September 14, 2021

The Supreme Court's right-wing Catholics are destroying true religious freedom

The Supreme Court's right-wing Catholics are destroying true religious freedom
Religious faith isn't the problem — but Texas ruling shows Supreme Court has been hijacked by Christian nationalism

By PHIL ZUCKERMAN - ANDREW L. SEIDEL
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 14, 2021 9:29AM


"The government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian Religion."

What forthright American declared such words? Bill Maher? Christopher Hitchens? Emma Goldman? No. They come from the Treaty of Tripoli, negotiated under George Washington, approved unanimously by the U.S. Senate and signed by President John Adams in 1797.

This early declaration — along with the First Amendment, which Thomas Jefferson solemnly revered "as building a wall of separation between church and state" — illustrates the unprecedented experiment our founders sought to test: a secular republic ruled by democratic laws, not sectarian faith; a nation whose government based its authority upon "we, the people" and not commandments handed down by distant gods. It is a brilliant endowment, given that in a pluralistic democracy such as ours, with people of many faiths and no faiths at all, we purposefully govern ourselves via secular legislation, not religious decrees

But today, this bold pillar of American democracy is rotting fast. It is under attack by theocrats, especially those who sit on our Supreme Court. Their recent ruling making it nearly illegal for a woman to get an abortion in Texas is the latest terrifying case in point.

The problem is not religion, or even Catholicism. After all, many of our leaders, such as President Biden, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Justice Sonia Sotomayor, are themselves Roman Catholics, and they all affirm reproductive choice as a constitutional right. In fact, 56% of Catholics in the United States support this right. Heck, Mexico — a nation of more than 130 million people, over 80% of them Catholic — just legalized abortion last week. And Mexico is only the latest in a long line of heavily Catholic countries to do so, including Argentina in 2020, Ireland in 2018 and Uruguay in 2012, along with Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Rwanda and others before them.

So again, the problem isn't religion, per se. Rather, it is the kind of religion at play. The kind that a majority of our Supreme Court embraces: a crusading, activist, theocratic religious fundamentalism that prioritizes fealty to a particular conservative interpretation of God's supposed will over the democratically-sustained rights of American citizens. It's the lethal mix of religion and politics that our founders sought to restrain. It's Christian nationalism. ..................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2021/09/14/the-supreme-courts-right-wing-catholics-are-destroying-true-religious-freedom/

September 13, 2021

Transportation mask scofflaws to face increased fines

President Joe Biden directed the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) to double fines on travelers who refuse to wear face coverings. In an address outlining his plan to combat the spread of COVID-19, President Biden issued a warning to those who flout the law, “If you break the rules, be prepared to pay.”

Starting Friday, Sept. 10, TSA will fine first offenders between $500 and $1,000 and second offenders between $1,000 and $3,000 if not in compliance with wearing a mask in airports, on commercial aircraft and modes of surface transportation including passenger railroads, intercity bus services and public transportation.

“Wearing a mask protects the traveling public and all of the personnel who make the travel experience safe, secure and comfortable,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “We will continue to enforce the mask mandate as long as necessary to protect public health and safety.”

The requirement to wear masks on transportation modes originally went into effect on Feb. 2, 2021, and was recently extended until Jan. 18, 2022. ..............(more)

https://www.masstransitmag.com/safety-security/article/21237825/transportation-mask-scofflaws-to-face-increased-fines

September 13, 2021

Florida man exposed himself to toll collectors 7 times, troopers say

A Florida man has been arrested on charges he exposed himself at various toll collectors over a week’s span.

The Florida Highway Patrol said in a statement that Mark Anthony Fillyaw was booked into the Osceola County Jail on Saturday.

All seven instances happened on three days around 7 a.m. as he entered the cash lanes of the toll plazas. Toll workers told troopers the man had no clothes on and was “showing his privates.” ............(more)

https://www.local10.com/news/florida/2021/09/13/florida-man-exposed-himself-to-toll-collectors-7-times-troopers-say/

September 13, 2021

Why there isn't going to be a Chris Christie comeback

Why there isn't going to be a Chris Christie comeback

Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large
Updated 12:18 PM ET, Fri September 10, 2021




Chris Christie wants you to know that he's turned over a new leaf.

"​​We need to renounce the conspiracy theorists and the truth deniers. The ones who know better and the ones who are just plain nuts," Christie said in a speech at the Ronald Reagan presidential library on Thursday. "We need to give our supporters facts that will help them put all those fantasies to rest."

Who ever could he be talking about?!?!?

This is Christie purposely trying get some distance from Donald Trump. He may not have mentioned the former president in the speech but the entire address was aimed at Christie trying to remake himself as something more than just a Trump lackey.

It won't work.

Why? Because from the moment Christie, inexplicably, endorsed Trump's 2016 presidential campaign -- February 26, 2016 -- he positioned himself as nothing more than than one of dozens of supplicants to the former president. ..........(more)

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/10/politics/chris-christie-2024-new-jersey/index.html?

September 12, 2021

Trump's MAGA Movement Sets Its Sights On Brazil's Democracy

(HuffPost) As supporters of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro staged anti-democratic demonstrations in major cities across Brazil on Tuesday, the country’s top law enforcement body briefly focused its attention on a far-right activist from the United States: For more than three hours, Brazil’s Federal Police detained Jason Miller, an ex-spokesman for former U.S. President Donald Trump, at the airport in Brasília, as he tried to leave the country.

The Tuesday rallies, meant to demonstrate popular support for a “countercoup” against Brazil’s institutions as Bolsonaro continues to spread Trump-like lies about voter fraud ahead of next year’s election, did not result in an explicit Jan. 6-style storming of Brazil’s National Congress or its Supreme Court, as some analysts feared it might.

But it came close — at least three times, supporters of the president tried to storm through police lines protecting Congress, only to be repelled, according to The Associated Press. There were at least seven such attempts nearby at the Supreme Court, Folha de S.Paulo reported.

The rallies were smaller than originally forecast but still large enough to showcase the danger Bolsonaro and his supporters pose to the world’s fourth-largest democracy. Many participants carried signs calling for an immediate military takeover of the government, an outcome Bolsonaro has said may be necessary. Speaking to a crowd in Brasília, the capital, Bolsonaro again suggested that there may not be elections in the fall of 2022 if they are not conducted on his terms. Later, in São Paulo, he leveled new threats against the Supreme Court justices who have refuted his election conspiracies and are investigating “anti-democratic acts” committed by Bolsonaro and his allies. ..........(more)

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jason-miller-detained-brazil-bolsonaro-trump_n_6138bee5e4b0f1b97068a838

September 12, 2021

Miami Fans Save Cat From Upper Deck Fall Using American Flag

It may be the most heart-stopping video of the college football season, but it wasn't on the field. In a bizarre sequence at Hard Rock Stadium during the Miami–Appalachian State game, a cat was dangling from the upper deck and fell into a crowd of fans who used an American flag to break its fall.

https://twitter.com/DannyWQAM/status/1436835559264202759?s=20

The group of Hurricane fans then picked up the death-defying feline and presented it to the stadium Simba-style to a roar of cheers. Although, the cat didn't seem to be in the best mood and can be seen clawing its heroes.

After the rescue, the heroes were identified as Craig and Kimberly Cromer, who are husband and wife and it was their American flag used in the grab. Craig said while the cat was dangling, it urinated on fans below it. ..............(more)

https://www.si.com/college/2021/09/12/cat-falls-from-upper-deck-miami-game-saved-with-american-flag

September 12, 2021

Rolling Stones Tour Manager Killed Digging Dog's Grave

https://www.thedailybeast.com/rolling-stones-tour-manager-mick-brigden-killed-digging-dogs-grave?



A tour manager who worked with The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and Peter Frampton was killed in an accident while he was digging a grave for his family dog. The Press Democrat reports that at the time of his death, Mick Brigden, 73, was still managing the career of guitarist Joe Satriani, who said in a tribute that “he worked the biggest and the best, but always knew it was important to be kind, be respectful, be cool and do things the right way.” The exact nature of last weekend’s accident at his home in Santa Rosa was not disclosed; Brigden’s wife said he was taken to the hospital after it but did not survive.

September 12, 2021

Work begins on wrapping Arc de Triomphe for Christo artwork

Work begins on wrapping Arc de Triomphe for Christo artwork
Operation combining art and engineering on a massive scale fulfils dream of late artist couple

Kim Willsher in Paris
Sun 12 Sep 2021 08.24 EDT


The monumental feat of wrapping the Arc de Triomphe in 25,000 sq metres of material and posthumously fulfilling a 60-year dream for the artist Christo has begun.

As the rolls of silvery blue recyclable fabric descended slowly from the top of the Paris landmark early on Sunday, guided by orange-clad abseilers, there was excitement, emotion and a few frayed nerves over an operation that combined art and engineering on a massive scale.

There was sadness, too, that the artists, Christo and his French wife, Jeanne-Claude, who had first imagined L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped in 1962 while renting a small room nearby, were not there to see it. The Bulgarian-born Christo Vladimirov Yavachev died in May last year, while his wife and artistic partner – the couple worked together under the name Christo – died in 2009.

Christo, who famously wrapped the Reichstag in Berlin, left minutely detailed drawings and instructions covering every visual and artistic aspect of how he wanted the wrapped arch to look.

“This is Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s vision. It’s very important that we pay attention to every detail that Christo wanted,” the artist’s nephew Vladimir Yavachev, who is overseeing the wrap, said. “It was completely designed by Christo to the very last detail and we have to keep to that. If people come and say it’s just like the drawings, that means we’ve done a good job.” ................(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/12/works-begins-wrapping-arc-de-triomphe-christo-artwork

September 11, 2021

"Where is Trump?" Former president notably absent from 9/11 events

"Where is Trump?" Former president notably absent from 9/11 events
"Where is Trump? Where he has always been in the moments adult leadership has been needed: nonexistent"

By BRETT BACHMAN
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 11, 2021 3:29PM


(Salon) Three Democratic Presidents — Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden — were all in attendance at a 9/11 service in lower Manhattan Saturday for the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 Americans.

Meanwhile, George W. Bush, a Republican, was in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, giving a speech near the spot where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed that day after passengers overwhelmed several al Qaeda hijackers who had taken control of the plane.

Former President Donald Trump, however, was nowhere to be seen at any of these memorials Saturday. "Where's Trump on 9/11?" a New York Times headline read. "Not at Ground Zero."

"Former President Trump — absent from the 20th anniversary 9/11 ceremony in his own city," McClatchy politics writer Dave Catanese tweeted.

....(snip)....

"Trump feels strongly about Robert E Lee but skips out on conventional patriotism," Vox co-founder and Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center Matthew Yglesias tweeted.

"Where is Trump? Where he has always been in the moments adult leadership has been needed: nonexistent," author John Pavlovitz added. ..............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2021/09/11/where-is-trump-former-president-notably-absent-from-911-events/

September 11, 2021

9/11 and the birth of the Big Lie

9/11 and the birth of the Big Lie
Those attacks, and how we reacted to them, tore us apart as a nation — by destroying our shared sense of reality

By LUCIAN K. TRUSCOTT IV
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 11, 2021 8:00AM


(Salon) What drove this country crazy after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 9/11? Was it how vulnerable we had been shown to be, that a group of 19 men armed with nothing more than box-cutters could bring the entire country to a halt? Was it that the attack was aimed primarily against innocent civilians, with nearly 3,000 killed at the Twin Towers alone? Was it that with the 19 hijackers dead in the suicidal attacks, we didn't seem to have anyone to retaliate against? Was it that we had no grasp whatsoever on understanding why our country, the freest and most democratic ever, was hated so much that they would attack us?

I remember how disconnected things felt for days, even weeks, after the attacks. Travelers outside the country didn't have a way to get home because flights had been canceled. People stranded in cities they were visiting within the country couldn't find cars to rent, there were so many trying to get home. Everyone seemed to feel a need to gather with families and friends and hunker down, as if another attack could come at any moment.

....(snip)....

A collective madness ensued. A great scrambling began to protect us against … well, against what? Box-cutters first and foremost, it seemed, as a new regime of inspections began at airports everywhere. The initial panic over the hijacked flights would lead to the establishment of the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security, a kind of domestic department of defense which proceeded to put us on what amounted to a wartime footing within our own country that persists even today. How many times have you had to throw a set of fingernail clippers into a bin at airport security because a TSA agent was defending us from terrorism? How about removing your shoes because a lone lunatic made an unsuccessful attempt to blow up an airplane with a "shoe bomb"?

....(snip)....

Sept. 11, 2001, was when the Big Lie was born. Or should we say, Big Lies, because they came fast and furious. By now they are known to be so completely without any basis in reality, so wholly bogus, that they hardly bear recounting. Weapons of mass destruction? Connections between Iraq and its government and leaders and the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11? Ha!

....(snip)....

I'll tell you another war we lost, maybe even a bigger and more important war than the war on terror. We lost the war on truth. And we were warned. Oh yes, we were warned. Take Donald Trump's first Big Lie right after 9/11 as just one example. He claimed — I hope you're sitting down for this — that he could see from his office window in Trump Tower crowds of Muslims across the Hudson River, several miles away, on the roofs of buildings in Jersey City, cheering as the World Trade Center fell. ..............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2021/09/11/911-and-the-birth-of-the-big-lie/