'Stimulus' grants going to porn producers?
Editor's note: This story contains descriptions that some may find offensive. "Stimulus" funds awarded to the National Endowment for the Arts may be being used to produce pornographic material. The NEA was allotted $80 million out of the $787-trillion stimulus bill approved earlier this year by Congress and President Obama. Alliance Defense Fund special counsel Pat Trueman shares what he found upon close examination of the NEA's expenditures. Read full story
Pray that President Obama is vocal in the appropriate use of stimulus funds, and that this money would not be misused in selfish and immoral ways.
Pray that President Obama is vocal in the appropriate use of stimulus funds, and that this money would not be misused in selfish and immoral ways.
1 Timothy 6:17 "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.."
FOX news and the Republicans are doing their best to manipulate you guys. Check this out:
from http://alibi-shop.livejournal.com/161799.html
"naked gay California hippies are taking your money" [Jul. 31st, 2009|04:45 pm]
Fake right-wing decency outrage is nothing new, but I can't help taking this latest Fox News hootenanny more personally because I live in San Francisco and know some of the people involved. The problem here isn't just that the Fox journalites(*) are being hypocritical, since the Bush administration had no problem giving money to some of the same groups, etc. The problem is also that they got all the facts wrong, like really really really very wrong, either because they are dumb, or they're counting on their audience to be dumb, or they just don't care.
1. Frameline is not a "film house", or a movie production company. It's a foundation that supports lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender filmmakers through grants, distribution, and (most visibly) an annual international film festival that's quite a big deal. Since this is San Francisco, it's not a huge surprise when they throw in a revival showing of something raunchy like Thundercrack!, a no-budget cult movie from 1975 which one of these Fox chuckleheads seems to think is (a) new and (b) made by Frameline (c) on the government dime. To understand how bogus that description is, there's no need to be up to date on GLBT film history; reading the brochure for the festival or looking at their website would do just fine.
2. Perverts Put Out! is not a party(!) or a "nude sex dance" show (!!) (**) or a "web company" (!?). It's a reading. Writers stand in front of a microphone and read stories and poems. They're usually pretty dirty, and usually pretty funny. They don't get money from the government; CounterPulse, which provides the theater where they perform, does get money from the government but PPO doesn't get money from the theater either. They rent the place and give money to the theater -- it's a benefit. The more people buy tickets to see these writers tell dirty stories (for no pay), the less money the theater needs from other sources. If PPO were actually put on once a week (as the Fox chuckleheads claim), rather than every few months, and if 5,000 people went to see it instead of 50, CounterPulse might be entirely self-supporting -- or even give some money back to the government, so it could finally get that nice gun it's been saving up for!
(Note to Fox chucklehead who wonders, but doesn't really want to know, what "pansexual" means: it means they include writers with all kinds of sexual orientations. I realize it's no accident that the outrage-of-the-moment is all about The Gay, but you might be even more horrified to realize that there are straight people mixed up in these doings too.)
This kind of stuff would take about 10 seconds to find out on the Internet. Unfortunately, the speed of bullshit is hard to measure; it may even be infinite. Tune in next week for an ABC Special Report on how "some say" the infamous Pervline Partyhouse is spending all our stimulus money to make Internet gorilla porn.
(* journalist:journalite :: socialist:socialite)
(** Confidential to Greta van Susteren: You sound awfully eager to check out some of those things -- the nervous laughter speaks volumes. Let me know if you'd like an invite.)
Mark, thanks for sharing your thoughts here. I posted your comment in the spirit of keeping an open dialog. Indeed, news organizations do need to fact check and often. This isn't an issue solely with Fox News - all journalists can do better with this.
My post and the article it links to highlight a deeper concern: that stimulus money has little if any oversight and could be used to support things which many may disapprove.
Well that's true, RIck, America is big place, not everyone is going to 'approve' of everything.
But making that point with a story that is nothing but lies and slander in the first place isn't OK. It only highlights that you are making yr point with lies.
Also, what's the point of defending FOX news? Fox is nothing if not a propaganda machine for neocon interests. FOX does it's best to stir up the neocon base of conservative Christians. Do you think that neocons like Cheney and Wolfowitz are devout Christians that actually care about 'morality'? I'll tell you they are not. They are only interested in using their base for their power interests, therefore they come up with these bogus issues like "Oh nooes! Perverse Homosexuals are stealing your tax money in SAN FRANCISCO!!" As a 'perverse' San Franciscan this offends me. A: I'm a taxpayer, B: I would DIE for your right to be a Christian even though I am not one myself, C: I think this kind of rhetoric creates a hostile environment for gay and trans people which leads to violence. Truly, foaming about 'perverts' in 'San francisco' is a code everyone knows means gay people.
As far as the stimulus goes... Bush and CO. ran this country into the ground. Obama and the American people were left to clean up the mess. We really have no other choice but to accept the bitter pill of the stimulus cause economic stimulus is what is needed if there's any chance of crawling out of the hole of unregulated markets and multiple money bleeding, senseless wars that 8 years of neocon rule has given us. Concern about oversight to where the money is going is healthy. But really that concern needs to not being going toward false, distracting moral panics.
I wondered for years where the Christian outrage was over all the privatized war profiteers, for example. Surely making gargantuan profits off of war contracts isn't very Christian. In contrast, $50,000 to fund staff for multiple arts organizations that sometimes host taboo breaking art work is nothing.
Mark, thanks for adding to the discussion.
No, lies and slander are not acceptable and I'd like to think this discussion can be expanded as the article involved a two news groups and a legal alliance agency.
While you see Fox News spewing neoconservative view points, I see MSNBC and others spewing liberal agendas. My preference is "just the facts" but I'll take those facts from a conservative view point any day.
Where our economy is today is not due to a single President or 8 years - it's the result of reckless behavior from previous administrations before it. No, I'm not singling out the Clinton administration, however, each admin must address issues left over from the previous. Additionally, a President isn't responsible for the economy. Sure, they are the figurehead but it's Congress that's ultimately responsible. I found this link enlightening regarding the economy: http://www.iousathemovie.com/
Peace is always a better choice but war at times is necessary: http://www.gotquestions.org/war-Iraq-just.html