Monday, July 11, 2016

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
     
********************************************


********************************************

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...
********************************************
 
Mailbag

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.
militarized police

Tell Pres. Obama and Congress: Stop funding police departments that have failed to make simple reforms for Black lives.
Take Action
-----------------------------------


-----------------------------------

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

-----------------------------------

CREDO Action
Gun control now: Congress must ban assault weapons
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:
Sign the petition ►

-----------------------------------

 
Donald Trump is the most openly anti-woman presidential candidate we've ever seen. Will you chip in $15 to help defend abortion rights and keep Trump out of the White House?
Donate Now
Dear Friend,
You won't believe the disgustingly sexist T-shirts, buttons, and bumper stickers being sold at Trump rallies these days.
In fact, they're so awful that I hesitate to repeat them—but voters need to know what kind of candidate we're really dealing with here. Here are a few of the worst:
  • "Trump that bitch."
  • "Life's a bitch. Don't vote for one."
  • "Two fat thighs, two small breasts ... left wing."
  • "Hillary sucks, but not like Monica."
We've never seen such an openly misogynistic presidential candidate, and men and women alike must all speak out to make sure he never, ever wins the White House. Will you chip in $15?
If elected, Trump has promised to appoint Supreme Court justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade. He's said women should be punished for abortion. And his history of sexual harassment in the workplace is appalling.
But if you think Donald Trump has no chance of winning the White House, think again. Hillary Clinton is facing a massive wave of false attacks on her character, and the latest polls show Trump within the margin of error in key battleground states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and North Carolina.1
There's never been more at stake for women in a presidential election—and when it comes to abortion rights, we'll be living with the consequences of this vote for a generation or more.
NARAL Pro-Choice America has launched one of our most important campaigns ever to keep Donald Trump out of the White House. Will you chip in $15 to help defeat Donald Trump?
Thank you for helping to make reproductive freedom real for all women.
Mitchell Stille
Field Director, NARAL Pro-Choice America
DONATE NOW

Source:
1. Battle for White House, RealClearPolitics, accessed July 5, 2016

-----------------------------------

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
                                   
-----------------------------------

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 PostPolitico, 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.
 
-----------------------------------

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.

Chicken

Tell poultry executives to treat their workers with dignity and respect.

sierrarise-button-sign-share

-----------------------------------

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!
Take action!
Crude oil flows along a dry creek bed in Ventura, CA after yesterday's pipeline rupture.
Take action!

-----------------------------------

Just Foreign Policy

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.org/donate

Please support our work. Donate for a Just Foreign Policy
© 2016 Just Foreign Policy
Click here to unsubscribe

  
********************************************

Democracy Now!

Stories

Protests against police brutality erupted across the United States over the weekend, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets and blocking roads, ... Read More →
As protests against police brutality spread across the United States, a shocking new joint investigation by the New York Times and the Marshall Project looks at a ... Read More →
More than 300 people were arrested over the weekend as protests against police brutality erupted in more than a dozen U.S. cities over the fatal police shootings ... Read More →

Headlines →

   
********************************************

Daily Kos

  • Trump acknowledges he might just blow off this 'president thing' if elected
  • NY Police Commissioner blasts Donald Trump for being an opportunist during the Dallas tragedy
  • Trump campaign official blames Hillary Clinton for 'encouraging the murder of these police officers'
  • Like the Daily Kos Recommended email? Chip in $1 to support the team that brings progressive news to your inbox every day.
  • Game change—Republican Trey Gowdy called out for questionable email/server use
  • Huuuge coward Donald Trump ducking all TV news shows—Except his pals on Fox News
  • The day I discovered I was a racist
  • Can a 12-year-old girl marry a 'senior' in America? The legal age in some states may shock you
  • Less than 24 hours after Dallas, Hillary delivers one of the most important speeches of the election
  • How Republicans celebrate the National Park Service's 100th anniversary
  • Sign if you agree: Without the restoration of the Voting Rights Act, Republicans will continue to pass laws blocking PROGRESSIVE VOTERS. Stand with the Democratic Governors Association(DGA) to fight. sponsored
  • White for a black girl: An observation about skin color
  • What the NRA says, and doesn't say, tells the story
  • How far have we come since the Scopes 'Monkey Trial'?
  • Look in the mirror: Our police are but a reflection of who we are
  • Why some states get polled more than others, even when it makes no apparent sense
  • Friendly reminder: The Katmai National Park bear cam in Alaska is up and running
  • The most thorough, profound and moving defense of Hillary Clinton I have ever seen.
  • This photo of Hillary may surprise you ... But it really shouldn't

  • Bernie Sanders, what the hell have you done for us lately?
  • Jimmy Carter: 'Losing my religion for equality'
  • Cartoon: Trump's Nazi tweets
  • Sign if you agree with the Democratic Governors Association: Voting should be easier—move Election Day to a weekend. sponsored
  • Rolling Stone: Obama is one of the 'most successful presidents in history'—Krugman tells why
  • Cartoon: Don 'The Con' Trump—Guide to Grifting
  • This is how you challenge people who use the Bible to defend discrimination
  • Cartoon: Brexit, Andy Capp!
  • Cartoon: Doctor Who vs. the Brexit
  • Cartoon: The what about X committee
  • Sign the petition: We have to stand together with the DLCC and fight back against right-wing voter suppression laws. sponsored
  • Cartoon: Policing after Utah v. Strieff
  • Cartoon: Beware the Xeno virus!
  • Cartoon: Winnie the U.K. gets into a tight place
  • Cartoon: Belle Foundation
  •    
    ********************************************
    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?
    ********************************************

    AlterNet
    By Sarah Lazare, AlterNet
    From Atlanta to Baton Rouge, protesters continue to take to the streets. READ MORE»

    By Jeff Carter, Salon
    It's as if psychologists decided on the definition for "unprincipled narcissist" from within a Trump rally. READ MORE»

    By Janet Allon, AlterNet
    Palin idiotically weighed in on recent events, and sounded off against hyphens. READ MORE»

    By Jon Perr, Daily Kos
    This is how George W. Bush survived eight years of non-stop scandals. READ MORE»

    By Sarah Lazare, AlterNet
    Chris LeDay believes his detention was direct retaliation. READ MORE»

    By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
    Sometimes great discoveries happen by accident.  READ MORE»

    By Sarah Burris, Raw Story
    "When you've got gunfire going on, you usually go with the person that's got a gun." READ MORE»

    By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet
    The augmented reality app is making us active, but watch where you walk.  READ MORE»

    By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!
    A shocking new investigation looks at an unexamined part of the criminal justice system. READ MORE»

    By Dana Dovey, Medical Daily
    "It's not about getting high. It's about keeping my mind engaged in the activity I'm in." READ MORE»

    By Emily Shugerman, Revelist
    It's a bold move by America's leaders in support of rape survivors and the rights of all women on the campuses. READ MORE»


    By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
    An unprecedented San Fran Chronicle media project shows all the obstacles even the richest cities have in addressing the divisive and persistent problem. READ MORE»

    By Michelle Alexander, BillMoyers.com
    We need a profound shift in our collective consciousness in order to challenge an entrenched system of racial and social control -- and build a new America. READ MORE»

    By Chauncey DeVega, Salon
    "All Lives Matter" must be transformed from a BLM smear to honoring the lives of heroes and police brutality victims. READ MORE»

    By Nomi Prins, Craig Wilson, Tom Dispatch
    Trump's actual relationship to the establishment is complex in an opportunistic way. READ MORE»

    By Diane Ravitch, The Huffington Post
    The most powerful tool parents have to stop this madness is to refuse to allow their children to take the tests. READ MORE»

    TeleSur
    Gun control in the U.S.has historically been a racist’s weapon of choice against revolting slaves and Black militia READ MORE»

    By Clark Mindock, International Business Times
    A new study finds that states that allow medical marijuana see decreased rates of prescription drug use and big savings for Medicare. READ MORE»

    By Sarah K. Burris, Raw Story
    Blaming Obama or Black Live Matter activists, isn’t supported by any of the data available. READ MORE»

    By Daphne Wysham, Other Words
    With one tiny loose bolt, oil trains can erupt into an inferno, scorching everything for miles. READ MORE»


    By Janet Allon, AlterNet
    Bill O'Reilly has officially broken his record of hatefulness. READ MORE»

    By Jim Sleeper, Boston Globe
    Trying to figure out each new killer’s derangement, racism, homophobia, xenophobia or rage at America is missing the point completely. READ MORE»

    By Sarah Lazare, AlterNet
    Former New York mayor who oversaw police killings of African-Americans baselessly smears Black Lives Matter. READ MORE»

    By Ben Norton, Salon
    Louisiana police officers have a recent history of pulling the trigger without cause. READ MORE»

    By Larry Schwartz, AlterNet
    There are right ways and wrong ways to treat sunburn, bug bites and poison ivy.  READ MORE»

    By William Boardman, Reader Supported News
    Unsurprisingly, he calls the allegations "politically motivated." READ MORE»

    By Kali Holloway, AlterNet
    At Florida's “Pervert Park," a group is trying to get their lives back on track after unspeakable mistakes.  READ MORE»

    By Mike Ludwig, Truthout
    It seems like everyone is playing politics with painkillers these days. READ MORE»

    By Jeremy R. Hammond, AlterNet
    A paradigm shift is required to bring about a peaceful resolution to the world’s most infamous conflict.  READ MORE»

    By Michael Winship, Moyers and Company
    As party members meet to approve a new platform, they pay little attention to the industry that's destroying government and politics. READ MORE»

    By Leslie Scott, AlterNet
    New Jersey is the 11th state to enact legislation against the grassroots BDS movement. READ MORE»

    By Michael Schulson, Religion Dispatches
    The grant supports an initiative to study "the societal implications of astrobiology," which involves studying the origins of life in the universe. READ MORE»

    By Carrie Weisman, AlterNet
    New guidelines also put pressure on cohabitating couples to separate unless they plan to marry, and for gay people to live without sex. READ MORE»

    By Tom Boggioni, Raw Story
    Like the case of Bill Cosby, sexual harassment allegations are beginning to flood in after one victim. READ MORE»


    By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
    Where to begin making sense of the senseless around us. READ MORE»

    By Adele M. Stan, The American Prospect
    Trump’s way of broadening the GOP base is to energize turnout among America’s most racist, bigoted and misogynist cohorts. READ MORE»

    By Elizabeth Preza, AlterNet
    Many black citizens who have died at the hands of police are targeted for relatively minor offenses.  READ MORE»

    By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
    The misinformation spread public fear of a nonexistent cabal of snipers, and attacked Black Lives Matter. READ MORE»

    By Martha Rosenberg, AlterNet
    And more truth: opioids are not very effective after 12 weeks. READ MORE»

    By Ann Wright, AlterNet
    Drones fly above Gaza 24 hours a day watching the movements of every Palestinian and ready to fire rockets at those chosen to die by the IDF. READ MORE»

    By Bill Moyers, BillMoyers.com
    They also discuss what Martin Luther King Jr. called the "unarmed truth." READ MORE»

    By Sean Illing, Salon
    We can't bring back the dead—the best we can do right now is peacefully push for change. READ MORE»

    By Thom Hartmann, AlterNet
    Vermont implemented a law to label goods containing genetically engineered ingredients, and it's facing full-out attack from Monsanto. READ MORE»

    By Arturo Garcia, Raw Story
    The peaceful BLM protests around the country aren't equivalent to the violence against police in Dallas. READ MORE»

    By Chauncey DeVega, Salon
    Racists are more likely to be Republicans—and the most extreme among them are Donald Trump supporters. READ MORE»

    By Project CBD, AlterNet
    THC is the stuff that gets you high; CBD (cannabidiol) is the stuff that makes you feel better. And we have a primer on it just for you.  READ MORE»

    By Mary Angela Bock, The Conversation
    One of the most dramatic ways camera proliferation is changing our lives is in the area of law enforcement.  READ MORE»

    By Jenny Pierson, AlterNet
    Cindy Trinh traded a law career for a photo blog in order to tell the dramatic stories she saw at protests. READ MORE»

    By Henrietta McGourty, AlterNet
    If you need a quick supercharge, try one of these 26 superfood snacks. READ MORE»

    By Carrie Weisman, AlterNet
    The motivations behind sending dick pics are as diverse as the organs themselves.  READ MORE»
        
    ********************************************
    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...
    ********************************************

    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

    ********************************************

    Damn, son...they forgot
    "hunting trips with Dickhead Cheney"