01) Man Receives First Successful Pénís Transplant
“An Afghanistan war veteran who had his genitals blown off by a roadside bomb is the recipient of a donated penis and scrotum that doctors hope will restore his ability to function normally.
Doctors said the transplant, made in a 14-hour surgery, is a medical first.
The veteran, who asked to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, received the tissue transplant from a team of 11 doctors — nine plastic surgeons and two urological surgeons — at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in March. The procedure was the result of years of research, studies and cadaver work, giving doctors hope that if it proves successful, it could be used for injured veterans and other men with severe injuries to their genital regions…
01) Christians Are Being Persecuted & No Evidence Would Change His Mind!
“Joe Messina, Los Angeles based conservative talk show host, joins David to discuss so-called Christian Persecution”
This selection from “In Self Defense: The Life and Times of An Atheist BoyLover…Memoirs and Ethos”, has been narrated by Rocco White. Please enjoy the listen, or read along if you like…or need to.
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Persecution complex is frequently about lack of awareness, and lack of human empathy.
This is why we can see large majority demographics claiming to be persecuted [often worse than the norm], even when they are sustaining nothing especially out of the norm [compared to other groups using a service, living in society, etc.].
Many will even claim persecution over being expected to abide by social laws…laws which everybody else are expected to abide by.
Many will claim persecution “focused specifically on their own groups”…claiming their is some bias…while acting oblivious to the fact, that groups they don’t like have gotten hit just as hard by the exact same thing…if not harder, and/or for a duration that far exceeds their own.
Most people living in “the first world” who believe themselves persecuted, need to broaden their perspective. Their belief of being persecuted, is a belief distorted by isolationist behavior.
…It’s something they’ve devised in their own heads…because they are not living, thinking and realizing things, in the real world around them.
A few good practices to live by, which can help combat this self distortion…
Listen to People:
Strive to sincerely understand people who are different from you.
Let them speak, and articulate their own world circumstances.
Empathize:
Attempt to visualize yourself in those circumstances.
Explore how those circumstances might affect you, and how you might arrive at the same destination under the same [or similar] circumstances.
Understand that difference in outlook and experience, does not automatically mean difference in objectives.
Identify Common Ground:
Realize that not everybody else is “out to get you”…and that your perceived “enemies” may be just as motivated to fight [and outraged over], whatever unfairness you perceive as happening to yourself…Maybe, because they have a history of experiencing the exact same thing.
Realize that even people with vast differences, still normally share a lot of base values on human decency.
The Loudest Are Not Everybody’s Leader:
Keep in mind…the loudest and most obnoxious people, making the biggest social problems in this world, are getting the lions share of attention…because they are the loudest and most obnoxious people, making the biggest social problems in this world…
…This does not mean we all accept such people as being leaders…Many of us reject those people, and their claims.
Don’t let the talking heads of this world, hijack the social dialogue…and don’t let them hijack your humanity, along with it.
Ugly truth about the loud and obnoxious…is that they are often making a personal gain of some form, off of exploiting the very same social conflicts that they foster and promote…It is profitable for them, to keep other groups divided and at each others throats.
Extend Good Faith, and Find it in Others:
Humanity is there…The only question is if you are open to looking for it…and recognizing it.
People are a lot more compassionate, giving and forgiving, than you might realize…Don’t slam the door shut on this.
Our Experiences Form Us:
Nobody arrives at a worldview, based on sheer personal desire to hold such a worldview.
…There are countless social forces [tensions, pressures, cravings, relationships, institutions, experiences, etc.] in this world…which push, pull and stretch [sometimes tare] us into all sorts of directions…
…We don’t consciously make decisions about our ultimate outlook [or what we will fight on behalf of in this world], based upon “what will screw over the most other people”…nor “what will make us the most evil”…
…We stand and fight for something, because we recognize that something [no matter how unique or unfashionable] needs to be stood up for, and fought on behalf of.
Learn to Understand Responses:
Lastly…
…Wherever you see people defending “the indefensible”…realize that what is normally happening…is that people are pushing back against a social imbalance so extreme, that all objectivity and rational decency has broken down…
…And they are trying to reestablish, the objectivity and rational decency which is missing.
Don’t ascribe to this behavior, things which are not objectively there.
“Classic interview: David offends Christian homeschooler Mike McHugh.”
I was not homeschooled…
…I was sent to a private Christian school, which uses one of the common “school in a box” curriculums marketed to those wanting to homeschool…”Accelerated Christian Education” [A.C.E.]…
I also had experience with Christian designed textbooks, intermixed with A.C.E. materials [a strange sort of hybrid, of isolated learning broken up by the occasional “normal” classroom learning model]…So, I know from an enormous amount of personal exposure, what sorts of things you find in these curriculum.
I met a few homeschoolers in my time…at Christian school conventions, and the like…
I don’t have anything especially negative to convey about them…except that sometimes it’s awkward, because there is this kind of sense…that “they’re not used to being around other kids”…at least, not in a social school setting…So, you didn’t always know how to approach them.
…Seemed kind of sad, how they were often on their own in the crowd.
Anyway…my schooling overwhelmingly existed somewhere in the same spectrum, as that of Christian homeschoolers…
Honest Assessment:
It was not an entirely useless endeavor…It gave me many necessary skills…But the experience was far from ideal…and I’ve considered it to be a handicap, which I had to overcome.
It’s terrible for developing you up, to functioning in the real world…
…I have taken some college courses…And one of the things that struck me, was that I ended up having to take a number of very basic courses during my first year…stuff that I mostly breezed through [because I didn’t honestly need most of it]…but the people they put through these very basic courses, are people they figure didn’t come from an especially solid schooling history…
The fact is real…that colleges don’t look at the religiously private schooled, in exactly the same way as they might the average student.
There is a lot about these religious, “school in a box” programs…which are terrible for translating into “the college ready student”.
Despite that I had had a few textbook classes over the years…it overwhelmed me, having everything taught to me like that.
Even my last two years of high school about drove me insane…because they subjectively forced us into textbook classroom learning…And when this was a total flip flop from what had always been required of us…this totally sucked…
It helped nothing, that A.C.E. is modeled on memorizing and reciting canned answers…and this is how most of us spent our “school careers”…”learning”…
Christian schools, in my experience [getting the entire K-12 does of them], are abysmal at teaching you how to think on your own, reason and explore.
…They excel in teaching you how to be an isolationist…in an antisocial manner…not in any useful way, like survivalist skills…
They really are a hotbed of paranoia, demonizing the world around them.
There are a lot of people who come out of these settings, that struggle to get along in the aftermath…A struggle made all the worse, by these “schools in a box”…
…And I call them “schools in a box”…because virtually anybody can set up shop with these materials, and call themselves a school.
Believe me…I knew plenty enough about most of the people who “taught” there…They were church members [usually working to get a discount, on their own kids who were attending there]…Yes, some of them were credentialed teachers [a legally required formality]…But most of the interacting you’d do when you needed help, was with the teachers assistants…
…Teachers assistants aren’t required much training, at all…primarily because there isn’t any real teaching, that they have to do…
…They’d usually just go through the material with you, and help you dig out the expected answer.
You spent most of your time alone, as well…not socializing…
…And an insane ton of time was spent, on studying the bible…and otherwise being indoctrinated by Christianity…It was lost time, that could have been far better spent on worthwhile activities, which actually grow the human being.
01) Economic Update: Employees VS Employers — Endless Tensions
“This show is available at no cost to public access and non-profit community stations! Contact your local channels and let them know you would like them to add Economic Update to their programming. Let us know if you’ve reached out: info@democracyatwork.info”
01) Kamala Harris Now Rejecting Corporate PAC Money After Receiving Criticism
“Senator Kamala Harris—a likely 2020 presidential contender—recently announced that she’d no longer be accepting corporate PAC money. This announcement comes just weeks after she drew criticism from progressives for refusing to reject corporate PAC money.
01) Atheist Debates – Thoughts on my conversation with Dr. Jordan Peterson
“The full video of this discussion is at Pangburn Philosophy’s Patreon, at the time of this release – though it may be available elsewhere (audio and/or video), later. I wanted to get my thoughts on the event posted in the hopes that people will understand the goals as well as what succeeded and what didn’t.
01) Televangelist: God Said We Aborted The Scientists Who Could Cure Cancer
“Did you know we were this|close to finding a cure for cancer? Two scientists were well on their way to the discovery of a lifetime… unfortunately, they were aborted before they could publish their results.
That’s a True Fact™ according to televangelist Jim Bakker who made the comment on his show Monday while talking up anti-choice activist Janet Porter‘s proposed bill to outlaw abortion…
01) Man Receives First Successful Pénís Transplant
