May 29, 2008
Search for TV clips
Posted by doctormatt at 06:20 PM
New Poll: A majority of Californians support same-sex marriage.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/05/victory-within.html
Posted by doctormatt at 06:14 PM
March 14, 2008
Why men pay for sex
Sex Trade Clients Speak - courtesy of Newsweek.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/121558
Posted by Admin at 11:41 PM | Comments (0)
March 10, 2008
Video Trailer - Altered States of America
Americans are out of touch with the world.
Posted by Admin at 12:01 AM
March 09, 2008
Center for Public Integrity - Investigative Journalism
Following 9/11, President Bush and seven top officials of his administration waged a carefully orchestrated campaign of misinformation about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq. President George W. Bush and seven of his administration's top officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, made at least 935 false statements in the two years following September 11, 2001, about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Nearly five years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, an exhaustive examination of the record shows that the statements were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses.
http://www.publicintegrity.org/WarCard/Default.aspx?source=home&context=overview&id=945
A recent investigation by the Center for Public Integrity disclosed that the nation’s top public health agency blocked the publication of an exhaustive federal study of environmental hazards in the eight Great Lakes states, reportedly because it contained such potentially “alarming information” as evidence of elevated infant mortality and cancer rates.
http://www.publicintegrity.org
Posted by Admin at 11:15 PM
March 05, 2008
Video - Progressives vs. Conservatives
Posted by doctormatt at 01:07 AM
February 25, 2008
Alternative News Information Portal
http://www.informationliberation.com/portal.php
Posted by doctormatt at 08:41 PM
February 16, 2008
Video - Stephen Colbert White House press association dinner speech (flashback)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-869183917758574879
Posted by doctormatt at 09:39 PM
January 31, 2008
Sibel Edmonds on lack of American journalism, threat of U.S. backed nuclear proliferation.
http://letsibeledmondsspeak.blogspot.com/2008/01/sibel-edmonds-buckle-up-theres-much.html
Posted by Admin at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)
January 28, 2008
Video - More Fox smears of Obama
Posted by Admin at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Video - Fox smears Obama
Posted by Admin at 11:48 PM | Comments (0)
January 16, 2008
Spotlight Project
http://www.thespotlightproject.org/
Posted by doctormatt at 07:36 PM
January 12, 2008
Video - "Liberation Video" - Progressive video service
Videos you may not find anywhere else. Great for you local movie night get together and conversation.
http://liberationvideo.com/videolinks.html
Posted by doctormatt at 07:55 AM
December 01, 2007
Videos - The Real News
Another good non-mainstream media source of information.
http://www.therealnews.com/web/index.php
Posted by doctormatt at 11:31 PM
Shell Game - Novel preview
http://www.stevealten.com/shellgame.htm
Posted by doctormatt at 11:02 PM
November 22, 2007
Independent documentary videos
Posted by doctormatt at 11:16 PM
People's Voice - Environmental and social justice news blog
http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/cgi-bin/blogs/indx.php
Posted by doctormatt at 12:41 PM
News stories from the international press
http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/
Posted by doctormatt at 01:53 AM
November 20, 2007
Alternative news aggregators
You will "enjoy" these:
http://www.sprword.com/mustread.html
http://www.informationliberation.com/?category=Politics/Corruption
(Browse by category)
Posted by doctormatt at 10:54 PM
November 15, 2007
Alternative news sources
http://www.sprword.com/mustread.html
http://www.informationliberation.com/?category=Politics/Corruption
http://www.sott.net/signs/signsarchive.php
Posted by doctormatt at 11:47 PM
November 14, 2007
Video - Prescient and ominous - V is for Vendetta
In belated celebration of November 5th - Guy Fawkes day.
Posted by doctormatt at 06:46 PM | Comments (0)
November 01, 2007
Film review - They Met The Resistance
Nov. 1- On one of those beautiful, fall Sunday mornings that can make you feel all is right with the world, filmmakers Molly Bingham and Steve Connors discussed their new documentary about Iraqis fighting the US occupation, "Meeting Resistance," 84 minutes of unflinching wallop destined to unhinge the way millions of Americans see their country's role in the world.
Continue reading "Film review - They Met The Resistance"
Posted by doctormatt at 11:08 PM
October 23, 2007
Plan would ease limits on media owners
The head of the FCC plans to repeal a rule that forbids a company to own both a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same city.
Continue reading "Plan would ease limits on media owners"
Posted by doctormatt at 09:55 PM
October 20, 2007
Progressive Videos
Excellent compilation
Links to films such as:
Iraq for sale
The Corporation
Who killed the electric car?
Orwell rolls in his grave
America: Freedom to fascism
Why we fight
Genetically modified food
The revolution will not be televised
Root of all evil (by Richard Dawkins)
Zeitgeist
http://www.sprword.com/mustwatch.html
Posted by doctormatt at 06:34 PM
October 14, 2007
Marketing a war isn't difficult - Video
Young Turks video - How the mainstream media is preparing us to attack Iran.
Posted by Admin at 01:39 PM
What ever happened to coverage of the Anthrax attacks? Video
Young Turks video - Why is this story never covered?
Posted by doctormatt at 01:36 PM
How to spot political ads powered only by hot air.
In this article we examine two examples of what we call "fact-free" advertising, which we see in abundance. These ads seek to associate the candidate with a string of positive words and images but are void of specifics. Voters should beware.
We have chosen an example from Republican Mitt Romney that is full of words such as “families,” “values,” “patriotic,” “strength” and “innovation.” Who could be against any of those? Romney is also squarely against “waste in the federal government,” but who isn't? And what does he consider "waste?" He doesn't say.
More:
http://www.factcheck.org/99_fact-free.html
Posted by doctormatt at 01:08 PM
October 10, 2007
Wiki the vote - Congress 2008
Congresspedia Profiles Congressional Candidates in the 2008 Election
On Tuesday, the Center for Media and Democracy and the Sunlight Foundation launched a new collaborative, citizen-driven project on Congresspedia to build profiles on the hundreds of challengers for congressional seats, which will compliment the existing profiles on every member of Congress. The project is non-partisan and, in true open-source fashion, is free for anyone to participate -- even the candidates themselves.
Even for official party nominees, information on challengers is usually woefully inadequate and information on primary challengers is often nearly non-existent. The explosion of citizen blogging in the last few years has created a wealth of individual opinions and perspectives, but what has been lacking is a central repository of collaboratively produced, in-depth and accurate information. The Wiki the Vote project, due to its easily editable wiki format, will be just that.
http://www.prwatch.org/node/6531
Posted by Admin at 11:44 AM
Center for Media and Democracy
Weekly Radio Spin - podcast
Posted by Admin at 11:42 AM
October 05, 2007
Book Review - American Empire and the Commonwealth of God
By Jim Miles
The American Empire and the Commonwealth of God – A Political, Economic, Religious Statement. John Cobb, Richard Falk, David Griffin and Catherine Keller. Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky, 2006.
Based solely on the title, this book appeared to be something that could have some strong revelations on the nature of the American Empire and its relationship with religion. Having read several books from the religious right, including the first volume of the "Left Behind" series (summed up as a compilation of Star Wars, Harlequin Romance, and end of times theology), I thought this volume might have a more rational approach than the fear mongering and devilish rhetoric that saturates the right wing material.
Continue reading "Book Review - American Empire and the Commonwealth of God"
Posted by Admin at 12:51 PM
Center for Media and Democracy Debate on VNRs
"Video News Releases" (VNRs), public relations videos that mimic television news reports and are frequently aired, without disclosure, during TV newscasts.
http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/1004-08.htm
Posted by doctormatt at 12:46 PM
October 02, 2007
Teacher: I was fired, said Bible isn't literal
A community college instructor in Red Oak claims he was fired after he told his students that the biblical story of Adam and Eve should not be literally interpreted.
Steve Bitterman, 60, said officials at Southwestern Community College sided with a handful of students who threatened legal action over his remarks in a western civilization class Tuesday. He said he was fired Thursday.
Continue reading "Teacher: I was fired, said Bible isn't literal"
Posted by Admin at 04:07 AM
FCC chief hints at deregulation
On Sept. 20, Chicagoans packed into an auditorium to voice concerns about media consolidation before the leadership of the Federal Communications Commission.
Hundreds were there to urge the agency's five commissioners to foster more diversity over the air, by deciding to stop any further amassing of local TV, radio and newspaper outlets under a single corporate owner.
But it seems that this FCC decision has already been cast. During a meeting with Tribune editors earlier in the day, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin hinted very strongly that he plans to lift the existing "cross-ownership" ban that has been on the books for more than 30 years.
Such a change to the rules would unleash a new wave of consolidation in local markets.
Continue reading "FCC chief hints at deregulation"
Posted by Admin at 03:01 AM
Bush White House checks in with rapture Christians regarding Middle East policy.
The problem is not that George W. Bush is discussing policy with people who press right-wing solutions to achieve peace in the Middle East, or with devout Christians. It is that he is discussing policy with Christians who might not care about peace at all at least until the rapture.
It demonstrates, he says, "the absolute convergence of the neoconservatives with the Christian Zionists and the pro-Israel lobby, driving U.S. Mideast policy."
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0420,perlstein,53582,6.html
Continue reading "Bush White House checks in with rapture Christians regarding Middle East policy."
Posted by Admin at 02:04 AM
September 30, 2007
Another video on the Aquygen water car
Posted by doctormatt at 10:10 PM
A car that runs on water? New welding gas?
H2O becomes HHO - Clearwater FL
Denny Klein - Aquygen Hydrogen
Posted by doctormatt at 10:05 PM
"Brown's fuel"
Canada professor shows an unlimited energy source from water.
Posted by doctormatt at 10:03 PM
September 29, 2007
Chattanooga Channel 39 airs Democracy Now at 4PM
M-F 4 PM UHF Channel 39 TV
Amy Goodman's Democracy Now is broadcast
Posted by doctormatt at 05:10 PM
The Nonbelievers
An increasing number of young people in America - and adults around the world - don't believe in God. Greg Epstein, who advises fellow atheists and agnostics at Harvard University, wants to create a kind of church for those who reject religion. But he's encountering resistance from some of the very people he wants to unite.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2007/09/16/the_nonbelievers?mode=PF
Continue reading "The Nonbelievers"
Posted by Admin at 04:20 PM
September 28, 2007
Breast Feeding Stigma?
What's the big deal about breast feeding in our society?
This made all the major main stream media outlets.
"Ruling gives breast-feeding student extra break in exam"
A state appeals court judge ruled yesterday in favor of a Harvard medical student who wanted extra time to pump breast milk during a licensing exam.
Continue reading "Breast Feeding Stigma?"
Posted by doctormatt at 11:48 AM
September 27, 2007
Sample Skepticality.com podcast
http://cache.libsyn.com/skepticality/061_skepticality.mp3
Posted by doctormatt at 10:34 PM
September 26, 2007
Holy Toyland
The mega toy retailer, Wal-Mart- is now selling Biblical toys like the talking Jesus
The missed opportunities are regretful. Goliath is barely taller than David. Jonah is inexplicably bigger than the whale is he's supposed to fit inside. And where the hell is Satan?
Julien, my four-year-old son, had two plastic action-figures locked in mortal combat.
“Who will win,” he asked, looking up at me, “Spider-Man or Moses?” We discussed their relative strengths, and he settled on the superiority of Spider-Man. The Moses toy had only a big staff in one hand and a couple stone tablets in the other—not very impressive next to Spidey’s web-slinging power. Also, my son reasoned, Moses, with his long white beard and bathrobe, looked “too old” for serious battle.
Continue reading "Holy Toyland"
Posted by Admin at 11:49 PM
September 23, 2007
What's the difference between a cult and a religion?
Various religious groups in America, from Jehovah's Witnesses to Mormons, have been considered cults at some point. What is the difference between a religion and a cult? What constitutes a real religion?
Washington Post Readers’ Responses -
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/2007/09/religion_or_cult/comments.html#comments
Continue reading "What's the difference between a cult and a religion?"
Posted by doctormatt at 04:31 PM
Mike Gravel after Iowa debates
Mike Gravel on money in politics and the implicit need for clean, public financed elections.
Will the People ever catch on?
Posted by doctormatt at 11:28 AM
Kucinich Ad
Great Video - Who really stands with your values?
Posted by doctormatt at 09:41 AM
So are breasts sexual?
Breasts are just a part of the "whole package" that makes a woman. Obviously they are beautiful, feminine body parts, yes, but the mere looking at them in some everyday context shouldn't make men instantly think about sex.
We are not saying that men can't appreciate woman's breasts as feminine and beautiful body parts, or that man and woman can't enjoy touching each other's bodies during the intimate relationship. We are saying breasts are NOT supposed to be some kind of a "turn-on", a special obsession point for men.
The advertisements and media images play to the idea that men are supposed to be "all ready" the instant they get a flash of a breast. It's not men's fault though, if they think so, because they have been culturally conditioned to see it that way. So on this site we hope to fight back against this sad trend.
We're saying let breasts be like legs and hips and neck and face etc. and all the other body parts - not some almost like inanimate objects that automatically 'click men's brains' to the "turn on" mode. Some people mention to us Song of Solomon, which mentions breasts in a sexual context. BUT it clearly places breasts on the same level as other body parts, such as teeth, neck, and hair.
Posted by doctormatt at 12:15 AM
September 22, 2007
No End in Sight - the movie
http://www.noendinsightmovie.com/
Posted by doctormatt at 10:45 PM
In the Valley of Elah
“Exactly the Sort of Movie America Needs”
Over 400 people filled the main theater of the American Film Institute in Silver Spring, MD on Saturday night for an advanced screening of "In the Valley of Elah," starring Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, and Susan Sarandon, co-sponsored by the Center for American Progress. Oscar-winning Director Paul Haggis spoke and answered questions, and CAP Senior Fellow Joseph Cirincione helped introduce the preview with comments on the film and the Iraq war.
"In the Valley of Elah" is already enjoying rave reviews. Richard Corliss of Time lauds “the combination of dedicated actors and a superior script.” Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly says it “is exactly the sort of movie America needs right now—a lacerating, bone-deep inquiry into the war in Iraq, one that struggles to find meaning in the very chaos of that conflict.” Having seen this film, I completely agree.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/09/elah.html/print.html
Continue reading "In the Valley of Elah"
Posted by Admin at 10:42 PM
September 21, 2007
Pacifica Radio affiliates
http://pacificanetwork.org/radio/content/blogcategory/24/63/
Posted by doctormatt at 11:41 PM
Pacifica Radio - Berkeley CA - KPFA 94.1 FM
Posted by doctormatt at 11:39 PM
Boulder Colorado Progressive Radio
KGNU
Posted by doctormatt at 11:35 PM
The Progressive Voice of the Mountains
WPVM Radio - 103.5 FM - Asheville NC
Posted by doctormatt at 11:32 PM
Dutch study: Lesbian parents just as good
New research from the Netherlands shows that children raised by lesbian couples are as well-adjusted as those raised in heterosexual families.
The study shows results nearly identical to similar research in the United States and Canada, according to the Rockaway Institute, a national center for public policy and research on LGBT issues.
Continue reading "Dutch study: Lesbian parents just as good"
Posted by Admin at 11:29 PM
September 19, 2007
Nebraska State Senator Sues God
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The defendant in a state senator's lawsuit is accused of causing untold death and horror and threatening to cause more still. He can be sued in Douglas County, the legislator claims, because He's everywhere.
State Sen. Ernie Chambers sued God last week. Angered by another lawsuit he considers frivolous, Chambers says he's trying to make the point that anybody can file a lawsuit against anybody.
Chambers says in his lawsuit that God has made terroristic threats against the senator and his constituents, inspired fear and caused "widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants."
The Omaha senator, who skips morning prayers during the legislative session and often criticizes Christians, also says God has caused "fearsome floods ... horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes."
He's seeking a permanent injunction against the Almighty.
Continue reading "Nebraska State Senator Sues God"
Posted by Admin at 08:44 PM
September 14, 2007
Top 25 Censored Stories of 2006-2007 from Project Censored
#1 No Habeas Corpus for "Any Person"
The Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) ushered in military commission law for US citizens and non-citizens alike. Text in the MCA allows for the institution of a military alternative to the constitutional justice system for "any person" arbitrarily deemed to be an enemy of the state, regardless of American citizenship.
#2 Bush Moves Toward Martial Law
The John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007 allows the president to deploy military troops anywhere in the United States and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities in order to "suppress public disorder."
http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/1122/1/
Continue reading "Top 25 Censored Stories of 2006-2007 from Project Censored"
Posted by Admin at 05:54 AM
September 09, 2007
Video - The Corporation
Great documentary.
Corporations as entities with antisocial personality disorder.
Limited time charters anyone?
Download a windows media or real player version here:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12998.htm
Posted by doctormatt at 09:42 PM
September 07, 2007
"Blacklisted News"
http://www.blacklistednews.com/category_list.asp
Posted by doctormatt at 09:03 PM
September 06, 2007
Couple role plays the political way
Bush F's America
Posted by doctormatt at 03:22 AM
Mad World in Iraq
Song and slide collage
Posted by doctormatt at 03:15 AM
August 22, 2007
History channel runs special on 9/11 "conspiracy"
Comments on the piece:
http://www.wtprn.com/History_Channel_Hit_Piece.html
Posted by Admin at 07:25 PM
Stef's miracles
Posted by doctormatt at 12:07 AM
August 21, 2007
INN Video - Physics professor on the demolition of the World Trade Center on 9/11
Watch and listen to the University of Iowa professor discuss problems with the "Fire theory" of collapse of World Trade Center buildings (especially building 7).
Another argument supporting that the WTC was brought down with explosives on 9/11/01.
http://innworldreport.net/video_launcher.php?2007-04-23i
Posted by doctormatt at 10:42 PM
FreeDomain Radio!
Stefan Molyneux's podcast is in the top 10 - People's Podcast Awards.
http://www.freedomainradio.com/
Posted by doctormatt at 08:13 PM
Infidel Guy podcast directory of shows
http://www.podcast.net/show/28114
Posted by doctormatt at 08:06 PM
Infidel Guy podcast - God and philosophy
http://www.podcast.net/play/28114/111
Posted by doctormatt at 08:03 PM
Skeptics Guide to the Universe
http://www.theskepticsguide.org/index2.asp
Posted by doctormatt at 07:58 PM
Atheist network
A funny and disturbing audio compilation.
Click on the TUNE IN link on left of page.
http://www.atheistnetwork.com/#
Posted by doctormatt at 07:25 PM
August 10, 2007
Dawkins - The root of evil - video
Dawkins - The root of evil - video
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5627242120502502207
Posted by doctormatt at 11:24 PM
Atheist experience - sample video
Austin, TX Community television show.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-747701990399986353
Posted by doctormatt at 11:19 PM
August 05, 2007
SiCKO: Moore’s Midnight Ride
Review by Bambi Evans
In true American Revolution spirit, filmmaker Michael Moore comes riding, Revere-like, onto the American landscape, not just to warn us of the crisis that affects every single American - whether they know it or not - but also to unify us around a central idea: eliminating the profit motive from health care. While Paul Revere warned us of what was coming, Moore shows us what is already here.
Continue reading "SiCKO: Moore’s Midnight Ride"
Posted by Admin at 10:15 PM
July 01, 2007
Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
I don’t believe in God. I do, however, believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM), an invisible and undetectable being who resembles spaghetti and meatballs and created the world. I am a devout Pastafarian.
http://www.sarahcarey.ie/2006/10/08/gospel-of-spaghetti-monster/
Posted by Admin at 05:54 PM
God's billboards
There is a new epidemic sweeping across America. It started in Florida along the I-95 a few years ago and is now moving across the nation. This epidemic is God's billboards.
We have all seen them in one shape or another plastered on telephone polls, windows, cars, and other places. There has been a more recent surge of actual highway billboards and the new "witty" billboards. These new billboards are funny and cute, doubly so for an atheist who sees both sides of the humor.
http://www.alabamaatheist.org/awareness/billboards.htm
Posted by doctormatt at 05:35 PM
What is atheism?
Atheism is a doctrine that states that nothing exists but natural phenomena (matter), that thought is a property or function of matter, and that death irreversibly and totally terminates individual organic units. This definition means that there are no forces, phenomena, or entities which exist outside of or apart from physical nature, or which transcend nature, or are “super” natural, nor can there be. Humankind is on its own.
The following definition of Atheism was given to the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Murray v. Curlett, 374 U.S. 203, 83 S. Ct. 1560, 10 L.Ed.2d (MD, 1963), to remove reverential Bible reading and oral unison recitation of the Lord's Prayer in the public schools.
Continue reading "What is atheism?"
Posted by Admin at 12:08 AM
June 30, 2007
Are you a bright?
Think about your own worldview to decide if it is free of supernatural or mystical deities, forces, and entities. If you decide that you fit the description above, then you are, by definition, a bright!
Posted by doctormatt at 11:41 PM
Go Left TV
GoLeft.TV - Liberal video presentations
Posted by doctormatt at 11:20 PM
June 25, 2007
Majority of Republicans Doubt Theory of Evolution
GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
More Americans accept theory of creationism than evolution
PRINCETON, NJ -- The majority of Republicans in the United States do not believe the theory of evolution is true and do not believe that humans evolved over millions of years from less advanced forms of life. This suggests that when three Republican presidential candidates at a May debate stated they did not believe in evolution, they were generally in sync with the bulk of the rank-and-file Republicans whose nomination they are seeking to obtain.
http://www.galluppoll.com/content/?ci=27847
Continue reading "Majority of Republicans Doubt Theory of Evolution"
Posted by doctormatt at 09:23 PM
June 22, 2007
Is having God on your side always advantageous?
Well, a new study from the US says not necessarily so.
The broad ranging study compares data from 18 developed democracies and it shows societies with higher levels of belief also have higher levels of societal dysfunction.
The US was the most religious country in the study, with around 90 percent of people believing in a higher power, and it also showed the highest murder rates, highest levels of child mortality and highest levels of sexually transmitted disease and teenage pregnancy.
More.... Radio show
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/features/amsterdamforum/051111amfor
Posted by doctormatt at 11:38 PM
June 13, 2007
Preview film - War Made Easy
Based on the book War Made Easy:
How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.
Narrated by Sean Penn, and produced by the superb independent filmmakers at the Media Education Foundation, War Made Easy is a powerful indictment of the current U.S. warfare state and a call to action. I’m hoping it will inspire a nationwide surge of antiwar activism.
Continue reading "Preview film - War Made Easy"
Posted by Admin at 07:42 PM
June 07, 2007
Progressive radio shows on the internet
http://www.opednews.com/progressive_radio.htm
Posted by doctormatt at 12:15 AM
June 03, 2007
Winning the war on drugs
Asylum Street Spankers Video
URL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVkk6fH2u0Y
Posted by doctormatt at 03:59 AM
Stick a yellow ribbon up your SUV
Asylum Street Spankers Video
URL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmsOIjzQ1V8
Posted by doctormatt at 03:48 AM
Ex-spy Plame vows to battle CIA over free speech
An ex-spy whose unmasking led to the conviction of Vice President Dick Cheney's top aide vowed on Saturday to press on with lawsuits against Cheney and the CIA for the sake of freedom of speech.
"Just as we have to be vigilant to protect our national security -- something I believe in passionately -- we have to be vigilant to protect our freedom of speech and First Amendment rights," Valerie Plame Wilson said in a speech at a book convention.
Plame and her publisher, Simon & Schuster, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New York on Thursday against top CIA officials for blocking publication of her memoir on national security grounds.
Continue reading "Ex-spy Plame vows to battle CIA over free speech"
Posted by doctormatt at 03:38 AM
June 02, 2007
Jealousy and homicide
Jealousy over real and/or perceived infidelity is among the most frequently cited causes of domestic homicides in the United States.
Helen Fisher (Anthropologist)
Anatomy of Love: The Natural History of Monogamy, Adultery, and Divorce
(1992) p. 284-285
Posted by doctormatt at 04:28 PM
Hitchens vs. Hedges; Atheist vs. Believer Clash Ignites Audience
Visualize this spectacle: a debate between a neocon and a progressive. The subject is religion. One of them is there to defend religion, to praise God, to cheerlead for even the most devout. The other -- his opponent -- is an atheist. He skewers deities and those who follow deities. He calls them evil. Toxic. Childish. He mocks doctrine. Railing that the devout want to kill us and control the world, he is on a mission, as it were, to vanquish missions. You'd expect the liberal to be the atheist and the neocon to vouch for the devout. No-brainer, right? Well, no.
As Christopher Hitchens debated Chris Hedges in a Berkeley auditorium last Thursday night, it was Hedges who praised the pious. And it was 9/11-neocon Hitchens who railed against "Abrahamic man-made filthy propaganda," proclaiming that "human emancipation begins when this nonsense ends."
Continue reading "Hitchens vs. Hedges; Atheist vs. Believer Clash Ignites Audience"
Posted by Admin at 12:07 PM
May 28, 2007
Jon Stewart Comment 1 on Attorney General Scandal
Posted by doctormatt at 10:34 PM
Fetal Consent Abortion Bill Introduced
Satire from the Onion.
New Abortion Bill To Require Fetal Consent
Posted by doctormatt at 10:15 PM
Al Gore on Letterman - Assault on Reason
URL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NH2VKhS86w
Posted by Admin at 09:50 PM
May 26, 2007
The Fifth Estate : Conspiracy Theories
Excellent CBC documentary about the various conspiracy theories around 9/11. Asks though questions without falling into paranoid delusions.
The Bush, the Saudi Royals and the Bin Laden, all part of the same gang?
Watch and judge for yourself.
URL
http://www.ichblog.eu/index.php?option=com_seyret&task=videodirectlink&id=55939
Posted by Admin at 09:11 AM
May 21, 2007
Gays in British military - no big deal.
"Since the British military began allowing homosexuals to serve in the armed forces in 2000, none of its fears -- about harassment, discord, blackmail, bullying or an erosion of unit cohesion or military effectiveness --- have come to pass. ... The biggest news about the policy, they say, is that there is no news. It has for the most part become a nonissue.
The debate in the United States was rekindled in March when Gen. Peter Pace, who as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the country’s top-ranking military official, told The Chicago Tribune that he believed that homosexuality was immoral.
Continue reading "Gays in British military - no big deal."
Posted by doctormatt at 04:42 PM
May 20, 2007
"Commander 'N Thief", a must-see documentary by Tom O'Brien
Election Fraud (Not "Voter Fraud") is the topic:
"The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything." – Joseph Stalin
Since art does not exist in a vacuum, I would like to place my review of Commander 'N Thief within the context of recent newsworthy events. Unfortunately, you'll have to dig hard to find coverage of them in the mainstream press.
Almost two weeks ago, the House Administration Committee unanimously decided to throw out numerous 2006 election challenges, including that of Clint Curtis. He collected hundreds of voters' sworn affidavits that point to a different reality from that indicated by the election results in Florida. Alas, none of the candidates were invited to testify and Curtis's evidence was neither examined nor evaluated.
Continue reading ""Commander 'N Thief", a must-see documentary by Tom O'Brien"
Posted by Admin at 01:09 PM
May 19, 2007
The Blind Watchmaker - Richard Dawkins video
The video first presents creationist ideas, articulated by Texans who support the theory of special creationism, and then provides vivid contradictory data through observation, computer simulations, robotics, experiments and close examination of designs in nature.
Its central argument is that the diversity and variety we see in such complex adaptations as the eye and insect mimicry can best be explained by cumulative natural selection over long periods of time.
With its vivid blend of argument and scientific detail, The Blind Watchmaker will enrich even the most advanced student's view of evolution.
URL
http://www.ichblog.eu/index.php?option=com_seyret&task=videodirectlink&id=55701
Posted by doctormatt at 12:56 PM
Richard Dawkins interview
Dawkins talks about The God Illusion
URL
http://www.ichblog.eu/index.php?option=com_seyret&task=videodirectlink&id=55638
Posted by doctormatt at 12:51 PM
Video - History of Atheism
A BRIEF HISTORY OF DISBELIEF
A superb history of atheism, by Jonathan Miller: Part 3 of 3
URL
http://www.ichblog.eu/index.php?option=com_seyret&task=videodirectlink&id=55718
Posted by doctormatt at 12:47 PM
The Oil Factor - Behind the "war on terror"
Video narrated by Ed Asner
URL
http://www.ichblog.eu/index.php?option=com_seyret&task=videodirectlink&id=470
Posted by doctormatt at 12:43 PM
Jerry Falwell leaves
More comments on Falwell's departure
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17716.htm
Posted by Admin at 12:26 PM
Embracing Humanity - Truth in a time of war
Video of lecture by Howard Zinn
URL
http://www.ichblog.eu/index.php?option=com_seyret&task=videodirectlink&id=55792
Posted by doctormatt at 12:14 PM
Farewell to Falwell
Well, we can't help but remember our good friend Jerry Falwell this week, the man who did so much to improve the quality of politics and life in America. Jerry made so many fine contributions to our public discourse, it's really hard to know where to start in memorializing him. I guess it's only natural to go with his most famous passage, which he shared with us as our nation agonized over the attacks of 9/11:
I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen'.
Continue reading "Farewell to Falwell"
Posted by Admin at 10:22 AM
May 18, 2007
The Assault on Reason excerpt by Al Gore
Not long before our nation launched the invasion of Iraq, our longest-serving Senator, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, stood on the Senate floor and said: “This chamber is, for the most part, silent—ominously, dreadfully silent. There is no debate, no discussion, no attempt to lay out for the nation the pros and cons of this particular war. There is nothing. We stand passively mute in the United States Senate.”
Why was the Senate silent?
In describing the empty chamber the way he did, Byrd invited a specific version of the same general question millions of us have been asking: “Why do reason, logic and truth seem to play a sharply diminished role in the way America now makes important decisions?” The persistent and sustained reliance on falsehoods as the basis of policy, even in the face of massive and well-understood evidence to the contrary, seems to many Americans to have reached levels that were previously unimaginable.
Continue reading "The Assault on Reason excerpt by Al Gore"
Posted by Admin at 11:46 PM
May 16, 2007
Wiccans Keep the Faith With a Religion Under Wraps
Above the woman’s fireplace hangs her wedding picture, taken in a Lutheran church years ago. Below it, on the mantelpiece, is a small Wiccan altar: two candles, a tiny cauldron, four stones to represent the elements of nature and a small amethyst representing her spirit.
The wedding portrait is always there. But whenever someone comes to visit, the woman sweeps the altar away. Raised Southern Baptist in Virginia and now a stay-at-home mother of two in this Washington suburb, she has told almost no one — not her relatives, her friends or the other mothers in her children’s playgroups — that she is Wiccan.
Among the most popular religions to have flowered since the 1960s, Wicca — a form of paganism — still faces a struggle for acceptance, experts on the religion and Wiccans themselves said. In April, Wiccans won an important victory when the Department of Veterans Affairs settled a lawsuit and agreed to add the Wiccan pentacle to a list of approved religious symbols that it will engrave on veterans’ headstones.
Continue reading "Wiccans Keep the Faith With a Religion Under Wraps"
Posted by Admin at 05:48 PM
May 10, 2007
Cheney was escort client?
May 10, 2007 -- WMR has received a third well-placed confirmation that Vice President Dick Cheney, while CEO of Halliburton, was a client of the escort service of DC Madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey. In addition, one of Cheney's closest military advisers and friends was also a client of the DC Madam's Pamela Martin & Associates escort service. Cheney used the escort service while he was a part time resident of the posh Ballantrae section of McLean, Virginia.
After intense pressure from the White House and Disney executives, ABC News killed the DC Madam client story after having been given exclusive access to Palfrey's ten years' of phone call records.
Cheney made an unscheduled visit to Iraq during his tour of the Middle East.
Source: WayneMadsenReport.com
Posted by Admin at 11:28 PM
May 05, 2007
Breakthrough Gay Advances in Past Three Weeks
When Connecticut state Rep. Beth Bye's turn came to speak about the need for her legislature to approve gay marriage, she tearfully recalled her devout Catholic father's loving participation in her civil union ceremony, then described the pain of being excluded from actual marriage.
The freshman lawmaker recounted filling out a health-care form: Her choices were "married," "divorced," "widowed," "single" or "other."
"Forgive me if I'm not patient," Bye told Connecticut's joint House-Senate Judiciary Committee. "I don't want to be 'other' anymore. I want to be married."
Bye's touching plea helped create a wonderfully lopsided victory -- the 27-to-15 committee vote that endorsed opening marriage to gay couples. Gay marriage now goes to the full state House and Senate. (To watch Bye's moving testimonial, go to lmfct.org.)
Continue reading "Breakthrough Gay Advances in Past Three Weeks"
Posted by Admin at 01:45 AM
Is Stripping a Feminist Act?
A popular narrative about sex work, earnestly discussed in Women's Studies courses throughout the nation and represented in countless "I stripped my way through college!" memoirs, is that adult labor is automatically, and by definition, feminist.
The argument goes like this: By using sexual stereotypes professionally, by "owning" them (using them consciously), and by "subverting" them (choosing which stereotypes to exaggerate and which to discard), a sex-working woman is participating in a feminist reclamation of both personal and economic power. Her deliberate use of gender-drag turns wearing a g-string and gyrating on stage -- or behind glass -- from an act done merely to pay her rent into a strong, assured and transgressive statement more akin to political performance art. You can't objectify me -- I am objectifying myself, shrewdly and self-consciously, in order to obtain power through money, and control through being considered sexually desirable.
Continue reading "Is Stripping a Feminist Act?"
Posted by Admin at 01:38 AM
Dozens of Heads Were Bowed
Let us pray.
Let us pray that, on next year's National Day of Prayer, there is better attendance at the "Bible Reading Marathon" on the West Front of the Capitol.
Organizers put out 600 folding chairs on the lawn -- the spot where presidents are inaugurated -- and set up a huge stage with powerful amplifiers. But at 9:30 a.m. yesterday, not one of the 600 seats was occupied. By 11 a.m., as a woman read a passage from Revelations, attendance had grown -- to four people. Finally, at 1 p.m., 37 of the 600 seats were occupied, though many of those people were tourists eating lunch.
Where was everybody?
"This isn't that kind of event," explained Jeff Gannon, spokesman for the host, the International Bible Reading Association. Gannon, actually a pseudonym for James Guckert, had earned fame in 2005 representing a conservative Web site at White House briefings until it was revealed that he posted nude pictures of himself on the Web to offer his services as a $200-an-hour gay escort.
Continue reading "Dozens of Heads Were Bowed"
Posted by Admin at 12:10 AM
May 04, 2007
THREE CONSERVATIVE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES SAY THEY DO NOT BELIEVE IN EVOLUTION
During last night's Republican presidential debate at the Ronald Reagan Library in California, a reader of Politico.com asked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) for a yes or no answer on whether he believed in evolution. McCain paused for a second before answering "Yes."
Politico's Jim VandeHei, one of three moderators for the night, then opened up the question to the other nine candidates. Three candidates -- Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) and Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AK) -- raised their hands to say that they do not believe in evolution.
Continue reading "THREE CONSERVATIVE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES SAY THEY DO NOT BELIEVE IN EVOLUTION"
Posted by doctormatt at 06:10 PM
May 03, 2007
The Hippies Were Right!
Green homes? Organic food? Nature is good? Time To Give The Ol’ Tie-Dyers Some Respect.
Go ahead, name your movement. Name something good and positive and pro-environment and eco-friendly that’s happening right now in the newly “greening” America and don’t say more guns in Texas or fewer reproductive choices for women or endless vile unwinnable BushCo wars in the Middle East lasting until roughly 2075 because that would defeat the whole point of this perky little column and destroy its naive tone of happy rose-colored sardonic optimism. OK?
Continue reading "The Hippies Were Right!"
Posted by Admin at 08:20 PM
Weapons of Mass Deception
Bill Moyers lost me during the first few minutes of his excellent PBS special, “Buying the War.”
Not because it was painful to watch - blood boils at about the same temperature as water, and you could have made strong tea out of mine - but because my life became stranded at the very place where his story begins: “Four years ago this spring the Bush administration took leave of reality and plunged our country into a war so poorly planned it soon turned into a disaster.”
Burdened with a logical mind, I was never able to take leave of reality. As a result, just after Sept. 11, 2001, the country left me behind.
Continue reading "Weapons of Mass Deception"
Posted by Admin at 08:13 PM
The Crusaders
The Christian Taliban is Running the Department of Defense
Sixteen words may be all that stand right now between the apparatus of government and the Founding Fathers’ worst nightmare. And those words are starting to give.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .”
When George Bush, in the wake of 9/11, puffed himself into Richard the Lionheart and declared he would lead the country in a “crusade” against terrorism - you know, crusade, as in slaughter of Muslim infidels - turns out . . . oh, how awkward (if you’re on White House spin duty) . . . he may have been speaking literally.
Continue reading "The Crusaders"
Posted by Admin at 07:58 PM
The New Monogamy
Until death do us part—except every other Friday.
Claire is a pretty, 31-year-old Park Sloper who studies furniture design. Her husband, Alex, is a 32-year-old Web-design consultant with a fondness for floral shirts. He’s the center of attention at a party; she’s the one off to the side, seemingly aloof but really just shy. That’s why she was shocked when, more than a year into their relationship, she was the one who found herself attracted to someone else.
“I was totally confused, because I’d assumed that once I found ‘the one,’ I would be done with all that,” says Claire. “Going through all this was hard for us as a couple.” But when her husband subsequently got a crush of his own, she was more prepared. “Now that it was his turn, I was in a position to understand,” explains Claire. “So I told him, if he wanted to kiss her, that was okay—but I wanted to know about it, and I wanted that to be as far as things went without him talking to me first."
Continue reading "The New Monogamy"
Posted by Admin at 12:24 AM
Is the World Ready for Libido in a Nasal Spray?
Now entering Phase 3 clinical trials: the first real, honest-to-God, horny-making, body-shaking, equal-opportunity aphrodisiac.
Horn of rhinoceros. Penis of tiger. Root of sea holly. Husk of the emerald-green blister beetle known as the Spanish fly. So colorful and exotic is the list of substances that have been claimed to heighten sexual appetite that it’s hard not to feel a twinge of disappointment on first beholding the latest entry—a small white plastic nasal inhaler containing an odorless, colorless synthetic chemical called PT-141. Plain as it is, however, there is one thing that distinguishes PT-141 from the 4,000 years’ worth of recorded medicinal aphrodisiacs that precede it: It actually works.
Continue reading "Is the World Ready for Libido in a Nasal Spray?"
Posted by Admin at 12:21 AM
God Is in the Dendrites
Can "neurotheology" bridge the gap between religion and science?
Looking back, it was the intellectual high point of my summer: Ten science and religion reporters sitting inside the divinity building at Cambridge University, contemplating the essence of a raisin. As the hypnotic voice of the speaker, an expert on Buddhist meditation, lulled us from the here and now, I placed the wrinkly thing on my tongue, exploring its peaks and valleys until, all of a sudden, I broke through the linguistic cellophane. The raisin ceased to be a raisin or anything with a name. It had no history as a fruit grown on a vine and shipped to market; it evoked no memories of the little Sun-Maid boxes my mother packed in my lunch pail or of a particularly good glass of cabernet sauvignon.* It just was.
Continue reading "God Is in the Dendrites"
Posted by Admin at 12:15 AM
How to wire your brain for religious ecstasy.
Eight years ago, I flew to Laurentian University in Midwestern Canada to test a gadget that some journalists called the "God machine." The device consisted of computer-controlled solenoids that fit over the skull and stimulate the brain with electromagnetic pulses. Its inventor, neuroscientist Michael Persinger, claimed that it could induce mystical experiences, including, as Wired magazine put it, visions of "Jesus, the Virgin Mary, Mohammed, the Sky Spirit."
I sat in a ratty armchair in a soundproof chamber and pulled the God machine onto my head as, outside the chamber, a graduate student tapped a computer keyboard. As he bombarded my brain with electromagnetic bursts patterned after brain waves of epileptics in the throes of religious visions, I waited for God or even a minor deity or demon to appear—in vain. Persinger told me later that the device doesn't work on skeptics, implying that it "works" merely by exploiting subjects' suggestibility.
Continue reading "How to wire your brain for religious ecstasy."
Posted by Admin at 12:10 AM
May 01, 2007
“Truth or Consequences,” The Review And A Resource Guide
By Bambi Evans
Saturday was the final performance of the political play “Truth or Consequences” at the Barking Legs Theatre. Money raised from ticket sales go to the Chattanooga Community Kitchen.
The play was adapted by Matthew Hine - who also serves as director - from Craig S. Barnes original full-length play “A Nation Deceived” (www.ANationDeceived.org) and performed by the Chattanooga Progressive Players. In Hine’s adaptation, George W. Bush and Richard Cheney are on trial for committing fraud before Congress and the American people in the lead-up to, and in the continuing prosecution of, the Iraq War. Though the play is hypothetical, it is based on documented facts publicly available. The individual performances, though subtle, reflect the cast’s commitment to presenting the known details without bias or spin.
Continue reading "“Truth or Consequences,” The Review And A Resource Guide"
Posted by Admin at 06:04 PM
March 25, 2007
United States v. George W. Bush et al.
What if there were a fraud worse than Enron and no one did anything about it?
In United States v. George W. Bush et. al., former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega brings her twenty years of experience and her passion for justice to the most important case of her career. The defendants are George W Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, and Colin Powell. The crime is tricking the nation into war, or, in legal terms, conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Ms. de la Vega has reviewed the evidence, researched the law, drafted an indictment, and in this lively, accessible book, presented it to a grand jury. If the indictment and grand jury are both hypothetical, the facts are tragically real: Over half of all Americans believe the President misled the country into a war that has left 2,500 hundred American soldiers and countless Iraqis dead. The cost is $350 billion -- and counting.
The legal question is: Did the president and his team use the same techniques as those used by Enron’s Ken Lay, Jeffrey Skilling, and fraudsters everywhere -- false pretenses, half-truths, deliberate omissions -- in order to deceive Congress and the American public?
Take advantage of this rare opportunity to “sit” with the grand jurors as de la Vega presents a case of prewar fraud that should persuade any fair-minded person who loves this country as much as she so obviously does. Faced with an ongoing crime of such magnitude, she argues, we can not simply shrug our shoulders and walk away.
Elizabeth de la Vega, a former federal prosecutor, was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Minneapolis as well as a member of the Organized Crime Strike Force and Branch Chief in San Jose, California. Since her retirement in 2004, she has been a regular contributor to Tomdispatch. Her articles have also appeared in the Nation, the LA Times, Salon and Mother Jones. She is not in the Witness Protection Program.
Tomdispatch.com, “a regular antidote to the mainstream media” and a project of the Nation Institute, is the creation of Tom Engelhardt. In its mission to connect some of the global dots regularly left unconnected by the mainstream media, it offers his regular commentaries and the original work of many well-known authors, including de la Vega.
Continue reading "United States v. George W. Bush et al."
Posted by Admin at 10:23 PM
March 24, 2007
Stephen Colbert Dares Democrats to Impeach Bush
Download the video at
http://www.crooksandliars.com/Media/Download/15539/1/Colbert-Democrats-Impeachment.wmv
Posted by Admin at 06:11 PM
The Dominionist domination of the US
American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America
By Chris Hedges
Free Press (2006)
Review by Robert Hill
- Excuse me, may I ask you a few questions?
Do dominionists have that old time religion? Are they gonna have the whole world in their hands? Fascism, anyone? Can it (fascism) happen here? Do any of the topics in these questions interest you? If so, you definitely want to the read American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America by Chris Hedges.
Continue reading "The Dominionist domination of the US"
Posted by Admin at 05:51 PM
March 07, 2007
Milk Gone Wild
This is too funny, and sad. A feminist and animal rights statement.
Courtesy of PETA.
http://www.MilkGoneWild.com
Posted by doctormatt at 06:52 PM
March 04, 2007
The Air Car
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmqpGZv0YT4&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Erense%2Ecom%2F
Posted by Admin at 10:20 PM
February 11, 2007
Claims about Iran - Scant media skepticism
The most important lesson about the Iraq War for reporters was perhaps the simplest one: Don't assume the White House is telling the truth. It's a lesson that many reporters seem to be forgetting now that US officials are escalating their claims about Iran's role in Iraq.
Continue reading "Claims about Iran - Scant media skepticism"
Posted by Admin at 09:08 AM
January 18, 2007
Building a progressive spiritual movement
Rabbi Michael Lerner, co-chair of the Network of Spiritual Progressives and author of The Left Hand of God: Taking our Country Back from the Religious Right delivers the keynote address at the 2006 Conference on Spiritual Activism at All Souls' Church, Unitarian, Washington, D.C. Rabbi Lerner's focus is on how a national Network of Spiritual Progressives can begin to repair the damage done to American society and to human relationships by a prevailing ethos that extoles efficiency, rationality and productivity, and devalues love, caring and kindness.
This presentation is courtesy of Free Speech TV.
Click to watch the VIDEO -
Building a progressive spiritual movement.
Posted by Admin at 09:53 PM
January 17, 2007
Is the income tax legal?
The constitution prohibits an unapportioned direct tax on individuals - aka our federal income tax. Learn more by watching this video on google.
You can also order the video directly at FromFreedomToFascism.com
Click to watch the VIDEO -
America - From freedom to fascism, by Aaron Russo.
Posted by Admin at 11:45 PM
Is the income tax legal?
The constitution prohibits an unapportioned direct tax on individuals - aka our federal income tax. Learn more by watching this video on google.
You can also order the video directly at FromFreedomToFascism.com
Click to watch the VIDEO -
America - From freedom to fascism, by Aaron Russo.
Posted by Admin at 11:45 PM
January 09, 2007
"What's a liberal?"
Brief conversation with child, age 8:
"A liberal is someone who believes in freedom. In equality. In protecting the environment and taking care of each other. A liberal thinks that people are as important as companies and that workers are as important as bosses. And a liberal believes it's okay for people to believe in god or not believe in god. Liberals think that it's okay to be the way you are and do what you do as long as you don't hurt others or the environment."
Continue reading ""What's a liberal?""
Posted by Admin at 09:29 PM