Daily Blend: 05/13/13

I’m usually proud of my country, but less so when my government decides to sell out science. ^[pictured] (Doesn’t all research eventually lead to “social or economic gain”?)

So much for the idea that dropping from the blogosphere will remove Jen McCreight from the focus of obsessed slimeballs. How brazenly douchey does one have to be to lecture someone about safety whilst deliberately exposing their location?

It’s sad when a silly screed against “liberals” is too inane to even be worth fisking for the lulz.
(via Right Wing Watch)

And finally, I am reaffirmed in my belief that babies are freaking weird.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Daily Blend: 05/06/13

Lt. Col. Jeff Krusinski

I’m too bored/lazy/busy reading/excited about tomorrow/tired from “work” to blog much, so here’re some links.

US Air Force officer ^[pictured] in charge of responding to sexual assaults arrested for drunken sexual assault, underlines the US Military’s generally appalling handling of sex crimes.

“Good Riddance: Fox Cancels Long-Running, Drug War-Glorifying, Abuse-Excusing Reality Series COPS”
(via @AndrewKirell; RT: @radleybalko)

Those who slime together, stay together: Anti-Freethought Blogs/Atheism Plus hater encourages Westboro Baptist Church to picket upcoming Women in Secularism conference.
(via Pharyngula)

And finally, how much do you know about science and religion? (I scored in the 15^th and 13^th percentiles, respectively. Which is probably more of an implicit condemnation of the US educational system than anything else.)
(via Bad Astronomy)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Daily Blend: 04/15/13

Gitmo

My thoughts and hopes go to Boston, MA today. How utterly senseless.

Alternate lede: “Sure, Gitmo detainees ^[pictured] were captured without charges and illegally imprisoned far away from home for many years with zero due process … but hey, they get to enjoy books and videogames (in between all that sleep deprivation and waterboarding)!”
(via @ggreenwald)

In response to UK’s current measles epidemic, The Independent gives platform to discredited quack responsible for modern anti-vaccination movement. (They later retracted the article.)

Canadian feminist becomes latest target of those compassionate, “human rights”-oriented Men’s Rights Activists.

And finally, here’s what religion has done for us this month:

Transcript: (click the [+/-] to open/close →)

[−]

Massive Islamic protests in Bangladesh calling for the hanging of “blasphemous” bloggers;

The New Zealand Herald: “Beheadings in Papua New Guinea for sorcery”;

Five Jerusalem women arrested for violating Israeli law by praying out loud in public, which ultra-orthodox men find “provocative”;

The Guardian: “Muslim Brotherhood backlash against UN declaration on women rights”;

Hamas in Gaza Strip orders genderal segregation in all schools;

BBC News: “Kenya condom advert pulled after religious complaints”;

French man Wilfred de Bruijn assaulted and beaten for walking with his boyfriend in public;

Large anti-gay protests in Paris, France against pending same-sex marriage legislation;

Gay Star News: “Gay man ‘stoned to death’ in Somalia”;

Senior pastor Bertheophilus M. Bailey Sr. at Claremore, OK’s Mount Zion Baptist Church charged with punching his son in the face;

WHNT.com: “Former Franklin County Pastor Charged With Sexual Torture, Abuse”;

Teacher at Pleasanton, CA’s Centerpointe Christian Preschool ties up two-year-old girl for refusing to nap;

The Times: “Priest accused of sexual abuse at West Sussex children’s home”;

Indiana megachurch pastor Jack Schapp fired and jailed for molesting troubled 16-year-old girl across state lines;

BBC News: “Ex-priest Patrick McCabe sentenced for child abuse”;

Pastor Artelino Vallada at Toronto, CA’s Jesus Christ the Open Door Church charged with sexually assaulting four girls and women;

Irish Central: “Irish Priest accused of sexual abuse pleads with Pope Francis not to be dismissed from Church”;

Police confiscate computers from priest’s home after tracing downloads of child porn to his parish offices;

RTE News: “South African cardinal says paedophilia 'not a criminal condition'” [Which it isn’t. Child molestation is. Get it right, people. —JM]

Priest Angel Perez of Woodburn, OR’s Saint Luke Catholic Church accused of molesting 12-year-old boy;

al.com: “Former Wetumpka youth pastor sentenced to 10 years in prison in sexual abuse of child”;

Rev. David Kramer jailed for molesting young boys in US and Australia;

PostBulletin.com: “Oregon priest gets 6 years for child sex abuse”;

Associate pastor Darin Evans at Elmhurst, IL’s West Suburban Community Church imprisoned for having sex with an underaged girl in public spaces;

PressTV: “Austrian former priest charged with sexual abuse of minors”;

Rev. James Burnett of Mokena, IL’s Saint Mary’s Parish accused of molesting several young boys in his care; diocese accused of knowingly sheltering crooked priests;

Pink News: “Cardinal O’Brien alleged to have been in long-standing physical relationship with male priest”;

North Carolina Republican lawmakers propose bill to establish state religion (bill has since failed);

Oneindia: “Rajasthan: Video reveals family commits suicide to meet god”; and

Woman at church asks worshipers give “$100”, “$1,000” or “$150,000” if they can.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Daily Blend: 03/22/13

Richard Littlejohn

Today in “there ought to be a hell”: Fuckbrained bigot Richard Littlejohn ^[pictured] and trash-rag extraordinaire Daily Mail succeed in blithely bullying a transgender schoolteacher into killing herself.
(via Pharyngula)

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) officially signs civil unions bill.
(via @breakingpol; RT: @BreakingNews)

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear (D) vetoes “Religious Freedom Act” that would’ve permitted anti-gay discrimination based on bigots’ “sincerely held religious beliefs”. Expect wingnut heads to commence exploding shortly.
(via Joe. My. God.)

PZ Myers is dead on: Adria Richards did everything exactly right. It’s amazing how many men can’t stomach the idea of being called out publicly for misbehaving in public.

Pope Francis comes out swinging against Catholic Church’s track record with covering up clerical child abuse. Now to see if his actions match up with his words.
(via @BuzzFeedAndrew)

And finally, why is it still such a shock (to some) that women can be science aficionados, too?

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Daily Blend: Friday, February 22, 2013

Diana Medley

Ontario top appeals court rules it just fine if police want to snoop around a suspect’s cellphone – so long as there’s no password, or then they have to ask permission.

Indiana Republicans agree: One government-sanctioned rape by medically pointless transvaginal ultrasound just isn’t enough for women seeking an abortion.
(via @jennifurret)

I’m not sure what’s remotely surprising about a study that links childhood bullying to psychological disorders in adults (except to those “it’s normal/harmless for kids to pick on each other” assholes).
(via RT: @jennifurret)

Sullivan, Indiana teacher ^[pictured] suspended over anti-gay remarks, universally suspected of being special educator Dianne “gays have no purpose in life and I don’t understand it” Medley.
(via Friendly Atheist)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Daily Blend: Sunday, February 10, 2013

Chris Hayes

Strong monologue by MSNBC’s Chris Hayes ^[pictured] about depressingly rampant liberal/progressive hypocrisy over the Obama administration’s escalated drone war.
(via @ggreenwald)

The easy solution to anti-gay bullying in schools: Just tell kids that they can pray the gay away!

FBI continues to heroically foil its own fake terrorist plots.

Bigot-tank Family Research Council rehashes the exact same arguments against allowing gays in the Boy Scouts that it used against repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”. Because their predictions were so obviously correct the last time. (And the time before that, and …)

And finally, #INeedMasculismBecause it’s a comedic draw between watching MRAs try to explain their bigotry while the rest of the world laughs at them.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

A petition for equality in the atheism/skepticism community

I don’t often plug petitions, given the general futility of these things (good intentions are no substitute for effectiveness), but there’s one floating around that I think absolutely merits signing and sharing as widely as possible in the hopes of focusing our push-back against all the sexist assholery that’s been dividing the once-concerted atheo-skeptic movement:

We, the undersigned, are atheists, skeptics and nonbelievers who value free speech and rational thought and who seek to build a strong, thriving movement that can advocate effectively for these values. We've chosen to put our names to this petition because we want to respond to a video created by a blogger calling himself Thunderfoot. In this video, Thunderfoot attacks named individuals who've been active in promoting diversity and fighting sexism and harassment in our movement. He describes these people as "whiners" and "ultra-PC professional victims" who are "dripp[ing] poison" into the secular community, and urges conference organizers to shun and ignore them.

We hold this and similar complaints from other individuals to be seriously misguided, false in their particulars and harmful to the atheist community as a whole, and we want to set the record straight. We wish to clarify that Thunderfoot and those like him don't speak for us or represent us, and to state our unequivocal support for the following goals:

We support making the atheist movement more diverse and inclusive. […]

We support strong, sensible anti-harassment policies at our gatherings. […]

We support the people in our community who've been the target of bullying, harassment and threats. […]

To put a stop to this bad behavior once and for all, we need to change the culture of the atheist movement so that sexism isn't condoned or defended, just as racism and homophobia aren't condoned or defended. We're grateful to the leaders of the movement who've spoken out against harassment, and we encourage all atheists and skeptics, regardless of their influence or prominence, to do likewise.

See? This is how mature, reasonable adults carry a discussion about sensitive issues: No demands that opponents be banned or censored; no hatred or vitriol towards people with differing opinions; no blatant dishonesty and misrepresentations of anyone’s arguments or attempts to rewrite the record; and no thinly veiled threats against their livelihoods or persons. Just a community coming together in the spirit of reason, fairness and equality in order to accomplish what is obviously and undeniably the right thing to do.

There’s already some impressive names in the list of signatories, and 308 people (and climbing fast) have added theirs as of this posting. I don’t think it’ll be difficult to bump that number up past the required 730 minimum before day’s end, do you? This is an international effort, so there’s really no reason not to add your mark right now.

(via @jennifurret)

AZ students punished for fighting by holding hands in public

This shouldn’t be embarrassing

This Mesa, Arizona high school principal apparently believes there’s no more effective punishment for fighting students than by making them look, like, totally gay in front of the whole school:

Earlier this week, the two students at Westwood High School in Mesa, Ariz., who have not been named, were faced with the prospect of either suspension from school, or sitting in chairs in the high school’s courtyard and holding hands for 15 minutes during a lunch period. They opted for the latter.

“Kids were laughing at them and calling them names, asking, ‘Are you gay?’” student Brittney Smyers told ABC affiliate KNXV.

Teens at the high school inevitably posted photos of the two, who spent the time shielding their faces with their heads in their hands, to social media sites.

On the Facebook posting, users commented that the public punishment is not appropriate, as it positions the teens as targets for taunting and name-calling. Others suggested the punishment was anti-gay, as it implies two males holding hands is embarrassing.

Helen Hollands, director of communication and marketing for Mesa Public Schools, told ABCNews.com that the school’s principal, Tim Richard, who is in his first year at Westwood, had the idea.

“He’s done some great things there,” she said. “He’s focused highly on maintaining a standard where [ideally] no students are failing a class.”

It’s only too bad that his “standard” apparently doesn’t rise to the level of treating his students as diverse human beings and understanding that acts stereotypical of a sexual minority don’t actually imply anything wrong against them. Even worse is that given the cultural climate in the region, particularly amongst youths, he’s most certainly right about it being an effective deterrent.

It just shouldn’t be.

(via Joe. My. God.)

Daily Blend: Friday, October 19, 2012

Jenny McCarthy

Guess who’s been caught committing actual voter fraud yet again? Virginia Republicans.

Days after adopting a new policy to support transgender students, Illinois’s East Aurora School Board caves in to Christianist bullies and rescinds it. Now that’s how you tell vulnerable kids their rights aren’t worth standing up for.

Today in Bizarro World: Antivaccination pseudo-celebrity Jenny McCarthy ^[pictured] lands deal for a Chicago Sun-Times column on “being a good parent”.

Godlessness is on the rise in Ireland, too.

That’s gotta hurt as Romney loses the Salt Lake Tribune.

Which is possibly due to things like this: “Mitt has always been a pro-life person; he governed, when he ran, as a pro-choice […]”

Classy quote of the day about Wisconsin Senate hopeful Tammy Baldwin (D): “The last thing [Wisconsinites] need is Barney Frank in a dress.”
(via Joe. My. God.)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

TJ Kincaid mocks bullied teen who killed herself [updated]

TJ “The Amazing Atheist” Kincaid

Those of you with the Internet connection to view this blog have also presumably heard about the tragic story of Amanda Todd, the fifteen-year-old Canadian teen who committed suicide shortly after posting a video describing the years of abuse she’d suffered through at the hands of bullies both online and off. Her story has veritably exploded across the media, with virtually everyone everywhere denouncing the dangers of bullying, dangers that so many insist on reducing to something that’s perfectly “normal” for children to go through (usually adding that it simply “toughens them up”). Because if you can’t bother to address a problem, you might as well try to rationalize it away instead.

Sadly, some people seem to have been born without the common decency gene, which frees them to scrape ever deeper. Which brings us to notorious YouTuber TJ Kincaid (who I cannot in good conscience refer to by his moniker, “The Amazing Atheist”), famous in equal parts for his anti-religious rants and his flaming misogynistic and rape-baiting assholery, who recently added this new milestone to his ugly history of ridiculing suicide victims:

In a sense, I suppose his odd claim to having “died today” is understandable as a wish; I agree that it’s preferable to be dead than to live as a walking piece of shit.

He subsequently posted this attempt at explaining himself:

Daily Blend: Friday, September 14, 2012

What does the sexist hatred that’s been tearing at the atheist movement look like? Something like this. ^[pictured]
(via @pzmyers)

Minnesota school district needed a crushing courtroom defeat to remind them that students are also U.S. citizens with rights to privacy and free speech.

Kansas Republicans wish to remind you that they’re still a bunch of embarrassing idiots.
(via @BadAstronomer)

And finally, The Onion on religious riots: So true. So sadly true. (And so very, very NSFW.)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: Rebecca Watson • misogyny • Skepchick • atheists • atheist movement • Minnewaska Area School District • Kansas • Republicans • Barack Obama • Kansas Objections Board • Kris Kobach • Judaism • Christianity • Hinduism • Buddhism • blasphemy • Moses • Jesus Christ • Ganesha • Buddha • The Onion

Daily Blend: Sunday, August 05, 2012

Gabby Douglas

Ian Murphy at AlterNet gives us the five most awful atheists. I’m not sure if S.E. Cupp even counts, being an unashamed Right-wing fraud. Though, I’m glad to see someone else tackle Penn Jillette’s libertarian anti-tax weirdness.
(via Pharyngula)

However, Hemant Mehta makes a great point: These people aren’t bad atheists, but rather bad skeptics, or possibly bad humanists.

Conservatives are wetting themselves at the revelation that pro-LGBT liberals can be assholes, too. Though, I do think outright firing him was overly harsh. (The man later apologized on YouTube.)

And finally, did you know that U.S. Olympians [pictured] just aren’t showing enough mindless jingoism patriotism according to Fox News?:
(via @radleybalko)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: atheists • Ian Murphy • Sam Harris • Bill Maher • Penn Jillette • Ayaan Hirsi Ali • S.E. Cupp • Hemant Mehta • skeptics • humanism • humanists • Chick-fil-A • Adam Smith • Fox News • Olympics • Olympic Games • Olympic athletes • U.S. Olympians • patriotism • jingoism • Alisyn Camerota • David Webb

What actual bullying looks like: Laci Green gets threats

Laci Green is a wonderful vlogger who helps pull the veil from around sex positivity. She’s also human, and long ago, she made a casual remark that has been interpreted as “transphobic”, and more notably, has dared to call Islam (and other religions) “sexist” for their systematic oppression of women. As a result, she’s now been threatened into silence:

hey peeps,

i am going to be taking a break from tumblr. i’m not sure how long. i have been getting a slew of people (who i can only guess are from “social justice” tumblr) telling me to kill myself, making violent threats, sending me my home address they somehow found. my inbox this morning was graced with pictures of my apartment building.

i honestly have no words.

I do, however, even though they all mostly involve “craven, bullying pieces of fermented shit” and variations thereof.

This is asinine. That Green may have inadvertently used the term “tranny” without realizing that it held transphobic connotations means she’s a human who sometimes makes mistake (not that anyone accusing her of bigotry isn’t clearly overreacting in the first place). And that she called a self-evidently sexist religion, well, “sexist”, means she’s a rational being who can see and call the obvious, even if devotees of that particular brand of misogynistic charlatanry aren’t. And really, that she’s thus been on the receiving end of this kind of rhetoric only serves to prove her point all the more with every swing these self-righteous thugs take at her. Thankfully, John Green puts it all far more cogently than I can.

On a final note: Fuck bullying, fuck sexism, and fuck Islam. (Oh, and all other religions, too.)

Tags: Laci Green • Islam • transphobia • threats • death threats • misogyny

A few questions about “#FTBullies” and sexism

You know, with several ranking skeptics and several key members of the Freethought Blogs network in my daily reading list, I’ve found myself wondering about a few things as of late …

• Why is it that just saying “Guys, don’t do that” about inappropriate advances gets characterized as an attempt to crimp male libidos everywhere? (Because guys can’t possibly show their interest in women in any way other than randomly proposing them at 3 AM?)

• Why is honestly mistaking a hysterically written email for a threat and subsequently deciding not to attend a public event seen as being passive and weak? (Because devoting years to online activism isn’t enough if one isn’t also willing to enter potentially physically dangerous situations in person?)

• Why is choosing to tackle the matter of latent sexism in the atheo-skeptic movement perceived as having misplaced priorities? (Because comparatively lesser problems shouldn’t be addressed until all the bigger ones have been dealt with?)

• Why does agreeing with other writers on various (but not all) issues mean forming a “hivemind”? (Because people who find common ground are just part of an “echo chamber”?)

• Why is open and honest criticism in a reasonable debate being construed as “bullying”? (Because writing pointy words about people and ideas is the same as beating them and stealing their lunch money?)

• Why is choosing to ignore certain loudmouthed twerps on the Internet being equated to forcibly silencing them? (Because the right to free speech somehow includes the right to force other people to listen?)

• Why is booting certain commentators for disruptive or antagonistic behavior akin to fascism? (Because “freethought” somehow translates to “free to have one’s assholery tolerated by everyone else”?)

• Why does mentioning the existence of badly behaved individuals at public events without revealing personal details to avoid a career-crippling backlash get twisted into rumors about a secret “blacklist”? (Because if you don’t name all the names, you’re a coward who attacks people behind their backs?)

• Why does “don’t harass other people” get turned into “don’t offend anyone”? (Because you can’t tell someone they’re wrong without being an obnoxious ass about it?)

• And finally, why is the mere act of requesting (much less implementing) anti-harassment policies at public events seen as a bad thing? (Because just having a system in place to deal with bad behavior means ushering in a forcibly anti-sexual purity police?)

Inquiring minds and all that.

For anyone who doesn’t know what all this is about, just Google “#FTBullies” and laugh. And then weep.

Edit (07/04/12 7:19 PM ET) – Reverted post title back to the original.

Tags: Freethought Blogs • FtB • FTBullies • misogyny • PZ Myers • Jennifer McCreight • Ophelia Benson • Thunderf00t • conferences • sexual harassment • anti-sexual harassment policies • Greg Laden • Rebecca Watson • Skepchicks

WND Headline of the Day: Classy on bullying edition

From the ever-tactful WorldNetDaily:

Showing support for an unfortunate victim of teenaged shitheadedness = treating adults like helpless babies. Right.

“Exclusive”, indeed – if only because every other news outlet on Earth actually has standards.

(via Right Wing Watch)

Tags: WorldNetDaily • WND • Ilana Mercer • Karen Klein • infantilism

This school bulletin board notice needs to spread

I can only hope this is genuine:

Some twerps just don’t learn until faced with the thought of being forced to eat their underpants.

(via Joe. My. God.)

Tags: gays • gay teens • football • schools • bullies

Daily Blend: Friday, May 11, 2012

Riyanna

Federal appeals court rejects Illinois’s eavesdropping law, which has been used to prosecute individuals who record the police in public.

18-month-old girl ^[pictured] and parents ordered off plane for looking too Middle-Eastern.
(via Pharyngula)

Is anyone really surprised to learn that Mitt Romney was an anti-gay bullying prick as a teen?

Orwellian, thy name is Liberty University.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: Illinois • anti-eavesdropping law • First Amendment • 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals • JetBlue Airways • Transportation Safety Administration • TSA • racial profiling • no-fly list • Mitt Romney • homophobia • anti-gay • John Lauber • Liberty University • Right Wing Watch • universities • fascism • Christianism

Daily Blend: Monday, April 23, 2012

Chuck Colson

Isn’t it actually a compliment when homophobes equate gays with the Devil? It’s like saying they’re so big and scary, they make God himself crap his pants.

Obama administration launches official Stop Bullying website.
(via Joe. My. God.)

Watergate felon-turned-anti-gay preacher Chuck Colson ^[pictured] dies at 82. Why, God, why? … not years ago?

Today in conservative asshattery: comparing the outrage over Romney sticking his terrified pooch on top of his car for a 12-hour road trip with the trumped-up nonsense over how President Obama once tasted dog meat as a child in Indonesia. Is there really no pseudo-scandal too abjectly pathetic for the Right to harp on?

Victory!: American Airlines plans to show interview with antivaccination crank Meryl Dorey. Skeptics everywhere roar, threaten boycott. AmAir backs down.

Jon Stewart brushes off the Catholic League’s inane boycott, which Bill Donohue’s ego interprets as a sign that he’s “getting to” Stewart.

This awesome fan-art raises a very important question: Where’s the Harry Potter animated TV series?!
(via @KyellGold)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: StopBullying.gov • Stop Bullying • Obama administration • Chuck Colson • conservatives • Rightists • Tom Sexton • Big Journalism • Barack Obama • dog meat • Dreams from My Father • Mitt Romney • dogs • American Airlines • Meryl Dorey • Jon Stewart • The Daily Show • vagina mangers • Bill Donohue • Catholic League • boycotts • Harry Potter • fan art • Tristyn Pease

Daily Blend: Friday, April 13, 2011

Joe Muto

Where are all the black cats we were promised? I call false advertising.

Well, that was fast: Gawker’s Fox Mole ^[pictured] exposed and fired – and still blowing the whistle.

Debunking more climate change denialist nonsense from 49 former NASA employees (who aren’t climate scientists).
(via Bad Astronomy)

Meanwhile, Vox Day predictably parrots anti-global warming claims without mentioning how that research has been grossly misrepresented.

Roger Ebert reviews Bully.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: The Fox Mole • Gawker • Fox News • Fox News Channel • Joe Muto • Shawn Otto • NASA • National Aeronautics and Space Administration • global warming • climate change • denialists • Middle Ages • Zunli Lu • Medieval Warm Period • Vox Day • Theodore Beale • Bully • Roger Ebert

Daily Blend: Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Pres. Hamid Karzai

Afghanistan President (and U.S. puppet) Hamid Karzai ^[pictured] endorses religious edict declaring that women are second-class citizens who shouldn’t go to school, work, or resist “Sharia-compliant” domestic abuse.
(via Dispatches from the Culture Wars)

Republican-controlled Kentucky House Education Committee rejects anti-bullying bill over fears that it “had more to do with gay rights”, despite desperate pleas from parents of dead children.
(via Joe. My. God.)

Right Wing Watch trounces Bill Donohue’s “get tough on rape victims” schtick. You gotta love his “We don’t need altar boys” line.

Rick Santorum says wildly stupid thing, global warming denialism edition.
(via @jennifurret)

Star debunker James Randi begins an opinion column at Wired.com.
(via The Daily Grail)

Poor, poor man blogs his way through three hours of The Rush Limbaugh Show.
(via @todayspolitics)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: Afghanistan • Hamid Karzai • women • misogyny • Taliban • Sharia law • Kentucky, USA • House Education Committee • H.B. 336 • Republicans • anti-bullying bill • Bill Donohue • Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests • SNAP • clerical child abuse • Rick Santorum • carbon dioxide • plants • global warming • greenhouse gases • James Randi • James Randi Educational Foundation • JREF • Wired.com • Wired Science • skeptics • Rush Limbaugh • The Rush Limbaugh Show • James Robinson