MetaFilter

President Jonah --an essay/history lesson/bible lesson/etc by Gore Vidal. ...We have also come to a point in this dark age where there is not only no hero in view but no alternative road unblocked. We are trapped terribly in a now that few foresaw and even fewer can define ...
comment posted at 12:41 PM on Jan-28-06
comment posted at 1:16 PM on Jan-28-06
comment posted at 1:49 PM on Jan-28-06
comment posted at 2:00 PM on Jan-28-06
comment posted at 2:14 PM on Jan-28-06

Meet Bill Clements, bass player. Mr. Clements lost his right hand in an industrial accident in 1989 and had to find a new way to make his music. (embedded video)
comment posted at 10:59 AM on Jan-28-06

The Flowering Nose in Slugland adventure game. As a goblin with a flower for a nose, your ultimate goal is to find the lost sprout. Defeat enemies by throwing flowers at them; power up with hearts; teleport from level to level with such esoteric trinkets as donuts and cherries. (Java.)
comment posted at 9:00 PM on Jan-27-06

LGBT gamers not welcome in World of Warcraft - Despite praise from queer gamers' groups, a feature in the July 2005 issue of Out magazine (sadly not archived online, reader responses 1, 2) lauding the game's gay community, and the presence of hundreds-strong LGBT-positive player groups, developer Blizzard has decided the presence of out gay subscribers would "allow for discussion that we feel has no place in our game". Of course, this isn't the first time Blizzard has angered its paying fans...
comment posted at 8:13 PM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 8:42 PM on Jan-27-06

Five Reasons Torture Is Always Wrong. From the magazine "Christianity Today", David P. Gushee, a professor of moral philosophy at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, is against torture. Period. No exceptions. Complete with Bible verses to prove it.
comment posted at 12:38 PM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 5:07 PM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 5:25 PM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 7:03 PM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 8:40 PM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 8:50 PM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 8:59 PM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 9:07 PM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 2:50 PM on Jan-28-06

What Do You Know About The Separation of Church and State ? The Freedom From Religion Foundation has created this handy 21 question online multiple choice test. How good are your church/state separation Constitutional knowledge chops ? Could influential GOP member, Bush 2004 campaign consultant, and "America was founded as a Christian Nation" cheerleader David Barton pass ?
comment posted at 8:59 AM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 9:10 AM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 9:38 AM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 10:21 AM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 10:27 AM on Jan-27-06

A fake stone packed with sophisticated British spy devices sparks a UK / Russian controversy. More articles via Google News
comment posted at 5:18 PM on Jan-26-06

Norah "Ned" Vincent, releases "Self-Made Man", (NYT) in which she goes in disguise as a man and realizes what most of us already knew without playing drag queen for 18 months. Interestingly, "she also found women to be distrustful, ever ready to criticize men for being emotionally distant yet clearly preferring men who met stereotypical images of strength and virility." (Booklist via Amazon) It's making all the literary rounds (ABC News, Salon, The Independent). Previously, Vincent on Oprah's bookclub, Vincent on blogging.
comment posted at 1:26 PM on Jan-26-06
comment posted at 1:59 PM on Jan-26-06
comment posted at 3:53 PM on Jan-26-06
comment posted at 6:08 PM on Jan-26-06
comment posted at 6:35 PM on Jan-26-06
comment posted at 6:58 PM on Jan-26-06

Can we have an intelligent non-religion-bashing discussion about this article? ". . . perhaps the most shocking implication of my inquiry into the role religion plays in our lives" : ". . . those who have an unquestioning faith in the correctness of the moral teachings of their religion are a problem: If they haven't conscientiously considered, on their own, whether their pastors or priests or rabbis or imams are worthy of such delegated authority over their lives, then they are taking a personally immoral stand. Please RTFA before commenting.
comment posted at 8:19 AM on Jan-26-06
comment posted at 8:59 AM on Jan-26-06
comment posted at 9:43 AM on Jan-26-06
comment posted at 12:42 PM on Jan-26-06
comment posted at 1:40 PM on Jan-26-06
comment posted at 2:20 PM on Jan-26-06
comment posted at 2:39 PM on Jan-26-06
comment posted at 3:15 PM on Jan-26-06
comment posted at 3:21 PM on Jan-26-06
comment posted at 4:39 PM on Jan-26-06
comment posted at 6:25 PM on Jan-26-06
comment posted at 6:52 PM on Jan-26-06
comment posted at 9:13 AM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 9:53 AM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 10:11 AM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 10:16 AM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 10:19 AM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 10:29 AM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 10:44 AM on Jan-27-06
comment posted at 11:10 AM on Jan-27-06