THE   FOCUS
centerforatheism.org
 
 
 
 
 
         
  
  
  
  
 
         
  

SEPTEMBER 24, 2010
Volume 6, Issue 38
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
 
 
 
 
 
         
  
  
  
 
  
         
  
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Comments, suggestions and subscription:
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FEATURED ARTICLES

Gillard sworn in as Australian PM
The Press Association
Ms Gillard, a 48-year-old atheist, is also the first prime minister in the 109-year history of the Australian federation to take an affirmation of office ...
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5iVsnd-f2iEkVgYV3NVcHuwoXdzIA

Atheist leads rage against Pope
The Australian
THE latest embarrassment for the Vatican came as outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins said he would lead protests against the Pope in London. ...
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/atheist-leads-rage-against-pope-benedict/story-e6frg6so-1225925050073
 


ATHEISM

Local atheists invite Oklahomans to 'join the club'
NewsOK.com
Nick Singer, a member of the Oklahoma Atheists, serves as coordinator of the coalition made up of four "free thought" groups in the Oklahoma City and Norman ...
http://newsok.com/coalition-of-reason-invites-local-atheists-agnostics-skeptics-and-humanists-to-join-the-club/article/3493591
 


Not atheist, not religious: Typical Briton is a 'fuzzy believer'
The Guardian
A blue plaque on a white stucco house just off the seafront in Brighton is a rare monument to atheism in a country where religion is a minority belief. ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/10/religion-typical-briton-fuzzy-believer
 


Atheist billboard provokes Oklahoman Christians
The Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY — Atheists in Oklahoma City have erected a billboard seeking fellow non-believers, and Satanists have scheduled a conference in a city-owned ...
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jzTzDhWpR4NBMVrYHCQHkz1nEgQQD9I597600

Atheist Activists' Biggest Billboard Campaign Targets Bible Belt's Atlanta
Bloomberg
By Duane D. Stanford - Fri Sep 10 19:25:51 GMT 2010 Atheist activists from Wisconsin picked the biggest city in the Bible Belt for their largest advertising ...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-10/atheist-activists-biggest-billboard-campaign-targets-bible-belt-s-atlanta.html
 


Atheist activists take billboard ad campaign to Bible Belt
Boston Globe
(Sue Ogrocki/ Associated Press) ATLANTA — Atheist activists from Wisconsin picked the biggest city in the Bible Belt for their largest advertising campaign ...
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/09/11/atheist_activists_take_billboard_ad_campaign_to_bible_belt/
 


Sherman gets five candidates knocked off ballot
Chicago Daily Herald
By Kerry Lester | Daily Herald Staff A suburban atheist and civil libertarian is delving into a different line of work - getting candidates knocked off the ...
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=407808
 


Humanists, atheists and Grand Orange Lodge take to the streets
Scotsman
In Edinburgh, up to 100 protesters are expected to congregate, among them members of the Atheist Society, while the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland is due to ...
http://news.scotsman.com/politics/Humanists-atheists-and-Grand-Orange.6534198.jp
 


South City Billboard Recruits Nonbelievers
KPLR 11
An organizer for the local Atheist Meet-up group, Joe Welling said the groups welcome respectful and lively conversation or debate. ...
http://www.kplr11.com/news/ktvi-billboard-dont-believe-god-091510,0,5363737.story
 


Atheist dawkins bemoans lack of detractors at his lectures
DigitalJournal.com
Nobody who disagrees with the views of outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins ever seems to go to his lectures, the biologist and author has said. ...
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/297638
 


BOOKS, FILM, THEATRE, TV, YOU TUBE

Bill Maher: I'll Never Win An Emmy Because I'm Atheist
Huffington Post (blog)
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Maher said that religious Emmy voters don't vote for him because of his outspoken atheism. ...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/14/bill-maher-ill-never-win-_n_715853.html
 


Bill Maher Says Atheism Stands in Way of an Emmy
ABC News
... who receives his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next to the new W Hotel on Tuesday, recently discussed evolution, atheism and trees. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=11630842
 


Bill Maher Explains Emmy Shutout: People Won?t Vote For an Atheist
Seattle Post Intelligencer
"A lot of people wouldn't vote for such an outspoken atheist, someone who made Religulous." Maher has been vocal about his beliefs throughout much of his ...
http://www.seattlepi.com/tvguide/426737_tvgif14.html
 


Best evolutionary biology books, from Stephen Jay Gould to Richard Dawkins
Telegraph.co.uk
 

By Tom Chivers A disclaimer: these are not the definitive top five popular science books on evolution. They couldn't be; there are thousands I haven't read. ...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/8002833/Best-evolutionary-biology-books-from-Stephen-Jay-Gould-to-Richard-Dawkins.html
 


The Tillman Story
Danville Weekly
Though he supported the war in Afghanistan, he opposed the Iraq war, and he was an atheist. The real Tillman story is one of a serious, dedicated person who ...
http://www.danvilleweekly.com/movies/reviews/The-Tillman-Story?review_id=2495
 


Politics At The Movies: The Tillman Story
Capitol Weekly
Tillman was a patriot, but he was also an atheist, a voracious reader, a fan of Noam Chomsky and deeply skeptical of the military even before he joined. ...
http://www.capitolweekly.net/features/movieReviews.php?_c=z4vr1xanmyl6pf&id=z4vqs5t925h544&done=.z4vr1xanmza6pf
 


The Pat Tillman Story
Reason Online (blog)
In reality, Tillman was a complicated individual—an atheist who probably read more religious texts than all but the most devout, a patriot who felt morally ...
http://reason.com/archives/2010/09/16/the-pat-tillman-story
 


EVOLUTION, CREATIONISM, I.D.

George C. Williams dies
National Center for Science Education
In a brief 1996 article in Biology and Philosophy , he defended his treatment of genetic information in Natural Selection against "intelligent design" ...
http://ncse.com/news/2010/09/george-c-williams-dies-006171
 


Plinth commemorates Huxley-Wilberforce evolution debate
The Guardian
"It was also a public debate about evolution, still a hot button in the war between militant secularists and equally militant fundamentalists," she said. ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/sep/10/plinth-huxley-wilberforce-evolution-debate
 


George C. Williams, 83, Theorist on Evolution, Dies
New York Times
Dr. Williams's interests extended to questions that evolution seemed not to answer well: Why should a woman forfeit her chance of having more babies by ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/science/14williams.html?_r=1
 


Irish science minister boosts antievolution blarney
National Center for Science Education
According to the Times , "Michael Nugent of Atheist Ireland said the Minister's appearance at the launch is an abuse of his position and an attack by the ...
http://ncse.com/news/2010/09/irish-science-minister-boosts-antievolution-blarney-006175
 


Minister uninvited to anti-evolution book launch
BBC News
In pre-publicity material for the book, the author accuses Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and other campaigners for atheism of having "sacrificed ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11298533
 


SCIENCE

Mental Maturity Scan Tracks Brain Development
ScienceDaily (Sep. 11, 2010) — Five minutes in a scanner can reveal how far a child's brain has come along the path from childhood to maturity and potentially shed light on a range of psychological and developmental disorders, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100909141519.htm
 


A Nearby Galactic Exemplar
ScienceDaily (Sep. 11, 2010) — The European Southern Observatory has released a spectacular new image of NGC 300, a spiral galaxy similar to the Milky Way, and located in the nearby Sculptor Group of galaxies. Taken with the Wide Field Imager (WFI) at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile, this 50-hour exposure reveals the structure of the galaxy in exquisite detail. NGC 300 lies about six million light-years away and appears to be about two thirds the size of the full Moon on the sky...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100908074504.htm
 


Caught in the Act: Fireballs Light Up Jupiter
ScienceDaily (Sep. 10, 2010) — Amateur astronomers working with professional astronomers have spotted two fireballs lighting up Jupiter's atmosphere this summer, marking the first time Earth-based telescopes have captured relatively small objects burning up in the atmosphere of the giant planet. The two fireballs -- which produced bright freckles on Jupiter that were visible through backyard telescopes -- occurred on June 3, 2010, and August 20, 2010, respectively...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100909212309.htm
 


Function Found for Alzheimer's Protein
ScienceDaily (Sep. 10, 2010) — In people with Alzheimer's, the brain becomes riddled with clumps of protein, forming what are known as amyloid plaques. Now, new research reported in the September 17th print issue of Cell appears to have found a function for the amyloid precursor protein (APP for short) that yields the prime ingredient in those plaques...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100910152103.htm
 


World's First Transcontinental Anesthesia: Researchers Pioneer Anesthetics Via Videoconferencing
ScienceDaily (Sep. 10, 2010) — Videoconferences may be known for putting people to sleep, but never like this. Dr. Thomas Hemmerling and his team of McGill's Department of Anesthesia achieved a world first on August 30, 2010, when they treated patients undergoing thyroid gland surgery in Italy remotely from Montreal, Canada...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100910093152.htm
 


Tally-Ho! Deep Impact Spacecraft Eyes Comet Target
ScienceDaily (Sep. 10, 2010) — On Sunday, Sept. 5, NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft beamed down the first of more than 64,000 images it's expected to take of Comet Hartley 2. The spacecraft, now on an extended mission known as EPOXI, has an appointment with the comet on Nov. 4, 2010...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100909212616.htm
 


Researchers Give Robots the Capability for Deceptive Behavior
ScienceDaily (Sep. 10, 2010) — A robot deceives an enemy soldier by creating a false trail and hiding so that it will not be caught. While this sounds like a scene from one of the Terminator movies, it's actually the scenario of an experiment conducted by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology as part of what is believed to be the first detailed examination of robot deception...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100909114113.htm
 


Frog Skin May Provide Antimicrobial Peptides Effective Against Multidrug-Resistant Infections
ScienceDaily (Sep. 10, 2010) — Antimicrobial peptides from the skin of frogs may protect against life-threatening, multidrug-resistant infections such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, say researchers from Italy...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100908104310.htm
 


SEPARATION CHURCH / STATE

Lakeland Seeking Dismissal of Atheist Lawsuit
The Ledger
The atheists have sued the city, claiming the practice of praying at the beginning of regular City Commission meetings breaks down the wall separating ...
http://www.theledger.com/article/20100909/NEWS/9095082/1338
 


Pledge of Allegiance Battleground Shifts >From San Fran to Boston
Wall Street Journal (blog)
He's also an atheist, a lawyer and a one-man litigation machine. Most of Newdow's gripes concern the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. ...
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/09/10/pledge-of-allegiance-battleground-shifts-from-san-fran-to-boston/
 


Hawaii legislature reviews ACLU complaint
Watchdog
In the waning days of the 2010 legislative session, Honolulu activist and atheist Mitch Kahle disrupted two of the invocations from his position in the ...
http://watchdog.org/6517/hawaii-legislature-reviews-aclu-complaint/
 


Catholic Church defends support of DREAM Act
Contra Costa Times
But members of a Claremont-based grassroots group said the Catholic Diocese has violated the separation of church and state principle. Separation of church ...
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_16046024?nclick_check=1
 


National group asks Arkansas officials to withhold from prayer at meetings
Texarkana Gazette
... “works to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism, and to promote the constitutional principle of separation between church and state. ...
http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/WireHeadlines/2010/09/13/national-group-asks-arkansas-officials-t-94.php
 


Hawaii Pastors Speak Out Against Invoking God In Politics
KITV Honolulu
“There are a lot of us in the religious community who think we need to hold up the separation between church and state. ...
http://www.kitv.com/news/24983537/detail.html
 


Lawton to speak to Freedom From Religion Foundation convention
Wisconsin State Journal
It promotes the separation of church and state and educates the public about non-theism. The group has more than 13500 paid members, Gaylor said. ...
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_93c3fad6-c053-11df-9841-001cc4c002e0.html
 


REGIONAL: ACLU: Horn's grant proposal "still illegal"
North County Times
... the American Civil Liberties Union, say the proposal ---- just like the original put forward in June ---- violates the separation of church and state. ...
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/article_03fed14b-94c6-568c-afcb-4df0b3c64b12.html
 


ACLU Issues Warning on School Speakers
KPTM-TV
OMAHA (KPTM) -- Separation of church and state. Where does school fit in? The debate was re-ignited Wednesday with a warning for every school district in ...http://www.kptm.com/Global/story.asp?S=13162361
 


Kaczynski cross removed from presidential palace (Roundup)
Monsters and Critics.com
The cross has sparked fierce protests and a debate about the separation of church and state in Poland. 'It is a good decision, and I think one that was ...
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1585014.php/Kaczynski-cross-removed-from-presidential-palace-Roundup
 


New First Amendment Center Survey: Clear Majority of Public Favors More ...
PR Newswire (press release)
... but they don't see an expression of faith by a student at a public school event as a violation of the separation of church and state," said Ken Paulson, ...
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-first-amendment-center-survey-clear-majority-of-public-favors-more-latitude-for-students-to-express-religious-faith-in-public-schools-103085539.html
 


Federal Grant Agency For Faith-Based Organizations Lacks Oversight, Transparency
The Washington Independent
Separation of church and state advocates were outraged when President Barack Obama elected to continue the program under the name Office of Faith-Based and ...
http://washingtonindependent.com/97563/federal-grant-agency-for-faith-based-organizations-lacks-oversight-transparency
 


Divisive Polish cross quietly removed from square
The State
... and an increasingly self-confident predominantly youthful branch of society that insists on an enforcement of the separation of church and state. ...
http://www.thestate.com/2010/09/16/1468054/divisive-polish-cross-quietly.html
 


Husker coach responds to ACLU
Omaha World-Herald
We have freedom of religion and also separation of church and state and that can be grounds for a legal battle form a parent. It is not against Brown just ...
http://www.omaha.com/article/20100916/NEWS01/709169871/6694
 


Another Appeals Court Weighs Pledge in Schools
Education Week News (blog)
In March, a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, in San Francisco, ruled against Newdow and a group of atheist parents who challenged ...
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/school_law/2010/09/1st_circuit_weighs_challenge_t.html
 


MISCELLANEOUS

The Neurological Origins of Religious Belief
Big Think
But can we pinpoint specific chemicals, genes and clusters of neurons that give rise to religiosity, or to atheism? Rutgers University evolutionary ...
http://bigthink.com/ideas/23960
 
 
 
 
 


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