Sorry I missed the usual Thursday posting of the Humanist Network News this week. My computer hard drive decided to die on me. The drive was the Toshiba 40GB 4200RPM that came in my Powerbook, so it was just over 2 years old. Toshiba drives normally come with a 3 year warranty, but if they come pre-installed in a computer, as mine did, then only the computer manufacturer’s warranty applies. Unfortunately, Apple computers only come with a 1 year warranty. While 1 year beats some other computer manufacturers, it still seems wrong to me that the computer’s warranty would negate the hard drive’s warranty.

Anyhow, I bought a replacement drive (with double the capacity and a faster spindle speed) and installed it last night. I had to practically completely disassemble the laptop, which was quite the adventure. I had backed up my drive about a week before it went on the fritz, so I wasn’t in dire straights, but I didn’t want to lose that little bit I had done in the interim. Luckily, I was able to coax the old drive into letting me clone it by placing it in an external case (apparently it could still read itself, just not write anything new). So, my Powerbook is back up and running, with no issues whatsoever with the duplicated data (thanks Carbon Copy Cloner).

Enough about my travails, you can get to the HNN across the break.
This is the weekly summary of the Humanist Network News (HNN). The Humanist Network News (HNN) is published every Wednesday via e-mail and on the Institute for Humanist Studies (IHS) Web site. This diary is a slightly reformatted copy of the weekly email they send me, which I post here every Thursday (Yes, I have permission from the IHS). (CP @ MLW, BT, SP)

February 2, 2006
Humanist Network News
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  1. Black freethinkers honor Black History Month founder
  2. Atheist collects eBay bids to go to Church
  3. Global Bioethics Panel in NYC: April 21-23
  4. Editor’s Note: LA Heads Summit, Secular Coalition grows
  5. IHS in the News: letter to editor attacks IHS & humanism
  6. Election report from the Great White North
  7. So, is humanism losing ground in Canada?
  8. Flemming film self-serving but brave
  9. Sweet Reason, what do I say when they “pray” for me?
  10. Media Roundup
  11. Letters to the editor
  12. Cathartic Comics
  13. Humanist Humor
  14. Poll of the Week

Summaries and links below (Sorry, no MY TAKE this week, since I have so much catching up to do after not having a computer for 5 days).

1. Black freethinkers honor Black History Month founder
February is Black History Month. Throughout the entire month, the Black American Free Thought Association, of Albany, N.Y., will be hosting events to honor Dr. Carter G. Woodson, founder of the Black History Month. The group is also exhibiting portraits of Black American humanists, activists and scholars, as well as various Black American history-centered memorabilia. MORE

2. Atheist collects eBay bids to go to Church
Hemant Mehta, a 22-year-old atheist in Chicago, is asking bidders on eBay to send him to church. MORE

3. Global Bioethics Panel in NYC: April 21-23
The IHEU- Appignani Center for Bioethics invites HNN readers to attend a three-day event on global bioethics in New York City. DETAILS

4. Editor’s Note: LA Heads Summit, Secular Coalition grows
On Jan. 19 – 22, Larry Jones and Duncan Crary represented the Institute for Humanist Studies at the semi-annual meeting of the Secular Coalition for America and at the annual Freethought Heads Summit in Los Angeles, Calif. MORE

5. IHS in the News: letter to editor attacks IHS & humanism
But a recent letter to the Albany Times Union equated humanism to Nazism and claimed that the Institute for Humanist Studies “seeks to destroy the very fabric of this country’s Colonial founders.” Find out what you can do to help the IHS address this slanderous letter. MORE

6. Election report from the Great White North
Ontario columnist Doug Thomas reports on the recent Canadian election. Already, Thomas sees trouble for humanists: the prime minister elect ended his victory speech with, “God Bless Canada.” MORE

7. So, is humanism losing ground in Canada?
We often hear from our friends in English-speaking Canada. But how do the humanists in Québec feel about the state of affairs in Canada? Michel Virard, of Montreal, helps to shed light on the Québécois perspective on humanism in Canada. MORE

8. Flemming film self-serving but brave
Culture and media columnist Joseph Hoffman critiques Brian Flemming’s The God Who Wasn’t There. MORE

9. Sweet Reason, what do I say when they “pray” for me?
So what can humanists say when people tell you they will pray for you? MORE

10. Media Roundup
New Research Explores Teenage Views and Behavior Regarding the Supernatural; Religious groups get nearly one-quarter of Bush administration’s AIDS money; Gay Marriage Amendment Seen Eroding Current Law; Climate Expert Says NASA Tried to Silence Him; White House to Push Military on Jesus Prayers; States Step Up Fight on Abortion; 500 Irish priests ‘having regular sex with women’. Those headlines and MORE

11. Letters to the editor
This weeks letters tackle the recent HNN podcast, the “Smut for Smut” campaign, secular student activism, the Canadian election and MORE

12. Cathartic Comics
…an assortment of cartoons and comic strips about humanism, atheism, religion, science and freethought. READ THEM

13. Humanist Humor
An honest man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. GET THE JOKE

14. Poll of the Week
Do you think equality for atheists is the last civil rights struggle in America? CAST YOUR VOTE

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About the IHS:

The IHS promotes nonreligious perspectives on social, political, and ethical issues and serves as a resource for and about the humanist community. Questions, comments, concerns, got a better joke or a story? Send a letter to the editor.

If anything here interests you, or if you are one of those people who doesn’t “get” humanism, you may also be interested in my diary on what secular humanism is and what it is like to be a secular humanist in today’s political climate: I Am The Boogeyman.

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