Doomsday for religious right: How anti-choice radicals finally lost respectability

A recent spate of court decisions will keep Rick Perry and his cronies from hiding behind talk of "women's safety" .

http://www.salon.com/2014/09/04/doomsday_for_religious_right_how_anti_choice_radicals_finally_lost_respectability/

Milky Way over The Palouse Falls, Washington. Photo by Michael Brandt. [2048x1378]

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TIL - Scientists have trained a Petri dish full of neurons from a rat brain to successfully fly a F22 flight simulator.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- A University of Florida scientist has grown a living "brain" that can fly a simulated plane, giving scientists a novel way to observe how brain cells function as a network.
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New York To West Virginia: Stop Trying To Kill EPA’s Carbon Rule

New York and 11 other states are asking to intervene in a lawsuit which says the EPA is not legally allowed to limit carbon ... Read more

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