Secular Café Archive

[quote=""lpetrich""] The historical King Arthur has been much argued about, and some people have proposed that he is entirely mythical, but it's generally agreed that the post-Geoffey accounts of that monarch have little or nothing of value about him. It's possible that some or a...

Can the firing of Comey interfere seriously with the investigation of the Trump administration's connections with Russia?

[quote=""MattShizzle""]An interesting thing in the small (less than 1000 people) town I live in. A black woman was on the borough council for decades - she died a year or so back and left council a few before that. Until at least the 1980s her and her husband were the only black ...

[quote=""Politesse""] ...The recent dates suggest that like the 60,000- to 100,000-year-old fossils of tiny H. floresiensis (the “Hobbit”) in Indonesia, H. naledi was a “twig off the mainstream of Homo—some little relic of a relatively archaic population,” Kimbel says. It was “a ...

http://arif.eu/archives/174?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=socialnetwork Islamic Digital Terrorism This is how Islamists attack Atheist IDs and Pages on Facebook. Abuse of Facebook auto-suspension moderation by mass false reporting. ‘Reporting Groups’ concept used by...

This is going on all the time. It's a terrible story.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1331464

Yet another human species and it's surprisingly recent. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/05/mysterious-human-species-lived-alongside-our-ancestors-newly-dated-fossils-suggest Berger was overseeing a team of 60 people, some of whom were 18 meters below ground gathering fossils. “This was day two. ...

Now it's even worse. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2017/05/09/facebook-shuts-down-atheist-republics-page-presumably-for-being-anti-muslim-which-isnt-true/ Facebook Shuts Down Atheist Republic’s Page, Presumably For Being “Anti-Muslim” (Which Isn’t True) We mentioned yesterday that the...

[quote=""lpetrich""] I agree with Koy here. There is a world of difference between a genuine historical figure about whom some legends are told, and a magical person of, at best, doubtful historicity. So the difference is, what? Your degree of personal incredulity about the story...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39852751 The Gare du Nord train station in the French capital Paris has reopened after a security alert, officials say. Platforms were evacuated and the area cordoned off by heavily armed police late on Monday evening. No details have been given about the operat...

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2017/05/08/facebook-just-placed-unnecessary-restrictions-on-two-groups-that-reach-many-ex-muslims/ Facebook Just Placed Unnecessary Restrictions on Two Groups That Reach Many Ex-Muslims This afternoon, the Facebook pages for Ex-Muslims of North America (...

Obviously 44.1 is a big problem. The wording of 44.4 is problematic when taken in conjunction with article 42 Article 42 1 The State acknowledges that the primary and natural educator of the child is the Family and guarantees to respect the inalienable right and duty of parents to provide, according...

It seems to me that in this context it's a good idea to look at the relevant article of the constitution of Ireland(consolidated text) : Article 44 1. The State acknowledges that the homage of public worship is due to Almighty God. It shall hold His Name in reverence, and shall respect and honour re...

In the mean time the case against Stephen Fry has been dropped. I hope, however, that Irish people will now work hard to get rid of this stupid law. http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/stephen-fry-blasphemy-probe-dropped-after-garda-fail-to-find-substantial-number-of-outraged-people-35692915.html G...

And here's an example of a nasty blasphemy conviction. At least it's not yet as bad as Pakistan or Saudi, where it is a capital crime. http://www.france24.com/en/20170509-jakartas-christian-governor-jailed-two-years-blasphemy Jakarta's Christian governor was jailed for two years Tuesday after being ...

You have to be a bit vulnerable to fall for this stuff.


(View video on YouTube)

And another article: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ben/stephen-fry-blasphemy_b_16485042.html? I stand one hundred per cent in solidarity with Stephen Fry. Of course I don’t endorse, approve, let alone agree with his remarks. Indeed I profoundly disagree with them. But I absolutely defend his right...

An Irish view in The Independent : http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/stephen-fry-irish-tv-investigated-blasphemy-laws-ireland-embarrassed-secularism-angry-a7722906.html I know how the Irish head-in-the-sand brigade is going to respond to this latest piece of evidence that Father Ted was, in fact, ...

Well there is a school of thought that doctors just kill you quicker. https://thinkprogress.org/freedom-caucus-member-nobody-dies-because-they-dont-have-access-to-health-care-db0f4ea54e37 Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) was drowned out by constituents’ booing at a town hall in Lewiston, Idaho on Friday...

And then what happened next:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/201 ... hael-flynn

There's a lot to this, so I don't want to quote little bits. Please read the whole thing.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/obama-warned-trump-against-hiring-mike-flynn-say-officials-n756316?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma A senior Trump administration official acknowledged Monday that Obama raised the issue of Flynn, saying the former president made clear he was "not a fan of Michael Flynn....

What a surprise! http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/05/trump-tweet-obama-michael-flynn-russia-hearing Trump claims that the Obama administration had given Flynn security clearance, but actually Obama had personally warned him about Flynn. Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates is set to te...

If women wanted to pay the same as men, they should have thought of that before they got a uterus.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/20 ... elligencer

This bloody man makes steam come out of my ears. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/charity-cash-funds-anti-vaccine-doctor-xr5lzkxfz?shareToken=cf0ec643c9b856a3e9900b00169e2a53 Andrew Wakefield, who was struck off the medical register for research falsely showing that the MMR vaccine was linked to a...