Jessica Ahlquist, a Rhode Island atheist, won a suit against her school's prayer poster.
Gretchen Ertl for The New York Times

CRANSTON, R.I. — She is 16, the daughter of a firefighter and a nurse, a self-proclaimed nerd who loves Harry Potter and Facebook. But Jessica Ahlquist is also an outspoken atheist who has incensed this heavily Roman Catholic city with a successful lawsuit to get a prayer removed from the wall of her high school auditorium, where it has hung for 49 years.

A federal judge ruled this month that the prayer's presence at Cranston High School West was unconstitutional, concluding that it violated the principle of government neutrality in religion. In the weeks since, residents have crowded school board meetings to demand an appeal, Jessica has received online threats and the police have escorted her at school, and Cranston, a dense city of 80,000 just south of Providence, has throbbed with raw emotion.

State Representative Peter G. Palumbo, a Democrat from Cranston, called Jessica "an evil little thing" on a popular talk radio show. Three separate florists refused to deliver her roses sent from a national atheist group. The group, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, has filed a complaint with the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights.

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Why are all the major religions consumed with sex? What makes sex so important, whether Buddhism or Islam, Christianity or Mormonism? What is the impact of religion on human sexuality? This book explores this and more. It ventures into territory that has never been examined. You will be surprised at how much religion has influenced your sexuality, who you marry, the pleasure you get or don't get from sex, and what you can do about it.

Purchasing via the links below helps support RDFRS
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Gingrich's wasteful, scientifically unsound plan to put colonists on lunar soil.

Newt Gingrich
PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images

Newt Gingrich described himself as a visionary when he unveiled plans Wednesday to create a mammoth new space program, including a permanent colony on the moon within the next nine years. Within eight years, he pledges a new Mars rocket program—specifically, a "continually operating propulsion system) capable of getting to Mars within a remarkably short time." He also reiterated his plan to declare at least part of the moon as U.S. territory, with colonists capable of petitioning for statehood status.

There is little doubt that Mr. Gingrich believes in big ideas. Unfortunately, however, there is a difference between big ideas and good ideas. After all, being a visionary doesn't mean abandoning practicality altogether but rather harnessing it creatively to make new things happen.

Put aside that Gingrich was speaking in Florida, the state most invested in space exploration and, by happenstance, the next up on the Republican primary schedule. Let's consider cost first. The Apollo missions to the moon cost in excess of $100 billion in current dollars. In 2005, NASA administrator Michael Griffin estimated the cost of a program to land four astronauts on the moon by 2018 (as was then planned), at $104 billion.

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[Update 1/27] - Closing Statements
Another one from Bala and Nirmuktavideos
The video quality is not good on this one as it was from an audience member's camera but the sound seems ok

Thanks to Miranda for the link

D4 FL 07 from Dreamcast on Vimeo.

There are also some other videos from Jaipur on their website
Link to the 3 Quarks Daily post

A few videos below thanks to Bala at Nirmukta. He posted links in the comments below but they've been added up here at the top to make sure others see them.

Richard Dawkins Q&A, session 1

Richard Dawkins at Jaipur Literary Festival, India, answers audience questions

Richard Dawkins support for Salman Rushdie

Richard Dawkins reads a statement in support of Salman Rushdie during the Jaipur Literature Festival after Salman was kept out of it because of protests by Islamists. Even the virtual conference was later cancelled.**Man has replaced god: Debate (edited).

Man has replaced god: Debate (edited).

Jaipur Literature Festival final day debate. The (poorly framed) motion was later changed to "Does god exist". Full video will be uploaded soon. The speakers are, Prof.Richard Dawkins, Javed Aktar, Suhel Seth, Aruna Roy, Swami Agnivesh, Prof.Salim Engineer, Ashok Vajpayee, Qaisra Shahraz.

Book reading by Richard Dawkins and Lalla Ward.

Richard Dawkins and Lalla Ward read from Dawkins' books Magic of Reality and Unweaving the Rainbow at Jaipur Literature Festival.