Vomit by Eric at RedState

Only CNN and the Democrats would put together a “Compassion” forum. Isn’t the Democratic Primary already a compassion forum where Hillary and Obama express their compassion for the little guy while doing their best to avoid actually touching them?

Amazing. He managed to pack hypocrisy, racism and sexism into two sentences all the while being condescending to one of the main messages of Jesus. Pretty amazing. Not surprisingly the conservatives who comment on RedState failed to connect compassion to the teachings of Jesus as well so I decided to help them out.

My Comment (Adammair)

Liberals are weenies. HaHa! Compassion is something that Jesus guy would talk about.

While I doubt my comment will make any difference as conservatives have an amazingly strong ability to filter out any bits of reality that differs from their own opinions. It did brighten my Monday morning though. Eric at RedState declared that an open thread so please head on over and remind them about the teachings of their professed religion.

William
WWJV4

Father and Daughter

Thomas Beatie, the transgendered pregnant man from The Advocate, was on Oprah telling what I feel is a beautiful and romantic story. Thomas became pregnant himself instead of his wife as she is unable to become pregnant for medical reasons. The more I watch and read about the couple the more I am drawn to admire their decisions. I hope that their story helps others who are struggling to come to terms with their sexuality and body image.

Watch Oprah’s promo on this story below, and for clips from the show check out Melissa McEwan’s coverage on Shakesville .

[youtube width="500" height="394"]http://youtube.com/watch?v=w-czVXh9woU[/youtube]

I don’t have much more to add to this story except to say that I am very happy for the couple and I wish them and their daughter the best. Hopefully them taking the brave steps to go public with their story will progress the dialog on equal rights for everyone. It should defiantly put into question our society’s shallow view of gender and sexuality.

Not surprisingly the mainstream media has been pretty quiet about all this, with the unfortunate exception of Fox News. Never one to approach a story with tact Fox ran it with this lead “A transsexual woman who has undergone reconstructive surgery and testosterone therapy, and who calls herself a “man,” claims to be five months pregnant with a baby girl.” There is so much wrong here but what’s most offensive is the fact that Fox understands their audience and this is written perfectly for them.

By contrast The Guardian, a UK based news outlet, ran the story the following day with “An American married man, who used to be a woman before having gender reassignment surgery, has sparked shock and disbelief after claiming to be five months pregnant with a baby girl.” Notice how much more respectful and unbiased that sounds? I guess its all in how you write for your target audience.

Please let me know what you all think on this story.

A MyBlogLog reader Cooper sent me a message letting me know that my website and RSS feed was broken. The fact that she took some of her own personal time to send me a message means a lot to me. More importantly she did so without any expectation of payment or any other selfish motives. This may seem like a minor deal for many, but I am leaving town to go to a funeral and had she not said anything my site would have been down all weekend, potentially costing me quite a bit in terms of readers and ad revenue.

Of course she had no way of knowing that I was leaving town, or even if I was aware of the problem. Thats the amazing part of doing small acts of kindness for strangers; you never know how one of them may make a huge impact on someones life. So I want to take this time and send out a huge thank you to Cooper and invite each one of you to check out her websites. Thanks!

• Wonderland or Not – Personal blog with a little social, political and pop cultural commentary added.
• Darfur: An Unforgivable Hell on Earth – Solely about humanitarian causes, in this case mainly Darfur.
• Should Be Famous – About Blogs and Bloggers who should be famous

#10 Subscribe to RSS Feeds – Keeping informed is the single most difficult and time consuming part of becoming active. There is simply so many great sites that there is no way to visit them all regularly enough to keep up. This is where RSS feeds and a free RSS Reader like Google Reader comes in handy. With Google Reader you can get all your news in one place and it automatically updates so you never have to go out looking for news. Try it out by subscribing to my feed here.

#9 Comment on Blogs – Joining a discussion on one of the many great liberal blogs is an excellent way to get involved and start making a difference. This can take as little as a few minutes a day and will help get you involved in the community. Look through my blogroll and find a site that interests you and get involved. Of course I welcome everyone to comment here as well.

#8 Make a Donation – Not a ground shattering suggestion but one that is still badly needed. If you have more money than time giving even a small monetary donation can really help out. If you have even a few hours to spare there are many charities that always need help. So whether you are donating money, items, or time it is very rewarding knowing that your efforts are appreciated.

#7 Attend a Local Rally – Getting involved with local groups is one of the most rewarding parts of getting active for a cause. My wife and I try to find as much time for this as possible and we never regret it. The rallies and vigils are always great fun and the media attention these rallies generate will greatly help your cause. Last month my wife and our 3 youngest attended a vigil for SCHIP and they had a wonderful time, met some great people, and helped raise awareness in the community.

#6 Write a Letter to the Editor – Taking 20 minutes and writing up a good letter to the editor of your local newspaper can have an enormous impact. Even a small newspaper has a circulation of thousands of readers who are informed and interested in local events. The return on time for writing a letter is huge as a well written letter can bring in lots of support.

#5 Contribute to Liberal Blogs – Many liberal blogs, including this one, allow contributions from readers like you. Best of all these blogs often have daily readership of tens of thousands of progressives who are open to your ideas and thoughts. Daily KOS is the largest liberal site on the internet with hundreds of thousands of daily readers and they allow you to set up a diary for free where you can write about your cause. Take advantage of these offers to get your message out there.

#4 Tell Your Friends and Family – Many people overlook the simple act of talking with their friends and family. Oftentimes you will find that the person you least expected to be interested is in fact very receptive to your ideas. In fact quite commonly you will find that some of your friends and family are more than willing to join forces with you to help out.

#3 Start a Personal Blog – While this seems intimidating for many people, in reality it is as simple as filling out a quick form. Blogger.com and WordPress.com are both excellent, fast, easy, and FREE. There is simply no easier and faster way to make a difference than starting your own blog. In less than 2 months we have had almost 50,000 visitors and you can easily do better than that.

#2 Get Involved Locally – The more local the cause the more of an impact you can make on your own so get involved with the local government. Take advantage of open forums and contact your local representative. You will be surprised at how much even one person can accomplish working at the local level. So even if all the time you have is to write a letter to your local representative that is time well spent towards making a difference.

#1 Vote – I cant stress enough how important getting out and voting is. In our great country the will of the people is represented by elected officials. By taking part in this process you validate your own freedom and help to ensure that the best candidate is the one in office. So please get out and vote because your one vote does make a difference.

Bonus Tip: Focus on a Single Issue at First – Often times we can get distracted by all the important causes and we start trying to do too much. This just leads to a lot of wasted effort and eventual burnout as we spread ourselves too thin. Pick the issue that you are most passionate and invest only as much as you can spare. This way you will maximize your efforts and combined with the 10 tips above you can start to really make a difference in the world.

There you have it, 10 simple tips to getting involved and making a real difference. I could have easily listed more but I wanted to keep this short and sweet. The single greatest threat is apathy so please bookmark this list and send it to all your friends because only by becoming active can we expect anything to change. Thank you so much and please feel free to comment and add to the list.

~ William ~
http://wwjv4.com

The poor child had left his badly injured mother after a car accident to find help. It was only through fortunate circumstances that Jesus Manuel Cordova found the child about two hours later. Together they returned to the accident but were unable to save the child’s mother, who was pinned inside. Jesus Manuel Cordova stayed with the child through the night, comforting him and offering his jacket and building a bonfire to keep him warm. The next morning, after some passing hunters called for help Jesus Manuel Cordova allowed himself to be detained and returned to Mexico by Border Patrol agents who were the first to respond.

Jesus Manuel Cordova is a true hero, in every sense of the word. While the Right will be quick to point out his “criminal” status they cannot diminish the selfless act that saved that boys life. Jesus Manuel Cordova is living proof that no matter how the Right tries to criminalize the undocumented immigrants who risk so much for the chance at a better life here, they cannot succeed in making them into actual criminals. So while it is true that Jesus Manuel Cordova committed a misdemeanor crime by entering the country illegially, he is a better American than many of the “true Americans” who are now attacking him. (( Lawrence Downes “What Part of ‘Illegal’ Don’t You Understand?” ))

This story, though tragic in many ways, serves to illustrate what many of us on the Left have been saying for years. Jesus Manuel Cordova and the millions of other undocumented immigrants who live and work in this country are overwhelmingly good people. They work hard, often for sub-standard wages and in unsafe conditions, for the chance to make a better life for themselves and their families. This country owes them all, not just Jesus Manuel Cordova, a debt of gratitude for it is upon the backs of immigrants that America has become the powerful nation that it has.

I know that there will always be those who hide their bigotry and racism behind conservative propaganda, and for those people not even this selfless and heroic act will change their opinions. I try to hold out hope that some of them will see that the teachings of the Christian Jesus had more in common with the actions of Jesus Manuel Cordova than to their own hatreds, intolerance, and racism. Maybe some will see that and that is why I am cutting my Thanksgiving break short to write this.

I hope everyone had a great and safe Thanksgiving. As we finish up our celebrations, and eat the last of our Thanksgiving leftovers, I hope each one of you can take a second to give thanks that a man was there when a little boy needed him. I hope that someday our laws are fixed, and Jesus Manuel Cordova and the millions like him, can live without ever needing to make the decision between freedom and saving a life. So Jesus Manuel Cordova, Summer and I thank you, even though you will not get to spend the holidays in America as you had dreamed, there is a child that does because you were here.

~ William Ludwig ~
http://wwjv4.com

So please hurry up and cast your votes.  We will be extending the deadline until 8am Monday morning to give more people the chance to vote.  As before if you wish to suggest a charity not listed on the poll just place a comment on this story or the prior story and it will be added.

Please help us support those who have lost everything to this terrible disaster.

~ William ~

P.S. Thanks to those of you who have already voted.

Your Part:
We are calling on all our readers to donate or volunteer for the charity of your choice to help out the relief efforts in California. There is a list below with several great organizations that have already done so much. Even a small donation will help out. If you know of any we missed please put them in a comment and we will add them.

Our Part:
As our way of putting our money where our mouth is we will donate all profits from all of October to the Charity of Your Choice. Any charity that is working to help in California is eligible so write in your vote in the comments below. Every penny earned over expenses by this website for October will be donated so make sure you get your vote in by 5:00 on Friday November 2nd as we will be making the donation sometime Friday night.

Charities & Volunteer Opportunities:

Important notice: In the wake of any natural disaster there are those who would take advantage of the natural outpouring of support. Sadly this time is no different, so please wherever you decide to lend your support be careful of fraudulent charities.

1. Habitat for Humanity: – A great group that works to eliminate homelessness and their services are likely to be very valuable as thousands of low income families have lost their homes.
2. Second Harvest: – Extraordinary group that works year round to help more than 25 million low income Americans get the food they need. Find out how to help here.
3. The Salvation Army: – There are many ways to donate to the Salvation Army and right now there will be shortages of everything.
4. California Volunteers: – If you live in the area and are looking for ways to volunteer there is no shortage of need. This group is a great start to get you hooked up with the people who can use your help. You can also make a donation by calling 1-800-750-2858.
5. Tzu Chi Foundation: – A Buddhist group which was founded by Dharma Master Cheng Yen in 1966 because she felt that “lack of love for others” has been the root of many problems in this world. “To save the world, we must begin by transforming human hearts.”
6. San Diego Humane Society and SPCA: – And lastly lets not forget about the animals who need our help as well. The San Diego Humane Society can really use all the help they can get right now. Keep an eye on this page for updates on everything they are doing to help animals affected by the fires.
7. The American Red Cross: – Using the online donation form you can choose the California Wildfires or any other area for your donation. I understand that many have problems with their operations but they are one of the big guys so they needed including. I would highly suggest that you earmark the donation to the California Wildfires if you are concerned with that money being used to support local churches.

There are of course hundreds and hundreds more but we wanted to cover some of the biggest as well as a couple of our favorites. There is a much longer list here, as well as more detailed commentary on the groups policies and practices. If you see any there you feel deserve mention here please list them in the comments.

~ William ~

P.S. Remember we are pledging all profits from October through this Friday to the charity of your choice so don’t forget to vote in the comments section below.

As I have written time and again, conservative right wing republicans cannot argue with logic so they bring on the barrage of verbal nastiness. Almost everyone agrees that the holocaust was a horrible thing so equating whatever it is that they don’t agree with with either Nazi’s or the holocaust itself is a surefire way to rile up their followers. The other word that they have managed to manipulate to conjure up images of death, torment, and horror is liberal. Notice that he doesn’t just say abortion it’s “liberalized” abortion.

These semantic games that they are playing have been highly tuned to strike just the right chord in their close minded base. It doesn’t matter that logically the holocaust and legalized abortion have nothing in common or that “liberal” means “favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, esp. as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties.”

Huckabee also pulled out another verbal weapon from his arsenal “God”. In the same speech he stated “I’m very tired of hearing people who are unwilling to change the constitution, but seem more than willing to change the holy word of God as it relates to the definition of marriage.”

This statement is, to me, the embodiment of what is wrong with the Religious Right. He makes it clear that he believes political decisions should be guided by religious beliefs, effectively throwing the separation of church and state right out of the window. He said this while speaking to the crowd about the necessity of conservative lawmakers to pressure for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

To sum up Huckabee’s apparent platform: The Christian conservatives’ idea of God and his wishes will decide the laws and anyone who disagrees are liberalized nazi’s. Nice.

We believe that whether or not you personally believe in any god, the teachings of Jesus of love, peace, and forgiveness, are such that almost anyone can support them. What we do not agree with is these teachings being distorted and used to promote division, injustice, intolerance, bigotry, and discrimination against anyone.

It has been our experience that the people who argue the loudest against things like womens’ right to choose, gay rights, and acceptance of all cultures often have no idea why they believe so strongly. They are often unable to cite sources, refute arguments with evidence, or even remain civil. I wrote the other day that it will be important for the future of this nation to reach out to the Christian conservatives. I believe that many of them have their eyes closed to what is really going on and the hatred that they may be unknowingly spreading.

What we hope to do with this site is not to disparage or downgrade anyone’s beliefs but to share information. Information that may cause someone to really look at whether or not what they are clinging to as “Christian” or religious ideals are truly the messages of their gods.

To that end we will not accept comments that promote hatred or violence toward any group of people, use foul or degrading language directed at a person or group of people, or are otherwise found to be inappropriate by our moderators. We will always communicate with our submitters to advise if there are any problems with the content of the comments and give any rejected a chance to reword their thoughts.

Thank you,

WWJV4.com

Recently Pope Benedict XVI praised Nicaragua for enacting a total ban on abortions. This includes abortions for rape or incest and also abortions necessary to save the life of the mother. Since last November this ban on abortions has cost at least 80 lives according to women’s rights advocacy groups.

These are 80 young women who died because they did not have access to clean and safe abortion facilities when their lives depended on it. Jazmina Bojorge has the unfortunate distinction of being the first. She died due to complications in her pregnancy 36 hours after going to a hospital for fever and abdominal pains.

After her death Rev. Rolando Alvarez, spokesperson for the Managua archdiocese, has stated that the church will push lawmakers to clarify the ban to allow the saving of the mothers life. Since that time around 80 more women have died.

Here in America the ruling finding the “Partial-Birth” Abortion Ban unconstitutional was recently overturned. The Supreme Court ruled that a complete ban on Partial Birth abortions was indeed constitutional. The Act actually states that there is NEVER a time when this is a necessary procedure to save the life of the mother. Read the entire act here.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote in her dissent that the latest decision “tolerates, indeed applauds, federal intervention to ban nationwide a procedure found necessary and proper in certain cases by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists”.

While in itself the ban is a small step compared to the total ban that Nicaragua has, it is still a dangerous step along a very slippery and steep slope. The religious right simply will not rest as long as women are allowed to control their own reproductive rights.

Currently of the top candidates only the 3 Democrats expressed any concern over this bill. Obama, Edwards, and Clinton all came out strongly opposed to any reduction in women’s reproductive freedom. Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani both flip flopped from prior documented pro-abortion stands to more religious-right-friendly anti-choice stands.

I believe that we have come to a time where we can trust women to make their own medical decisions. While we cannot help those poor women in Nicaragua we can remain diligent to prevent their misery and deaths from befalling any more innocent lives.

~ William ~

P.S. If anyone knows of an organization that is helping in Nicaragua please post it in the comments. I would love to throw them some free publicity and any help we can. Women of all countries should have the freedom to control their own bodies.