Huckabee Causes Stir With Libido Remarks - He says Dems think women can't control themselves

"Mike Huckabee's take on the "war on women" caused a stir yesterday when he said Democrats want women to think they are weaklings who can't control their own sex drives..."http://www.newser.com/story/181228/huckabee-causes-stir-with-libido-remarks.html

Why Conservative Christians Have Higher Divorce Rates

http://youtu.be/hpqXtmaGQhc

‘Help’ Not Wanted: Most Of Ohio’s School Vouchers Go Unused

Voucher advocates don't care what the public wants, nor do they care what's best for students. ... Read more

Report finds nearly a quarter of Americans did not read a single book in the last year.

"The Pew Research Center reported last week that nearly a quarter of American adults had not read a single book in the past year. As in, they hadn't cracked a paperback, fired up a Kindle, or even hit play on an audiobook while in the car. The number of non-book-readers has nearly tripled since 1978..."

Read more

Latest 'Rising Stars' Highlight GOP's Outreach To Women

Latest 'Rising Stars' Highlight GOP's Outreach To Women by Frank James January 23, 2014 7:38 PM i i Republican National Committee Chairman Reince ... Read more

Conservative Writer D'Souza Indicted On Campaign Fraud Charges

"Another charge alleges that D'Souza, 52, made false statements about the contributions, which he is accused of routing through third parties. That charge carries a possible maximum punishment of five years in prison...."

Conservative Writer D'Souza Indicted On Campaign Fraud Charges by Bill Chappell January 23, 2014 8:34 PM Prominent conservative writer and filmmake... Read more

Google starts ranking ISPs based on YouTube performance

"We've of course seen no limit to the complaints by users that YouTube videos often get stuck buffering, despite blisteringly-fast connections. Most customers blame their ISPs, while most ISPs (or companies paid by ISPs) blame Google. The real reason is often the power and cash struggles going on behind the scenes over CDN and peering links, with last-mile ISPs, core network ISPs, and content companies like Google all sometimes playing a role in making your YouTube performance suck.

With that in mind, Google has posted a new video quality report..." https://secure.dslreports.com/shownews/Google-Starts-Ranking-ISPs-Based-on-YouTube-Performance-127440

Fetus in Texas Life Support Case 'Distinctly Abnormal' - Lawyers say they have medical records to that end

"The 22-week-old fetus of the pregnant Texas woman being kept on life support against her wishes is "distinctly abnormal," lawyers for Marlise Munoz's family say. The attorneys say they have medical records showing as much, and want to clear up any "misconceptions about the condition of the fetus," NBC News reports..."

http://www.newser.com/story/181180/fetus-in-texas-life-support-case-distinctly-abnormal.html

Dinesh D'Souza Indicted For Campaign Finance Fraud

"Dinesh D'Souza, a conservative commentator and best-selling author, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for arranging excessive campaign contributions to a candidate for the U.S. Senate.

According to an indictment made public on Thursday in federal court in Manhattan, D'Souza around August 2012 reimbursed people who he had directed to contribute $20,000 to the candidate's campaign. The candidate was not named in the indictment..."

He's also a prominent Christian apologist, by the way, who argues for the superiority of Christian morality.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/23/dinesh-dsouza-indicted_n_4654984.html

Illinois GOP Candidate Says God Put Autism and Dementia on Earth as Punishment for Marriage Equality and Abortion (Daily Herald)

"I am a conservative Republican and I believe in God first," Atanus said. She said she believes God controls the weather and has put tornadoes and diseases such as autism and dementia on earth as punishment for gay rights and legalized abortions.
"God is angry. We are provoking him with abortions and same-sex marriage and civil unions," she said. "Same-sex activity is going to increase AIDS. If it's in our military it will weaken our military. We need to respect God."

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20140121/news/701219738/

Noah Took a Baby Dinosaur on the Ark? 5 Extremist Christian "Science" Teachings

"...The Christian curriculum that says its students should not have any knowledge of anything contrary to the Bible...
Accelerated Christian Education is a fundamentalist school curriculum used in a claimed 6,000 schools and 145 countries. Despite the name, education is actually second to its stated primary purpose, which is "to diligently teach our children to love the Lord in every sphere of their lives, with all their hearts, all their souls, and all their minds," according to its website..."

http://www.alternet.org/noah-took-baby-dinosaur-ark-5-extremist-christian-science-teachings

Humanity Is Becoming Increasingly Less Violent, with One Exception -- Religious Violence

"Humanity Is Becoming Increasingly Less Violent, with One Exception -- Religious Violence... Studies demonstrate the world is becoming less violent, and that human warfare is on the decline. There is one aspect of the human existence, however, that continues to ignite humans to commit violence and atrocities against fellow humans. A major new study published by the Pew Research Center shows that religious hostilities reached a 6-year high in 2012..."

http://www.alternet.org/belief/humanity-becoming-increasingly-less-violent-one-exception-religious-violence

Consumer Reports: Too many sodas contain potential carcinogen

"(CNN) -- A chemical found in many sodas may be dangerous to your health, Consumer Reports says. And no, it's not sugar (this time)..."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/23/health/consumer-reports-soda-caramel-coloring/

A Big Fracking Lie

"If you want to know just how bad an idea it is for America to ship “fracked” natural gas to overseas markets, travel the 65 miles from the White House to a place called Cove Point in southern Maryland..."

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/01/fracking-natural-gas-exports-climate-change-102452.html

Fascinating investigative report: Secret accounts paid for clergy misconduct but left church open to financial abuse

"...Internal financial reports show the archdiocese used the stealth accounts repeatedly, paying nearly $11 million from 2002 to 2011 — about 3 percent of overall archdiocese revenues in those years — for costs tied to clergy misconduct under Flynn and his successor, Archbishop John Nienstedt.

The system allowed archdiocese leaders to remove priests who had committed child abuse or other infractions without attracting attention. Lax accounting controls let church leaders cut checks to make problems go away..."

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/catholic-church/2014/01/23/secret-accounts-kept-clergy-misconduct-quiet-but-left-archdiocese-finances-exposed/

Fastest ever broadband speeds achieved

"LONDON: In a breakthrough, scientists in the UK have achieved the "fastest ever" broadband speeds of 1.4 terabits per second - enough to transmit 44 high-definition movies at once..."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/internet/Fastest-ever-broadband-speeds-achieved/articleshow/29254861.cms

10 Things Only People With Attention Problems Understand

Don't worry...it's only two minutes.

http://youtu.be/t8dJMYadkWQ

Election panel eyes reforms

"...In this sense, the new non-partisan commission represents something of a challenge to Republican policymakers at every level: you can make it easier or harder for Americans to participate in their own democracy. This panel concluded that “no citizen should have to wait more than 30 minutes to vote,” and presented steps to help ensure that standard is met.

Are Republican officials prepared to take this seriously or not?"

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/election-panel-eyes-reforms

Atheists, evolution is just a theory!

http://youtu.be/Gsq73Lfyaes

Republican Leaders Will Pick Yet Another Debt Ceiling Fight

Republicans are gearing up to pick yet another fight on the debt ceiling. Speaker John Boehner's (R-OH) office on Wednesday signaled another standoff... Read more

The Cult Of Francismania; Why Pope Francis isn't as progressive as you think...

*** Explicit Language ***

http://youtu.be/St1I1uCMNrk

6 Million People Have Enrolled In Medicaid Since Obamacare Launched

Some 6.3 million people have enrolled in Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program since Oct. 1, when HealthCare.gov and its state counterpa... Read more

Between 2005 and 2011, nearly half of all new drug formulations in the US were approved without companies having to demonstrate a tangible benefit

"...Taken together, the articles support calls for the FDA to be more robust in the surveillance of marketed drugs and medical products. Simply stated, we need to know if the products we are using actually work. As the Downing study shows, the FDA’s pre-market review process isn’t clear on this and the public remain none the wiser."
Read more

Why Are Republicans Plotting To Sabotage A Crackdown On Tax Evasion?

 Activists will reportedly make repealing a law cracking down on tax evasion an official party goal at this week's Republican ... Read more

Why Target’s Part-Time Employees Will Be Better Off Under Obamacare

Target will send employees who work 30 hours or less per week off to Obamacare's marketplaces -- and that's a very good ... Read more

Europe Just Set Out To Cut Its Carbon Emissions 40 Percent By 2030

Environmental groups called the targets inadequate, but the framework does make the EU the first group of nations to pledge ... Read more

Hate to Stand In Line?

On election night in 2012, a newly re-elected President Barack Obama uttered an important aside in his speech: "I want to thank ... Read more

WCJ: 'Perhaps America Will Throw This Marxist Out Of Office And Imprison Him For Treason'

Right Wing Watch reports on the extreme rhetoric and activities of key right-wing figures and organizations by showing their views in their own words. In this video produced by the Western Center for Journalism, the group seeks to explain how President Obama is a communist out to destroy America.

http://youtu.be/6GltQk0gr6U

Texas Bent on Executing Mexican It Arrested Illegally - Lone Star state shrugs over protests as man set to die tonight

Edgar Arias Tamayo is scheduled to be executed in Texas tonight—despite a number of high-level requests that the execution be halted because Tamayo's arrest violated international law.

http://www.newser.com/story/181098/texas-bent-on-executing-mexican-it-arrested-illegally.html

Debate: Atheists vs New Age (Harris + Shermer vs Chopra + Houston)

Debate Topic: Does god have a future?

http://youtu.be/177icxRvUeI

RWW News: Beck Says Bill Nye Is Like Those Who Tried To Silence Galileo

Glenn Beck says Bill Nye is on the wrong side of history and is like those who tried to silence Galileo.

How A Stone And The Woman Holding It Made A Bigot Back Down

"Pamela Raintree and her stone are being celebrated by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community of Shreveport, Louisiana, for their incredible parts in sustaining the city's LGBT non-discrimination ordinance, which was under threat of repeal.

As Towleroad notes, the transgender woman recently confronted Councilman Ron Webb, the single dissenting vote against the ordinance, which passed in December, and the mastermind behind a repeal of the law."* The Young Turks hosts Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian break it down.

http://youtu.be/vxzTYoDtyQA

President Obama Isn't 'Playing The Race Card'

"Don Lemon led an intense panel discussion Monday night over President Obama's comments about race and whether, as Republican strategist Alice Stewart argued, it was Obama "playing the race card" or if he was just "stating the obvious" about how there are just some white people and black people who make their judgments of the president's performance based on his skin color...".* Ana Kasparian, Dave Rubin (host, The Rubin Report) and Desi Doyen (host, Green News Report) break it down on The Young Turks.

http://youtu.be/TFtfyIBQGQ8

Charter For Creationism?: Activist Finds Questionable Science In Tax-Funded School Chain

"A Texas charter school chain's science curriculum is studded with common creationist canards..."

Read more

Republicans Seek To Sabotage Obamacare With Higher Premiums

Conservative wonks and Republican lawmakers are coalescing around a new strategy to sabotage Obamacare by repealing a temporary piece of the law desig... Read more

If You See Something, Say Something: Another Top Climatologist On The Necessity Of Speaking Out

 Obama just told The New Yorker, "I think we are fortunate at the moment that we do not face a crisis of the scale and scope ... Read more

5 telltale signs you received a fake Target email

"Target is sending out millions of emails to customers who had their personal information stolen in the recent security breach, and scammers are coming out of the woodwork..." 
Read more

Michigan Official: Let's 'Herd all the Indians' to Detroit - In Florida, meanwhile, a candidate wants Obama hanged

"Detroit: In an interview with the New Yorker, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said this: “I made a prediction a long time ago, and it’s come to pass. I said, 'What we’re gonna do is turn Detroit into an Indian reservation, where we herd all the Indians into the city, build a fence around it, and then throw in the blankets and the corn.'..."

http://www.newser.com/story/181091/michigan-official-lets-herd-all-the-indians-to-detroit.html

New Safe Method to Conduct Miller-Urey Experiments

"Researchers have developed a new, safer and simplified approach to the method used by Stanley Miller and Harold Urey in 1953.
Miller-Urey experiments were aimed to figure out the origin of life on the Earth. Their research concluded that organic compounds were important for the origin of life on primitive earth..."

http://www.frenchtribune.com/teneur/1421606-new-safe-method-conduct-miller-urey-experiments

Article: India Almost Doubled Its Solar Power In 2013 With Big Plans For More

India added just over 1 gigawatt of solar energy to its electrical grid last year, a major milestone that nearly doubles the country’s cumulative solar energy capacity to 2.18 gigawatts. After a slow start to the year, solar installation picked up rapidly — a good sign that India will be able to meet its ambitious solar targets going forward. India hopes to install 10 GW of solar by 2017 and 20 GW by 2022.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/01/21/3184561/india-solar-target-success/

As Flu Season Intensifies, Most Americans Can Now Get Their Shots For Free Under Obamacare

"Flu season is hitting younger Americans particularly hard this year, largely because they’re forgoing the vaccine. But one thing that might motivate more Americans to get a shot is the fact that for many of them, it’s now completely free.

Obamacare requires any preventative care deemed important by a government task force of doctors and public health experts to be covered without a co-pay. Many Americans don’t realize that those regulations actually affect every American insurance plan, not just ones sold through the state and federal Obamacare marketplaces. The only policies that aren’t subject to these requirements are a handful of older plans that existed before the law’s passage in 2010 that were “grandfathered” out of the regulations (and even these plans will eventually cease to exist)..."

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/01/21/3185821/obamacare-flu-shots-free/

Florida State House Candidate Calls For Execution Of President Obama

Joshua Black, a Republican candidate for Florida’s state House of Representatives, tweeted Monday that President Obama should be hanged for treason.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/01/21/3186811/florida-state-house-hang-obama/

Chinese Pollution Is Making Its Way to the West Coast, and It's America's Fault

The stifling air pollution you keep reading about in China is actually a byproduct of American outsourcing and now that pollution is drifting across the globe to the Western U.S. At least, that's the claim made by a new study, that the paper's co-authors called a "boomerang" effect...
http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/01/china-pollution-west-coast/357206/

Republican Governors Starting to Realize People Like Medicaid

"
Medicaid is the one bright spot in Obamacare's kinda sad rollout — it hasn't been crippled by the PR and website problems that slowed down private insurance. We've heard a lot about people who lost their old insurance plans under Obamacare, but many who benefit from the Medicaid expansion didn't have insurance in the first place. In a New York Times profile of an Obamacare "winner," 54-year-old disabled nurse Sharon Mills from West Virginia, the Times found that, perhaps not surprisingly, people are intensely relieved and less depressed when they have insurance. As the Medicaid expansion continues to do well in the states that adopted it, anti-expansion governors are starting to come around..."

http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/01/republican-governors-starting-realize-people-medicaid/357218/

Article: Human Rights Watch annual report 2014 criticises NSA mass surveillance

States with poor human rights records may use spying scandal as excuse to clamp down on internet freedom, report warns
http://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/jan/21/human-rights-watch-report-criticises-nsa-mass-surveillance

Israeli Defense Minister: 'Obsessed With Peace? How DARE You?'

"American efforts to broker a peace deal in the Middle East were engulfed in a diplomatic row on Tuesday when the US state department lambasted a senior Israeli minister for "offensive and inappropriate" comments describing John Kerry as obsessive and messianic.

Defence minister Moshe Ya'alon, an ally of Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, dismissed Kerry's efforts to pursue a peace deal in private conversations with US and Israeli officials which were reported in an Israeli newspaper.

"Secretary of state John Kerry -- who arrived here determined, and who operates from an incomprehensible obsession and a sense of messianism -- can't teach me anything about the conflict with the Palestinians," Ya'alon was quoted as saying in Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's biggest-selling paper."* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down.

http://youtu.be/kB2URwAkMkk

How To Keep Fracking Chemicals Secret From The Public

"What, exactly, are those chemicals being pumped underground during the fracking process? In North Carolina, no one has to say. On Tuesday, the 15-member state Mining and Energy Commission voted unanimously to pass a rule that would let fracking companies keep secret the makeup of the chemical mixture they pump underground to aid shale gas drilling. From the North Carolina News Observer:"

http://youtu.be/0t-JbQDOmX8

Senator Bernie Sanders Attacks Walmart

"Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) demanded that a panel of experts justify why America's shrinking middle class should continue to subsidize the nation's wealthiest family in a heated exchange Thursday during a congressional panel." Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/17...

http://youtu.be/kryWiCpcwZI

Vatican Monsignor Arrested For Money Laundering

VATICAN CITY (AP) — A Vatican monsignor already on trial for allegedly plotting to smuggle 20 million euros ($26 million) from Switzerland to Italy was arrested Tuesday in a separate case for allegedly using his Vatican bank accounts to launder money.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/vatican-monsignor-nuzio-scarano-money-laundering

 

Chris Matthews Is Uncomfortable With Obama's Pot Talk (VIDEO)

Typically an Obama cheerleader, Matthews said Monday that he thinks the President got it wrong when he said that pot is not "more dangerous than alcohol" (an argument backed by empirical evidence).
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/chris-matthews-obama-marijuana

Judge Strikes Down North Carolina’s Forced Ultrasound Law For Violating The First Amendment

Abortion doctors in North Carolina will no longer be forced to display and describe ultrasound images to their patients.The ... Read more

Why Conservatives Hate This Fact About MLK

With celebrations of MLK Day around the country Dr. King's views on race relations are always highlighted - what about his views on economic or social situations in America? Cenk Uygur and John Iadarola (host of TYT University and Common Room) break it down on The Young Turks.

http://youtu.be/U1Cfi1DfZqI

Profits At The Biggest Banks Bounce Back To Post-Crisis Record High

The six largest U.S. banks notched their second-best year ever in 2013 thanks in part to taxpayer-subsidized legal ... Read more

Robocalls: your new rights

Robocalls are hard to stop. Despite the Do Not Call registry, the robocalls keep coming because they are cheap to set up and easy to disconnect once the spotlight hits. And now robot callers can closely mimic human tones and responses. Many of us don't like to rudely hang up on a real person, so we engage. But there's hope. The FCC issued new rules last fall designed to make sure you get only the calls you actually want. But they are getting a lot of pushback from industry. Tell them you want the right to stop the robocalls! Tell the FCC to enforce your new robocall rights! New rules from the FCC will put you in better control over who can call you, on both your landline and your wireless device. Among your new rights: • A telemarketer will have to get your written consent to receive a call or message. You can give your OK for them to call through paper or electronic means — web forms, a telephone keypress, or email. • Robocalls to your home landline are no longer allowed based solely on an 'established business relationship' with you. Simply buying a product, or contacvting a business with a question, no longer gives them permission to call you. • Telemarketers who call will now have to let you immediately opt out of receiving additional calls through an automated menu. Learn more about your new rights, then tell the FCC to be aggressive. Sincerely, Jim Guest President, Consumer Reports 101 Truman Ave Yonkers, NY 10703-1057

=======================================================================

China Now Exporting Its Smog to US - Emissions from export industry 'boomerang' back

Emissions from export industry 'boomerang' back.

http://www.newser.com/story/181046/us-chokes-on-chinas-smog.html

Palestinian Herders Pick Up The Pieces After Homes Destroyed

Palestinian Herders Pick Up The Pieces After Homes Destroyed by Emily Harris January 21, 2014 6:07 AM Audio for this story from Morning Edition is ... Read more

Oxfam says world's rich threaten democracy

The 85 richest people on planet "own the wealth of half the world's population", the charity said. Read more

HBO CEO encourages you to share your HBO Go login

-- It's a "terrific marketing vehicle for the next generation of viewers... It's not that we’re unmindful of it, it just has no impact on the business.”...Don’t bother subscribing, HBO wants you to use your friends’ HBO Go logins.

Read more

Why Chris Christie Is In A World Of Trouble

"Hours after Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer accused the Christie administration of withholding Hurricane Sandy relief funds until she approved a development project in the Hudson county city, officials from the agency that distributed the money flatly denied the allegations. "Mayor Zimmer's allegation that on May 16, 2013 - in front of a live auditorium audience - (Department of Community Affairs) Commissioner (Richard) Constable conditioned Hoboken's receipt of Sandy aid on her moving forward with a development project is categorically false," DCA spokeswoman Lisa Ryan in an interview. On MSNBC this morning, Zimmer told anchor Steve Kornacki the Christie administration pressured her to approve a development deal with the Rockefeller Group, saying the city would receive Sandy aid if she went ahead with the deal...".* How has Bridgegate impacted Christie's donors and his 2016 presidential aspirations? Cenk Uygur and John Iadarola (host of TYT University and Common Room) break it down on The Young Turks.

http://youtu.be/zpQt51IVKFM

One Statistic About The World In 2014 That Would Outrage Martin Luther King Jr.

"I'm concerned about white poverty as much as I'm concerned about Negro poverty."The post One Statistic About The World In 2014 ... Read more

Sorry. Can't hear you over my free health care.

Read more

World's 85 richest people own nearly half of global wealth: Oxfam report

"... Wealthy elites have co-opted political power to rig the rules of the economic game, undermining democracy and creating a world where the 85 richest people own the wealth of half of the world's population," Oxfam claimed..."

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/worlds-85-richest-people-own-nearly-half-of-global-wealth-oxfam-report/articleshow/29110568.cms

'The Evolution of Confusion' by Dan Dennett, AAI 2009 (repost)

Interview:
Dan Dennett talks about purposely-confusing theology and how it's used. He also describes his new project interviewing clergyman who secretly don't believe anymore, and introduces a new term: "Deepity."

Dan Dennett is the author of many excellent books, including "Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon" and "Darwin's Dangerous Idea". He is also featured in the video "The Four Horsemen" along with Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens.

http://youtu.be/5Bwe7TIv4LY

Vertical farms sprouting all over the world - tech

URBAN warehouses, derelict buildings and high-rises are the last places you'd expect to find the seeds of a green revolution. But from Singapore to Scranton, Pennsylvania, "vertical farms" are promising a new, environmentally friendly way to feed the rapidly swelling populations of cities worldwide...

Read more

President Obama Says Pot Is Less Dangerous Than Alcohol For The Individual Consumer

The President also said marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington state is an "important" move towards a more just ... Read more

Lawrence Lessig: We the People, and the Republic we must reclaim

There is a corruption at the heart of American politics, caused by the dependence of Congressional candidates on funding from the tiniest percentage of citizens. That's the argument at the core of this blistering talk by legal scholar Lawrence Lessig. With rapid-fire visuals, he shows how the funding process weakens the Republic in the most fundamental way, and issues a rallying bipartisan cry that will resonate with many in the U.S. and beyond.

http://youtu.be/mw2z9lV3W1g