"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..."

"no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

Technically, neither party should be using religion for anything. Religion is supposed to be separate from the state. Our founders said this, our bill of rights backs it up, and that is the way it should have been.

Unfortunately, it seeps in. In God We Trust was never on money until a reverend asked that it be added to the two cent piece during the civil war. It didn't appear on paper money until the 1950's when President Dwight Eisenhower on July 30, 1956, declared "In God We Trust" must appear on American currency. It went on to be considered a side motto to E Pluribus Unum because of continued pressure.

Under God was not part of the pledge of allegiance until in 1954, at President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s urging, the Congress legislated that “under God” be added.

Both of these broke the guidelines set forth in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They should have never happened but religious Judges keep allowing them under the pretext of Accommodationism, in that as long as they don't specifically recognize or benefit a 'single' religion they can be considered to be OK. They shouldn't be allowed. Churches should have to pay taxes on profits. Priests should be held by the same laws the rest of us are held by. But because of religious fanatics, we allow the blending of church and state. Many would say, to our detriment.

It's not even as much that BLM disrupted the Pride parade, but that one of their demands was to ban the police from participating in the parade in the future. That's actively destroying years and years of hard fought progress to bring people together, and I can't fail to call that a bad thing. Again, I hope the US chapters are different in that much, and in many states there is also much more justified outrage against the police, which is very much unlike up here in Canada.

Canada's BLM held sit in protests demanding to meet with the chief of police and then repeatedly abandoned the meetings before they were supposed to happen. They then went on to condemn the police chief for having zero interest in protecting black civilians in Toronto. FYI, the chief of police of Toronto at the time was a black man.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/mark-saunders-police-black-lives-matter-1.3587533

A BLM toronto co-founder railed at how our Prime Minister, who makes Barack Obama look like very right -leaning, is a white supremacist terrorist. Rhetoric that just means absolutely nothing and looks like little more than gross false victimhood.

https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/nzd4px/black-lives-matter-toronto-called-justin-trudeau-a-white-supremacist-terrorist

And then for good measure another co-founder squeezed in a quarter million dollar 'overtime' payment on their last week with the University of Toronto's Student Union. When the Student Union sued to get that money back as their was no documentation justifying paying out that kind of money all of a sudden the Student Union were racists. Eventually the case was settled with an undiclosed amount returned.

https://thevarsity.ca/2017/07/31/the-breakdown-the-utsus-lawsuit-against-former-executive-director-sandy-hudson/


BLM Toronto has done enough harm I am pretty comfortable saying I oppose them. The goal of making race relations better is of course good. Correcting injustices is of course good. I just don't see that coming from a group taking the actions I've seen, IMO they are actively making things worse, not better.

Again, that is specific to up here in Canada, I can't imagine that the US chapters can be as bad without it having been all over the media where I couldn't miss it. That said, up here I would likely have altogether missed everything but the parade as well save for having personally witnessed a just disgusting racist attack on someone at a an event. That led me to discover the attacker was tied in with BLM Toronto and suddenly seeing that as perhaps not an entirely isolated event .

Odd somehow to think that the guy on the keyboard is the founder of Patreon.

But in a good way.

Probably? Try 100%. The scary thing is his supporters, the entire evangelical Christians, will walk lock and step with him all the way. They are 100% guaranteed to turn out in force in November 2018, so no Blue Wave, and they are guaranteed to show up in 2020 as well. He has 35% of the voting population that will support everything he ever does. Like he said, he could shoot somebody on live TV and wouldn't lose a vote. He's giving them everything they ever wanted. Everything. We'll be in a theocracy by the time his two terms are up, and then he may become President for life. And yet the liberals keep thinking that sooner or later, he'll trip up... he tries to order the Post Office to increase their rates specifically to Amazon because it's founder owns a newspaper that has said bad things about him, and now has ordered the Justice Department to carry an investigation into his political enemies. He doesn't understand the divisions and separation of power, he thinks being President is like being an owner and CEO of a major company. And the GOP will never do anything to stop him, again because he's got that 35% that is 100% guaranteed to follow him no matter what. He could appear on TV and say "I'm doing everything I can to undo that niger Obama's Presidency... and we all know there's a difference between a black person, like my friend Kanye, and a nigger like Obama" and they'd just say something like they don't share his opinion, but do nothing... he could follow through with his threat to shoot somebody, and they wouldn't care. There can be no overstating the dangers democracy is in right now in the country, that's how bad it is...

If this guy was in Britain he would be in jail already. Thank you founders for the first amendment.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/youtube-comedian-count-dankula-guilty-hate-speech-nazi-dog-video-145920581.html

From the YouTube link:

Guy Gets Inside A Chinese Click Farm And Holy Crap, That's A Lot Of Phones

​Turns out if you want to run a business where you rate a bunch of apps and write fake reviews, you can't just spoof having a bunch of phones — you actually need the phones. And so that's what we have here: a room full of phones relentlessly rating apps and writing BS reviews because everything in life (and particularly on the internet) is a lie.

A Russian man visited a Chinese click farm. They make fake ratings for mobile apps. He said they have 10,000 more phones.

A Russian Went Inside A Chinese Click-Farm: This Is What He Found

On the day when Snapchat erased billions of market cap from investors (and founders) accounts - as the MAUs-means-money model seems to break - we thought it worthwhile taking another glimpse into the hush-hush world of 'click-farms' and the fakeness of the latest social network fads.

So, if they're not human, where do all those "likes," "retweets," and "followers" lighting up your social media accounts from?

Thanks to this Russian gentleman - who visited a Chinese click farm, where they make fake ratings for mobile apps and other things like this - we now know...

He said they have 10,000 more phones just like these.

As we concluded previously, the bottom line is simple: "The illusion of a massive following is often just that," said Tony Harris, who does social media marketing for major Hollywood movie firms, said he would love to be able to give his clients massive numbers of Twitter followers and Facebook fans, but buying them from random strangers is not very effective or ethical. And once the prevailing users of social networks grasp that one of the main driving features of the current social networking fad du jour is nothing but a big cash scam operating out of a basement in the far east, expect both Facebook and shortly thereafter, Twitter, to go the way of 6 Degrees, Friendster and MySpace, only this time the bagholders will be the public. Because "it is never different this time." The only certain thing: someone will promptly step in to replace any social network that quietly fades into the sunset.

Inside China's phoney 'click farm': Tiny office uses 10,000 handsets to send fake ratings and 'likes' for boosting clients' online popularity.

"the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."-
Treaty of Tripoli- ratified by the United States Senate unanimously without debate on June 7, 1797, taking effect June 10, 1797, with the signature of the second U.S. President, John Adams.

Republicans have completely forgotten this basic tenet of American government and the ideals of the founders.

So far, 94 and counting…
94. James Levine – Iconic Artistic Director/Composer at the Metropolitan Opera House

Suspended over three allegations of child molestation.

93. Israel Horovitz – Playwright
Nine Allegations of sexual assault.

92. Geoffrey Rush – Oscar-Winner
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Resigned as the president of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts following allegations of “inappropriate behavior.”

91. Nick Carter – Former Backstreet Boy
Accused of rape.

90. John Lasseter – Top Disney Executive
Forced leave of absence after numerous accusations of harassment, unwanted kisses, groping.

89. Russell Simmons – Mogul

Multiple accusations of sexual assault.

88. Murray Miller – Girls Writer

Accused of rape.

87. Adam Fields – Producer

Multiple accusations of sexual harassment.

86. John Singleton – Director

Accused of sexual harassment.

85. Jason Mojica – Executive Producer Vice Documentary Films

Suspended over allegations of sexual misconduct.

84. Cameron Mitchell – CAA Agent

Accused of sexual harassment.

83. Sylvester Stallone – Actor, Director

Accused of the sexual assault of a 16 year-old girl.

82. Al Franken – Comedian, U.S. Senator

Groping, misconduct , bullying.

81. Matt Zimmerman – NBC Exec

Fired for sexual misconduct.

80. Andy Henry – Casting Employee

Accused of manipulating auditioning actresses to get undressed.

79. Benny Medina – Producer

Accused of attempted rape.

78. Peter Aalbæk Jensen – Co Founder of Zentropa

Harassment, bullying.

77. Eddie Berganza – Editor DC Comics

Accused of two decades of sexual misconduct.

76. Gary Goddard – Producer

Accused of child molestation.

75. Andrew Kreisberg – TV Producer

Suspended over allegations of misconduct.

75. Richard Dreyfuss – Actor, Activist

Accused of sexual misconduct.

74. George Takei – Actor, Activist

Accused of sexual assault.

73. Ethan Kath – Musician

Accusation of rape.

72. Matthew Weiner – Mad Men Creator

Accused of sexual harassment.

71. Robert Knepper – Actor

Accused of sexual assault.

70. Mariah Carey – Singer, Actress

Accused of sexual harassment.

69. Jeffrey Tambor – Emmy-Winning Actor

Accused of sexual harassment.

68. Ed Westick – Actor

Accused of rape.

67. Alec Baldwin – TV Actor

Bullying and sexist behavior towards women.

66. David Guillod – Co-CEO Primary Wave Entertainment

Alleged sexual assault.

65. Unnamed Director

Alleged sexual harassment.

64. Adam Venit – Powerful Talent Agent

Suspended for allegedly groping Terry Crews.

63. NBCUniversal

Targeted in lawsuit over “inappropriate gender-based, sexual comments”

62. Kirt Webster – CEO Country Music Firm Webster PR

Multiple allegations of sexual harassment, assaulting and drugging a client.

61. Ryan Ly – CAA Agent

Fired over multiple allegations from female staffers, including groping.

60. Erik Horine – ICM Agent

Fired for “inappropriate behavior.”

59. John Grissom – Actor

Accused of molesting Corey Feldman.

58. Danny Masterson – Actor

Four accusations of rape.

57. David Corn – Reporter, Actor

Accusations of sexual touching of female staffers, rape jokes

56. Brett Ratner – Director, Powerhouse Producer Behind RatPac Entertainment

Multiple accusations of sexual assault, harassment.

55. Dustin Hoffman – Oscar-Winning Actor

Accused of sexual misconduct, groping of 17 year-old actress.

54. Jeremy Piven – Emmy Award Winning TV Star

Accused of sexually assaulting an actress.

53. Hamilton Fish – Documentary Film Producer

Suspended over allegations of sexual harassment.

52. Andy Dick – Actor/Comedian

Fired over allegations of sexual harassment, groping.

51. Warner Bros.

Allegations of sexual harassment by former producer.

50. Andrew Kramer – Lionsgate Executive

Resigned due to allegations of sexual harassment.

Want to cut down the number of deaths by firearms? Stop tolerating shit like this:

"Shane Patrick Boyle, a founder of Zine Fest Houston, died on March 18 after his GoFundMe campaign to pay for insulin came up $50 short. Alec Raeshawn Smith, age 26, was found dead in his apartment on June 27. He was rationing his insulin after he aged out of his parent’s insurance coverage."

After everything is said and done, desperation/poverty is what should be looked at the hardest. Nothing makes people go apeshit as much as intolerable living conditions.

Universal background checks, bans on high cap mags, etc -- that's just doctoring around the edges. Get the Works Progress Administration going again. And while you're at it, revive the CCC and the PWA as well.

Aside from atrocious working hours and societal pressures, life in Japan is a lot less desperate than in most other countries. The low unemployment alone does wonders.

Why does he talk about the founders of our democracy as if they were the leaders of a theocratic oligarchy?

Here's a Canadian example:

http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/aly-hindy-salaheddin-islamic-centre

A mosque who's former founder has gone off to lead a team of Al Qaeda linked suicide bombers in Iraq. The mosque Ohmar Khadr's father brought their family to before relocating them to fight for Bin Laden in Pakistan. The mosque attended by the leaders of the largest terrorist ring Canada has broken up thus far. Other members have gone off to join terrorists in Somalia and Egypt.

The question of should we be setting up some manner of legal accountability for an organization that is clearly idealogically supporting these things isn't a clear and obvious, nope, nothing can be done. At least not any more than nope, nothing can be done is clearly the answer to the Vegas shootings.

I don't think zerohedge is a reputable source.
Why wasn't this found before the event., not that there's anything odd about looking for photographers at a KKK/Nazi rally. Of course you would want them to be comfortable participating in protests, you have to be to get decent photos of them.

Zerohedge : In April 2016, the authors writing as "Durden" on the website were reported by Bloomberg News to be Ivandjiiski, Tim Backshall (a credit derivatives strategist), and Colin Lokey. Lokey, the newest member revealed himself and the other two when he left the site. Ivandjiiski confirmed that the three men "had been the only Tyler Durdens on the payroll" since Lokey joined the site in 2015. Former Zero Hedge writer Colin Lokey said that he was pressured to frame issues in a way he felt was "disingenuous," summarizing its political stances as "Russia=good. Obama=idiot. Bashar al-Assad=benevolent leader. John Kerry=dunce. Vladimir Putin=greatest leader in the history of statecraft." Zero Hedge founder Daniel Ivandjiiski, in response, said that Lokey could write "anything and everything he wanted directly without anyone writing over it." On leaving, Lokey said: "I can't be a 24-hour cheerleader for Hezbollah, Moscow, Tehran, Beijing, and Trump anymore. It's wrong. Period. I know it gets you views now, but it will kill your brand over the long run. This isn't a revolution. It's a joke."

I don't want my upvote of your comment to be assumed to be a specific accusation against @bobknight33 of saying things that are that blatantly racist, but for the average Trump supporter, that mindset seems true. Most aren't as blatantly racist as that in public, some are, but it is at least a thought seemingly present in the subconscious of the majority of them, and is absolutely a thought not abhorrent enough to denounce for all but a select few.

For the rest, just change to "classless libtard snowflake doesn't know how to act right, can't wait till we finally get a classy hyper Christian conservative back in the white house"...or any other dismissive insult that allows them to believe in their fantasy world.

Remember, Obama wasn't just invalid as our president because he's black, but also Kenyan, a Muslim, the founder of Daesh, and part/leader of a child slavery pizza ring, etc...... ;-)

The tiny hands stuff has an interesting history though, I like spy magazine's original framing as "short -fingered vulgarian, Donald Trump". The sole reason this trolling has gone on for 30 years is he reacts to it in such amusingly childish ways.

http://www.npr.org/2016/03/07/469209254/decades-later-spy-magazine-founders-continue-to-torment-trump

Still glad the founders of the "beer of kings" stayed home in Budweis.