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Friday Follies 1.8

Ireland outlaws blasphemy.

And this ain’t your father’s Russia: the leadership of Russia’s equivalent of the s House of Representatives has “agreed to refer the legislative agenda and the legislative calendar to the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church for confirmation.”

Sorry, ma’am, you were right. You aren’t a prostitute. (Via.)

Lawyer disbarred for […]

Did Elijah Page choose lethal injection too early?

A unanimous South Dakota Supreme Court has vacated the death sentence of Briley Piper on the basis he did not validly waive his right to have a jury determine if he should be sentenced to death. Piper’s case will be sent back for another sentencing proceeding that will allow him an opportunity to have a […]

Checking my NPR listener credentials

Okay, I know I’ve got a thing with book lists. But I can’t resist looking at a list compiled when other listeners of NPR (the station(s) on which my car radio is set 99 percent of the time) picked the 100 Best Summer Books Ever. I didn’t cast a vote in the poll but do […]

Midweek Music Moment: The Concert for Bangladesh

We didn’t realize it at the time but one of them there paradigm shifts occurred in music on August 1, 1971. That afternoon and evening, more than two dozen famous and not so famous musicians performed at two sold out shows at Madison Square Garden. Gathered by George Harrison, the performances were benefit concerts for […]

The Book Depository: Amazon complement or competition?

The U.K.’s biggest online bookstore, The Book Depository, has launched its U.S. site. The site indicates it’s not taking on Amazon but a quick perusal can’t help but make you wonder.

The site’s “About Us” section says, “We are not in competition with Amazon, we complement Amazon by providing books which have poor availability, offering […]