Ah, the holidays: friends, families…booze. During these celebratory times, Dangerous Minds readers, consider this handy, skull-cracking tip, courtesy forensic pathologist, Stephan Bolliger:
Other scientists had already calculated how much energy it takes to crack the human skull ?
The above church billboard showing Joesph and the Virgin Mary in bed after having disappointing sex (or maybe they’re unable to consummate the good kind), is whipping up a shitstorm among Christians in New Zealand:
The large poster depicts a dejected-looking Joseph lying next to Mary, whose eyes are turned heavenwards, under the words: “Poor Joseph. God was a hard act to follow.” Both figures, painted in classical fresco style, appear to be naked. Within hours of the billboard being erected outside the Anglican church of St Matthew’s in the City, in central Auckland, it had been attacked by a man who clambered on to the roof of his car to smear brown paint over it. As a result it was almost obliterated and the church, which describes itself as “progressive,” is seeking a replacement.
Archdeacon Glynn Cardy said the billboard was intended to lampoon the literal interpretation of the Christmas conception story “and that somehow this male God impregnated Mary.” “What we’re trying to do is to get people to think more about what Christmas is all about,” he said.
“We actually think God is about the power of love as shown in Jesus, which is something quite different than a literal man up in the sky.” He said the church had asked an advertising agency to come up with ideas for the poster and the one they had chosen was not the most radical. “One of the options we turned down had a sperm coming down with the words ‘Joy to the World,’” he said.
Christians Outraged By Poster Showing Mary And Joseph After Sex
Gallery1988, Ronnie Midfew Arts and DamonCarltonAndAPolarBear.com presents The LOST Underground Art Show. DamonCarltonAndAPolarBear.com:
In celebration of LOST’s final season and as a project of fan appreciation, 16 top designers and artists, who are also fans of the show, were commissioned to create artwork celebrating one of the series’ most memorable, and unforgettable, “water cooler” moments. This ultimate “fan art” was then turned into labor intensive, hand-pulled screen prints, limited to an edition of just 300, with less than 200 available to the public through our websites. Each beautiful poster tells its own different story, allowing the fan to relive memorable and influential moments in an artistic manner, as the show’s storied run comes to a close. Once this limited edition print has sold out, they will never be printed again. Celebrate the fandom, community and family created by one of televisions’ greatest shows by hanging a little part of it’s history, inspiration and influence on your wall.
The LOST Underground Art Show
Ronnie Midfew Arts and DamonCarltonAndAPolarBear.com Presents…
(via Nerdcore)
National treasure Ornette Coleman has been showing people what freedom sounds like for more than 50 years. Here are two takes on his wildly manic (yet strangely accessible) “Dancing in Your Head
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, a Costco in Salt Lake City took tomatoes off its shelves last week in preparation for Sarah Palin’s “Going Rogue” book-signing appearance at the store. A man was arrested on Dec. 7 at a Palin event at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., for allegedly throwing a tomato at the former Alaska governor, and Costco management was “determined” to avoid a repeat. Helen Rappaport, a Democrat, was happy to browse the nearly empty aisles of the big-box giant while other shoppers clustered around the Palin event area, but she was puzzled as to why she couldn’t seem to find any tomatoes:
No tomatoes? At Costco?
As she was leaving, she noticed a man with a store manager’s name tag and asked him why they had no tomatoes. He informed her the store did have tomatoes, but they were taken off the shelves for a few hours.
It turns out that Palin had been pelted with a tomato at an earlier stop on her book tour and the management at the Costco was determined it wouldn’t happen here.
No word on whether eggs, watermelons, apples or other potentially useful foodstuff projectiles were available during the Palin event.
Cross posting this from Brand X
If a picture paints a thousand words, then this time-lapse video can represent an entire book’s worth ... a book by Al Gore, that is. A new multiyear study from the University of Colorado illustrates how a large swath of the Alaskan coast is eroding at the alarming rate of 45 feet per year. Three factors contribute to the loss: warmer water, melting permafrost and lashing waves. The coastline generally consists of frozen silt, which once it starts going, really doesn’t stop.
Jaymi Heimbuch writes on Treehugger:
With less ice cover during the summers to protect the shore from the ocean, and warmer ocean waters almost guaranteed, the erosion seems unstoppable. In fact, the scientists working on the study say as much. There is little evidence that this erosion has an end point. As the shoreline is made up of blocks of permafrost, the conditions basically ensure that large chunks are taken off at a time during stormy weather.
“Once one of these blocks topples, the process continues on to the next block,” Anderson said.
Deny this, climate change skeptics!
Cross posting this from Brand X
For anybody who missed this cultural trainwreck, somebody gave Chuck Norris a blog. And he is currently mouthing off about Democrats and how they want to abort the future of humanity. Vide:
I’m not exaggerating. Here are the relevant passages:
“In short, while President Obama was accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, the Democrats in Congress drove a sword through the womb of the unborn.”
(Yes, the womb of the unborn. They had to use those tiny plastic swords they put in drinks.)
And:
“Lastly, as we near the eve of another Christmas, I wonder: What would have happened if Mother Mary had been covered by Obamacare? What if that young, poor and uninsured teenage woman had been provided the federal funds (via Obamacare) and facilities (via Planned Parenthood, etc.) to avoid the ridicule, ostracizing, persecution and possible stoning because of her out-of-wedlock pregnancy?”
He brings up this original argument:
“Imagine all the great souls who could have been erased from history and the influence of mankind if their parents had been as progressive as Washington’s wise men and women!”
Here’s a relevant Biblical question lawmakers should ask themselves before they proceed with the bill:
“Will Obamacare morph into Herodcare for the unborn?”
Good AP report on the stresses faced by women enlisted in the military on their return home (not to mention while they’re on active duty). We don’t need another post-Vietnam in this country. Treat veterans right and provide the services they need.
WASHINGTON ?
[Huxley] reminded me that drugs are beneficial if they provide the only access to our nightlife. I realized that the expression ?
Dangerous Minds friends Feral House / Process Media are having a Winter Solstice Mega-Sale. FH/Process are the publishers of the recently mega-covered books Thee Psychick Bible and Love Sex Fear Death. They have a buy-2-get-1-free sale. Which means that you could buy the two books above and get a copy of any of their fine books… including the just-released Opium for the Masses. Which means you could be in a candy-colored-cloud and doing godawful sorcery in NO TIME. FH says:
For you Solstice gift givers, we offer you a special HOLIDAY BOOK SALE: for the next three weeks only, buy any two books from Feral House and get a FREE book of your choice! (Book must be of equal or lesser value to the least expensive book). Offer good until January 1, 2010.
(Feral House / Process Media: Thee Industrial Poppy Cult Has Come)