Dancing plague - Strasbourg, 1518

You couldn't make it up . . .

"In July 1518, a terrifying and mysterious plague struck the medieval city of Strasbourg. Hundreds of men and women danced wildly, day after day, in the punishing summer heat. Some of them even died. In his book A Time to Dance A Time To Die, just published, a British historian of medicine based at Michigan State University has uncovered fresh evidence into why this so called dancing plague took place. The author John Waller explains what exactly the dancing plague was."

Today Programme, BBC Radio 4:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7612000/7612071.stm

Harlan Ellison: "Pay the Writer" - an outdated concept? (repost from other blog)

Harlan Ellison is well known for being . . . forthright.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj5IV23g-fE



(via WritersWeekly)
His point of view is a valid one, but it's also a little dated in this age of new media. For all his maverick bluster Ellison is an established writer who got where he is today by traditional methods. Those methods have become less appropriate now that so much free stuff is available.

New writers ('underpublished' writers, as Evo Terra of Podiobooks.com calls them) would do well to explore the alternatives. Slavishly insisting that every word carries a price-tag can be counterproductive. In essence Ellison is right, but it's worth remembering that writers can receive 'value' for their work in other than money.

Burnee links for Sunday

Legal bid to stop CERN atom smasher from 'destroying the world' - Telegraph

The “Carl Sagan Institute”… of Ufology! | forgetomori

mediawatchwatch.org.uk » The unkindest cut?

Pharyngula: Palinanity

Pharyngula: Didgeridoos are not for you, little girl

Polly Toynbee: Faith schools may be Blair's most damaging legacy | Comment is free | The Guardian

The Associated Press: McCain fought money on teen pregnancy programs

Skepchick: Fine, I’ll say it then…

"Sarah Palin has been John McCain’s running mate for less than a week now and I’m already so sick of her I want to punch my TV. I feel like I know more about her and her family than I do about my own family. I certainly know more about her than I do about any of my neighbors. What I find most annoying though, is how much coverage is being given to a question that no one even asked:

How can Sarah Palin shirk her womanly mommy duties to run for VP?"

The Freethinker › Heaven’s full of people who were never born

An Open Letter to Gov. Sarah Palin on Women's Rights | Reproductive Justice and Gender | AlterNet

Sue Blackmore: Those who teach our children science have a duty to reveal the workings of nature | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Babies, acupuncture and the secret to a good night's sleep - Sydney Morning Herald

Autism and Vaccines: Why Bad Logic Trumps Science | LiveScience

David Bradnack: Face to faith | Comment is free | The Guardian

The Christian creed is full of bad science that makes it a religion of deception, argues David Bradnack

Professor Brian Cox on the Large Hadron Collider, Moon Hoaxers and Intelligent Design

Next week's Radio Times has an interview with Professor Brian Cox, who has no patience with conspiracy theorists:

Radio Times:

"Cern is being sued in the US over the possible dangers of turning on the LHC, such as creating a mini black hole that might swallow the planet. Could it be the end of everything?"

Brian Cox:

"The nonsense you find on the web about 'doomsday scenarios' is conspiracy theory rubbish generated by a small group of nutters, primarily on the other side of the Atlantic. These people also think that the Theory of Relativity is a Jewish conspiracy and that America didn't land on the Moon. Both are more likely, by the way, than the LHC destroying the world. I'm slightly irritated, because this non-story is symptomatic of a larger mistrust in science, particularly in the US, which includes things like intelligent design."

Radio Times:

"One final question: how can you be certain? We've heard of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle - does it mean you can't be sure of anything?"

Brian Cox:

"The Uncertainty Principle is part of quantum mechanics, and the whole subject is based on that. So it affects every result at LHC, but it doesn't affect the conclusion that anyone who thinks the LHC will destroy the world is a t**t."

YouTube 4 U

For your entertainment and contemplation, Edward Current and Pat Condell:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnjfxCp92pc




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIq7tsVvEoY

Burnee links for Sunday

Religion and its mortifying history of self-inflicted pain | A.C. Grayling - Times Online

McCain's VP Wants Creationism Taught in School | Wired Science from Wired.com

Theocratic Sect Prays for Real Armageddon | | AlterNet

Review: Self-help books roundup | Books | The Observer

Mark Vernon: Face to faith | Comment is free | The Guardian

"Humanism is more part of an enlightened, liberal tradition than mere atheism"

The art of darkness: Sir Antony Sher - Times Online

Faith Central - Times Online - WBLG: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and women leaving the Church

Women preachers at moderate mosque ‘urge faithful to kill gays’ -Times Online

BBC NEWS | Education | New pressure over faith schools

BBC NEWS | Magazine | The malign power of platitudes

With God on Our Side - BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4's Archive Hour on Saturday evening was "With God on Our Side" - a documentary about how faith (or lack of faith) affects decisions taken on the battlefield.

From the Archive Hour website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/archivehour):

With God on Our Side
Saturday 23 August 2008 20:00-21:00 (Radio 4 FM)
Amid the horrors of war, what makes one man turn to God and another to atheism? Former Bishop of Edinburgh Richard Holloway explores what happens to faith when one's life is on the line.

The audio can be streamed for about a week here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00d1yqx

When this link expires you can download an mp3 of the programme from RapidShare:

http://rapidshare.com/files/341849659/ArchiveHour_WithGodOnOurSide_BBCR4i-20080823.mp3