World News Korner

Courtesy of Reuters:

In 13 countries around the world, all of them Muslim, people who openly espouse atheism or reject the official state religion of Islam face execution under the law, according to a detailed study issued on Tuesday.

And beyond the Islamic nations, even some of the West's apparently most democratic governments at best discriminate against citizens who have no belief in a god and at worst can jail them for offences dubbed blasphemy, it said.

The study, The Freethought Report 2013, was issued by the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), a global body uniting atheists, agnostics and other religious skeptics, to mark United Nations' Human Rights Day on Tuesday.

"This report shows that the overwhelming majority of countries fail to respect the rights of atheists and freethinkers although they have signed U.N agreements to treat all citizens equally," said IHEU President Sonja Eggerickx.

The study covered all 192 member states in the world body and involved lawyers and human rights experts looking at statute books, court records and media accounts to establish the global situation.

A first survey of 60 countries last year showed just seven where death, often by public beheading, is the punishment for either blasphemy or apostasy - renouncing belief or switching to another religion which is also protected under U.N. accords.

But this year's more comprehensive study showed six more, bringing the full list to Afghanistan, Iran, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

In others, like India in a recent case involving a leading critic of religion, humanists say police are often reluctant or unwilling to investigate murders of atheists carried out by religious fundamentalists.

Across the world, the report said, "there are laws that deny atheists' right to exist, revoke their citizenship, restrict their right to marry, obstruct their access to public education, prevent them working for the state...."

You know whenever I hear the Christians bitching about being persecuted, or somebody (Like Bristol for instance.) getting all worked up because a fellow Christian who was proselytizing in a non-Christian country has been kicked out or thrown in jail, I always think "Yeah but are they still being rounded up and killed in the streets?" Because THAT is exactly what is happening to people who dare to have no faith whatsoever, or who speak out against the repressive regimes who use religious as a bludgeon against its people.

That is why on this blog I will always stand up for the non religious and stand in opposition to those who wish to push their religion, and the "morals" associated with it, down our throats.

Freedom, TRUE freedom, means to be released from the shackles of ignorance and superstition.

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Jesus! Can you believe that somebody thought that was a good idea?

This short lived show was called the 1/2 News hour, and it was picked up by Roger Ailes and Fox News after the Fox Broadcasting Company. (Smart move Fox Broadcasting Network.)

I swear that canned laughter is left over from the fifties, which means they are only hearing laughter from mostly long dead people. Which is not that far off from their usual demographic over at Fox News.

Here is what Wikipedia says about the recurring bits from the show, which started in February 2007 and was mercifully pulled off the air in September of 2007:

• Conspiracy Corner - segments where a guest presents generally-accepted information about a topic, and that information is treated as far-fetched by the host, who holds stereotypical left-wing views.
• Guy White: Closet Conservative — a cartoon featuring a conservative man working in an office in which everyone else is a liberal caricature.
• Hollywood Helping Humanity — satirical public service announcements featuring actors endorsing dubious causes, such as recycling breast implants. Actors appearing in this sketch include Leyla Milani, Ken Davitian, Ian Ziering, and Lorenzo Lamas.
• I'm the ACLU — satirical advertisements "boasting" of controversial causes supported by the ACLU. Presidential Addresses — Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh had a recurring cameo role as the President, with conservative pundit Ann Coulter as his Vice President.

Seriously, WHO would find any of that entertaining?

You know they say that conservatives have no sense of humor, but apparently they felt the need to go out in prove just in case there was anybody who not positive it was true.

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Seems logical to me.

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Courtesy of the LA Times:

American households have regained almost all of the wealth lost during the Great Recession, thanks to surging stock prices and recovering home values.

Total household net worth — assets minus liabilities — expanded 2.6%, or $1.9 trillion, in the third quarter from the second quarter, according to a Federal Reserve report released Monday.

It was the eighth straight quarter of increases and brought the net worth for households and nonprofit organizations to $77.26 trillion at the end of September. In nominal dollars, households already recouped their lost wealth a year ago. But adjusting for inflation, Americans' net worth is still about 0.5% shy of the peak in the third quarter of 2007, just before the recession hit.

The biggest contributor to the latest quarterly gain in wealth was the booming stock market: Household assets in the form of corporate equities and mutual funds jumped by $917 billion, the Fed said. The value of residential real estate owned by households also helped to push up net worth with an increase of about $428 billion.

The big wealth gain was largely enjoyed by wealthy Americans who hold the bulk of stocks. But close to two-thirds of U.S. households own homes, and should housing prices continue to rise, as expected, more Americans should benefit.

Wait, how is this possible? I mean after all President Obama is such a socialist, right?

File this under "More news the Right Wing will never report accurately."

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Thania Sayne leans on the headstone marking the grave of her husband, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2011, at Arlington National Cemetery.

I saw this picture among a group of photos called the most powerful images of 2013.

When I saw it I was immediately angered.

All I could think was that right now the conservatives Republicans are talking about impeaching President Obama, for imaginary crimes that only exist in the Right Wing bubble.

However this young woman is grieving because George W. Bush lied to America in order to start two unnecessary wars that killed thousands of our fellow citizens and untold hundreds of thousands of Afghans and Iraqis.

All I can think is that this Christmas there will be children who will be missing a parent, fathers and mothers still grieving for their children, and wives and husbands sleeping in a half empty bed because when it was REALLY important to hold a President accountable and to interfere with his plans our politicians and our media were not up to the task.

Presdient Obama is a good, perhaps even great, President. But compared to George W. Bush he is a fucking saint.

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Notice how Republicans have stopped talking about #Obamacare enrollments? This graph shows why: pic.twitter.com/sLvQRll7yT

— Zach Green (@140elect) December 9, 2013

By the way don't think that the Republicans are in ANY WAY embarrassed about their obstructionism of the past or have a different plan for the future. Cause they don't!

Courtesy of The Hill:

House Republicans say they’re proud of their 2013 campaign to stymie President Obama’s regulatory agenda, even as Congress comes under fire for one of its least productive years.

The bitterly divided Congress will pass fewer laws in 2013 than any year in modern history. As a result of the gridlock, President Obama has turned to his administration’s regulatory authority in pursuit of key policy goals, including efforts to tackle gun violence and climate change.

While House Republicans have pinned the blame for Congress’ anemic legislative output on Senate Democrats, they make no bones about their efforts to blunt Obama’s rulemaking power.

“We’re left with no choice,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). “The president can’t just go it alone, that’s not who we are as a country.”

In interviews with The Hill, several House Republicans claimed momentum in the messaging battle over federal regulations, which they’ve portrayed as too overbearing and expensive under the Obama administration.

Do you know what I want for Christmas? More Democrats in the House and Senate, that's what!

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