December 27, 2016

President Obama Protects Non-Believers from Religious Republicans

Freedom of religion isn't just about the right to practice religion. It's about the right to have your own views about religion including being agnostic and atheistic.

By Rmuse on Mon, Dec 26th

It is no stretch to claim that over the past few months there has been a dearth of good news for anyone but the uber-rich, evangelical zealots, and extreme racists. It is noteworthy that what little good news there has been was provided by, and courtesy of, America’s outgoing President Barack Obama. This past week, there were two items that were sparsely covered by the media and one, in particular, was not only incredibly good news, it was a historical action that provided constitutional protections to a segment of the population commonly and systematically demonized as “un-American.”

President Obama signed into law the Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Act that, among many other things, “protects atheists, humanists, and other freethinkers around the world [including America] from religious persecution.” What that means for American Secular Humanists, agnostics, atheists and other nonreligious persons is that they are now explicitly named as “a class” protected by an “Act” that was quietly and unceremoniously signed into law last week. The new law was an update, and a much-needed upgrade, to the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act that states:

“The freedom of thought, conscience, and religion is understood to protect theistic and non-theistic beliefs as well as the right not to profess or practice any religion.”

Of particular note is the Act’s explicit condemnation of any group or government entity that specifically “targets non-theists, humanists, and atheists because of their beliefs” as well as attempts to forcibly legislate or compel “non-believers or non-theists to recant their beliefs or to convert.”

http://www.politicususa.com/2016/12/26/pen-stroke-president-obama-protects-non-believers-religious-republicans.html

December 26, 2016

Once more unto the breach, dear friends

Posted by George A. Polisner

As we struggle with an effective way forward there are critical areas I will be working to address -and am happy to collaborate with all that believe as I do (regardless of political ideology) -that the incoming Executive Branch represents a clear and present danger to America and the world.

1. Protect and defend: When I think of our most vulnerable -I think of the impoverished, people of color, undocumented workers, refugees, Muslims, indigenous people and the LGBTQ community. I must now add a whole new sector of people -scientists. I had some recent discussions with people on the research edge -working to solve horrific disease such as ALS and Parkinson's or addressing catastrophic climate change. They are now under very real threat of being fired, ostracized or worse -without the protection they once had by our Federal government. These are people we should celebrate as heroes. Whether you are a Democrat, Republican -regardless -these brave men and women are trying to ease human suffering, improve our quality of life and help guide our decision-making so there is less risk to people and planet. I am deeply disturbed by this horrific new attitude toward those dedicated to the furtherance of human knowledge.

2. Educate and Inform
3. Focus on Outcomes
4. Achieve Scale
http://alonovo.blogspot.com/2016/12/once-more-unto-breach-dear-friends.html

December 22, 2016

Funny response from Amazon

Dear Amazon,

I will not be purchasing anything from Amazon this season until you remove your advertising from Breitbart and remove Trump products from your offerings.


Dear HAB911,

I'm Meraj from Amazon.com. Jeff Bezos received your email, and I'm responding on his behalf.

We appreciate your feedback and have forwarded it to the correct team internally.

Best regards,

Meraj

Thank you.
Amazon.com

December 21, 2016

Trump Climate Deniers Prompt Scared Scientists to Set Up Hotline

Source: Bloomberg

The leading U.S. weather agency finds itself in the eye of a storm: climate change in the age of Trump.

With global-warming deniers in Washington, outside scientists are setting up an anonymous hotline for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s employees to report political meddling. Fearing deletion, academic researchers are backing up U.S. data. Insiders are considering jobs outside government.

“I am hearing a lot of worry,” said Andrew Rosenberg, director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which established the hotline. “The worry is that they will be putting another ideologue in place.”

The President-elect himself called climate change a hoax and is backed by a Republican-controlled Congress that has also denied the science. Trump picked Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency and former Texas Governor Rick Perry, the Department of Energy. Perry has denied climate change; Pruitt has said the science isn’t settled.


Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-12-20/trump-climate-deniers-prompt-scared-scientists-to-set-up-hotline

December 21, 2016

Preparing for Trump and Pence By Supporting Secular Activism

http://www.atheistrev.com/2016/12/preparing-for-trump-and-pence-by.html

Since the election of Donald Trump, I have heard many atheists, LGBT persons, and heterosexual women saying that they are more worried by the prospect of Mike Pence as Vice President than they are of Trump as President. I agree. Trump does not have a record in politics; Pence does, and it is a disturbing record of anti-LGBT bigotry and opposition to reproductive rights and secularism. Trump's beliefs are anything but consistent or clear. As a result, it is virtually impossible to know what sort of threat he might pose to secularism, LGBT equality, or reproductive freedom (except for what his cabinet picks suggest). On the other hand, Pence appears to be a Christian extremist who has consistently been on the wrong side of all these issues.

December 20, 2016

Ray Dalio says read Ayn Rand to understand Trump's economics

snip

Rand has been dead for almost 35 years, but her novels and philosophical tracts are still top sellers, especially in the United States. She retains a large following less for the quality of her fiction than for her message of what could be called a fundamentalist version of individualism. She rejected the idea that free markets create undesirable results such as monopolies.

Rand's philosophy insists on the primacy of the individual's desires above essentially all other considerations, including God. Rand could be described as a devout atheist, and she explicitly said that self-sacrifice was immoral.

Born in 1905, Rand was traumatized as a child when her family's pharmacy business and property were seized by marauding Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution. Rand emigrated, eventually settling in New York (a city which moved her to tears of joy when she saw it for the first time). By the 1950s, she had gathered a circle of idealistic, fiercely dedicated followers, including a young Alan Greenspan.

snip

Rand's devotees say that her writings provide a richer understanding of the world that applies to economics, politics, art, science and more.

Critics say of Rand say that her philosophy is a nothing more than an elaborate exercise designed to put a very intellectual gloss on a very base impulse: selfishness.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/20/ray-dalio-says-read-ayn-rand-to-grasptrump-heres-what-that-means.html

December 20, 2016

Bocelli Bails

Fans of the famed opera singer warned, “You will lose millions of fans.” Some floated the idea of a “Boycott Bocelli” movement too. After receiving nearly all negative feedback from the possibility of performing at the inauguration a source close to the singer relayed, “Bocelli said there was no way he’d take the gig . . . he was ‘getting too much heat’ and he said no.”

Now, how do we stop the little girl?

December 20, 2016

South Carolina Porn Ban

State Proposes Requiring Porn Filter, Charing Fee To Remove It

A new bill in South Carolina would require all computers, tablets and smartphones sold in the state to come with a porn filter installed and demand device owners to pay a $20 fee to remove the content blocker.

The bill comes from Republican state Representatives Bill Chumley and Mike Burns who would like to require manufacturers or sellers to ensure all devices have a digital content filter installed or face a fine.

Both device makers and sellers who don’t want to bother with installing a filter would be able to waive the requirement for a $20 fee for each device. Likewise, the purchasers of these devices equipped with a filter could pay $20 to have the content block lifted—but only after proving they are at least 18 years old.

Presented by the legislators with the somewhat dubious title the “Human Trafficking Prevention Act,” the bill would direct the money collected from the fines to state Attorney General’s office to be used to fund its human trafficking task force.
http://www.ibtimes.com/south-carolina-porn-ban-state-proposes-requiring-porn-filter-charing-fee-remove-it-2462763


The bill would benefit law enforcement, nonprofit organizations and state advocates who are working to find ways to stop human trafficking. The bill would also ban access to any site that may facilitate trafficking or prostitution.

December 19, 2016

Panthers owner Vincent Viola nominated Secretary of Army by President-elect Donald Trump

Source: SunSentinel

Florida Panthers majority owner Vincent Viola has been nominated to serve as the Secretary of the Army by President-elect Donald Trump.

The Viola family will retain ownership of the Panthers, the team said in a statement, but upon Senate confirmation and NHL approval, Viola has named minority owner Doug Cifu to take his place as chairman and governor of Sunrise Sports and Entertainment.

Cifu has been serving as vice chairman and alternate governor.

“We are honored and humbled to see Mr. Viola nominated as the Secretary of the Army. We could not be more proud for Vinnie and his dedication to our country,” Panthers President and CEO Matthew Caldwell said in a statement.

Read more: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/florida-panthers/sfl-president-elect-donald-trump-names-panthers-owner-vincent-viola-secretary-of-army-20161219-story.html

December 19, 2016

Merriam-Websters Word Of 2016: SURREAL

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028317707

Adjective joins 'post-truth' and ' xenophobia' among lexicographers' top choices to sum up annus horribilis that brought us Brexit chaos, Donald Trump, strikes and multiple celebrity deaths

Was 2016 a dream or a nightmare?

Try something in between: “surreal,” which is US dictionary Merriam-Webster's word of the year.

Meaning “marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream,” or “unbelievable, fantastic,” the word joins Oxford's “post-truth” and Dictionary.com's “xenophobia” as the year's top choices.

“It just seems like one of those years,” said Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster's editor-at-large.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/merriam-webster-dictionary-word-of-the-year-2016-a7484156.html