Atheist Stephen Fry’s Response To What He Would Say If He Met God Levels This Interviewer (VIDEO)

“Suppose it’s all true, and you walk up to the Pearly Gates and you are confronted by God. What will Stephen Fry say to him or it?” . Read more
http://youtu.be/-suvkwNYSQo

Outrage As Republican Lawmaker In Texas Makes Muslims Pledge Allegiance Before Israeli Flag (IMAGES)

This Texas Republican seems to think she's the state representative for Israel Read more

3 Charts: How Conservatives Are Making Millions Of Americans Go Without Health Insurance

30 million Americans remain uninsured -- some of them locked out of coverage altogether. The post 3 Charts: How Conservatives ... Read more

Revealed: Gov't Surveillance Is Much More Developed Than You Thought

New documents show government tracked drivers with license plate readers on mass scale.
...  Read more


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How One Man Helped 10,000 People With Serious Drug Problems

Howard Josepher's group Exponents is an inspiring model that should be studied and replicated.
...  Read more

RWW News: Jones: Rand Paul Is Awesome, Tricking People Into Thinking He's More Moderate Than Reality

Alex Jones says Rand Paul is an "awesome" conservative who is only making people think he's more moderate as a way to play politics with the elite.
http://youtu.be/CJThcPxCo_g

Louis C K car chase

Read more

West Virginia Legislators Take Queue From China

http://youtu.be/YD43eV9HiD4

Going Unclear: Scientology Program Infiltrates NY Public Schools

"The city’s Department of Education says there is no official partnership with either the program or Scientology, but photos on the foundation’s public Facebook page show its staff offering presentations to students..." Read more

Working Mom On Food Stamps Hits Back At Scott Walker’s Plan To Drug Test Her

Governor Walker is pursuing a policy ruled unconstitutional in other states for discriminating against the poor. The post ... Read more

Trickle Down (Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent)

• the war being waged against the middle class
• our nation is falling behind in education compared to the nations we compete with, we are in 12th place
• the need for repairing our aging, run down infrastructure
• millions are working longer hours for lower wages
• all the gains in recent years went to the most wealthy, while the middle class lost ground
• There is a wealth transfer. The system is rigged to transfer wealth from the middle class to the most wealthy.
• Is this what our country is supposed to be about?
• The imbalance is fundamentally immoral.
• This imbalance is bad for our financial stability and threatens our security.
• Our challenge is to make sure our economy helps all people, not just the rich, the Koch brothers, those with millions to give to politicians.
• Trickle down economics, which began with Reagan, has not worked, and here are the data to prove it.
• Half of all Americans are making less than $20/hour.
• We have more people living in poverty than at any time in our history.
• Half the kids in our public schools are living in poverty.
• These conditions can lead to widespread social unrest.
• No society has ever flourished without a prosperous middle class.
• Since 1980 we have seen the corporate and top individual tax rate plunged to much lower levels. We have deregulated everything.  We did all the things the wealthy and the powerful wanted us to do. But instead of unleashing the job creators and ushering in a new golden age that benefits all people, these supply-side gimmicks brought us income inequality and instability.
• The policies that Republicans promote will make these problems worse.
• They intend to cut Social Security; end current Medicare and privatize it, transferring more costs to the poorest; cut taxes on millionaires and corporations; and increase military spending.
• Here is what does work: The economics during the golden age of capitalism (opposite of trickle down): SALES create jobs.  People have to have money available to buy, to increase sales, and that is when companies hire (not just because they want to but because they have to, to be able to keep up with demand.)  If we spend less, we shrink our economy.
• Hard-working people with money to spend are the real job creators. But the vast middle class is disappearing.  They just can't do it anymore because the people at the top are taking too much of the income.
• This is a recent phenomenon.  In previous decades, the middle class did well when the economy did well.  That doesn't happen anymore because of the way the system is now rigged by the wealthy.
• The Keystone Pipeline Bill does not create jobs.  Repairing our infrastructure would create plenty of jobs and make us competitive in the world again.
• Raise the minimum wage so that workers are not starving.  Deal with the scandal of overtime abuse by corporations. Make sure young people can get well educated; competing nations make tuition free for all. Take on Wall Street and regulate them so they behave in a responsible manner.  Make sure that the elderly and disabled can afford food, medicine, and shelter (the Republicans want to cut their benefits). There are simple solutions to fix the problems with Social Security; it does not contribute to the deficit and it is not going broke; to make it solvent, expand benefits, lift the cap on taxable income so that wealthy pay their fair share into the system.
• Trickle down economics is a fraud.

http://youtu.be/m0wp0kbBeJU
Interview:

Week In The News: Northeast Blizzard, Greek Shakeup, GOP Preps For 2016 (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

A drone on the White House lawn this week, but the President wasn’t home. In India. In Saudi Arabia. Making friends. Mending fences. In Iowa, and with the Koch brothers in California, Republican hopefuls for 2016 making their cases, strutting their stuff. Lots of would-be contenders. We’ve got a Senate vote for the Keystone pipeline and a White House in veto mode. More Islamic State hostage drama. The AG nominee in the hotseat. A new Russian spy ring. And measles, still mounting. This hour On Point: our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.
Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/01/30/loretta-lynch-obama-india-saudi-arabia-isis-juno

Friday News Roundup – Domestic (Diane Rehm Show)

President Obama wants to end across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration. He’s seeking a seven percent spending increase in a new budget to be released next week. The Senate approves the Keystone XL Pipeline despite veto threats from the White House. In her confirmation hearing, Loretta Lynch pledges to be an independent attorney general. A Senate panel approves an Iran sanctions bill but Democratic backers agree to give the White House more time to reach a nuclear deal. And the Federal Aviation Administration bans drones at Sunday’s Super Bowl, days after a small unmanned aircraft crashed on the White House lawn. A panel of journalists joins Diane for analysis of the week’s top national news stories.
Interview:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-01-30/friday_news_roundup_domestic

Friday News Roundup – International (Diane Rehm Show)

Jordan and Japan seek proof that hostages held by the Islamic State are still alive. New fighting erupts between Russian-backed separatists and Ukraine government forces. Tensions ease on the Israeli-Lebanon border. Greece’s new government moves to reverse austerity reforms. Argentina’s president proposes dissolving the nation’s intelligence service after the mysterious death of federal prosecutor. President Barack Obama visits India and Saudi Arabia. A panel of journalists joins Diane for analysis of the week’s top international news stories.
Interview:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-01-30/friday_news_roundup_international

Trickle Down (Senator Bernie Sanders, I)

It is sad how many Americans are not paying attention to what he is saying.
http://youtu.be/m0wp0kbBeJU

10 Facts That Will Blow Right-Wingers' Minds

Guess how many times Reagan raised taxes? Guess his position on abortion? Guess who invented the FED and the EPA. And who was the first President to introduce national health insurance?
...  Read more

Christmas Extra: Tom Flynn’s 30th Year of Anti-Clausing (Point of Inquiry)

Tom Flynn is Executive Director of The Council for Secular Humanism, Editor of Free Inquiry magazine, as well as professional anti-Christmas advocate and author of “The Trouble with Christmas.”

Tom is on his 30th year of being completely Yule free and he’s here to talk about why the rest of us should join him in protesting the holidays.
Interview:
http://www.pointofinquiry.org/christmas_extra_tom_flynns_30th_year_of_anti-clausing/

Penalizing Pregnancy: Lynn Paltrow on the Fight for Reproductive Justice (Point of Inquiry)

The effort to overturn Roe v. Wade and criminalize abortion has spiraled into challenging not only women’s right to abortion, but a women’s right to carry her baby to term. Across the country, women who seek medical help for pregnancy complications are being met with incarceration and outrageous sentences, all without proper representation. According to this week’s guest, if a woman would like to give birth in America, she needs to be prepared to surrender her basic liberties.

Here to discuss the fight for women’s pregnancy rights is Lynn M. Paltrow, founder of National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW), a nonprofit civil rights group that advocates for pregnant and parenting women. Paltrow has also served as a senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project, as Director of Special Litigation at the Center of Reproductive Law and Policy and as Vice President for Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood of New York City. Paltrow has not only done extensive work in challenging the restrictions placed on the right to choose abortion, but also fights the prosecution and punishment of pregnant women seeking to continue their pregnancies to term.
Interview:
http://www.pointofinquiry.org/penalizing_pregnancy_lynn_paltrow_on_the_fight_for_reproductive_justice/

WATCH: Jon Stewart Mocks Koch Brothers $900 Million Campaign Pledge—'Behold Our Benevolent Overlords'

"It's not as if huge sums of money have ever distorted the political process before."  Read more

The Daily Show
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Who wins and loses from Obama's big tax reform plan, in one chart

In his State of the Union address, President Obama outlined a new policy of "middle class economics," with a new tax proposal as its centerpiece. That...  Read more

Basic income: the world's simplest plan to end poverty, explained

In recent months, discussion of basic income proposals have become fairly mainstream, but not so mainstream that most people know what the phrase "bas...  Read more

Let’s Take Apart The Corporate Case For Fast Track Trade Authority

U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman appeared before Congress Tuesday to make the corporate argument for "fast track" trade promotion autho...  Read more

Poll: Large Majority Wants Congress To Fix Possible Obamacare Subsidies Gap

As a new poll says the public overwhelmingly wants Congress to fix the subsidy gap if the Supreme Court makes a corrupt bargain with the GOP and inval... Read more

House Democrats Urge Boehner To Postpone Netanyahu's Speech

A trio of House Democrats plan to send a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), pressing him to postpone an upcoming speech by Israeli Prime Min... Read more

Bill Would Allow Texas Teachers To Kill Students

What could possibly go wrong? The post Bill Would Allow Texas Teachers To Kill Students appeared first on ThinkProgress. Read more

Romney’s Solution To Poverty: Poor People Should Get Married

Mitt Romney wants to make fighting poverty a key pillar of his campaign, but promoting marriage is unlikely to do anything. The ... Read more

NFL Players Who Start Football Before Age 12 Have ‘Significantly Greater Impairment’ Of Brains

 The study's implications for youth football players in general, however, are less clear, showing that more research is ... Read more

Oil crash: 'Drill, baby, drill' loses momentum

The number of U.S. oil rigs actively pumping oil has decreased for seven straight weeks, according to Baker Hughes. The rig count fell to 1,317 as of January 23, down 18% from the record highs of early October back when oil was still at $86 a barrel.
Read more

The problem with the phrase "There are no atheists in foxholes"

http://youtu.be/PBMk0KCjMpY

Bryan Fischer FIRED! + RNC Goes To Israel "For The Glory of God"

http://youtu.be/8HDzJsp8sqg

People With No Religion Underrepresented By a Factor of 100 in New Congress

20 percent of Americans have no affiliation with organized religion. Only 0.2 percent of Congress says the same.
...  Read more

Lawmaker asks would-be SC judges about ‘Supreme Being,’ gay marriage, equal pay for women

"...A Republican S.C. House member wants to know about the “personal relationship” that would-be state judges have with the “Supreme Being,” whether they would perform a gay marriage and how they would rule if a woman sued for equal pay..."
http://www.thestate.com/2015/01/28/3954896_exclusive-lawmaker-asks-would.html?rh=1

Calif. school releases students unvaccinated for measles

"...While all states require that children receive recommended vaccines before attending school, some make it easier than others to get exemptions. Infectious disease outbreaks are more common in areas with large numbers of unvaccinated students..."
http://www.kvue.com/story/news/nation/2015/01/28/california-measles-unvaccinated-students-sent-home/22479001/

New Tax Break for Religious Groups, Once Vetoed by Jan Brewer, Makes a Comeback

"Why are we giving this to the churches and not the charities?"
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2015/01/new_tax_break_for_religious_groups_once_vetoed_by_jan_brewer_makes_a_comeba.php

School privatization agenda pushes forward as concerns over accountability grow

"...Private schools are also free to use any curriculum they see fit, employ untrained, unlicensed teachers and conduct criminal background checks only on the heads of schools. For the most part, they do not have to share their budgets or financial practices with the public, in spite of receiving public dollars..."
http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2015/01/29/school-privatization-agenda-pushes-forward-as-concerns-over-accountability-grow/

GOP's Plot to Build Laboratories for Plutocracy in States They Control

"Right-wing initiatives such as tax cuts and 'right-to-work' legislation are on the table..."
...  Read more

Fox News Is Helping the GOP Disingenuously Rebrand Itself As the Party of the Middle Class

"But for years, the network attacked Democratic policies designed to alleviate income inequality as "class warfare.""
...  Read more

5 Devastating Facts About Charter Schools You Won't Hear from the 'National School Choice Week' Propaganda Campaign

"...It's nothing more than a slick ad campaign, disguised as public service..."
Read more

Education Vouchers: Public Money for Private Discrimination

"...Religious organizations generally have the right to make hiring and firing decisions based on their beliefs – when their activities are privately funded. But the sort of narrow dogma that leads schools to fire teachers because they don’t adhere to church directives is not something that most taxpayers would want to subsidize..."
Read more

Geneticists have found evidence for the existence of ten individual men, in addition to Genghis Khan, who founded Y-chromosome lineages in Asia. The ten men are estimated or are known to have lived between 2100 B.C. and 1582 A.D.

The Mongolian leader left a strong footprint in the Y chromosomes of modern descendants — but he was not the only one.
Read more

...oh...ok...thank you?

Sugary Drinks Linked With Earlier Menstruation In Girls

Girls who drink a lot of soda and other sugary drinks may get their first menstru...  Read more

"The Catholic Church: Debate Makes It Stronger"

"More than by fear of going astray, my hope is that we will be moved by the fear of remaining shut up within structures which give us a false sense of...  Read more

Walker Tells Tales Out Of School

"...What Walker didn't mention is that Ms Sampson and more than 3,400 other teachers lost their job that first year because Walker had taken a billion dollars out of the education system. Almost every single school district had to lay off teacher, increase class sizes and cut programs due to Walker blowing up their budget..."
Read more

Anti-Koch: The Fight For Green Energy Is A Fight For The 99 Percent

The fact that this even needs to be said demonstrates that there's been a breakdown in the democratic process, but we'll say it anyway: Our number one...  Read more

Fox News: Your Apology Won't Do

One of history's most deceptive, barbaric, and inhumane dictators once said, "Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they wi...  Read more

Politifact: Fox News Is Lying More Than Ever!

"...Only 21% of what is being said on Fox news is rated as true! If one were to show Fox News viewers these results I bet they would just call the information a liberal plot to smear conservatives and that's sad..."
Read more

Dems Sound 'Privatization' Siren Ahead Of New Social Security Fight

Republicans have signaled they want to force a fight over Social Security in the coming Congress and, almost immediately, Democrats have pulled out th... Read more

Ben Carson Says Congress Should Remove Pro-Equality Judges, Which Is Unconstitutional

 And calls pro-equality rulings "unconstitutional." The post Ben Carson Says Congress Should Remove Pro-Equality Judges, Which ... Read more

PHOTOS: Female Leaders Besides Michelle Obama Who Didn’t Wear A Headscarf In Saudi Arabia

There's a lot of fuss over what Michelle Obama didn't wear on a visit to Saudi Arabia -- although it's years too late. The post ... Read more

Federal Coal Program Costing Taxpayers And States More Than $1 Billion Per Year In Lost Royalties

Lax regulation and loopholes in administration have cost the Treasury about $775 million between 2008 and 2012, according to a ... Read more

Why More Lawmakers May Start ‘Evolving’ To Support Abortion Rights

It starts by talking to women. The post Why More Lawmakers May Start 'Evolving' To Support Abortion Rights appeared ... Read more

Poll Confirms That The Republican Party’s Obamacare Strategy Is Extraordinarily Unpopular

As it turns out, the American people don't much like the idea of Republican elected officials allowing the five Republican ... Read more

We're on the verge of a crisis, bears warn

"After nearly six years of a surging U.S. stock market, investors are worried about how much longer it will last. Suddenly, the views of the negative Nancys are getting a lot of attention..."
Read more

Comprehensive sex education policies proliferate across the nation

"...A growing body of research claims comprehensive sex education bolsters reproductive health rights and prevents unwanted pregnancies, yet these policies continue to face political barriers across local jurisdictions..."
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_27403202/comprehensive-sex-education-policies-proliferate-across-nation

atheist activist's book seeks to halt conservatives' 'attack on reason'

"...Niose began his talk by saying America has created "great minds and forward-looking thinkers" like Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov and Gloria Steinem.

"Instead of people like that running the country, we've got people like Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann --"

As if on cue, the crowd grumbled and murmured unhappily at the names of religious-right politicians.

"There's this real vibrant intellectual community, but it ain't running the country," said Niose, who is a personal-injury attorney with an office in Fitchburg..."

http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/news/ci_27401032/lunenburg-atheist-activists-book-seeks-halt-conservatives-attack

Rancid Rally: La. Gov. Jindal Calls For Religious Revival At Evangelical Event

"...Jindal thinks there is no place in this country for non-believers. His bias simply could not be any more obvious..." Read more

PNAC's Frank Gaffney Claims Dearborn Michigan Is Muslim 'No-Go' Zone

Former Ronald Reagan Asst. Defense Secretary and PNACer Frank Gaffney proclaimed that the city of Dearborn, Michigan is a Muslim "no-go zone, " being ... Read more

9 Reasons Religion is So Powerful

Why is religion so damn powerful when it's also so damn wrong?

1) Religion has answers for everything.

It doesn't have the *right* answers for everything, but it has answers, and for many people, that's enough.

2) Religion uses guilt to prevent you from leaving.

Religion compels you to live up to certain ideals whether or not they make sense...

And disobeying them, or even questioning them, means you're not really faithful.


3. Religion makes you feel special.

Doesn't everyone want to be one of God's Chosen People?
Don't you want to believe God created you personally and watches over you?

The whole concept of a Guardian Angel is silly, but it's the same principal: You're a special little snowflake. And so the billions of other people just like you.

There's value to believing that when you're a child. But at some point, you have to realize that if all of us are special, none of us are special.

4. Religion capitalizes on division

Religion loves to stoke the Us vs. Them mentality. We're okay; they're not. We're going to Heaven; they're not. God loves us; not them.

It's human nature to want to be accepted. We all want to be part of a welcoming group.

The problem is that it's that very mindset that causes so many problems. Because so many people believe that everyone who's not in your group needs to be converted or killed.

5. Religion makes morality really simple.

We all want to be good people. But not everyone agrees what it takes to be good.

Religion makes that simple. Follow our rules, and you're good! It requires no further intellectual thought. It's that easy.


6. Religion claims ownership of spiritual bliss.

Sure, a lot of things can make you happy now. But what's going to happen with your soul? Don't you want to be okay in the afterlife?

Religion steps in and says it'll make us happy in the one place we have zero control over: the afterlife. It's hard not to sign on to that deal.

7. Religion gets us while we're young.

There's a reason most people don't switch from one religion to another later in life.
You're taught to believe this stuff before you're old enough to question it.


8. Religion makes you think you can control the uncontrollable.

Life is unpredictable. Shit happens. But isn't it nice to think that your prayers might change the course of things?


9. Money.

Churches convince you to give them 10% of your income. They don't have to pay taxes because they're considered non-profits.


If you took the money we spent perpetuating religious lies and put it almost anywhere else, we could get pretty far in solving a lot of the world's problems.

In fact, it'd be way more effective than the prayers offered by people in churches.
http://youtu.be/O4rOAMEg2Mo

Bobby Jindal’s Big “Prayer Meeting” Explicitly Calls For American Theocracy (VIDEO)

If Republicans love America so much, why are they constantly demanding we throw the Constitution in the garbage? Read more

Koch Brothers Plan To Spend Almost One BILLION Dollars To Buy 2016 Election

There is literally no one alive that could argue that this would not corrupt the electoral process and keep a straight face ... Read more