It seems the internet and this site, as well as many other of similar form and function are reaching thinking people everywhere.  Welcome!

Some other like-minded folks in Wise County, Texas and yours truly have organized the Wise Free Thinkers and Skeptics MeetUp and all are invited to participate either from long distance or in person.  See the MeetUp website to find us.  Cheers all!

@Ken Huges - why don't you post a link to the "Meet Up" Website? When did Texas start allowing free thinkers? Do we need a Green Card? I wouldn't want to get shot by the Border Patrol --

Wise County - isn't that just west of the Muslim Cemetery on Hwy 280?

My pleasure and honor,

http://www.meetup.com/Wise-Free-Thinkers-and-Skeptics/

And yes, Wise County, an oxymoron for the most part, is west of the Modlem graveyard, which is east of the Jehova's Witness weirdness, so-called Kingdom Hall on 380, not 280.  I live 5-miles east of Decatur out in the country where one can almost see one other home in the winter only and it's quiet and incredibly peaceful and home security is not an issue unlike Fort Lauderdale where we had bikes stolen off of our front and back porches at various times.

You're a little off, Ken - the Muslim Cemetery is west of the Jehovah's Witless church, not east.

I registered for your site, but it asked for my real name, and I never give that to anyone. We'll see if my request is accepted.

Meanwhile, you might enjoy checking out my website, www.in-His-own-image.com - some here read it regularly. It's intended to be read like a book, so it's best to open any page, scroll to the bottom, where you'll find a button marked, "FIRST" - clicking on that will take you to the beginning, after that, navigation is self-explanatory.

Who knows, you might find substance for one of your meetings - my daughter (bless her little pea-pickin' heart) hosts Bible Studies in her home every Sunday - the idea of an "Un-Bible" Study appeals to my perverse nature!

@Ken Even better, if anyone is passing by Cairo make sure to meet up with us. First round on me :)

Mohamed - I'll try to make it, should I bring chips and dip?

BTW, for any interested, the Avaaz website, containing the Malala petition to be presented to the Pakistani President upon completion of one million signatures, in an effort to pressure Zardani into providing safe schools for Pakistani girls, is temporarily down, thanks to Hurricane Sandy, but at last count, there were nearly 850,000 signatures. It should be back up shortly, hopefully today, as no one can sign until it is.

@archaeopteryx Thanks for the link of the Paki President. 

Well for the chips and dip no need come and taste Sakanaky, Kobaba and Somosa :) cant be explained but tasted ;)

I've harbored a fantasy of visiting Egypt for most of my life that to this point has reached its 68th year, so it has been a while.  I came close once, but no banana.  I've read so much about Egypt from ancient history to modern times that I need to put some actual experience on my fantasy.

The Malala site is still down, I'll let you know when it's back up.

The invitation sounds great - I love trying different foods, and having lived six years in Mexico, I've come to love spicy food.

My greatest concern is that I'd be arrested by the Morality Police for whistling at girls - there's just something about a woman in a drab, formless burqah that really turns me on - I'm an eye man!

@Ken Well its time you come then, try and catch up before they ban alc. Egypt is really cool for a visit actually

@archaeopteryx hahah eye man, soon they will even cover that, we still dont have Morality Police here "Coming soon" though :)

@Monica - isn't religion great? Don't you think we need lots more of it?

That little boy is gone, and that poor woman will have to spend the rest of her life, living with what she's done, but mark my words, she will never once blame her religion!

She also hit him with a hammer, a rolling pin and a slipper.

and of course you can blame Satan for all this madness  ... typical

Children are not for hitting.

www.thinkatheist.com/group/athiest-stoners

This is a very important group the name says it all.. its by our very own Ziad and Mohamed 

OBAMA WON!!!!!

Congrats archaeopteryx, you got no crazy guy in the White House but you still have the kinda useless guy which is better in a way :)

Actually, Mohammed, I don't believe he's quite as useless as you might believe - he hasn't been able to get Republicans to work with him, has been part of the problem, but now that he doesn't have to concern himself about being re-elected, he can afford to twist arms for the next four years and hopefully get a lot more done.

I guess the next serious issue, is short of complete world capitulation, what would be required to turn angry, Islamic jihadists into peaceful Islamic neighbors?

@archaropterx i think turning angry jihadists into peaceful neighbors is a very very optimistic opinion. He might do something useful this time though as you say for the American people. 

Oh I think he's already done a lot of useful things for the American people - you have to understand that the American people are still recovering from 8 horrible years of "W," who, along with some bad business practices by some of W's corrupt cronies on Wall Street and in the petroleum industry, nearly bankrupt this nation. And Obama also had to struggle with a Republican-dominated House of Representatives, who was determined to create such a gridlock that Obama wouldn't be able to accomplish anything over his 4-year Presidency, and thus make it easy for him to be defeated in 2012.

Obviously that didn't happen, and now Obama has nothing to lose and the Republicans nothing to gain, so they should be able to work more closely together during the next 4 years. The US will recover nicely, IMO.

It's the International scene - the conflicts between Islamic theocracies and democracy, the conflicts between Israel and most Arab nations, and the Persian Problem, that I would like to see him take the lead on.

Here's a blog some of you might have an interest in:

No fun in heaven

October 29, 2012 at 2:12 am Taslima Nasreen

I've been following Taslima Nasreen ever since i read her book Raja.. she's a very interesting person .. i love her

Good to know - there are so many cool ex-Muslims out there. If there were only some way to neutralize that Islamic death threat for apostasy, I'm guessing there would be droves of bail-outs.

Not really great news, Guys --

Egyptian Islamists rally for Shariah law

This will be ugly

I can't imagine it's spontaneous, I'm guessing planned an organized by Islamists trying to force their beliefs onto the entire country.

@archaeopteryx well dont worry me and a couple of guys were there with them walking and hearing their stupid chants while drinking beer.. The truth is eventually those islamists are gonna start fighting one another over whose version of sharia is correct and i hope when this happens it will be our time to shine :)

Is it safe to organize and demonstrate openly for a more secular government? It seems to me that loss of tourism dollars would be a good selling point. Pakistan, for example, is not exactly the tourism capital of the world!

If anyone runs across someone who's riding the fence, who hasn't really decided which way to go, offer them this, and ask them to just think about it --

Hey guys... Is there a chat room for this group ? Please let me know if it does exist..Cheers

actually there is no chat room for the group, however u can help yourself with the wall and say whatever u want ..or u can add a topic for all of us to discuss.

You can also chat privately with an individual, off of the public chat room, though I'm not entirely sure how to do it. I just know that others have opened chat windows to me that way.

kOrsan would be a good one to ask, or I'm sure it can be figured out, with enough effort. Possibly, by  checking several boxes in your "Friends List," you can initiate chats with multiple friend, but I'd suggest emailing the site administrators for instructions.

@Skeptical Wanderer - Nice seeing you here too buddy

Evolution !!??

De-volution!

851,383 - the Malala petition is up and running once again, but we were at 835,000 before Hurricane Sandy, when the website was knocked offline, and we're only a bit above that now, as you can see. We still need nearly 150,000 signers, so if you know anyone who hasn't signed but might like to, please ask them to do so at http://www.avaaz.org/en/malalahopenew/?slideshow

This is a little old - September - but I thought I'd put it up anyway --

Egyptian Teenager Eman Mostafa Who Was Groped 'Spat In Attacker's Face An...

Egyptian female activists have warned of a disturbing trend in violence against women after a 16-year-old girl was allegedly gunned down for spitting in the face of a man who tried to grope her.

Only guys with your healthy outlooks can prevent Egypt from becoming another Pakistan:

Pakistan court sentences man to death for blasphemy

FYI - Malala's petition is at 875,018 and climbing every second, despite the interruption by Hurricane Sandy!

@archaeoteryx In Pakistan you have liberal areas like Islamabad and Lahore (that actually has a red area - called Hira Mandy which translates to Diamond Market) and really screwed up places that implement sharia like N.W.F.P, i am hearing though that its becoming extremely conservative, we are doing what we can here though - lets see if you can jump over the apparent inevitable dark ages

@David N Yeah i know how you feel you found the right place check you inbox

@Mohamed - we're just now finally crawling out of ours, and yours still has quite a ways to go, but the key to both is education.

@archaeopteryx the only way might be to do what India did, make closest communities for the smart and let them develop for the rest. Still that will be impossible as the current system (the whole system) is great for islamists.

@David N forgot to tell you something dude, its not the nuts that are the problem as you can avoid them, the real problem are the schizophrenic ones who sit and drink then say "Oh may allah help me stop this sin" - retards to say the least

Its frustrating alright but you get used to it and learn to deal  - adaptable species we are ;) I am sure it will all end, its just a matter of time 

It sounds like an almost closed, self-sustaining system, which is difficult to destroy, as a perfect, closed, self-sustaining system permits no outside input.

The Achilles heel lies with those Islamists sufficiently affluent  as to be able to send their children to Universities outside their respective countries, who come back with a more secular outlook, and who, by their relative affluence and superior education, may be in a better position to lead their countries out of the Islamic Dark Age. But that's a long, evolving process.

My granddaughter spent her fourth grade year in elementary school, sitting at an adjoining desk with a young Islamic boy, and was hurt when his father sent him back to Pakistan to live with relatives, because he was becoming too "American." That's sad.

Someone might want to pass this on to Egyptian authorities, they might learn something!

Tunisia will not allow Islamists to impose vision: PM

TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's Islamist-led government will not allow puritanical Salafis to enforce their vision on a country grappling with the role of Islam in a once rigidly secular society, the prime minister said on Tuesday.

"Militants who have used violence are few, but they can not impose their vision on our country and our people. We will not allow them ... Tunisia will remain moderate," Hamadi Jebali, who belongs to the Islamist Ennahda party, said in an interview.

"We will face religious fanaticism through law and be strict with all violators without exception, but we will address the root cultural and social causes by combating poverty and creating jobs," Jebali said.