Not just boot, shafts. I hate cv joints. Every.single.car I've had, they've had to be replaced. But, then, given that track record, I guess they are just something that goes.

I'm finishing off housewarming party leftovers, so the last of the spinach dip bread bowl and some leftover spinach with celery and dressing. And a carambola.

Oh gawd - this made me laugh:

OMG! Stupid Creationist Argument of the Day!

This takes the cake. There is a war between believers and unbelievers because well, read:

I believe that there is another way to approach this fight. Assuming that the ID hypothesis is correct, one can argue that, since humans are the dominant species on earth, the designers must have had a special interest in us when they began their project. My hypothesis is that they are conducting an experiment, the purpose of which is to distinguish between believers and deniers. Given their vast intellect, it is certain that they anticipated the current conflict. If so, it is highly likely that they would have left us a secret message, a message so powerful that its mere publication would cause the collapse of the materialist fortress.

Where, oh where, is this message from the designer(s)? Read on:

Consider that there are lots of mysterious symbolic passages in the Bible that Christians have a hard time interpreting. But what if those passages are actual coded messages for our age, the age of enlightenment? This has been my thesis and the subject of my research for the last eight years or so. I have identified a few passages in the books of Revelation and Zechariah as having to do with intelligence and the human brain. I believe that the Bible contains the secret of intelligence among other things. It is still work in progress but already I have made a few breakthroughs. I recently posted a couple of falsifiable predictions about the human cerebellum. My goal is to use my understanding of the metaphorical texts to design and build a true artificial intelligence. The Christian AI! It is only a matter of time. When that happens, the Darwinian walls will come crumbling down like the old walls of Jericho.

I don't understand what that dude is saying. Is there a Cliff's Notes for the Craxy?

German non-smoker firings story a hoax

German non-smoker firings story a hoax

It was a hoax by a smoker. Who is pro-smoking. How does the hoax help his cause?

It was a hoax by a smoker. Who is pro-smoking. How does the hoax help his cause?

I don't want to think too hard about what it says that I can make a good guess at what the hoaxer had in mind.

Part of it was a misguided attempt at getting empathy so that non-smokers would feel a little bit what smokers go through. Part of it was mental masturbation: the hoaxer would really like to see this happen, and when he wrote it almost believed it. (I'm assuming the hoaxer is a man.)

Timelies all!

Got back last night. Had a good time at the con. Good music, good friends...I hated to leave.

Yes, we totally uderstand the concept of making social plans based entirely on traffic.

Allyson, fwiw, I think that the PhD is a better bet for teaching at a college level. I've been told many times that my MA is not enough, which is why I've thought about going back for the doctorate one of these days. Plus, as everyone said, you don't have to pay tuition.

Journalism is a terminal masters, so I can teach with it. If the second book gets published, it helps a lot as well in regard to teaching.