This is what I saw in my upstairs bathroom window after pulling into the driveway and getting out of my car today:

Ever get the feeling someone was waiting for you to come home?

So the other day I was commenting on a blog where the authors were working on a new layout.  I spotted some strange wrapping issues and uploaded a screenshot of my browser window for them to look at.  Repeatedly, whenever the screenshot was on the screen, I caught myself trying to click the browser's back button in the screenshot.  Needless to say, each time I did this was followed by a disjointed moment of confusion where I wondered why it wasn't working.  Is my browser locked up?  What's going on?  After a second or so the realization would come.  You dummy, that's not your browser, that's a picture of your browser.

I think it served as a reminder of how much we do automatically once we've "learned" to do it.  The entire metaphor--hand to mouse, mouse to cursor, cursor to back button, click--all automatic and interpretted by the brain as "go back".

Anyway, next time I upload a screenshot of the browser, I think I'll leave the menu and toolbar out of it.

Here's a news story from my childhood hometown, reported by the Boston Globe.  The First American Baptist Church of Whitman, MA has just ejected its pastor.  This pastor came from a different Baptist church based in Holbrook that closed down in 2005, bringing his old congregation with him.

The problem, apparently, is that the First American Baptist Church is of the "American Baptist" sect, and the new pastor is not.  He's an independent Baptist. The two groups don't appear to be mixing well, and there is mention of the pastor changing locks on the office doors and disallowing the former church clerk entry.  And so the former clerk began a movement to oust the pastor, which has gained much support and ultimately succeeded.

...While [Reverend] Fernandez claimed the two congregations merged, Judge Frances McIntyre, in her ruling, said the two congregations remained virtually separate for the next year and a half.

"The issue here appears to be two fundamentally different religious groups competing for control of property which has historically belonged to one of the groups," McIntyre wrote...

..."He's a wonderful preacher. He's just not a believer in American Baptists," [former church clerk Jean] Porter said of Fernandez. "It's in our church constitution that this is an American Baptist Church. That's our denomination, and has been for over 100 years. He's an independent Baptist. It's as simple as that."...

I don't pretend to understand the differences between the two sects, but I think it a little sad that they can't get along well enough to share the same church.  Then again at least one of the differences would have made me want to throw out the new pastor too:

...Eric Grey, associate executive minister for administration and finance for the American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts, said there are certain differences in the tenets among the Baptist sects. "One is that we affirm women in the ministry," he said. Grey said the American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts are "standing with the First Baptist Church of Whitman" in their court case against Fernandez...

(Emphasis mine.)  Yeah, I can see where a new guy coming in and saying, "no more female ministers" might annoy people.  (Then again, I don't think the Reverend did that.)  According to the article Rev. Fernandez negotiated a move to the Whitman church on the agreement that he would become certified as an American Baptist, which he did not do.  There is also mention of money being drained from a church account--all in all not a happy affair.

Perhaps the most annoying thing are the concluding remarks from the Reverend:

...Fernandez, meanwhile, said losing the Whitman building "doesn't matter" to him. "What is disappointing is the people who showed they were willing to sacrifice all these members of the congregation for a building."...

According to those who opposed him, it wasn't about "the building".  It was about him failing to meet his end of an agreement to become certified by the American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts.  It makes him seem just a little bit... sly--thinking perhaps that he would promise the certification, but then win over the congregation during Sunday services and not bother.

I don't highlight this story out of any "atheist superiority complex"--there are definitely different schools of thought among atheists, and not all of us get along.  I mostly highlight the story because it is from my hometown, and because I'm sad these two groups couldn't work something out.

Wow, I just stumbled across The Index to Creationist Claims by Mark Isaak.  What a great resource!

It's approaching midnight and the patter of rain is filtering into my house, along with the drawn out, low, gut-vibrating rumble of thunder.  An approaching storm is on the one hand exciting, but on the other hand serves as a reminder of just how powerless we all are.  It's not hard to understand why primitive man would look at the angry sky and imagine a rampaging god.

Republican college students unite!  Demand your right to a campus free of transgender bathrooms!

BSU takes heat for 'transgender bathroom' (The Oregonian):
..."We don't want the university to label this a transgender bathroom," said Jonathan Sawmiller, 22, a BSU student senator and president of the school's College Republicans. He raised the issue in an April radio broadcast on a Boise AM station. "Since the media got hold of it, the university was told to stop referring to it as a 'transgender bathroom,' and to start calling it 'unisex,' " he said.

Sawmiller, who in early 2007 confronted BSU President Bob Kustra with a complaint that the school invites mostly liberal speakers, has enlisted the assistance of the Idaho Values Alliance, a conservative Christian group.

"Our view is, gender is assigned at birth," said Bryan Fischer, the Idaho Values Alliance leader. "There's no third or fourth or fifth option."

Fischer wants to know whether student groups -- BSU's 200 campus organizations include Bisexuals, Gays, Lesbians and Allies for Diversity -- will be allowed to alert transgender individuals to the restroom in their literature...

These guys desperately need something important to worry about.

I found this awesome video via the equally awesome Bad Astronomy blog.  I'm not big on card tricks, but this one is really amazing, and you might learn something from it as well.