Author: mrboma

That’s right… It has happened. A congressional subcommittee has voted to cut all funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting within 2 years.

From the Washington Post:

More across the fold…
So what, you say? TV is bad for kids anyhow, right? It is just priming them to become consumers, isn’t it? Well, the PBS kids shows are actually a great way to spread our liberal values. That is the real reason the GOP wants to kill the CPB.

The Democracy Cell Project has a BLOGSWARM on this issue HERE

I posted a diary a month ago on the important work Sesame Street is doing around the world: Culture Wars: How Sesame Street is Helping Save the World

This is the weekly summary of the Humanist Network News (HNN). The HNN is a weekly publication of The Institute for Humanist Studies (IHS). The IHS promotes nonreligious perspectives on social, political, and ethical issues and serves as a resource for and about the humanist community.

Week of June 6, 2005
Humanist Network News
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

1. Secular Coalition to hire DC lobbyist, fall 2005 (You can read my diary about The Secular Coalition for America’s plan for a lobbyist HERE).
2. Healthy Teens Act passes Assembly
3. Canadian humanists rally to support abortion doctor
4. Honorary degree with a considerable degree of honor
5. Medical marijuana gets smoked by high court
6. How many virgins? Eternity would be Hell
7. The Karla Homolka problem
8. Film Review: Layer Cake
9. Sweet Reason, my cousin is gay, religious and conflicted
10. Letters to the Editor
11. Media Roundup
12. Strange Times
13. Cathartic Comics
14. Humanist Humor
15. Poll of the Week

Summaries and links across the bump. As always, feel free to write an in-depth diary on any of these stories.

1. Secular Coalition to hire DC lobbyist, fall 2005
Watch out fundamentalists! The Secular Coalition for America plans to have a lobbyist on Capitol Hill this fall. MORE

2. Healthy Teens Act passes Assembly
The New York State Assembly passed the “Healthy Teens Act” (A6300) on June 7 by the resounding margin of 123-18. The legislation, if signed into law, would provide local organizations with state funds so that they could teach age-appropriate, comprehensive sex education to young people instead of federally-funded abstinence-only programs. MORE

3. Canadian humanists rally to support abortion doctor
Katherine Meidell, 2nd vice president of the Humanist Association of Canada, lets HNN readers know about what Canadian humanists are doing to combat religious anti-choice forces working to prevent Dr. Henry Morgentaler from receiving an honary degree from the University of Western Ontario. Morgentaler is Canada’s leading advocate for women’s reproductive freedom. MORE

4. Honorary degree with a considerable degree of honor
Canadian columnist Doug Thomas provides a short biographical sketch of Dr. Morgentaler. MORE

5. Medical marijuana gets smoked by high court
The recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, giving the federal government authority to criminalize all personal use of marijuana, even to the point of overriding state laws that allow its consumption for medicinal purposes, may have more significance to the humanist community then one might first suppose. MORE

6. How many virgins? Eternity would be Hell
Syndicated columnist Martin Foreman explores the idea of heaven and eternity in this installment of his “God would be an atheist” column. MORE

7. The Karla Homolka problem
Canadian columnist Doug Thomas examines the death penalty and incarceration in Canada. MORE

8. Film Review: Layer Cake
Carolny Braunnius reviews Layer Cake, a sweet film about some unsavory characters. MORE

9. Sweet Reason, my cousin is gay, religious and conflicted
Sweet Reason give advice to a letter writer who has a gay cousin who is religiously conflicted. MORE

10. Letters to the Editor
This week’s letters tackle a variety of topics, including openly atheistic politicians. Did you know that California had an openly atheist assemblyman? MORE

11. Media Roundup
U.N.: Support Creation of Human Rights Council; Does Church threaten secular life in Russia?; Air Force Academy Embroiled in Religious Controversy; AP Poll: Religion Key in American Lives; Secular Europe confirmed by poll; Scotland takes UK lead in rejecting organised religion; Rushdie: Just give me that old-time atheism! MORE

12. Strange Times
Human flesh flavored tofu, 666 is not the mark of the beast — it’s really 601!; gay fruit flies? MORE

13. Cathartic Comics
This week HNN debuts a new freethought comic, “Big Fat Whale” by Brian McFadden. This week McFadden shows us “Atheism’s One Commandment.” MORE

14 Humanist Humor
We have a little quiz for you this week. Enjoy! READ THE JOKE

15. Poll of the Week
The Secular Coalition for America plans to hire a lobbyist in Washington D.C. this fall. What do you think will be the best thing to come from having a secular lobbyist on Capitol Hill? Take the Poll

__________
About HNN:
Questions, comments, concerns, got a better joke or a story? Send a letter to the editor: http://humaniststudies.org/letter_to_editor.html . The Humanist Network News (HNN) is published every Wednesday via e-mail and the IHS Web site. This diary is a copy of the weekly email, slightly reformatted.

Learn about humanism interactively – explore the Continuum of Humanist Education.

The G8 summit is coming in a month. Global Climate change is expected to be one of the central issues discussed. In anticipation of the summit, the Science Academies of many of the leading industrialized nations issued a joint statement yesterday (June 7) urging the leaders of their countries to make a commitment to immediately begin reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Scientist Online is calling the statement “unprecedented.”

Signatories of the statement include Britain’s Royal Society and the national science academies of France, Russia, Germany, the United States, Japan, Italy, Canada, Brazil, China, and India.

The statement urges the G8 nations to find cost-effective steps that can be taken immediately toward substantial and long-term reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions. No doubt the Kyoto hold-out U.S. is the main target of this statement.

More across the jump…
from The Scientist Online

Right… BushCo and science are like oil and water.

We’ve known enough for 10 years or more. This comes on the heals of the revelation that a BushCo aid altered greenhouse emissions reports (LINK).

In part, the statement says

Environmental group Friends of the Earth finds fault with the statement in that it doesn’t include any targets or a timetable. Friends of the Earth believes dramatic emissions reductions must be made in the next decade or we face “catastrophic climate change.”

Originally posted at Daily Kos (2/2005)

In our day, it goes far beyond the Clergy. Religious groups have lobbyists on the hill trying to get their dogma made into national law. As Bush and the GOP panders to the evangelical lobbies, we risk slipping further and further away from the secular state our country is supposed to be.

The Secular Coalition for America seeks to combat the lobbying efforts of the religious dogmatists. The SCA is there for those atheists who feel attacked on a daily basis by the religious right, and those religious types who don’t feel religion should interfere in government. They are now asking for donations so they can send a lobbyist to Washington to fight for church/state separation.

More across the bump:
I hardly think I even need to make the argument that religious groups are sticking their noses where they don’t belong by sending lobbyists to Washington. We all know the GOP has been pandering to the religious right at least since Reagan. But, for the sake of argument, here are some of the things religious lobbyists have been involved in:

• Seeking to gain government funding for religious education, primarily through the promotion of voucher programs.
• Won government funding for religious organizations through creation of the Office of Faith Based Initiatives.
• Seek to eliminate restrictions on politicking by churches.
• Oppose civil rights for gays, comprehensive sex education for kids, and reproductive choice for women.
• Build support for religious icons on public property and the return of school prayer.
• Propagate the idea that the United States was founded as a Christian nation, that separation of church and state is a myth, and that government neutrality towards religion is really anti-Christian discrimination.

Who is the SCA, anyway? Honestly, I don’t know much about them aside from what they say on their website. I do, however, frequent one of their sponsors, The Secular Web. It is a great secular humanist website. I highly recommend it for any of you atheist/agnostic liberals who feel persecuted because you are non-religious.

As for the SCA, according to their website, they are a new 501(c)(4) organization (they can lobby legislators, but not endorse or promote candidates) sponsored by the American Humanist Association, Atheist Alliance International, Institute for Humanist Studies, Internet Infidels (The Secular Web), Secular Student Alliance, and the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers. They promise to address the concerns of individuals whose worldview is naturalistic, whether they self-identify as agnostics, atheists, freethinkers, humanists, or skeptics, as well as others who consider themselves non-religious. Above all else, this means the separation of Church and State.

Perhaps you are one of the many religious liberals, and you are concerned about what the agenda would be for a “secular lobbyist?” Well, this group of secularists seems open to religious types so long as they are open to non-religious types.

Sounds pretty ok to me, but then, I am a secular humanist (atheist). If you are still unsure, consider the job description on the SCA website:

That could be a very powerful ally to the Democratic party, if their 30-million figure is accurate. Still want to know more? Here are their Position and Mission Statements:

The SCA is looking for 1000 people to donate $100 each to start their lobbying effort. I am not giving that much myself, but I doubt they would reject any amount. They have a donation form on their homepage. If you are still not comfortable giving, that’s cool, too. Either way, I think this is a group we should keep an eye on as a potentially powerful liberal ally.

Disclosure: I am not now, nor have I ever been, affiliated with the SCA.

This is the weekly Humanist Network News summary. The HNN is the weekly e-zine of the Institute for Humanist Studies.
(cross posted at Daily Kos)

Week of May 30, 2005
Humanist Network News
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

1. Human rights and wrongs
2. American humanist wins Oxford debate
3. Heart of the Beholder gets British premiere
4. Native-Americans seek Constitutional advice from IHS
5. GE brings good humanists to life?
6. A conscience clause for pharmacists?
7. IHS in the News: human rights, 10 C, ID
8. The Canadian Right is finally “outing” itself
9. Film Review — Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room
10. Rationally Speaking: On Holy Books
11. Letters to the Editor
12. Media Roundup
13. Cathartic Comics
14. Humanist Humor
15. Poll of the Week

See across the bump for summaries and links. As always, feel free to write an in-depth diary on any of these articles.
1. Human rights and wrongs
Matt Cherry, executive director of the Institute for Humanist Studies, examines the recent allegations that the United States has bee violating fundamental human rights in its “War on Terror.” MORE

2. American humanist wins Oxford debate
Herb Silverman, president of the Secular Coalition for America, recently participated in a debate at the Oxford Union in England. The topic was whether or not American religion undermines American values. MORE

3. Heart of the Beholder gets British premiere
The long-anticipated American film Heart of the Beholder is to be given a British premiere showing at a film event organized by the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association. MORE

4. Native-Americans seek Constitutional advice from IHS
The Institute of Humanist Studies often receives constitutional inquiries concerning church/state separation issues. But one recent referral from a legal counsel representing a New York Native-American tribe caught the attention of our Public Policy Director Tim Gordinier. MORE

5. GE brings good humanists to life?
Last week Larry Jones, president of the Institute for Humanist Studies, joined another humanist president for lunch in New York City — Kurt Vonnegut. It turns out the two have more than humanism in common. They also both worked for General Electric in Schenectady, N.Y. MORE

6. A conscience clause for pharmacists?
Tim Gordinier, public policy director of the Institute for Humanist Studies, takes a look at the pharmacy conscience controversy regarding emergency contraception. MORE

7. IHS in the News: human rights, 10 C, ID
Matt Cherry, executive director of the Institute for Humanist Studies, appeared on two radio programs over the weekend to discuss Amnesty International’s recent accusations that the United States is violating fundamental human rights in its war on terror. One of the programs was an hour-long call-in show on Chicago’s “Radio Islam.” MORE

8. The Canadian Right is finally “outing” itself
When Canadian Member of Parliament Belinda Stronach crossed the floor to become a Liberal, she acted as a catalyst for a change in the Conservative Party she left. Canadian columnist Doug Thomas examines what this means for humanists in Canada. MORE

9. Film Review — Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room
Larry Jones, president of the Institute for Humanist Studies, reviews the new documentary about Enron. MORE

10. Rationally Speaking: On Holy Books
Columnist Massimo Pigliucci takes a look at the recent Newsweek reporting controversy. MORE

11. Letters to the Editor
Letters on intelligent design, the AU high school graduation lawsuit and IHS support for gay and lesbian rights. MORE

12. Media Roundup
“Smithsonian to Screen a Movie That Makes a Case Against Evolution”,”Abortion Award From University in Canada Proves Costly”,”Court upholds inmates’ religious rights law”. MORE

13. Cathartic Comics
…an assortment of cartoons and comic strips about humanism, atheism, religion, science and freethought. LINK

14. Humanist Humor
An argument over a donkey gets biblical. READ THE JOKE

15. Poll of the Week
The United States has been accused of violating fundamental human rights during its war on terror. How should the U.S. government respond to these accusations? CAST YOUR VOTE

 About HNN
Questions, comments, concerns, got a better joke or a story? Send a letter to the editor: http://humaniststudies.org/letter_to_editor.html . The Humanist Network News (HNN) is published every Wednesday via e-mail and the IHS Web site (www.humaniststudies.org). This diary is a copy of the weekly email (slightly reformatted).
Learn about humanism interactively – explore the Continuum of Humanist Education

I’ve written about this many times over at Daily Kos, but as I sit here sick as a dog, I thought I should bring it up again. This is my new frame for universal health care:

What is the #1 responsibility of the government? Think about that for a minute. What do you think a Republican would say? Many people, in fact most people, would say, “To protect its people.” Even if that is not the #1 responsibility, I would think nearly everyone would agree it is a major responsibility.

So what should the government protect us from?
Enemies? Undoubtedly. That’s why we have the armed forces, CIA, NSA, etc.

Crime? Yes. That’s why we have the FBI, DEA, Federal Marshals, federal courts, prisons, ATF, and other law enforcement agencies.

Natural Disasters? Sure. That is why we have FEMA, early warning systems, first responders, etc.  Look at the tsunami, and how everyone felt the governments in that area should have been out warning people.

Disease or other health dangers? No doubt. We have the Dept of Health and Human Services, FDA, EPA, OSHA, NIH, CDC, clean air and water acts, and many other agencies and laws which are involved to some degree in monitoring, maintaining, or ensuring the health of the citizenry.

So if health dangers are something the government is already concerned with, why is universal health care not a part of this model? Why shouldn’t the government protect us from microbial invaders as well as human invaders? A healthy citizenry is certain to be a more productive work force (that is, after all, the justification behind employer provided health insurance). So look at injury and disease as a threat to our citizenry and our national economy. Health care then becomes part of our national defense.

What is the one thing Republicans are always willing to spend more money on? National Defense!

The GOP has been doing it to us for years: using wedge issues to divide Democrats and get many Americans to vote against their own socio-economic interests. So, can we do the same thing to them?

We have seen the fractures in the GOP finally coming to the surface in recent weeks. There is a significant faction of Republicans who see the danger in the nuclear option, and an even greater faction supporting the stem cell bill. Given the fact that there are already clear rifts on the right we could exploit, splitting the GOP should not be that difficult. Stealing constituents without sacrificing our core beliefs would be much harder, but I don’t think it is entirely necessary, either — we just need to split them asunder.

Real economic conservatives hate Bush’s deficit spending, but they wont vote our way either because they are generally against the kinds of social programs we champion, so would likely be loath to join with us. There are economic conservatives who are socially liberal (libertarians) who may be easier to win over to our side, but it all depends on whether they place more weight on their economic conservatism or their social liberalism. There are also those conservatives who are frightened by the unholy alliance between the NeoCons and the fundamentalist Christian right. Again, these people are not likely to join our side, but we should be exploiting this division in the GOP to fracture the right into two or more camps.

So where are other rifts we could exploit that will not only split the right, but possibly bring us converts?

More across the bump…
The first thing we need to do is get people to stop being duped by the right. I know all about Lakoff’s reframing and other’s arguing we need to rework our messaging. I don’t disagree that our messaging could be more effective, but I think our problem has as much to do with saturation as it does with content or form. If we can continue to grow our echo machine and combat the GOP’s echo machine, I think we win back a lot of people who have been misled, even if we don’t significantly rework our messaging. Air America and the blogs are the start of this, but we definitely need more, and we need to halt the GOP attempt to take over Corporation for Public Broadcasting to make it a propaganda machine. We made great gains at the state level in ’04, even in red states. That says to me we just need a national echo machine to combat the lies coming from Faux News et al about our national candidates.

I also think two huge opportunities exist for winning small factions of Republicans to our side. The first is the issue of gay rights. We all know about how the Log Cabin Republicans came out against Bush in ’04. The Log Cabin Republicans are Republicans because they are economically conservative. But when the very soul of your being is being attacked by your own party, I would think that those attacks would hold more weight than your economic views. I could be absolutely wrong, but the Log Cabin website states

It seems it may be out of our hands entirely, and depends on what direction the GOP takes. This is a rift we should be exploiting.

I know there are those who will point out that gay rights is one of the wedge issues the right uses against us. Many on the left believe that if we continue to promote gay rights, we will continue to lose middle America. I don’t entirely buy this. This is one instance where reframing may help. It is not gay rights, but human rights we stand for. With our own echo machine going full blast, we can perhaps counter the Republican spin on this. Besides, I don’t want us pandering to bigots anyway.

The second issue is the environment. There exists a faction in the GOP of self proclaimed Teddy Roosevelt Republicans, or Green Republicans. A great example of this group is the Republicans for Environmental Protection, or REP. The REP website says

The Republican party is drifting further and further from fulfilling the desires of these green GOoPers. Can we win them to our side? Again, I’m not sure… but, if they are truly Teddy Roosevelt Republicans, then maybe we can. After all, Teddy Roosevelt was the President of the Progressive Era, so maybe this group would be more open to some of our other progressive ideas. T.R. not only started the National Forest system, but was a trust-buster and was pro regulation of businesses. Those are all Democratic positions now. On the other hand, T.R. was also the cowboy who said, “Speak softly and carry a big stick,” and expressed that the U.S. can and should meddle in Central and South America. If these Republicans really hold Teddy Roosevelt values, then they will agree with us on some things (mostly domestic) and disagree on others (foreign policy). Of all the conservative factions, I think they might be the most amenable to joining us, especially on the local and state levels where foreign policy is a near non-factor.

Regardless of whether we can get these factions to join us, we can win in ’06 and ’08 by simply splitting the Republicans. We should be encouraging real conservatives to reevaluate the NeoCon agenda. It wont be easy given the state of the media. However, I have hope because I am willing to bet that almost every one of us has a friend or relative who is a conservative. If you do, start sending them essays critical of the NeoCons written by conservatives. As another option, send them writings by historical Republicans like T.R. and Eisenhower which are in direct opposition to what the NeoCons are now doing. We need to show people how far afield of the traditional GOP the NeoCons have taken their party. So that is the game plan: shatter their solidarity; divide and conquer. It can be done, but it is up to us to do it. Any other suggestions?

(cross-posted at Daily Kos)

This is the weekly Humanist Network News summary. The HNN is the weekly e-zine of the Institute for Humanist Studies.

May 25, 2005
Humanist Network News
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

1. Pakistan arrests UN human rights expert
2. Congress votes on stem cell legislation
3. IHS represents humanism at Equality and Justice Day
4. Evolutionary biologist speaks rationally on “ID”
5. IHS in the News: Intelligent Design
6. AHA field organizer to join Peace Corps
7. Ethical Culture religious leaders to meet in Northern Va.
8. God, Gays and Democracy panel: June 7, Albany
9. New humanist book for children
10. Sweet Reason, I need help talking to conservative dad
11. Film Review: Look at Me
12. Letters to the Editor
13. Media Roundup
14. Strange Times
15. Cathartic Comics
16. Humanist Humor
17. Poll of the Week

See across the bump for summaries and links. Feel free to write an in-depth diary on any of these articles.
1. Pakistan arrests UN human rights expert
United Nations Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Religion or Belief Asma Jahangir was arrested and physically abused by Pakistani police on May 14. MORE

2. Congress votes on stem cell legislation
The U.S. House of Representatives voted yesterday 238-194 to expand the amount of embryonic stem-cell research being supported by the federal government. The U.S Senate, which is considering identical legislation, is waiting for Majority Leader Bill Frist to bring the bill up for a vote. MORE

3. IHS represents humanism at Equality and Justice Day
Equality and Justice Day, a daylong advocacy event dedicated to the advancement of civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons throughout New York state, was held May 24 at the Albany Convention Center. MORE

4. Evolutionary biologist speaks rationally on “ID”
When evolutionary biologist Massimo Pigliucci left the University of Tennessee to teach in New York state, he thought the Scopes Monkey Trial and its legacy were far behind him. But a recent “intelligent design” bill in the New York State Legislature is giving the Italian-born professor a frightening sense of déjà vu. MORE

5. IHS in the News: Intelligent Design
The Institute for Humanist Studies continues to field media queries about New York State Assembly Member Daniel Hooker’s proposed “intelligent design” and Ten Commandments bills. MORE

6. AHA field organizer to join Peace Corps
Jende Huang, field organizer for the American Humanist Association, will soon join the Peace Corps as a volunteer in Cape Verde. MORE

7. Ethical Culture religious leaders to meet in Northern Va.
The 90th Assembly of the American Ethical Union is to be held May 27-30, in Herndon, Va. The meeting is expected to attract members from along the eastern seaboard and from as far away as Austin and St Louis. MORE

8. God, Gays and Democracy panel: June 7, Albany
The New York State Museum in Albany, N.Y. will host a panel discussion titled “God, Gays and Democracy” on June 7. DETAILS

9. New humanist book for children
Author Helen Bennett explains why she wrote the children’s book Humanism, What’s That? MORE

10. Sweet Reason, I need help talking to conservative dad
“Sweet Reason” offers advice to a reader having trouble speaking to her conservative father about her growing disbelief in religion and God. MORE

11. Film Review: Look at Me
Look at Me examines the crueler side of human nature, writes critic Carolyn Braunius of the French film. MORE

12. Letters to the Editor
Letters on the AU lawsuit, intelligent design and other topics. MORE

13. Media Roundup
A roundup of news stories for humanists. MORE

14. Strange Times
A college student has started marketing a human flesh flavored tofu. MORE

15. Cathartic Comics
…an assortment of cartoons and comic strips about humanism, atheism, religion, science and freethought. MORE

16. Humanist Humor
Here’s a Sartre joke that doesn’t stink. READ THE JOKE

17. Poll of the Week
How do you most strongly feel about the teaching of intelligent design in school? CAST YOUR VOTE:

About HNN
Questions, comments, concerns, got a better joke or a story? Send a letter to the editor: http://humaniststudies.org/letter_to_editor.html . The Humanist Network News (HNN) is published every Wednesday via e-mail and the IHS Web site (www.humaniststudies.org). This diary is a copy of the weekly email (slightly reformatted).

I searched for this in the diaries and stories but found nothing. If this has already been diaried. let me know and I will delete this.

Paul Craig Roberts, a well known and well respected conservative journalist and former Assistant Treasury Secretary under Reagan, has called for the impeachment and conviction of George W. Bush.

More across the bump…

Roberts has been one of the most vocal conservative critics of the Bush administration. What are Roberts bonifieds, you ask? From his Bio on his homepage:

As we know from the excellent “Confessions of a Former Dittohead” diaries by advisorjim (at Daily Kos), one of the only ways to get through to the indoctrinated is to show them critiques by trusted sources. Paul Craig Roberts is one of those genuine conservatives who thinks the Bush administration has been a disaster. Show his articles to all your neo-conned friends.

This is the weekly diary I have started to post the Humanist Network News blurbs. HNN is the weekly e-zine of the Institute for Humanist Studies.

HNN stories for the week of May 18, 2005:

1. “Intelligent design” & Ten Commandments in NYS
2. The debate about debating intelligent design
3. Judge allows graduation in Church, but sides with AU
4. Life after the tsunami: helping hands in humanism
5. “Sweet Reason” readers can give their own advice
6. Get the IHS 2004 Annual Report by snail mail
7. IHS in the News
8. IHS helping to spread the word about other humanists
9. Behind-the-scenes glimpse of IHS public relations
10. A quick turn in Canadian politics
11. Letters to the Editor
12. Book Review: Silent No More, Part 5
13. Media Roundup
14. Cathartic Comics
15. Humanist Humor

See across the bump for summaries and links.
1. “Intelligent design” & Ten Commandments in NYS
Two bills calling for equal time for “intelligent design” in public schools and allowing for the posting of the Ten Commandments on government property were introduced to the New York State Assembly on May 3. MORE

2. The debate about debating intelligent design
In his column, IHS Public Policy Director tackles the specious arguments made for “intelligent design.” He also shares some of the comments news editors sent him after the IHS sent a press release on its position regarding “intelligent design.” MORE

3. Judge allows graduation in Church, but sides with AU
Today Federal District Judge Gregory A. Presnell rejected a request by Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) to stop four Florida high school graduation ceremonies from taking place at a church. The judge did not reject the temporary restraining order on it’s merit, however. In a special to HNN, Florida writer Jeff Nall reports. MORE

4. Life after the tsunami: helping hands in humanism
After the Indian Ocean Tsunami struck on December 26, 2004, the Institute for Humanist Studies launched an immediate fundraising appeal. In total, IHS forwarded more than $7,000 donated by readers of HNN to the tsunami rehabilitation program of the Atheist Centre in South India. Here is a report from the Atheist Centre detailing how the money was used. MORE

5. “Sweet Reason” readers can give their own advice
Molleen Matsumura, author of “Sweet Reason,” an advice column for non-religious recently told HNN, “Sometimes readers send me their own ideas to add to the advice I give in my column.” She gave several examples. See what type of advice other HNN readers had to give. MORE

6. Get the IHS 2004 Annual Report by snail mail
The Institute for Humanist Studies will soon be mailing readers in the U.S. and Canada a professionally printed, full color copy of its Annual Report. Please be sure IHS has your current postal address. DETAILS

7. IHS in the News
This week, the IHS was quoted in two stories about the proposed NY bills on the Ten Commandments and “intelligent design.” MORE

8. IHS helping to spread the word about other humanists
Humanists pride themselves on their ethics and compassion for others. Yet many humanist organizations skimp on their compassion for other humanist or like-minded groups. Find out how the IHS is helping to get other humanists into the news. MORE

9. Behind-the-scenes glimpse of IHS public relations
Many HNN readers are financial supporters of the Institute for Humanist Studies. So, I thought you might like to get a quick glimpse at how the Institute operates when something like an intelligent design bill is introduced to the New York State Legislature. MORE

10. A quick turn in Canadian politics
Belinda Stronach, billionaire Conservative MP, “crossed the floor of the house” this morning to become a Liberal cabinet minister. Find out what this means for humanists in Canada. MORE

11. Letters to the Editor
Letters on last week’s poll, “coming out as a humanist politician”, Andy Rooney and more. MORE

12. Book Review: Silent No More, Part 5
Kenneth W. Krause reviews the rhetoric of the Christian Right and Pastor Rod Parsley’s new book, Silent No More. Kenneth challenges the Pastor on abortion, homosexual union, race, education, poverty, and founder intentions. MORE

13. Media Roundup
A roundup of news for humanists and freethinkers… Harvard humanist chaplain retires after more than three decades; “Faith Based” Journalism; Bush’s religious right nominee to FDA is accused of rape and sodomy by ex-wife and MORE

14. Cathartic Comics
…an assortment of cartoons and comic strips about humanism, atheism, religion, science and freethought. LINK

15. Humanist Humor
A boy is about to go on his first date, and is nervous about what to talk about. He asks his father for advice. The father replies: “My son, there are three subjects that always work. These are food, family and philosophy.” MORE