Why Do We Have Unsafe Abortion in the United States?

One result of anti-abortion activism is that local hospitals refuse to admit abortion patients, even when women's lives are at risk.
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/why-do-we-have-unsafe-abortion-united-states

8 Former Republicans Who Ditched the Extremist GOP

Several politicians have decided the GOP is too extreme, too intolerant and too cringe-inducing to bother with.
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/gop

Koch Blocked (Jon Stewart, The Daily Show)

Jason Jones discovers why Iowa yokels won't embrace the future of small-town attack-ad politics.  (06:15)

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-february-5-2014/koch-blocked

Terror on Bulls#%t Mountain (Jon Stewart, the Daily Show)

There's only one small problem with Fox News's apocalyptic, CBO report-based predictions. (02:33)
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-february-6-2014/the-cbo-report



The residents of Bulls**t Mountain champion the same "job lock" they once railed against. (02:01)
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-february-6-2014/terror-on-bulls--t-mountain



Family comes first with conservatives, except when it goes up against capitalism. (03:54)
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-february-6-2014/terror-on-bulls--t-mountain---family-first

Tim Cook: Apple 'Spending an Enormous Amount' on 'Macs of the Future'

Apple hasn't "given up on the Mac" like some of its competitors and has "some really cool things" coming, according to CEO Tim ... Read more

Sir David King presents Human Ingenuity and the New Demand for Collective Action

Scientists in Japan have successfully induced human embryonic stem cells to spontaneously form developing brain tissues

"...During development, the nervous system forms as a flat sheet called the neuroepithelium on the outer layer of the embryo. This sheet eventually folds in on itself to form a neural tube that gives rise to the brain and spinal cord—a process that involves the proliferation and migration of immature nerve cells to form the brain at one end and the spinal cord at the other. Yoshiki Sasai, Taisuke Kadoshima and colleagues from the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology have now shown that human embryonic stem (ES) cells can spontaneously organize into the cerebral cortical tissue that forms at the front, or ‘brain’ end, of the developing neural tube¹. .."

Read more

NPR Host Speaks Out About Her Illegal Abortion: ‘I Am Saying To All Women, Stand Up For Your Rights’

"...Bridgewater describes going to a hotel room to meet a friend of hers who was a nurse. Her friend inserted a rubber hose into her body and told her to leave it there for the next several days. Two days later, Bridewater started to hemorrhage and was rushed to an emergency room...."


Dee Dee Bridgewater, the award-winning jazz singer who hosts "JazzSet" on NPR, says she just remembers "this excruciating ... Read more

How Florida’s Top Elections Official Just Made It Harder For College Students To Vote

University of Florida students will have to travel several miles off campus if they want to vote early this year.The post How ... Read more

Vatican Hits Back At UN Over Child Abuse Report

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican struck back Friday at a U.N. human rights committee that issued a scathing report on sex abuse by priests, accusing it of straying beyond its mandate and discrediting the U.N. as a whole by adopting the "prejudiced" positions of anti-Catholic advocacy groups.

.. Read more

Week In The News: Obamacare, Jobs, Tobacco-Free Pharmacies, Sochi Olympics (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

No Chobani yogurt for U.S. athletes at the Sochi Winter Olympics this week, or ever, we’re now told.  And that’s just the beginning of the Sochi tales.  Stay tuned.  In Washington, it’s been a week of yes and no.  Yes to the big farm bill.  No, says John Boehner, to immigration reform this year.  New jobs numbers out – pretty mediocre.  Obamacare under fire on the jobs future front.  Philip Seymour Hoffman is dead with a needle in his arm.  Jay Leno signs off.  And a stolen Stradivarius is brought home in Milwaukee.  This hour On Point: Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

– Tom Ashbrook

Interview:

 http://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/02/07/obamacare-cvs-sochi-olympics

Friday News Roundup - Domestic (Diane Rehm Show)

The January unemployment rate of 6.6 percent is the lowest in five years. But analysts are disappointed with the creation of just 113,000 new jobs. President Barack Obama signs a farm bill that trims food stamps and ends direct payouts to farmers. House Speaker John Boehner casts doubt on getting immigration reform done this year. An extension of unemployment insurance fails again in the Senate. And New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s presidential prospects take a hit in the wake of the George Washington Bridge scandal. A panel of journalists join Diane for analysis of the week's top national news.
 

Interview:

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2014-02-07/friday-news-roundup-domestic

 

 

 

Friday News Roundup - International (Diane Rehm Show)

The U.S. agrees to limit drone strikes in Pakistan. A U.N. panel criticizes the Vatican over child sex abuse. And the Winter Olympics begin in Sochi. A panel of journalists join Diane for analysis of the week's top international news stories.

Interview:

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2014-02-07/friday-news-roundup-international

Former Rep. Bob Barr: Yes, I Am Serious About Impeaching Obama (VIDEO)

Former Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA), who led the charge to impeach former President Bill Clinton, told NBC's Chuck Todd on Friday that he also wasn't joking a... Read more

RWW News: Jesse Lee Peterson Says Obama Is "The Son Of Satan'

Tennessee Court Fires Judge Who Wouldn’t Let Parents Name Their Baby ‘Messiah’

"The word Messiah is a title and it's a title that has only been earned by one person and that one person is Jesus Christ," ... Read more

Simple Weed Question Destroys Drug Czar's Chief Deputy

"An Oregon Democrat literally threw up his hands in frustration Tuesday after failing to get a direct answer to his question about marijuana's dangers from the deputy director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) asked Michael Botticelli, the drug czar's chief deputy, to identify the number of marijuana overdoses reported in the previous five years. "To my knowledge, I don't know if there have been instances of specific overdose-related deaths," Botticelli said...".* Ben Mankiewicz (co-host of What The Flick?! and TYT Sports) and comedian Jimmy Dore break it down on The Young Turks.

http://youtu.be/g9FrA-Mu_RM

Mitt Romney: He’s Back!

"Mitt Romney on the 2016 Comeback Trail...
It probably tells us more about the other Republican presidential candidates, but people are starting to ask: will Mitt run again?

The last time that someone had leveraged a movie for a comeback as successfully as Mitt Romney has used the documentary Mitt, John Travolta was nomina... " Read more

25 Horrifying Images of the "Free" Market at Work

"We simply need to recognize that markets have no implicit moral authority..." 

Read more

The Christian Right's Bizarre Delusions of Persecution

Being a Christian is a privileged position in American society; that makes it really hard to claim you’re being oppressed. But they keep trying.

... Read more

5 Obnoxious Libertarian Oligarchs Who Earned Fortunes from the Government They'd Like to Destroy

These highly privileged and highly unaware individuals have been inappropriately lionized by society.

... Read more

Leonard Nimoy: I Have Lung Disease - 'I quit smoking too late,' he says

'I quit smoking too late,' he says.
http://www.newser.com/story/181924/leonard-nimoy-i-have-chronic-lung-disease.html

Apple Preparing for Massive Production of Devices with Sapphire Displays

GT Advanced, the company that has partnered with Apple to open a sapphire plant in Mesa Arizona, has purchased and received a ... Read more

Glenn Beck Back to Old Ugly Tricks

"He's Back! Glenn Beck Says Obama Will Throw Opponents in Internment Camps
Two weeks after apologizing for tearing the nation apart, Glenn Beck is calling Obama a dictator and claiming abortion opponents will be sent to internment camps."

It's only been two weeks since Glenn Beck made a seemingly-heartfelt (though, albeit delayed and pretty pointless) apology for his role in "helping te... Read more

Robert Reich to Obama: Don't Play Semantics, Savage Inequality Is Our Most Urgent Problem

Inequality is sinking the middle class, destroying the economy and ruining democracy.

 ... Read more

40 Koch Brothers Donors Exposed After Document Left at Hotel by Mistake Is Leaked

The confidential spreadsheet contains a who's who of far-right, mega-rich donors.

... Read more

How should atheists eulogize religious family members?

http://youtu.be/0v_Ab7WpYok

The Risks Of Credit And Debit Cards And How To Safeguard Consumers (Diane Rehm Show)

Target and Neiman Marcus are the latest retailers to reveal security breaches that put customers' credit and debit card data at risk. But experts say it's far more common than we'd like to think. Hundreds of data breaches were publicly disclosed last year alone. Yet the U.S. is far behind European and other nations that use more sophisticated chip-and-pin technology to thwart hackers. This week, U.S. lawmakers called for a congressional inquiry into credit card data theft. And major American retailers and card issuers have plans to adopt more secure technology. But many warn more needs to be done. Diane and a panel of experts talk about how to make credit and debit cards safer.
 

Interview:

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2014-01-15/risks-credit-and-debit-cards-and-how-safeguard-consumers

 

The Future Of Open Access To The Internet (Diane Rehm Show)

A federal appeals court strikes down Federal Communications Commission regulations that ensure equal access to the Internet. The debate over net neutrality, and what the decision could mean for consumers and Internet providers.

Interview:

 http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2014-01-16/future-open-access-internet

"A Manual for Creating Atheists" Dr. Peter Boghossian on Atheists Talk #250, December 29th, 2013

Dr. Boghossian is a philosopher, skeptic, author, and public speaker. He is currently an instructor of philosophy at Portland State University in the College of Liberal Arts and Science's Department of Philosophy. Dr. Boghossian's primary research areas are critical thinking and moral reasoning. He joins us to discuss his newly published book, A Manual for Creating Atheists.

From the publisher:

"As an urgently needed counter to this tried-and-true tradition of religious evangelism, A Manual for Creating Atheists offers the first-ever guide not for talking people into faith--but for talking them out of it. Peter Boghossian draws on the tools he has developed and used for more than twenty years as a philosopher and educator to teach how to engage the faithful in conversations that will help them value reason and rationality, cast doubt on their religious beliefs, mistrust their faith, abandon superstition and irrationality, and ultimately embrace reason."...

More info:
http://mnatheists.org/news-and-media/podcast/931-peterboghossian

Interview:
Download / Listen:
http://feeds.mnatheists.org/~r/AtheistsTalkRadioShow/~3/Dwf-G0Mv-Vk/Atheists_Talk-0250-20131229.mp3

Not Vexed By Vouchers: President Obama Doesn’t Buy ‘School Choice’ Propaganda

Obama didn't buy what O'Reilly was selling, and with good reason. Vouchers don't work in D.C. ... Read more

GOPers Oughta Love Obamacare: It Likely Encourages Entrepreneurship

"...When asked about what those findings meant for Obamacare, Susan Gates, senior economist at RAND and one of the study's authors, told TPM that the law should lead to more people creating a business..."

Republicans have had a field day with the Congressional Budget Office report released this week, claiming it shows Obamacare will destroy the American... Read more

Net Neutrality

http://youtu.be/a7wu4qXnu5Y

Colbert: Health Insurance Should Chain People To Jobs They Hate!

“People should be chained by the need for health insurance to jobs they hate," he said. "That’s what built this country!”

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/colbert-obamacare-cbo-report

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is a suppressed gospel in which Jesus kills 2 kids and one adult by the time he is 12.  One of the kids he killed was because the young Jesus had stopped of the flow of water to create a puddle to play in, and the other kid let all the water out.  He restored the adult to life when he was given the respect he wanted, but the 2 kids he did not restore.

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas text: http://gnosis.org/library/inftoma.htm

Info about the text: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infancy_Gospel_of_Thomas

7 Things Republicans Would Be Shocked To Learn About Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan's surpHere are 7 Reagan moves that may well have led to his excommunication from today’s Republican Party if he were alive today:

... Read more

Big Oil Tries To Slam Door On Cleaner Fuels In Oregon

Oregon, Washington and California are working on programs to reduce the life-cycle emissions of transportation fuels. ... Read more

How Private Companies Are Profiting From Threats To Jail The Poor

For those who can afford it, many misdemeanor violations and traffic violations are punished with a fine that can be paid the ... Read more

Billionaire: Stop ‘Envy Of The One Percent’ And Start Working Harder

Another very rich person thinks America's non-rich should stop complaining.The post Billionaire: Stop 'Envy Of The One ... Read more

When It Comes To High-Speed Internet, U.S. 'Falling Way Behind'

 When It Comes To High-Speed Internet, U.S. 'Falling Way Behind' February 06, 2014 2:47 PM Listen to the Story Fresh Air 38 min 39 sec * Playlis... Read more

Oh, So That's What Goes Into A McDonald's Chicken McNugget

Oh, So That's What Goes Into A McDonald's Chicken McNugget by Maria Godoy February 06, 2014 9:32 AM i i McDonald's new video answers that age-old ... Read more

Ken Ham’s radical quackery: Why his debate with Bill Nye on evolution was so maddening

"In a debate about evolution, Bill Nye argued that the creationist Ham was essentially a cultish leader. He was right ..."

http://www.salon.com/2014/02/05/ken_hams_radical_quackery_why_his_debate_with_bill_nye_on_evolution_was_so_maddening/

Science Versus Bible: To Debate or Not to Debate?

"The atheist community is deeply divided about religious fundamentalism and creationism, but not about whether such preposterous claims have any validity. They disagree on whether scientists should debate fundamentalists about the "science" of the Bible. I think both sides have reasonable arguments in the debate on whether to debate..."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/herb-silverman/science-versus-bible-to-d_b_4731285.html

The Simple Truth About Biblical Literalism and the Christian Fundamentalists Who Promote It

"...In a much-hyped event  live-streamed Tuesday night, “Science Guy” Bill Nye set out to defend evolution in a debate with Ken Ham, the CEO of Kentucky’s Creation Museum. But there was a fundamental problem: Ham’s young-earth creationism is not a religious belief, and it certainly is not scientific. To put it bluntly, it is quackery..."

The debate ... Read more

Chomsky: No Wonder the World Is Terrified of America -- We're the Biggest Threat

"...As the year 2013 drew to an end, the BBC reported on the results of the WIN/Gallup International poll on the question: “Which country do you think is the greatest threat to peace in the world today?”

 

The United States was the champion by a substantial margin, winning three times the votes of second-place Pakistan..." 
Keeping the ... Read more

"Lawless!" by Old Fart Rants

"...The people that shut down the government and cost the economy billions of dollars like little brats trying to get their way? The people who whine about the World War II memorial being closed because THEY shut down the government but didn't say a word when food assistance was cut for almost 1,000,000 veterans? The people who have done absolutely nothing but lie and obstruct every bit of progress the president has tried to make, who want you to believe that President Obama is an out of control dictator out to transform America into a communist playground by using "lawless" executive orders to get around a do nothing Congress with the lowest approval rating in history?..."

http://youtu.be/0-4Ob6qMEp4

Google slaps phishing warning on misleading GOP website

This is probably not what the National Republican Congressional Committee was expecting when they decided to make the ... Read more

Inside the Shocking 'Kids For Cash' Juvenile Justice Scandal

How two corrupt judges received $2.6 million in kickbacks from the private prison facility industry.

Read more

Vatican Surveys Find Catholics Reject Teachings On Sex, Contraception

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Surveys commissioned by the Vatican have shown that the vast majority of Catholics in Germany and Switzerland reject church teachi... Read more

'America The Beautiful' Author Is Rush Limbaugh's Favorite Lesbian Socialist

Right-wingers like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, former Congressman Allen West, and others are freaking out about Coca Cola's Super Bowl ad featuring "Am... Read more

Republicans Wanted To Free Workers From Bad Jobs Until Obamacare Did It

Republicans and conservative wonks have long supported de-linking health insurance from employment in order to give workers more economic freedom. But now they're attacking Obamacare for ... doing just that.
... Read more

Train Spills 12,000 Gallons Of Oil In Minnesota, No Major Cleanup Effort Planned

"It's like it spray-painted oil," MPCA spokesperson Cathy Rofshus said.The post Train Spills 12,000 Gallons Of Oil In ... Read more

Talking about the debate

Conservatives Seize On Report To Argue Obamacare Is A Job Killer — But The Author Says They’re Wrong

"There is a critical difference between people who like to work and can't find a job, or have a job that's lost for reasons ... Read more

At Least 26 Children Or Teens Died In Florida Stand Your Ground Cases

 Trayvon Martin, who would have turned 19 today, is one of the 26 young people killed.The post At Least 26 Children Or Teens ... Read more

Piers Morgan with Ken Ham & Bill Nye

http://youtu.be/i4kvp0DdIHQ

Detroit Achievement Academy Surprises Ellen

Ellen had surprised the amazing educators behind the Detroit Achievement Academy, but today they had a surprise for her!

http://youtu.be/W-S-G6Go59k

Americans' Belief in God, Miracles and Heaven Declines

"A new Harris Poll finds that while a strong majority (74%) of U.S. adults do believe in God, this belief is in decline when compared to previous years as just over four in five (82%) expressed a belief in God in 2005, 2007 and 2009. Also, while majorities also believe in miracles (72%, down from 79% in 2005), heaven (68%, down from 75%), that Jesus is God or the Son of God (68%, down from 72%), the resurrection of Jesus Christ (65%, down from 70%), the survival of the soul after death (64%, down from 69%), the devil, hell (both at 58%, down from 62%) and the Virgin birth (57%, down from 60%), these are all down from previous Harris Polls..."

http://www.harrisinteractive.com/NewsRoom/HarrisPolls/tabid/447/ctl/ReadCustom%20Default/mid/1508/ArticleId/1353/Default.aspx

UN committee blasts Vatican on sex abuse, abortion

"The Vatican “systematically” adopted policies that allowed priests to rape and molest tens of thousands of children over decades, a U.N. human rights committee said Wednesday, urging it to open its files on pedophiles and bishops who concealed their crimes.

In a devastating report hailed by victims, the U.N. committee severely criticized the Holy See for its attitudes toward homosexuality, contraception and abortion and said it should change its own canon law to ensure children’s rights and their access to health care are guaranteed. The Vatican promptly objected..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/un-denounces-vatican-on-sex-abuse-abortion/2014/02/05/ed59f496-8e50-11e3-878e-d76656564a01_story.html

RWW News: Klingenschmitt Says Only People Going To Heaven Deserve Equal Treatment By The Government

Steve Colbert: Christian Nation

UN condemns Vatican child abuse cover up

UN says the Vatican places reputation of the church and protection of the perpetrators above the interests of children.

The UN has rejected the Vatican's argument that it can not implement a children's rights convention beyond its walls, saying the church has "placed the reputation of the church and the protection of the perpetrators above children's interests."...

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2014/02/un-condemns-vatican-child-abuse-cover-up-20142511225303257.html

UN Denounces Vatican on Sex Abuse, Abortion

"A U.N. human rights committee denounced the Vatican on Wednesday for "systematically" adopting policies that allowed priests to rape and molest tens of thousands of children over decades, and urged it to open its files on the pedophiles and the bishops who concealed their crimes..."

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/denounces-vatican-sex-abuse-abortion-22371650?singlePage=true

 

Scathing UN Report Demands Vatican Act Against Sex Abuse

A United Nations human rights committee has made an unprecedented demand that the Vatican "immediately remove" all clergy accused of child abuse and turn them over to civil authorities.

http://www.voanews.com/content/scathing-un-report-demands-vatican-act-against-sex-abuse/1844754.html 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26044852

Bill Nye after the Creationism Debate

The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, MSNBC, 2-4-2014,
Bill Nye, "The Science Guy" vs. Ken Ham Debate-
http://www.billnye.com/
The Question: "Is creation a viable model of origins?"

http://youtu.be/IjV0C6oLGlQ

The Internet You Know and Love Is in Real Danger

Because the companies have to monitor your online activity in order to manipulate the data, the lack of neutrality rules raises profound privacy issues...

... Read more

Blame for N Ireland abuse seen beyond church

As an abuse case begins in Northern Ireland, was the Protestant government as culpable as the Catholic Church? Read more

Brenda's Last Word on Coke's 'America The Beautiful' ad | Video | 11alive.com

Brenda Wood's Last Word on the controversy over Coca-Cola's 'America The Beautiful' Super Bowl ad.

http://www.11alive.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=3148192945001

Trick Websites Dupe Democrats Into Donating To Republicans

The National Republican Congressional Committee has set up a number of websites that look like they could be a Democratic candidate’s campaign page, unless you read the fine print. They may even violate a Federal Election Commission regulation, Campaign Legal Center expert Paul S. Ryan explained to ThinkProgress...
 ... Read more