The contest is still on,

In the meantime, while awaiting a HAM T, you can acquire a commemorative Manitoba Atheists, Skeptics and Humanists Film Festival T-shirt by contacting Myrna @ muirned@gmail.com. $10 buys an historical garment. All the cool humanists are wearing them!

Earth has 8018 Active Nuclear Warheads as of May 26th, 2010

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_with_nuclear_weapons

Let's seize this historic moment. Join in the effort to eliminate nuclear weapons globally.

Sign Petition

Countdown to Zero - the movie opens July 23, 2010.

Humanist Society of Southern Manitoba has officially filed a formal complaint with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission under Sections 9(1 & 2), Section 13(1), Section 18(1&2) of the Human Rights Code. An injunction ruling is pending under Section 55.

More information and photos are available here:

Photos

Dear Madam/Sir:

We Canadians LOVE hockey & our Constitutional Freedoms!

Our Charter of Rights and Freedoms does NOT say anything about the Separation of Church and State.

"Church" does NOT necessarily refer to one particular religion.

Support a change for your freedoms... please sign this petition.

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/separation-of-church-and-state.html

Sincerely,

Tim Wall
President
Humanist Society of Southern Manitoba

p.s. This petition is also available on facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?invites&eid=122149971145746

Sorry folks. I'm not sure what happened to that link.

Here is the correct one.

Fools Fossil

Tim

Please submit your design for a HAM t-shirt to me at muirned@gmail.com or any HAM Exec plus your preferences for t-shirt colour. The winning designed will receive a free HAM T.

IDE: http://www.ide-canada.org/

Engineers Without Borders: http://www.ewb.ca/

Spammers have been using the forum registration system to let them send email spam via the forum. They seem to be human, so are probably the type who answered "make money posting on forums and message boards" ads.

I have disabled new registrations for a while. If you want to become a HAM forum member, contact me in person at one of our events. You do not have to be a HAM member.

Thanks for the reply Grant , it kinda makes me wanna go over to the manitoba creationist museum and stir up trouble (just kidding) I'll just wait till they (cretinists)say something stupid again. shouldn't be long.

Donna and I have kept up with the Coren nuttery and follow on letters in the Sun. Coren is often right about things which are not about religion, so he has enough cred to spout off and demonstrate his ignorance. You can easily see the result of cognitive dissonance in what he writes, as well as plenty of willful ignorance and careful avoidance.

As to the Cretinist who replied to your letter, ditto. It is not possible to reach many of these people. They believe what they believe, and anyone who so much as suggests it ain't so are usually assumed to be agents of satan trying to poison their minds against God. It is a powerful mental armor plating against reason.

To dismember his 'arguments' is easy, as you well know. Taking from his comment...

EL: Why do atheists think that they do not have the burden of proof?
G: Because we are not making an assertion (of the existence of one or more gods).
EL: Why do they assume that evolution is a fact?
G: We don't assume anything. We go by the evidence.
EL: Why do they think they are the ones who can think rationally on the subject?
G: We, and many people with god beliefs, think rationally about evolution (and so see it as a fact based on evidence). Anyone who is bound by belief to deny the evidence is not. Same thing wrt god. Without an evidential base to back you up, you cannot argue rationally for a thing.

On the plus side, you presented thought-out arguments based on evidence. The Cretinist presented a whiny polemic in response. Other Cretinists might agree with him, but for the rest of the readers, he loses.

Even though you cannot lead a Cretinist to reason, it is still worth taking them on. With reason and evidence. Many people are not exposed to such things - they need to hear messages that contradict Cretinist noise. You do the readers a service by holding up Cretinist arguments as empty and providing information based in reality.

You are spinning your wheels...

... and leaving tire tracks all over the cretinists.

Easter weekend Michael Coren wrote a column in the sun paper “Have a Little faith” it was a failed attempt to dismantle atheism .I replied ,as many did and they actually published my letter. Today I read a reply to my letter by a creationist boob with all the tired crap I’ve heard a thousand times before. Which got me to thinking, is it better to just quietly go about the business of promoting humanism, freethought and reason ? Or is it better to pound away at the illogical, inane and irrational every time we see it ?
Its’ just lately with these creationists/religious nutjobs ,It’s like a never ending game of wack- a- mole.

The Coren artical- http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/michael_coren/2010/04/01/13441186.html

my letter - http://www.winnipegsun.com/comment/letters/2010/04/06/13488761.html

creationist Eric Leader letter - http://www.winnipegsun.com/comment/letters/2010/04/09/13531651.html

Any thoughts ?

Thanks immensely to Grant for announcing the venue issue on our splash page.

A tiny supplemental:
We did try Degrees the Diner at U of M, and it was not quite suitable. However, we have not yet tried the room down the hall from the Diner that is large, has 3 big walls suitable for presentations, is private and Degrees will cater to. No cost for the room but we must order meals. Degrees is open until late Saturday nights during the regular term (excluding Dec and April to September.) It has veggie meals and is fully accessible, and the meal cost is reasonable.

I found there is a new Skeptic organization in Winnipeg

http://www.meetup.com/WinnipegSkeptics/

HAM's mandate does not include skepticism (not even of god beliefs). Yet for many secular humanists there is a strong overlap - atheism and agnosticism are often reached by the compelling lack of evidence of gods. Compare the compelling lack of evidence for what many of us refer to as woo-woo such as homeopathy, Area 51 aliens and alien autopsies, 2012 "prophecies", horrorscopes and so on.

Of course, skeptics on a subject can be "converted" by a combination of positive evidence and a lack of negative evidence, within the frame of a scientific approach to evidence. This is what skepticism is about - not gainsaying or negativity. We simply ask the question: Evidence?

We are all skeptics of something. A strong god believer is just as capable of questioning woo-woo as anyone else. Some of us are selective, with some claims under the category "I don't care", or just "I don't know". Yet through interest or expertise, or watching misguided friends or family members harm themselves because they believe magic potions are good / science based medicine is bad, find certain categories of claims in need of debunking.

It could be fun.

Aarghh, not quick enough.

"This video has been removed by the user"

Does 1st release mean another version is coming?

You may get a kick out of this video.

Fool's Fossil

Yours truly,

Tim Wall

Almost 300 people attended. Fun, educational, and a big first for us. PZ says we can do it again some time, but perhaps not in midwinter.

We have a DVD for sale (cheap) if you want to relive it, missed it, or want to show someone else.
PZ Myers talk order form.

http://www.thinkatheist.com/profiles/blogs/sunday-morning-service-24jan

We did need more space.

And we got it. Anyone on the waiting list - you are now on the guest list.

If you want to come, call/email so Donna can add your name to the guest list too.

They have not announced costs of TAM8 yet, but last year it cost us about $1000 per person for the airfare, hotel and registration. That also covers the included meals in the day (buffet). Hotel rates are dirt cheap thanks to the US economy tanking. It might be a bit less on the hotel side, but the rest is a mystery.

They usually have "extras" at extra cost. If you are a university student, you may get a discount. Each TAM day can be bought separately, so you can opt to attend only those things that interest you for a bit less money (and sometimes miss out on some really fascinating speakers/topics).

After that, it depends what you want to do. Las Vegas has lots to see and do at almost no cost. You can even drink for next to nothing - just sit in front of a slot machine betting nickels and they serve you drinks gratis is most places. Usually, people create events and party it up or just hang out.

Nice: TAM associates with the hotel for cheap group rates. Last year, TAM7 was at the South Point Casino and Hotel. As a promo a few months ago, the hotel sent us a two free nights offer which we took up up December. Amazing benefits.

What do you generally budget for heading down there?