Help Put The X's Back In Xmas

Looking for a way to celebrate the end of another stressful shopping season? Need an excuse to get out of the house and away from all those annoying family members who showed up unannounced for the holidays? Well then, come downtown Wednesday evening and party with the Missoula Area Secular Society as we attempt to put the X's back in Xmas.

This is a long running tradition of several friends of mine and they've graciously agreed to let M.A.S.S. piggyback on their festivities. So, come on out and have some good fun, great conversation, and give yourself the holiday gift that nobody else can give you... a hangover.

We'll be starting at "The Chicken Lounge" at 5:15pm. To get there, go in the front or back door of Double Front Chicken at 122 W. Alder (half a block west of the red X's... hehehe), and then go downstairs. The Chicken Lounge closes at 7:00, so we'll be moving on at that point to some other open downtown bar. Likely places to look for us might be; Al's and Vic's, Sean Kelly's, The Badlander, & The MoClub, or maybe someplace else.

Please tip your servers abundantly, drink responsibly, and plan for appropriate transportation home.

M.A.S.S. in the News!

This is just a quick update on today's Snow Sculpting event. We had a few surprises. The first was that hardly anybody showed up, or if they did, they couldn't find us (we were just over the ridge to the south out of view of the parking area). But it was pretty cold, so I guess the turnout wasn't that much of a surprise. We had a great time, did a lot of experimenting, built a 4 foot tall snow candle, an equally tall "North Pole", and hopefully learned enough to do some more interesting sculptures next year.

But the second surprise was that, about the time we were finishing our second sculpture and deciding what to do next, we noticed someone trudging through the snow directly at as with a big smile on her face as if she was happy to have found us. We all figured this must be someone new who wants to join the group (and our snow sculpting adventure). But then she got closer and announced that she was from The Missoulian and had a photographer and videographer following her up the hill. So, we chatted with them for a while about M.A.S.S. and contrived a few photo ops for them.

After they left we packed up or gear and headed back down to the parking area, ready for some hot chocolate. As we were coming down the hill to the parking area, we noticed a KPAX truck pulling in. The driver got out and said "I'm looking for the Snow Sculpting People". "You found us" we said, and we turned around with all our stuff and headed back up the hill with her following with her big video camera. We contrived some more photo ops and she interviewed me about M.A.S.S.

So, M.A.S.S. is about to get some local publicity. Hopefully it'll be positive and show us as who we really are... your neighbor's, coworkers, friends and other happy, law abiding citizens of Missoula who just happen to not have god belief and want to get out, meet each other, and have some fun together.

Anybody who's here as a result of the publicity in the Missoulian and KPAX and interested in joining us, be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed for this site to be alerted to new upcoming events, or check back regularly. If you have a Facebook account, you can join the 60+ other people who've joined our group there to be notified of new events through FB. I'm looking into a little downtown bar hopping for Wednesday afternoon / early evening as our next event but am still waiting on some final info for that. Full details will be posted here as soon as I have them ready.

M.A.S.S. 1st Annual Winter Solstice Snow Sculpting Festival

Winter Solstice Officially Arrives at Noon, Sunday December 21st, 2008.

Come join the Missoula Area Secular Society (M.A.S.S.) and build a snow sculpture or two to coax the sun back to our hemisphere. (If the days start getting longer on Monday, we'll know we succeeded.)



Where: Blue Mountain, on the south side of the road from the lower sledding area... generally.
Map: http://tinyurl.com/mass-winter-fest
When: Sunday December 21st, from 11:45 until everybody gets too cold to hang around any longer.
What to bring:
A) WARM SNOW CLOTHES!
B) An extra set of warm clothes to change into, especially shoes and socks. This is supposed to be fun, so don't make yourself miserable.
C) Snacks.

Other Recommendations:
a) Snow Shovel(s)
b) Large buckets and bins for making large blocks to sculpt and for hauling extra snow with.
c) Sled(s) for pulling buckets and bins filled with snow.
d) Child slave labor
e) Gardening and kitchen utensils for sculpting.
f) Spray bottle and extra water for 'setting' and 'fixing' details.
g) A ladder, if you plan on doing anything tall.
h) Plastic kitchen containers of all shapes and sizes.
i) An imagination
j) A camera

Make your sculpture as simple (standard snow person) or as complex (international space station) as you feel comfortable with. Don't be afraid to experiment and fail.

For hints on snow sculpting, check out:
http://fun.familyeducation.com/outdoor-games/winter/34936.html

For inspiration (or intimidation):
http://www.flickr.com/groups/snowsculptures/

Please be sure to take everything you bring with you back home again (especially children).

Scamming The Credulous

I had to laugh when I got this email today. Obviously, it was broadcast out to many thousands of email addresses, but I was still amused to see it in my inbox, considering.... you know. In fact, the way it started out I thought it was a real email from a real person, and I was thinking "Oh boy, here we go...", but I quickly got suspicious about the time the "only surviving lawyer" died midway through the first sentence.

Dear Friend

Greetings in the name of God, Please let this not sound strange to you for my only surviving lawyer who would have done this died early this year. I prayed and got your email id from your countries Christian guestbook which i have been with my late husband and liked to visit once more if God will in his infinite mercies.

I am Mrs. Joy Hoffman from Kuwait, I am 68 years old, I am deaf and suffering from a long time cancer of the breast which also affected my brain, from all indication my conditions is really deteriorating and it is quite obvious that, according to my doctors they have advised me that I may not live for the next two months, this is because the cancer stage has gotten to a very bad stage. I was brought up from a motherless babies home was married to
my late husband for twenty years without a child, my husband died in a fatal motor accident Before his death we were true Christians.

Since his death I decided not to re-marry, I sold all my inherited belongings and deposited all the sum of US$5.6Million dollars with a Security Firm. Presently, this money is still with them and the management just wrote me as the true owner to come forward to receive the money for keeping it so long or rather issue a letter of authorization to somebody to receive it on my behalf since I can not come over because of my illness or they get it confisticated.

Presently, I'm with my laptop in a hospital here in Mauella Hospital Germany where I have been undergoing treatment for cancer of the lungs. My doctors have told me that I have only a few months to live. It is my last wish to see that this money is invested to any organization of your choice and distributed each year among the charity organization, the poor and the motherless babies' home.

I want you as God fearing person, to also use this money to fund churches, orphanages and widows, I took this decision, before i rest in peace because my time will so on be up.

As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the Security Firm. I will also issue you a letter of authority that will prove you as the new beneficiary of my fund. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated herein.

Please reply me through this my private email address: DELETED@aim.com

Hoping to hear from you soon,Waiting for your reply

Yours in Sincerely,


Mrs. Joy Hoffman

It's pretty obvious who the scam's targets (aka "marks") are. I guess these scams have gotten enough publicity by now that most people aren't fooled anymore forcing the scammers to start scraping the bottom of the credulity barrel.

Let there be light

I just couldn't resist sharing this.

Via Bits & Pieces.

Evolution Day Drinks and Dialog

On November 24th, 1859, Charles Darwin first published "The Origin of Species" introducing to the world the scientific theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection. For this reason, November 24th is now known as "Evolution Day".

2008 marks the 149th anniversary of this historic event. Since it actually falls on a Monday this year, the Missoula Area Secular Society will observe Evolution Day on Sunday afternoon. Come on out to Sean Kelly's (all ages welcome) for drinks and dialog about Evolution & Science & anything else of interest to M.A.S.S.ers who attend.


When: Sunday, November 23rd, 4:00pm

Where: Sean Kelly's, somewhere in the back.

If you're not sure who to look for, Dan will have his Watson Bobblehead prominently displayed on our table, and Jon will likely be (yes, again) wearing his "Darwin 08" campaign t-shirt.

RSVP if you'd like on the facebook group event, or post a comment here, or just show up prepared to meet some unsuperstitious, yet amazingly friendly people. Our facebook group recently gained it's 50th Member, so we're anticipating a wonderful turnout. See you there!

Tonight on NOVA: The Bible's Buried Secrets

Tonight at 7:00 on Montana PBS...

A visually stunning two-hour special edition of "Nova" examines decades of archaeological studies that contradict much of what is in the Bible. The entire Exodus story is debunked, as is the idea that the Israelites were monotheistic following the contract made between God and Abraham. It turns out idol worship was common through the reign of King David and right up to the Babylonian exile.

Why YOU should attend M.A.S.S.

PZ Myers (biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris) has an excellent blog post today that strikes to the heart, in my opinion, of one of the major reasons why the Missoula Area Secular Society exists. His post is a bit "Atheist" centric, but I think it still does a great job of discussing the roles that communities (clubs and other organizations) of non-religious people have to play in society.

The positive effect of religion in the real world, to my mind, is tied to this last, community component--rather than a belief in constant surveillance by a higher power. Humans are social beings, and we are happier, and better, when connected to others. This is the moral of sociologist Robert Putnam's work on American life. In Bowling Alone, he argues that voluntary association with other people is integral to a fulfilled and productive existence--it makes us "smarter, healthier, safer, richer, and better able to govern a just and stable democracy."

[S]cattered individuals who are excluded from communities do not receive the benefits of community, nor do they feel willing to contribute to the communities that exclude them.

And as Bloom says and I've said before, we are social animals and community is essential for our health and happiness. What can kill [secularism] best is if we refuse to make accommodations to build a fellowship of interests, a community of godless folk dedicated to living rational lives. A fractured group of hermits and misfits can not change the world.

You can read the full post here, just remember that Dr. Myers describes himself as an atheist, so that's his focus. M.A.S.S. however welcomes all non-religious people, regardless of what particular label you think least inadequately encompasses your personal nuanced position on the subject.

So, come on out to our next event (not scheduled yet, but should be later this month) to have fun and meet other similarly minded people. Or, even better, plan and organize an event for the rest of us to enjoy (but only if you want to).

Brother Sam in 'da Hood

Atheist Evangelist Sam Singleton of "Patriarchs and Penises ~ A Comedy in Two Acts" will be passing through Missoula setting up tour dates for his show and is looking for some friendly local faces to meet and converse with while he's here.

So, to celebrate the Earth's 6004th Birthday (give or take 4,540,000,000 years) and to show Brother Sam some good old Western Montana godless hospitality, come on down to Sean Kelly's on Friday at 6:00pm and wander to the back.

If you're not sure who to look for, Jon will once again be wearing his "DARWIN 08" campaign shirt, desperately trying to milk it for all it's worth between now and Nov. 4th.

Bill Maher's Religulous ~ Now In Missoula!

I've been patiently waiting and I just got the magic word from The Wilma.

THEY NOW HAVE RELIGULOUS!

Drop everything you thought you were doing Friday and come to the opening. Show your support to the Wilma for bringing it here.

http://www.lionsgate.com/religulous/
http://thewilma.com/movies.php

We'll meet on "the grassy knoll" in Caras Park at 6:15 then we'll head up to the theater at 6:30 so we can all try to sit together.

If you miss us at the knoll and still want to catch up with us after the show, we'll head over to the Rhino for drinks and socializing afterwards. Look for Jon in his "DARWIN 08" Campaign T-Shirt.

Autumn Equinox Dinner & Drinks

Well, it's been nearly a month since our last official get together, so it's about time to look for an excuse to do so again... hey, look, it's the Autumn Equinox on Monday!

What: Dinner, Drinks, and Friendly Socializing
When: Monday, September 22nd, 7:00PM - ?
Where: Sean Kelly's, Back Half
Why: Why Not?

Jon will have returned from his Business Trip/Vacation to Alaska, and will hopefully have some stories to tell about meeting some members of the Anchorage Atheists group. At the time of this writing, he's trying to get in touch with them to organize something quick.

UM Free Lecture: Religion and Violence

On Tuesday, September 9th, there will be two free & public events at the University of Montana that might be of interest to some M.A.S.S. members.

Richard Rubenstein is an expert on religious conflict, terrorism, American foreign policy and methods of resolving serious international and domestic disputes, and is the Professor of Conflict Resolution and Public Affairs at George Mason University in Arlington, Va.

He will be hosting a seminar from 3:40 to 5:00pm entitled "Why Americans Fight: Our National Religion as a Cause of War" in the Gallagher Business Building Room 123.

Then, at 8 p.m. in the University Theatre, he'll give a lecture entitled "Religion and Violence in the 21st Century."

Both the seminar and the lecture are free and open to the public.

I would love to go to the lecture, but unfortunately am out of town on business, damn it. Maybe another M.A.S.S. member with a video camera would be willing to go and record it for me? Anybody?

Colbert's 8 Best Atheist Moments

This link has 8 videos from Colbert, mostly featuring Atheist guests. I have to say my favorite video is with Richard Dawkins.

Stargazing Encore This Friday

When: Friday, August 29th, 2008, 6:30pm - midnight.
Where: Sean Kelly's and Blue Mountain Observatory

Our last stargazing event was cut short by uncooperative clouds shortly after we watched the International Space Station streak across the sky. The Space Station won't be flying overhead this Friday, but hopefully the clouds will stay away too. Regardless of the weather, the first half of this event will proceed as normal, consisting of dinner and socializing at Sean Kelly's in downtown Missoula. We'll grab a table in the back area and possibly pull two together if it looks like enough people will be there. If you're not sure what any of the M.A.S.S. regulars look like, Jon will probably be wearing his Geocentric 'Teach the Controversy' T-Shirt ( ... Jon's is black, not yellow.)

At about 8:00pm, we'll pay our individual tabs and caravan to the Blue Mountain Observatory for their Open House. You'll get to peer through the big telescope several times as they swing it around the sky to point at globular clusters, a nebula or two, and maybe even a planet or other celestial points of interest. People will also be there to explain how to identify stars and constellations and answer questions in between your turns at the telescope. Plan on staying until at least Midnight. Children are welcome!

You should dress relatively warm, as it can get can get rather cold on top of the mountain at night this time of year. You will also ABSOLUTELY NEED to bring A SMALL FLASHLIGHT to find your way down the trail from the observatory back to the parking area. It's very dark at the observatory and flashlights here are discouraged, so expect a lot of walking around outside on rocky terrain in the dark. If your night vision is significantly worse than most people's, consider yourself duly warned.

If you'd like to RSVP (not required, but helpful), you can do so on Facebook.

God vs. Modern Medicine

Kudos to Jeff over at the Missoula Skeptics Blog for spotting an AP story in today's Missoulian about a study that found 57% of Americans still believe that "God’s intervention could save a family member even if physicians declared treatment would be futile." I would have completely missed this story if Jeff hadn't blogged about it.

Jeff sounds pretty discouraged by the results of the study, but I actually found it encouraging (I guess you could call me a "glass 43% full" kinda guy). The news for me here is that 43% of Americans do not believe that god's intervention could save a family member. Regardless of whether or not god would intervene, these people apparently don't think she's capable of changing the outcome.

That's a significant proportion of Americans who are at least starting to think about these kind of things rationally. Most of them would probably still say that they "believe in god", but they're starting to recognize that she's irrelevant. If they don't believe that she's going to do anything about a suffering loved one, then she probably doesn't have any influence on the more mundane moments in their lives, either.

"Left in the West" ~ Catholic League Approved

Here's an amusing tidbit. Missoula blogger Jay Stevens over at "Left in the West" posted last night about his surprise that the Catholic League has apparently reviewed and approved that blog... and then Jay promptly attempts to correct the embarrassing situation.

"Acts of Violence" threatened against author/former Missoulian

There's an article in the Missoulian today about Sherry Jones, a former citizen of The Garden City, who is back in Missoula for the time being because it's "where I feel safe and comfortable."

It seems she was in the process of having her first book published by Random House about A'isha, the youngest of Muhammad's 12 wives. The publisher canceled the contract, however, at the last hour because they received warnings that the book “could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment.” Random House justified the decision by stating that the book "might be offensive to some in the Muslim community.”

So what? Who doesn't get offended now and then by someone else's words? I know that I do. There's no point in declaring "freedom of speech" if nobody ever says anything that someone else disagrees with. Nobody, not you or I or anyone else, has the right to never be offended, or to threaten violence against others simply for saying something we don't like.

Check out the Missoulian article, and then when Jones' book, "Jewel of Medina," is eventually published (by someone with more courage than Random House to defend freedom of speech), buy several copies as gifts for all your friends, even if it sucks. Always work to ensure that threats of violence to suppress freedom of speech consistently backfire and draw exponentially more attention to the very speech that was supposed to be suppressed.

Update (09/03/08): The book apparently has a new publisher, yet to be named. The English version now due to be released in October.

"Left in the West" comments on UC court case.

Jay Stevens, a Missoula blogger for Left in the West and 4&20 Blackbirds posted some short commentary on a recent court ruling regarding the University of California and their right to reject some high school credit from private religious schools that don't meet UC's standards for acceptance. In case any readers here missed Jay's post, I thought I'd send them on over to read it.

Stargazing in Two Acts

When: Friday, August 1st, 2008, 7pm - midnight or later.
Where: Sean Kelly's and Blue Mountain Observatory

The first half of this event will consist of dinner and socializing at Sean Kelly's in downtown Missoula. We'll grab a table in the back area and possibly pull two together if it looks like enough people will be there. If you're not sure what any of the M.A.S.S. regulars look like, Jon will probably be wearing his Geocentric 'Teach the Controversy' T-Shirt ( ... Jon's is black, not yellow.)

At about 9:00pm, we'll pay our individual tabs and caravan to the Blue Mountain Observatory for their Open House. You'll get to peer through the big telescope several times as they swing it around the sky to point at globular clusters, a nebula or two, and maybe even a planet or other celestial points of interest. People will also be there to explain how to identify stars and constellations and answer questions in between your turns at the telescope. Plan on staying until at least Midnight. Children are welcome!

You should wear long pants and bring a lightweight jacket, as it can get chilly on top of the mountain, even in the summer. You will also ABSOLUTELY NEED to bring A SMALL FLASHLIGHT to find your way down the trail from the observatory back to the parking area. It's very dark at the observatory and flashlights here are discouraged, so expect a lot of walking around outside on rocky terrain in the dark. If your night vision is significantly worse than most people's, consider yourself duly warned.

If you'd like to RSVP (not required, but helpful), you can do so on Facebook.

... So Goes The Nation

It appears that the hearings to "update" the science curriculum in Texas have begun, and the cards have been pre-stacked in favor of the anti-science Intelligent Design Creationism agenda.

If you don't think this affects you or any of the children in your life way up here in Montana, think again. Text book publishers don't want to spend more money than necessary creating multiple versions of text books, opting instead to cater to the lowest common denominator of state education requirements. Texas is large buyer of K-12 textbooks and is working hard right now to lower the bar for the rest of us. "As Texas goes..."

Songs of Science & Secularity

Occasionally, I do a little searching online for new music with particularly irreligious or heavy science themes to add to my MP3 player. There are many websites and blogs with such lists, but I find that they rarely add updates or allow readers to add to the list. Many also lean very strongly toward Heavy Metal music, which is fine (for them) but doesn't usually interest me.

So, I decided I should post an index of my favorite anthems to help out those with similar interests or who are looking for a Winter Solstice Gift for their Friendly Neighborhood Atheist. I'll occasionally update this list with anything new I've discovered that I like. If any of your personal favorites aren't on my list, feel free to post a comment.

And of course, please support the artists who demonstrate the courage to release music advocating reason and rationality in a predominantly superstitious society.

~ Irreligious Theme | ~ Science/Technology Theme

Alpinekat - Large Hadron Rap ( Rap )
Amadan ~ Not Your Man ( Celtic Punk )
Amadan ~ Devolution Now ( Rock )
Barenaked Ladies ~ Big Bang Theory Theme ( Rock )
Bastard Fairies ~ We're All Going To Hell ( Rock )
Bob Wire ~ As For Me ( Country )
Bruce Springsteen ~ Part Man, Part Monkey ( Rock )
Cake ~ Comfort Eagle ( Rock )
Chumbawamba ~ Charlie ( Folk )
Chumbawamba ~ We Don't Go To God's House Anymore ( Folk )
Dan Barker ~ Beware of Dogma Album ( Misc )
Dan Barker ~ Friendly Neighborhood Atheist Album ( Misc )
Eddy Goombah / EJ Russo ~ Tribute to Kent Hovind ( Rock )
Eric Schwartz ~ Keep Your Jesus Off My Penis ( Comedy )
Genesis ~ Jesus He Knows Me ( Rock )
George Hrab ~ Far (365 Days of Astronomy Theme) ( Funk )
George Hrab ~ Heaven Must Be Boring ( Funk )
Greydon Square ~ The CPT Theorem ( Rap )
Greydon Square ~ Judge Me ( Rap )
John Lennon ~ Imagine ( Classic Rock )
John Lennon ~ God ( Classic Rock )
John R. Butler ~ The Hand Of The Almighty ( Hymn/Comedy )
Jonathan Coulton ~ Mandelbrot Set ( Rock )
Joni Mitchell ~ Tax Free ( Rock )
Living Colour ~ Cult of Personality ( Rock )
Monty Python ~ Galaxy Song ( Misc )
Monty Python ~ The Meaning of Life ( Misc )
Red Elvises ~ Drinking With Jesus ( Rock )
Red Hot Chili Peppers ~ Shallow Be Thy Game ( Rock )
Reel Big Fish ~ My Imaginary Friend ( Ska/Punk )
Rush ~ Faithless ( Rock )
Rush ~ Freewill ( Rock )
Sammy Hagar ~ Buying My Way Into Heaven ( Rock )
Stephen Lynch ~ Craig ( Rock/Comedy )
Stephen Lynch ~ Priest ( Rock/Comedy )
Streetlight Manifesto ~ The Blonde Lead The Blind ( Ska/Punk )
Streetlight Manifesto ~ Down, Down, Down to Mehphisto's Cafe ( Ska/Punk )
Streetlight Manifesto ~We Will Fall Together ( Ska/Punk )
This Week In Science ~ Annual Compilation CDs ( Misc )
Tom Lehrer ~ The Elements ( Patter )
Tom Lehrer ~ Vatican Rag ( Ragtime )
XTC ~ Dear God ( Rock )
Ziggy Marley ~ In The Name Of God ( Reggae )
Ziggy Marley ~ Love Is My Religion ( Reggae )