Slated for a November relase, Let It Be…Naked. Removes the Phil Spector touches, which apparently Paul always hated. In other bad Spector news, police have decided that he was responsible for shooting that woman in February.
Oh, yeah. Arr, matey. Avast and whatnot.

Canada’s most celebrated gay married couple refused to compromise in filling out customs forms, and were therefore denied entry to the Defended Homeland. It’s a shame there’s no international full faith and credit clause. No predictions on whether this leads to a reduction in stupidity, since I’d like to be optimistic, but I hate to predict the wrong thing.

Okay, so anonymous sex in public places is risky. Got it. But how cool is England, where people engaged in it are ‘committing no offence unless they are witnessed by a member of the public who can be defined as “outraged” in the eyes of the law.’ I have no idea (and I’m the least research-inclined blogger here) what the laws regarding public sex are in the various states, but I have a hard time believing any of them is that liberal.

Have you ever wanted to do research into what makes flatulence smell bad, but you were afraid you might have to design some sort of fancy gizmo to do the analysis, because who would voluntarily smell a variety of farts? Fear no more; there are apparently people who will do just about anything for science.
Other favorites: Hot-zone Superintendent and Fistula Feeder.

Thanks to the charming and delightful Ursula for the pirate name quiz. Apparently, I should be called Dirty Jack Cash, though I can’t fathom why.

A collection of vintage posters advertising magicians.

In news that is shocking, shocking, I tell you, we find that teens who smoke tobacco are far more likely to smoke pot than teens who don’t. My favorite quote, from Joseph Califano, Jr. President of National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, Columbia University: "If kids are regularly smoking, you should be concerned they are smoking pot." I would have thought that if kids are regularly smoking, you should be concerned about that on its own merits.

In the nick of time, Operation Infinite Purity. I hadn’t realized whitehouse.org was still around, or I would have checked it out sooner. It seems to be from the same batch (or at least an indistinguishable batch) of jokers as Landover Baptist and the ever-so-slightly subtler Objective Ministries. These guys clearly have a lot of time on their hands.

In 1911, the city of Pullman, WA, wanted more residents. So the Chamber of Commerce, the Railroads, and Sunset Magazine put together a nifty little pamphlet to encourage people to move. Of especial note, the question and answer section:
“What is the moral tone of Pullman?
Exceptionally pure. There are no saloons and little vice and crime.”
Keep in mind that this was a campus town even then…

Casting call for Mad Mad House. (Perhaps) interestingly, the copy of the casting call I first saw was looking for a Voodoo Priestess instead of a Priest, and a Naturist instead of the Trekker and Yogi Master. There’s a petition urging Sci Fi not to be so insensitive to pagans. Possibly in response, Sci Fi included that “important note” at the end of the casting call. In April, they thought they’d want a psychic.