"Despite hundreds of years of colonization, war and even the influence of the western world, the Chamorro culture and language continue to thrive.
Today there are more than dozen cultural groups focused on traditional Chamorro dance and organizations looking to revive the culture once on the verge of disappearing."
"Artwork depicting the Virgin Mary as a stripper stirred trouble while on display at a small Catholic university before the piece was apparently stolen.
The print was part of an exhibit last month at the University of Dallas that featured the work of students at Murray State University in Kentucky. Joanna Gianulis, a senior art major at Murray State, said she was trying to raise questions about perceptions of saints and sinners and didn't intend to be sacrilegious."
From Science Daily:
"A team led by a Purdue University researcher has achieved images of a virus in detail two times greater than had previously been achieved.
Wen Jiang, an assistant professor of biological sciences at Purdue, led a research team that used the emerging technique of single-particle electron cryomicroscopy to capture a three-dimensional image of a virus at a resolution of 4.5 angstroms. Approximately 1 million angstroms would equal the diameter of a human hair."
Scientists for Better PCR, "The PCR Song"
Over at Wired Science, they have posted a list of their favorite sciencey "fiery explosions, beautiful reactions, and hilarious music videos." Fun times.
The Wild Hunt has a post today on Papa B's latest attack on all that is good and beautiful in the Catholic Church (tragic, that, considering how very little there ever was to begin with). I caught the announcement when it was first made, but have been refraining from commentary, myself, because... well, honestly, is there really anything to say? Are any of us really still surprised to hear the misogynistic bullshit Holy Mother Church spews out?
This is Catholicism we're talking about. Where the Antichrist is an ecologist and feminism just another satanic ploy.
There are so many people, and not just within Catholicism, who seem to think they can walk away from a couple millennia of teachings without changing who they are. As if we can baptize St. Paul an egalitarian, and wish into being a Church that knows what it means to worship a god of love. As if a religion completely divorced from all of Christian history can ever be called Christian.
Christianity is a take-it-or-leave-it kind of deal. These bronze age teachings? They're all perfectly rational, all perfectly necessary. That is, they are if you want to accept the foundational teachings of Christianity. In the end, you can chose to submit, or you can chose to walk away, but there will never be reform.
So, really, what is there left to say?
Me, I think I'm with Germaine Greer.
From Science Daily
"The fighting Australian yabby, a type of crayfish, smaller than a lobster but similar in appearance, does not forget the face of its foes says new research from University of Melbourne zoologists.
Via the St. Petersburg Times:
"Sometimes, Allyn Sue Baylor doesn't teach evolution in her science class, even though the state requires it. She knows of other teachers who duck the issue, too.
They fear a backlash.
'There are cases when parents have gotten really upset,' said Baylor, who teaches at Palm Harbor Middle School in Pinellas County. 'It's scary. You can lose your job.'"
Via Wired Science
"Are you searching for cutting-edge scientific justification for a Biblical account of Earth's origins?
Then search no longer: the first issue of the Answers Research Journal, the "professional, peer-reviewed technical journal for the publication of interdisciplinary scientific and other relevant research from the perspective of the recent Creation and the global Flood within a biblical framework," is now online!"
As I'm sure most of you know, it's hardly unusual for anti-evolutionist nonsense to masquerade as proper science. Or, at least, vaguely rational thought. Nevertheless, I've never quite managed to get over my horror at some of the insanity these sorts throw out.
This latest research journal, put out by Answers in Genesis is a good example. Debating everything from anti-evolutionist systematics to discussing the role of pathogens in a Christian worldview some of the top minds(!) in anti-evolutionist thought are discussing their mythology in a "cutting edge" and peer-reviewed format. A brief example:
"For many years the roles of microbes as part of God’s wonderful design have been neglected. Perhaps it is because many people associate microbes as the cause of death, disease, and suffering."
Heh. Could be.
Perhaps I'll find myself bored enough one of these days to dissect a few of their pieces, but I'm not quiet up for the headache right now. In the meantime, I'm not really sure whether to laugh or cry. Maybe both.
So, enjoy (but don't say that I didn't warn you)!
"Remarkable new footage of Canada's Arctic wolves has been caught on camera by a BBC crew.
The team managed to film the wolves taking to the water to hunt waterfowl - behaviour that has never been seen before, according to an expert."
