THE   FOCUS

November 20, 2009
Volume 5, Issue 47
Published by the Center For Atheism (CFA)
Editor: David Birnkrant
 
The Focus provides links to articles collected from major newspapers and magazines, and is emailed weekly.

This Week in Atheism is a cable show that discusses the articles featured below, every Wednesday at 6:30 PM (EST), Manhattan Cable station 57. 
Live streaming is available at: 
http://www.mnn.org.

Comments, suggestions and subscription:
info@centerforatheism.org.


 
The Center for Atheism (CFA) was established by the New York City Atheists as a separate and independent national organization to propose, develop, and be a catalyst for new national activities supporting the objectives of atheists, agnostics, humanists, freethinkers, skeptics, secularists and separation-of-church-and-state advocates. 

CFA will accept and review suggestions from individuals and other secular organizations that will foster our goals.
 
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FEATURED ARTICLES 

Religious License Plate Banned in South Carolina 
Consumer Affairs 
... vanity license plates inscribed with a cross and the words “I believe” violate the First Amendment's requirement of separation of church and state. ... 
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/11/sc_plates.html 

Lodi makes good on prayer promise of inclusiveness 
Stockton Record 
He is an atheist who provided a secular message of service. Lodi leaders designed an invocation policy they hoped would foster diversity and inclusiveness ... 
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091115/A_NEWS/911150336 

ATHEISM 

Godless Billboard Appears In La Mesa 
SanDiego.com 
It's funded through the San Diego Coalition of Reason, an umbrella organization of nine local chapters of atheist, humanist and rational thought groups. ... 
http://www.sandiego.com/index.php?option=com_sdca&target=394f35ff-2ce2-49cf-9218-5ea091385f10 

Atheist snubbed in attempt to join Sussex education board 
The Argus.co.uk 
By Richard Gurner » An atheist has been snubbed for a second time by a committee which discusses how religion is taught in schools. ... 
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/4738826.Atheist_snubbed_in_attempt_to_join_Sussex_education_board/ 

Friends gather to remember Sir John Mortimer, man of contradictions 
Times Online 
... “the perpetually questioning but always devout unbeliever” (or as the priest put it at his funeral, “an atheist certainly... but an atheist for Jesus”). ... 
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6920867.ece 

The (officially) lapsed Catholics 
Irish Times 
Some of those who have opted out speak to KATE HOLMQUIST FOR ORLAITH FINNEGAN, a 29-year-old atheist from Cork, defecting from the Catholic church took only ... 
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2009/1118/1224259040599.html 

John Humphrys favours an atheist version of Thought For The Day 
Times Online 
The BBC Trust rejected 12 complaints, led by the National Secular Society, against a decision by Mark Damazer, the controller of Radio 4, that atheists ... 
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article6920881.ece 

No 'godspeed' in atheist TriMet ads 
OregonLive.com 
And atheists? As of this week, they have an advertisement -- set against a blue sky and white clouds -- on the side of TriMet buses: “Are You Good without ... 
http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting/2009/11/no_godspeed_in_atheist_trimet.html 

Student gives reasons for not standing during pledge 
Youngstown Vindicator 
By Jon Moffett The teenager said she is an atheist and does not support the Pledge of Allegiance. HUBBARD — One day after the American Civil Liberties Union ... 
http://www.vindy.com/news/2009/nov/19/student-gives-reasons-for-not-standing-during/?newswatch 

Atheist group says they were bullied at Seal Beach tavern 
OCRegister 
By JAIMEE LYNN FLETCHER SEAL BEACH–Members of an atheist group that held a social meeting at a local tavern are expressing concerns about being told to take ... 
http://www.ocregister.com/news/group-220047-beach-weaver.html 

Atheists turn to billboard sites 
BBC News 
The group behind a controversial atheist bus-poster campaign is urging parents not to label their children with their own religious faith. ... 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8366225.stm 

BOOKS, FILM, THEATRE, TV, YOU TUBE 

The Making of Moo at the Orange Tree Theatre 
Times Online 
With Britain struggling to accommodate attitudes ranging from hardline zealotry to passionate atheism, the play is rich in relevance and analogy. ... 
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article6920738.ece 

EVOLUTION, CREATIONISM, I.D. 

Humans still evolving as our brains shrink 
msnbc.com 
By Charles Q. Choi Evolution in humans is commonly thought to have essentially stopped in recent times. But there are plenty of examples that the human race ... 
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33916577/ns/technology_and_science-science/ 

The Evolution of the God Gene 
New York Times 
For believers, if one accepts that evolution has shaped the human body, why not the mind too? What evolution has done is to endow people with a genetic ... 
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/weekinreview/12wade.html?_r=1 

Evolution's classroom crisis 
guardian.co.uk 
Surveys show that, around the world, teachers and students are rejecting evolution. The results are likely to be dire Questions abound in the Bibliotheca ... 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/nov/15/evolution-islam-religion-creationism 

Future of evolution: What will we become? 
msnbc.com 
By Charles Q. Choi The past of human evolution is more and more coming to light as scientists uncover a trove of fossils and genetic knowledge. ... 
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33968730/ns/technology_and_science-science/ 

Muslim scholars rejecting Darwin's theory of evolution as 'unproven' 
Telegraph.co.uk 
Muslim scholars around the world are increasingly rejecting Darwin's theory of evolution as an "unproven". Muslim students and academics also said they felt ... 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/evolution/6587642/Muslim-scholars-rejecting-Darwins-theory-of-evolution-as-unproven.html 

Creationists add to Darwin book 
Online Athens 
By Lee Shearer - lee.shearer@onlineathens.com A Christian group brought its anti-evolution campaign to the University of Georgia campus in an unusual way ... 
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/111909/uga_523897895.shtml 

Creationist intro to Darwin book 
The Sheaf 
Students who get a free copy of Darwin's On the Origin of Species this month might be surprised to find an introduction by intelligent design proponent Ray ... 
http://thesheaf.com/2009/11/creationist-intro-to-darwin-book/ 

SCIENCE 

Thinking of a Loved One Can Reduce Your Pain 
ScienceDaily (Nov. 14, 2009) — Can the mere thought of your loved one reduce your pain? Yes, according to a new study by UCLA psychologists that underscores the importance of social relationships and staying socially connected...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091113151037.htm 

New Way to Biopsy Brain Tumors in Real Time 
ScienceDaily (Nov. 14, 2009) — A new miniature, hand-held microscope may allow more precise removal of brain tumors and an easier recognition of tumor locations during surgery... 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111153804.htm 

Lightning Strike in Africa Helps Take Pulse of Sun 
ScienceDaily (Nov. 14, 2009) — Sunspots, which rotate around the Sun's surface, tell us a great deal about our own planet. Scientists rely on them, for instance, to measure the Sun's rotation or to prepare long-range forecasts of Earth's health... 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111142518.htm 

Bubbling Ball of Gas: SUNRISE Telescope Delivers Spectacular Pictures of Sun's Surface 
ScienceDaily (Nov. 14, 2009) — The Sun is a bubbling mass. Packages of gas rise and sink, lending the sun its grainy surface structure, its granulation. Dark spots appear and disappear, clouds of matter dart up -- and behind the whole thing are the magnetic fields, the engines of it all... 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111123608.htm 

Africa's Rarest Monkey Had an Intriguing Sexual Past, DNA Study Confirms 
ScienceDaily (Nov. 14, 2009) — The most extensive DNA study to-date of Africa's rarest monkey reveals that the species had an intriguing sexual past. Of the last two remaining populations of the recently discovered kipunji, one population shows evidence of past mating with baboons while the other does not, says a new study in Biology Letters... 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111123606.htm 

Squeezing Light Into Much Tighter Spaces Than Previously Believed Possible 
ScienceDaily (Nov. 13, 2009) — Scientists at the University of Adelaide have made a breakthrough that could change the world's thinking on what light is capable of... 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091112103409.htm 

Rosetta Bound for Outer Solar System After Final Earth Swingby 
ScienceDaily (Nov. 13, 2009) — On the morning of November 13, mission controllers confirmed that ESA's comet chaser Rosetta had swung by Earth at 8:45 CET as planned, skimming past our planet to pick up a gravitational boost for an epic journey to rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014... 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091113101417.htm 

New Experiment Could Reveal Make-Up of the Universe 
ScienceDaily (Nov. 13, 2009) — Scientists at the University of Liverpool are constructing highly sensitive detectors as part of an international project to understand the elements that make up the universe... 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090806112353.htm 

When Preschoolers Ask Questions, They Want Explanations 
ScienceDaily (Nov. 13, 2009) — Curiosity plays a big part in preschoolers' lives. A new study that explored why young children ask so many "why" questions concludes that children are motivated by a desire for explanation... 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091113083254.htm 

To Make Memories, New Neurons Must Erase Older Ones 
ScienceDaily (Nov. 13, 2009) — Short-term memory may depend in a surprising way on the ability of newly formed neurons to erase older connections. That's the conclusion of a report in the November 13th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication... 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091112121601.htm 

Nanotech in Space: New Experiment to Weather the Trials of Orbit 
ScienceDaily (Nov. 13, 2009) — Novel nanomaterials developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are scheduled to blast off into orbit on November 16 aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis... 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091112171411.htm 

Invisibility Visualized: New Software for Rendering Cloaked Objects 
ScienceDaily (Nov. 13, 2009) — Scientists and curiosity seekers who want to know what a partially or completely cloaked object would look like in real life can now get their wish -- virtually. A team of researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany has created a new visualization tool that can render a room containing such an object... 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091112171409.htm 

New Nanowires May Contribute to Highly Efficient Solar Cells 
ScienceDaily (Nov. 13, 2009) — Danish nanophysicists have developed a new method for manufacturing the cornerstone of nanotechnology research -- nanowires. The discovery has great potential for the development of nanoelectronics and highly efficient solar cells... 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111122320.htm 

SEPARATION CHURCH / STATE 

Opinions vary on decision to nix tag 
Orangeburg Times Democrat 
Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, said the state has already been sliding down a "slippery slope" in dealing with the issue of separation of church and state ... 
http://www.timesanddemocrat.com/articles/2009/11/13/features/14142892.txt 

Yes to gay marriage means no social services, Catholic Church warns 
365Gay.com 
Whatever happened to the separation of church and state? It is not right for the Catholic church to dictate about our rights. Good riddance to a Church that ... 
http://www.365gay.com/news/yes-to-gay-marriage-means-no-social-services-catholic-church-warns/ 

Faith-Based Programs Still Popular, Less Visible 
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life 
Roughly half see interference with the separation between church and state (52%) as an important concern, and nearly as many say the same about the ... 
http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=483 

US lawmakers rally for 'In God We Trust' 
AFP 
"While the First Amendment affords atheists complete freedom to disbelieve, it does not compel the federal judiciary to redact religious references in every ... 
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5imWEEvz3T5DSzBSNRAj6Wi55yF0A 

Dem claims he has enough pro-life votes to defeat health bill 
Raw Story 
DeGette argued that the Catholic church's involvement in health reform is an encroachment on the separation of church and state. ... 
http://www.rawstory.com/about.html 

Johnson says Iredell board unfazed by Forsyth prayers lawsuit 
Mooresville Tribune 
"If anyone can find the phrase 'separation of church and state' in the US Constitution, I'll make a $1000 donation to the Democratic National Convention or ... 
http://www2.mooresvilletribune.com/content/2009/nov/17/johnson-says-iredell-board-unfazed-forsyth-prayers/ 

Conn. ACLU demands end to graduations at church 
Hartford Courant 
The ACLU, the national ACLU's Freedom of Religion and Belief Project, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, sent a letter Wednesday to ... 
http://www.courant.com/news/local/statewire/hc-ap-ct-churchgraduationnov18,0,2566767.story 

Atheists Say 'Christian' Prison Can't Receive Public Funds 
Opposing Views 
By Americans United - 12 Minutes Ago Americans United for Separation of Church and State today warned Oklahoma corrections officials that a proposed ... 
http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/opinion-non-sectarian-group-no-public-funds-for-christian-prison 

Walmart beer, wine permit approved 
Baxter Bulletin 
Davis said the board rejected opposing petitions that originated from local churches based on separation of church and state political and legal doctrines. ... 
http://www.baxterbulletin.com/article/20091119/NEWS01/911190332/1002 

MISCELLANEOUS 

Atheists Announce Santa Alternative. Godless Joe Will "Amuse and Delight." 
The Spoof (satire) 
San Fransisco, CA: Prominent atheist groups met this week to announce the formulation of a positive promotional icon to represent their cause to children ... 
http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s2i63262 

BibleThumper iPhone App Finds Cool Bible Verses for Atheists 
prMac (press release) 
[prMac.com] Konstanz, Germany - BibleThumper allows atheists to keep the most funny and irrational bible verses right in their pocket. ... 
http://prmac.com/release-id-8636.htm 
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