Well. That was disappointing. And now I'm sitting here trying to post the next LB Friday and all I can think is that Jerry B. Jenkins was also the co-author of Out of the Blue: Orel Hershiser, which makes me think of the last time the Mets had a Game 7 in the NLCS, and that didn't end well either. But hey, they finally won Bobby Cox's division. Then they limped into the postseason with Glavine & Maine and pray... Read more
From the business section: news of a pill that might help treat Type 2 diabetes. The disease, the article tells us, "affects about 20 million Americans," and around the world, "Diabetes is expected to affect 350 million people by 2025." These statistics are quoted here, in the business section, because Andrew Bridges of the Associated Press seems to think they indicate a large potential market for the pill's maker, Merck, and thus a good investment opportunity for those looking... Read more
From comments, toxicfur writes: When I was a kid and my first pet (a rabbit) died, I made a comment that at least I'd be able to see poor Wiggles in heaven. My dad, a fundie and an asshole, explained that animals don't have souls — they just cease to exist, and that I'd never see the rabbit again. It seemed perfectly reasonable to him, but I was devastated. My mom — a much more reasonable person — explained that... Read more
Left Behind, pp. 221-225 So how do you spend the first lazy Sunday of the end of the world? Rayford Steele, we're told, went to church. Afterwards, the Rev. Bruce Barnes invites him to lunch. "I'd want to call my daughter first, but sure," Steele says, doing his part to maintain the phone-calls/pages ratio for the book. Considering that a third of the planet's population disappeared without a trace just a few days earlier, you'd expect people to be a... Read more
Nothing really matters in the end you know "Not Alone," Patty Griffin "Not for Me," Marshall Crenshaw "Not Going Down," Green "Not Pretty Enough," Kasey Chambers "Not That Kind of Girl," The Frogs "Not Today," Christine Havrilla "Nothing Compares 2 U," Prince "Nothing Compares 2 U," Sinead O'Connor "Nothing Is Good Enough," Aimee Mann "Nothing Lasts," Matthew Sweet "Nothing Man," Bruce Springsteen Read more
I came across some encouraging news while browsing over at the Christian Worldview Network. (That's a sentence I never expected to write.) Someone named Coach Dave Daubenmire has written an open letter to James Dobson begging him to form a third party for conservative Christians and to draft Roy Moore, the disgraced former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama, to run for president in 2008. Daubenmire's proposal, I'm sorry to say, is not likely to happen. Dobson, the... Read more
The following sentences appeared in the paper on Sunday: Handwriting analysis, called graphology, is a scientific method of interpreting personality through script. One of the oldest psychological studies, handwriting analysis can reveal more than 300 character traits, including thinking patterns, achievement traits, communications skills, levels of stress, possible addictions, certain potential physical problems, and tendencies toward secrecy, deception, self-deception and excessive fantasy. This is, to use the technical term, a big, steaming pile. It's even worse in the context of... Read more
The following was posted by Jim Macdonald over at Making Light. Cross-posting it here because it's that important. – – – – – – – – – – – – ATTENTION U.S. MILITARY PERSONNEL You are not required to obey an unlawful order. You are required to disobey an unlawful order. You swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. The Constitution states (Article VI): This Constitution, and the... Read more
I smile and sign the papers with some disappearing ink "Mr. Baylis," Kasey Chambers "Mr. Brightside," The Killers "Mr. Flutter," Terry Scott Taylor "Mr. Jones," Counting Crows "Mr. Novocaine," Don McCloskey "Mr. Sharky," The Swirling Eddies "Mr. Wendal," Arrested Development "Mr. Wrong," Cracker "Mrs. Robinson," The Lemonheads "Mrs. Robinson," Simon & Garfunkel Read more
In a sad and tragic news week, one smaller sad story: former Phillies organist Paul Richardson died Monday at age 74 (more here from the Inky). The recorded sound effects they play at ball games now can be fun, and the repertoire of pop songs is finally expanding beyond Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll," but there's still nothing like a stadium organ for pumping up the crowd, and the home team, and making you feel like you're at a ball... Read more
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