(I wrote this flippant piece back in December 2011 but didn’t post it for some reason. But what else am I going to do with it? It’s just been staring back at me from the Drafts folder for the last fourteen months…so here you are.) PB + chocolate. Worth the calories. I sat down at the computer last night for some laid-back Sunday evening blogging. Before getting started, I took a ... »
Last week I read that Black Skeptics Los Angeles is raising money for new First in the Family Humanist Scholarships, designated for “college-bound Los Angeles Unified School District students in South Los Angeles. Preference will be given to students who are in foster care, homeless, undocumented and/or LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning). Students must have a record o... »
My Aunt Marilyn died when I was ten. I didn’t know her well—we rarely saw anyone on that side of the family until she started dying of cancer. I think the detachment started when my father changed his last name from the Jewish-associated Gottlieb to Goddard a few years before marrying the whoops-she’s-pregnant non-Jewish immigrant black woman that is my mother. Or maybe it’s beca... »
Have you heard about Pussy Riot? They’re Russian. They’re feminists. They’re largely anonymous. They’re a punk-rock collective of about a dozen women. And several members are facing up to seven years in jail for their “blasphemous” protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral. Pussy Riot formed last September in the wake of Putin’... »
I’m fortunate to work at the Center for Inquiry, an anti-fantasy land committed to advancing science, secularism, and skepticism, where attending conferences like Dragon*Con or The Amaz!ng Meeting is considered “work.” I get to go into the office each day and interact with some of the leading figures in a movement I care deeply about. We have casual conversations such as, “... »
Today I’m proud to announce the new African Americans for Humanism campaign, just in time for Black History Month! Billboards and transit shelter ads featuring historic and contemporary black humanists are going up—in black neighborhoods!—in New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas, Washington DC, and Durham NC. The ads highlight historic black humanists Frederick Douglass, Langs... »
I’ve spent more time reading posts and comments on skeptic and freethought blogs in the past two weeks than I had in the previous six months combined. It started with Ben Radford’s article about Riley on Discovery News, then I read Ben’s articles at weareskeptixx, Rebecca’s response, Ben’s reply on the CFI blog, several of PZ Myers’ responses to Ben, and many ot... »
Hi everyone! Since the beginning of the summer I’ve been busy traveling all over, but Skepticon IV was my last trip for the year. (What fun that was!) Now that I’m not going to be on the road for a while, I look forward to unpacking the rest of the boxes from my last move and to contributing more to this wonderful community. It seems that every few months, a media outlet discovers that... »
