“Woman’s world is her husband,her family,her children and her home.”

Who said this?

a) Paul Ryan
b) Michele Bachamnn
c) Adolf Hitler
d) Pat Robertson
e) Rush Limbaugh

“World Wide Mind: The Coming Integration of Humanity, Machines, and the Internet” by Michael Chorost will be the subject of discussion, with the author himself, on this week’s Skeptically Speaking. The show airs live before an Internt Audience on Sunday, with the podcast coming out later in the week. Details and links will be found here.

OK, new theory. Everyone on the planet but Pat Robertson made a pact with Satan, and as a result, God sent Pat Robertson.

Floyd Lee Corkins, armed with a gun, spare ammo, and 15 uneaten Chick-Fil-A sandwiches attacked the Family Research Council wounding an unarmed guard. Tony Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council, blamed the Southern Poverty Law Center for giving Corkins “license” to shoot at them. Steve Benen at The Maddow Blog discusses the question of assigning blame, suggesting that Perkins got that wrong.

Here’s the thing. One could say that Corkins was acting under some sort of inspiration created by organizations like the SPLC and other leftish or progressive organizations or groups who have spoken out against anti-gay rhetoric and policies. Similarly, one could say that when Jared Loughner killed and wounded a bunch of people at a Democratic Congresswoman’s public event people could have assigned blame to right wing rhetoric which is plenty enough laced with references to violence.

Is either of these assignations of blame valid? Yes. One is, one isn’t. Generally speaking these days, progressive movements and for the most part the “left” in America speaks out against violence, is more or less either anti-gun or pro gun regulation, mostly anti-war, and mostly pacifist, while the right wing tends to form heavily armed paramilitary militias, is totally against almost any kind of gun related regulations, is pro war, and bellicose. So when someone from the right shoots someone on the left, it really is a natural extension of what they talk about. When someone on the left shoots someone on the right, that’s a crazy person.

Correct?

Atheist Voices of Minnesota: an Anthology of Personal Stories will be officially released on August 28th, though you can of course get it now if you click on this secret link (or this secret link for the Kindle edition).

I just received a press release for the book, and thought I’d pass it on to you.

Atheist Voices of Minnesota: an Anthology of Personal Stories will be released August 28th

“A chorus not of arguments and positions but of shared human lives . . . At turns smart, funny, and deeply touching.” – Dale McGowan, author of Parenting Beyond Belief

ST. PAUL, Minn. (8/14/2012) —Atheists have turned a corner in public visibility in recent years, but they nevertheless remain one of America’s most misunderstood and mistrusted groups of people. A new anthology, Atheist Voices of Minnesota, attempts to address these preconceptions by letting thirty-six atheists from Minnesota openly share their personal and unique stories. The results are touching, fascinating, and diverse.

Since this is a cross section of how everyday atheists think and feel, this collection is an excellent introduction to atheism, and will inspire other atheists to come out to their family and friends. It includes contributions from well known atheists, such as PZ Myers, the world’s most popular atheist blogger, and Chris Stedman, a Huffington Post and Washington Post blogger. But it also contains previously unheard voices, part of its power and uniqueness.

The book has already received endorsements from major figures in the freethought community, and has a foreword by Greta Christina, a prominent atheist blogger, speaker, and author. Kendyl Gibbons, senior minister of the First Unitarian Society in Minneapolis, writes that the authors’ “thoughtful perspectives will be illuminating to people of any faith, or none.”

Several upcoming events offer a chance to hear from contributors, including:

• Aug 26: Atheists Talk radio show, on AM 950 KTNF at 9am, will be devoted to the book
• Aug 28: Official publication date of Atheist Voices of Minnesota
• Sep 16: The Minnesota Atheist public lecture at Southdale Library in Edina from 2 – 3:30pm will be devoted to author readings from the book. PZ Myers is one of the authors reading
• Oct 10: Several authors will read from the book at 7pm at Barnes & Noble in the HarMar Mall in Rosedale
• ct 13: Author reading at Minnesota Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Bloomington, MN, at 10:30am

For a complete and updated listing of events, visit Freethought House.

Atheist Voices of Minnesota is published by Freethought House. All net proceeds will go to Minnesota Atheists, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, with authors, editors, designers, and other volunteers receiving no financial benefit. Minnesota Atheists is Minnesota’s oldest, largest, and most active atheist organization. Its mission is to promote the positive contributions of atheism to society and to maintain separation of state and church. For more information, visit http://mnatheists.org.

Atheist Voices of Minnesota: an Anthology of Personal Stories will be officially released on August 28th, though you can of course get it now if you click on this secret link (or this secret link for the Kindle edition).

I just received a press release for the book, and thought I’d pass it on to you.

Atheist Voices of Minnesota: an Anthology of Personal Stories will be released August 28th

“A chorus not of arguments and positions but of shared human lives . . . At turns smart, funny, and deeply touching.” – Dale McGowan, author of Parenting Beyond Belief

ST. PAUL, Minn. (8/14/2012) —Atheists have turned a corner in public visibility in recent years, but they nevertheless remain one of America’s most misunderstood and mistrusted groups of people. A new anthology, Atheist Voices of Minnesota, attempts to address these preconceptions by letting thirty-six atheists from Minnesota openly share their personal and unique stories. The results are touching, fascinating, and diverse.

Since this is a cross section of how everyday atheists think and feel, this collection is an excellent introduction to atheism, and will inspire other atheists to come out to their family and friends. It includes contributions from well known atheists, such as PZ Myers, the world’s most popular atheist blogger, and Chris Stedman, a Huffington Post and Washington Post blogger. But it also contains previously unheard voices, part of its power and uniqueness.

The book has already received endorsements from major figures in the freethought community, and has a foreword by Greta Christina, a prominent atheist blogger, speaker, and author. Kendyl Gibbons, senior minister of the First Unitarian Society in Minneapolis, writes that the authors’ “thoughtful perspectives will be illuminating to people of any faith, or none.”

Several upcoming events offer a chance to hear from contributors, including:

• Aug 26: Atheists Talk radio show, on AM 950 KTNF at 9am, will be devoted to the book
• Aug 28: Official publication date of Atheist Voices of Minnesota
• Sep 16: The Minnesota Atheist public lecture at Southdale Library in Edina from 2 – 3:30pm will be devoted to author readings from the book. PZ Myers is one of the authors reading
• Oct 10: Several authors will read from the book at 7pm at Barnes & Noble in the HarMar Mall in Rosedale
• ct 13: Author reading at Minnesota Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Bloomington, MN, at 10:30am

For a complete and updated listing of events, visit Freethought House.

Atheist Voices of Minnesota is published by Freethought House. All net proceeds will go to Minnesota Atheists, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, with authors, editors, designers, and other volunteers receiving no financial benefit. Minnesota Atheists is Minnesota’s oldest, largest, and most active atheist organization. Its mission is to promote the positive contributions of atheism to society and to maintain separation of state and church. For more information, visit http://mnatheists.org.

There is a reason that Tea Party congresspersons do not have real public meetings.

I just wanted to remind you to check The X Blog.

Being Sunday, there are Sunday Funnies.

Also, a post-Mr. Paul Aints commentary is HERE.

Fellow Conservative,

I need your immediate attention.

This is so important I didn’t even take the time to format this email.

The DCCC (the Democrat’s top campaign operation) just released the names of races they are targeting funds for in 2012 as part of their national ‘Red to Blue’ campaign to take back the majority in the House of Representatives. This may come as no surprise- but my Democrat opponent was added to the ‘Red to Blue’ program as an emerging race.

The ‘Red to Blue’ program highlights top Democratic campaigns across the country, and offers them financial, communications, grassroots, and strategic support.

The DCCC has raised over $107 million this election cycle alone- and that number is sure to grow. Those millions are being thrown into races like mine, and when you combine that with my opponent’s wealth of over $111 million- one thing is for certain- this race is going to be costly and quite a challenge.

The Democrats along with the liberal media would love to see my campaign be defeated in November. They are clearly pulling out all the stops to see our conservative values be conquered this fall, but I know that our campaign has something they don’t yet know about- YOU. Your support has carried our campaign this far- and will carry us to victory this fall.

In order to show the DCCC the strength of our campaign – I need your immediate support.

Our primary is Tuesday, and our campaign has set a goal of raising $250,000 in the next 5 days. This is a steep goal- but your donation of $25, $50, $100 or more today will ensure we reach it. Please follow this link to make a contribution today.

I took off my politically correct glasses a long time ago. I am never afraid to say what is right and stand up to the “good ol’ boys” in Washington who have mismanaged our government for too long. I am not running for Congress because I want to climb a political ladder or win a popularity contest, but I am running for re-election so I can continue to stand up for our conservative values.

Our constitutional conservative campaign cannot afford to cede a single inch of ground to President Barack Obama and my liberal opponent this summer. With our primary less than a week away- your support is needed now more than ever.

As you know, the Democrats have cherry-picked a self-funding, multi-millionaire to oppose me in my re-election to Congress. My opponent is able to pour his own millions into his campaign — but I am relying on the donations of supporters like you today.

The fastest way to make a contribution to our campaign is by donating online. Please stand with our campaign and make a donation today.

Our conservative values are on the line this election. We must do everything we can to ensure they are not defeated.

– Michele

P.S. You and I have watched in abject horror as President Obama and the Democrats have wrought havoc on our liberty and our economic prosperity over the last three and a half years. If the Democrats take back the majority in Congress, reinstall Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House and re-elect a lame-duck President Obama, the damage would be incalculable. We cannot allow that! Show your support by making a contribution of $25, $50, $100 or more today.

Click Here!

Atheist Voices of Minnesota: an Anthology of Personal Stories, a book that I have a chapter in, is now available for the Kindle and the Nook.

If corporations are people, there is an argument that Scripps News Service should have a restraining order placed on it. The news service repeatedly took down the hourly postings by NASA, made by NASA, on the NASA YouTube channel, because they thought somehow, by mistake, that NASA was violating Scripps News Service’s rights. Later, Scripps News Service apologized, but that is not enough. No apology can undo the fact that an ongoing real time event was repeatedly disrupted by what can only be seen as a grave error.

Imagine that there is an event happening where getting certain information out to the public is vitally important. Something that a future CDC would do, or something about an ongoing weather event, and Scripps News Service or some other similar corporation blunders along and causes the deletion of vital information because it has a policy of over-reacting? Oh, and it does have a policy of over-reacting; this is not the first time Scripps News Service has done something like this.

YouTube needs to fix its Copyright Robot, the Congress and similar agencies worldwide have to fix Copyright law, and Scripps News Service needs to start wearing an ankle bracelet.

The full story is here.

… and uncounted other unspecified violent attacks? Apparently so (HT Hemant)

The last time I was in Oak Creek Wisconsin, it consisted mainly of field after field after field of corn. The soil was clay-rich, most likely representing a modified Pleistocene lake-bed. Although there are surely some interesting prehistoric sites in the area, the excavation of a few hundred test pits by a crew of us failed to yield anything of interest. Now, when I look at Google Map I can see that the development for which that archaeology was being done has happened and Oak Creek is no longer fields, and is now pretty much connected directly to Milwaukee by suburban sprawl.

White guys with guns seem to be a real problem. Isn’t there something we can do about that?

At least six people were killed Sunday when a gunman opened fire at a Sikh temple near Milwaukee, authorities said. The suspected shooter was later killed in exchange of gunfire with police.

Police were called to the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in the suburb of Oak Creek on Sunday morning, when witnesses said several dozen people were gathering for a service.

Police in Wisconsin say one suspect has been “put down” outside a Sikh temple and they do not know if other shooters are inside the building Authorities were called to the temple Sunday morning with a report of shots fired.

Greenfield Police Chief Bradley Wentlandt said the first officer to arrive encountered a man police believe was the shooter. The two exchanged gunfire, and the suspect was killed, he said.

For the last shooting, in Colorado, a lot of people took the effort to tell other people what to not say after it happened. They were not disagreeing with the comments being made, they were just saying that they knew a Magic Number that no one else seemed to know, a magic number of days after which it would be OK to speak your mind after a heart-numbing tragedy like this one.

The problem with telling people shut up until the right time has arrived (aside from the fact that the “right time” is made up and the “proper” delay is arbitrary) is that the next shooting by some white guy with guns may well happen before the Magic Number of days has passed. What do we do then?