I usually don't post on Saturday, but I had one nearly finished when I went to bed last night/early this morning, so I just completed it, and here you go.

Yet another change was made. When I started this Newsletter it was for the Michigan members, to keep them informed and to get thier feedback on local and national issues. I never thought it would be picked up on the mother site. So, I have changed the Michigan Local News section into the new RRS Affiliate News. I will now be covering anything going on on the local level through the Affiliates. Any meetings, protests, rallies, or functions of any kind that will involve the presence of an RRS Local Affiliate will now be covered.

Thanks for reading, if you have any comments or suggestions you can reach me directly HERE. Or on Myspace HERE.
Stay rational,
Jack
and the RRS MI team

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Update on the show schedule

See it on youtube.

___________________
Tonight we'll host real life Doogie Howser, Eugene Volokh on the show. Tonight we let you behind closed doors to learn about a very personal and private issue to us. Unfortunately we have little choice but to speak out publicly now to raise awareness for this extremely sensitive atheist issue. Join us tonight when we record at 6pm est, or join us again at 8pm est for a re-airing of our conversation.

Brian Trent will also join us tonight to cover current events.

http://www.rationalresponders.com/rrs_webcam_room



To learn more about tonights topic with Eugene Volokh, view this thread.


_________________
Next week: Tuesday August 21st 7-9pm est Firefly515 will rejoin the show.
Friday August 24th, Mr Gawn expected to be in studio guest.


In Rationality,

The Rational Response Squad
www.RationalResponders.com

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Austin, TX atheists unite September 8th

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RRS Michigan social gathering at Alberts

I've decided the next meeting will simply be a social gathering at a nearby restaraunt/bar called Alberts on the Alley on Thursday, August 30th. I'll be getting there around 6:00 pm. If your not familiar, it's at the corner of Ford Rd. and Middlebelt at 5651 Middlebelt Rd, Garden City, MI - (734) 525-5231. The food is good, and the drink and food prices are great! I'm hoping this will draw more of you reclusive bastards out so we can discuss and just get to know each other. Hope to see you all there, but please RSVP me at [email protected] so I know how many will be attending. I am also still planing a "feild trip" to the Detroit Science Center to see the Universe within exhibit, for Friday, August 24th. We'll meet there at 7:00 pm. Admission is $24.95, for details on this exhibit Click HERE!

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Polluted Dead Star Indicates Planets Like Earth May Have Formed Around Other Stars

Science Daily — The chemical fingerprint of a burned-out star indicates that Earth-like planets may not be rare in the universe and could give clues to what our solar system will look like when our sun dies and becomes a white dwarf star some five billion years from now.

I'm so confused by believers who feel threatened by a perceived lack of "meaning" in a secular outlook. It's been so long since I've asked questions about "meaning," and now it just seems so foolish to ask. We are simply awash in motives and purposes. If you can't find a purpose, I can only guess it's due to some nihilism perceived in the cartoon caricature most believers have of atheism. There are so many people that need help, so many things that need improvement, so many ways to improve conditions within our lifetimes, or for even longer views. I can't imagine doing anything for the sake of

(This is an original post from my facebook page, I have posted this up on various facebook groups as well as atheist websites)

Isn't It Strange...

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Before you read this note I want to make clear this piece is just my opinion, nothing more or nothing less. I am aware that I may in the process of writing this note may offend some of my dearest friends, but please note that I do not have the slightest intention of upsetting anyone. This is just my intellectual opinion. I just could not bring myself to believe in a supernatural god. You are welcome to express opinions differing from my own, and I have no intention of forcing my ideas onto you. The main objective of this short piece is to bring out closet atheists and an attempt at persuading people that are on the fence about religious matters.

I thought I'd share Kevin Bloody Wilson's (Aussie Comic Singer) lyrics to his song "Festival of Life."

Happily, I moved onto a boat a couple of years ago and haven't had a copy of The Watchtower since, but have long dreamed of being able to play this loudly as the JW's or the Mormons do their Saturday morning rounds.

"Ah, the Festival of Life is 'in' to save my fuckin' soul
They don't want me drinkin' piss or screwin' round no more
But they've got fuckin' Buckley's chance I'm giving you the score
Still the Festival of Life keeps tryin' to save my fuckin' soul

It's Saturday afternoon at last, it's what you've waited for all week

I've recently come across a YouTube pundit (cross between Drew Carey and Rush Limbaugh: meaning he's fat, has a bad haircut, and thick glasses) who's basically rehashing the Kelly Tripplehorn "problem of induction" argument. He maxes out the video, talking for ten minutes, hemming and hawing with a lot of pseudo-intellectual demands that -- I don't know, it's hard to tell what he's trying to say. I guess he wants proof the universe doesn't need a "god." It's just... so mind-bendingly idiotic. It literally makes me feel light-headed dealing with so much double-talk.

Here's the rub: There's no evidence for "god." It's not that there's some controversey over how we're interpreting the evidence, there is no evidence.

Yet another change was made. When I started this Newsletter it was for the Michigan members, to keep them informed and to get thier feedback on local and national issues. I never thought it would be picked up on the mother site. So, I have changed the Michigan Local News section into the new RRS Affiliate News. I will now be covering anything going on on the local level through the Affiliates. Any meetings, protests, rallies, or functions of any kind that will involve the presence of an RRS Local Affiliate will now be covered.

Well, there's a lot to get to today, so I'll not ramble any longer. Of special interest are the Science and Community sections for this post.

Thanks for reading, if you have any comments or suggestions you can reach me directly HERE. Or on Myspace HERE.
Stay rational,
Jack

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Science News

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Entertainment

Rooks Intro to History class, Powerpoint presentations now available!

The Powerpoint Presentations for the RRS Academy Intro to Classical and Modern History, presented by Rook, are now available for download for anyone who wishes to do so. Special thanks go to Jason Hoblin on this.

Essay contest

NOTE: DUE TO ERROR IN LINKS AND LOW SUBMISSIONS, THIS CONTEST HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO MARCH 15TH, 2008.

IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION READ EVERYTHING FIRST, CLICK LINKS! COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS SHOULD BE POSTED PUBLICLY IN THIS THREAD FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL PARTICIPANTS! PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THE INFORMATION OF THIS SUBMISSION DRIVE FREELY.

The Rational Response Squad is proud to announce a call to action for content submissisions. We have been blown away by the positive feedback we've received from the freethinking community. Thanks to everyone who has placed a banner, or our player on your website and helped spread the word in some manner. We've received many great written submissions of thoughts and views, but had no place to put them, so we've created a guideline to help you, help us. The categories in which we need submissions are listed below, send us your best material. Your writings will be added to our library of articles, essays, and debunkings. We're hoping to build one of the largest and diverse free libraries of rational thoughts on the internet. Please post everything publicly on our forum so it's there for all RRS members to access who are working on this project. In addition to hosting everything in a free web archive, we may also compile views into a free e-book or a book for sale to generate money for activist projects. Not that you need a reward to share your views with others, but as a thank you we'll be awarding prizes to as many of the top participants as we can. Prizes will be awarded based on effort put in and quality of writing.

We've put the categories in order of need and may alter the order later as submissions come in.
Prizes will be awarded MARCH 15TH, 2008, but you can continue to submit content well after MARCH 15TH, 2008.

Austin, TX atheists unite September 8th

RRS Michigan social gathering at Alberts

I've decided the next meeting will simply be a social gathering at a nearby restaraunt/bar called Alberts on the Alley on Thursday, August 30th. I'll be getting there around 6:00 pm. If your not familiar, it's at the corner of Ford Rd. and Middlebelt at 5651 Middlebelt Rd, Garden City, MI - (734) 525-5231. The food is good, and the drink and food prices are great! I'm hoping this will draw more of you reclusive bastards out so we can discuss and just get to know each other. Hope to see you all there, but please RSVP me at so I know how many will be attending. I am also still planing a "feild trip" to the Detroit Science Center to see the Universe within exhibit, for Friday, August 24th. We'll meet there at 7:00 pm. Admission is $24.95, for details on this exhibit Click HERE!

Physicists Discover Inorganic Dust With Lifelike Qualities

Science Daily — Could extraterrestrial life be made of corkscrew-shaped particles of interstellar dust? Intriguing new evidence of life-like structures that form from inorganic substances in space have been revealed in the New Journal of Physics. The findings hint at the possibility that life beyond earth may not necessarily use carbon-based molecules as its building blocks. They also point to a possible new explanation for the origin of life on earth.

The idea that there is a difference  between “state of consciousness” and physical state” is a non sequitur to me. Specifically, you have emotions whenever you are conscious, and emotions, specifically, mental states are caused by the actions of the neurotransmitter exocrine glands underneath the pons medullas and their actions on the formation and action of neuronal networks inside the conscious mind. So the real question is to what degree emotions are extrinsic and to what degree they are intrinsic. And the other question is to what degree emotions result from internal process, and to what degree they result from external process. The idea that emotions are purely stimuli that respond to the interpretation of sensory data in the immediate world is to say that emotions are wholly external, this is the foundation of the now discredited James-Lange hypothesis. However, it is now said that emotions are to some degree internal, they trigger thoughts and are triggered by thoughts. A hardcore phenominalist would simply argue that mental states can only exist because of the interpretation of sense data (which is true) and therefore that there is no internal causality. Of course, when we speak of emotion being triggered internally, what do we speak of?

Please take advantage of the Rational Content and FREE MP3 downloads available on this site before making any public statements.

Adam

I have argued against gay rights in my past blogs but I would swear on a stack of dictionaries that I don't hate gay people. I also don't consider anyone "guilty" for loving whoever they love.

Adam