Jewish Humor Central (Jewish news and humor)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: Yes

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: Jewish Humor Central, by Al Kustanowitz

WEB ADDRESS: http://www.jewishhumorcentral.com/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: Jewish Humor Central is a blog to start your day with news of the Jewish world that's likely to produce a knowing smile and some Yiddishe nachas. It's also a collection of sources of Jewish humor--anything that brings a grin, chuckle, laugh, guffaw, or just a warm feeling to readers.

Our posts include jokes, satire, books, music, films, videos, food, Unbelievable But True, and In the News. Some are new, and some are classics. We post every morning, Sunday through Friday. Enjoy!

MY REVIEW: An interesting blog. It's more than just Jewish jokes, it's news and info on Jewish culture around the world. It's of interest regardless of your religion (or atheism ; ) ). One caveat is that there are a few videos, which of course can't be watched on the Kindle. They are extremely prevalent during Nov and December.

Nevertheless, check it out.

Sample post:


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--"I Light It" - Another Great Pop Three-Song Parod...
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Reviews published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
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Check out the following blogs:
Seaborn: Oceanography Blog
Star Trek Report: Space Sciences
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
Rush Limbaugh Report

The Friendly Atheist (lifestyle and culture)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: The Friendly Atheist, by Hemant Mehta

WEB ADDRESS: http://friendlyatheist.com/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: This is the blog of "eBay Atheist" Hemant Mehta. Mehta writes about atheism for both religious and non-religious readers. He is also the author of "I Sold My Soul on eBay."

MY REVIEW: As an atheist, I enjoyed this blog for the most part. Well written, interesting stories. However, as a woman I'm always amused because the religion that American atheists go after 99% of the time is Christianity, whereas it's the spectre of Islam gaining hold in the US that has me terrified. (Well, I'm not terrified, because I don't think it can happen, but I think Islam is much more of a danger to the world than Christianity. However, it is a helluva lot easier for atheists to debate/mock Christianity than it is to do the same to Islam, cuz it's the Muslims who will take out their machetes and kill you.)

Well, don't get me started on that rant.

Anyway, this blog is of interest to atheists. It should also be of interest to Christians, to see what atheists think, and why they think what they do.


Sample post:

Are Home-Schooled Children Really Smarter?
Posted in Education, General at 6:00 am by Hemant Mehta

The Creation Museum founder Ken Ham has a nasty habit of not linking to websites he trashes or offering citations when he makes his wacky claims.

So when he mentioned that home-schoolers excel in college, and provided a link to the reference, I got very excited.

The link goes to the Home School Legal Defense Association — a Christian group — and they have issued a press release about a new study!

Therefore, it was with great interest that we read the new study — Exploring Academic Outcomes of Homeschooled Students, by Michael F. Cogan — which shows homeschoolers succeeding in college.

…

Some of the major findings include:

Homeschoolers scored higher on the ACT (26.5) compared with the overall student body (25).
Homeschoolers earned more college credit (14.7) prior to their freshman year compared to the student body (6).
Homeschooled students earned a higher fall semester GPA (3.37) when compared to other freshman students (3.08).
Homeschooled students earned a higher first-year GPA (3.41) when compared to other freshman students (3.12).
Homeschooled students earned a higher fourth-year GPA (3.46) when compared to other freshman students who completed their fourth year (3.16).
Sounds pretty strong. I have so many questions!

How many home-schooled students were used as data points?

How many states were represented in the study?

Where was this study published?

Here’s all I can find to answer those:

The study was based on a medium sized college located in the upper Midwest. The school has 11,000 students with an average 1,320 freshmen each year. The sample size for homeschoolers was 76 which is 1 percent of the 7,776 incoming freshman for 2004–2009. The majority of the student body (54.9%) identified themselves as Catholic.

In other words… Cogan went to one college — a private, Roman Catholic school in the midwest — and got the data for the 76 kids who, over the past six years, were home-schooled beforehand.

If I proposed this study in a Research Methods class, I would fail immediately.

This is likely an anomaly — who knows how many home-schooled children applied but didn’t get accepted into the school? What makes this school typical for all home-schooled college students? If anything, a private school of that size is going to draw in more affluent, better-educated kids overall.

And from the looks of it, this “study” wasn’t published anywhere.

At least we can read it for ourselves, right?

Of course not.

All you get is a link to Powerpoint slides (PDF) Cogan must have made to explain the findings.

I’m sure I’m missing something here. Am I being fair about this study? Am I forgetting to point something out? Is there a link to the study I’m missing?

For what it’s worth, I think home-schooling can work… but in too many cases, it deprives children of a fuller education and the opportunity to socialize with peers who may think differently. There’s often a hyper-focus on religion and a lack of focus on subjects the parents know little about. Even among atheist households, I get nervous when I hear that parents are home-schooling their children.

Some parents do it wonderfully, but in my experience, they are the exception and not the rule.

RECENT POSTS:
--Have You Signed Up for Skepticon?
--Are Home-Schooled Children Really Smarter?
--The Caption Made Me Laugh
--What Can Atheists Learn from the LGBT Movement?
--Tuesdays with Hitchens
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Check out the following blogs:
Seaborn: Oceanography Blog
Star Trek Report: Space SciencesTopical Murder and Dated Death

American Papist (religion)

REVIEWED BY: Ms. Cairo

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: American Papist

WEB ADDRESS: http://www.catholicvoteaction.org/americanpapist/index.php

BLOG DESCRIPTION: AmP is one of the highest-profile Catholic blogs on the internet, with regular news, commentary and exclusives.

MY REVIEW: This is a Catholic blog for Catholics, and they'll enjoy it. Articles are well written and comprehensive.

RECENT POSTS:
--More on Obamacare funding abortions in PA (and NM, and MD, and …)
--In Malawi, a Diocese is Born
--Papist Picture of the Day – 07/20/10
--Americans send Pope Benedict One Million Prayers, Masses, Etc.
--Me at Patheos: The Church’s “Bright Future”

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Ms. Cairo writes several blogs including:
Seaborn: Oceanography Blog
Star Trek Report: Space Sciences
Topical Murder and Dated Death

Disturbed Christians (Christianity)

REVIEWED BY: Ms. Cairo

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: Disturbed Christians

WEB ADDRESS: http://www.disturbedchristians.com/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: Disturbed Christians was created as a place to tell stories about ways that religion has wronged people; more importantly it is a place for sarcasm, humor, and anecdotal true accounts of when faith and culture collide. We practice love, not Christianity. And redemption? Yeah, I guess we’ll have to drag our feet and include a bit of that too—we are Christians after all—but I promise it won’t be preachy or anything like that, because nothing makes a blog blow more than people telling you that you can go to heaven.

MY REVIEW: This blog is written by three individuals, one who posts on
Mondays, one who posts Fridays, and one who posts whenever she feels like ti.

The theme is Christianity. The "disturbed" Christians of the title aren't disturbed as in "mentally disturbed" but disturbed as in upset with how Christianity is portrayed by some organizations, in the media, etc.

As an atheist, I find reading these blogs pretty interesting, but I know that actual Christians will also find what they have to say of interest.

Sample post:

The Heresy Hunters Are Coming! [half of it!]

If you are a blogger, you will experience criticism from time to time. When your put your thoughts out there for the entire world to read, you will eventually find some one who disagrees. And there's nothing wrong with that. Here's the main thing to remember when dealing with criticism. If it's constructive criticism--for example, "I think you should research your topics more before you write about them"--then you should consider what your critics say, because they might be onto something. However, if your critics something like, "You liberal scumbag!" it's best to delete their comments.

The Christian blogsosphere has a specific kind of critic called the Heresy Hunter, who has taken it upon him/herself to expose every false doctrine they can find within modern Christianity. Heresy Hunters see themselves as modern day Reformers pitted in a battle against the corrupt Church. Sometimes they accurately find false doctrines that a lot of Christians accept, like the Prosperity Gospel and the Word-of-Faith movement. However, sometimes the Heresy Hunters forget about 2 Timothy 2:24-25: "The Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth." (Emphasis mine) When the Heresy Hunters get on a roll, they often resort to name-calling and finger-pointing.

RECENT POSTS:
--The Heresy Hunters Are Coming!
--Mormon Mondays (on Tuesday): Introduction
--Surprised by Humor?
--Holy Ghost Hokey Pokey?
--A Fourth Observed
--Lisa Gungor - "Jesus and John"

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Ms. Cairo writes several blogs including:
Seaborn: Oceanography Blog
Star Trek Report: Space Sciences
Topical Murder and Dated Death

BCNN (Black Christian News Network)

REVIEWED BY: Ms. Cairo

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: BCNN1

WEB ADDRESS: http://www.blackchristiannews.com/news/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: BCNN1 is dedicated to reporting breaking news from a black, Christian perspective.

The mission of BCNN1 is to: Proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people of African descent and whosoever will. Inspire people with Christian books and materials. Educate people with the news of the world. Inform people with stories that impact their lives.

Our Motto: "For Praying, Thinking and Doing Christians"

MY REVIEW: BCNN is a series of websites - with breaking news videos, a Christian magazine, news from Africa with a Christian perspective, news from the Caribbean with a Christian perspective, news from the Latino community with a Christian perspective, and a digital radio station with Bible teachings and Christian music.

The news in the blog is not exclusively for African Americans, although they do have an emphasis on it, but news of interest to all Christians is included. The articles aren't afraid to be critical of President Obama whom the authors feel is going to far to embrace Islam, and they don't appreciate his stand on abortion. (Which is funny...as Obama's stand on allowing abortion is the only thing I like about him!)

Anyway, this blog is of interest to all Christians, not just African American Christians. Highly recommended.

RECENT POSTS:
--Famed Gospel Artist, Walter Hawkins, Goes Home to be With the Lord at 61
--Black Congregation in Houston Has Church Burned, a Pastor Who Killed his wife, and infighting
--Ministers Encourage Church Members to Tithe, Even n Recessoin
--Rev Sheila Schuller Says Evangelist Robert H. Schuller is not Retiring
--Chaplain Who Prayed In Jesus' Name and Was Fired Demands Apology
--7 OUt of 10 Christian Households Eliminate Debt and Avoid Debt
--Atlanta Police Work Hard to Rid the City of the Sex Trade

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Ms. Cairo writes several blogs including:
Seaborn: Oceanography Blog
Star Trek Report: Space Sciences
Topical Murder and Dated Death]
Rush Limbaugh Report

Pharyngula (science, religion, politics)

REVIEWED BY: Ms. Cairo

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: Pharyngula, by Seed Media Group

WEB ADDRESS: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: Seed Magazine presents Pharyngula, a scientific and freethinking blog named after an important period of embryonic development. Pharyngula is a mixed bag of science news with a liberal slant, as well as other topics guaranteed to make you think and make you laugh.

MY REVIEW: I enjoy this blog, for all that I'm a Republican (although an atheist one) and the author is a Liberal, but an atheist also, so he gets a pass on his politics.

The author is PZ Myers, a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris. He works with zebrafish in the field of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo), and also cultivates an interest in cephalopods. (He also has a biography on Wikipedia!)

The blog makes for very interesting reading, and I encourage all biology and cephalopod fans, and atheists, and anyone with an interest in good writing, to read it. As for the politics - regardless of your views, it's always good to read the other side...

Sample post

How Mormons will conquer the world
There's a documentary coming out about how the Mormons influenced California's Proposition 8, and Salon has an interview with the director, Reed Cowan. He makes the point that it wasn't just that they raised buckets of money, but that they had willing volunteers.

Nobody does it better than the Mormons. Money is one thing. What outsiders don't understand is the volunteer aspect: the "means and time" trigger language that comes from the temple, and how it literally played to their obedience.

Their greatest asset is the obedience of their people. They had people signed up to go street by street and house by house. They knew who to take with them and were extremely organized.

What is it about those two words, "time and means," that triggers obedience?

You're told in the temple that what you are about to do, your eternal salvation hinges on it. God will not be mocked. Then you see a character named Satan who basically threatens to take away your eternal salvation if you don't live up to covenants you're making. When they used the trigger language of the temple, most of the Mormon faithful got it. Your salvation and the salvation of humanity depends on it. It's inferred that you will lose everything if you don't obey.

If there's one thing religion is good at, it's using fear to make people conform and obey. The question is whether uniformity and mass action at the behest of a few authoritarians is good for humanity…and I think not. At least not the kind of humanity I want to live among.

RECENT POSTS:
--How Mormons will conquer the world
--Friday Cephalopod: Eye of the cuttlefish
--Great Beards: Darwin!
--Irreligiosophical podcast
--Octopuses do not have psychic powers

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Ms. Cairo writes several blogs including:
Seaborn: Oceanography Blog
Star Trek Report: Space Sciences
Topical Murder and Dated Death

One Witch's Way (Lifestyles & Culture)

REVIEWED BY: Ann Currie

MY RECOMMENDATION: Yes

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: One Witch’s Way

WEB ADDRESS: onewitchsway.com

BLOG DESCRIPTION: I am a Witch and Priestess of 20+ years practicing and studying eclectic Wicca and Paganism. I am a tarot enthusiast and professional psychic. I write about magick, Wicca, Pagan news, my personal life and experiences and share daily spiritually guided readings and advice with everyone for daily reflection.

MY REVIEW: This is a great blog – a glimpse into another world. And Rowan Pedragon gladly shares her world with us. She is very patient with questions from new witchs and practitioners of Wicca, giving them very practical advice. One young lady was concerned about the cost of all the alter supplies. Rowan wisely suggested alternatives she could pick-up at Target that would still meet the magicall requirements.

And, fresh herbs from the grocery store “are no less an herb than the ones sold in Witch shops”.

She also talks randomly about things going on in her life (like the rest of us) TV shows, Pagan social network sites (well maybe not like all of us), but she makes the reader realize she is just one amongst us. It is entertaining and a good read. It is an excellent blog about an interesting subject most of us know little about

She posts regularly, lately daily.

RECENT ARTICLES:
--The Real Witch Project
--A Brief Wicca/Witch Documentary
--Crystal Wednesday: Labradorite
--Are you following the RSS Feed?
--The Eggs have Hatched

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Ann Currie publishes:
My Life a Bit South of Normal
Silver Pieces: The Strange and Peculiar

Bible Verse Of The Day

REVIEWED BY: Ms. Cairo

MY RECOMMENDATION: NO

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION PAGE: Bible Verse of the Day

WEB ADDRESS: gbvd.wordpress.com

BLOG DESCRIPTION: Each day starts off with a quick verse (or verses) from the Bible, with periodic articles to think about as you take your daily walk in life.

MY REVIEW: For those who just want exactly what the title says, "one verse a day", that's what you will get.

That’s all it is, one Bible verse a day.

I’m not religious. I chose this blog because I was hoping that, in addition to the Bible verse, the blog author would share some information about that verse. Why he/she chose it, what does it mean in actual context with the rest of the bible, etc. A sort of annotated Bible Verse. But it’s simply a verse, one a day.

RECENT ENTRIES:
N/A