Predictable Fury Over Satanic Displays (Hemant Mehta and Jessica Bluemke, The Friendly Atheist podast #562)

— After vandalism, a new Satanic display is up outside the New Hampshire Capitol. (0:28)

— Iowa officials ban Satanic event over made-up claim that it’d be “harmful to minors.” (5:52)

— California Bible college vows to remain open after state orders it to shut down. (15:30)

— Democrats didn’t “weaponize” the government to “target” Christian schools. (33:50)

— Supreme Court to decide if Catholic-aligned group deserves tax exemption. (53:25)

— Citing legal concerns, two Florida districts vote against allowing school chaplains. (1:02:22)

— Catholic group unveils anti-atheist holiday billboard: “THIS IS OUR SEASON—NOT YOURS.” (1:11:28)
Interview: 

https://friendlyatheistpodcast.com/2024/12/19/predictable-fury-over-satanic-displays/

BREAKING: Elon Musk & Trump suffer HUMILIATING failure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHrVdSlCYfA

5 Exercises That Fix 95% Of Your Problems

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI4AW9Jis40

Chris Matthews: 'This clown' Elon Musk knows nothing about government

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjnLn0F5wfc

Social Security Fairness Act clears Senate procedural hurdle, on path for final passage - ABC News

The closely watched legislation repeals provisions that limit the ability of some retirees who also collect pensions from claiming Social Security benefits. Among those impacted are retirees who at one time worked as firefighters, teachers, postal worker, a police officer, or in other public sector jobs. A provision that limits the benefits allotted to those workers' surviving spouses would also be eliminated…

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senate-vote-expanding-social-security-payments-teachers-firefighters/story

America’s Health Insurance Crisis in Six Charts – Mother Jones

Insurance profits outpace health care spending…

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/12/us-health-insurance-coverage-healthcare-system-problems-medical-debt-profits-data-charts/

A Scandalous Reason Meat Prices Have Skyrocketed – Mother Jones

Reining in Big Meat will require bolder federal action. On the campaign trail, Kamala Harris proposed a federal ban on price gouging that could provide a legal framework to challenge market manipulators. But the most important move, Frerick says, is simply to en-force existing laws: "In the meat industry, we already did this all a century ago. This isn't rocket science—it's really just a question of political courage."…

https://www.motherjones.com/food/2024/12/agri-stats-antitrust-meatpacking-inflation-doj/

House Democrat says Republicans protecting Elon Musk's Chinese investments | Reuters

Representative Rosa DeLauro said in a letter that Musk, CEO of electric car maker Tesla, may have upended the government funding process to remove a provision that would regulate U.S. investments in China given his "extensive investments in China in key sectors and his personal ties with Chinese Communist Party leadership, and calls into question the real reason for Musk's opposition to the original funding deal."

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/house-democrat-says-republicans-protecting-elon-musks-chinese-investments-2024-12-20/

Major Trump donors who complained of immigrant ‘invasion’ used Mexican workers illegally, sources allege | Wisconsin | The Guardian

A company owned by two of Donald Trump's top mega-donors has routinely brought dozens of its workers from Mexico to staff its warehouses in Wisconsin and other locations even though they do not appear to have permission to work in the US, according to a Guardian investigation...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/20/uline-mexican-workers-trump

Lawrence: The weakness of Elon Musk and Donald Trump has now been fully exposed to the GOP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgB_S7WZfVM

The U.S. AIR FORCE Just SOUNDED THE ALARM About Elon Musk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNG1aadH-F4

Top U.S. & World Headlines — December 20, 2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhpx578cQ8I

The Christian Nationalist “TheoBros” Have, Uh, Thoughts About Antisemitism – Mother Jones

And then there is William Wolfe, a TheoBro who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense at the Pentagon in the first Trump administration. He has posted phrases that are widely recognized as antisemitic dog whistles, such as, "Notice things. And point them out to others." That may appear to be anodyne, but antisemitic extremists use the word "noticing" to refer to identifying Jewish people in powerful positions. Around the same time, Wolfe posted, apropos of no previous conversation, "You know what's a beach I love? Hilton Head." The initials "HH" are often used as neo-Nazi code for "heil Hitler." Wolfe didn't respond to Mother Jones' request for comment…

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/12/the-christian-nationalist-theobros-have-uh-thoughts-about-antisemitism/

US funding plan collapses as Trump makes demands days before shutdown

Trump made an almost unrealistic proposal that combined some continuation of government funds along with a much more controversial provision to raise the country's debt limit – something his own party routinely rejects. "Anything else is a betrayal of our country," they wrote...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/18/government-funding-trump-shutdown

Microplastics suspected of links to lung cancer, colon cancer, study shows - The Washington Post

"The conclusion about microplastic exposure being a 'suspected' hazard to human digestive, reproductive, and respiratory systems represents a stronger stance than many previous reviews in my opinion," said Amato-Lourenço...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/12/18/microplastics-colon-cancer-link-study/

Bird Flu Has Hit California Dairies So Hard That They’re Calling It ‘Covid for Cows’ - The New York Times

The virus has spread rapidly in California, the nation's largest producer of milk. Farmers are frustrated that their herds are getting infected despite various precautions...

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/19/us/bird-flu-california-covid-cows.html

How fit are you? 11 ways to easily test your strength, balance and mobility – and make them all better

Can you touch your toes, get up from a chair using just one leg, hold a plank for 30 seconds? If you want to take care of your body, the first step is to take stock of it…

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/dec/19/fit-test-strength-balance-mobility-plank-body

Lawrence: Trump has realized how Joe Biden boxed him in on the debt ceiling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5GWT8zk2Hk

Clergy abuse survivors say there’s still ‘long ways to go’ after sentencing of New Orleans priest

Hecker showed up unannounced in the weight room one day and made small talk with the boy about sports. He suddenly put the child in a wrestling-style headlock until he was unconscious and raped him, according to court filings. 

The survivor later told his mother and school officials about the rape. But he said the principal, Paul Calamari, never alerted police. Instead, Calamari threatened the survivor with expulsion unless he underwent psychological treatment for what the school official dismissed as "anger issues and fantasy stories". 

Hecker initially denied those accusations. But in 1999, he did admit in writing to his church superiors that he had molested or sexually harassed several other children whom he met through his ministry...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/19/clergy-abuse-survivors-lawrence-hecker-sentence

What we learned about police officers accused of sexually abusing kids - The Washington Post

"Our investigation found that at least 1,800 officers were charged with these crimes from 2005 through 2022. 

Of the hundreds of thousands of sworn officers in the United States, only a fraction are ever arrested for any offense. But we discovered that, on average, a law enforcement officer has been charged with a crime involving child sexual abuse twice a week, every week, for 18 years..."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2024/12/19/police-officers-child-sexual-abuse-investigation-explained/