Monthly Archives: January 2008

D’Good Idea, Actually

Posted on January 28, 2008 by arensb

Back in November, Dinesh D’Souza asked, “Are Atheists the New Gays?” Dawkins has also suggested that atheists, like gays, should come out of the closet. Well, what if they don’t want to? I don’t know if Dawkins would support “outing” … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism | Tagged | 9 Comments

Sunday Playlist

Posted on January 27, 2008 by arensb

Money, Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon Money, KMFDM, Money Money (That’s What I Want), The Beatles, With the Beatles Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money), Pet Shop Boys, Discography Things I Do for Money, The Northern Pikes, Big … Continue reading →

Posted in :-) | Tagged | Leave a comment

Lyra’s Snacks

Posted on January 26, 2008 by arensb

In case you haven’t read Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, or seen the movie The Golden Compass, or even seen the trailer, a quick recap: In the world where Lyra, the protagonist, lives, everyone has a dæmon, a sort of … Continue reading →

Posted in :-), Geek | Tagged | 2 Comments

No Duh: Bush Lied About Iraq

Posted on January 26, 2008 by arensb

The AP reports: A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks. The … Continue reading →

Posted in News, Politics | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Everyone’s a Critic

Posted on January 23, 2008 by arensb

The LA Times reports Friday’s violence occurred as hundreds of thousands of worshipers across Iraq took part in Ashura rites commemorating the death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of Muhammad who was killed by the army of the Caliph Yazid … Continue reading →

Posted in FFS, Religion | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Mammoth Older than Earth

Posted on January 21, 2008 by arensb

The Mt. Blanco Fossil Museum, a young-earth creationist outfit, is selling a mastodon skull to raise money. As mentioned above, Mt. Blanco is a young-earth creationist organization: We believe that evolution is an old-fashioned theory not substantiated by facts, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Creationism | 2 Comments

I Get Email

Posted on January 12, 2008 by arensb

Apparently, having my name in CPAN is a sign that I know everything about Perl, SOAP, XML, and security. Unless someone can come up with a legitimate reason to send 5000 authentication requests to a web server (including an explanation … Continue reading →

Posted in FFS, Hacking, Perl | 7 Comments

Déjà entendu

Posted on January 11, 2008 by arensb

From today’s news: In an interview broadcast Friday, Bush said there could well be a long-term U.S. presence in Iraq, but it would be on the invitation of the Iraqi government. Now, where have I heard that before? Oh, right. … Continue reading →

Posted in News, Politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Old Media

Posted on January 5, 2008 by arensb

Things I Miss About LPs Big cover art. You could spend hours looking at the details in the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, or feel overwhelmed by the lips on The Cure’s Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellaneous | 4 Comments

Airport Security: Annoying or Pointless?

Posted on January 4, 2008 by arensb

First, here’s an opinion piece by Patrick Smith at the NYT’s “Jet Lagged” weblog, pointing out a lot of the problems with airport security procedures. At every concourse checkpoint you’ll see a bin or barrel brimming with contraband containers taken … Continue reading →

Posted in Links, News | 2 Comments