AANEWS for Wednesday, June 30, 2010 -- Breaking stories!

[Synnical]

Received via EM. Posted with snippage.

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale

A M E R I C A N A T H E I S T S
A A N E W S
#1332 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 06/30/2010
http://www.atheists.org
http://www.americanatheist.org
http://www.atheistviewpoint.tv

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A Service of AMERICAN ATHEISTS, a nationwide movement that defends
civil rights for non-believers; works for the total separation of
Church and State; and addresses issues of First Amendment public
policy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"ATHEIST is really a thoroughly honest, unambiguous term, it admits
of no paltering and no evasion, and the need of the world, now as
ever, is for clear-cut issues and unambiguous speech."
-- Chapman Cohen
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"All religions are equally sublime to the ignorant, useful to the
politician, and ridiculous to the philosopher."
- Lucretius, On the Nature of Things
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BREAKING -- From Huffingtonpost.com

Christopher Hitchens' Cancer: Author Undergoing Chemotherapy For
Esophageal cancer More: Christopher Hitchens, Christopher Hitchens
Cancer, Christopher Hitchens Esophageal Cancer, Media News
Christopher Hitchens has been diagnosed with esophageal cancer.

The Vanity Fair and Slate columnist and author of recent memoir
Hitch 22 recently suspended his book tour for what was described as
"personal reasons."

Now, he reveals in a statement:

I have been advised by my physician that I must undergo a course
of chemotherapy on my esophagus. This advice seems persuasive
to me. I regret having had to cancel so many engagements at such
short notice. Hitchens, a well-known smoker, attempted in 2008 to
quit but reportedly still smokes, according to a recent Washington
Post article.

**

BREAKING -- From American Atheists

AMERICAN ATHEISTS

ED BUCKNER ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT AS
AMERICAN ATHEISTS PRESIDENT

Dr. Ed Buckner, President of American Atheists, has announced
that he will be retiring from that position in September, 2010,
or within a few months thereafter (depending on how soon the board
can agree on a replacement), following two years in office.

Buckner said that he will remain with the organization as an active
member, volunteer, and strong supporter. He gave several reasons for
choosing to not continue as president: "I need more time to write
and reflect, as well as simply to relax more, and the organization
needs fresh leadership. I am proud of what we-a few staff members
and many dedicated volunteers-have accomplished in the time since I
became president, and I am optimistic about the future of secularism
in general and American Atheists in particular."

Ed Buckner saw the organization through a turbulent time. Under his
presidency, American Atheists re-organized its corporate structure,
continued to reach out to and work with other Atheist, Freethought,
and Humanist groups, including joining the Secular Coalition for
America, and revitalized its fundraising efforts to insure that it
would survive and thrive as an activist movement for years to come.

"Whenever the change of leadership occurs," said Dr. Buckner,
"I pledge my full cooperation in making the transition as smooth
and as beneficial to American Atheists as possible."

He added, "I am grateful to the board and the members for an
interesting job and for the great honor of leading the premier
secular and Atheist organization in the world. I will, I promise,
work hard for the benefit of American Atheists in whatever
time remains before I retire as president and will support the
organization thereafter."

Neal Cary, Chairman of the Board of Directors of American Atheists
praised Buckner's accomplishments. "We are grateful to Ed for his
considerable efforts and very hard work over the past two years
in building a stronger organization and ushering in much needed
changes. We look forward to working with him closely in the future
as well."

Mr. Cary said that the process to find a new president will begin
immediately. Details will be posted on the American Atheists web
site (www.atheists.org) and in American Atheist magazine.

(AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil
rights for Atheists, Freethinkers and other nonbelievers; works for
the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of
First Amendment public policy.)

[charlie]

1. I'm sorry to hear that about Hitch

Hopefully, he can be treated without surgery.

Chemo is awful enough, but giving up the drink is going to be hell on earth for him.

[charlie]

2. Aaaaand they're off!

First up, smug satisfaction parading as piety and concern, in column form. This is one mean son of a bitch:

http://blog.nj.com/njv_george_berkin/2010/07/god_is_great_to_christopher_hi.html

Then from the Telegraph, this nattering twit wants the world to know she's praying for Hitch, though she's been advised not to. She must because she's just so damn special:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/cristinaodone/100045574/im-praying-for-christopher-hitchens/

[Warpy]

3. There have also been a few premature grave dances here at DU

from both theists and self styled anti neocon lefties.

Some people are just light switch personalities who can't understand complexity, at all. Hitch is a mixed bag, always an entertaining read whether or not anybody agrees with him. You've always got to give him that much, whether you want to applaud or wring his neck.

I wish him the best, but this is a bad one with poor long term survival.

[charlie]

6. Shit. I didn't know that

The prognosis for survival, that is. Sudden cessation of alcohol will compound the stress on his body, won't it? Can withdrawal be mitigated with drugs?

They'll miss him if he dies. There aren't many of his sort left anymore, Gore Vidal is the only other I can think of. Yes, they'll find the silence from Hitch's corner smothering without him up their noses every week.

[Warpy]

9. We brought people down from alcohol chemically all the time

and many of the same drugs will alleviate nicotine withdrawal. Suddenly withdrawing alcohol without medical care can be up to 50% fatal, depending on the severity of the dependency. Withdrawing nicotine suddenly only makes you wish it were fatal for the first several days.

They can bring him down chemically, but that cancer is one of the bad ones.

[charlie]

10. Thanks

That's good. I think he'll need it. The times I've heard him talk about his daily intake, it's measured in bottles, not glasses or ounces.

[LeftishBrit]

4. Just disgusting

I loathe Cristina Odone, and her only excuse may be that she is generally nuts. Like most Torygraph bloggers, she is poisonous. She is in favour of religious intrusion into politics, and has a tendency to make nasty attacks on pro-secularism MPs and journalists. Here are her comments on Clegg and the LibDems from May 19th - and this was *after* they agreed (wrongly in my view!) to go into coalition with the Tories:

"But when it comes to institutions, such as the family, the Church, the monarchy and the House of Lords, the Lib Dems draw a thick orange line between themselves and the Tories.

In the Liberal Republic, the individual should be able to break his or her contract with any institution: individual freedom comes first and foremost. You fall out of love, you break the marriage; you disagree with your priest, you leave the Church; you don’t like the way the Lords are voting, you don’t just reform the House of Lords, you smash it to pieces.

It’s a quitter’s charter, and Reeves and Collins are right to say it’s a million miles away from a Conservative view of historic institutions as vehicles for engaging citizens in the wider community. For the Lib Dems, institutions smell of paternalism; Cameron’s Big Society sees them as important building blocks.

The difference between Cameron and Clegg, then, is more than one of language, as Clegg would have it. It is the difference between a civilisation based on individualism and one rooted in community. I only hope the Conservatives realise they now face a fundamental choice: whether to protect our institutions from the Lib Dems, or to join the Lib Dems in regarding them as obstacles to me, myself and I."

(LB: Uggghhhhhh!!!! I HATE anti-secularists' attacks on 'individual freedom' in personal issues! I also hate ANY attempt to defeat politicians for their secularism or their support for 'individualism' in PERSONAL issues, or to push leaders or parties in a more anti-secular direction. Also, did I say that Odone is nuts?!?)

But of course using a person's serious illness as fodder for this sort of smug self-righteousness, in a public article which Hitchens will probably read, is much worse than an anti-secularist attack on a political party. After all, Odone is perfectly entitled to pray for Hitchens or anyone else if she feels that it will do any good, or just wishes to do so. However, she does not need to write about it in the Torygraph! There is nothing in the Bible, or anywhere else, which says that prayer is more effective if you publicize the fact that you are praying. So this is just being done to make a nasty point.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

5. Wait, what, she says this is a bad thing?

"In the Liberal Republic, the individual should be able to break his or her contract with any institution: individual freedom comes first and foremost. You fall out of love, you break the marriage; you disagree with your priest, you leave the Church; you don’t like the way the Lords are voting, you don’t just reform the House of Lords, you smash it to pieces."

Looks like traits of a free society to me.

[charlie]

7. She's daft

I'm looking at some of her recent columns. They're weird. Like this one, where she reacts to the news that 24 week old fetuses don't feel pain:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/cristinaodone/100044902/foetuses-feel-no-pain-whats-pain-got-to-do-with-it

1. I'm glad they don't feel pain, but what's that got to do with why I favor restrictive laws?
2. We fear pain, but sometimes pain is necessary. Like having to tell your kid the cat died.
3. Modern medicine has made marvelous progress in reducing pain. I would've screamed my head off without an epidural during delivery.
4. Sometimes fear of pain leads us to less than moral choices, like avoiding demented Grandma.
5. Therefore, this news makes no difference.
6. What the fuck am I talking about?

Or this one, where she chides Obama. Something about alienating the Army:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/cristinaodone/100044563/barack-obama-should-beware-of-alienating-the-us-army

If she has a point, I don't know where or what it is.

[vixengrl]

8. Well, by praying in public like the heathen do,

I'm sure she gets her reward.

That Berkin jackass takes the cake, though. "It's all fun and games until God gives you cancer." It's loathsome.