What fairy story, what tale from the Arabian Nights of the jinns, is a hundredth part as wonderful as this true fairy story of simians! It is so much more heartening, too, than the tales we invent. A universe capable of giving birth to many such accidents is — blind or not — a good world to live in, a promising universe. . . . We once thought we lived on God’s footstool; it may be a throne.
Clarence Day (1874-1935), This Simian World (1920), XIX
More from that chapter, below the fold
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Evolution, History, Natural history, Quotes, Science | Tagged: Evolution, Famous quotes, Natural history, Quotes, Science | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
We’d better hope it’s a tongue-in-cheek title, but the Carnival of the Decline of Democracy 2.6 is up at Ken Goldstein’s Random Thoughts, Notes, and Incidents. It’s a short one — it would appear democracy’s decline is overstated.
And, how do they come up with the “2.6” count?
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Posted by Ed Darrell
This site will challenge your hoax detectors — just enough facts to ring true, enough humor to make the parodies appealing and likely to be repeated as fact. This Day in Mythstory is written by Chris Regan, a humor writer formerly with “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”
When the professionals hoax up history, at least they do it in good faith.
(This site is probably funnier if you know which parts are accurate, and which are not. Basically, the historical events cited are real, though the reasons given are suspect. Each of these pieces might make a good warm-up to get students discussing what is accurate, and what is humor.)
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Posted by Ed Darrell
You are currently browsing the Millard Fillmore's Bathtub blog archives for the day Saturday, March 24th, 2007.
Ed Darrell on Texas's Colorado River
Come on in, the water's fine. Come often: Cleanliness is next to godliness.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 