BigConna.com

"What should pastors do if they no longer hold the defining beliefs of their denomination? Do clergy have a moral obligation not to challenge the sincere faith of their parishioners? If this requires them to dissemble from the pulpit, doesn't this create systematic hypocrisy at the center of religion? What would you want your pastor to do with his or her personal doubts or loss of faith?

Read "Preachers who are not Believers," a study by Daniel C. Dennett and Linda LaScola of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University."

Original article:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/2010/03/disbelief_in_the_pulp...

Google is working to bring fiber networks to cities and communities across the country, and is accepting nominations. Head to the City of Knoxville's "NOMINATE KNOXVILLE!" to vote and to learn more about the project.

From boingboing
Posted by Cory Doctorow

Britain's set to introduce a law that can send you to jail for a decade for taking a picture of a cop:

"The new set of rules, under section 76 of the 2008 Act and section 58A of the 2000 Act, will target anyone who 'elicits or attempts to elicit information about (members of armed forces) ... which is of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism'.

A person found guilty of this offence could be liable to imprisonment for up to 10 years, and to a fine.

So I was at work today and had just begun my mid-afternoon fecal dispersion, when I hear someone walk into the bathroom. My eyes immediately shoot up to the door handle which, since I exclusively use handicapped bathrooms at work for their extra ameneties, is a good 6 feet away and realize that it is unlocked. I am completely vulnerable. Because I am actively pooping, I have a choice to make: Do I get up and move across the stall to lock the door and potentially poop on the floor or, even worse, on myself or do I keep pooping and risk being walked in upon and filled with shame by my presentation? Well, decided to err on the side of modesty which, as you can tell by this post, I have quite a lot of, and stood up to lock the door. Then it happened. The end.

Instead we should be kicking out people who like Hawaiian pizza.

(BBC) Bruce Lee's older sister and younger brother have authorised a series of biographical films about the late martial arts star. Phoebe and Robert Lee said they wanted to produce a historically accurate account of their brother's life. The pair were speaking at a ceremony in Beijing on Monday marking the 36th anniversary of Lee's death. Lee, whose films included Enter the Dragon and Fists of Fury, died of swelling of the brain at the age of 32.

(Wired) By David Kravets - A federal jury on Thursday found Jammie Thomas-Rasset liable in the nation’s only Recording Industry Association of America file-sharing case to go to trial, dinging her $1.92 million for infringing 24 songs. Thomas-Rasset (then just Jammie Thomas) went to trial two years ago, and was ordered to pay $222,000 by a different jury for the same songs. The judge in the first case declared a mistrial. Thomas-Rasset opted for a new trial instead of settling like the 30,000-plus others the RIAA has sued or threatened to sue for copyright infringement. Thomas-Rasset, fined $80,000 a track, told our sister publication, Ars Technica, she wouldn’t pay.

Computerworld - Widespread opposition to a 2005 bill designed to create a national standard for driver's licenses has prompted a revised version of the bill that no longer contains its most controversial provisions. The proposed revision is called the "Providing for Additional Security in States' Identification" Act of 2009, or Pass ID Act, and was introduced in the U.S. Senate late on Monday by Senators Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), George Voinovich (R-Ohio), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Jon Tester (D-MT), Max Baucus (D-MT) and Thomas Carper (D-DE).