Happy Thanksgiving

TO you and yours.

I'm seeing all sorts of posts and articles about how to avoid knock-down-drag-out battles with your right-wing relatives over turkey. I guess I was lucky -- we were all avowed Democrats, although later, my step-mother was a Republican. We just avoided talking about politics. It's not like there was nothing else to talk about.

Simple, no?

Today in Christian Love

You may or may not have been following the Chick-fil-A story, but here's a short summary: Earlier this month, Chick-fil-A, which had gained more than a little notoriety for donating heavily to anti-gay groups, announced a change in its charitable giving priorities:

Starting in 2020, the Chick-fil-A Foundation is introducing a more focused giving approach to provide additional clarity and impact with the causes it supports. Staying true to its mission of nourishing the potential in every child, the Chick-fil-A Foundation will deepen its giving to a smaller number of organizations working exclusively in the areas of education, homelessness and hunger.

(Emphasis in original.)

The outrage in "Christian" circles is way up on the Richter scale, with such luminaries as Tony Perkins, the group that Joe Jervis calls the "red-caped Catholic loons" (for the life of me, I can't remember the organization's real name), Charlie Kirk (whoever he is), and Bryan Fischer calling for a boycott. It seems that not only was the company to cease giving to bigoted groups such as the Salvation Army (remember when during the Bush administration, the SA tried to get an exemption from non-discrimination laws?), but actually donated to the "god-hating" SPLC (one of the oldest and most respected civil rights organizations, which has the temerity to call out hate groups -- so designated as a result of their own words and actions). (Interestingly enough, all the stories I can find on that donation are at right-wing sources; I'm not going to link to any of them, because they have very little contact with reality -- the only thing they seem to have reported accurately is the fact of the donation and the amount -- a very modest $2500.)

And we all know how effective boycotts by the "Christian" right have been.

Anyway, according to Snopes, that's not exactly the case.

What's True

The Chick-fil-A Foundation's November 2019 announcement of a new charitable-donations strategy meant the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, both high-profile groups that have been criticized in the past as anti-LGBT, would no longer receive funding in 2020.

What's False

However, the new donations strategy also meant several dozen other groups — with no anti-LGBT record — would not receive funding in 2020 either, and so the strategy does not appear to have been targeted specifically at the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Further, Chick-fil-A has repeatedly declined to specify that the cut to the controversial groups' funding was linked to their LGBT-rights records, and a company spokesperson would not rule out the possibility that the groups could receive funding again in the future.

So once again, there's a lot of manufactured outrage over something that didn't actually happen. I guess someone's not been getting enough attention lately.

And do notice how these "Christians" are reacting to a donation policy focusing on education, homelessness, and hunger. True followers of Jesus, right?

Yes, I Know

Posting has been haphazard lately, because the news is mind-numbing -- Trump, impeachment, Trump, war criminals, Trump, impeachment again, Trump. . . .

It's hard finding stories that are not about Trump, and frankly, he's about as interesting as a train wreck. I am not into train wrecks.

I suppose I could light into the "free press" for its less than adversarial coverage, but that gets old pretty fast.

Culture Break: Michael Nyman: The Fringed Curtains of Thine Eye

From Noises, Sounds and Sweet Airs, which is a work he created based on The Tempest. The interesting part is that he didn't used any of the songs, having already set the songs for Prospero's Books. This is probably my favorite piece from the work.

Performed by Catherine Bott, Hilary Summers, Ian Bostridge, Ensemble Instrumental de BasseNormandie & Dominique Debart. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be a performance video on YouTube or anywhere else.

OK, It's Definite: He's Lost It

Trump has declared war on the war on Thanksgiving:

“As we gather together for Thanksgiving, you know, some people want to change the name ‘Thanksgiving,'” Trump told supporters at a fake “homecoming” rally in Florida Tuesday night. “They don’t want to use the term ‘Thanksgiving.’ And that was true also with Christmas. But now everybody’s using Christmas again. Remember this?”

About this "war on Thanksgiving" -- when did it start, exactly?

Oh, and that's not all:

And what election was that?

This Week at Green Man Review

It's Sunday again, and another bunch of reviews and commentaries on neat stuff at Green Man Review:

Magic Realism, How Trolls See It, Chocolate, Hardanger Fiddles, Mammals, and More

So, have at it, and enjoy.

Remember When This Happened?

I don't either. But Jim Bakker does:

I’m afraid if things keep going the other direction, even Christmas will be outlawed. They tried to outlaw it already. You know that. In fact the stores, a couple of years ago, weren’t allowed to say ‘Merry Christmas.” Did you know that? I’m serious.

One of the greeters at a big store here in Branson, she said, ‘Can’t say Merry Christmas anymore. It’s against the law.’ But we complained! And the people that watch our show called and contacted their stores.

Either he's an idiot, taking something said by some clueless teenager as gospel, or he's a liar. Or both.

Remember when it was illegal to say "Merry Christmas" just a few years ago? Jim Bakker does. pic.twitter.com/XxaMZtYf6X

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) November 22, 2019

Today in Disgusting People (Update)

Tony Perkins has been on a roll lately. This hit the news last evening (hide your irony meter):

Father, most Americans have little understanding about euphemistic titles like “Equal Rights Amendment” or “Equality Act.” Protect the American people from deliberately ambiguous and contradictory use of words to mislead and manipulate voters, common in politics today.

That's called "projection". It gets worse:

Protect us from tragically misguided efforts to redefine sacred words like “man,” “woman,” “family,” “marriage,” etc., in an effort to overthrow your created order. May your people arise to teach the nations everything you have commanded us. Restore your moral order to our backslidden nation.

This, from a man who thinks that "morality" is composed of arbitrary rules cherry-picked from the tribal taboos of Bronze Age nomads. (And I'll bet you didn't know that "etc." was a "sacred word".)

And this is also from yesterday:

If the last 24 hours have proven anything about Chick-fil-A, it’s this: It was never about the chicken. For millions of Americans, there was a much deeper significance behind every decision to pull in the parking lot and walk through those doors. It wasn’t about the menu. It wasn’t even about the service.

It was that every time someone ate there, they were making a cultural statement. Chick-fil-A was a business, yes. But it was also a giant rebuttal of everything the bullies stood for. Until it wasn’t.

Maybe that’s why people are in such denial. They don’t want to believe that the place where they felt at home, the place they’d put on a pedestal and invested so much personal capital, betrayed them.

This, of course, follows on Chik-fil-A's statement that they would no longer donate to anti-gay hate groups. (Which, as it turns out, was so much BS.)

So, eating a fried chicken sandwich is now a cultural statement, proving that you're a godly person, or something. Who knew? And of course, when hate groups boycott entities such as Target for their inclusive policies, that's doing god's work. (That, by the way, was a big nothingburger -- yes, Target's stock fell, but it was because of Amazon, not the American Family Association.)

I seem to remember reading about Jesus preaching love, acceptance, compassion, kindness, generosity -- or did I misunderstand?

Update: Another bigot weighs in on Chik-fil-A:

In Aug 2012, I coordinated a national @ChickfilA Appreciation Day after they were being bullied by militant hate groups. Millions showed up. Today, @ChickfilA betrayed loyal customers for $$. I regret believing they would stay true to convictions of founder Truett Cathey. Sad.

— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) November 18, 2019

Hemant Mehta notes:

Huckabee is lashing out at the company for focusing on — I repeat — education, homelessness, and hunger. He’s angry that they’re helping the poor instead of sticking it to LGBTQ people.

Huckabee might do well to remember the words of Christ, as related in Matthew 25:41-46:

41 Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

44 “Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’

45 “Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’ 46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Criminalizing Humanity

At least, that what Trump's government (such as it is) would like to do. Didn't work:

Jurors found humanitarian aid volunteer Scott Warren not guilty Wednesday of intentionally harboring and concealing two undocumented migrants from the Border Patrol in the remote Arizona desert.

Warren, a longtime volunteer with humanitarian aid group No More Deaths, faced up to 20 years in prison. It was his second trial stemming from his January 2018 arrest in Ajo, about 100 miles southwest of Phoenix.

The 12-person jury in Tucson took just more than two hours to reach a not guilty verdict, striking a blow to federal prosecutors who opted to retry Warren after the first trial ended in a hung jury in June.

“The government failed in its attempt to criminalize basic human kindness,” Warren told supporters outside the federal courthouse.

I wonder if they would have arrested him if he was giving food and water to immigrants from, say, Slovenia.

And his base thinks this is OK. Even -- or maybe especially -- the "Christians" among them.

(Sorry -- couldn't access the full article for some reason.)

Footnote: David Anderson had this comment:

This was not a mistrial. This was not a judge tossing charges. This was a jury saying that the federal prosecutors could not prove that human decency is illegal.

You Can't Make This Stuff Up

Courtesy of Frances Langum at Crooks and Liars:

And now you know why Republicans are against education.

This Week at Green Man Review

It's another Sunday, and more neat stuff at Green Man Review:

Charles de Lint, Robert’s Potato Soup, Folkmanis’ Chipmunk in Watermelon puppet, Rosanne Cash and Other Matters as Well

You know the drill -- go check it out.

For the "Pro-Lifers"

Ran across this in the comments on this post at Joe.My.God. With thanks to commenter Hank:

The post itself is drawn from this article in Courthouse News:

A federal jury found an anti-abortion cohort led by David Daleiden caused substantial harm to Planned Parenthood by infiltrating abortion industry conferences to secretly tape abortion doctors and staff – and awarded punitive damages of $870,000.

David Daleiden, an anti-abortion activist charged with invasion of privacy for filming attendees at National Abortion Federation conferences in California.
Daleiden, who heads the Center for Medical Progress, and his co-defendant Sandra Merritt, posed as human tissue procurers for a fake company called BioMax as part of a hidden-camera investigation into the organization.

The pair attended abortion industry conferences from 2013 to 2015 – posing as exhibitors named Robert Sarkis and Susan Tennenbaum – where they secretly recorded conversations they later posted online. Daleiden also made recordings at Planned Parenthood-affiliated clinics in Texas and Colorado.

What's interesting is that there's no mention of whether the videos and recordings were edited -- if you remember James O'Keefe and his "Project Veritas", that was an essential part of the strategy. If they were edited, it didn't work, any more than O'Keefe's attempt did:

At least three congressional committees and law enforcement officials in thirteen states launched investigations into Planned Parenthood after Daleiden and his group released the first video on July 14, 2015. Planned Parenthood was cleared of wrongdoing by the states and so far nothing has come of the federal investigation.

At any rate, it's worth reading the whole article, as well as Joe's post, which summarizes the outrage on the part of the "pro-life" side. You can almost see the spittle flying as the hysteria mounts.

Religious Freedom!!1!

This is about the most bone-headed thing I've seen coming from the "religious" right:

Ohio lawmakers are weighing in on how public schools can teach things like evolution.

The Ohio House on Wednesday passed the "Student Religious Liberties Act." Under the law, students can't be penalized if their work is scientifically wrong as long as the reasoning is because of their religious beliefs.

Instead, students are graded on substance and relevance.

Every Republican in the House supported the bill. It now moves to the Republican-controlled Senate.

OK -- it's a given that Republicans, especially the evangelical variety, don't like education anyway, especially science -- which relies more than most fields on critical thinking and evidence -- but to adopt something like this is far out, even for them.

I wonder who will have standing to sue.

There's more detail here.

Via Joe.My.God., who notes that the bill's sponsor, Rep. Tim Ginter, "is primarily known for anti-abortion stunts such as reading bible verses aloud and demanding that they be made into law."

Can you say "anti-American"?

Giggle du Jour

Somehow, I find this a particularly appealing image:

Spotted at Midlands Beer Garden in Washington, DC. (Reminder: 4% of this city voted for Trump.) pic.twitter.com/kD3zoIaAfU

— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) November 7, 2019

Culture Break: The Danish String Quartet: The Dromer

This is one of my favorite tracks from their album Last Leaf. (Which, frankly, has a lot of favorite tracks). Turn up the volume.

Giggle du Jour

This Week at Green Man Review

Another Sunday, and more goodies.

Fairy Tale Feasts, Aaron Copland’s ‘A Fanfare for The Common Man’ , Charles de Lint’s The Wild Wood. The Dubliners Live, A Worm in An Apple puppet and Other Tempting Things

So hop over and dig in.

Today in Disgusting People

There seem to be a lot of these popping up lately. And here's another twofer.

First, this person, Rebecca Carlson, who was, she claims, a teacher for 28 years. Appearing on Fox News' Tucker Carlson (natch):

Let’s just take the free lunch program that we have in our schools. It started out being pushed by the unions and their friends for poor children. Well, 28 years ago, I had two students in my class on free lunch. Today almost every single child is on free breakfast and free lunch.

So what the unions are trying to do, they’ve been pushing something called community schools. And in these community schools, we’re giving children free healthcare, we’re are giving them free food, free emotional support, and by the way free political indoctrination for their parents.

If these unions and their friends, their politicians, get their way, they would like our schools to be open 24/7. They want to replace the family and families raising their children with our own virtues, they want to replace that with the state. With union-controlled government-run schools.

That’s dangerous. That’s communism when you think about it.

First off, I think she's a little confused -- she should be blaming Obama, or George Soros, or at least "the Left". I mean, blaming the unions? That's so 1980s.

As for all this free stuff -- you think it might have something to do with stagnant wages against rising cost of living? So that both parents have to work, and if they're lucky they can put food on the table?

And any bets on whether she claims to be a Christian? I mean, what are the odds? What was it Jesus said about feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, all that sort of "liberal" stuff? I think it boils down to "Do it"

I pity any kid who had her as a teacher.

And next, Ken Cuccinelli, well-known racist and white supremacist, also acting director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (and by extension, the entire Trump regime), who now wants to charge people for seeking asylum:

The Trump administration on Friday proposed hiking a range of fees assessed on those pursuing legal immigration and citizenship, as well as for the first time charging those fleeing persecution for seeking protection in the United States.

The rule, which will be published on Thursday and will have a monthlong comment period, would increase citizenship fees more than 60 percent, to $1,170 from $725, for most applicants. For some, the increase would reach 83 percent. The government would also begin charging asylum seekers $50 for applications and $490 for work permits, a move that would make the United States one of four countries to charge people for asylum.

It would also increase renewal fees for hundreds of thousands of participants of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA. That group, known as “Dreamers,” would need to pay $765, rather than $495, for a renewal request. The fee hike comes days before the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on the validity of President Trump’s justification to terminate DACA.

A lot of people have commented on the cruelty of this idea, and that's certainly there, but it's really more bully tactics from the bully in chief. By all means, charge people seeking asylum -- who are the people least likely to be able to pay a fee. This whole thing stinks, but it's all of a piece with Trump's agenda:

Former agency officials and immigration lawyers, however, said the decision to charge asylum seekers erased a long-held principle of not placing a financial burden on some of the world’s most vulnerable people seeking protection.

“There was a recognition that the likelihood of their ability to pay is really in question,” said Barbara Strack, a former chief of the agency’s refugee affairs division under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. “The only way to understand this is as a part of the administration’s campaign of hostility against the asylum program.”

You can bet that Trump & Co. would be more than willing to grant asylum to persecuted billionaires.

And if you're waiting for the outcry from "Christian" leaders, don't hold your breath.

It's worth reading the whole article to get a good picture of just how disgusting and petty these proposed fee hikes are.

Via Joe.My.God.

And a special bonus, courtesy of commenter SoCalGal20 at Joe.My.God.

Could Texas be any more intentional?

Houston voters elect 19 Black women to judgeships.

GOP then introduces bill to replace judicial elections w/governor-appointed judges.

Kicker: Bill would end elections only in counties w/500,000+ people, targeting urban areas like Houston. https://t.co/d3xTwkwQ6A

— Leslie Proll (@LeslieProll) November 8, 2019

They really can't stand to lose.

Today in Disgusting People

Junior, boldly going where any number of websites have gone before:

President Donald Trump's son published on Wednesday the name of the alleged anonymous whistleblower whose complaint fired the impeachment inquiry against Trump, breaking strict conventions for protecting officials who reveal wrongdoing in government.

Amid calls by the president himself to expose the whistleblower, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted the name of a CIA analyst which has circulated online for weeks, and linked to a Breitbart news article implying the person was pro-Democrat and anti-Trump.

AFP could not independently verify the whistleblower's identity and is not publishing the name.

Echoing Breitbart, of course, because it's sooo reliable.

And note this:

Andrew Bakaj, the whistleblower's lawyer, would not confirm or deny the reported name, but said Trump Jr. and others were endangering the person as well as the system built to protect whistleblowers.

"Identifying any name for the whistleblower will simply place that individual and their family at risk," he told AFP.

"It won't, however, relieve the president of the need to address the substantive allegations, all of which have been substantially proven to be true."

This is nothing more nor less than intimidation, threatening not only the whistleblower in the present instance, but anyone else who might be considering stepping forward. "At risk" only begins to describe the possible consequences.

It's also illegal, under several different laws. The most relevant are the Wistleblower Protection Act of 1989 and the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012.

So, will Breitbart and Junior be prosecuted? With Trump cheerleader Bill Barr heading up the DoJ? Please.

Footnote: And Kentucky's other disgusting senator jumps into the fray:

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) blocked a resolution Wednesday reaffirming the Senate's support for whistleblower protections and accused Democrats of "fake outrage."

Here's where the hypocrisy becomes blatant:

Paul objected to passing the resolution after Democrats refused to drop their resolution and instead pass whistleblower legislation that he introduced earlier that day.

"I support whistleblowers, and I do think they have a role to play in keeping government accountable ... but what we have seen over the last few years is that we have a system that we should continue to refine," Paul said.

He argued that his legislation would "make clear" that President Trump should be able to face his accuser. The measure also would expand current whistleblower protections for contractors.

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) nailed it:

She added that she was "flabbergasted" by a provision in Paul's legislation that would apply the Sixth Amendment to impeachment proceedings.

"Come forward, but we're going to out you, subject you to threats, intimidation, retaliation," Hirono said, summarizing the impact of the provision.

Note that Paul is another one who has been calling for the whistleblower to be outed.

Via Joe.My.God.

Lucky you -- you get two disgusting people for one click.

Of Course He Did

Several states had elections this week, with some good results -- Democrats flipped the entire Virginia legislature, which means they control gerrymandering -- uh, redistricting -- for the 2020 election, and had notable successes in other areas. And in Kentucky, Republican Dominionist governor Matt Bevin lost -- and of course, is calling "foul!":

Alleging "a number of significant irregularities," Gov. Matt Bevin is formally requesting an official recanvass of the results of Kentucky's election for governor.

Bevin came up about 5,000 votes short in Tuesday's race against Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear.

"Significant irregularities" means that votes for Beshear actually got counted.

This is choice:

Speaking at a 5 p.m. press conference at the Governor's Mansion in Frankfort, Bevin said he'll be "entirely comfortable" with whatever the recanvass shows as long as he's confident the results are an accurate reflection of Kentuckians' votes.

To borrow a recurring phrase from any number of comment threads:

via GIPHY

I have a feeling a recanvass won't be the end of it. Bevin may also be able to call for a recount. I wouldn't be surprised.

Via Joe.My.God.

Culture Break: Toru Takemitsu: November Steps

Guess who turned up on my playlist this morning.

Takemitsu is another one of those composers, like Morton Feldman, who seems to shape space with his music. It's generally pretty low-key, but I find it compelling. This is one of my favorites by him:

Yes, that is Seiji Ozawa conducting, with Kinshi Tsuruta on biwa and Yokoyama Katsuya on shakuhachi.

It's another one of those pieces that you can just sink into.

I Was Wondering About That

The answer to one of those vexing questions:

They do seem to be better at creating them.

What's New at Green Man Review

Another week, more reviews of good stuff:

The Men They Couldn’t Hang’s ‘Homefires’, Mice, Josepha Sherman’s Winter Queen Speech, Mini Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes and Other Matters

And it's all right here waiting for you.