Now Streaming on Netflix: An Honest Liar

As retired magician and escape artist James Randi sets out to expose frauds, he negotiates a personal life that's also fraught with deception.
Interview:
http://www.netflix.com/title/80005195

Risks And Benefits Of So-Called Viagra-For-Women (Diane Rehm Show)

Last week, an FDA panel recommended the approval of the first drug to treat low sexual desire in women. The FDA has rejected the drug – called flibanserin – multiple times, in part due to concerns over severe side effects like fainting and nausea. Now, the drug could be available within months. Some doctors insist flibanserin is a long-overdue solution for the many woman struggling with low libido. But questions persist about the drug’s effectiveness, and whether a pill is even the answer for women who feel something is wrong with their level of sexual desire. We look at the risks and benefits of so-called Viagra for women.
Interview:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-06-08/risks-and-benefits-of-so-called-viagra-for-women

A 'Female Viagra' And Female Sexuality (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

A little pink pill called flibanserin got a green light last week from advisers to the FDA. Its purpose: to enhance sexual desire in women. The headline writers could not resist calling it “Viagra for women.” The same pill had been rejected twice before. At hearings it was called a “mediocre aphrodisiac with scary side effects.” But a big lobbying push demanded gender equity on the sex pill front – and finally got the panel’s recommendation. For “Viagra for women.” This hour On Point: the little pink pill. Women, sex, side-effects and the making of desire.
Interview:
https://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/06/08/hypoactive-sexual-desire-disorder-female-viagra

The Real And Ongoing Story Of SEAL Team 6 (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

A huge report out this weekend on SEAL Team 6 – the special operations forces that killed Osama bin Laden. The New York Times spent a year digging in to the most elite, most deadly, most secretive force in the US military. What they found was a lot of killing, and rescue, and intelligence-gathering. An evolution in US force projection from big military to fierce, focused out-of-nowhere attacks that can show up almost anywhere – and do. It’s a gripping story with big questions attached. Their reporting staff is with us. This hour On Point: Deadly force, global reach, and SEAL Team 6.
Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/06/08/seal-team-6-us-navy-bin-laden-deaths

Your dentist may be ripping you off. Here are 7 tips to help you avoid it.

There's an invisible problem in dentistry: some dentists using "creative diagnosis" to perform unnecessary work in the interest of making extra money....  Read more

Redefining American Overtime (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

There are a heck of a lot of middle class Americans across this country who make between $23,000 and $50,000 dollars a year. Right now, labor laws say that exempt workers in that range cannot earn overtime if they work long hours. Well, the White House yesterday announced it’s going to change that. Overtime pay –time and a half—for at least five million wage earners. And more. And it’s going to affect a lot of bottom lines –for families and companies. This hour, On Point: Overtime pay and the American work force.
Interview:
https://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/07/01/overtime-wage-rules-labor-obama-middle-class

Race And Violence In America (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

Dylann Roof could not have been much more clear about his motives. He chose one of the most prominent black churches in America for his night of terror. He shot nine black church members in cold blood. Eyewitnesses quote him saying you’re “taking over our country. You have to go.” He has reportedly confessed he wanted to start a race war. His online selfie features a Confederate battle flag. What fed all that? What is this nut of hatred? And what about the rest of us? This Hour, On Point: Race in America now and what needs to be said, what needs to be done, after Charleston.
Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/06/22/charleston-shooting-race-relations-violence

Low-Cost Clothes Wage High-Stakes Battle (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

One distinct thing about humans as a species is this: almost all of us cover our bodies, in cloth, every day. You don’t see rabbits doing that. Or gekos. Or chimps. But we do. We call it clothes and in all their variety we call it fashion. Right now, some of the biggest names in mid-market American fashion retailing are in trouble. Gap is shuttering stores all over. J. Crew is sputtering. New “fast fashion” challengers from abroad are booming up. Americans’ buying habits and tastes are changing. Up next On Point: the clothes we buy, the world of retail that brings them, and upheaval in the land of Gap.
Interview:
https://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/06/22/low-cost-clothes-gap-j-crew-uniqlo

Evan Thomas: “Being Nixon” (Diane Rehm Show)

A lonely outsider, filled with resentment. This is not the picture one necessarily associates with a future president. But this is the portrait we get of the young Richard Nixon in author Evan Thomas’s new book. Thomas sets out to get inside the president’s mind, starting from Nixon’s childhood. What he finds is more complex than the malevolent, cartoon image of “Tricky Dick” he says many of us have. We meet a man who tried and failed dramatically to overcome his many dark demons…and one whose story could be instructive to leaders and presidential candidates today. We go inside the troubled mind of Richard Nixon.
Interview:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-06-22/evan-thomas-being-nixon

Richard Dawkins: LIVE at the Reason for Change Conference (Point of Inquiry)

This week, Point of Inquiry welcomes Richard Dawkins for a special episode recorded before a live audience at the Center for Inquiry’s Reason for Change conference in Buffalo, New York on June 13, 2015. Dawkins is easily one of the world’s most influential and controversial scientists; a pioneer in evolutionary biology, science communication, and the public visibility of atheists. He is the author of several bestselling books including The Selfish Gene, The God Delusion, and Unweaving the Rainbow, and he is founder of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science.

Dawkins is joined by Point of Inquiry host Josh Zepps, discusses how he found his love for science and evolution, the importance of secular values, and how we can inspire people to appreciate and embrace science. It’s not all serious and lofty, of course, as Dawkins cops to being “pretty condescending and bossy,” and displays his remarkable proficiency with an outlandish American accent.

Dawkins, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award from CFI at this conference, brings the audience to its feet with his wit and insight.
Interview:
http://www.pointofinquiry.org/richard_dawkins_live_at_the_reason_for_change_conference/

Obama Visits Marc Maron's Garage; Cats Annoyed They Were Shut In Bedroom (Terry Gross, Fresh Air)

Comedian Marc Maron's WTF podcast might not seem like the place for a typical presidential interview, but several months ago the White House reached out to Maron to see if he'd be interested in having Barack Obama as his guest. "I just didn't think that it would ever happen," Maron says.

But it did — on Friday, the president came to Maron's garage and spent some time talking about race relations, fatherhood, fitting in and more. The interview was posted Monday morning — you can listen to it here. Maron spoke with Fresh Air's Terry Gross on Friday, a few hours after the interview.
Interview:
http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/06/22/416481081/obama-visits-marc-marons-garage-cats-annoyed-they-were-shut-in-bedroom

'Love & Mercy' Brings The Life Of Brian Wilson To The Big Screen (Terry Gross, Fresh Air)

Screenwriter Oren Moverman talks with Fresh Air's Terry Gross about the film's depiction of the Beach Boy's troubled life. We'll also listen back to an interview Gross recorded with Wilson in 1988.
Interview:
http://www.npr.org/2015/06/18/415454607/love-mercy-brings-the-life-of-brian-wilson-to-the-big-screen

Creating Change Through Humanism, with Roy Speckhardt (The Humanist Hour #156)

In this episode, Bo Bennett speaks with American Humanist Association Executive Director Roy Speckhardt about his brand new book, Creating Change Through Humanism. Bo also speaks briefly with AHA Legal Director David Niose about his article in Psychology Today exploring anti-intellectualism and how it can be seen as a major factor in the recent church shooting tragedy.

About Roy:

Roy Speckhardt has served as the executive director of the American Humanist Association since 2005. He is a frequent media commentator who has appeared on Good Morning America, CNN Headline News, Fox News, and National Public Radio, among others. He writes a regular column for The Huffington Post and has written for Patheos, Washington Post’s On Faith, and other publications. He has spoken at universities from Stanford to Oxford, and given speeches at national conferences across the United States. Speckhardt holds a Masters in Business Administration from George Mason University and a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Mary Washington College.
Interview:
http://thehumanist.com/multimedia/podcast/the-humanist-hour-156-creating-change-through-humanism-with-roy-speckhardt

Home Sales — And Optimism — Rise (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

American housing was at the heart of the American crash and American recession. Now, home sales are back to their best pace since 2007. Unemployment’s down. Mortgage rates remain relatively low. Real estate is hot again. Even millennials are getting in, at last. But, there are big questions too, long-term. Overall, American home ownership rates are way off their highs. Renting looked good in the crash, but now many are stuck with sky-high rents they can’t escape. This hour On Point: we’re looking at American homes and home ownership now. Who’s buying, who wants to buy, who’s stuck./ Tom Ashbrook

Interview:
https://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/06/24/home-sales-rising-millennials-rent

Dogma Debate: A Christian Listener (#188)

Interview:
http://login.dogmadebate.com/podcast/188-a-christian-listener/

Russia, NATO And A New 'Cold War' (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

No sensible person who lived through the Cold War would want to go back to that. High tension. Hair triggers. Nuclear menace. Fear. And no one is saying they want to go back. But the news has put Cold War shivers in the air. Russia flying bombers around Europe, bragging on its nuclear might, announcing 40 new inter-continental ballistic missiles. The US sending new tanks, armored vehicles and more to Eastern Europe. B-52s to the Baltics. NATO ramping up readiness. And then there’s China. This hour On Point: Cold War echoes in a time of peace, and what they mean. / Tom Ashbrook
Interview:
https://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/06/25/europe-russia-united-states-cold-war-nato

Video Catches Cop on Rampage as Fellow Cops Try to Stop Him From Torturing Handcuffed Man

The footage shows nothing short of torture, carried out by one, Officer Mark Magness.
...  Read more
https://youtu.be/eO4DLHrjetU

SCOTUS Gave Obamacare a Win. Now the Real Fight Begins

Three things we need right now if the Affordable Care Act is going to create a functioning and equitable healthcare system.
...  Read more

8 Jerkiest Things About Newly Declared GOP Presidential Candidate Chris Christie

The New Jersey gov's temper, arrogance, bullying, revenge-taking, and cronyism are his calling cards.
...  Read more

No doubt aboot it: Canada is better than America in at least 7 ways

Canada serves two predominant roles in modern American discourse. It is the place where Americans threaten to move when things aren't going well at ho...  Read more

3 charts that explain Obama’s approval jump — and its limits

After a dramatic week featuring Supreme Court victories for Obamacare and same-sex marriage, but also a continuing tragedy in South Carolina following...  Read more

This Bill O'Reilly piece on homeless people might be the worst Fox News segment ever

Fox New's Bill O'Reilly on Monday ran a horrible segment in which he characterized homeless people in New York City's Penn Station as dangerous, playi...  Read more

A Tennessee store put up a "no gays allowed" sign — and it's totally legal

WBIR 10 News After the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states, a store in Grainger County, Tennessee, put up a sign with a terrib...  Read more

Mass Hysteria on the Right After Supreme Court's Progressive Rulings: 6 Biggest Freakouts

A number of these are running for president...  Read more

Reverend: The True Charleston Killer Remains at Large

Racism, poverty and violence are the real killers in America.
...  Read more

8 Stupidest Economic Ideas GOP Presidential Candidates Are Hearing from Their Experts

Why are GOP advisers promoting such extreme ideas?
...  Read more

Parents Fight Conservative Zealots and Charter School Advocates For Control of Their Kids' Education

In Jefferson County, Colorado an acrimonious debate is taking place over the future of public school.
...  Read more

Obama’s ‘Terrible’ Financial Reform Scores Another Huge Victory

Another victory for Obama that you'll never see on the evening news. Read more

It Turns Out White Support For Confederate Flag Really IS About Racism, Not Heritage

The Washington Post found that support for the Confederate flag is strong among two groups: whites who are completely ignorant ... Read more

Mike Huckabee Opposes Hate Crime Laws Unless You’re Christian (IMAGE/VIDEO)

The GOPer thinks hate crime laws are actual hate crimes against Christians!
Mike Huckabee and Jim Bakker make false claims about the contraception mandate and suggest that Christians in America are second class citizens. Read more
https://youtu.be/Br79i9ltPRo

Top commenter on the YouTube video writes: "such oppression. 70 billion dollars worth of "oppression" in yearly tax exemptions for churches"

REVEALED! Secret Obama Memo To Legalize ’12 New Perversions’ Like Pedophilia And Bestiality

You didn't think we would stop at gay marriage did you? Read more
https://youtu.be/W0R5ykwxYMQ

Republican Controlled States Fail on EVERY Measure

The Republican field is over-crowded right now with wannabe presidential candidates. But once we hit debate season, this field is going to narrow down to a few finalists, weeding out the worst of the worst. People like Ted Cruz and Donald Trump will be distant memories, and we’ll be left with Republicans who are just barely sane enough to actually be elected president.

And if we want to get a glimpse of what could happen should one of these Republicans actually win the White House in 2016, the best place to look is at states that are suffering under Republican rule.
https://youtu.be/0_cTVb0V-eA

PHILOSOPHY - Political: The Prisoner's Dilemma [HD]

In this video, Professor Geoffrey Sayre-McCord (UNC-Chapel Hill) explains the prisoner's dilemma. The prisoner's dilemma is a scenario where all parties making rational choices ensures a less desired result for each than if each actor had chosen individually less-preferred options.
https://youtu.be/YGyZX0VoRpI

Refuting the Argument from Desire

http://youtu.be/tcNzQ12k00Q

Big mistake people make with car rentals

When you connect your gadget to a car with Bluetooth, the car stores your phone number to make it easier to connect later. It also stores your call logs, including any contacts you dialed. Just one problem: All that information is saved inside the system and just sitting around for the next renter to find.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/komando/2015/07/03/komando-car-rental-mistakes/29614165/

Plan to cut Wis. public records laws sparks uproar

Under these measures, lawmakers would be able to draft bills in secret and hide their communications from the public. The changes would also apply to local government officials, including school board members...
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/07/03/uproar-proposal-curtail-public-records-laws-wisconsin/29674939/

Iceland's Pirate Party Wins Repeal Of Blasphemy Law

...The BBC reports that the Catholic Church of Iceland, the Pentecostal Church and the Church of Iceland's eastern province all opposed repealing the blasphemy law.

The Catholic Church wrote in a statement after the successful repeal: "Should freedom of expression go so far as to mean that the identity of a person of faith can be freely insulted, then personal freedom — as individuals or groups — is undermined."...

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/07/03/419803189/icelands-pirate-party-wins-repeal-of-blasphemy-law?sc=tw

Jon Stewart has the perfect campaign slogan for Trump

And in an interview with Don Lemon on CNN, Trump doubled down on his statement that Mexican immigrants were rapists: “Somebody’s doing the raping, Don!”

http://entertainthis.usatoday.com/2015/07/03/jon-stewart-campaign-slogan-donald-trump/

The Daily Show
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Wisconsin man arrested for threats against Obama

The Tomah, Wis., man allegedly approached a security guard at the La Crosse Public Library on Wednesday and said, "The usurper is here and if I get a chance I'll take him out and I'll take the shot," according to an affidavit written by Secret Service Special Agent Jeffrey Ferris.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/07/03/wisconsin-man-faces-federal-charges-threatens-obama/29666879/

George Takei to Clarence Thomas: The government can take our dignity. They did it to me.

George Takei is not buying Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas's suggestion that the government cannot take or bestow dignity on its citizens. This...  Read more

Sean Hannity: Same-sex marriage supporters are part of a plot to destroy Christian businesses

"People will have to bake gay wedding cakes," he said, "because they're going to be forced to by the state" On "Hannity" Monday evening, host Sean Hannity attempted to corner a same-sex marriage supporter into admitting that the Supreme Court's decision is a victory for those who want to crush th...

http://www.salon.com/2015/06/30/sean_hannity_same_sex_marriage_supporters_are_part_of_a_plot_to_destroy_christian_businesses/

There's a lot more solar power in the US than we thought

How much solar photovoltaic (PV) power is generated in the United States? According to a new report, official government figures may be understating t...  Read more

White Supremacists Flock To Donald Trump After He Reveals Himself As A Racist (IMAGE)

... Trump also has the support of white supremacist and Council of Conservative Citizens member Kyle Rogers. If you need a refresher, the Council of Conservative Citizens is the hate group that Charleston massacre gunman Dylann Roof credited for radicalizing him. Although Rogers deleted his Twitter account after Roof shot nine black churchgoers dead on June 17, activist Shaun King was able to provide a screenshot of Rogers promoting shirts that said “Donald Trump 2016″ to his Twitter followers the day before the shooting...  Read more

Clarence Thomas Holds Some Pretty Horrifying Views on Human Dignity

Amid same-sex marriage ruling, the conservative justice made some bizarre arguments about dignity.
...  Read more

5 Bobby Jindal Moments That Prove His 'Stupid Party' Bona Fides

The Louisiana governor's support of the Religious Right's attack on gay rights should give you pause.
...  Read more

Sanders’ Carpe Diem: Missive Asks Americans ‘Why Not?’ Seize Reins, Correct Country’s Course

The course the U.S. takes from here is entirely in our own hands. Read more

Streaming now on Netflix: Inequality for All

Former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich makes a compelling case about the serious crisis the U.S. faces due to the widening economic gap.
http://www.netflix.com/title/70267834

A Political Earthquake and No One Covered it!

Thom Hartmann says Bernie Sanders made history in Wisconsin last night, but the mainstream news networks weren't there to cover it.
http://youtu.be/8P4FoI2ZAWI

AL Lawyer Declares ‘Public Officials Are Ministers Of God’ In Letter To Governor

An attorney who works for Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore just declared that public officials are religious figures. Read more

Ala. Chief Justice Roy Moore Comes Undone After Gay Marriage Ruling

Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who has vehemently opposed same-sex marriage in his state, broke down over the weekend after the Supreme Court ruled ... Read more

Where Chris Christie stands on the issues, from Social Security cuts to same-sex marriage

Chris Christie is hoping that he can entitlement-cut his way to the GOP presidential nomination. The New Jersey governor, once the leader in national...  Read more

The Real Reason Why Conservatives Like Ross Douthat Oppose The Gay Marriage Ruling

Of all the sour grapes conservatives chewed this past weekend over the same- sex marriage ruling, perhaps Ross Douthat's was the sourest. While other ... Read more

New Lawsuit Says Clean Water Rule Threatens ‘The Very Structure Of The Constitution’

Sixteen states are seeking to block the EPA's clean water rule, which extends protections to some two million acres of streams ... Read more

Drug cops took a college kid’s life savings and now 13 police departments want a cut

...Clarke's cash, which says he he spent five years saving up, was seized under civil asset forfeiture, where cops are able to take cash and property from people who are never convicted of -- and in some cases, never even charged with -- a crime...Read more

O'Reilly Declares 'War' On Liberals Who Discuss Racism

https://youtu.be/OOqYfrySH18

15 Questions for Someone Religious Struggling With Gay Marriage

I recently had a woman (who was supposedly strong in her Christian faith) grab a dollar from my hand as I was attempting to offer it to a homeless you...  Read more

"Jiggery Pokery & Pure Applesauce... Oh My!" by Old Fart Rants

Transcript: People who claim that only 1 man and 1 woman qualifies as "traditional marriage", and that this definition of marriage is based on God’s word as stated in the Bible are full of crap. The Bible clearly states that when it comes to marriage, having more than 1 wife is fine. The Bible clearly states that when it comes to marriage, incest is fine. The Bible clearly states that when it comes to marriage, murder. kidnapping and rape are fine.

The Bible clearly states that when it comes to marriage, involving your slaves in your family bloodline is fine. what the Bible DOES NOT clearly state is that traditional marriage is to be only between 1 man and 1 woman. And anyone who cites the Bible as "moral authority" to excuse their homophobia is conducting the highest form of jiggery pokery - the exact phrase used by Justice Scalia to describe the case of those fighting for marriage equality. So here we have a Supreme Court Justice, who's a devout Catholic, which one would think makes him at least somewhat aware of what Bible actually says about so called traditional marriage, siding with the Bible thumpers and wingnuts who consistently use the Bible as their only defense against marriage equality as law.

It's bad enough we have Supreme Court judges who believe in fairy tales in the 21st century, but at least we should expect them to get their fairy tales straight - right? I say any public official who bases their legal opinion or proposes or opposes any law based solely on a book of fairy tales that don't even support their argument to begin with, should be yanked out of office, and prohibited from holding any government office ever again. And any public officials out there who still want to refuse issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples in defiance of what is now the law of the land should be fired immediately - if they can’t do their jobs because of their religious convictions then they need to find another job. Religious freedom doesn’t mean you can pick and choose the laws you like, especially when their religious convictions are pure applesauce to begin with - and by applesauce I mean bullshit! We've been subject to the jiggery pokery of people using the Bible as "evidence" to oppose freedom and equal rights for centuries in this country, and it's time we put a stop to it.

Fortunately we still have just enough sane justices on the Supreme Court to get a decision right every now and then, but we can't allow another justice like Scalia or Thomas to be appointed in the next 8 years, especially when 2 of the more reasonable liberal justices will probably retire during that time. And since appointing Supreme Court justices is really the most important long game for any presidential administration, that's why we must put a Democrat in the White House in 2016 and 2020. Hopefully by then most of the old, white Bible thumping bigots will be 6 feet under, and America can get on to more important business than listening to a bunch of bigots and idiots claiming that what people they don't approve of do in their bedrooms is an somehow attack on their religious freedom - especially when their source material, the Bible, reads like a sci-fi horror story!

That my friends is pure applesauce!

Sources: Genesis 1:1 to 2:25 / Genesis 4:1 / Genesis 4:8 / Genesis 4:16 / Genesis 20:12 / Genesis 16:3 / Exodus 21:10 / Deuteronomy 22: 13-21 / Deuteronomy 22: 28-29 / Judges 21: 7-23 / 1 Chronicles 3: 1-9 / 2 Samuel 16:21 / 1 kings 11:1 / 1 kings 11:3 / 1 Chronicles 2:35 / Matthew 19:9 / Mark 12:19 / Matthew 19:29 / 1 Timothy 3:2
https://youtu.be/HakIM5XLf_k

A New Financial Reality

...Gen Xers were hit particularly hard by the Great Recession, which brought falling housing values and rising unemployment rates. As a result, they lost nearly half their wealth between 2007 and 2010...
http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/Research-and-Analysis/Reports/2014/09/A-New-Financial-Reality

Christian Fragility

Anyone in the U.S. with a social media account has undoubtedly seen the outcry from many members of the Christian Right over Friday's Supreme Court ru...  Read more

Jeb Bush Says Baltimore And Ferguson Protests Caused By Lack Of ‘Mentoring’

"Kids in this country are aimlessly wandering around in their lives because they've never been told they were capable of ... Read more