Week In The News: Iowa Countdown, Zika Spreads, Oregon Standoff (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

All eyes on Iowa this week as politics get hyper-focused on the eve of the first real voting of the 2016 campaign. Donald Trump says no thanks to a Fox-hosted debate. Cruz, Rubio and the rest show up and have a pretty good go without Donald’s theatrics. Clinton says she’s the proven fighter, but Sanders is revolution-ready. In Oregon, arrests and stand-off casualty. All over, there is dismay at the rapid spread and menace of the Zika virus. This hour On Point, our weekly roundtable goes behind the headlines. — Tom Ashbrook
Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2016/01/29/iowa-caucuses-election-2016-oregon-zika

Friday News Roundup – Domestic (Diane Rehm Show, 2016-01-29)

Candidates make their final pitch to voters before Monday’s Iowa caucuses. Republicans clash during a debate in Des Moines while GOP frontrunner Donald Trump hosts his own event across town. President Obama tells Democrats at a congressional retreat that he’s confident their party will win in November. According the newly released emails, state workers in Flint, Michigan, got clean water several months before a lead advisory went out to residents. NASA remembers the crew of the Challenger space shuttle 30 years after its explosion. And the Obama administration is expected to propose new rules to close the gender pay gap. A panel of journalists joins guest host Indira Lakshmanan for analysis of the week’s top national news stories.
Interview:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2016-01-29/friday-news-roundup-domestic

Friday News Roundup – International (Diane Rehm Show, 2016-01-29)

Denmark faces a backlash over a new law to seize the valuables of asylum-seekers. Syrian peace talks hit a snag. And the World Health Organization warns the Zika virus is “spreading explosively.” A panel of journalists joins guest host Indira Lakshmanan for analysis of the week’s top international news stories.
Interview:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2016-01-29/friday-news-roundup-international

Sundance rundown: This year's standout documentaries

Child gangs in Afghanistan, prostitutes in Mexico and two moviemakers kidnapped by Kim Jong Il are festival highlights...
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2016/1/27/sundance-rundown.html

Ted Cruz Assures Voters He Will Address 'Crisis' Of Gay Marriage | ThinkProgress

Cruz assured DeLong that his presidency would not endorse the Supreme Court’s ruling that same-sex marriage is a Constitutional right, calling it “fundamentally illegitimate, lawless, and unconstitutional.” Previously, Cruz has said individual states should ignore the Supreme Court’s ruling making marriage equality the law of the land. In leaked audio from an event in December, however, Cruz indicated that abolishing same-sex marriage would not be a priority if he was elected president...
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/01/27/3743336/cruz-gay-marriage-iowa/

The Real Reason Trump Is Winning Evangelical Support: They’re Just Not That ‘Religious’ | ThinkProgress

Lots of evangelicals — especially Trump supporters — simply aren’t that ‘religious.’...
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/01/27/3743383/evangelicals-trump-are-not-religious/

States Continue Using Discredited Videos To Attack Planned Parenthood

When did it become OK to base our public policy on false accusations made by people who broke the law?...
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2016/01/27/3743200/state-ignore-grand-jury/

California’s Rooftop Solar Industry Wins In Head To Head With Utilities

The California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday approved an extension to the state’s rooftop solar program, effectively extending the life of the industry and maintaining the thousands of jobs it supports...
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/01/28/3743983/cpuc-favors-net-metering/

Michigan Officials Quietly Gave Bottled Water To State Employees Months Before Flint Residents

The Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget decided to haul water coolers into the Flint state building in January of 2015 out of concern over the city’s water quality, a year before bottled water was being made available to residents, according to documents obtained by Progress Michigan...
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2016/01/28/3743987/flint-water-state-employees/

A Look At Oklahoma’s Record-Setting Collection Of Anti-LGBT Bills

Freedom Oklahoma, the Sooner State’s LGBT advocacy organization, is currently tracking at least 26 different bills that in someway limit, threaten, or actively discriminate against LGBT people. Many mirror efforts in other states, but a few are unique and particularly dangerous to the state’s LGBT population. Here’s a look at the many bills LGBT activists are preparing to fight...
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/01/28/3743440/oklahoma-anti-lgbt-bills-record/

No Matter What You Think About Abortion, The Activists Targeting Planned Parenthood Are Lying

These activists have become infamous for conducting undercover “investigations” that are heavily manipulated to cast abortion clinics in an unflattering light, but their claims tend to fall apart under further scrutiny.
Nonetheless, their extreme narratives about abortion — including wild accusations that professional medical clinics are trafficking in baby parts, decapitating live babies, and dismembering unborn children limb from limb — are gaining traction in mainstream politics...
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2016/01/28/3743247/abortion-extremists-grand-jury/

Mich. Guv Had 'No Knowledge' State Offered Staff Bottled Water Starting In 2015

FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder says he wasn't aware that the state offered fresh bottled water for state employees in Flint starting in January 2015, although residents were told that tap water was safe to drink until last fall. (Reader comments too.)
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/snyder-government-employees-bottled-water-flint

Five Points On How The GOP Ended Up With A Trump v. Cruz Nightmare

After a gut-punching loss in 2012, the Republican Party vowed it would be primed and ready for 2016 with a strong field of candidates who were less focused on serving up red meat to the base and more committed to fine tuning rhetoric that resonated with general election voters.

But it did not go as expected.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/fivepoints/what-is-wrong-with-the-gop

Bernie Sanders Pledges To Repeal Pro-Gun Law He Helped Pass

Sanders said that he will co-sponsor legislation to repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), a law passed by Congress in 2005 that shields gun manufacturers from liability in lawsuits over gun violence. Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, praised Sanders’ decision, calling it a clear victory for gun control advocates which would have been “unthinkable a month ago.”
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/01/28/3743802/bernie-sanders-plcaa/

Discussion: We Finally Get An Obamacare Replacement Question At A GOP Debate! - TPM Article Topics - The Hive

http://forums.talkingpointsmemo.com/t/discussion-we-finally-get-an-obamacare-replacement-question-at-a-gop-debate/31935

Cop Who Killed Laquan McDonald Sabotaged Dash Cam!

Thom Hartmann shares a story that says the Chicago cop, Jason Van Dyke, who murdered 17 year old Laquan McDonald purposely sabotaged the dash cam in his police cruiser.
https://youtu.be/nXXwzX_1IJs

Cruz Pressed On O'Care Repeal: Is It OK That Millions Will Lose Coverage?

"Today there are millions of people who gained health insurance from Obamacare and they now rely on it," Megyn Kelly said, in a question directed towards Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). "If you repeal Obamacare, as you say you will, will you be fine if millions of people don't have health insurance? And what is your specific plan for covering the uninsured?" (See reader comments after the article as well.)
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/obamacare-repeal-question

Congressman Who Led Benghazi Investigation Says He Succeeded By Hurting Hillary's Poll Numbers | ThinkProgress

A third GOP congressman has now declared that the Benghazi Committee was successful because it hurt Hillary Clinton’s presidential prospects...
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/01/29/3744500/darrell-issa-benghazi-hillary/

State Rep. Praises KKK, Wants New Holiday To Honor Confederacy | ThinkProgress

The Ku Klux Klan has gotten a bad rap, according to one Georgia lawmaker. He says the terror group “was not so much a racist thing but a vigilante thing to keep law and order” that “made a lot of people straighten up.”
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/01/29/3744297/state-rep-defends-ku-klux-klan-says-it-was-not-so-much-a-racist-thing/

Video Of Oregon Occupier's Final Moments Contradicts Claims Police Killed Him With His Hands Up | ThinkProgress

Video of the deadly encounter between police and some of the men who’ve occupied an Oregon wildlife preserve since the start of the year seems to contradict claims that occupier Lavoy Finicum was surrendering to officers when they killed him...
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/01/29/3744307/lavoy-finicum-video-oregon-reaching/

Texas' Devious Plan To Silently Kill Roe v. Wade | ThinkProgress

Wednesday, the Texas attorney general’s office sent the Supreme Court a blueprint for overruling Roe v. Wade without actually having to write the words “Roe v. Wade is overruled.” It is a heavy-handed, oafish appeal to the darkest fears of abortion opponents. It is also an absolutely brilliant bid for the one vote that matters in a major abortion case, Justice Anthony Kennedy’s...
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/01/29/3743702/texas-devious-plan-to-silently-kill-roe-v-wade/

Ted Cruz’s National Security Plan Features War Crimes

Instead of addressing the discrepancies in his voting record, Cruz defended his past promises of “carpet bombing” and “saturation bombing” parts of Iraq and Syria, saying it was a successful strategy for the United States during the Persian Gulf War...
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/01/28/3744174/cruz-carpet-bombing/

Moon rocks reveal humongous collision muddled Earth and Moon

Researchers found that moon rocks and Earth's rocks are surprisingly similar, yielding clues into the violent event that created the moon.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2016/0129/Moon-rocks-reveal-cosmic-collision-with-Earth-spawned-the-Moon

Stockholm train station mob on rampage beating up refugee children | Daily Mail Online

A mob of black-clad masked men went on a rampage in and around Stockholm's main train station last night beating up refugees and anyone who did not look like they were ethnically Swedish...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3423968/Mobs-hundreds-masked-men-rampage-Stockholm-central-station-beating-refugee-children.html

Legal Jihad: Marine Dad Sues Md. School District Over Lesson On Islam

There are no hard-and-fast rules in life but here’s one that comes close: When the Religious Right says somebody’s been persecuted, there’s almost always more to the story.
https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/legal-jihad-marine-dad-sues-md-school-district-over-lesson-on-islam

Club Fight: Tenn. Residents Complain About High School’s Gay-Straight Alliance

How Religious Right groups helped spark the creation of Gay-Straight Alliance clubs in America's public high schools.
https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/club-fight-tenn-residents-complain-about-high-school-s-gay-straight

YOUR GRAMMAR SUCKS #105

https://youtu.be/IcAWTJDgitw

The Enviromental Disaster Nobody Is Talking About

TRANSCRIPT
January 29, 2016

SAMANTHA PAGE, ThinkProgress: California’s gas leak has released almost 90,000 metric tons of methane since October.

That’s the equivalent of $14 million worth of natural gas. And the environment effects? It’s about equal to putting an extra 1.41 million cars on the road.That’s right, this is pretty much California’s biggest leak ever.

SoCal Gas, which owns the leaking storage facility, doesn’t know what cause the rupture, and stopping this volcano of gas? It’s complicated. They expect it’ll take about another whole month.

But don’t worry...

The U.S. is the largest consumer of natural gas in the world. We have about 400 storage facilities like this. So it's just a matter of time before this happens again. Isn’t that something?
https://youtu.be/2lV2uFZF7TA

WATCH: OR Militant Went for Gun Twice Before Being Shot Dead

--The FBI has released an aerial video of the Oregon militia arrest and shooting; LaVoy Finicum appears to reach for something near his waist twice before being shot and killed...
https://youtu.be/LlVuBivECvU

Obama Finally Fights Back Against Republican Obstruction; Will It Be Enough?

Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins and Sam Seder discuss President Obama’s final year in office, and the executive decisions he has been making as of late.
https://youtu.be/NZ2Kqi3lWSg

Generational War: Baby Boomers Underestimate The Passion Of Young Voters

"...The next time you see a picture of a Donald Trump rally, look closely and try to identify anyone in that crowd under the age of 30. If you identify as many as five “ralliers” in that age group, you should keep that picture because it will be a collector’s item. The fastest growing group of voters today is 18 to 30 year-olds. The idea that they don’t vote is a myth. Out of the 65 million votes that sent Obama to the White House, around 24 million were from the Millennial Generation.

They’ve been identified by some as the “O” generation. That “O” represents Obama, not “old folks.” Eighteen to 30-year old voters this year will outnumber the remnants of baby boomers who are beginning to look like peculiar artifacts to a generation that is all in on the idea of “change.”

Young voters are not going away. There is a greater chance that the people in those GOP rally photos will see far fewer birthdays than the 18 to 30-year olds who seem to have very little in common with graying Republican voters..."
https://youtu.be/uu97zE2w5AQ

Fact checking the GOP debate

The candidates tried to focus on the issues in last night's debate but what they said wasn't always truthful.
https://youtu.be/n7OGdpU31v4

Brainwashed Christian threatens Atheist with eternal torture. - Atheist Experience

https://youtu.be/eyp5pTnA2D8

Countering the Kalam (5) - Responding to William Lane Craig

https://youtu.be/rKqLH1gM9Yo

Countering the Kalam Argument (TheoreticalBS vs. William Lane Craig)

https://youtu.be/aB5yG_k04NM

Real Time with Bill Maher: The War on Drugs...and Voters (HBO)

Bill Maher and his guests – former Rep. Trey Radel, Adam McKay, Thom Hartmann and Kristen Soltis Anderson – discuss the voter suppression taking place under the guise of the War on Drugs in this clip from January 29, 2016.
https://youtu.be/abVd1KkTWlU

Real Time with Bill Maher: Overtime – January 29, 2016 (HBO)

Bill Maher and his guests – Kristen Soltis Anderson, Thom Hartmann and former Rep. Trey Radel – answer viewer questions after the show.
https://youtu.be/bxaZcjLtGVg

Real Time with Bill Maher: New Rule – Lies Are the New Truth (HBO)

In his editorial New Rule, Bill Maher discusses the "fact-free lifestyle" politicians are leading and addresses the Internet's role in enabling it. Original air date: January 29, 2016.
https://youtu.be/I8bihhjH3nI

Ben & Jerry’s Co-Founder Explains Why America Needs Bernie Sanders

In just a few days, we’ll have the results from the Iowa caucus, and so far this has already been a race for the record books. Nobody had expected Bernie Sanders to present a real challenge to Hillary Clinton, but today, he’s neck and neck with her in early primary states. His surge is happening because people are tired of the influence that corporations have over our democracy, and because people are excited about a politician that actually appears to be honest. One of Bernie’s biggest supporters is Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/IQcH9fTZKys

The Bible Is Inerrant, Except When It's Not - Atheist Experience

A fundamentalist creationist calls in, trying to prove the Bible's inerrancy first with prophecies, then with arguments against evolution.
https://youtu.be/t7wgTk7nCZI

The results of a warped morality through indoctrination (The Atheist Experience)

https://youtu.be/rM3WVL3DvZM

Lawrence Krauss on Asteroids, Old Stars and Scientific Method

Interview:
https://youtu.be/pQYES6MIUSI

Top U.S. & World Headlines — January 29, 2016

https://youtu.be/aI1IJnGw_kE

Trump Absent, GOP Presidential Candidates Face Off on Syria, Planned Parenthood & Islamophobia (DemocracyNow.org)

Seven Republican presidential candidates faced off Thursday in their final debate before the Iowa caucuses. The front-runner, at least according to the polls, was missing. Donald Trump hosted his own event three miles away, saying he was boycotting the debate after Fox News refused to remove anchor Megyn Kelly as one of its moderators. We feature excerpts from the debate about Planned Parenthood, proposals to "carpet bomb" areas of Syria in the effort to fight the self-proclaimed Islamic State, and hate crimes against Muslims; and get reaction from a man who ran for president as a third-party candidate. Rocky Anderson, the former mayor of Salt Lake City, is a former Democrat who once endorsed Mitt Romney for governor of Massachusetts. In 2012, he ran for president on the Justice Party ticket. He’s also an attorney and the founder of High Road for Human Rights.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/V25wdur_kPc

These Low-Wage Workers Want The GOP Candidates To Know How They Live

Alicia McDonald’s son sleeps on the floor of her small trailer home because she can’t afford a bigger home. Her two children, now 11 and 12, will probably not go to college unless they receive full scholarships. She’s worked at McDonald’s, off and on, for 12 years, and makes $8 an hour...
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2016/01/28/3743990/fight-for-15-protest-iowa/

Cruz’s Closing Argument: I’m The Most Anti-Abortion Candidate

“Every candidate in a Republican primary says they’re pro-life. That’s what you say in a Republican primary, regardless of the facts,” Cruz said. “The question we ought to ask is, don’t tell me that you’re pro-life. Show me. When have you stood up and fought to defend the right to life?”
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2016/01/28/3743660/ted-cruz-abortion-rally/

Anti-LGBT Bills Begin Advancing In Indiana And South Dakota

Despite the fact that Visit Indy reported this week that the backlash against last year’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) cost the city $60 million, Indiana lawmakers proceeded this week with advancing more anti-LGBT legislation. On Wednesday, the Senate Rules and Legislative Procedure Committee voted 7-5 to approve SB 344, which purports to create nondiscrimination protections based on sexual orientation, but which actually creates so many religious exemptions that the protections would be unenforceable. All that the bill offers transgender people is a study committee to consider protecting them in the future...
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/01/28/3743668/indiana-south-dakota-discrimination-bills/

Old Testament Law and Noah's Flood - Atheist Experience

An atheist calls in and asks about how he should best argue with Christians about the Old Testament Law, and an interesting conversation begins.
https://youtu.be/rU6MMVSq2hA

Canada Just Announced A Major Pipeline Reform | ThinkProgress

Pipelines and natural gas export terminals proposed in the country will now be subject to a climate test, which will seek to determine how the project will impact greenhouse gas emissions, Canadian officials announced Wednesday. That test will take into account the “upstream” impacts of a project — meaning the emissions from the extraction of the oil or gas that the pipeline would carry or the gas the terminal would store — as well as the emissions created from building and maintaining the project...
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/01/28/3743272/canada-new-pipeline-climate-test/

Koch-linked group blasts John Kasich in ad buy

“John Kasich — not a conservative. Not even a moderate. An Obama Republican,” the ad’s narrator says. The ad zeroes in on Kasich’s purported support of Common Core educational standards, Medicaid expansion and tax increases...
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2016/1/28/koch-linked-group-blasts-john-kasich-in-ad-buy.html

Canada’s missing: Thousands of lost or murdered indigenous women

Stories of First Nations women who have been abducted and likely killed, without a trace.
http://america.aljazeera.com/multimedia/2016/1/canada-missing-indigenous-women.html

Clay tablets reveal Babylonians discovered astronomical geometry 1,400 years before Europeans

The medieval mathematicians of Oxford, toiling in torchlight in a land ravaged by plague, managed to invent a simple form of calculus that could be used to track the motion of heavenly bodies. But now a scholar studying ancient clay tablets suggests that the Babylonians got there first, and by at least 1,400 years...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/01/28/clay-tablets-reveal-babylonians-invented-astronomical-geometry-1400-years-before-europeans/

House Democrats Call Out Republicans For Jumping To Conclusions On Planned Parenthood

After a Texas grand jury this week rejected criminal allegations against Planned Parenthood related to a series of controversial undercover videos released last year, House Democrats are accusing their Republican colleagues of being “all too eager to jump to conclusions at the risk of women’s health.”...
http://www.newsweek.com/house-democrats-accuse-republicans-planned-parenthood-420301

Google's Go triumph is a milestone for artificial intelligence research

Go is not just any board game. It's more than 2,000 years old and is played by more than 60m people across the world – including a thousand professionals. Creating a superhuman computer Go player able to beat these top pros has been one of the most challenging targets of AI research for decades...
http://phys.org/news/2016-01-google-triumph-milestone-artificial-intelligence.html

Dispatchers Ignored 19-Year-Old's Emergency Calls Before Police Killed Him | ThinkProgress

In the first call made on December 26, LeGrier asks the dispatcher to send an officer, but doesn’t specify why one is needed. The teenager repeatedly says the word “emergency,” but the dispatcher says she won’t send an officer until LeGrier says his full name. She hangs up in less than two minutes...
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/01/27/3743230/dispatchers-ignored-19-year-olds-emergency-calls-before-police-killed-him/

Renewables To Surpass Coal As World’s Primary Power Source By 2030

In November, the International Energy Agency quietly dropped this bombshell projection: “Driven by continued policy support, renewables account for half of additional global generation, overtaking coal around 2030 to become the largest power source.”...
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/01/27/3712181/renewables-surpass-coal-2030/

GOP Still Investigating Planned Parenthood, Even After Sting Videos Backfire

“It’s become totally clear that the only people who engaged in wrongdoing are the criminals behind this fraud,” she said. “You would hope that other people who now have very clear evidence in this impartial and thorough grand jury proceeding would reconsider some of these attacks.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/planned-parenthood-indictments-republican-investigation_us_56a8e604e4b0f71799288be7

Starry: high-speed Internet without the cables

Starry is a new company that is promising to bring high-speed Internet over the air. The company says it can deliver gigabit speed Internet that will be beamed to its customers like Wi-Fi.
https://youtu.be/Ofu3Cn6wjKg

Jeb Bush: Flint, MI Gov. Was 'Spectacular,' Now Just 'Great'

Poisoning an entire city to save money on the water supply is, you know, a big deal, but not like, a BIG deal. Jeb still thinks Rick Snyder deserves some credit here...
https://youtu.be/banLsWVNaBA

How The One Percent Reshaped Democracy In Their Image

It’s no secret that our democracy today is owned by large corporations and the wealthy elite. And for most Americans coming of age today, this is simply how things have always been. But rest assured – this is not how the government has always been run.
https://youtu.be/B0JymEu4VrE

Walmart to shut over 100 stores across the country

Walmart had to make the move because of lower earnings and increased competition from online retailers like Amazon.
https://youtu.be/VmHh61okgzY

Top U.S. & World Headlines — January 28, 2016

https://youtu.be/KuwMgrCZBRk

RWW News: Troy Newman Links California Drought To Abortion Laws

Troy Newman speaks to the Future Conference at Skyline Church in June, 2015, and says that the drought in California is a result of that state's liberal abortion laws...
https://youtu.be/NCU5Fcj7djc

GOP Gov LePage Tells Gun Owners To 'Load Up And Get Rid Of The Drug Dealers'

...One day Maine's governor is talking about using the guillotine on drug dealers. The next, he's talking about using guns...
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/lepage-gun-owners-load-up-drug-dealers

Robert Gates: Republicans' Grasp of National Security Is at Child's Level

Former defense secretary says level of dialogue among candidates "would embarrass a middle schooler."
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/robert-gates-republicans-grasp-national-security-childs-level

Carly Fiorina's connection to Merck (Al Jazeera America exclusive)

Al Jazeera has learned that Fiorina has ties to a drug company that was using stem cell lines from aborted fetuses.
https://youtu.be/av4xHVSGsJ8

'Boys Don’t Get Raped': 'American Crime' Is Smashing Damaging Myths About Sexual Assault

Men get raped. They make up an estimated 14 percent of total victims, although we’re pretty intent to collectively pretend that’s not true. ... ABC's acclaimed drama is grappling with a plot that echoes in a Tennessee high school basketball team assault case.
http://www.alternet.org/culture/boys-dont-get-raped-american-crime-smashing-damaging-myths-about-sexual-assault

The Ted Cruz as a Teenager Video: The Longer Version

Is this for real? Is this an accurate transcript of what young Ted Cruz is saying? Do you consider this "normal" talk for a teenager?

“Aspirations, is that like sweat on my butt? …What you want me—what I want to do in life. Well, my aspiration is to, uh, to be in a teen hit film like that guy who played Horatio…
“Well, other than that, uh, take over the world. World domination. Yeah, rule everything…
“Other aspirations? You still talking about the sweat that comes out of my stinky little butt? I’d like to defund Planned Parenthood. Stop the gays from getting married. That kind of stuff.
“One aspiration of mine is to steal thin mints from a girl scout, stick ‘em on my butt.
“You know, I’d really like to push a blind kid down the stairs with my butt.
“Well, I’d like to fart in my dog’s mouth, I guess, using my butt. Carpet bomb some brown people.
“Oh wow, lookie here (chews a cookie). Tastes just like my aspiration.

“Uh, pee on my own butt.
“Deport the immigrants and build a wall around Mexico.
“More aspirations (with unbuttoned shirt, rubs stomach). Um-hum, I sure do love to drink the sweat that comes out of my butt.
“I’m Ted Cruz and I want to run for president.
“What a day! What a day to be Ted Cruz. (Drinks water from a fountain) Tastes like my dad’s butt.”

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/adb8be5410/young-ted-cruz-outtakes?_cc=__d___&_ccid=56823aaa70221857

Dumb and Dumber: Trump, Palin and the Celebration of Stupidity in U.S. Politics

Over time, America's political rhetoric has relentlessly declined...
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/donald-trump-sarah-palin-and-how-stupidity-shaping-gop-politics

Charter School Insiders Now Admit Public Education Can't Be Remade In Wall St.'s Image

A new smokescreen to shield 'non-profit' charters.
http://www.alternet.org/education/charter-school-insiders-now-admit-public-education-cant-be-remade-wall-sts-image

CBS Host Laughs in Ted Cruz's Face While He Lies

https://youtu.be/E11hE8ZjyVc

North Carolina GOP Accused Of Intentionally Suppressing Black Votes To Preserve Their Majority | ThinkProgress

The state is claiming that the law was passed to prevent voter fraud, though there is no evidence of widespread fraud at the ballot box...
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/01/25/3742000/nc-voter-id-trial/

Charter School Network Accused Of Discriminating Against Disabled Students

The group of parents who filed the complaint say that the school’s strict rules pushed some of them to withdraw their children, and cite 13 students with disabilities whom they claim were over-disciplined there...
http://thinkprogress.org/education/2016/01/25/3742316/charter-school-disability-complaint/

Walking the plank in Iowa

“Atheists have a saying: keep your theocracy out of our democracy,” Scott said.
http://www.northerniowan.com/3372/showcase/walking-the-plank-in-iowa/

Indiana Took $60 Million Hit After Passing Antigay Law

Last year's so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act severely damaged the state's convention and tourism business — and lawmakers are weighing passing an even more anti-LGBT measure this year...
http://www.advocate.com/religion/2016/1/26/indiana-took-60-million-hit-after-passing-antigay-law

Why Bernie Sanders doesn't participate in organized religion

“I am what I am,” he said. “And what I believe in, and what my spirituality is about, is that we’re all in this together.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bernie-sanders-finally-answers-the-god-question/2016/01/26/83429390-bfb0-11e5-bcda-62a36b394160_story.html

Clinton’s Faith Talk Not New, But Was There A Better Answer?

Clinton could have said, “I am a Christian, a Methodist, but you know the Constitution prohibits religious tests for the presidency. I believe strongly in protecting the religious freedom of all Americans, as guaranteed by the Constitution.” Or she could have said, “I am a Christian, a Methodist, and while like every religious person my views of the Bible are important to me personally, our Constitution guarantees a secular government, and I believe our law and public policy should not be based on any particular religious view.”...
http://religiondispatches.org/clintons-faith-talk-not-new-but-was-there-a-better-answer/

The Truth About Ted Cruz

https://youtu.be/xtL41Pr2d5s

Mr. Deity Episode 4: Mr. Deity and the Messages

Mr. Deity explains prayer to Jesus while Larry gathers info on the evening's activities.
https://youtu.be/UaZDcS-rMf4

Top U.S. & World Headlines — January 27, 2016

https://youtu.be/ezWHtnI4X5E

Terrified Republicans Try One Final Time To Derail Trump’s Insane Campaign

A week out, and Donald Trump is still in the lead, with Ted Cruz in a distant second. This comes as no surprise to anyone who’s looked at a poll in the last two months, but it isn’t what the Republican establishment wanted to see a week before the first caucus.

Like most of us, the Republican establishment never imagined that Donald Trump would make it this far in his campaign. They assumed that Jeb Bush would be the frontrunner and that the race would basically be over before voters in Iowa even made it to the polls. But as we’ve explained in the past, the establishment grossly underestimated their own base – a base that they lost touch with when the Tea Party burst onto the scene with the help of the Koch brothers.
https://youtu.be/ccBvL2-7E0k

Action Alert: Tell Your Legislators to Keep Federal Money out of Religious Schools

This week marks National School Choice Week, when proponents of private school vouchers urge lawmakers to divert government funds away from public schools. Please take a moment and write to your legislators urging them to commit to keeping federal dollars out of private religious schools this year.

Last year, we successfully defeated a proposed amendment to the Every Child Succeeds Act that would have diverted billions to private schools, the vast majority of which are religiously affiliated. Despite our success, we are remaining vigilant and fighting back attempts in Congress to make these vouchers a reality this year.

Public funds should be used to support schools that serve all children, not just a select few. Religious schools are not held to the same civil rights standards public schools are, meaning that they can deny LGBT and disabled students equal access to educational opportunities.

These “school choice" voucher programs violate the separation of church and state by allowing taxpayer money to fund sectarian religious organizations. Take action now.
http://action.secular.org/app/write-a-letter?5&engagementId=162653

6 Cleveland Police Officers Are Fired Over Deadly 2012 Chase And Shooting

The Cleveland Division of Police has fired Michael Brelo and five other officers over their actions during a high-speed chase in 2012 that ended in the deaths of two unarmed suspects. Brelo was accused of jumping onto the vehicle's hood and firing 15 rounds through its windshield...
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/26/464457805/6-cleveland-police-officers-are-fired-over-deadly-2012-chase-and-shooting

8 Things You Missed At Democrats' Final Iowa Town Hall

If you weren't tuned in to two hours of late-night cable, you would have missed Democrats making a final urgent pitch to voters Monday night in an Iowa town hall. We'll catch up you up...
http://www.npr.org/2016/01/26/464389768/8-things-you-missed-at-democrats-final-iowa-town-hall

Planned Parenthood Indictments: A Closer Look - Late Night with Seth Meyers

Seth takes a closer look at the recent indictments of anti-abortion activists investigating Planned Parenthood.
https://youtu.be/yHBdLC4AD04

Rumsfeld Blames Iraq's Instability On Religion, Instead Of The War He Started | ThinkProgress

“I think the disorder in the entire region, and the conflict between the Sunnis and the Shia, is something that, generally, people had not anticipated.”
http://thinkprogress.org/world/2016/01/26/3742874/rumsfeld-iraq-instability-religion/