slacktivist » The 'biblical view' that's younger than the Happy Meal

Seeded on Mon Feb 20, 2012 12:40 AM EST ()

In 1979, McDonald’s introduced the Happy Meal. Sometime after that, it was decided that the Bible teaches that human life begins at conception. Ask any American evangelical, today, what the Bible says about abortion and they will insist that this is what it says.

religion, evangelicals, abortion-biblical-literalism

Portugal's Debt Efforts May Be a Warning for Greece - NYTimes.com

Seeded on Tue Feb 14, 2012 9:57 PM EST (The New York Times)

Unlike Greece, Portugal is a debtor nation that has done everything that the European Union and the International Monetary Fund have asked it to, in exchange for the 78 billion euro (about $103 billion) bailout Lisbon received last May. And yet, by the broadest measure of a co …

imf, europe, portugal, austerity

U.S. v. Pakistan on transparency and accountability - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

Seeded on Tue Feb 14, 2012 3:31 AM EST (Salon.com)

One constantly hears in American political discourse that Pakistan is so terribly un-democratic because the shadowy, omnipotent ISI functions with no accountability or transparency.

pakistan, war-on-terror, national-security

How (and How Not) to Jumpstart an Economy - ProPublica

Seeded on Sat Feb 11, 2012 10:10 PM EST (ProPublica: Articles and Investigations)

The polarized rhetoric of the 2012 election cycle presents voters with a false choice of whether the government can create jobs or should just get out of the way.

economy, stimulus

Susan G. Komen and Penn State by Daniel Luzer | Washington Monthly

Seeded on Fri Feb 3, 2012 4:34 AM EST (Political Animal)

Under one federal law, the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act of 1990, a college must “issue a timely warning if a reported crime represents a threat to the campus community.” Citing the Clery Act, the Department of Edu …

penn-state, us-news, planned-parenthood, susan-g-komen

Facebook: Mobile could be our worst enemy | Digital Media - CNET News

Seeded on Wed Feb 1, 2012 10:08 PM EST (CNET.com)

Buried in Facebook's filing for its much-ballyhooed initial public offering is the sort of contradiction that might sink a lesser company: The more that people use Facebook's mobile offerings, the worse the company's bottom line becomes. That's because Facebook's mobile offeri …

technology, mobile-phones, facebook, mobile-apps

Contradictions Don't Deter Conspiracy Theorists | Psychology of Conspiracy Theories | Princess Diana & Osama bin Laden | LiveScience

Seeded on Tue Jan 31, 2012 3:32 AM EST (Live Science)

Did Princess Diana fake her own death to escape the public eye? Or was she killed by a rogue element of the British secret service? If you agree with one of these theories, there's a good chance you'll subscribe to both even though one suggests Princess Diana is alive, the oth …

science, psychology, conspiracy-theories

Feds: Megaupload files may be deleted this week - CNN.com

Seeded on Mon Jan 30, 2012 8:38 PM EST (CNN)

Federal prosecutors who accuse file-sharing site Megaupload of being a hotbed of digital piracy say the site's customer files, presumably including perfectly legal ones, may be deleted starting Thursday. "It is our understanding that the hosting companies may begin deleting th …

technology, piracy, internet, megaupload, cloud-storage

U.S. ranks 47th in media freedom, org says - CBS News

Seeded on Wed Jan 25, 2012 9:44 PM EST (CBS News)

The heightened unrest resulted in a significant shake-up of the group's annual Press Freedom Index, which assesses governments' commitment to protecting media freedoms.

journalism, protests, journalists, us-news, free-press

News Desk: A Writer Under Threat, Again : The New Yorker

Seeded on Sat Jan 21, 2012 2:55 AM EST (New Yorker)

Rushdie had not been expected to arrive here for another few days, but the security apparatus was already enormous: this morning, I saw rooftop snipers, sniffer dogs, and X-ray machines—and visitors were frisked as they entered the grounds.

india, islam, arts, salman-rushdie, fundamentalism

To Infinity And Beyond: Keystone XL Jobs Claims Spill All Over The Map - YouTube

Seeded on Sat Jan 21, 2012 2:23 AM EST (YouTube)

Conservative media, led by Fox News, have struggled to get on the same page regarding the number of jobs that could be created by TransCanada Corporation's proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Their figures rely on industry-funded studies, and at times even overstate those estimates.

politics, fox-news, keystone-xl

Indian Government Memo: Apple, Nokia, RIM Supply Backdoors

Seeded on Mon Jan 9, 2012 6:53 AM EST (OSNews)

Well, well, well, what have we here? Hackers have gained access to internal documents from the Indian Military (shared on the web), and in it, it is revealed that RIM, Nokia, and Apple have added backdoors to their mobile software (BlackBerry, S40 (supposedly), and iOS) which t …

technology, india, spyware, mobile-phones

Vote Result From Disputed Precinct Deemed Official - NYTimes.com

Seeded on Sat Jan 7, 2012 10:09 PM EST (The New York Times)

The dispute originated when a caucusgoer, Edward True, said in an affidavit that Mitt Romney had been recorded as receiving 22 votes in his precinct, called Washington Wells, when he had in fact received just two votes there on caucus night. Mr.

politics, republican-party, mitt-romney, rick-santorum, iowa-caucuses

Santorum faces organization, money hurdles

Wed Jan 4, 2012 4:43 PM EST

By Steve Peoples, Associated Press (Clipped by Kevin S.-2696867)

Rick Santorum is counting on momentum — and perhaps help from outside groups — to carry him to victory in New Hampshire and beyond.

Continue reading this entry ...

us, politics, santorum, new-hampshire, way, us-news, rick-santorum, forward

Richard Stallman Was Right All Along

Seeded on Tue Jan 3, 2012 12:03 AM EST (OSNews)

Late last year, president Obama signed a law that makes it possible to indefinitely detain terrorist suspects without any form of trial or due process. Peaceful protesters in Occupy movements all over the world have been labelled as terrorists by the authorities.

technology, free-software, richard-stallman, sopa, ndaa

Gingrich, Perry Hoisted on Fake Voter Fraud Petard | Dispatches from the Culture Wars

Seeded on Thu Dec 29, 2011 3:59 AM EST ()

The second level of irony is that both the Perry and Gingrich campaigns turned in many more than the 10,000 signatures required and still didn’t have enough valid ones once they were vetted.

rick-perry, newt-gingrich, voter-fraud, virginia-primary

Hullabaloo -- The "No True Libertarianism" Fallacy

Seeded on Thu Dec 29, 2011 1:46 AM EST ()

In its own way, the "No True Libertarianism" argument is very similar to the "No True Communism" of those on the far left, who argue that the fault of Communism lies not with the idea, but with the practice--despite the fact that no successful large-scale Communism has ever bee …

communism, libertarianism

U.S. Firms See Europe Woes as Opportunities - NYTimes.com

Seeded on Mon Dec 26, 2011 1:56 PM EST (The New York Times)

As Europe struggles with its debt crisis, American businesses and financial firms are swooping in amid the distress, making loans and snapping up assets owned by banks there — from the mortgage on a luxury hotel in Miami Beach to the tallest office building in Dublin …

business

Explaining Obama's Approval Rating Bounce - NYTimes.com

Seeded on Wed Dec 21, 2011 12:06 AM EST (The New York Times)

I would suggest that another explanation is much more plausible: Mr.

politics, barack-obama, polls, nate-silver, fivethirtyeight

Santorum: 'I'm For Income Inequality'

Seeded on Tue Dec 20, 2011 7:27 PM EST (Think Progress)

GOP contender Rick Santorum picked up animportant endorsement today with the official backing of Iowa kingmaker Bob vander Plaats of the FAMiLY Leader.

rick-santorum, income-inequality, logical-fallacies

Congress Moves Toward Tougher Stand on Pipeline Safety, But is it Enough? - ProPublica

Seeded on Tue Dec 20, 2011 7:09 PM EST (ProPublica: Articles and Investigations)

The “Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011” would double potential fines for violations (up to a max of $2 million), require automated shutoff valves for new and replaced pipelines, and hire 10 new safety inspectors to join the current …

congress, senate, pipeline, safety, house, us-news, regulation, keystone-xl

Booman Tribune ~ Mission Almost Accomplished

Seeded on Sun Jul 10, 2011 2:14 AM EDT ()

The key was that he said "the people who knocked these buildings down." He didn't say Saddam Hussein. He didn't say anyone who ever commits an act of terrorism. He certainly didn't say Afghan farmers or random Pakistani hill people. He wanted justice.

afghanistan, us-news, war-on-terror

Bloomberg Flip-Flops On Perp Walks As DSK Case Falls Apart | TPMMuckraker

Seeded on Thu Jul 7, 2011 12:40 AM EDT (Talking Points Memo)

Micheal Bloomberg: "OMG! A rich guy was perp-walked and then released! I must retcon my outrage at the practice!"

politics, justice, courts, michael-bloomberg, dsk, dominique-strauss-kahn, perp-walk

The Bergman live! : Pharyngula

Seeded on Wed Jul 6, 2011 6:26 AM EDT (ScienceBlogs)

One warning: in order to access everything on the site, they insist that you fill out a little questionnaire with your date of birth, home town, etc., and one of the questions is "Who created the world?" You don't get to leave it blank; Allah, Jehovah, and No One are not acceptab …

religion, creationism, pz-myers, jerry-bergman

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Obama Donors Are Still Average Citizens, Report Shows
Source: loop21.com
Compared to Mitt Romney, President Obama’s re-election campaign is supported by more middle class donors. A new campaign finance report released by President Barack Obama’s re-election team suggests a broad base of donors support him. Instead of a $10 million dolla …
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Journalists Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik die in Homs- BBC
Source: BBC News - Japan hit by massive earthquake
Two Western journalists have been killed in the Syrian city of Homs when shells hit the building they were in. They have been named as Marie Colvin, the highly respected American Sunday Times reporter, and Remi Ochlik, an award-winning French photographer. Several other peopl …
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Backfired! 4 Ways the Ohio GOP Tilts Voting Rules But Ends Up Helping Democrats
Source: AlterNet.org
When it comes to gaming voting rights, the Ohio GOP has become the gang that couldn't shoot straight. The 2000 presidential election opened the eyes of many in politics to the important lesson that voting rules matter.
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New State law gives school districts reach to punish cyberbullying
Source: Dayton Daily News
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Rick Santorum's Fixation On Sex by Harvard Hollenberg
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