DN Speak: 12/27/15

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Refuting the Irrefutable Proof of God - part IV

"Such bold claims from this mega cult leader! I took the bait and had to dispute refute and absolutely disprove all of his allegedly indisputable irrefutable absolute proof of God..."
https://youtu.be/99-wZZqOPMw

Hovind Fails Again

A sixth-grader defeats Christian preacher with one simple statement.
https://youtu.be/LF6gjVwleqI

If PRESIDENT Donald Trump Were 100% Honest With Us...

https://youtu.be/o8s-UZkpYCQ

Robin Williams’ Widow Opens Up About His Suicide: 'It Was Not Depression That Killed Robin'

Susan Williams spoke to Good Morning America about her husband's struggles with Lewy body dementia...
http://www.alternet.org/culture/robin-williams-widow-opens-about-his-suicide-it-was-not-depression-killed-robin

Every Jot and Tittle: Religious Arbitration Clauses Attempt To Enforce Biblical Law

The clauses are often found in contracts and require signatory parties to participate in mandatory religious arbitration in case of conflict...
https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/every-jot-and-tittle-religious-arbitration-clauses-attempt-to-enforce

Ignorance and Arrogance

For his supporters, one of Carson's greatest attributes is his soft-spoken humility. Yet what we really see in Carson is a compounding mix of ignorance and arrogance...
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/ignorance-and-arrogance

The Origin of Religion (Christopher Hitchens)

Hitch points out that even if arguments for god were sound (they aren't), the conclusion that Christianity is true can never follow from them.. He then explains how all religions are born.
https://youtu.be/KyVajpUVOng

Greatest Anti-Religion speech? Christopher Hitchens

https://youtu.be/-pmArHBW9ns

After Scrutiny From Outlets Owned By Conservatives, Carson Blames ‘Secular Progressive Movement’

“I’m a very big threat because you know they can look at the polling data, they can tell that I’m the candidate who’s most likely to beat Hillary Clinton,” Carson told Jansing.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/11/08/3720350/carson-blames-secular-progressive-movement/

Louisiana Police Officers Charged With Murder In Shooting Death Of 6-Year-Old Boy

“We took some of the body cam footage,” said Col. Mike Edmonson of the State Police. “I’m not gonna talk about it, but I’m gonna tell you this: It is the most disturbing thing I’ve seen and I will leave it at that.” In addition to the footage, police used witness accounts and evidence collected at the scene of the shooting to justify the charges.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/11/08/3720402/louisiana-police-charged-with-murder/

Alan Simpson Slams 'Hypocrite' Companies For Making Billions While Opposing $15 Min. Wage

"I think the class warfare thing is going to get worse and worse, the income inequality worse and worse," Simpson continued. "This business of the minimum wage, 'Oh, you can't afford $15.' Well, then don't publish your quarterly reports saying you made a billion and a half. Give me a break."
http://crooksandliars.com/2015/11/alan-simpson-slams-hypocrite-companies

Texas Strips Planned Parenthood Of HIV-Prevention Money | ThinkProgress

“Every time the state cuts these programs in an attempt to score political points…the true victims here are tens of thousands of women and men who no longer have access to health care that they need,” Tafolla said.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/12/23/3734859/texas-hiv/

Reporter Among Those Surprised To Learn They Are Trump's NH Town Chairs

"Apparently, I was put on by accident; it was not something I intended," Steer told the Conway Daily Sun. "When I went to the Trump website, the boxes were prechecked to be a volunteer, so perhaps in reaching out to the Trump campaign I should have unchecked a box. I can't say for sure how that happened."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/new-hampshire-trump-chairs-surprised

Biggest El Niño effects on US may be yet to come

“The water story for much of the American West over most of the past decade has been dominated by punishing drought,” stated Bill Patzert, a JPL climatologist for NASA. “Reservoir levels have fallen to record or near-record lows, while groundwater tables have dropped dangerously in many areas. Now we’re preparing to see the flip side of nature’s water cycle — the arrival of steady, heavy rains and snowfall.”
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/12/31/biggest-el-nino-impacts-on-us-may-be-yet-to-come-in-new-year.html

10 Money Steps to Take Before Your 70th Birthday - US News

Managing accumulated assets is at the top of the list.
http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2015/11/18/10-money-steps-to-take-before-your-70th-birthday

Friday, January 1, 2016

Microsoft didn’t warn Chinese victims of government hack

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/12/31/microsoft-didnt-warn-chinese-victims-of-government-hack1.html

Unusual storm pushes North Pole temperatures 40 F above average

“There’s been warm air for weeks over the eastern United States and parts of Europe … and it’s the warmest December on record,” he said. “It’s a sign of how much warm air was around when the storm system came, pulling that air to higher latitudes.”
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/12/30/north-pole-temperatures-40-f-above-average.html

Obama Reportedly Will Move To Expand Gun Background Checks By Executive Order | ThinkProgress

In 2015, 457 people died from 353 mass shootings (as of December 17). After Congress blocked legislative efforts, the president will now take executive action to attempt to keep guns out of the hands of violent criminals...
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/12/31/3735471/obama-gun-safety/

Male Legislator Mocks His Colleague's Nipples In Push To Ban Public Exposure | ThinkProgress

“If it’s a woman’s natural inclination to pull her nipple out in public and you support that, than you should have no problem with a mans inclantion [sic] to stare at it and grab it,” Moore wrote. “After all… It’s ALL relative and natural, right?”
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/12/31/3735429/new-hampshire-breastfeeding-sexism/

Alan Dershowitz vs. Religion (WOW!) (repost)

Alan Dershowitz's opening statement in a debate on religion that took place on September 27th, 2000. This turns into one of the most explosive debates I've ever seen. The full thing can be seen here: http://youtu.be/7H4lF3zus8E
The short excerpt:
http://youtu.be/Y0bGFiKNMms

Interview:

Texas Legislator Claimed Rape Doesn’t Exist In Marriage

Texas State Rep. Jonathan Stickland (R) apologized Wednesday after the Texas Observer published a 2008 quote from an online post in which the lawmaker joked that nothing a husband does to his wife could possibly be rape...
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/12/31/3735410/texas-rep-stickland-rape-joke/

College evangelicals embrace unlikely cause: Black Lives Matter

A leader of the Black Lives Matter movement addressed 16,000 evangelical students at the Urbana conference this week in St. Louis.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2015/1231/College-evangelicals-embrace-unlikely-cause-Black-Lives-Matter

What Science Is and Is Not

https://youtu.be/5VoWW7SzoXU

Tired of being targeted, America's Sikhs are standing up for their identity

The attack on an elderly Sikh man in Fresno Saturday, which police have called a hate crime, is the latest example of xenophobia toward the misunderstood religion, activists say, adding that the atmosphere is as tense as at any time after 9/11...
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2015/1231/Tired-of-being-targeted-America-s-Sikhs-are-standing-up-for-their-identity

Climate Science: What You Need To Know

Scientists overwhelmingly agree that our climate is changing, Earth is getting warmer, sea levels are rising, and it's primarily because of humans putting lots of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Whether you already trust in the science, you're undecided, or you disagree with what all this, this video is for you!
https://youtu.be/ffjIyms1BX4

Why People Don't Believe In Climate Science

Scientists overwhelmingly agree that our climate is changing, Earth is getting warmer, sea levels are rising, and it's primarily because of humans putting lots of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Yet 4 in 10 Americans aren't convinced
Here's what psychologists and sociologists have to say about why some people don't believe in climate science.
https://youtu.be/y2euBvdP28c

Adventure Volunteerism: Taking Voluntourism Up A Notch - Forbes

With “voluntourism,”part of your vacation involves volunteering to help a cause or improve the local community. That can be something as little as spending an afternoon cleaning up a beach or having a more meaningful, sustainable impact, like building houses...
http://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2015/11/16/adventure-volunteerism-taking-voluntourism-up-a-notch/

YouTube Red And The Future Of Paid Streaming (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

To add to your list of what can seem like infinite media options this week: YouTube Red The vast video and music service that brought you cute kitties and then mountains of everything sublime and ridiculous and sometimes fine, will start charging to watch and listen ad-free. Ten bucks a month, for YouTube! Well, YouTube Red. There will be new premium content, we’re told. And more features. But, are we now being pushed to pay for other people’s home videos? Or is this the new way of omnivorous media? This hour On Point — we’re reading YouTube Red. — Tom Ashbrook
Interview:
https://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/10/26/youtube-streaming-video-ecommerce-media-futures

Journalist Robert Parry: America's Hidden History (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

Investigative reporter Robert Parry is the kind of relentless digger that no small part of the American news media find too hot to handle. He went deep, back in the day, on American hostages, the “October surprise,” and the election of Ronald Reagan. He went deep on Iran-Contra and the adventures of the CIA in the cocaine trade. He’s still at it, writing and publishing unpopular truths. And talking about how too often we don’t know our own living history. And the news media’s not telling us. He just won the I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence. This hour On Point, tough reporter Robert Parry. — Tom Ashbrook
Interview:
https://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/10/26/robert-parry-iran-contra-investigative-journalism

In this file photo, National Security Aide Oliver North, right, applauds Iran-Contra figure and former CIA station chief Joseph Fernandez, left, as he is congratulated by Contra leader Adolfo Calero, center, during a reception in Miami, Florida on Friday, June 30, 1989 to raise funds for Fernandez. (AP)

Thursday, December 31, 2015

How Gene Editing Could Break The Rules Of Evolution (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

The science of gene editing is moving fast now. Genetic engineers armed with new tools are reaching into the basic code of life, probing ever more ambitiously for ways to end disease, make crops immune to blight. My guest today is in the vanguard that increasingly sees genetics as nature’s software. And humans as rapidly gaining capacity to rewrite the code. Reprogram organisms, including ourselves. This is thrilling and frightening, and is going to require a lot of public attention and debate. This hour On Point, evolutionary engineer Kevin Esvelt, on the future of our species and many others. — Tom Ashbrook
Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/11/09/gene-editing

The Biggest Challenge Facing Musicians at Shows: Audiences Clapping With Bad Rhythm

But when Harry Connick Jr. found himself facing a rhythmically challenged audience, he didn’t need to correct them. At the beginning of this performance of “Come By Me,” the crowd is clapping on the one and three. The claps are tighter than Bieber’s Spanish fans’, but the heavy accents on the downbeats give the music a leaden feel. So, as his solo begins (at 0:41 in the video), Connick throws in an extra beat, realigning the music so that the claps land on the two and four instead. From that point on, the clapping sounds funky instead of square—and the audience has no idea that Connick has wrong-footed them...
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/11/06/justin_bieber_chastised_audience_for_clapping_on_the_offbeat_the_biggest.html

Stem-cell scientists led by Dr. John Dick have discovered a completely new view of how human blood is made, upending dogma from the 1960s.

"Instead, through a series of experiments we have been able to finally resolve how different kinds of blood cells form quickly from the stem cell -- the most potent blood cell in the system -- and not further downstream as has been traditionally thought," says Dr. Dick, who holds a Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Biology and is also Director of the Cancer Stem Cell Program at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151105143819.htm

Fact check: The ‘King of Whoppers' for 2015 is Donald Trump

Here we've assembled, as we do every year at this time, a generous sampling of the most far-fetched, distorted or downright fallacious claims made during 2015...
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2015/12/22/fact-check-king-whoppers-2015-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-race-for-president/77730672/

Muslim groups unite for voter drive, outreach to confront Islamophobia

“Our voices will be united, and we will be heard,” she said. “We want our youth to be safe, and exposing them to this type of activity is a path to empowerment.”
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/12/21/muslim-vote-drive.html

SpaceX Just Made History, But Its Next Mission Is Even More Important | ThinkProgress

For its next mission, SpaceX will partner with NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the French Space Agency (CNES) to launch a satellite called Jason-3. It’s an ocean measurement satellite, meaning it will be used to measure the height of the ocean from space. In other words, over time, Jason-3 will be able to track global sea level rise...
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/12/22/3734545/elon-musk-spacex-climate-change-nasa-noaa/

The 12 Days of Evolution - Complete Series!

https://youtu.be/c_jyHp3bmEw

What I’m Doing to Make Sure Atheists Have a Voice in the Iowa Caucuses

I’ve agreed to help the Secular Coalition for America launch the Secular Coalition for Iowa in order to make sure we have a presence in politics in this state...
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/12/30/what-im-doing-to-make-sure-atheists-have-a-voice-in-the-iowa-caucuses/

Pregnant Woman Sues Catholic Hospital For Not Letting Her Get Tubes Tied

The case is part of an escalating fight over whether Catholic hospitals can deny reproductive services for religious reasons.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/azeenghorayshi/pregnant-woman-sues-catholic-hospital

NFL Reportedly Restricts 'Unrestricted' Funds For Important Brain Trauma Research | ThinkProgress

“From 2003 to 2009, the NFL published its own research denying that football players get brain damage; much of that research was later discredited,” OTL reported on Tuesday. “But since then, the NFL has poured tens of millions of dollars into concussion research, allowing the league to maintain a powerful role on an issue that directly threatens its future.”
http://thinkprogress.org/sports/2015/12/22/3734614/nfl-blocks-cte-research/

‘We Choose Freedom, Not Fear’: 49 Religious And Civic Leaders Stand Against Anti-Muslim Backlash

“Muslims are our equals,” declared an open letter signed by nearly 50 religious and civic leaders. Printed on a full page of the Washington Post on Monday, the letter decried what it described as “highly offensive remarks” made by “politicians, candidates, and commentators” in recent weeks.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/12/22/3734569/religious-civic-leaders-against-anti-muslim-backlash/

#156 Debate - Michael Shermer vs John Lennox - The Nature of Evil and Suffering - 2013

https://youtu.be/w6QSmwwGR50

Paul Ryan Just Made The Case For Why Lifting The Oil Export Ban Is Really Bad | ThinkProgress

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) said Monday that lifting the oil export ban, which was included in the $1.1 trillion omnibus bill, “is like having 100 Keystone pipelines.”...
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/12/22/3734511/ryan-export-ban-like-keystone/

Climate Change Could Cost Montana Billions, Study Says

As many as 36,000 jobs and slightly over a billion dollars in labor earning could be lost in the next 35 years if greenhouse gas emissions don’t decline, according to the study commissioned by Montana Wildlife Federation...
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/12/22/3734414/montana-climate-change-costs-jobs/

Lakes Are Heating Up, Putting Food And Water Supply At Risk

“These results suggest that large changes in our lakes are not only unavoidable, but are probably already happening,” lead author Catherine O’Reilly, associate professor of geology at Illinois State University, Normal, said in a statement...
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/12/21/3734348/lakes-heating-up/

Carbon Emissions Link To Regional Impacts Is Clear, Study Says

These results confirm widely believed notions in the scientific community that manmade climate change is damaging natural systems worldwide...
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/12/23/3734910/global-warming-link-clear/

Ted Cruz Vows To Break Up Historic Climate Change Agreement If Elected President

“Barack Obama seems to think the SUV parked in your driveway is a bigger threat to national security than radical Islamic terrorists who want to kill us. That’s just nutty,” Cruz said. “These are ideologues, they don’t focus on the facts, they won’t address the facts, and what they’re interested [in] instead is more and more government power.”
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/12/23/3734887/ted-cruz-paris-climate-deal/

Five Failed Right-Wing Prophecies and Predictions of 2015

Surprise, surprise: Right-wingers got a lot of things wrong...
http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/5-failed-right-wing-prophecies-and-predictions-2015

AP-NORC Poll: Religious rights of US Christians most valued

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans place a higher priority on preserving the religious freedom of Christians than for other faith groups, ranking Muslims as the least deserving of the protections, according to a new survey...
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/de486b3d64154d0baae9f04fba0a4094/ap-norc-poll-religious-rights-us-christians-most-valued

The Great Christmas Strike of 1906 - NYTimes.com

WHEN schools in Augusta County, Va., closed earlier this month after parents objected to an Arabic calligraphy lesson, it was tempting to see it as only the latest example of the rampant anti-Muslim sentiment that has taken hold in much of the country...
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/12/29/opinion/the-great-christmas-strike-of-1906.html

Sarah Posner: Trump, Carson, and the Religious Right in 2016 (Point of Inquiry)

This week Josh Zepps chats about the 2016 Republican presidential primaries with journalist Sarah Posner, a senior correspondent for Religion Dispatches and the author of Gods Profits: Faith, Fraud, and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters. She is an expert in the political machinations of the religious right in the United States.

The current GOP field has Seventh-day Adventist Ben Carson and the newly Bible-loving Donald Trump battling for the top spot in polls, despite their theological differences with the Evangelical base of the party. Posner explores what’s behind the appeal of these two unlikely front-runners, compares their very different demeanors, and weighs on such topics as the influence of Pope Francis and the prospects for atheist political candidates.
Interview:
http://www.pointofinquiry.org/sarah_posner_trump_carson_and_the_religious_right_in_2016/

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Backlash over oil boom: California residents raise health concerns

Lawsuit in Los Angeles rises over oil drilling on the west side of Wilmington. Jennifer London reports.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/GznaW_3cpIw

Truth Without God: Dawkins v Lennox part 2

https://youtu.be/rpmVoZFasig

Insubordination: "Groundbreaking" Expose Shows Pentagon Thwarting Obama's Bid to Transfer Guantanamo Prisoners

Democracynow.org - In the nearly seven years since President Obama ordered Guantánamo’s closure, Republicans have blocked him at every turn. Now a new report sheds light on another obstacle in Obama’s way: his own Pentagon. According to Reuters, military brass have imposed bureaucratic hurdles to keep prisoners locked up and prevent foreign governments from taking them in. Scores of prisoners cleared for release have remained imprisoned for years as a result. We are joined by two guests: Charles Levinson, the Reuters reporter who broke this story, and Omar Farah, the lawyer for a Yemeni prisoner who was cleared for release five years ago but remains behind bars due to Pentagon interference.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/qcQxAsoEh6g

Cleared for Release, Pentagon Obstruction Prolongs Hunger-Striking Gitmo Prisoner's Nightmare
Democracynow.org - A new Reuters exposé shows the Pentagon has thwarted the Obama administration’s efforts to close Guantánamo by imposing bureaucratic hurdles to delay or derail prisoners’ release. The Pentagon has even meddled with the effort to enlist other countries in accepting freed prisoners. In one case, the Pentagon refused to release medical records for a hunger-striking Yemeni prisoner to a delegation from a country that was considering taking him in. The prisoner, Tariq Ba Odah, remains at Guantánamo today—five years after he was cleared for release. We discuss Ba Odah’s ordeal with his lawyer, Omar Farah, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights; and Charles Levinson, the Reuters reporter who broke the story.
https://youtu.be/L0pZHlktm_M

Top U.S. & World Headlines — December 30, 2015

https://youtu.be/kM_9--pL9pA

Campaign Fact-Check: Rand Paul’s ‘HHS Investigation of Planned Parenthood’s Tissue Practices’

The letter from HHS on which Paul based his comments makes no such promise...
http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/12/23/campaign-fact-check-rand-pauls-hhs-investigation-planned-parenthoods-tissue-practices/

Yes or No: THE EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE FORBIDS RACIAL PREFERENCES IN STATE UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS (Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates)

The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that: "No State shall … deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Yet many state universities give substantial preferences to certain races in their admissions decisions. In Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), the Supreme Court approved such preferences, but the case was close, and controversial, and the question will be back before the Supreme Court this term. One side may argue that these preferences level the playing field, remedy prior discrimination, and enhance diversity within the classroom, thus redeeming the true promise of equal protection. But the other may say that these preferences – in favor of some races, at the expense of others – are racial discrimination pure and simple, the precise evil that the Equal Protection Clause was intended to forbid.
Interview:
http://intelligencesquaredus.org/debates/past-debates/item/1406-the-equal-protection-clause-forbids-racial-preferences-in-state-university-admissions

Erin Brockovich: California Methane Gas Leak is Worst U.S. Environmental Disaster Since BP Oil Spill

Democracynow.org - In the nation’s biggest environmental disaster since the BP oil spill, a runaway natural gas leak above Los Angeles has emitted more than 150 million pounds of methane. Thousands of residents in the community of Porter Ranch have been evacuated and put in temporary housing. The fumes have caused headaches and nosebleeds. The company responsible, Southern California Gas Company, says it could take three to four months to stop the breach. We are joined by two guests: renowned consumer advocate and legal researcher Erin Brockovich, who helped win the biggest class action lawsuit in American history and is now working to seek justice for victims of the Porter Ranch gas leak, and David Balen, president of Renaissance Homeowners Association, located just outside of the breached well site...
Interview:
https://youtu.be/YY2hL-dZcDA

Global Internet Access For The Next Four Billion (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

In many lives, the Internet more and more feels essential in terms of business, communication, education and more. But more than half the world is really not on it. A new White House report says broadband internet service has gone from being an optional amenity to a “core utility.” Like water, sewer and electricity, says the White House. But a new UN report says more than four billion people, more than half the planet, is not there. In poor countries, fewer than one in ten. Is this, should this be, a new human right? This hour On Point, the global digital divide, and its implications. — Tom Ashbrook
Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/09/24/internet-access-next-four-billion

American Islamophobia (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

The US Constitution is crystal clear that there shall be no religious test for public office. Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said Sunday a Muslim should not be president. At a rally in New Hampshire, a Donald Trump supporter says “We have a problem in this country and it’s called Muslims.” Asks, “When can we get rid of them?” Trump says: “We’re going to be looking at that.” Yes, 9/11 happened. And yes, it’s a messy world out there. But suddenly it seems like political open season on Muslim-American citizens. This hour On Point, Islam, American politics, and Islamophobia in America. — Tom Ashbrook
Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/09/23/ahmend-mohamed-islamophobia-ben-carson

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Creationism Whistleblower: ‘Academic Freedom’ Is Sneak Attack on Evolution

Despite the scientific-sounding name, a former Discovery Institute employee says it’s anything but.

“DI is religiously motivated in all they do,” the person said, requesting anonymity. “One way to tell that the motivation is religion, and not science, is to compare DI work product to tech papers produced by working scientists in the field of biology or subfield of evolutionary biology. The two kinds of work product look very different, read very different, and were produced by very different means.”...
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/28/creationism-whistleblower-academic-freedom-is-sneak-attack-on-evolution.html

Expiring on Netflix 1/1/2016: There Will Be Blood

A story of family, religion, hatred, oil and madness, focusing on a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business...
http://www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=70075473&jbp=3&jbr=1

Steve Shives: Activism, Apologists, and the F-Word (The Thinking Atheist)

This is a 30-minute conversation between Seth Andrews and YouTube activist Steve Shives, recorded recently at the Pennsylvania Atheist/Humanist Conference in Harrisburg, PA. Video of this conversation can be seen here: https://youtu.be/2Q4Yv3rgv-0
Interview:
http://www.thethinkingatheist.com/podcast/steve-shives-activism-apologists-and-the-f-word

The God Distraction, Chapter One: Arguments

Can arguments settle the question of God's existence?
https://youtu.be/76Yc_DuZkLY

The State Of Homelessness In America In 2015 (Diane Rehm Show)

The number of homeless in America is going down, but in a handful of cities there have been big increases leading some local leaders to declare states of emergencies.
Interview:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-12-07/the-state-of-homelessness-in-america-in-2015

Stephen Colbert: Donald Trump plays my old character 'better that I ever could'

https://youtu.be/FevhNRfULlU

What's the point if there's no God? | Richard Dawkins, William Lane Craig and others

https://youtu.be/J2CAAf2CmOg

The Case Against the Resurrection (Keith Parsons)

Former pastor Keith Parsons lays out his case against the resurrection.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/CNjweaCZj60

Mapping Police Violence: New Study Shows Cops Have Killed At Least 1,152 in 2015

Amid grief and outrage over the killings of two unarmed African Americans in Chicago, a year-end report from the Mapping Police Violence research project says police nationwide killed at least 1,152 people in 2015. In 14 cities, every single police victim was African-American. And across the country, police killings had little correlation with crime rates and population size. We discuss the findings with Sam Sinyangwe, a statistician who worked on the Mapping Police Violence project...
Interview:
https://youtu.be/6WHd8NEp7lw

Grief & Outrage as Chicago Police Shoot Dead 2 More Unarmed African Americans

Protests continue in Chicago after police shot dead two more unarmed African Americans—Bettie Jones, a 55-year-old mother of five, and 19-year-old college student Quintonio LeGrier. The shooting comes amid outrage over the more than year-old police killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald and a potential police cover-up. Could these killings force Mayor Rahm Emanuel to resign? We are joined by Aislinn Sol of Black Lives Matter Chicago.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/rW4O9miTdjE

Top U.S. & World Headlines — December 28, 2015

https://youtu.be/Y4irtjV_mm0

Atheist Arguments #2 Natural Disasters (Natural Evil)

https://youtu.be/VqPJ5hEvf1w

Bill Nye: Can We Stop Telling Women What to Do With Their Bodies? | BEST OF 2015

The Science Guy argues that most anti-abortion legislation is derived from outdated beliefs that predate smart science by fifty centuries...
https://youtu.be/ME5vQYaSO3k

Five Stupid Things for December 28, 2015

The internet freaks out over a black woman being cast to play Hermione in a new Harry Potter play, Hillary Clinton wants to be thought of as a Latino grandma, and Pro Publica and the Marshall Project publish an unbelievable (and infuriating) story of rape.
https://youtu.be/_SdN9L_gjGk

And Now the Good News #169: 12/29/2015

https://youtu.be/7IUf0tjXaZI

I’m An Atheist, But I’m Not…

“I’m atheist but that doesn’t mean I’m being disrespectful when I ask the question, 'Why?'”
https://youtu.be/zV3KWRy3gKk

Unlimited Corporate Money In Politics Killed Democracy Long Ago

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse explain the threat that unlimited corporate money poses to our democracy.
https://youtu.be/OMhJ2VKMGC0

How Is This Not National News?

--A massive methane leak in Porter Ranch, California, has displaced thousands of residents and is releasing over 30,000 kilograms of methane per hour...
https://youtu.be/7x-4VRg-cRc

The Biggest Health Epidemic Ever That Americans Are Ignoring...

Thom Hartmann reports on a Harvard researchers who say police shootings should be considered a public epidemic and Thom calls for higher standards for police officers.
https://youtu.be/ZLlVh-9htRw

The Real Ten Commandments... the ones from Solon the Athenian Philosopher

1. Trust good character more than promises.
2. Do not speak falsely.
3. Do good things.
4. Do not be hasty in making friends, but do not abandon them once made.
5. Learn to obey before you command.
6. When giving advice, do not recommend what is most pleasing, but what is most useful.
7. Make reason your supreme commander.
8. Do not associate with people who do bad things.
9. Honor the gods.
10. Have regard for your parents.
http://infidels.org/kiosk/article/the-real-ten-commandments-2.html

Grieving relatives and friends of the two victims said Sunday that the slayings raised concerns about why officers “shoot first and ask questions later” and that law enforcement had failed the city's residents...
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/12/27/chicago-police-kill-two-in-domestic-call-one-a-mistake.html

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