Does Hobby Lobby Threaten Gay Rights? (Diane Rehm Show)

A Supreme Court case about the Affordable Care Act has spilled into the debate over gay rights. In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, the justices ruled that certain companies do not have to include birth control in their health plans under the ACA if owners object for religious reasons. The opinion ignited a broad discussion about how to balance religious freedom and civil rights, including what legal protections can be extended to gay men and lesbians. Now faith groups have called for President Barack Obama to exempt them from rules about employment bias and gay rights advocates express fears of eroding protections. A conversation about the fallout of hobby lobby.
 

Inteview:

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2014-07-10/does-hobby-lobby-threaten-gay-rights

 

 

Choosing To Die (Diane Rehm Show)

The aid in dying movement is growing. Montana, Oregon and Washington already have laws permitting right-to-die options. In January, a New Mexico district court authorized physicians to provide lethal prescriptions to mentally competent terminally ill adults. And last year, Vermont passed a law permitting patients to choose what advocates call "death with dignity." Public support of assisted dying has expanded in recent years as baby boomers deal with the death of their parents, many of whom are living into their 80s and 90s and suffering from diseases linked to longevity, such as dementia and many types of cancer. Diane and her guests discuss the aid in dying movement and what is driving its growth.
 

Interview:

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2014-07-07/choosing-die

 

 

Why The Overuse of Antibiotics May Be Linked To Asthma And Obesity (Diane Rehm Show)

The development of antibiotics in the 1940s ushered in a golden age of medicine. Bacterial infections and illnesses that were commonly fatal became treatable. But researchers now say the overuse of antibiotics has disturbed the natural balance of beneficial bacteria in our bodies. New studies indicate that some diseases - including obesity, childhood diabetes and asthma - may be on the rise because we have upset the delicate equilibrium of microbes in our gut and on our skin. In the next hour, Diane Rehm talks with two leading medical experts about this new research.
 

Interview:

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2014-07-10/why-overuse-antibiotics-may-be-linked-asthma-and-obesity

 

 

When Workplace Jerks Get Promoted (Tom Ashbrook)

It takes all kinds to turn the world.  In the world of work, some kinds are harder to take than others.  Psychologists point to what they call a “dark triad” of traits that mark a particular kind of corporate climber, workplace striver, who can rise but can also make a mess.  The triad of traits, they say, is this:  that ambitious colleague who is also narcissistic, anti-social, and manipulative/Machiavellian.  A little bit of that mix can be rocket fuel.  A lot can be a problem.  Maybe you’ve seen it.  This hour On Point:  the “dark triad” at work. / Tom Ashbrook

Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/07/31/dark-triad-management-corporate-climbers

Taking The Temperature Of The U.S.-Russia Face Off (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

For decades, Moscow was the great bogeyman of the West.  The Cold War enemy.  Then the Berlin Wall came down, and the world was jubilant to say goodbye to all that.  Is it back?  Just when it’s the last thing anybody needs?  Vladimir Putin is pushing a hard line into Ukraine and specifically against the West.  Malaysia’s airliner is in pieces and the shock waves still shake us.  New sanctions are going at the heart of Russia’s wealth – oil.  And now there’s talk of the US helping target Russian weapons.  That’s hot.  This hour On Point: is it Cold War again? / Tom Ashbrook

Interview:
https://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/07/31/us-russia-obama-putin-ukraine

A View From The Climate Changed Future (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

Here’s a story to chill your bones.  It is the year 2393,  almost 400 years from now.  And a Chinese historian is looking back on our century, the 21^st century, and trying to explain how the world saw climate change coming and did nothing.  How we denied and delayed as an unbelievable price tag of suffering and destruction gathered around us.  How that suffering finally came – with flood and heat and mass migration and chaos.  How Western civilization collapsed . This hour On Point:   a horror story from the future about climate change and the rest of our lives. / Tom Ashbrook

Interview:
https://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/07/29/climate-change-science-fiction-future

The Cost Of Our 'Do-Nothing' Congress (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

Come this Friday, hundreds of US Congress men and women will be flying out of Washington.  Representatives and Senators, headed out, headed home, for a five week August recess.  And here’s the thing:  they’ve done almost nothing in Washington.  The label is “do-nothing” Congress.  Democrats use that label to attack.  Some Republicans wear it almost as a point of pride.  But in a world of so much change and challenge, can we afford inaction?  This hour On Point:  the “do-nothing” Congress tag, and the cost of standing still. / Tom Ashbrook

Interview:
https://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/07/29/congress-recess-debt-house-senate

A Win For Hobby Lobby, And What It Means (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

To the Greens of Oklahoma, it was just logical.  Yes, they were billionaires.  Yes, their Hobby Lobby chain employed thousands of people.  But why would they cover contraception that their religious belief found offensive?  To many others, the logic ran just the other way.  The Affordable Care Act offered health care to all.  Contraception included.  Why would a woman be subject to the religion of Boss Green? Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled for the Greens, for Hobby Lobby, for the religious rights of the company.  This hour On Point:  the high court, Hobby Lobby, and religion in the workplace. / Tom Ashbrook

Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/07/01/scotus-hobby-lobby-birth-control-obamacare

Understanding ISIS (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

Until they came bursting into Mosul last month with black flags and pick-up trucks, ISIS was – to most Americans – just part of a chaotic jumble of fighters in Syria.  The next thing we knew, they had taken over a huge swath of Iraq, declared themselves the Islamic State, and announced a new caliphate in the heart of the Middle East.  This weekend the self-proclaimed caliph of the caliphate – Abu Bakr al Baghdadi – purportedly stepped out of the shadows and spoke to the world.  They’re too brutal for al Qaeda.  They literally crucify.  And right now they rule.  This hour On Point:  ISIS and the Islamic State. / Tom Ashbrook

Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/07/07/understanding-isis-iraq-syria

Atul Gawande: The Future Of American Healthcare (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

We are well into Obamacare now, and still fighting over it.  Well into panic over healthcare costs, and still struggling to really bring them down.  Well-schooled in how we ought to eat, exercise, live – and still overweight and pushing up the diabetes numbers.  Celebrated surgeon, writer, thinker Dr. Atul Gawande is watching it all.  Thinking it through.  When he’s not in the OR, he’s at the keyboard, helping shape the American conversation on health and healthcare.  This hour, in a special edition of On Point:  On Point Live! – with Dr. Atul Gawande. / Tom Ashbrook

Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/06/13/atul-gawande-healthcare-obamacare-on-point-live

http://youtu.be/1w8P5adkmdM

Can American Democracy Be Saved? (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

The latest Gallup poll finds Americans approval rating for Congress at an all-time low.  Four percent with a great deal of faith there.  The lowest for any American institution Gallup has polled on in 40 years.  In gridlock and polarization and standoff, legislation has ground nearly to a halt.  For the sake of democracy, of the country, this cannot go on say my guests today, former Senators Olympia Snowe, Republican and Tom Daschle, Democrat.  They think they’ve got a way out.  An answer to the standoff. This hour On Point:  Senators Snowe and Daschle on saving American democracy. / Tom Ashbrook

Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/07/10/bipartisanship-washington-dc-politics-congress

The Battle Over U.S. Corporate Tax Inversion (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

It’s a neat trick for big American companies to avoid a heap of American taxes:  stop being American.  American corporations are bailing out of American “citizenship.”  One day they are proudly based in the USA.  The next, they’re not.  They’re suddenly Irish or Dutch or Australian or Israeli.  And paying lower taxes on the same operations.  It’s technically called “inversion.”  Last week President Obama called it desertion.  It’s a big deal. This hour On Point:  American companies, bailing out on American taxes – and what to do about it.

Interview:
https://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/07/28/tax-avoidance-tax-inversion-corporate-taxes

Dying With Dignity

Dying With Dignity. After celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and hearing about many FFRF legal victories, we celebrate the birthday of atheist Broadway composer Richard Rodgers. Then we talk with Wanda Morris, CEO of Dying With Dignity Canada about the current progress and the religious opposition to end-of-life choices in Canada and the world.
 

Interview:

http://ffrf.org/news/radio/show-items/item/20863-freethought-radio-june-28-2014-broadcast

 

 

Christian Right-Winger Aligns With ISIS, Says Obama Helping Devil-Worshipers

My thesaurus is wearing thin on adjectives to describe hate-filled pseudo- Christians like Bryan Fischer, but my aggravation is going full-tilt over t... Read more

http://youtu.be/bkwEFjHxCFs

Unedited sunrise in the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia [OC] [3872 x 2592]

Read more

As Crazy As It Sounds, U.S. and NATO Appear Hungry For War in Ukraine

"...The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is desperate; it is itching for a war in battlefield Ukraine at any cost..." ... Read more

NYT Sunday Magazine Falls Hook, Line and Sinker For Libertarians' Big Propaganda Lie

"...On Sunday, the New York Times Magazine will be running a 7,100-word puff piece that portrays the Libertarian Party as today’s hot, new, sexy political trend that is enthralling rebellious Americans of all ages and is finally having its day in the sun...." ... Read more

Could This Grain Dethrone Quinoa as America's Favorite Superfood?

Meet West Africa's fonio.

 ... Read more

Another Win For Elizabeth Warren -- And For Us!

From Business Insider: Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) got her way on Tuesday when the Federal Reserve rejected the living will plans for most Wal... Read more

Paul Ryan: US competitiveness hindered by Obama environmental regulations

The Obama administration's regulations aimed at combating climate change are an excuse to expand government and raise taxes, ... Read more