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September 4, 2009
Volume 5, Issue 36
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:
info@centerforatheism.org.
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FEATURED ARTICLES
Diocese appears to break pledge
Boston Globe
By
Jonathan Saltzman and Michael Rezendes A Roman Catholic diocese in
Connecticut has invoked the First Amendment's separation of church and
state in a ...
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/08/29/conn_diocese_appears_to_break_church_pledge_of_openness/
Group wants Jindal to reimburse state
2TheAdvocate
Welton
Gaddy, who is the president of the national Interfaith Alliance, said
Jindal is overstepping the line of separation between church and state.
...
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/56809857.html?index=1&c=y
ATHEISM
Group complains about schools' 'belief in God'
Chicago Tribune
AP
UNIONTOWN, Ohio - An atheist group is complaining about an Ohio school
district's mission statement listing "belief in God" among its values.
...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-oh-schools-missionst,0,1235125.story
Atheists offer to care for Christians' pets after the Rapture
Telegraph.co.uk
By
Matthew Moore Now a group of atheists in the US have come up with a
tongue-in-cheek solution, offering to take in the cats and dogs of
"saved" believers ...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/6106462/Atheists-offer-to-care-for-Christians-pets-after-the-Rapture.html
Florida atheists are using a billboard to spread the word
Kentucky.com
By
Jaweed Kaleem - McClatchy Newspapers MIAMI — There's nothing unusual
about churches advertising Sunday services, but some atheists are
turning that idea ...
http://www.kentucky.com/faith/story/913608.html
Secular camp in Collin County focuses on questions, not answers
Dallas Morning News
The Dallas-Fort Worth area already boasts a handful of atheist and agnostic organizations –
sprinkled among its thousands of churches. ...
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/083109dnmetatheistcamp.3cc7357.html
No Denying Local Atheist Camp Successful
CBS 11
Forrest
said he doesn't know a lot of other children who are atheist or
agnostic. On Sunday, he met 40 others with similar points of view. ...
http://cbs11tv.com/religion/atheist.camp.camp.2.1153410.html
An atheist goes to Greenbelt
guardian.co.uk
What
happened when we sent a staunch atheist to a Christian arts festival to
talk with evangelicals? Can Jessica stay out of the arms of Jesus? ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/aug/31/religion-greenbelt-evangelical-atheism
Lodi atheists challenge City Council prayers
Sacramento Bee
By
Jennifer Garza David Diskin is an atheist who lives next door to a
church. He is used to being a nonbeliever in Lodi, where the City
Council begins each ...
http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/2149350.html
DART Commission Approves "More Open" Advertising Standards
WHO-TV
"Looking
back on it the atheist ads (they) did a great job," says DART general
manager Bard Miller, "They certainly got a lot of publicity and we
would hope ...
http://www.whotv.com/news/who-story-dart-advertising-090309,0,1100377.story
BOOKS, FILM, THEATRE, TV, YOU TUBE
Science Chronicle
New York Times
In
evolution, species are mutable. But the 18th-century founder of
taxonomy, Linnaeus, assuredly did not think so, and 20th-century
taxonomists, ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/books/review/Dizikes-t.html?_r=1&em
Catholic League president: Atheists 'out there to get us'
Raw Story
This
kind of new atheism. This militant dogmatic fundamentalist atheism out
there to get us.” Donohue appeared on Fox & Friends to talk about
his new book, ...
http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/08/31/catholic-league-atheists-penn-teller/
School Band's Evolution T-Shirt Idea Hits A Sour Note
fox4kc.com
A
t-shirt meant to unify the high school band has fueled a hot button
topic on creation vs. evolution. It's a debate school districts have
dealt with all ...
http://www.fox4kc.com/wdaf-school-band-evolution-shirt-design-083109,0,4592269.story
Book Review: Intelligent Design
Monsters and Critics.com
By
Sandy Amazeen Sep 2, 2009, 2:18 GMT Denise Little has taken on the
controversial evolution versus creationism argument with this latest
anthology of ...
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/books/science_fiction_fantasy/reviews/article_1498694.php/Book-Review-Intelligent-Design
The evidence for evolution
Economist
The
Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. By Richard Dawkins.
Simon and Schuster; 480 pages; $30. Bantam Press; £20. Buy from
Amazon.com, ...
http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14361755
EVOLUTION, CREATIONISM, I.D.
Intelligent Design 'Evidence' Unproven by Real Science Scientists ...
Softpedia
For
example, Intelligent Design (ID) proponents have said for a long time
that one of their main arguments against evolution is the fact that the
basic ...
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Intelligent-Design-039-Evidence-039-Unproven-by-Real-Science-120351.shtml
High school marching band can't wear evolutionary T-shirts
Kansas City Star
Summers
said they chose the evolution of man because it was “recognizable.” The
band debuted the T-shirts when it marched in the Missouri State Fair
parade. ...
http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/1412978.html
Brass Evolution T-Shirts Banned
KCTV5 News
This
year's theme is Brass Evolutions and it shows the evolution of man from
monkey to homo sapien. Along with it is the evolution of brass
instruments. ...
http://www.kctv5.com/news/20655497/detail.html
SCIENCE
Skipping Spouse to Spouse Isn’t Just a Man’s Game
In
the United States and much of the Western world, when a couple
divorces, the average income of the woman and her dependent children
often plunges by 20 percent or more, while that of her now unfettered
ex, who had been the family’s primary breadwinner but who...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/science/01angi.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
First Trace of Color Found in Fossil Bird Feathers
Birds,
more than any other group of animals, are a celebration of color. They
have evolved to every extreme of the spectrum, from the hot pink of
flamingos to the shimmering blue of a peacock’s neck. Yet, for decades,
paleontologists who study extinct birds have had to use their
imaginations to see the colors in the fossils...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/science/01feath.html?th&emc=th
Scientists First To Image 'Anatomy' Of A Molecule
ScienceDaily
(Aug. 29, 2009) — IBM scientists have been able to image the “anatomy”
-- or chemical structure -- inside a molecule with unprecedented
resolution, using a complex technique known as noncontact atomic force
microscopy...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090828203759.htm
Warped Debris Disks Around Stars Are 'Blowin' In The Wind'
ScienceDaily
(Aug. 28, 2009) — The dust-filled disks where new planets may be
forming around other stars occasionally take on some
difficult-to-understand shapes. Now, a team led by John Debes at NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., finds that a star's
motion through interstellar gas can account for many of them...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090828104137.htm
Slow-motion Earthquake Testing Probes How
Buildings Collapse In Quakes
ScienceDaily
(Aug. 28, 2009) — It takes just seconds for tall buildings to collapse
during powerful earthquakes. Knowing precisely what's happening in
those seconds can help engineers design buildings that are less prone
to sustaining that kind of damage...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090825151002.htm
Fruit Is Even Better For You Than Previously Thought
ScienceDaily
(Aug. 28, 2009) — An international team of scientists has found that
the polyphenol content of fruits has been underestimated...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827073252.htm
Huge New Planet Orbits 'Wrong' Way Around Star; Tells Of Game Of Planetary Billiards
ScienceDaily
(Aug. 28, 2009) — A team of scientists has found a new planet which
orbits the wrong way around its host star. The planet, named WASP-17,
and orbiting a star 1000 light years away, was found by the UK's WASP
project in collaboration with Geneva Observatory. The discovery, which
casts new light on how planetary systems form and evolve, is being
announced August 12 in a paper submitted to Astrophysical Journal...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827134159.htm
Extrasolar Hot Jupiter: The Planet That 'Shouldn’t Exist'
ScienceDaily
(Aug. 27, 2009) — A planet has been discovered with ten times the mass
of Jupiter, but which orbits its star in less than one Earth-day
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827132901.htm
Getting Wired: How The Brain Does It
ScienceDaily
(Aug. 27, 2009) — In a new study, researchers at the Montreal
Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro), McGill University have
found an important mechanism involved in setting up the vast
communications network of connections in the brain...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090826113821.htm
Trifid Nebula: A Massive Star
Factory
ScienceDaily
(Aug. 26, 2009) — A new image of the Trifid Nebula, shows just why it
is a firm favorite of astronomers, amateur and professional alike. This
massive star factory is so named for the dark dust bands that trisect
its glowing heart, and is a rare combination of three nebula types,
revealing the fury of freshly formed stars and presaging more star
birth...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090826073442.htm
SEPARATION CHURCH / STATE
Kennedy Was Champion Of ChurchState Separation | Americans United
The
Rev Barry W Lynn executive director of Americans United for Separation
of Church and State today issued the following statement on the death
of U.S. Sen ...
http://www.au.org/media/press-releases/archives/2009/08/kennedy-was-champion-of.html
In shift, Missouri keeps its child-care center rules
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
... Thursday that the rules had never been challenged in court as a
violation of the separation of church and state or as an abuse of regulatory power. ...
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/missouristatenews/story/91E4B4F7640BC17E86257621001D87CF?OpenDocument
Scientology: crisis in France
guardian.co.uk
France,
with its republican tradition of the separation of church and state,
takes the behaviour of sects and cults seriously – perhaps because it
has been ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/29/scientology-france-legal
McDonnell Grad School Thesis Causes Stir in Va. Governor Race
WCAV
He
also wrote that the GOP should act to "correct the conventional
folklore about the separation of church and state," arguing that the
First Amendment ...
http://www.charlottesvillenewsplex.tv/news/headlines/56256977.html
Atheists To Weigh Each Case
kypost.com
"If this case were to have been lost, church-state separation, in Kentucky at least, would have been in
very bad trouble." AP....
http://www.kypost.com/news/local/story/Atheists-To-Weigh-Each-Case/XdWXjgRtskKtSw18K07fPQ.cspx
Hearings ordered on state funding of service agency
Louisville Courier-Journal
...
religious activity that was funded with state money,” said Barry Lynn,
executive director for Americans United for Separation of Church and
State. ...
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090831/NEWS01/908310347/Hearings+ordered+on+state+funding+of+service+agency
Bless this meeting: Cities call on faithful for prayer before business
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Government
entities address the separation of church and state differently. In
Bartlett, the prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance is listed before the
...
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/aug/31/bless-this-meeting/
McDonnell: Views have changed since school
Staunton News Leader
"Leaders must correct the conventional folklore about the
separation of church and state," he wrote. "Historically, the religious liberty guarantees of the ...
http://www.newsleader.com/article/20090831/NEWS01/908310320
Church, Post Office Are Package Deal In Manchester
Connecticut Law Tribune
The
77-year-old Jewish World War II veteran knew that separation of church
and state is a central feature of American government, and it just
didn't seem ...
http://www.ctlawtribune.com/getarticle.aspx?ID=34812
Graduation plans move ahead as lawsuit continues
Brookfield Elm Grove Now
On
behalf of several unnamed plaintiffs, Americans United for Separation
of Church and State filed a lawsuit April 22 in federal court in
Milwaukee to stop ...
http://www.brookfieldnow.com/news/56450097.html
Tax dollars will support churches and parochial schools
NBC Chicago
Are these grants a violation of the separation between Church and State? Should tax dollars be used to support churches
and parochial schools? ...
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/New-Taxes-For-Gods-Sake-56584997.html
Court Revives Suit Over Faith-Based Youth Homes
Courthouse News Service
The
lawsuit was combined with a separate action alleging that Kentucky
Baptist violates the separation of church and state by teaching
religion in ...
http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/09/02/Court_Revives_Suit_Over_Faith-Based_Youth_Homes.htm
Atheists say that NASA is violating separation of church and state
Los Angeles Chronicle
An
Atheist-First Amendment public policy group charged last week that NASA
is violating the separation of church and state by permitting a "space
...
http://www.losangeleschronicle.com/articles/view/116973
Still no nativity scenes, atheists signs at state Capitol
Seattle Times
Still
not allowed inside the state Capitol in Olympia: Nativity scenes,
atheist signs or Festivus poles. Still not allowed inside the state
Capitol in ...
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009796245_capitol03.html
Idaho charter school sues after state bars use of Bible as text
First Amendment Center
...
Bible as part of literature or history courses if it does not violate a
separation of church and state, according to the state Department of
Education. ...
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=22023
School board candidates address religion, school year
DesMoinesRegister.com
Buckton:
Believes in a separation of church and state and that parents should be
responsible for teaching their children about religion. ...
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090903/NEWS02/909030366/-1/NEWS04
Reports: Gov. Jindal took state helicopters to church
Raw Story
Nevertheless,
Jindal still has “a separation of church and state problem here,”
reenforced Maddow. “… The governor has been sold to us as a fiscal ...
http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/09/04/jindal-took-chopper-to-church/
MISCELLANEOUS
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