“Could It Be? Did Hollywood Execs Get The Memo?” speculates on the reason for the number of movies-about-women (which seems to correspond with movies-by-women). I would take issue with her assertion that Mama Mia! or Kit are any great leaps forward for womankind, but I’ve not seen either, so I won’t get into that here.

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Today is the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Griswald v. Connecticut, which ruled that Americans have a right to privacy under the Constitution (based upon the fact that things like “unlawful search & seizure” violate your privacy). Specifically, that married couples could practice contraception in the privacy of their homes and the State (of […]

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This weekend I attended an exercise in gender. One of my cousins is getting married next week & her sister threw her a party designed to piss her off. It didn’t work, but we all had fun regardless. There was a penis cake, a penis wand, penis straws (in fact, somewhere an aunt of mine […]

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(overheard between a drunken John & a drunken xJane at last night’s Abney Park concert)
Background: Yesterday, xJane was sitting around, slightly ill, and generally feeling sorry for herself. Whilst innocently watching Emmy consideration DVDs, she received a call from John, who asked if she was busy (she was not) and if she was interested in […]

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By now, many of you will have heard that one of the Vatican’s astronomers has indicated that there might be life on other planets. Even that they might be without sin. Many of my favorite science fiction books involve the intersection of religion and space travel (Dune and Ender’s Game chief among them). But really, […]

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I still do think that is has wonderful aspects to it, that it can inspire people to greatness (though is not necessary for it), and that it has basis in fact, tradition, and/or necessity. I think that, because of these facts, it should be respected, as should history, but I do in no way think […]

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I went to “A Conversation with Brothers & Sisters” last night, which was a panel of the stars of the show & some of the writers and producers. It is one of my favorite shows, mostly because of what one of the writers said, “Everyone sees their family in the characters,” but also because of […]

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In general, I think the whole freedom-of-religion clause applies in the sense you can believe whatever you want, as long as it does not infringe upon the rights of another. If my pharmacist decides that she does not believe in antihistamines, I think she should get another job, not sue me for wanting medicine. If […]

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Sisters and brothers and everyone in between, welcome to the Church of John!  [insert organ riff] One of the great blessing of being a skeptic is that you can find your scripture anywhere. Emily Dickinson, Bad Religion, William Gibson and Joss Whedon are my prophets. When I was lost in the darkness […]

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I was reading Pharyngula the other day & ran across a fantastic quote illustrating the differences among atheists, theists, and radicals. In light of recent conversation on this theme, I felt it contributed a very clear argument. However, it also stands alone in the sea of things-we-post-about here at MoF. Here is PZ Myers:
There is […]

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