http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Color_Me_Kubrick/70060044?trkid=13641790
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Expiring on Netflix 1/5/14: Color Me Kubrick
Based on a true story, this outlandish comedy stars John Malkovich as Alan Conway, a second-rate con man who successfully passed himself off as legendary director Stanley Kubrick in the late 1990s. Kubrick, a known recluse, was a perfect target for Conway, who used his persona to find fame and fortune. Directed by Brian W. Cook, this verité-style indie satirizes the allure of celebrity in the modern age.
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Color_Me_Kubrick/70060044?trkid=13641790
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Color_Me_Kubrick/70060044?trkid=13641790
Crisis in South Africa: The shocking practice of 'corrective rape' - aimed at 'curing' lesbians
"...One such religious leader is Reverend Oscar Peter Bougardt, a senior
pastor in the Mitchell's Plain township, 20 miles from Cape Town.
"Homosexuals can change," he told Carter. "Homosexuality is a curse... a
wicked influence... they come after our young people. Any clergy or
priest that approves [of] homosexuality is from the pit of hell."
... [Someone else says,] "If we want to finish lesbians and gays they must be forcefully raped," says one, grinning at the camera. "A man must go back to his manhood. Women must be women. She must be ready and willing to have sex."
"They must be raped so that their gay and lesbian behaviour can come out," adds another.
The third raises his voice, points two fingers at his temple and concludes: "This gay and lesbian thing must end. I say bang bang bang!"
Read more
... [Someone else says,] "If we want to finish lesbians and gays they must be forcefully raped," says one, grinning at the camera. "A man must go back to his manhood. Women must be women. She must be ready and willing to have sex."
"They must be raped so that their gay and lesbian behaviour can come out," adds another.
The third raises his voice, points two fingers at his temple and concludes: "This gay and lesbian thing must end. I say bang bang bang!"
Read more
Katherine Stewart: The Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children
"Point of Inquiry, the flagship podcast of the Center for Inquiry, presents a special episode recorded before a live audience at the 2013 CFI Summit in Tacoma, Washington, with new co-host Lindsay Beyerstein.
The fundamentalist, Christian right’s influence and impact on our schools and the educating of our children is the subject of the new book The Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children. Its author, Katherine Stewart, is our guest on this edition of Point of Inquiry, available in both video and audio.
What are these “Good News Clubs” and what is their influence on schools across the nation? Evolution and sex education are just two of the avenues these religious organizations are using to inject their brand of far-right Christianity (and Judaism and Scientology, surprisingly) into our public schools..."
More Info
Interview: See the video below or listen to the MP3 file at the bottom of the Point of Inquiry page.
The fundamentalist, Christian right’s influence and impact on our schools and the educating of our children is the subject of the new book The Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children. Its author, Katherine Stewart, is our guest on this edition of Point of Inquiry, available in both video and audio.
What are these “Good News Clubs” and what is their influence on schools across the nation? Evolution and sex education are just two of the avenues these religious organizations are using to inject their brand of far-right Christianity (and Judaism and Scientology, surprisingly) into our public schools..."
More Info
Interview: See the video below or listen to the MP3 file at the bottom of the Point of Inquiry page.
Week In The News: Russian Security, Obamacare Launches, Pot Legalized Out West (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)
Week one, 2014. Well, half a week, anyway. And plenty of news. In
Russia, where terror attacks have shaken things up just weeks before the
Winter Olympics. In Colorado, where pot is now legal and shopping
baskets are filling up. In Iraq, where the Syrian war threatens to
spill and spread. And in the USA, where Obamacare is in effect as of
January 1. We’ve got a would-be definitive telling of what happened in
Benghazi. A dramatic Antarctic rescue. Drone testing sites in the US.
And a blizzard in the northeast. This hour On Point: Our weekly news
roundtable goes behind the headlines.
– Tom Ashbrook
Friday News Roundup - Domestic (Diane Rehm Show)
Health insurance coverage
under the Affordable Care Act begins. The new mayor of New York City
promises to tackle income inequality. And state regulated marijuana
sales begins in Colorado. Diane and her guests discuss the week in news.
Friday News Roundup - International (Diane Rehm Show)
Russia arrests dozens after
suicide bombings just weeks ahead of the winter Olympics. Fighting in
South Sudan escalates while diplomats gather in Ethiopia to press for a
cease-fire. Secretary of State John Kerry returns to Israel for Middle
East peace talks. Two deadly bombs shake Beirut as factional tensions
rise in over the war in Syria. Lebanon and Syria fire on each other in
hills used by Syrian rebels and refugees. And the U.S. says an agreement
on implementing limits on Iran’s nuclear program is almost finalized. A
panel of journalists joins Diane for analysis of the week's top
international news stories.
Problematic Proclamation: Texas Mayor Declares 2014 ‘Year of the Bible’
It sounds as if Mayor Hayden and his supporters spend more time reading David Barton than they do ... Read more
Bernie Sanders Asks NSA If Agency Has Spied On Congress
U.S. Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT) asked the National Security Agency in a letter Friday if it had spied on members of Congress. Sanders cited recent rev... Read more
States Lost $400 Million In One Week Because Congress Let Unemployment Benefits Expire
Unemployment benefits expired at the end of December, leaving a
billion-dollar hole in the economy.The post States Lost $400 ... Read more
Here’s What’s Really At Stake In That Birth Control Case Involving The Colorado Nuns
While the significance of Sotomayor's New Year's Eve order should not
be overstated, there's an important legal issue lurking ... Read more
900 Rich People Won’t Pay Into Social Security For The Rest Of The Year
The richest people in the country made so much money in the first two
days of the year that they're done paying Social Security ... Read more
House GOP Puts Another 'Target' On Obamacare
House GOP Puts Another 'Target' On Obamacare by Frank James January
03, 2014 5:08 PM i i House Republicans plan to start the new year
with a vote ... Read more
Bill Nye To Debate Evolution At Kentucky Creation Museum
Bill Nye "The Science Guy" is scheduled to debate evolution and biblical creation next month with the founder of the Creation Museum in Kentucky. Rea... Read more
Raising The Minimum Wage To $10.10 Could Lift Nearly 5 Million Out Of Poverty
A higher minimum wage would also erase half of the uptick in poverty
created by the recession.The post Raising The Minimum Wage ... Read more
The Latest Obamacare Controversy Doesn’t Actually Mean Health Reform Is Falling Apart
Rather than arguing against Medicaid expansion, the results of a new
study actually underscore the importance of continuing to ... Read more
Ray Jayawardhana: Waiting for a Supernova
The poltergeists of physics. That is how scientists refer to neutrinos, the elementary particles that zip through our bodies and morph into different forms like "cosmic chameleons evading capture." Neutrinos are also said to be "pathologically shy" in that they rarely interact with other particles. And yet, it is said that whenever anything cool happens in the universe, neutrinos are usually involved...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXiQXkI_2po
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXiQXkI_2po
Morality: With and Without God
August Berkshire and George Kane discus morality with and without gods.
Minnesota Atheists practices positive, inclusive, active, friendly neighborhood atheism in order to:
- Provide a community for atheists
- Educate the public about atheism
- Promote separation of state and church
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV5dWE4t_P0
Minnesota Atheists practices positive, inclusive, active, friendly neighborhood atheism in order to:
- Provide a community for atheists
- Educate the public about atheism
- Promote separation of state and church
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV5dWE4t_P0
The History of Life on Earth in Three Minutes
Happy New Year, planet Earth!
According to the Anno Domini designation, the year is now 2014. But the Earth has been around a lot longer than that - about 4.567 billion years. The first evidence of life dates back to around 3.8 billion years ago. Homo sapiens first appeared on the planet around two hundred thousand years - or ten thousand generations - ago.
How's that for perspective?
Kirk Johnson, director of the National Museum of Natural History, calls this perspective "deep time." This is the story of our planet preserved in "the DNA of living things," Johnson explains, as well as "in the fossils we find, in the geologic structures of our planet, in the meteorites we scavenge from the ice fields in Antarctica. Those things together give us an incredible manual for thinking about the planet."
Why is this manual useful? We are facing a century that will be an incredibly challenging one for humanity. We now live on a planet with seven billion people, which is up from 1.7 billion people just three or four generations ago. So we have more people, and a greater need for resources.
Fortunately we have the bodies of extinct plants and animals that lived for the last three-and-a-half billion years. These fossils are not only a source of energy, but also a source of knowledge about how this planet works. Over its history the Earth has seen an incredible diversity of life - maybe as many as fifty million species. Johnson says we're learning "as much about the evolution of life on Earth by looking at what happened in the past as we are at looking at the breakthroughs in genomics and DNA of living things." Furthermore, Johnson sees the sequencing of the human genome as the vanguard for what will eventually be "the study of the genomics of all living things."
We have the opportunity right now, Johnson says, to choose what our future will be. Our understanding of the diversity of life on this planet, he says, will be our guide. This story is being told at a current exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History called "Genome: Unlocking Life's Code."
In the video, Johnson shares a unique perspective on deep time in the form of a timeline of life on this planet in just three minutes.
Transcript - Life on Earth is an amazing story. The planet forms around 4.567 billion years ago. The first rocks that appear to have any chemical evidence of life show up around 3.8 billion years ago. Then by 3.5 billion years ago we actually see evidence of these bacterial mounds. And we waited a long time before we see any life forms that are large. The first large life forms show up about 600 million years ago and they are sea floor organisms that are now extinct that looked like placemats believe it or not. After that there's somewhere around 500 million years is an explosion of marine life, lots of diversification, the first organisms that were related to the different groups of marine animals you find today. It's not until about 400 million years ago that the first life emerges onto land. The first little arachnid spider-like organisms, early plants that were only maybe a centimeter tall. Wait another 100 million years you get your first forest.
You get your first large bodied terrestrial animals. Things like giant millipedes and the first land living vertebrates evolving from fish. Sometime after that animals -- four-legged animals finally learned how to eat plants. It took a while for the first terrestrial herbivores to appear. That happened somewhere around 300 million years ago. And then there's a major extinction that happens at 250 million years ago. Don't really know the cause but something to do with the perturbation of the Earth's carbon cycle where we lose something like 90 percent of the species on the planet. When they disappear it's like the near shave for life on Earth. But out of that grows the age of the dinosaurs. And for 150 million years we have a world that's warm, a world that is so warm that no polar ice caps. And in that world a great diversity of animals that start to look familiar to you cohabit with the dinosaurs. We get the first birds. We get the first mammals. We still have these large dinosaurs and then at 66 million years ago an asteroid the size of Denver traveling 20 times the speed of a bullet crashes into the Yucatan Peninsula and causes a massive extinction of all animals that are larger than dogs on the planet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5DWKTNqByM
According to the Anno Domini designation, the year is now 2014. But the Earth has been around a lot longer than that - about 4.567 billion years. The first evidence of life dates back to around 3.8 billion years ago. Homo sapiens first appeared on the planet around two hundred thousand years - or ten thousand generations - ago.
How's that for perspective?
Kirk Johnson, director of the National Museum of Natural History, calls this perspective "deep time." This is the story of our planet preserved in "the DNA of living things," Johnson explains, as well as "in the fossils we find, in the geologic structures of our planet, in the meteorites we scavenge from the ice fields in Antarctica. Those things together give us an incredible manual for thinking about the planet."
Why is this manual useful? We are facing a century that will be an incredibly challenging one for humanity. We now live on a planet with seven billion people, which is up from 1.7 billion people just three or four generations ago. So we have more people, and a greater need for resources.
Fortunately we have the bodies of extinct plants and animals that lived for the last three-and-a-half billion years. These fossils are not only a source of energy, but also a source of knowledge about how this planet works. Over its history the Earth has seen an incredible diversity of life - maybe as many as fifty million species. Johnson says we're learning "as much about the evolution of life on Earth by looking at what happened in the past as we are at looking at the breakthroughs in genomics and DNA of living things." Furthermore, Johnson sees the sequencing of the human genome as the vanguard for what will eventually be "the study of the genomics of all living things."
We have the opportunity right now, Johnson says, to choose what our future will be. Our understanding of the diversity of life on this planet, he says, will be our guide. This story is being told at a current exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History called "Genome: Unlocking Life's Code."
In the video, Johnson shares a unique perspective on deep time in the form of a timeline of life on this planet in just three minutes.
Transcript - Life on Earth is an amazing story. The planet forms around 4.567 billion years ago. The first rocks that appear to have any chemical evidence of life show up around 3.8 billion years ago. Then by 3.5 billion years ago we actually see evidence of these bacterial mounds. And we waited a long time before we see any life forms that are large. The first large life forms show up about 600 million years ago and they are sea floor organisms that are now extinct that looked like placemats believe it or not. After that there's somewhere around 500 million years is an explosion of marine life, lots of diversification, the first organisms that were related to the different groups of marine animals you find today. It's not until about 400 million years ago that the first life emerges onto land. The first little arachnid spider-like organisms, early plants that were only maybe a centimeter tall. Wait another 100 million years you get your first forest.
You get your first large bodied terrestrial animals. Things like giant millipedes and the first land living vertebrates evolving from fish. Sometime after that animals -- four-legged animals finally learned how to eat plants. It took a while for the first terrestrial herbivores to appear. That happened somewhere around 300 million years ago. And then there's a major extinction that happens at 250 million years ago. Don't really know the cause but something to do with the perturbation of the Earth's carbon cycle where we lose something like 90 percent of the species on the planet. When they disappear it's like the near shave for life on Earth. But out of that grows the age of the dinosaurs. And for 150 million years we have a world that's warm, a world that is so warm that no polar ice caps. And in that world a great diversity of animals that start to look familiar to you cohabit with the dinosaurs. We get the first birds. We get the first mammals. We still have these large dinosaurs and then at 66 million years ago an asteroid the size of Denver traveling 20 times the speed of a bullet crashes into the Yucatan Peninsula and causes a massive extinction of all animals that are larger than dogs on the planet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5DWKTNqByM
Godless Congregations
This is a movement started in England designed to attract atheists to weekly social gatherings of music, dance, speakers and community that have a feel of church but without religion or dogma. Stephanie Zvan interviewed Rev. Dr. David Breeden of the First Unitarian Society in Minneapolis, Scott Lohman President of the Humanists of Minnesota and August Berkshire of Minnesota Atheists representing three local organizations that have something to offer atheists interested in Sunday Assemblies and something to lose if Sunday Assemblies were to become active in Minnesota.
Minnesota Atheists practices positive, inclusive, active, friendly neighborhood atheism in order to:
- Provide a community for atheists
- Educate the public about atheism
- Promote separation of state and church
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYXBxNlI3is
Minnesota Atheists practices positive, inclusive, active, friendly neighborhood atheism in order to:
- Provide a community for atheists
- Educate the public about atheism
- Promote separation of state and church
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYXBxNlI3is
Drug Testing For Welfare Recipients Ruled Unconstitutional
"A U.S. judge on Tuesday struck down a Florida law requiring drug screening for welfare recipients, saying that it violated the constitutional protection against unreasonable searches.
Florida Governor Rick Scott, a Republican who campaigned on a promise to expand drug testing, said he would appeal the ruling.
The law took effect in July 2011 and required parents to undergo and pay for urine tests for illegal drugs when they applied for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a federal-state program that helps poor people with children pay for food, shelter and necessities."* Ana Kasparian, Cara Santa Maria (Take Part Live), Jimmy Dore (TYTComedy) and John Iadarola (TYT University) break it down on The Young Turks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IYWo5UVaH8
Florida Governor Rick Scott, a Republican who campaigned on a promise to expand drug testing, said he would appeal the ruling.
The law took effect in July 2011 and required parents to undergo and pay for urine tests for illegal drugs when they applied for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a federal-state program that helps poor people with children pay for food, shelter and necessities."* Ana Kasparian, Cara Santa Maria (Take Part Live), Jimmy Dore (TYTComedy) and John Iadarola (TYT University) break it down on The Young Turks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IYWo5UVaH8
Ice in Antarctica Proves 'Global Cooling', says Fox Host
"Fox Business host Stuart Varney said on Tuesday that his theory of "global cooling" had been proven when a research ship recently got stuck in ice near Antarctica. The habitual climate-change denier reported that all 52 passengers of the Russian-flagged MV Akademik Shokalskiy had been rescued by helicopter after Chinese and Australian ice breakers had tried for days to reach the vessel...".* Ana Kasparian, John Iadarola Cara Santa Maria (TakePart Live co-host) and comedian Jimmy Dore break it down on The Young Turks.
Climate Change Could Put One-Fifth Of World’s Population In Severe Water Shortage
If global temperatures rise by an average of two degrees Celsius, a
significant portion of the world's population could have ... Read more
Nuns' Objection To Health Care Law Is Unwarranted, Justice Dept. Says
Nuns' Objection To Health Care Law Is Unwarranted, Justice Dept. Says
by Mark Memmott January 03, 201410:39 AM i i At the center of the
debate: Pr... Read more
TIL Jenny McCarthy's son doesn't even have autism.
"This would be why you shouldn’t receive your medical advice from Playboy centerfolds. For YEARS,
Jenny McCarthy has been the most vocal anti-vaccine spokesperson in the
world. McCarthy had claimed (despite all evidence to the contrary) that
childhood vaccines had caused her young son’s autism..."
Read more
Read more
Breaking down cancer’s defence mechanisms
Researchers have identified how the ‘wall’ around cancer tumours functions and how to break it down, enabling the body’s own defences to reach and kill the cancer cells within
Read more
Read more
DOJ Expected To Defend Health Law's Contraceptive Mandate
"...Whatever happens to the Little Sisters of the Poor, controversy over
the birth control mandate will continue. Later this year, the Supreme
Court will hear arguments from for-profit companies such as Hobby Lobby
that object to covering birth control. For now, these for-profit
employers do have to cover the cost...."
The Justice Department will answer a challenge to a provision in the law requiring most employers that offer health insurance to include birth control... Read more
The Justice Department will answer a challenge to a provision in the law requiring most employers that offer health insurance to include birth control... Read more
Friday, January 3, 2014
Streaming now on Netflix: The Truman Show
Truman Burbank is the star of "The Truman Show," a 24-hour-a-day TV phenomenon that broadcasts every aspect of his life without his knowledge. When Truman discovers that his life is a sham for public consumption, he makes a desperate escape bid.
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/The_Truman_Show/11819086?trkid=13641790
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/The_Truman_Show/11819086?trkid=13641790
RWW News: Pat Robertson's 2014 Predictions
Right Wing Watch reports on the extreme rhetoric and activities of key right-wing figures and organizations by showing their views in their own words. In this video, Pat Robertson details God's message for the New Year.
http://youtu.be/euEeYsBlyCk
http://youtu.be/euEeYsBlyCk
Fischer: People Who Believe In Evolution "Are Disqualified From Holding Political Office"
Right Wing Watch reports on the extreme rhetoric and activities of key right-wing figures and organizations by showing their views in their own words. In this video, Bryan Fischer says that people who believe in evolution should never be elected to public office.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtBcdtRMLsg&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtBcdtRMLsg&feature=youtu.be
New 1,000 Megawatt Solar Project In China Marks ‘Significant Shift’ For Global Market
China’s second-largest maker of solar photovoltaic panels will
develop a huge 1,000 megawatt (MW) ground-mounted solar power plant
complex in a remote Chinese desert, which the company announced Monday — a move that some say is a sign of big things to come for the global solar industry in 2014.
China's second-largest maker of solar PV panels announced its plans to build a massive 1,000 MW ground-mounted solar power ... Read more
China's second-largest maker of solar PV panels announced its plans to build a massive 1,000 MW ground-mounted solar power ... Read more
How A Private Company Stacked The Deck Against Student Loan Debtors
"...One elegant approach to the problem would be to roll back
some of ECMC’s successes at making bankruptcy court inhospitable for
struggling student debtors. By making student debt dischargable in
bankruptcy and tying student loan access to school performance metrics,
Center for American Progress experts Joe Valenti and David Bergeron
argue, Congress could both reduce the harmful effects of the current
debt overhang and improve the future outlook of the student loan system..."
Bankruptcy judges used to have leeway when dealing with student loan borrowers. Then a company spent two decades changing ... Read more
Bankruptcy judges used to have leeway when dealing with student loan borrowers. Then a company spent two decades changing ... Read more
Climate Change Will Starve The Deep Sea, Study Finds
"...“I know a five percent loss doesn’t sound like a lot,” said lead author Daniel Jones of the National Oceanography Centre
in England, in an interview with Climate Progress. “But when you
understand the amount of life that represents, its huge. We are talking
about losses of marine life weighing more than every person on the
planet put together. That gives you a sense of just how much is down
there.”..."
Climate change will starve the deep oceans, leading to a staggering loss of marine life. The post Climate Change Will Starve ... Read more
Climate change will starve the deep oceans, leading to a staggering loss of marine life. The post Climate Change Will Starve ... Read more
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Airship of Dreams: Lighter-Than-Air Travel Is Back - Popular Mechanics
With technology borrowed from submarines, a scrappy California company is attempting to resurrect a century-long dream of building huge airships to carry freight—and people—across the skies.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/aviation/airships/airship-of-dreams-lighter-than-air-travel-is-back-16292687
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/aviation/airships/airship-of-dreams-lighter-than-air-travel-is-back-16292687
Should Sugar Be Considered Addictive?
Now that the holidays have come and gone, it's time to look in the mirror and ask ourselves, "Did I really need to eat the whole box ... Read more
Finally, Some Conservative Ideas!
In the four years since the official end of the Great Recession,
we've seen segments of the economy recover: Wall Street has never been
more profitabl... Read more
Yup, Voter ID Targets Blacks
"New research confirms what was
obvious: Republican voter identification laws are purely partisan power
plays, targeted at groups that vote for Democrats...
One of the most shocking political developments of last year was the speed with which Southern, Republican-controlled states embraced voter identifica... " Read more
Krugman Nails WSJ Pulitzer Winner For Misleading Inequality Claim
Breaking news: The Wall Street Journal editorial page is full of it.
OK, that's not really news. But an unusually flagrant example of the WSJ
editoria... Read more
Thickening Pill Plot: Non-Profit Challenges To Birth Control Mandate See Mixed Results In Courts
At the end of the day, this isn't about religious freedom. It's really about the Catholic ... Read more
Senate Democrats Slam 'Grossly Misleading' Koch-Backed Ads
The Democrats targeted by the conservative Americans for Prosperity with a new major ad buy are slamming the new ads as "grossly misleading" and "lies... Read more
Obamacare Brings Medicaid To Skid Row's 'Ugly Reality'
Obamacare Brings Medicaid To Skid Row's 'Ugly Reality' by Sarah Varney January 02, 2014 4:16 PM Partner content from: Audio for this story from Al... Read more
This Chart Will Piss You Off
"This chart, drawn from a report by the Sentier Research Group, shows that for a large number of American households, there has been no economic recovery. Caught in a vice of chronic unemployment and falling wages, real median household income (excluding capital gains and losses but including cash government benefits) has declined 4.4% since the "recovery" began in 2009. For many households, the drop has been more severe. For African-American households, it is 10.9%. For those under 25 years old, it is 9.6%. For single females with children, it is 7.5%. Indeed, the only households to experience an increase in real income are those 65 to 74 years old...".* The Young Turks host Cenk Uyugr breaks it down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcH6kGd3XQs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcH6kGd3XQs
Shocking Percentage Of Americans Don't Trust Scientists
"In a new HuffPost/YouGov poll, only 36 percent of Americans reported having "a lot" of trust that information they get from scientists is accurate and reliable. Fifty-one percent said they trust that information only a little, and another 6 percent said they don't trust it at all."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT7I6gJQbuA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT7I6gJQbuA
Belief In Evolution - Republicans vs Democrats
"according to a new Pew poll, it seems like political partisanship may be starting to take its toll on evolution. While a comfortable majority of Republicans accepted human evolution as fact in 2009, Pew finds a plurality now reject it — an astonishing 19 point reversal in four years."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PjFWEPEVZA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PjFWEPEVZA
Billionaire Warns Pope Francis
"Langone told CNBC that one potential seven-figure donor is concerned about statements from the pope criticizing market economies as "exclusionary," urging the rich to give more to the poor and criticizing a "culture of prosperity" that leads some to become "incapable of feeling compassion for the poor."*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJpopKXJa0w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJpopKXJa0w
U.S. judge asks: Why haven't the financial executives been prosecuted?
"...He dismisses the Department of Justice rationale that proving
"intent" to defraud in the financial crisis cases is difficult: There's
plenty of evidence in the public record that banking executives knew the
mortgage securities they were hawking as AAA were junk.
He doesn't buy the excuse that criminal prosecutions involving major financial firms might have damaged the economy -- no one has ever contended that a big firm would collapse just because its high-level executives were prosecuted. And he notes that the government doesn't dispute that some of these executives may be guilty -- it just comes up with excuses for not prosecuting...
Why? Rakoff posits that there are several reasons for the lack of prosecutions. One is that the FBI and SEC are both understaffed because of budget cuts, and in the FBI's case with the diversion of much of its workforce to anti-terrorism efforts after 9/11. And he speculates that the government may feel abashed at its own complicity in the crisis, arising from the easing of financial and mortgage regulations over the years... "
Read more
He doesn't buy the excuse that criminal prosecutions involving major financial firms might have damaged the economy -- no one has ever contended that a big firm would collapse just because its high-level executives were prosecuted. And he notes that the government doesn't dispute that some of these executives may be guilty -- it just comes up with excuses for not prosecuting...
Why? Rakoff posits that there are several reasons for the lack of prosecutions. One is that the FBI and SEC are both understaffed because of budget cuts, and in the FBI's case with the diversion of much of its workforce to anti-terrorism efforts after 9/11. And he speculates that the government may feel abashed at its own complicity in the crisis, arising from the easing of financial and mortgage regulations over the years... "
Read more
The US has been voted as the most significant threat to world peace in a survey across 68 different countries
"The US has been voted as the most significant threat to world peace in a survey across 68 different countries. Anti-American sentiment was not only recorded in antagonistic countries, but also in many allied NATO partners like Turkey and Greece.
A global survey conducted by the Worldwide Independent Network and Gallup at the end of 2013 revealed strong animosity towards the US’s role as the world’s policeman. Citizens across over 60 nations were asked: “Which country do you think is the greatest threat to peace in the world today?” ..."
Read more
A global survey conducted by the Worldwide Independent Network and Gallup at the end of 2013 revealed strong animosity towards the US’s role as the world’s policeman. Citizens across over 60 nations were asked: “Which country do you think is the greatest threat to peace in the world today?” ..."
Read more
As Abortion Providers Are Under Attack, Fake Anti-Choice Clinics Are Gaining Ground
Abortion clinics are being forced to close their doors at a record
rate. Anti-choice "crisis pregnancy centers," often propped ... Read more
Melinda Gates On Family Planning: 'Do The Right Thing, Regardless If It's Controversial'
“It’s not controversial in many, many other places in the world. And just because it’s controversial doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do the right thing for women. If women are telling you that, ‘I don’t want to have seven children, I can only feed two or three, but I don’t have a way to plan for those children,’ we should do the right thing, regardless if it’s controversial.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/08/melinda-gates-contraception_n_4065396.html
A Little List: The Top Ten Church-State Stories Of 2013
Here are some prominent church-state developments of 2013. It's that time of year when people are ... Read more
Religious Freedom: The Greatest Gift Of All
Some seem determined to force everyone to celebrate Christmas. This year, as in others, Religious Right groups spent much of December moaning about an alleged 'War on Christmas.'
https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/religious-freedom-the-greatest-gift-of-all-0
https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/religious-freedom-the-greatest-gift-of-all-0
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Bill Nye The Science Guy (Point of Inquiry)
"Famed educator, engineer and "Science Guy," Bill Nye Joins our host Josh Zepps for this week's Point of Inquiry. They discuss Bill's start as
an Engineer and part time stand up comedian to his groundbreaking work
in television educating a generation on science. They also delve into Bill's view into the future of science, science education, as well as how to become excessively rich using the tools of science to change the world..."More Info
Interview:
Download / Listen
Paul Offit, MD - Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine (Point of Inquiry)
Paul A. Offit, MD is best known as a co-inventor of the rotavirus
vaccine and a staunch, public supporter of vaccination and opponent of
pseudoscientific alternative medicine.More Info
Interview:
Download / Listen
Chief Justice Warns Sequestration Cuts Already Threatening Public Safety
"...ROBERTS: Sequestration cuts have affected court operations across the spectrum.
There are fewer court clerks to process new civil and bankruptcy cases,
slowing the intake procedure and propagating delays throughout the
litigation process. There are fewer probation and pretrial services
officers to protect the public from defendants awaiting trial and from
offenders following their incarceration and release into the community.
There are fewer public defenders available to vindicate the
Constitution’s guarantee of counsel to indigent criminal defendants,
which leads to postponed trials and delayed justice for the innocent and
guilty alike. There is less funding for security guards at
federal courthouses, placing judges, court personnel, and the public at
greater risk of harm..."
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/01/01/3109311/john-roberts-sequestration/
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/01/01/3109311/john-roberts-sequestration/
TIL that the US embargo against Cuba (53 years so far) has been condemned by the majority of the United Nations...
19 times since 1992 and is considered ILLEGAL by all nations but Israel, the Republic of Palau and the US itself.
Read more
Read more
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
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
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
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
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
"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
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
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
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
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.
Read more
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.
Read more
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
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
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