Bryan Fischer: Angry God Is Flooding Texas Because Of Witchcraft And Sodomy

You knew this was coming.

Viral Video Of The Day

Twin tornadoes hit rural Nebraska.

VIDEO: North Dakota Tornado

The clip's maker is arguing with YouTube's commenters about how he should have reacted.

(Tipped by JMG reader Ray)

"Firenadoes" Rage In Southern California

Tornado Damage Caught On Video

NBC News reports:

A Northern Mississippi church has released a video documenting the destruction caused by a massively violent tornado that struck their community in late April. “It really kinda brought things back, seeing it a week later,” said Brad Bullock, technical director for St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Tupelo, Mississippi. He posted the stunning security-camera footage to his YouTube account. “The building was really damaged,” Bullock told NBC News, “About 50 percent of the front of the building is gone.” Across the country, at least 35 people died in the late April twisters.

There's no audio. Watch the trees snap at 1:45.

AFA Narrowly Escapes Tornado Strike

Aksarbent points out that Monday's tornado in Tupelo, Mississippi left the American Family Association headquarters unscathed but destroyed over a hundred homes that were also in the twister's path. We get blamed for hurricanes, floods, and everything else. How about a little credit to Gay Weather Control for sparing the AFA? You're welcome, Bryan Fischer!

Comedian Raises $126K For Atheist Tornado Victim To "Piss Off Christians"

Gawker recaps:

When Wolf Blitzer asked Moore tornado survivor Rebecca Vitsmun if she thanked the lord, many expected her to answer "yes." Instead she replied "I'm actually an atheist." "Saying 'I'm an atheist' in Oklahoma is like screaming 'Jihad' at airport security," says Doug Stanhope in a clip from Charlie Brooker's 2013 Wipe. "That took some nuts." The blue comedy specialist decided to show his appreciation for Vitsmun's candidness by starting an IndieGogo campaign on her behalf. "If you watch the footage, all the other victims are on the news thanking Jesus for only killing their neighbors and not them, while a crawler is on the screen telling me where I can text money to help them out," Stanhope goes on to say. "Fuck them. I don't want Jesus getting credit for my $50. I'll help that other girl out."

Gawker commenters are split, with some calling the comedian "self-righteous," "insufferable," and a "major prick" for his fundraising campaign.

(Tipped by JMG reader Todd)

NEW JERSEY: Atheist Group Launches Billboard Campaign On Disaster Relief

The Los Angeles Times reports:

A New Jersey-based atheist organization is castigating the work of Pope Francis and others who respond to natural disasters with prayer, Bibles and rosaries. The billboards then encourage people to go to Atheists.org for more information, including a list of secular agencies that American Atheists endorse for disaster relief efforts. The organization accuses religion in general, and Pope Francis in particular, of exploiting natural disasters to bring more people into the fold. Pope Francis, the organization noted, used Twitter to ask followers to pray for typhoon victims, and was retweeted more than 35,000 times. “Imagine if the pope had asked for people to send money to victims or to send needed supplies. How much more useful would that have been to the people of the Philippines?" American Atheists President David Silverman said in a statement, going on to say the pope's actions were "repugnant." "Natural disasters should not be viewed as opportunities for proselytization."

The Times article concludes: "Could that same criticism apply to the American Atheists? Their billboards are being used to drive people to their website. Is that a form of exploitation?"

Gays Caused The Illinois Tornadoes

"The massive tornadoes that hit Illinois after the passing of the same sex 'marriage' bill, has stimulated many people to reflection. In it, some see God’s chastisement; others see it as yet one more merciful warning from Providence; others yet deny both options and give various reasons. What do you think? [JMG: Link goes to this bit.] God punishes collective sin, collectively: When sin becomes generalized, is greatly tolerated, or is committed by particularly representative individuals, it involves the whole family, city, region, nation, or even historical eras. This collective dimension makes sin particularly grave and offensive to God and the result is that Divine chastisement is also collective. Both good and bad suffer. The first suffer to become more perfect; the second as a chastisement for their faults." - Robert Ritchie, writing for the red-caped Catholic loons of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, & Property.

Taiwanese Animators Skewer Cindy Jacobs

Hurricane Sandy: One Year Ago Today

Source. I'm still amazed that most of the subway system was operating again within weeks.

Mordor In The East Bay

The Mt. Diablo fire in San Francisco's East Bay has grown to 3700 acres.

A fire dubbed the "Morgan Fire" burning near Mount Diablo State Park in California quadrupled in size from Sunday night, charring a total of 3,700 acres by Monday afternoon and forcing evacuations of about 100 homes. That was more than double the number from early Monday morning, when the blaze had charred 1,500 acres, and four times the size of Sunday's peak – 800 acres – after the brush fire broke out just after 1 p.m. on the eastern side of Mount Diablo. "The fire has grown significantly," Cal Fire Division Chief Dave Shew told NBC Bay Area. He could not estimate when the fire might be contained. That, he said, might become more clear in the next day or two.

The blaze was only 20% contained as of this morning.

NYC Expands Storm Evacuation Zones

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, New York City has greatly expanded the boundaries of the mandatory hurricane evacuation zones.  Gothamist reports:

The mayor's office says that the new "zones are based on coastal flood risk resulting from storm surge - the 'dome' of ocean water propelled by the winds and low barometric pressure of a hurricane; the geography of the city’s low-lying neighborhoods; and the accessibility of these neighborhoods by bridge and roads." And the new zones "include an additional 600,000 New Yorkers not included within the boundaries of the former zones. The increased number of zones will provide the City with more flexibility in targeting areas to evacuate in advance of a predicted storm.

Exactly where one million people are supposed to go is not explained.

Volcano Erupts Near Mexico City

Whoa. Note: There's no audio on this clip.

Bloomberg Unveils $20B Storm Plan

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has unveiled a massive $20B plan to protect the city from again suffering the devastating flooding wrought by Hurricane Sandy. The plan calls for an extensive network of barriers, levees, and bulkheads along parts of the city's 520 miles of waterfront. That $20B figure is just a jumping off point and is approximately equal to the damage estimates from the storm.

In the first phase of building defenses, the report released on Tuesday calls for erecting barriers at Hunts Point in the Bronx to protect the food distribution center, on the East Harlem waterfront along Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive, on the East Side where several of the city’s hospitals are, on the Lower East Side, in Chinatown, in the financial district and in Red Hook, Brooklyn. On Staten Island, the plan calls for a system of permanent levees. Along some parts of the coast, stone or concrete bulkheads would be installed, while in other places, dune systems would be built. The city’s power infrastructure also should be better protected, the report said. Currently, 53 percent of power plants are in threatened neighborhoods. By the 2050s, according to the report, 97 percent will be.

Aside from the damage to city and state owned infrastructure, the storm cost private businesses billions more. Among the hardest hit were downtown business and residential towers, most of which had key electrical and mechanical systems in their basements. Some of those buildings went up shortly after the Bloomberg administration invested hundreds of millions to develop parks and other public areas on the shorelines of lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.

God Kills 20, Saves 11

The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (seriously) swooped into Oklahoma to ask tornado victims if they want to make sure that they go to heaven when the next twister strikes.  Because God totally sent their unsaved neighbors to hell when he murdered them.

"God sheltered them, then He saved them," said Michael Glassey, an RRT crisis-trained chaplain from Riverside, Calif. "I asked each one separately if they wanted to receive Christ as their personal Savior so that if this ever happened again they would have the assurance of going to Heaven, and that they could also experience a new beginning that very moment," Glassey said of a group of survivors who had found refuge in the midst of the storm at Emmaus Baptist Church, the local base of operation for the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains and Samaritan's Purse. "They all said, 'yes,' and each received Christ into their hearts," he revealed.

Alex Jones Is Attracted To "Mr. Maddow"

Earlier this week crackpot conspiracy nut Alex Jones announced that the Oklahoma tornadoes were a result of a secret Obama administration weather control machine. Because IRS. Or something. Rachel Maddow then had a lot of fun at Jones' expense and this is his response.

Ten Minutes Of The Oklahoma Tornado

Amazing and terrifying footage.

Atheists Raise Money For Tornado Victim

The American Humanists Association has launched a fundraising page to help rebuild the Oklahoma home of atheist tornado victim Rebecca Vitsmun, who made international news after graciously rebuffing CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer's questions about "thanking the Lord" for sparing the lives of her family.  (Tipped by JMG reader Bentley)

Glenn Beck: Atheists Planted That Tornado Survivor With CNN's Wolf Blitzer