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Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.

Jim Downey

UTI Associate blogger Jim Downey is a former newspaper columnist and also writes at the Daily Kos under the handle Shadan7. "I'm the fat old man of the crowd (well, make that middle-aged and overweight). My life's arc has been colorful in some odd and delightful ways, and though by most conventional standards I'm not 'successful', I've mostly enjoyed the ride. I now keep busy writing, playing with my dog, and as a book & document conservator in private practice."

Paul Fidalgo

UTI associate blogger Paul Fidalgo is an actor, musician, and writer with a background in political media, communications, and research. He holds a master's degree in political management from George Washington University, and blogs on atheism in American culture. He blogs at Examiner.com as the DC Secularism Examiner, and maintains two blogs, Near Earth Object, a blog of several overlapping magisteria including political satire and his own musical work; and Bloc Raisonneur, specifically concerning atheists' precarious place in American politics and culture. Paul's music can be purchased for mere pennies at Amie St.

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Rick Ulrey

UTI Associate blogger Rick Ulrey comes to UTI by way of the Marine Corps: "I'm 31 and I earn my living fixing computers. I served 6 years in the Marine Corps and consider myself a liberal libertarian with conservative leanings. I am a firm believer that the world would be a better place if people took responsibility for themselves and their actions. As you can see from the picture I love food. That's me eating a banana fritter in Australia with a nice cup of coffee. I love to cook and my other hobbies include hiking, camping, reading and on and offline gaming."

Steven Darksyde

UTI co-blogger and friend DarkSyde has this to say about himself: "I'm in my 40s, I work out a lot, I'm a personal trainer as a hobby, I've worked mainly as an investment advisor, stocks and bonds. I've done quite a bit of sky diving. I live a few miles from the Space Center in Florida. I have a strong background in math and physics and I'm an active advocate for Evolution in the Evolution vs. Creationism issue."

"Under God"/"In God We Trust" petition

Submitted by Sporkyy on June 23, 2008 - 1:40pm.

A petition has sprung out of The Pledge Project by Alonzo Fyfe, the Atheist Ethicist.

[link] Congress undermined American unity in 1954 when it added "Under God" to our Pledge of Allegiance and again in 1956 when it replaced our 175 year old national motto, E Pluribus Unum ("Out Of Many, One"), with "In God We Trust", thus demoting to an implied outsider status the agnostics, atheists, deists, polytheists and other citizens who do not ascribe to this theology. Ideological contention is a necessary and desired result of the freedoms that are the real source of our unity and strength. These laws, by claiming that our unity rests on disregarding the reality of such sincere individual disagreement, are self-defeating.

I urge you to click the link and sign the petition. It won't change anything, but it might make you feel better.

The Pledge Project got me thinking about much the same sort of thing last week. But instead of starting a petition, I created a venn diagram. (Because that's what I do.) I was going to do something with it, but then remembered how lazy I was, so I just saved it on my hard drive to never be opened again. But I dug it out, finished it and I present it now, for your enjoyment. (It may not seem like much, but that says a great deal about how interested, engaged and excited I am by the whole Pledge Project thing.)

By sporkyy

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This is not a parody

Submitted by Sporkyy on June 28, 2008 - 5:10pm.

In case anybody thought I was over exaggerating:

[link] Mayor Deke Copenhaver stopped by NBC Augusta Morning News at 11am to talk about the first ever Interfaith Meeting this weekend.

"Unity: One Nation Under God" will be held Sunday, June 29th at 4p.m. at the Islamic Society of Augusta located on 3416 Middleton Drive.

The Muslim, Jewish and Christian community will come out to participate.

The mayor and other local officials are expected to speak at the monumental event.

Copenhaver says the event is to unify all religions. Organizers say they hope the event will be a big religious movement for the city.

(I've added emphasis for my goldfish readership whose attention spans couldn't make it though the whole article.)

I can only assume that the mayor will be meeting with non-Muslim, non-Jewish and non-Christian residents at a later date when they are able to schedule hizonner in between strangling puppies with American flags and baking American pies (chief ingredient: Jewish-American, Muslim-American and Christian-American babies).

Yay Georgia.

--
"Ponies are atheists, you know, technically."
- Me

At first I thought it was a given . . .

Submitted by Crudely Wrott (not verified) on June 24, 2008 - 8:04pm.

I signed the petition, leaving this comment:

"Please pay attention to the ease of freedom, bestowed from one to another without insistance of uniformity. E Pluribus Unum. What could be plainer?"

Spelling error and all, but, HEY! I understood the concept as a child in the 50s! My mind goes into spasms when I try to accommodate certain other points of view.