"Lachenmeier and his colleagues analyzed 13 samples of absinthe from old, sealed bottles in France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the United States dated back to the early 1900s before the ban. After uncorking the bottles, they found relatively small concentrations of thujone in that absinthe, about the same as those in modern varieties."
"'Heresy is a cradle; orthodoxy, a coffin.'—Robert Green Ingersoll"
"Anne Hutchinson was a troublemaker—her most important legacy was her very ungovernableness. Hutchinson epitomized Jesus’s all-or-nothing morality and Protestantism’s dissenting spirit. During America’s birth pangs, when our Puritan forefathers were assembling the machinery of a theocratic state, the truest, deepest believer of them all—a woman and a midwife yet, who was pregnant most of her adult life and up to her elbows in blood and bodily fluids—tried to toss a monkey wrench into the works."
"The British Library said research showed that the average life expectancy of a website was just 44 to 75 days, and suggested that at least 10% of all UK websites were either lost or replaced by new material every six months."
"I recommend checking out the latest booklet from Paul Kivel called “The Language of Dominant Christianity” (available as a downloadable PDF for only $3.50 or as a book for $4.95.) It is a short (85 page) A-Z dictionary of common vocabulary words in the English language that reveal how Christianity has influenced our thinking. In addition to defining a comprehensive list of words (64 pages) Kivel provides a section on “word groups” and points out how certain terms are found within our criminal/legal system, notions of morality, racial understandings, educational ideals and political ideology. And in the first part Kivel provides the context of why it is important to analyze and examine the Christian roots of our language.
This booklet is one part of Kivel’s latest project to name Christian dominance as one of the many systems of oppression."
"Standing on the hill at dawn, overseeing a team of 40 Kurdish diggers, the German-born archeologist waves a hand over his discovery here, a revolution in the story of human origins. Schmidt has uncovered a vast and beautiful temple complex, a structure so ancient that it may be the very first thing human beings ever built. The site isn't just old, it redefines old: the temple was built 11,500 years ago—a staggering 7,000 years before the Great Pyramid, and more than 6,000 years before Stonehenge first took shape. The ruins are so early that they predate villages, pottery, domesticated animals, and even agriculture—the first embers of civilization."
"This week's purchase by the French government of the handwritten manuscript of his monumental autobiography may be the beginning of a rehabilitation of Casanova's reputation.
France paid a whopping 7.2 million euros (9.7 million dollars), for the 3,700-page manuscript, and the Ministry of Culture intends to publish a critical edition of the work and to mount an exhibition around it."
"But what I started noticing as I read all these novels and looked at all the recent television shows featuring vampires is that their near-immortality isn't the most interesting thing about them. Almost all of these current vampires are struggling to be moral."
"The Celestial Mechanical Calendar shows the day of the week, day of the month and the month. In addition, she indicates the Zodiac Sun Sign and New Moon Ascension sign, has a MoonPhase Ball that indicates a nearly exact reflection of what the actual moon is doing in the night sky. She also has a Full Moon Ascension Window, and an Orrery showing the synodic rotations of the three closest planets, Mercury, Venus and Mars and indicates when they go into retrograde. The Celestial Mechanical Calendar also knows if the month has 28, 30 or 31 days and advances herself automatically. All of this with just the throw of a lever each day! It's exciting to see her go through her gyrations, spinning and sliding first to the right, and then back to the left, advancing the settings as she goes. The Celestial Mechanical Calendar measures 42" in width and 26" in height, and operates for seven days on a wind."
"Early humans, possibly even prehuman ancestors, appear to have been going to sea much longer than anyone had ever suspected.
That is the startling implication of discoveries made the last two summers on the Greek island of Crete. Stone tools found there, archaeologists say, are at least 130,000 years old, which is considered strong evidence for the earliest known seafaring in the Mediterranean and cause for rethinking the maritime capabilities of prehuman cultures."
"The first annual "BAM: Beer and Movie Fest," is a two-week film and beer festival celebrating Portland, Oregon's theater pub culture.
BAM showcases Cult, "Super Trash," 80's classics, and some brand spankin new premieres, alongside some of the best beers the Northwest has to offer.
BAM’s Starring sponsors, Ninkasi Brewing, and New Belgium Brewing, are presenting seasonal beers during the festival, in addition to brews from other local breweries. These beers will selectively be on tap at participating BAM theater pubs: The Academy Theater, Bagdad Theater, Cinema 21, and Mission Theater.
BAM features opening and closing parties, beer dinners, free pub and bar events, an art gallery show and a metal music concert, in addition to BAM film screenings."
