Monthly Newsletter. Volume 1, Issue 10 Full Version December 2008 WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!...1 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS...2 CFI TRANSNATIONAL NEWS...

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1 Monthly Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 10 Full Version December 2008 I N T H I S I S S U E WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!...1 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS...2 CFI TRANSNATIONAL NEWS...2 CFI-SAZ COMMUNITY NEWS & EVENTS CALENDAR...4 CFI-SAZ SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES...6 BECOME A CFI MEMBER!...8 LOCAL NEWS & EVENTS...9 EDITORIALS & OPINIONS...9 ABOUT THE NEWSLETTER...12 We Want to Hear From You! The CFI-SAZ Newsletter is currently accepting written material in any of the following areas: Advertising copy for businesses or services that you would like to advertise to fellow CFI members. Original articles, opinion pieces, letters to the editor, or other written works related to CFI and its concerns (please send in.txt or in.doc format). Please see our Editorial Policies & Submission Guidelines. Personal events of note, including births, deaths, marriages, divorces, comings and goings, are also welcome. We are, after all, a community. All submissions should be sent via to the following address: cfisazeditor@gmail.com

2 Questions & Answers What is the Center for Inquiry? The Center for Inquiry is a non-profit organization promoting and defending reason, science and free inquiry in all areas of human endeavor. What are CFI Communities? A CFI Community sponsors local events, lectures, activism, and education programs consistent with CFI s mission. The community consists of rationalists, skeptics and secular humanists in the local area. Communities draw upon volunteers as well as Friends of the Center who are enthusiastic about our agenda and wish to take an active role in promoting our cause. Do I Have to Become an Atheist or Secular Humanist? No. CFI promotes inquiry, skepticism, and critical thinking. While our programs and our causes are likely to appeal most to the non-religious (or at least, the non-fanatical), we are not an evangelical or missionary organization. Do I have to become a Liberal Democrat to Join or Attend? CFI has no interest in promoting the agenda of any political party. CFI Transnational News Center for Inquiry Office of Public Policy Blog The CFI-OPP blog includes press releases, OPP updates, and action items that will allow readers to learn about and participate in the legislative process. The blog is located at and can also be found on the CFI-Washington, D.C. website at For more information about CFI-OPP, please contact Toni Van Pelt, Director of Government Affairs, at tvanpelt@cfidc.org. News from Amherst and Washington D.C. CFI Launches New Blog On December 16, 2008, the Center for Inquiry launched its front-page blog, Free Thinking. Consistent with CFI s mission, the blog offers uninhibited, unsparing, and provocative observations and insights on a variety of topics of interest to CFI and its supporters, including the supporters of CFI's two principal affiliates, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and the Council for Secular Humanism. Bloggers are, at present, members of the staff of CFI (and CSI and CSH) and will include Joe Nickell, Ben Radford, Tom Flynn, D.J. Grothe, Lauren Becker, Debbie Goddard, John Shook, and Derek Araujo Subscribe at CFI Calls Vatican s Position on Biomedical Technology Scientifically Insupportable The Vatican has released a 32-page document concemning a host of procedures considered immoral by the Catholic Church. The Vatican s position has no justification other than religious doctrine, according to the Center for Inquiry, and may have a serious adverse effect on scientific research and the development of medical therapies. - Page 2 of 12 -

3 CFI Rejects Anti-Blasphemy Laws The Center for Inquiry is appalled that, in its current session, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution to combat the defamation of religions, which urges member states to curtail freedom of expression out of respect for religious belief, particularly Islamic belief. Since 2005, such declarations have been pushed by the Organization of the Islamic Conference. In a forthcoming editorial, the editors of Free Inquiry magazine write, The U.N. should be doing everything in its power to stamp out criminal prohibitions of blasphemy and apostasy in Islamic states, not lending them its moral authority. Christopher Hitchens to Provide Keynote Address at CFI s World Congress The Congress convenes from April 9 through April 12, He is most recently noted for squaring off in a series of debates with Christian scholar Douglas Wilson. Points of Inquiry This new section in the newsletter includes selected quotes transcribed from a recent guest on the Point of Inquiry podcast to provoke thought, reflection and discussion in our community. Please your thoughts or reactions about the featured quote, or the interview in its entirety, to our address listed at the beginning of the newsletter. For the uninitiated, a podcast is a digital recording made available for public download through a subscription service. Point of Inquiry explores CFI s three research areas: pseudoscience and the paranormal, alternative medicine, and religion and secularism. You can subscribe to the podcast through itunes or online at pointofinquiry.libsyn.com/rss. Podcast for December 5, 2008: Solomon Schimmel on The Tenacity of Unreasonable Beliefs Solomon Schimmel is professor of Jewish education and psychology at Hebrew College. His newest book is The Tenacity of Unreasonable Beliefs: Fundamentalism and the Fear of Truth. In this podcast, Dr. Schimmel challenges Sam Harris view that moderate religionists make room for fundamentalism and its incipient violence. The question is, is there some notion that the abstract, objective truth is the most important value that people should have? That all that counts is whether something is true or not? I don t know that that s necessarily the case. I would say that there are other values. For example, William James and the pragmatists held that the truth was that which bears positive fruits for life. So if I had a religious system that only had positive consequences, even though it was based on false premises, then fine, if people want to live that kind of life. I think it s important for [religious] moderates to criticize those aspects of fundamentalism that they feel are inappropriate, but that doesn t mean that they can t continue to be moderates in their own religious commitments. I m not convinced at all by Sam Harris argument. He doesn t offer any solid proof to demonstrate the case he s making. In fact, many people would argue that one of the best ways to deal with the problem of fundamentalism is actually to encourage moderate forms of religion and explain or give fundamentalists an opportunity to realize that many of the benefits they get from their religious commitments they can also get in a moderate, non-violent, non-anti-social, much more rational version of their religion. - Page 3 of 12 -

4 CFI-SAZ Community News & Events Calendar Beginning with the December forum, all CFI forum events are available for free to Friends of the Center and students. Visitors will be asked for a suggested donation of $6. Note that an Individual membership of $60 per year covers an entire year s worth of donations at a 20% discount. Special Interest Groups Calendar Special Interest Groups meet each month outside of our regular monthly meeting to conduct more informal discussions around specific topics of interest to our members. We are eagerly seeking new SIGs and new members for existing SIGs to enhance our monthly activities. One suggestion raised was a book discussion group. To join a Secular Inquiry Group (SIG) (except Tucson Secular Families and Tucson Secular Home Theater), Sandra Bidwell at sbidwell@ieee.org or speak to her in person after the Public Forum meeting. Instructions for joining the Secular Families and Secular Home Theater Groups are included in their respective sections below. Please specify the group you want to join, along with your name, address and phone number. Prior to your meeting each month, you will receive a meeting confirmation and detailed directions to your SIG. Arts and Humanism Where: Nanini Library, 7300 N. Shannon Rd. When: Sunday, January 4, 2009, 1:30 3:30 P.M. All things Arts. Marlene would like to know what particularly interests you. Literature? Visual arts? Music? Dance? History? Send your topic suggestions to Marlene at pianistmarlene@yahoo.com. Sign up with Sandra (see above) to receive meeting notices and directions. Books (NEW SIG!) Anyone interested in books? John Thompson is, and he d like to talk with others about starting a new Books SIG next month. He suggests as an initial topic a basic work related to skepticism, for those new to the subject. John would like to know if anyone else is interested and to chat with others who have ideas about starting the new group and how it might operate. Contact Sandra at sbidwell@ieee.org, and she ll put you in touch with each other. Great Religions Where: Southwest Hazard Control Board Room, 1953 W. Grant Rd. When: Sunday, January 24, 2009, 10 A.M.-12 Noon. Led by Jerry Karches, this group listens to and discusses the Teaching Company lecture series, Great World Religions, covering Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism. The next meeting <needed> Those who wish may go to lunch after the meeting. Need a ride? Jerry at jkarches@swhaz.com, or call Social Activities Join the speaker and your fellow freethinkers for food and conversation after the monthly forum. We will have a private room. The cafeteria offers burgers, pizza, sandwiches and salads, and serves hot meals after 5:00 P.M. - Page 4 of 12 -

5 Tucson Secular Families A private online SIG led by Melanie Mallon. This web-based group has informal discussions about anything related to secular family life. To join this group, browse to: groups.yahoo.com/group/tucsonsecularfamilies/ and click on Join This Group! Potential members need to be approved to avoid people invading our cyberspace. Please mention CFI-SAZ to help speed approval. If you have trouble joining, contact Melanie Mallon at darrickandmelanie@gmail.com. Tucson Secular Home Theater Group (TSHT) For the current film schedule and viewing locations, please visit the TSHT web site at RSVP direct to Eric Lee at eric@alysion.org ( ) or Richard Johnson at rictungsten@cox.net ( ). No God. Now What? A Six-Part Course on Secular Humanism Organized and presented by three members of CFI of Southern Arizona Jim Gressinger, Gil Shapiro and Stephen Uhl. These classes are held Sunday mornings 10 A.M. to noon in Duval Auditorium at UMC before our scheduled monthly forum. The remaining sessions are: Session IV. Why So Many Still Believe: The top 10 reasons people believe despite the lack of evidence or logic. The psychology of belief explained. Session V. Atheist Ethics: Can non-believers be moral? A simple godless ethic explained. Session VI. The Benefits of Secular Humanism for All. These sessions have been well-attended. Arrive early to socialize! Monthly Forum Schedule February 2009: Revisiting Darwin s Theory, by Dr. Joanna Masel WHERE: DuVal Auditorium, University Medical Center WHEN: Sunday, February 15, from 1:30-3:30 PM. SUMMARY: The word evolution is very familiar in everyday speech, but some of the ideas and images conjured up by the word have little to do with Darwin s theory. In this talk, Darwin s birthday will be honored by revisiting Darwin s theory and puncturing some common misconceptions. Dr. Masel will also discuss recent attacks on the theory of evolution and its place in the science curriculum. Dr. Joanna Masel is an assistant professor in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona. Her research focuses on the question of evolvability, or the evolution of novelty, using a combination of mathematical, computational, and bioinformatics approaches. She is a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences, an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, and a former Rhodes Scholar. Her web page is located at - Page 5 of 12 -

6 Students for Inquiry For those of you visiting from the University of Arizona, you might be interested to know that we have a campus inquiry student group. Their meetings are on Mondays at 7 PM in the Park Student Union (not the Main Student Union) in the Coati Room. The Faculty Advisor is Guy McPherson. The leader is C. J. Wheelock, and he can be reached at shrax4@yahoo.com. Also, check out their FaceBook page at CFI-SAZ Board Members The CFI-SAZ Board meets regularly to take care of matters of governance and administration. This is the behind-the-scenes work that makes the monthly forums, special interest group, newsletter, and web page possible. To join the board, or to find out more about who we are and what we do, please speak with any of the board members. These are: Sandra Bidwell: SIG (Special Interest Group) Chairperson and Camp Inquiry Liaison. Mark Jones: Newsletter Editor and backup web site operator. Jerry Karches: Liaison to Amherst (CFI Transnational) and Program Chairperson. Guy McPhereson: Advisor to our U of A Campus Group, assistant to program chairperson, and backup resource for our Get Active program. Oh yes, and he s also the Q & A Moderator at programs and events Gil Shapiro: Liaison to Amherst (CFI Transnational), publicity chairperson, contributor and guidance for the newsletter. Jane Tisdale: CFI-SAZ Treasurer, Volunteer Chairperson, and Staff Proofreader with Warren Tisdale for the Newsletter as well as all publicity. Warren Tisdale: Get Active Chairperson, and Staff Proofreader for the Newsletter. Diane Uhl: Membership Chairperson and Secretary. Walt Veasy: Assistant to publicity chairperson and ambassador to other groups George Wheeler-Brownle: CFI/SAZ Website Chairperson and backup newsletter publisher. Administrator and moderator of the CFI/SAZ Board Forum. CFI-SAZ Service Opportunities We are actively seeking people who can volunteer some amount of time and effort to help our community flourish. Projects large and small are in the works: all we need from you is a name and a phone number where we can reach you for a follow-up. Special Request: Purchasing Agent for Inquiry-Based Literature Many of you have noticed, perused, and even purchased literature from our book table. We are actively seeking to have a dedicated person who can find and review books, DVDs, and other materials that are likely to be of interest to our members and that are relevant to CFI s interests. This literary purchasing agent, for lack of a better term, would then, every so often, recommend a list of titles and prices to the community board, which would then issue a check to cover the cost of the purchase. The literary purchasing agent would also staff the book table during the monthly forum, processing and recording any sales transactions taking place. This is an ideal opportunity for anyone who has a love of books and/or worked in a library or for a bookstore. - Page 6 of 12 -

7 Special Request: CFI Keeper of Schwag Schwag is a slang term for promotional items, often distributed for free, including bookmarks, coffee mugs, shirts, caps, pens, pencils, feather dusters, and other harmless accoutrements that have been suitably messaged, branded, copyrighted, and otherwise indelibly imprinted with logos, slogans, aphorisms, and any other promotional gimmicks that we can cram on there. Did I mention, they would be offered free? In any event: we at CFI have our own schwag, and we would like someone with pep, vim, and vigor, who can store, transport, and hand out said goodies to forum attendees. Contribute to the Community Food Bank Each month, CFI-SAZ collects contributions for the Community Food Bank. Started by Joan Cowell over a year ago, this project has contributed over $1,900 to the Food Bank. The Food Bank takes donations year-round. Look for the basket at each meeting and take advantage of this opportunity to demonstrate that we care about our community. Contributions may be made by cash or check. Checks should be payable to Community Food Bank and should show your name and address if you wish to receive a receipt. COMMUNITY FOOD BANK ALSO NEEDS VOLUNTEERS! Contact Kristen Hershberger, the Volunteer Manager, at , Ext. 204 for details. Donate to the Camp Inquiry 2009 Travel Fund Each year, CFI-SAZ with the generous support of Paul Taylor pays for two scholarships to Camp Inquiry, a summer educational program specializing in skepticism, inquiry, and critical thinking. The scholarships pay the camp expenses but do not cover the travel, and those expenses can be a burden for families, particularly in today s economy. We are seeking travel donations for next years scholarship winners. For those who are not interested in obtaining a tax deduction for their donation, simply give your cash or a check made out to CFI-SAZ to the nice people answering questions about Camp Inquiry at one of our tables. For those who want the tax deduction, make your check out to the Center for Inquiry. Make sure to include a note stating that the donation is directed to the CFI Community of Southern Arizona for our Camp Inquiry project, and mail the check and the note to Center for Inquiry P.O. Box 741 Amherst, NY The Amherst office will send a receipt appropriate for tax deduction purposes. Need a Ride? If you need transportation to the monthly forum, see Mark Jones (the newsletter editor) before, during, or after the forum, and he ll add your name and information to the list. If you can offer a lift to someone in your area, or who is on your way, please give that person a call and make those arrangements. - Page 7 of 12 -

8 Become a CFI Member! The Center for Inquiry of Southern Arizona offers many exciting and rewarding opportunities to put your principles into practice. Join other rationalists to work for positive change in society. Please visit our community website at for more information. Our community urgently needs your financial as well as your moral and intellectual support. Please consider becoming a Friend of the Center. For more information, see Diane Uhl, our membership coordinator at the meeting, or visit the Center for Inquiry s national website at Please specify that your contribution is for CFI of Southern Arizona when you join. Community Membership Levels N O V E M B E R, Lifetime Members 2 Patrons ($500) 1 Supporters ($250) 1 Contributors ($125) 8 Families ($80) 18 Individuals ($60) 39 Students ($20) 2 TOTAL MEMBERSHIPS 71 NOTE: A contribution within any membership level is counted as made by a single person, even if the contribution covers multiple individuals (such as for Family memberships). New Friends Please give a warm welcome to this month s new arrivals: Claude Angeli (Individual) John Thompson (Individual) Welcome aboard! Renewing Friends Thanks also to Cynthia Phillips-Brurec (Contributor), Warren & Jane Tisdale (Individual), and Jerry & Judy Walp (Individual), all of whom renewed their membership this month. Forum Attenance Attendees at November morning presentation Attendees at November afternoon presentation of those present were Friends - Page 8 of 12 -

9 Local News & Events Events and services listed here are not affiliated with CFI or the CFI-SAZ Community. Book Discussion: Susan Jacoby s The Age of American Unreason Glenda Martin will facilitate and lead a discussion of Susan Jacoby s book, The Age of American Unreason at the Oro Valley Library. There will be at least 3 meetings for this discussion: December 10, January 14, and February 11 from 11 A.M. to 12:30 P.M. For more information, call Jane Peterson, Head Librarian at the Oro Valley Library. Phone Celebrations & Concerns A Celebrant is a nondenominational, non-religious conductor of ceremonies, including marriage, birth, death, divorce, and rites of passage. Currently Carolyn Niethammer is the one registered Celebrant in Tucson that we know of. She can be reached at , or by at yourceremony@gmail.com. Her website is Save Our Selves: Secular Sobriety and Recovery Thanks to Jim Christopher s popular visit and talk, a new SOS meeting has started. Meetings are Saturdays from 1:30-2:30 PM in the University Medical Center Cafeteria, Dining Room A. Optionally, a Thursday night meeting may also be held if enough people are interested. SOS is not affiliated with CFI or this community. Editorials & Opinions This section features published writings from CFI members as well as selected editorials from other sources. Ideas and opinions expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily those of CFI or CFI-SAZ community. Gil Shapiro Special to the Newsletter Change the Vice-Presidential Selection Process Warning: This commentary is NOT about Gov. Sarah Palin. It concerns a more important issue. It is about the possible danger to our nation if we maintain the current method of vice presidential selection. The overriding criterion for selection of VP (as it has been with all VP nominees) is that person s ability to help the top of the ticket get elected. All other considerations are secondary. Although it is arguably the right strategy politically, its ramifications could threaten the security of our country. If Sen. John McCain had been elected president and then had to leave office, the presidency would have been assumed by an individual who was considered by many as unqualified for that position. (Whether Gov. Palin was or was not qualified is moot.) The take-home lesson from this past election is that our nation must never again be put at such risk. That a vice presidential nominee could be chosen abruptly (and possibly impulsively) at the last minute by - Page 9 of 12 - primarily one man the presidential nominee himself should be unacceptable in a democracy. It is troubling that our government does not provide for a more credible back-up plan to select the person who may need to step into the presidency. Every four years, the nation struggles with who will become our next president. This highly democratic process starts almost two years prior to the election. Presidential candidates discuss and debate before the public. They are interviewed and vetted by the media. A few months before November, a nominee is finally chosen by the voters of each party. In summary, the electorate has had the opportunity to evaluate (ad nauseum) the presidential candidates. When Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain were selected as the nominees of their party, it was acknowledged that the people had spoken. But when, during those long two years, had any thought been given by the electorate (or by even the respective parties) as to the choice for the vice president who is a proverbial heartbeat away from the presidency? Answer: None or very little.

10 By analogy, consider the following: The next time you step into a highly sophisticated commercial jet, glance to your left and contemplate the two individuals seated in the cockpit. Although they are designated as the pilot and co-pilot, both have been certified by their company and by the Federal Aviation Administration as fully competent, by training and experience, to safely fly that airplane through the worst of conditions. The flying public would accept nothing less. But imagine if that copilot had received questionable flight training; had never flown such a complicated jet (with only relatively few hours piloting much simpler aircraft); had never flown into many airports and had given incorrect and incoherent answers to important questions during job interviews. Would you want that person co-piloting your jet? Our method of selecting the vice president could have placed such a co-pilot into the White House. Vice presidential nominees should (must) be chosen (democratically) by their party s full membership, and months, not weeks, prior to the general election. In this manner, qualifications for high office can then be fully considered by the voters. We have to remember that in November, we vote for a ticket of President and Vice President. Let us take seriously the caveat from former Secretary of State Colin Powell: The job of the vice president is to be ready to be President. Only a change in the vice presidential selection process will ensure this happens. Neihbuhr s Aphorism: Bridging the Morals Discussion Les Berlot Special to the Newsletter Religion is a good thing for good people, and a bad thing for bad people. Rheinhold Neibuhr Editor s Note: Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (June 21, 1892 June 1, 1971) was an American theologian. A Protestant, he is best known for his study of the task of relating the Christian faith to the realities of modern politics and diplomacy. He was an important contributor to modern just war thinking. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/reinhold_niebuhr Since I became interested in the secular humanism movement a number of years ago, a problem has become evident to me: communicating with people I come in contact with who are believers to one extent or another on the subject of religion. I find Neibuhr s aphorism useful as a starting point. I do want to clarify, however, what the statement means to me. Are we to take Neibuhr at his word literally or figuratively? I believe there is a certain amount of good and bad in all people (to varying degrees, of course). On the surface, his statement seems to imply that people are either good or bad. Therefore, I contend that we must take the statement figuratively. The unresolved question that arises when discussing this situation is: how do people deal with the bad part of their natures? This is the big subject of how Man obtains morality. The religious person turns to faith (belief), and the secular humanist turns to the reason that lies within his (or her) self. Because all people have the ability to reason, I have the hope that the message of reason, rather than religious belief, to develop morals, can spread. Neibuhr s aphorism provides a lighthearted bridge to helping provide that understanding

11 The Good, the Bad, and the Hopelessly Inane Mark H. Jones As I sat down to prepare this month s edition of the newsletter, I realized that this month is something of a milestone. It s the last edition for Nonholy cow! An entire year of announcing events, groups, meetings, and printing opinion pieces from our own local talent pool as well as reprinting those published elsewhere. We ve also included poetry and reviews from our audience regarding our monthly forums. We now have a printed summary edition and an online full edition. Not a bad effort for what was originally, though not immaculately, conceived as a one-page bulletin. I don t know about you, but I m going to call that a good start. Now, for the bad: On November 24, the United Nations General Assembly approved a draft resolution calling on all countries to alter their legal and constitutional systems to prevent defamation of religions, noting that Islam is frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism. 1 I suppose it would be too much to ask the U.N. to approve similar anti-defamation legislation preventing Muslim creationist Adnan Oktar (the pseudonymous Harun Yahya), Christian Creationist Ken Ham, and Intelligent Design creationist Denyse O Leary from reanimating the Hitler zombie by accusing evolutionary science of promoting eugenics and genocide. I guess it s defamation to offer facts and evidence directly contradicting various sacred scriptures, but not defamatory to assert an unsupported opinion as a fact, provided that it s religious. The Center for Inquiry has called this resolution appalling, and stated further that [T]he U.N. should be doing everything in its power to stamp out criminal prohibitions of blasphemy and apostasy in Islamic states, not lending them its moral authority. 2 I would call the resolution one of cowardice and hypocrisy. O, the defamation! Revel in it, ye of too much faith and too little backbone! 1 No byline. UN Bans Defamation of Religion. Scoop Independent News. November 25, No author. Combating blasphemy at the United Nations. December 10, The honor of hopeless inanity falls, yet again, on President Bush. In his address to the United Nations, he praised the transformative and uplifting power of faith, saying that religious belief leads us to common values. 3 That was on November 13. On November 26, a group of militants belonging to the terrorist group Lashar-e-Taiba (translated as the Army of the Righteous) attacked a number of civilian targets in Mumbai, killing at least 170 and injuring over That same day, police in Afghanistan arrested ten Taliban militants on suspicion of having squirted acid into the faces of fifteen female students and their teachers. 5 The month of November also witnessed violence between Hindus and Christians in the state of Orissa, India, and between Muslims and Christians in the town of Jos, Nigeria. I guess there is a certain transformative, uplifting quality to religion, after all: See you next year. 3 Eggen, D. and Lynch, C. At U.N., Bush Says Faith Leads to Common Values. Washington Post. November 14, 2008; Page A15. 4 No author. November 2008 Mumbai attacks. Wikipedia. Page last modified on December 14, en.wikipedia.org 5 Starkey, J. Militants face death penalty for spraying acid in girls' faces. The Independent. November 26,

12 About the Newsletter The CFI Community for Southern Arizona publishes a monthly newsletter for the purpose of informing our members, guests and interested readers of upcoming events sponsored by the community and its Special Interest Groups. Editorial Staff Mark Jones: Editor Gil Shapiro: Contributing writer and editorial consultant Esther Schnur-Berlot: Contributing writer and staff researcher Jane and Warren Tisdale: Proofreaders Editorial Policies & Submission Guidelines We reserve the right to accept or decline any material submitted to us and to edit submitted material for space or grammatical considerations. Works requiring significant revisions may be returned with editing suggestions. Submissions must be topical, timely, and truthful. Submissions up to 1,000 words in length are considered for publication. Your work must be original. Reprints are acceptable provided the original date and publication are included. Your work must conform to the conventions of American Standard English. Some license may be granted for creative works. Your work must be written in the spirit and language of public discourse. Controversial opinions and views are welcome; verbal abuse, threats, unsupported accusations, and personal attacks are not