Turning Down The Heat When Cooking Meat May Reduce Cancer Risk

A new study published in the journal Cancer finds that high-temperature cooking methods may increase the risk of kidney cancer if you consume a lot of meat.

And other studies have found that high consumption of well-done, fried or charred meats is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer, pancreatic and prostate cancer.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/11/23/456654768/turning-down-the-heat-when-cooking-meat-may-reduce-cancer-risk

Red States Begin To See The Light On Medicaid Expansion | ThinkProgress

“I am concerned about the plight of the working poor … If doctors are not paid for seeing those patients, doctors will not go to rural Alabama because you can’t expect a doctor to go to rural Alabama and lose money,” Gov. Robert Bentley told the Associated Press a week after Bevin’s Kentucky victory.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/11/23/3725056/red-state-medicaid-expansion/

Trump Tweeted Fabricated Murder Stats From A Neo-Nazi And This Is How The Media Reported It | ThinkProgress

...The Hill’s article is actually worse. Reporter Cory Bennet writes that “the percentages do, in some ways, align with Department of Justice (DOJ) findings from several years ago.” This is also not true. The percentages do not reflect the DOJ’s findings in a meaningful way and have been almost certainly purposely manipulated to perpetuate racist stereotypes...
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/11/23/3724989/trump-tweets-fabricated-murder-stats-from-a-neo-nazi-and-this-is-how-the-media-reported-it/

Ben Carson Is Finished: The One-Time Republican Frontrunner Continues His Free Fall

Carson's foreign policy ignorance is death knell for campaign after latest terror attacks. Ted Cruz is the winner!
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/ben-carson-finished-one-time-republican-frontrunner-continues-his-free-fall

Krugman Offers Reality Check to Delusional Obamacare Doomsdayers

Yes, it has hit some snags. No, it is not in a death spiral.
http://www.alternet.org/economy/krugman-offers-reality-check-delusional-obamacare-doomsdayers

I Went to Church With Ted Cruz: He is Building an Army of Young Christian Voters in Iowa

Does Cruz really think Obama sees himself as holier than the pope? It doesn’t matter. It places Obama in the out-group, and portrays the president as smug, self-righteous and condescending. Which of course, is what Cruz is being, while appearing to be humble. Does he really think Obama is a communist? I doubt it. But tarring Obama with that label obviously works, especially since half of his audience doesn’t know what communism is, only that it is evil. And certainly out-group...
http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/i-went-church-ted-cruz-he-building-army-young-christian-voters-iowa

Video Released Of Black Teen's Fatal Shooting By White Chicago Police Officer

"Officer Jason Van Dyke, who is white, shot McDonald 16 times. He arrived at the scene after other officers had been following the African-American teen as he walked the streets carrying a knife and refusing to follow orders. An autopsy report showed that the hallucinogenic drug PCP was found in McDonald's system, according to the Associated Press. Van Dyke's attorney says the officer feared for his life."
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/11/24/457233148/first-degree-murder-charge-for-chicago-police-officer-who-shot-teen

Facing A Budget Crunch, Alabama Cuts Voter ID Access While Keeping State Liquor Stores Open

“I participated in the tail end of the Selma to Montgomery march,” he told ThinkProgress. “I was there when Dr. King asked, ‘How long?’ and the crowd responded, ‘Not long!’ I truly thought we wouldn’t have to wait too long for the right to vote. When the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965, I thought, ‘It really won’t be long now.’ But here we are 50 years later still fighting for the right to vote. I’m certainly disappointed but I’m going to let that immobilize me. I’m going to keep fighting and I’m asking others to keep fighting too.”
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/11/24/3725385/facing-a-budget-crunch-alabama-cuts-voter-id-access-while-keeping-state-liquor-stores-open/

Scientific Proof That Exxon And The Kochs Distorted The Public's Understanding Of Climate Change | ThinkProgress

“This funding has an impact on the nature and amount of what is going out in the climate misinformation effort,” Robert Brulle, a professor of sociology and environmental science at Drexel University who was not involved in the study, told ThinkProgress. “It’s stronger, and there’s more of it, and these organizations are at the core of the effort.”
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/11/24/3725320/exxon-koch-climate-misinformation-polarizing/

Arab Americans In Dearborn Fear ISIS, And The White Supremacists Who Think They Are ISIS

“We’re on a double edge sword here,” Osama Siblani, founder of the Arab American News, told ThinkProgress from his office in Dearborn. “[There is] fear from everything: government agencies, white supremacists, and ISIS. I mean, we’re screwed.”...
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/11/24/3725261/between-isis-and-anti-muslim-americans/

Judge Explains The Dangerously Successful Strategy Against Abortion Rights In 3 Sentences | ThinkProgress

A great many Americans, including a number of judges, legislators, governors, and civil servants, are passionately opposed to abortion — as they are entitled to be. But persons who have a sophisticated understanding of the law and of the Supreme Court know that convincing the Court to overrule Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey is a steep uphill fight, and so some of them proceed indirectly, seeking to discourage abortions by making it more difficult for women to obtain them. They may do this in the name of protecting the health of women who have abortions, yet as in this case the specific measures they support may do little or nothing for health, but rather strew impediments to abortion.

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/11/24/3725319/wisconsin-abortion-federal-court/

The Man Beaten And Choked At A Donald Trump Rally Tells His Story

“The things that he’s been saying about black people, Latino people, immigrants, refugees — we felt it was very disrespectful,” he said. “This is a city where some of the biggest battles of the civil rights movement happened, where four little girls got bombed up, so we aren’t accepting of anything like that kind of talk down here. I mean, this man came to our city a couple of weeks before Christmas, saying we should not let in Middle Eastern refugees. If I’m not mistaken, I think Jesus was a Middle Eastern refugee. So we were not going to stand idly by and see the rise of the next Hitler. We knew we had to stand for something.”
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/11/23/3725051/trump-protester-beaten/

Trump Defends Tweeting Fabricated, Racist Murder Statistics | ThinkProgress

The graphic actually originated from a neo-Nazi on Twitter. Among other errors, it grossly overstates the percentage of white murder victims killed by blacks...
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/11/23/3725268/trump-defends-tweeting-fabricated-racist-murder-statistics-it-came-from-a-very-credible-source/

Emails reveal Coke's role in anti-obesity group

Coke helped pick leaders, shaped mission statement of Global Energy Balance Network, according to emails obtained by AP...
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/11/24/emails-reveal-cokes-role-in-anti-obesity-group.html

UN: Denying asylum based on nationality violates international law

“The new restrictions chiefly involve people being profiled on the basis of their claimed nationalities,” he said.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/11/24/un-denying-asylum-based-on-nationality-violates-international-law.html

Chicago Releases Video Of Officer Shooting Black 17 Year-Old

The move Tuesday follows a judge's order last week to release the squad car dash-cam footage. Seventeen-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times on Oct. 20, 2014. Police say he refused to drop a knife...
A Commenter writes:
The move Tuesday follows a judge's order last week to release the squad car dash-cam footage. Seventeen-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times on Oct. 20, 2014. Police say he refused to drop a knife.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/chicago-police-release-video-urge-calm

Vatican under fire for trying two journalists (+video) - CSMonitor.com

“Journalists should be allowed to carry out their role as watchdog and investigate alleged wrongdoing without fear or repercussions,” said Nina Ognianova, of the Committee to Protect Journalists.
http://m.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2015/1124/Vatican-under-fire-for-trying-two-journalists-video

Opinion: Five prerequisites for war against ISIS - CSMonitor.com

No sane person welcomes war. Yet if we do go to war against ISIS we must keep a watchful eye on 5 things...
http://m.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2015/1124/Opinion-Five-prerequisites-for-war-against-ISIS

Armed Texas Mosque Protestor Shares Home Addresses Of Local Muslims

Wright prefaced the list of addresses, which appeared to be copied over from a city document, by writing that those named "stood up for Sharia tribunals"...
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/david-wright-iii-doxxes-irving-muslims--4

Christie 'Doesn't Remember' Saying Gun Control Effort Got Him Into State Politics

"The issue which has energized me to get into this race is the recent attempt by certain Republican legislators to repeal New Jersey's ban on assault weapons," Christie said in a statement to The Newark Star-Ledger at the time. ''In today's society, no one needs a semi-automatic assault weapon."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/christie-denies-political-entry-gun-control

Rubio: 'God's Rules' Win Over Supreme Court Decisions (VIDEO)

“In essence, if we are ever ordered by a government authority to personally violate and sin — violate God’s law and sin — if we’re ordered to stop preaching the Gospel, if we’re ordered to perform a same-sex marriage as someone presiding over it, we are called to ignore that," Rubio said. "We cannot to abide by that because government is compelling us to sin."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rubio-gods-rules-trump-supreme-court

Major Calif. Textbooks Inaccurately Describe Climate Change, Study Shows

"We found that through language choices, the text portrayed climate change as uncertain along several lines, such as whether climate change was happening, whether humans were causing it and what the effects will be," K.C. Busch, one of the paper's co-authors and doctorate candidate at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, said in a statement about the research.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/california-textbooks-climate-change

Thinking About the Syrian Refugee Nonsense

There are so many levels of nonsense tied to the current hysteria about accepting some ten thousand Syrian refugees into the United States. But here's one. And it's a big one. If you want to be scared and xenophobic, at least apply some level of logic. To hear the current debate, you'd think the United States is a hermetically sealed immigration Ziploc bag. And now we're letting in 10,000 refugees from a war zone crawling with violent jihadists. Let's set aside the reality of that claim for the moment. Are these really the only flows of immigration to the United States? I just the Visa office's record of non-immigrant visas issued last year by the United States.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/thinking-about-the-syrian-refugee-nonsense

Trump denies mocking disabled NYT reporter

"Now, the poor guy — you've got to see this guy. 'Ah, I don't know what I said. I don't remember,'" Trump said at the microphone, jerking his arms in front of his body and slurring his words in a crude impression of the reporter...
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/11/27/trump-denies-mocking-disabled-nyt-reporter.html

Indigenous Activist Mobilizes Hundreds Of Teens To Fight Against Climate Change

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, 15, is leading a community of young activists and artists under the banner of Earth Guardians to demand more environmentally friendly policies.
https://youtu.be/4MCF_OcMnBY

Harris vs the Afterlife: Hitchens vs the Afterlife part 3

https://youtu.be/AsFX9a6wuGQ

Scientists: Ted Cruz Understands Less About Climate Than A Kindergartner

"This individual understands less about science (and climate change) than the average kindergartner," Michael Mann, a meteorology professor at Pennsylvania State University, wrote about Cruz's comments, according to the AP. "That sort of ignorance would be dangerous in a doorman, let alone a president."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ted-cruz-climate-knowledge-kindergartener

Most U.S. Attacks Linked To Islamic Extremism Were Carried Out By Citizens

Half of U.S. attacks linked to Islamic extremism since 9/11 were committed by men born in the United States, according to the Times. Even the 9/11 attackers themselves were in the U.S. either on a tourist, student or work visa, suggesting that refugees pose less of a risk to national security than some politicians may think.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/us-terror-attacks-citizens

Sanders Says His Immigration Plan Would Prevent 9 Million From Being Deported

 "We have an obligation to enact policies that unite families, not tear them apart,"Sanders said in a statement announcing the plan.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/bernie-sanders-rolls-out-immigration-plan

The Native American Community Faces Dangerously High Rates Of Food Insecurity

Now, new studies find that 60 percent of counties with a native majority face dangerously high food insecurity rates. And 23 percent of the small U.S. Indigenous population has terrible access to “adequate food” — almost twice the national average.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/11/25/3725814/native-community-food-insecurity/

How The House Of Representatives Voted To Make Refugee Resettlement Impossible

...But make no mistake, the bill shuts down the refugee resettlement program for Syrian and Iraqi refugees, and for any other refugee who may have passed through one of those countries in the past four years. The bill does this by setting up a procedure that is designed to fail. Right now, before a refugee ever steps foot in the United States she has already cleared an extensive, multi-layered background and security check process. For the 1 percent of refugees worldwide who are even referred by the United Nations Refugee Agency for resettlement, it takes an average of 18-24 months to complete the process. And because the process already includes additional checks for Syrian refugees, it typically takes even longer. On the eve of the House vote, former Secretaries of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and Janet Napolitano wrote to the President to express their view that the current vetting process is “thorough and robust” and that it “will allow us to safely admit the most vulnerable refugees while protecting the American people.”...
http://thinkprogress.org/world/2015/11/25/3725917/how-the-house-shut-out-syrian-refugees/

Fracking Companies Have Been Getting Worse About Disclosing The Chemicals They Use

According to a new study published in the journal Energy Policy, fracking companies have become less forthcoming since 2013 about the chemicals used in their operations, citing “the use of proprietary compounds” as grounds for limiting their disclosure.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/11/25/3725778/fracking-chemicals-who-knows/

America's Scientists To House Science Committee: Go Away | ThinkProgress

“Scientists should not be subjected to fraud investigations or harassment simply for providing scientific results that some may see as politically controversial,” wrote the scientists.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/11/25/3725782/scientists-scold-science-committee-chair/

Meteorologists: The Last 5 Years Are The Hottest On Record And Carbon Pollution Is To Blame

“This is all bad news for the planet,” noted WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud. In particular, crossing the 1°C (1.8°F) means we are halfway to the 2°C (3.6°F) threshold that world’s top scientists and governments have identified as the defense line past which climate impacts become very dangerous and then catastrophic.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/11/25/3725792/hottest-5-years-record/

ThinkProgress: Senator Says White Men More Of A Threat Than Syrian Refugees

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) remains devoted to receiving Syrian refugees and feels they aren’t nearly as big a threat to the United States as another group of people.
“Normally, they look more like me than they look like Middle Easterners,” Brown told Ohio’s WAKR radio. “They are generally white males, who have shot up people in movie theaters and schools.”
http://thinkprogress.org/world/2015/11/25/3725790/senator-says-white-men-more-of-a-threat-than-syrian-refugees/

The Impact Of Obamacare On Cancer Outcomes Is Becoming Clearer | ThinkProgress

About 4 million young adults have gained insurance benefits through Obamacare, according to the latest federal data. There have been several other pieces of evidence that the law is linked to improved health outcomes among this group.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/11/25/3725716/cervical-cancer-obamacare/

The Christian Right Does Not Want Us to Celebrate this Day | Political Research Associates

This seemingly obscure piece of Revolutionary-era legislation is so integral to our history that Thomas Jefferson asked that his tombstone recognize that he was the author of the bill, along with the Declaration of Independence and the founding of the University of Virginia as one of the three things for which he wished to be remembered...
http://www.politicalresearch.org/2015/11/24/the-christian-right-does-not-want-us-to-celebrate-this-day/#sthash.KW5btQpH.kyF4Kbav.dpbs

Mark Twain's turkey tale – perhaps the funniest in American literature - CSMonitor.com

In 1906, just four years before his death, Twain began to focus more closely on dictating reminiscences for his autobiography. He decided to publish some fragments of his work-in-progress in North American Review, and also allowed Harper’s to print an excerpt, “Hunting the Deceitful Turkey.”...
http://m.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2015/1125/Mark-Twain-s-turkey-tale-perhaps-the-funniest-in-American-literature

Tom Tomorrow on How Ass-Kicking American Jesus Would Deal With ‘Refugee Terrorists’ | Alternet

John Kasich even proposed a propaganda bureau to spread 'Judeo-Christian values.'
http://www.alternet.org/comics/alternet-comics-tom-tomorrow-how-ass-kicking-american-jesus-would-deal-refugee-terrorists

Ben Carson's End Times Beliefs Are Out There...

You can view the related playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnuU...

"Ben Carson’s church believes the United States government will bring about the End Times.

According to mainstream Seventh-day Adventist doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ will occur after the U.S. government teams up with the Catholic Church—which Adventists believe is the “Babylon” of the Book of Revelation, with the pope being the Antichrist—to compel Adventists and others to worship on Sunday, rather than Saturday.

That may seem like a small hook on which to hang the fate of the world, but for Adventists, it is a core belief, taught at “prophecy seminars” and elaborated in excruciating geopolitical detail by key Adventist leaders.

Is it awkward for Ben Carson to run for president, if his faith believes the U.S. government will team up with the Antichrist? Will it matter to his evangelical base if he, like his denomination, believes that the government will join forces with the Whore of Babylon, to persecute religious minorities and compel Sunday worship?

So far, no.

We don’t know, though, what Carson personally believes—only what his denomination teaches.

In fact, the one time Carson was asked about the End Times, the media blew it. In an interview with conservative journalist Sharyl Atkisson, Carson first focused on the universal aspects of Adventist theology.”
http://youtu.be/IEGuzHVdAO4

Politifact.com Truth-O-Meter rulings from National: Bernie Sanders: "Instead of fighting ISIS, (the Saudis) have focused more on a campaign to oust Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen."

"Saudi Arabia, turns out, has the third-largest defense budget in the world," Sanders said on Nov. 19. "Yet instead of fighting ISIS they have focused more on a campaign to oust Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen."
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/nov/24/bernie-s/bernie-sanders-right-saudi-arabia-more-focused-con/

Why the Media Refuses to Call the White Supremacists Who Shot Black Lives Matter Protesters 'Terrorists'

"What are the consequences of this unconscious semantic decision we’ve made? For people who aren’t media scholars or in the news media, they see that when people on the left do something bad, they’re terrorists. When people of Middle Eastern descent, or radical Islamists, do something bad, it’s terrorism. When people on the right do something dangerous or insane, it’s either a crime involving a “shooter” or a “gunman”… What does this do to people watching?"
http://www.alternet.org/media/why-media-refuses-call-white-supremacists-who-shot-black-lives-matter-protesters-terrorists

Why Aren't Conservatives Crying 'Police State'?

Thom Hartmann says U.S. Cops Shoot More Knife-Wielding Suspects than cops in the U.K. and wonders why conservatives in this country aren't decrying the police state?
https://youtu.be/WpSsVx9VjNw

5 Right-Wing Conspiracy Theories as Crazy as Donald Trump's Lie About Muslims Cheering 9/11

The right wing is full of paranoia.
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/5-right-wing-conspiracy-theories-crazy-donald-trumps-lie-about-muslims-cheering

Koch Brothers Building Their Own CIA To Spy On Progressives

Politico has recently published a piece detailing a new project of the Koch brothers. The political network has funded a private spy group to track their political opposition. This will allow them to focus their resources strategically in political races throughout the country. Cenk Uygur, hosts of the The Young Turks, breaks it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.

"The political network helmed by Charles and David Koch has quietly built a secretive operation that conducts surveillance and intelligence gathering on its liberal opponents, viewing it as a key strategic tool in its efforts to reshape American public life.

The operation, which is little-known even within the Koch network, gathers what Koch insiders refer to as “competitive intelligence” that is used to try to thwart liberal groups and activists, and to identify potential threats to the expansive network.

The competitive intelligence team has a staff of 25, including one former CIA analyst, and operates from one of the non-descript Koch network offices clustered near the Courthouse metro stop in suburban Arlington, Va."
https://youtu.be/dms8FKSuV5I

Fox's Martha MacCallum: Laquan McDonald's death is a 'devastating situation for the policeman'

https://youtu.be/tnxlLEsI8vM

Laquan McDonald's Murder Covered Up

Chicago police tried to cover up Laquan McDonald's murder. Here's what happened.
https://youtu.be/ST6Zyc2DLaU

America's Descent into a Third World-Style Kleptocracy

According to the Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International, our country comes in 17th in the least-corrupt sweepstakes.
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/americas-descent-third-world-style-kleptocracy

Emails Reveal Racists Plotted Confrontation With Black Lives Matters Activists Days Before Shooting

The men, described by some witnesses as white supremacists, wounded five demonstrators in Minnesota.
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/emails-reveal-racists-plotted-confrontation-black-lives-matters-activists-days

One Nice Meal Won't Cut It - How You Can Really Help the Hungry This Thanksgiving

Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, was clear that soup lines weren’t the answer to poverty.
http://www.alternet.org/food/one-nice-meal-wont-cut-it-how-you-can-really-help-hungry-thanksgiving

Evolution and language

https://youtu.be/7VqcSDpPWS4

Evangelicals (always) fear losing religious liberty & being called bigots: A look at 1950s evangelicalism

But such is evangelicalism. It is a tradition that wants to engage in public debates in which evangelical arguments are met with hostility. They long for the glory days when they could speak the truth of the gospel without being silenced or branded as bigots.
http://tobingrant.religionnews.com/2015/11/24/evangelicals-always-fear-losing-religious-liberty-being-called-bigots-a-look-at-1950s-evangelicalism/

How America’s Demographic Revolution Reached The Church

Next America’s analysis of Pew data reveals that religious divergence characterizes today’s Republican and Democratic coalitions.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/next-america/newsdesk/white-christians-dominate-gop-shrinking-among-democrats

Miami’s quest to keep the mentally ill from falling through the cracks

A Miami-Dade County project helps the mentally ill get needed treatment and trains police to de-escalate encounters before they become deadly.
https://youtu.be/iGFTdhWMCww

Middle-class Americans forced to live in cars

The U.S. government has no data on vehicular homeless, safe parking lots could offer a solution to hidden problem.
https://youtu.be/q85cVURGO60

Carson names an evangelical millennial as faith advisor — the third GOP candidate to do so

With competition intense among GOP presidential candidates for the huge swath of evangelical primary voters, a second contender this month has brought on an adviser to do Christian outreach...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/11/25/why-gop-candidates-are-snatching-up-faith-advisers/

Interview with John Pilger: USA, UK and France gave birth to ISIS monster

Afshin Rattansi goes underground with John Pilger. Award winning journalist and author, John Pilger talks to us about how Washington, London and Paris gave birth to ISIS-Daesh.
https://youtu.be/Py_XwwMokHg

Firearms Kill More Americans than Terrorists do!

Thom Hartmann says since 2004, the number of Americans who have died from terrorism is 313, compared to 316,545 who died from firearms on American soil.
https://youtu.be/vPJfnQcxg7U

Homeless veterans in Sacramento find hope.
https://youtu.be/2C0Z47cObQo

The All-Seeing NostraDonald

Donald Trump has the world’s greatest memory AND he can see the future… the classiest, most beautiful future ever.
https://youtu.be/79NNnK0kZoc

More Evidence of Electronic Vote Tampering in Ohio...

Thom Hartmann shares congressional testimony from computer programmer Clinton Curtis regarding tampering with electronic voting machines.
https://youtu.be/IPLtzoTs8ok

Supercomputer spots Antarctic waters taking a mile-deep plunge

Imagery showed dense water falling more than a mile off the Antarctic Continental Shelf, resulting in ocean storms and underwater waves that can influence ocean currents and climate change.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/1124/Supercomputer-spots-Antarctic-waters-taking-a-mile-deep-plunge

Donald Trump's False Claims: A Closer Look - Late Night with Seth Meyers

Seth on Trump's claim that he saw New Jersey Muslims cheering on 9/11 and more.
https://youtu.be/d70OuefjY70

Is Earth surrounded by 'hairy' dark matter? - CSMonitor.com

When streams of dark matter interact with planets like Earth, dense hairlike filaments form, according to new research.
http://m.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/1124/Is-Earth-surrounded-by-hairy-dark-matter

Seven financial steps to take once you're on your own - CSMonitor.com

You’ve got your first real job and your own apartment. Now it’s time to ensure your financial well-being.
http://m.csmonitor.com/Business/Saving-Money/2015/1124/Seven-financial-steps-to-take-once-you-re-on-your-own

Write your passwords down to improve safety | Macworld

A counter-intuitive notion leaves you less vulnerable to remote attack, not more.
http://www.macworld.com/article/3006939/security/write-your-passwords-down-to-improve-safety.html#jump

3 men in custody, 1 released in 4th Precinct protest shooting

Hundreds marched peacefully to City Hall after bloodshed. Three are in custody after attack on Black Lives Matter protesters.
http://www.startribune.com/police-searching-for-suspects-who-fired-into-crowd-at-blm-protest-outside-4th-precinct/353154811/

Bigotry? Hatred? Christians say they’re tired of being made into the bad guys

“It’s not that we want to force our truth onto others,” Boss explained. “We want to be able to tell our truth to others without being chastised for it.”
http://www.religionnews.com/2015/11/23/bigotry-hatred-christians-say-theyre-tired-of-being-made-into-the-bad-guys/

Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Guns

The best way to battle misinformation, is with the truth.
https://youtu.be/xjOTh2AoRIQ

Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Islamophobia

The best way to battle misinformation, is with the truth.
https://youtu.be/dU1Lo8XVjwY

Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Climate Change

The best way to battle misinformation, is with the truth.
https://youtu.be/Hs62hNDvnRA

Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Planned Parenthood

The best way to battle misinformation, is with the truth.
https://youtu.be/uS-BUDM1P8Y

Thanksgiving Survival Guide: "War on Cops"

The best way to battle misinformation, is with the truth.
https://youtu.be/FlsEZ6oWFOo

Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Marriage Equality

The best way to battle misinformation, is with the truth.
https://youtu.be/YsPLsZwriWc

Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Minimum Wage

The best way to battle misinformation, is with the truth.
https://youtu.be/d653wTAYQd0

Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Voter ID

The best way to battle misinformation, is with the truth.
https://youtu.be/TVQBmpU_-kM

Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Immigration and Jobs

The best way to battle misinformation, is with the truth.
https://youtu.be/JScAWJJXc4M

Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Refugees and Terrorism

The best way to battle misinformation, is with the truth.
https://youtu.be/vxe5S9UYLNE

Thanksgiving Survival Guide: LGBT Non-Discrimination

The best way to battle misinformation, is with the truth.
https://youtu.be/PytakOuZCxM

Stop Saying the Bible is a 2,000-Year-Old Book

https://youtu.be/mrVYMD9wbGM

John Oliver breaks down the Syrian refugees' tough vetting process to fear-mongering GOP

https://youtu.be/Mtc5trma1NQ

On this year’s last episode of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver conducted an extensive segment on the week’s debates over the Paris attacks and Syrian refugees. France has begun to heal, and President Hollande has asked the people of Paris to go back to their cafes and museums, because those institutions are what makes France the cultural juggernaut it has always been. “To me, that is the best sign that France is going to be okay. It’s sort of like how New Yorkers knew this city was going to bounce back after 9/11. the first time a heavy set man in a jets visor stole a cab from them and told them to go f— themselves. That is what healing looks like.”

Here in the US, a debate has arisen over Obama’s pledge to accept 10,000 refugees from Syria. After it was discovered that one of the Paris attackers may have used the Syrian refugee program to immigrate to France, many US officials have had second thoughts, and 31 governors have announced that they would not accept refugees, despite their inability to legally make such a ban. “Even if they could,” says Oliver, “Syrians could just walk between states like anyone else. The lines on maps are not crocodile-filled moats.”

The American reaction to the refugees has garnered comparisons to Japanese internment camps, “one of this nation’s greatest sources of shame,” and a 1939 decision by US authorities to turn away a ship full of Jewish refugees from Germany. Oliver wants to make sure we’re aware that every generation has had a similar reaction to refugees, but their fears have been largely unfounded. “In fact,” he says, “there was only one time in American history when the fear of refugees wiping everyone out did actually come true, and we’ll all be sitting around a table celebrating it on Thursday.”

It is fair to be concerned about safety, Oliver reasons, but many of the officials voicing concerns have shown little knowledge of the refugee process. Most are quick to express concern over the vetting process, saying there is no way to track these individuals. I quote Oliver’s full response below.

“Let me walk you through what our screening process actually is. If you are a refugee, first, you apply through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which collects documents and performs interviews. Incidentally, less than one percent of refugees worldwide end up being recommended for resettlement. But if you’re one of them, you might then be referred to the State Department to begin the vetting process.

At this point, more information is collected. You’ll be put through security screenings by the National Counterterrorism Center, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security. And if you’re a Syrian refugee, you’ll get an additional layer of screening called the ‘Syrian Enhanced Review,’ which may include a further check by a special part of Homeland Security, the USCIS Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate. And don’t relax yet, cause we’ve barely even started.

Then, you finally get an interview with USCIS officers, and you’ll also be fingerprinted so your prints can be run through the biometric databases of the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense. And if you make it through all that, you’ll then have health screenings, which, let’s face it, may not go too well for you, because you may have given yourself a stroke getting through this process so far. But if everything comes back clear, you’ll be enrolled in cultural orientation classes, all while your information continues to be checked recurrently against terrorist databases to make sure that no new information comes in that wasn’t caught before.

All of that has to happen before you get near a plane. This process typically takes 18 to 24 months once you’ve been referred by the UN to the United States. This is the most rigorous vetting anyone has to face before entering this country. No terrorist in their right mind would choose this path, when the visa process requires far less effort. But nevertheless, the House still voted on Thursday to add a few more steps,” including a step that would require the Head of the FBI to sign off on every refugee. “At this point,” says Oliver, “why don’t we include a pie eating contest, a spelling bee, and an evening wear portion?”

Watch the video to see Oliver further expose the fallacies in the anti-refugee argument, and then reveal what France has decided to do about their promise to take in 30,000 refugees.

Donald Trump: 'I Would Certainly Implement' Database For Muslims | MSNBC

https://youtu.be/8Q4SDWMnjak

#ExMuslimBecause: Thousands of Former Muslims Are Speaking Out After Paris -- and It's Amazing

Where are all the secular liberals in the Muslim world?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ali-a-rizvi/post_10571_b_8615610.html

Top U.S. & World Headlines — November 24, 2015

https://youtu.be/04iKZCM_iTE

At Religious Right Event in Iowa, Carly Fiorina Claims “People of Faith Make Better Leaders”

At the “Presidential Family Forum” in Iowa Friday night, Carly Fiorina pandered to the Republican base by throwing non-religious Americans under the bus, claiming that faith was a necessary quality in a President...

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/11/23/at-religious-right-event-in-iowa-carly-fiorina-claims-people-of-faith-make-better-leaders/

CFI and Dawkins Foundation Urge FTC to Stop Homeopathy’s False Advertising

“Homeopathy does not work, has never been proven to work, and based on universally accepted, fundamental scientific principles, it cannot work,” said Michael De Dora, director of public policy for the Center for Inquiry. “Nonetheless, the homeopathy industry enriches itself by deceiving consumers by falsely promising to cure all manner of conditions, wasting Americans’ money and putting their health at risk.
http://www.centerforinquiry.net/newsroom/cfi_dawkins_ftc/