Congress caught making false entries in Wikipedia | News.blog | CNET News.com

We already know, of course, that politicians live primarily for re-election and typically view the truth as an impediment to the higher purpose of unfettered self-aggrandizement.

Still, we can be excused for feeling mildly nauseated when fresh confirmation of this distasteful aspect of modern politicking surfaces.

Actually I find this kind of humorous. Politicians are always trying to rewrite history. This time they got called out quickly, with their hand still near the sweet stuff.

Contagious obesity? Identifying the human adenoviruses that may make us fat | Science Blog

So what if those extra pounds you were finding yourself carring around where only half to blame on laziness? Well, it may be true. The other half could be caused by viruses.

There is a lot of good advice to help us avoid becoming obese, such as “Eat less,” and “Exercise.” But here’s a new and surprising piece of advice based on a promising area of obesity research: “Wash your hands.”

WorkingForChange-The George W Bush 2006 State of the Union drinking game

The contensious time draws near. And you have to admit, these speeches are booooorrrring. So why not do your patriotic duty and get thouroughly ripped during the good ol SoU…

From the good folks at Working For Change, The State of the Union drinking game:

Rules of the Game.

1. Whenever George W uses the phrases: “national security,” “tax relief,” “activist judges,” or “affordable health care,” drink two shots of beer.

I love it when a random grab from a library shelf unleashes something this good into my world. The whole time I was reading this, (in between- of course- gasps of recognition) I was thinking what a grand thing it would be; to spend an evening chatting with Ammons over cocktails, to hash out a momentary description of cognition, a slew of words coming to ephemeral omniscience. The man has skill, we’ll start at that.

Optical Illusion Rooms

This is pretty amazing. From one point in the room a strange image will appear.

It’s fun to experiment on yourself. This is another hare-brained notion born from conversation, basically I was talking about Finnegans Wake and explaining how after a good fifteen minutes or so spent reading the text, my basic understanding of English begins to fall apart. If I spend too much time trying to read that book I can’t talk properly for a few hours afterwards, all my words begin bleeding together.

i was going to write about
the ultimate futility of something
then in the time it took to step to the keyboard
and get to the page
the thought slipped my mind

so i meant to put down something profound
bear with me
just play along for a while
and please forgive me my lapse
gimme this one
and you’ll have one coming

we all have those moments sometimes

caught ya!!! what’s funny here is that in conversation with talking plant and finite jester it turns out that they were both convinced that one of the other of us was responsible for dancing between pictures of people without any clothes on… those lewd photos… and the dissemenation of madness that they call Lewd Cognoscenti.

Turns out it was neither, weren’t me either, but here it sits, this statistic of people travelling from pornography of the body to pornography of the brain. Ultimately we’ve decided to call you out, the three of us sat down and had a back and forth on the topic, this should be considered a salute. Keep rubbing them out… make certain your brain gets off as often as your, um, well you know…

The other night there was a party in the apartment upstairs. Nice loud festivity beaming down through the floor-boards to help me feel more merry in the frivolity I’d given the evening up to. At some point there comes a knock on the door, and I open it to find three attractive young women standing on the stoop.

Ok, so I realize that we gave much too short of a notice for the Burn’s Supper. So to make things right we at Lewd Cognoscenti would like to give you more than fair warning for the next illustrious holiday celebration.

This great day will celebrate none other that the great writer James Joyce.

And without further adieu I introduce you to…

The holiday called Bloomsday. It is celebrated on June 16th.

Love those moments when a deft phrase turns a long-held conviction on its head and forces you to look back on it with new eyes. Had one of those moments the other night, figured I’d share it in the hopes that you can take a look into your own repositories of experience and see if there’s anything in there that needs shaking out.

This is one of those emails that get cycled around. Thought it was poignant enough to warrant a post…

GOD: Francis, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there in the USA? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect, no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles.

Kurt Vonnegut! Hero of my earliest adventures into literature! A cynic with a heart of gold and unmistakably a member of the cognoscenti. I remember well my sadness at hearing him state that he would never write another book. Yet now, here we have this, A Man Without a Country, unmistakably Vonnegut, definitely genius.

Burns supper - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Burns Supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns, author of the version of the Scots song Auld Lang Syne, which is generally sung at Hogmanay and other New Year celebrations around the English-speaking world. The suppers are normally held on or near the poet’s birthday, January 25, sometimes known as Burns Night, although they may in principle be held at any time of the year.

insomnia: Future American lawyers to be proud of.

Alberto Gonzales spoke before law students at Georgetown today, justifying illegal, unauthorized surveilance of US citizens, but during the course of his speech the students in class did something pretty ballsy and brave. They got up from their seats and turned their backs to him.

To make matters worse for Gonzales, additional students came into the room, wearing black cowls and carrying a simple banner, written on a sheet.

He’s got a gift this one… knows exactly how to tap you on the forehead with a sentence hammer, leaving you momentarily stunned as your mind reels through the possibilities suddenly presented. Didn’t expect the last story to venture into science fiction, but it did, and it works.

The overwhelming theme here is humanity as it comes into contact with technology. The three tales presented dove-tail nicely, repeated themes, names, and perhaps most interestingly: Walt Whitman exists in all the stories, kind of like a ghost in the machine.

“beautiful day isn’t it?” she asks
middle aged, under-dressed for the sudden snow that engulfed the scene
she smiled when she saw me-
probably the hat-

and i stopped, figuratively at least, dead in my tracks

it was beautiful
slightly hungover on my way to class
i’d already begun to appreciate
the way the freshly heavy snow
crunched under my boots
decorated the vistas quite familiar
cast them fresh

Vatican ‘cashes in’ by putting price on the Pope’s copyright - World - Times Online

THE Vatican has been accused of trying to cash in on the Pope’s words after it decided to impose strict copyright on all papal pronouncements.

For the first time all papal documents, including encyclicals, will be governed by copyright invested in the official Vatican publishing house, the Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

EFF: Call to action

On Tuesday January 24th, the Senate Commerce Committee will hold hearings on the government regulation of digital media in the form of the broadcast flag, and the audio flag. But even before the committee hears the arguments, Hollywood lobbyists have already planned the results. Drafts are being passed around Congress by Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) of a “Digital Content Protection Act” that would make both flags laws at a stroke.

once, some time ago, i woke twice from a very vivid dream
to find that i could no longer tell what was dream
and what was real

the thought has haunted me ever since
that i died in my sleep that night
and the reality in which i now find myself
is a constuct i created to keep my soul sane

if there is such a thing as sanity
i’m never sure