Why are atheists so damn abrasive?
Greetings, friends -
Well, I survived the weekend and am hoping you did the same.
Forgive me if I don't cover all the bloodshed and tragedy as thoroughly as I cover some issues--I am still just reeling from it all. I really can't go there right now.
Meanwhile, let me tell you why atheists seem so damned abrasive all the time. In short, it's because we see so many people we love waste huge chunks of their lives by organizing their lives around something that, once you think about it, doesn't make a bit of sense and doesn't have a shred of evidence to support it.
It's because we see our loved ones make incredibly poor decisions because of the fantasy they organize their lives around. We watch in horror as they run headlong into dangers they're not even aware of because they're 100% convinced they "know" something...when they have no idea...but we who are watching from the outside see it all with frustration and despair.
And they'll be damned if they don't try to drag the rest of us down that rabbit-hole with them every chance they get.
We groan whenever we witness this because so many of us were once believers, too--we once bought into all the same bullshit and were 100% convinced that we too "knew." We look back with embarrassment at how gullible we were and how many poor decisions we made when we were so deluded.
And we are mad as hell that people lied to us when selling this bill of goods, and we want to stand up and shake our friends out of their delusions so they can start living rationally--and freely.
So, yeah--if we atheists seem angry to you, it's a good bet that we are angry. We are angry with all the assholes who lied to you and us to control you and us and get your and our money, and we are frustrated because we'd give anything to set you free, but you fight us to slam shut the door of the cage and lock it from the inside whenever we try to open it for you.
If that's not enough of an excuse to come across as abrasive, then I dunno what is.
Grrrrr.
Don't forget to read Dot Calm's shadow's favorite independent sources of news and information:
Peas, friends. Hug yourselves and each other for me--please and thank you!
- Dot Calm's shadow
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Headlines
Michael Flynn, the retired general on Donald Trump's VP shortlist, explained
President Obama wants Congress to “revisit” a public option for Obamacare
If you only have time to click through to one headline here today, make it this one...there is a crap-ton of nasty shit that the tiny-appendaged weasel-wigged cheeto has done and promises to do as preznit to break American and international laws, and that's not even counting the TrumPEW scam and not paying his workers, employees, and contractors...
The Many Ways in Which Trump Calling Himself "the Law and Order Candidate" Is Ironic
Speaking of TrumPEW, here's a copy of the complaint made against Trump in the lawsuit.
Speaking of TrumPEW, here's a copy of the complaint made against Trump in the lawsuit.
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From ColorOfChange.org--tell Obama to stop funding police killing Blacks
Congress and the Obama administration are giving millions dollar grants to failed police departments–it has to stop.
Tell Pres. Obama and Congress: Stop funding police departments that have failed to make simple reforms for Black lives.
Take Action
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From ATTN: our nation's fragile state of police relations
America's fragile state of police relations is the big story this week, and if you had any doubt, look no further than the travel advisory issued by the Bahamas yesterday. It warned its population (more than 90 percent of which is Black) and "in particular young males [to] exercise extreme caution in affected cities in their interactions with the police." It also advises: "Do not get involved in political or other demonstrations under any circumstances and avoid crowds."
The deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling remind us that the issue of police brutality is still as pressing as ever. There have already been more than 120 Black people killed by police in 2016. Additionally, the murder of five police officers in Dallas on Thursday night reminds us that being a police officer in America is a dangerous, difficult, and often thankless job, too. The fraught relationship between the police and the Black community in the United States warrants a much larger political, cultural, and sociological conversation, but one thing is clear: we need more good cops to call out the bad ones. This feeling was perfectly articulated by this radio DJ's viral video rant, which clearly struck a nerve.
Talk to you soon,
Matthew
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| Gun control now: Congress must ban assault weapons | |
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Tell Republicans in Congress:
“It’s time to put your constituents before the NRA. Bring a real gun control legislation package, which includes a ban on assault weapons, to the floor of the House and the Senate.”
Add your name:
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From RootsAction.org--hold war criminal Toady Blair accountable
While we welcome the publication of the Chilcot Inquiry's report, there was never any question that Tony Blair was a key accomplice in the launching of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
To encourage the new moves in Parliament to impeach Blair and to pursue his prosecution, click here.
(Yes, impeachment can still impose penalties as well as condemnation even when the person impeached is out of office.)
We need this precedent in order to advance the principle of accountability as well for the U.S. architects of the massive crime of the Iraq War.
We need these steps toward truth and reconciliation if the United States and NATO nations are ever to shake the war habit.
Blair was advised by his top legal official that attacking Iraq would be illegal, but it still would have been illegal had he not been so advised.
Blair was advised by his top "intelligence" official that the U.S. was lying about the war, but the war would still have been illegal even had all the lies been true.
By the most scientifically respected measures available, the war killed 1.4 million Iraqis, saw 4.2 million injured, and 4.5 million people have become refugees. The 1.4 million dead were 5% of the population. The invasion included 29,200 air strikes.
An Iraqi who helped topple a statue of Saddam Hussein in 2003 echoed majority Iraqi opinion this week when he said he'd rather have Hussein back than continue with the catastrophe that the U.S.-led war created.
The U.S. and its allies targeted civilians, journalists, hospitals, and ambulances. They used cluster bombs, white phosphorous, depleted uranium, and a new kind of napalm in urban areas. Birth defects, cancer rates, and infant mortality have soared. Water supplies, sewage treatment plants, hospitals, bridges, and electricity supplies were devastated, and not repaired.
For years, the occupying forces encouraged ethnic and sectarian division and violence, resulting in a segregated country and repression greater even than under Hussein's brutal police state. Terrorist groups, including one that took the name ISIS, arose and flourished.
Click here to join peace-minded people from around the world in supporting the impeachment and prosecution of Tony Blair as a first and important step toward justice.
After signing the petition, please use the tools on the next webpage to share it with your friends.
This work is only possible with your financial support. Please chip in $3 now.
-- The RootsAction.org Team
P.S. RootsAction is an independent online force endorsed by Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Daniel Ellsberg, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher Jr., Laura Flanders, former U.S. Senator James Abourezk, Coleen Rowley, Frances Fox Piven, Lila Garrett, Phil Donahue, Sonali Kolhatkar, and many others.
Background:
> The Chilcot Report
> David Swanson: Iraq War Among World's Worst Events
> Guardian: Tony Blair faces calls for impeachment on release of Chilcot report
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From MoveOn.org--that video on Trump's taxes
Dear MoveOn member,
The old political playbook was simple: Buy TV ads. Lots of them.
Now it's 2016, and that playbook is out the window. Donald Trump won the Republican primary campaign not with paid advertising, but with $3 billion of what pros call "earned media"; he'd say or tweet something and his supporters would see it online—and then journalists would write about it, spreading the message still further.1
All the paid ads in the world can't compete with that type of free coverage. But MoveOn’s new Video Lab can.
Here’s how it works: MoveOn has hired a team of industry-tested producers, videographers, and motion graphic artists—and their work is already having huge success. A recent Video Lab video, with Senator Elizabeth Warren telling the truth about Trump, surged past 14 million views. It also generated coverage by The Washington Post, Politico, MSNBC, and many more outlets. It's already one of the year's most viral political videos. And it's just the start.
Can you chip in $5 a month, and help MoveOn's Video Lab go toe-to-toe with Trump from now through election day?
No, I'm sorry, I can't become a monthly donor right now.
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From Sierra Club--poultry workers should not have to wear diapers because their employers don't give them bathroom breaks
Many poultry workers don't receive adequate bathroom breaks.
Tell poultry executives to treat their workers with dignity and respect.
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From Sierra Club--stop dangerous oil pipelines...these are our crops and our livelihoods at stake
Take action right now to tell the Army Corps of Engineers to stop fast-tracking unsafe oil and gas pipelines!
Crude oil flows along a dry creek bed in Ventura, CA after yesterday's pipeline rupture.
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Dear Friend,
Last week we wrote you ahead of the Democratic Platform Committee in Orlando about efforts to have the Democratic Party explicitly oppose the TPP, and to oppose Israeli settlements in the West Bank. These amendments were rejected. But they sparked vigorous debate that got a lot of press attention.
Here is a write-up of what happened on TPP by John Nichols in The Nation:
Democrats Toughen Trade Stance—but Reject Formal Opposition to the TPP
Here are clips of the TPP debate:
Saunders-Jealous debate on amendments regarding TPP
Debate on Jim Hightower's amendment
Here is a write-up in the Times of Israel on the Israel-Palestine debate:
Clinton camp quells bid to add ‘occupation’ into Democratic party platform
Here are clips we made of the Israel-Palestine debate:
Oppose settlements and occupation
Rebuild Gaza
If you like these clips, please share them however you share things.
Thanks for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just,
Robert Naiman, Avram Reisman, and Sarah Burns
Just Foreign Policy
Help support our work!
If you think our work is important, support us with a $15 donation.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.
Last week we wrote you ahead of the Democratic Platform Committee in Orlando about efforts to have the Democratic Party explicitly oppose the TPP, and to oppose Israeli settlements in the West Bank. These amendments were rejected. But they sparked vigorous debate that got a lot of press attention.
Here is a write-up of what happened on TPP by John Nichols in The Nation:
Democrats Toughen Trade Stance—but Reject Formal Opposition to the TPP
Here are clips of the TPP debate:
Saunders-Jealous debate on amendments regarding TPP
Debate on Jim Hightower's amendment
Here is a write-up in the Times of Israel on the Israel-Palestine debate:
Clinton camp quells bid to add ‘occupation’ into Democratic party platform
Here are clips we made of the Israel-Palestine debate:
Oppose settlements and occupation
Rebuild Gaza
If you like these clips, please share them however you share things.
Thanks for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just,
Robert Naiman, Avram Reisman, and Sarah Burns
Just Foreign Policy
Help support our work!
If you think our work is important, support us with a $15 donation.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.
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Democracy Now!
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Daily Kos
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So why isn't the NRA up in arms
(pun intended)
that the jack-booted government thugs
extra-judicially executed
law-abiding open-carry, gun-toting
Philando Castile?
Could it be that Wayne LaPierre
is too busy because
he's having yet another orgasm
from all the bloodshed?
Or could it be that
open-carry only applies
if you're white?
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AlterNet
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U.S. police have been safest under Obama
than they have in the past 35 years
Time for them to stop being so fucking jumpy
Stop killing Blacks
Start getting better training
"Black Lives Matter" matters
because we treat Blacks
like their lives don't matter...
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Movies
Philando Castile Shot And Killed In Front Of Girlfriend (VIDEO)--friends, if you do nothing else, please watch this and listen to Cenk's commentary. If it doesn't make you weep, and if it doesn't make you sick to your stomach, there is something wrong with you. Like Cenk says, where is the NRA in all this, standing up for Castile's second amendment rights that the "jackbooted government thugs" violated?
Baton Rouge police execution of Alton Sterling--as Cenk says, it's not the job of the cops to shoot first and ask questions later...that's supposed to be the bad guys' job. Cops' job is not to get home safely at all costs--it's to protect and serve. Taking chances with everyone else's lives rather than your own does not qualify as "protect and serve."
White people with guns NOT killed by cops
TTA Podcast 282: Spare the Rod - Corporal Punishment in the Name of God (Part 1 of 2)
Sanders Describes The Scene on House Floor During Sit-In
Greetings, Trump Supporters! | Full Frontal with Samantha Bee | TBS
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah - Donald Trump: America's African President
Former Congressmen Threatens Obama After Dallas
Dallas Shooter’s Identity Revealed
FBI Investigating Fresno Cops After Dylan Noble Killing
A Modesty Proposal | Full Frontal with Samantha Bee | TBS
Chomsky: Hillary Clinton Fears BDS Because It Counters Decades of US Support for Israeli Aggression
The Daily Show - "Pro-Lifers" Not So Pro-Life After All
Noam Chomsky on Donald Trump
Catholic League President Compares Gay Marriage To Orlando Terrorist
Jim Jefferies -- Donald Trump (2016)
A Look Inside Creepy Christian Textbooks
Top Ten Excuses for Belief in God, and Why They Fail. A skeptic examines the claims of Christians
Is Trump TRYING To Lose?
Gretchen Carlson Sues Fox News For Sexual Harassment--the media culture FOX News built
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Damn, son...they forgot
"hunting trips with Dickhead Cheney"
"hunting trips with Dickhead Cheney"
posted by Dot Calm @ 7:41 PM
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