Week In The News: ISIS, NATO And High-Profile Hacking (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

“The gates of hell” make an appearance in the news this week, and Joe Biden put them there.   Furious over a second beheading and the violence of the Islamic State.  “Arc of crisis,” Britain’s David Cameron says, from ISIS and North Africa, to Russia and its move on Ukraine.  At NATO’s meeting in Wales, talk of rapid response and resolve.  We’ll see.  Joan Rivers has died.  Fast food workers make a big splash for more pay.  Political upheaval in Kansas.  Convictions in Virginia.  Celebrity nudes.  More Ebola.  This hour On Point:  Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines. / Tom Ashbrook

Interview:
https://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/09/05/nato-isis-europe-russia-congress

Friday News Roundup - Domestic (Diane Rehm Show)

The Justice Department opens an investigation into police practices in Ferguson, Missouri. House Republicans outline a legislative agenda for September. And former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell is found guilty of corruption. A panel of journalists joins guest host Tom Gjelten for analysis of the week's top national news stories.
 

Interview:

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2014-09-05/friday-news-roundup-domestic

 

 

Friday News Roundup - International (Diane Rehm Show)

At a NATO summit in Wales, western leaders promise new sanctions against Russia if peace talks fail between Russia and Ukraine. As fighting continues in eastern Ukraine, NATO leaders establish a rapid-response military force. President Obama urges NATO to confront ISIS after a second American journalist is beheaded. U.S. military forces launch an operation in Somalia against the Al-Qaida militant Al-Shabaab network. And world health officials say U.N. budget cuts are hurting the response to the Ebola crisis. A panel of journalists joins guest host Tom Gjelten for analysis of the week's top international news stories.
 

Interview:

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2014-09-05/friday-news-roundup-international

 

 

I Understand Why Westerners Are Joining Jihadi Movements Like ISIS. I Was Almost One of Them

Twenty years ago, I ditched my Catholic high school in upstate New York to study at a Saudi-funded madrassa in Pakistan.

 ... Read more

Elizabeth Warren Tells Bill Moyers Why She'll Never Be a DC Insider

Washington works for lobbyists and lawyers, it doesn’t work so well for American families, says Warren.
 ... Read more

Cheering for Insecure Students

Over the past five years, more than $200 million has gone toward launching the new Common Core standards, with the goal of closing achievement gaps in... Read more

Default Posner's decision is now here on Gay Marriage (7th Circuit)

United States Circuit Judge Richard Posner has released his opinion, on behalf of a unanimous three judge panel, striking down gay marriage bans in Indiana and Wisconsin. Read his actual words in the decision itself, linked below.

http://sblog.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/7th-CA-Ind.-and-Wis.-decision-9-4-14.pdf

A Louisiana Judge Takes Aim at Gay Marriage—and Justice Kennedy

On Wednesday, a federal judge in Louisiana ended same-sex marriage's federal- court win streak. District Judge Martin Feldman held that Louisiana need... Read more

Is There a Rational Case for Banning Gay Marriage?

In an exhilarating takedown of Indiana and Wisconsin's prohibitions, Judge Richard Posner rules there isn't. But will he persuade anyone? ... Read more

A Visit To The Reality Community: Americans Have Sex. Americans Use Birth Control. Let’s Move On.

No one in America is being forced to use birth control. Most people do it voluntarily and want access to it because it improves their quality of life.
... Read more

Fall From Grace: What The Religious Right Should Learn From The McDonnell Scandal

Travel back with me to 2009: Robert McDonnell was campaigning for Virginia governor, and TV preacher Pat Robertson was ecstatic.
... Read more

Freedomworks And The Creation Of A Texas Wingnut

Texas has a wingnut problem, and it is the inevitable result of the racist, religious right they have courted. When your party's platform is obsessed ... Read more

Ban Gloc, Vietnam [1900 X 1200]

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The Obamacare News That Republicans Don’t Want You To Hear About

Obamacare premiums are expected to fall in 2015, a new study finds. The post The Obamacare News That Republicans Don't ... Read more

New Report Details ‘Shocking’ Levels Of Global Violence Against Children

According to UNICEF, endemic levels of physical and emotional abuse are inflicted on children each day.The post New Report ... Read more

40 Million Tons Of Toxic Coal Waste Sit Next To Prison With ‘Alarming Rates Of Illness’

One prisoner developed welts on his left side and frequently felt dizzy, nauseous, and short of breath.The post 40 Million Tons ... Read more

Elizabeth Warren: The market is broken

Senator Elizabeth Warren says she picked up a lot of her feistiness from reading Nancy Drew novels as a kid. Today she believes the most important mystery to solve is how to get the American economy working for someone other than billionaires.
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Brokers Lure Soldiers and Fed retirees Out of Low-Fee Federal Retirement Plan - Bloomberg

John Turner suspected that brokers were encouraging federal workers to ditch their top-flight retirement plan. So he went under cover...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-12/brokers-lure-soldiers-out-of-low-fee-federal-retirement-plan.html

Getting in shape after 50: 3 exercises that reverse aging - TODAY.com

If you haven’t exercised in years, it’s time to get going! You lose balance, core strength and overall muscle strength every year if you don’t do something about it. 

http://www.today.com/health/senior-workout-anti-aging-exercises-1D80054350#senior-workout-anti-aging-exercises-1D80054350

'Non-Interventionist' Rand Paul Now Wants The U.S. To Destroy ISIS

Who didn't see this coming? If Sen. Rand Paul actually wants to make it through a 2016 presidential primary, (and that's a big "if" right now) we all ... Read more

'Libertarian' Maker-Hero Charles Koch Formed His Own Group To Protect Oil Industry's Government Handouts

We are oh, so shocked that Charles Koch is a money-grubbing taker, and not a hero of the libertarian revolution! Ha ha, just kidding! You always have ... Read more

Paleontologists just unveiled the dinosaur Dreadnoughtus...

...an 85-foot-long titan whose fossil is far and away the most massive ever discovered.
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Thousands Converge On U.S. Capitol To Demand Mental Health Care Reform

Advocates from across the country hope to reinvigorate the movement for mental health care reform.The post Thousands Converge ... Read more

Congressman Introduces Bill To Authorize Military Force Virtually Everywhere

In taking on ISIS and every other terrorist group in existence, the bill would basically ensure that the "war on terror" never, ... Read more

America’s First Cellulosic Biofuel Plant To Use Corn Waste Is Open In Iowa

The $275 million Project LIBERTY plant is the second cellulosic plant to begin operation in the U.S., and the first to use corn ... Read more

How to coil coax, wire, rope, etc. to be free of kinks, twists and knots

http://youtu.be/x-sO62Gvqp4

As Brazil presidential candidate surges, focus turns to evangelicalism's clout (+video)

Within 24 hours of launching her presidential campaign, Marina Silva withdrew her support for bills recognizing gay marriage after public pressure from a leader of her evangelical Christian church.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2014/0904/As-Brazil-presidential-candidate-surges-focus-turns-to-evangelicalism-s-clout-video

Flickering not blazing

"...in certain paradoxical ways, Scotland's past religious fervour has helped to make it more secular in the 21st century..."

http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2014/09/scotland-secular

Group: Airman denied reenlistment for refusing to say 'so help me God'

“The government cannot compel a nonbeliever to take an oath that affirms the existence of a supreme being,” Miller said. “Numerous cases affirm that atheists have the right to omit theistic language from enlistment or reenlistment contracts.”

http://www.militarytimes.com/article/20140904/NEWS05/309040066

PDK/Gallup Poll Shows Continued Public Opposition to Vouchers

63 percent of Americans oppose private school vouchers.

What the Religious Right Doesn't Get About Religious Freedom | Commentary

"...See, the FRC and conservative evangelicals have it all wrong. They view religious freedom as the right of governments to impose religiously grounded (as long as it’s Christian-based) public policy on their populations..."

http://www.rollcall.com/news/what_the_religious_right_doesnt_get_about_religious_freedom_commentary-235920-1.html?pg=1&dczone=opinion

With US youth losing religion, evangelicals struggle to spread ‘good news’

More young Americans are turning away from organized faith as millennials question the mix with politics.

http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/ajam-presents-edgeofeighteen/articles/2014/9/4/religion-evangelicalsgoodnews.html

To Understand Religion, Think Football

Sacred beliefs likely arose out of prehistoric bonding and rituals.

http://nautil.us/issue/17/big-bangs/to-understand-religion-think-football

Victor Stenger, atheism’s ‘fifth horseman,’ dies at 79

"...The atheist community is mourning the death of Victor Stenger, a prominent physicist who championed rooting out religion from the public sphere and was best known for quipping: "Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings."...

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/lifestyle/58369338-80/stenger-religion-science-atheism.html.csp

Doomsday for religious right: How anti-choice radicals finally lost respectability

A recent spate of court decisions will keep Rick Perry and his cronies from hiding behind talk of "women's safety" .

http://www.salon.com/2014/09/04/doomsday_for_religious_right_how_anti_choice_radicals_finally_lost_respectability/

Milky Way over The Palouse Falls, Washington. Photo by Michael Brandt. [2048x1378]

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TIL - Scientists have trained a Petri dish full of neurons from a rat brain to successfully fly a F22 flight simulator.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- A University of Florida scientist has grown a living "brain" that can fly a simulated plane, giving scientists a novel way to observe how brain cells function as a network.
Read more

New York To West Virginia: Stop Trying To Kill EPA’s Carbon Rule

New York and 11 other states are asking to intervene in a lawsuit which says the EPA is not legally allowed to limit carbon ... Read more

In One Of The World’s Richest Countries, 17.5 Million Families Struggled To Afford Food Last Year

More than 49 million people lived in a household that couldn't afford food for the entire year.The post In One Of The ... Read more

On 50th Anniversary, These Major Environmental Acts Are In Danger After Decades Of Wild Success

On Wednesday, two of America's most influential and successful environmental statues turn 50. The next 50 years are less ... Read more

There Will Be 13 Candidates On The Ballot In November Who Want To Seize Or Sell Off Public Lands

The thirteenth joined the list after a razor-thin election in Arizona on Tuesday.The post There Will Be 13 Candidates On The ... Read more

Study: More Religion Means Less Scientific Innovation

New research finds that religious countries and US states produce fewer patents per capita.

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/09/religion-quashes-innovation-patents

Gay teacher at Marian High School says pregnancy got her fired (Michigan)

A former chemistry teacher at a Catholic, all-girls high school in Bloomfield Hills said she was fired before the semester started because of her “nontraditional” pregnancy.

http://www.freep.com/article/20140902/NEWS03/309020174/Marian-teacher-gay-pregnancy-Catholic

Sam Harris, Waking Up, and What I've Learned about Spirituality

"Now, this should be interesting. For those curious, as I am, about spirituality but who have abandoned organized religion (and, according to the 2012 Pew Forum the number has grown to 20% of the adults in the US - the fastest growing religiously-unaffiliated group in the US), self-proclaimed atheist Sam Harris has written a new book, already a bestseller and the book is not scheduled for release until later this month..."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-mcswain/sam-harris-waking-up-and-_b_5747226.html

If You Are Atheist, Share Why You Know What it Means to be "Fully Human"

"...In the end, if it is the humanity of us Atheists that is under attack, what better way is there to combat this misconception than to attempt to empathize, and to share the experiences that show how human we truly are?"

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/09/02/1326676/-If-You-Are-Atheist-Share-Why-You-Know-What-it-Means-to-be-Fully-Human

The Original Tea Partier Was an Atheist

"...The universe, said Young, is infinite, eternal and everywhere abounding in life. There is no other world, no heaven but the starry sky above, no hell but the fictions that other people create. There is a deity, worthy of great praise, but it acts only according to reason and through the laws of nature. It has no need for holy books, prophets or priests. It is ultimately indistinguishable from its creation: nature itself. The study of nature, or science, is the only acceptable form of worship. Morality is grounded entirely in nature. And the moral life is itself the only religion worth the name.
Young called his creed “the religion of nature” and “the religion of nature’s God.” And he made abundantly clear that, in his own mind, this radical philosophical religion was the axis on which the Revolution turned. For him, the project to free the American people from the yoke of King George III was part of a grander project to liberate the world from the ghostly tyranny of supernatural religion..."

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/09/original-tea-partier-atheist-thomas-young-110497.html#.VAcuJPldWSp

Why ISIS Is the Spawn of Washington

Thirteen years of regional war, occupation, and intervention played a major role in clearing the ground for the group.... Read more

Go Ahead and Enjoy Eating Fat: It's Better than Carbs, Major New Study Says

A major new study has reversed the commonly accepted, decades-long nutritional wisdom that fat is bad for you—even the dreaded saturated fat. "People who avoid carbohydrates and eat more fat, even saturated fat, lose more body fat and have fewer cardiovascular risks than people who follow the low-fat diet that health authorities have favored for decades," the New York Times reported today. ... Read more

Large study of low-carb eating finds weight-loss, muscle-gain, better cholesterol

The NIH-funded Effects of Low-Carbohydrate and Low-Fat Diets: A Randomized Trial, published in The Annals of Internal ... Read more

Nader To Dems: Make Minimum Wage Top Issue Or You're 'Doomed'

Ralph Nader believes the only way Democrats can win midterm elections is to make raising the minimum wage a priority.

... Read more

Politico: GOP Worried About Falling Short In Mid-Terms

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say I think the Democrats can pull off an upset this year and take back the House. The mood of the public "feels" ... Read more

After Poll Finds GOP Failing With Women, RNC Claims To Support Equal Pay

Following a conservative report that found that the GOP is struggling to appeal to women voters, the Republican National Committee on Monday published... Read more

Ted Cruz's Dad: 'The Average Black' Does Not Know The Minimum Wage Is Bad

Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-TX) father said that African Americans "need to be educated" about Democrats, adding that "the average black does not" know that th... Read more

Glenn Beck: 'Hillary Clinton Will Be The Next President Of The United States'

Glenn Beck made quite a big prediction Tuesday on his radio show. "Hillary Clinton will be the next president of the United States," the conservative... Read more