By Arianna Huffington
Earlier today, (December 7, 2015), the candidate currently leading in the polls for the Republican presidential nomination called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” That was, of course, Donald Trump. As Jeffrey Goldberg just tweeted, “Donald Trump is now an actual threat to national security. He’s providing jihadists ammunition for their campaign to demonize the US.”
“IOTD” is image of the day, a concept I came up with. I teach visual meditative therapy – or in easy terms – a mini mental holiday. For some people it is very difficult for them to get their image right. I post an image a day for people to use in their mini mental vacay. Some are serious, some are silly, and some are just beautiful!”
The Indiana law is modeled after the 1993 federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, but unlike the federal law, which only bars the government from placing a substantial burden on the free exercise of religion, Indiana’s version applies to businesses and private individuals as well. In the wake of dozens of court decisions legalizing same-sex marriage across the country and with the Supreme Court scheduled to rule on the issue in June, such measures have cropped up in dozens of states. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a similar measure last year.
In a report, LGBT-rights group Human Rights Campaign outlined the danger posed by these “super RFRAs”: “These bills are often incredibly vague and light on details — usually intentionally,” the report reads. “In practice, most of these bills could empower any individual to sue the government to attempt to end enforcement of a non-discrimination law.”
Pence, on the other hand, maintains that the bill would not sanction discrimination. “This bill is not about discrimination, and if I thought it legalized discrimination in any way in Indiana, I would have vetoed it,” the governor said in a statement.
Amazingly how Republican Governor Mike Pence’s “Religious Freedom” law seems to cover 3 of the 14 characteristics common to fascist governments.
1. “Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights”– Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
2. “Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause” – The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
3. “Religion and Government are Inter-twined” – Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions. So, if you believe for one minute that this new Republican Party is not trying to morph our Democratic society into a Fascist Regime then you need to wake up before it’s too late and you wake up and are no longer allowed to vote (unless you own property or make over a certain amount).
Check out Dr. Lawrence Britt’s 14 defining characteristics common to fascist regimes, it reads like the Republican Party Platform.
Governor Mike Pence just signed into law a measure that would allow businesses to turn away gay and lesbian customers in the name of “religious freedom.” In a recent statement, Pence said, “The Constitution of the United States and the Indiana Constitution both provide strong recognition of the freedom of religion, but today, many people of faith feel their religious liberty is under attack by government action.”
Pence has a history of anti-gay politics, namely attempting to amend Indiana’s constitution to ban same-sex marriages last year before being beat down by Democrats. The state isn’t exactly known as the most gay-friendly of the 50: At the moment there is no law in Indiana that protects its citizens from discrimination based on sexual orientation. But there are a few counties that do protect those rights, and people against this “religious freedom” law are afraid businesses will use it to get around the local defenses. While Pence hasn’t specifically mentioned the anti-LGBT effects this law could hold, a few of his allies have been vocal about the possibility of businesses using it against gay, lesbian, and transgender Americans. Other supporters have stated that it doesn’t necessarily target the LGBT community, but allows business owners in the wedding industry — such as florists, bakers, and photographers — who disagree with same-sex marriage to deny services to those customers.
As a result, people are “boycotting” the state (hence the trending hashtag) to show their disapproval of the bill. Gen Con, Indianapolis’s biggest convention, threatened to take its event elsewhere, and the NCAA is worried how the legislation could affect next week’s Final Four championship. Jason Collins, the first openly gay NBA player, tweeted at Governor Pence, “Is it going to be legal for someone to discriminate against me & others when we come to the #FinalFour?”
~~Indiana boycott urged after religious freedom law passes~~
~~Published on Mar 28, 2015~~
Indiana boycott urged after ‘religious freedom’ law passes
Activists have encouraged a boycott of Indiana after the US state enacted a “religious freedom” law, which they say discriminates against gay people.
Supporters say the law prevents the state from forcing people to provide services contrary to their religion.
Similar bills are being considered across the US as court rulings have made gay marriage legal in more states.
Several groups plan to do less business with the state, and celebrities criticised the law on Twitter.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association said it was “especially concerned” about how the law would affect its employees and student athletes.
Next week, the NCCA will host the finals of its annual basketball tournament in Indianapolis, the state’s capital and its largest city.
On Friday, Arkansas moved closer to passing a similar “religious freedom” measure.
Several large conventions based in Indiana — including the large gamer gathering GenCon — have threatened to hold their events elsewhere because of the law.
Salesforce, a California company with ties to Indiana, cancelled all employee travel to the state and said it was considering decreasing its investment in Indiana
Governor Mike Pence said he signed the law to “help protect churches, Christian businesses and individuals from those who want to punish them because of their Biblical beliefs”.
Mr Pence, a Republican, said he would not have signed the law if he thought it was discriminatory.
Corporate executives such as Jeremy Stoppelman of Yelp and Tim Cook of Apple have urged other states not to follow Indiana’s example.
“These laws set a terrible precedent that will likely harm the broader economic health of the states where they have been adopted, the businesses currently operating in those states and, most importantly, the consumers who could be victimised under these laws.” Mr Stoppelman wrote in an open letter.
Sponsors of the bill say it is closely modeled on a federal religious freedom law passed in 1993 and that 19 other states already have similar laws.
But Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, a Republican, said the law sends a “wrong signal” to visitors and could make the state seem unwelcoming.
Star Trek star George Takei, who has a large following on social media, has pushed for a boycott of the state. The term #BoycottIndiana has been a top trending topic on Twitter for more than a day.
“Sad this new Indiana law can happen in America today,” Hillary Clinton, a presumptive presidential candidate, wrote on Twitter on Thursday. “We shouldn’t discriminate against people because of who they love.”
~~Indiana boycott urged after religious freedom law passes~~
Amateur Photographer Martin Le-May just captured one of the most amazing
photos ever caught on film. He and his wife were at Hornchurch Country Park
in the UK on March 2nd when a baby weasel decided to hitch a ride with a
woodpecker.
A photo of a weasel riding on the back of a woodpecker is causing a flutter on social media, not just for the original photo, but for Photoshopped amendments.
The original image was snapped Monday by Martin Le-May during a walk with his wife through Hornchurch Country Park in London, England.
The image has sparked a surge of interest online, being retweeted thousands of times and a hashtag of #WeaselPecker created on Twitter.
I found the article mentioned above this morning, after I saw the graphic shown above. The other amendments I’ve seen are pretty funny. However, this one is the winner (in my eyes).
In spite of the “satire” and humor intended with it, it seem right on point after the hoopla about Israel’s Prime Minister (BiBi) was “covertly” invited to address Congress after breaching all established protocol.
House Speaker John Boehner set up his most dramatic (stupid, to me) foreign policy confrontation with President Barack Obama to date, inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak about Iran before a joint session of Congress on Feb. 11.
Netanyahu is a fierce opponent of the emerging U.S. nuclear agreement with the Islamic republic and has served as Obama’s foil, of sorts, as the negotiations have progressed.
And his visit to Washington seems mostly for optics: When it comes to Iran, many Republicans and Democrats in the Capitol seem more closely aligned with Netanyahu than with Obama. The Israeli leader has addressed Congress twice.
It Is What It Is 