I am serene. I am a pool of placid water. The sheltered cove of my good nature reflects the gentle sun that warms this earth.
Fuck it. Im pissed.
Benedict XVI, Benny the Strict, the Panzer Pope, has flapped his Teutonic gob in what can only be described as a big old screw you to rational thought. Taking a step back from Pope JP the Sequels moderate (for a Roman Catholic) stance on evolution, Benny has come out with both Lugers blazing in a book called Creation and Evolution.
His primary thrust is that evolution raises philosophical questions science alone cannot answer. Now while I cannot speak for science as a whole, I am not sure the opinion of a man who speaks for his own imaginary friend should count for much.
Unfortunately it does. A lot. While Benny stopped just short of support of Intelligent Design, he came far too close. This will wave the red flag of ignorance and stupidity at school boards everywhere and you can hear the voices of gibbering trolls shouting teach the controversy and I didnt come from no ape. Look, Ive taken it up with the apes, and they are just as mortified at sharing a common ancestor, but are just a wee bit more self actualized about it.
The final crowning papal turd upon the pile which is Benedicts pronouncement is this gem. It is also true that the theory of evolution is not a complete and scientifically proven theory.
That gentle friends and lurkers is what is commonly known as a lie. Its the big lie and it gets a lot of airplay. Evidence upon evidence upon evidence supports evolution; from transitional species to morphology to DNA analysis to geographic to geologic and so on down the list (I have offered a very, very abbreviated list here).
On the flip side the god hypothesis (It is not a theory) has no evidence. You can look at the world around you and say god did it but you cannot bring forward any evidence that he/she/it did. I personally cannot disprove god, only relegate him to the highest levels of improbability; but if cant disprove god is your primary argument, keep in mind that you also cannot disprove Zeus, Odin, Thor, The Tooth Fairy, the Invisible Pink Unicorn and Yugo the Dwarf of Despair who is currently laying his eggs in your lower colon.
Miracles. Ooooh. Shiny. Step one, tying them to a miraculous source impossible. Ignorance of the mechanism does not mean that god did it. Unless ignorance is your god, which is true in so many depressing ways.
Non overlapping magisteria my hairy Canadian arse!

This would be out of continuity, of course, but imagine if you will, poor Doug somehow ending up in a body-swap with Urd, either via his probability field, that field's interaction with one of Skuld's toys, or other means. Also, presume that unlike the classic/cliche swap, *just* the bodies are exchanged--their powers/abilities remain with the mind/personality, not the body.
Now...imagine Urd in Doug's shape getting...bored.
The setting: Paradox and Doug (in Urd's body) are chilling out on the living room couch in front of the recently-repaired television, perhaps watching movies or playing video games...
A SD Doug pops up at one end of the couch.."We're tiny!"
A second one pops up at the other end.."We're tuney!"
A third one pops up in front of the couch, and is immediately joined by the other two, who chorus, "We're all just little Loonies!"
The trio merge into a single SD Doug, and then jump into the television screen..only to pop halfway out to declare, "And we're invading your TV!" before disappearing once more..
Doug-as-Urd's response? "Arrrrrrrrgh!"

Is there an Idiot's Guide to these? Because I started reading up on them and am completely overwhelmed and confused.--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel
"Camaraderie, adventure, and steel on steel. The stuff of legend! Right, Boo?"

Claymore:
Bad-ass. Creepy half-human chick with a broad sword, what's not to like?
Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann:
new gainax series, with all that implies ( more gunbuster/FLCL than eva)
Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpuchou:
Super Powered Teenagers protecting their city from evil.
Except evil usually manages to wrack up quite a body count before they take it down.
Sailor moon this is not.
Giniro no Olynssis:
Confusing but has some potential.
Any more i've missed?

Aquastar is now up to Hour 169. If you're not caught up... go do so, ASAP, then come back here. You won't regret it.
We've had the Class Trip... of Doom.
We've had the High School Festival... of Doom.
And now that six months have passed since the series began, it's time for the Summer Vacation... of DOOM!
Spoilers for Festival and up in white...
In some ways I was disappointed by the end of the Festival War. After all that, we still don't know what drove Chao to change her own past. And now she's gone...
...but she'll be back, I have no doubt. Prediction: her next arc will involve the Negima Wrecking Crew traveling to her future...
From an arc perspective, the core reason for the Festival War seems simply to be the steeling of Negi's spine. He's got the vision, he's got the motivation, he's got the undefeatable willpower. From here on he might as well use D. as his middle initial because there won't be any stopping the bozu. Negi D. Springfield, laughs in the face of death and won't let anyone step on dreams.
So we move on to #169 and the YIKES! moment.
Okay, it's cliche as all hell, but fairly well pulled off nonetheless. The freaking awesome visuals of a mage war in the Inner World help carry the revelation that Nagi's buddies weren't kidding when they called her a princess.
But that's not all, or even the point. She was a weapon. A living defense system. Makes you wonder just what the IW culture is like, dunnit?
And -- wait, no, she hasn't forgotten again! Cliche variant #1 avoided.
(And the Konoka-Setsuna moment? Pure comedy gold.)
This upcoming arc should be glorious.

Further proof that Negima! is one of the best damn shonen action manga out there today. (Akamatsu even dived into Tournament Hell and made it out intact, unlike some I could name.)
--Sam
"Sidekicks don't kiss!"

I hereby throw down a gauntlet to any and all 'fen - devise a monetary unit that cannot be counterfitted.
I will be your prime counterfitter, in the guise of the third-teir Boskonian scientist Marcus Enwhistle.
Also, feel free to discuss ways and means in this thread.Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

Everything comes back to Austen. Jane Austen.
nielsenhayden.com/makingl...08832.html

He deals the cards as a meditation
And those he plays never suspect
He doesnt play for the money he wins
He doesnt play for the respect
He deals the cards to find the answer
The sacred geometry of chance
The hidden law of probable outcome
The numbers lead a dance
I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But thats not the shape of my heart
He may play the jack of diamonds
He may lay the queen of spades
He may conceal a king in his hand
While the memory of it fades
I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But thats not the shape of my heart
Thats not the shape, the shape of my heart
And if I told you that I loved you
Youd maybe think theres something wrong
Im not a man of too many faces
The mask I wear is one
Those who speak know nothing
And find out to their cost
Like those who curse their luck in too many places
And those who smile are lost
I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But thats not the shape of my heart
Thats not the shape of my heart
-----
Apologies if this one's been used already but... takes all weapons of war - everything in the area that has nonconsensual harm or destruction as its primary purpose - and bends it into a pretty little heart shape.

I had just started reading this forum not long before registering, but now an idea has jumped into my head. Surely there has been some sort of school set up in Senshi territory. And where there are schools you need teachers.
*.*.*
I looked across the line of students watching for their reaction to my arrival. I had an even dozen. There was of course the mandatory cat girl, another with featureless white eyes, and a pink haired girl who seemed to be trying to hide any reaction to my appearance. Strange, Pink Hair had blue hair in her student file's photograph. And what do you know, this term there was not one but two actual boys in the class, and judging from the way one was busy tugging at the collar of his shirt he neither approved of nor was used to wearing a tie. Not my fault, I wasn't the one who designed the uniforms.
Welcome to my class. My name Andrew, but for now you may call me Mister Fauho, Teacher, or Sensei. Hmm, I think Pink Hair has decided upon finding me cute, that does not bode well.
Let me start with an issue that has come up in the past. If you have any problem with being taught by a man or a furry, well tough, I've been told to stop offering to let people transfer into the classes that are going to lose the upcoming competitions. Second, I do not answer to fluffy, fox boy, or fur ball. Third, for those about to ask, yes that would be you Melissa, no I am not a kitsune. One, count it, one tail. Forth, and those of you who need this warning know who you are, I do not take glomping well. Great I don't think Pink Hair got the message, even if I was looking her right in the eyes as I said it.
*.*.*
I shall have to read more of what's been posted before going much further...
-----

Will the transhumanist future have catgirls? Does Japan still exist? Well, there is your answer.

I'm trying to find an older Buffy fic with the following plot points:
Giles got Joyce pregnant during the "band candy" incident.
Faith's new watcher is not Wesley, but the daughter of Emma Peel.
It's Xander/Faith.
I know it's on FF.net, I just can't find it anymore.