March 31, 2026 A SEX PEST While we wait for the release of the Epstein files, as required by a virtually unanimous vote in Congress and signed into law by the President, there’s this teaser: This BBC documentary has never aired in the USA, and probably never will. But, as Stephen Colbert recently proved with his James Talarico interview, Trump’s stooges at the FCC can’t prevent video clips from being shared online. So please share. WILL HE WRECK THE WORLD ECONOMY AND THE U.S. DOLLAR? Not if he’s to have any chance of making it to Mt. Rushmore. Here are . . . All the Things Trump Has Put His Name and Face on as President . . . “from federal agency buildings to government programs to—soon—U.S. currency.” The only problem being that . . . Everything Trump Touches Dies. November 3 can’t come soon enough. CHAPTER 7 . . . . . . of John Fugelsang’s Separation of Church and Hate: THOU SHALT NOT HATE PEOPLE WHO HAVE ABORTIONS. So much I didn’t know. (Not least that there were abortions in Jesus’s day.) It begins with a quote: “I have always felt that it was only after a child was born and had a life separate from his mother that it became an individual person.” Wallie Amos Criswell, president of the Southern Baptist Church, 1973 And continues: This is a well-intentioned chapter about how the most important issue in US Christianity has nothing to do with, well, Christ. Number of times the Bible demands punishment for ending a pregnancy: Zero. These are two facts that politicians, media, and fundamentalists always overlook: the Bible never forbids it, and Jesus never mentions it. He opposes the death penalty, directs us to love and forgive each other, commands individuals and nations to care for the poor and welcome the stranger. He instructs his followers to pay their taxes and put away their swords. But Jesus never once gets around to condemning women who terminate pregnancies, or the individuals who help them. And concludes: And if you still think the God of the Bible prioritizes the innocent lives of children, let me remind you Gentiles about Passover, when God killed all Egyptian firstborn children as punishment for the sins of grown-ups. But there’s much more, well worth reading (or listening to) in full. CHAPTER 9 . . . . . . THOU SHALT NOT HATE ON POOR PEOPLE begins with a quote from John Kenneth Galbraith: “The modern conservative is… engaged… in one of man’s oldest, best financed, most applauded, and, on the whole, least successful exercises in moral philosophy. That is the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” John Kenneth Galbraith, 1967 And begins: America leads the world in Christians who believe Jesus wants us to help the poor by cutting programs that actually help the poor. But the Bible has a lot to say about poverty, and its teachings may be surprising to many. This book bluntly commands generosity, justice, compassion, and fairness toward the poor and marginalized. And it doesn’t ask nicely. > The Bible commands lending to the poor without expecting repayment or interest. > The Law of Moses requires a “Year of Jubilee” every fifty years, when debts were to be forgiven, slaves freed, and land returned to its original owners, ensuring a reset of economic inequalities. > Jesus commands individuals and nations to care for the poor and asserts that all will be judged by how well they did it. > In the parable of the loaves and fishes, Jesus encourages everyone to give the food away instead of selling it, aka free guaranteed nutrition for everyone. > In Mark 12:17, Jesus supports paying taxes the government will redistribute. > The early church, in Acts of the Apostles, practiced a radical economic form of communal living where wealth and resources were shared. > The Bible often depicts God directly identifying with the poor and oppressed, suggesting that how one treats the poor is indicative of their relationship with God: Proverbs 19:17 says, “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.” Particularly since the early 1980s, the US has often pursued policies that favor the wealthy and increase economic inequality, which economists and theologians have come to label “the exact freaking opposite” of Jesus’s teachings about caring for the poor—and the dangers of wealth—as stated in Matthew 19:24 and Luke 16:19–31. Christian America has been caught up in the long con of trickle-down economics, a rigged system that gives massive tax cuts to the wealthiest, who need them the least, and all too often punishes struggling people with cuts to social services, fare hikes, and a degrading minimum wage. Years of leadership (and media) demonizing the poor as worthless, lazy welfare cheats has helped millions of Christians make peace with the suffering of the least of us. Again: well worth reading (or listening!) in full. JOHN WATERS’ SIGN Just in case you know who he is. It’s kind of perfect. THE SIMPLER BILLBOARD We’re 42% of the way there with this billboard. (Thanks to those who’ve chipped in!) I like this simpler version. It seems less in-your-face; gentler and more welcoming. Your thoughts?