The Batshit Files: News Roundup | 6.10.11

• Glenn Beck compares media coverage of Sarah Palin to a KKK lynch mob (Media Matters)

• NOM's Brian Brown: Anti-gay marriage amendments keep LGBT teens safe (Pam's House Blend)

• Creationists explain that transgender identity is a serious medical problem resulting from The Fall of Man (Right Wing Watch)

• Those racist anti-choice billboards are back.  This time they're targeting Latinos. (GOOD)

• The KKK is proud of its new "positive" image. (Huffington Post)

• 18 killed in wave of homophobic violence in Puerto Rico (ColorLines)

• Coulter: If my child said he was gay, "Obviously I'd tell him he was adopted...Ask for some help redecorating the dining room" (Media Matters)
  

• The North Carolina House voted to pass the “Women’s Right to Know” Act which forces women to wait 24 hours to have an abortion, forces them to see a sonogram and feeds them “information” about the risks of abortion. (Feministing)

• Limbaugh: "Belief in man-made global warming is a lot like believing in Santa Claus." (Media Matters)

• God is separately backing at least three different contenders for the Republican presidential nomination (New York)

• Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed — the 2008 creationist propaganda movie fronted by Ben Stein — is scheduled to be auctioned, pursuant to the bankruptcy proceeding of Premise Media Holdings LP. (NCSE) 

• Santorum: Climate Change is a “scheme” for “more government” (Discover)
  

'Paul Revere's Ride' by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Sarah Palin

The New Yorker's Ben Greenman reads "Paul Revere's Ride, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Sarah Palin."

Is Anatomy Destiny? - A Talk By Alice Dreger

Via TED:

Alice Dreger works with people at the edge of anatomy, such as conjoined twins and intersexed people. In her observation, it's often a fuzzy line between male and female, among other anatomical distinctions. Which brings up a huge question: Why do we let our anatomy determine our fate?

Alice Dreger is a professor of clinical medical humanities and bioethics at the Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University in Chicago. She describes her focus as "social justice work in medicine and science" through research, writing, speaking and advocacy.

She's written several books that study subjects on the edge of norm-challenging bodies, including One of Us: Conjoined Twins and the Future of Normal and Hermaphrodites and the Medical Invention of Sex and Intersex in the Age of Ethics.

She says: "The question that has motivated many of my projects is this: Why not change minds instead of bodies?"

Bryan Fischer: Gays Responsible For The Nazi Party

Bryan Fischer, total dickhead

Bryan Fischer, of the American Family Association (the hate group sponsoring Gov. Rick Perry's prayer and fasting rally) wants to clear something up.

He never once said that gays were responsible for the HOLOCAUST. He said that the gays were responsible for the NAZI PARTY (which was responsible for the Holocaust).

Remember, folks! Bryan Fischer will be praying for America alongside Texas governor and potential GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry on August 6 at the seven-hour fasting and prayer-fest, Response: A Call to Prayer For a Nation in Crisis. 

Police Seek 'Psychic' After Search For 30 Bodies Yields Nothing

In cased you missed it, a tip from a 'psychic' had authorities in Liberty County, TX searching for a mass grave containing 30 bodies. The home of Joe and Gena Bankson was raided by FBI agents, cadaver dogs, and approximately 15 carloads of local police. Two dozen news outlets camped outside the home, and at least two helicopters were spotted overhead. Several state agencies were on the premises.

And as things go, several news agencies were reporting that a mass grave had indeed been found. Like a nasty virus, reports were passed along, re-tweeted, and the next thing you know, "Texas police, acting on a tip-off, found a mass grave containing 'a lot of bodies,' including the corpses of children."

At the end of the day? Nada. After wasting hundreds of hours of agency resources and, reportedly, up to $1 million dollars, authorities declared at the end of the day, "There is no crime scene."

Via Reuters:

Capt. Rex Evans, a spokesman for the Liberty County Sheriff's Office, said the female caller, who apparently was familiar with the rural property about 50 miles outside Houston, may face a misdemeanor charge for filing a false report. The punishment could include a fine and jail time.

So, let me get this straight. The Liberty County Sheriff's Office wants to charge someone for sharing her supernatural visions -- supernatural visions which they decided to treat as evidence of an actual real world crime.

A supernatural vision is not a 'tip.' It's not a 'report.' Charging someone for making a false report because their supernatural vision didn't pan out is like getting mad at someone because they were mean to you in your dream.

Officers, I believe what you do in this situation is cut your losses and remind yourselves that this is not Scooby Doo.

The Batshit Files: News Roundup | 6.8.11

People, you so crazy:

Rainbows have been banned at Mississauga Catholic school (Xtra!)

Ann Coulter on Kent State massacre: "That's what you do with a mob" (Media Matters)

Rep. John Labruzzo (R) defends bill banning abortion, compares women seeking abortions to heroin addicts (Think Progress)

Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) claims that legalizing gay marriage is akin to legalizing pedophilia, incest, and letting three-year olds drive a car. (Right Wing Watch)

Wash. Times says Palin was "correct" about Paul Revere; "Left Does Not Revere History" (Media Matters)

Sarah Palin's fans edit Paul Revere Wikipedia entry to make it reflect Palin's unique version of the events. (Computerworld)

Man tells police he raped woman because he was afraid of the Rapture (Orlando Sentinel)

'Psychic' tip leads to serious search, but no mass grave containing 30 bodies, as the 'psychic' claimed (MSNBC)

David Barton: Founding Fathers were against teaching evolution; Revolution was fought to end slavery (Right Wing Watch)

Herman Cain’s plan for securing the border: Build an electrified Great Wall Of China, fill a moat with alligators (ThinkProgress)

Massachusetts State Rep. Ryan Fattman (R, duh): If an undocumented woman were raped and beaten as she walked down the road, she should be afraid to come forward. (Right Wing Watch)

Christian to Walk 160 Miles to Repent for Homophobia

This summer, British Christian writer Symon Hill will walk from Birmingham to London as a pilgrimage of sorts. He is walking 160 miles to repent for his former homophobic attitudes and beliefs.

Hill admits he used to campaign against gay ministers and Christian acceptance of LGBT people. He has since become convinced that he was wrong.

He writes:

Taking a circuitous route between 16 June and 1 July, I will give talks on the way, challenging the Church as a whole to repent of homophobia and to think differently about sexuality.

I will be praying for God's guidance and engaging in dialogue with those who disagree.

An email to The Guardian indicates that Hill's trek is garnering support and publicity from other churches and organizations who share the sentiment:

Churches in Birmingham, Oxford and London are to host events in June and July encouraging Christians to repent of homophobia and support full equality for gay and bisexual people. All three churches will host talks by Symon Hill, a Christian writer who is walking 160 miles on a pilgrimage of repentance for his former homophobia. The pilgrimage has been welcomed by the former Bishop of Oxford, Richard Harries, and the human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.

A call to Hill revealed that the churches mentioned in the email are "neither Church of England nor Roman Catholic. They are Methodist, Reformed and Baptist. So still churches, just not the right ones." I would argue that any churches are "right ones," but I do share the sentiment that this amounts to preaching to the choir.

Hill told the Guardian:

It has been harder than expected to find churches willing to host me. There have been churches who were very interested but later found the congregation or the vicar to be opposed to the idea. There are lots of people who support inclusion but avoid talking about for fear of creating a row.

Luckily, there are people like Hill willing to force the discussion.

Hill writes on his blog:

Along with the ednorsements from organisations, I continue to be humbled by the emails and comments I recieve from individuals. This evening, I recieved an email from a Christian mother of two adult children who are both gay Christians. She is proud of them, accepts their faith and their sexuality, and works with a support group for Christian parents with LGBT children, some of whom have difficulty reaching a position of acceptance.

I am only one of many, many people in Britain and around the world who are inspired by the radical inclusivity of Christ to work for the full equality of gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual, transgender, intersex and queer people within Christiainity. I do not think I could do what I am doing without the support of others, and I thank God for all of them.

For more information on Symon's pilgrimage, see his blog here.