Religious Affiliation in Canada

The results of the 2011 Canadian census are beginning to appear. Indi at Canadian Atheist has prepared a nifty pie chart showing that 63.7% of the population identifies themselves as Christians [2011 National Household Survey religion results].

In second place, at 23.9%, are those who say they have no religion. We know that many of the "nones" will not call themselves "atheists" but they might as well be.

The take-home lesson is that almost 24% of Canadians are not religious. That's up from 16.5% in 2001. Times they are a -changin.

The question on the census was ...

22. What is this person’s religion?

Indicate a specific denomination or religion even if this person is
not currently a practising member of that group.

For example, Roman Catholic, Ukrainian Catholic, United Church,
Anglican, Lutheran, Baptist, Greek Orthodox, Jewish, Islam, Buddhist,
Hindu, Sikh, etc.

Specify one denomination or religion only __________

No religion __________

I think you can see why nonbelievers may be somewhat higher than the numbers indicate.

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On My Failure to Educate an Intelligent Design Creationist

A few weeks ago I decided to give Intelligent Design Creationist andyjones the benefit of the doubt and assumed that he really wanted to understand enough biology to have a credible opinion about genomes and junk DNA. I published a series of posts on Educating an Intelligent Design Creationist: Introduction.

Andyjones has replied to my post with: Getting me an Education.

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My first post was: Educating an Intelligent Design Creationist: Pervasive Transcription. I refuted the misconception that nobody ever investigated pervasive transcription and I explained that we know a great deal about the parts of the genome that are being transcribed, and why they are transcribed. I did not claim that this was solid evidence for junk DNA. That wasn't the point. The point was to teach andyjones that there are explanations for pervasive transcription—we don't call it junk just because we have no idea what's going on.

I also pointed out that using pervasive transcription as an argument for function (i.e. against junk) doesn't really cut it unless you don't understand basic biochemistry. Here's how andyjones responded ...

Larry thinks this (especially the situation from the 80s on) amounts to solid evidence for junk DNA, but I honestly don’t see how it does.

Okay. So my attempt to explain the reality of the situation failed miserably.

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PULP ARK 2013 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD GIVEN TO PULP WRITER!

 Pulp Ark 2013, a Convention/Creators Conference centering around all aspects of New Pulp, was held April 26-28, 2013 in Springdale, AR.   As a part of the convention, the Pulp Ark Awards were given for the third year in a row.  The only comprehensive awards in the Pulp field chosen specifically by anyone wishing to nominate writers, creators, etc. for an award, The Pulp Ark Awards are given in a variety of categories. 

Only one category within the Pulp Ark Awards is determined, not by the vote of the public, but by a committee selected to determine the winner.  The Pulp Ark Lifetime Achievement Award is given to a Person involved in Pulp that has devoted much of their life to participating in the production of and/or furthering the promotion and preservation of and education in Classic Pulp as well as supporting New Pulp either by being a participant or providing encouragement other ways. 

 This year’s Pulp Ark Lifetime Achievement Award Winner as selected by the Committee began his Pulp involvement in the 1930s, finding many of his stories printed in the 1940s and 50s and moving onto other publications with fiction after the Pulps faded away in the mid 1950s.   Born in Texas, this year’s recipient learned much about life that he later translated into great western tales.  Being a self taught Jazz Musician, he saw much in his travels that informed his mystery and suspense stories, many with a Jazz background.  Writing for digests as well as penning his own books well after Pulps left the bookshelves, this author recently collected his stories and has released two date two volumes of work, with the assistance and support of his wife, Patti.  This work has so inspired writers today that a New Pulp Publishing company, Pro Se Productions, has licensed and began an imprint utilizing characters originally written by the author in his early career.

The recipient of the Pulp Ark 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award is Charles Boeckman. 

Upon notification of receiving the award, Charles Boeckman provided the following statement-

“I am very honored to receive the Pulp Ark Convention 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award. This was so unexpected and so gratifying. Until a couple of years ago, I thought the pulps were just a faded memory in the minds of anyone still alive who read them back in their hey day. Then I discovered the vibrant community of pulp and new pulp fans and writers, and my life suddenly took on new meaning. Connecting with pulp fans, republishing some of my vintage stories in anthologies, and finding some of my forgotten manuscripts in an old trunk havereawakened my passion to write, and at age 92, I am once again pounding on the keyboard.

It means so much that I will have concrete recognition of mycontribution to pulp fiction, something that I can proudly display and eventually leave to my progeny. Maybe it will help inspire them in some way.

Thank you so much, Pulp Ark Convention 2013.”

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PRO SE DEBUTS IMPRINT FEATURING NEW TALES OF CLASSIC PULP AUTHOR'S CHARACTERS!

It isn’t often in the modern market that a Publisher gets the opportunity to work with the characters of a Pulp Writer from the Classic era of Pulp Fiction with the involvement of the author.  Pro Se Productions, a leading Publisher of cutting edge Genre Fiction both looking to the future and firmly rooted to the past, proudly announces the debut of a new imprint bringing new life to characters created by prolific Pulp Author Charles Boeckman!

“CHARLES BOECKMAN PRESENTS…” states Tommy Hancock, Partner in and Editor in Chief of Pro Se Productions, “came from the source itself, honestly.  Charles Boeckman, now 92 years old, was a writer of many stories back in the heyday of Pulp and beyond, mostly suspense/mystery and western tales.   Due to his publishing of a collection of his mystery stories, I became aware of his work and absolutely fell in love with the characters he created.  Not only were the stories taut and exciting, but the characters, all of them just appearing the one time, so many of them had series potential.  So, an email or three later to Charles and his wonderful wife, Patti, and I asked about his permission to have modern writers take on some of the characters he’d written into life.  He was enthusiastic and encouraging and now we have the debut of CHARLES BOECKMAN PRESENTS JOHNNY NICKLE!”

Originally appearing in Boeckman’s story, ‘Run, Cat, Run,’ Johnny Nickle was a trumpet player on the run from his own past.  And now, in CHARLES BOECKMAN PRESENTS JOHNNY NICKLE, this unlikely hero makes a return engagement to perform TWO exciting new hits.  NOTES IN THE FOG written by Richard White and THE DEVIL YOU KNOW authored by Brad Mengel push Johnny into mystery and out of it hopefully on a high note.

Charles Boeckman

“This character,” Hancock explained, “is neat on several levels.  A sort of sub genre that is very popular among Pulp and Crime fans is that of the Musician Detective/Hero, usually a Jazz type, like Jack Webb’s Pete Kelly.  Mr. Boeckman’s work is replete with these sorts of characters and each one stands apart, no cardboard cutouts.  Johnny has an edge to him in the original story that both of our authors have maintained, utilizing the rich background Johnny has a trumpet player as well as his own personal background.  It’s even more wonderful that Mr. Boeckman is a professional Jazz Musician and band leader as well, so the original stories come with an authenticity that definitely influenced Richard and Brad.”

CHARLES BOECKMAN PRESENTS JOHNNY NICKLE features a fantastic cover by Adam Shaw as well as cover design and print formatting by Sean Ali and ebook formatting by Russ Anderson! Edited by David White, these two tales are your backstage pass to see Charles Boeckman’s Johnny Nickle tackle mystery and murder with a soundtrack that cooks with red hot women, ice cold killers, triple time thrills and smokin’ jazz!  From Pro Se Productions!

CHARLES BOECKMAN PRESENTS JOHNNY NICKLE is available from Pro Se’s own store at  http://tinyurl.com/c52g4cc and at Amazon at http://tinyurl.com/cz6s2q3 for $8.00!  Available for $2.99 for the Kindle at www.Amazon.com , the Nook at www.barnesandnoble.com, and in other formats at www.smashwords.com!

For more information concerning Pro Se Productions, go to www.pulpmachine.blogspot.com and www.prose-press.com.

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THE SHADOW FAN-- A DYNAMITE LOOK AT THE SHADOW!

The Shadow Fan returns for his 31st episode! This week, New Pulp Author Barry Reese focuses on the newest from Dynamite Comics. He talks up their July 2013 solicitations, takes a hard look at Masks # 6 and then talks about the end of the Victor Gischler run in The Shadow # 12. Barry holds nothing back in talking about the disappointments that have accompanied Masks - and he wonders about the future direction of The Shadow under Chris Roberson's control.

If you love pulp's greatest crimefighter, then this is the podcast for you!

Listen now at http://theshadowfan.libsyn.com/a-dynamite-look-at-the-shadow

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THE KALAMAZOO KID ARRIVES IN PAPERBACK

Fight Card Books has released The Kalamazoo Kid, a Fight Card MMA Novel, in paperback to accompany the ebook release.

About The Kalamazoo Kid:
Authored by Jeremy Brown
Edited by Paul Bishop, Mel Odom

Ray Kurt was one of the first guys to step into a sanctioned MMA fight - back when you scrapped four times a night and didn't wrap your hands until you got to the hospital afterward. Now he trains fighters in his Kalamazoo mixed martial arts gym, searching for someone he can take to the top.

Young fighting phenom Tallis Dunbar might just be that someone, but Tallis comes attached to a whole lot of trouble. Detroit mob fixer Andru Harp wants Kurt to turn Tallis into an MMA beast tough enough to take on the Chicago mob's fearsome fighter, High Voltage - the same man who nearly killed Tallis' brother a year earlier.

For Detroit and Chicago it's all about turf, but for Kurt and Tallis their lives and redemption are balanced on a razor's edge. Kurt is used to fighting with few rules, but now there is only one - survive...

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IDiots Make a Falsifiable Prediction

The Intelligent Design Creationists, otherwise known as IDiots, are getting desperate. They have been relentlessly promoting Stephen Meyer's upcoming book Darwin's Doubt: The Explosive Origin of Animal Life and the Case for Intelligent Design but so far they have pretty much failed to trick evolutionary biologists into trashing the book before it's published.¹ That must be a major disappointment to them.

The baiting continues with an article by David Klinghoffer on the Evolution News & Views (sic) site: What Darwin's Enforcers Will Say About Darwin's Doubt: A Prediction. Here's what he predicts ....

Among possible lines of attack against Stephen Meyer's forthcoming book, Darwin's Doubt: The Explosive Origin of Animal Life and the Case for Intelligent Design, I foresee some critics trying to argue that it's not fair game for Dr. Meyer to invite the general reading public to consider what's going on in peer-reviewed technical literature pertaining to evolution.

After all, biologists should have the opportunity to air their views in a semi-private professional setting without "creationists" barging in and telling the unwashed masses that many scientists have already given up on the Darwinian paradigm and are seeking post-Darwinian alternatives. Even though it's true, still it's wrong to publicize the fact, thereby leading the common folk astray and confirming their prejudice in favor of seeing life and the universe as reflecting some purpose.

This time I will rise to the bait if only for the purpose of preserving this prediction so we can revisit it in the future.

I'd also like to note, for the record, that the IDiots have published a number of books in the past and I don't recall anyone making the argument that Klinghoffer predicts. Can anyone out there point me to an article where scientists criticized the IDiots for pulicizing controversy within the evolutionary biology literature? It would be quite hypocritical for most bloggers to do so since criticizing the scientific literature is what we do.

Is it just my imagination or have evolutionary biologists also published books where they "expose" the controversies within evolution. If scientists do it routinely then why in the world would they criticize an IDiot for doing it? That doesn't make any sense, does it? (Oops, I inadvertently made the false assumption that IDiots are supposed to be rational.)

Finally, Udo Schüklenk alerted me to this creationist article because he is mentioned. Klinghoffer refers to a discussion about the ethics of infanticide and he thinks that his creationist² buddy Wesley Smith is being attacked for exposing a debate within the bioethics community. You should read the papers he links to along with Udo Schüklenk's paper [In defence of academic freedom: bioethics journals under siege] if you want to catch up on that discussion. As usual, the IDiots get it all wrong. Are you surprised?

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1. That's mostly because we don't care. We are not anticipating anything we haven't heard many times before although, I suppose, we could be surprised.

2. Smith is a lawyer and a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute. I don't know what kind of creationist he is.

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