shot or killed.”


Regardless of how "mass shootings" are defined, four or more deaths by gun or four or more injuries by gun including or not including the shooter, you are still unable to provide any reputable source agreeing with your bogus claim that "well, most public mass shootings take place in gun-free zones so no civilians have guns

December 06, 2015 12:29 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

On Planet Wyattnuttia, if he can imagine it to be true, it automatically is true.

December 06, 2015 1:07 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Half of all mass shootings in the U.S. occurred since 2005.

2005, that's when the assault weapons ban expired.

December 07, 2015 12:07 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Debunking the “Criminals Don’t Follow Laws” Myth 2.0: Why Gun Control Works

Numerous studies by gun violence researchers show that the problem isn't that criminals don't follow laws. It's that they aren't dissuaded by weak laws. And gun laws in all but a few states are decidedly weak.

Criminals routinely respond to incentives, and policies such as background checks and permit-to-purchase requirements demonstrably save lives by reducing criminal access to firearms.

December 07, 2015 12:25 PM  
Anonymous Inconvenient facts said...

When Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton was elected back in 2010, he had a Republican legislature and a state with billions in deficit. Yesterday, state officials announced that Minnesota’s budget surplus had reached $1.9 billion...

How did they do this? They basically did Democratic Party stuff like lifting taxes on the rich, raised the minimum wage, and passed a state law guaranteeing women equal pay.

Compare this outcome to the great Kansas experiment of slashing personal income taxes

No serious person now believes the 2012 Kansas tax cuts have performed as promised.

By virtually every measure — job creation, personal income, growth — Kansas’ economic performance still trails the U.S. as a whole. Even the state’s relatively low unemployment rate, 4.4 percent, is higher than the rate in 16 other states, including neighboring states Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota, which raised its taxes and the minimum wage.

Gov. Sam Brownback’s “shot of adrenaline” never took place, and never will.

Even so, Friday’s announcement of a two-year, $354 million revenue shortfall in Kansas is particularly scary.

The state has struggled to balance its budget since GOP legislators cut personal income taxes dramatically in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback's urging, in an effort to stimulate the economy. Most of those income tax cuts have been preserved, but Republican lawmakers raised sales and cigarette taxes in July.

It’s now clear that strategy was in error. Kansas didn’t need an artificial shot of adrenaline — it needed the natural kind, the adrenaline that comes from hard work and smart choices. It didn’t choose that path, and it will probably pay the price for decades to come.

December 07, 2015 1:01 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

ExxonMobil Warns of ‘Catastrophic’ 7°F to 12°F Global Warming Without Government Action

It’s a Through-The-Looking-Glass world. The Washington Post reports Sunday that ExxonMobil has a far saner view of global warming than the national Republican party.

Fred Hiatt, the paper’s centrist editorial page editor, drops this bombshell:

With no government action, Exxon experts told us during a visit to The Post last week, average temperatures are likely to rise by a catastrophic (my word, not theirs) 5 degrees Celsius, with rises of 6, 7 or even more quite possible.

This is indeed basic climate science.

Of course, thanks to excellent reporting by InsideClimate News, we now know ExxonMobil had been told by its own scientists in the 1970s and 1980s that climate change was human-caused and would reach catastrophic levels without reductions in carbon emissions. Yes, this is same ExxonMobil that then became the largest funder of disinformation on climate science and attacks on climate scientists until they were surpassed by the Koch Brothers in recent years — but that is a different (tragic) story.

Hiatt’s point is to show “how dangerously extreme the Republican Party has become on climate change,” and that that “Republicans’ ideologically based denial is dangerous and cowardly.” After all, the oil giant ain’t Greenpeace.

Yet unlike the national GOP leadership and its presidential candidates, “the company believes climate change is real, that governments should take action to combat it and that the most sensible action would be a revenue-neutral tax on carbon,” that taxes fossil fuels like coal and oil and returns the money to taxpayers.

December 07, 2015 2:36 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

What is the reason for “the know-nothingism of today’s Republicans”? Hiatt offers a partial explanation: “Some of them see scientists as part of a left-wing cabal; many of them doubt government’s ability to do anything, let alone something as big as redirecting the economy’s energy use.”

But he misses a key element — namely the deafening echo chamber of the right wing’s media and think tanks. As David Brooks — who is often, but not always, part of that echo chamber — explained last week, on the climate change issue:

" [T]he G.O.P. has come to resemble a Soviet dictatorship — a vast majority of Republican politicians can’t publicly say what they know about the truth of climate change because they’re afraid the thought police will knock on their door and drag them off to an AM radio interrogation."

Yes, the GOP’s science denial is so extreme that a major conservative columnist has called out the right wing’s “thought police.” Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman used Brooks’ line — and the Paris climate talks — as a launching point for a must-read piece, “Republicans’ Climate Change Denial Denial” Friday.

As Krugman explains,”the talks could mark a turning point” toward “the kind of international action needed to avert catastrophe.” But he adds: “Then again, they might not; we may be doomed. And if we are, you know who will be responsible: the Republican Party.”

December 07, 2015 2:37 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Krugman’s statement appears “partisan … but what I said is, in fact, the obvious truth. And the inability of our news media, our pundits and our political establishment in general to face up to that truth is an important contributing factor to the danger we face.”

Krugman links to an important journal article from August, “More than Markets: A Comparative Study of Nine Conservative Parties on Climate Change.” This study found that “Although conservative parties are portrayed as skeptical toward adopting climate measures or even supposed to ignore climate change … most of them support climate measures, even in the form of state interventions in the market economy.” Two core conclusions: “A clear finding is that available fossil reserves seem to have an influence on conservative climate politics. The U.S. Republican Party is an anomaly in denying anthropogenic climate change.”

Because of the unique nature of GOP climate change denial, Krugman warns of “the denial inherent in the conventions of political journalism, which say that you must always portray the parties as symmetric — that any report on extreme positions taken by one side must be framed in a way that makes it sound as if both sides do it.”

While this is commonplace on issues like the budget, where it ends up hurting the U.S. economy, the stakes are much higher on the climate issue:

I’d urge everyone outside the climate-denial bubble to frankly acknowledge the awesome, terrifying reality. We’re looking at a party that has turned its back on science at a time when doing so puts the very future of civilization at risk. That’s the truth, and it needs to be faced head-on.

Hear! Hear!

December 07, 2015 2:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The young folk over at Dit Is Normal (not a typo), a prankster show out of the Netherlands decided to prank people concerning the Christian Bible. In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris and the rising discussion of Islam as a religion inherently violent and prone to terrorism, these two men thought it would be interesting to buy a Bible, highlight some verses, and then replace the cover of that Bible with a cover of a Quran and then let people read those verses—and film their reactions.

If you reject my commands and abhor my laws you will eat the flesh of your own sons and the flesh of your own daughters.
—Leviticus 26.29

I do not allow for a woman to teach.
Timothy 2:12

You will have to cut off her hand.
Deuteronomy 25:12

The reactions are priceless and predictable. Here are a couple of reactions that are very applicable to today’s general hypocrisy concerning the Islamic religion.

Well, I didn’t know that this kind of stuff was also in this book. Cutting off people’s hands...I mean, apparently that’s just the way they are.

And the always classic, Bill Maher inspired:

"If you’ve been raised with this book and these kinds of thoughts, it’s going to influence the way you think."

Good point? Problem is that it applies to most of the people ranting about this stuff these days. When the guys are Dit Is Normal reveal that these verses are from the Bible, everyone’s reactions are genuinely surprised—and frankly—positive. One young man’s reaction is a real statement of our ability to swallow our pride without feeling humiliated—after laughing and seeming to be genuinely taken by how tricked he was he says this:

But it’s all just prejudice really. I always try not be be prejudiced myself but apparently I already am.
Maturity and wisdom comes most frequently as a result of having your ideas challenged in a way that allows you to see the artifice of convention. It can be embarrassing at times and it can feel painful at other times—but that’s why we have humor!

Watch the Islamaphobic hypocrisy "here

December 08, 2015 5:22 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Holly came from Miami, F.L.A.
Hitch-hiked her way across the U.S.A.
Plucked her eyebrows on the way
Shaved her legs and then he was a she
She says, “Hey, babe,
Take a walk on the wild side.”
Said, “Hey, honey,
Take a walk on the wild side.”

Rest in peace Holly Woodlawn.

December 09, 2015 11:41 AM  
Anonymous doo da-doo doo doo-doo-doo said...

look at Priya

finally admits to being a racist with fantasy tunes about "colored chicks"

btw, saw a picture of this guy with his obit yesterday

let's just say: scary..

December 09, 2015 12:28 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Research shows internet trolls like Wyatt/bad anonymous are sadists


Here’s the most unsurprising study result you’ll see this week (month…year…decade). A new study published in a psychology journal concludes that online trolling correlates with sadism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism. Here’s the abstract:

In two online studies (total N = 1215), respondents completed personality inventories and a survey of their Internet commenting styles. Overall, strong positive associations emerged among online commenting frequency, trolling enjoyment, and troll identity, pointing to a common construct underlying the measures. Both studies revealed similar patterns of relations between trolling and the Dark Tetrad of personality: trolling correlated positively with sadism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism, using both enjoyment ratings and identity scores. Of all personality measures, sadism showed the most robust associations with trolling and, importantly, the relationship was specific to trolling behavior. Enjoyment of other online activities, such as chatting and debating, was unrelated to sadism. Thus cyber-trolling appears to be an Internet manifestation of everyday sadism.

Caitlin Dewey responds to the study:

But the intriguing thing about this new study by researchers from University of Manitoba, University of Winnipeg and University of British Columbia is the idea that trolling behavior springs not from the opportunity provided by the Internet, but from innate characteristics people possess both online and off.
That bodes poorly for efforts to tame the trolls. It also suggests, somewhat ominously, that there are lots of “everyday sadists among us.”

Of course there are. The anonymity and distance of online communication provides the opportunity for them to show their true nature in ways that they cannot do in their everyday life. I have always maintained that there’s nothing fake about this kind of thing. If you spend your time acting like an asshole online, you are an asshole.

December 09, 2015 1:07 PM  
Anonymous all the colored chicks said...

"these two men thought it would be interesting to buy a Bible, highlight some verses, and then replace the cover of that Bible with a cover of a Quran and then let people read those verses—and film their reactions"

Priya's been warned about this before

"highlight some verses"

is a euphemism for taking words out of context to misrepresent the meaning of the writer

let's try it for Priya's post:

"Islam as a religion inherently violent and prone to terrorism"

what a bigot Priya is!!!

let's try to compare Muslim countries with the most Christian of nations, the United States:

Pakistan

any statement critical of the Prophet or Islam is labeled as blasphemy and punishable by death

United States

any statement critical of Jesus Christ is labeled as brilliant irreverence by mainstream media, given a show on HBO and becomes a target for an attempt at verbal suasion by evangelical Christians, including special treatment by Christian colleges where such people become favorite sparring partners for lively debates (btw, evangelical Christian speakers are generally banned as a threat to the delicate psyches of students at secular universities)

Saudi Arabia

churches and synagogues are outlawed and beheadings are a legitimate form of punishment

United States

mosques are common in every major city and capital punishment is rare

Iran

stoning is an acceptable punishment and homosexuals are hanged for their “crimes”

United States

stoning is unknown and homosexuals serve in every level of society

and while it is true that most Muslims are Mecca Muslims not Medina Muslims, polls in every Muslim country, from Indonesia to Turkey, shows that swaths of the population ranging from 25% to 50% say ISIS and Al-quaeda's actions are justified

meanwhile, Donald Trump is being pilloried for suggesting that the U.S. not let in any more Muslims until the radical Islam war is over, no one seems bothered that non-Muslims are not allowed in Mecca and Medina

I personally don't agree with Trump but I also don't find the idea that outrageous

remember the original rationale al-quaeda gave for the 9/11 attacks was the presence of infidels in Saudi Arabia

December 09, 2015 1:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Overall, strong positive associations emerged among online commenting frequency, trolling enjoyment, and troll identity, pointing to a common construct underlying the measures. Both studies revealed similar patterns of relations between trolling and the Dark Tetrad of personality: trolling correlated positively with sadism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism, using both enjoyment ratings and identity scores. Of all personality measures, sadism showed the most robust associations with trolling and, importantly, the relationship was specific to trolling behavior."

I personally think Priya comments frequently online and meets the definition of a troll.

"If you spend your time acting like an asshole online, you are an asshole"

quite a touching confession by Priya

December 09, 2015 1:22 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "Let's try it for Priya's post: "Islam as a religion inherently violent and prone to terrorism" what a bigot Priya is!!!".

Typical lying Wyatt/bad anonymous - I never said that.

December 09, 2015 1:27 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

And in a dishonest fashion typical of Wyatt, even the person that posted the bit Wyatt quoted didn't say that. What was said was:

"In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris and the rising discussion of Islam as a religion inherently violent and prone to terrorism,".

Wyatt often leaves out parts of quotes to give a false impression of what was said, and even puts in quotes a modified version of what was said in order to falsely portray the poster in a negative light.

Wyatt has admitted that when he reads something he doesn't like he feels it is his right to change it as he sees fit.

For one who claims to be religious you'd think this is out of character, but for people like Wyatt, just being religious convinces them they are a good person and so they don't really care about whether or not their behavior is that of a good person.

December 09, 2015 1:34 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Just to clarify:

When good anonymous posted "In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris and the rising discussion of Islam as a religion inherently violent and prone to terrorism...", he/she was quoting what others were talking about, not stating his/her own opinion. In typical dishonest fashion Wyatt/bad anonymous quoted a fragment of that line ("Islam as a religion inherently violent and prone to terrorism" what a bigot Priya is!!!".")
and tried to pretend that was me stating my opinion.

December 09, 2015 1:58 PM  
Anonymous why, oh why said...

"Typical lying - I never said that."

Priya, you are really a mess. Do you really not understand that this anonymous was showing you how anyone's words could be twisted by taking them out of context, as you were advocating for Bible passages?

I think most people can understand how someone might decide they don't believe in God. It's sad and if there's any way Christians can help they are always willing to do so. Alternatively, try to say so in Riyadh and you'll likely receive several rounds of flogging before you're beheaded.

You wonder why, in a tolerant land such as ours, atheists are so obsessed with religion. Can't they find another hobby other than attacking faith? Down in North Carolina, atheists are putting up bulletin boards encouraging people not to go to church on Christmas.

http://www.wcnc.com/story/news/politics/2015/12/08/atheist-billboard-urges-drivers-to-skip-church-on-christmas/77019652/

So pathetic. You wonder why the money spent on such a folly couldn't go to something more worthwhile like feeding starving people in Calcutta or stopping abortion clinics from killing unborn children in NYC or stopping sexual slavery in Thailand or helping gays overcome same gender sexual attraction in San Francisco or fighting AIDS in Uganda or curing cancer or providing mental health services to lunatics in Saskatchewan or helping Syrian refugees or et al. What a waste for atheists to expend their unwanted dollars simply to vent their hatred of God.

btw, many churches don't have Christmas Day services as it's generally regarded as a family day.

December 09, 2015 2:23 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "Priya, you are really a mess. Do you really not understand that this anonymous was showing you how anyone's words could be twisted by taking them out of context, as you were advocating for Bible passages?".

Give it up Wyatt, no one buys that your sockpuppet is someone else. Plus, once again, I didn't post those bible passages, good anonymous did and its a lie for you to once again claim I did.

Typical Wyatt/bad anonymous, has his lies exposed and he doubles down and repeats them in the vain hope that some moron reading his posts won't see through it.

Atheists would have no problem with people believing in religion if they didn't indoctrinate children into that mental illness and didn't try to use their religious beliefs to pass laws to try to force others to live by them.

How hypocritical of you to criticize atheists for spending money on billboards when anti-gay christians have spent 100s of times as much in an attempt to deprive innocent gays and lesbians of equal rights ostensibly because their religion is opposed to gayness.

Atheists don't hate imaginary beings, we hate religious people who use their religion as an excuse to oppress, imprison, and execute innocent LGBT people, force schoolchildren to recite christian prayers, deprive women of control over their bodies and sexual autonomy, and pass laws granting christians special privileges.

December 09, 2015 4:58 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Dubai Retail Giant Dumps Trump

One of the Middle East’s largest retailers, Landmark Group, has stopped selling Trump-branded products, following the Republican presidential candidate’s controversial call to ban Muslims from the United States.

The Dubai-based firm signed a deal in February this year to sell items from the Trump Home collection to customers in the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia through its Lifestyle outlets.

However, the group said on Tuesday it would now remove all products from its shelves.
www.arabianbusiness.com/...

Aw man, now all that sooper classy stuff will no longer be available throughout the Middle East.

Maybe Trump isn’t so great at business."


...

"Britons move to ban Trump from the UK -- and they're not the only ones ...

An online petition to ban Donald Trump from entering the United Kingdom has reached monumental proportions.
More 310,000 people have signed up to ban the "The Donald" from stepping foot in their sovereign state, which is enough signatures to possibly send the motion to parliament.

The petition was created within the last week in response to the Republican frontrunner's controversial proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the United States.

The Guardian reported the site was racking up more than 25,000 signatures an hour on Wednesday. According to the House of Commons, the Parliament's Petitions Committee will wait until Jan. 5 to decide what to do with the petition.

However, there's slight chance it will actually go through.

Although the home secretary has the power to exclude individuals from the U.K., there is nothing to show this will apply to Trump, a spokesperson from the home office told CNN.

Britons aren't the only ones looking to give Donald Trump the boot. Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter said that the Republican's proposal is like "a page from the playbook of Hitler."

"Certainly if I had the power to do so, the only banning that should be done is that of [Donald Trump] not being allowed in the city of Philadelphia. "
MICHAEL NUTTER, PHILADELPHIA MAYOR

St. Petersburg, Florida's mayor, Rick Kriseman responded to the "ridiculousness" of Trump's ban with one of his own on Twitter.

Rick Kriseman @Kriseman
I am hereby barring Donald Trump from entering St. Petersburg until we fully understand the dangerous threat posed by all Trumps.
7:01 PM - 7 Dec 2015"

December 09, 2015 5:12 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

What an A.H. Wyatt/bad anonymous is. Doesn't like a post by good anonymous and so he attacks me, tells lies about me and repeatedly falsely claims I wrote the post even after being corrected and told I didn't.

December 09, 2015 5:58 PM  
Anonymous laughing loud said...

"What an A.H. bad anonymous is. Doesn't like a post by good anonymous and so he attacks me, tells lies about me and repeatedly falsely claims I wrote the post even after being corrected and told I didn't."

Give it up lazy Priya, no one buys that your sockpuppet is someone else

"Atheists would have no problem with people believing in religion if they didn't indoctrinate children into that mental illness"

I see, Priya: you think children should be taught atheism and think you have a right to prevent parents from raising children in their faith

good to know

"and didn't try to use their religious beliefs to pass laws to try to force others to live by them"

this is not happening in societies with a Judeo-Christian heritage

no laws are based on religious beliefs

just because a religion supports morality, it doesn't make morality a religious issue

take homosexuality

all societies and religions, including atheistic societies like Stalinist Russia and Maoist China, have considered homosexuality to be immoral

it's a self-evident and foundational truth, the compatibility and complementariness of the two genders is a universal constant which inherently promotes societal well-being

"How hypocritical of you to criticize atheists for spending money on billboards when anti-gay christians have spent 100s of times as much in an attempt to deprive innocent gays and lesbians of equal rights ostensibly because their religion is opposed to gayness"

the attempt to rescue homosexuals from the affliction of same gender sexual attraction is a charitable endeavor

"Atheists don't hate imaginary beings,"

no, you hate the real, living God

you have repeatedly ranted your hatred here, and such vicious hatred would never be directed at a fictional character

"we hate religious people"

that's true, as well

"who use their religion as an excuse to oppress, imprison, and execute innocent LGBT people,"

homosexuality is immoral

how different societies deal with this vary but Judeo-Christian are extraordinarily kind to homosexuals

"force schoolchildren to recite christian prayers,"

how about when they're forced to learn Shakespeare?

what's wrong with teaching kids how to pray?

it makes for a healthier life

and, yes, there are studies that confirm this

"deprive women of control over their bodies and sexual autonomy"

so is keeping someone from murdering someone else controlling their bodies?

how about telling them they can't use their body to strangle someone?

"and pass laws granting christians special privileges."

such as?

December 10, 2015 2:11 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

""and pass laws granting christians special privileges."

such as?"


To Sybil/Toe Jam,

Christmas, a Christian religious holiday, is also a United States Federal Holiday. No other religious holidays are granted a day off to celebrate their faith in the USA.

Soon the authorities dig up the facts and tell us when and how mass murderer Mr. Robert Lewis Dear was radicalized in his Christian faith.

December 10, 2015 9:44 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "see, Priya: you think children should be taught atheism and think you have a right to prevent parents from raising children in their faith".

More lies. I never said children should be taught to be atheists. I didn't say I have a right to prevent parents from indoctrinating children in their mental illness, what I said was a moral person wouldn't push religion on children who are too young to think logically and decide if its something they want. Its the same reason we don't allow children to enter contracts until they're 18, they're too immature to make such decisions. Its the same reason many states are recognizing good mental health policy and banning "counselling" that attempts to change the sexual orientation of children. Generally parents are banned by law from abusing their children. Indoctrinating children in religion is child abuse and there should be a frank public discussion about whether this should be permitted or not.

I said "and didn't try to use their religious beliefs to pass laws to try to force others to live by them. "

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "this is not happening in societies with a Judeo-Christian heritage no laws are based on religious beliefs".

False. Christian countries have tried to force gays to remain unmarried and have criminalized same sex sex. Look at the christian countries in Africa where they regularly execute gays.

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "all societies and religions, including atheistic societies like Stalinist Russia and Maoist China, have considered homosexuality to be immoral".

False. Many societies throughout history have accepted gayness. Modern societies are now accepting what many older societies knew to be the obvious truth - gayness harms no one and so is perfectly moral.

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "it's a self-evident and foundational truth, the compatibility and complementariness of the two genders is a universal constant which inherently promotes societal well-being".

That's a self evident and foundational truth for heterosexuals. Not for gays and lesbians. As the research I posted shows, an unaccepting society damages gays and lesbians, makes them less productive, and harms the productivity of their co-workers. It is a self-evident and foundational truth that the complementariness of the one gender of gay and lesbian couples is a universal constant which inherently promotes societal well-being.

December 10, 2015 12:25 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

I said "How hypocritical of you to criticize atheists for spending money on billboards when anti-gay christians have spent 100s of times as much in an attempt to deprive innocent gays and lesbians of equal rights ostensibly because their religion is opposed to gayness"

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "the attempt to rescue homosexuals from the affliction of same gender sexual attraction is a charitable endeavor"

Once again, as the research I posted shows, attempting to change people's sexual orientation harms them and society. The American Pyschiatric Association reasearch shows that gays who positively accept their orientation are happier and better adjusted than those who do not. All the major "ex-gay" organizations in the states have closed shop and their leaders have admitted they've never seen any one change orientation, they were wrong, and they apologize for the years they spent trying to change gays which only harmed them. You need to look no further than yourself to see that rejecting one's gay orientation is harmful. If you were accepting of your orientation you could settle down and marry a nice man which would improve your mental health and productivity rather than seething with self-loathing and engaging in promiscuous anonymous gay sex to hide your orientation and temporarily salve your fear that you're going to hell.

I said "Atheists don't hate imaginary beings,"

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "no, you hate the real, living God. you have repeatedly ranted your hatred here, and such vicious hatred would never be directed at a fictional character".

Its impossible to hate that which doesn't exist. I've never expressed hatred for an imaginary being that has never done me any harm and never opposed what's right. The hatred I've expressed is for those people who wrote those ancient texts pretending to be a god and the people who foolishly believe in this imaginary being and use that as an excuse to harm others.

December 10, 2015 12:26 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "homosexuality is immoral how different societies deal with this vary but Judeo-Christian are extraordinarily kind to homosexuals".

Gayness harms no one and is thus by definition moral. Interferring with the rights of gays to same sex relationships and marriage is harmful and is by defintion immoral. In christian Africa they imprison gays and execute them. The American christians who have failed in their oppression at home have travelled to other countries to promote the denial of free speech for gays and promoted imprisoning and executing them. Being "extraordinarily kind" to gays would be giving them the same rights christians have and not promoting the idea that they are sick, disease ridden, pedophiles who will destroy society. Your perverted idea of being "extraordinarily kind" to gays is abusing them in the extreme but stopping short of killing them. You are one sick puppy.

I said "Christians abuse includes forcing schoolchildren to recite christian prayers,"

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "how about when they're forced to learn Shakespeare? what's wrong with teaching kids how to pray? it makes for a healthier life and, yes, there are studies that confirm this".

False. Studies show that christians benefit from the social ties that they find in church, there is no benefit from religion or prayers itself, in fact that parts harms people's mental health. Shakespear isn't damaging to children. Teaching children they will be tortured eternally for crossing ambiguous and contradictory boundaries scars them for life. Indoctrinating childrne into religion is child abuse.

December 10, 2015 12:27 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

I said "Christians attempt to deprive women of control over their bodies and sexual autonomy"

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "so is keeping someone from murdering someone else controlling their bodies? how about telling them they can't use their body to strangle someone?".

If strangling someone else keeps them from assaulting you it is moral. If a fetus didn't take control of a woman's body against her will, sometimes killing her, there'd be no need for abortion. A fetus doesn't become a person until birth and has no right to access a woman's body. Plus, it isn't by any stretch just abortion that christians try to use to control our bodies and sexuality. A woman has a right to her body, a fetus does not.

Christians like Rick Santorum want to ban abortion and advocate that any sex not intended for procreation should be against the law. Christians oppose laws to give women equal pay for equal work. Christians try to ban women from jobs traditionally done by males. Christians try to control what kind of clothes women wear and argue that if a woman is dressed sexily its her fault if she's raped. Christians try to make laws that make it harder for rape to be prosecuted.

I said "and pass laws granting christians special privileges."

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "such as?".

Such as laws protecting christians from discrimination while they oppose laws protecting gays and the non-religious from discrimination. Laws that exempt christians from following anti-discrimination laws merely by saying "its against my religon" when everyone else has to follow those laws. Laws that allow christians time off for christian holidays or to refuse job duties that everyone else has to follow. Laws that allow them to refuse to dispense birth control or provide it to their employees. Laws that allow them not to pay taxes on many of their properties despite benefitting from all the services other citizens pay for.

December 10, 2015 12:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ABORTION LAW REFORM A REALITY IN SIERRA LEONE

The parliament in Sierra Leone, which has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world, voted unanimously to make safe abortion legal!

• Sierra Leone has the highest maternal death rate in the world; 30% of those maternal deaths are the result of unsafe abortion
• The country was cited in 2014 by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) for the negative impact of its highly restrictive abortion law
• The government had pledged in several global and regional human rights forums to pass a more liberal abortion bill
• Previously, the governing law on abortion was the English Offences Against the Person Act of 1861
• Tuesday’s Parliamentary vote to enact legal abortion on request of the woman was unanimous!

Honorable Isata Kabia, who brought the bill forward, stated, "Mr. Speaker, Honorable Members, these are women in the prime of their lives who most likely have other children and families to take care of. Yet unsafe abortion is one of the main causes of maternal mortality that can be most easily addressed, through improved access to family planning, information and services, safe, legal abortion services and high-quality postabortion care.”

Former Ipas Sierra Leone Country Manager Val Tucker said, “Practically everyone in Sierra Leone knows someone who has been affected in some way by unsafe abortion – people have lost wives, daughters, and loved ones. This bill has the power to change things for the better.”

Ipas has been working with partners for the past five years to advocate for and gather evidence to support law reform. Ipas partnered with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in 2011 to conduct three studies examining unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortions. The studies documented the extent of the problem and showed that the government would save money by providing safe abortion rather than treating the consequences of unsafe procedures.

The hard work over many years paid off. “This news makes Sierra Leone a real leader in the growing trend of progressive abortion law reform in Africa,” says Charlotte Hord Smith, Ipas Policy Director. “With Mozambique’s law reform of last year and efforts in other countries to review their restrictive laws, we are seeing great progress toward respecting women’s reproductive rights and protecting their health in the region.”

December 10, 2015 1:53 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Further to this:

I said "Christians abuse includes forcing schoolchildren to recite christian prayers,"

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "how about when they're forced to learn Shakespeare? what's wrong with teaching kids how to pray?".

I missed the major point in my earlier response to this. The main reason is that its unconstitutional to force schoolchildren to recite christian prayers - it violates their freedom of religion. The school can't choose a religion for children and force them to follow it. Freedom of religion also means freedom from religion, forcing a schoolchild to recite christian prayers deprives them of the choice of religion or no religion. This is one of the most frequent violations of the constitution that christians perform. There's case after case after case of christian teachers and sports coaches proselytizing schoolchildren in violation of the law.

There you have it folks: Wyatt/bad anonymous promoting violating the U.S. constitutions freedom of religion clause by having the government favour christianity over all other religions and non-religion and forcing it on schoolchildren. How would he like it if school teachers and coaches were forcing schoolchildren to pray to Allah or Satan? If that were the case he'd be demanding in a heartbeat that schools remain neutral on religion.

December 10, 2015 2:01 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

That's that christian sense of entitlement to privilege I was talking about. Typical of christians like Wyatt/bad anonymous.

December 10, 2015 2:05 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

In a typical case, yet another christian tries to use his job in the government to push his religion on others in violation of the freedom of religion clause in the U.S. constitution. "The government shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion".

Now watch Wyatt/bad anonymous insist christians should have the special right to ignore the law in this case.

December 10, 2015 2:15 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

And then there's the millions upon millions of American christians who stand behind Donald Trump's call to ban all Muslims from entering the United States and to surveil all muslim U.S. citizens. Perfect example of American christians seeking special rights they want to deny to others.

December 10, 2015 2:21 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

And I missed another example of what I mentioned earlier of Wyatt's dishonest quoting of fragments of what a person says to change the meaning of what was actually said.

Here's his dishonest partial quote of what I said:

""Atheists don't hate imaginary beings,"

"we hate religious people"

that's true, as well".

Now here's the whole quote of what I said:

"Atheists don't hate imaginary beings, we hate religious people who use their religion as an excuse to oppress, imprison, and execute innocent LGBT people, force schoolchildren to recite christian prayers, deprive women of control over their bodies and sexual autonomy, and pass laws granting christians special privileges.".

Note how in his typical dishonest fashion he changes me saying atheists hate only abusive religious people to a statement that says atheists hate all religious people without condition. We see this type of dishonesty out of Wyatt/bad anonymous over and over and over. He really has no morals at all.

December 10, 2015 2:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

breaking news:

Priya found insane. Suffering from gender delusions.

December 10, 2015 6:27 PM  
Anonymous Good place to stick you head in the sand and come up all wet.... said...

"RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Islanders in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay could be among the first "climate change refugees" in the continental United States as rising seas claim their historic fishing village, a report released Thursday concludes.

The research published in the journal Scientific Reports says residents of steadily shrinking Tangier Island will have to abandon their fishing community in approximately 50 years.

As the U.N. climate talks continue an ocean away in Paris, "Tangier is kind of ground zero," said oceanographer David M. Schulte, lead author of the research.

The peer-reviewed research was funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has said millions in new infrastructure such as breakwaters could shield Tangier Island and extend its life.

Tangier's threatened existence is not news to islanders, who have seen their island and others nearby retreat through the decades. Uppards Island was abandoned nearly a century ago, but the skeletal remains of those who once lived there are occasionally coughed up during storms, such as Hurricane Sandy.

Carol Pruitt-Moore, a seventh generation Tangier islander, said the half-century lifespan forecast for Tangier seems rosy to her.

"I think it'll be less than 50 years," Pruitt-Moore said. "We are one storm away from being washed away or being forced to evacuate."

Low-lying Tangier is particularly susceptible to climate change and rising seas and the sinking of the bay — called subsidence. The sinking is a remnant of the last ice age and glaciers north of the bay. As the ice melted, the land rebounded, while the bay began to sink.

Tangier, Schulte said, "is just getting the double-whammy."
Approximately 700 people live on Tangier, nearly half its peak population. Island watermen are prodigious fishermen, hauling in a disproportionate amount of the bay's signature crabs and oysters.

Islanders get around on golf carts and homes are clustered atop ridges to keep them beyond the reach of rising waters. Graves have had to be interred and remains moved to avoid being swamped.

Because of its isolation, many residents have retained over centuries the linguistic traces of the island's settlers, primarily from Cornwall along England's southwest coast. Jamestown settler Capt. John Smith is believed to be the first white man to set foot on the island more than 400 years ago.

By the researchers' calculations, only one-third of the island's land mass remains from what was there in 1850...."


Continues at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tangier-island-climate-change_566a90b9e4b080eddf57cd5a

December 11, 2015 10:24 AM  
Anonymous Hope for Tangiers Island said...

"LE BOURGET, France — The Paris climate-change conference was supposed to be about the needs of big countries and what they are willing to do to slow the warming of Earth’s atmosphere. But in the end, the two weeks of sometimes round-the-clock negotiations have focused at least as much on some of the smallest, most defenseless nations whose very existence could hinge on the outcome of the talks.

The result could be a tougher set of policy goals than anyone originally thought could emerge from the conference. While the ultimate agreement is expected to embrace a goal of limiting global warming to less than two degrees Celsius, it also is likely to recognize a far more challenging and aspirational goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

That tougher language might not be legally binding for countries such as the United States, but the fact that it is in the running is testament to the tireless work of delegations from remote countries facing an urgent threat from the rising seas of a warmer Earth.

The growing momentum behind 1.5 degrees is a story of fast-breaking science, savvy politics and a change in tone in the climate debate — one that, pushed by Pope Francis, has focused increasing attention on the needs of the most vulnerable countries. (The Vatican on Thursday came out in favor of the 1.5-degree target.)

“The small guys have managed to push the big guys, and that is a big story,” Monica Araya, founder and executive director of the Costa Rican nongovernmental organization Nivela and special adviser to the Climate Vulnerable Forum, said at the conference Friday.

Early Saturday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius announced that a proposed draft of the new climate agreement was ready for debate and possible approval by delegates of the 196 countries attending the talks. Fabius described the proposed agreement as “historic,” “ambitious and balanced,” providing a pathway that would allow countries to sharply reduce greenhouse-gas pollution and avoid a dangerous warming of the planet.

“Today we are close to the final outcome,” Fabius told the assembled delegates at a conference center in Paris’ northern outskirts. He called on diplomats to approve the compromise reached by negotiators overnight, one that he said “affirms our objective … to have a temperature [increase] well below 2 degrees [Celsius] and to endeavor to limit that increase to 1.5 degrees, which should make it possible to reduce the risks and impacts linked to climate change.”

As he spoke the words, the conference hall erupted in applause.

“The world is holding its breath,” Fabius said.

Diplomats labored nonstop for the last 48 hours of the conference to resolve differences over a handful of thorny issues, including financial aid to developing countries hit hard by climate change, as well as rules and procedures for judging whether countries are honoring their commitments to cut pollution..."


Continues at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/12/11/how-tiny-islands-drove-huge-ambition-at-the-paris-climate-talks/

December 12, 2015 7:00 AM  
Anonymous climate hoax buster said...

little known and to the chagrin of alarmists:

total global carbon output remained stable in 2014 and has fallen in 2015

the Kyoto conference a couple of decades ago failed but the U.S. has met the goals proposed there anyway

global warming has not increased since 1998

the planet's climate has never been stable and is always changing

Al Gore has purchased several beachfront properties in the last couple of decades

40,000 people were flown to Paris for the climate conference, hypocritically producing a huge carbon footprint, compared to what they suggest for the average citizen, when they could have accomplished the same by video-conferencing

with massive tree planting and investment in nuclear power, carbon output could be reduced to near zero but world governments would prefer the massive intrusion of regulation

climate researchers receive millions in government grants to produce studies with predetermined conclusions about climate change

researchers who deny that global warming has paused are under investigation by Congress and have refused to comply with subpoenas seeking their research data and e-mail discussions of it

December 12, 2015 7:48 AM  
Anonymous Al Sure said...

that's inconvenient truth, right there!!

December 12, 2015 7:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Enjoy your vacation on Tangier Island.

Don't forget to pack your scuba gear.

December 12, 2015 1:11 PM  
Anonymous I see delusionly alarmed people said...

oh, I've never been to Tangier Island

been to Smith Island many ties though and haven't noticed any changes

that would probably require an increase in temperature, which hasn't happened since 1998

did you know Obama's entourage for the Paris trip produced more carbon in the atmosphere than the average person does in 5 years?

it's an inconvenient truth

December 12, 2015 7:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Talk is cheap. Got some data to back up your claims?

I do.

And I didn't have to bribe someone to provide it.

Anti-Climate Change ‘Scientists’ Caught Accepting Corporate Cash

"The consensus on climate change is overwhelming – more than 97 percent of scientists agree that climate change is manmade and a threat to the planet. Although we could all stand to hear less from the < 3 percent of scientists that still try to refute accepted climate science, it’s hard not to wonder what motivates them to publish contradictory information. If a recent undercover investigation is any indication, corporate money could have a lot to do with it.

This year, members of Greenpeace reached out to a handful of scientists that have stated views falling outside of the climate consensus. Posing as representatives from non-renewable energy industries, the investigators asked these scientists what it would take to provide research that contradicted existing climate change studies. Two of these scientists agreed to produce some “scholarly” papers – for a price.

The first scientist, Frank Clemente, agreed to prepare research that downplays the harms of coal for a fabricated Indonesian coal company. A retired professor at Pennsylvania State, Clemente promised he could attach the school’s name in his research. He quoted a price of $15,000 for this academic paper, adding that he also charges $6,000 to write an opinion piece for a newspaper.

He also claimed that it would be easy to hide the fact that he was receiving compensation from the coal industry for this work...

The other scientist, William Happer, is perhaps best known as being Ted Cruz’s go-to-guy for helping spread anti-climate change propaganda. The Princeton physics professor told the representative for a fictitious Middle East oil company that he would gladly produce research for a mere $250 per hour of work. He suggested his payment could be given to CO2 Coalition, a pro-carbon organization instead of him to better cover the trail of who was funding the research.

Happer acknowledged that the biggest obstacle would probably be having the research he produced get peer-reviewed from fellow scientists. Any research he could get through this process would probably not be able to state that carbon dioxide is a “benefit” to the planet as he suspected the oil company would like to indicate. In order to get around these blockades, Happer offered to show it to a few of his peers and label that process “peer review” instead of putting it through the usual scientific rigors.

If it all sounds a little familiar, that’s probably because it is. Decades ago, the tobacco industry notoriously took similar measures to compensate scientists for misleading research about the effects of smoking. The truth eventually came out, but cigarette companies were able to delay it while hooking more and more customers on their products in the meantime.

It would be nice if Greenpeace’s investigation were the only modern-day examples of anti-climate change research coming about thanks to corporate funding, but earlier this year, the New York Times conducted similar investigations and found that one of the most prolific anti-climate scientists, Willie Soon, had been given over $1 million by the energy industry.

It’s no wonder that Republicans in Congress are trying to cut programs that fund science. If scientists don’t have public money to compensate them for unbiased research, they have to turn to other sources for funding. When corporations are the benefactors, they tend to want the research to produce specific results. Suddenly, you might have a lot more studies suggesting that climate change isn’t a big deal after all.

Science-for-hire isn’t real science at all."

December 13, 2015 7:59 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"EXXON KNEW

Tell our representatives: We want the truth about Exxon's climate record!

The revelations are shocking - a new report by InsideClimate News and the LA Times shows that Exxon researchers had solid evidence of the risks to our climate from fossil fuels as far back as the 1970s. But instead of getting on board with moving our economy away from dirty energy sources, Exxon chose to suppress the data, while striving to publicly "emphasize the uncertainty," as one of their internal memos put it. By doing so, they helped hold back years of potential progress on climate. Did Exxon commit a crime by burying the truth about climate? Sign this petition and ask all of our elected federal officials in Montgomery County to support a full investigation of what Exxon knew and when they knew it. We need to hold Exxon responsible!

The Petition:

"To: Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Rep. John Sarbanes, Rep. John Delaney, Sen. Barbara Mikulski, and Sen. Ben Cardin
From: [Your Name]

New allegations regarding Exxon's possible suppression of critical climate change research in the 1970s and 1980s are too important to ignore. We need to know what Exxon knew and when they knew it so they can be held responsible for their record of fostering misinformation and suppression of the science. We ask you to support a full federal investigation of Exxon's climate record. Only when all the truth comes out will we know the extent of Exxon's misdeeds and whether they violated the law."


Sign the petition here.

350MoCo

December 13, 2015 9:33 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Once Trump announced his policy of banning all Muslims from entering the U.S. his rise has reminded me of the rise of Hitler. Today I see I'm not the only one seeing Trump's rise looking like the rise of Hitler.

It's a sad commentary on the intelligence of Republican Americans that they're buying the empty bluster and obvious lies of Trump.

December 13, 2015 12:01 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "total global carbon output remained stable in 2014 and has fallen in 2015".

The figures are obviously not known for 2015 yet. 2014 levels didn't show an increase due to efforts to reduce greenhouse gases that YOU oppose. How hypocritical of you to spend years saying the increase in carbon dioxide emmisions didn't matter and now to say we shouldn't worry because for the first time in 100 years they haven't increased. Typical Wyatt, doesn't care if his current arguments contradict his past arguments as long as they suit his agenda.

The scientists predicting a slight decrease in global carbon emissions for 2015 also say it is unlikely emissions have peaked for good and global emissions would have to be reduced to zero to stabilize the climate. We are far, far from out of the woods and need drastic cuts to present greenhouse gas emissions.

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "the Kyoto conference a couple of decades ago failed but the U.S. has met the goals proposed there anyway".

The Kyoto agreement expired in 2012 and the U.S. met its targets at that time due to the flagging economy due to Bush policies. Few other countries met the target and global carbon emissions have increased severely since 1900.

December 13, 2015 12:43 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "global warming has not increased since 1998".

Quite simply a lie as you have been well aware of for a number of years now. 13 of the 15 hottest years on record have occurred since 2000. 2014 was the hottest year on record and 2015 is on pace to surpass that. There has been no global warming pause as oceans have continued to warm up at a record pace.

There's been more overal global warming in the past 15 years than in the 15 years before thatGlobal warming has accelerated of the last 15 years as 90% of the global heat goes into the oceans.

Wyatt's false claim that there's been no global warming since 1998 is based solely on atmospheric warming which represents only a tiny fraction of total global warming and even the atmospheric global warming his claim is based on is old data that's been shown to be false(as he's well aware). There has been no slowdown in atmospheric global warming since 1997

December 13, 2015 12:44 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "the planet's climate has never been stable and is always changing"

Another dishonest specious talking point. We have temperature data from 11000 years ago After the end of the ice age, the planet got warmer. Then, 5,000 years ago, it started to get cooler — but really slowly. In all, it cooled 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit, up until the last century or so. Then it flipped again — global average temperature shot up.

Temperatures now have gone from that cold period to the warm period in just 100 years. So it's taken just 100 years for the average temperature to change by 1.3 degrees, when it took 5,000 years to do that before. Natural climate variance can't explain the drastic sudden increase in temperatures of the last 100 years. What we're seeing now is unprecedented warming that has catastrophic implications for future generations if we don't start drastically reducing greenhouse gas output. Simply capping greenhouse gas emissions at current levels won't stop global warming or even appreciably slow it down over the next 100 or 200 years.

December 13, 2015 12:45 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

The Christian right's hypocrisy on religious freedom

All of the Republican candidates for president talk endlessly about “religious freedom,” but as usual what they really mean is Christian privilege. John Fea, an evangelical Christian historian from Messiah College, points this out in a post at the History News Network about the obvious disconnect between their rhetoric about “religious freedom” and their proposals for banning Muslim immigration and closing mosques.

December 13, 2015 12:54 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Just Gave U.S. Politicians a Refreshing Lesson in Compassion

He was on-hand to welcome in a plane of Syrian refugees as part of the country's accelerated entry program.

U.S. politics right now feel like a clown show of ventriloquized garbage bags yelling dangerous nonsense about Muslims and the Second Amendment. But just north of the border, in Canada, new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is showing just how far leadership traits like compassion and open-mindedness can go.

December 13, 2015 2:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Negative Association between Religiousness and Children’s Altruism across the World

"Highlights

•Family religious identification decreases children’s altruistic behaviors

•Religiousness predicts parent-reported child sensitivity to injustices and empathy

•Children from religious households are harsher in their punitive tendencies

Summary

Prosocial behaviors are ubiquitous across societies. They emerge early in ontogeny [ 1 ] and are shaped by interactions between genes and culture [ 2, 3 ]. Over the course of middle childhood, sharing approaches equality in distribution [ 4 ]. Since 5.8 billion humans, representing 84% of the worldwide population, identify as religious [ 5 ], religion is arguably one prevalent facet of culture that influences the development and expression of prosociality. While it is generally accepted that religion contours people’s moral judgments and prosocial behavior, the relation between religiosity and morality is a contentious one. Here, we assessed altruism and third-party evaluation of scenarios depicting interpersonal harm in 1,170 children aged between 5 and 12 years in six countries (Canada, China, Jordan, Turkey, USA, and South Africa), the religiousness of their household, and parent-reported child empathy and sensitivity to justice. Across all countries, parents in religious households reported that their children expressed more empathy and sensitivity for justice in everyday life than non-religious parents. However, religiousness was inversely predictive of children’s altruism and positively correlated with their punitive tendencies. Together these results reveal the similarity across countries in how religion negatively influences children’s altruism, challenging the view that religiosity facilitates prosocial behavior.

December 13, 2015 4:41 PM  
Anonymous look out kid said...

"Talk is cheap. Got some data to back up your claims?

I do."

then why don't you produce it?

instead, all you put up is a bunch of political crap about conflicted interests

gee, Greenpeace posed as corporate officers and tried to pay scientists to do studies?

the sums sound pretty small

do you work for free?

these scientists could obviously make more money getting huge grants from the many groups who fund climate change "proof" studies whose conclusions are predetermined

"The revelations are shocking - a new report by InsideClimate News and the LA Times shows that Exxon researchers had solid evidence of the risks to our climate from fossil fuels as far back as the 1970s. But instead of getting on board with moving our economy away from dirty energy sources, Exxon chose to suppress the data, while striving to publicly "emphasize the uncertainty," as one of their internal memos put it. By doing so, they helped hold back years of potential progress on climate."

so, by not releasing their own data they held back years of progress?

interesting

just goes to show how nascent climatology is that it depended solely on corporate research as recently as the 70s

or, it would show that if the above were not just some idiotic rambling by alarmists

"The consensus on climate change is overwhelming"

I can remember many other consensus positions by scientists that were wrong. It was once the consensus that the sun revolved around the earth. For a very long time, it was the consensus that some racial groups were inherently, genetically more intelligent than others not by a narrow margin, but by a lot. Indeed, in the first few decades of the 20th century, most scientists thought eugenics was the path to global utopia. We know where that led.
When I was a younger, climate experts looked at the exact same climate — affecting factors we have today and announced that there would soon be a new ice age because man-made pollutants would block the sun’s heat. That was not an outlier. That was standard and not long ago. Now, we would consider it a joke.

If only Exxon hadn't confused everyone, right?

Consensus in science can be wrong. Scientists are just people. They make mistakes. They want to be part of the in-group. They’re highly political. They don’t need a weatherman to see which way the wind blows in terms of grants and tenure.

December 14, 2015 5:40 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

American Atheists has put up their annual Christmas billboard in a couple spots around the country and, as usual, the Christian right is responding with patently inane rhetoric. This year’s billboard is one of their better ones. It merely as Santa with a finger to his lips in a “shhhh” fashion and it says, “Go ahead and skip church! Just be good for goodness’ sake. Happy Holidays!” The fundies are horribly offended.

Author and worldview and culture expert Dr. Alex McFarland says the billboards seek to belittle Christians for their beliefs and makes a mockery of the most holy birth in history.

“These annual attempts to draw people away from the church and away from Christ at Christmas continue to be both disrespectful and intolerant of those with deeply held beliefs,” McFarland says. “We know that many seek out Jesus at Christmastime, as they are invited to church by family and friends who are concerned for their souls. Perhaps like no other, Christmas is a time to join the family of God, and when others say it’s silly, stupid or make-believe to consider Christianity, it belittles the true intent of the season.”…

“To deny Jesus’ existence and tell people it’s not necessary to step foot into church at Christmas is the height of intolerance,” Jimenez said. “There’s a constant call for tolerance of all beliefs and lifestyles, except when it comes to Christianity. Alex and I have spent years working in apologetics—defending faith—and have met thousands who are committed to the truth of Jesus Christ. It’s so necessary in today’s culture to be able to combat messages like this—that Jesus isn’t real or isn’t worth our time.”

December 14, 2015 11:12 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Disrespectful! The very height of intolerance! Really? The height of intolerance? There are Christians being murdered around the world and experiencing genuine persecution, particularly in Muslim countries. Those people would, no doubt, be surprised to hear that a billboard with nothing insulting on it at all is the “height of intolerance.” It’s especially amusing and ridiculous in light of Alex McFarland’s vile beliefs.

Alex McFarland: Atheists are dupes of Satan intent on destroying the world. And gay people are demon-possessed pedophiles who want to kidnap your children and rape them.

Atheists: Hey, you don’t need to be believe in God to be a decent person.

Alex McFarland: OMG, that’s the most intolerant thing I’ve ever heard! How dare you insult us by suggesting that we might be wrong about something! Hitler! Stalin!

Could they possibly get any more ridiculous?

December 14, 2015 11:13 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "Consensus in science can be wrong. Scientists are just people. They make mistakes. They want to be part of the in-group. They’re highly political. They don’t need a weatherman to see which way the wind blows in terms of grants and tenure.".

LOL, just because consensus can be wrong is in no way proof that the consensus on climate change is wrong. Really, how ridiculous can you get, going back thousands of years to when primitive people believed the sun revolved around the earth and claiming this is reasonable proof that scientists might be wrong about climate change. That's not a whole lot different than claiming scientists might now be wrong about the earth revolving around the sun because what Wyatt/bad anonymous mislabels as scientists got it wrong in the past.

97% of over 12,000 research papers on climate science agree that global warming is happening and is man-made. The way the wind blows is from multi-billion dollar oil companies paying for "research" that contradicts the consensus and despite the huge financial incentive to lie they can't get any more than an extremely tiny minority of scientists to claim global warming isn't happening and isn't man made. And even when they find that rare scientist willing to sell his or her soul their claims are easily shredded by the tens of thousands of honest scientists who can't be bought.

If the consensus on global warming was wrong it would be easy for honest scientists to publish irrefutable research that shows global warming isn't happening. There's nothing a scientist loves better than to be able to prove someone else wrong and there'd be scientists falling all over themselves for the prestige of proving global warming wasn't happening if it really wasn't. That's not happening because the truth is that global warming is happening and man-made and the overwhelming evidence supports this conclusion.

According to the global warming denialists like Wyatt:

1) Virtually all of the world's climate scientists, for reasons unspecified, decided to create a myth about human-induced global warming and have managed to twist endless measurements and computer models to fit their case, without the rest of the scientific community noticing. George W Bush and certain oil companies have, however, seen through the deception.

2) Most of the world's climate scientists are incompetent and have grossly misinterpreted their data and models, yet their faulty conclusions are not, as you might imagine, a random chaos of assertions, but all point in the same direction.

Of the 10 warmest years on record, 9 of them happened since 2000. This IS highly statistically significant and no honest scientist would deny the 2000's as a whole are significantly warmer than the 1990s. The odds that the long-term trend would have occurred in the absence of human influence are at least 1 in 1.7 million.

Time to take off your tin-foil hat Wyatt and get some psychiatric help.

December 14, 2015 11:32 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

"I wrote the other day about a county clerk in Colorado who decided to be all passive-aggressive and put up a poster of a Bible verse saying that marriage is between a man and a woman on the wall of his office where the marriage licenses are handed out. After the Freedom From Religion Foundation got involved, the clerk wisely decided to remove that poster rather than lose a lawsuit.

" A Colorado county clerk has removed an overtly religious poster from the office where citizens, including same-sex couples, get their marriage licenses after the Freedom From Religion Foundation complained.

Two of FFRF’s complainants have confirmed that the poster is down and was likely removed on Thursday, the day after FFRF Staff Attorney Andrew Seidel asked Elbert County Clerk Dallas Schroeder to put him in touch with his attorney.

“We’re glad that the poster, which was meant to intimidate LGBT citizens and promote Schroeder’s personal religion, has been removed from government property,” Seidel said. “The government must remain neutral on matters of religion and quoting the bible is hardly neutral.”

December 14, 2015 11:58 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Schroeder had made it clear in emails that he is against same-sex marriage, and had a poster created by a local artist to put up in the office, so “there is no way to miss it if you are in for a marriage license,” he wrote…

Initially, Schroeder believed he was following the letter of the law.

“I am not denying anyone service,” he wrote. “My thought process is that they have to see the poster and if they choose to violate God’s written Word, then that is on their head. I have warned them.”

But after being sent several letters from Seidel and asking to speak with his lawyer, Schroeder apparently relented and removed the poster, at least from the sight of county constituents."

I’m not denying service to anyone, I just want to take full advantage of my position as a government official to preach at them while they’re applying for a license. Glad this jerk thought the better of it."

December 14, 2015 11:59 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Republican pollster Frank Luntz held a focus group with 29 supporters of Donald Trump this week and some journalists got to watch it all through a two-way mirror. What it revealed about Trump supporters is appalling, but not surprising. The more negative information they get about Trump, the more strongly they supported him.

This backs up research which shows when you educate Republicans about the truth it makes them cling to the lies all the more tightly.

December 14, 2015 12:08 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Conservative Justices Are The Real "Judicial Activists".

If we judge "judicial activism" by some objective standard such as, say, how often they vote to strike down laws passed by the citizens' elected representatives, the more conservative justices have done so significantly more than the more liberal justices.


"[Professor Geoffrey] Stone concludes that the moderately liberal justices apply an approach in line with “the original concerns of the Framers of the Constitution and in their distinctive understanding of the special responsibility of courts in our constitutional system,” while the Court’s conservatives’ “votes cannot be explained by any consistent theory of constitutional interpretation” but are instead driven by their own policy preferences.

December 14, 2015 12:41 PM  
Anonymous lazy Priya = anti-science said...

looks like Priya is trolling again tonight

making absurd statements designed to get a response, laced with personal insults and name-calling

oh well, the Canadian government is responsible for Priya's mental health bill

did you know that those calling for government restrictions on emissions and subsidies for renewable energy to combat climate change are anti-science?

that's right

scientists are nearly unanimous that only allowing the expansion of nuclear energy will reduce carbon emissions and bring on the ice age that alarmists are seeking:

In January of this year, the International Energy Agency declared that “nuclear power is a critical element in limiting greenhouse gas emissions.” It went on to say that global nuclear generation capacity must more than double by 2050 (to about 750 gigawatts) if the countries of the world are to have any hope of limiting temperature increases to the 2-degree scenario that is widely agreed upon as the acceptable limit. The scientists at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have made it clear that nuclear energy is essential. In its latest report, known as AR5, which was released last year, the IPCC declared that achieving deep cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions “will require more intensive use of low-GHG technologies such as nuclear energy.” In 2013, four of the world’s leading climate scientists issued an open letter that was clearly aimed at anti-nuclear groups like Greenpeace and Sierra Club. They said that renewable energy sources like wind and solar “cannot scale up fast enough to deliver cheap and reliable power at the scale the global economy requires.” The authors — former NASA climatologist James Hansen, Kerry Emanuel of MIT, Tom Wigley of the University of Adelaide in Australia, and Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institution — wrote an open letter that “continued opposition to nuclear power threatens humanity’s ability to avoid dangerous climate change.” They continued: “There is no credible path to climate stabilization that does not include a substantial role for nuclear power.” They concluded by saying that if environmental activists have “real concern about risks from climate change,” they should begin “calling for the development and deployment of advanced nuclear energy.” In 2011, in one of the most famous slap-downs of the renewables-only crowd, Hansen wrote that “suggesting that renewables will let us phase rapidly off fossil fuels in the United States, China, India, or the world as a whole is almost the equivalent of believing in the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy.” He went on to say that politicians and environmental groups “pay homage to the Easter Bunny fantasy, because it is the easy thing to do.”

December 14, 2015 5:39 PM  
Anonymous peaches and cream said...

hey

guess what, kids?

Barack Obama broke the law again

been using social media to spread propaganda

when will he be impeached?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/us/politics/epa-broke-the-law-by-using-social-media-to-push-water-rule-auditor-finds.html?_r=0

December 14, 2015 9:38 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Republicans lie far more often than Democrats

Carson and Trump fare particularly badly.

December 16, 2015 11:12 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not a peep in the GOP debate about that other terrorist attack on U.S. soil

I suppose we should have guessed, but so far there's not been a peep from either CNN or the other candidates about the other terrorist attack on American soil in the last few weeks, the murder of bystanders at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic.

ISIS terrorism? Muslims and Syrians and terrorists crossing the border? Those we'll talk about. But we've had more time devoted to the hoax threat against Los Angeles area schools than the actual attack that took place in Colorado just weeks ago.

Go figure.

Related:

Williamsburg homeless shelter stops accepting women to prevent sex in building

WHITLEY COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT)- A Whitley County homeless shelter says it will no longer accept women because of what's been going on inside the building.

The Director of Emergency Christian Ministries says too many people have been having sex at the shelter.

Ten to 12 women were asked to leave and in some cases the shelter won't accept children either.

While the director calls the decision is bible based, others say it doesn't make much sense.

"I guess I'm a little old school, but the first people off the boat were the women and children," Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison said.

Women are being asked to go to the female only KCEOC Shelter in Gray.

The director says, he wants to accept women again but needs to renovate the facility first.

December 16, 2015 12:12 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Judge orders Jewish "exgay" organization out of existence.

The Jewish "exgay" organization JOHAH has lossed a lawsuit against them for false advertising and is to be disbanded by court order. The "exgay" industry in the states is completely collapsing both voluntarily and as a result of a light being shone on their con job.

December 18, 2015 2:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

lazy Priya, the atheist lunatic from Canada is delighted to see America dissolving

the Supreme Court will eventually fix the states like New Jersey who indulge organized crime but seem to think they can ban speech they don't like

and, yes, they have the same rights when banned together corporately as they do individually- see Citizens United

if not fixed, if the government is allowed totalitarian powers to ban and punish ideas, don't be surprised to see an armed revolution in America

December 18, 2015 5:41 PM  
Anonymous "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour" said...

You are on the wrong side of the arc of justice my friend.

No one is free to yell fire in a crowd or to claim a cure unproven to work.

Even God disapproves of bearing false witness, eh?

"Gay Conversion Therapy" Group in New Jersey to Permanently Shut Down

"A so-called "gay conversion therapy" group in New Jersey has agreed to permanently close its doors after losing a landmark court battle this summer.

As Mother Jones reported, a jury determined in June that Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing, or JONAH, had violated state consumer fraud law by claiming it could help change clients' sexual orientations from gay to straight. It was the first case in the nation to challenge conversion therapy as consumer fraud.

The plaintiffs—including three of the organization's former clients—said therapists recommended by JONAH had subjected them to humiliating treatments, including stripping in front of a therapist and reenacting scenes of past sexual abuse during group therapy sessions.

On Friday, Judge Peter F. Bariso Jr. granted a permanent injunction after both sides reached a settlement requiring JONAH to cease operations, permanently dissolve as a corporate entity, and liquidate all its assets.

"The end of JONAH signals that conversion therapy, however packaged, is fraudulent—plain and simple," David Dinielli, deputy legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said in a statement. The center filed the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiffs.

Michael Ferguson, one of the plaintiffs, added, "Gay conversion therapy stole years from my life, and nearly stole my life. My hope is that others can be spared the unneeded harm that comes from the lies the defendants and those like them spread."

Conversion therapy has been rejected by major health organizations, including the American Psychiatric Association, which in 1973 removed homosexuality from the list of disorders in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Last year, a transgender teen committed suicide in Ohio after participating in conversion therapy, inspiring a campaign for a federal ban on the practice. New Jersey, California, and Washington, DC, have laws banning licensed conversion therapists from working with minors.

In a pretrial decision in February, Judge Bariso wrote, "The theory that homosexuality is a disorder is not novel—but like the notion that the earth is flat and the sun revolves around it—instead is outdated and refuted.""

December 18, 2015 9:09 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Poor Wyatt/bad anonymous. This one's for you Wyatt:

"The Little Dumber Boy".

Dumb they call him pa rum pa pum pum, Another bigot crying pa rum pa pum pum pum. Another fake outrage pa rum pa pum pum. Boy is he dumb.

December 18, 2015 11:06 PM  
Anonymous Tom Phones said...

Priya appears to be quite the juvenile troll.

December 19, 2015 1:19 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

In their fraud case the defendants "exgay" group JONAH were ordered to pay $3.5 million in fees and damages as well as to shut down operations. This will put the fear of god into the remaining "exgay" organizations in the states knowing they could be next.

December 20, 2015 1:15 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

The remaining "exgay" businesses in the U.S. might just want to close down now rather than risk some of their victims suing them for fraud too.

December 20, 2015 1:27 PM  
Anonymous Jim Stoves said...

really, schools should be sued and shut down if they tell kids that homosexuality is perfectly safe and the kids go and does it and gets AIDS

and guys who get suicidal after they have a sex change operation should sue the advocates who told them it would make them happy

and companies preparing for global warming should sue the alarmist groups who dead wrong about the rising temperatures for the last 17 years

and parents should sue and shut down teacher unions who fight school choice when that is the only chance for their kids to get a decent education

and the Canadian government should be sued and shut down for letting mental patients like lazy Priya access to the internet

December 20, 2015 11:55 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Ohhhh, testy, testy!

Wyatt's seething with anger because he's lost the American war on LGBTs. Wyatt, if you want to live where bigotry is still accepted you'll need to move to Russia, Africa, or some Islamic country.

Here's some more bad news for you:

American Christians are becoming more accepting of gayness

Hahahahahahahahahahaha!

December 21, 2015 11:39 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Poor Wyatt/bad anonymous. Nothing left but the same repeatedly debunked lies.

December 21, 2015 11:42 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

A Potentially Huge Court Ruling on Gender and Sexual Orientation

There’s a very interesting lawsuit going on in California, where a lesbian couple were apparently discriminated against by Pepperdine University. What makes the case interesting is that the plaintiffs are arguing that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation IS gender-based discrimination and is thus already forbidden by federal law. And the judge in the case agreed:

U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson ruled that their complaint can move forward. Though he did not rule on the final merits, he did take time to explain why “sexual orientation” is covered under “sex,” and why other courts have erred by thinking otherwise. Pregerson had previously expressed skepticism about the women’s complaints, but acknowledged now that he should not have.

“This Court, in its prior order dismissing in part Plaintiffs’ FAC, stated that ‘the line between discrimination based on gender stereotyping and discrimination based on sexual orientation is blurry, at best,” he wrote. “After further briefing and argument, the Court concludes that the distinction is illusory and artificial, and that sexual orientation discrimination is not a category distinct from sex or gender discrimination.”

Pregerson observed that other courts’ struggles to consider sexual orientation complaints actually point to a simple conclusion. “The line between sex discrimination and sexual orientation discrimination is ‘difficult to draw’ because that line does not exist, save as a lingering and faulty judicial construct.”

This is an argument that has been debated in legal scholarship but not yet applied in court so directly. Earlier this year, legendary conservative legal scholar Steven Calabresi, one of the founders of the Federalist Society, made this same argument. That suggests that it could get a serious hearing among conservative judges.

One of the conservative supreme court justices asked this very question at the opening of the marriage equality case saying "If John can marry Jane but Susan cannot marry Jane why is this not a straighforward case of sex discrimination?". He then however irrationally ignored his own infallible logic and voted against marriage equality

December 21, 2015 12:10 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Mother Teresa: Sadistic Religious Fanatic

Mother Teresa was no saint, she was a moral monster, a sadistic religious fanatic who took pleasure in the suffering of others, and denied appropriate medical care to the sick and dying.

The Catholic propaganda machine continues to promote the soon to be saint, ignoring evidence of her moral incompetence. Recently Pope Francis recognised a second miracle supposedly attributed to Mother Teresa, clearing the way for the Roman Catholic nun to be made a saint next year.

However, Teresa was anything but a saint. The nun may have been generous with her prayers, but she was miserly with her foundation’s millions when it came to alleviating the suffering of the sick and the poor.

Researchers report the sadistic nun saw beauty in suffering, and refused to medicate those in pain because suffering would bring the afflicted “closer to God.”

According to reports the celebrated nun had 517 missions in 100 countries at the time of her death, and that the majority of patients were not cared for properly, with many being left to suffer and die without appropriate medical care or pain medication.

December 21, 2015 12:36 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Indeed, conditions in the the Missionaries of Charity’s hospices were deplorable. Teresa refused to introduce the most basic methods of hygiene, even going so far as to reuse needles without sterilization.

In addition to her medical malpractice, and her perverse and sadistic enjoyment of the suffering of others, Teresa was also guilty of financial mismanagement, as well as entertaining and enjoying friendship with unsavory and immoral world leaders.

Yet despite serious questions about Teresa’s character, motivation and methods, as well as concerns about her suspicious financial dealings and contacts, the Vatican, enabled by a gullible and willing mainstream media, has engaged in a well orchestrated public relations campaign to manufacture a Catholic hero.

The late, great Christopher Hitchens was one of the first to raise questions about the authenticity and wisdom of claims made by the Roman Catholic Church promoting Mother Teresa. The following is an excerpt from Hitchens’ critique:

Mother Teresa was not a friend of the poor. She was a friend of poverty. She said that suffering was a gift from God. She spent her life opposing the only known cure for poverty, which is the empowerment of women and the emancipation of them from a livestock version of compulsory reproduction.

December 21, 2015 12:36 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

-------------------------------------------
And she was a friend to the worst of the rich, taking misappropriated money from the atrocious Duvalier family in Haiti (whose rule she praised in return) and from Charles Keating of the Lincoln Savings and Loan. Where did that money, and all the other donations, go?

Many more people are poor and sick because of the life of Mother Teresa: Even more will be poor and sick if her example is followed. She was a fanatic, a fundamentalist, and a fraud, and a church that officially protects those who violate the innocent has given us another clear sign of where it truly stands on moral and ethical questions.

Bottom line: Hitchens was correct to call out the “profane marriage between tawdry media hype and medieval superstition” that is the myth of Mother Teresa, a media superstar who was in the end a fanatic, a fundamentalist, and a fraud.

December 21, 2015 12:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Happy Winter Solstice!

Spring is coming.....in 3 days!!!

STERLING, VA -- Temperatures in the 70s? Rain chances with no hint of snow?

It’s beginning to look a lot like … spring.

The Christmas forecast is shaping up to possibly be wet and definitely be warmer.

Here’s the latest from the National Weather Service in Sterling, Va.

Thursday: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 73. Chance of precipitation is 40 percent.

Hist. Avg = 45

Thursday Night: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 57. Chance of precipitation is 40 percent.

Christmas Day: Mostly sunny, with a high near 66.

Hist. Avg = 44

Friday Night: A chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent.

Saturday: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 57. Chance of precipitation is 50 percent.

Hist. Avg = 44

December 21, 2015 4:12 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Last year when it was colder than normal in the eastern U.S. Wyatt/bad anonymous couldn't shut up about it and was claiming it proved there was no global warming. By that logic he should be piping up now and saying this weather in the eastern U.S. now proves there is global warming, but of course....

*crickets*

Once again, Wyatt/bad anonymous couldn't care less if what he's saying is true as long as it fits the narrative in his head.

December 21, 2015 4:16 PM  
Anonymous svelte_brunette said...

Priya,

Anon doesn't care about accuracy or truth because he's only here to do one thing - annoy those blasted liberals. You are the only one who still listens to him. Nobody else does. Without you, his life would be meaningless - none of those "evil" ones left to fight.

The rest of the ridiculous right wing in MoCo is off licking their wounds... Or something else. They haven't even bothered to keep their "notmyshower" site domain active. If they're still bashing Dana B. somewhere, I don't know where it is.

Without you Priya, he wouldn't have anyone to talk to. Thanks for keeping him from getting lonely.

Have a nice day,

Cynthia

December 21, 2015 8:33 PM  
Anonymous bemused in the turret said...

Cynthia, you seem like a pretty nice, uh, individual

but, I think if you'll look up and read through the above series of comments, you'll find that anon has not bothered to respond to most of Priya's comments because they are basically trolling

by not acknowledging that, you leave me with doubts about your intelligence

would you agree that Mother Teresa was a "sadistic, moral monster who took pleasure in the suffering of others"?

btw, both you and Priya suffer from a delusion that you are female, when you are actually male by any empirical evidence

perhaps this denial of reality is the root of your inability to perceive other reality

here in Montgomery County, the unscientific gay agenda in the public schools has resulted in an unhinging of truth that is seeping through the entire school system

since it was enacted, scores on final tests in math have declined, and no remedy has been found so MCPS recently decided to stop giving finals

when you sow seeds, something usually grows

now, go climb a pole and snip some live wires in the rain to see the pretty sparks

December 21, 2015 11:27 PM  
Anonymous "global warming has not increased since 1998" said...


Warmest Christmas Eve on record to unfold across eastern US

Any hopes of a white Christmas that the weekend chill brought will be dashed in the eastern United States, with this Christmas Eve shaping up to be the warmest on record in many communities.

"There is a high probability for record-setting warmth up and down the entire Eastern Seaboard from Florida to Maine [on Christmas Eve]," AccuWeather Meteorologist Rob Englund said.

As the jet stream builds back northward, unseasonable warmth will return this Christmas week and replace the more typical December chill from the weekend.

The jet stream is a strong river of air high in the atmosphere that guides weather systems and separates warm air to the south from cold air to the north.

Christmas Eve will feel more like an early autumn or spring day with highs ranging from the 50s in Maine to the 70s in the mid-Atlantic and the lower 80s in parts of the Southeast. That equates to highs that are 15 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit above normal.

Widespread record highs will not only be challenged but shattered in many towns and cities. The potential exists for records to be topped by more than 5 degrees from Atlanta to Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia to New York City and to Burlington, Vermont.

Philadelphia's all-time December record high of 73 F, set on two days in 1998, will be in jeopardy.

"It appears high temperatures will be close to 70 F on Christmas Eve in New York City, which is about 30 degrees above normal for the date," AccuWeather Meteorologist Bill Deger said. "It was also unusually warm last Christmas Eve in 2014, when Central Park reached 58 F for a high."

A surge of higher dewpoints will arrive with the warmth, making Christmas Eve actually feel humid by December standards along the I-95 corridor.

Along with erasing any hopes for a white Christmas, the warmth will mean residents can leave the heavy winter jackets, hats or mittens at home when heading out for last minute shopping or to Christmas Eve services.

The only chance of a white Christmas will be in the Tug Hill region of New York state, east of Lake Ontario, and northern Maine.

December 22, 2015 7:17 AM  
Anonymous "global warming has not increased since 1998" said...

Winter Solstice 2015 Sees Thousands Gather At Stonehenge For Shortest Day Of The Year

"Scores of druids and pagans have gathered at Stonehenge to mark the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year.

The sun rose over the historical ruins at 8.04am, but the exact moment of this year's solstice took place at 4.49am.

Despite the occasion marking the official beginning of winter, the temperature was due to be only around four degrees colder than during the summer solstice, when the mercury hit 17C.

Salisbury was due to hit 15C today, last year it was a much more winter-like 8C.

The mild weather meant revellers were dressed as warmly as they were at the Stonehenge event in June...."


Daffodils in bloom, the warmest ever December: how worrying is the world’s strange weather?

"December temperatures in London have been warmer than July’s. Scotland is balmier than Barcelona. Artificial snow covers European ski slopes. Africa faces its worst food crisis in a generation as floods and droughts strike vulnerable countries.

With unusual weather from Britain to Australia, scientists are blaming climate change – but also the natural phenomenon called El Niño, which is raising temperatures and disrupting weather patterns. A double whammy then, but how disturbed should we be as the records tumble?

According to the UK Met Office, the exceptional warmth in Britain and northern continental Europe is linked to the strongest El Niño ever recorded. “What we are experiencing is typical of an early winter El Niño effect,” said Adam Scaife, head of Met Office long- range forecasting.

The cyclical event, named after the birth of Christ because it traditionally occurs in Latin America around Christmas, sees temperatures in the equatorial Pacific rise several degrees. The consequences in years like this are dramatic. Monsoons and trade winds are disrupted, leading to cyclones, droughts, floods and food shortages across the world.

Friday night was one of the warmest recorded in the UK in December. With the warm spell due to continue over Christmas, it is almost certain that more records will be broken. According to Scaife, “we cannot attribute the recent floods [in Britain] to the El Niño, but in early winter [during El Niño years] we tend to have a strong jet stream which brings us mild conditions. In late winter, January and February, we tend to get a weak jet stream which brings more wintry conditions.”

Roger Brugge, a senior scientist at Reading University’s atmospheric laboratory, said: “The first 17 days of December have been the mildest on record by a remarkable 1.1C. The average temperature during this period, of 10.6C, is similar to what can be expected around the beginning of May.”

Worldwide, November was the warmest recorded by the US government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the seventh month in a row where temperatures have been well above the 100-year average; 2015 is on track to be the warmest year and last week the Met Office forecast that the global average temperature in 2016 would be a record 1.14C above pre-industrial temperatures...."

December 22, 2015 9:07 AM  
Anonymous Rudy the Ruddy said...

"since it was enacted, scores on final tests in math have declined, and no remedy has been found so MCPS recently decided to stop giving finals"

understatement of the year

over half of MCPS students, including honors and AP students, were failing their mail finals

the denial of standards, represented by the aquiesence in the political gay agenda as factual, has snowballed beyond just the PE department

so now, to avoid embarrassment, MCPS has simply eliminated finals

problem solved

all the consequence of indulgence of the gay agenda fantasy

December 22, 2015 11:07 AM  
Anonymous svelte_brunette said...

Normally I wouldn't bother to respond, but maybe this will get interesting.

So you're not responding to Proya's trolling of the Troll. Got it.

Then you're just wasting time. It makes me wonder about your intelligence; well not really. That's just not a quality anyone thinks about if they bother to read your drivel.

You keep insisting that I am delusional about being a woman. Yet I have never stated that I am. You can go back through the past 7 years of my posts and find that I have said I and a "post-op MTF transsexual" or something like that on several occasions, and that "no one is more painfully cognizant of the surgically reconstructed nature of my anatomy than I am.". I have never claimed that I am a woman. The closest I have come is saying that I live my life as a woman. That is not the same. I do not expect you to fully comprehend the differences in those statements. You keep deluding yourself if you think that I believe I'm a woman.

I am painfully aware of reality, and the effects of attitudes like those in the Christian right have on the lives of trans people and other minorities. That is why I spent a great deal of my time counteracting the corrosive propaganda the shower nuts spewed out. I don't know how much of an effect my online efforts had, but I do know that when people meet me in person, the Christian trope that I am some kind of existential threat to children in restrooms frequently dissipates to nothing when they meet my reality.





December 22, 2015 11:23 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

"since it was enacted, scores on final tests in math have declined, and no remedy has been found so MCPS recently decided to stop giving finals"

Transparently absurd and childish statement. The equivalent of "There were no atomic bombs before women got the vote.".

You can smell the pathetic desperation.

December 22, 2015 11:49 AM  
Anonymous svelte_brunette said...

As for Mother Teresa, that is the first time I have heard claims like those posted. In fact,it is the first time that I have heard anything negative about her. I don't know if those claims are true or not though and would have to do more research to find out. I would be disappointed if they were though. She is the one famous Catholic I still had respect for. The revalations that have come out of the Catholic church in the last two decades have left me wondering how they still have folks sitting in the pews. A friend of mine still goes mainly because she grew up Catholic, and doesn't have the nerve to try new churches. But she will not let her two kids become alter boys because she wants to keep them safe. Personally, I would get as far away from that church as possible.

A new show called "Hunting Hitler" hit the airwaves recently, and they have made a compelling case that Hitler may have actually escaped to Argentina via a Catholic monestary in Spain in the last days of fighting in Europe. They haven't found the proverbial "smoking gun" yet, but damn if they didn't find several that were still warm.

So frankly, I wouldn't be totally surprised if the bad news about Mother Teresa is true, but I would be disappointed. I will have to do more investigation before deciding.

December 22, 2015 11:53 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "anon has not bothered to respond to most of Priya's comments because they are basically trolling...both you and Priya suffer from a delusion that you are female, when you are actually male by any empirical evidence".

LOL, classic Wyatt/bad anonymous projection. Accusing others of the worst characteristics of himself that he doesn't want to face.

December 22, 2015 11:58 AM  
Anonymous svelte_brunette said...

As for lower math scores due to the human sexuality class, this is where we really need to have a discussion about reality. Specifically about key concepts like "cause," "effect," and "correlation," and how a temporal correlation does not necessarily imply a cause or effect.

MoCo schools have been highly ranked for a number of years, and assuming there was a dip (I'm taking your word for it for the sake of argument, despite your previous history) it may simply be because nothing stays at the top of the pack forever. Or it could be because MoCo had to take money out of the high performing math program to pay for frivolous and futile lawsuits brought by the CRG. Now that those have been dispatched, perhaps they can get back to teaching the kids properly. BTW, whatever you think about my sexuality, I happen to be VERY good at math.

So this time you want see me dead by electrocution. Nice try, but I am an electrical engineer - I know how to be safe around electricity. If you want to see me dead, you're going to have to do it the old fashioned way like your Christian buddy Robert Lewis Dear - grab a bunch of guns, find where I hang out, and come and shoot me. I'm not going to do it for you.

Frankly when that shooting happened, and they said the guy was ranting about Obama and dead babies, I thought it might have been you - you hadn't posted forms few days before or after the incident, and his rants sounded an awful lot like yours. There's a fine line between just being annoyingly insane, and criminally insane, and you can't really tell them apart until they start shooting.

Historically, Christians have often used force to obtain lands, property, or political supremacy when they couldn't get what they wanted via normal means. If you come gunning for me though, just let me know you're the "Vigilance Anon" before you pull the trigger. It would be nice to have my curiosity satisfied before I go. Don't worry about yourself - the only guns I own are a water pistol and an old spring action BB pistol.

Have a nice day,

Cynthia

December 22, 2015 12:33 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Cynthia, thanks for helping keep Wyatt/bad anonymous from getting lonely.

December 22, 2015 12:45 PM  
Anonymous svelte_brunette said...

Hey, it's that solstice time of year. Just doin' what I can to help folks out.

:D

Cynthia

December 22, 2015 3:35 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

The wins just keep piling up : )

Massachusetts Court: Religious Liberty and Rights of LGBT People Can Co-Exist, But Not According to Right-Wing Frame

In a much-watched case, a court in Massachusetts has dealt a significant blow to institutions claiming the right to discriminate against people whose identities or behaviors they find objectionable. It did so in a way that clearly draws the boundaries around reasonable definitions of religious liberty, and that offers good news to LGBT people working for some religiously-affiliated organizations.

In the case in question, Matthew Barrett had been offered a position as Food Services Manager at Fontbonne Academy, a Catholic high school in the greater Boston area. After accepting the job, Barrett completed the requisite employment forms. In so doing, he listed his husband as his emergency contact. This led Fontbonne to withdraw the offer of employment, saying Mr. Barrett's marriage to another man was inconsistent with Catholic Church teachings.

In defending its actions, Fontbonne Academy used all of the arguments advanced by religious institutions that want to uphold very narrow views of acceptable behavior or identity. The school claimed it should be exempt from non-discrimination laws because, as a Catholic institution, it should be able to set standards for its employees and should not be forced to "endorse" behavior it condemns, and because of "ministerial exemption." Each of these claims was rejected by the court.

Over and over, Catholics have asserted that they prioritize professional skill, talent and commitment over identity or status when evaluating the job done by people who work for religiously affiliated organizations. They do believe in the Church's teaching that work is sacred and should be valued, and that all workers should be respected and free from discrimination. They know this principle should be applied to LGBT people, including those who marry their beloveds. Therefore, the Massachusetts court decision will be welcomed by the majority of Catholics, and will hopefully set the tone for others to follow. Catholic institutions exist to serve people, not to impose narrow standards of morality upon the community. This decision is entirely in line with that goal.

December 22, 2015 4:28 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

The planned parenthood murders have backfired on conservative extremists:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Support for legal abortion in the U.S. has edged up to its highest level in the past two years, with an Associated Press-GfK poll showing an apparent increase in support among Democrats and Republicans alike over the last year.

Nearly six in 10 Americans — 58 percent — now think abortion should be legal in most or all cases, up from 51 percent who said so at the beginning of the year, according to the AP-GfK survey. It was conducted after three people were killed last month in a shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado.

December 22, 2015 5:08 PM  
Anonymous Good Anonymous said...

You gals are a hoot and I love you both!

< LOUD APPLAUSE >

December 22, 2015 5:08 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Thanks Good Anonymous!

December 22, 2015 5:39 PM  
Anonymous Mr Drucker from Hooterville said...

"You gals are a hoot and I love you both!"

oh, they're hootable alright

but, Cinco is now saying he never claimed to be a gal:

"I have never claimed that I am a woman."

I don't have the time or inclination to search all his comments, I'll take his word for it

December 22, 2015 8:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Cynthia, just to be clear, do you prefer to be referred to with male or female pronouns?

December 22, 2015 8:47 PM  
Anonymous clear seer said...

yes, Cinco, let's be clear:

are you a male or female?

also, any other imaginary statuses you'd like to have:

your majesty, grand poobah, ayatollah of rock and rollah, et al

you name it

and feel free to change it after each operation

December 22, 2015 9:19 PM  
Anonymous me too said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

December 22, 2015 9:21 PM  
Anonymous mission driven said...

"In a much-watched case, a court in Massachusetts has dealt a significant blow to institutions claiming the right to discriminate against people whose identities or behaviors they find objectionable"

that bunch of mentally challenged jurists aren't the highest authority in the land

no one is discriminating "against people whose identities or behaviors they find objectionable", although that would be fine

when homosexuals try to work for an institution that believes homosexuality is immoral and whose mission it is to advance its beliefs, it is ludicrous to expect it to employ homosexuals, who don't share these beliefs

every organization has a right to expect its team of employees supports the mission of the organization

no one expects GLSEN or NAMBLA, for example, to employ evangelicals, who don't support their mission

I think even you hootenanny gals can understand that

to give another example, you wouldn't expect TTF to hire someone to monitor their website who believed in intelligent conversation

TTF's mission is to argue that political opinion trumps intellectual discourse

December 23, 2015 12:03 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"mission driven" is a hoot

I love that guy!!!

December 23, 2015 12:05 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Happy Holidays everyone!

And remember:

A big party in the middle of winter is the reason for the season!

: )

December 23, 2015 1:12 PM  
Anonymous Rest in peace said...

Not long after the U.S. military repealed its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, Air Force Major Adrianna Vorderbruggen married her longtime partner, becoming one of the first American service members to be wed in a same-sex ceremony.

On Monday, nearly five years to the day after the repeal was signed into law, the trailblazing officer was killed along with five other Air Force service members in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan.

Vorderbruggen was the first openly gay American female officer killed in combat.

Family members confirmed the identities of the others: a reservist on leave from his job as a New York City police detective, an officer whose parents own a Washington, D.C., restaurant, a former high school football star from Georgia, a young father who dreamed as a boy of enlisting, and a married man from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.

Vorderbruggen's wife, Heather Lamb, who is now left to raise their young son, called her "the light of our lives" and recalled that she had a way of making everyone around her laugh, "even when we thought we didn't feel like it."

Together, they were ground-breakers. Their 2012 marriage was seen by gay rights activists as one of many milestones to follow the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," which allowed gay and lesbian troops to serve openly, according to an account in The Associated Press at the time.

"Our consolation is, we know she wanted to be there, she believed in and loved her work, and she was doing important work on behalf of the Afghans and our nation," Lamb said in a text message to NBC News. "She has always been my hero, never more so than now."

Vorderbruggen was the third female member of the Air Force to die in Afghanistan, following two killed in helicopter accidents in October....

...Also among the dead was Staff Sergeant Louis Bonacasa, 31, of Coram, New York. He had envisioned a military life since his teens, his parents said.

His mother, Diana Bonacasa, told NBC News that he wanted to enlist in the Marines at 17, but she persuaded him to go to college and join the Air Force.

In boot camp, he fell in love with a woman who became his wife; they had a daughter who is now 5.

Vincent Bonacasa, Louis' father, said that he'd volunteered for his last two tours in Afghanistan, bringing his total deployments to four.

After one of the earlier tours, a friend was killed. "He wasn't the same after that," Vincent Bonacasa said.

That loss probably prompted his volunteering for his last tour, his mother said....

The victims also included Air National Guardsman Joseph Lemm, 45, a 15-year veteran of the New York Police Department, officials said.

The father of two was on his third deployment. He was deployed once to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan, New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton said.

"Detective Joseph Lemm epitomized the selflessness we can only strive for: putting his county and city first," Bratton said in a statement.

Lemm became friendly with the staff at Barino's Market in The Bronx, which is near the police precinct where he was most recently stationed, NBC New York reported. The staff would ship him care packages of cookies and candies to remind him of home, Michael Barrett told the station.,,,

Continue reading about Chester McBride, Staff Sergeant Peter Taub, and Staff Sgt. Michael A. Cinco, who were also lost in the same suicide bomber's attack here.

December 23, 2015 3:14 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "both you and Priya suffer from a delusion that you are female, when you are actually male by any empirical evidence".

Nonsense. Our genitalia is the empirical evidence that's been used for hundreds of thousands of years which identifies us as women. That's always been the standard. And of course it still is today in virtually every jurisdiction.

December 23, 2015 4:05 PM  
Anonymous good anonymous said...

"Nonsense."

Take it up with Cinco. He views things differently from you.

December 23, 2015 4:49 PM  
Anonymous they're crazy, I tell ya, craaazzeeee!! said...

"Happy Holidays everyone!

And remember:

A big party in the middle of winter is the reason for the season!

: )"

Just another way Priya and Ward deviate from the norm:

their only big party is with their fellow sufferers from the lobotomy survivors support group

December 23, 2015 4:54 PM  
Anonymous Jar Jar Binks said...

"Comment deleted
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator"

looksa like-a Priya went-a craaazzeee again-a!!

December 23, 2015 4:57 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wasn't my comment removed by a blog administrator, it was yours.

Surely you didn't think you could fool anyone into believing otherwise.

Looks like Wyatt/bad anonymous was getting "dispassionate" again!

Hahahahahahahahahaha!

December 23, 2015 5:11 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "Just another way Priya and Ward deviate from the norm:
their only big party is with their fellow sufferers from the lobotomy survivors support group".

There you have it folks, this from a person who wants you to believe he's not a troll.

Just remember, research shows internet trolls like Wyatt/bad anonymous are sadists

December 23, 2015 5:17 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "that bunch of mentally challenged jurists aren't the highest authority in the land".

Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is sex discrimination which is illegal. The logic is unassailable which is not to say that no court will ever ignore logic and rule otherwise but in the long run this will win out, as liberalism always does.

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "no one is discriminating "against people whose identities or behaviors they find objectionable", although that would be fine...when homosexuals try to work for an institution that believes homosexuality is immoral and whose mission it is to advance its beliefs, it is ludicrous to expect it to employ homosexuals, who don't share these beliefs...very organization has a right to expect its team of employees supports the mission of the organization".
Oh, please, no one, including yourself, believes that they weren't discriminating against him because they find his identity or behavior objectionable.


A Catholic school's mission first and foremost is to provide a balanced education for students, not to promote Catholic dogma. Further, the idea that the mission of the food services manager in a school in any way relates to promoting anti-gay dogma is absurd on the face of it - that's why the Catholic school lost.

Over and over, Catholics have asserted that they prioritize professional skill, talent and commitment over identity or status when evaluating the job done by people who work for religiously affiliated organizations. They do believe in the Church's teaching that work is sacred and should be valued, and that all workers should be respected and free from discrimination. They know this principle should be applied to LGBT people, including those who marry their beloveds. Therefore, the Massachusetts court decision will be welcomed by the majority of Catholics.

The school has long both served and hired non-Catholics, it does not meet the standard of having people of a single faith as its members. It can't now claim that this particular employee must adhere to Catholic dogma when it has never demanded that of any of its other employees.

December 23, 2015 5:33 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/bad anonymous said "Take it up with Cinco. He views things differently from you.".

Not necessary. It is irrelevant whether Cynthia considers herself male or female, genitalia has always been the empirical evidence used to determine if one is male or female and in virtually every jurisdiction today still is. Thus your statement "both you and Priya suffer from a delusion that you are female, when you are actually male by any empirical evidence" is false and nonsensical.

December 23, 2015 5:43 PM  
Anonymous just want a yacht, and that's not alot said...

"There you have it folks, this from a person who wants you to believe he's not a troll.

Just remember, research shows internet trolls like anonymous are sadists"

uh, Priya, this exchange shows you to be a troll

this brilliant anonymous was making a verrry clever response to your trollery, when you said:

"Happy Holidays everyone!

And remember:

A big party in the middle of winter is the reason for the season!

: )"

this was an unsolicited attempt to mock a religious holiday, designed to provoke a response

that meets the definition of trollery, and it's but one example of you doing it on this thread

the insult you made was kind of pathetic, and anonymous made a verrry shrewd observation about how your comment revealed that you and Ward are social outcasts, not invited to any holiday parties

but a response to trollery, even a verrry clever one, is not trollery

trollery is

maybe you can start a chapter of trolls anonymous so you and Ward can make social contact







December 24, 2015 9:09 AM  
Anonymous in search of a peatier scotch said...

I guess Priya the Troll got more of a response than Priya the Troll bargained for

December 24, 2015 9:13 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

LOL, nice try Wyatt.

December 24, 2015 10:39 AM  
Anonymous Merry Muggy Christmas Eve everyone! said...

TTF's anonymous troll does love to keep his head firmly buried in the sand, in this case failing to see his own "trolley," as he calls it.

Get your head out of the sand and smell the roses, Anon!

Of course, some things never change and Anon's head burying is one of those things.

Too bad we can't say our climate hasn't changed.

It's springtime in Washington DC in December!

The calendar says December, but these flowers could not care less

December 24, 2015 11:08 AM  
Anonymous merry prankster said...

facts are facts, Priya the Troll

you posted an unsolicited attack on a religious holiday in an attempt to provoke a response

that's what trolls do

the insults and the attempt to accuse a responder of being a troll is also well-known troll behavior

go ahead and deny

everyone just laughs harder

December 24, 2015 11:10 AM  

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