The Events Part 4: How to Take Down a Casino
In the final episode of The Events Derren will twist and turn like a twisty-turny thing.
Bush Officials Objected To Awarding Medal To J.K. Rowling Because Harry Potter Books Promote Witchcraft
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civil award, and is given to individuals who have contributed to: 1) the security or national interests of the United States, 2) world peace, or 3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.
In his new book, Speechless: Tales of a White House Survivor, former Bush speechwriter Matt Latimer reveals how politicized the revered Presidential Medal of Freedom became during the Bush administration.
Latimer writes that administration officials objected to giving author J.K. Rowling the Presidential Medal of Freedom because her writing “encouraged witchcraft”.
Full Article at Think Progress
The Hubble Ultra Deep Field in 3D
Cool video about the Hubble ultra deep field in 3D. A photo of utter blackness taken in “a patch of sky no bigger than a grain of sand held out out arm’s length.”
The maths are a bit out though as they seem to forget the universe is only 6000 years old. 
Via Boing Boing
Israel’s Wealthiest Woman Says She Can See The Future
Arison — billionaire ($2.7 by Forbes’s most recent estimate), perhaps the richest woman in the Middle East, a major force in Israeli philanthropy — claims that she can see the future.
“Over the years I suffered much from the visions, the feelings and these messages . . . I prayed they would go away. They brought much pain to my life. This was the preparation for the current phase, the phase in which I am ready to declare what I know with courage and without fear.”
Washington Post (thanks, Kirsty)
New Darwin film shunned by America
The Middle Ages are still with us. A new bio-pic of Darwin, called Creation, has failed to find a US distributor because of worries that it will be too controversial for American audiences. Let’s hope whiffs of said controversy put heat around the film and get it the exposure it might sorely need out there. Oh deary me.
Oops, sorry…
Following the subliminal film broadcast, one guy stuck to his seat for TWELVE HOURS. Sorry, Johnathan…
Can You trust Crowd Wisdom?
When searching online for a new gadget to buy or a movie to rent, many people pay close attention to the number of stars awarded by customer-reviewers on popular websites. But new research confirms what some may already suspect: those ratings can easily be swayed by a small group of highly active users.
Vassilis Kostakos, an assistant professor at the University of Madeira in Portugal and an adjunct assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), says that rating systems can tap into the “wisdom of the crowd” to offer useful insights, but they can also paint a distorted picture of a product if a small number of users do most of the voting. “It turns out people have very different voting patterns,” he says, varying both among individuals and among communities of users.
Full article at Technology Review (thanks, ReliegiousMarie)
“Gollum-Like” Monster Emerges From Lake
A slimy, glob-like creature dubbed Gollum has terrified children after it slithered out of a lake and clambered over the rocks towards them.
The young teenagers were playing by the waterfront in a Panama lake near Cerro Azul when the bald beast emerged from a cave behind a waterfall. They started screaming as it shuffled out “as if to attack them”.
Locals told Panama news the monster was like “Gollum from Lord of the Rings”. One said: “I have only seen that creature once before – and it was in the Tolkien film.” But in a “desperate bid to defend themselves” four children grabbed rocks from the beach and hurled them at the beast.
Metro (thanks, Eliza)
If anyone has any follow up to this story (haox / photoshop / clever make-up job) please can you send us your links. – Thanks – Phillis.
Catholic Church Dealt Blow by U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg dealt the Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport a major blow Tuesday. The church wants to hang on tight to 12,000 pages of documents from more than 20 lawsuits against priests. Ginsberg declined to keep those sealed while nation’s high court decides whether it will review the case.
The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that those documents should be unsealed, but while the case is under review by the U.S. Supreme Court, Ginsburg decision to continue a stay effectively said the documents should be released.
The records could reveal details on how retired New York Cardinal Edward Egan handled allegations when he was bishop in Bridgeport from 1988 to 2000.
An attorney for the diocese, Ralph Johnson III, said church officials are considering whether to ask all nine justices to rule on the stay request.
MSNBC (thanks, Fosca)
Derren Goes Cruising
Just returned from a wonderful few days aboard P&O’s Aurora, along with Mr Coops and Iain. I’m guessing many of you won’t have ever booked a cruise, or imagine it might be something to do in retirement, but I urge you to reconsider. The atmosphere is immediately, staggeringly friendly, and waking up every morning in a different port is just wonderful. Plus, if you like a bit of solitude, there’s nothing like sitting on your balcony with a great book, overlooking the vast expanse of endless ocean. Just bliss – and that’s without even leaving the ship. I did 3 shows in a beautifully equipped theatre, an interview/Q&A which was much much fun. And met some really lovely passengers, most of them seasoned cruisers.
A big hello, ahoy, and thank you to anyone reading this who was aboard – it was a real pleasure. We’ll be aiming to do it again, and bringing Jennie next time. So if you catch her in the Masquerades discotheque, perhaps you can persuade her to do that dance.
A lovely week. Thank you to all involved for looking after us so well. x
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