 May 20, 2012 at 7:41 pm  Hank Fox
 Speaking of anniversaries (re: PZ’s 10 years), today is the second annual anniversary of Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.
From the Wikipedia entry, here’s a paragraph honoring people who live in some alternate universe in which the concept of freedom of expression is poorly understood:
Law professor and blogger Ann Althouse rejected the Everybody Draw Mohammed Day idea because “depictions of Muhammad offend millions of Muslims who are no part of the violent threats.” James Taranto, writing in the “Best of the Web Today” column at The Wall Street Journal, also objected to the idea, not only because depicting Mohammed “is inconsiderate of the sensibilities of others”, but also because “it defines those others—Muslims—as being outside of our culture, unworthy of the courtesy we readily accord to insiders.” Bill Walsh of Bedford Minuteman wrote critically of the initiative, which seemed “petulant and childish” to him: “It attempts to battle religious zealotry with rudeness and sacrilege, and we can only wait to see what happens, but I fear it won’t be good.” Janet Albrechtsen wrote in The Australian, “As a cartoon, it was mildly amusing. As a campaign, it’s crass and gratuitously offensive.”Writing for New York University’s Center for Religion and Media publication, The Revealer, Jeremy F. Walton called the event a “blasphemous faux holiday”, which would “only serve to reinforce broader American misunderstandings of Islam and Muslims”.
Anyway, if you’ve got something to contribute, I’m here for yuh. Send it!
Also, the end of the Wikipedia piece says the originator of the event, Molly Norris, “has since changed her name and gone into hiding.”
That REALLY just pisses me off.
May 19, 2012 at 10:47 am Hank Fox
 Sorry, all, about the recent paucity of posts. Among other things, I’ve been busy getting some stuff ready for an event – Mule Days, it’s called – happening in Bishop, California, where I used to live and where my Dad lived.
I’m trying to get all the people who knew him to contribute stories, photos, etc., memories of his life that will go up on a couple of memorial-type web pages. This event will draw quite a few people into the area, some of which will be old friends or acquaintances of his, some of whom will have some of this stuff I’m gathering.
May 19, 2012 at 1:45 am Hank Fox
 PZ sits on the Tentacled Throne According to the Wikipedia article on PZ Myers, “Pharyngula.org was started on June 19, 2002.”
Surely that means there will be some sort of celebration — on or about June 19, 2012 — in honor of a full DECADE of delightful and curmudgeonly atheist blogging? (Few will remember that PZ’s entire first year was devoted mostly to talk of squid sex.)
I’m thinking backyard barbecue. Liquor should be involved.
May 16, 2012 at 11:18 pm Hank Fox
Al Stefanelli of A Voice of Reason says some flattering (and totally true) stuff about my book, Red Neck, Blue Collar, Atheist: Simple Thoughts About Reason, Gods & Faith.
Packed into twenty-five chapters is the wisdom of a lifetime and proves you do not have to be a great thinker to think great things. The foreword begins not with a treatise on astrophysics, molecular biology or archaeology. It starts with, “My dog died,” and flows into life in the Eastern Sierra’s of California, dealing with grief, loss and time it takes to understand the impact of life on mere humanity. It ends with a realization of enlightenment, then contentment and the lightness of no longer being afraid to live without the shackles of religion hindering ones self.
The best parts come at the beginning …
“Hank Fox wrote a book. You should read it” – Me
… and the end:
I strongly recommend you buy this book and read it from cover to cover.
May 12, 2012 at 7:40 pm Hank Fox
 A GOP pollster who served George W. Bush in the 2004 election, Jan van Lohuizen, fired out a confidential memo telling Republican operatives it’s time to run like hell from the anti-gay-marriage rhetoric.
May 8, 2012 at 9:22 am Hank Fox
 Atheism is not all I do. It’s sort of my curse that most things interest me. Used to be, EVERYTHING interested me, but I’ve gotten more conservative in my old age. The uncool part of the condition is that it’s been hard to focus on any one thing, and actually make a good living at it. The cool part is, it’s been (is being) a fun ride.
One of my things is adventuring. Doing stuff for the fun of it. I would actually like to make a living at it, and have been working, at a glacial pace, to develop a website — AdventYear — of “Outdoor Adventures for Fat Old People.”
May 6, 2012 at 10:35 am Hank Fox
This would qualify as a Monty Python skit if it wasn’t real. (Warning: Fairly shocking pic below the fold.)
Kuwait’s parliament approved a law that calls for the death penalty for insulting the Prophet Muhammad, his wives and relatives, in a sign of the growing sway of Islamists who triumphed in elections this year.
Amnesty International describes the thing as “a massive step backwards” for Kuwait. Jeez, you think?
Under the law, any Muslim who, through any form of expression, insults God, his prophets, messengers, Prophet Mohammad’s wives or the Qur’an will be subject to the death penalty unless the defendant repents. If he does, then the judge is to instead impose a sentence of at least 5 years in prison and a fine equivalent to $36,000 (US).
May 5, 2012 at 9:14 am Hank Fox
[Apology in advance: Some of these may be repeats.]
 Jesus praying to God is the same as masturbation.
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New Superstitions for the Modern Age: If your oatmeal has black specks in it, and if you eat the black specks, you will sicken and die. Eight-year-olds, take note.
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Why, yes, you’re right. It IS a “mute” point. Probably best to say no more about it.
May 4, 2012 at 11:01 pm Hank Fox
 Sometimes you read something you wrote or said sometime back, and you go “Damn! That was me? This is some really good stuff!” That was my reaction to this post on my old site, shortly after the publication of my book.
Anyway, I’m reposting it.
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What’s the book about?
May 4, 2012 at 9:58 am Hank Fox
 Went to the midnight showing of The Avengers last night.
I’ve been saying for a couple of years that someone figured out something, about the time of the first Spider-Man movie. Something about how to do a REALLY GOOD superhero movie.
The whatever-it-was came to perfection by the time the second Spider-Man came out, the one with Doc Ock, making it the screaming best superhero movie ever-evarrrr.
But then the first Iron Man hit the screen. Blew. Me. The. Fuck. Away. Topped Spidey 2.
The Avengers is Iron Man times three.
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