The Null Device
2004/10/21
Parts of the US are up in arms over Halloween falling on a Sunday; in the Bible Belt states of the South, some literal-minded Christians (presumably the same ones who called for the Harry Potter books to be banned; it appears that distinguishing between form and content isn't very popular in parts of Alabama and such) are so upset about children dressed as demons and witches being out on the Sabbath that various communities have officially moved Halloween to October 30, a Saturday.
"You just don't do it on Sunday," said Sandra Hulsey of Greenville, Ga. "That's Christ's day. You go to church on Sunday, you don't go out and celebrate the devil. That'll confuse a child."
(via FmH)
Scientists may have discovered an evolutionary basis for (male) homosexuality, previously considered a paradox of evolutionary biology. It appears that the same genetic factors that are responsible for homosexuality in men cause higher fecundity in women; i.e., whilst (most) gay men don't have children, their female relatives (who share the genetic factors) make up for this. (via FmH)
"This is a novel finding," says Simon LeVay, a neuroscientist and commentator on sexuality at Stanford University in California. "We think of it as genes for 'male homosexuality', but it might really be genes for sexual attraction to men. These could predispose men towards homosexuality and women towards 'hyper-heterosexuality', causing women to have more sex with men and thus have more offspring."