Over 40% of Americans believe humans and dinosaurs shared the planet

The recent release of Jurassic World broke records for the best opening weekend ever, taking in $208.8 million in North America. The film, which is a reboot of 1993's original Jurassic Park, focuses on a theme park which displays dinosaurs that have been cloned by taking the DNA from fossils.

YouGov's latest research shows that 41% of Americans think that dinosaurs and humans either 'definitely' (14%) or 'probably' (27%) once lived on the planet at the same time. 43% think that this is either 'definitely' (25%) or 'probably' (18%) not true while 16% aren't sure. In reality the earliest ancestors of humans have only been on the planet for 6 million years, while the last dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago.

There is a religious split on this question. While most Americans who describe themselves as 'born again' (56%) believe that humans and dinosaurs once shared the planet, most Americans who do not describe themselves as born again (51%) think that they did not. Only 22% of born again Americans think that dinosaurs and humans did not coexist.

When asked about the science that provides the fictional basis for the Jurassic Park movies, most Americans (54%) say that it is not currently possible to create dinosaur clones from DNA found in fossils while 28% believe that it is currently possible. Half the public also say that if there were a theme park like Jurassic Park, they would not go to visit while 40% say that they would.



https://today.yougov.com/news/2015/06/18/jurassic-world/

Fox News drops Bob Beckel

Fox News has officially dropped "The Five" co-host Bob Beckel from the network, saying the show could no longer be held "hostage" to his personal issues.

"We tried to work with Bob for months, but we couldn’t hold The Five hostage to one man’s personal issues," Bill Shine, executive vice president of programming, said in a statement. "He took tremendous advantage of our generosity, empathy and goodwill and we simply came to the end of the road with him."

Shine said Fox News personalities Juan Williams and Geraldo Rivera will be "among those rotating on the show for the near future.”

Beckel, who joined the network in 2000, had entered rehab therapy for his addiction to prescription pain medication in April. His last appearance on the network was Feb. 16, more than four months ago. News of his departure from Fox was first reported by Mediaite.



http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2015/06/fox-news-drops-bob-beckel-209504.html?hp=l2_4

Now that Bristol is pregnant again, will she return the speaking money?

From 2010:

Lindsey Graham: Charleston Shooter Showed 'Mideast Hate'

Republican presidential candidate and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Wednesday appeared to compare the white gunman who killed nine people last week at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina with Islamic radicals.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Graham thanked his colleagues for their support in the wake of the shooting. He then noted that the gunman reportedly sat with the churchgoers at Emanuel AME for an hour during their Bible study before opening fire. The suspect, 21-year-old Dylann Roof, was arrested last week and charged with nine counts of murder.

"I don't know how you can sit with somebody for an hour in a church and pray with them and get up and shoot them," he said. "That's Mideast hate. That's something I didn't think we had here but apparently we do."

Graham is known for his hawkish foreign policy stance and blunt comments on the Middle East. He made headlines last month when he said at an American Israel Public Affairs Committee dinner that "everything that starts with 'Al' in the Middle East is bad news," referencing the Arabic word for the article "the." Graham also angered the National Iranian-American Council when he recalled his time working at a bar and said he'd learned there that "the Iranians are liars."


http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/lindsay-graham-charleston-mideast-hate

I think this speaks volumes about Republican voters.

A new Fox News poll finds Jeb Bush leading the Republican presidential field with 15%, followed by Donald Trump at 11%, Ben Carson at 10%, Rand Paul at 9%, Scott Walker at 9%, Marco Rubio at 8% and Mike Huckabee at 6%.

Caveat: “The bad news for Trump is that only 29% of GOP primary voters consider him a serious candidate. More than twice that many — 64% — think he’s a side show.”



http://politicalwire.com/2015/06/24/trump-moves-into-gop-top-tier/

The Full Song "Lava" from the short film by Disney Pixar of the same name (VIDEO)

Pro wrestler ‘Nature Boy’ Buddy Landel dies at 53

Former pro wrestler “Nature Boy” Buddy Landel died on Monday, wrestling officials confirmed.

Landel, a 53-year-old cautionary tale, was once among the superstars of the NWA but flamed out in a long-running battle with drug addiction.

He died in his sleep at his home in Virginia — a day after he was involved in a car crash, WATE reported.

The cause of death wasn’t immediately clear.

Landel cleaned up in his later years and spoke candidly about the hard-partying ways of his youth.


http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/pro-wrestler-nature-boy-buddy-landel-dies-53-article-1.2268570

Joe "You Lie" Wilson was one of Confederate Flag's most ardent supporters.

Federal Court Judge Rules Woman Living Off $10,000 Income Can’t Cancel Student Loan Debt

A federal judge ruled that an unemployed woman whose income is only about $10,000 a year doesn’t qualify for cancellation of $37,000 in student loan debt because she doesn’t meet the test of “undue hardship” and didn’t make a “good faith attempt” to repay her loans. The woman, Monica Stitt, made nine voluntary payments, which were $10 each, in 1997, but did not make any payments since then, according to court documents.

Stitt is 45 years old with no dependents and receives Social Security disability benefits and public assistance. She hasn’t held a job since 2008. She borrowed $13,250, four student loans disbursed between 1989 and 1990, when she attended Howard University, which all defaulted in either 1991 or 1992.

But after interest accumulated over the years, it amounted to $37,400 by the time she filed for bankruptcy. Because they are issued and guaranteed largely by the federal government, student loans are very rarely discharged in bankruptcy, meaning that bankruptcy court treats student loan debt like tax liens or child support. The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, which closed some loopholes to students trying to discharge private student loan debt, made it even more difficult for students to pursue “undue hardship.”

To discharge student debt, you have to prove undue hardship for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy for student loans. Because “undue hardship” is not defined by bankruptcy law, judges must make their own judgments through case law. Because the test is so fact-specific and requires a lot of meticulous documentation, most people who want to discharge student debt will have to pay for a lawyer.



http://thinkprogress.org/education/2015/06/22/3672597/federal-court-judge-rules-woman-living-off-10000-income-cant-cancel-student-loan-debt/

Cruz's Dad: Northeastern Catholics, Jews Put Being Dems Above Religion

Rafael Cruz, Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-TX) father, on Saturday said that northeastern Jews and Catholics put their allegiance to the Democratic Party ahead of their religion.

"Unfortunately, in the northeast, the Jews are Democrats first and Jews second," he said at an event on Saturday held by the Palm Beach County Tea Party. "This is what has happened to a great many in the Catholic church. They are Democrats first and Catholics second."

Rafael Cruz said that Americans "need to put principle above tradition."

"There are people voting Democrat because, 'My grandfather or my father voted Democrat.’ Let me tell you something. The Democratic party today is not the Democratic party of John Kennedy. John Kennedy would be a Republican today," he said.

He made the comments in response to a remark from an audience member lamenting that leaders in the Catholic church have not helped the Republican cause. The comments were flagged by the Democratic group American Bridge.


http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rafael-cruz-jews-catholics-democrats