Lord of the Universe

Synth Britannia

2009-12-30T10:05:00.000-05:00

In 9 parts.

Demi Moore (or her lawyers) need to get a life

2009-12-29T08:49:00.003-05:00

Come on Demi, get out more, see the world, perhaps start dating a younger man....oh right...

Lawyers representing Demi Moore sent a threatening letter to Boing Boing over the holidays which demanded that we remove a post I published in November, or face legal consequences. In the referenced Boing Boing post, I published photographer Anthony Citrano's speculation that a recent W Magazine cover image of the actress may have been crudely manipulated by magazine staff to alter her hip, and appear thinner.

The more you tighten your grasp Demi, the more blogs will slip through your fingers...

Read more here.

Dumb Christians: Was Jesus Wealthy?

2009-12-26T08:52:00.002-05:00

Can't have Jesus Meek and Mild being one of the unwashed poor, now can we?

Each Christmas, Christians tell stories about the poor baby Jesus born in a lowly manger because there was no room in the inn.

But the Rev. C. Thomas Anderson, senior pastor of the Living Word Bible Church in Mesa, Arizona, preaches a version of the Christmas story that says baby Jesus wasn't so poor after all.

Anderson says Jesus couldn't have been poor because he received lucrative gifts -- gold, frankincense and myrrh -- at birth. Jesus had to be wealthy because the Roman soldiers who crucified him gambled for his expensive undergarments. Even Jesus' parents, Mary and Joseph, lived and traveled in style, he says.

Read more here.

Fuck Christmas

2009-12-25T08:08:00.000-05:00

Child killing psychopath opens Wall Street

2009-12-23T14:26:00.000-05:00

Vatican eyes the Staffordshire Hoard

2009-12-22T11:49:00.002-05:00

It has been described as the “stuff of dreams”. It brought one archaeologist to tears at the very sight of it.

But the awe-inspiring Staffordshire Hoard, one of the most important discoveries of Anglo-Saxon treasure in British history, may be whisked away by the Vatican...

...the Christian significance of some of the relics, including a folded cross and a bracelet with a Biblical inscription, that led to a significant phone call to Midland archaeologists from the Vatican...

...the Vatican think[s] it may be the lost treasure of St Edwin

So gimme gimme gimme. I'd tell them to STFU.

Read more here.

Two NYC emergency medical technicians: Today's Scum of the Earth

2009-12-21T19:57:00.000-05:00

Two emergency medical technicians accused of refusing to help a pregnant woman who collapsed in the coffee shop where they were taking a break were suspended Monday, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg called their behavior inexcusable.

Read more here.

HP computers are racist

2009-12-21T15:10:00.002-05:00

LOL. I love a good PR nightmare.

Their excuse is just as lame: "The technology we use is built on standard algorithms that measure the difference in intensity of contrast between the eyes and the upper cheek and nose. We believe that the camera might have difficulty “seeing” contrast in conditions where there is insufficient foreground lighting.

Read more here.

Pushy Christians: Michelle Bachman and the Prayercast

2009-12-21T09:55:00.004-05:00

The Family Research Council Action PAC held an extraordinary "prayercast" event, praying for the intercession of God to change Senators' minds and stop the health care bill.

Read more here.

Sumerians Look On In Confusion As God Creates World

2009-12-21T09:47:00.000-05:00

Members of the earth's earliest known civilization, the Sumerians, looked on in shock and confusion some 6,000 years ago as God, the Lord Almighty, created Heaven and Earth.

According to recently excavated clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform script, thousands of Sumerians—the first humans to establish systems of writing, agriculture, and government—were working on their sophisticated irrigation systems when the Father of All Creation reached down from the ether and blew the divine spirit of life into their thriving civilization.

"I do not understand," reads an ancient line of pictographs depicting the sun, the moon, water, and a Sumerian who appears to be scratching his head. "A booming voice is saying, 'Let there be light,' but there is already light. It is saying, 'Let the earth bring forth grass,' but I am already standing on grass."

"Everything is here already," the pictograph continues. "We do not need more stars."

Read more here.

The Origins of Tidiness

2009-12-21T09:42:00.000-05:00

"A tidy house, a tidy mind." Some of the more slovenly among us might bristle at this scolding old proverb, but to human evolution researchers it makes perfect sense. One of the hallmarks of modern behavior is the sophisticated way Homo sapiens organizes the spaces it lives in, with everything in its place. But new work at a nearly 800,000-year-old hominin site in Israel suggests that the roots of tidiness may lie deep in our evolutionary past.

Read more here.

Stolen Auschwitz sign found

2009-12-21T08:42:00.000-05:00

The "Arbeit macht frei" sign stolen from Auschwitz in southern Poland has been found in the north and five men are being questioned by police.

The five suspects, aged in their 20s and 30s, were not members of a neo-Nazi group, Krakow police said.

The metal sign from the main gate, which symbolises for many the atrocities of Nazi Germany, had been cut into three pieces, they added.

As the thieves should be.

Read more here.

Avatar/Roger Dean/Yes

2009-12-20T13:26:00.004-05:00

Idiot cop pulls gun at snowball fight

2009-12-19T22:16:00.002-05:00

According to an eyewitness, a D.C. Police detective went nuts after kids pelted his Hummer with snowballs at 14th and U Streets NW this afternoon. The veteran detective got out of his car and eventually grabbed for his gun, displaying it to the crowd. He did not immediately identify himself as a police officer. He calmed down once his fellow uniformed cop arrived. Apparently, someone called 911 to report a man with gun. The snowball fight had been well hyped on Twitter.

Read more here.

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Review

2009-12-19T17:39:00.004-05:00

A clever and biting review of The Phantom Menace (in 7 parts), though it is marred by the narrator's droning voice and some very juvenile humour (sorry friend, but rape jokes are not funny).

I can't hear!

2009-12-18T21:50:00.000-05:00

The Staffordshire Hoard

2009-12-18T21:34:00.000-05:00

This hoard is perhaps the most important collection of Anglo-Saxon objects found in England. It compares and perhaps exceeds those objects found at Sutton Hoo. Originally discovered by metal detectorist Terry Herbert in July 2009 and subsequently excavated by Birmingham University Archaeology Unit and Staffordshire County Council.

See the Flickr photo set here.

Hunt for Auschwitz Arbeit Macht Frei sign thieves

2009-12-18T21:09:00.001-05:00

I'd look in Uganda, but that's just me...

Polish police are using a sniffer dog in their search for thieves who took the infamous Arbeit Macht Frei sign over the entrance to Auschwitz.

Detectives and other police officers were sent to the site of the former Nazi camp where more than one million people, mostly Jewish, were murdered.

A replica of the sign, which translates as "Work Sets You Free", has been put up temporarily.

The theft on Friday has caused outrage in Israel, Poland and elsewhere.

Read more here.

The Known Universe by AMNH

2009-12-18T15:52:00.000-05:00

Morally Bankrupt Americans: Aaron Schock

2009-12-18T11:36:00.000-05:00

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Techno Jeep

2009-12-18T11:29:00.001-05:00

BBC: F*ck you and your "debate"

2009-12-18T08:20:00.003-05:00

Peter Horrocks at the BBC tries to apologize for the cold and callous "debate" they tried to open over Uganda and its barbaric new law.

You might have read some of the coverage about a World Service Africa Have Your Say debate yesterday, or my colleague David Stead's blog post about it last night.

The original headline on our website was, in hindsight, too stark. We apologise for any offence it caused. But it's important that this does not detract from what is a crucial debate for Africans and the international community.

The programme was a legitimate and responsible attempt to support a challenging discussion about proposed legislation that advocates the death penalty for those who undertake certain homosexual activities in Uganda - an important issue where the BBC can provide a platform for debate that otherwise would not exist across the continent and beyond.

The man is an idiot, a cold hearted soulless bastard. Debate that.

Obama. You will get fooled again

2009-12-17T12:30:00.002-05:00

Americans on the left are becoming increasingly disillusioned with Obama, and can you blame them?

The news in the last few days has continued the drumbeat of demoralizing events which started in the Bush administration, and with only a few hiccups has continued through the Obama administration. It is clear that Obama is, fundamentally, Bush's 3rd term.

Read more here.

BBC and Uganda: Go F*ck yourselves

2009-12-16T23:39:00.002-05:00

Just when you thought the world wasn't slimy enough...

The British Broadcasting Corp. suffered criticism from lawmakers Wednesday for inviting debate on whether homosexuals should face execution in Uganda.

The broadcaster launched an on-line debate over a proposed Ugandan law that would punish some homosexual acts by life imprisonment or death. Legislation being considered in the African country would impose the death penalty on some gay Ugandans, and their family and friends could face up to seven years in jail if they fail to report their homosexuality to authorities.

BBC's "Africa Have Your Say" Web site asked for people's views on whether Uganda has gone too far and whether there should be any laws against gays.

The page's title was originally "Should homosexuals face execution?" but was later changed to "Should Uganda debate gay execution?" Several British politicians said the taxpayer-funded broadcaster should not treat the execution of gays as a legitimate topic for discussion.

Read more here.

Time Magazine: Corporate press at its worse

2009-12-16T16:52:00.002-05:00

Ben Bernanke Named TIME Person Of The Year

I myself would have named Neda, the woman killed by thugs in Iran.

Read more here.