From the BHA web site
The British Humanist Association (BHA) has learned with great sadness of the death of our President, Linda Smith, who was not only a remarkable comedian and broadcaster, but also a great friend of Humanism. She had been President of the BHA since 2004.
I am a Pakistani Atheist; an ex-Muslim in Pakistan. I was born and raised here and hail from a fairly devout Muslim family. Like all Atheists in Pakistan – I am a closet Atheist in that most people do not know that I do not hold belief in God. Pakistan – a nation with 95% of the population being Muslim - is an indescribably intolerant place to be for a non-Muslim – and especially so for an Atheist. Dangers of coming out with one’s lack of belief range from ridicule to death threats to actually getting murdered!
The fragility of this country's democracy has been demonstrated today. An unelected body has today removed our elected mayor, Ken Livingstone, following a complaint by the British Board of Deputies. At a comment he made to a journalist from a nasty right wing newspaper who was hounding him. The newspaper in question is owned by a family which is imfamous for its historical support of British fascists and the German Nazis.
The voices here are quite diverse and some of Asian origin, some not. The key word is ‘progressive’. For too long has the voice of the British Asian community dominated by religious bodies or other middle-aged men who have little regard for what the younger generation, or women in general, are saying. We aim to offer an alternative voice and challenge the hegemony.
what is spheric lounge?
primarily it is an offer to participate! we prefer to call it a live electronic ambient project. an open circle of friends and creative people that meets several times a month to do jam sessions, parties or public gigs. what started as an electronic jam session at a bar in munich has now become a regular and well-known part of the munich music scene. improvised music, creative visuals, improvised dance and dimmed light melt into a communicative atmosphere that is unique in munich. we do not make money, we want to make music and have fun. the style "electronic ambient" serves as a musical frame. a core of sound that can be accompanied by guitar, saxophone, trumpet or other instruments. within the spheric lounge, every music is fully improvised. we do not practice or rehearse our music. every session gets recorded and the best snippets are available as mp3 for download. meanwhile we have over 200 titles online which is approximately 26 hours of music. if you want to participate you are invited to join us! with synthesizer, laptop, beamer, violin or whatever you like to bring with you. everybody brings his own equipment. if you want to contribute from a larger distance, you can help in the postproduction process, edit the raw audio-material and release songs.
February 18, 2006
"The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. Persecution is used in theology, not in arithmetic."
-- Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), British author, philosopher, "An Outline in Intellectual Rubbish," Unpopular Essays (1950)
Keith Porteous Wood, Executive Director of the National Secular Society, said: "We must not allow the present controversy, which has been whipped up by religious extremists, to rush us into actions that would impose near-Islamic laws on to countries that are not Islamic. Regardless of whether such countries restrict free speech for themselves, they should not be permitted to roll out those repressive measures on to the rest of us. We will be urging the European media to reject or ignore any code of conduct that requires them to limit further what they say on legitimate matters of interest. And we will join any campaign of resistance to Islamist demands at the United Nations to restrict free expression."
This week I saw a new visitor to our bird feeder. 