BOOKS: “Thirteen Books Atheists Should Consider Reading” / Atheist Republic ☮

Atheist Scarlet Letter (Hitchens)These are not books debunking creationism, nor an item-by-item critique of the factual plausibility of holy writings, nor a demonstration of their historic shortcomings when compared to current notions of progressive humanist morality, nor are they an overt attack against religion. Since you are already an atheist, I assume you don’t need convincing anymore. Rather, they are about understanding your world and yourself without religion. These ideas are not new. Generally speaking, they are not trying to convince the reader. They are proposals for a different way of understanding reality without a god, logic, ethics, morality and yourself – perhaps the hardest thing to objectively fully understand in life.

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POLITICS: “Will the Democrats Abandon Khizr Khan?” / Secular Talk / Kyle Kulinski ☮

One after another, reporters and pundits, hacks and flacks all began circulating George W. Bush’s response from more than a decade ago to the protest of a dead soldier’s parent. It was a lesson in manners for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who had just attacked Khizr and Ghazala Khan, themselves the parents of a dead soldier, for having denounced the candidate as an unpatriotic bigot at the Democratic National Convention. “Compare Trump to Bush addressing Cindy Sheehan,” tweeted a Daily Beast editor, echoing dozens of others.

GREEN PARTY: “President Jill Stein? It’s More Possible Than They Want You to Believe” / Jimmy Dore ☮

Green Party candidate Jill Stein has a shot at winning the Presidency but she needs to reach the 15% threshold in polling to qualify for the debates. Similarly, nobody believed Bernie Sanders had a chance when he began his campaign in the Spring of 2015.

ENVIRONMENTALISM – ECOLOGY: “Suzanne Simard: How Trees Talk to Each Other” / TEDSummit / June 2016 ☮

“A forest is much more than what you see,” says ecologist Suzanne Simard. Her 30 years of research in Canadian forests have led to an astounding discovery — trees talk, often and over vast distances. Learn more about the harmonious yet complicated social lives of trees and prepare to see the natural world with new eyes.