May 17 2013

A Comedy Crush

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Cool

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I went to the taping of Wits last Friday. A couple friends are fans of Neko Case and Kelly Hogan, and they asked us whether we wanted to join them. We said, “Sure.” Case makes good music, even if it isn’t the sort of thing I listen to on my own, and we’d been curious about Wits for a while. In their case, encouraging your audience to live-tweet is great viral marketing.

It was good show. In fact, it was nearly tailored to my interests. The comedy bits were highly surreal, Case and Hogan had some very frank things to say about living in poverty and are funny themselves, there was the appliance guy who chalked everything up to angels, and I got to see a Minnesota public radio audience try to figure out what to do during an Iron Maiden sing-along.

Then there was the comedy guest. Read the rest of this entry »

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May 17 2013

“An Infidel Body-Snatcher and the Fruits of His Philosophy”, Dan Allosso on Atheists Talk

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Radio

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The history of atheists, secular Humanists and other freethinking people is not well known. Freethought Historian, Dan Allosso is out to change that and bring to life people who have advanced society and at the same time lived outside the religious norms of their day. Allosso does this in his book about Charles Knowlton in his book: An Infidel Body-Snatcher and the Fruits of His Philosophy is the story of a freethinker. From the books description: “Charles Knowlton called himself a “free enquirer”—his enemies called him an “Infidel.” Knowlton was also a “Body-Snatcher.” As a medical student, Charles Knowlton stole corpses to dissect. Charles was caught and convicted, and served time in jail.

“The Fruits of His Philosophy” refers to a book Charles wrote in 1831. It was the first medical birth control manual in America, and Knowlton was convicted and imprisoned for that as well—this time with hard labor. Charles was an outsider for most of his life, swimming against the stream of religious and social conformity. This is a true story about why outsiders are important, and what they can achieve.

Growing up surrounded by superstition and hypocrisy, Charles developed an unswerving dedication to finding and telling the truth. If the truth he’d found was opposed by authorities in the church and government, Charles went ahead and told it anyway. This is a true story about the power of integrity.

It’s also an adventure story, full of conflict, drama, humor, and a little horror. Charles Knowlton led an unusual life; it gave him a radical outlook and led him to develop a unique personal philosophy. But it was what Charles did with this outlook and the fruits of his philosophy, that really mattered. This is a true story about how experiences become ideas, and how ideas become actions.”

Please join Scott Lohman as he interviews Dan Allosso on his new book and freethought history.

Related Links:

Listen to AM 950 KTNF this Sunday at 9 a.m. Central to hear Atheists Talk, produced by Minnesota Atheists. Stream live online. Call in to the studio at 952-946-6205, or send an e-mail to [email protected] during the live show. If you miss the live show, listen to the podcast later.

Follow Atheists Talk on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates. If you like the show, consider supporting us with a one-time or sustaining donation.

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May 16 2013

The Appeal to the Naive Observer

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Communication

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I get rather a remarkable number of comments like this one about a letter I sent to CFI regarding Justin Vacula’s attendance at the Women in Secularism conference this weekend.

Attempting to have him excluded from the event –which is clearly the subtext of the letter you quote here, if it wasn’t why give them a “situation” to “resolve” – will force people like me, who are new to this whole kerfluffle, to believe that you really don’t have ideas worth defending.

Now, setting aside the fact that I, at least, am aware of several ways that conference organizers can limit the disruptiveness of an attendee short of barring them from the conference, and setting aside that I thanked CFI for taking one of those options, there’s a failure of critical thinking in this comment and comments like these that boggles my mind.

Read the rest of this entry »

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May 16 2013

Make All the Policy!

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Making a Difference

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Do you want to make all the policy? Or to put it another way, are you a public policy person with a dedication to secularism who is looking for a job?

This has been posted elsewhere, on blogs with a much larger readership. However, this is a specialized role, so the more people who see it the better.

American Atheists, Inc., a non-profit and nonpartisan educational and advocacy organization dedicated to the separation of religion and government and the equality of atheists, is seeking a qualified individual to take a leadership role in the development and implementation of its public policy activities. Responsibilities may include:

  • Arranging and taking meetings with Congressional and Administration officials.
  • Drafting action alerts for mass emails to American Atheists members.
  • Collaborating with coalitions of national nontheistic and secular organizations to create
    better outcomes for the nontheistic community in everyday life.
  • Monitoring federal legislative and administrative policies.
  • Monitoring state actions for bills and laws that violate the separation of religion and
    government.
  • Developing policy proposals related to secularizing the tax code
  • Preparing comments and other position statements.
  • Other tasks as assigned.

Candidates should have at least 3 years of professional experience in public policy and legislative affairs and have a degree in law or related to public policy as well as knowledge of the Constitution, federal government, and the tax code; excellent analytic and problem solving skills; creativity and leadership; knowledge of the legislative process; ability to work independently; and excellent written and verbal skills.

Well-qualified candidates will have Capitol Hill experience and a demonstrated commitment to the nontheistic community or separation of religion and government issues.

American Atheists’ headquarters is in New Jersey; this position will be based at a satellite office in Washington, D.C.

Salary will be commensurate with experience. Additional benefits include paid sick, holiday, and vacation days; health insurance and dental insurance.

Please send a cover letter, resume, and a writing sample related to public policy or a public policy issue to [email protected] Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until June 3, 2013.

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May 15 2013

SkepchickCon Prices Going Up

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Conferences

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Today is the final day to pre-register for CONvergence, the home of SkepchickCon. Today the price is $60 for an adult. Tomorrow…well, you can’t pay tomorrow. If you don’t pre-register, you’ll have to pay at the door and live with a badge that doesn’t look like all the other kids’ badges. And you’ll pay $100 for the privilege.

This four-day event brings you lots of tasty science and skeptical programming aimed at geek audiences. Skepchick has lined up a bunch of cool guests, largely women to talk about skepticism and science and communicating about both of them. See all the guest bios here.* See the schedule for programming here. Look at all the other cool things happening at CONvergence. Show their anti-harassment campaign some respect.

Then go register while the prices are still a steal.**

*Melanie, who is organizing this year’s SkepchickCon, made a tactical error. While trying to collect headshots and bios from us, she threatened to post drawings of us done by her kids. Here’s mine. I seriously considered using it for their page.

Stick figure drawing of me.

I have no idea what’s going on here, but I like it.

**No one will actually charge you with theft. They may ask you to applaud the horde of volunteers who keep the prices low, though. Do it.

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May 14 2013

That’s What Jolly Meant

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Art, Difference

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As I post this, Minnesota’s marriage equality bill should have just been signed into law by Governor Mark Dayton. To celebrate (again! more!), I bring you this charming picture.

Paul Bunyon looking very bear-ish in cutoff shorts, arm in arm with the Jolly Green Giant. Text: In Minnesota, "Equal" Equals Love.

I retweeted someone sharing this* yesterday, and Kelly Barnhill (you remember Kelly) responded to let us know that this image was produced by friends of hers. Spunk Design Machine created this for their Poster Offensive. Now I’m sad I didn’t know about the poster offensive when it happened.

Still, I can squee over it now. Because, you know, I needed another reason to be happy about this.

* For those not up on Minnesota icons, see this and this.

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May 14 2013

What “Dialogue” Does

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Communication

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Rebecca posted a Twitter rant from Jeff Sharlet at Skepchick yesterday. Sharlet’s topic? This idea that dialogue is always something for which we should strive. He doesn’t exactly mince his words either:

Fetish for “dialogue” assumes those you disagree w/ lack only your insight; assumes they want to “compromise.” As if they have no agency.

Student fetish for “dialogue” a form of technocratic optimism based on free market myth of “exchange” as end in itself.

Rebecca added some choice words of her own:
Read the rest of this entry »

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May 13 2013

A Good World Sometimes Indeed

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Difference

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Minnesota just removed any doubt that it would become the 12th U.S. state with marriage equality.

  • The House voted 75-59 last week.
  • The Senate just voted 37-30.
  • Our governor campaigned on his support for marriage equality.

I’m just going to go off into a corner to cry now, y’all.

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May 13 2013

Not Such a Bad Old World

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Cool

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How can it be with things like this in it?

You can keep your jetpacks if I can have more like this.

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May 12 2013

Sometimes We Don’t

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Conferences, Difference

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By now, you may have seen Ophelia or PZ talking about Justicar’s latest “You’re not really sincere because of this stupid thing I just made up and am treating as gospel truth” video. This one claimed that none of us feminist bloggers is really threatened by anything because we haven’t gone into hiding and obliterated all traces of where we live. The proof? Jen tweeted a picture of something near her apartment with an identifiable street sign…or something equally stupid.

Yes, you see, Jen having suffered a depressive episode and basically given up on blogging and on the secular and skeptical movements isn’t enough to demonstrate a negative effect. If her life isn’t destroyed to the point that she’s afraid to tweet something silly she sees on the street, the harassment she continues to receive–months after she’s stopped her activism–isn’t really harassment and no one should complain about it.

I will, for the sake of its utter obviousness, not bother to detail the glaring fallacy. I won’t linger of what a slimy excuse for a human being Justicar is. Instead, I’m going to tell you a little story about my Friday night. Read the rest of this entry »

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