Gail Marsella: Goofballs

Sun, 28 Nov 2004 03:23:55 GMT

Amen...

Porn Prohibitionists Miss Point. If we're going to start worrying about porn, doesn't it make sense to actually study its role in society rather than make stuff up? Commentary by Regina Lynn. [Wired News]

Sun, 28 Nov 2004 03:14:31 GMT

Are we starting on another inquisition, or what?...

In Virginia, they say breeding is everything. In North Carolina, we say it's just good fun. But here comes Bryce Christensen to say breeding is essential to marriage.

The Southern Utah University professor told AP reporter David Crary that defending marriage means doing something about those couples who engage in "deliberate childlessness" (found via Chewie World Order.) No-fault divorce also must go.

More Christensen: "Homosexuality is principally a behavior. Evidence that it is genetically influenced is no stronger than that indicating that alcoholism, pyromania, and kleptomania are genetically influenced."
[EdCone.com]

Tue, 19 Oct 2004 04:16:58 GMT

An Artist's Junkyard of Dreams. To first-time viewers, the 50-foot-high Forevertron might look like nothing more than 320 tons of towering scrap metal. But its creator says it's also an antigravity machine designed to propel him to the heavens. Michelle Delio reports from Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. [Wired News]

Tue, 13 Jan 2004 02:55:33 GMT

Show him the money. Tim M. is the only one with Tom Cruise, and here's a classic quote from the top-dollar oddball: "Buddhism is grandfather of scientology" Thank you, Tom Cruise. Your spaceship is waiting just outside.... [Amish Tech Support]

Sun, 11 Jan 2004 15:23:03 GMT

Please tell me this is satire...please...

Accept Jesus Christ and Get a Free Playstation 2 [Popdex - the website popularity index]

Sat, 06 Sep 2003 15:08:35 GMT

Been falling behind on goofballs...here's a good one on crop circles.

Sat, 09 Aug 2003 01:37:28 GMT

The triumph of fringe science. Global warming naysayers argue that we don't need to do anything to stop rising temperatures. Mainstream scientists used to be able to ignore them, but now they make White House policy. [Salon.com]

Mon, 21 Jul 2003 01:45:23 GMT

Whoo, boy...

Borderland Sciences http://www.borderlands.com/main1.htm. :

"Borderland Sciences was founded by Meade Layne in 1945 for the purpose of investigating into realms normally beyond the range of basic human perception and physical measurement.

Today, Borderland Sciences continues to be the premier information resource for discerning scholars and advanced researchers on the frontiers of science and awareness. Click here for information on the current issue of our quarterly, The Journal of Borderland Research .

Mon, 21 Jul 2003 00:28:26 GMT

Came across a great book entitiled High Weirdness by Mail: A Directory of the Fringe, by the Rev. Ivan Stang. He's still active in the Church of the SubGenius, and I'm coming to appreciate their point of view. [Bone Lace]

Thu, 26 Jun 2003 02:02:03 GMT

Better Living Through Electromagnetism. ...continued... We are quite literally awash in the technology, machinery, and methods of self-overcoming. So what's the latest thing to hit the self improvement scene? Why it's Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), of course. And unlike many of the would be panaceas of the past, this vanguard technology is leading to promising and reproducible results in laboratories across the world. [kuro5hin.org]

Tue, 24 Jun 2003 11:59:33 GMT

Yes, I collect these free energy articles. No, I don't believe this is possible...

Aerospace / Defense Research, Antigravity/Free Energy Possible. A 7 year research study by a senior staff aerospace defense engineer, George J. Bugh, concludes some "free energy" devices work and some have antigravity effects. See www.vasantcorporation.com [PRWEB Jun 24, 2003] [PR Web]

Update 7/2003: Had a nice conversation with Bugh (via email) - may not be so fringe after all...

Sat, 07 Jun 2003 03:34:38 GMT

Good overview.

Absolutely Not Cold Fusion. Nobody can explain why just yet, but it seems that something called a Thermal Energy Cell is able to produce heat energy "hundreds of times" in excess of the electrical energy which is supplied to it. Scientists investigating the device are perplexed but skeptical about the claims. Call it an "electrolytic anomaly", or a "previously unrecognized" source of energy, but whatever you do, don't call it Cold Fusion. [kuro5hin.org]

Fri, 06 Jun 2003 14:39:16 GMT

Bone Lace? That's a story title - sans story - that has been in the back of my head for a decade or so now. It's a relief to find a place for it. Feel free to tell me what it means, and what you think of this eclectic collection. I track a handful of developing science news stories more or less continuously. I write notes and reading lists for courses I'd like to teach, essays on whatever's at hand, from hard science to music to fiber arts to kafkaesque turns in current events, and short fiction. Science fiction is a particular interest, as are essays on multiple topics (Loren Eiseley, David Sedaris, Molly Ivins, P.J. O'Rourke, and Calvin Trillin all occupy the same bookshelf - go figure.) To start, I'll store a few older completed pieces, but most will require that I (as Ursula LeGuin put it) "...apply the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair [and write]." Of course, she's the same person who said, "...Ready to begin? Of course you are. It's the middle that sends the writer running from the typewriter."

Nusuth. No matter. Get started.