I have a new advertiser. For the next few weeks an image ad is on some pages of the website on the right hand side for a t-shirt company. It's controversial, so I thought I'd give people a chance to lash out or comment in general. What do you think of the ad? What do you think of the shirts? Would you buy one? What would you think of someone who was wearing one? What are your thoughts?
Here it is:
James Randi has come out of the closet at 81 years old.
The original story is on his SWIFT blog, here is a portion...
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/914-how-to-say-it.html
Well, here goes. I really resent the term, but I use it because it’s recognized and accepted.
I’m gay.
From some seventy years of personal experience, I can tell you that there’s not much “gay” about being homosexual. For the first twenty years of my life, I had to live in the shadows, in a culture that was — at least outwardly — totally hostile to any hint of that variation of life-style. At no time did I choose to adopt any protective coloration, though; my cultivation of an abundant beard was not at all a deception, but part of my costume as a conjuror.
Gradually, the general attitude that I’d perceived around me began to change, and presently I find that there has emerged a distinctly healthy acceptance of different social styles of living — except, of course, in cultures that live in constant and abject fear of divine retribution for infractions found in the various Holy Books… In another two decades, I’m confident that young people will find themselves in a vastly improved atmosphere of acceptance.
Before publishing this statement, I chose to privately notify a number of my closest friends and colleagues — none of whom, I’m sure, have been at all surprised at this “coming out.” I’m prepared to receive the inevitable barrage of jeers and insults from the “grubbies” out there who will jump to their keyboards in glee to notify others of their kind about this statement, which to them will be yet further proof of the perfidy of the rationalist mode of life that I have chosen. Those titters of joy will be unheard over the murmur of acceptance that I confidently expect from my friends.
Read the entire column on his blog, bookmark it, promote it, and support a hero to the skeptic community for an admission that is long overdue. Of course we accept you Amazing Randi. Why wouldn't we? Your sexuality has nothing to do with your ability to use science, expose irrationality, put frauds and liars in their place, create Penn and Teller, or any of the other things you have done to make the world a wiser and more sane place to live. I support you, respect you, and will always have your back.
See also: http://www.rationalresponders.com/james_randi_debunking_the_paranormal
I want to extend my congratulations to the Atheist Agenda students The University of Texas at San Antonio. They put themselves on the line in public to raise awareness. Much like the Blasphemy Challenge they have found a way to be controversial thereby grabbing attention and literally forcing theists to think. I should bring you up to speed if you're not familiar. Over the last few days Atheist Agenda students have gathered on campus with magazines and books of various types of pornography and offered to swap any holy book for some porn. The campaign is called smut for smut.
Typically the reactionary over-emotional irrational thinking of theists hinders them from contemplating why a group would compare the bible to porn. The irony is unique here in that theists are taught by their religious leaders to avoid pornography, yet pornography is one of the most successful businesses on the planet and made so largely by religious people. The gut reaction of a theist when seeing someone turn in their bible for porn is to be disgusted or upset. This reaction happens in part as a defense mechanism due to years of brainwashing. Their defense is to avoid thinking about the bible in such a negative light. One can only hope the campaign forces contemplation among the more sane theists out there, and from my years of experience watching them I believe it does. For what it's worth the students have stated that this isn't about being for porn, it's about being anti-bible.
I could go on and on but I don't want to lose you. The main reason I'm writing this is to implore you to spread the word of this campaign. It's already received national attention in several news pieces and it's the type of story that will force people to think about the vile disgusting nature of a book they call Holy.
Here is how you can help...
Follow the Atheist Agenda on twitter and spread the word on twitter to follow them: http://twitter.com/AtheistAgenda
Check out their blog: http://atheistagendautsa.blogspot.com/
Engage in a discussion with anyone commenting on the project in the many national pieces currently running online.
Here is a thread originally started by Brian37 on this site: http://www.rationalresponders.com/forum/19843
Here are two news stories on youtube from national news about the campaign:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1P44h0XoGk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU_7j5Ctuo4
Here is one more story from Chris Deluna on smut for smut.
Last weeks atheist hero has got to be Angie the Anti Theist who smashed taboos about abortion by tweeting all the way through an at home abortion by pill procedure and engaging anyone who had a problem with it. Add her on twitter as well! http://twitter.com/AntitheistAngie
We've gone around the sun again! Just like we do everyday (see my follow up post if you're not following)... but I wont be a debbie downer... Happy New Year!!
I hope everyone gets what they want out of this coming year. What resolutions will you be making? What resolutions do you think you'll give up on in 2 weeks?
On December 25th I will maintain a tradition I started a few years ago, celebrating Christmas day with nonbelievers via webcam, and you're invited! I'll be joined by longtime RRS moderator and friend Shaunphilly and his girlfriend Seana, who was a Christian before she met Shaun. Christmas can be a depressing day if you're a non-believer, especially if you feel alienated or unwelcome at festivities of a more religious nature. We look forward to bringing together a large group of non-believers who want to hang out, blaspheme, and exchange stories of our religious past. This is a gathering in both live text form and video format. We encourage you to hook up your webcam as we can have up to 6 people on webcam at once. Christians are welcome to visit as well!
You'll need an account with http://www.stickam.com If you don't have one, get it now. It's free!
The party will happen in this room: http://www.rationalresponders.com/rrs_webcam_room
If you have a problem with that page you can also view it here: http://www.stickam.com/sapient
Here is the schedule of events:
1 est: The chatroom will open to members of stickam
2 est: Christmas related youtube video presentation along with text chatting. I'll show a conglomeration of youtube videos dealing with the history of Christmas intertwined with some atheist comedy and blasphemy. I've prepared over 3.5 hours of youtube videos, giving you the chance to comment on these videos live, while exchanging stories. If you have a favorite Christmas video you want me to show, you have to link to it by Tuesday the 22nd as a response to this post!
6 pm est: Shaunphilly and his girlfriend will arrive at my home and we'll all appear on webcam. At that point we will open up the extra camera slots to as many people as possible. We will talk about a variety of issues including but not limited to the origins of Christmas, my purpose of Christmas project, the tree of knowledge, and more. During our broadcast we will order a traditional ChristMyAss Sushi and General Tso's Chicken dinner. We invite you to eat your ChristMyAss dinner with us!
9 pm est: In the past we've shown The God Who Wasn't There Movie but we've never shown the commentary track version, this time we will.
Once again the festivities will be here:
http://www.rationalresponders.com/rrs_webcam_room
FACEBOOK EVENT: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=257573686280&ref=mf
I've got two new posts up tonight, the first is my opening shot at Pastor Rick Warren and The Purpose of Christmas.
The second post is long overdue and is a summation covering the Ray Comfort plagiarism in his Origin of Species bullshit.
My opening post here about The Purpose of Christmas is here.
The RRS thread on Comfort plagiarizing is here.
I turned off commenting for this blog post. If you want to post comments, please do so at The Purpose of Christmas or WOTMwatchdog.
I found the recent appearance of Michael Specter on The Daily Show to have quite a few correlations to the efforts of atheists to help humanity abandon our unscientific religious past.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Michael Specter | ||||
| ||||
Although denialists, according to Specter, come from both ends of the political spectrum, they have one important trait in common: their willingness to replace the rigorous and open-minded skepticism of science with the inflexible certainty of ideological commitment. Specter analyzes the consequences of this inflexibility and draws some startling and uncomfortable conclusions for the health of both individuals and society. For example, though every reputable scientific study demonstrates the safety of major childhood vaccines, opponents of childhood immunization are winning the publicity war; childhood immunizations are tumbling and preventable diseases are increasing, often leading to unnecessary deaths. Specter, a New Yorker science and public health writer, does an equally credible job of demolishing the health claims made by those promoting organic produce and all forms of alternative medicine. Specter is both provocative and thoughtful in his defense of science and rationality—though he certainly does not believe that scientists are infallible. His writing is engaging and his sources are credible, making this a significant addition to public discourse on the importance of discriminating between credible science and snake oil.
Do you do that? Do you buy yourself a gift during the Christmas season and call it a Solstice gift or a Saturnalia gift? Whatever you call it... do you do it? And if so, what are you getting for yourself this year?
I haven't bought any new books in a while, and decided to get a few good deals off my wish list. I was able to buy books used for a huge discount. Check these deals out...
What Evolution Is
Ernst Mayr; Paperback; $5.05
Cognition
Margaret W. Matlin; Hardcover; $8.61
Philosophy for Dummies
Tom Morris; Paperback; $3.99
Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory (Modern Library Chronicles)
Edward J. Larson; Paperback; $6.23
The Assault on Reason
Al Gore; Hardcover; $4.10
"Evolution"
Douglas J. Futuyma; Hardcover; $3.84
The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions
Robert Todd Carroll; Paperback; $0.65
It's been almost a year since someone bought one of the items on my wishlist for me. If you'd like to buy me a Christmas gift you can view the list here and when you purchase an item it'll know my address to send it to. I don't get a message saying who bought the item, so if you buy something for me please let me know, so I can thank you. Anyway, I'm just thrilled to be getting the books I got, and at the prices I got. It was your donations that paid for these, so I really appreciate everyone who recently contributed; thank you.
In unrelated news, part of my ceiling collapsed before I went to Utah over the weekend. I spent two hours on the roof today, cleaned the gutters, and caulked some roof areas, and I think it's fixed. It's been raining for 3 hours and no leak.
http://video.rationalresponders.com/video/Tree-of-Knowledge-2009
I held an umbrella today over Margaret Downey as she put atheist book covers on the Tree of Knowledge. A display outside of the West Chester County Courthouse in their Free Speech zone. Here is a list of the books on the Tree of Knowledge. Enjoy the video and photos.
Amazon just sent me word that of a special deal to pass on to you. As an amazon associate I'm getting a bonus this weekend for your purchases, through the end of shopping on Monday. You're also getting more discounts. Amazon has tons of black friday - cyber monday deals and they're all available here: Black Friday - Cyber Monday Amazon Shopping to support RRS
It's with sorrow and sadness that I announce the Rational Response Youtube account is back online. In the years of my atheist activism I've never had the pleasure of working with a more frustrating and horribly run company. It's often seemed to me as if they have 4 employees, 3 of which have their heads up their ass, and the 4th is measuring how far they managed to insert it. I'd sit here and tell you the stories, but why relive the pain. Nevertheless a few people asked for our youtube account to be back online, so I've been working on it since October 11th, and they finally managed to do what by law was supposed to be done by October 25th. I have no plans to upload another video to that account, however it's likely that I will at some point. I deleted a few videos that I felt were less relevant, and upon seeing some of these videos for the first time in months realized I would prefer to not come off quite as harsh. Not that I don't think we shouldn't be mocking and laughing at religion, I would like to do it with a slightly more calm demeanor if I can. Which of course remains to be seen.
I've decided to put together a little playlist of the videos I'd most want someone to see if they've never seen any of the videos on our youtube account before.
In Rationality,
Brian Sapient
Here they are...
I was just walking through the store and saw a copy of "The Purpose of Christmas" by Pastor Rick Warren. I got swelled up with desire to respond to this book. It was easy pickins. I got home and headed straight to Amazon to purchase a used copy (there's no way I'd buy it new). If I hadn't had the positive fund raising efforts recently I wouldn't have bought it. I'm semi-considering becoming a flea of this book and writing a book response (not just an internet one). In fact any of the regulars here would find this book an easy shred. Seriously every sentence I saw deserved some form of response, even for nothing but to correct the semi-deceptive manner in which he builds his case to love Christmas because of Christ.
I forget most of what I briefly read in the store. I'm feeling the juices flowing and got awfully worked up as a result of wanting so bad to see a published response to this book. Considering my history with wars on Christmas I might be just the guy. By the way, The Blasphemy Challenge is coming up on a 3 year anniversary and near a million views.
Does anyone have a copy? You can check the preview out on Amazon.
UPDATE: The Purpose of Christmas response to Pastor Rick Warren
So how many atheists out there embrace faith? The more I learn, the more I realize faith permeates everything... way too many atheists utilize it. Question everything, and when the source is available, ask it.
Rumor 1: Sam Harris gave the RRS $500,000 for a house. They proceeded to do nothing but play video games and smoke pot.
Status: False. Sam Harris isn't our anonymous investor. The video game and pot rumor likely stems from the times we hung out and partied with other atheists. If I'm correct, it's sad they left thinking that a night of partying is what happens every night. I would think our body of work spoke for itself.
Rumor 2: They got a free house from an anonymous investor.
Status: False. I purchased a large house with the help of an investor who owns 60% of the house. When we sell, we each get our share. I consider it a huge gift but technically we weren't given anything, all the money the investor spends on the mortgage will be returned upon sale of the home.
Rumor 3: Brian Sapient decided to leave Rational Response Squad but not tell anyone because he was still making money on it.
Status: False. I informed subscribers that I was working a real life job about the same time I started working one. I started working the job to preserve the ability of RRS to function, to stay afloat. I spent 80% of my life savings in the 3 years I worked RRS full time to cover the difference between income from RRS and expenditures. Additionally I was dealing with a batch of personal issues that are personal. I never left RRS. I consistently spent time as I could addressing issues related to upkeep and maintenance. I was $50,000 in the hole for the three years that I ran RRS without a real job, sorry for making a few hundred of it back while I worked a real job and didn't dedicate 100 hours a week to RRS.
Rumor 4: Brian Sapient has only returned to make money.
Status: False. This isn't a comeback... I never left, I never will. Try living your life for the rest of your life working 100 hours a week on the same thing, see if you can do it. Need a break from time to time? I worked a real life job, recharged my batteries, waited out the recession a little, and got right back to it. I decided to get a job because I had used up so much of my savings and at the start of the recession got quite a few warnings from subscribers that they had to pull back donations as a result of the downturn.
I'm not going anywhere, this site isn't going anywhere. It will exist after my death as well. The RRS has not made a profit.
RRS HAS NOT MADE A PROFIT.
I left a good career to do this, this is my love, this is my legacy, my effort to make the world a better place. If I was in it for the money, I would be a little smarter than to work for 80 cents an hour. If I was in it for the money there would be no RRS. Maybe I'd be the President of a big Atheist org... you know the people that make $60,000-$100,000 a year.
Rumor 5: RRS is Atheist Nexus
Status: False. I didn't even have an atheist nexus account until yesterday. The Rational Response Squad page on atheist nexus was started by a friend of mine.
Rumor 6: Brian Sapient and Kelly started a rumor that Richard Dawkins cheated on his wife to get back at him.
Status: False. We didn't start a rumor. This one is rather easy to pick apart, can you find anywhere that Kelly or I posted that in a public place at the time when it supposedly happened? This is what it looks like when I "get back" at someone. It looks a little different than "he said it, just not on the internet anywhere." I wouldn't want the world to know a story like that, imagine what the Christians would do with that info.
Rumor 7: Kelly was spending RRS money on illegal drugs.
Status: False. Kelly was on prescription medication, if she had an issue with substance abuse it was more in the alcohol department, she made her drinking public during a few broadcasts. Those concerned about Kelly should know she's doing better now, and she's on a better track. We spoke yesterday for the first time in about 80 days. We have a mutual admiration for each other and hope the best for each other. She's currently working on bettering herself in a number of areas, details of which are personal.
Rumor 8: Sam Harris wanted to give us $500,000 to work on a non-profit but decided against it to do The Reason Project instead.
Status: False. However, may I note that "The Reason Project" is not working... we can't even get atheists to embrace reason. This rumor might've stemmed from my interest in helping Sam Harris get the project started, and the fact that at one point he explained that groups like RRS would be the beneficiaries of funds... however we'd have to be a non-profit.
I'm not a 501-C-3 so that we don't have to limit what we talk about. If I wanted to limit what we were going to talk about we could be a non-profit and I'd likely make over $60,000 a year. I'm just trying to get by and I'm frugal about it. Every penny is stretched to the limit.
Spread this post around, help faithful atheists everywhere. 
______
I just read this quote from Natural posted on our Atheist Nexus group page and found it to be one of the best summations of the "I hate you RRS" effect that I've seen over the years...
Just a warning to anyone reading this who's not familiar with the RRS forums: A lot of people have the wrong impression about RRS, based on rumors and haters, but if you go in with an open mind -- instead of assuming you know what it's all about -- then we are very welcoming of anyone willing to discuss anything with intellectual honesty. Some of our long-time members are people we strongly disagree with, but get along with just fine because they are honest to us and themselves. On the other hand, if you start making claims and accusations with nothing to back it up, we will challenge you unrelentingly. A lot of people can't handle this, and hence we get a lot of haters spreading rumors.
Oh, ironically the reason I noticed the quote was because I was going to look at the new group Natural formed. Here is the information on his wonderism group. I didn't have an account on nexus, and I still don't. So if you're looking for me there, you'll be looking for a while.
____
There has been a battle amongst non-believers, non-theists, secularists, brights, humanists, atheists, non-religious, agnostics, skeptics, and the non-religious for quite some time in this country. How many different names was that to describe someone that almost always is without a belief in a god? I probably missed a few, in fact feel free to mention them and I'll add them in. The battle is a pointless one that only serves to divide us, disparage us, and hurt us. Instead of one minority, we are now 10 smaller minorities with less power. Anyone avoiding usage of the word atheist is allowing the theist to win.
Growing up I was told by my born again Christian mother that atheists are devil worshippers, that they know for sure no god exists, and that they are arrogant fools who hate god (yes I know the contradictions there now). It's been about 12 years since I was led down the path from agnostic deist to agnostic by Jake. After I abandoned my deism as a result of his arguments I felt as if I was sure I wasn't an atheist because I had such a negative stigma attached to the word, and also didn't claim to know for sure that a god didn't exist, as my Christtarded mother once claimed all atheists do. Jake then showed me the truth of how atheism is defined. When I learned that I was being duped by religious people as to how atheism is defined I chose to accept the term atheism within an hour of internal deliberation. I promise you, it was a hard hour.
As I continued my journey over the years into the god defeating activist you have grown to love, I've seen the development of these terms to define atheists without using the word atheist. These terms are almost always a way to dodge usage of the word: atheist. Why is it Mr. Humanist that you can recognize religion is bunk, sometimes even speak out against it, yet fall over in defeat when Christians have chosen to affix a bad connotation to the word that best describes your position on god belief? Don't let me take away your humanism, I know the arguments well. Humanism puts forward things you do believe in, atheism is merely the word that describes what you don't believe. I even consider myself part of every single one of the bolded words I opened with. Don't give me that "I'm not a negative person" routine, I know well that many people avoiding the term atheist are doing so because they don't want the bad connotation applied to them. I've heard this response many times when arguing this issue.
There are two massive problems with succumbing to those who seek to attach a false definition or negative stigma to the word atheist.
1. We have allowed those bastardizing the term atheist to segregate us.
It's become hard to determine just how many atheists exist in the world as a result of the various terminologies. We've had problems fighting off faith based funding, and haven't been able to get contrary non-belief funding. We hold less power than if we all just stood by this term, and addressed it when questioned or given a false definition for it. As a result of bowing down to their whim we've refocused our own energy on dividing ourselves instead of focusing energy on correcting incorrect terminology. Had we been fighting the battle rather than giving up, we'd have had a shot today, instead we have a second problem now, one I always saw coming...
2. It's not the term atheist they don't like, it's anyone who doesn't hold a belief in their god.
So you've dodged the term atheist, good for you. Now what? Now that you're a Humanist or a Skeptic, tell the Christian what you believe. If the theist manages to read between the lines and figure out that embedded in your Humanism is a lack of god belief, they're just as likely to affix a negative stigma to your beliefs. They're not on a mission to disparage atheism, they are on a mission to disparage anything that isn't their form of theism. Once they realize you're not with them, then you're against them. The day the term bright was created was the day I knew it would someday have a horrible stigma attached to it. Of course it was created in part to duck the negative stigma associate with atheism.
Now what do you do? Do you abandon your humanism? If you don't then one must wonder why you abandoned the term atheist. If you do, at least we're certain now, you are a coward. As you can see from the sign outside the Seagate Community Chapel in North Carolina, they figured you out. They know what you are now, and they are working their smear campaign. Let the memes begin! And to that end over the last two years I noticed many Christian sources affixing negative connotations to brights, skeptics, and humanists. Some of those examples were pointed out on this site in discussions of this issue. The information I've provided in this post isn't much different than the points I've argued on this topic for years. At that point however I didn't have a picture of a Church misrepresenting the name of the peaceful passive humanists. Well look where the passiveness got ya. Welcome to false definition-ville.
Ready to embrace the word that defines anyone who is without a belief in a god yet? If we embrace it together and respond to false claims wherever they exist, we can help slowly to correct a dishonest/ignorant theist population, and maybe if we're lucky we'll even be counted.
Once again: What is an atheist and how does it differ from agnostic?
Until next time, stay rational.
Hey folks, as you know the core leadership of RRS was rather inactive for the first half of 2009, this was due to various factors including several that are personal, however the recession took it's toll as early as the beginning of 2008. A bunch of folks who were donors and subscribers wrote to us with apologies after they lost their job, or their wives lost their jobs, or something recessionary in nature happened to them presenting a situation in which they had to withdraw their funding of our efforts. This story was echoed by the SSA who was on the verge of disappearing this year as a result of the hard times, and has raised over $90,000 in two months. I've been working as many hours as possible in the real world for over a year now to reduce the fundraising burden in order to keep this site afloat. While I seemed absent on an activist level my time away from the limelight was designed to preserve RRS.
Since I've been able to alter my schedule to get back to the typical 50+ hour RRS workload, the donations are at an all time low. This is to be expected of course, there is no current radio show, there was a hiatus, and we're still in a recession... but we're recovering on multiple levels. I'm gonna manage to work in the 70 hour range on activist activities here, while holding down a job and caring for a son, this week. Signs of a recession ending are upon us. However, due to the intense workload already on my plate, the show is far from my mind. Doing the show takes preparation time, editing time, and more... while I currently have 60 hours of unedited material that still needs to be addressed. Work that needed to be addressed for a very long time now, my sincerest apologies to those who were waiting for that content.
Since I've returned I've been bombarded with countless positive comments, many of which are encouraging me to get the show back up and running, here's your chance to get me one step closer to that. Yeah... I'm begging for money. Pick up that phone and call us now to keep the congregation going. I hate feeling like this, hate having to ask for it, I thought maybe donations would just start coming back organically, but they're not. So I'm asking.
Let me give you some insight as to some of the things I'm working on that require funds...
1. I'm going to Salt Lake City next month and will be speaking in front of a large atheist group. I will take some footage engaging Mormons as well. On my dime. About $500 for the trip, I'll be staying with a friend.
2. I finally managed to get ALL the footage from the documentary team that failed to produce the RRS movie, due to their own lack of funds. This includes our in person interviews with Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris, Dennett, Ellen Johnson, Margaret Downey, and at home conversations and interviews that have never been released. $3,500 is needed for an apple capable of editing this footage in HD with this $1,000 piece of software. If you are willing to lend suitable computer or sell one at a discount, let me know. I can now edit the video in non-hd however I have 30 hours of footage to dig through, which will take quite a bit of time to work on. The plan is currently a free internet movie.
3. You know those atheist billboards that have been popping up everywhere? I want to put them all over the web via google ads. This project is limited only by how much money we have, one could invest $10,000 per day easily in google ads.
4. I'd like to not have to ask for more hours at work every week, and instead ask for less, spending more time working RRS would get me back on track, I'm so backlogged, it feels like I'm 3 years behind.
5. I'd like to plan trips to speak at both California and Florida atheist events in the next 9 months. I have friends/family I can stay with at both to keep costs down. Groups in Florida and California have been trying to get me to come speak for a while. Video projects will be made on both trips.
6. Darth Josh will be coming to visit the RRS house at the end of January to record a show (and scheme), I'd like to help with his travel expenses.
7. I need a laptop to take on these trips, so I can stay connected. I'm looking at the least expensive model that would do the trick. $350
There's obviously a ton of other activist reasons more money could be put to good use, but I think I've added enough transparency and at least a few thousands dollars worth of expenses to give you an idea of how your donation will be put to good use.
So here's your chance... all those folks that sent me words of support in the last three months, telling me how happy you are to see me back full time, help me keep it up! Show me you really mean it. I need to see your love in the form of dollars or I need to look into restoring my career aspirations and pull back the amount of time I spend on activism. Keep in mind, the RRS network of sites will be here for at least as long as I'm alive, and likely well after. While I might have lost some teammates along the way, I promise you're never losing me. This has always been my baby. I'm not going anywhere, don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years.
There are two big ways to help financially:
2. Donate any amount, any size, consider $15-25.
3. If you have to do any holiday shopping, start doing it now, and do it through this link. Amazon.com sells just about everything in the world, you can get your groceries and clothing there as well. Purchase items you'd normally buy at the store through our amazon link and we'll make a small commission. Thanks to the few folks who do this year round.
Please consider as large of a one time donation as you can make, this is a crucial time, now is the time to donate. Do all you can, please.
/begging
Darth Josh told me last night how the radio disclaimer is one of his favorite sound bites in RRS history, and I'm inclined to agree with him. For those that don't know the technicals on it... it's my voice sped up 1.5 times.
So here's a little slice of RRS history, a download for the disclaimer that was played on our show. Enjoy!
You can still hear a bunch of free archived material here.
_____
I miss you Carl...
Pale Blue Dot
Where did the Big Bang come from? Does it make sense to believe it was a God?
We are made of star stuff.
Upcoming Video Description: "Carl Sagan's description of how we evolved from "Star Stuff" and are on our journey to go back to our origin - in the Stars. From "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage" episode 8, "Journeys in Space and Time". Please support this amazing masterpiece by buying the DVDs - you will not regret it.
Upcoming Video Description: "Those worlds in space are as countless as all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the Earth. Each of those worlds is as real as ours. In every one of them, there's a sucsession of incidence, events, occurences which influence its future. Countless worlds, numberless moments, an immensity of space and time. And our small planet, at this moment, here we face a critical branch-point in the history. What we do with our world, right now, will propagate down through the centuries and powerfully affect the destiny of our descendants. It is well within our power to destroy our civilization, and perhaps our species as well. If we capitulate to superstition, or greed, or stupidty we can plunge our world into a darkness deeper than time between the collapse of classical civilization and the Italian Renaissaince. But, we are also capable of using our compassion and our intelligence, our technology and our wealth, to make an abundant and meaningful life for every inhabitant of this planet. To enhance enormously our understanding of the Universe, and to carry us to the stars." Carl Sagan explains the immensity of space and time. This clip is from Carl Sagan's Cosmos episode 8, "Journeys in Space and Time."
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