Category Archives: Viva!

Faith and freedoms: why evangelicals profess unwavering love for Trump

The most addicting delusion is self-delusion – especially when encouraged by those making a profit from the delusion!

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The faithful have been ardent supporters who turn a blind eye to the president’s moral indiscretions in favor of agenda

When Donald Trump took the stage last month at a mega-conference for the Faith and Freedom Coalition, the country’s largest organization of evangelical Christians, he was granted an extraordinary welcome by the group’s chairman, Ralph Reed.

“We have had some great leaders,” Reed said, to cheers. “There has never been anyone who has defended us and fought for us, who we have loved more than Donald J Trump. We have seen his heart and he is everything he promised he would be, and more.”

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Alaska’s governor is trying to destroy its universities. The state may never recover | Cas Mudde

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Mike Dunleavy wants to cut the Alaskan university system by $130m – a staggering 41% of its budget

We rarely devote much attention to what happens in the largest state of the US. No, not Texas – Alaska, which is bigger, geographically, than the next three states combined (Texas, California and Montana). Separated from the mainland by Canada, Alaska is the biggest state yet has fewer inhabitants than the smallest (Rhode Island). This creates enormous challenges for governance, including in higher education. And Alaska governor Mike Dunleavy’s new budget will make these challenges far, far worse.

In a shocking example of political overreach, Dunleavy announced 182 line-item vetoes to his state’s 2020 budget last week. He thereby cut the budget proposed by the Alaska legislature by almost $410m in general funds. Almost one-third of the cuts will come from the University of Alaska system, which will see its budget cut by $130m – a staggering 41%.

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Johnson pledges to make all immigrants learn English

Liar and pimping to bigots!

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Tory leadership contender says English is not first language in ‘too many parts of our country’

Boris Johnson has said there are “too many parts of our country” where English is not spoken as a first language and that he would require all immigrants to Britain to learn English.

At a hustings event for the Conservative leadership race in Darlington on Friday, the former mayor of London praised the capital’s diversity but suggested some communities were not doing enough to integrate into society.

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Facebook ads funded by ‘dark money’ are the right’s weapon for 2020

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The right and conservative media are using the untraceable ads to push a rightwing agenda and get Donald Trump re-elected

In the weeks leading up to a tightly contested 2018 midterm election in Virginia, a Facebook page called “Wacky Wexton Not” ran an ad that pictured Democratic congressional candidate Jennifer Wexton next to Nazi troops. Another labeled her an “evil socialist”. Yet another referenced Nazi uniforms, stating, “Wexton and her modern day brown shirts. They Are Evil. They Hate America. They Hate You.”

You can still have a huge impact by spending very little.

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