Something I Did Not Know About Ben Carson

Did you know that Dr. Ben Carson led a team of seventy surgeons who were the first to successfully separate conjoined twins?

Conjoined twins:

In 1987, Ben Carson made medical history by being the first surgeon to successfully separate conjoined twins (the Binder twins) conjoined at the back of the head (craniopagus twins). Operations to separate twins joined in this way had always failed, resulting in the death of one or both of the infants. Carson agreed to undertake the operation. The 70-member surgical team, led by Carson, worked for 22 hours. At the end, the twins were successfully separated and can now survive independently.

As Carson said in an interview:

I was talking to a friend of mine, who was a cardiothoracic surgeon, who was the chief of the division, and I said, "You guys operate on the heart in babies, how do you keep them from exsanguinating" and he says, "Well, we put them in hypothermic arrest." I said, "Is there any reason that -- if we were doing a set of Siamese twins that were joined at the head -- that we couldn't put them into hypothermic arrest, at the appropriate time, when we're likely to lose a lot of blood?" and he said, "No." I said, "Wow, this is great." Then I said, "Why am I putting my time into this? I'm not going to see any Siamese twins." So I kind of forgot about it, and lo and behold, two months later, along came these doctors from Germany, presenting this case of Siamese twins. And, I was asked for my opinion, and I then began to explain the techniques that should be used, and how we would incorporate hypothermic arrest, and everybody said "Wow! That sounds like it might work." And, my colleagues and I, a few of us went over to Germany. We looked at the twins. We actually put in scalp expanders, and five months later we brought them over and did the operation, and lo and behold, it worked.^[13]

There Is A Pattern Here

Steven Tyler to Donald Trump: stop using 'Dream On' during campaign trail:

Aerosmith's frontman Steven Tyler has sent presidential hopeful Donald Trump a cease-and-desist letter requesting for him to stop using the band's song "Dream On" during his campaign.

Tyler, a registered Republican, is not opposed to the hotel tycoon politically as he attended the second GOP debate back in August as Trump's guest. However, the rockstar has threatened legal action if Trump continues using Aerosmith's song.

" 'Trump for president' does not have our client's permission to use 'Dream On' or any of our client's other music in connection with the campaign because it gives the false impression that he is connected with or endorses Mr. Trump's presidential bid," the cease-and-desist letter reads.

"If Trump for president does not comply with our demands, our client will be forced to pursue any and all legal or equitable remedies which our client may have against you."

This is the third time Trump has been asked to stop playing songs on his campaign trail after using Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" and REM's "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)."

This "stop playing my song" theme seems to only involve Republicans and not Democrats. I wonder why that is.

Still More About Richard Nixon

Last of the President's men:

Hard as it may be to believe after all this time, there is still more to the story of President Richard Nixon and Watergate. And hard as it may also be to believe, it is one of the men who was closest to Nixon, Alexander Butterfield, who's letting the secrets out.

A president who on a Christmas Eve tour of the old Executive Office Building next to the White House made a discovery that sparked a witch hunt: "Some of the staff people -- bureaucrats, the civil servants -- had pictures of John F. Kennedy on their desks or on the wall," said Woodward. "Nixon said, 'We have to get rid of that infestation,' as if it was some sort of disease that somebody would have a picture of JFK in their office."

Butterfield was told by Nixon to get pictures of other presidents taken down from the walls. "He made that express order," he said.

In particular, White House Chief of Staff Bob Haldeman told Butterfield, "The President would like you ... to find out who the woman is ... who has the two Kennedy pictures," adding, "He asks about it once a week -- at least." Butterfield reported back that the CIA, Secret Service and FBI -- even the House Committee on Un-American Activities -- all found the woman, a civil servant named Edna Rosenberg, was a "completely loyal American."

"What's surprising as you go through all of this is the amount of energy that was devoted to these kinds of maneuvers," said Woodward. "This was a subversion of what the job of the presidency is."

Nixon was a strange and petty man.

I wonder what we don't know about the presidents who have succeeded him.

Planned Parenthood And The Will Of The People

Poll: By 2-1, funding for Planned Parenthood supported:

Some congressional Republicans remain determined to cut off federal funding for Planned Parenthood, but a nationwide USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds Americans back government support for the group by more than 2-1.

Two-thirds of those surveyed, 65%, say funding should continue for the group, which provides contraception, cancer screening and other health services to women; 29% say it should be cut off.

"Basically, we're defunding women's health care," protests Erika Raney, 32, a business consultant from Los Angeles who was among those surveyed. "It furthers the issue that women still don't have equal rights in the U.S."

Passions run high on both sides of the issue. Ronald Joseph, 78, a retiree from Elmira, N.Y., objects to the abortion services Planned Parenthood provides, although the $500 million it receives in federal funding isn't used for that purpose. "They're butchers," he said in a follow-up interview. "They might as well put sawdust on the floor."

I didn't realize that sawdust was necessary to provide contraception, cancer screening and other health services to women.

I do not understand the Republican Party. Why do they pander to the minority of the American people? I thought we were a democracy.

It seems to me that one of the things this poll says is that most Americans think that the services Planned Parenthood provides are legal and moral. Why are the Republicans saying otherwise?

How Many More Times? - 026

Shooting at Texas Southern University Kills One

Stop giving the NRA money!

Bern Notice

Populism:

The political doctrine that supports the rights and powers of the common people in their struggle with the privileged elite.

 Populist Candidate Scorecard: Sanders Leads:

Sanders lead is built on his forceful commitment to major structural reforms – on breaking up the big banks, Medicare for All, enhancing Social Security benefits, taking on climate change, curbing big money in politics, cutting military spending and opposing costly interventions abroad.

Among Democrats, progressives are driving the debate. Every candidate knows they must inspire the activist base of the party – and the Obama coalition – not only to win the nomination but to be victorious in the general election. This is the time to keep the pressure on about what that will take. More and more Americans understand that the rules are rigged against them. Now it is time to demand that candidates champion the alternative.

Quote Of Note - Madalyn Murray O'Hair

"An Atheist knows that a hospital should be built instead of a church. An Atheist knows that a deed must be done instead of a prayer said. An Atheist strives for involvement in life and not escape into death. He wants disease conquered, poverty vanquished, war eliminated." - Madalyn Murray O'Hair

David Silverman Is Fighting God

God won't fight back, but plenty of religious people will.

Fighting God is the atheist manifesto it promises to be:

Fighting God is the atheist manifesto it sets out to be, making one of the most compelling cases for not only using the word atheist openly and proudly but also because he makes the strongest case I have yet to read for why firebrand, in-your-face atheism is not only vital but absolutely necessary to further atheist acceptance in the world.

Atheists have attacked Silverman and American Atheists for its tactics in setting up billboards proclaiming that “You Know It’s a Myth” or filing lawsuits against the US Government for putting an iron crossbeam decorated to look like a Christian cross in the 9/11 Memorial Museum.

Yet Silverman uses data to explain why this kind of activism is working and how it is changing the face of atheism in the public’s eye forever. While humanist groups and those who take a more interfaith approach have an important role in our community, Silverman believes no real change could come unless groups like American Atheists knock down a few walls first.

He cites the Boston Marathon bombing and how the Harvard Humanist group was blocked from attending the interfaith service that was attended by President Obama after asking politely to be included, but making almost no noise when told no. The polite method didn’t work, but in many other cases of exclusion, American Atheists, Silverman and other loud and outspoken atheist activists have made a lot of noise and forced those who shut us out to address us.

David Silverman is the current president of American Atheists, which was founded by Madalyn Murray O'Hair.

Religion Kills

AP Exclusive: Hajj crush was deadliest ever at pilgrimage:

One survivor of last month's crush and stampede at the hajj in Saudi Arabia recalled seeing so many bodies that he couldn't tell how many there were.

The Associated Press sought to answer that question, arriving at a death toll of at least 1,453. That made the Sept. 24 disaster the deadliest accident ever at the annual pilgrimage. And hundreds remain missing.

The AP count is 684 higher than Saudi Arabia's official tally of 769 killed and 934 injured in the Sept. 24 disaster in Mina, a few miles from the holy city of Mecca.
Saudi officials, who could not be immediately reached for comment Friday, previously have said their tally remains accurate, although an investigation into the causes of the tragedy is ongoing. Authorities have not updated their casualty toll since Sept. 26.

The previous deadliest-ever incident happened in 1990, when a stampede killed 1,426 people.

The Hajj is an annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Muslims are supposed to do this at least once in their lifetimes.

If having God on your side means being trampled to death, I'm glad I'm an atheist.

Would Jesus Wear A Pope Francis Thong?

Three words that don't seem right together are "Pope Francis thong."

Do a search for things like:

1. Pope Francis thong
2. Pope Underwear & Panties
3. Pope Francis sports bra

Weird, weird, and weird.

Quote Of Note - Barry Diller

"Donald Trump, all he is is about conflict, and all that he is is negative conflict. He's a self-promoting huckster who found a vein. A vein of meanness and nastiness." - Barry Diller

Playing With Slaves?

Dark-skinned Playmobil pirate-ship doll wearing ‘slave collar’ ignites outrage:

A Playmobil pirate ship set has sparked a firestorm over a figurine that resembles an African American slave wearing a neck shackle.

Ida Lockett of Sacramento, Calif., said her 5-year-old son received the toy as a birthday present, and when she was helping him assemble it, she noticed the instructions — telling her to put a play shackle around the figure’s neck.

“This right here was found on his neck,” she told CBS Sacramento about the piece.

“You cannot have this specific accessory and call it anything else. The fact that you can Google it, look it up, say what it is — it’s a slave collar.”

Why let your kid play with pirates in the first place? After all they were, and are, murderous, plundering thieves. Some role model. Captain Mosey would be OK, however.

How Many More Times? - 025

Officials: 1 dead, 3 wounded in university shooting in Ariz.

Fake Quote Of Note - God

"Look, I’m too busy to stop all the gun violence in America, try some new laws." - God

Those Damn Facts And Rigorous Standards

Anti-Vaxxers Fund Study That Finds Zero Link Between Vaccinations And Autism:

The overwhelming majority of scientists agree: Vaccinations do not cause autism. Study after study has shown this, and even the original research used to peddle this myth was eventually retracted due to falsified data. But this hasn’t stopped many anti-vaccination groups from still trying to create data that says otherwise, often by commissioning studies that they hope will support their ideologies.

But for one group at least, this method of funding scientific studies to prove their point seems to have backfired. A six-year study looking into the effect that vaccinations have on the neurological development and social behavior of rhesus macaque infants, funded in part by the anti-vaccination and autism advocacy group SafeMinds, concluded that there was no evidence at all for such a link.

That didn’t stop the group from claiming the results didn’t change things. In a statement, they say that they had “concerns about changes in the study design protocol and analysis that may have led to these contradictory results.” The contradiction they are referring to is the fact that they were previously given preliminary results from a smaller trial, which purported to back up their position, before the study was expanded to include more subjects and underwent more rigorous standards that eventually found zero evidence.

"The results didn’t change things." A nice example of Confirmation Bias.

Oh, the irony of funding a study that proves you wrong.

I’d Really rather you didn't act like a sanctimonious holier-than-thou ass...

Keller Council Members Deny Atheist Chance To Speak:

Moments before a city council meeting, Keller scrapped plans for an atheist to deliver its invocation.

The mayor offered a prayer instead.

Zachary Moore, representing Keller Humanists, was set to speak.

“The things I like to invoke are our shared values. I like to invoke the democratic process,” he said.

Moore has given the invocation at Keller city council meetings three times in the last year. It comes with a condition, though.

Moore’s invocations are always followed by a prayer given by Pastor John Salvesen of the Bear Creek Bible Church.

“I was fine with that too for a while, but it occurred to me that what happened was also a form of discrimination,” said Moore.

Last week, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which advocates for separation of church and state, sent the council a letter.

“If the Council insists on continuing to host prayers at public meetings, it cannot discriminate against any person wishing to give a prayer. The nonreligious and members of minority religions must be permitted to deliver invocations on an equal basis. This not only means permitting them to be in the invocation rotation, it also means not making a special show of diluting their message with a subsequent Christian prayer,” reads the letter.

Pastor Salvesen, who oversees the invocation, sees one problem, though. Moore, he claims, isn’t praying, since he has no one to pray to.

This is so wrong.

There are many different versions of the Our Pasta prayer:

Our Pasta,
Who "Arghh" in colander,
Draining be thy noodles.
Thy serving come,
Thy food be yum,
In restaurants, as it is in kitchens.
Give us this day our daily sauce,
And forgive our messes,
As we forgive those who mess against us.
And lead us not into hunger,
But deliver us some pizza,
For thine is the spaghetti, and the meatballs, and the sauce
For ever and ever.

R'Amen

Religious people aren't praying to anyone either, anyone real that is.

Why Did He Wait So Long?

Rupert Murdoch suggests Obama isn't 'real black president':

The founder of the global News Corp. media empire, Rupert Murdoch, is suggesting that President Barack Obama isn't a "real black president."

Has all of the racist hate levelled at Obama for all these years been totally unnecessary?

Does This Mean Anything?

Trump supporters have the worst Facebook grammar, study finds:

But amid this flawed, headache-inducing verbiage, there is a pattern. So says Grammarly, a private, San Francisco-based company behind what’s billed as “the world’s leading automated proofreader.” The company analyzed comments on 19 presidential candidates’ Facebook pages and found that: 1) supporters of Republican candidates make more mistakes than supporters of Democrats; 2) supporters of Republican candidates use fewer unique words than supporters of Democrats; and 3) Donald Trump supporters made the most mistakes of them all.

In the grand scheme of things this probably means nothing, so I decided to post it.

An Example Of A Responsible Gun Owner

Expert: Woman shouldn't have fired gun at shoplifter:

Police confirmed on Wednesday that a concealed pistol license (CPL) holder was not being threatened by a fleeing shoplifter when she decided to fire multiple shots at him in a Home Depot parking lot.

“It’s my worst nightmare as a CPL instructor,” said Doreen Hankins, owner of Detroit Arms, which holds CPL classes. “You have to know the entire situation before you pull that handgun out. And I don’t see that a shoplifter at Home Depot fills any of those criteria.”

The shooting happened in the store’s parking lot at around 2 p.m. Tuesday, when Home Depot’s store security was chasing a shoplifter who jumped into a waiting dark SUV driven by another suspect, said Lt. Jill McDonnell, an Auburn Hills police spokeswoman.

But when the SUV began to pull away, the CPL holder, a 48-year-old woman from Clarkston, suddenly began firing shots at the fleeing vehicle. The vehicle escaped, though one of the bullets may have flattened a back tire, McDonnell said. Police are still seeking to identify the suspects.

To use a concealed weapon in Michigan, a CPL holder needs to think that there is an imminent danger of death, great bodily harm or sexual assault, or think there is a similar danger to someone else, said Rick Ector, a firearms trainer who runs Legally Armed Detroit. He added that a gun is “truly a tool of last resort.”

“In that situation personally, there’s no way I would be shooting my gun,” said another instructor, Dawn Martin, with the Kalamazoo-based Viper Security Enforcement Inc.

CPL holders who misuse their guns could face a wide range of charges — among them felony firearm, reckless use of a firearm and felonious assault.

The only problem that I see is that their weren't other armed people opening fire. Someone should have shot at this woman, and then someone should have shot at that person, and then someone should have shot at that person, and then someone should have shot at that person, ad infinitum. Isn't that what Wayne LaPierre preaches?

I look forward to my next trip to Home Depot.

Stop giving the NRA money!

Quote Of Note - A.C. Grayling

"Religious apologists complain bitterly that atheists and secularists are aggressive and hostile in their criticism of them. I always say: look, when you guys were in charge, you didn’t argue with us, you just burnt us at the stake. Now what we’re doing is, we’re presenting you with some arguments and some challenging questions, and you complain." - A.C. Grayling