Highlights on the Show...December 28, 2009 - January 1, 2010
By Louise
Monday
Hour Two: Are we on the verge of another banking meltdown and would a new bill bringing back Glass-Steagall prevent it? Former managing director at Goldman Sachs, Nomi Prins, author of "It Takes A Pillage" guestswww.nomiprins.com
Hour Three: "Inside Obama's Brain" Journalist/author Sasha Abramksy stops by to talk about why the President is uniquely suited for the job www.sashaabramsky.com
Tuesday
Hour Two: Does history keep repeating itself? Steve Fraser, author of "Wall Street: America's Dream Palace" guests www.americanempireproject.com
Hour Three: Looking ahead to 2010...predictions for a new decade! Psychic, teacher, author Mary T. Browne is back for a look ahead www.marytbrowne.com
Wednesday
Hour Three: New Year's Resolutions...liberal vs conservative! Thom mixes it up with Dan Gainor of the Business and Media Institute www.businessandmedia.org
Thursday
Hour Three: Economics Guru Dr. Ravi Batra joins Thom to talk about what's ahead for the economy in 2010 www.ravibatra.com
Friday - Happy New Year - Thom Hartmann recycled
Comments
#2
"Man of the Year" An Honor?
Please remember that Adolph Hilter was also named "Man of the Year" by Time Magazine. Ben Bernanke shouldn't feel flattered. According to Jim Kelly, Time Magazine managing editor:
"...the classic definition of TIME's Person of the Year is the person who most affected the events of the year, for better or for worse. I think what has happened over the years is that the Man of the Year title, Person of the Year title, has become non-honorific. It was never meant to be solely that."
http://img.timeinc.net/time/magazine/archive/covers/1936/1101360413_400.jpg
#3
Ames,
A large part of Obama's problem is that he jettisoned his base and many of the principles he campaigned on. One of the first things he did after achieving office was to get rid of his progressive advisors.
#4
I agree with you it is counter productive.. And I do believe in positive atheism today.. I love your sign idea:
“Festivus for the Rest of Us”
But (FYI stuff) I understand why some atheists hold up the insulting/negative signs.. Because I have been there; its a phase many atheists go thru (typically after a rude awakening (fundies attacking our rights).. Atheists are typically, caught blind side and then thrust into protesting while extremely angry at the agressive fundys .. No one wants to stand around holding a damn protest sign (there is outrage that goes with it)..
bobbler
> Hi bobbler!
> I think atheists need to be more effective. If they tear down your sign,
> put up another one. If they aren’t inspired by your display, come up
> with a better one.
> Winning isn’t easy. If it was, you’d have already one.
> Remember last year when here in Washington State, there was an
> atheist holiday display that went beyond promoting atheism to
> insulting religion? It > was ineffective.
> In contrast, “Festivus for the Rest of Us” is effective because it’s
> funny, non-insulting, and makes a point.
#5
Come on Thom.. Not again!
You agreed with a caller that atheism is a religion..
I agree with you 100 percent,
except when it comes to this tropic.
You treat all other minorities with respect, atheists deserve the same.. Instead, it appears you are taking the actions of a few atheists, and then labeling us all with the "fundie" made up definition of what atheism is (this is how racists treat black people).
As with hijacking the tea party, atheists and liberals are on the same side when it comes to religious freedom (separation of church and state).. (I was surprised to find ther are conservative atheists.. but I believe they will listen to you arguments.. if you dont alienate them all first).. I have argued for you on atheists email lists, then people listen and come back to me saying you are a dick (quote) because of your phraseolgy when it comes to atheists.. '
Atheists are not the enemy here.. Most of us are caught up fighting for our rights of religious freedom (I agree, many may be poor at public relations), and its damn maddening for a liberal to essentially be telling us to sit down and shut up (same chorus as the fundies)..
Atheists argue on the definition of atheism too (since a court case).. But the only definition that makes sense is "atheists do not believe" (with a period here).. Fundies changed the sentence to say "atheists believe there is no god" (as you can see; putting words into our mouths). Since lack of belief is the very defining thing about atheists, changing the definition to say we "believe" "anything" is wrong..
That being said, yes I believe there is no god.. But in the weak sense of the word, like "I believe I'll have another beer." Where the strong sense of the word is what people kill and die for.. In context, we "do not believe." It is misleading and confusing to use the fundie definition.
I believe changing the definition of what an atheist is, is part of an ongoing demonization process used unconsciously by the fundies (a successful meme)..
bobbler
Freethought Society
#6
Hi Bobbler,
Did you see this! I've played this a bizillion times even though I'm a ... well... what am I?... a poet/ story writer who loves mythology and wishes to believe in goddesses and gods... but instead writes about people who do.
This is so cool!!!
#7
> Come on Thom.. Not again!
> You agreed with a caller that atheism is a religion..
> I agree with you 100 percent,
> except when it comes to this tropic.
Sorry about the strong wording.. Perhaps this topic doesnt deserve such a long email (when we liberals have so many other battles; we sjouldnt be fighting ourselves)..
I recognize you have has several atheists on your show who were well treated.. So it eludes me who these "uppity" atheists are you are refering to..
I am starting to suspect we disagree with the same individials (the "negative" atheists). In their defense, they were usually thrust into protesting because of some personal outrage, and not a polished public relations people (and these atheists are almost "always" the ones why the media gives the microphone to).. Add to this, it is difficult to be positive, when forced into a reactionaly defensive position by undies (no matter what you do it looks to the average person, that it is "against" religion)..
bobbler
#8
> Did you see this! I’ve played this a bizillion times even though I’m a …
> well… what am I?… a poet/ story writer who loves mythology and
> wishes to believe in goddesses and gods… but instead writes
> about people who do.
Thanks.. I have been involved with such displayes before..
Its a lot of work, and expence (esp. with no church funding), and the fundies usually tear our displays down in the middle of the night..
If the fundies were not attacking religious freedom across the board, we atheists would probably blend in and spend time with friends and family like everyone else..
Fundies should put these displays in front of their own churches.. They own a lot of land, usually in prominent locations.. Think about why they want their displays on public land, typically at court houses (hint= theocracy)..
bobbler
#9
YAY! Socialist Single Payer Baby Jesus is back!! =)
So enjoy you two, Carl and Christine!
#10
Compulsory Private Health Insurance: Just Another Bailout of the Financial Sector?
By Ellen Brown
URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16674
Global Research, December 28, 2009
Web of Debt - 2009-12-21
Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, is quoted as warning two centuries ago:
“Unless we put medical freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize into an underground dictatorship. . . . The Constitution of this republic should make special privilege for medical freedom as well as religious freedom."
That time seems to have come, but the dictatorship we are facing is not the sort that Dr. Rush was apparently envisioning. It is not a dictatorship by medical doctors, who are as distressed by the proposed legislation as the squeezed middle class is. (For a withering analysis by an outraged M.D. of the nearly 2000 - page House bill, see here.) The new dictatorship is not by doctors but by Wall Street -- the FIRE (finance, insurance, and real estate) sector that now claims 40% of corporate profits...
#11
Clay Jenkinson of "The Thomas Jefferson Hour"
www.jeffersonhour.org
says that the two parties are pretty much the same, one is the greater Hamiltonian Party, and one is the lesser Hamiltonian party.
#12
I have come to a realization: Senator Joseph Lieberman provides the Obama Administration the identical service that he performed for the G.W. Bush Administration. Senator Lieberman acts as the Administration’s proxy; he is harbinger and water-bearer. Holy Joe is the lighting rod which draws all ire and allows the Administration to enact their mediocre, right-of-center, pro-corporatist agenda. He is the bellwether of campaign dollars and forecasts the stands the Administration will fall all over itself to fail to take.
Senator Lieberman beat the drums to save banks and the Administration obliged. Senator Lieberman defended the poor little health insurance industry and the Administration bent its sainted knee to warrant his holy cause. Senator Lieberman states that Yemen may be the next country to feel our collective wrath in the war on terror then behold the Administration has been bombing the crap outta third world goat-herders like crazy for the preceding six months.
With the full force of fact found in a demented Kabuki theater where the angels remove their masks and the demons are revealed, Senator Joseph Lieberman provides cover for the real demons in the mix. The truth is that Senator Lieberman is just another pissant Senator, less than a powerless trifle to be ignored. Unlike Vice President Biden, he found a way to avoid being relegated to obscurity. Senator Liebermann is closer to power and enjoys wielding power. When one types the words “Senator Joseph” into the Google box his name comes up only slightly less then the infamous Senator McCarthy. Senator Lieberman has divined the path to greatness . . . Even more importantly, in his case, the path to relevance.
#13
Genetically modified crops require MORE, not less, herbicide evidence shows
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2009/1221/More-herbicide-use-report...
#14
Atheism holiday exhibits physically attacked
http://www.examiner.com/x-23325-Tampa-Deism-Examiner~y2009m12d28-Atheism...
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
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Lousy way to start the week...talking down our embattled President. Weren't the rightwing nuts doing a good enough job for ya so ya gotta help 'em out??