FEATURED ARTICLES

Religious skeptics believe their voices will be heard
Indianapolis Star
"People have a right to believe whatever they want," said Charlie Sitzes, a retired airline pilot and spokesman for the Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign, ...
http://www.indystar.com/article/20090912/LOCAL/909120367/1007/LIVING/Religious+skeptics+believe+their+voices+will+be+heard

ATHEISM

Shun the Nonbeliever
Daily Californian
After some serious deliberation, I finally typed "atheist" in the previously blank box. From then on, I decided to try and give atheists a better name. ...
http://www.dailycal.org/article/106573/shun_the_nonbeliever

This atheist blogger sold his soul on eBay Rediff Getahead
This atheist blogger sold his soul on eBay, Rediff.com: Indian news | news columns | interviews | news specials | newshound & more
http://getahead.rediff.com/report/2009/sep/16/this-atheist-blogger-sold-his-soul-on-ebay.htm

Finnish advertising watchdog clears atheist bus campaign
Newsroom Finland
... a self-regulatory body that is part of the Central Chamber of Commerce, said Tuesday it did not consider the atheist bus campaign inappropriate. ...
http://newsroom.finland.fi/stt/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=22787&group=General

Study finds students are losing religion
Central Michigan Life
Kirk Wilcox, president of the Non-Religious, Atheist, Free Thinker and Agnostic Alliance, a registered student organization he helped start last semester, ...
http://www.cm-life.com/2009/09/16/study-finds-students-are-losing-religion/

Atheists 'have more success at online dating'
Telegraph.co.uk
Atheists have more success at online dating, according to a light-hearted statistical study of opening messages. By Matthew Moore Self-effacing men are also ...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6196584/Atheists-have-more-success-at-online-dating.html

St Therese of Lisieux: come out, atheists, and fight
Times Online
In yesterday's newspaper arrived a story to rekindle my atheism. Just when my disbelief was flagging — not for want of certainty but out of weariness with ...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article6837533.ece

Society spreads word about secular beliefs
The Daily Toreador (registration)
“It's an organization for free thinkers, atheists, agnostics and any other free-thinking people,” said Drew Ayling, president of Secular Student Society. ...
http://www.dailytoreador.com/la-vida/society-spreads-word-about-secular-beliefs-1.1883644

6000 Expected at Controversial University of Central Florida Debate
Reuters
(Business Wire)-- More than 6000 people are registered to attend this evening`s debate between Christopher Hitchens, atheist author, and Dinesh D`Souza, ...
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS110209+17-Sep-2009+BW20090917

Does Prosperity Entail the End of God?
Reason Online
... Psychosociological Conditions," Paul argues that evidence strongly shows that as socioeconomic conditions improve secularism/atheism increases. ...
http://reason.com/blog/show/136142.html

BOOKS, FILM, THEATRE, TV, YOU TUBE

American evolution: The recreation of Paul Bettany
Mail on Sunday
He portrays the eminent scientist as a deeply conservative man tortured by his theory of evolution, which will deal a body blow to religion and the ...
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1212496/American-evolution-The-recreation-Paul-Bettany.html

'Creation' producer says US distributors find evolution too ...
USA Today
The British producer of Creation, a film about Charles Darwin, says he has not been to secure a US distributor because the evolution theory is too ...
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/09/the-british-producer-of-a-film-about-charles-darwin-says-he-has-not-been-to-secure-a-us-distributor-because-the-evolution-t.html

Why People Believe What They Do
Scientific American
From your research and the research of others you're familiar with, why is something like intelligent design attractive to people, other than a basic kind ...
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=why-people-believe-what-they-do-09-04-10

Public Schools Issue a Pledge of Allegiance Refusal Reminder?
Opposing Views
Rob Boston, senior policy analyst for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, appeared this morning on Fox News to argue that schools ...
http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/video-pledge-of-allegiance-%E2%80%93-should-schools-help-students-stay-silent

EVOLUTION, CREATIONISM, I.D.

World-Class Scholars to UseEvolutionary Theory in Search for ...
Reuters
(Business Wire)-- The Evolution Institute and the University of Arizona's Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth, and Families are co-hosting an ...
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS92368+17-Sep-2009+BW20090917

Intelligent Design's 8 Biggest Fails | Evolution | DISCOVER Magazine
The latest incarnation of creationism keeps trying—and failing—to take down Darwin...
http://discovermagazine.com/photos/intelligent-design.s-08-biggest-fails

Harun Yahya exposed in New Humanist
National Center for Science Education
Subsequently, it evinced a degree of sympathy for "intelligent design" creationism instead, employing catchphrases like "irreducible complexity" and using ...
http://ncseweb.org/news/2009/09/harun-yahya-exposed-new-humanist-005053

SCIENCE

Biomarker For Rapid Relief Of Major Depression
ScienceDaily (Sep. 13, 2009) — It is a long, slow slog to treat major depression. Many antidepressant medications are available, but no single biomarker or diagnostic test exists to predict which one is right for an individual. As a result, for more than half of all patients, the first drug prescribed doesn't work, and it can take months to figure out what does...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090910142404.htm

Superscanner Helps Scientists See Into The Unknown
ScienceDaily (Sep. 12, 2009) — Researchers at The University of Nottingham have a new weapon in their arsenal of tools to push back the boundaries of science, engineering, veterinary medicine and archaeology...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090910091631.htm

Scientists Develop Novel Use Of Neurotechnology To Solve Classic Social Problem
ScienceDaily (Sep. 11, 2009) — Economists and neuroscientists from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have shown that they can use information obtained through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measurements of whole-brain activity to create feasible, efficient, and fair solutions to one of the stickiest dilemmas in economics...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090910142358.htm

Electronic Nose To Return From Space Station
ScienceDaily (Sep. 11, 2009) — Sniffing out any potential contaminants on the International Space Station where it was stationed for the last six months, the JPL-built electronic nose, or ENose, is homeward bound...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090910235638.htm

Magnetic Fields Play Larger Role In Star Formation Than Previously Thought
ScienceDaily (Sep. 11, 2009) — The simple picture of star formation calls for giant clouds of gas and dust to collapse inward due to gravity, growing denser and hotter until igniting nuclear fusion. In reality, forces other than gravity also influence the birth of stars. New research shows that cosmic magnetic fields play a more important role in star formation than previously thought...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090909122146.htm

Common Mental Disorders May Be More Common Than We Think
ScienceDaily (Sep. 11, 2009) — The prevalence of anxiety, depression and substance dependency may be twice as high as the mental health community has been led to believe...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090910151925.htm

Environmental Scientists Estimate That China Could Meet Its Entire Future Energy Needs By Wind Alone
ScienceDaily (Sep. 11, 2009) — A team of environmental scientists from Harvard and Tsinghua University demonstrated the enormous potential for wind-generated electricity in China. Using extensive metrological data and incorporating the Chinese government's energy bidding and financial restrictions for delivering wind power...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090910142350. htm

Troublesome Green Algae Harnessed To Make Paper-Based Batteries
ScienceDaily (Sep. 11, 2009) — Unwanted blooms of Cladophora algae throughout the Baltic and in other parts of the world are not entirely without a positive side. A group of researchers at the Ångström Laboratory at Uppsala University have discovered that the distinctive cellulose nanostructure of these algae can serve as an effective coating substrate for use in environmentally friendly batteries...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090910084301.htm

Memories Exist Even When Forgotten, Study Suggests
ScienceDaily (Sep. 10, 2009) — A woman looks familiar, but you can't remember her name or where you met her. New research by UC Irvine neuroscientists suggests the memory exists – you simply can't retrieve it...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090909122100.htm

New Robot Travels Across The Seafloor To Monitor The Impact Of Climate Change On Deep-sea Ecosystems
ScienceDaily (Sep. 10, 2009) — Like the robotic rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which wheeled tirelessly across the dusty surface of Mars, a new robot spent most of July traveling across the muddy ocean bottom, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) off the California coast. This robot, the Benthic Rover, has been providing scientists with an entirely new view of life on the deep seafloor...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090909181752.htm

SEPARATION CHURCH / STATE

Ohio town moves to preserve church facing closure
phillyBurbs.com
Their proposed ordinance could lead to a battle over private property rights and separation of church and state. St. James Church in Lakewood is one of 52 ...
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/29/2009/september/14/ohio-town-moves-to-preserve-church-facing-closure.html

In a first, Cuba OKs religion in jails
Times of India
... said it was an important step in the rapprochement between churches and the Americas' only communist one-party government which is officially atheist. ...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/world/rest-of-world/In-a-first-Cuba-OKs-religion-in-jails/articleshow/5016376.cms

Groups Seek to Halt Federal Funding to Religious Groups Who ...
Washington Post
The groups signing the letter include the Anti-Defamation League, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Leadership Conference on Civil ...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/17/AR2009091702530.html

MISCELLANEOUS

20 coolest atheist Tshirts for sale on the web Telegraph
From Richard Dawkins' lectures to the polemics of Christopher Hitchens, atheism has never been so stridently asserted...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/shoppingandfashion/6167833/20-coolest-atheist-T-shirts-for-sale-on-the-web.html