THE   FOCUS

June 8, 2008
Volume 4, Issue 23
Published by the Center For Atheism (CFA)
Editor: David Birnkrant
 
The Focus provides links to articles collected from major newspapers and magazines, and is emailed weekly.

This Week in Atheism is a cable show that discusses the articles featured below, every Wednesday at 6:30 PM (EST), Manhattan Cable station 57. 
Live streaming is available at: http://www.mnn.org.

Comments, suggestions and subscription:




  

FEATURED ARTICLES
Polygamist sect's children to be returned
AFP - 
Sect lawyer Jessop urged reporters to "be super-sensitive" as the children reunite with their mothers, adding that after two months of separation, ...
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h7fVcd3vZrCXxds-zv8cXCTqzihg

Atheists caught having sex in cathedral
(CNN) -- A man and a woman have been charged by police in Italy after they were found having sex in a confession box...
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/06/04/cathedral.sex/index.html

A word for nonbelievers
Philadelphia Inquirer - Philadelphia,PA,USA
Fox told him that there were many atheist groups in the region, but that few communicated with one another. "Joe saw it as a lack of focus," Rade recalled. ...
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/philadelphia/20080605_A_word_for_nonbelievers.html

 
  News Articles
  (Some publications may require that you sign up for membership to view their article.)
 
ATHEISM
The Absence of Belief
PopPolitics - USA
With polls consistently showing close to 95 percent of Americans believe in God, being an atheist can seem like a lonely endeavor. Karen Johnson spoke with ...
http://www.poppolitics.com/archives/2001/04/The-Absence-of-Belief
Canucks 23% atheist

Edmonton Sun - Alberta, Canada
By TIMOTHY AVERY, THE CANADIAN PRESS TORONTO -- Fewer than three-quarters of Canadians believe in a god, suggests a new Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey. ...
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/2008/06/01/5736596-sun.html

East Bay atheists believe in branching out
Alameda Times-Star - Alameda,CA,USA
"Apparently the city of Concord has rules about what we can put on our signs," said Chuck Cannon, president of the Atheists and Freethinkers of Contra Costa ...
http://www.insidebayarea.com/timesstar/ci_9450577

Forgoing faith Daily - University of Washington - Seattle,WA,USA                                             Now, Godersky considers herself an atheist. She said her family is atheist as well, even though they consider themselves agnostic. "Atheism is a rejection ...
Atheists create first Portuguese association
Portugal News - Lagoa,Algarve,Portugal
'Atheists, agnostics, and skeptics from all over the country have united to create Portugal's first Atheist Association (AAP), established to proclaim their ...
http://www.the-news.net/cgi-bin/google.pl?id=962-10
BOOKS, FILM, THEATRE, TV, YOU TUBE
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
Crows Nest - USA
This is the 30th anniversary edition of this book, 'The Selfish Gene', originally released in 1989. One of my reviewers (Hi Rod) suggested I ought to have a ...
http://www.sfcrowsnest.co.uk/articles/books/2008/nz12654.php

Object of new video game is to stop the spread of Christianity and ..
WSLS.com - Roanoke,VA,USA
The new game, not yet released, is giving a voice to the atheist community, that's according to the game's creator, a University of Virginia graduate ...
http://www.wsls.com/sls/news/local/article/object_of_new_video_game_is_to_stop_the_spread_of_christianity_and_islam/11957/
Stroke of Genius

Southsider Magazine - Lexington,KY,USA
Einstein was slow to talk—or at least to let it be known he could. He was a rebellious student, not interested in the then-accepted teaching methods of rote ...
http://www.southsidermagazine.com/Articles-c-2008-06-02-76936.113117_Stroke_of_Genius.html
EVOLUTION, CREATIONISM, I.D.
Scientists rally against creationist 'superstition'
Independent - London,England,UK
But this week sees the start of a concerted fightback, as an 18-month celebration of evolution and its greatest proponent, Charles Darwin, gets under way, ...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/scientists-rally-against-creationist-superstition-837832.html

'Evolution News & Views: June 2008 Archives') ); ?>
Discovery Institute - Seattle,WA,USA
In the debate between dualists and materialists over the relationship between the mind and the brain, materialists often invoke neuroscience to buttress ...
http://www.evolutionnews.org/2008/06/

Some fear state board wants to give creationism equal status with ..
Houston Chronicle - United States
And biology is built on the theory of evolution, raising fears among some observers that social conservatives on the 15-member panel will try to shade ...
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5815344.html

Does Evolution Go Fast-Forward?
New York Times Blogs - New York,NY,USA
He argues that the pace of evolution and technological change has kept accelerating at a remarkably predictable rate since the beginning of life. ...
http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/does-evolution-go-fast-forward/

The expelled evolutionist
MSNBC - USA
Back in 2005, a federal judge ruled that intelligent design was basically a religious concept, and thus should not be taught in public-school science ...
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/06/03/1101860.aspx

Threats Remain for Evolution Education
RedOrbit - Dallas,TX,USA
In this context, some in the science community hoped for a respite from the evolution issue. But political interests seeking to serve the IDC community ...
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1415758/threats_remain_for_evolution_education/

Opponents of Evolution Are Adopting New Strategy
New York Times - United States
By LAURA BEIL DALLAS — Opponents of teaching evolution, in a natural selection of sorts, have gradually shed those strategies that have not survived the ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/us/04evolution.html

The strengths and weaknesses of evolution
New Scientist (subscription) - UK
On Tuesday night I found myself under a dinosaur, sandwiched between one of Charles Darwin's great great grandsons and a giant, talking Dodo. ...
http://www.newscientist.com/blog/shortsharpscience/2008/06/strengths-and-weaknesses-of-evolution.html?DCMP=ILC-rhts&nsref=ts12_bar

Creation group can't offer teaching degree
USA Today - USA
A Bible-based research institute is fighting a Texas state ruling denying it the right to offer a master's degree in science education, ...
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/5815341.html

Controversial blogger spreads the gospel of science
Seattle Post Intelligencer - USA
The movie, starring Ben Stein, makes the case that alternative theories to standard evolutionary theory (ie, intelligent design or creationism) are ...
http://seattlepi.nwsourcecom/local/365997_pharyngula06.html
SCIENCE
Queen bees took time to play the field
ABC Science Online - Australia
According to Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, individuals aim to have as many of their own offspring as possible, or at least more offspring ...
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/30/2260471.htm?site=science&topic=latest

Evolution and potential function of fibrinogen-like domains across ...
7thSpace Interactive (press release) - New York,NY,USA
The fibrinogen-like (FBG) domain consists of approximately 200 amino acid residues, which has high sequence similarity to the C-terminal halves of ...
http://7thspace.com/headlines/282926/evolution_and_potential_function_of_fibrinogen_like_domains_across_twelve_drosophila_species.html

Health Highlights: May 30, 2008
Washington Post - United States
Parental education needs to be focused more on younger caretakers with more children," study leader Dr. Rika N. O'Malley, of the Albert Einstein Medical ...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/30/AR2008053001643.html

Insights and inferences about integron evolution from genomic data
7thSpace Interactive (press release) - New York,NY,USA
Integrons are mechanisms that facilitate horizontal gene transfer, allowing bacteria to integrate and express foreign DNA. These are important in the ...
http://7thspace.com/headlines/282937/insights_and_inferences_about_integron_evolution_from_genomic_data.html

NASA Simulates Gravity Waves
About - News & Issues - New York,NY,USA
Einstein's theory of general relativity is one such mathematical system, resulting in a set of tensor calculus equations. Unsolvable in Einstein's day, ...
http://physics.about.com/b/2006/07/24/nasa-simulates-gravity-waves.htm

Bees genes best carried by siblings
ScienceAlert - Australia
The existence of such altruistic behaviour was described by Charles Darwin as such a fundamental paradox that it potentially threatened his whole theory of ...
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20080206-17416-2.html

Quadruped families evolution clue
BBC News - UK
Presenting their work at a European genetics conference, they said it could reveal clues about human evolution. But other experts said the idea of an "all ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7427525.stm

Evolution Of An Imprinted Domain In Mammals
Science Daily (press release) - USA
A new paper investigates the evolution of genomic imprinting in a specific region of the mammalian genome. The work, by Anne Ferguson-Smith and colleagues ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080602214249.htm

Dark, Perhaps Forever
New York Times - United States
Some physicists are even willing to burn down their old sainted Einstein and revise his theory of gravity, general relativity, to make the cosmic ...
http://www.nytimescom/2008/06/03/science/03dark.html?ref=science

Why birds are birds: looking at dinosaur fossils to understand ...
Medill Reports - Chicago,IL,USA
Back on the Archosauria line, evolution branches out again at Saurischia dinosaurs, which fall into two groups, Sauropods, (like the long-necked ...
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=92913
SEPARATION CHURCH / STATE
Storm Clouds Over The Sunshine State
Americans United - Washington,DC,USA
Bush has engineered onto the November ballot two initiatives that would eliminate the state constitution's strict church-state separation provisions, ...
http://www.au.org/site/News2?abbr=cs_&page=NewsArticle&id=9858

Local churches' marriage discrimination
El Dorado Hills Telegraph - Folsom,CA,USA
Exemption for churches from the ruling May 15 ruling is based on the doctrine of separation of church and state, and a church's status as a non-public ...
http://www.edhtelegraph.com/detail/85918html

Church Still Fighting To Operate Postal Station
Hartford Courant - United States
Cooper said the displays and religious symbols in the station on Main Street violated his First Amendment rights guaranteeing separation of church and state ...
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-postscript0606.artjun06,0,1421349.story
MISCELLANEOUS
Old North Church Blames America
Youngstown Vindicator - Youngstown,OH,USA
... reproductive freedom, scientific literacy, public television, public education, sensible energy policy, and the separation of church and state. ...
http://www.vindy.com/weblogs/reason/2008/may/30/old-north-church-blames-america/

News flash: Newton's laws were 'overthrown'
Grist Magazine - Seattle,WA,USA
They fail in very special cases -- speeds close to the speed of light (where you need Einstein's special theory of relativity), near large gravitational ...
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/5/30/133231/982

Islam & Secularism- Chapter II
American Chronicle - Beverly Hills,CA,USA
Atheist philosophers also includes newborns and children before exposure to their parents´ faith as atheist, a claim that had typically opposed the base of ...
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/63691

NY judge: Film can use John Lennon song
The Associated Press - 
The film features Ben Stein (no relation to the judge), an actor and former speechwriter for Presidents Nixon and Ford, defending intelligent design.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g3LOy5ikaXcR-5E84gl0t8ZjIETgD91267K80

Race was the first to fall

TheDoings-ClarendonHills.com - Clarendon Hills,IL,USA
And you'd think that with all the problems the clergy have caused candidates that an atheist would have a shot. I think religious faith remains an absolute ...
http://blogs.pioneerlocal.com/hoffman/2008/06/race-was-the-first-to-fall.html
 
CONVENTIONS / MEETINGS / EVENTS 
 
 Atheists  Alliance International                    Sept. 2008                Long Beach, Ca.
 
 Freedom From Religion                                Oct. 10-12, 2008       Chicago
 
 Gift for Life Day                                                Nov. 4, 2008    
 
             
 
        CFA Program
 
The Center for Atheism (CFA) was established by the New York City Atheists as a separate and independent national organization to propose, develop, and be a catalyst for new national activities supporting the objectives of atheists, agnostics, humanists, freethinkers, skeptics, secularists and separation-of-church-and-state advocates. 

CFA will accept and review suggestions from individuals and other secular organizations that will foster our goals.
 
 
          Special Notices

          There are no special notices this week.
 
 
 
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