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RTBS Excerpts, Atheists Talk Links, and Sundry Announcements

My first ever Atheists Talk radio appearance didn’t end in disaster! In fact, it seems to have gone pretty well. Hello and welcome to anyone visiting ETEV for the first time due to hearing my dulcet tones and enjoying my winning radio personality. I’ve got helpful links for ye!

I’ve updated the Really Terrible Bible Stories page. You can find all the excerpts for all three books, and links to where you can purchase, all in one handy location.

For those who didn’t want to get their asses out of bed at the asscrack of dawn on a Sunday morning, I’ve got links to Atheists Talk #365, where you can hear me and Brianne discuss geology, blogging, and one of the worst books in the Bible.

Soundcloud (autoplay at link)

iTunes

Give us a listen!

New to ETEV? Here are some handy links to get you caught up on happenings: Continue reading “RTBS Excerpts, Atheists Talk Links, and Sundry Announcements”

RTBS Excerpts, Atheists Talk Links, and Sundry Announcements

Really Terrible Bible Stories Now Available!

It’s here, my darlings, it’s finally here! At long last, Really Terrible Bible Stories vol. I: Genesis is now available at Amazon! Worldwide, even! It’s allliiiiivvvveeee!!!

Image is a painting of Abraham, holding a knife to a screaming Isaac's throat, looking incomprehendingly at the cherub that's trying to get his attention. Above is the title Really Terrible Bible Stories. Below is vol. I Genesis, Dana Hunter.

I may be a touch hyper-excited. It’s my first book-baby and all.

Those of you who’ve been regulars at the cantina know what it’s all about, of course. You’ve gotten to read all the excerpts! For those just tuning in, here’s the book description: Continue reading “Really Terrible Bible Stories Now Available!”

Really Terrible Bible Stories Now Available!

An End, A Beginning… and a possible major freakout

Today’s the day I put in two weeks’ notice. Ye olde daye jobe will soon be defunct, and I will be working for the worst boss of all: meownself.

People at work keep asking me if I’m sure. As if trading stability for risk is ever something you can be sure of.

Image shows a cat on a boat, staring at a bird on the dock. Caption says, "Risk vs. Reward. Choose wisely."
Of course I’m not sure. I’m not sure my books will sell. I’m not sure the merchandise I’ve got planned will move (although I have a feeling you guys are going to love the stuff based on geology puns!). I’m not sure the economy won’t tank and flush me just as things begin to take off. Can’t be sure of anything.

Except.

I’m sure I can’t play it safe anymore.

I’m sure I want to step off that mountain, even though there’s no way of knowing if I’ll fall or fly.

I’m sure there’s a lot I want to do that I haven’t got time for now: so many books to write, and fun things to design, and adventures to go on.

I’m sure I’ve got the world’s best cheering section (that would be you, my darlings!).

And I’m sure the time is now. Because if not now, it’ll be never.

So I’m all in.

Image shows a squirrel sprawled on a deck with a thick scattering of seeds in front of it. Caption says, "Awl In"
Two weeks, and the badge gets discarded forever. I kiss the sweet union-bargained benefits goodbye. I say sayonara to the steady paycheck. And probably panic a bit before I get my footing. Shit’s a little scary, y’know. But I’m ready to take the plunge, because even if I fall, I can manage to land somewhere soft enough. And who knows – maybe this is the day that I fly.

Wish me luck.

An End, A Beginning… and a possible major freakout

CFI's Policy, SSA's Press, and Cromm's Doom – Happy Caturday, Everyone!

I haz a happee. And it’s not just because I spent all last night and this morning in bed with science, although taking some time to devour a book on random bits of science and reading some nummy posts was excellent. So was having a purring felid curled up with me. But I iz happee for moar reasons!

Continue reading “CFI's Policy, SSA's Press, and Cromm's Doom – Happy Caturday, Everyone!”

CFI's Policy, SSA's Press, and Cromm's Doom – Happy Caturday, Everyone!

A Huge Step Forward

I just got off a conference call with Amanda Knief and Dave Silverman of American Atheists. They invited me and several of my fellow FreethoughtBloggers, along with other prominent bloggers throughout the community, to discuss the harassment policy they’ve just adopted. You know what’s fantastic? Seeing an organization this large and established step up and do the right thing. That makes 11.

What really came through in that call, from my perspective, was just how sensible doing this is. Dave had a situation recently where an attendee reported harassment to him, and he realized he has nothing in place to deal with it. That’s not a great position for the head of any organization to be in.

They had been considering the adoption of a policy for about a year, and were committed to making it happen. They reviewed a number of sample policies, adjusting them to their specific needs, and will continue refining theirs as needed. They want American Atheists’ conventions to be safe, happy, and informative, where people are allowed to have fun (hell, even have sex!) as long as it’s consensual. Sexual and physical harassment won’t be tolerated: Dave is “emphatically intolerant of harassment.” Don’t pester other people, follow a few simple guidelines, and you’re good to go.

These are the points I found most important:

  • This policy will help create a safe and fun (yes, you can haz both) environment in which everyone can enjoy themselves.
  • Staff and volunteers will be trained.
  • Reporting procedures will be solidly in place for every conference, and incidents will be documented.
  • The policy applies to attendees, staff, volunteers and speakers – no one is exempt.
  • There will be consequences for violating the policy. As Dave said, “Not just don’t do this, but don’t do this or else.”
  • Victims of harassment will have their concerns taken seriously.
  • People who are engaging in inappropriate behavior will be given an opportunity to correct that behavior. It’s not “one strike and you’re out” across the board – although in some situations (such as if you assault someone) you won’t be given a second chance.
  • This is a living policy. It will evolve, adjust, and improve over time. I love this, because it tells me Amanda, Dave, and the rest of the staff at American Atheists aren’t just putting a document up for CYA and PR purposes. They really mean for harassment to be effectively addressed and stopped.

And least people believe this means the end of sexy fun times, keep in mind that nothing in this policy prevents you from having consensual fun with willing partners. Nothing. Here, let me underline that for you: nothing. Folks who are afraid the policy will make everyone turn into terrified mannequins can relax. Good times are good to go. You just have to ensure the folks you want to have fun with are on board for good times, as well.

Amanda Knief is phenomenal. She understands how harassment policies work, she understands how to effectively implement them, and since she’s a lawyer, she knows how to navigate legal minefields while protecting victims of harassment. Reports of harassment will end up in her hands, and I can’t think of better hands for them to be in. Anyone who is the target for bad behavior can feel confident, knowing she, Dave and the staff and volunteers will take care of it. Dave will be the one who makes the ultimate decisions about what happens with harassers, and believe me when I say people do not want their bad behavior reaching him. He and Amanda will be fair, but also very, very tough.

So, y’know, read the policy before you go.*

This is a huge step forward. It’s good to see an organization like American Atheists stepping up and putting policies in place that will ensure harassment is not welcome at their conferences, and is dealt with effectively when it happens.

 

*I’ll link to it directly once it’s live on the American Atheists site. For now, I’m linking to PZ’s post, which includes the draft we were sent. The Code of Conduct is now online. You can see the press release here.

A Huge Step Forward

What To Do If You're Bored This Weekend

If you’re in the Seattle area, or don’t mind a bit of a drive from elsewhere in the northwest, you can head on over to the Northwest Free-thought Alliance Conference. Can’t attend the conference? No problemo! Join me afterward to see Richard Dawkins, Sean Faircloth and Elisabeth Cornwell. They’re doing a special appearance on Sunday called Working Together for a Secular Society, A Celebration. It’s $5, free if you attended the conference, and there’s been some talk of ETEVers arriving either on horseback or in Viking ships. You should absolutely join us. Here’s where to park the ponies (or dock the ships, whichever):

The main entrance (the one we are using) is on the west side (toward I-405) of the main building.

There is a parking lot on the west of the building as well, for the early arrivals.

If that lot is full, there is a bigger lot on the east of the building, but you’ll have to walk around the building.

To park in the west parking lot, turn east off 124th Ave SE.

If that lot is full, you can turn west off Factoria Blvd. SE. Walking around the building to the south may be less walking than going around on the north side of the building.

Doors open at 2pm on Sunday, April 1st, people. Be there. Also, they may still need volunteers for registering folk at said event – let me know if you hereby volunteer, and I’ll pass the word along to the proper peeps. Yahoo finds me at dhunterauthor.

There is an auction, by the way, and you could possibly be one of the ten lucky people who gets to have Richard Dawkins record your voicemail message.

But say you live on the opposite coast, near, oh, I dunno, Fort Bragg, NC. You can’t make it to this Northwest gig. You know what? There’s something for you, too. You may have heard a little bit about it.

And it’s free! So if you’re anywhere within driving distance, and you have nothing critical to do on Saturday, like get emergency surgery or spend the day with your dying friend/family member/pet, get your arse down there. Support our atheist troops by being enormously entertained for free. Also, it’s free, did I mention?

Come prepared to donate some food, though. Y’see, unconstitutional evangelical proselytizing events on the military time and dime are allowed to do good works, but apparently atheists are not. That’s okay. We know how to subvert the system, don’t we just? And for those of us who can’t actually make it to RBB, there’s a handy little donate button at that link to ensure we can participate anyway.

Right, so there’s our weekend plans on both coasts all sorted. What’re you folks in the middle doing, eh?

Edited to add: Also, go read Cuttlefish’s poem.

What To Do If You're Bored This Weekend

Stuck in the Northwest While Everyone Parties at the Reason Rally and Rock Beyond Belief?

Well, I haz just the event for you! Reader Brad notified me the Northwest Free-thought Alliance is having its conference on March 30th – April 1st. It’s just south of Seattle, which is easy-peasy for many of us Northwesterners. It’s got freethinkers and food and lots of interesting talks. It’ll be a blast! You should totally go.

I, alas, can’t go. I’m buried under a super sekrit project which won’t be sekrit for much longer.

But you could go. Then you could give me the juicy details about Karen Mockrin’s “Current Separation Cases.” You can tell me “What’s Going On at MRFF,” because Akiva David Miller’s going to bring you up to speed. And you can hit me with the highlight reel from the keynote, “Waiter, There’s A God In My Language!” I’m sure Anu Garg will have you rolling.

You lucky barstards. *sniffle*

I’ll tell you what I’ll be doing my damnedest to get to, though: the after-conference shindig, “Working Together for a Secular Society, A Celebration.” It’s Richard Dawkins, Elisabeth Cornwell, and Sean Faircloth. It’s at 3pm in Bellevue, which is within spitting distance from my place as long as there’s not a stiff wind from the south. It’s $5. Unless, of course, you’re one of the lucky barstards who went to the conference, in which case, it’s free.

If you’re going, let me know, and we’ll form a horde. Probably not a ravening horde, because I’ll be too bloody tired out from super sekrit projects to raven or even seriously inconvenience, but still, a horde.

And if anyone has horses so we could ride to the venue in true horde fashion, that would be awesome.

Stuck in the Northwest While Everyone Parties at the Reason Rally and Rock Beyond Belief?

My MacLargeHuge Geo Post Now Up on the Scientific American Guest Blog!

Yep. That’s me, (dis)gracing the electronic pages of Scientific American with a guest post: “ “Mélange et Trois”. The super-sekrit project is sekrit no more.

I’m sorry I was so coy about it, but it was one of those things where you don’t want to make the announcement until it’s actually happened just in case. It wasn’t quite superstition, more like, “I can’t believe this is happening until I see it go live. Then I’ll know I wasn’t just dreaming the whole thing, or experiencing a reading comprehension epic fail.”

Mais non, there it is.

I can’t tell you how thrilled I am. I’m deeply grateful to Bora for giving me this opportunity, and representing my beloved geology on Scientific America’s site is fantastic beyond words. But I’d never have gotten here if it wasn’t for my geos. Those folks in the geoblogosphere who claimed me as one of their own made this happen. Bora, who is blogfather to so many and gave me early encouragement by picking up the Carnival of the Elitist Bastards on its maiden and subsequent voyages, made this happen. The folks on FreethoughtBlogs who brought me on made this happen. You, my dear readers, made this happen. Because without all of you – the geobloggers, blogfather Bora, my fellow FreethoughtBloggers, and the people who actually read this blog – things like doing up maclargehuge guest posts for Scientific American just aren’t possible.

¡Muchas gracias!

My MacLargeHuge Geo Post Now Up on the Scientific American Guest Blog!