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. 

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: 

1. Donate monthly

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." 

A brief story and a nutritious cookie recipe...

Some of you are already aware I've been dieting and eating an entirely different batch of foods in the last 3 months.  I'm eating foods that are high in protein, low in fat, and have a higher level of complex carbs vs. simple carbs.  I've been hesitant to blog about this as it obviously has nothing to do with my typical area of expertise, but I want this blog to cover some other areas of my life, and I plan to post recipes and diet/bodybuilding related things from time to time.  One of the new items in my diet is protein powder supplements.  I've tried a few different brands to see which flavor I like the most...

I bought the two huge jugs, Muscle Milk light and Evopro only after sampling them, I found them to be the most tasty so far.  The folks on facebook mentioned ON Standard but I was looking for lactose free, so keep that in mind if you get the urge to recommend your favorite powder.

Before this diet one of my favorite late night snacks was some form of cookie.  I prefer anything chocolate and have altered a recipe I found online to create a tasty yet healthy cookie.  If there is something you don't like about this recipe, feel free to substitute.  If you like a very sweet flavor, something close to a chocolate chip cookie sweetness just add another 1/4 cup of sugar.  You'll notice pureed banana, that is designed as a substitute for butter.  You can use almost any fruit with a similar consistency, mango, papaya, strained applesauce, etc... 

This recipe makes 16 cookies

1/2 cup banana (mash to create proper texture)

1 tablespoon peanut butter (skip it if you wish, or add up to 2 more tbls)

1/4 cup light brown sugar or splenda brown sugar

1/4 cup splenda sugar

2 eggs 

1/3 cup milk 

3/4 cups organic oatmeal flour (excellent source of complex carbs, much better than all-purpose flour)

1/2 cup chocolate powder protein supplement (choose another flavor if you'd like)

1 oz or 2 scoops of vanilla protein powder 

1/2 cup granola (pick whatever type you'd like, or choose oats instead.  Another complex carb source!)

1/4 cup carob chocolate chips 

1.5 teaspoon baking soda 

2 tsp vanilla extract

dash of salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees D (175 degrees C)

2. In a large bowl cream together the fruit, peanut butter, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, the stir in the vanilla and water.  

3. In another bowl combine the leftover dry ingredients saving the chocolate chips.  Stir the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture.

4. Fold in the chocolate chips.

5. Drop the dough by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets

6. Bake for 10-12 minutes in the preheated oven.  Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling tray, wax paper, wire rack, etc.

If you follow my recipe exactly and use Muscle Milk light chocolate powder and Biochem Vanilla powder your nutritional information will look like this:

Serving size: 1 big cookie

Calories: 110 

Fat: 3 grams

Carbohydrates: 13 grams (3g sugars, 10g complex carbs)

Protein: 6 grams

These taste great with that chocolate protein shake you drink just before bedtime.  

Coming soon will be a post about the substitution in my diet for a cheese steak that I was previously addicted to, a huge eggbeater omelette with chicken steak slices instead, at 285 cals, 9 grams fat, 8 grams carbs, 37 grams protein.

If you're finding this post in google and wondering what the the heck is going on here... yeah... we don't believe in God around these parts. No matter what you believe you can reply to this post by clicking "Add new comment" below. 

 Thanks to David Silverman for bringing this to my attention, I'm united with him on a boycott of Tom Cruise movies and now The Simpsons. Nancy Cartwright (voice of Bart Simpson) is promoting Scientology.

Bart Simpson Scientology Robo Call sound bite 

(give the clip a moment to load, and it starts 5 seconds in, if you have problems click here) 

Goodbye Simpsons.  

Seriously Nancy, you're auditing?  You dumbass.

On Thursday nights Daily Show Jon Stewart fell into the funniest impression I've ever seen him pull off, an attack or parody if you will of the ridiculous Glenn Beck...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The 11/3 Project
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Religion creates another atrocity, god is great, eh?  Listen Muslims and Christians... stop the fighting.  You're both wrong, it's time to act like rational grown-ups and throw off your archaic belief system, you are destroying civilization, and will continue to do so until we're gone.  Abandon your superstitous nonsense, and evolve already!  Ask yourself, what solid proof do you have to believe in your God.  If what you have is a holy book, remind yourself that hundreds of holy books exist for hundreds of gods, and you don't believe in any of them, so obviously a holy book is not sufficient proof.  Throw off your superstitious nonsense, and embrace things you know exist like humans for example.  Make no mistake, today millions of folks around the world who have no belief in a god are sad for the people who were affected by this needless loss of life, just as we've been sad about all the other atrocities committed in the name of religion throughout the ages.  Our thoughts are with the billions who have been negatively affected by religion since the dawn of time, and always are.  In fact my life is dedicated to ensuring these sorts of things don't continue to happen, you can start by breaking the cycle... throw religion off today!  

The major is a psychiatrist who had been treating soldiers returning from Iraq for post-traumatic stress and alcohol and drug abuse problems. "He was making outlandish comments condemning our foreign policy and claimed Muslims had the right to rise up and attack Americans," Col Lee told Fox News.  "He said Muslims should stand up and fight the aggressor and that we should not be in the war in the first place." He said that Maj Hasan said he was "happy" when a US soldier was killed in an attack on a military recruitment centre in Arkansas in June.  An American convert to Islam was accused of the shootings. Col Lee alleged that other officers had told him that Maj Hasan had said "maybe people should strap bombs on themselves and go to Time Square" in New York.

He claimed he was aware that the major had been subject to "name calling" during heated arguments with other officers.

source

Lt. Gen. Robert Cone told NBC's "Today" show on Friday that suspected shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, made the comment, which is Arabic for "God is great!" before the rampage Thursday that also left 30 people wounded.  Military officials say they are still piecing together what may have pushed Hasan, an Army psychiatrist trained to help soldiers in distress, to turn on his comrades.
Cone says Hasan was not known to be a threat or risk.

Hasan was shot four times during the rampage. Cone says he is hospitalized in stable condition and that military officials will interrogate him as soon as possible.

source

Hasan's aunt Noel Hasan of Falls Church, Virginia, told the The Washington Post that her nephew had been harassed about being a Muslim in the years after the September 11 attacks and he wanted to leave the Army.

"Some people can take it and some people cannot," she said. "He had listened to all of that and he wanted out of the military."

At least six months ago, Hasan came to the attention of law enforcement officials because of Internet postings about suicide bombings and other threats, including posts that equated suicide bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the lives of their comrades.

Investigators had not determined for certain whether Hasan was the author of the posting, and a formal investigation had not been opened before the shooting, law enforcement officials told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

source

Hasan had been telling his family since 2001 that he wanted to get out of the military, said a spokeswoman for his cousin, Nader Hasan. Hasan told his family he had been taunted after the September 11 attacks, the spokeswoman said.

"He was mortified by the idea of having to deploy," his cousin told the New York Times. "He had people telling him on a daily basis the horrors they saw over there."

---

Hasan would also ask the owner whether he planned to attend Friday prayers. The owner would say he was too busy.

Hasan said he would be deployed to Afghanistan soon, the owner said. 

---

A former neighbor of Hasan said he lived in a highrise apartment complex in Silver Spring, Maryland, with another man, apparently his brother, and that the two appeared friendly.

"They had some Arabic signs out there, and I asked them what they meant," said the woman, who asked not to be identified. The other man, who routinely wore a chef's outfit, told her it was a prayer, she said. "They seemed like they were nice people," she said.

The two men moved out three or four months ago, which she noticed because the Muslim prayer had been removed from their door.

"Honestly, they seemed like very cool, calm guys, and religious guys," she said. "It's kind of strange."

According to military records, Hasan was born in Virginia, and a federal official said he was a U.S. citizen of Jordanian descent.

Military records show Hasan received his appointment to the Army as a first lieutenant in June 1997 after graduating from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, with a degree in biochemistry.

source

Today is the day, on the Don Imus show Bill Maher referred to himself as an atheist very explicitly for the first time that I am aware of.  

Here is his page on Celebrity Atheists with the update: http://www.celebatheists.com/wiki/Bill_Maher

NOVEMBER 2009 ON IMUS - MAHER REFERS TO HIMSELF AS AN ATHEIST

November 1, 2009 on Imus, Bill Maher finally accepts that the term atheism describes him best when relating to Richard Dawkins and his atheism lacking absolute certainty:

"Neither me nor my girl believe in God or marriage, so there's not gonna be a big church wedding... I always say I don't know. Even Richard Dawkins a man whose name has become synonymous with atheism says he puts a scale of 1 to 7, 1 being absolute certain there is a god and 7 being absolutely certain there isn't, and he says even he's a 6.9. Because no one knows for sure what's out there. He says yes there could be a god and there could be a spaghetti monster out there, but it doesn't look like it. To me it was always great fodder for comedy. There isn't a week that goes by that there isn't something hysterically funny if it's not tragic, having to do with religion. My recent favorite example was at the Michael Jackson Memorial Stevie Wonder said 'we needed Michael but God needed him more.' And I thought really God needs people, God needs singers, God is up there saying 'Jesus, nothing on, get that Michael Jackson up here.'

Imus then asks if Hitchens is a 7. Bill Maher responds "he may be, I think we're just talking semantics at some point, we are all atheists (referring to Dawkins, Hitchens, and himself), which means we don't believe in a deity, we don't believe in a magic spaceman, and we think people that do, have a neurological disorder and they need help."

And on religion in general he said "When I hear from people that religion doesn't hurt anything, I say really? Well besides wars, the crusades, the inquisitions, 9-11, ethnic cleansing, the suppression of women, the suppression of homosexuals, fatwas, honor killings, suicide bombings, arranged marriages to minors, human sacrifice, burning witches, and systematic sex with children, I have a few little quibbles. And I forgot blowing up girl schools in Afghanistan."

I feel the need to highlight the recent trials and tribulations of Sunsara Taylor with the Ethical Society of Chicago as she is a friend of mine, and this issue is of obvious importance to her.  Sunsara has given me the fuel to give brief mention to a past issue I feel that the Ethical Society of Philadelphia helped hinder the advancement of non-believer unity in Philadelphia.  If you can believe it Sunsara is even more of a rabble rouser than I am, while she staged a scene, I quietly backed away and just pretended it never happened.  Today I speak up, because of Sunsara.

About two years ago a group was formed called PhillyCor, I'm close with quite a few people involved in the forming of the group.  The group was formed to connect local freethought and humanist groups, and RRS is based out of Philadelphia. Being that we had the largest global presence of any of the groups in Philadelphia it made sense for us to be involved, and we would've embraced the role.  We would've adapted to fit within the groups model, we would've helped raise money, and most importantly spread the word on a much larger scale than the group was capable of.  In fact this is the first time I ever link to the group, because when the opportunity arose for RRS to be in the group, the Ethical Society essentially stated it's us or them.  

If you're from the Philadelphia area you'd know well that the Ethical Society of Philly owns a gorgeous building in the center of town that is frequently used for freethought gatherings by the groups currently in PhillyCor, and this was considered to be an important piece of the puzzle.  In fairness, this wasn't the only issue, there were also some rumors that muddied that waters, the point is I didn't find their ethics to be those I'd share.  While it may seem understandable to exclude a confrontational group, it's not understandable that they never asked us to address their concerns which I believe were based on lies and misrepresentations made about us.  Their action spits in the face of the inclusive nature that the group was designed for.  It's hard to have a coalition when you exclude the largest and most recognized group from your target area.  Today I'm actually glad I'm not part of the COR considering the recent acceptance of money and connection to Greg Epstein that is permeating COR groups.  If you don't know about Greg see here: Humanist chaplain Greg Epstein wants you to join him, asshole - Greg Epstein ≠ humanism - Greg Epstein seeking further embarrassment?

Now with that little story out of the way, I bring you Sunsara's most recent blog on her issues with the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago.  

Cameraman brutally arrested while filming Sunsara Taylor making a statement Sunday 10:30 a.m. at Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago 

On Sunday, November 1st, plainclothes and uniformed police who had been called in earlier by officials of the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago (EHSC) dragged out, maced and arrested a man for videotaping Sunsara Taylor as she stood near her seat and made a statement before the start of that morning’s program about the shameful cancellation of her long planned talk to EHSC that day on the topic “Morality without Gods.”

The shocking incident took place at the insistence of the president of EHSC. About 40 people witnessed the videographer being brutalized by the police in the foyer of the facility. An attorney demanded that the police stop brutalizing him when five officers piled on him as he lay face down on the floor. 6 police cars arrived within minutes.

The day before, during a workshop on the same premises which the president and other board members of the EHS were at, Sunsara explained very clearly that she would be attending the opening of the EHS's Sunday gathering and giving the EHS the opportunity to do the right thing and allow her talk to go forward, up until the last minute. If the EHS still refused to let her give her talk, she explained that she would leave and give her talk in “exile” at the nearby home of one of the EHS members.

The statement can be viewed here.

Also see Sunsara Taylor undeterred

In her brief statement at the EHS on Sunday morning, Sunsara Taylor challenged the very wrong decision to cancel her speaking engagement and pointed out how this is contributing to a chilling atmosphere in society as a whole and has happened all too frequently to people who challenge the dominant narrative (like Ward Churchill, Noman Finkelstein and the director of Milk who was recently “disinvited” from Hope College, etc.). Taylor stated that while the group had the “bureaucratic right” to disinvite her, it didn’t make it any more “right” than the voters in California passing Prop 8. She also invited those who wanted to hear her speak to come to her “talk in exile” at the home of a member of the EHSC.

At no point during her brief statement was Sunsara asked to stop speaking or to leave the premises. And at no point was anyone who was there to support her, including the photographer, asked to leave. It is telling that the only person singled out by the police, at the request of the president of the Society, was the man documenting what Sunsara was saying.

The videographer was simply trying to document and guard the truth of what Sunsara was saying in her brief statement. Sunsara’s words had been grossly distorted and taken out of context by some members of the EHSC who were the driving forces behind canceling her speech.

What kind of ethics and morals is the EHSC upholding and modeling through the great lengths it has gone to in suppressing Sunsara Taylor’s talk on Morality without Gods? A number of their own members expressed disagreement with the cancellation and a number of prominent people from around the country wrote statements in support of Sunsara’s speaking and called on EHSC to rectify its wrong-headed decision. Instead, the board fortified and increasingly defended its decision and created an atmosphere of anti-communist hysteria, fear and rumor-mongering that had no relationship to reality.

The EHS had no legitimate basis to feel the police needed to be there in the first place, except for the rumors and hysteria that they themselves had created. Then, by choosing to set the police upon the person filming they went after the one person who was documenting the truth of Sunsara's words and the fact that Sunsara and others there to support her were acting in no way to disrupt the replacement talk the EHS had planned.

What kind of Ethical Humanist group would create a situation that led directly to the brutal arrest of someone simply for filming Sunsara giving a statement at that point with simply a cell phone? In their zeal to suppress Taylor they went repeatedly against the stated purpose of the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago which includes “the supreme aim of human life is working to create a more humane society...Our commitment is to the worth and dignity of the individual and to treating each human being so as to bring out the best in her or him.”

This attack was in stark contrast to the day before at the EHSC where Sunsara led a well-attended and lively discussion with much audience participation on "Women’s Liberation and the Emancipation of Humanity." This whole program was videotaped by the same volunteer photographer.

To call upon the EHSC to drop charges against the photographer and to continue to express their disagreement with their decision to dis-invite Sunsara Taylor contact:  847-677-3334

To find out how to make contributions to the legal defense, contact:

Lori Stephens author of Alpha Omega recently asked me if I wouldn't mind sharing her book with the users of the Rational Response Squad website.  As always purchases made on this site via Amazon, help support this site.

Product Description
A defector from a cult called Omega has bled to death for no identifiable reason, and the only clue is the book he’s clutching: the Librah Vae-ta, the holy scripture that the Omega cult founders created a century ago, unaware of its dangerous power. Dr. Gatsby Donovan resolves to help solve the mysterious murder. As she spirals deeper into the danger zone of spies and assassins, she realizes that the Omega script is based on the languages of ancient holy texts. Through an action-packed story, Alpha, Omega challenges readers to rethink the agendas of large religious organizations and how they have become global superpowers. With despotic cults, religious scriptures, ancient languages, neuro-addiction, murder, betrayal, revenge, and ultimately, love, Alpha Omega is a rollercoaster tale with a message that cannot be ignored, and readers may even suspect that their own Bible may contain more than maxims for moral living.

Reviews
Review by Decia Rowland, PhD, Scholar of Religion
Cults have never been good news for the religions they parallel. Evil fairly drips from this story of a PTSS victim who now must face her boogeyman again as a scientist-detective delving into the religious psyche of the Omega group. I read this book in one sitting, convinced that as a believer, I would find something to roar about in Ms. Stephens' gripping portrayal of a nasty man and his nasty companions. Nothing good could come out of self-serving religion, the author seems to say. But I was caught by the emotional struggle of her two protagonists to create a real relationship, in the rawness of the present, in the hope of something honest. While The Da Vinci Code asks the question, "Is our eschatological symbol for goodness who we think he is?" Alpha Omega asks "Come on now, what does it really mean to be human?" 

Alpha, Omega
Review by Katy McElroy
Can you trust what you read? In this thrilling adventure, Lori Stephens explores the potential language has to influence our beliefs and actions, and how dangerous the knowledge of this potential can be in the wrong hands. When a strange book is connected with a grisly murder, Gatsby Donovan is selected to help decode its cryptic language. But as she deciphers the strange syllables, she discovers that there is much more to this text than just the words on the pages--and even she may not be able to resist its power. Alpha, Omega will keep you on the edge of your seat as you follow Gatsby along the path of an investigation which soon consumes her life, ultimately forcing her to confront her own hidden, painful past. 

We've restored the content on both the old Way of the Master watchdog site, and Ask The Atheist.  

I'm currently looking for people that are writing articles, have written articles, or are willing to write articles exposing Kirk Cameron, Ray Comfort, Todd Friehl and any of the other loons that work with the Way of the Master organization.  That site had been taken down quite some time ago, and is now available here: Way of the Master Watchdog

The OLD Ask The Atheist site is now in archive format only attached to our site as a subdomain: http://asktheatheist.rationalresponders.com 

You can log in to both of the above sites to post a comment with your RRS login and password.  

If you're interested in being a thorn in the side of the WOTM team (seriously it's easy, it just takes a little time and energy) please let me know.  The best way to let me know is to read a few of the posts on the Way of the Master Watchdog and get a vibe of what we were trying to achieve, and to submit a story to me that you think is worthy of posting.  I'm currently in need of a few good stories involving Ray Comforts destruction of "The Origin of Species."  So if you're interested in coming up with a post or two per month about the current whereabouts of the con-men at Way of the Master, let me know.

Oh... and if you want to check out the current form of Ask the Atheist it's available here.

Check tonights World Series for a live performance of my current favorite song...

Over the last few weeks just about the only song I listen to when in the car is the new Jay-Z song Empire State of Mind from the Blueprint 3 Album. I do love New York, think it's a great city, and really love both the vibe and message of the song.  Songs that inspire are my thing.  Not to mention that I think Alicia Keys is one of the five most musically talented women alive, and honestly the overwhelming reason I like the song is because of her chorus, and this live performance...

Of course now that the Philadelphia Phillies are playing the NY Yankees it brings a slightly different feeling for me when listening to the song.  Apparently the same came be said for the artist NeeKo who recreated the song with lyrics appropriate for Philadelphia with Deana Marie singing the Alicia Keys part.  The Philly version is great if you're from Philly, if you're from somewhere else it seems the sole purpose of the song is to remind you of how talented Jay-Z and Alica Keys are.  I hope the Phillies let the lights inspire them and go up 2 in the series tonight!  And yes the lyrics do make sense to a Philadelphian, here is the NeeKo version:

Below is the cheat sheet for all the rap illiterate folks out there...

Lyrics Empire State of Mind Jay-Z

Yeah,
Yeah, Imma up at Brooklyn,
Now Im down in Tribeca,
Right next to DeNiro,
But i’ll be hood forever,
I’m the new Sinatra,
And since I made it here,
I can make it anywhere,
Yeah they love me everywhere,
I used to cop in Harlem,
All of my dominicanos
Right there up on broadway,
Brought me back to that McDonalds,
Took it to my stash spot,
Five Sixty Stage street,
Catch me in the kitchen like a simmons whipping pastry,
Cruising down 8th street,
Off white lexus,
Driving so slow but BK is from Texas,
Me I’m up at Bedsty,
Home of that boy Biggie,
Now I live on billboard,
And I brought my boys with me,
Say wat up to Ty Ty, still sipping Malta
Sitting courtside Knicks and Nets give me high fives,
N-gga I be spiked out, I can trip a referee,
Tell by my attitude that I most definitely from…

In New York,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
Theres nothing you can’t do,
Now you’re in New York,
These streets will make you feel brand new,
The lights will inspire you,
Lets here it for New York, New York, New York

[Jay-Z]
I made you hot n-gga,
Catch me at the X with OG at a Yankee game,
Sh-t I made the yankee hat more famous than a yankee can,
You should know I bleed Blue, but I aint a crip tho,
But I got a gang of n-ggas walking with my click though,
Welcome to the melting pot,
Corners where we selling rocks,
Afrika bambaataa sh-t,
Home of the hip hop,
Yellow cap, gypsy cap, dollar cab, holla back,
For foreigners it aint fitted they forgot how to act,
8 million stories out there and their naked,
Cities is a pity half of y’all won’t make it,
Me I gotta plug a special and I got it made,
If Jesus payin LeBron, I’m paying Dwayne Wade,
3 dice cee-lo
3 card marley,
Labor day parade, rest in peace Bob Marley,
Statue of Liberty, long live the World trade,
Long live the king yo,
I’m from the empire state thats…

In New York,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
Theres nothing you can’t do,
Now you’re in New York,
These streets will make you feel brand new,
The lights will inspire you,
Lets here it for New York, New York, New York
Welcome to the bright light..

Lights is blinding,
Girls need blinders
So they can step out of bounds quick,
The side lines is blind with casualties,
Who sipping life casually, then gradually become worse,
Don’t bite the apple Eve,
Caught up in the in crowd,
Now your in-style,
And in the winter gets cold en vogue with your skin out,
The city of sin is a pity on a whim,
Good girls gone bad, the cities filled with them,
Mommy took a bus trip and now she got her bust out,
Everybody ride her, just like a bus route,
Hail Mary to the city your a Virgin,
And Jesus can’t save you life starts when the church ends,
Came here for school, graduated to the high life,
Ball players, rap stars, addicted to the limelight,
MDMA got you feeling like a champion,
The city never sleeps better slip you a Ambien

In New York,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
Theres nothing you can’t do,
Now you’re in New York,
These streets will make you feel brand new,
The lights will inspire you,
Lets here it for New York, New York, New York

One hand in the air for the big city,
Street lights, big dreams all looking pretty,
No place in the World that can compare,
Put your lighters in the air, everybody say yeaaahh
Come on, come,
Yeah,

In New York,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
Theres nothing you can’t do,
Now you’re in New York,
These streets will make you feel brand new,
The lights will inspire you,
Lets here it for New York, New York, New York
 

______________________________________________

Lyrics Ill State of Mind NeeKo  with Deana Marie

Ill State of Mind, a Philly version of Jay’s Empire State of Mind.

yeah im talkin b hop
more like a balboa
never been to my city
come on wit me ill show ya
home of the fresh prince
jazzier than jeff is
back in the day doc j rock a 76
jersey just across the bridge
betsy ross walt whit
benjamin franklin
1776
state our independence
high as kites ever since
sayin you from philly
you reap nothin but the benefits
plus its always sunny here
just in case ya unaware
citizens be bankin in
can we get another year
yeah im talkin repeat
heat like hamels
utley amazin
charlie wrote the manuel
broad street bullies
nothins flyer than a flyers fan
missin all his teeth
bobby clarke still smilin
rocky on the first step
headin to that top one
yeah thats me
we go hard where
im from

chorus
In philly
concrete jungle where dreams are made of
theres nothin you cant do
now youre in philly
these streets will make you feel brand new
these lights will inspire you
lets hear it for philly x3

back when we had sly bacon
whoops i mean cunningham
right after jaws
and right before the running man
so much wit
prolly get it from the cheesesteaks
i been out all night i just wanna sleep late
young crowd olde city
tell me where the party at
meet the girl on south street
better rock ya party cap
cruisin down city ave
headin to the boulevard
coulda grabbed the El
but they told me that it wouldnt spark
this where im comin from
who knows where we goin to
i feel like im in line for a ride
when im at tony lukes
we could lose all the trees
but we still got the roots
plus we got beans
and an eve that doesnt opt for fruit
green blood in the tube
if we need it transfused
when the mets come thru
youre gonna hear our fans boo
this is the city of the brotherly love
and if youve never been here
i suggest that you come to

chorus

In philly
concrete jungle where dreams are made of
theres nothin you cant do
now youre in philly
these streets will make you feel brand new
these lights will inspire you
lets hear it for philly x3

now that we got vick
i think we need the vet back
tougher than a stitch
on a mitchell and ness cap
liberty bell crack
walnut chestnut
aint justa ill track
more like the best of
215
yeah i covered all of that
from way back to the future
with this almanac
illadelph artifax
love park heart attacks
always on the grind till i die
spillin all the facts
yeah the way im writin
youd think that im a titan
the way my penns landin
the crowd is left standin
d e mandin
chantin
one more encore
whos the new kid i never heard em before
so reggie white wit a mic
bringin hits all night
cant afford this flow
a praise for no price
they call me neeko
this is for my people
ill state of mind
everywhere we go

My son just had his current grades sent home, and he's doing amazing as always.  He's got straight A's with the exception of one B.  The B is in science.  When I heard the grades, I smiled, told him how proud I was, and how he was doing great.  But then I told him how it's a bit ironic that science was my favorite subject, it's my best subject, and if he were to excel in one specific course I'd love it if it were science. 

As I was sitting there contemplating how I could convey to him how science is used in essentially everything we do, and in almost every action we make, he says "I don't think I'm gonna use science when I grow up."  Aside from my heart sinking, I realized his lack of fundamental understanding as to how science is applied and it's common use.   So I spent the last 30 minutes giving him fun examples of how he constantly uses science.  For example he presses the power button on a computer to turn it on, rather than tap the sides of the computer with a stick.  When he plays his Lord of the Rings game he uses weapons on certain enemies he deems appropriate based on past experiences.  He doesn't use weapons that he has knowledge will fail and expect a positive result.  We went through a ton of fun examples on practical usage of science, and he gets it, but I'd like to build some interest as opposed to just "getting it." 

Anyway... I was snooping youtube trying to find a very basic video on how science is important to just about everything we do and I couldn't find one.  So I was wondering if any of you either know of a good video (or three) or would want to search for one.  I figure whatever is found and posted could be a good reference point for Christians who like to discount science whenever it suits their religious arguments.  Ideally I'm looking for that video that makes you realize how prehistoric we'd be without science, and it's application.

So feel free to post your videos explaining the importance of science, preferably in terms that a 12 year old could understand (not for my son... for the theists).

Thanks for the help in advance,

Brian

P.S. Yes I know this was just a cheeky way to brag about his good grades.

As you may already be aware, recently the Atheist Foundation of Australia and the Global Atheist Convention websites were the target of a significant DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack, which began on Monday 19 October.

This is a call to all non-believers and advocates for freedom of speech to join us in a global co-ordinated minute of prayer with the aim of inundating God (in this context, the Christian god, God, as distinct from the Greek god, Zeus, the Egyptian god, Ra etc etc) with so many useless prayers that it causes his divineness to go offline as as result of our own DDOS ('Divine' Denial of Service).

The prayer minute will be at exactly 8pm (Eastern Standard Time) and 9am (Greenwich Mean Time) on Sunday 8 November 2009.

The prayer can be about anything you want (but say it as frequently as possible in the minute we have assigned to ensure DDOS is achieved) or to whomever god you want. Its mostly directed at the Christian god so as to ensure we don't get too many return to senders from other gods.

Join the facebook group here.

I must've heard the words "an atheist can do no good" hundreds of times in the last few years.  It must be so hard to imagine how atheists can do good without the upstanding moral code imparted to us in the Bible or the Quran.  Sure I wouldn't sell my daughter into slavery, or kill a man simply for being gay, but I can do other good things instead. 

I'm proud to donate clothes to Goodwill and give money to charity.  But I take a bigger sense of pride in atheist volunteers which was created to unite and showcase acts of goodness by the men in black who apparently can do no good.  Well the door to that argument is being shut more and more everyday as atheists aren't as scared as they once were to show their face (we have religion to thank for our original fear).  We used to do acts of kindness simply because we liked doing acts of kindness.  But after being accused so often of being no-do-gooders some of us decided to show off what we've been doing all our lives while letting others know we don't believe in a god.  We believe good deeds are the work of men.  If good deeds are the works of god, well certainly bad deeds are as well.

I'm particularly excited about the recent developments in Austin with Texas American Atheist President Joe Zamecki at the helm.  He and his crew have been hitting the streets to hand out supply packages to the homeless.  Some interesting video has been shot along the way.  It's interesting to hear how often the homeless use the name Jesus or God in a positive manner while receiving free goods from a non-believer.  You'll have to check it out for yourself.  Details of the Austin Atheists Helping the Homeless are here.  (you can digg and stumble that page)

Thanks Joe, you're a blessing from your mom and dad!

The site is zippier now than it was earlier today and for the last few months.  Oh and I'm still back.

Hey folks, if you have facebook you might want to check my profile over the last few days.  I've spoken about Kelly and I breaking up for good about 3 weeks ago, and have recently started a dialogue addressing any rumors that people might have been convinced of over the last few years.  Generally when a claim was ridiculous I would ignore it as I deemed it as too stupid to respond to, however Rook persuaded me via phone tonight to answer my friends on any rumors that they were curious about.  I started the conversation on facebook because I wanted to see what actual fan/friends want to know about as opposed to the enemy types who just want to ruffle feathers.  A few questions were in fact asked, and I was rather thorough.  If the conversation continues well there, I'll likely post the relevant rumor answers on this site soon.

Here's the thread: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?&new_box_added_id=2448182852#/note.php?note_id=170805010311&ref=mf

If you want to find me on facebook, look up "Brian Sapient" and send me a friend request.  If you are new to facebook or you have to wait for me to accept your friend request you can make a post below with your facebook name, if I recognize you from this site, I'll approve you.

I don't have the joke yet.

An atheist, evangelist, born-again, and youth pastor enter a bar...  [YOU FINISH IT]

This weekend I'll be spending some time with an evangelist, born-again, and a youth pastor.  We'll likely not be discussing religion, although it could come up.  The situation seems like a joke I've heard before, or at least wish I had.  Is there a joke out there that could be edited slightly to fit the bios of the men?  Can you come up with a joke for it?  If your joke doesn't work in a bar, feel free to change the location.  

Hit me with your funny.