Happy Christmas, everyone.

Science-religion-politics Sunday!

* The Vatican has officially forgiven the late John Lennon for a off-the-cuff joke he made forty-two years ago. Let no one doubt the magnanimity of the Catholic Church.

* The "broken windows" theory has apparently been experimentally verified. Giuliani '12? Via MeFi.

* Science confirms the Livia Soprano Theory of the Universe: it's all just a big nothing. Also via MeFi.

* Science confirms that religion strongly correlates with unhappy lives.

In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy and abortion in the prosperous democracies.

* Science confirms that America miraculously became "a center-right nation" the day after Barack Obama won the presidency.

* The Cato Institute confirms "Blocking Obama’s health plan is key to the GOP’s survival." Not because it won't work, of course, but because it'll work so well as to discredit their kneejerk anti-governmentism forever. More at DKos.

* Who will pray to Bush for clemency? And how many corrupt presidencies do we need in a row before we abolish the damn pardon power?

* Finally, prepare yourself to go deep inside the ant hivemind.

Happy 68th birthday, John Lennon.

How McCartney wrote 'Paperback Writer.'

By the time McCartney arrived in Weybridge he had the song's structure in his head. McCartney: “I told John I had this idea of trying to write off to a publishers to become a paperback writer, and I said I think it should be written like a letter. I took a bit of paper out and I said it should be something like ‘Dear Sir or Madam, as the case may be...' and I proceeded to write it just like a letter in front of him, occasionally rhyming it. And John, as I recall, just sat there and said: ‘Oh that's it', ‘Uhuh', ‘Yeah'. I remember him, his amused smile, saying ‘Yes, that's it, yes.' You know, if it ain't broke don't fix it. ‘That'll do'. Quite a nice moment. ‘Hmm, I've done right! I've done well!' And then we went upstairs and put the melody to it.

Here's the "Playlist for Change" that will be rocking our apartment tonight as the Super Tuesday results come in. (Close readers of my Sopranos and Kinks mixes may discover some overlap.)

1. Yes We Can (Various Celebrities)



2. Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours (Stevie Wonder)

3. Revolution (The Beatles)

4. Gimme Some Truth (John Lennon)

5. The Times They Are A-Changin' (Bob Dylan)

6. This Time Tomorrow (The Kinks)

7. Imagine (John Lennon). Jaimee is under strict orders to play this song at my funeral, though she says she won't do it. It would bring the house down.

8. Think (Aretha Franklin)

9. Try (Just a Little Bit Harder) (Janis Joplin)

10. You Keep Me Hangin' On (Vanilla Fudge). Set me free, why dontcha you, babe? Get out my life, why don't you, babe? Cuz you don't really love me—you just leave me hangin' on.

11. Understanding Marx (Red Shadow). Because I have to keep my cred with the ultra-left somehow.

12. Livin' in the Future (Bruce Springsteen)

13. I Saved the World Today (Eurythmics)

14. I'm Not Like Everybody Else (The Kinks). Because my earnest support for Obama, while fervent, doesn't put me beyond irony or critical self-reflection.

15. Glad Tidings (Van Morrison)

16. Freedom (George Michael)



17. The Promised Land (Bruce Springsteen)

18. I Love You, Awesome (The Phoenix Foundation, from the Eagle vs. Shark soundtrack)

19. 1999 (Prince)

20. Rockin' in the Free World (Neil Young)

Happy Christmas, everyone.



* MetaFilter's got a huge post today with just about every very special Christmas episode ever aired.

* The Absorbacon compares Biblical canonicity with comic-book canonicity.

* SF Signal is celebrating a sci-fi Christmas with episodes of Lost in Space, Land of the Giants, and Buck Rogers (so far).