The sacred and the human. Today's atheist polemics ignore the main insight of the anthropology of religion--that religion is not primarily about God, but about the human need for the sacred. As René Girard argues, religion is not the cause of violence, but the solution to it.

Chelsea Clinton and her mom's presidential candidacy.

U.S. subpoenas Michael Moore. Federal officials may be planning to subpoena filmmaker Michael Moore seeking information about a trip he took to Cuba for his documentary, "Sicko," a source close to the situation said on Friday.

In defense of dangerous ideas by Steven Pinker.

Norman Mailer vs. Rip Torn. In 1970, Norman Mailer directed and starred in a controversial film called Maidstone, which blurred the lines between fiction and reality -- especially the day after the shoot ended, when Rip Torn attacked Mailer with a hammer. (You can view the attack, and the fight that resulted -- which may or may not have been staged -- in the first link.)

The final days: the Mayan end of time. “A lot of people ask me if the world is going to end in 2012,” he said, “and I’ve come up with the best way to address that. The short answer is yes. The long answer is no.”

Dog fighting. "For too many top athletes and entertainers, this savage sport is outlaw cool."

1. Compose cliche. 2. Post to blog. 3. Profit!

Sushi! ...baby firefly squid (hotaru ika) in a sauce of Japanese mustard (karashi) with rape-blossom buds (nanohana). Then chopped raw toro topped with caviar. Then seared bonito (katsuo tataki) with crispy seaweed (ogo), woodland ginger and bamboo (myoga take), wasabi greens, and those little purple shiso flowers. Then steamed asari clams from Chiba in their broth. Then icefish (shirauo)—tiny, almost translucent fish with buggy little black eyeballs which can be had for only a few weeks in early spring—served in sizzling white-sesame oil with Kalamata-olive paste and sprigs of newly budded prickly-ash leaves (kinome). Then a hot pot of cherry trout (sakura masu), whose season also lasts only a few weeks in spring. And then, after the kaiseki overture, the sushi feast begins....

Scientology sleaze. Go ahead, be as glib as you want.

Jack Handey's nature documentary. Show monkey in a tree. Narrator says, “The monkey, proud and smart, in his native habitat. But one thing he does not have . . .” Show a giraffe. “. . . is a long neck, like the giraffe. Which is why nature has allowed them to combine forces.” Show monkey on giraffe’s neck. (Note: Monkey may have to be tied on.)

Williams syndrome. The low I.Q., however, ignores two traits that define Williams more distinctly than do its deficits: an exuberant gregariousness and near-normal language skills. Williams people talk a lot, and they talk with pretty much anyone. They appear to truly lack social fear. Indeed, functional brain scans have shown that the brain’s main fear processor, the amygdala, which in most of us shows heightened activity when we see angry or worried faces, shows no reaction when a person with Williams views such faces. It’s as if they see all faces as friendly. (From the NYT Magazine.) (Be sure to check out the embedded video.)

Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation. ...a 100-minute shot-for-shot amateur-video remake of the 1981 Spielberg-Lucas adventure flick, created over a span of seven years by a group of kids in small-town Reagan-era Mississippi...Filled with ingenious contraptions and overweening jerry-rigs, The Adaptation remakes Raiders on less than 1/2,000th of Paramount's original $20 million budget, conjuring exotic locales out of cardboard sets in parents' basements, casting tweens in Boy Scout uniforms as Nazi bad guys, and rolling a gigantic hand-crafted boulder through the family garage to create the film's signature scene. See footage here.

The Cramps: Live at Napa State Mental Hospital. As the first song fades, the lead singer, Lux Interior, addresses the crowd: "We're The Cramps, and we're from New York City and we drove 3,000 miles to play for you people." "Fuck you!" a patient yells back. Video here.

What happened before the Big Bang?

Are Canadians stupid?

On baby names. Parents are feeling intense pressure to pick names that set their kids apart. Some are even hiring consultants. The Wall Street Journal on the art of 'branding' your newborn.

60 years of UFOs. I particularly enjoyed the Project Serpo reference; I'd never heard of it before.

The challenge of being a heterodox economist. After grabbing a free drink in the Friedman reception, I strike up a conversation with economist Michael Perelman in the hallway... Perelman, who is there for the EPI reception, works at the margins of the discipline; he is one of a few hundred self-described "heterodox" economists at the conference. His last book, Railroading Economics, was about the creation of the "free market mythology"... I ask him about how he relates to the so-called mainstream of his profession. "It's a mafia," he says quietly, his eyes roving over to the suits spilling out of the Freedom to Choose room. more inside

Colin Powell advising Barack Obama. Mr Powell, 70, who left office in January 2005 under a cloud left by the war in Iraq, has served three Republican presidents, but made clear that he is considering backing a Democrat to succeed his former boss, George W Bush.