Yay Science!

Greta Christina is someone who constantly does stuff to make me love her more.  So, her not being at Skepticon 5 was a disappointment.  Especially considering the reason she's not here.

But even in recovery from major surgery, she gave an amazing talk (via Skype). 

She's had a shitty year, but remains positive.  A positivity that may only be rivaled by Jerry DeWitt (more on that in a future post).

She praised her doctors for the surgery, and the inventors of the technology that allowed her to deliver this talk.  She also mentioned the weird things her brain has been doing during this time, and how being a skeptic & atheist helped her recognize it.

But the best line was clearly, "I don't have cancer. . . Yay science."

Yay science indeed.  We already lost Hitchens to cancer.  But we got to keep the perpetually awesome Greta Christina around for a bit longer.  Science may not solve all problems.  But it makes our world better than it otherwise would be.

Skepticon & Activism

My posts on Skepticon will pretty much all be on a time delay.  It's difficult to get stuff posted with so much going on.  Fun now.  Posts later.

Skepticon 5 is barely started and has already been a blast.  Oddly enough, it has a lot to do with JT Eberhard.  Well, it's not all that odd, since he is one of the people responsible for the creation of Skepticon.  Today, it was his workshop on activism.

Some of the takeaways from it are:

• This year has a lot of newcomers.  When JT asked how many there were at Skepticon for the first time, and most of the hands went up (including mine).  The same thing happened after lunch, at Todd Stiefel's workshop on Strategy & Leadership.
• Make activism entertaining.  That's how you get people to be involved.  For instance, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster adopted a highway under the name "The Flying Spaghetti Monster".
• Everyone is a confrontationalist when they are being an activist.
• Activism: if you're doing it, you're doing it right

To illustrate the point about making it fun, he had us leave the cramped room we were in, make signs, and go out and show them to the Christian visitors we had outside.  They left almost as soon as we got out there.  Maybe we had more people than their god could handle.  More did come back

After the sign fun was finished, people started chalking.  This was all done in about 15 minutes.

Although, the convention center staff didn't let it stay long.

I was initially annoyed, but that passed after I though about it and realized we're not the only convention in here today.  So, I don't really blame them.  But I do still think it was worth it to do it.  It's always worth it if you had fun doing it (within reason, of course).

What Do Atheists Do?

A question we often get about atheist organizations is about what we do.  They seem to think all we do is sit around and talk about how we don't believe in a god.  That's not even close to all we do.  Among the many things we do in Omaha Atheists are our regular game nights.  Nothing to do with religion.  Just people getting together and playing games.

Atheists attending Skepticon are no different.  We stumbled upon JT Eberhard last night at dinner and he was nice enough to invite us to a Nerf War happening at his friend's house in Springfield.

Part of the arsenal available.

This was my weapon for a bit.

My friend Kayla, being all badass

So, yeah.  We don't just sit around talking about how we don't believe in a god.

Prayer In My Damn Bed

In my 33 years, I've stayed in tens of hotels.  I do not recall ever finding a prayer card on my bed.  Until today.

I'm in Springfield, Missouri for Skepticon 5.  This is what I found on my bed:

In ancient times there was a prayer for

"The Stranger within our gates"

Because this hotel is a human institution to serve people, and not solely a money making organization, we hope that God will grant you peace and rest while you are under our roof.

May this suite and hotel be your "second" home. May those you love be near you   in thoughts and dreams.  Even though we may not get to know you, we that you will be comfortable and happy as if you were in your own house.

May the business that brought you our way prosper.   May every call you make  and every message you receive add to your joy.  When you leave, may your journey be safe.

We are all travelers.  From "birth till death" we travel between the eternities.  May  these days be pleasant for you, profitable for society, helpful for those you meet, and a joy to those who know and love you best.

It states they hope we are comfortable in our stay.  Then how about not subjecting me to this subtle reminder of your religion?

I wonder if it was even suggested that, for the conference of atheists filling their hotel, they not put these things in the rooms.  Even on nights when their hotel is not full of atheists, had it ever occurred to them that some guests might this offensive?

I'm tired of the religious just assuming everyone shares their superstitions.  It certainly would be nice if they'd think beyond their own world view for a change.

For more on these prayer cards, see JT Eberhard's post on them.

We Should Try Science In America

I doubt I have to convince many inclined to read a blog with the word "atheist" in the title how awesome science is.  It brings us new and amazing things on a regular basis.  And that brings us to Glow-in-the-Dark Highways.  

By mid-2013, the country will use photo-luminizing powder to replace road markings and ultimately produce glow-in-the-dark tarmacs, Wired.Co.UK reports.

The powder will charge on sunlight, soaking up enough energy to power 10 hours worth of highway light during nighttime. Special paint will also be used to draw snowflakes across the roads. The snowflakes will only become visible when the temperature dips to a certain point, indicating to commuters that the surface is likely slippery.

This is in the Netherlands.  Not America.  The Netherlands.  And this is just one thing.  They have further plans.

Within the next five years, the Netherlands hopes to add interactive lights along highway routes that power on when cars pass them and even wind-powered illumination.

I'm not so jingoistic as to think European shouldn't be doing cool stuff.  But it would be nice if it were that they doing cool stuff too, instead of them doing it while we do nothing.  Can you see something innovative like that happening in America?  I can't.  At least not with today's current political environment.  We're too worried about cutting everyone's taxes instead of paying our bills.  How could we be expected to actually make the investments that would get us the technology of the future?

(found via @mashable)

Skepticon Needs Some Help

Skepticon 5 will be my first one, and I'm as excited about it as someone with my limited emotional capacity can be.  It's a free event for its guests, but it is far from free for its organizers.  JT Eberhard, one of the minds behind the creation of this event, is asking for help in the funding that allows them to make it a free event.

I’m writing you to ask that you make the lives of those organizers a little easier.  As Skepticon grows, the price grows up, and the cost of that free price tag in human effort becomes even more daunting.  At peak last year, Skepticon had about 1200 attendees.  This year, given the conversations I’ve had with atheist groups around the country over the last year, I’d say they can expect about 1600.  If every one of those people donated $5, that would make up the difference and then some.  Of course, Skepticon strives to cater to the poor, so we know not every person will be able to donate $5.  So if you are one of the lucky ones who has $10, toss that in.

If you're able to donate, please do so.

(Found via @Teresamacbain)

Mike Huckabee Can Go Fuck Himself

Perhaps could be nicer about it than the title of this post, but nothing says how I feel about his recent video better than that.

It talks about how, in generations past, the church has pressured people to vote a particular way as if that's a good thing.

It talks about "protecting marriage" as if it's under attack and as if the real attack isn't on gays and the fact that they are unjustly denied marriage equality.  But, of course, it doesn't actually mention gays.  

It talks about the Affordable Care Act's mandate for insurance to cover birth control (again without actually mentioning what he's referring to) as if it's an attack on religious liberty instead of a common sense policy that would actually save money in the long run.  It talks about birth control as if it takes "innocent human life" instead of preventing the abortions he claims to oppose.

It talks about these reprehensible stances as if they are moral "values" instead of bigotry and a false sense of entitlement.

It talks about all this stuff as if it's a "test of fire" instead of a pile of horseshit meant to guilt the religious into voting for Republicans.

In other words, Mike Huckabee can go fuck himself.