Things have been awful quiet ’round theseyere godless parts.  That’s mostly my fault with a smattering of their fault thrown in.  I’ve annoyed Criss enough so that he’s in a snit and no longer speaking to me*; Rosanne is being abused by students and children alike and loves it, though it makes her yawny.

I am in the process of a move from Los Angeles to New York and my mental state is disintegrating apace.

So, since I am facing a shivering mountain of work with a first-thing-in-the-morning deadline, I decided that one good way to avoid doing it would be to post a couple of interesting links I’ve been enraged by or made thoughtful by in the past day or so.  Enjoy!

The next podcast will come.  The schedule is simply iffy right now.  But there certainly isnt a dearth of things to talk about, and we do intend to talk about them until you just can’t take it anymore.  Criss is looking forward to hate mail very much.  I would really hate to disappoint him.

A really interesting Metafilter thread about something called “Possibilism,” or being a possibilian.

From Jo’s Dictionary of Irascible Explanations:

Possibilian:  Someone who is such an incredible wuss that they dont even have the balls to call themselves an agnostic because they dont want to be considered that damn spineless.  This is meta-cowardice on an almost infinite level.  A small part of me (a very small part of me) actually admires how far they’re going to avoid having to actually make up their minds about anything.

An explanation of Russell’s Teapot via Wikipedia, which is very interesting.  It is linked the Metafilter discussion above, but I think it’s interesting enough to put it in your face.

From CNN, the National Enquirer of main stream media (No, Fox News is the inbred cousin of the Weekly World News, and you know it):

Connecticut Bishops Appalled at the Possibility of Being Held Accountable for Anything All, Pretty Much

The Vatican, after a typically numb period of time during which they aggressively blamed everyone else for the fact that like 98.7% of their priests fuck little kids and the hierarchy did everything in its power to cover it up, seems to have gotten an inkling that people find this attitude frankly unacceptable and released a statement admitting that okay, maybe we do have some small modicum of responsibility here, but can’t we let bygones be bygones?  Can’t we all just get along?

Unfortunately, the ink on the statement was barely dry before a newly revealed pedophilitastic coverup dating from 1985 sprang up, totally harshing their mellow.  Poor guys just can’t catch a break, can they?  Well, not if Darth Benedict has anything to do with it, apparently.  It’s bad enough when your priests are insatiable babydiddlers, but when the Man who Would Be Pope is busy running around behind them covering things up, youve got some ’splainin to do, Lucy.  It certainly doesnt help when you’ve got all these whiny parishoners stepping forward explaining – in grisly detail – their own very special experiences with trusted parish priests.  I can see what those bishops in Connecticut are so worried about.

And to wrap things up in fine style, here’s the story of Elham Assi, a 13-year-old girl from Shueba who bled to death after being tied down and raped by her 23-year-old husband.   Apparently her husband felt anxious to prove his manhood.  So anxious was he, in fact, to prove to all the world that he was a man that tearing her vaginal canal wasn’t enough for him.  After she was brought back from the hospital, he did it again.  Anally.  What a stud!

In Yemen, “proving your manhood” is evidently done by raping children to death, a practice which is vigorously approved of and defended by the religious authorities, who are the reason legislation banning such marriages has not been passed.  She was traded like a cow and slaughtered like a pig.  Actually, it wasn’t nearly as clean as being slaughtered like a pig.  I know which death I’d choose.  At least the butcher has the decency to make it quick and as painless as possible.

Just another shining example of religious influence working its magic on the human population.  I can see why folks are so reluctant to give it up.  Praise Allah.

Enjoy your evening, folks.  And as Douglas Adams would say, keep banging those rocks together.

*This is a dirty, unabashed lie.