George Takei has come out of the closet and simultaneously revealed he has a partner of 18 years.  Kudos to Mr. Sulu.  I'm glad to see he's now comfortable enough to be open about it.

I'll have to disagree with Orac at Respectful Insolence on this one.  As a Trek fan and having met George Takei on several occasions, this comes as no surprise to me.  Think 'dar.  Its blaring klaxons were definitely a hint.

I did expect it sooner, either voluntarily or forcefully, and am surprised it took this long.  I don't know why I expected it earlier, though.  As a Japanese-American, he had to live in a U.S. internment camp from age 4 to 8 because of the war.  That experience not only helped engender shame of his ethnicity, but it also would have made him think twice about adding himself into yet another minority bin knowing precisely what America was capable of doing.

Well, I wish both of them the best.

Lacking interest of any kind in demonstrating the social skills necessary to inhibit such things, allow me to add this: George's announcement gives new meaning to James Doohan's line at the end of Star Trek VI when, referring to the Excelsior (a ship) and Takei's Sulu character, he says "Not so big as her captain…"  Insert childish laughter here.

Happy Hallowe’en!

[picture via Mom]

I've had my share of old pets.  You may remember Henry.  There are many others.  He happens to the one about whom I have thus far posted.

If you've grown up and always lived with pets as I have, you understand the experience of having an old pet.  You help them through their various health crises.  You watch them slowly slip away from you over the course of years.  You know that, near the end, they are likely in pain all the time but will expend whatever energy they have to keep you from seeing it.  You eventually face that day when you must make the decision: quality of life is more important than quantity; is it time to say goodbye?  You know the drill.

While reading In the Dry Leaf at AmbivaBlog, I immediately recognized the sentiment Amba so touchingly relayed.

I then followed the link to read My old dog at Creek Running North.  Amba got it right: "Thanks to Chris for saying the almost unsayable."  There's just too much there to quote, and all of it true and shared.  Go now; read it.

While these results don't surprise me, I do admit to having played with the quiz after I first got the results below by quizzing blind (for the first time) and assuming that all references to spirituality and afterlife were entirely religious in nature.  On some of the questions, if I define the words literally (which one would expect in a "scientific" test), I get different responses.  See below this version for the response I get if I answer based on a literal translation of the questions.

You fit in with: Atheism Your ideals mostly resemble those of an Atheist. You have very little faith and you are very focused on intellectual endeavors. You value objective proof over intuition or subjective thoughts. You enjoy talking about ideas and tend to have a lot of in depth conversations with people. 40% scientific. 100% reason-oriented.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

If I answer based on literal definitions of the words in the questions (including knowing what spirituality, soul, technical and afterlife mean in purely academic terms), here's what I get:

You fit in with: Humanism Your ideals mostly resemble that of a Humanist. Although you do not have a lot of faith, you are devoted to making this world better, in the short time that you have to live. Humanists do not generally believe in an afterlife, and therefore, are committed to making the world a better place for themselves and future generations. 20% scientific. 80% reason-oriented.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

That seems an interesting disparity, wouldn't you agree?  It's not until you look at the results shown in the chart that you understand the two responses are relatively close together.  However, even if you consider the chart location, I could further manipulate the results, while still answering honestly, by interpreting the questions differently.  Each translation of the text seemed as valid as the one before.

This is precisely why I have fun doing these online quizzes but don't hesitate in understanding that they are meaningless entertainment only, none of them having yet shown any scientific method of accuracy or reliability.  They all generate results based on the authors' points of view as interpreted by those of the test takers.  While this certainly gives tremendous weight to the idea of using them for fun, it completely negates their use as scientific tools.  (This, I will remind you, has not been claimed.)

In this case, both of the results are accurate in their own ways.  I am therefore more than the sum of my intarweb test "grades".  I thought the same thing with the kissing quiz I mentioned here.  I also toyed with that one and came up with different results each time, and each of them was accurate by defining one part of me — and all of my answers were honest based on different criteria.

Of course, with the sexual quizzes, there's more fun to be had by manipulating your answers according to what is meant versus what is inferred by each question.  Some people may understand themselves better by doing this…

Excellent analysis and response to the Wal-Mart employee benefits fiasco.  That company needs to get dragged into court and sued until every Walton family member is broke.

Have a Hummer H2?  Ever seen a Hummer H2?  Ever heard of a Hummer H2?  Then I point you to this site so you know how I feel about them.

The voice of the Jolly Green Giant has died (in addition to the person attached to that voice).  Very sad. [via Running for the Right]

Carnival of the Godless #26 is now available at A Rational Being.  These are always good.

The 20th edition of the Skeptics Circle is now available over at The Uncredible Hallq.  Again, these are always good.

If intelligent design (more aptly named un-intelligent design) is to be considered a viable scientific theory, then astrology should be as well.  Since that's true, now what say you about intelligent design?  [via Anne's Anti-Quackery & Science Blog]

The UN is stepping up pressure on Syria regarding the ongoing investigation into Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's death.  Unlike Saddam Hussein, can we not allow this one to fly under the radar please?

Samuel Alito's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court and the GOP's threat to ram it through Congress have me cringing.  The Christian fundamentalist movement sure must be pleased with itself — unlike the rest of the country.  And who said America wasn't an exclusionary Christian nation where only the radical churches get to control everything…  No link; just despair.

And in honor of the direction America is going (uh, that would be downhill with apparently no brakes), all things considered, the freedom-loving, equality-cherishing, common sense-using, religious freedom-believing, government thrift-minded, law-abiding, non-jingoistic patriotism-wielding, democracy-adoring, take responsibility-supporting members of the American populace would like to say that this is how we feel:

[picture via Mom]

Any organization could profit from a 10-year-old member with enough strength of character to refuse to swear falsely.

— New York Times editorial, 12/12/93, on the Boy Scouts’ refusing membership to Mark Welsh, who would not sign a religious oath

Newly adopted in early 1998 and already taking over, Kako, the wild woman, is seen here attacking the camera strap while Kazon approaches from below.  I lifted the camera above my head after taking the picture in an attempt to keep her from trying to climb any further; it had the opposite effect, and she promptly climbed right up my chest and neck to my shoulder where she could more easily reach it.  I, likewise, began to bleed.

What a fascinating tale The Historian is, empowered by a global trek through history, explorations of mysterious castle ruins and ancient crypts cloaked in darkness, and an increasingly desperate quest to uncover the truth about Dracula.  All the while, the chill of ominous uncertainty compels the reader forward and engages the book's characters: are we chasing Dracula, or is he in fact chasing us?  Or is it both?  Worse yet, regardless of who first succeeds at the hunt, will the outcome be the same?  If he is real, what belied hope can withstand a force of such evil, one that both time and death seem unable to overcome?

Lost to centuries of misplaced, undocumented and destroyed historical references, the increasing authenticity of vampire lore and factualness of records about Vlad the Impaler and his life and ultimate death — if that term actually applies — must be sought after and compiled, much like a puzzle.  While many would dismiss such a pursuit as little more than academic curiosity, select librarians, historians and archivists around the globe are quietly learning that the truth, in this case, truly is stranger than fiction.

Spanning three separate stories, each revolving around the same quest, Elizabeth Kostova weaves an intricately detailed and historically compelling tale.  The crisscrossing story lines echo history's political and religious intrigues.  Whether it be Byzantine, Wallachian, Ottoman, or Soviet rule, the impact of Orthodox, Western, Eastern and ancient religions and practices, jaunts through monasteries, churches, libraries, archives, castles and crypts from Istanbul to Bulgaria to France to Budapest, The Historian encompasses the whole of what has shaped Dracula's homeland and, therefore, his life.

I found this book to be suspenseful and intriguing.  It is absorbing and gripping, successfully integrating fact and fiction on such a grand scale that it becomes increasingly difficult to relinquish its pages to another day.  One cannot help but be drawn into this world of exotic locales, mounting casualties, tantalizing history, a family legacy best left unadopted, and the looming threat of Dracula himself, his love of the bloodthirsty evident while he himself remains shrouded in mystery and unknown in veracity except to those for whom it is too late.

Verily, this was a captivating read.  Some may be intimidated by its length (well over 600 pages); others may be apprehensive of its depth (the intertwining story lines and points of view differentiated by each source can often seem overwhelming for the casual reader); yet others may find daunting the wealth of history wrapped in the story, sometimes expressed dryly as near academic research.  I assure you, however, that history buffs and those with even a casual interest in the story of Dracula will both find this a narrative worthy of reading.  It is an escape into other times and other places, and a rather interesting spin on Drakulya's never-ending quest through time, both for blood and the life it gives him, and for something else entirely.  I leave it to you, the reader, to discover that secret.

Being in politics is like being a football coach. You have to be smart enough to understand the game, and dumb enough to think it’s important.

— Eugene McCarthy

As tagged by Michael, the meme: 5 favourite quotes from either a film, book, or song.  My response, covering all three options, and ranging from the philisophical to the dark to pleasures of the flesh:

(1) That's so inspirational it brings tears to my eyes. But by and large, Constable Anderson, the good's an illusion. Little fables folks tell themselves so they can get through their days without screaming too much.
Andre Linoge from Stephen King's 1999 Storm of the Century

(2) Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends.
Gandalf in JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

(3) What did you see, the same as I? Appetite sated, desire indulged, a miniature of the world and how it will succumb to us… There is no good, Munroe, there is no evil, there is only flesh and the patterns to which we submit it.
Pinhead in 1992's Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth

(4) You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
Almustafa in Kahlil Gibran's 1923 The Prophet

(5) Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself; Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; for love is sufficient unto love.
Almustafa in Kahlil Gibran's 1923 The Prophet

And a bonus: Tempers fray so easily in desperate despair, is there anyone who cares? Just another tragedy, just a personal affair in a room somewhere
“The Circus” from Erasure's 1990 Circus

Oh, and on the kissing thing, since that's a personal favorite of mine, I also took the test.  My results:

Your are a Passionate 'In the Moment' Kiss! You love to make things a little sweeter than they already are. Or maybe you just enjoy being one damn hot boy!

I think that's healthy!