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»sorted books project« by nina katchadourian

Mormons love Jell-O so much that it has become the official state snack in Utah!

Jell-O is so popular among Mormons that the Mormon Corridor region, which has the highest Mormon populations, has been nicknamed the "Jell-O belt"! Salt Lake City has the highest per capita Jell-O consumption, solidifying this stereotype.

To further support this image, Utah declared it the official state snack food in 2001. Utah Legislature gave many reasons to recognize Jell-O, including that Utah had been the highest per capita consumer of Jell-O for many years, and how citizens of Utah had rallied to "Take Back the Title" after Des Moines, Iowa exceeded Utah in Jell-O consumption in 1999.

Bill Cosby said he believed that Jell-O is perfect for families and the people of Utah are all about families and he, as spokesperson for the product, supported the bill. He is associated with Jell-O and, more famously, Jell-O pudding and he appeared in many commercials promoting both.

Jell-O is often served with homemade cookies or cakes and water at LDS Church socials. Many speculative explanations of this stereotype attribute it to Mormons' refusal of alcohol and tobacco. Mormons embraced the stereotype of Jell-O consumption to assert their religious and cultural identity.In 1992, Ivette Bassa won the second ever Ig Nobel Prize in chemistry for inventing blue Jell-O!

(Source)

»sorted books project« by nina katchadourian

[source]

Earlier this year, third grader Olivia McConnell wrote to her state representatives with a request: South Carolina didn’t have an official state fossil, so could the Wooly Mammoth claim that title?

… Olivia gave her reasons:

1. One of the first discoveries of a vertebrae fossil in North America was on an S.C. plantation when slaves dug up wooly mammoth teeth from a swamp in 1725.

2. All but seven states have an official state fossil.

3. “Fossils tell us about our past.”

“Please work on this for me,” McConnell wrote to [Rep. Robert] Ridgeway, signing her letter, “Your friend, Olivia.”

Ridgeway and Sen. Kevin Johnson saw no reason to object so they introduced legislation in their respective houses to make it happen.

The bill (as it was passed in the House last month) would amend the 1976 code on state emblems to include the Columbian Mammoth as the state fossil:

Whereas, giant mammoths used to roam South Carolina; and

Whereas, scientists have identified the fossils of about six hundred and fifty species of vertebrates in South Carolina to date; and

Whereas, it has been recognized that fossilized mammoth teeth were discovered in a swamp in South Carolina in 1725; and

Whereas, this discovery has been credited as the first scientific identification of a North American vertebrate fossil. Now, therefore,

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Article 9, Chapter 1, Title 1 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

“Section 1-1-712A. The Columbian Mammoth is designated as the official State Fossil of South Carolina.”

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

A cute story all around, right? The House bill passed easily on a 94-3 vote and moved on to the Senate… where it encountered an obstacle:

Sen. Kevin Bryant of Anderson had proposed amending the bill to include a passage from the book of Genesis in the Bible explaining the creation of life.

Because, as we all know, fossils mixed with Jesus make Ken Ham cry…

(Bryant is a born-again Christian who has no problem proclaiming his Jesus-lovin’ views on his personal website. Surprise!)

Bryant’s objection began a ridiculous chain reaction:

… Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell ruled the amendment was out of order because it introduced a new subject… [then Sen. Mike] Fair placed an objection to the bill, halting its progress.

…

Fair said he objected to the bill because he is hoping to talk to some senators who have an objection on one of his bills.

“I was going to see how serious they are about getting that bill passed,” he said.

In short, an eight-year-old’s suggested bill to make the Wooly Mammoth South Carolina’s official state fossil was interrupted by one Christian’s attempt to inject the Bible into it… and is now being held up by another Christian senator.

He claims the dismissal of the biblical amendment has nothing to do with it, but that’s hard to believe. Just last month, Sen. Mike Fair, whose district includes Bob Jones University, blocked the state from adopting new education standards regarding evolution because he wanted to “teach the controversy” instead. And it wasn’t the first time he had tried to inject Intelligent Design into the public schools.

So, for now, the Wooly Mammoth isn’t the official state fossil because two Bible-thumpers are standing in the way.

It sounds like the other senators are frustrated, too:

The announcement over the objection was met with groans by senators.

I’ll let you know if Fair and Bryant eventually back down.

(Top image via Shutterstock. Thanks to John for the link)

I’ve heard plenty of stories about Christian schools kicking out students. I’ve heard about them kicking out students who were openly gay. I’ve heard about them kicking out students whose parents were gay. But what happened to Sunnie Kahle was news even to me.

Timberlake Christian Schools in Virginia is essentially forcing her out because she doesn’t look feminine enough:

You’re probably aware that Timberlake Christian School is a religious, Bible believing institution providing education in a distinctly Christian environment…

… we believe that unless Sunnie as well as her family clearly understand that God has made her female and her dress and behavior need to follow suit with her God-ordained identity, that TCS is not the best place for her future education.

… We love Sunnie and do want the best for her. We would miss her presence here, but we do not want her future years [to] be filled [with] confusion and conflicting input from those who are guiding her.

The problem here is clearly not with Sunnie — or her adoptive grandparents. It’s with the students and administrators who think you’re not properly female unless you fit their precise mold of that word.

“How do you label a child, eight years old, or discriminate against an eight year old child? It just don’t happen” said [grandfather] Carroll Thompson.

…

“How do you tell a child when she wants to wear pants a shirt, and go out and play in the mud and so forth, how do you tell her, no you can’t, you’ve got to wear a pink bow in your hair, and you’ve got to let your hair grow out long, how do you do that? I can’t do that” said Doris.

Speaking of long hair, I can’t wait till this school kicks Jesus out. How dare he never get a proper manly haircut?

Timberlake, by the way, is a stone’s throw from Jerry Falwell‘s Liberty University and offers a 75% tuition discount to “qualifying seniors.”

The school has responded to the negative press by issuing their own statement, claiming (of course) that they did nothing wrong:

You can be assured that we have cared for Sunnie and worked with her grandparents for several years to assist them. Our TCS teachers and administrators love Sunnie and we can assure everyone that this has never been an issue of hair length or boots as it has been portrayed. It has been our constant desire over the last several years to work with this family and to shepherd this precious little girl in a way consistent with traditional values.

As a private Christian school, we have the responsibility to all our students to assist parents to instill the Christian values upon which our school is founded.

We reiterate that the decision to remove Sunnie was entirely that of the grandparents.

You know, it’s not really a “decision” when the school tells you they don’t want your kid there…

And don’t you see? It’s totally not about her hair length or boots. It’s about Sunnie properly embracing her gender the way the Bible commands! (So I guess she won’t need that Liberty discount after all…?)

Ugh. To force a child away from her friends, to suggest that being herself isn’t good enough for God, it’s just fucked up all around. At least Sunnie’s out of that hellhole now. Let’s hope she’ll be enrolled in a better school this fall — one where the students and adults embrace her for who she is and not what she looks like or how she acts.

Side note: A commenter on a local news site claims that she was similarly pushed out of TCS in eighth grade for a different reason:

… teachers were gossiping about how large my chest area was for an eighth grader and that it was “inappropriate” because guys were looking at me. We had uniforms!

By their fruits, ye shall recognize them…

(Thanks to Danny for the link)

Humanized ponies because they seem to be underrepresented around here. Plus Pinkie just looks so happy, I couldn't resist!

Short one tonight guys! Check it out and have a good evening/morning!

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Cake and EqD have a relationship that goes back, gosh, I don't know how long! This one tops all those that have come before simply by sheer scale. Made with 26kg of icing, 86 eggs, and 32 boxes of Rice Krispies,  this 4ft 3in Pinkie has come to being in our world in the form of pure deliciousness, as it was intended.

Check out the whole story here.

A homeless man lives in the mountains of Yosemite, climbs sheer cliffs, and writes about quantum mechanics. Find out more!

Chongo may not sound like the name of an established, wealthy, Californian businessman, and you'd mostly be correct. However, this nature-loving man does deserve some recognition since his survivability tactics rival that of Bear Grylls.

Chongo, or the Monkey Man, is known as the king of Yosemite lifers, a group of rock climbers, tightrope walkers, and campers on the margins of the law. He illegally has lived in the Yosemite mountains for over a decade, surviving by scavenging food. He is over 60 years old by this point, but is known for having climbed sheer rock faces in the beautiful national park.

Not much truth is known of him, but there is plenty of lore, including him spending time in Mexico, college, jail, and experiencing life as a party fanatic, computer programmer, and gunshot victim. Oh, did we forget to mention scientist? He gathered all his thoughts and quantum mechanic theorems in a book he wrote titled “The Homeless Interpretation of Quantum mechanics.” The final paragraph isn't found between the book covers, but of the back of the book itself.

(Source)

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Frogs use their eyeballs to eat. Really!

Frogs aren't just for dissecting in science class. The many species all have unique, fun, weird, and sometimes deadly characteristics about them that would surprise the majority of animal lovers. One of the strangest has to do with simply swallowing their meal.

As soon as they grab that succulent, unsuspecting insect, they need to blink, and it's not to keep their eyeballs from flying out. The eyelids pushes their eyes down to the top of their mouth and actually helps push the food down their throat. Talk about eyes bigger than their stomach.

Most frogs actually have teeth on their upper jaw, used primarily for keeping the prey in their mouth while it awaits the eyeball assault that pushes them down to the stomach.

If you were interested in what happened after the dinner starts its journey to the stomach, look no further than the glass frog which has translucent skin. That means you can see everything on the inside, including organs, bones, and muscles. Track that fly from the mouth, all the way to the stomach where it gets digested, like a grand tour of frog body.

(Source)

Just one more chapter

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