I went to a local health and beauty spa today, Spa Martinique. I had done something to my neck yesterday – I have a history of “throwing it out” going back to childhood and later in college. I’d been thinking of finding a good local “aaaah spa,” the kind of place where you walk in the door and the atmosphere of serene calm (and the scent of expensive emollients) is designed to make you say “aaaah.” I’d been to one in Salt Lake but didn’t know if I’d have to schlep all the way downtown or not. A few days…
-
-
Such a platitude: “The suspense is killing me.” In Zimbabwe, the suspense is killing democracy: the Zimbabwe Election Commission has been slowly announcing results in a piecemeal fashion, with suspiciously neck-and-neck results when the numbers posted outside every polling station previously seemed to presage a much bigger majority for the opposition party (or parties, as there’s a split). Mugabe must go someday. But when? Now it appears that he’s started a “crackdown.” The suspense could be killing people for real, very soon. This is Zimbabwe
-
As a religious liberal who enthusiastically embraces reality (and whose favorite college class of all time was Evolution 101/102/103 long ago), I have to savor the following: The Questionable Authority : Summary Judgment in California Creationist Lawsuit: Bottom Line, and What’s Next (Part 1 of 3) This means two things: first, the question of whether or not the University of California can reject courses from the Christian schools under any circumstances has been settled in favor of UC. The judge ruled that UC has a compelling reason to pick and choose the “content” and “viewpoints” that they will accept as…
-
PZ Myers got pulled out of the line for a private screening of Expelled, the creationist “documentary” by a rent-a-cop at the producers’ request. But his guest, Richard Dawkins, was not recognized. IM N UR THEETRE, MOCKIN UR DOGMAS! See all 1200+ comments for more enjoyment of the delicious irony at Pharyngula: EXPELLED! As seen various places, most recently OneUtah UPDATE: A video of a post-expulsion discussion between Dawkins and Myers is here. [kml_flashembed movie="http://media.richarddawkins.net/video/2008/RDPZweb.mov" width="426" height="260" wmode="transparent" /]
-
I can’t explain why I find these little adventures of the French-German action hero funny and strangely compelling; they just are. In this one, Klaus wigs out in several languages and takes off into a park wearing a pirate shirt and puffy pants, which he gives back. BBtv – Klaus Pierre, French-German Action Hero in Training in America: Pirate Musical of Epic Fail – Boing Boing
-
Why blog? Some people have fun and go to big conferences. Many people simply enjoy putting their words up on the net. Others get the word out about specific topics or interests. And for a few people, blogging is a moral imperative, a matter of life and death, because the truth must be told from within the borders of a country gone mad. This is Zimbabwe is such a life-and-death blog. Mostly it chronicles the difficulties of life in a poor country inflicted with government corruption, hyper-inflation, and the uncertainty of how to get through day-to-day life when you never…
-
Stephen Fry » Blog Archive » Bored of the dance Many reasons, all perfectly valid and many of them funny and some of them poignant, prevent Stephen Fry from enjoying the feeling of moving around in time to music. Also, he declares war on the idea that Americans are “irony illiterate.”
-
Archaeology in Europe: 02/01/2008 – 03/01/2008 “The story of Neanderthal extinction is one of the most intriguing in all of human evolution,” author Simon Underdown told Discovery News. “Why did a large-brained, intelligent hominid that shared so many traits with us disappear?” Maybe they became zombies…
-
First off, the folks at Conservapedia seem mighty obsessed with hot! gay! Sex!, which sets up this most excellent quip: Q: How many Republican politicians can you fit in the closet? A: Evidently, all of them. h/t to » Conservapedia: Still Obsessed » The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century : Joey deVilla’s Personal Blog.
-
My friend Ellen’s husband runs a blog about archeology, and today it had an item about the Church of England’s current upheaval… no, not that upheaval, the one about the fancy bishop’s palaces going on the market because they’re perceived as an extravagance in an era when ordinary parish priests have trouble making ends meet. Archaeology in Europe: 02/01/2008 – 03/01/2008 Resplendent with moats, gatehouses and banqueting halls, bishops’ palaces are among some of the grandest buildings in the country.Now, however, the historic homes, which have belonged to the Church of England for centuries, could be sold off in a…