Has Trump Joined Westboro Baptist Church?

Donald Trump has decided to publicly insult the LGBT community; specifically, those who serve in all branches of the military. He announced a ban on transgender people serving, even after supporting gay marriage, over the years. So why the sudden shift? Has the Donald taken his "strong Christian" stance to Kansas, and joined one of the Christian congregations there, such as New Hope Baptist Church in Seneca, Kansas, led by Reverend Curtis Knapp, or perhaps Westboro Baptist Church?

In other news, Donald Trump donated $130,000 to Faith Among Nations, a shell corporation created by the late Rev. Fred Phelps, of Westboro Baptist Church, suspected of quietly funneling money into the church to pay church salaries.

Abbie Hoffman Moment

In Case You Slept Through Church This Sunday

The First For Riley County Kansas

Congratulations to the first gay couple in Riley County, Kansas to marry! Today was a very special day for Joleen Hickman and Darci Bohnenblust. Despite the ongoing efforts of a small number of Republican officials who pander to a larger number under socialized morons, who live in Kansas, to deny civil rights to some citizens while fully granting them to others, Joleen and Darci were married in Manhattan, Kansas this morning. Such equality, here in Kansas, of all places!

In Case You Missed Church On Sunday

Ah yes, Oklahoma, the ten commandments, and the impending erection of Satan! Well, Baphomet.....Satan and Baphomet are two entirely different entities, but the point being made by the Satanic Temple is still very valid. In 2012, Oklahoma inserted the ten commandments on the lawn of their capital building, showing obvious favor to Christianity. When asked about displaying symbols of other religions, Oklahoma refused. The state also refused to remove it's statue of the ten commandments. Now, with a win in the Supreme Court, assisted by the ACLU, Lucien Greaves, of the Satanic Temple, commissioned the creation of a statue of Baphomet to also sit on the lawn of the capital building in Oklahoma. If the ten commandments does not disappear, the statue of Baphoment, according to the court's ruling, must also be given a place. Since the ten commandments is still there, Greaves has announced that the statue is nearly complete, and that there are copies of it in case Oklahoma Christians do that Christian thing of which so many of them are fond, and vandalize the statue. It's comforting to know that the Satanic Temple has our backs when state governments try to decide which church we should all attend, and it's nice to know that the ACLU is still willing to go on the defense for us, even in the Midwest, which seems to be the land of misplaced ethnocentrism.

Some Things To Remember

Lets not forget who we are, and what's going on.

Kansas House Bill 2453

The Kansas House of Representatives voted to legalize hate and hate fueled discrimination on February 12. They, mostly republicans, voted to pass a bill that was written to enable any business, church, or government agency to deny service to any gay person. Under the thin veil of "not officiating a same sex wedding", Kansas congressmen decided to send legislation to the Senate which would, if signed into law, allow hospitals the right to refuse to treat anyone they decide to call "gay" and police to ignore, rather than protect, anyone they deem "gay". Schools will have leeway, under this law, to torment and expel students who do not conform properly to the Kansas hate-filled rubber-stamped model of open-legged Christianity. What's next, "white's only" water fountains and rest rooms? Here's what Sharon Schwartz, representing the part of Northeast Kansas that includes Marshall County contributed, along with her vote of "Yea" on HB 2453:

MR. SPEAKER: One of the founding principles of our country, inscribed in the First
Amendment, is the right of the people to be led by their conscience and follow their
own deeply held religious convictions without fear of penalty or reprisal. Because of that,
I vote YES on HB 2453.--

CONNIE O'BRIEN, TRAVIS COUTURE-LOVELADY, WILLIE DOVE,

RONALD W. RYCKMAN, SR., BRETT HILDABRAND, JERRY LUNN, JOE EDWARDS, CRAIG
MCPHERSON, RANDY GARBER, RICHARD CARLSON, LESLIE OSTERMAN, WILL CARPENTER, KEVIN
JONES, ALLAN ROTHLISBERG, JOE SEIWERT, SHARON SCHWARTZ, KEN CORBET, RON HIGHLAND,
AMANDA GROSSERODE

Just last week, I wrote a post on this site about a New York man who murdered two women, claiming that they were Witches. He was "led by his conscience and following his own deeply held convictions" at the time he committed the murders. Is this what Sharon Schwartz wants in Northeast Kansas? It really doesn't matter what she wants, inasmuch as I am concerned. Because of her vote in favor of discrimination, violence, and hate, I will never vote for her again.

Separation Of Communication And State

Moving from the analog world to the digital world has left some loose ends in national and global communications which, instead of protecting, the United States government has exploited. Separation of Church and State is not respected or guarded carefully enough; and now it is time to write and enact legislation about the separation of communication and State! Most Americans do not thoroughly understand their fourth amendment rights, and that apparently, is by design. Schools need to return to actual teaching, and demand that students learn before graduating, and citizens need to understand their rights when communications have been intercepted unlawfully and abused. Has anyone gotten around to questioning what might be the government's keen interest in carrying out such abuses?

How To File An Official Complaint About Laura Johnson McNish

Laura Johnson McNish is the county attorney for Marshall County, Kansas. During the past three years that she has served in this post, she has violated the civil rights and personal rights of many Kansas citizens and has ignored the law, favoring bullying tactics over courtroom skill. Verbal complaints about her performance can be found and heard all over Marshall County, but quite a few citizens do not realize that they can file a complaint, very easily, with the Kansas Bar Association. Here is a link to the official Complaint Form provided by the Kansas Bar Association. It is easy to fill out, and when you are finished, all you have to do is print it, sign it, and send the hard copy via snail mail to:
            

              Kansas Bar Association,
              Stanton A. Hazlatt,
              Disciplinary Administrator,
              701 Jackson Street, 1st Floor
              Topeka, Kansas, 66603-3729

Complaints, especially in large numbers, are taken very seriously by state bar associations. Anyone who writes a letter when an official abuses authority is doing the rest of the community a favor. No one should have to suffer injustice, justice denied, or abuses of a prosecuting attorney. Also, a prosecutor should not use the time and resources of the taxpayers for personal revenge, while the actual needs of the taxpayers get ignored. Writing a letter of complaint to the Bar Association does not confer a negative label to the writer, it simply means that the writer cares about community, and wishes to correct inbalence within the government structure, such as it is.

Sheriff Arpaio Must Report To A Monitor

This is too funny! Sheriff Arpaio, from Arizona, who makes prisoners wear pink underwear and hates people who demand that he respect their civil rights, has been found guilty of unlawfully profiling people of Latin descent. So Judge Murry Snow is going to make Arpaio report to a monitor every month or so, in order to ensure that he is not violating the civil rights of Arizona citizens, or anyone else passing through the state. We have probation officers, DWI monitors, and hall monitors, and now Sheriff Arpaion will have his own monitor. According to his attorney, he is not happy about this either, but since he has been ordered by a judge to report to a monitor, and since he claims to be all about law and order, he should really just shut up and cooperate. The judge apparently does not trust the sheriff to remember that this is America, and that the Constitution was not written for only a select few, but for all Americans. This is actually a great idea; possibly the best law enforcement idea since making prisoners wear pink! I'll bet the sheriff never thought that he could be profiled lawfully by Karma!

Turnabout's Fair Play?

It seems that instead of making progress, since the Civil Rights Movement, America has been losing it's grip on it's understanding of the Constitution. Not only do we deliberately fail to teach children about the Constitution in school, (no joke, Kansas; the principal of the school in Frankfort, Kansas told yours truly that he purposefully did NOT teach, or allow the teachers to teach, any student about first or fourth amendment rights) we pay law enforcement to bully innocent citizens, we allow unnecessary surveillance, and now our judicial community uses the lag between the average person's understanding of the digital world and the analog world as an excuse to make examples of information "leakers", such as Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning, accusing them of treason, and attempting to punish them with sanctions that are not even imposed on serial killers. Did we threaten Nixon and et els with decades in prison, or cancel his passport? Revealing information that is contractually held in confidence is breach of contract, but generally not high treason, yet John McCain is fuming because Russia has granted a year's asylum to Edward Snowden. Has McCain forgotten how many Russians either defected, or attempted to defect, to the United States? Not that they did not have reasons for this, but McCain seems to almost deliberately overlook Snowden's perspective, Putin's possible perspective, and Russia's perspective.

If all of the increased surveillance had put a dent in human trafficking, or had actually stopped a terrorist or a school shooting, it might seem like a worthy sacrifice of Americans' rights, but instead; violence has only increased with the amplified spying. Rather than jump to punish the young people who spilled the information about NSA and Prism into collective awareness, have Americans stopped to ponder exactly with whom NSA and Prism intended to share the collected data?
 

Advice Concerning Police And Civil Rights

This was shared on Facebook this morning. There's a lot here, so I just shared it as a picture. I would only add a few things. If the police stop anyone, not only do you have the right to photograph and document everything you see, you also have the right to video the encounter. Quite a few police officers do not yet understand this. We have a police officer with Marshall County, Kansas who will even grab telephones, both landlines and cell phones, out of the hands of bystanders to stop children from calling parents and to stop neighbors from calling babysitters and relatives when children are left by themselves as the result of an arrest. In addition to not consenting to any warrantless search of your person or possessions, I would advise that you carry as little personal information on your person as possible. Do not carry you social security card in your wallet, but leave it in a safe place at home. You do not have to give your social security number to law enforcement; cops are not loan officers.....they do NOT need that information for anything! Just tell them you do not remember the number. Only carry one form of identification. If you have a passport, drivers' license, and other types of ID, you only need to have one in your wallet at a time. The less information had about you by law enforcement, the safer you will be. Concerning law enforcement and the rest of the current judicial community, it is best to live among them as in surrounded.