Jon's Blog

Here is a story coming out of Fox News from Wednesday's "Fox & Friends" program. Fox News host Harris Faulkner was on the program demonstrating how to prepare a peach cobbler for her holiday guests when host Brian Kilmeade came at her with a bit of a race-tinged aside:

“Do you make Kool-Aid?” he asked.

“Uh, do I do what?” she replied.

“Make Kool-Aid,” Kilmeade repeated.

“Uh, no,” Faulkner stuttered. “I – I don’t make Kool-Aid.”

Faulkner quickly recovered and noted out that she "an adult beverage" for everyone to share

I had never head of the "Kool-Aid as the Black person's drink" stereotype until I took in and adopted my own black son. Now I see that reference a lot. The idea is that Black people = poverty = need for cheap drink = Kool-Aid. (Jon's Note: It seems silly to spell it all out, but I've already had people ask me how Kool-Aid is part of a racist stereotype.)

You can watch the whole segment here. The Kool-Aid comment comes at the 33 second marker. It is worth watching everyone's reactions, including Faulkner's daughter, who was assisting her mother with the segment.

I was on the Gay Christian Network yesterday afternoon and noticed that a new GCN member had posted something in the "Ask Me Anything" thread for GCN's founder/executive director, Justin Lee. It was clear that the person wasn't using the thread as a serious effort at asking Justin anything. He was just trolling GCN with a lengthy anti-gay post. Basically, the guy was upset because Justin Lee hasn't told GCN's membership that "Man should not sleep with man." A few people responded and I eventually encouraged them to ignore the post, flag the post, and to stop feeding the troll.

Fast forward to this morning: "Dclark" returned to GCN expressing further dismay that there are homosexuals who believe that you can be both gay and Christian. He said that this is why people (apparently) don't trust gays -- because some of us believe that you can be both gay and Christian. He also asserted that you cannot be a homosexual if you are celibate. Which shows you how much of a disconnect that we had from the beginning with this guy.

But then he got weird. He began equating homosexuality with murder. Here's why:

Worse case scenario: If everyone on earth became homosexual, then, men would not reproduce with women AND therefore, without any births of new human beings on earth, that would end all humanity and YES, that is a form of killing.

Therefore YES, believe it, homosexuality has the potential to disobey the commandment: Thou shall NOT kill.

Homosexuals deny it because they don’t want to admit just how corrupted and bad homosexuality is really about. They pretend as if they have extensive knowledge about love and they pretend as if they believe that killing is wrong but yet they don’t admit that homosexuality on a wider scale would end humanity and in doing so, they don’t admit that that’s a form of disobeying “Thou shall not kill”.

God gave men and women the power to reproduce and create more people. In the old testament, God commanded that man was to reproduce and subdue the entire earth...

God would not had created humans at all if in the long run God’s plan had been to not have them reproduce at all.

Can I state the obvious? Humanity is not going to go all gay on us.

I like my marriage. I support equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. But I've never been so vain to imagine that the quality of my marriage will result in a societal ripple effect that will cause anyone -- much less everyone -- to go completely gay who isn't already gay. And even then, my marriage did not cause them to go gay.

I only wish I had that much power!!

On the other hand, I have been encouraged to become celibate by right-leaning Christians as a result of my homosexuality. Even Paul from the Bible encouraged everyone to give up on sex and to prepare for the end of the world. If my same-sex marriage will lead to everyone becoming gay and ceasing to populate this planet, why won't my celibacy lead to everyone giving up sex and ceasing to populate this planet??

One of the biggest mysteries of the Archie Relaunch has been the super-secret "lipstick incident" that led to the break-up of Riverdale High's power couple, Archie and Betty. Everyone knew about it, but nobody actually knew anything about it. They just knew that the Archie and Betty were no longer a couple and that it was because of the #LipstickIncident. Judging from the reactions, it was very traumatic for everyone in Riverdale!

ARCHIE #4 was published this week and we finally learned the story behind the #LipstickIncident. I feared that it had everything to do about Archie and other girls. I just read the story and learned that I was both completely right and completely wrong at the same time!

But first...

This blog entry contains spoilers. If you don't want to know what happens in ARCHIE #4 or about the #LipstickIncident, then stop reading now. You have been warned.

Back to the show...

#LipstickIncident was all about Betty and Archie struggling with the idea of change. They have known each other for all of their lives. They are very comfortable with each other. They want everything to stay as it's always been. But they are both high school students now. They aren't kids. They aren't even junior high kids. They are growing and maturing and turning into adults. How will they adjust when one of them steps out of the familiar and tries something new?

That's what Betty does -- and that's where Archie fails. Betty is a tomboy. I mean, she's a very pretty tomboy. But she's always been a tomboy. Until her new friends get all excited about a movie date and talk her into getting a makeover.

She is uncomfortable with her new look. Archie is also. To top things off, he makes things worse by saying that she looks weird and wonders where the old Betty is. Which is obviously the wrong thing to say. But he's a dumb kid and doesn't know any better. She storms off and doesn't return any of his texts. And Archie slowly realizes that it's over.

And that is the #LipstickIncident. Given time (and Jughead's secret string-pulling), Archie and Betty probably would have eventually kissed and made up. But then Veronica Lodge arrived and now it might be too late.

Except that Archie still misses Betty -- even while panting after Veronica!

But wait! There was one element of this story that seemed off to me. Everyone was freaking in ARCHIE #1 when Archie and Betty broke up. The biggest fretters in that issue were Kevin Keller, Sheila Wu, and Maria Rodriguez. Except in this issue -- which arguably closely leads into issue #1 -- Sheila and Maria viewed Betty with a fair amount of contempt. I have a hard time imagining that this pair cared too much about the break-up.

ARCHIE #4 was written by Mark Waid, with art by Annie Wu, colors by Andre Szymanowicz & Jen Vaughn, and letters by Jack Morelli.

I haven't written about Tim Tebow in a while. The football player is currently trending on Facebook following his break-up with new girlfriend Olivia Culpo (a former Miss Universe). The couple broke up their dating relationship because of Tebow's "virginity vow."

Which is fair. I'm just not sure why it's a big deal. The couple just started dating in September. Part of dating is figuring out if a couple is compatible. They weren't. They broke up after a very short relationship.

My guess -- and this is coming from the cynical part of my personality -- is that Tebow's people linked news of the break-up and of "no sex" excuse in order to remind fans of his virginity creds. Otherwise, it just seems to be a shrug-worthy development.

I first heard about Cuddle Parties during an episode of "Penn & Teller: Bullsh*t!" It was a program about life coaches. Somehow, Cuddle Parties were included in the various types of debunked life coaching programs -- though compared to psychic advisers and corporate organizers, the Cuddle Partiers definitely were the outsiders of the bunch.

Basically, Cuddle Parties (or Snuggle Parties, as they're called in this video) are facilitated gatherings where strangers cuddle with each other in a large group. It's non-sexual. You are not allowed to rub your groin against others. It's about relieving stress, having fun, and communicating (and stretching) boundaries.

I found this interesting video called "What Really Happens At A Snuggle Party?" on YouTube. It's about 3.5 minutes.

I have always wondered if a Cuddle Party could work in the Midwest? Most of the time that I see anything about them, they take place in a coastal state. Then again, Iowa has it's fair share of yoga enthusiasts, massage seekers, New Age explorers, and Reiki Masters. Why not Cuddle Partiers?

How about you? Have you ever gone to a Cuddle Party? How was it? Was it relaxing? Was it stressful? Did someone abuse your boundaries? Did others refuse to cuddle? I really want to hear your story!!

There is a new story trending today on Facebook. A woman posted a picture of a cake that she bought this weekend at a Maine-based grocery store called Meijer.

Her Facebook message reads:

Picked out a cake at Meijer. Asked bakery-looking-employee if she could write on it for me. She said she would, and after a long time, she came and presented me with this cake. I looked her in the eye and said thank you before I even looked at the cake. After looking, I nervously laughed and headed to check out - it didn't really matter to me that it looked so bad - I thought people would think it was funny. The cashiers at the self check out didn't think it was so funny though, and called a few more cashiers and a manager over to look, even taking pictures. To my surprise, after they discussed it, one cashier put her arm on my shoulder and said "the girl who wrote that has Autism. Thank you for not smiling and thanking her - even though she's not supposed to write on cakes, you probably made her day." So I guess the moral of the story is that kindness is important!

She later clarified that she spoke with the store's manager and was assured that the Autistic worker did NOT get in trouble for writing on the cake. "They told her to do whatever she needed to do to serve the customer's needs, and she did just that."

The customer later showed an updated pic of the cake. It seems that she has been eating it for breakfast since Saturday!

You hear so many negative culture war stories about bakeries and other customer service businesses. It's nice to hear positive stories for a change!

There is this community in Wisconsin called Mount Horeb. It has about 7,000 people in it and it's about a half-hour away from Madison, WI. About a month ago, parents received notice from administrators at the Mount Horeb Primary Center that there would be a discussion about the book "I Am Jazz." This was in response to an unidentified 6-year-old student who had recently transitioned from male to female. The school wanted to provide this material in order to assist the girl's classmates to better understand things.

Of course, the culture warriors freaked out. Somebody contacted the Liberty Counsel, who demanded a stop to this planned lesson with a threat of a lawsuit. Liberty Counsel said that the book violated the constitutional rights of conservative parents "to direct the upbringing of their children." Also, it apparently violates the rights of conservatives to refer to this trans kid as a girl:

“A mandatory requirement that other students call a boy ‘her’ and ‘she’ infringes upon the other students’ rights to tell the truth, in accordance with their religious convictions, and reality,” the group wrote in a letter to the School Board.

The School Board canceled the lesson in response to Liberty Counsel's legal threats.

Meanwhile, a group of 600 people gathered at Mount Horeb's public library to show support for this girl and to hear a reading of "I Am Jazz"by co-author Jessica Herthel:

The centerpiece of the library program was the reading of “I Am Jazz” by its co-author Jessica Herthel, who flew in from California to support the family. As a straight parent, Herthel said she wrote her book with Jazz Jennings, a transgender girl who stars in a TLC reality show, in part because she felt there were not enough resources for parents like her to teach their children about acceptance.

She said she was overwhelmed by the community response in Mount Horeb.

“I think it’s a barometer of where we’re at as a society,” she said in an interview. “I think we’re more ready to hear about this issue from a child’s perspective, because we know a child isn’t making a political statement or rebelling against society. Kids don’t know not to tell the truth, and we’re getting more comfortable with that idea.”

Herthel said she was “disheartened at first but not surprised” when she heard that the reading at the school had been cancelled. She said she’s aware some see the book as inappropriate for young children.

“When people take the time to read the book, they realize that ‘I Am Jazz’ is about identity — who you are. Not sex — who you are attracted to. And the book’s message of ‘Be who you are, no matter what’ applies to all children,” Herthel said.

200 supporters gathered in front of the Mount Horeb High School to read from "I Am Jazz" earlier this morning.

Somehow GUARDIANS OF INFINITY got placed on my comic book pull-list. It's because I read GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. That's not to say that I want to read GUARDIANS OF INFINITY. But it came home anyway.

GUARDIANS OF INFINITY features the adventures of three different teams of Guardians of the Galaxy. There is the original team (AKA Vance Astro, Martinex, Charlie-27, and Nikki), some members of the current team (AKA Rocket Raccoon, Drax the Destroyer, and Groot), plus some new team of Guardians from the year 1016 AD (AKA some Kree woman, some Earthen guy, and three other aliens). They will band together for all sorts of mayhem and merriment over the course of this origin storyline. I'm just not sure that I'm up to another team book!

There was a back-up story in GUARDIANS OF INFINITY #1 that featured Rocket Raccoon and the Thing that was kind of fun. Nothing that too directly affected the story, but a space-based television program that totally made my day. It's called "Golden Growls!!":

Who ever knew that you could react NBC's "Golden Girls" with dogs?? Marvel Comics totally needs to create a comic book featuring "Golden Growls." Or maybe they could make a television series featuring these women? Yes. Yes! YES!!

Meanwhile, I have a question about Nikki. She has been a member of the original Guardians of the Galaxy for years. She is originally from Mercury. She is heat-resistant, she's a sharp-shooter, and... she has flame coming from the top of her head.

See?...

This is Nikki now...

What happened to Nikki's hair?? Please comment below if you know the answer to this very important question!

Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz plan to host a live nativity and Christmas caroling event next weekend at the Michigan Capitol in Lansing, MI. I'm not sure why they're in Michigan instead of Texas, from where Cruz is a lawmaker. But they're doing this in Lansing. Meanwhile, State Rep. Mike Callton of Nashville, MI, will be kicking off Chanukah on Monday with his own display. And Senator Rick Jones of Grand Ledge, MI, will be hosting his own Christian nativity on the 19th.

These religious displays have prompted the Satanic Temple of Detroit to erect its own holiday offering: a "Snaketivity Display" on the Michigan Capital Lawn on the 18th of December, plus a "holiday ceremony" on the 19th:

"The overriding message in our holiday display, and many of The Satanic Temple's public activities, is one of plurality and religious liberty," (Satanic Temple direct, Jex) Blackmore said in a statement. We have no interest in proselytizing Satanism to the public. However, we refuse to allow one religious perspective to dominate the discourse. For that reason, When there is one religious display on public grounds, we'll offer another, and we urge other minority voices to do the same."

According to this article, it appears that the Satanic Temple of Detroit has been given permission to erect their display.

I announced last month that Mama June Shannon and Mike "Sugar Bear" Thompson (formerly of TLC's "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo") would be appeared on WE tv's latest season of "Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars." The first episode aired last night.

Here is the concept. A bunch of reality television personalities are picked to live in a house for two weeks so that they can work on their relationship problems. Most of the people that come onto this show have... strong personalities that won't be fixed in two weeks. But they make for good reality TV.

Mama June and Sugar Bear are joined by four other couples:

Benzino (AKA Raymond Scott) and Althea Heart from VH1's "Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta." They are easily the most volatile couple on this show so far. They were the first to arrive at the house and instantly sat across the room from each other and began arguing. They were fighting pretty much nonstop throughout the program and Benzino ended up sleeping on the couch that first night. Not only that, but we learned that he's slept with one of the other women on this show. They have come to this show to see if they should get married. I'm thinking "NO."

Sean and Catherine Lowe from NBC's "The Bachelor." They are a young couple who are still learning how to disagree. Maybe there are some skeletons in their closet, but they were wondering why they were on this show within minutes of arriving. Me too.

Jimmy "Inkman" Coney and Sarah Oliver from Oxygen's "Bad Girls Club." This couple appears to enjoy each other's company. But Inkman is into threesomes and Sarah is into monogamy. But she still searches for other women to bring home to her guy.

Sundy and Cedric Carter from VH1's "Basketball Wives LA." This couple was married, separated, and then divorced, and then they moved back together and began co-parenting their kids with each other. They are trying to figure out if they should remarry or not. Their relationship is complicated because Sundy cheated on Cedric when they were a romantic couple and he is still hurt. Oh, Sundy once slept with Benzino -- and I'm not sure that Cedric knows yet!!

And then there is Mama June and Sugar Bear from TLC's "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo." Mama June is still upset over allegations that Sugar Bear is a womanizer. Meanwhile, they haven't had sex in years -- which might be why Sugar Bear has a wondering eye. If indeed he actually seeks out other women. He's publicly denied these accusations for the past year. Mama June seems to be having fun on this show, but Sugar Bear looks very uncomfortable.

The first episode featured a game show-themed event where houseguests met Bob Eubanks (formerly of "The Newlywed Game") and were forced to confront negative relationship statements by their spouse. Of course, Benzino and Althea ended up getting in a huge argument during their segment. But Eubanks did a good job of cutting them off pretty effectively.

Can I take this moment to add that I really don't like the program's directors, Jim and Elizabeth Carroll? They spend their time spying on the houseguests and made numerous snide comments to each other during the game show segment.

I had actually forgotten to watch the program when it aired live. Mama June was live-tweeting, which is the only reason that I remembered the program when I did. I finally caught up this afternoon. Most of the couples seem interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next. So look forward to occasional check-ins on this blog about this program.

I'm not a huge fan of Bravo's "Real Housewives of Melbourne." I've seen a handful of episodes, but not enough to get hooked or to help me remember any of their names. But I learned tonight that one of Melbourne's Housewives, Gamble Breaux, recently hosted a wedding between a cat and a Pomeranian:

The groom was a cat named Bentley who belongs to a friend of Gamble’s and a Pomeranian named Charlie was the bride. Bentley, of course wore a tuxedo. Gamble tells The Daily Mail Australia, “They love each other and are play buddies. If you love somebody you should be able to marry them.”

She spent $20,000 on the pet wedding, which was part of a charity event.

Charlie wore a "couture gown embellished with beads nad rhinestones," while Bentley wore a "custom-made tuxedo. Breaux officiated at the wedding, which "involved a signing of legal documents." (??!?)

Other women from "Real Housewives of Melbourne" were invited to the animal wedding. None of them came.

Jon's Note: It's worth noting that they spent more on this pet wedding than Husband Mark and I spent on our commitment ceremony and our later marriage ceremony/reception combined!!

Governor Terry Branstad and his administration announced early this year that Iowa would completely privatize its Medicaid system on January 1, 2016. Gov Branstad said that this switch would save the state $51 million within the first six month. Court testimony has subsequently revealed that they pulled that number out of nowhere. Since then, they have contracted with four MCOs (Wellcare, Amerigroup, UnitedHealthcare, and Americare).

Medicaid providers can sign up to work with any or all of these MCOs. Outside of pharmacies, service providers have been slow to sign up with the new MCOs. For example, the big news late last week was that three hospital groups in Iowa have signed up with MCOs. This was supposed to be a reassuring announcement, but news sources conveniently failed to note that the hospitals have only signed with a fraction of the MCOs. Genesis signed with UnitedHealthCare and Amerigroup and UIHC and UnityPoint have each signed with UnitedHealthCare.

Medicaid recipients are supposed to sign with an MCO by 12/17/15, but they and their guardians are understandably upset. They are supposed to make informed decisions, but can't even figure out if their medical and long-term care providers are signed up with one MCO or the other.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is currently in Iowa. They are required to review and sign off on Iowa's Medicaid privatization plan. CMS can deny or delay these plans. Advocates are in Des Moines today communicating their concerns and this goal (deny or delay) to CMS and the state:

The about 75 loaded a chartered bus in Cedar Rapids at around 6:30 a.m. to attend a Legislative Oversight Committee meeting starting at 10 a.m. A few of the protestors plan to speak during the public comment period Monday afternoon. Rhonda Shouse, a Medicaid user from Cedar Rapids, organized the charter with the help of an anonymous donor. She believes the move to privatize by January 1st is too fast. “We haven't had time to consider what managed care really is because the information timeline is ridiculously fast and reckless,” Shouse said in a statement. “Let's delay this and take time to have the necessary discussion we should have had when he brought this up in February.” Governor Terry Branstad's plan to privatize calls for four out-of-state companies to manage Iowa's Medicaid system by the end of the year. The state's 560,000 users have until December 17th to sign up for one of the four plans within the new system.

There are plans for people driving out of Iowa City and Sioux City today as well.

The Branstad administration is committed to seeing this privatization through to completion. So it all comes down to CMS to delay these plans until everything is ready to go or until an alternate plan is decided upon.

I was checking out WORLD OF ARCHIE COMICS DOUBLE DIGEST #54 tonight and was treated to a fun story featuring Archie's efforts to earn some extra money for Christmas cash by doing odd jobs for his friends. I don't think that it's too much of a spoiler to reveal that he ends up creating far more trouble for his friends than assistance!

But the artwork is beautiful! I used to really disliked the artwork of Pat & Tim Kennedy when I first read their stories in LIFE WITH ARCHIE. Now I cannot get enough of them! I really wish that we could see more of these guys in one of Archie Comics' main monthly titles. Until then, I look forward to seeing their pencils in the various digests (along with Fernando Ruiz and Gisele, of course!)

There were two things that really got me excited about this short story!

1. Nero Would Look So Cute!: I absolutely adore Vegas' outfit! He can really pull off a sweater and stocking cap combo!

2. Coming Up Next: The Trial of Archie Andrews: Surely I can't be the only person who finds it funny that Archie nearly killed a centenarian with his toxic cookies?? I think it would be great if the Kennedy brothers came up with a multi-part story featuring Archie Andrews' criminal misdeeds!

"All Worked Up" is written by Angelo DeCesare, penciled by Pat & Tim Kennedy, inked by Jim Amash, lettered by Jack Morelli, and colored by Digikore Studios.

I was on YouTube and noticed an advertisement for a program called "Sex Sent Me to the ER," which will be airing on TLC later this month.

It features a couple who went on a "Zombie 5K Run" together, at the insistence of the girlfriend. She'd done it before, but hadn't won yet. I guess she planned to pushed her boyfriend in front of a zombie or something in order to make it through to the end unscathed.

She enticed her boyfriend into coming to the run with promises of sex. After all, "Who wouldn't want to get involved with stirring the honey-pot when the world was ending?" (What a romantic, eh?) The couple stumble across an old rusty school bus and decide to "stir the pot," to coin a vulgar phrase.

They start making out and having sex on the old rusty bus when the predictable happens: a zombie shows up and reminds them that there is a virtual apocalypse occurring!

The girl freaks out and smashes her nose against her boyfriend's chin. Instant bloodbath. So much for the honey-pot...

The moral of the story? Public sex acts are bad. Even during a zombie apocalypse!

You can watch the whole segment here.

Hopefully you remember the case of the trans woman named Meagan Taylor who filed a complaint last month with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission against the Drury Inn & Suites of West Des Moines, IA, complaining that the hotel's employees violated her civil rights earlier this year on the basis of her race and gender identity. They had called the police on her and a friend after they had checked into the hotel on the way to a friend's funeral. The hotel's management told the police that they suspected that Taylor and her friend were prostitutes because they were "men dressed like women."

Taylor was arrested and held in solitary confinement for eight days while her friends scrounged to come up with bail. The charges that led to her arrest were eventually dropped (see here for more details).

BuzzFeed posted audio of the 911 call yesterday that led to Taylor's arrest. You can hear it here, but here are the transcripts:

911 Dispatcher: Communications, this is Holly.

Hotel manager: Yeah, hi, Holly, this is Kim, the general manager over at Drury Inn & Suites. And I have somebody that is a little unusual that is checking into the hotel, and I didn’t know if there was any way to possibly run their name or information through the database. They’re dressed as a woman, but it’s a man’s driver’s license.

Dispatcher: OK, I can send an officer, but I can’t do it over the phone. What’s your address there?

Hotel manager: It’s 5505 Mills Civic Parkway. I’d want it to be discreet though.

Dispatcher: OK, well, um, I can’t do it on the phone, that’s the only thing. It’s against the law. So I can have someone come over. Where — are they in the lobby there, or?

Hotel manager: They went up to the room and stuff. So I guess if they just kind of discreetly park in the parking lot, instead of, you know, right out front, that would be great.

Dispatcher: Well, I’ll leave that up to them... OK, so that’s a female, with a male’s driver’s license.

Hotel manager: There’s two males, but they’re dressed as females. And they have Illinois driver’s license.

Dispatcher: And are they — what are their driver’s licenses? Male or female?

Hotel manager: Male. And I took pictures with my camera, so.

Dispatcher: OK, so just because they’re dressed as — is it because they’re dressed as females, is that why you’re concerned?

Hotel manager:Um, It’s just, you know, it’s, I guess so. They’re dressed a little bit over the top, too. I just want to make sure they’re not hookers either.

Dispatcher: OK, gotcha. Okay, ma’am, we’ll have them swing over there.

This complaint is still being investigated by the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.

Here's a story from my hometown of York, NE. There's this place in York called Wessels Living History Farm. I don't remember anything about it from my childhood, but it has been around for nearly a century and it's used as an education resource, as well as a site for events such as weddings. Until last month. That's because Wessels' board of directors voted last month of prohibit all weddings in the properties church building or anywhere else on the grounds because of the gays:

(WLHF's director Dale) Clark’s next comment alluded to the theory that the earlier board decision may have been prompted by personal issues with gay marriage as he told the membership, “The Supreme Court has made its decision and that is involved here. I’m concerned and I would like you to reconsider.”

Clark told the membership that he was told the 10 already-booked weddings could be held – but no more after that, which means the three wedding requests made shortly after the split-board decision and any yet to come will be met with denial.

“If this wasn’t the case, I believe we could have 25 weddings at the farm next year,” Clark said.

Board member Elaine Stuhr argued that the books didn’t reflect that level of revenue had been generated by weddings. Clark explained that the revenue from weddings was entered into the books simply as rentals, and not specifically as weddings.

“This area (of usage) for the farm is growing,” Clark continued.

“My understanding is that the church, once on the grounds, was then considered non-denominational,” said Evelyn Campbell, a Wessels member, “and that it could be used for different events.”

“No, no more, none on the grounds,” Clark said.

“I don’t understand why the turnaround,” Campbell said.

“The Supreme Court says . . . if a gay wedding was to be there . . . well, it wasn’t set up for that,” Conner said. “It was to educate children. This was not to be the point of the farm. Some of us have religious beliefs and we are standing up for that.”

“Doesn’t that then jeopardize our (tax exempt) status?” Campbell asked.

“Oh yes, and the American Civil Liberties Union will probably come after us,” said an agitated Clark.

“We can’t jeopardize our 501C3,” Campbell said. “And how will this affect our association with the York Community Foundation?”

Meanwhile, WLHF is still trying to figure out how to move forward financially. They typically earn about $18,000 in wedding-related revenue. They need to bring in more than 200 people for tours to make up for one wedding.

Keep in mind that Nebraska does NOT bar discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. I disagree with this, but Nebraskans have the right to discriminate against people on the basis of sexual orientation pretty much anywhere in the state. People might complain about it and there might be social media backlash, but this discrimination is legal.

It seems like somebody should have consulted with an attorney before making this costly decision. IMHO, as always!

Governor Terry Branstad was interviewed by columnist Kyle Munson about a variety of topics, including same-sex marriage:

Munson: What about same-sex marriage? How will history judge you, do you think?

Branstad: Let me just say this. Three members of the Supreme Court lost their job because of what they did. Okay? So the people of Iowa cast their judgement. I stayed out of it. I stayed out of it. Now, the facts are that had Bob Vander Plaats been the Republican nominee, that was the issue that he was campaigning on. I focused on the debt that Culver had put us in and what I wanted to do was focus on jobs and economic development. Yes, I'm pro-life and I believe in traditional marriage. But that was not what I focused my campaign on. I answered all the questions on it. I took a beating from both sides, but I focused on what I believed was important for the state of Iowa. And I think I won the election. And three members of the Supreme Court lost their retention. And so Bob Vander Plaats turned his focus on them after he lost to me in the primary.

Munson: You'll leave office still believing in traditional marriage?

Branstad: Yes. Absolutely. I'm a Catholic and believe in protecting human life and who believes in traditional marriage.

It's worth noting that subsequent efforts by BVP to vote out Supreme Court judges who overturned Iowa's DOMA law have failed.

Gov. Branstad is the longest-running governor to serve anywhere in the USA. Sadly.

I found the following meme today on Facebook (misspellings and all!), which touted the healing power that occurs when cats purr. The gist is that there is something medically healing about the vibrations resulting from a purring cat!

Which, of course, got me thinking. I need to figure out how to incorporate my cat into some form of holistic healing program. So much of new age healing has to do with energy manipulation. Why not sound energy?

Nancy Silberkleit is the co-CEO of Archie Comics. But she also runs a non-profit organization called Rise Above Social Issues Foundation. This group addresses challenging social issues that affect the lives of young people through comic books and speaking events. I had already heard of RISE ABOVE!, which explored bullying and steps that students can take when they witness bullying. But I just learned of some other really interesting comics that address getting in shape, celiac disease & going gluten free, Crohn's disease, and wellness.

Silberkleit's latest project is called SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING and it addressed the issue of gun violence in school:

Nancy Silberkleit, co-CEO of Archie Comics, said she has been shaken by recent shootings and fast-tracked the launch a new eight-page comic book, “See Something, Say Something.”

“This escalation in folks going out and shooting one another has left us all saying it must stop. I feel conversation in an education environment may just plant the seed for one to handle their internal conflicts in a peace manner,” said Silberkleit, who has visited Haverhill twice in recent months. A four-page teaching guide is in development and will be offered free to teachers with the $1.99 purchase of the comic book. Proceeds benefit Silberkleit’s non-profit Rise Above Social Issues Foundation...

The comic book tells the story of a new student who is shunned and bullied at school. “He struggles with the turmoil and cannot find inner peace, which causes him to bring disharmony to the school. He tells another student of his plan to get even, which involves violence to others,” a statement said.

I first learned of SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING from a gun advocate who believes that this book is all about implementing gun control. But it really seems to be offering advise for students who learn of potential shooting situations at school or elsewhere.

Long-time fans of "Jon's Blog" know that I am a fan of Alpha Flight, Marvel Comics' team of Canadian super-heroes. Marvel Comics resurrects this team every so often, but it rarely sticks around. In recent years, Alpha Flight fans have looked pretty much towards the X-Men, which has boasted a small number of former Alphans (namely Northstar and Madison Jeffries) among their ranks. Otherwise, I've always been a bit leery about Alphans appearing in various books because they're usually targeted for some dramatic death scene!

Recently, Marvel Comics announced a new CAPTAIN MARVEL series featuring Carol Danvers as Earth's space-based protector. I'm not a huge Captain Marvel fan, but I was intrigued by this new development: Captain Marvel now leads Alpha Flight!

Of course, we haven't heard much about Alpha Flight except that it's now based out of an orbiting space station:

Carol Danvers now leads Alpha Flight, but this group does more than protect just Canada. In fact, they keep the entire Earth safe from extraterrestrial threats that pop up. With the new gig comes a great deal of science fiction gear and vehicles for Anka to play with.

Looking at a lot of the early preview art, it was unclear to me what this new Alpha Flight would look like. For the most part, it seems like it's a completely all new all different team of support heroes. But then I saw this one image that has made me feel a bit better about this latest incarnation of Alpha Flight:

That appears to be Puck and Aurora flying those ships! How many other traditional Alphans will be appearing within this new comic book title? I'm definitely looking forward to picking up CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 when it gets released next month!

Fox News' Brian Kilmeade to Black Co-Worker: "Do You Make Kool-Aid?"

Latest Anti-Gay Argument: Gay Marriage --> Everyone Going Gay --> No More Babies --> Death of Humanity

#LipstickIncident Explained in ARCHIE #4!

Tim Tebow & Girlfriend Break Up Due to His "Virginity Vow."

Cuddle Parties

Maine: Autistic Store Employee Decorates Birthday Cake // Impresses Customer with Positive Attitude and Effort

Wisconsin: Supporters Gather for Reading of "I Am Jazz" to Protest School District's Cancellation of Trans-Inclusive Lesson Plan

GUARDIANS OF INFINITY #1: Long Live the "Golden Growls!!" // Plus: When Did Nikki Lose Her Fiery Hair?

Satanic Temple of Detroit Plans to Erect "Snaketivity" Display at Michigan Capitol

What I Learned from the First Episode of "Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars" (featuring Mama June & Sugar Bear of "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo")

Gamble Breaux of "Real Housewives of Melbourne" Hosts $20,000 Animal Wedding

Disabilty & Elderly Advocates Protest Iowa's Medicaid Privatization Plans

'Tis the Season! // Two Reasons to Enjoy WORLD OF ARCHIE COMICS DOUBLE DIGEST #54!

Woman Breaks Nose While Having Sex During a Zombie Apocalypse

911 Transcripts of West Des Moines Hotel Reporting Transgender Guest to Police

Wessels Living History Farm of York NE Struggles to Meet Budget After Halting Wedding Business Over Fears of Renting to Gay Wedding Parties

Gov. Terry Branstad Reflects on Gay Marriage in Iowa

The Healing Power of Purring Cats

SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING: Archie Comics' Nancy Silberkleit Tackles Gun Violence Awareness in Schools with New Comic Book

Alpha Flight To Co-Star in new CAPTAIN MARVEL Comic Book!