GOP Leaders Talking About Possible Brokered Convention | Crooks and Liars

Republicans are so nervous about the Trump juggernaut they're already planning for the possibility of a brokered convention. Oh please, let it be so...
http://crooksandliars.com/2015/12/gop-leaders-talking-about-possible

Ready.gov

Prepare for emergencies: advise from FEMA...
http://www.ready.gov

Mystery Of The Bright Spots On Ceres May Have Just Been Solved

NASA also released stunning new flyover images of the dwarf planet.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ceres-bright-spots-salt_5669149be4b009377b23d8cb

Scientists have developed an eye drop that can dissolve cataracts

...A whole lot better than surgery.
http://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-developed-an-eye-drop-that-can-dissolve-cataracts-from-eyes

Three Simple Truths about Terror, Religion, and Islam

"Two: Like advertising, terrorism exploits our emotional vulnerabilities..."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/clay-naff/three-simple-truths-about_b_8568518.html

70,000 clerics issue fatwa against terrorism, 15 lakh Muslims support it

BAREILLY: On the last day of Urs-e-Razvi of Dargah Aala Hazrat, nearly 70,000 clerics came together and passed a fatwa against terrorist organizations, including IS, Taliban and al-Qaida. These are "not Islamic organizations," the clerics said to a sea of followers, adding that the members of these outfits were "not Muslims". Around 15 lakh followers who visited the Urs put their signatures to a document circulated at the Urs, protesting terrorist strikes...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/70000-clerics-issue-fatwa-against-terrorism-15-lakh-Muslims-support-it/articleshow/50100656.cms

Trump cites shaky survey in call to ban Muslims from entering US

Says 25 percent of U.S. Muslims "agreed that violence against Americans here in the United States is justified as a part of the global jihad."
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/dec/09/donald-trump/trump-cites-shaky-survey-call-ban-muslims-entering/

Scalia questions need for integration

"There are those who contend that it does not benefit African Americans to get them into the University of Texas where they do not do well, as opposed to having them go to a less-advanced school, a slower-track school where they do well. One of the briefs pointed out that most of the black scientists in this country don't come from schools like the University of Texas. They come from lesser schools where they do not feel that they're being pushed ahead in classes that are too fast for them..."

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/12/9/scalia-questions-need-for-integration.html

Charter schools are a ‘gravy train,’ say researchers

Charter schools are able to siphon off large quantities of public money for private gain — and only substantial changes to state policies regarding charter schools can stop this, according to the authors of the report from the National Education Policy Center (NEPC) at University of Colorado Boulder...
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/12/10/charter-schools-are-a-gravy-train-say-researchers.html

Debunking Creationists - Dr. Jerry Bergman

In this installment of Debunking Creationists, I examine the claims of young earth creationist Dr. Jerry Bergman, who attempts to show that the fossil record supports creationism, and refutes evolution.
https://youtu.be/qLWLrPhyE74

Emanuel's apology for McDonald shooting brings protesters to Chicago - CSMonitor.com

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel apologized for the 2014 shooting of a black teenager Wednesday during a special City Council meeting that he called to discuss a police abuse scandal at the center of the biggest crisis of his administration, and promised "complete and total" reform to restore trust in the police...
http://m.csmonitor.com/USA/2015/1209/Emanuel-s-apology-for-McDonald-shooting-brings-protesters-to-Chicago

Ten hidden new car costs - CSMonitor.com

Car dealers are experts at extracting as much money as possible from buyers. Of course, the dealer will try to get the highest price they can on the cars they sell, but there are many other sneaky costs involved. Here are some of these hidden new car costs and how to avoid them...
http://m.csmonitor.com/Business/Saving-Money/2015/1209/Ten-hidden-new-car-costs

Top U.S. and World News Headlines for Thursday, December 10

https://youtu.be/Yy_DIFsj5Fg

No, a college ID does not show Barack Obama was a foreign student at Columbia University

President Barack Obama is about to enter his eighth and final year in the Oval Office, but some people are still trying to say he was never eligible for that job in the first place...
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/dec/09/facebook-posts/facebook-posts-still-claim-obama-wasnt-born-us/

Opinion: 158 families are buying American democracy

Half of all money donated to presidential candidates so far has come from 158 wealthy families. The concentration of political donations suggests those with the means to donate large amounts of money are being disproportionately represented over the average American...
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2015/1209/Opinion-158-families-are-buying-American-democracy

Know Your Fascist Dictators

"...As long as we're on to the subject of fascist dictators and Donald Trump being compared to Adolf Hitler in major urban newspapers, I thought I should speak up on behalf of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini as the true porto-trump..."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/know-your-fascists-dictators

The Executive Action Obama Could Take to Restore a Shred of Democracy to Our Politics

Obama can take a step forward and reform Washington's culture of corrupt campaign money.
http://www.alternet.org/executive-action-obama-could-take-restore-shred-democracy-our-politics

We stand together. We are better than bigotry.

So when Donald Trump says America should close its borders to Muslim immigrants, he’s not just attacking a fundamental American strength.
He’s attacking us — our community, our neighbors, the rich, diverse fabric that makes up southeast Michigan.
http://www.freep.com/story/opinion/editorials/2015/12/08/free-press-editorial-muslims-trump-bigotry-we-stand-together/76974510/

Scalia: Affirmative Action Sends Blacks To Schools Too Advanced For Them

In the oral arguments Wednesday for a Supreme Court affirmative action case, Justice Antonin Scalia—a well known critic of affirmative action—suggested that the policy was hurting minority students by sending them to schools too academically challenging for them...
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/scalia-race-affirmative-action

The U.S. Is About To Get A Lot More Fracking, Thanks To Congress

Big Oil is going to get $22 billion in profits because of this...
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/12/09/3729646/oil-export-ban-likely-lifted-in-spending-bill/