Streaming now on Netflix: Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

The no-holds-barred Pythons explore the various facets of life -- from procreation to the clang of a death knell -- in their typical irreverent fashion. Darker and more disturbing than other Monty Python fare, the film follows a sketch comedy format.

http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Monty_Python_s_The_Meaning_of_Life/60029676?trkid=13641790

Pope Francis SHOCKED By Gay Adoption

"In his Christmas sermon, Bishop Charles Scicluna of Malta condemned adoption by same-sex couples. He insisted that God's own son was raised by a man and a woman, and not by two men or two women.

How divisive! said the media. But now it turns out that Bishop Scicluna met Pope Francis on December 12. The bishop later told the Times of Malta: "We discussed many aspects... and when I raised the issue that's worrying me as a bishop [the right for gay couples to adopt] he encouraged me to speak out."

Indeed, the Pope was "shocked" to learn that Malta's proposed Civil Union bill allows gay adoption. And Bishop's Scicluna's controversial sermon seems to have been delivered at his prompting."* The Young Turks hosts Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian break it down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpzhPfuhyK4

Michigan vs Federal Government - Who Wins?

"Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan signed Senate Bill No. 94 into law yesterday. The bill seeks to nullify section 1021 of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). "It is important to recall that indefinite detention first appeared in section 1021 of the 2012 NDAA, which provided warrant for indefinite detention of U.S. citizens," said Snyder."*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3PZ_VoP5HA

Tea Party Happily Uses Poster Mocking Them In Popular Video Game

"A Florida Tea Party group found itself on the defensive Monday after posting a photo from a video game that was actually making fun of its political leanings.

"We don't take credit for the image," National Liberty Federation (NLF) president Everett Wilkinson told The Raw Story in a phone interview. "We have no association with the game. I'd never heard of the game. I'm as clueless, probably, as most people."

MSNBC reported that the picture, taken from the video game Bioshock Infinite, went up on the group's Facebook page on Saturday, and depicts George Washington holding the Liberty Bell and the Ten Commandments while caricatures of "immigrants" hover at his sides, with the words, "It is our holy duty to guard against the foreign hordes" at the bottom."* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeyzMsXEhLg&list=WL32F078D9EEEFBB36

Is Journalism Dead In America?

Cenk Uygur, Ana Kasparian, Ben Mankiewicz and Jimmy Dore debate whether or not TV journalism is dead in America. The Young Turks group discuss shocking examples of the media failing to challenge the establishment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx5f4ExZ2ao&list=WL32F078D9EEEFBB36

Bill O'Reilly On Income Inequality

""Hey, who says America is in decline? The U.S. is still more awesome than the rest of the world at making at least one thing. And that thing is income inequality.

A new paper by economists Facundo Alvaredo, Anthony B. Atkinson, Thomas Piketty, and Emmanuel Saez lays out just how much better at making inequality the U.S. is than everybody else and tries to explain how it got that way.

Since the 1970s, the top 1 percent of earners in the U.S. has roughly doubled its share of the total American income pie to nearly 20 percent from about 10 percent, according to the paper. This gain is easily the biggest among other developed countries, the researchers note. You can see this in the chart below, taken from the paper, which maps the income gains of the top 1 percent in several countries against the massive tax breaks most of them have gotten in the past several decades."* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXEhb4aJXko&list=WL32F078D9EEEFBB36

Supporting the Unemployed (Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent)

5 Million Uninsured Because They Live in GOP States

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — About 5 million people will be without health care next year that they would have gotten simply if they lived somewhere else in... Read more

It's a sad time we live in when a man like Kanye West is so highly esteemed.

Read more

Study sheds light on life of a land-dwelling fish called Pacific Leaping Blenny.

This one of the world’s strangest fishes remains on land all its adult life but has to stay moist to be able to breathe through its gills and skin - study & video.

According to a new paper published in the journal Animal Behaviour, the Pacific leaping blenny (Alticus arnoldorum) – a unique fish that lives on land and can leap large distances – uses camouflage to avoid attacks by predators such as birds, lizards and crabs.

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Koch Bros Behind Solar Power Fines

"According to the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative network better known as ALEC, our solar panels make us "free riders." What?

Yes, according to ALEC, an organization that specializes in getting the right-wing agenda written into state laws, people like me who invest in energy-efficiency and shrinking our carbon footprints ought to be penalized.

Why does ALEC want us punished? Since it's bankrolled by, among others, the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, it's hard not to surmise that they're worried about a threat to fossil fuels businesses. Koch Industries' operations include refineries, oil and natural gas pipelines, and petrochemicals."* Cenk Uygur, Ben Mankiewicz, John Iadarola and Jimmy Dorebreak it down on The Young Turks..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3SDcOZLksk&list=WL32F078D9EEEFBB36

Home Depot Founder: Pope Francis’ Criticism Of Capitalism Will Scare Away Rich People

Ken Langone and others are worried Francis' remarks will turn off wealthy donors to the Catholic Church.The post Home Depot ... Read more

New Report Undermines Claims That Millions Will Lose Coverage Due To Obamacare

Between extensions, subsidies, and the Medicaid expansion, only a minute fraction of Americans will truly lose health insurance ... Read more

Pope Celebrates Birthday With Homeless, Makes Roster Changes

"Three homeless men, one of them carrying his dog, helped Pope Francis celebrate his 77th birthday Tuesday, joining him for Mass and breakfast and presenting him with a bouquet of sunflowers.

The men live on the street in the Rome neighborhood just outside the Vatican's walls and were invited by the Holy See official in charge of alms-giving to attend the Mass, which Francis celebrates daily at the hotel where he lives on Vatican City grounds.

The Vatican said Francis also invited his household help to join him in a "family-like" atmosphere, and he spoke of them one by one during his homily."* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9U0J7F2QS0&list=WL32F078D9EEEFBB36

Barry Lynn, Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (Point of Inquiry)

"This week on Point of Inquiry, Lindsay Beyerstein talks with Barry Lynn, Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ, and a strong advocate of separation of church and state.

The conversation focuses on the Supreme Court's recent decision to hear the Hobby Lobby contraception mandate case. This is the most high profile case challenging the birth control mandate, one of the requirements of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

Lynn explains how Hobby Lobby's court challenge could open the door for Jehovah's Witness-owned companies to refuse to cover blood transfusions, or for Christian Scientist-owned companies to refuse to cover any medical care.

** Due to recording problems minutes 1:30 through 2:40 of Mr. Lynn's portion of the recording are slightly distorted. We apologize for the inconvenience and assure you that the remainder of the recording is clear and that, throughout, the discussion is in-depth and educating."

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Interview:
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Why Republicans Don’t Believe In Evolution Anymore

"A new poll finds a big drop in Republican acceptance of evolution, which tells us some very interesting things about the future ...
But the demographic explanation isn’t everything. Pew cautions that “differences in the racial and ethnic composition of Democrats and Republicans or differences in their levels of religious commitment do not wholly explain partisan differences in beliefs about evolution.” Put more simply, Republicans are more skeptical of evolution than you would expect even when you take into account the demographic character of its base..."

 Read more

Animal Loses Head But Remembers Everything

 When I first saw this," says cell biologist Alejandro Sanch...

"...This is a worm. It's called a . It's about an inch long, and you'll find it gliding along the bottoms of rivers and ponds all over the world. It's very flat, like a moving bit of pasta — nothing special to look at, but it has a hidden talent that has made it famous. It can regrow its body parts better than almost any other animal on Earth. So if by some chance something bites its head off ..."


 Read more

Desayuda explains what a THEORY is in science, and how science works.

"...Whoa man, I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what a theory is! Let me break this down for you.
We have this thing called the "scientific method." We use it to learn things about the world around us. Here's how it works:..."


http://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/comments/1tzeby/that_theory/ced8hld

Cop deaths are down, violent crime is down, but cops are killing more and more criminal suspects

"...Officers killed 414 people in the line of duty in 2009; 397 in 2010; 404 in 2011; and 410 in 2012. The 400 mark had not been exceeded in the preceding decade, according to the FBI's justified homicide statistics. There were 308 such killings in 1999..." 

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After Cows' Feet Fall Apart, Feedlot Drug Is Questioned - Reuters' special report zeroes in on Merck's muscle-building Zilmax

"...Their feet were "basically coming apart," says an animal science professor who was provided with photos of the affected cattle by an unnamed person. Tyson reacted quickly to the August incident, immediately saying it would no longer receive cattle that had taken Zilmax; other meatpackers followed suit, and Merck temporarily put all Zilmax sales on ice..."

http://www.newser.com/story/179951/after-cows-feet-fall-apart-feedlot-drug-is-questioned.html

Comic Raises $125K for Atheist Tornado Survivor - Doug Stanhope was wowed by her candid CNN interview

"Saying 'I’m an atheist' in Oklahoma is like screaming 'Jihad' at airport security," Stanhope said. "It took some nuts." So Stanhope started an Indiegogo campaign called "Atheists Unite," which raised an impressive $125,760 with support from thousands of people, including illusionist Penn Jillette and actor Ricky Gervais..." 

http://www.newser.com/story/179940/comic-raises-125k-for-atheist-tornado-survivor.html

Who Really Owns the U.S. National Debt? - Political Calculations - Townhall Finance Conservative Columnists and Financial Commentary - Page full

"Today, we're taking a preliminary look at just who owns all the debt issued by the U.S. federal government through 30 September 2012 - the end of the U.S. government's fiscal year. Our chart below visualizes what we found..."
http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/politicalcalculations/2013/01/21/who-really-owns-the-us-national-debt-n1493555/page/full

U.S. Furious With Israel After Sale of Advanced Military Technology to China

"...Furthermore, there is fear among the Americans that this advanced technology has found its way from China to Iran..." 
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Top 10 Stories of 2013 (Hemant Mehta, The Friendly Atheist)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58xb0JGURTI&feature=youtu.be

С наступающим Новым Годом!!

Starvation Wages (Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent)

Plant Your Flag (Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent)

DNA and RNA - Parts 1 and 2

027 - DNA and RNA - Part 1 - Paul Andersen introduces the nucleic acids of life; RNA and DNA. He details the history of DNA from Griffith, to Avery, to Hershey and finally to Watson and Crick. He also details the difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic chromosomes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoERVSWKmGk&feature=youtu.be

Steven Pinker Human nature in 2013

What is cutting-edge research likely to reveal about our human nature in 2013? Steven Pinker, professor at Harvard University, gives his predictions in an interview with The Economist's Lane Greene at The Economist's World in 2013 Festival on December 8th 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t60UitT2aT4&feature=youtu.be

Scientists Find 7,300-Mile Mercury Contamination ‘Bullseye’ Around Canadian Tar Sands

 The contamination was revealed just one week after regulatory responsibility for the controversial tar sands was handed over to ... Read more

Minnesota Officials Complain That Drug Testing Welfare Recipients Is A Waste Of Time And Money

Minnesota is preparing to begin randomly drug testing its welfare recipients, a policy that could actually cost taxpayers ... Read more

Al-Qaida's Receipts: From 60-Cent Cake To A $6,800 Workshop

Al-Qaida's Receipts: From 60-Cent Cake To A $6,800 Workshop by Mark Memmott December 30, 2013 1:55 PM The Associated Press has posted images of mor... Read more

Rabbi Botches Bris, Cuts Off Penis - Orthodox ceremony in Pittsburgh goes horribly wrong

"...Rabbi Rosenberg says on his website that he is a "certified mohel" and notes that a doctor's medical circumcision "is not considered valid according to Jewish law." However, attorney David Llewellyn tells CBS that the training of mohels is dangerously unregulated: "I think the government probably should require some sort of training if this is going to be done," he said. But Rosenberg said he is "trained in this" and called the incident a "horrible situation" and a "tragic accident." He has continued to perform circumcisions...
http://www.newser.com/story/179924/rabbi-botches-bris-cuts-off-penis.html

Israeli Government May Soon Fund All Abortions - Even though it's technically kind of illegal in the country

So, to be consistent, I guess the bishops of the U.S. Catholic Conference would now have to sue the Government to stop foreign aid to Israel. Right?

http://www.newser.com/story/179929/israeli-government-may-soon-fund-all-abortions.html

5 resolutions for a better digital life

"It's the time of year when we make promises for the new year that are routinely broken before that year is a week old. And ... when it comes to the health of your computer and Internet life, it pays to make a greater effort. With that in mind, I’ve resolved to end 2013 with a list of resolutions (and the consequences of not living up to them) to be carried out in 2014..." Read more

Poll: Republican Belief In Evolution Has Plummeted In Recent Years

Belief in evolution among Republicans has dropped more than 10 percentage points since 2009, according to a new poll by the Pew Research Center. Pew ... Read more

Wrath of the Righteous (part 1)

What inspires the ire of the modern Christian? Now we know.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTHInak2c5A&list=WL32F078D9EEEFBB36

Review: Gravity (Scientific Theory)

The movie Gravity is on lots of top-ten lists, but what about the theory of Gravity?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sySM3NCRFk&list=WL32F078D9EEEFBB36

Christian Seeks To Silence Atheist's Freedom Of Speech (Bill Kelly)

"...Bill Kelly and his gang are out to protest the Chicago atheist display, which Bill views as hate speech and questions the local governments allowance of the display around Christmas in seeks to put a halt to freedom of speech on the part of the atheist. Unable to do so due to the constitution he seeks immediate measures to temporarily censor the atheist message via blocking the display from the public, denying access by others in feeble attempts to drown out the opposition...."

More info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN2HbCboJho&list=WL32F078D9EEEFBB36

Trayvon Martin Replaces Jesus in Nativity Scene - California church is more 'brave' than subtle, says passerby

"...has replaced Jesus with Trayvon Martin wearing a hoodie, his heart pouring blood, the Los Angeles Times reports. "What if Jesus was lying there bleeding to death?" says the artist, John Zachary, reports the Daily Bulletin. "I was kind of thinking of that..."
http://www.newser.com/story/179871/nativity-scene-nixes-jesus-for-trayvon-martin.html

Streaming on Netflix now: C.O.G. (David Sedaris)

Based on a short story by David Sedaris, this comedy follows the brash young author as he travels to Oregon to work on an apple farm. The journey exposes him to all sorts of culture clashes, but what awaits him at the farm is far worse.

http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/C.O.G./70267491?trkid=13641790

"Darwin and the Holocaust:" Dr. Hector Avalos on Atheists Talk #87, Sunday, October 10, 2010

"Dr. Hector Avalos is a Professor of Religious Studies at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. He has been a great resource in analyzing and debunking the claims of Intelligent Design creationism. He sorts through the nonsense of poor scholarship and and misunderstanding of history in claims that the study of evolution has been responsible for evils in the world since Darwin's publication of On the Origins of the Species and The Descent of Man."

"Dr. Avalos has written two books on religion, Fighting Words and The End of Biblical Studies. He has contributed two chapters to John Loftus' new book The Chrisitan Delusion. Avalos' chapter 8 "Yahweh is a moral monster" deals with the moral reprehensibility of the Yahweh character in The Bible, and his chapter 14 "Atheism was not responsible for the Holocaust" explains how a history of Christian anti-Judaism in Europe (including a terrifying screed by Martin Luther) far better explain the Holocaust than anythning that Charles Darwin may have inspired..."

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Interview:
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"The Humanist Approach to Happiness." Jennifer Hancock on Atheist Talk #86, October 3, 2010

Quick definition of humanism:  "Humanism is the applied study of what it means to be a good human being."

"The Humanist approach to Happiness is a book that basically says – here are personal ethics, here is why they are important, and here is how you can apply them to your daily life and why doing so will help you live a happier more productive life.  It isn’t a philosophy book so much as a book about the pragmatic reasons for being an ethical, compassionate and responsible person."

Jennifer Hancock is the author of the book and Scott Lohman will be getting more details from Jennifer as to what you can expect to learn about happiness as a humanist from reading this book..."

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“The hands that help are better far than lips that pray.”

― Robert G. Ingersoll

 

Abortion Rights Groups Say It's Time To Stop Playing Defense

Activists across the nation want to counter the onslaught of regulations that limit abortions and regulate clinics with new laws that protect access t... Read more

"The Bible: Folkore as Fact." Dr. Mark Welter on Atheists Talk #85, September 26, 2010

"There are almost 3000 years of high culture and folklore preceding the Book of Genesis.  Many of the stories that we consider to be original to the Bible are in fact shared across many cultures in slightly variant forms. Fables of the Sumerians, the Persians and other cultures have found their way into what Christians and Jews claim to be factual, historical records of events.  Even the story of Jesus has antecedents dating back to 1000 years BCE.  

 

Dr. Mark Welter of St. Cloud State university teaches World History and the perspective of World Religions and will be our guest today for a discussion on the unsure footing on the rock of Christianity..."

 

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Interview:

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A Republican Party At Odds With Itself (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

"House Speaker John Boehner’s “Are you kidding me?” outburst at Tea Party hardliners last week is still echoing across the landscape of the Republican Party.  Boehner’s vivid, audible frustration with hardliners in the GOP sounded as if it had been brewing and stewing for months, years.  Angry and fed up and pushed too far.  Now it’s out there.  Mainstream Republicans saying enough.  Tea Party stalwarts saying no, it’s not.  We’ve got a lot more to do.  People calling it a civil war.  How deep does it go?  How real is the divide?  This hour On Point:  the showdown inside the GOP..."

– Tom Ashbrook

Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2013/12/17/republican-party-tea-party-budget-paul-ryan

"Old Bones and Modern Genetics." Greg Laden, Lynn Fellman. Atheists Talk # 79 August 15, 2010

"...Lucy, Ardi, Frodo, and us: what old bones and new genetics are revealing today. 

Who are these people and can we call them family? Listen to Greg Laden and Lynn Fellman discuss how recent fossil and tool discoveries are changing the shape of our family tree. 

A report earlier this week showed evidence for stone tool use at  3.39 million years ago — much earlier than previously thought. 

In addition to ancient bones and tools, genetics is filling some of the pre-historic knowledge gaps. For instance, genetic material from 40,000 year old bones show that some of us are one to four percent Neanderthal. 

As a biological anthropologist, Greg Laden has insight into how the recent finds are challenging intrenched ideas. He'll talk about what new trends are changing our understanding of human evolution. Taking us through past and recent discoveries, Greg's engaging way of thinking critically about the mixing of bones and genes reveal a remarkable and controversial family story..."

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Stephanie Zvan Interviews Dr. William Beeman - April 25, 2010

"Iran is never far from U.S. news headlines. Nuclear threats, unfair elections, captive reporters, a lack of religious freedom, all seem to demand that we do something. But what is to be done? What are the actual conditions in Iran, and what kind of leverage do we in the Western world, and particularly in the U.S. have to effect change? Last summer, Stephanie Zvan was privileged to chat with Dr. William Beeman, professor of anthropology at the University of Minnesota and a leading Western scholar of Iran. They discussed the intersection of religion and politics in Iran, U.S.-Iranian relations, and the culture of Iran, including conditions for women. Some of what she learned surprised her. It may surprise you too...."

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Greg Laden: "Missionaries in Africa" on Atheists Talk #76, Sunday, June 28, 2009

"Missionaries tell us that they are saving the world, traveling to foreign lands to help the natives. Of course, "saving the world" means something a little different to those of us who don't believe there's a Satan who needs to be battled at every turn. We usually mean saving lives and bettering standards of living, actions that have meaning in the here and now. How do missionaries do in that regard?

Biological anthropologist Greg Laden joins Stephanie Zvan to talk about his experiences with missionaries in the remotest parts of Africa and answer questions about what missions really offer the indigenous populations. He'll tell us about the good and the bad and let us know where we need to step up to provide secular help uncomplicated by the religion of the missionaries..."

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The Historical Jesus - John Dominic Crossan

"In the last forty years he has written twenty-seven books on the historical Jesus, the apostle Paul, and earliest Christianity. Five of them have been national religious bestsellers for a combined total of twenty-four months. The scholarly core of his work is the trilogy from The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant (1991) through The Birth of Christianity: Discovering What Happened in the Years Immediately After the Execution of Jesus (1998), to In Search of Paul: How Jesus's Apostle Opposed Rome's Empire with God's Kingdom, co-authored with the archaeologist Jonathan L. Reed (2004). His work has also been translated into thirteen foreign languages, including Polish, Hungarian, Russian, as well as Korean, Chinese, and Japanese.

He has lectured to lay and scholarly audiences across the United States as well as in Ireland and England, Scandinavia and Finland, Australia and New Zealand, Brazil, Japan, and South Africa. He has been interviewed on 200 radio stations, including four times on NPR's "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross. He has been interviewed on television networks in England--such as Weekend TV, Channel 4 and the BBC; also in the United States--such as ABC's PrimeTime, Peter Jennings Reporting, and Nightline, CBS' Early Show and 48 Hours, NBC's Dateline, and Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, as well as on cable programs such as A&E, History, Discovery, and the National Geographic Channel.

Marcus Borg and Dom Crossan have co-authored a series of books with HarperOne, San Francisco: The Last Week: A Day by Day Account of Jesus's Final Week in Jerusalem (2006); The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach about the Birth of Jesus (2007); and The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radical Visionary Behind the Church's Conservative Icon (2009).

His most recent books are The Greatest Prayer: Rediscovering the Revolutionary Message of the Lord's Prayer (published by HarperOne, San Francisco, on September 7, 2010, followed by The Power of Parable: How Fiction by Jesus became Fiction about Jesus (published by HarperOne on March 6, 2012). He was elected Vice President of the Society of Biblical Literature for 2010-2011 and President for 2011-2012."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9Yf6a4rzK0

The World Braces For Retirement Crisis

"...The first wave of under-prepared workers is going to try to go into retirement and will find they can't afford to do so," says Norman Dreger, a retirement specialist in Frankfurt, Germany, who works for Mercer, a global consulting firm..."

WASHINGTON (AP) — A global retirement crisis is bearing down on workers of all ages. Spawned years before the Great Recession and the financial meltd... Read more

Top Secret NSA catalog reveals US government has been secretly back dooring equipment from US companies including Dell, Cisco, Juniper, IBM, Western Digital, Seagate, Maxtor and more, risking enormous damage to US tech sector.

"...These NSA agents, who specialize in secret back doors, are able to keep an eye on all levels of our digital lives -- from computing centers to individual computers, from laptops to mobile phones. For nearly every lock, ANT seems to have a key in its toolbox. And no matter what walls companies erect, the NSA's specialists seem already to have gotten past them..." 
Read more

8 Parenting Tips For God

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7Zoy2tTZqc&feature=youtu.be

Judge in NSA Case Is Wrong About 9/11 Report - ProPublica says his account of hijacker isn't in there

"...Pauley's footnote on the incident says, "See generally, The 9/11 Commission Report." The problem with that, writes Justin Elliott, is that the 9/11 report "doesn't actually include the account he gives in the ruling." What's more, a previous article by Elliott on al-Mihdhar concluded that US intelligence agencies knew of him long before 9/11 "and had the ability to find him, but they failed to do so..."
http://www.newser.com/story/179839/judge-in-nsa-case-is-wrong-about-911-report.html

Teacher to Kid: 'We Don't Need Another Black President' - Board: And we don't need a racist teacher

 And if that's not bad enough, check out the comments from readers after the article.

http://www.newser.com/story/179831/teacher-to-kid-we-dont-need-another-black-president.html

US solar panel manufacturers get a gift from the US military

- The Pentagon won’t be buying any more solar panels from China
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Still making me laugh.

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High Heels in an X-Ray. I truly don't know how you women are able to walk around in these.

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I never truly understood how much healthcare in the US costs until I got Appendicitis in October.

"I'm a 20 year old guy. Thought other people should see this to get a real idea of how much an unpreventable illness costs in the US..." 
Read more

Peru To Provide Free Solar Power To 2 Million Of Its Poorest Residents By 2016

Peru has initiated a program that will provide more than 2 million of its poorest residents with electricity -- for free. 
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Good Guy England Government as an american with no health insurance I am truly thankful

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Voucher Swamp: Audits Of Louisiana’s ‘School Choice’ Program Find Oversight Lacking, Desegregation Efforts Stalled

"A federal report released before Christmas by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said Louisiana’s voucher program has increased segregation in at least 15 public schools. According to the report, those schools would have been more racially integrated had some students not left because they received vouchers..."

"How many problems have to be exposed before Louisiana's voucher scheme is finally shut down? It ..." Read more

Corporate America Likes High Unemployment Rates - It gives companies more leverage over workers, writes Paul Krugman

"Consider the leverage that companies have over their workers amid high jobless rates. Employees are more likely to put up with lousy pay and treatment because quitting isn't much of an option, writes Krugman. As a result, people are working in fear even as corporate profits are surging..."

http://www.newser.com/story/179814/corporate-america-likes-high-unemployment-rates.html

In 5 Days, ObamaCare Politics Will Change Forever - A Ron Johnson quote has Ezra Klein and Evan Soltas excited

"It’s no longer just a piece of paper that you can repeal and it goes away. There's something there. We have to recognize that reality. We have to deal with the people that are currently covered under ObamaCare."
http://www.newser.com/story/179800/in-5-days-obamacare-politics-will-change-forever.html

Viable Opposition: Your Metadata Life - Big Bro' Is Tracking You

"While one day's data looks rather innocuous, when you hit the play button on the graphic, you can track Mr. Spitz's travels throughout Germany and see the time that he's outside the country and exactly where he is on a very detailed basis..."

http://viableopposition.blogspot.ca/2013/07/your-metadata-life-big-bro-is-tracking.html

Why Gold Would Be Useless in an Economic Apocalypse

Reuters Since November, financial advisor David Marotta has been publishing a series of blog posts on how to manage your money in the event of a fina... Read more

"Not Home for the Holidays", Sarah Morehead on Atheists Talk #249, December 22, 2013

"For many of us, even as atheists, the winter holidays are a time of celebration, feasting and gifts with family. However, for some of us, leaving religion came with the cost of leaving part or all of our families behind. Some of us have been shunned. For others, strife over religion makes time with our families anything but a happy holiday.

"Sarah Morehead is the Executive Director of Recovering from Religion, an organization that has helped to support countless people through and after their transition away from belief. She has experience with the challenges of losing faith as part of a strongly religious family and with helping others through the same process. She joins us this Sunday to talk about the challenges formerly religious atheists face during this time of year and some of the ways people find to cope..."

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