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Jamie Reece Moore #racist rawstory.com

A South Carolina man was arrested for threatening students who have been protesting at Clemonson University over diversity issues.

Jamie Reece Moore, 21, also a student at the university, was arrested for posting the threats on the social media platform Yik Yak, WBTW reports. He was charged with unlawful use of a telephone.

According to the station, Moore posted the following comments, among others.

“What time is the lynch mob tomorrow? I got a couple hundred feet of rope”
“Let’s do to the Clemson protesters what Ohio did to the Kent State student protesters 40 years ago”
“Drive by at Sikes?”
Slave auction tomorrow morning at 8am @ Sikes Hall. Lots of good protest workers. Get them while they’re mad!!!”
“So have they started lynching protesters yet?”

Moore is currently free on bond.

Students have been protesting what the Associated Press called a “quiet racial schism” on campus, with only 6 percent of the student body being black in a state where a third of the population is African American.

Students have been holding sit-ins and protests on the campus — the core of which was built by slaves. The tensions boiled over when rotting bananas were hung from an African-American history banner.

“We go through classes, we see each other on a daily basis, we exchange smiles thinking we are all treating one another as equals. But to see the post on Yik Yak talking about lynchings — to me it is just ignorant,” African-American student Brendan Standifer said.

Odalis Sharp #fundie rawstory.com

Five children who entertained armed militants earlier this year at an Oregon standoff waited until their mother took a shower before grabbing her guns and seeking refuge from her alleged abuse.

The children, who perform as the Sharp Family Singers at right-wing demonstrations, got a ride from a neighbor Friday and went to the sheriff’s office — where they detailed their allegations of beatings and other abuse, reported the Kansas City Star.

They testified Wednesday during a 2 1/2-hour hearing in Shawnee County that their mother, Odalis Sharp, beat them several times a week with a rod and belt, shoved soap in their mouths, called them names and slapped their faces and private parts.

A social worker also testified that Sharp refused to cooperate during a neglect investigation earlier this year and then during a follow-up report of emotional and physical abuse.

“They said it’s typical to always receive some type of bruising and other times have bled from the swats,” the social worker testified. “The children told me they were fearful. They did not want to return to their mother.”

A sheriff’s deputy testified that one boy who fled told investigators that his mother had beaten one sibling until the child’s nose bled — and continued to beat the child.

“He described a spanking that consisted of 47 swats,” the deputy testified. “He described that after 27 spankings, the child started to bleed from the nose, and 20 more spanks occurred after that.”

Sharp admitted to using a rod to punish her children.

“A lot of my friends know that I use a rod,” Sharp testified. “That is not a secret.”

Their father, who divorced the children’s mother in 2012 and now lives in Denver, cried during their testimony, and a judge found probable cause to place seven of Sharp’s 10 children into temporary custody of the Kansas Department of Children and Families.

Sharp, who was arrested Friday but not charged in connection with an assault on a law enforcement officer serving an eviction notice, angrily denied the allegations of abuse outside the court hearing.

“We need to turn to God, because the system is corrupt,” Sharp said. “They lie, they twist, they make false charges, they abuse people, and then they turn around and put people in prison, and then they accuse them of abuse.”

That’s pretty much what Sharp said the last time one of her children was removed from her care and placed into protective custody over previous abuse allegations.

Sharp said her son, then 15, had run away from home because he was unhappy with “the right, wholesome and pure path in which I was leading him — in which God was leading us.”

The single mother of 10 dragged seven of her children to the Malheur National Wildlife Preserve, where they sang patriotic and religious songs for the armed militants who took over the federally owned land and refused to leave until their anti-government demands were met.

Many of those militants have been arrested on a variety of federal charges, and Sharp’s daughter, Victoria Sharp, witnessed the FBI fatal shooting of militant rancher LaVoy Finicum.

The 18-year-old Sharp has become a right-wing celebrity after accusing federal agents of “murdering” Finicum as he attempted to surrender — although many of her claims are not supported by video and other evidence.

The mother claimed she was being punished by the government.

“The federal government hates us right now, because my daughter is a primary witness of a murder they committed,” Odalis Sharp said. “And so what do they do? They want the Sharp family out, and so they divide and conquer.”

“They don’t listen to the truth,” she added. “There is no truth.”

Vaughn Ohlman #fundie rawstory.com

John Calvin defines the “flower of her age” (1 Corinthians 7:36) as “from twelve to twenty years of age”. Likewise, John Gill defines it as “one of twelve years and a half old”. And Martin Luther says, “A young man should marry at the age of twenty at the latest, a young woman at fifteen to eighteen—” We do not endorse marriage at ages as young as twelve. Our position is that, for a woman:

1. The ‘youth’ ready for marriage has breasts. A woman who is to be married is one who has breasts; breasts which signal her readiness for marriage, and breasts who promise enjoyment for her husband. (We believe that ‘breasts’ here stand as a symbol for all forms of full secondary sexual characteristics.)

2. The ‘youth’ ready for marriage is ready to bear children. Unlike modern society Scripture sees the woman as a bearer, nurser, and raiser of children. The ‘young woman’ is the woman whose body is physically ready for these things, physically mature enough to handle them without damage.

3. The ‘youth’ ready for marriage is one who is ready for sexual intercourse sexually and emotionally. Her desire is for her husband, and she is ready to rejoice in him physically.

(...)

[W]e know from scientific studies (as well as first-hand knowledge, in many cases) that the fertility of women (and even men, to some extent) goes down steadily after the age of 20, and dips even more sharply after 30 and 40. This is even more the case if a woman has reached such an age without having had any children yet. So, by reason of these facts, it is clear that it is best to marry much earlier than 30 to better fulfill the command to be “fruitful and multiply”.

(...)

Scripture speaks of the father of the son “taking a wife” for his son, and the father of the bride “giving” her to her husband—. It gives example after example of young women being given to young men, without the young woman even being consulted, and often, in some of the most Godly marriages in Scripture, the young man is not consulted—.

Some use the idea of “consent” to deny the very relevance of the action of their authorities to bind them in covenant, as if a covenant was of no effect whatsoever and all that matters is what the person themselves decide. Others consider a covenant to be something substantial but that it is not really binding until the person themselves “consents”.

In contrast, our study of Scripture has shown that the Word of God considers a covenant made by an authority to be meaningful and binding upon the those under his or her authority. Biblical consent is not the “consent” of dating or courtship. It is not a “veto” power. It does not presume to cast judgment over their father’s actions. And so, a lack of consent of the individual concerned is a choice of disobedience, a breach of a vow and of a relationship. God has designed the marriage relationship (in particular that of the virgin daughter marrying the virgin son) to be a relationship initiated by the parents, in particular the fathers, of the young couple. This is the example that God uses constantly in Scripture, and even where an example strays from this, these principles are still kept in focus.

(...)

Bride price: What is it, and why is it important? Wouldn’t a bride price be like selling your daughter? A “bride price” is anything paid or given by the man or his representative at the time of his betrothal or receiving his bride.

Scripture certainly teaches about it, but it is not mandated, however, except in the case of a couple of laws. The law concerning bride price (Exodus 22:16-17) indicates that part of the punishment for fornication with an unbetrothed woman is the payment of a “standard” bride price for virgins, indicating that the bride price was a normal part of the marriage process.

The bride price plays a significant function: It shows the woman’s value, and the point isn’t that the father gets the money but that he keeps it for his daughter, if her husband should ever abandon her

Rep. Tila Hubrecht #fundie rawstory.com

A Missouri Republican called pregnancy that results from rape a “silver lining,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

State Rep. Tila Hubrecht was speaking in favor of a potential ballot measure that, if approved by voters, would grant unborn fetuses the same constitutional rights as American citizens.

“It is not up to us to say ‘no just because there was a rape, they cannot exist,’” Hubrecht said, during debate on the matter. “Sometimes bad things happen — horrible things, but sometimes God can give us a silver lining through the birth of a child.”

The measure would amend the state constitution by asking voters to “protect pregnant women and unborn children by recognizing that an unborn child is a person with a right to life which cannot be deprived by state or private action without due process and equal protection of law.”

Opponents say the results could be banning abortion in cases of rape or when the life of the mother is in jeopardy, and could also include outlawing of contraception.

Hubrecht also said she had complications during the birth of one of her children and had made the doctor promise to save the baby’s life even if it meant she would lose her own.

“When God gives life, he does so because there’s a reason, no matter what,” she said. “I’ve met and talked with the different people who have been conceived by rape. There is a reason for their life.”

Sheriff Pamela Elliott #fundie rawstory.com

A so-called “constitutional” sheriff is accused of intimidating Democrats and Latinos in her Texas county — which has been thrown into political turmoil since her 2012 election.

Sheriff Pamela Elliott has created an atmosphere of paranoia in Edwards County that causes her opponents to gather fearfully in “safe houses” to air their complaints, reported Alex Hannaford for the Texas Observer.

Elliott is a member of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA), a right-wing coalition that encourages members to disobey laws they don’t think are constitutional.

She put out a “standby order for volunteers” during the 2014 standoff at Bundy ranch, which was supported by CSPOA co-founder Richard Mack — a former Arizona sheriff who suggested the anti-government militants use women and children as human shields during the armed confrontation with federal agents over unpaid grazing fees.

Elliott appears on the cover of Mack’s 2014 book, Are You A David?, which promotes his right-wing, anti-government agenda.

Hannaford found few Edwards County residents who were willing to be quoted by name out of fear the sheriff would retaliate.

“I’ve been told to install a camera in my vehicle just in case something happens,” said one man, who would not allow his name to be used in print. “People here, officials included, are very wary of the sheriff.”

Some of the sheriff’s opponents who agreed to be named told Hannaford tales of intimidation and retribution by the sheriff and her allies.

Local Democrats, who are greatly outnumbered in the county, said Elliott pushed her way into one of the party’s executive committee meetings in 2014, as an “angry mob” of county employees and the sheriff’s supporters waited outside a private home where the meeting took place.

“I was shocked that she was in uniform but wasn’t doing anything to control the crowd, keep the peace, or protect them or us,” wrote Caroline Ramirez in a complaint filed with state officials. “She seemed to be encouraging the mob. I wanted to call someone, but I had no idea who I should call if the head of our law enforcement is part of the problem.”

David Velky, the superintendent of the county’s Rocksprings Independent School District, chafed at the sheriff’s efforts to involve law enforcement in school disciplinary matters — which he said made an enemy of Elliott.

The superintendent and Elliott have sparred verbally through the media, and Velky said the sheriff recently flagged down two school board members as they were driving and ordered them to vote against his contract renewal.

“This is while she’s in uniform,” Velky told Hannaford. “I try not to be a conspiracy theorist, but I concluded this person either has some innate dislike for me or mistrust.”

The superintendent said Elliott’s close relationship with Rick Light, the leader of the local Edwards Plateau Rangers militia group, causes him to fear for his physical safety.

Velky said he believes Elliott and Light are trying to take over county institutions so they can establish their own right-wing fiefdom.

“I believe the plan is to get rid of me and certain board members in order to take control of the school,” Velky said. “I think they want control over the hiring of the teachers and staff members. I think they want to be able to bypass the procedural safeguards of the law — to arrest people without the grand jury, to bring charges without consulting the district attorney, to decide who is on the grand jury.”

That laundry list of “posse comitatus” aims matches up with rhetoric promoted by Mack and acted out by Ammon Bundy and other anti-government extremists.

Elliott has attempted to impose her right-wing agenda by intimidating Latino voters and elected officials — including her September arrest of Mayor Pauline Gonzales on public corruption charges.

The mayor’s husband performed $4,500 in remodeling work for the city, and she was indicted on four counts of official misconduct — although Gonzales claims she did nothing wrong.

Elliott accused a former mayor, who is also Latino, of lowering the sewer rates for friends and family — a claim the former mayor said could be disproven.

Rachel Gallegos, the former mayor, said Elliott sent her deputies into polling places in Hispanic neighborhoods during the 2014 midterm elections — and she said the intimidation tactic worked on older voters.

“They just said ‘Oh, they’ll come after me — they’ll go after my children, my grandchildren, it’ll just cause trouble,’” Gallegos said. “The elderly are easily intimidated.”

Gallegos said she called Elliott to complain, and the sheriff said it was none of her business.

The sheriff’s office accused Gallegos’ niece of voter fraud in September, saying the 42-year-old Renee´ Gallegos-Johnson illegally voted in Edwards County, where she grew up, owns a home and plans to retire, despite working in Louisiana.

Gallegos-Johnson requested and received a voter registration ID from the county, and she said an attorney with the state attorney general’s office told her she had not committed any offense.

“I think my last name must have screamed so loudly that I caught her attention,” she said.

Elliott also has a history of arresting Hispanic suspects on flimsy evidence, as both sheriff and as a police in Maricopa County, Arizona — where CSPOA co-founder and “birther” conspiracy theorist Joe Arpaio serves as sheriff.

“That’s why the DA won’t take a lot of her cases — she’s a very intelligent woman and doesn’t want to go to court and have the cases thrown out,” said Jay Adams, who worked for decades in the Edwards County Sheriff’s Office.

Adams told Hannaford the evidence that led to four arrests in a cold case murder was ridiculous, and those charges were eventually thrown out.

“I read the affidavit and it’s written on an almost eighth-grade level,” Adams said. “You can tell it wouldn’t float.”

Elliott is running for re-election in November, but she faces a tough Democratic challenger in fellow military veteran Jon Harris — as well as a possible campaign finance violation.

She’s accused of illegally accepting campaign contributions and making campaign expenditures to herself before appointing a campaign treasurer — but she’s carrying on with a Sarah Palin-esque appeal to voters.

“It’s no secret that I do not conform with any scripted expectations of ‘the political game’ when serving as your Sheriff,” Elliott said in a campaign ad. “I will continue to serve as an Army Reserve Officer, a mother, a sister, a neighbor who is loyal to the Lord in a position that should not be politicized but as so scripted in the bible: ‘Do not pervert justice or show partiality.’”

Unnamed woman #racist rawstory.com

A Washington, D.C. Muslim woman says she was attacked by a Donald Trump supporter while sitting outside a coffee shop, WJLA reports.

The woman, who did not give her name, is African-American and wears the hijab, a head covering that devout Muslim women wear. She told WJLA she was sitting outside a Starbucks on April 21. Police have since released surveillance footage that shows the woman yelling in the victim’s face, then returning with a bottle of liquid and dousing her.

“A Caucasian lady with blond hair walked right past me,” she told the station. “Then as soon as she sat down she started talking about me. Saying ‘F-ing Muslim. Trash, worthless piece of Muslim trash. You all need to go back to where you came from.”

The woman was able to record a brief video, on which the attacker can be heard saying, “You’re a terrorist. So stupid.”

According to a video released by MyNews4, the woman is wanted for simple assault.

The victim says the attacker said she supports GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.

“She says if Donald Trump wins the nomination I’m going to vote for him so he can send all of you all back to where you came from,” she told WJLA.

The victim called 911, but the officer responded and told her there was nothing he could do about “words.”

After the officer left, the woman told WJLA the assailant returned with a bottle of fluid and poured it on her.

“She came around and took out a water bottle and poured the contents over my head and all over me,” she told the station. It didn’t burn my skin or anything, but it had a strange smell to it.”

She said that while she has lived in her neighborhood for six years, the incident left her “more nervous than ever.”

Everett Corley #racist rawstory.com

A Republican congressional candidate plans to ask a judge for a restraining order to stop the removal of a Confederate memorial on the campus of the University of Louisville.

Everett Corley — a real estate agent, GOP candidate and would-be Donald Trump delegate — announced he would file a temporary restraining order Monday in Jefferson Circuit Court to stop Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and U of L President James Ramsey from dismantling the controversial memorial, reported the Courier-Journal.

“It is a political version of book burning,” Corley told the newspaper. “And the fact is, I’m not in favor of book burning.”

Fisher and Ramsey announced Friday they would remove the 121-year-old memorial, which sits on city-owned property on the university campus and has attracted student complaints for years.

Corley, who is running in a three-way GOP primary for the chance to challenge Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth, said he would file the restraining order on grounds that it caused irreparable harm to himself and the community.

“This will, in our view, detract and damage the entire cultural history of Louisville and its residents,” he said.

Corley filed a criminal complaint and lawsuit against the executive director of the Jefferson County GOP, who he accused of assaulting him in March outside a party meeting.

The candidate told police that Byron Fisher “violently grabbed my right arm and pushed me with the other hand, suddenly and without provocation.”

The 48-year-old Corley, who provided a copy of the complaint to the Courier-Journal, said the incident made him “extremely anxious and (his) blood pressure increased to dangerous levels.”

Party Chairman Jim Stansbury said he witnessed the incident, and he said Corley’s claims were overheated and exaggerated.

Stansbury said Fisher put his hands up to block Corley from entering a private office, and he said the party official may have touched the candidate — who strongly reacted to the contact.

“He started yelling, ‘Don’t you touch me. Don’t touch me. That’s criminal assault,’” Stansbury said. “There was nothing that raised it to that level other than in Everett’s mind.”

It’s not clear that Corley ever served Fisher with the complaint.

The lawsuit accused Fisher and the GOP of breach of contract for collecting $5 in fees to allow him to participate in the delegate process but would not allow him to become a delegate from the district of his choice.

Corley, who backs Donald Trump in the GOP presidential election, changed his voter registration earlier this year from the 28th legislative district to the 43rd legislative district.

His lawsuit asks for compensatory and punitive damages.

Corley, who has previously run for office under the name Corley Everett but has since changed it for family reasons, faces Bob Devore and Harold Bratcher in this month’s primary election.

His Facebook page reveals strong support for Trump and the Confederacy, and he also shares phony memes about a wall between Mexico and Guatemala and complaints about “black thugs” removing white farmers from their land in Rhodesia — the white-rule name for what is now Zimbabwe.

Dylann Roof, the white supremacist who gunned down nine worshipers at a historically black church in South Carolina shared similar interests on his own Facebook page.

Corley was endorsed in a previous race, under his old name, by the white supremacist American Freedom Party — which also endorsed white nationalist Harry Bertram in a West Virginia statehouse race and neo-Nazi Robert Ransdell, who ran for U.S. Senate in Kentucky.

His current campaign promises to represent “the majority who built this country: the American of Valley Forge and Bull Run” — referring, respectively, to the Revolutionary War camp that holds special significance for Christian conservatives and to a Confederate victory in the first major battle of the Civil War.

“Illegal immigration costs thousands of lives through criminal acts, hundreds of thousands of jobs, billions of taxpayer’s dollars, and compromised the future of America,” Corley said. “I have witnessed young Kentucky men lose hope when local jobs disappear and the educational system betrays them in favor of ‘multiculturalism.'”

Corley reached out to white supremacist William Daniel Johnson, the national chairman of the American Freedom Party, in January — perhaps to notify the racist political activist of his name change.

Kirk Cameron #fundie rawstory.com

Former child star and heart throb of the TV show Growing Pains, Kirk Cameron, has apparently morphed into a giver of marriage advice that seems to come from a different decade.

The actor-turned-Christian evangelist had some of this advice this week, telling the Christian Post that women should “follow” their husbands’ leadership.

“Wives are to honor and respect and follow their husband’s lead, not to tell their husband how he ought to be a better husband,” he opined. “When each person gets their part right, regardless of how their spouse is treating them, there is hope for real change in their marriage.”

He added, “A lot of people don’t know that marriage comes with instructions. And, we find them right there in God’s word.”

Cameron has six children with his wife and fellow actress, Chelsea Noble, according to the Post.

This point of view isn’t unique to Cameron, the Friendly Atheist points out.

“He’s only expressing what most churches still preach on a weekly basis, what has been the common theme of Biblical marriage for thousands of years, and is still part of most wedding ceremonies today, reminding wives to, ‘submit to your husbands in every way,'” Horus Gilgamesh writes. “Did the secular world really not have any idea that this type of inequality is readily taught in scripture and practiced in Christian households around the world?”

Cameron’s sister, Candace Cameron Bruce, also actively promotes the idea that wives should be submissive to husbands.

“The definition I’m using with the word ‘submissive’ is the biblical definition of that,” Bure, who starred in the sitcom “Full House,” wrote in her 2014 book. “So, it is meekness, it is not weakness. It is strength under control, it is bridled strength. And that’s what I choose to have in my marriage.”

Church of Scientology #fundie rawstory.com

It took seven years, but a former Scientologist will see her lawsuit against the church — which she says kept her captive and forced her to have an abortion — go to trial, KABC reports.

Laura Ann DeCrescenzo, who began doing volunteer work for the Church of Scientology at the age of six, received good news this week when Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John Doyle denied a motion by lawyers for the Church of Scientology International to dismiss her case.

DeCrescenzo is suing the church for false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, unfair business practices and wage-and-hour violations, as well as claiming that the church coerced into having an abortion at the age of 17.

According to DeCrescenzo, she was kept a virtual prisoner by the church for years.

“I wasn’t allowed to speak with my family. You’re not allowed to have more than twenty dollars on you at any given time,” explained DeCrescenzo. “You’re not allowed to go anywhere without another person. You’re watched 24/7.”

DeCrescenzo says she remained a member of the church for years after the abortion, stating that church officials psychologically abused her after she became pregnant, telling her that she would be left homeless and unable to find a job and denied the ability to ever see her husband again.

According to the woman, she finally escaped the church in 2004 when she pretended to attempt suicide by swallowing a cup of bleach.

She abandoned the church for good four years later.

Amanda Marie Warfel #racist rawstory.com

A Pennsylvania woman hurled racial slurs at neighbors who complained about her furniture-shaking “loud sex.”

Amanda Marie Warfel was charged with two misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and one count of harassment after the neighbors complained about the racist abuse, reported the York Dispatch.

The neighbor called police March 21 to complain that Warfel was “loudly fornicating and banging around her bedroom to the degree that the victim’s dresser and her own bed shook,” according to court documents.

Tanya Saylor told police she asked Warfel to quiet down because her teenage daughters had school in the morning, but she said the woman screamed at them through a common wall and became even louder.

“They don’t sleep well at night,” said Saylor, who is white but whose husband is black. “There’s constantly inappropriate things that go on in her bedroom.”

Saylor said she’s tried talking to Warfel and her grandmother for months about the noise, but she called police after the dispute escalated.

“She starts calling my children n*****s and monkeys, and offers them bananas,” Saylor said. “It was a daily thing until she went to prison.”

Saylor complained Feb 17 that Warfel was banging on the wall and yelling at her, and she called Feb. 28 to report that Warfel was screaming racial slurs and obscenities at her.

Warfel was charged at that time with ethnic intimidation, harassment and disorderly conduct, but the ethnic intimidation charge was later withdrawn as part of a plea agreement.

A judge sentenced Warfel, who was on probation for a prior felony prison assault, to 45 to 90 days in jail.

Marie, Anna C., Vered B. and others #fundie rawstory.com

Owners of a trendy vegan eatery in Los Angeles are on the receiving end of death threats after an avid advocate of the eating style outed them for slaughtering and eating meat in their home.

According to the LAist, Cafe Gratitude owners Terces Engelhart and husband Matthew are under attack based upon an admission they made on their blog a year ago that — after 40 years as vegetarians and 12 as vegans — they were once again eating meat at their Be Love Farm in Northern California.

On April 21, vegan advocate Leilani Münter tweeted: “Dear Cafe Gratitude, Gracias Madre, Sage – we hear BeLoveFarm is killing animals. We’re upset, to put it mildly. Signed, your vegan fan base.”

Reaction was fast and furious with vegans raging at the couple while calling for boycotts of the couple’s restaurant as well as two others that they are affiliated with. According to the couple, despite assuring fans on the restaurant that it still “100 per cent organic, plant-based cuisine,” they have received death threats.

Fans have also taken to Yelp to trash the restaurant’s reputation, with one reviewer comparing the owners to child molesters.

“It’s like a child molester operating daycare facilities, and why would anyone in good conscience ever want to come back to such a place of hypocrisy!?” Marie from Marina Del Rey wrote.” This is no different from you posting your dog’s photo announcing that you’re going to skin him and eat him. YOU MAKE ME SICK TO MY STOMCH (sic) AND I WANT TO VOMIT ALL THE MEALS I HAD AT THIS PLACE!”

“I will no longer dine at Cafe Gratitude,” Anna C. of Redondo Beach chimed in. “The owners of Cafe Gratitude also operate a for profit animal slaughtering business call “Be Love Farm.” Love?? the f-ing irony. How do you go from ethical plant-based choices to making money on the #1 cause of climate change, raising cattle and slaughtering them for meat?!”

Despite admitting that she had eaten at the restaurant for year, Vered B. now says everything about the restaurant she enjoyed over the years now “sucks.”

“This is a relevant review,” she wrote. “The food sucks. The service sucks. The food is unoriginal, doesn’t taste good, and is overpriced.”

According to the LAist, a protest is scheduled outside the restaurant Friday night.

OK Rep. Todd Russ #racist rawstory.com

"They cannot process [alcohol] like other people,” he said of the state’s Native American population, “and yet we want to put more of that out for them to be taken advantage of? Please don’t do that. African-American Caucus, would you really vote for something that is the gateway to destroying the teenagers and the next generation of your culture and your people, when they are the ones most affected by these addictions of all society?"

Unnamed cops #fundie rawstory.com

A video posted online on Wednesday reportedly captures a group of police officers harassing a gay woman inside a public womens’ restroom, ultimately ordering her out believing her to be a man.

According to Complex, the video showing the unidentified woman’s encounter with the officers was posted by blogger Tamara McDaniel.

“This is a girl, and you guys are harassing her because she’s a d*ke,” the person filming the encounter can be heard saying, as the footage shows a woman wearing a red shirt, scarf, and black cap being questioned by the officers.

“You’re a man?” a male officer asks.

“I’m a f*cking female,” the woman in the cap replies. “Do I have to tell you again?”

“You have ID?” the officer asks. When she says she does not, he orders her out, then pushes her toward the exit. A second officer is then heard calling her, “Sir,” causing the person filming to protest, “That is a f*cking girl.”

McDaniel alluded to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump while posting the video, writing, “Is this what ‘Make America Great Again’ means? This makes me very sad and I want no part of this irrational fear.”

Cameron Mayfield #homophobia rawstory.com

An Omaha man who stole and publicly burned his lesbian neighbors’ rainbow Pride flag was found guilty of felony hate crime charges on Wednesday.

According to Omaha.com, Douglas County District Judge Duane Dougherty was unmoved by 24-year-old Cameron Mayfield’s insistence that he didn’t know what a rainbow flag stood for when he snatched it off the women’s porch, lit it on fire and paraded back and forth in front of their house as it burned.

James Martin Davis, Mayfield’s attorney, said that his client mistook the pride flag for a “spring ornament” in what he termed a “drunken prank” on March 1, 2015 and not a hate crime.

“Just because the victims are gay doesn’t make it a hate crime,” Davis insisted to the court during Mayfield’s trial.

Prosecutors pointed out that over the course of the 300 yard hike from Mayfield’s house to the home of victims Ariann Anderson and Jessica Meadows-Anderson, Mayfield passed any number of flags and banners that he could have snatched and burned, but chose not to.

Omaha.com reported that Mayfield “hopped a front-yard fence, jumped up to yank down the flag, hopped back over the fence and rushed home. He got a gas can out of his garage, drenched the flag, set it on fire, then walked 300 yards back to the couple’s home.”

The victims said the late-night attack was terrifying. As Mayfield menaced them from the street, they frantically checked their doors and windows, thinking they were about to be attacked in their own home.

In a statement to the court, the couple — who were married in Iowa in 2011 — said, “Had the man who burned our gay pride flag burned our Husker flag, we would have still called the police … but we wouldn’t have felt as threatened,. We wouldn’t have wondered ‘what’s next?’ What became so clear to us after Saturday night, is that the intent really does make a difference. Seeing him waving that burning symbol of a controversial, and inherent part of our being(s) as a minority, in front of our house as a clear message, made it scary. It made it an attack as opposed to a prank.”

Judge Dougherty said that Mayfield’s sentencing will take place in August.

Reuben DeHaan #fundie rawstory.com

Authorities found dozens of weapons, drugs, possible explosives and a still inside an underground bunker when they raided the home of a self-styled “medicine man” in North Carolina.

Reuben DeHaan operates two businesses, “Get Well Stay Well” and “Health Care Ministries International,” from his Kings Mountain home that investigators say earned $2.7 million over six years, reported the Charlotte Observer.

The 43-year-old DeHaan filed papers in 2010 renouncing his U.S. citizenship and challenging government authority, and he claims to be a minister of the Native American Church of Nemenhah — which claims to be a “healing-based religion.”

DeHaan sold naturopathic remedies, such as colloidal silver, to “detoxify” the body and cure diseases such as the Ebola virus.

But an attorney for the Native American Rights Fund described the church — which uses “sovereign citizen” tactics to challenge government authority — as nothing but “sham artists.”

Federal agents raided DeHaan’s home as part of a joint FBI/Internal Revenue Service investigation, and recently unsealed documents reveal a startling discovery beneath his front yard.

Agents said they discovered about 70 weapons, including high-powered rifles and ammunition, in a multi-room bunker, in addition to 10 more guns found inside DeHaan’s home and vehicles.

They also found food and beverages stored in the bunker, in addition to at least two 2,000-gallon water tanks, and materials investigators believe could be used to build a bomb — including including PVC piping, Tannerite, aluminum powder and 100 feet of fusing.

The underground bunker was outfitted with an air filtration system in case of a nuclear attack.

He also grew herbal remedies in the bunker, which he did not have a permit to build.

DeHaan avoided paying taxes since 1997 by claiming that his earnings were actually religious donations, but the IRS does not recognize Nemenhah as a tribe or a church.

He has been charged with tax evasion and attempting to interfere with administration of internal revenue laws.

His attorney described DeHaan, who held a passport issued by the World Government of World Citizens, as a “prepper” and gun collector.

Dehaan is not licensed by the state of North Carolina, and he’s not recognized by the North Carolina Association of Naturopathic Physicians.

“This is defrauding the public,” said Dr. Susan DeLaney, of the NCANP. “I mean really, would you go to see a mail order dentist?”

Ainsley Earhardt #fundie rawstory.com

Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt wondered this week if the best way to deal with the 2016 presidential race was to “pray about it and God will pick the right candidate.”

On Tuesday’s edition of Fox & Friends, host Steve Doocy asked The View host Candace Cameron Bure what it would take to unite Republicans behind one candidate.

“I don’t know what it’s going to take,” Bure admitted. “But I’m an American and I hold conservative values, and I think at the end of the day, I realize I put my faith in Jesus Christ, not in any one person.”

She added: “And whoever becomes our candidate, our nominee and eventually our president, I will pray for them and support that they make the best decisions for our country.”

Earhardt pressed Bure about the role of religion in selecting a candidate.

“I know your faith is important to you as it is to many of us,” Earhardt said. “Do you feel like in this election, we just pray about it and give it to God? And God’s going to pick the right candidate?”

Bure, however, recommended that Christians should vote.

“I don’t know who I’m going to vote for at this point,” she insisted. “But I will pray about the decision of who I’ll vote for.”

Carlos Beruff #racist rawstory.com

In a speech to the Broward County Republican Party on Monday night, a Florida home builder making his first run at political office said the U.S. should ban everyone who seeks to enter the country from the Middle East, reports the Sun Sentinel.

Unless they are coming from Israel, that is.

While Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has called for banning entry to Muslims, developer Carlos Beruff took it a step further saying no one from the Middle East should be welcome until our immigration department fixes our “broken” system.

Asked about his position on Muslim immigration, Beruff had a ready answer.

“Ah ha,” he said. “I think our immigration department is broken. And I don’t think it’s safe to allow anybody from the Middle East into this country.”

According to the Sun Sentinel, the Republican crowd applauded his remarks.

Pressed by reporters afterwards, Beruff said his ban would apply to Muslims and Christians alike.

“Pretty much anybody that’s got a terrorist organization in it, which is pretty much all the Middle East,” he explained.

When asked about people coming from Israel, he left the door open.

“I think Israel’s security measures are pretty strong,” he said. “Israel is an exception.”

Beruff — who is running for office for the first time — is part of a crowded GOP field seeking to replace retiring Sen. Marco Rubio, whose presidential campaign went down in flames after he lost the Florida primary to Trump.

Gov. Pat McCrory #fundie rawstory.com

Governor Pat McCrory said that voting in North Carolina should be as difficult as it is to buy Sudafed in his meth-producing state. McCrory took time out from his gymnastics defending North Carolina’s bathroom bill in order to issue an official statement with some verbal jujitsu. The governor lauded the fact that North Carolina’s “common sense” approach to keeping a lot of folks from voting had been affirmed by a judge’s ruling, which struck down a challenge to the law.

The New York Times summarized the restrictive voting rights bill and the ruling that upheld it:

“The opinion, by Judge Thomas D. Schroeder of Federal District Court in Winston-Salem, upheld the repeal of a provision that allowed people to register and vote on the same day. It also upheld a seven-day reduction in the early-voting period; the end of preregistration, which allowed some people to sign up before their 18th birthdays; and the repeal of a provision that allowed for the counting of ballots cast outside voters’ home precinct.

It also left intact North Carolina’s voter identification requirement, which legislators softened last year to permit residents to cast ballots, even if they lack the required documentation, if they submit affidavits.”

The governor’s two-sentence statement likened the constitutionally-guaranteed right of citizens to vote as the same as buying Sudafed or boarding a jet.

“This ruling further affirms that requiring a photo ID in order to vote is not only common-sense, it’s constitutional,” said Governor McCrory. “Common practices like boarding an airplane and purchasing Sudafed require photo ID and thankfully a federal court has ensured our citizens will have the same protection for their basic right to vote.”

In hopes of reducing the manufacture of methamphetamine, many states require a customer to present a photo ID when purchasing Sudafed and other decongestants that contain pseudoephedrine, a precursor drug to the illegal drug. In 2013, North Carolina busted up 513 meth labs.

By likening voting rights to buying Sudafed, the governor appears to be arguing that preventing some people from voting is an act of public health, like keeping dangerous drugs out of the hands of the wrong people.

A quick glance at the Constitution does not reveal any provision in its amendments for flying or treating a cold, but seems pretty clear on who has the right to vote.

Anita Staver #fundie rawstory.com

The president of theocratic law group The Liberty Council announced on the social medium Twitter that she plans to carry a gun with her to the women’s restroom at Target stores so that she can shoot anyone she thinks is transgender.

Blogger Joe My God wrote on Monday, “Liberty Counsel president Anita Staver declared Friday that she will be taking her Glock .45 handgun to Target as protection against assaults by transgender patrons.”

[Screenshot of a tweet that says "I'm taking a Glock .45 to the ladies room. It identifies as my bodyguard. #BoycottTarget @Target"]

Anita Staver is married to Mat Staver, head of the legal team that defended Kentucky’s outspoken anti-marriage equality county clerk Kim Davis in her effort to deny same-sex couples the right to marry.

Conservative activists have worked themselves into a lather over Target stores’ decision to allow trans customers to use restrooms designated for their expressed gender. The group launched a #BoycottTarget campaign on social media last week.

Tracy Murphree #fundie rawstory.com

In a Facebook post now hidden from view, the likely new sheriff of Denton County, Texas said he would beat a transgender woman so severely she’d end up in a hospital if she tried to share a bathroom with his daughter.

According to the Dallas Observer, Tracy Murphfree — who only faces token opposition from a Libertarian Party candidate and no Democratic candidate — jumped on the anti-transgender bandwagon with his Friday afternoon post.

“This whole bathroom thing is craziness I have never seen,” Murphree wrote last Friday. “All I can say is this: If my little girl is in a public women’s restroom and a man, regardless of how he may identify, goes into the bathroom, he will then identify as a John Doe until he wakes up in whatever hospital he may be taken to. Your identity does not trump my little girl’s safety. I identify as an overprotective father that loves his kids and would do anything to protect them”

In the comments that followed, Murphree clashed with Amber Dyden Briggle, a former candidate for Denton City Council who has a transgender son.

“As the parent of a transgender child who is only 8 years old, Tracy, this — really, really upsets me,” she wrote. “I know you are a protective parent, but SO AM I. If my son were to walk into a women’s room, looking the way he does, he would no doubt be corrected and sent to the men’s room. What we’ve done now is call attention to a young child, only 8 years old, who is now behind closed doors with a bunch of men — had he walked in there to use the bathroom to pee in the first place, no one would have batted an eye, because he looks like and IS a boy. ”

“Let me put it another way: halfway through first grade, this PERFECT child of mine, who is just as miraculous and amazing today as he was on the day of his birth, stopped feeling comfortable using the girls’ room,” she added, before going on to explain the difficulties her child has encountered since then.

Murphree responded to Briggle by insisting he’s not a “bigot” and that she is part of the problem.

“Amber, you have demonstrated part of the problem. You advocate your right to defend your child and state that your child has the right to pee in peace. Yet when I advocate my right to defend my child and her right to pee in peace I’m a bigot and dangerous. I’m not a bigot I have nothing against you or your child. I would defend both of you with my life,” he wrote.

“Yes, I will be the next sheriff, and I will serve all citizens. I will not sit back and not voice my beliefs and opinions. I will not give in to the political correctness police. I won’t be threatened by those who may call me a bigot or ignorant. I have no issue with transgenders. That’s between them and God,” he added. “The few transgenders rights do not trump the rights of the many. I will not stand by in political correctness afraid of being labeled and allow a male to enter a bathroom my daughter occupies. I just won’t do it.”

Peter Christian Jensen IV #fundie rawstory.com

An Idaho man filed a bizarre lawsuit citing Mosaic law to force a state employee’s family into servitude as punishment for suspending his driver’s license.

Peter Christian Jensen IV finally filed the lawsuit last week against Edward Pemble, who works for the Idaho Transportation Department, after waging a long and ultimately unsuccessful campaign to avoid paying $221 in filing fees, reported the Cour D’Alene Press.

The 79-year-old Jensen, of Athol, cited his religious belief in only one god, named Yehovah, who handed down his laws to Moses and the Israelites.

“Believers in Yehovah are commanded to obey only his statutes,” Jensen argued in his filing. “As such, (Jensen) is not subject to the jurisdiction of the codes and statutes of the artificial person of the state of Idaho, nor can he be subject to the codes and statutes of any fiction.”

One of those fictions, in Jensen’s view of the law, is the requirement that drivers carry automobile insurance.

Pemble sent a letter Sept. 3 to Jensen informing him that his driver’s license was suspended until he purchased liability insurance.

Jensen had been cited in June 2014 for failing to register his vehicle or purchase insurance, and he was found guilty during a subsequent trial was was fined $198.50 and jailed five days for contempt of court.

He then began a campaign against Pemble using tactics and language associated with the “sovereign citizens” movement — a loose grouping of adherents who claim immunity from federal, state and local laws, citing God’s law or common law over constitutional authority.

“(Pemble) does not have the authority to govern the actions of a natural person,” Jensen wrote in one notice. “There is no provision under law whereby (Pemble) can subject a natural person to the codes and statutes of a fictitious entity.”

Pemble never responded to those “notice and demand” letters, and Jensen filed a lawsuit seeking $6,689,940 in damages payable in gold or silver — because he considers currency to be debt.

Jensen argued that the transportation employee had violated his religious liberty by forcing him to “submit to an insurance god and pay its premiums for liability protection,” according to the newspaper report.

Those aren’t even the wildest claims in the April 14 lawsuit.

Jensen argued that, if he prevails in the suit, Mosaic law requires Pemble to pay all damages within 30 days or forfeit all of his assets — and the transportation department worker, his family members and their descendants be forced into bond servitude until the nearly $6.7 million in damages are paid in full.

In the meantime, Jensen asked the court to restore his driving privileges.

Karen Dincher Weight #fundie rawstory.com

A Pennsylvania school board had no problem electing a new member even after it was disclosed that she boasted on Facebook that she is “officially against Muslims,” and accused gays of turning children into “zombie fairies.”

According to the Sun Gazette, the Montoursville Area School Board voted to appoint Karen Dincher Wright to fill a spot on the board despite protests over her hateful postings on Facebook.

The Gazette points out that each member of the board was given a file containing 15 racist, anti-Muslim and homophobic posts that Wright had written over the previous year.

Despite the files containing screenshots of Wright stating, “I am officially against Muslims. We need to take a stand as Christians and Jews,” she was approved by a 5-3 vote.

In one particularly wide-ranging and noxious rant, Wright laid out her world view for all to see on Facebook.

“I am fed up with the rainbows and and flags and ‘I’m offended crap,'” she wrote. ” Suck it up, buttercup. This is still America. We will tolerate you, for now.”

“You want to marry the same sex? Fine, marry a goat. I really don’t care,” she continued. “But when you start demanding we like what you do and have to cater to you, we are done with you.”

She concluded, “This is still America. We will tolerate your beliefs, but we will not become overcome with them. If you don’t like it we can arrange passage to another country. And when you start dividing us and turning our children into zombie fairies, then we will not tolerate you anymore. We will fight you.”

According to Wright, public discussion of her Facebook rants were taken out of context and that she felt she was treated unfairly.

“I did not deserve that — I am not the person they made me out to be,” she said. “I have no hidden agendas, I have nothing to hide. Here I stand — All I want to do is make a difference in the school. I feel I can make a difference.”

Screenshots of some of Wright’s Facebook posts — which are now hidden — below:

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Curt Schilling #fundie rawstory.com

ESPN fired one of their baseball analysts Wednesday, a day after he was criticized for an anti-transgender post on Facebook..

Curt Schilling, who had worked for the network since 2010, was dismissed after sharing a Facebook post about the recently passed North Carolina anti-transgender law.

The post showed a man wearing a wig and women’s clothing with parts of the T-shirt cut out to expose his breasts.

It read: “LET HIM IN! to the restroom with your daughter or else you’re a narrow-minded, judgmental, unloving racist bigot who needs to die.”

The former player added: “A man is a man no matter what they call themselves. I don’t care what they are, who they sleep with, men’s room was designed for the penis, women’s not so much. Now you need laws telling us differently? Pathetic.”

In a statement ESPN said, “Curt Schilling has been advised that his conduct was unacceptable and his employment with ESPN has been terminated.”

South Carolina woman #fundie rawstory.com

A South Carolina woman admitted she intentionally crashed her car into a Walmart store because she thought the world was ending.

Crystal Marshall slammed into the store late Monday in Camden, jumped out of her car and began screaming at bystanders, reported WIS-TV.

The 34-year-old Marshall told police that the Rapture was coming and “God told her to do it.”

No injuries were reported in the crash, which cause about $1,000 in damage to the building.

Marshall was charged with malicious injury to real property and disorderly conduct.

Rep. Mack Butler #fundie rawstory.com

A resolution in the Alabama House of Representatives to recognize May 5 as the National Day of Prayer provides an apocalyptic view of the current world.

The symbolic legislation, introduced Wednesday by Republican state Rep. Mack Butler, starts off with the typical Day of Prayer language, but quickly descends into gloom and doom.

The resolution warns that America has “turned from her values” and no longer protects the “unborn.” It claims the United States is sitting by idly while the world falls into chaos and Christians face genocide overseas. The resolution alleges that Americans now mock God and that “traditional values” have been abandoned.

The resolution concludes that the people of Alabama must “turn from their wicked ways” to prevent God’s wrath.

Congress established the National Day of Prayer in 1952 and the yearly celebration occurs on the first Thursday of May.

This morning, Butler wrote on Facebook: “We are being told that all kinds of perversion for our children is perfectly fine and at the same time we are being told that if you believe in wholesome family Christian values you are evil. We must take back America! Living life upside down.”

“Looking forward to the next civil war,” one of his constituents commented.

The full text of the resolution, HJR 316, is below:

WHEREAS, God has blessed America, where freedom exists for all, regardless of belief or creed; and
WHEREAS, America’s heritage is a beacon to the world, a shining city on a hill; and
WHEREAS, America’s exceptionalism was not only on a thoroughfare for freedom beat, but a leader and protector of values and safety around the world; and
WHEREAS, though American’s sovereignty did not and would not rule the world, rather than a colonial power, she shared her bounty; and
WHEREAS, America has turned from her values, she is engaged in practices antithetical to her heritage by not protecting the poor, defenseless, and unborn, and has permitted the law to discriminate pitting one’s rights against the rights of others; and
WHEREAS, America now sits in her sanctuary while the rest of the world is falling into turmoil with genocide against Christians and radical Islamic terrorists wreaking havoc; and
WHEREAS, America’s Judeo-Christian tradition recognized a freedom of religion, the first freedom, that let all religions coexist; and
WHEREAS, traditional values have been removed from the public square where all values were once spoken; and
WHEREAS, religious freedom is threatened and God is mocked; and
WHEREAS, just as Jesus observed when he drew close to Jerusalem before His crucifixion and wept over the city that thought it knew of the things made for peace, it was now hidden from their eyes and just as high government officials often invoke the name of God, yet they tempt God by abandoning His truths; and
WHEREAS, America must reaffirm her freedom and her faith; and
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA, BOTH HOUSES THEREOF CONCURRING, That we urge America to reaffirm and protect its freedoms.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the fifth day of May 24 2016 be set aside as a day of reflection by the citizens of the State of Alabama who will humble themselves and pray and seek God’s face and turn from their wicked ways so that God will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.

Joseph Schmitz #racist rawstory.com

One of Donald Trump’s top foreign policy advisors is trying to wrest control of a Montana dam from two Native American tribes as part of a bizarre anti-Muslim campaign.

Joseph Schmitz, an attorney and former Pentagon inspector general, was tapped as one of Trump’s five foreign policy advisors last month, along with a bewildering mix of conspiracy theorists and “third-rate people.”

Schmitz served as co-counsel in a lawsuit filed last year on behalf of Montana State Senator Bob Keenan (R-Bigfork) and former state Senator Verdell Jackson (R-Kalispell) asking a court to block the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes from taking over management of the former Kerr Dam, reported the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights.

The dam, which was built in the 1930s on tribal land, was renamed the Seli’š Ksanka Qlispe’ dam when the tribally owned Energy Keepers, Inc., paid nearly $18.3 million to NorthWestern Energy to acquire it.

That’s when things got weird.

Schmitz, who’s an “insider” with the right-wing Newsmax website and senior fellow at the virulently anti-Islam Center for Security Policy, and fellow co-counsel Lawrence Kogan filed a lawsuit seeking to block the transfer — which they argued posed a national security threat from Turkey.

The attorneys claimed the dam transfer would allow the Turkish government and terrorists to obtain nuclear materials, although they were unable to provide any factual evidence of their claims.

Turkey is an American ally and member of NATO, and the U.S. State Department considers the nation a key partner in its counterterrorism efforts in the Middle East.

“The nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative says Turkey is active in nuclear proliferation prevention efforts and is a member of all major treaties governing the acquisition and use of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons,” reported the Associated Press.

The claims are based on conspiracy theories about the Turkish Coalition of America, a nonprofit lobbying group that has been working to establish an agricultural trade relationship with Native American tribes.

Schmitz and Kogan, who boasts ties to the right-wing Citizens Equal Rights Alliance, warned that Turkey may be trying to “promote their brand of Islam” on reservations and produce yellowcake uranium using tribal resources.

“It is quite possible that the Turkish government, sponsored Turkish business enterprises, and affiliated terrorist groups or members may be seeking access to such expertise for possible acquisition and use of incendiary devices to compromise Kerr dam and/or other off-reservation targets,” the lawsuit claims.

Schmitz and Kogan voluntarily withdrew the lawsuit in October after they were unable to provide evidence of their claims about a terrorist alliance with Native Americans.

The lawsuit, and Trump’s embrace of Schmitz, highlights the links between anti-Muslim conspiracy theorists and efforts to strip Native Americans of their rights, property and heritage.

CERA, which essentially challenges Native American rights as unconstitutional, and its longtime leader Elaine Willman are part of a continuum of bigoted crackpots who promote white supremacist and other extremist fringe views through Tea Party organizations and on right-wing websites.

That’s the mindset Trump is bringing onto his foreign policy team.

Schmitz himself has written frequently about his fears of sharia law, multiculturalism and political correctness — all personal bugaboos for Trump — and has argued that Americans who receive public assistance should be barred from voting.

“Multiculturalism, political correctness, misguided notions of tolerance and sheer willful blindness have combined to create an atmosphere of confusion and denial in America about the current threat confronting the nation,” Schmitz wrote.

Trump’s anti-Muslims views are well known, but he doesn’t much like Native Americans, either.

He’s fought against the right of tribes to establish casinos under the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, and he’s complained for years about his competitors in that business using racist remarks.

Trump, of course, is a huge fan of the Washington NFL team’s racist nickname.

“I know Indians that are extremely proud of that name,” he said. “They think it’s a positive.”

Chris Sevier #fundie rawstory.com

A Texas man is trying to overturn legal same-sex marriage by suing for the right to marry his laptop computer.

Chris Sevier has filed a lawsuit against the Harris County district clerk, Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, arguing that he has been denied civil rights to marry the Mac computer he uses to create electronic dance music, reported the Midland Reporter-Telegram.

Sevier, a Vanderbilt Law School graduate who says he’s “hardcore involved in the music industry,” has filed the same lawsuit in two other states and plans to sue in 12 other states in hopes of getting two federal courts to disagree.

“[This lawsuit] is not a matter of who’s on the right side of history,” Sevier said. “This is about who is on the right side of reality. Are we just delusional?”

Paxton, the Republican state attorney general in Texas, has asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage did not extend to non-humans.

“The right to marry one’s computer is not an interest, objectively, deeply rooted in the nation’s history and tradition such that it qualifies as a protected interest,” argue Paxton, a strong opponent of same-sex marriage.

Sevier’s argument is also patently offensive to LGBT Americans, who are no strangers to bizarre and outrageous comparisons by anti-gay bigots.

“Any argument against marriage equality that compares an adult in a consenting same-sex relationship to anything other than two normal loving humans is just wrong,” said Matt Wolff, a gay Texan who is marrying his partner later this year. “It is based in that person’s fear, and at this point in history, I would say willful ignorance.”

U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett ordered Sevier last week to limit his court filings to 20 pages and denied his motion asking for coverage of $400 in court costs.

Sevier, a self-described Christian music producer, insists his lawsuits are entirely serious.

“The Constitution is being hijacked,” he said.

Sevier was charged with stalking country singer John Rich in 2013 as part of a long-running dispute, which included lawsuits, restraining orders and bizarre emails.

Police said Sevier sent numerous emails to the former Big & Rich singer, including one of himself “wearing very little if any clothing with an American flag draped over his body and having a substance, believed to be representing blood, covering himself.”

He was charged with stalking a teenage girl that same year after police said he harassed the girl for months over a conversation he overheard at a coffee shop.

Sevier, who lost his law license in Tennessee due to mental illness attributed to his military service in Iraq, has also sued Apple Computer.

He filed a pro se suit nearly three years ago asking a court to require the tech company to sell all of its products in safe mode to limit access to Internet pornography — which he claims caused him personal harm.

“Apple’s product was not adequately equipped with safety features that would have otherwise blocked unwarranted intrusions of pornographic content that systematically poisoned his life,” he argued in a 50-page complaint.

Sevier also sued President Barack Obama and A&E, alleging in a 91-page complaint that they conspired to fire “Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson.

Ted Cruz #fundie rawstory.com

Both Republican and Democratic candidates have been courting Jewish voters ahead of Tuesday"s New York primary vote, looking for an edge in competitive districts with large Jewish populations.

Orthodox Jews, who make up a significant portion of New York"s Jewish population, have become an important bloc in the New York primary for both parties.

Ted Cruz and John Kasich recently visited matzah bakeries in Brooklyn, while Donald Trump met with a group of reporters representing Orthodox news outlets.

Some candidates have even launched Yiddish-language ad campaigns micro-targeting New York"s Hasidic population.

While Orthodox Jews tend to lean more Republican than Democrat by a margin of 55% to 31%, some Hasidic sects, including the staunchly anti-Zionist Satmar, have lent their support in the past to Democratic candidates.

Yiddish flyers distributed by a pro-Sanders group and bearing the official logo of the Sanders campaign, have targeted this niche audience by emphasizing the Vermont Senator"s disapproval of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Some of the flyers even employ the Hebrew curse "may the name of the wicked rot" in regards to Israel"s Prime Minister.

"Some self-interested haredi figures have attacked the Democratic candidate for president, Bernie Sanders, calling on [the Jewish public] not to vote for him. The real reason [for their opposition] is because Sanders refuses to bow down to radical right-wing Zionists, and because he does not agree with the radical policies of Netanyahu, may the name of the wicked rot".

By comparison, a Yiddish advertisement run by the Cruz campaign touted the Texas Senator"s conservative bona fides and religious faith.

"Presidential candidate Ted Cruz is the first and only since President Reagan who believes that God is the one who decides who will be elected president of the US, which is why he is confident that he will be elected."

Michael Voris and Matthew Pearson #fundie rawstory.com

People are quickly losing interest in “the church” as an institution. Young people and the millennial generation, in particular, are the least religious of any generation in America today, according to a Pew survey. Is this because many right-wing churches are driving away people as they become more accepting of progressive policies? Did the sex abuse scandal scare off Catholic parents who want to protect their children? Is it even, as the right-wing has proposed, a downfall in family values? No, according to “Church Militant,” altar Girls and “feminized kids” are the culprits.

Co-host Michael Voris begins the segment by talking about mothers who want their daughters to participate in the church and thus want their daughters to be altar girls along with altar boys. “You know, what young guy, what’s the connection there for any young male who’s 13, 14, 15? He wants nothing to do with that,” he explained. “There’s nothing appealing whatsoever about the faith to a 12, 14-year-old kid and you can see it. They’re sittin’ there on their text-phones slouched back in their gym shorts at mass when they show up.”

Panelist Matthew Pearson connects the problems to the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church which he attributes to boys raised by single mothers who lack strong father figures. “Because all these feminized kids without fathers yearn to go somewhere where they maybe find a father figure,” he began. “They were feminine. They became gay and they all went to the same place. They all went to the seminary looking for the father and they found predator fathers who then coerced them into, ya know, and that’s where we have this gay sex scandal that’s just ravaged the church for now 40, 50 years.”

The Church Militant is a right-wing religious “news” site that paints itself as a group of “souls on Earth engaged in battle against the forces evil.” They openly admit to being part of what they call “the Christian militia” doing battle against demonic “rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). They also sell their own brand of coffee in their online religious book and statue store for $20 per pound.

Pastor Mike Orten #fundie rawstory.com

Pastor Mike Orten of the Truth Apostolic Church in Madisonville, Kentucky is defending his latest staff hire of Thomas Hopper, who was convicted of the rape and sodomy of a 13-year-old girl in the early 1990s. Hopperwas also convicted of multiple crimes in the early 2000s. But according to NBC 14 News, Orten brought Hopper into the church to work on outreach because it was the Christian thing to do.

The church’s website and Facebook page have all been taken down since the story broke, but prior to a community uprising, the website outlined Hopper’s biography detailing a history of involvement in churches and ministry going back to the 1970s. The biography does not, however, include his 10 years in prison for holding a razor blade to a girl’s throat and raping her.

Orten agrees that since the Hopper is on the registered sex offender list that he should not have access to the school the church’s premises. But as for fear of anything else, the pastor isn’t concerned because Hopper has been “saved by The Lord,” he explained. “Yep, that’s what he done,” the pastor said in a phone interview. “Most certainly. But he was mad and angry, both of them were on drugs. Yeah, that’s still in his past. It ain’t like we don’t know nothing about this. Like I said, the media and people are ignorant when they want to turn around and dramatize or hurt somebody.”

One parishioner who wished to remain anonymous said that it made her feel angry and betrayed by the church, “I trusted these people.” She later said that all the church would tell her is that “God had changed him.”

“This is a situation if that girls chooses—it takes two to tango, okay? So if that girl chooses to sleep with him, she’s just as guilty as he is,” the pastor said.

He went on to compare rape to shoplifting saying “So if you steal a piece of candy from a store because you were young and stupid and make stupid mistakes, alright, you’re still a thief even though now you’re 40-years-old?”

Cindy Carnes and other parents #fundie rawstory.com

Texas parents are upset that a public school district has taken a Bible verse off its website after atheists complained, according to the Tyler Morning Telegraph.

Troup Independent School District had the biblical phrase, “As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him,” from the Old Testament, on their website until the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter complaining it violates the Constitution by promoting Christianity.

In response, Christian parents created T-shirts that say, “Our God is bigger.”

Parent Cindy Carnes is selling them for $7 each.

“I know that lots of hands are tied, but as parents and students our hands are not,” she wrote on Facebook. “We can take something that was meant to stand against God and use it for His glory by getting our kids involved in taking a stand for God and exercising our freedom to actively praise and worship Him.”

The FFRF says they are missing the point, according to the Telegraph.

“Under the federal constitution, a government entity like a school district can’t endorse one religious belief over others or religion generally over non religion,” Sam Grover, FFRF attorney told the paper.”

Unnamed passenger #fundie rawstory.com

A UC Berkeley student whose family fled Iraq in 2002 after his diplomat father was killed under Saddam Hussein’s regime, was booted from a Southwest Airlines flight and questioned by the FBI after another passenger heard him speaking Arabic, NBC Bay Area reports.

In a story originally reported in the Daily Californian, student Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, 26, states he was flying home from attending a dinner at the Los Angeles World Affairs Council with Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon when he stopped to make a call to an uncle.

Makhzoomi explained that conversation was conducted in Arabic and, as he said goodbye, he used the phrase “inshallah,” which translates as “if God is willing.”

The student said that after hung up, he noticed a female passenger looking at him who then got up and left her seat.

“She kept staring at me and I didn’t know what was wrong,” he explained. “Then I realized what was happening and I just was thinking ‘I hope she’s not reporting me.’”

Moments later an airport employee asked Makhzoomi to step off the plane and onto the passenger boarding bridge where he was greeted by three security officers.

Makhzoomi was told the woman thought he said “Shahid,” meaning martyr — a term linked to Islamic terrorists

After pointing out the incident was rooted in Islamophobia, the student was told he would not be allowed to get back on the plane as he heard one of the security officers speaking with the FBI.

“At that moment I couldn’t feel anything,” he said. “I was so afraid. I was so scared.”

Security officers searched his bag again and asked him if he had any other luggage he was keeping secret. Makhzoomi claimed that one officer publicly felt around his genital area and asked him if he was hiding a knife.

“That is when I couldn’t handle it and my eyes began to water,” he said. “The way they searched me and the dogs, the officers, people were watching me and the humiliation made me so afraid because it brought all of these memories back to me. I escaped Iraq because of the war, because of Saddam and what he did to my father. When I got home, I just slept for a few days.”

Makhzoomi said after the FBI arrived they questioned him about his family, and about his phone call and what he knew about martyrism.

After the interrogation was over, an FBI agent informed Makhzoomi that Southwest would not fly him home. He later booked a flight on another airline, arriving home nine hours later than expected.

According to a spokesperson for Southwest Airlines, the student was removed because crew members decided to “investigate potentially threatening comments made onboard our aircraft.”

Mahkzoomi said he now wants an apology.

“All I need is an apology to say, ‘We are sorry we singled you out because [of] one person who felt threatened,'” he said.

Matt Staver and the Liberty Council #fundie rawstory.com

The lawyer who represented Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis after she refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses told CBS News that his group was also behind anti-LGBT legislation being pushed in at least 20 states.

After governors in North Carolina and Mississippi recently signed laws limiting the rights of LGBT people, CBS News began investigating why so many anti-LGBT bills were cropping up in state legislatures around the country.

The network found that the conservative group Liberty Counsel had placed lawyers in all 50 states to draft legislation and advise lawmakers on how to rein in the rights of LGBT people in response to a Supreme Court ruling which legalized same-sex marriage in 2015.

CBS determined that bills tied to Liberty Counsel have been filed in at least 20 states so far.

“Well I certainly want to push back against that [same-sex marriage] ruling,” Liberty Counsel founder Matt Staver told CBS News. “It was a wrong ruling. It has no basis in the constitution.”

“The Supreme Court in the 5-4 opinion on marriage in 2015 lit the house on fire,” he added. “All we’re trying to do is control the fire at this point in time.”

Staver insisted that the bills were “about being free to pursue your faith,” and that his group had “no interest in discriminating against anyone.”

He also asserted that companies did not have the guts to go through with boycotts of states that enacted pro-discrimination legislation.

“They’re not gonna follow through,” he declared. “It’s a bluff. They’re not leaving.”

In fact, companies and entertainers have already followed through with threats to boycott North Carolina. PayPal almost immediately cancelled an expansion of 500 jobs, and numerous others have also frozen expansion plans. Both Bruce Springsteen and Ringo Starr recently cancelled events in the state.

Wake County’s tourism board warned this week that the Raleigh area alone was set to lose out on $24 million in economic benefits.

Sarah Palin #fundie rawstory.com

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) accused “Science Guy” Bill Nye of being an alarmist concerning global warming during an appearance on Capitol Hill, The Hill reported.

“Bill Nye is as much a scientist as I am,” Palin said during a screening of Climate Hustle, a documentary by noted climate change-denier Marc Morano. “He’s a kids’ show actor, he’s not a scientist.”

The remarks came shortly after Nye accused Morano of falsely claiming that Nye denied his invitation to take part in a May 2 panel discussion alongside Palin.

According to Nye, Morano never invited him at all, but did interview him. Footage from that discussion is reportedly included in Morano’s film, including Nye’s call for organizations making a living denying global warming.

“I can see where people are very concerned about this and are pursuing criminal investigations as well engaging in discussions like this,” Nye reportedly says in the film. “They’re keeping us from getting to work, they’re holding us back.”

Palin, who has advocated for increases in drilling for oil and natural gas, responded by saying, “Some people would say I’m pushing progress and development too aggressively, certainly not holding anybody back, I want people to work, I want people to produce.”

However, the former vice-presidential candidate’s accusations regarding Nye’s background do not hold up. Nye earned a Bachelors of Science from Cornell University, where he studied mechanical engineering. He has also served as both the vice-president and executive director of the Planetary Society, and was part of the design team behind sundials that were used in Mars Exploration Rover missions.

Donald Trump #fundie rawstory.com

Donald Trump was asked about his favorite Bible verse in a Thursday radio interview, and he responded by citing an Old Testament law that Jesus specifically repudiated.

In the interview on news radio WHAM-1180 in Rochester, New York, host Bob Lonsberry asked Mr. Trump whether there was "a favorite Bible verse or Bible story that has informed your thinking or your character through life, sir?"

Mr. Trump responded with a Mosaic law rule an "eye for an eye," mentioned in several books, most prominently Exodus 21, Buzzfeed reported.

"Well, I think many. I mean, when we get into the Bible, I think many, so many. And some people, look, an eye for an eye, you can almost say that. That's not a particularly nice thing. But you know, if you look at what's happening to our country, I mean, when you see what's going on with our country, how people are taking advantage of us ... we have to be firm and have to be very strong. And we can learn a lot from the Bible, that I can tell you."

Unfortunately, an "eye for an eye" is one of the few Mosaic Law verses that Jesus singled out in the Sermon on the Mount as overcome, by the New Covenant that His death and resurrection would seal.

"You have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you not to resist evil: but if one strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other," Jesus says in the famous sermon Matthew 5.

This is not the first time, Mr. Trump, who has suggested the IRS has been auditing him because he is such a strong Christian, has fallen on his face in efforts to appeal to Christians in the Republican Party base.

In a speech at Liberty University, he said that the evangelical school's slogan was from "Two Corinthians," rather than the near-universal spoken conventions of "Second Corinthians" or "the Second Letter of [St.] Paul to the Corinthians."

Jim S. #racist rawstory.com

The owner of a Michigan tire shop responded to negative reviews online with a racist tirade.

A customer complained on Yelp that an employee of Whitney’s Tire and Auto Repair insulted her when she called the Ann Arbor shop for a quote on tires, and the owner used a string of racial epithets to explain why he didn’t like to do business with black people, reported Mic.

Madison Callanan, of Ypsilant, said she was told over the phone that she “sounded f*cked up” and asked a stupid question, and she said whoever answered the phone told her “I’m treating you like the dog you are.”

Jim S., who claims to be the owner and manager of the repair shop, replied to Callahan’s negative review with racially charged remarks.

“Most reviews will be left by blacks from Ypsilanti because I don’t want them to call here,” Jim S. posted. “Nothing against them, but given an examination, I found a way to make a boatload more money avoiding them doing commercial water heaters.”

The shop owner said he prefers to do business with clients related to the nearby University of Michigan.

“Ghetto folks need to stay in the ghetto and not come to Ann Arbor,” he said.

A photo posted by Madison Callanan (@jackofallfades517) on Mar 30, 2016 at 5:26pm PDT
A black Michigan student called the shop and asked the owner about his racist remarks, and Jim S. responded with a string of racial slurs in a recorded phone call shared with Mic.

“There’s no law against refusing service to ghetto people,” the owner told student Shalynn Renee Vaughn. “I don’t serve f*cking monkeys, little f*cking primates.”

Business owners are allowed to refuse service to customers, but federal law prohibits arbitrary discrimination against people on the basis of their religion, race or national origin.

Even customers in those protected groups, which include LGBT people in states where laws cover sexual orientation, can be denied service if, for example, they’re intoxicated, carrying a weapon or violating a reasonable dress code.

Mic reported that another business, Briarwood Auto Care, that appears to be associated with the tire shop made news earlier this year when one of its mechanics called a potential customer a homophobic slur in a text message.

The tire shop owner’s policy would seem to be in violation of the law, if he does indeed discriminate against black customers on the basis of race.

But Jim S. insists he’s not racist — which is exactly what racists usually say.

“Race has nothing to do with this, let me clarify,” Jim S. told Mic. “What we’re trying to avoid is people who number one can’t afford service.”

The shop owner said he understood why some customers might be offended by his remarks, but he appeared unconcerned.

“I understand that a lot of people find racism to be the worst thing in the world,” he said.

The Yelp page for Whitney’s Tire and Auto Repair has been deluged with criticism since news broke about the owner’s racist remarks.

“More like ‘Whitey’s’ Tire,” said one commenter.

Dozens of social media users steered potential customers away from the shop and its racist owner.

“I saw the racist comments affiliated with this business online,” said other commenter. “Definitely won’t be patronizing this business and ask you to do the same. Segregation is alive and well, only your conscious decisions every day can change that.”

Billboard purchaser #fundie rawstory.com

More than 3,000 people from the US and abroad have signed an online petition created to protest an anti-Muslim billboard erected in St. Augustine Beach, Florida.

The Florida Times-Union reported that 31-year-old Becky Williams created the petition after seeing the billboard, which reads, “Islam Bloody Islam, doomed by its doctrine.”

“Many of us feel like someone has taken the voice of our entire community and blasted it on a billboard in a way that has nothing to do with our own beliefs or feelings,” Williams said.

While the petition has attracted significant support within Florida — including one veteran who wrote, “I did not go to Afghanistan to come home to such misinformed hate” — other signers identify themselves as hailing from countries ranging from Spain to Colombia to India and the United Kingdom.

A local advocacy group, the Islamic Center in St. Augustine, told the Times-Union that it plans to meet with Mayor Rich O’Brien as well as other organizations to discuss the billboard.

“We don’t want someone tomorrow to put up a sign against Christianity or Judaism or white or black,” said Islamic Center member Ayman El-Sawa. “We don’t want this to happen not only to Islam, but to anyone. We don’t want this to happen to our country.”

WJAX-TV reported that St. John’s Outdoor Advertising, which owns the billboard, said that the anti-Islam message was paid for by an individual and not an organization, but did not identify the person responsible.

Bill O'Reilly #racist rawstory.com

Bill O’Reilly questioned Donald Trump’s ability to provide jobs in African-American communities during an interview on Monday by painting black Americans as being ill-equipped for the labor force.

“How are you going to get jobs for them?” O’Reilly asked. “Many of them are ill-educated and have tattoos on their foreheads, and I hate to be generalized about it but it’s true. If you look at all the educational statistics, how are you going to give jobs to people who aren’t qualified for jobs?”

“We’re gonna bring jobs back,” Trump responded. “We’re gonna have Apple computers made in this country.”

“But you have to have skills to make Apple computers,” O’Reilly said.

“We will get the skills and we will develop the skills,” Trump insisted. “We have an incredible population and they don’t have the jobs.”

Jabreeh Davis-Martin #fundie rawstory.com

An Indiana man is accused of beating an Afghanistan war veteran to death with a bar stool — and bragging about it — for allegedly “making a gay move on him.”

Jabreeh Davis-Martin was charged with murder in the Jan. 16 beating death of 28-year-old Jodie Henderson, reported the South Bend Tribune.

The 23-year-old Davis-Martin was arrested Feb. 18 on unrelated handgun and marijuana charges, about a week before the county coroner finally ruled the former Army National Guardsman had died from multiple blunt-force and chop injuries.

The autopsy also showed acute alcohol intoxication and exposure to the cold could have contributed to Henderson’s death.

Davis-Martin made his initial court appearance Monday in the case.

Prosecutors said Davis-Martin attacked Henderson after a third person told him the veteran loved him in a romantic way.

He confronted Henderson and attacked him with a bar stool, then left to go to a party — where he bragged about killing the man for his same-sex attraction, investigators said.

Prosecutors said Davis-Martin returned and found Henderson lying outside his home in a fetal position, and he stomped on the injured man until he was pulled off by friends.

His body was found the following morning lying in the street.

Investigators said they had video evidence of Henderson talking about his feelings of love toward Davis-Martin, whose mother warned him not “mess with her son like that.”

Witnesses told police that they overheard Davis-Martin tell his mother over the phone to clean up blood on the porch where he attacked Henderson.

Davis-Martin was not charged with a hate crime in the fatal beating because Indiana does not have a hate statute on the books.

“If I kill a person in Indiana because I want your wallet, I committed murder,” said Ken Cotter, the St. Joseph County prosecutor. “If I kill a person because I don’t like how you look, I’ve committed a murder. If a kill a person because some person has conveyed their romantic feelings towards me, I still committed a murder.”

Henderson served in the 381st military police company with the Indiana National Guard, including a one-year tour in Afghanistan.

Unnamed man #racist rawstory.com

On a day when Sen. Bernie Sanders wrapped up another primary win, a rally in Harlem turned ugly when a man in the audience took the microphone and ranted about “Zionist Jews” controlling Wall Street and the banks.

According to The Hill, the man used his chance to ask the Vermont senator a question from the floor and it quickly turned ugly.

Prefacing his question, the man cited Sanders’ Jewish ancestry and the fact that he spent a year in Israel, before continuing, “As you know, the Zionist Jews – and I don’t mean to offend anybody – they run the Federal Reserve, they run Wall Street, they run every campaign.”

Sanders immediately began wagging his finger at the man and shaking is head no, while repeating, “Brother, brother, brother.”

As the crowd began booing, the man shouted, “What is your affiliation to your Jewish community? That’s all I’m asking.”

“No, no, no,” Sanders retorted. That’s not what you’re asking.”

As the crowd grew rambunctious, Sanders tried to defuse the situation.

“I am proud to be Jewish, ” he asserted to applause. “But you’re not going to find any candidate running for president, for example, talking about Zionism and the Middle East.”

He stated that he supports Israel before adding, “I also believe that we have got to pay attention to the needs of the Palestinians!”

As the crowd cheered wildly, Sanders continued, “There are good people on any side of an issue, and there are bad people on any side of an issue. But if we are going to bring peace, hopefully, God willing, in the Middle East, we’re going to have to treat both sides with respect and equality, alright?”

George Zaphir #fundie rawstory.com

A 59-year-old grandfather died of cancer after seeking treatment from a chiropractor who promised his eye tumor would just fall off on its own.

Ian Booth first noticed the tumor as a small lump near his right eye less than 12 months before he died, and oncologists recommended surgery to remove it, reported A Current Affair.

But relatives say Booth, of Queensland, Australia, was afraid of hospitals and did not want to lose the eye, so he instead sought out alternative treatments.

That led him to George Zaphir, a chiropractor who boasts of an 85 percent success rate in treating cancer patients as a doctor of integrative medicine.

Booth’s niece, Belinda McIntyre, said the chiropractor assured her uncle that his cancer could be treated.

“He was told, ‘You’ve come to the right place, and if you follow our treatment this is what will happen, the tumor will grow out and fall off,'” McIntyre said.

Booth told his family he believed Zaphir was a general practitioner — but an investigative report found he had never held a doctorate in medicine and was deregistered as a chiropractor several years ago.

One of Booth’s relatives wore a hidden camera for the TV program and sought treatment for legitimate back trouble from Zaphir — who assured the relative that he was both a chiropractor and a doctor of integrative medicine.

Relatives have asked authorities to investigate Zaphir and other practitioners who prescribed medicine to Booth — whose tumor did not fall off but eventually killed him.

Booth admitted to family members that he had spent about $4,000 on alternative treatments before his death.

He wrote Zaphir shortly before his death and asked for a full refund to pay for palliative care, but relatives said the chiropractor never replied.

Elena Asanbekova, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Ministry for Culture #fundie rawstory.com

The Russian Orthodox Church has apparently joined forces with the country’s Ministry of Culture and military to produce a film condemning satanist foreign powers, inspired by Harry Potter and Nazism.

The cartoon, named Kids Against the Sorcerers, is intended “to entertain and educate” children about “the truth of what threatens our existence today” according to a short preview about the film posted on YouTube, by its makers.

According to the clip, the main antagonists of the picture are represented by “an academy of sorcerers and wizards” in Scotland, who “mend the minds of children with presents and magic, that create demons, invisible to human eyes” and seek to “topple our country from inside”. Our protagonists are Russian military school students, who decide to rescue their peers from the castle walls of the wizard school.

The leader of the wizards is a man named Leonard, who, we are told “took to the occult and thus betrayed his homeland.”

“But this is not visible,” a narrator explains, with a picture of the smartly dressed Leonard, riding on his private airplane. “At first glance, he is Russian, but he hates Russia. He does not violate any laws or borders, in fact he is even very law-abiding. But he is an enemy, worse than the one 75 years ago,” the narrator explains, referring to the Nazis.

“Externally, he does not show this, but he fills the younger generation with hatred for Russia, who grow into enemies of our country.These children speak in Russian, even live here, but in their souls they are in other countries.”

This is where the story takes an even more confusing twist. The narrator explains that the story “takes place in the present, past and future”. Not only is the story about “belief in God” against the occult, but also against the Western pursuit of wealth, propagated by an unnamed “enemy” army “seeking a rematch for its defeat during WWII” and about uniting “different people such as the Greeks and the Serbs by common faith and tradition.”

According to the synopsis of the film on its website (spoiler alert) the wizards are in league with NATO, whose warships appear to threaten our protagonist’s daring escape at the film’s climax. With the power of prayer, the cadets summon Russia’s nuclear fleet and thus, NATO retreats.

The preview itself was released in December, however it only started getting attention from bloggers earlier this week.

“We posted the video about the cartoon online on 29 December 2015,” Elena Asanbekova, administrative director of the film told Russian news site Russkaya Planeta . “For a few months everything was quiet and then it all literally blew up. Over the last few days it acquired over 60,000 views on YouTube and 800 comments.”

She explained the film is loosely based on a book by the same name, written in protest to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

“We wanted to tell viewers about the traditions of our country, the Russian spirit and the Russian state of many nations,” she added. “We wanted to say that on Earth you should not live without God, you should not live without God and if you turn away from God’s commandments he will punish you.”

According to the film’s site and the credits on its preview, however, it is backed by two Russian ministries, members of parliament, the Russian Orthodox Church and Russia’s state motion picture fund, Gosfilmofond.

The wider release of the picture has not yet been announced, however, but its producers declared in April that they have been showing schoolchildren the picture and held a closed showing for selected bloggers.

The Russian Ministry of Culture was not immediately available to comment on the extent of its involvement in the project.

Chino Valley Unified School Board #fundie rawstory.com

Members of a California school board who heavily used prayer during public meetings are being ordered to pay more than $200,000 in lawyers fees, the San Bernardino Sun reports.

On February 18, U.S. District Judge Jesus Bernal ordered the Chino Valley Unified School Board to stop a years-long practice of “reciting prayers, Bible readings and proselytizing at board meetings,” the Sun reports.

On Thursday, the judge ordered board president Andrew Cruz, along with board members James Na and Sylvio Orzco to pay out $202,971.70 to the Freedom From Religion Foundation in association with their November 2014 lawsuit.

In the suit, the FFRF claimed that Na “often injects religion into his comments” at meeting conclusions while Cruz regularly concluded with a Bible reading. Prayers were also used to open the public meetings. But it didn’t stop there. Regular attendees complained the board members often stopped business to make long professions of their faith, according to the Sun.

Na at one meeting either mentioned or discussed Jesus 10 times.

“Our plaintiffs told us the board proceedings were more like a church service than a school board meeting,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said in February, according to American School and University. “So my reaction to the ruling is, ‘Hallelujah!'”

First Baptist Church of Bostic, NC #fundie rawstory.com

A North Carolina church tracked down a former member and sent her a letter expressing their disapproval over her same-sex marriage, Queerty reported.

The letter, signed by the pastor and deacons at the First Baptist Church in Bostic, called on Kelly Toney to “display repentance and abandonment of this area of open immorality,” adding that failure to do so would leave the church “no choice but to take appropriate and prayerful action to address the standing of your fellowship with this Body at such a time that will be determined by the leadership and members of this congregation.”

The church insisted that the message was not intended to “condemn or cast down” Toney.

“If it is received and seen in any way other than in the outreach of Christian love and genuine spiritual concern, then the true nature of this letter has been misinterpreted,” it stated.

Toney responded in a letter of her own sent to Outsports, stating that neither she nor her wife, Lori Ann Toney, have attended First Baptist in 15 years. She also said that she has never received a letter asking her to return during that time.

“My then-fiance and I have never stepped foot into that church!” Toney wrote. “I’ve never asked anyone of them to compromise their beliefs! I’ve only asked to love me for me and the loving person I am!! We decided to ask a friend of ours that was ordained to marry us! We got married outside and nowhere near a church!!”

She also said that before leaving First Baptist, she revealed her sexuality to some members of the church without getting a negative response.

The church has received several 1-star ratings on its Facebook page after reports of its letter to Toney, as well as several critical posts.

“Do you also revoke membership to those members who eat at the Red Lobster? What about the ones who have to work on the Sabbath? Anybody there wear mixed fabrics or a gold wedding band that is being kicked out ? Do your women cut their hair and have membership revoked?” read one comment. “No, I didn’t think so. Your blatant ignorance of the loving acceptance that embodies the story of Christ is the worst kind of ignorance. You sit in judgement against the guidance of the very book you profess to uphold.”

Ruben Israel, Aden Rumsfeldt and others #fundie rawstory.com

Donald Trump supporters traveled hundreds of miles to protest an empty Phoenix mosque, much to the irritation of its neighbors.

Ruben Israel, a self-proclaimed Christian street preacher who hates the King James Bible, Catholics and Mormons, came to Arizona from Los Angeles to shout complaints through a bullhorn and argue with residents of nearby homes, reported KPNX-TV.

“You got a mosque right here and you’re not doing anything about it,” Israel shouted at one neighbor. “I hope when Trump gets into office he turns this wicked building into a 7-Eleven.”

Another protester, who drove to Phoenix from Tucson, complained about the influence of the nation’s roughly 3.3 million Muslims — who make up about 1 percent of the U.S. population.

“Muslim religion is tearing down America,” said Aden Rusfeldt, a self-employed entrepreneur who promotes a “politically incorrect business and marketing webinar” online.

The Islamic Community Center of Phoenix, which was closed on Monday, has been targeted multiple times in the past by anti-Muslim demonstrators — including protests organized by militia member and Marine veteran Jon Ritzheimer, who is awaiting trial on a variety of federal charges for his role in the armed occupation of an Oregon nature preserve.

Neighbors said they’re tired of protesters screaming about Muslims outside the mosque, which was empty during the latest demonstration.

“He’s out here protesting nothing,” said one man, watching Israel bellow through a bullhorn. “There’s nobody here, man!”

Usama Shami, president of the Islamic Community Center, said he and other Muslims understood that the protesters represented a minority of Americans, but he said their message of “hate” was clearly intended to intimidate worshipers.

But Israel, who often takes part in anti-LGBT protests, said the demonstration was simply a peaceful free speech rally.

“We’re trying to say keep it on the sidewalk, exercise free speech,” Israel said. “It’s our free speech to take their holy book and rip it like this.”

Israel ripped a page from the Quran, and said, “We can do this.”

Sen. Kurt Schaefer #fundie rawstory.com

Senators in Missouri are moving to hold the president of a St Louis-area Planned Parenthood affiliate in contempt of court – under threat of jail time – for refusing to submit private medical documents.

The move comes after the state general assembly’s committee on the sanctity of life subpoenaed documents from Mary Kogut, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the St Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, in an investigation into her organization.

The subpoena, issued in November, called for Kogut to turn over any and all consent forms signed by the patient in the process of receiving abortion care at the St Louis affiliate. It also seeks documents that make reference to Dr Mary Gatter and Dr Deborah Nucatola, two Planned Parenthood staff members who are prominently featured in widely debunked “sting” videos by the activist group the Center for Medical Progress (CMP). The videos alleged that Planned Parenthood affiliate health centers throughout the US were engaging in the illegal sale of fetal tissue donation.

A lawyer responded on behalf of Planned Parenthood that the committee did not have the authority to subpoena these documents, and that handing them over would violate federal privacy law.

Despite these legal objections, the Missouri senate will begin a hearing Tuesday to introduce a bill determining whether Kogut should be found in contempt.

Kogut now faces a potential indictment on contempt charges. If charged, she faces up to 10 days of jail time as well as a fine of $300 for, as the subpoena itself states, is the right of the general assembly to “punish”.

“It is deeply, deeply concerning that in 2016 we are talking about jailing women’s health care providers for protecting their patients’ privacy,” Kogut said in a statement. “These baseless threats to our health care professionals and providers are disturbing.”

The committee’s subpoena comes after Missouri attorney general Chris Koster announced in September 2015 that his office had found the Planned Parenthood affiliates in Missouri free of any wrongdoing. Koster’s investigation focused heavily on the Planned Parenthood affiliate in St Louis, one of the health centers under Kogut’s jurisdiction, as it is the only abortion provider in the state. The investigation, which involved the review of thousands of pages of internal documents provided to the attorney general’s office by Kogut’s Planned Parenthood affiliate and interviews with its employees, found no evidence of any illegal activity.

“The evidence reviewed by my investigators supports Planned Parenthood’s representation that fetal tissue is handled in accordance with Missouri law. We have discovered no evidence whatsoever to suggest that Planned Parenthood’s St Louis facility is selling fetal tissue,” Koster said in a statement at the time of his investigation’s conclusions.

State senator Kurt Schaefer, a Republican representing the Columbia area, nonetheless opened his own investigation into the Planned Parenthood affiliate, seeking to answer the same question. Schaefer is in the middle of a campaign against incumbent Koster, a Democrat, for the position of Missouri’s attorney general in November.

The Missouri general assembly is also expected to vote soon on defunding Planned Parenthood as a Medicaid and Title X provider in the state. Abortion providers in Missouri already face harsh Trap (targeted restriction of abortion providers) regulations , and women seeking abortion care in the state must receive state-directed counseling that includes information designed to discourage them from having an abortion before then beginning a 72-hour waiting period. The University of Missouri healthcare system discontinued the admitting privileges needed for providers at the Columbia Planned Parenthood affiliate in September 2015 as a result of the committee on the sanctity of life, which Schaefer chairs , began its investigation into Planned Parenthood in the state on the heels of the CMP tapes.

Prior to the incident with Kogut, the most recent contempt proceedings in Missouri occurred in 1903.

William Estrada #fundie rawstory.com

Homeschoolers says it’s unfair that they must prove they’ve obtained high school-level academic skills to become a police officer or enter trade school.

The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is challenging requirements by cosmetology and vocational schools that incoming students show a high school diploma or pass a GED exam to gain admittance.

“A homeschool graduate is accepted into a cosmetology or vocational school — but then, like a bolt from above, the admissions office reverses course,” said William Estrada, HSLDA director of federal relations. “Officials tell the applicant that the school cannot accept homeschoolers.”

The Christian legal advocacy group has handled numerous calls from homeschooled young adults who say they were turned away from trade schools or police departments because they had not passed a General Educational Development exam — which they say graduates of traditional high schools are not required to do.

“Vocational schools are more likely to be audited for compliance with federal higher education laws,” Estrada said. “They’re worried that if they accept a homeschooler who doesn’t have the documentation of a public school graduate, it could cost the vocational school its accreditation.”

The HSLDA is representing two candidates who Christian legal advocates say were turned away from the Ithaca, New York, Police Department because they had not earned high school diplomas or the equivalent — even though both went on to graduate from state colleges.

“One had a bachelor’s degree and the other was a qualified emergency medical technician,” said TJ Schmidt, a staff attorney for HSLDA. “Despite their success in higher education, these graduates were essentially being told to go back to high school.”

The HSLDA claims the police department is violating state law governing educational requirements for officers, which the group argues should permit the two women to join because they hold “a comparable diploma” to high school or its equivalent.

The group is awaiting a response from city officials in Ithaca and will pursue further legal action if the two homeschooled women are not accepted as candidates.

Estrada admits his group had not succeeded in all of its challenges because most vocational schools are privately run and may therefore set their own admission standards — which he complained allowed them to “discriminate against homeschoolers.”

The legal advocate melodramatically related comments made by the president of a cosmetology school — whose voice, he said, was “shaking with rage.”

“I will not let a homeschool graduate into my school unless he or she has a GED,” the school official allegedly told HSLDA attorneys. “My brother had a GED, and if it was good enough for him, it’s good enough for a homeschool graduate.”

The HSLDA has been urging the National Accrediting Commission of Career Arts and Sciences (NACCAS) to loosen its requirements for homeschooled students, and the legal group said the board’s leadership had encouraged affiliated trade schools to accept those students “with open arms.”

Estrada recommended that homeschooled students should present “a parent-issued high school diploma, a high school transcript, and evidence of compliance with your state’s homeschool law” when applying to cosmetology or vocational school.

He urged families to contact HSLDA if the school refuses admittance or requires a GED.

Unnamed teacher #fundie rawstory.com

The family of a Muslim child is upset because they say the 12-year-old’s teacher called him a terrorist in front of his classmates, KHOU reports.

Waleed Abushaaban, an honor student at a middle school in Fort Bend County, Texas, said the class was watching a movie on Thursday when his teacher directed the hateful words his way.

“We were in the class watching a movie,” Waleed told KHOU, “and I was just laughing at the movie and the teacher said, ‘I wouldn’t be laughing if I was you.’ And I said why? She said, ‘because we all think you’re a terrorist.'”

Abushaaban said the class was watching the soccer film, Bend It Like Beckham, after completing testing when the comment was made. He said the teacher’s comment prompted the other students to start mocking him.

“They were like, ‘oh I see a bomb!’ and they started all laughing and making jokes,” he told the station. “I was upset and I felt like I was put in the corner and like everybody was just looking at me.“

The school district has removed the teacher from the classroom while it conducts an investigation. But Abushaaban’s parents and local Muslim leaders want her fired.

“Just because my son is a Muslim doesn’t mean he is a terrorist,” Malek Abushaaban told KHOU. “He’s an American. He’s as American as anybody else. He was born here. That’s all he knows, is how to be an American.”

According to KHOU, the family plans to keep Waleed at the school, and aside from wanting the English and Language Arts teacher fired, they want students and teachers to undergo religious sensitivity training.

In a statement sent to KHOU about the incident, Fort Bend Independent School District officials say the teacher claims she was trying to make a point about negative stereotypes, but did so poorly.

“While the teacher reports her statements were made in the context of trying to make a point about negative stereotypes, District officials do not believe that the teacher exercised the appropriate sensitivity expected of the District’s educators, and do not believe that the statements were made in a manner that is in keeping with the District’s Core Beliefs and Commitments,” the statement reads.

It’s not the first time a young Muslim student has been the target of anti-Muslim sentiment in Texas public schools.

Last year, 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed was arrested when he brought homemade clock to school. Teachers and school police accused the child of making a “hoax bomb.” Mohamed was cleared and in the midst of outcry over the incident.

Roger Stone #fundie rawstory.com

A former adviser to GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump is promising “days of rage” outside the GOP convention in Cleveland if the Republican Party tries to whisk the nomination away from Trump and give it to someone more palatable to the party.

According to Buzzfeed, Roger Stone — who either quit or was fired by the Trump campaign last August depending upon who is talking — is modeling his street actions after the violent protests outside the Democratic convention in Chicago in 1968.

Despite no longer having any official affiliation with the Trump campaign, Stone has remained one of the candidate’s biggest boosters.

Stone promised disruptions at the convention earlier in the week, telling GQ: “I think there would be extreme anger by the Trump supporters. I don’t know that it would boil over into violence. Trump is certainly not advocating violence.”

With the possibility of a contested convention and Trump being denied the nomination, Stone has been tweeting out: “Stop the Steal March On Cleveland! @realDonaldTrump Supporters- drive,hitch-hike, bus or fly to “the Forest City’ July 18-21”

In an email interview with Buzzfeed, Stone said, the protests will be “organized by Trump nation,” in conjunction with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Infowars.

Stone wrote, they will “will stage protests at hotels of state delegates of states supporting the BIG STEAL.”

“The Bush, Cruz, Rubio, Romney, Ryan, McConnell faction has united and is moving into high gear to steal the nomination from Trump,” Stone wrote in a column this week.

Accordingly, the Cleveland police department has been stocking up on riot gear — using a $50 million federal security grant — in anticipation of protests in the hot July weather both for and against the controversial candidate.

Faye Stewart #racist rawstory.com

A Republican Senate candidate is being criticized for saying that Vietnamese refugees who came to Oregon “harvested” people’s pets for food because “their lifestyle didn’t mix with ours,” the Daily Caller reports.

Faye Stewart, a candidate for the U.S. Senate hailing from Oregon, made the comments during a GOP candidate forum on March 10 at George Fox University in Newberg, a town outside Portland.

“[W]e took in some refugees, I believe it was some Vietnamese refugees into this state years ago and it created a huge problem because their culture and their lifestyle didn’t mix with ours,” he said.

Stewart said the refugees didn’t know how to heat their home and set a fire in the middle of their apartment.

“Or, when they needed something to eat, they went to their natural ways of doing it by harvesting people’s dogs and cats, their pets,” Stewart added. “I question, why can’t we go over there and help them, in their native land and protect them there. Why do we need to bring them here and potentially jeopardize the citizens’ lives here?”

According to the Daily Caller, Stewart is currently a county commissioner in Lane County and is seeking the party nod to run against Democratic incumbent, Sen. Ron Wyden.

In regards to the comments, Stewart told Williamette Week that he got the information about the Vietnamese refugees “from a very close friend that lived in Portland that witnessed the items I referred to.”

He made the reference as a point of concern over Syrian refugees currently seeking solace from brutal violence in their home country. Stewart told Williamette Week he believes his comments were taken out of context, but admits they may have created “division,” saying, “We can’t afford to create further division and hate in our communities, our state, and our country. It was bad enough that I made the statement that did just that but to have someone take my comments, edit them out of context, and use them to drive hate makes me sick.”

Representatives from the local Vietnamese community fired back after being told about Stewart’s remarks.

“We do not know where he gets the information about our community but that does not represent us as a whole,” Lana Co, president of the Vietnamese Community of Oregon, told Williamette Week. “The Vietnamese community has made substantial contributions to the cultural, religious, political, and business life throughout the state of Oregon. He needs to take his comment back and he owes us an apology. He cannot represent us in the Senate.”

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