News via other people's blogs

According to The Telegraph, the heirs of the Knights Templar (they have heirs? I thought they were a celibate order... nevermind) are sueing the pope for damages. I guess the heirs of Philippe IV le Bel didn't have enough money to be worth sueing and the Fifth Republic would point to the segration of church and state and send them to Rome. (Via Charles Stross, who is wondering about who is writing the scripts for this century. Comments are fun, too.)

Also, Stross talks about The Bechdel Test, a topic which always reminds me most painfully that (excepting stories told in first person by a male) I yet have to write a scene where two named male characters talk about anything other than a woman. OK, in some cases the woman they are talking about has just blown up their headquarters or something simliar... not sure if that counts. Also, I feel that because tight third is commonly in fashion, followed by first person, every book with a male protagonist is likely to fail and every book with a female protagonist likely to pass. For a reasonable evaluation, it has to be third person with switching POV characters, omni or camera. (Doesn't help me much.)

The Daily Mail (yes, I know), has something about women taking 1950s re-enactment maybe a little too seriously. (via Pandagon)