Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor are doing a radio show on Saturday mornings called Freethought Radio. They're also podcasting it. You can subscribe to at http://ffrf.org/radio/podcast/podcast.xml.

Summary for this week's show (from their website):

Featuring interview with Ernie Harburg, president of the Yip Harburg Foundation, on the great American lyricist Yip Harburg ("Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?," "April in Paris"), a self-described "ardent agnostic," and author of "Rhymes for the Irreverent", recently republished by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Also featuring a segment with Prof. Penny Edgell, University of Minnesota, on her study, "Atheists as 'Other'."

Several years ago, when my daughter was quite small, I was watching a group of kids play kickball at the park. At some point along the way, the ball went sailing through the air and the kicker was off and running, quickly rounding the bases. The poor little kid in the outfield was right under the ball, hands out . . . and he missed it. Some of the other kids gathered around him, jeering and yelling. The one comment that stood out for me was this one:

I was amused and puzzled the other day at the magazine rack in Border's. On the cover of Vogue, they advertised articles about global warming, climate change, and their potential effects on the environment. On the cover of Newsweek, they advertised "the secret to younger skin."

I've never been overly impressed with Newsweek, so when I received an email this morning with another here-we-go-again rant about atheists being defamed and why are we the only ones it's still ok to hate, I was not surprised to see that the culprit du jour was, in fact, Newsweek.

The Brunswick County, North Carolina school board is one of the latest to attempt to push Christianity in public schools. It looks like their bid to allow the Gideons to distribute bibles at school may backfire on them, however. Allowing one religious group to distribute propaganda may open the flood gates, forcing them to allow anything from pagan literature to the FFRF's book, Just Pretend: A Freethought Book for Children . According to the article, the school board has "adopted the first draft of a religion in schools policy that could potentially give the board the right to pick and choose which faiths can be allowed in county high schools." If they attempt to "pick and choose," they are sure to be in for a fight from every group on their unacceptable list.

I won a challenge.
Entrance to the Haiku chat.
Haiku only. Sweet!

You can listen to the debate at http://www.wotmradio.com/2006/04/04/friel-barker-debate.

Here's the announcement, from the FFRF newsletter:

"Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) co-president Dan Barker debated Christian radio personality Todd Friel on March 30, 2006, in Willey Hall at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. The debate was sponsored by Campus Atheists and Secular Humanists (CASH). Minnesota Atheists was also on hand for support, not that Dan needed any. On Todd's radio show the next day, he tried to spin the debate as a win for his brand of Christianity (hellfire and young-earth creationism), but it was clear from the tone and quaver in his voice that even he knew he had been badly beaten."

Update 16: Papers: Cheney Aide Says Bush OK'd Leak

Yes, Bush and Cheney authorized the leak. Yes, it was in retribution for criticism against their regime. Yes, this is old news but some people will still argue with you if you show them the article and claim that it's propaganda. Of course, when Bush sent the dogs out sniffing around to try to find out who leaked the wiretapping story , it was because leaking classified information is wrong -- when someone else does it.

Prof denied grant over evolution

We are not just in a battle to protect scientific inquiry and keep ourselves from reverting back to the age of superstition and mythology. It is an all-out war. Even Canada can't keep their sanity. I've always considered Canada to be a beacon of hope.