Lt. General lowers the boom on Air Force Academy's preparatory school over racist messages.

Courtesy of NPR:

After racial slurs were scrawled outside black students' doors at the U.S. Air Force Academy's preparatory school, Superintendent Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria gathered all 4,000 cadets in a hall Thursday so they could hear one message: Treat people with dignity and respect — or get out. 

"That kind of behavior has no place at the prep school, it has no place at USAFA, and it has no place in the United States Air Force," Silveria said, in a speech that has found an enthusiastic reception after it was recorded and published online. "You should be outraged not only as an airman, but as a human being." 

Speaking to a crowd of some 5,500 people that included faculty, coaches, airstrip personnel, and senior officers and staff of the 10th Air Base Wing that includes the academy, Silveria urged them not to let their institution be taken away from them. 

"The appropriate response for horrible language and horrible ideas — the appropriate response is a better idea," Silveria said. "So that's why I'm here. That's why all these people are here."

Did you notice he vaguely referenced Donald Trump while talking about what's going on in this country?

Because I noticed he vaguely referenced Donald Trump while talking about what's going on in this country?

I really like the fact that they addressed what happened in Charlottesville and Ferguson, that is good leadership.

And I would hate to the be the asshole who scrawled those racist messages on the white board, because clearly this man is looking for an ass to kick. 

(Perhaps that was the guy who opened fire on campus yesterday.)

Diversity at Fox News.

I think I see the diversity. Some have dark roots and some do not.

Nailed it!

All kidding aside Roger Ailes should forever be remembered as the traitor who almost single handedly destroyed journalism in this country by introducing blonde talking mannequins chosen to swell the male audience's naughty bits while shrinking their critical thinking skills.

More good news for America's future.

You know if this keeps up America might actually soon live up to it's reputation as the land of the free. Free from religion and the constraints it puts on society that is.

(Source)

Catholic opinion piece attempts to damn the Girl Scouts of America for being TOO progressive, may in fact have just written the best endorsement for joining that organization ever!

This is an excerpt from an opinion piece written by a female contributor for Catholic Online:  

What I've learned over the last year tells me that the Girl Scouts organization has taken a very liberal feminist and pro-homosexual turn, and more disturbing, a sharp turn away from acknowledging God. For example, since 1993 the Girl Scouts USA curriculum now reads, "Girl Scouts of the USA makes no attempt to define or interpret the word "God" in the Girl Scout Promise. It looks to individual members to establish for themselves the nature of their spiritual beliefs. When making the Girl Scout promise, individuals may substitute wording appropriate to their own beliefs for the word "God." 

While many will argue that Girl Scouts is simply respecting the beliefs or non-beliefs of its members, who come from varied backgrounds, this "tolerant" oath denies the One True God, allowing a girl to swear her oath to a tree or an animal or anything else she chooses to substitute for the word "God." 

I'm also disturbed by the treatment of our nation's flag at the 2008 Girl Scout National Council Session and Convention. The traditional flag ceremony was trashed, as was the playing of our National Anthem. Flags of all nations were brought in bunched together to Chicago and Earth, Wind and Fire tunes. That just doesn't' sit well with this Army wife. 

My greatest concern lies with the Girl Scouts curriculum called "Journeys." This new program steadily leads the girls down a path of moral relativism toward the New Age. (An excellent review of "Journeys" can be read here.) Having read through the highlights on the Girl Scouts website, I'm left with the distinct impression I've just joined a Zen-yoga, environmental, defeat global warming, free choice, girl-power, modern feminist think-tank. There's lots of talk about "women's issues", environmental issues, empowerment, and the new "globalism", but no mention of God and very little of country. 

By the time the girls reach grades nine and ten, they are introduced to "Girltopia." This book emphasizes the disparity between the sexes, particularly when it comes to jobs and wages, and asks, "How could everyone create a Girltopia?" The text then praises three different books on the subject of utopias, including, "The Gate to Women's Country," by feminist author Sheri S. Tepper, who also happens to be the Executive Director of Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood. 

In grades 11 and 12, the curriculum is called "Your Voice, Your World: The Power of Advocacy." The most disturbing part is that at the bottom of each page is a "Voice for Good" featuring women meant to be role models for the girls to follow. More than 50 women are named, and only 3 are women of faith, including Mother Teresa. 

Mainly, these "role models" are feminists, lesbians, existentialists, communists, and Marxists.

Now if you are anything like me you are right now thinking, "Holy crap I just thought the Girl Scouts made kick ass cookies, but this organization is awesome!"  Which undoubtedly is NOT the response this author was hoping to inspire.

Of course while this is taking place within the Girl Scouts, the Boy Scouts are actively pushing a fundamentalist Christian agenda that does not accept ANY deviations from their strict interpretations of human love or morality.

While the Girl Scouts are promoting openness, progress, and nonconformity, the Boy Scouts are stressing obedience, militarism, and conformity. Today there are lifelong scouts being driven from this organization due to their biology, while everywhere else in the country their sexuality is increasingly becoming a non-issue.

This has inspired me to ask the question, what the hell is wrong with the males in this country?

Why does it seem that we, as a whole, are ALWAYS several beats behind the women when it comes to accepting change, or moving forward in our thinking?

Yes I know that we are not monolithic. There are of course VERY progressive men, just like there are many close minded (This author for example) women out there who would give even the most Neanderthal like man a run for his money when it comes to prejudicial thinking.

But as a whole it just seems that we are always taking up the rear, and I for one am goddamn sick and tired of it!

Women are the most ardent supporters of health care reform in this country, the most vocally anti-war, and the most open to embracing new ideas and differing points of view. No WONDER there are so few of them in the RNC!

If my daughter was a little younger I would sign her up for the Girls Scouts immediately. But if I had a son I would definitely suggest another, less antiquated,  organization than the Boy Scouts of America for him to join.

However you know that progress is coming. And someday, despite how hard they fight against it, the Boy Scouts WILL open up and become the welcoming, progressive, and open minded organization that EVERY boy in this country deserves the opportunity to join.

First Hindu Congresswoman sworn in, not with a Bible, but on the Bhagavad Gita. Now that's progress!

Courtesy of Deccan Herald:  

Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii has created history by not only becoming the first Hindu ever to be sworn in as a member of the US House of Representatives, but also being the first ever US lawmaker to have taken oath of office on the sacred Bhagavad Gita. 

Tulsi, 31, was administered the oath of office by the John Boehner, Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

"I chose to take the oath of office with my personal copy of the Bhagavad-Gita because its teachings have inspired me to strive to be a servant-leader, dedicating my life in the service of others and to my country," Gabbard said after the swearing in ceremony yesterday. 

"My Gita has been a tremendous source of inner peace and strength through many tough challenges in life, including being in the midst of death and turmoil while serving our country in the Middle East," she said explaining the reasons for taking the oath of office on Gita. 

"I was raised in a multi-racial, multi-cultural, multi-faith family. My mother is Hindu; my father is a Catholic lector in his church who also practices mantra meditation. I began to grapple with questions of spirituality as a teenager," Gabbard said. 

"Over time, I came to believe that, at its essence, religion gives us a deeper purpose in life than just living for ourselves. Since I was a teenager, I have embraced this spiritual journey through the teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita.

Okay well obviously as an Atheist, I  disagree with Congresswoman Gabbard's contention that religion provides a "deeper purpose in life," but having said that I LOVE everything about this!

In my opinion it is embarrassing for America that with such a disparity within our religious communities that THIS is the first Hindu in the House. Our Representatives should be as colorful and diverse in their religious and cultural points of view as the people themselves.

One of the scariest times that this country has gone through during my lifetime was the rise of the Moral Majority. When all of the sudden there was a narrowly defined litmus test provided for choosing political candidates, or which legislation should be passed, it sent chills up and down my spine. (The name of this blog was chosen in response to that fear.)

So while I give no more credence to Congresswoman Gabbard's religious choice than I do say Mitt Romney's, Joe Lieberman's, or Michele Backmann's, I DO see it as a very important and progressive step forward for a country that needs to move away from the kind of uber religiosity that has so negatively impacted the nation for the last forty years.

May Lord Ganesha bless her and keep her safe.

Jon Stewart notices that there has been some progress made with the GOP's "No Girls Allowed Club."

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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My favorite line:

"At least with that many dudes in the group, statistically speaking, one of them's got to be gay."

It's funny, because it's true.

Bristol Palin's ghostwriter decides to weigh in on the Chick-Fil-A kerfuffle.

Courtesy of Brancy's blog:

Don’t let liberals get away with saying they’re for “diversity.” They only want people to be different on the outside – like different hair, skin, and eye color. But what about being different on the inside? Well, that’s where they draw the line. 

The latest example of this is when the president of Chick-fil-A, Dan Cathy, answered a question in an interview with Baptist Press. He said their company is “very much supportive of the family… the biblical definition of the family unit.” 

During an interview on “The Ken Coleman Show,” he explained his position further: 

“I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.’ “

(Question: How does Mr. Cathy KNOW that God is about to get all "wrathful" over gay marriage? And doesn't HE understand that claiming to speak on God's behalf is to go against the Third Commandment? I bet he doesn't.)

Do you think liberals celebrated Cathy’s beliefs, which add a little diversity to the conversation about gay marriage? After all, many companies are trying to make gay marriage mainstream. (For example, Office Depot’s decision to partner with Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation.) So, did liberals embrace Chick-fil-A, as a mark of their tolerance and diversity? 

Um, not so much. 

So, help me understand this, liberals. Are you for true and difficult diversity – diversity of opinion, religion, and beliefs? The kind of diversity that requires talking to each other about our differences of opinion and ideas? Or just the easy kind of diversity that makes for cool advertisements?

Well this of course is not a serious question, but let me address it as if it were.

Yes, of course we support diversity. ALL types of diversity, so long as it does no harm to others. However we DON'T support diversity which tries to impose THEIR idea of what is right and wrong, or morally acceptable, onto others.

You see Brancy you are confusing "diversity" with "duplicity." Mr. Cathy does not want to simply be allowed to live his life in the way that he sees fit, he wants to impose HIS definition of "traditional marriage" onto others and has given nearly two million dollars to groups that are fighting against equal rights for the LGBT community. And then he doesn't want to be judged or have his business negatively affected due to those decisions.

However it is perfectly reasonable for individual who DO support diversity to choose to spend their money in restaurants and businesses which respect the rights of others to love as their biology dictates that they love.

When YOUR version of diversity is determined to destroy another individuals diversity, THAT is not something that anybody should support. However I am not at all surprised to see that the ghostwriter for the child of Sarah Palin would be one of those that would.

By they way, if Dan Cathy, Bristol Palin, OR Nancy French took the time to actually read the Bible they would quickly come to understand that THEY are the ones who don't understand traditional Biblical marriage.

 Or do they support these versions of "traditional marriage" as well?

P.S. One more thing to keep in mind. Homosexuality is NOT a choice, but religion is.

President Obama understands the importance of maintaining a secular nation.

You know to me this should simply be the universal point of view in this country, IN fact it is the very point of view that our nation was founded on.  And yet we find ourselves becoming more and more irrational when it comes to religion, and less and less rational when it comes to reason.

BTW for those who are uncertain that this quote is indeed Obama's you can find it here in this rather famous speech. (Link fixed now.)

The Alaska Commons reports on the future for the LGBT community in Anchorage and, just in time for Halloween, provides another look inside ABT.

After the uber-successful "Diversity Dinner" some have wondered what the LGBT crowd has in store next. Clicking the title of this post should answer that question for you.

As many of you know about a month ago I attended an anniversary service at the Anchorage Baptist temple. I had asked if any of my LGBT friends wanted to attend with me, and did not find any takers. Here John Aronno explains his hesitancy.

I couldn’t imagine walking into that “church”. Alaska Commons is not an anonymous blog (probably an oversight, in retrospect) and ABT has made their disapproval of me very well known. This site, and my email inbox, now has a devoted, albeit small, group of trolls who threaten and denigrate me at every opportunity (I had an op-ed in the Northern Light a couple weeks ago about the concept of holding doors open for people and driving safely, and got blasted for that!). We’ve had to go unlisted, and have had a few public issues. Even one earlier this evening, at Fred Myer, where a man locked eyes with me and stood in my way, demanding an apology.

Weird times.

It is always difficult for me to understand how an organization that claims to base it's set of values on the teachings of Jesus Christ can encourage this kind of behavior. But they do.

And if you don't believe that then you need to take a moment to watch this frightening YouTube video that John put together.



"Crushing the enemy under our feet". No you did not hear that wrong.

I was sitting in the audience when they were singing that song and watched the congregation, with heads lifted toward the heavens, belt out that song with both conviction and passion.

They DO believe with all of their hearts that they are fighting a battle against the devil, and that the LGBT community are his agents here on earth.

Is it any wonder that I found no takers to accompany me on that Sunday? Who could blame them?

I on the other hand? Well that is a different story altogether.