It may also mean being directed to the planet where lie concealed the ancient Tombs of the Cybermen.

That's not what teleology means. Being directed toward an end (telos) does not mean being toward a pinnacle of achievement.

Robert Pinsky, also a famous author, also did a video game: Mindwheel, I think it was called. And it's really something.

Makes one year for the good ol' days, in Greek antiquity, when the books came to you without commas, and you had to put them in yourself. True story.

Count me out of any Odin celebrations. I'm an athorist.

The phrase "transcends the physical universe" suffers from unintelligibility, and therefore shouldn't play a role in your reasoning.

I work to promote the idea that people should not have faith. Am I a "fucking dick" for doing so? Perhaps I would be, if I was doing this work person by person, in a slugfest of interpersonal contact. But I'm not; instead, the work I do is in support of change in cultural and social attitudes about religion and faith.…

"There are a lot of people in the world who have nothing. Faith in a higher power gives them one thing. You know what we call people who try to take away other people's one thing?"

I suppose the ship has sailed on "xe"?

There's precedent: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pederasty…

Relatedly: three of the ten nominees for the Man Booker International Prize this year were women, as was the winner Lydia David.

Amazing. (Can I ask, how did you find this out?)

SNL should fold this kind of showmanship and wit into their current queue of (oft-mumbling, vainglorious, lip-syncing, and too frequently just silly) musical guest lineup. Revitalize the franchise.

Who wrote this wonder?

I don't think you do your position any favors, kwijibo12, by foregrounding race and gender. One's identity and heritage cannot make an untrue fact true, a disproportionate response more proportional, or an ad hominem less personal.

I have to say, I find myself sympathizing with hester_bangs in this exchange.

I share your suspicion, but wouldn't call it cynicism.

"God damn people for preserving their cultural heritage!"
If only they could see fit to preserve their culture without drafting their children to the project.

It would be a great moral achievement if religious communities (any community) could forestall religious indoctrination of their children until after the agfe of…

I don't see how my reading of this piece has diverged so far from yours, Katie. I thought it was a useful account of the genuine feeling of distress experienced by a heterosexual male who 1) is committed against the objectification of women and who 2) experiences, in the spontaneous way he describes, objectifying…

This might blow some minds. The cost per shot for Stelara, a new treatment for psoriasis, is something like $5,500. A typical regimen might be two shots a week. (Cf. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_16…) This pricing is comparable to other drugs in the class of biologic drugs recently brought to market, like Humira.

Presumably they only cover the wear and usage of tinfoil hats in upper-level courses.

Weirder and weirder. From http://tonyortega.org/2013/05/15/chi… :

The following 30 individual completions for Ryan Lee appear in official Scientology publications: