Editorial Comment by Peter Ripley, Publisher.
First of all before anyone gets any ideal I don't know what I'm talking about, or I have no right to make comments about a tv show I hardly watched. First for the sake of being fair I logged on the HBO web page and tried watching the very first episode of the first season of the program, to educated myself of the subject of what I was drawn to write about this week, simply because the talk on Face book, and other news outlets were all about the ending of the eight seasons of too much nudity, and sex! All I had to do is to watch the first 15 minutes of the show to get a vibe what this latest production from HBO was going to be about. This is nothing new coming from HBO that created shows like: “Deadwood, and Vikings” which started out innocent to a degree, than quickly turn to a smut show. I am not perfect by no means God knows, I was just wanting to see a good program without the in your face sex and gore which seem unending. Now I tried watching the other two shows I mention, all of them left me with the feeling I need to take a shower after words.
I just don't know what has watching women being raped, or some guy being sliced up like a fish be considered entertainment. I'm not suggesting these evil deeds are to ignored in real life, why do we need to see it on our TV screens?
I say I could probably tell similar stories of fantasy , or any other venue, without using sexual content, or graphic violence to tell the story, I imagine if Christian writers had a hand in creating, and writing a good medieval-fantasy tv show it would be worthy to watch, instead of the latest HBO “ sewer” edition with the Game of thrones show.
I'm not the only critic of the show who thinks there was just to much nudity, sex, and graphic violence.
Related stories:
The Grunge: Why Game Of Thrones has become unwatchable
THE WEEK: Game of Thrones is bad ・and bad for you
AU DAILY: 'Game Of Thrones' Is Not As Good As Everyone Thinks It Is.
Then I ask myself the question again why bother even writing this commentary?
Maybe because if it weren't for all the sexual assaults in it, that in real life would end up with the perpetrators in prison or otherwise punished, was lacking in this show going on, which treated such acts with depraved indifference that got to me. To me every evil act, theirs consequences for those acts. In Games of Thrones apparently there wasn't any! Or maybe it's because it fosters and encourages the fans possibly show the same disregard as the show depicts depraved indifference to acts that normal people find appalling in real life continued to watch the show for eight years!
In short I wouldn't spend good money for bad entertainment like this show!
People who likes this kind of smut are not Christians, or even have human common decency. It says a lot about how morally bankrupted we've become culturally speaking.
***************IN OTHER NEWS*******************
Rep. Kilmer Votes for the Equality Act
Press release issued 5. 17. 19https://kilmer.house.gov/news/press-releases/rep-kilmer-votes-for-the-equality-act
Washington, D.C. – Today, Representative Derek Kilmer (WA-06) voted to support H.R. 5, the Equality Act. This bipartisan legislation, which received the support of 236 Members of the House, ensures LGBTQ Americans are guaranteed full protections of federal civil rights laws by extending anti-discrimination protections with regard to employment, education, access to credit, jury service, federal funding, housing and public accommodations.
“Every American deserves to have access to the same basic civil rights, regardless of who they are or whom they love,” said Rep. Kilmer. “I’m proud to represent a state that provides protections to ensure that LGBTQ Washingtonians don’t face discrimination, but it’s important that Congress passed vital legislation today to extend anti-discrimination protections to LGBTQ Americans in every corner of the nation. Fairness and equality are core American values, and our LGBTQ friends and neighbors should be guaranteed the same basic civil rights and opportunities as anyone else - whether they’re dealing with employment, education, credit, jury service, federal funding, housing, or starting a family.”
In the United States, only 21 states have explicit laws barring discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, and public accommodations, and only 20 states have such protections for gender identity. In many states, a same-sex couple can get married one day and legally denied service at a restaurant, be fired from their jobs or evicted from their apartment the next. The existing patchwork of legal protections for LGBTQ people leaves millions of Americans subject to uncertainty and potential discrimination.
The Equality Act amends existing federal civil rights laws, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Housing Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Jury Selection and Services Act, and several laws regarding employment with the federal government, to explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in education, employment, housing, credit, Federal jury service, public accommodations, and the use of Federal funds.
The Equality Act is supported by hundreds of organizations, including: Human Rights Campaign, AFL-CIO, American Bar Association, Americans Federation of Teachers, American Medical Associations, American Psychological Associations, American School Counselor Associations, BSA | The Software Alliance, Business Roundtable, Faith in Public Life, GLSEN, Interfaith Alliance, Lambda Legal, Microsoft Corp., NAACP, National Association of Realtors, National Association of School Psychologists, National Association of School Superintendents, National Fair Housing Alliance, National Restaurant Association, National Retail Federation, National
Women’s Law Center, PFLAG National, SAGE, Service Employees International Union, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, The Trevor Project, US Chamber of Commerce.
Editorial Note: Forcing what God says is an abomination lifestyle on others that in itself an abomination. Many say that this action would force churches to deny what God deems an abomination, to force the churches to conduct marriages of the LGBTQ community. Schools are being use to indoctrinate kids into the life style, undermining what parents, and churches on the subject. In my editorial I spoke of characters in a TV show showing depraved indifference toward others. It shows what happens to a society that has no moral code to live by, though the Game of Thrones is fantasy. It's far different when you have Congress showing depraved indifference toward God. ---Peter Ripley
The following are a few examples over the concerns that many feel of the new equality act:
Deceptive ‘Equality Act’ Raises Troubling Religious Freedom and Free-Speech Issues---CNSNews
The Equality Act Is a Time Bomb---National Review
" The Equality Act (H.R. 5) passed the House on Friday. The sweeping legislation would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected characteristics. But it goes further than that. Under the guise of anti-discrimination protections, the bill redefines sex to include gender identity, undermines religious freedom, gives males who identify as females the right to women’s spaces, and sets a dangerous political precedent for the medicalization of gender-confused youth."
House passes bill to extend civil rights to LGBTQ community--Washington Times
Inslee signs budgets that give big boosts to behavioral health, education, orcas, homelessness and clean energy
From the Governor's Medium page dated 5. 21. 19https://medium.com/wagovernor/inslee-signs-budgets-that-give-big-boosts-to-behavioral-health-education-orcas-homelessness-and-1330d69ad0ed
Here’s a breakdown of how the budget will impact keys areas:
Education
Inslee thanked legislators for their efforts to significantly expand funding and support over the past several years for early learning, K-12 and higher education.
The new 2019–21 operating budget makes nation-leading higher education investments through the Workforce Education Investment Act. The act establishes a financial aid program that will help more than 110,000 students attend college for free or at a discounted rate.
Funds will guarantee the Washington College Grant (formerly called the State Need Grant) to all eligible students in the 2020–21 academic year. The new program will allow students from families of incomes up to $50,000 a year to attend college tuition-free, and expands eligibility for partial grants to students with incomes up to the state’s median family income (approximately $92,000 for a family of four)
The program provides the most flexibility of any free college program in the nation. It will better help part-time students who balance classes with things such as work, family care and health issues. The grants can serve students in registered apprenticeships and at any of the state’s private colleges and universities. The bill also allows attendance at college to qualify for the work commitment for those single parents in the Working Connections Child Care program, and extends the mandatory tuition waiver for dependents of service members who died as a result of service.
Behavioral health
Transforming Washington’s struggling behavioral health system has been one of Inslee’s top budget priorities. He laid out a plan to transform the state’s outdated facilities and model of care to one that emphasizes smaller, community-based facilities and services. This will ensure more patients can get better care.
One major challenge in the state’s system is the lack of appropriate placements for patients who are ready to leave the hospital but still require some level of support to stay well. The backup at the exit doors results in a backup of patients trying to enter. The budget will expand and create new discharge facilities in the community. The state hopes to secure approximately 600 placements in facilities such as adult family homes, state-operated living alternatives and newly-created intensive behavioral health facilities.
Southern Resident orcas and salmon recovery
Lawmakers approved many of the bold investments Inslee proposed to support recovery efforts for salmon and critically endangered South Resident orca populations. The operating, capital and transportation budgets will fund a wide range of programs and projects that will help restore habitat, reduce barriers to salmon migration, boost salmon hatchery production and expand pollution prevention and cleanup efforts.
Besides helping orcas and salmon, the more than $900 million investments will significantly benefit the region’s entire ecosystem and complement efforts to tackle climate change, improve water quality and more.
During the signing, Inslee expressed disappointment that legislators failed to fund culvert repairs, one of the most crucial investments for restoring spawning runs and aiding salmon recovery.
Homelessness
Affordability and availability of housing drive the rise of homelessness and impact communities all across the state. The current supply of low-income housing units isn’t sufficient to house low-income and vulnerable individuals and families.
Additional funding for the state’s Housing Trust Fund will build up to 4,100 new affordable housing units and preserve as many as 500 aging affordable housing units. These will serve a broad spectrum of vulnerable populations, including individuals with chronic mental illness who need supportive housing and case management services, homeless families, youth and individuals, veterans, farmworkers, seniors and individuals with special needs.
Meanwhile, local governments and homeless service providers will be able to provide rent assistance to about 1,000 additional vulnerable individuals. In addition, about 135 additional families will receive permanent supportive housing services from the state. (read more in the Link source)
On Day of Action to #StopTheBans, Senator Murray Calls for an End to Efforts to Undermine Women’s Health, Stands Up for Women’s Reproductive Rights
Press release issued 5. 21. 19https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=8F7579E3-E29C-4708-916B-41A66793EA81
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, joined by 43 of her Democratic colleagues in the Senate, stood up for women’s reproductive rights—including the right to safe, legal abortion—and introduced a resolution supporting women’s reproductive rights in Washington state and nationwide. The resolution, which affirms Democrats’ support of women’s access to reproductive health care and women’s right to make their own health care decisions, comes on the heels of legislative efforts in Georgia, Alabama, and other states intended to undermine women’s reproductive rights and ultimately overturn Roe v. Wade. The move was one of many ways people across the country have stood up and spoken out against the efforts to undermine the constitutionally protected right to safe, legal abortion.
The resolution completes a day of action from Senator Murray on the issues of women’s health and reproductive rights. This morning, Senator Murray delivered a speech from the Senate floor opposing the recently passed abortion bans, and reinforcing her strong support for women’s access to health care that helps them plan their families and stay economically secure. Senator Murray then spoke at a rally outside of the Supreme Court, where she joined women, lawmakers, doctors, nurses, and other advocates to defend women’s health and constitutionally protected right to safe, legal abortion in the United States.
A staunch defender of women’s health, Senator Murray has fought diligently against President Trump and Republicans’ repeated attempts to circumvent women’s access to reproductive care. Recently, Senator Murray has spoken out against the Trump administration’s harmful and unethical rule jeopardizing the Title X family planning program, as well as other Republican attacks on women’s health and reproductive rights. As the top Democrat on the Senate health committee, Senator Murray has made women’s reproductive health one of her top priorities, working consistently to defend access to safe, affordable reproductive health care.
Related news stories:
Cantwell: If You Try to Take Away Constitutionally-Protected Reproductive Health Care, “You are Going to Hear From Us”
Press release issued 5. 21. 19
https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cantwell-if-you-try-to-take-away-constitutionally-protected-reproductive-health-care-you-are-going-to-hear-from-us
“I believe, and my state believes, that access to health care should be and is protected under the Constitution as a right to privacy,” Cantwell said. “Anytime anybody is going to take on access to health care for women and erode what is a basic right in our state, and I believe a basic right protected in our Constitution, we are going to raise our voices. You are going to hear from us.”
Abortion Debate Leaves No Room between Extremes--National Review
https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/05/abortion-debate-polarized-dominated-extremes/
Activist Mommy Crashes Abortion Rally, Confronts Protesters with Graphic Photos of Aborted Babies---PJ MEDIA
https://pjmedia.com/trending/video-activist-mommy-crashes-abortion-rally-to-confront-them-with-truth/
Did Anti-Abortion Activists Overreach in Alabama?
In the On Politics newsletter: The president and some allies are distancing themselves from the Alabama abortion ban, worried that the law goes beyond what voters support.---NYT
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/20/us/politics/on-politics-alabama-abortion.html
Inslee expands drought emergency for nearly half of the state
Press release issued 5. 20. 19https://www.governor.wa.gov/news-media/inslee-expands-drought-emergency-nearly-half-state
Gov. Jay Inslee expanded the drought emergency declaration to cover nearly half of Washington state due to worsened, poor water supply conditions around the state and warmer and drier weather predictions through the summer.
Snow pack conditions are currently less than 50 percent of average for this time of year. Washington State Department of Ecology experts expect the warmer, drier weather will cause the already-diminished snow pack to melt more quickly, reducing water availability this summer when it is needed most for farms, communities and fish. Despite this past week’s rain, rainfall totals for the state remain below normal.
The following 24 watersheds are now added to the emergency drought declaration:
Chelan, Colville, Cowlitz, Deschutes, Elwha-Dungeness, Entiat, Grays-Elochoman, Kennedy-Goldsborough, Kettle, Lower Chehalis, Lower Skagit-Samish, Lower Yakima, Lyre-Hoko, Naches, Nooksack, Queets-Quinault, Quilcene-Snow, Skokomish-Dosewallips, Soleduc, Stillaguamish, Upper Chehalis, Upper Skagit, Wenatchee, and Willapa.
The governor announced the initial emergency drought declaration April 4 for the Methow, Okanogan and Upper Yakima basins.
“I appreciate Ecology’s work with partners around the state to prepare for drought and to position us to quickly react to those in need,” said Inslee. “As the climate continues to change, we must be proactive in taking steps to plan for those impacts.”
Residents served by the Seattle, Everett and Tacoma regional water systems can be assured that their water supplies are in much better shape. These public utilities report that they have sufficient water supply for people and fish this summer. Their water managers are watching the weather forecasts and encourage customers to continue to use water wisely.
“The emergency declaration allows us to expedite emergency water right permitting and make funds available to government entities to address hardships caused by drought conditions,” said Ecology Director Maia Bellon.
The 2019 Legislature appropriated $2 million for drought response. Ecology anticipates funding for public agencies for drought response will be available in early June.
There are two factors considered for any emergency drought declaration: Water supply conditions that are currently or projected to be at or below 75 percent of average, and a projection of undue hardships. The state last declared a drought emergency in 2015.
****WORLD NEWS HEADLINES*****
Preserving biodiversity vital to reverse tide of climate change, UN stresses on International Day
The food people eat around the world is becoming “alarmingly homogenous” according to UN data, even though access to a wide variety of nutritious food has never been greater. That warning comes as the world marks the International Day for Biological Diversity on Wednesday, which this year highlights the impact of environmental neglect on food security and public health. ---UN NEWS CENTER
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1038961
With potential to boost profits by up to 20 per cent, a woman’s place is at work, says UN labour agency
Businesses perform better – sometimes by as much as 20 per cent – when they employ more women in top positions, UN labour experts said on Wednesday, warning nonetheless that most still pay lip-service to the idea of gender equality in the boardroom. ---UN News Center
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1038951
UN highlights need to solve growing burden of forcibly displaced Africans
With 24.2 million Africans forced from their homes in 2017 ̶ 4.6 million more than the previous year ̶ the UN is hosting a three-day event at UN headquarters, focusing on finding durable solutions to the problem, which is a growing burden on the continent’s economy, environment and communities which host those displaced. ---UN News Center
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1038911
Amidst high trade tensions and policy uncertainty, UN cuts economic growth forecast
Against a backdrop of unresolved trade tensions, high international policy uncertainty and softening business confidence, the UN on Tuesday announced a broad-based slowdown in the global economy and cut its growth predictions. ---UN News Center
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1038931
Children in crisis-torn eastern Ukraine ‘too terrified to learn’ amid spike in attacks on schools
Schoolchildren are bearing long-lasting mental and physical scars of eastern Ukraine’s conflict, the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday, as the agency warned of an “alarming” increase in attacks on schools during the first four months of 2019.---UN News Center
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1038861
*********************In this week's edition***********
PAGE 2
Reps. Heck & Kilmer Introduce PUGET SOS Act in U.S. House
PAGE 3
Reps. Kilmer, Herrera Beutler Secure Funding for Pacific Salmon Treaty and Mitchell Act Hatchery Activities.
PAGE 4
Louisiana Couple Pleads Guilty to Criminal Civil Rights Charges for Abusing Woman With Disabilities
PAGE 5
Manke Lumber Stormwater Settlement with EPA Will Reduce Water Pollution, Enhance Salmon Habitat
PAGE 6
Rep. Kilmer Introduces Broadband for All Act
PAGE 7
SCIENCE FICTION COMES REALITY? WELL ALMOST.
