In local news, the Cairns Post reports that a real estate development at Ella Bay, near Innisfail, may be challenged after a rare species of dolphin, the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis), was seen in the area.
Over in the US there are three sex scandals in the news, all involving Republican politicians. Another common thread to all three is the involvement of the Family, a secretive nominally Christian (but really more a power cult). The group cast off what is generally thought of as Christianity, saying it’s for the masses and not the powerful. Morality is, they say, a secular invention, and the “chosen” seem to have carte blanche to transgress. The group also has had ties to despotic regimes around the world, including Suharto’s Indonesia. Jeff Sharlet, an investigative reporter who had previously written about the group, is suddenly in great demand, and is popping up across the media spectrum. Appearances have included two of my favourites, the Rachel Maddow Show and the Reasonable Doubts podcast. The Reasonable Doubts interview, in particular, is well worth a listen.
The Moon is also in the news, with the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing. Amongst other events, NASA’s Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter has taken photos of the remains of the Apollo landing craft from 100km above. Will this convince the lunatics who claim man never went to the moon? Of course not… Nothing could.
An English girl on holiday in Spain has set a new world record for the largest freshwater fish caught by a child. Check out this story for a photo. The fish is twice as heavy as her, and two and a half times as long. Part of me can’t help but think about how big an aquarium I would need. I was glad to read that the massive catfish was released after being measured.
In a “Well, duh!” scientific study, the University of Illinois has investigated the link between speed limits and fatalities. No surprise, speed limits work.
Mr Deity continues to pump out a lot of work. After a long hiatus, it’s nice to have the original Mr Deity, the Larry/Deity interview, and Words appearing on a regular basis. Check out Mr Deity’s YouTube channel. I loved the Baptism of Fire‘s line about how they “would rank the devotion of converts, in fact, by degree… First degree, second degree, third degree.”
