Tuesday, February 24, 2015
After West Virginia Explosion, Oil Trains Quietly Rerouted Through Virginia Towns
This is an issue that's been largely overlooked in the debate about the safety of oil trains: secrecy. The post After West ... Read more
Conservatives Go Wild For 12-Year-Old's Obama Rant: 'You Don't Love America!' (VIDEO)
The right may have found its next Jonathan Krohn in a Georgia teen who took to YouTube this weekend to accuse President Obama of not loving America. ... Read more
Monday, February 23, 2015
Man Who Once Defended Georgia Sodomy Ban To Oppose Religious Liberty Bills
"...Bowers also has concluded that “if enacted, the proposed [measures] will permit everyone to become a law unto themselves in terms of deciding what laws they will or will not obey, based on whatever religious tenets they may profess or create at any given time.”..."
http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/mike-bowers-religious-liberty#.bv93W9mV5
http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/mike-bowers-religious-liberty#.bv93W9mV5
Five Questions with Jim Lyttle: Coalition of Reason is off and running
"...People often think that these groups want to talk religious people out of their beliefs. Some of the members of some of the groups probably do want to do that. But, historically, freethinkers were opposed to abuses of power by the church itself..."
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/pursuits/3684585-five-questions-jim-lyttle-coalition-reason-and-running
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/pursuits/3684585-five-questions-jim-lyttle-coalition-reason-and-running
Idaho’s faith-healing debate pits child welfare against parental rights
Followers of Christ prohibits members, including sick children, from seeking medical attention.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/22/idahos-faith-healing-debate-pits-child-welfare-against-parental-rights.html
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/22/idahos-faith-healing-debate-pits-child-welfare-against-parental-rights.html
Taking a stand: Gay couple want, wait to marry in Nebraska
"We're a couple who loves each other and wants state recognition," Tubach added.
"There's the catch," Roby interrupted. "I do not need a religious organization to validate me and my relationship," he said.
“All I'm requesting is the legal protection."
http://journalstar.com/news/local/taking-a-stand-gay-couple-want-wait-to-marry-in/article_0a0b5dbc-a070-5d76-b3ff-e59a25c115b2.html
"There's the catch," Roby interrupted. "I do not need a religious organization to validate me and my relationship," he said.
“All I'm requesting is the legal protection."
http://journalstar.com/news/local/taking-a-stand-gay-couple-want-wait-to-marry-in/article_0a0b5dbc-a070-5d76-b3ff-e59a25c115b2.html
Breaking the silence: Some Faith Leaders Victimize Rape Survivors Again
"...Even worse than a lack of knowledge among leadership is that perpetrators often exist within the church, their violence and damage unchecked and even covered up..."
http://www.dallasweekly.com/spiritual/article_79c51206-bac6-11e4-8975-a79fd4f6f25f.html
http://www.dallasweekly.com/spiritual/article_79c51206-bac6-11e4-8975-a79fd4f6f25f.html
What Does Obama Really Mean by 'Violent Extremism'?
By avoiding the phrase "radical Islam," the president may be making a statement about the nature of terrorism itself.
... Sometimes we overlook the obvious. For weeks now, pundits and politicians have been raging over President Obama's insistence that America is fighting ... Read more
... Sometimes we overlook the obvious. For weeks now, pundits and politicians have been raging over President Obama's insistence that America is fighting ... Read more
Who's Afraid of a Health-Care Ruling?
The early field of 2016 GOP contenders is crowded with governors and senators from competitive states—including John Kasich and Rob Portman from Ohio,... Read more
Apple Will Build Its Cars Like Planes
Like millions of other tech-challenged people I have been waiting for Apple to crash through the layers of buttons on a TV remote…waiting and waiting ... Read more
Fact-Checking the Sunday Shows
Something as simple as how to define the enemy in the United States' current fight in the Middle East has become ... Read more
Ax-Wielding Hair Designer Burns Down Michigan Adult Store to Please God
""Clearly this was not god’s work, this was the heinous actions of a very disturbed person who had nothing but destruction on their mind."
... Read more
... Read more
Watch As Bill Clinton Says The GOP Is Begging For America To Fail (Video)
Republicans will never admit it, but everything they stand for and hope to do will only tear this country down, and Bill ... Read more
Sam Harris: The Chapel Hill Murders and ‘Militant’ Atheism
Sam Harris responds to the charge that “militant” atheism is responsible for the murder of three Muslim students in North Carolina.
http://youtu.be/AwmiPcOhIHQ
http://youtu.be/AwmiPcOhIHQ
Jeb Bush Championed Fracking While Standing To Profit From It, Report Alleges
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) pushed states to approve the controversial drilling practice known as fracking while he personally stood to profit fr... Read more
Scott Walker Pushes ALEC 'Right to Work' Bill, Divide and Conquer Comes Full Circle
Just weeks ago, the Washington Post described Scott Walker as the first "It" candidate of the 2016 presidential races, but after stumbling over "truth... Read more
The Kinds Of Things You Might Learn In An Oklahoma AP History Course
So the Oklahoma Legislature has voted overwhelmingly to ban an Advanced Placement course on American history because it co... Read more
Walker Is Attacking Wisconsin Workers Because Of Putin, ISIS
While the spineless Scott Walker couldn't even make himself admit that President Barack Obama might - just might - love America, he did have a lot to ... Read more
Daniel Dennett: How Life is Like a Game of Rock-Paper-Scissors
Philosopher Daniel Dennett dissects the strategies behind the game rock-paper-scissors and determines that randomness/indeterminacy is the optimal strategy. The best way to avoid being detected by your opponent is to rely on a random determination of which move to use. Some people have jumped to the conclusion that maintaining a sense of indeterminacy is optimal for living a life in which one is always in competition with outside forces. While perfect indeterminacy would be an asset for playing rock-paper-scissors, Dennett argues it's not really that necessary in other most other aspects of life.
http://youtu.be/PH2OiAf-1yU
Transcript - I think everybody knows the game rock, paper or scissors. Paper covers rock. Rock breaks scissors. Scissors cut paper. We all learned to play this and what you want to do is be unpredictable to your opponent. What's the best strategy? Well, if you just don't want to lose, your best strategy is to play randomly because then there's no pattern in your moves so there's nothing to track. There's no way for your opponent to track your moves. It's very hard for human beings to play randomly, to do anything randomly. We're not good at creating random series. It's been studied carefully.
So if you really -- for instance, if you were obliged to play rock, paper and scissors for big bucks and you wanted to break even, here's the strategy you might well adopt. Go to a table of random numbers and copy down a few hundred and trade the numbers in for R, P and S -- rock, paper and scissors. And memorize the list or keep the list in a secure place and then play according to that list. That should pretty well guarantee that you're moves will have no pattern that will be detectable by your opponent as long as he can't see your list. It's very important that you have to keep it secret. Otherwise, of course, you're a sitting duck.
Now, I think that simple example exposes one of the seeds of the free will literature. People sense in their bones -- and they don't quite know why that it's very important that their moves not be predictable in life. They want a certain amount of unpredictability. They don't want to be too predictable. There's a very good reason for this. There's a good game theoretically is why they want to preserve a certain amount of unpredictability. Because if you're too predictable, especially if you're sort of hyper-rational and you're always doing -- making the best move all things considered. If somebody else could figure out what those best rules are then they could take you for a ride.
Now I think here's what's happened. People have recognized for thousands of years that an autonomous agent needs to preserve a certain amount of unpredictability in order to maintain autonomy. And they've figured as philosophers and others often do, well, if unpredictability is good, perfect unpredictability is better. And so they decided that they ought to be perfectly unpredictable. They ought to be their choices ought to be purely undetermined -- a quantum undetermined. So that, as Jerry Fodor once said, "Even God couldn't tell whether Eve would eat the apple or not." Well, if you have to worry about God -- if you're playing rock, paper and scissors with God, then you should want quantum indeterminacy. Because then even God can't read your list.
But for ordinary mortals, for the sorts of antagonists and interlockers we're apt to encounter in our lives, you don't need perfect unpredictability. We just need good enough for government work unpredictability and we can have that without indeterminacy altogether. In other words, there's no reason to hold out hope for indeterminism. It is not a threat to free will in the important moral sense. You can have all the free will you could ever reasonably want without indeterminacy.
http://youtu.be/PH2OiAf-1yU
Transcript - I think everybody knows the game rock, paper or scissors. Paper covers rock. Rock breaks scissors. Scissors cut paper. We all learned to play this and what you want to do is be unpredictable to your opponent. What's the best strategy? Well, if you just don't want to lose, your best strategy is to play randomly because then there's no pattern in your moves so there's nothing to track. There's no way for your opponent to track your moves. It's very hard for human beings to play randomly, to do anything randomly. We're not good at creating random series. It's been studied carefully.
So if you really -- for instance, if you were obliged to play rock, paper and scissors for big bucks and you wanted to break even, here's the strategy you might well adopt. Go to a table of random numbers and copy down a few hundred and trade the numbers in for R, P and S -- rock, paper and scissors. And memorize the list or keep the list in a secure place and then play according to that list. That should pretty well guarantee that you're moves will have no pattern that will be detectable by your opponent as long as he can't see your list. It's very important that you have to keep it secret. Otherwise, of course, you're a sitting duck.
Now, I think that simple example exposes one of the seeds of the free will literature. People sense in their bones -- and they don't quite know why that it's very important that their moves not be predictable in life. They want a certain amount of unpredictability. They don't want to be too predictable. There's a very good reason for this. There's a good game theoretically is why they want to preserve a certain amount of unpredictability. Because if you're too predictable, especially if you're sort of hyper-rational and you're always doing -- making the best move all things considered. If somebody else could figure out what those best rules are then they could take you for a ride.
Now I think here's what's happened. People have recognized for thousands of years that an autonomous agent needs to preserve a certain amount of unpredictability in order to maintain autonomy. And they've figured as philosophers and others often do, well, if unpredictability is good, perfect unpredictability is better. And so they decided that they ought to be perfectly unpredictable. They ought to be their choices ought to be purely undetermined -- a quantum undetermined. So that, as Jerry Fodor once said, "Even God couldn't tell whether Eve would eat the apple or not." Well, if you have to worry about God -- if you're playing rock, paper and scissors with God, then you should want quantum indeterminacy. Because then even God can't read your list.
But for ordinary mortals, for the sorts of antagonists and interlockers we're apt to encounter in our lives, you don't need perfect unpredictability. We just need good enough for government work unpredictability and we can have that without indeterminacy altogether. In other words, there's no reason to hold out hope for indeterminism. It is not a threat to free will in the important moral sense. You can have all the free will you could ever reasonably want without indeterminacy.
CNN's Borger Asks Paul Wolfowitz For His Advice On ISIS
CNN apparently thinks President Obama needs some advice from the people who blew up the Middle East on how to clean up the mess they created. These fo... Read more
Former CBS Correspondent Takes Apart Bill O'Reilly's Argentina Story
CNN's Brian Stelter spoke to former CBS correspondent Eric Engberg about his recent post questioning Bill O'Reilly's version of events on his reportin... Read more
DHS Sec. Johnson Tells Fox, Don't Give ISIS 'More Dignity Than It Deserves'
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson pushed back at the favorite Fox/GOP talking point of the month, which is that President Obama re... Read more
Bernie Sanders: Koch Brothers Will Soon Be More Powerful Than The Democratic And Republican Parties
Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is warning Americans that two ultra-conservative billionaire brothers will soon hold more political power t... Read more
Federal government: average of 10 fuel trains may derail each year
The Department of Transportation believes that trains moving crude oil and ethanol may derail as many as two hundred times in the next twenty years in... Read more
Former CBS Reporter: Bill O'Reilly Wasn't In 'Combat Situation' (VIDEO)
After initial questions were raised about Bill O'Reilly's stories on covering the Falklands War, a former CBS correspondent cast additional doubt on O... Read more
More Than A Thousand Muslims Form Human Shield Around Norwegian Synagogue After Copenhagen Attacks
"We want to demonstrate that Jews and Muslims do not hate each other," Zeeshan Abdullah, an organizer of the event, told the ... Read more
Congressman Defends Outrageous Giuliani Remarks: Obama ‘Views America Differently’
"I do believe that the president believes strongly in America, I just think he views America differently." The post Congressman ... Read more
Climate Deniers’ Favorite Scientist Quietly Took Money From The Fossil Fuel Industry
In many cases he referred to scientific papers or congressional testimony as "deliverables" in correspondence with his funders, ... Read more
Missouri Lawmakers Propose Banning Public From Viewing Footage From Police Body Cams
"By not making [the videos] public record, it seems useless to have [body cameras] when the purpose is to create a system to go ... Read more
CBS staffers refute Bill O'Reilly's 'war zone' story
Bill O'Reilly's account of a 1982 riot in Argentina is being sharply contradicted by seven other journalists who were his colleagues and were also there at the time.
Read more
Read more
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Chris Matthews to GOP operative 'You know why I am against your party? ... '
"You know why I am really against your Party?" Chris Matthews said. "... I can't stand the fact you fight too many wars. I think the Iraq War was insane. And I think it was really bad for our country. And the attempt by your party, from Reince Priebus all the way down, to repress Black voting in this country. Voting rights are sacred. You shouldn't mess with them. An you've got guys all over the country, Republicans as Republicans saying we are going to screw the Black vote. That is what you are doing. So again, the partisan game, I could not defend that if I were you."
http://youtu.be/91nJCyhkyts
http://youtu.be/91nJCyhkyts
Documents Reveal Fossil Fuel Fingerprints on Contrarian Climate Research | Inside Climate News
Scientist Willie Soon calls his papers 'deliverables' to fossil fuel executives, and grants a big coal utility pre-publication review and anonymity.
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/21022015/documents-reveal-fossil-fuel-fingerprints-contrarian-climate-research-willie-soon-harvard-smithsonian-koch-exxon-southern-company
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/21022015/documents-reveal-fossil-fuel-fingerprints-contrarian-climate-research-willie-soon-harvard-smithsonian-koch-exxon-southern-company
Tallying Up The High Costs Of Extreme Weather (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)
Epic snows in my backyard lately, in Boston. Six feet-plus in a month, and it’s still coming. The most ever recorded coming down that fast. It’s been paralyzing. And very costly. Exposing all kinds of infrastructure problems you would never think of on a gentle day in May. That’s what extreme weather does, whether it’s blizzard or drought or hurricane or deluge. Paralyzes. Costs a lot. And can take apart an economy. Now American business is paying attention. To climate change. This hour On Point: extreme weather and its mounting consequences for the economic bottom line. /Tom Ashbrook
Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/02/12/extreme-weather-snow-hurricanes-boston
Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/02/12/extreme-weather-snow-hurricanes-boston
Brian Williams, Jon Stewart And Modern Media Trust (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)
We try not to make the media the story, but this week it simply is. News anchor Brian Williams, benched by NBC for troubles with the truth. “The Daily Show’s” Jon Stewart, the stand-up comedian who remade the American conversation around news and our lives, will step down, quit, leave the show. Veteran CBS News correspondent Bob Simon, dead in a car wreck in Manhattan. And the one and only David Carr, gravel-voiced onetime crack addict media columnist for the New York Times, collapses in the newsroom. Dies at 58. This hour On Point: A watershed week, and the news media now. /Tom Ashbrook
Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/02/13/brian-williams-jon-stewart-nbc-suspension-trust
Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/02/13/brian-williams-jon-stewart-nbc-suspension-trust
Want to sound like a leader? Start by saying your name right | Laura Sicola | TEDxPenn
How do we sound credible? Dr. Sicola shows how your vocal delivery influences how your message is received, and how to use it to your advantage.
Interview:
http://youtu.be/02EJ1IdC6tE
Interview:
http://youtu.be/02EJ1IdC6tE
Pope's Shocking Hitler Youth Comparison
News emerged last week that Pope Francis has strongly criticized modern theories of gender, comparing them to the educational policies of Hitler and t... Read more
8 Logical Fallacies That Fuel Anti-Science Sentiments
"Humanity stands a much better chance of success when we apply reason and scientific method."... Read more
5 Valiant GOP Efforts to Make Americans As Dumb As Possible
From the AP history ban to university budget cuts, education in America is taking a hit from the right.
... Read more
... Read more
In Apparent Protest, Man Strips Naked And Walks Through Airport Security (VIDEO)
We've probably all been there and had enough with airport security at one time or another. However, this guy brought it to a ... Read more
http://youtu.be/zR7lq-W3H9E
http://youtu.be/zR7lq-W3H9E
President Obama Rips Mitch McConnell A New One After He Tries Taking Credit For Economic Turnaround (VIDEO)
President Obama absolutely demolishes Mitch McConnell for trying to take credit for the economic turnaround, and it's ... Read more
http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4528726/obama-speech-20150219
8 ways Obamacare has proved its critics wrong
Back in the fall of 2013, it wasn't exactly a bold move to predict Obamacare would turn out to be a complete disaster. Healthcare.gov was busted. Sign... Read more
Hospital prices always go up. But this year, they went down.
New federal data shows that the price of hospital care in the United States fell between this January and a year prior — the first time the government... Read more
Muslim Dutch Mayor to Muslims: Accept Western Values or Leave
Muslim mayor of Rotterdam says Europe has no place for extremists who are not willing to live within the bounds of its norms...
Read more
Read more
Popular soda ingredient, caramel color, poses cancer risk to consumers
"...The results show that between 44 and 58 percent of people over the age of six typically have at least one can of soda per day, possibly more, potentially exposing them to 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI), a possible human carcinogen formed during the manufacture of some kinds of caramel color..."
Read more
Read more
Victoria Jackson: Obama Probably Muslim 'Since He Supports Abortion And Same-Sex Marriage'
Former SNL star turned wingnut Victoria Jackson is trolling for some attention again following her snub from the show's 40th reunion. From Right Wing... Read more
http://youtu.be/UvyBa99s2fI
http://youtu.be/cWi182CMJY8
http://youtu.be/UvyBa99s2fI
http://youtu.be/cWi182CMJY8
Scott Walker’s Latest Anti-Union Plan Is ‘Cowardly,’ Says Former Republican Leader
"This is going to hurt Wisconsin employers terribly in the long run, as the workforce gets more angry," Schultz told ... Read more
The Neocon Recipe For Iraq -- How to Completely Ruin a Country in 13 Years
When are we going to do in Iraq what we did in Europe after war destroyed that continent?
... Read more
... Read more
7 Anti-Muslim Incidents That Happened Since the Chapel Hill Murders
The past week has shown a sharp increase in Islamophobia – which has put many communities on edge.
... Read more
... Read more
Five Stupid Things About the Ten Commandments
"Why are we putting these on big granite monuments outside of courthouses when they have nothing to do with, and in fact directly contradict many fundamental principles of, our laws? Just asking."
http://youtu.be/fDh0k--TNNY
http://youtu.be/fDh0k--TNNY
Jeb Bush's vacuous foreign policy speech was the perfect match for today's GOP
Jeb Bush made his foreign policy debut in a Wednesday speech, to mixed reviews. The speech's delivery was awkward, peppered with cringeworthy mispronu... Read more
You're probably not saving enough. Here's how to change that.
You're probably not saving enough for your retirement. Check out this calculator, and see. If you're young, you need to be putting away about 15 perce... Read more
Forced labor in America: Thousands of workers are being held against their will
There are thousands of immigrants working in forced labor in the United States — lured into the country by false promises and then trapped or threaten... Read more
White-on-white murder in America is out of control
"Blacks represent 13% of the population but commit 50% of the murders; 90% of black victims are murdered by other blacks," writes Time's Joe Klein, ca... Read more
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