Canada's newest museum is the Big Valley Creation Science Museum, in Big Valley, Alberta. It appears to be a quite serious, if small, museum devoted to putting Creationism on a scientific basis.
If you surf to their website and look at the press kit, you'll discover the curator/owner's name is Harry Nibourg.
"Scientific creationism" plus "Nibourg" equals a blatantly obvious quote from the Heavy Metal movie, IMHO:

(sniff) "great nibourg, man..."

-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

... because Batman's probably behind it.

-Logan
-----------------
"Wake up! Time for SCIENCE!"
-Adam Savage
-----------------

... is right here.
The following is the part that sent me into hysterics --

Quote:

---

Also, I feel I should mention that Dr. Frankenpalmer explains that while he'll be contributing to some of the major motor functions, Batman's mostly going to be operating purely on reflex. Which means that Batman's involuntary reaction to the world around him is to hunt down evil and beat the crap out of it.
And that is probably the most badass thing I have ever heard.

---

Friend of mine posted this in his LJ, and I thought I'd share here:

Quote:

---

You are standing in a building. There are terrorists here.
Suddenly, a wall comes crashing in. It's Optimus Prime in truck form, and he just drove right through the damn wall and into the middle of the terrorists. Then John McClain jumps out of Optimus' cab and punches one of the terrorists right in the face while shouting "Transform and roll out, motherfucker!"
Would this be the most awesome thing ever? Y/N

---

HA!!!
-Logan
-----------------
"Wake up! Time for SCIENCE!"
-Adam Savage
-----------------

As many folks know, Evangelia's been one badge each away from a good handful of accolades. One of those was the Conspiracy Theorist, for which she still needed the Infiltrator badge.
Well, after Task Force Hunter on Friday night, she was very, very close. By my estimate she needed to take down no more than 10 Paragon Protectors to get the badge and thus the accolade. I was playing on Saturday in between holiday obligations to family, wondering where I was going to find some protectors that wouldn't kick her butt, when I got a team invite out of the blue. I accepted it, and what to my wondering eyes should appear but a mission where 90% of the opposition were Paragon Protectors.
I got the badge and the accolade before we were finished with the first room.
The irony is that I might have been invited on that mish at any point in my last two levels... but I only get it when I really don't need it that much.
So anyway, Eva's now got the Ice Gun. I've fired it once. I couldn't see what it did in the heat of battle, and it took so long to recharge, I didn't use it again that mish. Anyone have experience with it and can clue me in to how useful it really is?
Thanks.

-- Bob
---------
The Internet Is For Norns.

_very_ neat. Blaxploitation imagery combined with samurai swords and postmodern technology.
The DVD is out and it's a kick in the pants. VERY enjoyable.Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

this is my attempt to kickstart plot development again.
Not 100% happy with it but I can't seem to make it better.
Feedback, improvements and insters are as awlays welcome. FOR SCIENCE!!!
*-*-*
Ryoko glanced over the crowd, hoping that Yuki wouldn't spot her. A rematch would end in a much more decisive manner, and Ryoko would like to stay with her master for a while longer. Not that Yuki would recognize her, her checksum was different, her blue tresses where dyed an unnatural shade of black, her face was encrusted in a layer of makeup which included such touches as fake bloody tears, and she had a rubber ducky on her shoulder. In short she blended in quite well among the other fen, even if her clothes a little tame compared to the people around her.
Oh the person to her right would not stand out anywhere really, a geeky boy in jeans and T-shirt, but on her left there was a goth catgirl, and someone who could pass as Lilith, if he wasn't male. Wave Convoy near the back actually blended in quite well, especially considering his size, Buba Moon was by far the most noticeable, which took some doing especially with fliers like the Knight Saber and a Hawkman lookalike flying overhead looking for good seats.
Ryoko would rather have stayed on the ship but Miyu demanded that she help with security in case someone tried to attack their Master. That she just couldn't allow, she loved her master and would do anything to keep him safe. Besides if anyone was going to kill him it should be her because she loved him. So she watched from the crowd, while Catty watched from the catwalks above the auditorium and Miyu watched from backstage.
The auditorium was filled with people speculating on what the announcement today would be and the reason for calling this convention in the first place. {Insert some points of flavor, here, maybe what some other major characters are doing.}
Finally at precisely ten o'clock the Professor walked on stage towards the podium set up. predictably cries of "It's the Professor!" and "Run for your lives!" where scattered among the crowd, though much less common than the reaction a few months ago when the Professor last held a surprise lecture. He looked particularly dashing today thought Ryoko, then again she always thought her master looked dashing. Though the gently glowing labcoat and the tie covered with nuclear hazard symbols did add a certain something. It definitely seemed to add to the panic, though Ryoko couldn't quite understand why.
The Professor stood at the podium and cleared his throat, which somehow didn't get the people to quiet down. Sighing, the Professor reached into one of the pockets and pulled out a huge cobbled-together beam cannon that was obviously way too big to fit in his pocket, complete with an under-barrel launcher of some kind.
For some reason this made the panic even louder, rather than make the audience quiet and attentive. Go figure.
The device hummed ominously as the Professor flicked the safety off with an audible click. Lights started blinking, alert noises went off, and various warning labels were illuminated in the baleful glow of its power. The professor's glasses frosted over as targeting reticles started to play over the forcefields that made up the lenses.
The auditorium steadily worked itself into a panicked frenzy. Buba Moon in particular was being obnoxious, shrilly shouting something about punishing the great evil in the name of the moon. Not that he was the only one doing so, just the loudest. Curiously enough the Senshi faction was quieting down, with the occasional whisper to calm down the few Senshi who where clearly agitated.
"If I could have your attention please!" asked the Professor politely while bizarre energies crackled around him.
When the tumult of the class refused to abate, the Professor brought up his massive gun and aimed it with one hand at Buba Moon and pulled the trigger.
A light-blue beam of energy shot out and intersected Buba for a brief moment, illuminating him and rendering all two hundred kilos of him bare for a brief instant of featureless glowing doll nudity as he was spun around in a full circle. In a moment, his sailor fuku was mercifully replaced by a pair of black slacks, a black and white striped shirt, and a pair of red suspenders, and his face was a pale shade of white. He was frantically gesturing and opening and closing his mouth but no sound came out.
The Professor slowly lowered his smoking gun while glaring at the people who where _still_ making noise.
"People these days," lamented the Professor to himself, "simply do not have manners." He grabbed and bellowed into the microphone, "QUIET!!!"
Once more, the lack of response infuriated the teaching professional, and he opened fire upon a few more of the obnoxious con goers with his Gigaplex 9000 Mime-Ray.
At last, when a few dozen people had become silent mimes, the noise level went down sufficiently for him to begin his speech, though it required the liberal use of his under barrel chalk launcher to get the mimes to actually sit still.
"First a bit of official rules, since some people here don't seem to be aware of them. When a speaker is at the podium you will be quite and attentive. Smoking is prohibited in the auditorium, and please don't use camera's with flash." Taking a deep breath the Professor continued on, "now that that is out of the way let us begin."
"Ladies, gentlemen, and other assorted beings. It is my pleasure and honor to introduce to you the one who called us all together today. But first I would like to say a few words, so please bear with me. The problem that this convention has been called to address is something that concerns us all, and that the power of Science alone cannot address." At this point the Professor paused briefly, looking over the audience.
At this point the people who actually knew the Professor where panicking. He mentioned science without going of into a rant, and he just barely raised his voice. It was even worse he said that science couldn't do something! They where all going to die!
"But together we an overcome this adversity, and I hereby pledge my aid and The Power Of SCIENCE to the cause. I hope you all will join me on this quest." Again the Professor paused to look over the audience.
By now those who knew the Professor where gibbering in fear, only the still smoking mime cannon that the Professor was still wielding kept them quiet.
"So I hereby present to you Haruhi Suzumiya-sama! The leader of the S.O.S. dan!"
{Haruhi does her thing.}
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

February 26, 2013
11:01 GMT
Stellvia

"Commander, a representative of the new tenant wants to speak with you directly... Commander?" Noah wasn't listening. He'd been lost in thought for a few hours.

After a moment, the visitor got tired of waiting. "Damn it, Noah, pay attention to your own crew!"

"Wha... Katz? When did you get here?"

"Two minutes ago. I thought I'd be able to say hello when I picked up the keys, but you're in no shape to be sociable. What's wrong?"

After a moment, Noah replied, "Nothing, really."

"All right, I won't pry. But I want a favor in return."

"If it doesn't interfere with Operation Great Justice, sure. Hell, even if it does - Yayoi and I still owe you for your help at the SOS-con last year."

"I'll let the specialist tell you what she needs, then. She's waiting just outside."

"All right..." Noah walked over and opened the door to main control, and discovered someone familiar waiting to see him.

"Hello, Mr. Scott."

"Leda! Er... Ms. Swansen, please, come in... no, it would be better if we spoke in the conference room. We haven't shielded all of the computers in here yet."

Katz cleared his throat. "Are you two going to need a chaperone?"

Noah and Leda both blushed. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?" asked the Senshi.

11:17 GMT

"... so, you're part of the Kobayashi Maru project."

Leda shook her head. "Not really; I'm just along because N is part of the crew. As her geneticist, I need to work with her if what the slavers did to her isn't to get passed along to her children. If she has any children."

"That was really low, even for a boskonian. I'm glad you're trying to give her a normal life, though."

"Normal? There's no way anyone trapped in that slave pen will ever be normal again, Noah."

"Yeah... bad choice of words on my part."

Leda looked up from her notes. "You usually watch what you say better that that. What's wrong?"

Noah sighed. "Oh, I don't know... Yes, I do know. I'm having second thoughts."

"About the Kobayashi Maru project, or leasing space to Above and Beyond or the SEBureau?"

"No, that's only part of it. I'm having second thoughts about all of Operation Great Justice."

"From what I hear, Ms. Suzumiya wouldn't like it if she heard you say that."

"So what? Everybody treats Haruhi as if she's some kind of incarnate god or something. I've worked with her, and I know she puts her spacesuit on one leg at a time, just like the rest of us mere mortals. And this is my station, not hers. What I say goes, here." Noah sighed deeply. "Why doesn't anyone remember that any more?"

Leda reached for Noah's hand, but stopped before she took it in her own; she wasn't wearing her insulated gloves. "Is she meddling in how you run the station?" When Noah nodded, Leda went on. "Then let her know that you don't appreciate that. I'm sure she'll be reasonable."

"You don't know here very well."

"Oh. But we both know that Operation Great Justice is doing a lot of good, Noah. Just last month, you all helped evacuate Crystal Osaka before it crashed. You saved my life, and the lives of a lot of other people."

Noah frowned. "Yes, but if we hadn't been hunting zwilnicks, that firefight in Crystal Osaka would never have happened. You'd still have a place to live."

"And hundreds of people, maybe thousands, would still be getting addicted to thionite. What's one small town compared to that?"

"Even though it was your home town that was destroyed."

"Even though it was my home town that was destroyed, yes."

"How can you be so... blasé about all the destruction?"

Leda's voice was steady. "Because we all know that it's serving a greater good."

17:01 GMT

"... and I've talked to the people from Above and Beyond about their request for laboratory space. It's going to be awkward, but I think we can squeeze them in somewhere in the secure section."

"Thank you, Yoriko. Is there anything else?"

"That's it for the daily operational report, Noah. But everybody I've talked to today said you were distracted. What's wrong?"

Noah sighed. "Lately, I've been wondering whether we've been doing the right thing with Operation Great Justice."

"What, in supporting it? We signed off on the SOS-Con articles, so we don't have very much choice. We have to support Operation Great Justice."

"No, I'm wondering whether we were right to start OGJ in the first place."

"Uh-huh. I was wondering when you were going to realize that."

Noah looked at Yoriko in amazement. "Are you saying you think Great Justice is a mistake?"

"Yep."

"How long have you felt that way?"

"Ever since I voted against it at SOS-Con." Yoriko sat down, and gestured to Noah to sit beside her. "When you programmed me, you gave me a police officer's instincts and a wide-ranging curiosity. That combination's lead me to study the history of police activity."

"All right, but what does that have to do with OGJ?"

"Bear with me, darling. Back in the 1980s, the US government started a 'War on Drugs' - they tried to get rid of the drug problem once and for all. But whenever they broke up a drug ring, another one popped up to take its place. They couldn't succeed, because they went about it the wrong way."

"That's old news to me, Yoriko. I lived through that time."

"Yes, I know. So you should realize what's happening now. When we started Operation Great Justice, we effectively declared a 'War on Crime.' Sure, it didn't start that way; there were a couple of threats that had to be addressed, and we've taken care of those threats. But we're using that as an excuse to go after every criminal we can find."

"We have to do something about the reavers, though."

"You taught me this one, Noah: 'we have to do something; this is something; therefore we have to do this' is not valid logic. Killing off reavers wherever and whenever they appear isn't going to eliminate piracy, any more than it did on the Spanish Main. As long as there's profit in it, there's always going to be another reaver. Or another slaver, or another zwilnick."

"And Great Justice will go chugging along as long as reavers keep showing up. But what can we do?"

Yoriko frowned. "As long as nobody's willing to tell Haruhi that she's wrong, there isn't a lot we can do. But what we should do is make piracy unprofitable as a matter of course."

The doorbell chimed, then the door opened and Yayoi poked her head in. "Dinner's ready!"

"We'll be right there," replied Noah as he and Yoriko stood up.

Yoriko grabbed his arm. "Promise me you'll at least mention the matter with Haruhi at the meeting Thursday morning."

"All right. It's worth a try, I suppose."

February 28, 2013
10:17 GMT
The Epsilon Blade

"Damn her... Try to raise an objection to her ideas, and she treats you as if you aren't there!"

Yayoi looked at Noah. "But she remembered you were in the room when she wanted someone to run a package to the Island. There's plenty to keep us busy back on Stellvia; why didn't you say no?"

"Because I had to get away from everyone before I started shouting at them. No, that's not right. I had to get way from Haruhi before I started yelling at her."

"And that would have been bad for morale."

"Morale has nothing to do with it - it would have frozen us out of any further decision-making. If we're going to have any chance to put Yoriko's idea into action, we have to be able to propose the plan, at the least. Yoriko did tell you about our discussion, didn't she?

"While you were busy with the TSAB yesterday, yes." Yayoi put the ship on autopilot and turned to Noah. "And I don't think Yoriko went far enough on Tuesday. I don't have very much experience with war; if it wasn't for Great Justice, I'd just have what's in the story you based me on, and that wasn't very much. But it was ultimately pointless. Why are we fighting a war to preserve peace, Noah?"

"That's a very Japanese question, Yayoi."

She just stared at him for a moment.

"Yes, you do have a very Japanese personality. Right. Of course. Sorry about that. As to why we're fighting for peace, sometimes we have to use overwhelming violence to get people to stop using violence."

"In other words, might makes right. Isn't that how the boskonians live? If we use their methods, how are we any better than them?"

Noah thought for a moment. "Damned if I know, Yayoi..."

I have another Buddy Code for LOTRO, and this time they've actually came up with an online download for the client.
If anyone's interested, lay claim here with an email addy, I'll send it off to you.--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel
"Camaraderie, adventure, and steel on steel. The stuff of legend! Right, Boo?"