An update to the pledge of allegiance

Tom W. Bell proposes the following update to the pledge of allegiance:

I pledge allegiance to the laws of the United States of America, on condition that it respect my rights, natural, constitutional, and statutory, with liberty and justice for all.

That's a pledge I could make, despite my skepticism about the use of the term "natural rights." I do think there are moral rights entailed by the combination of certain common human values and empirical facts. (This conversation between Will Wilkinson and Shaun Nichols about Nichols' book, Sentimental Rules, suggests one way of getting to moral rules I find far more plausible than the natural rights/natural law tradition.)

Dan Barker's new book

Dan Barker has a new book coming out, Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists. It's available for pre-order on Amazon.com. Also check out the organization run by Dan and Annie Laurie Gaylor, the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Richard Cheese live on the radio

Richard Cheese will be performing live on the radio this afternoon on Phoenix's KEDJ, 103.9 FM, at around 4:45 p.m. Arizona time, during Tim Virgin's show. You can also listen via the Internet via a link at the radio station's website.

RESCUE Bowl-a-Rama

RESCUE's Bowl-a-Rama fundraising event is here again, and Kat and I will both be bowling for the "Leader of the Pack" team of volunteers who work with dogs. There's a competing "Rockin Bowlin Felines" team of volunteers who work with cats.

Our goal is to raise $3,000 between us for RESCUE, of which we've so far raised $220.

RESCUE is a group we've volunteered with since January 2002, which rescues dogs and cats from the euthanasia lists at the Maricopa County pound. It operates its own cat shelter, while dogs are kept in foster homes and boarded at Dog Days in Tempe, a boarding and doggie day care facility that has been a valued partner of RESCUE.

Two of our three dogs, Fred and Otto, were rescued from euthanasia by RESCUE.

Every donation helps save dogs and cats from unnecessary euthanasia--if you can give even $5, it will be greatly appreciated.

You can make donations through RESCUE's website, here. Specify "Leader of the Pack" as the team, and put Kat's or my name under "Encourage Your Bowler" or "Referrer."

The actual bowling will occur on August 2, 2008 at AMF Shea Village Lanes. In past years there have been more than 60 organizations participating, so the bowling gets divided into morning and evening shifts and the place gets packed.

Worthless stock market advice

On May 8, 2008, "An end to the economy's nose dive?", MSN MoneyCentral, Jon Markman suggests that the recession may be over or not a big deal for major company stocks:

"If Hyman is right, and StockScouter continues to highlight the right sectors and stocks to play, there is no reason for investors to fear the pressures facing big companies right now. It really may be time to go off high alert."

But just two months ago, Markman was saying that you should sell every stock you own and get out of the market, on March 13, 2008, in "Sell stocks while the selling's good":

"Yet veteran observers are swiftly coming to the conclusion that attempts to regain world financial stability could be doomed due to a stunning crash of commercial-debt financing and lack of trusted leadership, and they now believe private investors should take advantage of any rallies to purge their portfolios of most stocks and nongovernment bonds."

My advice: Don't take stock market advice from Jon Markman. The fact that he's a "technical analyst"--making predictions based on short-term patterns of stock movement using methodology that has no better support than astrology, tea-leaf reading, or palmistry--is further reason to avoid reading him for any reason other than humor value.

Heathrow security confuses the map for the territory

A man wearing a Transformers t-shirt was stopped by airport security at Heathrow Terminal 5 because the cartoon character on the shirt was depicted holding a gun.

This is about as idiotic as Michelle Malkin's opposition to Rachael Ray wearing a paisley scarf that resembled a keffiyah--even after she admitted it was a paisley scarf.

"Expelled" producers win round one on "Imagine" lawsuit

In a decision issued today, the judge in the case of Yoko Ono against Premise Media ruled against Ono's motion for an injunction against the film, on the grounds that Premise Media and its attorneys at the Stanford Fair Use Project were likely to prevail on a fair use defense. So "Expelled" will be able to be released in Canada with its excerpting of "Imagine" intact.

This is an outcome I suggested would occur, and hoped for, despite the dishonesty of the defendants in this case. It remains to be seen if Ono will continue with the lawsuit and potentially set a useful precedent for copyright law.

(Via Pharyngula.)

ApostAZ podcast #2

The second ApostAZ podcast is now available for listening at ApostAZ.org. Topics include the Virgin Mary visible on a biker's leg wound, Phoenix atheists meetup group organizer Shannon's deconversion story, an "Arizona Atheist Action" segment on the current proposal to create another anti-same-sex marriage amendment to the state constitution, and more.

Correction, guys--our sun is a Class G star, not a Class B star. (It doesn't negate your point--Class G stars are more common than Class B stars.)

Peter Gabriel's new filtering website

The Filter, officially debuting tomorrow but already available today, is a website that asks for some basic information about your tastes in film and music, and then makes recommendations about other things you'd like--music, movies, web videos, and TV. It's not clear from the CNN coverage how it compares to Amazon.com's recommendation engine or to sites like Pandora, but it looks interesting.

A Guide to Christian Cliches and Phrases

Former evangelical Christian and Bible college attendee Daniel Florien has put together a list of common Christian clichés, along with translations of the real meaning behind them, along with "acceptable" and "unacceptable" responses to each.

Florien's short description of his deconversion is also worth your time.

(Via Pharyngula; cross-posted to the Secular Outpost.)