Russia has unanimously passed a law against “gay propaganda” (as the Independent translates it).

The Indy reported yesterday, before the law passed:

A number of regions have already adopted a similar law, and now MPs from President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party want to implement a nationwide ban on “gay propaganda”.

The law defines the rather nebulous concept as “spreading information aimed at forming non-traditional sexual behaviour among children, suggesting this behaviour is attractive, and making a false statement about the socially equal nature of traditional and non-traditional relationships”. [Read more…]

There’s a ferocious Jesus and Mo today.

The original?

The Arabic reads: There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his Prophet.

The picture reads: And if you don’t agree we’ll cut your fucking head off.

From Dave Muscato of AA:

We have an urgent message for anyone who may be in a position to help.
Please assist us in spreading the word.

We need to contact anyone who is related to an atheist or other
nonbeliever who died in the terrorist attacks on September 11. This is
extremely time-sensitive.

We need the names of atheist victims of the attacks, and we need
contact information for relatives who knew them personally and can
vouch for the fact that they were nonbelievers.

If you have contact with anyone who knows a victim from 9/11, please
contact us immediately.

Our phone number is 908-276-7300 extension 7, or email
dmuscato@atheists.org. Again this is extremely time-sensitive.

Thank you and please help us spread the word about this to anyone whom
you think is in a position to help.

—
Dave Muscato
Public Relations Director
American Atheists, Inc.
908-276-7300 X7 | dmuscato@atheists.org
www.atheists.org

Which is good, according to him, because journalists, according to him, are afraid to read science. Even ones with PhDs in science like Phil Plait and Laura Helmuth (health and science editor of Slate).

As RFK Jr. explained, “journalists get their information from government officials who are saying there’s no problem. Not one of them has picked up the multitude of studies that say thimerosal is the most potent brain killer imaginable.” When RFK Jr. challenged the university scientist about a study of the biological activity of thimerosal in vitro, which “everybody accepts because journalists hadn’t read it,” the scientist said, “ ‘Oh, yeah, you’re right about that.’ He backpedaled.” That’s because “now he was dealing with somebody who wasn’t afraid to read science.”

I talked to the scientist, who would prefer I not use his name because he gets death threats from unhinged anti-vaxxers. He said, “Kennedy completely misrepresented everything I said.”

He was fifteen. It’s not even clear that he was an atheist. (But what difference does it make? It’s not as if it’s any more acceptable to murder if they were correct in thinking he was an atheist.)

Coffee seller Mohammad Qataa was allegedly shot in the face and neck a day after being kidnapped by an Islamist group in Aleppo, called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, once previously known as the Nusra Front. [Read more…]

You know that thing about all the raping going on in the US military? You know whose fault that is? I’ll tell you. It’s those pesky liberals trying to “take over the military.” That’s right! They cause all those guys in uniform to trip and fall onto women and get their penises all stuck accidentally up them. It’s a liberal holocaust type of deal.

Fox News contributor Allen West agreed with radio host Michael Savage’s assertion that “Khmer Rouge feminists” are attempting a “coup” against the military by proposing to change the military chain of command in sexual assault cases. West also used the sexual assault issue to criticize liberals for wanting to “put women into combat arms units” “so they can meet some sort of socially engineering goal or egalitarian goal.” [Read more…]

Wow, the Google doodle today. If you haven’t already, click on the play button. At Google.

I mentioned yesterday that I was more cheerful about the Dublin conference, and added that it was because there had been some communication. I was cryptic about it because I’d forgotten to ask if it would be ok for me to mention it.

(Some buffoon pretended to think I was making a threat. Seriously – “there’s been some communication” – a threat.

[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/atheismplus/status/343548986336112640″]

Not a communication, some communication. And why would that be a threat anyway? Jeezis.)

I repaired the omission today, so I can be less obscure: I’ve talked to Michael Nugent and Jane Donnelly, and it went well. (Nothing to BE AFRAID of there, either. It went well, meaning what that normally means, not what it means in a TV show about MI5.)

Another branch of Deep Rifts, this time nothing whatever to do with me (hooray!).

The story, as concisely as possible: before the Freedom From Religion Foundation had a Facebook page, someone set up a group called Freedom From Religion Foundation as a place for fans of FFRF to hang out. It apparently became rather…contentious as time went on, and meanwhile FFRF got itself a Facebook page. On Friday the publicist for FFRF posted there.

My name is Lauryn and I’m the publicist for the FFRF. Eric and other admin have been kind enough to agree to shut down this group  by June 30 and start a new group. The reason for this is because our pages have been commonly confused. [Read more…]