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

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

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

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

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

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

Study: More Religion Means Less Scientific Innovation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Original Tea Partier Was an Atheist

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

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

Why ISIS Is the Spawn of Washington

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

... Read more

Politico: GOP Worried About Falling Short In Mid-Terms

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘Fake’ cellphone towers discovered in U.S.

"...The fake ‘towers’ – computers which wirelessly attack cellphones via the “baseband” chips built to allow them to communicate with their networks, can eavesdrop and even install spyware, ESD claims. They are a known technology - but the surprise is that they are in active use..."

Read more

Neurons in human skin perform advanced calculations

Neurons in human skin perform advanced calculations, previously believed that only the brain could perform. This is according to a study from Umeå University in Sweden published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
Read more

Scientists Find ‘Alarming’ Amount Of Arsenic In Groundwater Near Texas Fracking Sites

After testing 100 water wells atop one of the largest natural gas reserves in the U.S., researchers found that nearly 30 ... Read more

Private Prison Stocks Soar As Companies Cash In On Incarcerated Immigrants

Private prison investors are seizing on the influx of migrants from Central America as an opportunity for more profit. The post ... Read more

Republican Senate Nominee Touts Birth Control Support, Downplays Anti-Woman Record In New Ad

Cory Gardner has been working hard to convince voters he's shed his extreme anti-woman past.The post Republican Senate Nominee ... Read more

L.A. mayor calls for $13.25 minimum wage

"...If the plan goes through, the minimum wage for Los Angeles workers would be among the highest in the country. Seattle and SeaTac in Washington have approved the nation's highest minimum wages of $15 an hour. Other cities, such as San Diego, Richmond, Calif., and New York City have also passed laws increasing minimum wage for workers...."
Read more

For This Michigan Senate Candidate, Climate Change Is A Job Creation Issue

"You can do what's right for the environment and what's right for the economy at the same time."The post For This Michigan ... Read more

Gun violence costs taxpayers $500 million

" Most of the victims are either uninsured or on public insurance like Medicaid, which means that the hospital costs get passed on to the taxpayer, the think tank said. "Read more

Calling All Non-believers . . . Come Out of the Closet!

"Declare and share your nonbelief! Although the nonreligious — including one in five U.S. citizens — is a significant segment of the world population, many Americans have never knowingly met a nonbeliever. You can help dispel myths, educate and promote reason by adding your voice, face and message to FFRF's friendly neighborhood freethinker campaign. This is your chance to proclaim you're a freethinker and why. It's working for the gay rights movement. Now it's time for atheists and agnostics to come out of our closet. Many faces make Enlightenment work.

Record your short (1 min. or less) video explaining why you're a freethinker who has come "Out of the Closet" and upload via FFRF's Out of the Closet video campaign app..."

http://ffrf.org/video-landing

Watch:
http://youtu.be/gKVnQLeQLiI?list=PLpgL-G2muTgNT6UR4I-9bzL3wD-n1fzmt

RE: How not to react when your child tells you that he's gay

http://youtu.be/jmrvU-UmDw0

Wage Theft is on the Rise in America

“This is just not acceptable,” Mr. Weil said. “You can’t threaten people to lose their jobs because they are asserting rights that go back 75 years.”
Read more

The Matterhorn from my camp-site this summer, Switzerland (OC) [2500x1666]

Read more

We Are On The Verge Of An Electric Car Battery Breakthrough

Investment pundits think that Tesla Motors is on the verge of achieving something big: A battery cheap enough to make electric ... Read more

Mayor Forces Man To Leave Public Meeting Because He Won’t Stand During Prayer

Winter Garden Mayor John Rees was caught on video demanding that an audience member stand for a prayer and the pledge -- or be ... Read more

Conservatives Protest Labor Day By Staging A Work-In

"I can't think of a problem in society that can't be traced in some way back to the abuses of organized labor, and it would be ... Read more

Public Schools Still Haven't Learned Football, Religion Don't Mix, Legally Speaking

"... if you’re a public school, you can’t do anything that smacks of your making religion a required part of the game..."

http://www.forbes.com/sites/bobcook/2014/08/29/public-schools-still-havent-learned-football-religion-dont-mix-legally-speaking/

Florida High School Football Team ‘Covers The Field’ In Protest Of School Prayer Laws

"...The current accepted reading of the law by courts is that prayer is absolutely legal and to forbid it would infringe upon student rights. However, allowing school officials to lead violates the establishment clause. It’s this prohibition on officials leading school prayer that many seek to change..."

http://www.inquisitr.com/1442033/florida-high-school-football-team-covers-the-field-in-protest-of-school-prayer-laws/

Evolving Out of Eden (with Ed Suominen and Robert M. Price) (TheThinkingAtheist)

This podcast is titled after the new book by Suominen and Price, available here: http://evolvingoutofeden.com Evolution has been proven beyond legitimate scientific dispute. We are evolved creatures, a process of random mutation and DNA crossover, genetic drift, horizontal gene transfer and natural selection. We are not the descendants of Adam. This is troubling to the believer in the Genesis account of Creation. In this podcast. Ed Suominen and Dr. Robert M. Price speak about the hostile territory outside of Eden…a place where dogma dissipates under the white-hot light of the evidence.

Interview
http://www.thethinkingatheist.com/podcast/evolving-out-of-eden-with-ed-suominen-and-robert-m-price

Why Darwin Matters -- Michael Shermer (Truth-Driven Thinking)

"...The most common reason people give for why they believe in God is the good design of the world and the life in it. The question is: who or what is the designer? Why Darwin Matters examines the difference between supernatural design (creationism) v. natural design (evolution) and how evolution can explain complex design..."

Interview:
http://www.michaelshermer.com/2006/09/truth-driven-thinking/

About the book:
http://www.michaelshermer.com/why-darwin-matters/

A Search for Nativity Truth -- Dr. Robert M. Price (Truth-Driven Thinking)

It's an honor to welcome New Testament scholar Dr. Robert Price back to the program to discuss a search for truth about the Christmas story. Also hear about a fascinating effort to convene scholars to study New Testament authenticity (could it be the Desoterica?), and why Dr. Price considers himself a fundamentalist.

Interview:
https://player.fm/series/truth-driven-thinking/dr-robert-price-a-search-for-nativity-truth

Space Oceans And Looking For Life (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

All kinds of excitement over potential life in space in the last week.  Light years away – maybe, but beguilingly – on a planet that looks amazingly like earth.  Squint and you can picture Earth-like oceans and land out there.  And much closer to home, on a moon in the rings of Saturn.  Icy and cold on the outside.  But inside, evidence of an underground ocean in space.  Sending geysers to the surface.  Lighting up astro-biologists’ fondest dreams.  Maybe teeming with life.  This hour On Point:  the buzz over life in space, maybe on an Earth-twin way out there, maybe on a moon close to home.  And the push to learn more.

Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/04/18/enceladus-saturn-space-moons-nasa

Thomas Piketty On Capitalism And Inequality (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

Capitalism had a pretty great story in the twentieth century.  The giant inequalities of the past receded.  Wages rose.  Democracy triumphed.  And economists told us, by in large, this is what capitalism does.  Now comes a new voice with a roaring bestseller, a ton of new data, and a very different story.  Economist Thomas Piketty is the hottest thinker on the planet right now.  And his message is that the twentieth century was an outlier.  That capitalism is now pulling us back to inherited wealth and punishing inequality.  If he’s right, what do we do?  This hour On Point:  Thomas Piketty, and “Capital in the Twenty-First Century.” / Tom Ashbrook

Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/04/29/thomas-piketty-inequality-gregory-mankiw

Ray LaMontagne Goes Psychedelic (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

Singer songwriter Ray LaMontagne can go folk-rock and irresistible pop with the best of them.  He won hearts early with his hit “Trouble.”  His big, brass-backed, “You Are the Best Thing” will make you sing along.  All kinds of TV shows and American Idol contestants have grabbed his songs and run with them.  Now, Ray LaMontagne is taking a turn of his own.  Diving into an almost ‘60s psychedelic sound.  Making a move from indie to alt.  And it’s cool.  This hour On Point:  Ray LaMontagne. / Tom Ashbrook

Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/04/30/ray-lamontagne-supernova

America’s Great Lakes And The Asian Carp Menace (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

Take your motorboat down a Midwestern waterway infested with Asian carp and you will know see the problem in a hurry.  It’s like a horror movie.  The big, scaly fish explode from the water on all sides.  They look like giant, airborne piranha, thrashing and leaping high in the air.  A threat to life and limb that leaves a huge, bloody mess of fish in the bottom of the boat.  They are taking over Midwest waterways.  They drive out other life.  Now they threaten the Great Lakes, the biggest collection of fresh water lakes on Earth.  This hour On Point:  the epic struggle to keep invasive Asian carp out of the Great Lakes.

Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/05/01/asian-carp-great-lakes-barriers

Environmental Outlook: "What Has Nature Ever Done For Us?" By Tony Juniper (Diane Rehm Show)

Economic prosperity and conserving the environment is often seen as being in conflict -- to get the former, you have to sacrifice the latter. But there’s a growing body of research that suggests when we don’t protect nature, short term economic gains may result in long term losses. In his new book, leading British environmentalist Tony Juniper says that’s because the things nature provides us, that we tend to think of as free, has a monetary value that can be measured. And it’s time for companies and governments to start accounting for it when doing business. For this month’s Environmental Outlook, Diane talks with Tony Juniper about his new book, “What Has Nature Ever Done for Us? How Money Really Does Grow on Trees."
 

Interview:

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2013-08-06/environmental-outlook-what-has-nature-ever-done-us-tony-juniper

 

 

Assisted Living Facilities And Standards Of Care

For the elderly who are unable to live alone but don’t want a nursing home, assisted living can seem like a nice alternative. Many feel they can still have independence in communities that have the look and feel of an apartment complex, rather than a hospital. Since the first one opened 20 years ago, the number of assisted living facilities has exploded. Nearly 750,000 Americans call them home. But unlike nursing homes, assisted living facilities are not federally regulated, leaving them subject to a patchwork of state and local laws. Diane and her guests discuss new questions about assisted living.
 

Interview:

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2013-08-01/assisted-living-facilities-and-standards-care

 

 

The Changing Suburbs (Diane Rehm Show)

Fifty years ago, the suburbs were seen as an ideal community for families looking for good schools and safe neighborhoods. But today’s suburbia is a very different place. The suburbs are now home to the largest and fastest-growing poor population in the country. The spread of suburban poverty has many causes, including the subprime mortgage crisis and decline in manufacturing jobs. The suburbs have also become more ethnically and racially diverse and are voting more for Democrats. Meanwhile, many wealthy and middle class people are choosing to move back to the cities.
 

Interview:

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2013-08-07/changing-suburbs

 

 

Crisis in Public Education (Truth-Driven Thinking #88)

With surprising candor and conclusions, educators on the front lines--from differing backgrounds and political leanings-- discuss whether a crisis exists in public education, and if so of what is its origin: fiscal, social, political, institutional, or other. How would these professional administrators and teachers go about fixing things from their view in the trenches? What do they think about No Child Left Behind; increased college expectation; international test comparisons; current financial pinches; standardized testing; overpaid teachers; social & sociological determinants of success; rankings; merit pay for teachers; tenure; unions? Ron Fuller is county superintendent for Kalamazoo RESA in Michigan; Matt Miller is superintendent in Parchment, Michigan--the district where Tom Novak teaches 6th grade, and is a past president for his local union. Stephen just retired after 10 years as a local school board trustee and president.

Interview:
https://player.fm/series/truth-driven-thinking/tdt88-crisis-in-public-education-education-roundtable

The Myth of Free Will -- Tom Clark (Truth-Driven Thinking #85)

Were Warren Buffet and Bill Gates just lucky? Tom Clark joins Steve to argue against the idea of uncaused "free will" choices, and for the connection, compassion, and control Tom Clark says come from a naturalistic worldview. Tom is the author of Encountering Naturalism: A Worldview and Its Uses and is the founder of Naturalism.org

Interview:
https://player.fm/series/truth-driven-thinking/tdt85-the-myth-of-free-will-tom-clark

The Week in Viral Videos

1. Amateur Stuntman Deep down, we probably all wish we were lucky enough to be in the movies. Some might want to be the star, others to direct, but i... Read more

My Family Has Been Racially Profiled Everywhere from Harvard to Our Own Home

Racial profiling does long-term damage to the self-image, self-esteem and ego of the African American.

 ... Read more

6 Unhinged Right-Wing Moments This Week: Fox's Comical Beyoncé Freakout

Where are her pants? How can she be a feminist without pants?

 ... Read more

How do we know? (Aron Ra)

This video, made in accordance with the Next Generation Science Standards, is an introduction to making testable hypotheses and how a substantiated hypothesis can become part of a scientific theory. Scientific theories are supported by evidence such as observations about facts and laws. It uses Louis Pasteur's work disproving superstitious explanations about diseases.

http://youtu.be/GCpPDMYRs44

The Companies Making a Profit by Abusing the Poor

We're increasingly shifting costs to those least able to afford to pay.

... Read more

The 7 Strangest Libertarian Ideas

We must challenge libertarians on the extreme nature of their ideology.

 ... Read more

Stephen Colbert Mocks GOP for Believing ISIS Can Be Defeated With the Power of Make-Believe

Colbert mocked conservatives for living in a world of imagination on the subject of the threat posed by ISIS.  Read more

12 Ecologically Sustainable Countries and Why They Should Be Admired

As Earth’s resources fall into ecological deficit, it’s time to inspect our global green policies.

... Read more

Climate Change Ups Odds of a Southwest Megadrought

Chances of a megadrought lasting 35 years or longer at up to 50 percent, decade long, Dust Bowl like drought up to 90%. Read more

Federal Government Sues Minnesota City For Rejecting A Proposed Islamic Center

The Minneapolis suburb is represented by the first Muslim American ever elected to Congress, Rep. Keith Ellison.The post ... Read more