Bucky fans take note: Scientists have worked out how to pack the most sweets into a packet, and it turns out that Smarties really do have the answer. Also, a group of scientists at The Scripps Research Institute has designed, constructed, and imaged a single strand of DNA that spontaneously folds into a highly rigid, nanoscale octahedron that is several million times smaller than the length of a standard ruler and about the size of several other common biological structures, such as a small virus or a cellular ribosome.
Archive > February 2004
Iraq news round-up… Julian Borger, “Ex-judge on Iraq inquiry ‘involved in cover-up’” … Scott Ritter, “Confronting the Theocracy of Evil” … Gary Younge, “Ignorance is no excuse“
Just like Rev. Onan Canobite of the Church of the SubGenius said, in his critique of the New Age movement, ‘if you think good thoughts you can excuse yourself from good deeds.’ Case in point: feast your eyes on the activities of Tvind as reported by the Chicago Tribune.
Some religious essays worth reading from around the world … “Four years ago Jonathan Aitken lost his libel case against the Guardian and was jailed for perjury. Now he has launched a new career as a preacher and spiritual writer. Here he talks about faith, forgiveness and ‘doing your Richard.’” “She should have been at school, studying for her GCSEs in order to fulfil her ambition of becoming a doctor. Instead the 15-year-old Muslim girl was at home yesterday explaining why her religious beliefs meant she had not set foot in a classroom for the last 18 months” … “Four Catholic nuns say they have received death threats after exposing an organ trafficking network allegedly operating in northern Mozambique. The traffickers are said to target the sex organs of children, which are sold to make magic charms” … “”Four Nigerian men were charged with plucking out the eyes of a 13-year-old schoolboy for use in witchcraft” … ” “During a performance of a visiting group of Tibetan monks Tuesday night, a large group of Catholics started praying loudly and disrupting the event” … ” “An American Airlines pilot terrified passengers when he… asked Christians on Friday’s flight to raise their hands. He then suggested non-Christians talk to the Christians about their faith. He went on to say that ‘everyone who doesn’t have their hand raised is crazy‘” … and so much more!
Thanks to The Guardian for a report on the British Library’s online collection of the dialects and accents of Northern England. And thanks to the Times for a report on the language of the Middle Chulym [google cache].
PETA slips more than one million dollars to “Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine” to speak against eating meat. And a takeover of the Sierra Club is underway formed of a union between anti-imigration advocates and people who think the Sierra Club should speak out against the domestication of animals. Kooks, I say.
In ye olden days of antiquity, did you read the zines INSIDE JOKE or FOUR ALARM FIRE SIGNAL? Well, now you can read publisher Elayne’s blog. Here in the future.
No praise is high enough for GIRLS ARE PRETTY.
President George W. Bush gave US $43 million to the Taliban government of Afghanistan as a reward for their efforts in the “war on drugs.” That was around May of 2001. President Bush had full knowledge that Osama bin Ladin, responsible for attacks on US embassies in Africa, was operating out of Afghanistan. Then there’s that silly human rights thing about the Taliban – how dare the imperialist West impose its morals on the East! And, well, bombing the living daylights out of Afghanistan a few months later made one wonder about the wisdom of dropping US $43 million shortly before.
So…. how is the drug trade in Afghanistan doing today?
Discards (photographs that time forgot) and Campus Cuties (eight plastic toy figurines introduced by Louis Marx & Co. in 1964) are both the work of http://www.scrubbles.net/
Fametracker is the farmers almanac of celebrity worth.
Jumpin’ Jesus, it’s another great Jan Crouch fan site!
How much of a sense of humor do Macintosh users have? Oh, about this much.
The Raving Atheist is an atheistic examination of the culture of belief: how religious devotion trivializes American law and politics
Mimes? Nyet! Whistling? Da! – Josif Kobzon
Do you know some stuff about where you are, or somewhere else? Perhaps you’d care to contribute to Wikitravel. Example: Portland, Oregon, USA.
“Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity In Words of Four Letters or Less.” Aside from the title, delivers the goods. Thanks to the Reality Carnival.
