Barack Obama to join Angela Merkel in Germany to help launch worldwide program to inspire young people.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Former President Barack Obama will sit side-by-side with German Chancellor Angela Merkel Thursday in the first event of what will eventually become his worldwide program to inspire young people to create change. 

Obama will join Merkel at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to highlight his foundation's new global effort to inspire and support young people active in narrowing inequality, combating climate change, working on public health, empowering women and girls and boosting young entrepreneurs. 

"He and Mrs. Obama have been pretty clear that the foundation will have a global reach. They want to be really involved in programing throughout the world," an Obama Foundation official said.

Just a reminder that while Trump is overseas right now embarrassing our country, that former President Obama is still working to make the world a better place and to inspire future generations. 

I swear that every day Trump is in office my admiration and respect for President Obama just grows that much more.

The man was an amazing President, and history is going to be very kind to him indeed.

Majority of young Americans see Trump presidency as illegitimate. You know some older Americans feel exactly the same.

Courtesy of the AP: 

That Trump is undeniably the nation's 45th president doesn't sit easily with young Americans like Anderson who are the nation's increasingly diverse electorate of the future, according to a new poll. A majority of young adults — 57 percent — see Trump's presidency as illegitimate, including about three-quarters of blacks and large majorities of Latinos and Asians, the GenForward poll found. 

GenForward is a poll of adults age 18 to 30 conducted by the Black Youth Project at the University of Chicago with The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. 

A slim majority of young whites in the poll, 53 percent, consider Trump a legitimate president, but even among that group 55 percent disapprove of the job he's doing, according to the survey.

See? There is hope for this country. 

My only question is WHY are there still people who think his presidency is legitimate? 

Your laugh out loud post of the morning. An article entitled "6 Reasons Millennials Should Bring On The Babies Like Bristol Palin." No it is not a joke.

I first saw this mentioned over on the Grizzled Granny's Facebook page, who actually linked to her new favorite conservative fake news site.

But as it turned out they were actually linking to this site where the article originated.

Here are the 6 reasons given for why millennials should become baby factories like Bristol:

1. You Can Survive Public Shaming 

Palin has already endured enough public humiliation to last a lifetime. Most pregnant teens don’t have to deal with both pregnancy hormones and the intense scrutiny of a presidential campaign simultaneously. And if we’re being honest, most of us didn’t have the best taste in high school. We likely wasted time on boys who wouldn’t grow up to be husband and father material. Palin lived it all in the spotlight, and she’s still here. That takes guts.

Okay first off that sounds like it could have been written by that batshit crazy Palin troll Alicia.

Secondly much of Bristol's public humiliation she brought on herself.

I had every intention of ignoring her after her mother lost the 2008 election.

However she then started fighting Levi for custody of his son, appeared in a trashy reality show, wrote a crappy book, and started allowing her mother to use her identity to spread her misinformation on a blog. 

That made Bristol fair game in my book.

2. Live Your Values 

What? No seriously, what? 

I know an awful lot about the Palins, and their values as far as I can tell have always been "Let me get mine and screw the rest of you."

Or perhaps I am not being fair.

Maybe their values were properly demonstrated by Bristol when she told Levi that he would never see his son again if he did not do what she wanted. Or perhaps by Sarah Palin when she lied about the Affordable Care Act having "death panels." Or perhaps by Track Palin when he was beating his girlfriend black and blue.

Are those the values for which Bristol Palin and her family should be celebrated?

3. Learn From Your Mistakes 

Really seems like that one took her awhile.

4. Embrace the Blessings of Family 

Which Bristol did when she referred to Sailor's conception as a "mistake," even though we are to believe it was a baby created with her then fiance who she eventually married?

Am I misunderstanding the word "embrace" here?  

5. Create the Family You Want 

Yes whenever possible trick a Medal of Honor winner into marrying you, and rescuing your tabloid style reputation by posing for Instagram pictures indicating that you are a completely changed person now. (Also helps if your mother can hire some no name writer to post an article like this one on your behalf.) 

6. Be Patriotic and Multiply 

Not everyone wants be a parent, but for those of us who do — and don’t face fertility challenges — it makes sense to max out on the number of children your family can handle emotionally, financially, spiritually, and otherwise. After all, there’s no greater statement of optimism about the future than having a baby.

Okay this one requires a more serious response. 

While I would never tell people that they should not have children, the idea of popping them out like bunnies is incredibly selfish considering that our planet is severely overpopulated already and that adding more mouths to feed adds to a burden that we are barely able to handle as it is.

Besides the last thing that civilization needs is more poorly educated, poorly behaved Palin progeny running around.

If I were arrogant enough to offer advice to the Millennials it would be to do almost everything the exact opposite of how Bristol Palin did them.

For instance:

Use birth control when having sex.

Don't tell the world you are a good little Christian while acting the exact opposite in private.

Take responsibility for your mistakes, and don't blame everybody else when they happen.

Actually work for a living and don't live off of the ignorance of others.

Don't keep your children from seeing their other parent.

And finally, educate yourself as much as possible, because the world is becoming an ever more complicated place and ignorant people, while fun to mock, are only going to get to find themselves left behind.

Are just some things I would suggest if I were arrogant enough to offer advice.

As much as we may be hurting right now, at least it appears that our future is bright.

This is how the future voted. This is what people 18-25 said in casting their votes. We must keep this flame alight and nurture this vision. pic.twitter.com/ivuXrar869

— Eliza Byard (@EByard) November 9, 2016

Yes I recognize that as these young people get older they may become more conservative, but I firmly believe that our trajectory is toward more progressive policies.

And as they say on the X-Files, "I want to believe."

Open letter from millennial voter to President Obama. You're probably gonna need a tissue.

Courtesy of the Daily Kos:  

Dear Mr. President, 

As your final term is almost over, I would like to reach out to you to show you my deepest gratitude and appreciation. Although I was too young to vote for you in 2008 and 2012, your presidency has greatly inspired me and I recently casted my first presidential ballot for Madam Clinton. 

I was brought up in a conservative Christian, Republican household. I have seen the hatred, mud-slinging, disgusting, and downright deplorable comments thrown your way by Republicans like Trump. I remember the obstruction that Republicans have played to destroy your presidency and ruin your legacy. Through it all, you have remained dedicated, calm, gracious, courageous, and have not given up on your goals and vision for this country. 

Your presidency has inspired me to continue my education and aim for the highest, in spite of my difficulties, disabilities, and obstacles. By watching your presidency, I have learned how to properly dialogue with those with whom I disagree with politically. Finally, your presidency has given me the freedom to marry by future partner, whoever he will be. 

I wish you the best in retirement and looking forward to seeing the great things you accomplish! I will certainly miss you. 

Sincerely, 

David P. Neff

I swear that every time I consider the fact that we are losing this amazing man as the leader of our country I feel a wave of emotion that makes my heart ache.

Yes I think that Hillary Clinton will make a fine President, I really do.

But there are some people who are one of a kind, and we just spent the last eight years honored to have just such a one of kind individual as our Commander-in-Chief.

New Harvard poll finds Millennials turning out in large numbers for Hillary Clinton.

Courtesy of Harvard IOP: 

A new national poll of America’s 18 to 29 year olds by Harvard’s Institute of Politics (IOP), at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, finds Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump by 28%. Clinton captured 49% of likely young voters’ support while Trump received 21% in a four-way race. Gary Johnson garnered 14% and Jill Stein received 5%, with 11% remaining undecided. Clinton is also polling ahead of President Obama’s 2012 polling numbers among key groups within this demographic. 

The IOP’s newest poll results – its 31st major poll release since 2000 – also show that a majority of 18 to 29 year olds are fearful about the future of America. When asked about the future of the country, 51% of young Americans feel “fearful” and 20% feel “hopeful.” 

49% of 18 to 29 year olds indicate that they will “definitely be voting” in this election, one point higher than the 48% who indicated the same in 2012. Notably, 51% of young females indicate they will definitely vote (up from 45% in 2012), whereas 47% of young males indicate the same (down from 51% in 2012). Compared to 2012, young Hispanics are 8 percentage points more likely to vote (2016: 39%; 2012: 31%), Independents are 7 points more likely (2016: 36%; 2012: 29%), while Republicans are 9 percentage points less likely to vote in the upcoming election (2016: 56%; 2012: 65%). 

When likely voters were asked their preferences in a four-way match up, Clinton received 49% of the vote, compared to Trump’s 21%, Johnson’s 14%, and Stein’s 5%. 11% indicated that they were still undecided. In a two-way match-up between Clinton and Trump, Clinton received 59% to Trump’s 25% among likely voters. Comparing these results to Obama’s position in the Harvard IOP Fall 2012 survey, Clinton is performing better among female voters (+14), white voters.

 Well that has to be welcome news for the Clinton campaign, especially after there was so much talk of Bernie supporters going third party or simply skipping the election out of frustration.

I also find it interesting that there seem to be slightly higher numbers in this demographic planning to vote, than came out in support of Obama back in 2012.

That is a little surprising considering how inspirational many found his presidency.

In other news it appears that there might actually be a landslide in this election cycle.

New @FoxNews electoral map: @HillaryClinton at 307, @realDonaldTrump at 174. Iowa now moved from "leaning GOP" to "toss-up." pic.twitter.com/PGId8o007T

— FoxNewsInsider (@FoxNewsInsider) October 25, 2016

307 to 174 according to Fox News?

If this is how this election plays out it will DESTROY Donald Trump's brand possibly forever, and send shock waves through the Republican party that will shake it to its core. 

Personally I think those are more than adequate reasons to make sure that this is exactly how the election plays out.

Millenials hear a voice that moves them, and it is not who they would ever expect it to be.

Look I have been around way too long not to recognize a little manipulation for effect here.

However those ARE Hillary Clinton's words from a past when she was just as full of hope and promise as those young people hearing this speech for the first time.

Does she still have those same ideals?

Well there are certainly many who would say not. But are those people who are dealing with the facts, or reading from a playbook written specifically to stop this woman from ever reaching a position to put these ideas into place?

Well I certainly know what I think.

Bernie Sanders insults the intelligence of the American voters.

Courtesy of Salon:  

The Bernie Sanders campaign has injected a lot of welcome aspects of lefty thought into the national discourse this election cycle: An emphasis on income inequality, a discussion on how to rebuild the declining middle class, a reminder that almost none of the bankers who destroyed our economy paid for their crimes. 

Unfortunately, Sanders is also injecting one of the most wrong-headed and frankly embarrassing aspects of lefty thought into our discourse: The tendency to dismiss people who disagree with you as dupes who have been misled by a shadowy cabal of evil masterminds who brainwash the masses in order to perpetuate economic injustice. 

This is the premise of Sanders’ “political revolution” argument: That the only reason voters hadn’t backed a socialist in the past is they never really had a chance to. But once they heard the good news about democratic socialism, they will throw off their shackles, embrace the truth, and usher in our socialist paradise. 

That sort of rhetoric is harmless enough when it’s a pitch to win over voters. But now Sanders is losing the nomination. Rather than accepting the possibility that the voters heard his pitch and disagreed with him, however, Sanders has started to dismiss his loss as inauthentic, the product of shadowy forces misleading the easily duped voters rather an an authentic rejection, by the voters, of his ideas.

It has been pointed out here and in other places that Sanders seems perfectly happy with the primary system so long as he wins, especially the caucus system which most of us despise,  but whenever he comes up short he IMMEDIATELY claims that the process is rigged or broken.

At first it was easy to laugh off, but now that it has taken root, and there are people essentially calling every primary that Bernie lost illegitimate, and calling for a massive overhaul of the entire, it is really no longer a laughing matter.

Remember this is the same system that selected Jimmy Carter in the 1970's, Bill Clinton in the 1990's, and Barack Obama in 2008.

And of course back then their opponent's supporters also thought the system was rigged, and cried foul. THAT is also essentially part of the process.

If you think WE have it bad just imagine how the Republicans must feel having just selected the orange tinted short fingered vulgarian as their candidate. If ever a primary process needed overhauling, that would seem to be the party to take that leap first.

Over on the Huffington Post they have offered a helpful guideline on how elections work for the more fact resistant  of the Bernie supporters.

Speaking of Bernie supporters I finally had a long conversation with my daughter last night.

I initially called to ask her if she thought the attacks being launched against Hillary by Trump, which dredge up Bill Clinton's past indiscretions and blame her for being an enabler, would work with young millennial females.

She said absolutely not, and that her friends find him more repulsive every time he opens his mouth.

I thought so, but it never hurts to check.

So after that we discussed the state of the Democratic primary and she expressed disappointment over how it played out and that she still feels that Bernie would have been the best choice.

However she is facing facts and has every intention of voting for Hillary in the general.

She also shared that after the New York primary the number of pro-Sanders Facebook posts on her timeline dropped dramatically, and since that time have only been intermittent.

She said that a lot of her friends, who were inspired by the simple message put forth by Sanders, were now pretty disgusted with the back and forth between Hillary and Trump.

She also said that right now a lot of them are feeling drained by the process and many simply want to ignore the whole thing until it is over.

So I said I understood that and reminded her of how all of the Obama supporters felt after he was elected and immediately ran into a Republican wall of resistance which made it almost impossible for him to push through his agenda.

I then reminded her that if you are really unhappy with the way things are going then giving up is not an option, and went on to bore her with stories of the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement, and the current progress of the LGBT movement. And that if she and her fellow millennials want to change the party platform, and the political process, they need to stay engaged and not take their ball and go home. 

The call ended after I started singing "We Shall Overcome." Off key of course.

What can I say, I was caught up in the moment.

Report from Pew Research shows that the more educated we are the more liberal we are. And that the highly educated are becoming even more liberal.

Courtesy of NPR: 

A report from the Pew Research Center finds a wide partisan gap between highly educated and non-highly-educated americans. Not only that, but the share of college grads and post-graduates who are "consistently liberal" (based on their answers to a series of policy questions) has grown sharply in the last 20 years.

In 1994, 7 percent of post-grads were "consistently liberal," and 1 percent of people with high school educations or less were — not much of a difference. Today, the gap is 25 points wide — 31 percent of people with post-grad educations are consistently liberal, compared to 5 percent of those with high school educations or less. 

The same kind of change just hasn't happened on the conservative side.

The research also finds that while the Right has also grown more conservative, it is certainly not due to higher education. Though it seems age is a factor.

So to sum up the better educated, and younger Americans are becoming increasingly liberal, while the poorly educated old folks with one foot in the grave are becoming more conservative.

Damn I like those odds.

And now boys and girls you know why the Right Wing is always attacking public education, liberal arts education, and of course teachers in general.

They are losing, but they are certainly not planning to go down without a fight.

New national poll shows that millenials between the ages of 18 to 29 will overwhelmingly vote for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump.

Courtesy of Harvard IOP:

A new national poll of America’s 18- to 29-year-olds by Harvard’s Institute of Politics (IOP), located at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, finds Hillary Clinton the clear front-runner over Donald Trump to win the White House in 2016. Among likely voters, Clinton has 61% of young voters and Trump 25%, with 14% of likely young voters unsure. 

The IOP’s newest poll results – its 29th major release since 2000 – also shows that a majority of America’s 18- to 29-year-olds rejects both socialist and capitalist labels. 42% of young Americans support capitalism, and 33% say they support socialism. 

“Millennials care deeply about their futures and in this election cycle they are laser-focused on issues like access to educational opportunity, women’s equality and the economy,” said Harvard Institute of Politics Director Maggie Williams. “This survey reflects their passion, their worries and most importantly, a growing awareness that their voices have power.”

To be fair the poll also showed that Bernie Sanders had the only net positive rating, which would be relevant if indeed he still had a path to the nomination.

The poll's main revelation is that when Sanders fails to win the nomination, that young people still plan to come out and vote for Hillary Clinton rather than to stay home and pout.

And that is good news for everybody, who is NOT Donald Trump.

MSNBC sees ratings rise sharply, while Fox News faces ratings decline.

Courtesy of TV Newser: 

MSNBC saw across-the-board ratings gains for the month of October, vs. October 2014. 

The network was up +26 percent in total day viewing and up +26% in prime time, among total viewers. The A25-54 demo growth was smaller: +4 percent for total day and +6 percent in prime time. MSNBC finished 3rd among total viewers and 4th in the demo, behind HLN, for total day viewing. 

A news cycle that was heavy in politics certainly helped give MSNBC a boost. (It’s also the only big 3 news network not to host a primary debate.) Still, marquee shows were up double digits in viewers, including Morning Joe (+36 percent), Hardball with Chris Matthews (+16 percent), All In with Chris Hayes (+32 percent), The Rachel Maddow Show (+31 percent) and The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell (+33 percent).

By contrast Fox News, which is still the cable news outlet to beat, saw an entirely different story:

Fox News Channel narrowly held on to win the A25-54 demo for the month of October, edging CNN by 1,000 viewers, or just .3 percent. (CNN got a boost from the first democratic debate). But unlike CNN and MSNBC, Fox News was down in the A25-54 demo vs. Oct. 2014: down -11 percent in total day and down -1 percent in prime time.

Now make no mistake Fox News is still crushing it, but they are not crushing it quite as completely as in years past, and as their demographic continues to die off around them we may in the near future see their numbers tumble into single digits.

And let's face it those numbers are not likely to rebound due to the fact that young people as a whole are completely turned off by Fox News, which was made apparent when Cornell University recently kicked them off campus. 

Of course in the future ALL cable news outlets may find themselves scrambling for viewers as millennials are increasingly embracing a practice known as "cord cutting" in which they get all of their news, information, and entertainment over the internet and not through the traditional sources, or electronic devices, embraced by their parents.

There are more Atheists and Agnostics entering Harvard this year than Catholics or Protestants.

Courtesy of the Washington Post: 

Harvard’s combined number of atheists and agnostics among its incoming class exceeds the number of Catholics and Protestants, as Pew Research Center’s Conrad Hackett noted. The number appears to be a striking contrast with the rest of the U.S. millennial population, those from ages 18 to 34. 

Pew’s survey suggested a decline in Christianity in the U.S., especially among millennials, though Harvard’s freshman still don’t appear to reflect the rest of millennials in the U.S. 

Among the general population in the U.S., 52 percent of millennials identify as Protestant or Catholic, according to Pew, compared to 34.1 percent of Harvard’s incoming class. And 13 percent of millennial Americans identify as atheist or agnostic, compared with 37.9 percent of Harvard freshmen who said they were atheist or agnostic. 

Part of the reason why American Christianity is on the decline is due to the number of people who don’t self-identify with a religion anymore. Pew also asks survey respondents if they are unaffiliated with faith, and 36 percent of them describe themselves as not affiliated with religion.

This is just the kind of thing that makes me hopeful for the future of our country. 

The more critical thinkers that we produce, no longer hindered by superstitious nonsense, the stronger and more progressive we become as a nation. 

Franklin Graham to visit all 50 states in attempt to turn America into a theocracy. Well that's helpful.

Courtesy of Opposing Views: 

Rev. Franklin Graham recently announced his Decision America Tour, which will travel to all 50 states in 2016 to encourage Christians to vote for Christians, and to urge Christians to run for political positions on federal, state and local levels. 

In an op-ed penned for Charisma News, Graham recalled Nehemiah, from the Bible, who supervised the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days even though he faced opposition from Samaritans, Ammonites, Arabs and Philistines. 

Graham claimed: "America's walls of biblical morality are crumbling," and "Christianity and our religious freedoms are under siege. Progressives and secularists want to see God removed from everything and to burn every gate of protection." 

Graham didn't say which religious freedoms were "under siege," or name any progressives and secularists who wanted "God removed from everything."

You know usually these Fundamentalist asshats are a little more subtle, but apparently Graham is tired of pussy footing around. 

And who can blame him? With millennials turning away from the church in droves, and science answering more and more of the questions that were once considered unanswerable, Christians are seeing their power base crumbling all around them in this country.

So of course they are going to make an aggressive and clumsy grab for power.

However Franklin Graham is going to have to face the fact that he is a dinosaur, and his superstitions are no longer finding favor with many of the young people who will someday lead this country into the new enlightenment.

I only hope I can hang on long enough to see it fore myself.

Fox News kicks Sarah Palin to the curb, and then almost immediately offers Meghan McCain a new job. Probably just coincidental.

Courtesy of Variety: 

Meghan McCain, the political scion who has won public fame as a blogger, commentator and TV-show host, will join Fox News Channel as a contributor, Variety has learned. 

A representative for the network confirmed the hire. McCain is expected to contribute to the network’s primetime and daytime programming. 

Meghan McCain, who has identified as a Republican in the past, could well offer the viewpoint of a different member of that political party: one hailing from the millennial generation. She has in the past championed gay rights and come out against anti-immigration legislation, and has publicly challenged commentators like Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham. In her writings she’s expressed ambivalence about Sarah Palin, the former Fox News contributor who ran for U.S. vice president alongside her father, and admiration for Hillary Clinton, who is now vying for the Democratic nomination for U.S. president.

For those who don't remember McCain wrote a book in which she referred to Palin as a "time bomb" and called her selection as a vice presidential candidate the "line between genius and insanity."

She also expressed confusion over Palin's internet "channel:"  

“I don’t know how this is different than a blog with video posts,” McCain said. “It didn’t look like a video channel.

Hang on I'm going to turn down my TV to listen for cans bouncing off refrigerators in Wasilla. 

This man cannot return to TV fast enough for me.

This is the message I give my daughter all of the time.

Recent Gallup poll shows that Liberals are now as numerous as Conservatives in America. And that my friends is only the beginning.

Courtesy of Washington Post:  

You may not have realized it, but a large cohort of Americans did something brave this month. For years — in some cases, decades — these lonely, marginalized souls had repressed their shameful feelings, hiding them from the world. 

Then May came along, and they finally decided to come out of the closet. 

As liberals. 

That’s right: A large chunk of Americans recently decided to come out as “liberal” — socially liberal, to be specific. As a result, for the first time on record, self-proclaimed social liberals are no longer outnumbered by their conservative counterparts. 

That’s according to a new Gallup poll that finds the shares of American adults considering themselves “socially liberal” and “socially conservative” each total 31 percent. (The remaining respondents either called their views “moderate” or had no opinion.) Gallup has been tracking these categories since 1999, and the latest numbers simultaneously signify the highest share ever recorded for liberals and the lowest recorded for conservatives.

Okay now we're talking. 

I have been waiting for this day most of my life. Finally, liberals are finding their voice and standing up to be counted.

I remember when Ronald Reagan and "Moral Majority" turned the word "liberal" into a pejorative used to insult people who failed to recognize that America was the apple pie craving, Jesus Christ loving, red, white, and blue enshrouded, country that they believe God had made just for them.

And in our cowardice we failed to stand our ground. Instead we decided to call ourselves "progressives" as if that were going to distract the Right Wing from their constant attacks on everything we hold dear.

But it looks like finally liberals are going to their windows, flinging them open, and shouting "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

After all folks it is not the conservatives who move this country forward, with their death grip on the past and fear of change, it is the liberals, who are always looking forward and wondering what is just over the next hill, or waiting for us in the decades to come.

Does anybody really believe that the Founding Fathers were conservatives? I mean come on, what is more progressive than starting your own country?

No my friends, if you are a liberal, now is the time to stand up tall and straight and have the courage of your convictions.

And if you need further inspiration just look to the young people all around us, who overwhelmingly self identify as liberal, and who seem unaffected by the self doubts that plagued their parents and grandparents.

These millenials know that the future is theirs to shape, and they are already preparing to do so.

And if my own daughter serves as an indication as to where they are taking us, trust me they have ideas so progressive that it will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand straight up.

Personally I am more than ready for what is to come. But then again, I NEVER stopped wearing my liberal badge with pride.

Dear future generations, sorry.

That young man is Prince Ea, an American rapper and activist.

Here is some excerpts courtesy of the Daily Kos:  

"Dear Future Generations, I think I speak for the rest of us when I say, 'Sorry.' Sorry that we left you with a mess of a planet. Sorry that we were so caught up in our own doings - to do something." 

"Let me tell you, trees are amazing. We literally breathe the air they are creating They clean up our pollution, our carbon, store and purify our water, give us medicine that cures our disease, food that feeds us…" 

"I'm sorry that we put profits above people, greed above need, the rule of gold above the Golden Rule. I'm sorry we used nature as a credit card with no spending limit…" 

"Hey Fox News, If you don't think climate change is a threat, I dare you to interview the thousands of homeless people in Bangladesh. See while you were in your penthouse nestled, their homes were literally washed away beneath their feet due to the rising sea levels." 

"And Sarah Palin. You said you loved the smell of fossil fuels. Well, I urge you to talk to the kids of Beijing who are forced to wear pollution masks just to go to school." 

"Cut the beat." 

"I'm not sorry. This future, I do not accept it. Because an error does not become a mistake, until you refuse to correct it."

And they say our millennials are lazy and uninvolved.

Go ahead tell that to this young man. 

Kind of telling that he felt the need to call out Fox News and Sarah Palin specifically don't you think?

Teens sue politicians for not protecting the planet from climate change. Awesome!

Courtesy of HuffPo: 

For politicians who fail to act on climate change, Kelsey Juliana has a few words. 

"I want to remind them that we are their employer," said Juliana, 18, a native of Eugene, Oregon, and freshman at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. "The government works for us. If you're not doing your job, then I'm going to call you out on it." 

Those aren't idle words, either. Juliana is a plaintiff in a potentially precedent-setting court case against Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) and the state. She and co-plaintiff Olivia Chernaik, 14, claim that their government isn't doing enough to protect its current and future citizens from the devastating effects of climate change. 

Pre-trial motions were filed in circuit court Jan. 9 and argument on the motions has been scheduled for March. 

"This could be a landmark decision on the question: Does government, as trustee over our essential natural resources, have to protect it from carbon pollution and the impacts of climate disruption?" said Julia Olson, executive director of the nonprofit Our Children's Trust, and originator of a suite of youth-led lawsuits since 2011.

It's their planet, and if we fail to act now we are leaving them with possibly cataclysmic problems to deal with in the future.

Seems legit to me. 

The political power of the religious Right is coming to an end, and we have the Millenials to thank for that.

Courtesy of The Guardian:

Even in the deep South, the Republican base of white evangelical Christians is shrinking – and in some traditional conservative redoubts like Arkansas, Georgia and Kentucky, it’s declined as a percentage of the population by double digits. Even Alabama is becoming less Christian. Meanwhile, there’s been a corresponding increase in the religiously unaffiliated, who tend to vote more Democratic. 

While the effect on evangelicals is new, the general pattern isn’t. The Catholic church, the largest single religious denomination in America, was the first to feel the pinch. Church leaders and Catholic apologists have been fretting for years over the problem of aging and shrinking congregations, declining attendance at Mass and fewer people signing up to become priests or nuns – although their proposals for how to solve the problem all consist of tinkering around the edges, or insisting that they need to try harder to convince people to believe as they do. 

America’s next-largest denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, held out a bit longer but has now come down with the same affliction. Membership has been declining for the last several years – to the point where half of SBC churches will close their doors by 2030 if current trends persist. And as with the Catholic church, the SBC defenders with the biggest platforms have insisted that they don’t need to change anything if they just double down on their existing policies and pray harder for revival. 

What’s driving the steady weakening of Christianity? The answer, it would seem, is demographic turnover. 

The so-called millennials (Americans born between 1982 and 2000) are far more diverse, educated and tolerant than their predecessors. They’re also the least religious generation in American history – they’re even getting less religious as they get older, which is unprecedented – and the majority of them identify Christianity as synonymous with harsh political conservatism. 

As older, more religious generations fade away and younger generations replace them, the societal midpoint shifts. And this trend is going to accelerate in coming years, because the millennial generation is big. They’re even bigger than the baby boomers.

You know the main focus of this blog has never been about Sarah Palin, she actually came along four years after I started it. It has always been about taking down the Religious Right and destroying their stranglehold on our politics.

Remember back in 2004, when The Immoral Minority came to be, George W. Bush had just won his second term in office, we were in the middle of two unnecessary wars, the Evangelicals had insinuated themselves into every facet of government and the military, and secularism was under assault from all directions.

As an Atheist it is no exaggeration to say that I was terrified about the direction we were headed, and what that meant for my daughter and the future of this country.

It is for that reason that I have worked so hard to reveal the ugly truth about the Evangelicals chosen star of 2008, and what she demonstrates about the hypocrisy of that politically powerful group.

In fact Sarah Palin has been incredibly helpful in revealing much of the sordid underbelly of politics and religion in America.  Her fake pregnancy to attract the pro-life folks, her fake Christianity to attract the Bible thumpers, her fake conservatism to attract the Reagan-ites, have all been revealed on this blog and many, many others.

And through those revelations we have also been able to get a look inside the true agenda of the Right Wing which is to use the easily deceived religious folks to amass great power and influence, and then use that to essentially line their own pockets at the expense of those who trusted them and bought into their line of bullshit.

That is why I am such a fan of the Millenials. THEY are the result of greater access to information on the internet. THEY are the result of the Religious Right's power grabs. And THEY are the what we need to break the grip of ignorance and superstition, and to move toward greater enlightenment and a better understanding of our place in the universe, and our responsibilities here on this planet.

And boy am I glad they are here, for it is not a moment too soon.

I swear this is the creepiest message from a pastor begging Millenials to come back to church that you will read all day.

Courtesy of Patheos:  

Dear Millennials, 

I know it’s kind of creepy. We want to know where you live, and what classes you take in school (and how much you pay for it). We want to know where you drink coffee; who you date and for how long; what you read, where you spend your money, and what you GIVE your money to; what kind of relationship you have with your parents, how far you wander from home, and how often you go back there. We want to see the depths of your soul, and then we want to take you out for a local craft beer. (You like that, right??) 

And for the love of all that is holy, we want to know why you left us?? Why did you leave the church? Why? Were we not sexy enough for you? Not smart enough? Too needy? Is it something we said? We can be better! Just give us another chance. 

We know. We’re like the bad ex who just can’t quit you. We are the Facebook trolls who want to like everything you like and then tear you apart when we disagree with your politics or your spending habits. We know it. We see it in ourselves. And we are sorry. 

The thing is, we are scared. We are afraid, now that you’ve dumped us, that no one will ever love us again. The generations before you—X and Y—staged pretty massive exoduses (exodi?) on their own. But you…well, we’ve never seen the likes of your kind of leaving. It is epic. It is destructive. It is breaking our hearts.

The author, one  Rev. Erin Wathen who is the Senior Pastor of Saint Andrew Christian Church, then goes on to admit that if the church loses the Millenials that they will have no shot at the children of the Millenials, which kind of makes this incredibly creepy plea even MORE creepy.

She then identifies that the problem is not with the young people, but with the church itself and promises to change.

However I must say, keeping with the whole "ex-lover" theme, that I had a girlfriend make me the same assurances. Not only did she not change, but she got even more clingy and scarier to be around.

I think this is rather amazing, and wonderful news. The idea that churches in this country might really be about to take a major hit when it comes to attendance numbers and monetary support, can only mean good things for the nation going forward.