yallerdawg
yallerdawg's JournalJames Comey to speak at town hall with CNN's Anderson Cooper (8PM, 7CT)
Audience questions tonight!I want to hear about why Hillary was a public target - and why Putin's puppet wasn't.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/25/politics/james-comey-anderson-cooper-town-hall-cnn/index.html
The hour-long town hall takes place at William & Mary, Comey's alma mater, in Williamsburg, Virginia, and will air on CNN at 8 p.m. ET. The Student Assembly at William & Mary will co-host the event.
In addition to live television viewing, the town hall can also be viewed via CNNgo at CNN.com/go and via CNNgo apps for Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Samsung Smart TV and Android TV along with all CNN mobile apps for iOS and Android.
When Americans Say They Believe in God, What Do They Mean?
Nine-in-ten Americans believe in a higher power, but only a slim majority believe in God as described in the BibleSource: Pew Research Center, April 25, 2018
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In the U.S., belief in a deity is common even among the religiously unaffiliated – a group composed of those who identify themselves, religiously, as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” and sometimes referred to, collectively, as religious “nones.” Indeed, nearly three-quarters of religious “nones” (72%) believe in a higher power of some kind, even if not in God as described in the Bible.
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Overall, about half of Americans (48%) say that God or another higher power directly determines what happens in their lives all or most of the time. An additional 18% say God or some other higher power determines what happens to them “just some of the time.”
Nearly eight-in-ten U.S. adults think God or a higher power has protected them, and two-thirds say they have been rewarded by the Almighty. By comparison, somewhat fewer see God as judgmental and punitive. Six-in-ten Americans say God or a higher power will judge all people on what they have done, and four-in-ten say they have been punished by God or the spiritual force they believe is at work in the universe.
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In addition, the survey finds that three-quarters of American adults say they try to talk to God (or another higher power in the universe), and about three-in-ten U.S. adults say God (or a higher power) talks back. The survey also asked, separately, about rates of prayer. People who pray on a regular basis are especially likely to say that they speak to God and that God speaks to them. But the survey shows that praying and talking to God are not fully interchangeable. For example, four-in-ten people (39%) who say they seldom or never pray nonetheless report that they talk to God.
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Read it all at: http://www.pewforum.org/2018/04/25/when-americans-say-they-believe-in-god-what-do-they-mean/
50 years. Timeless. Let's do it again.
Watch the Trailer for a Stunning New 70-Millimeter Print of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, Released by Christopher Nolan on the Film’s 50th AnniversaryUranus has a familiar odor, scientists say, and Earthlings wouldn't like it
To be honest, I couldn't get past the headline. Some editors are too damn smart.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/04/24/uranus-has-a-familiar-odor-scientists-say-and-earthlings-wouldnt-like-it/
The Ugly Coded Critique of Chick-Fil-A's Christianity
"When you mock Christians, you’re not mocking who you think you are."Source: Bloomberg, by Stephen L. Carter
'The New Yorker' has been taking it on the chin lately for its essay about Chick-fil-A’s Creepy Infiltration of New York City...
What the author really seems angry about is that the company’s CEO opposes same-sex marriage. But the framing of the piece made Christianity the villain, and the headline -- “Chick-fil-A’s Creepy Infiltration of New York City” -- was sufficiently troubling that Nate Silver quickly tweeted “This is why Trump won.” Fair point. Religious bigotry is always dangerous. But there’s a deeper problem here, a difficulty endemic to today’s secular left: an all-too-frequent weird refusal to acknowledge the demographics of Christianity. When you mock Christians, you’re not mocking who you think you are.
A 2015 Pew Research Center study of race and ethnicity among U.S. religions provides some basic facts. In the first place, if you’re mocking Christians, you’re mostly mocking women, because women are more likely than men to be Christians. The greatest disproportion is found among black Christians, of whom only 41 percent are male. So you’re mocking black women in particular.
Overall, people of color are more likely than whites to be Christians -- and pretty devout Christians at that. Some 83 percent of all black Americans are absolutely certain that God exists. No other group comes close to this figure. Black Christians are far more likely than white Christians (84 percent to 64 percent) to describe religion as very important in their lives. Of all ethnic groups, black Christians are the most likely to attend services, pray frequently and read the Bible regularly. They are also -- here’s the kicker -- most likely to believe that their faith is the place to look for answers to questions about right and wrong. And they are, by large margins, the most likely to believe that the Bible is the literally inerrant word of God. In short, if you find Christian traditionalism creepy, it’s black people you’re talking about.
It’s true that, politically, black Americans are overwhelmingly Democrats, and that’s true of black Christians as well. On the other hand, black Christians tend to be socially conservative: the least tolerant of homosexuality, the most likely to oppose same-sex marriage and the least likely to believe in evolution. If you’re maligning traditional Christianity, the people you’re maligning are disproportionately black.
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Which brings us to one last point from the Pew study. Among Latinos and Asians, Christians are overwhelmingly first-generation immigrants.
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In other words, American Christianity is growing heavily through immigrants who are people of color. If Christians are really so scary, maybe it’s time to build that wall.
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Read it all at: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-04-21/criticism-of-christians-and-chick-fil-a-has-troubling-roots
This Week in Alabama: Confederate Memorial Day & New Lynching Museum Opens
Source: AL.com
Confederate Memorial Day in Alabama: What's open, what's closed for state holiday
Monday, April 23 is Confederate Memorial Day in Alabama, meaning state offices are closed.
Look inside the new lynching museum, opening Thursday in Montgomery
"In the American South, we don't talk about slavery. We don't have monuments and memorials that confront the legacy of lynching. We haven't really confronted the difficulties of segregation. And because of that, I think we are still burdened by that history," said EJI executive director Bryan Stevenson.
"Too poor, too black."
This is the Republican vision for America.Uniontown, Alabama is on the route across Central Alabama (the Black Belt) into Central Mississippi - US Route 80, the Dixie Overland Highway.
From Wiki: As an original US Highway commissioned in 1926, US 80 was the first all-weather coast-to-coast route available to auto travelers. For a time known as the "Broadway of America", its history is second only to US 66 in American highway folklore, as several significant historical events have occurred on or near US 80. Bonnie and Clyde were ambushed approximately four miles (6.4 km) south of US 80 in Gibsland, Louisiana. Lee Harvey Oswald was captured at the Texas Theatre on Jefferson Street in Oak Cliff, which at the time was a business spur of US 80.
Uniontown was recently in the news regarding their acceptance of Tennessee "coal ash" disposal, some of that MAGA coal-generated by-product.
And this is what we get:
Kenneth Miller finds good news in evolution
Source: Religious New Service, by Yonat Shimron
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In the words of scientist and atheist Sam Harris, “We are driverless cars running a program we did not write, which we cannot control, and whose existence we are not even wired to sense.”
Kenneth R. Miller, a Brown University biologist, agrees that humans evolved according to Charles Darwin’s law of natural selection, but in his new book, “The Human Instinct,” he suggests “we are more.”
Humans are also conscious, self-aware, creative and intelligent. We are, in Miller’s view, exceptional in those very traits.
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"By the human instinct, I mean the collection of traits and behaviors and cognitive abilities that make us unique among all the organisms on planet Earth. I also mean the processes that gave rise in us to reason, consciousness and free will. These are the things that make the human species absolutely unique.
"What I mean by special is not a chest-thumping “we’re-the-pinnacle-of-creation,” but an acceptance of responsibility. Of all the creatures that inhabit the planet, we’re the only ones who are aware of where we came from, what gave rise to us and what effect we’re having on the future of this planet. That gives us a special responsibility that no other species can possess. We’re the only ones aware of a process called extinction. We’re the only ones aware of our global footprint on this planet. We’re the only ones that can take steps to safeguard the biodiversity and future of the planet. That alone makes human beings special."
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Do you go to church?
Every Sunday and on holy days. I am a practicing Roman Catholic and I will keep on practicing until I get it right.
Read it all at: https://religionnews.com/2018/04/19/kenneth-miller-finds-good-news-in-evolution/
Beyonce to donate $100,000 for scholarships at 4 schools, including Tuskegee University
Source: AL.com, by Mary Colurso
How to follow a blockbuster performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival?
If you're Beyonce, the answer is simple: Announce $100,000 in scholarships for four historically black colleges and universities.
Alabama's Tuskegee University is among the schools that will benefit from the Homecoming Scholars Award Program, via the singer's BeyGood foundation. The others are Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans; Wilberforce University in Wilberforce, Ohio; and Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla.
A student at each of the four schools will receive $25,000 in scholarship money for the 2018-2019 academic year, according to a statement on Beyonce's website.
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Beyonce, the first black woman to headline at Coachella, will perform again at the festival on April 21.
Read it all at: http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2018/04/beyonce_to_donate_100000_for_s.html
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