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"Getting down on his knees and taking unclean things in his hands was more than just a pattern with Jesus — it was something like an obsession. This goes beyond a mere motif or refrain in the Gospels. Jesus looked at the purity codes and the holiness codes and the long lists of people and things that were unclean and never to be touched and he treated these like he was collecting points on a scavenger hunt."
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"Steve Gerber died this February. His fascinating and unsatisfactorily-ended Omega the Unknown, the story of an orphaned boy and a lookalike, silent alien, prompted Jonathan Lethem to take a crack at the series in in 2007, but that’s not why anyone remembers him. He was responsible for the KISS comic and Foolkiller. Alongside the omnipresent Mark Evanier, he worked on the Dungeons and Dragons Saturday morning cartoon, the animated G.I. Joe, and Thundarr the Barbarian. They’re not why he’s famous either."
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"These are supposed to be “bipartisan” times–times for coming together to solve real, massive problems, and for leaving behind the nasty politics of the past. So you would think when president-elect Obama named a distinguished scientist with expertise in climate, energy, and arms control to be his presidential science adviser, that tone would continue."
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What makes snow sparkle? There’s more science involved than you might think.
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"For years, the entertainment industry has harbored a dirty little secret: Sometimes publicists send reviewers friendly reminders of upcoming titles in the form of free gifts. What’s the difference between these items and bribes? Bribes are actually valuable."
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"So last year, about this time, I made a resolution. I resolved to read 100 books in a year. 100 books in 365 days, just a little under 1 book every three days. It was a hard challenge, but I felt (and still feel) that I need to be well-read person, and so I plugged away. I was all on schedule and doing great when…I started a blog. Round about May. And since then, that hour or so a night when I was reading away went *poof*."