Hail the Emperor! "Perpetuation of the Byzantine Idea incarnated in a Dynasty . . . living evidence spanning some 350 years." But some disagree.

Curious George - The Occult in Islam Quid's post below reminded me that I could go here with a question I have been having trouble with. I am in the middle of the research phase of writing a screenplay that takes place in Iraq. Since the theme of the story has at least partially to do with the occult and demon possession, I've been reading all kinds of stuff on the history of Mesopotamia and Babylonian religion and the occult in that tradition as well as the history of Satan, demons, possession and the occult in Christianity and Judaism. Now I want to find out about the history of the occult, demonology and possession in Islam and am finding very few sources at my library as well as online. Does anyone in monkeyland have ideas about info resources on this admittedly fringe topic?

Muslim Heritage. more inside

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor calls it quits. Let the political fun begin! more inside

Needed: Protestant Latinists The vast majority of the church fathers and the Reformation’s writers have not been translated into English. Most of the history of the church remains a closed book to the modern world because that book is in Latin or Greek. There is a solution. The question is: Will anyone adopt the solution?

Do you want to be ugly and/or impotent? If so, consider taking up smoking. So says a new anti-smoking advertisement campaign from the NHS (various media), targeted at males who might worry about staying hard (flash) and females who might worry about losing their looks. We all know that smoking is carcinogenic to humans, but is the risk of cancer no longer a sufficient (de)motivator? more inside

Brown Fido. "Yes, after years and years of cleaning up after our own dogs and then seeing what was available in the form of FAKE DOG POOP, we discovered that most FAKE DOG POOP doesn't really look like what we were cleaning up. SO, about 10 years ago we set on a quest to make the best FAKE DOG POOP ever!"

How To Meditate

Meet the Smoothies. "I want a man with chest, uninterrupted. Who's buff, thorough and shiny as a dime. He's playing with his earring. He's putting up his hair. He's touring the new Old Navy and picking up new slacks. I want a man with a tight shirt and a hard package." more inside

VIP Service

Alpha Girls TV An organic media project for a disenfranchised population? Yeah, and if you don't like what's on there, go ahead and submit it. Not earth shaking, but a good use of vlogs...

Pants of the Third Reich

You never know when you'll need this information. Learn how to distinguish edible, though not necessarily tasty plants from their poisonous cousins. Just in time for your July cookouts! more inside