"Modest proposal" to alter gun laws

I have a hunch that if someone like Tom Steyer offered to provide every non-felon, black and brown person with an AR-15 for free, attitudes of white voters towards banning assault weapons might be meaningfully impacted?

The bible on Abortion

Taken from "Freedom from religion"

"The word "abortion" does not appear in any translation of the bible!

Out of more than 600 laws of Moses, none comments on abortion. One Mosaic law about miscarriage specifically contradicts the claim that the bible is antiabortion, clearly stating that miscarriage does not involve the death of a human being. If a woman has a miscarriage as the result of a fight, the man who caused it should be fined. If the woman dies, however, the culprit must be killed:

"If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.

"And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth . . ."--Ex. 21:22-25

The bible orders the death penalty for murder of a human being, but not for the expulsion of a fetus.

When Does Life Begin?

According to the bible, life begins at birth--when a baby draws its first breath. The bible defines life as "breath" in several significant passages, including the story of Adam's creation in Genesis 2 , when God "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Jewish law traditionally considers that personhood begins at birth.

Desperate for a biblical basis for their beliefs, some antiabortionists cite obscure passages, usually metaphors or poetic phrasing, such as: "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." Psalm 51:5 This is sexist, but does nothing other than to invoke original sin. It says nothing about abortion.

The Commandments, Moses, Jesus and Paul ignored every chance to condemn abortion. If abortion was an important concern, why didn't the bible say so?"

Unexpected consequences

This excerpt from Think Progress highlights how Trump's immigration policies are experiencing blowback and supports arguments establishing their racial motives.

"“What was supposed to be a joyful Easter Sunday was marred by a horrific wave of Islamic radical terror and bloodshed,” Pompeo said.

For as much sympathy as members of the Trump administration claim to have for the victims of Sunday’s devastating attacks, its own immigration policies have actively harmed members of Christian minority groups both overseas and at home.

Years of bloody civil war in Sri Lanka have caused thousands of to seek refuge in countries like Australia and India. As of March 2018, the UN Refugee Agency was helping 42,956 persons of concern in Sri Lanka, which included 822 refugees, 628 asylum-seekers, and 1,579 refugee returnees. Christians are a minority in Sri Lanka, making up approximately 7% of the nation’s 21 million population, and have historically been the targets of other religious factions in the country.

As the number of refugees has surged across the globe, the Trump administration slashed the United States refugee cap last September. The United States will admit a maximum of 30,000 refugees in fiscal year 2019, the lowest cap since the program began in 1980. When Trump entered the White House in early 2017, the refugee cap was at 110,000. He lowered it first to 50,000, then to 45,000, and now 30,000.

According to data from South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), there are roughly 120 Sri Lankans enrolled in Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program which Trump has ended and is currently hanging by thread thanks to a court injunction. No new applications are being accepted for DACA at this time, so the number of people who could be helped by the program may be even higher.


Between October 2014 and April 2018, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) arrested at least 292 Sri Lankans. Like detained immigrants and asylum seekers from India and Nepal, Sri Lankan migrants have historically high rates of being granted bond, but they also have high bond rates, with the median reaching $20,000 in fiscal year 2019.

It’s not just Sri Lankans. Due to the administration’s refugee policies, Syrian Christian refugee admissions have dropped by 94% and those from Iraq by 99%. Just 20 Syrian Christians were admitted in all of fiscal year 2018. All told, the number of Christian refugees admitted to the U.S. dropped nearly 79% between fiscal years 2016 and 2018.

As a result of the president’s Muslim Ban, admissions under the Lautenberg-Specter law — a program that offers visas to religious minorities in the former Soviet Union and Iran — have plummeted and hundreds of Iranian Christians remain in limbo.

In the United States, a group of 1,000 Iraqi nationals, many of them Chaldean Christians, are on the verge of being deported after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), under the direction of the Trump administration, detained Iraqi nationals with criminal records for mostly minor crimes like marijuana possession or selling cigarettes without a license. After a federal appeals court ruled against the Iraqis two weeks ago in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the fate of these individuals is in legal limbo.

Last week a bipartisan group of lawmakers sent a letter asking the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE to halt the mass deportation.

“Chaldean Christians face active persecution in Iraq, and they will likely be subject to discrimination, violence, and possibly torture or death if deported to Iraq,” the lawmakers wrote."

Disincentivizing white supremacists

Paraphrasing another DU writer:
"Don't underestimate the depravity of the average trump supporter. Today, they are quietly happy and proud because yesterday their President issued a shrouded threat of violence and today on the other side of the world his devotees carried out on that threat. "

So, what to do about it?

We know what they hate, migrants and refugees "invading" their "homelands'. Why not tie the numbers of newcomers to incidents of hate. Let them know that every swastika painted on a synagogue will raise the refugee limits by a hundred. Every immigrant slaughtered by these terrorists will raise the refugee quota by a thousand.
Would the Christchurch murderer become a hero to the white supremacists if his horrific acts became directly responsible for an additional 50,000 refugees being allowed into NZ? I suspect it would change their thinking?

Trump's tiny brain

failed to direct his tiny hands to grasp the simple concept of "emergency"!

Trump - Coyote in Chief

Don't be too hard on Mr. Pecker

Oh crap, just read my own headline and now I've forgotten what I wanted to say!!!!!

"Fact Check That! "

Can we get some Dems at the SOTU to hold up small signs with that plea every time Mango Mussolini prevaricates ?

Pelosi, sitting right behind him, would be best but I doubt she'd go for it.

Covington HS promised a lawsuit in 48 hours

Where is it?

I would love a lawsuit but doubt hugely any will spring from the HS. Their apology stands to date.

Laura Keener, of the diocese, released the following statement:

"We condemn the actions of the Covington Catholic High School students towards Nathan Phillips specifically, and Native Americans in general, Jan. 18, after the March for Life, in Washington, D.C. We extend our deepest apologies to Mr. Phillips. This behavior is opposed to the Church’s teachings on the dignity and respect of the human person.

"The matter is being investigated and we will take appropriate action, up to and including expulsion.We know this incident also has tainted the entire witness of the March for Life and express our most sincere apologies to all those who attended the March and all those who support the pro-life movement."

The Diocese knows these kids, watches their racist behaviors daily and has no trouble believing a tape showing their bad behavior. I've seen two videos of them trashing women that same day and the videos of them in blackface at ball games is disgusting in the 21st century. Their adult supervision is baffling ,send in a marine.

To date, the only "appropriate action" taken by the diocese is to hire a PR firm.

Dems hoisting Pelosi on their shoulders

and dancing on the House floor!!!!!!!!

Metaphorically, of course.