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Creepy

Precocious

Mark Twain’s imaginary friend

I’m reading about imaginary friends today, and I came across this theory about Mark Twain:

Lacking self-awareness

Speaking without any hint of irony in Tennessee:

“They are not a religion. They are a political, militaristic group,” Bob Shelton, a 76-year-old retiree who lives in the area, told The Associated Press.

Shelton was among several hundred demonstrators who recently wore “Vote for Jesus” T-shirts and carried signs that said “No Sharia law for USA!,” referring to the Islamic code of law.

Really? Really?

In the Dark

In the Dark

I’ve had my supper,
And had my supper, 
And HAD my supper and all;
I’ve heard the story
Of Cinderella,
And how she went to the ball;
I’ve cleaned my teeth,
And I’ve said my prayers,
And I’ve cleaned and said them right;
And they’ve all of them been
And kissed me lots,
They’ve all of said “Good-night.”

So - here I am in the dark alone,
There’s nobody here to see;
I think to myself,
I play to myself, 
And nobody knows what I say to myself;
Here I am in the dark alone,
What is it going to be?
I can think whatever I like to think,
I can play whatever I like to play,
I can laugh whatever I like to laugh,
There’s nobody here but me.

I’m talking to a rabbit …
I’m talking to the sun…
I think I am a hundred -
I’m one.
I’m lying in a forest …
I’m lying in a cave …
I’m talking to a Dragon …
I’m BRAVE.
I’m lying on my left side …
I’m lying on my right …
I’ll play a lot tommorrow …
… … … … … …
I’ll think a lot tomorrow …
… … … … . .
I’ll laugh …
…..
a lot ……..
……
tomorrow …..
(Heigh-ho!)
Good-night.

(A.A. Milne, in Now We Are Six)

Religion and Politics

The following list compares reported religious affiliations of U. S. Senators to religious statistics of the demographics of the United States of America:

• International Church of the Foursquare Gospel are represented by 1% of the Senate for 0.1% of the population (10.00×)
• Jews are represented by 13% of the Senate for 1.4% of the population. (9.29×)
• Episcopalians are represented by 7% of the Senate for 1.8% of the population. (5.55×)
• Presbyterians are represented by 14% of the Senate for 2.8% of the population. (5.00×)
• Latter-Day Saints are represented by 6% of the Senate for 1.4% of the population. (4.29×)
• Methodists are represented by 8% of the Senate for 7.2% of the population. (1.11×)
• Roman Catholics are represented by 26% of the Senate for 25.9% of the population. (1.00×)
• Lutherans are represented by 3% of the Senate for 4.6% of the population. (0.65×)
• Baptists are represented by 8% of the Senate for 17.2% of the population. (0.46×)
• Muslims are represented by 0% of the Senate for 2% of the population. (0.00×)
• Unaligned are represented by 0% of the Senate for 15.0% of the population. (0.00×)

Political Abuses of Science

The Union of Concerned Scientists maintains a list of political abuses of science, instances of politically leaders tampering with, ignoring, or otherwise misusing scientific evidence for ideological reasons.

The list includes this story:

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) twice altered their scientific testing procedure before concluding that children’s lunch boxes containing levels of lead that exceeded Federal recommendations were in fact safe. Lead is a powerful neurotoxin in children, and can cause brain damage, mental retardation, behavioral problems, liver and kidney damage, and in extreme cases, death.

The CPSC declared in September 2005 that they found “no instances of hazardous levels” of lead in their testing of 60 soft, vinyl lunchboxes, and then refused to release their experiments, saying federal regulation protected the product manufacturers from having such information released to the public. A year later, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents obtained by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) and the Associated Press showed the CPSC manipulated its data to produce artificially “safe” results. The FOIA documents reveal that the CPSC had actually tested fewer than ten lunchboxes at the time of their statement, and that these already had indications of high lead levels. Following these first tests, CPSC then changed the testing procedure until a “safe” level of exposure was recorded.

The list ends with 2008, but a spokesperson for the group recently gave an interview on the Obama administration.

Good-bye, Jack

Rest in Peace, Star Hustler.

New blog feed (and new blog).

I’m having a lot of fun just throwing things up on this blog. It really is a reflection of how scattered my brain is, and why I can’t seem to get even the simplest tasks done in a timely manner. Oh well.

Anyway, I got a little feedback from a critic that’s close to me* that it might be nice to have a place where my personal writings were cordoned off. I was a little grumpy about it at first, but I think she’s right. So, if you’d like a feed that’s just for things I write, then you can go over and subscribe at written.stephenharred.com.

If you don’t want a separate feed, then don’t worry about it. Everything is cross-posted here.

*close enough to strangle me in my sleep.