Happy Friday! Well, sort of...
So, now we've lost David Bowie and Alan Rickman, who played Severus Snape in Harry Potter and the rather annoyed angel Metatron, the Voice of God, in Dogma. At 69, both were still in the prime of their careers; both were dearly loved, and both will be sorely missed.
*sigh*...
Why is the news always so...bad?!??
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Sorry, creationists--EVERY species is a transitional species!
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Chomsky dispels 9/11 conspiracies with sheer logic
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Religions are like children:
the less you're allowed to criticize them,
the brattier they turn out.
the less you're allowed to criticize them,
the brattier they turn out.
-- a Psalm by Mrs. Betty Bowers to mark the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attack
********************************************Man Without Gun Attempts Mass Murder--Proves Guns DO Kill People (Video)
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Q: Why did Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz wait so long to renounce his Canadian citizenship?
A: He didn't want to give up free health care.
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Bernie Sanders and Bill Maher explain Socialism
Bernie Sanders is not some radical
trying for some crazy socialist revolution.
He is all for capitalism.
He just wants to improve issues that ordinary Americans care about in ways that ordinary Americans agree with when not biased by the "s"-word.
If you're a Republican, and you like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the military...not to mention clean drinking water and paved interstates...YOU are a socialist like Bernie Sanders!
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Dr. Ben Carson is drawing intense criticism after reports have surfaced that he may have embellished his history of violence as a teen,
his scholarship to West Point,
and other parts of his life story.
Dr. Ben Carson is drawing intense criticism after reports have surfaced that he may have embellished his history of violence as a teen,
his scholarship to West Point,
and other parts of his life story.
Not only that, but it turns out the twins he separated were fraternal.
-- Seth Meyers
********************************************Hey, Ben Carson--when did YOU choose to be straight?
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USA Today's GOP "Power Rankings"
USA Today's GOP "Power Rankings"
had some big shake-ups this week,
with Marco Rubio in the lead
and Chris Christie in the top five.
Yep, Rubio is number one,
while Christie is numbers two through five.
-- Jimmy Fallon
********************************************From 350.org:
Friends,
Last night, during his final State of the Union
address, President Obama talked a pretty good game on climate. He made
the case for clean energy, defended the Paris climate deal, and made
climate deniers squirm in their chairs.
Just as important was what he didn’t say. He didn’t
tout an “all of the above” energy policy or brag about increased
drilling and fracking. In fact, last night’s speech teed up the
next climate fight perfectly: the fight to keep oil, gas and coal on
“public lands” in the ground.
The President said: “Rather than subsidize the
past, we should invest in the future — especially in communities that
rely on fossil fuels. That’s why I’m going to push to change the way we
manage our oil and coal resources, so that they better reflect the costs
they impose on taxpayers and our planet.”
The President intends to make changes to how our
government sells fossil fuels, and that's welcome. But we think it’s
wrong for our government to be selling fossil fuels in the first place.
Since 1920, the government has been selling coal,
oil, and gas on federal land to the highest bidder. President Obama has
rightly identified that this is an antiquated system due for an
overhaul. But these federal fossil fuel auctions don’t just require
minor adjustments -- each and every one of them needs to be cancelled.
(Last year, local activists mobilized around six government fossil fuel
auctions, and managed to get two of them called off.)
Half the fossil fuels under U.S. soil are on these
public lands. That includes coal in Montana, offshore oil in Virginia,
and fracked gas in Colorado. If he wanted to, President Obama could say
“let’s keep it all in the ground” tomorrow, and we could keep 450 gigatons of carbon out of our atmosphere (without interference from climate deniers in Congress).
Fossil fuel companies already have five times more
oil, gas, and coal than they can burn. We can’t afford to sell them any
more. We have to just start saying no.
For communities living next to fossil fuel
extraction, this fight is far from new. Indigenous communities in the
interior west and communities of color along the Gulf Coast have been
fighting fossil fuel expansion for generations.
Climate change brought many of us into the fold
through fights like Keystone XL and Arctic drilling, but we always knew
we couldn’t win this thing one pipeline at a time. That’s why we’re
calling on President Obama to get out of the fossil fuel business
altogether, and stop selling coal, oil, and gas to the fossil fuel
industry.
We’re in an extraordinary moment right now, and it’s going to require extraordinary boldness.
This new fight is exciting, but it’s important to
remember how this all came about: change doesn’t start with great men
making speeches -- it starts with people taking action, taking to the
streets, and calling for justice.
Our movement has made it much harder for elected
leaders like President Obama to side with the fossil fuel industry. When
we march in the streets, kayak in front of oil rigs, and mobilize
against tar sands pipelines, we can change the game.
It takes a movement to move politics, and it’s going to take a movement to turn strong words into strong action.
In solidarity and gratitude,
Sara
Sources:
- "Obama vows to overhaul coal mining on public lands to 'invest in the future'," The Guardian.
- "This one policy change could prevent up to 450 billion tons of carbon from polluting the atmosphere," Salon.
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The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.
The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.
-- George Orwell
********************************************How about a little Secular Talk?
...Take two--they're small!
However Artful, it is to Laffer...
Mental compartmentalization that religious folks do:
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Kim Davis, the county clerk who refused the same-sex marriage licenses, was also at the State of the Union address. She was sporting her meanest scowl and her fullest mullet for the event. She said she was there to encourage all Christians—she even wore Joseph's amazing Technicolor dream coat.
-- Jimmy Kimmel
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Someone needs to tell Sister Kim Davis that the State of the Union isn't like one of her weddings: it only happens once a year. Dress up, girl!
-- Mrs. Betty Bowers
This is how easy it is to buy a gun without a background check:
 It's terrifying. There's no other word for it. The good news is, President Obama has the power to curb these "no questions asked" sales now, without waiting on Congress. But he's running out of time to act. So we're plastering ads exposing these dangerous sales all over Washington, D.C. -- but how big we can go depends on you. Donate $25 today to help us keep pressure on the President to take executive action on gun violence before time runs out:  With an executive action, the President can make sure these sellers get licensed and run checks before selling deadly weapons. But with his time in office winding down, the window of opportunity is closing. Fast. These ads are going up in 3,000 taxis across Washington, but we need your help to keep the message out there as long as possible. Make a donation of $25 or more today to help spread this message all over D.C. Keep up the pressure. Let's be impossible to ignore. Samantha Rodgers Chief Organizing Officer Everytown for Gun Safety --- 1. Everytown for Gun Safety, October 2015, “Beyond Gridlock” 
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Sometimes, people don't want to hear the truth because they don't want their illusions destroyed.
Sometimes, people don't want to hear the truth because they don't want their illusions destroyed.
-- Friedrich Nietzsche
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| http://go. Thanks, Team Matthews |
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Pro-choice
is not pro-abortion.
It is recognizing
It is recognizing
that someone else's body
is not your decision.
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From CREDO Action:
| It’s time to discipline Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore | |
| Tell Alabama’s Judicial Inquiry Commision:
“Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore’s attempts to block marriage equality in Alabama are a violation of Alabama’s Canon of Judicial Ethics. He must be removed from the bench.”
Add your name:
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Christian morality is not concerned
with WHAT is done
but with WHO does it.
Christian sexual purity is not
what Christians do with their own bodies
but what they can force others to do with theirs.
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A word from Alan Grayson:
A word from Alan Grayson:
Gerrymandering:
it’s how elected officials choose their voters, instead of voters
choosing their elected officials. Last night, President Obama talked
about the importance of ending gerrymandering, and I couldn't agree
more. That's why I filed a constitutional amendment to end
gerrymandering.
The
U.S. House of Representatives and our state legislatures elect one
candidate from each district. And who decides where those districts are
located? Most often, the legislatures themselves.
Sounds like a conflict of interest? It is.
Sometimes
the lines are drawn to benefit a particular party – for instance, most
Congressional lines are drawn by Republicans to favor Republicans.
Sometimes the lines are drawn to benefit incumbents of both parties.
Either way, the system is rigged; rigged against the voters.
In
2012, House Democratic candidates received a million votes more than
House Republican candidates. But thanks to gerrymandering, Republicans
kept control of the House.
My
state, Florida, has 350,000 more registered Democrats than registered
Republicans. But in 2010, thanks in large part to gerrymandering,
Florida sent 19 Republicans to Congress, and only 6 Democrats.
Gerrymandering. It’s evil. So we’re going to end it.
Real democracy – what a concept.
Courage,
Rep. Alan Grayson
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Police killed over 83 unarmed Christians in 2015.
The Christians were Black.
Do Christians care?
Or is thug > Christian?
The Christians were Black.
Do Christians care?
Or is thug > Christian?
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From Democracy Now!
President Obama's State of the Union Tuesday night was the seventh and final of his presidency. Obama defended his record while implicitly criticizing the Republican ... Read More →
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We
speak with Claudia Palacios, a racial and migrant justice activist and a
U.S. Marines veteran. Palacios was among seven people arrested on Friday after blocking ... Read More →
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The broadcaster Tavis Smiley made headlines this week for an appearance on ABC's This Week when he called out Donald Trump for being an "unrepentant, irascible religious ... Read More →
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Medea
Benjamin is the co-founder of CodePink, known worldwide for activism in
the cause of justice and determination to confront politicians
directly. Benjamin has ... Read More →
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Republicans believe
life begins at conception
and ends at birth.
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Daily Kos
Right-wing caravan to DC in doubt after co-founder killed his fellow 'patriot' in drunken gun fight
Judge promises $70K per day bill to Bundy, supporter tossed from county meeting, sex toys arrive
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If your first priority after a mass shooting is
"Shit! Obama's gonna take all our guns,"
then your priorities suck.
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AlterNet Summaries
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Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
One of the strongest speeches of his presidency. READ MORE»
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By Rick Shenkman, Tom Dispatch
Why “Collateral Damage” elicits so little empathy among Americans. READ MORE»
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By Laurel Stvan, The Conversation
The English language, from titles to pronouns, is in the process of adapting to new cultural attitudes about gender. READ MORE»
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By Paul Blest, Salon
The nominating convention is still months away, but Sanders has already come farther than anyone ever expected. READ MORE»
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By Marion Brady, The Washington Post
What is school privatization? Here's an overview. READ MORE»
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By Keith Knight, AlterNet
Remembering the influential artist. READ MORE»
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By Justin Gardner, The Free Thought Project
There will be heavy pressure to revise the EPA’s conclusion — and the oil and gas industry will have major egg on its face. READ MORE»
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By David Edwards, Raw Story
House
Bill 663 defines “anatomical sex” as “the physical condition of being
male or female, which is determined by a person’s anatomy.” READ MORE»
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In God YOU trust.
I'll make up my own mind, thanks!
I'll make up my own mind, thanks!
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Of course I'm going to take digs at Faux Noise!
Because of them,
we see Tea Party signs like this:
we see Tea Party signs like this:
(If you don't see why this is funny, re-watch the video with Bernie Sanders and Bill Maher NOW. Go!)
I'll leave you with an important message from Tea Party protestors
(photo credit: HuffPo)...
(photo credit: HuffPo)...
Ok, I couldn't resist...
See y'all Monday--have a great weekend!
posted by Dot Calm @ 3:28 PM
