The Brights' Bulletin
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Issue #38
(Note that links in archived Bulletin issues may no longer be valid.)
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BRIGHTS CENTRAL (BC) ON LOW POWER
This is a reminder that BC is hopping about with only intermittent Internet communications throughout July. The data base continues to take in the registrations of new Brights, but the new registrants will not be getting their typical "welcome message" (personalized to their comments) for a while. For some reason, BC is not getting its usual copy of the registrations from Democracy In Action. With both Co-Directors on the road and Webmaster Kevin on holiday until mid-month, it will be a bit before this will be taken care of. Nevertheless, all else is running smoothly and the Forum is at full speed, too. Keep the projects rolling!
CO-DIRECTORS REPORT IN FROM EUROPE
It is now June 30th. Should you be following our journey, put a pin into your map at Swiss Cottage, London, where we are staying while following around Mary Shelley's footprints and bumping into Brights. (By now you should have a pin already in Reykjavik, Iceland.)
We are "back in business" on the laptop now, although we started off here quite badly by totally blowing out the room circuits at our hotel with an adaptor (purchased in USA) that the hotel's engineer reported without a wink: "Oh, we have SO-o-o-o much trouble with THOSE." Now we must tote the quite dead device all around for a month to hope for a refund, or toss it away.
ICELAND CONFERENCE
The international conference that initiated our trip to Europe is now concluded, and we hope to post a bit about it sometime in the coming month when our situation better permits. We had brought along a small box of buttons to hand out to any Brights we might happen to meet along the way and are pleased to report having unloaded quite a few from our luggage. We were delighted to able to meet Furiku, a very bright Bright of the younger generation who made the trip from Sweden for the conference. In her role in the administration of the Brights' Forum, she has worked very hard for her small reward – the first of the buttons to be bestowed. Quite a pleasure, too, to see Richard Dawkins sporting the lapel pin he was gifted.
LONDON BRIGHTS
The visit with the London Brights is tomorrow evening in (where else?) a pub. Thank you to Glen for arrangements! The location is just off Oxford Street. The whole top floor is reserved for the presentation, but with the World Cup in competition, who will be there? We expect a lively follow up Q & A along with the refreshment. It is a ticketed event (for the food, not the talk, we understand). ;-)
BRUSSELS FOR IHEYO
On Sunday we train to Brussels. The Brussels excursion was not initially in our plans, but we are taking the side trip at the invitation of Gea Meijers, of the International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organisation, who arranged for a panel discussion in Ghent to address the challenges of international endeavors. There, we will be in conversation with Sonja Eggeric, President of UVV (Union of non-religious/freethinker organisations in Flanders) and the IHEU (international humanist and Ethical Union). Following that, it is then on to Paris for some informal meetings with assorted Brights.
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MORALITY PROJECT TO REAWAKEN
Upon BC's return to home base, plans will be put underway to address the arena of morality. This is the project that was given highest priority by the constituency for centrally coordinated actions. The project was temporarily suspended as prior means (forum communications) proved not to be suited to making progress. A new strategy is to be pursued beginning in August.
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MERCHANDISE UPDATE
LAPEL PINS NOW AVAILABLE VIA PAYPAL
You can now order either by check or PayPal. Discounts for multiples over 10. Please be patient. Another supply of Brights lapel pins will be obtained in early August in response to the quite surprising demand. The items can be seen and ordered at:
http://www.the-brights.net/movement/merchandise.html
LOGO-FREE OPTION
Do you want a T-shirt that says "All Natural – It Suits Me!" or "Brights and Supers – One Humanity, One World" or "Living on the Bright Side of Life!"? Now you can have the maxim with or without the Brights' logo. It's up to you. Shopkeeper Diane arranged for the new option at the request of a Bright who prefers to have a maxim to entice inquiring minds and kick off his conversations.
http://www.cafepress.com/brightsshop
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HEARING ABOUT THE BRIGHTS
Every now and then we take sampling of comments from new registrations to give a taste of the movement's appeal to people who learn of it. This time we will examine how various people have been filling in the portion of the registration form that shows how they learned about the Brights in the first place. These are taken every tenth registration in a sample period.
How did you hear about the Brights?
link from Richard Dawkins' page in Wikipedia / my mother / browsing the Joomla! Forums / via 3 Quarks Daily blog / skepchicks article / Infidel Guy interview / an internet article / Googled it after reading Wieseltier's review / JREF / Skeptic's Dictionary / reading Dennet's "Breaking the Spell" / my wife / Web discussion forum / Odifreddi's mathematics book / atheist group / a colleague / humanist meeting / an article on Salon.com / all on my own / Richard Dawkins readings / by chance while surfing / evolvefish.com / from a Bright / IHIQS forum / Dennet's lecture at TAM4 / Science Friction by Michael Shermer / stumbled upon / Skeptic magazine / a long chain of weblinks / media reports / a friend / Open University chat room / Judge Tosti's petition / Internet search for ‘Dawkins' / a link on a MeetUp site / Wikipedia entry / edge.org
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A VISUAL IDENTITY FOR BRIGHTS
Activists and supporters of the Brights' endeavor can play a role in helping people to recognize and reach The Brights' Network. The website has guidelines for "branding the movement" to work with human psychology and help more people "catch on" to the fact that something is going on. These guidelines help to make harmony across various modes of communication (website banners, signature lines, flyers, etc.).
The "rules" to follow are located in the Brights' Visual Identity Materials at:
http://www.the-brights.net/movement/downloads/
Of course, the notion of heeding "rules" (of consistency) almost certainly is "against the grain" for many Brights. Most of us hold in high regard such notions as creativity and free expression and individuality. Thus, the idea of abiding by conventions goes counter to our inclinations.
Nevertheless, a degree of pragmatism on the part of those who take seriously the aims and principles of this movement will definitely be appreciated. The visual harmony will reinforce people's opportunity to learn what it is we all stand for – a level playing field that furnishes persons whose worldview is naturalistic the same footing in society as citizens who believe in the supernatural.
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TAILINGS
Definition and goals of the organization: http://www.the-brights.net
Brights' Forum (open 24/7/365): http://www.the-brights.net/forums
Archive of all prior Bulletins:
http://www.the-brights.net/movement/bulletin/archive.html
Link to Amazon.com (you pay normal amount and The Brights' Net gets a donation): http://www.the-brights.net/people/books/
Brights' Shop (merchandise): http://www.cafepress.com/brightsshop
Sustaining The Brights' Net: http://www.the-brights.net/action/support
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BRIGHTS CENTRAL INFO
Co-Directors: Mynga Futrell and Paul Geisert: the-brights@the-brights.net
Webmaster and Forum Consultant: Kevin Schultz: webmaster@the-brights.net
CafePress Shopkeeper: Diane Reed: bright-stuff@comcast.net
Adjunct Volunteers -- Web Architect: Theo Skye / BLC Coordinator: Tammy Richard /
