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FEATURED ARTICLES The least religious nations are the happiest, study finds National Secular Society ... to nearly the degree seen in actual human history, and atheism would have been much more widespread and possibly ubiquitous since the beginning... http://www.secularism.org.uk/116203.html Humanists launch a godless holiday campaign Los Angeles Times Starting this week, atheists and others who say they embrace reason over religion take out ads showing smiling people wearing red Santa hats with the ... http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-beliefs7-2009dec07,0,3201033,full.story ACLU sues over rejection of 'winter solstice' display at Capitol Arkansas News The Society of Freethinkers has objected in the past to the nativity scene, arguing that it violates the separation of church and state. ... http://arkansasnews.com/2009/12/10/aclu-sues-over-rejection-of-%E2%80%98winter-solstice%E2%80%99-display-at-capitol/ ATHEISM Atheist Display Returning To State Capitol Campus KIROtv.com The state Department of General Administration confirms to KIRO-TV an atheist group from Seattle has requested space for an outdoor display on the state ... http://www.kirotv.com/news/21812285/detail.html Critics of Cecil Bothwell cite NC bar to atheists Asheville Citizen-Times “I'm not saying that Cecil Bothwell is not a good man, but if he's an atheist, he's not eligible to serve in public office, according to the state ... http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20091208/NEWS01/912080327 Atheists at Christmas: Eat, drink and be wary The Associated Press But Christmas is a tough time of year for an atheist. "All the planned activities at this time of year revolve around the church," said O'Neill, ... http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i7tADnxuR79MJPcf7h0C8jxGSMGQD9CFTRE80 CNSNews.com - Atheist Group Takes 'Godless Holiday' Campaign ... The American Humanist Association is expanding its "No God, No Problem" advertising campaign of a holiday season without religion to five major American ... http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/57797 BOOKS, FILM, THEATRE, TV, YOU TUBE USU alum's documentary on California's Proposition 8 to debut at Sundance Cache Valley Daily “Our team believes it strikes at the heart of one of our country's highest held values–separation of church and state. “And mostly, this film is important ... http://www.cachevalleydaily.com/news/local/78533522.html Intelligence Squared Atheism is the new fundamentalism Intelligence Squared - cool analysis of hot controversy The motion proposes thatatheism is the new fundamentalism i.e. atheism has replaced religion as the new faith of the secular age exploring the notion that ... http://www.intelligencesquared.com/iq2-video/2009/atheism-is-the-new-fundamentalism O come all ye non-faithful, and rejoice in science guardian.co.uk "There are enough people talking about atheism at the moment and that's not what the show's about. People think the title is saying there's no God – it ... http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/dec/06/robin-ince-comedy-christmas Atheist's Guide to Christmas Times Online (blog) Bess writes: Here's a seasonal book for the non-believer – The Atheist's Guide to Christmas, billed as the first atheist charity book (royalties go to the ... http://timesonline.typepad.com/faith/2009/12/atheists-guide-to-christmas.html The Evolution of Richard Dawkins, the Rock Star of Neo-atheism Politics Daily (blog) It's hard to believe that the leading exponent of a brash new school of pugnacious atheism would somehow, miraculously, transform into the soul of charity. ... http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/12/09/the-evolution-richard-dawkins-the-rock-star-of-neo-atheism/ Dawkins Ponders the Crocoduck in New Evolution Book: Interview Bloomberg Lundborg: Why is evolution such a hard sell? It seems so elegant and powerful. Dawkins: It's also not difficult to understand, like quantum theory. ... http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aFp9R.48gHN8 EVOLUTION, CREATIONISM, I.D. Feeding Birds in Winter Could Speed Evolution of Species U.S. News & World Report 3 (HealthDay News) -- Many people think evolution takes hundreds, if not thousands, of years, but it can happen much faster and new research shows exactly ... http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/12/03/feeding-birds-in-winter-could-speed-evolution-of.html Backyard Feeders Driving Bird Evolution Scientific American We usually think of evolution as something that happens over eons, in remote places where people rarely venture. Not something that happens around the ... http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=backyard-feeders-driving-bird-evolu-09-12-04 Shopping evolution Mother Nature Network Surprisingly though, the behavior can be traced back to evolution, according to research conducted at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. ... http://www.mnn.com/technology/research-innovations/stories/shopping-evolution Shopping styles of men and women all down to evolution, claim scientists Telegraph.co.uk The reason women love to spend hours browsing in shops while men prefer to be in and out of the high street in minutes is down to their hunter-gathering ... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6720150/Shopping-styles-of-men-and-women-all-down-to-evolution-claim-scientists.html Britain's bird tables changing the path of evolution - Telegraph Britain's love of bird tables may be interfering with evolution, according to a new study which suggests the feeders are changing the migratory habits and ... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/6718307/Britains-bird-tables-changing-the-path-of-evolution.html Bird Feeders Alter Migration Patterns, Detrimental to Evolution EcoWorldly (blog) After testing a chemical in the bird's claws that acts like a signature, researchers discovered that there is a split in evolution. Those that migrate to ... http://ecoworldly.com/2009/12/05/bird-feeders-alter-migration-patterns-detrimental-to-evolution/ 'Bird-feeding can impact evolution' Times of India WASHINGTON: A new research has suggested that feeding birds can have profound effects on their evolutionary future, and those changes can be seen in the ... http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5301882.cms Birdfeeders Found to Cause Evolution of New Species : TreeHugger treehugger.com A new species of the blackcap bird soon to take flight? http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/12/birdfeeders-found-to-cause-evolution-bird-species.php#ch03 Bird feeders speed up evolution Mother Nature Network The changes in the birds have been drastic, showing the evolution can move quickly. In fewer than 30 generations, birds visiting Britain have evolved ... http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/bird-feeders-speed-up-evolution SCIENCE Superbright Supernova Is First of Its Kind ScienceDaily (Dec. 5, 2009) — An extraordinarily bright, extraordinarily long-lasting supernova named SN 2007bi, snagged in a search by a robotic telescope, turns out to be the first example of the kind of stars that first populated the Universe... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091202153939.htm Marine Life Collected to Inventory DNA Sequence of All Pacific Island's Living Species ScienceDaily (Dec. 5, 2009) — University of Florida researchers are collecting marine invertebrates on the French Polynesian island of Moorea as part of a massive effort to inventory the DNA sequence of every living species there... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091202153800.htm Novel Carbon-Trading Scheme Could Stop Large-Scale Extinctions ScienceDaily (Dec. 5, 2009) — A new strategy for saving tropical forest species was published in the journal Science on the eve of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen, Denmark, by a team of researchers, including William Laurance, senior staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and distinguished professor at James Cook University... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091203141930.htm Earthquake Prediction Model Developed ScienceDaily (Dec. 5, 2009) — The third in a series of papers in the journal Nature completes the case for a new method of predicting earthquakes... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091203171712.htm Breaking Carbon-Hydrogen Bonds: Cheap, Easy 'Kitchen Chemistry' Developed to Perform Formerly Complex Synthesis ScienceDaily (Dec. 5, 2009) — A team at The Scripps Research Institute has made major strides in solving a problem that has been plaguing chemists for many years: how best to break carbon-hydrogen bonds and then to create new bonds to join molecules together... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091204092521.htm Dream-Enacting Behavior Is Common in Healthy Young Adults ScienceDaily (Dec. 5, 2009) — A new study in the journal Sleep shows that dream-enacting behaviors are common in healthy young adults, and the prevalence of specific behaviors differs between men and women... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091201084049.htm Learning by Imagining: How Mental Imagery Training Aids Perceptual Learning ScienceDaily (Dec. 4, 2009) — Practice makes perfect. But imaginary practice? Elisa Tartaglia of the Laboratory of Psychophysics at Switzerland's Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) and team show that perceptual learning -- learning by repeated exposure to a stimulus -- can occur by mental imagery as much as by the real thing... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091203132153.htm Young Star Cluster Trumpler 14 Revealed in Stunning Image ScienceDaily (Dec. 4, 2009) — The young star cluster Trumpler 14 is revealed in another stunning ESO image. The amount of exquisite detail seen in this portrait, which beautifully reveals the life of a large family of stars, is due to the Multi-conjugate Adaptive optics Demonstrator (MAD) on ESO's Very Large Telescope... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091203101426.htm A Little Magic Provides an Atomic-Level Look at Bone ScienceDaily (Dec. 4, 2009) — A new study using solid-state NMR spectroscopy to analyze intact bone paves the way for atomic-level explorations of how disease and aging affect bone... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091202162340.htm What Happens When an Enormous Star Blows Up? ScienceDaily (Dec. 4, 2009) — What happens when a really gargantuan star -- one hundreds of times bigger than our sun -- blows up? Although a theory developed years ago describes what the explosion of such an enormous star should look like, no one had actually observed one -- until now... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091203132155.htm Poisonous Catfish Described ScienceDaily (Dec. 4, 2009) — In contrast to the exhaustive research into venom produced by snakes and spiders, venomous fish have been neglected and remain something of a mystery. Now, a study of 158 catfish species, published in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology, has catalogued the presence of venom glands and investigated their biological effects... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091203222139.htm A Window That Washes Itself? New Nano-Material May Revolutionize Solar Panels and Batteries, Too ScienceDaily (Dec. 4, 2009) — A coating on windows or solar panels that repels grime and dirt? Expanded battery storage capacities for the next electric car? New Tel Aviv University research, just published in Nature Nanotechnology, details a breakthrough in assembling peptides at the nano-scale level that could make these futuristic visions come true in just a few years... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091203132159.htm SEPARATION CHURCH / STATE Paterson says Senate will need to change before he pushes marriage bill again Lower Hudson Journal news ”We have to focus on getting the separation of church and state back in government,“ he said. ”This is not about religion. (The senators) didn't swear on ... http://www.lohud.com/article/2009912040342 Health care reform: Leaders trying to balance church and state nwitimes.com "I think that there's a reason that from day one there's been a separation of church and state." Cockram said the government should avoid religious ... http://nwitimes.com/news/local/article_1c55b72c-1a2a-5100-8440-ee8eef081a2f.html To a Divisive Debate, Now Add Religion New York Times They say it would violate the separation of church and state and could endanger the lives of minors whose parents turn to prayer rather than medicine when ... http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/to-a-divisive-debate-now-add-religion/ Lawsuit protesting religious reference in Texas pledge reaches appeals court Abilene Reporter-News ... to the Dallas couple who sued their local school district and the state claiming the “under God” phrase violates the separation of church and state. ... http://www.reporternews.com/news/2009/dec/04/state-pledge-still-includes-under-god-n-suit-in/ Atheists take softer approach TheNewsTribune.com A Seattle-based atheists group asked state officials Friday for permission to display a placard outdoors on the Capitol Campus over the holidays. ... http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/981441.html Schools strive to stay on key Omaha World-Herald ... Clause — commonly interpreted as requiring the separation of church and state — while recognizing the traditions on which the holidays are based. ... http://www.omaha.com/article/20091206/NEWS01/712069917 Separation of church and state case goes to US supreme court ... Now Public In a press release from AUAmericans United for Separation of Church and State it has been reported that the U.S. Supreme Court announced on Monday that it ... http://www.nowpublic.com/world/separation-church-and-state-case-goes-us-supreme-court Church-State Group Cheers Rejection of 'Abortion' Bill Opposing Views By Americans United - 3 Seconds Ago Americans United for Separation of Church and State today commended the US Senate for rejecting a religion-based ... http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/opinion-church-state-group-cheers-rejection-of-abortion-bill-r-1260318095 Court to rule on Christian group's policy Washington Post Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which supports the university, said in a statement that the court should make it clear that groups ... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/07/AR2009120703716.html Pearl Jam - Ten Club Community “I think there's any number of federal cases that would view this as an imposition of a religious qualification and violate separation of church and state,” ... http://community.pearljam.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=119538 Federal Appeals Court Goes With 'God' The BLT Atheist lawyer and physician Michael Newdow doesn't want the clerk reading that line next Tuesday when a three-judge panel takes up his case challenging the ... http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2009/12/appeals-court-denies-challenge-to-saying-god-save-the-united-states.html?cid=6a00d83451d94869e20128763bb35a970c MISCELLANEOUS Three Eminent Biologists And 'Growing Pains'' Kirk Cameron Weigh ... Digg · Facebook · Stumbleupon; via @TheOnion - Three Eminent Biologists And ' Growing Pains'' Kirk Cameron Weigh In On Evolution Twitter; Reddit ... http://www.theonion.com/content/magazine/three_eminent_biologists_and "Agitprop" Austrian Sculptor Hrdlicka Dies at 81 ABC News A cast-iron sculpture of a prone human being covered by barbed wire in downtown Vienna is among the internationally known works by Hrdlicka, an atheist who ... http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=9263127 =================================== |