January 2011 Archives
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January 31, 2011
Preacher Worries Mightily Over Kosher Halal Food
When you bite into a delicious pizza, succulent sandwich or luscious lamb chops, are you possibly eating food that has been sacrificed to idols? An outspoken American pastor says yes, and he's sounding the alarm for Christians to be aware...
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Posted by Duane Smith at 3:27 PM
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January 29, 2011
The “Philosophical” Basis For Not Taking Government Assistance
According to Ayn Rand, The recipient of a public scholarship is morally justified only so long as he regards it as restitution and opposes all forms of welfare statism. Those who advocate public scholarships, have no right to them; those...
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Posted by Duane Smith at 4:31 PM
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January 28, 2011
The Latest ZA
The latest Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, the December 2010 edition, is now avaliable. As far as I'm concerned the most abnormally interesting paper is Elena Devecchi’s “Amurru between Ḫatti, Assyria, and Aḫḫiyawa." Discussing a recent hypothesis.” But you...
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:57 AM
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January 27, 2011
Another Academic Pissing Contest
Sometimes scholars attempt to resolve their differences by way of reasoned debate on the evidence. Sometimes they don’t. A professor at Cal State Northridge is set to be arraigned Thursday after he was allegedly caught on video peeing on a...Read all of "Another Academic Pissing Contest"
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:14 PM
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January 26, 2011
New Old Or Old Old?
Reports of important archaeological finds often come it rapid succession. Countries like Israel, Egypt, Syria and others depend to some extend on these finds, or at least their announcement, to stimulate tourism. Part of the problem is what to do...Read all of "New Old Or Old Old?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 12:16 PM
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January 23, 2011
Headline Of The Day
Check my gun? No way marshal From the print edition of the Los Angeles Times. The online edition headline reads, “Gun laws were tougher in old Tombstone. If you like the headline, you’ll like the article even better. Here’s a...Read all of "Headline Of The Day"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:11 AM
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January 22, 2011
Four Stone Hearth Number Next Is Up
I’m a couple of days late on this but the anthropology carnival Four Stone Hearth #111 is up at The Prancing Papio. Give it a look, there’s a lot of monkey business this time....Read all of "Four Stone Hearth Number Next Is Up"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:14 PM
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January 21, 2011
A Bird Dropping A Snake – Not A Good Sign
In which I ponder a possible relationship between a snake/bird omen in the Iliad and a couple omens in Shumma Alu. I’ve played with something like this before. Let’s start with Iliad 12.200-209: ὄρνις γάρ σφιν ἐπῆλθε περησέμεναι μεμαῶσιν αἰετὸς...Read all of "A Bird Dropping A Snake – Not A Good Sign"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:52 AM
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January 20, 2011
More On Old Snails
It’s time for the Archaeo+Malacology Group Newsletter again. This time number 18. Of the several short notes in this edition, I found Henk K. Mienis’ “Ancient metal ‘weights’ in the form of bivalve shells” the most interesting. It appears that...Read all of "More On Old Snails "
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:53 PM
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Governor Bentley’s Unbrotherly Remarks In Larger Context
Juan Cole, who always has an Informed Comment, offers his perspective on Gov. Robert Bentley’s sort of apology to Muslims, Hindus, Jews and others for excluding them from his personal brotherhood. Cole concludes his post, It seems to me that...Read all of "Governor Bentley’s Unbrotherly Remarks In Larger Context"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:27 AM
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January 19, 2011
Need To Fake An Incoming Call?
Provided you have the right Samsung phone, Boing Boing has instructions straight out of the manual. Don’t call me about this. I’ll just call myself and tell myself that at least one such phone is the Samsung S3500. Checkout page...Read all of "Need To Fake An Incoming Call?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:46 PM
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January 17, 2011
More Divining Snakes
In important ways, the following represents data gathering but not necessary evidence gathering. In other words, the two examples of divining snakes cited below need not have anything to do with each other or with a central interpretive thesis regarding...Read all of "More Divining Snakes"
Posted by Duane Smith at 11:04 AM
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January 16, 2011
Are They Trying To Tell Me Something?
On the one hand, I just received an email notification for the 14th Applied Stochastic Models and Data Analysis International Conference this June in Rome. While I am interested in the topic, I rather doubt that my limited ability to...Read all of "Are They Trying To Tell Me Something?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 12:14 PM
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January 14, 2011
Finkelstein And The Role of Archaeology (And Texts)
The open access Journal of Hebrew Scriptures has just published an essay by Israel Finkelstein in which he reacts to Nadav Na’aman’s “Does Archaeology Really Deserve the Status of A ‘High Court’ in Biblical and Historical Research?” Na’aman was concerned...Read all of "Finkelstein And The Role of Archaeology (And Texts)"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:47 PM
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January 12, 2011
Thinking Within The Box
For the last several days I’ve been proofreading my contributions to Alan Lenzi’s forthcoming Reading, Akkadian Prayers and Hymns - An Introduction. Any regular abnormal reader knows that I’m not very good at proofreading. The proofreading of my four prayers...Read all of "Thinking Within The Box"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:04 PM
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January 11, 2011
Assault Rifles On The Defensive
It seems that Palmetto State Armory has taken down their web page promoting the “You Lie” lower receiver for AR 15 assault rifles. They designed this special issue part, with a "You Lie" inscription, in honor of Rep. Joe Wilson....Read all of "Assault Rifles On The Defensive"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:10 PM
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January 10, 2011
Anonymous Reason
I haven’t said anything about Saturday’s tragic shooting rampage in Tucson. I haven’t said anything about Saturday’s shooting rampage in Tucson. That isn’t because I lacked thoughts on the subject but that I thought others were making the rational points...Read all of "Anonymous Reason"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:16 AM
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January 8, 2011
Stand Up, Stand Up For . . .
Some of you know that I have a minor investment in the Hebrew expression מַשְׁתִּין בְּקִיר, “pisser against a wall.” So I am always on the lookout for anything that will expand my knowledge of the phrase. Happily The Busybody,...Read all of "Stand Up, Stand Up For . . . "
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:53 AM
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January 7, 2011
One Person’s Response To A Sanitized Huck Finn
One Person’s Response To A Sanitized Huck Finn Well, I hope this action of Mr. Gribben's in no way distracts from the two editions I have planned of Huckleberry Finn coming out in the spring. One is a legal/military redacted...Read all of "One Person’s Response To A Sanitized Huck Finn"
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:09 PM
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January 5, 2011
The Latest Four Stone Hearth Is Up
Afarensis has Four Stone Hearth #110 up at Afarensis: Anthropology, Evolution and Science. Check it out. Abnormal readers will particularly enjoy the linked posts concerning the Qesem Cave fossil reports and the overblown interpretations they inspired....Read all of "The Latest Four Stone Hearth Is Up"
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:31 PM
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January 4, 2011
What Jim Was and What He Wasn’t.
There is a lot of discussion of a forthcoming version of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Both Twain scholars and the popular press have joined the fray. As I understand it, a major feature of this new version is...Read all of "What Jim Was and What He Wasn’t."
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:18 PM
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January 3, 2011
Sad News - Riekele Borger Died A Few Days Ago
By way of the ANE-2 list, Xianhua Wang reports that Assyriologist Riekele (Rykle) Borger died on December 27, 2010. Borger was 81. The message came to Prof Wang from Eckart Frahm of Yale. As more information becomes available, I’ll update...Read all of "Sad News - Riekele Borger Died A Few Days Ago"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:15 PM
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January 2, 2011
These Books Deserve A Loving Home
The Guardian Observer has published a series of sad and in many cases sadly beautiful photographs of abandoned buildings in Detroit. One of the saddest is this, It’s of part of the now abandoned East Side Public Library. There’s an...Read all of "These Books Deserve A Loving Home"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:21 PM
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January 1, 2011
The Biblical Studies Carnival LVIII Is Up
Joseph Kelly has The Biblical Studies Carnival LVIII up at כל־האדם. It’s another tour de force. I hope I can get through it before next month’s carnival comes around....Read all of "The Biblical Studies Carnival LVIII Is Up"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:40 AM
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