http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/Two-car_head-on_collision_snarls_281.htmlCan’t prove it didn’t happen. Ergo, according to religionists, it must be given serious consideration. Consider this.

The driver of a pickup that struck a woman’s car on the South Side Friday morning is being evaluated by psychiatrists because he thinks God told him to drive in excess of 100 mph to take the other car off the road, police said.The bizarre incident that shut down southbound U.S. Highway 281 above the Medina River happened about 7:25 a.m.“He just said God said she wasn’t driving right, and she needed to be taken off the road,” said Lt. Kyle Coleman of the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.The woman was driving her sedan northbound when the pickup rear-ended her vehicle. The pickup’s driver told deputies that was driving in excess of 100 mph at the time, Coleman said. The impact caused both vehicles to spin across a median before they came to a stop along a barrier in the southbound lanes. No other vehicles were involved.Though both vehicles were badly damaged, the drivers suffered minor injuries.“God must have been with them, ’cause any other time, the severity of this crash, it would have been a fatal,” Coleman said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/us/25charity.html?em

OK! Can we please say what we all know? Religious “Charities” need oversight, just like the secular ones. Religious “Charities” usually don’t benefit non-adherents, except to attempt to convert. Religious “Charities”, when left unchecked, lead to crime, hate, cults, and sometimes terrorism — all at the expense of EVERY TAXPAYING CITIZEN IN THE COUNTRY.

Five Convicted in Terrorism Financing TrialBy GRETEL C. KOVACHDALLAS — On their second try, federal prosecutors won sweeping convictions Monday against five leaders of a Muslim charity in a retrial of the largest terrorism-financing case in the United States since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.The five defendants, all leaders of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, based in Richardson, a Dallas suburb, were convicted on all 108 criminal counts against them, including support of terrorism, money laundering and tax fraud. The group was accused of funneling millions of dollars to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, an Islamist organization the government declared to be a terrorist group in 1995.“Money is the lifeblood of terrorism,” Richard B. Roper, the United States attorney whose office prosecuted the case, said Monday in a statement. “The jury’s decision demonstrates that U.S. citizens will not tolerate those who provide financial support to terrorist organizations.”The defendants argued that the Holy Land Foundation, once the largest Muslim charity in the United States, was engaged in legitimate humanitarian aid for community welfare programs and Palestinian orphans.The jury, which deliberated for eight days, reached a starkly different result than the jury in the first trial, which ended in a mistrial on most charges in October 2007, after nearly two months of testimony and 19 days of deliberations.The government shuttered the Holy Land Foundation in December 2001 and seized its assets, a move President Bush heralded at the time as “another step in the war on terrorism.”

http://news.aol.com/main/obama-presidency/article/obama-skips-church-for-gym/258627

Obama Skips Church for Gym(Nov. 23) – Since the election, future President Barack Obama has traded Sunday morning pews for some quality time at the gym. The Obamas have refrained from public prayer for fear their large retinue would disturb the church service, according to an anonymous aide who spoke with Politico.com. “They do not want to draw unwelcome or inappropriate attention to a church not used to the attention their attendance would draw,” said the aide, according to Politico.Since the election, Obama has been focusing on building his administration team. Monday, he introduced members of his economic team, and urged the incoming Congress to act quickly on a stimulus plan.The Obamas haven’t belonged to a church since the spring, notes ABC News, after Barack Obama split with Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ because of controversial sermons by the pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. A videotape from one of Wright’s sermons showed him damning America. Churches, especially African-American houses of prayer, played an important role in Obama’s candidacy, notes the Associated Press and Politico. Obama made campaign stops in churches. Congregations prayed for him on Election Day, and celebrated his victory, the Associated Press reported. Now, churches in Washington, D.C., are scrambling to lure the Obamas to their pews, reports the Associated Press — even if Obama hasn’t attended church in weeks.

Now, we can talk about this one for a while.We knew he wasn’t very religious, and we knew the religious vote held little weight. I frankly didn’t expect him to so blatantly skip the PR. Maybe we will have to wait for a Lewinsky Incident for him to show up on a pew, talking Jesus. Nah.My favorite part is the selfish money-grubbing churches who want the prestige of having a president attending, causing all this attention in the first place. They are literally trying to apply pressure on him to go, so they can fill their pews with on-lookers. They want to cash in. Looks like Mr. Obama has more important things to do than to pray to air and tithe a corrupt institution.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081120/sc_afp/sciencephysicseinstein_081120235605PARIS (AFP) ? It’s taken more than a century, but Einstein’s celebrated formula e=mc2 has finally been corroborated, thanks to a heroic computational effort by French, German and Hungarian physicists.A brainpower consortium led by Laurent Lellouch of France’s Centre for Theoretical Physics, using some of the world’s mightiest supercomputers, have set down the calculations for estimating the mass of protons and neutrons, the particles at the nucleus of atoms.According to the conventional model of particle physics, protons and neutrons comprise smaller particles known as quarks, which in turn are bound by gluons.The odd thing is this: the mass of gluons is zero and the mass of quarks is only five percent. Where, therefore, is the missing 95 percent?

I feel like crap today. The nose, the head, the chest — it’s all bad. Yes, we can use illness (or natural disasters, etc) to show that an all-powerful deity isn’t up there, but today my stuffy head turned to Ontology, probably due to all the cold medicine.The ontological argument basically states that if one can imagine a most perfect entity, that such an entity either exists or does not exist. Since existence is more perfect than nonexistence, then the most perfect being must therefore exist. A poisonous little gem of confusion. Many have offered their counter arguments, but my runny nose makes the point.You see, if disease exists, and a perfect god exists, then that god bears responsibility for the disease. BUT, if a deity does not exist, then he cannot (obviously) be responsible. It is this responsibility, indeed for all things bad, which makes an extant god LESS perfect than a fictional one, for a deity which created all this crap in my head would have some explaining to do (a murderer is less perfect than a non-murderer).So beyond all the arguments of Dawkins and Descartes, this damn cold which has infested my family proves the point in the simplest of ways — a fictional deity is more perfect than a real one, given the real problems we have.

AMERICAN ATHEISTS NATIONAL CONVENTIONAPRIL 9, 10, 11, 12, 2009ATLANTA, GEORGIAEmory Conference Center Hotel/Emory Inn 1615 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30329Said to be the ?Best Kept Secret? in Georgia the Emory is a hidden oasis as its? Frank Lloyd Wright inspired architecture and serene wooded views combine diverse meeting space, beautiful gardens, walking trails, and much more to create a one of a kind experience.The Emory is just 20 minutes from Atlanta?s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The downtown business district and vibrant Buckhead are less than 12 minutes from the hotel. Complimentary on site parking is an added bonus.The Emory offers a two-tiered guest room rate. Guest rooms in the hotel are $109 plus tax for single/double. Guest rooms in the inn (directly connected to the hotel) are $89 plus tax for single/double and include breakfast. You must make your reservations directly with the hotel/inn on or before March 10, 2009 to enjoy our special convention rate. Be sure to tell them you are with the American Atheist convention. Emory Hotel/Inn reservations: 1-800-933-6679. Visit the Emory Conference Center Hotel/Emory Inn at www.emoryconferencecenter.com Confirmed Speakers at this time:Ed Buckner: President, American Atheists, Inc.Richard Dawkins: Evolutionist/recognized authorMike Malloy: Nationally-syndicated talk radio personalityJim Morrow: Writer(D)evangelical: Stand Up Comedy Troupe Thursday, April 9th, 6:00 ? 9:00 PM – Great Hearth Room: Registration and informal reception with cash bar.*Friday, April 10th, 10:00 AM ? 6:00 PM Lullwater Ballroom7:00 ? 11:00 PM Silverbell Room, Open Banquet, Award Ceremony, Members Meeting* Saturday, April 11th10:00 AM ? 6:00 PM, Lullwater Ballroom7:00 ? 11:00 PM Silverbell Room, Open Banquet, Honor Lifetime/Gift and Legacy Members* Sunday, April 12thDining Rm; Hosted Breakfast. Arrive anytime between 8:00 and 11:00 AM and be greeted by your board members and state directors who will be eager to chat with you, enjoy a cup of coffee together or maybe a place at you breakfast table.*Sunday afternoon group outing. Destination and time to be announced * * * Of course, our convention will feature a host of speakers, entertainment, books, products, various vendors, endless conversations, greeting old friends and making new friends.

http://defamer.com/5091224/south-park-creators-mormon-musical-to-light-up-broadway-with-magical-underwearFile this under “good timing”: just as the passage Proposition 8 ignited a gays vs. Mormons clash so intense that only David Archuleta can mediate a resolution, word has leaked about the next project from South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, a Broadway-bound show entitled Mormon Musical. The two have set openly gay Xanadu alum Cheyenne Jackson to star, and Jackson opened up to Pop Wrap about what to expect (besides, obviously, the angel Moroni slathered in gold body glitter):”It’s hilarious – very acerbic and biting. It offends everybody but does what ‘South Park’ does best, which is by the end it comes around and has something great to say,” Cheyenne told Pop Wrap.”I play the main missionary, Elder something,” he said, straining to recall the name of his character. But the biggest unknown still is who else will be joining the cast. When I asked Cheyenne which other actors would be co-starring, all he would say (through the world’s largest grin) is, “a lot of people – all amazing.” …The show starts rehearsals in December, so expect to see it on the Great White Way sometime in 2009!Finally, a way for gays to get inside Mormons that doesn’t involve three Sprite Zeros and some balled-up long underwear! At Defamer HQ, we’re especially excited for the original soundtrack; we’ve heard that even Sondheim can’t top the Joseph Smith love theme, “I Do, I Do, I Do (to You, and You, and You).”

NOTE: Meet Margaret Downey at our Winter Solstice Party!

By Tom KrattenmakerBeing an atheist is not easy in this age of great public religiosity in America. Not when the overwhelming majority of Americans profess some form of belief in God. Not when many believers equate non-belief with immorality. Not when more people would automatically disqualify an atheist for the presidency (53%, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll) than a gay candidate (43%), for example, or a Mormon (24%).(snip)Mindful of atheism’s reviled reputation, a new current in non-belief is intent on showing the public what atheists are for. You might be surprised by what’s on their short list. Because, save for the belief-in-a-deity part, it sounds a lot like what most Americans value. Care for one’s community and fellow human beings, love of country and cherished American principles, the pursuit and expansion of knowledge ? these are the elements of the new “positive atheism.”A new faceThe reputation of atheists has not been well-served by the surly attacks on religion by some of atheism’s highest-profile torch carriers. From the best-selling atheist manifestos of recent years to Bill Maher’s new Religulous movie, the loudest voices of non-belief have exhibited much of the same stridency and flair for polemics as the religious fundamentalists they excoriate.But if Margaret Downey keeps making progress with her campaign to show a different face of atheism, it’s possible to imagine the day when avowing one’s non-belief will not be political suicide. (It seems to be just that today, given that only one member of Congress, Rep. Pete Stark of California, has revealed that he does not believe in a deity; in view of polling data suggesting that some 5% to 15% of Americans are atheists and agnostics, it seems certain there are at least a few more non-believing senators and representatives in the halls ? and closets ? of Congress.) Downey, having recently finished a stint as president of the Atheist Alliance International, is now organizing a non-believers’ unity convention to take place in 2011. She is the poster person for positive atheism, a term she uses for a new face of atheism that emphasizes the good things in which non-believers do believe.Downey does not move in the ways of the late atheist spokesperson Madalyn Murray O’Hair, who was known for her caustic mockery of religion and its followers. And despite Downey’s friendship with the outspoken atheist author Richard Dawkins, of The God Delusion fame (who likens the religious indoctrination of kids to child abuse), Downey is more interested in building bridges than walls.

From: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122696699813835335.html?mod=article-outset-box The Wall Street Journal Online 11/18/08Atheists Reach Out — Just Don’t Call It Proselytizing Nonbelievers Think the Time Is Right to Better Organize Their Nonreligion and Swell the Membership; ‘Reason’s Greetings’ During the past three years, membership has grown in local and national associations of nonbelievers. Books attacking faith as a delusion shot up best-seller lists. For the first time, the faithless even raised enough funds to hire a congressional lobbyist.Building on that momentum, nonbelievers have begun a very public campaign to win broad acceptance. On billboards and bus ads, radio commercials and the Internet, atheists are coming forward to declare, quite simply: We’re here. And we’re just like you. “We’ve had an undercurrent of emotional and academic support, but we’ve been waiting to make a movement happen,” said Joe Zamecki, an Austin landscaper who recently organized Texas’ first statewide convention of nonbelievers. “It’s a very new age.”

I’ve always held the position that the best term to describe myself is “Atheist”, arguing that there is no ambiguity in the term. I’ve stated that using terms like Secular Humanist or Freethinker just muddies the waters and allows the ignorant masses to say “well, at least he’s not an Atheist”.After the Dole commercial, I’m considering going GODLESS.Godless also has no ambiguity, and leaves no room for debate as to what I mean or how I think. It also, perhaps, has an even more negative meaning than Atheist — thereby allowing me to do more damage to other people’s thought processes by showing how nice a godless guy can be.And, while we can debate the definitions of Atheist and Agnostic all night, Godless seems a broader term, encompassing more people who don’t like the A-word, but cannot deny the G-word.Perhaps we should take our cue from the bigoted former senator. Should we take back Godless?