Sillysparrowness, a self-described "German teacher with a leaning towards silliness," described the process by which she came to build a beautiful, obsessively finished Tardis.
Coming to Kindle and Smashwords
November 2013
Jan 27, 2012
HOWTO build a Tardis, the adorable German schoolteacher way ( this is f**kin great!!!)
Sillysparrowness, a self-described "German teacher with a leaning towards silliness," described the process by which she came to build a beautiful, obsessively finished Tardis.
great....that should help there math scores....
Indiana Creationism Teaching Bill Moves Forward In State Senate
First Posted: 01/26/2012 3:02 pm Updated: 01/26/2012 9:09 pm
The Senate Education Committee voted 8-2 Wednesday to present the bill to the full Senate, the Associated Press reports.
Creationism, a theory with origins in the Bible's Book of Genesis, suggests that divine power created man, animal, and all earthly matters. The idea is an opposing view to the science-based theory of evolution.
If the bill passes, Indiana school districts will have the option to include creationism as part of science courses, Indianapolis' WXIN reports.
The bill was sponsored by Republican Sen. Dennis Kruse, head of the Indiana State Senate's Education Committee.
Kruse previously proposed similar legislation in 2000 when he served as a state representative. That bill never made it past a committee vote, according to the Journal Gazette.
Indiana isn't the only state to examine the possibility of adding creationism to school curriculumOklahoma, New Hampshire and Missouri have all looked at similar bills designed to encourage a critical look at evolution theory, the Wall Street Journal observes.About 60 percent of high school biology teachers teach evolution in the classroom without taking a direct stance on the issue LiveScience reports.
The article states:
Based on respondents' write-in answers, the researchers surmised that many of these cautious teachers toed the line, weakly teaching evolution without explicitly endorsing or denying creationism in order to avoid controversy and questions from both students and parents.
Only 13 percent of the teachers surveyed in the nationwide study published in the journal Science said they support creationism and teach it "in a positive light."
Indiana Sen. Scott Schneider said he voted in favor of SB 89 because students should be taught various theories on the origin of life, according to the Northwest Indiana and Illinois Times
Scandal Rocks Vatican, Whistle Blower Archbishop Vigano Was Transferred Against His Will
The Vatican was shaken by a corruption scandal Thursday after an Italian television investigation said a former top official had been transferred against his will after complaining about irregularities in awarding contracts.
The show "The Untouchables" on the respected private television network La 7 Wednesday night showed what it said were several letters that Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, who was then deputy-governor of Vatican City, sent to superiors, including Pope Benedict, in 2011 about the corruption.
The Vatican issued a statement Thursday criticizing the "methods" used in the journalistic investigation. But it confirmed that the letters were authentic by expressing "sadness over the publication of reserved documents."
As deputy governor of the Vatican City for two years from 2009 to 2011, Vigano was the number two official in a department responsible for maintaining the tiny city-state's gardens, buildings, streets, museums and other infrastructure.
Vigano, currently the Vatican's ambassador in Washington, said in the letters that when he took the job in 2009 he discovered a web of corruption, nepotism and cronyism linked to the awarding of contracts to outside companies at inflated prices.
In one letter, Vigano tells the pope of a smear campaign against him (Vigano) by other Vatican officials who wanted him transferred because they were upset that he had taken drastic steps to save the Vatican money
"Holy Father, my transfer right now would provoke much disorientation and discouragement in those who have believed it was possible to clean up so many situations of corruption and abuse of power that have been rooted in the management of so many departments," Vigano wrote to the pope on March 27, 2011.
In another letter to the pope on April 4, 2011, Vigano says he discovered the management of some Vatican City investments was entrusted to two funds managed by a committee of Italian bankers "who looked after their own interests more than ours."
LOSS OF $2.5 MILLION, 550,000 EURO NATIVITY SCENE
Vigano says in the same letter that in one single financial transaction in December, 2009, "they made us lose two and a half million dollars."
The program interviewed a man it identified as a member of the bankers' committee who said Vigano had developed a reputation as a "ballbreaker" among companies that had contracts with the Vatican, because of his insistence on transparency and competition.
The man's face was blurred on the transmission and his voice was distorted in order to conceal his identity.
In one of the letters to the pope, Vigano said Vatican-employed maintenance workers were demoralized because "work was always given to the same companies at costs at least double compared to those charged outside the Vatican."
For example, when Vigano discovered that the cost of the Vatican's larger than life nativity scene in St Peter's Square was 550,000 euros in 2009, he chopped 200,000 euros off the cost for the next Christmas, the program said.
Even though, Vigano's cost-cutting and transparency campaign helped turned Vatican City's budget from deficit to surplus during his tenure, in 2011 unsigned articles criticizing him as inefficient appeared in the Italian newspaper Il Giornale.
On March 22, 2011, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone informed Vigano that he was being removed from his position, even though it was to have lasted until 2014.
Five days later he wrote to Bertone complaining that he was left "dumbfounded" by the ouster and because Bertone's motives for his removal were identical to those published in an anonymous article published against him in Il Giornale that month.
In early April, Vigano went over Bertone's head again and wrote directly to the pope, telling him that he had worked hard to "eliminate corruption, private interests and dysfunction that are widespread in various departments."
He also tells the pope in the same letter that "no-one should be surprised about the press campaign against me" because he tried to root out corruption and had made enemies.
Despite his appeals to the pope that a transfer, even if it meant a promotion, "would be a defeat difficult for me to accept," Vigano was named ambassador to Washington in October of last year after the sudden death of the previous envoy to the United States.
In its statement, the Vatican said the journalistic investigation had treated complicated subjects in a "partial and banal way" and could take steps to defend the "honor of morally upright people" who loyally serve the Church.
The statement said that today's administration was a continuation of the "correct and transparent management that inspired Monsignor Vigano
The show "The Untouchables" on the respected private television network La 7 Wednesday night showed what it said were several letters that Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, who was then deputy-governor of Vatican City, sent to superiors, including Pope Benedict, in 2011 about the corruption.
The Vatican issued a statement Thursday criticizing the "methods" used in the journalistic investigation. But it confirmed that the letters were authentic by expressing "sadness over the publication of reserved documents."
As deputy governor of the Vatican City for two years from 2009 to 2011, Vigano was the number two official in a department responsible for maintaining the tiny city-state's gardens, buildings, streets, museums and other infrastructure.
Vigano, currently the Vatican's ambassador in Washington, said in the letters that when he took the job in 2009 he discovered a web of corruption, nepotism and cronyism linked to the awarding of contracts to outside companies at inflated prices.
In one letter, Vigano tells the pope of a smear campaign against him (Vigano) by other Vatican officials who wanted him transferred because they were upset that he had taken drastic steps to save the Vatican money
"Holy Father, my transfer right now would provoke much disorientation and discouragement in those who have believed it was possible to clean up so many situations of corruption and abuse of power that have been rooted in the management of so many departments," Vigano wrote to the pope on March 27, 2011.
In another letter to the pope on April 4, 2011, Vigano says he discovered the management of some Vatican City investments was entrusted to two funds managed by a committee of Italian bankers "who looked after their own interests more than ours."
LOSS OF $2.5 MILLION, 550,000 EURO NATIVITY SCENE
Vigano says in the same letter that in one single financial transaction in December, 2009, "they made us lose two and a half million dollars."
The program interviewed a man it identified as a member of the bankers' committee who said Vigano had developed a reputation as a "ballbreaker" among companies that had contracts with the Vatican, because of his insistence on transparency and competition.
The man's face was blurred on the transmission and his voice was distorted in order to conceal his identity.
In one of the letters to the pope, Vigano said Vatican-employed maintenance workers were demoralized because "work was always given to the same companies at costs at least double compared to those charged outside the Vatican."
For example, when Vigano discovered that the cost of the Vatican's larger than life nativity scene in St Peter's Square was 550,000 euros in 2009, he chopped 200,000 euros off the cost for the next Christmas, the program said.
Even though, Vigano's cost-cutting and transparency campaign helped turned Vatican City's budget from deficit to surplus during his tenure, in 2011 unsigned articles criticizing him as inefficient appeared in the Italian newspaper Il Giornale.
On March 22, 2011, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone informed Vigano that he was being removed from his position, even though it was to have lasted until 2014.
Five days later he wrote to Bertone complaining that he was left "dumbfounded" by the ouster and because Bertone's motives for his removal were identical to those published in an anonymous article published against him in Il Giornale that month.
In early April, Vigano went over Bertone's head again and wrote directly to the pope, telling him that he had worked hard to "eliminate corruption, private interests and dysfunction that are widespread in various departments."
He also tells the pope in the same letter that "no-one should be surprised about the press campaign against me" because he tried to root out corruption and had made enemies.
Despite his appeals to the pope that a transfer, even if it meant a promotion, "would be a defeat difficult for me to accept," Vigano was named ambassador to Washington in October of last year after the sudden death of the previous envoy to the United States.
In its statement, the Vatican said the journalistic investigation had treated complicated subjects in a "partial and banal way" and could take steps to defend the "honor of morally upright people" who loyally serve the Church.
The statement said that today's administration was a continuation of the "correct and transparent management that inspired Monsignor Vigano
Jan 26, 2012
"My Favorite Museum Exhibit": The Bishop's Rectum
Earlier this week, I challenged readers to send me photos of their favorite museum exhibits and specimens, preferably from museums that might go overlooked in the tourism pantheon. Over the next few days, I'll be posting some of these submissions, under the heading, "My Favorite Museum Exhibit". Want to see them all? Check the "Previously" links at the bottom of this post.
It's "My Favorite Museum Exhibit"—celebrity edition. Marc Abrahams is the editor of the Annals of Improbable Research, the journal that awards the annual Ig-Nobel Prizes. He sent me this: An actual rectum cut from the corpse of the Bishop of Durham. It resides in London's Hunterian Museum.
Here's the museum's description of Object RCSHC/P 192, as quoted by Abrahams in a 2010 Guardian column:
It's "My Favorite Museum Exhibit"—celebrity edition. Marc Abrahams is the editor of the Annals of Improbable Research, the journal that awards the annual Ig-Nobel Prizes. He sent me this: An actual rectum cut from the corpse of the Bishop of Durham. It resides in London's Hunterian Museum.
Here's the museum's description of Object RCSHC/P 192, as quoted by Abrahams in a 2010 Guardian column:
A rectum showing the effects of both haemorrhoids and bowel cancer. The patient in this case was Thomas Thurlow (1737-1791), the Bishop of Durham. Thurlow had suffered from some time from a bowel complaint, which he initially thought was the result of piles. He consulted John Hunter after a number of other physicians and surgeons had failed to provide him with a satisfactory diagnosis. Hunter successfully identified the tumour through rectal examination, but recognised that it was incurable. Thurlow died 10 months later.
more gingrich esoterica....
Among all of the surreal events that have occurred so far in the 2012 election, we haven't seen Jon Stewart
get quite as worked up as he did on Monday night's "Daily Show" over something Newt Gingrich said at last Thursday's debate in South Carolina.
When CNN moderator John King began the debate by asking Gingrich about his second wife's accusations that he wanted an open marriage, Gingrich responded with an attack on the moderator himself. He said King's decision to ask a Presidential candidate about such matters was, "as close to despicable as anything [he] can imagine."
"I think you've got a pretty good imagination, 'despicability' wise," Stewart responded, in reference to the presidential candidate's well-documented past of leaving sick wives. At this point, Stewart was exasperated over Gingrich's audacious response as well as John King's failure to call him out on it. Stewart explained, quite hysterically, why it made him as frustrated as it did:"All [King] has to do is point out the hypocrisy of a family values crusader who presided over Congress at the time of the Republicans' 'Clinton penis scavenger hunt' suddenly finding that kind of questioning of a Presidential candidate unseemly! Point out that [Gingrich] insists that gay people would sully the sanctity of marriage -- whilst being a career marriage sully-er!"Stewart's blood pressure didn't exactly drop for the rest of the segment, appropriately dubbed "How The Newt Gingrich Stole South Carolina," especially after he moved on to talk about Gingrich's claims of being a "Washington Outsider" despite being a former Speaker of the House and Freddie Mac consultant -- not to mention a wealthy D.C. resident.
"When Washington gets its prostate checked, it tickles you!" Stewart joked.
Watch the full segment above.
the stupid mans idea of a smart man vs. the guy who looks just like the guy who fired you
New CNN Florida Poll Finds Mitt Romney And Newt Gingrich Neck And Neck
WASHINGTON -- A new poll from CNN/ORC International confirms that Newt Gingrich has surged in Florida, but unlike some of the other polls released earlier in the week, it finds the former speaker now running neck and neck with Mitt Romney and suggests that Gingrich's Florida tide may be ebbing.
The latest CNN survey, conducted entirely after Gingrich's victory in South Carolina on Saturday using live interviewers, shows likely Republican primary voters in Florida divided between Romney (at 36 percent) and Gingrich (34 percent), with Rick Santorum and Ron Paul running far behind (with 11 percent and 9 percent respectively) and 7 percent undecided.
Although the full CNN/ORC sample is small -- just 369 likely Republican primary voters -- additional subgroup data shows that on Sunday night, Gingrich led by six percentage points (38 to 32 percent), but on Monday and Tuesday nights, Romney led by nine percentage points (38 to 29 percent). CNN's analysts conclude that Gingrich's momentum "appears to be quickly cooling off" after an initial boost following his victory on Saturday.
Combining data from all the available public polls and calculating an aggregated trend line, as we do on the HuffPost Pollster chart shown below, shows a razor-thin margin, with Gingrich at 35.5 percent and Romney at 33.7 percent.
Although the full CNN/ORC sample is small -- just 369 likely Republican primary voters -- additional subgroup data shows that on Sunday night, Gingrich led by six percentage points (38 to 32 percent), but on Monday and Tuesday nights, Romney led by nine percentage points (38 to 29 percent). CNN's analysts conclude that Gingrich's momentum "appears to be quickly cooling off" after an initial boost following his victory on Saturday.
Those findings paint a somewhat different picture of the Florida trend than the Quinnipiac University poll released earlier on Wednesday, which showed Gingrich running six points ahead (40 to 34 percent) on interviews conducted after the South Carolina primary on Sunday and Monday.
Another live interviewer survey conducted on Monday and Tuesday nights by the American Research Group shows Romney leading by seven points (41 to 34 percent). Taken together with the results of a series of automated, recorded-voice surveys conducted earlier in the week, these results suggest that although Gingrich has clearly surged following the South Carolina primary, Romney may have rebounded over the last 48 hours.
Whether the differences among the polls this week are based on real shifts among the voters or artifacts of differences in polling methodology, the wide variation in recent results is further evidence of the continuing volatility roiling the Republican presidential race. Like the Quinnipiac University survey released earlier, the CNN/ORC found about a third of likely voters saying they might still change their minds about the candidate they are supporting (25 percent) or are completely undecided (7 percent).
So don't be surprised if the polling snapshot at the end of the week looks different than it does right 
US slumps in press freedom rankings
In this year's Reporters Without Borders international press freedom index, the U.S. slumped to 47th place, a fall of 27 places, largely due to arrests of journalists covering protests. The full report is available in PDF format. [RSF]
Shrooms may open the doors of perception, seriously (duh)
New research suggests that taking psilocybin, the hallucinogen in magic mushrooms, may actually lead to a decrease in the amount of blood flow in certain parts of your brain. Scientists at Imperial College London injected subjects with psilocybin and scanned their brains. Turns out, they observed a reduction in neuronal activity and blood flow in core regions of the brain like the thalamus and cingulate cortex. From Science News:
“Decreasing the activity in certain hubs in the network may allow for a more unconstrained conscious experience,” says Matthew Johnson, an experimental psychologist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore who studies psilocybin and other hallucinogens. “These drugs may lift the filters that are at play in terms of limiting our perception of reality.”
Newt promises moonbase (of course he does...)
Newt promises moonbase
"By the end of my second term we will have the first permanent base on the moon."
Jan 25, 2012
Vintage Photographs of Arcane Americana
A year ago, I posted about Take Me To The Water, a terrific book/CD set and exhibit of river baptism photos from the 1880s - 1930s. The photos were from the collection of Jim Linderman, who has a terrific eye for weird art, antiques, ephemera, and of course vernacular photography. Jim has just published a new book -- Vintage Photographs of Arcane American -- and judging from the samples online, it's a doozy. You can purchase the paperback or e-book via Jim's site, Dull Tool Dim Bulb.
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