Nostr notes by Col

Much of what people supposedly “know” about Christianity is ...

2024-09-18T14:03:13Z

Much of what people supposedly “know” about Christianity is actually rather hard to find in the original Bible, says The Economist. There was no apple in Eden, for example – that confusion appears to have stemmed from a translator’s pun, as the Latin words for “apple” and “evil” are almost identical. And the word “daily” in the Lord’s prayer is “pure bunkum” – there’s definitely a Greek word before “bread”, but no one has a clue what it means.

Keir Starmer came into power promising to “reset” Britain’s ...

2024-09-13T12:27:45Z

Keir Starmer came into power promising to “reset” Britain’s relationship with Europe, says Jon Stone in Politico. But the EU is “starting to wonder whether he really means it”. His “swift rejection” of EU priorities, such as setting up a youth mobility scheme and rejoining the Erasmus student exchange programme, has gone down particularly badly with European officials and diplomats. “People are starting to think it’s a bit of a facade,” says one senior EU official. “The answer is always ‘no’.”

Two astronauts conducted the first-ever privately funded ...

2024-09-12T12:19:51Z

Two astronauts conducted the first-ever privately funded spacewalk this morning. Billionaire businessman Jared Isaacman and mission specialist Sarah Gillis were each outside their Space X capsule, Crew Dragon, for 12 minutes. “From here,” said Isaacman, “Earth sure looks like a perfect world.”
Wouldn't he see a more perfect Earth if he spent his huge fortune on poverty and abuse, etc, instead of wasting it on self gratifying and rapacious thrills?

I always prefer the English spelling of "diarrhea", which ...

2024-09-03T06:38:39Z

I always prefer the English spelling of "diarrhea", which is "diarrhoea" because it really looks like you've lost control of your vowels.

The US election may require some interpretation, says Nesrine ...

2024-09-01T07:49:52Z

The US election may require some interpretation, says Nesrine Malik in The Guardian. At the Democratic National Convention, Nancy Pelosi was introduced as the “Mother of Dragons” – a reference to Game of Thrones. Kamala Harris herself has been anointed as “brat”, in homage to pop star Charli XCX’s album of the same name. Then there are the “wife guys”: men like Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, and her running mate Tim Walz who are “not ashamed to talk up their wives” and “take a back seat”.

He was teaching astronomy and asked Jimmy if he knew who Galileo ...

2024-08-28T07:14:12Z

He was teaching astronomy and asked Jimmy if he knew who Galileo was.
Jimmy said " Yes, he's just a poor boy from a poor family."

The late Christopher Lee holds the world record for most deaths ...

2024-08-27T11:57:53Z

The late Christopher Lee holds the world record for most deaths in an acting career, says Mental Floss: he croaked in at least 61 movies. A whopping 34 feature films have been called Broken, making it the most common title of all time. The James Bond film Spectre wins the prize for the largest stunt explosion, with nearly 2,224 gallons of kerosene used for the 7.5-second blast. A fake broadsheet known as The Recurring Newspaper is the most reused prop, appearing more than 10,000 times to date.

Welsh librarians, are apparently so steeped in racism that the ...

2024-08-24T07:29:51Z

Welsh librarians, are apparently so steeped in racism that the government is spending £130,000 training them how to counter the “dominant paradigm of whiteness”. The training is specifically banned from taking place in “racist” buildings, such as William Gladstone’s Library in Hawarden, on the grounds that, 200 years ago, the great Liberal reformer’s father received compensation for his West Indies business interests after the abolition of slavery.

One of the world’s great divides is between people who can ...

2024-08-23T11:56:08Z

One of the world’s great divides is between people who can afford to go on holiday and those who can’t, says Simon Kuper in the FT. For most, since history began, it was normal to be born, live and die without ever venturing far from home. There were exceptions. Victorian mill workers went to the beach every Wakes Week. But from the 1840s, the coming of the railways began democratising long distance travel. Suddenly ordinary Britons could take “excursions” to see the battlefield at Waterloo.

I try very hard to contain my anger, but the lid just keeps ...

2024-08-18T19:09:01Z

I try very hard to contain my anger, but the lid just keeps popping off.

I’ve learned so much from my mistakes that I’m thinking about ...

2024-07-10T07:15:39Z

I’ve learned so much from my mistakes that I’m thinking about making a few more.