Venetia Phair, namer of Pluto, has passed away

The sad news has arrived that Venetia Phair has passed away in her native England at the age of 90.It was her idea to give the solar system's ninth planet (or first "Trans-Neptunian object" if you're some kind of wacko liberal astronomer... just kidding :-) the name "Pluto". Nine years old at the time in 1930 and born Venetia Burney, she was already quite knowledgeable about...

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A question for my fellow Christians

If we are commanded to "test the spirits" (1st John 4:1)......then how much more so should we boldly question the motivations of mere m...

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Our tax dollars at work: Training Chinese prostitutes how to drink responsibly

Official policy of the United States federal government is now to refer to prostitutes as "female sex workers" (FSW) and to their pimps as "gatekeepers".It would almost be funny, except that $2.6 million of our tax money is being spent on teaching Chinese "female sex workers" how to "drink responsibly".From CNSNews.com...U.S. Will Pay $2.6 Million to Train Chinese Prostitutes to Drink Responsibly on the JobTuesday, May 12, 2009By Edwin Mora(CNSNews.com)...

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MPAA wants teachers to camcorder movies, not rip DVDs

Try this one the next time you go to see a blockbuster movie like Star Trek in the theater: record it with a camcorder and if you get caught, tell the cinema management that "I'm a teacher who needs this for my students!"Nutty though it sounds, that is what the Motion Picture Association of America is telling teachers to do instead of ripping video from copyrighted DVDs if they want to get clips for classroom purposes. The MPAA has even prepared...

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Tyler Frost gives his girlfriend a "great" night at her prom... and his "Christian" principal punishes him for it

This is gonna be another one of "those" posts that lately are coming all too frequently. The sort where I succumb to the angels of my lesser nature and resort to vernacular that in days of enforced polity would have seen me heavily fined or banished from the Realm.(But hey, I figure that I've earned enough cred as both a serious writer and a follower of Christ, that I can...

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So you want some more STAR TREK, do ya?

I honestly can not remember the last time I have seen this many people so jazzed about a movie as is happening right now with Star Trek. It's like a kind of magic that we had taken for granted in summer blockbusters had gotten lost somehow, and now it's been found again. If you haven't already you seriously owe it to yourself to see Star Trek the way it's meant to be viewed:...

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The Transformers are 25 years old!

The good crew at Seibertron.com have made note that this is a special weekend for Transformers fans. It was twenty-five years ago yesterday, on May 8th 1984 that The Transformers issue #1 was published by Marvel Comics.It was the first product ever released for the Transformers franchise.A quarter-century later with bajillions of toys sold, not to mention multiple television...

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Control-freak Christian principal threatens student with suspension if he takes girlfriend to prom

17-year-old Tyler Frost attends Heritage Christian School in Findlay, Ohio. Frost's girlfriend is a student at Findlay High School. Tomorrow night is going to be the prom at Findlay High.But Tim England, who happens to be Frost's principal, is commanding Frost not to take his girlfriend to her prom. Because Heritage Christian School forbids dancing, rock music, hand-holding and kissing and insists that it has the right to demand obedience to its...

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No, I will NOT observe the "National Day of Prayer" today...

Wanna know why?Because for one thing, as a follower of Christ, I just don't see the purpose of it.What is the point of a nationwide "prayer holiday", if we are already to seek after Christ with all our hearts? In 1st Thessalonians, chapter 5 we are instructed to "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (verses 16-18).Maybe it's just me, but holding up a single day out...

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Chris reviews STAR TREK and declares it's the prequel that STAR WARS EPISODE I should have been!

Bow before Bad Robot.J.J. Abrams and his production powerhouse have of late become a nigh-unstoppable engine of entertainment excellence. With hit ABC television series Lost winding down its penultimate season, newcomer Fringe heading into its sophomore year on Fox and 2008's Cloverfield almost certain to succeed as a franchise in its own right, Abrams' crew can seemingly...

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Back from STAR TREK

And I'm already working on a full review. But that's not what this blog post is about...The premiere of the movie tonight turned out to be a fitting occasion for me to take my first steps into the larger world of mobile telecommunications. So this evening, before and after the movie, I was doing my first real Twitter-ing from "out in the field", along with status updates to my Facebook page. Including some photos that I took with the built-in...

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Government STEALING private land for United 93 memorial

This blog commented about the issue a little over four months ago: how some of the families of passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 93 were petitioning the federal government (and then-President George W. Bush in particular) to seize private property by eminent domain so as to have a memorial to those who died in the 9/11 attack.Well, those families are getting what they wanted: the federal government is about to CONDEMN land from seven owners...

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Duke Nukem... Never! 3D Realms no more

Duke Nukem Forever is now officially deader than Elvis. 3D Realms has shut down for good and Take-Two - which had the publishing rights to the game - has announced it will not be funding any more development of the project.So after more than twelve years of work on this one video game, it now looks as though there will be absolutely nothing to show for the effort or the money....

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Classic STAR TREK episodes on YouTube

Tonight at 7 p.m. will herald the wide release of J.J. Abrams' wildly-anticipated Star Trek movie. But while we're ticking down the hours, how 'bout revisiting the show that started it all: YouTube is hosting most of the episodes of the original Star Trek series.Among the classic episodes: "Amok Time" (Spock must return to Vulcan to satisfy his sexual urges or die trying),...

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Les Misérables: Customers angry after some KFCs can't honor Oprah coupons

I first heard about this on the Twitter feeds earlier this evening and wondered then what this was about. Now we know...Oprah Winfrey's website ran a promotion with KFC, offering coupons for 24 hours. The coupons were worth two pieces of grilled chicken, two individual side items and a biscuit.Except several KFCs were reportedly unable to honor the coupons. Some locations...

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Reaction to tonight's LOST: "Follow the Leader"

Last year's penultimate episode jaw-dropping final line of dialogue: "He wants us to move the Island."This year's penultimate episode jaw-dropping final line of dialogue: "So I can kill him."(As if what happened in the 59 minutes preceding it weren't awesome enough.)If you haven't gotten into Lost yet, you've still got 8 months to buy the DVDs or watch 'em streaming online or do whatever the heck you can to catch up.Because folks: television like...

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Massive GEARS OF WAR 2 DLC retail pack coming in July (including new single-player content!)

Arriving in retail stores on July 28th is the Gears of War 2 All Fronts Collection: a compilation of all the multiplayer maps that have been released so far along with a new set called "Dark Corners". It'll sell for $20.What's really got me stoked about this however is that the All Fronts Collection will include "Road to Ruin", a new campaign chapter that can be played solo or co-op.Hey, Epic Games and Microsoft: a lot of us out here are very excited...

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