Sam, Becky, and Wes advocate for health and safety, especially of children, through a discussion of politics in the shadow of the women’s marches 2.0, National Religious Freedom Day, a government shutdown, and 1 year under Donald Trump. We touch on more Blockchain inanity, and a state seal that forces people to rule under God.
News
The image that drew the ire of a South Dakota lawmaker. In other words, the Streisand Effect. care of Argus Leader
- South Dakota bill proposes jail time for altering state seal, removing God-reference
- BananaCoin urges blockchain agro-investment
- Trump celebrates National Religious Freedom Day with Health & Human Services Department move that threatens anti-discrimination protections for patience
- McConnell wants Dems to choose between children’s health and childhood immigrant arrivals
Feedback
Regarding Bitcoin mining guilds and World of Warcraft; there’s a pretty cool examination of this concept in Neal Stephenson’s Reamde, if you’ve not already read it. Also it’s true that blockchain enthusiasts usually have no idea how cryptocurrencies actually work, hence the term “Dunning-Kurgerrands”
-Dean from Paris
In our segment two weeks ago with Mandisa Thomas, founder of Black Nonbelievers, Mandisa mentioned that just days before our interview, an intake specialist at her local ER refused to indicate that Mandisa was an atheist, saying “You gotta believe in something.” Here’s an update from Mandisa:
I received a call from the department manager of the registration department at Piedmont Fayette Hospital yesterday. We spoke for a decent length of time; she extended her apologies, told me that the employee had been approached about the incident, and was given coaching and additional training on how to handle situations like this better. She also asked for suggestions on what the hospital could do to be more inclusive to atheists.[…]I already gave my suggestions. The conversation was very productive, and I also gave her the [Black Nonbelievers] website in case they wanted more information. Of course it could be lip service at the end of the day, but I guess we’ll see. I’m still a human being and I feel, just like everyone else. And it would be nice to never have to experience something like this again. But in the meantime, I’ll keep doing my best to speak up, and keep providing that foundational support that we know is needed. -Mandisa Thomas from Atlanta