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Holy Grift! Trump Bibles Miraculously an Exact Match for Oklahoma Public Schools Mandate | Common Dreams

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Journalists in Oklahoma revealed Friday that the Christian Bibles peddled by former President Donald Trump are potentially the only ones on the market that meet the specific list of requirements for volumes the state controversially plans to purchase for its public schools.

The Oklahoma Watch reporting sparked a fresh wave of criticism on several fronts, including the Republican presidential nominee's ongoing Bible grift; Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters' attempt to spend millions in taxpayer dollars on religious books for public classrooms; and broader efforts by Christian nationalist forces to assert themselves within the modern GOP.

As Oklahoma Watch detailed:

Bids opened Monday for a contract to supply the state Department of Education with 55,000 Bibles. According to the bid documents, vendors must meet certain specifications: Bibles must be the King James Version; must contain the Old and New Testaments; must include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights; and must be bound in leather or leather-like material.

A salesperson at Mardel Christian & Education searched, and though they carry 2,900 Bibles, none fit the parameters.

But one Bible fits perfectly: Lee Greenwood's God Bless the USA Bible, endorsed by former President Donald Trump and commonly referred to as the Trump Bible. They cost $60 each online, with Trump receiving fees for his endorsement.

Mardel doesn't carry the God Bless the USA Bible or another Bible that could meet the specifications, the We The People Bible, which was also endorsed by Trump. It sells for $90.

The outlet also noted Walters' support for Trump. The official reportedly said earlier this week: "We are going to be so proud here in Oklahoma to be the first state in the country to bring the Bible back to every single classroom and every state should be doing this... President Trump praised our efforts. President Trump has been the leader on this issue."

In response to the reporting, The Atlantic's David Graham simply said, "Incredible grift."

Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall declared that "this is somewhere being hilarious and grotesque."

Activist Olivia Julianna asserted that "this cannot be legal."

Julianna may be correct. Former Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson, a Democrat, told Oklahoma Watch that "if the bid specs exclude most bidders unnecessarily, I could consider that a violation."

The reporting provoked praise for Oklahoma Watch's Paul Monies, Jennifer Palmer, and Heather Warlick. Arms Control Today chief editor Carol Giacomo said, "Local journalism, uncovering the facts—and the grift."

Even before the Trump Bible development, civil rights groups have spent months sounding the alarm over Walters' push to mandate Christian teachings in public schools.

On Thursday, a coalition including the ACLU and Americans United requested "records related to Walters' announced funding for the mandate, made at a September 26 meeting where the Oklahoma State Board of Education approved a $3 million budget request for the 2025-26 fiscal year 'to provide Bibles to the Oklahoma classrooms.'"

Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United, said in a Thursday statement that "Oklahoma taxpayers should not be forced to bankroll Superintendent Walters' Christian nationalist agenda."

"His latest scheme—to mandate use of the Bible in Oklahoma public school curriculum—is a transparent, unlawful effort to indoctrinate and religiously coerce public school students," Laser added. "Not on our watch. Public schools are not Sunday schools."

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mkalus
22 minutes ago
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Die Trump-Bibel lief wohl nicht so gut. Aber keine ...

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Die Trump-Bibel lief wohl nicht so gut. Aber keine Sorge, Trumps korrupte Kleinkriminelle von Kumpels haben einen Plan. Oklahoma braucht zufällig gerade jetzt dringend ganz viele Bibeln für ihre Schulräume!

Ja aber Fefe, denkt ihr euch jetzt vielleicht, da gibt es doch Nonprofits, die schenken dir sogar Bibeln. Oder man kauft das bei irgendeiner anderen Quelle, wo der Preis $2 statt $60 pro Exemplar ist!

Die können doch nicht einfach die Korruptionsbibel kaufen! Bei dem Volumen müssen die doch eine Ausschreibung machen!? Und da kriegt dann der billigste Lieferant den Zuschlag, was ganz sicher nicht Trump ist?

Im Prinzip ja. Aber da kann man ja als korrupter Krimineller Dinge drehen!

According to the bid documents, vendors must meet certain specifications: Bibles must be the King James Version; must contain the Old and New Testaments; must include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights; and must be bound in leather or leather-like material.
Ja gut, bei DEN spezifischen Anforderungen bleibt dann zufällig nur Trumps Korruptionsbibel übrig.
A salesperson at Mardel Christian & Education searched, and though they carry 2,900 Bibles, none fit the parameters.
Zufällt gibt es!!1!

Aber das war noch nicht das Ende der Story. So eine Trump-Korruptionsbibel, mit lederähnlichem Einband und so, das kostet doch Geld, das zu produzieren! Und mit Pledge of Allegiance und Verfassung und Declaration of Independence kommt da genug USA-Patriotismus zusammen, dass er das bestimmt in den USA drucken ließ. Da hat man doch Ausgaben? Macht denn der arme Trump überhaupt Gewinn dabei?!?

Keine Sorge. Die Trump-Korruptionsbibel wird natürlich in China produziert.

God bless America!

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mkalus
24 minutes ago
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Good Morbing

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Michael Kalus posted a photo:

Good Morbing



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mkalus
5 hours ago
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60 Jahre VEB Kraftfuttermischwerk Frohse

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Als ich gestern Abend nach Hause kam, fiel mir auf, dass das kupferne Wandtellerchen, das vor 40 Jahren die 20 Jahre VEB Kraftfuttermischwerk in Frohse feierte, anzeigt, dass der Betrieb vor 60 öffnete. Hier ein Beitrag dazu aus dem DDR Fernsehen. Ich war nie in Frohse, habe aber bisher drei der damaligen Mischwerke von innen gesehen. In Teltow, woher der Name hier auch kommt, in Hadmersleben und neulich in Riesa. Das aber alles nur einfach mal am Rande

Mittlerweile ist das alte KFM ein ziemlich runtergerockter Lost Place. Natürlich.


(Direktlink)

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mkalus
5 hours ago
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Staaten verlieren Macht: Ursula von der Leyen leitet ...

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Staaten verlieren Macht: Ursula von der Leyen leitet radikale EU-Reform ein.

Was will sie denn machen?

Von der Leyen will die Mitgliedsstaaten „zur Umsetzung wichtiger Wirtschaftsreformen drängen, wenn sie Zugang zum 1,2 Billionen Euro umfassenden EU-Geldtopf für sieben Jahre erhalten wollen“, berichtet das amerikanische Magazin Politico. Das Magazin, das den entsprechenden Plan gesehen hat, schreibt, dass die Staaten „zunehmende Hürden“ überwinden werden müssen, um im nächsten Haushaltsplan an ihr Geld zu kommen. Es geht um die Jahre von 2028 bis 2034.
Ihr ahnt vermutlich schon, was da auf uns zu schwappt.
Die größte Veränderung der aktuellen Regeln besteht darin, dass die Länder das Geld nur erhalten, wenn sie die von Brüssel geforderten Reformen durchführen. Diese Reformen werden in der Regel als Austeritätsprogramme umgesetzt.
Na endlich! Genau was die EU braucht! Mehr Austerität! Guckt nur, wie gut das den Griechen geholfen hat!
Zu den Bedingungen sollen Werte wie Geschlechtergleichheit oder ökologischer Landbau gehören.
Wieso Geschlechtergerechtigkeit? Damit sie lügen können, das habe was mit Orban zu tun. Tatsächlich geht es aber um:
Laut Politico „bestehen anhaltende Befürchtungen, dass die Haushaltsumstrukturierung der Kommission ein Ablenkungsmanöver ist, um bestehende Programme zu kürzen und Geld für neue Prioritäten wie Verteidigung und industriellen Aufbau umzuleiten“. So sieht der Haushaltsrahmen der Kommission die Zusammenlegung von einem Dutzend verschiedener Geldtöpfe für Forschung, Verteidigung und Innovation zu einem einzigen „Europäischen Fonds für Wettbewerbsfähigkeit“ vor.
Wer braucht schon Forschung oder Innovation, wenn man auch Rüstungsgüter kaufen kann?

Win-Win sozusagen! Also für die Amis. Die Europäer fallen als Konkurrent aus und die Amis müssen weniger Bomben bezahlen.

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mkalus
18 hours ago
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Today in TLD shenanigans: dot io is being killed off

jwz
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Wishing a very pleasant rebranding to all techbros who squatted their web site in an unrelated nation because it made a good pun.

On October 3, the British government announced that it was giving up sovereignty over a small tropical atoll in the Indian Ocean known as the Chagos Islands. The islands would be handed over to the neighboring island country of Mauritius, about 1,100 miles off the southeastern coast of Africa. [...]

Once this treaty is signed, the British Indian Ocean Territory will cease to exist. Various international bodies will update their records. In particular, the International Standard for Organization (ISO) will remove country code "IO" from its specification. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), which creates and delegates top-level domains, uses this specification to determine which top-level country domains should exist. Once IO is removed, the IANA will refuse to allow any new registrations with a .io domain. It will also automatically begin the process of retiring existing ones.

But stick around for the history lesson of the Slovenian Domain Heist!

Slovenian academics traveled to Serbia at the end of 1992. Their destination was the University of Belgrade in the country's capital. On arrival, they broke into the university and stole all the hosting software and domain records for the .yu top-level domain -- everything they needed to seize control. For the next two years, the .yu domain was unofficially operated by ARNES (Academic and Research Network of Slovenia), which repeatedly denied its involvement in the original heist. ARNES rejected all requests by Serbian institutions for new domains, severely limiting the country's ability to participate in the growing internet community. The situation became so messy that, in 1994, IANA founding manager Jon Postel personally stepped in and overrode IANA regulations, forcibly transferring ownership of the .yu domain back to the University of Belgrade. [...]

The IANA may fudge its own rules and allow .io to continue to exist. Money talks, and there is a lot of it tied up in .io domains. However, the history of the USSR and Yugoslavia still looms large, and the IANA may feel that playing fast and loose with top-level domains will only come back to haunt it.

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.

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mkalus
19 hours ago
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