Hat tip Kathy

Every time Rush Limbaugh opens his mouth I grow less enamored with the mindless fetish for free speech that permeates American culture. And notice that I use the word “culture” and not “civilization.” Because as long as this sort of thing is routine on our airwaves, we ain’t got that civilization thing.
Continue reading Rush Limbaugh: Don’t send help to Haiti →

The Center for Inquiry is accepting disaster-relief donations through its S.H.A.R.E. program to support those providing care to the survivors of the 7.0 earthquake that struck Jan. 12 near the capital city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

All donations–100 percent with no operating costs retained–will be sent directly to the secular aid group Doctors Without Borders, which suffered the loss of all three of its medical facilities and is working against difficulties to provide the basics of first-aid care and stabilization.

The needs of those who’ve lost their family members, their homes, and their livelihoods will be very great. Your assistance will make a huge difference for the victims of this tragic disaster. Please join us and other humanists and skeptics as we help those in need in this time of crisis.

CLICK HERE

The new strain of virus is likely to replace the older one; and if there’s a third wave later in the year it could be more virulent. We had the equivalent of a flu season’s worth of illness and deaths from August to November, when there are normally very few. In Canada, most of the people who died have been younger women (which is most unusual). So getting your flu shot is important, perhaps vital.

Read about it here

Continue reading Big Question: Feast or famine? →

Mercy Corps is said to be one of the better charities to donate to to help Haiti.

This is their main web page for Haiti.

They are: “… a team of 3700 professionals helping turn crisis into opportunity for millions around the world. By trade, we are engineers, financial analysts, drivers, community organizers, project managers, public health experts, administrators, social entrepreneurs and logisticians. In spirit, we are activists, optimists, innovators and proud partners of the people we serve. “

The user VenomfangX, famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) for his videos supporting creationism and against atheism, has yet again filed false DMCA notices against several of his critics. He did this before against another YouTube user, Thunderf00t (of the Why People Laugh at Creationists series, among other things), who forced VFX to issue an apology and read a statement outlining his new understanding of DMCA law.

Read about it here

Well? What are you standing there gawking at this blog post for? Go tell DuWayne what culture is!

Thank you, that is all…

Does fluoride in the cause brain damage, food intolerance, depression, other gut problems and autism?

Read More

Why did this disaster hit Haiti? Pat Robertson will be happy to tell you.
Continue reading This is why I prefer secular aid agencies to Christian aid agencies →

A while back we were discussing whether or not President Obama had done “enough” or otherwise the “right” things since becoming president.

Several commenters draged out long lists of things that were discussed during the campaign (many prior to the magnitude of the economic crisis being realized) and insisted that since none of these things had been completed in the first 10 months of his presidency, he was a total failure.

As I pointed out to these commenters, the president actually gets four years, few presidents manage to do all the things they said they would do, Obama (as was also the case with Clinton) was handed a major problem by his Republican Predecessor that demanded the new president’s immediate and undivided attention, and so on and so forth.

(One common indicator that the whinger in this sort of argument is cluless is a comment like “He hasn’t passed a single piece of legislation” … as though the president was even allowed to pass legislation!…. which reminds me to add that the rate at which things get done depends in part on how things go in Congress.)

Anyway, please enjoy the following video regarding Obama’s first year in office.
Continue reading What has Obama really accomplished in his first year as President? →

Hat tip: JL

News:

Current news from the BBC

Arikia Millikan’s twitter feed. Arikia has relatives in the area, and is tweeting current news.

Help:

US citizens seeking information on your relatives in Haiti, call this number: 888 407 4747

UNICEF page for Haiti: Information and link to donate.

Direct Relief International: Web page and link for donations

American Red Cross International Response Fund

Oxfam now has its Haiti page up, here.

Science and other info:

Tectonics of the Haitian earthquake

Global Seismic Monitor

At the moment, the only secular relief organization that indicates that they are on top of Haiti, and is a respected and effective organization, and so on and so forth, is Direct Relief International. Here is their web site.

UPDATE: If you are a US citizen and seek information on your relatives in Haiti, call this number: 888 407 4747

You’ll probably get a busy signal but keep trying.

If you know of any other secular organizations that are providing the opportunity to donate to help people in Haiti, please post them below.

Drs. without borders and the various UN groups are obvious cases, but so far their web sites don’t have a “help Haiti” link.