Join us Friday, May 8, 2009, 7pm to discuss the Obama administration’s new science and technology initiatives and policies with Clark A. Miller, Associate Professor in the Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes and the Department of Political Science, Director of the Project on Global and Comparative Knowledges, Associate Director for Outreach and Education for the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at ASU and founding co-organizer and member of the Steering Committee of the Science and Democracy Network.
This event is part of the ScienceCafes.org network. Science cafes are a nationwide movement to link scientists and the general public.
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Sometimes I go out to Mill Ave along with the Resistance but I’ve never before gone to the First Friday Art Walk in downtown Phoenix. I try to be an observer and not get into any real debates, as I dislike forcing my ideas on anyone. However, if someone wants a conversation, I’m more than willing to share. Usually I just try to understand people better, to find out why they believe what they do.
So I’ve loosely sorted out 5 different observations from the people and groups we encountered last night at First Friday.
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The passage of “plain language” anti-gay marriage bills such as California’s Prop 8 have some discouraging consequences. According to Courage Campaign, thousands of families are at risk.
Ken Starr, who led the campaign to impeach President Bill Clinton, filed a legal brief last month — on behalf of the “Yes on 8″ campaign — that would forcibly divorce 18,000 same-sex couples that were married in California last year before the passage of Prop 8.
Courage Campaign has put together a beautifully sappy video about the happy couples who would be divorced if their marriages are overturned, with their children featured prominently in it. Unlike in other causes where children are pretty much whored out for “causes”, these children can end up deeply affected by the divorce of their parents.
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During the protest of the protest, the local TV station Fox 10 arrived to cover the invasion of intolerance at Desert Mountain High School. Apparently, this school has the largest gay-straight alliance group in Arizona schools - making them a target of gay-hating Westboro.
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Comics.
We all love them, right? Here at BTF we’ve compiled a list of funny comics, many of which have atheist or irreverent themes. Not every strip is about atheism, but they should at least appeal to the atheist in everyone!
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I want to start off by saying that I really like Ben Stein and his work in the entertainment industry. I’ve always seen him as smart and fair-minded, even when our political views diverge. I respect a lot of his actions and opinions on a lot of things. However, I feel that his loyalties and allegiances cloud his rational judgment, especially when issues like genocide and abortion arise. This is obviously a painful subject for him, but I feel that this movie, like some other of his opinions, are ruled by emotion and not evidence. I still like him, even if I disagree with his stance on evolution. He’s as human and imperfect as anyone. We should understand his bias and try to glean some kind of understanding from his opinions.
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Taking Christ out of Christmas doesn’t bother me. *
I love this season. I love the festivities, the decorations, the celebration of friends, family and food. Most of us live frenzied lives and only pay attention to each other one month a year, in a figurative orgy of goodwill and merriment. We have set this time aside…
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Religulous, a documentary film featuring political commentator Bill Maher, will open on Friday October 3. This new film from Lionsgate, directed by Larry Charles (Borat), explores the nature of religious absurdity the world over - hence the play on words in the title.
In the nature of Borat, this movie features real people in real [...]
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Since the release of Spore, there have been articles and discussions on whether or not it presents a pro-evolution or pro-creationism (often termed “Intelligent Design” to sound more rational and scientific) viewpoint. Many science elements exist behind the scenes (and much left out to improve gameplay), but for the most part, you, the player, are the god of your creation and you form your species as you see fit.
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As the world of video games collides once again with religion, an article over at Eurogamer has the blogosphere abuzz with scorn for atheists who appear intolerant of a video game. Well, it’s not really the original article that’s getting people fired up, it’s the snippets taken out of context from the interview.
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