inkbluesky

Down in the Valley (2005) - just because some guy seems nice and well mannered that doesn’t mean he’s not wrapped a little too tight.

I Want You (1999) aka Beloved - just because a woman is beautiful, charming and sympathetic doesn’t mean she isn’t capable of evil.

Some one once told me and I’ve heard it repeated a few times since, that getting along with other people is one of the hardest, never ending tasks we have in life. I think it would be eaiser in some cases if we had some kind of special radar that allowed us to see beneath the persona they put on.

framed lake

Teenager faces prosecution for calling Scientology ‘cult’

A teenager is facing prosecution for using the word “cult” to describe the Church of Scientology.

The unnamed youth was served the summons by City of London police when he took part in a peaceful demonstration opposite the London headquarters of the controversial religion.

Cult is not a completely inaccurate description of Scientology, but the ardent practitioners of many religions have cult-like qualities. Very strict Catholics, fundamentalist Evangelicals and Pentecostals, Mormon polygamists, fundamenalist Sunni Muslims and Hasidic Jews all come to mind. Out of that group I have to give Hasidic Jews credit for not being big on recruitment.

capital rotunda and courtesy some of your tax dollars from the Capitol’s official site,

Bulfinch created in the Rotunda an ambitious orchestration of architecture, sculpture, and painting. The curved sandstone walls are divided by fluted Doric pilasters with wreaths of olive branches carved in the frieze above. Eight framed niches hold large historical paintings. Four revolutionary period scenes were commissioned by Congress from John Trumbull in 1817: Declaration of Independence (44k), Surrender of General Burgoyne (49k), Surrender of Lord Cornwallis (30k), and General George Washington Resigning his Commission (29k). They were placed between 1819 and 1824. Four scenes of early exploration were added between 1840 and 1855 : Landing of Columbus (28k) by John Vanderlyn, Discovery of the Mississippi (31k) by William Powell, Baptism of Pocahontas (29k) by John Chapman, and Embarkation of the Pilgrims (34k) by Robert Weir.

There is also, inexplicably a bust of Christopher Columbus up there.

16% of US science teachers are creationists

The researchers polled a random sample of nearly 2000 high-school science teachers across the US in 2007. Of the 939 who responded, 2% said they did not cover evolution at all, with the majority spending between 3 and 10 classroom hours on the subject.

However, a quarter of the teachers also reported spending at least some time teaching about creationism or intelligent design. Of these, 48% – about 12.5% of the total survey – said they taught it as a “valid, scientific alternative to Darwinian explanations for the origin of species”.

Let’s have “Alternative” explanations for everything. We could have a few hours of flat earth theory, a couple hours of cryptozoology, or maybe a few hours on Cherokee beliefs about the earth as floating sphere in a sea held up by clouds or one of my favorites the Aboriginal Songlines about how rivers and mountains were sung into existence. At some point there is the possibility that the nation’s science teachers will teach little but subjective truths. I wonder what they’ll call this new subject because it won’t be science anymore.

Dear Natalie1981- I only have three blogs on my blogroll ( Cinematical is a strange case). I personally like each of them and they each excel at the particular niche they’ve carved out for themselves. I don’t think I’m even on their blogrolls. Out of a couple thousand clicks maybe two will click those people. To me blogrolls are more of an acknowledgment, a kind of tip of the hat then a way to drive traffic. For now I’d like to keep my as is. You’re off to a nice start and I sincerely wish you success in cultivating a readership. Nerd News- News that geeks will love