Paracelsus gives some links about something of concern to many of us at this time of year: the time of sunset. FAQ; Navy calculator
2006: the FAQ link is broken; I imagine it’s merely moved on the same site, but …
David Brin writes:
Next time you reread LOTR, count the number of powerful beings who are vastly uglier than anybody with that kind of power would allow themselves to be.
Er . . . one? And that’s rationalized in the story; Sauron was as pretty as any Elf until he lost a big chunk of his power. What am I missing?
Remember also one hobbit’s comment on meeting Strider that if he were a badguy he ought to “look fairer and feel fouler.”
I heard once that in Sweden or Norway (curse the porosity of my memory) there was an organized campaign to stamp out an offensive second-person pronoun, with buttons proclaiming “I don’t say ___!” Unfortunately, the person who mentioned it did not remember what the offensive pronoun was.
Now I read in languagehat how the Swedish formal pronoun Ni faded after 1968.
So inquiring minds want to know: did the writers of Monty Python and the Holy Grail know about all this?
Apparently Mr Bush has created something called the President’s Council on Bioethics. Now, I’ve never heard that term except in connexion with some chin-puller’s opinion that it’s naughty to tamper with God’s Will Nature by curing infertility or whatnot; so it comes as no surprise to read that one Leon Kass, appointed to chair the Council, has written a book in praise of Death. ( . . more . . )