Jean McKinnon

Gwen Pearson makes a really good point about the Ark Park: there has been virtually no thought put into animal care, and it’s an abuse scene waiting to happen. I’ve helped manage and care for a wide assortment of wild and domestic animals, big and small, over the course of my career. There is a HUGE amount of paperwork, documentation, and inspections involved in having captive animals. It is, frankly, a gigantic pain in the ass, and the animals are healthier and receive better care because of all the annoying, complex rules. That’s why the Ark project set off all sorts of alarm bells in my head. Keeping animals in captivity is really, really difficult. By gathering animals together in an artificial environment you concentrate all the poop and pee, and just make it easier for diseases to rapidly spread. (Got a kid in daycare? You know exactly what I’m talking about.) As caretakers we have an ethical duty to provide captive animals with the food and environment they need to stay healthy. Doing that takes specialized knowledge. If you have raptors or game birds, they can get bumblefoot just from the wrong kind of perches. Feeding an imbalanced diet, or just not noticing a raptor is off its food, can tip a bird into a metabolic crash. Ducks can get a fatal type of herpes. And they’re doing everything backwards! They originally planned to stock their fake ark with a menagerie, and are now backing off and plan to use some live animals and a mix of animatronic and stuffed animals now, but this is exactly the reverse of what you do in setting up a facility that will contain live animals: Those were some early ideas about how we’re going to lay things out, and we are going to fine tune those as we get the final plans back from the architects. The architects are planning the building, lighting, air conditioning, ventilation. Once that is done, then our display design team will take those plans… we have 132 bays that we’ll have available for...
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Shannon Corregan: Call me an atheist, but not an infidel
Victoria Times Colonist
Manitoba's leader of the Opposition, Progressive Conservative Brian Pallister, has been taking some heat for a recent video in which he wishes his constituents a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah and to “all the infidel atheists out there, I want to ...

A couple months ago, Richard Hoppe and I blogged about the lawsuit brought by a creationist group against the state of Kansas, alleging that teaching real science to students violates the First Amendment by “indoctrinating” them with ideas that might make them question their religious training. State officials today filed a motion to dismiss that lawsuit, which you can read here. It’s a very strong motion–the most important parts are pages 28-43–so I don’t have... Timothy Sandefur http://sandefur.blogspot.com

Vancouver Sun
Atheist advertising rejected in Vancouver
Vancouver Sun
An atheist organization says billboards it planned to run in downtown Vancouver have been rejected by advertising agency Pattison Outdoor. The Centre for Inquiry Canada ad plays with a biblical reference by featuring the image of a woman with the words ...

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Vancouver Sun
Atheist advertising rejected in Vancouver
Vancouver Sun
An atheist organization says billboards it planned to run in downtown Vancouver have been rejected by advertising agency Pattison Outdoor. The Centre for Inquiry Canada ad plays with a biblical reference by featuring the image of a woman with the words ...

and more »

The Guardian
An atheist utopia? Talk about a nightmare
The Guardian
I write this as an atheist, anti-Zionist Jew who worries about the conservative religious views of my prime minister Tony Abbott – journalist Geoff Kitney once accurately described him as a leader who presents “brand Australia” as “neo-conservative ...
Louie Gohmert: Atheists Should Encourage Worship To Protect The CountryHuffington Post

all 3 news articles »

WND.com
Fox News atheist Democrat: I met Jesus
WND.com
She's the intelligent, gorgeous, Democratic commentator at Fox News who has been an atheist for much of her life until she says she had a personal encounter with Jesus. It was in 2006 during an overseas trip that Kirsten Powers says, “I woke up in what ...

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BizPac Review
Atheist Group Launches Holiday Billboard: 'Who Needs Christ During Christmas?'
Huffington Post
In November, American Atheists also introduced six “disaster victim” billboards in New Jersey promoting tangible aid and relief supplies over prayers and bibles in response to Typhoon Haiyan's destruction in the Philippines. “While at least $300 ...
Atheist group: Take back Christmas from Christians!Raw Story
Atheist Billboard in Times Square Specifically Designed to Make Sarah Palin's ...New York Magazine
Atheist group targets Christmas with 'anti-god' billboard campaignBizPac Review
The Hollywood Gossip -God Discussion -Salon
all 18 news articles »

Atheist Group Launches Holiday Billboard: 'Who Needs Christ During Christmas?'
Huffington Post
“This season is a great time of year for a hundred reasons -- none of them having to do with religion,” said American Atheists President David Silverman in a press release. “This year, start a new tradition: Don't go to church. You hate it, it's boring ...

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School choir to perform at Montana church despite calls from ACLU, atheist ...
Fox News
A Montana school choir is set to perform at a church despite calls from the American Civil Liberties Union and an atheist group to cancel the show, arguing that it violates the separation of church and state. Kate Orozco, superintendent of the ...

Raw Story
Park district returns donation to atheist blogger
Chicago Tribune
After a local veterans group pulled its donations to the Morton Grove Park District in response to a park board member's refusal to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, a Naperville teacher and atheist blogger asked his readers for donations to replace ...
Illinois park district rejects donation from 'Friendly Atheist' to avoid ...Raw Story
Morton Grove Park District returns donation to atheist bloggerMorton Grove Champion
Morton Grove Park District Returns Atheist's CheckPatch.com
The Huntsville Times - al.com (blog)
all 9 news articles »

Read this excellent long form expose of James Arthur Ray, the New Age guru who had been promoted by Oprah and who then ended up scamming swarms of people and killing a few of them in a ridiculous sweat lodge ceremony. Or watch the video. Or do both! Daytime talk shows do a really good job of pandering to gullible people and elevating con artists like Ray as “spiritual leaders”. Oprah has been pushing phonies and frauds for years, poisoning the citizenry with nonsense…and getting obscenely rich in the process.

Heh. So the Republicans are running scared: they don’t know how to talk to or about women. So they’re having training sessions to teach Republican candidates how to address (or perhaps, more importantly, how not to address) women..

"The National Republican Congressional Committee wants to make sure there are no Todd Akin-style gaffes next year, so it’s meeting with top aides of sitting Republicans to teach them what to say — or not to say — on the trail, especially when their boss is running against a woman," Politico reports.

One problem: for this to work, Republicans will have to learn how to talk like progressive, liberal Democrats. There might be a small conflict there.

This greatly simplifies gift giving.

I wish I’d seen it last week — I’m going to have to return a few items now.

Egypt's Atheists Struggle to be Heard, Not Jailed
Voice of America
Former Muslim Ismail Mohamed says he has to work at his family's laundromat because it's impossible for him, as an atheist, to be employed anywhere else, Oct. 25, 2013, Cairo, Egypt. Yuli Weeks for VOA. Former Salafi Muslim Ahmed Hussein didn't know ...

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Next week is the last week of classes. I am behind on my grading. I am on a search committee — phone interviews next week. My driveway is covered in snow. I have 3 exams to write right now. Immediately after finals I’m flying off to Boulder, Colorado. I may be slightly unresponsive to external stimuli for a time.

That is all.

Daley Plaza display honors atheists, agnostics
Chicago Tribune
Daley Plaza, long home to privately maintained Christmas and Hanukkah displays, now has a giant letter "A" representing the atheist and agnostic community. Nestled between baby Jesus in his manger and a towering menorah with seven candles ...

Dallas Observer (blog)
Sunday Assembly, the World's Hot New Atheist Church, is Coming to Dallas
Dallas Observer (blog)
It is, for lack of a better phrase, an atheist church, a regular gathering of like-minded people seeking fellowship and fulfillment, and nonbelievers worldwide are taking it quite seriously. Since starting the first one in London this past January ...

Atheists, agnostics have their own display at Daley Plaza
Chicago Tribune
Daley Plaza, long home to privately maintained Christmas and Hanukkah displays, now has a giant letter “A” representing the atheist and agnostic community. Nestled between baby Jesus in his manger and a towering menorah with seven candles ...