Julia Galef is President and Co-Founder of the Center for Applied Rationality, an organization teaching cognitive science-based techniques for effective decision making. She also serves on the board of directors of the New York City Skeptics, a non-profit organization devoted to promoting critical thinking and science education, and co-hosts their official podcast, Rationally Speaking along with Massimo Piggliuci. Galef has written for Scientific American, Religion Dispatches, Rationally Speaking, as well as her own Measure of Doubt blog and has been featured in Forbes among other publications.
TAM 2014 - Julia Galef - How to Change Your Mind
Sunday, August 31, 2014
THIS is un-American!
Winter Garden, Florida, August 28, 2014.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is condemning the mayor and police chief of Winter Garden, Fla., after the two men kicked a resident out of a city commission meeting on Aug. 28 for refusing to stand during a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
FFRF sent a letter of complaint Aug. 29 in support of the citizen, “John Thoreau,” a member of FFRF and the Central Florida Freethought Community, FFRF’s local chapter.
As documented in a video recorded by Thoreau, Mayor John Rees told everyone present at the meeting to rise for the invocation and the pledge. As the prayer began, Rees interrupted, pointing at the seated Thoreau and saying, “We’re waiting for everyone to rise.” Thoreau repeatedly asserted he did not have to and remained seated. The sectarian prayer, given by a commission member, continued.
When Thoreau also refused to stand for the pledge, Rees ordered Police Chief George Brennan to “either escort him out or have him stand for the pledge.” Rees continued, “This is just not fair to our troops and people overseas, sir.” Brennan asked Thoreau whether he would stand or leave. Thoreau responded, “I guess I’m leaving” and was escorted out of the room in front of the nearly 100 people in the audience.
Rees claimed the refusal to stand was disrespectful, telling the Orlando Sentinel, “I did not make him stand for the prayer, but the pledge? Even school kids stand. So I told him, ‘You have two choices: You can stand or go outside.’ ”
“These actions were an astounding violation of Thoreau’s rights,” said FFRF Staff Attorney Andrew Seidel, citing several court cases holding that compelling citizens to recite the pledge or salute the flag is unconstitutional, including the 1943 Supreme Court case West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, where the Supreme Court explained, “If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.”
Seidel informed Rees and Brennan that it is also unconstitutional to coerce citizens into showing deference to prayers, writing, “The government cannot ask people to stand, let alone force people to stand under threat of arrest.”
As a remedy to this violation of Thoreau’s civil rights, FFRF urges Rees and Brennan to each explain at the next meeting that “citizens are within their rights to remain sitting for the pledge and that it does not reflect a lack of patriotism. In fact, refusing to rise and repeat the pledge is more patriotic and respectful of the godless, secular Constitution that created this nation, than rising and declaring our nation to be 'one nation under God.'” Twenty-four percent of FFRF’s membership is active or retired service members.
The letter informs the officials to expect members of the Central Florida Freethought Community to be at the next commission meeting. “In a show of solidarity with John,” Seidel wrote, “they will exercise their First Amendment rights to remain seated during the invocation and pledge, both involving gods and a religion they do not worship. Mayor Rees and Chief Brennan ought to honor their rights.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison, Wis., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational charity, is the nation's largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics), and has been working since 1978 to keep religion and government separate
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is condemning the mayor and police chief of Winter Garden, Fla., after the two men kicked a resident out of a city commission meeting on Aug. 28 for refusing to stand during a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
FFRF sent a letter of complaint Aug. 29 in support of the citizen, “John Thoreau,” a member of FFRF and the Central Florida Freethought Community, FFRF’s local chapter.
As documented in a video recorded by Thoreau, Mayor John Rees told everyone present at the meeting to rise for the invocation and the pledge. As the prayer began, Rees interrupted, pointing at the seated Thoreau and saying, “We’re waiting for everyone to rise.” Thoreau repeatedly asserted he did not have to and remained seated. The sectarian prayer, given by a commission member, continued.
When Thoreau also refused to stand for the pledge, Rees ordered Police Chief George Brennan to “either escort him out or have him stand for the pledge.” Rees continued, “This is just not fair to our troops and people overseas, sir.” Brennan asked Thoreau whether he would stand or leave. Thoreau responded, “I guess I’m leaving” and was escorted out of the room in front of the nearly 100 people in the audience.
Rees claimed the refusal to stand was disrespectful, telling the Orlando Sentinel, “I did not make him stand for the prayer, but the pledge? Even school kids stand. So I told him, ‘You have two choices: You can stand or go outside.’ ”
“These actions were an astounding violation of Thoreau’s rights,” said FFRF Staff Attorney Andrew Seidel, citing several court cases holding that compelling citizens to recite the pledge or salute the flag is unconstitutional, including the 1943 Supreme Court case West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, where the Supreme Court explained, “If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.”
Seidel informed Rees and Brennan that it is also unconstitutional to coerce citizens into showing deference to prayers, writing, “The government cannot ask people to stand, let alone force people to stand under threat of arrest.”
As a remedy to this violation of Thoreau’s civil rights, FFRF urges Rees and Brennan to each explain at the next meeting that “citizens are within their rights to remain sitting for the pledge and that it does not reflect a lack of patriotism. In fact, refusing to rise and repeat the pledge is more patriotic and respectful of the godless, secular Constitution that created this nation, than rising and declaring our nation to be 'one nation under God.'” Twenty-four percent of FFRF’s membership is active or retired service members.
The letter informs the officials to expect members of the Central Florida Freethought Community to be at the next commission meeting. “In a show of solidarity with John,” Seidel wrote, “they will exercise their First Amendment rights to remain seated during the invocation and pledge, both involving gods and a religion they do not worship. Mayor Rees and Chief Brennan ought to honor their rights.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison, Wis., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational charity, is the nation's largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics), and has been working since 1978 to keep religion and government separate
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Friday, August 29, 2014
How Rocks Move
Scripps Oceanography paleooceanographer Richard Norris describes the phenomenon of sliding rocks in Death Valley.
Can Atheists Be Republicans? (with CJ Werleman)
Author, columnist, public speaker and proud atheist CJ Werleman has just released a book titled, "Atheists Can't Be Republicans."
We were curious as to Werleman's claim, so tonight he joins us for a podcast that will undoubtedly be a spirited conversation about religion, politics, big money and the Grand Old Party.
TTA Podcast 180: Can Atheists Be Republicans? (with CJ Werleman)
The Thinking Atheist, 2014
We were curious as to Werleman's claim, so tonight he joins us for a podcast that will undoubtedly be a spirited conversation about religion, politics, big money and the Grand Old Party.
TTA Podcast 180: Can Atheists Be Republicans? (with CJ Werleman)
The Thinking Atheist, 2014
William Lane Craig Sucks - Watch Him Spew Fallacies
Apologist William Lane Craig spews a constant stream of fallacies, without the barest hint of evidence or argument.
Kurt Wise - "Evidence" for Dinosaurs coexisting with Humans
Kurt Wise has his own take on "Evidence" for human and dinosaur coexistence.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Fish out of water
Around 400 million years ago, fish left the water and started to evolve into land-loving creatures. But how did the transition happen? A new and unusual experiment could shed some light on the kinds of changes that enabled fins to become limbs. Researchers took a fish species known to be able to walk on its fins from time to time, and raised it on land. Watch the fish promenade in this Nature Video.
Read the paper: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature13708
Read the News & Views: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature13743
Read the paper: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature13708
Read the News & Views: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature13743
Robin Williams Was Demon Possessed
Bryan Fischer says Robin Williams was possessed by demonic powers.
Video by Focal Point on AFA Channel, 2014
Video by Focal Point on AFA Channel, 2014
Skeptic's Review-The Bible: Leviticus - Chapter 19
Lord YHWH keeps hitting you over the head with his metaphorical sledgehammer regarding all of His rules... because you apparently don't listen!
Richard Saunders - Looking into the Psychic Mirror
Richard Saunders is the producer and host of The Skeptic Zone podcast and can be seen on national TV in Australia as the Skeptical Judge on The One, a reality television program that tested the powers of psychics.
Richard Saunders is also President of Australian Skeptics in NSW. In 2009 Richard exposed the trickery behind the PowerBalance wrist band fad. In his free time he is part of the Mystery Investigators, a critical thinking show for schools. Richard Saunders is also an origami expert and author of 30 books for children. Richard Saunders often travels to the USA to speak at conventions and meetings. He also founded Sydney Skeptics in the Pub in 2003.
TAM 2014 - Richard Saunders - Looking into the Psychic Mirror
Richard Saunders is also President of Australian Skeptics in NSW. In 2009 Richard exposed the trickery behind the PowerBalance wrist band fad. In his free time he is part of the Mystery Investigators, a critical thinking show for schools. Richard Saunders is also an origami expert and author of 30 books for children. Richard Saunders often travels to the USA to speak at conventions and meetings. He also founded Sydney Skeptics in the Pub in 2003.
TAM 2014 - Richard Saunders - Looking into the Psychic Mirror
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
9-year-old Girl KILLS Shooting Instructor With Uzi at Arizona Shooting Range
Police: Child firing Uzi at Arizona shooting range accidentally kills instructor
Girl was with her parents at Bullets and Burgers shooting range on vacation from ...
Girl was with her parents at Bullets and Burgers shooting range on vacation from ...
Fischer Wants To End Muslim Immigration Because Islam Is Like The Ebola Virus
Bryan Fischer calls for banning all Muslim immigration to the US because Islam is like the Ebola Virus.
Video by Focal Point at AFA Channel, 2014
Video by Focal Point at AFA Channel, 2014
Joyner Recommends Stocking Up On Water Filters That Will Make You Immune To Cancer
Rick Joyner says a global pandemic is coming, so people should stockpile supplies - especially water filters that will make them immune to cancer.
MorningStar Ministries, 2014
MorningStar Ministries, 2014
Guerilla Open Access Manifesto
Guerilla Open Access Manifesto
Information is power. But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for
themselves. The world's entire scientific and cultural heritage, published over centuries
in books and journals, is increasingly being digitized and locked up by a handful of
private corporations. Want to read the papers featuring the most famous results of the
sciences? You'll need to send enormous amounts to publishers like Reed Elsevier.
There are those struggling to change this. The Open Access Movement has fought
valiantly to ensure that scientists do not sign their copyrights away but instead ensure
their work is published on the Internet, under terms that allow anyone to access it. But
even under the best scenarios, their work will only apply to things published in the future.
Everything up until now will have been lost.
That is too high a price to pay. Forcing academics to pay money to read the work of their
colleagues? Scanning entire libraries but only allowing the folks at Google to read them?
Providing scientific articles to those at elite universities in the First World, but not to
children in the Global South? It's outrageous and unacceptable.
"I agree," many say, "but what can we do? The companies hold the copyrights, they
make enormous amounts of money by charging for access, and it's perfectly legal —
there's nothing we can do to stop them." But there is something we can, something that's
already being done: we can fight back.
Those with access to these resources — students, librarians, scientists — you have been
given a privilege. You get to feed at this banquet of knowledge while the rest of the world
is locked out. But you need not — indeed, morally, you cannot — keep this privilege for
yourselves. You have a duty to share it with the world. And you have: trading passwords
with colleagues, filling download requests for friends.
Meanwhile, those who have been locked out are not standing idly by. You have been
sneaking through holes and climbing over fences, liberating the information locked up by
the publishers and sharing them with your friends.
But all of this action goes on in the dark, hidden underground. It's called stealing or
piracy, as if sharing a wealth of knowledge were the moral equivalent of plundering a
ship and murdering its crew. But sharing isn't immoral — it's a moral imperative. Only
those blinded by greed would refuse to let a friend make a copy.
Large corporations, of course, are blinded by greed. The laws under which they operate
require it — their shareholders would revolt at anything less. And the politicians they
have bought off back them, passing laws giving them the exclusive power to decide who
can make copies.
There is no justice in following unjust laws. It's time to come into the light and, in the
grand tradition of civil disobedience, declare our opposition to this private theft of public
culture.
We need to take information, wherever it is stored, make our copies and share them with
the world. We need to take stuff that's out of copyright and add it to the archive. We need
to buy secret databases and put them on the Web. We need to download scientific
journals and upload them to file sharing networks. We need to fight for Guerilla Open
Access.
With enough of us, around the world, we'll not just send a strong message opposing the
privatization of knowledge — we'll make it a thing of the past. Will you join us?
Aaron Swartz
July 2008, Eremo, Italy
Information is power. But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for
themselves. The world's entire scientific and cultural heritage, published over centuries
in books and journals, is increasingly being digitized and locked up by a handful of
private corporations. Want to read the papers featuring the most famous results of the
sciences? You'll need to send enormous amounts to publishers like Reed Elsevier.
There are those struggling to change this. The Open Access Movement has fought
valiantly to ensure that scientists do not sign their copyrights away but instead ensure
their work is published on the Internet, under terms that allow anyone to access it. But
even under the best scenarios, their work will only apply to things published in the future.
Everything up until now will have been lost.
That is too high a price to pay. Forcing academics to pay money to read the work of their
colleagues? Scanning entire libraries but only allowing the folks at Google to read them?
Providing scientific articles to those at elite universities in the First World, but not to
children in the Global South? It's outrageous and unacceptable.
"I agree," many say, "but what can we do? The companies hold the copyrights, they
make enormous amounts of money by charging for access, and it's perfectly legal —
there's nothing we can do to stop them." But there is something we can, something that's
already being done: we can fight back.
Those with access to these resources — students, librarians, scientists — you have been
given a privilege. You get to feed at this banquet of knowledge while the rest of the world
is locked out. But you need not — indeed, morally, you cannot — keep this privilege for
yourselves. You have a duty to share it with the world. And you have: trading passwords
with colleagues, filling download requests for friends.
Meanwhile, those who have been locked out are not standing idly by. You have been
sneaking through holes and climbing over fences, liberating the information locked up by
the publishers and sharing them with your friends.
But all of this action goes on in the dark, hidden underground. It's called stealing or
piracy, as if sharing a wealth of knowledge were the moral equivalent of plundering a
ship and murdering its crew. But sharing isn't immoral — it's a moral imperative. Only
those blinded by greed would refuse to let a friend make a copy.
Large corporations, of course, are blinded by greed. The laws under which they operate
require it — their shareholders would revolt at anything less. And the politicians they
have bought off back them, passing laws giving them the exclusive power to decide who
can make copies.
There is no justice in following unjust laws. It's time to come into the light and, in the
grand tradition of civil disobedience, declare our opposition to this private theft of public
culture.
We need to take information, wherever it is stored, make our copies and share them with
the world. We need to take stuff that's out of copyright and add it to the archive. We need
to buy secret databases and put them on the Web. We need to download scientific
journals and upload them to file sharing networks. We need to fight for Guerilla Open
Access.
With enough of us, around the world, we'll not just send a strong message opposing the
privatization of knowledge — we'll make it a thing of the past. Will you join us?
Aaron Swartz
July 2008, Eremo, Italy
Massimo Polidoro - Why James Randi Deserves a Biography
Massimo Polidoro is one of the best known investigators of anomalous phenomena, claimed psychic powers and mysterious happenings. The only full-time student of James The Amazing Randi, Massimo later was a co-founder of CICAP (the Italian Committee for the Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal) and the first Professor of Anomalistic Psychology in Italy, at the University of Milano. He is now the Executive Director of CICAP, a Research Fellow for CSI (Committee for Skeptical Inquiry), a TV personality and a prolific author. He has published 27 books, including Final Séance. The Strange Friendship between Houdini and Conan Doyle and Secrets of the Psychics (both with Prometheus Books).
He is preparing to write the biography of James 'The Amazing' Randi.
He is preparing to write the biography of James 'The Amazing' Randi.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Bill Nye - Keynote talk
Bill Nye (The Science Guy) gives the Keynote talk and lets us in on his preparation for the "Ham on Nye" Creation Museum debate that took place in February 2014 in Kentucky.
TAM 2014 - Bill Nye - Keynote talk
TAM 2014 - Bill Nye - Keynote talk
Measles: Lessons From the Past
Measles:
Paul A. Offit, M.D., is the Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and the Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In addition, Dr. Offit is the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology and a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Paul Offit is a recipient of many awards including Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Paul A.Offit has published more than 140 papers in medical and scientific journals in the areas of rotavirus-specific immune responses and vaccine safety. Paul A.Offit is the author of five books including Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure; Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All; and and Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine.
TAM 2014 - Paul Offit - Lessons From the Past
Paul A. Offit, M.D., is the Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and the Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In addition, Dr. Offit is the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology and a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Paul Offit is a recipient of many awards including Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Paul A.Offit has published more than 140 papers in medical and scientific journals in the areas of rotavirus-specific immune responses and vaccine safety. Paul A.Offit is the author of five books including Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure; Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All; and and Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine.
TAM 2014 - Paul Offit - Lessons From the Past
Skeptic's Review-The Bible: Leviticus - Chapters 17-18
Goat Demons, Molech... and all the sweet sweet sexy time rules!!
Monday, August 25, 2014
History Middle East (Jinn & Tonic Show)
Development historically of the Middle East and the groups
The Jinn And Tonic Show, 24. Aug 2014
The Jinn And Tonic Show, 24. Aug 2014
Fischer Says God Will Use ISIS To Punish America For Gay Rights
In this video, Bryan Fischer warns that eventually God is going to get fed up with America's tolerance of homosexuality and use a radical group like ISIS to carry out his judgment.
Video by Focal Point on AFA Channel, 2014
Video by Focal Point on AFA Channel, 2014
Sunday, August 24, 2014
The Mind of the Science Denier
The battles over evolution, climate change, childhood vaccinations, alternative medicine, oil shortages, population growth, and the place of science in our country—all are reaching a fevered pitch. Many people and institutions have exerted enormous efforts to misrepresent or flatly deny demonstrable scientific reality to protect their nonscientific ideology, their power, or their bottom line.
To shed light on this darkness, Donald R. Prothero explains the scientific process and why society has come to rely on science not only to provide a better life but also to reach verifiable truths no other method can obtain.
TAM 2014
To shed light on this darkness, Donald R. Prothero explains the scientific process and why society has come to rely on science not only to provide a better life but also to reach verifiable truths no other method can obtain.
TAM 2014
Power Corrupts
No mind - no matter how powerful - could ever honestly claim to be free from deception, or unknown unknowns.
The problem with using the bible as “proof” of God’s existence and nature, is that even if all the events within its pages actually occurred, it could still not prove God for the simple reason this video points out: God might not be the God you think He is, or even the God He thinks He is. The most likely scenario, however, is that He is a construct of the people.
Man created God in his image.
Try to watch this video in HD if you can. It makes a huge difference.
This video is the pilot episode of “Power Corrupts”. Whether or not I make any more episodes, and eventually seasons, will largely be determined by you. I will consider this video’s view count, rating, and comments when making my decision to continue or not. Thanks for watching! Please share it with others if you enjoyed it.
The problem with using the bible as “proof” of God’s existence and nature, is that even if all the events within its pages actually occurred, it could still not prove God for the simple reason this video points out: God might not be the God you think He is, or even the God He thinks He is. The most likely scenario, however, is that He is a construct of the people.
Man created God in his image.
Try to watch this video in HD if you can. It makes a huge difference.
This video is the pilot episode of “Power Corrupts”. Whether or not I make any more episodes, and eventually seasons, will largely be determined by you. I will consider this video’s view count, rating, and comments when making my decision to continue or not. Thanks for watching! Please share it with others if you enjoyed it.
22 Reasons to STOP Believing in God
20 Reasons to STOP Believing in God
If God knows everything we're going to do in the future, we don't have free will. but we do.
If God doesn't know everything we're going to do in the future, He's not really omniscient.
God couldn't stop a murder when there were only 4 people on Earth!
If we're supposed to be God's special creatures, then the universe is full of a lot of wasted space.
The myth of a great flood and a virgin birth were around long before Jesus. Maybe those elements just make for a good story.
Virgins can't get pregnant. Not without modern medicine, anyway.
Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin? Christian. Barney Frank? Not a Christian.
Isn't it weird that God seems to agree with you about everything? And isn't it weirder that God seems to agree with Christians who disagree with you about everything?
If you ever wrote a book with that many contradictions in it, your publishers would have to pull it from the shelves.
If God made us in His image, why do we have vestigial body parts and organs that often fail?
99.9% of all the species God created are extinct. How many do-overs does God need?
God doesn't exist because I said so. What, you don't like that reason? Because that's pretty much the same reason pastors and parents give to kids to convince them that God *does* exist.
The Holocaust
The proof people often give relies on their personal experiences -- they felt God. God spoke to them. They just *know* God exists. It's the sort of proof we'd never take seriously if it were applied anywhere else.
Too many of God's followers, using Bible verses to support their actions, have made life worse for other people.
No matter what Ray Comfort says, bananas weren't created to look like this. They evolved this way without God's help.
Every time science and religion battle it out, science wins.
You don't need God to be a good person. So why not just cut out the middleman?
People have been saying Jesus will return during their lifetime... for many, many, many generations. He's not coming back. It's time to move on.
"God works in mysterious ways" is a euphemism for "Stop asking hard questions"
Between tornadoes in OK, droughts in TX, and Hurricanes in AL, there are a lot of natural disasters going on in the places God loves.
You were made perfect, in God's image. Except for your foreskin, apparently.
----
Video by Hemant Mehta, 2014
If God knows everything we're going to do in the future, we don't have free will. but we do.
If God doesn't know everything we're going to do in the future, He's not really omniscient.
God couldn't stop a murder when there were only 4 people on Earth!
If we're supposed to be God's special creatures, then the universe is full of a lot of wasted space.
The myth of a great flood and a virgin birth were around long before Jesus. Maybe those elements just make for a good story.
Virgins can't get pregnant. Not without modern medicine, anyway.
Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin? Christian. Barney Frank? Not a Christian.
Isn't it weird that God seems to agree with you about everything? And isn't it weirder that God seems to agree with Christians who disagree with you about everything?
If you ever wrote a book with that many contradictions in it, your publishers would have to pull it from the shelves.
If God made us in His image, why do we have vestigial body parts and organs that often fail?
99.9% of all the species God created are extinct. How many do-overs does God need?
God doesn't exist because I said so. What, you don't like that reason? Because that's pretty much the same reason pastors and parents give to kids to convince them that God *does* exist.
The Holocaust
The proof people often give relies on their personal experiences -- they felt God. God spoke to them. They just *know* God exists. It's the sort of proof we'd never take seriously if it were applied anywhere else.
Too many of God's followers, using Bible verses to support their actions, have made life worse for other people.
No matter what Ray Comfort says, bananas weren't created to look like this. They evolved this way without God's help.
Every time science and religion battle it out, science wins.
You don't need God to be a good person. So why not just cut out the middleman?
People have been saying Jesus will return during their lifetime... for many, many, many generations. He's not coming back. It's time to move on.
"God works in mysterious ways" is a euphemism for "Stop asking hard questions"
Between tornadoes in OK, droughts in TX, and Hurricanes in AL, there are a lot of natural disasters going on in the places God loves.
You were made perfect, in God's image. Except for your foreskin, apparently.
----
Video by Hemant Mehta, 2014
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Scientology: Maria Pia Gardini (Full Interview)
Stacy Brooks interviews Maria Pia Gardini about her experiences with Scientology.
www.xenutv.com, 1/21/-1
www.xenutv.com, 1/21/-1
Time Lapse Video; In 6 days, Buddhist monks create insane sand mandala sculpture
It took six days for a group of Buddhist monks to create an extravagant sand mandala at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
But you can watch the entire process in about two minutes thanks to time-lapse video from C.N.N
But you can watch the entire process in about two minutes thanks to time-lapse video from C.N.N
Secular Charities - with AronRa, Dale McGowen, and D.P.R. Jones
Tonight we'll be talking to D.P.R. about his annual charity telethon benefiting Médecins Sans Frontières, also known to Americans as 'Doctors without Borders. In addition, Dale McGowen will join us as a regarding his charity, Foundation Beyond Belief.
Here is the schedule for DPR's 24-hour telethon and all associated links.
http://tinyurl.com/3c6xqgs
The Ra-Men podcast EP3, Secular Charities - with AronRa, Dale McGowen, and D.P.R. Jones
Here is the schedule for DPR's 24-hour telethon and all associated links.
http://tinyurl.com/3c6xqgs
The Ra-Men podcast EP3, Secular Charities - with AronRa, Dale McGowen, and D.P.R. Jones
Friday, August 22, 2014
Betty Bowers YouTube Trailer
Jesus picks His very favorite moments from Betty's videos from 2008 through July 2014.
Mrs. Betty Bowers
Skepticism and Mental Health
In recent weeks, we've been dealing with the human mind and its ability to accept irrational things. This week, we're dealing directly with the complex issue of mental health, specifically things like depression, anxiety, grief, addiction, mood disorders and more.
Blogger, speaker and activist JT Eberhard has revealed publicly his own battles with depression, giving a talk at Skepticon 4 titled, "Mental Illness and Why The Skeptic Community Should Give a Shit." (LINK: http://youtu.be/UI-YvrHZVvk) Michaelyn Eberhard has a bachelors degree in neuroscience and is a freethought activist. Jeremiah Beene studies Ph.D Clinical Psychology at the University of Mississippi. And Dr. Darrel Ray is a clinical psychologist, author and expert on mental health.
They join us for the show, plus your calls and emails.
The Thinking Atheist, 2014
Blogger, speaker and activist JT Eberhard has revealed publicly his own battles with depression, giving a talk at Skepticon 4 titled, "Mental Illness and Why The Skeptic Community Should Give a Shit." (LINK: http://youtu.be/UI-YvrHZVvk) Michaelyn Eberhard has a bachelors degree in neuroscience and is a freethought activist. Jeremiah Beene studies Ph.D Clinical Psychology at the University of Mississippi. And Dr. Darrel Ray is a clinical psychologist, author and expert on mental health.
They join us for the show, plus your calls and emails.
The Thinking Atheist, 2014
A Chick Tract With Creationist Cat
Has The Bible Reloaded jumped the shark? I don't know, but here's a talking cat.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Dale McGowan, In Faith and In Doubt - Friendly Atheist Podcast
Dale McGowan is the author of a number of excellent books about atheism. His books Parenting Beyond Belief and Raising Freethinkers are all about bringing up children without religion. He’s the author of Atheism for Dummies, a book that surprisingly didn’t exist until 2013.
Dale McGowan began Foundation Beyond Belief to encourage atheists to give to charity. He’s the manager of the Atheist Channel on Patheos.com (full disclosure: that’s where I blog). And his latest book, In Faith and In Doubt, is all about relationships between atheists and believers. We spoke with Dale McGowan about how to make mixed-faith marriages work, the biggest surprise he uncovered during his search, and the importance of a hand squeeze between loved ones.
Dale McGowan, In Faith and In Doubt - Friendly Atheist Podcast EP 10
Dale McGowan began Foundation Beyond Belief to encourage atheists to give to charity. He’s the manager of the Atheist Channel on Patheos.com (full disclosure: that’s where I blog). And his latest book, In Faith and In Doubt, is all about relationships between atheists and believers. We spoke with Dale McGowan about how to make mixed-faith marriages work, the biggest surprise he uncovered during his search, and the importance of a hand squeeze between loved ones.
Dale McGowan, In Faith and In Doubt - Friendly Atheist Podcast EP 10
Freethought 2014
A one-day convention, September 27th in Nacogdoches, Texas. Details and tickets here: http://www.freethoughtconvention.com
Ferguson police: I will fucking kill you
At roughly 11:55 PM CDT, a Ferguson police officer was spotted randomly pointing an assault rifle at protesters. This event was captured by the citizen journalist Rebelutionary_Z. The officer pointed his rifle at Rebelutionary_Z's companion, identified as Josiah (an African-American), and said "I will fucking kill you, get back." When asked for his name by Rebelutionary_Z, the officer responded "Go fuck yourself."
The full video is here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/51598475
The clip begins at around the 20 minute mark. The video quality is better on the original; my apologies. I don't really know what I'm doing.
United States of America, August 2014
Officer Go Fuck Yourself - Rebelutionary_Z #Ferguson Livestream Clip
--
Also watch Ferguson, MO and Police Militarization (HBO)
The full video is here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/51598475
The clip begins at around the 20 minute mark. The video quality is better on the original; my apologies. I don't really know what I'm doing.
United States of America, August 2014
Officer Go Fuck Yourself - Rebelutionary_Z #Ferguson Livestream Clip
--
Also watch Ferguson, MO and Police Militarization (HBO)
Every Natural Disaster Since 1991 Has Been God's Punishment On America For Cursing Israel
John McTernan tells Gordon Klingenschmitt that every major natural disaster to hit the US since 1991 has been God's judgment against America for pressuring Israel.
Starnes: Obama Isn't Really a Christian
In this video, Todd Starnes suggests in an interview with WND that Obama isn't really a Christian.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Skeptic Presents: An Interview with Pope Francis
Michael Shermer interviews Pope Francis about all the changes taking place in the Catholic Church.
http://mrdeity.com/donate.html
http://mrdeity.com/dvd-season5.html
http://mrdeity.com/dvd-season4.html
http://mrdeity.com/dvd-season3.html
http://mrdeity.com/
http://www.skeptic.com/
CREDITS
Special thanks to David Cowan, Daniel Mendez, and Jim Robinson for their support in launching this new series of Skeptic videos.
Written and Produced by: Brian Keith Dalton, Michael Shermer, Pat Linse, Jennifer Shermer
Directed, lensed, and edited by: Brian Keith Dalton.
Executive Producers: David Cowan, Daniel Mendez, Jim Robinson.
Starring: Michael Shermer, Brian Keith Dalton.
Music by Final Cut Pro.
Additional Video from: Videoblocks.com.
Shot on: A Canon C100
http://mrdeity.com/donate.html
http://mrdeity.com/dvd-season5.html
http://mrdeity.com/dvd-season4.html
http://mrdeity.com/dvd-season3.html
http://mrdeity.com/
http://www.skeptic.com/
CREDITS
Special thanks to David Cowan, Daniel Mendez, and Jim Robinson for their support in launching this new series of Skeptic videos.
Written and Produced by: Brian Keith Dalton, Michael Shermer, Pat Linse, Jennifer Shermer
Directed, lensed, and edited by: Brian Keith Dalton.
Executive Producers: David Cowan, Daniel Mendez, Jim Robinson.
Starring: Michael Shermer, Brian Keith Dalton.
Music by Final Cut Pro.
Additional Video from: Videoblocks.com.
Shot on: A Canon C100
MSS, No. 83, Sunday 10 August 2014
Another exciting edition of the Magic Sandwich Show, today, Sunday 10 August 2014.
Measure for Measure: Quantum Physics and Reality
When no one is looking, a particle has near limitless potential: it can be nearly anywhere. But measure it, and the particle snaps to one position. How do subatomic objects shed their quantum weirdness? Experts in the field of physics, including David Z. Albert, Sean Carroll, Sheldon Goldstein, Ruediger Schack, and moderator Brian Greene, discuss the history of quantum mechanics, current theories in the field, and possibilities for the future.
This program is part of the Big Ideas series at the 2014 World Science Festival. Check out all the Big Ideas programs: http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/big-ideas/
This program is part of the Big Ideas series at the 2014 World Science Festival. Check out all the Big Ideas programs: http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/big-ideas/
Sally Satel - Fifty Shades of Gray Matter
Healthy Skepticism and the Illuminated Brain
Sally Satel, M.D., is a practicing psychiatrist and Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute where her work focuses on mental health policy as well as political trends in medicine. Formerly an assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale University, Dr. Satel remains a lecturer there. She is a former Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow with the U.S. Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee and has testified before Congress on veterans’ issues, mental health policy, drug courts, and health disparities.
Dr. Sally Satel has written widely in academic journals on topics in psychiatry and medicine, and has published articles on cultural aspects of medicine and science in The New Republic, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and other publications. Her books include PC, M.D.: How Political Correctness Is Corrupting Medicine, One Nation Under Therapy coauthored with Christina Hoff Sommers and most recently Brainwashed – The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience with Scott Lilienfeld.
Sally Satel, M.D., is a practicing psychiatrist and Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute where her work focuses on mental health policy as well as political trends in medicine. Formerly an assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale University, Dr. Satel remains a lecturer there. She is a former Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow with the U.S. Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee and has testified before Congress on veterans’ issues, mental health policy, drug courts, and health disparities.
Dr. Sally Satel has written widely in academic journals on topics in psychiatry and medicine, and has published articles on cultural aspects of medicine and science in The New Republic, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and other publications. Her books include PC, M.D.: How Political Correctness Is Corrupting Medicine, One Nation Under Therapy coauthored with Christina Hoff Sommers and most recently Brainwashed – The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience with Scott Lilienfeld.
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Making Atheism Positive
Jaclyn Glenn: A talk covering my upbringing, why atheism is stigmatized, and how to help others view it in a positive light :)
Main channel: http://www.youtube.com/Jaclyn
Vlog channel: http://www.youtube.com/JaclynVlogs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jaclynglenn
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/JaclynGlenn
Tumblr: http://jaclynglenn.tumblr.com/
Google +: https://plus.google.com/+JaclynGlenn
Instagram: http://instagram.com/jaclynglenn
SacFAN (Sacramento Freethinkers, Atheists and other Nonbelievers) who helped publicize the event. http://www.meetup.com/sacfan/
Sacramento Reason for advertising on their front page. http://www.sacramentoreason.org/
Main channel: http://www.youtube.com/Jaclyn
Vlog channel: http://www.youtube.com/JaclynVlogs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jaclynglenn
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/JaclynGlenn
Tumblr: http://jaclynglenn.tumblr.com/
Google +: https://plus.google.com/+JaclynGlenn
Instagram: http://instagram.com/jaclynglenn
SacFAN (Sacramento Freethinkers, Atheists and other Nonbelievers) who helped publicize the event. http://www.meetup.com/sacfan/
Sacramento Reason for advertising on their front page. http://www.sacramentoreason.org/
Bryan Fischer Declares That All Gays Should Be Banned From Serving In Office
Bryan Fischer cites Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg to argue that all gay people ought to be inherently disqualified from ever serving in public office.
Ferguson, MO and Police Militarization (HBO)
In the wake of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, John Oliver explores the racial inequality in treatment by police as well as the increasing militarization of America’s local police forces.
Find Last Week Tonight on Facebook like your mom would:
http://Facebook.com/LastWeekTonight
Follow us on Twitter for news about jokes and jokes about news:
http://Twitter.com/LastWeekTonight
Visit our official site for all that other stuff at once:
http://www.hbo.com/lastweektonight
Find Last Week Tonight on Facebook like your mom would:
http://Facebook.com/LastWeekTonight
Follow us on Twitter for news about jokes and jokes about news:
http://Twitter.com/LastWeekTonight
Visit our official site for all that other stuff at once:
http://www.hbo.com/lastweektonight
Judy McCarthy: Christians Losing Rights In America
Kevin McCarthy's wife - Judy McCarthy - says she fears anti-Christian hostility in America.
Judy McCarthy "You don't have the right to be a Christian"
Judy McCarthy "You don't have the right to be a Christian"
Monday, August 18, 2014
God Regrets All The Things
God regrets Saul, and Samuel kills a guy, then checks out some hot dudes.
Atheist Bible Study #53: God Regrets All The Things
August 2014
Atheist Bible Study #53: God Regrets All The Things
August 2014
Michael Shermer - Science & Justice
Author and Skeptic Society President Michael Shermer talks about free will and moral responsibility in a secular society.
Michael Shermer is the Editor-in-Chief of Skeptic Magazine and Founder of The Skeptics Society. Michael Shermer is an adjunct professor at Claremont Graduate University and Chapman University and host of the Skeptics Distinguished Science Lecture Series at Caltech. A monthly columnist for Scientific American magazine, Dr. Shermer’s writing has also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Science, and many other publications.
Michael Shermer has appeared on such television shows as The Colbert Report, 20/20, Dateline NBC, and Charlie Rose, and has also been interviewed for countless science and history documentaries on PBS, A&E, the Discovery Channel, HISTORY, the Science Channel, and TLC. Dr. Shermer is author of over 10 books including Why People Believe Weird Things, Why Darwin Matters and most recently, The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies—How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths.
Michael Shermer is the Editor-in-Chief of Skeptic Magazine and Founder of The Skeptics Society. Michael Shermer is an adjunct professor at Claremont Graduate University and Chapman University and host of the Skeptics Distinguished Science Lecture Series at Caltech. A monthly columnist for Scientific American magazine, Dr. Shermer’s writing has also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Science, and many other publications.
Michael Shermer has appeared on such television shows as The Colbert Report, 20/20, Dateline NBC, and Charlie Rose, and has also been interviewed for countless science and history documentaries on PBS, A&E, the Discovery Channel, HISTORY, the Science Channel, and TLC. Dr. Shermer is author of over 10 books including Why People Believe Weird Things, Why Darwin Matters and most recently, The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies—How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths.
Freedom From Religion Foundation Lecture
"Freedom From Religion in the Bible Belt” was the theme of FFRF's (Freedom From Religion) Raleigh Regional Convention, May 2-3 2014 conference in downtown Raleigh, N.C., at the Sheraton Raleigh Hotel, 421 South Salisbury St. In conjunction with the Triangle Freethought Society, FFRF’s active Raleigh-area chapter, the gathering “won hearts and minds for reason and secularism.” CNN was scheduled to cover some of the event for an upcoming documentary on atheism.' The interview will be part of FFRF and the Dawkins Foundation's Openly Secular coalition campaign. Presented by Triangle Freethought Society.
Scott Burdick provides a 10 minute interview with Bart after the conference, about his personal beliefs and religious experiences. Which had been previously posted here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeFdh...
Video discussed on Bart Ehrman's Foundation Blog: http://ehrmanblog.org/?p=7661
Bart D. Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He came to UNC in 1988, after four years of teaching at Rutgers University. At UNC he has served as both the Director of Graduate Studies and the Chair of the Department of Religious Studies. A graduate of Wheaton College (Illinois), Professor Ehrman received both his Masters of Divinity and Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary, where his 1985 doctoral dissertation was awarded magna cum laude.
Scott Burdick provides a 10 minute interview with Bart after the conference, about his personal beliefs and religious experiences. Which had been previously posted here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeFdh...
Video discussed on Bart Ehrman's Foundation Blog: http://ehrmanblog.org/?p=7661
Bart D. Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He came to UNC in 1988, after four years of teaching at Rutgers University. At UNC he has served as both the Director of Graduate Studies and the Chair of the Department of Religious Studies. A graduate of Wheaton College (Illinois), Professor Ehrman received both his Masters of Divinity and Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary, where his 1985 doctoral dissertation was awarded magna cum laude.
Skeptic's Review-The Bible: Leviticus - Chapter 15
Moses is embarrassed by certain words in Lord YHWH's Holy book... even though Lord YHWH divinely inspired him to write them there.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Should We Actively Guard Children Against Religion?
Hemant Mehta: Should We Actively Guard Children Against Religion?
2014
Daubenmire Says 'The Most Dangerous Lifestyle In America Today Is Homosexual Behavior'
"Coach" Dave Daubenmire says that liberals are "science deniers" because they refuse to acknowledge that homosexuality is the most dangerous lifestyle in America.
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Tibetan Buddhism: Secrets of the Yogis of Tibet
Tibetan Buddhism: Secrets of the Yogis of Tibet - Part 1
Tibetan Buddhism: Secrets of the Yogis of Tibet- Part 2
International Campaign for Tibet
Free Tibet Campaign USA
Tibetan Buddhism: Secrets of the Yogis of Tibet - Part 3
Tibetan Buddhism: Secrets of the Yogis of Tibet - Part 4
Tibetan Buddhism: Secrets of the Yogis of Tibet - Part 5
Tibetan Buddhism: Secrets of the Yogis of Tibet - Part 6
Tibetan Buddhism: Secrets of the Yogis of Tibet - Part 7
Tibetan Buddhism: Secrets of the Yogis of Tibet - Part 8
Tibetan Buddhism: Secrets of the Yogis of Tibet- Part 2
International Campaign for Tibet
Free Tibet Campaign USA
Tibetan Buddhism: Secrets of the Yogis of Tibet - Part 3
Tibetan Buddhism: Secrets of the Yogis of Tibet - Part 4
Tibetan Buddhism: Secrets of the Yogis of Tibet - Part 5
Tibetan Buddhism: Secrets of the Yogis of Tibet - Part 6
Tibetan Buddhism: Secrets of the Yogis of Tibet - Part 7
Tibetan Buddhism: Secrets of the Yogis of Tibet - Part 8
Satan Reviews Noah The Movie
Satan is offended by Noah! He calls it a travesty of a movie! SPOILER ALERT! He gives you a blow by blow of all the action! If you haven't seen it yet maybe you shouldn't watch...
It's best not to ask Labyrinth lady about Career Opportunities. She doesn't like to talk about it.
It's best not to ask Labyrinth lady about Career Opportunities. She doesn't like to talk about it.
A Wedding Gift Beyond Belief (podcast)
In this "bonus" podcast, your humble host shares some (often humorous) stories from his recent Alaska wedding, and then he asks the radio audience for a wedding gift. That gift...is probably not what you're expecting.
TTA Podcast 178: A Wedding Gift Beyond Belief
The Thinking Atheist, 2014
TTA Podcast 178: A Wedding Gift Beyond Belief
The Thinking Atheist, 2014
Tom DeLay Wants To "Bring Jesus Christ Back Into Our Political System'"
Tom DeLay calls on conservative Christians to launch a "revolution for the Constitution" in order to put Jesus back into our public policy, just as God intended.
Friday, August 15, 2014
Edward Snowden: Here's how we take back the Internet
Appearing by telepresence robot, Edward Snowden speaks at TED2014 about surveillance and Internet freedom. The right to data privacy, he suggests, is not a partisan issue, but requires a fundamental rethink of the role of the internet in our lives — and the laws that protect it. "Your rights matter,” he says, "because you never know when you're going to need them." Chris Anderson interviews, with special guest Tim Berners-Lee.
Skeptic's Review - The Bible: Leviticus - Chapter 14
Does your house have house plague? Just follow this simple bird sacrifice recipe! Gets rid of mold and mildew fast! Easy peasy!
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Bart Ehrman - Exodus from Fundamentalism
The victors not only write the history, they also reproduce the texts. In a study that explores the close relationship between the social history of early Christianity and the textual tradition of the emerging New Testament, Ehrman examines how early struggles between Christian "heresy" and "orthodoxy" affected the transmission of the documents over which, in part, the debates were waged.
Bart Ehrman thesis is that proto-orthodox scribes of the second and third centuries occasionally altered their sacred texts for polemical reasons--for example, to oppose adoptionists like the Ebionites, who claimed that Christ was a man but not God, or docetists like Marcion, who claimed that he was God but not a man, or Gnostics like the Ptolemaeans, who claimed that he was two beings, one divine and one human. Bart Ehrman's thorough and incisive analysis makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the social and intellectual history of early Christianity and raises intriguing questions about the relationship of readers to their texts, especially in an age when scribes could transform the documents they reproduced to make them say what they were already thought to mean, effecting thereby the orthodox corruption of Scripture.
Bart Ehrman
Bart Ehrman thesis is that proto-orthodox scribes of the second and third centuries occasionally altered their sacred texts for polemical reasons--for example, to oppose adoptionists like the Ebionites, who claimed that Christ was a man but not God, or docetists like Marcion, who claimed that he was God but not a man, or Gnostics like the Ptolemaeans, who claimed that he was two beings, one divine and one human. Bart Ehrman's thorough and incisive analysis makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the social and intellectual history of early Christianity and raises intriguing questions about the relationship of readers to their texts, especially in an age when scribes could transform the documents they reproduced to make them say what they were already thought to mean, effecting thereby the orthodox corruption of Scripture.
Bart Ehrman
Sand Mandalas Explained, with Losang Samten
Venerable Lama Losang Samten walks us through the symbolism and meaning in The Wheel of Life, an ancient Buddhist sand mandala. Samten is an Tibetan-American scholar, sand mandala artist, former Buddhist monk, and Spiritual Director of the Tibetan Buddhist Center of Philadelphia. He is the author of Ancient Teachings in Modern Times: Buddhism in the 21st Century (http://goo.gl/Su66fq).
Transcript:
My name is Losang Samten. I’m from Tibet, born in Tibet and then fled Tibet in 1959 at the age of 5. I came to Nepal first and then eventually came to India. And so I grew up in India and then eventually came to the United States in 1988. Ever since then I’ve been creating a lot of ancient Tibetan sand mandalas. Of course all the mandalas are tradition but some of the mandalas are such – all are so beautiful but sometimes it’s hard to explain for the general public who do not have that much background of Buddhists and Buddhist philosophy.
What I’m showing to you here this image is called Wheel of Life. In our language it’s called srid pa'i 'khor lo. The wheel of life which in many ways is fascinating and also me as an artist to display this art in the schools, especially the schools and kids can understand a lot better and not only just intellectually understand better but something to relate to in their life. So what is in the Wheel of Life in the mandala or in design, the middle there’s three animals. And the three animals are a snake, a rooster and pig. Three animals are there. They’re also chasing to each other, connecting to each other which means what is their causes of suffering? What makes us so difficult? What makes our wheel so stressful? So each animal means something. Not the animal itself but represents something what we’re going through on a day to day basis.
So the pig represents the ignorance, lots are due to our emotions, special negative emotions and the difficulties and frustrations and even killing each other are due to the ignorance – not seeing the true nature of the reality. And unfortunately sometimes we as a pure teaching either Buddhism or Christianity and Judaism and Islam and all of this, even though due to how to peace – due to how to create human peace and happiness but some individuals due to the ignorance use as a killing tool in the name of the religion. So it’s the pig, the animal, which in the middle symbolizes ignorance.
Two other animals are there too and the snake represents the anger. Hatred is such a big problem in my life or anybody’s life in today and the past due to our relationships, due to anything – anger is really damaging. When Buddha designed this what was original was a pig and a snake. In the rooster case we really don’t know if the original was a rooster or a pigeon. There’s a little different – scholars have a different interpretations. So that’s why when I draw sand mandalas sometimes I draw it as a rooster, sometimes I draw it as a pigeon to both will be happy. No too much conflicts. And so the pigeon represents – either the pigeon or the rooster represents the greed, the greed, the greed. We see that today in the twenty-first century and so much greed and all these problems in the modern society.
Damaging for the environment, damaging for many different things is truly greed. So which I said earlier in the beginning of my conversation these are the three – the ignorance and the greed and the anger are the difficult ones. So these are the causes of the suffering. Suffering rises from nothingness. Suffering rises from due to something there previously, something happened and because of that and rises. So that’s why the wheel of life is so famous in the Buddhist field and especially in Tibet or Mongolia and Bhutan or some of the ancient Buddhist temples, wheel of life is in the campus.
In a way the monastery or nunnery is like your university. So big campus. In Tibet one monastery is like a 20,000 or 30,000 monks who are living there and study there, debate there and that’s they’re home. So either in the library or meditation room, somewhere wheel of life is always they paint it in the big wall. So that’s the middle of the design of the wheel of life. And the second design there and now I’m talking about the middle. And the second circle of the wheel of life there is black and white or day and night sort of it symbolizes. More of these three animals, there’s more difficulties, less of those – there’s more joy. So sometimes we call it as good karma and bad karma.
[Transcript truncated]
Directed / Produced by Jonathan Fowler, Dillon Fitton, and Elizabeth Rodd
Transcript:
My name is Losang Samten. I’m from Tibet, born in Tibet and then fled Tibet in 1959 at the age of 5. I came to Nepal first and then eventually came to India. And so I grew up in India and then eventually came to the United States in 1988. Ever since then I’ve been creating a lot of ancient Tibetan sand mandalas. Of course all the mandalas are tradition but some of the mandalas are such – all are so beautiful but sometimes it’s hard to explain for the general public who do not have that much background of Buddhists and Buddhist philosophy.
What I’m showing to you here this image is called Wheel of Life. In our language it’s called srid pa'i 'khor lo. The wheel of life which in many ways is fascinating and also me as an artist to display this art in the schools, especially the schools and kids can understand a lot better and not only just intellectually understand better but something to relate to in their life. So what is in the Wheel of Life in the mandala or in design, the middle there’s three animals. And the three animals are a snake, a rooster and pig. Three animals are there. They’re also chasing to each other, connecting to each other which means what is their causes of suffering? What makes us so difficult? What makes our wheel so stressful? So each animal means something. Not the animal itself but represents something what we’re going through on a day to day basis.
So the pig represents the ignorance, lots are due to our emotions, special negative emotions and the difficulties and frustrations and even killing each other are due to the ignorance – not seeing the true nature of the reality. And unfortunately sometimes we as a pure teaching either Buddhism or Christianity and Judaism and Islam and all of this, even though due to how to peace – due to how to create human peace and happiness but some individuals due to the ignorance use as a killing tool in the name of the religion. So it’s the pig, the animal, which in the middle symbolizes ignorance.
Two other animals are there too and the snake represents the anger. Hatred is such a big problem in my life or anybody’s life in today and the past due to our relationships, due to anything – anger is really damaging. When Buddha designed this what was original was a pig and a snake. In the rooster case we really don’t know if the original was a rooster or a pigeon. There’s a little different – scholars have a different interpretations. So that’s why when I draw sand mandalas sometimes I draw it as a rooster, sometimes I draw it as a pigeon to both will be happy. No too much conflicts. And so the pigeon represents – either the pigeon or the rooster represents the greed, the greed, the greed. We see that today in the twenty-first century and so much greed and all these problems in the modern society.
Damaging for the environment, damaging for many different things is truly greed. So which I said earlier in the beginning of my conversation these are the three – the ignorance and the greed and the anger are the difficult ones. So these are the causes of the suffering. Suffering rises from nothingness. Suffering rises from due to something there previously, something happened and because of that and rises. So that’s why the wheel of life is so famous in the Buddhist field and especially in Tibet or Mongolia and Bhutan or some of the ancient Buddhist temples, wheel of life is in the campus.
In a way the monastery or nunnery is like your university. So big campus. In Tibet one monastery is like a 20,000 or 30,000 monks who are living there and study there, debate there and that’s they’re home. So either in the library or meditation room, somewhere wheel of life is always they paint it in the big wall. So that’s the middle of the design of the wheel of life. And the second design there and now I’m talking about the middle. And the second circle of the wheel of life there is black and white or day and night sort of it symbolizes. More of these three animals, there’s more difficulties, less of those – there’s more joy. So sometimes we call it as good karma and bad karma.
[Transcript truncated]
Directed / Produced by Jonathan Fowler, Dillon Fitton, and Elizabeth Rodd
The Unholy Trinity Tour: AronRa
In the spring of 2014, atheists AronRa, Seth Andrews and Matt Dillahunty teamed up for a 3-city tour bearing the tongue-in-cheek-titled name, "The Unholy Trinity."
This is AronRa's presentation on June 28th, 2014 in San Antonio, Texas.
This is AronRa's presentation on June 28th, 2014 in San Antonio, Texas.
Richard Dawkins on Harun Yahya's Atlas of Creation
Richard Dawkins on Harun Yahya's Atlas of Creation Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB) International Conference on Political Islam, Sharia Law and Civil Society October 10, 2008 10am-6pm Conway Hall, London
Questions Are the New Answers
Journalist Warren Berger discusses how thinking in questions can catalyze innovation and reveal more effective answers. The time to
adopt this mindset is early and Berger advocates for teaching this skill in primary schools. Berger is the author of A More Beautiful Question (http://goo.gl/rUr785).
Transcript: You know, the idea that questions are becoming more valuable than answers it seems kind of counterintuitive, but it's actually an idea that's being really embraced these days in Silicon Valley and other areas of other centers of innovation. And the reason why is if you look at a lot of the innovations and breakthroughs today and you trace them back, as I did in my research, to their origin, a lot of times what you find at the root of it all is a great question; a beautiful question of someone asking why isn't someone doing this or what if someone tried to do that? So I found that questions are often at the root of innovation. And that's why in Silicon Valley these days they're actually saying questions are the new answers. But at the same time it's important to note that questions aren't just important to innovators or tech people, they're a survival skill for all of us. And that becomes even more true in a time of dynamic change.
I mean we've got so much that we have to adapt to. We have to solve problems. We have to deal with change, uncertainty and questioning is the tool or one of the primary tools that lets you do that. A great definition I saw for questioning is that questioning enables us to organize our thinking around what we don't know. So in a time when so much knowledge is all around us, answers are at our fingertips, we really need great questions in order to be able to know what to do with all that information and find our way to the next answer.
If you look at the research, a four-year-old girl is asking like as much as 300 questions a day. And when kids go into school you see this steady decline that happens as they go through the grade levels to the point where questioning in schools, by junior high school, is almost at zero. There are a lot of reasons why questioning declines as we get older. But one of the key issues is that in schools we really value the answers. And there is almost no value placed on asking a good question. In fact, the teachers now are so stressed to teach to the test and to cover so much material that they really can't even entertain a lot of questions even if they want to. So it becomes a real problem in our school system, in our education system.
I think people are starting to address it, try to deal with it. In my research I found a number of teachers, schools that are trying to place more emphasis on questioning. I came upon a great nonprofit group, the Right Question Institute, that has developed a whole system of class exercises that are just focused on encouraging kids to ask as many questions as possible, just formulate questions and think in questions. And that's kind of the direction we need to move in. It's simply a matter of finding ways within the school system to allow and encourage kids to think of their own questions.
Directed/Produced by Jonathan Fowler and Dillon Fitton
adopt this mindset is early and Berger advocates for teaching this skill in primary schools. Berger is the author of A More Beautiful Question (http://goo.gl/rUr785).
Transcript: You know, the idea that questions are becoming more valuable than answers it seems kind of counterintuitive, but it's actually an idea that's being really embraced these days in Silicon Valley and other areas of other centers of innovation. And the reason why is if you look at a lot of the innovations and breakthroughs today and you trace them back, as I did in my research, to their origin, a lot of times what you find at the root of it all is a great question; a beautiful question of someone asking why isn't someone doing this or what if someone tried to do that? So I found that questions are often at the root of innovation. And that's why in Silicon Valley these days they're actually saying questions are the new answers. But at the same time it's important to note that questions aren't just important to innovators or tech people, they're a survival skill for all of us. And that becomes even more true in a time of dynamic change.
I mean we've got so much that we have to adapt to. We have to solve problems. We have to deal with change, uncertainty and questioning is the tool or one of the primary tools that lets you do that. A great definition I saw for questioning is that questioning enables us to organize our thinking around what we don't know. So in a time when so much knowledge is all around us, answers are at our fingertips, we really need great questions in order to be able to know what to do with all that information and find our way to the next answer.
If you look at the research, a four-year-old girl is asking like as much as 300 questions a day. And when kids go into school you see this steady decline that happens as they go through the grade levels to the point where questioning in schools, by junior high school, is almost at zero. There are a lot of reasons why questioning declines as we get older. But one of the key issues is that in schools we really value the answers. And there is almost no value placed on asking a good question. In fact, the teachers now are so stressed to teach to the test and to cover so much material that they really can't even entertain a lot of questions even if they want to. So it becomes a real problem in our school system, in our education system.
I think people are starting to address it, try to deal with it. In my research I found a number of teachers, schools that are trying to place more emphasis on questioning. I came upon a great nonprofit group, the Right Question Institute, that has developed a whole system of class exercises that are just focused on encouraging kids to ask as many questions as possible, just formulate questions and think in questions. And that's kind of the direction we need to move in. It's simply a matter of finding ways within the school system to allow and encourage kids to think of their own questions.
Directed/Produced by Jonathan Fowler and Dillon Fitton
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Matt Dillahunty - Man Made Gods
A video EyeDoubtIt made from Matt's debate on 2-15-14 at Shenandoah Church of Christ in San Antonio, TX.
Listen to the full debate here - http://oabs.org/archives/lectures/shenandoah2014.htm
Music by: Russian Circles
Listen to the full debate here - http://oabs.org/archives/lectures/shenandoah2014.htm
Music by: Russian Circles
Bill Nye to Climate Change Deniers: You Can’t Ignore Facts Forever
Bill Nye (The Science Guy!) explains that climate change deniers and other anti-scientists are entitled to their opinion. But that doesn't mean they get a seat at the table with the grown-ups. Bill Nye is the CEO of the Planetary Society.
Transcript -
David Gregory: You’ve heard the President in drought-stricken California saying that these weather emergencies in effect, are creating the conditions that the government has to act.
Marsha Blackburn: David, I think that what it brings to mind is how we utilize the information that we have, and we all know. And I think that Bill would probably agree with this; neither he nor I are a climate scientist. He is an engineer and an actor, I am a member of Congress, and what we have to do is look at the information that we get from climate scientists. As you said...
Bill Nye: So she did something, which is very common in the climate denier community or whatever you would call it, is to talk about credentials. So, Marsha Blackburn, Representative in the US Congress from Tennessee said well I am a congresswoman and Bill you're just a mechanical engineer so you're not really a climate scientist. And what I would say is what we're talking about in this level of climate science is you don't need to be a full-time climate scientists to understand it. Furthermore, as far as my credentials everybody, I'm a mechanical engineer. I took a lot of physics. All I did was take physics, physics, physics, physics. And when you're done with formal physics then you take mechanical engineering, which is just applied physics. I get it. I can understand what's going on. We're putting carbon dioxide in the air at a prodigious rate and the world is getting warmer and you can know this by looking at the neutrons in the ice. You can know this by looking at the pollen grains per cubic centimeter in the sediment of ponds. You can know this by looking carefully at the rings on trees during warm seasons, wet seasons, cold seasons, dry seasons, and you can work your way back and figure out that the earth is getting warmer faster than has ever gotten before.
And that's the problem. It's not that the world hasn't had more carbon dioxide, it's not the world hasn't been warmer. The problem is the speed at which things are changing. We are inducing a sixth mass extinction event kind of by accident and we don't want to be the extinctee, if I may coin this noun. So, I mean as far as Miss Blackburn, sounded like she had been coached on denial bullet points or talking points. And I very much enjoy taking those people on, but meanwhile it breaks my heart because we got work to do. And the fossil fuel industry has really gotten in their ears and it's really troublesome. We're the world's most technically advanced country, or if the U.S. isn't the most technically advanced it's certainly in the top ten. I mean you could say Japan, New Zealand are very sophisticated societies. But the U.S. is where iPhone's are invented, what have you, the Internet; it's still a significant place. And so to have a generation of science students being brought up without awareness of climate change is just a formula for disaster. I mean this is, everybody kinda knows this.
So, I think, as an observer, and I may be wrong as I like to say, you may be right, as an observer it looks like the U.S.'s strength is its weakness. So people came here from all over the world for freedom to think and act the way they wanted, especially freedom of religion. So, we ended up with both the people who framed the Constitution, which is a fabulous thing, and people who asserted that the garden of Eden was in Missouri. And there's no police for that sort of thing. You're allowed to believe whatever you want. It's great. But with that was this, for them, and I emphasize them, the other side, consequence of that was you could also ignore facts of science for a while and now it’s coming to a head. But man it's really divisive, isn't it? It's really something.
That living things change from generation to generation through a process that Darwin and Wallace, Alfred Wallace called natural selection or descent with modification. Those are true things. Those are facts. Tectonic plates move and that's a fact and the world is getting warmer because of human activity. That's a fact. If you had somebody who really strongly believed the earth was flat, you wouldn't have to have that person on a television show with the people who believe the earth is round. [Transcript truncated]
Directed / Produced by Jonathan Fowler, Dillon Fitton, and Elizabeth Rodd
Transcript -
David Gregory: You’ve heard the President in drought-stricken California saying that these weather emergencies in effect, are creating the conditions that the government has to act.
Marsha Blackburn: David, I think that what it brings to mind is how we utilize the information that we have, and we all know. And I think that Bill would probably agree with this; neither he nor I are a climate scientist. He is an engineer and an actor, I am a member of Congress, and what we have to do is look at the information that we get from climate scientists. As you said...
Bill Nye: So she did something, which is very common in the climate denier community or whatever you would call it, is to talk about credentials. So, Marsha Blackburn, Representative in the US Congress from Tennessee said well I am a congresswoman and Bill you're just a mechanical engineer so you're not really a climate scientist. And what I would say is what we're talking about in this level of climate science is you don't need to be a full-time climate scientists to understand it. Furthermore, as far as my credentials everybody, I'm a mechanical engineer. I took a lot of physics. All I did was take physics, physics, physics, physics. And when you're done with formal physics then you take mechanical engineering, which is just applied physics. I get it. I can understand what's going on. We're putting carbon dioxide in the air at a prodigious rate and the world is getting warmer and you can know this by looking at the neutrons in the ice. You can know this by looking at the pollen grains per cubic centimeter in the sediment of ponds. You can know this by looking carefully at the rings on trees during warm seasons, wet seasons, cold seasons, dry seasons, and you can work your way back and figure out that the earth is getting warmer faster than has ever gotten before.
And that's the problem. It's not that the world hasn't had more carbon dioxide, it's not the world hasn't been warmer. The problem is the speed at which things are changing. We are inducing a sixth mass extinction event kind of by accident and we don't want to be the extinctee, if I may coin this noun. So, I mean as far as Miss Blackburn, sounded like she had been coached on denial bullet points or talking points. And I very much enjoy taking those people on, but meanwhile it breaks my heart because we got work to do. And the fossil fuel industry has really gotten in their ears and it's really troublesome. We're the world's most technically advanced country, or if the U.S. isn't the most technically advanced it's certainly in the top ten. I mean you could say Japan, New Zealand are very sophisticated societies. But the U.S. is where iPhone's are invented, what have you, the Internet; it's still a significant place. And so to have a generation of science students being brought up without awareness of climate change is just a formula for disaster. I mean this is, everybody kinda knows this.
So, I think, as an observer, and I may be wrong as I like to say, you may be right, as an observer it looks like the U.S.'s strength is its weakness. So people came here from all over the world for freedom to think and act the way they wanted, especially freedom of religion. So, we ended up with both the people who framed the Constitution, which is a fabulous thing, and people who asserted that the garden of Eden was in Missouri. And there's no police for that sort of thing. You're allowed to believe whatever you want. It's great. But with that was this, for them, and I emphasize them, the other side, consequence of that was you could also ignore facts of science for a while and now it’s coming to a head. But man it's really divisive, isn't it? It's really something.
That living things change from generation to generation through a process that Darwin and Wallace, Alfred Wallace called natural selection or descent with modification. Those are true things. Those are facts. Tectonic plates move and that's a fact and the world is getting warmer because of human activity. That's a fact. If you had somebody who really strongly believed the earth was flat, you wouldn't have to have that person on a television show with the people who believe the earth is round. [Transcript truncated]
Directed / Produced by Jonathan Fowler, Dillon Fitton, and Elizabeth Rodd
Scientology and Downtown Clearwater
The Urban Land Institute told Clearwater they had to make peace with Scientology...and they got paid $125,000 for that advice.
www.xenutv.com 2014
www.xenutv.com 2014
Steve King Says God Will Use The Next GOP President 'To Restore The Soul Of America'
Rep. Steve King tells Glenn Beck that the GOP must restrain President Obama so that he doesn't destroy this nation before God can use the next GOP president to "restore the soul of America."
Washburn: Gay Rights Put Pastors In Jail
Steve Washburn warns gay rights laws will put pastors in jail.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
The Unholy Trinity Tour: Seth Andrews
In the spring of 2014, atheists AronRa, Seth Andrews and Matt Dillahunty teamed up for a 3-city tour bearing the tongue-in-cheek-titled name, "The Unholy Trinity."
This is Seth Andrews' presentation on May 3, 2014 in Albuquerque, NM.
--
The Unholy Trinity Tour: Part 2 of 3- Seth Andrews
This is Seth Andrews' presentation on May 3, 2014 in Albuquerque, NM.
--
The Unholy Trinity Tour: Part 2 of 3- Seth Andrews
AFA: Archie Promoting Homosexuality & Occult To Youth
AFA spokesmen Tim Wildmon and Ed Vitagliano join Larry Tomczak in criticizing Archie Comics.
Video by AFA Channel, 2014
Video by AFA Channel, 2014
God Punishing America With Obama, Gay Rights, Immigration & Economic Woes
Alex McFarland talks to Bryan Fischer about how God is judging America.
Video by Focal Point on AFA Channel, 2014
Video by Focal Point on AFA Channel, 2014
David Barton Promotes RNC's Religious Right Outreach Effort
David Barton promotes the RNC's new effort to mobilize Religious Right voters, GOPFaith.com
Monday, August 11, 2014
John Oliver: Predatory Lending
Payday loans put a staggering amount of Americans in debt. They prey on the elderly and military service members. They’re awful, and nearly impossible to regulate. We’ve recruited Sarah Silverman to help spread the word about how to avoid falling into their clutches.
Saturday, August 9, 2014
The Unholy Trinity Tour: Matt Dillahunty
In the spring of 2014, atheists AronRa, Seth Andrews and Matt Dillahunty teamed up for a 3-city tour bearing the tongue-in-cheek-titled name, "The Unholy Trinity."
This is Matt Dillahunty's presentation on March 22, 2014 in Amarillo, Texas.
This is Matt Dillahunty's presentation on March 22, 2014 in Amarillo, Texas.
Misquoting Jesus (National Cathedral Lecture)
On Feb. 6, 2007, Bart D. Ehrman gave a lecture at The Cathedral College of Washington National Cathedral on "Misquoting Jesus" an exploration of how scribes changed the bible and possible reasons why. Bart questions the substantial integrity of the transmission of the New Testament manuscripts. Some orthodox scribes in the early church and later corrupted the New Testament to sustain and fortify their own theology.
Bart D. Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Bart D. Ehrman came to UNC in 1988, after four years of teaching at Rutgers University. At UNC Bart D. Ehrman has served as both the Director of Graduate Studies and the Chair of the Department of Religious Studies. A graduate of Wheaton College (Illinois), Professor Ehrman received both his Masters of Divinity and Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary, where his 1985 doctoral dissertation was awarded magna cum laude.
Bart D. Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Bart D. Ehrman came to UNC in 1988, after four years of teaching at Rutgers University. At UNC Bart D. Ehrman has served as both the Director of Graduate Studies and the Chair of the Department of Religious Studies. A graduate of Wheaton College (Illinois), Professor Ehrman received both his Masters of Divinity and Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary, where his 1985 doctoral dissertation was awarded magna cum laude.
Friday, August 8, 2014
Jews Should Oppose Obama, 'Trained Marxist'
In this video, Tom DeLay calls Obama an anti-Israel Marxist.
Right Wing Watch reports on the extreme rhetoric and activities of key right-wing figures and organizations by showing their views in their own words.
Right Wing Watch reports on the extreme rhetoric and activities of key right-wing figures and organizations by showing their views in their own words.
Paul Schmidt, Focus Fusion (podcast)
Paul Schmidt is a philanthropist personally investing in Lawrenceville Plasma Physics (LPP). They're trying to build a nuclear fusion reactor, "the power grid for the world". But nothing like it has ever been built before. No one even knows for sure whether it will work. The test phase is up-coming. This is one of those, "you never know 'til you try" moments. He says he doesn't like promoting things, and he's not asking for investors either; he just wants the project to get some attention. The Ra-Men are interested in the kind of discussions this will generate.
Here is the website to check them out. http://www.lpphysics.com
The Ra-Men podcast EP2 with AronRa and Paul Schmidt, Focus Fusion. 2014
Here is the website to check them out. http://www.lpphysics.com
The Ra-Men podcast EP2 with AronRa and Paul Schmidt, Focus Fusion. 2014
Atheist Bible Study #52: Free Will & Honey
So Saul is turning out to be the best leader Israel has had to date...though that isn't saying a lot.
Donate- www.patreon.com/tbr
Hugo's Twitter- @HugoReloaded
Jake's Twitter- @BibleReloaded
TBR Logo Created By- Chris Cheape aka CheapeOne
Theme Song- "Hugo and Jake"
Written, performed, and sung by- Dorian Silk
Donate- www.patreon.com/tbr
Hugo's Twitter- @HugoReloaded
Jake's Twitter- @BibleReloaded
TBR Logo Created By- Chris Cheape aka CheapeOne
Theme Song- "Hugo and Jake"
Written, performed, and sung by- Dorian Silk
Neil deGrasse Tyson Crashes Bill Maher’s After Party
After his guest appearance on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher July 25, 2014, Neil deGrasse Tyson “crashes” Bill Maher’s after party. In this StarTalk Radio “Behind the Scenes” video shot by Miles Leicher, the pair talk about the Universe, karma, the day Elvis Presley died and the Emmys.
If you love StarTalk Radio, don't miss out on any StarTalk news.
If you love StarTalk Radio, don't miss out on any StarTalk news.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Skeptic's Review - The Bible: Leviticus - Chapter 13
You have leprosy, are unclean and icky poo! Lord YHWH doesn't like the plague that He created!
Skeptic's Review-The Bible: Leviticus - Chapter 13
Skeptic's Review-The Bible: Leviticus - Chapter 13
Catholic belief system in Ireland and human rights abuses from child abuse to symphysiotomy
Powerful extract from the closing address of Nigel Rodley, Chairperson of the UN Human Rights Committee, after the Committee's questioning of Ireland in Geneva in July.
July 2014
July 2014
John Hagee Rails Against "Counterfeit Christians"
John Hagee says that Christians who support abortion rights and same-sex marriage are "counterfeit Christians."
Scientology Front Group Exposed
Mary DeMoss created a front group called the Foundation for Religious Tolerance as a tool to attack critics of Scientology then lied to politicians and the media about its true nature.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Science, democracy and citizenship
Science and scientists can facilitate, interrupt or enrich democratic decision making. When should science be the privileged provider of knowledge and when are scientists citizens?
What should be the division of labour between facts and norms; between science and democracy?
Deltagere: Cissi Askwall, Secretary General, Science and Public (Vetenskap & Allmänhet) Tim Radford, freelance journalist, previously with The Guardian David Budtz Pedersen, Co-Director and Research Fellow at the Humanomics Research Centre
Moderator Kristian H. Nielsen, Science Cafés Denmark
Filmet: Torsdag den 26. Juni 2014
What should be the division of labour between facts and norms; between science and democracy?
Deltagere: Cissi Askwall, Secretary General, Science and Public (Vetenskap & Allmänhet) Tim Radford, freelance journalist, previously with The Guardian David Budtz Pedersen, Co-Director and Research Fellow at the Humanomics Research Centre
Moderator Kristian H. Nielsen, Science Cafés Denmark
Filmet: Torsdag den 26. Juni 2014
Ancestor's Trail - an annual biological pilgrimage
The Ancestor's Trail is an annual biological pilgrimage combining walking, evolution and art. Based on Richard Dawkins' book 'The Ancestor's Tale', the Trail guides its walkers along a time line from the present day back 3.85 billion years to the origins of life. Find out more at http://ancestorstrail.org.uk/
2014 Trail: Friday 29th August - evening pre-trail speaker event | Saturday 30th August - The Ancestor's Trail - walk as far as you wish | Sunday 31st August - morning lectures
Walking the trail is free but tickets for the Friday evening speaker event, accommodation on the Friday or Saturday night and refreshments after the walk can be booked. Please do this using the booking form.
Filmed and edited by Jon Bagge
2014 Trail: Friday 29th August - evening pre-trail speaker event | Saturday 30th August - The Ancestor's Trail - walk as far as you wish | Sunday 31st August - morning lectures
Walking the trail is free but tickets for the Friday evening speaker event, accommodation on the Friday or Saturday night and refreshments after the walk can be booked. Please do this using the booking form.
Filmed and edited by Jon Bagge
The Vaccination Chronicles
The stories of people who saw firsthand the effects of vaccine preventable diseases. - You are welcome to download and/or screen this video in public.
With Richard Saunders, 2014
With Richard Saunders, 2014
Satanists Have Sincerely Held Religious Beliefs Too!
The Reid Report, Krystal Ball (sub), MSNBC, 7-29-2014.
Do You Know God?
Billions of people claim to “know” God. How could they all be wrong? Simple. Just listen to them. If ten people claim to know your friend Jimmy, yet they all describe Jimmy in different, incompatible ways, then either they don’t know Jimmy, or Jimmy has been doing some lying.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
The MSS, No. 0082, Sunday 27 July 2014
Please join us for another exciting edition of the Magic Sandwich Show, today Sunday 27 July 2014.
The MSS, No. 0082, Sunday 27 July 2014
The MSS, No. 0082, Sunday 27 July 2014
Native Advertising (John Oliver)
The line between editorial content and advertising in news media is blurrier and blurrier. That's not bullshit. It's repurposed bovine waste.
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Teens Arrested For Rapping Order In McDonald's Drive-Thru
A rap by four teenagers at a McDonald's has gotten them a bad rap in one Utah city. The teens were cited by American Fork police earlier this week for disorderly conduct after they rapped their order at a McDonald's drive-through.
The teens said they were imitating a popular video on YouTube. They rapped their order, which begins with, "I need a double cheeseburger and hold the lettuce ..." once quickly before repeating it more slowly.
Spenser Dauwalder said employees at the restaurant told him and his friends they were holding up the line and needed to order or leave. The 18-year-old said nobody was in line. He and his three 17-year-old friends left without buying anything.
American Fork Police Sgt. Gregg Ludlow says a manager wrote down the car's license plate number and called police. The teens were later cited by officers at a high school parking lot outside a volleyball match.
The Young Turks, 2009
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/theyoungturks
Twitter: http://twitter.com/theyoungturks
The teens said they were imitating a popular video on YouTube. They rapped their order, which begins with, "I need a double cheeseburger and hold the lettuce ..." once quickly before repeating it more slowly.
Spenser Dauwalder said employees at the restaurant told him and his friends they were holding up the line and needed to order or leave. The 18-year-old said nobody was in line. He and his three 17-year-old friends left without buying anything.
American Fork Police Sgt. Gregg Ludlow says a manager wrote down the car's license plate number and called police. The teens were later cited by officers at a high school parking lot outside a volleyball match.
The Young Turks, 2009
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/theyoungturks
Twitter: http://twitter.com/theyoungturks
Friday, August 1, 2014
Police Play NSA: Warrantless Data Collection the New Normal? Don't Cops Have Better Things to Do?!
Sacramento sheriff's deputies have been playing NSA. They tool around town with suitcase-sized StingRay surveillance devices in their squad cars, scooping up cellphone data from whomever happens to be within a one-mile radius.
The deputies have reportedly been doing their shady business without warrants, and dozens of law enforcement agencies nationwide may be doing likewise.
But hey, what's the big deal? After all, the feds say it's OK.
Not only that, but federal agents have even been telling local officers to keep their StingRay shenanigans hush hush. If a judge asks, the feds advise locals to say they obtained evidence, not from a StingRay, but from a "confidential source."
2 minutes, 21 seconds.
Follow the show on Twitter (@DontCops), and submit your nominees for next month.
"Don't Cops Have Better Things to Do?" is written and directed by Ted Balaker (@tedbalaker). Produced and edited by Matt Edwards (@MattChrisEd). Music by audionautix.com and "The Contessa" is by Maurice and the Beejays (Magnatune Records).
The deputies have reportedly been doing their shady business without warrants, and dozens of law enforcement agencies nationwide may be doing likewise.
But hey, what's the big deal? After all, the feds say it's OK.
Not only that, but federal agents have even been telling local officers to keep their StingRay shenanigans hush hush. If a judge asks, the feds advise locals to say they obtained evidence, not from a StingRay, but from a "confidential source."
2 minutes, 21 seconds.
Follow the show on Twitter (@DontCops), and submit your nominees for next month.
"Don't Cops Have Better Things to Do?" is written and directed by Ted Balaker (@tedbalaker). Produced and edited by Matt Edwards (@MattChrisEd). Music by audionautix.com and "The Contessa" is by Maurice and the Beejays (Magnatune Records).
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