The atheist buses will be on the streets this month, challenging lazy assumptions and encouraging people to be open about their skepticism. Obama takes over in the White House, thrown in the deep end with the economic crisis and the Israelis to deal with, but hopefully better at the job than Bush (no one could be worse, surely). The economic downturn might prompt people to live more frugally, which will be good for the planet, and might encourage environmentally-friendly innovations.

If you go to the Think Humanism site, there’s a quiz to test your knowledge of Darwin and his work. We’ll be celebrating the 200th anniversary of his birth on 12th February this year. Anyone who’s interested in marking the event in Suffolk, please get in touch. Tags: Darwin, Quiz

The third of our stories since the new year to end with a question mark – over at Edge, some of our leading thinkers and scientists were asked the question what will change everything?. Answers range from the discovery of intelligent life from somewhere else through our ability to conquer death to superintelligence, universal translation, climate change and human-chimpanzee hybrids. Someone has pointed out that a human-chimpanzee hybrid has already been achieved, his name is George, and an Iraqi journalist threw a shoe at him a short while ago.

Got family or friends who’d like to know more about Humanism? Know anywhere you could leave some leaflets about Humanism? This double-sided sheet gives a brief introduction to Humanism, encouraging the reader to find out more. File Attachment: WHAT IS HUMANISM.pdf (290 KB) Need to know how to open a pdf file? Click here. Tags: Humanism, Leaflet

Twitter is a free messaging and micro-blogging service – think of a combination of a blog, a messaging service, and a social network. See www.twitter.com for more info. More people all the time are joining Twitter to take advantage of quick, informal messages, the exchange of ideas and links, or maybe just daft comments about what’s going on in the news. The idea is simple – you post a message, people can reply, and you can reply to other messages.

The BHA launched its new website yesterday (6 January). We’re assured they haven’t copied our colour scheme – we were just ahead of the trend.

Atheist ads can now be seen on buses in London and across the UK, thanks to the hugely successful campaign launched by the Guardian’s Comment is Free writer, Ariane Sherine. They read, “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life”. Originally, Ariane appealed for £5,500 to place ads on London buses to counter nasty Christian messages, Prof Richard Dawkins pledged his support, the BHA took on the organisation through the Just Giving website, and the whole thing took off.

Send your family and friends (especially the scientifically confused ones) this Darwin Day greetings card for the 12th February. Spread the word about how wonderful evolution is. It’s designed to be printed on A4 and folded in four, as a notelet. It’s free! File Attachment: Darwin Day card.pdf (226 KB) How do you open pdf files? Tags: Free+stuff, Darwin, Darwin+Day

You can read Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’ online, if you can’t be bothered to buy it. Tags: Darwin, Charles+Darwin, Origin+of+Species

There are some atheist ads on buses from the Eastern Counties garage in Norwich that cross the border into Suffolk. Haven’t yet worked out where all these places are (apart from Bungay) but you might see one if you live near … Arminghall, Attlebridge, Bawdeswell, Bintree, Bowthorpe, Bungay, Caistor St Edmund, Catfield, Costessey, Cringleford, Ditchingham, Drayton, Fakenham, Foulsham, Guist, Heartsease, Hedenham, Hellesdon, Hethersett, Horning, Horsford, Lakenham, Long Stratton, Ludham, Lyng, New Rackheath, Norwich, Old Catton, Poringland, Salhouse, Silfield, Spixworth, Sprowston, Stalham, Sutton, Swainsthorpe, Tasburgh, Taverham, Thorpe Marriott, Trowse, University of East Anglia, Woodton, Wroxham, or Wymondham.

SH&S member & webmaster Nathan Nelson will be on Radio Suffolk. 95.5 95.9, 103.9 or 104.6fm, or online.

On Saturday I conducted a Humanist wedding and a naming at a local Unitarian Meeting House, a wonderful venue at which we are always made most welcome. After the ceremony some people came up to me and said they’d enjoyed the whole thing so much they were going to start coming every Sunday!

Graham Nunn‘s video of the bus launch on 6th January, with Ariane Sherine, Hanne Stinson, A C Grayling, Richard Dawkins and Graham Lineham. Graham Nunn wrote, “The footage is a bit shaky at times, for which I apologise, but it was very cold and I couldn’t stop shivering.” How did Ariane manage to speak without her teeth chattering, in a skimpy T-shirt? Considering how atheists have been maligned by religious critics, who use words like “aggressive” and “militant” to describe the people behind the Atheist Bus Campaign, you can see that the bus launch was a good-humoured affair.

Encouragingly, US President Barrack Obama’s inaugural speech included the words, “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers.” The IHEU reports, “This is believed to be a first for a United States President.” The American Humanist Association is placing an ad in The Washington Post with the heading, “President Obama: Living Proof that Family Values Without Religion Build Character.” In his book, “The Audacity of Hope”, Obama wrote that his mother was a “witness for secular humanism.

The Advertising Standards Authority decided today that the atheist bus ads didn’t break its code. Stephen Green of Christian Voice must be seething, tee hee! All aboard please, ding ding!

Ms Palin is the winner of the 2008 Bad Faith Award, nominated for “Being an election and a heart attack away from controlling the world’s largest thermonuclear arsenal while simultaneously believing that the End Times may arrive during her lifetime.”

A statue of Charles Darwin as a young man will be unveiled at Christ’s College, Cambridge, on 12th February, the bi-centenary of his birth. Sculptor Anthony Smith says he wants to change Darwin’s image from that of a “wizened Victorian gentleman”.

Stonewall, the campaigning organisation for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals, has named Suffolk County Council as being among the top one hundred employers for these groups for the second year running. SCC has “diversity champions” at all levels in its organisation.

If you Twitter, you might add New Humanist to your list.

The more publicity that’s given to the Darwin bi-centenary, the nastier some creationists become. The Atheist Bus Campaign began in reaction to some messages about non-believers burning in a lake of hellfire for eternity, and now that nice David Attenborough is being told he’ll burn in hell, for not giving God credit for his “creation”. A couple of creationists from Clacton wrote a letter to the East Anglian Daily Times about the bus campaign and Darwin, published on 14 January.

Harold Blackham, ‘architect of the British and international humanist movements’ and ‘founder of the British Humanist Association’, died at the age of 105 on 23 January. Read his obituary on the BHA website.

An article by Kate Whiting in the East Anglian Daily Times yesterday refers to the resignation of Prof. Michael Reiss from the Royal Society last year, after he said that Creationism should be discussed in science lessons if students wanted to. File Attachment: EADT creationist story, 28 Jan 09.jpg (527 KB) The article mentions that Reiss was in the working party that drew up the DCSF advice to schools about creationism in 2007, including the need to “respect” religious students’ views.

There’s a new Humanists for Science group on Blogger, affiliated to the BHA. Latest posts ponder whether we’re losing opportunities for science and wonder, and whether atheism fosters immorality? We know the answer to the latter, surely.

The James Hemming essay prize will be awarded in July 2009. The competition is open to any student at a UK school or college studying for AS or A2 levels who will not have passed his or her 19th birthday by 31st March 2009. The subject is “In life, the meaning comes in living”. First prize £1000. Do you know someone who might enter?

Derby City Hospital is haunted, apparently. Maybe it’s looking for its appendix?