Gay Scientists Isolate the Christian Gene

At last, hope for your fundie family members. Turns out, being Christian isn't a choice; it's genetically determined, and only science can save future generations from this affliction.

"We've already prevented this rat from being born Christian and hopefully humans will follow."

Poodle-woman scares the **** out of me

Poodle-woman scares the **** out of me:

Custom Stainless Steel Cocktail Shakers

Some of you may be aware that my main profession is not surviving on the $5.48 of adwords revenue so far generated off this site, but rather via the creation and sale of custom etched and painted glassware over at Woodeye.com. Well one of my most popular items was my 16 oz glass cocktail shakers... right up until my supplier for the shaker tops that fit my glasses suddenly stopped being able to get them. While I kept trying to locate a new source, my supplier kept claiming they would arrive soon... 4 months and counting, and still no shaker tops... and thus no shakers available on my store.

Well I got sick of waiting so I began to experiment with etching and painting stainless steel directly, since there was no shortage of this type of shaker for me to work with (just an utter shortage of the type that will fit the top of my glassware). I read that the paints I use could be used on glass or metal equally well, so I took advantage of that to create these new dishwasher safe, 100% stainless steel shakers. Once I sandblast the surface of the stainless steel it creates little microscopic pores and cavities that then hold the paint perfectly, and once it is oven cured the paints become durable and dishwasher safe.

So please head on over to Woodeye.com to check them out, currently I can make them for you in 15 or 28 oz sizes. I am offering them in Black & Silver for now, but I would be happy to make custom orders in other colors if you would like... the black & silver just look so damn good together!

George's Secret Key to the Universe

Just finished reading George's Secret Key to the Universe by Lucy and Stephen Hawking. It's surprising that this book hasn't gotten more publicity. Stephen Hawking wrote a children's book, and it's good. In some places, the writing is a bit trite and the characters can be one-dimensional, but that's more of a convention of a certain type of children's literature rather than a specific criticism of this book, which does what it wants to do quite admirably. What it wants to do is discuss Hawking's understanding of our universe in a way that's accessible to very young readers. Literally. Although it's 300 pages long (not counting the numerous gorgeous color plates), this is a book for little kids. A clever second grader could get through it alone, and even younger kids could follow the entire story were it read to them. Even adults who couldn't get through A Brief History of Time (gonna take another crack at that one, someday, though) can enjoy and understand this book in its entirety.

The Hawkings create a conflict between good and evil by making the main characters take an oath that scientific knowledge is not used for personal gain or to destroy the world and drawing the antagonist like Severus Snape on a bad hair day (like, the day he switched hair with the bride of Frankenstein). More impressively, they frame the story with the ethos of the ecology-minded, weaving in protest marches and the scientist's understanding that they must work to save their fragile world, even as they search for other inhabitable worlds. Educational, enlightening, amusing, and on par with any children's literature being published today.

Click here to by this book though Amazon at Dragon's Library.

Above Top Secret

Do you enjoy debating who shot JFK, the American government's involvement in 9/11, or the activities of extra-terrestrials in our own solar system? Or do you merely enjoy arguing with those who enjoy debating the above topics? Well, Above Top Secret is the site for you. Boasting "the Internet's largest and most popular community dedicated to the intelligent discussion and debate of 'alternative topics'," Above Top Secret provides the perfect forum for all your conspiracy and mystery needs. Although aliens and Bigfoot figure prominently in the content, readers can rest assured that they are receiving the most reliable, up-to-the-minute information. For one thing, the site's user agreement states very clearly, as the first rule, "You will not post any material that is knowingly false, misleading, or inaccurate."

Regular readers of In the Weird will be pleased to know that Above Top Secret dedicates an entire section to the discussion of cryptozoology.

Happy illumination, boys and girls.

Chalmers Johnson breaks down the US defense budget and bankruptcy in 6 1/2 minutes.

What it doesn't include:

* nuclear weapons (Department of Energy)
* veteran's affairs (Department of Veterans' Affairs)
* foreign military aid (State Department)
* Homeland Security budget (Department of Homeland Security)

* the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (view pdf)

Fiscal Year 2009 request:$515 Billion (view pdf)



Who is Chalmers Johnson ?

The Smiths in Ukrainian - Batyar (Bigmouth Strikes Again)

The Smiths in Ukrainian - Batyar (Bigmouth Strikes Again)

So Cool It's Scary

Science Well on Its Way to Creating Dream-Recording Machine

What is it about a machete?

The pruning shears, awkward and unsharpened, prove no match for the opuntia growing over the brick border in the front yard. The shears' reach and power, insufficient, lead to multiple puncture wounds in my hand as my limbs come dangerously close to the prickly pear's thorns, and do little more than bruise the cactus's watery green flesh. Enter the machete.



We've been talking about xeriscape for three years now. For us, the process would involve 1) poisoning the front lawn to kill the pernicious weeds 2) laying down black plastic to discourage growth of unwanted plants and 3) covering the whole deal with river rock. It occurs to me that the process would be a lot simpler if certain thorny elements (the palm tree, the opuntia, the mesquite) didn't grow quite so close to the ground. The trees go down under the shears with little effort, but that prickly pear, tough and woody at its core, does not respond, except, as I said, to penetrate me with thorns of various size.

The machete, somehow exposed to the elements, has rusted inside its sheath. It takes the Bear and myself, pulling from both ends, to release it. Gobs of ugly, red iron oxide crud mar its fine surface, but the bulk of the disfigurements fall away once I set to hacking. The rhythm comes easily to the hand: swing, swing. The thick chunks of cactus drop. Poor aim slices through tiny pads I mean to spare, but my enthusiasm gets the better of me. Slice. Swing. Slice. The thick, leafy pads, delicious when served as nopalitos, fall to the ground. Handling them is unadvised, but they are easily moved. Just stab them through with the machete's tip, then shake them loose where you want them to go.

The thickest joint resists the blade. The urge is to saw away, but that, of course, is useless. Instead, I find my rhythm, swinging from the shoulder. Swing. Slice. Swing. After a few minutes, even that toughest, woodiest piece is severed. The cactus no longer hangs over the brick border, but keeps to itself closest to the street.

My hand does not want to relinquish the machete. What a wonderful tool.

This looks like a good place to buy a machete. (Since I'm stealing their bandwidth, they get a free plug.)

Chaotic Good in an Unlawful Evil World

If you're a geek (and if you're not a geek, what are you doing here?) you know exactly who Gary Gygax is and what he brought to the world that existed before Bill Gates was a millionaire, in a time when no one could imagine that something like World of Warcraft or Second life would ever hit the mainstream. Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, died this morning in his home, following several years of health problems.

I first played D&D some ten years after its inception, as a middle-school kid in the early 80s. I believe my first character was a thief named Ayla (precocious me, I had just finished Clan of the Cave Bear at the age of 10), and I enjoyed a variety of RPGs throughout high school and college. Eventually, I graduated to more complex worlds--Call of Cthulhu, Paranoia, Shadowrun, White Wolf--before I outgrew the idea of roleplaying. Still, We can't forgot that these games would probably not have existed without D&D. In fact, neither would most video games, or collectible card games. Gygax and Arneson changed our perception of what a game was.

Thanks, Gary. You did this world a good turn. Here's hoping that the next world provides you with a bag of holding, some wicked metal armor, and a +20 sword of kicking ass.