Monday 26 April 2010

Homework for Ratzi in the UK

Launch of 'Benedict' condoms


Review of Vatican attitude on condom use

Bless a civil partnership

Reversal of policy on women bishops/ordain woman

Open an abortion ward

Speech on equality

Statemen on views over adoption (change of stance)

Training course for all bishops on child abuse allegations

Harder line on child abuse—announce sacking of dodgy bishops

Vatican sponsorship for network of AIDS clinics

Meet young unemployed people

Apologize for… …

Canonise/pseudo canonise a group

Announce whistle blowing system for child abuse cases

Go to job centre

Debate on abortion

All catholic schools should be free entry to all

Speech on democracy

Vatican and C of E funded committee on dialogue

Launch helpline for abused children

Thursday 22 April 2010

Frustrate the Mormons

PZ Myers using the hundreds of thousands who read his Pharyngula blog, is trying to frustrate a Mormon campagn to have a Mormon video toprated on youtube -see here to help
International campaign to Frustrate Mormons

Mormon campaign co-ordinated on facebook

Wednesday 21 April 2010

Clever Crows with Tools!

New Caledonian crows have been observed using three tools in succession in order to obtain a treat, scientists say. Fantastic video!
Clever Crows

Sunday 18 April 2010

Hey you forgot about me!

Arrest the Pope!

Here's a video of Christopher Hitchens speaking to US news channel MSNBC about what he sees as the legal case against Pope Benedict XVI. (Found via RichardDawkins.net)



Thursday 15 April 2010

SIMON SINGH IS SINGING

Great News for science and free speech - British Chiropractic Assn. admit defeat vs Simon Singh

TIMES ONLINE
Jack of Kent blog

He said he would be pursuing the BCA for his legal costs. “The issue of costs is still outstanding. I suppose it will cost the BCA upward of £300,000, and I want to make sure they end up paying my legal costs, which will be over £100,000. It could be that I don’t get that money back: that explains why people don’t fight libel cases.”
We still need to get Libel Reform so if you haven't signed the petition
sign here - it's now over 50,000

Sunday 11 April 2010

Never trust a Murdoch paper!

quoting Richard Dawkins from here
Needless to say, I did NOT say "I will arrest Pope Benedict XVI" or anything so personally grandiloquent. You have to remember that The Sunday Times is a Murdoch newspaper, and that all newspapers follow the odd custom of entrusting headlines to a sub-editor, not the author of the article itself.

Friday 9 April 2010

Vote for the Ulster Museum!

A single award of £100,000 is presented to a museum or gallery whose entry, in the opinion of the judges, best meets the Prize criteria through a project completed or mainly undertaken in the previous calendar year.
Click here for more about the prize and vote
The're in second place at the moment!

Tuesday 6 April 2010

New blasphemous art exhibition opens in Dublin

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From atheist.ie
A new art exhibition titled Blasphemous opened (appropriately) on Good Friday in the Irish Museum of Contemporary Art (IMOCA) in Lad Lane, off Baggott Street, Dublin 2. It’s the second art exhibition to highlight and challenge the new Irish blasphemy law, which became active on 1st January 2010.

Since then, the Irish Justice Minister has responded to the campaign against the law by saying that he will propose a referendum, later this year, to remove the reference to blasphemy from the Irish Constitution, thus enabling the blasphemy law to be repealed.

This makes the new exhibition in IMOCA not just a challenge to the blasphemy law, but also a celebration of artistic freedom, and freedom of expression generally. The exhibition runs until 25 April and is open from 12 noon to 5 pm every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, or by appointment through contacting IMOCA.






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Monday 5 April 2010

The State is beginning to see the merits of the humanist perspective, writes DICK SPICER

Irish Times Mon, Apr 05, 2010

Dick Spicer is chairman of the Humanist Association of Ireland

EQUALITY AND parity of esteem for the non-religious community is being achieved – but at a pace so slow it can sometimes evoke justifiable impatience. On the other hand, it is important to balance this disappointing rate of progress against the backdrop of the more pressing efforts of the State over the past couple of years to avoid national bankruptcy.

That said, however, the State and its institutions have made significant beginnings in areas requiring reform. Those registering progress are education, health and law reform. Of these, the key problematic area in our State has long been securing the rights of children in primary education.

Thursday 1 April 2010

The Simon Singh Song



Sciencefilms — 22 March 2010 — Support libel reform and sign up at www.libelreform.org/sign

Ariane Sherine sings 'The Simon Singh Song" backstage at the Big Libel Gig, 14 March 2010. Find out why Ariane and 40,000 others are backing libel law reform.

Update - 2:30pm
Simon has won the right to rely on the defence of fair comment in the libel action, in a landmark ruling at the Court of Appeal.
see here

Shakespeare in the Psikhushkas

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This is an advance review by Brian McClinton to be published in the May/June edition of Humanism Ireland

Contested Will • James Shapiro • 2010 • Faber • 367pp • £20

DELIA BACON, the 19th century American bluestocking who believed that Shakespeare was written by a group led by Francis Bacon, eventually went mad. The founder of the Oxfordian authorship theory was a man called Looney. And, according to most literary scholars, anyone who doubts that Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare is probably more or less insane. The whole notion, it is said, belongs in the manic realm of flat-earthers, Princess Di conspirators and holocaust deniers.

In the Soviet Union dissidents were sent to psychiatric hospitals called psikhushkas because the authorities were afraid that the people might listen to them. In the ‘free’ west there is no need of psikhushkas for dissidents because derision and indifference are more effective in stifling their opinions.