March 13, 2010 at 1:00 pm

If you are just dying to see a whale not in captivity, here is a chance to appreciate the magnificent creatures among friends.

After we will do Coffee and Conversation after and you can have some nice rice at Bamboo Lounge to settle your stomach.

Adults $37
Children (4-12) $19
Seniors/Military $32
Kids (3 and under) FREE

Incidentally, if we don’t get to see any whales on our adventure, Hornblower gives us free passes to come back and try again for free. smile

Boarding begins at 1:15, the cruise leaves at 1:30 and and lasts until 5:00. We will meet outside the ticket station at 1:00 so we can stay together. The cruise lasts for 3 1/2 hours, so even though there should be plenty to do, see, and discuss along the way, I plan on bringing my personal MP3 player and/or some light reading material just in case.

Note: I would recommend you purchase your tickets in advance. You can do so by calling Hornblower at: 619-686-8700 or going online here: Hornblower Whale Watching and clicking the “Book Whale Watching Now” link. Hornblower does have “walk up” tickets for purchase at the gate, but there is no guarantee there will be space available. If you choose to go this route, please call before you leave so you don’t waste a trip to the harbor.

Parking: (per the Hornblower website)
Due to the popularity of the San Diego Bay we recommend allowing a little extra time for parking. The closest parking lot available on a first come, first served basis is the Five Star Parking Lot located on the corner of Pacific Coast Highway & Broadway. Hornblower does not validate. DO NOT park at the meters!

For more information, visit their FAQ page.

I can’t wait and I hope to see you there!

Hornblower Whale Watching

Hornblower Cruise is a proud partnered with and endorsed by the San Diego Natural History Museum on our Whale Watching Cruise Adventure!

See the majestic California Gray Whale while whale watching on the San Diego coast. See all the famous and historic sights of the San Diego bay: navy submarine base, NOSC and the Point Loma Light House and Cabrillo National Monument.

During your whale watching excursion, besides whales, you’ll witness many varieties of marine life: four types of dolphin, sea lions, Mola Mola (sun fish) and marine birds such as Brown Pelicans, Sea Gulls and Blue Herons along the way. Beside gray whales we have seen, Orcas, Fin Whales, Finbacks, Blue Whales and Humpback Whales.

1475 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Join us for Coffee and Conversation at The Bamboo Lounge at 6:00 PM Saturday, March 13th, 2010.

What is Coffee and Conversation? Why, it’s the best damned discussion group around!  With it’s mix of academic scrutiny, intellectual curiosity,  humor, and compassionate community building, our philosophy is: Show up strangers and leave feeling like old friends.

We like to provide a forum for smart smart-asses to get together and talk about current events, get engaged in the latest info on The American Humanist Association, and have one hell of a good time.

The Bamboo Lounge serves sushi, ravioli, personal pizzas, and other fusion food at reasonable prices in a great upscale, yet relaxing, atmosphere.

Don’t miss out on discussing this weeks topics with us!

Date: March 18, 2010
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: The Mission Valley Resort Salon Ballroom  875 Hotel Circle South San Diego CA 92108

Price: $8.00 on line, 10.00 at the door

1475 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Join us for Coffee and Conversation at The Bamboo Lounge at 6:00 PM Saturday, February 6th, 2010.

What is Coffee and Conversation? Why, it’s the best damned discussion group around!  With it’s mix of academic scrutiny, intellectual curiosity,  humor, and compassionate community building, our philosophy is: Show up strangers and leave feeling like old friends.

We like to provide a forum for smart smart-asses to get together and talk about current events, get engaged in the latest info on The American Humanist Association, and have one hell of a good time.

The Bamboo Lounge serves sushi, ravioli, personal pizzas, and other fusion food at reasonable prices in a great upscale, yet relaxing, atmosphere.

Topics from last weeks Coffee & Conversation (Saturday, January 30th) included:

Howard Zinn Dead At 87
J.D. Salinger Dead at 91
Scott Roeder Convicted of Murdering George Tiller
Fundamentalists to Play Anti-Abortion Ad During Super Bowl
Apple Unveils iPad
Virginia County School Board Pulls Diary of Anne Frank over vagina passage
Dictionary Banned over “oral sex”
Voice of Scientology wants his money back
Zandari Slaughters Goats to Ward off Evil Spirits
US Grants Home-Schooling German Family Politcal Assylum
Youth Pastor Elected to NV Sex Ed Committee
AZ Bill Fires Up Church State Fight
Judge: Prayer Before NC Meeting: Unconstitutional
OHIO Judge Has No Right to Promote Religion in Court Room
Forsyth County Must Stop Sectarian Prayer At Public Meetings
Panel To Favor Partial Veil-Ban in France
117 In Hospital After Drinking Holy Water
Would Space Aliens Need Redemption?
How Eating Grass-Fed Beef Could fight Climate Change
Channeling your inner Alien? Maybe, Scientists Say
NASA Accepts Mars-Rover Stuck for Good
Lead may be the culprit in ADHD
Whiff of Mystery in Planetary Science
Venus Flytrap for Nuclear Waste
Italy May Dig up Da Vinci
Gates Foundation Pledges $10B for Vaccines
John Paul II: Self-Flagellator
State of the Union Transcript
Obama-Alito Tensions Surface at State of the Union
OBAMA scolds SCOTUS
Pentagon Plan on DADT ready for Congress

and more!

Don’t miss out on discussing this weeks topics with us!

Joss Whedon receives the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism at Harvard University’s Memorial Church. ~ 10 April 2009. Whedon is an American director, executive producer, occasional actor, and creator and head writer of the television programs Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse. He has also written several film scripts and comic book series.

On an episode of CNN’s Larry King Live, the comedian Steve Harvey states that Atheists are “idoits”. But how much can one really pay attention to anything he says when he asks, “Why we still got monkeys?”, referring to his disbelief in evolution. The audio on this is a bit muddy so you might want to turn this one up for a laugh. Steve Harvey really IS funny! Who knew?

by Hemant Mehta, adapted from his blog “The Friendly Atheist.”

For HumanistNetworkNews.org

1) Provide the U.S. military with Jesus Rifles:

Coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the United States military by Trijicon, a Michigan-based company, says an ABC News investigation.

The sights are used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the training of Iraqi and Afghan soldiers. Trijicon, who says it is a “leader in the design and manufacture of high quality, innovative sighting systems,” landed a $660 million multi-year contract to provide up to 800,000 sights to the Marine Corps, as well as additional contracts to provide sights for the U.S. Army.

Yep… not a holy war at all…

2) Send Bibles–solar-powered audible Bibles–to Haiti:

Called the “Proclaimer,” the audio Bible delivers “digital quality,” and is designed for “poor and illiterate people,” the Faith Comes By Hearing group said.

With tens of thousands of Port-au-Prince residents living outdoors because their homes have collapsed or they fear aftershocks from last week’s quake, Faith Comes By Hearing thinks the audio Bible can bring them the “hope and comfort that comes from knowing God has not forgotten them through this tragedy.”

They don’t need books. They don’t need false hope. They need food and water and medical supplies and shelter and (tangible) protection.

3) Donate your tongue to God so you can have a baby:

A childless Indian man sliced off his tongue as an offering to the god Shiva in the hope of becoming a father. Police said 28-year-old Mukesh Kumar chopped off his tongue with a razor blade at a temple dedicated to the Hindu god in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Yet another reason for comprehensive sex education everywhere.

A musical tribute to two great men of science. Carl Sagan and his cosmologist companion Stephen Hawking present: A Glorious Dawn – Cosmos remixed. Almost all samples and footage taken from Carl Sagan’s Cosmos and Stephen Hawking’s Universe series.

WASHINGTON – A Michigan defense contractor will voluntarily stop stamping references to Bible verses on combat rifle sights made for the U.S. military, a major buyer of the company’s gear.

In a statement released Thursday, Trijicon of Wixom, Mich., says it is also providing to the armed forces free of charge modification kits to remove the Scripture citations from the telescoping sights already in use. Through multimillion dollar contracts, the Marine Corps and Army have bought more than 300,000 Trijicon sights.

The references to Bible passages raised concerns that the citations break a government rule that bars proselytizing by American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, which are predominantly Muslim countries.

A spokesman for U.S. Central Command initially said the Trijicon sights didn’t violate the ban and compared the citations on the sights to the “In God We Trust” inscription printed on U.S. currency.

On Thursday, however, Army Gen. David Petraeus, Central Command’s top officer, called the practice “disturbing.”

“This is a serious concern to me and the other commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Petraeus told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

In a statement issued later by the command, Petraeus said that “cultural and religious sensitivities are important considerations in the conduct of military operations.”

New Zealand announced Thursday that they would remove the citations from the sights they have, and Australia, which also uses the sights, is assessing what to do.

New Zealand defense force spokesman Maj. Kristian Dunne said Trijicon would be instructed to remove the inscriptions from further orders of the gun sights for New Zealand and the letters would be removed from gun sights already in use by troops.

The inscriptions are not obvious and appear in raised lettering at the end of the stock number. Trijicon’s rifle sights use tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen, to create light and help shooters hit what they’re aiming for.

Markings on the Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight, which is standard issue to U.S. special operations forces, include “JN8:12,” a reference to John 8:12: “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life,’” according to the King James version of the Bible.

The Trijicon Reflex sight is stamped with 2COR4:6, a reference to part of the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians: “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” the King James version reads.

Photos posted on a Defense Department Web site show Iraqi forces training with rifles equipped with the inscribed sights.

Rev. C. Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith Alliance, said in a letter sent Thursday to President Barack Obama that the gun sights “clearly violate” the rule against proselytizing. Gaddy added that “images of American soldiers as Christian crusaders come to mind when they are carrying weaponry bearing such verses.”

Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, contacted The Associated Press last week about the Scripture citations. He said he had received complaints from active-duty and retired members of the military. Weinstein said he couldn’t identify them because they fear retaliation.

The company’s practice of putting Bible references on the sites began nearly 30 years ago by Trijicon’s founder, Glyn Bindon, who was killed in a plane crash in 2003. His son Stephen, Trijicon’s president, has continued the practice.

“Trijicon has proudly served the U.S. military for more than two decades, and our decision to offer to voluntarily remove these references is both prudent and appropriate,” Stephen Bindon said in the statement.

The statement does not provide an estimate on the removal costs. A company spokesman did not return a telephone call.

The company is also making the same offer to military in other countries that have purchased Trijicon’s rifle sights.

An Army spokesman said Thursday the service was unaware of the coded biblical references until a few days ago.

“It is not the policy of the Army or the Department of Defense to put religious references of any kind on its equipment,” Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings said.

Marine Corps spokeswoman Capt. Geraldine Carey said the service “is making every effort to remove these markings from all of our scopes and will ensure that all future procurement of these scopes will not have these types of markings.”

We are pleased to announce that the 69th Annual Conference of the American Humanist Association will take place June 3rd – 6th, 2010, at the Doubletree Hotel in San Jose, California.

Don’t miss one of the largest gatherings of humanists, atheists, and freethinkers from across the country! The Annual Conference will feature informative breakout sessions, activist training sessions for humanist chapter leaders, banquets honoring distinguished awardees, book signings by celebrity authors, and more!

The Doubletree San Jose is located less than a mile from San Jose International Airport and offers complimentary airport shuttle, contemporary guest rooms, high speed wireless internet access, an outdoor pool, three restaurants, and more.

Book your room early by calling 1-800-HILTONS and mention the American Humanist Association, or reserve online and enter “AHA” under Group/Convention Code to receive the special rate of $129 per night.

Conference registration will be available online in early 2010. Go HERE for the latest updates.