JREF Banned From YouTube

As you may be aware of, YouTube has recently been suspending the accounts of atheist commentators when they criticize religion, especially Christianity and Islam. But now they've gone too far... they've banned the account of the venerable and highly respected James Randi Educational Foundation.



James Randi is one of the most respected voices in the skeptical, scientific, rational world. He's appeared in more documentary's than I can count. It's just ludicrous that YouTube has become the self appointed guardians of religious sensibilities on the internet. All of us that believe in free speech need to let them know how we feel.

Let's All Go

The American Atheists national convention is in Atlanta Georgia on April 9 through 12. My daughter, her boyfriend, and I are going. AA has a great line up of speakers including Richard Dawkins. It should be a lot of fun... see you there!

Happy St. Paddy's Day

I love St. Pat's Day mostly because I love Irish music. I play the bodhran (the Irish frame drum) and used to play with an Irish band called Cara until it disbanded. Anyway, my family always has an Irish dinner. So tonight we'll have an Irish cheddar and stout fondue followed by corned beef and cabbage, potatoes, and soda bread. Then we'll finish with key lime and grasshopper pies for desert (they're green). And we'll listen to Irish music. In honor of today here is a video of the band Evergreen. Actually it's the bodhran player, Abe Doron, playing a solo and then being joined by Gal Shahar for a bodhran duet and then the band finishes with a quick reel. Enjoy and Happy St. Paddy's Day:

Happy Pi Day!

Today is Pi Day (March 14, 3/14). Now, true geeks were celebrating at 1:59 this morning. But us less than true geeks can celebrate anytime today. My family and I will have a Pi Day dinner this evening. And, of course, we'll have pie for dinner (probably a deep dish chicken pie) and pie for dessert. Also, while you're celebrating don't forget to raise a glass and wish Albert Einstein happy birthday. I've always thought that is was a fitting coincidence that Albert was born on Pi Day. How cool is that? Oh, and just for fun, here is Pi calculated to 1 million digits. And here is a site where you can search for your birthday (or any other date for that matter) within the digits of Pi.

On Our Way to World Domination...

Well... probably not but... The results of the 2008 ARIS (American Religious Identification Survey) are out and they are interesting. In 1990 non-theists were only 8.2% of the population of the US in 2009 we are 15%. That's the third largest group in the country after Catholics (25.1%), Baptists (15.8%). What's significant about this study is its size, well over 50,000 survey respondents were included. This greatly increases its accuracy. This is good news for the non-theist community.

Narwhals, Narwhals

If this little ditty doesn't give you an earworm then you're dead!

Another Reason to Hate Religion

I really didn't need to see this article this morning. Just when you think it's safe to ignore religion and pretend it's not there they give you a new reason to hate them. Here is another good example of why religion is evil and toxic to our society. A nine year old girl in Brazil was raped and pregnant with twins. Physically, there was no way she could carry this pregnancy through to term, neither the girl nor the babies could have survived. So the doctors did the only medically sensible thing they could and aborted the twin fetuses. Now the EVIL and VILE catholic church is raising a big stink about it. This kind of crap makes me so angry... must... calm... down... now... lower... blood... pressure...

I'm okay...

Children of Evolution

There is a movement in Germany to change their national holiday "Christi Himmelfahrt" (The day of Christ's ascension to heaven) to "Evolutionstag" (Evolution Day). Sounds like a great idea to me. But what's really cool is this video that they made as part of the campaign:



Now didn't that just make your day?

Magician Fail

I don't know if this guy intended to get a laugh or if he just messed it up, but either way, it's funny:

My Latest Creation

via: icanhazcheezburger.com

Why is Science Important?

A very good question, isn't it? Well there's a website (created by Alom Shaha) that is trying to answer it by having lots of different people, scientists and non-scientists alike, give their answers. Here's the latest example made by Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy:

Good News for Arkansas Atheists

Rep. Richard Carroll of North Little Rock has introduced a bill in the Arkansas House that would finally lift the ban on atheists holding public office or testifying in a court case. The bill, HJR1009, would amend the Arkansas constitution, effectively removing a law that the federal government has already ruled is unconstitutional. This means that this is a largely symbolic change since the law is unenforceable anyway. But still... thanks Rep. Carroll for the thought. I expect that the xtians in the state will raise a big stink about this. It could get interesting. Let's hope that the legislature is sensible and does the right thing... yeah right....

The Answer to the Untimate Question

Good ol' Edward Current does it again with another great video. This answers the question: "What will happen to me when I die?"

Happy Darwin Day!

...Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of the higher animals, directly follows. There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved. --Charles Darwin: "The Origin of Species"

So reads the last few lines of Darwin's magnum opus. Happy 200th birthday Charles and thank you for changing our understanding of the world. My family and I will be having a private celebration dinner this evening which will include monkey bread for desert (of course). Also, in celebration of the day, Digital Cuttlefish has composed a great song in his honor.

That's one hungry baby!

This video "squeaks" for itself:

Evil

Here is an example of what religion taken to the extreme can create. This woman is pure evil. She is responsible for organizing the rape of 80 other women so that she could use their feelings of guilt (also induced by religion) to convince them to be suicide bombers. This is the face of a monster. Oh, and let me be clear, I'm not excusing the actions of the men involved. They may have been recruited by this woman, but they have working brains and the capability to think for themselves. They are fully responsible for their own actions.

Attenborough: Science and Art

Here is an absolutely beautiful video by WellcomeTrust of the UK featuring David Attenborough. It manages to get the gist of the evolution of life on this planet down pretty well. And does it with artistic flare. Very nice...

The Stupid... It Hurts!

Warning: The resulting flood of unmitigated stupidity, blatant ignorance, and unashamed bigotry emanating from the following video may cause your brain to explode:



Oh, and by the way "Dr." Dobson, the Constitution of the United States of America contains no mention of god or gods in any way. It is a completely secular document. The quote about "god given rights" is from the Declaration of Independence. The laws of the country are based on the Constitution not the Declaration.

My Own LOLCat

I decided to try my hand at creating a LOLCat. The kitteh in this pic. is our youngest (of seven). His name is Sin and he lives up to it every day!

The Cat Came Back

I ran across this on YouTube today. I hadn't seen it in a long time. It's one of my all time favorites: