In this week's episode, Beth, Case and Mike talk about psychics. But you already knew that.
"I don't know that atheists should be regarded as citizens, nor should they be regarded as patriotic. This is one nation under God."
Quote by George Bush, at a news conference in Chicago on August 27, 1987. Source George Bush atheist quote
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This an episode of Ask an Atheist, a call-in show in the Tacoma/Seattle area dedicated to atheism, skeptical inquiry, and the separation of church and state. The show is broadcast live on KLAY 1180 AM in Tacoma on Sundays at 3:00 PM, Pacific time.
Since the dawn of civilization humans have been fascinated by phenomena which appear to lie outside the scope of science. Our history is peppered with accounts of psychics predicting the future, mediums conversing with the dead, and aliens in UFO's abducting earthlings.
Today the likes of Deepak Chopra confuse people with their quantum psychobabble and there is widespread belief that the moon and planets influence our behavior, that "psychic surgeons" can remove tumors without making incisions and that Uri Geller bends spoons with the power of his mind. Do these effects really lie outside the scope of modern day science?
This lecture examines paranormal phenomena and describes how many of the effects can be explained by perfectly "natural" means. The presentation is highlighted by a number of "demonstrations" aimed at increasing the awareness of the need to evaluate "paranormal" phenomena by critical scientific methods.
"Science and the paranormal", a talk by Dr. Joe Schwarcz
This is an audio recording of an event held at Wolverhampton University which I attended back in March 2011.
It's basically 1.5 hours of misinformation followed by 30 minutes of avoiding questions. I thought some of you might enjoy seeing what kind of anti-scientific rubbish is being permitted in some UK universities.
50 years have passed since the fall of Tibet. The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual and temporal leader, has lived in exile for most of his life, trying to find a peaceful solution to the Tibet issue by giving up the goal of independence and reaching a compromise with China. But his efforts have failed to yield any positive outcome, and his people are becoming more desperate.
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March 2008. Tibet erupts as the biggest uprising since China took control in 1959, spreads across the country. The Tibetan people, for one brief moment, demonstrate to the world their unhappiness under Chinese rule and their desire for freedom. But China cracks down hard on the protests. It is also the year of the Beijing Olympics.
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Even as the unrest spreads in Tibet, exile Tibetans in India, frustrated by the lack of political progress, set out on a march to their homeland, convinced that this is the only action they can take to support their countrymen. Meanwhile, there is a huge groundswell of international sympathy for the Tibetan cause.
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This is a year of dramatic possibilities for Tibet. Can the Dalai Lama's strategy of non-violence and compromise based on his Buddhist beliefs finally make a breakthrough?
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In The Sun Behind the Clouds: Tibet's Struggle for Freedom, Tibetan filmmaker, Tenzing Sonam, and his partner, Ritu Sarin, take a uniquely Tibetan perspective on the trials and tribulations of the Dalai Lama and his people as they continue their struggle for freedom in the face of determined suppression by one of the world's biggest and most powerful nations. The filmmakers had intimate access to the Dalai Lama and followed him over the course of an eventful year, which included the 2008 protests in Tibet, the international response to it, the Beijing Olympics, and the breakdown in talks between his representatives and the Chinese government.
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Set against this backdrop, the film explores the interplay between the personal and the historic, spirituality and politics, and the tension between the Dalai Lama's efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Tibet situation based on compromise and dialogue, and the impatience of a younger generation of Tibetans who are ready to take a more confrontational course.
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CREDIT LIST Directed by RITU SARIN and TENZING SONAM Produced by RITU SARIN Written and Narrated by TENZING SONAM Executive Producers FRANCESCA VON HABSBURG and LAVINIA CURRIER Music GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA Edited by ANUPAMA CHANDRA, MAHADEB SHI and TENZING SONAM Camera GRAHAM DAY, JAIMIE GRAMSTON, TENZING SONAM STEPHEN McCARTHY, JOHN SERGEANT, DILIP VARMA and TENZIN TSETAN CHOKLAY Sound SURESH RAJAMANI and MOHANDAS VP Additional Editing JOHNNY BURKE and ALAN MACKAY Associate Producers TENZIN TSETAN CHOKLAY and JOHN SERGEANT Production Coordinator TENZIN CHOKEY GINGULD Production Manager CLARE CORCORAN Sound Design GISSY MICHAEL Colourist TIM O'BRIEN On-line Editor BEN HEATHER Post-Production EVOLUTIONS, London Additional Funding CAMELIA FOUNDATION and ROB LINDEMAN Co-Producers FRANCE 5, BABETH VANLOO (BOS Holland) and KARMIC FILMS, India a WHITE CRANE FILMS production in association with ROLAND FILMS & ARCH COMMUNICATIONS GmbH
Speaking at The Oak Initiative Summit on the repeal of DADT, Tony Perkins says gay activists are intolerant, hateful, vile, spiteful and pawns being used by the Devil.
TheRationalizer met some nice guys up town proselytising their religion, Islam. We've exchanged a few emails and eventually decided to have a video chat instead in which his friend was going to prove to me the supernatural origin of the Quran and thus that I should become a Muslim.
