22 ’Adhar 5769: Spacewalk Day/Awkward Moments Day

Greetings.

Worthy causes of the day:  “Zimbabwe in Crisis” and “Don't Let Our Tax Money go to Undeserved Executive Bonuses!”

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. More lack of tolerance:  “9 killed in Somalia flare-up”.
   
2. “Tanzania: Trouble as Strange 'Church' Moves Into Town”: 1) How is anyone supposed to know if someone is possessed by the Devil?  2) Assuming one really is possessed by the Devil, why should whipping and burning the possessee work to get rid of the Devil?  Does this not sound more like doing the work of the Devil than anything else?

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Optimist Pessimist”
  
• “Exposed: How Palestinian Fixers Manipulate their Media Bosses”
  
• “Another asteroid shaves the Earth”
  
• “Mystery over gift-wrapped postbox”
  
• “Bat Hung On For a Ride Into Space”

Today’s weird thing is the possibly pointless garfield minus garfield.  Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

2 Shevaṭ 5769: International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day: “RUSH TO JUDGMENT”.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. The Richard Williamson scandal continues.  Both the Italian bishops’ conference and the Vatican have denounced the Holocaust-denying views of Williamson (see “Italy bishops denounce Holocaust denier” and “Vatican: Comments by Holocaust denier unacceptable”).  No word on Pope Benedict XVI re-excommunicating Williamson yet.  Meanwhile, Williamson himself seems to be increasingly nutty, as evidenced by this bizarre review of The Sound of Music, which is not only pro-Nazi, but also makes some interesting leaps of logic.  (Credit is due to J. L. Bell, who read about this in The Daily Dish.)
   
2. “Tanzania witchdoctors flout ban”: The ban is on using organs from human albinos, procured by murdering people they were part of. Considering that magic only works in the form of psychological effects, this is an extremely high moral price to pay for a placebo. Shame on the witchdoctors, the murderers, and the clients of the witchdoctors!
   
3. More self-promotion: 2009 Darwin Week in Charleston | February 08-15. I am on the panel on the 10th discussing Expelled. Bring your own rotten vegetables.
   

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Doomsday Defense (1994)”
  
• “Digging For the Truth”
  
• “Octuplets stun doctors at U.S. hospital”
  
• This Modern World 2009-01-26
  
• “Astronaut Carving on Ancient Spanish Cathedral”
  
• “Dismantling NCCAM: A How-To Primer”
  
• “IDF: Only 250 of Gaza fatalities were civilians”
  
• “How Gaza was spun”
  
• Relevant to today’s quasi-holiday: “The Holocaust did not begin in the gas chambers - it began with words”
  
• “Vaccines and autism: yet another dead link”
  

Today’s weird thing is Toy-A-Day. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron